#i am going to try to get my grandmother's old sewing machine to work. it belonged to her mother or grandmother?

[butchdoggy]

[realmadridfamily]

Pilar Rubio presents her second collection of swimsuits for the Galician company“Selmark”.

Pilar Rubio is a TV presenter, mother of four boys, a born athlete, as well as a designer and fashion lover. "My mom was a seamstress, and I grew up surrounded by fabrics and sewing machines" says presenter a few days before presenting her second swimsuit collection for Spanish company Selmark. Pilar was fully involved in this new project from the very beginning of the creative process ("We did everything through a video call because we started working on it just before my childbirth") and the five models (three swimsuits and two bikinis) reflect her powerful personality and inexhaustible energy. We discussed with her shortly after she announced that she tested positive for COVID-19. Pilar talks about fashion, design and family, three of her great passions, although she undoubtedly recognizes that her four children are the best project in her life: Sergio, Marco, Alejandro and Máximo Adriano.

This is the second collection you have created for Selmark. What will we find in it? It's a good news. After the success of the first collection, they wanted to make another one and I think we make a great team and we understand each other very well. We have the same idea of what a swimsuit is, what message we want to convey to women ... and I think it's a concept so different from anything we're used to. This first collection was so different from the others because we wanted women to feel that swimwear is their ally. When they offered it to me, they told me they wanted me to design the swimsuits, and I said, "Wow, swimsuits, the hardest thing there is."

How to find the perfect swimsuit? I'm a perfectionist and can spend days looking for a swimsuit that I feel good and comfortable with until I find one that I like. I think it happens to other women too. When you wear one you have to be very sure that it fits you because it shows a part of you that you don't show for the rest of the year. That's why the statement we use is perfect: "it suits you, you feel better". This is the message we want to send you because if this costume suits you, you'll be safer, more comfortable, you'll feel more beautiful, and it all adds up.

What's the key to this second collection? How was the creative process before launching it on the market? The important thing or the key to these two collections is that the shapes are perfect, that they fit all women and emphasize the beauty of women. We've spent a lot of time on it, calling it interior engineering because we've created designs that favor all curves, tweak beautiful parts and hide the ones we don't like so much. We have been working on the second collection since January 2020. I was not able to go to Vigo, which is where Selmark is located, but through a video call we understood each other, we saw fabrics, colors and found five models that are perfect without any doubt.

What inspired you this season? I have been inspired by powerful women, who for me convey that magic that we all have and that empowerment that seems to be very fashionable today but that I think we must always carry as a flag. May these designs make us feel like this: beautiful and powerful in equal measure.

The campaign also includes some spectacular photos, one of which is very wild, where you pose with a snake! Not only men will be in the jungle! (laugh) Women can also have a wild and glamorous point. That model, "Mamba", is beautiful, it goes back around the neck with a bow and makes it a perfect body to wear on a summer night, for example. You can be in the jungle, on the beach, in nature or in the city center, it's important to feel good.

You're not only the face of this collection, you were fully involved in the entire creative and production process ... Sure. I am not just an image, I actively participated in the entire design process. Whenever my image is behind something, it's important to me to take care of it. Each such product has to be something that I have tested and I'm sure it suits me. It's like another baby for me (laughs). I created it myself and that's why I took care of the smallest detail. There is also a very strong field work. I asked all my friends! I asked them what they like, what they want to hide, what they like to enhance with a bikini ...

These five models can also be used for going out to the city and not just for the beach or swimming pool, right? I also wanted them to be super useful, so that I could also go out into the street in them. We've already done it with another collection. I wanted the clothes to be so beautiful that you want to wear them all the time. In fact, many of the models in the first collection were sold out within the first hours of leaving. Now with this second collection I wanted to give it a further point of sophistication. Each model I have imagined in a different place. They are so versatile that they are not only for bathing, but can be worn for a drink at the beach bar or beach club for an afternoon in Madrid ... logically accompanied by a skirt, a pair of pants, a jacket ... But let the one who is brave and wants to take it out as is, I applaud her! (laughs)

What would be the best way to combine them? If I was in Madrid I would take a red swimsuit, model Diamond, and wear it with a jacket and shorts. I would like a total look in red. You can wear a bikini top with a floaty skirt to go to the beach club. To go by boat, you can combine it with a caftan. And I love the Dream model that is a bit psychedelic and Hindu, and that one with some hanging colored glasses, it would look great.

Where does this passion for design and sewing come from? My mother is a seamstress and all my life I was surrounded by fabrics and sewing machines, watching my mother arranging First Communion dresses, suits, and sewing skirts and dresses for me. And little by little I was tinkering, I took the old sewing machines that were at home, I asked her for patterns and I was making my skirts, my dresses. I've always liked it. It's a way to escape the world, it gives me peace. It's like therapy. It's my favorite hobby, although now I don't have as much time as before being a mom. But before, when I had a free time, I usually spent it sewing. At home I have an old sewing machine, which is more than a hundred years old, the kind you have to hit with the foot, which was my grandmother's. Before, I used it often. Now I have a more modern model but I keep the old one as a relic and it's also an excellent piece of furniture because when it's closed it's like a small table.

Are you still sewing clothes for yourself, or are you at least customizing some of the ones you already have? Yes! I customize everything! I still take scissors, bleach ... everything I find out there and I give it a lot of use. You can't even imagine! Suddenly, there are a thousand ideas in my head! But my main source of inspiration is the heavy metal bands of the 80s so every time I see articles from that era or read books from that hard rock scene, I try to make dresses or suits that are inspired by those artists, which are my idols.

Would you like to restart your own brand like you did years ago with rock shirts? Being who I am, who is involved to the fullest, now it is impossible, but you never know. At the moment my most important project is my children and from there I try to manage everything else.

Do you see a talent for creativity in your children? The truth is, they all love to paint. Soon I won't have walls to hang my children's paintings! They bring them to me every day and they are super cute with phrases like "I love you mommy" so I can't throw out any (laughs). But the one I see most interested of all, the most meticulous and detailed, is Alejandro, my third son. Every time I'm sewing or drawing something, he comes up right away and asks: “Mom, what are you doing? And because? And how do you do that? You teach me?"He already wants to take a needle, but for now I won't let him (laughs). I can see that he is very interested in anything creative.

Designer, TV presenter, you exercise every day, four little children ... Please tell me, how do you do it?! (Laughs) Like many others, I guess. Since you have to do this, try your best to align the pieces of the puzzle. But it's important not to neglect yourself as a woman, to have good mental and physical health that makes you send good energy to your loved ones. That's why I have to feel good to make others feel good.

Your husband, Sergio Ramos, is one of the most fashionable celebrities, would you dare to design something for him? I think it would be entering the men's field and I haven't done it yet (laughs), so far I'm only inspired by things that are for women.

How did you spend the last year of the pandemic? If we had to take stock and be able to get something positive out of this catastrophe, it would definitely be the fact that we could be together. We make a good team, distribute responsibilities, we also have very good children.

In June, you and Sergio will celebrate your second wedding anniversary. How do you remember that amazing day? Will you do something to celebrate the second anniversary? We don't plan anything at the moment, we live day after day. Everything I remember from that day is beautiful. From time to time flashes of that night come to me and I think it was all so special that unfortunately I couldn't stop for a moment. Everything was special.

[feminist-propaganda]

Single Mothers Will Probably Cry During Every Episode Of  Queen’s Gambit - Episode 1

I’ll start this long piece with a quote by Toni Morrisson. She once said : “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”

After watching Queen’s Gambit yesterday I rushed to the Internet to see if someone had written all of the things I am about to write, all of the symbols I saw in the miniseries, all of the dog whistles, the references.  I found articles about chess. About how the community had adopted the film, about which grandmasters the characters were based off of, about chess moves and theories, about production and the unexpected success of the series.

According to me, this is quite mediocre commentary. I eventually clicked on the New Yorker article that seemed to be a tiny bit smarter. After a couple of paragraphs I realized that the male writer was only going to rant about how the actress is “too pretty” to be Beth Harmon, and this seems to upset him. A lot.

But no one talked about Beth’s mother. Or the name of the series. Or the embroidery. The chess board. The tranquilizers. The math. The flashbacks. The exchange of queens. The sacrifice of the queen. Did no one see it? Or is it again one of those things; where the world is so obsessed with single mothers and representing them as huge, massive, quite literal train wrecks, but no one actually wants to look at them in the eye, talk to them, help them?

Let me tell you, as a single mother, this miniseries had me in tears the whole time. It’s really difficult to watch. It’s downright triggering.

Single mothers like to keep their silence. That’s because we know the world doesn’t like it when we start talking. It hurts. A lot. So instead, the world likes to make memes about how single moms are whores, how they are drunks or over worked. How they’re psychotic. How they ramble. They don’t make any sense. Bipolar. Crazy. How their children stare at the television all day, the way they microwave bad food. We laugh at them, and use them as comical relief in our ... what exactly? Cultural objects. Then we move on. We send a message to single mothers when we do this, and the message is important. You suck. Shut Up. Don’t exist. It’s your fault. 

We make an entire mini series about a single mother who killed herself to save her kid, we put on the television images that hurt and harm single mothers and then the public responds with nothing. They don’t even bat an eyelash. Miss the point entirely. Great series about chess! Except it’s not about chess. Not at all. It’s about raising children alone, when the world hates you. It’s about a trailer. In the middle of nowhere. A strong willed woman who was a mathematician in the 1940s. Who taught her daughter everything she could. Realized she couldn’t do more. And made the ultimate sacrifice, the queen’s gambit. The riskiest, most reckless, bravest move of all.

So let me tell you about what it’s like to watch Queen’s Gambit when you’re a single mother. So that somewhere in the AI, it’s written. So that when our great grand children will try to understand our times, they’ll read it.

I’ll write an essay for each episode. And in each essay I will review the important lession that Alice passed on to young Beth, and how this takes her to Moscow, where she can live a much more fulfilling life than in the U.S.A.

Lesson 1 : Find A Two Dimensional Algebric Plane. Study It. Control It.

I recently learned from instagram user @itllbeokbaby and Amsterdam based artist and weaver Liza Prins that the words textile and text have the same origin as the word texture. 

Text derives from the Latin textus (a tissue), which is in turn derived from texere (to weave). It belongs to a field of associated linguistic values that includes weaving, that which is woven, spinning, and that which is spun, indeed even web and webbing. Textus entered European vernaculars through Old French, where it appears as texte and where it assumes its important relation with tissu (a tissue or fabric) and tisser (to weave).

Women have been weaving, beading, sowing and stitching since the dawn of times. We also know that women used this technology not just to create clothes, tents or shoes. They used it as a container of information. As cultural DNA. 

In South America, in places where writing as we know of it was never created, women would bead important tribal information into skirts. They would then use the skirts as a database of the tribe. To track births, deaths, epidemics, droughts and other important group defining events.

In modern times, women still use embroidery as a means of expression. My memories from childhood contain strong images of my aunts and grandmothers, sewing my name and date of birth onto pillow cases, bathrobes and bedcovers. They would do this by the pool, at the bottom of the ski slopes, on the beach or in the train. They would engage into conversation as they embroidered; as this activity required some concentration, but not their full attention. It was their way of being present; but also transcending into the past and projecting into the future. They sewed our lives into the cloth.

I once heard my grandmother counting the holes in the cloth she was decorating with her beautiful colours. I asked what she was doing. She said that to build the letters on the cloth, you needed to count the squares. Two to the top, four to the right, ten to the middle, etc etc. I was quite mesmerized. I was maybe eight at the time, the same age as Beth when she loses her mother. I had started learning some math in school but somehow the math in school seemed to be presented to me as the epitome of something quite different than this excruciatingly feminine passtime. 

Math was presented to me as masculine, out of reach to us girls. And now I was disovering that these women in my family were geometry experts, fluent in linear algebra, and that at a higher level, they were database account managers.

In the first episode of the miniseries, in the first couple of minutes; we discover two Beths. The first Beth is in Paris, the beautiful, the chic; the glamourous Paris. Paris will always be the undisputed capital of Fashion. 

Paris is the undisputed capital of fashion not because it is the home of polluting massive textile industries like the ones in Pakistan or Zara’s empire in Spain. Paris is the capital of fashion because it is the capital of Haute Couture. And Haute Couture is custom made, sowed by hand, piece by piece, bead by bead, sequin per sequin. It is delicate. It is slow. It is sacred. It is what my aunt’s did. 

It is the opposite of industrial, the opposite of a sewing machine, the opposite of an engine. The opposite of yield failures, punching in and punching out. It is lace. Delicate, personal, eternal.

The second Beth we see is the eight year old Beth, that has just lost her mother. She stands on a bridge. Two cars have crashed into one another. And she stares on at the police officers. One says “Not a scratch on her. It’s a miracle”. The other says “I doubt she’ll see it like that”. 

My theory is that the miniseries explain how Beth eventually begins to “see it like that”. 

The first time we see 8 year old Beth she is wearing a dress, with her name embroidered on it. It reads Beth, in pink. Feminine. Purple flowers surround it. The embroidery is delicate. It’s on her heart. 

We follow eight year old Beth as she gets sent to an orphanage. In the first couple of scenes at the orphanage, we think, for a minute, that maybe Beth will be okay here. The head mistress smiles, has nice hair. Shows her around. Yes, the bed is by the lavatory, but at least she has a bed, a roof over her head.

We only start despising this new mother figure when she takes Beth to choose new clothes. Beth takes off her dress, and stares at her name, written on the front. The headmistress selects a white shirt and grey dress for Beth. She hands to her these new items, symbol of her new life, of her integration within the orphanage and later mainstream society. The headmistress then grabs the dress with the name embroidered and looks at it with disgust. Then, she says “I think we’ll burn this one” and disapears.

Beth then understands that she is no longer allowed to love her mother. That to fit in this school, this orphanage, to survive, she must let go of the embroidery and all of the things she associates with her mother. Her mother, in the words of the teacher was a “victim” of “a carefree life”. A free spirited whore, a lesbian, a witch. There’s a lot of words we liek to use to describe women who don’t conform. And Beth’s mother, as we learn, never conformed.

At night, Beth sees her mother’s eyes, she hears the last words her mother uttered before dying in the car crash. “Close your eyes”. She said it with tears in her eyes and an air of great determination. She knew what she was doing, which is something Beth doesn’t want to tell anyone. Not even her new friend Jolene. Beth’s secret is her mother wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t crazy at all.

Then, Beth discovers the board. One day, she gets sent to the basement and sees the janitor playing chess. Later in the miniseries, Beth tells the journalist from Life it was the board that attracted her. Not the pieces.

As the first episode unfolds, Beth learns that the squares have names. She learns the names. And at night when she looks up at the ceiling she sees the board. She visualizes the pieces moving on the 64 squares. She moves them in her mind and imagines all of the alternatives. What the board would look like if she moved this piece to that square. What would her opponent do then? 

To the journalist of the Life magazine, Beth says that the Chess board was a universe of 64 squares, and that she could control this space. All she had to do was study it.

The board is much like the cloth that Beth’s mother Alice would sew information onto when she was a young child. You count the squares and move your material through it. As you go, you make shapes, patterns, motifs. Beth looks up at the ceiling at night and the first night, without the tranquilizers, she sees her mother say “Close your eyes” which is too painful or such a young child. A young child doesn’t understand yet why a mother would say “Close your eyes” and then crash on purpose into a truck. A young child doesn’t know about the world yet.

Alice aknowledged that she was about to do something extremely risky, that the outcome was uncertain. Alice told Beth that she was going to purposely provoke the car crash. 

But when Beth takes the tranquilizers at night, and now that she knows about chess, she can transfer her love for her mother into her growing obsession with Chess. She looks up at the ceiling and instead of seeing Alice’s last thoughts, she sees the Chess board. Which is the small piece of universe that Alice controlled, when she was alive. The cloth that she sewed her daughter’s name on: “So that you’ll always remember who you are”.

[caribou-stories]

Ni-ka-wi (My Mom)

Today is Mother’s day and I will be honouring and celebrating my late “nikawi” with a meal and traditional hand drum song. It has been 3 years since nikawi travelled back to the spirit world. During the month of May and leading up to, I am reminded of her power and sacredness. Sometimes it hurts a little too much, but I revere her memory to the best of my ability. She loved it when I sang particular songs at home, so that’s what I continue to take care of my spirit. The grief around losing your first home is unexplainable. You have to lose it to understand it.

The influence she has been in my life so far has been humbling. She raised me to be loving, free, and gifted in wealth. She catered to the artist that dwells inside of me, and so have the matriarchs before her. I remember one summer trip we took up in the Timmins area. We were living in Sudbury with my grandparents John and Sarah at that time. The drive up to Timmins, Matheson onto Kirkland Lake was memorable to say the least. I must have been about 13 years old and our original plan was to go to one of our first Sundance lodges that came to Northern Ontario, so we can visit relatives visiting from being away for so long. The highway was peaceful and we enjoyed ourselves, listening to Def Leppard and laughing the entire way along. Once we arrived to Matheson, which is a very small town, we were greeted by a vast dark sky and some casual lamp posts here and there. We were a little shook that there wasn’t anyone really in sight, except a few workers from abroad at a small motel. Nikawi drove up to these folks and began asking, “do you guys know where Nitaskinan is? It’s a place where we have ceremonies”. She was so spunky and had a good set of interpersonal skills. When she worked at a hot food deli, she never cheap-ed out on the wing sauce or cheese on the pizzas for her customers. Everyone remembers her for her wit and charm. Now days, I have a good chuckle revisiting that time she asked some non-indigenous folks for directions to our ceremonial grounds because although they has not the slightest idea of where to point us, one of the ladies kindly guided us to the OPP station nearby for some help. I guess she wanted to exude the same kindness nikawi approached her with. But, we were too shy so we decided we would be back, and kept driving onward to Kirkland Lake. Turns out we had relatives staying at an elders’ home there since the hospital in Attawapiskat flooded. Nikawi’s now late aunt Maniashin (Angela) and late uncle Eli, along with one more elder I cannot recall, were there and we were going to go visit them. 

Upon our arrival that late evening, we almost did not find a place to stay. Luckily, there were two hotels in town and we managed to get a room. I remember feeling unsure of the situation we found ourselves in but, very safe in nikawi’s care and protection. In the morning, we got some Mcdonald’s and proceeded to check out where the elders’ home was. She asked me to navigate some directions by mapping a way there while we had some free wifi. Once we found the right place, I remember arriving onto the floor with my mom, being mindful of the hospital like finishes on the railings and wallpapers. It was nice, well kempt. It was a small floor but nice, very intimate and homey. Nikawi bee-lined to the nurses station and asked where we could find Angela and Eli. I followed her to their room and saw a face resembling my Gookum Sarah very much. Her light hazel or blue eyes, matched with a light grey haircut that fell to her shoulders. With her cute button nose, and ever warming smile, I met my great-aunt Maniashin (Angela) who was my Gookum (Grandmother) Sarah’s older sister, and Eli their older brother. I was named after my Gookum Sarah (my mom’s mom). I listened to their conversations during that afternoon, enjoying our beautiful language. I’ve never felt more safe than around my grandparents who only speak ininimoowan (Cree). These days, I can keep up with conversations but less than I could as a child. I wish I could converse in proper ininimoowan. 

After a bit, Eli and nikawi went somewhere he needed her assistance. I sat with Maniashin for a few moments until she began asking me things about myself. When she asked if I make anything with my hands, and I said eh heh (yes). Her eyes lit up and smiled a beautiful grin. I told her I made gloves, beadwork, slippers, and other artistic crafts. She then began to share, once you’ve been making these things for so long, you won’t be able to do it anymore. Your grandmothers and I cannot do these things anymore because of our bones. You need to carry this tradition on, just like all of your grandmothers (Angela, Sarah, Madeline, and Pauline, all sisters and my maternal grandmothers). You’re young and you’re able to do it, so keep doing it. Don’t forget about what you have now. Over the years, I’ve begun to understand how important that means, like really means, not just to me. Nikawi always nurtured my artistic abilities by always providing me with crafts like markers, paper, paint, crayons, and then a miniature sewing machine, small pieces of fabric, and then more onto beads, leather, and good scissors. Since I had grown up in the care of Nikawi and my Mooshum and Gookum (Grandfather and Grandmother), I was very fortunate that I could spend moments of my childhood watching and learning about what Gookum was making. She was often crafting up nibagan (goose down blanket) bags made out of heavy duty canvas and doubled down straps, or hemming a pair of goose-beaded moccasins bigger for my younger cousin who’s now at a staggering 6′8′’. 

My Gookum Sarah has always played a big role in passing along knowledge and skill to me. I remember when I was making my first pair of gloves. I used Gookum’s beadwork and based my work off Maniashin (Angela’s) semi-completed glove. The leather pieces were complete except the lining and fur. All the materials were given to me by my Gookum. I had such a hard, testing time with the lining. Little did I know, Gookum advised Nikawi not to try to help me because getting frustrated is a part of the learning. I would figure it out, and I did (to the best of my abilities!). I must have put a few solid days of work into these gloves. Upon completion, I showed my grandparents and mom my first pair of gloves. I was rained with kisses, hugs, and excited laughter. Gookum taught me how to braid the 4 strand yarn strings for the gloves, something that a lot of Omushkego folks have on their gloves or mitts so they can hang off the shoulders. I was especially excited to learn how to make the signature pom-pom tassels. Ever since that day, I always showcase my completed projects to somebody. 

My Gookum Sarah wearing the gloves I just completed assembling. 

Rounding back to the story, we stayed in Kirkland Lake for 2 days and it was a powerful experience to watch my mom be with our elders. During our time with our elders, nikawi took care of their needs. There was no hesitance, she just did what she needed to do. She fed our elder relative her food, and made her tea while she conversed with Eli and Maniashin. The lunch hour was full of laughter, head nodding, and sitting together. One last elder we payed a brief visit on our way out, was an elder nikawi held in high reverence. I cannot recall which elder this was. She described him as this influential, outspoken leader-man she had grown up looking up to. When she would describe him, I imagine how he looked like as a young man while we were in the elevator. Strong, tall, lean, wearing a weathered outdoorsmen coat, beaver pelt hat, matched with jeans or tough twill, and footed with traditional winter moccasins that wrap around the ankles and shins. When we arrived on his floor, we saw him sitting in a chair and nikawi began to greet Mooshum. He was very elderly now. I watched and smiled, then she began to shed some tears. He comforted her and held her hand. It was a powerful exchange to witness.

Nikawi was a Personal Support Worker in Fort Albany, so she spent a lot of time taking care of elders for years. She still worked while she was pregnant with me and she told me that the elders loved to greet me and acknowledge the journey I was making into this world. Her gift as a care taker was out of this world. Our departure from the Elder’s home was bittersweet as that was the last time we saw Maniashin. We attended her funeral a few years later. Eli then passed years on later. I’m grateful to Nikawi for bringing me to visit them with her. Afterwards, we trailed our way back to Matheson to find the Sundance grounds, and we did. During the last day of the ceremony, we enjoyed time with our relatives and spent some time in the lodge. We received healing from the Horse and Contraries. The following years, I would return to the grounds to be with family and the lodges. 

All in all, I will always miss Nikawi, my mother, my first home. I will always be grateful for all the things she did to help me find my path as a young person. And, I’m grateful for those elders who shaped her to be the fierce mother she was to me. The resilience she had fostered within me is incredible, regardless of how challenging and painstaking the lessons near the end of her life were, she still taught me the rawness of love and caretaking. The story of Nikawi’s passing will wait until a later time; I’m lucky to have chosen her to be my Mother, even if it was for a short time. She still visits me in my dreams, and I miss her.

Nikawi wearing her purple sweater from her sister, Maniashin (Angela) wearing a blue cardigan, and our elder relative in the bottom left of the photo.

Eli and Nikawi speaking about land in ininimoowan. When Eli passed, I imagined him flying in the sky with the stars. 

Nisakihetin dushineh mama. 

Kindly, 

S

[cosplayinamerica]

SUNLIT RIDDLE

I first learned about cosplay back in 2001 when I saw a beautiful Cloud crossplay.  My brain lit up, I pointed excitedly, and shouted, “That! I want that!” Back then both the internet and cosplay as we know it today were in their infancy. The common construction methods we take for granted now were prohibitively expensive. Molding and casting were within the realm of trade professionals only. I learned how to sew the old fashioned way: my grandmother taught me quilting and my mother taught me clothing.   But I had to teach myself a lot more once I had exhausted my mother and grandmother’s realm of practical sewing knowledge. I’d developed roots in the practical and grew into the fantastic. None of my costumes are built like something found in a theater. They’re all clothing. 

I feel like the early 2000’s were a huge changing point in cosplay.  What started as papier-mâché turned to fiberglass resin and to EVA foam as materials became more available.  I was on the cutting edge of cosplay construction before life forced me into a half-decade hiatus. When I returned, things that were once outside of our financial reach were now commonplace.  I can’t tell you how much I wanted a 3D printer back in 2008. Within just a decade, there are now affordable desktop models. Laser Cutters? Sublimation? All right here. It’s made that unattainable level of craftmastery available.  For those who can’t afford the machines, there are commissioners who can do that for you. The way cosplay has developed as a hobby and business is astounding.

The skills I learned in cosplay, garment construction through building skit props, helped me get my current job.  I am now a custom lettering artist – I put mascots on cheerleading uniforms and athletic wear. I learned how to vector while working on a background for a Soul Eater skit.  Cosplay in general helped me refine my ability to read patterns and understand how sewing works. And, in turn, my job has further reinforced the skills I already have. I have a better understanding of pattern construction and fabric types.  I’ve always had to modify patterns – something my mom taught me to do – but I’ve progressed to drafting up my own patterns from measurements based on historic garments.

My long time friends asked me to join their Adventure Zone group as Taako.  It was a challenge, considering there are no official character designs.  I had to go off the descriptions within the podcast, which were basically just the existence of items.  Fact: Taako has a hat, a wand, a couple of spell books, etc. Beyond that, there was little detail. 

The challenge was to create a silhouette that’s readable with or without key items. Taako’s signature item is an umbrella known as the Umbra Staff. The only description we receive within the entirety of the podcast is that it’s utterly normal looking.  Considering that it is found next to a skeleton in a red robe, I felt the color needed to be red. However, since this item was found on a corpse in a cave, it was not bound to Taako’s personal style. In fact, I wanted it to be as separate from him as possible.

I put on my researching hat.  I looked up fanart of Taako, elves, wizards, fantasy garb, Final Fantasy garb, historic garb; I listened to the source material; I listened to other McElroy podcasts; I discussed options with my team and other friends.  I came across the “official” Cut and Sew Taako pattern, but I wanted a Final Fantasy vibe to this since it’s heavily referenced in the podcast.

In the final design, I kept the blouse and pauldron concept from Cut and Sew, but I changed the pauldron base to a slightly modified Evil Ted’s Vampire Hunter (because Yoshitaka Amano did the art for both Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy).  I used Reconstructing History’s 1770’s-1790s Fall-Front Breeches pattern because I wanted something that would come to my knee and show off the Black Mage striped stockings. Keeping with the Amano Final Fantasy look, I made a sash to match the stockings, then layered with what we affectionately call my “fantasy fanny pack”.

The hat was my crowning achievement. I knew that there were ways of making big, dramatic hats – Kentucky Derby, the Royal Family, Old Hollywood glamour – but I found little in the way of tutorials.  It reminded me a lot of the old days when cosplay research was accessible only for professionals in the industry. I deconstructed a witch’s hat from Party City to see how it was made, then reverse engineered it from there. The flowers in the hat were fun to collect. I wanted to keep with Taako’s culinary backstory, so all the flowers are edible – roses, chamomile, lavender, chives, and borage.  I started trying to stitch them into place, but I soon started to just pin them into the brim. I’m pretty sure that’s how flower arrangements are supposed to be done, anyway. I’m still trying to figure out how to attach my artichoke.

I designed the pauldron to be a fabric with stripes and trim that had little triangles in it to continue with the Amano Final Fantasy feel. I attempted a “corset” technique where yarn is used instead of steel for boning. That worked perfectly and left a subtle stripe on the pauldron.  There was no trim out there that fit what I wanted, so I built a loom and did some simple inkle weaving. I’m not skilled enough at weaving to make little triangles as originally planned, but I could do small stripes. I had enough materials to trim the top of the pauldron only, so I purchased black tassels for the bottom edge – inspired by Final Fantasy XIV’s newly announced Blue Mage’s pauldrons.

I feel that this costume is somewhat more like Ren Faire garb than it is an anime convention cosplay.  It’s the sort of costume that grows over time, that will change and evolve and level up every time I wear it. I’m already back at it, researching new skills and methods to add embellishments or structure or just that Certain Something that will enhance Taako, or at least how I see him.

(Top : 2018 / Bottom 2009)

[nitr0glycer1ne]

Ducktober/Duckvember Day 15 - Back to school

Heya! I didn't really like the original prompt for day 15 (sorry...) so I went with this one instead :) Hope you enjoy some Mallard-McQuack family fluff! (feat a small appearance of one of my headcanons: Gosalyn has ADHD).

--

It's 6 am when you wake up, the pounding alarm dragging you away from your agitated sleep. Launchpad starts turning, grunting and moaning something unintelligible, so you quickly turn your alarm off before pressing a kiss to his forehead and caressing his cheek. It seems to do the trick, as he does something resembling a smile before falling back into slumber. You sigh, stretching your weary arms before getting up. It's far too early for you, and your body is sleepy and begging you to go back to bed, but you won't listen to it - not that it's used to you listening to begin with.

You make your way to the kitchen and brew some coffee to help your head get rid of the fog blurring your thoughts. The bitterness works its magic, and you finally start working on the reason you were up in the first place - breakfast. Breakfasts are usually simple in the Mallard-McQuack house: toast and eggs for you, cereal and bacon for Gosalyn, and sugary cereal with coffee for Launchpad.

However, today's a special day, so you're going all out. You take the box of cookies you baked yesterday from where you hid it, on top of the highest shelf. You had needed help from your boyfriend to hide them here, for the modest fee of one chocolate chip cookie, a small price to pay compared to the number Gosalyn would have gulfed down if you had left the box out in the open. You open the box, eat one of the cookies and are pleased to find they're still just the way you've left them yesterday, golden with dark chips, crunchy on the outside and tender in the middle. Satisfied, you put some of them in a plate, trying to make it look extra appetizing.

The next step is easy: grabbing oranges from the counter and squeezing them. The machine is a bit loud; Gosalyn is a heavy sleeper, so you're not afraid to wake her up, but you do hope LP won't be disturbed. Once the carafe is full, you put it in the fridge and then get on to making pancake batter, a recipe you've learned from your grandmother years ago and still remember clear as day.

You hum as you mix your preparation, the fresh ingredients combining in a soft batter, your wrist firm and flexible, and a smile on your beak. You've always liked cooking; well, you've always liked what keeps your hands busy, be it by sewing or cooking or, lately, tinkering with the gadgets LP has gotten you from one of his friends - Fenton? yeah, that's the guy's name - but cooking is special. There's something almost magical in seeing the pleasure with which the people you cook for eat what you've poured so much love into making for them. It’s something you had forgotten, but that feeling had rushed back when seeing your boyfriend and your daughter's merry faces after eating the simple mac and cheese you had cooked on the day Gosalyn had officially become Gosalyn Mallard.

(She insists on calling herself “Gosalyn Mallard-McQuack”, and even though it's not going to be official before a few months, several papers and a wedding ceremony, neither you nor LP correct her.)

There's a spring in your step as you put the batter on the side of the counter and make your way towards your room. You carefully walk to the bed and you gently pet your boyfriend's head, before kissing him on top of his beak and whispering:

“Good morning, babe.”

LP opens an eye, then the other, before lazily grinning at you. He throws his arms around your waist, and before you know it, you're sprawled on top of him in a tight hug. Your heart can't help but flutter like a high school girl's, which would be embarrassing if it was because of anyone else. But it's because of Launchpad McQuack, Duckburg's kindest duck, everybody's friend and, most importantly, your boyfriend, so it doesn't count.

“'morning Drake.” he mumbles, still half asleep.

As much as you'd happily stay in his embrace all day long, you have some important stuff to do today, so you give him a peck on the bill and untangle your limbs from his.

“We'll have all the time you want for a hug later, LP, but you gotta get up now. Today's special, remember?”

You stand up, and you clearly see the realization hitting him all at once, his eyes widening and a strangled gasp leaving him as he sits up.

“AAAAH!!! Today's Gos' first day of school!!” he yelps. “Nice to see you remembered.” you tease him, amused by the embarrassment across his face. “Don't worry, I, of course, took care of everything, you just have to go in the kitchen and wait for us.” “Sure thing!”

You fondly look at your boyfriend jumping out of bed, and then you walk to your daughter's room. You make sure to knock twice before going in, and sure enough, you find her sleeping deeply, her small chest rising and falling with every breath. Something tightens in your throat, and you sit on her bed, overwhelmed by the sheer love overflowing you. You reach for her head and soothingly pet the ginger strands, and for what must be the thousandth time since you've adopted her, you thank your lucky stars that the duckling was put on the quite lonely road of your life.

“Hey, honey.” You speak softly, your fingers still petting her head. Gosalyn groans a little in her sleep, but before she has a chance to turn around, you speak a bit louder: “Gos, it’s time to wake up.” “Hmmm… five more minutes…” “No can do, honey, not today.”

You feel a little guilty at denying her request - the kid is very good at weaponizing guilt, even when she’s not fully awake. You get up and open the curtains, letting sunlight reach inside her room. Gosalyn growls a bit and tries to cover her eyes with her arms, but you’re faster and grab her wrists gently:

“Ah-ah, young lady! Not on my watch.” “But daaaad!” your daughter whines theatrically. “I’m tired!” “Well, that’s on you for staying up past your curfew yesterday.”

Gosalyn grumbles, but she sits up and stretches her arms. Satisfied, you give her a small peck on the forehead before heading downstairs, loudly announcing you’re going to make the pancakes and that she’d better join you quick if she doesn’t want LP eating all of them.

-----

Breakfast went great, as expected. You have quickly glanced at the clock after Gosalyn had put her fork down, gasping when you had realized you only had twenty minutes left before the bus arrives. (Launchpad has kindly offered to take Gos to school with his car, but you have declined. You’re not exactly sure that it would be good for the kid’s first day at school to start with a crash.)

Gosalyn is upstairs, brushing her teeth and listening to some weird CD Lena’s lent her. She’s trying to sing as she’s cleaning her teeth, which means you’ll probably have to scold her for getting toothpaste all over the bathroom’s mirror again, but that’s not the most important thing right now.

“Do you need help, DW?” Launchpad asks, standing behind you and startling you.

You loudly curse as the knife you were using slips and you cut your finger on the edge of the sharp blade. Thankfully, the cut isn’t too deep nor too big, so it’s not a life threatening emergency this time.

“Oops, sorry.” your boyfriend apologizes, looking embarrassed. “You need a band aid? Antiseptic? Or-” “I’ll go get that, LP, just finish preparing Gos’ lunch.” you mutter, at first glaring daggers at Launchpad and then softening your gaze after only seconds.

LP nods, and you rush to the bathroom. Your boyfriend is… not exactly the best at cooking, but he knows how to pack sandwiches and cookies, so it’ll be enough for today. You feel kind of weird when you climb up the stairs, as if something is missing. And you soon understand why, when you step inside the bathroom – your daughter isn’t singing anymore.

Instead, you find Gosalyn sitting on the edge of the bathtub, looking downwards and kicking her legs. You know that posture, and you don’t need words to understand just how anxious your daughter is feeling at the moment. You sit right next to her, and wrap an arm around her shoulders. She leans into you, before getting up and giving you a tight hug, her face buried in your chest, messy ginger strands tickling your beak.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” you ask, patting her back. “… dad, what if things… go bad, at school?” her muffled voice reaches you. “What do you mean? Me and LP have run a background check on all of your teachers, and-” “No, dad. What if the other kids…”

Your heart sinks as you finally understand why your usually cheerful girl means. Gosalyn isn’t known to really care about what other people think of her; the duckling is unapologetically herself, and you couldn’t be a prouder father. But at the same time, you know just how rough things have been for her lately, between her grandfather’s death, being kidnapped by an old enemy of her beloved grandfather, and being adopted. Her life has been quite hectic, and it’s normal for her to feel a bit disorientated.

Besides, she’s going to find herself in yet another unfamiliar place again. Sure, she’s going to the same school as the triplets LP has introduced her to a few days ago, but Gosalyn is as stubborn as you and has the same tendency to hate relying on others. On top of that, it’s been three years since she’s last been to school, given that her orphanage had its own classes. It’s also going to be her first time going to school with the help of her ADHD medication, and you can easily see why that could scare her, for a number of reasons.

So you take a deep breath, and you speak as gently as you can:

“Gosalyn Mallard-McQuack. Look at me.”

Surprised to hear you use the name she chose for herself, Gosalyn lifts her head and takes a small step back. You move your arms from around her back to let your hands rest on her shoulders, and you look at her with all the determination and love you can gather.

“It doesn’t matter what the other kids think of you. What does matter is that you stay true to yourself, and that you’re proud of yourself. And if the others don’t like you – well, sucks to be them, because they’re missing out on the bravest, most clever, most wonderful friend they could wish for.” “Dad…”

You ignore the way your eyes fill up with tears, or the slight quiver in your voice as you continue:

“Go show the world what you’re made of. Don’t look down, don’t apologize for being who you are. Show them all how bright you shine!” “Thank you, dad!” she yells as she gives you yet another hug, her wet bill pressed against your chest. “I’ll make you and LP proud!”

You can’t help but laugh as you return her hug. You suddenly hear a sniffing sound, which abruptly brings you back to reality, and you find Launchpad standing in front of you, wiping his eyes and holding a brown paper bag.

“That was so sweet…” he cries. “You’re so lucky to have each other, and I’m so lucky to have you…” he stops for an instant, reaching for his pocket from where he fishes a tissue, before continuing: “…but the bus is here, so-” “What?!  Come on, Gos, you’re gonna be late!”

You snap Gosalyn’s lunch from Launchpad’s hands, and the three of you dash down the stairs, making your way to the living room. Your daughter puts her favourite sneakers on - the ones that light up when she clicks her heels - Launchpad grabs her backpack, and you make your way to the small room where your and LP’s impressive Darkwing Duck memorabilia collections are displayed. You smile fondly in front of one of the shelves, before grabbing the only object displayed on it. You brush your thumb on it, gently, the memories fondly rushing back to you as your fingers follows the dips of the mark your face left in the cheap metal.

“DAAAAD!” Gos’ shout reminds you what you intended to do in the first place, and you run to the front door, where she’s waiting for you, backpack on her shoulders and a weeping LP holding her hand. “Sorry, had to get you a proper lunch box.” you smile as you hand her the old box.

Her eyes widen when her hands hesitantly wrap around the handle. She looks at you, mouth hanging open, as if to ask permission, as if to ask if this is really happening. She knows the story behind the seemingly wonky Darkwing Duck lunchbox – of course she does. You’ve told her ten, maybe twenty times, and every time she’s rolled her eyes or teased you a little. But today, Gosalyn’s hands are shaking under the heavy weight of what you’ve entrusted her with. Her fingers caress the dented surface of the box, just like yours have moments ago.

LP has the same look of disbelief on his face, but it’s quickly replaced by an impossibly fond expression as he watches both of you, not daring to interrupt the almost solemn silence hanging in the room.

Gosalyn finally snaps out of her trance-like state, and she almost steps outside, but before she starts running towards the yellow bus angrily honking, she embraces you in a last hug, and her words are barely audible:

“Thank you for everything, Dad.”

You proudly smile as your pat her back and watch her dashing towards the bus, not letting your eyes leave her until the bus has left and moved far, far away. And even then, you don’t move, your heart still beating insanely fast. Launchpad wraps a shaky arm around you, and you lean into his strong frame.

Everything will be okay, for you, for them. And in fact, Drake Mallard has probably never felt prouder or happier.

-----------------------------------

Hope you liked that cheesiness! I tried to stay true to Drake's character, although maybe I made him too soft... tell me what you thought of him! Also wrote in 2nd person once more, it's fun to do.

[undoubtablydisney]

50 Facts About Me

I figured that on Day 5 of having a Tumblr account, I should probably do some facts about me so that the random things I post make a little more sense.

I’m a Gemini, born June 18.

I have lived in five different states because my father was in the Air Force (he recently retired).

I have one younger sister whom I adore.

Disney is literally my life. I would happily die or give up my first born child for them.

I was born in Del Rio, Texas, but we moved when I was two, so I don’t really remember it.

My favorite thing at Walt Disney World right now is the Flight of Passage ride over in Animal Kingdom.

My favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast. I know it by heart and I want to be Belle when I grow up.

I love to read. Love. To. Read.

My taste in music changes often, but generally, it’s Broadway, Disney, Taylor Swift, and Christmas.

My dream job is being an Imagineer at Disney.

If I were to go back in time to have lunch with a historical figure, I’d choose Mary, Queen of Scots. She was a strong, Catholic woman who was truly dedicated to her country and stayed true to her faith to the end.

Most people think of me as shy, awkward, reserved, and intelligent.

I think I would be able to stand being put into isolation as long as I had lots of paper and a pencil.

I am an author of both fanfiction and original works, most of which hasn’t been published yet.

I am one of the tallest girls in my school and a tall person overall. Only recently have the boys began to catch up to me, and I realized that I miss my looming over them.

I have an OTP list that is ten strong, and I’ll make a separate post breaking them down in the near future. My current favorites are Spideychelle, Jatherine, and Eugunzel.

I am an actress and participate regularly in my school’s drama department.

My favorite Latin phrase is sic itur ad astra, which means “thus you shall go to the stars”.

When it comes to musical instruments, I adore a sultry saxophone and a simple piano.

I do some embroidery, although definitely not as much as when I was younger, and machine sewing.

My favorite Marvel character is Peggy Carter. I absolutely loved the Agent Carter series, and I think it’d be a great idea to make a few more seasons for Disney+.

I love long, flowy skirts and dresses. I totally live in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when it comes to fashion.

My favorite place to live was Bethesda, Maryland. I got to spend eight years of my life there and it’s where my sister was born.

I sing in my school’s choir, and while my fellow choir members can be frustrating at times, I love them all to death.

I got to attend Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary celebration on July 17th, which was pretty magical.

I am a Roman Catholic, so I am all about the transubstantiation.

My favorite flower is the hyacinth because they smell. So. Amazing!!

I love tracing the families trees of European royalty in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, connecting Stuart to Tudor to Habsburg.

If I could live anywhere in the world, I would want to live in Sicily, which is where my great-great-grandparents are from, because of both the food and the weather.

My favorites when it comes to Broadway musical also tend to ebb and flow, but among my tops are Newsies, Hamilton, and Six (which technically isn’t on Broadway until 2020, but you know what I mean).

I have yet to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but I have crossed the Pacific (partway, at least) to go to Hawaii.

My favorite Star Wars character is Padmé Amidala. My love for her mostly stems from the Clone Wars series and from one of the books about her Queen’s Shadow. I would totally watch a series about her life as queen and then senator on Disney+!

The last book I finished was Pride and Prejudice. It took me a while to get the hang of the language, but it’s a really good read! 10/10 would recommend.

I have a dog, her name is Sadie, she’s a two-year-old golden labradoodle.

The color I like best is pale purple, but the color I look the best in is burgundy red.

I like sleeping under heavy blankets because it makes me feel safe. No matter how hot it is, I will try to keep the covers on.

I have a fear of falling, but not of heights. So I’m not scared of being up in airplanes or anything, but I don’t like standing too close to railings.

Many people think that I have a British accent. I do not. I was unable to pronounce my ‘r’s correctly as a child and I never quite overcame it.

My favorite comfort food are my grandmother’s dumplings. Just regular old Bisquik dumplings, but they are the best things in the entire world. I really need to learn her secret.

My mother’s side of the family is most Italian with a little Irish, and my father’s side is pure Irish, which means I come from two of the most notoriously Catholic ethnicities in history.

I have very neat cursive and I can write incredibly small, which I use to conceal my fanfiction from prying eyes.

If I could pick any Broadway character to be my best friend, I’d choose Katherine Plumber from Newsies. She’s smart, independent, and has sass for days.

My favorite TV shows at the moment are Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures (Varian must be protected at all costs) and Supergirl (Nia must be protected at all costs). I also like Dynasty and The Good Place.

One of the best books I’ve ever read is Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It’s a beautiful period piece about two Danish girls, one of them Jewish, during World War II. It was my first exposure to the Holocaust and it is an incredibly moving story.

I try to live by Walt Disney’s quote “The way to get started is to stop talking and begin doing”.

I want at least three kids, but really, as many as my financial situation will allow.

My favorite book series include Disney’s Twisted Tales, The Lunar Chronicals, The Kingdom Keepers, and basically all of Rick Riordan’s works.

What I want out of life is to be remembered for being a genuinely good human being.

I like chocolate with pretty much anything, but my two favorite combinations are chocolate and raspberries and chocolate and potato chips.

My motto is love uncontrollably and respect unconditionally.

[talbottomann-blog]

Maria Ali: Artist Questionnaire

Jenifer Bryan

I wanted to do my Artist interview on Jenifer Bryan, a photographer who enjoys working with her hands, especially with historical processes. She currently resides in Texas, and has a BFA in Fine Arts Photographer, and Communication Design from Texas State University-San Marcos. She states that she has been crafting and working with her hands since she was little, as she spent majority of her childhood sewing, crocheting, and doing embroidery with her grandmother. She works with a wide range of creative mediums, including cyanotype, which inspired me to ahead and interview her.

A few of her works can be seen throughout the page. I hope her works inspire you as much as they’ve inspired me!

More can be seen at her website at: https://www.lucybluestudio.com

More photographs can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lucybluestudio/collections/72157644329812376

1. Why cyanotype? What inspired you to delve into the world of cyanotype, and how long have you been doing this? I understand it takes 3x the amount of time (taking the photo, editing and printing on pictorico, and finally letting it bathe in the sun), so why go through this tedious process? What about is different from traditional forms photography, do you think?

I didn't pick up a camera until 2003, which to you probably seems like a long time ago LOL but I was in my late 20s and decided to go back to college. My friend wanted me to take the school summer program in Italy with her and one of the credits was for photography so I figured I'd better learn.

The next semester after the trip, I took an Alternative Photography class. Back then, all it did was frustrate me even though it appealed to my need to get my hands dirty. Digital printing doesn't have the same satisfaction even though it can actually take just as much time to get right as any of the historical processes. It's just fiddly in a different way. I was actually majoring in Fine Art Photography and in Graphic Design and my design teachers were insanely picky about prints. I'd argue more than my photography teachers.

Anyway, after that class, I dabbled in cyanotypes at workshops or friends' events but didn't touch anything beyond digital for years. I'd argue that the historical processes are just as traditional as silver prints. They were the stepping stones after all. I think that with cell phones pretty much being cameras now and most images never becoming physical prints, that historical processes offer a lovely balance. I amuse myself when I turn a cell phone image into a cyanotype. Anyway, I ramble a bit but I think I answered that question :)

2. Cyanotype on fabric with embroidery is something I have been delving into recently. In fact, bought 7 new embroidery hoops, 100+ pack of floss, and am using an old bed sheet as fabric. What tips do you have for a newbie with little to no experience in embroidery? What type of fabrics do you personally use in your cyanotype, and through your experience, what works best? I notice you also use felt, have you ever considered incorporating that into your cyanotype works?

My biggest advice starting down the cyanotype/embroidery road is to use natural fabrics. Make sure that bedsheet is cotton. I would also probably spray or soak the chemicals as opposed to brushing. Fabric takes a lot.

As far as the embroidery, I looked up stitches on Pinterest at first. My aunt taught me to cross stitch when I was a kid and my grandmother taught me to sew. I had some basics already. Now I sometimes just wing it. My French knots still have issues if I'm not paying attention. Felt is so easy to play with. I always seem to straddle the line between art and craft. I was actually about to make a cyanotype embroidery with a felt backing as a banner.

3. I notice that you also have so many passions, including embroidery, cooking, jewelry making, and painting. You truly are multi-talented. What made you pick up photography, cyanotypes no less?

ADD. Seriously, I like to learn new things and I hate not being good at something so not mastering cyanotypes, vandykes, gums, tintypes, and the other techniques we learned in class bugged me. I think I answered why I picked up photography in the first section :) Cameras always intimidated me so I wouldn't touch them until I got talked into it. Italy is a great motivator. And for the longest time, I made every excuse I could to only shoot digitally. For some reason, I was already versed in Photoshop and I was convinced film was a pain in the butt. Now, I only shoot digitally when I travel because I have had too many rolls have issues after going through the security machines. TSA agents can get salty when you ask them to hand check your film.

My preference is to shoot with my 1950s Rolleiflex 3.5f. Once I got addicted to film I started noticing other people making prints that were obviously not just a typical print. I hate to say it but the Lomography website had me looking for alternatives to what everyone else was doing. Save me from people that think leaving dust on your negatives and printing it shows "authenticity." Ack.

At this point, I also started going back to Belize to help a friend work on her project. She was recreating the Mayan methods for making pottery. Whole other discussion but as I was helping her grind clay and pigments and going that far into a craft it made me look at my photography differently. I wanted to get into making images at that level. But I didn't start with cyanotypes again like I did in class. Someone posted a salted paper print somewhere and it had this dreamy quality I couldn't get out of my head. That is like chasing paper airplane in a wind storm LOL. So finicky. Even with the same negative, same paper, same chemicals, your prints sometimes just don't work. But wow, they look so wonderful. I wandered back into cyanotypes after needing a break from salt prints. I think salt prints made cyanotypes seem much easier. And at first that was the appeal. But the wonderful thing about cyanotypes is they are also more flexible.

I did salt prints on wood and other substrates, covered them in wax, played with them, but cyanotypes can be worked with wet. That blew my mind. Wet cyanotypes are an addiction of another kind. I've been waiting all winter and now through this rainy season to be able to do them again.

4. I absolutely love your cyanotype portraitures. Any tips on how to get my own photos to look like yours, with the right tonalities? What camera do you use to take your photos (film or digital)? If you use film, how do you develop your them? I have read that it’s important to under contrast your photos, are there any other tips to getting them just right?

I use a light meter with my film camera but once I get a reading or two I kind of just shoot. With my digital I can see what I'll be getting on my screen so I still shoot manually but I can adjust as a shoot easily. I send my film off to get developed. I have 3 dogs. I hate dust. Not a good thing for a home darkroom.

The historical printing can be done here easily but keeping dust off my negatives is too hard if I do the developing, too. I do scan my film negatives myself but photoshop all the dust out. I'm sure some people would be annoyed at my workflow but in the end, the image is all that matters. Everything is just a tool. I mix and match digital and analog to suit my needs. What is "just right" changes. I do what I like and don't worry much about anyone else. But I never stop looking at how to push myself further and learn something new.

5. Do you think from cyanotypes, you could possibly delve into other forms of alternative processes? Are you open to the idea of branching off into, say, photograms or photogenic drawings?   

Technically, a cyanotype is a photogram ;) I've done lumens, salt prints, transfers, wet plate, and liquid light. I need to try gums again. I remember those being particularly difficult for me.

I'll always be trying something new but cyanotypes will always appeal to me. They are so simple, which is why most people start there with alternative processes. But they can also do so much. They are truly only limited by your imagination.

I've dumped almost everything from my pantry onto my prints to add color or tone them. I've layered negatives and found objects, done multiple exposures, manipulated the shape of the chemical application to become part of the image. These aren't original things. I'm in several active groups that encourage sharing and trying each others' techniques. One person does one thing and another takes it and transforms that into something new and the next person takes it further. It's fun to watch and participate in. It's a great substitute for the classroom.

[piarou-neelix]

I want to share a story written by a good friend of mine

Teddy Bear || Original Short Story By Priscilla Kint

I remember the day I was new.

Bought in a commercial toy store with three floors where I was seated next to the pogo sticks and the window decoration stickers for not much more than a day before I was picked up and taken to the counter. I was quite excited, unbothered by the wrapping paper that smothered my mouth or the shop assistant, who unapologetically shoved my leg up to my ear in order to make the package smaller. She was new, like me, so it wasn’t very hard to forgive her.

Hours later, the tearing of paper was followed by a small gasp, and then I saw his face for the first time. It was as new to me as I was to him, and it smiled with the few teeth it had grown. Seeing me brought him joy, that much was clear, but I do wonder whether it would have mattered if I had been some other toy. Would the same excitement have lit up his eyes had I been a wooden miniature train or a painted X-men doll instead? I think so. It wasn’t about me or what I represented – not yet. It was about getting a present and opening it and discovering what was inside. Excitement. A new possession. I wasn’t much more than that.

I remember the day I was playtime.

Hours were not yet filled with school, but there was a time for television, a time for dinner, multiple times for bed, and one horrid, horrid time for bath. I was playtime and we both loved it. I became a knight in shining armour, a peaceful monster that destroyed a city of Lego before helping to build it up again. I was named Jenny, after his favourite aunt who always brought him pieces of fruit that were somehow so much tastier than his mother’s carefully cut up apple slices. I was called Poo, because that was a word that was always followed by giggles and a small smile on his father’s face that we had learnt to spot through the scruff on his cheeks and chin.

He held me, my boneless paws leaning on top of the kitchen table, where I would drink tea that was merely air. He dropped me on the ground when the dragon – a green pillow smudged with that morning’s strawberries – almost defeated me, and he raised me up on his shoulders after I saved the city and became the hero. He ran around the living room, nearly tripping over the folded corner of carpet his mother had warned him about three times already. His roars of laughter found their way into my being like silk threads being sewn into the rims of my heart. I wondered whether it was that way for humans as well, that they could feel more whole, more themselves, as they were being built by others.

I remember the day I was home.

When his mother had other places to be that weren’t by his side – food needed money, and money needed to be earned, but what proper kid would really understand that, anyway? – she handed me to him as a renewed gift. Of course, this was not the day I was new, so he didn’t crack that same surprised smile. Instead he cried. He cried when the car drew to a halt in front of the crèche and the tires squeaked and crunched the gravel. He cried as he took his dinosaur-decorated backpack in his one hand and me in the other. He cried even when Miss Lola, a woman with a youthfulness that didn’t match her age but was wonderfully extraordinary, took his hand and promised him he would have fun that day and all the days to come.

On that first day, he sat on a yellow plastic chair in a corner of the room. He watched the other children play and draw and laugh and fight amongst each other without feeling the slightest urge to join them. I was in his lap, his one hand clutched around my arm, the other on top of my head. It was quite nice, being the only thing in the room that interested him. I was what was familiar. I was what was known. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t be new again. New was not what he needed.

He needed home, if only for a little while. Because the next day, from where I sat, leaning against his backpack with my head tilted to the right, I saw him ask a girl called Alexa whether she wanted to share her tin soldiers with him.

I remember the day I was comfort.

When daddy arrived home from work early with his phone in his hand, the shoulder strap of his leather bag dangling down, dragging over the dusty floor. It was the first time we met Death, and he didn’t understand why Aunt Jenny couldn’t simply visit and give him her pieces of fresh fruit and make his parents smile again.

There was never a real goodbye for him. The funeral was on a school day, and Lola made sure to keep him occupied. He made a puzzle, sixteen pieces, and was proud of himself for finishing the image of a spaceship that seemed to come to life once he’d pressed the final piece in place. Still, he felt lonely at night, when his mother didn’t spent as long reading him a bedtime story. When she didn’t tuck him in as tightly as usual. So he wrapped his arms around me, pressed me to his chest, which was getting broader than I was, and cried his tears into my coat of hair, where they solidified the strings of laughter.

The next morning, when I still tasted salt that now mixed with morning sweat, his father sat at the breakfast table with his head in his hands, nothing but a cup of black coffee in front of him. And his son, my dear human, walked up to him and handed me over. The Dutch word for hug is knuffel, as is the Dutch word for a stuffed toy. Perhaps he saw more similarities between the two than most adults do.

I remember the day I was broken.

It started out as a minor tear at the base of my belly, but quickly grew to a disaster that made me snow all over the house. His mother told him I was old, and I felt another one of my stitches snap as I realised what that might mean. I was not old. I didn’t want to be discarded, exchanged for another new.

But that never happened. He clasped me to his chest, refusing his mother and her calls to let me go. He sat in the corner underneath the ironing board, where he would always make tents with the cleanly washed duvet covers and bedsheets. Hiding in plain sight.

It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. Although I was getting slimmer every day, his mother promised to fix me. She spent an entire evening, her feet up on the couch as she watched three different crime series with similar names and the same fake blood, pricking the tips of her fingers with a needle. She wasn’t very good at sewing, but that didn’t stop her. She’d even bought special thread, metallic, so that, afterwards, there was a shimmering line across my stomach whenever I was out in the sun. A line that was a promise, a quick-fix that was not quite beautiful but beautifully loveable.

Three weeks, it took, before I ruptured once more. There was a puff of stuffing onto the kitchen table, a fight, tears that stuck to his cheeks instead of dripping onto my coat, and then his dad took me away.

It took his grandmother little more than fifteen minutes to fix me up with a thread that matched my chestnut brown and a knot that made me feel confident as my life was in her hands.

I remember the day I was shame.

I’m not sure how it happened, and why it happened so quickly, but I’m pretty sure that Andy was at least partly to blame. He was a short boy in year five that looked like a mouse, with ears as big and protruding teeth. He was good at football, and he always spoke up first in class and made jokes, so all the other boys liked him.

And he told us that only babies carry around stuffed animals.

That evening, my human let his carrots grow cold and his chocolate ice cream grow warm. He did his homework without trying to trick his mother into letting him watch an episode of the Power Rangers. She asked him what was wrong, and he told her that he didn’t need me anymore.

It stung, and I am pretty sure the couch swallowed me ever so slightly as those words travelled around the room.

His mother asked him why, and whether he really meant it, whether he needed to think on it. He sucked his lip and bit the skin around it until it was cherry red. His cheeks and eyes reddened as well, and once more his tears didn’t find a safe haven in my coat.

The following morning I was left at the foot of his bed, where hours felt like centuries when he wasn’t there. His mother came to open the window, and later to close it and make the bed. I could’ve sworn she cast me a pitiful smile that I wasn’t sure I liked.

Once he returned from school, he rushed up the stairs, the thomp-thomp of his feet muffled by the carpet on the steps, and let himself fall onto the bed, onto me, as he hugged me fiercely. He told me he wouldn’t leave me alone again. He told me he’d missed me. He told me he didn’t mind being a baby, as long as the other boys wouldn’t see.

From then on, I travelled with him in the bottom of his backpack, where his bottle of milk and his apple and his lunch box took turns flattening my legs and creasing my ears.

I remember the day I was forgotten.

When the bedroom cupboard and the LEGO helicopters were exchanged for a desk with a lamp too bright for sleeping. There had been a lot of nerves in the weeks before, and he’d held me close every night. He wondered about the new friends he’d make, the different classrooms he’d be seeing, all in one day. He was afraid he’d end up taking the bus alone, since most of his friends would go to other schools. I comforted him as best I could – and then I was stuffed in the back of a drawer. The words he told his mother when she asked him where I was were ‘I don’t need it anymore’.

Nights were spent alone, by him and by me. He changed his breakfast from bread to cereal. He ate dinner someplace else every other day. His voice deepened, and for the first time I felt my biggest fear wasn’t that I was going to grow old, but that he was going to grow up. I could handle needle and thread and the tumbling round and round in the washing machine. But if he could not find the time – would not find the time – to cuddle me and miss me and think of me, then I had no purpose.

My coat became greyer and dirtier more quickly than it used to when I shared his bed. A spider passed me by once, not minding me while it spun its web and waited and waited. Much like I did. I quickly feared that the chance of a fly finding its way into that drawer was as equally slim as him opening it and taking me out. He was done with me. He was a growing boy who did his history and math homework – or didn’t – and considered buying coins to be able to spend more time on that week’s most popular app.

I barely slept, even though I did little other than rest in the back of that drawer. What kept me awake was the fear that I was being selfish. Was it egocentric, pathetic, to think it unfair that my life was over while his was changing and expanding so much without me?

I remember the day I was a memory.

A meek morning sun that caught my eye as the drawer opened. A small intake of breath, and I was being pulled out by my hind paw. Remember this one, his mother asked with a smile in her voice. He stood next to her, taller than she was, although I didn’t recall having seen that happen. He smiled a sad happy smile, his hand almost completely enclosing my belly, and placed me in a cardboard box.

His room at college was a small one, but there was a place for me on the top shelf of his bookcase, where my feet dangled just above the works of Derrida and Said. I leaned against his favourite science-fiction novels, sitting back leisurely as I took my time taking in the double bed – black frame with red covers – and the desk that was flooded with printed articles covered in orange and yellow marker. I smiled as I realised that the pots and pans in his small kitchen spent more time being dirty in the sink than being clean in the cupboard.

And I liked her the moment she entered.

She had long dark blonde hair that was up in a bun. Occasionally, it spilled her locks like a waterfall. There were dimples in her cheeks that showed more clearly when she laughed, which was nearly every second she spent with him. She wore a sweater – his sweater? – when she visited the first time. It took her less than five minutes to notice me, as he was doing his best to calculate the right amount of pasta for two.

What’s that, she asked. He turned, his glasses fogged up from the cooking water on the stove. He’s a childhood toy, he told her. She nodded, then tilted her head. He’s adorable.

I felt elated. I enjoyed being taken off the plank and looked at for real for the first time in years. I liked being part of his life again, especially since I suspected that that particular part of it was going to become quite important quite quickly. But the best thing of all was that he had seen me as a ‘he’ again after years of being thrown aside as an ‘it’.

Of all those days I do remember, I don’t quite remember the day I was love.

Perhaps it is my faulty memory or my cotton brain. Still, it must’ve been there, that day. It must have.

Could it have been one of the moments he crushed me in his hugs until I could hear my fibres groan? Or one of those times when the family would go out for the day and he had thought he’d packed me into his bag, but hadn’t, and then his mother would turn the car around to pick me up? Perhaps it was the day he put me on that top shelf, seeing some worth in me when I thought he never would again.

Or maybe – just maybe – it didn’t matter. Maybe it was a whole life of small moments that spelled it out in a language like that of the Ents he used to be such a fan of; slow, all-encompassing, and simple.

By Priscilla Kint

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Sewing Quotes

Official Website: Sewing Quotes

• A good use for me is to let me go away with my sewing machine and come back with some really new stuff. – Betsey Johnson • A tranquil woman can go on sewing longer than an angry man can go on fuming. – George Bernard Shaw • All the asylum clothing is made by the patients, but sewing does not employ one’s mind. After several months’ confinement the thoughts of the busy world grow faint, and all the poor prisoners can do is to sit and ponder over their hopeless fate – Nellie Bly • Among the worst examples is that of the Alberni Indian Residential School (British Columbia) where, during the 1920s, children caught talking Indian suffered the hideous ordeal of having sewing needles pushed through their tongues. – Ward Churchill • Any fool can make a quilt; and, after we had made a couple of dozen over twenty years ago, we quit the business with a conviction that nobody but a fool would spend so much time in cutting bits of dry goods into yet small bits and sewing them together again, just for the sake of making believe that they were busy at practical work. – Abigail Scott Duniway • As beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table. – Isidore Ducasse Lautreamont

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Sew', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_sew').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_sew img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • By now it was clear that Howl was in a mood to produce green slime any second. Sophie hurriedly put her sewing away. “I’ll make some hot buttered toast,” she said. “Is that all you can do in the face of tragedy??” Howl asked. “Make toast! – Diana Wynne Jones • Comparing science and religion isn’t like comparing apples and oranges – it’s more like apples and sewing machines. – Jack Horner • Conversion is not a repairing of the old building, but it takes all down and erects a new structure. It is not the sewing on a patch of holiness; but, with the true convert, holiness is woven into all his powers, principles and practice. – Joseph Alleine

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling] • Destiny was a machine built over time, each choice that you made in life adding another gear, another conveyor belt, another assemblyman. Where you ended up was the product that was spit out at the end—and there was no going back for a redo. You couldn‟t take a peek at what you‟d manufactured and decide, Oh, wait, I wanted to make sewing machines instead of machine guns; let me go back to the beginning and start again. One shot. That was all you got. – J.R. Ward

• Even though I’m resting I’m accomplishing something by sewing that shirt that I’ve been meaning to sew for weeks. And it’s relaxing. It’s so very meditative and quiet and enjoyable. But at least I’m producing something. I’m being productive in some way. I have a very hard time being completely idle. – Evangeline Lilly • For a long time Christianity has sewn its teachings into the fabric of Western culture. That was a good thing …. But the season of sewing is ending. Now is a time for rending, not for the sake of disengaging from culture or retreating from the public square, but so that our salt does not lose its savor. – R. R. Reno • From about eight years old I was always making things on the sewing machine. Friends would see me making dresses and costumes, and I’d use difficult fabrics such as Lycra and elastic. But you know, my dad was creative and my brother is inventive too. – Melissa George • God is not remote from us. He is at the point of my pen, my (pick) shovel, my paint brush, my (sewing) needle – and my heart and thoughts. – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin • Grace cannot wipe out the law of sewing and reaping. – Rod Parsley • He [my father] didn’t have a basement workshop as such, but I know that he did build things, construct things, repair things. My mother, likewise, was sewing and doing activities that often take place in a household. – Paul Smith • Here she was, being rescued by a socialist, feminist, lesbian, baby-killing, foreign terrorist. What would the ladies in the sewing circle say to that? – Hillary Jordan • How odd it is that sewing is thought to be ‘women’s work’ when surgeons, sailors, and cowboys sew too. Yet how many female thoracic surgeons are there? And if precision motor activities are thought to be performed better by women, why wouldn’t they make better surgeons too? – Gretel Ehrlich • I actually wanted to be a fashion designer. I did a lot with the sewing machine at home – – for Barbie or for carnival or just for fun. Then I saw this ad in the newspaper. And as young girls sometimes do some stupid things, I filled in the coupon and sent in my photos. – Heidi Klum • I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole. – Louise Bourgeois • I am certain that a Sewing Machine would relieve as much human suffering as a hundred Lunatic Asylums, and possibly a good deal more. – Margaret Atwood • I am told by those who know that there are six varieties of hangover-the Broken Compass, the Sewing Machine, the Comet, the Atomic, the Cement Mixer and the Gremlin Boogie, and his manner suggested that he had got them all. – P. G. Wodehouse • I come from a family of musicians. Even the sewing machine is a Singer. – Frank Carson • I don’t collect things per se, but I do pick up things as I go. Like, in my studio I have an old sewing machine from Germany that my dad gave me, and then something else that I got from a friend in India, and a piece of flooring from one of my shows. – Jason Wu • I don’t like sewing machines. I don’t understand how a needle with a thread going through the tip of it can interlock the thread by jamming itself into a little goddamn spool. It’s contrary to nature and it irritates me. – Neal Stephenson • I don’t really have a domestic inclination. Even my apartment has a semblance of a storage facility. It’s just stacks, there are no bookshelves, just books and piles of stamp collections and weird little sewing and knitting projects. – Sufjan Stevens • I feel like I am always the one tearing everything up and forever sewing it back together. – Saadat Hasan Manto • I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love. – Ovid • I have a great admiration and tenderness for Azzedine Alaia. I haven’t seen him in a while, but I guess he must be still sewing some dresses at night. – Hedi Slimane • I have an iPod, but I do still love CDs. There’s something nice and tangible about a CD. I’m a mixture of old and new – I love my sewing machine, but I’ve also embraced new technology. The iPad is what did it for me – it’s extraordinary. – Twiggy • I have written most of my melodies walking and I feel it is definitely one of the most helpful ways of sewing all of the different things in your life together and seeing the whole picture. – Bjork • I need a little language such as lovers use, words of one syllable such as children speak when they come into the room and find their mother sewing and pick up some scrap of bright wool, a feather, or a shred of chintz. I need a howl; a cry. When the storm crosses the marsh and sweeps over me where I lie in the ditch unregarded I need no words. Nothing neat. Nothing that comes down with all its feet on the floor. None of those resonances and lovely echoes that break and chime from nerve to nerve in our breasts making wild music, false phrases. I have done with phrases. – Virginia Woolf • I preferred sewing to bossing little children. – Mother Jones • I remember an old Singer sewing machine at home that belonged to my grandmother. It had a pedal. My mom taught me how to use it when I was 12 years old. I used to find it so intriguing, how a flat piece of material could be made into an object that had so many uses. – Bibhu Mohapatra • I stand before you as the governor of Texas but also stand before you the son of two tenant farmers. Ray Perry who came home after 35 bombing missions over Europe to work his little corner of land out there and Amelia who made sure that my sister Milla and I had everything that we needed, included hand sewing my clothes until I went off to college. – Rick Perry • I started designing and getting into cutting and sewing, I also started learning how to do patterns and tech packs. From there I transitioned from challenging myself to make T-shirts to starting to make custom pieces for celebrities. – Fred Foster • I think it’s a real shame so many schools have taken out the hands-on classes. Art, music, auto mechanics, cooking, sewing, these are all things that can turn into jobs. You know, wood shop, steel shop, welding. These are all things that can turn into great careers, get kids interested. Things they can do with other students. Other things for our word thinkers: journalism clubs, drama clubs. – Temple Grandin • I think one of the worst things schools have done is taken out all of the stuff like art, music, woodworking, sewing, cooking, welding, auto-shop. All these things you can turn into careers. How can you get interested in these careers if you don’t try them on a little bit? – Temple Grandin • I took my husband to the hospital yesterday to have 17 stitches out – that’ll teach him to buy me a sewing kit for my birthday. – Jo Brand • I use filming as an excuse to take classes. I got my certification in sailing for ‘Wedding Crashers,’ and now I can handle a 26-foot boat. I played a seamstress once, so I took sewing classes. I love dipping into these other lives. – Rachel McAdams • I was never really that great at sewing, but I had a good idea of what I wanted things to look like. – Bethany Cosentino • I wondered about Mrs. Winterbottom and what she meant about living a tiny life. If she didn’t like all that baking and cleaning and jumping up to get bottles of nail polish remover and sewing hems, why did she do it? Why didn’t she tell them to do some of the things themselves? Maybe she was afraid there would be nothing left for her to do. There would be no need for her and she would become invisible and no one would notice. – Sharon Creech • I’ve worked in construction, in a factory sewing clothes. I also sold flowers and doughnuts – just odd jobs to try to make 10 pesos, which is equivalent to 20 cents. – Manny Pacquiao • If instead of looking at income, you look at levels of consumption, if anything that’s become more equal. The fraction of families that have a dishwasher, that have a sewing machine, that have a television set. In respect to consumption, it’s very hard to avoid the view that people have been getting more equal rather than more unequal. – Milton Friedman • If the sewing societies, the avails of whose industry are now expended in supporting and educating young men for the ministry, were to withdraw their contributions to these objects, and give them where they are more needed, to their advancement of their own sex in useful learning, the next generation might furnish sufficient proof, that in intelligence and ability to master the whole circle of sciences, woman is not inferior to man. – Sarah Moore Grimke • If we didn’t want to upset anyone, we would make films about sewing, but even that could be dangerous. But I think finally, in a film, it is how the balance is and the feelings are. But I think there has to be those contrasts and strong things within a film for the total experience. – David Lynch • If women were once permitted to read Sophocles and work with logarithms, or to nibble at any side of the apple of knowledge, there would be an end forever to their sewing on buttons and embroidering slippers. – Anna Julia Cooper • If you don’t have experience sewing, start with that, because that will inform what you are able to design. – Tim Gunn • I’m always tinkering with something – suddenly I’ll think I can work with wood, but then I’ll realize I can’t, so I go back to sewing. – Melissa McCarthy • In an age in which the classic words of the Surrealists— ‘As beautiful as the unexpected meeting, on a dissecting table, of a sewing machine and an umbrella’—can become reality and perfectly achievable with an atom bomb, so too has there been a surge of interest in biomechanoids – H. R. Giger • In fact, he’s never taken an interest in a woman before. I was beginning to to suspect he might prefer one of his male sneaks, but now…” She paused dramatically. “Now, we have the lovely, intelligent Yelena to get Valek’s cold heart pumping.” “You really should get out of your sewing room more. You need fresh air and a dose of reality,” I said knowing better than to believe a word Dilana said, but unable to control the silly little grin on my face. Her sweet, melodious laughter followed me into the hallway. “You know I’m right, ” she called. – Maria V. Snyder • In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running. – Jeff Bezos • In some hotels they give you a little sewing kit. You know what I do? I sew the towels together. One time I sewed a button on a lampshade. I like to leave a mark. – George Carlin • I’ve always been altering clothing my entire life. But I would have to say my first real amateur endeavor would have to be drawing, designing and then literally cutting and sewing every piece of costume for my first band I formed in Hollywood. – Ashley Purdy • I’ve had to guess at her, sewing her skin together as I sew mine, though with a different stitch. – Adrienne Rich • Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I’ve decided, is only a slow sewing shut. – Jodi Picoult • Like all our memories, we like to take it out once in a while and lay it flat on the kitchen table, the way my wife does with her sewing patterns, where we line up the shape of our lives against that which we thought it would be by now. – Claire Vaye Watkins • Mama sewed the rags together, sewing every piece with love. She made my coat of many colors that I was proud of. – Dolly Parton • Mama’s love had always been the kind that acted itself out with soup pot and sewing basket. But now that these things were taken away, the love seemed as whole as before. She sat in her chair at the window and loved us. She loved the people she saw in the street– and beyond: her love took in the city, the land of Holland, the world. And so I learned that love is larger than the walls which shut it in. – Corrie Ten Boom • Motherhood is a Sisyphean task. You finish sewing one seam shut, and another rips open. I have come to believe that this life I’m wearing will never really fit. – Jodi Picoult • My grandmother raised five children during the Depression by herself. At 50, she threw her sewing machine into the back of a pickup truck and drove from North Dakota to California. She was a real survivor, so that’s my stock. That’s how I want my kids to be too. – Michelle Pfeiffer • My mother was kept very busy with her sewing; sometimes she would have another woman helping her. – James Weldon Johnson • My regular life today is reading books, making dolls houses, sewing dolls with my daughter and barbequing. – Milla Jovovich • No one expects a woman busy at her sewing to pay attention to what’s being said around her. Nevermind if a man’s mother and sister showerd them they heard everything while they stictched, he’ll still think a woman who plies her needles saves all her brains for the work. You’re a far better spy hemming sheets than if you clank with daggers. – Tamora Pierce • One has to watch out for engineers. They begin with the sewing machine and end up with the atomic bomb. – Marcel Pagnol • Poetry is a bad medium for philosophy. Everything in the philosophical poem has to satisfy irreconcilable requirements: for instance, the last demand that we should make of philosophy (that it be interesting) is the first we make of a poem; the philosophical poet has an elevated and methodical, but forlorn and absurd air as he works away at his flying tank, his sewing-machine that also plays the piano. – Randall Jarrell • Radio, sewing machine, bookends, ironing board and that great big piano lamp – peace, that’s what I like. Butterbean vines planted all along the front where the strings are. – Eudora Welty • Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a stone; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing. – Ralph Waldo Emerson • So here I am, sending a two-ounce mouse down into a dungeon with a sewing needle to save a human princess, and I don’t know how in the world he’s going to do it. I have no idea. That was the first time it occurred to me that writing the story was roughly equivalent to Despereaux’s descent into the dungeon. I was tremendously aware of that as I was writing. I thought, “I have to be brave or else I’m not going to be able to tell it.” But it’s the only way that I can write. If I know what’s going to happen, I’m not interested in telling the story. – Kate DiCamillo • Some women don’t care how their quilts look. They piece the squares together any sort of way, but she couldn’t stand careless sewing. She wanted her quilts, and Joy’s, made right. Quilts stay a long time after people are gone from this world, and witness about them for good or bad. She wanted people to see, when she was gone, that she’d never been a shiftless or don’t-care woman. – Julia Peterkin • Talking things over has its place in an organization [but] so-called conferences are being grossly overdone. One executive stops at the desk of another to tell him, perhaps, about the wonderful score he made at golf on Saturday afternoon. This chin-chin immediately becomes a conference, and neither the office boy nor the telephone operator must disturb either gentleman. More idle gossip is indulged in at many business conferences these days than an old wives’ sewing circle would be guilty of. – B. C. Forbes • Tanya Ward Goodman, writing with a big heart, clear eyes, and a light touch, allows us a privileged glimpse into the shabby, enchanted world of traveling carnivals, roadside attractions, and a beloved, eccentric father’s descent into Alzheimers. Just as her dad animated the handcarved, miniature western world of Tinkertown from coat hangers, inner tubes and old sewing machine motors, Tanya Ward Goodman has fashioned her complex and often hilarious memories into a beguiling, wry, and moving work of art. – Michelle Huneven • The chilly December day! two shivering bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio first felt their homemade contraption whittled out of hickory sticks, gummed together with Arnstein’s bicycle cement, stretched with muslin they’d sewn on their sister’s sewing machine in their own backyard on Hawthorn Street in Dayton, Ohio, soar into the air above the dunes and the wide beach at Kitty Hawk. – John Dos Passos • The point is that no matter what you choose to do with your body when you die, it won’t, ultimately, be very appealing. If you are inclined to donate yourself to science, you should not let images of dissection or dismemberment put you off. They are no more or less gruesome, in my opinion, than ordinary decay or the sewing shut of your jaws via your nostrils for a funeral viewing. – Mary Roach • The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path. – Mason Cooley • There are only three American names that are known in every corner of the globe: Singer sewing machines, Coca Cola and Elizabeth Arden. – Elizabeth Arden • There’s one little room in my house which is filled with all my clutter and bits and pieces. My sewing machine is up there, and all my knitting stuff. Its a place where I can go to relax and unwind. I don’t get to spend a lot of time up there, but at least I know its there. – Julia Roberts • There’s something very intimate about taking someone’s work, turning it over and unpicking it. In the same way people have unique handwriting people have a sewing style. You do start building a fantasy relationship with the person. – Matt Smith • What does this patch-sewing mean you ask? Eating and drinking. The heavy cloak of the body is always getting torn. You patch it with food and other ego-satisfactions. – Rumi • What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom. – N. T. Wright • When I moved out of my mom’s house at 18 I was almost as sad to leave her sewing machine behind as anything else. – Beth Ditto • When poets go off the boil, they sound like bumble bees; when critics do, they sound like sewing machines. • When you are a kid you have your own language, and unlike French or Spanish or whatever you start learning in fourth grade, this one you are born with, and eventually lose…Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult…is only a slow sewing it shut. – Jodi Picoult • Writing is like anything – baseball playing, piano playing, sewing, hammering nails. The more you work on it, the better you get. But it seems to take a longer time to get better at writing than hammering nails. – Betsy Byars • Writing is very improvisational. It’s like trying to fix a broken sewing machine with safety pins and rubber bands. A lot of tinkering. – Margaret Atwood • You know how people love to glamorize poverty? There’s nothing glamorous about it. But it did make me really creative. Those days, I was literally taking t-shirts in the day and sewing them back together to make dresses for the night. – Beth Ditto • You sweat out the free agent thing in November, then you make the trades in December. Then you struggle to sign the guys left in January, and in February I get down to sewing all the new numbers on the uniforms. – Whitey Herzog

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[equitiesstocks]

Sewing Quotes

Official Website: Sewing Quotes

• A good use for me is to let me go away with my sewing machine and come back with some really new stuff. – Betsey Johnson • A tranquil woman can go on sewing longer than an angry man can go on fuming. – George Bernard Shaw • All the asylum clothing is made by the patients, but sewing does not employ one’s mind. After several months’ confinement the thoughts of the busy world grow faint, and all the poor prisoners can do is to sit and ponder over their hopeless fate – Nellie Bly • Among the worst examples is that of the Alberni Indian Residential School (British Columbia) where, during the 1920s, children caught talking Indian suffered the hideous ordeal of having sewing needles pushed through their tongues. – Ward Churchill • Any fool can make a quilt; and, after we had made a couple of dozen over twenty years ago, we quit the business with a conviction that nobody but a fool would spend so much time in cutting bits of dry goods into yet small bits and sewing them together again, just for the sake of making believe that they were busy at practical work. – Abigail Scott Duniway • As beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table. – Isidore Ducasse Lautreamont

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Sew', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_sew').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_sew img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • By now it was clear that Howl was in a mood to produce green slime any second. Sophie hurriedly put her sewing away. “I’ll make some hot buttered toast,” she said. “Is that all you can do in the face of tragedy??” Howl asked. “Make toast! – Diana Wynne Jones • Comparing science and religion isn’t like comparing apples and oranges – it’s more like apples and sewing machines. – Jack Horner • Conversion is not a repairing of the old building, but it takes all down and erects a new structure. It is not the sewing on a patch of holiness; but, with the true convert, holiness is woven into all his powers, principles and practice. – Joseph Alleine

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling] • Destiny was a machine built over time, each choice that you made in life adding another gear, another conveyor belt, another assemblyman. Where you ended up was the product that was spit out at the end—and there was no going back for a redo. You couldn‟t take a peek at what you‟d manufactured and decide, Oh, wait, I wanted to make sewing machines instead of machine guns; let me go back to the beginning and start again. One shot. That was all you got. – J.R. Ward

• Even though I’m resting I’m accomplishing something by sewing that shirt that I’ve been meaning to sew for weeks. And it’s relaxing. It’s so very meditative and quiet and enjoyable. But at least I’m producing something. I’m being productive in some way. I have a very hard time being completely idle. – Evangeline Lilly • For a long time Christianity has sewn its teachings into the fabric of Western culture. That was a good thing …. But the season of sewing is ending. Now is a time for rending, not for the sake of disengaging from culture or retreating from the public square, but so that our salt does not lose its savor. – R. R. Reno • From about eight years old I was always making things on the sewing machine. Friends would see me making dresses and costumes, and I’d use difficult fabrics such as Lycra and elastic. But you know, my dad was creative and my brother is inventive too. – Melissa George • God is not remote from us. He is at the point of my pen, my (pick) shovel, my paint brush, my (sewing) needle – and my heart and thoughts. – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin • Grace cannot wipe out the law of sewing and reaping. – Rod Parsley • He [my father] didn’t have a basement workshop as such, but I know that he did build things, construct things, repair things. My mother, likewise, was sewing and doing activities that often take place in a household. – Paul Smith • Here she was, being rescued by a socialist, feminist, lesbian, baby-killing, foreign terrorist. What would the ladies in the sewing circle say to that? – Hillary Jordan • How odd it is that sewing is thought to be ‘women’s work’ when surgeons, sailors, and cowboys sew too. Yet how many female thoracic surgeons are there? And if precision motor activities are thought to be performed better by women, why wouldn’t they make better surgeons too? – Gretel Ehrlich • I actually wanted to be a fashion designer. I did a lot with the sewing machine at home – – for Barbie or for carnival or just for fun. Then I saw this ad in the newspaper. And as young girls sometimes do some stupid things, I filled in the coupon and sent in my photos. – Heidi Klum • I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole. – Louise Bourgeois • I am certain that a Sewing Machine would relieve as much human suffering as a hundred Lunatic Asylums, and possibly a good deal more. – Margaret Atwood • I am told by those who know that there are six varieties of hangover-the Broken Compass, the Sewing Machine, the Comet, the Atomic, the Cement Mixer and the Gremlin Boogie, and his manner suggested that he had got them all. – P. G. Wodehouse • I come from a family of musicians. Even the sewing machine is a Singer. – Frank Carson • I don’t collect things per se, but I do pick up things as I go. Like, in my studio I have an old sewing machine from Germany that my dad gave me, and then something else that I got from a friend in India, and a piece of flooring from one of my shows. – Jason Wu • I don’t like sewing machines. I don’t understand how a needle with a thread going through the tip of it can interlock the thread by jamming itself into a little goddamn spool. It’s contrary to nature and it irritates me. – Neal Stephenson • I don’t really have a domestic inclination. Even my apartment has a semblance of a storage facility. It’s just stacks, there are no bookshelves, just books and piles of stamp collections and weird little sewing and knitting projects. – Sufjan Stevens • I feel like I am always the one tearing everything up and forever sewing it back together. – Saadat Hasan Manto • I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love. – Ovid • I have a great admiration and tenderness for Azzedine Alaia. I haven’t seen him in a while, but I guess he must be still sewing some dresses at night. – Hedi Slimane • I have an iPod, but I do still love CDs. There’s something nice and tangible about a CD. I’m a mixture of old and new – I love my sewing machine, but I’ve also embraced new technology. The iPad is what did it for me – it’s extraordinary. – Twiggy • I have written most of my melodies walking and I feel it is definitely one of the most helpful ways of sewing all of the different things in your life together and seeing the whole picture. – Bjork • I need a little language such as lovers use, words of one syllable such as children speak when they come into the room and find their mother sewing and pick up some scrap of bright wool, a feather, or a shred of chintz. I need a howl; a cry. When the storm crosses the marsh and sweeps over me where I lie in the ditch unregarded I need no words. Nothing neat. Nothing that comes down with all its feet on the floor. None of those resonances and lovely echoes that break and chime from nerve to nerve in our breasts making wild music, false phrases. I have done with phrases. – Virginia Woolf • I preferred sewing to bossing little children. – Mother Jones • I remember an old Singer sewing machine at home that belonged to my grandmother. It had a pedal. My mom taught me how to use it when I was 12 years old. I used to find it so intriguing, how a flat piece of material could be made into an object that had so many uses. – Bibhu Mohapatra • I stand before you as the governor of Texas but also stand before you the son of two tenant farmers. Ray Perry who came home after 35 bombing missions over Europe to work his little corner of land out there and Amelia who made sure that my sister Milla and I had everything that we needed, included hand sewing my clothes until I went off to college. – Rick Perry • I started designing and getting into cutting and sewing, I also started learning how to do patterns and tech packs. From there I transitioned from challenging myself to make T-shirts to starting to make custom pieces for celebrities. – Fred Foster • I think it’s a real shame so many schools have taken out the hands-on classes. Art, music, auto mechanics, cooking, sewing, these are all things that can turn into jobs. You know, wood shop, steel shop, welding. These are all things that can turn into great careers, get kids interested. Things they can do with other students. Other things for our word thinkers: journalism clubs, drama clubs. – Temple Grandin • I think one of the worst things schools have done is taken out all of the stuff like art, music, woodworking, sewing, cooking, welding, auto-shop. All these things you can turn into careers. How can you get interested in these careers if you don’t try them on a little bit? – Temple Grandin • I took my husband to the hospital yesterday to have 17 stitches out – that’ll teach him to buy me a sewing kit for my birthday. – Jo Brand • I use filming as an excuse to take classes. I got my certification in sailing for ‘Wedding Crashers,’ and now I can handle a 26-foot boat. I played a seamstress once, so I took sewing classes. I love dipping into these other lives. – Rachel McAdams • I was never really that great at sewing, but I had a good idea of what I wanted things to look like. – Bethany Cosentino • I wondered about Mrs. Winterbottom and what she meant about living a tiny life. If she didn’t like all that baking and cleaning and jumping up to get bottles of nail polish remover and sewing hems, why did she do it? Why didn’t she tell them to do some of the things themselves? Maybe she was afraid there would be nothing left for her to do. There would be no need for her and she would become invisible and no one would notice. – Sharon Creech • I’ve worked in construction, in a factory sewing clothes. I also sold flowers and doughnuts – just odd jobs to try to make 10 pesos, which is equivalent to 20 cents. – Manny Pacquiao • If instead of looking at income, you look at levels of consumption, if anything that’s become more equal. The fraction of families that have a dishwasher, that have a sewing machine, that have a television set. In respect to consumption, it’s very hard to avoid the view that people have been getting more equal rather than more unequal. – Milton Friedman • If the sewing societies, the avails of whose industry are now expended in supporting and educating young men for the ministry, were to withdraw their contributions to these objects, and give them where they are more needed, to their advancement of their own sex in useful learning, the next generation might furnish sufficient proof, that in intelligence and ability to master the whole circle of sciences, woman is not inferior to man. – Sarah Moore Grimke • If we didn’t want to upset anyone, we would make films about sewing, but even that could be dangerous. But I think finally, in a film, it is how the balance is and the feelings are. But I think there has to be those contrasts and strong things within a film for the total experience. – David Lynch • If women were once permitted to read Sophocles and work with logarithms, or to nibble at any side of the apple of knowledge, there would be an end forever to their sewing on buttons and embroidering slippers. – Anna Julia Cooper • If you don’t have experience sewing, start with that, because that will inform what you are able to design. – Tim Gunn • I’m always tinkering with something – suddenly I’ll think I can work with wood, but then I’ll realize I can’t, so I go back to sewing. – Melissa McCarthy • In an age in which the classic words of the Surrealists— ‘As beautiful as the unexpected meeting, on a dissecting table, of a sewing machine and an umbrella’—can become reality and perfectly achievable with an atom bomb, so too has there been a surge of interest in biomechanoids – H. R. Giger • In fact, he’s never taken an interest in a woman before. I was beginning to to suspect he might prefer one of his male sneaks, but now…” She paused dramatically. “Now, we have the lovely, intelligent Yelena to get Valek’s cold heart pumping.” “You really should get out of your sewing room more. You need fresh air and a dose of reality,” I said knowing better than to believe a word Dilana said, but unable to control the silly little grin on my face. Her sweet, melodious laughter followed me into the hallway. “You know I’m right, ” she called. – Maria V. Snyder • In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running. – Jeff Bezos • In some hotels they give you a little sewing kit. You know what I do? I sew the towels together. One time I sewed a button on a lampshade. I like to leave a mark. – George Carlin • I’ve always been altering clothing my entire life. But I would have to say my first real amateur endeavor would have to be drawing, designing and then literally cutting and sewing every piece of costume for my first band I formed in Hollywood. – Ashley Purdy • I’ve had to guess at her, sewing her skin together as I sew mine, though with a different stitch. – Adrienne Rich • Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I’ve decided, is only a slow sewing shut. – Jodi Picoult • Like all our memories, we like to take it out once in a while and lay it flat on the kitchen table, the way my wife does with her sewing patterns, where we line up the shape of our lives against that which we thought it would be by now. – Claire Vaye Watkins • Mama sewed the rags together, sewing every piece with love. She made my coat of many colors that I was proud of. – Dolly Parton • Mama’s love had always been the kind that acted itself out with soup pot and sewing basket. But now that these things were taken away, the love seemed as whole as before. She sat in her chair at the window and loved us. She loved the people she saw in the street– and beyond: her love took in the city, the land of Holland, the world. And so I learned that love is larger than the walls which shut it in. – Corrie Ten Boom • Motherhood is a Sisyphean task. You finish sewing one seam shut, and another rips open. I have come to believe that this life I’m wearing will never really fit. – Jodi Picoult • My grandmother raised five children during the Depression by herself. At 50, she threw her sewing machine into the back of a pickup truck and drove from North Dakota to California. She was a real survivor, so that’s my stock. That’s how I want my kids to be too. – Michelle Pfeiffer • My mother was kept very busy with her sewing; sometimes she would have another woman helping her. – James Weldon Johnson • My regular life today is reading books, making dolls houses, sewing dolls with my daughter and barbequing. – Milla Jovovich • No one expects a woman busy at her sewing to pay attention to what’s being said around her. Nevermind if a man’s mother and sister showerd them they heard everything while they stictched, he’ll still think a woman who plies her needles saves all her brains for the work. You’re a far better spy hemming sheets than if you clank with daggers. – Tamora Pierce • One has to watch out for engineers. They begin with the sewing machine and end up with the atomic bomb. – Marcel Pagnol • Poetry is a bad medium for philosophy. Everything in the philosophical poem has to satisfy irreconcilable requirements: for instance, the last demand that we should make of philosophy (that it be interesting) is the first we make of a poem; the philosophical poet has an elevated and methodical, but forlorn and absurd air as he works away at his flying tank, his sewing-machine that also plays the piano. – Randall Jarrell • Radio, sewing machine, bookends, ironing board and that great big piano lamp – peace, that’s what I like. Butterbean vines planted all along the front where the strings are. – Eudora Welty • Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a stone; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing. – Ralph Waldo Emerson • So here I am, sending a two-ounce mouse down into a dungeon with a sewing needle to save a human princess, and I don’t know how in the world he’s going to do it. I have no idea. That was the first time it occurred to me that writing the story was roughly equivalent to Despereaux’s descent into the dungeon. I was tremendously aware of that as I was writing. I thought, “I have to be brave or else I’m not going to be able to tell it.” But it’s the only way that I can write. If I know what’s going to happen, I’m not interested in telling the story. – Kate DiCamillo • Some women don’t care how their quilts look. They piece the squares together any sort of way, but she couldn’t stand careless sewing. She wanted her quilts, and Joy’s, made right. Quilts stay a long time after people are gone from this world, and witness about them for good or bad. She wanted people to see, when she was gone, that she’d never been a shiftless or don’t-care woman. – Julia Peterkin • Talking things over has its place in an organization [but] so-called conferences are being grossly overdone. One executive stops at the desk of another to tell him, perhaps, about the wonderful score he made at golf on Saturday afternoon. This chin-chin immediately becomes a conference, and neither the office boy nor the telephone operator must disturb either gentleman. More idle gossip is indulged in at many business conferences these days than an old wives’ sewing circle would be guilty of. – B. C. Forbes • Tanya Ward Goodman, writing with a big heart, clear eyes, and a light touch, allows us a privileged glimpse into the shabby, enchanted world of traveling carnivals, roadside attractions, and a beloved, eccentric father’s descent into Alzheimers. Just as her dad animated the handcarved, miniature western world of Tinkertown from coat hangers, inner tubes and old sewing machine motors, Tanya Ward Goodman has fashioned her complex and often hilarious memories into a beguiling, wry, and moving work of art. – Michelle Huneven • The chilly December day! two shivering bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio first felt their homemade contraption whittled out of hickory sticks, gummed together with Arnstein’s bicycle cement, stretched with muslin they’d sewn on their sister’s sewing machine in their own backyard on Hawthorn Street in Dayton, Ohio, soar into the air above the dunes and the wide beach at Kitty Hawk. – John Dos Passos • The point is that no matter what you choose to do with your body when you die, it won’t, ultimately, be very appealing. If you are inclined to donate yourself to science, you should not let images of dissection or dismemberment put you off. They are no more or less gruesome, in my opinion, than ordinary decay or the sewing shut of your jaws via your nostrils for a funeral viewing. – Mary Roach • The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path. – Mason Cooley • There are only three American names that are known in every corner of the globe: Singer sewing machines, Coca Cola and Elizabeth Arden. – Elizabeth Arden • There’s one little room in my house which is filled with all my clutter and bits and pieces. My sewing machine is up there, and all my knitting stuff. Its a place where I can go to relax and unwind. I don’t get to spend a lot of time up there, but at least I know its there. – Julia Roberts • There’s something very intimate about taking someone’s work, turning it over and unpicking it. In the same way people have unique handwriting people have a sewing style. You do start building a fantasy relationship with the person. – Matt Smith • What does this patch-sewing mean you ask? Eating and drinking. The heavy cloak of the body is always getting torn. You patch it with food and other ego-satisfactions. – Rumi • What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom. – N. T. Wright • When I moved out of my mom’s house at 18 I was almost as sad to leave her sewing machine behind as anything else. – Beth Ditto • When poets go off the boil, they sound like bumble bees; when critics do, they sound like sewing machines. • When you are a kid you have your own language, and unlike French or Spanish or whatever you start learning in fourth grade, this one you are born with, and eventually lose…Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult…is only a slow sewing it shut. – Jodi Picoult • Writing is like anything – baseball playing, piano playing, sewing, hammering nails. The more you work on it, the better you get. But it seems to take a longer time to get better at writing than hammering nails. – Betsy Byars • Writing is very improvisational. It’s like trying to fix a broken sewing machine with safety pins and rubber bands. A lot of tinkering. – Margaret Atwood • You know how people love to glamorize poverty? There’s nothing glamorous about it. But it did make me really creative. Those days, I was literally taking t-shirts in the day and sewing them back together to make dresses for the night. – Beth Ditto • You sweat out the free agent thing in November, then you make the trades in December. Then you struggle to sign the guys left in January, and in February I get down to sewing all the new numbers on the uniforms. – Whitey Herzog

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

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[www-osm]

Fool of a Took!

I’d like to start off by clarifying that I do appreciate my mother in law. She’s a kind, noble, loyal and intelligent human being who is always ready to lend a hand.

That being said…she’s also in her eighties, staunchly stuck in her belief that men are inherently better than women and that mothers need to quit their living of life in order to serve as semi-slaves to their children (especially if they are male). She also has a whole herd of Catholic guilt to throw around.

I, on the other hand, was raised to fight for what I believe in, work hard, read harder and never bow down to anyone. I was raised on the belief that answering questions and setting limits for children is the best policy and it is one I believe in wholeheartedly now that I am a mother myself.

My son is six months old, so limits are just beginning to appear on the horizon but we have set down strict routines for eating and particularly sleeping. We also have had to encourage independence and self soothing because the complex medical needs of any child with Apert Syndrome mean they will spend a lot of time in hospital and in doctor’s offices, so patience and being used to playing with just one or two toys for a while is critical to surviving the next few years of our quest.

And this is where my troubles with my mother in law begin: I am a rational, practical mother who does not want to use a stroller because I can child-carry and it’s not a burden for me; she is dead set on using baby words and that lying to a child to cajole them into behaving is a good parenting strategy; I believe my special needs child needs to be resilient, engaged and be comfortable in his own skin in order to survive, she believes he needs protecting and never being told he is different; I believe that no matter how much it hurts me to see him in hospital and to put him through surgeries I have to be there to support and help him heal, she believes in praying the Apert away and that maybe one day the Virgin Mary will seal his cleft palate.

She also doesn’t want to be involved with the doctors or the hospitals.

This last bit, more than anything, is what I feel has been the Great Divide between us. I understand hospitals are uncomfortable, and no one wants to see a loved one suffer but, when my son was born and we didn’t know if he was going to survive, she refused to see him because she didn’t ever want to see her “perfect boy” hooked up to tubes. It’s a sentiment shared by my own father, and he dug deep, had a cry in the parkade, and spent three weeks in the most uncomfortable office chairs in NICU imaginable, he held his hand, stroked his hair, fed him, bathed him and changed his diaper. It breaks my heart that my mother in law will only appear when my son is out of hospital and otherwise healthy. Right now, he is six months old and loves the attention but when he is 3, 4, 5, 10, 12 and requires medical procedures and hospital stays, will he still think it’s enough to get the love from the only grandmother that lives in the same country only once he’s mended-up?

I know it might seem an exaggeration but, I do worry about that. Weeks turn into months and into years really fast and what starts as a quirk becomes a habit and then a characteristic. Do I want my son to grow up in a world where one of his closest family members cannot stand to see him through his times of medical need? Do I also want him to grow up with the contradiction that he is perfect and superior, but his grandmother cannot stand the sight of him with tubes or medical machines or apparatus?

I also wonder who is really playing the part of the fool. Is it me for not showing more patience or trying to see the world from her perspective? Is it her for failing to adapt and survive?

I, generally, have many things to worry about on a day to day basis but I cannot deny that when I leave my boy with my mother in law, I do wonder.

I care about my mother in law. I want her to be an active part of my son’s life and I want her to be a positive force in making Apert Syndrome a friend we are all comfortable with.

I also don’t want to spend time and energy worrying about my mother in law and I do want to spend time and energy allowing her to coddle, spoil and teach my son valuable lessons (like sewing or caring for a garden or just telling him stories about her family and showing old, old pictures).

Most important of all: my son needs us to be a unified front. He needs us to stand with him in hospital, in school, when people point a finger or look away because he looks different, when he wants to try something new and we might need to adapt the activity or the equipment.

Basically, he needs us.

I would really like to be able to provide him with that (minus the Catholic guilt and misogyny; no one needs that).

[thedailychangejar-blog]

25 Useful Ways to Save Money Everyday (Part 3)

Oh, how I love to find creative ways to save money every day!

If you haven’t already, check out 25 Ways to Save Money Everyday Part 1 and Part 2.

1. Get clever in the kitchen

Use small amounts of condiments to create new and exciting concoctions. Use them to create dips and sauces. Turn them into marinades. If they are not oil based, freeze them for later use. There are tons of things you can do with leftover condiments.

2. Unplug the unused electronics and appliances

Even when you are not actively using your appliances, as long as they are still plugged in, they are using “phantom electricity.” It might not cost you a lot per individual device plugged in, but think of how many things are plugged in, in your house at all times? Fans, toasters, computers, random chargers. Now that can really add up!

3. Freeze your meals

I could write a whole other post on this topic-future post maybe? I love being able to have meals planned AND prepped in advance! Not only does this save time, it also saves money. I can’t tell you how many times I have been ill-prepared to feed hungry children after school or a long day of running around, which then results in either going somewhere quick to get something or ordering in. Which can really add up with a large family! Even on the "cheap end" it costs us $30+!

4. Don’t spoil your kids!

So I know we are all guilty of this once and awhile. My husband and I both struggle with this because “we never got it growing up!” But let’s be realistic. Do my kids need expensive toys and the latest gadgets-NO! They use them for like 5 minutes and then they either wound up broken or just sitting in their rooms collecting dust. If you are looking for toys and other gadgets, try looking at second-hand stores, online auction sites, Facebook buy and sell groups. We have found some amazing deals through local buy and sell sites, and not just for kids stuff, but just about anything.

5. Pay your bills on time

Well, this one might seem like a no-brainer! However, life gets in the way and things get busy. Make sure you have a system for yourself to pay your bills on time so you aren’t racking up interest or late fees. Late fees suck! Something as simple as setting an alarm on your phone a couple days before the bills' due date. 

6. Give up your landline

Ok, even my parents did this years ago! My 83-year-old grandmother doesn’t even have a landline anymore! If you still have one, get rid of it! You do even really use it other than to try and avoid telemarketers? Yeah, I didn’t think so :-)

7. Shop for Christmas early!

My oldest daughter always finds it weird when I am shopping for Christmas gifts in June. Hello, I can’t pass up a good deal! I personally think it is a lot less stressful to get gifts for people early, that way I don’t have to worry about crazy, busy stores. Being an introvert, busy stores just cause anxiety. Also, I am able to take advantage of other sales throughout the year. I can take advantage of savings (and making a few extra bucks) in other ways, like shopping online through Ebates. If you haven’t heard of Ebates, check out my post on it here. I freaking LOVE using Ebates for online shopping! Without any extra work on my part, I earn cold, hard cash back for shopping like I normally would online. Cha-ching 💰

8. Plan your grocery shopping around sales and coupons

So I used to be one of those crazy coupon ladies (which there is nothing wrong with!). However, I felt like it took up so much time and was causing more stress for me! Have you ever tried taking 3-4 kids to several grocery stores and having to scan a billion coupons when checking out? NOT FUN! We do now make sure that whichever store we are planning on going to we use the available coupons and take advantage of any additional sales they have going on. Things like “take an additional 10% off meat you can fit into this paper bag!”

9. Don’t always use your dryer

Even though the dryer may not use a TON of energy, when you are doing 20 loads in one day, that can really add up. Try and use a drying rack of some sort. I have a load of hangers that I hang clothes on from pipes in the basement. Simple yet effective.

10. Buy second hand online

When you are needing or wanting higher end brand clothing and accessories, turn to Poshmark. If you haven’t heard of it, PoshMark is a great online marketplace and buy (and sell) second-hand, brand name clothing and accessories. You can purchase some pretty high end, quality brands for WAY below the original price it would cost you at a regular retailer. Check it out here and get a $5 credit just for signing up and using the code keegan_TDCJ.

11. Get handy at home

One of the many reasons I love my husband! He is pretty handy, and if he doesn’t know how to do something, he will do his best to figure it out. Also, it can be helpful to have friends or family that know their way around house repairs. So before you call a handyman, look to your friends and family for some assistance. 

12. Change your own oil

Another task I leave up to the hubby! We used to take the vehicles in to get the oil changed, which would cost like $100! So he learned how to do it himself. Now, all we have to pay for is the oil and a new filter, which drastically cuts the cost.

13. Take up a profit-making hobby

Watch out for another post on this :-) People build businesses off of their hobbies ALL THE TIME! You may not want to go into business with your hobby, but it can bring in a few extra bucks! Like to sew? Try making some doll clothes to sell online or at a local farmer’s market. Know a thing or two about graphic and web design? Put it out there that you are looking for projects or start up some gigs on Fiverr! Or go thrifting and resell your awesome finds on eBay, I have heard of people making bank off of that!

14. Use store loyalty cards

Now I’m not a huge advocate of using credit cards. HOWEVER, when you use store credit or loyalty cards, you can get some pretty amazing deals! Like 30% off at Kohls! Yes, please! Just make sure you are being responsible and not maxing them out every time you are using them and paying them off/down.

15. Don’t forget to price match

Many times stores will price match a lower price to their competitor. I did this at Target once with an online price match, stacked with the Cartwheel app and got a Rosetta Stone level 1 language learning pack for like $17, when it would have been $99! SCORE!

16. Keep track of your finances

If you don’t already have a budget, start tracking EVERYTHING you are spending during the month. You might be surprised as to where your money is going. You can use softwares and apps like Personal Capital and Mint to track your spending. These programs break down your spending into categories, such as entertainment, utilities, etc. so you can get a quick overview of where your money is going. 

17. Leave some room for fun!

Saving money is no fun if you have to live as a hermit forever. Make sure you are setting aside a little bit to spend on new clothes, entertainment, a date night (whatever that is…). If you are saving it specifically for fun money, that is guilt free spending :-) Saving money is no fun if you have to live as a hermit forever. Click To Tweet

18. Don’t forget about warranties

Sometimes it pays to pay a little extra up front for a warranty if you think you might need it. For example, any kind of techy stuff for the kids, I generally try to get a warranty with it, especially if it is on the pricer side. You know, considering my kids seem to break EVERYTHING! Lots of things come with warranties that you don’t have to pay extra for. Make sure you are keeping track of these and using them if needed rather than running out and buying a new replacement right away.

19. Make your own bread

This can be done with or without one of those fancy bread machines. There are tons of bread recipes out there to choose from. I always like to try a variety of homemade breads, although sourdough is one of my favorites :-)

20. Buy a crockpot

ok, I know we're supposed to be saving money here, not spending money. But this will save you some cash, in the long run, I promise. Remember those freezer meals I talked about earlier? Yeah, make sure you have a crock pot for those, it just makes life a whole lot easier. Spend a few hours prepping everything, pop it in the crockpot after the kids leave for school, and voila-dinner is ready! 

21. Buy quality products

When you are looking to make a larger purchase, make sure you look at the quality of the item rather than the overall price of the item. When you are purchasing things like larger appliances, it is better to spend a little more money up front rather than buying cheap and having it break down on you in a year. Although I do still own a vacuum that I purchased for $40 like 10 years ago that still works great!

22. Hit up local rummage sales

Rummage sales can be a hit and miss kind of situation. There are times that I have found some great deals at rummage sales, especially on books! Rummage sales are also a great place to look for kids clothing or other things your kids might need, high chairs, cribs, beds, generally in good condition for very affordable prices.

23. Save water

I still have to remind my kids about this one. You don’t need to keep the water running when you brush your teeth! Think about it. If you are brushing your teeth for the recommended 2 minutes, twice per day, 365 days per year, times 3 kids that is 73 HOURS of running water! Yeah, that can save a few bucks turning the water off!

24. Sell your unused items online

Seems this post is a little saving and a little making money :-) I have dabbled in this a bit and found it pretty easy and fun. My husband had accumulated a lot of nerdy things that he couldn’t display anywhere or didn’t want anymore. So I turned to eBay. Turns out it is a great place to sell action figures, video games, and other random things around your house. I took a course once on how to sell things on eBay and it said that the average person has about $1,300 worth of stuff just sitting around their house that they could sell on eBay. Not too bad. Not sure if what you have will sell? Just take a look at the site and see if other people have sold similar items. If so, give it a shot! The average person has about $1,300 worth of stuff just sitting around their house they could sell on eBay. Click To Tweet

25. Trade your skills with someone

I have done this before and it can be very helpful if you don’t have the money to spend on services. Like watching someone’s kids while in exchange for fixing my car. Nothing special, but it helped us both out. You might be thinking, well I don't have any special skills, think again! Everyone is unique and has unique skills to offer-cooking, fixing a computer, changing the car oil, cleaning house-don't underestimate yourself! 

What are some creative ways you have saved or made a little extra money?

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[myfairolinda]

Guest Post: Finding Your Creative Process

Finding your creative process can be a unique experience for each of us. When we are drawn to create there are so many sources for inspiration. My friend Shannon is an amazing artist. Not only is she an award winning fine artist who specialize in oil paintings but she’s fantastically creative. She specializes in Contemporary Coastal Vignettes and is currently working on a series of beautiful abstracts. I asked Shannon to share her thoughts on creativity, what inspires her and how she finds her creative process.

 * * * * *

My friend Naomi asked me recently how I get my creative juices flowing and it was a joy to think about this and share my process.

A perfectly inspired creative day for me begins with being outside in the morning! There has never been anything that inspires me more creatively than being outside experiencing God’s awesome canvas. Especially here in California where I have lived for most of my life. Now that I live a block from the ocean, either a beach walk, bike ride or a Yoga by the Sea class are my favorites. In a pinch, a simple walk around the block with my puppy works well too. Not much inspires me more than crashing waves or hanging out at a local harbor watching commercial fishing boats come and go while giant sea lions bark and play in the water. I also love watching giant herons and dolphins. Another of my favorite things to do is go whale watching, it feels so primal and calming to see them move through the water. When I’m in the Conejo Valley in Southern California where I’ve lived the longest, a hike through a local canyon or an oak tree forest hoping for a deer sighting is another favorite way to inspiration. All those interesting shadows and plays of light through the craggy trees get my mind racing on what the next best way I can capture that feeling will be so I can share it with someone else.

There has never been anything that inspires me more creatively than being outside experiencing… Click To Tweet

Finding your creative process:

Why do you love creativity?

I don’t remember ever NOT being creative so for me, it’s just a part of who I am. Even as a little girl I was always making something. I remember if I ever asked for a gift of any kind, it was always something I could use to create something new. I remember by eight years old begging my mother for a guitar and as soon as I got it and taught myself to play it. I began writing my own songs rather than play ones I heard on the radio. I also remember asking for and receiving a sewing machine at age 7 and a leather tool making kit soon after. I didn’t seem to have a knack for sewing but I loved writing poetry and making music. Finally in college I found oil painting to be my favorite way to express myself.

What inspires you?

I am most inspired by water of any kind. I love the ocean, lakes, waterfalls and even vernal pools. I love seeing the reflections and hearing the sounds of water and thinking about ways to create something that can translate that feeling of hope I feel around water. Growing up I always wanted to visit my grandmother near the beach. As soon as we got there I’d beg anyone to take me down to the water. There are long rock walls surrounding that area in New York and I loved walking up on them all the way to the sea. There used to be fireworks every summer weekend. Watching the reflections of all those colors made me feel like all I wanted to do was shout with joy and create something! I promised myself as soon as I graduated high school I would live near the ocean and that’s exactly what I did.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I am truly never, ever NOT inspired! I think this is because I’m fascinated by many things. I wonder how things grow: from tree bark to vegetables to grapes and I love gardening in my yard. Tending to the garden is also a wonderful stress reliever and serving things I’ve grown makes me smile. I’m always wondering what’s underneath all water sources, how things work, how other creative people make what they do, and what their life stories are. I even wonder what animals might be thinking when they look at you. I even wonder about the creatures who lived in empty shells I’ve found over the years. I am astonished by the variety in nature I am compelled to create things that celebrate this. Honestly I get cranky if I’m traveling and forget my sketchbook or camera or something to write ideas down on. I love my iphone because it’s a great way to record things I see and experience.

How do you come up with ideas?

I love listening to classical music or Italian opera alone in my car when I’m going to art functions, this relaxes and inspires me so much especially since traffic in Southern California is a consistent nuisance but driving along a country road during a New England fall is pretty close to perfect inspiration! Most ideas I’ve had over the years feel divinely inspired and I thank my creator daily. Thank you Lord above! I create best when I am alone in a quiet environment. I’ve also had a lot of inspiration from traveling in my youth and encourage other young people to travel too! These days a simple day trip to wine country or a boat trip to a local islands is enough to inspire me for months at a time. But I often get my best ideas while I’m cooking a nice meal or late at night as I’m falling asleep. Also, in the middle of the night if I wake up in that sort of twilight state, I seem to think clearly about brand new ideas. I have always kept paper or a writing pad on my nightstand and often scribble words down so I don’t forget them. I used to write songs for years like this and if I didn’t write down lyrics that came to me easily at night, or sing a melody into a little tape machine I used to have, they’d evaporate in my brain by morning. Now that I’ve been expressing myself as a fine artist for many years, I seem to think in terms of a series of work I want to focus on for a few months or even a year or two at a time. I have always created in batches where I’ll need to paint wildly for months and be prolific, and then I’ll have to have a month of quiet rest to tend to my home and family. This is what inspires me the most, as I am definitely a homebody.

I think creativity can take so many forms and one thing can inspire another. I’ve always done silly little things like name my car over the years. I also think everyone should have a theme song or a fight song to lift them up when they’re low. Mine is brown-eyed girl and it reminds me of when I was young and dreaming big which carries over to present day and always being open to new experiences. I believe in doing hard things outside one’s comfort box and I think when you do, it makes you braver to try other new things. I’ve played several instruments over the years and yet when I think about learning to play the cello one day I get goose bumps. I love the Italian language and took 2 years of it in college but now that I don’t remember as much, I look forward to immersing myself in that again too. I really also want to learn to captain a boat and it’s this kind of thing that informs my art process and keeps me excited to wake up and paint every day possible!

Creativity can take so many forms and one thing can inspire another. Click To Tweet

 * * * * *

Shannon is an award winning fine artist Living in Southern California. She paints “Contemporary Coastal Vignettes,” seascapes, landscapes & still life in oil using palette knives & brushes & sometimes watercolor. 

She’s been painting away on her new series ODYSSEY THROUGH OXNARD which explores the paradox of old and new alongside Oxnard’s unique history and complex culture. She’s completed more than 10 paintings in this series already. Her series was on display in October at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum where she was their first Artist in Residence! Find out more about Shannon and see her beautiful artwork at http://ift.tt/1R6o81g and on Instagram: @shannoncelia.

The post Guest Post: Finding Your Creative Process appeared first on My Fair Olinda.

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25 Useful Ways to Save Money Everyday-Part 2

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission or other benefit at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Daily Change Jar.

Here are 25 MORE ways to save money every day!

If you haven't already, check out the previous post on 25 Useful Ways to Save Money Everyday Part 1.

1. Dilute your Conditioner

Did you know that you can dilute your conditioner and it will still be just as effective? I did this the other day when we were just about out of conditioner and my oldest daughter (the picky 13-year-old didn’t even notice ;-) ).

2. Use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets

Although if you read the previous post I shared a link to a post on how to make your own dryer sheets-which is also a great way to save money. However, dryer balls are also another option. You can purchase a pack for 6 here for under $10 or if you would prefer to make your own, check out this post by The Seasoned Homemaker. Also adding a little bit of essential oil before popping them into the dryer gives your clothes a great scent boost!

3. Consider giving personal gifts for Holidays

I used to do this all the time when I was younger and seemed to have more free time (free time? What is that?!?) And this was before Pinterest was a thing! I would DIY my Christmas gifts. Even before Pinterest was a thing, I DIYed my Christmas gifts-frugal and meaningful! Click To Tweet One year I made each of my grandmothers a little rocking chair out of clothespins with a cute little stuffed bear in a straw hat. How many years later, they still have them! As I got older I did things that included the kids. Framed handprints in clay for my husband’s first father’s day. Nice framed pictures of the kids with their handprints for grandmas and grandpas. Every time I have MADE my husband something for Christmas, his birthday, or father’s day he has appreciated it 1000 times more than anything I have ever bought him. PLUS it is more frugal! Last year there was a gift that I wanted to get him that I found on Etsy-which was listed for $145! Now I am all for supporting people on Etsy, but I couldn’t afford it at the time. So I improvised, well more like copied the idea and made the gift myself. The total cost? $12! Yup, a savings of $133! Pretty darn frugal if you ask me!

4. Eat seasonal

When you are at the grocery store, make sure you are looking for things that are in season. They tend to be cheaper that way! A pint of strawberries in Wisconsin in the middle of winter can run $5 or more, while during the summer they are at least half that!

5. Tailor your own clothes

Ok, so I admit, I normally hand this task off to my grandmother. First off she is much better at it than I am. Gotta learn to outsource those kinda things right? Secondly, she already has her sewing stuff set up 24/7, while I have to drag mine out of the basement and set it up every time. If I do plan on fixing clothes that are torn, too long, or need to be sewn in some way, I just pile them up until I have a good amount that makes it worthwhile to drag out my sewing machine. But it really is a way to save. There have been many times where my kids just get a small tear in their clothes, or I get a rip in the seam of my pants. Should I just toss them? NEVER! Fix the darn things rather than going out and buying a whole new pair! Or better yet-upcycle the garment into something new! Feel free to check out my board from my personal Pinterest account where I have like 1000 different ideas saved on how to upcycle old clothes! (Don't judge my boards-I am slowly working to reorganize them!)

6. Don’t toss your outdated clothing

If you find that your clothes are outdated, a little stained or ripped, don’t throw them out. Wear them around the house or for pajamas. I have quite a few random pants and shirts that I use for when I paint, dye my hair, or know that I will be working on something potentially messy.

7. Trade for babysitting

So I really hate paying for babysitters. Unless it’s a teenager (who I know well) that is looking to make some extra cash-support the side hustle! I have plenty of friends with kids around the same age as my kids. Trade off nights to watch each other's kids. Or plan sleepovers for the little ones at their friends’ houses :-) I have one friend in particular who is a lifesaver when it comes to watching my kids and even though she hardly ever asks me to watch her kids, she will gladly take mine anytime. You know who you are ;-)

8. Keep the heat turned down

Wisconsin winters can get pretty darn cold! My mother tends to turn up her heat so much I am sweating just sitting in her house. We prefer to save a few bucks and keep the heat turned a little lower. Nothing a few layers of sweaters can’t fix!

9. Do a clothing swap

I heard about this idea a while ago and I have yet to try it. I have an entire room in my basement filled with clothes. Everything from newborn girls to adult women’s to boys and men’s clothes. Instead of donating the things you don’t wear anymore, get together with some other moms (or dads) and swap clothes. This can work really well for kids clothes especially. But if you have some girlfriends that are around the same size as you, or you have clothes that you have grown out of (or maternity clothes) see what you can trade. You never know what you might find!

10. Stockpile great deals!

Find any amazing deals recently you can get a bunch of stuff for really cheap? Like toothpaste for $1 a tube? Stock up on it! This is where couponing can come in really handy! I have found this particularly helpful when it comes to donating items. Homeless or Women's shelters are always in need of personal care type items. But frugal, but give back! Even though you think you may have it bad, there is always someone out there who has it worse. Even though you think you may have it bad, there is always someone out there who has it worse. Click To Tweet

11. Purge things that are taking up space

My husband and I go through spurts of purging things. Which is really liberating actually. We will start in one room and look at all the crap we never use, like that cake pop maker my daughter wanted so badly and only used once. Or the plethora of Monster High Dolls we have accumulated over the years that just sits in the basement. There are two advantages to this. You are decluttering. You can make a few extra bucks by listing these items on local Facebook buy/sell sites.

12. Buy in bulk

One of the things that I absolutely love that stores are doing now is putting how much the cost per unit or ounce is on the labels on the shelves. Saves me from doing any math! When you are buying in bulk you can save quite a bit. As long as you are purchasing things that aren’t going to go bad. Plus it is a good life lesson when I take the kids shopping, we can talk about comparing prices. Just because it might be listed as less expensive doesn't actually mean that it is.

13. Volunteer your time instead of purchasing gifts

Many years ago I worked as a CNA in a nursing home and it would break my heart when the holidays would roll around and some of the residents had no visitors. If you can, instead of purchasing gifts for people, give your time instead. Go volunteer your time at nursing homes, humane societies, daycares, or other organizations that tend to be short on volunteers. Especially during the holidays. For many people, giving your time is priceless and means so much more to them over a physical gift.

14. You don’t have to buy gifts for everyone

When my husband and I first got together we would get gifts for everyone in our families. There were his 6 sisters, about another 6 nieces and nephews, my brother and his girlfriend, my 7 aunts and uncles, a bunch of cousins, their kids, the list went on. It would cost us a fortune just trying to be nice to everyone during the holidays. Not that I don't like being nice and giving to others during the holidays, but let's get real here! Now, our list is very limited-parents, grandparents, and kids. Plus we have 5 kids to buy for, that is enough right there! And again, my parents and grandparents would prefer something more meaningful that the kids and I make over anything we can buy. Save on gas!

15. Use a bike or walk where you can.

I know this can be a lot more difficult with kids, but there are times when it is nice out that we can bike to the store or walk to the playground instead of driving.

16. Carpool!

This is one we try to do when going out of town for gymnastics meets. Gas can get expensive when you are driving 3 hours one way! Of if you live out of town, see if your work has any type of carpool program. Plus if your not driving, that's more time you can get in reading the latest posts on your favorite blogs ;-) 

17. Start a compost

Even if you live in an apartment, you can start a compost for even the smallest garden with these cute little countertop compost bins. I hate throwing away food scraps just as much as I hate throwing away food. I hope to one day have a nice little hobby farm with pigs that I can feed all my scraps to and create an almost zero waste homestead. Future goals!

18. Find free entertainment

If you look hard enough I am sure there are things in your community that you can find to do, for FREE! Remember from the previous post I talked about checking out the library? Just search around the web or find a Facebook group in your area that keeps track of free events in your area.

19. Don’t impulse buy!

Have you ever heard of shoppers remorse? You get so excited about buying something and then a day or two later you wish you wouldn’t have made the purchase. If you see something that you really want to buy, whether it’s a new TV or the latest “business opportunity” that your friend has been talking to you about, wait on it. Wait at least 72 hours and seriously consider if it is something that you really need. There have been times where I found a software that I knew would just take my business to the next level (great sales copy is meant to sell right?) bought it and then realized I didn’t actually need it or it wasn't as great as I thought it would be after I tried it out. Although I never purchase anything like that unless there is a money back guarantee. That way if it sucks I can get my money back!

20. Pick quality over quantity

If you are going to make any type or larger purchase, make sure you are really looking at the quality of the item. Don't buy something just because it's the latest thing or all your friends are buying it. Make sure you are checking online reviews of things. There have been plenty of times that I have passed up a purchase after doing some due diligence on a purchase. Yeah it may look great on the outside, but after reading reviews you realize that it's only the packaging your paying for.

21. Workout at home

There is a quote that I really love: “If you really want to do something you’ll find a way. If you don’t you’ll find an excuse” by Jim Rohn. I could find a dozen different reasons to keep my gym membership and not workout at home-not enough room, the kids are in my way, the dogs get in my way, I don’t know where to start, blah blah blah. But let’s be real, these are excuses, and ditching the gym membership to save like $65 a month is worth it. Especially if I'm not using it like every day.

22. Create a budget and stick to it

I go a lot more in depth as to how to create a budget in this post. You need to be in control of your money and tell it where to go. Try out something like Personal Capital or Mint to track your spending. They even give you fancy little pie charts!

23. Meal plan

Meal planning can save you a ton! It does take some advanced planning but is well worth it! Check out my post on meal planning here to see how and why you should meal plan to save both time and energy every month.

24. Make a shopping list

Along with making a meal plan, make sure you include a grocery shopping list. It is so easy to go to the store, even more so when you’re hungry, and way overspend. *Tip-don't send an 8-month pregnant lady to the store alone at night when she hasn't eaten, all you will get is ice cream and cookies! If you stick to your list you will be less likely to purchase items you don’t actually need.

25. Don’t use credit or debit cards when shopping

When you go shopping, whether it’s grocery shopping or school shopping, try to use cash instead of using a debit or credit card. When you are using cash you have a limited amount that you can spend so you don’t have to worry about overspending. Just make sure that you are adding up everything you buy as you are shopping so you don’t get to the checkout and realize you are short. Annoying and embarrassing!

What are some creative ways that you save money every month?

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