Let's Take Action: Blog Action Day 2009- Climate Change

This video pretty much says it all, friends! Climate Change is an urgent issue. I saw this on the Socks For Happy People blog and have decided to join the blogging effort on October 15th as well. I do not know how many people my blog reaches but even if it reaches just one person on that day I hope that it will impact them in such a way that they will see just how important it is to curb climate change before it is too late.

For our children and our children's children, for our entire posterity--let us band together on October 15th and blog about something that affects us all! Look forward to seeing you on the world wide web blogging right along with us on that day. For more information and to join please click on the following link: http://www.blogactionday.org/.

Thanks again, friends!

Cheers,
Nadia

The Choice to Be Happy...I am feeling inspired today :-)

So, many of you who have read my blog lately know that I have been going on about Socks for Happy People and there is a major reason why. When I opened my twitter account and began to look for people and organisations to follow their clever sock logo and name caught my attention because a) I love socks, I live in them and b) I consider myself a happy person; and that is what I wish to talk about.  You see, everyone is out there wanting happiness, desiring it, asking how to acquire it and the common questions come to mind: What is happiness? How does one obtain happiness? Can anyone truly be happy? These are all questions that people ask themselves all the time. There are even books written on happiness like Gross National Happiness by Arthur C. Brooks, which claims that Americans are basically the happiest people on earth (though I have yet to see this proven).

As I searched for images and quotes about happiness there was one underlying theme which came to mind which is exactly what I had been thinking the entire time: happiness is a choice. We choose to be happy. I am happy not because I have a perfect life or a perfect body (I have neither of those and I do not believe that anyone can brag about having either), I am happy because I choose to be. I choose to look beyond circumstances and lead a happy life. So, when I saw Socks for Happy People and read their blog and talked to Tom and Rich I thought to myself, these people have chosen to be happy and share that happiness with others. This got me to thinking about happiness and how we measure it.

You see, there are those who would tell us that happiness is found in shopping, music, religion, riches, material wealth and all sorts of things but I have seen that these very things often cause bitterness rather than happiness and I have to ask myself why. This is why I believe that happiness is a choice because both a very rich man and a very poor man can be happy no matter what their situation in life if they choose to be. The above quote by Helen Keller is great because this often happens to us. Rather than choosing to look through the open door we pine for the closed one which can lead to bitterness and loneliness. I'll take the open door any day! There are things that add to our choice to be happy--a smile from a stranger, a song on the radio, a colorful hat in a store window, a call from a friend, a proverb, etc. All of those things enhance our happiness. What about those who live in such dismal conditions that there seems to be no hope for happiness among them? Can they choose to be happy and if so, how do we help them to do so?

I think that there are ways to help people to choose to be happy even when in the bitterest and dire of circumstances. This is where ingenuity comes into play. A letter of hope can bring forth a choice to be happy, a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on. There are many things we can do to help people choose happiness. All I truly know is that when I wake up every morning I have a choice to make: I can wake up with a smile on my face and choose to have a happy day or I can wake up moody and crabby and creep toward a bitter outlook. Personally, I think I would rather choose happiness.

My life has been everything but perfect, even so, I choose to be happy and I know you can too! I encourage you to look on each new day as a fresh new start. Wouldn't you like to be happy today? Even if the toaster burned your whole wheat bread and the coffee was a bit weak this morning, you can still choose to be happy with everything and each opportunity you have. It's ultimately your decision to be happy, so what will you decide? I hope that, like me and countless others, you will this day decide to be happy everyday. Come rain or shine, in good times and in bad times. May you always be happy!

Just think of it this way, you will be healthier if you lead a happier life and both things are your choice to make. The decision is yours! Decide for happiness, it will be the best and wisest choice you will ever make! So, be happy and live long!

Cheers,
Nadia Marie

I love photography!

幾個月前送自己的禮物..,
originally uploaded by i'm Jac.

I just want you to check this picture out that I found on flickr. I love anything that looks interesting and this is definitely one of those things! Polaroids have always called my attention and I am even thinking of getting a polaroid camera for my own projects. Tell me what you think of this photo!

Also, check out my flickr photos!

Cheers,
Nadia

Happy Sunday Afternoon and Shout Outs...

Sundays are always a pleasant day for me and I would like to start this one by giving a shout out to my new friend on twitter, Stacy Casselberry. We were suggested to one another by Socks For Happy People, another of my twitter pals whose socks I am very excited about as you know from a previous post! I want to showcase Stacy's blog today because I think it is absolutely fabulous! Here is the link to her blog: http://sewbutterfly.blogspot.com/, I suggest you follow it because not only does she show some of her awesome work but there is so much life in her blog. There is everyday life in it, there is past, present and yes even a bit of future--things we do and hope for are always a futuristic thing.

I just have to hi-light right now the amazing photograph I saw on Stacy's page of the most gorgeous sewing machine I have ever seen! I love all the photos on her blog and cannot wait to peruse her Etsy and Artfire shops! Reading her blog is like having a delicious slice of homemade apple pie a la mode! Seriously, go and follow Stacy's blog, you won't regret it! I already love it and can't wait to see more of it! Here's to happy Sunday afternoons and new friends!

Cheers,
Nadia

The Things I've Made....

I love to make things with my own two hands and when I learned to knit starting with a basic scarf I began to wonder what else I could make with the same pattern. I first made a little placemat but wanted to make something else that I could wear. That's when I thought, if I can make scarves with this pattern can't I make headbands using the same tecnique? Thus the headband in the picture was born! It is a bandana style head band because it has two thinner strips attached to the ends, cord-style, to tie on underneath. I think for my next headband I will attach an elastic for easier use.

Besides knitting I have many other hobbies which include baking, cooking and decorating pretty much anything! I decorate my own composition notebooks. Here is a notebook I decorated for my Italian Language Studies (I am teaching myself the language). I have a lot of cardstock and patterned paper that I have collected over time (seriously, when I have money and see something I like there is not stopping me, I have been working on exercising self-control) so for this notebook I chose cardstock in the colors of the Italian flag and cut strips of equal length and width for the cover. I pasted them with a normal gluestick and for the tag I just used a sticker tag I had lying around.

As for baking, there are many things I have tried my hand at! Since I am moving soon, my Dad asked me to make some brownies for the road so I have been baking those a lot lately. I love baking breads, particularly Irish ones, and cookies as well though. Here I have decided to share a picture of the Spotted Dog I made last month. It was delicious and really quite easy to make. Soon I will be sharing recipes with you all as well as other tips. I cannot wait to be able to get back into the swing of things!

More later, though, as we are pretty much down to a few plates and things while we have only about 6 days left here in Florida before leaving for New Jersey!

Cheers,

Nadia

The Things I Use..

Here I am once again to showcase some of my materials:

Above: The things I keep in my desk which I use pretty much for everything! My room is my creative station, my office and my sanctuary all in one!

Below: My ribbon box--this box holds all of the ribbon I have collected over the years, whether bought or gifted. It also holds fabric and felt scraps...I have yet to decorate the box but I love knowing where my supplies are! The box is an old Rebok shoebox which actually has a flip top so it is perfect!

I love the boxes the soaps my parents buy come in! Below you can see how I have made use of one of these Italian soap boxes from the saponifico. I have bits of paper ribbon stored in there. This collection is not as large as the other collection but I am sure it will become larger as I collect and find more!

I will soon post pictures of my paper collection and as I settle into my new life in New Jersey I hope to be able to do more tutorials! For now, enjoy the posts I am doing about materials and old projects as well as the publicity I am doing for the companies that I am beginning to love like Socks For Happy People!

Cheers,

Nadia

Socks...yes please!

Ok, so you might be wondering what socks have to do with creating and crafting...tons! I have been chatting up the creator of Socks for Happy People, Tom Minter on twitter and can't seem to stop thinking about socks! I am eager to see the unveiling of their new website: http://www.socksforhappypeople.com/. They're still working it out!

In the meantime, follow their blog: http://www.socksforhappypeople.com/. According to what Tom told me, Rich is the design genius in the company so I cannot wait to see what his socks look like! I hope you all check these 2 sites out and let me know what you think!

Peace and lollipops!

-Nadia

Tweeting my way on up...

Hello friends! I am officially on twitter so follow me there if you want: http://twitter.com/VeneNadia28. I will be following many people and of course I will follow you if you follow me! Can't wait to tweet you!

Research...

So, I don't know about you guys but in my crafting adventures research is quite helpful. How do I research? I check out other crafter's blogs (on my list of favorite sites I have included a few of the blogs I check out and I have begun to follow some other blogs), look up online tutorials on websites, look in magazines, old books wherever I can find interesting crafts and projects. I find that children's activity books often have a lot of interesting crafts to make that you can tweak to make them more grown-upish!

I love reading other blogs because they are always informative, interesting and most importantly its other people sharing their experiences with you and me, I find that to be the most sincere form of humanity. I love it! I share on here not because I want to make myself look good but because I want to contribute to society and encourage others to do the same. So, come on folks! Let's get crafting and have fun!

PS: I love comments, so don't be shy!

My Favorite Things...

I love my room and making it my own. My favorite piece of furniture is my desk. It is where I place the majority of my arts and crafts supplies, such as stickers, pens, colored pencils and more.



Below you will find several different things that inspire me and how I have arranged my things. I have a toy collection which I love and are often the inspiration for the color schemes I use in my crafts. As you can see, I love color contrasts. They just speak to me!



One of my favorite crafts besides scrapbooking and card making, is knitting. I do a little bit of everything but knitting is so theraputic and I love to just be able to put on a movie and knit a bit while watching. I also knitted on the bus and even on the Metro in Caracas many times (the bus in Spokane--in Caracas it would have been impossible but on the Metro on my way to work it was easy).



I was given the little dream pillow below by my sister-in-law and just loved the color and look of it! Below and surrounding it are some of my scrapbooking supplies. The big pink box is full of papers! All kinds of papers!



Well, I hope that sharing these with you encourages you to take a look into how you decorate and find your unique style!

Cheers!