Homegrown Hospitality

Happy Easter!

Overflowing

...with excitement and love for news that the Dahlia House is going to be purchased, for the amazing power of 50,000 Brave Girls and for wholehearted friends that have a desire and a passion to make a difference.

Dreams are becoming a reality and I am proud to be a tiny part of it.  It isn't over, but has just begun. Lisa & I  have two more days of raising money  and want to thank you each one of you that have contributed to the fundraiser efforts for She Matters with your monetary donations and with the purchase of the necklace.  There are 64 left to be sold to get to the 10,000 mark and I encourage you to go take a look, maybe order one and wear it with pride that you are part of an amazing movement and with HOPE for the girls. 

Gotta Have Hope

Personally and creatively, I am not all about the colors of spring but I do know what they represent besides the color of peeps and jellybeans...

therefore, I am giving them equal opportunity EVEN THOUGH THEY PUSH ME AGAINST MY COLORING COMFORT ZONE.Sometimes we all need a reminder of the bigger picture, a little push against the grain and a whole bunch of HOPE...

because how gray things may seem, no matter what..everything will be okay...Just gotta have HOPE.

Whom Much Is Given.

We are all loved.

I am, you are, she is.

We all are.

NO MATTER WHAT. And while we may know that, they don't.  They are the girls, women and children, that are being trafficked.

I am trying to educate myself on the whole issue of human trafficking by reading articles, reading books and talking with friends that have been in the trenches but am having a hard time getting my mind wrapped around the entire thing.  I am at the point where maybe I do not need to understand it all, I just need to show up and be there, that I need to TRUST God in the things I don't understand and remember this verse:

"Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater" Luke 12:48

You and I, we are "those whom much is given" and it is our responsibility to help.  Locally and globally and we can not think, "well, who am I ? " or " I am only one person" or " I can't make a difference" because we are the "whom much is given" and we can.

Maybe we can't get ourselves onto a talk-show to talk about it, stand in front of congress and fight for it or raise millions of dollars to go towards it, but we can do something.

"Each one should use whatever gift he's received to serve others."  Peter 4:10

This is the last week of the She's Worth It Fundraising Campaign and I invite you to go take a look at all of the amazing things the money raised will go towards, including the Dahlia House.

We are all better together and together we will teach her that she is loved and she is worth it, and so are YOU!

Daring Greatly

Did you watch Brene Brown on Super Soul Sunday the past two weeks?  So many bells were ringing with me that my ears are still humming. You can watch the full episodes here.

I am a HUGE fan of her book, The Gifts of Imperfection, and my copy has more highlighted pages than not. In fact, I wrote out this quote on my planner page for this coming week.

The next book on my list is Daring Greatly, which I pre-ordered and have had for quite some time. I did start reading it but have not gotten past the first couple chapters. I keep starting and then stopping...starting again and then stopping again. Hmmmm....Note to Self: Time to Dare Greatly.

What is it time for you to do?

Bloom

Like everything else, things take time to grow and not everything flourishes.  It all starts with a seed, good soil, water, patience and faith.

In time, everything will bloom that is supposed to and so I start on a new journey of growth. No, I am not pregnant...I am taking a new leap in a creative direction, am learning to be confident in my work and moving forward.

I am ready to grow.

Updates, New Things and Looking Forward

As mentioned just the other day, there are lots of creative things going on here that I am not quite ready to share yet, but I can give you some updates. 

All of the Erase Human Trafficking orders are just about carved and will be shipping out this weekend!  Thank you for your support and love with helping out!
New Online Doodle Workshop coming soon...IMPORTANT NOTE: This class, A Whole New Doodle,  was previously sold and offered at Scrapbook News & Review.  THIS IS THE SAME CLASS with a few added coloring pages, just for you!.  It is no longer available at that site and I am now offering here for those who did not have a chance to take it.

This class will be released in April and there will be a limited amount of starter kits that will include my favorite markers, paper and liner pens for an addtional price. Details coming real soon...

Thanks for your patience..and a little something that I doodled for myself as a reminder and thought this too needed to be shared...Note to Self (you): Even when I (we) can't see what is going to happen, I (we) must continue to .. Have a GREAT day!

Note To Self: Do It

I write these things in my planner for myself, but I don't want to be selfish so I thought I'd share the reminder..
                                "Keep your heart on the right path" Proverbs 23:19

Around Here

SUPER RANDOM non-creative THINGS going on around here right now... Around here, I have been constantly listeining to the new Bon Jovi album, so much that I think I know most of the words to most of the songs.  Did you see them on American Idol, ME too....and did you see them on the Katie Couric show?  ME, too! Have I mentioned that I LOVE Bon Jovi?  On my bucket list is to go volunteer at the Soul Kitchen and work with the JBJ Soul Foundation.  Anyone reading this that lives in New Jersey and could help me with out, I would apreciate it.

Around here, I have been watching The Bible on the History Channel.  Have you? So good...so glad Jesus came this week..and He is so handsome!  Am I allowed to say that? I can imagine that if you are not a believer, you could watch it as a history program, but man, we think our world these days are screwed up...dang, so was it back then, bad  It makes me even more thankful for our free choice to believe and let me shout an amen for miracles..whew!  I am also convinced, as I have mentioned before, that the BRAVO & creators of the RHW could create a "The Real House Wives of the Bible" too. 

Around here, I have been sitting on the sideline of the pool watching my big boy swim like I have never seen him swim.. Around here, I have been drinking green every morning  and really really really been eating green, green, green, with the occasional burrito from Del Taco.

Around here I have been coloring with many shades of green as well Around here we have been celebrating milestone birthdays of our neighbors, which are our friends, some turing 1...some turning a little older.. okay, and around here I have been carving, stamping, coloring, cutting, designing and focusing on a whole lotta new things..... oh and Coco got a summer cut.
Sorry for being so vague...more to tell you about creatively..soon.

No Pun Intended

Thank you for all of your awesome comments about my recent discovery for the love of carving rubber stamps!  I am really trying to work on some type of class/video/workshop to reach all of you and have come up with an idea, at least for today.

These were done yesterday after I bought Target out of erasers.  When I finish carving something, it looks awesome (at least I think it does) and I don't mean, my work is awesome, I mean the look of the carving looks awesome..

Now, in order to sell them to you, unless I add a stamp of ink onto them, I won't know if they are just right.   Here is an example of the "love" stamp :After I finish carving, I really need to ink the stamp up to see what needs to be trimmed & cleaned up a little. (I added little arrows so that you can see what I am talking about )Without trimming, this is what it looks like stamped, which is not that bad, but could use a little love (no pun intended) So here is the issue, or better, the question I keep asking myself.  Is someone going to want to buy a stamp that is stamped once or would they rather buy one that has lots of slight imperfections?  I can't please everyone and so my answer is, I would rather stamp it once and make sure it is just right in its own hand carved way then take a chance of someone buying a stamp, getting it home, stamping it and finding that the tiny heart in the middle of the letter "o" looks more like a piece of oatmeal than a heart!

So, here is my idea for the day...
Most of you know that I am working with a few groups to spread awareness and raise money for girls that have been rescued from human trafficking both locally and internationally and to actually purchase a house in Manila called the Dahlia House. 

Last night I carved a special stamp to create 100 cards for special girls that need to know that they are loved and they matter and it gave me an idea:

ERASE HUMAN TRAFFICKING

no pun intended.

I am going to carve eraser stamps that measure 2 1/2 x 1 and sell them for $20.00.  $10.00 of each stamp will be donated to the organizations that I am raising money for.  There are 4 choices. 

• love
• faith
• home
• flower

There will be a limited amount so that I can make sure to get each one done and sent off to you, and they will be stamped once to make sure that your stamp is just right. In addition, that one stamp will be hand colored and sent with your stamp! Please remember that each one of these stamps is hand carved, so there will be slight difference in every single one of them.

Let's raise money together and help the rescued girls erase the life they had before...so that they live the life they were created for!

SOLD OUT {FOR NOW}...as soon as orders have been carved, stamped and sent then more will be available! THANK YOU all for your help!