The deadline for submitting an entry in The Nest’s First Annual Contest of Whatever has come and gone! Did you get your squirrel, possum and unicorn creation in on time? Tomorrow, the winners will be announced to much joy and celebration, and a few jeers from the losers.
So why don’t you kill me?
A quick count of the pingbacks I received on my contest announcement post shows that there were 13 entries… fittingly my favorite number! I will now link to the posts of all 13 contest entries and say a few impartial words about each entry. You can judge for yourself which entry is the best and cheer on your favorites….
I will post the entries in random order. Since there were 13, I assigned each entry to a playing card like so:
I’m not really a squirrel, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
And drew the posting order at random. I will use this same method and card designations tomorrow morning to choose the second chance random drawing winner.
A winner is you!
And now for the thirteen official entries in the First Annual Contest of Whatever!
Truer words were never uttered.
Juliette managed to weave the required animal trio into one of the magnificent tales of life and romance from the perspective of the modern vampire that she is well known for. If you love baby unicorns, petting possums, and squirrels being squirrels… you will enjoy this entry. Well, you should enjoy it anyway!
Please note: The possum has telepathic powers!
Alice’s daughter Thing Two decided to get in on the contest, probably knowing she could do better than her mother. She drew this picture of a Uni-kitty named Possum. What an awesome name! There is also a story to go along with it involving wizards, Batman, and origami Yoda collections…
DJ didn’t have an image to go along with his story, so here’s my award winning Little Prince drawing again…
Being the master of fiction, DJ contributed a short story of a squirrel and possum encountering a magical unicorn. What they each did when offered one wish by the unicorn may surprise you, though the ending is no surprise to anyone who knows a possum!
Impaling possums is always near and dear to my heart!
Alice already had Squirrel and Sad Poneh… er, Unicorn as mascots, so all she needed to do was throw in a possum and voila! She describes her drawing in more detail in the entry post, but I can never look past that possum, who looks like he’s just been forked by the branch through the gut. I am always dreaming of new ways to off Buster…
I could totally see this painted on the wall of a daycare center.
Goldfish is a master at creating the absolute cutest drawings of pretty much any critter you can imagine. I was quite pleased that my contest finally got her to embrace draw a possum! Isn’t he adorable? She assembled her critters in front of this colorful background, and I assure you the sun isn’t the only one with a huge smile on its face as it takes in this scene!
Sam is as awesome as her mother is!
C.K. went for the kill in her last minute entry and crafted a story that incorporated many in the blogging community, as well as a number of shoutouts to the worlds both of our blogs revolve around. You’ll find everything but police car dancing here… and it’s not even finished yet! I can’t wait for Part 2 (and neither can Brett the zombie killer)…
Love is the answer.
Yelloz and Servant Z submitted a charming story of love and treasure acted out by the characters above. A unicorn and a possum impostor share a secret love for each other that they only discover after they gain and lose a fortune.
Check out our awesome new ride!
Aunt Sharon pulled out all the stops with a crocheted version of each animal… offering up a Rainbow Donkey using the awesome pattern from Squirrel Picnic (see sidebar), one of her signature glove squirrels, and a genuine Australian common brushtail possum! Very cute and colorful!
Where are my nuts!?!?
Draliman, who is legendary for his short stories sprinkled with dark humor, offered up a story of a poor squirrel who had lost his nuts, and a possum who was enjoying the humor of the situation all too much. Be sure to check out the Dralidoodles of each animal in the story as well!
Nothing is more charming than getting the creatures of the forest a little tipsy…
Grandmalin’s trademark character Just Jazzy partying with my three favorite critters and a little wine! This is just too perfect and cute!
Haiku is beautiful, just like me!
I put up no constraints on the type of art form one could submit, and Judah chose the minimalist approach of a haiku. It has all three required animals in it, so it’s good to go! And this was the only poetic offering in my contest.
The only image I have that even remotely goes with a squirrel in a bar…
Merby’s story starts off like a joke… “A squirrel walks into a bar”. To find out what happens next, just go to her post and read it yourself! It’s high comedy…
Buster has never looked better!
Finally, there is Youngatfifty, who crocheted a topsy-turvy doll that is a squirrel and possum all in one! She even based each critter’s design on my characters ES and Buster. Also included is the head of a Rainbow Donkey. Make sure to click on her entry to check out these creations!
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So there you have my very first contest’s entries! May the best and luckiest submissions win!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
How are you going to pick a winner? I am so glad I don’t have such a huge task! I would say your first contest went the way of the much loved nut. Um, slightly salty and crunchy. 🙂
My favorite is CK’ and GS’s…I think.
It is very hard to choose any one, though I do have a couple favorites. I am enlisting some outside, impartial help (I hope) to help choose the merit winner. The cards will decide the second winner, which was why I encouraged everyone to submit an entry, even if they thought the idea wasn’t worthy…
As you know, I can’t draw for shit. The best I could do is tell a joke. I thought of it while I was taking a bath. 😀
Mine doesn’t have to be a favorite of yours, I’m still Best Blogging Buddy….um, right? 😉
Ummmmm, no.
That’s Bestest Blogging Buddy, dear! 😉
Yay!!!! Who needs to win a silleh contest anyways! 😉
And ALICE’S of course. Haha. Yeah, they are all really awesomesauce. I am just hoping for a wild card!
I’m torn between three, don’t envy you for having to narrow it down. 🙂
It’s going to be a tough call, that’s for sure!
Wow. That’s some stiff competition.
Yes. No matter who I pick, there’s going to be some deserving entries that end up on the outside….
I’m torn between Gentle Stitches and Young At Fifty. They physically created something completely original in less than three weeks! Impressed.
What a talented bunch of bloggers you have following you. I’m impressed. I didn’t enter because I am extremely NOT gifted in this area. Delighted to see the cool entries you got. Good luck judging. I could never judge. Too afraid everyone would hate me when I elevated one over another. You are far more secure and self confident, than I, right? Of course.
LOL, I hope so! If not, I at least hope I get some interesting hate mail from the losers…
I loved the exhibits of artistry! Great job of promoting this and getting wonderful responses, too! Smiles, Robin Hope you have a rainbow filled week, Evil S.!
Thank you!
Yay! I can’t wait to check all these entries out!. Thing Two will be thrilled to be mentioned once again, no matter what you choose. Thanks. And may the best Alice – um, may the best one win! Also, I really want some knitted cuties of my own! I already got GF to draw me a Sad Pony and Squirrel, I figure it’s only a matter of time until I can pay and/or whine myself into some knitted work too.
Your contest turned out well! Congrats!
Thanks! I think a knitted Boppo would be awesome…
Haven’t gotten cooperation out of David yet so we didn’t make it in time for the contest. If I ever get him to do something with the three characters though, I promise to still share it with you so that you can see it. 🙂
Good luck to all who did enter though! The entries are great and were fun to read and look through. 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Oh my! I am also torn between between 3. I love Gentle stitches for making your creatures come to life. Goldfish added a rainbow and REALLY cure drawings. And the addition of wine in Grandmalins entry was tempting. But I think I have to go with Gentlestitches!
You would love grandmalin’s Jazzy illustrations, they always include wine!
Cute
I don’t envy you having to pick a winner, ES! I wouldn’t be able to decide out of all the entries, they’re all great!
I know, this is so tough! Next year I’m just going to ask for bribes. That will at least make the judging a whole lot easier… 😉
They are all so great!!! What fun!!!! I rather like youngatfiftys rendition of ES but I am really glad i don’t have to choose.! 🙂
I will probably be thinking about it all night at work… then still not know who I’m going to choose when I get home in the morning!
You know what is more great (greater than great!) to participate? It is the most amazing thing to be among the amazing other entries!!! I’m reading them all now, with crazy excitement! I already know Draliman’s, since he is the reason why I’ve had the courage to enter!
If I’m to count anything, I always say J, Q and K right after 10! That is my point of destruction for the routine codes of friends 🙂
I loved your announcement page! Thank you for a colorful touch in my life!
Servant Z & Yelloz
LOL! So Ace counts for one and fourteen! 🙂
You have a wide range of amazing talent showcased here … fiction, painting, drawing, doodling, poetry, crochet !!! It is difficult to judge although a couple of them do stand out 😀 All my best to fellow competitors !
Yes, the variety of the entries was very pleasing! Alas, I got no interpretive dance submissions!
dance submisssions would have been so interesting 🙂
Great contest, ES! 13 entries make this a success no matter who wins. Very fun challenge too. Thanks for letting us all participate! I’m looking forward to what you cook up next.
Thank you for participating!
Goldfish gets my vote (you know, like if I had one….ha!) because he 1.) obviously holds the same opinion I do of possums and 2.) shows his work.
First runner up (if for any reason the winner is unable to fulfill their duties….and by that I mean poses for Penthouse….) would be draliman because who doesn’t love nuts and plenty of ’em?
Drali’s got some dandy stories. He makes my Buster offings look like kiddie lit. Goldfish may want to be referred to as a she.
Thanks for your feedback, Fanny! GF was one of my finalists, and I’m kinda glad she nabbed the second chance drawing…
Come on Ace!! It’s like being two cards at once. I’m high and low. Muahahahaha.
But, yeah, going to have to hope for the random draw victory because I think CK’s got the “merit” win wrapped up nicely. I mean, she included a clip from The Court Jester… it doesn’t get better than that.
CK had a very worthy entry (when I read it, I was sure I would choose it… then again, I thought that while reading most of the submissions)… I do hope she still finishes it!
I’m sure she will. 😀
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They all have personality, energy and light! I think the unicorns in various versions are all lovely along with the extra critters, too! Smiles, Robin