giveaways and goodness

what an exciting month july is!  happy belated fourth of july to those in the states.  we had a blast at our house.

The Pulse, founded by Seth Apter of the Altered Page, is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which kicked off July 2nd, 3rd and 4th.  The posts are chock full of AMAZING art and links to the artists websites — go check it out!  This will be continuing every Sunday until about the Spring of 2012.
 
  

as a gesture of gratitude to all of my wonderful readers, i whipped up several little vellum envelope collage packs with collage sheet images, vintage book pages, printed papers and such to send off to five lucky winners (some also have vintage stamps, chipboard pieces, handmade papers and gears).  i will be having a giveaway for four of these this coming weekend here, and one for someone on facebook.  all winners will be announced july 10th.  on a side-note, it’s just occurred to me that all but one of the packs have anatomical images so hope you like body parts as much as i do.  most of the images are from new collage sheets that are not yet listed on my site.  just leave a comment here or on facebook to be in the drawing.
 
  

last, and certainly not least, i wanted to share in advance that i will be doing an interview with jema “emilly ladybird” hewitt regarding her recent book “Steampunk Emporium” on the 11th of this month.  i can’t wait to share this with those of you who are into steampunk and/or jewelry and/or oddments and/or costume design.  there will be yet another july giveaway for this: one free copy of the book “Steampunk Emporium” and a little steampunk + other goodies bag from me with gears, watch parts, cogs, 1940s vintage beads, etc.

i hope you all have a magnificently creative start to the new month!  i’m working on three new series and some paintings — if only i could just sleep once a week so i could get done all that is in my mind!!

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Day #2: Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams Blog Tour

The time has finally come… the Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams Blog Tour has commenced!!  Read through this post to learn about some of the MANY wonders of epoxy clay, find links to all participants in the tour, view the prizes you can win (there are 115!!), and see free giveaways for my readers too!  You may want to grab a cuppa coffee, tea or a beer and relax for a few — this is a HUGE post with lots to take in and look at!

First, as many of you know, I’ve been friends with Miss Keriny for a few years now so I was “there” for the ride when she wrote this most amazing book.  It was such an honor and a privileged to get to hear the little bits and pieces she shared with me (most of it was a HUGE surprise when the book came out, of course, but I did get secret little-tiny peeks and hints along the way).  I was able to learn so many great things about the wonders of Epoxy and Apoxy Clays before the book was even released!  I mostly starting using Aves Apoxy Clay as an amazing adhesive in my assemblages, but have also made molds to create smaller items.  I am just now getting into “the bigger stuff” since reading (and re-reading) her book and just have to say that I love this stuff!!  So when Kerin asked if I wanted to participate in this blog tour, I was giddy.  (My son would have said “duhviously!” wich is a combo of “duh” and “obviously”).  Like Kerin, I want the whole art world to know about this great and wondrous art material and its endless uses!  Kerin is the queen of opening so many eyes to this wonderful stuff!

       

 

This is an example of my most recent use of epoxy clay… everything, including the metal objects, hand-made boxes, hearts, bones, gears and beads atop the pieces and other bits are attached using Aves Apoxy Clay.  Additionally, I built up the anatomical hearts with this great and wondrous product before making molds of them so I can include LOTS of hearts in future projects.  Additional photos of these two pieces can be found on my website if you are interested in checking them out in more detail.

       

First and foremost, I would like to present the sponsors of this GRAND EVENT…
Visit these participating blogs along the way — the following is a calendar of dates each participant will be posting their wonderful information, art examples and giveaways.

May 1
Kerin Gale
Remnants of Olde: http://RemnantsOfOlde.com/posts

May 2
Alicia Caudle
Altered Bits: https://alteredbits.wordpress.com/

May 3
Lesley Venable
Flatwoods Folk Art: http://www.flatwoodsfolkart.typepad.com/

May 4
Christine Lehto
Lilly Bug Studio: http://lillybugstudio.com/blog/

May 5
Seth Apter
The Altered Page: http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/

May 6
Nancy Perennec
Little Bit Wired: http://littlebitwired.blogspot.com/

May 7
Jen Cushman
ICE Queen Zine: http://www.iceresin.com/category/inspired-remnants-blog-tour/

May 8
Happy Mother’s Day!

May 9
Beth Robinson
Strange Dolls: http://strangedolls.wordpress.com/

May 10
Brenda Schweder
Brenda Schweder Jewelry: http://www.brendaschweder.com/

May 11
Esther Verschoor
Vanessie Art Dolls: http://vanessies.blogspot.com

May 12
Kecia Deveny
Lemoncholy’s Flight of Fancy: http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

May 13
Rachel Whetzel
A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal: http://oneyearartjournal.blogspot.com/

May 14
Shannon LeVart
MissFickleMedia.com: http://missficklemediacom.blogspot.com/

May 15
Marlaine Verhelst
Marlaine Verhelst Art Dolls: http://marlaineverhelst.com/blog/

May 16
Lisa Jurist
Mud Hound Studio: http://mudhoundprimitives.blogspot.com/

May 17
Michelle Bernard
Yesterday’s Trash: http://michellereneebernard.blogspot.com/

May 18
Kerin Gale
Remnants of Olde – Alan Rogerson feature: http://RemnantsOfOlde.com/posts

May 19
Facebook Party!
Apoxie Clay & Epoxy Clays Page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_158159677562761

       

Sponsored prizes that YOU could win (each of the blogs will be giving away these wonderful prizes to MANY lucky winners!).  Please note that all physical prizes (i.e. non digital prizes) will be awarded to US participants only.  Access to Online Workshops and Digital Collage Sheets will be sent anywhere, worldwide.

To be eligible, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post by May 26. Please note in your comment if you are a resident outside the US.

A) The book: Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams by Kerin Gale.  This will be mailed directly to the winner from Northlight Books.

B) One Aves Power Pack (selection of their most popular formulas)  from http://AvesStudio.com.  (This will be mailed directly to the winner from Aves Studios)

C) Fluid Chalks Online Workshop by Lesley Venable on her The Art Of Altering site which features many other awesome online workshops.  More information about this workshop can be found here: http://theartofaltering.ning.com/group/fluidchalksbackgroundsbeyond

D) Two Digital Collage Sheets of your choice by Alicia Caudle of Altered Bits (yeps, that’s me).  You can see my unique and cool collections at http://alteredbits.com/digital-collage-sheets.php

E) Sample pack of Silputty 40 silicone putty mold mix from Silpak.  This is the formula Kerin recommends in the book that has the longer cure time.  If you want to order any of these materials or have any questions, call Jerry at Silpak 909-625-0056.  He was her technical advisor for the book and so it’s great that you can talk to him directly and get any assistance you may need!!!

F) 1 OZ ICE Resin and a mixed metal bezel from http://www.iceresin.com/

       

Grand Prizes For Book Reviews

Any reader that writes a review ~ however short or long ~  of Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams on amazon.com before July 31, 2011 and sends an email with the title “Inspired Remnants Review” to remnants.art@gmail.com will be entered in a drawing to win one of these prizes.  Please note that your honest opinion is wanted on this review.  Please note that all physical prizes (i.e. non digital prizes) will be awarded to US participants only.  Access to Online Workshops will be available worldwide.

A) The art piece featured on the cover of the book, “Sacred Totem”

B) Power Pack plus extra Fixit Sculpt clay from Aves Studio

C) A Frozen Charlotte Doll with digital tutorial “How To Crackle Charlottes” from Alicia Caudle of http://alteredbits.com (that’s me again! — see details on the tutorial below)

D)  Resin Clay Pendants online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.com

E)  Vintage Gentleman online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.com

F)  Choice of any one workshop being taught by Kerin and Charley at Art Is You retreat in Petaluma, CA.  The registration fee and workshop cost are both waived.  http://www.art-is-you.com/mysitecaddy/site3/generalinformation-westcoast.htm

G)  One copy each of Jen Cushman’s book, Explore, Create, Resinate and Susan Lenart-Kazmer’s book, Making Connections plus ICE Resin and a selection of bezels all from http://www.iceresin.com/

       

Altered Bits blog readers will also be entered to win one of these additional prizes (like everything else, all you have to do is leave a comment to enter):

First, PRIZE NUMBER ONE  is a collection of three Frozen Charlotte dolls which I will mail to you bundled up with love and pretty wrappings:

…along with a PDF Tutorial I created called “How to Crackle Frozen Charlottes” (creative, huh!):

With this tutorial, you can learn how to create wonderful crackled and faux rust finishes for Frozen Charlotte and Charlie dolls and learn how I create those little 3d hearts on them.  This is a great combo with Kerin’s book in that you can learn how to make molds of these girls, and create replicas in Epoxy Clay, then paint them up all pretty like these few examples:

And PRIZE NUMBER TWO (also only for my blog readers) is a collection of FIVE digital collage sheets of your choice from my website: http://alteredbits.com/digital-collage-sheets.php  and http://alteredbits.com/collage_sheets.php (yep, I’ll make ANY of them digital for you).  Here are just a few examples of some of your many options:

       

As if ALL of this hasn’t been enough…

During the blog tour (from May 1st through May 19th), you can get $5 off Kerin Gale’s ground-breaking and hugely inspirational book Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams bundled with her amazing online workshops (I have taken all of these workshops from Kerin so trust me when I say they are A-FLIPPIN’-MAZING!!).  All you have to do is enter “Altered Bits” in the note section when you check-out through Paypal and you will receive the $5 back.  What a fantastic deal!

   
Resin Clay Pendants Workshop + Book = $35 + shipping  (only $30)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63483761/inspired-remnants-book-and-resin-clay

   
Vintage Gentleman Workshop + Book = $40 + shipping  (only $35)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/27210387/inspired-remnants-book-and-vintage-gent

       
Both Workshops + Book =  $70 + shipping  (only $65)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72931590/inspired-remnants-book-super-bundle-with
Enjoy your journeys and good luck!!

OR, if you already have her book, any of her online workshops will be a mere $15!!!  go peek at her shop now!

PLEASE NOTE: Just leave a comment for one entry to win one of these fabulous prizes (every blog on the tour has about this many so hooray!). Get more chances to win by sharing info about the book tour!!! When you leave your comment just say where you posted (facebook, twitter, your blog, etc.) Each post is worth one entry in my drawing!

introducing: a huge upcoming event

as cryptically prefaced in my previous post, i wanted to let you know that the online book tour & blog hop for Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams by Kerin Gale starts this Sunday, May 1st, at Keriny’s blog: http://remnantsofolde.com/posts

Kerin summed up the event perfectly on the Apoxy Clay Facebook Page so I shall quote her: There are 18 days of giveaways (with Aves [apoxy] clay, ICE resin, silicone mold material and much more!!!) and fantastic art and such. Please help spread the word on your own blogs and FB pages and twitter and skywriting if you have planes available.  : )

i will add that this book has been literally the BEST mixed media art book that i have ever read, peeked at, held or looked at in my whole life.  i LOVE this book (and not at all because i’m in it)!!  i am so honored to be #2 in the blog hop (wait, maybe ‘number two’ isn’t a good thing??).  seriously though, there are heaps and loads of AMAZING give-aways on each of the participating blogs and you could win!  all you have to do is visit each of the sponsoring blogs on their date (which we all will be posting soon) and leave a comment.

to kick it off, i will share a few photos of one of my very own copies of the book, and the review i wrote on amazon.

I cannot say enough good things about Kerin Gale’s “Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams”. I am a huge purchaser of mixed media art books and this is by far my favorite (so much so that I bought two copies for myself and one for my mom).

Typically, when I purchase a new art book I flip through the pages, taking in all of the pictures, then set it on my dusty bookshelf for a potential future peek. This book, however, is totally different: one copy resides on my bookshelf and the other hasn’t left my desk since I bought it four months ago. I flipped through the pages at least a dozen times, then read it twice. Unlike most mixed media art books, Kerin’s book contains projects that I would LOVE to try. They are so innovated and unique, and just stunningly gorgeous. I want to make ALL of them! Her witty humor and understandable detailed directions are comparable to none – I am left with no questions, but rather an amazing new skill set to create fun and visually pleasing pieces; my only problem was which one to create first.

Epoxy clay has got to be one of the coolest products on the market today. Kerin teaches us how to make molds to create duplicates of things we love (like ornate textures or Frozen Charlottes), and schools us on the infinite things you can do with epoxy clay – you can safely use it on things left outside, you can use in it water (i.e. a fish tank!), you can make sturdy but delicate looking jewelry, and so many other exciting and wondrous things that you should just go buy this book right now. Among my favorite projects are the light-up pieces and a raven handbag that’s to die for!

hope to see you here on the 2nd, and on kerin’s blog the day before!

oh, i like this page too:

(funny circle — i meant that’s me as in “alicia caudle”, not as in “the empress alicia caudle” — if i wasn’t going to be so busy for the next few days i’d change that five minutes ago!!)