Weekly Challenge at Inspiration Avenue- Pure

For this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue, the theme was "Pure".  I immediately thought of a photo representing my Mom and my oldest daughter, Caroline.  This picture was taken 6 or 7 years ago when we were visiting my family for the summer.  At that time, we lived in the Caribbean and only got to see relatives several times a year.  So, in this instance, the word "Pure" is defined as "Pure JOY"- joy in all the connections and feelings that family and love invoke.  Sorry for the poor quality of the image, for whatever reason, I can't seem to photograph or scan grapite drawings well to save my life!

Make New Friends, but KEEP THE OLD- Part 3- On the Carpet with friends.....

As it's a few days since I started One World- One Heart, I find myself almost at the end of all the blogs entered.  It has been an amazing journey for me, one with daily discoveries of artists and their blogs; people that I want to get to know better.  It feels like I've marked myself as a new follower on at least 10 blogs every day, sometimes more.  For me, this has been wonderful because of the oppurtunity to make new friends. 
And today, I want to take a moment to recognize "Old Friends" who I was thrilled to find riding the carpet this week too!

Tammy of Art and Inspirations

Pat of Images Through an Open Window

 

Yvonne of ARTic Blonde Creations

Sharon of Manamoon Studios

Sharon's OTHER Blog; Plumrose Lane

Lisa of Priti Studio

Lisa of The Wright Stuff

Beth of Words and Whimsies

Shel of Pics by Shel

Hope you found some new friends of your own; either throuh my intros or your own travels on the carpet.  And if you haven't already entered my giveaway, click HERE to do so!

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old- Part 2 -Sunshine Award- Thanks Elaine!

Thank you to Elaine of Chatelaine Jewellery  for the beautiful Sunshine award- I feel so honored that you chose me as one of your recipients!
Elaine creates some of the most beautiful beads through the process of melting glass and then goes on to create jewelry from her finished product- just beautiful!

So the rules for accepting the Sunshine award are:
1.)Put the logo on your blog or within your post
2.) Pass the award onto 12 bloggers
3.) Link the nominees within your post
4.) Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5.) Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

So, for me, here comes the hard part, choosing who to pass the award on to.....I have so many favorite blogs that I follow and now that I've been riding the magic carpet all week, I've added a bunch more to my list.  In keeping with my "Make new friends, but keep the old" series, I've decided to create a combo plate of old friends and new

My Award Winners Are:
Felicia Kramer of Another Bright Idea a friend in the art world who has helped guide me
Kersten of Altered Gypsy one of my new finds from One World, One Heart
Charlie of Art Happens a wonderfully creative artist I'm lucky enough to be on Inspiration Avenue with
Astrid of Astrid's Artistic Efforts another treasuure I stumbled upon during OWOH
Sheila of Halo Hill a valued friend I discovered a couple of months ago
Catworx an amazing mixed media artist- another OWOH find
Tara Dillard a friend who inspires me daily on my journey as a gardener
Ink on My Fingers another lucky find from OWOH
Lisa of Priti Studio a truly inspiring friend and fellow Inspiration Avenue team member
Kecia Frazee of Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancyan artist creating glorious mixed media altered art
Robin Maria Pedrero of Pocketfull of Colors an amazing visual artist and fellow Vast team member
Jo of Tanglefrost one more treasure trove of inspiration I encountered on the magic caret of OWOH

I feel truly blessed to count such wonderful people as regular sources of inspiration, go check them out- you'll be glad you did, and maybe you'll feel the tingle of inspiration as well!

Oh and you haven't already entered my OWOH giveaway, click HERE to do so!

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old.......Lovely Blogs I've Encountered on The Magic Carpet- Part 1

So far, it's been a pretty wild ride at One World, One Heart!  My goal is to try to hit around a hundred blogs a day and today, the second morning, I'm hovering the ole' carpet around #171.  I'm pretty confident that I'll manage 29 more at some point today......I'm finding it almost impossible to drag myself away from the ticket list, lol!

For those of you who regularly follow me, you already know that I try to feature other artists on a regular basis.  Until the end of OWOH, I'm planning to highlight a handfull new (and old) favorite blogs/artists/creators that I've found along the journey.

So for Day Two of OWOH, here are some of the artists I encountered at the first part of the list between the numbers 1 and 171- I wish there were room to feature each one I've fallen under the spell of, but I'm trying to limit it to just a few each posting.....

Shona Cole has this beautiful journal and stamp for her OWOH giveaway- click HERE to enter

Lisa of The Wright Stuff has created this beautiful piece for her OWOH Offering

Kelly Burton at Arty Visions is featuring this wonderful collection for her OWOH offering

One of several OWOH prizes available at Astrid's Artistic Effort

Soft in the Head has this wonderful mousie as her OWOH prize

Creativ Spirit has this gorgeous mixed media piece up for her OWOH Giveaway

Check these wonderful giveaways out, maybe like me, you'll find a few new blogs to add to your list of favorites!

And we have a winner for the Clematis Painting giveaway!

Congrats go out to Marci of June_spirit2628 for having the winning number 37 selected by Random Number Generator!  I've emailed her with instructions for receiving her prize and she has two days to claim it before I run the numbers again.  (Hope that doesn't seem harsh, but I've had a couple of giveaways go unclaimed, so from now on I'm setting a time limit....:))

Congrats again, and if you haven't already entered my Magic Carpet- One World, One Heart Giveaway, please do so and also check out the amazing list of folks "Riding" the carpet.....HERE

New Giveaway- Riding the Magic Carpet: One World, One Heart 2010

NOTE: Comments are now closed, and the winners have been posted.  Thanks for entering!

Come ride the magic carpet with me at One World, One Heart 2010  It's a wonderful oppurtunity to meet hundreds of other bloggers from around the world and discover unfamiliar blogs in the process!  For more information, you can click on either the picture on my sidebar or the link above.

In honor of this event, I'm hosting two new giveaways.  This time I'll be drawing two names with the Random Number Generator..
The giveaways are:
1. One of my Altered Board Books from my Joie de Vivre series; the theme of this one is "Journeys through Friendship" which I thought appropriate for the Magic Carpet theme:)

For a listing of the quotes on each of the tags click HERE.

2. A collection of 5 of my most popular greeting cards:

You my enter the drawing up to two times and here's how:

1. Leave a comment with your contact information.

2. Become a follower and leave an additional comment telling me you have done so.

I'll be drawing both names on February 15th and announcing the winner that same day.

So GOOD LUCK and happy blogging!

Good luck

Weekly Challenge at Inspiration Avenue- Mystique

Here's my submission for the challenge this week at Inspiration Avenue for the theme of Mystique.

For more pictures and information, check out the link in my Etsy Shop.

Don't Forget! My giveaway ends in three days!

If you haven't already done so, hurry to enter my current giveaway for which I'll be drawing a winner on Monday!

Here's the link:
http://dragonflydegignstudios.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-etsy-giveaway-free-painting.html
Good Luck and see you Monday!

It's all about appearances......

Marleque Theme

What catches your eye when blog browsing?  Is it catchy titles, slogans- pictures, or the over all look?  I know for me, when I'm looking around, the ones that have a certain look grab my attention and make me stop to have a look around.
My friend Sharon of Plumrose Lane has been designing banners and backgrounds for friends for a while now; it was just something she enjoyed doing and at the same time it was a way to help friends make their blogs even better.  Well, as it seems to happen with the arts, our hobbies quickly transpire into new passions and thus began Plumrose Lane.....
She has been designing the most beautiful collections of blogger ephemera; gorgeous FREE backgrounds with complimentary banners, buttons and more for sale at a minimal cost in her Plumrose Lane Etsy Shop.

Wonderland Theme

Example of Sharon's Delightful Banners

"Marleque" Background

I just recently changed my background to Sharon's gorgeous "Forgotten Journey" series- I love it!  And then yesterday, I bought the banner to go with it; one of the things I like best about Sharon's style, is how consistent it is, I KNOW that my new banner would look beautiful with just about any of Sharon's backgrounds.  So, when I feel the need to "redecorate" I'll know where to go, and I'll know that I will be THRILLED with the results!

Weekly Challenge at Inspiration Avenue- A Pocket Full of Light

The challenge this week at Inspiration Avenue was "A Pocket Full of Light" and I decided to do a painting of a poppy backlit by the afternoon sun.  I just listed it in my Etsy shop, click HERE for more information and to see more images of it.

And check in at Inspiration Avenue on Monday to see next week's theme; hosted by your's truly! 

Come play with us!

Whatcha Think of my Beautiful new Background?

Hello, I was doing my usual perusal through my friend's updates in blogland and found that my friend Sharon at Plumrose Lane  has just put up a new background for us bloggers to use and enjoy!  The new background is called "Forgotten Journey" I love the title as much as the overall effect- it's just so lovely!
Sharon has a wonderful selection of backgrounds and banners, some free and others are offered in her newest Etsy shop; Plumrose Lane-Curator of Phantasmgorical Graphics.  As if this fabulous shop were not enough, Sharon also creates the most amazingly intricate pieces of jewelry in her Manamoon shop.  Please visit these shops, I promise you'll fall in love!

A $150,000,000 question: Is it a Da Vinci or Not?

Is this a treasure picked up by a lucky collector with sharp eyes or just an old German cartoon?  It's a question worth more than a hundred million dollars!  You can read the entire article HERE at ARTnews magazine.  Enjoy!

Meanwhile, if you are a fan of da Vinci, you are sure to enjoy these works by Etsy artists inspired by him!

This is a fantastic montage of the Mona Lisa made up of over 1,000 tiny Leonardo Davinci-themed images created by Art Barkers

Here is a Steambunk Pamphlet leather journal that comes with a fascinating history; click the link to read on!

This piece along with other treasures can be found at Lady Artisn's Etsy shop.

Here is a limited edition print inspired by da Vinci's "Flying Machine; created by Tina Imel

This da Vinci steampunk charm bracelet  with a range of altered charms and other goodies really speaks to me!  You can find it along with other altered jewelry and themed Steampunk items at Jezebel Charms.

This digital collage comprised of a series of da Vinci elements can be found along with other digital beauties at Berney Design.

Weekly Challenge at Inspiration Avenue- Wonderland

"I'm late, I'm late for a very important date.  No time to say hello, good-bye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late
I'm late and when I wave, I lose the time I save......" 
White Rabbit from Disney's Alice in Wonderland

As usual, I'm right down to the wire wih my weekly entry for Inspiration Avenue.  The theme this week was "Wonderland" and while I could have posted pictures of our first snow of the year, I'm an Alice junkie and could not resist featuring Alice in Wonderland.  The only hard part was choosing what to depict. I LOVE the Cheshire cat and his "smile without a face" and the painted roses are definitely a fave also. But try as I might to include these elements, they didn't seem to want to "come to the party"......so I ended up using an "Eat me" cake, a great big Alice comprised of Tenniel's illustration and a mini painting of my own, and one of my favorite quotes.

So here's my entry for "Wonderland"

New Etsy Giveaway- FREE Painting- Jackmanni Clematis!

Here's my new giveaway! This time, it's another one of my acrylic paintings; featuring a focused down view of a Jackmanni Clematis; one of my all time favorites in my garden! The painting measures 10 1/2" X 7 1/2" and is matted and backed with foam core- ready to frame!  Click HERE for more information at my Etsy shoop.

The winning entry will be drawn by Random Number Generator on January 25th!

You may enter up to THREE times and there are three different ways to enter!

1. Comment on this post.
2. Link to my giveaway from your blog or website and comment on it.
3. Become a follower, and comment on it here-
if you are already following me, to be entered again, leave a comment saying so:)

Don't forget, the winner's name will be drawn Monday, January 25! Good luck!

For the Love of Frida

For Christmas, I always ask for new books to read and this year; Barbara Kingsolver's book, "The Lacuna" was on my list.  At the heart of the story is Frida Kahlo who has always been one of my favorite artists, and because of this book, she's been on my mind and in my heart all week.
SO, since I haven't done a post featuring Etsy artists lately, I decided to do a feature, featuring artists who have featured Frida in their work.
Enjoy! 

This "Day of the Dead" charm bracelet includes a small cameo of Frida and can be found among other wearble beauties at Designs by SharonAnn.

This Wood Panel collage titled, "Sunflower Frida" is included with paintings, cards and other mixed media works by Nikki McFerren in her Etsy shop.

These fabulous Converse sneakers represent a myriad of Fridas; gorgeous!  These shoes can be found in the Etsy shop called, "Wearable Frida".

This original oil portrait of Frida by Sunjin Kim of SecretMagic  really speaks to me with it's color and movement, as does all the work by this artist- wonderful stuff!.

This Frida Portrait ornament by Lisa at WinOforeverO is something that could be treasured all year round; not just during the holiday season.

These fine art glass earrings called, "The Two Fridas" were created by Lalucita whose shop  includes a wide array of wearable art.