Mamas*Little*Treasures

Paper Doll Party with Vintage Image Craft

Creative Challenge from Vintage Image Craft 

Paper Doll Party  

July, 2011    

Can you create a PAPER DOLL inspired craft?? Bring your paper doll idea to life using vintage images from VIC. Submit your craft photo, and you may win a new copy of "Artful Paper Dolls" by the renowned designer and author, Terry Taylor! FREE Victorian vintage images are posted on VIC's Facebook for you to download between June 14 and July 5. Or you can purchase ready-to-print Image Books from our VIC Store. Cut up those images and craft something cute, kitchy or expressive.

Through July 22, you can submit your paper doll vintage-inspired craft photo to Vintage Image Craft -- and the Challenge is On!! The top three winners will share adulation, international acclaim, and PRIZES!

SUBMISSIONS

Your project can be a card, ornament, decoration, tag, ATC, altered book, scrapbook page, jewelry, box or any other craft. Use a VIC vintage image, free on Facebook or purchased from Vintage Image Craft  for your "paper doll" parts. Incorporate any techniques, including collage, assemblage, altered art, stamping and/or distressing. Digital artwork is welcome.    

Submit your entry by July 22, 2011 by sending photos or scans of your artwork (up to four) a full description of the techniques, materials and products you used. Winners will be announced by July 29, 2011.

JUDGING: Entries will be judged on creative use of vintage images, design, color, materials and textures, embellishment, techniques, and pure whimsy. The judges are Scott Henderson and Martin Bray.

PRIZES: First Prize is a copy of Terry Taylor's remarkable book, artful paper dolls from Lark Books. Terry takes paper dolls in a dozen new directions. Here are paper dolls re-interpreted through imaginative materials, craft technologies, and mixed-media. They include paper dolls as symbols, social commentary, fashion decoration, and yes, even toys. But as the book cover states, "These are not the paper dolls of your childhood!" The book is a $14.95 value (donated by Lark Books!).

And a prize beyond value: The winning craft and artist will be displayed on the VintageImageCraft Home Page! Second Prize is ONE download of a VintageImageCraft Card Book of your choice, an $8.99 value. Third Prize is ONE download of a VintageImageCraft Image Book of your choice, a $4.99 value. VintageImageCraft invites you to submit your "Paper Doll Craft" by July 22, 2011! Submit Your Entry Photo and Description Dress Up Your Paper Doll - and you could win a prize and fame!

I Don't Know About You . . . .

If you’ve ever traveled to other countries, I’m sure it has occurred to you just how fortunate we are to live in America. Now, that is not a statement of arrogance or false pride . . . it is simply an observation. I have only traveled to a few other countries, and as a “country girl,” haven’t even traveled to very many of the larger metropolitan areas of our own country.

It is not difficult, however, at least to be aware of all of the poverty, despair, hopelessness, and violence that abound all around the world, even here in America. In an age of instant information, we are so frequently bombarded with images of violence and tragedy, that it is easy to become complacent.

Having witnessed first-hand a bit of the devastation and despair that is a daily part of life for many people around the world, it certainly seems to me that, of all the places I could possibly live, America is by far the best place of all!

In America, we at least have opportunities to create our own destiny. Having grown up in a small, rural community in mid-Michigan, it never occurred to me that we were “poor.” I didn’t realize just how little we really had in the way of material possessions until I went away to college and met other students from wealthy families. It was overwhelming, at times, to realize what it must have been like to grow up having a huge, gorgeous house, beautiful clothing, and parents who drove expensive cars. That was a lesson in economics!

My observations about America do not come from a position of wealth and privilege. I worked for a few years for our country court system where I was the Education Director for a program for people who had been incarcerated to complete their education. During those years I worked with students who were third-generation drug addicts; I worked with a young couple who had lost their children as a result of an explosion in their little hovel of a home while they were cooking Meth.

 Some of my students were in their mid-forties and fifties, and all they had known was a life of hopelessness and violence. One of my students eventually took his own life because of the abuse he was experiencing, and he didn’t tell anyone about it until it was too late.

For me, there is no wistful, unrealistic vision of America as a place that is perfect and everyone is happy, healthy, and safe. This is a country filled with ordinary people, but because of our history, we have opportunities to accomplish extraordinary things. I pray that we do not lose those opportunities because we choose to look the other way, or because we only focus on the imperfections we see all around us.

I don’t know about you . . . . but I believe America is still the best country on earth. God has blessed this country, in spite of our failures and mistakes, because our foundation is built on God's truth. This Independence Day, I choose to thank God for the opportunity to live in a country where I am free to live my life according to the beliefs that I hold.

God bless America!

A Weekend To Remember

It's been one of those weeks . . . . it's Friday night, and I'm exhausted.  And I have to go to work again tomorrow morning.  All I really want to do is stay home with my family, maybe have hamburgers on the grill, and perhaps work in my garden a bit.  Maybe.  Unless I'm too tired, and then I might want to just sit out on the deck with a book and a glass of lemonade.  Or take a nap.  But I can't so of course, I whine.  I'm so inconvenienced.  I mean all I want to do is just take a break from working all the time!  Is that too much to ask?

 

But when I think about the sacrifices that are made everyday by our men and women in the military, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, I am humbled and realize how much more they give every day.  And they do it for those of us whom they will never know.  Their families must sacrifice, too, the time and attention of their loved ones.  I am so grateful for all those who have given of themselves for our country and our freedom.  Because I know that freedom is not free . . . . and that is not just a cliche that happens to have a nice sound.  It is true. 

So today I want to say THANK YOU to everyone in the military, past, present, and future, for protecting us, keeping us safe, and giving up your own comfort for our security.  Because I know you never have a day just to relax when there is a war raging around you.  You are truly a gift to our country and to every citizen in America, even though you may not always feel like it.  Thanks for doing the hard stuff so the rest of us can sit on our decks and drink lemonade if we want to.  Thank you for a country that is still free.  God bless you and God bless the USA.