CHA 2009 Summer Excitement

Of course, the talk about CHA is all over the sbing world right now, but I thought I would share some of my brand-new favs. Thanks to Crystal Rieger for coming up with an awesome CHA sneaks list.

Top 5 Favorites:

1. Jenni Bowlin Studios

2. American Crafts Stamps

(I love the AC fonts; I hope they do this for every set!)

3. Sassafras: Amplify

(Love the bright colors. Yum!)

4. Tim Holtz

(I've been putting off buying crackle paint, but I will no more! Those new distress stickles colors are absolute winners.)

5. Sassafras: Sweet Marmalade

What's your favorite sneak peak?

Love.

Brit

I'm back. Really.

The last week or so has been a little rough- I'm totally going through an "everything's changing" phase, and the last week has essentially been me freaking out. Thankfully, I have several really true friends to came to my side when I needed them most. You know who you are, and I love you so very, very much. Thank you.

Anyways, back to regularly scheduled programing. First, a couple new cards with some delicious new supplies (I HEART Hero Arts.)
Supplies: Cardstock- DCWV (blue) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Lemonade Collection), Stamps- Hero Arts CL136, Black Ink- Tsukineko, White Pen- Signo Uni-Ball, Corner Rounder- Fiskars, Foam Adhesive- EK Success.

Supplies: Cardstock- DCWV (Blue) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon (Road Map Collection), Ink- Tsukineko, Rhinestones- The Paper Studio, Thread- DMC, Black Pen- ZIG, Stamps- Hero Arts (F5158 and S5208).

I went apartment idea shopping the other day with one my my new roommates (and friend for 8 years), Alex. We decided that we love this shower curtain from target. It's silver, but it doesn't really seem like it in the photo. Oh, fluorescent lighting.
How yummy is that?

And we're thinking about this elegant color scheme for our room- Dark Red, Burnt Orange, Brown, and Cream.
Here's a pillow that we looove:
(Alex is a goof ball, and I love her. :) )

One more thing- I can't get enough of this card by Kelley Eubanks. I'm working on a version that's similar. How amazing and simple is it?

I'll be back soon with more. I'm working on the cutest layout with some new OA paper. I love it!

Love.

Brit

Taking a break.

To everyone who reads my blog- thank you. You provide constant inspiration and drive in my creative life.

I need some time away from technology for a couple days, though.

I'll be back later this week (cleansed and refreshed).

Love.

Brit

A Layout and Some Links.

Hello! Thanks for stopping by today. You're awesome. :)

Part 1: Layout

Yesterday, there was a Community Challenge over at Two Peas to make a layout about your 10 favorite scrapbooking products. I could use a challenge, so I ran with it. Here's what I came up with:

Supplies (holy cow there were a lot!): Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Kraft and White) and American Crafts (pinks), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Stamps- Hero Arts (Butterfly, Elephant, Woodgrain, and Word Bubble) and Autumn Leaves (Flower), Punches- Marvy Uchida (Scalloped Circles) and EK Success (Butterfly and 1.5” Circle), Circle Cutter- Making Memories, Embossing Folder- Swiss Dots by Provo Craft, Letter Stickers- Making Memories (glitter, pink, and white) and American Crafts (Brown Chipboard), Paper Flowers- Prima, Brads- The Paper Studio, Thread- DMC, Embossing Ink and Powder- Ranger, Ink- Ranger (Broken China and Walnut Ink) and StazOn by Tsukineko (Black), Brown Pen- ZIG, Ribbon- Unknown, Rhinestones- The Paper Studio, Chipboard Circle- Maya Road, Font- American Typewriter.

Part 2: Links

I like to do this when I start to have too many tabs and can't let go of the inspiration. Why not share them?

1. These gorgeous gold sequined shoes from Toms:

2. Circle MiniBook instructions that worked perfectly for an album I'm almost done with.

3. These gorgeous scalloped labels.

4. Joggemia's profile on Two Peas. Her blog is amazing, too. I wish I read her language!

5. A tutorial on making your own Clip It Up. This is definitely on my to-do list.

6.The RVA Girls' blog has some absolutely adorable crochet inspiration posted. I mean really, how awesome is this?

7. I absolutely need this stamp set by Papertrey ink. Nichole made some inspiring cards to show what the stamps can do. Awesome!

8. There's a FAB giveaway at the cuttlebugspot for simply signing up to be a follower- you can win $1000 dollars! Check it out here.

As always, leave a link that's inspiring you today, and I'll include it with a link to your blog next week when I do a links post. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Love.

Brit

A new place.

Today consists of much planning for our new apartment. It's only about a month until we move in, so my and my three friends started putting together ideas and talking about how we're going to manage all of our stuff. :) At 10:11:12, this is what my floor looked like:
I hope you'll join this fun project and take part tonight at 10:11. I promise it'll be fun. :)

Here are some photos I found on Flickr that I find really inspiring:
How cool would it be to have a chalkboard wall in the bathroom? I know our ceilings are cement, so there is already chalk written on them. :)I found an awesome vintage desk yesterday on Craigslist, and I'm hoping I can make it look as cute as this one.
This just makes me happy. I love the bright colors and open organization.

I'm on an organizing kick, so I've been staring at my supplies all day instead of creating with them. Ha- hopefully I'll be less distracted tomorrow. Have a wonderful afternoon!

Love.

Brit

I took a little vacation.

I went (100 miles) south four days ago and returned refreshed, slightly tanned, and sporting my first few mosquito bites of summer. {I'm not so fond of the last part, but I had fun. :) } We went to more concerts, I got to hang out with one of my very best friends again, and we watched, like, 20 episodes of The Office. I'm getting more and more excited for everything that's to come in the upcoming weeks. I may be busy, but I'll be back to share those memories once things slow down, I promise. Here are a couple creative notes:

1. I wanted to use this sketch to make a card from 2S4Y:

My card using my brand new Hero Arts stamps and my new favorite Basic Grey Line- Lemonade:

Supplies: Cardstock- DCWV (blue) and The Paper Studio (Kraft), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Stamps- Hero Arts S5208, F5158, and CL186, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Brown Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger, Ribbon- Unknown.

2. I came across this post this morning in my reader from Elizabeth Kartchner's blog, and I love this idea. I hope you'll do it too! Here are the guidelines from her blog:

"Last night Collin thought of this cool idea to have everyone take a photo at the same time! Are you in? Here's how to play:
1 Have your camera handy on July 8th-this Wednesday
2 Take a photo of whatever you are doing when your clock says 10:11 am or pm. (we won't worry about timezones)
3 Challenge yourself to think outside of the box in how you take the photo or don't worry about that part and just snap one real quick!
4 Post the photo on your blog or an online gallery. Leave a comment on my blog linked to your photo and be entered into a giveaway" "

I hope you'll join me and others and take a picture at 07.08.09 at 10:11:12 tomorrow. :) Post this on your blog to pass it on!

3. I received a wonderful order from Two Peas the other day and I'm so.very.excited. Here's some of what I bought:
These stamp sets:
(never too early for Christmas cards, eh? And the animals are SO cute!)

And some awesome paper:
Love this because this it totally where I live:

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with some more fun. Off to go eat some fresh fruit. Yum.

Love.

Brit

Quick Card and a small RAK winner

First of all- thanks for the advice on getting my mojo back. I tried all of the suggestions and ended up just stepping away and getting some cleaning done. Well, it worked. So I'm going to send out a $5 gift certificate to the winner for Two Peas- I figure that will cover your shipping if you want to order some of the new stuff they have in without guilt. :) And drumroll please...

Congrats, Kim! Please e-mail me at britta.swiderski (at) gmail.com and I'll get that gift certificate e-mailed to you. :)

Now here's a card that I created last night using a photo for this week's Hero Arts challenge. What do you think? I went a little American Crafts crazy. Ha.
Supplies: Cardstock- American Crafts, Patterned Paper- American Crafts, Rub-ons- American Crafts, Stamp- Hero Arts, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Label Shape- Jennifer Pebbles for Two Peas ("Pink October" free kit), Border punch- Fiskars.

Alright, time for me to go off to work. Let's hope everyone feels like a good laugh and heads out to the comedy club tonight. :) (P.S.- Support your local comedy club!)

Love.

Brit