i try to never even think in terms of "prizes"...

 ...when it comes to creative challenges. surely the reward is the inspiration we feel when someone comes up with an approach or a theme or a technique we would never have thought to use on our own? or even a potential "roadblock" where the first thought is, "i don't think i'm gonna pull THIS off"... that forces one to think outside the box. having said that, i confess that the set of gorgeous antique french digital ephemera that's on offer to a random participant in the february collage challenge at greenpaper was enough to make me hurry up and finish, photo, and post my creation NOW rather than this weekend, just to get a shot at the prize. ;)

for the challenge miss mary gave us three images, and we must use at least a bit of each:

we are allowed to alter and combine them in any way we like, so i did: i put a few photoshop filters on the lovely lady and printed her on photopaper*; i made the ledger a little bigger and printed it on an inkjet transparency; i made the calling card HUGE (because i knew i mostly just wanted the swan) an printed it on some slightly yellowed matte cardstock. and then i combined everything, and a few more bits, besides!

(digital collage images: greenpaper; patterned paper: glitz; journaling card: mme; glitter stickers: unknown; charm: prima; inks: ranger)

truth be told, there was a lot of aimless moving things about in this session, and for quite a while i thought i'd be happier about the process than the outcome... which was FINE with me. usually when i am stumped i "stall" by doing some methodical tasks like fussy cutting, playing with inks, maybe a bit of distressing of edges, or a little hand-sewing; and often, at some point, i have an "AHA!" moment where everything comes together at the very last minute. i really didn't think this was going to be one of those times... and then, somehow, magically, it WAS. (and right there you have everything i ♥LOVE♥ about collage!!!)  

*i generally fill a whole sheet with various sizes of images... filling in with random digital papers if needed; so i absolutely ALWAYS have leftovers, which are a nice starting point for the next project... ;)

yet another reason to ♥LOVE♥ february!

because-- having been lucky enough to win the EAD Designs awesome january color challenge*-- not only did i get to GO WILD in the EAD shop, but also, for the entire month, i get to play along with their amazingly talented design team.  see?

so i will be showing a fabulous project each monday as part of the weekly EAD Designs Blog Hop! can i get a ♥WOOHOO♥!!? here's the order of the hop, in which you'll definitely want to participate, since there is a LOVELY PRIZE for one lucky commenter each week!!!

• EAD Designs Blog
• February Guest Designer Lauren B (that's *ME*!)
• Amy T
• Candace
• Jenn
• Jessica
• Judith
• Julie Ranae
• Lauren
• Liz
• Rose 
• Shellye

and now here is my card:

i always think it's a good policy to start any new assignment with a MONSTA CARD! especially when you've got ones as cute as these MONSTER BIRTHDAY stickerz:

just for the record, no, i didn't use the entire sheet of monstas on the front of this card. that would be silly; of course i saved a couple... to put on the INSIDE... and the envelope!!!  :) (in my defense the only other items i used on this 6x6" shaped card are DCWV and kaiser papers, plus my dymo labeller!)

here's something to remember as you hop around and see the DT's gorgeous work... if you find yourself craving a few EAD Designs of your own:

yep--you get free shipping on ALL stickerz and ALL rub-ons... no matter HOW MANY you buy! which is excellent, since there are soooooooooo many fabulous ones, it's VERY hard to choose!!!!

feeling enabled yet???!!?! awesome! then i think my work here is through! now hop on over now and see what the delightful amy t has whipped up for us... because you know it will be worth the trip!!! ♥

*the awesome FEBRUARY color challenge starts thursday, so c'mon back, see my card, and find out how *YOU* can get a shot at the prize this time!!!  :)

FEB--"SMILE" handsome boy frame

february's fabulous pixie kit is called YOU MAKE LIFE FUN and it really *IS* a ton of fun; very nearly as much fun as my friend carlos, seen in this adorable photo taken by his daddy:

you may recall last week i showed you an embellished frame starring carlos' sister isabel. their birthdays happen to fall quite close together, so i try to make them each a similar--but unique and personal-- gift each year. thus i was pretty excited that this month's kit just happened to contain every single thing i needed (ok, except the frame itself!) to make a "boy version"! lots more pics on the pixie blog, as well as more info about the kit, my fellow pixies' projects, a new challenge for february... and... well, WHO KNOWS what else pixie-in-chief kirsty vittetoe might have in store for us, so it's best to check back regularly!!!  ♥

my new favorite card of the year...

...ok, yeah: a year which admittedly is only a month old; but still, i really like this one, so for once i'm gonna show it first and talk about it after:

(digital collage made using my own (altered-in-photoshop) lotus photo blended with a cloud/text print paper from oscraps' "parisian holiday" kit, and a few anna apnes music brushes printed twice on glossy photo paper and once on an inkjet transparency; the transparency version was layered onto real-life vintage music paper which i had masked and misted beforehand, then cut into the gothic arch shape; some scraps of the same misted music paper (& a little chinese newspaper) make up the border strip and butterfly; other "real life" supplies: black glossy cardstock: ranger; inks: ranger, tattered angels, colorbox; pearls: recollections; punch: martha stewart; rub-on: basic grey; adhesives: tombow monorunner, uhu gluestick, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i realize that looks like a big supply list, but actually, most of my "technique" is in there as well. being a bit lazy, i tend not to write tutorials without a good reason, but i try to touch on the highlights, and i'm always very happy to answer questions, so if you'd like more detail, just email me or leave a comment and i'll do my best. 

essentially i took a digital collage i made ages ago whilst playing around in photoshop, printed it out a few times, and then played around some more by adding "real life" things like masks, mists and stamps... which MOSTLY do not show because they're either on one of the "extra" bits that wound up not being used in the finished card, OR wound up under the image that's printed on transparency! let me just say that i'm absolutely fine with that because the *PLAYING* was the entire point; the fact that i got a "usable" card at the end is just a really nice-- fairly unexpected-- bonus! :)

the card itself was made to mojo monday sketch 226, and i think you'll agree that apart from the "gothic arch" shape i was pretty faithful: 

i like ALL my cards to have layers, dimension, and a bit of texture to them; but i find when i'm using digi-stuffs i am more than usually vigilant on this point. in this case, i've layered the background collage and the arch element onto very thin mats of black glossy cardstock and machine stitched around the edges. the entire arch, the central flower image, and a punched butterfly are all inked and mounted on foam tape just to stand out that little extra bit more.

believe it or not, i used some of the scraps and leftovers from this card to make another card... i confess, i HATE to put away all the little "leftovers" and often paste them into a journal or just have a bit of "play" with them purely in order to avoid cleaning up!!!  i will show you that one later! ciao, darlings! ♥

a banner holiday... take two!

yes, i know, i could post BOTH of my ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ cards at the same time, i mean, they are generally finished when the prompt goes live, but i kind of like stringing them out over the two weeks!  :)

ok, so just to remind you this time we're being inspired by the new blog banner i made for JB2012, which is composed mostly of ingredients from anna aspnes' divine retro holiday art play palette and looks like this:

you can use ANY aspect of the design that appeals to you; already we've got a whole bunch of clever, beautiful and totally inspiring cards in the gallery, which totally blow my mind! and most certainly you should not (imo) go out and buy ANYTHING to take part in this--or any other--challenge... actually, i think a big part of the fun is to see how people use what they like and what they HAVE!

conversely, if you happen to already *OWN* this particular digi-kit, it would be pure foolishness not to use it, because you were operating under some misguided notion that it'd constitute cheating,  right??!?!?! ok, yeah, believe it or not, for some reason, i felt kind of FUNNY making a hybrid card using the papers and brushes from the kit... but then, i got over it, because after all that's why i BOUGHT the thing in the first place, because i LOVE it and want to use it on cards!

(digital elements: paper, xmas tree and jingle bells (printed on kodak photo paper) from retro holiday art play palette by anna aspnes, o'scraps; "real life" elements: glossy white cardstock: ranger; red glitter chip letters: making memories; rub-ons: creative imaginations & making memories; rubber stamps: rhonna farrer/autumn leaves, glitz designs, stampin' up, purple onion; pearls and gems: recollections; inks: ranger, stewart superior, colorbox, tattered angels; other: sequin scrim & white gesso, sewing machine) 

i did a lot of real life "grunging" on this thing: i stencilled the dots on there with gesso, i stamped and over stamped, i blended and covered up and re-blended with inks and dyes. at least two different times i decided it was "ruined" and i'd have to start over; then i'd just grab another stamp or a different color or swipe some more gesso on there and keep going. this was not "quick & easy" it was more like "slow & messy"... and i loved every minute!!! ♥

you've still got until next wednesday (2-8) to make your own gorgeous card, in the meantime why not stop over at JINGLE BELLES and see what people have been doing so far? it's totally worth the trip, i promise!

i spent an embarrassingly long time on this...

...and right before christmas, too, when time is at a premium. for that matter, there was NO EARTHLY REASON to do so, since it's just a little 4x6" book to hold nephew matthew's growing postcard collection. nevertheless, i spent quite a while playing with various brushes and fonts and digi-stuffs, until i had quite a well composed and sophisticated collage... which i then printed on staples' plain white inkjet index stock and glued to a $1 blue plastic photo album from kmart. and then, after all that, i forgot to even show it! :)

 (digital collage ingredients--nearly all with my own added drop shadows: city maps #1, viewmaster slide reels #1,collageables elements #1 and #4, ad challenge tabbed journaler all by katie pertiet, designer digials; frame from "boys urban world " kit by digichick; brushes from (oop)"french kiss" kit by anna aspnes, o'scraps; font: mom's typewriter) 

the weird thing is, despite all of the above, i not only like how this turned out, i had a lot of fun making it. bottom line, no matter what the materials, real or cyber, i love the whole process and mechanics of collage... which is reason enough to do ANYTHING, right?! ♥

welcome to ye olde dolle ponchoe factorye

this is what i did on the plane to and from hawaii, on various buses whilst in hawaii, and during the car trips we took around christmas. yep, i'm a travel knitter:

three american girl doll ponchos, for the nieces. they were intended to be xmas presents, and then my sister had a last-minute brainwave of an idea, which was hawaii-related, so i went with that instead and saved these. (there's a yarn-based project for matthew, as well, which i'll show when i've photo-ed it!)

i think they came out well, although i confess i'd feel even better if i had an 18-inch doll on which to try them out! but really, it's too late anyway, because they are DONE... and whether they're too big, too small, or just right... i plan to bestow them at miss riley's birthday party on valentine's day.

the fine print for knitters: i used this very cute and easy-to-follow pattern from this cool etsy shop. i used lion brand's "kool wool" (which i think is discontinued?) b/c i happen to have enough of it on hand, with "fun fur" by the same company, for the same reason... although i ran out of the fun fur ***45*** stitches from the end of the last poncho, AFTER i had begun to cast off so i had to drive to michaels and buy a second skein which really frosted my flakes, i can tell you!!! (arrgh!!!)  :)