1.05.2012

Birthday Giveaway!

Hi all,
here I am again.  The holidays were a whirlwind of one Beehive Bazaar, where I spent one of the more glorious hours of my life swapping goods with other vendors (Why can't I buy everything in life with paintings?); six boy cousins around Remy's age all in the same living room at several points in Utah; five more cousins romping in the same room in Portland; one perfect lunch at Sundance with my parents; one round of Christmas carols around the piano;  many a cup of eggnog; three plane rides; one train ride; one Denny's breakfast; very good and several nights with both families; one road trip to Santa Barbara; one round of sparklers on the beach; one hike through a butterfly preserve; one new pair of shoes from Carl; two gifts opened well before Christmas; two immature people (me and Carl) who insisted on opening (not even opening, we hadn't wrapped them yet) these gifts without a stitch of fanfare or even a soul around except my sister Sage who seemed a little confused by our behavior; one bout of the flu for me; heaps of joy; four rainy days in Portland; three people happy to be back in their own little home.

I kept a list of things on my phone that I want to blog about, but not now.  Today is a special day.  Today is the eve-eve of my birthday.  I unabashedly love my birthday and have no problem asking groups of people to sing to me or letting people know how much I love my day.  I love celebrating and have been known to throw myself a party or two.  That being said, I want to celebrate on this here blog as well.  This requires a giveaway, because the last one was seriously a lot of fun.  I've had to temper myself from doing one every other day (It's a good thing that Carl is my business agent and accountant and not me, I give things away willy-nilly and tend to have little concept of how one goes about making a large profit).

 Drumroll....

Birthday giveaway rules:

1. We all know a kid right?  Some sort of young creature with a fresh mind.  Go to them and ask them a few questions, talk to them about their stories, things they find hilarious, pictures floating about in their delicious little minds.  Get around to asking them what they would like to have painted. If you absolutely can't talk to a kid, talk to someone!  An old person,  a funny person, a stranger.  Be sincere though,  snarkiness will not get you a win here.

2.  Write the response in the comment box.  You may enter twice if you spread the word in some way.  You may enter more times if you talk to more than one kiddo.

3.  You have until one week from now to go about this task.  I hope it will be an enjoyable one.

4.  Next Thursday, already five days into my 28th year of wisdom, I will use the random-number-drawer to select the winner.

5.  I will then draw and paint whatever is depicted in the winning comment and it will be sent directly to the clever child who supplied the idea.  I will send an extra for you too.

Doesn't this sound fun?  I'm pretty excited about it.

Also, in other news to celebrate, I have a new etsy site.  The old one is still up and running, but this new site ashmaetemples.etsy.com sells temple prints exclusively, and the best part? 40% of sales goes directly to the LDS Temple Patron Fund.  This is a fund set up by the LDS church that provides financial assistance to those seeking to go to the temple, but haven't the monetary means to do so.  Think, you could have a temple in your home AND be helping to send people on their way to be a part of the wonderful blessings of the temple.  Double win, I think.








And lastly, who doesn't want a photo of Remy?  Happy Birthday eve-eve!

15 comments:

Shelly said...

Happy Happy Birthday, Ashley! I hope it's one FULL of happiness! I can't wait to complete this assignment:)
I love you!

Geo said...

You are so infinitely lovable. Plus, sparklers on the beach! That sends me back to my happiest early memory. I love this idea for a giveaway, partly because I am nearly always thinking of some way to coax out and capture people stories, and so I hope to participate. Just yesterday I was telling Rob my master plan to have an ashmae temple wall... yes, I have a dream! Not that I have a wall(et) this big, but it would be fabulous to start with our temple (SLC), add in our nears & dears (including our own backyard tabernacle, which is a temple-to-be), then frame up more as we visit them. Oh! That's better by far than pins stuck into a map. xo

Geo said...

P.S. Happy happy birthday. The arrival of ashmae... a blessing to us all! : )

lindsay ross said...

This is honestly the best giveaway!! I asked Oliver what he would have you paint if we win and he said " hmmmm. A paintbrush and a paint Hat." then he said " maybe a robot playing a guitar." oh I hope we win!!!

Krysta said...

Happy BIrthday!! I am so glad your break went well! I am sad we missed you! I talked to Karen and she said, "Well she should paint a picture of her and her son.' and I said oh she already did then I told her about some of your other painting and she jumped in with "BIKES, BIKES she she paint BIKES!" I can't wait to ask some other childrens!

Heather said...

Well, cole actually initiated the conversation this morning. Here's how it went. (this really happened and this is really how he talked).
C- mom, let's go sit on the couch and talk.
Me- ok, what do you want to talk about?
C- mom, tell me more about airplanes
Me- well, they're big, and they fly in the air, and have big wings....( then demonstrated with my hand and with sound effects taking off)
C- but it won't spin around, right?
Me- no, not the one that we're going on.
C- ok, good.....mom, how do the Blue Angels spin around?
Me- well, they have special pilots that take classes and learn.....blah blah blah.
C- mom, tell me more about airplanes!
Me- blah blah blah.......
Me- so...cole, if Ashley was to paint a picture for you, what would you like a picture of?
C- umm, uhh, a motorcycle.
Me- are you sure??
C- no, a Blue Anglel. Yes. A Blue Angel.

Deja said...

Happy birthday!! I shall find a child to ask. In the meantime, I have to say that when you mentioned a new etsy shop, I thought/hoped maybe you were selling those owl hats?! Love it! (veryvery beautiful idea about the temple paintings though. Better than owl hats, ultimately.

Amber said...

The 8 year old says "a purple mermaid" not surprising since she is love with mermaids!!

Amber said...

Also... could you please do the Chicago temple?! Oh, and Happy Birthday Eve! And my 6 year old says "A motorcycle, definitely she should paint a motorcycle."

Anonymous said...

My friend's daughter spent the weekend and said a couch full of cats. That's my reality!

Anonymous said...

I tweeted @Lealee33

Little Lisa said...

My sweet little Primary student, Emma H., said she loves running horses. A running horse that is chocolate brown with a black flowing mane and black flowing tail, with a white streak down its forehead.

Great giveaway, Ashley. Kids are so special.

Molli said...

Ainsley's answers, in order, were: me, a rainbow, a princess, a castle.

Kristen Miner said...

How did I miss this giveaway earlier? Thanks for the reminder post on Facebook. After speaking with my 3.5 old, his wish would be a race car and one that is really fast! Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

Megan said...

I love this idea!! I love your artwork and I love the concept of capturing a child's imagination!

My son can't really talk yet. But the two things he always asks for is cheese, kittens, and cars. So I'm sure if he could talk it would be something along those lines :)