Dream.Pray.Create. Giveaway :: And the winner is...

Jen 

of Draw The Line At (art ed blog) 

Congratulations, you have won the marker set!!! 

Thank you for leaving this comment that was 

randomly selected with the random.org randomized number picker. 

(See the screenshot below)

Please contact me directly (DreamPrayCreate::at::gmailDOTcom) and provide me with your direct contact information and shipping address so I can get the marker set to you ASAP!

Thank you, everyone, for participating and please come back and enter another of at least two giveaways that I will be doing in the coming months!

Maybe I do like Watercolor Painting Afterall :: Prang Ticonderoga Product Review

Let me just preface this by saying that watercolor painting is my least favorite medium to use and so I rarely use it in my classroom. The way you should take this is to know that I already come from a place of not liking watercolor paint/painting and that means it would take A LOT to "sell" me on the idea that it's worth my time to even try out or even consider. Does this all say that I am stubborn? Probably. That's the truth though. I am. OR... it means that I have very sharp abilities to discern what is worth both your time and mine. All of this said, here is my review of the Prang Watercolor set sent to me for review.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided Dixon Ticonderoga company. 

Opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative 

of the opinions or positions of Dixon Ticonderoga.

Dixon Ticonderoga sent me the Prang Watercolor paint set alongside a competing set by Rose Art.

 

Here Comes the "Good Stuff" you didn't even know you were waiting for...

 Over the summer, I was contacted by Dixon Ticonderoga to review some of their products for their "Get the Good Stuff" campaign. I happily agreed to review some of their products because I am already quite a fan of their pencils so the rest of the stuff? It's gotta be pretty good too, right? And I'm always open to changing my mind if it means that my student artists will have better tools to use for their amazing works of art.

Dixon Ticonderoga very kindly and swiftly delivered a lovely selection of their products along with some that were of competing brands. Because I was finishing out graduate school though? I had to take that lovely selection and put it aside until I finished my last two classes that included some of what I have already shown you as well as some major curriculum development work that was a whole year's worth of scope and 18 weeks of sequence. *sigh*

I'm happy to report that I am finally done with my graduate degree work and while I don't have my degree in-hand just yet, in a month or so it will be conferred and I WILL have it. And this means? I can finally do the reviews I have been wanting to do rather than sitting the box of all of the "good stuff" in my home studio (also where I was finishing all of my graduate coursework) and looking at it longingly for the day when my degree would finally be done.

So... this is the official announcement that next week will be a FULL WEEK of not only product reviews of what the Prang Dixon Ticonderoga company sent me but also an opportunity to a sampling of what I have been trying out and loving since they sent everything to me over the summer. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this going but, well... "good stuff" comes to those who wait. Thankfully you don't have to wait too much longer.

See you Monday when all of the reviews are kicked off!

Disclosure: Compensation was provided Dixon Ticonderoga company. 

Opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative 

of the opinions or positions of Dixon Ticonderoga.

Behind the Music(al) :: Hairspray :: Propping up the show

One major-ish task on my list of tasks to take care of was to make labels for the "fog in a can" props that would stand-in nicely for real spraying hairspray cans. For whatever reason I seriously put off this item for as long as possible despite the fact that it was probably the simplest and (in turn) most gratifying thing of all of the things I was supposed to do.

The finished cans of "Ultra Clutch" labeled and ready for the show!

As you can see, the finished labels look pretty much like the giant can I previously shared. For whatever reason I got it in my head that labeling these cans would be a real pain in the rear so I think that's why I put off doing them for so long. Then it occurred to me - much like most other things I was trying to do and failing miserably at - that I was really overthinking things and pretty much working harder and not smarter. And with that I sat down, gave myself a pep talk and realized that I should just use digital illustrations I already had from the poster design I created and then bend and twist that into what you see above! The power of digital illustration is amazing isn't it? I was able to cut my workflow in half if not even less than that and voila! I had hairspray can labels cohesive to the design work already established for the show and then all I had to do was size them accordingly, peel off the original labeling and then paste them on to look like they had always been like to begin with.

And because I like to share and am all about helping others to NOT reinvent the wheel, if you are in need of Ultra Clutch hairspray can prop labels, here is what I printed off and used in the aforementioned photo. If it works for your needs? Please feel free to use it. Just click on it to enlarge it and then right-click it to save it for you to print off as you like.

This is a jpg version but I have a psd version and if you want it please just ask and I will email it to you!

BTW - if these Hairspray updates/this series is boring you, I'm sorry. *shrug* This is basically what has been ruling my life these days but with the show opening up this past Friday and closing next Saturday, I promise there won't be very much more of this for very much longer. Thanks for your patience and humoring me if this alone is changing your mind about frequenting/reading this blog that otherwise about art education.

And the winner is...

Thank you all so much for participating in the the Dream. Pray. Create. first ever giveaway of my current "favorite things."

I am so delighted to announce that the (randomly selected) winner of the giveaway is...

Pat 
of Sharpie Woman blog

Here is the winning entry/comment she left detailing her favorite product to use in her classroom:

It seems a lot of your love your liquid watercolors because Pat wasn't the only one who mentioned them! I think I am going to have to be buying some to try in my classroom for next year! :) Thanks for the suggestion!!!

Congratulations, Pat! I hope this winning is a real blessing to you and all of your creative endeavors. I will be contacting you via contact email so I can get your mailing address and ship your prize package to you as soon as I can!!!

 

Thank you everyone who both entered to win and also considered entry but decided not to. As I have said before, I appreciate your patronage of this blog and the fact that I have a place here on the interwebs to call my own creative niche is enough for me any day of the week.

Also, Doug L. - Thank you for the great suggestion to break up long blog postings into two for the sake of making them easier to read. I know I tend to be incredibly verbose (it is actually a product of my dyslexia) and this can make for some incredibly long reading just as much as it is for my writing it in the first place. I used to write for a photography blog and they made me break up postings into parts just as you suggested so maybe I will try that here to better meet the needs of all of you lovely, blog readers and supporters!

(First EVER Giveaway) WIN a few of my favorite things!!!!

Hello blog friends!!!!!

Now, I know I have said time and again that this blog/website has been an incredible blessing to me because of the way it has connected me with incredible working artists and art teachers. I have also shared with you all the fact that I have the great blessing of being able to do what I love (be an artist and an art teacher at an AMAZING school with just about every resource I could dream to have) despite the fact that the economy is the way it is (with teachers losing their jobs left and right) and this is my 3rd (but final) career.

I am so blessed and I want to share some of that with YOU!!!! Last week I happened to hit posting #200 for this blog and since I started it? My blog stats tell me that the hits on the site and certain pages/sections have gone from a couple hundreds hits to almost TEN TIMES that on any given day, week, and for the whole year. It's amazing to me that I can share with you all the way I do - dyslexic and ADHD writing style and all, and you keep coming back and encouraging me to not stop.

To celebrate all of this and thank you all, I picked out some of my most favorite things I have used - both in teaching and for my own personal art creation endeavors. I thought and prayed for weeks about what to pick to giveaway and then I ordered it all (this is not a sponsored giveaway unless you want to think of the Almighty God as that which I think is fair in all honesty). My goal is with what I am doing here is to take from what Matthew 25:14-30 says with the Parable of the bags of gold and live that out loud here and now.

So, without further adieu, here is a video of me presenting to you a "few of my favorite things" that make up the total prize package of what you can win...

But if you don't have the time (nor interest) in watching the video, here is a list of what is included in the "prize package" I am giving away the following:

1. The tried and true book that I simply will not stop talking about called DRAWING LAB FOR MIXED MEDIA ARTISTS
2. A set of Crayola brand Portfolio Series Water Soluble Oil Pastels - 24ct color set
3. A 9x12" pad of vellum Bristol board by Strathmore that is awesome for mixed-media as well as the amazing aforementioned oil pastel set!
4. A roll of Paint Splatter Duck Brand Decorative Tape that is sold at your local craft/art stores but it is so awesome that more of it is always useful so that's why I included it

Not too shabby, eh? But what you really want to know is "How in the world can I enter to win all of this awesome stuff?!!!

OK. There are TWO ways you can enter this giveaway.  Here's how to enter to win my "favorite things" prize package:

1. LEAVE A COMMENT on this entry telling me what YOUR favorite art product is to use and explain why. This could be something that you like using in your art education endeavors as much as your own personal works. 
2. Connect yourself with me and "follow" this blog via the section over on the right sidebar - the button is blue and it says "join this site." Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me you have done so to confirm this second entry. I am actually not doing this to get myself more followers but more because if you do so, I can easily add you to the active feed of "Favorite Art Bloggers" (also on the right sidebar) a whole lot more easily.  If you already are a follower of this blog, that's fine but I still need you to leave me a comment telling me that you are already a friend of the blog.

The rules of the giveaway are below so don't forget to read those before you try and enter. The contest will close on Tuesday, Sept. 25th so please leave a comment no later than midnight EST of Sept. 25, 2012.

Thanks so much and I will announce the winner on WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26th 2012 here on the blog!!!


RULES OF THIS GIVEAWAY:

•  This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only. (Sorry! Had to do it like this because I purchased the whole prize package and I am shipping it on my own dime. I may be blessed but I still have to be a good steward of my blessings too.)

• You may only enter TWICE - (one for a comment of your favorite type of art supply and one for the comment confirming that you are a follower of this blog) and if you attempt to submit multiple entries, I will only count your initial entry for the selection of the winner. 

• You must provide me with an email address so I can get in touch with you if you win!!! I will not share your email address with anyone but I need to be able to contact you if you win so I can send you all of this cool stuff!

• Anybody can enter this (meaning art teachers or just working artists) and if you win, you must provide me with a  standard mailing address via email so that I can send you your prize!!

• There is no guarantee that you will win and the winner will be selected at random.

• Your prize package is not exchangeable or returnable for money, goods, or services from me.

• Your entry will be automatically disqualified if you use any profanity, discriminating/prejudice expressions, or personally attacking or offensive (of my discretion) comments toward me and what I do here on my blog.

• I will pay for shipping & handling fees in order to mail the package to you but once it leaves my hands (meaning, it's being mailed to you) I am not responsible to anything that might happen to it OR providing you with a replacement if it gets lost or stolen during the mailing process.