0 Behold, an Original ACEO by Amanda Makepeace.....

'Tree Frog' original ACEO, by the artist Amanda Makepeace

...and... it's mine.  All mine!

I was lucky to be contacted earlier this month by the lovely nature artist, Amanda Makepeace, letting me know I'd won a monthly giveaway via her Facebook Fan Page, Amanda Makepeace Arts, the prize of which being the above original ACEO.  What a wonderful surprise...!  Having long been an admirer of Amanda's art, I was thrilled to hear this good news.  As it stands I am privileged to own another original ACEO of Amanda's, from back when she and I were partnered up for  EBSQ's annual 'Ripped Off' show last year.  We had each created an original ACEO inspired by the other's work (written about in this blog post), which we then exchanged with one another other.  So it's grand indeed to now be in the possession of another of her works....!

Happily Mr. Frog made the long jury via the postal system up north by several states to me safely and soundly.  I snapped a picture of him upon his arrival:

Mr. Tree Frog says 'Hello'....!

And so the little fella joins my other Amanda Makepeace ACEO, 'Dragonfly Nights' ( for her 'Ripped Off entry description), which you can see below.  In any case I say two original works of art by any one artist definitely a Collection of said artist makes -- now here's looking forward to future opportunities to add more of Amanda Makepeace's pieces...!

Don't they make a lovely pair...?

Many thanks again, Amanda Makepeace.....!

Detail: Behold, an Original ACEO by Amanda Makepeace.....

0 I Won A Blog Giveaway....!

Just a little shout out of thanks over to Melissa B., money-saving and debt-reduction blogger of "Mom's Plans".   I've been following Melissa's blog for some time now -- she and her spouse had incurred substantial debt via student loans/credit cards, but successfully turned that ship around and are now working aggressively toward becoming debt-free.  And while they still have some ways to go, they've made great strides in a short time and are so committed in their repayment efforts I've no doubt they'll reach their financial goals. In any case, I do get a kick out of entering blog giveaways when I stumble across them, but of course rarely (if ever?) win -- so what a hoot....!  (Plus a nice little 'cheer-me-up' after a sad week having lost our little dog.)  And so just what prize exactly was it that I won, pray tell....?   Apparently 4 dozen bars of a snack item from a company called 'Vitalicious'  (the original giveaway post on 'Mom's Plans' here) -- how cool is that...???  I've requested they actually be sent to my teen son, who, as I've written previously, is away studying hard at ballet school -- thinking they'll make a good snack for him to grab and go, and I know he'll appreciate the treat.  So thanks again for hosting the lovely giveaway, Melissa/'Mom's Plans' -- fun times indeed....!

Detail: I Won A Blog Giveaway....!