Car blues and new buttons

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great week :)

Same old, same old here. Creating buttons and working hard at my shop filling orders.

Steve took me out to dinner last night which was so nice to get out and be around people..lol. We went to a local brewery and rooted the Ducks (UofO) along and had a couple Stella Artois brews and a fantastic salmon salad. Yum.

This is the only bad thing about working from home. You tend to get sorta lonely after a while and crave people and their energy. Don't get me wrong, I adore my internet buddies and I love being at home ;) but, It also doesn't help that we are now down to just one car. Steve now works in the next town away, so I'm basically stuck home all day. My beloved 1st car, my beautiful Lexus, "Lexy" (yes, I name my cars..hehe) went to the shop to be fixed a month ago, only to find out the repairs were more than the car was worth. whaaa, whaa! We were able to sell it (her.hehe) for parts, so we're saving up to buy me a new car. I have my eye on a cute baby blue or silver VW convertible bug. My mom keeps encouraging me to just go and finance one, but honestly, I don't ever want to be a slave to car payments again. So our plan is to save, save, save to get me one of these cuties! I'm 1/2 way there! Soon, I pray I will be FREEEE.. I just have to tough it out right now and be a sport ;) Hey, it saves on gas and is more earth friendly to only have 1 car, right? This I keep telling myself..lol!


Enough of that!

I have 9 new button sets to share! I spent the day yesterday focusing on new designs. Here is what I created.


Have a great 3 day weekend! We are heading to a family reunion tomorrow. We are praying for nice weather, not the rain that our weather guy promised. Drive carefully if you are traveling!


XOXO Tessa Ann*

(I am starting to create solid buttons to coordinate with the fancier sets. This will keep the price of the fancier sets down and give an option to add on!)

I hope everyone is enjoying their week. Kids are back to school, the hot days are starting to become less frequent and morning walks are crisp, cool and refreshing. Fall is truly my most favorite season. From the golden array of colors draping trees and streets to the light sweaters and trips to Starbucks for hot cocoa, fall is truly a magical season that is never long enough for me!

Steve and I have enjoyed taking our bikes out in the evening and riding around our neighborhood. There is just something about getting on my bike and feeling the breeze on my face as I peddle, that makes me feel alive and like all is well in the world. I guess it's sort of a nostolgic feeling, that takes you back to being a care-free child, riding your bike around your street until dark approached or mom shouted for you to come in. It also doesn't hurt that it's a great, FUN form of exercise :)

We have a family reunion to attend this weekend. I have had mixed feelings about going and I feel very guilty about that. Maybe selfish is the right word? This reunion is Steve's side of the family and with the recent loss of of Grandpa, it's tough, emotionally, to go back to their home and see Grandma there, but no grandpa. He was the one who would excitedly come to greet us when we arrived. He was excited to show off his yard, his garden, his hobby. He told us many stories of his life and I enjoyed listening to him share so much with us. They both have always made me feel very welcome and a part of the family. I miss him dearly. It's just so soon, but I have to suck it up and be there for Steve. I know it has to be even more difficult for him to go back, so I need to be there for him and be strong like he was for me when my beloved Grandma Ann passed away.

I've spent some time creating some new goodies for the Etsy shop! I used to have quite a variety of felt flowers and paper posies in the shop, but when the buttons became such a hit, I stopped making as many. It was time. Time to fill the shop up with more goodies :) I even created some felt flowers that would be lovely as a brooch! Don't worry, there will be more buttons to come! In the next few days many new styles of buttons will be added to the shop, some to coordinate with the following goodies!

Have a great week and I hope you enjoy these little handmade creations!

a

s

Okay, so not updating my blog has been a big guilt of mine. I used to update regularly. Sometimes daily. With my transition from scrapping to spending 99% of my time creating my buttons for my shop, my blog has suffered greatly. But, mostly, I have been struggling with what subject matter to write about. What would re-interest my readers? I used to share quite a bit of my scrapbooking projects and my personal life here. With the pop up of the smack blogs (you all know what I mean..hehe) I started to really sensor what I said here........and now that I'm not scrapping as much as I'd like, I tend to share my Etsy creations. I never want you as my readers to think I am trying to sell, sell, with each post :) I guess I just figure it is better than not posting at all.

Well, that is about to change. I am going to find balance. I am going to share fun tid bits about my life, my art and my dreams....just like I intended when I started this blog.

So with this blog post, I vow to be a regular blogger, a hopefully inspiring blogger, and a honest-real-life blogger. The good, the bad, the ugly. I will not sensor my feelings or experiences in fear of the "nay sayers" a n y m o r e.

Okay.......enough of that! On to the goods! I mentioned in my last blog post that I was ask to join the girls at www.scrapjacked.blogspot.com to jack "CandyMandy." In addition, I also was asked to sponsor the jack. There is still time if you would like to join in ! The inspiration piece from "Candymandy" was fun and I really enjoyed putting my spin on it!

I chose to scrap about my mom and my sis. "My Peeps" They really are. They are always there for me through thick and thin, to bring me back down to earth and I have such a crazy good time when we all get together.

PRODUCTS USED: Paper: Anna Griffin; Journaling spots: Anna Griffin; Flowers: Prima; Ribbon: Joanne's; Alphas: American Crafts; Labels: Jenny Bowlin; Pen: American Crafts; Buttons and Bird button: From my shop www.tessaann.etsy.com

I was scanning through my Picasa photo program looking through older layouts when I came across an assortment of layouts and projects I created for Right At Home Scrapbooking that I neglected sharing. These were some of my favorite creations! So, alas, here they are!

Steve and I are not much into "roughing it" as we call camping. LOL! We enjoy being outdoors and love doing outdoorsy things, but sleeping on the ground underneath the stars just isn't our thing. Our perfect solution. Yurts. Yes, these funky little outbuildings are super cozy and clean. And...you can still get that feeling of camping!


You have lights, a futon and bunk beds, a quaint little kitchen table. We rented some movies at Redbox and watched them on the laptop while we roasted our dinner on the fire..hehe. That was fun :)

In each of the "YURTS" on the kitchen table was a journal. Each person or family that had rented the yurt would journal about their experiences while staying there. Oh, my...some were so funny, some were quite disturbing and some were very explicit and interesting. We both poured through this journal, laughing, and at times cringing at some of the stories written by other campers.

"ROMEO" I've shared stories in past blog posts about my horse, Romeo. I've had this sweet boy since he was just a yearling. I spent my teenage years training this beautiful horse to be a wonderful show horse. My parents keep him now and it breaks my heart they are talking about selling him :( I admit I don't ride him anymore and he is such a good horse that he needs to be with a family who will ride him. Sniff, sniff.



This layout "Decade" documents our 1st 10 years together as a married couple. Just last Friday 8/21 we celebrated our 11th anniversary!

Awww.....this one makes my heart smile. This is my sweet grandpa cotton. My dad's, dad. He came to visit and we surprised him with a birthday party. He has always been such an important part of my life. When we were little, Saturday night my parents would drop us off at Grandpa and Grandma Cotton's house and we would go to church with them the next morning. I have found memories of him and grandma singing along to hymnals and me falling asleep on his shoulder.

Well, I have a huge pile of orders to be filled sitting upstairs waiting for me to tend to. My shop has been so busy and I am eternally grateful to finally be able to work for myself and live out my dream. TO CREATE! I still have to pinch myself every once in a while that this little button dream of mine is working out so well :D

I hope everyone has a great week!

TessaAnn*

August Guest Designer, Breanne Crawford!

Happy Monday, Friends. I hope everyone had a really nice weekend!

For the month of August, I have a super fun guest designer! Welcome, Breanne Crawford!

Breanne's scrapbooking is always super pretty and feminine with a funky, colorful flare... just like her personality! And, it doesn't hurt that she has the most beautiful little baby girl to scrap about!

Enjoy the interview and the fun layouts Breanne created using my buttons!

"LOVE" Ooh...look at all the pretty flowers surrounding the sweet photo of Breanne and Madelyn :) I told ya she was a cutie!! Breanne used a button and link from my "Buttons & Links" set. She centered her flowers and tied a little tag to the link. So fun :)

"PRINCESS" What a pretty girlie-girl layout of Breanne's beautiful Baby girl :) Breanne used a couple of buttons from last month's Button Of The Month selection.

"15" Aww...a great close up of lil Madelyn :) Love how Breanne stitched the 2 pieces of scalloped cardstock together to create a corset-look. Great idea! Breanne used my strawberry button from my "Fruits of Summer" collection.

Okay...now on to the interview. Let's get to know Breanne!

1.) Tell us a little about YOU and how you are involved in the scrapbooking industry?

A little bit about me.... I just turned 24 years old. I am a brand-new mom to the most beautiful girl in the entire world (Madelyn just turned 4 months). I am a social worker and work with abused and neglected children. As far as involvement in the industry, I'm really NOT involved anymore... When I got pregnant, I just didn't have the energy to scrapbook anymore so I backed away from the industry a bit and now that Madelyn is here, I rarely have the time to scrapbook for myself, let alone anyone else. The only thing I'm a part of now is scrapjacked (http://scrapjacked.blogspot.com/), which I LOVE. I am so clueless with the scrap industry these days! LOL!

2.) What led you to scrapbooking? Do you remember that *first* time you sat down to create a page?

I started to scrapbook before I really KNEW what scrapbooking was. It started in magnetic albums in 7th/8th grade, using some random diecuts and cut-out neon-colored paper to decorate. I then discoverered about.scrapbooking.com where I really LEARNED what scrapbooking was and there was this whole awesome community of people who opened my eyes to so many new, cool things.

3.) When you sit down to create, what are the essential items in your environment that you need to feel in the "mood" to be creative?-

a not-crying, hungry, needy baby. ;) - chocolate- good music

4.) I feel most creative when........

i have a really good story to tell or i have a really great photo or i have some emotions that i need to get down.

5..) How do you decide what you are going to journal about... and what is your favorite way to document journaling?

I have to admit... I am awful about journaling lately... I find that a lot of the documenting I do in every day life nowadays is through my blog and through a personal journal I keep to my daughter. When I sit down to scrapbook, lately, I just focus on the photos.... I feel like there is only so many times I can say on a page "I just can't believe how much I love you. You are the most amazing thing in the entire world."

6.) What did you enjoy most about working with my buttons. How were they a good fit for your project?

Oh man! They were SO much fun!! I really enjoyed trying to figure out different sort of ways to use them and really just have FUN scrapping. It was a sort-of challenge to come up with layouts based around a project. I absolutely adore the detail on the buttons - it's just amazing and even more beautiful in person. And I definitely need to get my hands on some more now....

7.)Share with us your most favorite layout and why this layout is your most favorite.....WOW. This is difficult. I have so many different "favorite" layouts for so many different reasons. This question totally made me go through some of the files on my computer and I'm awed at some of the creativity on some of the layouts. Some of the depths of emotion on some of the layouts. Some of the stories that some of the layouts tell... i guess i'm going to have to choose this layout, though. it was one of the first, if not the first, layout i did after madelyn was born... and i think it gives a lot of hope for what's to come since i really don't remember a lot of what happened on that first day ;)

Thank you, Breanne for sharing your scrap art with us and the fun insight into your world of creativity!

Tessa Ann*

Buttons, Buttons and MORE Buttons!

The button shop has been busy, busy and my creativity has been pushed to so many new levels. School buses, radios, giraffes, zebras, whimsy bugs...so many new ideas and inspirations, so many yet to create! You just never know what's going to end up on a button..lol :)

Friday, I will have the talented, Breanne Crawford here as my Guest Designer and her super scrapbooking pages along with a fun, insightful interview.

I am also guesting at the ScrapJacked blog, so this means me scrapbooking. YAY! My layout is a work in progress and I'll show it off to you sometime this week!

Okay.....now for the eye candy! This set is for my final edition of the Buttons Of The Month club. I decided to let this go to be able to focus on many more designs and custom orders in my shop. Just a few remaining subscribers are receiving these fun, colorful buttons, titled, "SUMMER GARDEN" I didn't even make myself a set..lol. It's funny I make so many buttons and never keep any for myself. I've got to work on that! I so love these :)




"Back To School" buttons. This was fun to create! The school bus was tricky, but now that I've made several, I've got it down!
A custom order for a really cool customer! These too were super tricky, but ended up being some of my favorite buttons to create!
Another custom order. This customer wanted buttons to match, Cosmo Cricket's, "GIRL FRIDAY" collection. I just bought some of that paper and LOOOVE IT...of course I didn't make any for me...lol
A spin off of my "Sex in the city" buttons.. These glow in the dark and the city lights up when in the dark. Kinda fun :)
A little boombox and some boy colors. This set is titled, "Lets Rock!"
And...I've done many things for the Fall season.



"Pumpkin Patch"
This Fall Leaf feltie would be so pretty on a sweater, or even better a scrapbooking page! I even used a button from my "Autumn Textures" button set.

Have a great afternoon!

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*

Scrapbuck!

Good Monday morning, friends!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It was so hot here, but we had a great time anyway! We had a great time site seeing with Steve's family around our pretty little town, and yesterday we spent some time cooling off on the Deschutes river.

Well, it's Monday and time to get back to work! Before I do, I would love to share some scrapbooking pages and a fun site I was asked to create for this month!
I received such a great assortment of products from Scrapbuck. I was eager to dig in and create some fun pages. All of the products on my projects cost around a dollar. How cool is that? I loved working with the glittered chipboard and the alphas they sent. The patterned paper with pink, brown and yellow was super cute. I even worked in some of my buttons into the design! (subscribers, your July buttons of the month will include some of these fun buttons!)

Head over to Scrapbuck and stock up on affordable scrapbooking products. And, I can vouch they are SUPER cute and great quality :)

**If you purchase anything, enter "TESSAANN" in the notes section and a portion of the profits will be donated to The American Cancer Society. This is a charity that is personally near and dear to my heart, so thank you if you decide to head over to scrapbuck after reading this.

Okay......Now for the scrappage! Here are my ScrapBuck projects

"Cozy" Yay, Duffy finally made it into the scrapbook ;) He has taken over all of my handmade pillows and cozy's up daily in his pile of pillows. He's such a sweet old guy and I really enjoy having him! I loved the polka dotted pink, brown and yellow paper. Of course I had to cut out the flowers and outline them. Same Tessa style..lol. I added my buttons to the center (inspired by Kelly's page, of course!) The glittered chipboard piece is my favorite!
"Road Trip" My mom and sister surprised me with a fun trip to Portland just before my 30th Birthday. I had the most wonderful time going to pubs, and listening to fantastic music. My mom really knows where the good spots are..lol! Thanks MOM! (striped paper, embossed paper, flowers and "road trip" stickers are from Scrabucks. Buttons are by me!)
A sweet little "Thank You" card. The bird is a paper version of the birds I love to create in felt for my Etsy shop. The die cut paper and cute raspberry pink paper..and that adorably cute flower brad is all from my ScrapBuck goody box.


Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful Monday!
Tessa Ann*

JULY GUEST DESIGNER- Kelly Goree!

Welcome Kelly Goree, my July Guest Designer!

I was so excited to send Kelly buttons to work with this month. Kelly has always been one of my *favorite* designers in the scrapbooking industry. I first spotted Kelly's work at Two Peas In A Bucket, and began to recognize her stunning creations for Basic Grey and many scrapbooking publications. I have always been so inspired by Kelly's scrapbooking. Her attention to detail and vibrant designs are always *pure* eye candy and when I received her projects back I was delighted to see how she put my buttons to use!

Now for the eye candy...

*I just adore how Kelly used my buttons for the center of her punched flowers. This layout is breathtaking.

A gorgeous card, so vibrant and happy! If you would like to learn how to create this card, the Fiskars website has posted a tutorial! Check it out here--- http://fiskarscrafts.com/projects/t_piecepunch.aspx

As a part of being my guest this month, Kelly was interviewed. Here is what she had to say!

1.) Tell us a little about how you got started with scrapbooking?

I started scrapbooking in early 2000 after a group of friends of mine told me I "should" and that they thought I'd really like it. I didn't believe them and couldn't see beyond making a "baby's 1st year" album, but one day found myself in Michael's scrapbooking aisle. I walked out with some Hot off the Press paper, a cheap album and some alphabet stickers...and I haven't stopped since.

2.) What led you to scrapbooking? Do you remember that *first* time you sat down to create a page? I don't remember much about creating my first page except that it was about the birth of my oldest son (the main reason I started scrapbooking) and I cut each and every picture into either a circle shape or silhouette. I was so proud of myself for my efforts, too!

3.) When you sit down to create, what are the essential items in your environment that you need to feel in the "mood" to be creative?

I generally scrap late at night with either my playlist going or the TV on. I need some kind of noise but nothing too distracting. Oh...and a diet coke. I have to have my diet coke!

4.) I feel most creative when.......my kids are sound asleep!

5.) How do you decide what you are going to journal about... and what is your favorite way to document journaling? I think it really depends on the photographs. Sometimes a photo tells its own story and very little journaling is needed beyond the date, the place, or just a little background. Sometimes the journaling "is" the page and if that's the case, I already have the story that I need just waiting to be put down on paper. I try really hard to use my handwriting for my journaling in a majority of my pages. I just feel it's such a tangible way beyond the actual words to really reach the people you're scrapbooking for or about..

6.) What did you enjoy most about working with my buttons. How were they a good fit for your project? I just adore the whimiscal nature of your buttons and how beautifully detailed they are. And after getting a batch in my hands, it surprised me that they are still quite supple so you can manipulate them with needle and thread with no fear of breaking them.

7.)Share with us your most favorite layout and why this layout is your most favorite..... Wow, that's a hard one as my favorite literally changes with each new page I create. Each one then becomes my new favorite! If forced to choose, though, I'd have to say it would be this one called "Lazy Days of SUMMER." I love the color palette in it, how it incorporates so many photos, and even includes my handwriting. But my absolute favorite touch has to be the handmade shrink plastic buttons I made that I stamped on, shrunk and adhered to my page in waves.

WOW! Look at the detail in this layout. A M A Z I N G!

Thank you so much Kelly for taking the time out of your super busy schedule to share with us your creativity!

I know I am inspired, Are you?

Leave a comment below to be eligible to receive a fun set of buttons! Please include your email address. I will randomly draw a winner by the end of the month :)

Have a wonderful, creative day friends!

Tessa Ann*