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We are so excited that Alison Zinn of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association gave the wonderful women on her Board of Directors Angel with an Edge pins. Below is the note that came with the pins and pictures of them receiving them. Thank you Alison!

As a token of my appreciation for your service on the CWBA Board of Director’s this year, I have little something for you but I’d like to share the background of this gift first.

Elizabeth Lindsey is an artist – specifically a jewelry designer.  She is an amazing artist but also has this incredible energy and passion for treating everyone with fairness and dignity – when you put good out into the world, you get it back.  Of course it is easier said than done.  Elizabeth has been working on a movement (which will ultimately become a foundation) called Angel with an Edge.

Elizabeth’s vision is as follows: she is tired of the intolerances in the world and she is passionate about bringing together like-minded souls (in a broader sense) to be united in treating every person with dignity and respect.   The AWE pin is a symbol of this movement…Putting on that little Angel with An Edge pin is not only a statement about this movement it says….. ‘I’m not perfect, neither are you, but I believe in your rights as a citizen of this planet.  I am going to embrace my own imperfections and yours too.  I know we are all of the edge of something – good or bad – and let’s acknowledge each other’s journey.’

We are all living on the edge of something – something good or something bad.  This pin is about acknowledging this fact about ourselves and in one another.  Even though Elizabeth’s movement is still taking shape, I think the message is a beautiful and I hope you think of the message, your service, and this board when you wear it.  I also hope you remember that you were instrumental in making the CWBA what it is today and putting it on the Edge of being the best it has ever been.  Finally and perhaps, more importantly, I want you to look at “our edge” as women in this world.  You are a part of what moves us forward and what keeps the conversation on the tips of tongues.  Thank you. – Alison Zinn

Please join Elizabeth at the shop in Cherry Creek as she celebrates health, happiness and all of you…my army of angels that got me through. We will be toasting to my extraordinary recovery and Angel with an Edge project. I also have a special gift just for you!

Enjoy cupcakes, bubbly and more on Saturday. Learn more about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/611334262299585/

I’m working on becoming friends with my fear because I realize it will always be a part of my life. It’s probably the one thing I can actually count on not to abandon me, especially in my darkest hours. It’s easier to embrace it, face it and become well acquainted. “Hello fear, it’s me Elizabeth. I’m afraid, but I’m going to do the brave thing as best I can and continue on with my day. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again sooner than later.” – Elizabeth

Less than 5 weeks ago I had 54.6 pound tumor surgically removed from my body. For those of you who may not get the enormity of what that really means consider this: my tumor was the same weight as 7, YES seven newborn babies or the size of one average healthy 7 year old child. Wowza!

I’m actually quite lucky to be alive and cancer free, turns out it was a “borderline contained cancer” which is the best case scenario because they got it all and there is only a 5% chance of recurrence. I’ve never been through a medical trauma personally… I’ve only seen what my Aunts and Mother went through…. And let me tell you it’s real different when it is you!

Before the shit hit the fan I was writing a book proposal titled “Angel with a Edge” that I submitted to a publisher in the end of 2014. One of the chapters was titled “It’s not a Tumor” which was all about my Mother’s brain tumor and how my family got through this difficult time with humor. I was also premiering my “Angel with an Edge” movement and lapel pin in my store. Little did I know I had a life threatening tumor growing inside of me and I had no idea I was going to desperately need my own army of angels to get me through this. I certainly did not know just how many were going to show up for me. Life is ironic; truly ironic, you just can’t make this stuff up!

There are some incredible angels out there who rallied for me, they took care of me, they were strong for me and they amazed me. If you are reading this you might be one of them, if you prayed for me you are definitely one of them and this might be my only chance to thank you. Thank you for praying for me! I thought I lost my momentum in my Angel with an Edge movement because I was healing and so very tired and in pain. I felt that I hit a wall and was lost somehow but I realize now I needed to surrender and let go to see the miraculous people who showed up for me. My army of angels literally came to me, they showed up for me and until now I had no idea how loved I am.

I know it sounds like a cliché’, but I am a completely different person now. I’m still a “truth-sayer” but now I have a filter. Oh I still call bullshit when I see it, what kind of angel with an edge would I be without my edge? However now I try to express myself coming from a place of compassion and less judgment and since my surgery I’ve realized I have absolutely no idea what anyone else is dealing with or going through and I hope I stay that way. My heart is so full of gratitude sometimes I think it isn’t possible to fit anything else in it, of course that is ridiculous but I realize now that my heart is just more selective of what it will embrace… and there is always room for more love! I see beauty in the smallest of things, I really see the world with new eyes that are brighter, lighter and filled with gratitude. I am grateful to be given the opportunity to live a ripe old age, something neither of my parents were able to do, god willing. I will remind myself I am not here to be perfect, as the 10” incision I have from above my belly button down my stomach catches my eye in the mirror and to be grateful I am alive and thriving.

I had a preconceived concept in my head of how my Angel with an edge project was going to go I even trademarked the name and the image. But the real story of what is unfolding verses my vision of what I thought would happen is small potatoes compared to what God (Interject universe, Buddha, Krishna, whatever works for you) created for me. Yes I embarked on my angels here on earth project and I started manifesting the concept, but my army of angels came to me and showed up before me at one of the darkest times of my life. Now I know exactly what must be done. I am a survivor and now I am going to thrive! I am going to put my entire foot in the water at the river’s edge, not just one toe. I’m going to say what I mean and mean what I say with as much kindness as I can muster up. I’m going to continue my revolution that we are all roughly 20% bad and 80% good, and that is my message don’t wait for things to all fall together sometimes they all fall apart and then fall together and sometimes they all fall apart and never come together.

Being in a life threatening situation taught me today is the only day you have this moment it all we have. People told me I was brave but really I was just trying to live through each moment and be present that is what worked for me. Life is fragile I’ve never felt so vulnerable and so invincible at the same time. I started something amazing it’s called “Angel with an Edge” and then I thought it got squashed until I realized I was thrown into an unexpected wild journey and this is exactly where I should be! I hope you join me.

Being human I’ve discovered over these past weeks that I’m not going to make it alone. As humans not only do we crave companionship we literally can’t survive without each other and we certainly cannot thrive without sharing our stories, tears and laughter I hope you’ll join me on my journey to thriving, this is just the beginning!

On March 27th and 28th from noon to five an army of angels will come together to celebrate my extraordinary recovery and my Angel With an Edge project. It would mean so much to me if you could attend, have a glass of bubbly and receive special gift from me! If you missed our big premier party in December you won’t want to miss this one, and if you did attend I bet you won’t believe how amazing I look now, I’ve lost over 80 pounds and I feel fantastic!

I can’t wait to see you then!

Elizabeth

Check out Olivia’s story. She’s an Angel with an Edge, mom and branding/marketing extraordinaire! If you have a story to share we want to hear it… send us a message.

Honestly, I don’t know why I had to become so sick, but sick I am. So many of you who were not able to attend my “Secret Reveal” party in December have asked me what is going on, what’s the big exciting secret? Well let me try to fill you in on why I am not being mysterious, but that chance took me in different direction temporarily. Right before Christmas I got the flu which turned into pneumonia which turned into taking medicine that invited the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz for a 5 night stay in my stomach.

It’s hard to start a revolution when you feel like you are going to die…and that is just what I am starting, a revolution…I’ll get into more about that in a moment. A couple years back, I worked three days in a row outside during our sidewalk sale. It was over 100 degrees, and I had a terrible case of shingles. That was really rough so I know it takes a lot to bring me down! But when the universe decides it is your turn to stop and do nothing but rest you have no choice you just have to follow the “chance” part of it and go with it, or literally die I guess.

I’ve been bed ridden for 21 days and my shop has been closed down intermittently, which of course is terrifying being on the edge of financial woes is really nerve wracking, especially when you are an artist owned business. Like I said I’ve had no choice only chance and this chance is to trust that something really good does come when you are faced with a yellow brick road in front of you that you had no idea was in your future! I try to remind myself that like my heroine “Dorothy”, there is divine timing in life and delays are in my favor! I remind myself with every uncharted step that I will not go under, that I have support and wonderful customers like you and that I am stronger than I know.

So here is the big reveal. I’ve written and submitted a book proposal to a publisher, yes a real life actual publisher which is exciting and terrifying, and created a beautiful lapel pin that sells for $9.99 which you can purchase here and in our retail shop. With this I’ve also created a movement called Angel with an Edge™. We had an amazing turn out at the reveal party and those that could attend loved my new creation. Watch the wonderful video of some who participated.

I need you and your insights on this journey. I would love your feedback and your opinion is priceless to me! If you would be so kind as to take 2 minutes and fill out our online survey (here’s the thing… it’s anonymous so I won’t know it’s you unless you want me to). I am gathering an army of angels and I hope you will join me as 2015 is not about trying to “better myself” but to embrace my 20% bad and my 80% good and do the brave thing. 2015 is not about a resolution but a revolution!

Angel with an Edge is an army of angels who believe that all souls are equal and that no one is better than anyone else. We don’t all have to agree, but we do have to respect each other as human beings. We are all a ratio of bad and good and we are all trying to do the best we can.

Ready to take flight?

Viva the Angel with an Edge Revolution!

Please join our army of angels because every angel here on earth is on the edge of something, and you are needed now more than ever!

Elizabeth

We had an amazing time at the reveal party for Angel with an Edge™ where people from all walks of life came together to learn about this new movement and celebrate each other. We hope you enjoy this quick peek into the night!

This is my first blog please forgive me for its imperfections, it is the bravest thing I’ve done in a long time. My favorite aunt “Adelaide” passed away this week after a two year battle with cancer. It was not her first battle. She, my Aunt “Bibba” and my mother, all sisters, had all battled breast cancer, but my aunt Adelaide was the only survivor. She was an amazing woman who supported me, she supported my art and she supported my “spitfire” attitude, when others saw me as “difficult”, she saw me as independent, and she was one of the few that not only embraced me as an outspoken teenager, she nurtured it. My mother used to say to me “you sound just like Adelaide”, and as my aunt would say “I felt right proud of that”. Adelaide had dyslexia, just like me, she also overcame incredible hurdles in her lifetime, she fought for the underdog and she was a trailblazer.

My mother passed away nearly eight years ago and naturally losing her sister has brought up a tremendous amount of grief. When my mother died, this is when my journey of coming out of the “spiritual closet” really began ….. very serendipitous and magical things began to happen to me when I opened that door. Soon after her parting when the initial shock and the numbness wore off and the real grief set in, I was on the edge of a great journey when I realized there were two deaths, hers and mine, because I would never be the same person I was when there was a world with her in it, and I had to figure out how to live again without her and of course I still had Adelaide to fall back on ………..until today.

I have a picture of the sisters sitting in my living room, it is an old black and white photo, they are acting in some type of play looking young and gorgeous in the 1940’s era. Early in the morning upon my aunt’s death, although I did not know she passed at this time (I knew) because the sisters sent me a sign. I passed by the photo just like I do every day and the frame literally fell off its stand, face down with a slam! I picked it up and said to myself, “ok I get it, you are together now and on your way to a new great adventure”. Now that I am becoming more and more familiar with the way that spirit speaks to me, it didn’t even surprise me that much!

I’m pretty much terrified to write, it took me 50 years to get to this point. If you are afraid of being vulnerable, the best way to feel even more vulnerable is to make yourself vulnerable. Yep, it’s true. As soon as I embarked on this writing journey my internal “itty bitty shitty committee” (stolen from my mentor “Jenifer Grace”) parade came out full force. In fact it was so loud at 3am as it marched through my bedroom, I was surprised it did not wake up my husband. “You’re not good enough!” “You come from a family of writer’s, those be some awfully big shoes to fill”. “Who cares? “Picture all these self-defeating remarks with giant clashing symbols sounds in the background. You get the basic idea. The point I’m trying to make here is I want to honor these strong women I am blessed to be related to and I realize how precious our time here on earth is, and if I am going to try to emulate these incredible women’s memories in anyway, the time to do this is now. So here I am terrified, vulnerable, and raring to go and writing you, the kind soul who is reading this, thank you!

So I have a few questions. Who wants to do this with me? Whose got a dream and afraid of rejection if it’s you then you are in good company in my opinion because that company is ME! Who is ready to come out of the spiritual closet? Turn the doorknob and crack open the door and don’t look back into the darkness. Why now? Because the world needs all the peace activists that are out there to be brave, show themselves and speak their truth. We need you, Yes you, to stand up for equality and dignity for all living beings on this planet. If not you, then who?

We are all “Angels with an Edge” on earth; we are all about 80% good and 20 % not so good. No one is expecting perfection just an attempt at some small goodness will probably surprise the heck out of most people. We are all on the edge of something! We all have things in our lives that we want to change. We all want to help but we are not sure how because many of us are spiritual “newbies”. No one knows where to begin so let us start right here.

How about a baby step right now? Why not try one random act of kindness today? I bet your soul will thank you for it!

Journey to be continued…

Elizabeth