And the Winner is...

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my blog and for entering the giveaway. I love to give away my favorite things :) You also gave me some great ideas for some tutorials, and coming in a bit, I plan to do many of them. Thank you thank you thank you! And now, without further ado, I present the winner:

Ayana, come on down! I'll e-mail you so we can set up your prize. :)

Thank you all for playing. I hope to be back soon with some crafty shares. You guys rock!

Love.

Brit

Cards for Kids Blog Hop with Lawn Fawn!

Hi hoppers! Welcome to my spot on the Lawn Fawn {Hearts} Cards for Kids Blog Hop. If you are just starting out on my blog, you can go to the post here to get started from the beginning of the hop.

You should be coming from Ayana's blog here. Thanks for stopping by!

I actually have never made a card for Cards for Kids before, so when I saw that Kelly Marie was setting up a blog hop, I knew I needed to get involved. Now that I've made two, I know I want to make more... hopefully one for each kid eventually. :)

Here's my first card, a gender-neutral one that will definitely go to a boy since I have such a rough time making guy cards. I think Critters of the Sea is a good set for guy cards, though. That made it nice and easy.

Here's the close up on my sentiment stamped in black ink and then colored with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I love this color!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (White and Kraft) and Hero Arts (Cerulean), Patterned Paper- Making Memories (Just Chillin' Girl Collection), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento) and Ranger (Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress Ink), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Critters of the Sea), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Rhinestones- Kaiser Craft.

Next, we have a more girly card. It's no surprise that I used colored pencil + kraft. I love this combination!

Here's a close up of the gorgeous flowers from Petite Florals:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Colored Pencils- Prismacolor, Stickles- Ranger (Diamond), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Petite Florals and Bake Me a Cake) and Hero Arts (Sentiment from CL447 Beautiful Peacocks), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I hope you enjoyed my cards that I shared. Enjoy the rest of the hop and don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE that ends Sunday the 22nd.

For the next stop on the blog hop, Christiana, click here.

Love.

Brit

1000th Tweet Giveaway and a Card!

Hey y'all. Hope your weekend was relaxing and rejuvenating. I'm so glad to be back in Minneapolis and ready to fall back into schedule after a week of traveling and visiting with family. I can't believe the summer's almost over and it's almost time to move out of my apartment and into my house for next year. Ahhh! So much to plan! At least I have the new Ikea catalog to guide my planning. ;)

I also just ordered a Flip Video HD. I can't wait until it gets here so that I can start making more videos for my blog. I have lots of cool ideas!

First, here's a card I just made. I love using Clear Notecards from Hero Arts. They're such a different design challenge.

Here's how it looks all lined up:

And here's the close-up. I love the layers!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz), Clear Notecard- Hero Arts, Stamps- Hero Arts (CG194 Stencil Flower and CL414 Classic Messages), Corner Rounders- WRMK, Markers- Copic, Glitter- Stickles by Ranger, Shimmer- Perfect Pearls by Ranger, Pearls- Michael's, Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento), Dies- Spellbinders Nestabilities, Pearl Brad- American Crafts (Dear Lizzy collection).

Okay so to the giveaway! I've been promising this for a couple of weeks, and I finally have everything I've been wanting to give away. I want to thank my blog readers, my twitter followers and the crafting community for always being so supportive and inspiring. You guys rock!

Alright, so here's what you can win:

Basically everything that I love that I can stuff into a priority mail box! Haha. That's an Ink Blending Tool by Ranger, an EK Success Scallop and Emboss Punch, a Classic Messages stamp set from Hero Arts, an Indie Girl 6 by 6 pad by Sassafras, some Paper Whimsies from Sassafras, and my favorite buttons (in Melon Berry, Lemon Tart, and Spring Moss) from Papertrey Ink. Here's the close-up shots.

Here's how to enter. You can have up to three comments.
1. Leave a comment. Simple. If you want to, answer this question: what would you like to see a video tutorial about?
2. Follow me on twitter. If you want to, tweet about this giveaway. Leave another comment. (Those who already follow me can leave a comment as well!)
3. Add me to your google reader or follow my blog in another way. Leave another comment. (Those who already subscribe some way can leave another comment as well.)

Feel free to do one, two or all three of these things.

You have until Sunday, August 22nd at 10 pm CST. Make sure you leave a way I can get in contact you. If you use the form to fill out the comment, just make sure to fill in your blog address or e-mail. I want to make sure I can find you to tell you that you've won! The winner will be notified at that time, and the winner will be posted here and on twitter.

Good luck! Tell your friends. :)

Love.

Brit

My Favorite and Some Links.

This is just a quick post for three reasons:

1. This week has been crazier than expected.

2. My computer is spazzing out, and the keyboard and I are fighting. (Apple, do you hear me? When are you going to give me a new computer already?!)

3. I have a whole bunch of links up in my browser that I've been meaning to share, and I need to share them before all of the open windows drive me crazy.

First, here's a card I made for my boyfriend, Matt, a month ago. It's our "official two month anniversary" today, so I thought I would share the card I made for him last month for when we went out to dinner to celebrate. We've actually been dating for several months, but this is our "official" count. I'm a girl, and I make things complicated. Haha.

It's a little 4 by 3 card (or might be just half the size of a standard card... now honestly I just can't remember), and I played around with some then-new distress inks.

Supplies: Cardstock- PTI (white and kraft), Stamp- American Crafts, Embossing Folder- Provo Craft, Die Cut Machine- Big Shot by Sizzix, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Ribbon- May Arts (via Practicing Creativity), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento) and Ranger (Distress ink- Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door).

Now here are some links to keep you inspired for the next couple days:

1. I need to make this blanket. Now. This cathedral window pattern is absolutely gorgeous, and my mom says it's actually really fun to quilt.
2. This mermaid stamp by C.C. Designs is so adorable. Too cute!
3. These freebies are going to be fun to play around with in photoshop. Love free actions!
4. Have you heard about this new pencil from Sharpie? I can't wait to try this out. Pencil that writes like a pen? I'm there.
5. These Basic Grey classes led by Kristina Werner look pretty interesting. I can't wait for a free afternoon to sit down and learn a little more about digi scrapping.
6. Speaking of Digi scrapping, I highly recommend the latest episode of the Paperclipping Digi Show. I haven't ever really digi scrapbooked, but this show is showing me ways that it would fit well into my lifestyle.
7. Copics. I am enamored with Copics, and I'm going to order more as soon as I sit down and figure out what colors I would like to have next. These things are awesome! I've also heard a lot of good things about Ellen Hutson's store, so I think I'll make my next Copic order through them.
8. Nichol Magouirk has mentioned TasteBook, the recipe book making website, in the last couple weeks, and I'm really interested in making my own book. I love that you can order recipe pages separately, too.
9. This stationery is funny. And clever. And I wish I thought of it first. (Especially the mustaches poster. Genius.)
10. I'm in love with this card by Heather Maria. I think I need to get reacquainted with my sewing machine...

That's all for tonight. I have to go throw my computer off my roof...

Love.

Brit

Happy (birth)Day!

I'm officially done with class. Done, done, done. It's now summer, and I'm not going to talk about class for at least another three weeks. Amen.

Today's been interesting. I got a new roomie (Hi, Avanthi!), packed up a lot of my stuff since I'm moving in two weeks, and get to see my friend Casey who has been in Massachusetts for the last week and a half. Friends are for picking each other up at the airport :)

I've been meaning to share this for a few days, but I'm just now getting around to it. It's the card I made for my roommate, emma, last week for her birthday. I tried a pretty cool technique that I picked up from Jennifer McQuire's Thinking Inking series from last summer. Here's the card:

To create the background, I inked up a piece of white cardstock with orange, yellow, and red distress ink. Then I grabbed my wonderful doily stamp, inked it with versamark, spritzed it with water and stamped down. The versamark holds the water to the stamp and then, when stamped, releases the water so it can interact with the distress ink. I did this a few times and then let it dry. Isn't the end result so rich? Love it.

Here's the close up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (white and kraft), Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink in Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Barn Door), Tsukineko- Versamark, Embossing Powder- Ranger, White Pen- Signo, Pearls- Michael's, Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Crocheted Flower- American Crafts.

Thanks for stopping by today! See you soon after I get some scrappin' done. :)

Love.

Brit

Almost Summer. Lawn Fawn + Video + Announcement!

All around the country, kids are buying school supplies, staying up late for the last few times, and going to school. I, on the other hand, just got back from my last class of the summer! I only have one more little project to do for my technical writing class, and then I'm done, done and done. Well... at least for three weeks until the fall semester starts. We're not talking about that for two weeks and six days, though. Ha.


Lawn Fawn.
Here's a card I made last night to take a break from working on homework. I bought three sets from Lawn Fawn recently, and I've been dying to play with them. This is my first creation with them. The bold lines stamp wonderfully... I'm in love. I can't wait to make more things with them in the upcoming weeks. Here's my card:

I like the distressed look of the basic grey solid patterned paper, but the Olivia 6 by 6 pad that I have doesn't come with a green color, so I made my own out of some PTI New Leaf cardstock and Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I think it tuned out pretty convincing if I do say so myself. I also got a chance to use my scalloped sentiment punch: it's been on my list forever and I just got around to actually buying it. Score.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (White and New Leaf), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Olivia Collection), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bake Me a Cake), Rhinestones- Michael's, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Border Punch- Fiskars (scalloped sentiment), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black).

Video.
I got my Studio Calico kits in the mail today, and I thought I would share opening it up with you. Ha. I love these kits and can't wait to dive in next week. :) Oh, and all of these kits are still available as of right now, so make sure you hop on over and pick one up before they sell out!


(Or view it over at YouTube.)

Kit Links:
Main Kit- Summer Camp
Extra Cardstock- More Color
Add on- Elk Lake
Other fun things- The Studio Calico Store

Announcement.
Today I took the plunge after listening to Foolish Adventure's first podcast and decided to buy my own domain name. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and I know it will benefit me both for fun and professionally. Right now I have the addresses that I bought (britswiderski.com and brittaswiderski.com) forwarding to this blog, but I hope to soon start work on a full website. I'll keep you updated on that; I have a little web experience, and I learn more and more each time I start a new venture, so I'm excited to see where this goes. So just know that eventually, hopefully within a month or so, I'll have a new pretty blog and website for you to explore. :)

Second Announcement.
I'm officially starting my 1000th tweet giveaway next week Tuesday. I still have yet to pull all of the things I want to include together, so bare with me and I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

Thanks for stopping by again today. I'll be back again when it's my official summer. I. Can't. Wait.

Love.

Brit