Well I think we are just waiting for 2 Secret Santa dragons now so better than last year. As yet have had no notes regarding them so hopefully its all going well and we should have them soon.


Just a quick note to say Happy Christmas! I logged in to check Secret Santa submissions and saw the super group sale so I bought the last 400 points we needed and did the upgrade early
Now subscribed until April 20th 2013

Have updated the list of other contests again, see below.

All those taking part in Secret Santa this year should have a note now.

Oh that's totally weird, had a small reshuffle due to a late entry and I was just looking at a person's gallery and before the reshuffle she had the same secret Santa person as she got last year, what are the chances of that happening, I picked them out of my sequin hat, little folded bits of paper.

Also like last year the hat decided that one person should draw for themselves ~rubinenauge but obviously I threw that back in the hat and drew another name.

Really would rather have no more late entries, after today definitely no-one can join as people will have read their notes and may have started.

The winner of the October challenge is
by with a whopping 70 votes!
Runners up (ah so close but I failed again!) are
by with 12 votes and by with 9 votes!

Next its time to sign up for Secret Santa 2011!  The deadline for sign up is fast approaching! Need to receive your comment/note to participate by the end of tomorrow (8th)
Oh and incase you are wondering we now have 24 people taking part, will draw the names from a sequin hat and make sure no-one gets stuck drawing their own dragon.
The plan is to give everyone who volunteers a person to draw a dragon for. You should keep this secret, do not run off and ask the person what dragon they want. Not sure what to draw, check out the gallery, see what colours they like and what stuff they are into, still stuck? Ask for help. If you see a character ref only draw it if you do not need to ask for permission first, check the image descriptions.

We have some rules this year so hopefully it will run a bit smoother.
1. Must reply to this journal entry or send the group a note clearly stating that you want to participate in the Secret Santa. I wont know if you don't tell me
2. Must have been active in the last month on DA, I will be checking your galleries to see if you are drawing at the moment. I know this seems harsh but last year some people volunteered who had not been active in months and then did not respond to messages or draw a picture. This is unfair on the person they are paired with so this time round I need people to be active when they volunteer. (Note its active on DA in general not a measure of how many entries you have submitted here)
3. I need all the volunteers to have commented by November 8th so I can pair you up and give you plenty of time to draw your picture.
4. Please try to submit your dragon by 25th December since it is a Christmas present. If you will be late then you should let know so that we can tell your Secret Santa that the picture will be late.
5. Must be a member of to take part.

Finally, due to the fact that everyone is getting busy now with Christmas and revision and Secret Santa we will be combining November and December into another Big Christmas Special! I have chosen Christmas and normal stock and there will be extra stock.

REMEMBER if you want to enter the Big Christmas challenge you must credit the stock properly.  Its not hard, I have provided a How To, you can find this on our front page below the current journal.  You must also notify the stock provider by sending a link to your picture. Often they have a rule for how they want to receive that, please check their rules.

Also remember that I check the rules of the stock images I choose, there should be nothing to catch you out like non-commercial use or no off-site use, if you use other stock as well you must check that provider's own rules yourself. I'm only looking after the stock I pick, if you break someone else's rules that's your problem to solve.

Other contests:

*Sunimo's Contest Deadline 20th December (Deadline extended) [link]
Must draw one of Sunimo's characters, see journal. Prizes are subscriptions.

=Kaleena01 is holding a contest, deadline 25th December [link]
See journal for instructions. Prizes will be points but as yet undecided how many.

Affiliate contests:
If you fancy a break from drawing dragons I've  been told about a fun looking contest you can enter.
Our affiliate is running a Christmas contest.
See [link] for more info.
Deadline is December 20th and your picture must contain Legolas and a Christmas theme.

Also our affiliate is running a contest, Deadline 1st February.
Theme: Chinese Ice Storm Dragon
Prizes: Art, features, and points
The most important thing is that you must be a member of the group to participate, but all are free to join!
For more information, see the official journal here ~> [link]

My current balance is: 3233 points, this will be used to buy next year's subscription which is about 9700 points.  Points I am giving for prizes will be bought by me in October, I will not be using the 2555 I have saved up for the group.

Note: points must be sent to as group points not enabled yet.

Thanks to everyone who donated!!  
If you want to help raise points you can try the Llama trading game. [link]
Llama badges are free to give so you can earn a free points without having to pay any money.

You have until the end of December to submit your entry to the Big Christmas Challenge 2011 folder.

:thumb100710843: :thumb51887326:

You may submit this as a contest entry too, just note in your image description that it is also for the contest and it will be added to the folder for you.

As usual you may do a dragon based on 1, 2 or even all of the pictures.
Please make sure you read and follow the individual stock artist's rules for the picture you choose.

You must credit the stock image in your own image description.

1. Must be new and your own work, please credit all stock used and follow the individual stock artist's rules.
2. Must contain at least one dragon.
3. Must be able to explain how the picture fits the challenge.