5/8/11

Flowers For Mother's Day

ATC for swap

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.”– Claude Monet

I'm participating in some great groups over at CreativeSouls.ning.com. May's Art Trading Card swap has a fun flowers theme. 

I came across this wonderful Claude Monet quote recently & it seemed to a good starting point for new ATC.

The photo of Monet is from Wikimedia Commons. The lily photo is one I took years ago. When I stuck the two together the melange reminded me of handcolored antique postcards, so I tossed in some faded hues to complete the vibe.

Happy Mother's Day!

5/6/11

Enter Random Drawing to win Time's Up! Party Game App

Time's Up! Party Game App from R&R Games + Repos Productions

Earlier this week the company I work for, R&R Games (http://rnrgames.com/) released their first App. If you have an Iphone & like party games, enter to win the random drawing for a free copy of this wacky party game. 

To enter: click through to R&R's new FaceBook page & "Like" it. Next week they will be drawing 5 winners from folks who do this.

If you liked an R&R Games FB page in the past, click through to this one and do it again (please). The powers that be have decided to start a new page... So there are really really low entries right now -  better odds for you!

By the way, the original version (cards, timers, paper & pencils- you know, for us old fogies) is one of our best sellers & has also has received a bunch of awards.

Misc awards for R&R's Times Up! Party Game

So, go on - you know you want to "like" it

5/2/11

Musical Monday - Color

Work In Progress from Kathy Maximo Designs
 Oh boy - is it Musical Monday again?
Where did that weekend go?

Lucky me, it looks like I am "in the spotlight" with Dave from The Moody Mix  over at the XmasDolly blog today!  So I just had to put my dancin' shoes on & play along today.


Photobucket

The themes today are weather or color. I just had to go with color .... but there are far too many tinted tunes to choose from! I finally settled on Jimi Hendrix's Red House




& Chet Baker/Elvis Costello's Almost Blue almost made the cut today. Here is the version from Bruce Weber's excellent Chet Baker film Let's Get Lost


Many thanks to Kathy Maximo for letting me post her latest work in progress. As soon as I needed a house, she was my go-to gal. You can see more of Kathy's creations on her website http://www.kathymaximodesigns.com & her online shop -Vintagesnapsandscrap.etsy.com.

So, what'cha listenin to today? Pop on over to XmasDolly & share your linky. While you are there be sure to test out some great tunes other folks have posted. You can also find more music over at RUN DMT & Bloggin' With Amanda later today.

Whatever you are into, I hope your day is colorful! 

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By the way, have you heard about the Florida Etsy Street Team treasure hunt? Each day until May 12 you go to the FEST blog & get a clue. Then you have until 5/14 to  solve 'em and email your answer. One randomly selected winner gets over $200 in awesome handmade prizes! (I've donated a few, by the way). Click Here for contest details & to see some of the prizes.

Never Forgotten

Memorial Day 2010
I'd planned on posting a wanted poster of Bin Laden that I shot in October 2011. It was taped to a Corn Dog cart at a church carnival. While searching for it in the bowels of my computer,  I stumbled over this  digital collage I posted last summer. Feels right to share this image today.....

5/1/11

Enter the FEST Treasure Hunt! Over $200 worth of prizes

It is finally May 1st! 
Do know what that means? 
The Florida Etsy Street Team Treasure Hunt has begun!

Later this month 1 very lucky winner will receive over $200 worth of fabulous handmade items from  participating Florida artists/artisans. It might even be you.... but only if you join the hunt!

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So how does it work?

From May 1 through May 12 visit the FEST blog (http://etsyfest.blogspot.com/) for your daily clue.

First this clue will point you in the direction of a participating shop. (By the way, you can find a list of all FEST members by clicking here.)

Next the clue will direct you to one of the items in that shop. If you are looking at the correct listing, you will see that day's secret word.

Each day there will be a new clue & new secret word. The 12 words will combine to form a question.

Email the answer to this question to FESTTreasureHunt@gmail.com along with your name. Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PM EST on Saturday May 14th.

The winner will be randomly selected from those who answer correctly. This lucky person takes home all of the prizes!
Please note: The treasure hunt is open to folks over 18 who are residents of the USA or Canada. You do not need to be a member of FEST or Etsy to play. Organizers of the hunt are not elegible to win.

Ready to get started? Here are some handy links

Gather the clues here: http://etsyfest.blogspot.com/ 

Read more about this hunt on the original Florida Etsy Street Team Treasure Hunt blogpost.



Want to know more about the treasure hunt sponsors?

While there are hundreds of talented folks on the Florida team, following are some of the etsy sellers who generously donated prizes to this great game. To visit any of their shops, just click on the purple name.

DMCJewelryCentralFL - I'm a south Florida native living in Central Florida. I came to jewelry making late in life after becoming fascinated with the lore and metaphysical properties of gemstones. I truly enjoy making people happy by giving them a place to buy reasonably priced, quality, custom jewelry. 

Uniquenique - Originally from South Africa I now live and work in the United States. I am fascinated by the world around me and try and incorporate that into my work. Although I work in a lot of different mediums my favorites are glass and wire. I love to experiment and create without that outlet I think I would permanently be on overload. It is a wonderful feeling when something you created makes someone else happy.

FeyFripperies -  I'm Heather Daniel. I have always been an artistic kind of person. My inspiration comes from the desire to sparkle and make something personal for others. I enjoy making other people happy and when I am crafting, I put a lot of heart into my pieces. 

fragiacomoglassart - I'm a stay at home mom who's been lampworking for 5 years now! I love every minute and LOVE working with all the bright, fun colors. My favorite beads are the ones with as much color as possible. I hope my beads make others as happy as they make me!

angeloco - I am a native Floridian and have always lived near the ocean. I am very blessed to be surrounded by the sounds and smell of the sea at all times as my home studio is in the city by the sea, St. Augustine, Fl. 

ashleykmckenzie - My name is Ashley and I live in Madrid, Spain but I'm currently in Florida for a few months. I enjoy all types of arts and crafts and meeting others who like to create! My inspiration comes from all of the beautiful people I've met in my travels around the world, especially the children!

hannahbird - Hannah is a freelance illustrator living in Jacksonville, FL. She works primarily in watercolor and ink, specializing in fantasy, fairy tale, and children's book illustration. Her shop features prints, paper goods, art pendants, and original paintings.

runningwithescissors - I’m Barbara, a lifelong (50 years and counting!) crafter and owner of Running Withe Scissors an ETSY Shop devoted to paper crafts. If you can put paper to it, I’m into it! Hot items at my shop include University Décor items and - believe it or not- Christmas Card Address books. I sold 17 of them last December alone and 45 in the last year. Stop by and wander through the shop!

feedyoursoulthreads - I created Feed Your Soul Threads while doing a bit of my own soul searching. We are only here a short time and while life is demanding we have to remember that we all deserve a break, some R&R, some time to be creative and to just be you. My upcycled designs encourage you to slow down and take some time to Feed Your Soul .

TealwaterDesigns - I have lived along the Gulf Coast (Northern Panhandle) of Florida for the past 20 years, it is a beautiful area of the world. I have a wonderful husband, two stepchildren who are now grown, a sweet dog and an adorable kitty. I grew up in New England (Branford, CT) and I thought I would end up back up north once I was done with college but I started dating my husband right before I graduated from UWF and that was that...I wasn't going anywhere!

sewZinski - Iowa girl living in Florida. Crafting full time and loving it! I make hand embroidered and hand painted eco-friendly accessories for you and your home.

Zizzybob - From Fort Lauderdale. Creates fabric postcards, bowls, and garlands from cotton and assorted embellishments

MiGoPhoto - My name is Sara and I've been hooked on creativity my whole life! I just love travelling and taking photographs of the fun places I have been and beautiful things I have seen. I also have a shop on Etsy where I sell clothing, purses, and accessories that I sew, having been trained by my mother and grandmothers in sewing

ArtSnark - If you read this blog, you may know too much about me already... but just in case: I'm Stacey Merrill, mixed media artist & jack of all trades. When I'm not wearing assorted hats for R&R Games I can usually be found tinkering in a variety of materials, traveling, blogging or gardening.

Many thanks to all contributors to this Treasure Hunt. Special thanks, extra hugs and virtual roses & chocolates to Sarah (MiGoPhoto) for doing so much to bring all of this together!

And thank you to all readers who play along. Now get of here & go solve some clues! Good Luck!