To Count by Touching

I ran across the excerpt below on a hair salon blog of all things, and I found it so inspiring that I have to share it! It is from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. It is such a compliment to a lot of things that I've been pondering lately...

To Count by Touching

We need to count by touching,not by adding and subtracting.

When we count with our eyes, we stall the heart. For the eyes can see clearly what is broken without ever feeling the break, and the mind can calculate the loss without ever sewing up the wound. Without touching the life coming apart before us, we can race to rebuild before the wrecked dream ever hits the ground. While this makes us resilient and efficient as ants, it also keeps us from ever living in what we build.
Alas, what makes us precise and efficient can also begin a life of neurosis: not touching what we see, not feeling what we know. This is how the mind skips the heart’s step. How we forget that blood on the news is real, that the cry from the street is attached to something living.
I remember waking up after rib surgery to find a dear friend at the foot of my bed. I was elated to have arrived on the other side and called to her, but she was staring off. I knew in an instant that she was already mourning me, and so she missed me coming alive. She was already preparing for life without me, and so, the deeper closeness awaiting us was never felt or worn. We think we protect ourselves by taking inventory and moving on, but we only spin our web tighter.
Recently, another friend had a dream in which we were building a home with sturdy shelves for the things we loved. She tried to count the shelves, but couldn’t keep the numbers in her head. She had to go over and count the shelves by touching each one. Mysteriously, as she did this, the shelves began multiplying. Her touch made more shelves possible. 


Such a profound and simple lesson: to count with our hands brings us deeper than all counting. Then numbers give way to notes, and sums give way to song.

This is so beautiful to me. There is something to be said about feeling the pain that is in our lives, rather than trying to run away from it. Feeling it and staring it in the face, accepting our dark parts, realizing that there will always be pain in life, just as there will only be joy- this is how to set the bone before you heal, so you don't have a more complicated injury later.... I've been thinking a lot lately about my own walls that I've built over time for protection, and how I remember myself when I was younger of feeling more with my heart- of being more open to people, without thinking about their flaws.

Perhaps the way to get back to that place is to use our expression and creativity to feel deeply again- I think there is a lot of truth in the idea that working and feeling with our hands opens our hearts. So tonight, turn off your TV. Wait to do the laundry tomorrow. Start an art project, feel the warmness in your heart like you did when you were a kid, and smile.

Etsy Custom Banners

I have been very busy the past few weeks making some custom fabric banners for Etsy shoppers.  Recently a mom asked me to make a banner to match her daughter's room.  She sent me photos of her room, her quilt, and the fabric she was planning to use to make a valence to match her daughter's quilt.

So off to the fabric store I went to find something to match.  I found the perfect prints to match!  I loved how the details in the fabric matched the details in the qulit- the squiggly lines and the polka dots. 

I sure hope Kadence likes her banner as much as I enjoyed making it!  Thanks to Stephanie and Kadence for letting me share their pictures!

Here are some other banners I've made- one for Vimmy's room, my best friend's son and honorary nephew.  I am visiting Coulmbus this weekend- I can't wait to see it in his room!  It is safari/jungle theme, so the monkeys should fit in well.  :)

And finally, Parker's banner... it is hard to see this one up close but it is also jungle theme, although I had to find more blue and brown colors to match this room.  This banner is near and dear to me, as it was my first etsy sale! (Tear!)  Thanks, Sherri for trusting me!  I sure hope Parker's mommy loves it!

I am in the process of making up some more banners, so I will post them here and on facebook when they are done.  I also have some photos to share of Samantha's first birthday party- it's theme was based on the Eric Carle book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."  It all turned out so cute!  Stay tuned...



Hello, Hello!  Well, what can I say, it has been a while.  Work has been crazy, life in general has been crazy, and therefore my blog has been deprived of my attention.  This weekend Josh and I are off to Yosemite for the first time!  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am.  I also can't believe I haven't made it there yet in the 4 years I've lived in Cali.  I am ready for the adventure!  Pics to come soon, no worries!  In the mean time, check out Part 1 of Josh's video of his (slash our) adventures in the past few years- time flies but this is a reminder of how much fun we've been having!  Hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!

Etsy Store Launched!

My Etsy Store is finally up and running!  Please go check it out, and if you are  a member, please add me to your favorites!!

www.stitchthesky.etsy.com

I will continue to post more items this week, once I get them all photographed and descriptions written up, so please keep checking back.  If anyone has feedback of my site, you can email me at stitchthesky@gmail.com.

Thanks in advance for all your support, everyone!  :)

Etsy Sneak Peak

I am just dropping a  note to let you followers know that I am not dead and I've been working on my etsy shop!  Just not online... I've been crafting away at home and hope to have a nice selection of items when I open my etsy store.  Here's a sneak peak of some of my paper crafts that will be up for sale soon....

custom banners.....

                               
   

   ....paper birdie garland......

                                                                    

   .....and clothespin decor galore!

My Volunteer Gig: Engineers Without Borders

So I originally created this blog to post more about my crafting, but I also have other things going on in my life (dur), and thought I would share one with you (this may also explain why I haven't posted in a month... oops.  So sorry!). 

I am the membership coordinator for Engineers Without Borders, Orange County Professionals Chapter.  A Chapter of the West Coast Region of Engineers Without Borders-USA, EWB-OC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in emerging countries worldwide.  A collaboration of engineers, researchers, students, and professionals from every walk of life, we work hand-in-hand with developing communities to implement varied sustainable engineering projects. Please read about our projects, and what we do here.



Kenya Footbridge designed and built by EWB, with help from the local community.



Current Water Supply in Barrio Lempira, Honduras



The reason I am sharing this with you is that this is such a great organization, and I feel like it's my duty to get the word out about it.  Also, there is something YOU can do to help us!  And it's so simple!  Do you shop on amazon?  If so, please use the link found on our website here (scroll to bottom of home page) and part of your purchase will go towards our oraginzation!  There is also a link to Good Shop to earn donations for EWB-OC.

If you'd like any additional information on EWB, email me!  And thanks in advance for your support!  :o)



El Salvador Water Tank Project

Easter Treats!

Yes, I'm a little late on posting these... but I was so busy prepping for the Easter girls' weekend in Palm Springs, and I clearly underestimated the time it took to make cake pops, so I had no time to post before the getaway!  I did manage to take pics before everything was eaten so YAY me!

So, advice to my non-baker friends who want to make cake pops (there are all different kinds to make on bakerella.com) - give it a test run first.  I went all in, and was then stressed out when the candy wasn't melting right, and my pops were falling off thier sticks (and poor Josh had to deal with me!).  Make them first when they don't need to be presentable.  Then you can decide a) how much time you’ll need to make them where they actually look good, and b) if you even want to use your valuable time.  I may give them another go one day, but I won’t try to dip two batches in one night!  That is for sure!  (You at least need two days for this- one to make the cake and form the pops and one to dip the pops in the candy coating.)  So without further ado, here are my special carrot cake pops and bunny cake balls. (this reference to cake balls just makes me think of SNL’s Schweddy ball skit… teehee!)

Regardless, the girls loved them!  I even made some green cake pops for Jacklin, since it's her fave color.  I guess I will measure the success by number eaten, which was all of them!  

Has anyone else made cake pops?  How did they turn out?