ArtIsMySunshine

It's Time for a Change... Of Website.

2010-12-03T20:51:00.000-06:00

I have some bigggg news!

So hop on over to my very own website: brittaswiderski.com. More information in today's post over there!

Love.
Brit

Beautiful Things.

2010-12-01T23:55:00.002-06:00

1. The fact that today is over. Goodness. It's been a long, crazy, nervous day. Thank goodness everything is done. Yay!

2. I made this card last night. The creative process is beautiful.

I stamped the Hero Arts Silly Scape stamp on three different Crate Paper Restoration collection papers and pieced them together. I love the texture that technique gives.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Vintage Cream), Patterned Paper- Crate Paper (Restoration collection 6 x 6 pad), Punches- Fiskars (Large and XL Cloud), Stamps- Hero Arts (K5425 Silly Scape) and Papertrey Ink (Fillable Frames #10), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black), Marker- Copic (Black).

3. This girl. We've finally named her! Welcome Trixie "the Slaughterer" Lewiniski:

Yeah, it was an effort of compromise. The girls wanted Trixie, but the boys didn't want it to be too girly... hence, "The Slaughterer". I kid you not! Hahahaha.

4. Roommate moments. Tonight was a crazy night full of grocery mishaps and too many cooks in the kitchen, but it was all worth it for the moment later tonight. Greg baked a cake to help celebrate my birthday and decided to use all 36 candles on hand to spell out my name instead of remembering that, traditionally, you put as many candles as years old you're turning. This picture really tells the whole story.... Me looking at Greg with a confused look and Joe trying to read the candles. Classic. I love this.

The attempted "Britta"... can you see it? Hehe.

5. New scrappy supplies. I made this haul video last night (a.k.a. before we named the kitty) showing my recent Papertrey Ink order and a few things I picked up over the last week. Check it out here or on YouTube: *Note- I just uploaded it at 11:30 PM CST, so it might take a few minutes to process still.*

Links from the video:
Laurie's Awesome Saddle Stitch ribbon flowers tutorial
FujiFilm Instax Mini 7S Pink from B&H Photo (currently on backorder, but they have other colors)
Instax Mini Film from B&H Photo
Studio Calico December Kit- Metropolitan
Susan Weinthroth rocks the cloud punches
My YouTube Channel <--- Remember to subscribe so you don't miss a video!

That's all I have for you today. I'm going to bed exhausted by happy. Life is good.

Love.
Brit

Meet Our New Roommate.

2010-11-30T12:29:00.001-06:00

Life is still super crazy around here. I have have a huge project for my graphic design class due tomorrow, so today I'm busy working on that. I hope to get some time tonight, though, to finally unpack, make some scrappy things, and cat-safe my room. What? Cat safe? Oh, right. We got a cat! It belongs to the two brothers that I live with, it's seven weeks old, and we don't have a name for her yet. (I would LOVE to hear any suggestions you have for naming her!) I just met her about 12 hours ago, and I'm so in love with the little pumpkin. She's freaking adorable. Want to meet her, too? Okay:

Here she is. She's spotted on her right side and striped on her left. :)

She's ridiculously playful. She thinks all feet are toys. Thankfully, her bites and claws don't hurt yet. Ha.

She is TINY. She was the runt of the litter. She's about the size of a beanie baby (I kid you not!). For a size comparison, that futon bar is 7 inches off the ground. Yeah. Tiny. And adorable.

This is her chair. She has claimed it in the living room. :)

I just can not tell you how absolutely thrilled I am to have this little, adorable, sweet kitty around. I'll try not to overload you with kitty pictures and stories over the next couple weeks, but I don't know if I can resist.

Leave ideas for names if any come to mind. The boys want to name her Miss Nezbit (from Toy Story) or Nezzy for short. I'm not to crazy about that name, so let's come up with something better! Haha. If we use the name that you suggest, I'll send you a sweet prize (cat and cat hair not included). Hehe.

Promise to be back to regularly scheduled programing tomorrow.

Love.
Brit

Week 12 - Monday Video Tutorial: Colored Pencil

2010-11-29T11:21:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to another Video Tutorial Monday. Firstly, I wanted to thank you for all of the sweet birthday wishes yesterday. It makes my heart so happy! The crafty world is truly the best. I'm in the midst of packing up this morning and flying home this afternoon back to Minneapolis. I had a wonderful time at home with my family, but it's definitely time to go back and get lots of work done. The next three weeks are going to be absolutely insane for me with final projects and finals coming up way to quickly, so I may be posting only a few times a week instead of 5 or 6. Don't worry, though- as soon as finals are over, I'm sure I'm going to want to relax by making lots of pretty things. :) Of course, I'll be working on my December Daily and probably posting that a couple times a week. My Instax Mini is waiting at home for me, so I can't wait to break it out and start this project.

Anyways, back to VTM. I wanted to expand on my earlier videos about coloring with colored pencils, so I made this one about adding depth to images that already have "pre-determined" colors. For example, this wreath image. You basically have the choices between reds and greens, no matter how you slice it, so I show you how to make plain coloring really pop by blending lights, mediums, and darks. Here's today's card:

And the video. (Watch it on YouTube, subscribe to my channel.)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bows and Holly), Colored Pencils- Prisma (48 Color), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Vintage Photo Distress INk), Glossy Accents- Ranger, Scoring Board- Martha Stewart (EK Success).

By the way, this is the set of colored pencils I have:

You can buy them here on amazon or at my favorite art supply store, Dick Blick (with a mail-in rebate offer for purchases over $50), but I wouldn't buy them for more than 40 dollars. I think I bought mine for $30 at Michaels when they were 50% off. They go on sale every once in a while, and you can usually use a coupon on them. I like this set a lot as a good range of color, but I have picked up some extra individual colors for specific drawings that I had to do for class. I hope someday to accumulate the whole collection, but we'll see how that goes. These pencils are awesome quality and will last a very long time, so I highly recommend them. As far as art supplies go, these are definitely a good investment.

Of course, plain old Crayola pencils would work too. If you have those and want to try this technique with those, just make sure to color lightly on the bottom layer. They're not as easy blend since there's more wax in them, but if you color lightly, you should be fine.

If you have any other questions about colored pencils, feel free to comment here or on the video. I'd love to answer or point you in the right direction of some resources. Thank you for stopping by today! I have to dash off to start packing. Ha.

Love.

Brit

It's My Birthday...

2010-11-28T14:55:00.001-06:00

So I'm giving myself the day off from doing a fantastic post and instead posting a couple pictures I took of my home time this morning. While out to take a box of things to a friend to bring back to Minnesota for me (I can't bring everything on the plane with me- that would be insane!), I took pictures that represent memories. I think I'll make a mini book with the pictures. :) I also did this:

I bought my first bottle of champagne. The cashier wished me a happy birthday. I liked it. :) (I may have also picked up a bottle of mudslide on the rocks mix. It looked yummy.) Big day!

Around the town #1: The terrible faux Statue of Liberty sitting in our business district. It's ten feet tall, chubby, and very out of place. It was put in two years ago, and I just don't get it. It's a fun thing to laugh about, though. They... tried. Ha.

#2: Roundabouts. We have 4 or 5 around town now, and this is the most recent one. It's a double one, and it works like a charm. I love them.

#3: My street. This is what I see when I know I'm finally home. Lovely.

I'll be back tomorrow with regularly scheduled posting (including the Video Tutorial Monday), but for now, I'm off to go spend time with my family. Thank you for stopping by today!

Love.

Brit

ETA: This was the sunset tonight. Glorious. :)

Bon Voyage?

2010-11-27T11:30:00.000-06:00

While I'm away in Illinois until tomorrow, I thought I would post this quick card I made using another Imaginisce collection- Splash Dance. I had this Studio G stamp (from Michael's a year or so ago) that I had wanted to make a card with for a while, so this was my chance. This would be great for a friend or family leaving on a cruise (maybe a last plea to take me with them? haha). Here's what I made:

I used the rub ons from this collection to decorate the kraft piece. I hadn't used rub-ons in a while, so this is definitely a little bit outside my comfort zone. I think it turned out pretty well, though.

I love this patterned paper, so to draw attention to the scallops, I cut along them and then inked the edges with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Antique Linen, Kraft, and Aqua Mist), Patterned Paper- Imaginisce, Ink- Ranger (Tumbled Glass Distress Ink) and Tsukineko (Memento Black), Twine- Papertrey Ink, Buttons- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist), Rub Ons- Imaginisce, Stamp- Studio G.

I can't wait to be back to Wisconsin (and normal internet access!) tomorrow; then I'll be able to do a recap of Thanksgiving and give you a full review on how the Pumpkin Bread Pudding went. Happy Black Friday! Hope you get (or got) all the deals you wanted this morning. I've gone every year for the past 5 (and most of them before that), so I definitely feel like I'm missing out this year since I'm in the middle of nowhere. I guess online shopping will have to suffice. Hehe.

Love.

Brit

What I'm Thankful For.

2010-11-25T11:00:00.000-06:00

It's Thanksgiving today in the US, and as I'm stuffing my belly full of turkey, mashed potatoes, and all sorts of pie, I wanted to take a second and tell you some things I am grateful for.

1. That I have so many great bloggy and crafty friends that provide such great, valuable feedback. I'm still amazed that some people actually like to look at things I make. Haha.

2. That this industry is so great. The vast majority of everyone who crafts, stamps, and scraps is so incredibly nice. I'm so thankful for nice people.

3. That I can be with my family for the beginning of the holidays and get to go back to my friends back in Minneapolis to finish off this semester strong.

4. That I've been blessed with the means to go to school and continue pursuing my passions.

5. That I'm able to share my creativity with you and the world. It's my release, my passion, and my therapy. It truly is a blessing.

So thank you SO much for stopping by today and other days and always being so kind, encouraging, and inspiring. You truly rock.

Today, I wanted to share two cards that I created with the same collection- the Imaginisce Love & Cherish Collection. They both use this paper, one just uses the A side and the other the B side.

Since the black is glossy, I simply inked over the white parts with distress ink in various blues and purples and then wiped off the excess.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Simply Chartreuse and Vintage Cream), Patterned Paper- Imaginisce, Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink in Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender) and Tsukineko (Black Memento), Punch- EK Success (Real Estate Label Punch), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist Satin Ribbon), Gems- Queen & Company, Stamp- Hero Arts (CL140 Thinking of You Messages).

On this one, I used the B side of the patterned paper and cut out a circle toward the top using my Large Circle Nestabilities. I then inked several of the flowers (also from the same collection from the same Imaginisce Love & Cherish collection) with the same inks I used above on the paper and then added them to the card with American Crafts brads and some extra rhinestones.

To make the circle pop a little more, I sewed around the edge with purple embroidery floss and tied it in a bow on the right hand side. The overall feel of this card is elegant with a cutesy touch. Love it!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Simply Chartreuse and Spring Moss), Patterned Paper- Imaginisce, Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink in Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender) and Tsukineko (Black Memento), Die- Spellbinders (Large Circle Nestabilities), Flowers- Imaginisce, Gems- Queen & Company, Rhinestone Brads- American Crafts, Embroidery Floss- DMC, Stamp- Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments).

Hope you enjoyed this little spin on one product, two ways. What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Love.

Brit

My December Daily 2010 Cover.

2010-11-24T14:00:00.002-06:00

The other day, I sat down and got to work on my cover for my December Daily. (If you want to learn more about this project, you can read my post here or go over to Ali Edwards' blog here.) I'm getting more and more excited to get started on this album when I get home from Wisconsin. My Instax Mini is waiting for me to start clicking away, and I picked up some binder rings (1.5" and 2.5") to hold my book together. I pulled out my Circa 1934 6 x 6 pad, cut out some strips of my favorite patterns (two red, and one black), and got out some stickers from October Afternoon and chipboard numbers from Basic Grey's Oliver collection. Here's what I came up with:

I inked the edges and chipboard with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to keep with the look of the rest of the album.

Supplies: Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Circa 1934 6 x 6 pad), Letter Stickers- October Afternoon, Chipboard Numbers- Basic Grey, Ink- Ranger (Vintage Photo Distress Ink).

I'm on my way to Illinois to have Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' house. Let's hope the "too much family" aspect doesn't get too out of hand. Whenever we visit my grandparents, things always seem to go a little crazy. Ha. Happy almost Thanksgiving to my American friends! I'm going to try and make this Pumpkin Bread Pudding from the Pioneer Woman and Bobby Flay battle. It looks delicious, so I hope it turns out well. I consider myself a good cook, but baking doesn't always work out for me. My brother who's in culinary school right now may need to come to my rescue. I'll let you know how it goes ;)

Love.
Brit

Home Again.

2010-11-23T17:15:00.000-06:00

I flew in yesterday, and I can not tell you how happy I am to be home with my family again. I haven't been back since August, so it's been an insanely long time. My trip yesterday was fairly interesting- it started off with a flight delay but ending up being more about watching the sunset and the moonrise from above the clouds and meeting someone pretty awesome (an opera singer from Pittsburg... super cool!). It's just so great to be back. In fact, today I did my ritual shopping trip: the ten minute drive up to Appleton to visit Archiver's, Hobby Lobby, Jo Ann Fabrics, and Michael's, stopping for a lunch of Baked Potato Soup + sourdough bread at Atlanta Bread Company. It's my ideal "me day", and I scored lots of awesome deals. (Uhhh... hello Fiskars cloud punches for 40% off!) When I get back to Minneapolis, I'll probably do a haul video with the things I know I have waiting at home for me. Here's a picture I took of my baby, Blue Eyes, this morning:

Today, I wanted to share a layout. This is another one featuring pictures from Australia. I bet you're getting sick of these pictures, but don't worry! I just placed a huge order for all my prints from the last 8 months, so I'll have new scrapping material very soon. I pulled out my Napa Valley kit and came up with this:

I love all of the layers here:

I wrote the words and then went over them with a paper piercer and threaded them with cream thread. I like the look.

I love this doily ribbon from Basic Grey.

Supplies: Kit- Studio Calico (Napa Valley), Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Pearls- Queen & Company, Ink- Ranger (Vintage Photo Distress Ink), Marker- Copic (.3 Tip), Thread- DMC, Tape- PrettyTape on Etsy.

Hope you enjoyed the layout for today. I'm off to go eat some meatloaf (my favorite home meal!) and relax. Wishing you happy, lovey travels!

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #11 - Using Distress Inks

2010-11-22T11:36:00.001-06:00

Good morning! I'm just popping in to post this morning before leaving for the airport. I can't wait to get home! It'll be so nice to be back in Wisconsin for a week or so. Loveeee. Anyways, the idea from today's tutorial came to me after reading on a couple places on the internet that people have collected the Tim Holtz Distress Inks for the pretty colors but didn't really know what to do with them. To them I say: watch this video! Hopefully you'll get a sense of what you can do with them. I show three of my favorite distress ink techniques. Here's today's card:

Close-up of the three inking techniques together:

The pretty twine bow. I think it adds the perfect touch. :)

Here's the video for this week. As always, you can watch it on youtube here. (And make sure to subscribe to my channel! :) )

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG170 Wildflower Garden), Studio Calico (Grid Stamp), Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments), Ink- Ranger (Distress Inks- Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed, Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender), Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Twine- Papertrey Ink, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Thank you for stopping by for another video tutorial Monday! I have to dash off to catch my flight, but I'll be posting more pretty things this week. I have one of my new favorite layouts to share with you tomorrow. :)

Love.

Brit

A Layout. (I'm too tired to come up with a creative title.)

2010-11-19T19:09:00.000-06:00

I think the header says it all. Long week, long day, long everything. By the way, it totally sucks that it gets dark at like 4:30 now. Why, world do you do this to me? I don't like that. I needed some creative therapy last night, though, so I sat down and scrapped. I pulled out my Studio Calico November kit, Napa Valley, and got to work. Here's what I came up with:

My goal was to resist my temptation to ink all edges. I did! And because of it, I think the layout came out more... streamlined?.... like I wanted it to. This line of gems was by far the most time-consuming part of the layout. I placed the biggest ones first (every inch), the smallest ones in the middle of those, and the medium ones in the between the large ones and the small ones. Easy to do but tedious. The pearls are from Queen & Co.

My super messy handwriting. I don't care, it's how I write. :)

Supplies: Kits- Studio Calico (Napa Valley (Ledger Paper) and Santa Cruz), Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Black Pen- Copic, Star Punch- Stampin' Up!, Pearls- Queen & Co.

By the way, I've decided what I'm going to pack for my week long trip home. I thought you might be interested... I'm just thinking like how I would pack for a crop. :)

1. Kits- Napa Valley, Santa Cruz
2. Past Kits- On the Easel, Still Life
3. Inks- JBS Spice Tin and Malted Milk, Ranger Vintage Photo + Distressing Tool, Memento Black
4. Standard tools- Paper Trimmer, Cutterbee Scissors, Tonic Scissors, .3 Copic Micro Liner, White Gel Pen, Brown Marker, Tombow Tape Runner, Foam tape, Mini Glue Dots, Bone Folder, Paper Piercer, Corner Chomper
5. Needles and Thread (Cream and White)
6. Cardstock- Cream, White, and Kraft in 12 x 12 and 8.5 x 11
7. Stamping tools- 2 x 3 acrylic block, Sophie's Sentiments (Lawn Fawn)
8. Pre-stamped images on Vintage Cream cardstock and my Prisma colored pencils (for idle coloring for easy cards later)

That's it. Okay, so I might add one or two more things. (Am I missing any essentials here? Not sure. But I will be within 5 minutes of 4 crafting stores, so I think I just may be alright. Hehe.)

Off to go eat dinner with the boyfriend. Yayyy for hot dates at Applebee's.

Love.
Brit

One of My Favorites.

2010-11-18T19:51:00.000-06:00

Recently, Hero Arts asked on its blog what our favorite stamps sets of the year were. Without hesitation, I found myself typing "Delicate Blossoms." I guess I didn't realize that I loved it so much until that point. It's gorgeous... so I decided I needed to give it some more love. Here's the stamp set:

And here's what I created with it:

I simply cut a 1.75" by 5.5" piece of kraft cardstock, stamped the thinner image on it, and colored it in with Copics. Add a little distressing with Vintage Photo ink, and you're all set with the main image. Super simple!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Fine Linen), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL449 Delicate Blossoms) and Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments), Markers- Copics (YG17, R35, YR18), Ink- Ranger (Vintage Photo Disress Ink) and Tsukineko (Memento Black), Gems- Making Memories (Paper Reverie Collection in Sienne, Gems & Brads), Twine- Papertrey Ink, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I'd like to thank you all for such sweet comments yesterday. You all rock! I can't wait to share my December Daily adventure with you. :) I'm off to go spend "t.v. Thursday" with the roomies (our favorite lineup of shows- Community, 30 Rock, The Office, Always Sunny, The League, and Conan- are all on) and get some crafting done. I also need to start packing for home. Trying to fit enough stuff to scrapbook with in a carry-on is going to be a challenge for sure. Haha.

Love.

Brit

My December Daily 2010 Setup.

2010-11-17T21:35:00.001-06:00

I've never done a December Daily before, but I wanted to give it a try this year. Ali Edwards posted earlier this week with a place to link to foundation pages blog posts and I thought, "Hmmm... yes, maybe I should start this thing before the first day of December. Good idea, Ali." So I sat down last night and figured this whole thing out. This is what I'm going to do:

Page size: 4.25" by 5.5"
Base pages: Kraft Cardstock from Papertrey Ink
Distressing: Edges inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink of all elements

With that background, here you can see what I came up with.

The Covers

This is the front. It's plain chipboard covered in patterned paper on the front and Vintage Cream cardstock on the inside. I'm going to decorate it someday. Maybe today? Ha.

This is the back. I wanted to use this pattern, but it was too busy for what I wanted to do inside the book, so I threw it on the back. Side note: I'm using twine to tie the book together right now, but I'm planning on using binder rings once I can get ahold of some.

The Inside

I'm using this wonderful, wonderful 6 x 6 Circa 1934 Collection pad by Cosmo Cricket. I pulled out a sheet of 12 of my favorite patterns and got to work cutting them down like this:

After I cut the papers apart, I inked all the edges and then adhered them to the pages of my book, alternating horizontal spreads and vertical spreads.

I have these pieces for leftovers + the rest of the paper pad. I LOVE these colors for Christmas. They're so elegant and don't scream "Christmas!!!" in your face. They're perfect.

The Layout
This is the way my pages are going to be set up. Base + photo + number + accent/journaling.

That perfectly-sized white piece of paper representing the photo is the same size as the prints from the Pink Instax Mini 7S that I ordered today from B&H Photo and Video. I can't wait to get it! It'll be perfect. (Note: they also have the best prices on Mini refills that I've found. Only 13.75 for 20 exposures.)

I'm also going to be using these stamps (Natalee by Studio Calico) for the numbers. I figure stamps would be easier (and cheaper) than letter stickers.

There you have it. I'll keep you updated as I decorate the cover and get started on my December Daily. This is going to be a challenge to myself; I'm not really the type of person who can stick with the same thing every day consecutively. Wish me luck!

I need to go make pretty things. I fly out to go home on Monday and will be gone for a whole week, so I have lots of work to get caught up on before I leave.

Love.
Brit

P.S.- If you're looking to get into the Christmas mood (I am!), you should check out the Glee Christmas album that came out yesterday. It's wonderful. :)

The big 2-1.

2010-11-16T16:41:00.001-06:00

Being a Junior in college right now means that all of my friends are turning 21 this year. This is the kind of birthday that requires a card :) I can't wait until more of my girl friends start turning 21... oh, the martini glasses I will make! Today is one my boyfriend's roommate's birthdays. His name is Matt (just like my bf), so everyone calls him by his last name, Domski. It's a pretty sweet last name if I do say so myself. Here's the card that I made for him:

I'm excited to give him it to him tonight. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Patterned Paper (October Afternoon - Seaside Collection 8 x 8 pad), Ink- Ranger (Jenni Bowlin Studios Spice Tin and Tim Holtz Chipped Saphire), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL340 Birthday Sayings) and Lawn Fawn (Bake Me a Cake), Number Stickers- Basic Grey (Manilla Basics Micro Mono Stickers, Inked with Spice Tin ink), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I'm feeling motivated today to get lots done. On my list: get two design projects ready for printing, write a graphic design history paper, and start my December Daily foundation pages. I've decided that I'm going to invest in a Pink Instax Mini 7S camera to take the pictures for it. It'll be instant, sized perfectly, and super funky. I can't wait! Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have some progress to share with you. :)

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #10 - Clean and Simple with Jenni Bowlin Inks

2010-11-15T10:52:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome back for another fun week of a Monday Video Tutorial! I'm super excited about this weeks card that features my absolute favorite new Ranger product: Jenni Bowlin Studios Inks. I bought mine from the Studio Calcio store last month during release, and I have full intentions of picking up a few more colors this upcoming release. Right now I have Spice Tin, Chicken Feed, Stick Candy, and (my favorite!) Malted Milk. I wanted to show off these inks, so I came up with a super clean and simple design. Here's today's card:

Here's the close up of my beloved Malted Milk ink stamped with this fabulous star border stamp from Studio Calico.

Here's the video for today. It features some tips and tricks that I use as well- how I score my cardstock, how I align border stamps, and other fun things. You can watch it on YouTube here (and make sure to subscribe to my channel while you're over there).

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Simply Chartreuse and Vintage Cream), Stamps- Studio Calico (Stars Border) and Hero Arts (CL343 Holiday Sayings), Gems- Making Memories (Paper Reverie Sienne Collection), White Pen- Signo Uniball, Ink- Ranger (Jenni Bowlin Studios Spice Tin and Malted Milk).

Hope you enjoyed the card for today! Little update- I totally didn't resist the Papertrey Ink Release last night. I placed an order. A big order. Oops! At least I'll have lots of pretty scrappy goodies to make new things with. :) I need to get back to studying for a big midterm tonight and working on three design projects (gasp!). Big day today! I'll have to reward myself with some crafty therapy later. :)

Have a fantastic day! Thank you for stopping by for another Monday. I'm hoping to have another video tutorial sometime this week just for the heck of it, so watch for that. I have some cool things in the works!

Love.

Brit

Feeling All Warm and Cozy.

2010-11-14T18:30:00.000-06:00

It could be the tons of snow on the ground (the official count is 8 inches!), the space heater at my feet, or the amazing chili that I made for lunch today (my dad's recipe... tastes just like home), but something has got me feeling warm, fuzzy, and ready for the holidays. This is my favorite time of the year, and I'm sooo feeling the love. Here's a card I made to spread the love:

I stamped my sentiment using words from Lawn Fawn's Cozy Christmas set and went a little crazy with the I (Heart) Hearts set from SU!

The sentiment was punched out with the Real Estate punch from EK Success. Love! When I had adhered everything, I went back with the smallest heart stamp and some versamark ink and filled up the empty spaces. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream, Kraft, Simply Chartreuse), Ink- Hero Arts (Hero Hues Chalk Ink in Punch), Tsukineko (Versamark), Colorbox (Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink) and Ranger (Antique Linen Distress Ink), Thread- DMC, Punches- EK Success ( Real Estate Label) and Stampin' Up! (Three Hearts), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Cozy Christmas) and Stampin' Up! (I (Heart) Hearts), Circle Cutter- Making Memories, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I have a ton of studying to do tonight for a midterm and some big projects this week, so I need to go get some things done. I also need to record my video tutorial Monday. The card this week is super cute in my head... let's hope it turns out that way. Hehe. Before I go, I wanted to share my Papertrey Ink release favorites. Everything goes on sale at midnight EDT tonight, so it's going to be sooo hard to resist this cuteness for three more days until I get paid. I must wait, though! Here are my top picks:

The entire new Signature Series Line from Dawn McVey. You get one big image and four sentiments in each miniset for 5 dollars. There is a coordinating die for each one for $5, too! I'm definitely going to pick up the Flower and Cupcake Stamp set and the Flower and Butterfly die. Gorgeous!

The entire new banner lineup is a really cool concept, but my little budget won't let me buy it all. Therefore, I'm going to get the most bang for my buck by going with this die for $15. These border strips are 3.75" wide, so they're perfect for cardmaking. It's like getting 5 border punches, only it takes a lot of the work out of it for me. Woot! The tiny banner set that matches also looks really cool, but I'll wait a little bit to see what others do with it first. :)

Fillable Frames #10 by Heather Nichols is a no-brainer. This shape is lovely! Warm Happiness Too is adorable, too. I especially love the color scheme here!

This is what I'm probably the most excited about: the Mat Stack 1 Stamp set. This patterns are stunning, and the way they created this set is genius. You need to see this post by Nichole Heady about it. Woah! The Year of Flowers: Mums is going on my Christmas List. :)

Did I mention how excited for this stamp set I am? Oh boy oh boy! I'm pretty sure I'll pass out from excitedness if they ever announce a Mat Stack 4 stamp set (which it sounds like is in the works). Literally pass out. Haha.

I'm also going to be picking up a couple small packages of cardstock to work on filling in the holes in my collection. I've found myself wanting Lavendar Moon and Ripe Avacado, but I'm fresh out! It's a PTI paper emergency... hehe.

On one last not of enabling... You need to check out the SC sneaks here. The main kit is going to have two SC exclusive papers AND two papers made exclusively for SC by Sassafras. They're all in my favorite colors. Lordy, help me. Such gorgeousness going on here!

I'm off to get some studying and filming done. What do you have your eye on from PTI this month? What's going on your Christmas list?

Love.
Brit

Snow and Storage Solutions.

2010-11-13T17:53:00.001-06:00

Hello from snowy Minnesota! I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow across my driveway and a very, very cold house. Our heater isn't working! A few repairment came today to see what was wrong, but it comes down to that they need to get a new motor for the system and install it on Monday. Let's just hope the quick fix that the last repairman did lasts through the weekend. Anyways, here was the look outside my window this morning:

And here's my house this morning :)

Isn't it pretty? Sigh. I love the first snow. I made a card to celebrate the occasion justing this adorable Winter Bunny stamp from Lawn Fawn and using some Papertrey Ink Dies (Mat Stack 4 and Victorian Lace Border).

I colored the cute little bunny with copics and some colored pencils (for the sled) and then masked him and the hills off with paper and inked the sky with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. After I peeled up the masks, I accented the hills with silver Stickles and added some glitter "snow." Isn't he adorable?

Here were the colors of Copics I used:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream, Kraft, and Pure Poppy), Dies- Papertrey Ink (Mat Stack 4 and Victorian Lace Border), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Distress Ink in Antique Linen and Tumbled Glass), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Winter Bunny, Frosties), Glitter Glue- Ranger (Silver Stickles), Markers- Copics.

Next, I wanted to share with you a few storage solutions I've come up with lately. I always love seeing how people organize their supplies; it gives me ideas for scrappy and non-scrappy organization. I did a post and video a while back about my studio space overall, but this is a little update. :) Note: Click on any of the photos to see them bigger.

My ink labeling system. I simply printed the labels off of Ranger's site for my Distress Inks (I've accumulated quite a few now- I think I'm up to twenty oh my favorites now). When I bought my most recent ink loves, Jenni Bowlin Studios inks by Ranger, I decided to do a similar system but with the colors on the outside. I'll go back and do this for my distress inks someday, but for now, this works for me.

I keep my inks on the corner of my desk. This way, they're in reach and I can see all of the sides to choose the one I want quickly.

This is a closer look at my JBS inks. Aren't they pretty? I love seeing the colors on the side like this!

Stepping back from my desk, you can see the usual set up that I work with. I keep my craft spinner in front of my inks (which can easily move out of the way when I need to reach an ink pad), my little craft tools caddy, and a plastic cup full of other pens and tools next to my crafting surface.

Next to me, I have my stamping and glitter drawer. (I bought this desk off of Craigslist, and then my wonderful mother refinished it for me.) The inside of it looks like this:

Toward the front of the drawer (the lefthand side in this picture), I have my paint daubers, my stickles, glitter, and smaller ink pads in a small square organizer I bought from Target (in the Itso storage area). Then I have my ink pads stacked up by brand along the side and middle of the drawer. Standing on end are my big acrylic blocks, and behind the glitter box is a small metal container for my tiny blocks so I don't lose them in my drawer.

This beauty is next to my desk on my wall and is made using this rail from Ikea and these clips, also from Ikea. I love it, and the whole thing cost me under 20 dollars for the ability to hand 75 packages of stamps. I'm also thinking about hanging my thin dies up there, but I might just get another rail to go above this one. We'll see. :)

These storage bins are also from Target (the Itso storage section, once again) and hold my stamps from Papertrey Ink in their CD cases, Stampin' Up! sets in their DVD cases, and other SU! cases that hold my smaller Hero Arts cling sets.

I labeled my PTI sets with some Vintage Cream cardstock and a pen. It's so simple, but it makes finding the set I want to use so much easier. Love it. :)

Here are my clings stored with the label in the sleeve and the stamps showing on the back.

The other basket on top of my Sterillite rolling cart holds all of my wood block stamps.

Next to my desk are two more (also Itso) bins that hold my adhesive and ribbon.

Here's a closer look into my ribbon box. I have my PTI ribbon toward the front (the right) on the bottom, my neutral colors of ribbon in the middle, and my favorite specialty ribbons in the next row. On top of that, I have my twine, silk ribbon, and a row of Washi Tape (ordered from PrettyTape).

I hope you liked this little look into my organization system. Leave a comment if you have any questions about any of the things in the pictures! I have to go do a couple of laps around the house to warm up and put on some makeup for the first time this weekend. Ha. Maybe I'll even get a but of scrapping done tonight. Woohoo! I'm itching to play with Napa Valley soooo badly.

Love.

Brit

P.S.- *GIVEAWAY* Don't forget to comment on this post from Wednesday to be entered to win a fabulous necklace! I'm drawing the winner tomorrow :)

Copic Beautifulness.

2010-11-12T17:11:00.001-06:00

I just turned in my paper that was due later today and I can honestly say that I've never been so happy to have a paper done. I still have a bit of homework to do over the weekend, but at least I can relax for tonight! Happy weekend, everybody! :)

A couple weeks ago, I posted this Monday Video Tutorial about working with clear cards. I got a lot of questions about how I colored the flower, so I wanted to do a video to show how I use Copics and how they work for me. This isn't the only way to use them; this is the way they work for me. Feel free to share any tips and tricks you might have int he comments, and I'll even come back and add them to this post. I wanted this post to be a resource for you to come back to if you have a quick question about Copics.

The Video

(Watch on youtube; subscribe to my channel.)

The Card

I cut out the colored flower and leaves and then made this cute vintage-y card with the pieces:

Here's a close-up of the coloring:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft, Vintage Cream, and Fine Linen), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Wander Collection 6 by 6 pad), Stamps- Papertrey Ink (Year of Flowers: Roses) and Hero Arts (CL140 Thinking of You Messages), Markers- Copic (R20, R22, R35, YG25, YG17, YG67), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento) and Ranger (Vintage Photo), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

My Copics

I've been buying Copics since earlier this year and have accrued quite the collection. I think I have all of the colors pretty well covered in the most minimalist way possible, so I wanted to share with you what I have hoping to inspire you. You don't need to own all the Copics to be able to have something for every project (although that would be awesome!)... Now, I say this with a grain of salt. Of course, I'll be buying more over time as I need them for different projects. This is what's working for me right now, and I'm happy. :)

By the way, I buy all of my Copics from Blick Art Supply in the store. Since I'm a student, I get their preferred customer card for free (along with a 10% discount on everything), so this is the most cost-effective way to buy them for me.

My neutrals- a wide range of the Toner Greys, a colorless blender, a black marker, and the .3 and .7 Micro liners. On my list to add to my collection: a set of browns and some skin tones.

My Pinks and Reds. The left ones are the my fuchsia tones, and the ones on the right are more peachy and red.

My Oranges, Yellows, and Greens. I only have one orange because it blends with the yellows. This is probably where I'll add to my collection next, but I'm okay with it this way.

My Blues and Purples.

The Storage

Okay, this isn't so much a solution as a problem. I have a couple methods in mind as to how to store them, but my desk space is limited. We'll see what I come up with, but this is what a currently use to store my markers:

As of my recent shopping trip, I have outgrown this method, so I have all of my neutrals outside of the oh-so-fancy plastic cup:

I'll update you as soon as I figure out a way that actually works for me in this area. Ha.

The Best Sources

There are a couple of posts that really have served as an inpiration to me when learning out to use my copics. I'll list them here:

Jennifer McGuire's Copic Post

Nichol Magouirk's Skin Tones with Copics post

Nichol Magouirk's recent My Favorite Copics post

Nichol Magouirk's Original Copics Info post (her blog in general is great for picking up tips and tricks about how to incorporate Copics in scrapbooking and cardmaking)

Hope this helps you out a little in navigating the crazy world of Copics. I love them; they're a great tool and super fun to use. Let me know if you have any questions!

I've had a total blast featuring some of my favorite Etsy sellers, and I've saved of my favorites for last. Today's featured seller is PrettyTape. This shop sells one of my newest obsessions: washi tape. She also sells wonderful things to go along with them like tape dispensers and some super cute stamps. Here's one of my favorite projects using her tape:

(I blogged this project here.) I have about 15 rolls of tape now from PrettyTape, and they come in the most gorgeous colors. I seriously spend so long surfing there when I get in my Washi Tape moods. Hehe. Here are some other great things for sale:

Japanese Masking Tape Pretty PINK Polka Dots Stripes Pattern 15mm - Set of 4

Pretty Pastel Pattern - Masking Sticker Set - 27 Sheets (w/ Tin Case)

Pretty Floral Lace Pattern Foam Rubber Stamp Set of 3

Aren't her store items lovely? Shipping is super affordable, too. Go check out PrettyTape and spread the happy office supply love. :)

Thank you for stopping by today. I'm going to go de-stress by cleaning up my room and getting it ready for some pictures I'm going to take for my blog post tomorrow. We're talking storage. I'm so excited to share what I've done lately with organizing my stamps and ink, so make sure to stop back for a look at that. Have a happy evening!

Love.

Brit

Running Quickly.

2010-11-11T19:23:00.000-06:00

Hey all. Life is crazy around here; I have two papers and a midterm between tomorrow and Monday, so I have to spend wayyy too much time on school work over the next couple days. :/ I wanted to stop through though and share a quick tag + a haul video from yesterday + today's Etsy feature.

Supplies: Tag- Ranger (Size 8 Shipping Tag), Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Stamp- Hero Arts (CL457 Real Leaves), Twine- May Arts (Brown), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Ink- Ranger (Distress ink in Wild Honey, Yellow Mustard, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo), Marker- Stampin' Up (Chocolate Chip).

Last night I got a chance to take the car and pick up some new (and refill) art supplies. I'm hoping to use some of them to de-stress tonight after I get done writing my papers! Here's a quick video I did showing what I bought. (Watch it on youtube & subscribe to my channel.)

Today's featured seller is Knitty Bitties. Even though she's on a little break right now from shipping, you can still buy pretty things from her store. I originally ordered just the little Oh Snap mini wallet from her, but then I asked her to make a matching key fob so that I could replace my ratty old Maroon and Gold (Minnesota) colored one. She went out of her way to match the pretty colors to my original purchase and had my key fob to my in no time. I love it! Her customer service is awesome, and next time I need to order a little clutch or purse, she's definitely getting my order.

Here are some more pretty things for sale up at Knitty Bitties:

Happy Little Camera Strap Slip Cover Hot August Nights

Happy Little Camera Strap Slip Cover Winter Gray Skies

Happy Little Camera Strap Slip Cover Hello Sunshine

So make sure you go check out Knitty Bitties on Etsy, especially after she gets back from her break to travel. She's sure to have some amazing new things in store for us up at the end of the month! Stop over there and leave her some pretty, crafty love. :)

I have to run off to get some more schoolwork done, but make sure to check back tomorrow for a post about Copics with a video tutorial and a card along with another fab Etsy feature. Thank you for stopping by!

Love.

Brit

Busy, Busy Day.

2010-11-10T14:25:00.000-06:00

I'm in design classes for eight hours today, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel- I get to go art supply shopping tonight. It's my favorite. I'm going to hit up Michael's, Blick Art Supply, and Archiver's and spend time with some pretty projects. Hellooooo retail therapy! There's nothing like a long, hard day rewarded by some art supplies. (And picking up things to giveaway here on my blog. Yay!)

Even though I'm super swamped today with design work, I wanted to pop in and share today's card and Etsy feature. Here's today's card:

I showed this background really briefly on this watercolor video tutorial. It's just my favorite Prang watercolors on Vintage Cream PTI cardstock. I just embossed the floating blossoms background stamp with silver embossing powder and then watercolored it in. It's such an easy, elegant look.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream, Fine Linen, Pure Poppy), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG147 Floating Blossoms) and Studio Calico (Natalee Alpha), Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark Embossing Ink) and Ranger (Antique Linen Distress Ink), Embossing Powder- Ranger (Silver), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

If you have any questions about how I colored the flowers, check out the video I did a couple weeks ago about watercolor. :)

Today's featured Etsy seller is my sweet friend, Latrice. At her store, Any Occasion, she sells gorgeous necklaces (flower bibs, button and ribbon) and headbands as well as other projects from time to time. I bought a bead and ribbon necklace from her a couple weeks ago, and I literally have to force myself not to wear it every day. It's so gorgeous! Here's a pic of me wearing it:

It's lovely. It can be dressed down (like here) for a long day at class or dressed up for a night out. i get compliments on it all the time. Here's some more of her fab products:

Trinity Feather and Silk Headband in Cream

Button Cascade Necklace in Pink

Knotted Ribbon and Bead Necklace

Latrice is one of my first real-life scrapbooking buddies, so I would love if you would send her some Etsy love and buy a necklace or other pretty thing from her in her store. Because's she's soooo sweet, she has offered to giveaway one of her pretty pink ribbon necklaces! To enter, just comment on this blog post, and as long as you fill out all the boxes (with your url or e-mail address so I have a place to find you), you'll be entered to win. I'll draw a winner on Sunday, November 14th at about 11 pm CST. Good luck and a huge thanks to Latrice for offering a necklace to give away!

Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win!

Love.
Brit

Comfy and Cozy Time.

2010-11-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

Good morning! I'm having the hardest time getting myself to get ready for work today, so I thought all things comfy and cozy would be appropriate. Hehe. First, I have this card that I made in a fall theme, even though this adorable bunny by Lawn Fawn is riding a sled in the original image. I just used the Crate Paper Restoration 6 by 6 pad to paper piece the bunny and the hills (the paper from the hill started out as the yellow doily paper, and then I inked it with Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive distress ink), and then I stamped the fabulous grid stamp that came with my Santa Cruz add-on kit this month from Studio Calico. Add some Lunch Tray Mister Huey, some handcut clouds inked with Tumbled Glass distress ink, stamp your sentiment, and you're done. :)

By the way, I used Spice Tin ink from Jenni Bowlin Studios. It's absolutely amazing. It's the perfect navy color! I've also been obsessed with the Fine Linen Papertrey Ink color of cardstock lately. It truly is the perfect neutral.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Fine Linen), Patterned Paper- Crate Paper (Restoration Collection), Ink- Ranger (Spice Tin by Jenni Bowlin Studios and Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink by Tim Holtz), Spray Ink- Studio Calico (Lunch Tray), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL343 Holiday Sayings), Lawn Fawn (Winter Bunny), Studio Calico (Grid Stamp from November 2010 Santa Cruz Add-On).

My featured seller today is Wayside Violet. I first found out about her when she had a sponsor spot on Kara Haupt's blog, so I thought I would support her. Little did I know that she was a super sweet person and even went out of her way to find a yarn color that I requested. I truly enjoyed working with her and use my mug cozy every time I'm at work and keep my paper cup cozy in my backpack for "coffee emergencies" as I like to call them. Hehe.

So thank you, Jessica, for making my coffee-drinking experience more cozy and exciting. I love the cozies you made for me! Here are some more examples of her fabulous work:

Cable Knit Mug Cozy - Pumpkin Spice

Adorable Bow Coffee Cup Cozy

Rainy Day Flowers Coffee Cozy

So go check out Jessica's store, Wayside Violet, and spread the happy crafty things love. I promise you won't be disappointed (and neither will your naked coffee mug). :)

Love.

Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #9 - Quick and Easy Card Set

2010-11-08T09:24:00.003-06:00

Hi all and welcome back to another installment of Video Tutorial Monday. I'm excited to share this week with you. It all started with the Ready, Set, Chip from the Mitten Weather collection by Cosmo Cricket. I bought it not knowing what I'd use it for, so I challenged myself to use it. I sat down with that chipboard set and gathered some paper, stamp sets, and a few embellishments to coordinate. After an hour of work, I had four completed cards ready for the holidays. Today, I think you need to see the video first. So watch it here or on youtube, and remember to subscribe to my channel on youtube! Here's the video:

Here are the finished cards all together:

Card #1:

Card #2:

Card #3:

Card #4:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist, New Leaf, Pure Poppy), Chipboard Pieces- Cosmo Cricket (Mitten Weather Collection), White Pen- Signo Uni-Ball, Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Tumbled Glass Distress Ink), Buttons- Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy and New Leaf), Gems- Hero Arts, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Thread- DMC, Heart Punch- Stampin' Up!, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL343 Holiday Sayings) and Lawn Fawn (Happy Hanukkah).

Also, I wanted to introduce you to a new feature here on my blog. This week, I will be featuring five of my favorite Etsy sellers- one each day of this week. I have made purchases from all of these sellers, and I've been overwhelmed with the quality of the service and product. I highly recommend each one of these sellers, and they're not giving me anything to say nice things about them. :) I just want to spread the love in this handmade world.

Today's featured seller is Kiss and Tell Cards. I learned about this wonderful seller from Jennifer McGuire when I had been looking for a stamp to use on the back of my cards. I ordered a stamp from her, and I was impressed with her professional attitude and the end product. It's perfect and exactly what I ordered. Here's my beloved stamp:

I use it to stamp the back of all my cards that I give away. This way, I don't need to write my information over and over or go uncredited. Love it! A custom stamp like mine costs about $20.00, and you get to look at the design before it's made. It's well worth the price to me.

Kiss and Tell Cards also makes these pretty things:

Pink Poppy Thank You Notes

Modern Orchid Magnet Save the Date in Box Mailer

Butterfly Blossom Programs

So make sure to go check out Kiss and Tell Cards and give them some love. See you tomorrow for some more crafty goodness and another fab Etsy seller. Thank you for stopping by today!

Love.

Brit

A New Love?

2010-11-07T19:24:00.001-06:00

Could this be? A new love? Napa Valley has arrived at my doorstep, and I've been thrilled to experiment with my new goodies over the past couple days. Time will tell whether this kit will trump my current all-time-favorite, Still Life, but this one definitely has potential. Here's the pretty layout I cam up with. I'm not a big dark orange fan, but I'm loving it in this kit and with these photos.

(click to enlarge)

My favorite part- the layers of pattern paper. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink and then curled up one edge of each piece for dimension.

My new favoritest ink: Malted Milk by Jenni Bowlin Studios. Isn't it pretty? I used it on the title, too and then cut out the letters.

Supplies: Kit- Studio Calico (Napa Valley), Ink- Ranger (Malted Milk by Jenni Bowlin Studios and Vintage Photo Distress Ink by Tim Holtz), Font- Century, Letter stickers- Jenni Bowlin Studios, Stamps- Studio Calico (Jett Alpha and Numbers Sets).

It's Sunday night, so I have quite a bit of work to do and some Packers football to watch, but I didn't want to leave without giving you a little preview of what's going to be on the blog this week.
Monday- Video Tutorial Monday. You're going to love this one. :)
Monday through Friday- A spotlight of different Etsy stores that I love. Rumor has it there may even be a giveaway sometime during the week from one of the lovely Esty store proprietors!
Thursday or Friday- A much-requested Copic coloring tutorial with that beautiful Year of Flowers: Roses set from Papertrey Ink.
(and of course, more things that I haven't thought of yet! haha.)

So be sure to pop back in throughout the week for more excitement and some lovely shares. Wishing you a great week! Let's hope this one is a million better times than the last.

Love.
Brit

P.S. Did you see this? One of my layouts is featured as the Layout of the Week over on the Studio Calico blog. Woohoo! I really love this layout, so I'm so happy that others like it, too. SC totally made my day. :)

Something Special.

2010-11-05T14:27:00.000-05:00

I've been totally hoarding these kraft doilies from Maya Road, so when I was looking for something to create with last night, I felt like it was time to let go and create with them. They're just so... lovely. :)

I outlined each of the doilies with white pen to make them pop.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores), Doilies- Maya Road, White Pen- Signo Uni-Ball, Stamp- Hero Arts (CL380 Truly Appreciated), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

And guess what else? My Studio Calico kit, Napa Valley, is on its way to my door as I type this. Hurry up, UPS man! :) I can't wait to dig into that heavy, heavy box and show you what I got. I say a haul video is in order.

You can order yours here now if you think it's as pretty as I do. I. Can't. Wait!

Be back tomorrow with more pretty things. Are you planning on getting scrappy this weekend? I definitely am. I would love to hear what you're working on in the comments. :)

Love.
Brit

Wishes for a Happy Day.

2010-11-04T14:37:00.000-05:00

Since this week Jill is featuring me on her fab blog, I wanted to do a card inspired by her! So I did a card inspired by her Tuesday card. So technically, this is a card inspired by her inspired by me? Ha. Regardless, I loved her masking technique that she used for the dots on her card here, so I wanted to try it out.

By the way, I love that poppies stamp from HA. I, however, am never cutting it out again. What a pain! Haha.

I colored the image with copics and then used my Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress inks to make it fit in with the rest of the card.

These were the copics I used.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Hawaiian Shores), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL449 Delicate Blossoms) and Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments), Markers- Copic (V01, V06, YG17, YG25), Ink- Tsukineko (Brown Memento), Stampin' Up (Chocolate chip marker used for outlining and the sentiment), Ranger (Distress Inks in Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain), Gems- Hero Arts (Hero Hues assorted gems), Circle punch- EK Success 1.5" (For masking), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Hope you enjoyed this card. I love Jill's style, and it helps me to push my boundaries a little. Make sure you check out her card for today. This one is absolutely breathtaking!

Love.
Brit

Linkies. :)

2010-11-03T12:41:00.001-05:00

My google reader and tabs across the top of my internet browser have been filling up with things that I want to share, so I figured that it's time. Really quickly, I want to share a card I made recently, first.

This is a long notecard by Hero Arts, and I used my Papertrey Ink circle dies to make these cute "balloons". The rosette behind the "party" is simply an 11" piece of paper punched with the Scalloped Sentiment punch then scored every 1/4" inch and folded with peaks and valleys. I used Glossy accents to adhere it to a circle behind the rosette. If you have any more questions about how I did it, feel free to ask. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Raspberry Fizz and Vintage Cream), Card Base- Hero Arts, Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Circle Dies- Papertrey Ink, Border Punch- Scalloped Sentiment, Button- Papertrey Ink, Ink and Marker- Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo), White Pen- Signo Uni-Ball, Spray Ink- Studio Calico (Atmosphere Mister Huey), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Stamp- Hero Arts (CL340 Birthday Sayings).

Now for some linky love:

1. I'm excited for this Jay Gee's Nook challenge. The inspiration photo is so pretty! I'm going to sit down an make a card inspired by it tonight. :)
2. I have no idea how I didn't know about her blog before, but Kelly Rasmussen's blog is amazing. Her "Pairing Up" posts are especially gorgeous. I love this one, and this one sooo much.
3. Local Twin Cities ladies, WAMarchy was announced as an event at our amazing museum on campus in December. I reallllly want to go. You get to break all of the rules at the museum- they're going to have a red wine tasting, you get to draw on the walls, and they'll have bands playing. Best part? I'll be twenty-one the week before that. Helllloooo free, delicious wine. (Not that I know what wine tastes like at all... Nooooo not at all. Hehe.)
4. The Studio Calico member gallery is stunning day after day. If you're ever in need of inspiration, that's the place to go. There's some amazing talent over there. Some of my recent favorites: this one, this one, and this one.
5. Kristina Werner's holiday card series is awesome. She's made a video for 25 days of November, and they're packed full of tips and tricks (and yummy new product). Here's a link to today's video. :) You can also enter to win what sounds like an amazing prize package from a different company each week. This week? Hero Arts. My favorite!
6. Lucy Abrams never ceases to amaze me. Seriously. This card with buttons and stitching might be my favorite one yet.
7. Design*Sponge had this post about new Jonathan Adler bedding. It's seriously gorgeous. Anyone want to buy a set for me? Haha.
8. ThreeManyCooks posted this recipe for Thai Honey Peanut Chicken. I am going to try this recipe out as soon as I go grocery shopping.
9. These snowflake cards by Shari Carroll are amazing. Her video to go along with them is great, too.
10. This new American Crafts release has a lot of people excited including myself. I'm the most excited about the metal frames and the ribbon. This line is going to make really effortless, elegant pages. Love!

Okay, that's enough overloading you for one day. Hope you didn't mind! I need to get my butt ready and go to class. It's been a rough last 24 hours for me and my friends. I'll just say this: cherish those around you. We're told so often to love our family members and friends, but no one really talks about being thankful for the nice people that you meet, that are in your classes, or that you work with. Don't take them for granted; they're what makes this world an okay place to live in.

Much love for you, crafty friends. I'll be back tomorrow with some new, pretty things. :)

Love.
Brit

A Year In Review + a Birthday card.

2010-11-02T10:22:00.000-05:00

First of all, I wanted to say thank you to all of you (my crafty friends) for being so amazing. I feel like, in the past few days, I've been overwhelmed with love and encouragement from friends and from even people I hardly know. It's awesome. I just wanted to thank all of you; this is my hobby and my passion, and I love being able to share it. It's just an added bonus that people actually like my work. Hehe. Because of this love, I'm going to work this week on putting together a giveaway for y'all. Not sure what all it will include yet, but it'll be good. Promise. :)

Okay, so here's today's layout. One of the reasons I love Studio Calico is because of the great community there. The other day, the talented Geralyn was talking about how she uses her Polaroid stamp all the time (which you can still buy in On the Easel- my favorite kit everrr!), and Elizabeth (azelizabeth) said that she used the stamp as wallpaper on one of her recent layouts. I loved the idea of creating wallpaper so much that I sat down right away and started working on this layout. I have to admit, I love the way this turned out. The lunch tray mist from SC? Gosh. I die. Here's what I came up with:

Everything is adhered down with dimensionals, and I masked off the frames with the pictures in them before misting the layout.

My two favorite alphabets- Addy and Natalee.

Supplies: Cardstock- Kit- Studio Calico (On the Easel) American Crafts (Cream) and Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Stamps- Studio Calico (Polaroid Stamp, Addy Alpha and Natalee Alpha), Black Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black), Mist- Studio Calico (Lunch Tray), Black Marker- Copic.

Next, here's a card that I made for my boss's birthday. It was on Saturday, but I'm haven't seen him since Wednesday so I figured I'd give it to him today. I wanted something that would be work and male appropriate:

I kept it simple and used this fab Studio Calico paper from their Documentary collection.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (fine linen, vintage cream and enchanted evening), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream Twill), Patterned Paper- Studio Calico (Souvenir from the Documentary Collection), Rhinestones- Queen & Co., Ink- Ranger (Antique Linen) and Tsukineko (VersaMagic in Navy), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Thank you for stopping by! Hope you pop over to check out Jill's card for today. This one is breathtaking. Seriously. She is so talented! Our styles are so different, so it's awesome to see how she incorporates my card into her style.

Have a fantastic day and keep on spreading the crafty love!

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #8 - Working with Clear Cards

2010-11-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

Before I show you today's card, I want to share so very, very exciting news! Jill Foster, the Inspired by... blogger, (and one of my very favorite stampers) is featuring ME on her blog this week. I can't even tell you how humbled and overjoyed I am that she's using my cards as her inspiration. I'm SO excited to see what she comes up with. Go check out her blog here, and I'll have a post at the end of the week that puts all of the links to her fab cards in one place. (Here's what she did for day one.)

Okay, now onto the card! I've received a lot of questions about using clear cards like these ones from Hero Arts, so I decided to make a video that shows you how I go about them. Once you get the hang of thinking about the layers, you'll be making a ton in no time!

Close-up of the coloring on the flower. I'll do another tutorial sometime soon about how I color with copics, but I didn't want the video to be too long this week. :)

Here's the inside. I really wanted to make this a "complete" card, so adding the sentiment to the inside helped to create a finished product.

Here's the card and what it looks like when it's closed. Love the layers :)

Okay, now here's the video. You can watch it over on youtube here, and make sure to subscribe to my channel while you're over there. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet, Vintage Cream, and Sweet Blush), Clear Card- Hero Arts, Stamps- Papertrey Ink (Year of Flowers: Roses) and Hero Arts (CL380 Truly Appreciated), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet), Markers- Copic (R20, R22, R35, YG17, YG25, YG67), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Circle Cutter- Making Memories, Circle Dies- Spellbinders (Large Circle Nestabilities).

It's time for me to dash off to class (running late again... oy! No surprise there...), but I'll be back tomorrow with a new scrapbook layout that I can not wait to share. Maybe a card, too, if you're lucky. Hehe. So in the meantime, check out Jill's blog for more inspiration. Can't wait to see what she creates!

Love.

Brit

Some Ric-Rac love.

2010-10-31T15:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween! I'm keeping the festivities down to homework and eating candy today (Still hoping to carve a pumpkin soon, though!), but I thought I would share a card that I made last night. My crafty buddy Paulina was looking to make room in her stash for some new goodies, so I bought a couple of things I've been wanting for a while. (She still has more things for sale here... Check it out!) One of the things was this ric-rac PTI die. Love it! When this challenge for Everything But the Kitchen Sink went up last night, I knew exactly what to do with it. Here's the challenge graphic:

And here's my card:

Isn't this color combo gorgeous?

Close-up of the yummy colors of aqua and teal used. All are Papertrey except for the darkest- that's Stampin' Up.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist, Blueberry Sky, Spring Rain, Hawaiian Shores, White), Colormates (Grey), and Stampin' Up! (Bermuda Bay), Ric-Rac Die- Papertrey Ink, Stamps- Papertrey Ink (Fillable Frames #7), White Pen- Signo Uni-ball, Embossing Powder- Ranger, Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark).

Hope you have a happy and safe Halloween! Be back tomorrow with another Video Tutorial Monday. Have to go film it now. :)

Love.
Brit

Halloween Weekend and a New Layout.

2010-10-30T19:55:00.000-05:00

Instead of going out tonight to more Halloween parties, I'm feeling much more up to staying home and watching football. Last night was a little too crazy for my liking. Haha. My roommates are tired, too. I am super happy right now, though, because I just booked a flight to go home for Thanksgiving. It's a five hour drive from my University back to home for me, so getting a flight for 100 dollars round trip is an amazing thing for me! Especially since, this way, I won't have to spend Sunday, the 28th, (which just happens to be my birthday. hehe) in the car for 5 hours. Woot! I thought I would stop by to share a Halloween card and another layout that I made this week. Love both of these!

Here's the halloween card. I was itching to use some orange glitter, so here's what I came up with:

I embossed the bats with black embossing powder and then colored them in with T6 and T9 grey copics to give them some depth.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Vintage Cream), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Heebie Jeebies), Markers- Copic (T6 and T9), Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Glitter- EK Success, Scortape- Papertrey Ink.

Next, here's yet another layout using On the Easel from Studio Calico. You can still grab it, and it'll even ship out with the kits this month if you wish!

Supplies: Cardstock- Kit- On the Easel (Studio Calico), Bazzill (Kraft) and Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Black Marker- Copic, Letters- American Crafts (Thickers), Ribbon and Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Thread- DMC, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I'm off to go daydream about seeing my furbabies again and spending time with my family for a whole week. Can you tell I'm excited?! Okay. Go make pretty things now! You are all amazing. ;)

Love.
Brit

It's a weekend full of celebrations.

2010-10-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

My boss's daughter-in-law just gave birth to my boss's first grandchild! Little Benjamin was born on October 27th, weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 21 3/4" long. What a joyous occasion for my boss's family! This was definitely a card-worthy event. Not having to make many baby cards since I'm in college and none of my friends are even close to having children yet, I pulled out my only stamp set I own with a baby-themed sentiment- Wonderfully Whimsical from Papertrey Ink. With Sophie's Sentiments from Lawn Fawn and The Sky is the Limit cloud stamp from Studio Calico, here's what I came up with:

I used Copics to color in the houses and then cut them out. I adhered them to the back of the piece of Simply Chartreuse cardstock hills and then adhered it to the vintage cream paper that I had stamped and masked off the clouds on before applying Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress ink. I love how this card turned out!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Simply Chartreuse, Kraft, and Vintage Cream), Stamps- Papertrey Ink (Wonderfully Whimsical), Studio Calico (Sky is the Limit Set from May 2010 add-on) and Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and Broken China), Markers- Copic.

Alright, off to go prep for the first night of Halloween festivities. Tonight, Matt and I are going out to some costume parties dressed as football players- he's going to be a Viking, and I'm going to be a Packer. The layout for tonight is going to be a-dor-able :)

Much love! What are you or your kids planning on being for halloween? I need ideas for tomorrow night still. Hehe.

Love.
Brit

Thinking Inking: Week 4.

2010-10-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

I've told you about ten thousand times I love this Thinking Inking: Holiday class over at Two Peas, so I'll just let the cards that I made for Week 4 just stand for themselves. :)

Project 1 - Paint Resist

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Kraft), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG102 Antique Brocade) and Papertrey Ink (Year of Flowers: Roses), Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink in Stormy Sky, Broken China, and Tumbled Glass) and Hero Arts (Cerulean Chalk Ink), Paint- Ranger.

Project 2 - Faux Texture

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Ripe Avacado), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG140 Poppy Background) and Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments), Ink- Tsukineko (Gold) and Ranger (Crushed Olive), Paint- Ranger.

Project 3 - Letterpress

Can I just say that I LOVE this technique? Why didn't I try this sooner? If you haven't yet, try this the next time you sit down to make a card. It looks soooo pretty.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Kraft), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Frosties), Embossing Folder- Sizzix (Tim Holtz Texture Fade), Ink- Tsukineko (Gold), Paint- Ranger.

So hop on over to Two Peas and watch Jen's video for this week if you haven't already. You won't regret it, promise. :)

Love.
Brit

It's time to get crafty. :)

2010-10-27T14:45:00.003-05:00

Today's a crafty day for me so I'll have pretty things to share with you for the next couple of days. I have some things in the works right now that I'm ridiculously excited for, but you're going to have to wait to hear about those. Hehe. I have a couple layouts to share, but first I'd like to remind you that today is release day over at Studio Calico!

Isn't the main kit lovely? I also got the Santa Cruz add-on at the subscriber pre-order. This month is going to be soooo much fun to scrap with. I also picked up a few goodies; I can't wait to play. The DT gallery go up and the kits go on sale to non-subscribers at midnight ET. I can't wait to see all of what the DT's cooked up this month. They're all geniuses, I tell ya.

Here are two more layouts I made using the On the Easel kit. It's my favorite ever.

These alphas are from the Elk Lake add-on from August. Love them!

I cut out different pieces of the die cut paper from the On the Easel kit as accents. I love the intricate look of the paper!

This tape is from PrettyTape, and I added Peeled Paint distress ink to make the colors match perfectly.

These fab letters are from Jenni Bowlin Studios. They were the perfect finishing touch for the date.

Supplies: Kits- Studio Calico (On the Easel and Elk Lake), Cardstock- Kraft, Brown Pen- ZIG, Circle Punch- EK Success, Nestabilities- Spellbinders (Circle Large), Button- Papertrey Ink, Thread- DMC, Border Punch- Scalloped Sentiment, Ink- Ranger (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters), Letter Stickers- Jenni Bowlin Studios, Washi Tape- PrettyTape on Etsy.

This next layout is about all of the "strange" things (to me!) that I encountered in Australia. I want to have a mini page next to it in my scrapbook explaining all of the things, but I don't have that part written up yet. I'll update that when I get it finished.

This is using a lot of the SC paper from September. It's soooo beautiful.

Supplies: Kit- Studio Calico (On the Easel), Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream) and Bazzill (Kraft), "weird" letters- My Mind's Eye (Summer Camp Kit), Thickers- American Crafts ("different"), "not","just" and numbers- October Afternoon, Border Punch- Scalloped Sentiment, Black Marker- Copic, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Ink- Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Antique Linen, and Vintage Photo), Circle Punch- EK Success.

Off to go create some pretty things with goodies I haven't used yet. I'm excited! I'm just finishing watching Rocky Horror Picture Show in an effort to understand the Glee episode from last night. And uh... jury's still out on that one. I know why I didn't get to watch this until I was in college now. Haha.

Thanks for all the love. Love you all just as much. :)

Love.
Brit

P.S.- I'm editing this to add the journaling page that I made tonight to go with the Not Weird, Just Different layout. Here's how it sits in my scrapbook:

It's just a 5.5" by 11" page in a page protector that has been altered to fit. Therefore you can lift it to see the whole layout unobstructed. :)

And look below to see the full journaling text. It's a long one, but it contains a lot of memories from my trip. :) Feel free to skip past it if you don't feel like reading it!

I knew Australia was going to be different, but I didn’t really understand what culture shock was until I went through it. From talking to Sara on Skype and hearing stories of random things that happened throughout her day, I understood that things were different in Australia- people say different phrases than Americans do, they drive on the left side of the street, and they have amazingly interesting accents. The photographs on this page represent some of the “not weird, but different” (as Sara’s orientation leader would say) things that I got to know about Australia.

1. “Keep Left”: I didn’t know how hard this really would be. My entire life as an American, I was taught that you always walked on the right side of the sidewalk, drove on the right side of the road, and rode on the right escalator. Everything is upside-down in Australia. I had no idea how difficult it would be to ignore my instinct to walk on the right side. I almost ran into so many unsuspecting people and almost walked up the wrong escalator so many times. It was so funny any awkward at the same time.

2. American clothing: The first time Sara and I went shopping, I got a really nice couple of compliments on my American Eagle t-shirt that I bought for about 15 dollars in the states. After walking through a couple of American clothing stores, however, I knew why. My shirt would’ve cost about a hundred dollars there! We saw some crazy prices, like $150 dollars for an Aeropostale sweatshirt or $185 for a pair of Lee jeans that you could easily find for $25 in the US. Crazy! The nice part about clothing there was that they were going into winter, so all of their summer clothing was on clearance. I bought a hole bunch of cute summer shirts on clearance because I was headed back home where it was soon to be summer. Lovely!

3. Vegemite: an Australian staple that one of Sara’s roommates ate every morning on toast, this was my first time to try it. And my last. It’s salty and a weird color. I was happy to try it, but next time I’ll be happy to pass.

4. Koalas: When we went to the zoo, I got to see a lot of animals for the first time next to little kids who had seen these “exotic” animals many times before. I must’ve looked so ridiculous freaking out about petting a kangaroo for the first time. “Look! Oh my gosh! It’s really a kangaroo!”

5. The plants and animals in general were not only “weird”, but mesmerizing. Growing up with my mom having a beautiful garden, I’ve always looked around at plants. It was a wonderful experience to see plants from the other side of the globe, like this huge aloe-like tree. These were all over, along with all other sorts of amusing trees. And don’t even get me started on the birds. The “mer” birds and the “robot” birds were my personal favorites. They have so much more personality than our boring American birds.

6. Colourful Australia: spelling adjectives with a “u” in them was something I got used to very quickly. When I got home, I felt like everyone was spelling it wrong. I also am now able to fully tell the difference between Australian and British accents and can imitate both relatively well. (Okay... so not that well, but way better than I could before.)

The feeling towards Americans in general that I felt from the people there was surprisingly welcoming. Since most of the movies they watch are American, they’re very familiar with our accent, and I was told on several separate occasions that I “sound exactly like a movie star!” It’s crazy to think that people there were just as interested in me being an American as I was in them being Australian or British. We seemed to run into a lot of British people there. One Brit asked me if I could spare a piece of gum, and when I gave it to her, she said “ohhhh! Is this some crazy American gum?!” It totally made my night.

There were moments when an Australian person and I would just plainly not be able to communicate. It’s crazy that we were both speaking “correct” English, but Sara had to translate for us on more than a couple of occasions. There was one incident while ordering pizza with an automated system where it simply would not understand my American accent. Sara, Adam, and I had to call about three times before we finally got it right. We were laughing so hard we were crying.

Watching television was also a unique experience. The rules on censorship are much more lenient there; no swear words are beeped out like they are in the states. It was refreshing to watch reality shows and not have to listen to the incessant beeping; it’s almost as if bleeping it out adds extra attention to the fact that they’re saying something “wrong”. The morning shows were also hilarious. Australians tend to have a lot more of an awkward sense of humor, so oftentimes they would say awkward things or do something really strange on the morning news and brush it of as if it weren’t a big deal. I, on the other hand, was incredibly amused.

And don’t even get me started about the guys. Accents. Surfers. Accents. Always plaid shirts when then go out. Sigh... Well, it was very nice talking to them. And looking at them. And using our accents as conversation starters. No big deal. :)

Australia was a life-altering and amazing experience. I didn’t realize there would be so many differences until I was the foreigner. My adventure definitely gave me a whole new outlook on how Americans look to other countries, and what a foreigner feels like when they come to visit our country. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will truly always remember.

New, Pretty Things.

2010-10-26T14:09:00.002-05:00

I can not tell you how absolutely thrilled I am with what I've been creating lately. I've had so much fun playing and expanding my boundaries of what I thought I could do. Maybe it's just because I've been in a weird mood lately, or because of the meloncholy weather, but I hope this creative burst never ends. I'm in love with creating, and I never want that love to end. Maybe it's all the new things I've been buying lately... Spending money is good for the soul. Thank goodness for having a job, or I'd be in some serious trouble! Haha.

New Things

I made a quick video of opening my Papertrey Ink order that I just got yesterday. Something went a little wonky with the shipping notice system, so it totally surprised me when it arrived. Oh, the joy! Here's the video. (Sorry- I did it on my macbook, so the image is reversed. I was too lazy to get out my tripod!) Watch it over at youtube here.

One of my Two Peas orders also came in the past couple days, and in my possession are two of these little beauties in Apple Jack and Atmosphere. I can't stop spraying things!

New To Me Things

When Eyedea passed away last week, my boyfriend was really upset; Eyedea was his favorite rapper. Never having listened to him before, I thought I would just listen to see why Matt thought he was so amazing. Let me tell you... I'm in love. He's a freaking genius. I've been known to like rappers every so often (Eminem is one of my favorite artists in general), so this isn't completely out of left field. If you have the slightest interest in rap, I really encourage you to listen to this album (E & A by Eyedea & Abilities) in particular. His lyrics aren't degrading towards women at all, and he keeps the swearing to a minimum in favor of deep lyrics about the battles of everyday life and living with others in the world.

A New Studio Calico Layout

I said I was going to share some layouts I made last week today, but I guess I lied. Instead, I want to share this one I made last night for the Sunday Sketch challenge on the SC blog. I was a little excited to use my Mister Hueys :) Check it out:

I love cascading embellishments. And misting. I heart this macro shot, too. :)

No layout of mine would be complete without stitching. Period. Hehe.

Supplies: Kit- Studio Calico (On the Easel and Still Life), Cardstock- Bazzill (Kraft) and Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Ink- Ranger (Spun Sugar Distress Ink), Font- Century, Punches- Stampin' Up! (Hearts and Stars) and Martha Stewart (Butterfly), Gems and Pearls- Hero Arts (Hero Hues in Blush), White Pen- Signo, Mister- Studio Calico (Apple Jack Mister Huey), Thread- DMC.

What's new in your life this week? Thanks for stopping by, you lovely, lovely ladies!

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #7 - Watercoloring with Different Mediums

2010-10-25T09:00:00.003-05:00

Hello, and welcome to another week with a Monday Video Tutorial. I'm having so much fun doing these... I hope you're enjoying them as much as I do making them! The technique this week is something I've been dabbling around all week with: watercolor. After listening to a paperclipping roundtable show where C.D. Muckosky recommended them, I added these 16-color Oval Prang Watercolors to my cart on amazon. (I'm linking to the Blick Art Materials page because they have better pictures, but feel free to do a google search for them.) You can get a set for easily under 10 dollars, and they're so easy to use. In the video, I show you how to do the same technique with chalk inks and distress inks (dye inks) as well, so you can try this project this week. But seriously, the watercolors would make a great stocking stuffer. I highly recommend them. :)

The beautiful watercolored butterfly:

Blingage!

Here's the video. (Watch over at youtube & make sure to subscribe.)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Patterened Paper- My Mind's Eye, Journaling Card- Jenny Bowlin, Butterfly Stickers- Jenny Bowlin, Ink- Ranger (Barn Door Distress Ink) and Hero Arts (Punch Hero Hues Chalk Ink), Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL383) and Studio Calico (Natalee Alphabet), Bling- K & Co., Distressing Tool- Heidi Swapp.

By the way, how fabulous is that alpha? It just came in on Saturday from Two Peas, and I'm absolutely in love. I'm a total sucker for slab serif fonts; they're just so classic and neutral. I apologize in advance if I use it on everything from here on out. The price is unbelievable, too- 12.99 for a high-quality stamp set. Awesome.

Thank you for stoping by again! Leave a comment if you have anything you'd like me to do a video on next week. I'd love to take requests. Check back in tomorrow for some more Studio Calico layouts. Can't wait to share!

Love.

Brit

On the Easel Love.

2010-10-24T16:39:00.001-05:00

I've said it a few times before and I'll say it over and over again... I love the September Studio Calico Kit. I have the main kit and Still Life, and the two combined are all of my favorite colors and textures. I love it so much, in fact, that it's inspired me to make more layouts in the past week and a half than I have probably over the last six months. So I wanted to share. A lot. So much so that I'll break my layouts up into a post today and then another one on Tuesday (after all, tomorrow is video tutorial Monday... can't miss that!). So let me know what you think, and hopefully I'll be able to continue to scrap this much in the coming months. This upcoming kit (revealed on Wednesday for subscribers!) looks like it might even be better than On the Easel. I die. :)

This first one is about when I was in Australia (the subject of pretty much all my scrapbooking lately... I'm getting close to done) and we went out to the bars on a weekend night. This was a challenge to myself to use the frames from the Maya Road windows included in the kit, and I really like how it turned out.

I covered the frames in Shabby Shutters Distress ink + Glitter + more ink after the glitter dried.

Stitching... everywhere. It added such a finishing touch.

Here's the back of the layout. Lots of love went into this one :)

Supplies: Kit- Studio Calico (On the Easel), Thread- DMC, Buttons- Papertrey Ink (Lemon Tart), Ink- Ranger (Antique Linen and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink), Glitter- Martha Stewart, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Title Letters- American Crafts Thickers, Black Marker- Copic.

I needed a way to showcase a lot of pictures I had of my favorite pieces at the Art Gallery of NSW, so I decided to do an intro page and then follow it with a divided page protector for the extras. I love, love, love this SC paper:

I did some machine stitching on this layout... This may be the first time I've tried it on a layout before, and it's SO EASY. If I wouldn't have run out of thread (seriously? Who runs out of thread? Not one spool in the whole house...), I would have stitched everything else on for the rest of the week.

Supplies: Kit- Studio Calico (On the Easel), Cardstock- Bazzill (Kraft), Page Protector- American Crafts, Marker- Copic, Staples- Ranger (Tiny Attacher), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

This next layout is all about the beloved polaroid stamp that came with the main kit. I loveeee.

Supplies- Kits- Studio Calico (Still Life and On the Easel), Border Punch- Fiskars, Ink- Tsukineko, Cardstock- Bazzill (Kraft) and Papertrey Ink (Pinks- Raspberry Fizz, Berry Sorbet, and Sweet Blush).

Oh, quickly I wanted to share pictures from the rally I went to yesterday (for the democratic candidate for governor of Minnesota). The goal was to see Obama speak. We succeeded. :)

My friend, Shishira, and me waiting in line with my roommates. The line was MILES long. Pure insanity.

My roommates + Shishira + me. :) Left to right: Greg, Sara, Jake, Shishira, Joe, and me.

There were SO many people there. We were about halfway back and incredibly far from the stage.

This is right when Obama came out... look at all those cameras!

Obama's speech was great. It was so cool to see the president of the United States in person. Definitely something I'll tell my kids about someday in the future.

So was standing in line for four hours and watching other speeches pressed against other people for an additional three worth it to see our president speak? The overwhelming consensus around campus: absolutely.

That's all I have to share today, but I'll be back with my tutorial tomorrow (like every week) and more layouts on Tuesday. I'm off to go get a bit of homework done and play with my brand new Mister Huey mists from Studio Calico that I just got from Two Peas. So many possibilities!

Have a great Sunday! It's a huge rival game tonight between the Packers and the Vikings, pitting friends, classmates, and couples against one another in a battle to the death. Let's just hope the Packers win, or I'm going to get some serious crap from the boyfriend for the next couple weeks. (Remind me why I'm dating a Vikings fan again?!) Go pack go! :)

Love.
Brit

Thinking Inking: Week 3.

2010-10-23T10:19:00.002-05:00

Hi crafty friends. :) I wanted to post these cards from the class this week this morning, but I'm in a bit of a hurry; my roommates and I are going to see Obama speak on campus today. It should be exciting! So here are the cards this week; if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment asking!

Embossing with Distress Ink and making paper roses:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Smokey Shadow, Lavendar Moon, Plum Pudding and Aqua Mist), Ink- Ranger (Broken China Distress Ink) and Colorbox (Wisteria Chalk Ink), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG125 Friends Definition) and American Crafts (Thanks Stamp Set), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Crystals- Queen & Co., Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Glossy Accents- Ranger, Glitter- Martha Stewart.

Embossing backgrounds and wiping away part of it:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink ( Craft and Plum Pudding), Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL343 Holiday Sayings, CG139 Cling Dots and CG128 Three Flowers), Washi Tape- PrettyTape on etsy, Watercolors- Prang 16-Color Oval Set, Ribbon- Martha Stewart, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Clear embossing resist:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Manilla Basics 6 by 6 pad), Embossing ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Ink- Ranger (Distress ink in Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, and Broken China), Thread- DMC, Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Happy Hanukkah).

Thanks for looking! I'll post pictures from the event tonight or tomorrow :)

Love.
Brit

My Studio Tour!

2010-10-22T16:11:00.000-05:00

This is a little bit of a surprise for you; I didn't even know I was going to do it when I realized that my room was probably the cleanest it will ever be. (Ha! I never said I was very neat...) I posted the video in two parts (ten minutes each), so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy! Please ask questions if you have any about the things I use to organize my supplies. Below the video are still pictures for more detail. Sorry about the shaky hand! I'm not used to not using a tripod. Hopefully I don't make you too nauseated. Haha.

(watch on youtube here)

The view from the door of my room.

My beloved Expedit cabinet from Ikea.

My top and most-used cubby of my bookshelf with my MS Scoreboard, my paper trimmer, my colored pencils, and other fun things.

My second favorite cubby- my pretty cardstock. :)

My clip-it-up inspired clear stamps holder made with this and these from Ikea.

My rolling card that holds my blending foams and washi tape, my punches, some more photos, and buttons and alphas. On top is the fabric bin that holds my wood stamps, clings, PTI stamps, and dryer sheets.

For kicks and giggles... A word of advice- don't keep a pumpkin full of candy next to your bed. It's such a bad idea! And I still haven't moved it... oh well. ;)

Hope you enjoyed the tour! I also took some pictures of the many layouts I've been working on this week, so I'll be posting those over the next couple days. Hope you have a fab day! Lots of love from the MPLS. :)

Love.
Brit

What's Inspiring Me This Week.

2010-10-20T21:59:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all. I've had things floating around in my google reader as "unread" that have really been inspiring me lately, so I wanted to share some links + pics.

Scrapbook Layouts

A fellow SC'er, Danielle Flanders, was featured on the Moxie Fab blog today. Not only is the whole post inspiring, but her layout she shares simply ROCKS.

Leslie Ashe totally rocked this layout. I just... love everything about it. Her blog is amazing, too. :)

Just for good measure, here's another Leslie Ashe layout. This one was featured on the AC blog. I literally gasped when I saw it.

Cards

This card by Laurie Willison is breathtaking. She combined so many companies' products into such a cohesive card:

Sarah Martina did this fab tutorial on the new quilling dies for the cuttlebug. The flower that she made is beautiful!

Other Amazing Things

The Lawn Fawn design team did a challenge with bags this week, and they turned out sooo gorgeously. This by Mariana Grigsby is one of my faves. Make sure to go over to the Lawn Fawn blog and check out the other amazing projects. :)

These letterpress wedding invitations featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper are amazing. I love the graphic style. I can only hope my wedding invites end up being this adorable.

I couldn't be more excited about the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 collection. Yummm!

Wedding Dresses

As you may or may not be aware, Bridal Market, a week of runway shows of new wedding collections, is in full swing right now. I follow a few wedding blogs, and the wedding dresses that have been showing in the new collections are GORGEOUS. Now, I'm not engaged or planning on gettting married anytime soon, but I still love looking. There's something so beautiful about a wedding dress. It inspires me to bring in that feeling into my other art, too. Here's a collection of some of my favorite dresses from this last week. Click on the photo to enlarge to full size. :) (All photos are from weddingbee.com by Mrs. Penguin.)

Here's my absolute favorite by Reem Acra:

Or maybe this one by Christos...

Ahhhh... amazing. I love fashion! I've been obsessed with Project Runway lately and getting caught up with the current season. I seriously would wear everything that Mondo makes. He's a freaking genius! All of my fashion design friends love him.

What's inspiring you today?

Love.

Brit

Cuties Under the Sea.

2010-10-19T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Just poppin' in to wish you a happy Tuesday. Apparently cold season has begun around here, because I'm getting sniffly. Boo! So I made a cute card to cheer me up using Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Sea.

For all of the cute little creatures, I just stamped them in StazOn (an alcohol-soluble ink so that the Glossy Accents wouldn't make it bleed), colored them in quickly with some Prismacolor pencils, and then added two layers of Glossy Accents over the top. I love the tactile and 3D feeling Glossy Accents gives.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shoes and Enchanted Evening), Ink- Tsukineko (Black StazOn), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Critters in the Sea) and Hero Arts (CL447 Beautiful Peacocks), White Pen Signo, Score Board- Martha Stewart for EK Success, Glossy Accents- Ranger, Colored Pencils- Prismacolor.

Hope you enjoyed today's card! I've been wayyy in to scrapbooking lately, so hopefully I'll be able to share some layouts with you later this week. A couple of them are almost done, but not quite there. I always forget how different scrapbooking is from cardmaking. It's thrown me for a loop! Thanks for visiting, as always. :)

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #6 - Circle Stamping

2010-10-18T13:02:00.003-05:00

Hey, friends! My post is going up a little late this morning; I decided that today is a "me" day, so I slept in until 11:45 and am now blogging from bed in my pajamas. Love it. Can I just do this all week? Anyways, my friend, Latrice, challenged me the other day to make my video about stamping with an object found in my house. I accepted, and now we're both making videos on what we did. So hop on over here to her blog to see what she created for the challenge! (Her post should be up on Tuesday if you can't find it yet- make sure to check back!) Here's what I came up for this week using a cheering cone-thingy as my stamp:

And here's the video! As always, you can view it over on youtube here, and make sure to subscribe to my channel. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Kraft), Paint- Ranger (Gold Paint Dauber), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bake Me a Cake) and Hero Arts (CL414 Classic Messages), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Pyrus 6 my 6 pad), Ink- Tsukineko, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Hope you enjoyed this video tutorial Monday. Make sure to come back next week for another one. :) I'm going to go work on that Lightroom tutorial that I promised and edit some pictures from my house to share with you. Prepare to be amazed! (Haha, not.) Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your sweet comments SO much. You have no idea how much they make me smile. You guys rock. :)

Love.

Brit

Not everything has to be Holiday-related.

2010-10-17T19:01:00.000-05:00

Back when Kelly Marie was doing the sneak peaks of the new sets from the last release, I got really excited. Want to know why? Well, I have to let you in on a secret. Promise you won't tell? Okay. I don't really like themed products. I don't like the idea of using a stamp set/ paper collection/ embellishment set for three weeks and moving on. Correction, I don't like the calendar telling me I have to move on when I'm not ready. So when I was looking at the previews for Bows and Holly, and Kelly Marie showed the present image and the bow images, I was SOLD. Of course, there are wonderful stamps in the set that are awesome for the next few months as the holiday season kicks into full gear, but this set is one that is truly versatile. To demonstrate, I present to you a birthday card using the Bows and Holly set:

Close-up of the stamps I used from the set. They're wonderful, and I will use them forever and ever (all year long).

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Lemon Tart and Kraft), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bows and Holly and Sophie's Sentiments), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Colored Pencils- Prismacolor, White Pen- Signo, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Thread- DMC.

Are you sold on the set? It's quickly becoming one of my favorites. Love it! See you again tomorrow for another Video Tutorial Monday. It's a good one, and my friend Latrice has something to do with it. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Love.
Brit

Thinking Inking: Week 2.

2010-10-16T01:18:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy busy week over here in Minneapolis-land, but I have been DYING to play with my new Lawn Fawn stamps as well as some of the ideas I've seen over at the Thinking Inking class. I'm hanging out in the suburbs with my boyfriend's family for the night, and it's just what I need. It's so night to get away from campus every once in a while. Every time I visit here, Matt's family keeps me laughing my butt off; they are seriously the funniest family I've ever met. Love it here! Makes me miss my own home, but this one is only 30 minutes away versus mine which is 5 hours. So I guess my bf's fam will have to do for now. :) I wanted to pop in and share my latest creations inspired by Jennifer McGuire's Holiday Thinking Inking Class over at two peas. Love the projects this week!

This was printing with an acrylic block and distress ink:

I used Wild Honey and Dried Marigold distress ink, then misted the block with ink before stamping it. Love this look; I'd never tried it before and loooove this technique.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Black), Watercolor Paper- Blick, Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Heebie Jeebies), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black and Brillance White) and Ranger (Distress Inks by Tim Holtz in Wild Honey and Dried Marigold), Rhinestones- Queen & Co., Copic marker (for coloring rhinestones)- T9), Ribbon- May Arts, Embossing Tool- Martha Stewart Score Board.

This next one uses this fab bleeding technique. I stamped the wreath once, spritzed it with water a few times and let it bleed a lot, and dried it with a heat gun. Then, I stamped over it again in the same color ink (peeled paint), and spritzed it again, but only lightly. After everything was all dry, I still got a crisp image with the bleeding effect underneath. I adore how this turned out!

After doing the wreath in green and letting it dry, I used a q-tip to color in the berries with fired brick distress ink and stamped the bow on a separate piece of paper, inked it, and adhered it with some foam adhesive. After I had the rest of the card ready to go, I went back and added some glossy accents for some extra shine. Perfect!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Watercolor Paper- Blick, Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Wander 6 by 6 pad), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bows and Holly), Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, Glossy Accents- Ranger, Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink by Tim Holtz in Fired Brick and Peeled Paint), Thread- DMC, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

This last one uses generation stamping. I love the cling stamp set that I used... I need to remember to use it more. It's so pretty!

I used watercolor paper for this technique, and I like how the colors turned out. They seem to stay a lot more vibrant when on watercolor paper. Thanks to Jennifer McGuire for always suggesting it! Finally I decided to take her advice. Hehe.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Spring Moss and Aqua Mist), Watercolor Paper- Blick, Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Sophie's Sentiments) and Hero Arts (CG170 Wildflower Garden), Ink- Ranger (Distress Inks by Tim Holtz in Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass, Chipped Saphire, Antique Linen, and Vintage Photo), Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Okay, off to bed for this tired girl. This weekend definitely needs to be a relaxing one for me. Oi! This week has been so long. See you guys tomorrow. You know I couldn't resist playing a little more with my new stamps. ;)

Love.
Brit

Studio Calico and Papertrey Ink Love.

2010-10-14T14:51:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Thanks for your well-wishes yesterday. I'm pretty sure I was just very dehydrated, because after drinking many bottles of water last night, I woke up pretty much fine this morning. The miracle of water. Ha. I got a chance to play with some new stamps, so I hope to type up a post tonight sharing some new pretty things :) I wanted to share this first, though, using some Studio Calico paper (from their On the Easel September kit) and a few stamps that were itching to be inked up, the stars border (in the store here) and the fabulous Addy alphabet (in the store here). So I made this adorable card to give away to someone who studied really hard for a test or had a rough school week. Since it's a third of the way through the fall term this week, the "midterm crazies" (my phrase) are going around. Tests, papers, and general stress for everyone. I think all of my friends might need a card and a stiff drink at the end of the week. Haha.

To line up the letters, I simply drew a line with a ruler in pencil across the card and lined the bases of the letters up with the line. Erase and viola! Perfectly straight words :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores and Kraft), Patterned Paper- Studio Calico (September 2010 Main Kit), Stamps- Studio Calico (Addy Alpha and Stars Border), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Ink- Ranger (Distress ink in Tumbled Glass) and Tsukineko (Memento Black and Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger.

By the way, have you been keeping up with this month's Papertrey Ink's release countdown? Here are a few of my very favorite things that must be coming home to me very soon as previewed by Nichole Heady (make sure you go check out her blog to see all of the fabulous projects she and the design team have come up with for this release. They're amazing!).

The new Blueberry Sky color. Can't wait to see it in real life!

Fillable Frames #9 set and die. The die cuts the whole, too. Awesome. :)

This die set is simply a must-have. If you need explanation, let me know, and I'll write you a novel on reasons why my life will be so much more amazing with these dies in it.

Year in Flowers: Marigold is a winner for sure. So beautiful!

Tiny Treats: Holidays. I've been able to resist the Tiny Treats line so far this year, but the buck stops here. Everything in this set is adorable, versatile, and plain perfect. Yum!

The Victorian Lace border die. I love how this isn't like anything out there. I'm probably going to put it on every project from now until I die. Just warning you.

What are you liking from PTI this month? I'm really excited for this release and will be glad to catch up on ordering some odds and ends that I'm running out of. I think I'll do a haul video when my PTI order comes. I can't resist. :)

See you later for some more cute fun. The new Lawn Fawn stamps are so amazing! Ahhh.

Love.
Brit

My favorite butterfly.

2010-10-13T20:51:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post today; I'm not feeling very well at all, so I'm going to spend the evening relaxing and trying to play a little catch-up on writing some papers. I wanted to pop in to share a card, though. I also go my Lawn Fawn stamps today, and I can't wait to playyyyy. Hope to have something to share soon! Here's today's card:

I used distress inks (Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, and Shabby Shutters) to color in the butterfly. I saw this technique in the Thinking Inking class last week (Week 1, Project 1) and loved it!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Enchanted Evening, Vintage Cream, and Kraft), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Wanderer Collection 6 by 6 pad), Ink- Ranger (Distress Inks by Tim Holtz- Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, and Shabby Shutters) and Tsukineko (Memento Black), Die Border- Sizzix (Tim Holtz), Twine- May Arts, Liquid Pearls- Ranger (While Opal), White Pen- Signo, Pearls- Queen & Co., Stamps- Hero Arts (CL383 Antique Engravings and CL232 Jolly Christmas).

Hope you get some time to get inky tonight. :)

Love.
Brit

I'm thinking inking. ;)

2010-10-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

Have you been following along with Jennifer McGuire's brand new class over at Two Peas? It's a continuation of her AMAZING class from just over a year ago, Thinking Inking. (You can view Jennifer's post with all of the links for that class here.) This one is "Holiday Thinking Inking" and is just as amazing. So, over the next eight weeks during the class, I hope to do some projects along with the class and share them here. I love being inspired my product and fantastic teachers, and this is one of those amazing, winning combinations.

This is inspired by Week 1, Project 3 of the class. It's all about distress inks + water. This one, I took some Distress Ink Pads (Spun Sugar, Dusty Concord, and Chipped Saphire), dabbed them each on their own areas of my nonstick work surface, and then added a spritz (or two) of water to each color and then used them as watercolor over an embossed image. I am in LOVE with how this turned out. These are by far and away my favorite colors to work with. Purples and pinks are my absolute favorites. And that washi tape? Yummmm. I bought most of this from PrettyTape on etsy.

Here's a close-up of the awesome technique from the class:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink, Watercolor paper- Blick Art Materials, Washi Tape- PrettyTape and American Crafts (Pink dot), Embossing Powder- Ranger. Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG194 Stencil Flower and CL340 Birthday Sayings), Pearls- Queen & Co., Thread- DMC, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink by Tim Holtz- Spun Sugar, Dusty Concord, Chipped Saphire).

Okay, off to go watch Glee and chill with some friends. Be back tomorrow with some more crafty goodness; I hope to get a chance with my new Lawn Fawn stamps which I should have in my hot little hands by tomorrow. Woohoo!

Have you been following along with the Thinking Inking series? What have you made so far?

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #5 - Heat Embossing

2010-10-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all! Glad you're back for another week of some tutorial fun. :) This week, I finally picked up the Cling Dots background stamp from Hero Arts, and I've been going a little crazy around here stamping everything with it. This card is no exception. I realized that over the years, heat embossing is one of the things that has the most little tips and tricks I use every time to make the best image possible. They all work together to get a great stamped and embossed image every time. Here's the card for this week:

And a close-up of the beautiful, embossed butterflies:

Now that you've seen what we're making this week, here's the video. As always, you can also view it over at youtube, and make sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss a video. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet and Kraft), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG139 Cling Dots and CL447 Beautiful Peacocks) and Studio Calico (Butterflies from the Fresh Cut September Add On), Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark and Black Memento), and Embossing Powder- Ranger, Black Pen- Copic, Gemstones- Hero Arts, Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Washi Tape- PrettyTape on etsy, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

So if you haven't taken out your heat gun in a while, I challenge you this week to pull it out and do some simple embossing on your next card. Let me know how it turns out! Hope to see you tomorrow for some more crafty fun and next Monday for another Video Tutorial Monday. :)

Love.
Brit

Who said the city can't be beautiful?

2010-10-10T19:07:00.000-05:00

The other day, I realized I actually hadn't finished a project using this adorable Silly Scape stamp from Hero Arts.

So I got right to it. I stamped it in clear embossing powder on some cream cardstock, colored the image in with some pretty copics, and added ink to the edges to complete the look. Here's the card:

I love the pretty, pastel effect that blending such light colors together has on this city image:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet and Vintage Cream), Markers- Copic (R20, R22, V01, V06, B21, B24), Embossing Ink- Tsukineko (Versamark), Embossing Powder- Ranger, White Pen- Signo, Stamps- Hero Arts (K5425 Silly Scape and CL447 Beautiful Peacocks), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Dusty Concord Distress Ink by Tim Holtz).

I have a few things in the works for this week. Stop back and make sure to check out:
1. Monday's weekly video tutorial. This one's a good one! The card is so fun this week.
2. A new project every day. Since my week is pretty easygoing after Monday, I'll have time to post a new project every day. Be excited. :)
3. I'm starting work on an Adobe Lightroom 3 tutorial. Basically it'll be about getting started and how I use it. I'm by no means an expert, but I can tell you what I love about it. And yes, the 30-day trial is free to everyone. (I talk more about Lightroom in this post here.)
4. My new Lawn Fawn stamps come tomorrow. I hope to make something by the end of the week to share with you.

That's all for me tonight. I have an Economics midterm to study for an ten hours of classes to put up with tomorrow. It'll be a lonnnngggg day tomorrow, come back and watch my video tomorrow and leave some sweet comments to keep me going through the rough day, k? You're the best. :)

Love.
Brit

My Secret.

2010-10-07T15:02:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it's not really a secret. I'm pretty open about it...

I love cute things.

Puppies, kittens, pink things, fluffy things, and Lawn Fawn stamps, to name a few.

Last night was the Lawn Fawn monthly release, and I actually won one of the new sets. I found this out after I had placed my (large... hehe) order after the Twins game last night... including said Frosties stamp set. Kelly Marie was super sweet and let me switch out the one I ordered for Bannerific, a set that I've wanted for a while but have put off buying, and I was one happy stamper. So happy, in fact, that I wanted to make something right then and there with Lawn Fawn Stamps. Then I remembered that I hadn't sent out Geralyn's giveaway package yet and that I didn't have a card for her... so here we go. Perfectly cute:

I just love this little turtle from Critters in the Sea a little bit more than I should. I kind of want to stamp 700 of him all over the place.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Hawaiian Shores), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Critters in the Sea), Ribbon- May Arts (via Practicing Creativity), Border Punch- Fiskars (Scalloped Sentiment), Pencils- Prismacolor, Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento), and Pen- Copic.

Now that I actually have a card to send to her, I can ship the package off to Canada. Hope she likes it!

I have some random thoughts for you today:

1. I've been feeling very random lately.

2. I'm taking my (*@$&&*^!@) computer into the Apple store tonight for a checkup. It's making weird noises, crashing all of my Adobe programs, and has a mysterious mark on it. Apple Genius Bar guys and me, you know, we're tight. I'm trying to make it to the next MacBook update to get a new computer, but this one is driving me up the wall. Computer issues are no fun. :(

3. If you want to see what I'm doing for one of my Graphic Design classes, you can go to my class blog here. I have to update it for class, so you get to see some of the inner workings of the design and critique process.

4. I love Adobe Lightroom 3.

-I use it every day for blogging because it's SO easy to import, edit and export photos in minutes. It's seriously made me five time faster at photo editing. I love it.
-It has amazing controls for RAW files from my DSLR camera. Photoshop has some controls, but these are better.
-You never have to open and close files. You just click, edit, and the program saves (and backs up occasionally) the changes but doesn't alter your original photo. You can always go back and add, change, or get rid of edits. It's easy non-destructive editing. You don't have to re-save the file or worry about saving over the original.
-As a student, I can get it for under 100 dollars by buying an academic version. It is by FAR worth way more than that. On Amazon, it's about $275 for a copy, but that price is more than reasonable. It's something to look into!
-You can try a 30-day trial at adobe.com (just like you can for any product that Adobe makes) to see if you like it, if you'd use it, or if you think I'm crazy. Either way, it wouldn't hurt if you think you could like it.
-It works for either mac or pc and isn't as memory-intensive as Photoshop (it's actually about a five times smaller file on my computer), so it could even run on older computers.

5. You can look at the website I designed for my boss here. I've been working on it all summer, and we finally have it up and running. It's caused me a ton of issues this week and I still want to transfer it to a different server, but nevertheless it's working. Check it out. Let me know what you think. I would love some suggestions; this is the first "real" website I've ever created. Here's the home page:

Okay, random spewing of thoughts over. Thanks for stopping by, and kudos if you made it to the end of this post. Ha. You rock. :)

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #4 - Coloring on Kraft

2010-10-04T09:00:00.002-05:00

Hey all! Welcome back to another week of a Monday video tutorial. This weeks features my all-time favorite technique: coloring on kraft. Hero Arts was awesome and featured me on their Social Club on Thursday featuring this card. So happy. :)

Here's the video! (Watch it over on youtube and make sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss future videos.)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Vintage Cream) and Hero Arts (Hero Hues Grass), Embossing Folder- Sizzix, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL447 Beautiful Peacocks and CL340 Birthday Sayings), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Rhinestones- Hero Arts, Colored Pencils- Prisma, Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento), Silk Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Circle Dies- Spellbinders.

On another note, have you been keeping up with the Lawn Fawn release for this month? Oh my goooooodness. The first set announced yesterday, Bows and Holly looks amazing, and there are three more still to be revealed. So excited! Check Lawn Fawn out :) Here's the peak that Kelly posted the other day:

Happy Monday. Thanks for stopping by again today! You rock. See you soon with some more crafting goodness. :)

Love.
Brit

I {Heart} Studio Calico Stamps.

2010-10-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

It's already pretty late and I have tons of homework left to do before bedtime, so it won't be a long post today. I did want to stop in and share a card that I made yesterday and some other exciting things, though.

Here's the card featuring an adorable clouds and "the sky is the limit" sentiment from Studio Calico. Their stamps are such high quality and the images are just my style. Love, love, love!

Oh, and I kind of love Washi tape, too. I got mine from the Pretty Tape Etsy store.

I used a combination of rhinestones and pearls in different sizes as accents:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Vintage Cream), Patterned Paper- My Mind's Eye, Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Tumbled Glass Distress Ink by Tim Holtz), Stamps- Studio Calico, Rhinestones- Queen & Co., Thread- DMC, Washi Tape- PrettyTape on etsy.

Second, you should check out the new Studio Calico blog. Until midnight tonight, you can get 20 or 30 percent off of the remaining Add-ons from the recent release, and you can enter to win all sorts of prizes:

If you go over to the new blog, you can enter by leaving a comment and saying who sent you. Just tell them that I sent you (Brit Swiderski or BritSwiderski), and we'll both be entered to win. Leave your name/ SC username here, and we can refer each other. Good luck! I'm crossing my fingers, too.

Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow for Video Tutorial Monday. I love the card I made for this week. Have a good Sunday night. :)

Love.
Brit

Happy World Card Making Day!

2010-10-02T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to pop in and share a card I made today in my celebration of this little hobby I love so much. :) This card is for my little brother (who turns 16 years old on Thursday.... oh gosh), and I wanted to do one of the Studio Calico challenges, this one to create a card using scraps from a kit. Here's what I came up with using the August kit Summer Camp + Elk Lake add on:

Touches of distressing, distress ink, twine, and buttons make it perfectly teenage boy-appropriate.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores and Enchanted Evening), Patterned Paper- My Mind's Eye, Distressing Tool- Heidi Swapp for Advantus, Buttons- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist and Pure Poppy), Ink- Ranger (Vintage Photo and Antique Linen Distress Inks by Tim Holtz) and Colorbox (Chestnut Roan Chalk ink), Fabric Brad- Basic Grey, Twine- Papertrey Ink, Kits- Studio Calico (Elk Lake and Summer Camp), Stamp- Hero Arts (CL340 Birthday Sayings).

Here's a peak into what's going on around here- homecoming weekend. The game was this morning... and we lost. By one point. But oh well; we still had fun :)

Me plus bf Matt :)

I love my toms... notice the holes I've worn through them? Ha.

Face tattoos are a big deal here in MN.

Our new stadium.

Our M- and our lead. We don't see too many good scores around here. Hehe.

Off to enjoy the rest of my University's homecoming weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with another card. It's a cutie!

Love.
Brit

Giveaway winner!

2010-10-01T11:28:00.000-05:00

And the winner of the stamp set, distress inks, and ribbon is....

Geralyn, you're the winner! E-mail me at britta.swiderski (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll get your prize out to you.

You need to check out this girl's blog that she just started. She has talent. Love. Can we be friends?

Love.
Brit

On a Studio Calico Kick.

2010-09-30T16:58:00.001-05:00

Hi there! The last couple days, especially since the reveal of On the Easel (and the amazing Add On, Still Life), the kit for October, I've been obsessed with all things SC. It started with my card the other day and continued today when I made a few layouts to detox from my hectic week. I love Back 40 plus the Fresh Cut add on. So yummy! Here's a layout I made yesterday to share :)

I am in LOVE with the Guest Designer for SC this month- Kinsley Wilson. Seriously, she's amazing. I want to create things as beautiful as she does. Here's a link to her SC layouts for the month and the awesome tutorial that she did for her Sister, Sister layout (can't find the link right now- I'll edit to add it in when I find it). Love! She inspired me to add some circles + stitching to my layout:

And that mini date stamp. How can you not LOVE it?

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzil, Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Togetherness Collection) and Sassafras (Border Strip) , Chipboard Letters- Cosmo Cricket, Stamp- Studio Calico, Ink- Memento, Corner Rounder- WRMK, Pen- Copic, Thread- DMC, Circle Cutter- Making Memories, Paper Piercer- Tim Holtz for Advantus.

I hope that inspired you to pull out the supplies you've been ogling over and use them already! You know you want to! And don't forget to enter my giveaway. I'm drawing for the winner at 10 CST tonight. Off to go unwind from the day and watch some awesome Thursday night tv.

Love.

Brit

I'm Obsessed with Butterflies.

2010-09-29T11:31:00.000-05:00

But really, who isn't? So I guess it's not so much of a problem as it is something fun to love. Yesterday, I realized I hadn't broken out my Studio Calico butterfly stamps that I got in my add-on last month, so I decided to use them on this birthday card for my design friend, Sarah, who turned 21 yesterday. Here's what I did:

Close-up on those fab stamped butterflies, punched out with the coordinating Martha Stewart Roayl Butterfly punch. Love!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft, Lavendar Moon, and Plum Pudding), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Pixielicious 6 by 6 pad), Stamps- Studio Calico (Butterfly) and Hero Arts (CL340 Birthday Sayings), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento and Versamark, Embossing Powder- Ranger, White Pen- Signo, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Hope you like this cute card and it inspires you to take out and play with your butterfly punches today. You know you have one! (Or two, or three, or four...) Don't forget to enter my giveaway here. I'm drawing a winner tomorrow. :) Have a great day and see you tomorrow for another bit of scrappy goodness.

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #3 - Embossing Distress

2010-09-27T17:23:00.001-05:00

Welcome back once again for another Monday video tutorial. I'm so excited about the card I've made to share with you today. Today it's all about embossing and making that embossed background really shine.

Here's a close-up of the embossing:

And the inside:

Now watch the video to learn about it :) You can watch it here or over on youtube.

Thanks for watching! Go here to subscribe to my channel so you can catch the video every Monday.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Smokey Shadow), Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento) and Ranger (Distress ink by Tim Holtz in Vintage Photo and Antique Linen), Embossing Folder- Tim Holtz for Sizzix, Die Cutter- Sizzix Big Shot, Colored Pencils- Prisma, Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bake Me a Cake and Petite Florals) and Hero Arts (CG125 Friend Definition), White Pen- Signo.

Happy start of a fresh week and hope to be back soon to share more pretty things.

Love.
Brit

Poppies and Pretty Links.

2010-09-26T10:48:00.001-05:00

The Card.
As soon as I saw this awesome set from Hero Arts, I knew I needed to have it. How can you not love these poppies. So elegant and beautiful. :) Here's the card I made to highlight it:

This card was a blast to make. I just stamped the image, colored it with my favorite pinks from my Prisma colored pencils set, and then added some Crate Paper and Pearls to spruce it up. Love it!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Raspberry Fizz), Patterned Paper- Crate Paper (Restoration 6 by 6 pad), Stamp- Hero Arts (CL449 Delicate Blossoms), Twine- Papertrey Ink, Pearls- Creative Imaginations, Colored Pencils- Prisma, Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Black) and Ranger (Vintage Photo Distress Ink), White Pen- Signo, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

The Links.
Heather P. made this breathtaking card from papertrey products. I love this color combo. Yum!
Maile Belles made this card for a good cause and it's beautiful. That's a double-win in my book.
The Studio Calico blog featured this layout by Sasha Farina the other day. Wow. It makes me realize that I still haven't broken out my September kit with those awesome butterflies yet. I must get on that!
This "A Shabby Hello" card by Tiffany Johnson is amazing. You just have to see it.
Everyone knows that Jill from "inspired by..." is one of the best stampers/cardmakers out there, but this one just blew me away.
Straight up, this card is pure genius from Lisa Spangler. The felt and Lawn Fawn stamps combo is perfect.
Kelly from Lawn Fawn is always coming up with the cutest creations. This one is breathtaking and simple elegance summed up in a card. I need to make a set of these, stat.
I've always admired Joy's cards, but this one is amazing. The coloring is sooo good!

Hope you enjoyed those fantastic creations. If you have anything that's inspiring you today, leave a comment with a link. I always love extra inspiration! All of your comments have be so sweet this week. I love it! Make sure to stop back tomorrow for video tutorial Monday, and don't forget to comment on the giveaway post for a chance to win some goodies.

Love.
Brit

September 2010 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop.

2010-09-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

Hey all! I decided to participate in my second ever PTI blog hop this month, and I'm so excited. Hope over here to the Nichole's blog post to get started hopping! The challenge was to share a technique I've learned from someone else. Here's the card:

The technique I used was one I learned from Jennifer McGuire last weekend. I inked the background heavily with distress inks and then stamped my Polka Dot Basics II with Perfect Pearls mist on it. It makes this awesome, imperfect sparkly resist. I thought it would be a fun contrast to the very serious Autumn Abundance flowers and sentiment. Here's the close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Kraft), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink (1/4" Silk Ribbon with Vintage Photo Distress Ink on it), Pearls- Creative Imaginations, Stamps- Papertrey Ink (Autumn Abundance and Polka Dot Basics II), Ink- Tsukineko (Brown Memento) and Ranger (Distress Inks by Tim Holtz in Vintage Photo, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, and Fired Brick), Marker- ZIG, Colored Pencils- Prisma.

Thanks for hopping by! Make sure to leave a comment on this post to be entered to win in my giveaway! See you tomorrow for my inspiring links and a pretty poppy card. :)

Love.
Brit

Scrapfest: The Projects.

2010-09-24T15:41:00.001-05:00

Hi all! In yesterday's post, I mentioned that I would come back with another post with close-ups of the finished projects from the Hero Arts class and Tim Holtz class that I took last weekend at Scrapfest. Here, along with some other pictures from the event, is that recap.

(Picture from the fabulous Latrice.)

First up was Tim Holtz's Key to Creativity Class:

Our little setup. So many goodies to play with!

Mario was the fastest tiny attacher-refiller I've ever seen. (Okay, so the only one I've ever seen... but he still was amazing.)

A work in progress.

The final project- distressed, inked, and Tim Holtz-ified.

My overall opinion of the class: Fantastic. Tim is a wonderful teacher and got through the entire project with time to spare at the end. He's wonderfully charismatic and a blast to learn from. I'd take a class from him in a heartbeat! I look forward to adding my photos and journaling to the book. I'm still on the fence of what to make it about. Maybe my family back at home? We'll see.

Next up, it was the Hero Arts Color Your World Cards class. Here's a cute picture that my new friend Linda captured of me during the class:

Class Review: The class was super fast-paced, so I spent about another (leisurely) 45 minutes outside of class cutting things out, tying bows, and adhering them to the card bases, but the work was well worth it. Check out the final products for yourself:

Embossing + Distress Ink + Lots of Perfect Pearls mist

Clear resist embossing + distress ink + a unique front-open card

Distress Inks + Perfect Pearl mist stamping + a fold-up front portion of the card

And one more for good measure from the Hero Arts Make and Take:

Yum. Isn't Hero Arts the best?

This post is getting quite long, so I'll just have to be back tomorrow with a new card + some inspiration links for ya. Oh, and don't forget to comment on the giveaway post for a chance to win some HA and TH goodies.

Love.
Brit

Sharing about Scrapfest 2010.

2010-09-23T18:08:00.002-05:00

The Video.
I promised a post talking about scrapfest, and I thought just sharing a video would be a better idea. So here' some of the things I liked and picked up at Scrapfest this last weekend. As always, you can watch the video over at youtube (and make sure you subscribe to my channel to catch my weekly videos)

The Card.
Here's the card I made using a few things that I picked up this weekend:

I did the leaves by stamping them in Brown Memento Ink and then covering them with Ranger Gold paint (my new paint dauber) and Barn Door and Spiced Marmelade distress ink. I love this look!

I did the embossed background by running a piece of kraft cardstock through my big shot with my new Tim Holtz woodgrain texture fade and then going over the raised areas with vintage photo distress ink and more gold paint. Yum.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft, Vintage Cream, and Pure Poppy), Ink- Ranger (Distress Ink by Tim Holtz in Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, and Vintage Photo) and Tsukineko (Brown Memento), Paint- Ranger (Gold Paint Dauber), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL414 Classic Messages and CL457 Real Leaves), Embossing Folder- Tim Holtz for Sizzix, Twine- Papertrey Ink.

The Giveaway.

Here's what you will win:

A stamp set from Hero Arts, Tumbled Glass and Wild Honey Distress Ink, 5 yards each of three different May Arts ribbons, and two spools of American Crafts ribbon.

To enter, simply leave one comment. That's it! I'll do a drawing for the winner on September 30th at 10 PM CST to give you plenty of time to tell your friends. Thanks for stopping by today!

Love.

Brit

Dinner with the Hero Arts Ladies.

2010-09-21T16:41:00.031-05:00

I wanted to pop in to show you about my favorite part of the weekend- Dinner with the Hero Arts ladies! We met up at the Twin City Grill in the mall on Saturday night and ate some great food, laughed a ton, and got to know each other. Here's our cute group shot at the end of the night:

That's (left to right, starting at the top): Kari, Jen, me, Barb, Shari, Anita, Sarah, Margret, Jen, Carol, Sophie, Liz, Linda, Natasha, Latrice, Anne, Shaune, Shirley, Richele, Marie, and Kate. We had such a fantastic time! I got to meet some really fantastic ladies and was amazed at how nice everyone was. Here are some shots of me and the others:

Me + Barb. She is outrageously nice. I love it! I was so happy to meet one of the famed Hero Arts Hostesses in person. Did you see her day on the HA blog yesterday? You go girl!

Latrice + me. The picture is a little bit at an awkward angle, but I Latrice is so darn photogenic that it doesn't matter. She is such a sweetheart and arranged the whole dinner; that took a ton of work. I can't wait to meet up with her again sometime in the future. :)

Me + Jennifer McGuire. Goodness, she's so funny and sweet! I loved hanging out with her and the Hero Arts crew. There was so much talent in one room. Amazing!

We also decided to do a fall and halloween-themed card swap. I wanted to share the cards that I brought to trade (and Latrice's mom and sister ended up going home with- they were so excited. Ha):

For this card, I inked the background with distress ink, stamped my leaves with clear embossing powder, then ink with some Fired Brick (dark red) distress ink over the top. Then I stamped the Friends Definition stamp over the top, wiped off the embossed areas, and embellished. I love the way this turned out. Here's the close-up:

The gorgeous lace ribbon is from Hero Arts with a little bit of vintage photo distress ink pounced on it to coordinate with the card better.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Cream and Kraft), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL414 Classic Messages, CG125 Friends Definition, CL457 Real Leaves), Ribbon- Hero Arts, Ink- Ranger (Distress Inks by Tim Holtz- Vintage photo, Antique Linen, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Wild Honey, and Spiced Marmelade), Label Punch- EK Success, Embossing Ink- Versamark, Embossing Powder- Ranger.

Card number two:

I did the leaves by putting Distress inks right on to the stamp and them spritzing them with a mixture of Perfect Pearls and water. I love the watercolor effect- next time I'll make sure to spritz them even more.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Cream and Kraft), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Togetherness Collection), Twine- Papertrey Ink, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL457 Real Leaves and CL447 Beautiful Peacocks), Ink- Ranger (Distress Inks by Tim Holtz- Barn door, Wild honey, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo, and Antique Linen), Marker- ZIG by EK Success, Label Punch- EK Success, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I hope you enjoyed my little look into this fantastic dinner. I can't wait to do this again next year! Look for a full recap of the Scrapfest event in my next post. :) Trust me, you'll want to stop by for a chance to win. Thanks for stopping by today!

Love.
Brit

Video Tutorial Monday #2! Paper Piecing

2010-09-20T14:04:00.001-05:00

Sorry I've been so absent lately, but school has officially kicked in full gear, and I only had time to craft for the HA Flickr group swap at Scrapfest this weekend. I promise I'll share those cards along with a review of the event here, though. It was an amazing experience this year, including some fanstic classes, make and takes, and meeting some new scrapbooking friends. Love it! Look for that on Thursday. :) HINT: There may be a giveaway involved ;)

So here is week two of my Monday video tutorials. I'm loving this set up right now. I'm still figuring things out with my new camera and the setup around my desk, so bear with me theses upcoming weeks as I find the best camera angle to do this from. It's definitely a huge learning experience- I've never had this much interaction with video before. Once I get something that works for me, I'll make sure to show you around the set up so maybe you can have some beginner hints for your own videos. I'm here to pass on my lessons from trial and error to you :)

You can watch the video here at youtube. Make sure you subscribe to my channel so you can catch my videos every week. As always, I would love to hear what you think about the video and ideas about subject matter for future ones.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft, Enchanted Evening, and Raspberry Fizz) , Patterned Paper- Crate Paper, Stamp- Unity Stamp Company, Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Brown) and Ranger (Vintage Photo and Wild Honey Distress Inks by Tim Holtz), Pen- Signo Uniball, Letter Stickers- Basic Grey (Origins Collection), Rhinestones- Queen & Co., Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Don't you love paper piecing? I hope you can give it a try sometime this week. I'll be back soon with a scrapfest recap and a few projects.

Thank you for stopping by. It's especially evident to me after the past couple days how great this industry is and how awesome the people are who craft, blog, and leave comments truly are. Thank you.

Love.

Brit

Video Tutorial #1 - Watercolor Distress Ink Stamping

2010-09-13T10:59:00.001-05:00

Hey there! It's Monday, which means the start of another week of classes, projects, and random conversations with people I know from two years ago. That seems to be the theme around here on campus these days.

Anyways, yesterday I put together my first video tutorial, and I'm hoping to make this a consistent feature here on my blog. I have so many ideas, and I'm ready to start sharing them. :) So here's my first one! Watch it here or over at youtube, and make sure to subscribe to my channel so you can keep getting videos as I make them.

And the close-ups:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Smokey Shadow and Vintage Cream), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Togetherness Collection 6 by 6 pad), Stamps- Hero Arts (S5317 Starburst Lace), Papertrey Ink (Butterfly Dreams Sentiment) and Studio Calico (Labels Stamp), Ribbon- Offray, Tape- Pretty Pastel Sheets Refill from PrettyTape, Ink- Tsukineko (Black Memento) and Ranger (Barn Door, Spiced Marmelade, and Wild Honey Distress Ink by Tim Holtz), Perfect Pearls- Ranger, Other- Staples.

Let me know what you think of the video. Do you have anything that you would like to see me create? Do you like seeing the whole card made? I would love to hear some feedback!

Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

Love.

Brit

DAY 3: Pairing Up with Jennifer

2010-09-11T19:13:00.000-05:00

Hey guys and thanks for stopping by for our final day of our pairing up. This has been so much fun, and I've loved working with Jennifer on this. Maybe we can do it again sometime. :) Here's today's stamp set:

It's my favorite sentiment set- CL414, Classic Messages! Here's what I created to show the versatility of this set:

It's a gift set of 3 by 4 cards. Something like this makes the perfect present for a friend. Simple, gender-neutral, and super easy to make. Here are the cards in groups of two:

And the close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft and Enchanted Evening), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink (Cream, Spring Moss, and Aqua Mist Satin Ribbon) and May Arts (Teal Twill), Ink- Tsukineko (Brown Memento) and Ranger (Antique Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holtz), Patterned Paper- Sassafras (Hearts and Criss-Cross Pattern - Indie Girl Collection) and Cosmo Cricket (Ledger Paper - Togetherness Collection), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL414 Classic Messages).

I would like to thank Jennifer for joining me in these exciting few days. It's been awesome! Now I'm off to check out her post for today and she what she created. Thanks for stopping by!

Love.
Brit

DAY 2: Pairing Up with Jennifer

2010-09-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

Hi there, and welcome to day two of our challenge! Today's stamp set is this fab one from Hero Arts, CG133 Color Me Flowers:

And here's what I created. I pushed myself to not color them, because I love doing that. I wanted to do something different this time, so I came up with this:

And the close-up of the special flower:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Cream and Kraft), Patterned Paper- Cosmo Cricket (Togetherness 6 by 6 pad), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG133 Color Me Flowers and CL447 Beautiful Peacocks), Ink- Tsukineko (Memento Brown) and Ranger (Antique Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holtz), Corner Rounder- WRMK, Bling- The Paper Studio, Circle Punch- EK Success 1.5", American Crafts (Dear Lizzy Collection), Score Board- Martha Stewart.

Thanks for taking a peak at Day 2! I'm heading off to check Jennifer's blog for today. I suggest you do the same :)

Love.
Brit

DAY 1: Pairing Up Challenge with Jennifer a.k.a. Random Acts of Cardness

2010-09-09T10:25:00.004-05:00

Hey guys! I've been busy moving and starting classes for the semester, but ever since Jennifer McGuire and Joy decided to do a seven-day stamp challenge where they used the same Hero Arts stamp each day for seven days, I've wanted to try this for myself. Thankfully, the fantastic Hero Arts Flickr group came to the rescue and paired me up with the fantastic Jennifer from Random Acts of Cardness. So today (and for the next three days), we'll both be featuring a card on our blog using the same stamp from Hero Arts.

Without further adieu, here's today's stamp:

And here's what I made to feature it:

And the close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Kraft), Stamps- Hero Arts (Friend Definition CG125 and CG340 Birthday Sayings), Lace Ribbon- Hero Arts (CH231), Border Sticker- Crate Paper (Restoration line), Washi Tape- from PrettyTape on Etsy, Ink- Tsukineko (Brown Memento) and Ranger (Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Ink by TIm Holtz), White Pen- Signo, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

I hope you enjoyed my card for today! I'll be back with another one for our fun challenge on Friday and Saturday. I'm off to go check out Jennifer's blog for today to see what she created!

Love.

Brit

Moving Madness and Scrapbook Goodies

2010-09-01T22:24:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Life has been super hectic lately. I haven't really had much time to scrap, and all of my stuff at the moment is packed up into bins and boxes, waiting to be moved tomorrow and Friday. Moving stinks! The mess here is pretty crazy. I thought this was bad a couple days ago:

Until today. When it got worse with the addition of two more people.

Boxes everywhere. Two futons. Too many chairs. Too many people. I like the people I'm with right now, but MAN I can't wait to get organized and in my own place again. Oh, and to have my own room. It's going to be glorious.

So to distract me from the chaos around here, I decided to do a little video when I got my Two Peas order the other day. Lots of new goodies over there, and I couldn't resist. Sooo cute! (You hear the word cute a lot in the video. Ha.)

(Or click here to watch it over at YouTube.)

I bought my camera strap from August Blossoms by Denise Hytonen on Etsy. Love it! It's sooo cute, and my camera looks so pretty now.

And here's a layout I'd like to share with you today. My first Australia layout that I'm sharing. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Raspberry Fizz and Enchanted Evening), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon and Basic Grey, Ribbon- Papertrey Ink (Enchanted Evening), Border Punch- Fiskars, Circle Punches- EK Success, Pens- Signo (White) and American Crafts (Black), Die Cutting Maching- Silhouette, Ink- Ranger (Dusty Concord Distress Ink).

Off to do some more packing. Soon this will be all over and I can scrap again. I can't wait! Lots of big plans. :)

Thank you for stopping by and always leaving such sweet comments. You guys rock!

Love.

Brit

New post coming!

2010-09-01T14:21:00.002-05:00

New post coming tonight. I have a video to share and a layout! Packing and moving is so much work :/

Brit

And the Winner is...

2010-08-23T09:29:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-08-18T05:00:00.053-05:00

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