The art of collage - Mod Podge + iphoneography = collagephoneography, a term I coined today to describe my latest creative idea.

Heh, does the ladybug symbolize anything?

Yes, ladybugs are a symbol of luck, protection and love in many cultures. If caught and then released, the Ladybug will faithfully fly to your true love and whisper your name in their ear. Upon hearing the Ladybug’s message your true love will hurry to your side.

That's wonderful.

i once released 50,000 ladybugs at a home depot. are there 50,000 true loves running to my side right now?

i mean, that would be cool, but i might not have time for that.  :)

50,000 true loves does sound unmanageable.

Why did you release so many ladybugs at a Home Depot?

haha!  unmanageable is the perfect word for 50,000 true loves!

my home depot story is wonderful:

i was shopping in the garden department and saw bags and bags of dead ladybugs for sale.  i commented to the lady working there on how sad it was that they died in those bags, and that the few survivors had no way out and would most likely not be bought.  she said, "i know. they've been here for weeks. it's been awful watching them die. but there's nothing i can do about it."  so i went to the manager and told him the situation.  a few minutes later, the lady found me and said, "we just got permission to open the bags and release the ladybugs! i have over a hundred bags! want to help?"

"want to? i'd LOVE to!"

so we spent a good half hour cutting open the bags and dumping the ladybugs on the plants.  turns out, they were not dead!  they were just in a near-death state, and when they realized they were out, they all ran to the water puddles, rehydrated, and flew off! there were 500 ladybugs in each bag... over 50,000 total.  everything was covered in little red dots.  it was a beautiful sight to behold!

i may have even shed a few tears.  :)

That is a great story, Emily! I wonder if it's common for near-dead ladybugs to be revivable like that?

yeah... i wonder!  man, were they thirsty!!  you should have seen them gathering around all the puddles in the concrete walkways: every puddle was perfectly outlined in red!

That sounds like it would make a wonderful picture.

I can also imagine thousands of them flying away.

i think i'll have to put it in a book someday!

I think so too, Emily.

More discussion of this:

http://pandawhale.com/post/41305/slow-motion-flying-ladybug-wings-gif

IF we had Game of Throne titles, there would be a "Queen Emily, Saviour of the Ladybugs"! 

hahahahaahahahahaha, geege!