My One World One Heart Prize: A Soapstone Heart

Look what was in my mailbox this week!...

 

This lovely soapstone heart is one of the prizes I won in the recent One World One Heart bloggers event.  It came from The Adventures of the Arrogant Frog and the Smug Beef.  They describe their blog as "A French/english couple and their misadventures, thoughts, photos, favourite music, recipes, places to visit, views on history, culture…."

In case you're wondering what soapstone is, here is what Wikipedia says "Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a metamorphic rock...composed dominantly of talc...it is is relatively soft (because of the high talc content), and may feel soapy when touched, hence the name. Soapstone is used for inlaid designs, sculpture...traditional carvings."

Thank you so much for this wonderful gift!

Giveaway Alert

I won some wonderful prizes in the recent One World One Heart event (I'll post about them when I get them) and thought I would share some other giveaways I came across while blog hopping.

Tara @ Aquamarine Art is having a giveaway! You only need to leave a comment for a chance to win of a set of  her cards (aren't they great?) and an original painting. She will draw the winner next Monday.

 WOYWWer Jude at Crafts-International is also having a giveaway for her followers.  It includes all sorts of goodies, even some Tim Holtz items.






Sonya at Counting my Blessings is giving away some lovely fabric collages to celebrate her 100th post. Leave a comment for a chance to win, post about it for another chance and become a follower for a third chance.

Betsy at My Salvaged Treasures is giving away a collection of some wonderful vintage items.  Just a comment will get you a chance to win!

And the Winner for my One World One Heart 2011 Giveaway is...

What a wonderful (and busy) time I've had, visiting so many amazing blogs from so many different countries!   Thank you very much to everyone who visited me and joined my giveaway!  Your lovely comments truly warm my heart and encourage me in my art.  A heartfelt thank you to all my new followers!   What a thrill for me to now have 267 wonderful followers!

A big thank you to Lisa Swifka for organizing this awesome event.  Although this is the last One World One Heart event, she announced that there will be a new event called Our World Our Art in 2012!  You can sign up for a newsletter to keep you informed about the event.

I used the random number generator to pick the winner for my giveaway.  Did you notice that I finally got my comments to have numbers?  Yay, it makes picking a winner so much easier!

And the winner is...

Wipso!

Wipso is a mother of 3 and she spent 16 years taking care of children (hers and 35 other little ones, according to her profile).  Wow, isn't it fitting for her to win my giveaway of a mother and child?  She runs a very successful sewing business from home and there is always something interesting  to see in her blog when she joins What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW).

Congratulations, dear fellow WOYWWer, Wipso!  I do hope you enjoy your painting! 

One World One Heart 2011

 

The Giveaway is now closed.
Thank you for all your comments.
I will announce the winner in the next post.

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog,
where I like to think I am sowing seeds around the world -
seeds of faith, or hope or maybe, creativity!

It's finally time for the much awaited
international bloggers' event organized by Lisa Swifka,
One World One Heart,
where bloggers get to meet one another
by visiting one another's blogs. 

I hope you will enjoy your visit to mine.  

I wish you...

and all the other

in life.

As a mother,

 I remember well,
hoping for all of these for my baby.

As an artist,
one of my favorite themes is
the Mother and Child.

I make mother and child artist trading cards

as well as bigger works.

I also like painting and collaging bookpaper trees
(more trees in this post.)

To make my One World One Heart giveaway,
I used the technique I described in this post
and I also added a bit of lace and paper collage.

I am giving away an original 9" x 12" mixed media piece
of a mother and child and her tree of hopes and dreams. 

May this painting remind us to plant seeds, of faith maybe, or generosity, or wisdom, or goodness, with hopes that, like the leaves in this tree, these seeds will sprout and flourish in abundance, and bear fruit.

If you are a blogger and would like a chance to win my giveaway, please leave me a comment on this post and a way to get in touch with you if you win.  I will announce the winner on February 17th.  Since Lisa, the organizer of OWOH encourages us to have the giveaway open to bloggers only, I am following her recommendation (she is organizing it, after all). Even if you are not a blogger, I hope you will drop by and visit again, since my other giveaways are open to everyone.

Thank you so much for dropping by!  Now that you have visited me here in the Philippines, why not drop by the other blogs on the OWOH list!

 

from peggy aplSEEDS

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday: The Remains of Valentine's Day

 Some red colored material that was used to wrap a rose for Valentine's Day
(of course I must keep it for recycling into a project of some sort),

some fiber material that also came with the rose

(of course it also goes into the materials drawer),

a gift bow from a present from my hubby

(of course I must reuse on a gift for someone later),

extra heart stickers after I put one on a card I sent,

 "Belle", my childhood doll that my mom sent from her house

(oh look, she's dressed up in red for Valentine's Day as well!),

and extra red paper with punched out heart shapes

(I scattered little hearts around for my hubby to find)...

these are what's on my workdesk today.

Sorry, folks, no creativity going on here, I've been traveling around the

One World One Heart blogs (see the list on my computer screen?),

finding new blogs friends and hoping to win some giveaways.
Have you joined my OWOH giveaway?

Look into the other desks joining our  

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday link party.
I'm sure you'll find more creative desks than mine!

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday: Mother and Child Sketch

Last Wednesday I managed to hit the WOYWW jackpot and made it to #1 on the list!  It took me a while before I could believe my eyes!  I was so "chuffed", as some of you say (I learned this word from WOYWW). To celebrate (and take the chance to say "Happy WOYWW from #1 this week"), I tried to visit everyone, but alas, I ran out of time.  After all, I did have to do some art as well!

On my desk today is a very rough sketch of a mother and child  (Today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mommy!)

I made it while I was thinking of what to make for my "One World One Heart" (OWOH) giveaway.  I haven't decided yet but I have to start making it soon to finish in time for this bloggers event that will take place on January 30 to February 17 this year.


And here are some of the ATCs I finished this week...
 

(To find out what WOYWW is and to join in the fun, drop by Julia's Stamping Ground!)   Happy WOYWW, everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have been thinking about generosity since I visited the One World- One Heart blogs of so many generous people these past few days. Some of them gave away things that had obviously taken them so long to make, that I wondered how they could part with those beautiful handmade things. And visiting those sites made me feel like giving something away as well. Generosity is contagious, I thought. That's one of the reasons I started this blog. I decided I wanted to give something away in next year's event. But also, I decided I wanted to share a part of myself throughout the year - my thoughts, my art, my stories, my faith.

And the best example of generosity is God himself, who, as the often quoted verse in John 3:16 says, "gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." And why? Because He "so loved the world." It is not easy to give away something so precious, and as a parent, I know how precious my children are to me. How awesome to think about how much God loves us to have given us His Son. And God's love is far different from what many think love is when they say "I love you" to someone, especially on days like Valentine's day. And I wish that you will experience God's generous love in your life, and that you will strive to give this kind of love.

It is not always easy to love this way, generously, unconditionally. But I believe that we should strive to love this way. Generosity is contagious. Let the words in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 be our guide: "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Happy Valentine's Day!

Surprise Blessings! One World - One Heart

I visited all 911 sites participating in One World - One Heart, and after finding so many great blogs and making comments about the fantastic giveaways they were offering, I wondered if I would win even one thing. After all, I don't usually win anything.

Well, today has been a wonderful day of surprise blessings and I won some great giveaways!

I was so excited when I opened my email and saw Melanie's email with the subject: "OWOH winner". I am thrilled to be the winner of one of her multicolored glass bead necklaces and a surprise giveaway of a digital scrapbook. She will make the pages, have them professionally printed, and put them in a book all for me. Isn't that so wonderfully generous of her? Thank you so much, Melanie! Visit Melanie's blog at 88 Designs By M.

That would have been enough! But a few minutes later (yes, I admit I kept checking my email every few minutes), another email sent my heart jumping again. It was from Char (PawsN2Stamp) and it's subject was "Winner of OWOH giveaway." Wow! By then, I was practically jumping up and down with delight. Char decided to add 2 more albums to her giveaways and picked my name for the third one! Thank you so much, Char, for deciding to give away 3 of those wonderful flip flop albums!

As if that wasn't enough, I also won a lavender bouquet, lavender hydrosol/distillate, and mohair (which can be used for dolls' hair) from Cindy Jones of the Sagescript Institute. Isn't that great?!!! Thank you so much, Cindy!

And finally, another surprise (I could get used to this!) I won one of the "add-on" giveaways Susan decided to give. And I can even have a choice between 10 bookplates featuring the initial of my choice, 10 bookplates with a generic design or 2 bookmarks. She'll be sending me some pictures for me to choose from. How exciting!

Thank you, thank you, everyone who participated in this wonderful event, and thank you also to Lisa Swifka, the creator and host of One World - One Heart. All of you have encouraged and inspired me and it has been an amazing experience. I will be back to visit the blogs, and I hope to offer my own giveaway in next year's event!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been busy, busy, busy these past few days, spending late nights trying to visit all the blogs that have participated in One World - One Heart. And as I think about being busy, I remember another lesson I learned from my daughter. When she started walking, she often practiced and practiced and practiced. When I tried to hug her, she would squirm away. When I called her, she wouldn't come. She was just too, too busy. "How like me she is, Lord", I thought. "You long to spend time with me and I squirm away. You call me and I do not come. I am just too, too busy. Forgive me, Lord for the times I have been too busy for you. Teach me to be still and enjoy your love". "Be still and know that I am God". Psalm 46:10

One World - One Heart

I have spent the last few days visiting a lot of amazing blogs by a group of wonderfully talented and generous people. They are all participating in One World - One Heart, an event created by a wonderful lady, Lisa Swifka. It's a way to discover new blogs, and even new friends, all over the world. All you have to do is leave a comment and you get a chance to win some great giveaways. It's kind of addicting to people like me, so if you have deadlines or important things to do, well, I hope you have more self control than me. Check out the OWOH website and see what I mean.