All sorts of love.

I've got lot of different types of love for you today. Some Papertrey Ink love, some Ikea love, and some crafty love... just to name a few. I'd better get started! :)

Papertrey Ink Love

I finally had the chance to sit down and play for a while with my new Papertrey Ink order. Holy wow- everything is so amazing! I'm in awe of the quality of all of the products that I recieved- the stamps, the paper, and the buttons are all wonderful. Here's a card that I made while playing around last night:
I can't wait to spend more time playing around with everything. Love the tone-on-tone look with clear embossing powder and the Polka Dot Basics II stamp set. Wonderful!

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vanilla) and Unknown (blue), Colored Pencils- Prismacolor, Ink- Tsukineko, Stamps- Papertrey Ink (In Bloom and Polka Dot Basics II), Embossing power and ink- Ranger, Dimensional Adhesive- EK Success, Buttons- Papertrey Ink, Thread- DMC, Ribbon- Martha Stewart for EK Success.

Ikea Love

Since I'm moving into my apartment in less than 48 hours (holy cow! Time's moving so very fast), I've been doing a lot of prep for the big move. We still have a ton of things left to buy for our space, so we're turning to Ikea for a little help. So inevitable- they have everything there. Here are a couple items that I think we might need to pick up:
Love. This. Comforter. The orange is one of my favorite colors, and I think it would go perfectly in our room. Best part? Only 14.99. Perfect for my minuscule college budget.
Super simple bath rug. I think I love this color for the bathroom. Nothing like a bright green to wake you up in the morning, eh?
These fabrics match absolutely nothing any of us own, but I love the simple patterns and shapes. This is total scrapbooking inspiration at its finest. Now if they just made this in a lime green/ orange color scheme, I'd be all over this.

I'll definitely keep you updated on what we end up getting. All at once, this is so exciting and overwhelming. I feel like there are five thousand things I have to do, and I don't even know what half of them are yet. I need to make more lists.

Crafty Love

So in my massive pile of things to do, I keep adding on with things that are completely unnecessary but oh-so-fun... like this project that I found this morning.
It's simple- you just cut down the center and around the collar of a t-shirt, sew a simple hem, thread it with ribbon, and tie. My sewing machine is totally calling my name right now! (Full, simple tutorial here.)

Copic Love

Copics are all the rage right now in the scrapbooking world. Over at two peas alone, there are a ton of threads started about them. The other day, Jennifer McGuire posted this awesome link on her blog. Soo much information about copics, including recommended colors for getting started. I need to use what I have for now, but I can't wait to start collecting copics when the time is right. (Like when I "need" them for a design class I'm taking...) I'm in love with the quality of the colored images. Amazing! Oh, and here's a reference sheet of all of the Copic colors that might come in handy. I may or may not have printed one off to circle my favorites. Maybe.

Cat Love

I stumbled upon this cute cat article yesterday named "Guidelines for Cats", and it gave me a good laugh. If you have cats (or just are a cat person in general), check it out- it's hilarious. One of my favorite parts:

"The humans would have you believe that those lumps under the covers are their feet and hands. They are lying. They are actually Bed Mice, rumored to be the most delicious of all the mice in the world, though no cat has ever been able to catch one. Rumor also has it that only the most ferocious attack can stun them long enough for you to dive under the covers to get them. Maybe YOU can be the first to taste the Bed Mouse!"

Our youngest cat has a habit of jumping on my mom's toes in the middle of the night, indubitably waking her up in a state of alert and confusion. My cat's crazy. :)

Okay, I'm all loved out for now. I should probably get back to packing my endless amount of things... sadly, I think today's the day for putting away the scrapbooking stuff. Sigh- see you again soon, creativity.

Love.

Brit

A cupcake garden.

All I want to do is create, even though I know I should be packing. It's a double-edged sword, though. If I get things done and pack, that means all of my scrapbooking things will be put away. I guess I can manage for a few days. I guess. :)

I finished this card today for the Hero Art's weekly challenge to bring out the colors and start adding to project with colored pencils, inks, and other mediums. I love coloring stamped images with colored pencils, so I couldn't wait to try something new with this week's challenge. Here's what I came up with:

Here are a couple of new things that I tried out on this card that you could try out on your next project:
1. Use a background stamp (like this one- the cling I used with all the cupcakes) and cut out all of the images individually after coloring them in.
2. Clear-emboss a pattern on the background cardstock for added interest, even if it's where the "sky" should be.
3. Ink up a sheet of white cardstock (a la Jennifer McQuire) with distress ink, flick little droplets of water on it, and then trace and cut out leaves in varying sizes for extra interest.
4. Adhere tons of items with various levels of foam adhesive- it adds so much dimension and life.
5. Use the same colored pencils used for coloring to write the sentiment- it'll tie the card together.

Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Light Blue), and The Paper Studio (White), Stamps- Hero Arts (F5158, S5208, CL231, CG110), Colored Pencils- Prismacolor, Ink- Tsukineko (Black) and Tim Holtz for Ranger (Shabby Shutters, Broken China, and Peeled Paint).

Thanks for stopping by, loves! Hopefully I'll be back once more before I move, but if not, I'll see you in a few days from a whole different state. Minnesota, here I come (againnnn)!

Love.

Brit

Vlog- A.K.A.- Me being really excited about stuff I just bought. :)

After seeing Courtney's second vlog the other day about stuff she picked up recently, I thought it looked like a lot of fun, so I decided to give it a try. I did a little shopping today to make my wisdom teeth feel better... haha. I totally giggle a lot in the video, but I'll blame that on the pain meds. Ha! I might be a little quiet, but I was trying not to wake my family up. Hehe. Without any further ado, here's me talking about lots of random fun stuff. It's yummy, I promise!



Haha. What did you think? Can you hear my Wisconsin accent?

Thanks for stopping by. <3

Love.

Brit

P.S.- I'll add links in the morning. I'm super tired tonight!

Today's card.

I love these colors for challenge #15 from Dawn McVey. These PTI colors are some of my favorites. I can't wait to get my order from them in a couple of days! Everything on this card was more or less an experiment, from the inking the edges white to seeing what color would happen when I clear-embossed the pink paper. I think I'll have to try another one for this week's challenge, though, just so I can get the colors perfectly right. These seem a little off to me. Regardless, enjoy! Thanks for stopping by. :)


Supplies: Cardstock: Archiver's (Pink), Bazzill (Green), DCWV (Melon) and The Paper Studio (Creme), Border Punch- Fiskars, Corner Rounder- Fiskars, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger (Shabby Shutters) and Tsukineko (White Brilliance), Stamps- Hero Arts (K5175 and CL231), Thread- DMC, other- Buttons and Ribbon.

Love.

Brit

I {heart} scrapbooking.

It's been a while since I've scrapped, but I've cranked out two layouts in the last 24 hours. I just had to let everything go- I can't be afraid to use or not use something. Just do it. Just tell the story. I like this feeling of freedom. :)

Layout #1: About the Twins game I went to in May. This one only took an hour and five minutes to complete, from start to finish. I'm so proud of myself- I think this is the quickest layout I've ever done, and I love it. This is my interpretation of Ali Edwards' style. Super simple and beautiful.. (love her!)
My favorite part:
Journaling (almost always handwritten, because I like the memories...):
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, White Pen- Signo Uniball, Foam Letters- Thickers by American Crafts, Corner Rounder- The Paper Studio, Thread- DMC, Other- Buttons.

Layout #2: St. Patrick's day (I miss my college friends so much... only 9 days left until I see them again!) This started out with me not wanting to fuss over the photo arrangement, so I just plopped them down at different levels. I love this look. :) Then, everything just kind of evolved from there. I had no idea what I was doing when I first looked at the photos, but everything just happened. The journaling is around the outside, because I felt like it. Ha. This one only took my an hour and a half. Sooo quick today!
Dimension is my favorite:
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Patterned Paper- Basic Grey (Argyle and floral) and October Afternoon (green polka dot), Letter stickers and "remember" sticker- October Afternoon, Pen- Signo Uniball, Circle Punch- EK Success, Corner Rounder- Fiskars, Dimensional Adhesive- EK Success, Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger (Shabby Shutters), Thread- DMC, Other- Buttons.

Everything's changing around me, but now I'm ready for it. Bring it on. :)

What do you think of the layouts? I forgot how much I love scrapbooking- it's so rewarding. Thanks for stopping by, loves!

Love.

Brit

Growing up.

Today, I have:
bought textbooks
started to pack
looked at student loans
applied for three jobs
looked for a replacement cell phone

It's like I'm growing up or something. :) It's so weird to think that in two weeks, I'll be in a completely different place and be completely on my own. The feelings of reality are coming slowly, though, and I'm grateful for that. I'm ready. I'm ready for this.

The last week has been very interesting- lots of ups and downs- but I'm much happier now. It's all getting better. (I have very wonderful friends.)

Here are a couple of cards to share with you. I have all of this creative energy, but lately I just sit at my desk staring at all of the pretty things I want to use. It's like I don't know what to do...

This is one I finished a little while ago- I love the untraditional pink and green colors for Christmas, but this card would really be suitable for any occasion. I like versatility like that.

Supplies: Cardstock- Archiver's (pink) and Bazzill (white swiss dot and green), Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Embossing Powder and Ink- Ranger, Black Ink- Tsukineko, Stamps- Hero Arts CL232, Green Ink- Tim Holtz for Ranger in Shabby Shutters, Border Punch- Fiskars, Thread- DMC, Other- Buttons.

Here's one from yesterday. I love this June Bug paper from basic grey, along with the butterfly stamp that I can not get enough of. Oh, and white gel pen. Love. Love. Love.
Supplies: Cardstock- The Paper Studio, Patterned Paper- Basic Grey, Embossing Powder and ink- Ranger, Stickles- Ranger, White Pen- Signo Uniball, Ribbon- Offray, Circle Punch- EK Success, Thread- DMC, Stamp- Hero Arts F5158, Corner Rounder- Fiskars.

Lastly, I find this absolutely inspiring. I got an e-mail from Toms yesterday, and I thought it was gorgeous. I've been obsessed with weddings lately (they're so beautiful... I would love to be a wedding planner), so this goes right along with my dream wedding (for today at least). I'm such a girl. Ha!

(click to enlarge)

That's all for now. I'm hoping to get a couple pages cranked out tonight- the first in sooo very long. Life just gets in the way too often. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Love.

Brit

Therapy.

Yesterday was the worst day I've had in a long time. I'm now convinced that it doesn't matter how they have you convinced, because all boys are stupid. Really, really stupid. I've been crying a lot lately, but this is healing. I've been listening to music nonstop and feeling its therapy. I'm currently in love with Adele. Especially this song.

I meant to have a card to share today, but I couldn't get it to look right. That'll be for another time.

I need time to heal.

Did I mention that boys are stupid? Yes, boys. Just because you're 19 or 22 doesn't make you a man. It's how you act; how you respect others.

I thank God for this girl:
I love Sara very much. :)

We went to the state fair a couple days ago. Here's a brief recap:

We ate Cream Puffs:
We tried chocolate-covered bacon:
It was absolutely disgusting:

Haha. Thanks for stopping by today. Eventually I'll be back with things to share, but I'm going through a pretty rough time right now. I know it'll all be okay, but right now, my little 19-year-old world feels like it's upside-down.

Love.

Brit