Pieces Of My Heart

I was playing around some more with my new Xenofex 2 plugin, and enjoyed this puzzle feature. It even allowed me to choose a setting called "Almost Done," which applied the puzzle piece look, with some pieces missing. Perfect feature for someone involved with Autism Awareness! (Puzzle pieces are the universal symbol for autism.)

This was a tutorial I did just for fun. I rather like this design. The original was created with Gorjuss artwork, and as you know, I'm not fond of those. So I put in a Garvey tube that I particularly relate to. I do think another design might have worked a little better, but I haven't figured out which one yet. When I see one, I'll redo this.

I added the Pieces of my Heart word art. They weren't part of the tutorial, but I liked this tutorial name, and wanted to be sure it stayed with the design. I hear the phrase "missing pieces" a lot, in relationship to autism awareness, but I hesitate to use it sometimes because it implies that something is missing, or broken, or defective, and that's not the image I'm trying to convey. Yes, there is a puzzling diagnosis, and there is much yet to be learned about it or pieces of the puzzle that need to be put together, but depending on how and when you use the term, it can give a negative connotation. So I like the idea of "pieces of my heart," as opposed to "missing pieces" here.

I also took out the bleeding roses from the tutorial. That kind of struck me a little off as well. I don't want to give the idea that I bleed for my son. Yes, my heart breaks for him sometimes, when I see how other people treat him. But I have great hope and optimism for his life and future. It is not a sorrowful picture. So the bleeding roses turned into roses damp with morning dew. New beginnings. A nicer image, in my mind.

You'll see me come back to this puzzle theme again, I'm sure. And frequently.



Tutorial Used: http://www.bluedreamdesigns.co.uk/Piecesofmyheart_tutorial.html

* For information about Autism: www.RockfordAutism.com



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