No, really, I do! It's just that, well, life sort of got in the way. Again. So I apologize for being lame all month.
And I sort of dropped the ball on the contest I was having, so we'll go there first.
I got some great ideas from the suggestions that were given me (Otin, your poem rocks! I may have to re-visit that later on...)
The ones I decided to go with are Bella Sinclair's "Little did they know...", Rebecca S's "Once upon a time they lived happily ever after...and this is how it all began," (which I think I'm going to end the book with) and Dala Horse's "I put it under a magnifying glass and..."
Congrats! Once I get the artworks done I will get in touch and get addresses where to send the prints!
I have had a great response with those posters, and the shirts that came from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project have been pretty popular with the few friends and family that have received one. So I think I'm going to do some, without all the Conservation Project stuff on it , of course. Once I get those printed out and in my hands, maybe I'll have a little giveaway with those, too (no, really!)
And...I'm trying some new ideas out in my Alice's Secrets Etsy shop. I have always been interested in typograpy, and I love the graphic look of typography posters. Here's some of my new designs, they are being uploaded to my shop today.
I hate her because she lives in Hawaii and I don't. I love her because she's awesome and has followed me a long time. (For whatever reason I can't quite figure out...) And one of these days I'm going to call her up and say, hey, can I come camp in your backyard? And she also has a lovely blog - so go visit!
So, thanks to all who played along. If you didn't win and really, really wanted to, I'm sorry. But stay tuned, because I'm going to have another giveaway once I get this Sketchbook Project project done, for one of the art pieces that's going in the book. So keep watching. I know it's not as groovy as one of MoseyDog's rings, but since her stuff is still phenomenally priced, you should all go buy something anyway.
First, though, I want to thank everyone who participated. Some of the ideas you put forth were really fun. You all are a pretty creative bunch! Based on the over all theme of my Sketchbook, the constraints of the page sizes, and what I know of my own drawing skills, I have chosen:
I could picture a sad little girl holding a dirigible tied to a string. she is sad because she wanted a shiny red balloon and not a drab, gray dirigible. (Because I think that is just funny, in a weird sort of way, and it reminds me of "The Red Balloon" - which I loved, yet found creepy, as a kid.)
So, you two, send me your mailing addresses, and once I get the images done, I will send you both signed, numbered copies! Yea!
Om nom nom...oh, hi, wait....it's hard to speak with my mouth full...just a sec...
Speaking of noms, I have been craving egg salad on sourdough though, not corn, for about three days now. I tried to go a local sandwich shop called the High Nooner. Are they just a local chain or do any of you have one in your area? They have a sandwich named after the business that is egg salad, lettuce, tomato, BACON, and (wait for it....) CREAM CHEESE. OMG, it is like the best sandwish ever.
Yah, I said "sandwish" instead of "sandwich" but you know, that's what it turned out to be...a wish. Every time I go by there they are closed. Apparently they are only open until 3pm. Which is a bummer for me, since I don't get off work until 5, and there's no way I'd make it to one and back on my lunch break.
So today, on the way home from work, I stopped by the store and bought eggs and sourdough bread. I was so excited about the dang eggs I forgot to buy tomatoes and lettuce! (I thought I would forgo the bacon and cream cheese...I just didn't want to mess with it.)
My "official" egg salad recipe is: one dozen eggs, hard boiled 3-4 lg glops of mayonnaise (none of that "miracle" whip crap) a lg dollop of mustard 2 large globs of sweet pickle relish salt pepper
Slap between two pieces of bread and wah-la!
So anyway, now I feel better and am up to posting.
My wrist is slowly getting better; I am drawing more. I have several banners posted at my new Etsy shop, no takers yet, but it's new, so we'll see how it goes.
Speaking of Etsy, look what I got for my birthday!
They are from joy elizabeth ceramics. She mostly does birds, but I asked her if she would be willing to do some chickens for me, since I collect them. (I know, I know, chickens are birds...but you know what I mean.) She obliged and then Secret Agent Man bought them for me for my birthday. They are teeny tiny and so-o-o cute!
I got another "present" recently, too, although it was quite unexpected! I found a new blog to read, by artist Rebekah Leigh. She also has an Etsy shop. A while back she had a contest and was giving away some of her artwork. I left a comment on her blog, not really intending to enter the contest, but turns out I was a winner! Yea! And the other thing I didn't know, until it showed up at my door, was that the picture she sent me just happened to be my favorite one from her shop! (Or maybe she's a mind reader!)
So now I'm just hanging out, watching some bad "Syfy" tv and blogging. Secret Agent Man is off on a top secret mission (or something like that) and I'm just laying around being lazy until he gets back.
Remember a couple weeks ago I posted about Moo cards, and had a giveaway for a card design? And Leslie of the Crooked Stamper won? Well, we ended up doing not only a business card design, but she's using it for her blog header, too! I'm really happy with the way the design turned out, and I think she is, too. It's very cute, if I may say so myself, and I think it fits her shop/blog. Go check out her Etsy shop, too, her cards are super cute!
main image
I altered it slightly to make it fit a business card and blog header, also in case she wants to use it as an Etsy banner.
This was so much fun! Leslie was super easy to work with. I'm thinking I might have to offer listings for custom banners in my Etsy shop!
Okay, so the votes are in, so to speak. And no one got all 3 of the "truths".
Three people got one right each. And since no one got all three, and I said the first person to get all 3 would win, I'm going to call it good with the first person who played that got 1 right.
That would be...Shirley! Who's idea it was to do this silly thing in the first place...so I guess that's kind of fitting. (Shirley, email me!)
So what are the answers? They are as follows.
1: I once won a backstage pass to an Oingo Boingo concert and had my picture taken with Danny Elfman. FALSE! I just wish it were true. Secret Agent Man is a huge Oingo Boingo fan and I guess it's rubbed off.
2: I got to be part of a crowd scene at the Rocking Horse Bar in Spokane during the filming of "Vision Quest". Madonna sang "Crazy For You".
FALSE! However, two of my roommates at the time did drive over an hour to Spokane and
thenwaited in line for 4 hours to try to get in before deciding to just go shopping instead!
3: I lived in Frankfurt, Germany for two years, by myself, and worked at a Burger King. TRUE! I got married way too young to a military guy, moved to Germany with him, promptly separated and then was stuck there until my parents decided to send me $ to get home.
4: I had to be air-lifted off a mountain after a skiing accident that broke both my ankles. FALSE! It sort-of-kind-of-almost-but-not-quite happened to my brother though.
5: I am a direct descendant of Erik the Red. False! As far as I know, being adopted and all. But my dad used to tell me I was. (Way to go dad! Made me feel all important and stuff!)
6: I once got arrested for public intoxication outside of a Journey concert. TRUE! Well, I got a ticket. (Same diff in this state.) There was a whole group of us,
and several of the group were drinking, I was not (that's my story and I'm sticking to
it!), but we all got tickets. And had to go to court. And my car broke down on the way
there (no,it'strue!) so they issued a warrant for me but since I was onmy way out of
country (see #3) theysaid theheck with it and threw it out.
(There Michel, feel better now!?)
7: I'm a speed reader. I once read War and Peace in 20 minutes. FALSE! It's actually a Woody Allen quote.
8: I'm color blind. FALSE! But it would make drawing interesting wouldn't it?!
9: I'm a "night owl", get bad sunburns when I'm exposed to too much sun and am severely allergic to garlic. I think this means I'm half vampire. TRUE! Bwah ha ha ha ha! No seriously! Bwah ha ha... oh drat. Still true, though.
Now you may be saying to yourself, "Self, wait a minute, there were 8 comments!" and yes, you would be right. Except one of them is my dad, and he can have one anyway! ;)
So, congrats Krista and Spuds! Except I always feel bad when people don't win, so I may have to do another one soon.
So Krista and Spuds, email me at admin@olivehuedesigns.com and let me know which print you choose and I will mail them out asap!
Ho-kay... I had told a couple of you fabulous readers that I was going to have a giveaway this week. It's Monday, so I guess that's as good a time as any!
So - here's how it works: If you are interested in winning one of my new cutie pies, leave a comment to this post.
That's it!
At the end of the week - let's make it Saturday, the 30th, I will randomly pick not one but TWO, yes 2! winners of an 8x10 print of their choice of my new girls!
