the collage that just didn't want to be collaged

thanks to winter storm pax* i had another surprise bonus cower-at-home sort of day this week, so i decided to treat myself to a bit of free form, just-for-fun collage-making. except... it wasn't. the topic this week at collage obsession is "steampunk" which i totally love, so i figured this'd be a gimme. i cut out loads of lovely gauges, gears, cogs, wheels, engine parrts, victorian ladies, flying machines, and funky rube goldberg inventions. see?

everything you could possibly need for an awesome steampunk collage, am i right?  except... it wasn't. i moved things around and around, but nothing came together. so i went outside and cleared off the bushes which were so bowed over with snow and ice that bits of them were laying on the ground.** then i came back and moved things around and around, but nothing came together. i emptied the dishwasher and helped a computer-phobic friend learn to facetime over the phone. then i moved things around and around, but nothing came together. so i vacuumed the house. then i came back and moved things around and around, but nothing came together.

since this was meant to be a fun snowday activity, i began to think that it was time to give up and move on to something else. except... it wasn't.  because after i jettisoned 95% of the things i had cut out, i started to get a little glimmer of something cool. then i found this gorgeous cloudy background paper behind the introduction of a book about the history of flight. and then everything came together! dontcha just love a happy ending?

so yeah, out of the elebenty thousand bits i gathered and cut out, i only used SIX. (six!!!) possibly a low-end record for me, collage-wise! i guess sometimes less really is more. wow. how 'bout that! does this mean that a watched pot really doesn't ever boil, either? a few more gratuitous snow-based days at home and i may be tempted to test that one, too! :)

*dear weather authorities, please stop naming these things, it only encourages them! love, lauren (as do videos like THIS ONE but it's so awesome i just had to share it!) :) :) :)
**yews are pretty hearty, right? how 'bout arbor vitae? and rhododendrons?? ack! please say these guys will bounce back!