Gifts

 Hi Everyone,

Pam Carriker here with December's Theme: Gifts. While the season can sometimes seem to focus on gift giving to the point of making us crazy as we run around trying to find the perfect gift for those we love, the true 'gifts' are much simpler and embracing them can calm our holiday weary souls.

 Taking a few moments each day to sketch with simple tools not only helps me to unwind, it helps me to continue to grow as an artist. It's easy to lose a sense of creating just for the simple joy of it, when our busy lives keep us hopping from one thing to the next. Daily sketching is a 'gift' I give myself.

 With hope for the future, not mine, but in a larger sense my families, and the worlds, sketching helps me to release the daily struggles, both personal and those of others. There is much that is uncertain in the world and it's often disheartening to see it day after day on the news. Sketching helps center me a bit.

Love is a gift we are blessed with when we receive it, but also a gift we carry in our hearts that is easily bestowed on others. By sharing our love for art and what it means to us, we can all touch other peoples lives in a continual way.

Live your best life! Don't put things off for 'some day'. Live it now, fearlessly. I often ask myself, WWFD? What would Frida Do? She wouldn't sit there making excuses of why she couldn't create, she'd just do it!

As the sketchbooks stack up in my studio,

they leave me with a sense of peace,

accomplishment,

and evidence that I was here, I drew, I followed my passion. It's my gift to myself.

The theme for December 2012 is:

GIFTS

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Special Prize Giveaway Announcements for December 2012:

Prize package from Blue Twig Studio: 

one lucky winner will receive a 4 pack of Pitt journaling artist pens!

Prize package giveaway from Gelli Arts:

One lucky winner will receive an 8"x10" Gelli Art plate!

Prize Package from Meinke Toy:

one lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Meinke Toy!

How to be eligible for prize drawings: 
In order to be eligible for one of the December 2012 prize packages you must post at least one photo of a sketchbook page related to theDecember  2012 theme to the Sketchbook Challenge Flickr group and you MUST tag one of your photos with the code "dec478".  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING TAGGING YOUR PHOTOS WITH THE PRIZE CODES:  PLEASE DO NOT TAG MORE THAN ONE PHOTO WITH THE PRIZE TAG - IT DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING AND IT MAKES IT HARDER AND MORE TEDIOUS TO GENERATE THE WINNING LIST EACH MONTH - THANK YOU!
  

  Post as many photos as you like but only put the special tag on one of them.

Information on how to upload photos to flickr can be found here.

Winners will be chosen by random draw on the last day of December and announced here on the Sketchbook Challenge blog.