Double Giveaway Freebie

Christmas spirit got the best of me, and so I missed last Friday's announcement but, I managed to get the calendar out to numero quattro, Lauren of shootingstarsmag, winner and blogger.


Yep, I'm one of the naughty. Rather forgetful and disorganized I'll admit it. So, creative friends.....I know that your much like me and this calendar could probably give you a bit of a hand.


2 calendars to the two randomly selected who respond to the question below.

Pssh what's two? I'm stepping it up and giving away 3 calendars this week and all comments from the month of December will  be placed in the magic hat to select the big winner of the Woodwings necklace on January 1st 2012.

As mentioned above, I'm not so spiffy with planning and executing in a timely fashion. I'm remarkably informal. Okay okay non-conformist, just like you. You don't wear a watch right? Neither do I. And you have a stash of blank cards for all those sorry I'm late for your birthday moments, me too.

This calendar is postcard size. You know what that means don't you. You will circle the events in crayon the minute the calendar appears in your mailbox. Then when the birthday, anniversary, valentines days arrives you just stick a little stamp on the back write a sweet message and boom! You've made someone happy! On time!

Tell me now: For the event of the upcoming year are you planning on wearing your favorite jeans and boots, your most glamorous threads and Louboutins, details please. Descriptive details. And, if you're not already a friend then follow :D, tell your friends and like Woodwings on Facebook.

See you in a week!

Calendar Giveaway Week 2

I have always had a lapse in my brain for time and dates, birthdays, years. I've tried through the years to devise a system that would make me "remember" to give others the illusion of my superior organization. To this date I cannot remember my age, having to do math whenever asked. I think I remembered clearly how old I was two times in my life, when I turned 16 and 21.

So here I am selling you my calendar. It's pretty laughable isn't it. I thought that having the 12 pages of the calendar on postcard weight and size paper would be terrific though because  now you have many uses for this little piece of art. You and your best friends for example have become the cliche busy girls and better than scheduling the date you plan to have drinks on an iPad would be to shoot her the January page with your free Saturday circled in red crayon. Write a message on the blank side, add her addres and a stamp and what a surprise. She won't beg "busy" with an invitation like that!

I will never ever dogear my precious books, but I can never find a bookmark when I need one and will use an old receipt or rip off a piece of grocery bag...whatever paper is nearby but a used month of this calendar would be spot on! Easier to find the page I was on and much kinder to the book I'm reading.

So friends, to win a free calendar this week the question I have for you is,

"Which day of which month is so important to you that you would use up a calendar page to send a postcard reminder to yourself or a loved one this coming year or which day of which month do you want to make magical for someone special in your neck of the woods."

(For those not yet privey on the giveaway, it's the little calendar on the right of this post, you can click the button to see more images if you wish)

The best part of these giveaways is this- if you tried last week you should try again this week because I will tally up every friend that comments until the end of December and giveaway a piece of Woodwings jewelry.

If you are a newbie, please follow me and "like" Woodwings on FACEBOOK it would mean so much to me to gather up more friends. Thanks for making December so bright!

AND THE WINNER FOR WEEK ONE CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY IS...

Poster number 6 which is.....Cameron of California!

Wonderful, wonderful posts from all. Beginning at this very moment is Calendar Giveaway #2 remember each post will give you an additional antry to the Grand Prize Giveaway of a piece of Woodwings jeselry on December 31st!

xoxox

Give Away Freebie

Did you know that this is National Calendar Awareness Month? Yes I know, neither did I. 
It seems that I should be the perfect Calendar Advocate then and here we are. You say you need a giant calendar for the refrigerator to keep up with all your kids activities, you need a calendar for your desk to remind you of all or your meetings, you have one on your iPhone so you're always armed with your super social schedule. 


Perhaps....but do you have one on your dressing table to inspire your make-up and outfit?! Do you have one on the coffee table in your media room to remind you that there is more to life than watching how other people live their lives. Do you have one on your bedside table to make you smile about tomorrow's possibilities. Then, the Woodwings Calendar is just what you need!


For the Month of December I will be offering a free calendar each week to a randomly selected dear one that leaves a comment here on the Woodwings Blog.

The theme of this weeks comment is,

 "If you could inspire your family to do one out of character thing 

this holiday season what would it be?"

I wanted to mention that I am welcoming "Where Women Create" who has inspired the giving spirit among all the artisans out there via the Where Women Create Website.

So... see the cute little button to the right of this post that links to 2012 Calendar. This 12 card item will be shipped each week until the end of the month to one lucky person. Please leave a comment here and become a friend and follower or if you prefer you can like me on Facebook. You know that you can never have too many friends and I am so behind in the social media circle I could use all the support that you are willing to give.

Each week I'll start a new search for the comments winner, BUT at the end of the year I will combine all of the comments posted from December 2 until December 31 and select a winner of a one of a kind Jewelry item! So keep coming back for updates and write each week. I know you have wonderful stories to tell! xoxo Elizabeth

I Wish

I wish that you could pick the day, 

the best moment that would remain forever 

and never change

When she was young, each year she would make her wish out loud as she blew out her candles,

"I wish that my mommy will live forever." And today she is home from college for four short days and I can't find a stinking candle in my junk drawer so that I can make a wish, "never leave, never grow old..."

Variations on A Theme

 Baubles and beads and crystals that sparkle. 

Colors poured from the sun and whimsy to spark your joy and imagination. 

Woodland Deer as a joyful earthy necklace:                  

 A romantic necklace

 A print of the original painting mounted on wood

As a mirror to take anywhere

It just might make the perfect gift

Prepare Yourself For A Creative Year!

I just hope that this little work of heart charms and delights you. Each month is on a separate glossy postcard. A little work of art to color your world. Inspire you. Imagine how happy you can make your friends with this little gift.


You know what, because you've stuck with me through thick and thin. Through all those blogging dry spells. I wanted to entice you with a little gift. If you wish to purchase the calendar below just type in the code FLYFREE and no matter how many calendars you purchase the shipping is free. From today to the end of December.

Woodwings Calendar

Coming soon on Etsy. A 12 month calendar for 2012. 12 months of lovelies, 12 months of art.

Witchy Woman

What are these
So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on 't?

Shakespeare, "Macbeth"

“Going so soon? I wouldn't hear of it. Why my little party's just beginning."
WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST, "Wizard of Oz"

Witches are moon-birds,

Witches are the women of the false, beautiful moon.

AMY LOWELL, "Witch-Woman"

All of my black dresses look like they should be accessorized with a broom!

Hidden Fears

                                                                                           The super Spunky Zoe

I covered my eyes at the scary stuff. Protecting myself from images on a screen. Celluloid nightmares that kept me from sleeping at night because I peeked and saw the monster. Those images would haunt me for weeks, and as irrational as it was I was sure "it" was waiting for me in the garage. I was functioning perfectly all night until it was time to go up to bed and now I run ahead to turn on the light in the next room before I go back to turn off the light in the room I just left. The basement. In my teens this was the scariest place of all. If I needed to find something in the basement when I was home alone the lights when on first. There was a wall of closets that lined the back wall. If one of the doors was open at all, even the slightest bit I wouldn't go down at all. If I felt I could get what I needed and beat the creature before it grabbed hold of the back of my shirt I would make a mad dash down the stairs holding my breath until I made it back up to the kitchen, closing and locking the door in the hall behind me, trembling but triumphant. Terrifying those days of wild imaginations.


I'm not afraid these days. Because I keep my eyes closed at the scary stuff.

On The Dark Path to Halloween

                                                     Tim Burton on Christopher Walken

"You look at him and you know there's a lot going on-- yet you have no idea what."

The unknown. It's what scares us most right? The dark basement past the creaky stairs. The sound behind the closet door when you are trying to get to sleep in a strange bed. The vacant look in your boyfriend's eyes after you told him you love him. 

You answer the phone and hear only breathing at the other end. You come home after dark and the light won't turn on. The doorbell rings, it's late and when you ask who is there you get no response. I'm creeping myself out and will not get much sleep this month because I love the chill, the thrill of the unknown. And I love the look on that face pictured above. I love the villain and the actor having a great time playing the villain.

The Beach Rocks

Well I'm cruising low and I'm cruising mean,
Well I'm cruising slow in my dream machine
                                               -Stray Cats

But the winds could not erase
the memory of your face
     Beauty Queen, Roxy Music

Launch yourself on every wave

Reverie - the gift of an hour

 je ne sais quoi   - an indescribable or indefinable 'something' that distinguishes the object in question from others that are superficially similar.

She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky 

Sweet child o' mine

"Their whole life was the sea, the sea, and their boats. So in celebrating their deaths- yes, you can say celebrating, they used both. The family's of the great Viking would put the body of their loved one on a ship cover it with straw and then as the sun was setting cast it away into the water. They would light huge bonfires on the beach, and then the Vikings would light the tips of their arrows in the bonfire and shoot them at the ship. Ah it must have been so beautiful, fire on the water. Legend has it that if the color of the setting sun, and the color of the burning ship were the same then that Viking had lead a good life, and in the afterlife he would go to Viking heaven. All night long the Viking men, women, and children watched the ship with the body burned in the water. By dawn all that was left was ashes, complete obliteration, carried by the currents to the four corners of the earth, fresh, and beautiful, and vanished completely, like a dream."                                                                                        -Rocket Gibralter

Sand and Slate

 Nature has always been an inspiring muse. I was remembering days at the beach in Union Pier MI, and collecting images that inspired that color story. Take a look at the amazing treasures that sand and slate combined create. Jewels.

"The Greek word for "return" is nostos. Algos means "suffering." 

So nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return."       

-Milan Kundera

   "The moment you give close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." 

-Henry Miller

Looking back you realize that a very special person 

passed briefly through your life, and it was you.                 

-Robert Brault

" I don't care what I see outside. My vision is within!

Here is where the birds sing! Here is where the sky is blue!"                   

 -A Room With A View

"Never withdraw from life"   

-Diego Rivera

                              Velvet Morning

Youth is a wonderful thing.  What a crime to waste it on children.  

-George Bernard Shaw

 Nothing is more necessary than the unnecessary.                                          -Life Is Beautiful

Summer's Orange Glow

She comes in colors everywhere; She combs her hair - She's like a rainbow 
-Rolling Stones

I have the world's largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the beaches of the world... perhaps you've seen it.     -Steven Wright

 for whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
it's always our self we find in the sea
~e.e. cummings

She
May be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things           -Elvis Costello

A color is as strong as the impression it creates.       -Ivan Albright

"Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches."           -The Princess Bride

Through Rose Tinted Glasses

"A profusion of pink roses being ragged in the rain 

speaks to me of all gentleness and its enduring." 

William Carlos Williams

"I adore that pink is the navy blue of India" 

Diana Vreeland

 "The pink sheep of the family" 

Alexander McQueen

"I would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it." 

Shirley Conran

"The best color in the whole world is the one that looks good on you." 

Coco Chanel

"Wish on everything, Pink cars are good, especially the old ones. 

And stars are good. Shooting stars and first stars, 

and airplanes are good if they look like stars." 

Francesca Lea Block

Would You Expatriate

I read a quote by Gertrude Stein that said something to the effect that an artist has two countries. One which is his home and the second where he feels most himself. I think about this often, especially this time of year when I remember the traveling I did in my twenties. The memories haunt me now. My heart always expands most when I think of Florence Italy. My first trip was with my best friend when we turned 20 (when we were fearless and cute) We scoured the entire romantic city on foot. Rode on the backs of Vespa's to the  Boboli Gardens at night for the best gelato I've ever encountered. Partied in a villa just across the Arno with a view overlooking the infamous red tiled roofs of the city. We were so young and unappreciative of the opportunities our boldness and innocence afforded us. The hottie that owned the villa where we were dinner guests had money (I didn't recognize it then). His family owned a perfumerie and I remember him opening these vintage apothecary drawers to let me sample scented oils from around the world. Before we left his home he gave me the name and number to a Roman design firm who was close friends of the family. He set up an interview for me. What did I do.....chickened out. And here I am today to reminisce and write about it.

For 9 years I revisited Florence in summer and winter when I was a children's clothing designer to attend the Pitti Bimbo. Dang if I didn't feel like I was returning home each time. Do you know what was waiting for us when we just walked down the street from our hotel to get a cab? A life size pastel painting of Botticelli's masterpiece "Birth of Venus" on the street! and, the artist was in the process of another richly colored painting (yet I don't recall what is was)

So, yes, Florence just welcomes the painter, romantic and foodie in me. I've loved and daydreamed about living in so many places as I travelled with my ex and daughter. I've even looked for jobs and real estate for the fun of it. But, in reference to Ms. Stein's commentary above, Florence is the place for me.

Where would you feel most like you?

Rain

Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.                              Bob Dylan

How Quickly We Dance

I know that it has only been a day or two since I wrapped Christmas presents, tucked my daughter into bed at night, or made mashed bananas and pureed carrots for her meals. And yet, I woke up today and it's May 2011 and she has finished her last day of high school and *gulp* she's leaving me for college.


The months since I blogged last have been full. During my free time I have been pushing down the monster that wants to live in my head and remind me of how quiet my evenings will be without her. My aunt told me how unfair it is that you finally get your kids to be just the way you like them and then they leave you.


Pictured below are some of the things that have kept me busy the last few months

My dearest parents celebrated 50 years of marital bliss. Aren't they lucky. Romance lives

This was a family portrait for Audre of Illinois, whose generous heart and beautiful spirit created this extended family

Celebrating Nina's 18th birthday on Easter Sunday

Senior Prom. There was a day when she screamed at the sight of puffed sleeves. Riding pants were her "party clothes" Baseball caps were part of her daily uniform and her closet was full of punk and metal t-shirts.

This was created for Heidi from San Francisco. An energetic mom who loves and wholeheartedly supports her daughter's business venture. You should visit Chelsea's online shop, Ambry Lane, Especially if you have teen girls that want to express their style.

This for Jess's mom, a Mother's Day gift.

And in just 4 days and counting....graduation day....**waaahhh**