It's officially the HOLIDAYS...

And I couldn't be more excited. Today's a big shopping day for me- I can't wait to share what I buy. Who knows, there might be some birthday presents for myself in the mix (my birthday just happens to be tomorrow).

Here's a holiday card I whipped up using an non-traditional color scheme:
Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink, Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Stamps- Hero Arts, Colored Pencil- Prisma, Ribbon- Martha Stewart for EK Success, Ink- Tsukineko, Thread- DMC, Corner Rounder- Fiskars.

Here's a card one of my roommates requested for her friend who was suffering from a broken leg; I hope this brightened her day:
Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink, Patterned Paper- BoBunny, Ribbon- Unknown, Border Punch- Fiskars, Corner Rounder- Fiskars, Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Stamps- Papertrey Ink, Colored Pencils- Prisma, Ink- Tsukineko and Tim Holtz.

And lastly, here's a layout about meeting BJ Novak last spring. Good memories :) I love how the ledger paper goes so well with "The Office" theme.
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Patterned paper- October Afternoon (?), Foam letters- Thickers by American Crafts, Thread- DMC, Buttons, Label Sticker- Jenni Bowlin, Pen- Signo.

Happy shopping and hope to see you all again soon! Thanks for stopping by today. :)

Love.

Brit

I've been inspired lately :)

Actually, I've been so inspired that it was almost hard to leave my apartment and all my scrapbooking stuff because I've been creating so much lately. However, it's really nice to be home in Wisconsin. I've missed my family (and my cats!) so very much. Here's a card I did a few days ago for Lucy's first color challenge. I couldn't resist these colors:
And here's what I did:
Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist and Vintage Cream) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), Butterfly Punch- Martha Stewart for EK Success, Thread- DMC, Ink- Tsukineko, Colored Pencils- Prisma, Stamp- Hero Arts, Ribbon- Unknown, Corner Rounder- Fiskars, White Pen- Signo Uniball.

Second, a layout inspired by Elizabeth Kartchner and her idea to take a photo of what you are doing at 10:11:12 on 7-8-09, so I made a cute little layout of my picture. I've always been a little OCD about numbers, so I really love that I could show that with this layout. Also, this was a total excuse to go a little crazy with Sassafras' Amplify Collection:
Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink, Patterned Paper- Sassafras, Ink- Tsukineko, Pen- American Crafts, Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Corner Rounder- The Paper Studio and Fiskars, Foam Numbers- Thickers by American Crafts.

Hope you have a fabulous thanksgiving! I'm thankful for having a home where all my family is, a loving boyfriend and friends, and that I get to go shopping tomorrow. You know, tradition. :)

Love.

Brit

A Challenge + Some Updates

I've been itching to share some things I've been making lately, but this is the first chance I've got to take some time to jump on the 'ol blog and actually share. And oh boy, do I have a lot. :) I'll break it into a couple posts over this weekend. I love weekends back in Wisconsin- so much time to relax and catch up on life. Without further ado, I begin...

Here's a card for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Challenge #19. Beautiful colors this time around:
And here's what I came up with:
Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink, Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Butterfly Punch- Martha Stewart, Thread- DMC, Rhinestones- The Paper Studio, Corner Rounder- Fiskars.

And a cute layout. So glad to be scrapping pictures from recently. :) (Click to view larger.)
Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Green and purple) and Cream (Papertrey Ink), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Foam Letter Stickers- Thickers by American Crafts, Marker- American Crafts, Ink- StazOn, Corner Rounder- The Paper Studio, Border Punch- Fiskars, Thread- DMC, and Buttons- Papertrey Ink.

Also, here are a few more things I've recently added to my wish list (all from Papertrey Ink- I'm so obsessed!):

Turning a New Leaf. I could see using this on pretty much every card:

Big and Bold Wishes- Gorgeous for possibly ever occasion ever.
Background Basics: Diamonds. I love everything that I see done with this set, seriously.And of course, my list of basic supplies from them is ever-growing each time I scrap with their product:

Perfect Match Cardstock:
Enchanted Evening
Orange Zest
Berry Sorbet
Terracotta Tile
Melon Berry
New Leaf
Aqua Mist
Spring Rain

Paper Basics:
Kraft Cardstock
Vintage Cream Envelopes

Buttons:
Aqua Mist
Orange Zest
New Leaf
Spring Rain
Lemon Tart

Ink:
Vintage Cream
Berry Sorbet

Other Pretty Things:
1/2" Vintage Cream Satin Ribbon
Rustic Jute Button Twine

In other news, today I bought a new cell phone. It's so nice to have a full keyboard! Here's my baby:
So that's what's new with me lately. Be back tomorrow to wish you a happy Thanksgiving and share a few more things. :)

Love.

Brit

Birthday Wishlist 2009

I've seen some Christmas wishlists going around lately, and I love looking at them, so I thought you might want to take a peek at mine, too. Well, My birthday is on the 28th of November, so this is more like a birthday list for me, but same idea. :) So here are the things that top my list:


1. These Cowboy Boots

2. These shoes (I have these and they're soooo comfortable; I get so many compliments on them.)

Or maybe these...

3.This essential tool- the Corner Chomper:

4. This new Martha Stewart Punch:

5. These fab Hero Arts Stamps:

6. Some goodies from PaperTrey Ink:
The Giga Guidelines stamp set:

Vintage Cream Pigment Ink

The Holiday Mix and Orange Zest Buttons:

And some twine would be nice:

7. And these also make the list- some noise-canceling headphones (I love my roommates, but they really are the loudest people ever.)
So that's my little post for today- something to keep me upbeat even though this is the 5th day of me being sick with the dreaded H1N1. It's not the sickest I've ever been, but I have no energy to do anything at all except for watching project runway all day. Ha! Happy Friday everyone!

Love.

Brit

P.S.- What things are on your wishlist this season? I'm always looking for ideas!

Scrapfest, Part 2:

While at Scrapfest, I got the opportunity to take two classes- a Hero Arts one and an American Crafts one. Last year, I took one class and loved the fast-paced craziness, so I thought I would step it up this year. Wow- that was such a good decision! These classes that I took were phenomenal, AND I got to meet two of my absolute favorite scrapbookers. First, I'll talk about the Hero Arts class that I took.

When I walked in, this is what I found on the table- look at all these goodies:

(drool)

Then we started in on the class, first making this card:

(the fake money is folded in a way that it can be replaced for real money- awesome idea.)

Then this one:
(I love the pocket on the front- and the colors match so well, it's rediculous.)

Then, on to this little number:
(So adorable!)

And lastly, this one- my favorite:
(I love all of the dimension, the transparency, and the stamping. We simply inked up the stamp sheet and stuck the transparency on top and pressed- awesome idea.) The best part, though, was the fact that we got to keep the Holiday Sentiments stamp set. Score!


After the whirlwind class, I stopped Jennifer McGuire to get a picture. She is SO incredibly nice. The class was wonderful, and I'm so glad I took it. It shared a ton of new techiques, went at a fast pace, and I got to use a bunch of products that I hadn't used before (and subsesquently now need to have...). This class was WELL worth the 22 dollars I paid for it as well, considering that I made 4 cards with matching envelopes and got a full stamp set and a few other little freebies. Awesome job, Hero Arts!

I'll be back with more later, but I hope you enjoyed this little recap. If you have any questions about the products used, just ask! Thanks for stopping by today. You rock. :)

Love.

Brit

P.S. As soon as I find my card reader, I need to share some pics from Halloween. It was a great time.

Scrapfest, Part 1:

Since I've been so busy lately, I thought I would at least show you some things that I've done lately. So I'm setting up four posts- three about scrapfest and one about other things I've done lately. Hopefully I'll have them all up by the end of next week. :) Here are some things that I have been going on in my life lately:

-I had portfolio review to get into my graphic design major... and passed. The last year of my life was not in vain, thank God.
-I went to scrapfest and had a ton of fun; I even got to meet Kelly Purkey and Jennifer McGuire. So exciting.
-I got a job at the Minnesota Daily- our campus newspaper and the largest student-run newspaper in the country. I'm just a lowly intern now, but I still get to design adds and am surrounded by awesomely creative people. I love my job, even if I get paid next to nothing. :/
-I've decided that my goal in life is to own my our invitation/ fine printing company. The more I learn about it, the more excited I get. More on that later, though.
-I got my gold Toms shoes. I wear them way to often, and I love it.

So I went to scrapfest. It was awesome. The lines for the make-and-takes were long, but I went for a whole day, so I took advantage of my day to myself and waited in lines for my favorite ones. Here are my favorites from the day- let me know if you want any more info about the products used, and I can hook you up with a link or two. :)

Hambly
(I love the combination of all these colors together. Hambly always comes out with the richest-looking products. Amazing.)

Prima
(These divine products all are super high-quality, and the base is packaging from a prima flower set. I love how they taught us what to do with the packaging.)

American Crafts
(I've never used AC flair before, but I really enjoy it- I'm definitely going to need to pick up a pack or two.)

Basic Grey
(These colors from the Indian Summer collection are divine. Enough said.)

QuicKutz
(I had never actually used a die this intricate before, and I have to say, I really enjoy the sophisticated look. I so want to add ink and make this card more "messy", though.)

Hero Arts
(This may have been my favorite make-and-take for two reasons. 1) It's Hero Arts. and 2) It's just absolutely perfect. All of the colors work so well together. Awesome job on the idea, Hero Arts!)

Overall, my experience with the Scrapfest make-and-takes was incredibly positive. The only part I didn't like were the impatient ladies I always seemed to be next to in line. Waiting to get to try out products you never have before is all part of the process! I kind of enjoyed the downtime.

Up next: I'm going to bed. But after that: inside the Hero Arts class.

I hope you're all doing well, and I hope to get back from falling off the face of the earth someday. What have you been up to lately? What's your favorite make-and-take you've ever done?

Love.

Brit