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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Did you have a good holiday? We did alot of travelling to spend time with all of our families, but it was well worth it. My Mum's side of the family had a reunion. The first time we've all been together in over 15 years. One of my cousins travelled for 36 hours straight, from the other end of the country, to join in. It was pretty special.
We wanted NYE to be a big one, seeing as it may be our last chance for a while. But we were so pooped from all the travelling over Christmas (having only gotten home the day before), we ended up just popping down to see the local fireworks, and were all tuckered out, in bed before midnight. Oh well...
The lead up to Christmas was also pretty big. Loads of work. Mr You's mum came and helped me sew my way through half of my Wombat pillowcase orders, meaning I got them sent out in time for Christmas (which was SO awesome)... only 45 to go now. ;)
I also sent out my Thanksgiving Giveaway Prize Pack, and Jacinta seemed genuinely thrilled to receive it! :D
The past few days have been really fun through. Plodding around the house, getting things organised, working on this and that, and finishing each day with a lovely Summer swim.
Now, it's back to work, sewing pillowcases and bags, creating new products for La La Land (more on that soon), a commission, setting up some deals for the coming months, and general pre-baby renno's and preparation. The countdown has begun, I'm hoping to finish everything up before the end of the month, before I become too cumbersome to move, (which on some days feels as though that point is only 15 minutes away).
Hope you had a great few weeks too!
Late last night Mr You cranked out his amazing lotto machine once again, and we watched in excited anticipation as it randomly selected this years winner...
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Congratulations lucky you! I shall be in touch to find out which print you would like, and to get your postage address.
Thanks once again SO much to everyone for playing along.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Announcing the 5th Annual Thanksgiving Giveaway!
Yaaaaay!
But wait, for this year's annual giveaway I have some good news and some bad news...
 News Update
I realise this event has become a bit of a highlight for this blog, for me, and I know you look forward to it each year, which makes what I'm about to announce a little hard for me.
The bad news is, after much to-ing and fro-ing, and kitchen table conventions with mr You, I have decided that this year the prize will not be a personalised illustrated commission (as it has been for the past 4 years). With a baby on the way in the new year, and all of the commitments I've taken on between now and then, I just can't see when I would have time to make a commission with the dedication it deserves. I'm so sorry.
The good news however, is I have not cancelled the giveaway altogether, I have just changed the prize...
The Prize
So this year the prize will be a huge pack of flossy-p stuff (and they are all illustrated, so officially it's still an illustration giveaway). Just in time for Christmas, you can either wrap them all up for yourself, or use them to help out with your Christmas gift giving to those you love and adore.
The pack will contain illustrated greeting cards, an illustration print of your choice, one of my brand new colouring books, and a flossy fabric surprise!
What It's All About
I really like the general idea of the Thanksgiving celebration, but we don't celebrate it here in Australia, so I have developed my own tradition, showing thanks to this sweet blogging community by hosting a giveaway.
How To Enter
It's easy, just leave a comment on THIS post anytime between now and the morning of thanksgiving (my time) the 25th Nov. That's just under a week away. One comment is enough, as I'll remove duplicate entries before the draw so everyone gets an equal chance. The draw will be completely random, and I'll be drawing and announcing the winner on U.S. Thanksgiving Day (which according to my calendar is the 25th Nov).
Sorry for the let-down, I hope this excites you all the same. Good luck!
(I plan to return to the proper-program again next year)
Just now getting around to showing you the little packages I put together (of 5 things each) for the winners of my 5th Bloggy Birthday Giveaway!My friend is the brain and skilled hands behind the beautiful Mandi and Maddi brand, and although her online shops are mostly bare, it is because her retail outlets keep her so busy. She came around for lunch one day a few weeks ago, and adorned me with some really really gorgeous clips that I had admired. I kept the pink one for myself, and sent an orange one to my Sister Sparkle for her birthday. Feeling guilty that she always gives me her beautiful things, I took myself off to the shops and bought one of her very cool magnetic bookmarks.  The bookmark went into one of the giveaway packages!  For Cindy from Bug and Pop I got a nice neutral scarf from the op-shop, ready for her to embellish, the magnetic bookmark, a pack of my Happy Happy Garden Cards, a Curiosity mini-print, and a square card featuring my Buttercup Bluejay design. And for Victoria from One Sheep Town I got a cool string bag made of wool and a funny Australiana tea towel from the op-shop, a pack of my Happy Happy Garden Cards, a print of Honour, and a square card featuring my Peony and Red Cardinal design. I've since heard they both liked their packages.
Wow, that giveaway was SOOOO nice for me (watch me lay back and bask in all those nice comments). New blog friends, ones who've been there from the very beginning, and ones who I've met along the way. And so reassuring to hear what you all value and recall the most. I've forgotten most of them, so it was very cool to be reminded. - I loved Laura & Cindy's comments about the sad times being as important as the happy ones. - I loved that you liked watching my mural come to life. I might try that again one day :). And your excitement about the annual giveaway draw machine. - I loved that the wedding meant so much to so many of you, and that you celebrate along with me when something outstanding happens, like getting engaged, or clinching the deal at the Art Gallery. That means alot to me. - I loved that some of you had an out of the ordinary stand out post. - I love that you remember little things, like the name of our cat! Really your comments were all so surprising to me. So amazing! This process also gave me a chance to reflect. In these five years I have had you by my side as life evolved. I started my blog when I had a stressful full time job, and wasn't too happy with life. My blog has been a safe place for me. I started illustrating and crafting, quit my day job with no alternate plans and became and artist. We adopted a cat (fur-baby). We moved from the city to the country. We got engaged, got married, and bought a house. So, yeah, in retrospect it's been eventful. But it isn't until you take these moments that you realise that there have been accomplishments. And my favourite post? I think it was always this one: With Added PlumpnessSo, enough reflection, the winner, for the pure fact of recalling a very old post and event I had completely forgotten about, is Victoria!And because it was such a close race, for her choice ( Aqua Hug), the runner up, is Cindy!Thank-you so much to everyone. You are the bestest. I will be smothered in warm-fuzz for weeks from this one. :) (Victoria and Cindy, send me your postal addresses (flossyp AT gmail.com), and I shall pop a surprise in the post for you!
 Happy Birthday to Me-blog. Happy Birthday to Me-blog. Happy Birthday dear Me-blooooooog. Happy Birthday to Me-blog. Can you believe I actually remembered my bloggy birthday this year? Unbelievable I tell you. Lucky, because it's a special one too. 5! FIVE! Five years I've been doing this. Good God. Anyway, I thought I should celebrate with a giveaway or something. (Sorry for the ambiguity. Although I did remember my bloggy birthday, that only happened about an hour ago, so I don't have anything specifically organised.)So, leave a comment on this blog telling me about your favourite post from this blog (5 years worth to select from). And this time next week I shall select a winner, and send you 5 goodies (actual items to be announced... or left as a surprise... I'll decide later).*Giveaway entries have now closed.
 My attempt at "adrift" for Illustration Friday. I was looking for a new desktop wallpaper for my computer this week, and was having trouble finding something I like. I prefer hand painted pictures, of a contemporary illustration style (offered by the artist, not nicked)... I ended up with something renaissancey for the time being, but if you know of any, please let me know. In the meantime I thought this illo might make a nice desktop, so I've done my part, and turned it into one for YOU to download! (Please be nice, only use it for your own personal use, don't reproduce it.)Get The Desktop Here: 1280x1024 OR 1680x1050PC: To set this image as your Desktop Wallpaper, right-click on the image and choose from the menus “Set as Wallpaper” or “Set as Background” (depending on your browser's options); Mac: Save the image then right click on it and “Set Desktop Picture" Let me know what you think!
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! This is SO freakin' exciting. I love doing this. Mr You has spent the better part of the week improving on his incredible lotto machine that randomly draws the winner of this Thanksgiving Giveaway... so he must love it too. Before we begin I want to reiterate that the point of this annual giveaway is to show my thanks to you for your company and friendship. So thankyou each and everyone for taking part, showing your support, and coming back each year for more. Happy Thanksgiving! At 10pm we did the draw. It was great! And although I very much wanted each of you to win, when the actual winner's name was revealed I was thrilled! I know she is going to pee her pants when she realises it's her! I won't say anymore right now because I don't want to spoil the surprise. So without further adieu, go ahead, PRESS START!!!!! :D
A quick reminder that you only have until this Thursday morning to enter my Thanksgiving Illustration Giveaway.  Then to double your chances, ChunkyChooky is having a giveaway marathon. A draw each week for 4 weeks. Actually that's quadrupling your chances! Quick sticks, get on over there. :) 
Drumroll... Spotlights... Curtains Open... Announcing the 4th Annual Thanksgiving Giveaway!Yaaaaay! Welcome.Those of you who've been visiting for a while will know all about this, and probably have already decided what your prize will be. For those who don't know... What It's All AboutI really like the general idea of the Thanksgiving celebration, but we don't celebrate it here in Australia, so I have developed my own tradition, showing thanks by hosting a giveaway. The prize of the giveaway is an illustration by me that the winner gets to commission. It can be anything you like. Have a look see at the previous winners commissions, and others, in the commission section here. Should you win you could request an illo of anything or anyone you like. It could be abstract, like your favourite song, or specific like a portrait of a loved one (or pet) from a photo. You should keep in mind the style of my work though, because you may be disappointed if you ask for a Rembrandt! How To EnterIt's easy, just leave a comment on THIS post anytime between now and the morning (my time) of the 26th Nov. That's 2 weeks away. One comment is enough, as I'll remove duplicate entries before the draw so everyone gets an equal chance. The draw will be completely random, and I'll be drawing and announcing the winner on Thanksgiving Day (which according to my calendar is the 26th Nov). Spread The WordSeeing as this is such a big event in my blogging calendar year, I have created a button. If you'd like to help me spread the word, go for your life! Use the button all you like! You can add it to a blog post by using this code: - In your blog post entry window enter the following code:
<a href="http://flossy-p.blogspot.com/2009/11/4th-annual-thanksgiving-giveaway.html" title="Thanksgiving Giveaway 2009" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.flossyparticles.com/images/ThanksgivingGiveaway_Bttn_Wht.gif" alt="Thanksgiving Giveaway 2009" /></a>Or to add this graphic to your side bar... Using this link: http://flossy-p.blogspot.com/2009/11/4th-annual-thanksgiving-giveaway.html What's Next?Well, enter your comment, and start thinking what you'd like me to paint if you win. Good Luck!!!!! :D
That got your attention. ;) Have you heard of the Feed Your Soul project yet? Jen from Indie Fixx started up the Feed Your Soul art project earlier in the year, inviting artists to create works to give away. It's her way of keeping art flowing into peoples homes throughout the GFC. Clever, isn't she? Each month a new bunch of works are offered as free PDFs for you to download, print off, and hang in your home. I've been collecting my favourites over the past few months, and am excited to know there's still more to come. Here are an example of some (but not all) of the lovely works on offer so far:  (Featuring: Abigail Halpin, Mandy Sutcliffe, Lindsey Carr, Belinda Hemp, Marcy Davy, and Gemma Correll).My contribution, along with a short interview, went up this week too.  I couldn't really show all the works on offer here, so you'll just have to go choose your favourites on your own. Go on. Feed Your Soul... What are you waiting for? It's art, and it's free!!!! Scooot.
I'm sure you all remember the amazing bouncy ball competition draw tool Mr You made for my Thanksgiving Illustration Giveaway. And I'm sure you remember a lass named Kath was the winner... We'll as I mentioned in my previous post Kath wanted me to paint her a picture along the lines of a few works I've done before. She told me among her favourite flowers and birds were peonies and red cardinals... Neither of which I've ever painted before. This was what I came up with for her. I hope she likes it :)  (It's very pretty, pretty, isn't it? I've been looking at so much wedding stuff, I think it's all starting to seep deeply in).There'll be another traditional Thanksgiving Illustration again this year. I'll give you plenty of notice.
At precisely 9.25pm we cranked up Mr You's amazing lotto machine and conducted the draw for the 3rd Annual Illustration Giveaway.
Some notes:
- Mr You's afore mentioned amazing machine uses maths, physics and code (don't ask me anymore than that), to ensure a completely random draw.
- So random that when the names appear at the top, during the testing phases I could see that the placement of names was unique each time.
- The winner was chosen via this tool
- There were 83 entries in the end, each from a unique person (no double ups)
- If two names were the same, the second was called #2
- I have ENORMOUS amounts of appreciation and warm fuzzies for each of you who entered. Thank-You! This year has been really exciting
Okay... enough with the formalities... On with the show!
Dum Dulalalump dump dum daaaaaaa - Announcing the 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Giveaway! Welcome.Those of you who've been visiting for a while will know all about this. For those who don't know... What It's All AboutI really like the idea of Thanksgiving, but we don't celebrate it here in Australia, so each year I do my own little thing, showing my thanks by hosting a giveaway. The prize of the giveaway is an illustration by me that the winner gets to commission. It can be anything you like. The past 2 years the prizes have ended up becoming sweet and quirky portraits of the winners sons! However, should you win you could request anything or anyone you like. It could be abstract, like your favourite song, or specific like a portrait of a loved one (or pet) from a photo. You should keep in mind the style of my work though, because you may be disappointed if you ask for a Rembrandt! Having said that, don't feel as though it has to be something for your kids just because the last ones were either. It's completely up to you. Each year the value of my work rises a little (yay!), which means that this year the winner will be getting a prize worth $350 USD. And I'm happy to ship worldwide, so don't be shy. How To EnterSo how do you enter? It's easy, just leave a comment on THIS post anytime between now and the morning (my time) of the 27th Nov. That's 3 weeks away. One comment is enough, as I'll remove duplicate entries before the draw so everyone gets an equal chance. The draw will be completely random, and I'll be drawing the winner on Thanksgiving Day (which according to my calendar is the 27th Nov). Spread The WordSeeing as this is such a big event in my blogging calendar I have created a button. If you'd like to help me spread the word, go for your life! Use the button all you like! You can add it to a blog post by using this code: - In your blog post entry window enter the following code:
<a href="http://flossy-p.blogspot.com/2008/11/3rd-annual-thanksgiving-giveaway.html" title="Thanksgiving Giveaway 2008" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.flossyparticles.com/images/ThanksgivingGiveaway_Bttn_Wht.gif" alt="Thanksgiving Giveaway 2008" /></a>Or to add it to your side bar, grab the button below and follow the instructions here. But remember to use this button and this URL. http://flossy-p.blogspot.com/2008/11/3rd-annual-thanksgiving-giveaway.html What's Next?Well, enter your comment, and start thinking what you'd like me to paint if you win. Good Luck!!!!! :D  _ _ _ I've now closed the comments at number 83. (Kat just made it in)Sorry entries are now closed, the draw is in progress.
Good Luck everyone. :)
 Thank-you so much to everyone for entering my Spring Brooch Giveaway! I've never had so many entrants for one of my wee gifties before, so it was very exciting. There were so many entries that I felt a bit scummy only giving away two brooches, so I'm going to make an extra one tonight, and I drew an extra winner. So all up there are 3 winners. And those lucky three are:  - Geek+Nerd, - Shellbells, and - BigCatYay! Congratulations :) These babies will be heading to brighten up your outfits, and spread the good karma asap! - - - - - Thank-you to everyone else. Sorry I couldn't make one for each of you. The next giveaway I'll be hosting will be my annual Thanksgiving Illo Giveaway, in the second half of November (that's only a couple of weeks away!). The winner of this one gets to commission a painting from me as their prize (they sell for upward of $350 USD these days, so it's a good deal). You can request anything at all, or leave it up to me to decide. It can be for you, or a gift for someone special... it's completely up to you. This will be it's third year running. Diana and Anastasia were the previous two winners. So if you're interested in that one, check back in November for updates and how to enter.
Remember the other week when I shared the fact that Nomes was having an awesome giveaway of vintage tea towels? Well it must have been good karma because I WON! But not only that, the very next day I WON AGAIN, over at the lovely Daisy Chain (Barry is packing his bags to come live with me as we speak). The tea towel arrived today, it's amazing, mint condition, true vintage, smells lovely, and say's "flowering tree of friendship". Sweet! (Sorry for the wrinkles, I was too excited to do any ironing). Thank-you so much Nomes :) And for the record, Nomes is hosting another giveaway for a hand painted bookmark right now. Earlier this month I won those great earrings from Nicole too. I know I know, I can hear you all muttering "Geez Louise, leave some for the rest of us"... fair enough too. But correct me if I'm wrong, I think these may be the first give-away's I've ever won. :D Even so, it's left me wary of this force of Karma, so, I'm passing it on... It's been the longest time since I last made something crafty, so the other night I got stuck in to make myself some brooches (I don't wear or use anything I've made myself, and so far still none of my own art on the walls), but it's all about to change...  That first green button brooch, and the second felt flower brooch are my new Spring accessories! (Have a closer look here). So what about those other two green button brooches? Well... ::SPRING BROOCH GIVEAWAY::They're up for grabs! They are covered in the coolest vintage fabric (real vintage too), are about an inch and a half wide, and have a pin back. Leave a comment here if you'd like to be in the draw. The winners will be selected in some random fashion next Wednesday, 22nd October, in the afternoon. It's just a little give away, but hopefully it will appease Lady Luck and her comrade Karma, and make two of you rather pleased too. Remember CurlyPops is keeping an updating list of all the BLOGTOBERFEST giveaways... Man she's gotta get some good karma for that!
That got your attention I bet! Vintage tea towels people, in mint condition I hear, it doesn't get more enticing than that. So here's the thing; Nomes over at Hanging With My Nomies is having a giveaway of two gorgeous vintage CWA tea towels, and so far I'm the only applicant. All day long I have been swooning, because let's face it, my chances were pretty good. But then the greedy greedy guilt pixie started whispering in my ear and poking me with it's spiky fingers, and now I just know I won't be able to sleep unless I share the joy. So tea-towel and/or vintage loving friends, get your buts over here and sign-up. You won't regret it I'm sure. You've got till Wednesday, tick tick tick... p.s. I'm so glad everyone is happy with the blogtoberfest button. Thanks for the lovely feedback :)
At 4pm my standard time, the random draw for my happy card give-away took place on my back veranda. This is how it played out...    Thank-you to everyone who played along, and congratulations to the winners: Potty Mouth Mama, Lil Kim, Emerald Arts, Jennifer, and Love Squalor. You shall each be receiving a tiny parcel from me very soon. Please send your postal address to me at: flossyp [at] gmail.com Hooray!
This is: what I do with a spare 10 minutes.Oh Lordy how I have been pining for a spare 10 minutes this week! The mums among you out there will want to slap me till I'm all sorts of red when I say this, but I never knew how much time it takes when you're looking after someone. Since Mr You smashed his elbow this time last week, we've had a week of back and forth from the hospital, x-rays, catscans, hours and hours of waiting, surgery, recovery, and now all the homecare. His surgery didn't go to plan; I won't go into all the details, but a 1hr surgery turned into 5hrs all up. But he's safely back at home now, and all is well and slowly on the mend. He's still really dozy, and fragile, and being his right arm, he needs help with almost everything. I also feel compelled to keep the house as sterile as possible, so I've been doing more chores than I thought I was capable of. This elusive notion of a "spare 10 minutes" has become quite mythical this week. In normal life, a spare 10 minutes would buy me a quiet cup of tea while flipping through the local paper, or catching up on news from my favourite fellow bloggers. This week however, I've been dying to get a spare 10 minutes just so I could get to the computer to announce my give-away! So here it is:  Paper Anniversary Give-AwayTo celebrate our first year in our new town, I wanted to tip my hat a little to how much this new environment has inspired and fulfilled me. I developed a little set of paper tags, (that I've had in my mind for years now), for the August Pikapackage, and I've kept 5 sets for this give-away. I won't tell too much about the cards themselves just yet, other than to say they're very small, there's 5 in each set, you give them away, they're require you to notice the beauty around you, and then reward it. They are a type of encouragement card and random act of kindness all rolled into one. So, tell me what inspires you about the suburb/town where you live, what makes you feel good about being there. All comments on this post will be included in a random draw, and I'll announce the 5 winners on Friday 19th Sept (this Friday).
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