Featured Friday - Lauren Bergold!!!

Well you all are in for a TREAT today. If you're a new follower to my blog 1) you are awesome! and 2) Featured Friday is a once-a-month segment around these parts in which I highlight another crafty blogger who is a huge inspiration to me. 

Getting to know other bloggers has been a huge part of what drives me to create and without further ado, I will introduce this month's Featuree:

Lauren Bergold of ...all the GOOD blog names were taken...!

Firstly - how cool is her blog name?! It's just one of the MANY examples of Lauren's hilarious personality. 

I first stumbled upon Lauren's blog after viewing some of her amazing work on a design team challenge inspiration post. Her downright miraculous treatment of patterned paper leaves me incredulous every time I see one of her creations. Many of her designs include zero white space and patterns that I never would have thought to pair!

  

She's Artsy with a capital A - she frequently draws her own designs and goes beyond cardmaking with ATCs, fancy index cards, and mini-journals. 

But why let me tell you all about Lauren, when she can tell you about all about herself? Here are 7 things you should know about Lauren:

1. How did you get your crafty start?

I'm pretty convinced there's a "craft gene" and I was born with it. My mom and her sister are crafty, their dad was very creative, my nieces and nephew love to draw and color and make stuff... it's just a thing we all do!

2. What is your favorite "style" of crafting?

Collage has always been my favorite medium and I'm definitely a "more is more" kind of gal, lol! I love lots of layers, pattern-on-pattern, vintage ingredients, found objects and loads of texture. I really admire people who can do "clean and simple" but alas, I'm not one of them.

3. If you could be any color, which would it be and why?

Can I be a rainbow? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease??!?!! If not, I guess I'll be hot pink, to cheer everyone up! :)

4. What is the best craft organization tip you have?

Think about how you personally work best and think realistically about how much stuff you actually have. We all love pretty containers but let's face it, the plain sturdy ones tend to hold more and last longer. I store as many things as possible vertically (like a book shelf), so I can browse and access individual items easily; if I have to dig through a *pile* the stuff on the bottom just won't get used. I also keep a "basic kit" of things i use constantly (scissors, adhesives, pens)next to my prime workspace, and a duplicate set in my travel bag, because i was constantly forgetting at least one vital thing when teaching or taking classes.

5. What are your favorite card making/scrapbooking challenges to participate in?

Well Shopping Our Stash and Jingle Belles are both very near and dear to my heart, obviously! I also love the Cardabilities sketches. Fusion Card Challenge always inspires. The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge is pretty awesome... and I'm not just saying that because Leslie is my friend and I designed the graphic for it, lol! For the last three summers, I've participated in The Index Card a Day project (aka ICAD) via the Daisy Yellow Art blog, which is not a challenge in the traditional sense, but which I find hugely helpful for recharging mojo and trying new things.

6. What is your least favorite crafting supply?

Hmmmmmm... that's really tough! I don't think there's any particular category I dislike. I suppose I'd have to say anything that's badly designed or doesn't work right. Punches that line up poorly, dies which don't release and unreliable adhesives don't last long at my house. Life's too short!

7. What is your best advice for new crafty bloggers?

Try not to get too caught up in the "comparison" game. There will always be people who are a skill-level above and below you, this is true of EVERYTHING in life. Make things you love, keep practicing, learn from your mistakes and especially...HAVE FUN!!!

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I think her last piece of advice - to have fun! - is something that we both really agree on. Blogging and crafting is supposed to be a blast! 

Now here's the part of Featured Friday that I REALLY love. We take one of Lauren's old designs and CASE it! I distinctly remember seeing the card I chose to case for the first time and I am pretty sure I stared at it for a good long while. 

The Original: 

Thud <--- sound of my jaw dropping. Right?!?! If any card is a work of art it would be THIS ONE!! It's made with tons of paper folded pieces and patterned paper. Lauren has a tutorial on her blog, if you'd like more details about how she pulled this off. 

Lauren's CASE

Lauren opted to go for a travel-themed card and this time around she used old falling apart maps and atlases to fuel her design. She folded all the pieces from the books and maps and repurposed them into something absolutely stunning!!

My CASE

To be perfectly honest... I feel a little silly. There's no patterns on here! Doh! I started folding bits of white paper just to practice with and then I never stopped! I gessoed the whole bit to make the white paper firmer and give it more of a distressed paper mache feel and then I added a heavy layer of gelatos and blended all together. Lastly, I sponged a layer of Black Soot Distress Inks to really bring out the corners of my folded triangles. So, no patterns - but hey I'll just have to make another gorgeous card like this. 

I'm going to send this baby over to play along in the following great challenges: 
Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark
613 Ave Create - Anything Goes with Flag option

Thank you for popping by - Lauren has an extra card to share with you on >>>her blog<<< using this technique, in addition to that tutorial I mentioned earlier so you should definitely go say HELLO! and help to make her day EXTRA SPECIAL. That's what this bloggy community is all about - right?!

Pony CASEpress and Mum's the Word

Although I grew up on a small hobby farm with all manner of animals, my parents never let me have a horse because they were too expensive and you couldn't eat them. :)

Stay with me.

I'm happy now to be a part of the Pony CASEpress over at Mynn Kitchen's place, because now I sort of have a horse... right? My cards are galloping all over the globe. What is the Pony CASEpress? I'm glad you asked.

If you sign up to participate in the PC, you'll be put in line. When your turn comes, you're given a photo of the card you're to CASE and then you send said card on to the next person on the list. It's a never ending chain of happy mail!

I was CASEing this awesome card from the fantastic Karen Bourke:

Aren't those layers and layers of gorgeousness just amazing?!

While staring at this picture, I was struck with the idea to use some of the vintage music sheets that were given to me by my bloggy friend, Betty Keefe.

Betty, being a girl after my own heart, collects random things to use in her craft-making and when we visited earlier this month, she gave me a pile of vintage papers to use in my craft making.

Here is my resulting creation. I layered up bits of the sheet music and embossed a bird (from a Hampton Art stamp and stencil set) and colored it in with some blue shades of Spectrum Noir Markers.

I'm going to enter it into these great challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - ATG
Addicted to Stamps - Girly but not pink

I almost kept this for myself because I liked it so much, but it went over the pond to Karen and now I get to expectantly await my creation. :) Anyone can sign up for the Pony CASEpress - so feel free to check it out!

I'm going to share a second card with you today because I don't want to miss out on the Curtain Call Challenge. I fell in love with the inspiration image!

My aunt and I were crafting together and she had this great Stamping Up mum set that just reminded me soooo much of the inspiration image. I just had to ink it up!

I've told you all about the oatmeal lids I've been hoarding.. erm... I mean saving. I made a shaker out of them with a winter card, but I decided to do it here, too! I used some Verve sequins and paired some sparkles with the vibrant pinks and oranges. It was hard to get a clear shot through the lid - oh well!

This card is actually going to my admin assistant because tomorrow is National Administrative Assistant's Day here in the U.S.

I'm also sending it over to the following challenges:
Virginia's View - Layers and Dimension
613 Avenue Create - ATG with Diamonds (clear bling)
Just Add Ink - Sequins