"She could take your life with one good kiss."

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Love Yourself

The text is taken from The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

Lace

Recently, I submitted this piece to be considered for publication in a book called, "In Our Own Words". The book is to be published by a non-profit in the UK called Harmless. Harmless is an organization that brings information to the masses about self injury. They even go as far as to include training for those dealing with people who self injure. I think it's a lovely group and an incredible site. You should check it out.

http://www.harmless.org.uk/

Anyway... the submission was accepted. So YAY! I'll have published art work in the UK at least. I'm pretty excited.

"What is REAL?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

-Margery Williams, "The Velveteen Rabbit"

* * * * *

So - counting all of the donation cards I've received so far and the ones I've completed, I have a total of 20 cards! Which is wonderful! I should have no trouble at all getting to the 40 goal.

I'm so confident that after I received some cards from a friend on DA that looked stunning in ATC sleeves - I decided to make some of my own from old photo sleeves I had lying around. They look so much nicer now.

So the contest is moving right along.

Here's a few of the cards I've made so far:

"Oh, the Places You'll Go"

"I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get tired
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up your problems
whatever they are."

-Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the Places You'll Go"

I am of a firm belief that the secret to life and happiness can all be found in Dr. Seuss books.

Love Yourself for Art!

So I've been keeping myself a little busy. Probably too busy. But as long as I'm getting the things done that I need to get done I'll consider it a success.

I've started my first ever contest on DeviantArt. Actually, it's something a little bigger than a contest. Here I'll share:

“So I’d like to do a contest.

WHO: This is a contest for people who currently self injure or have self injured in the past. Self injuring is any time you do something knowing it will deliberately cause you harm. This can be any number of things.

I want to trade you a mini piece of art (about the size of a playing card) for one month of you going self injury free.

As you can imagine this contest will run completely on the honor system. I’ll have no way of knowing whether or not you’ve actually kept your word. But of course, I ask you to do so. This contest will be run again in October. So there will always be another chance for you to try again. It’s not a contest of who can go the longest, more of a contest against yourself.

PRIZE: A small 64 mm × 89 mm piece of art work. Something small enough to keep with you. In your pocket, or maybe where you keep your blades, or whatever it is you use, where ever it is you go, to self injure. Something that will remind you you’re not alone. That you’re loved. That you’re strong. And that you have other options. Each piece will be hand made and unique. Some may have similar looks or messages, but each one will be different.

DATES: The contest will start August 1st and will go until the 31st.
You have until the 1st of August to notify me in some way that you wish to participate. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this in a public way – feel free to note me. No one else will know. I want to know everyone that’s participating before the 1st, because the entire month of August I will be making the prizes.”

So that's the gist of it. If anyone that reads my blog is interested... feel free to write me on here and I'll gladly accept you. Or if you have a DA account you can find me there.

I hope everyone is well.

Artist Trading Cards

Cards 5 and 6 are still up for trade.