Yikes!

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted. I thought I was getting better at this. But, I haven't had a lot of visitors so guess most aren't missing much from me. It's been an all over the place week and promises to be more of the same the next few days.

Southern California's recent heat wave of record breaking temps has brought us a little thunder and rain tonight - reminds me of my years in the Midwest. But it was all too brief here.

Some new digital pieces . . .
I don't know why, but I sure am stuck on digital lately. Can't seem to dig up the energy to do cut and paste - it involves such busy work, though I love the end result. All the fun lies in the picture prep lately for me and so I just end up finishing things digitally. I'll get back to my roots one of these days. I sure miss the finished hand cut pieces once they're done.

Indifferent


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/29/10. All rights reserved.
Digital collage. Image credits: frame and flowers from Finecrafted Designs at Deviantscrap.com; everything else from my own images at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

The Messengers


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/29/2010. All rights reserved.
Digital collage. Image credits: wings from Holliewood Studios at Deviantscrap.com; dry ice from Lauren Bavin at Digitalscrapbookplace.com; everything else from my own images at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com

From my first assignment for Shelagh's Sensational Snapshot Society class . . . taking pictures as a diary of our daily surroundings.

Ode to My Dishrag


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/29/10. All rights reserved.

I even wrote a poem for my dishrag celebration:

Oh my dearest dishrag
Thou art my true tried friend
Frayed and spongey
Wet and grungy
Together we are relentless
we strive to undo
The sticky swallowing goo
Of yesterday's feasts
and last night's rendevouz with cake
I feel your weave
you engulf my skin
Gloving my fingers
Filling every crevice of glass and tine
Sacrificing yourself over blade and chip
Moldy, stinky, lovely dishrag
Twishted and wrung, dank and old
Like me
How we understand each other.

One Drawer is Always a Little Open


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/29/10. All rights reserved.

New Collage Sheets

Pumpkin



Remembrances



Remembrances 2



Checking In Again



Vacay

Thursday already?

Time flies . . . I think I'm still a little hung over from the blog-versary extravaganza last week but did manage to get some work done this week. The collage below was inspired by something my daughter accomplished this week which I will tell you about later - don't want to jinx it!

Aim High


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen9/23/2010. All rights reserved.
Image credits: everything from my own stash except for bubbles and twinkles and they are from Holliewood Studio's Spring Fairies at Deviantscrap.com. Most of my images in this piece are available in my Etsy: tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

I also got a few collage sheets revamped and/or created. Added lots of new pieces to some older ones and have some completely fresh ones too. I had a goal to get 50 image sets in the shop before I slow down and make some hand cut work. Almost there!

Just for Fun



My Take on Zetti
This is what I wrote in the Etsy description . . . Famous in the collage and journaling culture, Teesha Moore brought us the idea of Zetti, an invented soulful creature left mostly up to interpretation. For Teesha and many other Zetti makers, it is an intuitive whimsical creation. But tidy me, I have to have things clean and sharp and neat and orderly. Whimsy is always planned with me. It's a character flaw I can't help. So, here's a more refined set of Zetti parts that I would use in my version of this idea. 5 heads, 5 body shapes, 5 sets of arms and 5 sets of legs. Maybe you can take them further, make them messier and more whimsical in your own work.



Pieces



Frames and Words



Just Stuff



I'm not gonna be around a lot the next few days. I have an event to go to Friday-Sunday and normal kid stuff all over the place too. Have a great weekend everybody!

Gray Area Challenge

As far as I can tell, here are our Gray Area Challenge Participants. These are the ladies that posted links to the last post as requested. If I've missed anyone, please let me know! Their blogs and Gray Area pieces are linked below.

Tracey of Glitterbug Studios

Lou Ann of At a Moment's Notice

Leila of Artsy Creations

Fiona of My Artful Muse

Jayne of Pigs in Pink

Lori Saul of Ravenpainting

Andrea of Art Legacy


These participants' links were numbered in the order they appeared. A random number was drawn between 1 and 7 to find the winner. And the winner is . . .



Lori Saul of Ravenpainting!
So Lori, take a look through my Etsy and find your free print! Just send me an Etsy convo letting me know which one you'd like!

Now, I think I've missed a couple of pieces that weren't linked here on my blog. One belongs to my good friend Trudi of Two Dresses Studio and you can find it here. Trudi can have whatever she wants from me cuz she counsels my crazy self in general - she is my life coach, I swear. And, I haven't had a chance to look around flickr yet. There were a couple of folks thinking about trying this that I've probably missed. But, I didn't have the links yet to put in the drawing.


All other prize winners, you'll be hearing from me tomorrow. I was gone all day today taking care of "stuff" with kids and family, etc. Got a lovely half sunburned face to prove it too. Now I'm lopsided.

Lucky Winners Announced!

copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/18/2010. All rights reserved.
5 x 7 digital collage - draft for future hand cut piece. Image credits: everything is mine except the arms which come from Sherrie JD's Body Farm at Deviantscrap.com and the card border near the top is from designer Sande Krieger of Two Peas in a Bucket. Some of my pieces are already available at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com, and some are coming soon!

Well, here they are! The Lucky Drawing Winners!
How the winners were chosen: I numbered the comments for each prize post and entered the number of entries into a random number generator which randomly drew a winning number between 1 and the total number of comments. If someone commented the same post more than once, only their first comment was counted. My comments and any made by the prize giver or those not wanting the prize as stated in their comment were also not counted. I've double and triple checked and here are the results.

IMPORTANT: Winners! Please email me at marsha@tumblefishstudio.com to arrange for your prize delivery!

The Sensational Snap Society Course
Offered by my friend Shelagh Duffett of Alice in Paris Loves Tea and Art.
The winner is Stephanie Boman!



The One of a Kind Collage Sheet from my Secret Private Stash
You have to give me a day or two to finish this up for you, but . . .
The winner is Sharon of LiveWire Jewelry!



The Adorable Cosmetic Case
Offered by my friend Susi of SusiCreates.
The winner is Yvonne of ARTic Blonde Creations!



The Poem Written Especially for YOU from the Poem Store
The winner is Fiona of My Artful Muse



10 Free Collage Sheets
The winner is Mary Haldeman! Fate can be so serendipitous and funny. Mary and I just connected through another funny twist of fate (she randomly googled and found me). I had written early on in my blog what an influence she was on me. She was one of the first altered artists' whose work I had seen in my first book purchase that led me to try collage art! (Artist Trading Card Workshop)



20 Free Collage Sheets
The winner is Debby of The Gathering Nest!



The Gray Area Challenge
Please visit the post here tomorrow night for a list of links from participating players and the winner announcement! The deadline was 8 pm PST tonight but I want time to prepare that post and have soccer games tomorrow.

Thank you all so much for celebrating with me all week! It was so fun! I'm still catching up on all of the comments, so expect a visit from me soon!

Last prize and Gray Area Challenge!

Another post shorter than I planned but life got in the way today . . . here's the important part.




Well, there it is! The last prize for my week long blog-versary party! Thank you all for celebrating with me all week and for all of your lovely posts! Leave a comment on this post if you'd like to enter the drawing for this last prize. There's no expiration date so you can use it when you're ready and I have new sheets done. (I'm working on one this weekend!)

Tomorrow night I will be drawing winners for all of the prizes accept the Gray Area Challenge. If you're participating in the Gray Area Challenge, please post your piece on your blog or flickr tonight or tomorrow and leave a link in a comment on this post. That way everyone can come by and visit your blog too! You have until 8 pm PST tomorrow, Saturday, September 18 to post your piece and link it here. I will be announcing the winner from that draw Sunday evening.

All other prizes will be drawn tomorrow night after 8 pm PST. I'll post the winners for those tomorrow night when I'm done.

Let's review the prizes so far . . .
Gray Area Challenge - make a gray scale collage or art piece and post to your blog and post the link here on the Gray Area Challenge post that will be available late Friday night and Saturday. One of the lucky participants will be randomly drawn to win a free print of their choice from my Etsy. You can read more about it here.

Post a comment on Monday's post here to possibly win free tuition to Slelagh Duffett's Sensational Snap Society Course, which you'll be taking with me!

Post a comment on Tuesday's post here to possibly win a one of a kind collage sheet with images from my private reserve stash!

Post a comment on Wednesday's post here to enter the drawing for either a cosmetic bag from SusiCreates or a poem from Poem Store commissioned just for you!

Post a comment on Thursday's post here to enter the drawing for 10 free collage sheets!

New Prize!

Tonight's post is a little short. Spent the day with my son and catching up around the house. For those of you that have read about my son in earlier posts . . . he is okay. Still having anxiety issues that we are seeking treatment for but hanging in there. Today he had a physical and we found out his blood pressure is too high regardless of the anxiety issues, so more tests, more appointments. Hmmmmm. I'll keep you posted.

So, I have no new spiffy pictures for you tonight but I do have a new prize!



There won't be any expiration date, so you can use it whenever I come up with sheets you don't have or you find some you can use. Just post a comment here and one randomly drawn will be announced this Saturday!


Let's review the prizes so far . . .
Gray Area Challenge - make a gray scale collage or art piece and post to your blog and post the link here on the Gray Area Challenge post that will be available late Friday night and Saturday. One of the lucky participants will be randomly drawn to win a free print of their choice from my Etsy. You can read more about it here.

Post a comment on Monday's post here to possibly win free tuition to Slelagh Duffett's Sensational Snap Society Course, which you'll be taking with me!

Post a comment on Tuesday's post here to possibly win a one of a kind collage sheet with images from my private reserve stash!

Post a comment on yesterday's post here to enter the drawing for either a cosmetic bag from SusiCreates or a poem from Poem Store commissioned just for you!

Come back tomorrow night for the last prize offering! Saturday is the big day!

Fabulous Finds! TWO prizes today!

I am posting a little early tonight. This is really for Thursday. But, I'm off to get a few other things done.

Before I get to the prizes and the rest of the party agenda, I'll share a little digital collage I got done today. It's about talking to you know who, which I've been doing a lot of this year.

The Conference


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/15/2010. All rights reserved.
Just goofing off with this idea. 8 x 10 digital collage. Image credits: grass is from Spring Fairies of Holliewood Studios at DeviantScrap.com; frame is from designer Lorie Davison of Studio Lorie at Scrapbookgraphics.com; textures from flypapertextures.blogspot.com and DistressedJewell. Everything else is from my stash or my images in my etsy.


You might notice the body came from the new image set I have in my Etsy. Here are two new sets, A Hint of Odd and A Hint of Odd Extras . . . Please note! At the time of this posting, Etsy is having listing issues, so if I run out of images, I'll be restocking as soon as Etsy works again!





Okay, here's the Fabulous Finds part . . . and the prizes!
I ordered the cutest little cosmetic bags from Susi Trenery of SusiCreates. I just adore them and am going to order gobs of them as gifts. It's your lucky day because one of the prizes you could win from today's post is one of her bags! Thank you, Susi, for helping me celebrate this week! I'm showing you the bags I have purchased so far, but the winner's will be a surprise for now. Susi's flickr is here and her Etsy shop is linked to the pictures below:


copyright Susi Trenery. All rights reserved.


copyright Susi Trenery. All rights reserved.

To win an original Susi bag, just leave a comment on this post. One lucky randomly drawn winner will be announced Saturday, September 18!

Now for the next prize! How about a poem written just for YOU?! While visiting one of my favorite blogs today, as often happens, I was lead to another cool site from there. And I found Poem Store. I wish I could show you pictures but I have not got permission to do that. (you can see some in the next link I show you in a minute though) This lovely lady sits on the sidewalk with her typewriter and writes poetry on demand with the slogan, "your subject, your price". So, I thought I'd commission a poem for one lucky winner. I will spring for the "authentic" version, actually typed on paper and mailed to you! Just comment this post and see if your name is drawn on Saturday.

Other Finds
So, I found Poem Store on one of my favorite blogs, Paul Murray. I've not met Paul and I'm not sure he really knows I exist but I stop by his blog when I can. He has the most amazing collections of things. Reminds me of one of my long time blog buddies, Linda Crispell if you are familiar with her swanky yummy collections. And he goes to the coolest places and shares the best pictures of things. It's good to get out of the familiar neighborhood for a stroll, so maybe you'll meander over and visit his lovely blog. You can see pictures of his encounter with Poem Store!

And, here's another cool site I stumbled across after watching Project Runway. Philip Treacy is an incredible hat artist, of all things. Not just a milliner but an artist that happens to make art for the head. These are not your mama's hats for Sunday services. I wish he would make collage sheets! Take a peek and brace yourself, you're about to be blown away!


Let's review the prizes . . .
Gray Area Challenge - make a gray scale collage or art piece and post to your blog and post the link here on the Gray Area Challenge post that will be available late Friday night and Saturday. One of the lucky participants will be randomly drawn to win a free print of their choice from my Etsy. You can read more about it here.

Post a comment on Monday's post here to possibly win free tuition to Slelagh Duffett's Sensational Snap Society Course, which you'll be taking with me!

Post a comment on Tuesday's post here to possibly win a one of a kind collage sheet with images from my private reserve stash!

Post a comment on today's post to enter the drawing for either a cosmetic bag from SusiCreates or a poem from Poem Store commissioned just for you!

Come back late Thursday or early Friday for the next prize! Saturday is the big day!

Prize from the Secret Vault!

Today's prize for the big blog-versary celebration is a one of a kind collage sheet with images from my secret private stash of images that are not for sale! (only 5 or 6 of my friends have these images) Just leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win! One randomly drawn winner will be announced Saturday, September 18!

(you can have this image of the vault, from the public domain with no restrictions)



To review the prizes you could win so far this week, here's what they are:

Enter the Gray Area Challenge on Saturday, September 18 by posting your gray scale piece on your blog and commenting the post here that day. You could win a print of your choice from my Etsy shop.

Leave a comment on yesterday's post and you could win the free Sensational Snap Society course offered by my friend, Shelagh of Alice in Paris Loves Tea and Art. Read more about it on yesterday's post below and leave a comment there if you want to be entered. One randomly drawn winner will be announced Saturday, September 18!

Leave a comment on this post to be entered in the drawing for the collage sheet from my secret private stash of images!

Here's an image from my stash for you now! You may use the image below in your own artwork. Please do not resell in any way or post on your own blog or flickr or any other site - it is for your use only. Enjoy!

Extra Special Prize!

Goody, goody, goody!
I have an extra special prize drawing to offer you tonight! My friend Shelagh of Alice in Paris Loves Tea and Art is offering free tuition to one student for her Sensational Snap Society course! I already signed up for the class and Shelagh was so generous to offer this as a prize for my Blogversary celebration! Shelagh is not only an accomplished painter but also an incredible and successful photographer. I hope no one ever makes me choose between her painting or her photography. Anyway, to win the prize, just leave a comment on this post letting me know you'd like to win it and you'll be entered into the drawing. IMPORTANT! BE SURE TO SAY IN YOUR COMMENT YOU'D LIKE TO WIN THE CLASS! (so I don't give it away to someone who isn't interested right now) You can click on the linked camera picture below for more information. I will be drawing the winner randomly this Saturday, September 18 but you must comment this post to win!

Sensational Snap Society



Don't forget about the Gray Area Challenge! I made a digi collage today to give you just a rough idea. You can work in color and then scan in gray scale or start in gray scale from the beginning. I promise it will make you look at color a little differently! You don't have to make your next masterpiece, this is just for fun and the winner will be drawn randomly. For more information about this challenge, read the post below.

. . . therefore I am


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/13/2010. All rights reserved.
5 x 7 digital collage. Image credits: frame around the word therefore from Lorie Davison of scrapbookgraphics.com; side borders from Sande Krieger from Two Peas in a Bucket; and striped background from Lauren Bavin at digitalscrapbookplace; the rest from my own stash of images, some available at tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

These were the first gray scale pieces I made. They were calendar pages for the Diary Project 2011. As soon as the Diary goes on sale, I'll let you know when and where you can get your copy. Every page is created by a different artist.


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 8/2010. All rights reserved. All images from my own private stash or tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 8/2010. All rights reserved. All images from my own private stash or tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

Keep checking in here this week for more prizes and special posts!

Celebrating this week! Challenge! Prizes!

We are going to be celebrating my 2 year Blog-versary all week this week, with a new post everyday and lots of exciting things planned. Be sure to visit each day so you don't miss out on prize drawings and other celebratory posts!

Gray Area Challenge!
To kick things off, I'd like to offer a challenge! Recently, my friend Two Dresses suggested participating in the Diary Project 2011. Those participating had to make gray scale collages for their calendar pages, which intimidated me a great deal. But I gave it a go and found it quite a fun area to explore. I only had a couple of days to get mine done and didn't get to play with the idea much and would like to try again. Play with me! The challenge is this . . . make a gray scale collage sometime this week and watch for the Gray Area post on Saturday. Post your gray scale collage on your own blog that day and then share the link in a comment on the Gray Area post you'll find here. One lucky and randomly drawn participant will win a prize! And everyone can visit each other's work by clicking on the link you share. You can work in any size and any medium! You must post your work by the end of the day Saturday, September 18!

The prize will be . . . a free print of the winner's choice from my Etsy shop! The winner will be announced Sunday September 19.

Speaking of Etsy, I finally finished the last 3 of the 6 East is West sheets in the series. Here's a quick digital collage I made using some of the pieces . . .

Yellow


copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 9/12/10. All rights reserved.
This is a quick digital collage using images from my East is West series of collage sheets in my tumblefishstudio.etsy.com.

Here are the latest sheets . . .

East is West Going Geisha Image Set



East is West Etcetera Image Set



East is West Miscellany Image Set



New Flickr Group!
I started a new Flickr group tonight for folks to post art they've made using Tumble Fish Studio images. You can find it HERE.