Happy Holidays Everyone

My wish for everyone this Christmas season would be that everyone could believe in themselves, that there are potential opportunities, their choices and art.

http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,

and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus!

It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.

There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry,

no romance to make tolerable this existence.

We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight.

The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.”

Naughty or Nice

Naughty or Nice was the theme for this month’s ABAlteredArt site.

Perfect excuse to create a special Christmas decoration.

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas....

A little bit more from my
Secret Santa
project

Kit & Caboodle - Thank You

Kit & Caboodle was a big day full of all kinds of excitement that I want to express my thanks to everyone who attended the event.


We had lots of fun and did all kinds of wild things with paper that people might not have imagined they could do before.


At the end of the day everyone walked away with lots of their own ideas on how to take the lessons learnt and launch them into their own papercrafts.

Secret Santa

Part of my Secret Santa Project Shush !

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.

To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."

Calvin Coolidge

Kit & Caboodle

One day paper crafts & techniques event/marathon.
Everyone was excited about the different types of art on display.

Sand & Seaweed

S Themed Challenge

Seashells, Stamps, Seaglass, Starfish, Sheetmusic

I am standing here on the shore
Seemingly alone but in my mind
I am never truly alone
Standing here strong and unmoving
Bravely weathering the storms
Sending out a beacon of light
(rick mantle)

Looking Forward

Page from Book Of Me.

2006 is drawing to a close, time to reflect on challenges overcome and plans not yet realised but next year is a new year full of possibilities.

2007 will have a new theme song from Robert Lewis Stevenson.

“ To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive. ”

Dare To Dream

A Butterfly's Courage

For a book of me entry on inspiration

A Butterfly's Courage by David L. Kuzminski

Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia in 1977, I saw a water puddle ahead on the path. I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water and mud. As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked!

Yet, I did nothing, for the attack was so unpredictable and from a source so totally unexpected. I was startled as well as unhurt, despite having been struck four or five times already. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Instead of attacking more, he hovered in the air on graceful butterfly wings in front of me.

Had I been hurt I wouldn't have found it amusing, but I was unhurt, it was funny, and I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly! Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He rammed me in the chest with his head and body, striking me over and over again with all his might, still to no avail. For a second time, I retreated a step while my attacker relented in his attack.

Yet again, I tried moving forward. My attacker charged me again. I was rammed in the chest over and over again. I wasn't sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time. After all, it's just not everyday that one is attacked by a butterfly. This time, though, I stepped back several paces to look the situation over. My attacker moved back as well to land on the ground. That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier.

He had a mate and she was dying. She was beside the puddle where he landed. Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it upon himself to attack me for his mate's sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should I have been careless enough to step on her. Now I knew why and what he was fighting for.

There was really only one option left for me. I carefully made my way around the puddle to the other side of the path, though it was only inches wide and extremely muddy. His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate's safety justified it. I couldn't do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the puddle. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed. I left them in peace for those last few moments.

Since then, I've always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge obstacles facing me. I use that butterfly's courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

My footnote is a wish that we might all know that quality of love at some stage in our lives, our parents, a pet, a friend a lover, someone who thinks we are worth the effort. Dedicated to recently departed friends.