Event & Giveaway: Art Toronto 2013

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It’s that time of year again (and I’m not talking about Tim Horton’s roll-up-the-rim campaign). It’s Art Toronto 2013! This month, art dealers from around the world will bring the best of the best art to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. I’ve been a regular attendee* for a few years now** and I am always impressed with the show. I encourage you to attend, browse, and buy at this impressive show. Let’s take a trip around the art world, shall we?

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Tamotsu Fujii, MA2 Gallery, Japan

Elio-Ciol-3D-Gallary

Elio Ciol, 3D Gallery, Italy

Igal-Pardo-Palindrome

Igal Pardo, Contempop, Israel

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Tae-hoo Park, Nine Gallery, Korea

Liao-Yibai-Mike-Weiss-Gallery

Liao Yibai, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York

El_Futuro_

Caroline Attan, Bicha Gallery, London, UK

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Louise Nevelson, Caviar20, Toronto

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Otino Corsano, PM Gallery, Toronto

The show is from October 25-28th and general admission tickets are $18. More details can be found here.

Giveaway Details:

Want to attend for free? I’m pleased to announce that Art Toronto has generously sent over 2 pairs of tickets that I am happy to giveaway to 2 lucky readers! To enter, leave a comment below telling me why you would like to attend Art Toronto 2013. The contest will close on Thursday October 10th, 2013.

*One day I’m going to be a big spender. One day.

** 2011, 2012

20 Below & Giveaway: Palomino Blackwing Pearl Pencils

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By the time you read this I will be in London, Ontario, presenting my 5 years of PhD work to a conference room of examiners. I’m emotional. I’m nervous, excited, happy, sad, proud, confident, and scared. I’m mostly thrilled. If I am successful then I will change my name to Dr. Jordana. If I am unsuccessful, I will cry. Please send positive vibes my way. A lot of them s’il vous plait!

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It seems quite fitting that on this very important day (keep calm, carry on) I write a post about office supplies. I have used SO many different types of office supplies in my 12 years of post-secondary education. Today I’m sharing some news about pencils. Beautifully functioning white pencils. The best. They are the Palomino Blackwing Pearl pencils. Palomino just introduced this line of pencils and anyone who loves design and the smooth writing style will be sure to pick up packages of these!

BlackwingPearlCroppedPalomino Blackwing Pearl pencils, $19.95 for 12, Palomino

For those of you who love history…”The Blackwing pencil was first manufactured in the 1930s by Eberhard Faber, but was discontinued in 1998 when the machine that created the distinctive square ferrule (the crimped metal that holds the eraser) broke and could not be repaired.” What happened next? Well, Palomino bought the brand, sorted out the ferrule manufacturing, and brought the pencil back! There’s more to learn about the Blackwing legend and about who uses this pencil.

The Palomino Blackwing Pearl can be bought online at Pencils. If you’re in the Toronto area, you can buy Palomino at the following supply stores:

1. Phidon Pens Limited (Cambridge)
2. Laywine’s (Toronto)
3. Midoco Art & Office Supplies (Toronto)
4. The Paper Place (Toronto)
5. Wonder Pens (Toronto)

Did I jump at the chance to test these out? Of course I did! And I’m a fan. They function beautifully and the square ferrule stands out in my collection of classic HB2 pencils!

And now – here’s a chance for you to test them out too…

GIVEAWAY:

Palomino is offering to send one lucky winner a package of the new Palomino Blackwing Pearl pencils. To enter this giveaway, simply finish the following statement: The last thing I wrote by hand was…. Add your sentence to the comment section below. Contest ends on Monday August 26, 2013. This contest is open to readers in North America. Good luck and happy writing!

Thank you to Palomino & Kim S. for offering this giveaway.

Giveaway: Evoke & Imagine

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Artwork these days isn’t just about landscapes and portraits. We are seeing more and more inspirational words and sayings used as artwork in living rooms, offices, and bedrooms around the world.

via Stylizimo

via Made By Girl

via 365 ting jeg liker

Toronto-based Evoke & Imagine offers a good selection of inspiring art prints. They also offer a custom option where you can decide form, colour and quote and they’ll print it for you.

Happiness

Life Goes On

Love Never Gets Lost

Everything Will be Alright

How Far You’ve Come

custom prints

The kind folks at Evoke & Imagine are offering one lucky reader an 11×14″ print of their choosing (including the custom design option). To enter this giveaway leave a comment telling us what your favourite print is. It’s as easy as that! Winner will be chosen at random. Giveaway ends Friday July 6th 12pm (EST).

Books: Blurb + Giveaway

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I have been raving to my friends about Blurb ever since I wrote my first book for my nephew’s second birthday. For that book, I illustrated pictures of fruit, scanned them to my computer, and then uploaded them to a Blurb template. I then wrote the vocabulary to match (in three languages of course – that’s my academic side coming through!), finalized a few details, and pressed publish. In a matter of weeks, my first Blurb book arrived in my mailbox and I spent quite a bit of time showing it off before I handed it over to my nephew.

a preview of my first Blurb book – a multilingual book about fruit

It probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that I have since published a few other books for each of my nephew’s birthdays. I am pleased with how each of them has turned out (and I think my nephews are too) and Blurb has been an easy company to work with.

customizable copyright & dedication pages

sssshh…this one still hasn’t been opened…it’s for Reef’s second birthday next week

here are my nephews reading Duke’s third birthday book about shapes

While I have not made my books available to the public, this is definitely a possibility with Blurb and something to pursue if you have written something that you want to share with others. On the other hand, if you’re at a loss for words but you want to compile photos from your last vacation, then consider Blurb the place to do so. The company offers quite a few design options, page templates, and bounding possibilities.

Want to get started? Well, look no further! Blurb is offering one lucky reader a $35 promo code to use toward a Blurb book. To enter this giveaway simply leave a comment and tell us what type of Blurb book you would like to create. And do it quick – this contest ends on Thursday June 7th, 2012. Winner will be chosen at random.

Note: Contest is open to Canadian residents only.

Photos and books by Jordana.

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