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

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.

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.

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

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...

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?

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.

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