Enter to win 500 custom printed business cards + Free Shipping

Hey there. How are you today?

It has been a strange week here, but I'm trying to get back on track.

We've got a new giveaway from those generous folks over at Uprinting.com. They are donating 500 custom printed business cards to 1 lucky winner - will it be you?


Prize details:
500 Business Cards for One (1) Winner
Sizes: 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 3”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.5 x 3.5” (skinny card)
Paper: 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock
Specifications: Full Color Both Sides; Offset Press; 3 Business Day Printing
Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only

To enter this random drawing, leave a comment stating what you'd like to promote with your new business cards. Please leave your contact info if it isn't in your blog profile. You have until 1 a.m. on March 10th to enter. 1 winner will be randomly selected later that day.

Uprinting.com is a great company - very easy to work with. And it is really convenient to order business cards online. I've used Uprinting for several projects & have been very happy with the results. I have to mention here that they are giving me a set of business cards for hosting this giveaway. I just love these guys!

If you haven't seen them yet, here are links to some of the items I've had printed online:

Business cards
Blank greeting cards
Gallery wrapped canvas

So, leave a comment. Enter this great giveaway. And start designing those cards - you may just be the lucky winner.

thanks for your patience

Hey there. Giveaway delayed 1 more day. Cleaning up the office flood is taking longer than I'd expected.And I got food poisoning....and broke my toe.

....yeah, it has been a challenging week

Too tuckered to focus. Off to make dinner & hang out with my little guy. Many thanks for your patience! Please stop back tomorrow -

I really will post Uprinting's new random drawing, I promise.

Oh & if you're looking for something to read, there's always Random Tuesday Thoughts.

Click the button to visit The Un Mom. She & her linky followers are just bursting with controlled chaos today

Musical Monday & OWOH winner picked

Good Morning - feeling awake yet?

Me? Not so much....so here's my music today

This version is a bit quieter than the one on my Racket in the Attic CD which I play much to loud some mornings. It is not quite doing it for me today tho' - might have put on some espresso & switch over to my Monday Morning standby, Tank from The Seatbelts. I know I've mentioned this 1 before but if you haven't heard it yet, click through & turn up the volume.


Looking for more Monday music? Visit Diane over at Good Mourning Glory. Just click the button & get some linky. Then add your own if you want to share.

Topic Change:

Today 1 random winner of the One World One Heart Giveaway takes home my original drawing/painting Climbing.

climbing by Stacey Merrill

Many thanks to all who entered the One World One Heart Give away! In case you missed it, OWOH was started 4 years ago by the blogger A Whimsical Bohemian. The idea was to get a bunch of bloggers doing a giveaway on the same day, not so much for the free stuff - more like a kindred spirit kind of thing. This year 1,088 OWOH bloggers from 40 countries are giving something away today. Kinda cool. If you'd like to see a linkable list of participants, click here.

So, with the help of Random.org,


Today's winner is Top Floor Treasures!
Congrats !

And thanks again to all who participated in the OWOH giveaway as well as those who let comments. If you have a blog & want to play along next year, keep an eye out for A Whimsical Bohemain's announcement in early 2011

By the way, here is a link to the Thursday Giveaway ending 2/25, a fantastic bracelet from Kim Smith

Also, if you pop back later today I'll be announcing a new random drawing from those fantastic folks over at Uprinting.com. Right now I've gotta get some coffee ....

NOTE 7PM: Spent the last few hours dealing with a flooded office. Not my studio, the day job office. And everyone else is at the International Toy Fair this week. Sigh. well it needed a deep clean anyway. I feel like the snowmen in this post so I will wait until tomorrow to introduce the new Uprinting.com giveaway. Thank you for your patience

IF - Adrift

A Blustery Day

I was renewing this piece today over at my etsy shop & it seems perfect for the Illustration Friday prompt, Adrift. If you have a few minutes visit I.F. & see what others have posted. Or better yet, add 1 of your own! If you do, please let me know - I'd love to see your interpretation.

A reminder - 2 random drawings later this month. Click for details & to enter:

On 2/15 one random winner gets my artwork, Climbing (which was inspired by I.F. by the way)

On 2/25 one lucky person wins Kim Smith's Over The Rainbow bracelet. To enter this drawing simply comment anywhere on this blog before then.

Hope you have creative weekend!

New Feature & Prize: Kim Smith + her Over The Rainbow Bracelet

Over The Rainbow bracelet made by Kim Smith
for sale at Hearts For Haiti

I Love This Bracelet!

Last month while visiting the nonprofit etsy shop Hearts for Haiti I stumbled over this colorful bracelet. It is made of memory wire, plated glass pearls & seed beads by Kim Smith from Kimmsmith.etsy.com. Beautiful piece, great price & free shipping - I decided to make it mine. Plus I loved knowing my $ is going to a good cause.


All money spent at Hearts For Haiti is donated to Doctors Without Borders once etsy & paypal fees are removed. As of 2/8 Hearts For Haiti has raised $29,079.92 (after fees) If you have some time, please check out this fantastic shop. A variety of items have been donated by hundreds of Etsy sellers and all shipping is free.

I love my new bracelet (it is even prettier in person) and decided to share. I contacted Kim and she made another for Thursday's Giveaways. I then purchased that bracelet from Hearts For Haiti & will give it to one very lucky winner.

To enter the random drawing for 1 Over The Rainbow memory wire bracelet, leave a comment on this blog before 1 a.m. on 2/25. That day 1 winner will be selected using random.org. The bracelet is one size fits all. This drawing is open worldwide & prize ships free. Make sure you have contact info in your profile or comment.

Kim has also popped in today to share some of her colorful thoughts and photos. Kim lives in the UK, where she creates the vibrant bracelets that she sells in her Etsy shop.

Sweet Sakura beaded charm bracelet by Kim Smith

Thanks so much for dropping by, Kim. What would you like to share about yourself today?

KS: I'm a beadaholic! I am married to Ian who is so supportive and praises my work always. I have 2 boys Kristian 17 and Jamie 8 who are football mad! I sing to myself all day whilst beading.

Just Pearls Memory Wire Wrap Bracelet by Kim Smith

KS: I love walking to gather inspiration, watching my boys play football, lunching with friends and spending time with my supportive family. I love all sorts of crafting and I'm constantly amazed by the beautiful things that people make. I love anything that is different. I dream beads and constantly come up with new colour mixes so my journal is always to hand.

Tilly Floral Earrings by Kim Smith

When did you 1st become interested in beading?

KS: My first encounter with beads was when I was about 5, my grandad gave me a big bag of coloured beads, I strolled through the park on the way home happily with my mom when a huge dog bounded playfully at me, I lost every single bead and cried all the way home!

Mermaid's Garden Beaded Necklace by Kim Smith

KS: I have been beading now since 2007. My sister used to make jewelry and I always admired her; she tried to show me how it was done one day, it was fiddly and needed patience, it just wasn't for me even though I had always loved beads since childhood! I was made redundant from my job quite a few months later and had lots of spare time on my hands and was very bored so I decided to have a play but kind of doing it my way, from that day on I became addicted!

Lemon Lush Charm Bracelet by Kim Smith

How do you choose the colors & patterns for each design?

KS: My inspiration for colours can come from the most bizarre things such as a colour combinations on a shower gel bottle, wallpaper, fabric, a pattern on a dress or a gift box.

Monet Water Lillies beaded charm bracelet by Kim Smith

KS: My main inspiration though is my garden and childhood memories of the hours I spent in my grandparents award winning garden full of flowers and orchards! My nan and my mom taught me every craft I know and always inspired me! The inspiring feedback from customers and other artists makes me want to keep doing what I'm doing and I love every moment of it.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, Kim. It has been great fun! Also thank you for donating your fantastic Over The Rainbow bracelets to both Hearts For Haiti and the new Thursday Giveaway.

Many thanks to all who take the time to enjoy this visit with Kim today. Please leave a comment to enter the random drawing. If you simply can't wait to get an Over The Rainbow bracelet of your own, click this link to visit Hearts for Haiti where there is another one for sale. They are also available in Kim's Etsy shop, Kimmsmith, along with an assortment of other colorful & affordable jewelry pieces.

We Have A Winner of the Curious Hearts Papers from Stton

Welcome back to another Thursday Giveaway!

2 weeks ago I announced the random drawing for 5 Curious Hearts Papers from sponsor stton.etsy.com. To see the original post showing prize photos click here.

Everyone who left a comment on my blog since then was entered into this morning's random drawing. And the lucky winner is

Sandy from sandy-meinewelt.blogspot.com
Congratulations Sandy!
I will contact you today with directions for claiming your prize.

Many thanks to Teresa from stton on etsy for donating this fantastic prize. She continues to donate similar items to the non-profit Etsy shop Hearts For Haiti.

If you would like to purchase a set of these Curious Hearts Papers, visit Hearts For Haiti. Then put into search "5 Curious Heart Paper Goods". If nothing comes up, that just means they need to relist. Simply click Contact Hearts for Haiti on the right side of their shop and ask them to relist for you. Paste this link into your request: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=24276527

Once the volunteers at this collaborative shop relist the papers, you can purchase. At $3 plus free shipping you can't beat the price! After the etsy & paypal fees are removed, the remaining $ goes to Doctors Without Borders. You get to shop and donate to a worthy cause, so it is a win/win.

By the way, thanks to all who stopped in & left a comment. I am running another giveaway which ends 2/15. The prize is one of my original drawings. Click Here For Details & to enter.

If you're wandering the blog-o-sphere later today, please stop back here as I will be announcing the new Thursday Giveaway prize. Thanks for popping by!

Labyrinth Of Love

Labyrinth of Love crop

Labyrinth : a complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy to get lost - sounds a bit like Love to me...

Finally got a chance to finish this piece started 3 weeks ago. It was inspired by Mixed Media Monday's prompt Games People Play, though I suppose it also fits this week's prompt - Romance.

By the way, thanks to the good sports who tried to guess what I was up to with the work in progress photos. (I always love to play)

So here's the final. It's an upcycled maze game, measures 5.5" sq x 1" h. Your goal is to get the metal ball from 1 heart to the other without dropping it in the holes.

This one was a lot of fun to make. I disassembled, sanded & stained the original broken toy. Then securely added the mixed media collage & walls.

It is available at ArtSnark.etsy.com - just click on any photo to visit listing. This piece is also customizable. I can add a message +/or hanging hardware to the back. There is also a flexible plastic front piece which can be added or not, your choice. Any questions, just let me know.

By the way today's Mix It Up With Melange prompt is Love Letters. Had it been Love Notes, I 'd have been covered (wink wink). Click on the prompt to see what others are up to or to add your own mixed media love letter.

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By the way, last chance to enter stton's giveaway of 5 faux vintage Curious Hearts paper goods. Just leave a comment on this blog before 1 a.m. (EST) on 2/11. Click Here For Details. 1 random winner will be announced tomorrow.

Also On 2/15 hundreds of bloggers participating in the One World One Heart giveaway will be picking random winners. I'm giving away my Original Watercolor Climbing. Click Here for Details