SouleMama Sponsor ~ Golly Bard ~

Today, we bring you a giveaway from SouleMama Sponsor, Golly Bard. In Holly's words:

"Golly Bard  is the nom de plume of artist, Holly Ward Bimba.  Her works on paper include prints and original watercolor paintings for the collector with a penchant for natural history and other curiosities. She also designs fabric, wallpaper and giftwrap for Spoonflower. Holly lives in Upperville, Virginia with her husband Chuck and dogs, Ladybird and Cowboy.

Visit Golly Bard's Drawing Room and to view custom fabric, wallpaper and giftwrap visit SpoonFlower."

SouleMama: What advice do you have for people wanting to be more creative?

Holly: Don't let the fear of the unknown or fear of failure get in your way. Ever. You have to start somewhere, so dive in. Set yourself up for success with an inviting work space and the best materials you can buy. Work as often as you can at your art or your craft whether a few minutes a day or an hour or two. You will see such a difference and make lots of progress if you work every day.

 SouleMama: What advice do you have for people wanting to try watercolor painting?

Holly: Contrary to what you may think, watercolor is fairly easy to work with and very easy to clean up. You simply have to have a little patience with this medium and I encourage everyone to try it! I have a watercolor 101 tutorial on my blog for anyone who is interested in getting started with the basics. Answers to questions about paper, paint, brushes and basic mark making can be found there.

SouleMama: What are you most excited about right now? What are you working on?

Holly: I've been very busy painting illustrations for a book about gardening in harmony with nature. I'm working on all of the flora and fauna you might expect to come across in the garden and it has been so much fun! I've learned quite a bit from the author and doing research for the pages. Naturally, spring and gardens have been on my mind so I just realeased six knot and parterre garden prints in my Etsy shop, which I'm really excited about too!

 

For today's giveaway, Golly Bard is generously offering the following gifts to TWO winners:

~ Winner #1: A set of three prints from my Topiary collection!

or

~ Winner #2: Two fat quarter samples on linen cotton canvas: twigs and scattered seeds
 

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In addition, Golly Bard would like to offer SouleMama readers 20% off in her Etsy shop through 5/31/13. To receive the offer, please enter " GARDENGROW " at checkout.

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To enter today's giveaway, please leave a comment (one entry per person, please) in today's post. I'll close comments by 8am EST on Sunday, and announce the winners, chosen via Random Number Generator, shortly after.  Comments closed! The winners are:

beautiful...
Spinning Cloud

Oooh, that fabric is divine!
FroggyMama

Thank you,  Golly Bard!