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...

P is for Pollyanna  Yes - today the Christmas celebrity is that beloved happy girl from Eleanor H Porter's classic children's book. Now I know you are all wondering if there were any Pollyanna Christmas stories?   No there weren't any specific Christmas stories, but I just want to remind you of the reason for Pollyanna's being was making others happy and seeing the good in everything. In the original stories and all the sequels, Pollyanna was renowned for her optimistic  "Glad Game" where you were challenged to find the positive in any situation.  I remember that I admired Pollyanna for being "glad" about whatever gift she was given. When she received crutches in a gift exchange, instead of a doll, and she learnt that she should be glad about the gift, because she did not need them! I also remember that  although I thought Pollyanna was very virtuous, I hoped desperately that I was never given crutches when I didn't need them!   Now to the ...

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!

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...

Nothing inhibits creativity like a house makeover . Here are photos of the main room of our house and the timber which will hopefully be the floor in a couple of weeks’ time. We have decided to pull up the carpet in all the main areas of the house – living room, dining room and office, and “match” the already beautiful timber floor of our open kitchen/family room.. The furniture is all stacked in the garage . I am in a little bt of a panic as we have already had one delay in the timber delivery and we need to have the house back in order by the time my mother comes to visit for a few weeks on 14 July. However, with a little bit of help from the grandchildren...who knows? Not to be deterred, I am reminded that ‘to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted. ( George Kneller) “, so I am trying not to worry too much about the floor and visualise the new spotted gum timber floor it will be. This week I am preparing a little sample for my frien...

I am currently in the process of restocking the shop to celebrate my ETSY BIRTHDAY on 20 March . Hopefully, I will finish creating some special little items over the weekend while I am at the Rotary conference. I am also celebrating with great giveaways and bonuses , for example ... the BIRTHDAY BONUS for the birthday month, March 2009 - With all ETSY purchases this month, I will include one of my handmade birthday cards (blank - no greeting inside) To further celebrate a year of ETSY, I have 5 BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAYS - Be in it to win! It's simple ... Just click to the etsy shop site http://www.empresswu.etsy.com/ . I am going to choose five dates randomly from 20 March 2008 to 30 March 2009 and if you "hearted" my shop on the chosen dates, you will receive a wonderful surprise handmade item as a gift. So... if you have not yet "hearted" this shop , go to the section on the ETSY shop site "favorites" on the right and add me to your favorites before 30 M...