It finally seems like summer...

Summer means a lot of things to me, namely- no class, time with really good friends, and going to festivals (and pigging out on delicious food). This weekend, one of my favorite festivals, Summerfest, began down in Milwaukee. We went for a day on Sunday and are heading back this weekend for some more fun. It's so nice to just hang out and BE with friends. Wonderful.

Somehow, this summer-ness has completely zapped my creative energy. It's gone. I have all of this time to work on scrapbooking things since I have Mondays and Tuesdays off, and I got nothin'. I tried, though. Here's what I came up with to go with this week's 2S4Y sketch:
It took soooo long, but I do like how it turned out:
Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (kraft) and The Paper Studio (White), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple) and Making Memories (orange), Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger, Chipboard Heart- Heidi Swapp for Advantus, Border Punch- Fiskars, Labeler- Around the Block, Vellum- The Paper Studio, Embossing Folder- Provo Craft (Swiss Dots), Brads- The Paper Studio, Circle Cutter- Making Memories, Circle Punch- EK Success.

And here are some cute Summerfest pictures:
Cole, Jeb, and Jeb's beautiful girlfriend, Amanda (who we all call Panda).
Jeb tried out his photo-taking skills on Greg and I. His job is to take the official pictures of people at a park in the Wisconsin Dells. He did his whole schpeel for us. "Now if you, miss, could just show your affection- maybe kiss his cheek or something?"
"Now how about a silly one? You can try sticking your tongues out or making bunny ears..."

We had a wonderful time, but every muscle in my body hurts from running and jumping around all day. :)

I'll be back when my mojo is... which I can only hope is soon. How do you get back your mojo? I'll give a little rak for anyone who comes up with an idea that helps me out. :)

Love.

Brit

Quick post. :)

Three quick things:

1. You need to check out this esty shop- plastique*. I looove this necklace. You can win it here.

2. Here's a card that I made for this week's Hero Arts challenge to use complementary colors. I chose orange and blue:

Supplies: Cardstock- American Crafts (Orange) and The Paper Studio (off-white and kraft), Brown Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger (Walnut Stain), Ribbon- Amy Butler, Colored Pencils- Crayola, Patterned Paper- Collage Press, Stamps- Hero Arts (Houndstooth, I Care, and Scalloped border), Flowers- Prima, Brads- Making Memories.

3. I organized my paper. I encouarge you to do it, too. It feels SO good to have it done. Here's how I have mine stored right now:

Hope to see you again soon. I have to go to work now. :)

Love.

Brit

P.S. I lied.

4. I'm in love with all music by Matt Nathanson.

Miss You.

Here's the card I made for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Challenge #10 (a "Miss You" card for this challenge here).

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Brown) and Archiver's (Cream and Pink), Embossing Folder- Cuttlebug Swiss Dots, Ribbon- Amy Butler by K & Co., Colored Pencils- Crayloa, Pen- ZIG, Ink- Tim Holtz Walnut Stain by Ranger, Stamps- Autumn Leaves, Thread- DMC.

A few things on my mind:

1. I got a call from one of my soon-to-be roommates today, Jen, and she said that the girls in our apartment now are moving out a month early, so it looks like I'll be moving in halfway through August. This is a blessing- the last month of summer will be SO much less hectic now.

2. I'm working at the EAA and the Minnesota State Fair this year. Extra money for scrapbooking fun... and tuition. :)

3. I'm going to Summerfest Sunday this week and Saturday and Sunday next week. I'm so excited to see some awesome bands.

4. I get to see Blink-182 in 40 days. Soooo excited! They've always been my favorite.

5. My boyfriend went fishing off the coast of Florida and caught a couple dozen fish. Holy cow! I don't know about you, but I've never caught a fish before, so I think that's awesome. I can't wait to see the pictures.

6. It's such a rewarding feeling to finish off a roll of ATG adhesive. That happened late last night. Man, that stuff lasts forever!

Okay, that's enough randomness today. I'm off to go organize my patterned paper. Oh boy, does it need attention.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love.

Brit

Catching up.

Here's a new layout featuring Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird Line. I like it a lot. :)
My cute kitties in stamp form:
Close-up of one of the flowers:
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (White- journaling and photo mats) and unknown (tan), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (blue) and Basic Grey (distressed tan), Stamp- Hero Arts, Ink- Tim Holtz Walnut Stain, Thread- DMC, Flowers- Prima, Chipboard Letters- Heidi Swapp, Marker- ZIG, Colored Pencils- Crayola, Font- American typewriter.

Here are a few 52 cards- I really want to get caught up, and this is a start. :)

Week 10:
Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill, Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Border Punch- Fiskars, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Fabric Number- American Crafts, Font- American Typewriter, Ink- Tim Holtz (Broken China and Shabby Shutters) and Tsukineko (Black StazOn).

Week 11:
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Patterned Paper (dragonfly)- Basic Grey, Pearls and rhinestones- The Paper Studio, Embossing Ink and Powder- Ranger, Silver Ink- Colorbox.

Week 12:
Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (purple) and Bazzill (Kraft), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Paint Pen- ZIG, White Pen- Sakura, Font- American Typewriter, Ink- Black StazOn.

Week 13:
Supplies: Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Ink- Tim Holtz (Shabby Shutters), Flowers- Prima, Pearls- Hero Arts, Paint Pen- ZIG, White Pen- Sakura.

A couple things on my mind-

This stamp is back in stock here. Ohhh I think I need it. :)
I made it into the spotlight on Dawn McVey's blog for Raspberry Suit Challenge #9! I'm so excited. I really do love this card that she picked that I made:
I can't wait to start on this week's challenge now. :)

I really like my new haircut:
Please excuse the scary pic. Ha. The new shorter 'do is definitely perfect for the 95 degree weather we had today. Ew.

Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow. :)

Love.

Brit

And the winner is...

Corina! Congratulations, girl! E-mail me with your addy at britta.swiderski at gmail.com and I'll get your goodies right out to you!

I'll be back later today, I hope, with more, but I wanted to say two things quickly:

1. I updated my etsy shop today. I lowered all of the prices and put up a bunch of new cards, so check it out!

My etsy shop.

2. Ali Edwards got a project on the Martha Stewart Crafts blog today- such an accomplishment. Both of those projects are gorgeous!

Love.

Brit

Giveaway closes in an hour!

Time to get those last entries in if you haven't yet. Here's a link to my post.

Happy Father's day everyone! I'll have some more scrappy things to share with you tomorrow- today's a day to take it easy. :)

Love.

Brit

I'm a scrappin' machine.

I've had some fun in the last bit scrapbooking up a storm. Two layouts may not seem like a lot, but I'm a really slow scrapper. Plus, I haven't been scrapping completely solid for the last few hours. There's so much to do around the house. Here are the two fun layouts:

1. My first 6 by 12 layout about my friends Patrice (left) and Sara (right):
{Click to Enlarge}
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Ghost Shapes- Heidi Swapp, Butterfly punch- EK Success, Flowers- Prima, Pen- Signo, Paint Pen- ZIG, White Pen- Sakura, Cardstock Stickers- Sassafras, Scalloped Punch- Marvy Uchida, Corduroy Brads- Imaginisce.

2. Easter 2009 Layout. I love these pictures! (Click to enlarge.)
Supplies: Cardstock- DCVW(blue) and The Paper Studio (White- altered to make photo mats), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket, Chipboard Frames and Flowers- Maya Road, Flowers- Prima, Chipboard Letters- Heidi Swapp, Ink- Walnut Ink by Tim Holtz for Ranger, Paint- Apple Barrel, Corner Rounder- Fiskars, and Journaling Marker- ZIG.

3. Charlotte Mann is an absolutely inspiring artist.

Thank you for all of your lovely comments always. I always appreciate them so very much! And happy Father's day tomorrow!

Love.

Brit

Pouring.

It's pouring outside, and I love that. The grass is so green and the flowers look so happy. Today's a good day. A couple shares:

1. Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #55. The rust and mustard are wayyy outside my comfort zone but I think it came out alright. The card is super simple with minimal supplies:
Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Grey), American Crafts (mustard), and unknown (vanilla and rust), Silver Ink- Colorbox, Flowers- Prima, Brads- The Paper Studio, Thread- DMC, Corner Rounder- The Paper Studio, and text- own design.

2. KJ's Color Chef Challenge #11- tan and white. Another unfamiliar area for me, but that's the nature of a good challenge. :) I used some of Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking class over at two peas that I learned this week.
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (white) and Archiver's (tan), Patterned Paper- American Crafts, Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger (Walnut Stain Distress Ink), Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Stamp- Hero Arts, Thead- DMC, Ribbon- Offray, Other- Buttons.

3. Make sure you add yourself to my giveaway here for some OA, BG, and HA goodness!

4. I really want these shorts from Free People.

5. I can't wait to do this challenge. Moxie Fab is certainly rockin' the trees this week.

Off to go enjoy the storm and start another project. I'm on a roll!

Love.

Brit

Lovin' this.

I love finishing projects just as much (if not more) than making them, and today I finished two.

1. My moleskine journal. I use it to write my favorites whenever I think of it. I'm shooting for once a month, but I'm a totally sporadic journaler. I wanted to make the cover something really happy, so I just kept adding and adding and adding layers. I LOVE IT! It's different than my usual style, but I have a feeling that this new layered style is going to be showing up a little more often now. :)
close-upppp
Supplies: Journal- Moleskine, Patterned Paper- Sassafras (Lines) and American Crafts (Floral), Cardstock- Bazzill, Black Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Embossing Ink and Powder- Ranger, Colored Pencils- Prisma (Grey) and Crayola (all others), Paper Flowers- Prima, Stamps- Hero Arts, Chipboard Letter- Basic Grey, Paint- Making Memories, Thread- DMC.

2. My 2007 Disney mini album. I finished putting it together today and now I just have to decorate the interior pages. It won't be much, though- it's already sooo thick. I love it, though. It's the perfect way to scrap all of my vacation photos. I promise I'll share more pages when they're completely done. There are a lot of pages. :)

Cover:
Side view:
Cover Supplies: Cardstock- American Crafts (Peach) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), Ribbon- Offray, Thickers- American Crafts, Number Stickers- Making Memories, Flower- Prima, Patterned Paper- American Crafts, Pen- Signo, Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Brad- Unknown.

3. Don't forget to check out my giveaway on the post below this. Tell your friends.

4. This Jennifer McGuire class- "Thinking Inking" over at Two Peas has me obsesed with inking things. I'm going out to buy some more colors of distress ink tomorrow. Colors on my list- Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Mustard Seed.

5. The Hero Arts Blog is absolutely inspirational this week. Each of the win-a-day winners has their day this week, and their styles are so unique and gorgeous. One of my favorites that I definitely need to use as inspiration is by Lucy Abrams. I adore her work so much!

Hope you're inspired to create today. Thank you very much for stopping by!

Love.

Brit

The Joys of the Internet- A GIVEAWAY. :)

I'm celebrating today. I start my new job in a few hours, which I would probably not have recieved had it not been for the continued communication with my previous coworker, Matt, through facebook. I'm also grateful for the internet because, even though he likes an hour and a half away from me when we're at our respective homes, I get to see Greg almost every day. I {heart} Skype. Here's a layout I made:
Journaling reads: "Skype is the preferred method to talk during time apart for Greg and me."
Details:
I made the little butterflies out of Prima flowers- I just cut off a petal and added some wire and rhinestones. They're adorable!

Supplies: Patterned Paper- Prima (green arrows) and Amy Butler (black and white), Flowers (Butterflies)- Prima, Letter Stickers- Scenic Route, Gemstones- The Paper Studio, Circle punch- EK Success, Black Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko, Ghost star- Heidi Swapp, Paint- Apple Barrel, Ribbon- unknown.

And now- here's the GIVEAWAY! I'm so grateful for all of the inspiration I constanly recieve from my scrapbooking friends of the internet, so it's time to give back. Here's what you'll win:

That's an 8 by 8 Cherry Hill by October Afternoon Pad, a 6 by 6 Recess by Basic Grey pad, and the first Hero Arts set I ever owned- CL168: Sparkle Clear Cupcakes. All of these are some of my favorite things. I think you'll like them, too. I'm also planning on throwing some more things into the package when it goes out. I just don't know what those are yet. :)

Here's how to win:
1. Comment once on this post answering this question: What is your new favorite scrapbooking item? Mine is my 1/4" Fiskars Corner Rounder that I posted about yesterday.

2. You can also follow me (or add me to your reader) if you would like another entry- just make a separate post telling me which reader you added me to. If you're a follower, you're already entered. :) Plus, you'll want to know when I post the winner, right?

So post away! Tell your friends. Have fun! I'll draw a winner on Sunday the 21st at 8:00PM CST. Good luck!

Thank you for stopping by. You guys rock.

Love.

Brit

Today's a day to celebrate.

I get to say it: I. Got. A. Job! It's not much- just a waitress position at a new local comedy club, but I'm still so grateful to have a job. Plus, I have three years of waitress experience already, so it'll be (hopefully) an easy transition. I'm actually working with one of my old co-workers from Applebee's. He got me the job. (Thanks, Matt!) You gotta love having connections. :) I start tomorrow evening, so wish me luck! To celebrate properly, I thought I'd do a GIVEAWAY. I'll post it tomorrow after I figure out everything that I'm giving away. Trust me, you're not going to want to miss this.

I made a couple things over the last 24 hours, and I'd like to share them with you. First, here's my card for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9. (I was also inspired by this post by Shimelle to use green- I kind of ran with it. Ha.)

Using the colors:
Close-up:
Supplies: Cardstock- Archivers (light green), American Crafts (darker green), and Unknown (The Paper Studio), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Foam Stickers- American Crafts, Stamps- Hero Arts (houndstooth, cupcake, "eat your cupcake", and frogs), Studio G (damask), and Imaginisce (panda), Butterfly Punch- EK Success, Black Ink- StazOn by Tsukineko and Chalk Ink by Colorbox, Embossing ink and powder- Ranger.

Then I made an apron! I've been wanting to for a while, and yesterday I picked up a yard of fabric from walmart and some trim and went to town. The supplies for this litterally cost me less than 5 dollars. I'd say that's a bargain. Here's the free pattern that I used (it's Austrailian so I had to do some converstions, but I just estimated and it turned out all right). For the most part, though, I just used it for the basics to get the right shape and then wung it from there. It was a lot of fun. I'm hoping to make three more of these so that me and my three roommates will all have "ours" hanging in our kitchen in September. :)

The finished piece on me:

Flat:Details:

I'm in love with it!

Now, here's a shout out to the wonderful girls at Use Your Stash as well as Kim Faucher (her etsy store is here). Thanks for this adorable prize I won as part of the anniversary month celebration. :) I can't wait to use everything!

Oh and last but not least- this corner rounder by Fiskars is fantastic. i picked it up today with a 50% off coupon and JoAnn's, and it cuts like buttah, baby! Wayyy better than my one from HL. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the "I Got a Job Giveaway"!

Love.

Brit