Can you believe – our daughter Sophie just turned 9 yesterday?! In case you have not read our online adoption story yet – she was born in China and was adopted by us when she was 8 months old. Now she makes quilts for orphans and advocates for children still without families, who are still living in institutions around the world.
Sophie has a birthday request – if you've considered making a donation to an organization funding Chinese orphanages – would you consider making a donation this week for her birthday? That's what she really would like for her birthday. If you'd like to send her a message, we'll make sure it is passed on to her.
[email protected]
Here are 4 organizations that do great work in China:
Altrusa International
(part of eQuilter's Charity program)
Half the Sky Foundation
(eQuilter recently was a sponsor of their Denver fundraiser)
Chinese Children Adoption International
(this is the adoption agency we used)
This week I am thinking about the power of the Image in our brain. I am a very visual person and I remember images, designs and colors for years and even decades. I don't know if it is a photographic memory, but it is something like that.
So as a result, I have to be careful about the images I put in my brain. Occasionally in my life I have accidentally put in destructive or haunting images that are still with me. For instance, once my roommate in New York took me to see "Blue Velvet" ( I thought to myself – hey that is a nice sounding name for a movie!) and those disturbing images are still stuck in my brain.
On the other hand I have found that collecting, viewing, and seeking out beautiful images can overwrite any disturbing images, and they are there for me to draw upon at any time in the future. My head is full of so many beautiful images – from museums to gardens – from nature to architecture – that I can draw upon an almost limitless library of personal visual inspiration at any time.
How do you load up your own personal image repertoire? Have you done this in the last week? I know that so many of you write to say that Sunday mornings are your weekly viewing of "Eye Candy" that inspires you for the week, and I am so delighted that eQuilter can help you in that creative process!
I'll be writing about this again on Tuesday night, so watch for my midweek Creative Nudge. If you'd like to review last week's essay on Nerds, or if you'd like to comment on your Visual Database, head on over to my blog.
I'll be at the closing of the Sacred Threads exhibit July 3 from 1-4 pm, at the Long Beach Quilt Festival on Sat July 30, and I'll be giving an award at the Quilt Festival in Birmingham UK on August 11. Hope to see some of you at one of these shows!
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The Emerald Isle Tour – June 5 – 15, 2012
Travel with Luana Rubin on this 11-day tour of Ireland visiting Galway, Dublin, Cobh, Killarney, the Dingle Peninsula, Adare, and we will be spending 3-days in the Galway area for the festivities that surround the very first International Quilt Festival of Ireland!
Hi again Luana,
If you ever get the chance, I’d love it if you could mention my Sewing For Orphans project to your readers. I have a free tutorial for drawstring bags on my blog (click on the Sewing For Orphans icon in my sidebar). I’m asking people to make the bags, then send them to me and when I get enough for an orphanage in Bulgaria, I ship it to them. I’m working in partnership with One Heart Bulgaria, a WONDERFUL organization which is currently giving all sorts of aid to the orphaned/abandoned children in Bulgaria. The first box of 60 bags has been shipped and was received by orphans in Sloveikov. You can read more about it on my blog when you get a chance. Thanks very much!