as promised: the birthday girl...

...miss lindsay marie, wearing her flower scarf, at her *SEVENTH* birthday party on saturday night! (♥♥♥!)


i am pleased to say that it was a BIG HIT, as was the fancy giftbag i made :


i realize it seems kind of crazy to spend a lot of time of giftwrapping, but i actually ♥LOVE♥ doing it; and also happen to be surrounded by children who are amazingly appreciative and excited about such things. all three nieces look forward to getting a fancy package and a handmade card on their birthdays, and have started (at ages 6, 7 & 8) to ask how certain things are done... what sort of paper i use, how do i make the little butterflies, and so forth. even young matthew noticed and enjoyed that the outside of his present had CARS ON IT, and knew that the bag with the decorations was NOT the part he was allowed to rip into! (realizing that THE RIPPING is a big part of birthday gift pleasure, i always make sure the presents inside the bag are wrapped inexpensively and can be shredded with abandon!) you may also have noticed that the bags i decorate have the vast majority of their decoration--including, in the case of the one above, the "happy birthday lindsay" greeting--on a panel which is attached by only a couple of pieces of foam tape. this is so that it can be converted into a sign for the birthday girl to hang on her bedroom door...because who amongst us would not like to make the party last jussssst a little bit longer?! :)

**********

speaking of parties and lovely things we all want: the debut pixie dust paperie kit has JUST NOW GONE ON SALE!!! there are some rather lovely rewards for the boldest, quickest purchasers, so why not rush right over there and grab one for yourself??!?! ♥

the great thing is...

...having the apocalypse on a monday...would probably not make it discernibly worse than the average monday! so i say: BRING IT ON!




because you realize, of course, this means it's *FINE* to have chocolate rum cake for breakfast, make out with the cute delivery guy, and skip that early meeting!

♥ you're welcome, darlings! ♥

heart the art: week 38 (positive)

yikes, i am a little bit behind on my heart the art pages--time to catch up, i think! (having said that, i am just a few weeks short, for only about the second time all year; those of you who've seen me doing other "prompt a week" projects know that this is HUUUUUUUGE for me & i am quite proud!) anyway, for the week before last gina gave us positive. i had a great idea that revolved around *journaling* in the center of this cute faux polaroid from free ♥ pretty ♥ things ♥ for ♥ you that i found via one of stef's awesome link love posts:

(digital polaroid frame: free pretty things for you; cardstock diecuts and word strips: k&co; flowers: prima & making memories; chipboard: mary engelbreit; tiny epoxy stickers: bc mini; inks: colorbox & stewart superior; pen: copic multiliner; adhesives: gluedots, tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

yeah. you'll've noticed there is no journaling on the finished page, just some really cute word strips. well, somehow in the middle of making this, it kind of took a left turn and became half journal page, half tribute to everything kitsch in my stash! but pursuant to the assignment, i feel quite ♥POSITIVE♥ about the result! :) (thanks, g!)

pixie lauren, reporting for duty! :)

...and here is my very first project made with the debut pixie dust paperie kit, "FALL IN LOVE" which goes on sale tuesday, october fifth:

you can see i have used tresa black's fabulously artsy cupcake tutorial a second time, and i will again emphasize that she is called the stamp goddess for a reason, people!!! if you want to learn how to do *anything* paper-crafty, you should definitely start with her tutorials! :)

there are lots more photos on the pixie dust blog, and a bit about how i adapted the "recipe" from making my first cupcake to fit the ingredients that are in the kit. (for starters, you can see i've diecut flowers from the gorgeous melissa frances patterned paper; i used some exclusive pixie seam binding as my dark chocolate ganache; and i swapped out the cherry for a fabulous maya road "icing flower" on top!)

i do have a couple of little tips that really helped to make this project go smoothly:

1. those compasses we all had in 8th grade are INVALUABLE if you need to, say, draw a 2" circle centered inside a 6" circle. i think i owe my geometry teacher an apology, actually; it turns out i did use something he taught us in real life! :)

2. it is very verrrrrrrry slightly possible to see the edges of raw chipboard inside the cupcake wrapper, a fact which will only bother crazy people such as myself. if you happen to BE a crazy person such as myself, draw an 1/8" ring of sharpie around the top and bottom. problem solved!

3. OH HOW I LOVE YOU, scor-it board!!! the cupcake wrapper needs to be folded in accordian pleats every half inch on two 12-inch strips of patterned paper. do 1/2" intervals on one side of the paper, then flip it and do intermediate 1/2" intervals on the other, and the thing practically folds itself!!!

do be sure to check out the pixie blog, because there will be an amazing project from each of the designers every day until the big debut on tuesday!!! ♥

meet archie byrd*

this week's theme at something completely different is "birds" ...which is rather me, right?! also, it's the last week of september's marvelous ARCH format, so i had to get this baby made & posted at the very very verrrrrry last minute!!!

(vintage: book paper, postage stamps, and illustration of birds (used as a guide to cut layers of book paper and cardstock); digital: asian script brushes #4 (printed on inkjet transparency) anna aspnes, designer digitals; flowers: prima; cardstock diecuts: k&co; brad: my mind's eye; leaf mask: heidi swapp; spray inks: glimmer mist & diluted ranger re-inkers; pen: copic multiliner; inks: ranger & colorbox; adhesives: uhu gluestick, gluedots, tombow monorunner, sewing machine)

occasionally i feel unbelievably silly about the packrat tendencies that make me SAVE the birds i cut out for a collage and didn't use... the masked and inked background paper that didn't quiiiiiite work at the time... or the bits of transparency on which i printed extra chinese characters just to fill up the page; AND THEN there will come a night that i am able to grab my "leftovers" folder and make a little collage quite quickly just using those items and some pre-made store-bought embellies! so to my darling, patient, utterly understanding husband i say, "sorry honey...we are ALWAYS going to live surrounded by little boxes and baggies and folders full of 'cool stuff' i might need someday!!!" ♥♥♥



*don't judge me, ok?! titles are HARD!!! :)

i'm so excited!

i've been keeping a bit of a secret for the last month and FINALLY i am allowed to tell: my lovely blogging friend kirsty vittetoe, whose city crafter challenge blog i know a lot of you love every bit as much as i do, is now starting her very own kit club... it's called pixie dust paperie!

if that was not cool enough, i was absolutely thrilled when kirsty asked if i would be one of her designers! in this lofty post i am joined by some amazingly crafty ladies: lori hairston, jessy christopher, emeline seet, and zielonooka!

the very first kit, "FALL IN LOVE" goes on sale october 5th, but kirsty will start showing the designer projects this friday, october 1st! i am exceptionally proud and excited that one of *my* creations will be featured that day! it's quite a good one, too--i cannot wait to show it to you!

as you can see by my little teaser photos, i've made quite a few items--and so have my fellow pixies! one of the best things about the pixie dust blog is that kirsty plans to show a different project made with the current month's kit every single day it's on sale! so each time you visit, there will be something lovely and *new* over which to drool!

there's a great variety of items, too: from layouts and cards to minibooks and little gifts! but then the kit is rather amazing, so it's not surprising, is it?! you can see by the pics that there is definitely a bit of a shabby chic vibe going on here, the papers are LUSCIOUS, there are loads of embellies, and...well, you should begin budgeting your october crafts money to include this baby RIGHT NOW because you are soooooooooo going to want it!!!

in honor of our debut, kirsty is having a very special promotion: when you buy the october kit between the 5th and the 10th, you'll receive ONE of the following items, absolutely FREE (on a first-come-first-served basis) as a bonus:

- Pixie Dust Paperie November Kit

- Pixie Dust Paperie $30 gift certificate

- Pixie Dust Paperie $20 gift certificate

- Pixie Dust Paperie $10 gift certificate

- Pixie Dust Paperie seam binding crinkled ribbon (4 colors, 2 yards each)

so basically the sooner you order, the better your reward!!!

don't worry, i'll remind you to head right over there on october fifth so that you will be amongst the lucky ones who get the BEST STUFF! ♥

BESTEST: legos

i've decided to start a new feature called "BESTEST" in which i will compile my current faves in various (mostly, i fear, silly) categories. if you think this is just an excuse to spend more time trawling google images for random stuff that makes me laugh...ok, yeah, well-spotted, you're exactly right!

i'm starting with LEGOS. i have always had a minor obsession with them, and lately i just keep running across new reasons to love 'em! i partially blame jana for this, since she pointed me towards #1!

1. best lego-photo-a-day website: lego365

"if you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says..."

it's by a guy called dan. he likes legos, and photography. he makes me choke on my first cup of coffee several days a week. but, you know...in a *GOOD* way! i'm more than halfway through the archives and wondering what i will do after that. weep, probably.

2. best lego book: i lego ny by christoph niemann. simply brilliant. brilliantly simple. quintessentially new yorky. a lot of people are getting this for xmas, i think!

3. best eddie izzard comedy routine illustrated by animated legos: this james bond one; better by far than even the most delicious pair of jam trousers! :)

4. best lego food: a tie between this lego that looks like food...and this food that looks like lego! either way, i now want to build something, and have a snack. not necessarily in that order.

5. best real-life lego experience: a trip to the san diego legoland in summer, 2007

my secret fantasy dream-job? building the exhibits in miniland!!!

i'd like to tell you we went because my friends live 10 minutes away and have a membership because their kids love it...and all of that is true...but in addition to trips to the zoo, the museums of balboa park, huntingdon library, and other cultural highlights, i specifically asked to be taken here, and had (at age 43) the most fun of the whole group!!! (& i'd LOVE to go back!)

honorable mentions: ♥♥♥ guggenheim museum lego kit, lego software, the brothers brick, nathan sawaya's life-sized lego sculptures, lego tardis ♥♥♥