St. Lucia give away

The day of St.Lucia is on December 13, but I want to do this give away now so the winner can get it’s packed in time for St.Lucia day.

I celebrate Christmas and I celebrate St.Lucia, I am not catholic but the Lucia tradition is strong here. I also like the Lucia celebrating, it is not about what am I going to get, but what can I do for others.

How it is celebrated here in Norway.

Santa Lucia is celebrated on December 13th. It is usually celebrated with a girl dressed in a white gown with a red sash or glitter belt, wearing an evergreen wreath with candles on her head. She is followed by a number of girl attendants, also dressed in white with one candle in there hand. The boys, "star-boys", also participate in the ceremony. They too are dressed in white gowns and they wear pointed hats and a stick with a star on.

At home:
The Lucia (the oldest girl in the family) wakes up her family by bringing a tray of coffee/tea and sweet-buns called "lussekatter"- translates to Lucia’s Cats. It is also custom to share lussekatter with the closes neighbours if they don’t have children.

Kindergarten:
The oldest children in the kindergarten 5-6 years old have a candlelight parade. They sing carols and give away lussekatter. The younger children and all the parents are invited to come and look at the parade. The parade then goes of to a retirement home, where they sing and give away some more lussekatter. The people there thank the Queen of Light, Lucia, for bringing hope during the darkest time of the year.

Schools:
The youngest children at the school have a candlelight parade. They sing carols and give away lussekatter to the other students.

In some towns:
Offices and communities sponsor candlelight parades in the evening, in which carols are sung.

Hotels
There is often an early Lucia breakfast this day.


The give away.
1. I want you to go to a blog you like, preferably a blog that do not get a lot (thousands) of comments.
2. Find a post on the blog you chose and say something NICE! in the comments.
3. Come back here and add a link to the post you commented on.
4. I will draw a winner on the 22 of November, check the comment you made and email you for your mailing address and send the packed on its way.

You are more than welcome to blog about this in your own blog, but it is not obligated!

Why.
There are so many wonderful bloggers out there giving a lot of them self. It is nice to get some feedback that people appreciate it. Those who read the comments may find a good blog. You will feel better knowing you have done something kind.

The price
3 stamps; Lucia, star-boy and nisse
1 box neocolorII, watersoluble
7 sheet of Christmas paper
1 bee wax
3 paints, black, gray, white
20 white pon-pons balls
3 blue glass harts
100 black glass pearls
60 white plastic pearls
Ribbons; 1 m gold diamond , 2 m deep blue, 2 m red 2 m beige with gold stars.
1 bunt white and red string.

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If the mail goes there I will send it to you, no matter where you are in the world! The postage is pretty much the same where ever you are.

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23.11.08 The give away is now closed, but keep posting those NICE comments on blogs you like, you will feel better knowing you have done something kind.

IF - repair

My entry for illustration Friday this week is a doctor. One of the most fascinating repairs I know is surgery. Not that I study them, but it is can be so life changing for the people (or animals) getting them.

The illustration was made by sketching with a 3B pencil and painted with watercolour.

Detail of the face.

Detail of the scrub.

Medium used: pencil and watercolour.

EDM # 5 - my bed

This is my bed. In the picture I wrote the the name on the objects, bed, sheet, mattress, pillow, bedspread, duvet. If you don't recognise the words it because they are in Norwegian and my writing is done in a hurry. Played around with some permanent markers. Some was permanent and some bleed. I used pilot, super color marker, Eberhard Faber decoro lackmarker, Uni Posca bullet tip and Uni Poscaround tip. There was a light wash over with the watercolours.



Medium used: Watercolour and permanent marker.

IF - late

In the Norwegian fairytale Ash Lad and the good helpers, one of the caricatures is a man that can not hold still. The Ash Lad get the task of getting water from the worlds end for the prinsess's tea in less than 10 min. The good helper goes to the end of the world to get the water but he falls asleep at the well. My picture today is the good helper returning with the water.

Mediums used: Watercolour and sharpie.

Dino

How long could you survive chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor? It’s a question I’ve never pondered. Thanks to the 10 bunk bed question, I now know that I would last 51 seconds!

In this occasion I made this little dinosaur. He is made with watersoluble wax pastel and got a rhinestone for the eye.

Detail of the head.

Here is my meme.

I could survive for 51 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds Pedia

Mediums used: Watersoluble wax pastel and rhinestone.

Art journal - a little wizard frog

Just in time for Halloween. Here comes a little wizard frog. He has conjured up a beautiful purple hat. So now he is all dressed up and ready to go to the party. Do you have a frog that will join the party too?


Just a detail.

Mediums used: Watersoluble wax pastel, watercolour, sharpie and pencil.

EDM # 4 mug

Had a little trouble with the flash lamp, got a lot of reflection from the varnish. Why use varnish? The illustration is in a book so the varnish keeps it from smearing.

The mug is wonderful to drink tea from, the lid keeps the tea warm and delicious. Today's medium was pastel chalk. It is over 3 months ago since I last used them! Keep returning to watercolours they are just so easy to use when travelling, and I keep grabbing them even if I am at home...

Her is what I did: Sketched the mug and tea bag using a pencil, added the pink colour with the pastel chalk, used a painting brush to soften the lines. Sprayed on varnish. Used cadmium red pastel chalk to trace the outer lines and he details on the mug / lid. Used the brush a bit more to soften the lines. There is a bit yellow in the high light on the lid. For the tea bag I used cadmium yellow, ochre and burned ochre. Sprayed on varnish.

Medium used: pastel chalk, 4B pencil, brush and varnish.

EDM # 3 - purse

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This is my purse that I use when I am going to carry large books and folders. It is made of leather and have that wonderful leathery smell. It was bought at a red cross second-hand shop, a true bargain.

I have made made a double picture showing the purse from different angles and in different mediums. The one on the right is done as a watercolour. The one on the left is done in oil pastels. The background on the left is made up off old receipts and papers, I just empted my purse and voalà I had enough for my background.


Receipts do not make a good foundation to draw on, the paper is very thin and can not take any water, it will crumble away. But it was fun to do.


Medium used: watercolour, sharpie, oil pastels, receipts.

Heart - anatomic illustrations

I keep doing these anatomic drawings/ painting/ illustration no apparent reasons. I have always been fascinated by the large anatomic illustrations that was used in the classroom to explain how things work. My illustration is no where near the complexity of the wall charts but it shows the heart and the larger veins, purple for the oxygen poor blood and deep red for the oxygen rich veins.

Medium used: watercolour and sharpie.

EDM # 2 - a desk lamp

Her is what I did for the EDM # 2 - a desk lamp.
Just pencil is used. The lamp is a light in the lab at the collage I am taking science classes. Her is how it look like up close, I must admit I drew it sitting on the other end of the room.



Medium used: pencil

EDM # 1 - a shoe

Everyday Matters, EDM, have a long list of things to draw and illustrate. Her is mine for the #1 - a shoe.
Here is what I did.
My shoes have a leaf pattern under, I used this to stamp the background and added a watercolour wash. I drew the shoe with a pencil. Painted the shoe whit thick layer of watercolour. Traced the lines with a sharpie.

Detail


Medium used: watercolour, ink, shoe, stamp, sharpie.

ATC - porcelain flowers in the snow

ATC - artist trading cards - porcelain flowers in the snow

I was asked to participate in an ATC- swap, 26 cards that are alike. I have never made ATC's. So I said that I had to try it out. Here is my test round and this is how I did it.

Made a sketch. The inspiration is the porcelain flower, it is not made of porcelain is a real flower (picture her if you don't believe me). Well I imagined the flowers in the snow.



I cut up 30 cards, guessing there was going to be some mistakes. Stamped the brown leafstrukture. Drawed the porcelain flowers. Added the masking fluid in dot's. Made the centre of the flower with acrylic paint.


Added some iridescent medium thickly, to get a little structure.


Painted with watercolour ochre and shades of blue. Added a little bit of iridescent to get a little sparkle. Rubbed off the masking fluid.


Cut out words from magazines and old books. Stamped on the S. Just have to sign and write on the back of the cards.

A little trouble along the way when making the cards...
Well I had problems cutting it exaktly to size and finding enough of the word "porselen" did not want to copy.

Not sue what to do with the cards as this was only the test round and I am going to do the real challenge for the swap later. Have any suggestions?

A bit about ATC - ACEO

Artist Trading Cards are individual art miniatures which pass hand to hand. Artists make ATC for trade or self-promotion. The only rule for these cards is their 64 x 89 mm (2.5 by 3.5 inch)
There is no standard thickness for ATCs but people customarily make them thin enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The cards are created as unique works or small limited editions of prints. Artists generally sign and date the back, and may also include a title and contact information.

An offshoot of Artist Trading Cards are the "Art Cards, Editions, and Originals", ACEO. ACEOs originated when some artists began to create cards to sell, in addition to trading among themselves.


Links to find more about ATC:

www.flikr.com , just do a search for ATCs.

http://www.arttradermag.com , free online magazine containing ATC

http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_Trading_Cards

Art journal - science, chemistry

Guess what classes I am taking...
Well not difficult to guess, eh? well it's science. Today we had chemical science. So, I got inspired to make a flask with a little twist for my art journal.
Medium used: ink pencil, pencil and watercolour.