Canon Rebel XSI

Okay so by now I've chilled out a bit, but on Christmas Eve I got one of the best gifts EVER from my love, Joey. Through the year, I had always talked about how 'one day' I'd save up to buy an SLR. I love my Canon PowerShot, and it works beautifully for some things, but I knew if I wanted to have complete control over a photo, I'd need to upgrade. You can imagine my surprise when I opened this:


I am *so* in love with Canon! The camera has so many features I have to get used to, but for now, here are some random photos I took as I played around to get used to my new toy.


The best part was Joey's reasoning behind such an elaborate gift: He believes in me. He sees my passion for creating, for illustrating, for sharing it with the world. As I said before- 2009 is going to be a fantastic year for Elegant Journey. I have a few tricks up my sleeve - I've been pushing past my fears and can't wait to share all my experiences with you.

Studio Space

Okay so check this out: 1 hammer + 6 nails + 6 clipboards = one easy, cheap and fun way to hang interchangeable (is that even a word?) art.

I love to feel inspired and cozy in my studio. My space is important to me and I try to surround myself with things that remind me to have fun, be silly and to use my gift of creativity in ways that will inspire others.

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I have off a full 13 days from work and that means I'll actually have time to update my readers on all the fun stuff I have going on. 2009 is going to be one super stellar year. Elegant Journey has been my process of self-discovery. It's brought me face to face with myself and revealed my true passions and purpose for life. It's time to start taking these ideas that have been floating around in my head and do something with them. This year, I'm definitely not letting fear get in my way.

Also be sure to check out the Paper Breezy blog. Collette is one fabulous gal and she wrote the sweetest entry on Elegant Journey. Yes, I know...the give-away she talks about is over, but the first one went so well, I think it'd be fun to do a whole lot more!

Star Garland Tutorial

Merry Christmas fellow Artists, Crafters and Creatives! A splendidly easy, unquestionably fun star garland project from Elegant Journey to You:

• tin star garland (I purchased wholesale from www.factorydirectcraft.com)
• thin piece of cardboard or thick piece of paper to make a template
• scrapbook paper
• mod podge
• paintbrush
• xacto knife
• cutting mat

• burnishing tool

1) TRACE your tin star on the cardboard and cut out the shape with your xacto knife to create a template.

2) PLACE the template over a piece of paper that you'd like to use. (I found this step to work well so I could visualize what the star would look like before actually cutting the paper star out.)

3) CUT the star shape out with your xacto knife. Keep all 10 fingers? Great! Move to step 4!

4) BRING on the messy goodness! Use the paintbrush and liberally apply your mod podge to the tin star.

5) CENTER your cut paper star on the tin star and hold down with your fingers to position in place.


6) USE the burnishing tool to help crease the paper into the edges of the star.


7) WHEN you feel the paper has adhered itself, apply more mod podge on top. Continue down the chain of stars. I did every other star because I like the rust finish.

And that's it! Now just find a special place to hang and display your lovely stars.

Give-Away Winner & My New Favorite Book

Congratulations to Lauren of Hoosick Falls, NY!

Lauren- please email me your address and I will get to the post office to ship your print off.

Thank you to ALL who participated in the button print give-away! I loved reading all of your kind words and suggestions!

Also, I wanted to share this amazing book that I picked up the other day. It's published by Chronicle Books, one of my favorite companies! Craft Inc. by Meg Ilasco is a helpful little book for those of you like me...who know NOTHING when it comes to the business end of things. Besides having great examples from other people who have turned their craft into a business and step by step instructions on things like business plans & licenses, it's just plain pretty! Being that I'm in the publishing business, if a book doesn't feel good in my hands or have a good design base that intrigues me to read it, forget it! This book even leads you to great internet resources that come in super handy! If you're like me and you've got this gut feeling that you want to turn what you do for fun into what you do for money...this might be a great book for you too.

What are some of your favorite and inspiring craft, art or business books? If there's one I should know about, be sure to fill me in!

DECEMBER GIVE-AWAY!

As a thank you for all of your encouragement and emails, I wanted to give you the opportunity to win a print of my artwork. Hand drawn and digitally colored, this button is printed on 8x10" Kodak archival paper. The art itself is 5.25x7.25", so it fits perfectly in an 8x10" store bought frame with a matte.

So how do you enter?

It's simple. I'll even give you two ways :

Either leave a comment on ways you think I could improve the blog OR post on your blog about my give-away at Elegant Journey (be sure to let me know where you'll be posting). Ooooh, you could even tell me what you think I should draw next. Do both and get entered twice!

*ALSO* please be sure to leave your first name, city and state. I will pick a random winner on December 15. Please note, the contest is open to all–however, if the chosen winner is outside of the US, they will be responsible for shipping.

Happy blogging & commenting! It's always so much fun to hear from you! :)