a card that looks JUST LIKE the picture in my head!

dontcha ♥LOVE IT♥ when that happens?! you have an idea... you work on it... and it materializes almost exactly as you pictured, or maybe even a teeeeeeeny bit BETTER?!! it's crafty heaven, am i right?! :) in this case, the card is my second hybrid effort in our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ digital challenge, for which my lovely friend gina is our special guest star!

for the first card of this prompt, i printed out a bunch of digikit elements, to show how such items can be used EXACTLY like "real" supplies. but this time, i wanted to focus more on the way that digi-stuff can be used differently than actual supplies; for one thing, in terms of collage, you are spoiled for choice since you can change the colors and opacity levels of each individual item used! which means that you have almost infinite options, even with just one set of supplies. and of course you have infinite "do-overs" as well, because anything that doesn't work out can be undone with a keystroke. pretty awesome, right? let me show the card, and then i'll talk a little bit about what i did:

digital elements: paper: snowy mapprints no1 by anna aspnes; brushes: see-through snowflakes by rhonna farrer; snowsprays no3 and hipster plume edgers and frames by anna aspnes; chrsitmas magic and joyful christmas magic by vera lim; letterbox christmas overlays no2 and one-word challenge freebie ("joy") by katie pertiet; software: adobe pse9; "real" stuff: patterned paper: glitz designs; sparkly snowflake stickers: martha stewart crafts; brads: my mind's eye; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, sewing machine

you can see from the supply list that there are quite a few individual elements to this card, which add up to three main components: first, the central (all-digital) collage, which consists of 6 or 7 different brushes "stamped" in various colors and intensities on top of a (digital) map paper, which is printed on glossy photo paper; then the large sentiment as focal point... again a digital element... that one's printed on an inkjet transparency which i layered over the collage, and machine stitched into place; finally there are the real world "finishing touches" that turn this into a card: some grungy grey patterned paper, sparkly snowflake stickers, and a few brads.

i made the digital collage in photoshop elements 9, on my laptop, in the car, on the way to and from a visit to my in-laws' house over the weekend. that scenario represents 90% of my digital compositions, actually; i know it is theoretically POSSIBLE for one to make something similar whilst sitting at a stationary desk, but somehow i never actually DO that, lol! 

do you have a "funny" place to work, or way of working? i'd love to hear about it! i'd also love for you to check out this fun hybrid prompt at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and maybe even play along!