Monday's Muse ( & Music) - One World One Heart

Welcome to the 3rd annual
One World One Heart giveaway event!

Started by A Whimsical Bohemian "to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet ", 911 bloggers participated in OWOH last year. How cool is that? I heard about this event from Marybeth over at Blogmania & knew right away that I wanted to play along. Do you want to play to??

Before we begin, it is also Musical Monday & this tune by Yusuf seems to fit today's theme.

What are you listening to today? Click MM button to visit Diane of GoodMourningGlory, the home base of Musical Monday. Leave your linky & share some tunes. Then check out what others have posted

Now, back to One World One Heart - Here's how it works:

Between now & February 15, bloggers worldwide will be flashing their ticket to Magic Carpet Ride. Whenever you see the top image on somebody's sidebar, they are playing along. Everyone showing a "ticket" is hosting a OWOH giveaway. All winners will be randomly selected on Feb. 15th.

How do you enter?

It's easy. Just leave a comment on someone's OHOW blogpost and you will be entered in that blog's random drawing. Be sure to leave some contact info if it isn't in your profile. Contest is open worldwide with free shipping.

What Am I Giving Away?

"You cannot learn to fly by flying. First you must learn to walk, and to run, and to climb, and to dance."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

1 lucky winner will receive this original watercolor piece, Climbing. It is a mix of drawing & painting and was originally created for IllustrationFriday.com. The corners of the paper have been cut out & lightly embossed for a Victorian filigree effect. Climbing measures 5" sq. and I'll toss in a custom cut acid free mat for the winner.

Only comments left on this post will qualify for my random drawing. Your comment must be left before 1 a.m. (EST) on 2/15.

So c'mon play along with us!

Looking for more OWOH 2010 blogs to comment on? Click here for a list of participants (found on the right margin of A Whimsical Bohemian's blog).

Want to post your own giveaway? Here are the directions to sign up.

That's it for today - hope you have a fantastic week!

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Added 2/28: I am also hosting separate giveaway for Etsy seller stton. That random drawing will occur on 2/11. Click Here For Details and photos of prize.

Some end of the year thoughts

Hey all. How are things with you?

Been busy with family & enjoying a break from many things (which accidentally included blogging, etsy & other online stuff).

No studio tour this weekend but will be back to normal next weekend....well, as normal as it gets around here!

Hope everyone is having a grand end to 2009! I'd like to share a couple of thought provoking blog posts today. Worth a peek if you have some time, just click on images or links. If you don't have much time, please at least visit the 1st, "It All Depends On The Viewpoint". A few minutes & very little effort will go a long way here...

It All Depends On The Viewpoint - WhatIShouldHaveSaid.blogspot.com

Broken But Not Lost - Sweetrepeats.blogspot.com

MAZE - WizardofOtin.blogspot.com

Surprisingly Resilient - ManicMenagerie.blogspot.com

There are many many more intriguing End of the year, thought provoking, inspirational posts "out there" this week. What are some of your favorites??

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By the way, I'm hosting 2 random drawings this week. On the 31st 1 lucky winner gets a copy of Fantayza's Diary 2010 & on Jan 1st, one person will win 100 custom printed postcards from Uprinting.com. Click highlighted links for details & to enter.

RTT - Current Obsessions

Bit of a Drive By Posting today - A Random Tuesday Tumble

Click on the purple button, grab 1 & post some Random Thoughts of your own today. Here's a quick peek at my current fixations:

Sondre Lerche's Heartbeat Radio - I usually like a random mix of music in the A.M. but I'm loving the album too much to change it

The Black Spot Books on Etsy. Everything about this shop is perfect. I am in awe of the talented Margaux Kent. While I am seriously tempted by the Illness Apprentice print series, the little books are freaking amazing too.

photo from The Black Spot Books

Guess what?! You you can try to win 1 over at the Olive Bites Blog. Many thanks M.M.E. Stuttering for pointing out this great giveaway!

Smitten Kitchen's bread recipes - big hit at my house the last few weeks

tique - excellent interviews

The art of Justin Vining & Shawn Stucky - different styles but both really know how to work color & line! (Thanks for the heads up, Nate)

Queen Bee has posted all the art-tags she got from the swap. Now she'll distribute them. Here are mine:

tags I made - photo courtesy of QueenBe

Click here to see the other sets

Fabric!! - 2 Etsy Team challenges (Melange & Steam) this month require use of Fabric. I've too many ideas- need to settle on something soon & get started. I keep missing the SteamTeam deadlines & they have some of the coolest challenges.

Gotta get moving today. Be sure to pop by & visit the Archangel of Anarchy, The Un Mom, & find out why you really really don't want to drink & drive - It is soooo not what you think!

Before you go leave a comment here at ArtSnark's Artifacts & I'll enter you in this Thursday's random drawing for some craft supplies. Click here for list & photo of items in prize package

RTT - Feeling Linky?

I love Random Thoughts Tuesday - it is like spring cleaning for your brain!

1st day of kindergarten for my son. It is eerily quite around here....

My furry brain isn't used to getting up early , so I'm just gonna share cool stuff from around the blog-o-sphere today....

Someone sent me this link last week: How 6 people accidentally found a fortune. My fave is #4. What's yours?

Lili's Lair recently featured goth model Wednesday Mourning. I just love the way her site opens.

Today is the last day to enter the Personalized Blog Background giveaway from Art By Canace.

Had 2 Etsy sales out of the blue last week. Has been eerily quiet in the ArtSnark shop lately so it came as a pleasant shock.... course I turned right around & blew any profit on more art!

As a big fan of Captain D. & Lego, I'm totally digging the Us & Them blog today

A few sites I'm into lately (may be repeating myself here, if so sorry....):

museumofbadart
propnomicon
teako
alchemywebsite
fantastic.library.cornell.edu

Final note today, just leave a comment to enter Thursday's Giveaway this week. The prize is a print from Felicia Kramer's Liquid series. Click here for contest/prize details & to read her interview.

Looking for more random? Head over to The Un Mom for some winkers, AC/DC & pretzel talk.

RTT - Random Thoughts & Crafty Coupon Codes

So, How's your Tuesday? Usual madness around here & Random Tuesday Thoughts is such a great way to blow off some steam! If you're only interested in the online coupon codes I picked up at this weekend's craft show, scroll to the end of this post. On the other hand if you're a fan of chaos then come on down!

Brass Goggles, always good for redirecting my obsessions, recently turned me onto David Malki's wondermark.com - a must for comics +/or steampunk fans

Many thanks to Cephalopod Tea Party for the North 40 link - Check it out if you are a Lovecraft fan

Hmmm...accidental comics theme here. Just 1 more I promise: A shout out to Mike of The Mental Kavity - thanks for bringing Warren Ellis' Frankenstein's Womb to my attention! You can read a few sneak peek pages of this graphic novella over at Mike's blog HERE

Back to the random- I love the cards over at OhSoSassyGreetings on Etsy! This one cracked me up today

Girlfriend you're better off WITHOUT him by Kathy

Have you visited Maureen Tillman's shop on etsy? I love her artwork. She's got a great eye for collage & color!

Portals by Maureen Tillman

and a wonderful sense of whimsy. Check out this confident little fairy

Dreamers... by Maureen Tillman

Maureen, Kathy & many other members of the Etsy Melange (Mixed Media + collage) Team are having a 15% off sale this weekend. For links to the participating Etsy shops, CLICK HERE and open the comments. More members are signing on each day.

Yep, I'm there too. In fact I am having a sale of 15% off everything in all 3 of my etsy shops: ArtSnark, ColorTheSky & SteamDreams all weekend. I'll happily combine shipping as needed. Plus I will be adding some new items over the next few days.

Speaking of Etsy, have you ever seen handmademovement.com? These guys are too cool. They pick shops that have few to no sales, announce the name on their site with a date & time. Then the Sneak Attack begins. People shop the scheduled seller at the same time - giving them a much needed boost. Seems like a really fun idea.

Oh, before I forget, The Queen Of Cups Runneth Over is having a random drawing for some great stuff. Just click here for pics & rules

IF you haven't entered my Thursday Giveaway random drawing yet, please do! Just leave a comment here before noon (EST) on 8/6 to enter. Prize is a tote bag filled with crafty goodies - you can see pics & list of items HERE

OK, now on with the CODES! These are a few online coupon codes from various vendors at the CHA Craft Supershow. Text here is exactly as it appears on coupons. I've not used most of these products so not endorsing, just passing on the info.

15% off your 1st www.dewberrycrafts.com order - Promo Code CHADISC - no expiration date on my coupon

Free Shipping with purchases over $100 - www.premieryarns.com - no expiration date on my coupon

Save 20% on any order of $50 or more when you visit any of the following websites: www.TheLeisureBoutique.com, www.CrochetSoiree.com, www.LeisureArts.com, www.FreePetProjects.com - Enter Code FAMILY4-no expiration date on my coupon

Sign up for the www.TwoPeasInABucket.com newsletter and receive a monthly coupon code to receive FREE SHIPPING on orders of physical product totalling $50 or more-- no expiration date on my coupon

Visit www.gluearts.com and use the promotion code BOGO99 (in your online shopping basket) to take advantage of this fabulous BOGO sale, Buy One Get One Free ! Hurry offer ends August 31, 2009! This offer can not be combined with any other offer or discount.

My Note:above disclaimer is on each coupon (1 coupon for each item) There are 8 coupons as follows:BOGO Glue Glider Max continuois adhesive applicator, BOGO Glue GLider Max refill cartridge, BOGO Adhesive Squares 300 & 1000 count rolls, WallArt Decor Adhesive both sheet sizes vinyl & new tape, BOGO Vellum totally transparent Adhesive film, BOGO Ribbon Adhesive, BOGO Crop & Glue non liqued instant mounting adhesive, BOGO Glue Rings

Phew! Think I got em all. If I come across anymore I'll let you know. In the meantime if you are looking for some truly random madness, pop over to The Un Mom & see what Keely and her fellow fans of chaos are up to today

Shoot that RTT all the way to the moon!

Welcome back to Random Thoughts Tuesday!

Grab a button & play along - it's a great excuse to siphon off some of that chatter in your head

Slacker that I am, I missed Musical Monday

From my Man, I really need to wake up today mix (best when played too loud)

Anyone remember The Steven Banks Show? Funny Man. Now & then I've wondered whatever happened to him. Didn't realize he's been writing for Nickelodeon all this time. Just read today that he's collaborated with Pilobolus (<- warning there's some tasteful skin at this link, don't want to offend anyone. Ooh that sounds sooo woosie...) on their newest "shadow work", Do*id. Sounds very cool & a far cry from the howling dog & bunny shadow-casting I learned at summer camp a million years ago. CLICK HERE sample of their commercial work from 2007

I'm sure you've heard by now that today is the 40th anniversary of the 1st man on the moon. The NY Times Science Times section is devoted to it today. The article on the non-believers is fascinating. Can you tell I read the paper instead of working this morning ? Shh...don't tell

I need more coffee

I remember reading a Ray Bradbury short story 25+ years ago where some astronauts (one may have been named Hitchcock) accidentally see the dark side of the moon ( or some planet -I don't recall) & it is full of scaffolding. Turns out the whole thing was fake. Can't remember the title to save my life - anyone? anyone?

Remember all those great Twilight Zone episodes when misc. astronauts got totally messed with? Those were awesome.

Tom Banwell continues to rock my world with this tentacle tutorial !

I am totally digging these blogs lately: propnomicon , Sandra Evertson, Us & Them

And of course The Un Mom, Grand Poobah of RTT.

OH, and what would you do with 250 custom stickers from Uprinting.com? Leave your answer in the comments to be entered in Thursday's random drawing. For sponsor's disclaimers & details CLICK HERE

Is it Thursday already ?!?

Too busy this week so taking a break from the giveaways. Got 2 looming deadlines, a messy house, a studio that is beyond a disaster & weekend guests coming. SO what am I doing? Totally slacking off, of course.

While picking up some stray papers, I drifted into doodling fellow Etsy SteamTeam member, Wenchie. I hope she doesn't mind the liberties I'm taking with her pic. She has such a great Grinchie "Don't you trust me?" kind of thing going on.....

Those guys over at the Steam Team are so much fun. Cool costumes, fun gizmos & so much creativity it is truly mindblowing. They've got some great blog's too. Totus Mel's Wunderkammer, Cephalopod Teaparty, and Choklit Chanteuse just to name a few. And I am thoroughly hooked on Tom Banwell's blog. Not only are his leather helmets & misc. gizmos just amazing, but he lets you tag along with great WIP posts. By the way, Tom 's shop was featured in Etsy's Storque today - congrats!

Looks like the Twilight Book/Art club pics aren't up yet, so I'll just give another sneak peak of mine. Here I've started coloring. Unfortunately I used really crappy office paper, so I limited myself a bit. Wanted to go with either some bold flat markers or some nice blended watercolor pencil but the paper was too thin to take any moisture without buckling. I am notorious for starting a doodle on whatever is on hand only to realize too late it is turning into something.

Again, girl is inspired by Oblivion Stock over at DeviantArt. And Bella Swan. And Red Riding Hood, of course. She just keeps popping into all I do lately

No random giveaway this week. Too much going on. Leave a comment before noon (EST) July 9th to enter in next week's giveaway. 1 lucky winner will get a customized art box. For giveaway details & pics of a similar box I made last month CLICK HERE.

You Can't Escape .... Random Tuesday Thoughts

But this guy could
Happy Birthday Harry Houdini!

If you need a little escapist fun today let's get you started:

Harry's My Space page is "authorized by...the grand nephew..."
Houdini tribute If you're at work be sure to mute - the music's a bit of a giveaway that you're slacking off. Course if you're still at work you've already got this covered,yeah?

Den Mother of Random Tuesday, Keely The Un Mom, has rampant robots (+ a lovely Haiku) on her blog today. (C'mon....click thru, grab a button & play along....you know you want too....) So Keely, this pic I found last night on The Great Harry Houdini is for you


Had your dose of vitamin Z today? Check out this new zombie piece by digital artist Barbara Moustafa. She's having a bit o' fun with the latest image prompt from Art On The Darkside , one of my favorite challenge sites.

Mike over at The Mental Kavity features the seriously cool skateboard art of etsian alexxxcastaneda today. Had to nick the image & share....forgive me, Mike?Click the pic to visit alexxxcastaneda on etsy. If you like what you see, visit iamalexxx.com for some more fabulous work by this talented artist

If you are looking for a spellbinding tale check out The Hermitage blog by the wonderful wandering artist Rima. She shares her adventures in art, thought & the great wide world. Her house on wheels is extrememly photogenic too. If you enjoy her blog, be sure to check out Rima's etsy shop, also The Hermitage.

I want to take a minute to say thanks for all the kind comments that have been left by visitors. Although I suck at getting back to you, I do stop by & enjoy your posts. Been out of town & without internet but will be catching up this week, I hope. Seeing some amazing creativity out there! Keep it up

I could get lost blog-hopping today, but the day job awaits. If you can spare a minute, go grab a button & share your wonderful random thoughts with the world.....