The power of thought & give away

 I am starting a series of posts with the hope of generating a little discussion. I want these short posts to be an opportunity for me and you both to stop and pause from our hectic life's. Just take a moment to reflect on the question and if you have any thoughts or feelings you would like to share that would be awesome!

I found this picture on Google images and the site it was on had a good short article on the power of thought.


I will also be making quotes to go along with the topic of my question. Please feel free to take them and use them, but of coarse if you're putting it on another site just give The SIP Project credit for making it.  If you would like me to e-mail (as an attachment) you one of these quotes let me know, I would be happy to. Oh... and which one do you like better?

 How does controlling your thoughts relate to being a charitable and positive person or influence? 


Here's the thing if we want to be positive and see positive changes around us and in our communities it starts with us. It starts small and it takes a conscious effort. It takes a lot of effort at first but the more we practice the better we become at it. I truly feel that if we have a hard time seeing the good in those we are around most or have a hard getting along with those we around most making changes on a larger scale will not be as easy or as natural. It starts in the home and in the natural flow of things it won't be able to  be contained it our homes it will flow outward to the other parts of our lives. 


I don't know if I am making sense to anyone but myself but I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on the matter. 




I have also been thinking it's time for a give away. Since I am kicking of this series of posts I think it appropriate to giveaway one of my favorite books. James Allen's book As a man thinketh. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment about the above question. The winner will be announced January 7th.
                     
                           

Photo flower tutorial and giveaway

This is what we will be making. Okay...I know the pic isn't the greatest of the felt flower but I got so into making these I forgot to take pictures until the last minute. The bright harsh light makes the texture of the felt really show up but it really looks more like this....

I found the flower tutorial  (for the felt flowers) I wanted at the Fickle Pickle.This flower works the best for putting something big in the middle of it.

For the other flower you will need any fake flower of your choosing. I have used all sorts of flowers for this but gave them away but these three so have no other ones to show you.

 1) Gently pull the flower apart and layer as many petals together as looks good to you. The three in the image are actually just the center of Gerber Daisy's. 2) Glue the layers together with a hot glue gun. 3) Follow directions for gem below. 4) Cut out circle of felt for the back of the flower. 5) Mount hardware with hot glue gun. BOOM...done!!!

For the rest of the project you will need clear glass gems I recommend getting ones that DO NOT have a light glaze on them. It just makes them harder to work with but that's all that Hobby Lobby had at the time I got mine.

3) Photo or your choice. Printing them off at home will work just as well as getting a photo that has been printed from a lab. If you don't want to use a photo, you could use scrap book paper or google an image and see if you find something you like. The pictures of the owl and women I found on google. If you have pictures of your great grandma or whoever it would be fun to copy and use those images. Or you can always find vintage photos at thrift stores. 

4) I used tacky glue but any glue that dries clear will work. Spread a thin coat of glue on the image of your choice. Center the image in the clear gem the way you want and let dry a minute or so.

 

 5) Once dry, cut excess paper off from around your gem.

6) put your hardware on back. I actually put on a pin and an alligator clip. I love to wear them on my black peacoat in the winter it really makes them pop. The possibilities are endless, for go the hardware and make a head band or...insert your imagination here. Let me know if you found a different way to use these, send me a pic and I will post it on the blog. I would love to hear from you!



Image courtesy of Fickle Pickle



Give away!!! So three flowers are going home to one of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

To enter: All I want is your feed back about anything on the blog. So leave a comment and your            automatically entered. Giveaway ends Tuesday the 15th at Midnight. Winner will be announced            Wednesday morning.                                                                                                                          

Camis bridal shoot and service project...& Give away!

It actually feels kinda surreal that this project has finally all come together to this day a project done and on the blog. My greatest desire for this blog is that you feel inspired by what people have done and then want to use your talents to find ways to bring joy into the lives of others. It can't be helped that some of that joy will seep into your own life.       

Tomorrow on the blog Miss Aubrey Edwards from Allthingsbrightandbeautiful will be guest posting on decorating your home with photography. I can't wait!!! There will also be some other fun things posted this week, so come on back, ya hear!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Give away, follow this link or go to the next post.

I was so glad that Cami was super excited and willing to participate in this project. She is one of the sweetest and funniest girls I have EVER met. Where ever she goes she is a ray of sunshine and everyone is attracted to her warmth. I also love that she choose to use one of her talents to serve others. Here's what Cami did in her own words. Following this are her bridal portraits.

Cami

  I recently moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota with my husband right after we got married. It has been so much fun! When DeAnn told me about her idea for promoting service, I thought it was genius and I was glad to be a part of it. It was crazy at first because I had never been to MN and I didn't know anyone here, so I had to wait until after the pictures were taken and after we moved to get a service project under way. I was a little lost as to where I should start since I didn't know the area or even what my options were. But, I was determined to find a meaningful way to give service and I soon found it! I thought about what I could help people with, or what I could teach others. DeAnn has a passion for photography and she shared that with me, so I decided I would share one of my passions with others. 

                       I currently work at a high school with 7-12 grade. My job is to help the students with classwork and assignments(through a special program). But I wanted to do something more. When I saw that the high school had a pool I really wanted to help out with the swim team. I have been swimming since I was 7 and I love it! I also love teaching swim lessons and coaching swim teams so I wanted to jump in and help. I love sharing my passions with others, whether it be with swimming, or education I love to help others reach their full potential. The cool thing about schools is they can always use help! Especially with the budget cuts that really effect sports and art/music. Two of my favorite things!

I am really glad that I was able to get in touch with the girls swim team coach and ask him if I could help out. He was totally willing and even excited for the extra help. A lot of the girls were doing competitive swimming for the first time, so there was a lot to be taught and with one coach it was difficult for him to spend enough time individually to really help them out. The coach let me take over practice a few times, it's been great! the swim team I am helping right now needed a lot of help! The coach and asst. coach have been gone a lot lately so I have been able to help them by running practice and the swim meets as well.I loved these girls from the second I met them and it's been a blast. Luckily, there are a few weeks left of the season, go hawks!

 I absolutely want to find ways to volunteer and do service like this in the future. So, in the future, I will look for ways that I can volunteer my time and expertise to help out local schools and the community. 

 I do feel like the SIP project motivated me to put in the extra time. Swim practice is after school and it is tempting just to pack up and go home, however, staying later and helping these girls improve has been so rewarding! Knowing that I am volunteering my time for the good of service has been fulfilling enough for me. I simply wanted to help these girls become better swimmers, more dedicated, and more excited about the sport they chose to participate in. A lot of life lessons are learned through sports, I know that sports have helped me to become the person I am today.

 I definitely feel that service is easier than I thought. I have always wanted to help others like this, but sometimes it's hard to know where to get started.  

 I am so glad I chose to participate in the SIP project. From the pictures DeAnn took of me, to the snapshots I took of the girls, it has been so much fun! It has also been rewarding on many different levels. I have beautiful bridal portraits as well as fun memories taking pictures at 4:30 am. I also have the invaluable experience of helping the swim team learn more about themselves as swimmers. I feel like I can't adequately make up the time and effort DeAnn put into the pictures, but I hope that my service will impact at least one of the girls on the swim team.