Me + Clipping Masks = ♥ True Love ♥ & a Giveaway for YOU! (ps. that means FREE!)

She Dreamt of Running With Wolves

Untitled

Ok, so I'm no quick draw mcgraw, but believe or not, I just discovered the beauty of clipping masks a few months ago. Despite using photoshop for years (completely self-taught), I've somehow let this little wonder tool escape my radar. Now that me and clipping masks have been formally introduced, it's been love at first sight and we are currently involved in a pretty racy affair...I mean I use them every night just about, I can't get enough of them! Do you guys know what clipping masks are? The answer is probably yes, you've probably all known since like kindergarten, but for those of you like myself, let me explain. The clipping mask tool in photoshop is this fabulous little function that allows you to literally "clip" select layers to a base layer. In doing so, any layer that you "clip" to your base layer will stay contained within the shape of that base layer. For instance, if your base layer is a heart shape and the layer above your base layer is a scanned piece of antique lace, you simply "click" the lace layer to the heart shape and it becomes a lacy heart! Amazing I tell you! Did that make any sense? I'm not always the best tutorialist, ( I'm pretty sure I just made that word up, but I like it, so I'm going with it ). In essence, the lace layer will only be visible within the confine's of the heart's shape. And it's very simple to do, I'm not sure how it works on a PC, but on a Mac you simply highlight the layer you want to "clip"and press the "option" key while left clicking on your mouse. When you do that you will see a little icon appear that looks like two interlocked circles, and voila! You've clipped two layers together! Very simple in theory and process, but the possibilities in using this function are truly endless, allowing you to create little worlds within the shape of your base layer. The two designs featured above this post were created using multiple clipping masks and "clipping" several layers to the base layer of the silhouette. Can you tell what is making up the profile of the 2nd design? Most people I've asked have a hard time at first and really need to look at it a few times before they get it. Post your comments on what you think it is and the 1st person to get the correct answer will receive one FREE Dollface Design Digital Download of their choice from my etsy shop , yippee! Is that bribing you for comments? I'm pretty sure it is, and I'm ok with that...there's no shame in my game ♥

♥ 20% Off EVERYTHING In My Etsy Shop! ♥

Ok, It's now March 16th, 2011, or at least I THINK it's March 16th, 2011...if it's not I'm sure I'm only off about a day or so...but that means I have officially not blogged in over a month! Super sad, I know...I may be just about the worst blogger in the blogosphere, or at least the worst blogger in town...either way I'm up there. But I think I'm safe because I'm pretty sure no one is reading this anyway, so I guess I can be an irresponsible blogger without consequences...it's kind of liberating. I was just about to make some potentially false promises about "being a better blogger" blah blah blah, but decided against it in the nick of time. That way I can keep on being a slacker and if I actually do get my act together my one reader (Hi Mom!) will actually be surprised...I like to keep you guys on your toes. I actually do have some important information today, I bet you were wondering if all this rambling would eventually go somewhere and it will, lucky you! In honor of my cultural heritage I'm offering 20% off EVERYTHING in my shop to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, whoopee! Take a stroll over to my etsy shop, make a purchase (fingers crossed) and simply enter coupon code ErinGoBraless20 upon checkout and YOU will receive 20% of your entire order! Why? Because I LOVE YOU! Oh yeah, and I was lying about my heritage, I'm actually Portuguese and Italian, not even a tiny bit Irish, although I do love leprechauns and rainbows, which should count for something. So that was a lie...but there really is a coupon code, I swear! Happy March 16th (I think) ♥

xoxo

♥ Dollface Design's Valentines~ Digital Download Delights That Will Make Your Heart Swoon! ♥

Love is in the air over at Dollface Design! And I've got a bevy of Valentine Treats that can't be beat over at my etsy shop, including a whole bunch of Valentine Digital Downloads that you can download and print lickety split! And if you're a bit of a procrastinator such as I am (just ordered my husband's Valentine's Day present last night, yikes!) then these digital downloads are the perfect antidote! Why subject yourself to getting bumped and bamboozled in the card aisle of your local big box store (with all the other last minute lucys!) when you can get an original handmade Valentine from the cozy comfort of your casa? Perfect for the non-traditonal Valentine enthusiast, each design is lovingly collaged and created by me for YOU! And you can be sure that you're sweet will be getting a Valentine just as unique and original as they are ♥ And if love's not your thing this year, I've even got an Anti-Valentine perfect for those folks in your life that just can't seem to get the hint (you know who I'm talking about!). Above designs are just a small sampling to whet your whistle, but you can bet there's more love where that came from, take a peek!

What are you guys doing for Valentine's Day? Me and my BB4L (best bud for life, aka. husband) are staying in and he's cooking me my favorite meal, shrimp scampi with homemade pasta, yum! I'll be picking up a delicious desert for us to share, I'm thinking I'll get this mongo chocolate peanut butter cupcake I saw at Whole Foods over the weekend, and we'll just gorge ourselves on sweet treats and love! Are you puking yet? Sickening yes, but we are still newlyweds :) Wishing you all a wonderful day full of sweetness and love!

xoxo

layla

Why Sometimes, I've Believed as Many as Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast!

Why, yes it's true! In fact, I've probably believed and dreamed as many as six hundred impossible things before breakfast...most as I'm lying in bed at night, trying to fall asleep (albeit unsuccessfully) as my mind is awhirl and atwirl with so many ideas I can barely keep them straight! But that counts as before breakfast...don't you think?

After a long hiatus, (too long), I'm back. I seemed to have separated from my art in the last two years, wandering down a different path, but now that we've found each other again, things seem to be even better...I believe that creativity and the process that inevitably follows, feeds your imagination and one idea seems to bloom into another, and another...and another...and before you know it, your mind is swirling with all the impossibilities you dream of making possible. When I truly began making art two years ago, I was at a bit of a crossroads with myself, it was a time of transition, exciting and unsettling all at once...fast forward two years later and I seemed to have settled into myself. I met the love of my life, fell in love, moved in together, got married, and have a fantastically amazing five year old stepson. All of a sudden it wasn't just me anymore, I had a family, and responsibilities to people other than myself. I thought it would be difficult to settle into, I always thought of myself as a bit selfish...sleeping till noon, wandering wherever I pleased, whenever I pleased, without a care...but it was a role I fell into easily...I guess that's the way it goes when things work out as they're meant to be. But all of those experiences led me back to where I am today...exactly where I'm supposed to be, and I've never felt as settled or as ME as I do right now. I guess I needed that time and that space, uninterrupted by the creative process and the tempest of thoughts and ideas that follow (as I tend to be rather obsessive that way) to allow myself to believe in something other than the possibility of art... and believe in the possibility of love, trust, and family...But in retrospect I realize that it's really not that separate after all...it all intertwines and weaves together, forming a tiny path that you can only see if you look really hard and and believe in the possibility that it might lead somewhere...I'm glad I was paying attention.

Me - Plotting against the evils of time!

Plotting & Scheming
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

I've been away from my little ol' blog for about a month now...feels like just yesterday I was posting about my big adventure to Artfest...time has a way of slipping away from me...I have this wierd sense of timelessness in my life, which is sometimes wonderful and other times frightening...I think it's kind of a like a self-imposed oblivion, created sheerly for the purpose of self-preservation because the idea of time passing is so scary to me...It's wonderful in the sense that I rarely feel that sense of urgency that things need to be done NOW! It allows me to buoyantly float through life with my own gentle rhythym...taking as much or as little time to simply do as I please...You may be thinking it sounds like a fancy pants way of saying I'm a procrastinator...well, I'm that too, but this is different somehow...this is almost like a denial of time itself...denouncing it's very passage by refusing to move at it's frighteningly quick speed...time has no consideration for the moment whatsoever, regardless of how magical, poignant, or important...each moment is just like any other and time shows no favoritism, quickly moving from one moment to the next...this denouncement of time can be a bit peculiar and scary as well...my sense of time is so often skewed and warped that sometimes I will find myself in situations or relationships that I tend to languish in...long after I should, later lamenting why I didn't move on sooner...this fact is sometimes just the jolt of fear that I need to start taking time a bit more seriously...I never want to be that person that wakes up twenty years from now wondering where the last twenty years went...that, to me, would be something unforgivable...I struggle with finding that balance between timelessness and a sense of time's passing...balance is something I struggle with in general, but that's a different post for a different time...I guess I'll continue to buoyantly float, occasionally reminding myself to pick up the pace at least to a dog paddle, in an effort to both deny and embrace time...and find that balance I so desperately crave...

Artfest Here I Come!!!!

i've been such a bad little blogger lately, but there have been so many changes afoot, that i've had trouble keeping up with them myself. most of them really good and exciting, a bit unknown about how it will all turn out, but i guess that's all part of the excitement, right? i feel like i'm in for a really big transition in my life, a major turning point, and i'm really welcoming it and looking forward to all the possibilities it may bring.
i've also been frantically getting ready for my trip to washington to go to artfest 2008, yay! if you don't know about artfest, google artfest 2008 and check out the site...it's this fantastic 4 day retreat full of art making, workshops by fabulous instructors, and lots of friend making too....i'm a bit nervous, as i'm going into it not really knowing a soul, but i think it's going to be amazing and i'm sure i'll meet all sorts of wonderfully creative people....i've been trying to really push myself this past year to do/try things that scare me...things that i fear...and a year ago, i would never have been able to do this...a year ago this would have been a sweet little pipe dream in my brain, something i would dream about, fantastize about, "wish" i could do, "wish" i could be the type of fearless person that would pick up and travel across the country to spend 4 days with 600 strangers in pursuit of something they loved, always wishing to be that person...hoping to be that person, but never really able to envision how i would become that person....and now, about a year later...i am that person. still with fears, anxiety, and a bit of trepidation, but not the type that keeps you frozen in place, stagnant, unchanging, stilted, a concubine of your own mental/emotional fears , no, not that kind of fear...just a normal healthy dose of everday fear, the kind that gives you butterflies in your stomach and quickens your heartbeat for a moment or so, the kind that makes your palms a bit sweaty and your mouth a tad dry...that's usually the kind of fear i experience these days. so off i will go to artfest on tuesday, with butterflies in my stomach, a quick beat to my heart, a slick palm, and a dry mouth...off to do the undoable and be the person i never thought i would become. ♥

Dollface Design feature on Cuteable!

Dollface Design feature on Cuteable!
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

my fawn-tastic collage is featured on cuteable today, yay!!! thank you so much cuteable♥ cuteable always has the most amazing finds, so i'm super excited to be part of that, here's the link to check it out:
www.cuteable.com
and be sure to check out cuteable's fantastic etsy shop, http://www.swirlyarts.etsy.com, for tons of super cute handcrafted items!
Yay of Cuteable!!! ♥

available in my etsy shop♥

i've been such a busy bee all weekend, staying up to the wee hours of the morn, collaging my little brains out, working my nimble fingers to the bone, so i could add some new things to the shop. spring is coming and i wanted to add some easy, breezy pieces to honor all the good things spring will bring ♥

This is a 9x12 inch original mixed media collage created upon 140 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper. Created in shades of creamy vanilla, antique lace, snowy white, and wispy pink this collage has a very soft, dream-like quality to it. It features a delightfully dainty, frolicking fawn, dancing and prancing through the woods while the pussywillows sway in the breeze. The fawn is a block print that was hand carved by moi and printed upon an antique piece of pale pink wallpaper. There's also lots of snips and scraps of sepia toned antique papers, including vintage book pages, an antique ledger page from 1871, and snippets from an antique french to english dictionary, giving this piece loads of texture and dimension. The edges are also frayed and tattered and a bit asymetrical, giving a wonderfully organic feel.

hope everyone's had a restful weekend full of crafty goodness!
nighty night my peeps!

Take it in Stride and Let it Ride!

Take it in Stride and Let it Ride!
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

Sometimes you just need to let it go..."Let it Ride" is part of my new dolly affirmation series, loosely inspired by Stuart Smalley of Saturday Night Live fame and alcoholic's anonymous bumper stickers. It features hand drawn lettering against a backdrop of super 70's flower power madness, in deliciously vibrant shades of lime green and tangerine dream!
Directions for dolly affirmations are as follows:
1) hang in prominent place
2) repeat dolly affirmation several times while wearing
"free to be me" sweatshirt
3) have fabulous day chock full of self-esteem
4) repeat as necessary♥

Dollface Design T-Shirt

Dollface Design T-Shirt
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

this is my new t-shirt design, yay! it features my illustrious little, pipe smoking, bird/woman hybird, along with my hand drawn font. i just posted it on alchemy on etsy. for those of you not familiar, alchemy is a section on etsy where buyers & sellers can post specific custom requests, allowing sellers to "bid" on requests and buyers to choose the seller whose ideas most closely coincide with their vision, it's a pretty interesting concept. i'm looking for someone to silkscreen it onto a t-shirt for me, preferably something heather gray, super soft, thin, and vintage-y with a bit of distressing for good measure. i figure it will be good advertising and i think it's pretty cute to boot ♥ i think i'm going to have my etsy shop's web address on the back too, nothing too big or obnoxious, just kind of small and dainty under the neck.
i'd love to learn how to silkscreen myself (add that to my ever growing list of crafty endeavors i aspire to master!). that way i'd be able to offer lots of my designs on t-shirts and hoodies and pretty much take over the universe. i think several of my designs would lend themselves well to a t-shirt, and it would be another way that buyers could enjoy my stuff, other than simply displaying it on a wall. i think people really like the idea of "wearable" art, at least i do ♥ that's why i need to get back into making my soldered charm pendants with my artwork encased inside, so stay tuned because i'll be offering those in the shop again very soon! my dream of dreams, is to one day be able to offer my designs on t-shirts, hoodies, journals, totebags, pendants, cards, and prints...i'm pretty sure that it will happen eventually...i never thought i'd be where i am now, but strangely enough once you stop "thinking" about how you're going to do something and simply start "doing" something, amazing things start to happen. and things you never thought possible seem to manifest, falling into place with grace and ease, and suddenly the things of your dreams start to become your reality and the lines become blurred, the doubts become less and the hopes become more, and suddenly you start to really believe in yourself...it's a good feeling.

Head Case Series

all of these collages are part of my new "head case" series. each one features a lovely, mod, big eyed, 70's beauty with a unique and quirky "hairdo"! the top row features dreaming of spring and bird brain, while the bottom row features head gear, harebrain, and bookish...and each one of these lovelies is available in my etsy shop. my brain has been swirling with tons of ideas of how i can further explore this theme and i've definitely got a few more tricks up my sleeve, so stay tuned for more collagey goodness from this series!

Yay for Poppytalk Handmade!

i've been a crafty little fool these past few days! crafting & creating my nimble little fingers to the bone has left me little time to post, but i'm back! and i'm here to say "yay, for poppytalk handmade!". poppytalk handmade is an amazing little site that curates a monthly "themed" indie marketplace, kind of like a virtual craft fair, featuring all sorts of fantastic artists from all over the globe. this month's theme is an easter/spring market that runs from today, february 11th, through march 8th...and i'm featured! i'm so honored and excited to be part of such an amazingly talented group of people...you should definitely stop by and take a peek, it's a really cool resource to discover the beautiful work of some indie designers you may not be familiar with yet, i've discovered several new favorites and haven't even scoped out everybody's stuff yet, so it's definitely worth a look....i've also been soldering my face off, creating a bunch of soldered collage charms for a charm swap i'm participating in with some of my fellow soldering flickr friends, they'll be packed up all pretty tonight and shipped off tomorrow, yippee! i've received one so far from my friend mendy and it's gorgeous!!! can't wait for the others to arrive, they'll be like a sweet valentine treat ♥ i'll be back to post a bit more before bed, hope your night is going well my bloggy friend ♥

The Symphony of Life

The Symphony of Life
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

oh i've been a naughty blogger! not even an official blogger for one week and i'm already missing posts, tsk tsk...that's why i love TartX's theory on "blogging without obligation"...if you don't who TartX is then you need to immediately visit her etsy shop, blog, or flickr stream because they're all fabulous, her work is truly amazing with a very cool, kind of surreal, fairytale like feel to it, i'm a big fan...but anyway, her "blogging without obligation" thing is that you shouldn't look at your blog like a chore or something you "must" do each day, but rather it should be something more organic and flowing, something you do because you want to, instead of have to...so that's how i'm going to be approaching this blog, with total irreverence and freedom...i'm digging it, it kind of feels like the bra burning of the blog world!
the other thing you should be prepared for if you are going to be reading this is that i've completely given up on capitals, i tried to use them in my first few posts and seem all proper and full of grammatical correctness, but i'm over it. i type in lower case in my emails and on forums, so why not on my blog too?...hopefully this will not offend you, if it does i suggest you move onto another blog that it is more grammatically gracious than i, if this does not bother you and you are still reading...LONG LIVE THE LOWER CASE!
ok, enough ranting for tonight...onto this jaunty little pipe smoking bird! this is a little something i cooked up tonight. it's a combination of digital and traditional cut and paste collage, printed on antique paper from the early 1900's. it features a dapper little chippy, puffing on her pipe, sporting a sassy little hat with a feather in her cap! there are some hand drawn doodles along with some snips and scraps of vintage paper. i'll be listing this in my etsy shop shortly, or perhaps tomorrow as it's getting a bit late. goodnight my loves, more tomorrow....or not ♥

Crimson & Clover ~ Vintage Paper Collage

Crimson & Clover ~ Vintage Paper Collage
Originally uploaded by ms_mod

I just bought another antique ledger and this one is even better than the last, it has layers upon layers of old paper glued upon the original handwritten pages, but because it is so old and delicate, the glue has dried and the top layers peel off really easily, leaving bits and pieces behind, so each page has layers and textures of old paper, including tiny glimpses of scrolly handwriting, as well as bits of old recipes and clippings. This collage is printed on one of those pages and features an antique botanical illustration of a clover wearing a regal crimson crown. The queen of the meadow. ♥