No Excuses! I need you.

Hi Friends! It's me the Traveling Princess #crazycharitygirl 

ready to ring in 2014!

Maybe you know me really really well,
maybe you are a facebook friend,http://www.charitywings.org/membership/
maybe you are someone that likes what I do.
and maybe, just maybe you are a member of the Charity Wings Art Center.

I am asking a favor from all of you that see how hard I work every day to create opportunities for people.

I work hard for events! tiara and all

Sometimes it is for the people who need it, 

Some of the sweetest people I have had the pleasure of knowing from Teri Inc.

and other times, it is for the people who need an opportunity to give.

150 people, 2 days, 5 classes and a whole lot of fun for the Boys & Girls Club

Making card with Scripps Hospital visitors on National Card Making Day.

Making Seaside Soiree beautiful and welcoming for our guests!

Making Styrofoam stars to decorate the goody bags for the Friends of Scott Prom for Kids with Cancer.

making awesome art at the Save the TaTas event

Dressed up and still hauling stuff. We do it all!

 These are just a few of the hundreds of events we have hosted in the past 7 years. 

over $400,000 raised

87 charities served

Thousands of people reached.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you see value in what I do, please support
         It takes 2 minutes and cost .33 cents a day.
                 It comes with perks and happy feelings and 
                        makes all the difference in the world to me.

It's the holiday season and almost a New Year so I'm asking.

Please become a member of the Charity Wings Art Center.  It is not about using the Art Center. It is not about coming to the Art Center. It is about giving the gift of ART to people all over the world that can benefit from the Hope, Happiness and Healing that Art can provide.

Take a moment.  Click here now.  Join me in a very simple do-able way and together we can make this world a brighter more colorful happy place! 

JOIN ME IN 2014 FOR A YEAR OF NO EXCUSES!

On the outside I smile.

I have so many things I want to do in this life before I die.  Every time I pluck a grey hair I think I am one step closer to NOT getting to reach my goals and it scares me.

Having the Art Center requires me to smile and present a happy exterior but on the inside I feel like there is a constant drip of blood coming from the hole in my heart. This unstoppable hole is not from any relationship or pain caused by a person-people leave their mark but it heals and scars just make you stronger.  The real injury comes from the pain of an unfulfilled life and complete lack of comprehension of why mine is turning out this way.  I make art to release some of the pressure and that scares people because they worry that I am not ok. The truth is, I will never be ok until I have the one thing in life I truly desire.  And that is to be a mother.  As you can see by this chart, my odds are almost 0%.

It is a heartbreak that I live with every day. I am not sure how to fill it. I am not sure how to change the way I feel. Nothing anyone can say makes it better. I just spread my pain through my art and hope that some day it will go away.

I have to try harder.

I need strength.  This is so hard.  I hate it.

I don't blog often and I hesitate to blog now but I have to. I have to get this out of me.  It's tearing me apart from the inside.

I have blogged before about my struggle with infertility and my deepest desire to have a child.  (post is here)

And last night I was on the phone with my friend Natasha and she really helped me sort through some underlying pain. The reality of it is, I spend every day of my life trying to fill a hole in my heart that is so huge and deep that no matter what happens, no matter what I do, it won't go away.  Everyone has their "stuff" to deal with and this is mine. 

I have to refocus my energy to make my life complete. I have to find my child.  There is a small heart out there looking for me and I am not trying hard enough. So I am refocusing my energy and spirit.

I don't know what the plan is yet. I am not sure how to get there but I am going to really try.

This little piggie

I feel like if I dont get a blog post up, I will explode!  I keep starting them and not publishing so here is just a quick story for a quick little giggle.

(Scene)
My brother and in the car and a guy walks by walking a little tiny mini pig. It was so cute!
(Conversation)
Elena:"I want to have a pet pig someday!"
Eric:"They don't stay small and cute you know."
Elena:"That's ok, when they grow too big, we can eat him."
Eric:"You really think you are going to eat your pet pig?"
Elena:"Yes! I would eat him"
Eric:"Really Elena, you would eat a pig that was your pet?"
LAUGHTER FOR A LONG TIME!

I don't think I could eat my pet pig, but I do love little piggies and I can't help it that they taste so good!

Back to blogging, hoping to make a difference.

Well, the Art Center is Open! Yay! happy people dance.

Now to make it a success. 

The reality of it is, that the space is  A LOT bigger than I ever dreamed of!  I guess when I was joking that "I could fill a 5000 square foot space in a day, I should have been a little more careful!

Meltdown #1

I have been trying to blog for months and even though i feel like I am being squeezed so hard in all directions, I have to sit and write this post.  For me.

Finding the Art Center space is such a huge blessing.

And for someone like me a a bit of a curse. 

I tend to overdo everything/take on too much.  I have a vision and I want it to go just as planned. Not having it go as planned is making me sick.

My brain, already having A.D.D. tendencies is spinnnig.  I feel like someone standing at the edge of a cliff all the time.  not a big cliff that could kill me :)  Just one that is daring me to jump off. Which is exciting and terrifying at the same time.

At the bottom of the cliff?  A HUGE GIANT ENORMOUS to do list that leads to my dreams coming true!

Every single thing on the list needs my attention in some way. I can't just hand things off or people (amazing volunteers who I am so grateful to) Everything needs guidance.

And the biggest scare as come in the form of money.  I have made the decision to personally fund the Art Center.  Not because I have money, but because I have credit and I have big dreams and big faith.  And because I know more people will sign up when they can see the center open and running.  It's just not happening right now.

My brother once told me  something like...I am not a philanthropist. Philanthropists have money. I am a person who wants to do good things.  This is exactly what I am and I hate that it requires money to do this.

THE REAL PROBLEM IS... I AM SCARED I CAN'T DO IT ALL. THAT I WILL FAIL. but im not going to stop so it's going to be what it is....

So if you read this far, you know my brain is not working right but I know I am doing the right thing and I know it will all work out, because it always does.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Still a happy people!

Now to go open an Art Center and bring free art to soooo many people!

Vision Vision Vison!

It's part of the journey so it counts!

#blogneglect #busygirl #nothingtosay #toomuchtosay

Well, one thing I learned in the past couple of months is the hashtag.  haha

So... What do I want to say...?

Do you know what Charity Wings does?

I want to grow my organization, Charity Wings.

I want to open a Charity Wings Art Center!

Will you support me?

Only if you know what the heck it is I do!

So here it is in a nutshell.

Charity Wings has been around since April 2006 and we have:

• hosted over 150 fundraising and awareness raising events
• raised over $460,000
• helped more than 73 different non profit organizations
• collected socks for the homeless during the cold rainy season
• collected over 5000 cards for military men and women stationed overseas
• created 73 scrapbooks for families coping with cancer
• hosted art events for breast cancer support groups
• and many more....

These are just a few of the things we have done.

What we are doing now is opening a Charity Wings Art Center.

Its going to be a place for everyone to Give, Gather and Create!

The Art Center will have two main functions:

1. To partner with other non- profits to offer free art and creativity classes and events to their beneficiaries.
2. To serve the Arts and Crafts Community by hosting classes, events and open studio time for our online and patron members.

 Partnering with other non profits will allow us to reach many people that can benefit from the therapeutic rewards of creating. We will not have to qualify people to join the free classes as long as they are referred by a partnering non profit.  We can also reach non profits all over the world by shipping them supplies then teaching them through internet technology like skype or google hangout.  The skies the limit on this one!

So what do I need from you?

We need members.

The Charity Wings Art Center will be mostly funded by memberships.  We will have different levels from online memberships starting at $10 per month, to patron memberships starting at $20 per month.  There will be something for everyone.

We are still in the process of figuring out a few of the details but we will be taking members very soon.

I hope you will join me in this movement and help us spread the joy of creating around the world,

 because everyone is happy when they are being creative.

Learn more about the Art Center here

Want to help? email me elena@charitywings.org  We are always looking for volunteers.