Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of the Sheep!!!

Year of the Wood Sheep

Thursday February 19 2015 - Sunday February 07 2016

Our day has come...time for all sheep to unite and be smelled! If you wish to accept this quest, we ask that you spread the smell to your family, friends, neighbors and intergalactic pen pals.
How, you ask? Based on the qualities of the Year of the Sheep (and yes, we cherry picked the ones we wanted <G>)
* the Sheep's creativity will be unleashed. 
* beauty, art, romance and abundance

Show us your creativity with an abundance of beautiful sheep art. Make a sheep meme, take a pic of a sheep, decorate your dog/rat/cat/horse/kid/ like a sheep, picture of your book/pet/car/food with a sheep photoshopped in, photoshop your face into our logo...sheepify anything and send us a picture. If you give permission, we will feature your art in our side bar through out the Year of the Sheep! The more pathetic or crazy the better! Seriously, we love all 31 flavors of crazy.

I know what you're thinking...I'm not artistic, I can't use photoshop... Doesn't matter. We are not judging (okay, maybe a little, but not publicly!). Any and all attempts will win you moonpie points (also called entries) into the big monthly giveaways. 

Details on how to do this at the end of the post.

First a little trivia lesson: there may or may not be a quiz at the end (there's not)

What does Wood and Sheep mixed together bring?
The Sheep is kind, tender and sympathetic. Sheep are creative and elegant. Because of their softer side, they are symbolic of peace and harmony.

The Year of the Sheep follows a tumultuous Year of the Horse, and heralds a more calm atmosphere. Combined with the evergreen and renewal characteristics of Wood, the Sheep's creativity will be unleashed.

If last year was the Horse's year to gallop and take off, this year will be the year for contemplating and appreciating what has already been accomplished, to think about bringing goodness to others, to take a deep breath and calmly look at what's ahead. A steady path, generosity, and keeping the peace are this year's mantra.-http://www.china-family-adventure.com/year-of-the-sheep.html#.VLaRGyvF-vE

In a Sheep year, we enter an era of beauty, art, romance and abundance. We can expect the occasional upset, as this is an emotional sign, but overall the Sheep attunes to peace. It's a good time to resolve stubborn problems or break free of negative cycles.-http://www.happywishingwell.com/year-of-the-sheep-2015-16.html

Celebrities Born in the Year of the Sheep
Michelangelo, Mark Twain, Thomas Alva Edison, Muhammad Ali, Rudolph Valentino, Rachel Carson, Pierre Trudeau, Barbara Walters, Orville Wright, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Amy Lee, Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Danes, Jamie Lynn Spears, Matt LeBlanc, Chow Yun-Fat, Zhang Ziyi, Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty 618 – 907), Cao Cao (King of Wei in China’s Three Kingdoms Period 220 - 280), Yue Fei (a patriotic general in China’s South Song Dynasty 1127 - 1279), Empress Dowager Cixi -http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/sheep.htm

Which animal of the Chinese Zodiac are you?

-https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/chinese-zodiac-signs.html

Rat:

Imaginative, generous, successful, popular, and curious

Feb 10, 1948, Jan 28, 1960, Feb 15, 1972, Feb 2, 1984, Feb 19, 1996, Feb 7, 2008

Ox:

Confident, honest, patient, conservative, strong

Jan 29, 1949, Feb 15, 1961, Feb 3, 1973, Feb 20, 1985, Feb 7, 1997, Jan 26, 2009

Tiger:

Sensitive, tolerant, brave, active, resilient

Feb 17, 1950, Feb 5, 1962, Jan 23, 1974, Feb 9, 1986, Jan 28, 1998, Feb 14, 2010

Rabbit:

Affectionate, kind, gentle, compassionate, merciful

Feb 6, 1951, Jan 25, 1963, Feb 11, 1975, Jan 29, 1987, Feb 16, 1999, Feb 3, 2011

Dragon:

Enthusiastic, intelligent, lively, energetic, innovative

Jan 27, 1952, Feb 13, 1964, Jan 31, 1976, Feb 17, 1988, Feb 5, 2000

Snake:

Charming, intuitive, romantic, highly perceptive, polite

Feb 14, 1953, Feb 2, 1965, Feb 18, 1977, Feb 6, 1989, Jan 24, 2001

Horse:

Diligent, friendly, sophisticated, talented, clever

Feb 3, 1954, Jan 21, 1966, Feb 7, 1978, Jan 27, 1990, Feb 12, 2002

Sheep:

if this is you, you are the coolest of the animals...just saying

Artistic, calm, reserved, happy, kind

Jan 24, 1955 Feb 9, 1967, Jan 28, 1979, Feb 15, 1991, Feb 1, 2003, Feb 19, 2015

Monkey:

Witty, lively, flexible, humorous, curious

Feb 12, 1956, Jan 30, 1968, Feb 16, 1980, Feb 4, 1992, Jan 22, 2004

Rooster:

Shrewd, honest, communicative, motivated, punctual

Jan 31, 1957 Feb 17, 1969 Feb 5, 1981 Jan 23, 1993 Feb 9, 2005

Dog:

Loyal, honest, responsible, courageous, warm-hearted

Feb 18, 1958, Feb 6, 1970, Jan 25, 1982, Feb 10 1994, Jan 29, 2006

Pig:

Sincere, tolerant, hard-working, honest, optimistic

Feb 8,1959, Jan 27, 1971, Feb 13, 1983, Jan 31, 1995, Feb 18, 2007

Time for a musical break 

I give you...Bad Wool Rising! I'm sure you remember their hit "Read it to me, one more time"

(put on your favorite song and pretend Bad Wool Rising is playing it)

 

GIVEAWAYS

The year of the sheep is a year long event! I know, right!? On the 19th of each month we will have a giveaway. With the help of some awesome flock members, authors and publishers we are putting together some fun and unusual giveaways to help spread the smell.

*Shameless plea for stuff: We do have some months that need to be filled, so if you would like to be assimilated into one, let us know!

Special thanks for February's giveaways:

our special banner and other related graphics are courtesy of author Dani Harper! 

*Dawn Cavenee made enough Year of the Sheep t-shirts to give one away each month of the year!

*Author Linda Poitevin  made with her own hands, a wooly sheep hat.

Kerrelyn Sparks and  Kresley Cole donated signed books

What we are giving away for Februrary:
There will be two winners:
One INT/US winner will get #1 and #2
One US winner will get: #3-#6 

1. (INT) The tote bag with all the authors from Coastal Magic 2015 (list here). The swag on the bag on the left (but not the blank tote): post cards, magnet, Baaart ornament, Sheep Poo Paper bookmark, dragon food (gummy bears and cinnamon hearts)

2. (INT) Fun stuff: cell phone charm (middle pic close up), lucky candy, I Smell Sheep pen, Sheep lucky envelope (no money in it...duh!), moonpie, Kool Aid and special I Smell Sheep M&Ms!

3. (US only) Exclusive limited edition Year of the Sheep t-shirt (L, XL,XXL) donated by Dawn Cavenee! A warm and wooly hand made hat from Linda Poitevin!

4. (US 0nly)Signed book from Kerrelyn Sparks. A personally signed book from Kresley Cole (we don't know which book you will offered)

5. (US only)Books! 

Lady of the Eternal City (The Empress of Rome #4) by Kate Quinn
Abracadaver (Esther Diamond #7) by Laura Resnick
Wickedly Wonderful (Baba Yaga #2) by Deborah Blake
Jason (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #23) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Show Me, Baby: 1001 Dark Nights (Masters of the Shadowlands #9)
by Cherise Sinclair
Fire on the Island (Vigilati #1) by J.K. Hogan
The Strain and Hellboy from Dark Horse Comics

6. (US only) And OMFlockingG! Your very own Baaart.

Here is an example from assimilated author Linda Poitevin.

I can't even begin to express my love and horror for this.