After the devastating earthquake hit Haiti, I was at a loss as to what to do. I’m still at a loss, but I hope that even this little effort will make a difference. I recently joined the livejournal community HELP_HAITI and decided to throat my hat in the game. I’m auctioning up some of my design work to try and raise money for a hurting country. Here’s the info:

You can see things I’ve created at: designcoyote.com (for designs) and (for icons)

I am offering: A set of 20 icons OR a WordPress Design from my DC Shop (either for WordPress or to be modified as an LJ design if possible)

Fandoms (if appropriate): For icons, it can be any fandom.

Additional Info (optional): As with most others, I would prefer if you gave me the images to work with for the icons – they are yours, so wouldn’t you like to have the say in what they look like?

Designs currently up in my Design Coyote shop can be viewed here. If you want a blogger design, make sure to choose one with that option, I won’t be modifying them for blogger for this bid (only to LJ).

Starting Bid: $15

If you’re interested, please go here to comment and make a bid – bidding will end January 20th, so make sure to get in fast. All proceeds that I make will go to the charity of your choice, and (taking a leaf from Leigh), I’ll match the winning bid with my proceeds going to UNICEF. Let’s try and give a little back to the world, shall we? Let’s do it!

First Artist Showcase of the New Year and the honor goes to the amazing Viet-My Bui! I have been an avid follower of hers on Deviantart for the past five years, and never once have I been let down by her brilliant work. Her pieces are simply stunning.

Viet-My is Vietnamese by descent but was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. She is currently going to school for Commerce/Law, but hopes to peruse her dreams of Art & Design once she graduates. I think she’s doing a fabulous job of it right now. From her DA info (because she says it best): “She is often found having lunch, but has stayed the same weight for the past six years. She understands this is probably a good thing, but fears that her body is a cholesterol time-bomb and that in twenty years’ time, she’ll inflate in her sleep and drown in 40 years’ worth of fatty deposits. ” She’s intelligent, artistic, beautiful, and funny.

Viet-My’s pieces are just incredible. The attention to detail and the textures she uses in her artwork are beautiful. Her primary focus is beautiful women and I cannot even count how many times I’ve used her artwork for my desktop (I have a weakness for beautiful girls). The expressions used, the light in the eyes, and personality of each piece shines. Her style is one of a kind, and I was hard-pressed to choose just three pictures to put in this showcase. Pretty sure I have almost all of her artwork Favorited somewhere. Go check out her DA gallery for more impressive and inspirational works of art.

More places you can find Viet-My Bui:

Deviantart: ravenskar
Twitter: @vmbui
Tumblr: Viet-My Bui
CGHub: Ravenskar
Carbonmade: Ravenskar

Previous Artist Showcases:
Danielle Corsetto
Lois van Baarle
Erika Moen
Anne Julie Aubry
Jason Chan

Sixteen years ago at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Severn Cullis-Suzuki was twelve years old. The founder of the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), she was there to speak to all the adults and tell them exactly what was on her mind.

She is now thirty years old, a published author, a celebrated environmental activist, and her words ring true to this very day. We still have a lot to learn.

(Many thanks to BitRebels for the introducing me to this video.)

Hurray A Contest!

Snailbird is proud to host its second contest! This time the contest is being sponsored by our lovely friends over at UPrinting. They will be giving 1 lucky winner 100 (ONE HUNDRED!) custom-made postcards for free! How awesome is that? Here’s what you need to do to enter the giveaway:

The Rules

01. Comment on this post, making sure that I have both your name and email address (we won’t share your email, no worries), and tell me what you would use these 100 custom postcards for. Be creative! Christmas/New Year/Holiday/Birthday cards? Letters to long lost relatives? Paper your wall with them? Let us know!

The Goods

The winner will receive 100 custom postcards from UPrinting.com. The postcards are 4″ by 6″ (standard postcard size), full color both sides, and printed on 14pt Cardstock Gloss. They can be used as notecards, invitations, thank you cards, or whatever you could possibly think of.

On January 1, 2010, I will choose a winner using the ever-useful Random.org generator. Only those with answers to the above question will be put in the drawing so don’t forget that part! One comment is allowed per person and don’t forget to tell your friends to join. Who wouldn’t love to get 100 custom-made postcards? It’s the perfect gift for a new year.

Don’t forget to tweet about the giveaway to your friends!

Come back on January 1, 2010 to find out who the winner is!