IF - Hollow

the huldra

Found in fairy stories throughout Scandinavia, she is also known as skogsrå and holda, among other names. She is a beautiful woman in front but her backside looks like a hollow tree. Some Huldra also have tails, often either cow or fox. Should you encounter a huldra, it is considered dangerous to comment on her tail, unless it is done with the utmost delicacy. For instance, if you politely tell her her "garter" or "slip" is showing she may grant you healthy cattle or good fishing according to legend. It is also said that if she blows on a hunter's rifle, he will never miss a shot.

The huldra is often considered a protector of woods and woodland critters. A seductive creature, she is famous for collecting human lovers as well as for her mercurial nature. She can be just as easily pleased as offended. And you do NOT want to offend her.

She also has a reputation for stealing children & leaving changelings.You can find out more about this lovely lady by clicking on the above links. There are also some entertaining folktales around the web.

As soon as I saw that the Illustration Friday prompt was Hollow, I remembered this creature - of all the faeries I read about as a kid, for some reason she really gave me the willies. Couldn't recall her name, but google settled that while distracting me with some wonderful tales. Originally I was going to make a little clay sculpture, but then I remembered this cool fern-patterned paper I've had for ages. I also checked DeviantArt for some models & found that the stock photos of Tw1sted Truth & WakenTheDead Stock fit the bill

If you get a chance CLICK HERE & see what other fun pieces have been submitted to Illustration Friday this week. Or even better, submit your own!

I've decided I'd better start paying more attention to my neglected Etsy Shops, so this piece is now available. Just click HERE for info & detailed pics of The Huldra. Hopefully I'll get some more pieces listed this week.

Final note: New giveaway this week. 1 random winner to be drawn on 7/16. Prize is 250 customized stamps from UPrinting.com. What would you do with 250 free stickers, designed by You? Just leave an answer in comments to be entered in drawing. The prize sponsor, Uprinting.com does have a couple of disclaimers. CLICK HERE for details

New Giveaway! 250 Free Stickers of YOUR design

It is that time again!

Time for you to jump aboard the giveaway train!

The last prize was customized by me. If you want to find out who won the Art Box , click HERE.

This Prize will be designed by YOU! Now how cool is that!

This week’s Thursday Giveaway sponsor is

They print just about everything, from business cards to wall banners & a variety of items in between.

They also print Custom Stickers!!

1 lucky winner will receive 250 Free Custom Stickers of their own design. Imagine what you could do with these!! Promote your business or blog. Use them in the kitchen, label your stuff, or just show off your cool artwork. The possibilities are endless!

This giveaway is a little different than my usual. Normally you just sign in before Thursday to be included in the random drawing. This week the folks over at UPrinting.com are asking: How would you use 250 custom stickers? Just leave your answer in the comment section of this blog before noon (EST) on 7/16 to be entered in this awesome random drawing.

The sponsor also has a few disclaimers:

Giveaway is open to US/CAN residents only (sorry International readers). Shipping of prizes is not included and must be paid by winner. UPrinting.com reserves the right not to print obscene or offensive materials.

All designs submitted in the form of a giveaway may be used by UPrinting.com for online marketing and promotional uses. The designs will be used solely as examples and not be printed or commercially distributed.

Also, 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 5 days of your name being drawn, I'll go back through the list and choose an alternate winner.

The winner will be announced shortly after noon (EST) on Thursday July 16th.

This prize has reminded me just how much I've been slacking off when it comes to promotional materials. I need to get it in gear & design some business cards for my Etsy shop, ArtSnark's Atrifacts. Here is a blog promo image for my own sticker printing.


Now go get your creative juices flowing!! But before you go, leave a comment saying how you would use 250 free custom stickers. You’ve got all week to enter. 1 random winner will be drawn at noon (EST) on Thursday July 16th. Good Luck!

Woo Hoo! We Have A Winner!

Random.org has spoken!
Of 90 unique entries, the lucky winner of a Customizable Art Box is Steve!

Hearty Congrats, Steve! I’ll contact you later today with a list of what I need from you. Then I can get started on your one-of-a-kind box.

It may take a few weeks, but I’ll post pics of the finished box for anyone who is curious.

Great turnout for this random drawing! Many thanks to everyone who commented. Please check back later today and sign up for next Thursday's Giveaway . I've got a new sponsor & a fun prize that will get your creative juices flowing!!

RTT hit & run

I have grown to love Tuesdays since discovering Random Tuesday Thoughts!

Today I'm in a rush so I'm snagging some of my bookmarked sites to share. If you have a few minutes, give a click or 2:

Giant scrap metal dinosaurs & other cool sculptures by John Lopez

Watched the 1954 Disnified 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea last night. Oh man, I loved that movie as a kid! James Mason was the perfect Nemo but what is with the Kirk Douglas musical numbers?! You can hear 1 HERE. Over the years, I seem to have forgotten the MST3k worthy bits. And I'd swear that giant squid was much much bigger when I was 8 yrs old!!

www.olly.ch is a must for Nautilus fans! Check out this amazing home theater by Olly Klassen. He's also got some great WIP shots of the room coming together on his site.

Brass Goggles, a fun place to lose track of time, featured Mr Klassen's site last week.

Another great site somebody mentioned on one of my arty haunts (can't remember who -sorry) is mixed-media-artist.com. Fab mix of art & techniques. You've gotta love an artist who is "Emptying landfills, one project at a time!"

Flying-pig has some really cute "paper animation kits". These are paper mechanical toys that you can download & print for free

Also there's This To That "Because people have a need to glue things to other things"

I almost forgot the online art magazine, Blanket. Seriously Rocks! And I'm not just saying that cuz my Sinister Gentleman is on pg 22 of the current issue.

A Sinister Gentleman

This issue the theme is Portraits & he's included in the Re_Action section (where readers submit work in response to upcoming themes). Unlike some online mags it is not free (costs $2). But if you're into art, Blanket is always a good read & full of amazing eye candy.

Oops, running overtime...I do babble, don't I ? For more random-fun go see what the Keely The Un Mom & Queen of Chaos is up to this week. Tell her the zombies sent you.

I almost forgot, just leave a comment before noon (EST) Thursday 7/9 to be entered in this week's random drawing. More info on giveaway & this week's prize ( a customizable art-box) can be found here

Monday's Muse, Music, Full Moon & Monsters

Listening to the Late Great Warren Zevon tonight when I remembered

Hey, its Musical Monday!

I know Monday's almost over, but click the button & play along if you've got the time.

Full moon tonight & the Art On The Darkside prompt is Darkside Wolves. Click through to see some great ones. I really love this Werewolf Family Portrait from Janene's artsngardens:

Werewolf Family Portrait
by Janene

The wolves have been slinking through my art for a while. The prompt got me to pull out the neglected WIP Red's True Love (gah- 6 months went by fast). Decided Red wasn't acting coy enough so gave her some Veronica Lake hair. The 1st image is from a scan

& the second is a poor excuse for a photo (note to self: Get some decent lighting)

Still a long way to go on it.

Over at Maternal Spark they're asking What Inspires You This Week?

I'm going with the Full Moon. How about you?

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If you're interested in entering this Thursday's Giveaway, just leave a comment before noon (EST) 7/9 . To find out more about this random drawing & the customizable prize, CLICK HERE

Bella & Wenchie

Trust Me

Playing with a drawing of Etsy SteamTeam member Wenchie today. Hopefully she won't mind the liberties I tend to take when putting my spin on a portrait. Not sure if it is done yet. I am at that walk-away-for-a-couple-of-days-so-I-can-get-a-fresh-perspective point.

If you get a chance pop by her Etsy shop Wenchie's Sacred Relics . She's got some fabulous pieces like this necklace:

Chastity in Chains

Yay! The artwork for the Twilight book club on ZNE is up. Looks like only a few of us played for chapter 1. I'm hoping more members will jump aboard as we get further in. I think you can see the other entries if you click HERE & just scroll down the page. Here's my final piece.

Bella

Supposed to be cleaning the studio today. Spent too much time puttering with everything I found. As usual. So, the place still looks like a cyclone passed through. Sadly, this is the neatest corner in the room. Sorry the lighting is so lousy

I did take a bunch of scary before shots but I think I'll wait until there are afters so I don't thoroughly embarrass myself.

By the way, no Thursday Giveaway this week. Great prize for next week though (if I do say so myself ). The lucky winner gets a customized art box. Click HERE for details & pics. Then just leave a comment before noon (EST) July 9th to enter the random drawing

My sis & her husband are visiting for the weekend so I may be scarce. Chomping at the pencil, um, bit to find out what tomorrow's IF prompt is though. Like I don't have enough projects to finish, eh? Silly me. In case I don't make it back in time, I want to wish everyone a great weekend! Have fun!

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.