I will take no for an answer

I've received several lovely comments on the latest product from the Makery and while I don't want to discourage any and all feedback, I would like to clarify that the project is also an ongoing giveaway. That means I'm giving away the stuff I make. For free. If you spend a lot of time on the Internet, you should know what that is. If not, let me school you. Blog giveaways seem to be the latest way various vendors are directing potential customers to their sites, stores, etc. By offering something smallish for free (and usually the way this works is you leave a comment or send an email and your information gets entered in a random drawing), I guess the idea is that all those folks who tried for but didn't receive the freebie will be so enamored with the product that they'll eventually plunk down some cash for whatever the company has to offer. While I'm not opposed to fame and fortune, for me the goal of this particular giveaway project is simply to give stuff away. What I'm enjoying most about the project is the creative problem solving involved in figuring out how to execute an idea using only the materials I have on hand. In the process, I'm getting rid of supplies and materials that have been cluttering my art studio-turned-corner for a few years now. I don't need all the stuff I'm making and the act of giving things away has, I guess, been a part of my work - regardless of where it falls along the art-craft continuum - for some time.

So, please feel free to continue to leave all manner of feedback, but if you want to participate in the giveaway, i.e. you want whatever's up for grabs that week, please indicate this somehow in your comment. As Josh puts it in The Last Days of Disco, "A lot of people won't take no for an answer. I wanted you to know that I'm not one of them. I can be discouraged."

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day.