I recently blogged about a bazaar I will be participating in on November 27 at Western Academy of Beijing. Each day I’ve been making new cards for the bazaar (each one is unique) so there is a wider selection to choose from. A few days ago, I set up a mock table in our home and designed what it would look like for the bazaar. I’ve been thinking a lot about presentation and I wanted the table decoration to be as beautiful as the cards themselves. Here are some photos I’ve taken of the table and the cards. Hope to see you there!
The first song I composed for the CD, ‘Birds of Love‘ was the title song itself. This is how the composition came to pass… One of my dearest friends was getting married in our home and had asked me to sing something at her wedding. At the time I had no idea what would be appropriate. I didn’t really have anything in my repertoire on marriage and many of the songs I knew or composed were in the minor key and not very joyful.
It was about a month before the wedding and I remember thinking what a great idea it would be to surprise her! I decided to set a beautiful quotation on the theme of marriage to music and practiced diligently for the wedding day. Two days before the wedding, I caught a cold and didn’t think I would be able to sing the song at my friend’s wedding. I had spent so much time working on the song and developing it and didn’t want to let her down but what choice did I have? The day before the wedding was the rehearsal and I was so torn about singing and had made up my mind that I wouldn’t be able to perform. I had made a recording of the song with rough vocals and thought that we could just play that instead of singing live. That felt like a feasible solution. A friend who was in charge of the program just would not have it! He told me outright that I had to sing! No ifs or buts about it… even if my voice was not top quality – he told me it would touch my friend deeply even if I had half a voice. It was not about the performance but the thought and the gift itself of standing in front of my dear friends and singing for them no matter how I sounded. It definitely took a lot of courage and faith to follow through and go ahead with it. I’m pleased to say that I was very happy with the performance and that my voice actually came through. :)
You can hear ‘Birds of Love’ by clicking here. I look forward to sharing more about the piece itself in another blog.
Quote of the Day: “Wherefore, wed thou, in the heaven of Thy mercy these two birds of the nest of Thy love and make them the means of attracting perpetual grace, that from the union of these two seas of love, a wave of tenderness may surge and cast the pearls of pure and goodly issue on the shore of life.”
~‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Today I had a great time making the finishing touches on 3 of the handmade cards for orders I received for the Birds of Love limited edition. Creating the specialty cards for the limited edition has truly been a joy. The process is an exciting and lengthy one as I make them from scratch. Each card is unique as there are no two that are alike. I never know what it will look like till the end so I enjoy the process of discovering how the creation will unfold. I use a simple technique with paint to make them and once they’re dry I mount them on gold paper with a quote from Abdu’l-Baha from the Birds of Love book. The quote is: ‘What a power is love! It is the most wonderful, the greatest of all living powers.’ What inspires me is beauty and adorning these precious words with dignity so I wanted the cards to be unique in their style and design. Here is a photo of a few of them that I sent out today for someone who plans on giving the Birds of Love gift set to his wife on their 30th anniversary! For more info on the limited edition click on this link.
I am excited to share with you a new video that was made by my label, prosoul, about our most recent release, Birds of Love. We wanted to make a video to show more details of the Birds of Love gift set which includes a CD and book. We realized that just describing it and showing pictures didn’t do it justice and felt that a video would best capture the essence of the project (short of actually seeing it in person). The Birds of Love gift set is intended as a meaningful gift for any occasion. It has been used as a gift for weddings, anniversaries, visiting a friend’s home, Valentine’s day gift, or simply to a loved one. I would like to thank Felisha Matthew for her assistance in the making of the video.
Enjoy the video and please share this link with others.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I forgot yesterday was my wedding anniversary! Fortunately my husband forgot too until he saw the date on his phone! At first I was so disappointed because I’m usually very conscientious about such things and pride myself in remembering birthdays and anniversaries. It’s ironic since I’m about to release a new CD and book of quotes for weddings, anniversaries and loved ones called Birds of Love. I have been working doubly hard to get the package released this month and have been extremely focused on accomplishing the goal date. As a result of all the hard work, I’m so pleased to announce that on January 23, 2009, Birds of Love will be launched! I will be blogging more about it in the next few weeks and giving you sneek peeks of what is inside the booklet as well as more about the songs.
Luckily all went well with our anniversary. I remembered that I had stashed his anniversary gift away some time ago. But the best gift of all is the dedication that I wrote for Tarry in the booklet of quotes that is accompanying the album which will be bound in a Chinese silk package for Birds of Love. I’m excited to share with you the first two pages of the book which is the dedication page with an exquisite Chinese illustration. Each page of quotes will have its accompanying Chinese illustration.
I was informed at the end of the evening that it was one of his most memorable anniversaries yet! Not sure how to top that next year. Fortunately, he said next year would be his turn to surprise me. :D
Thought of the Day: Love is… a flower so delicate that a touch will bruise it, so strong that nothing will stop its growth. – Fern Wheeler
