52Q: the end! (51 & 52)

i have wrapped up 52Q--made the cards, photo-ed them, put them on their ring, and posted them here--in the first week of 2010.

duuuuuuuuuuude!
could i BE more impressed with me??!?! :)

thus without further ado, may i present...

question 51: what is the best gift you've ever given?

(spotted patterned paper: doodlebug; rub-on letters: ki; all other product: love elsie; pens: uniball & copic; adhesives: uhu gluestick, tombow monorunner)

text reads, "for the past couple of years we have had a blast at xmas: we wait for a good toy sale at k-mart, then fill a cart with all our faves and donate them to toys for tots. it's the best shopping trip of the entire year!"

and question 52: what magical thing happened to you this year?

(anahata katkin clipart; basic grey patterned paper; k&co & making memories rub-ons; mambi & nail art gems; tombow monoadhesive runner, judikins diamond glaze)

text reads, "52Q seemed like a pretty magical thing to me...to spend a year thinkhing about questions big and small and make them into ATC's...thank you, emily falconbridge!"

finally, here is my finished "book"...a ring with 2 covers and 52 double-sided ATC's each asking and answering one of the questions:

i had a fabulous time doing this, and whilst i know that we all have too many commitments already, and only so much time in a day, i cannot possibly recommend highly enough the concept of regularly making something JUST FOR YOURSELF that you get to keep. i know it seems counter-intuitive, but in a weird way, it actually gives you MORE ideas and more creative energy! at least, this has been my experience; i am definitely NOT trying to talk anyone into anything...just mentioning a weird and wonderful thing which happened to me! ♥

just in case anyone is interested in seeing all of the fronts and backs of the cards together, here they are on flicker...or here are the blog posts, in reverse order.

52Q: 49 & 50

ok, so i didn't quiiiiiiiiiite finish 52Q in 2009. this card, for question #49, is the last one i totally completed, and that was on new year's eve. but i managed to very nearly keep up for the entire year, AND i did the last three over the weekend. so frankly, i consider this a big, BIG win!

(all digital materials: software & heart image: broderbund printshop; chapstick photo: from t'internet; font: cherie; printed for my ring of cards on kodak premium glossy photo paper)

again, i went entirely digital b/c i had quite a bit to say and my handwriting is not nearly ATC-friendly enough to squish it all in. i suppose the example i used for this one is sort of a silly little story, but it's something that happened over 6 months ago now, and i doubt there's been a week to go by during that entire time in which i haven't thought of it and smiled. because as far as i'm concerned, you can keep all the fancy cars and diamond necklaces and bouquets of roses...a guy who automatically packs an "emergency chapstick" for his wife, is a guy i wanna be married to. and luckily enough, i am! ♥♥♥

for question #50, emily falconbridge asked what we like most about where we live

(map downloaded from google; paperchase stickers; love elsie patterned paper; colorbox ink; manual typewriter; uhu gluestick, 3m foam tape)

i had to think about this one for a while...there are loads of reasons we like it here...but i kept coming back to the fact that many of them have to do with where we are in relation to something else: jobs, family, stores, culture, etc. so i went with location!

tomorrow i'll post the last two cards and my finished ring with ALL 52Q's on it!!!

52Q: 47 (childhood memories) and 48 (over & over)

i'm doubling up in order to get the last few 52Q's posted.

question 47: when you think back to your childhood, what moment first comes to mind?

(materials: photo printed on kodak premium glossy picture paper; basic grey patterened paper; ki rub-on letters; heidi swapp ghost clock; mme butterfly transparency; ki bling heart; colorbox ink; manual typewriter; copic outliner)

ok, so i cheated slightly on this one. we were supposed to use the first childhood memory which came to mind, but honestly, right off the bat i thought of a whole bunch of different ones, and while i was trying to narrow down i decided that i really liked the idea of having a sort of stream-of-consciousness type list instead. so that's what i went with. plus, then i got to use this cute photo of myself dressed as a bunny on halloween, 1964...of which i don't actually have any memory...what with being four months old. :)

text reads, "birthday parties...the night before christmas...trick or treating...piano lessons...swimming lessons...wildwood vacations...shortcuts...visiting nany in northport & at the farm...staying with mom mom & pop pop...endless bike riding...sleepovers...going to the library...making barbie clothes...hours & hours of coloring...babysitting and being babysat...a million neighborhood games of tag & red rover & hide-and-go-seek...chicken pox...braces...picking apples..."

question 48: what have you done over and over this week?

(materials: vintage sheet music; fabric poinsettia used as a mask; glimmer mist & smoosh spray inks; colorbox chalk ink; prima poinsettias & leaf; queen&co brad; jenni bowlin & american crafts)

when this question was posed, a couple of weeks ago, i was deeply immersed in holiday preparations, and thus my answer reads, "this week (& last week & next week) i have made xmas cards over and over... (& over) ...and sewed on them...and sprayedor dabbed ink on them...and wished that had done all of this MUCH EARLIER!"

**********

at the same time i'm finishing up my 2009 weekly journaling project, i am also VERY excited to be starting a cool 2010 weekly journaling project:

this morning the first prompt of
HEART the ART
went live over at my lovely friend gina's blog, tyggereye art!

i'm looking forward to a fun & fabulous new art journal challenge every single saturday this year...
...won't you join us??!

♥

52Q: 46 (glow) ...and... 2010 journal project

did you think i forgot all about 52Q?? well, i didn't, and in fact i've been reading--and mentally answering--the questions each week; but i got so occupied with the holidays, that was as far as i got! my goal is to get caught up before the year's end...but i will settle for early 2010 and feel quite pleased if i make it! to that end, here is...

question 46: what makes you glow?

(materials, front & back: patterned paper: sass; letter masks: heidi swapp; spray inks: glimmer mist & smoosh; chalk ink: colorbox; gem flourishes: oriental trading co; pink & clear glitter glue: michaels; other: sewing machine, manual typewriter; adhesives: uhu gluestick, tombow monorunner)

text reads, "i know that it's a mistake to get too hung up on external validation, especially with regard to art; but somehow it just never stops being exciting when someone else GETS the things you thought nobody would...and then takes the time to tell you so!"

as i finish up this year's journaling project, i am also looking ahead--and looking forward to--next year's journaling project, which i am very pleased and proud to announce is being hosted by my lovely blogging friend gina, of tyggereye art! gina will be hosting "HEART the ART" for which she will be providing us with a brand new journal prompt each and every saturday of 2010...starting this coming saturday, january 3rd!

personally, i cannot wait to see what my very talented and creative friend has in store, and i hope lots of you will be excited to join in, as well! read all about it on this post...and then hopefully i'll see you in the flickr group next week! is this the best new year's present EVER, or what?! (thanks, g!)

52Q: 45 (song)

it's hard to believe we're down to single digits for 52Q now...and even harder to believe that the deadline for xmas cards, gifts, shopping, packing, and mailing is several weeks less than that! but let's take a deep breath and go back into "holiday denial state" for a few blissful moments longer whilst we consider last week's card, eh?!

question 45: "which song do you have on repeat right now?"

(patterned paper: love elsie fabric paper with clouds, (this is my biggest "discontinued product regret" in the whole world...WHY did ki *not* keep this stuff in print??!?!) basic grey, cd advertisement, vintage sheet music; cassette tape rub-ons: hambly; brads: hot off the press; journaling spot: making memories; other: colorbox inks, manual typewriter; adhesives: uhu gluestick, tombow monorunner)

text reads, "on a continuous loop, every single night at bedtime...BUDDHA LOUNGE"

ok, so mine's not a song, as such, it's a genre: i have to have soft music at night. if it's too peppy, it keeps me awake. if it's elevator-y & annoying, it keeps me awake. if it has lyrics in english, i will start mentally "singing along", for which i am almost always...wait for it...AWAKE.* as you can imagine, this considerably limits the cd choices! i have a lot of classical, (i really love this set...though i didn't pay ANYTHING LIKE this price...i guess it's out of print?) and then around the holidays i have classical and sort of historical christmas cds, (this one from the metropolitan museum is a big fave!) and just recently, i've discovered the buddha lounge series and currently i'm rather hooked on those!

*are you sensing a trend here? i am NOT a great sleeper. never have been. hardly anyone in my family is. (arrgh.)

52Q: 44 (decision)

two weeks in a row being up-to-date on 52Q??!?! yeah, i can't believe it either. but this week's was quite an easy one and i made a really simple digi-card and that was that. caught-uppy-ness, come to mama!!! :)

question 44: how do you make decisions?

(software: broderbund printshop; fonts: brando, amaze; photos from t'internet)

text reads, "I think & over-think. I analyze & consider & make lists of all the pro's & con's. After I've looked at the problem from every conceivable angle, I put the whole thing out of my mind for a couple of days. Then the next time I think about it, I go with my gut instinct......and it's almost always right."

unusually for me, this one is pretty plain, but it says what i wanted to say, and it looks ok, and they can't all be super-complicated mini-masterpieces. bring on week 45...i'm *READY*!

52Q: 43 (last year)

HOORAY! as of this post i am officially caught up on 52Q! and this card is one of my favorites, as well. wouldja believe...the bird silhoutte cut from calendar paper JUST HAPPENED to be on my worktable, leftover from the bits i thought i was going to use on paul's collage, when i started to think about this question??! talk about your creative kismet!

question 43: what were you doing this time last year?

(materials front & back: bits of an old calendar, an envelope & an insurance form; basic grey patterned paper; k&co alphabet rub-ons; colorbox inks; copic & uniball pens; mambi gem)

text on front reads, "this time last year:"

text on back reads, "(a lot like this year!) same house, same jobs, same cars, same hobbies...you know you've hit middle age when 'a boring life' seems like a really GREAT THING!"

this was quite a quick one to make. the longest part--by far--was the time i spent looking for the half-completed card which had slid into one of my hanging files whilst i was looking for coordinating paper to use for the back. of course, it's never a bad thing to clean out a drawer, is it? ...even if you wind up doing it by accident...in the middle of a completely different project... :)

52Q: 42 (holiday)

here's a bit of a christmassy 52Q for ya!

question 42: what's your favorite holiday?

(materials front & back: patterned paper: hambly, fancy pants, dcwv, prima, ki, basic grey, mustard moon, creative imaginations; vinyl alphas: staples; pearls: kaiser; epoxy hearts: paperchase; xmas stickers: love elsie & making memories; pens: uniball, sakura, copic & galaxy; inks: colorbox)

text reads, "i ♥ christmas. i ♥ twinkling lights & sparkly decorations. i ♥ holiday movies & cheesy tv speicals. i ♥ wrapping presents & making cards. i ♥ bayberry candles and the scent of freshly cut pine. and i really REALLY ♥ all kinds of christmas music!"

as you can see, i am still VERY MUCH into my tearing phase. (i don't know why ripping paper into small pieces is so very satisfying at the moment, but it is! and heck, i figure it's cheaper and more convenient than therapy, right?) not only did every bit of paper on this thing come from the scrap file, the bits which compose the tree were all very small strips indeed! which is a bit of a pity: projects like this utterly validate my appreciable pack-rat tendencies. maybe i will make lots of small torn trees for my holiday cards and try to use up the rest of the embarrassingly small scraps!

52Q: 41 (passionate & inspired)

i am now jusssssssssssst about caught up on 52Q. i only have last week's and this week's to do, which i figure makes me merely my "normal" amount of behind, and thus order is restored in the laurniverse. :)

question 41: when you close your eyes and imagine yourself as passionate, giddy, inspired and joyful...what are you doing/creating in that moment?

this question was posted by another of emily falconbridge's guest hostesses, denise aka boho girl, and she had this to say about it, "Someone once asked me this question and I find that when I meditate on this thought, it always gently helps me move into the direction of doing things that I truly love doing. Sometimes in the beautiful chaos of life, we tend to forget such things."

(materials front & back: patterned paper & diecuts: k& co; clipart bird: anahata katkin; journaling card & rub-ons: making memories; inks: colorbox; other: needlepoint yarn, manual typewriter; adhesives: uhu gluestick, tombow monoadhesive runner, 3m foam tape)

(this is the first card ALL YEAR on which i have let something hang over the edge...i have grave concerns for this poor birdie's tail, but i just couldn't bear to cut it off in advance...we'll see how how long it lasts...)

of course, to answer the question, i needed to approximate the conditions described (that is, being joyfully creative) so i decided to make a free-form collage using a bunch of random "inspiring things". while i was working, i thought about the question, and tried to decide what makes a "great art day" better than an ordinary one? and what exactly makes some completed projects feel more exciting or "successful" than others? then i wrote my answer on the back.

text reads, "i think the most magical and addictive thing about making art is attempting to transform an insubstantial idea or mental image into something real. *THAT* is what i keep chasing!"

i'm not sure i've completely captured what i was trying to express, but this is by far the closest i've ever come, (having contemplated the topic off and on for the last few years) so i'm pretty pleased... for now. :)

52Q: 37 (spark)

ok, you know how sometimes i get fixated on a particular theme or set of supplies and just keep usin' them over and over*?! yeah, well, at the moment it's these gorgeous birdcages! i love them. i could probably devote myself to them full-time for about a week and still come up with new stuff to make. but this time, they are even more than usually appropriate, as this particular 52Q happens to have been posed by "guest questioner" rhonna farrer! :)

question 37: what sparks my creativity?

(software: broderbund printshop; patterned paper: city streets, gretchen thomas, designer digitals; birdcage brushes & distressed edge toolkit: rhonna farrer house of three; hipster plume korners & edges #4: anna aspnes, designer digitals; spots-n-dots brushes: katie pertiet, designer digitals; fonts: dirty ego & marcelle script; for the physical version to hang on my 52Q bookring, i printed this on kodak premium glossy photopaper, glued it to the front and back of a playing card, cut out around, punched a hole, and inked the edges)

the "creative spark" is fascinating to me. because when mine's turned up on high flame...pretty much anything can inspire me. and when it's absent, almost nothing does. ali edwards did a BRILLIANT post on this topic, last spring, i think. (i've searched but cannot seem to find it; if you know the one i mean, a link would be AWESOME!) anyway, it was about the natural ebb and flow of creativity and how, just as with tides, the EBB is actually as important as the FLOW! the times when we're feeling less inspired are completely valid and valuable; they're like the recharging mechanism for our creative batteries. those are good times to organize, to read books and magazines, to take a class, to enjoy looking at other people's work...or maybe even just get caught up on all the "real life" stuff that needs doing...you know...so we can ditch it when the muse returns!!! ;)

so tell me...what sparks *YOUR* creativity?!

*speaking of most reliable & beloved supplies...there's still time to enter my blog candy giveaway! just tell me a "FAVORITE THING" down at this post!

52Q: 39 (joy)

i'm still crackin' on with the 52Q's here...this was an especially easy and fun one!

question 39: what brings me joy?

(materials, front & back: patterned paper: creative imaginations, prima, vintage ledger paper; bird stamp: pink paislee; rub-ons: k&co; thickers: american crafts; arrow sticker: sassafras; inks: colorbox; pencils: prismacolor; adhesives: uhu gluestick)

top tip for outlining stickers that are already adhered: instead of a pen or marker, use a VERY sharp colored pencil, and go slowly. the tip of the pencil has more traction on the paper, and is thus less likely to slip and ruin your completed work...also, the color won't bleed into the material of your stickers!

this is one of my favorite photos from our myrtle beach vacation in june. it illustrates two of lovely husband jeff's loveliest attributes: the ability to be silly at the drop of a hat, and the willingness to do so in public if it'll make me happy. oh and there's a third one, actually: he gave permission for me to blog this photo, not once but twice...even though he's a bit embarrassed for the world at large to see him posing as a statue. now see, THAT is true love for ya!!! :)

~♥♥♥~

(something else which brings me joy is givin' away BLOG CANDY! you still have until midnight next friday (10/30) to enter the draw by leaving me a "favorite things" comment on THIS POST! tell *everyone*!!! :)

52Q: 40 (taken for granted)

since emily falconbridge has just welcomed a lovely new baby into her family, she's been having guest artists pose 52Q questions. this one, by tara whitney, is a corker!

question 40: what am i taking for granted?

this is something i think about quite a bit anyway, and i LOVE having the chance to commemorate it in a lasting way in my set of 52Q cards. coincidentally, this question went live the day after the plumber arrived early to do some scheduled work and the water was turned off at 8am...prime "getting ready" time...rather than after i'd already left for work. i can tell you i was a bit annoyed about having to brush my teeth and wash my face in bottled water, and boooooooy was i glad my hair was clean!!! but even as i was griping & grumbling, it occurred to me that only people who've lived their entire lives with clean, reliable, hot and cold running water conveniently piped into several locations in their homes would whine so very comprehensively about its absence for ONE MORNING! it made me think about all the other stuff i only really notice when there's something wrong with it...and boy, that's a pretty long list! i've typed a bunch of them as the background for the front of my card:

(materials front & back: notebook paper; mme patterned paper; heidi swapp ghost letters; colorbox ink; dymo labels; manual typewriter)

text on back reads, "i like to think i am a mindful & appreciative person, but when i get a tiny cold or the water is turned off for half a day, i whine as loudly and as thoroughly as any other person whose circumstances are so fortunate they don't even notice anymore...a better question is probably:

"WHAT AM I *not* TAKING FOR GRANTED?!"

in a completely unrelated matter, i made this the other day at work. it's the new candidate for WEIRDEST THING I'VE EVER MADE and so, as you'll have guessed, it's my favorite right now:

to answer the three questions i suspect are most prominent in your mind right now:

1. yes, it is a collage of notebook paper. i took one page from every notebook & tablet i could find at work. who knew there'd be so much variety in paper color and line width?!

2. yes, i am going to do more to it. it's actually the background for a text-based thingie i am making for my friend paul's birthday card. (but i do also love it plain, which is why i took its pic!)

3. yes, i am really*REALLY*reallllllllly weird. thank you for noticing!!! :)

52Q: 38 (eating)

meanwhile, back at 52Q HQ i've made another (digi)card...only slightly behind everyone else. (i call that a WIN, people!!!) here it comes now:

question 38: what are you eating right now?

front reads, "i eat a variety of healthy, nutritious foods; high in fiber & vitamins, low in calories and fat. until 10pm when i become the..."

back reads, "CINNAMON TOAST MONSTER!"

(software: broderbund printshop; photos: front=printshop; back=lauren; font: ck typewriter; photo paper: kodak premium high gloss)

alas, this is a 100% true life confession. i am healthy and conscientious all day long. then late at night (you know, the VERY worst time you could possibly eat junk!) i crave warm bread, sugar and butter with an intensity that cannot be denied. which is why when *I* do the grocery shopping only rye or pumpernickel is purchased for lhj's lunchtime sandwiches. because ANYTHING vaguely toastable--from whole wheat pitas (disappointingly hard & crispy) to zucchini bread (surprisingly delicious) --will magically become cinnamon toast at bedtime.

i actually have another 52Q card finished, which i'll post tomorrow. in the meantime, why not leave a comment on THIS POST and score a chance at winnin' some tasty blog candy? (cinnamon toast not included.) (sorry!)

52Q: 36 (never forget)

well, september certainly FLEW BY, didn't it? are we sure it had the traditional 30 days this year? it kinda seemed more like 19 or 20 to me, tops. one of the many things i didn't do during september, was work on my 52Q's. so i'm gonna catch up now, ok? (be a sport and say, "ok", ok? because you know i'm postin' them anyway!!!)

question 36: what do you never want to forget?

(materials: photos of adorable nieces & nephew printed on kodak premium photo paper; journaling in k&co rub-ons & manual typewriter on basic grey patterned paper; bling heart by gartner studios; hand-cut felt heart; colorbox ink)

answer, "how anything--or NOTHING--can crack up one...or all...of these guys at any given moment!"

(at nana's 8-09)

adorable nieces and nephew from l to r: riley (7.5), maddie (5.5), lindsay (6 tomorrow--happy birthday, sweet girl!), and matthew (just turned 2); r & l are my brother's girls; m & m are my sister's sproglets.)

i know what you're thinking. you're thinking, "hey lauren! why are the photos printed upside down?!" well, actually they're not. it's the kids who were upside down. this was madeline's idea. many of the cousins' photo poses are madeline's idea.* i always let them try out their photo suggestions, provided they're safe...i figure it's only fair...plus sometimes they come up with really great ideas! (& the best thing about digital is, i can always delete the 147 blurry shots of them running straight at the camera!) i also never force them to pose; i ask if they'd like to or not. i am still going to take candids, of course, but they don't have to pose and they don't have to smile if they don't want to. we haven't yet reached an age where anyone has said, "aunt lauren, i don't want you to take my picture AT ALL!" we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

*many of the cousins' activities, generally, are madeline's idea. many of the activities of any group she happens to be in at the time are madeline's idea. she will either grow up to be the first female president of the united states or the first female mafia don, i honestly don't know which. either way, i can guarantee: she will get things done! :)

52Q: 35 (goddess)

and now here is one of my very favorite 52Q's ever! in fact it may well be my ABSOLUTE favorite for the entire year, but i s'pose i'll have to wait till december to know for sure. for now, without further ado, may i present...

question 35: what kind of goddess am i?

(materials: indian princess cut from a magazine, bits of a hindi newspaper, making memories journalling card & rub-ons, anahata katkin clipart circle, heidi swapp ghost clock & pink bling circle, prima flowers, autumn leaves brad, colorbox inks,
uhu gluestick, manual typewriter)

answer, "i am the goddess of embellishment: ye shall know my presence by the rhinestones you find under the couch, by the sticker you find days later adhered to the seat of your jeans, by the small metal brad you find with your bare foot, and by the tiny microscopic particles of glitter you find...well...pretty much EVERYWHERE! (sorry about that!)"

52Q: 34 (nest)

it seems like i am doing my 52Q cards in pairs every other week...but hey, i'm pretty much keeping up at the moment, so it's all good!

question 34: how do you create your nest?

(materials: pages from a vintage german-language bird book (ein fugle atlas!!), a scrap of making memories ledger paper, colorbox inks, prismacolor pencils, masking tape, manual typewriter)

answer: "furniture built by jeff & poppa (his late grandfather) ...photos & keepsakes...wedding presents & flea market finds...treasures from our travels...books & music...waaaaaay too many art supplies...of course, all we REALLY NEED is each other!"

this one was fun to think about and fun to make. i made a rule for these...ok, not a RULE as such...but when i started this project in january i really wanted to it be something that was fun, uncomplicated, and kind of more raw & experimental that what i usually do. because let's face it: i can think myself to death!!! so i sort of made a mental manifesto to work small (hence the playing cards), work fast (glue-as-ya-go whenever possible), and to KEEP GOING even if the card seemed like it was going to come out "wrong".

in this case, all was well until i got to the back. i had the sweet birds, and i decided to ink out the writing on the rest of the page to make a spot for my journaling. i used dark brown ink. it covered the text easily...and looked awful! but if you can't go back, you kind of HAVE TO go forward, so i masking-taped over it and glued my journaling on in strips. the completed card is not at all how i thought it was going to be...BUT...i really like it now.

sometimes it's sort of a good thing to "roll with it", if you know what i mean. i should probably embroider that on a cushion or something...but for today i'll settle for writing it on my blog. :)

52Q: 33 (fingers crossed)

HOORAY for a free evening to watch junky television and make a 52Q card! now if i could just take a decent *photo* of it, eh?! but alas, it seems today isn't going to be the day. luckily, i have no time to worry about it!

question 33: what am i crossing my fingers for?

(materials: textured origami paper, anahata katkin border image, vinyl letters from staples, dymo labeler, colorbox inks, laughing elephant vintage perfume label sticker)

answer: if i tell ya...it might jinx it!!! :)

i'm not much of a supply hoarder... (having waaaaaaaaay too much of everything does not count as hoarding. it's just being really REALLY prepared. which is totally different! totally.) ...but i have been known to save something i love for "just the right project". occasionally i am embarrassed at the length of time it can take for such a project to materialize. in the case of the sticker above, however, it was well worth the wait, since this really is *EXACTLY* the right use for it...annnnnnnnnnd...i get to KEEP the finished product!

ok, so maybe i am a *bit* of a hoarder, afterall!!! :)

52Q: 32 (why)

it's questions like this that make me love 52Q! because we have *ALL* been here, haven't we??!

question 32: why did i do that?

(patterned paper: fancy pants & making memories; stamps: stampin' up & provocraft; stars from a vintage board game; dymo labeller; masking tape; colorbox & staz-on inks; stickles; copic outliner)

text reads, "'why did i say that' is usually more my problem! from simple tactlessness, to accidentally spilling secrets, to letting my temper get the best of me...if i am in trouble, there is almost always my MOUTH to thank!"

this was another super-fun, freeform, play-based atc session: i didn't have any stickers i really liked for the front so i decided to make my own using masking tape distressed with inks, stamps, stickles and markers. i was having so much fun, in fact, that i kind of forgot to MEASURE the letters to make sure they would fit. and thus, they did not fit. 15 seconds of judicious pruning & re-gluing later, all was well. you just gotta show 'em who's boss...that's all! :)

hey, do you know what starts tomorrow??! the very first caardvarks caard hop, sponsored by the fine folks at core'dinations cardstock, that's what! be sure to check in at the 'varks blog for all the details...there are some mighty yummy core'dinations goodies up for grabs, i can tell you that! not to mention three days worth of awesome cards and projects from the entire crew!


and if you enjoy that one, just wait until next month! we've got a special showcase of lovely new lines from GCD studios. trust me, you won't want to miss it!

in the meantime,

HAPPY SUNDAY, darlings!!!

52Q: 31 (3 words)

it's hard to believe the 52Q project is more than halfway over! on the other hand, i realized the other day i need to get a new ring for my cards ASAP, since the original 1.25" one is now seriously bulgy!

question 31: what 3 words would someone

use to describe me?

(materials: vintage bingo card; illustrations cut from an old children's book; scrapworks metal concho; heidi swapp bling circle; stickopotamus* word bubble stickers; autumn leaves alphabet rubs; colorbox ink; copic outliner pen)

i notice that when i've been making a lot of "product-centric" items...or just loads of challenge-based things that have very specific criteria, i start to really jones for freeform collage and vintagey bits! i also enjoy being messy and working quickly without too much thought or preparation. check, check, check and CHECK! so fun to make something just for me...think i'll go do this week's question now!

*random self-realization moment: it turns out i have made it to the age of forty-five without knowing how to spell hippopotamus! (i thought it was hippopatomus.) good thing i'm not a zoologist, eh? of course the reason this deficiency has gone entirely unnoticed until now is that this is the first time i've ever been called upon to spell hippopotamus in a public forum. and quite possibly the last. interesting.**

**i have a feeling my three words have just changed to chatty, crafty and WEIRD. ah well. it's a fair cop! :)

52Q: 30 (thank)

wouldja believe...i am on to THIS WEEK'S 52Q question??! ok, yeah, i know, i've been doing them out of order, but seriously...i really am finally CAUGHT UP...and also...onto this week's question!!! (go, me!) :)

and so, without further ado, i present:

question 30: whom do i need to thank?

(materials: notebook paper; scraps of basic grey & doodlebug patterned paper; making memories magnetic stamps; heidi swapp mixed-up fancy alphabet stamps (my absolute new FAVORITE!!!); pink paislee winged heart stamp; purple onion designs music definition stamp; stampin' up distressed edge stamp; staz-on & colorbox inks; tombow markers; zig pen; manual typewriter; photo from last year's vacation made super-high-contrast in photoshop and then printed on avery matte label paper)

and can i just say not only am i pleased to be "on schedule" again... (it won't last, of course, it never does; but that's ok!) ...i also absolutely loved this question and had a blast making my card! i used all my current favorite things: a really REALLY photoshopped pic of LHJ & myself... (printed on plain matte paper instead of glossy photo stock for a super-funky "school newspaper" sorta look!) ...my new half-price-with-coupon heidi swapp alphabet stamps...a scrap of inked & distressed notebook paper...my SU distressed edge stamp which i use on pretty much EVERYTHING lately... (thank you, leslie!!!) ...a bit of typing...some wonky outlining...et voila! a small tribute to one of the nicest humans to ever walk the earth!

♥♥♥♥♥