OWOH- 2011, Welcome! Welcome!

This post will stay at the top until 2/16/2011

just scroll on down to see what Art from my Heart is about and my most current post.

There will also be updates to this post if you want to check back.

*Updated 02-01-11, scroll down to see the heart*

Welcome to my blog, Art from my Heart. I live in beautiful southern california, USA
My name is Marie Segal and I am a stay at home gramma and artist. Sounds like a 12 step meeting doesn't it?
In a way it is. I work for myself and I create, teach, and live my artistic life, I also watch my 2 year old grand daughter, Madi, 5 days a week and sometimes on the weekend when her mother has appointments or things going on!
I mostly feel grateful for this, except when I want to go to the bathroom by myself, eat my own food with out sharing, work on my pieces uninterrupted, or have a moment of silence from 2 year old chatter. ;-D
We, though, are learning to share with each other.
The thing about working as an artist sometimes is that if you do not do the work or you are sick, you will not get paid, so it has been a process of learning how to stay motivated and make things, write about them, and teaching. I can not just play when the muse comes to visit. I have to play whether the muse comes or not.

I entered in to the OWOH giant blog meet and greet last year, at the last minute, when I my Mother in law had just passed away and I needed something to fill up my brain instead of the sadness. This was actually one of the best things I could have done.

Thank you, Lisa Swifka (she runs this thing), at A Whimsical Boheimian. There were 1100+ bloggers participating in this last year. I loved visiting and finding out about my fellow bloggers and looking at their pages and the art work or writings, I felt like I was spending time with dear, like-minded friends, and sitting in their studios with them. You may still have time to sign up if you want to and you can do it here
http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/2010/12/annoucning-the-fifth-and-final-one-world-one-heart-event-.html
This set me down right in the middle of a huge creative community, people searching for themselves and looking for what makes their hearts sing. It also became the time when I started feeling like a blogger and relating to the other bloggers around me. Being a stay at home gramma and artist can be an isolating experience, but not now, I have a community here and you can too. Visit the other multitudes of people here.
http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart-1.html




Bluebird of happiness

Here is the bird finished

 Also if you leave a comment below I will give you a entry in to my giveaway. I am going to make something out of this OWOH bird, either a necklace or pendant, I have even been known to add a few more pieces if I have a lot of comments, I do have my comment moderation on and I will be out until tomorrow until 1/31/11, leave your comment anyway, they will post when I get back.
Thank you for spending a few minutes of your precious time with me, I am honored by your visit.

1/31/11
I was gone all weekend in Los Angeles, thus the brief post for OWOH. I am going to be closing this early on the 16th, but will posting the winners on the 17th and sending my stuff out from the other side of the US. My daughters got me a ticket to go see my mother and father. It was my Christmas present, along with a scrapbook already set up for florida and my visit. I couldn't figure out why they would give that scrapbook. I kept looking for clues and they said MOM, don't you get it? You are going! It was one of the most heart loaded surprises of my life and I get to spend a week with my mom and dad. I just wanted to share this with you that are going through some tough times too. You just never know when someone will likely make your day. Keep your chin up and keep smiling.

When this ends I will be on the other side.

I was gone to CHA/Los Angeles for work purposes and preparing for it weeks before, at the start and at the end of OWOH I was and will be gone, but I just couldn't miss Lisa's final OWOH. It has been a light in my life this year and I can honestly say that I have met some outstanding, honest, talented, caring, and genuine people through this event! Yes indeed, there are tons of good people out there, I have learned and lived the law of contrast ;-D

I am now working on some more pieces for this event.
This is a glimpse of what is coming next and it will evolve in the process, but this is commemoration piece for this OWOH Journey we are now on.
Blessings all over you all.

2nd piece, not finished yet though!

Finished

This how Lisa describes her wonderful event!
One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only. It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met from all over the world. In the past 4 years this event has grown to over 1,000 participants with lasting friendships (and even one love connection) formed along the way. Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home........going from blog to blog(in various countries) seeing the wonder each one has created and meeting all the fabulous people behind those blogs. As a bonus each blogger participant will offer up a "door prize or prizes"....just for dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world. It's really that easy.

OWOH 2011- finished pieces

If you want to win these DO NOT respond here, go here http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/01/owoh-2011-welcome-welcome.html

This post is to say hi to everyone and to show the now finished OWOH pieces.
I finished the Blue Bird of Happiness necklace. I love him!



This is the picture in the OWOH post



I am really happy with the beaded part, I used faux pearls and silver bead caps on each one, I wire wrapper each link in almost a rosary flare. On the right side I used 3 pink glass hearts and a little gold tone metal heart hanging from it. I thought if I used the gold in the crown and the little gold heart that it could be worn with either metal.



This is the finished necklace with additions and embellishments



I added an iridescent blue acrylic paint to the blue bird to give a sheen to his feathers and then I added a blush of gold acrylic to the crown to pop that out.

To top that off I have a green crystal on the crown.



Here is the whole necklace

 I added a handmade 20 gauge non tarnish silver wire hook with a 16 tinned copper jump rings. All the the faux pearls are wrapped with 2o gauge non tarnish silver wire.
The non tarnish silver is copper wire with a silver plate, the tinned copper wire is copper with a tinned plating.
This will go to the first person picked. Unless of course the wish to have the heart here.
I am thinking about making more birds, they love Madi and are around her all of the time. I am seeing them everywhere. She loves that they can fly and sing too, she says "Burd, Burd, tweet tweet, gamma"
It is the cutest thing,


This is the OWOH commemorative heart necklace.

 This is a world heart with OWOH letter circles of granite clay on it. I also has a red heart on it. It also has the year on it because this is the last year that Lisa Swifka at A Whimsical Bohemian is going to do this blog social and you can see from the other people that are involved in this project of hers that this has been a life affirming and pleasurable experience for all of us. Thank you Lisa, this is a wonderful thing you have done and I, for one, appreciate so much all of the work and hours you have put in to this event and I will miss the magic of it. But as I am starting to realize, somethings are never copied or remade in the same magnificence of the original.

This is a pendent with all the colors of the earth and sky in the ribbons that make up the necklace hanger.
So those are my two pieces.
And if you follow or read my blog, but you do not have a blog, you are so welcome to play and enter also. Enter here.
Good luck everyone.
I am running around trying to read all of the posted blog for this event, which was when I checked last at 780, it is still not too late to join us, you can go here to find out about it too

One World One Heart is coming again 2011.

IT WILL BEGIN ON SUNDAY JANUARY 3OTH WITH THE FINAL DAY BEING FEBRUARY 17TH.(the day winners are announced) 2011.
Click the picture to go to the instructions. This will be the last year. Lisa works very hard on this.
I met so many awesome people last year!! It is such a nice blog happening, but there are rules and it is good to read them ahead of time.
You don't have to post and you can just visit the blogs (People gave away awesome things last year) but the more the merrier and let's all send Lisa and One World One Heart off with the biggest event ever.
It is not about the goodies that the bloggers give away though, it is about all the bloggers of virtue you will meet.  So many with so much to offer.
Nobody says it better than Lisa though, click on the picture above for the rules.
Check out Lisa's talent at the A Whimsical Bohemian.
Thank you so much Lisa for all of your hard work and love.

OWOH- One World One Heart and my 3rd winner

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!
If you ever want to feel great about your self, mark this post and read it again sometime when you are behind.
At the end of January 2010, I committed to something called OWOH (One World One Heart), it is a blog social where everyone visits each others blogs and comments. Each blog host has a giveaway of some sort. I had such a great response and enjoyed my self so much. I had 2 people shy of 300 responses or comments. For every 50 people, I offered up a handmade goddess or angel made for them according to a few questions I would ask them. That is 5 pieces.

This is also my first post for the OWOH explaining the rules and what I was going through at the time.

http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2010/02/11th-giveaway-one-world-one-heart.html

I went to every blog on the list too. I had the time of my life for being in one of the saddest to date places I have ever been, needless to say doing the blog social is the best thing I could have done at that time, it kept me busy!

Clicking on this image will take you to the OWOH blog list

You can check out Lisa Swifka's page here to see the almost 1100 blogs that participated here:
http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart.html

I just finished my 3rd one, 4 months later, I have two more to do. I haven't gotten the instructions for one yet! That is a long time to finish these pieces. I did though, warn everyone that they would have to wait for me, the reason being that these pieces, even though I have information, pretty much speak to me about what is supposed to be on the goddess or angel. It takes time. I have to be in the right frame of mind. There is also study involved. Visiting pages and looking for info, every detail will make a difference in the finished pieces. Not only that, I have no idea what some of the things people request are.  

The 3rd one is gone, it was shipped off and Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/  has received hers. I took a very long time with this one, there were not many things for me to choose from on her list. She loves her cat Bleubeard and her friend plays the steel drum, all the clay and wire should match, do not clutter it up, Crown and wings. I thought "oh merde" this is not enough info. I can not do this. Not enough info. And what the hell is a steel drum anyway??

Well, here it is, uncluttered, for my work, matching wires and clay, steel drum, Bleubeard, wings crown.

I added a halo of peridot and hoped that it wasn't over the top and a bit too much per Elizabeth's instructions.

The reason I added the peridot is myth, but lovely myth. 

Mystical Properties

Peridot jewelry is used to help dreams become a reality.

Lore
Peridot is given as a symbol of fame, dignity, and protection.
Legend has it that pirates favored peridot to protect them against evil. When the peridot was set in gold it also protected the wearer from terrors in the night.
Peridot has been mined from St John's Island in the Red Sea for over 3500 years.
Peridot is the US State Gemstone of Nevada.

The stone is so sweetly light green in chip form that I thought it would not distract. Giving someone protection in thought and heart is a good thing in my opinion and I have grown to like Elizabeth a lot. I like her attitude and her blog.
Not only have I gained insight about clutter, steel drums, and helped my sad state, I feel I have also gained friends from this experience. The more I blog, the more I love it.

My third winner OWOH- Li from My thoughts my voice

Li from the blog My Thoughts my Voice http://mythoughtsmyvoice.wordpress.com/ is my third winner.

She is another angel out in blogland that loves to do all kinds of crafts, but her love of crochet has come back to her and she is exploring it again and enjoying it very much!

She loves to read a good book when she has time.

She picked the colors yellow, blue, and pink because they are happy colors. I never would have used these colors in one of my angels with out someone requesting them and I am so glad that Li did.

I am very happy with the results on this angel, she is happy!

Li also asked if I would put something on there that represented me. I loved that, I thought it was unusual, but I was flattered that she wanted me on there. So for you Li I have added the California sun for happy days and a sunny heart where ever you may go. I have also added the flowers I make in the color that compliment your angel because I love making them and right now they do represent me and the place my work is at right now! Li your angel is done with a silver colored 16 gauge wire formed into and angel body and wrapped with a silver color 24 gauge wire. Her face is done in a flesh tone Cernit clay, and is adorned with a yellow Cernit crown with pink hearts all the way around. She also has a halo of wired on citrine and quartz chunks. Citrine for clarity and creativity and quartz for protection and positive energy.  The wings are made from pink, blue, and yellow Cernit and the wings, face, sun and heart are washed with Pewter Lumiere. I made you a good book so you will always have one on hand and two balls of yarn and a crochet hook to take where ever you go. Li I hope you like your angel, she is filled with love for you and positive thoughts.

Thank you so much for giving me a chance to do something I wouldn't have done.

I have learned so much!    

11th giveaway- One World One Heart

This post will remain at the top of the blog until Feb 14, 2010. Please Scroll down for more postings.
Good-bye MOM! We all love you, see everything you can see on your magic carpet ride, magical journeys await you now. When we meet again I want to hear all about them. You are always in our hearts, now and forever.xoxox
*update 02/02/10* I have decided to draw two people with the random number generator on the 14th,  and depending on how many more people I get, I may even add another.
*update 02/04/10* I am going to add another (3rd) giveaway at 150 comments, if I reach that.
Thank you all so much for your kindness and heartfelt words, they have helped me lift up and out of what is a sad, sad time for myself and my family. Blessings all over all of you...and thank you.
*02/07/10* I am having so much fun and the people I have met, are amazing and so wonderful. I am not getting anything done and my house looks like a tornado ran through and I could care less, my magic carpet is zooming through blog land as fast as it can. I am getting close to 200 responses and if that hapens I will add another goddess to the giveaway. That will make 4 in the giveaway. I hope you will understand that these are something that I do not rush through and I weave my love in to each turn of the wire and each image I make out of the clay, if you can bare to wait till it is finished, add your name to the list. 
Thank you for this magical mystical tour, it is making my heart so light, I needed that. That Lisa is a brilliant woman, thank ou so much Lisa for your precious time.
Again...good luck and blessings all over you all.
*02/11/10* Thank you so so much for all you have said sent and conveyed to me over these wonderful days of OWOH. I am in awe of the compassion and grace that abound in blog land. I am adding a 5th goddess to the draw. My light has been re-kindled. May the blessings abound for you all. It is so very very nice to meet you all.


If you click on the picture it will take you there by a "magic carpet" which is the theme this year.
And to all of the other blogs involved in this world wide love fest. The blogs will be on the right hand side at Whimsical Bohemian.

Welcome to all, from One World One Heart which will now be known as OWOH.
I am so glad you have stumbled upon my little place on the web. Welcome!
To my regular pretties -you get to play too.

I am a little late at jumping on this glorious bandwagon, but I wanted to get the 10th giveaway under my belt, family matters, and I just found out this last week. On something so marvelous where people meet and talk from all over the world, better late than never I say!
To the right you can see Madi's is getting in the spirit and wrapped herself in the magic carpet. She is always ready for a new adventure.

Lisa Swifka at a Whimsical Bohemian http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/
started this in 2007 with a few blogs and it has grown beyond belief to over 900 blogs this year and last. Please join in there is still time. Feb.08, 10 is the deadline.

I am honored to be a part of this and I do it in honor of my mother in law Rosalie who is dying.

Rosalie has been a friend and a beautiful influence in my life for many many years and what Lisa is doing would be something she would love. Rosalie was also a kindred spirit and could needle point, embroider, crochet, sew, and knit with the best of them, she owned and worked a "Jewel Art" in the 60's. She is also the one that told me " your work should look as good on the back as it does on the front" and "I weave and blend love in to each one of my pieces".

Have a great ride on the magic carpet MOM!! I will miss you so much. I love you and thank you! Ching-ching La'chaim

xoxoxoxo

In Lisa words:

WHAT IS ONE WORLD ONE HEART?

I created this event in 2007. The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. 2007 had roughly 85-90 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.

We had a strong showing the first year for sure, and then in 2008 we had just about tripled that number. In 2009 there were 911 participants, to say I was amazed is an understatement. 28 countries were represented in the 2009 event as well.

This is more than wanting to win something.......that is only the means.......in the end it's about finding kindred spirits. Someone who may be fairly new to blogging, not sure how to navigate, find others and have others find them....Some are long time bloggers and in some cases well known in the blogging community. Whatever the case it brings all of them together. This is an INTERNATIONAL event that has and had participants from the US, Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Malaysia, Brazil, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, England,Wales, Slovenia and more. It transcends geographical location, socio economics, political affiliation, religious beliefs......it's a coming together like the giant community we are on this planet. If only it took a simple giveaway to create PEACE everywhere, in the mean time here we give from our hearts. We are not solving the worlds problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging. What more could I ask for, my little idea has surpassed my wildest dreams of what it could become.

For my giveaway:

I will be making one of my goddess brooches for the winner.

You can refer back to my 10th giveaway here:

http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2010/01/10th-giveaway-new-decade-new-year-new.html

You will be able to have her made to you specifications, She will also be resting in a magic carpet base.

Depending on the amount of entries I may do this again and pick another winner.

The rules, as there must be some once in a while

1. You must have a blog or email so I can get back to you.

I will pick another name if I can not get in touch with you.

2. Leave a comment on this post only.

3. One comment only.

The winner will be drawn on the 14th of February 2010 at 12 noon MIDNIGHT pst (pacific standard time), I will announce the winner (or winners?) on the 15th of February

Thank you for riding the magic carpet with me. Have fun and good luck on your travels.

Comeback again sometime, it was so nice to meet you