photo tag...plus awards!

i got tagged the other day by my lovely blogging and cardmaking friend regan (aka "stampy mcstamperson"...i think that must be her maiden name!) :)

ok, so it's a photo tag game & you're meant to go to where your digipics are stored...open the sixth folder...and post the sixth photo. so here's mine:

it's from a trip to the philadelphia museum of art last summer...it's a closeup of one of GIANT buddha heads...since you cannot use flash inside the museum the photo was slightly dark & needed to be lightened a bit in photoshop which gives it that cool purpley-tan cast...i think he looks rather handsome, actually!

and now the awards!

here's a very cool, very pretty prize from my lovely australian blogging friend miss kristie morrison. kristie is an amazing stamper and cardmaker and i assure you that a trip to her blog is well worth your time! she sent me this, which of course i treasure:

next, one of my very first and closest blogging friends, the simply elegant june houck, presented me with this neat award, for which i thank her very much. again, if you are interested in cards, cardmaking, elegance, cleverness or creativity generally, you could do worse than taking a peek at her little corner of the blogosphere:

"This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!"

now for all three of these a person is meant to TAG some other folks...but of course i can never *remember* the rules of anything for long enough to abide by them...so howsabout we just go by the honor system, eh? since i know for a fact that everyone who hangs out in these parts is creative, into proximity and possessed of plenty o'photos, if you'd LIKE to be tagged with any of the above, then by golly you are! (but if you'd like to be excused...consider this your free pass!)

i am off to new york to visit a friend for a couple of days. i had hoped to blog ahead a bit, but somehow that just didn't happen, so i shall return on monday or tuesday with all new...ummmmmm...something! until then,

happy weekend, darlings!

operation 47: THANKFUL

yet another paper adventure page! (WOOHOO!)

this one was maybe the hardest to think of what to *DO*... (being as i am sooooo magnificently fortunate as to have an almost infinite supply of things for which i am truly, deeply, undeservingly grateful!) ...but then when i finally settled on my theme, it was one of the easiest pages to make.

i decided to go with something that has been a big part of my life the last couple of years; something for which it is not too dramatic to say, "this changed my life". seriously. those of you who've been following along for a while will already have guessed what is coming. yepper. it's three beautiful things. (for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about, allow me to direct you to the source of the phenomenon, ms. clare grant, and her magnificent blog; and here's a link which displays all of my posts with the label 3BT (in reverse order) if you're interested.)

ok, so basically, the thing that surprised and delighted me most about the 3BT process is how much the mindset of ACTIVE GRATITUDE...by which i mean making a point of specifically looking for, noticing, and being excited by the good things in your life...has made me feel more positive on a daily basis. it's kind of mind-blowing, actually. i highly recommend it to everyone!

(photo of 3BT journal printed on kodak premium paper, cut into the shape of a polaroid, inked & outlined; patterned paper: creative imaginations; alpha rub-ons: ki & scenic route; other: colorbox inks, zig pen, manual typewriter, aka "sister klara")

text reads, "thankful for...GRATITUDE?! no, seriously! keeping a 3BT journal is the best thing i have ever done. i knew it'd be fun to make and cool to read afterwards, but i had no idea how much it'd improve my outlook. turns out, the act of *LOOKING* for beautiful things makes you see the good that's all around. the more you see it, the more gratitude you feel...the more grateful you are, the more you can see how much you have to be thankful for. it's the reverse of a vicious circle. (and clare grant is my all-time *HERO*!)"

speaking of gifts...

...and lovely friends...and things that someone does for you JUST TO BE NICE: remember yesterday how i told you about that cool package from jolene? well, wouldja believe it was not the ONLY amazing gift that arrived over the weekend?!

uh huh.

missus trashalou, her of the prodigious painting talent from across the big pond (not to mention knitting...and sewing...and blogging...and raising realllllllllllly fabulous children, but i digress!) just about knocked my socks off by sending me AN ORIGINAL CANVAS she made 'specially for *ME*!!!

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!
(hint: it is very VERY cool indeed!)

wanna see?!
(ah g'wan...ya know ya wanna...)

oh yeah, and that's not all! there was also a fun bird-based blank book... (the pages are not lined, either, so you could write OR draw or doodle...and i suspect i will!) ...and cute monsta stickas...and super-cool reindeer clip thingies...and a funny card which references my favorite website! (the caption reads, "on the internet, nobody knows you're a cat!)

and finally, here is my new piece of art in its natural habitat...by which i mean a place of honor right over my desk:

so basically, i am now about as spoiled as a girl can be, postally speaking! how lucky can you be, right?!

(thank you thank you THANK YOU missus trash...your kindness is only matched by your skill and your sense of fun!)

mena the monsta makes some friends!

did you ever get a beautiful handmade card in the mail for no reason at all? just because someone really nice...and really talented...was thinking about you? well i did, the other day, from my lovely friend and fellow caardvark jolene johnston.

wanna see?

gorgeous, isn't it?! and i assure you, the photo does not remotely do it justice!

but there wasn't only a card--there were prezzies, too! ART prezzies...which, as you know...are the very best kind! (especially when someone terribly thoughtful, who really knows your style, has done the picking out!) there were sparkly transparencies, and printed ribbons, and uber-fancy jeweled brads!

and yeah...that packet with the heart on it *does* say, "PINK hot chocolate"! (i will report further details on that when i have sampled it.)

but the very VERY best bit was that all of the above was brought to my home by the newest member of our happy little family...may i proudly introduce to you

MENA THE MONSTA!

of course, when arriving at a new place, it takes a little while to settle in & find one's niche. at first mena thought the typewriter would be a terrific place to perch...but it was not very comfy!

the bathroom tap was more relaxing...but a bit damp.

the big lamp affords a terrific view of the livingroom...but it's a bit precarious.

and the phone in the hall was just TOO NOISY!

plus, the main problem with all of those choices was that they were all a bit lonely.

...finally...

mena found a place that was

JUST

RIGHT!

in the backseat of my car, with sockrates and tipsy!

welcome mena monsta!

and may all our travels be happy ones! :)

(and many many *MANY* thanks again, miss jolene!!!)

operation 46: SAVE

we are coming down to the home stretch of paper adventure. (many thanks for enduring the marathon of the last few weeks!) for this prompt, SAVE, the lovely elise blaha had this to say,

"I have been spending some time on my other blog talking about recycling and reusing items. And thinking a lot about ways to save money. What are your thoughts this week on SAVING? Or not saving?"

once again i was kind of puzzled as to how i would approach the topic...until one night when i knocked over the "junk bowl" next to my worktable. (this is where i toss the leftovers from projects which are too good to throw out but not important enough to put away in their proper homes. you know the sort of thing: 3 rub-ons i cut out but didn't use, the button i thought would look good but didn't, extra brads and stickers, & so forth) as i picked up a couple dozen tiny treasures, it led me to think not just of supplies, generally, but also how many little baggies and boxes and folders of "found art bits" i INSIST on accumulating. and thus, a page was born:

(kraft cardstock: bazzill; word bubble: bampop; rub-ons: scrapworks; creative imaginations, polar bear press, 7 gypsies; all other items are ephemera--tags, stickers, bits of packaging, things cut from magazines & brochures, buttons, ribbons, paper scraps & so forth)

text reads, "'SAVE ME!' cried the cute little monsta tag from my teatowels. many other tags, stickers and bits of magazine make similar demands on a regular basis. i hear and obey."

operation 44: PRETEND

this was a fun one! i knew right away what i wanted to say for this paper adventure topic. one of the reasons i spend most of my time at family gatherings playing with the nieces is that we genuinely do have an awful lot in common...maturity level, for one thing! :)

all i needed was a recent photo...a little computer-generated text...some alphabet stickers...et voila!

(picture of nieces (l to r) maddie, lindsay, cousin jillian & riley converted to high contrast b&w in photoshop & printed on kodak premium paper; text is "3 hour tour" formatted & printed in broderbund printshop; patterned paper: sei; letter stickers: basic grey; pen: zig)

text reads, "the only thing i ever really PRETEND to be is a GROWN-UP (luckily these guys are not fooled for a minute!)"

operation 49: SECRET

i know i have said this A WHOLLLLLLLLE BUNCH OF TIMES, but i'm gonna say it again anyway: the very best part of paper adventure is making all kinds of pages in all kinds of styles on all kinds of topics that would never have occurred to me on my own.

case in point, the prompt for this one was: "do you have a secret? can you keep a secret?" i was planning to address one or both of those questions in a more straightforward way... (the answers being, "nope" and "theoretically, depending on the secret" respectively) ...but then i got to musing on the nature of secrets, generally...and i wound up making this, instead:

(patterned paper: basic grey; magnetic alphabet stamps: amking memories; needlepoint yarn: dmc; pen: zig)

text reads, "isn't it funny how much SECRETS have in common with LIES? & once you embark on either, you're pretty much in a vicious circle. (bad idea!)"

and i really, REALLY like how it came out. (she said, modestly) i like that it is messy and raw and uneven. i like that the spirally circle thingie is wonky and the letters that i stamped one at a time are imperfect. i also found punching and stitching my way through an episode of monk to be the absolute perfect antidote for a frantic workday! (& i predict that hand-sewing-on-projects will be makin' a big comeback in these parts!)