When Courtney asked me to play along with the launch of her book latest book, Paper Hearts, I said yes immediately without even reading the book. Here is a little blurb about Paper Hearts:
Abigail Pressman would never have guessed that love notes penned on paper hearts by an anonymous couple could restore her belief in love. As a business owner in a quaint town at the base of the Rockies, she’s poured everything into dreams of expansion . . . and resisting the matchmaking efforts of the Valentine Volunteers, who gather in her store to continue Loves Park’s tradition of stamping mail with the city’s romantic postmark.
When Abigail is unwillingly drafted into the Volunteers, she encounters the paper hearts, a distraction that couldn’t come at a worse time. A hard-to-read doctor has become Abigail’s new landlord, and he’s threatening to end her lease to expand his practice.
As she fights a growing attraction to this handsome man crushing her dreams, Abigail is inspired to string the hearts in her store, sparking a citywide infatuation with the artsy trend. But when a new batch of hearts reaches the Volunteers, it appears something tragic has happened to the couple. Will uncovering their story confirm Abigail’s doubts about love, or could it rescue her dreams . . . and her heart?
Personally, I have been working on NOT jumping the gun and answering YES when asked to do things BUT because it was Courtney (and I LOVE her books) I knew I wanted to. She "asked me for what she needed" and I said Yes.
I have to admit that I have not finished reading the book yet but wanted to throw in my own spin on the topic "Ask for what you need" topic because I do not do that and I need to. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one that does not ask. I will be the first one to offer help to someone and force myself on them to help with what they need BUT (darn big buts) I am the last one to ask for what I need. I forget or I make excuses that "I will" and then I don't.
I need to be specific with God, too.
YIKES..that is a big one.
Sound familiar?
Now that it is my turn to share with you how I tied in the "Paper Hearts" theme with the "Ask For What You Need" quote, I wanted to show you what I made to remind myself (and others) to remember to ask.
First I doodled out the "Ask for what you need" quote onto a piece of watercolor paper. BEFORE I added color to it, I scanned it in black and white:
Once I had that done, I added a little watercolor to brighten it up a bit: Then I sat and looked at it for a bit and thought about the quote, what it means and what I need to start doing.
I was not real sure what the next step was going to be but I knew that I needed to tie in the hearts. The paper that I doodled on and water-colored was small so I created a worksheet that holds four of the same print. I loaded my home printer with card stock and printed it.
I knew that if I die cut the paper or simply cut shapes with scissors that one side of the paper was going to be printed and the other side would be blank so I re-printed my paper so it printed the same image on BOTH sides.
What a great idea!!!..I know !
Using my Banners & Hearts die from Sizzix, I cut out lots of double sided hearts. Now do not worry if you do not have a heart die, simply use a stencil, template or freehand hearts and cut them with scissors. Once I had my hearts cut out, I grabbed my sewing machine and started sewing the hearts together, right down the center to create a garland of hearts.
Don't sweat it here either of you do not have a sewing machine. A needle and thread work just perfect and you do not have to go down the entire center of the heart. Just run the needle through one of the top humps of the heart and string them that way.
Well, I have my little garland of hearts hanging right where I can always see them as a constant ( and pretty dang cute) reminder to "Ask for what I need"
Thanks for stopping by. If you create something based on this idea, I would love to see it. You can email me at homegrown1(at)att(dot)net
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tag me on IG at http://instagram.com/stephanieackerman1/
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Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.ackerman1 You can download and print out my art (on both sides of the paper!) to create your own garland Download Paperheartsaskforwhatyouneedbut PLEASE do not duplicate or sell the art. Thank you.