Hope gives you wings...

So on Monday, I was reading my friend Patti Digh's blog and saw her call to write "a hope note (or 5) today".

You see, this woman named Liz Miller volunteers with an organization called Helpmate and she has launched a project calling for some community help and support.

Helpmate, a local nonprofit dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence, offers a 24-hour crisis line, a safe shelter and counseling. And it's always looking for ways to encourage the women and children who turn to the organization for assistance. Miller's project, Hope Notes, invites the community to write brief and encouraging messages on a card, which will then be given to clients served by Helpmate.

Now you know how I like to find was to spread the love, and that I love to find ways to use my art to touch others.

So of course, I was very inspired to make up some "hope notes" and send them off to the Asheville, NC address and help Liz and all involved in the Hope Notes project reach their goal of having as many cards are possible received by August 1, 2010.

I decided to use the technique I had so much fun with when I made some postcards for Hanna's Post Card swap a while back, and make some scrapped and sewn background papers.

Here's one sheet with blues and oranges...

and a second one with greens, some black and purple.

I glued all the bits and strips of papers down to a piece of card stock, covering the entire page.

Then I got out the sewing machine and went to town...

A little zig-zag stitch...

some crazy driving stitches...

and my paper was looking marvelous !!!!

I cut the sheets into 3.5 X 5 inch rectangles (Love my Fiskars Guillotine !).

Then I glued the rectangles onto blank 5 X 7" cardstock cards. I used rubber stamps and a couple of alphabet stencils and StazOn Black Ink to create the word "Hope" for each card.

I love how they turned out!

On the inside of each card, I hand-wrote my own little message of hope, using some lovely

quotes I had found on-line such as :

"Hope is knowing that people, like kites, are made to be lifted up." (unknown)

and signed them with my initials as the Hope Note project information suggested.

I imagined myself in the throws of a crisis and thought about what words or gestures would make me feel supported and less alone, and tried to make each note reflect that.

I will be mailing the cards off to Asheville tomorrow in a nice little package, with another note inside thanking Liz for her inspiration and for all she is doing to spread the love in her own community.

Maybe you would like to join in and send some Hope Notes of your own to Helpmates.

Or maybe someone closer to you could use a little hope note as well...

I encourage you to look for a way to touch someone else today, especially if today is a day when you feel a little helpless or blue.

It really does give your life meaning and make you feel powerful and loving.

And as this lovely quote I found says :

"What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other ?"

(George Eliot [pseudonym of Mary Anne or Marian Evans] (1819-1880).

Have a Happy Hope Day, Lovely Ones !