Updates and I scrapped!

Happy Friday!


Today has been a great day from beginning to end. You know sometimes you just have those days were everything is good. Lord knows I have plenty of the other days..lol, so it was super nice to have such a neat day.

I had a great walk this morning with Duffy. We were walking and came upon 2 does and they were beautiful and uninterrupted by us. They just looked up and continued grazing. It was neat they didn't run like usual. We quietly headed on our walk around the neighborhood and the most refreshing crisp-cool breeze flowed, but the sun was warm on my face. It was a very nice way to wake up and set my day up for a good one!

I had a nice surprise visit from my mom while I was up in the studio packing orders. I hear a little voice..."Tessa!" below my window. There she was..lol. My studio is in the upper corner of our house and I can NEVER hear the door bell or phone if it's not with me. Like my little get-a-away..lol. And...for what it's worth, I usually have my Itunes bumping motivating me through my day.


We visited a bit and decided to meet up with my dad for lunch. As some of you may remember I have been really trying to lose weight. I've lost 50 lbs to date (give or take a few lbs depending on the day..lol). I am about 30-40 lbs from my goal and FEELIN' Great! I have been tracking all of my calories and exercise over at http://www.sparkpeople.com/. If you have some to lose, I would highly recommend this site. The tools for tracking progress are OUTSTANDING! My user name is "T-Dubya" over there if you want to go and be inspired by what I've been doing. However, remember this is my heart and soul over there and I have exposed myself a lot, but really how can anyone accomplish such a goal without being 100% honest? So, be kind with my before and after photos. Really it's been simple. Cutting calories, fat and carbs (but, balanced) and getting of my butt and moving. Having Duffy has been great. A few times a day, I will feel two little paws jump up on my lap, followed by a little wet nose rut on my elbow. Yes, he wants to go out for a jot around the hood :)


Oh, back to going to lunch and what my point was haha...lol. I digress!!!!!!

I always strive to make healthy choices when at restaurants and today I chose the fish tacos. Just simple grilled halibut and some black beans and rice (though I don't really like rice, so that wasn't eaten) and a few chips and salsa. I was a good girl and came right home and started entering in my food in my nutrition tracker. I hit enter, held my breath and WOWZA, 600+ calories for such a tiny meal. Grrr. Don't even get me started on the calories in my once beloved Mojito and Margarita on the rocks. No more of that for me. Not worth all of the extra calories (a mojito has 240 for ONLY 8 oz..whaa! and a margarita a whoppin' 450 for only 8 oz, and if you go to the places I do they come in those huge cups. ) I enjoyed quite a few of those over the summer last year and it's no wonder why 80 lbs. filled my stature so quickly. So, I am learning each day and learning how to "Eat to live" not "Live to eat."

Today I had what I call a "scrap attack" I saw my pile of birthday cards laying on my shelf and BAM! an idea struck. Make a layout with all of the cards. In 30 minutes....this was created!

In other news, I am sad to say that the Buttons Of The Month Club will be ending in August. It was a hard decision to come to, but I need to find balance again and allow more time for creating many new designs and button styles in the shop weekly. I have also concluded my custom designs as well once I finish up my current orders. I loved doing custom designs, but they take so much time to create and my shop sort of remains stagnant during busy custom order times. I think that I will be able to meet more of the needs of my customers with having more time to create new goodies! Maybe one day when my buttons are being manufactured, I will be able to meet the creative needs of everyone! That would be the day ;)

Here are is a recent custom design that I ADORE (created to match the Michael Miller "Tweet, Tweet" fabric) as well as some of my fall and back to school designs I have new in the shop this week. I am also creating Halloween buttons as well, *and*oh-my-they are CUTE!

Back to school buttons (the little yellow school bus was too fun to create ;) )














"The Apple Orchard" Perfect for the photos you have of picking apples during the Fall.













"Autumn Textures- a simple textured set enhanced with gold for a beautiful simple set of accent buttons.















If you would like to be showcased in a "Customer Spotlight" contact me via shoptessaann@yahoo.com with your layouts using my buttons or appliques!

And, Don't' forget to check out my "Tessa Ann's Buttons & Appliques" FLICKR page! Many have already uploaded their designs and they are sure to inspire! Thank you to everyone to has taken the time to upload their creations. Each and everyone is precious to me :)

Have a super fabulous weekend!
Tessa Ann*