Sisters Layout

Hello!
Can you believe it is already the last day of March?  With everything going on, this year has flown by so far!  I have been focusing on my schoolwork mainly but it is nice to switch gears and pull out my crafty stuff!  A few days ago, I was just in the mood to scrapbook!  I pulled out a cute photo of my girls and played around with the new Chunky Chevron Die by Waffle Flower Crafts:

The photo was from the 4th of July a couple of years ago so I went with mostly red, white, and blue for my colors.  I picked a pattern paper and a few stickers from Bella Blvd. to add as well!  I cut a bunch of chevrons out using the Chunky Chevron Die and layered them on white cardstock.  When you want a longer chevron piece, there is a tab that you can connect to make it all line up nicely!

I also added some stamping to the layout.  I wanted to add stars to look like splatter to the background so I used a light blue ink with the stars stamp from the Bowtiful Stamp Set.  The words are from the Bowtiful Additions Stamp Set.

Cuties!  I'm glad I got this photo added to my album!  You can also see the details in the chevrons in these closeups.

At the bottom, I added some more words- these ones are also from the Bowtiful and Bowtiful Additions Stamp Sets.

I hope the scrapbooking bug hits me again soon!  I love adding layouts to my album :)
Thank you for stopping by today!

Newton's Nook Designs November Release: Winter Tails

 Good morning!  I'm excited to be joining in with Newton's Nook Designs for their November release today!  They have some cool winter sets out this month- so fun!  Today's set is all about the SNOW!!  Winter Tails has cute little critters up to their ears with snow!  Here is what I was inspired to make with it:

The winter after we moved to Woodbridge was pretty cold and brought the most snow we had ever seen outside of the mountains!  We were excited about it all-- except for the shoveling!  lol!  I knew the stamps in the Winter Tails set would be a perfect compliment to the photos from this event!

I stamped the cute critters out on white cardstock and then used the snowy border stamp to make their snow drifts longer.  I colored them lightly with Copic markers and added some glitter with my Wink of Stella pen as well.  I fussy cut around the top of each animal, leaving the snow drifts below solid.

I created a long snowbank along the bottom as well by stamping the border stamp over and over.  I added the sign, sentiment, and snowman parts as well- aren't they fun!!

The title was made with stickers but I stamped the tiny snowflakes from the set around it with Versamark and heat embossed them with white powder.  I also used one of my favorite winter time products, Chunky White Embossing Enamel by Stampendous! to create the snow :)

It's not often that I have time to scrapbook these days but I still love it!   The papers are by Doodlebug Designs.  The stickers are by Echo Park, Bella Blvd, and American Crafts.

Would you like to win “Winter Tails”?
This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)! Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs release posts. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Tuesday, November 12th at 9pm CDT to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Wednesday, November 12th. 

Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Newton's Nook Designs

Taheerah Atchia

Lydia Brooke

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Crafty Math-Chick

Shellye McDaniel

Jess Moyer

Stephanie Muzzulin

Danielle Pandeline

Tessa Wise 

Donna Mikasa (Guest Designer)

Have fun hopping through the design team blogs today!  They made such cute things with this set!!  Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win! :)

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

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

5 Favorites at 5 Layout

Good Morning!

Today I'm sharing my latest layout based on Inspired Blueprint's sketch #84!  I'm so happy with how it turned out:

I've kept things pretty clean for this one- I love the grid lines all the photos create!  The papers and flower embellishments are from the Family Ties line by Pebbles, Inc.  I love that blue!  I've added a few epoxy dots from My Mind's Eye and a label sticker from October Afternoon.  The alphabet stickers are by Lilybee Designs.

The 'favorites' part of the title is done with stamps from Lawn Fawn.  I stamped them with Versamark and heat embossed them in white.  I mimicked the look with the number five which was hand cut.  The white was added with my Signo White gel pen.

The photos are some of my favorites of Natalie last year around her 5th birthday.  We were asked to create a poster for her to take to preschool to show the class all her favorite things.  It was fun to see what she picked!

I always love Lisa's designs and this week's is no exception! I added one more photo instead of the journaling block on the bottom row- I couldn't leave out any of her favorites! :)   Here is the original sketch:

The design team members did some really cute things with the sketch this week so be sure to pop on over to the Inspired Blueprints blog to check them out!  I hope you have time to play along with us this week!

-tessa

My Girls Layout for Inspired Blueprints #82

Good morning!

Today I have a layout to share using the newest Inspired Blueprints sketch, #82.  I've used it to scrap my most favorite picture of my two girls:

Since the pattern in the background was so bold, I decided to go for a cleaner style with this layout.  I've used the pretty 5th & Frolic line by Dear Lizzy for American Crafts- all of the papers and most of the embellishments are from this line. I loved the patterns in this line so much and I couldn't pass up the feathers or the sequins!  Hee!  They are so pretty!

The doily stamp is by Stampin' Up! and was stamped with Versamark and embossed using white embossing powder.  It looks so crisp against the yellow.

This sketch was so fun to work with- I am thankful for such wonderful inspiration!  I hope you have time to play along with us this week and don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's work as well- there are some beautiful takes on the sketch!

-tessa

Growing Our Roots Page

Hello there!

I am in the middle of a great afternoon of hanging out with three cute kiddos!  They had a half day at school and came home in great moods!  Right now, we are taking a break from the fun for homework... even on half days we can't skip that! :)

I thought I'd pop on while everyone is quite and busy and share a quick page I made recently:

It really was quick to put together, too!  I used the Everyday Eclectic collection by Echo Park again for this one- the soft colors and trendy patterns went perfectly with this Instagram photo of my sister and brother-in-law.  They bought a house over the summer and lucky for me it is pretty close to where I live!

This page was made by cutting rectangles of patterned papers out and layering them onto my background cardstock.  I added the photo, title block, my hand journaling and lastly, a few denim covered brads for embellishment.  It didn't take a whole lot of time and the the photo stands out.

Well, looks like homework didn't take very long! :)  Off to do a little bike riding before the winter cold comes back to our neighborhood... we are having another unseasonably warm day and I love it!

-tessa

Fun in the Sun

Hello!
Today is a snow day for us!  We only got an inch and a half of snow but it was enough to close the schools and let us play!  It has been so refreshing!  I love having my girls home with me! :)

I'm sharing a layout today!  And of course, since there is snow on the ground, I was thinking about summer! lol!  I scrapbooked some Instagrams from our 2012 summer vacation...

My nephew's spent part of the summer with us.  They were a little surprised by the heat here- they are from the Seattle area and summer isn't quite as hot there! :) We really did try nearly all the pools and waterparks in our area out while they were here!  It was so much fun!

During Summer CHA, I won these great stencil cards from Fancy Pants Designs.  I cut them into banner shapes, added some paint to the edges and patterned paper behind them.  They are lots of fun to use!  The patterned papers are all from the Everyday Eclectic line by Echo Park.  I gesso'd the hexagon print close to the pictures so the pictures would be what your eye went to first.  I really love how it turned out!

And, because I took a few pictures this morning, here are my girls and their little buddy Quincy ready to play in the snow!  They lasted about an hour before they got too cold and came in!  It's amazing to me what kind of magic a little bit of snow brings to children!

Well, I hope you are having a great day today!  Thanks for stopping by to see what I made!

-tessa

Once Upon a Time

I love the week between Christmas and New Years!  Everyone is relaxed and busy with their new toys and gadgets.  I don't have to entertain anyone which means I have free time to craft!  I have tried to take a little time each day to make a card or something.  Today I finished up this page I started a while ago:

I have a goal of finishing my Disney vacation album in the next few months.  I still have quite a few pages to make but I think I can do it! :)  For this page I mixed some new goodies from Pebbles Seen & Noted line with some older Echo Park and my favorite Teresa Collins line- Tell Your Story.  The text paper used for the background is my paper of the year- I love it!  I cut the title out with my Cameo.  I think the font is called Skinny Latte'.

Well, my kids and hubby are still busy so I think I'll try to make something else before dinner!  Hope you are enjoying your afternoon and thanks for stopping by!

-tessa

Walk Together Layout

Hello!

Did you have a good Easter? We had a great day full of fun with our family and friends. The kids looked so cute all dressed up! Here is a quick picture of my girls with their cousins from my side of the family:

Aren't they a good looking, happy bunch! I love them all so much!

Along with the holiday, I also cropped on Friday night and received my first kit from Studio Calico! I loved the April kit so much, I had to have it! I pulled it out and made this page featuring my girls from last summer:

Goodies:

Studio Calico April Kit
Emilio Sticker set (Chaps by American Crafts)
Grapefruit Chit Chat Thickers (American Crafts)
ABC Stickers (Buttercup by Lily Bee Design)
Tiny Attacher (Ranger)
Scallop Edge Punch (Stampin' Up!
Basic Gray ink (Stampin' Up!

I used another one of Kelly's great sketches from the Sketch Book 4 class. I think this is number 3. I've done a page for each sketch so far and I am loving it! Money well spent! :) I am going to try to finish another one this afternoon, too!

Well, I better get going- the day is going too fast as it is and I don't want to send all day online... Thanks for stopping by my blog today and I hope you have a great day!

-tessa

My Sister in Central Park- a Scrapbook page!

Hello!

I've signed up for Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook class again so this week I am scrapbooking! I used Kelly's first sketch as inspiration for this page and I love how it turned out. It features one of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite people- my sister Trish:

one of the details:

Goodies:

Text patterned paper: Teresa Collins
Yellow polka-dotted paper, chevron paper, tiny letter stickers: Lily Bee Design
Gray fabric print: Pink Paislee
Journaling box, flowers, and faux tape stickers: Pebbles
Blue letter stickers: October Afternoon
Boxed gray and white letter stickers: Echo Park
Rhinestones, Signo Gel Pen, paper piercing kit: Stampin' Up!

Trish and I spent a day in New York last year for her birthday. We had lots of fun running around the city and were able to spend a little time at Central Park. These beautiful stones were so cool and I made Trish climb up on them to take her picture. I love that you can see the buildings behind her.

I didn't add too many elements to my page- just a few stickers and a journaling block. I stuck pretty close to the sketch, except that I turned it on it's side and only added one large picture instead of three small ones. I am loving Kelly's class so far- it is my second year taking it and her sketches are always so fun to work with. Dawn McVey is doing the card samples this year and her samples are making me want to make some cards, too! I think I'll try to squeak one out when the girls go to bed tonight...

Well, hope you are enjoying your week! Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at my page today!

-tessa

Nana and Baby Natalie

Hello!

Hope your week is going well! Mine is going by fast so far- I can't believe it's already Wednesday! Wednesday has turned in to my favorite day because I get a whole 3 hours all to myself. I know some of you other stay-at-home moms can relate! Hee! I love my time with my family but it's also nice to have a little break! :)

Anyways, I have a page to share today- I made it to showcase one of my favorite pictures of my mother-in-law with my sweet Natalie just after she was born:

I used the Vintage Vogue line from Pink Paislee for this page because it worked so well with the colors in the picture. I really love this line and also made a couple of cards with it. Hopefully I can share those this week, too.

Here is a closer look at the cluster details around the title:

Another little detail:

I had fun putting this page together. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at it today!

-tessa

Country Girl Page

Hi there!

I was going through my picture files and found this page I shared on the Scrapdoodles blog but I don't think I shared here...

Goodies:

paper: Country Drive line by Echo Park
wooden frames: Lil' Davis Designs (boy did I stash those a long time!)
letter stickers: Making Memories, Echo Park
cardstock stickers: Echo Park
pearls: Stampin' Up!

The picture is of Zoey when she was two... boy time goes fast! We were visiting my Dad's house in Snoqualmie, WA where I grew up. She loved that we could play outside for hours there. At the time, that was a luxury because we were living in a small apartment in the city.

We are having a great long weekend here! Today we're making plans for December and decorating our house with Christmas lights! We also caught the shopping bug and shopped till we dropped for 3 days straight! I caught lots of deals and saved over $500 by shopping the black Friday sales though- and I'm almost done with my Christmas lists! Yahoo!

Hope you are enjoying the last of your weekend! Thanks for stopping by to take a peek, too!

-tessa

From our Disney Vacation...

Good morning!

My day is not starting out as I had planned- I've got both girls home from school (one sick and one for speech screening) and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the house full! I don't think anything on my to do list is going to be done today... I guess there is always tomorrow, right?

Today I am posting another page from our first day at Disney World. We went to Typhoon Lagoon and we loved it! They had a fun area just for little kids and these pictures were taken there on a cute little waterslide they had. The girls would go down and then run back up to the top to go again! Serious fun for these girls! Here is my page:

I used Echo Park's Splash line on this page. I sanded the edges and added a sprinkle of my white Mr. Huey spray just for fun. I also popped up some of my stickers. I know... very simple! I like how it turned out though.

OK! Gonna keep it short so I can go take care of these kiddos!

-tessa

School Girl Page

Good Morning!
I'm up early so I have time to post! We have lots going on this week so I haven't found much time to sit down at the computer. My girls started school this week- Zoey in 1st grade and Natalie in preschool. I only cried a little- how is it they get big so fast? Zoey loves her teacher and thinks it's cool that she's not the smallest one at school any more. Natalie is so excited that school is fun! She was really nervous about starting (it's her first time at preschool) and came home ready to go back so I think we're off to a good start! Here is a picture of them all ready to go yesterday- silly girls!

Since Back to School is fresh in my mind, I'm going to post a layout I did of Zoey's first day at preschool a few years ago:

I used products from last year's October Afternoon collections. The little Zz sticker is super old- my friend Dawnette gave me- Autumn Leaves maybe? I can't remember who made it... I am so glad I remembered having it though. It works well on this page!

I love how the layering turned out here. It's a perfect way to use up some of those scraps. I hand stitched around the frame- I haven't yet mastered my sewing machine but in this case, I wish I had- hand sewing this took a long time to do with all the layers!

Well, thanks for stopping by today!

-tessa

Fall Frenzy Page

Hi! Hope you are all enjoying your week! I am looking forward to the weekend- mine is starting today, even though I am working tomorrow... my job at Scrapdoodles (my local lss) doesn't really count as work cause it's too much fun! :) I haven't had much crafty time this week so I thought I'd share something I made last winter- a scrapbook page:

What I love about this page is the diecut leaves! For some reason, I think they look so cute cut out of plaid papers!  I think maybe I'll make a card with some plaid leaves in it next time I craft. :)

I feel like I should also mention that I am planning on resigning from Stampin' Up!. Although I love the company and products, I don't think the at-home-business is for me right now. I gave the business a shot over the summer and was quite successful but putting so much effort into it left other parts of my day to day routine ignored. I've decided to just teach at my lss and hold local events seasonally. That means I have to give up being a demo so that I can post online about my upcoming classes and events. I've been teaching at Scrapdoodles for 3 years now and it feels good to be able to post about my projects again! Just because I won't be a demo doesn't mean I won't be using Stampin' Up!s great products though! They are still my favorite for stamps, inks, and cardstocks... and my downline just found her new best customer!
 
Thank you for understanding! I hope you have a great weekend!
-tessa

Scrapbooking my Disney Trip...

Hello!

This summer we were lucky enough to take our first trip to Disney World! We had the best time and of course, I took hundreds of pictures! It will probably take me the rest of this year and some of next to scrap all of them- hee! I started printing pictures a day at a time so I won't get overwhelmed. When I'm done with the first day, I'll print the next one up! I've had so much fun so far but I'm still only on the first day- we spent it at Typhoon Lagoon! :) Here is one of the layouts I've made:



Goodies:

Patterned Papers: Bo Bunny
Letter Stickers: KI Memories (I stashed those years ago!); American Crafts
Scallop Border and Circle Punches: Stampin' Up!

This page is a pretty simple layout infused with lots of bright patterned papers. The only fancy thing I did was build the red and orange flower on the bottom right. I cut and pasted 1/2" strips to the back of the circle to create it. I also sanded the edges so it would blend nicely with the rest of the page.

I've been inspired to scrapbook rather then make cards lately so I hope you don't mind the change of scenery while I share. I think it's good for me to change it up every now and then- I don't want to get burnt out!

So, now you've been warned! Lots of Disney layouts will be coming- lol!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

-tessa

Cozy Layout

Hello there!

I've got another layout to share today... it's inspired by Kelly again and her great Sketchbook 3 course! This is day four's sketch:



Goodies:
cardstock by Stampin' Up!; patterned paper by American Crafts, Studio Calico, and My Minds Eye; Letters by Jillibean Soup, Making Memories, and Pink Paisley; Mini Stapler by Ranger; Boarder punch and circle punches by Stampin' Up!; Stitching done with the help of the Sew Easy by We R Memory Keepers


I don't scrapbook too much with circles but I love the way it looks! The sewing was a little time consuming but I love the end result. The scallop pattern is so cute! I wanted some simple embellishments and my circle punches did just the trick!

Thanks for popping by to take a peek! I've been working on cards lately, too and I promise I'll post some of those creations in the next couple days!

Have a great weekend!

-tessa

Delight Scrapbook Page

Good morning! My girls are still asleep and the little guy I watch during the day isn't here yet so I thought I'd pop on and share another page real quick! It's another Kelly Purkey Sketchbook inspired layout- day 3 if you are wondering...



Goodies:

cardstock by Stampin' Up!; patterned paper and stickers by Echo Park; stamps- Artistic Etchings set by Stampin' Up!; linen thread by Stampin' Up!; Chipboard letter stickers by Basic Grey; button by Jenni Bowlin


The flower is hand made- a technique I learned in a Jenni Bowlin class last year and just finally "got" ha ha! Here is a closer look:



I used an old patterned for my material- they are very easy to work with because they're so thin!

You can see my subtle stamped scallop in the picture, too- I used Soft Suede ink but stamped off so that it was hardly noticeable on the Crumb Cake cardstock. Speaking of cardstock, I am so happy that Stampin' Up! started making textured Kraft cardstock! I wanna say they are the only company doing it right now... it really is nice!

The picture is one of my favorites from when Natalie was tiny. It was taken by my friend Amy who has since started her own photography company in the Alexandria, VA area.

Anyways, better get breakfast going before everyone is awake and hungry! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to take a peek!

-tessa

Sketchbook3 Day 2 Layout and Card...

Hi There!

I have a card and a layout to share today! Both were inspired by Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook3 course. I'm really enjoying this and I am shocked at how many pages I've gotten done over the last week! Hopefully I'll have time to share them all on my blog.

Anyways, here is the layout I created using Kelly's Day 2 sketch:



Goodies:
cardstock by Bazzil; patterned papers by October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup, Sassafrass, and Chatterbox; punches by Fiskars; letter stickers by October Afternoon and Doodlebug Designs

I've used a lot of patterned paper on this layout and I'm afraid it's a little busy... I think I might have to try this sketch again in a simpler way.

And, here is the card inspired by the same sketch:



Goodies:
All products by Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Petal Pizazz, A Word for You sets
Ink: Baja Breeze, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake classic inks
Paper: Crumb Cake, Confetti White, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler cardstock; First Edition DSP
Accessories: Linen Thread, Basic Rhinestones, 1/2 back pearls (from Pretties Kit) 1" Circle Punch

This card was fun to make- I forgot how much I like the Petal Pizazz set! The thing that is bothering me is the background paper... does anyone else read what the words say? Hee! Random info on kangaroos!

Anyways, hope you are enjoying your Monday! I'm off to run errands and hit the grocery store... oh yes! An exciting life I lead! :)

-tessa