Sandier Pastures

A LITTLE ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Irene, a fine art photographer, painter, graphic and web designer is originally from Europe but now lives in California. She has studied art, music, photography and design for many years, and says that nothing inspires her more than traveling and seeing different places.

The camera is almost a part of my body, the instant of photographing, instead of creating distance is a moment of clarity, seeing something others can’t see.

Some of her work have been published in various online magazines, like FOTO+GRAPHIC online publishing, a few European publications and many different popular design blogs.

If you’d like to know a little more about her, visit her blog or check out her art website here.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

Sexy and classy rolled into one!

From left: On the road, Evening Breeze

From left: Wild Sunflowers, Lady Bug

These photographs are very interesting because of the warm, nostalgic feeling it gives me. And then of course, there’s the vintage feel.

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
ONE winner will get 1 art print (8 x 8 or 8 x 10) of his/her choice from Blue Citrus Art!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Blue Citrus Art’s Etsy shop and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite print. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Blue Citrus Art.
• Stumble this post
• Twitter this contest

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 28th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Irene ships anywhere so this contest is open to everyone, wherever you live.

Goodluck!

A LITTLE ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Carla Sonheim is an artist who declares herself “a painter of girls”. She is a mom of two boys, no girls so her many beautiful pieces are about BEING a girl… in a sense they are all self portraits.

Looking at her work makes me nostalgic maybe because her art depicts those tender, innocent moments as a child. 

You can find her recent creative outpourings, drawing assignments, photos and stories at her blog, Snowball Journals. Whimsical portraits and pets inspired by the special and fleeting innocence of childhood can be found in her Carla Sonheim Art website.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:
Look at these paintings and tell me you don’t like it.

From left: Girl with monarch butterfly and Girl with squirrel

When my little daughter will have her own room, I would like to put these inside. If you love little girls and animals or both, I am sure you’ll have a grand time browsing through Carla Sonheim’s works and be hooked to it.

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
ONE winner will get TWO prints of their choice from Carla Sonheim!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Carla Sonheim’s Etsy shop and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite print. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Carla Sonheim.
• Stumble this post
• Twitter this contest

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 27th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Carla says, “it doesn’t have to be limited to the U.S…. I love international customers!” so this contest is open to everyone, wherever you live.

Goodluck!

A LITTLE ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Leigh was born and raised in Denver, Colorado where she still resides now. She has taken Drawing and Commercial Art classes but mostly self-taught.

A freelance all-around artist, you will see that various pieces of her work are not fixed on one theme, so there’s always the excitement of what she’ll come up next!

From the artist:

I love to bring a lot of emotion into my work recapturing those little moments in my life.

She’s highly creative (and very accommodating and friendly to boot) and I am thrilled to have found her.  She’s featured three times on Talentspeaks and well as winning a 2008 Artist Vasey award from the New York journal of style and medicine.

You can find more of her work in her art website here and know more about her in her blog here.

Well, I’ll let her work do the talking now.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

From left: Cherry Blossom Girl (original art work), Blush (watercolor)

From left: Twelve, Page one (original digital photographs)

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
ONE winner will get 1 art print of his/her choice from JKL Design!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit JKL Design’s Etsy shop and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite print. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to JKL Design.
• Stumble this post
• Twitter this contest

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 26th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Leigh says, “I definitely ship worldwide!” so this contest is open to everyone, wherever you live. Even non-bloggers are welcome.

Goodluck!

A LITTLE ABOUT THE ARTIST:

From the beautiful city of Sydney, Australia Samantha Battersby brings us her beautiful original drawings, cards, posters, prints and badges. Matou En Peluche which means Plush Tomcat is the online home of retro blank cards and charcoal prints and drawings you should check out.

Quote from Samantha:

I am a chief artist, illustrator and drawing machine! I have been doing this for quite some time and I still love every minute of it!

Sam’s work is published in Sydney’s local newspapers, magazines and children’s educational books. She also holds exhibitions of her work in galleries in Sydney city and country New South Wales.

Samantha maintains a blog here.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

From left: Jazz baby and Art deco pompom

From left: Sasha and Alchemy Blank Cards

By now you would have guessed that I love everything retro. I don’t know if it is because of my love for history but there’s something about retro-inspired art that makes it look so classy - they’ll certainly transform a boring room to something unique and interesting.

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
ONE winner will get TWO large (size A4 = 8″ X 12″ = 21cm X 29.5cm) prints of their choice from Matou En Peluche’s  Etsy shop!

If you win this, you might want to prepare a fab frame to match the fabulous art!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Matou En Peluche’s Etsy shop and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite print. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Matou En Peluche.
• Stumble this post
• Twitter this contest

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 25th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Sam says, “I’m happy to cover any costs needed for postage to whatever country in the world!” so this contest is open to everyone, wherever  you live.

Goodluck!

Fairy Princess Clothing is an upscale online boutique featuring whimsical and fairy tale themes and sugar plum fairy outfits, beautiful pettiskirts, smocked dresses and many more.

From the owner:

My inspiration to venture into the world of children’s clothing, furniture and accessories is rooted in raising my three daughters - Sarah, Ella and Delaney. Being mom to three girls, I figured I should do one of the things that I know and love best….dress little girls!

If you have a precious little princess in your home like I do, you’ll fall in love with every item featured in Fairy Princess Clothing website. It’s just fully loaded with cuteness, your princess will never be disappointed to have this for any special occasion.

I love the frills, all the pink dresses, the entire exclusive collection!

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:
How adorable are these!?

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
One lucky winner will get one Birthday Cake Tutu dress courtesy of Fairy Princess Clothing. (Valued at $68)

It is available up to size 8 in a choice of sleeve lengths (tank, short sleeve or long sleeve). The birthday cake is customized so the number of candles coordinates with the child’s age.

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Fairy Princess Clothing and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Fairy Princess Clothing
• Stumble this post (spread this!)
• Twitter this (it’s not like this is not worth a tweet right!?)

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 25th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
This is open to everyone, whether you have a blog or not.

Goodluck!

A LITTLE ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Hello, I’m Nancy and I love to take photos!

is the first lively line on her Futorowoman Fotographie Etsy profile. Nancy, from Denton, Texas loves taking photos so much that she carries at least one camera with her at all times.

Quote from Nancy:

I aim to capture beauty that often goes unnoticed in the world.

It’s no secret that I love taking photos too so I like looking other photographer’s work and Nancy’s work is worth looking into - her photographs may be found in private collections in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Egypt,Iceland and next, in your home!

Aside from her Etsy shop, you can find her photo’s online home here and here and her blog, here. On an interesting note, Nancy is only an artist but also a professor in Middle Eastern history. How cool is that?

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

From upper left, clockwise: Frozen Sunset Polaroid, Hotel Polaroid, Turkish Coffee and Amsterdam Double Vision

There are a lot of very nice prints to choose from but I like the sense of retro in the photos, don’t you?

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
ONE winner will get a print (valued at $25) of their choice from Futorowoman Fotographie!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Futorowoman Fotographie and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning the print you’ll choose if you win. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Futorowoman Fotographie.
• Stumble this post
• Twitter this contest

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 24th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
This contest is open to everyone, wherever you live and whether you have a blog or not.

Goodluck!

Kid’s organic cotton clothing company Arabella Miller is the first UK printed children’s t-shirts to be certified organic by the Soil Association for both the cotton and the ink. It means the cotton they used in their shirts is not only chemical free but also feels so soft on your skin. Perfect for children with delicate skin!

From the site: 

The ink on these kids t-shirts may be organic but our funky t-shirt designs won’t crack, peel, fade or melt if you iron it so it goes a long, long way.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:
Arabella Miller Ruffle dress and organic baby hat

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
One lucky winner will get one Arabella Miller short sleeved t-shirt of their choice!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Arabella Miller and take a look around. Then come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite item.

You can also take advantage of a great 10% discount offer open to all Sandier Pastures readers using the code GRACE.

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Arabella Miller.
• Stumble this post

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 20th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Arabella Miller is happy to send anywhere in the world. So this contest is open to anyone, anywhere, whether you have a blog or not.

Goodluck!

** This giveaway is now closed. **

Alice in Paris is the work of Shelagh Duffett, a photographer, painter and dreamer. She lives in the scenic province of Nova Scotia surrounded by salty air and blue water. She paints daily and the beauty of the place exudes in her paintings.

The original paintings of the prints listed here have found homes all around the world.

I instantly fell in love with her work. My goodness, I want to fill my house with her artwork! It’s just all screaming with life.

You can also read her blog here.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

Full moon cats

Summer days

White House Lighthouse, Nova Scotia

Now, don’t tell me you don’t like these!?

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
ONE very lucky winner will get TWO prints from Alice in Paris’ Etsy shop!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Alice in Paris’ Etsy shop and take a look around. I know it will take a while for you to come back because you’ll get sucked into the beautiful world  but do come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT on this post mentioning your favorite piece.

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to Alice in Paris.
• Stumble this post
• Twitter this contest

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 17th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Attention international readers!!

Shelagh likes the idea of opening this contest to everyone so this is open to all, wherever you live! You don’t have to be a blogger to win, just leave your email address to claim your prize.

Goodluck!

** This giveaway is now closed. **

** Congratulations to Dee!! **

You know how those children’s CD sounds like. Redundant, all too familiar or sometimes boring. I thought so too, until I got That Baby CD. This is one of the unique baby gifts you can give to your own children or to your friends.

I have reviewed this wonderful CD/DVD before. I did the review right after we got our copy and what do you know, more than 6 months later, I can still rave about it! My daughter loves it so much that I won’t ever have any radio listening time in the car when we travel together. But I don’t mind, I love the songs too.

The CD contains songs written by artists like Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, The Pretenders and more. Believe me, this is one children’s CD that even moms (or dads) will love.

The DVD is full of fun music from the CD with very creative visuals. The DVD alone is a must have.

6 months ago, I said that our favorite song from the CD is Happiness Runs but now? We like ALL the songs too much that we could not pick one to claim as our one favorite! Whenever I drive to the park with my daughter on weekend mornings, I always sing (loudly) the song “I WILL”. Then we sing the chorus together: “I love you forever and forever, love you with all my heart”. And I mean, every single weekend we do that!

Ok, I’m too engrossed with describing how wonderful this item is, almost forgot about the giveaway! So,

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
Rob at That Baby CD/DVD has generously donated a CD/DVD bundle (that’s one That Baby CD and one That Baby DVD) to one lucky winner! (Total value at $34.90)

HOW TO WIN:
Visit That Baby CD and check out the song previews.
I dare you to listen to Sunday Sun, These Are Days and I Will and tell me you don’t love it - and that’s just the preview!

Don’t spend too long listening to the previews and forget about coming back!! You must come back here (by yourself, I can’t pull you back physically - if I can I will) and LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite song. That’s it!

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this linking to this post and to That Baby CD.
• Stumble this post

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 13th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
Rob says, “Let’s see where we’ll land!” so, this is open to everyone worldwide, whether you have a blog or not! Now, go tell your neighbors!

* The DVD is also region-free so anyone from anywhere in the world can play it. No need for special DVD players. *

Goodluck!

** This giveaway is now closed. **

Congratulations to #60 Lydia!!

Shellamie Jewelry is the fruit of labor of two sisters Michelle (the “Shell” in Shellamie) and Amy. Shellamie is the collaboration of Michelle’s love of making jewelry and Amy’s love of doing computer stuff.

Michelle says,

I take pride in every piece I create, and I’m not satisfied until you are.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITES:

It took me a while when I first visited. I loved every piece of jewelry they have! For the non-crafty me, I think the jasper tree of life pendant on the lower right is very intricate and simply beautiful!

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS:
Michelle of Shellamie Jewelry was very kind to offer a $50 certificate to Shellamie Jewelry to ONE lucky winner!

HOW TO WIN:
Visit Shellamie Jewelry and take a look around then come back here to LEAVE A COMMENT mentioning your favorite piece.

For additional entries:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed
• Blog about this, linking to this post and to Shellamie Jewelry.
• Stumble this post

Please put a separate comment that you’ve done any of these so I can enter you properly.

DRAW:
A winner will be chosen at random on 10th November 2008.

WHO CAN WIN:
This is open to everyone, whether you have a blog or not!

Goodluck!

*****

Before you go, please take the time to enter to win a fabulous children’s CD/DVD bundle from That Baby DVD. I promise any kid will love it, moms too!