David is doing a giveaway for you!

I would like to introduce you David, who creates original paintings and digital works. He also prepared a giveaway to my readers, so be nice to him :)
But let’s hear what he has to say. I asked him to write a few words about himself and here it is:


“My name is David V Moore and I began selling my art online in 2006 working in acrylics on canvas. I sold mainly through Ebay, my blog and a website of like-minded artists called Daily Painters. Once I discovered Etsy in 2007, I opened a shop with a diverse mix of styles ranging from my digital work to large paintings.

I like to experiment with different techniques and styles and soon found my work splintering off into 3 main threads – colorful and whimsical illustrations, abstract paintings, and surreal digital work. To accommodate my different styles, I created two new Etsy shops earlier this year.

I opened Papermoth Illustration about three months ago to offer prints of my drawings and illustrations. This work is inspired by the incredible range of abstraction and individual interpretation to be found in the natural world. I attempt to simplify and refine what I am seeing in a way that focuses on color harmony and contemporary forms.

Abstracted flowers are a big thing for me and I love to create imaginary flora that have familiar shapes and elements re-interpreted into something completely new and fresh. My work is usually created in Photoshop with a combination of hand-drawn elements, painted and scanned textures and digital tools.

When I am not working (which is rare), I like to spend time with my cats and watch good cult films from the 70’s. I am also a choco-holic and sometimes eat cookies until I get sick or become very sleepy.”

When David is not working on new things to Papermoth Illustration, he spends time creating original contemporary paintings for his DVM Studios shop. He will soon list some new hand-painted pieces for the Fall, so check back often!

And that's not all! David has one more shop, http://www.davidvmoore.etsy.com/ ,and he post his surreal photo-montage style of work there.
Also check his website http://www.davidvmoore.com/ !
Man with many faces, isn't he?

But now the best part... David is so sweet that he prepared a giveaway to all my readers!

The rules:
1) The giveaway starts today and lasts until the end of August.
2) Visit Papermoth shop and pick one print you like the most.
3) Comment this blog post and state which print is your favorite. Please don't forget to leave your e-mail under your comment!
4) After the giveaway is ended, we will pick 2 winners who will receive 8X10 print from Papermoth. You will get the print you stated in the comment.
5) I contact the winners (that's why I need e-mail address) and post their names to my blog too.
6) Papermoth will ship the prints and we're all happy :)

Hope has a voice

I'm writing this post with tears in my eyes. But those are tears of pride and happiness.

Thousands of Estonians came together to Tallinn today and at those late evening hours they're singing on Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Did I say thousands? I think there are tens of thousands Estonians. Even more than a hundred thousand. I'm sad you can't see the picture from my TV at this moment.

I've never felt more Estonian than today and I'm sad I can't be there and sing with other people. But workday tomorrow, can't help it.
But it is amazing feeling. When things are getting hard, we sing. Together, like one man. Here's a little trailer of Estonian movie "Singing revolution", maybe you will understand a bit what's going on now.



About the history of "Singing revolution":
On 11 September 1988, a massive song festival, called "Song of Estonia", was held at the Tallinn Song Festival Arena. This time nearly 300,000 people came together, more than a quarter of all Estonians. On that day political leaders were participating actively, and were for the first time insisting on the restoration of independence.

From 1987, a cycle of mass demonstrations featuring spontaneous singing eventually collected 300,000 Estonians in Tallinn to sing national songs and hymns that were strictly forbidden during the years of the Soviet occupation, as Estonian rock musicians played.

And today the history recurs again. With today's "Night Song Festival" we remind the hard times when we were fighting for our independence and when we sang us to be free.

One more video. 20 000 singers, 100 000 listeners

What fashion has to say part 3

First: Isaac Mizrahi, Second: Betsey Johnson

What fashion has to say part 2

First: Alexander McQueen, Second: ADAM

What fashion has to say

Fall is almost here (don't argue, it is!). World greatest fashion designers showed their fall 2008 ready-to-wear collections months ago, but now it's starting to get more up-to-date.
Some knits can be found from the collections. Photos from Style.com:


First: Doo.Ri , second: Carlos Miele


BUT... That's not all! To be continued...

Happy birthday to me!

I had a birthday yesterday. The party was real headache for my friends and family, because this time I had a special request to get yarn only, if someone wants to bring a present.

I even made a list of yarns which I would like to get. And shop addresses where to find it.
But still, can you imagine my 33-year-old brother buying yarn for her sister? I understand it was bit much to him, so we agreed I can choose them myself. Some other people used this policy also and I don't mind.

So today is the big day! When I finish my work, I will be off for the yarn shop and have 2 hours for shopping there :) I hope it won't take that much, but you never know.

In Pärnu, where I live, is a lack of yarn shops. We have one small shop with two wonderful owners. Really fantastic ladies and even if I don't know what I want, I always leave with a purchase. They have rather good assortment, although the shop itself is really tiny.
And we have some fabric shops who sell yarns also. Nothing fancy or interesting there, so I rarely go there.
I prefer to buy online from Ebay and have found some nice sellers there from all over the world.

From zdm812 I have purchased for 3 times. Shipping is fast, yarn is very soft, only thing I don't like is multicolored yarns. If they would sell white, brown or some other great colors, I would buy more!

Angels&Elephants from UK is my new favorite. They sell hand dyed wools and although also multicolored, they look really lovely. Gloves in my previous post are knitted from theyr Holly Berry yarn.

Another seller I like is jennisam05. They sell alpaca yarn and have a fantastic color chart. I haven't purchased from them, but I will do it in the future!

And last but not least- taj1066. I found the shop only few days ago, but they have some quality yarns with very reasonable price.

For me it's important that the shop ships internatinally and it's not very easy to find from Ebay. Less drouble with UK site, but possible to find some great shops from US also.

First pattern

Some weeks ago I wrote my first fingerless glove pattern. In English. Wasn't as hard as I expected.

I've been dreaming of this for a long time. But I was always afraid it is too hard, because I'm not native in English. And I've never understand Americans habit to write down the patterns by lines and not drawing only schemes. That's what we do here in Estonia usually.

But it took only 2 hours to write it. After that I found a test knitter- big thanks to sillylittlelady- who helped to correct the mistakes and write some paragraphs in easier language than I did :)

I also added it to Ravely, you can find the details there.

I used Angels & Elephants yarn from Ebay. The name is Holly Berry and even I usually don't like multicolored yarns, this one is nice! Red, brown and olive match perfectly and the result is not too outstanding.

Now I'm planning next pattern. Also fingerless gloves, because I'm not ready for different sizes and other more difficult things.

A bit about other things too:
My vacation is over and I'm back in the office. I'm not used to get up 8 in the morning and work all day, so at the moment it's really painful. But I know it is getting better day after day :)

Winner!

The winner of beret's giveaway is Swtlilchick who wrote:

"My best trip was traveling to Italy.The people were friendly,
vineyards are beautiful along with the country side.We saw the roman ruins which was amazing.The food is excellent.The Alps are so
breathtaking,there is alot to see
and do.We rode in a gondilier.
This place is a must see.Thanks for the giveaway"

Please send your address to anniki.leppik@gmail.com

I will write some more about the challenge later, at the moment I need to run out, but wanted to announce the winner first :)

Etsy fashion photos

I grabbed a treasury on Etsy.
Idea to make this hit me yesterday. I was visiting Yokoo's shop and her photos were breath-taking. I was searching for hours and found some other great shoots that are suitable for making treasury.
Here it is, with alternates:



hollystalder, BoudoirQueen, oyku, momshandmade, thimblescratch, Makool, poshpanache, Ojepizi, idea2lifestyle, SCHiZO, HealingHeart and Yokoo.
Alternates: bettieB, shezzy, PINKSTARswimwear and Venomiss.

Chocolate bar with vanilla ice cream

I'm not very innovative knitter. I'm engaged to my favorite yarns and I do not experiment with new things often.
Despite of that I still make some impulsive purchases, like this Ornaghi Filati Merino Kind wool I bought for the neck warmer on the photo. And I fell in love. So soft and so comfy to knit. 2 colors- chocolate brown and white look good together, great combination in my opinion.

When I first saw that kind of neck warmers- I think it was about 1.5 years ago- I thought they're a bit odd. I couldn't imagine people wearing neck warmers, because I've always been a big fan of long scarfs.
Now I have to admit I plan to knit one for myself too, for the winter. It is much more suitable an comfortable for wearing with coat.

Funny that every year before the winter I always wonder what kind of shawls, hats and gloves I would like to wear this year, I can't imagine going out without them, when there is -10 and more degrees.
But when I was a school kid, I always hide hats and shawls to the bag after leaving home, because I couldn't stand them. Maybe because it was always my mother's choice and we didn't have exactly same taste.... I admit I'm a bit picky....

Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY IS FINISHED NOW! NO MORE NEW COMMENTS WON'T BE CONSIDERED!
Please give me a bit time for announcing the winner.

Blog giveaways seem to be popular and I decided to do it also!

One of the readers will get this beret, knitted from 100% Shetland wool. Manufacturer is Angels & Elephants, color Holly Berry. Worth $27.

The contest is open until 5th August.

If you want to take part, then leave a comment to this post and write about your favorite travel destination.
Where have you spent your holidays? Why you liked the country? Why you recommend it to other too?
I'm planning my winter holidays at the moment and it can help me to decide where to do- I'm not sure if I prefer a skiing trip or sun and beach. Convince me :)

And please, leave your e-mail address under the post!

I will pick a winner after 5th August and contact her/him personally, but announce the winner in blog also.

See you later!