My New Toy from Wacom // Win a Tablet in my Illustration Competition

Hello everyone! Eeeeeks, this is so damn exciting, a blogpost about a really special cooperation!
I recently got contacted and asked if I was interested in receiving and testing a Wacom tablet and host a competition for giving away a second one. We thought about a few ideas and then this cooperation was born. I got two tablets c/o Wacom, one to keep and one for one of you lovely readers. I got the Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch M and the Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch S. I decided to keep the latter one and a lucky blog reader will get the first one, but more about this at the end of my blogpost. :)
When I was contacted by Wacom's PR agency, they told me they got attracted by my creative work, my past illustrations and the tutorial for how to turn a simple illustration into a print which I posted a few weeks ago. Before I first heard about the Wacom tablets, I knew that these things excitest, but I never really thought about them, neither did I recognize which new doors they could open for me concerning my creative work. The more excited I was when I did some research and when we then started talking about this cooperation, I couldn't wait getting started! :)
When the tablets arrived, I couldn't wait to try them out and first of all to find out which size works best for me. After unpacking both, I installed the software and it was super easy to get started (well, to be honest, at first I tried getting started without the installation cd - what a dork - and wondered why the pen didn't work... :)) and to find out how it works. During the first few minutes, working with this pen instead of a mouse was a bit strange, but I got used to it really quick and now I simply LOVE it!
This pen can perfectly substitute your normal mouse and it makes photo editing sooo much easier, because the pen is way more sensitive and responsive.
When I first opened photoshop with it, I made a few doodles (upper left photo) and of course it looked as if I had made it in paint. ;) But no one becomes a master without practicing and only a few hours of working with this tablet made a huuuge difference. 
What I absolutely love is that I can now add notes and doodles to my photos, thus using my handwriting and showing off my really personal style, this is fantastic!
Moreover, writing onto photos adds a super personal touch and makes them look fresher and more fun.
The very best thing is that - with some practice - I can now make illustrations directly with the tablet, because this electronic pen substitutes my normal pen and I do not have to scan every sketch and illustration. Instead, I can make them directly on my laptop and finish everything in photoshop. Of course there will still be days when I traditionally draw by hand or make sketches on the train, simply using pen and paper, but now having this new technology makes many things easier and offers a wide range of new opportunites for me.
What is more, I love learning new techniques and skills and I'm always so happy about enlarging my horizon and doing something I haven't done before, there's hardly anything more satisfying! :)
After some first doodles, I made this simple illustration only using my tablet, I made it about an hour after I first got started, so you can see the progress which can easily be made with some practice. :) Wow, so much fun!
On my second day working with the tablet, I drew the four items on this Christmas card, also only using my tablet and pen. Only the letters have been added as normal font in photoshop. I'm super happy about the progress I have made within only one day and I can't wait to try out more and to make hundreds of cute illustrations and I'm super thankful for this new toy I can now call my own! :)
When I had to decide which tablet to keep, I decided on the smaller one, because my workspace isn't that huge, my laptop isn't, too, and I like working at different places, so it's important to stay flexible and not to need too much space for the tablet.
The features of both sizes are the same and as you can see in this blogpost, they offer lots of varieties for design and photo editing. After this one day of using my tablet, I even got used to do normal photo editing (like adjusting colors, contrasts and brightness) with the tablet, because it's much better to handle than the normal mouse.
How much I love my new toy! :)
So after reading all of this, I hope you are now super inspired and want to get started with your own illustration and maybe the following competition will be interesting for you:
Get creative and make your own Christmas illustration!
Design a recipe card, a gift tag, a postcard, your personal wishlist, a piece of wall art or anything else which comes to your mind and is related to the upcoming holiday season and then win a Wacom tablet and prints of your illustration. Here's how it works and what you need to do in order to take part (make sure to read the conditions carefully!):

Because I wanted to have equal chances for advanced people and those who are new to this, you can either make your illustration by hand and then scan it or take a good photo of it or you can make it on your computer and even use a tablet, do it any way you like! This illustration competition is not about technical perfection, but it is about a pretty, original, creative and aesthetic idea for a Christmas illustration and it's more about what you make of it than about how technically advanced you are!

So be creative, make an illustration and blog about it (yes, you need a blog in order to take part in this competition, but if you don't already have one, feel free to create a new blog) and link my blog and Wacom in this blogpost, telling your readers about this competition. Then post the link to your blogpost in the comment section below this artice until next Sunday, December 8, 6 p.m. and also leave your e-mail adress. I will then decide on the three winners.

One person will win the tablet and the people with the three most creative and original illustrations will also get them professionally printed. So this is what you can get:
First place: a Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch M (worth 199€) and 40 prints of your illustration
Second place: 30 prints of your illustration
Third place: 20 prints of your illustration

The winners will be contacted by December 10.

So here's your checklist for taking part in this competition:
- Make an illustration (by hand or on your computer)
- Blog about it and link to Wacom and my blog and mention this competition
- Post the link to your blogpost below this article in the comment section
- One entry / illustration / submission per person
- Don't forget to also leave your valid e-mail adress in the comment section
- This competition ends on Sunday, December 8, 6 p.m.

Can't hardly wait to see your ideas!

Lu

P.S.: Thank you a lot to my dearest friend Anja who took those photos of me working on my desk with my new tablet. :)
P.P.S.: Although this blogpost / the items in it are sponsored, this doesn't touch my personal opinion and of course I only write what I really think, getting a tablet for this cooperation does not change this!