I am super excited to share that I am going to the Brave Girls Symposium this July in Idaho and if you are going or plan to register to go, please let me know so that we can plan a meet-up. I would love to see you and for you all to meet each other. Just reading the information describing the event makes me feel relaxed.
Art Show The hotel public areas will be FILLED with our own Brave Girl Art Show works by Melody Ross and other participating artists, including many of our Speakers. Beautifully colorful, inspiring works of art. ยท
Collaborative Art Project Everyone will have the opportunity to participate in creating a giant art piece (bring a good set of markers or colored pencils with you)
Truth Card Making Find stations in the hotel lobby
Epic Speakers, Presenters & Panelists including... Glennon Doyle Melton, Keri & Richard Paul Evans, Melody Ross, Kelly Rae Roberts and more!
Shopping Boutique Vendor area Boot Trunk Show On-site screen printing for Brave Girl shirts, bags, aprons, etc. Direct shipping available from the hotel
Brave Girl Boot Fashion Show Everyone is invited to participate!
Outside Swimming, biking & walking on the 25-mile tree-lined Greenbelt along the river, watch kayaking at the Boise Whitewater Park (a short walk from the hotel), paddle-boarding, yoga, live music, relaxing in the sun or shade.
Soul Sessions with Melody Ross Included in the Thursday and Friday lineups.
Events are all together There are no breakout sessions or requirements to choose between events or speakers.
Expect surprises throughout!! All in Brave Girl style!
Did you read Melody's post about showing up? If you haven't or do not know Melody, you should. You just should.
I want to share this old photo of Mel and I sitting on the floor in a hotel room a long time ago.There were so many things going on in life for both of us. I have a kleenex in my hand and that kleenex reminds me of specific situations where whether she realized it or not, she was already teaching me (and many others) the importance of showing up.Don't hide from the things that are scaring you. When you are feeling stretched and uncomfortable, that is the moment you really know you MUST show up and put your faith over the fear.
Fridays are going to be dedicated to sharing ideas on how to help others and today I am kicking it off with a call for Brave Girls Truth Cards. I love this idea that Kathy & Mel (and the BG crew) have developed and this is a really easy way to share with others that they matter and they are loved..in fact, I am planning to host a BG Truth Card Making Party for my friends and want to encourage you to do the same. Here is a look at a few cards I made right after Kathy made the call for more cards... If you have taken my 52 Pickup class then you already know exactly what to do when it comes to creating cards, but if you haven't, there are easy instructions on how you can create cards by clicking here
If you are local (LA/Orange County, CA) and want to join in on making cards together, please email me at homegrown1(at)att(dot)net and I will let you know about my BG Truth Card Art Party!
Every once in awhile I am going to do a little round up and tell you about what is going on in my creative world, things I am working on, things I am loving and things that you can do. I will be also including these things in a newsletter, so don't feel like you are having a de'j'vu (or however you spell that!)
Creative Junk
Still carving away thoughts, ideas and plans to either teach in store, online or just sell these one of a kind stamps. Probably do a little of each..maybe.
Carved this little one last night and I like how it turned out. It does remind me of the stamps I have done with Purple Onion but the difference is, I made it. That is the best part. Not that "I" made it, but that it is handmade. You know what I mean. After carving one, well, I carved another and them stamped them on a hanging tag and played with a few more colors that I do not usually use. I like it..don't love it, but did not throw it away.
Speaking of throwing away, I have a winner from the "my out-of-the-trash stamp" on Monday! The winner is....
#1 or #3 I live in a rural area so #2 is not an option!I love Bon Jovi too!
Congrats Ann! Please email me your mailing address and I will get the stamp off to you..and thank you for loving Bon Jovi, too!
and speaking of Bon Jovi..if you watch American Idol next week, I believe it is the 14th, they perform on the show.
Classes
I am scheduling some classes near and far. Continue to watch here for more details. Coming soon is my "A Whole New Doodle Class" from last year that was previously found over on the Scrapbook News and Reviews site. An email will go out about that and the upcoming classes I am working on!
Do Something
As you know, I am passionate about "doing something" and I encourage you to look into doing something yourself!
This past Tuesday, the high school swim teams held a NEGU meet against the local rival school and it was awesome to see 100's of NEGU swimmers all come together for some friendly competition and gather toys and donations for Joy Jars.
Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer and the NEGU National spokesperson, Kaitlin Sandeno, Tina & I worked the booth, shared Jessie's story, talked about the Joy Squad and sold sweatshirts because it was FREEZING!!!
All of the swimmers showed great spirit and overall it was an awesome event! Thank you Trabuco and Mission swimmers....(and p.s"Way to go Blue!" we won the meet...whoot whoot)
To join the Joy Squad, click here and help spread JOY to a child every month of the year. Your contribution of $20.00 a month send a jar of joy once a month to children fighting cancer. During the month of March, every contribution will be matched! Double the joy!
Be sure to go to www.negu.org the check out all of the ways you can help, from donating toys to stuffing jars! There is alot that needs to be done!
Brave Girls/Dahlia House/She's Worth It
oh my, this is a big one, more that you are going to hear me speak about alot. Human Trafficking. bad bad bad, wrong, wrong, wrong, just plain disgusting.
BUT...
I am helping change that by joining in with an amazing group to help encourage, restore, empower and heal those sweet girls that have been rescued. One sweet brave girl at a time...and you can too, in fact we all can and we are.
Please consider a donation. Donate $10.00, 20..whatever you can to help buy a house. a HOUSE!?! a house that will provide safety, security and growth. Please consider donating. I am fund-raising myself for another worthy recovery program, but right now, I am asking you to maybe watch Mel, see what is going on and consider making a difference. Once the funds have been raised and the house is purchased, I am saying out-loud, right now, that I am going to go paint on that wall with Melody and crew and would LOVE to paint your name on a petal..watch the video..
okay, that is all for now..I am sure I could go on, but I will stop and let you enjoy your day!
I read and then highlighted the phrase "push back the darkness" in the book, Say Yes To God by Kay Warren. I am re-reading this book and am absorbing things differently then a couple of years ago and that phrase jumped off the page at me.
In my experiences, as I started to infuse and share my faith more and more through this blog, in my work and basically in my daily walk (although I stumble alot) I bet you will agree that when you do the right thing even when it is difficult, do what is best for others regardless of what you may feel or do what is counter culture to the worlds beliefs, things get ugly, conflicted and complicated. Sad by true, which makes no sense, because at the end of the day, don't we all want peace, a little comfort and a whole lotta joy?
Seriously, ya do something good and someone or something is always going to be standing by to shoot an arrow at you, try to squash you like a bug or just down right spit on you...gross, BUT here is the thing,
WE, me, you, us, them...are stronger than that (go ahead, sing the Kelly Clarkson song)
Here is what it takes..
Love...love one another - sometimes very easy, sometimes very hard but we all need to work together
Brave...because we are going to be worried, fearful and unsure..
Faith...because with HIM, everything is possible.
duh.
Here is what is going to happen:
When it is the right
combination, when things just fall into place, when things feel right,
when we are all on the same page and a little negativity rears its ugly
head..you know you are going in the right direction. It is not about Religion..it is about Relationship with God and with others. When you mix love, brave and faith, it is a blend and a bond strong enough to defeat and push back the darkness.
yay.
Makes you want flex your muscles and scream "bring it on" and sorry if you sing that Kelly Clarkson song all day long.
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."
