Category Archives: Blatherings

Best Intentions and a Contest

Posted on February 3, 2016 | Leave a comment

shocked_monkey So, I am off my blog schedule. Anyone surprised? Yeah, didn’t think so. But I’m here today and I have a plan. I am going to run my first contest on Heart of a Hero. I am full of inspiration, but it’s all the things I like, and I’m not sure anyone else would like it. So, I want to know what you want.

In the comment section, tell me what kind of piece, or pieces, you’d like to see me make. Keep in mind I’m on drugs and have limited skills to date (but improving daily). I want to step outside my comfort zone and push the envelope, and all those other catchy phrases.

You tell me what you want: color, type of beads, jewelry, suncatchers, etc. Keep it small, please. I will begin making them as you suggest them. Each item will be dedicated to the inspiration (that would be you). On February 23 I will have someone pick a winner (at random) and that person will get their choice of the items I made.

Back in stock! Click image to order now!

This has the potential to be really cool. All I ask, and this is optional, but I have to ask, is that you like my Facebook page and my Etsy shop and maybe even tell your friends about all this. I would really love to build up my sales and be able to give more money to Donate Life.

Thank you!

Have a Heart

Posted on January 24, 2016 | 1 comment

Karen_Transplant-before-after Yeah, I know, it’s corny. But once you’ve had two open heart surgeries and one of them included a new heart, you kinda have a right to make all the corny jokes you want.

That’s right, on May 15, 2015 I received a heart from an organ donor. I don’t know who she is, but I know she was in her thirties, and pretty sure she was from Georgia. Point is, she gave me her heart. She may not have known it would be me who got it, but she made it available. My heart breaks (no pun intended there) when I think about what her friends and family have gone, and are going through, with her loss. At the same time, I am so glad I’m alive to spend time with my friends and family. While I lay in the hospital bed, I kept thinking about how I would ever repay that kindness.

Click Image to Purchase

Then the transplant meds made the decision for me. I had, and sometimes still have, the most horrible tremors. I knew I would have to do something to help me regain some of my steadiness, so I started beading. At first it was just Angels, then people asked if I made jewelry, so I tried it and discovered I could. I was a bitch, but I did it. In August 2015 I opened my Etsy store, Heart of a Hero. I did so in honor of my heart donor. Without knowing her name, there was little else I could do. So, as I sell my pieces, I donate a portion of the proceeds to Donate Life.* (They do not endorse me in any way, probably don’t even know who I am, but given the situation, I knew exactly where I wanted to donations to go.)

AA-2007-WebAd-Destiny Having said all that, I will remind each of you reading this, that you can be a hero. Be an organ donor. Some people say they don’t have any good organs, but there are so many others ways to be an organ donor, eyes, skin, etc. To read a really good story about how many people can be helped by one person, visit Joey Gase, NASCAR Xfinity driver. It is a heart warming story.

Anywho…forgive the upcoming corny remarks, but when I make a necklace, a bracelet, a wire sculpture, or anything, I put my whole heart into it. I am the first to admit that my work is not perfect, but the effort and the reason are the most important parts to me. I’m alive because I was given a gift, a precious gift. I hope you’ll consider hanging out and watching my skills improve and even purchase some items to help spread the word about the need for organ donors. It truly is a matter of life and death.

My first wire tree sculpture. Click image to purchase.

1 Comment

Posted in Blatherings, Handmade jewelry, Heart of an Artist

Tagged beaded home decor, crafts for a cause, etsy, handmade art, heart disease, heart of a hero, heart transplant, Joey Gase, organ donation, wire tree sculpture

This is Our America

Posted on January 23, 2016 | Leave a comment

Don’t get me wrong, I love America. I do, but there are so many things that I don’t understand. Take this image for example.

Martyrs of Uganda church in Detroit

I find this one of the most distrubing things. A church of all thing, abandoned, ruined, all but forgotten by everyone except the urban explorers. This is a house of worship in a city that needs more than its fair share of prayer. This may sound like a religious rant, but oon the contrary. It is a rant about people. This church, a church for the PEOPLE, was closed by the Archdiocese in 2006. Why?

In a city filled with devastation, desperation, and heartbreak, you would think people would have supported the church and found a way to keep it alive. Imagine all the weddings, christenings, and funerals that took place in this extraordinary place. Now it is a ghost in itself. Left for dead, only no one bothered to lay it to rest. Vandals and goodness knows who else, have taken the once pristine church and turned it into a pile of abused rubble.

I’d like to think that in this day and age, there would be people who still believe in God and in America and would be willing to step up and find a way to bring this poor misfit back to its glory days. A place to gather with friends, a place to help those less fortunate, a place to worship and give thanks for the life you have.

Here’s an idea. How about one of you millionaires out there start a fund that will finance the rebirth of this majestic wonder and hire homeless vets and others to do the repairs and renovations. How about you give something back to America, the America with all the people who LITERALLY gave you the millions you hoarde and use as weapons against us.

Are there no true philanthropists left in our society?

This image was found at Voices from the Desert.