Art of Awareness Hop

Lori Anderson of Pretty Things Blog issued a challenge to us about making people AWARE of how many different health issues people have to deal with on a daily basis. I was totally blown away by how many different ribbons and colors and health issues there are. To check out the list you can follow this link


My favorite color is purple so I was surprise to see what purple awareness encompassed. Cancer - I had family members that had cancer, ADD - two of my children suffered from this in their youth, Crohn's Disease and Colitis. I had colitis and had surgery for it in 1980 and again in 2010.It is something that doesn't go away.

In addition I have worked with special needs children at church from total dependency on me to me just making sure they sit still during Sunday School. I also have a cousin that has Down's but she is the love of everyone she touches. Her internal light is always glowing. I think being around these special people has made me more understanding and patient with people around me. The kid who won't be quiet in the grocery line, or the seemingly adult person who is acting like a 6 year old. I try not to judge as I don't know them or their circumstances. I just know that most of think we are "normal" and frown at them or their parents, but do we really know what normal is? Everyone has issues whether you can see them or not.

When Lori put out the challenge I knew I had to join. I am a firm believer in God and have seen his hand at work not only in my life but in others. I wanted to be able to wear this message proudly so when I contacted Heather at Swoondimples I wasn't really picking a color for a specific reason even though as you can see, purple was really for me. I have always love purple so I chose that color and had my message, Believe in God, stamped on my pieces. On the back is a picture of a ribbon and heart. 

I wanted my pieces to be simple so that I could wear them with just about anything. So I made some earrings and a memory wire bracelet. I used light purple glass pearls and acrylic crystal beads. The beads under the stamped beads on the earrings are purple butterflies. I tend to be hard on my jewelry so I didn't want anything that might break. I love this set and wear it quite often. The pictures don't due the color's true justice, the dark purple is a deep purple. 

For more stories and inspiration check out Lori's blog for a list of the other participants.

And remember, just because you can't see a health issue, be AWARE that it might be there and show compassion to everyone. What goes around comes around and one day you may need to be shown some compassion!

Til next time
Keep on Beading
Veralynne