Giveaway!

1. state and randolph, 2. the yellow wall, 3. by the tracks, 4. green lawn chair, 5. independence day, 6. red stripes, 7. mercury, 8. krispy kreme doughnuts, 9. kew beach gull, 10. motel 9

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. For me, one of my biggest weaknesses is a shyness about self-promotion. It's just not something that falls within my comfort zone. But I'm brushing aside that awkwardness because I'm really proud of some recent attention I've received and want to share it with all of you. Even better, freebies are involved!

Here's the scoop. Last month, a Canadian design blog I greatly admire, Poppytalk, held their annual Summer Colours Week. I submitted some photographs for consideration, without holding out much hope that any would be picked. So when one of my photos was picked for Yellow Day, I was absolutely tickled. I even blogged about it. But then, the next day, Green Day, saw another one of my photos picked! I was too embarrassed to blog about it again (despite the urging of some friends who told me to do so), so I didn't. The following day, Red and White Day, saw two of my photos chosen, then two were chosen for Blue Day, then finally, two were chosen for Red White and Blue Day. At this point I was totally overwhelmed. It was a Sally Field moment ("....I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me").

Meanwhile, it had also come to my attention that the United States Mission in Geneva was holding a photographic competition based on the theme, "American Streetscapes". If there's one thing I have photographed frequently, it's the streets of America! The winning photographs would be featured on the Mission's Independence Day poster. I submitted photographs late in the competition, with no illusions whatsoever that I would be chosen. And while none of my photos were chosen to be showcased on the poster, two of my photos were selected to be showcased at the Mission itself. Gobsmacked, I tell you ... I was gobsmacked. (Those two photos are "state and randolph" and "by the tracks"; if you look at those images on Flickr, you will see the comment left by the Mission.)

While the links to all these photographs on Flickr are above, these images are also available for purchase in my online store; have a peek HERE to see my Recently Added gallery where all 10 images can be found. The only one that's been altered is the photograph of the American flag; instead of turning it into a "Happy 4th of July" card, I have created it as a "Welcome Home" card especially suitable to give to returning military personnel. (I haven't forgotten my fellow Canadians; in my online shop you will find an identical card featuring the Maple Leaf instead of Old Glory!)

Now for the good part! Please leave me a comment here telling me which one of these 10 images is your favourite, and I will mail you that image on a greeting card! It's my little way of expressing my thanks to all of you for continuing to support my creative efforts. I need to be able to reach you to get your mailing address, so please leave your email information in your comment (if you don't want to put your contact email in your comment, you can email me privately at alphabetsoupstudioATyahooDOTca with your mailing address). I hope you find one you really like!

Autumn Colour Week: red

Autumn Colour Week has now come to a close; I'd like to offer a big THANK YOU to Poppytalk for the inspiration! Today is red day and after perusing oodles of photographs, I went with a picture of some very colourful tea towels I captured last October in Mickey's Pantry, a wonderful kitchen-supply store at Downtown Disney at DisneyWorld. I now wish I'd bought those towels instead of just taking their picture; they're so cheery!

Autumn Colour Week: brown

Poppytalk's Autumn Colour Week is drawing to a close; today is brown day, tomorrow, red. I have tried to be very faithful to the theme, choosing not only photographs that feature the specified colour-of-the-day but also using photographs taken only in September, October or November. Monday's yellow sunflowers were photographed last September; Tuesday's spiderweb with green trees as well as yesterday's orange pumpkin were both photographed in September of this year. Today's brown table and chairs were photographed last September as well. Hmmmm. It seems October and November -- the two true autumn months -- have yet to be represented. I shall try to correct that tomorrow.

These brown chairs caught my eye when we visited Port Dalhousie last September, on a visit to Anna Olson's bakery, located in a small indoor shopping area across the road from this street-side seating. The captain had family visiting from the Yukon who were delighted to tour the Niagara-on-the-Lake area and didn't want to miss this Food Network star's bakery and store. I haven't been back to the area since and this photograph now has me thinking that, since it's harvest time, a return visit is in order. I think a wee road trip is in my future!

Autumn Colour Week: orange

Look....no photograph here! That's because I'm going to direct you to a few of my older posts where, I think (I hope....), you'll enjoy the orange colours you'll find. Orange, because today is "orange day" for Poppytalk's Autumn Colour Week and I thought it was a fine opportunity to share some previous work.

First, a post from just a few days ago: my orange pumpkin calendar page (for October 2009).

Next, let's go back to April. My very first Talisman Tree.

After that, please have a look at my second Talisman Tree, when I caught the talisman tree fever.

And now, to May, and Talisman Tree No. 9.

Finally, to June, and Talisman Tree No. 11. Not much orange there, but a small splash.

If you'd like to see all 11 Talisman Trees, please have a look in the "labels" index in the right sidebar (you'll need to scroll waaaay down) where you'll see "talisman tree". And, yes, there will be a Talisman Tree No. 12.

Autumn Colour Week: green

Yesterday's colour for Poppytalk's Autumn Colour Week was yellow, today it's green. Above is a spiderweb I photographed earlier this month, just outside my front door. The green bokeh of the trees is perfect for today's theme!

Autumn colour week: yellow

I am playing along with Poppytalk's "Autumn Colour Week"; why don't you join too? Today's colour is yellow; I chose sunflowers as my contribution. You can find all the details here, on Poppytalk. This blog is new to me and I'm delighted to find such a great site...Canadian too!