Me = Ecstatic.

Hey there scrapworld! It's Brit here once again, and I have sooo much to share with you from these last few busy days. First of all, let me start off by saying that I have an incredibly good chance to have a job by the end of this week thanks to one of my friends that I used to work with. I'm excited! I'll keep you updated. :)

1. We had a garage sale from Thursday to Saturday this week. All we did was post an ad on craigslist.org, and we had scrapbookers practically knocking down our door at 8 am. Ha! Okay, not really, but a a lot of scrappers showed up and almost everything that I put out sold. Crazy. So what's a girl to do? Oh right, go shopping. Here's the loot:

Everything that I bought was on sale (or a really good price), so I don't feel one ounce of gilt. I got: two sets of neutral thickers, a pack of white cardstock, a Sassafrass paper pad, a stamp, a swiss dot cuttlebug embossing folder, and some Basic Grey goodness. Oh, and I just readlized that I forgot to photograph my new Hero Arts Cute Critters stamp set. They are adorable! I also scored some cute vintage finds- a couple slips and a sweater.
One of my favorite finds- a Sassafras Wale of a Tale paper and sticker pad from Michael's for about 15 dollars. I love every single sheet of paper in this pack. A lot. I didn't even know they had pads of this! To see all the gorgeous sheets, check it out here.

Also, this nice damask stamp. Pretty:

ANNND look here- Archiver's has two Basic Grey 6 by 6 pads (Recess and Obscure) in the 1.99 section. I practically squealed when I saw these!

Oh yes, yesterday was a good day. That's if for scrapbooking shopping for me for a while though- at least until I get a job and save up enough money for next semester. Well, at least until the two new Basic Grey collections come out. All bets are off then...

2. So here's what I made. The first one is for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #54:

My take (and a before and after using Lisa's "Get Rid of Grey Gloom" Tutorial):

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (White), American Crafts (Orange) and Archiver's (darker blue, lighter blue, and green), Stamps- Hero Arts, Ink- Hero Arts and Tsukineko, Embossing Ink and Powder- Ranger, Embossing Folder- Cuttlebug.

3. A grad card for my neighbor. I hope he likes it! I put a little pocket on the inside for a gift card that we're giving him, too.

Close-up:

Supplies: Cardstock- Archivers (Grey and Red) and The Paper Studio (White), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Recess 6 by 6 pad), Background Stamp- Hero Arts, Corner Rounder- The Paper Studio, Ribbon- The Paper Company, Embroidery Thread- DMC, Border Punch- Fiskars, Ink- Tsukineko, Embossing ink and powder- Ranger, "Congrats" Stamp- Studio G.

4. So about that Cuttlebug embossing folder- I love it. I, however, do not own a die cutting machine. I bought it on a whim with my 40% off coupon and figured I could make it work somehow. Lo and behold, a little google search brought me to this site that told me how. :) Here's how I did it for the first card I shared. It's really simple!

A. Grab your cardstock, your embossing folder, a rolling pin, and a spray bottle with water in it.
B. Spritz the paper very lightly on both sides. I should be very damp but not "wet". Align the embossing folder and close.

C. Set your paper and embossing folder sandwhich on a flat, hard surface (I used a desk) and roll over with the rolling pin several times, applying even and a fair amount of pressure.

D. Take the paper out and admire your handywork. If you need to cover a larger surface area, position the embossing folder again (using the previously embossed pattern as a guide) and use the rolling pin again. If the paper is starting to dry, spritz lightly with water once again.
E. Continue positioning the folder and rolling over it until you have the pattern in the desired places. If the pattern didn't show up very well, you just need to wet your paper a little more. It's all trial and error- so give it a try and see what happens.
F. When you're done embossing, place the paper under notebook or other flat surface. You don't want to swish the pattern out, just hold the paper flat while its drying, so keep that in mind.

Let me know if this works for you! I love that I bought the folder for about 3.50 and that's all I need to have my beloved swiss dots. :)

5. Pandora is awesome. I know I'm behind the times, but it keeps playing more and more songs that I love, and it's wonderful (like magic... hehe).

6. Five-Minute-a-Day bread. This idea is genius. I'm going to have to try this soon. Wouldn't you love to eat this every day?

7. The Brewers game was awesome. Me + 10 awesome guys + brats and ten bags of chips + baseball = a great day.

The guys planned it all themselves, and I was pretty impressed that they pulled it off. Well, we didn't have plates, napkins, or anything to go with the brats besides buns and ten bags of chips, but do you think they cared? No. Ha. I love boys- they're silly. Here's the group:
And Miller Stadium:
We lost, but I still had fun. It was probably Greg's and my fault collectively- we've been to about 5 football games, 4 hockey games, and two baseball games together, and our team has one once in overtime. We're a curse. :)

8. Thanks for stopping by, loves. Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon! Let me know if you have any questions.

Love.

Brit

I feel like talking really fast...

After watching 12 episodes of Gilmore Girls (the last season, most of which I have not seen yet) with my mom over the past two days, I find my mind constantly moving at a quick pace and myself making random quips at sonic speed. It's great. :) Oh, Gilmore Girls.

I've been sewing up a storm here- I felt like every layout just needed that finishing touch. Here's the first one that I finished just yesterday:
Isn't it cute? I'm obsessed with distressing edges this week :)

Supplies: Patterned Paper- American Crafts, Cardstock- American Crafts (purple) and The paper Studio (black and white), Ink- Stazon by Tsukineko, Letter Stickers- Making Memories (small) and American Crafts (Chit Chat White Thickers), Floss- DMC, Acrylic Butterfly- Heidi Swapp

And here's Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #46 for this week:
Inspiration:
And my take:
How's that for different? Ha. I only used three supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Letter Stickers- Making Memories, and Embroidery Thread- DMC. I like this for a change of pace from my usual cardstock + patterned paper deal. What do you think?

Oh, and one more thing:
My obsession with paper flower instruction continues. Check out this tutorial by Suzanne Woolcott. It's so informative- I've got to try this.

Oooh and this dress is really cute:

Thanks for stopping by today! It's back to college for me in a couple days, but with all of these creative juices flowing, I'm hoping I'll stil have plenty to share with you in the upcoming weeks.

Love.

Brit

Spring Break Happiness and Flowers

Hey there! It's a very happy week here in Wisconsin. I've never been so happy to be home. It's all smiles around here. :) I thought I'd pop in and say hi and share a few inspiring things:

1. Flowers. I've been getting progressively more obsessed with fake flowers of all types. Here are a few inspiring tutorials and images to inspire you as well:

a. A tutorial on the Cosmo Cricket Blog about making Fabric Flowers that were used in this project by Natasja Verbeek
b. Aren't these flowers gorgeous? Here's the tutorial. I need to try this!

c. One of my projects at the top of my to-do list is to make a headband inspired by missrubysue on Etsy. Isn't this gorgeous?
2. This is a card I made a week ago in attempts to get ahead for the next few weeks that so many of my friends have birthdays during. The card is super simple- I'm actually thinking about adding something more to it, but we'll see.

Supplies: cardstock- The Paper Studio (kraft and white) and Bazzill (green), patterned paper- Basic Grey, ink- Tsukineko, marker- American Crafts, stamp- Studio G

3. This cute owl sweater. I saw this on Elsie Flannigan's blog today and can't get enough. I need this sweater :)

4. This is what I've been up to in preparation for a "personal crop day" that I'm having tomorrow. I'm going to archivers and cranking out layouts. I'm excited. :)

Lotttts of sketches. I <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BMAthBFsQbR5HsDERlaBu9mQYXLFqkgEUpFg8qwon09GprlAjDS6jZV_qBPV_nHhAsFLmbqS8hr_FW5u9biTuPGELeQPT_50Wlk0hzcg58PoAd8qsqPyzViMgV9sov-Q3K8AcF1HRlCH/s1600-h/03-16-09+Blue+Eyes.jpg">6. Me + B.J. Novak + friends = <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9CLBF8YlybXFU8lRPKSGmcwa4-oYvtHmTCVutLhyvXOm-39kCUzrlLMVPOJDvHToSQ0eTE5xBqVwVP1vXIP75uzaXYQvqNMd1mKYQYZ3v7hsVRJnPUTM9mmhdbRpPyufr_unlg991XS0/s1600-h/03-16-09+BJ+Novak">From left to right: (top) Sara, Patrice, Me, B.J., (bottom) Greg, Adam (Sara's twin who was visiting for the weekend from his college). Missing from the picture- Jeb (who was spending time with another one of our friends at the time) and Greg's twin, Joe. Why am I friends with a whole bunch of red-headed twins? Good question. I need to make a layout about that. Here's a picture of Greg and Joe just because I love their twin-ness so much:

Hehe. Cute.

So that's all I have for now, but I'll be back soon to share all of the things I do tomorrow. I'm loving having so much time to relax during this wonderful spring break. :)

Love.

Brit

How did I do it? Good question.

I've been asked a few times how I got my threading water punch to look so good when used on my layouts. I made a set of instructions on how I do it; I hope this will work for you! If you have any questions or just find this helpful, leave a comment so I can help or celebrate with you. :)

1. Take out a scrap piece of paper (at least 3" by 11-12"- I used standard letter paper); punch all along one long side and once along a shorter side.


2. Using the shorter side of the piece of paper (or "short side of your guide" as I'll call it), draw a line along the top left side of your paper to be punched in pencil. Rotate the guide 90 degrees counter clockwise and draw another line on the upper left side.


3. Line the guide up in the corner and mark a circle that is equal in distance from both lines you have drawn, using the short side of your guide as a template.


4. Flip the paper upside-down and insert into the threading water punch. Flip the punch and paper (which is now in the punch) upside-down and line up the drawn circle with the first hole of the punch. Carefully hold the ensemble in place and flip back to right side-up. Punch. (*I find it helpful to add a line of adhesive to the same side as the pencil lines before inserting it into the punch. This way, when I have my paper lined up correctly, I just press the paper into the grid part of the punch. Then, I don't have to worry about losing my place while flipping the punch into the upright position.*)


5. Go back to the original corner. Once again, insert the paper and turn the punch over. Line up the hole, flip the punch back into the upright position, and punch. (*Now would be a good time to place your project over an unused corner of your guide and mark the exact position of your corner hole. Next time, you can just pencil in your corner hole and start punching away!*)


6. Use the long side of your guide sheet to determine how many scallops you need to achieve your desired length of scalloped edge on each side. Write the numbers of scallops on a post-it note and stick it on your work surface if you need a reminder. Always punch at least one and a half scallops over your desired length (leaving room to punch the other side).

7. Continue to punch along the side until achieving the correct number of scallops or until running off the edge. Repeat on the second edge. *Always make sure to line up the previous punched section with the printed guide on the punch perfectly. A couple extra seconds to make sure everything is lined up is worth the effort!*


8. Line up the short side of your guide with your desired end scallop (the one that you want to be your corner) on the side you just finished punching. Mark a pencil line right at where the guide and the punched scallops intersect. Use a paper trimmer to cut straight along the line.


9. Once again, line up the hole by turning the punch over. Punch, and continue until you have punched your desired amount of scallops (so that you are even with the other side).


10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 on the last unfinished side until you need to make the last punch.


11. When coming to the end of the line on the last edge, flip the punch over to line up the holes from both directions. The last hole will be difficult at first and a pain every once in a while, but getting it as close should be a piece of cake. (As you can see here, this one was almost perfect. I should've gone slower to make sure to line up everything perfectly.) You can always cover it up. Lots of practice makes perfect! Good luck and enjoy your wonderful punch!




Scroll down the page for some great examples of how I've used the TW punch.

Love.

Brit