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It is Friday and Fridays are for fun.  It was just four short years ago that I held the first ever virtual pumpkin carving contest. The rules were simple but most people couldn't follow them or they cheated or maybe a little of both.

The next year I said things would be different, but it was pretty much the same. People sent entries late, or to the wrong email address and there was the usual whining complaining and cheating.  The year after that I said things would be different.  They were not any different.

This year things will be different.  In the past the pumpkins had to be carved using the free paint program that comes with windows computers. Even though someone actually used the program to create a replica of the Mona Lisa most who entered the contest couldn't use the program at all and we got into the whole thing about the fruity computers that have a different program on them.

Times have changed so this year all entries  will be carved or  decorated would be more accurate using Picnik.com, you do not need a premium account and Picnik.com has a free version.  All you need is internet access and a web browser.  There will be a grand prize this year, a one year Picnik.com premium account. I used my account and of course my camera to create the photo in this post. . . and maybe a computer and a keyboard and probably my mouse but you get what I mean.

So here are the rules.  They seem really simple to me but I am willing to answer questions if you can't figure them out.  Just don't push your luck by asking more than one question.

1. Use the graphic of the pumpkin that I have provided.  Let me explain that a little more clearly, use the graphic of the pumpkin that I have provided in this post.

2. Upload the pumpkin . . one from this blog post but not one that is in the photo across the top and they are already carved.  Load it into Picnik.com and decorate it any way you want to.

3. Entries are due no later than 5:00 PM CST on October 29th. Send them to: teresa(at)TBoardman.com, it is always a good idea to remove the (at) and replace it with @.An entry is the Pumpkin after you have decorated it.

4.Entries will be posted on this blog on October the 30th. Readers will vote on which one is the best and people will cheat. The cheating part really isn't a rule but it will happen and you should be aware of it. I will do everything I can to make it so people can only vote once but chances are I will screw that up too. 

5.  The winners will be announced on October 31, 2009 because it is Halloween and because I said so.

Entries are limited to one for each contestant and I will accept the first 40 entries.

Kelley Kohler (AKA Housechick) doesn't have to follow these rules because her entries are always the best and  she does stuff differently.

Now for the fine print:

here it is. This is a seven point font and you need to read it very carefully. Anyone can enter this contest and not follow the rules and I probably won't follow the either. Enjoy!