Enter to win floral prizes - growing/decor book, blank journal & notecards - ends 4/21

Ready for spring? I hope you are enjoying the season whatever your corner of the globe. I have gardening on the brain this time of year and seem to spend as much time outside as in. Sooo.... the studio clean out is proceeding veerrry sloooowly.  

Want to help? Enter this new random drawing! Seriously, I've been having great luck (& a great time) giving away my odds & ends to folks who actually want them. Much better than just tossing things out.

This week I am going with a floral theme. The prize package contains a set of 8 flowery note cards with envelopes, a hardcover spiral bound blank book (pages are lined), and this wonderful container gardening book,  Paradise Contained - Growing and Decorating with Flower Bulbs.<---- clicking the link will take you to the amazon.com listing.

This wonderful book is full of gorgeous plant photos as well as advice. I've had it for many years and used the info when I lived up North. I've been in Florida for ages now and can't tell you the last time I grew bulbs inside. I just dig a hole, toss them in and most of the time they take off on their own. (I have turned into a bit of a Darwinian gardener over the years - survival of the fittest and all that stuff)

How to enter this random drawing? Simply leave a comment on my blog over the next 2 weeks and your name goes into hat. Comment must be made before 1 a.m. (EST) on 4/21. Be sure to leave some contact info if it isn't in your blog profile. That is it - easy peasy!

On 4/21 one random winner will be selected from those who comment. Prize ships free worldwide.

Well, that is it for me today - I am even more behind schedule than usual. A final note, if you are seeking printed business card magnets, I am also hosting a giveaway for Uprinting.com which ends on 4/14. Click for details. (But remember to comment here 1st to enter the floral-theme giveaway)

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Red Tulips

Feel like painting tonight but no time..... so playing around in P. Elements.....

---------

Have you entered the new business card giveaway? On 9/18 1 lucky winner gets 250 die cut business cards. Click here for details.

Did You Win Julie Brown's Yellow Coneflower Print??

Well.....lets find out!
Out of 43 entries, the lucky winner (picked by random.org) is.....

Linda Hardy

Congratulations, Linda !!

I will contact you later today with info on how to collect your prize. Thanks so much for leaving a comment & entering this giveaway! (By the way, I'm on a borrowed computer today & can't seem to get a screenshot to work )

Also, a special Thank You to Julie of Wabi Brook Studio for donating her eye-catching print for today's random drawing.

And a Big Thanks to all of you who pop by each week & leave a comment. I've been kinda swamped lately so blogging & art have been getting the short stick but hoping that life will level out soon, hopefully freeing up some more creative time.

If you get a chance please stop back later today to see what the next giveaway prize is. Till then, hope the day is a good one

New Giveaway Art, Alice with Tulips - ends 8/13

Welcome back! If you are looking for the winner of today's noontime drawing (for the craft supplies tote bag) click HERE. If you'd like to enter the new random drawing, you've come to the right place. If you want to go directly to the prize & rules, scroll to end of this post.

Had a some time to play this morning with a few stamps I bought at the The Queen’s Ink booth last Friday.

I’d popped into the booth to ask a question about Judikins Diamond glaze and found myself in stampers heaven! (By the way, click HERE to order a sample of Diamond Glaze.)

The selection & quality of designs were truly amazing!

some The Queen's Ink project samples

So was the booth staff. I enjoyed a great demo on embossing. And got answers to all kinds of questions on stamps, glazes & adhesives. But since you are probably here to find out about next week’s prize, I’ll save most of that info for another day.

Next Thursday's Prize was made using a print of my original tulip painting and an Alice in Wonderland stamp from The Queen’s Ink.


The tulips were printed on textured paper & then enhanced with watercolor pencil for some extra pop. I then added Alice, colored her in a bit & sprayed the whole thing with a UV resistant finish. This piece is signed, dated and matted. It fits in a standard 5 x 7 frame.

TO ENTER: Simply comment on this blog before noon (EST) 8/13. It is that easy! 1 lucky winner will be randomly chosen. Drawing is open worldwide with free shipping.

By the way, for those of you into the online Art Challenges this week’s Mix it up with Melange prompt is Archetype. I’m having fun with this one!

Artarazzi Challenge #21- Spring Flowers

The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
While the Lily white shall in love delight,
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.
- William Blake

This week's visual prompt from Artarazzi is the painting Spring Flowers by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema . I've added some lilies I shot a few years ago & some corner brackets from a scan of an inkadinkadoo stamp package. Pop on over to the comments section (& Mr. Linky) at Artarazzi to add your own creation & enjoy the variety of submissions.


While I'm a big fan of William Blake, I stumbled upon this poem by A.E.Houseman that also feels apt. The Lent Lily is a name that I haven't heard in years. That's what my grandmother,who spent much of her time in the garden, used to call her daffodils.

'Tis spring; come out to ramble
The hilly brakes around,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found.

And there's the windflower chilly
With all the winds at play,
And there's the Lenten lily
That has not long to stay
And dies on Easter day.

And since till girls go maying
You find the primrose still,
And find the windflower playing
With every wind at will,
But not the daffodil,

Bring baskets now, and sally
Upon the spring's array,
And bear from hill and valley
The daffodil away
That dies on Easter day.

- A.E. Houseman

WIP - Hot House Flower

Decided to finally start on my little house. Thought about paint or collage but it just wouldn't coalesce. When all else fails I turn to my ginormous stack of scrapbook paper for ideas. This paper jumped out & screamed Diva! Then this chick- part superhero, part Sunset Blvd - started spinning thru my head. She's only 1 of 2 but it's getting late, so I'll tackle her partner tomorrow.

TOOT TOOT TOOT!!

Yep, tootin' my own horn (again). Just so darn thrilled I have to share! Hopped over to ZNE in the wee hours to see what was new & found my latest experiment on the front page. I finally joined the book club there. We are reading Michael De Meng's book Secrets Of Rusty Things. Group members discuss chapters & create their own projects based upon each chapter. This funky flower vase is my interpretation of project# 1 ("Ameratsu - letting daylight out")To find out more about this piece and other ZNE book club projects click here .

ZNE is a gather place for "mixed media & indie artists". It's an amazing community of supportive creative people. There are so many different things going on: ATC swaps, photo challenges, book club, collaborative poetry (finished poems are here ), technique/art supply sharing, a convention , and much more.

Although it sounds corny, ZNE is more to me than a great place to hang out. It was the support of the talented artists I met there that lifted me out of a 5 year art-rut: In 2003 I stopped creating. Last February I joined the group & I started making Art Trading Cards to swap. I started small but now I've got more works in progress around me than I can count! I'm painting & drawing again and trying my hand at something new - jewelry. Through my involvement with ZNE, I've had a piece published in the art book Never Forgotten and participated in my 1st group show in 5 years. I found the confidence to open an Etsy shop & start blogging ( big deals for me as I am not computer savvy or comfortable putting myself "out there").

And I have made some great friends!

If you've read this far, thanks for your patience. I guess, I just want to say THANK YOU! to ZNE founder Chelise Stroud Hery & all of the wonderful people I have met at ZNE. Their patience & encouragement has turned my creative energies right around! Now I just have to find to time to do it all :)