And the winner is.....

Drumroll please...................

the winner of my giveaway for any print from my Etsy shop is :

Quelleheure4!

Thank you so much everyone who participated, I wish you could all win!
I will be doing more giveaways, so just keep checking :-)

Time for a Giveaway

Hello bloggers and friends! I haven't updated in a couple of weeks as I have been working on other things, including some art. Nothing new to show, but I do have a few projects on the go, including a mermaid ACEO that is almost finished.

Today I hit a milestone, 100 followers!! YAY! So I thought this would be a good time to tell you all how much I appreciate you. Every one of you means so much to me, my fellow artists, bloggers, and readers. I read each one of your comments, and thank you for your friendships. Even you silent readers out there are awesome! :-D

So I would like to have a little giveaway. What is the prize? How about I let you choose any print from my Etsy shop?
I thought this would be fair, since everyone has different tastes.
Everyone is eligible to win, you don't have to do anything special, simply leave a comment on this thread. For those without blogs make sure I can reach you by leaving an email address. I will draw a name on April 30th, and contact the winner.
Good luck, and thank you again for reading my blog!

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Another thing I would like to mention, this has nothing to do with the giveaway, but I came across a thread on Etsy started by a woman concerned with the rapid decline in bird populations. I happen to be a huge bird lover, and looked at the petition she linked to for the National Audubon Society. I thought I would add a link here for anyone who loves birds and would like to add their name to the petition:
http://audubonaction.org/campaign/birdsandclimate
There is also a video from the CBC's 'The National' you can watch that talks about it in more detail : http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=372

What a shame for the future generations to grow up not knowing the joy of birds. I'm afraid it's happening to our honeybees as well :-(

Here come the Sugar Bugs!

These strange looking little bugs with girls faces have been so much fun to make! I named them sugar bugs, because I thought they were too cute!
It has been a while since I painted some ACEOs -for any of you who don't know what these are, they are tiny works of art, the size of playing cards (2.5" x 3.5"). They are quite popular, and very collectible.

After working on my girls painted on wood, I needed a break, and these characters came about when I was drawing in my sketchbook. I drew the faces, and for fun, added these bug bodies. I forgot how much fun it was to work this small. If you haven't tried ACEOs, go for it! There is lots of info on the net, or just ask, I would be happy to give you more info. Be warned though, once you start, you will get addicted. I have now finished 6 of these sugar bugs, and want to get back to doing my mermaids. It never ends.... :-D

Alice and the Cheshire kittys

yes, kittys, as in more than one...look inside her basket and you will see two smiling cheshire kittens, and the proud papa peeking from behind her dress. What the heck, I have painted so many girls over the years carrying their tiny pets, so why shouldn't Alice have some too?
Sorry for the poor picture, I had to photograph it because my stupid scanner is a fraction of an inch too short.

If you haven't worked on wood, you don't know what you are missing! I love woodburning, and painting goes on so much smoother than on canvas. I have seen some artists work on watercolor paper, but I have found it difficult to paint on paper. The brush seems to drag, and feels dry all the time. I will have to do a bit of research to see how to get around this.

I know a lot of you love art supplies just like me, have you heard of Pan pastels? Oh my goodness, I really want these! I want them all! they are so pricey though...Click on the 'techniques' and check out the video. Smooth like butter! Right now I have a shelf full of various pastels, which I have rarely used, and yet, a new product shows up and I'm dreaming about it. No wonder I'm running out of room, lol!

My Little Grungy Girl

It has been such a long time since I made a folk art painting, I thought I should do something a bit different. It was interesting working on this, I didn't quite know what to do with my background, so I dirtied it up, and gave it a shabby primitive look. If you were to see how many sketches of folk art girls I have in my folders, I think you would be shocked. Dozens of them waiting to be born, but alas, they will have to wait. Too many things to do, so little time!!!

Meanwhile, I just finished my newest mixed media Alice painting, after many, many hours! One day I should keep track of the hours I spend on each painting, it would be interesting to know how long they take. If I could stop being so finicky about every little detail, I am sure I would get more done. Anyway, I will show her either tomorrow or the next day, once she is scanned.

Dreamboat Annie

Here is the first of the two paintings that have given me a hard time! This one is inspired by one of my favorite singers, Ann Wilson of Heart. I copied the dress she wears in one of the videos on Youtube I found. I think if I were to re-do this painting, I would make her face cuter. These whimsical style paintings are so much fun to do, but I'm thinking at some point I need to practice painting more realistically.

I loved Heart way back in the 70's and still think their music is relevant.
Yes I know I am dating myself, but I am so grateful that I was a child of the 70's. It was so different from today's lifestyle. No computers, texting, cell phones....we played outside with our friends, and only came in for dinner. I remember how me and my best friend looked forward to the carnival coming to town, with cotton candy, ferris wheel, and music...and we were allowed to walk there alone without our parents.
There was no fear of the sun, we never even heard of sunscreen. It's funny, but for all the times I spent outside, I never once got a sunburn. Can you tell I'm feeling nostalgic?

A little Heart for your listening pleasure....

I have the best intentions to blog more often but it doesn't seem to work out that way. So now that I am here, I would like to take the time to thank two bloggers. First, Mixed Media Martyr for the Marie Antoinette award a couple of weeks back. I so appreciate you thinking of me!

I'd would also like to thank Fotf from Ivy's Attic for awarding me with another Kreativ Blogger award! I am always touched to receive any kind of recognition :-)

Now staying true to form, I can't nominate 7 blogs, since there are far too many I admire to be able to pick a few. A look at my blog list, and the blogs I follow will show you that there are many deserving people out there.
Thank you both for thinking of me.