Sending Love around the World! Photos from Cambodia and heart energy shared

Hello creative friends!

As I sit down to write this newsletter, my lovely Global Postcard Swap group are creating and sending arty postcards around the world with a theme of ‘Sending Love Around the World’ and I thought today (as its Valentines Day!) would be a lovely time to share the recent project we took part in to share postcards with children in Cambodia.

Your heART really does make a difference. Sending/receiving a gorgeous postcard in person or through the mail makes even more of a difference to each and every person. If you are not part of the swap and would like to join in for next time, please sign up to the special list here.

Before I left for my 3 month trip, I put a call out to see who would love to create an arty postcard (with a butterfly theme) to put a smile on a Cambodia child’s face… I received over 40 pretty postcards which was amazing as the turn-around time was less than a couple of weeks over the busy festive season.

Look at the beauty I received!

When I arrived in Cambodia, I laid them all out in-front of me to see the beauty that I had traveled with, excited that they would soon be in the hands of local children. 

Unfortunately I did not have enough to gift every single child at the Butterfly Center, so when I told Ana who runs the project about our postcards, she suggested to gift them to the dancers and musicians from the school (mostly young teenagers) as a thank you for the traditional Cambodian performance they put on for us. There was enough for each of them to receive a card from around the world with a special message. They were absolutely thrilled!

So thank you to all of you who sent me a card, you truly brought joy to so many! Below are just a few of the beautiful messages written on the back of the postcards.

Below are a few images from our visit to the Butterfly Education Center.

The main reason I was in Cambodia was to attend an art retreat that my wonderful artist friend Tracy Verdugo Art was hosting which combined community, art and sightseeing. 

It had also been 5 years since Tracy and I had seen each other, so the trip was so special in so many ways!

I was also very interested in looking to see if I could come back another time to do some volunteering /sharing art in 2021, which I still plan to do!

In addition to spending time at the Butterfly school, we also visited a ‘Butterfly Tuk Tuk’ village school that Ana had set up! We spent time observing their weekend morning school and doing some drawing. It was wonderful to spend time with these beautiful children who constantly smiled.  I spent some time creating some coloring pages for fun and helping the children identify colors!

I was a little sad to leave Cambodia, but I know I will return. So much to explore and experience. AND the temples were amazing! (Photos on my Facebook here). I am now visiting lovely friends in Australia and enjoying some down-time, so I hope you have a wonderful weekend doing what you love!