One would assume that being told you are a 'strong person' would qualify as a compliment. However, most people may not realize that the sheer need to state this opinion implies that the person has to stand firm and press forward in life, even when they may not want to. Being a strong person is not something they want to be, but have to be. Thus, the idea is not a compliment but rather a reminder of the struggle.
Of course the words are said with support and best intentions and are to be taken with gratitude and love... it takes a strong person to accept it as such, and thus- brings us back to the original point. A hidden secret, at the point the person is being told they are strong- inside, they want to cry.
Strong people are weak as well. They cry, they need and they want. Understanding your weakness and knowing how to work around it is what gives the appearance of being strong and courageous. Knowing that there are people with struggles bigger and scarier than your own puts life into perspective, and no matter how much you might want to crawl away and hide- life has to move forward. Hiding from life only diminishes the more difficult struggles others have to face. If they can walk forward and live each day, there is no reason why we cannot either.
Faith in oneself and in ones life is what really makes a difference. Understanding that no matter what struggles lay in front of you- there is something and/or someone there to walk towards. Some people choose religion, others choose a goal or a cause- to give their life a purpose with meaning. Still others put their faith in others, special someone(s) that give life its purpose and meaning.
Whether it is one special someone or 4 perfect people... those special people make life worth living. They make every day worth getting up for, though albeit slowly. They make feeling tired and sick manageable. Their faces, their arms and their love is what makes the world go 'round. The sun rises and falls every day on their beings... and when they are not close by, the hold they leave behind seems endless. It doesn't matter if they are gone for minutes or weeks, when you build your life's purpose around them- it becomes off kilter when your world is not whole. It's a dangerous system for someone who is pretending to be strong- but worth it.
Every minute of every day is worth it when it revolves around them. And no matter the difficulty and no matter the struggle, ensuring their world is how it should be- makes whatever test is offered a simple one. And a happy one. Pretending to be strong and graciously accepting the compliment has meaning. The secret is tucked away where it should be. The smile is reapplied and one foot moves in front of the other... happiness is found when you look for it. Struggles are an every day thing, as is happiness. There is only room for one to be the leader.
:-)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Fairy Tea Party Invitations
My daughter recently turned 7, and like her mother, got a little crazy in her ideas as to what she wanted to happen. I felt a twinge of pride as she told me her birthday party 'vision' and yet cringed at the monster I knew that I was responsible for creating. We had a lot of fun planning, and I had a lot of work to do to fulfill her wishes. It was a lot of fun, a lot of crafting, and lots of great blogging ideas to share.
To begin with, we needed to invite her friends to the party. We needed something special in order to set the pace for the rest of the event. It was going to be girly, full of fairies and a beautiful good time. We chose two different prints of 12x12 scrapbook paper, one a splotched design of darker pink and the other a white paper with light pink ribbons running through the paper. The wonderful thing about 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper is that they come in an array of colors, textures and prints. You can fall in love with a piece of paper, and craft around it as the main eye catching work of art. This is what we chose to do, let the paper do most of the work for us!
We began by cutting the paper into 12"x6" pieces. This gave us 2 cards per piece of paper. A 6"x6" piece of white card-stock and a 24" piece of coordinating ribbon were also used to create the base card.
Most scrapbook paper is not thick enough to hold itself up as a card, and requires a bit of help to strengthen it. On the inside, I used a glue stick to affix a 6"x6" piece of white card-stock. No need to put card-stock on the front flaps, that could make it too heavy or bulky to work with. A simple square will do the trick. Choose a color that will enhance the scrapbook paper. I kept it white, because it looked best overall.
Mark a line centered along the entire length of the card, should be 3" from both top and bottom. Carefully erase the line roughly .5" from the center folds. You will run a very thin line of glue along this line, but in order for it to tie correctly it has to have a bit of room at the end or it will rip.
When the glue is completely dry, you should be able to tie the ribbon while it remains in place.
Because we decided to let the paper we chose be our overall focus, the ribbon color was chosen to enhance its design. This also meant that we were free to embellish our paper, but didn't need to go overboard. It was time to highlight the theme of our card, and create a sense of our 'fairy' themed tea party that was being announced.
We began embellishing with simple sparkly rhinestones at opposing corners.
We added a butterfly, cut from a contrasting color and pattern. The body was embellished with black puff paint, to give it depth, and the antenna's were drawn onto the paper using a black fine-tip pen. Opposite the butterfly, we formally 'invited' the guests to the party. The words, You're Invited, were printed on a matching piece of card-stock and framed by a contrasting color. In this case, we chose a matching cream because it was similar to that of the faint design printed on the paper, and the contrasting white was also used inside the card. When the ribbon was tied closed, the card appeared as it would in its finished state.
Opening the card would reveal the actual invitation inside,
The invitation inside used a fun poem found from the web which fit perfectly for our use. We gave the important details, as to the time and place. It was printed onto cream colored tracing paper, printed out and trimmed to fit.
Overall, the cards took only a few minutes each to assemble (minus glueing time for the ribbon, be certain to allow time for the ribbon to dry.) We first created each card to the point of allowing the ribbon to dry, then moved on to working on the printer. Once we assembled the outside invite and the internal invitation, all ribbons were ready to move onto the next step.
Thus, we had beautiful hand crafted party invitations... the first step in creating a wonderful fairy tea party.
To begin with, we needed to invite her friends to the party. We needed something special in order to set the pace for the rest of the event. It was going to be girly, full of fairies and a beautiful good time. We chose two different prints of 12x12 scrapbook paper, one a splotched design of darker pink and the other a white paper with light pink ribbons running through the paper. The wonderful thing about 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper is that they come in an array of colors, textures and prints. You can fall in love with a piece of paper, and craft around it as the main eye catching work of art. This is what we chose to do, let the paper do most of the work for us!
We began by cutting the paper into 12"x6" pieces. This gave us 2 cards per piece of paper. A 6"x6" piece of white card-stock and a 24" piece of coordinating ribbon were also used to create the base card.
To create the opening doors of the front, fold the sides inward so they meet at the center. If your paper is cut properly, this should be 3 inches from both sides.
Most scrapbook paper is not thick enough to hold itself up as a card, and requires a bit of help to strengthen it. On the inside, I used a glue stick to affix a 6"x6" piece of white card-stock. No need to put card-stock on the front flaps, that could make it too heavy or bulky to work with. A simple square will do the trick. Choose a color that will enhance the scrapbook paper. I kept it white, because it looked best overall.
Mark a line centered along the entire length of the card, should be 3" from both top and bottom. Carefully erase the line roughly .5" from the center folds. You will run a very thin line of glue along this line, but in order for it to tie correctly it has to have a bit of room at the end or it will rip.
Because we decided to let the paper we chose be our overall focus, the ribbon color was chosen to enhance its design. This also meant that we were free to embellish our paper, but didn't need to go overboard. It was time to highlight the theme of our card, and create a sense of our 'fairy' themed tea party that was being announced.
We began embellishing with simple sparkly rhinestones at opposing corners.
We added a butterfly, cut from a contrasting color and pattern. The body was embellished with black puff paint, to give it depth, and the antenna's were drawn onto the paper using a black fine-tip pen. Opposite the butterfly, we formally 'invited' the guests to the party. The words, You're Invited, were printed on a matching piece of card-stock and framed by a contrasting color. In this case, we chose a matching cream because it was similar to that of the faint design printed on the paper, and the contrasting white was also used inside the card. When the ribbon was tied closed, the card appeared as it would in its finished state.
Opening the card would reveal the actual invitation inside,
The invitation inside used a fun poem found from the web which fit perfectly for our use. We gave the important details, as to the time and place. It was printed onto cream colored tracing paper, printed out and trimmed to fit.
Overall, the cards took only a few minutes each to assemble (minus glueing time for the ribbon, be certain to allow time for the ribbon to dry.) We first created each card to the point of allowing the ribbon to dry, then moved on to working on the printer. Once we assembled the outside invite and the internal invitation, all ribbons were ready to move onto the next step.
Thus, we had beautiful hand crafted party invitations... the first step in creating a wonderful fairy tea party.
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