For my friends and family....the one person image-wise I missed sharing with you yesterday was my new friend, Mary. Here she is in full regalia, smiling and feeling the "Heidi-vibe". She really helped me laugh and enjoy the week on my feet in Louisville along with Charlotte, Heidi, Benny, Catherine, David, Gary, and of course my sisters!!! I can feel the Louisville trip becoming a distant memory but for the people I met who worked their way into my heart!
The National APT Conference is finally done! It was a long haul but I made it and my sisters showed up:) It was amazing... I met so many new people and re-connected with others it was great!! It felt good to be received so well; thanks to those of you who remembered me and told stories of how well the dolls are received by your children in your practices. It was affirming.
The drive was wonderful...this country is truly beautiful and my timing was good. I had an easy trip. It was long but "Magellan" got me there with no problem! The hotel was great! The view from our room was magnificent - a view of the Ohio river with views of barges being pushed by tug boats and the sun setting...wow. AND THEN....
two of my three sisters showed up to celebrate my birthday! What a week I had...I feel lucky and know the universe has been good to me. My husband and partner of many years remembered my special New Year by sending me flowers.
So it was an amazing trip; one that will stay in my heart for a very long time. Celebrating my 60th birthday or New Year, as I like to call it! AND meeting tons of great people who like to laugh, create, and help people. Family and Friends...what else is there?!
I hope to give you a smile today with some of these shots. I will bring more your way soon as I go through my photos and memories of Louisville!
PlayPals are heading to the National Association for Play Therapy conference in Kentucky in October! This is a big deal for me and my small company. I am working at a frantic pace to get all my products complete and the stage set for what I hope to be a major event.
As I write this note, my mind is designing new products.
It is a challenge remembering...that all this is practice, nothing is perfect and it will be just fine. The day of departure is approaching rapidly but I feel I am ready and truly excited!
Keep a good thought and wish me well as I travel across the country, car filled with dollies and such!
Here is a shot of the "Paper Preview".........don't even know what that is; probably because I did not have a very formal wedding with all the trimmings. BUT, I am very happy to have been a part of this beautiful affair! Seriously, how great and idea is giving fans as a gift to all guests at an outdoor summer wedding celebration!!! I was thrilled when they sent me this photo. It is beautiful and obviously the fans will be appreciated during the hot hours in the afternoon dancing and feasting........in celebration of this most wonderful event!
Good Luck and Best Wished to you both, Ali and Bart on your new adventure, the journey begins!
Thank you for requesting and trusting me to create a piece for this lovely event.
It is a rare occasion that I get to see where my work ends up! This is one of the wonderful ways a piece of mine is being used. Isn't she amazing? I am grateful for having had the opportunity to create this especially for a fabulous photographer who had an idea. To do what I love to do and to collaborate with other artists is amazing and such a great feeling.
Yes...........this is my sister, my "older" sister. When she is not hiding and hugging dollies she is a therapist, a play therapist specializing childhood issues including trauma. She is quite well known and respected in the field of child therapy and teaches parents how to work with their children so that there is consistency and a smoother transition for the child from her office/playroom back home! Cindy is the recipient of the Louise Guerney award this year. It is a great honor and accomplishment to be recognized in your field for your work! Congratulations Sis! Now take off your mask! Oh, by the way, she is the one in the green:)
Here is Cin, out of costume seated with Henry, her therapy dog and the dollies in her playroom at her Beech Street Program. She sent this photo to me so you can see that the dolls are durable and having many serves many issues. She has shared stories about the work they have been a part of. The work is tough and the dolls can take it:) In fact, many of the tools I currently make are directly related to Cin's particular kind of work. After I had created dolls for my own children, Cin saw them and requested I make her some for her office and over time we would talk about her work and mine with the mental health agency, and I developed tools to draw out feelings that people young and old had a tough time expressing verbally. It has been quite an experience for me in the past many years applying my work with people and art to such important work.
This is what Cin has said about PlayPals:
"PlayPals have been staples in all of my playrooms and offices since their inception. Over the past 15 years, I have amassed a collection of different ages, skin tones, expressions, and outfits. They have been heavily used in both directive play therapy sessions as well as child centered sessions and offer our child clients opportunities for therapeutic work in many thematic areas. They have been used to work on nurturance, aggression, trauma, victim, perpetrator, good, evil, power, control, anxiety, loss and family and relationship themes. These dolls have been given roles such as perpetrator, robber, victim, jury, police office, sibling, baby, parent and student. They are wonderful props that offer endless possibilities for creativity in children's play. They are artistically made, durable and can be easily cleaned. You would be lucky to own one."
I have many dolls in offices and playrooms of therapists, school counselors offices, classrooms, nursing homes, and many in private homes. So if you have a child, or not, and want someone to hug............."who ya' gonna call?"..........that would be me! Check out the dolls I have on hand at my etsy site: www.playpals.etsy.com
Here are just a few of the PlayPals I have been making for the upcoming conference in Louisville, KY. I am as busy as I can be making dolls and other tools for the international play therapy conference in October. Oh yeah, I'm having fun too! You see, I think I am hilarious! It's a laugh party almost every day!
"I have been using the PlayPals in my clinical practice for several years. I work with children birth to 6 years old and use play therapy with them regularly. Most of the kids I work with have some kind of behavior issue or have experienced trauma, abuse, or some other significant negative experience that has affected their life. In the play therapy room, children really respond to the size and softness of the PlayPals. They are about the same size as some kids! The children not only like to just be with them, but also use them to express themselves and their experiences through play. One thing I like best about the dolls is the rich and soulful expressions on their little faces. I believe this can help the children to explore a fuller range of feelings and meaningful experience, that it's OK to feel whatever they're feeling even if it's sad or angry or scared. The PlayPals are a valuable, integral part of our play therapy room environment. I even have a couple of dolls at home just because I enjoy them so much."
Carol Chrysler, LPC, ATR-BC Early Childhood Clinician/Art Therapist San Luis Valley Mental Health Center
Carol, thank you from EC Hanson and PlayPals! Signing off, EC
Live with Intention,
Create Beauty,
Embrace the Positive,
Let the Rest Go.
I practice these every day and although it is challenging.......the practice gets easier. It's the "paying attention" part that really takes time! Recognizing the old patterns.
I am so happy to have begun.
For my friends and family....the one person image-wise I missed sharing with you yesterday was my new friend, Mary. Here she is in full regalia, smiling and feeling the "Heidi-vibe". She really helped me laugh and enjoy the week on my feet in Louisville along with Charlotte, Heidi, Benny, Catherine, David, Gary, and of course my sisters!!! I can feel the Louisville trip becoming a distant memory but for the people I met who worked their way into my heart!
and Mary and Charlotte who are not in my pictures:(
Here is a shot of the "Paper Preview".........don't even know what that is; probably because I did not have a very formal wedding with all the trimmings. BUT, I am very happy to have been a part of this beautiful affair! Seriously, how great and idea is giving fans as a gift to all guests at an outdoor summer wedding celebration!!! I was thrilled when they sent me this photo. It is beautiful and obviously the fans will be appreciated during the hot hours in the afternoon dancing and feasting........in celebration of this most wonderful event!
It is a rare occasion that I get to see where my work ends up! This is one of the wonderful ways a piece of mine is being used. Isn't she amazing? I am grateful for having had the opportunity to create this especially for a fabulous photographer who had an idea. To do what I love to do and to collaborate with other artists is amazing and such a great feeling.
Yes...........this is my sister, my "older" sister. When she is not hiding and hugging dollies she is a therapist, a play therapist specializing childhood issues including trauma. She is quite well known and respected in the field of child therapy and teaches parents how to work with their children so that there is consistency and a smoother transition for the child from her office/playroom back home! Cindy is the recipient of the Louise Guerney award this year. It is a great honor and accomplishment to be recognized in your field for your work! Congratulations Sis! Now take off your mask! Oh, by the way, she is the one in the green:)
