Inspired Results from the Weekend Challenge

Here are some of the great results from my Weekend challenge. The boys and I made little art pieces wherever we went which included the river, the beach, and our own backyard. Hopefully people appreciated the little works of art and maybe added to them or were inspired to create their own. Here's what we came up with:















Amanda from Amanda's Musings and Polyclarific.etsy had a very similar blog post in June and was kind enough to share the link. In the blog post, she celebrated Andy Goldsworthy and his naturalist art and creates some lovely natural displays. Amanda's in Australia, so we get to see some interesting vegetation that you wouldn't see in the states. Here are 2 gorgeous pictures I borrowed from her post, but I highly recommend that you follow the link and red it for your self. It's a feast for the eyes and the mind! Thanks Amanda!!


Jen from YummyandCompany.etsy lives in Baltimore, so she found some decidedly different items to create with, but the end result is still fantastic and is sure to bring a smile from any passerby.












Forgot to send me your pics? Feel free to send your photos to me or link to them in the comments and I will add them as well!

A Little Weekend Challenge - Curbside Art

It's coming down to the last week of summer and of course the boys are bored out of their minds at this point. It takes a lot of my thought power to come up with creative things to do. Today we decided to make a little curbside art. I sent them off to collect little nature bits from around our house and then we set up little works of art on the curbs around our street. It kept the boys busy for awhile collecting and it was fun to see what they thought was interesting enough to add to our art. The residual cool part was that our neighbors would see our little installations as they came home from work and hopefully enjoy them too!

So, I challenge you to so the same thing this weekend. Collect little bits from the immediate area around where you live. Arrange them into some kind of art display on a curb or someplace where your neighbors might find it. Of course, take a photo or two. Post a link to your photo in the comments. I will post them here. I think it will be fun to see the different types of things people find from place to place.

While we were arranging, I happened to look up and see this heart shaped knot in the tree that I've never noticed before. I like to think that the tree was enjoying our art too!


Updated: I thought I'd help you out by showing you some curbside art we did back in July. I really love how the black pavement in the first shot adds texture and interest.

Giveaway Winner & Weekend Sale

Congratulations to melis731 for winning the Beach Ball Ring! She posted my giveaway on her blog, so the 5 extra entries she got surely gave her an edge! Congrats Melissa!

This weekend, I am going to continue the Last Days of Summer Sale! take 10% off all items in my shop & receive free shipping. Just type "weekend" in the message to seller at checkout and I will refund both the 10% and the shipping fees. This offer is good for the duration of the weekend and ends at 12 midnight EST on the 23rd. For past customers: This offer can be combined with the 10% repeat buyer discount, just include that code as well at checkout.

Here are some new Earrings I listed today. You could save $5.50 on them if you purchase them this weekend!!

Last Days of Summer Sale - 12 more days & a Giveaway!

12 more days left of Summer, so what better way to celebrate than to have a fun summer giveaway! Win a fun Beach Ball Ring!


Here's how to enter:

1. Visit my shop, return here and leave a short comment telling me what item is your favorite. FYI - I do moderate comments, so don't be alarmed if you comment doesn't show up right away.

2. For additional entries you can tweet this giveaway on Twitter. Copy & paste the message
below:

RT @blockpartypress Giveaway today! Win a fun beach ball ring http://bit.ly/21Zk8O RT or comment on the blog to be entered

(must reference me @blockpartypress to be entered) or mention on Facebook (leave a comment to let me know you've done it)

3. get 5 additional entries if you blog about this giveaway ( link in the comments) or make a purchase from my shop.

Entries can be made until midnight EST on 8/20. The winner will be randomly chosen and will be announced on the 21st!


As an extra bonus today and tomorrow , take 10% off all items in my shop & receive free shipping. Just type "Beach Ball" in the message to seller at checkout and I will refund both the 10% and the shipping fees. This offer is good for the duration of the giveaway and ends at 12 midnight EST on the 20th. For past customers: This offer can be combined with the 10% repeat buyer discount, just include that code as well at checkout.

Want to know what inspired this ring? Read here!

Last Days of Summer Sale - 13 more days & a BOGO

One day down and 13 more days of summer to go. Today's sale is a BOGO sale. Buy a pendant or necklace at full price and get any ring for 1/2 price. That's a savings of up to $15! The sale is good from 12midnight EST 8/18 - 12midnight EST 8/19/09. Just put "13 more days" in the message to seller at checkout and I'll refund 1/2 of the price of the ring you choose. You can also not pay and I can send you a revised invoice for the discounted amount.

Read about the 14 day sales event here.

Through My Eyes - The County Fair - Part 3- The Rides

Here's my last post about the Fair. This one focused on the rides. I was inspired most by the traditional rides.

The swings were always my favorite. I loved the feeling of flying through the air. This one was very ornate and I really loved the soft color palette and the touches of gold. The movement was very inspiring too.

Here's the Zipper. I can guess what inspired this ride. Only thing it ever inspired in me though is fear and nausea, but maybe it will inspire you in other ways. I do like the chevron pattern of the lights.


















The Carousel always brings back memories and I'm so glad my boys still wanted to ride. It will be a sad day when they no longer want to get on the Carousel. But until then I'll be inspired by the whimsical details of the carousel. This one had a western theme and featured feathers, stars mirrors and lots of gold accents. Gaudy in the best possible way.




























And last but not least the Ferris Wheel. Great geometric details and lots and lots of intersecting lines. It's also a great way to get an inspiring birds eye view of the Fair.

Last Days of Summer Sale

Summers not over yet, but it is coming to an end. At least for my kids who will starting back to school on the 31st. I'm counting down the days with them and thought having a sale would be a great way for me to get back in the swing of things. So for the next 14 days, I will announce a different sale everyday. Each sale will run for 24 hours from 12 midnight to 12 midnight. Each sale will have it's own code, so check back here to get the code. I'll also be having a giveaway (to be announced very soon) and will be posting new items in my shop daily.

Today's sale is: 20% off all items in the shop. Just put "14 more days" in the message to seller at checkout and I will refund 20 % of your order. Items must be purchased by August 18 at 12midnight EST to receive the discount.

Don't forget to check back on the 18th for the new sale and the new code.

Check out my interview on the Scoutie Girl blog today! Not sure if it's inspiring, but I think it's worth a read! Don't forget to leave me a comment there!

Through My Eyes - The County Fair - Part 2- Animals

Here is part 2 (of 3) of what caught my eye at the county fair. This post is dedicated to the many animals we saw. Farm animals aren't exotic or what would normally be considered exciting, but they do offer some great inspiration and they are really cute.


















So many cute rabbits! Big and small, tall ears, short ears, floppy ears and in every imaginable color. I seriously could have done an entire post on just rabbits, but I will give the other animals some blog time too, so here are just 2 of the cuties we saw.

Next were the roosters. There was a whole room of them, and the were not quiet as they were all trying to outdo each other . My son said, "They really do say Cock-a-doodle-doo". The inspirational words that came to mind were: proud, aggressive, fearless, handsome.































My favorite animal we saw was this lovely pig. I looked down on him and he just looked up ar me and seemed to pose for the picture. he made me want one of my won like I did as a child after reading "Charlotte's Web". I do believe this was "Terrific Pig"and at least as terrific as Wilbur.

















Here is a scene that would make you question becoming a mother. These piglets meant business and were not gentle in their pursuit of sustenance.













No trip to the fair would be complete without seeing the cows. I believe these were beef cows, and they were huge. They look much smaller when you see them in a field off the side of the road.














Here were some of the cuties we saw in the Petting Barn:











































Hopefully you'll find a little inspiration in these sweet farm animals.

Through My Eyes - The County Fair

It's that time of year when the Fairs start to come around. The boys and I braved the heat this past weekend to go. There were so many inspiring sights, so I thought I'd share. I actually saw so many things that I'm going to have to break it into 3 separate posts.

We went on the day of the Antique Car Show. Here's what caught my eye as we walked around:














Loved the shape of these tail lights and the striping behind them.














The orange of this GTO was gorgeous! Plus I loved the grill details and the GR-RRR! license plate.













Everything about this Porsche was gorgeous, but I really loved the reflection of the sky. It made the car look even more heavenly!

















While I loved the flames, the thing that intrigued me most about this car was the combination of purple and yellow.














I loved the wheel's of these tractors and how they all looked in a row. Sometimes quantity is good!

So next time you go to the Fair or an antique car show, make sure to look at the details of the cars and not just the cars as a whole. I think the details are where inspiration lies. So many interesting curves and lines and color combinations.

Inspiration Revealed - Art Imitating Life Imitating Art

Just a quick post today. I wanted to post yesterday, but I was having trouble accessing blogger. Last week I competed a pen & ink drawing (which I then digitally colored) of a rock tower. It was actually inspired by this photo I found in my contacts on Flickr by graphixoutpost
















Here is the drawing inspired by the photo:


















Here is the rock tower my son made yesterday inspired by my drawing:


















Maybe it will inspire one of you to create something too! Have a great weekend!

To see more rock towers/cairns check out these Flickr groups:
pebblebalancing
cairns

To learn more about cairns and their meaning check wikipedia.

Improving on Mother Nature?

I promised in my last post that I would get some pics of the treasures we collected in woods yesterday. Well, here they are:



























































And here's what they inspired (made by Kyle,6). He decided that mother nature made acorns way to boring, so he decided to kick it up a notch :







































To make your own crazy acorns:
1. Find some acorn hats.
2. Then take your scrap polymer clay. Smush it all together. Make a ball and stuff it into the acorn hat.
3. Feel free to leave it round, shape it into a cone like Kyle did or make something even more fantastic.
4. Bake in the oven at the recommended temp. for the clay you use.
5. You may need to glue the caps on after baking. I just used craft glue. Feel free to paint them or finish them anyway you like.
6. Have fun!

Don't have any acorn hats? Shells are fun to use too:











I think Mother Nature is pretty perfect, but I guess there is always room for improvement!