WE HAVE A WINNER - DAWN
What if? That is a really big question. A question that all parents ponder from time to time and parents of special needs kids think about a lot. I know I do. What if I had waited one more month to try to get pregnant? What if I had decided to have a cesarean section, would Matthew have been breathing when he was born? What if he didn’t have Autism? What if we hadn’t found DAN! What if? What if? What if?
But there are other What if’s to consider. Much happier and more interesting What if’s. What if I could fly? What if we could live in the clouds? What if Matthew could bring stories to life? What if Nico could make friends with the monsters under his bed? And what if Larry could move things with his mind? What if flowers bloomed with YOUR every step? Alissandra of Heartsleeve Studio, in my native Baltimore, has thought of all of these and has put ink to paper (so to speak) and made beautiful prints of her work and her imagination.
I immediately fell in love with Alissandra’s work. Of course I’m a bit partial because she is from Baltimore, but I know you will cherish her art too. Her What If series really spoke to me on so many levels, but I think it really resonated with the part of me that wants to open Matthew’s world to the imaginable. Everything you read about Autism talks about how autistic children are literal and they have trouble with pretend play and imagination. How perfect are Alissandra’s prints that they illustrate exactly what we hope our children can dream up in their own minds. It is like a model for them; a diagram, a roadmap to imagination.
Alissandra told me that her inspiration for the What if series comes from her belief that a little hope and a good imagination will take a child farther than most anything else and she wanted to support the pursuit of playful dreams and ideas, visually. How cool is that? And she is a pretty cool chick herself. She has an unreasonable fondness for sprinkles, an unlikely distaste for revolving doors, an unconventional habit of writing in all lowercase or uppercase letters, and an unfortunate inability to leave coherent voicemails. You can tell she is a passionate person, and thank goodness she can draw!
Alissandra sent me the What If…You could fly print. It really is special. The bright red sneakers of the carefree youngster draw you in and you wish you were right there in the sky with the child, soaring and spiraling over the fields. How many talking points can you imagine could come from this one single print? Dozens, I’m sure.
BUY IT!
Alissandra has decided to offer a 15% discount from now until the end of June on anything in her Etsy shop. Simply enter the code “thanksmatthew15” in the message to the seller section. She will then send you a revised invoice less the 15% - so you won’t see the price change immediately.
WIN IT!
Alissandra also sent me another What If…You could fly print for me to giveaway to one lucky Matthew’s Puzzle reader. To win this great print, simply visit Heartsleeve Studio and take a look around at her other items, then come back to Matthew’s Puzzle and leave me a comment telling me what items you love. Make sure you leave your email address or that your email address is publicly viewable from your blog. This is a mandatory entry and must be done before you can do any of the additional entries below. Also, any entries of comments such as “enter me” or “I want to win” will be disqualified.
Extra Entries!
Do any or all of the following to acquire additional entries. Please leave a comment for each of the items you do.
1. Follow Matthew’s Puzzle Publicly
2. Tweet about this contest
3. Digg this contest
4. Add this to your Technorati favorites (you can use the button at the top of this page)
5. Visit Alissandra’s portfolio at http://heart-sleevestudio.com
6. Check out http://Heart-Sleevestudio.blogspot.com
7. Follow Alissandra on Twitter at Twitter.com/alissandra
This contest will end at 11:59 PM EDT June 30, 2009. Contest is open to US residents, 18 years and older. I will use Random.org random number generator to choose the winner.
I visited Alissandra's portfolio.