Life Book 2016 Giveaway Winner Announced AND Something For Everyone!

Wow!  I have been blown away by the amazing response to Life Book 2016 so far!  I am really enjoying meeting so many new people - it has me SO excited to teach next year... I wish I could giveaway a spot to all of you!!!  

But since I can't, and since I don't want anyone to walk away empty handed, I drew & painted a FREE (hi-resolution) inspirational piece of art for YOU...

click on image to enlarge, save, print, etc...

(personal use only please)

Please feel free to save it, download it, print it, frame it, hang it, etc... 
(As long as it's for your personal use).
I'm really looking forward to seeing where our imaginations take us next year!!!

Now, onto the Life Book 2016 Giveaway...
(My son, Tyler, was so excited to pick a random name from the hat!)
The winner of 1 spot in the AMAZING year long course is...

Congratulations Kim Costello!

Thank you to everyone for sharing your enthusiasm about Life Book 2016!  (It's totally contagious!)  For those of you still hoping to win a spot, there is still time to enter the other giveaways (see my last post for the list).  And (just in case), please be sure to bookmark this link to sign up for Life Book 2016 when it goes on sale on October 5th!

Don't forget to download my Einstein drawing, and I look forward to seeing you in class!!!

Big News And A Giveaway!!!

Hello!!
If you are new to my blog, Welcome!  
(I hope you have some time to look around and come back to visit.)
If you're a regular, Welcome Back!
I'm always so happy to have you here!!

In my last post I promised an "amazingly awesome announcement", so without further ado here it is...

I am going to be teaching on Life Book 2016 next year!!!  
I am over-the-moon excited, honored, and privileged to be invited to teach with 23 incredibly talented teachers on this amazing year long art course!  I have personally signed up for this wildly popular course since it first began in 2012, so I know first hand how great being a student of Life Book is!  And, which is why I feel so fortunate that I am able to celebrate my birthday tomorrow by giving away a space in Life Book 2016 to one of you!!!  Keep reading if you want to find out more about Life Book 2016 and if you want to find out how you can win a spot! 

First let me tell you a bit more about Life Book in case you haven't heard about it yet... “Life Book, a celebration and honouring of YOU” is a year-long mixed media art class organized by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts. Tam is joined by 23 incredible art teachers who are all gearing up to share their mixed media techniques, tips and tricks with YOU! Themed around self-development and healing, you’ll be creating several loose mixed media art journal pages per month which by the end of the year you will bind into a glorious journal (a Life Book)! You will have a wonderful keepsake that you can treasure for the rest of your life!

You can find out a lot more about this wildly popular course (it has been joined by over 8700 people in the past!) by clicking HERE. 

I'm currently planning my lessons, and while they aren't finished yet, I can tell you that I am happily going to be sharing some of my most favorite tips & tricks, and lots of information about how I create faces!

Registration opens on October 5th 2015 and the class begins on January 1st 2016.
Keep this page bookmarked so that you can sign up the moment it goes on sale!

Now then, onto the give-away and blog hop!  I can give away 1 space on Life Book 2016 to 1 lucky winner!  Yay!!!  And if you follow the blog hop (see below for links and dates) you can up your chances of winning a space by entering all the other giveaways also! 

How to enter the give-away:

1. Sign up for my newsletter.

2. Visit my Facebook page and "share" the post I made about Life Book to your page.

3. Leave a comment below letting us know why you would love to join Life Book 2016.

I will choose the winner by random draw and announce it on September 16th!

Here is the list of the other amazing teachers who will be teaching on Life Book – they will also be giving away a spot on Life Book so go check them out and enter their giveaways!

7th September	Tamara Laporte	http://www.willowing.org/
8th September	Annie Hamman	http://anniehamman.com/
9th September	Kristin Dudish	http://kristindudish.com/
10th September	Effy Wild	http://effywild.com/
11th September	Faith Evans-Sills	http://faithevanssills.com/home.html
12th September	Gillian Lee Smith	http://www.gillianleesmithartist.com/
13th September	Ivy Newport	http://ivynewport.com/
14th September	Jane Davenport	http://janedavenport.com/
15th September	Jenny Grant	http://www.flowbyjenny.com/en
16th September	Angela Kennedy / PennyStamper	http://pennystamper.blogspot.co.uk/
17th September	Lisa Viger	http://lisaviger.blogspot.co.uk/
18th September	Martha Lever	http://marthalever.blogspot.co.uk/
19th September	Mary Beth Shaw	http://www.mbshaw.com/
20th September	Melody Ross	http://www.melodyross.com/
21st September	Pam Carriker	http://pamcarriker.com/
22nd September	Pauline Agnew	http://www.seedbedstudio.net/
23th September	Rae Missigman	http://rae-missigman.squarespace.com/
24th September	Renata Loree	http://renataloree.com/
25th September	Roben-Marie Smith	http://www.robenmarie.com/
26th September	Roxanne Coble	http://bybun.com/
27th September	Shiloh Sophia McCloud	http://www.shilohsophiastudios.com/
28th September	Donna Downey	http://www.donnadowney.com/
29th September	Tracy Verdugo	http://tracyverdugo.com/
30th September	Wyanne Thompson	http://www.wyanne.com/

Enjoy the blog hop and good luck!

Thank you for entering, this giveaway is now closed.

I Love Color! And Faces!! And Challenges!!! And Suspense!!!!

Faces 1 through 9 (29 Faces Challenge)

You may be able to tell from the title of my post at I am a wee bit 
crazy excited!  It has been a very fun and very full Summer, but now I'm ready to work.  Tyler is back to school, which means I am back in the studio full time and it couldn't possibly be better timing... There are lots of exciting and super cool things on the horizon that I can't wait to share with you!

But... Before I do, I wanted to post a series of rainbow faces I created for one of my very favorite challenges... 
Ayala Art's 29 Faces!

(Be sure to check back here on Wednesday for an amazingly awesome announcement!!!)

The 29 Faces Challenge: "Kindnessgirl"

Patience

Patience is... looking through her lens and capturing magic... passionately paying tribute to her family... a kindness pioneer and guerrilla goodness guru... paying attention and listening with love... connecting, laughing, sharing, and embracing (even the messy parts)... lighting a path and changing the world one bulb at a time...feeling it all deeply... She is #beautifulinsideandout, #morethanaprettyface, and #beyondaselfie.

The 29 Faces Challenge: Happy Random Acts Of Kindness Day!

In honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day, 
I have created 28 faces...

(Click on the image to enlarge and print.)

28 Smiley Faces!
(Please feel free to share!)

It's easy to spread some kindness...
1. Print the poster on a full size sheet of paper.
2. Fold (accordion style) along the horizontal dotted lines.
3. Unfold and straighten out paper.
4. Use a scissors to cut along the solid vertical lines.
5. Hang the poster wherever you think someone could use a smile!

You can find more of my kindness freebies here.

The 29 Faces Challenge: Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day Friends!

It seems very appropriate that I am sharing the latest portrait in my "Unselfie Project" on a day that celebrates love, because Lisa and her family are self-proclaimed lovers of the holiday.  (When you read more about her you'll see why...)

Lisa

Lisa is... a creative mama... seeking joy and paying attention to life's little moments... actively grateful... cozy cuddle coordinator and creator of the adorable "GFU Bakeshop"... kind and supportive... playful with color and maker of magical garlands... filling her home with beauty, love, and happiness... She is #beautifulinsideandout, #morethanaprettyface, and #beyondaselfie.

The 29 Face Challenge (29 Faces In One Sitting?!?)

Since I tend to create a lot of detailed portraits, 

sometimes I need to play.

When I was in college, my favorite warm-up exercises were the blind contour drawings.  Now, many (many) years later, I sometimes head back to my roots and create blind contours, continuous line drawings, non-dominant hand drawings, and various combinations of them all.  When I need to loosen up, I find the most important thing is just to keep my hand moving quickly.

I'm curious...

What is your favorite way to warm-up?

The 29 Faces Challenge: #4

A face from over the weekend...

Some days I draw.

Some days I paint.

(And, some days I do both!)

The 29 Faces Challenge: #3 (A Work In Progress)

(Layer #3 of #3)

I would like to start this post by thanking you for all of the kindness, support, and encouragement you've been giving me about my latest series of paintings!  I have received multiple questions/comments/emails about my process, and I plan on writing a post about it (I've taken lots of progress pics), but until I do I wanted to give you a little glimpse of my latest painting in progress...

(Finally starting to draw in the face after 7 background layers.)

Be sure to check back to see the finished painting!

The 29 Faces Challenge: #2

Casey

Casey is... a good sport... sweet and sometimes bashful... sassy but kind... the youngest of five, but definitely not a "baby"... caring, gentle, and eternally attentive... creative, bright, and passionate about music... always ready to belt out a tune... a supreme songstress and daring doo-wopper... courageously going for it... She is #beautifulinsideandout, #morethanaprettyface, and #beyondaselfie.

The 29 Faces Challenge: #1

Stevie

Stevie is... eager to help... a good listener... kind and generous... a creative thinker and wonderful word weaver... artistic...  best friend to "Bellie Bean"... sometimes shy, sometimes silly, sometimes serious... super smart and wickedly funny... an adventurous fire spinner... curious, strong, and brave... She is #beautifulinsideandout, #morethanaprettyface, and #beyondaselfie.

One Of My Favorite Challenges Is Right Around The Corner!

(Click on the image to learn more.)

See you then...
I can't wait!

Faces 25-29 (and more!)

 

Wow!  It has been a face-full week!

Thanks to Carla Sonheim's Faces 101, I completed the 29 faces challenge 
(and then some!).

I have played with all sorts of materials...

Some familiar, some not...

It has been so much fun!

I really can't say enough about Carla and her teaching style...

Techniques that I learned in college 
(that could sometimes be pretty dull and monotonous) 
have been given a fresh and funky twist at "Silly U".

(You can learn more about Carla's Silly U here.)