red_satin_doll

But first a word from our newest sponsor: I've joined the fray of

whedon_elite for the first time with Challenge 107, "Cool Colors" and voting is up NOW for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Best Crop and Best Color. Thank you

rua1412 for encouraging me to overcome my doubts and fears and enter this one. Membership to the comm is now open to anyone, as entrants or voters. Vote for the best entries and then check out Challenge 108 "Shield Pass it on".

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THANK YOU to all the voters who honored my icons in Challenge 37 of

slayerstillness with 2nd Place (my first at SS!), 3rd Place (tied with

rua1412), Best Crop and Most Creative; and THANK YOU

starry_night for one of two Mod's Choice Awards to one of my favorite entries this round. WOW - just WOW. What a wonderful gift and way to wrap up my year (as an artist) on a high note. Congratulations to

rua1412 and

comlodge for your awards, your wonderful entries and for keeping me guessing (unsuccessfully) who the other entrants were! Check out

comlodge's meta-ish post with her Buffy icons and thoughtful write-up.

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THANK YOU to the thoughtful anonymous donor who gifted me with spaces for 70 more userpics for the next two months! I have no idea who gave the gift; this fandom is full of generous people like I've never experienced anywhere else. I'm a little reluctant to fill up those spaces (and become too accustomed to them) for two months but gosh it is tempting - I could certainly fill them in no time. There are plenty of other artists whose work I've yet to add to my "personal gallery". Speaking of other artists and adding to my collection:

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Awards banner by starry_night. Click for full-size:

THANK YOU

starry_night for the wonderful

btvsats20in20 Round 5 awards banners for the folks who requested them: myself,

tempertemper (here),

0ncer (here); and very special memorial banner for our friend Megan (

pickamix) of her entire set as well as her top three icons, as thoughtfully requested by her friend Lenore.

I love when banner-makers personalize banners for each winner as Starry has done here, with different backgrounds and color schemes - a wonderful, thoughtful touch. I always get a little thrill over receiving banners - not just a frame but another work of art thoughtfully created to make my icons look better than they did originally. Seeing the top-vote getters of my Round 5 set together really emphasizes what they have in common and how strong they are together. And in this instance, the winter blue snowflake pattern not only coordinates with the background of my Dead Things icon, it brings out the "coldness" of the other two as well; each icon captures a "frozen moment" for Buffy and Willow, the calm that precedes storms of fear, sadness, anger and passion awash in hot tears.

But it's the banners for Megan, especially her top three icons, that really got to me, not just because I've avoided looking at this set for a few weeks. It's been too difficult to see them again and think about the last time we worked together, how hard she worked on these; about the hope for more such collaborations and the conversations left unfinished. (And...here comes the tears once again; not quite a "storm" perhaps but a solid cleansing cry nonetheless.)

I think she would have loved the rich, royal purple background and the very mysterious patterns on it that suggest all sorts of things that might be erotic, pleasurable and/or somewhat dangerous - not a bit unlike the lady herself.

She's not here to enjoy them and express appreciation but we can do so on her behalf. Brava.