Day 1-Jan. 16, 2020- Ultimate Blog Challenge

Day 1 - January 16, 2020

Since I started blogging, I decided to join The Ultimate Blog Challenge. During the month of January, the challenge is - write 1 blog a day for the entire month of January. YIKES - that will be 30/31 blogs...Looking at the calendar, it would appear that I have a few days to get caught up, so I will write 2 blogs a day until I'm all caught up!

Let me start out by introducing myself. My name is Nancy and I'm the owner of Heart to Heart Soul Creations, aka H2HSC. I'm a wife, a mother of 3 beautiful children (1 son, 2 daughters), 2 amazing grandsons and a third who will be making his debut any day now, I'm a daughter, a sister, an Aunt and a cousin - but above all, I'm a friend.

You may be asking yourself what is Heart to Heart Soul Creations? That's a great question to ask...let me share a little insight into what H2HSC is about...

As a teenager, I began clipping words, phrases, and pictures out of newspapers and magazines. That was how I crafted back then! I’ve always loved art - I was never really good at painting, drawing, or much anything else until a very dark time in my life.

In 2005, I went through a very traumatic ordeal in life that created a great deal of mental, emotional, physical pain, and lots of anger, hurt, and anguish. This ordeal changed me inwardly and outwardly. I was lost. I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I was in the middle of the darkest place of my life that I had ever experienced. It was like a deep, dark abyss.

I had seen some mosaic crosses made out of broken tiles and I thought to myself, “wouldn’t that feel good to be able to break something and “not” be looked at a certain way”. So I acquired some ceramic tiles, grout, paint, and some boards and I went to breaking...before I knew it, I had created something beautiful from my heart and soul that had hidden meanings in it. After all, I wasn’t trying to make anything special, I was just piddling around in order to get my mind off of my situation in order to break the cycle of pain and despair I was feeling. When my husband hung up one of the boards - I stared at it and all of a sudden the word, “HOPE” jumped off of it and I started yelling, “do you see that?” The word, HOPE is on the board...at that very moment, I knew - my God had not forsaken me during this dark time and He was so ever near to me. A few days later, 3 more boards came into being...FAITH, LOVE, and DREAM. Then I began making mosaic crosses. This became enjoyable to me. I put the newspapers and magazines away because I just experienced a new form of art - Altered Art/Mixed Media, whatever you wanted to call it back then. To me, it was just art and I liked it!

When I started crafting many, many years ago - it was from a place of pain. Both mental and emotional...I used crafting to cope with the pain I felt internally. Today, when I craft, I create from my heart and soul - whether it’s happy, dark times, sad times or full of joy and laughter...thus - Heart to Heart Soul Creations came into existence.

Whether it’s scrapbook layouts, tags, cards, mixed media, altered art, pocket letters, loaded envelopes, or junk journals of any theme imaginable - I craft for enjoyment. I craft from my heart and soul - I give life to something as simple as a paperclip.

Heart to Heart Soul Creations was founded on the Word of God. God IS the reason I live and breathe today. I learned along time ago, the true meaning of forgiveness. I learned resilience through abandonment. I learned how to survive when others said I wouldn’t. I learned how to pick up the broken pieces and put my life back together. Easy is was not...but I was determined and today, I stand tall with my head held high. It was ALL because of God’s grace, forgiveness, protection, guidance, comfort and loving me just the way I am. I won’t apologize for my faith and when I craft for others, I speak blessings into everything I create for them...from my heart and soul to theirs. <3

Today, Heart to Heart Soul Creations has many more meanings than just crafting. I enjoy walking with my ancestors by way of Genealogy. I guess you could call me, the family Genealogist! I enjoy visiting cemeteries, taking photographs of the headstones, learning of the history, and meeting new family I never knew I had by way of DNA. I love perusing the photos of yesterday in hopes of possibly finding a family member who I have yet to see. During the last 2 years, I have had the opportunity of meeting new 1st, 2nd, and 4th - 5th generation cousins. I even attended my 2nd Great Grandfather's Hillman Family Reunion this last September. It was their 61st one. While I was in Louisiana for the Family Reunion, I had the opportunity of meeting a 3rd generation cousin who was 103 years old!!!! She was sharp as a tack. The photos and memories she shared with me that day will always be on my mind and forever in my heart. That day was "priceless".

Through crafting and genealogy, I decided to begin a blog to share my interests with others of my passion through these wonderful outlets. I live today from a place of resilience because of my life experiences...my motto is, “if I can instill hope to another human being who might be mentally/emotionally hurting - living in a dark place internally, feels they are unlovable, dealing with depression, going through a traumatic experience, thinking life isn’t worth living anymore - then I’ve done what I’m supposed to do. After all, I’m the evidence that things do turn around for people - -BUT, we have to put the work into it. We can’t expect a different result by doing the same routine...we MUST shake it up and flip that switch called life”!

Have a great day and remember, "always share a smile because you may be the only one a person sees".

Heart to Heart Soul Creations
H2hsc2020

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