I'm baaaaack!

Dear, darling blog readers. I'm filled with chagrin. No, it goes beyond that. I'm really, truly embarrassed that I've been absent from this blog for such a long, long time.

The reason is this: At the end of February (20th to be exact) I started this new project. It's a year long experiment in which I'm facing 156 (average of 3 per week) fears or challenges to help get me out of my self-imposed shell a little bit. Here's a link to the blog, 156 Things, if you are interested in checking it out.

I just finished a 31-day blogathon, which you can read all about at 156 Things. A blogathon is basically a contest in which you challenge yourself to write a blog post every day for a month. I did it and just finished on May 31st. Whew!

Besides being busy scaring myself, I've also been busy with work. New writing assignments continue to crop up (yay!) and I finally have more normal work hours which is a big help in that area.

My little guy is now 14 months old, which I can hardly believe. I love, love, love this age! Every month I've loved more and more. I'll be the first to admit that the first several months were rocky. This whole sleeping through the night thing is AWESOME and he's such a funny, cheerful and affectionate little guy that it's a pleasure to spend time together. Sometimes I just look at him and think, "Where did you come from?"

I've been reading some great books lately, though more about personal development and my faith than any green issues. However, I did just get a great looking book called "Saving God's Green Earth" through Paperback Swap, which I'm anxious to delve into. I am reading about 4 books simultaneously right now, though, so I'm forcing myself to put it away until I finish at least one or two of these other books. Really, there must be a limit.

What about you? What have you been up to? Are you still out there? Anyone? Anyone?

I really, truly do apologize and I hope that you'll all forgive me. I have some awesome stuff to discuss with you in future posts, so stay tuned!

Renaissance Soul? Or Simply Scattered?

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Those who know me, know I have a myriad of interests. All of them varied, few overlapping. I love learning new things about preventative health and how our mind/body systems work together. I love to learn about healthy new foods and how to prepare them. I love to make un-cooked and cooked meals. I love to bake. I love to garden, compost, and raise my chickens. I love making junky stuff into art. I love to see great movies and spend time in the great outdoors. I love photography and want to learn more about it.

I also love big cities like NYC and Montreal and traveling and being in quiet solitude in the country. I've always wanted to learn to play a stringed musical instrument. I want to learn to Irish step dance and make quality jewelry. I love sushi (minus the fish!) and a simple meal of bread, cheese and apples (which I can't eat anymore).

My point is, my interests and tastes are varied, and often opposite. Sometimes I think I have multiple personality disorder, other times I think I'm just interested in a lot of stuff. There are so many causes and missions and good works I believe in--sometimes it's hard to decide who to support with my time and money.

Years ago, when I was searching for my "dream job," I read this book, "Renaissance Souls". I remember loving it because finally I felt like I wasn't the only person out there who felt this way. I guess it's either that I'm truly a Renaissance soul, or that I suffer from ADD, either is a strong possibility.

Creative rush(es)

Finally, FINALLY, I took some time to play with my vintage jewelry stash. I've never been interested in making jewelry. I've tried it once before and my interest lasted, oh, about two weeks. Part of it was that there is so many choices to make: earrings or a necklace? Pearl or wire? Beads? What color/shape/size? How do I attach everything? It can be a little overwhelming.

Another part is that it can get expensive buying all the findings, pendants, books on beading, etc. And of course, there was the whole patience thing. I'm not a very patient person though I'm striving to be. Working with itsy bitsy pieces and beads that want to go one way when I want them to go another isn't very relaxing.

Re-purposing old stuff though, that's something I'm good at.

So, I decided to try my hand at making recycled pieces of jewelry and wow, did I have fun! In fact, I worked on my two projects all weekend, on and off between diaper changes and book reading and running errands and talking with my hubby. It's sort of addictive. It's very fun. And it's a creative, inexpensive outlet that I can feel good about.

I'm donating part of all the proceeds I make from sales at my Etsy shop to Shared Hope International, an organization working to end sex trafficking around the world.

If you're interested in re-purposing old jewelry into new creations, I'd highly recommend, "Vintage Redoux," which my lovely parents gave me recently for my birthday. Though I'm not good at following directions, I like to look at the pictures and get ideas for my own projects. And there is a "techniques" section at the end that is helpful.

Lovin' the Body Shop

(Banner from www.ecpat.net)

I love companies who do more than just sell stuff. Businesses who have more than a "what can I get from this?" approach are my favorites and the ones that I try to frequent most often. Why don't more companies and businesses realize that when you do good things, donate to good causes, and take care of others it will improve not only your bottom line but your popularity in the world at large? Good karma, good will--whatever you call it, it's good for business.


Take the Body Shop for example. One of their most recent campaigns is raising awareness about one of my passions, something that I advocate strongly for and hold an annual fundraiser to raise money and awareness about: ending sex trafficking.


Right now the Body Shop is holding a "STOP Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People" campaign. Find out more about it and how to join here.

Gluten/Dairy/Sugar-free blog

I love, love, love this blog I found. It offers great resources, delicious recipes which are gluten, dairy and sugar-free, and has lots of great "food for thought" (pun intended!). Check it out when you have time.

Have a little fun

This is one of those "old to new" projects I was talking about. I made this art skirt a couple of years ago as a final project for an art class. The project had to be a 3-D piece, and I think it had to incorporate a few different elements--this project uses paint, fabric, and ink.

Here's another shot:

And one more:

Journey

Many of you who know me, know that I'm passionate about the plight of victims caught in the sex trafficking industry. Honestly, I can't think of anything worse in life. For many of us, rape is our worst nightmare. The women and children, some as young as six or seven years old, enslaved in the sex trafficking industry deal with this every single day, over and over again.

I've learned so much about this in the past several years about this industry and hold an annual fundraiser of some sort to raise awareness and money for organizations working to end this horrific and barbaric practice.

Below is a five minute video of an art installation in New York City, called "Journey," dedicated to sex trafficking. This was compiled and is narrated by actress Emma Thompson, who I have an even greater respect for now. Please, please watch it.

I wish I could have seen it in person, but the video is amazing. Earlier this week I started thinking about what I could do for this year's event. I'm playing with a few ideas but am always open for suggestions.

Many thanks to Nancy at Shared Hope International who told me about this art installation.