Reclaiming Positivity

Source: five-words.com.au via Five on Pinterest

I was thinking today about all the journals and notebooks of terrible, angsty poetry that I have lying around, and the many posts I made on my LiveJournal back in the day. When I started this blog, I wanted to get away from just talking about the frustrations happening in my life, and more into telling interesting stories and sharing fun crafts and some positive experiences of my day to day life. But lately, I've been feeling like most of my posts have been about feeling overwhelmed and over-scheduled, and while that is a real part of my life right now, I don't want it to be the only one that I show on here, since I know reading about this over and over can get a bit tedious.  So what better advice for me to take than just to embrace the fact that life can be messy, full of struggles and sometimes hard, but that there is always something beautiful to find in the smallest moments of each day?

Those are the moments I want to focus on and really highlight on this blog--the awesome thrifted find, the progress on a project that makes me happy, the tasty dinner I cooked up,  the relaxing and beautiful walk I took with the dog or the way the sun shone through the window. The perfection of a fall leaf, red and yellow and green in all the right proportions. The poetry in every day life. Some of the trials and tribulations, but more of the joys and the beauty. The shiny-ness of a brand new (and functioning!)  laptop  will hopefully lead to a  return to a bit more regular of a schedule in terms of blogging for me, depending on how crazy school and work continue to be for the present.

At any rate, I want to keep the following things in mind to make this blog a more positive place for me to share the good things going on in my life and keep the below quote in mind..."Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day."

What do you do to keep positive when you've had a stressful week?

♥ Craftzilla

New Apartment, here we come!

I just got word earlier today that our apartment has been rented, so our plans for moving to a new apartment are a definite go! Yay! Since I'm full of excitement about this move, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the space-these are the ones from the ad we originally responded to, so they aren't the best pictures and we may really need to paint, since the colours in here are so dark.  The person who lived there before makes some pretty cool stained glass lamps though, don't you think?

I think we're most excited about the kitchen compared to our current one --I think we'll actually be able to wash dishes and cook without running into each other! That and the fact that we will have access to a backyard and some garden space, as well as being away from the noise of downtown living. 

And not to mention having hardwood floors again! Our current place has carpets, and they are pretty lame when you have a dog (even if said dog is supposedly non-shedding)

Hello new bathroom and claw foot tub! I think I sense a fun shower curtain making experience in my near future as well as some fancy baths.

Anyways, that's the news of the day, and now comes the crazy part of packing, getting rid of even more things and doing all the crazy stuff associated with moving. I feel the next few weeks are probably going to be a bit crazy, but will end up being worth it in the end.

Any tips for me to stay sane during this crazy moving process?

♥ Craftzilla 


PS, check out my Introduction post that's up on the ApoCALypse blog today to learn a bit more about me and my knitting roots!

May Health Challenge

I recently signed up to participate in the May Health Challenge which is being put together by some local friends of mine, Mark and Julie. The idea is a simple one, and I'm hoping it will succeed where other challenges I've undertaken have failed (i.e. yoga challenge) in that the steps that I'm planning on taking for this challenge may seem like small ones in the grand scheme of things, but for me they will make me be and feel healthier.

Here are the goals I'm focusing on for this month:

Have a bedtime: Getting back to work three days a week and having school on the go means that I have a bit of a variable schedule, and I'm just not getting enough sleep and staying up late on the days where I don't have to work the next day. Hopefully trying to get to bed around the same time (I'm aiming for 12 in bed and 12:30 lights out) will help to give me a bit more energy.

Drink more water: My new office is an oven, and I'm not always getting to drink enough water. I've  also gotten out of the habit of always having a glass on the go and bringing a water bottle with me everywhere.

Do some yoga: Unlike the yoga challenge I tried to do, I don't want to say anything unrealistic like that I need to start off doing yoga every day. Some days, I really just don't have the time, and those 14 hour days at school some days of the week were largely responsible for that failure. However, since I haven't been able to take a yoga class, I also haven't been doing any yoga. At all. So my challenge for this month is to try to do some yoga where I can, and rediscover my practice at home, hopefully on somewhat of a regular basis.

Julie's story, as well as that of another local Steve, are super inspiring. You can also follow all of our progress on Twitter at #mayhealth. If you're inspired at all by this post to take on a few healthy goals of your own,  I'd love to hear about it!

Belly Dancing Fun Times

Last night at Brownies, we had a belly dancing teacher that we'd seen at a previous Brownie camp come in to give the girls a belly dancing lesson, and to talk about the charity that she raises money for, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, an organization which helps to secure human rights, such as going to school, for women and girls in Afghanistan. So far, Anne has raised over $10,000 doing similar events for groups, birthday parties and mother daughter events like the one we had last night, particularly to help send girls to school.

She gave a lot of history about CW4WA, gave some history on some of the outfits, and then let the girls and mothers (and us leaders) pick out some fancy scarves, coin belts and fancy jewellery to wear before she taught us some fun belly dancing moves. 

We all had a blast, picking out fancy things to wear, jingling about and dancing around until we were tired and sweaty. I didn't grab a picture of myself this time (I'll post one when someone sends me one), but I managed to grab a giant green scarf, a fun necklace, some finger cymbals and a plastic birthday crown and was pretty as a picture, if I do say so myself. 

Although, no one got a better costume than one of the other leaders, Lo--ain't she pretty? 

Here's my picture from the last time we belly danced though-- I might have let a bunch of kids dress me in red lace harem pants (shh, don't tell!)

♥ Craftzilla

How to Have a Blast and Not Break the Bank

I was chatting on MSN with a friend today and trying to lure her away from her work to get a coffee, since I'm stuck working at home with nary a drop of coffee left in the house (except maybe for some ancient instant coffee that has been in the cupboard for years and years...not going to go there!) until we get to the store. And she sort of jokingly commented that I'm a cheap date, since I'm all about the walks and grabbing a coffee. I was a tiny bit offended, but then started thinking of all the cheap outings with friends and others that I've been on, in particular an outing I had with a friend in high school that really was the cheapest date ever.

My friend Radha and I met up at the public library in my home town, picked a movie from off the lending shelves ( I'm pretty sure we watched Prince of Egypt or something animated like that) and popped it onto the viewing TV in the library. We put on those ridiculously huge 80's headphones, plugged 'em in and watched a movie together in comfy library armchairs. After the movie, with our ears all squished from the headphones, we headed over to the grocery store down town, and bought a loaf of fresh bread and some peanut button, and had a walk and a feast in the park. All in all, an awesome day, with a cost of oh, $3 or $4?

So I thought I'd share a few of my favourite (and cheap) ways to spend time with friends.

Picnic in the Park 




There is nothing like grabbing a few sandwiches or making up a fancy feast to bring to the park and eat on a picnic blanket. Throw in some crayons and paper,  a frisbee and a book, and you've got yourself a fun time!

Coffee Date



I have regular coffee dates with friends, and I like to try to go to new places that I haven't tried before -especially if they also serve tasty treats and have good tables for doing a crossword puzzle on.


Walk



Personally I find walks are just better all around when you throw in a dog, a friend, a trail and good cup of coffee, but there is always somewhere new and interesting to walk, or people to watch if you have the time.

Craft Night 




If you have friends that are creative in any way, this one's an obvious. All you really need is somewhere to meet, a few cups of tea and maybe a person or two to kick in some snacks, and you're all ready to craft /draw/ write / knit the night away together. Knit at chat at my local yarn store is pretty much my favourite way to pass the time, as well as the best place to get tips when you're stuck on your latest knitting project. Or you could always learn a new skill or teach one to someone else!


Board Game Night




Let's face it, everyone has a closet full of board games in their house somewhere, and it can be fun to break them out sometimes and have a good marathon of games. Scrabble is definitely one of my personal favourites, as well as a good card game. At one of the last Brownie camps I went to, myself and the other leaders were waking up the kids playing a rip-roaring game of cards.

I probably could think of tons of other ideas, but here's a few others:

• Talk, share things you haven't before. Make a connection
• Movie or TV show marathon - hello popped at home popcorn! It's sometimes fun to pick a theme and make a night of it 
• Cooking together- it's always nice to whip up a meal or a batch of cookies 
• Museum - lots of museums have a night where it's free or very cheap to go and see the permanent collection. I used to go to the ROM for these nights all the time when I lived in Toronto  
• Concert - there are tons of shows going on on any given night, with minimal or no cover. Plus you never know, you might end up seeing the next big band before they get famous!
• Play - A lot of community groups put on plays, with relatively inexpensive tickets 
• Lectures- going to a public lecture or talk is a great way to learn something new, and these are often free 

Happy International Women's Day: Beyond the Stats

When I thought about all that I wanted to say about International Women's Day and why it's an important date to recognize, I was a bit lost on how to sum up everything that I wanted to say about how great it is to be a lady, the specific challenges and barriers faced and how we can move forward to make things better.  I ended up heading to the resources page of the IWD, and found this video that sums up everything I want to say as well as my thoughts on how we can start to truly love ourselves, feel fulfilled in our lives and inspire the next generation of girls to be leaders where we have been scared or held back.

source

So sure, there's statistics about how women are still not equal in terms of education, employment, leadership position, wages and health, but to most people, statistics are a detached thing that exist, but which don't have a lot of obvious impact on their day to day lives, nor are there obvious ways that one person can change things for the better.  I came across the video below on the IWD site, which is a promotional video for the documentary Miss Representation, a documentary about all of these kinds of issues with some specific suggestions about what one person or a group of people can do themselves in order to make their lives better and more meaningful, as well as how to improve things for other women and girls and your community as a whole.

The suggestions to rise above the stats suggested in the video really spoke to me, although they almost seem like they should be obvious. In order to highlight them and remind myself of what I'd like to do to make myself happier and healthier in mind and body, I've reproduced them below.

1) Get Healthy

• Be Conscious of Your Media Consumption, online and off
• Take a Media Break
• Focus on Achievement over Appearance

2) Value Yourself

• Find out What makes you happy
• Appreciate your Uniqueness
• Celebrate your accomplishments

3) Be a Role Model

• Personify the characteristics you hope to see in the world around you
• Be a mentor to others 

4) Get Involved 

• Volunteer in Your Community 
•  Boycott Harmful Media
• Use Your Voice to Create change, Online and Off 

5) Be A Leader

• Don't be Afraid to Step into Leadership Roles 
• Encourage and Invest in the Leadership of Women
• Remember that you are the Lead Character of the Story of your Life 

Tonight I'll be celebrating International Women's day with my favourite group of ladies as we knit, chat, create and support each other at our local yarn store and hopefully talking a bit about International Women's Day and how we will go forward in the next year to make ourselves healthier, happier and more successful in our own right.

♥ Craftzilla 

Craft Swap Fun

I've participated in a few craft swaps lately, and I thought I'd share some of the fun!

Here's a recent gift I sent off to a swap partner in British Columbia for a handmade gift exchange. I'm still waiting for mine to get here!



These flower brooches will be appearing in my Etsy Shop soon too! They're super fun to make and pretty darn cute (if I do say so myself!)



I also participated in a craft swap in person with some other crafters in town that was a lot of fun! I swapped a bunch of things, and got some awesome Christmas gifts for my family.

Here are some of the tables set up-hats made out of recycled materials, from Noggins hats 



I swapped for a monster hat for my sister, as well as for a hat or two for myself!



Fancy soaps!



And here are all of my wares I set out...I realized how many finished things I have lying about that I need to post on Etsy!





At any rate, my first in person craft swap was a great success, and I hope to go to another one soon!

Have you ever gone to an craft swap in person or participated in one on-line? What was your experience with it? So far, mine have been pretty positive, especially since I love getting things in the mail.

♥ Craftzilla 

29 Leaps - Get Involved

I found out about this video from my friend Jeff (Guelph has quite an active local community on Twitter) who passed this video onto me (and 28 others)   with the message to spread the word and help get people involved in something  called the 29 Leaps project.



 The premise

The idea behind this project is that since this February is a leap year, we have an extra day to help those who are sick. lonely, homeless, or hurting, and try to make a genuine difference in other people's lives. I know I don't spend enough time doing this kind of thing, and it always feels good to give back to the community in some way.

How to get involved


Use the magic of the number 29 to do something special to celebrate this month that helps others in some way. Be creative, use your skills and strengths and do something meaningful.

Some ideas  include donating  29 cents, 29 dollars or some other amount to charity, spending 29 minutes helping someone else, crafting  up 29 things to donate to a charity, or passing the word on about this project to 29 people, like Jeff did. One participant, A Crafty Cupcake, is donating 29 knit hats to her local NICU for premature babies.

Above all, be kind, help others and be creative!


Connect 

You can connect with 29 Leaps on Facebook, Twitter (hashtag #29Leaps or #Guelph29 to check out what's going on in my town) or on Youtube.

If you participate in any way, make sure to count your 29 leap on the website's Leap counter!

My first leap? 

To spend 29 minutes to watch the video, research the project and write this post to get you all informed, and hopefully involved in this great project !

What's next

I'm brainstorming a few more ideas that I'll share throughout this month on the blog. If you're going to get involved, I'd love to hear any of your 29 things! If anyone would like to collaborate on a project, also leave me a comment or send me an email.

♥ Craftzilla

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New Job Jitters

Source: tumblr.com via Gillian on Pinterest

So good news--I'm starting a new contract tomorrow for a job in IT, that will be flexible and part -time, and possibly even have me working from home, although the office is right across the street from my house! I'm pleased that this opportunity worked out, since it's really the first time I've been a part of basically creating a position for myself to fill a need in a company, and actually used my networking skills to get myself in. So I'm pretty positive about the whole thing, and looking forward to it.

But, the worst part about starting a new job is that first day, when you have to meet everyone, remember their names and feel out how the office environment works and what its dynamic is like. I think I have a pretty good idea from the interview and communications with the company so far, but it's still a bit nerve-wracking. Basically, I think I just need to stay positive, work hard (especially since this is on  a trial basis for this project), know that I have the skills and stay confident in myself and that everything will work out for the best.

Probably I will also wear a fancier outfit than I usually would to help me with the confidence boosting. And hopefully remember to brush my hair.

If any of you have any tips for starting a new job, I'd love to hear them!

♥ Craftzilla

Things I Made and Saw: A Few Snippets

I totally didn't get arond to doing this post on Sunday since I'm still finishing up craziness for school. Thought I'd take a little break today and share a few fun things.

I made some fun fabric labels on Spoonflower last week - I hope that they print up nicely!





This fabric was on my hall table for a long time -thinking to maybe make something fancy out of it soon!





We went to a bake sale last weekend and got this box of goodies. Pretty tasty looking, right?





Zen had to sanitize his hands and wear gloves...the old ladies apparently followed him around and glared at him. I told him they were probably a bit scared of him, since he's like 6"3 and was the only man here. Apparently that kind of thing had not occurred to him? I can see how I might be wary if I was an old lady working a bake sale with money around in a downtown that's sometimes pretty sketchy.





Some fun and strange thrifted finds of late:













♥ Craftzilla

Ten Commandments for Positive Thinking

I just found this list of "Ten Commandments for Positive Thinking" amongst Zen's papers for college, and thought it was pretty interesting, so I copied out the list and fancied it up a little.



I know I'm guilty of at least a few of these things, and I also know I'd like to train my brain to think a little more positively. I often find myself giving up on things or ideas  in my head, just because I know I lack the time at the moment, rather than just doing what work I can on an awesome idea when I have a bit of free time.

Do any of these ten commandments really speak to you?

♥ Craftzilla

Yoga Pranayama : Nadi Shodhana

I was at yoga last week and we did this pranayama,  (i.e. breathing practice), Nadi Shodhana (or alternate nostril breathing) as part of our practice. Apparently the name nadi shodhana refers to the cleansing of vital channels of energy, in this case the nasal passages, hence "purification of nasal channels." (source) and has always been one of my favourites.

source

The image above shows the basic concept:

1) with your right hand, place your thumb loosely near your right nostril, and your ring finger loosely near your left nostril. 

2) Breathe in through both nostrils.

3) Place your thumb on your right nostril and exhale through your left nostril, and then inhale through your left nostril 

4) Release your thumb from your right nostril and place your ring finger on your left nostril. Exhale and then inhale through your left nostril. 

5) Repeat this sequence of holding the right nostril and exhaling/inhaling through the left nostril and holding the left nostril and exhaling/inhaling through the right nostril about 5-12 times 

(see my sources here and here for more clarification) 

Just a note that you shouldn't try to do this is your nose is stuffed up--the nostrils should be clear (though you may need to attack a box of Kleenex a bit after--my old yoga teacher used to run around while we were nostril breathing distributing us all kleenexes, which was sort of funny.)

What struck me as neat about this pranayama is that our teacher Jacqueline's mention that this pranayama could really be done anyplace, and was good for the following:

1) when you're feeling really high energy
2) when you're feeling really low energy
3) when you're feeling anxietal and scattered

Let's face it, outside of yoga, this are my three most common states of mind, so I think taking a few moments to do this when I'm feeling low energy might make all the difference!

♥ Craftzilla

Crafty Show and Tell: Finished and Unfinished Projects

I thought  I'd share some of my finished and on the go projects of late on this first day of a looooong week, since I ran out of room in my post yesterday!

Here's a finished work (though made by Zen not by me, since I'm the master of starting to cook things and then somehow getting him to cook them for me) --pastrami, onions, cheese and gravy sandwich --so tasty!



This is supposed to say "Home Sweet Home" but not sure if it's clear enough...and I might add a heart to the left hand side to cover up what's supposed to be a flower.



Case for Circular needles! Hopefully I'll get some more pics with needles in it soon





I found some fun Christmas ornaments I'd cross stitched ages ago and decided to start finishing them





I made some pins, which refused to allow themselves to be photographed clearly..will try again another day. I think they might need something else too that I haven't figured out yet.



I'm also working on a cute fleece backed baby blanket... though finished a few others with the same front (just no fleece backing)




♥ Craftzilla