Updates & Awards Time

I was in touch with the project planner for the Diary 2009 Project in hopes to send an updated version of the first image - it occured to me that the print was going to be really small and that the grayed out area made my web address look kind of muddied ... she didn't have any problem with the updates ...

... AND ...

... she has decided to use the second design. I find myself more drawn to the second one, so was thrilled when she sent the date - February 15th. Here are the final versions of both dates:

This was a fun project to be involved in. I don't know what the cost of the books are/is going to be, but considering the number of artists that are involved, it ought to be worth whatever the price. I'm definitely hoping it's within my budget & if it is, maybe I'll just purchase the disc and print them out myself. All said and done, I'd be willing to do this again next year.

On to a different topic ...

Carmen from Writing from Life recently presented me with this:

The Arte y Pico Award is presented blogger to blogger ... in researching the origin, I visited the site (via the wonderful imperfection of its translated version as I cannont read Spanish) and came across this statement:

What is the meaning of the expression: Art and Pico And basically, ironically, it translates into a wonderful phrase in Mexico, “lo maximo.” LOL! It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top.

Wow. I like the word ... it simply says so much. :) So, to continue paying it forward, I would like to present it to the following five blogs:

Monica - for without her (& the Pink Artists Community Doll Project) I wouldn't even be blogging ... seriously ... if you still don't believe me, check out this very first post

Vanessa - because my head is STILL spinning from her most Fanciful Mad Tea Party!

Sandy - it's all in the name ... ok, inside joke ... go visit her.

Jessi - simply for the sake that she's FINALLY opened her Etsy store and I know you've been just itching for a lil shopping spree!

Amber Dawn - if it hadn't been for her, I would never have tried a Charm Challenge or done the Diary 2009 Project, so that's definitely inspiration, dontcha think? ... ps - she stole my middle name!

If you were selected for the award, please pay it forward by following these steps:

1) Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.

2) Post the name of the author and a link to his or her blog so everyone can view it.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.

4) The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the "Arte y pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Please post these rules!

I guess when it rains it pours ... when I logged on today, I was surprised to find that Denise at Couture de Papier has bestowed this lovely little sparkly on me:

The rules of accepting are as follows:

1) Put the logo on your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4) Add links to those blogs on yours.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Here are my 7 nominated blogs:

Donna

Marilyn

Kathryn

Marlou B

Lea

Christine

Cathie

... and on that note, I have stuff to make and a spouse that's itchin for his turn in the chair ... I'll be sure to let all my nominee's know in the next day or two.
Cheers! ~M~

Nothing Like Waiting Until The Last Minute ...

ok, not quite the last minute ... I'm about 23 hours and 35 minutes away from the very last minute ... *giggles* ... I must be tired as I can tell I'm a bit punchy. In an effort to avoid rambling for days, I'll get to the point. Remember the 2009 Diary Project that I signed up for? I posted my first design attempts on THIS post to get some feedback (I recieved such a great response and the feedback helped ... A LOT, so thank you). The format for the pages really threw me for a loop ... 1350X2400 Pixels in .jpg ... eek ... doesn't really translate to an 8.5x12 inch piece of paper very easily, but I think I figured it out (guess we'll really know when the project is complete and can hold a copy in our hands).

Anyway, here's what I just sent over:

In the last email that the project coordinator sent she mentioned that she still had pages that weren't taken. I didn't respond requesting another date, but I did go ahead and do another design ... I followed up my first email with a second one letting her know that if she was (is?) still looking for more designs and liked it, I could easily add the date ... this is the second design:

and on that note, I think it's time for bed.

am I making this more difficult than it actually is?!?

I worked on three different designs for the 2009 Diary Project. I wanted to keep them fairly simple graphics and I think I was pretty successful at that ... here's the thing ... now that I have the basic images to choose from, I need to figure out how they translate from the black and white Sharpie drawings to an actual page ... I thought that I would be able to ghost the images so they would be in the background, but now that I am working with the template, I'm not sure that's the best plan. In an effort to clear my brain (and because I think it would be fun for you to vote for your favorite design) I am putting the three basic graphics out for you to vote on. I chose to work on Friday, May 29, 2009 (go figure, eh?).

Please take a look at the following three images:

(you should be able to click on each image to view a close up)

1.

2.

3.

Vote for your favorite by leaving me a comment in this blog post.

Feel free to share any suggestions that you might have.

VOTING WILL CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT THIS FRIDAY JUNE 27th

(all pages due July 1st, but I will be working on the three designs between now and then, so ought to be ready to send in the design Saturday before the party at Vanessa's)

A Little of This and a Little of That

Amber Dawn is hosting another charm exchange, but this one is has an added bonus ... make 12 charms and get 10 back ... the remaining 2 will be part of charm bracelets that are being donated to the Pink Artists Drawing ... how cool is that?!? For more details click the button below:

And just in case you haven't yet heard about the Pink Artists Drawing, go here:

I imagine you just might be delighted.

(if you are interested in seeing the squares that I made, click HERE)

two more things ...

• As I type this, dates are still available for the 2009 Diary Project ... go check it out (artwork isn't due until 7/1/08).

AND

• to the lovlies that won my birthday give-a-way ... I am getting really, really close and am pretty confident that I'll be able to ship them by Monday. :)