Crystal Michelle Fallin: Braid Mission

Monday, August 23, 2021

Braid Mission - Reach for the Stars

Handcrafted encouragement card for Cards of Hope Program of Braid Mission. To be distributed to a foster youth in the Bay Area of San Francisco. This is a card from the Little Belle series painted in watercolor with embellishments and botanical die cuts.

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About the Artist

This Blog is dedicated to honor Crystal Michelle Fallin's artistic and creative spirit; her love of writing and drawing, and her passion for performing arts and dance. Crystal loved art and was a self-taught artist and color pencil was her favorite art medium. Her techniques of multi-color layering and blending gives her drawings the effects of a painting with intricate details. This is a collection of Crystal's colored pencil artistry consisting of creative drawings of her own unique interpretations of classic Disney characters. The collection includes Chateau de Chambord and Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Ariel inspired mermaids from The Little Mermaid. Her art graces the covers of Greeting and Handcrafted Cards, Notebooks and Journals. Crystal Expressions© Cards were developed to continue Crystal's legacy as an artist, to give hope and encouragement to the needy, and for the lonely-in-heart. Her coloring techniques, concepts and artwork is the inspiration and vision for the cards. The cards are distributed throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Europe to Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Home Bound Seniors, Foster Children, and many others.

Biography

Crystal Michelle Fallin was born in Newnan, Georgia on June 19, 1984 to Douglas and Peggy Fallin. Crystal grew up in St. Augustine, Florida where she attended St. Joseph Academy and First Coast Technical College where she received her high school diploma in May 2002. She attended St. John's River State College, majoring in business. She worked in the hospitality and retail industries in St. Augustine and Auburndale, Florida. Crystal was a lover of Performing Arts, dancing and listening to music. As a child and youth, she was a member of the St. Augustine Premier Ballet Company and Academy of Performing Arts. She danced in the Nutcracker Ballet for seven seasons and won multiple dance awards at international championship competitions held in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Daytona Beach, Florida, and Columbia, South Carolina. She was a member of the award winning APA Group “Theater Street Express” and the musical theater ensemble, “The Stage Door Players.” She performed in musical theater productions such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Robin Hood, and The Chorus Line. Theater Street Express won multiple awards for Song & Dance and Production numbers: “Patriotic Tribute, Café De La Trebein, Gangster Drag, and A Salute to America.” She was creative, artistic and loved art. In school, she was awarded a Certificate of Academic Achievement in Art. She became interested in color pencil drawings in her twenties. She was a self-taught artist in color pencil drawings and techniques and it became her favorite art medium. She shared her love of colored pencil art and writing with her beloved grandmother Mary. She often exchanged her drawings with her friends and grandmother. She collaborated with her mother to design greeting cards; particularly ones with nautical and mermaid themes. Designing greeting cards, drawing, and writing notes to family and friends were her favorite pastimes. She developed a love of Disney characters as a child and practice drawing and coloring them throughout her life. She used her art to show love and support to her family and friends. Crystal was caring, kind-hearted and always reaching out to people in need.

Dance Biography

Crystal Fallin was outgoing, independent and had an indomitable free spirit and loved dancing. She received her dance training at the St. Augustine Academy of Performing Arts; Master Workshops at Santa Fe College (Gainesville), European School of Ballet (Ormond Beach), FloArts (Palatka), and Master Classes at International Championship venues (Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale), and at the APA summer dance intensives. Her choice of dance genres were ballet, tap and Lyrical dance. She was a member of the St. Augustine Premier Ballet Company and the La Mirage Jazz Club. She performed multi-roles in the classical ballet 'The Nutcracker' for seven seasons: Spanish Chocolate Soloist, The Solider Doll, Harlequin Doll, Arabian Coffee Soloist, The Arch Angel, Snowflake Demi-Soloist, Marzipan, Waltz of the Flowers, and many others. Each season, the Premier Ballet Company performed two full length performances for the community as well as six condensed performances of “The Nutcracker” for St. Johns and Putnam Counties school children. Twenty-Five schools from both the public and private sectors attended the performances. Crystal and her dance troupe performed on stage at Flagler College Auditorium, Kirk Auditorium at FSDB, and numerous community venues throughout Northeast Florida. She was a senior member of the Academy of Performing Arts competition team. The dance team completed annually in "I Love Dance" International Championship Competitions in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, Florida, and in Columbia, South Carolina. They also competed in Champions of Excellence by "Dance Troupe, Inc." in Daytona Beach. Crystal and her team won awards in ballet, jazz, tap and modern/lyrical dance in all major categories as well as top honors in “Song and Dance” and group ensemble theater “Productions.” As a Soloist, she won multiple awards at International Championships in Ballet, Lyrical and Student Choreography, and Gold Awards at “Champion of Excellence” National and Preliminaries Competitions. The Inspirational Dance Collection emulates her free spirit and love of dance. Inspirational dance symbolizes the freedom of spirit and captures the joy of worship: “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp.” Psalm 149:3