OLW: July Manifesto

For July, Ali has challenged us to create a manifesto.  I dug this a lot and gave it a great deal of thought.  How did my word, real, need to manifest itself this month?  I gave it some thought after watching her video, and I kept coming back to the two things that ring true during any stressful periods of life: trust and hope.

This card is from Ali's Believe Story Kit, a kit that is quickly becoming a favorite (don't worry, Tough is still high up there).  The stamp is from her Encouragement stamp set.  I used an Avery tab to flip the 4 x 6 card.

I liked the back of this card as well, as the message was very hopeful.  I used the blank side to so a quick summary of why this month needed this type of manifesto.

Ali provided the word art in the upper left.  The upper right is a gold foil transparency I bought at Michaels.  I tried to cut certain phrases into it as best I could.  The bottom is the acrylic "believe" from the Believe Story Kit, and the stamp is from the Encouragement stamp set.  The white star sticker came in something from Ali's...can't recall.

So, Ali encouraged us to get creative with this month if we felt so moved.  I have been working at watercolors, particularly brush script, which is, my friends, no easy task.  Lots of practice needed.  I am able to print fairly well, so I decided upon that with the words trust and hope.  I decided to do some watercolor swashes in the background of each word.  Then, I was practicing with my downward strokes, and thought they would look cool on the card.  I decided that making them into some abstract candles would be appropriate, as candles hold a great deal of symbolism for me.  The upper right-hand corner is a manifesto from Emily McDowell that was PERFECT for my entire year with real.  I had to include it.  I found it here.