Christmas prize draw

I can't quite call this a freebie draw because it's only open to those who have made a purchase from my zazzle store.

What's up for grabs?

Win a mounted, signed fine art print, your choice of print. They sell for around £75 ($125) in the galleries where I have work. Imagine it, you buy something from my shop as a Christmas present for someone else and you could win the print of your choice for yourself!

As usual, there will be three winners (if enough folks enter) selected from The Hat of Wonder And Hope.

Rules

[Update] Ends 14th December

• Buy something from my zazzle shop (see panel below)
• Make a post about it on your own blog
• In your post, link to my shop using http:zazzle.co.ukhightonridley* as the destination url (note the asterisk on the end)
  
• Comment on this post to let me know you're in and what you bought. Or if you prefer, email me at highton dot ridley (at) gmail.com to tell me instead.
  

Just think, with three prizes an' all, if I only make a few sales, you're almost bound to win!

There's funny, romantic and inspirational cards and wares available here:

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Doh!

I had a Doh! moment when I sent out my occasional mailing earlier. I mentioned that you, my great followers, with all your interaction, have helped me to become a Gooogle-recommended example site -- yay! \o/

And I forgot to give a link to it! So without further ado, here it is, Google's page of example sites that are using Friend Connect effectively.

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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Winners of my October freebie prize draw

[Update: Doh! forgot to change the title from September to October. Done now.]
Did you win? Read on...

Hat of Wonder and Hope

So, who won the three prizes? You'll have to click the image and see!

If your name was one of the three out of the hat, now's the time to claim your prize. Just email me highton.ridley [@] gmail.com and confirm which piccy you'd like to get as a signed mounted print. Don't forget to include the full postal address where you'd like it delivered.

To the unlucky folk—better luck next time!

Watch out for the announcement of the October November [double Doh!] freebie prize draw.

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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Making the draw and other bits 'n bobs

So, a big day today—the day you've all been waiting for...

October giveaway...

So a little later I'll be drawing the winner from the Hat Of Wonder And Hope. Come back this evening (uk time) to see if you won. Good luck to all who took part!

Gadgets...

I also spent a little time this morning maintaining my blog, updating the template. Nothing huge—I added the top 10 Member Visits gadget, replacing the Member Links gadget. The links one had to go, as it didn't respect the blocked members and allowed anyone to leave spam links.

On a similar note, I had to block one member who was a bit zealous (i.e. spam-and-run) in leaving proselytising statements about his brand of Christianity. I don't have a problem with the various forms of religion, it's just forcing them down folks' throats that I find off-putting.

Similarly I've blocked another couple of followers with no interest in my blog but who were just spam-following (i.e. hoping folks will click their heads and then click the link to their dubious / mucky / commercial sites).

A social week...

I've had good friends staying as house guests this week while they were visiting their eldest son who has just started at Plymouth University.

Their young daughter had great fun seeing and playing with him again. Of course she misses him a lot, even though she skypes him almost every night from back home.

On Friday they all went to the circus in Ivybridge and had a great time and on Saturday we went to Mansour's for them all to try their hands at throwing pots. Everyone got messy with clay and had huge amounts of fun.

The rest of Saturday was spent getting my house back in order after their visit. It's a real joy to have the house filled with gurgling laughter and the to-ing and fro-ing of growing kids, relived as you go around tidying up after they've left.

..And now I can get back to catching up on all your blogs, which will be nice!


comments / feedback always welcome :)

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A reminder about my October freebie prize draw

...just a prod, as I know some of you have said you want in but haven't yet said you've done it..

Entering the draw / letting me know...

Rather than repeat things here and risk confusing everyone (me especially!) you can see the rules—and also let me know you're taking part—by looking at the post October freebie prize draw now open! and leaving me a comment. Don't worry, it's all explained there.

I've placed a link to it over there in the right hand column to make it easy for you to find in future.

There are six entrants so far and with three prizes, heck, you're almost bound to win!

These aren't cheap and cheerful prizes, they're all quality fine art prints on fantastic paper and professional, archival mounts—as other prize winners have already said—deep blacks, rich tones and bright, whites.

If you previous winners want to leave a comment here to confirm the quality of the prints you've received, that would be real helpful :)

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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October freebie prize draw now open!

Make sure you read these—they're slightly different to September's (only slightly, though).

Three signed, mounted prints up for grabs

Previous winners will tell you just how high quality these mounted prints are. I use heavy photo rag paper, specialised black and white inks and a professional printer, profiled specifically to black and white printing.

And that all shows in the final print, with deep, rich blacks and gorgeous tonal representation, on a textured surface that subtly enriches the contrast. (The archival-standard materials I use ensure a lifetime of 150years plus). Finally, I write the name and sign the margin of each print in pencil, same on the mount... all this taken together lets you know it's a work of art when you stand in front of it.

Winning is as easy as...

The freebie prize draw is open to all blog or site owners who are followers of this blog and also my friend. There will be another three winners this month (assuming I get at least three participants!)

• to let me know you want in, you'll need to leave a comment on this announcement post
  
• make a post on your own blog announcing my draw and encouraging your visitors to enter. Your post is to link both to my main site (http://www.highton-ridley.co.uk) and also to this announcement
  (url is http://www.highton-ridley.co.uk/blog/2009/10/october-freebie-prize-draw-now-open.html)
  
• visit the galleries on my main site and find which image you'd like if you win
• click the "Recommend it" button you'll find under the image (on the image page, not the thumbnails page). If you've already done that previously, you won't be able to do it to the same image again. So instead, fill in the review gadget on the same page. And if you've done that before (thanks!), instead choose another to recommend. Don't worry, if you win, you'll get the chance to confirm which one you want then.
• finally—and this you don't have to do—spread the word about my work; share, digg, tweet, stumbleit!

By recommending in this way you'll be helping other followers and visitors. That's because the most recommended ones then bubble up to the top of the Your Top Choices gadget (see the right hand column).

Good Luck for October!


comments / critique / feedback always welcome :)

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Winners of my September freebie prize draw

Did you win? Read on...

Hat of Wonder and Hope

So, who won the three prizes? You'll have to click the image and see!

The first two, Melania and Valerie007 have now been in touch. And imac , the other winner, is now back from his hols and has been in touch. Well done to the winners! Commiserations to the rest!

If your name was one of the three out of the hat and you haven't yet been in touch, now's the time to claim your prize. Just email me highton.ridley [@] gmail.com and confirm which piccy you'd like to get as a signed mounted print. Don't forget to include the full postal address where you'd like it delivered.

To the unlucky folk—better luck next time!

Watch out for the announcement of the October freebie prize draw. Probably tomorrow or Saturday.

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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Busy, busy, busy...

The madness continues, it seems there's not been a breathing space for ages. I've managed to visit and comment against a few of the blogs I follow but I've not been able to be as active doing that as I'd have liked.

Product photography

I've been spending quite a bit of time learning how to do product photography in the last two weeks—I'm helping a friend with turning his blog into a way to sell his work, and getting decent product shots was the first step.

It's been an interesting journey and a steep learning curve. What I've learned is that, with my level of knowledge (low!), not having the right kit makes it a bit of a trial and error process. And even once it works, making it repeatable I found to be no mean feat.

Because of my poor control over lighting / lack of experience to get it right in-camera, I shot in RAW throughout. That meant I could change the exposure and white balance in the digital darkroom and 'rescue' what otherwise could have ended up in that bit-bucket in the sky.

All the shots are now taken and we're working on the blog template. Once it's ready, I'll put a post together with links to it.

Duchy Square Gallery

I drove to the gallery in Princetown (map) for a meeting with the lovely Philippa on Monday. Great result, she took 4 prints for immediate display and ordered a pony triptych, ready for the exhibition starting in November.

September draw update

There are 9 successful entries so far. If  you're not one of them and you want in, please see the rules. Closing date is midnight, 30th September, UK time. The successful entrants so far are:

• TheEnvoy is in: (Routes Into The Sky, Like a Phoenix)
• dbg: is in... (Encroaching Rubble)
  
• f8hasit: is in... (Winter Seafront Stroll, Mindful Of Storms)
• imac: is in... (Mooring In A Grass Sea)
• Melania: is in... (Churchyard Sentinels)
  
• Valerie007: is in...(Hot Air Balloon Stack)
• MuzaChan: is in... (Fuel Terminal Railway)
• A scattering: is in... (Constable Thatched Cottage)
• Emma in Wonderland: is in... (Welcome To My Parlour)

With three prizes the odds of one of these winning are high... if you like these odds, make sure you enter. But you'd better hurry up!

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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Making progress...

It's been a busy few days... nice busy :)

September draw update

• dbg: is in... (Encroaching Rubble)
  
• f8hasit: is in... (Winter Seafront Stroll, Mindful Of Storms)
• imac: is in... (Mooring In A Grass Sea)
• Melania: is in... (Churchyard Sentinels)
  
• Valerie007: is in...(Hot Air Balloon Stack)
• MuzaChan: is in... (Fuel Terminal Railway)
• A scattering: is in... (Constable Thatched Cottage)
• Emma in Wonderland: is in... (Welcome To My Parlour)
• AlmightyHeidi: Lots of recommendations but couldn't find a post. Do you want in, Heidi?
• Ooglebloops: no post but recommended The Dragon Fights Back and Curve Of The Neck. Do you want in, Ooglebloops?

So that's 8 successful entries—and with three prizes you folks stand a great chance of winning!

If you think your name should be here, see the rules for how to enter.

Pony Triptych

I collected the framed "Grazing by Light" triptych yesterday. It looks absolutely stunning and all credit to Graham at Armada Framing for doing such a great job. Plan for the next few days is to visit some galleries and see if they want it. If they don't, their loss!

Radio interview

The chat with Sparksy at BBC Radio Devon on Tuesday morning went really well—I've had quite a few folks saying that they caught it and how well I came across. Just got to work out how to get on the telly now :)

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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September draw update

Good to see some interest so far - it's a bit heart-stopping for an artist, waiting to see who is interested enough in your work!

If you want in, see the rules here and post a comment to them to let me know. There are three prizes of a signed, mounted print. Right now, with the number of successful entries (1!), if you follow the rules, you're guaranteed to win!

Entries so far

Here's the results of a quick check, just to make sure folks are understanding the rules.

dbg: Post is fine, no recommendation yet (a review but no recommend)

f8hasit: Recommended "Winter Seafront Stroll", no post yet.

Valerie007: Post is fine, Recommended "Hot Air Balloon Stack" -- you're in!

SilviaW: nuffink yet ;)

imac: Post is fine, no recommendation yet (a review but no recommend)

Melania: nuffink yet ;)

So far, only Valerie is up for a prize!



comments / feedback always welcome :)

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September Freebie Prize Draw now open!

I recently said that I was changing the rules for the September draw and posted what I thought was a fair balance. You lot agreed so now the draw is open.

To save you looking at the original post, here's the rules again.

As easy as...

The freebie prize draw is open to all blog or site owners who are followers of this blog and also my friend. There will be three winners each month (assuming I get enough participants).

• to let me know you want in, you'll need to leave a comment on this announcement post
  
• make a post on your own blog announcing my draw and linking both to my main site (http://www.highton-ridley.co.uk) and also to this announcement
  (url is http://www.highton-ridley.co.uk/blog/2009/09/september-freebie-prize-draw-now-open.html)
  
• visit the galleries on my main site and find which image you'd like if you win
• click the "Recommend it" button you'll find under the image (on the image page, not the thumbnails page)
  

By recommending in this way you'll be helping other followers and visitors. That's because the most recommended ones then bubble up to the top of the Your Top Choices gadget (see the right hand column).

Good Luck!

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New rules for September freebie prize draw

As I said in a recent post, I need to rethink the rules for my monthly freebie prize draw, starting for the September draw.

As easy as...

The freebie prize draw is open to all blog owners who are followers of this blog and also my friend. Their will be three winners each month (assuming I get enough participants).

• to let me know you want in, you'll need to leave a comment on the announcement post
  (I'll post the announcement in the next few days)
  
• make a post on your own blog announcing it and linking to my main site (http://www.highton-ridley.co.uk) and to these rules
  
• visit the galleries on my main site and and find which image you'd like if you win
• click the "Recommend it" button you'll find under the image (on the image page, not the thumbnails page)
  

By recommending in this way you'll be helping other visitors. That's because the most recommended ones bubble up to the top of the Your Top Choices gadget (see the right hand column).

What do you think? Is this a reasonable balance to help me get publicity for my blog/site while still rewarding the winners for their efforts?

comments / feedback always welcome :) ...even more so this time!

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August freebie prize draw winners

Whew! I'm glad that's done. The rules for September are gonna have to be easier; it's taken me a full day to collate all the comments, recommends and ratings so that 3 names could be selected at random.

The winners...

Without further ado here they are:

• EarthToHolly of Earth To Holly
  
• JamaGenie of Saturdays Child
  
• Kitty of Into My Own
  

Well done you three! I've sent you all an email telling you how to choose and claim your prize.

comments / feedback always welcome :)

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August freebie prize draw reminder

Just a quick reminder that prize draw day approaches for August.

Hat Of Wonder And Hope

On 1st Sept I'll be counting up all the interactions in August (reviews, blog comments, wall comments, recommend this ticks) by my followers who are also my friends. I'll be putting one copy of their name in the Hat Of Wonder And Hope for each such (genuine) activity.

I see JamaGenie has been very active just recently—I wonder if it's related ;)

Good Luck everyone!



I should say that I'll be changing the rules for September. Google unfortunately doesn't give a way of counting friend activity automatically so I have to trawl through various places to count how many copies of each name goes in the Hat.

With 184 followers who are also friends, I reckon it might take a couple of hours or more this time. So for September's draw, I'm gonna have to come up with new rules that still rewards peeps for their participation.

UPDATE: Any suggestions?


comments / feedback always welcome :)

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July prize draw update

A quickie update

Two out of three aint bad

I've heard back from James and Galina. Their prizes have been printed, signed, mounted, packed, addressed and will be in the post tomorrow. I'm still waiting to hear from Karie-ann.

• James of Something Sighted chose Barbican Steps, and
• Galina of Palitra chose Walking The Dogs.

Great choices folks!

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July Freebie Prize Draw Winners

The draw is complete and I'm just about to get in touch with the winners to ask them to choose their print.

And the winners are...

With suitable drum roll and fanfare, the random selections from my Hat Of Wonder And Hope were

• James of Something Sighted
  
• Karie-Ann of Pet Portraits and Wildlife Art
  
• Galina Nikolova of Palitra
  

Only followers who are also friends were put in the Hat and then I added another copy of their name for each review, post comment, wall comment and rating that they made.

Well done to the winners! Better luck next time to everyone else.

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Prep for July Freebie Prize Draw

I've put all my follower-friends' names in the Hat of Wonder and Hope ready for the draw later today.

I'm now going through my blog and site, counting the number of

• wall comments
• reviews
• recommends
• post comments

by each of my follower friends made during July so I can put an extra copy of their name in the Hat for each one.

Good luck in the draw!

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Freebie prize draw reminder

Just coming up to the July draw date (to be held on Sat 1st Aug) - three of my signed, matted prints up for grabs.

Hat Of Wonder And Hope

Remember, to be in it to win it, you must follow this blog and be a friend. If you've joined I should already have sent you a friend request. If I didn't or you missed it, send me one and I'll accept.

Boost your chances

Once your name's in the Hat, here's ways of getting more copies in— one for each one of:

• Vote up an image with the "Recommend it" button
• Review any image
• Post a comment on my wall
• Comment on a blog entry

You'll find the images in my main site's mono, colour and flora galleries.

NB For the eager - only "proper" comments or reviews will count!

Good Luck everyone :)

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Parcelled and ready for posting

Just finished printing and parcelling the signed, mounted prints for my June freebie prize draw winners. They'll be in the post tomorrow.

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June freebie prize draw winners

Two winners this month and one reward for persistence!

And June's Winners are...

• Dusty Lens of northmetro.blogspot.com
• DidbyGraham of didbygraham.blogspot.com

..and one honorary prize for persistence goes to:

• Imac of imac-photosfromthemindseye.blogspot.com

Congratulations you folks!

To let me know which image you'd like to receive, find your favourite one in the Monochrome gallery on my main web site and email me the code and your delivery address.

I'll then prepare your signed, mounted print and pop it in the post.

You could also help me out by filling in a review on the page saying why you want that one. If you click the recommend it button too, you'll vote it up and other peeps will know which above all others you liked.

And it'd be great for you to write a post on your own blog too... ;)

Thanks in advance :) This sort of interaction is very much appreciated (hint, hint to everyone for the July draw!).

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9 hours to go -- June freebie prize draw

Follower friends and google-connected friends, you've got just 9 hours left (posting was at 15:05 GMT) before the window closes on my June freebie prize draw.

My Hat of Wonder And Hope

Your name goes in if you follow / join and are also my google-connected friend.

More copies of your name go in the hat for each review / rating, recommendation and comment you leave / have left during June.

I suggest you find your favourite images in the galleries on my main web site:

• Monochrome
  
• Flora
  
• Colour
  

..and review or recommend them. That way, if you win, I know which ones you like and can make sure you get one of those as your prize - a mounted, signed print, ready to frame.

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Fathers Day draw prize winners

So here are the names of the lucky winners of my Father's Day freebie prize draw. Each wins a signed, mounted print. Well done folks!

And the winners are...

• Dan Felstead of WoodAndPixels.blogspot.com wins Abstraction Extraction
• Maisy Rocks of MaisyDaisy-MySoCalledLife.blogspot.com wins Teleportation Module
• Danilo of SeeTheWorld-Free.blogspot.com wins An Invitation

Dan and Maisy, you both had lots of copies of your names in the Hat Of Wonder And Hope, so your efforts in commenting etc. were rewarded :) Danilo just got lucky! Congratulations to all three of you, well done!

The rest of you, my google-connected friends, good luck for the end of the month draw—remember, another copy of your name goes in the Hat Of Wonder And Hope when you do any of the following:

• review my work
• vote up an image with the recommend it button
• make general comments on my wall
• comment on my blog posts
  

Lots of ways!

The winners now need to email me with their delivery address to claim their prize: highton.ridley at gmail.com Hurry up and I'll get them in the post asap.

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Preparing for my Fathers Day freebie prize draw

If you've been following my blog you'll have read that I'm holding a draw for Fathers Day, this Sunday in the UK, and there will be three lucky winners.

Prizes have been selected...

I spent this evening hand printing, mounting, signing and bagging the three prize prints. They are:

• Abstraction Extraction
• Teleportation Module
• An Invitation

The three lucky Winners will be drawn from the Hat Of Wonder And Hope on Monday morning. I'll post the names of the winners here right away so they can get in touch with their delivery details.

Winning

A reminder of how to be in with a chance of winning: be a follower of this blog and become my connected friend. That's all there is to it; your name will automatically go in the Hat of Wonder And Hope.

To improve your chance of winning, write a review on one of my photos. Each one will earn you another copy of your name in the Hat.

Other forms of interaction will also influence the number of copies of your name I put in the Hat. Things like voting up a photo with the recommend it button under each, or leaving general comments on the wall or dropping off comments on my blog—will all help :)

Good Luck everyone!

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Fathers Day prize draw

I'm feeling generous.... I'm having a Fathers Day prize draw where three—yes, three!—lucky names out of the Hat Of Wonder And Hope will win one of my signed, mounted prints.

(Fathers Day here in the UK is on the 3rd Sunday in June, this year on the 21st.)

Here's how you can win

To be in with a chance of winning:

• you must be a follower of my blog (or have joined my site)
  
• I have to have accepted a friend request from you, or vice versa
  You can send me one by:
  • finding my head in the members gadget list
  • it's in the rhs column, almost at the top - look for all the heads
  • click mine within the members list itself and chose 'add as friend'

You can improve your chance of winning!

• Go to my galleries (mono, colour, flora) and rate / review any of my work
• For each one that you do, one more copy of your name will go into the Hat Of Wonder And Hope
• ...and when you do, it'll help us both—your head will be next to what you write.
  You do want people to be able to find your blog on my site, yes?
  

What makes a good rating / review

It's ok to have a review that says 'great!' or 'fab!' but it's so much more helpful in connecting with others if you say how what you're reviewing makes you feel, or what you like (or dislike!) about it. Even suggestions for improvement —'Nice! I really like this one but the horizon's a bit squint to my eye'. You get the picture :)

Maybe it reminds you of something nice or not so nice, or maybe you feel a strong connection to it for some reason. If that's the case say so. I admire and welcome honest opinions that help me see what you get from my work, what appeals, what doesn't.

You probably know yourself that feedback is the very air that artists breath, and I'm no different, hehe!

You could also click the 'recommend it' button of the works you like, even if you don't review them. That'll help those most recommended bubble up to the top. So if you do that as well, double thanks :)

The Draw...

I'll make the draw on Fathers Day and let the three winners know right away so they can let their dad's know that they have an extra special gift on the way!

Good luck to all!

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May prize draw posted...

I'm just back from the Post Office—the winner of my May freebie prize draw, Char, should receive her mounted fine art print within the next week.

Well done for winning, Char!
___________________

If you want to win the next one:

• you must be a follower of my blog (or have joined my site)
  
• I have to have accepted a friend request from you (or you to have accepted one from me)
  —send one by finding my head in the members gadget list, click it and chose 'add as friend'

You can improve your chance of winning:

• Go to my galleries (mono, colour, flora) and rate / review any of my work
• For each one that you do, one more copy of your name will go into the Hat Of Wonder And Hope
  

If you do this, it'll help me a lot, especially if your review doesn't just say "Great!" or similar. A sentence or two on how the piece makes you feel or what it reminds you of would be just fantastic!

And, of course, you get Kudos too because your 'head' will be against the review and people then get the link to your blog. Bonus!

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May Freebie Prize Draw Winner

Here are the results of my May freebie prize draw.

And the winner is...

Lucky Char, who writes the Ramblins blog. I'll get in touch to get delivery details and then it's off to the post office :)

Char will receive a signed mounted print of Final Resting Place.

Make sure your name goes in the hat... You have to be a follower of this blog and a friend. If we're not already friends, send me a friend request. I follow my own blog just so you can see my head to do this.

That's all you have to do, but if you want more copies of your name to go in the Hat Of Wonder And Hope, I'll put an extra one in for each rating / review you make of my work on my main site

Good luck for June!

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May Free Prize Draw

This month's prize draw date is approaching - 31st May. Last month's winner, Muza Chan, was delighted with her mounted fine art print of Knot A Rope Knot

How do I get a chance of winning?

All you have to do is be a follower of my blog / member of my website AND we must be mutual friends. Not my friend yet? Send me an invite!

How do I improve my chances of winning?

Get over to my black and white gallery and review and rate some of my work. Every time during this month that you write a considered comment (and give a star rating), one more copy of your name goes in the hat!

It's that simple :)

When is the winner to be announced?

I'll hold the draw after midnight (GMT) on 31st May and get in touch with the winner. As soon as we've made contact, I'll post the winner's name here.

Good Luck!

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April freebie draw

I've been announcing my monthly prize draw on the gfc enlarged view (the canvas as they call it) for a couple of weeks now. Your chance to win one of my signed prints.

I thought it made sense to post about it here, too, so here goes...

Each month, the names of all the members of my site / followers of this blog, who are also my gfc friends get put in a hat. At the end of the month the first name pulled out gets one of my signed mounted fine art prints.

Ok, there's a bit more to it than that ...to encourage you all, reviewing and rating my work will influence how many copies of your name gets put in the hat each time!

So skip over to my galleries now and do your thang. Go on, do it now, I'll start you off in the monochrome gallery

I'll be announcing the winner at the beginning of May - Good Luck!

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