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 went shopping.

And I did very, very well. (Ehem- or very, very poorly if you were to ask my mom... ha. Don't worry, I'm finding a job!) The good news is, I think I'm pretty set for a while, well, until I saw the new Basic Grey Collections. Have you seen these? Oh boy, I'm in trouble. (Click to Enlarge)

June Bug:
Lemonade (My Favorite!):

How yummy are those? I think I need them.

Oh, and another exciting thing- Two Peas now has October Afternoon Cherry Hill line in! I ordered it as soon as I saw it... and I might've picked up an extra 8 by 8 pad to share with a lucky blog reader in a week or so. ;) How can you resist this?

And this?

Oh, and look what else I picked up yesterday? Happy.

Oh yes, that's Apron Lace by Fiskars and Scallop Dot by Martha Stewart (25% off all Martha Stewart at Michael's!). I had to use them right away, so here's what I did:

1. For a sketch at clean&simple:

Here's my take:

Close-up- yes, I definitely bought more foam adhesive squares yesterday, too:

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Grey and White Swiss Dot), American Crafts (Yellow), The Paper Studio (White), and Archiver's (Purple), Ribbon- Offray, Stamps- Hero Arts, Rub-on- Pebbles, Inc., Border Punch- Fiskars, White Pen- Sakura, Ink- Tsukineko, Diamond Glaze- Judikins, and Colored Pencils- Crayola.

2. For the KJ's Color Chef Challenge #7- light green, dark green, and white:

Here's my take:

Lots of dimension on this one, too. :)

Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (White), Archiver's (Greens), Patterned Paper- Bo Bunny, Border Punch- Martha Stewart Crafts, Ribbon- Offray, Rub-on- Pebbles, Inc.

Oh, and I can't wait for this finale tonight. I want Kris to win, but I love them both. Aren't they absolutely adorable?
Thanks for stopping by! Who do you want to win American Idol?

Love.

Brit

Hola. Como estas?

Wow, it's been so long that I don't even remember which "o" the accent goes over. I might want to brush up on that if I'm planning on minoring in Spanish. Anyways, I've been pretty checked out for the last week- from this blog, from scrapping, from the majority of the world. Lately, life revolves around four things: the olympics, work, getting prepared for college, and trying to make the most of the end of summer. So far, so good.

College stuff is piling up like never before, and the project I have yet to compete don't seem to escape my mind. I still need to finish my comforter's applique, the paper mache letters for my roommate and myself, the fabric wall hangings to decorate the walls with (because off white is not the prettiest color on earth), and a few other random things. I really have no idea how I'm going to get all of this done by the time I leave on Tuesday, but we'll see.

By the way, I'm in love with this fragrance. I'm not a perfume kind of gal usually, but I want to wear this every day forever...
Right now, I'm supposed to be working on the COCOA challenge for this week, but since I pride myself on being an excellent procrastinator, I should probably show you at least a couple things I've created recently.

First, this is a card that I made for my boyfriend's birthday on Sunday.


Supplies: stamps- Scrappycat, pp- DCWV, ribbon- Offray, embossing powder- JoAnn Fabrics, chipboard embellishment- Target, corner brads and letter stickers- The Paper Studio

Here are two little projects I made from last week's COCOA use your stash challenge:

Suuuuper simple, but they get the job done. :)

Alright, I'm off to go work on the COCOA challenge, get some college dorm projects done, hang out with one of my best friends, Sam, and rest my back because I went down a river yesterday. (Yup, class one rapids, that's why my back hurts... :rolls eyes:) Thanks for visiting!

Brit

p.s.- I have a major Jamba Juice craving right now... only one week until I get to have one. :)

(from here)

What's a girl to do

when it's hot outside, she doesn't have to work until 4pm each day, and all of her friends have real jobs to be at during the day? Listen for the hum of the UPS man's truck and scrapbook, of course. It's the life, I'll tell ya.

Two things that I am in love with that Mr. Beautiful 1 and Mr. Beautiful 2 (a.k.a. UPS man and Fedex man) brought me in the last week:
1. my camera.

I originally was going to buy the Panasonic DMC-TZ5 and still have rave reviews about the time I tried it, but I realized that a $275 camera was probably a bit excessive for me. So instead, I went back to the drawing board to look at more reviews. A couple days later, and I found the camera I needed to have in my life- the Canon A590. For only $153 at Amazon, it was perfect.

Here are some reasons why I love it:
-8 megapixels
-the price
-4 x optical zoom, 4 x digital zoom... so 16 x zoom (works really well, too)
-you can interchange the lenses, so there's room to grow with this camera
-uses SD memory
-the capability to shoot with fully manual settings

(Uh... please excuse the toilet?)
There are only few things I don't like, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks
-the case is plastic, so it feels cheap even if it takes quality pictures
-it uses AA batteries. I'm used to a rechargeable battery, so this is more of an adjustment than anything. AA batteries could actually be convenient. If I'm ever at a loss for battery power in a time of need, I can always rest assured that outrageously priced AA batteries are for sale nearby. That's the way life works
-I have a ton of learning to do about this camera. I know that once I learn more about it, I'll be able to take better pictures. It's a little daunting to have to "learn a camera", though.

(picture of my cat, Blue, taken with my new camera. It's currently serving as my desktop. :-) )

Overall, I'm really pleased with my purchase. I highly recommend it as a good point-and-shoot camera for a great price. The reviews on the camera across the web were phenomenal, too.

2. my ATG!
It's amazing. I'm still working on the finesse to using it, but the learning process is coming along well. Here are some pictures of my baby:

(how it came wrapped... wow! It was lots of bubble wrap)


I also started altering it a bit. I really want to paint the handle, but that requires a lot of work and supplies that I don't have in the house... so stay tuned for updates on that little project. I'm sure you'll be the first to hear.

(altered with KI Memories expoy letter stickers, a Sakura white pen, and bazzill paper)

----
Last night, I had the honor of seeing The Dark Knight. Let me just say that action movies are not remotely my thing. Not at all. I didn't even want to go at first, because I get scarred incredibly easily. However, The Dark Knight was PHENOMENAL. Easily, it was one of the best movies I've ever seen. Heath Ledger played the Joker so well that I can't even explain how I feel about him as an actor. You need to see this movie if you get the chance.

(Picture from http://inhome.rediff.com/movies/2008/apr/29look1.htm)

I'm actually working on three layouts right now- all of them challenges. I'm really excited about them, but you'll have to wait until next week when I actually have time to finish them. For now, here's a layout I did for COCOA this week:



Supplies: cs - Bazzill (blue), The Paper Studio (white and black), pp- Basic Grey (circles), My Mind's Eye (stripes), unknown (green dots), deco scissors- The Paper Studio, thread- DMC, black pen- American Crafts, letter stickers- Scrapworks, buttons- unknown

Also, my shopping trip the other day was very successful. So successful, in fact, that I get really excited every time I think about the items that I bought. (Some of which I'm giving to the PAW winner tomorrow.) Yum! Here's a picture:


My favorite by far is the giraffe stamp, though. Is that not the cutest giraffe ever? I need to use it on something, like, now.

By the way, look what my boyfriend brought to me Tuesday night before our date? You gotta love him.



Thanks for stopping by! Next: Atlanta Album, 3 challenge LOs. Check back in a couple days!

Love.
Brit

Concerts and New Things

Well, it's about time. Time for a massive update... enjoy all of the scrappy goodness! There's more coming soon, too.

Summerfest was phenomenal. I renewed my love for a few favorite bands (Red, Skillet), and fell for a couple of others (12 Stones, Coheed and Cambria). Nothing beats a live concert. I knew there was a reason I bought that Rockstar DCWV Stack. Some favorite pictures:
This was right after we arrived... we only got lost, like, three times on the way there. No biggie. Ha! These were our "I can't believe we made it" faces. Gosh, I love these guys.Zippo lighters. I don't smoke, but the pyro in me came out and I bought one. They're just so cool!The Skillet concert was awesome. Note the guy standing on the amp playing violin? Yeah, they're awesome.The second day was a little scary weather-wise. You better believe it poured buckets on us moments after this picture was taken.

There's been a lot going on around here with lots of college-prep talk and lots of work, but I've managed to get a couple (okay, a lot of) things done.

1. COCOA challenge for last week. My formal graduation layout :-)

Supplies: American Crafts Stickers, DCVW and Anna Griffin pp, unknown cs, 7 gypsies label stamp, Zig black pen and marker, Stickles, Heidi Swapp chipboard, KI Memories Lace cardstock, Tsukineko silver ink

2. My best friend's graduation present mini album. I love how simple and bright it turned out. I think he'll like it. :-)

Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (red), The Paper Studio (white and black), Vellum- The Paper Studio, Silver ink- Tsukineko, Patterned paper- DCWV, Black Marker- American Crafts, Star ghost shapes- Heidi Swapp, Letter stickers- Stickabilities, Chipboard letters- Basic Grey and Heidi Swapp, Letter Rubons- American Crafts and Autumn Leaves, White Pen- Sakura, File tab- Heidi Swapp, Ribbon- Offray, Fiber- EK Success, stickles, Diamond Glaze- Judikins, Acrylic- Hobby Lobby

3. Here's a card that I made. I really wanted to color in a stamped image with colored pencils, so I made this. Plus, it's my first submission to a Use Your Stash contest. (http://useyourstash.blogspot.com/2008/07/july-challenge.html) The challenge was to use stamps.

Supplies: Flower stamp- Inque Boutique, pp- Die Cuts with a View, Colored pencils- Crayola, Thread- DMC, Vellum- The Paper Studio, Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Other- buttons, ribbon (from Angie! See below...)

4. A few weeks ago, I won the COCOA weekly challenge, and Angie sent me this prize- I love absolutely everything! It totally made my day a couple days ago.


5. A layout about my recent orientation. I really like it, even if it is incredibly girly. Something about it must've appealed to my boyfriend, though, because he seemed to like it a lot more than the usual layout. Hehe.

Supplies: pp- Die Cuts with a View ( stars and flowers), Anna Griffin (pink damask), bling- The Paper Studio, cs- The Paper Studio, Letter stickers- Stickabilities

By the way, this finally showed up on my doorstep last Monday, and I am in loooooove with it. It's my baby.

Okay, so now I'm off to go shopping for some scrappy goodness for the Page-A-Week Contest at CK. I'm the host this Sunday, so I hope to see you there. All you have to do is post a layout to the thread that I make on Sunday with a layout you've completed this week. Then, you get entered in the drawing for whatever prizes I buy today. Sounds like a great deal to me! Today, I'm also going to stop by Target and pick up sheets for college ($10 for a twin extra-long set? That's awesome) and a dress for tonight. It's the six-month anniversay with the bf, and we're going out on nice date. I'm so excited! A layout is to come of that, I'm sure.

Thanks for stopping by... leave some love! I'll be back in a couple days to talk about my new camera (<3) and a few other projects.

Brit