Craft Mission

2014-07-07T12:30:00.001-07:00

So often I find myself looking into my two-year-old daughter's eyes saying, "Be strong and courageous; You can do this." Meanwhile, my own strangling fears of failure and inadequacy reside in the roost I've built for them. Peck, peck, pecking me. Part of me, they are no hidden attacking stranger in the darkness. They too are circling like stray dogs in the open, in the daylight, waiting for my response, as I wait trembling for their attack. I must do my business in light of their presence, despite their presence. Indeed, in their presence, I know I am close to that something, discovery perhaps, renewal, maybe even breakthrough. I know I have left the safe and comfortable known and am stretching into the tomorrow I dream of.

Sneak Peak for 2014

2013-12-13T22:41:00.001-08:00

Website in the works.

2013-07-04T11:52:00.001-07:00

An online shop is currently in the works. I am kind of excited!

Northwest Minnesota Art Exhibit Call for Entries

2013-02-27T08:09:00.002-08:00

If you live in northern Minnesota, make sure and get your art exhibit entries submitted by tomorrow!

You can download the entry form here.

Facebook Sale

2013-02-25T07:05:00.001-08:00

First Facebook sale is this Friday! Are you my friend on Facebook? If you aren't, that's okay. I don't really like Facebook all that much and I completely respect that decision. Maybe I should give you something for not being on Facebook? Heh. I digress. Look for Craft Mission if you are! I'm also behind on my goal of giving away ten items a day for lent. My goal is to inspire you to make beautiful things with items that you might not be used to using, while avoiding the feeling that my studio belongs in an episode of Hoarders(I've never seen this show but it scares the bejeebers out of me.) Win-win. So, for anyone who likes free crafty-craft treasures, I'm going to have a couple giveaways on here. Look out friday, you are going to rule!

P.S. Anyone want to help me use my light tent? Pictures in daylight don't happen when you work full time, have an 11-month old daughter and live in northern Minnesota in February.

Always,

Linnea

Unglued Sneak Peek!

2013-02-04T09:09:00.002-08:00

Arrow Clothespins

Do you like coupons and clothespins printed with hand carved stamps?
You better be one of the first one hundred people in line at Unglued Craftfest Feb 23rd then!

In all seriousness, there will really never be more of these exactly like this.
The stamp is gone.

Fidel Cat-stro ate it.

The kitties will never see my craft room again.

P.S. I just learned that a dryer will likely cost you $1,530 to operate over its lifetime!

New year - Old me

2012-12-28T08:36:00.001-08:00

This is the first new year I don't feel quite so gungho to become a completely different person on January 1st. Granted, there are some things I wouldn't mind changing, but overall life is just so fantastically beautiful, I don't hesitate to say I love it, I love my family, and I don't mind who I've become.

Almost 3 decades have taught me it's okay to be wrong, it's okay to be ugly and it's okay to be stupid as long as I'm trying my best to work hard at the task in front of me, be mindful of the bigger picture, and be still sometimes. Thankfully the times I'm stupid about being wrong about being ugly are fewer and fewer. I'm thankful I no longer have the time for such frivolous concerns.

I'm thinking about doing a 365 day project. I know I will start it and I won't finish but the idea makes me happy and I see benefits even in partial completion. In your life what is worth doing everyday for a year?

2012-07-20T17:04:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite artists of all time, Elsa Mora, wrote about a new project she is starting called Art is a Way on her blog today. Please check it out at http://elsita.typepad.com/elsita/2012/07/art-is-a-way.html. It inspired me to write this reply. I'm sharing it here simply because I want to remember how it affected me!

Dear Elsa,

This post has given me the guts to come out of the woodwork. I am a new mother who works at a college and has a craft business on the side. I've always dreamed of being an artist, even though as I have walked my own path, I've realized that I don't necessarily know what that means. I discovered your paperwork a short time ago and I became obsessed. I read every old blog post on every blog, I googled for every show I could find and poured over all of your work I could see on the internet. I started looking in books for examples of your work after that. Just looking at your work made my own passion bubble up inside me. I looked at your work and I said inside me, "How does she do that?!" and "She can do that?" Every blog post I found where you shared the tools you used or mentioned the processes you took made me ecstatic! It was not that I wanted to copy your work but I saw a thread inside each of your creations that tapped into who you were and I wanted that! I wanted to "do" art, to be an artist, to try and better know who I was. I want my daughter to see that her mother knows who she is and is inspired by that. Papercutting for me was meditation, release from the daily grind. I thought it was magic that you could do something I already loved to do, papercut, and be an artist surviving in the world at the same time. Just yesterday I went to another craft show and brought my items to sell. Usually all my work is jewelry, accessories, etc. that are made from recycled things. They have to have a purpose in my mind or they are not useful and not "worth" making. I try to save old things from just ending up in the dump. I don't know why I have this mindset. This time I also brought a few pieces of art(just 5 of them) that had no purpose other than to look at them. I was inspired by old, vintage fabrics and the colors in them. I cut simple graphic papercuts and laid them in layers on top. Their purpose? To look at? To inspire? To be? I sold more of them yesterday than any other piece! After the first one left me, I turned to my friend and asked, "Am I an artist now?" She looked at me a little confused. After I sold another I felt a moment of small panic. Wait, how can I sell that? That's part of me! I'll never see it again! (Next time I think I'll take pictures of my creations.) Then an artist I knew (Raine Design) came to my table and chose one. It inspired her she said. She wanted it in her studio as the first piece of art on the wall. Another artist came and asked me if I wanted to make a trade! This blogpost put into words my feelings so clearly. I will probably never venture to say that I am totally in touch with my full creative potential. I will probably always ask, am I an artist now? But, I am walking towards my dream and imagining all that it could be. You inspire me as an artist but also as a mother and a woman. You made accessible to me the world of "art" and brought it into my little home in northern MN with honesty, wit and grace. When I read your blog, I'm always impressed by your candor and sincerity. Your writing inspires me like your art to "make it" and make sure to provide an environment for my daughter so that she can "make it" too. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't wait for January 1st!

Linnea

Times are Changing

2012-07-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today I am updating this blog. It might take me a little while between diaper changes, dinner cooking, crafting for Unglued, and writing my thesis. Please have patience and send any ideas my way.

A Day for Mothers

2012-05-13T03:56:00.001-07:00

It seems a bit odd to have a day to celebrate something that just is. Motherhood. I am a mother. I've managed to work that much out. There is no day to celebrate being a girl though. There is no wives day. I don't get to celebrate being 5' 10" with green eyes. All of a sudden, for the first time I take a deep breath and things have changed. My vision has changed. My heart has changed. My body has... let's be honest, I was kidnapped by aliens and they stole my old body, which I will never see again. Somehow I am still me albeit I have chemically and physically changed. I try to think of what it means. I think of my own mom and all the moms that made my life and momness possible. But it all seems laced with silliness. Mother? What does that really mean? I am still just me, doing my best. Do we reward other existence? As a mom the prize is that little grin that greets me in the morning, the little fingers that clutch mine for a moment saying I want to keep you close, or the precious accidental "ma" after a long cry which shatters you into a million pieces because you haven't solved all the problems in the world for the pure preciousness you are responsible for. Time has shifted. I exist on another plane of consciousness. I can't explain it. How my body aches to be close to her after a few hours of night have passed. How I would sacrifice everything to give her opportunity. How the days pass at a different speed while we talk and play and exist together in a love that changes how my eyes function and my heart beats. All this intense change seems so naturally odd though. It is simply the next step. Rather than finding out who she is, I find out who I am. I discover what I am made of and what I am worth. My prize is joy and knowing God with a kind of intimacy unattainable before. The strangest part is that all the mothers I've known have kept this a secret from me! Silly mothers. What else waits to be uncovered?

Unglued 2012 Recap

2012-02-27T07:32:00.002-08:00

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported me Saturday at Unglued. It was a really great day and I couldn't have asked for more. My little girl behaved and stayed inside my belly and didn't give me any grief. We also have a few more diapers paid for now. Yippee! I still plan on opening my Etsy shop March 1st so if you saw something you liked but didn't get it, please check out the grand opening. Meanwhile I am going to be cleaning like crazy to get ready for the little miss. Before craft shows a tornado of fabric, thread, paper, glue, etc. takes over our entire house. (Isn't my hubby the best!) Now it is time to pick it up and finish preparing for one of the biggest changes of our entire lives. Any suggestions? If you have had kids or helping someone who did prepare, what did you do that was really useful?

The Hubby's Birthday Party Invitations

2012-01-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

Original Picture: http://palomarskies.blogspot.com/2008/10/sci-fi-science-on-tv.html

We decided to kick it old school this year and send out official invitations to the hubby's birthday party. Who doesn't love real mail? He's pretty excited for gluten free pizza. There are now two places in our small town that offer gluten free crusts. One is Happy Joe's, home of his very first job, and the other, we just found out, doesn't even charge extra! It almost costs me more to make it at home. He adorably insisted that I don't do anything for his birthday but relax since my belly is growing ever, ever larger. Ahhhhh. (Who can argue with that?) Although, this was a couple hours after asking me if I'd give him a cleaned out garage as his Birthday present. Ahem.

He's also very excited to knock one more sci-fi film off "the" list. A year or two ago a friend of his suggested watching the top 100 sci-fi movies. They haven't made much progress lately so maybe this will help give them a kick start.

The most miraculous part of his birthday wishes was the suggestion to play a board game at the end! Minus family get togethers, he mostly swears off playing any games with me at all (I might be a tad bit competitive, every once in awhile). Not only did he want to play a board game, he suggested playing Puerto Rico: the game he got me for Christmas! So, I'm thinking, is this my birthday or his?! Don't let him know that though.

In honor of my amazing husband this is the card I put together for the invites to his one and only 31st birthday party, the last prime birthday he'll have for 6 years! (And even more noteably, the last birthday he'll have as a man without childrens running amuk (minus womb children of course, most noteably one who seems to be trying to run amuk in my womb as we speak). It's got to be big, right?

Hubby Birthday Party Guidelines

-Keep the guest list short and sweet for max quality time.
-Eat delicious food.
-Reduce wifey stress at all costs.
-Enjoy and celebrate good friends, good food and each moment that we have together.

Isn't he a genius? I'm so blessed.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

1. Anthro Necklace (Lost link) 2. Pierina Bow Pumps $168.

3. Gracey Chiffon Blouse $198 4. Cavaletti Court Velvet Skirt in Mauve $48.99

Happy New Year!

Every year my friend and her husband throw a holiday soiree, where everyone gets dressed up. If I could, this is what I would wear. Unfortunately, I tend to be attracted to items that I can't make myself. The necklace would be easy. The skirt, if I found some amazing velvet at the thrift store would be simple enough but that's just it, who finds velvet at the thrift store? And this is coming from someone who found 2, not 1 but 2, Patagonia jackets this week. I have the feeling that if I knew the full extent of my sewing machine's powers I could pull off a top somewhat similar, but only after a few more hours than I have to invest. And the pumps...well those are purely hypothetical. Not only could I not make them, I also could not wear them. High heels on Minnesota ice (yes we finally have some) are a death threat and high heels with the balance of a pregnant lady only bring further complications. This is all along with the fact that I don't wear heels and they would probably start killing me five minutes after putting them on. BUT aren't they lovely?!

What will I wear to the soiree? A tall (a miraculous find in and of itself!) blue silk, Gap dress I found in a size 10 that somehow miraculously fits over my belly. It has ruffles. I'm not sure what I think about ruffles, especially horizontal ones, but it was $3 on clearance at the local consignment shop. That, my friends, is my kind of soiree dress. Now I just need some tights that don't strangle the poor girl and some handmade jewelry, of course.

Are all of your parties over? The hubby has a January birthday, so there will definitely be a party, especially since it is prime and he won't have another prime birthday for 6 years! We decided to send out paper invitations this year after setting up a Facebook event for our New Year's Party and getting 4 people out of 40 (No I didn't expect 40, yes there was a blizzard, no I'm not disappointed, yes I am a little annoyed by Facebook's maybe option). It is much better for my pregnant brain if I can actually plan for a specific number of people. Speaking of parties though, my friends throwing the soiree are the only other people I know who throw full on parties. Am I getting old or are parties dying out? Isn't this partially why people have houses?

Upcoming:

Lots of crafting for Unglued Craft Fest in Fargo, ND at the Plains Art Museum in February! (Pray she doesn't come early, specifically on February 28th.)

A CLEAN craft room. I worked for 5 hours yesterday. Days off are the best!

A few late Christmas gifts. Better late than never right?

Maybe, just maybe an etsy shop that isn't 100% vacant.

2011-11-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hello in there?

My bump is getting quite... erm... bumpy? No. Not the right word. It is, however, delightful. All the time.

In other news, I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, but I have never gone through each day with nearly has much overwhelming joy. I don't really spread this. I just keep it between myself and the belly and the hubby. Totally. Selfish. I just want to be a Mother. Now, I'm an experienced wanter. I want this. I want that. I used to want that. I still want that. I probably always am going to want that even though I'm never going to get it. This is different. This want affects all other wants. I feel like I have direction but I'm just not sure what that means. Every thought is balanced by the hope I have in this strange thing growing inside of me.

I like my job. I like the place I live. I like life right now. Would I mind changing all that? Nope. All of it is stressful and another thing that requires my attention. Maybe life is just stressful? My ideal place on the planet right now is one where I just sit and stare at this new little life and provide love along with my best with the man I love. I don't even care what happens. I just want that moment. Even if that moment is in a dirty house, with papers that need graded, dishes that need unloaded, clothes that need folded, a craft business that needs to be run, I want that. I want to know what kind of woman I really am.

Somedays, life is so weird. Praise GOD.

Goals

2011-09-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers, (Reader?)

I, Linnea, have some goals to announce. The upcoming months are promising business and I don't want to get lost in the mayhem, so I'm declaring some ambitions in hopes you'll give me a kick in the pants if I need it. They are monthly, because I want to have a little hope of actually accomplishing them.

September: Clean, organize and purge unnecessaries from my craft room.
CHECK! ~~Finish a bracelet and veil for a friend's October wedding.~~

October: Finish reading my business starting book and get 20 items on etsy/my website. (This will have to involve finishing my light box.)

November: Finish my winter line in time for a wicked awesome showing at my friend's pop-up shop in Fargo.

December: Make some sweet smile inducing gifts for the ones I love and stay focused on celebrating the reason for doing it. (I'm hoping this gift giving involves music making.)

As you can see I'm trying to keep it simple. This is because I'm also trying to finish my thesis.

What are your goals of late? Don't forget to throw in some life changing, seize the day fun into the mix.

Always,

Linnea

Saturday afternoons with Anthropologie Inspiration

2011-09-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this Anthropologie Necklace:

And I liked it. So I made one of my own.

It's not nearly as long because I don't like my necklaces to go down to my belly button. The gem is amethyst and the cord is from some leather rawhide scraps stitched together. I love the idea of reusing leather because it is so soft and people with metal allergies can still wear it. In addition to that it doesn't end up in the dump just because it's not in fashion any more. I didn't realize at first that I inadvertently switched the colors around! Sorry for the sad photo. My light box isn't finished yet!

Materials:

Leather scraps
Leftover medium sized chain
Medium gauge wire
A bangle that will never get worn again

Instructions:

Start by cutting a 5 inch strip of wire. Find the center and place the gemstone there. I wrapped the wire around the gemstone three times and then brought the wire up to wrap around the bangle. I tried to position the stone in the center of the bangle. I wrapped the rest of the wire around the bangle saving about 1/2'' to attach it to the chain. Measure the chain to the length desired and remove extra. Make sure to have an odd number of links and attach the pendant to the center link. Cut the leather in strips as long as you like. I had short strips so I sewed them together in the center. I then sewed the ends to the chain making sure that the chain was lying flat so it didn't twist. I sewed the leather with a thick needle and button thread because it is much stronger that normal thread. This would be a place you could do fancy embroidery if you wanted but I chose to keep it simple by using three lines. Make sure to double knot it and hide the end by pulling the needle through after you have knotted it and cutting the end flush.

Someday I'd love to have some metal working equipment so I could make bangles of my own but until then I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think?

Linnea

P.S. My good friend over at Sunsets & City Lights is currently on hiatus and I'm missing her posts terribly! I've been praying for her Dad because he's in the hospital. You can blame her for the inspiration to finally get blogging again. Meanwhile head over and give her some love. Please? People like her are why I wake up in the morning on those days when the world screams, "Don't go out there! Stay in bed!"

Paris!

2011-06-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Check out Jordan's Oh Happy Day and win a trip to Paris! http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris.

I'm back.

2011-05-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

After an unannounced retreat from blogging, I am officially back. Summer vacation has been amazing and very distracting from preparations for the Grand Forks Art Fest, but that's ok. I'm consciously deciding not to stress out about it. Plus, one of my dearest honorary sisters will be my Sunday booth babe, so even if the event is a total flop, I'll get to hang out with her a bit that day! Applications are still out for Saturdays booth babe spot, so let me know if you'd like to apply. I'm officially in countdown mode now and once my garden is actually planted, there will be an update or two. I'm almost finished with the double digging and feel like I have passed some hidden test of womanhood I didn't know about before.

Lots of love,

Linnea

Things to Think About On Thursday

2011-04-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Ever dreamt of becoming a falconer? What would it be like to have such a beautiful creature land on your arm? I'm not quite ready for a two year apprenticeship with an already licensed falconer so I will observe from afar. The thought reminded me of one of my favorite poems that really has nothing to do with falconering but references it.

Meanwhile my thoughts are with the families of the tornado victims and on the lovely little man who recently escaped his mother's tummy over here. The convergence of these two events is an extraordinariy overlap of dichotic elements.

THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Spring Peek!

2011-04-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Hello there! The snow has melted (again) and I'm definitely in the mood to create! (aka not grade papers and edit, boo...)

Salvador-Vintage Lace Grey Linen Bib Necklace

What do you get when you take recycled scraps of linen and antique lace to a party?

Hoops & Chain-Gray Linen and Vintage Lace Necklace

I'm in love with fusible interfacing right now! I promise to post a tutorial soon. All of these necklaces are no sew. The one on the bottom is inspired by a necklace on Anthropologie.com and the one on the left from the depths of this crazy brain of mine:-) Enjoy!

What are you doing to celebrate Spring?

Here Yesterday, Gone Today - Exercise

2011-04-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

China 2003

Today, I realized something. It is remarkable. Only to me, but that's ok. Ten years ago, I moved from Montana to North Dakota to go to school. After my first year of school drew to a close and spring had officially sprung I was walking to my dorm when I realized that my, *gasp* thighs were touching as I walked! Well, it was only downhill after that and slowly but surely I put on 40 lbs since high school. Honestly, while I didn't like my thighs touching, I didn't think much about it. I was a pretty scrawny, spine and ribcage jutting out kind of girl. While I would have preferred the weight to be muscle, it wasn't something I was willing to obsess about. Fast forward ten years.

High School 2001

My hubby and I have decided that eventually, not right now mind you, but, eventually we'd like to try and have children. I occasionally will check out books from the library about the subject in order to be more prepared and informed for when we start trying. One I read said that you should be your ideal weight before you have kids or it will be much more difficult to lose the baby weight and your other extra weight. I'm not sure why this is what motivates me but it could be a super creepy documentary I saw years ago about a mom who had octuplets that looked normal, but half way through the show lifted up her shirt pulled down her "band" and literally folded out multiple layers of stomach skin for all to see. *cringe*

A couple months ago I read The Four Hour Body and decided it was time to start watching my sugar intake. I also decided to give his diet recommendations a try. I made it about a couple weeks before I started tweaking it to be something that I could do the rest of my life. For one thing, I need fruit! I don't need it in massive quantities though. I'll post more about the diet later but the essentials are no dairy, no gluten (along with my husband), no sugar, try to have legumes, protein and vegetables for every meal. As much as I like his recommendations, I don't follow all of them because I try to make small changes at a time so that I'll continue without giving up. I also shoot for meat and fish once a week. I do have a cheat day once a week but I don't necessarily double my calories and I still avoid dairy, gluten and sugar for the most part because if I don't I'll be doubling over with a stomachache. It is crazy to look back now and think about how much sugar I was ingesting each day, when now, if I have only little, I notice a dramatic difference.

So, the bottom line? The amazing news? My thighs no longer touch and I have lost 20lbs. This is without hardly any exercise. Normally I do try to exercise regularly but the long winter, starting a business and intensity of work has drawn my attentions elsewhere. Ideally I wouldn't mind losing another 10lbs, but I also wouldn't mind being this weight if, of course, I had a lot more muscle. The silly weight calculators which I think are usually incorrect suggest my ideal weight is 160 with a range of 143-173. I'm shooting for a muscle 145 which means 5 more lbs to go. And about the muscley part? Well, I started tonight by doing the daily exercises from bodyrock.tv. While her outfits aren't necessarily what I would choose, she is incredibly kind and her workouts are incredibly butt-kicking and most of them can be done without any accessories. Today, she used a sandbag. I substituted with a duffel back filled with workouts partners like an unabridged dictionary, the complete Lord of the Rings serious and a giant NKJV Bible. With as many books as I could fit in it, it was definitely heavy enough for me!

Here are my scores for today's workout. Tomorrow? Free yoga at the Presbyterian church and biking to work! Going to try Body Rock? Let me know!

1. 20 sets in 9:10

2. 3 sets 1 pike, 2 sets 3 pikes, 2 sets 3 pies, 2 sets, 2 sets 3 pikes, 2 sets

3. 50 in 2:26

Preparing for the Show Friday

2011-04-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the count down has certainly begun. With t-minus 2 days and counting, I've been crafting up a small storm. This storm may or may not involve feathers, which makes for quite the flurry!

Not quite like this day in Fargo a couple years ago though:

Fargo Pillow Fight 2007

So, the lilies in my yard are officially poking up and to celebrate I started making some flower clips. What do you think? Only for little kids? I don't think so! I normally avoid fake flowers, but these will last forever and who doesn't want their orchids to last forever?

Daffodil Clip

Orchid Clip

Also my friends are all talking about the growing trend of putting feathers in your hair. They even wrote about it in the Fargo Newspaper. Apparently, you can glue them in and they stay for weeks, all the while withstanding washing and styling. I don't want to pay $20 so I made an alternative version that I can take out whenever I want. I'm hoping they'll be a hit in such fun colors!

Feather Pins

And of course, I couldn't help but bring out my stash of gray linen to even out all these hot colors. I'm thinking about also making these in a itsy bitsy teeny weeny version.

Gray Linen Clip

The colorful rewards of my hard work last night:

Which is your favorite? Is it time for a giveaway?

What I Made Last Week

2011-04-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

I made these last week with antique lace. They are the first earrings I ever made! One of them may or may not have ended up at her house after a sweet meet up of other mark. representatives in the area on Friday.

I love the amazing women I am meeting through mark. and am so happy there is no pressure to sell because it isn't a pyramid scheme. I also love this amazing bag I just got! The picture does NOT do it justice. I went for the green and couldn't be happier. It can expand to fit my laptop, my lunch, my makeup bag, with room to spare if need be. If you know me, you know I'm the bag lady, always carrying around 3-4 bags of different things. Well it's time to consolidate folks! Speaking of bags, I picked up some more bags of recycled/vintage lace and an awesome map book while thrifting this weekend as well. I'll post pictures of projects as they materialize. Meanwhile, I hope your weekend was swell and you have a blessed week!

Simplifying Sundays

2011-04-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am meditating on these words of wisdom I heard on a documentary from an Alaskan woman who couldn't recall where she first heard them but had chosen to keep them as her mantra:

Have less. Be more.

If I become a giver, I automatically have less and I be more. Right? What is the relationship between these two ideas? Does one imply the other? Vice Versa? Do these expressions practice equivalency or are they reflexive, symmetric or transitive?

What does it mean to be more, or become more for you?

Thoughts?

The Right Composter

2011-04-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Indoor or Outdoor, square or round, wood or plastic, big or small, spin or rack. I need a composter! Do you have one? Did you make it?

Photo from Parkside Gardening.

Unfortunately, I am very indecisive. I have checked out piles of books from my library and scoured the internet. I still haven't totally decided, but this weekend is it! I'm going to make my composter, and I'm going to do it myself (well, maybe my hubby will help). The grass is green for heaven's sake! What do you use for compost?

To help me decide I've prioritized some categories:

1. Simple to use. I am lazy and don't want to rake for 2 hours a day.
2. Big enough for our household. 2 People +1 Cat plus guests 2-3x a week.
3. Winter ready. As ready as possible for 6 months of insane cold. The scraps have to go somewhere though!
4. Inexpensive. Dave Ramsey would probably want this first but I want it to last and be sturdy. ($75?)
5. Accessible.
6. Easy-Medium Level Build Difficulty.
7. Speedy Composter. I'm not very patient and I'd love to have compost all summer for my garden!
8. Transportable. I think if we have a tiny house, I'll have to have an indoor composter so I probably won't be moving it. On the other hand, I'm not sure it should be a permanent fixture since it's not our house.
9. Not an eye-sore of a heaving chicken-wire heap if possible since my yard is so small.

To start with I'm loving this video. The fruit(some new to me) at the end is tantalizing.

Observations:

-While tumblers are generally more expensive to make than piles, they are much faster.

-My composter will be in my backyard close to my main garden but away from my house and in a spot that can receive at least some sun.

-Plastic is nice because it retains heat; it would probably be cheaper too, even though I avoid plastic.

-Since I live in a small space, it will be easier to have a contained pile, but remember that bugs are good for compost! (Although some composting folks disagree about this)

This one from Master Gardening is only $405 on sale! (Yikes, not in my budget)

So, maybe a green plastic barrel that is mounted on a stand for easy turning? Put some rods on the inside to help break it up and holes for bugs to get in with a opening cut big enough to let a bit of sun in if needed or get compost in or out. I'm thinking I like the idea of it being rotated this way to take up less space and maximize the spin factor, then I could have the bottom be the open flap. I'm thinking something more like this at Amazon for $179.99.

Online tutorials to build your own tumbling compost bin:

1. eHow
2. Composting Bin Plans (This one looks great!)
3. Instructables (There are always great ideas at instructables and this one is a double decker!)

Thanks for sharing your hard work ipodguy.

What do you think? Any suggestions?