Simplicity is the theme of the week.

I've never considered myself an "embellished" scrapper per say, but this is a whole new level of streamlined for me. For some reason, it's just how I'm feeling lately. And I like it. I like it a lot. (My silhouette helps too... such pretty letters!)

1. Minnesota Football 2009

Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Kraft) and Papertrey Ink (Summer Sunrise and Vintage Cream), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon, Digital Cutter- Silhouette SD, Thread- DMC, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

2. One Two One Seven Five-Hundred: It's an inside just between my dad and myself- I was playing a computer game when I was seven or eight and asked him to remember my score, which I read as "One two one seven five-hundred. He said, "okay, I'll remember it forever." My dad has a quirky sense of humor, so when he said forever, he meant it. It's our running joke (or rather an understanding) that I'm supposed to ask him what the number is when he's walking me down the isle on my wedding day so that he can show me that he truly remembered it forever.

 

Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (White and Green), Archiver's (Teal), and Papertrey Ink (Spring Moss), Digital Cutter- Silhouette SD, Patterned Paper- Making Memories.

3. We Live for the Weekends: a layout about my friends and our various crazy college weekend activities.

Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Black) and Archiver's (Pink), Patterned Paper- Sassafras Amplified, Digital Cutter- Silhouette SD, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Speaking of simple, my Project 365 Photo for today is the simple, delicious dinner I made tonight:

Potato Soup.... Yum! Here's the recipe (but really, you could add whatever you want. This is just what I had in my fridge.)

4 slices of bacon, raw

1 half of a large yellow onion, chopped

4 Medium to Large Yellow-Skinned potatoes, Cubed into big pieces (mine were about 1" by 1" by 1/2")

1 C. baby carrots

1 Large (16 oz.) can Chicken Broth

2 C. Water

2 tsp. beef bullion granules

1/4 tsp garlic salt

Directions: Cook bacon in a large pot (the same one you'll be making the soup in) until crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Save the bacon grease in the bottom of the pan. Add onions, cook until translucent. When the onions are translucent, add potatoes, carrots, chicken broth, water, beef bullion, and garlic salt. After everything comes to a rolling boil, turn the pot down to a simmer and add half of the bacon, crumbled. Simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender. Serve with crumbled bacon on top. Yum!

I'm off to have a relaxing night in. I may be back at college, but I have no desire to go out when all my best friends aren't back yet. That's for next weekend. :) Have a great evening!

Love.

Brit

Always in the mood for a challenge.

This last week has been full of various kinds of challenges, but two stick out for me today:

1. Dawn McVey's Challenge #21- Love these colors:

My take:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Sentiment Stamp- Papertrey Ink (Autumn Abundance), Woodgrain Stamp- Hero Arts (S5208), Ink- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream) and Colorbox (Brown), Border Punch- Fiskars (Apron Lace).

Another version I did. I don't really like this one for some reason, and I don't know why, but one of my roommates fell in love with it, so I figured I'd share it anyways:

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist, Vintage Cream), Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Sentiment Stamp- Papertrey Ink (Autumn Abundance), Ink- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Button- Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist), Thread- DMC.

 2. My second challenge was definitely skiing yesterday. I think I fell about two dozen times (I'm not even exaggerating... you can ask my friends. Ha.), and I was pretty much terrified the whole time, but I did it! As it turns out, skiing is a heck of a lot easier when you're in sixth grade and only weigh 70 pounds... That was the last time I skied. So today I'm in recovery. Pretty sure every muscle in my body hurts- oh dear! Here was me skiing yesterday (happy because I finally knew how to turn and stop after an hour on the bunny hill):

Seriously, I wish somebody videotaped the wipeouts I took. Painful for me then, but I have a suspicion they would make me roll on the floor laughing today...

Back to work on a few more card while watching some guilty-pleasure American Idol. Ohhh yeah. Have a great night!

Love.

Brit

P.S. Hehe and no, I'm not engaged. Maybe sometime in the next few years, though. :) I do have a lovely "I love you" ring from my boyfriend that I wear on my right ring finger that was purchased from Modern Meets Whimsy on Etsy. :)

What's Inspiring Today

Here's a list of 7 things that are inspiring me today:

1. Crate Paper's New Pink Plum and Brook lines. They're so bright and happy!
Pink Plum Favorites:

I looooove the yellow dots from Brook:

2. Today's Date. 01.11.10. I need to do something with this...

3. Making Papertrey Ink wishlists :)
Lemon Tart Buttons:

Cream Button Twine:

Kraft A2 Envelopes:

(and a tonnnn of paper. I'm running out of my sampler pack that I bought.)

4. Origami made from the leftover Netflix flap. I always feel bad wasting them, so this is a really cool idea.

5. Nichole Heady's blog and the rest of the Papertrey Ink Release countdown blogs. This is my favorite part of the month- new stamps and a million ways to use them.

 

6. Home libraries. I want a full, beautiful one some day:

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7. Wedding cakes. Because I'm a girl and I can't help always thinking about my future wedding... :)

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Or maybe some mini cakes...

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Or cupcakes. Yum! I like those a lot. :)

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Alright, so now that I'm in a wedding mood, I'm off to go oogle at dresses, shoes, and rings. Ha!

What's inspiring you today?

Love.

Brit

I'm feeling very masculine...

Well, at least when it comes to making birthday cards. It's always so hard for me to make cards without something girly on them, but I have just as many guy friends as girl friends, so it's important I keep quite a few on hand. So without further ado, the birthday card obsession continues along with a couple tricks for making your own masculine cards:

1. Blue- I found that by choosing one color as your main focus for the card and adding neutrals and maybe a touch of one other color, it becomes easier to stick to your masculine theme. I like to think of it this way: if my dad would be okay with his office being painted in the color, it can be easily used for a masculine theme.
Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (Grey) and Papertrey Ink (Cream and Aqua Mist), Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Thread- DMC, Patterned Paper- Basic Grey June Bug, Ink- Tsukineko, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

2. Use two favorite colors. When my friend, Shishira, asked me to make a birthday card for her best guy friend, she also told me his two favorite colors- green and black. It's a perfect starting point.

3. Buttons are always the perfect accent on a card for a guy. Using buttons helps me restrain myself from using flowers as accents. :) Here in this card, the buttons are the star:
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Kraft) and Papertrey Ink (Cream), Ink- Tsukineko (Black) and Papertrey Ink (Vintage Creme), Circle Punch- EK Success, Stamps- Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot Basics II) and Hero Arts (CL340), Thread- DMC, Buttons- Papertrey Ink (New Leaf and Spring Moss), Corner Rounder-WRMK.

4. Incorporate food. I don't think that requires any explanation.
Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzill (teal and green) and Papertrey Ink (Cream), Stamps- Hero Arts (CL340, CL168, CG113), Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Ink- Tsukineko, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

5. It's okay to be a little girly. You're a female. They'll understand.
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Kraft), Archiver's (Green) and Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey Urban Prairie, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL340) and Papertrey Ink (Background Basics: Diamonds), Circle Punch- EK Success, Ribbon- Papertrey Ink.

I hope you've enjoyed this foray into masculine territory. What's your favorite tip for making masculine cards?

Love.

Brit

A rediculous amount of catchup...

Well, I have a lot to share with you. But that's okay- that just means more fun. :) I've been chillin' in Minneapolis and getting a lot of projects done. I'm so excited! With some new scrap supplies I bought a week or so ago, I've had a ton of fun using them. The new hero arts stamps are super awesome. :) Recently, I've been making cards for friends who need them- Christmas cards and birthday cards. A little extra income is way cool to this college student, so I'll keep making them as long as they keep asking. In this whole process, I realized that i didn't have ONE stamp that simply said "Happy Birthday", so I just had to have this set:

So naturally, I've made at least two million birthday cards this week. So... sorry if you get sick of looking at them. I need to stock up for the semester, though. You never know when you're going to need a birthday card at the last minute when you have a six-page paper due the next day. :)

This first card is brought to you by Lucy's Challenge #3. Love this idea- monochromatic with black and white. So elegant!

Here's what I came up with:
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Ink- Tsukineko (Black), Colorbox (Black on Butterflies), Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink), Rhinestones- Hero Arts, "Happy Birthday" Saying- Hero Arts CL340, Diamond Pattern- Papertrey Ink Background Basics: Diamonds, Butterfly punch- Martha Stewart for EK Success, Corner Rounder- We Are Memory Keepers.

Here are two more girly birthday cards I've created. Notice the excess of Berry Sorbet? My mom bought the ink and a pack of cardstock for me as part of my Christmas present. (Also under the tree from PTI- four packs of buttons, vintage cream envelopes, vintage cream ink, vintage cream satin ribbon, and Background Basics: Diamonds. My mom knows how to shop. :) Love you, Mom! )
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (White) and Bazzill (Grey), Patterned Paper- Papertrey Ink "In Bloom" Pad, Stamps- Papertrey Ink (In Bloom) and Hero Arts (CL340), Ink- Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet) and Tsukineko (Black), Circle Punches- EK Success, Stickles- Ranger, Corner Rounder- WRMK.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink, Ink- Tsukineko, Corner Chomper- WRMK, Thread- DMC, Stamps- Hero Arts (CL340, CG133), Colored Pencils- Prisma.

And one more thing for tonight. I got one of these in September for $100 on ebay (seriously a fantastic deal):
but (gasp!) never used it until two days ago- I hadn't had the time to set it up. I am in LOVE. Here's my first project with it, and I have many more to share with you later. :)
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio (Kraft) and Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet), Stamps- Hero Arts (CG133 and CG130), Ink- Tsukineko (Black) and Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet and Vintage Cream), Black Pen- American Crafts, White Pen- Signo, Die Cut Machine- Silhouette SD.

I've felt the urge to go back to simplicity this week with my layouts. Neutral backgrounds. Photos. A couple colors. Can't wait to share the rest with you over the next couple days.

Thank you for coming again even after I took a little vacation from posting. You guys rock!

Love.

Brit

P.S.- Check out this awesome giveaway over at Kathy's Blog. I'm drooling!