Precocious Paper

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T08:41:00.000-08:00

The boys wanted toast for breakfast, so this is what I whipped up:

We are going out for lunch with Daddy and tonight the boys get an auntie-nephew dinner date. Josh and I are going out for dinner at a restaurant we went to when we were first dating. And I am taking photos all along the way to fill a mini album that I will get to share soon :).

The boys celebrated with their school classes on Friday. We always try to do something non-edible but fun, and this year we made photo-booth prop mustaches and lips. The third and second graders LOVED them :).

Notice that I added them to giant popsicle sticks instead of dowels or skewers? I didn't want anyone getting poked at school ;). The mustache tag reads: "I mustache you a question. Won't you have a Happy Valentine's Day?" Those went to the boys. The girls' lips tag reads: "I ran out of real flowers, but please enjoy these two lips for Valentine's Day!"

Well, I'm off to wrap up a few chores and shop things. I hope you have a lovely day! Tessa

Ruffles and Rambunctious Boys

2012-02-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello, hello! I hope your week is off to a great start :). We have a bit of a crazy one planned at the Buys'. The boys are out of school this week due to furlough days, "non-school days", and the President's Day holiday (I live in California, mind you). Between entertaining them, Valentine's Day, cub scouts events, and other fun stuff, I'm not sure when I'll have time for the usual routine. Oh, and Jaxon is potty-training. Am I crazy? Probably :). But I'm looking forward to all of it, including whatever time I get in the studio to stock more of these pretties:

I shared this photo on the Precocious Paper facebook wall several days ago, and it was met with a lot of enthusiasm :). My design team has been busy working with these new flowers, and I have been putting together a few things, too, including this brooch:

I put three Ruffle Blossoms together and added a charm made with Epiphany Crafts products (round 14 tool and setting). Tip: the glitter-outlined dots on My Mind's Eye Lost and Found papers are the exact same size as the tool, so I ended up with a touch of text and glitter - perfect!

Ruffle Blossoms will be offered in over 30 colors and in several prints. You can choose from cardstock backings for paper crafts or felt backings for hair clips and jewelry. I'll let you know when they are available! Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day :). Tessa

Designer Friday - Mindy

2012-02-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I am thrilled to be bringing you a fabulous project by my new design team gal, Mindy Gallagher! Mindy has been playing with all of the fun "extras" to the Precocious Sampler and she combined them into a beautiful, boxed stationery set:

So pretty! And just wait 'til you look inside. The box opens up to reveal organized slots for cards, mini cards and tags, as well as a little note pad and a pocket for stamps.

Wow, right?! Here are the tags, including Precocious Sweet Spots and Precocious Button Sweet Spots:

And mini cards, including more Sweet Spots and a felt rose:

And some really fun cards including a Butterfly Doily and even more Sweet Spots (I love how far a package of those goes!):

Fantastic project, Mindy! If you've been inspired, you can find these products and more in the shop here. The design team page is currently being remodeled, so I invite you to get to know more about Mindy at her blog, here. Thank you all so much for stopping by today! Tessa

Fan Feature - Julie LaKose

2012-02-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I received a wonderful email this week filled with photos from Precocious Paper fan Julie LaKose. Julie has been a long-time supporter of my Etsy shop and she just recently picked up the Raspberry Orange Mini Sampler:

Julie created a fabulous home decor item for her daughter's room - a cookie sheet magnet board. First, Julie started with these supplies:

She then added papers and used the ribbons and flowers from the mini sampler to embellish her corners. I love the title she added, too. Julie added magnets to the back of the smaller flowers. I love doing this, too, and have a refrigerator covered in them :).

Thank you so much for sharing, Julie! You can visit Julie's blog and get to know more about her here. If you are interested in being a featured fan, all you need to do is send me photos of your work created with Precocious Paper products. If your project is selected, you will receive an email with details of your featured fan post and a 25% off coupon code to use on a future purchase. Email me at precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com with Fan Feature in the subject line. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! Tessa

Remember This Kit

2012-02-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

There's a new kit at Scrapbook Circle and it is FULL of gorgeous new CHA stuff and one of my favorite color palettes: blue and yellow. There are other bits of color and fabulous neutrals, too, but the sunny yellow and pretty blues have really drawn me in. Here is my first project made with the kit:

This is my take on Challenge #25 - Pocket Full of Sunshine. The challenge is to incorporate a pocket into your layout. The kit comes with these great chevron-design bags by Whisper Graphics. I used one as my pocket and let the October Afternoon die-cuts spill across my page.

The photo is one I took of the boys just a couple of nights ago while I was playing with my Hipstamatic app. They were getting along so well - I had to document it. You know, before Jaxon smacked Carson with a car or GI Joe or something.

Like the stars? A half sheet of American Crafts glitter paper is included in the kit. It's gorgeous, thick stuff, but a bit too thick for my little star punch. Here's what I did to make it work. I cut off a strip of the paper, then peeled away a few layers of the backing. It made the cardstock thin enough to easily punch through :).

If you'd like to enter the challenge, the details are here. You don't have to be a subscriber, you don't have to use the kit, and you could win a $15.00 SBC credit. Of course, you could always pick up February's kit and the fabulous add-on, too ;). Have a great day! Tessa

February Sampler - Precocious

2012-02-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

In honor of my 4 year Etsy-versary this month, I decided to create a collection based on my shop colors. "But wait," you're thinking. "Where did the yellow come from?" My love for yellow has grown so much in the past few years that I just had to add it to my red and aqua palette. Pretty soon you will see the shop and blog made over to reflect that addition, too :). Please meet "Precocious"...

This sampler is extra full of pretty flowers. I couldn't help myself from adding more to the assortment. I am really excited about the shabby twist flowers in this set. If you look closely, you can see a sweet layer of tulle behind each one. These will soon be available separately and in an array of colors in the shop :).

There are Butterfly Doilies, Button Sweet Spots, Sweet Spots and Felt Roses and Leaves, too:

If you love every bit of it, I have packaged the entire collection into one listing at a special discounted price here. Be on the lookout this month for project ideas from the design team :). Thank you so much for stopping by today! Tessa

Boom!

2012-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hello! Happy Tuesday. I have a Valentine's Day project up on the SRM Stickers blog today :).

You can read about how I made it here. I hope you are having a dynamite day :). Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

For Like Ever

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

The January Sampler is now live in the shop! Meet "For Like Ever":

I was inspired by this print that I found at fellow Etsy shop 29blackstreet...

...and these great Pinterest finds:

garland - dress - shoes - heart (ack! I can't find it now!)

Also available are Butterfly Doilies, Sweet Spots, Felt Roses and Leaves and new Button Sweet Spots.

New this year, I am offering a discount when you purchase the entire line. You can find that special listing here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Winter Blossoms

2012-01-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday, all! I am getting ready to ship off all of my CHA assignments, but wanted to say hello first. While I was working on my layouts for the GCD Studios booth, I decided to take a little mental break and make something completely unrelated. I had just read the Winter Blossoms challenge at MoxieFab World earlier that day and thought that a card was the perfect mini project to rejuvenate my creativity. This is the inspiration:

And this is my take:

I was inspired by shape, color, and the festive feel. I made my round flowers by die-cutting layers of vintage book paper. I then colored each flower with Twinkling H2O's (watercolors with shimmer) and secured the centers with pearl brads.

If you look closely in the photo, you can see a circle garland between the pom poms, so I mimicked that look with some gold, circle confetti. A few drops of gray mist helped add to the confetti look and brought out the text in the flowers.

I made the sentiment with an SRM Sticker, using only the words "to you" so that I can use this card for just about anything one day in the future. I believe the entire sentiment is really "Happy Birthday to you" :).

You can find the Winter Blossoms challenge here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Welcome to the Nest

2012-01-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hello! I wanted to share the wreath I made for my son's teacher today.

For this wreath, I started with a phrase - welcome to the nest. I knew I wanted a mama bird and an egg, all cuddled together in a little nest, perched in flowers. I wasn't sure which colors to use because they don't know if their baby is a boy or girl, and I didn't want to ask the nursery colors and give away the surprise of the gift. So, I found my bird and went from there.

I added a bright spring green to lighten up the palette. I had to dye the egg to match the green yarn (alcohol inks were perfect for this). I made flowers from white and coral felt, then added a pair of silk green flowers.

My favorite part is the banner. I hand cut the pennants from broadcloth and stamped the alphas with brown Staz-On ink. I hung the pieces on embroidery floss and finished the ends with sweet little bows.

Carson's teacher loved the wreath and come to find out, the nursery is brown and green! Now if it's a girl, the coral will be the perfect feminine touch :). And if not, well, good thing it wasn't pink ;).

I hope all is well for you! The baby and I (baby, he's almost three!) came down with the flu this past week. While Josh was out of town. And CHA assignments were coming in. Ack! So, if I'm a little quiet for awhile, just know I'm busy and will be sharing quite a bit soon. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Tribute to Sketchy Thursdays

2012-01-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

I feel like I just said goodbye to a dear friend, one that I may never see again. Sketchy Thursdays has posted its last sketch for the blog as we know it. You can read the announcement here.

I found Diana Fisher's blog when we both made the design team for A Scrappy Design back in 2009. Diana was posting sketches on her blog and even though I had never liked using sketches before, I gave them a try. Diana's sketches were so easy to use and just the spark I needed. I remember being so excited when she would leave a comment on my flickr photostream about my layouts :). Soon Diana and Heidi Myers launched Sketchy Thursdays and I was thrilled to be a part of their first team. I enjoyed my first term thoroughly, was a guest designer during the next term, and then they just couldn't get rid of me from then on :). Being on the Sketchy Thursdays design team has been a real, sweet, treasured part of my life for the past few years. I wish Diana, Heidi, and all the rest of the ST gang the best. I hope you know how grateful I am...for everything :).

In tribute, I've put together as many of my Sketchy Thursdays layouts as I could find into these collages.

Ack, before tears hit the keyboard, I'm going to switch gears. I played along with a fun challenge from The Paper Variety this week. The challenge is to use black and white with a pop of color. I made a birthday card for one of my girls at church, a girl after my own yellow-loving heart :).

Of course I had to use SRM Stickers for my sentiment :).

Thanks for the challenge, TPV! I hope you will make the time to visit Sketchy Thursdays this week. If you're a fan, be sure to let Diana and Heidi know they will be missed. I know how hard the decision must have been to make and I'm sure they can use the virtual hugs. Have a great Thursday! Tessa

1st Layout and 1st Card of 2012

2012-01-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Hello! Thanks to Sketchy Thursdays and Scrapbook Circle, I have my first layout and first card of the new year to share with you today.

A new sketch is up at Sketchy Thursdays, and this week's sketch has a prompt in partnership with our sponsor, Scrappy Chics. The prompt is to use blue and silver, inspired by their current kit.

When I saw this chevron paper by Authentique, I had to get it and put it to use on this page. I also loved using their little word stickers. I used a Pink Paislee mask to create the long vertical rectangle in the center, but you have to look carefully to see it. I love how subtle it is.

I had fun adding texture with the trim and doilies. I'm so glad I saved these bright blue doilies from forever ago. They were perfect for this project :).

To play along at Sketchy Thursdays, see this post. There's a gift card up for grabs :). And speaking of a gift card, you can also win one at Scrapbook Circle by playing along with this card sketch:

Can you believe I made this sketch? I totally cheated (meaning I just layered things other people made - I so don't deserve any credit). Anyway, I made a Valentine for my hubby with the new You + Me kit:

I really love the kraft, red, grey, white combo. You have to see the entire kit (here). And play along (here).

So there you have it! My first layout and card of 2012. I see many, many more in the near future :). Thank you for spending some time with me today! Have a good one! Tessa

GCD Studios and Heidi Sonboul

2011-12-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

Have you heard? Heidi Sonboul has created her very own collection for GCD Studios - Oh Happy Day!

You can find the sneak peek on Heidi's blog today, then the full reveal on the GCD Studios blog January 6th. It looks so fun and bright and cheerful! Way to go, Heidi!

Be sure to stop by and check it out :). Have a great day! Tessa

GCD Studios and Christmas

2011-12-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

Just sharing a couple of layouts that I made with GCD Studios products for Christmas. First up, the church Christmas party:

These photos are of last year. The tables were decorated with ball ornaments and the boys and I had a little fun with them while we waited for the party to start. I love using bits of ribbon this way:

This photo is also of last year, and it makes me sad to look at it. This year's crop of oranges and mandarins really hasn't been a good one at all. There just aren't as many, they aren't as big and they aren't as yummy. I guess I was spoiled in 2010 :).

Lots of handstitching here. I had fun making the page leafy and green :). I hope the trees look more like this in 2012.

I hope your week is going well! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my Christmases past :). Enjoy your Wednesday! Tessa

Music...

2011-12-27T08:47:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the music, so one of my favorite events of December is the music concert at school. As a gift to the boys' music teacher, I made this:

I filled a tube by SRM Stickers with jingle bells (it had to make music, too!) and chocolates, then added a snowflake and more jingle bells to the top. The sentiment is also by SRM Stickers.

The finishing touch was wrapping the tube in Tim Holtz' sheet music tissue tape. I think that's my new favorite technique with these wands and tubes :). You can see the post about this tube at the SRM blog here.

How was your Christmas? Other than being in pain from dental surgery, I really enjoyed it. We are lucky to have our families close, so there was a lot of family and fun. And it isn't done yet! We still have plans for the rest of the week, although Josh did have to go back to work today. I hope your holiday was everything you wanted it to be and more. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Please welcome...

2011-12-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

...the Precocious Paper Design Team for January-June of 2012!

Suzanne Spokus
Cassandra Cyr
Melinda Gallagher
Elise Lyndsey
Amanda Jones (Alumni Designer)

I will be introducing these lovely ladies to you more formally once the holidays are over, but please feel free to visit their blogs and leave them some love. Also, please let the wonderful Mandy Koeppen know how much you appreciated her and her amazing work! She's going to be missed around here.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, and I'll be back next week with more crafty pursuits to share :). Merry Christmas! Tessa

Merry Christmas Wands

2011-12-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

I have the wonderful opportunity of directing a little performing and competition dance troupe called "The Sparklers". They are delightful four to six year old girls and they couldn't be cuter! I decided to make them wands that they could twirl around with for the holidays:

Using Magic Wands from SRM Stickers, I filled the wands with little chocolate candies and then wrapped each one with decorative tape. This tape is from last year's line by Martha Stewart. I loved the candy cane stripe effect :).

The toppers are actually ornaments and I glued them on in such a way that they could easily be removed from the wands and added to a tree. I used a snowflake ornament as my base, then added an accordion fold rosette. Next came a punched heart and a banner-cut sentiment (SRM of course). A little aqua twine and the wands were done :).

The girls loved them, especially the fact that they were wands. They started twirling immediately :). You can find more about these wands on the SRM Stickers blog today, here. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Felt Bows and Necklaces

2011-12-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I just wanted to pop in to let you know about a couple of blog features going on :). I had several people ask me how I made the felt bows for these cards:

So, I created a tutorial that is on the SRM blog today. Enjoy!

Also, I have a necklace on the GCD Studios blog. I used a few of the cabochons from the Sweet Surrender line, as well as the Chip Art tool and some Chip Art jewelry. You can see my post here, as well as as the inspiration photo that started it all.

I am so swamped with work right now that I just haven't been able to pin down my new Precocious Paper design team. Thank you for all who are waiting so patiently! Have a fabulous weekend! Tessa

A little birdie told me...

2011-12-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

...to buy her. And put her on my Christmas wreath:

I loved the glitter and long, long tail feathers. I think she looks happy nestled in the poinsettias and felt roses.

I enjoyed my feathered friend so much that I decided to add one to Colten's teacher's wreath:

Thank you for all the well-wishes! The pain has decreased significantly and I am taking just enough Vicodin to get by. The medicine is still making me a bit loopy, but I'd rather be somewhat productive and loopy than in pain and on the couch. This is a terrible time of year to be out of commission!

Be sure to stop by Sketchy Thursdays today for a new sketch (by the talented Heidi Myers!). Also, Scrapbook Circle has two challenges going on right now, with a fabulous Christmas kit up for grabs. Thanks for checking in and enjoy your day! Tessa

SRM Stickers

2011-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hello! I was so excited to accomplish a lot this week, and then I had two wisdom teeth pulled. I know, I'm kind of late to the game in terms of getting them out, but at least the process has started. Two on Monday, then the other two next week. Things are going pretty well, but let's just say that Vicodin and I do not make a cute couple.

On to happier things, you know how much I love SRM Stickers. I was ecstatic when Miss Art's Papercrafting School asked me to design a class based on SRM's calendar stickers. I jumped at the chance and my class went live yesterday. In two minutes, I show you how to make a pocket calendar (a quick and easy stocking stuffer or small gift!). You can find the class here.

Also yesterday, SRM Stickers featured a wand/tag project of mine on the blog. It was actually a project that didn't make it through the final round in a magazine call, but I love it all the same:

I filled the magic wand with twine-wrapped spools as a gift for a scrappy friend. I love the cursive font on some of the SRM Stickers and had to use the cursive "thanks" for my tag. You can find the post here.

Today on the SRM blog I am sharing my One Little Word project - an ATC holder. I am addicted to the calendar stickers and found that they were a match made in heaven for ATC's.

You can see more photos of my ATC holder and the different kinds of ATC's I have already added here. You can find the SRM blog post here. I will share more about my OLW project soon.

Before I go, thank you to The Paper Variety! I was excited to see this news this morning. Also, I am hoping to finalize my Precocious Paper design team choices today. Thank you all for your patience! Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Cupcake Poppy Invites

2011-12-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

Hello! This week is shaping up to be a very busy week. It's only 8 am Monday morning and I already have three surprise hitches to my previously planned schedule. But, I'm going to stay positive and calm and do my best to keep the spirit of the season around me as I check off my to-do list. From what I'm seeing on Facebook and Twitter, I am not alone in this holiday craziness :). Good luck to all of you who are just as busy (if not more!). Before things got too busy to blog, I wanted to share a set of invitations that I made:

My sister-in-law, my husband's baby sister, is celebrating her 16th birthday on the 16th. She decided long ago that I would be throwing her the party at my house, and I couldn't say no! This is us earlier this year :).

Anyway, we planned a chocolate-themed, Sweet Sixteen, Golden Birthday party. I thought my Gold Metallic Cupcake Poppies were the perfect embellishment for her invitations, especially since we are decorating cupcakes as part of the festivities.

I layered a doily, piece of ribbon, piece of tulle, then the cupcake poppy and felt leaves. I used a decorative corner punch to dress up the paper, but kept everything else really simple.

They were a hit and Clarissa was excited to pass them out to her friends. I'll let you know how the party went next week :). Thank you for stopping by. I'm off to tackle #1 on my to-do list today - etsy orders! Have a good one! Tessa

Designer Friday!

2011-12-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Amanda Jones has been playing with the Very Merry line and I love the cards and tags she has come up with. Let's take a look:

First, I love the long shape of this card - perfect for embellishing with some white space to spare. Amanda used three of the Very Merry Sweet Spots and hung them like ornaments. So pretty!

For this card, Amanda used a Very Merry Butterfly Doily. These doilies have glittered paper for just enough sparkle and shine.

Amanda topped a pretty kraft package with a Silver Metallic Cupcake Poppy and a pair of Felt Roses. I love how they look all nestled on the large doily.

And last, but not least, a delightful tag. Amanda layered a Cupcake Poppy from the Sampler onto a doily and topped the tag with a Sweet Spot. Thank you, Amanda, for all of the inspiration! You can find the Very Merry line in the shop here.

This is post #2 for me today :). If you'd like to see what I've been up to at SRM Stickers and Miss Art's, be sure to read the next post down. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

SRM and Miss Art's

2011-12-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! I wanted to share with you a couple of projects I have out on the world wide web today. First up, SRM Stickers:

Using their calendar stickers, I created a Year of Cards. I designed a simple recipe (large background piece, small strip, smaller strip, bow) and applied it to all the months of the year.

You can see the post at SRM Stickers here, and you can see more photos of the cards here.

Speaking of SRM Stickers, I have an online class coming up at Miss Art's that features more calendar stickers. Part of the Take 2 series, it will go live on the 13th. Here's a sneak peek:

I also got to play with May Arts ribbons for another Take 2 class and it is live today!

For more information on Take 2 and Miss Art's, see their website. I'd love to know what you think of my classes!

I'll be back a little bit later today with a fabulous Designer Friday post featuring Amanda Jones and the Very Merry line. See you soon! Tessa

Holiday Music = Card Inspiration

2011-12-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

There's a new prompt at The Paper Variety that I thought would be fun to play along with - create a project inspired by holiday music. I've been humming holiday tunes since Thanksgiving day, so to narrow down my song choice I went to my collection of SRM Stickers. What did I find?

Perfect! The large circle sticker reminded me of an ornament, so I went looking for circular embellishments to compliment my sentiment. I originally made these yo-yo's for other projects, but never ended up using them. I think they are at home here. I went with the green and grey color palette and pulled out tapes to match.

I had so much fun making one card that I whipped up another:

"Joy to the World" is one of my favorite Christmas hymns :). The sentiments are all SRM Stickers.

If you'd like to play along, you can find The Paper Variety's challenge here. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude Winner

2011-12-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed reading through everyone's emails and blog posts about the Attitude of Gratitude project. I'm grateful to all who joined in, even those who just read my posts and encouraged me to keep sharing. I've randomly selected a winner for the Precocious Paper shop credit and she is the lovely:

SARA ZENGER!

You can find her blog, and her Attitude of Gratitude posts here. Thank you for your inspiration and participation, Sara! Please email me with your Precocious Paper wish list and we'll get you set up with $20.00 of shop goodies.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season! We are in the middle of Winter Music Concerts at the moment, and I am loving hearing my boys sing. Our music director is fabulous! I love that she exposes the children to music from around the world. Carson sang in five different languages last night! Colten has two performances tonight and we can't wait :). There is nothing better than music to ring in the Christmas season. Thank you so much for stopping by! Tessa

Wrapping Gifts

2011-12-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Hello! I'm wrapping gifts over at GCD Studios today :). Well, technically, I didn't wrap anything because I am really not good at wrapping. But I did top some cute gift bags with some pretty fancy embellishments using GCD Studio's Scandia Jul collection. You can take a look here.

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Christmas at The Studio

2011-12-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Hello! There's a new challenge up at The Studio - use Christmas stash for a non-Christmas layout. I struggled a bit with this one as I started going through all of my Christmas papers (two drawers full!). Finally I decided to look for papers with a non-traditional color palette, and Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather won:

The lavender in the pattern was just enough to make me think the paper wasn't too Christmassy. Paired with my new navy polka dot tape (love this shop) and some felt roses from my shop, I think it came across as not too holiday-ish. Speaking of my shop, there's a hint of a new product in this layout :). See it?

You can find all the details for playing along here. I'm hoping to get some rest today and to wrap up a few different projects I have piling up. Enjoy your day! Tessa

Designer Friday!

2011-12-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Hello! Mandy has been playing with the Vintage Poinsettia line and has more projects to share! Let's start with this beautiful "Holly Jolly" card:

Mandy doubled up the gold cupcake wrappers from a pair of Cupcake Poppies and crinkled them for texture. The foil of these metallic Cupcake Poppies is perfect for this technique. She added a felt leaf and the gold tinsel trim for a truly festive, gorgeous card.

Next up, two mini cards made with scraps from Mandy's stash. What a great way to put those extra bits to good use:

Mandy used the two White Glitter Tulle Mini Poinsettias from the Sampler and felt leaves.

Lastly, a card that doesn't have to be for the holidays - "Follow Your Bliss":

Using one of the Vintage Poinsettia Butterfly Doilies, Mandy created a simple and very pretty note.

Mandy, thank you so much! I just love every little bit. If you are interested in any of these items, you can find them all in my shop here. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day! Tessa

iPhone Photos and a Rolodex

2011-12-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

Happy December! Wow, I can't believe we are in the final stretch of 2011. I have two layouts to share with you today, both for new challenges. I know December is a crazy time of year, but we would love to see you play along at both sites. First up, Sketchy Thursdays:

Here's the sketch:

The row of photos on the left made me think of the Photobooth app photos that Jaxon and I take when we have some time to kill, so I went to my iPhone and picked out a set to use for the layout. I love taking pictures with him - he is such a goof!

I had fun mixing bits and pieces: patterned papers from the scrap drawer, tape, bingo pieces and brads, tags....

If you'd like to play along, you can find all the details here. There's a new challenge starting today at Scrapbook Circle - A Year in Review. The challenge is to create a layout that looks back over 2011. I chose to take a non-photo approach and created a rolodex-style page, inspired by the index cards in December's kit:

You can find more photos of my layout and all the details for playing along here. There's a Christmas kit up for grabs :). Before I go, I wanted to mention a few other things to keep in mind. Miss Art's Take 2 classes start today! These are two-minute mini classes that feature awesome projects and fabulous manufacturers, so if you haven't signed up over there yet, now is a great time! Also, Precocious Paper is looking for a new design team :). Details here. If you participated in Attitude of Gratitude, be sure to see this post.

Have a great day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude Day 30, My Album, Giveaway

2011-11-30T09:38:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the end of November is here. I took the time last night to finish my Attitude of Gratitude mini, using the kit from my shop (two more available here). Here are just a few photos. You can find the rest here or here.

I couldn't end the challenge without declaring the most important blessing I have in my life:

I know many of you joined me for this challenge. Thank you! I'm interested to know what you thought, how you incorporated the challenge into your own life, and if you made anything to document your gratitude. And I want to give something away from my shop.

If you have been blogging, I'd love to read a wrap-up style post of your thoughts after the challenge. If you've been facebooking or using twitter, I'd love to read your thoughts as a comment on this post. If you want to link me to a gallery of a journal or mini album you made, I'd love to see that, too. So please leave a comment on this post with your links or thoughts and on December 7th I will draw a winner for a $20.00 credit to Precocious Paper.

Enjoy your day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 29

2011-11-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

(click image to view larger)

I found this quote to be really interesting. I've learned that being grateful brings me more happiness, but I hadn't really thought about how my being grateful could bring others more happiness. I've been in the presence of humble, grateful people and felt that brightness. I hope one day to bring that brightness to the lives of others.

Today I am grateful for messages of preparedness. Our little family has been discussing emergency preparedness lately (via Emilie at A Year of Family Home Evenings), and last night we talked about setting up an emergency station. I just cleaned and organized our garage last weekend and Santa will be delivering some things to help us put this together. After our emergency this summer, we really felt the need to be more prepared, and I am grateful to Emilie and church and community leaders who have shared important information to help us be ready.

I thought I would share one more wreath today:

I made this one with the Mustard, Rust and Ivory Felt Roses and Leaves from my shop. It's a small one, perfect for a shelf, mantle, or wall display. You can find more photos here.

I'll be back tomorrow with details on how to enter to win a Precocious Paper prize for participating in Attitude of Gratitude. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 27 and 28

2011-11-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! I have quite the to-do list to tackle and I am excited to get to it! I love Mondays :). One of my to-do items is to share these wreaths I've been working on:

I am offering these for sale, so if you might be interested, just let me know :). I won't be offering them through my Etsy shop at this time, but I am happy to work with you via email. I am also taking just a few more custom wreath orders before Christmas. I've got a few in the works that I am really excited about and would love to make something custom for you! You can reach me at precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com and you can find more photos here.

Not only do I love Mondays, but I love Sundays, too. They are the perfect days for reflection. After going to a few church meetings yesterday and feeling uplifted and inspired, I found just the right thankful sentiments to share with you.

Day 27: I am grateful for trials. I know, I probably shouldn't say that out loud - I might have more sent my way! But honestly, I am grateful for the challenges I have endured. I may not have endured them perfectly or even well, but I have grown and learned from each one. I am also grateful that I can share my experiences with others to help them through their own trials, especially the young women I work with.

Day 28: I am grateful for the financial blessings our family has received this year. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, and when I make the mistake of doing so, we don't measure up at all. We have challenges to meet and goals to accomplish before I would feel really financially stable, but we are truly blessed to be where we are. I am grateful for what I have.

Thank you for stopping by today! I am grateful for you and your comments :). Have a good one! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 23-26

2011-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, while working on home projects and hanging out with the family, I felt a little twinge of guilt that I hadn't been posting my Attitude of Gratitude thoughts daily this Thanksgiving week. Here I am, challenging others to publicly share what they were grateful for, and I wasn't doing this as regularly as I should. But then I realized that in the past week, my efforts of sharing gratitude have been focused on my family. I have felt the need to be more of a teacher and example to my boys with regards to gratitude this year, and I let Thanksgiving break blogging go while I spent more time with them.

Jaxon has been saying "thank you" more than ever. Colten and Carson have been quick to remember to express thanks in family prayers before asking for blessings. They are constantly on the look out for things to be grateful for. Hugs and kisses seem more abundant. I was working on the floor and suddenly Jaxon was on my back, arms wrapped around me, chubby cheeks pressed into me, saying "I lub you Mommy." For no reason. I love that. I haven't kept a tally, so I don't know if I am just more grateful for the ones I see and receive, or if there actually are more "loves", but it doesn't matter. That's what this is all about. Being grateful brings more love and happiness, and in turn, more to be grateful for.

So to catch up....

Day 23: I am grateful for rest. I am grateful for the opportunities we have to slow down, savor time, and be together. I am grateful for the chance to rest my body, forget about the stresses of day-to-day, and enjoy time.

Day 24: I am grateful for my grandpa. While getting the table ready for Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, my grandpa was watching me. As I got closer to his end of the table, he paid me a sweet compliment. One I will never forget and one that was very special and well-timed. I am grateful that he is still here and a part of my life.

Day 25: I am grateful for my crazy sisters. Black Friday shopping? At midnight? Yes! Our youngest sister had to work a Black Friday shift, so we stopped at her store first and paid a little visit. Wow - talk about craziness! But it was fun and I enjoyed the sister time :).

Day 26: I am grateful for my home. It isn't much, but I am grateful to be living here and for the love within its walls.

On a scrappy note, I have been working on a few projects that I should be able to share soon! The Precocious Paper December Sampler is ready to go, but I am waiting on supplies to arrive for the extras, so hopefully this week I'll be able to release it.

Have a great day! Thank you for stopping by and sharing this gratitude project with me :). Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 19-22, The Studio

2011-11-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

There's a new challenge at The Studio and it's all about gratitude - with a twist! Rather than the typical answers of family and health, you must choose something superficial, silly, or something you could easily live without to be the subject of your layout. I chose socks, specifically my husband's athletic no-shows that I like to steal for work.

The real blessing here is that my husband doesn't mind when I steal a pair from his drawer without asking. He's a cool guy like that. Definitely a keeper :).

I hope that by doing this challenge, people realize that the little things that may seem silly are really important and deserve just as much gratitude as family and good health. Play along here for a chance to win $25.00 in Precocious Paper goodies :).

As for Attitude of Gratitude, I have fallen a bit behind. I had a very full weekend and spent most of yesterday trying to corral the boys and catch up on housework. Maintaining an attitude of gratitude is something I think about constantly, though, so it isn't far from my heart even when I'm away from the blog.

Day 19: I am grateful for my husband's job. Getting him through school with two young children was really difficult, then watching the economy erode as he entered the job market was frightening. We've been truly blessed to see things fall into place for work. Things may not have gone as planned, but things have worked out and worked out well. He's been getting great performance reviews and I am really proud of him. His job allows me to stay home with the boys for five days a week, and I feel incredibly blessed by that.

Day 20: I am grateful that I have been blessed with talents that I can share with others. I love to teach, dance and craft and I was able to do all three with a big group of kids on Sunday. I did a birthday party for a student of mine at the dance studio and it was so much fun! They made scrapbook pages as their gathering activity, they learned a hip hop routine and we played fun games. The group of kids was great, the birthday girl's family was wonderful to work with and it felt really good to spend a couple of hours making kids happy.

Day 21: I am grateful that others bless my life with their talents. I love that everyone has their own unique and special abilities. As I peruse Pinterest, I am blown away by the recipes. I'm not much of a cook or baker. I can learn, but I am not intuitive or inventive when it comes to food. I am grateful that talented people share their recipes and know-how so that I can fake it in the kitchen. Last night I made these (with white chocolate chips) and they were very good. Click photo for source.

Day 22: I am grateful for the time I have this week to spend with my boys. We are passing off Cub Scout things (ha ha, "things" - I don't have the terminology down yet!), watching movies and reading books together, catching up on chores, and just hanging out. No pressures of homework or schedules to keep. Just us. I am thoroughly enjoying it. And I'm sure I'll be ready for school to start back up on Monday :).

I hope you are enjoying your day! Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Precocious Paper Design Team Call

2011-11-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

Would YOU like the opportunity to receive Precocious Paper product in exchange for sharing your creations and talent with us? I am now accepting applications for the January - June 2012 design team. I am looking for designers who are happy to create a range of projects - layouts, cards, altered items, hair accessories, etc. If you are interested, please email me with the following information:

1. Your name and contact information.

2. A little bit about yourself.

3. Links to your blog and gallery.

4. Your scrappy/crafty resume, including current responsibilities (past DT experience is not necessary).

And I'd love to know your answers to these questions:

1. What is your favorite Precocious Paper product and why?

2. How would your contribution to the Precocious Paper design team be special?

Every other month you will receive the monthly Sampler and be required to create at least three projects with it. During the other months you will receive a smaller batch of product and be required to create at least one project with it. You will also receive a discount code for additional product.

I'm excited to see fresh faces and I welcome applications from past guest designers and current DT members. The call will remain open through December 10th. Designers chosen for the team will be contacted by the 15th. I look forward to receiving your application! Tessa

precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 18, Designer Friday!

2011-11-18T09:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Today I am grateful for my Precocious Paper design team - Amanda Jones and Mandy Koeppen. My chin literally hits the keyboard every time they post a project to our DT blog. I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming when I think of my talented team :). Their creativity, enthusiasm for Precocious Paper products, and willingness to share my little etsy shop are a true blessing and I am so very grateful for them! Thank you, ladies!

Speaking of Amanda, she's been playing with the Very Merry line and I can't wait to show you what she has created:

Isn't this gift box gorgeous?! The felt and glitter tulle poinsettia flower comes in the Very Merry sampler (and there's two of them!).

Amanda used the glittered snowflake as the focal point in this gorgeous altered frame. The flower, leaves, ribbon and snowflake all come in the Very Merry sampler.

This grapevine wreath is so pretty :). I love the whitewash, snowy look - I'm going to have to try that. Amanda embellished with fabric flowers and ribbons from the Very Merry sampler. The felt rose is from the Very Merry set of felt roses and leaves. I love how she added the pins from the ribbon clothespins to the fabric lollipop flower.

Amanda's home must be a very cheerful place at Christmastime! I want you to see all the details, so be sure to head over to the Precocious Paper facebook page and check out the Very Merry photo gallery. You can find the Very Merry line in my etsy shop here.

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be back Monday with an exciting announcement :). See you then! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 16 & 17

2011-11-17T16:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday! I hope all is well with you :). As I was thinking about what I would write today, I realized that I was grateful for many of the same things this year as I was last year. I think it has to do with events repeating themselves (parent teacher conferences and field trips, namely), but that's okay. Just because I've received the blessing once before doesn't mean I'm any less grateful, right?

Catching up for my lack of blogging yesterday...Day 16: I am grateful for my boys' teachers. To choose the career of teacher is an honorable thing, and when you really devote your heart and soul to teaching, you bless the lives of so many people. With recent news of awful teachers out there, I am especially grateful for who my boys have this year. Colten and Carson are doing really well and they are enjoying school. Their teachers are aware of their individual needs and are helping them to meet goals and surpass expectations. I am so grateful that when I saw the new prompt from The Paper Variety (to create a project that includes the word "thanks"), I just had to make a pair of cards for the boys' teachers:

Day 17: I am grateful for the emergency responders we have in our city. Today we took a field trip to the fire station. It was short-lived however because they were called away on two emergencies and all the staff had to leave. Even though the kids were sad that their tour only lasted all of five minutes or so, I am glad that they got to see the fire fighters respond to emergencies. I hope seeing the fire fighters jump into action gave the kids confidence that if they ever need their help, it would come quickly. This is my new favorite photo of Jaxon and Carson together - the two of them waiting for the tour to start:

Two peas in a pod, I tell ya. Carson and his "mini me" :). Thank you for stopping by. I really appreciate you taking the time to share a few minutes of your day with me :). Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 15

2011-11-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

I just love this quote. The image of electricity is powerful, and living a life filled with gratitude is just as powerful. I have to admit, it's been hard to be grateful while being sick. I just am not a very happy person unless I physically feel good. I may be miserable with a cold, but for goodness sake, there are much worse trials I could be enduring right now. Instead of feeling grumpy, I should be allowing the power of gratitude to help brighten my mood. Today I am grateful for this Attitude of Gratitude challenge. I am grateful for what it is teaching me and for the daily reminder that I have been richly blessed. I am grateful for this electricity in my life, for the spark of happiness and light it brings.

I've been craving the time to work on a new wreath for my front door, and last week while sitting with my sick little Jaxon, I managed to finish this one:

It's based on my Autumn Afternoon line (available here). I even used the felt roses from the line as little accents.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and can't help but smile every time I pull into the driveway :).
I had to retire my Halloween wreath to make room for the new fall wreath (yes, my Halloween wreath was on my door well past Halloween).

I decorated our porch with cobwebs, paper garlands, lots of pumpkins and a big hay bale, so I wanted to keep the wreath fairly simple. My favorite part is the polka dot yo-yos. And before I go, I just finished this wreath last night:

I made wreaths for my kids' teachers for Christmas last year and was planning to do it again this year. Carson's teacher emailed me about buying a Christmas wreath so I said I would love to make her one but that she couldn't pay me :). I hope she likes it! You can see more photos of the wreaths in my flickr photostream.

I hope your Tuesday is going well! Enjoy your day :). Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 12-14

2011-11-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

Hello! How was your weekend? When I wasn't teaching, I was in bed or on the couch - sick. But I'm feeling better and am looking forward to a little productivity today. Before I go get a few chores done, I need to catch up on my Attitude of Gratitude thoughts.

Day 12: I'm grateful for playtime with my boys. On Veteran's Day we put out our flag then ran to the craft store for some supplies. When we got home, we only had minutes before we snapped this photo at 11:11 am on 11/11/11. You'd think it was a bright sunny day with the squinty smiles I got, but no. I just don't think they were as into the photo as I was. That's their "humoring Mom" look. They were happy to take my photo (but I think that has something to do with getting to play with Mom's iPhone):

Anyway, after that we made jet packs (like this one here). It was fun just to hang out, without the pressures of getting off to school or doing homework. Good times :).

Day 13: I'm grateful when things don't always go as planned. On Saturday I had an afternoon of private lessons scheduled after my regular classes. I was sick, I was nursing shin splints in one leg (how I got them, I have no idea), but I didn't want to cancel on my kids. What happens? A private lesson cancels due to illness, another private lesson comes in earlier than scheduled, and it all works out so that I can get home and rest. Blessings counted :).

Day 14: Today I am grateful for my voice. Haha, I cannot sing. Let's just get that straight right now. However, yesterday I had no voice. I couldn't talk on the phone and everyone thought it was funny to keep asking me, "What?" Today I am hoarse and my voice is still weak, but I have one. I'm grateful that I have more volume than a whisper and that I could actually say "I love you" out loud when I dropped the boys off at school.

I have started collecting things with the theme of gratitude onto a board over at Pinterest. I've pinned projects that you can do with your family, quotes, and gratitude journals that other crafters are putting together. If you'd like to take a look, you can find it here.

I hope your Monday is going well! Have a great day :). Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 11, Designer Friday

2011-11-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for the veterans who have served our country, for the sacrifices that they and their families have made, and for the blessings that those sacrifices allow me to enjoy. I'm grateful that my brother-in-law has made it home safe this week from a tour in Iraq. I'm grateful for a day of remembrance today, and I'm grateful for all of the tributes to our soldiers that I am seeing everywhere.

One such place is Operation Write Home. If you aren't familiar with this organization, you really should read up on them. They collect handmade cards and ship them to our servicemen and women, who then use those cards to write home to their loved ones. They are holding an amazing blog hop today, and SRM Stickers is a part of it, as well as many other fabulous manufacturers. If you have a chance, please join in. There are prizes to be had, inspiration galore, and you can learn more about OWH. I hope to get another batch of cards made really soon :).

It's also Designer Friday, and I am thrilled to be bringing you projects by Mandy Koeppen with the Vintage Poinsettia line! This line is pink, coral, dark green, white and gold - a little nontraditional, but still very festive. Mandy has created a layout and two gorgeous cards (with tons of product left for more - stay tuned!).

Using the green snowflake from the sampler...

Using the pink poinsettia fabric flower and coral tulle from the sampler...

Using a felt rose and wired leaf...

I just love everything :). Thank you so much, Mandy! You can find the Vintage Poinsettia line here. Next Friday Amanda Jones is sharing what she did with the Very Merry line, and early next month we will be seeing even more holiday projects from these talented ladies.

Happy Veterans Day and have a wonderful weekend! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 10

2011-11-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for my husband. Last night he hurried home so that he could make us dinner before he had to dash off to a meeting. He didn't have to - I told him that I would take care of it, but he wanted to do it. He's definitely a keeper :). And speaking of my hubby, I made a page about our 9th anniversary for today's Sketchy Thursdays reveal:

I love this sketch:

I added lots of bits and pieces, many from past Scrapbook Circle kits. I used my favorite stickers - SRM Stickers - for the title and even dotted the page with a few of the "9" stickers in white.

Did you notice the Precocious Paper flower? It's the sewing pattern one with a mother of pearl button. Those were made for a kit club, but you'll be seeing them on my shelves soon :).

You can find all the details for the Sketchy Thursdays challenge here. Before I go, I just wanted to say thank you. I've been receiving emails from blog readers who have joined in on Attitude of Gratitude and wanted to share their experiences with me. I'm humbled and deeply touched. I'm grateful that you are sharing this experience with me and strengthening my desire to be more thankful through your examples. Thank you :). Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 9

2011-11-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

This is my boys' bookshelf. It's a battle I have fought over and over again, but my boys just don't share the same love of organization that I do. However, I'm okay with the mess now. Why? Carson just earned 350% of his reading goal for the first trimester of the school year and came in first place in his class. Colten also surpassed 100% of his reading goal. I don't mind one bit that these shelves are a mess because it means they are reading. I am grateful that my boys love to read.

Today at the SRM Stickers blog I am sharing a layout I made with photos I took on our October trip to the pumpkin patch. My assignment was to use the stickers on fabric, so I chose to create my layout on burlap:

The stickers took to the burlap beautifully! Did you notice the lace and felt flower from my Etsy shop? That one is from the Autumn Afternoon Sampler.

You can find the SRM Stickers post here. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 8

2011-11-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for my family. I never imagined that as a mother I could love my children so much. I never guessed how good it would feel to make dinner together, eat together, sing together, pray together and play together. I grew up in a great family that did all those things, but the perspective of mother is different and now I understand. I am truly blessed. I am grateful to my husband, my partner in creating our little family, our little piece of heaven on earth. We had a great family night last night that I will share with you soon - we got crafty and I'd like to show you what we made, when it's finished :).

Precocious Paper is sponsoring The Studio this month! I am giving away your choice of the Very Merry line, the Vintage Poinsettia line, or a $25.00 shop credit. All you have to do is play along with a challenge this month. Our first one is up: Create a layout with hand-cut shapes. Scissors only! No punches or die-cut machines. Here is my take:

I hand-cut the circles from scraps of patterned paper. I thought the whimsy of the almost-circles matched the whimsy of the photos. This kid and his faces, I tell ya. Sometimes I wonder how so much personality fits in one little two year old!

I hope you'll play along with us! You can find all the details in this post here.

And speaking of sponsoring, Precocious Paper is also sponsoring Sketchy Thursdays' December Guest Designer Challenge! I'm giving away an Attitude of Gratitude kit and a $10.00 shop credit. For more information, see this post. Be sure to take a look at the design team samples - they all made layouts about gratitude and they are amazing!

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 7

2011-11-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

Good Monday morning :). I woke up headache-free and ready to tackle my to-do list. Spirits are high and I hope to keep it that way :). Today I am grateful for children who make me laugh. I think one of the characteristics you need to be a successful parent is a good sense of humor. While getting in the car to head off to school this morning, I heard from Carson, who was putting his seat belt on, "Everyday I'm buckling...." If you're familiar with the song "Party Rock Anthem" you'll get why it's so funny. If not, just know, I was cracking up. No matter how crazy my boys make me, they can always put a smile on my face with their silly antics and innocent takes on life. I just love them!

Over at the SRM Stickers blog on Friday I shared a calendar I made with their new calendar stickers:

I added the stickers to shipping tags, then hung the tags off of wires attached to an empty frame. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and even though we are still several weeks away from 2012, I'm enjoying seeing it up on my wall.

You can read more about how I made it on the SRM blog here. I've got more photos up in my flickr photostream here.

And one more crafty thing before I go.... If you follow Precocious Paper on Facebook, you're probably aware of this already, but I just have to let my blog readers know, too. Precocious Paper is going digital! I've partnered with Sahlin Studio to have select products digitized for use in digital scrapbooking! Autumn Afternoon is available now, and more is coming. You can purchase the digi elements here. And be sure to check out what the Sahlin Studio design team is doing with it all! Sigh, just gorgeous!

Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 4-6

2011-11-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hello! Another migraine sidelined me from Friday until today, so I'm going to do a bit of catching up now. I was sure to express gratitude to someone each day I didn't post here on the blog, so I was being grateful ;). I just wasn't able to sit down at the computer and type it all out.

Day 4: I am grateful for the opportunities I have to work with youth. As a mother, as a volunteer at my kids' school, as a youth leader at church and as a dance teacher, I have multiple opportunities to work with children, tweens and teens. I'm not always as mindful as I should be about the influence I have with these people, and I was reminded of that this week. I want to be an influence for good, and I am grateful that I have been trusted in so many places to do so.

Day 5: I am grateful for work. I am grateful that I have opportunities to bring income into my family through work that I love. I am grateful that my husband has a good job and that he can provide for us. I am grateful that I can teach my children the value of hard work. I am grateful that my parents taught me how to work.

Day 6: I am grateful for health. As I watched Jaxon go through his little ordeal this week (he's much better now, thank you!) and as I have experienced a major migraine this weekend, I am grateful that our lots are not any worse. I am grateful that, for the most part, we enjoy good health as a family. Things could change in an instant, so health is one blessing that I count every single day.

Before I go, I just wanted to share a little experience I had Friday. I wasn't feeling good at all, so I wasn't a very good playmate to Jaxon that morning. I set him up with train tracks and cars so that I could sit and rest for a little bit. When I handed him the last car, he looked up at me and said, "Tank you, Mommy." We're still working on the "th" sound :). But it wasn't prompted and it melted my heart. Gratitude is contagious. I hope you are sharing your gratitude often. I promise, it will catch on, and when there's gratitude, there's happiness.

Have a great day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 3

2011-11-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for fall. The colors haven't reached their peak yet in my neck of the woods, so I am enjoying seeing the trees down my street just now begin to blaze with color. I am watching the sky outside darken, and I just picked up a new (houndstooth and totally adorable) umbrella at Target. I love the crisp mornings, the cool air on my skin, and I just can't help but feel a little extra happy because of it all. I really do love fall, and I am grateful that I am able to enjoy it right now.

I made a layout about how fall makes me feel, and it's up at the Scrapbook Circle blog today:

I used the new kit from SBC, called Harvest Festival. I based my layout on a sketch by the fabulous Diana Fisher of Sketchy Thursdays, which she so kindly created for today's new challenge on the SBC blog.

I'd love to see you join in on the challenge! You can use any materials you'd like (although we would love to see SBC kits in action), and anyone can enter (subscriber or not). You can get all the details on the challenge here.

Looking for more sketch inspiration? Be sure to check out Sketchy Thursdays today :). Since it's not my team's week to create samples, and because my schedule is kinda hectic at the moment, I took the week off. But wow, there are fabulous things to see - so head on over!

And if that's just not enough to get your creative juices flowing, Miss Art's is having another Free Class Weekend this weekend! Here are the details:

Has Halloween left you covered in sweet wrappers, partially duct tapped to your child's abandoned costume with a bank account balance that's more trick than treat? If your feeling more hallow than happy let Miss Art's headmaster treat you to a fantastic, but time sensitive offer. For this weekend only, (November 4 - 6th) enjoy a tuition free class designed to renew your creativity, and go easy on your wallet. You can even snack on the candy "taxes" you've stolen from the kiddos while taking the class. Beginning on Friday, November 4th, you will have 3 days to check out one of our most popular classes for free, no subscription needed. In “Layered Layouts”, you will accompany our inspired resident architect, Julie Winks, as she explains the essential underpinnings of daringly designed layouts. We hope to see you in the class room and if you enjoy our class that you'll be kind enough to leave an apple or a comment for the teacher.

You can find Miss Art's Papercrafting School here. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 2

2011-11-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for the sound of little, chubby feet that run with reckless abandon down the hallway when Mommy comes home. I'm grateful for the tackle-style hug I get when those feet reach me, even when I lose my balance and down we go. I'm grateful for the gleeful shout of "Mommy!" and the newly learned phrase, "I miss you at the store, Mommy." I'm grateful for Jaxon and the opportunity to be his mother. And even though it was nice to go grocery shopping last night sans boys, I was so glad to get home and see them all.

Have you been by the SRM Stickers blog lately? They have kicked off a new contest, all about Tubes. You can read more about it here. And while you're there, you can check out this Grateful Wand that I made.

While you are expressing your gratitude this month, take every chance you get to express your gratitude for someone to that someone. Everyone needs to hear that they are appreciated, and whether you do it with a handmade gift, a card, or even just an email or phone call, it's important that it be said.

Enjoy your day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 1

2011-11-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Click to view larger.

I love this quotation from President Thomas S. Monson. It comes from an address you can find here. This is what my Attitude of Gratitude project is all about - lifting people up. We have enough negativity in our lives as it is. I hope this project brings light and happiness to everyone who participates.

Over the weekend, my son hurt his arm. It didn't seem broken or seriously hurt, but he was in a great deal of pain. My husband and my father gave him a priesthood blessing, and his disposition improved a bit. We planned to take him to the doctor first thing Monday morning if he wasn't feeling better. Sunday night was awful. My heart ached for Jaxon as he shouted in pain every time he tried to roll over in bed. It was a long, sleepless night. As soon as the older brothers were dropped off at school on Monday, we went to urgent care. The doctor found that he had nursemaid elbow, a partial dislocation. A quick pop back in and he was back to his normal self - within minutes! We are still moody because we are catching up on sleep, but he's okay. And I'm grateful. I'm grateful for priesthood blessings and for healthcare professionals and so much more.

What are you grateful for? If you would like to participate, you can read the invitation here. Many of you emailed me that you were joining in and even helped to spread the word. From those names, I've randomly drawn the winner of an Attitude of Gratitude kit from my shop. Congratulations to...

AMANDA JOHNSON!

Please send me your mailing address and I'll get the kit off to you right away. And speaking of the Attitude of Gratitude kit, I've asked my friend Heidi Myers to be a guest designer for Precocious Paper this month, and she has been working her magic with the kit. Would you like to see her cover?

Amazing, right?! We'll reveal more as the month goes along. I'll be sharing my album here and there, too. If you would like a kit, there are still a handful available in the shop. I promise to ship quickly so that you can start recording your gratitude right away :).

I'm grateful that you stopped by today :). Have a great day! Tessa

Designer Friday - More From Jules

2011-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Jules Dix has been busy with the October Sampler, Pumpkin Patch. She has created more fabulous, spooky home decor to share with us today.

Aren't these jars gorgeous? Jules has used flower embellishments from the sampler to accent and top these hauntingly pretty glass jars, as well as ribbons from the sampler as ties.

This cupcake poppy is a new design to Precocious Paper and will be available separately in the shop soon.

I love how this fabric and felt flower fits perfectly on top of the jar :). Besides being available in the sampler, you can also find this flower in the Halloween Bouquet.

Jules, thank you so much for all of your beautiful work with the October Sampler! If it weren't for that darn ocean I'd have to cross, I'd love to come trick-or-treating at your house :). It must be the best decorated Halloween haunt ever :).

If you haven't picked up your Pumpkin Patch sampler yet, there are still a handful available. Don't forget to take advantage of free shipping. I'm still celebrating 5000 sales with free shipping through the 31st - just use coupon code PP5000 during checkout. One randomly selected customer will receive a $50.00 shop credit, just for making a purchase during the celebration. Will it be you?

Have a fabulous weekend! Tessa

Naptime

2011-10-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

School started back in August, and with that, the return of a fairly regular naptime for Jaxon. However, lately he has been determined to skip those naps, which leads to a grumpy boy and flustered mama. A trick I learned was to schedule errands a bit before naptime, so that as we drove home, he would be lulled to sleep in the car. I took the photo in this layout on a recent outing.

I'm kinda excited about this picture. It's my first iPhone photo on a layout! Yes, I finally got an iPhone and I am loving it :). The first apps I downloaded were Instagram, Hipstamatic, and Pocketbooth. So much fun! Back to the layout, it's based on the new sketch at Sketchy Thursdays:

I decided to try a different type of banner accent and went with hand-cut hearts on a hand-drawn string.

I thought the film background paper was a good choice for the iPhone photo, and I kept everything else pretty simple. I sort of had to - my craft table was (and still is) covered with dozens upon dozens of new flowers for the shop and I had to scrap on the floor. I wasn't about to pull all my supplies down there with me, so I went for a minimalist look. I love the result :).

I hope you'll join us! A $20.00 gift certificate to a great kit club is up for grabs. You can find the details here. And if you're in the market for some tutorials for sewing on paper, I've got a pair of really good ones linked up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today. You can take a look here.

Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Miss Art's

2011-10-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hello! My first post as a design team member for Miss Art's Papercrafting School went up on the blog yesterday. I shared this layout, made with the "Eleanor's Garden" kit:

You can get "Eleanor's Garden" for free when you purchase the "Amelia's Solo" kit - fabulous deal! If you haven't been by Miss Art's to check out the store, it's really worth a look. The available supplies, including vintage and storage options for your craft space, are a wonderful variety that you don't seem to find anywhere else.

You can find my post here, and the shop is linked from there. I'm working on a few more layouts, as well as two new classes to be revealed soon! Exciting stuff is happening at Miss Arts :).

I hope your week is going well! Enjoy your day, Tessa

November Samplers

2011-10-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'd like you to meet "Very Merry" and "Vintage Poinsettia".

Very Merry Sampler:

1. Silver Metallic Cupcake Poppies

2. Felt Roses and Leaves

3. Butterfly Doilies

4. Sweet Spots

Vintage Poinsettia Sampler:

1. Gold Metallic Cupcake Poppies

2. Sweet Spots

3. Butterfly Doilies

4. Felt Roses and Leaves

As if the samplers weren't enticing enough, you can receive free shipping through the 31st as part of my 5000 Sales Celebration :). Just enter PP5000 during checkout. Free shipping is automatically offered to customers who purchased the previous month's sampler, so anyone who bought the October Sampler and chooses to purchase one of the November Samplers will receive a free gift, as well as free shipping. I've got to spoil you lovely shop supporters somehow, right?

Happy holiday crafting! Tessa

Cards for my hubby.

2011-10-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Yesterday I shared this long lost card (lost to the memory card, that is), and it made me remember that I never shared the cards I made for my husband for his birthday and our anniversary. In August. Better late than never, right?

For the anniversary card, I went with an office-y, layered theme.

I balanced the cutesy heart paper with the bold chevron paper, then added a pocket made from a graph paper bag. The large "9" sticker and the "i love you" sentiment are both SRM Stickers. The 2011 button is Ormolu, and the "note" tag is Elle's Studio. The felt heart is American Crafts (old, too - I wish they sold more of these!).

I topped it off with a bullnose clip that came from a Scrap Rat kit and a little splatter of Mister Huey. Josh loved it :).

I made his birthday card a bit more festive with banner stickers from Lily Bee. I'm a big fan of the number stickers from SRM, which I used again on this card. The "make a wish" stickers are also SRM. I tied the banners with bakers twine and used my handy dandy tiny attacher to secure it all, then added the buttons tied with twine with glue dots. He liked this one, too :).

I've been itching to make cards lately, so hopefully I'll be sharing more soon. Thank you for stopping by today! Tessa

PS - If you haven't heard, Precocious Paper reached 5000 sales! I'm celebrating....

Just sharing...

2011-10-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

Cleaning out my camera card I spotted this card that I whipped up for a birthday. Just thought I would share :).

Balloon punches, pop dots, and hand-drawn strings. Easy-peasy.

I love how easy SRM Stickers make it to add sentiments to quick cards :).

My 5000 sales celebration started yesterday, and what do you know? Precocious Paper hit 5000 sales! I'm so excited and grateful :). Here are the details on the sale:

Also, don't forget that Attitude of Gratitude is coming up! I have an Attitude of Gratitude Mini Album kit to give away for those sharing the event with their blog/facebook/twitter readers. You can check out all the details here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope your weekend has been lovely :). Tessa

5000 Sales Celebration!

2011-10-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I am super excited to be so close to reaching this milestone! This shop has been such a blessing to my family and me, and I cannot express just how much gratitude I have for the opportunity to own it and share it with you. I am so very thankful to all of you who purchase my products, spread the word about my shop, and support me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Beginning today and running through the 31st, I am celebrating! Here are the details (click to see larger):

I would appreciate it if my lovely international customers would purchase at least $10.00 of merchandise when using the free shipping coupon. Coupon is not valid for custom (or reserved) orders listed prior to the 22nd. However, all orders, custom or not, will go into the drawing for the $50.00 shop credit and are eligible to receive the free sampler for being sale #5000.

If you want to wait to shop until the 25th to see the reveal of the November samplers, I don't blame you :). But if you want to place an order now and hold it until then, just send me a convo or email.

Good luck and happy shopping! Tessa

PRECOCIOUS PAPER SHOP

Designer Friday - Jules Dix

2011-10-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! Halloween is just around the corner and I am thrilled to be sharing with you an amazing project created by October's guest designer, Jules Dix. I sent this lovely lady the Pumpkin Patch sampler and the photos she sent back just about knocked me out of my seat :).

Eeek! How awesome is this?! Not only has Jules expertly layered hauntingly gorgeous Halloween papers, but she has also tucked Precocious Paper flowers into several nooks.

I was especially excited to see what Jules did with the white tulle included in the sampler. She pulled and stretched the tulle to look like creepy fog. I think the tulle would great mummy wrappings or cobweb, too.

Amazing work, Jules! Thank you so much :). If you would like to play with the October Sampler, it's still available in the shop here.

In other Precocious Paper news, there are some fun things coming up!
♥ The November Samplers (yes, there are two!) go live on the 25th.
♥ A 5000 sales celebration is in the works - look for a coupon code and prizes to be announced soon.
♥ Attitude of Gratitude starts soon - be sure to add the badge to your blog and pick up a mini album kit here.
♥ A handful of items, including popular Sweet Spots, are down to their last sets. Search the shop for "last" to find and purchase the items that are next to gone.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! Tessa

Pink Projects

2011-10-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of projects out in blogland today, both of which are of the pink variety :). First up, a layout for the latest challenge at Scrapbook Circle - In Stitches:

Isn't my niece adorable?! She is SO cute :). The challenge is to use stitching on a layout, inspired by the sewing-themed papers in the October kit, Fresh Picked.

Everyone is welcome to play along, subscriber or not, so head over here for all the details. There's an awesome Halloween kit up for grabs.

I also have a project up on the SRM Stickers blog today.

I found a pink tennis shoe key chain in the dollar bin at JoAnn and just knew it had to become a wand for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Did you know that SRM Stickers has a whole line of BCA stickers? I used a phrase from one of the sheets on the tag.

Check out the SRM blog for more information and links to the BCA stickers. If you are looking for more BCA embellishments, take a peek at the kit in my Etsy shop here. Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope your Thursday is wonderful :). Tessa

Happy

2011-10-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

Raising this little guy has been different than the older two. Colten and Carson were born so close together (one year, one month, one week and one day apart), that it felt like I had always had two kids. They were into the same things nearly at the same time. They always had a buddy for entertainment. Jaxon, on the other hand, has only me during the school day. And he has me full-time, unlike his brothers, who saw Mom go to the dance studio for 30+ hours a week. So, our dynamic is different, and I am enjoying every possible moment. Like the one pictured in this layout.

Yes, it's a weed, but the sweet thought behind it is heart-melting. Really, there are no weeds when your boys offer you flowers ;). He is such a happy kid, and his happiness makes me happy.

I made this layout for the current challenge at The Studio - alter your background. I tend to alter the background of just about every page I make with mist or paint, so this time around I thought I would use rub-ons. I used a punchinella rub-on sheet from Glitz Designs, adding dots here and there, some overlapping and some distressed. I misted a bit on top of the dots, too.

If you'd like to play along, you can find the challenge here. And just to give you a heads up, in November it's my turn to set the challenges. I've got some ideas twirling around that I think will be fun, as well as a fabulous prize to give away! Thanks for stopping by today :). Have a good one! Tessa

Fall Colors

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love the traditional colors of fall, but throw in a juicy pink and pretty blue and I'm swooning!

This photo and color palette is the jumping off point for my latest GCD Studios layout:

The pink barn wood paper from the Spring in Bloom Collection by Donna Salazar was the perfect backdrop. I went with a trendy chevron pattern that I learned how to create here. Notice how I put the orange at the top (like the pumpkins in the cart), pink in the center (like the sweatshirt), and yellow at the bottom (like the pumpkin she's holding)? The colors of the design flow right into the photo and back out again.

To add interest to my chevron pattern, I tucked a string of sequins between each row. Distressing and bending the papers gave the sequins a chance to peek out.

I used the blue from the palette for my title so that it stood out from the other bold colors. I love the look of mixed alphas and used three different alpha styles for my long title.

When you scrapbook your pumpkin patch outing this year, don't be afraid to stray from the traditional orange. Throw in some pink or aqua for a fun take on a fall palette. Oh, and if you're wondering who this adorable little girl is (wait, Tessa only has boys...), this is my husband's cousin's daughter.

Thank you all for your support yesterday! I had so much fun working with Nantucket and putting together SRM/Pink Paislee projects. Thanks to Pink Paislee for the beautiful papers and embellishments to play with and to all of you for your sweet blog comments, emails and Facebook comments :). Here's the post if you missed it.

Don't forget - Attitude of Gratitude is gearing up again, and if you help spread the word, you could win one of the new Attitude of Gratitude Mini Album Kits from the shop. For details, see this post. I'm excited about the response so far and can't wait to get started :).

Have a great day, all! Tessa

Pink Paislee Nantucket

2011-10-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

If you've been following the SRM Stickers blog over the past several weeks, you are probably familiar with the Paper of the Week feature. Each Monday, a designer is sharing projects created with SRM products and a partner manufacturer. Today is my day, and the collection I was sent to play with was Pink Paislee's Nantucket :).

The first project I made was a birthday card for my mom:

All the papers, trim and die-cuts are from the Nantucket collection, and the sentiment is SRM.

Next, I made my mom a mini-album for her birthday. You can see all of the pages in my flickr photostream here.

The pages are 4" by 6" pieces of chipboard, each covered in Pink Paislee papers and trim. I made the flower on the cover out of one of the Pink Paislee Mistable trims by gathering it into a circle and stapling the center. I colored the Mistable alphas by dipping a paintbrush into my Glimmer Mist bottles.

I backed each photo with a large shipping tag to add height to the pages, setting each tag off from the one before to create a staggered look. I misted the Mistables trim to match the papers and simply hot glued them to the edges of the pages. I added pearls to each page, handwritten journaling, and of course - SRM Sticker sentiments! The little glassine envelopes are filled with opalescent sequins. I thought they looked like ocean bubbles :). I also added a few die-cuts from the collection to the envelopes.

Next, I made a little home decor project to add to my livingroom collage wall.

My boys love their bikes, and when I saw the Mistable bicycle in the collection, I knew I had to do something with it. I spray painted the bicycle and the word explore with glossy black paint. I cut free-form hearts from leftover trim and created a little banner with an SRM sentiment. I simply glued it all to a white background and framed it :).

I needed a little thank you gift and the Nantucket collection was perfect for a tube and tag:

The candy is Cookies and Cream Drops (like the candy bar, but in a no-shell, pop in your mouth form - yummy!). The tag is layered with Nantucket die-cuts and trim, as well as SRM sentiments.

Lastly, I made a layout of one of our summer adventures. Yes, I live in California, but we didn't make it to the ocean this year. However, we did enjoy the lake and Nantucket still worked for this page:

I left the Mistable alphas and wood pieces natural because I love the colors of the wood. I clustered die-cuts and used SRM stickers as my title and journaling. I really love the way this one turned out :).

So that was my adventure with Pink Paislee's Nantucket! I loved working with the collection. SRM Stickers couldn't have been a better partner to the products. You can see the Paper of the Week post - and WIN the collection, as well as a package of SRM Stickers - at the SRM blog here. You can see more photos of these projects here. And if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll be sure to address them soon. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude 2011

2011-10-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Announcing the return of...

Last year I decided to devote the month of November to developing a greater understanding of gratitude, as well as a greater desire to express my gratitude. I made the commitment to express gratitude on a daily basis, and I did so here on my blog as well as on Facebook. The change that happened inside of me was amazing, and I became a much happier person. I can't wait to start the challenge again and I hope that you will join me, too.

This time around, I want to enhance the experience with a few new things. In addition to my daily thoughts, I will be posting quotations, and links to articles and videos - all about gratitude. I'm not the only blogger out there doing a month-long tribute to thankfulness, so I will be pointing you in the direction of others who are doing similar things, too.

Here is how you can be a part of it:

1. Add the image above as a badge to your blog.
2. Blog your thoughts on gratitude daily (or as often as you can throughout the month).
3. Share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter if you prefer.
4. Write your thoughts in a journal.
5. Collect your thoughts throughout the month and create a layout or mini album to display your gratitude.

Speaking of a mini album, look what just popped up on the Precocious Paper shelves today:

A mini album kit designed just for Attitude of Gratitude! You could really use this kit for anything that your heart desires, but I will be documenting my thoughts of thanks in this journal, and so is my guest designer in November :). You can see more about the kit and purchase it here.

And just like last year, I will be giving away a gift certificate to the shop to one random participant of Attitude of Gratitude. More details on that will be coming soon :).

Dozens of people participated last year and I would love to see that number grow this time around. Can you help me spread the word? There's an Attitude of Gratitude kit in it for you :). To be entered to win the kit, do any of the following:

1. Post the Attitude of Gratitude badge to your blog with a link to this post.
2. Blog about Attitude of Gratitude.
3. Post about Attitude of Gratitude on Facebook.
4. Tweet about Attitude of Gratitude.
5. Pin the Attitude of Gratitude badge to Pinterest (from this blog).

For each of these things, you receive one entry. Leave a comment telling me what you did (and linking me to your posts). You only need to leave one comment, or you can leave a separate comment for each post you make. Jaxon and I like to pull names from a hat to select winners, so comment however you'd like :).

I'm excited! Thank you so much for stopping by today :). Enjoy your day! Tessa

Journaling Junky

2011-10-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

I rarely do a layout without journaling. As I look back on my pages, the journaling is what I spend the most time going through, so I feel like I need to write at least something on every layout I make. If you need a serious dose of journaling in your next page, the new Sketchy Thursdays sketch is a great place to start. Here's my take:

And here's the sketch:

I was tired but feeling creative when I sat down to make this page, so I decided to use only what was right in front of me rather than getting up to raid my supply closet. And what was right in front of me? My drawer of Scrap Rat bits and pieces. Some things are from past kits and some pieces are from the shop. Every piece is vintage, except for the little tag, background paper and blue alphas.

My take on the journaling was to use the word strips that Amanda (of Scrap Rat) made on her vintage typewriter. I lined up a handful that helped tell the story of that day.

You can find all the details for playing along at Sketchy Thursdays here. There's an awesome prize up for grabs, too :). And speaking of journaling, the "Get Wordy" challenge at Scrapbook Circle is still going strong. Here's my latest take on the challenge:

You can read more about the page at SBC today (here). For my journaling I focused on an important message.

You can join in the SBC challenge, subscriber or not, here. How cool would it be to combine both the Sketchy Thursdays sketch and the SBC challenge?! Two birds with one stone :). I'll be back tomorrow with the return of my favorite blog event and a new release from Precocious Paper. Have a great day, everyone! Tessa

Scrap Rat October Kit

2011-10-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

I know I say this every month that I get to design with one of Amanda's kits, but Scrap Rat kits are amazing! The balance of new product with vintage pieces is just right, and Amanda always brings together the perfect elements for layout after layout after layout :). Today I'd like to share this page with you:

I love this bird paper by Glitz and just couldn't bring myself to cut into it. So, it became my background paper:). I clustered my two photos with two vintage playing cards. The cards' floral patterns were a perfect match!

A few doily flowers and vintage buttons, as well as my favorite piece of chipboard EVER (the bird from Random) helped me capture that goofy afternoon at the park perfectly :).

I typed my journaling (it's been a long time since I've done that!) and used the Random alphas and chipboard to create my title. This was the quickest of the pages to make, and I think it may be my favorite. I'll share more soon, but if you want to take a peek, the gallery is here. And you can get the amazing kit for yourself here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Catching up at GCD Studios

2011-10-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! I've had a couple of posts go live at the GCD Studios blog that I didn't have a chance to mention here, so I thought I would share my projects today. First, a color palette-inspired layout:

This photo/color palette was my starting point:

The layered patterned papers and die-cut lace are by GCD Studios, as well as the brads and cabochons. The journaling is hidden on the tag behind the photo.

My latest project was inspired by this image that I found on Pinterest (source):

I basically made another wand like the one here, but with butterflies instead of flowers. All the patterned papers are by GCD Studios and the wand is by SRM Stickers. You can see more photos in my flickr photostream here.

The DT has been sworn to secrecy, but GCD has some really great things coming up! They are going to wow the floor at CHA-Winter :). Well, I'm off to get a very productive Monday in full swing. I hope yours is a good one! Tessa

Coming soon...

2011-10-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

As I've been filling orders, I've been daydreaming about new fabrics, flowers, and embellishments that I want to get on my virtual shelves. If only I could add another twelve hours to the day.... :). Would you like to daydream with me? Coming soon to Precocious Paper:

My last lavender offering sold out quickly, so this one and another set will soon be available to keep you purple-lovers happy :).

I'm a sucker for chevron. And this one would be so fun with any color of felt :).

My last yellow with pink roses sold out really fast. I hope I bought enough of this one :).

I am in love with the new Joel Dewberry fabrics. This one makes me think of fall.

And this one makes me want to redecorate my bedroom.

And this one reminds me why blue is my all-time favorite color.

Look for these fabrics, as well as many others, in several new offerings soon. I say soon because I really can't pinpoint a day or time, but soon :). I'm just itching to create new pretty things. Have a great weekend! Tessa

Fresh Picked

2011-10-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Fresh Picked is the name of the October kit at Scrapbook Circle, and that is the kit that I used to create layouts for two challenges that start today. First, Sketchy Thursdays! If you haven't been by yet, today is an exciting day. The new design team is sharing layouts for the first time and the challenge post is just full to the brim with inspiration. Here is my contribution:

And here is the sketch:

Rather than blocks of pattern in the background, I used the Elle's Studio tags to create a mosiac-like pattern.

I love the woodshop alphas that come in the kit. The package includes the little hearts I used to accent my page, too.

For all the details on playing along at Sketchy Thursdays this week, see this post. The next challenge I'd like to share is at Scrapbook Circle - Get Wordy!

Inspired by some of the papers in the kit, the challenge is to focus on writing. I created this photo-less layout to document my love of lists. I hope someday my kids will enjoy reading stories like this, remembering my quirks.

Everyone is welcome to play at SBC, kit subscriber or not, so join in the fun! Lisa is giving away the Halloween kit, Hallow's Eve, to the winner :). You can find the details here.

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Color Palette Inspiration

2011-10-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hello! We have a new challenge up at The Studio - a color palette challenge:

Here is my take, heavy on the pink:

I used a little bit of American Crafts' Peachy Keen line (grey) and a whole lot of Crate Paper's Random line.

I hope you'll play along. You can join us here. For now, I'm headed back to bed. The boys got sick the end of last week and after tending to them and going to work over the weekend, I've been knocked down by it, too. I hope that some rest today will get me back up and at 'em soon. Have a happy and healthy day! Tessa

October Samplers

2011-09-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

The October Samplers are finally live! First, let's meet Pumpkin Patch:

Pumpkin Patch Sampler

Filled with the traditional colors of Halloween, I threw in a good dose of kraft. It reminds me of the hay bales at the pumpkin farm and it just felt so "fall" to me :).

Pumpkin Patch Sweet Spots

Pumpkin Patch Butterfly Doilies

Pumpkin Patch Felt Roses and Leaves

Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and because my grandmother was affected by breast cancer this past year, I decided to offer this Pink Ribbon Sampler:

Whether you use the sampler with Breast Cancer Awareness in mind, or just enjoy playing with the pink, white and black embellishments, I hope you take a moment as you create to send out prayers and good thoughts for all those affected by the disease.

Everything is up in the shop now :). Enjoy creating (and shopping!) everyone! Tessa

This and That...

2011-09-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

I know that for most of you it already Tuesday, but I thought I would squeeze a post in before Monday was over. I want to say thank you to all of those who left comments on this giveaway post. I asked you to share your tips for cultivating a good life, and the things you said were all so wonderful! I highly suggest you read through the comments. Every single one is a great idea that needs instant implementing :). The randomly selected winner of the giveaway is Debbie Butcher! We've already chatted via email and I can't wait to see what she does with the September kit from Scrapbook Circle :).

Speaking of wonderful words, I have to share something from this past weekend that pierced by heart and filled me with peace and comfort that I can't even begin to express with words. If you are a woman that has ever doubted her self-worth, felt invisible or like she couldn't do enough, or looked around at her daily life and wondered "why?", then you need to hear this. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to pause the music player.

On a business note, I am a bit late in releasing the October Samplers. I should be up and running very soon :). I'm in the middle of planning a big event for the young women at church, so my priorities are a little different this month than the usual. Thanks for your patience :).

Have a wonderful night! Tessa

Designer Friday!

2011-09-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Before I share with you a gorgeous layout by design team member Amanda Jones, I want to thank you for the great response to last week's Fan Friday :). Thanks to Emily Hammann, as well, for sharing her work with us. If you would like to be featured, please send me an email at precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com. And now for Amanda's layout:

How fun is this?! Definitely not something you see in my part of the world :). I bet this fabulous page came together pretty quickly, too. A cardstock base, a photo, a few felt roses and leaves, a butterfly doily and a sweet spot, a title and handwritten journaling. Seems like the perfect recipe for a great, but easy, page.

Thank you, Amanda! I love it! All of the embellishments can be found in my shop here.

Thank you for spending a few minutes of your Friday with me. Before you go, you may want to read yesterday's post for a chance to win a September Kit from Scrapbook Circle. Tomorrow I will be sharing a Marilyn Monroe inspired layout, and Sunday is reveal day for the October Samplers - yes, I said samplerS. See you soon! Tessa

Fun News and a Giveaway!

2011-09-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to be staying on for another term at Sketchy Thursdays! Several girls from the last DT have now been joined by many other very talented designers, and I am excited to be a part of it :). You can read the announcement here. There's a new sketch up today, too.

I think this is one I will go back to again and again. I love how simple and versatile it is:

My mother-in-law gave me a whole bunch of big paper doilies, in all kinds of shapes, and I was happy to find a circle large enough in scale for the page. Thanks, Mom!

You can find all the details for playing along at Sketchy Thursdays here. I also have a layout up at Scrapbook Circle today. Our current challenge is to use a number on a layout, inspired by the "playbook" paper in the September kit. Here is my take:

Jaxon's game face just cracks me up. He's my little football player :). Look out, his tackle is tough for a 2 year old! Anyone can join the challenge, club member or not, so head on over for all the details.

And speaking of the September Kit, I get to give one away!!! Crate Paper Random, Amy Tangerine...it's a fabulous kit!

The kit is called "The Good Life", so I want to hear your tip for cultivating a good life. Leave your idea in a comment on this post by Sunday night and I will announce a winner on Monday. Good luck!

Have a great Thursday, everyone! Tessa

Sisters and Schedules

2011-09-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

This week feels much more manageable than last :). I feel like I have a rhythm, and although this is my first blog appearance of the week, my priorities are in line and my to-do list didn't keep me up last night. Before a new challenge pops up at Sketchy Thursdays tomorrow, I thought I had better share my layout from last week:

This challenge is in conjunction with a blog hop at Scrap Fit, and as part of that hop, we were also asked to use the theme of friends. Well, my best friends are my sisters, so I scrapped a favorite photo of the four of us. The sketch is a great one for a series of photos:

I used one of my favorite color palettes, as well as butterflies from my latest Sampler, Autumn Afternoon. I also used some gold doilies that I've had in my stash for awhile, and some new goodies from My Mind's Eye. Their stamps are my new favorites (lace border).

You can get all the information on playing along here. A new challenge also went up at The Studio this past Sunday: list journaling. I love list journaling as a technique to get words on the page without being too fussy. I used a past Sketchy Thursdays sketch, no photos, and list journaling to describe a typical day:

For my title, I loved the look of overlapping alphas, but I had to get creative so that it was all even:

You can find all the details for playing along here. There's an Ella Publishing gift card up for grabs, so you really do want to join us :). I'm off to get the boys to school, finish up some orders, choreograph a musical theater number for my youth group, and tick a few other things off of my to-do list. I hope your day is as happy and productive as you'd like :). Tessa

Fan Friday - Emily Hammann

2011-09-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to the first installment of Fan Friday! I love getting emails from customers with photos of what they created with my Precocious Paper embellishments. It's really exciting to see how they took something I made with my two hands and made it a part of their own creation. I try to promote their work by sharing on Facebook and pinning on Pinterest, but I decided that I needed to devote some of my blog space to celebrating their creativity. So, one Friday per month now belongs to my lovely customers!

We've welcomed many new friends and fans since the birthday blog hop, including this month's spotlight, Emily Hammann.

Emily was so sweet to work with when placing her order and I just knew as I wrapped up that package that she would be making something fabulous. When she shared photos with me on Facebook, I was not disappointed :). First up, a pretty wreath:

Emily has inspired me to make a wreath with the September Sampler, too. She also has me itching to make an altered canvas:

Emily, thank you so much for sharing your talents with us! You really made Precocious Paper shine :). If you would like to know more about Emily, you can visit her blog here. You can find the products she worked with here. If you are interested in being featured on the blog, please send an email with photos of your Precocious Paper projects to precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com. Have a great day everyone! Tessa

PS - I know I've been awful quiet this week. It's been one of those weeks when everyone needs my undivided attention and there just aren't enough hours in the day to tend to them and the blog. I promise to catch up this coming week - I've got a handful of scrappy things to share!

Designer Friday - Diana Waite

2011-09-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! I'm excited to have Diana Waite return as a guest designer today. She has done some fabulous things with the September Sampler, Autumn Afternoon.

First up, this beautifully simple layout:

I love how the kraft cardstock and stitching are the perfect backdrop for the clustered flowers. So pretty :). Not only does she do layouts, but Diana is a fabulous cardmaker, too.

The papers Diana used are from the new Amy Tangerine line. What a great combination!

This card holds a special surprise....

What a cute gift! And I love how the ribbon from the sampler made a frame for it all :). Diana, your work is beautiful! Thank you so much!

The September Sampler is selling like hotcakes! The response has been fantastic. If you'd like one, you can find it here. Once you get your sampler, please share what you created with it on the Facebook page or the Flickr page. Or if you are showing off on your blog, send me a link to your post and I'll add it to the Pinterest page. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Happiness and Paper Airplanes

2011-09-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hello! I've got two layouts to share with you today :). First up, a new sketch from Sketchy Thursdays inspired this layout:

I dug deep into my scraps for this one and love the combination of papers I ended up with. I also tried to use embellishments that have long been waiting to be added to a page and I think I'm quite "happy" with the result.

Here's the fabulous sketch:

Be sure to stop by the blog to see the other designers' takes as well as this week's prize. Layout number two today is one I made for the challenge at Scrapbook Circle.

To play along, you need to create a layout about travel. I used some of the new Amy Tangerine papers for this layout (from September's kit), as well as paper airplanes I asked my hubby to make. No, I don't know how to fold paper airplanes. As a mom to three boys, I should probably learn ;).

You can find all the details for playing along here. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! Tessa

The Studio - Back to School

2011-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up after the Labor Day holiday - two posts in one day! Be sure to read my GCD Studios update here.

The current challenge at The Studio is to create a layout with a school theme. As I looked through my photos, I realized that I never scrapped this photo of my son with his teacher on the first day of school last year.

I pulled papers from my scrap drawer and made some Sweet Spots (like the ones in my Etsy shop). I wrapped twine around the layout and added the date with Jenni Bowlin stickers/chipboard. My title is an SRM Sticker.

Speaking of titles, if you peek over at The Studio blog, you will see that my original sample says "second grade". Oops. He's in second grade this year, duh. A quick trim off the top and a new piece of cardstock underneath made my fix quick and easy.

Ella Publishing is sponsoring the month of September at The Studio, and your school-themed layout could earn you a $20.00 gift certificate! I have loved every e-book by Ella that I have purchased, so I can personally attest to how awesome that prize is. You can join us here.

Thanks for stopping by (again!). Tessa

GCD Studios Update

2011-09-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

With school back into full swing, I have taken a look at some our routines from last year that could use some tweaking (or complete overhauls!). One thing we've struggled with is storing and organizing homework supplies. We've tried several things, but finally, this project that I shared on the GCD Studios blog on Tuesday seems to be working best.

Last year each of my boys had their own pencil box filled with the same supplies. It didn't work very well, and I'll tell you what I learned. Without a specific home for everything within the box, it was hard for my boys to know what was actually there. Scissors can drown in a sea of coloring crayons, you know. They could leave a glue stick out one afternoon and not realize it until the next day (after little brother ran away with it).

The compartments in this particular box will help my boys to see all of their supplies at a glance. If a compartment is empty, something must still be out.

So far, so good. The box is holding up quite well, the supplies haven't gone missing, everything is still in its proper place.... My fingers are crossed that this will continue to be a good solution for the rest of the year. And isn't that school-themed paper the cutest? Love those pencils :).

Did you know that GCD Studios has a monthly newsletter? Heidi Sonboul does such a great job with it. It's filled with layouts and projects that you won't see on the blog, as well as tutorials, designer features, and news about upcoming events and contests. Just send an email to inthestudio@gcdstudios.com to be added. Here's a layout of mine that was included in a recent newsletter:

And after you've signed up for the newsletter, be sure to check out the kit of the month. To win one, see this post for details.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day! Tessa

Birthday Blog Hop Winners

2011-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Random comments, $5.00 credit winners:
Alisha
Ursula
Wendi
Mippy
Scrappin' Abz

Blog follower, $20.00 credit winner:
Amanda Johnson

Facebook fan, $20.00 credit winner:
Kayla DuPont

Grand prize, October-December Samplers winner:
Tina

Congratulations everyone! Please email me at precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com to claim your prizes. Thank you to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me, especially the fabulous designers who contributed their time and talents. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Tessa

Not too serious about 30

2011-09-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hello! First, I want to welcome all of my new blog followers :). Thank you for adding me to your list of places to visit. Second, I have to say thank you for all the birthday wishes! I seriously was overwhelmed yesterday :). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Today I have a Sketchy Thursdays layout to share with you.

I love how versatile this one is. The design team has a great variety of takes on this one, so be sure to check out today's post for more inspiration.

I wasn't going to add the hairy mustache to my layout right there. I was simply holding it above the mustache in the photo to see if it really was the same shape, but then the sticker stuck and wouldn't come off without damaging the photo. So, I guess it's now a fun 3-d effect :).

I would love to see you play along at Sketchy Thursdays! This week's prize is the September kit from Scrapbook Circle, and because I have that kit in hand I can tell you it's definitely something worth playing for!

I'm off to fill orders :). If you want in on free shipping and a free gift this week, just pull a coupon code from any designer's blog from the hop (click here to get a list of designers). The codes are good through Monday the 5th. Oh, and I'll be back tomorrow with all of the winners from the hop! Have a great day! Tessa

Birthday Blog Hop, Part Three

2011-08-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I am overwhelmed with birthday wishes! Turning 30 really isn't so bad with friends like you! I wanted to pop in today with a little gift I made myself :).

I'm not trying to be artistic with this photo, but it was noon when I took it and boy, was the sun bright! I made myself a brooch to match a new top. I used two felt roses like the ones I sell in the shop, but I added lace to make them just a bit more special.

And speaking of felt roses, here's a peek at one of the "thank you" gifts going out with orders purchased this week :).

If you haven't had a chance to join in on the hop yet, there's still time! You can start here. I will cut off entries for prizes at midnight my time (PDT). I'll announce all the lucky ladies on Friday :).

THANK YOU so much for making my birthday so very special! Tessa

Birthday Blog Hop, Part Two

2011-08-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hello! I am having so much fun with this blog hop! If you haven't had a chance to join in yet, or if you have no idea what I'm talking about, please see THIS post. As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to share something new each day of the hop, and today I am sharing a mini album that I made with a hodgepodge of supplies, a yo-yo flower from the August Sampler and the Summer Twilight Sweet Spots.

To see more of this album, please see my flickr photostream. Speaking of flickr, did you know there is a flickr page for Precocious Paper? If you have made anything with Precocious Paper products, feel free to add it to this group. Also, I've begun a Pinterest board for projects I find around blogland that feature Precocious Paper products. You can find that here. I'll be adding all the blog hop projects soon!

Before I go, I thought I'd answer a couple questions I received about the hop:

♥ When will winners be announced? Friday.

♥ If I have trouble with Blogger and can't leave a comment, what should I do? I want everyone to have a chance to win the Grand Prize, which requires leaving a comment with each designer. If some blogs are being difficult, please leave a comment about that designer's project on the Precocious Paper Facebook page. If you aren't on Facebook, feel free to shoot me an email - precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Thank you all so much for celebrating with me! Have a fabulous day! Tessa

Birthday Blog Hop!

2011-08-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I am *thrilled* to be kicking off my Birthday Blog Hop today! I even have butterflies in my tummy as I type this :). I am turning the big three-oh on Wednesday, and I thought that it would be fun to celebrate online with some of my scrappy friends and fans of my Etsy shop, Precocious Paper. Nineteen talented designers have created fabulous projects. I hope you will join us!

I am going to share a new project each day of the hop, and today I am sharing a new yarn wreath:

I used the chartreuse yo-yo flower from the August Sampler, Summer Twilight, as well as the Navy, Fuchsia and White Felt Roses.

Presents are a fun part of having a birthday, so I have some for you! Here are the details:

♥ Leave a comment on EVERY designer's post, as well as this post, to be entered to win the Grand Prize - the September, October, November and December Samplers! That's a value of over $50.00, and the upcoming samplers are some of my favorites ever :).
♥ As you are leaving your comments, I will randomly be choosing hoppers to receive surprise gifts.
♥ One lucky blog follower who participates in the hop will win a $20.00 gift certificate.
♥ One lucky Facebook fan will win a $20.00 gift certificate.
♥ All purchases made August 29th - September 5th will receive a free gift.
♥ Find free shipping codes at each designer's blog.

Ready to hop? Here is the AMAZING line-up! If you get lost, just come back here to get back on track. And when you're all done, don't forget to come back and tell me what you thought of the hop!

Tessa Buys (you're here now)

If you don't have a chance to visit all the blogs today, no worries! The hop runs through Wednesday, August 31st. Thank you to all the designers who so willingly joined in on the hop, and thank you for celebrating with me. Have fun! Tessa

Birthday Blog Hop Starts Tomorrow!

2011-08-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited!

To see all the designers participating, as well as some of the Precocious Paper product they got to play with, visit the Precocious Paper Facebook Page here.

Have a great day!

What a week!

2011-08-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Monday was wonderful. Josh had the day off and we accomplished quite a bit, including our school shopping. We were looking forward to one more day of summer and then sending Colten and Carson off to 3rd and 2nd grades. However, Tuesday did not go as planned.

About mid-afternoon my mother-in-law, who lives just across the street (no Everybody Loves Raymond issues here!), rushed in and told the boys to get their shoes on. I was getting ready to pack orders and came out from my craft room to hear, "We are being evacuated." A police officer had just driven down our street, calling for people to leave their homes because a tanker, filled with propane and less than a mile away, had caught on fire. I scooped up my purse and kids and off to my parents' house we went.

While we waited for Josh to get home from work, they widened the evacuation zone a little and made it mandatory. Because I had left everything behind, including my crockpot dinner, Josh snuck back in on his way to us and grabbed our bedding, clothes, diapers, etc. - and the crockpot :). The news was getting dire. Not only was the tanker on fire, but it was surrounded by hundreds of gallons of more propane. If the tanker were to explode, much of downtown, the high school, our neighborhood and our house would be destroyed.

They canceled the first day of school, then later canceled school until Monday. The boys were sad about that, but they were enjoying cartoons and treats and Grandma's house. We settled in for the night, along with another family. It was a little crowded and a little tense, but we were glad we all had a place to go to.

The next morning we heard that a team of experts from Texas had flown in and were preparing to do a hot tap. They were going to weld a valve and pipe to the burning tanker and drain the propane into a pond that they were digging. Preparations took all day, and the process didn't really begin until that night. They quickly discovered that the tanker had thousands of gallons of propane less than they had estimated and switched tactics. Firefighters pumped foam into the top of the tanker and were able to put out the fire. They lifted the evacuation at about midnight, but we waited until morning to go home.

Through this experience my belief in the power of prayer was strengthened, I was impressed with the leaders of my church and their concern for every member's welfare, and I learned how poorly prepared I was for an emergency like that. We are currently preparing a more mobile way to have clothes, food, and supplies ready to go at an instant. I strongly encourage everyone to have kits of emergency supplies prepared - now. Don't wait for something to happen. Get them ready now. If that tanker had exploded, all we would have owned would have been what we brought with us, and it would not have been enough. We are all safe and sound in our home and counting our blessings, but we are taking this experience as a warning and getting things in order.

On a happier, scrappier note, I did manage to release the September Sampler, Autumn Afternoon, on time yesterday :). Click on the photos for links.

Don't forget - my Birthday Blog Hop starts on Monday! I can't wait for you to see what all these talented ladies have been making!

Also, Miss Art's Papercrafting School is having a free class weekend! For all the details on that, please see the information here. I LOVE watching these classes and participating in the chats. It's so fun to get to know other scrappers this way, see their process and learn new things. Give it a try - you'll love it too!

Thank you to everyone who emailed, called, posted on Facebook, sent prayers, etc. I really appreciate it. I hope I have a very calm and uneventful weekend :). Enjoy yours too! Tessa

The Studio - Looking Forward

2011-08-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

Teaching nine dance classes while you have a cold = losing your voice and sounding like a frog. Other than that, and the occasional cough and sneeze, I am feeling much better than I did last week. I am looking forward to accomplishing a lot this week. Speaking of looking forward, there's a new challenge at The Studio: create a layout about something you're looking forward to.

I am looking forward to fall :). Summer hasn't been too bad temperature-wise, but I am looking forward to cooler temperatures and a warmer wardrobe. I'm already scoping out new cardigans and scarves.

I used the navy roses from this set in my Etsy shop, as well as the leaves from this set. As you can see, my blossoming love for the color navy blue is growing and growing :).

So what are you looking forward to? I hope you'll join us. You can find the challenge details here. A lucky participant will win a gift certificate to Scrap Rat, and you definitely want that :). I'm off to catch up in the shop, finish getting the boys ready for their first day of school tomorrow, and to wrap up plans for next week's blog hop! Have a great day. Tessa

PS - Outfit image source via Pinterest.

Designer Friday - September Sneak Peek

2011-08-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm so sorry for my absence this week. After taking care of a sick husband all weekend, I caught what he had :(. Despite the sniffles and sore throat, I am excited to be sharing a sneak peek of my September Sampler with you, courtesy of Mandy.

First, Mandy created a birthday display for her daughter. How cute is this? The butterfly and large flower are from the sampler. Mandy used one of the included ribbons to create another flower.

Next, Mandy made this beautiful necklace. Using a chain from GCD Studios and a pendant made with Epiphany Crafts items, Mandy attached four flowers from the sampler: the large ginger-colored satin flower, two silk flowers in rust and mustard, and a woodgrain mustard yo-yo flower.

You will have to wait to see more with the September Sampler. I've asked Mandy to share another project during the Birthday Blog Hop. I hope you are planning on attending :). The designers I have lined up are all fabulous and I just know they are creating amazing things to share.

I'm off to finish orders and hopefully wrap up some projects before heading off to dance. I love my Fridays, but being sick is going to make 5 hours of dance class interesting :). Have a wonderful weekend! Tessa

Accessorizing

2011-08-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! I hope your weekend is going well so far :). I thought I would pop in with a post about some accessories I've been making lately.

A couple of Sundays ago I wanted to wear one of my really long necklaces, the kind you loop around your neck twice for a layered effect. I struggle with this necklace because Jaxon likes to pull on it when he sits on my lap, and I'm constantly adjusting it. If only I could clip the necklace in place somehow, I thought. Cue lightbulb moment. I went to my scrapbook room and whipped up a little flower clip. It kept my necklace in place perfectly and was a great pop of color to add to my cardi and dress.

I recently had the opportunity to make hair clips for two lovely flower girls in an upcoming wedding. Their dresses are ivory and champagne and the wedding accent colors are lime green and orange - so pretty!

If you are interested, I do take custom orders for hair clips, head bands, brooches, etc. Just send me an email or convo me through Etsy. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Tessa

Designer Friday - Heather Leopard

2011-08-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! Today I am excited to introduce Precocious Paper's August guest designer, Heather Leopard! Heather has been playing with the August Sampler, Summer Twilight.

Heather decided to dabble in couponing, and what better to get yourself excited about clipping coupons than a fabulous coupon clutch? This adorable organizer began as a simple $1 find at Target. Embellished with the large polka dot fabric flower, the satin twist flower and one of the felt spiral flowers from the sampler, this coupon clutch would definitely encourage me to save some coin at the grocery store :).

Heather also prettied up a simple pillar candle. She wrapped the candle in ribbons from the sampler and then layered flowers and leaves in a cluster on the front. So pretty! What an easy gift, too :).

Heather still has plenty of goodies to create with, and you'll see more from her during the Birthday Blog Hop August 29th-31st. If you would like to play with the August Sampler, I still have a few left. You can find it in the shop here. And if you'd like to get to know Heather better, you can read about her on the Design Team page and find her blog here. If you haven't received a sampler in the mail before, Heather will show you what it looks like when it arrives :).

Have a great day! Tessa

A Tour of Tessa in Blogland Today

2011-08-11T09:01:00.001-07:00

I've got a few projects out in blogland today that I wanted to share with you. First up, Sketchy Thursdays!

The three small photo spaces in the sketch were perfect for these pictures of my little man going down the slide again and again.

You can find all the details (playing along, the DT's samples, the awesome prize) at the Sketchy Thursdays blog. I also have a layout up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today, featuring the August kit, You Are My Sunshine:

The current challenge is to create a layout that includes circles. Everyone is welcome to join in on the challenge, subscriber or not. I'd love to see you play along. You can find the details here.

Lastly, I have a project up on the GCD Studios blog today :). Using the Great Outdoors line, I created a sign for my boys' backyard clubhouse:

You can read all about it here. Phew! I think that just about covers it :). Today is my mom's birthday, so I'm off to finish her card and present (to be shared very soon!). Have a fabulous day! Tessa

More Scrap Rat

2011-08-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hello! I wanted to share another layout and a card that I created with the August Scrap Rat kit.

Jaxon is really good at peddling his tricycle now. It's the first thing he plays with when he goes outside. At least a few times a day, while I'm folding laundry or working in my scrapbook room, I'll hear his little voice say, "Hi Mom!" I'll turn around to find that he has peddled his way through the garage, kitchen, dining room and down the hallway to me. One time the camera was handy, so I had to snap some photos before he put it in reverse and headed back outside.

He also has a thing for the number three right now, which is what this layout is about. Besides his three-wheeler, he thinks the answer to any kind of number question is three, including how old he is. He's really two.

One of my favorite elements in the kit is the package of mini cameos from The Girls Paperie. I used one here to top off my twine bow. I'm excited to share with you my last project from the August kit, but you'll have to wait until it's my turn for a tutorial on the Scrap Rat blog in a couple of weeks. If you haven't had a chance to check out Scrap Rat, you can find them here.

Have a great day! Tessa

The Studio - Books

2011-08-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

There's a new layout challenge at The Studio, with a voucher to Scrap Rat up for grabs. The challenge is to create a layout inspired by books - titles, covers, stories, anything related to books.

When I first began designing for Scrap Rat about a year ago, I was sent a beautiful, distressed, vintage book cover. I thought about using it for a mini album cover, but I just never found the right project. Then this challenge came along and I just knew I had to incorporate my book cover.

I love the left edge where you can see it was torn from the spine of the book. I love the worn corners, scuffs and scratches. I thought it would make a great background piece. As I looked for a photo to use, this picture of my boys in their Converse and blue jeans grabbed my attention. The blue was perfect, and then the title and journaling seemed to just fall into place, right on theme.

If you'd like to play along, we would love to have you! You can find all the details on entering here. Have a wonderful day! Tessa