Apples Of My EyesAll the things that make me happy

Treasure Hunt #3

Time for next installment of Treasure Hunt. This time, I’ll tell you that there are quite a few “big name” companies based in this area. Let the guessing games begin…

ROUND #3 OFFICIAL QUESTION:
I’m looking for the names of 2 very famous companies that call the area where I live home. One specializes in sporting goods, and another is a renowned and beloved intellectual source. So, body and mind, if you’re my neighbor, we’ve got it all covered

Please post names of the companies you think are the answers to my questions in the comments below. You can earn 1 point for each correctly guessed name (first to post gets the worm points. Good luck and we’ll continue the Hunt on Monday.

Tags: giveaway, treasure hunt, trivia

Treasure Hunt Round #2

Let’s continue down the Rabbit Hole on our exciting Treasure Hunt.

The first round (CLICK TO SEE ROUND #1)  already has a winner, kraftythoughts with 2 points for correct answers, and you can check it out to help locating the general area

ROUND #2, QUESTION:
• Arguably, two of the most renown and beloved children’s books authors and illustrators have very strong connections to this area. WHO ARE THEY (and for bonus points – what are the connections)?

Please only post your answer (as you don’t really want to help out competition, do you? ). The first person to post the names/information I’m looking for, gets the coveted points. Comments are open until all questions in the round are answered.

Tags: Freebies, giveaway, treasure hunt

Treasure Hunt

I live in a lovely area. It’s close enough to some major cities and attractions, yet it has no traffic jams and is safe & comfortable for raising kids. Aside from a pretty brutal snowstorms a few times a year, I have no complaints with the weather. People are nice, nature is beautiful, what else can anybody to wish for?

And even though lots of cities and towns around the world are claiming some inventions and events, my homebase, actually is “first” in quite a few important and fun things! There are way too many things for me to list that are famous or important, or related to something famous and important. So, how about I will just send you on a wild goose chaise, trying to beat the clock and guess where exactly I live and what are the things that originated within half an hour drive from here. The winner will get the bragging rights, cute handmade prize (a doodled rock) and a bucket-load of newly acquired trivia knowledge.

I understand that everybody has Google and a few people even communicated with me through snailmail, so they might know exactly where I live So… I fully intend to be very cryptic with the info I’m looking for, and confuse you and give you only the slightest hints. To get the main prize, you’ll need to guess the most facts, not just my address

ROUND 1. General Area

Where I live, they say “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, and it will change”.

We have 4 full-blown seasons, Fall being probably the most beautiful one, lots of tourists come over specifically for leaf-peeping (official term, btw).

The state I live in has all kinds of natural wonders, from rivers, lakes and waterfalls to mountains, hills, forests and marshes.

Our state official tree is Elm and official bird is mosquito Chickadee.
If I told you our official beverage, fish or dog, you’d guess the state right away

And now, the official QUESTION #1:
Which 2 very popular sports were invented in the local colleges at the end of 19th century?

PLEASE, POST YOUR ANSWERS UNDER THIS POST to be entered into the prize drawing. Feel free to Tweet, Blog or otherwise spread the word about this game Good luck!

Tags: contest, game, giveaway, treasure hunt

Very Belated Wednesday Etsy Finds

Confession. I’m an envious person. I envy many people, mostly for their talents and skills rather than material possessions. My envy is light and colorless. Good example – I tend to admire other artists’ ease in use of colors. I am extremely conservative when it comes to my own palette – I dress in blacks, browns and greens, my walls only recently turned to something other than sterile beige. I’m working on it… But I’m not quite there… yet. So, I envy away

Case in point, Betsy Thompson. Her mixed media collages are bright, cheery and look effortless. Little pieces come together beautifully, leaving me in awe of the simplicity and attention to detail.


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Shop • Site • Flickr

Tags: collage, mixed media, wednesday etsy finds

Bragging Rights

I’m sure that once you’ve seen my doodles on Etsy, or read a word of what I had to say on this blog, you immediately felt like you had to get to know me better… find out what I eat for breakfast and what color is my refrigerator. Well, I prefer to remain a mystery on those two personal topics, BUT, you can certainly get a peek into my creative process if you read an interview I gave on the lovely January Wish Blog.

There’s also a chance to win one of my fun “Tea for Twenty Two”, Crazy Teapots Print, see the rules in the post!

Special thanks to the Blog Hostess, Melissa (aka This Year’s Girl on Etsy), for interviewing me and making me feel cool and important

Tags: blog, feature, giveaway, inspiration, interview

Travel Collage

I’ve been away for a week, brought back some fun memories, weirdly shaped patches of sunburn and pictures from an afternoon stroll in Playa De Carmen, Mexico:

Tags: mexico, paper, travel

Aro Loves Happy Endings…

… They are so rare
And I love Aro! He’s cool, smart and intriguing. What started as an innocent question from a TwiMom customer, progressed through a Post-it Sketch, finally came to happy conclusion as a full blown Portrait of Aro. Here’s some “work-in-progress” for you:

And this is a final result:

Now, I feel like some explanation is in order, especially if you’re not a Twilight fan and don’t have a clue who Aro is and what’s all this stuff around him
Quoting Edward, “Volturi are the closest thing vampires have to royalty”. And in this royal family, Aro is the King. He can “hear” all the thoughts you’ve ever had just by touching your trembling hand. He “collects” the specially “talented” vampires for his Guard and ensures that the main rule of the Vampire world, keeping secrecy of it’s existence, is respected.
Aro, and other members of Volturi clan live in a little Italian town of Volterra. They reside in an ancient tower near the main town square and feed on unsuspecting tourists whom some members of the Guard bring right to their “table”, so to speak.
So, on my picture what you see is the Volturi Tower, and the back of Aro’s “throne” from the movie, which also looks like two towers with a marble disc in the middle. Aro’s eyes are “naturally” red, and his features are perfect. The mask is a wink to my beloved “Phantom of the Opera”, of course, but also to the masks worn by the townspeople celebrating riddance of Volterra from… vampires… by no other than “Saint” Marcus (the other prominent member of Volturi clan). On one side you can see the snake (which to me represents Aro’s politics and sneaky tactics) and on the other is a neverending staircase (for the long winding way Cullens and Bella were forced to take on their way to meet the Volturi). The brush and arrows tied with an intricate bow are also from the movie “thrones” and to me they look like representation of Volturi’s reputation as “Silent Patrons of the Arts”.

Tags: aro, drawing, illustration, new moon, twilight, vampire, volturi

Sketchy Aro

My lovely Etsy customer from France was inquiring if I, by any chance, had a “companion” print for the Heidi of the Volturi that she has purchased. I decided that it was not nice to keep poor Heidi so lonely and started drawing a matching portrait of Aro. It is certainly inspired by Martin Sheen’s Aro from the movie, but I am looking more for scary/beautiful look than exact likeness. This is a first sketch that I did.

Opinions? Oh, and I’m still looking for the meanings of the round pieces on top of Volturi thrones. Anybody read anything about them? Help!

Tags: aro, drawing, twilight, volturi

Etsy Wednesday Finds – CarmelaJay

Artists Carmela Chase and Tara Ray celebrate all things dead. From their breakfast meat to their favorite relatives past:

I mean seriously, how do you expect me to pass on the black and white doodled skulls residing on wild colorful backgrounds!!! They’re awesome in their bizarreness Enjoy!

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Shop • Website

Tags: doodle, doodling, ETSY finds, skull

Tales and Tails

Having a little girl named Ariel (no relation to Disney in origins of this one), mermaids do pop in and out of our sub- and conscious once in a while. So, here’s an obvious manifestation of this slight obsession with girls with long squishy tails Introducing – Dreaming Mermaid:

It’s a hand-colored print mounted on a black paper with hand-drawn “continuation” of the main picture. It’s very pretty and easy to frame. Totally one-of-a-kind, because of the doodles on the “margins” Let me know if you like it!

Tags: doodle, doodling, drawing, etsy, mermaid, print, underwater