Front Page Above the Fold!

Front page on the Standard Journal!

So excited! Last week I  had an interview with the Rexburg Standard Journal. I was so nervous going in but that quickly melted away when I shook hands with reporter writing the story. Preston Lindsey was a pleasure to interview with. He was kind and genuinely interested in the BE THE GOLD story. The interview went on for over an hour but it flew by super quickly. After the interview was done, I felt really good, both from getting through something that beforehand caused plenty of anxiety and also because I felt it was a great experience that would help spread more awareness throughout the community.

I knew the story would be printed today but I didn't think it would front page news! How excited I was when I got a Facebook comment from a local friend that saw my son's picture on the news stands. I was in awe! I am humbled by the priority spot the Standard put the story in and grateful for the exposure the movement had and will receive because of it.

Painting the town GOLD

Some of my face painting designs... a couple I had to totally "wing it".

I had a great time last Friday at the BE THE GOLD Free Face Painting Booth at the local Farmer's Market. I am not a professional face painter but I so enjoy it. This was only my third time face painting.... ever.... in. my. life. My experience resume, before the last two Farmer's Markets, was my son's birthday party a couple of years ago. I did much of my learning through watching YouTube videos.

This week's designs seemed to go through a quantum leap from last week's. I credit it to being less nervous, having a few more hours practice under my belt and especially having a tall chair for the kids to sit in. Last week, I was forced to sit across from the kids at normal chair level. Not the best position for artistry, I would say. This week, with the addition of a counter-height chair, I could stand while painting. The paint and brush table were also counter-height. Yes, I was standing most of the day but the designs (and my back) thanked me for it.

I have a couple dozen designs in my repertoire but I always aim to please, so when a little guy whispered for a "wittle baby long neck " and a guy asked for a Hunger Games beard, I winged it and gave it my best shot. The most popular designs by far for the day were butterfly and princess masks. Boys seemed to ask for more variety.

One of the most popular designs for the day!

Great helpers!

I was so pleased with the day, I honestly started to think I missed my calling as a professional face painter. But what has made the experience all the more sweeter (other than the reactions of the kids when I show their finished faces through a mirror) is knowing that I am reaching out to the community and providing a free service that does an amazing job of spreading awareness. It really is so satisfying. At the end of the day when I am tired and packing up, I just feel so good. I feel like I'm glowing. Weird maybe, but I totally feel uplifted and like I did something worthwhile. I love it! I would consider providing the service for free long-term if the paints I use (professional quality face paints) weren't so expensive.

I must mention that I had a couple great helpers both weeks. They help with line-control, chatting to people about BE THE GOLD and handing out badges and cards. They are also volunteering their time and I am so appreciative of it.

In other news, #BeTheGold videos are almost at 300k total combined views. More videos coming soon. Stay tuned! My heart feels like bursting from the excitement!

Pass the GOLD

Another great photo shoot by Mindy Weston Photography

Lots of laughs always accompany the shoots.

So many exciting things happening!

Let's start off by talking about the fabulous photo shoot this week. As usual, Mindy did an outstanding job capturing the vision in my head. The lighting was wonderful with a sunny day as the backdrop. The models were so easy to direct. All and all, it was a quick easy shoot with great results! Check out the main website's "Home" page for the final shots.

Earlier in the week, I announced the winner for the business card giveaway. The winning suggestion was "Gold Cards" which might seem a little on the nose but fits perfectly. People have been naturally calling them "Be The Gold cards" and "Gold cards" for short. When I hand them out, I always mention that these cards are meant to travel and never stay in one place. "Like and pass it along", I always say.

We shot this pose with a couple different backgrounds. The glass door background in the first pic won out.

Even indoors, the lighting was cooperating.

In other exciting news, #BeTheGold videos reached a combined 250K views today! A quarter MILLION! AH-mazing! In fact, as I write this, the official current count is 262,340! More videos going live throughout the coming weeks. In order to make browsing the videos more efficient and to introduce different channels to those not yet familiar with them, I made a icon key for the page. Check it out in the "Video" tab of the main website.

New icon key on Video page

So today has felt like a great day! I am so excited to see what the next few days, weeks and months have in store!

Adventures in Face Painting

Photos by Mindy Weston Photography

Last Friday I had the pleasure of having a booth at the local Farmer's Market where I did free face painting. It was a blast! I really enjoyed it! I hadn't face painted in about 2 years but I felt I did a pretty good job. The kids had no complaints. It was also an excellent opportunity to spread the word about BE THE GOLD in the community. Both the face painting and info on BE THE GOLD were well received.

I am excited to say that the Farmer's Market has invited me back this Friday. So if you have the time, stop by,  have your little ones' faces painted and learn more about BE THE GOLD!

On another note, #BeTheGold Youtube videos are currently over 140K VIEWS! Let's keep the momentum going and share, share, share! More videos scheduled to go live all month long! Also, don't forget to take a look at all the "How to BE THE GOLD's" and find out how you can help spread the word!

I use professional face paints and have a variety of designs in my repertoire. Stop on by!

GoldTube #BeTheGold

Big thank you to all Be The Gold YouTube participants so far!

Things are really rolling!

I am so excited for the first four #BeTheGold videos going live this week! Check them out when you have a chance. (CLICK HERE for a list of them.)

These awesome YouTube content creators all did an amazing job! Randy Bishop Art did a super neat digital speed painting. ColorChangeNailArt posted a Be The Gold inspired nail tutorial. Evynne Hollens made an exceptional music video of her cover song "Fields of Gold". She is also generously giving a portion of her sales to CureSearch. AH-mazing! And last but not least,  PuddingFishCakes made an adorable Goldilocks clay charm tutorial video including a giveaway! (Check out her video for the giveaway details.)

All and all, I am so happy with the support from the YouTube community. They have gone above and beyond by putting forth time and effort in preparing and posting these videos. I am in awe of their generosity. I have always had a deep respect for social media and the power it yields, especially YouTube. Now I have just as much appreciation. I can not thank the participants so far enough.

How to BE THE GOLD #14: Share a #BeTheGold video!

There are more YouTube videos scheduled to be posted soon by a variety of content creators. I can't wait to see/share them!

If you check out the latest "How to BE THE GOLD", you will see it goes hand in hand with the videos posted or yet to be posted. Share a #BeTheGold video! Videos are an excellent way to spread the word in an optimistic, unintimidating, casual way. Share a video and make someone smile while creating awareness! Sounds like the perfect recipe for viral videos! 

Free Face Painting!

Free face painting by BE THE GOLD at the Farmer's Market on September 6th, 2013.

If you are in the Rexburg area, stop on by for some free face painting tomorrow evening!
We will have a photo booth for you to take pictures to post to your social medias as well as more info on how to BE THE GOLD. Looking to get your hands on a name badge and info cards? We'll have those too!


P.S. If you haven't already, please like us on Facebook.... and tell your friends!

Working Out the Kinks

Latest photos for BE THE GOLD

Another photo shoot completed. This time at a gym and not a dumbbell-treadmill-aerobics kind of gym. We are talking about a gymnastics.

We had a super talented young man step in as our model. He was very accommodating, coming in from out of town for the shoot. It was by far the most physically grueling session due to the fact that there was so many possibilities for pictures with all the equipment and apparatuses there.

We tried several poses which were relatively easy to shoot but not to easy for our gymnast to hold for long periods of time. To us, it seemed we worked the poor guy to death, but he seemed barely winded by all the athletics we forced on him.

For the most part, photo sessions are almost done with only two more big sessions to go. Hopefully they will be completed in about a week.

In other news, September is now upon us! August just flew by as I did my best to prepare for Childhood Cancer Awareness month. There are so many great things planned for September that I CAN NOT wait to unveil.

As I threw myself into this project, I have slept little these last few weeks, giving it all I got, hoping and praying that my big idea will make a big enough splash, hoping and praying it can be successful. So little sleep between this project, my family (including my 2 month-old) and my persistent brain which rarely lets me relax. Even when I am not actively working on this, I am still thinking and working things out in my mind. When I am unloading the dryer, loading the dishwasher, pumping gas, buying groceries, changing a diaper... I am thinking about this. When I am drifting off to sleep and when I wake up... I am thinking about this. I actually have dreams about this project. I find myself jotting down notes at 3 o'clock in the morning on a regular basis (usually I'm forced to be coherent at that time to feed or change a crying baby).

Yes, I am trying not to let the thought of failure enter my mind. I am trying hard to shush the voice in my head that says, "You're CA-razy for thinking you can actually change the world." But maybe the lack of sleep is helping with that. Lack of sleep can make you a little crazy and maybe you need to be a little crazy to think you can change the world.