Hi ~
If your email program does not display this newsletter in its proper colorful formatting, you can view it on the Web at www.artellawordsandart.com/ARTICULATION-artic-12-16-05.html
Have Yourself a Virtual Little Christmas:
Free Gifts Wrapped In Tinsel and Technology
Last night, many Artella Members joined together to participate in Artella's first Members' Holiday Party -- where old-time holiday charm meets modern technology -- in our case, a teleconference, where we did wonderful things virtually: we went caroling, shared gratitudes and good wishes around the fire, received presents from Santa by the tree, participated in fun, festive art activities, and had fantastic fellowship with old and new friends alike. It was a perfect reminder of how blessed we are, in this day and age, to have the wonder of technology to bring us together and gift us with amazing resources.
Here is a list of some favorite holiday resources on the Web, including some free gifts from Artella:
Artella's Favorite Holiday Sparkling Spots on the Web:- www.zerogdanno.com continues to dazzle with its free craft projects, and the latest edition to "Marney Mattel's Danger Station" is a project perfect for book artists (even beginners!) It's a Folded Book Christmas Tree, and you simply MUST go take a look and try it for yourself! Simply gorgeous, and really simple!!!
- Marilyn Walter-Scott's site, thetoymaker.com, has wonderful free downloadable paper toys for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Highly recommended by Artella!
- Benevolent Planet is offering a beautiful book designed to bring meaning back to the holiday season, called Humane Holidays, which Benevolent Planet is generously making available to us for a donation of whatever amount you wish. Go ahead and download it now at http://members.aol.com/benevolentplanet/HumaneHolidays.pdf, and you can make a donation later, if you wish. Also, be sure to read about their Wrapped in Wishes Service - a unique way to make charitable giving easier than ever.
FREE Gifts Under the Artella Tree:
- A free 30-Day pass to the Members' Magic Mansion! If you've never tried out Artella Membership -- with everything from the daily LinkLatte newsletter to weekly Audio Presentations and PoemPainting -- it's really something you have to see to believe! Our Holiday Gift to ALL Articulation readers is a free one-month sample of Artella Membership. To accept your gift, send a blank email to holidaygift@artellaland.com by December 20, and your Membership will be activated within about 48 hours, or less.
- A free Artella eBooklet, "Creative Splatters & Simple Gifts: How to Feel the Holiday Spirit without Spending a Penny", created just for you, which you can download at http://www.artellaland.com/simplegifts.pdf
- Eight free holiday e-Cards to send artful wishes to all of your loved ones – you can even pick your own holiday stamp!
- The free 80-minute recording of the teleworkshop, "Let Your Inner Elf Out: Brainstorming Handmade Gifts for the Holidays", which you can find at http://www.artellawordsandart.com/ecourse.html#free
- A downloadable collaged frame, which you can use for all kinds of artsy holiday purposes. You can find it at the bottom of this page:http://www.artellawordsandart.com/holiday-sale.html.
|
| ART TIP OF THE WEEK!
If you had good intentions for a "handmade holiday" but haven't gotten around to your projects yet -- don't worry! There are lots of projects you can do very quickly. A surprisingly effective holiday project that anyone can do is make paper ornaments that can be hung not only on trees, but also on walls, doorknobs, used as gift tags, or backed with magnet materials to put on file cabinets, kitchen appliances, etc. Use heavy cardstock or cardboard to cut out a simple shape (a star, or heart, a simple angel shape-- think of the shape of snow angels). And then just cover it with a solid collage of favorite images, gluing down all of the edges so they are flat. If you like, you can cover the collage with a decoupage sealer so that it has a really nice finish, but it's not even necessary to do so. Then add some trim, ribbon, beads, buttons, or any fun stuff of your choosing to finish it off. If you allow yourself to have fun and be spontaneous, several cutout collaged ornaments can be completed quickly and can be very satisfying to make!
(For more quick holiday crafty ideas, take a look at our eBook, 10 Christmas Crafts in 10 Minutes.)
|
WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK!
For a fun exercise, try re-writing Christmas carols and holiday songs. You can work with straight word-play ("On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me two purple gloves and a large fridge and some rare tea") or with parody or even political satire! Bob Rivers is the king of holiday song parodies, and if you don't mind some major irreverence, you can visit http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/History/humorous_carols.htm to follow some links to listen to clips from his several CDs on the topic. But don't stop with listening to his clips – try writing parodies and word-play carols yourself!
|
ARTELLA NEWS!
Now it's easier than ever to get Artella news several times a week in the Artella News Blog. And what's more…with almost every post, there's a BlogJog "sneaky" Special hidden in the post, which is a sale or freebie that's listed exclusively in the blog, and only for a few days. So check the Artella blog for full, hot-off-the-creative-presses Artella News! Go see what's 50% off right now!
Quick Links to our current hot items: - Holiday Update and Announcements! Thank you so much for supporting Artella, and all of our Shoppes of Artella artists and sellers, during this holiday season! If you've still got some folks on your list to take care of, it's not too late!
Regarding "last magical moment" holiday shopping, please note the following:
- If you're concerned about shipping turnaround for a Shoppes of Artella item, the email address of every seller is listed on their home page. Email them to ask if rush delivery is possible in time for the holidays!
- Artella Magazine issues or Catalyst Collection Collage Kits that are placed by the end of this weekend (Sunday the 18th) will arrive by the 24th…we'll make sure of it! And remember, we'll include a beautiful gift note for any order that is a gift.
- If you order an "e-Good" (e-course, eBook) to give as a gift, we'll deliver it in good timing, with a beautiful gift message!
- Note that our Holiday Card Kits are retiring after December 22, so if you're interested in these kits for your New Year's cards or to even to plan ahead for next year, be sure to get your favorites before next week. Also, our Catalyst Collection collage kits will not be available for shipping between December 23 and January 3, and kits will be in extremely limited supply through the month of January. So be sure to visit the Art Supply General Store to place your orders before the holiday!
- Artella 9: THE JOURNEY is ready for pre-order! Artella issue 9, "The Journey: Destination and Imagination", is being printed, and will go out in January! Thanks to YOUR comments and suggestions in our subscriber survey, we've made some exciting changes to this issue, including increasing the size by 25% to 40 pages, with new "how-to" elements, and filling the issue with more rare goodies and eclectic ephemera than ever. You can pre-order your copy (and get a glimpse at our cover!) at http://www.ArtellaWordsAndArt.com/ZineIssues.html. Or save $20.35 over the price of single issues by subscribing for 6 issues at http://www.ArtellaWordsandArt.com/subscribe.html. What could be a better gift for your artsy friends than a gift subscription to Artella? Let us take care of it! And lastly, if a subscription is on YOUR wish list, follow the instructions on the subscribe page, and we'll send someone a "little hint" that an Artella subscription is at the top of your list!
- Poetic Idol Competition! Our next deadline for the Poetic Idol Competition, which awards prize packages to top winners, including up to $150 cash, is December 30. Get all the details on how to enter on the Passion Poetry Portal!
- Attention all Mystery Muses! There are only 9 more days left to send your Mystery Muse gift offering to your "Muse-ee"! Have a message for your Muse or Muse-ee, or want to share your thoughts about the exchange? Go to our Mystery Musings page to leave your thoughts!
- Thanks to all who did the Snowy Scavenger Hunt! The Snowy Scavenger Hunt closed last night -- and it was GREAT fun! I'm thrilled to announce that Shannon Warnick is the winner of the "Grand Blizzard Prize"! Now, don't forget to listen and enjoy the 40 Artella Holiday Entertainment Rest Stops sprinkled throughout the Artella site! They all start at Rest Stop #1…and you'll find them everywhere you look!
|
With this season being one in which it makes so much sense to count blessings, I can't tell you how grateful I am for each and every person who is part of the Artella community. There are lots of "nooks and crannies" in ArtellaLand where you can find a home – and no matter how you've chosen to be involved, I'm just so glad that you are here.
On behalf of all of us at Artella – myself, Zura, Deb, Bobby, Chantal, Pattie, Kim, Fred and the whole "bjb" technical team – we send you holiday blessings to fill special places deep within.
Merry Everything!
~Marney
Artella Founder/Editor
Keep It Coming!To ensure delivery of this newsletter, take a minute now and create a contact in your email address book for Articulation@ArtellaWordsAndArt.com.
If you don't, your Internet Service Provider(ISP) may block delivery.
|
