Who won the Michaels Gift Card?

First off, sorry about the late posting. Having big problems with Blogger today & it refused to let me post till now.....

It’s that time of week again! Today’s prize is a $10 GiftCard to Michael’s craft stores. With help from Random.org and my official button pusher, Frankie, we’ll find out who won this week’s random drawing……

Congratulations Maureen !!! I’ll contact you for your address & mail it right out. Have fun shopping & creating! If you want, send us a pic of what you make & I’ll post it here for everyone to see.

Great turn out this week! Thanks to everyone for playing.

Tune in later today a Double Giveaway with a twist! While I’m showcasing a new featured artist & fabulous prize, my guest will be showcasing my art on her blog. … and she’ll be giving away one of my matted drawings! So come back again & play along, okay?

"Here Be Dragons" for Melange quote challenge

When I was a child I loved maps, the older & more exotic the better.


My favorite parts were the edges,


sometimes covered with fantastic drawings of creatures from Beyond.


There you would find the magic words ....

HC SVNT DRACONES : Here Be Dragons


I spent last weekend rereading Moby Dick (1 of my favorites)


and started making a map for the Melange challenge

Then decided I'd rather make an adventurer's box. Travel sized (2.5" sq x 2" H) for a small compass perhaps. Eventually I dumped the compass in favor of some trinkets an explorer might carry.


A tiny bottle of earth from home. Another filled with treasures for his love. A seeing "stone ", actually abalone. A figure he's been whittling. I'm not sure if I should leave the pin or not.....

It still needs some finishing touches. The abalone needs some roughing up. I need to replace the red sculpey with "wax" once I find the mislaid cork. I'm also missing a brass pin on the box front . Once finished, I'll add it to my ArtSnark etsy shop.

Find links to other fun quotable artworks in the Melange Team comment section HERE. While you are visiting, check out their new prompt, FLIGHT. Play along if you like, all mixed media pieces are welcome!

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Just a reminder, tomorrow is a new Thursday Giveaway. This week's prize is a $10 gift card to Michael's Craft stores. Just leave a comment here before noon (EST) tomorrow 8/20 to enter the random drawing. Click HERE for details & link to store locator.

Also, tomorrow afternoon I have a new artist interview & prize, so check back when you get a chance, okay? In the meantime, hope you have a creative day!

RTT- HC SVNT DRACONES

Here Be Dragons - Work in progress

Still working on a piece for last Wednesday's Mix It Up With Melange challenge to "use your favorite quote". I am a major quote geek & started several pieces before finally settling on this 1. Made some silly mistakes so I learned a lot today. My pigment inks were acting all wonky but I finally solved the problem with help from the site Art Without Anxiety .

This project has been fun though. Got to use some brass bits from my UK art-buddy, Julia. She sent me a wonderful package last month. A fun ATC with cool wooden stand. A bag of watch mechanisms & bits. Plus HobNobs (my favorites!) Thanks Julia!!

Work in progress

Hope to finish the quote box & post sometime Wednesday.Meantime, let 's see what else is up.....

Recently joined another ATC swap, this 1 over at Outsider Artists. If you like your art with a touch of the dark side, it may be just the place for you. I popped over there tonight & found out that one of my favorite artists (& one of the sweetest people I've ever "met" online), Izabella, has a 5 page spread in the Fall issue of Artful Blogging. I'm off to track down a copy ASAP. In the meantime you can get a sneak-peek here.

Izabella also runs the online artists' community Creative Souls - has an eclectic membership which also includes writers musicians & other creative folks. Worth checking out if you've not been there before - hey it's free. Who knows you might run into Michael deMeng or Richard Salley or some other fascinating members while nosing around

Hmmm.....sorry about the lack of Random. It is the tail end of Random Tuesday Thoughts today. Got my mind on my project & I bet the glaze has set.... so need to get back to it. For a greater variety of Random Thoughts click the button ... go on ....

and be magically transported to the chaotic realm of Keely The Un Mom and her vast hoard of arbitrary acolytes!!!

Musical Monday's Muse

Good Monday! How goes it? Been shaking off the last summer head cold this weekend. Spent most of Sunday reading, sleeping, sneezing & watching Mushi-shi. Got hooked on the opening theme song by Ally Kerr so here it is for Musical Monday:

If you have some time today, Click the Musical M. button & visit Diane at Good Mourning Glory. She's featuring the too-cool Djordje Stijepovic today. Then grab a button share your favorite sounds!

Over at Maternal Spark, the talk today is about solving problems. My Pigsty (formerly known as studio) is one of my biggest obstacles lately. It is so messy that even when I get an idea it takes so long to locate what I need that there is almost no point. I'm praying that once the little guy starts Kindergarten next week, I can bite the bullet & make some order out of chaos. Unfortunately there are so many home & work things awaiting my attention...... sigh.... Some how I'll tackle it all

Gotta run. Hope you are off to a great week!

Oh, and if you are interested in entering Thursday's Random Drawing for a $10 Michaels Gift Card just leave a comment before noon (EST) 8/20. For contest details & store locator link CLICK HERE

5 pieces at Arts On 9th

Hey there. How was your weekend? Keep forgetting to mention I've a few pieces hanging over at Arts on 9th in Tampa. It's a very cool space located in the Ybor City part of town. If you're in the area, please pop in & look around. I would love to hear what you think.

Pieces over there are

Poe's Muse Box

In Fieri

A Sinister Gentleman

Wallflower

&

Red's Walk

Sorry about the weak photo of Red's piece. It is too washed out. I took some new ones after framing but seem to have lost them in the computer somewhere...

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great night. Catch you tomorrow for Musical Monday!

P.S. Don't forget about Thursday's Giveaway. This week's prize is a $10 giftcard to Michaels craft stores. Just leave a comment before noon (EST) 8/20 to enter the random drawing. For contest details & store locator link click HERE

IF - Wrapped ... plus some random thoughts

Out After Curfew

Illustration Friday Prompt this week is wrapped. I've got some new ideas but in case I don't get any studio time this weekend I'm recycling an ATC from last Halloween. To see a variety of artwork on this theme, or add your own interpretation visit Illustration Friday.

Also the Melange Team blog has 2 different challenges up right now - anyone can enter:

The Mix It Up With Melange challenge is to "use your favorite quote" in your mixed media piece. Fun, yes? Click through & visit the comments to see the art or add your own. The prompt will change on Wednesday

The other is the Make A Transfer challenge. Basically you submit a something you've created using any kind of transfer process. Deadline is August 31. Your art gets you into a drawing for Book Art: Handcrafting Artists' Books by Dorothy Simpson Krause. Click HERE for details.

By the way, took my 5 yr old to see Ponyo today. I'm a big Hayao Miyazaki fan & Frankie absolutely loves Laputa: Castle In The Sky

& Kiki's Delivery Service

Ponyo was great! Mind you, it's no Spirited Away, but it isn't supposed to be. It is for children and it hit the mark with the kids in the audience. Frankie has discovered the joys of going to the cinema this long hot summer & I have to say this was the best kids' film we've seen by far. No 3-d, no 80s soundtrack, no adult innuendo (thank goodness) - just a really well made kids movie.

Last note: Next Thursday's Random Drawing is for a $10 Gift Card to Michael's art/craft stores. To enter drawing simply leave a comment before noon (EST) 8/20. For details & link to store locator CLICK HERE.

New Winner & Next week's Prize Announced !

Welcome back! Today's note is a quickie - just got back from a great anniversary brunch (married 17 yrs ago today) & debating what type of hooky to play this afternoon. Family is being very patient while I pull together this post.

My 5 yr old, Frankie, is joining us today - he is "the official clicker" of the randomizer button on random.org. So..... today's winner of Alice With Tulips is....

......(drum roll here)......

Alisa Nordholt-Dean

Frankie says - "Woo Hooo! Hooray!" as he dances around the room. Alisa, I'll contact you today for your shipping info.

Thank you, Everyone, for your kind comments. Always exciting to see what the turnout will be each week.

Ready to find out what next Thursday's Giveaway prize is??

I've been enjoying the Pay It Forward mentality this week , so I'm sharing some more of my good fortune with you. A friend gave me two gift cards to Michael's Crafts so I am keeping one & giving the other to 1 Lucky Winner...

Next Thursday's random drawing will be for one $10 Michael's Gift Card!

To Enter: Just leave a comment on this blog before noon (EST) on 8/20. Yes, it is that easy. 1 entry per person. Only 1 winner will be selected. Please be sure your contact info is in your profile, or leave an email in your comment.

This gift card has no cash value. It is good at Michael's Craft stores in the USA & Canada. Here is the Store Locator.

Hope you all have a fabulous day!