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Hi - I'm Leslie, the Woman of One Woman's Hands and I'm very happy to be joining in the Grow Your Blog party again this year. I acquired a LOT of followers from the party last year and hope to get a few more this year. But I don't blog so I can gloat over how many followers I have, I blog to keep a record of things I've done and so that friends and family can see what I've been up to without waiting for me to email them. :-(

I began my blog in October 2010 and blog mostly about my art - mixed media stuff like mail art postcards, ATCs, and art journals, which I make myself because I love bookbinding. I play around in Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 (PSE12) and post digital collages now and then. Around the fringes of those things I knit, crochet, stitch a bit, and do some beading. I used to be a quilter, and later, a crazy quilter but my hands can't handle the little stitches any longer.

ART ON DISPLAY

My animals make occasional appearances on the blog. I have the Standard American Pet Trio of dog, cat and parrot, and enjoy photographing them when they're doing something cute. I also garden in the summer - vegetables and a few fruit trees in our suburban back yard. I love to bake and have banana bread with chocolate chips and craisins in the oven as I type this.

WHERE ALL THE FUN HAPPENS

When we moved into our current house about two years ago, I took the entire front room (living room and dining room, 16' x 23') as my art studio and it's just wonderful. All that SPACE! And I use every inch of it since I can't throw anything away because in mixed media, you can use practically anything.

WHAT A MESS!

My *giveaway* will be a hand made journal, somewhere in the 5"x7" to 6"x8" range. I'll make the covers using gelli prints, markers, paint, pens, stamps - all sorts of wonderful art supplies - and the pages will be 140lb watercolor paper so they'll hold up to whatever you want to do with it. It'll be bound with waxed linen thread, and I'll include some decorative tapes and some fun gelli prints and vintage papers and tags for you to add yourself. I haven't actually made the journal yet so no pictures of it to entice you, but the last two pictures are the covers of a similar one.

You don't have to follow my blog to enter the drawing - you're entered simply by commenting on this post - but if what I do appeals to you, give me a try. You can always drop me later if I don't keep you interested LOL.

The winner will be announced on my blog on February 15th. Good luck!

And be sure to click on the Grow Your Blog button at the top of the right sidebar to go visit almost 600 more good blogs. Wow.

Feb postcard giveaway winners!

Remember these?

One of these cards made by me, plus a blank-except-for-the-gelli-print card, are going to these lucky ladies - LESA, MAUREEN, and JUNIPER GOODS.

Please shoot me an email (maugreall at gmail dot com) with your addy and I'll get them on their way to you. If you have a fave card, say so. I'll try to oblige you but no promises.

I think for the March giveaway I'll send out 3 selections of gelli prints. One full sheet of deli paper, plus assorted pieces from sheets of deli papers and phone book pages I've torn into already. Then you can make something fun at your end. Even if you already have a gelli plate of your own, my prints will be different in various ways. 


In fact maybe what the world needs is a gelli print swap. Huh? That sounds like an outstanding idea to me. Let me ruminate on it a bit...

Please leave a comment sometime in March to be in the drawing.

Feb followers giveaways

A small thing that bugs me sometimes is when a giveaway consists of lots of cool stuff and it all goes to one person. I prefer the kind where more people win. 

In that spirit, I'll draw 3 names from my followers on Feb 28th and they'll each get one of the pictured postcard made by me, plus a gelli postcard that hasn't been embellished yet that they can do themselves.

The images are all from a 1946 The American Home magazine that I picked up someplace or other.

It certainly depicts a simpler time. And lots of household appliance ads - vaccuum cleaners, stoves, automatic coffee makers! 

Lots of booklets you could send away for, most of which cost only a dine or a quarter. 

The magazine itself - all 12"x15"  and 136 pages of it - cost only 15 cents. Crazy.

and the winner is...

Well, the Grow Your Blog Party is over and I count it a success. It netted me almost 4 times the followers I started with, and now it's up to me to make my blog interesting enough that you all not only stay but tell your friends!

The winner of my altered vintage postcard is Catiean of Catiean & Co. Congrats!

Catiean, I sent you an email...

Many thanks to all of you who left wonderful comments and especially to those of you who signed up to follow me. I'll do my best to make that decision a good one. 

In that vein, I think another giveaway is a good idea, so this time it'll just be from all my followers. I'll draw from whoever's  still around on March 1. Not sure yet what the goodie will be but it'll be something handmade by me. Once I figure it out, I'll post about it so you can see what you're hanging in there for.

Grow Your Blog Party Giveaway!!

Well, today is the kick-off of the Grow Your Blog Party, hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full.

The idea is to go to that link and cruise thru as many of the blogs listed in the comments as you can manage between now and Feb 1. Consider signing up to follow the ones that blow your skirt up, since that's what this party is all about. Many of us are having a giveaway of some kind. Leaving a comment on those blogs should enter you into their drawing. Or maybe you'll have to become a follower, not sure so check as you go.

Here at One Woman's Hands you need only leave a comment in this post. We'll all draw our winners on February first and announce them on our blogs, so you have a chance to win at more than one blog.

 I sewed a bunch of old lace to one of those dollar postcards from the other day to make a little hanging piece. All the laces are older (some are very old), and the hanger is very fine gauge vintage tatting. Looks like 80 weight crochet thread maybe. Real skinny.

I put a lot of pictures of it here so that you'd be real tempted to leave a comment!

I considered covering the back of the card to conceal the stitching, but decided I liked being able to see the old graphics and left it except for a label with my info.

Thanks for visiting and good luck in the drawing!

Happy blog hopping, Leslie

Here it is hanging amongst other goodies in my studio.

I love the pop of red from the flowers.

handmade journal giveaway (not mine)

A Creative Dream ran thru her journal making process over the past several weeks, and now she's giving it away. Very cool doodles and images from an old cemetery. Way different that the stuff I create - lots of oranges and torn edges - so I'd love to win it. Go take a look...