Thursday, January 31, 2013

And we have a winner!

The time has come to announce the winner in the first ever Plurkie Challenge! Drum roll please.......

I am super pleased to announced the winner is... Athena!


Her beautifully penned words spoke to many and lead her to sashay over the finish line with her Plurkie Pals at her heels. Congratulations Athena! Adulation and Admiration are just around the corner. ;-p As an added extra you will also get to choose the theme for March's challenge - woot. Oh and I think Teri said something about cookies......?

And now we come to the second announcement... the theme for February. I know it's a bit cliqued, but for February there really is only one theme... LOVE. Remember that love is different for everyone, so we could get some really interesting results.

To be involved you will need a few simple things:

1) Be a plurkie. If you don't know what that is then you probably aren't one, but we can change that ;)

2) Create something with the theme of Love. It can be anything, a poem, a picture, a photograph, a sculpture, a piece of jewellery.. anything.. as long as you made it yourself.

3) Send me a copy/image of your piece here along with a few words about it's story by February 21st (short month, shorter deadline).

Entries will be blogged here by February 23rd with a poll. Winner and next theme will be announced February 28th (my birthday)! Join in, have fun and let the lurve flow!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Plurkie Challenge January

Hey peeps, the time has arrived. The first Plurkie Challenge, with the theme Hope, has reached it's climax and the time for voting is upon us. We have a few entries, not as many as we would have liked, but congratulations and well done to those who were able to be involved.

So let's get to the entries!

First up we have Athena who has penned this great verse:


Next we have Amy who has crocheted this awesome beanie with a great message of hope.
         "I decided to make this hat after hearing the theme Hope because not only was I filling in for a woman at work who was dealing with breast cancer (this hat is for her!) but a close friend who started my Handmade Louisiana team fought breast cancer a few years ago (and won!) and now another handmade mommy friend is currently in treatment. So many women, all over, everywhere. Cancer sucks. So I decided to make this beanie for the co-workers return to soon (this week I'm told!) Women everywhere should have HOPE to beat breast cancer!"


Next up is Teri, who has hand painted this amazing silk scarf.
           "I've named it "Lady Slippers of Hope".  It's a Prayer Shawl that I have painted for my cousin.  Lady Slippers are the state flower, and grow in dark, mossy places.  Little spots of brightness in the dark. They are also rare, like hope can be sometimes, but when it's found, it's a precious gift, to leave in place so others can find it when they need it.  (Okay, actually, it's a crime to pick Lady Slippers, since they are on the endangered plants list....)"





Next up is Katie, who has created gorgeous earrings.
         "Springtime always makes me feel hopeful with the new buds and blooms of color fighting their way through the gloomy end of winter so I made these earrings. I guess they could be called "Garden of Hope""



And lastly, but by no means least, we have Deb with a twist on an established favourite.
           "For over a year, I’ve been making and offering these Post Earrings made with Raw Diamond using wire wrap method that I’ve designed and perfected myself, and they’ve been selling steadily to friends and fans all over the world.  But as the supply cost surged, suppliers dwiddles, materials are getting more and more difficult to work with, and to justify the cost of materials and time, I was on the verge of giving up making these all together!

Until someone asked me to make a few without the use of Raw Diamond....  And these had been extremely well received from the few days that I’ve posted them online! 
So here’s to hoping!  That these new alternative use of materials will open another door and many more possibilities for my shop for the coming year!"






So there we have it! Five great entries from five lovely ladies. Thank you to you all for being involved. A poll will be up on the side of the blog so you can vote for your favourite. The winner will be announced January 30th, along with the theme for February, so stay tuned!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

OOps, I did it again!

Oh dear, I really fell off the blogging radar this time. I cannot believe it has been two and a half months since I last blogged!
I guess I had a reason in November doing the NaNoWriMo, which I am pleased to report I finished successfully. It wasn't the world's best piece of literature, but it was never intended to be.
December was full of family orientated activity, mostly due to my brood having school holidays that drag on for 7 weeks! They aren't quite over yet either.

So here we are, half way through January 2013. I'm still at the point of having to stop and think when writing the year down. I should be right by the time school goes back at the end of the month.

There are some interesting things in the works for 2013 too, including the brand new Plurkie Monthly Challenge. This is a challenge I am running for my friends on the social networking site, Plurk. Plurk is like a cross between Messenger and Twitter, and is in my opinion the best site for making really good friends.
The challenge has the theme Hope and participants are allowed to do whatever they want, as long as it fits the theme. They could write a song or poem or story, or making something, like a drawing or jewellery or sculpture. If it has a form that can be copied/photographed for sharing then it qualifies. Someone could make a cake that represents hope and send in a picture and that would count.
I specifically made it really broad because I have friends on Plurk in a wide range of different industries with many different talents and I didn't want any of them to feel they couldn't be involved.

I will be blogging the entries here just before the end of the month with a poll for people to vote for the winner. At this stage there isn't a prize up for grabs, other than the adoration and adulation of their peers!

I am going to do my best to get back on the blogging bandwagon, bringing you an insight into my hectic life, my creations and other things that inspire me. Please stay tuned.