Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Set 1 - Seasons   Set 2 -  In Harmony A s a gift to the many people who followed the 29 Faces series last month, here is a thank you giveaway. You can win either Art Tag Set 1 -  "Seasons"  or  Art Tag Set 2 - "In Harmony.", as pictured. Each set comprises 4 small art tags  which have a bakers twine tie and and are blank on the back for your own message. The tags measure 10cm x 5cm (4in x 2in) and are suitable for gift tags, or for you to use in your own art journals or collages.    The two winners will be chosen at random at  12 noon, Tuesday 14 March ( Australian Eastern Summer Time) .. All you need to do is to leave a comment in the section below - with your name.  I am not asking you to provide your contact details  at this stage to ensure your privacy and safety.  However, the winners will be notified only via a reply to your comment,in a blog post and on  my Facebook page  by 1 pm on 14 March. Y...

As promised, to celebrate and thank you for over 500 likes on the Empress Wu Designs Facebook Page  , here is a giveaway of some of my art - three giveaways, in fact. I have chosen three sets of art gift tags as prizes because they are easily posted worldwide... These tags make great small gifts themselves or as an accompaniment to a gift, or you can even use them as bookmarks. All you need to do  to win a set is leave a comment here or on the Facebook page (or both) and next week on Monday, 6 October, 5pm Australian Eastern Summer Time, I will randomly choose three winners. The first person will have first choice (one of three sets of tags) ; the second person will have a choice of the remaining two sets, and I am afraid the third person will have whatever set has not been chosen before. Here they are:  Art Tags Set A - Marie Antoinette series  (mixed media tags) Marie Antoinette series - 1 Beehive tag( line drawing on tea bag paper, digital image wit...

It was my birthday last week, so join in the celebrations, leave a comment  and  be automatically included in the draw to win this giveaway. The gift is a plaited wool scarf  and a pair of earrings. The scarf is handmade.  I bought the earrings to support a charity, so am very happy to include them in the gift  as a charity has also enjoyed some benefit.  ,   I will randomly choose a winner on Wednesday 7 August,  5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time. This is not a condition of entering this giveaway ,  but I would really appreciate it if you visited and  liked my Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/Empress.Wu.Designs  ; or followed me on Pinterest   http://pinterest.com/empresswu/ or  occasionally visited my photostream on  Flickr    http://www.flickr.com/photos/empresswu/ Good luck!

Giveaway Gifts T his week is blog giveaway time! Last week I celebrated my birthday.  I’ve had far too many to count the candles, but I had a wonderful party on the weekend with my family - with an indulgent birthday cake, favourite foods cooked by my husband and great company. ( In case you were wondering about the writing on the cake , Por Por = Chinese grandmother)     I also got great gifts from  my family and friends. There seemed to be a bit of a theme this year – with many of my gifts and cards depicting matryshoka ( babushka) dolls and tea drinking.   As it is also winter here in Australia ,   it was easy for me to  decide what I could offer as gifts  in this birthday giveaway. All the gifts are handmade by me. Gift 1 - two little fabric matryshoka dolls  Gift 2- a little bag made from colourful teapot and teacup fabric . The design is called a jester bag, but it is suitable for carrying s...

A bilum is a string bag made by hand in Papua New Guinea, using a string looping technique. Traditionally, the string used was hand-made, from plant material – the bark of a plant called “lepa”. Now, however, most bilums are made from store bought brightly coloured yarn and many contemporary patterns have become popular, even those generated by computer. Bilums are used to carry a wide range of items, from shopping goods in large bilums to personal items in purse-sized varieties. Mothers often carry their babies in bilums, and the bilum is said to be “womb-like” and associated with security and reassurance for a baby. In the past, bilums were used to carry food home after gardening or hunting. Bilums were also used to decorate an area where a dead person would be laid for viewing. Another really important and significant use of bilums was as contributions to the payment of the bride price. Bilums remain as a prized gift to exchange with friends or visitors. As I have recently retu...