The Friend Collage App

Muzy’s Friend Collage app is similar to the Collage app, but it allows you access to your friends’ photos on Facebook. Creating collages with your friends’ pictures is a social activity, something you’ll want to share. It’s easy to start. If you’re not connected to Facebook, it’ll ask you to connect so that you can get and use your friends’ photos.

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Making Simple Shapes: Star, Cloud, and Sun

Cloud, Star, Sun

Here are some more simple shapes that you can make on Muzy.

Star

What did your teacher stick on your paper when you got an A? A gold star, of course. Muzy is a gold-star kind of place. So let’s look at how to make a simple star. Read the rest of this entry »

Making Simple Shapes: Heart and Flower

Want “stickers” to put on your photograph? Why don’t you make your own custom one? After all, what is collage but a super-sticker machine? Here are some simple iconic objects that you can make in Muzy collage to stick anywhere, using a little shading and a few simple 2-dimensional shapes.

Heart

Let’s start at the “heart” of things, as it were. Hearts are everywhere. There are plenty of hearts on Muzy, but why not make your own? Personally, I prefer the swirling, free-style hearts that are off-center and tumbling over themselves toward something amazing… but let’s start with a balanced, geometric heart. Read the rest of this entry »

The Wonders of Muzy Collage

Reflections on the Nature of Life by 1918underwood. Click to view.

We’ve got tutorials for using the collage editor, but I wanted to post a video of the whole process of making a (fairly complex) collage that involves manipulating images, editing images, and (a little) drawing. So, I recorded a video the creation of this collage, “Reflections on the Nature of Life,” which started with a background made in Muzy’s photo effects editor for inspiration.

Thanks to all the people who contributed fantastic items to the making of this collage: qtgillie, Suntan, Tee, Miyuki, mafer, visK, smws, Cooperweb,  alynch66, leech, amagic2u, babsblueeyes, Gerbear, mike, jameegrisham, tiatodd, Riff,  and Meno. Read the rest of this entry »

Making an Alphabet

"The Alphabet" by qtgillie uses a block template as a starting place for creating each letter. Click to view.

Muzy has a number of alphabets. Making one is a large undertaking, since an alphabet has twenty-six letters, and more, if you’re feeling ambitious. That’s a lot of inspiration and perspiration. If you want to take on this task, here are some hints, tips, ideas, and inspiration.

What will your font look like?

There are many font decisions to make. Most Muzy fonts are specialty graphic fonts. On the other hand, smws’s amazing font renders a serif font beautifully in a comprehensive set of hand-drawn letters, numbers, and symbols. Read the rest of this entry »

Textures, Patterns, and Fabrics

concrete by smws. Click to view.

Muzy has acquired many textures, patterns, and fabrics that have exquisite uses. There is always room for more. Look around you: tabletops, chair backs, your favorite pair of jeans, the sand at the beach, the wall or ceiling or floor, the intertwined twigs of an empty winter tree… all of these things are fascinating textures and patterns that can be put to creative use on Muzy. You’ve got a digital camera somewhere, right? On your phone? How about a webcam? Find the intriguing patterns and textures around you, and send them to Muzy. Read the rest of this entry »

Color Palettes

Color palettes come in many styles… as many styles as there are artists’ imaginations. Luthien created this color wheel to demonstrate the relationships of colors in her post on The Color Wheel & Contrasts.

I thought I’d talk a little more about the palettes you can generate and use from the color wheel. Here are a few types of palettes to get your creative juices flowing. Read the rest of this entry »

Kaleidoscopes of Color in Muzy Collage

"Red Mandela" by Gerbear. Click to view.

If you’re looking for something truly cool to do in Muzy collage, here’s an idea inspired by and in honor of muzier Gerbear. Gerbear has made a few of these unique and fantastic kaleidoscope-like collages on Muzy. Though she is the master, I thought I’d try my hand at it, and let everyone know about my experience. A warning: this is my own personal take on the “kaleidoscope,” inspired by Gerbear. Muzy’s collaging capabilities lend themselves to creating kaleidoscope-type images, so this is a fun and challenging activity, with pretty impressive results. Read the rest of this entry »

How to Make Annoying Toaster Pets

"Sparky - The Annoying Toaster Pet" by Cooperweb. Click to view.

Is the era of the Annoying Toaster Pet on Muzy gone? Perish the thought. What, a new Muzier might recklessly ask, is an Annoying Toaster Pet? The name is self-explanatory. An Annoying Toaster Pet is a pet, such as a fish, bird, dog, or less identifiable small creature, that is (1) annoying and (2) a toaster.

One of the first Annoying Toaster Pets was Sparky, the Annoying Toaster Dog, but more soon followed. Muzy is filled with animals of the annoying toaster variety, including elephants, cats, fish, birds, and snakes. Read the rest of this entry »

Fun Activities: How to Make a Remix Activity

Activities make a great way to get people to use remix kits and see all the responses. "Tinker Toy Kit" by Cooperweb. Click to view.

With the advent of Muzy activities, remix activities or kits are now easier to make and participate in. Remix is a way to open up a collage with all the layers (or items) present, so that you can move, resize, raise and lower, and quite simply remix them.

A remix activity (or a remix kit) is intentionally put together for people to remix, by mixing up and manipulating the parts. By creating an activity on Muzy for your remix kit, people will be able to find the activity, easily go to remix, and see all the results in one area. Read the rest of this entry »