This is NOT the giveaway, this is the hat-thingy that the names get drawn out of.

Well, I think it's GIVEAWAY time again! Hooray!

If you have a bit of a thing for birds -- they certainly seem to be a popular theme at the moment -- leave me a little hello in the comments section and my lovely assistant will endeavour to draw YOUR name out of the hat-thingy.

Up for grabs this month is a peacock print, your choice of either these pretty fellows :


Peacocks Orange

Or these pretty fellows:



Peacocks White

You can see more images of these prints in my Etsy store. Please let me know which you prefer in case the next winner is... YOU!*



DRAW DATE: 15th of September (ya know, give or take a couple of days)

*The only criteria for entering this giveaway, though I do hate to make conditions, is that you have to like chocolate.

Do I love these? YES I do!

Tea towels, artprons, pillowcases and artkerchiefs that you love to look at but are loathe to use, found at the Third Drawer Down

Yes, please.



Yay! The Magic Moss bears on the front page of Etsy!*

*If anyone knows how to get a not crap screenshot please let me know...

One of my most pleasurable memories from childhood was hunting for wild chocolate eggs on Easter morning. I'm guessing my parents (I suspect mostly my mother) rose super early and hid them all over the garden but maybe it was the Easter bunny, we never really discussed it. Finding something as wondrous as a brightly coloured foil wrapped chocolate egg amongst the everyday greenery is a truly special moment in one's life.



I also remember being highly enamoured with a juicy fruit gum advertisement where a bunch of kids come across this fantastic tree that seems to be fruiting the advertisers gum; somehow that was way cooler than an actual fruit tree, go figure. I don't even really like or understand gum but that advertisement left a magical impression.


Treasure Tree Hand finished in Watercolour, edition of 10.



We took a little trip to the Island the other day...

My cup runneth over! This nifty oven arrived in my mailbox the other day. Created by the extreme talent of littlebirdesigns over in Scotland who managed to pull my name out of a hat during her recent blog giveaway.

In other news, I struck up a lovely friendship with a fellow Etsian in Denmark and she sent me a box full of goodies; a beautiful Waldorf inspired doll and a treasure of earrings and she made them all herself!

There's a lot that separates those who can photograph things from those who cannot as evidenced below, I had a nice idea but managed to make a complete hash of it. Oh dear!



So, what to do with this overspilling of goodness? Amnesty International to the rescue!

Masked Bear passing through Rainbow Forest. Available all colourful or in understated black and white!

Not quite sure where this will go. Masked bear in progress...

Humpff...

1. Manuela Valle said three store employees told her last week that H&M policy did not allow her to nurse her eight-week-old baby in the store because it might offend other customers.

2. Talk in Toronto of banning large children's strollers from public transit.

3. Conversation on the radio, topic "should children be allowed in art galleries?"

As a member of society and a mother I'm feeling a bit indignant. It's not that society has ever been particularly kidcentric or nurtured the needs of women and mothers/caregivers but if not now, then when? I mean, we've already got i-pods and a particle accelerator,* how much longer do we have to wait? What do we need to do as a society to help ourselves think more wholistically??


The Hadron Collider

Here's a quaint little picture I made. She looks like she's working pretty hard and has a lot on the go but I hope you'll also notice what a groovy getup she's got on and the fact that she likes to go against conventions and has painted her house pink.




Thanks mum.

* I have to confess, I think the particle accelerator is totally awesome and I have a picture of it on my wall.

Are you one of these paper people??

Seeing as this is the very first zukzuk GIVEAWAY I thought it might be nice to start with a bang! My lovely assistant* was kind enough to help me choose 2 names out of the hat-like thing and Jelly Bean Birds will be soon winging their way to:

Krista of Thunder Bay
Julie Alvarez of Argentina

Thank you to all for your kind words and encouragement, for someone like me new to the blogging world it was a lovely experience and one I will be happy to do again. So, stop by for another giveaway in September!

Take care everyone and have a fantastic weekend!

*Good grief, dirty fingernail child...

The Camping Trip Card by Screech Owl Design

I received an email from Kelly Lynn Jones of little paper planes today and it seems my prints arrived safe and sound. All I can say is, phewwww!! You send forth your babies in their thin armour of plastic and cardboard and you hope they'll be okay, it's always nice to hear they have arrived at their destinations intact. I guess it's good preparation for future adventures in parenting!


Storage 4 by Kelly Lynn Jones

Kelly is an amazing artist who does stuff like this:


The New Land by Kelly Lynn Jones

...and runs a swell little on-line store chock full of art, zines, jewellery, bags and accessories.

Things like these:


Cagefight Tote Bag by Drew Beckmeyer


The Hostage Print and The Whale Print by Gilbert Ford - these crack me up!

Cool zines like these:


Bear Zine 5 by Gemma Correll and Sheds Book by Analogue

...and art:


Rocky Mountains Drawing No. 1 Print by Jaime Derringer


Gordita by Esther Ramirez.
Awwwwwwww...

And in other news, tomorrow is the "BIG DAY"! I'll be drawing a name out of a hat-like thing to pick a winner of the Jelly Bean Birds print, will that name be yours?!!!

If you are lucky enough to have a garden it's pretty hard to resist taking some pictures of it, especially if you live in a part of the world where the whole thing ends up covered in snow for a big chunk of the year!



Can you smell this basil? These tomatoes? Ahh... my pretties.





Just like Pooh bear, I love it when the bees are buzzing...





Okay back to work, but first I need to play my recorder for a bit and build something with my Lego...





Don't forget the Giveaway! See details below. Have a fantastic weekend!

Well, it's nearly time to bid a fond farewell to the "Birdabies". I really love this print and it seemed like a lot of other people did too because it sold very quickly; today I only have a handful left.



I thought I might like to have some more birds scratching around my Etsy store so here is my new print, "Jelly Bean Birds" which was lots of fun to make. So much fun, these prints may well be imbued with rocking good vibes because I was in a jolly mood as they came into being!

It's been a long weekend here in Toronto and I have thoroughly enjoyed taking a peek at some other blogs. I noticed that many talented folks are doing GIVEAWAYS, what an excellent idea! I think I will do what all the cool kids are doing and follow suit.

So, if you are an exuberant sort* and would enjoy an extra splash of colour in your day please leave me a comment and I'll pick someone at random on the 15th of August to win one of these limited edition prints. Please be sure to leave me a way of contacting you, a blog link or email address for instance. I don't think many people visit yet so your chances are good!!



And if you are interested in winning more artful goodies go check out littlebird blog -- she has something lovely there, you might be lucky enough to call it your own...

*Maybe you dream of being an exuberant sort and just have too much beige in your days?

It's been so nice to hear from you all -- you've inspired me to do a giveaway at the beginning of each month, share the love and all...

THANK YOU!

My, my, what a curious day.

I've been welded to the computer chair all afternoon, so much has been going on! My dear friend from Denmark helpfully drew my attention to the Etsy front page treasury were "Birdabies" was having a brief moment of fame thanks to the birdliscious selection by Etsian Rivulettecraft. Stephanie from Rivulettecraft has oodles of lovelies in her store...


Then the front page treasury changed and my print "Magic Moss Bears" was there! I know the treasury does some curious things when items sell so maybe I wasn't actually chosen for this particular treasury but just turned up there anyway, I dunno. I did manage to capture a screen shot of Rivulettecraft's treasury but had difficulty getting the whole thing to fit so my apologies to the stores that I managed to cut off in this shot below.



Thanks to this little blip of exposure I sold some prints and while I was getting them all ready to ship my blogging mentor Raina of beautiful Rainingsheep fame informed me that she had done a post called "socks for helen"! Crikey!!

Raina knits fantastic things and was kind enough to make me a pair of wondrous socks, so wondrous in fact that I'm not sure they are for wearing; maybe just for photo opportunities and a bit of fondling. Photography is another love for this talented gal, check out the luscious montage in her latest post which includes my socks!



Raina's photograph features soft, golden light and my socks enjoying the breeze against a verdant Summer oasis...



... and my "find the socks" against backdrop of partially falling apart rag rug, last-vestiges-of-daylight-really-needs-a-flash snap shot.*

*Raina, I was going to do a picture like you did with the clogs but my clogs are not glamourous and pristine like your clogs (you don't actually garden in them?), mine look like a dog chewed them. Now I do know a dog...


And to finish this epic post, I am happy to be able to send a little more love Amnesty International's way thanks to everyone's support. Thank you so much!