Elephants Illustration

I finished this painting some time ago but I kept forgetting to share this. I'm not completely happy with how it turned out so I will be re-doing it soon. Most of my problems are with the paint application itself and a bit of the drawing. It's still not so terrible that I can't share!

Playing With Vine

I downloaded the app and I've played around with it a bit, but still I haven't taken full advantage of Vine.  Actually I've taken hundreds of videos, but have only posted 4 to Vine itself.  I like the idea of posting to Vine but I don't like not being able to save or edit my videos later. That's not my biggest beef with Vine.  My biggest beef is I keep forgetting the app is there!  I'll try to make this week to put up a couple more videos.  Follow me on twitter (and then from that follow me on Vine) to see if I remember to post. I'll be looking for your videos too!

Logo Design

I had a big event this past Friday, and I spent most of Saturday and today recovering from the lack of sleep. Though I haven't gotten to do anything "art" lately I was able to create this logo for my Financial Advisor business Fortune by Design. I focus on helping families financially and helping people set up RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). I only give the background to this so you can see if you think the below logo fits the bill. Is it the best logo for the business? I don't know, but I'm liking it right now.

Free Magazines and Non-Fiction Writers!

Teresa Robeson is giving out 5 magazines. 3 Ladybug, and 2 Babybug magazines. These magazines all have her poetry in them! Go here to sign up, but hurry, the drawing is Sunday night!

Also for those of you who want to write Non-Fiction you should go to Teresa's site to learn more about NaNoWriMo. Yes I saw the name and thought "What the hey?" as well. It's really a great way to learn about Non-Fiction writing. It also has prizes and whatnot for those who are good at writing Non-Fiction. 

Check these both out and I hope you have fun! http://homesteadnotes.blogspot.ca/2013/05/an-un-birthday-giveaway-more.html

So This Madwoman Tweets in a Bar...

There is a giveaway hosted by a madwoman and a contest (hosted by another madwoman) that I want to tell you about today. Why are these women mad? All sorts of reasons, but mainly because of what they are giving away.

Ilana Waters is giving away not one but two ebooks on amazon! Castles in the Air is free on Amazon from May 15 to May 16 (this year of course). And House of Cards will be free from May 17 to May 18th. I haven't had the chance to pick up either one, so I'll be happy to download these then! Don't have an e-reader? No problem just go to Ilana's site and she has a link there. Just don't forget to pick up the books. Also, it should be noted that though she is a madwoman she does not bite - always good to know. 

Ilana's website: http://www.ilanawaters.com/free-e-books/

If you want to enter and win a lot of books go to Jean's blog. She's giving away not one, not two... okay going to stop this now because it's 16 books she's giving away and it wouldn't be that funny to finish this. It's a bit of work to enter, but the more things you do the more chances you'll get for winning these books! Also if you go down a bit further you'll see another giveaway for a Kindle Fire or $199 paypal cash! Again it's a bit of work to enter, but well worth it if you win!  

JeanZ's website: http://jeanzbookreadnreview.blogspot.ca/p/giveaways_3.html

Please, please, please if you go to either of these websites be sure to browse other things as well. These are both great sites with a lot to offer. Good luck and happy browsing!

The Carousel Ride

I've struggled with this painting for a while. The character on the horse was never right before this rendition. Also the background was originally turned the other way. I think it adds to the painting to have the camera facing away from the carousel and not towards it. I wanted a background that was loose and not inked. Some of the detail was lost in the scan. Will have to try again on a commercial scanner!

Catherine A. Winn - Writer to Follow

As a writer Catherine A. Winn's writes mysteries, thrillers and suspense novels for Middle Grades – Adults. Her blog is inviting and a good read. If you want inspiration, information, or just want to read an enjoyable blog you should visit Catherine A. Winn's blog: http://catherineawinn.blogspot.ca/

Catherine received the Versitile blogger award from another blogger. It's no wonder because she does easily go from one subject to another. I love it when Cathrine writes about simple things like the time of year or chili. It is in these post where her personality and passion are revealed. Anyone can write about their lives, but it takes something to make chili interesting!

It is fun to read about Catherine's writing journey. It's nice to see that everyone has the same ups and downs in their writing life. The photos she adds to these (and other posts) add a lot to her writing. It's not often that writers add a lot of photos to their work, and it is a refreshing change to see a lot of pictures in a writer's blog. It also helps that the pictures are really good ( I loved the picture of the dog for Friday, April 12. He was cute and depicted exhaustion perfectly). You wont get bored with this blog even if you just look at the picture, but please do more than just look at the pictures!

There is a good amount of writer's information on this blog. There are interviews with interesting writers. Catherine has lots of writing tips and she gives her thoughts on things important to writers. I enjoyed the videos she has on her site (and would like to see more like them.) Catherine has a very inspirational site and you would be missing out if you didn't explore her blog!

Once again Catherine A. Winn's blog is here: http://catherineawinn.blogspot.ca/ Is is just too dorky to say that her blog is really “Winn” like so many blogs I've reviewed? I think I've been under my husband's humour influence for far too long. Check back next week for a review of Andrea Brame's Blog!