Thursday Giveaway Part 1 – Lucky winner is...

DG !!!

Congrats, DG!! Let me be the 1st to “happy dance” on your behalf today! I will contact you in a few minutes & forward your info to Karen. I know will enjoy whichever sparklies you choose.

Many thanks to everyone who visited this week. This was the kind of week where your encouraging comments made life’s challenges easier to bear.

Also a very special thank you to those who commented on your favorite Will Oaks Studio pieces. Karen can now use this info to decide what to send to upcoming shows. Once her shows open, I’ll post the locations. Then any of you in the area can stop by the galleries & see her lovely work in person. And maybe go home with a new piece you “just couldn’t live without” (wink wink nudge nudge)

A heartfelt thank you to Karen Stahlecker! It is the generosity of talented sponsors like Karen who make Thursday Giveaways possible. If you haven’t had a chance yet, click on the Will Oaks Studio banners to visit her online shops. You will be impressed by the variety & beauty of her jewelry pieces. Also click HERE to check out her blog. She posts some fabulous nature photos regularly.


If you’d like to play again, pop back later today. I’ll have some great prizes (yes prizes with an “s”) from a brand new sponsor!

Serendipity

... the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely. - Wikipedia

The Kiss

It is present at all times, you just have to be open to possibilities. A key ingredient of art, life & love, serendipity can lead you to the most interesting people & places.

Often at the unlikeliest moments, when it seems all is lost.

Ship of Fools

I found this wonderful quote on wiki from John Barth's The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor, "--- you don't reach Serendib by plotting a course for it. You have to set out in good faith for elsewhere and lose your bearings… serendipitously." Sounds like a fun read.

One of my favorite words, Serendipity is also this week's Mix It Up With Melange challenge prompt. You can add your own piece or see what others have created by following the link & checking the comment section.

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Speaking of serendipity, perhaps you came here today looking for art or some capricious thoughts. You've also stumbled onto a chance to enter tomorrow's random drawing. Tomorrow's prize is a $20 gift certificate to Will Oaks Studio online jewelry shops. Just leave a comment before noon (EST) on 6/18 to enter. Click HERE for details as well as an interview with the jewelry designer, Karen Stahlecker. There are also photos of her gorgeous pieces and links to her online shops.

She also sent some cool pics that didn't make it into last Thursday's post. Been meaning to share them for days - sorry about that. It has been an especially challenging week

Here is her studio.

Will Oaks Studio (where real the magic happens)

I don't know know about you, but I always get a kick out of seeing people's work spaces. Feels like taking a little peek into their brains. Wow, if that were true then my brain looks like a hurricane just passed through!

I just love this next photo!

Karen and Dakota out on a photo shoot

If you get a moment, pop on over to the Will Oaks Studio blog. In addition to her lovely jewelry, she is always posting the most amazing nature photos.

Monday's Muse- "Beauty is everywhere..."

Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest
-Goethe


As life has been extra challenging lately,


I keep reminding myself of this.

Don't feel much like "talking" today but felt the need to share.


Hope all of you are well. And creative. And off to a good week.

If not, take a minute to look around


and really see what is before you.


This week I take my own advice and a with few deep breaths


also remember that This too shall pass


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Speaking of beauty, this week's Thursday Giveaway prize is a $20 merchandise certificate for WillOakStudio's gorgeous jewelry. To enter this random drawing just leave a comment on this blog before noon (EST) Thursday 6/18. For details about this great prize, the giveaway, and an interview Will Oak Studio's designer click HERE

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Also, I guess I need to state this again. Unless otherwise indicated, all images on my blog are my own. Please do not reproduce any of them with out my permission

Thursday Giveaway part 2 - You Are So Lucky!

New Thursday means a new prize, so let’s get rolling!

Remember Karen over at Will Oaks Studio?

You made her so happy with all of your generous comments, that she’s decided to play with us again. Woo Hoo! This week’s Thursday Giveaway prize is a $20 gift certificate for use in either her fabulous Etsy or Artfire shops. (More details at end of this post)

She’s also agreed to share with us a bit more about herself and her beautiful jewelry:

"I've been a working artist all of my adult life, with art degrees and all of that. The first few decades of my career (I got an early start AND I've seen a few birthdays...) were in sculpture--particularly sculpture that incorporated my hand made paper. I did large installations and dimensional wall pieces and worked with museums and galleries for exhibition. About 15 years ago, I became more serious about making "artists books" and these were also exhibited, are in private and public collections, and were much smaller in scale...but after almost 30 years of hand papermaking and using paper, my interests began to change.

I began to experiment with "wire, stones, glass and fiber" about 5 years ago because a friend turned me on to "beading" and, as a long time lover of jewelry (and collector and wearer!), I was very intrigued. You see, the past 6 years, I've been back on the "family farm" in my town of origin after many years of traveling and living all over the U.S. and Europe. It's been a challenging change for me as I began caring for my father whose health was failing, and ended up running our farm and seasonal campground. And taking over one of the bedrooms here which has evolved into my new studio.

I've discovered I just love pearls and tend towards natural materials including silver, copper and stones....but I also have an extreme fondness for Czech pressed glass, so these materials, often pulled together with fibers and leather, are my mainstays. I get a lot of my inspiration from nature and have "practiced" photography since I was a child...and so am very happy with the speed and ease now available with digital photography. Since I'm living in such a lovely place, and since I tend to plant things where ever I live, the gardens here have really been an incredible inspiration for me this Spring.


Although I work as an artist...I love engineering challenges and for me, wearable art pieces often give me plenty of those! I want my pieces to "wear well" and besides choice materials, I pride myself on careful and beautiful craftsmanship. I hope my pieces give the customer a lot of pleasure to look at and to wear and that they will serve well for many years to come. My work is available online at both my Etsy shop WillOaksStudio.etsy.com and at my ArtFire shop WillOaksStudio.artfire.com. Stop by any time! If you're curious about the campground, the gardens, the farm and the "messy business of making art behind the gallery views" do check my blog at willoaksstudio.blogspot.com "

Now how cool is that?

What Karen hasn’t mentioned here is that she has some shows coming up. She could really use some input on which of her pieces YOU like best, and why. If you’re willing to help, take a peek in her Etsy & Artfire shops. Then leave a comment either here or on her blog as to which pieces or styles you like the best. I must stress it is NOT necessary to do this to be entered this week’s random drawing. You are just giving Karen some feedback so she can choose which pieces to use in her upcoming shows.

To enter this Thursday Giveaway: Just leave any comment here at ArtSnark's between now & noon (EST) next Thursday June 18th. 1 random winner will be chosen.

Please be sure your contact info is correct. You don't have to leave an email, as long as I can track you down easily through blogger. If I do not hear from you within 10 days of your name being drawn, I'll go back through the list and choose an alternate winner.


Once again, this week’s fabulous prize is a $20 merchandise certificate, for use in WillOaksStudio’s Etsy or ArtFire shop, to be used as a credit towards any total purchase. This includes shipping charges. So if you want a totally free piece of jewelry, find the piece you like & then subtract the shipping charge from the $20. The remaining total is what you have to spend on a new piece of jewelry. Karen states that “I will refund $20, max, through PayPal after normal check out. BUT there's no cash value (and no cash refunds if the entire amount isn't used) AND it must be "spent" before September 30, 2009 or it expires. "

All images in this post are copyright of Will Oak Studio

Thursday Giveaway part 1 - Today's WInner

Random.org has spoken.

Thursday Giveaways new winner of the Canvas Remix book is
Cyber Hippie!

A hearty congrats, C.H.! I hope you enjoy the many projects you find in the book. Send us a pic of what you make & I’ll post it here for everyone to admire :D

Special Thanks to Jennifer at Trial and Error for donating this awesome prize! Psst...by the way, Jen is giving away another inspiring art book on her blog this month. Pop on over & take a chance. You could get lucky! If you have the time, please visit her etsy shop, BlueSkySunburn to see some of Jen’s colorful art.

Thanks to all who entered this random drawing. You make my Thursdays so much fun! Check back a little later today to see this week’s new giveaway prize. Here’s a hint: If you’ve been following this blog, you have seen this sponsor's wonderful pieces before….

RTT - Random Tortured, ehem, Tuesday Thoughts

That's silly, honey. People just don't get smaller.
-Louise to her husband, Scott in The Incredible Shrinking Man

Morning all. Sitting outside with a cup of java before it gets too hot today. Sounds great (& it is). BUT it is only happening because there is a giant spider the size of my hand (no exaggeration!) loose the studio & now I'm too chicken to go in there! I think I saw this movie way too many times as a kid

I was posting for the Melange Fly challenge around midnight & heard a crinkly sound behind me, turned around and Big Bertha was scuttling towards me across a Michael's bag that was on the floor! Don't call PETA on me, but I bashed it with a rolled up copy of Artists' Cafe. A good thick mag, it didn't even phase the critter. Tho my screams woke DH, he only mumbled something about Serves me right for my studio being a mess & when am I coming to bed. Yeah right. Make fun of the arachnophobe.

So, I did the only sensible thing...Used the laptop in the kitchen and continued jumping at every little noise in the house. Too twitchy to sleep I wandered around the house like a zombie. (Knew I could squeeze a zombie or 2 in here somewhere) Finally broke down & guzzled some nyquil (So not P.C. - do not try this at home, kiddies). Then went to the kid's room (furthest from the studio), shut myself in & jammed stuffed animals in space under the door. Eternally grateful for the new bunkbed, I climbed in with my book light & The City of Z. Nothing like a good read on a long long night. Especialy a read that includes scary critters rustling in the jungle & possibly eating civilized explorers. Actually, the Nyquil & adrenaline crash kicked in just as Percy Fawcett was boarding the boat.

So where's the random? Being guarded by THE BIG HAIRY SPIDER!

But while you're here, check this out:

Utrecht Art Supplies Juried Competition is taking entries until Sept 1.

Moonlight Journey has a free collage sheet to download HERE. If you lean towards the ethereal & gothic, take a look around the site & links. Both Becky & Lynn create some fab ACEOs & other mixed media art.

The iprintfromhome Tuesday Tweet Treat is a free 11 x 14 print of your work. This offer is only good until midnight tonight (EST). Click Here for details

And finally...drum roll please... I found this on Nut & Bee last week and it had RTT all over it! Nothing says I love you quite like this:

created by City the NZ Cupcake Queen

Don't forget to pop over to the Un-Mom & see what Keely is up to today: looks like Jane Austin knockoffs, wacky dreams & drinking wine before your dr. visit...All good stuff. While you are there grab a button & play along!

Before you go, remember to leave a comment here to enter the newest Thursday Giveaway. This week's random winner gets Alisa Burke's book Canvas Remix. Just make sure you do it before noon (EST) on Thursday (6/11). Click HERE for book & random drawing details.

Monday's Muse, Musical Monday & Melange Challenge

Today is just MM MM M good!

Night Sky Diver

It all started with the latest Melange art challenge. The prompt is FLY. That has me all over it. I have been obsessed with flight as far back as I can remember. If I wasn't up a tree, I was hiding in plain site on the roof. You'd be amazed how rarely adults look up. Or making kites. Or designing wings. Or ...you get the idea...

A Blustery Day

Al Stewart's Flying Sorcery (The Rhymes with Rooms version) has been stuck in my head for days. I tried to find a listen for you but couldn't locate anything longer than 30 seconds on Amazon. He covers all folks airborne from Icarus & DaVinci to Amy Johnson & The Red Baron. Click on the song title if you want to read the lyrics

Icarus Who?

Had a bazillion ideas in my head & half of them are actually doable. But the ole nemesis, Time, has been messing with my reality again. The challenge will be updated soon & I just can't let this one get away. So I'm just going to post some pieces you may have already seen here before. Sorry for the repetition.

Red's Escape

Basically, I've raided my etsy shop, ArtSnark, for this post.

Penny Farthing Dream

If you want a closer look just click on any pic

Spiral Diver

A little extra treat for Musical Monday, here's the opening sequence of The Last Exile. Song is Cloud Age Symphony by Shuntaro Okino. It has a really intriguing beginning.

It's a great story, by the way. Left me obsessed with the Immelmann Turn for a while. All I ever managed was this doodle though. I know it will be popping up again sometime soon.

Immelmann Turn

Final Thought:
Monday's Muse today addresses change. I firmly believe that change is good. My latest change has been the addition of Thursday Giveaways to this blog. It is just so much fun giving stuff away & the excitement the winners have is definitely contagious. This week's prize is Alisa Burke's Book Canvas Remix. Simply leave a comment on this blog before noon (EST) Thursday 6/11 to be entered in the random drawing. For details click HERE