Picture That

Many of you take beautiful photographs. Go one more step & enter them in the ongoing (thru 30 November) National Geographic Photo Contest. And then allow your children to enter the Kids Photo Contest (age 6 through 14)  - why not?

Here are the rules. 

Wonderful galleries of entries (& free wallpaper, too:)

Do it!

ciao/xo

(photograph by Bleubird Vintage via Design Crush)

Snapshot: Painters & Photography

The invention of the Kodak handheld camera in 1888 gave post-impressionist artists a new source of inspiration. Investigating the techniques and compositional strategies made possible by the new apparatus, artists captured their private lives, as well as their public domains, in surprising ways. The exhibition debuts many previously unpublished photographs taken by seven European artists, renowned for their paintings and prints. Approximately 200 photographs and 80 paintings and works on paper by artists including Pierre Bonnard, Félix Vallotton, and Edouard Vuillard explore the dynamic relationships among the various media. - The Phillips Collection

If you live in the DC-area (or will be visiting before May 6th), scamper on down to the The Phillips Collection to see Snapshot. If you're so inclined, this photography contest in which you use one of 9 images from the exhibit as inspiration, looks like fun (& you could win a Nikon 1). In fact, even if you won't be able to attend the exhibit, why not use the contest as a guide for a photography project of your own?

ciao-meow/GGCM

(painting by Maurice Denis & a photograph that informed it via Phillips Collection's Flickr)

Vote for Dare to Design Finalists 2011

It's that time of year. Vote for your favorite in the Shabby Apple Dare to Design Challenge. This year there are fifteen finalists, 13 dresses & two skirts. Visit the SA Apple a Day blog & choose.

A little tip: GG's editor found it helpful to visit every link to see the patterns & supplementary drawings. You might not fancy the fabric or the colors & embellishments used on a dress or skirt but will like the pattern.

Voting is open until September 11th; the winner will be announced on September 15. Good luck to the finalists!

ciao-meow/GGCM

(Suzy Parker in Givenchy by John Rawlings/Vogue, 1953. Available at The Condé Nast Store)

Shabby Apple's Dare to Design 2011

So you flip through magazines & scroll through fashion & style blogs. You look at pins on Pinterest. And you think "Bah. I could do better..." OK. Here's your chance, big shot. Whip up a design of a skirt, dress, or blouse & submit it to Shabby Apple's Dare to Design contest. Yep, you should. You know why? You don't have to sew it, that's why. (Though if you want to, that's great.)

There aren't many rules, but here are the few. You have until August 10. Will we enter finally? Not sure. If we do, we'll make sure you know.

ciao-chic-meow/GGCM

PS: Here are some free online art tools to check out.

(Genevieve Naylor photograph of Suzy Parker via Dovima_is_DevineII)

Oh Happy Day's Paris Giveaway

Generous Jordan of Oh Happy Day is so happy with her new life in Paris that she put together a giveaway for a trip for 2 for one week. The website is having a few problems with traffic today, but you can easily follow the Facebook & Twitter instructions right away. (The giveaway is open until June 20, 11.59PST.)

Bonne chance!

ciao-meow/GG

(Instagram Paris collage by Paul Ferney/via Oh Happy Day)

Wednesday Wishes - Plan An Itinerary

I like to think of an itinerary as the cover of a book that piques your curiosity, encourages you to take action... J. Peterman

Enter J. Peterman's second annual travel sweepstakes by June 30th. Now. Someone has to win, right?

Today, buy a travel book or magazine & put it on your nightstand. Then read a little bit every night & begin to plan your itinerary. It might change over the course of the planning but a notebook & writing instrument are essential. If funds are low, take out a book from the library or borrow one from a fellow traveller. This is exactly how GG's editor starts each & every trip.

We want to hop off to Italy or France, of course (especially to see friends) but this article about the Cambodian seashore is so tempting that it's definitely on our short list (with a side trip to Vietnam & Indonesia. And Thailand. And...OK, well it's a $5,000 prize but travel to Asia from here is rather expensive.)

Check out Budget Travel magazine's website for ideas & deals.

ciao-muse-meow/GGCM

(Kampot, Cambodia by Cailin Callahan - visit her blog to read about her trip to Asia)

Peterman's Eye Photography Contest

GG's readers should enter this contest. What have you to lose? Any travel photograph, whether half-way round the world or in your backyard. Upload your photographs for the chance at a 1,500USD first prize award. There's a second & third prize, as well as three honorable mentions. Go for it, peeps! See the most popular photographs, here.

ciao-meow/GG's editor

(photograph by Cristin Moritz, first seen on Cup of Jo)

A Cure for the Cranky - Pretty Good Jokes

Prairie Home Companion is collecting jokes for a show next Saturday. There's still time to enter, here.

Talk about a January thaw! Get ready to laugh yourself into a sweat when A Prairie Home Companion's Joke Show returns to St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater on Saturday, January 22. It'll be a blizzard of penguin jokes, lightbulb jokes, knock-knocks, political, tasteless, and more. And Philip Brunelle and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers will add their comical twist too. You can add your favorite knee-slappers to the mix.

ciao-cheeky-meow/GG's in-house comedian

(photograph via Amy McGarrah on Pinterest)

Have a Goofy Weekend

While we remain under-the-weather & anxiously await Sunday's referendum in South Sudan, diversion via the latest New Yorker Carton Caption Contest is most welcome. You don't have to enter to vote. We bet lots of smart-alecky Twitterers would be good at this. That's a compliment. (photograph by Eleonore Bridge)

ciao-cough-meow/GG Central

Shoot Your Sandwich

You're sitting around eating anyway. (Yes you are.) Play food stylist, snap your sandwich, & upload it to Saveur.com. Why ever not? You might win & be in the April 2011 issue. (photographs via Saveur.com)

ciao-slurp-excusez-moi-meow/GG's Lunch Lady

PS: Remember Toys For Tots & the IKEA Soft Toy Campaign!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Finalists - Vote Now

GG wants YOU to vote for your favorite Shabby Apple's Dare to Design finalist dress. There is a technical error that zee blogeuse at Apple a Day is working to resolve, but you can vote in the comments for now. Voting ends 15 November 2010. Vote only once. (This photograph is on many sites. This particular version is from audrey hepburn complex via daily bits of beauty)

ciao-meow/GG's hairdresser (she doesn't need a dress, remember?)

Win "A Long Piece of String"

Hint--it's a children's book. Are you interested in vintage (ahem) 1963 children's literature? Are you American or Canadian? Well, go to Basket of Kisses & enter this giveaway. (Basket of Kisses is GG's editor's favorite blog about Mad Men.) You have until 31 October (this Sunday). All you have to do is visit & say to whom you would read the book if you won. Easy peasy. (images via Basket of Kisses)

ciao-meow/GG's editor

Daring to Design - Week's End

You don't have to be designer, nope. Visit Shabby Apple's website & learn all about it. GG's editor loves Shabby Apple & thinks that you ought to consider some creative activity this weekend. The contest opened on August 15 & closes October 15. It's really, really not too late. You can find out more on their blog An Apple a Day.

As loyal readers know, Giulia does not need a dress--she has the perfect outfit every single day. She's incredibly chic. It's also very chic to have good manners & care about others. That's why we are pleased by the following from Shabby Apple Dresses website:

We at Shabby Apple Dresses love to help women dress but are also commited to helping women live as well. Thus we are supporting the fight against global poverty by partnering with Unitus-a non-profit organization that accelerates access to life-changing financial services for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Shabby Apple donates 5% of its net sales to support work in India (where Shabby Apple Dresses has sourced many of its dresses and the textiles used to manufacture its dresses). In addition, each Shabby Apple Dresses customer has the opportunity to donate an extra five dollars to Unitus every time she buys a dress. Shabby Apple Dresses and Unitus are involved with 10 of India's most promising microfinance organizations that provide financial services to more than 1.6 million hard-working women and their families.

Every $100 donation from Shabby Apple Dresses provides at least 20 women with access to financial services - and the chance to live a life without poverty.

Each new Shabby Apple Dresses dress features a unique hang tag with a micro-credit success story.

Now, isn't that fabulous? Go forth & design!

ciao-chic-meow/GG Central

(Christina Hendricks of Mad Men via AMC; Shabby Apple dresses collage)

Why Wear Anything Else?

Fellow Benevolent Postcard Society member, Samantha in Istanbul, Turkey is a finalist in a design competition and needs your votes! Last year she designed a shoe for Fluevog that was eventually made into a real shoe named the Zaza (after her). This time around, she's in the running for a competition to design the ad for the Zaza. The winner is determined by the number of votes their design receives, so Samantha needs as many votes as she can get to win. Help her win by voting for her beautifully illustrated ad, called Why Wear Anything Else?, here. You can vote once a day until December 22.

Above text is quickly lifted & slightly tweaked from the BPS blog & from Lori Langille's automatism blog. Please help! Samantha is so talented & is tied (tied!) with another talented person. Giulia the Cat exhorts (no, not extorts:) everyone who sees this to vote. You will not receive spam, you don't have to sign up for anything. Please help!

ciao-grazie-meow/GG's editor

[illustration is used with permission of artist]

Hunger Bytes

A billion for a billion. An international video competition sponsored by the World Food Programme--go for it. Entries accepted through 31 December 2009. Watch it, pass it along. Thank you.

[Southern Sudanese women drag bags of grain to a central collection point dropped by WFP chartered airplane in the village of Pochalla, Jonglei state © Peter Martell/IRIN]