You Brighten My Day Card

I can't help it- these stamps from Avocado Arts are just so easy to use!  I had to make one more card using their Future's So Bright set:

I teamed it up with the Simple Stories 24/Seven 6x6 pad again.  I stamped the lightbulb in yellow ink and drew over it with a yellow Spica pen to add some glitter.  Then, I stamped the sentiment in black.  Since I am creating this for a boy, I kept my embellishments simple and just added a little twine.

I wish you could see that sparkle a little better!  I'm going to have to work on my glitter photography skills :)

Hope you are having a great Thursday!  I'm taking it easy, hanging with my favorite two year old- we're going to build a fort and watch Scooby for a little while before we go play with bubbles outside!  He was so excited when he saw the bubbles!  I can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by today!

-tessa

Happy Lightning Bugs Card

Hello!  Hope you had a great weekend!  I love having long weekends- isn't it nice to wake up on Monday and not have to get ready for school??  We took it easy for the most part- I scrapbooked with my friends on Saturday then spent Sunday and today with my family!  It was pretty much perfect! :)

I thought I'd pop on before bed and share a card I made recently for the current Lawnscaping Challenge:

The challenge was to make a clean and simple card and although there is a lot of patterned paper, the design is still pretty clean and simple, right?  Hee!  I had a white background at first but the jar really popped off of this fun calico print!

These little lightning bugs sure are cute!  We haven't seen any real ones yet this year- they are one of my favorite things about summer here in Virginia!  I'm hoping it will be warm enough in the next couple of weeks for them to come out!  I can't wait!

I used the Family Ties line by Pebbles, Inc. for this card- I've gotten quite a lot of use out of that 6x6 pad!  The prints are just country enough to go perfectly with the Summertime Charm set by Lawn Fawn.  I stamped the jar with Pool Party SU ink and then colored in around the edges with my Cool Shadow Copic marker.  The bugs are also colored with Copics and I added a little yellow Spica to their butts! :)  Glittery butts- something I never thought I'd color!  :)

Anyways, better wrap this up and start getting ready for bed!  Tomorrow we're back to an early morning!  Only one more month until school is out! :)

-tessa

**edited to add**
Thank you for all your kind comments!  I'm excited to be an honorable gnome this time around! :)

Busch Gardens Layout

How is it Wednesday already??  This week is just flying by!  It's been a really good one though- just busy enough not to be boring and I got some really good news, too!  I can't share yet but it's pretty exciting!

I thought I'd share another scrapbook page I did for my Big Picture Classes 28 Days of Sketches Round 2 class.  I have been enjoying the sketches!  Here is my take on Sketch 9:

We went to Busch Gardens over spring break- it was opening day and we had such a great time!  The kids loved it and so did the adults! :)

I used some Color Magic paper for the background and added some aqua ink to the center.  It's a little hard to see in the photo but it looks great in real life!  The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye and the letter stickers are from Pebbles, Inc.  The embellishments are a mix of things- Jenni Bowlin, Teresa Collins, Lawn Fawn, and October Afternoon.

Here is a better shot of the layers and title- I had a lot of fun with the patterns!

I am really enjoying this sketch class!  I tend to scrap 4x6 or larger photos so the sketches have been a change from the norm for me- I love it!  It is different but so fun!

Hope you are enjoying your week and thanks for taking a peek at my work today!

-tessa

Summer Stories for Halloween...

Hello!

Sketch #94 is live over at Inspired Blueprints and I thought I'd share my layout here, too!  I used Teresa Collins Summer Stories Collection to document my daughter Zoey's Halloween costume from last year:

Zoey loved her costume so much!  She was very proud of the gold sequins- I thought this gold glitter accented paper would be perfect to show them off!  I cut my main title with my Cameo and used sticker letters from the He Said She Said line for the secondary title.

I embellished with the Summer Stories clear stamp set, sticker sheet, and decorative brads.  I used the black enamel dots from the Stationery Noted line as well.

Sketch #94 was a lot of fun to work with!  Check it out on the Inspired Blueprints Blog, along with the rest of the team's layouts!

Hope you are having a great Friday!  Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

-tessa

Summer Stories Cards

Hello!

I am having a busy week- not a bad thing but it doesn't leave much time to share on my blog.  I do have a little time this morning though so I thought I'd pop on and share some cards I created for the Teresa Collins Design Team blog this week!  I created three cards using the Summer Stories collection:

My first card features a pretty floral pattern.  The floral is such a bold pattern, I wanted to keep the other elements soft. I used the camera washi tape and black and white polka-dotted brad to draw your eye towards the sentiment.

See that cute pink camera in the background?  It's my favorite stamp from the Summer Stories clear stamp set!

For this fun card, I used the striped patterned paper as my focal point.  I cut it into a tag shape and embellished it with a cluster of goodies including the glittered boarder strip- it sparkles so much under the light!

Isn't that gold pretty?  I also love how the pinwheel turned out- you can see the black and white pattern peeking out from behind perfectly!

My last card features the one of the gorgeous gold patterns in the collection.  It look so nice against the black card base.  This gold also looks great with the bright coral from the He Said She Said line.

I've used the gray chevron washi, a flag sticker, and a banner cut from the black and white patterned paper to create a cluster of embellishments here.  They are the perfect accent to the dandelion puffs, also from the Summer Stories clear stamp set!

Supplies Used:

Teresa Collins Designs:
Summer Stories 6x6 Designer Pad, Summer Stories Decorative Brads, Summer Stories Epoxy Dots, Summer Stories Die Cut Boarders, Summer Stories Sticker Accesory Sheet, Summer Stories Decorative Tape, Summer Stories Clear Stamp Set,  He Said She Said Decorative Buttons
Other:
Sentiment stamps, ink, cardstock, doilies, pinwheel die, linen thread by Stampin' Up!; Sentiment stamps by Close To My Heart; Mists by Studio Calico and Heidi Swapp; Baker's twine by The Twinery; Faux stitching by SRM Stickers

It is so exciting to see my cards up on the team blog!  It was my first post and I was a little nervous! :)  I'm glad I can share here, too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

-tessa

Springtime Beauties Layout

Hello!  How's your Monday going so far?  Mine has been pretty productive-- got my house cleaning done early, built a fort for the little guy I'm babysitting and printed pictures for some scrapbooking later!  I thought I'd take a little break and share a layout I created over the weekend.  It's another layout based on a sketch from the 28 Days of Sketches, Round 2 Class I'm taking over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. This one is based on sketch 3 and features some pictures of my girls:

We took these photos at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC a few weeks ago.  It was the tail end of the cherry blossoms but the trees were still pretty!  We always enjoy this area, no matter what season!

I chose Simple Stories Vintage Bliss line to accent these photos- aren't the patterns fun!  This line was one of my favorite release this year from CHA Winter.  I love the colors!  I ended up with the entire line I think! :)  I'm sure you'll be seeing it again soon on my blog!  lol!

I enjoyed working with this sketch!  I cut the circles out with my Cameo and sanded the edges before I adhered them to my background. I added a little twine from The Twinery and some rhinestones from Stampin' Up! but everything else is from the Vintage Bliss collection.

I'm happy to say that I'm keeping up with the class!  I really might get 28 pages done by the end of it! :)

Well, better get off the computer and back to being productive!  Thanks for stopping by today!

-tessa

Snapshots of Yellowstone Layout

Hello!

I know I posted this morning but since I had a page done and wanted to add it to our class gallery, I thought I'd share it here, too!  The class I'm taking is 28 Days if Sketches, Round 2 over at Big Picture Classes and this page is inspired by the Day 2 Sketch:

I took a ton of photos during our trip across the country and many of them came from Yellowstone National Park.  It was so beautiful there!  I do plan on creating some more detailed layouts about what we saw there but since I don't have any done yet,  I thought it would be fun to use a few of my favorites from the trip on this little layout!

I'm not so happy with how the hand written journaling turned out but what can you do... I wish I would have waited to speckle my background with the darker mist, then it wouldn't look so messy!

All the papers and the washi tapes are from the Far and Away collection by Teresa Collins.  The sticker letters are from the Summer Stories collection by Teresa Collins and the Thickers are by American Crafts.  

I really enjoyed working with this sketch!  This page was a quick one, too, which makes it even better!  

OK!  Hope you have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

-tessa

Welcome Baby Card

Hi!

Happy Friday!  I know I'm looking forward to the weekend! :)  I thought I'd pop on this morning and share a card that was published in the March/April Paper Crafts Magazine:

It's a simple one but I love it!  The images are from the Lawn Fawn Critter's Down Under set.  I used watercolor pencils to color them in and then added a little ink and Copic markers to it, too.  The patterned paper is from the Everyday Eclectic collection from Echo Park.

It was fun seeing this one in the magazine! :)

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

-tessa

S'mores Layout

Hello!

How are you today?  We are enjoying what turned out to be a beautiful evening outside on the back porch.  I am so thankful that the weather has warmed up!  The girls are playing in the yard, my hubby is reading, and I thought I'd pop on here and share a layout I made this morning!  I am participating in the 28 Days of Sketches, Round 2 class that started today over at Big Picture Classes and I am going to try to keep up with them!  Lol!  I always do good with the first few so we'll see how it goes this time! Anyways, here's my layout based on the Day 1 Sketch:

I chose some photos that are a few years old for this one!  Makes me miss my little girls!  Natalie has grown up so much since these were taken!  These are from our trip across country in 2010- we were camping in Wisconsin and Natalie tasted her first real s'mores!

The grid was part of the sketch and this was my first time attempting one like this.  I used baker's twine by the Twinery to section mine off.  The patterned papers are from Pebbles, Inc., Jillybean Soup, Echo Park, and Lillybee Designs.

I created a small title with letter stickers from October Afternoon and a tag from Pebbles, Inc.  The doilies are by Stampin' Up! and the twine is by Lawn Fawn.  The hearts die is also by Lawn Fawn.

I had fun creating this one and now I can't wait to see tomorrow's sketch! If you want to sign up, I'm pretty sure it's ongoing!  Maybe I'll see you there!

-tessa

Future is So Bright Cards for Avocado Arts

Good Morning!

Today I have another set of card for you using Avocado Arts' new Future's So Bright set! This set is seriously cute! This time I put a girly spin on them and love how they turned out!

This lightbulb stamp might be my new favorite!  I think it is so cute and love that there is a little heart inside!  For this card, I stamped it onto yellow cardstock and fussy cut around it.  I wanted it to be my focal point so I built my card with that in mind.  First I created a bright pink card base and added a white panel to the center of the front.  I stamped the stars with SU! Pink Pirouette ink in the background and then added a panel of patterned paper from the Sweet Girl 6x6 pad by Echo Park.  I cut a tag out of blue paper and stamped the rays on it with Versamark.  I embossed it using white powder.  The sentiment is stamped onto pink paper and cut out in a banner shape.  I added the lightbulb over the rays using a pop dot and adhered the tag to the card front.  I added the sentiment and finished it off with a little pink baker's twine at the top of my tag.

Don't the rays look great embossed?  I wanted them to really shine against that blue background and the white embossing was just the trick!

For my second card, I had something simple and fun in mind:

I chose some fun colored inks and stamped the shades image up the side of a white cardstock panel.  I simply added the sentiment and adhered the panel onto a bright pink card base to finish this one off!  It was so quick but I love how it turned out!

I have truly enjoyed my guest spot with Avocado Arts!  Thanks again for letting me stamp with you this month!  If you get a chance, check out their store and Facebook page- they share lots of fun things there!

Hope you have a great day and thanks for taking the time to stop by today!

-tessa

Make a Wish Card

Hi!  Happy Monday! :)  I spent the morning running errons and am just now settling down for some nice hot tea and oatmeal.  And after I type this out, I'm going straight to my craft desk to make some special cards for Teacher's Appreciation Day tomorrow!  Not a bad way to spend a Monday if you ask me!  Hee!

Today I thought I'd share a card I created this card a few weeks ago at my stamp club meeting.  My SU! demo Keisha created a pretty sample card using these supplies and of course, I had to put my own little spin on it:

Isn't this a fun color scheme?  I love gray and yellow and blue together!  Keisha has a great eye for color! :)  The sentiment stamp is stamped in Basic Gray on to the new canvas paper.  I tore the top and bottom edge to create the fraying- it has to be my favorite thing about this product!  Keisha brought along her scoring tool and the new templates that fit into it so that we could dry emboss on our backgrounds.  I used the chevron pattern and like how it turned out.

OK- going to keep this short today so I can go play!  Lol!  Hope you have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with some of my Teachers Appreciation Day cards!

-tessa

Two Cards for Avocado Arts!

Good Morning!

I'm guest designing this month for Avocado Arts- a great company offering lots of fun stamp sets, printables, digital die cuts, card kits and a stamp club! They sent me their latest release, Future's So Bright to play with- it's lots of fun!  I created two cards to share with you today featuring this set.  Here is the first:

For this card I started by stamping the rays using Versamark in the background of my kraft card base.  I went over the image with my clear Stardust glitter pen to give it a little shimmer.  Next, I added my tag and paper strip and created the faux stitching. I stamped my light bulb and my sentiment onto colored cardstock and cut them out.  I adhered the sentiment first and finished my card by adding the light bulb with foam adhesive dots for dimension.

I so wish it had been sunny out when I took this photo so that you could really see the sparkle from that glitter pen!  At least you can see the other details. :)   I chose Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp the lightbulb and sentiment.  This ink is the blackest of blacks and I love the way it looks on colored cardstock!  I used a Signo White Gel pen to create the faux stitching.

For my second card, I used the little camera image as well as the photo frame.  I thought it would be fun to use the frame to create a window in my card:

I created a card base out of red cardstock and adhered a strip of striped cardstock to the bottom.  To create the window, I stamped the frame onto my cardfront and cut out the center.  Next I stamped the frame and the camera onto white cardstock and cut them out.  I cut the center of the frame, this time leaving a little bit of an edge.  I adhered it over the other stamped frame, covering up all my lines.

You can see that I did add a little bit of color to the camera- I used some markers to color the stripes and grabbed my Stardust glitter pen again for the center of the camera lens.  I adhered the camera using foam dots.  I stamped the sentiment onto the frame and added just a bit of twine to finish off the look. 

   

On the inside, I stamped the frame again, this time adding a picture of my sweet nephew and his trophy to the center.  I added a little sentiment to finish it off.  I can't wait to write a little note in this one and send it off to my nephew!  He recently won this trophy for having the fastest little pine derby car around!  I think he'll get a kick out of seeing himself on the card!

I really enjoyed creating these cards for Avocado Arts!  If you'd like to see what other products they offer, check out their online store- there are lots of cute stamps including the Future's So Bright set that I got to use.  I'll be back on May 8th with another post featuring this fun set, as well!

Thanks for stopping by today!

-tessa

Good Fortune Birthday Card

Hi There!

Today I have a card to share using the Lawn Fawn Good Fortune set!  I kept it simple with this one and let those fun stamps do all the work:

I stamped the chopsticks directly on to the card and then pieced the takeout box on top of it.  I added the watercolored fortune cookie next, using a pop dot.  I added the sentiment and then finished it off with a bit of orange twine.  I love the simplicity of it!   

You can see here that I added a little bit of shadowing with my markers.  Very subtle but still an important detail!  :)

I heard from the manager at my local store that a new shipment of Lawn Fawn goodies will be in next week! I can't wait to see what she ordered this time!  Maybe I'll be lucky and they'll come in early- it would be fun to have them to play with at the NSD crop this weekend!

Anyways, hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

-tessa