My Swag

So, I usually make things in anticipation of a big event, we know this. I make things for my kids and their birthdays, my family members at Christmas, my beloved friends and their offspring. I figured that Blogher should be no exception and now when people ask me what my blog is about I can just show them.

Instead of posting about what I am going to wear (I mean, I already showed you the shoes) I am going to show you what I made. The first thing is a backpack bag.


I know I hate purses; the bumping on the hip, the sliding off the shoulder. I know I love backpacks. But I might look a little weird in heels sporting a Jansport, you know? So I combined a few patterns I have tried to make an awesome Dia de las Muertas infused piece. It is a little slouchy, a lot expandable and came together with moderate hassle.

I love the fact that I remembered to add a flat bottom as I will be fitting my SLR, a pair of Rainbows (because I figure I will wear those heels for about 15 minutes) and a bit of lip gloss and such. There is a giant front pocket to hold the myriad of cards I will collect. I like it. I also need to finish it because I did not remember to sew the cord into the side seams. Easily rectified... I think.


And then, New York, August and humidity. I know these factors will combine in a way that by 3 p.m. I will look similar to Don King. I remember when I lived there and the hair frizz, boob sweat, and 'didn't I just shower?' feeling. So my concession to the hair is a Alabama hair band; comfy, wide enough to hold back some of the exponential hair bomb and pretty.


There is never anything wrong with stitching a little.

And my cards did come. I went with Moo, little chips. Cost and er, the importance, swayed me in this direction. They have a nice feature that allows you to upload from Flickr, choosing photos from your stream.




I like the, but there are a few that were cropped poorly. I swear it was not my error so I might have to speak with Moo about the printing. For the most part I am happy; I have something to palm and I have yet to detect any proofing errors. I struggled a bit to find words to describe me, but who doesn't?


So, do you see anything that I missed? Laura? Please tell me I avoided profanity and spelled my blog correctly.

And last but not least....I am in the process of sharpening my rusty jeweling skills. It has been years since I have picked up the tools but my sister, an amazing jewelry designer, gifted me with a pile of pretty.


I see a Superhero inspired necklace coming about from this....I need something to rotate as I rarely take off the one I do own right now.

Somehow, the making has made me feel much more like Myself. And after spending a good portion of the weekend cleaning up my work documentation and playing at the beach with the boys (By the way, three years olds and kite flying? A big challenge), I now can feel excited about the trip.

Who knows, I might even have a little Secret Mission planned for NYC. So, I'm off....almost.

Yoga and Motherhood

I know Mother's Day is somewhat arbitrarily declared and I do believe we should appreciate and embrace Mamahood on any given day. Having said that, initially I wanted to mark the day with a brunch celebrating the mothers in my life, a gathering at home with good food and good friends. I quickly scratched that idea once I realized that I did not want to be cleaning up the house for company the day before, especially as we have climbed into a state of disarray as we try to pack.

Then the loveliest of things came my way. I received an email from my yoga instructor about a planned gathering on Sunday...a classmate wanted to bring the yoga people together and sent out an open invite. My first reactions was, Huh? Who is this guy? I have been practicing for at least three years with the same folks but do not know many by name, just by sight... But then I took a moment to think about it and I realized I wanted to know these people more. Not to mention the Indian theme dinner would allow for me to make my favorite (not really) Indian dish of Tikki Masala (do not follow the salt measures, waaay too much). So, I said yes.

Yesterday rolled around and I had a lovely brekky of coffee and breakfast burritos from Bravo Burgers (killer good), then went to a long yoga class, met Andrew the host by name (turns out he is from Perth, a place not many have been, but that I actually have) and returned home to two raging three year olds and a dutch oven to fill with tikki goodness. We set out to the neighboring town a little after 3 and were welcomed into a home that borders the canyon and had a hugely sprawling backyard FULL of animals. Andrew has a little farm in the back of his regular looking suburban home :: goats and mini horses, big horses and chickens, rabbits, desert turtles, ducks and geese and alpaca.



(They do not look all that thrilled here but they were warming up).

The boys were in heaven as we wandered about the property finding animals to meet. And I finally MET the people that I regularly practice with.

They were all really lovely people and we talked and ate and did yoga on the lawn with kids rolling around our feet. I met the grandchildren of my yoga instructor, two rowdy but awesome boys named Jake and Dirk (8 and 6) and they turned into total twin boy monitors, guiding my boys up and down the steep inclines (right through the manure pile EVERYTIME) and teaching them how to gently catch chickens. Everyone was so gracious and connected...it made me realize how much we know each other just by the intimacy of regular practice, but the filling in of the gaps was wonderful.

It turned out to be just what I have needed, a reconnection to the concrete world, an opening to what is already there in front of me. A possibility for more kinship and deeper practice. I have felt so engaged in Life lately and that feels really really good.

Yesterday was a reminder to take that chance, accept that invite, extend that invite, embrace that not so strange stranger.

But don't think I missed out on Mama's day. I saw a tweet from Andrea at Superhero Journal about select necklaces for sale and the boys helped me pick (finally) and it came just in time. I find it hard to take off.


And then I received the most wonderful of packages from my friend Kat (also Australian, how about them Aussies?) chcck full of goodness including choc choc.


I do hope you found your day special whether you are the Mama or honouring the Mama. Much love and namaste. I'll leave you with one of my favorite moments in my Mama world...

Home Again

Oh, to be back home. Immersed in laundry and boy smells and the chaos that defines our daily life. It was a whirlwind trip that seemed to stand still at times, moments when I realized I had no obligations to meet. It also held a lot of opportunities for photos, snapped here and there to capture the time I was away.

I loved having the chance to meet my Kayda girl in her home, her sweet and lovely person standing out so strongly, so present.


I was enamored of her ways, her differences and the small and sometimes glaring similarities I noticed, had the luxury of noticing as I followed her around and then, she in turn, followed me. I have never been so flattered as when she would come searching for me when I stepped into my temporary room. That made me feel awesome.


And seeing my amazing sister and her spouse walk this road of parenting, united and supported and so very comfortable, that was a gift. I loved being immersed in my sister as Mother, her ways and thoughts and take on all of it. We had a great time discussing the where and how and whys of what we have gotten ourselves into, precious precious time.


And that was only the first half. My other reason for the trip was to lend a hand to our youngest sister in her booth at the Benbow Arts Festival.


It turned out to be a great decision, my natural marketer came to the fore front and I loved 'selling' my sister to the crowd. Her stuff really did sell itself, all of it was unbelievably tasteful and lovely and useful, but I loved being able to tell them about her, her spontaneous ability to create pretty much anything.


The booth was a haven for many, we sat in the shaded and cool area, her choice of bamboo screening a brilliant one, it let the breeze flow through on a surprisingly hot weekend. I watched people gravitate in, drawn by her taste and color. The pride I feel for her grew as her sales came in, encouraging and growing each hour, each day.


The girl killed it, especially in a year when I thought the buying spirit might be dampened. The great thing was that the fair supported only hand made, only those who took the time to invest them Self into their pieces, so I actually did not mind participating in this expression of consumerism. In fact, I participated wholeheartedly, finding soothing hand balm, and pickled olives and a few other lovely pieces. I left wearing more jewelry than a Gypsy woman and feeling much more womanly for it.


In all, it was a long and hard weekend, none of the rest one associates with vacation really came to be. The trip was book ended by 11 hour drives, thankfully the way home shared among three of us. And thankfully, when we arrived sometime last night, I found both of my beauties, flung across beds in their abandoned sleep, murmuring quiet sleep dreams into my ears as I buried my face into the scent, their sleep dampened hair distinguishing their persons in the dark, Mason's soft curls and Owen's close cut straight silk. I lay between them, grateful for the knowing of their utter importance in my life, their total definition of my person.

And four days away from my man, well, it made so many little things come to light. His capable hands and how I feel when they hold me close. His gentle voice, rising in command easier each day as the boys challenge our choices for them. I think I fell in love with him all over again tonight as we finally put them down together and they asked him for 'more story' (actually Owen said 'more doobie'. Hmmmm, is that how he got them to go to sleep?). He has been telling them the story of the "Princess Bride' nightly, the tale of a farm boy and his Buttercup. His Andre the Giant voice was pretty priceless, as was feeling the boys relax into sleep to his cadence of words. And so home becomes Home again, where my heart is as I wander in my mind and thoughts and burgeoning dreaming.

I have always know it was my center but it never hurts to test the theory, right?

More pictures to come...hooping and other festive bits. And some exciting things in the works. And crafts too. And and and....I better go and get some much needed sleep now. And then more.

We have the Winners!

Wow! I want to say a huge thanks to all the readers who commented, both old and new ones. Let me tell you, one way to garner a whole bunch of comments is to do a giveaway. I loved reading your encouraging comments regarding the jewelry and felt bolstered to take a step forward, but I will get back to that.

So, we did it the old-fashioned way, with little paper bits rolled up tight and the winners are

Preeti

and

Pinku

It is awesome that I picked Kat because she is an Aussie living in Japan, and the necklaces were made in Oz, so, serendipity working in it's best form. And Preeti has a wonderful blog here, she is embarking on sock knitting, something we knitters all have to do at some point. I love that both of the winners are international and crafters and mamas. Once again, thanks for all the comments and interest.

Which brings me to the next point... I have gone and opened my own Etsy Shop.
You can find the remaining necklaces featured there, plus a few Box Bogs from an earlier post.


Apparently, things were a little slow at the craft fair this past weekend, which makes any of you out there winners if you would like to score a cute little bag.


I have been contemplating a shop for some time and I am glad it has come to be. I plan on stocking it with some of the different crafts I dabble in and will always let you know when there are "bits" to buy. Hope you enjoy items and buy, buy, buy. Smiles.

And if you have not had enough of the giveaways yet, go visit Jennifer at JCasa Handmade. She is a huge inspiration to me in the sewing category, really lovely patchwork items and quilts, lot of fun stuff for the little ones. Read about her giveaway and enter if you would like one of her precious handmades. This blogging/craft/mama thing has really opened my life in so many ways and just want to say thanks again.

Pinku and Preeti, I will contact you to get info as soon as I feed the yodeling twins and get another moment to sit at the comoputer. Smiles!

To Give is Divine :: The Giveaway

First I would like to say thank you for the wonderful birthday wishes and the encouraging comments regarding the crafts. I really appreciate all the folks who choose to visit and read, hence the following post.

There was a time in my life, in those dark age years before knitting, when I fancied myself a bit of a jewelry creator. I loved the art of taking wire and twisting and shaping to create links, of choosing precious stones and other bits, of making something. Creating via craft is a very obvious theme in my life, throughout my life. It helps me channel many different emotions and energies. This was one medium I loved for many years, but that fell to the side when fiber came into the picture.


A month ago or so, I was a bit surprised to find a tin of my old necklace creations during a clean out of the hole we call a master closet. Looking though them brought back the days when I made them. Most of the necklaces I found in that tin were made in Australia in 2004, during a long and lazy journey across half of that continent/country. I recall the places, the precision required, the joy in almost finishing one and starting the next. I am a believer that handmade items become imbued with the circumstances of their creation, so these are quite chock full of goodness.Long ago I put down the pliers, but the rediscovery of that time stamped in this way was nice.


I doubt I will pick up the tools anytime soon with my little banshees in the house so I want to give a few of these away as a thank you to my readers, all that stop by and see the latest craft or latest crazy thing that has happened round here. I would love to send out a special little package to two of my readers, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post before Tuesday, October 28, 9 p.m. PST.


A few things.
::All necklaces are made with genuine sterling silver wire and findings, semi-precious stones and freshwater pearls and one with a bit of wood bead I found in Australia.
::They are quite short (choker length) and a few might require a bit of lengthening using sterling silver chain not shown in the pictures.
::Thinking of posting the rest up to my Etsy shop after the giveaway. Any interest?


Again, this is a way to say thanks; for reading, commenting, supporting, befriending. It is such an adventure, to find a new pathway in life via a medium I never thought could connect us all like this. Now, leave a comment so I can put you in the drawing. I will report the winners on Wednesday.

The title of the post is not meant to imply that I am divine. Just that it feels so good to give. Last week saw a few brown packages into the US postal system, entrusted to make their way to two other countries. I felt all giddy when I sent them. Isn't giving fun?