One World One Heart 2011

WELCOME!

The Amazing Lisa Swifka is our wonderful hostess.  Please visit her blog to say thanks for all the hard work she has put into this event & to visit new blogs & make friends.  This has been a spectacular event for the last four years, so come join in on the fun (click the link or the picture below to be taken to the list of participants)

If you are a first time visitor, welcome to my blog Creative Musings.  My name is Nerissa Alford & I am a jewelry artist, mixed media artist & photographer (I can't just pick one medium).  I am an American ex-pat currently living in Kuwait with my family. This is the 5th Year I have participated & the first that I am in the same location as the previous year. We move around quite a bit!

Camel Prints Card: taken during my first camping excursion

Up Close & Personal Card: Another camping excursion

This year I am giving away a little package of things that remind me of Kuwait.  The first items in my Kuwait care package are the photographs.  I have taken all these photos here & turned into 5x7 greeting cards.  You can send them with a sentiment & they are suitable for framing when it's done with it's job as a card.

Camel Silhouette: Ditto - you'd think I was a camping fiend, but really my first camping experiences came right here in Kuwait.

Kuwait Skyline Card: from a Dhow cruise

Kuwait Towers Detail Card: This is a landmark that Kuwait is known for

The second item is a woven ring band.  You'll have to send me your ring size & favorite color.  I have been so fortunate to find a bead store right here in Kuwait & take classes from the talented owners.  I would be so delighted to make you a ring from the techniques I learned from them. 

Woven Ring Bands: I took the class here in Kuwait

The last of the items will be some mystery items from Kuwait.  Here are some clues:

1. Since Arabic is read from right to left, all the journals & notebooks here open backwards, although they would argue that my journals open backwards.
2. Sweets are a big deal here & since it's not so hot, I don't have to worry about them melting.
3. Some of the food items here are totally cool!!

If you are interested in more of my posts of Kuwait, just type in Kuwait on the search bar on the side or click on the Kuwait label at the end of the post.

To be eligible you must comment on this blog post.  You must be an active blogger & leave an email or link back to your blog so I can contact you if you are the winner.  It is open to all bloggers world wide.

I hope you enjoy the last year of this event.  I am so blessed to have been a part of it & meet so many new bloggers - that is what this is about :)  A million thank you's to Lisa!  We cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us!

Show What You Create Blog Party

To those of you that are first time visitors, Welcome!  Thanks for stopping by & thanks to Andrea for hosting.  Make sure you stop by her blog to see the list of other participants. 

My name is Nerissa & I'm a jewelry artist.  I also dabble in mixed media projects, but my love is with jewelry.  I'm lucky in that we move frequently with my husband's job so I get to go shopping & run around finding oodles of inspiration where we live.  I'm currently in Kuwait City. 

Storyboards & digital papers from Sassy Designs.

I took an unplanned break from my webstore & blog & have just gotten back into the swing of things.  I've been enjoying my time creating & photographing my jewelry.  I love it when I hit the ground running.  I'm inspired by lots of things: other artists & the blogs I read, Stampington & Co publications, photography, anything French, & vintage items just to name few things.  I'm pretty eclectic & love to try & mix techniques.

Right now I can't get enough of brass, vintage rhinestones, wire wrapping, Czech glass beads & glass pearls.  Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look around.  If you want to see more, take a look at my photos on flickr.

One World One Heart 2010

Welcome to my One World One Heart post for old friends & new visitors

Wow, it's the fourth year that Lisa has hosted this wonderful event. As I was thinking about my post, I thought how perfect that it is themed a Magic Carpet ride.

This is my fourth year participating & I have been in 4 different locations for each one;

my hometown Tampa, FL

Dover, DE

Charlottesville, VA

and this year Kuwait City, Kuwait

I wanted to make something this year to commemorate this Magic Carpet Ride. I decided to make an altered composition book with a photograph I took here in Kuwait. Did you know there are beautiful beaches here? I didn't! I can't get over all the beautiful scenes here in Kuwait. If you're interested, you can see more Kuwait photos over on flickr. Just do a search with Kuwait as the key word. I've got a small photo set over there as well. I've visited mosques, markets, & even a few camels!

So here are the few things to sign up to win this composition book.

This is an international event, so all are welcome!

It's a blogging event, therefore all bloggers are invited to enter.

To enter, comment on this post only & make sure you are signed in with blogger or leave your blog info/email so I may contact you.

The ending date is Sunday February 14th at 11:59PM EST. I will announce the winner on Monday February 15th :)

So what is One World One Heart & why have I come back every year? Lisa gives the history & explanation here. For me, I've met so many people from around the world. Last year I even met a OWOH blog friend in person. Hi Cindy!

It's been fun to find so many like minded creative bloggers! I've learned & been inspired by so many. I hope you take the time to visit as many blogs as you can!

Comments are Now Closed.  I'll announce a winner later today!

Why I Blog for Bliss

Welcome to old & new friends! Thank you to Kari for hosting & Tara for writing an incredible book Blogging For Bliss. I already bought my copy & have it, but can you believe I'm waiting to read it? I'm saving it for the upcoming 12 hour plane ride. I'm like a kid at Christmas when I new books & magazines :) Make sure you visit Kari's blog & look at all the participants on her sidebar.

Blogging opened a new world for me. I started blogging July 2006. Wanna see my first post? (Scroll to the bottom of the page on the link) I don't even know if I want to show it. I've come a looong way!

I began blogging that summer because of my husband's deployment. I was transitioning not having him around, moving to FL, selling 2 homes, becoming a SAHMomma, & suffering from postpartum depression. I was pretty much a mess. I turned to art to find something. What I found was this world of blogs. It was this creative soul, Gina Armfield, that introduced me to blogging. I was hooked. There was a whole world of creative people that had stories to share, friendships to give, shopping trips to take & loads of inspiration to look at. While I am no longer in that difficult stage of my life, thank goodness, I still read blogs to escape. I find such joy reading about what finds someone scored at an estate sale or what they made with their new supplies.

I blog personally for a few reasons. Being in a military family & living all over the place it gives me a place to share my artwork & a few family stories with family & friends. When I was younger I kept journals & as I've grown older I stopped. My blog has been a visual & written diary of my creative journey.

Blogging has taught me new things:

I take much better pictures now! I also have my camera with me at all times. Right now I'm enjoying pictures of the outdoors. (I'll have another post this week of my friend's beautiful garden.) I've even taken pictures of my food.

Before
Now

I'm learning Photoshop & doing some fun digital work!

I'm obsessed with old chippy rusty things & musty old paper. Who knew? It's funny, as I really started getting into estate sales & flea markets I found myself interested in the same things my mom is into. Ten years ago I would have been bored out of my mind :)

I've had the privilege to participate in many swaps & make tons of friends along the way!

I was excited when I finally met a blog friend live in person earlier this year. Also another first, I went to my first art retreat! Cindy Dean that was you!! We both met through a blog event, One World One Heart, & were both published for the first time together in an article about the event!

Thanks for visiting & getting to know me a bit better if you didn't already. I'm really looking forward to this party. If you haven't already, get the book. Not only is it total eye candy, but there is technical information in there. Yes, I'm really going to read the info on HTML codes. You'd think I would have figured it out by now. And make sure to visit Kari to see a list of all the partiers.