An IMPORTANT note to all who blog!!!

BACK UP YOUR DATA! Save it somewhere. My main blog was "deactivated" *while* i was posting this morning because WordPress has decided arbitrarily that i was "violating terms of service".

I have done NOTHING to violate any WordPress terms of service. I am not a spammer, crap poster, seller of  ----, a privacy exploiter, hacker or a stealer of images and content. If they can’t fix it, i have lost EVERYTHING on that site: i cannot access anything, it says it is gone, i do not get to post on the WP support forums, i do not get to pass go and collect 200 dollars. It's most likely i was hacked, or WordPress was hacked, but until it's cleared up, all of my content from almost 9 years has disappeared, and unless they agree i did nothing wrong, i will never get it back.

WordPress, Blogger and several other blogging platforms are also deactivating sites they feel are inactive, questionable or are reported (rightly or wrongly) as spam. You may or may not get a warning, but be aware.

With today's prevalence of hacking and image scraping, it's important that you protect any content, written and image. You can export it, save it to disc, print out hard copy, Google Drive, make it a PDF. And watermark your photos and publicize any copyright issues, or other issues you feel are important.

Do it today.

Slim Pickin's....

I think the delayed arrival of spring has affected a lot of us in many ways :) Not too much going on anywhere! That being said, grab a cup of your preferred beverage, and slip into something comfortable for some good reading and viewing.

Take a look at Anni Hunt's new endeavour - instructional videos on Anni Hunt TV. Check out her blog too, while you're at it - she has declared that she will be dealing with the issue of focusing in your work (or not) every Friday. (Anni is a BC SDA member.)

If you are into indigo have a look at this, including 'older posts' - lots of great indigo/shibori images.  ("Common Threads", local to BC)

An intriguing website dealing with all aspects of textile/fibre art. (Talking Textiles)

I love this emagazine and it's free. Artizen. Simply sign up for the emailed version and peruse at your own convenience. Each issue is themed monthly and covers a wide variety of professional artists in many media.  There is Art Trader too (also free), which may be closing soon, but back issues are still online.

Karen King of Aubusson House is having a giant yarn sale!! Think outside the box if you're not a "needle worker". Yarns can be building blocks for so many techniques and projects.

And a recent "discovery" by Karin Millson in her own words:

  A wonderful art-materials-for -free location. One can go over to The Calgary Herald building, 215 - 16th Street S.E. , Calgary, Alberta T2E 7P5 and park in the bay (not blocking the gate of course) close to the signage for "Shipping and Receiving", and follow the clear signage to Roll Ends. My advice is to take with you a donation (they don't give change, I gave $5,) and the nice lady will accept your money and take you to a stack of end of rolls.She suggested I pick up 4 rolls for my donation (I only needed 2).

These are useful for rough design, paper patters, wrapping your works for shipping etc etc...

Easy and painless... One need never buy this sort of paper again from art material shops.

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REMINDER: the 3rd Alberta SDA meeting will take place Thursday April 25th at Atlantis Fine Framing and Art, with guest speaker Lisa Grey. RSVP to Karin or myself, and bring a friend. Non members are welcome but will be asked for a small donation. Nibblies are encouraged but not an obligation. Coffee, tea and small snacks are always served for those who have rushed from busy lives to attend :)


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Again, we plead for content! If you have work to share, news about exhibits--yours or other artists, publications or interesting sites. Please share with us and for the blog.

shipping window for member 12x12 show clarification

As some of you may have noticed, on the pdf guidelines for the member show, it states that Work must be shipped to arrive no earlier than May 13, 2013 and not later than May 17, 2013 in order to be included in the exhibition.

I have contacted the show organizer, asking how such a narrow window could guarantee that anyone sending internationally--and that includes Canada--- could possibly ensure even with tracking and special post, that the package get there not before and not after, risking rejection and a rather pricey tour with no guaranteed end game.

I am glad to report that our entries can be mailed the week before the "beginning date" and as long as they get there before the end date of May 17th, they WILL be accepted and stored until the show is mounted.

IF you have already entered online, you will hopefully have received a missive stating this:

Although the shipping instructions specify that work must arrive at the gallery between May 13 and May 17, we have made special arrangements for you because you are shipping internationally. We know that it’s difficult to predict how long the work might be in transit. The gallery has agreed to accept and store your work if it arrives early.

Allison has also said;

And by the way, given the nature of this show, I’m not prepared to reject a piece that arrives a couple of days late, especially if there’s bad weather.

I just wanted this clarified for those who have read the pdf guidelines and cringed at the thought that their work may not get there on time. Now that we have these facts, please do use the CaFe entry system to log in your pieces, with all the info required, and get set to mail!

 

Charity event and Shauna McCabe

For your immediate attention, if you are in the Lethbridge area.  This will be a very worthwhile event to attend.

As I am not involved in the university of Lethbridge and only heard about this today myself, please contact them directly to find out about attendance.

http://www.uleth.ca/finearts/departments/art/events/2013/04/shauna-mccabe-will-speak-art-now-1200-noon-recital-hall-april-8

 University of Lethbridge | 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4 | Phone: (403) 329 2111
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And if you are in the Calgary area please think about taking part in the Ujamaa Grandmas Fabric & Yarn Sale.

If you haven't heard of this event before  - I put it in my own words, help raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, by donating your unwanted fabric, yarn or notions, tools etc which will then be sold to raise the funds for charitable donation.  

Items should be dropped off at Woodcliff United Church wed April 17th and Thursday April 18th , 10am - 8pm (No friday drop off)

Sale itself is Saturday April 20th 9:30 - 3pm

For full details go to the website:-

www.ujamaagrandmas.com
and
http://www.ujamaagrandmas.com/resources/Fabric-sale/2013-fabric-purse.pdf

2013 MAIWA Symposium news!!!!!!!!!!

Sit near your phone for awhile so you can get into one of these workshops!!!! They fill extremely fast!

MAIWA