Christmas in... May?

Couple things to share today. Loving creating every day. :)

1. Kelly Jo's Color Chef Challenge #8. These colors are perfect for a manly Father's day card. Swatches:

My take:

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Grey) and Unknown (Light Blue), Patterned Paper- Making Memories, Ink- Tim Holtz, Thread- DMC, Stamps- Hero Arts.

2. A layout from Christmastime when we traveled for a couple days down in Chicago. It's super simple and easy, and I love the color combo: (click to enlarge)

Close-ups:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill, Patterned Paper- American Crafts, Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Foam Stickers- American Crafts, White Pen- Sakura.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm off to go watch more So You Think You Can Dance- I enjoy the good dancers so much! Have a wonderful evening. :)

Love.

Brit

My New Favorite Things

Hello! It's a rainy day here in Wisconsin, and I'm enjoying just relaxing, cozying up under some blankets, and scrapping. Here are my new favorite things:

1. This layout. I made it using mostly American Crafts products- I wanted to feature their cardstock on a layout like this layout did but in a different way. I looove my American Crafts cardstock, so I knew I wanted to do something really cool. Remember this comforter that I made? I used it for inspiration for this layout. Here's the final result:

Close-up of my favorite details :)

Close-up of the texture- love it!

Supplies: Cardstock- American Crafts (Black, Grape, Blossom, Lipgloss, Cherry, Apricot, Lemon, Leaf, Emerald, and Aqua), Letter Stickers- American Crafts Thickers, Border Stamp- Hero Arts, Letter Rub-Ons- American Crafts, Thread- DMC, Ink- Colorbox Chalk and Stazon by Tsukineko, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Other- Buttons and Pen.

2. Everything that came in my Two Peas order yesterday. It's all even more than I thought it would be. Seriously, Cherry Hill is more gorgeous in real life than I imagined. Early Bird is absolutely fantastic as well. Now, I just need to get over my fear of "ruining" the paper. Ha. Here are some pictures of my order- LOVES.

I love Cherry Hill by October Afternoon. (Plus the letter stickers from Ducks in a Row.) [Do you see the second Cherry Hill pad? Hmmmm I smell a giveaway soon!]

I also love Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird. It's gorgeous in real life.

Here are some other random things- Sassafras, a Panda Stamp, some Jenni Bowlin, Lime Rickey (I can't wait to do something with that crazy- patterned paper. Oh boy!), and Doodlebug. Yum!

3. Flowers. This is my recent goal- I want to get a job as a florist this summer. If I learn now, that skill would be so useful later in life.

4. Amy Butler's Website. It's inspiring- check out these patterns. Fabulous!

5. Playing with stitching and knitting. Here's an indespensible website that someone shared with me the other day- it's wonderful for embroidery. I've also started knitting again. I want to knit a sweater or something. Like this owl one that I've talked about before. Ohhhh.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I'm glad you liked the tutorial yesterday. Now I'm coming up with ideas to do next. :) Have a happy, cozy day!

Love.

Brit

Video Tutorial and some cards!

I'm incredibly excited to bring you a how-to video on my color pencil techniques that I've been using on cards for the past couple weeks (here and here).

First, I would like to thank everyone for stopping by this weekend and participating in the blog hop. It was truly an awesome experience. For more information about Cards for Heroes, you can go to their website here.

I would like to share a color challenge that really inspired me this weekend. Kim Jacksoki constantly shares her beautiful cards, and she decided to have her first Color Craze challenge. Here's her swatch:

And here's what I did:

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Pink and Yellow) and The Paper Studio (Kraft and White), Patterned Paper- Making Memories, Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Stamp- Inque Boutique, 1" punch- Fiskars, Border Punch- Martha Stewart, Corner Rounder- The Paper Studio.

Next, here's a cardlet I made with some scraps. Isn't it adorable? It's about 2 by 3 inches.

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Yellow) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), The Paper Studio, Patterned Paper- Sassafras Lass, Houndstooth Stamp- Hero Arts, Ink- Tsuineko, Embossing Ink and Powder- Ranger, and Border Punch- Martha Stewart.

Lastly, the tutorial. I'm really excited about this. It's my first video, so it's a little rough, but I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you have any questions or comments. :)



Here's the card I made with the two-toned flower:

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Yellow) and The Paper Studio (White), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Stamps- Inkadinkado, Colored Pencils- Crayola, Border Punch- Martha Stewart, Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Letter Stickers- Making Memories, Thread- DMC.

Whew. Long post today. I hope you have a wonderful day- leave a comment if you watch the video so I can see if you liked it!

Love.

Brit

Cards for Heroes

Welcome to my blog for the Cards for Heroes bloghop! I'm thrilled that you decided to stop by! If you didn't start at the top, visit here for to begin from the very first blog. There are prizes and some good 'ol patriotism, so I highly encourage you to check it out!

The name of this organization has been popping up in my Google Reader as well as on twitter all week now, and as soon as I checked out the website, I knew I needed to be a part of this. Recently, our country has forgotten to thank its soldiers. No matter if you thought these wars should happen or not, our military is there and is fighting for our country. Sending a couple cards is not much, but it's something I can do from my craft room (and you can, too!), and I'm sure it will mean the world to the soldier who receives the card. The program also includes mailing blank cards for others to fill out. (Check out more about this here.) That would be fun- you could make birthday cards for our armed forces. :)

Here are my two cards I created:

1. Red, White, and Blue traditional:

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (blue), Archiver's (Red), and The Paper Studio (White), Patterned Paper- DCVW, White Pen- Sakura, Rub-Ons- Doodlebug, and Border Punch- Fiskars.

2. Less-traditional. I finally found the perfect use for this Making Memories blocked paper, and I couldn't be more happy.

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (Blue) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), Patterned Paper- Making Memories Just Chillin' Boy Collection, Thread- DMC, "Thank You" Rub-on- Pebbles, Inc., Ghost Shapes- Heidi Swapp, and Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger.

Thank you for stopping by! Now here's the next stop on the bloghop. Have fun!

Lucia - She has an adorable website and makes beautiful, intricate cards. :)

Love.

Brit

Color Inspiration :)

This was color inspiration indeed- I made two cards for this sketch because I got a better idea while making the first one. :)

Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #53

Card #1 (the second one I made, but I like it better) :)

ETA: I'm going to make a tutorial (hopefully a video) on some techniques I use to color in stamped images like these below. Look for it on Monday or Tuesday this week!

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Swiss Dot White) and The Paper Studio (Plain White), Paint Pen- ZIG, Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Colored Pencils- Crayola, and Letter Stickers- Making Memories.

Card #2 (Take one)

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (Blue), Keeping Memories Alive (Yellow), and the Paper Studio (White and Black), Background Stamp- Hero Arts, Letter Stickers- American Crafts, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Thread- DMC, Border Punch- Fiskars.

Thanks for visiting! Don't for get to check out my post (ABOVE this one) about Cards for Heroes (here's a link).

Love.

Brit

Feelin' Summery.

The sun is shining, the ceiling fans are on, and everyone's getting ready for the holiday weekend. It's feeling like summer around here.

Finally. :)

I made another card yesterday for the challenge at Card-A-Licious to use stitching, flowers, and stars and incorporated it with this color challenge from Moxie Fab World:

Here's what I did. I really, really like how this turned out.

Close up- I use too many foam adhesive squares. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Both Greens), The Paper Studio (White), and American Crafts (Yellow), Stamps- Hero Arts (Very Small Flowers) and Autumn Leaves (Everything else), Acrylic stars- Heidi Swapp for Advantus, Embroidery Thread- DMC, Black Ink- Tsukineko, Foam Adhesive Squares- EK Success, Paint Pen- ZIG by Ek Success, Colored pencils- Crayola, Rubon- Pebbles, Inc.

Next, here's a really quick journaling card for 52Q- What was the last brave thing I did? I was trying to come up with a way to use this Making Memories Just Chillin' Boy Collection Paper, and although I'm not too crazy about how this project turned out, I think it would be perfect for a Cards for Heroes card, so I'll work on that.

Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Kraft) and American Crafts (Grey), Patterned Paper- Making Memories (Just Chillin' Boy and Girl Collections), Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger, Marker- ZIG.

Look tomorrow (or maybe later today) for a post for the Cards for Heroes bloghop. For more info, check it out here. (There will be prizes!) I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

Love.

Brit

Shares. :)

I've been creating, and I love it. :)

I signed up for the Cards For Heroes blog hop. Check it out and see if it's something you're interested in. If not, stop by this weekend and take a peek at some the the fabulous blogs that will be part of it.

1. The "Go Green" challenge this week at Hero Arts and the corresponding Flickr Pool really inspired me to create something. Here's an altered mint tin that I finished this morning:

Front view:

Side View:

Supplies: Stamps: Hero Arts, Paper- The Paper Studio (white), Patterned Paper- Daiso Japan (from this etsy seller: JapanKawaiiYa), Ink- Stazon by Tsukineko and Colorbox Chalk, Embroidery Thread- DMC, Colored Pencils- Prisma, Glitter- Art Institute Glitter, Diamond Glaze- Judikins.

Recycled things and notes:
-The pink backround is actually 5 to 6 layers of recycled tissue paper, then covered in Diamond Glaze for more shine and strength.
-The flower was simply sketched out on newspaper in 6 different sizes and then cut out. I inked the edges, covered every other layer in the Houndstooth stamp, and stiched the six layers together with a button and thread.
-The tin is from mints from Disney World and is the perfect fit for a gift card. Needless to say, this will go to use shortly, I'm sure.

Now, two more weeks for 52Q. I'm determined to catch up... eventually. (One of my cards was featured on her blog the other day- exciting!)

1. Week #7: What if you knew you could not fail?

Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (Blue), The Paper Studio (Kraft) and DCWV (Green), Patterned Paper- Making Memories, Paint Pen- ZIG, Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko.

2. Week #8: What is the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (Green) and The Paper Studio (Kraft and White), Patterned Paper- Making Memories, Ink- Tsukineko, Border Punch- Martha Stewart, Foam Letters- Thickers by American Crafts, White Pen- Sakura.

I figured I'd share what I wrote on the back (it's not pretty, it's more about getting down the idea on the back for me), so I'll type it here:

"Last night was the finale of American Idol Season 8- Adam Lambert versus Kris Allen (Kris won! :) ) I laughed until I cried on just about a half dozen occasions, How ca you not giggle when Adam sang with KISS in super-high platform shoes? It was awkward, startling, and absolutely PERFECT."

Thanks for stopping by today- I'm glad you did. If you feel up to it, leave a comment telling me about what you're doing creatively this week. Did you do the green challenge for Hero Arts?

Love.

Brit

I went shopping.

And I did very, very well. (Ehem- or very, very poorly if you were to ask my mom... ha. Don't worry, I'm finding a job!) The good news is, I think I'm pretty set for a while, well, until I saw the new Basic Grey Collections. Have you seen these? Oh boy, I'm in trouble. (Click to Enlarge)

June Bug:
Lemonade (My Favorite!):

How yummy are those? I think I need them.

Oh, and another exciting thing- Two Peas now has October Afternoon Cherry Hill line in! I ordered it as soon as I saw it... and I might've picked up an extra 8 by 8 pad to share with a lucky blog reader in a week or so. ;) How can you resist this?

And this?

Oh, and look what else I picked up yesterday? Happy.

Oh yes, that's Apron Lace by Fiskars and Scallop Dot by Martha Stewart (25% off all Martha Stewart at Michael's!). I had to use them right away, so here's what I did:

1. For a sketch at clean&simple:

Here's my take:

Close-up- yes, I definitely bought more foam adhesive squares yesterday, too:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Grey and White Swiss Dot), American Crafts (Yellow), The Paper Studio (White), and Archiver's (Purple), Ribbon- Offray, Stamps- Hero Arts, Rub-on- Pebbles, Inc., Border Punch- Fiskars, White Pen- Sakura, Ink- Tsukineko, Diamond Glaze- Judikins, and Colored Pencils- Crayola.

2. For the KJ's Color Chef Challenge #7- light green, dark green, and white:

Here's my take:

Lots of dimension on this one, too. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (White), Archiver's (Greens), Patterned Paper- Bo Bunny, Border Punch- Martha Stewart Crafts, Ribbon- Offray, Rub-on- Pebbles, Inc.

Oh, and I can't wait for this finale tonight. I want Kris to win, but I love them both. Aren't they absolutely adorable?
Thanks for stopping by! Who do you want to win American Idol?

Love.

Brit