The Colourguru

My first heARTfelt adventure

Well - I've done it - I shared my heART for the first time! What an adventure. I had an errand near the airport and because of the nature of it I had my DH with me. He's on board with my heARTfelt ADVENTURE - but still a bit sketchy about the details - but he was happy to drop me off and do a blockie & come back & pick me up (you can't really stop there - you have to go into the paid car park) I really imagined that I'd just easily drop my heART off somewhere and a traveller would pick it up and it would be on it's way to somewhere exotic and I would just go again. I didn't find it as easy as I thought to let it go - to leave it somewhere & not imagine it being not noticed or even worse - thrown out accidentally! You would be amazed how many ROUNDED things there are in an airport and it wouldn't sit there, just comfortably....... anyways - I dithered - and dithered - I kept being stopped because I was taking pictures for my story here - boy security is tight - even the person putting the flag up asked me what I was doing taking pictures - SURELY terrorists aren't posing as fat, red haired ladies are they???? The first thing I saw was a baggage cart - I tried it, but had trouble getting it to stay in the cart - the holes in the frame are quite big - & it fell out several times - even trying to get a pic of it. Then I thought about the seating - there were so many people there - and the seats were dark, so maybe it wouldn't be noticed (my heart was dark, reclaimed timber) - AND there were lots of people around, so it would be difficult to leave it & just slip away...I DO WANT THIS TO BE ANNOYMOUS.......I contemplated a Thomas the Tank engine child's ride - but maybe it'd fall off & fall on the ground and not be found for YEARS - til the machine broke down or something like that - ooo - the ladies toilet - GREAT idea - always lots of people in & out there - toooo busy - couldn't just leave it & go  -  hmmm......a public phone...DO PEOPLE STILL EVEN USE THOSE???? ..too tricky, it wouldn't stay there... a vending machine? Lots of people go there & SURELY they need LOVE......I couldn't get my hand down into the output slot which was as tall as a soft drink can - ok........autobank - YES - THAT's a good idea - every single surface is rounded - didn't work.........STRAIGHT PAST THE KRISPY KREME - do NOT pass GO - DO NOT COLLECT a doz. original glaze DONUTS!!!!......... mmmmm.....donuts......... uh??? where wus I.... oh yeah - the heART - the heART Keron - concerntrate - ok - so the flight lounge, the sunglasses shop, the bookshop, the cafe & the bar were all discounted for various imaginings that my mind conjured up and FINALLY - (all of this took an HOUR! and yes..... DH was fast becoming IM [impatient monster]....'common' Darhl - how hard can it be???? ) I left it on the floor in the lift - I left it there - then worried, and thought I should get it back from there - perhaps that was a dumb place & when the lift came back down, a woman with a pram and a couple of littlies came out of the lift and the heart was still on the floor - unnoticed - IT WAS MY heART for goodness sake - AND she didn't even notice - ok, I'm ok - that's ok - just then about 4 people came up altogether to go into the lift and I am just staring into it, not getting in the lift - but not letting it go - not sure whether to pick up my heART or not - and so they got in - and I released it, and it was gone......it's on it's journey now - I REALLY didn't expect it to be that difficult - I think that next time I will choose a bus stop@!!! LOL!!!

LOVE it FORWARD

  Sadly, the toll of our bushfires have increased hugely - with currently 173 known deaths, but many more people unaccounted for & thought to have also perished. Sad news & sader to come. 

I wanted to be a part of the answer and bring some LOVE into the world and share my heart........so I have started a new networking site called LOVE it FORWARD & I'd love you to be a part of it. 

Anyways – I have e-talked to Steph – and she has released me to run with it – I just feel that there are SO MANY people in the world right now that are down on their luck, facing financial challenges due to the economic meltdown the world is facing, a HUGE increase in the amount of people suffering depression – PEOPLE NEED LOVE – so what this networking site is about is randomly sending out into the world things you make with hearts on them (this makes it a HEARTfelt gift).  A RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS to someone known, or unknown.  Obviously they need to be made of something durable – obviously something that you can mark in some way that is permenant.  I am thinking wood, metal, cloth, etc

 It needs to have 2 things on it

 ‘I love You’ or ‘You are Loved’  AND loveitforward.ning.com

It’s your choice to just leave it somewhere like in a supermarket trolley, or on a train, or a bus, or in a letterbox – or pic a random address and mail it – or send it to someone you know – either anonymously, or identifying yourself if you want to.

The plan is to track the heart via the Ning network – to follow it’s journey – and to learn about how your love sent out into the world – makes an impact on people’s lives. 

To start with though, as a first project, I have a favour to ask –

  I’d love for you to make something for me to share with the Victorian Bushfire Victims.  On one of the early news reports there was a car, will a small child in it – had ash all on his face and hands, a snotty nose, tears streaming down his face, just babbling incoherently, (and he was probably about 4 or so and past babbling in any normal situation) – I JUST cried when I saw it.  I thought of our two darling Grandbabies and thought of how distraught either of them would be without their special ‘comforter’ (a teddy for one & a satin edged blanket for the other)…….and then I thought of all of the adults that would be feeling the same without their ‘special things’ (valuable or not)……..the idea of creating some ‘dolls’ to distribute to them came from wanting to do something meaningful.  Their more immediate needs of food and shelter and money are being taken care of by the emergency services and the government – but I am SURE that no one is thinking to make them beautiful things in a time of such ugliness.  I am hoping this will be a significant thing for them over time.

My original thoughts were that it was a specific doll pattern that I created – but I am just not getting my head around that at the moment – with so many dolls out there – I didn’t want it to be the same – and all of my existing designs are a bit too cottagy for my liking now (I designed dolls for about 5 years in my country phase in the early 90’s) – so I’ll hand it over to you – any kind of doll you like – only criteria – 6” or less high and it has a FELT heart on the OUTSIDE – so it is HEARTfelt!  Be mindful of decorative add ons for anything that may be for children (though these won’t all be for children) – for kids it is best all cloth & embroidery (without beads) & the inclusion of satin for littlies always goes down well.  (an old silk tie will work).

SO – cute, softie style, elegant, regular, irregular – over to you.

When you have made it/them, could you name your creation, & upload the pics to the photo album, and lets wait & see where it ends up…….where your heart will bring love to someone else.  Make sure it has

• ‘I love You’ or ‘You are Loved’
• loveitforward.ning.com

which gives people a chance to respond & share the journey of your doll.  When it's ready email me & I can give you my address to mail it to. I will take them in batches of 12-20 depending on how many I am sent.

If you could get onto it asap, that’d be great – although I am sure the need will go on for some time – people are going to be dispersed as they find other places to live while their homes and towns are being rebuilt.  Currently people are being housed in army tents on ovals.

It is TOTALLY possible that you may make something – send it out into the world – and you never hear anything ever again –  BUT – it is better to have loved, and lost, than to have never loved at all.

www.loveitforward.ning.com

oh, and don't forget to ask your friends.............LOVEly

WHEN you're HOT, you're HOT, when you're not, YOU'RE ON FIRE

I KNOW, that this post will be a bit rambling & drawn out, but PLEASE read to the end - I NEED YOUR HELP. It has been a weekend literally in the fires of hell here.   We, in Victoria are in the middle of a hideously hot patch of weather....tinderbox   dry......we are experiencing the hotest temperatures ever recorded in our weather history (?approx 150 years) - at 45.6C (115F) - and wind of 160km per hour - our state has been a bushfire waiting to happen.  ON SATURDAY IT HAPPENED.   I have hesitated to post for the last few weeks, to not take away from One Heart, One World - but now it's time for us to use our heart to share the love in the ART world (where we frequently care & share) - to the people in our community at large.  This VIDEO is a tiny taste of what we are experiencing everywhere around us.  News on the TV a couple of minutes ago - confirm 108 bodies, 750 homes destroyed and approximately 40 people with various degrees of burns in one of our metropolitan hospitals that has been now set aside to care for the burns patients that are still coming in as our state is still burning in several localities.  Over 330,000 hectacres of bushland and forests have been burnt out (I hectacre = 2.5 acres) There is lots more info here - I can't embed it because it's all news copywritten - but it's all pretty tragic.  The news flashes & special reporting is filled with people who have lost everything except literally the clothes on their back, many displaced, many of them don't know whether loved ones are alive or dead, and many of the dead, just haven't been found yet.  Incredibly sad - and worse than that - some of the first were deliberately lit.  I JUST DON'T GET IT  THIS is just ONE of the art treasures we lost.  The fires yesterday were at most 1/4 mile from our home, and we were safe ONLY because of the direction of the wind - if that changed - we would have lost everything (including my art) within a matter of minutes.........I am thankful........so thankful.   I want to help facilitate some light in a period of deep darkness in these poor people's lives - and I need your help. 

My DH & I have created some beautiful tactile wooden hearts in response to Stephanie Lees heart warming story of the Love passed between her parents via a heart that she made........the story is on the etsy page - WOULD YOU READ MY ETSY LOVE IT FORWARD page - and if you feel you can - buy a heart - and share your love with us in a fire ravaged State.  Share your Heart - LOVE it FORWARD.

Today I am in the process of creating a 'Heart Felt' Doll - I will have kits to purchase and a pattern to down load - would you make some and send them to me?????  There are literally thousands of people displaced without a thing except the clothes on their backs - in this situation - the practial things are taken care of, but a little loveliness amidst the black can bring so much joy - I know - I have experienced this myself over the last few months with jestures from special friends after Maddie died.  I will take them to the fire relief centres for distribution.

I HOPE TO HAVE THIS FINISHED AND POSTED WITH IN THE NEXT 12 HOURS.

You know, when Maddie died (our grandbaby - still born on 9/11) - it was such a beautiful thing that some darling group of ladies had made these lovely little satin bound wrap arounds with a message of hope attached, so that she could be bought to us to hold wrapped in love.  It was VERY touching and something that I'll never forget.  I want to share my heart - I want to love it forward - I want these dear folk to feel an outpouring of love from the art world. 

WILL YOU HELP ME LOVE it FORWARD?????