meet PUG-sley!

he's the latest of my amigurumi friends, i made him as a birthday gift for gina (a serious pug-fancier) although it was also a bit of a selfish act on my part, really, because when i saw this adorable pattern in the gurumiorama etsy shop, i just COULD NOT resist!

something which made this little guy even more than usually fun to crochet is the fact that whereas i make most of my little dolls from ordinary lion brand acrylic, i just happened to have some "leftover" yarn in the perfect shades of tan and brown, which just happened to be the remnants of some rather luscious blue sky alpaca. so this is what you call a luxury pug!

by virtue of his coloring, i've decided he's eligible (in a totally tangential and laureny way) to be linked up at the anything but a card challenge blog, where the current brief is for autumnal-themed projects OR things with autumnal coloring: golds, rust, reds, browns, deep green, etc; i'm not sure miss carla envisaged anyone submitting a tiny crocheted dog... (which, me being me, is reason enough to do it, lol!) ...on the other hand, her blogging name is "scrappypug" so i'm quietly confident i can get away with a bit of cheekiness on this occasion!!! :)

i haven't showed off my little playing-card-sized ami photo album in a while, and it's got quite a bit fuller than when i first put it together, a couple of years ago:

this might be my all time favorite minibook project, only because i do tend to give away my amigurumis, and it's nice to have a little keepsake album in which to remember all the ones i've made. it serves a practical purpose, also; the back of each photo not only has "adoption" information as to where each one ended up, but also practical details such as what yarn and pattern i used, in case i (or a crocheting friend) would ever like to make a similar creature in future. it's also one of the few times i really put much thought into the "staging" of my photos, and thus they are faves just in themselves for that reason. for example, i'm not sure i'll ever be able to cut into the 12x12 sheet of dear lizzy paper with the trees and hills i've used behind pugsley... i mean... what if i want to crochet more puppies? where would THEY play??! ♥♥♥

i believe in pink ♥

this is one of my all-time favorite audrey hepburn quotes, and i've used it a few times; no doubt i'll use it a few more in future, as well; but somehow, in october, it takes on even more meaning! the photo is one i clipped from a film magazine and have been saving; the size of it is how this became an 8x10 piece of "wall art" instead of a card, lol... i just sort of scaled everything else to match! (b/c yeah, most of the time, that's how scientific my "process" is!) on the plus side, it means i can link up at my lovely friend carla's new challenge blog, anything but a card, where the current brief is shiny, sparkly, blingy; coincidentally, this is also my personal mantra! :)

i formatted the text of the quote in broderbund's printshop and printed it on an inkjet transparency. in retrospect, i really *WISH* i'd used the entire transparency sheet so that the blank edges would've covered the entire top panel. i really should have gone back and re-printed when i realized my mistake, but it was 11pm and i was just ready to wrap it up. ah well. live and learn, eh audrey?!

(patterned paper: echo park, recollections, silver metallic cardstock: the paper company; gem flourishes: want2scrap; ink jet transparency for ink jet printer: 3m; fonts: bohemian typewriter, susie's hand; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, scotch gluestick)

i used this week's lovely and dramatic pink-pink-black-white-grey palette from colour q (#157);

it's difficult to tell from my photograph but on my bottom layer of patterned paper the swirls are light pink and not actually white; whereas the ones on the top layer ARE white. i quite like the way they (and my stragetically clipped pink gem flourishes) all flow together.

speaking of things that are fun and pink and can be as blingy (or non-blingy!) as you like, i heartily invite you to pop in at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and celebrate pink christmas with us! stephanie and i are raising money for the komen fund this fortnight; but also, as we move inexorably closer to the holidays, each card you make now is one less to be stressing over in december, right?! (just sayin!) plus the group dynamic really *IS* inspiring... trust me... more IS merrier, darlings! ♥

when the olympic officials finally come to their senses and acknowledge giftwrapping as a sport...

...i'm pretty sure i'll have a shot at a bronze medal; maybe even silver!!! :)

ok, yeah, so you already know i  am obsessed with making presents as fancy and fabulous as possible. and yeah, i realize it could be argued that it's silly to go to a lot of trouble for something that's going to be UNDONE almost immediately; but i LOVE doing it and it is secretly my belief that nearly everyone instantly becomes (metaphorically) a delighted five-year-old when an unexpectedly awesome-looking gift (or cake!) which was made especially for them is bestowed!

here are a few gifty items from my family's bumper crop of september occasions. we happen to have *3* generations all born on the same day, september 19th: my mom, my brother, and of course that newly minted five-year-old, nephew matthew! (alas, none of them are pirates, though i still have hopes of the latter!) first, my mother:

you might remember this crazy uber-layered card i made for city crafter's monochromatic challenge; if so, you'll see whence came all of the inspiration for the package and gift bag. i went back to those same supplies: lingerie lace*, silk flowers from a garland, and music paper. the present is wrapped in the instructions insert from a vintage sewing pattern, and when i "packed" the bag i used a bit of the actual pattern as "tissue paper"! (and if you're thinking, "hey lauren! why a wrapped present AND a bag?!" well... ummmm... the card has one of these same big, puffy roses, so there was really no other way of concealing it's exuberant beauty!!!) 

the lady at the state store wrapped my brother's bottle of wine in one of their mylar bags** and a couple of curls of ribbon. i added the stickers and LOTS MORE ribbon, to coordinate with my custom-made envelope (the paper is giftwrap) which holds the over-sized "super bill" card i made for him during laurel seabrook's "inspired by superheroes" challenge! 

finally, nephew matthew, whose triceratops i showed you over the weekend, also got a (dino-themed, naturally) lego set and the EAD dino stickerz card i made waaaaay back in february. this is the project i originally intended for the current texture challenge at the lovely carla's anything but a card blog! because to me, digital creations can sometimes be a little bit... well... *FLAT* unless one is thinking about texture all the way through the creating process.

a really simple way to add life and dimension to one's digistuffs is with drop shadows. ok, no, technically this is not actual texture, but it makes a huge difference, nonetheless. my digi dino panel was made using mindy terasawa's "stomp" stickers and printed with my ordinary inkjet printer on an 8.5x11" sheet of super-glossy kodak premium photo paper; and truly, it comprises 90% of the design, but the other 10% is the texture--and it DOES matter! because of course, i could have put the name-- and even a scalloppy border-- on there digitally. i planned and "left room for" those elements as i was laying out the design, but then i printed the panel without them, and constructed the name banner with scraps of patterned paper and nice chunky foam thickers; mounted the panel on a bit of black to make it pop, added all different sizes of circles around the edge, punched from one of doodlebug's awesome (elderly!) plaid papers, and mounted the whole thing on more black oaktag. the last being the only thing i had to hand-cut in this entire process. the result is fun, personal, and sturdy enough to remove from the bag and hang up on, oh, i dunno... maybe a certain special birthday boy's bedroom door??!

and now i think i'll go and look up socchi on the atlas. you know, just in case the call should come!!! :) :) :)


*are you wondering how to attach sheer lace to a bag WITHOUT a sewing machine and WITHOUT the adhesive showing? yeah, so was i, lol! what i eventually did was tack the top edge with a solid line of hot glue (knowing the subsequent trim layer would hide it) and then, to keep the rest from flapping in the breeze, i c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y put tiny dots of the same low-temp hot glue under each of the opaque flowers and smooshed them on to the bag with the side of my hand. yes, it took forever, and yes, occasionally, some of the glue seeped through and it was HOT. this is why i used the side of my hand and not my fingertips, i've learned that lesson a few too many times. :0 incidentally, this is why i have a low-temp hot glue gun and have been forbidden by lovely husband jeff ever to upgrade to the high-temp kind; apparently he enjoys being married to someone with at least a couple of unscarred fingers! :)

**i NEVER say no to free giftwrapping, especially when the store has exactly the right size and shape to accommodate a specialty item. if you choose the plainest option, you can always ADD embellishments, and you've saved time and money on the "basic" supplies!

if at first you don't succeed... TRI-ceratops!

it's been quite some time since i've shown you anything i made out of yarn, hasn't it? this is not because i haven't been knitting or crocheting, but (rather more embarrassingly) because i've been an incredibly lazy so-and-so about FINISHING my projects once the knitting or crocheting of all the bits is completed. i currently have all the parts for two crobots, a couple of other ami's, and several barbie doll sweaters sitting idly in a knitting bag; i mention this in hopes the shame of revealing it publicly will spur me on!

actually, i think that step might be redundant, because the thing that really motivates me is seeing a photo of a fabulous project when it stops being parts and is instead a proper little character, like... ohhhhhhhhhhh i dunno... THIS GUY right here?!

he is for nephew matthew, of course, whose ♥5th♥ birthday party (how is that possible??!) will take place later today. i used this easy-to-follow crochet pattern by june gilbank, available at planet june; the same place i got the pattern for horace the stegosaurus, whom i made for matthew earlier this year. i just hope stegosauruses and triceratopses are not natural enemies or anything. that would be embarrassing!!! :)

i'm linking this up at my lovely friend carla's new challenge site, anything but a card--because she doesn't just mean any PAPERCRAFT except a card, she means ANY craft at all!!! the current challenge is for projects which incorporate texture. this little guy is quite nubbly, so i think that counts! and now i am off to wrap him up, and place him in a cool dino-themed gift bag i made, which i will show you... tomorrow? (or whenever i get around to uploading the photos, lol!) :)

♥happy saturday, darlings!!!♥