GIVEAWAY!

 I've sent you an email. Reply back to it with your info and I'll get your prize sent out to you! -Brie

Perfectly Posh released their NEW CATALOG on Friday! I am so excited about all the new products and for how they've updated their base products. It looks so amazing, I can't wait until March 1 to order some. You can download and view the entire catalog by clicking the arrow button below:


To celebrate the catalog release, I'm giving away an entire set of Lovey Dovey, the limited edition set for February! (Click the picture below to see it larger.)

To enter, share this giveaway on your facebook page, on your blog, on twitter or wherever! Make sure you link it back to here. Post a comment letting me know you shared.

For ONE extra entry, "Like" my Perfectly Posh facebook page. Click HERE. Comment on this post letting me know you're following me there.

For FIVE extra entries, book an online party with me between now and March 31st. Online parties are SO EASY. But you earn hostess incentives like a regular home party. Those incentives include free products! Who doesn't want free things? For more information about hosting a party, feel free to email me at poshbrie@gmail.com. Good luck, everyone! Winner will be announced February 14th. Happy Valentines! :D

Live Like You're Dying?

I've had an epiphany today.

It was brilliant.

I want to scream it to the world!

I want to start a religion, based on my epiphany and preach to the masses.

Ok, not really. But kind of. Minus the religion. I'm too fickle. ;) Or maybe just too lazy.

BUT! Here's the epiphany.

You know the phrase, "Live like you're dying." Seems like it's a self motivating, go get 'em kind of statement, right?

Is it really?

I'd like to propose a new and improved phrase.

"Live like you just left the hair salon."

Hear me out. To me, "Live like you're dying" invokes a sense of frantic urgency. GET-EVERYTHING-DONE-YOU'VE-EVER-WANTED-TO-DO-BECAUSE-YOU-MIGHT-DIE-IN-FIVE-MINUTES. To me, it could be a motivating factor to be kinder, be more generous, be more forgiving, travel the world, read a book, watch that movie you've always wanted to see but haven't stopped to do it. But, it seems to be more of a fear based motivator for redemption.

Why live like you're dying? That's depressing.

You know that feeling when you've gone in for a hair cut. Just a trim, even. But they wash your hair with the GOOD shampoo that you'd never actually splurge on for yourself. They blow dry your hair and style it for you and tell you how good you look. You leave that salon (or barbershop or wherever you go) feeling on top of the world. You feel good. You feel like you look good. You feel like you can take on anything! HOLD ON TO THAT FEELING! Don't let it wash down the drain with your next shower! It is THAT feeling that is a true motivator! When you feel good about yourself then you ARE enough. You're not comparing yourself to the neighbors down the street. You're not comparing your beat up mini van to your friend's shiny new car. You're not motivated by want. You become confidant, happy. You become content. That contentedness turns into peace that will spill into your home. It will wash over your kids. You'll spend more time enjoying your time doing what makes you happy than worrying about getting everything spotless because neighbor so and so's house is ALWAYS spotless.

What I'm saying is live confidently. It doesn't matter what you look like. How much money you make. What car you drive. What clothes you wear. It is CONFIDENCE that shines through everything.

Confidence is an amazing motivator. It will get you to the gym. It will get you to the job interview for your dream job. It will get you back in school. It will get you to sign up for the class to learn the skill you've always wanted to learn. It will allow you to jump into a decision you would never have made without it. It will push you to be your best self. And it will make you happy with who you are.

For the last three years, I've lost my confidence. I was simply being. Not living. I haven't been myself. I haven't really tried on anything. I've got so many projects that I'd just given up on. So many ideas and plans that I just let go.

And yes, I went to the salon today and got my hair trimmed. My new stylist, Lindsey, used the good shampoo on me. Told me how gorgeous my hair was after having had three kids and losing most of it. Blow dried it out straight. (I always feel like I look better with my hair straightened.) Told me how excited she was to see me again. And she actually meant it.

And I walked out of there feeling good. I haven't felt good about myself in a long time. And no, this has nothing to do with looks. It has everything to do with how one FEELS when they know they look good, or did an amazing job on a project or has something to offer the world. And that feeling is confidence.

I'm really hoping this feeling of getting my confidence back sticks around longer than my next shower. It may not, and I may have to remind myself again and again. But I'll get there. And so will you. And anyone who wants to be there. It doesn't just happen. But it's so worth anything to get there. It's not a magic pill or potion. It comes from within. It's personal. It can't be given or taken. It can be let go of and forgotten. But that root of confidence will grow if you let it. Don't block it with internal walls of fear. Let go of the fear. Let go of misconceptions. Just let go and let confidence in.

Then you will know you are truly living. Then you will be a light that others will gravitate towards.

Confidence feels good.

I'm so excited to see where my confidence takes me!

Starting Monday, it's going to take me to a crazy schedule that I'm really excited about! I'll tell you more about that later.

If you like my epiphany, I'd love for you to share it. Let's reach whoever needs to hear it. :)

Tortellini with Spinach and Chicken

Does anyone else reach a point where there is just NOTHING in the house to cook for dinner? And I don't mean that I just can't come up with an idea of what I want to cook, I mean there seriously is just no groceries left in the house.

For me, that point always hits a few days before payday. ;)

So, here I am. On a Wednesday/Thursday night. I've got tortellini, but no sauce. And no ingredients to make sauce.

Ok, ok. I'm BRIE! I'm SCRAPPY! I'll make something out of nothing if it kills me! Which it just might, seeing as I have GOT to go grocery shopping if I don't want to die of starvation and take the kids with me. (Don't worry, we're not starving. We made it to payday and tax return day! WHEW! PARTY TIME!!) The kids are perfectly fine surviving on peanut butter suckers, but until they make peanut butter healthy & it comes in a self replenishing jar .  .  . I have to be scrappy.

So I pulled out the tortellini and boiled it. (Is that the proper "chef-y" term? I have no idea.) While it was boiling (we're gonna go with it!), I sautéed chicken with chopped onion, garlic powder and olive oil. When the chicken was cooked through, I added zucchini slices and some salt and pepper. Once the zucchini was cooked until it was tender, I added the tortellini and shredded parmesan straight into the pan and stirred it all together until the cheese melted.

The results were . . . well, let's just say I should run out of groceries more often if this is what I can pull together. (Not to brag, or anything. hehehe!)

SO good. I've made it again since then. (This was last week.)

I don't know exactly how much of everything I put in there. When I cook I just kind of throw things in there and pray that it ends up at least edible. So we'll just say everything is "to taste."

Here's a picture:

The only thing that would make this better would be to have cooked the chicken on a grill before. Drool! Now I just need to get a grill . . .    ;)

New Things!

About a month or two ago, I read an article on Huffington Post about what classes and workouts different celebrities are taking. The three that most interested me are:

 • Yoga Booty Ballet •

• JAM (Juicy Athletic Moves) •

• The Bar Method •

I wanted to try them all! They sounded amazing. I immediately found JAM on Facebook, and messaged the creator of it about becoming a teacher and bringing it to Utah. I can't wait to get started on it! 


Last week I ordered the series Yoga Booty Ballet from Beach Body. (The company that brought P90X.) It arrived last night. I'm so excited to start it! It came with an exercise ball, a stretch band and a measuring tape and tracker. I took my measurements last night. I would have started it this morning, but I could not fall asleep for the LIFE of me last night. UGH. It was awful. 2am. There's just no way, no matter how motivated I am, that I can function on 3 hours of sleep. So I slept in. 


Sigh.


It has 5 DVDs, plus some bonus ones you can order for a bit extra. (I totally did.) Also came with a meditation CD. 


The main workout DVDs consist of:


• Light & Easy (basic yoga and light cardio to get ya going)
• Cardio Cabaret
• Go Go
• Latin Flavor
• Body Sculpting


They also sent "Hip Hop Abs" as a "free" gift. 


Tomorrow! 


We shall start! 


And it shall be grand! 


Next week, I'll order the Bar Method DVDs. *Giddy!* I'm kind of excited to review these different workout programs. :)

be•YOU•tiful

Through adversity comes tragedy or greatness. The way it goes depends on you. It comes down to attitude. You can choose to be a "victim", or you can choose to live your life. Your own terms, your own adventure.

I'm choosing my own terms, creating my own adventure.

I WILL be who I want to be.
I WILL be present.
I WILL prepare and follow my plan.
I WILL make everything I work for come to be.

My "actual" goals for this year are to participate in the Powell 3 Triathlon in October. To be half the person I currently am. Physically. ;) To re-enter the world and stop hiding from it. I'm so excited to begin working with Natalie Jill! I won't be able to start until February, so until then I'm going to try this. I'm really excited!

I'm going to slow down and FOCUS. I can't continue jumping from one thing to the next before I've finished anything. I can't continue to do everything, because in the end I get nothing accomplished and I end up ignoring what really  matters. I'm going to focus and simplify. Such a strange concept, I know. ;)

I'm going to take the kids out on our family adventures that we used to have. A walk to Bridal Veil. Finding new trails to explore. Keeping it simple and just about being together. They're getting too big, too fast.

This is going to be our year!

Puppy Bed

When my kids and I moved into our apartment after getting the job with My Mind's Eye, I realized that these apartments are PET FRIENDLY! I've been wanting to get a puppy for a long time and I just couldn't resist starting the search for our newest family member.

Could YOU say no to that little face? I sure didn't. ;) I named him Perseus. I LOVE Greek mythology, and the kids love the movie Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, so it fit. We call him Percy. He is such a sweetheart!

I've had an idea for a puppy bed project for a long time, and finally had a reason to make it! Here are the materials needed, all of which can be found at Roberts:

• Batting
• Fabric
• Patterned Paper
• Boards
• Thread
• e6000
• Mod Podge (not pictured)
• Spray Paint (not pictured)
• Wood candlesticks (4)
• Wood balls (2" or so in diameter) (4)
• Buttons (optional. I ended up not using them for THIS project. lol)

First, spray paint the boards and let them dry. Then, using e6000, glue the wooden balls to the candlesticks. Let that dry, then spray paint them as well.

I cut my patterned paper into 2" squares, then Mod Podged them onto the tall boards. I applied a layer of Mod Podge over the top to seal them. Once it dried, I took a pen and outlined the squares and drew squiggles here and there.

e6000 the candlestick/ball things to the bottom of your base board. These are the legs of the bed. Let dry. To attach the two "headboards" together, I used a staple gun to staple a thin board behind them to secure them together. Then I did the same to attach the base to the headboard.

To make the cushion, I cut two squares out of my fabric and sewed them together, wrong sides facing together, leaving a hole on one side. Turn it right side out and fill with batting, inserting the batting in the hole. When it's filled, sew up the hole.

Then put the cushion on the bed and you're set!

Percy loves his new little bed! He kept laying down on it, but he'd jump up and run every time I tried to take a picture. Figures, right? haha!

Meal Ideas

So after the gym's been closed for maintenance the last two weeks, it's finally reopening tomorrow! I've severely slacked the last two weeks. :S I spent most of today cooking and getting my meals ready for the week. Here's what I'm doing this week:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with a little bit of brown sugar, raspberries and blackberries.

Morning snack: Yogurt, almonds and a string cheese. Confession. I know Greek yogurt is much better and higher in protein. But I don't like how it tastes. If anyone knows of a YUMMY Greek yogurt, I'm all ears! lol!

Lunch: Spaghetti squash w/ marinara sauce and a broccoli/cauliflower salad. (For the salad, chop up a head of broccoli and a head of cauliflower. Cook up some bacon, and throw in some cashews. Mix mayonaise, sugar and vinegar to taste for the dressing. I don't use a lot of dressing on my salad, just enough to get the flavor.)

I absolutely adore spaghetti squash! To prepare it, cut it in half and scoop out all the "guts." Just like a pumpkin. Poke holes in the skin, turn the halves squash side down, and bake. (I baked it at 350º for about 40-50 minutes.) Using a fork, scrape out all the "spaghetti."

I cut off all the fat before I even cook the bacon. Make it a LITTLE bit "healthier." hahaha!

YUUUUMMMMM!!!

Afternoon snack: Sugar Free Jello Pudding Snack thingy. Chocolate mousse. Hits the spot! I didn't take a picture of it. lol

Dinner: BBQ Chicken over brown rice. I used Stubbs chicken marinade. I WISH I had a bbq here!! It's the only way to have chicken!

Hopefully that gave you some ideas for meals and snacks!! I'm closing in on my 6 month deadline for my first goal, and I'm so far away still. Hopefully there will be no more set backs so I can push through and hit my goal! :D


Have an amazing day everyone!!

Crayon Art - Project In Progress

Here is one of those other projects I wanted to get to for the upcycled blog hop. I had SO much fun with this one, I really want to go out and get a bunch of canvases to try different color combinations!

I haven't finished this one off yet, but I wanted to show you what I've done with it so far.

Normally, I don't usually go so completely abstract with my projects. I had to let go of a lot of my perfectionism on this one. Not that I ever really follow any rules or instructions at all, this was still just so out of my element and comfort zone.

So far, this is just the start of a background for a mixed media piece. The blob of swirled color in the middle there is melted crayons, swirled together. I laid my patterned paper down with Mod Podge, added texture with mesh, puncinella (I'm 100% positive I spelled that wrong), cream and white paint. Then I took a green, blue, red, orange and yellow crayon and laid them in different places on the canvas. (The canvas is 6x12") Using a heat gun, I melted the crayons. I tilted the canvas in different directions to let the wax run. I also used the non brush end of a foam brush to swirl it around a little more, then just dabbed the wax off the brush onto the canvas. Once it cooled, I added some more paint texture. I want to work with it some more, it doesn't feel finished to me yet.

I'll add pictures, for sure, when I get it finished up. :)

Upcycle Blog Hop

This has been one of my most favorite hops that I've been a part of. I LOVE upcycling projects! What better way to push and test your creativity and try new things? I had so many ideas for this one that I had to narrow it down to a few. For this post, at least. I'll post the other projects I did over the next few days.

If you came here from Tanya's blog, http://www.ScrappyScavenger.wordpress.com/,  then you're in the right place. If not, go there and start there. Mine is the second blog in the hop. :D

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of photography! I was hoping for a sunny day to use the natural light, but it was SO overcast and rainy, so I just had to suck it up and make do. The lighting in my apartment is TRULY horrible, it hurts my photographer heart. ;)

So the first project is one I've been wanting to try for a while, but haven't had the guts to. My mom bought me a china plate from the thrift store a few months ago, specifically for this project. But it just goes against the grain to BREAK something like a china plate. So it's taken me until now to work it up to take a hammer to it.

As a plate, it really wasn't all that great, so I don't know what my problem was. lol!! Not my style for China.

I took some adhesive backed copper foil and wrapped it around the edges:

 

Paint the copper with flux. Then take a coil of solder and a soldering iron. Heat the end of the solder coil with the iron tip. A dob of solder will melt onto the tip. Paint it along the copper like a paintbrush. Hold the china piece with clamps, to avoid burns. Then, once you've soldered all the way around, apply flux to one side of two jump rings. Paint a little more flux onto the spots you want to attach the jump rings. Grab some more solder with your iron and holding the jump ring with another clamp next to where you painted the solder onto the china piece, apply the solder to the jump ring. The flux tells the solder where to go. Solder will only apply to where there is flux. 

Once it's cooled, wipe off the flux and polish the solder with a soft cloth. Then, to add a little decoration to it (and to cover the funny bottom corner), I adhered two flower cabachons with some Glossy Accents.

Then just add a chain and you have a fun, truly unique jewelry piece!


My next project was a little more simple. I've been wanting to make something to hold the kids artwork. I hate having things cluttered on the fridge with magnets, but I definitely wanted to be able to display their creativity. Believe me, they have it in bounds! I found 4 clipboards at the thrift store for 50¢ each. I had some leftover paper from My Mind's Eye's Stella & Rose collection. Seriously one of my favorites of theirs!

I used a strip showing the backside of each paper to cover the space at the bottom that didn't get covered by the first piece I glued down. All I did was cut the paper 9" across. It was leftover paper from another project. I'm not sure what the length was. lol! But it left about an inch and a half at the bottom of the clipboards. I just cut a notch out of the top to accomodate the clippy part of the clipboard and Mod Podged it to the board. Can't wait to add some of the kids' artwork to it!

I'm really excited about my last project! I wanted to create a little reading nook for my daughter in her room. My older brother describes her perfectly when he says she's like a Disney Princess, and when you meet her you expect to see woodland creatures following her around doing her bidding. lol! She needs some type of canopy in her room! She has a 4 post bed, but it's not built for a canopy. SO. I found an old lampshade at the thrift store and thought it would make the perfect base for this canopy! Now, this is a NO SEW project! It's all hot glue my friends. You're welcome. ;)

I took 1.5 yards of linen and hot glued it in pleats around the top of the lampshade. Then I took the quatrefoil patterned fabric and glued it in pleats down the front. Glue the linen to cover the rough edges of the quatrefoil. I cut strips of black netting and gathered it around the top and the base where the linen fabric left an opening and glued it down.

Then I cut a "starter cut" randomly around the bottom edges of the linen and ripped it up to the base of the lampshade. I liked the wild, rough, unfinished look this gave it. I think it made it more whimsical. I took strips of coordinating brocade, polka dot and striped fabric and tied them randomly around the linen strips for some color and more whimsical fun. It's hard to see in the badly lit photos, but I also glued a floor length of shiny, glittery cream netting that will hang down around a comfy chair.

Now I just need to hit the thrift store again and find the perfect comfy chair! I've always wanted to try my hand at refinishing a chair! :D

I can't wait to post my other projects I've been working on!!

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by! I really appreciate having you here! Next up is Janice at http://www.cricutconfessions.com/ Have so much fun!! And check out the other hop I am a part of this weekend, the 50 States Blog Hop. There are some fun projects and fantastic prizes up for winning!

-Brie

50 States Blog Hop - UTAH!

Welcome to the 50 States Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the 50 States Blog Hop! This hop was inspired by our host Shawnee's journey across the United States as she traveled with her family to their new home, and I am SO excited to be a part of such an incredible hop. The work that has gone into coordinating this hop is just beyond my comprehension, and I feel honored to be a part of it.

If you've hopped along from WYOMING, with Theresa, then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard or happened along from somewhere else, please be sure to CLICK HERE to start with the first state in the union, Delaware, because you won't want to miss out on any of the fun (or any of the blog candy!!)...

There is an AMAZING Grand Prize Package for one LUCKY hopper (winner chosen by Rafflecopter)!!  To be entered to win, please do the following:

• Visit each state and leave a comment on each project (simply follow the links provided below)
• Like Blessed on the Bright Side and Handmade By Lisa FB Pages.

So what's the Grand Prize???
Cricut Cartridge - Destinations, beautiful handmade flowers from Shannon at Creative Chaos Flowers, and a $20 Gift Certificate to Scraptastical Kreations.
Now on to my state and my project....

Now, on to the project I created to represent UTAH.

Utah is known for a great many things. I've lived here my whole 27 years, and have found so many things to love about it. 4 very distinct seasons, you can travel an hour or two in any direction and get a completely different landscape from the mountains, to lakes, to desert to strange rock formations, such as Goblin Valley. But, the one thing we're most known for (aside from Mormonism, and no, polygamy is not a part of Mormonism LOL) is our SNOW! It's even on our license plates:

GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH.

So I thought about a project I could do involving snow. I'm not one for cheesy, seasonal decorations. So I knew whatever I did had to be a mix of contemporary and vintage design, probably geared more towards the holidays. (Christmas snow is the BEST!) I was perusing Pinterest the other day instead of doing something I probably should have been doing and came across some little Christmas trees made from book paper.

Done. Found my project! I, of course, expanded upon it to give it my own personal touch.

It's SUPER easy. The book I used is one I found at our local thrift store, Deseret Industries. It was a 1965 edition of Shakespeare's tragedies. LOVE me some Shakespeare!

I took the book to the FedEx Office where I used to work. Fortunately, I used to work there, because no one there dared to cut the spine off the book. So they let me do it instead. This gave me a nice, clean edge.

First, take a page and fold in diagonally.

Then fold it diagonally again. Kind of like a paper airplane.

I apologize for the poor lighting in the photos. The lighting in my apartment is horrible! :S

Next, fold the little triangular piece at the bottom up into the page, tucking it in. 

Make a BUNCH of these. I took one page and rolled it into a tube about 1/4" wide. I used this as my "base" to glue the triangular pieces to. Using hot glue, I attached the triangular pieces to the tube, all around the tube.

 

Top View:

Bottom View:

Now here's where I added my own "Brie" touch. I figure, if it's not glittery, then it's not Christmas. Am I right? ;) I rolled the top part into a pool of Mod Podge, letting it drip down the pages and run unevenly. I wanted no uniformity in this.

Then, I sprinkled some aqua/teal-y glitter onto it. (Teal/Aqua are SO my colors right now!)

I probably COULD have stopped there. But it felt . . . like it still needed something. Which, I just happened to have some blue buttons sitting in front of me for another project I was working on. So I hot glued them right onto the papers. I really love the extra touch they added!

So that's my project! Christmas > Snow > UTAH! I want to make a few more, in different sizes, and make a little "forest" to display on my table. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you're having an amazing time hopping through the country!

Now you can hop to the NEXT STATE IN THE UNION!!  Remember to leave a comment on each state to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE!!









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