Don’t forget to leave a comment if you download it and say what you’d like to see next on my little blog!

Here is how it looks with the info on. I used the font “Euphonia Latin” which I bought at myfonts.com, fyi.

Girls holding their personal YW banners, which are smaller than the classroom one and says "I" instead of "we". Look at those cute flowers and ribbon!

As a side note, one of my Young Women told me that this summer when her family went on a long trip she packed her personal mini YW banner in her suitcase to hang on her wall while she was away. How cool is that?

Thank you Fawn for sending these along. If any of you have photos of your banners please do send them in and I’ll be happy to post them as well.

If you’re still here, here’s the highlights to look for:

On the homepage is a slideshow of large images. One of them is the Brand New Year section. Go there and find three categories on the right:

• Download & Listen This has all 23 tracks to this year’s music youth CD. Download them all in a single click and drop it in iTunes. Instead of burning a CD for every girl, try having a music night where the girls bring their mp3 players or a thumb drive and they can download it online together. My favorite song so far is ‘We Seek After These Things”. The other 22 songs are instrumental, which could be a good homework soundtrack for the girls.
  
• Spread the Word This has the posters, cards and a logo for you to download and print. You can also broadcast it on twitter or facebook if you are feeling it. Even an iron-on t-shirt design. Ooh.
  
• For Parents & Leaders This gives an overview of the DVD and how to use it. And how you should have known about this already and had a plan in place for New Year’s. Does sometime in January count?
  

I have to admit, I hadn’t heard anything about the Brand New Year 2010 DVD (BNY) until I talked to my mom a few weeks ago. Apparently every ward got it in November. If so, it was a very well kept secret on my side of the pond. But luckily it’s online so I don’t have to wait for the mailman. Here’s the Church’s synopsis:

The content is mostly youth worldwide encouraging one another, testifying, and sharing inspiring experiences with each other. It will also include uplifting original songs, youth interacting with general Church leaders, and a message from a member of the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

It is important to review the DVD and introduce the downloadable materials to the youth so that they can use them to “be strong and of a good courage”  (Joshua 1:9) in their everyday lives.

They also suggest some ideas of how to get youth involved:

1. Invite youth to make their own video testimony of a standard in For the Strength of Youth.

How easy is it to make a video these days? With a new Nano or Flip it can be done in minutes. Not everyone will be up for making a testimony video (I would find it a bit odd to record that, but that’s just me), or for the more light-hearted a short sketch based on one of the video topics with the BNY song as the soundtrack. Think of how great these little videos about doing good would be on YouTube or Facebook?

2. Teach youth the 2010 theme song.

You can hear it at the very end of video #10. At least I think that’s the theme song! They say sheet music is on its way to being online.

There are some phenomenal youth with music skills in our Stake, I’m going to have to see if they are up for doing the mega trumpet version on the youth CD for song 2 or 3.

3. Invite youth to ponder their personal accomplishments in living the 2009 Mutual theme (1 Timothy 4:12).

4. Celebrate good works accomplished in classes, quorums, and youth activities during 2009—for example, through sharing memories, reading from journals, telling stories, looking at photographs, or watching a slide show or video footage.

Last year for the stake talent show, we did a cool video of the girls each displaying their talents. That’s worthy of a post of it’s own so I’ll link it here when it’s up.

5. Invite youth to make a personal commitment to live the standards in For the Strength of Youth in 2010. If desired, they could write their goal on a commitment card (downloadable from the site under ‘Spread the Word’) associated with A Brand New Year: 2010 Youth Celebration.

6. Invite youth to visit the new youth Web site. http://youth.lds.org

I’ve set up a stake youth group on facebook and have posted the link there, along with dance info and other things. It’s only two days old at this point, but so far there are 6 members. I’m just waiting (hoping) for it to snowball so the youth can get better connected in the stake (some wards are over an hour apart) and be easier to announce activities and get a dialogue going. When it’s all running smoothly I’m going to hand it over to the youth to manage.

ACTIVITY IDEAS WITH THE DVD

It would be fun to gather a few laptops and TV’s from the ward, for say a stake activity or large ward activity, and let each room have it’s own video and theme with the youth coming up with ideas of how they could make it real for them. This might be through a game or other interactive activity. Then end the night on a spiritual note with a fireside. It could also make a good way to organise each month’s youth activities. Here is a little sheet I put together of the 10 video themes for the year. It’s a bit blurry but fits on a sheet of paper:

It was great to see the new redesign the Church has done for Personal Progress, less grandma-like and more girl-like. The ribbons are simple (more mature than stickers and include gem-like adornments) and the new Beehive, Mia Maid and Laurel certificates are a great way to officially recognize their progression. The temple focused cover is great, and although the pink is on the side of overwhelming, it is a big improvement. (FYI: Pink is one of the hardest colors to get right and changes with the trends the quickest.) But pink doesn’t represent any value yet, so you’ve got to go for what colors are left to use!

The medallions were also redesigned, which now include a ruby. I was surprised as the older medallions I thought were the best designed items in the YW Program. But they’ve now incorporated some meaning behind the design. The leafy edges are a laurel wreath to represent Laurels, the flower represents Mia Maids and the beehive represents…well you get the idea. I totally get what the ruby represents, but it may limit what the girls can wear it with if they are fashion conscious and aren’t wearing red. (Too bad the scripture didn’t say as ‘precious as diamonds’ because those match with everything, ha!) They also changed it to a circle instead of an oval. The new is on the left, the old is on the right:

When I look at a new design, I act as if I’ve come across it for the first time as a stranger would. To us, it’s obvious it’s the Salt Lake Temple with a leaf border and rubies to represent our worth. But to someone else, it’s a building with a roman-like border and a red ruby embedded inside. Some other common associations of leafy borders and rubies when it comes to accessories:

Now, when I lived in Idaho/Utah, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, especially if it comes with an explaination. But being in London with a high Indian population, it’s easy to see the similarity. I’m sure it would be even stronger in say, the continent of Asia. Perhaps the new medallion will open up doors in Mumbai? Or Greece? Not a big deal, but for a global organization like the church, it’s good to think about what we are communicating to others visually. Much like the wonderfully redesigned church logo that emphasizes we’re Christians by making ‘Jesus Christ’ the center of the name:

The new identity now communicates better what the Church is about, and that is due to the design choices made to create it. You don’t have to explain anything about this design, which makes it really strong. But I digress, it’s really down to what the girls think of the new YW designs, as it’s a very internal Church program which currently is not advertised outside of the 12-18 year-olds.

As I was looking at this, I remembered that when I was a YW our medallion wasn’t the temple, it was a handmaiden. Originally it was going to be a type of Celtic knot that was rejected by the General Authorities, but at the last minute the handmaiden was designed and chosen. I really liked her, has she disappeared for good? Read more about how she was made here.

Eventually though, the girl was replaced by the SLC temple spires. And now the spires have been replaced by a profile view of the temple. The illustration of it is much clearer than the minted piece:

I look forward to being able to see these in person, as right now it’s hard to tell from the photo how they compare to the past ones.

My favorite, the class certificates. Simple and elegant:

Read more about the new set at Church News, they hit the shelves on January 15. Either way, we’ve got some new material to share for New Beginnings!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that next year is wonderful for you in Young Women!

Seriously, did my leaders ever cry when they got released from working with me as a youth? I hope so, if only it means I’m not only cry baby out there.

Good news is I’m not entirely out of the picture, I’m now in the Stake. And soon, I’ll be able to share all sorts of great Stake designs. But first I want to hear your ideas!

What have been the best run, most rewarding things you’ve done in your Stake?

p.s. As a side note, this blog has been silent for a couple weeks due to some seriously heavy writing on my PhD. We’re talking 13,000 words a week! This is likely to happen for the next few months but after it’s done, it’s full on with MM!

On a side note, I’m looking for women to take my Breast Cancer Survey, if you’ve got 5 minutes please follow the link, thanks!

* Don’t forget to mention the offer when you purchase!

So when I got a request to design an announcement for a bride who wanted a paisley, peacock, western, modern announcement to match her theme and colors, I knew I had a good bride. That and I had designed the announcements for all her sisters too, so why break tradition?

I changed the names and information on the announcement for privacy, but here is how it turned out.

The back is a solid paisley pattern that matches the front. Between her and her sisters creative genius, I know it’s going to be a fab original wedding!

And the names are written in Heber J. Grant’s handwriting, how neat is that?

The modern print (colors can be adjusted slightly as well):

And the retro modern print:

Have a look on my etsy shop for more details, temples and pricing and to see them at a bigger size.

Which temple should I do next?

I also borrowed from the Doctrines of the Gospel institute manual on the body. The main idea I wanted to communicate was WHY taking care of our bodies was important. It’s because our bodies and our spirits together is what make our soul, and when our body is in pain, our spirit suffers too. It is all about caring for our spirits through taking care of our bodies!

I’m bringing jelly beans to class. Some girls will eat the black ones and will hate it. This is the object lesson of how physical things impact the way we feel and can distract us from the spirit.

Here is the handout, it’s a ‘body makeover’ worksheet with scriptures from Sister Tanner’s talk. It’s hopefully a good way for the girls to realise we aren’t just making it up, but that this good counsel/commandment comes from the scriptures!

Enjoy and as always, leave a comment. Okay, I gotta go to Church!