the FINAL match : the 2011 handmade world cup!

handmakers representing spain ::

1st collection

tofashi +  KUKLAstudio + mariagotijoyas 

palomasiadesigns + krize + Majutsu  

LeelaBijou + momochas + NiuTaller 

2nd collection

mysterymoor + Coderque + masaoms

lachicadelosanillos + Pizpireta + adictaaloscomplemnts

 teogeo + sarahrobinL + LAccentNou

handmakers representing italy ::

1st collection

Relydesign   + sofiart + alchemia1  

retrospettive + Chickslab + korkekork 

arosha   + elehandmade + italiacraft  

2nd collection

aliciarosalind + nivule + vincenzorizzo

LaPerLaA + Aula46 + medusa1307 

thegoodmachinery + Chromantication + studioarturo

......................

once upon a time, there were 36 teams.
36 handmaking nations from around the world vying to win the coveted :) handmade world cup!
and now there are 2!

welcome to the 2011 handmade world cup FINAL: ROUND E!! hundreds of votes have already been cast in the 2011 handmade world cup (a superfun & friendly celebration cheering on the world of handmade while our female football/soccer counterparts can't wait to thrill the world at that *other* world cup!)

the winning (top-vote-earning) team from each ROUND D match has moved forward.

our FINAL matchup is:

spain vs. italy
...............
now you get to vote all over again!

each round of voting counts towards the final drawing of who will WIN the grand prize (a $30 shopping spree in the shop of your choice! same rules as before:
there have been 4 rounds of voting. this is the LAST!

the PRIZE is a $30 shopping spree in the Etsy shop of your choice, FROM the winning country! so for example, in 2010 south africa won the 2010 handmade world cup voting, and the winning entry spent their $30 prize in ANY south african-based Etsy shop! :) (donated by me, rikrak! :)

woohoo!! each ROUND will be open for voting for approx. 3-4 days. so be sure to get your votes in.

schedule

CLOSED: round A :: 32 teams :: voting may 11-15

CLOSED: round B :: 16 teams :: voting may 16-20

CLOSED: round C :: 8 teams :: voting may 21-25

CLOSED: round D :: 4 teams :: voting may 26- 30 

round E :: 2 teams :: voting may 31 - june 4

FINAL WINNING TEAM & lucky entry winner 

announced june 6th

............

the total number of entries will be the cumulative ballots from round 1+ round 2 + round 3 + round 4 + round 5!

NOTE: you do NOT need to have voted for the winning team to win. it will be a random draw of all entries!

:: ROUNDS ::

* the country that receives the most votes each round WINS!
the person/entry who is randomly chosen as the lucky winner of the gift certificate can spend it in ANY ETSY SHOP from the winning nation: either SPAIN or ITALY!
:: PLEASE MAKE EACH VOTE A DIFFERENT COMMENT BELOW! thanks! ::
you can earn a ballot for EACH match you VOTE on!
so... a sample vote for ROUND E

"comment 1: i vote spain!"(or italy! you choose!)

"comment 2: i tweeted (give link)"
" comment 3: i did a facebook update (give link)"

you get the idea!

--> this ROUND of matches CLOSES SATURDAY june 4 @ 5pm EST

1. vote.
you can vote ONCE this round. = 1 entry

2. twitter, facebook, or blog about this event
& come here and tell us
= 1 entry for EACH 
 

3. become a follower or subscriber to my blog! 

you can become a google friend connect *follower* by clicking "follow" on the top left of the blog home page OR subscribe via email or *reader* on the left hand column.
& come here and tell us
= 1 entry

4. tweet about this giveaway
= you can tweet about this giveaway ONCE PER DAY for the duration of the giveaway! (one  entry for each tweet!)
 and come back here and tell me about it. please include my twitter account in the update: i'm @therikrakshop on twitter!)

5. grab one of my rikrak studio buttons,
like this one for YOUR BLOG!

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiorectangle.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiosquare.jpg" /></a></center>

and add it to your blog!

{ ... just copy & paste the text in the box above  onto your blog sidebar! thanks! }

** please make sure that each entry is it's own comment and links to an email, or has an email address attached, so that i can contact the winner! **

on may 26th,  the winners of each match from ROUND C will be posted, when the NEW round of matches/voting begins!

so come back then to earn more entries, too!

yay and happy friendly competition, nicies!
yay handmaking around the world!

and thanks so much to the lovely countries from round D that unfortunately didn't advance:  england & the netherlands

.................................

RULES:

a) it is possible to have numerous entries total per person.
b) please make sure to leave each entry as it's own comment. thanks!

c) as always, this giveaway is open to all contestants, worldwide.
e) the winner of this giveaway will be chosen from random.org on

saturday, june 4th 2011 @ 5pm EST.

f) please be sure to leave me an email where i can reach you if your account 

doesn't link to one. thanks.
g) thanks so much everyone! and thanks for visiting the blog!

...........................

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lucky number ...

supercute central park cufflinks by the skinner studio

happy monday!

congrats goes out to lucky #13 ... skinner studio, winner of the *magic hand jewelry* personalized name necklace giveaway! i'm a great fan of the gorgeous skinner studio shop: love love love the sterling map necklaces (& these great cufflinks for father's day! ... hurry!)

congrats, nicey!

thanks to everyone who played.

be sure to tune in tomorrow to see which 2 teams advanced to the handmade world cup FINAL!

& just one day left to enter to WIN the MAY sponsors giveaway (win a $25 gift certificate to the sponsor shop of your choice!)

we're off to a great week!

see you tomorrow!

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patterns + shapes :: the raindrop

 

..................

take shelter print :: ashleyg

rain + cloud pin back buttons :: smallappletree

raindrop house gocco print ::  mateoandisabel

raindrop earrings :: epheriell

raindrops of poetry :: this tinder

raindrop ring :: luttrell studio

raindrops stamps ::  mywalkingdesaster

cloud mobile :: leptitpapillon

raindrop podette ::  bewilderedandpine

springtime print :: jaimers

hill of tears :: vantiani

................

it rains + it rains here.

and i love it.

welcome welcome gentle drops.

rain in moderation - yay or nay? 

happy splashing, lovelies.

have a gorgeous weekend.

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the SEMI-finals: the 2011 handmade world cup ROUND D

 

:: handmade in spain ::

krize 

mariagotijoyas

blancucha

annafabo

:: handmade in england ::

huiyitan 

quinnknits 

artquirk 

summersville

..............................

:: handmade in italy ::

ConiMatta 

Sumikoshop

JewelryLois

Silvia66

 :: handmade in italy ::

LouisestArt

jkphotography

koej 

GreenWallNL 

 ...................

goodness sakes alive!
ONLY 4 teams remain!

round C was such great fun!  congrats to all the teams that prevailed! yay handmaking!

so welcome to ... round D! we're down to the semi-finals! 
hundreds of votes have already been cast in the 2011 handmade world cup (a superfun & friendly celebration cheering on the world of handmade while our football/soccer counterparts thrill the world at that *other* world cup!)

the winning (top-vote-earning) team from each ROUND C match has moved forward.

who will win?

schedule

CLOSED: round A :: 32 teams :: voting may 11-15

CLOSED: round B :: 16 teams :: voting may 16-20

CLOSED: round C :: 8 teams :: voting may 21-25

round D :: 4 teams :: voting may 26- 30 

round E :: 2 teams :: voting may 31 - june 4

FINAL WINNING TEAM & lucky entry winner 

announced june 6th

............

match 1
spain vs. england


match 2

italy vs. the netherlands

now you get to vote all over again!

each round of voting counts towards the final drawing of who will WIN the grand prize (a $30 shopping spree in the shop of your choice! same rules as before:
there will be 5 rounds of voting.

each round (except the final!) will have various matches to cast your vote! the teams with the higher number of votes in each matchup will proceed to the next round!

the PRIZE is a $30 shopping spree in the Etsy shop of your choice, FROM the winning country! so for example, in 2010 south africa won the 2010 handmade world cup voting, and the winning entry spent their $30 prize in ANY south african-based Etsy shop! :) (donated by me, rikrak! :)

woohoo!! each ROUND will be open for voting for approx. 3-4 days. so be sure to get your votes in.

the total number of entries will be the cumulative ballots from round 1+ round 2 + round 3 + round 4 + round 5!

NOTE: you do NOT need to have voted for the winning team to win. it will be a random draw of all entries!

:: ROUNDS ::

* the country that receives the most votes in each match of each round will proceed to the next round! so be sure to VOTE each round to increases your chances!


:: PLEASE MAKE EACH VOTE A DIFFERENT COMMENT BELOW! thanks! ::
you can earn a ballot for EACH match you VOTE on!
so... a sample vote for ROUND C

"comment 1: match 1 = i vote ***** (insert your chosen country here!)
"comment 2: match 2 = i vote ><><><>< (insert your chosen country here!)
(you get the idea)
"comment 3: i tweeted (give link)"
" comment 4: i did a facebook update (give link)"

--> this ROUND of matches CLOSES MONDAY may 30th @ 5pm EST

1. vote.
you can vote ONCE for each match. (i.e. this ROUND you can vote up to 2 times, once for each match!)
= 1 entry for each vote

2. twitter, facebook, or blog about this event
& come here and tell us
= 1 entry for EACH 
 

3. become a follower or subscriber to my blog! 

you can become a google friend connect *follower* by clicking "follow" on the top left of the blog home page OR subscribe via email or *reader* on the left hand column.
& come here and tell us
= 1 entry

4. tweet about this giveaway
= you can tweet about this giveaway ONCE PER DAY for the duration of the giveaway! (one  entry for each tweet!)
 and come back here and tell me about it. please include my twitter account in the update: i'm @therikrakshop on twitter!)

5. grab one of my rikrak studio buttons,
like this one for YOUR BLOG!

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiorectangle.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiosquare.jpg" /></a></center>

and add it to your blog!

{ ... just copy & paste the text in the box above  onto your blog sidebar! thanks! }

** please make sure that each entry is it's own comment and links to an email, or has an email address attached, so that i can contact the winner! **

on may 26th,  the winners of each match from ROUND C will be posted, when the NEW round of matches/voting begins!

so come back then to earn more entries, too!

yay and happy friendly competition, nicies!
yay handmaking around the world!

and thanks so much to the lovely countries from round C that unfortunately didn't advance:  greece, france, scotland & sweden

.................................

RULES:

a) it is possible to have numerous entries total per person.
b) please make sure to leave each entry as it's own comment. thanks!

c) as always, this giveaway is open to all contestants, worldwide.
e) the winner of this giveaway will be chosen from random.org on

saturday, june 4th 2011 @ 5pm EST.

f) please be sure to leave me an email where i can reach you if your account 

doesn't link to one. thanks.
g) thanks so much everyone! and thanks for visiting the blog!

...........................

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the ekphrastic challenge { part seven } : albers

josef albers, homage to the square - orange, 1964

...............

the adobe colorswatch palette for homage to the square - orange.

...................

bravo, superstars!
the 6th round of the ekphrastic challenge was met with fabulous nominations and suggestions! i just loved seeing your artistic interpretations of the art & the tones that create it!


so as requested: round #7!


today we're adoring a landmark work by one of my favourite geometric abstract artists (& colour theorists!) josef albers : {side note: partner of textile superstar anni albers!  i have such a longtime crush on this geometric supercouple!} ... today's focus is josef's  "homage to the square - orange." : part of the hundreds of paintings & prints that make up the brilliant, BRILLIANT series *homage to the square*


love the geometric style craze these days? then you're sure to love albers' brilliant art!


and if i had to choose just one of his works, this one's my fave. 
it's orange orange orange and relishes that favourite shape of mine: the glorious square. 
perfection? i think so.

.........................................
so, here's the challenge for you:
.........................................

using the idea of ekphrasis , a "graphic or artistic description/representation of a visual work of art" ,  study the colours of the painting above, and/or the colour palette generated to match it (see above) . 


leave a link here to a handmade item of yours, (or another's) that is inspired by these colours + tones + shapes!


in about a week, i'll compile the suggestions and post them as our 7th collective response. 

---> just keep in mind, i'm looking for handmade works that fit the colour-palette AND geometric stylings of this piece! thanks.


so show me your orange square inspirations, nicies!

can't wait to see what you come up with!

and may your day be filled with gorgeous tones!

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come advertise with the rikrak studio blog!

i just love my sponsors! i'm so thankful for their kind and artistic support each month! and i'm just delighted with how things are going, growing here on the blog with you lovelies. thank you!

so i'm very happy to be offering a few new ad spots as of today for JUNE.

with june comes  a great time to continue building your wonderful indie business!  i hope it might be the perfect opportunity to showcase your beautiful shops & blogs for all of those handmade shoppers & bloggers & media out there! summer is such a great time for new beginnings, prepping for the busy busy autumn & Holiday season, and i'm offering a few new ad spots, all at GREAT prices!

if you feel that your shop, group, Etsy Team,  or blog would be a good fit with the rikrak studio blog feel & focus, and are interested in rates, please email me at 

---> rikrakmail @ yahoo.com <---

there's lots of continued fun coming up on the blog: funfun guests, little inspirations, more fabulous giveaways you're not going to want to miss, great games, fantastic features,  and, as always, a few extra fun surprises, too. being part of the fun is a great way to boost sales, increase exposure and build your little business in the handmade community, too!

i'm a handmaker & mommy and know it's a challenging economic time out there... so i try to keep the rates nice & reasonable.

i also love designing ads for folks that need them, too.
so just let me know if i can help!

so come & be part of the fun!
thanks so much, lovelies!
k. Pin It

the quarter finals: the 2011 handmade world cup ROUND C

:: custom handmade map making ::

city map lamp by umbu

dream destination map :: santorini :: by swystudio

personalized mapcut by studiokmo

custom wedding map by lilygene  

hand cut map art :: michelin guide to europe :: by  emmaporium

custom vintage map cufflinks by tomatomade

le voyage by teconlene

........................

........................

hold onto your hats, crazy cats!
what a handmaking showdown we have!

in what was a heated handmaking battle to the end, round B of the handmade world cup saw a number of BIG handmaking nations lose the vote!  congrats to all the teams that prevailed! yay handmaking!

so welcome to ... round C! we're down to the quarter-finals! only 8 amazing handmaking nations remain. hundreds of votes have already been cast in the 2011 handmade world cup (a superfun & friendly celebration cheering on the world of handmade while our football/soccer counterparts thrill the world at that *other* world cup!)

the winning (top-vote-earning) team from each ROUND B match has moved forward.

who will win?

schedule

CLOSED: round A :: 32 teams :: voting may 11-15

CLOSED: round B :: 16 teams :: voting may 16-20

round C :: 8 teams :: voting may 21-25

round D :: 4 teams :: voting may 26- 30 

round E :: 2 teams :: voting may 31 - june 4

FINAL WINNING TEAM & lucky entry winner 

announced june 6th

............

our new ROUND C quarter-final matchups are:

match 1
 england vs. greece


match 2
france vs. holland


match 3
spain vs. scotland


match 4
sweden vs. italy

now you get to vote all over again!

each round of voting counts towards the final drawing of who will WIN the grand prize (a $30 shopping spree in the shop of your choice! same rules as before:
there will be 5 rounds of voting.

each round (except the final!) will have various matches to cast your vote! the teams with the higher number of votes in each matchup will proceed to the next round!

the PRIZE is a $30 shopping spree in the Etsy shop of your choice, FROM the winning country! so for example, in 2010 south africa won the 2010 handmade world cup voting, and the winning entry spent their $30 prize in ANY south african-based Etsy shop! :) (donated by me, rikrak! :)

woohoo!! each ROUND will be open for voting for approx. 3-4 days. so be sure to get your votes in.

the total number of entries will be the cumulative ballots from round 1+ round 2 + round 3 + round 4 + round 5!

NOTE: you do NOT need to have voted for the winning team to win. it will be a random draw of all entries!

:: ROUNDS ::

* the country that receives the most votes in each match of each round will proceed to the next round! so be sure to VOTE each round to increases your chances!


:: PLEASE MAKE EACH VOTE A DIFFERENT COMMENT BELOW! thanks! ::
you can earn a ballot for EACH match you VOTE on!
so... a sample vote for ROUND C

"comment 1: match 1 = i vote ***** (insert your chosen country here!)
"comment 2: match 2 = i vote ><><><>< (insert your chosen country here!)
(you get the idea)
"comment 5: i tweeted (give link)"
" comment 6: i did a facebook update (give link)"

---> this ROUND of matches CLOSES WEDNESDAY may 25th @ 5pm EST

1. vote.
you can vote ONCE for each match. (i.e. this ROUND you can vote up to 4 times, once for each match!)
= 1 entry for each vote

2. twitter, facebook, or blog about this event
& come here and tell us
= 1 entry for EACH


3. become a follower or subscriber to my blog! 

you can become a google friend connect *follower* by clicking "follow" on the top left of the blog home page OR subscribe via email or *reader* on the left hand column.
& come here and tell us
= 1 entry

4. tweet about this giveaway
= you can tweet about this giveaway ONCE PER DAY for the duration of the giveaway! (one  entry for each tweet!)
 and come back here and tell me about it. please include my twitter account in the update: i'm @therikrakshop on twitter!)

5. grab one of my rikrak studio buttons,
like this one for YOUR BLOG!

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiorectangle.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiosquare.jpg" /></a></center>

and add it to your blog!

{ ... just copy & paste the text in the box above  onto your blog sidebar! thanks! }

** please make sure that each entry is it's own comment and links to an email, or has an email address attached, so that i can contact the winner! **

on may 26th,  the winners of each match from ROUND C will be posted, when the NEW round of matches/voting begins!

so come back then to earn more entries, too!

yay and happy friendly competition, nicies!
yay handmaking around the world!

and thanks so much to the lovely countries from rounds A & B that unfortunately didn't advance:  new zealand, usa, japan, south africa, israel, portugal, australia, germany, canada, austria, malaysia, singapore, india, mexico, thailand, ireland, latvia, brazil, russia, denmark, belgium, turkey, switzerland and south korea. 

.................................

RULES:

a) it is possible to have numerous entries total per person.
b) please make sure to leave each entry as it's own comment. thanks!

c) as always, this giveaway is open to all contestants, worldwide.
e) the winner of this giveaway will be chosen from random.org on

saturday, june 4th 2011 @ 5pm EST.

f) please be sure to leave me an email where i can reach you if your account 

doesn't link to one. thanks.
g) thanks so much everyone! and thanks for visiting the blog!

...........................

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