Sleeping Dogs Studio

Owen wants you to know that he’s a very serious and technologically oriented dog…

So when I told him he was picking the latest give-away winner, he insisted on using the web site  www.random.org to pick them.  “It’s a great way to pick any random number, from a lotto # to a giveaway winner…” he shared with me.

We added each person to a spreadsheet in response order…

Then Owen went to www.random.org to pick the associating number of the winner from the list.  Interestingly, our first respondent won!

And that was Sharon!  Sharon, I’ll contact you via your e-mail from the comment to determine how to get the pen to you.  And again, a SPECIAL thanks to Indiana Artisan Toney Robertson for making this give-away possible – and a special congratulations to Sharon from computer guru Owen!

To fans of paper as we are, and as many ways as we’ve used it and seen it used, there are occasionally TRULY amazing surprises out there!

For instance:

“Pulp Fashion”

This link will take you to the online site of an art exhibit showing at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco through June 5, 2011.  The exhibit is called Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave, and features fantastic “fabric” made out of paper.  The site description discusses the artist, and the fact that she paints and manipulates paper, by forming ”trompe l’oeil masterpieces of elaborate dresses inspired by rich depictions in early European painting or by iconic costumes in museum collections around the world.”  Here’s just one example:

Yes, that dress REALLY is made out of hand-painted paper!  Check out the site to see many more examples of this wonderful work – or what a great excuse to make a trip to beautiful San Francisco before June 5!

Don’t forget to sign up in our comments section to win this lovely Toney Robertson handmade pen!

Simply add a comment of “Give-away – 4.8.11″ prior to 5 p.m. ET in the comments below.  Owen and I will announce the winner on Saturday, 4.9!

“There is no need for temples,

no need for complicated philosophies.

My brain and my heart are my temples,

my philosophy is kindness.”

                ~ The Dalai Lama

For those of you who are long-time readers of my Blog, you know already how much I LOVE the collage sheets of vintage photos at www.paperwhimsy.com.  They are undeniably the highest quality of photos I’ve seen, partly because of the extraordinary ability of the owner to work with Photo Shop and enhance these lovely photos back to the way they might have been when first taken.

Serendipity brought us together again a few weeks ago, as I shared some of our family photos with Gale.  She was interested in some of them, and my parents and I gladly determined that we’d like to give them to her in order to see our ancestor’s faces peeking out from her website’s pages!

The first photo has been restored, put into a collage sheet format, and can be found on her website now.

This lovely sheet is a photo of (left to right):  My great-aunt, Carrie; my great-aunt, Mabel; and my grandmother, Lillian.  Below you can see the before and after:

What a special feeling to be able to make cards with your own ancestors  A special thanks to Gale for her wonderful work, and a reminder to all to check out the Shoppe on her site for more lovely photos!

Thanks to his generosity, we have given away an item from master woodworker Tony Robertson before on this Blog – you may remember this bowl?

I had the extreme pleasure of finally meeting Toney in person at the Kentucky Crafted Art Show, and was so impressed to see his impeccable design sense and concentration on quality in person.  This is a man who is the ultimate perfectionist!  His wine stoppers were not only beautiful, but had a stopper made of anodized stainless steel that will NEVER rust.  In Toney’s world, everything worth doing is worth doing right!  And his creations are always unique – just check out one of his latest bowl designs below:

By Toney Robertson, Indiana Artisan

And now you get a second chance at owning one of Toney’s remarkable pieces – the wooden ball-point pen below.

This pen takes regular refills, and the center is made of a finely burnished and polished walnut.

It is a very striking piece, and one that you will be sure to treasure.

To enter, simply add a comment with the words “Give-away – 4/8/11″ in the copy before 5 p.m. ET on Friday, 4/8/11.  Owen and I will then pick a winner at random, and announce the lucky winner on Saturday.

A special thanks to Toney for providing this opportunity to win another of his remarkable designs!