Another Sweet Bird Card

Hi there!   Our snow melted overnight and it is sunny and pretty outside!  Yay!  It's feeling a little more like spring break today, even if it's still pretty cold out! :)  With springtime on my mind, thought I'd share another spring inspired card with you this morning:

This card uses the same recipe as yesterday's card!  I've paired the adorable For the Birds set with another pattern from the  new Tea For Two DSP pack from Stampin' Up!  The image has been watercolored with my ink pads and a water pen.  I've added a little sparkle by flicking Studio Calico Shine spray over the card.  Shine is seriously a color I couldn't live with out... I'm getting ready to buy my second bottle all ready!  Something else that has become a staple in my craft room is the great baker's twine by The Twinery!  I have been using it on every card lately and seriously love it!

Aren't those little birds cute!  They were fun to watercolor.  I have one more card in this little set to share with you this week!

Well, I hope you are enjoying your day!  We are expecting some fun company any minute! My dad and step mom are visiting with us the rest of the week!  I am so excited and these girls seriously can't wait!  They are excited to do crafts and go on treasure hunts with their Nay Nay and Papa! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

-tessa

Springtime Card

We are starting spring break today!  And, we had snow overnight... what is up with that!  I had planned on taking the girls out to the zoo and to see the cherry blossoms this week but it is cold and pretty dreary out.  More like a winter break lol!  We will have to revise our plans I think...

I am still in a springtime state of mind, even if it's cold out, so today I have a cute spring inspired card to share with you:

I've used the cute For the Birds set by Stampin' Up! for this card.  I think those little birds are so cute!  I stamped them using Jet Black Staz On ink and then watercolored them using my ink pads and a water pen.  The patterned papers are from the new Tea For Two DSP pack aslo by Stampin' Up!  The baker's twine is by The Twinery- this deep gray is their Stone color.

I created a little trio of cards using this set and will share the other two later this week!  These little birds really grew on me! :)

Well, I hope you are off to a great start this week!  We will be enjoying our week off, even if it's a little colder then normal around here this time of year! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

-tessa

Playtime at the Park Layout

Good Morning!

I have a new layout to share with you today thanks to Inspired Blueprints!  Sketch #88 is live on their blog today!  Here is my take on Lisa's great sketch:

I've used the Just Because line by Little Yellow Bicycle this week and I love how well it works with these photos of my girls and their friend Madi playing at the park!  I used my favorite paper from that line as the background- don't you love that little bird on the bike? :)  I cut out the Summertime Subway Art file with my Cameo and added it to the left hand side in place of the doily from the sketch.

The Clear Cut embellishments for the Just Because line are especially pretty because they have silver foil accents!  You can see the light hitting the center of the flower on the not-so-great picture above and in real life, they look mirrored!  I added some pretty baker's twine from The Twinery and my favorite epoxy dots from Teresa Collins as well.

To see the original sketch and what the rest of the design team did with it, please pop over to the Inspired Blueprints blog!  I love to see all the different ideas that stem from the same sketch!

I hope you have a great day and enjoy your weekend!  We are starting our Spring Break and I've got a couple of fun things planned for the girls!  I'm just wishing the weather was a little warmer... Luckily, DC has lots of indoor things to offer! :)

-tessa

Zeezbeads on Etsy

Hello! I wanted to share something a little different today because one of my favorite people recently opened her own Etsy shop, Zeezbeads! My Aunt Zonia has always had a love of crafts and I consider her a true artist! I remember being in awe of her work when I was younger. She would make and sell beautiful pottery and crocheted pieces among other things. Over the years, her interests changed over to jewelry making. She specializes in pieces using tiny glass beads in interesting and unique ways.

Zonia has a great eye for detail and only uses the best products.  She has a great sense of style and loves putting different colors together in fun ways.

Zonia's jewelry would make a great gift! A one-of-a-kind bracelet could be the perfect way to say thank you to a special teacher. And don't forget Mom on Mother's Day! This is the one I've had my eye on (hint hint honey!):

I am extremely proud of my Aunt Zonia! I hope you have a chance to check out her Etsy Shop, Zeezbeads and see all of her other creations!

-tessa

A Calico Whale Card

Hello!  It's a snowy Monday here in Northern Virginia and we managed to get the day off of school!  :)  My girls are happily in their jammies playing with Perler beads.  Thanks to Pinterest, they have found so many fun patterns for them lately!

While they are busy, I thought I'd share a card!  I made this one using the Critters Under the Sea set by Lawn Fawn:

I thought it would be fun to stamp this little guy onto some patterned paper and cut him out.  This paper is from the 6x6 pad of We R Memory Keepers Simply Spring line.  I stamped the sentiment, waves and his water spout with Midnight Muse ink from Stampin' Up and then added some white and navy ink splatters.  I used pop dots to add my whale to the scene.  Lastly, I embellished the top left corner with a little gray washi from My Mind's Eye and some epoxy dots from Teresa Collins.

I'm happy with how this little card turned out!  To tell you the truth, I had made a whole other card with this little whale- a CAS number that I hated!  I threw it away before I went to bed and when I woke up the next day, I pulled it out of the trash and took the whale off... it wasn't his fault! :)  I'm glad I saved him!

Well, hope you enjoy your day!  I'll be getting crafty with my girls for the most part so I will definitely be enjoying mine!

-tessa

Kind Memories Card

Hi there!

I am just sitting down after cleaning my house... not my favorite way to spend the morning but it has to be done!  I like to get the main cleaning done on Thursdays so that the weekend can be spent having fun and messing up the house again! :)

I thought I'd pop on and share a pretty card I made using the Memories line by Teresa Collins:

For this card, I used all of my current favorite things!  The embossing folder is new from Stampin' Up!, the papers, flower stamp, and epoxy dots from the Memories line, and twine from the Twinery!  The color scheme is also a favorite at the moment- I am loving that light aqua and yellow with the bold coral!

I added a little glitter to the center of the flower that you can't see in the photo- it adds a little touch of sparkle to it though!

Sharing this card makes me remember- I think I mentioned that I was taking a class with Teresa Collins a few weeks ago at the retreat I went to.  I can say, the class was the most enjoyable class I have ever taken!  We made mini books and I was able to finish it with ease and can't wait to add my pictures!  Teresa is a such a nice person and even though every scrapbooker around knows her name, she is easy to talk to and so kind!  She walked around and talked to lots of people at the retreat after her classes were finished and took the time to let them show her what they were working on.  She took pictures and signed autographs- even for me! Hee!  Yes, I had to go fan-girl and get a picture! :)

If you ever have a chance to take a class with Teresa, don't hesitate!  It was fun and so enjoyable and I am hoping she'll come out for our next retreat in November!

Writing this story makes me want to run downstairs to scrapbook!  Maybe I can work on my 'meeting Teresa Collins' page! :)

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by my blog!

-tessa

Polka-Dot Henry Card

Hi there!

Well, I made it through the Monday after daylight savings... let me tell you- it was a tough one!  Definitely a two-cup-of-coffee day! lol!  I'm feeling much better today and much less crabby! 

I thought I'd pop on this morning and share a quick card I made using the cute Henry Says set by Stampin' Up!:

I paper pieced him using a My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad that I borrowed from my friend Kristen at the retreat.  The grey polka-dots were perfect!  The tag was made from the We R Memory Keepers Simply Spring 6x6 pad.  After I pieced him onto the tag, I added a little shadow with my aqua brush and Crumb Cake ink.  

This one was quick and easy and could work for a boy or a girl!  That works for me! :)  This stamp set was very fun to use!

Well, I'm going to keep this short and get a head start on my day- I am determined for it to be a great one!  I've got some projects on my list of things to do that I'm itching to get started on... gotta love it when card making is first on the list! :)

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

-tessa

It's Inspired Blueprints Sketch Day!

Good morning and happy Friday!

The week may have gone by fast but I'm still glad it's Friday! :)  Almost all the snow has melted and I'm thinking we will be having a pretty nice weekend.  I'm looking forward to some sunshine!

Well, since it's Friday, you know there is a new sketch up on Inspired Blueprints today!  Inspired by Sketch #86, I created this layout:

I enjoyed this sketch and used it to scrap another Disney memory, meeting the Green Army Man from Toy Story!  My nephews were thrilled to meet him- can you imagine your favorite toys coming to life?  :)  I had two 4x6 photos so I used those in place of the larger 6x8.  

I've mixed a few of my favorite lines for this one- the background is by Teresa Collins Designs, the red is by Crate Paper, and the turquoise is by Lily Bee Designs.  There are embellishments from Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon, My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper, American Crafts, and Stampin' Up! 

The spots are done with a Prima Stencil and my Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake ink.  I wanted it to look a little random and messy.  I added the baker's twine by We R Memory Keepers last, using my Tiny Attacher to staple it to the page.

Here is a look at the sketch I started with:

I had a great time playing along this week!  If you have a chance, please check out the other design team members' pages too!  They are all so creative!!

Hope you have a great day and a great weekend!

-tessa

Thanks, You're Awesome!

Hello!

How is your week going?  Mine is going fast!!!  I am in disbelief that it is Thursday!  Of course, I had lots to do this week and got nothing done.  Monday was spent on recovering from my awesome weekend at the Scrapdoodles Retreat!  I had the best time I've ever had at a crop!  My friends and I seriously laughed the entire time- it was wonderful!!  If you are in Virginia or willing to travel, these crops are great!  They sell out fast though- there is already a waiting list for the November one!

Tuesday I was out of the house all day helping out at the store and the last two days were snow days!  You can't beat snow days, especially in March! :)  The girls played outside a lot yesterday and I have a feeling today will be a movie, craft, and games day... The snow will probably be all gone by tomorrow and it is supposed to be in the 60s by Sunday!  Can you believe that?  Crazy weather!

Today I have a card I made over the weekend using some new goodies from Lawn Fawn and a flair button from Bossy Joscie:

One of the best things about cropping with your friends is that you get to borrow their cute stamps!  My friend Kristen picked up the A Little Birdie Told Me set along with the matching die from Lawn Fawn and let me use it for this card.  I stamped the bird onto the plaid patterned paper as well as white cardstock.  I colored the one on the white cardstock with my Copic markers and cut him out.  I pieced him on to the plaid paper and added some shadowing with my markers to finish it off.  The sentiment is from the So Much to Say set by Lawn Fawn and fits perfectly into the speech bubble.  Once my stamping was done, I embellished my card with a strip of yellow polka-dot washi from Queen and Co. and wrapped it with some Caribbean twine from The Twinery.  I finished my card off by adding the cute 'Thanks' flair button by Bossy Joscie.

I'm happy I finally got to pick up some of Joscie's flair!  Isn't it fun?  I love the look and definitely need more!  The vintage book print and security envelope buttons are calling my name! :)

Anyways, better finish up here- the girls are wanting to build a fort and need my table!  I think I'll surprise them with some homemade cookies, too!  I love snow days!  Hee!

-tessa