This girl has changed my life and I'm not joking one bit! Meet Britta Swiderski, my first employee. She'll be the Marketing Director for the Kelly Purkey brand and I'm more than thrilled to have her on board. Britta is sweet, kind, talented, creative, and full of energy. She sure has floored me with her skills and knowledge even before I hired her... I know we are going to do great things together.

Here's a little bit about her in her own words...
Hi! I'm Britta Swiderski. I'm a designer, maker of things and blogger. I've been scrapbooking, cardmaking and crafting for as long as I can remember. I love to explore new techniques and teach others about them, which is why she loves making video tutorials and teaching classes using technology like the internet and YouTube. I'm currently in my last semester of college at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities seeking my BFA in Graphic Design. After graduating, my goals are to continue teaching, creating and doing design and marketing work in the crafting industry. I'm so grateful and excited for this opportunity to work with Kelly. I've always admired her design style and work, and it's an absolute honor to work with her!
1. What is your favorite thing about scrapbooking and card making? I love the process of creating and sharing. It's the way I deal with stress and also how I celebrate things I love. Some people make music to express their creative spirit. I make cards and scrapbook.
2. What are your top 5 favorite products that you always find yourself using?
- White cardstock. I love doing all sorts of techniques to make pretty backgrounds, and I also love using white cardstock as my favorite neutral base. My favorite is Neenah Solar White Cardstock.
- Distress Ink. This is the first medium that I started really experimenting with, and it will always be near and dear to my heart.
- Sharpie Fine Point Pen. I use this pen about 20 times a day - for making to do lists, scratching out notes during class and for, of course, making cards. It's amazing for going over stamped images for extra crisp lines. (these are them here.
- Honey Bee Non-Stick scissors. These fine-tipped scissors are perfectly sharp and easy to handle, and they even cut through the stickiest adhesives.
- Wood veneers in every shape and size. I can't finish anything without throwing at least three of these on there. Stars and hearts are my go-to embellishments.
3. Describe your style Colorful, graphic and OCD - this pretty much describes my life, actually.
4. Who are 3 people who inspire you? There are so many crafters I know and love that inspire me on a daily basis, but these are the three that are really making my creativity soar this week: Chari Moss, Jill Foster and Julie Ebersole.
5. What makes an inspiration piece (on Pinterest, in a magazine, in everyday life) catch your eye? For me, it's always color. Color is what I notice about everything first, and it can immediately draw me to something. A book, some graffiti, even a piece of clothing - all things that I might not have noticed if they weren't in my favorite color of that day. I have about 500 favorite colors. Lol!
6. Right now what is your favorite tv show, song, book, and food to eat? Favorite tv show right now: Game of Thrones. Even if fantasy dramas aren't your thing (they're usually not mine), the opening credits and the music are killer. Favorite song: "Red Hands" by Walk Off the Earth. I love that they just got their start off YouTube! Book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It's a perfect combination of happiness, romance, reality and fiction. Food: my parents' meatloaf. I love to cook, but it's the only thing of theirs I don't make; they always make it better. Also, beer. Beer counts as a favorite food, right? I love trying new ones and sharing my opinions with my other beer-loving friends. We're nerdy like that.
Want to see something crazy? Back when I was a sophomore in college, I went to the Mall of America to take a class from one of my favorite scrapbooking celebs at ScrapFest. I even got a picture with her. Oh yeah, it's Britta + KP circa 2009:

When I was talking to Britta about doing a blog post to introduce her she asked if it was ok if she made a card with my products to share. Boom. That is exactly why I love this girl. She thinks one step ahead and goes above and beyond. Plus she is crazy creative... take a look:

Britta says: I did some fun neon color mixing (I did a video tutorial about this technique here with the Scotty Alphabet in Neon Pink and Neon Blue ink from Hero Arts. (Tip! For stamping the outlines, stamp them individually over the solid ones. This way, they end up perfectly lined up with no extra fuss.) I made the background using the chevron strip from Instalove in four different Hero Arts ink colors: Neon Blue, Soft Pool, Stone Wash and Tide Pool. I've also been obsessed with vellum lately; here, it made a good background for the sentiment strip and tones down the bold background around the text.
Welcome to Team KP, Britta! I am so excited to be working with you! There's so many more good things to come from my brand and I can't wait to share more soon.