A Place Like This......

A Bright Light Remembered

In the past I've mentioned a woman who has inspired me to think about how each and every one of us can contribute. About a year and a half ago I planted 75 trees, 15 trees for each of my immediate family members to contribute to reforesting the planet.

Sadly I bear the news that Wangari Maathai  died of cancer Sunday in a Nairobi hospital. 

Maathai is best known for creating the Green Belt Movement, which has planted tens of millions of trees around Kenya, but she also personified a positive strain of environmentalism that stands out in a world where “woe is me” messages dominate. 

You can have a look at previous posts I've written about her here and here.

Her family, friends, and co-workers ask that you stop by the Green Belt Movement and/or her Facebook page to leave condolences.

In honor of her memory and to perpetuate all that she has taught, I ask you kindly to plant a tree wherever you may live. She shared that it is each of our responsiblities to care for this planet, and so we shall......

Even in death she lives but oh how I will miss her.

 

Where Women Dance, Greek Fest Knoxville 2011

This past weekend was the annual Greek Fest in Knoxville.  It is one of our favorite weekends of the year. We gather to eat, talk, listen to our favorite music but the most important thing we do is dance.

After the "youngsters" were finished,

it was a gathering of women, forgetting our world and celebrating together. The one who holds the napkin leads and then there is the way women deal with things. No friends, one napkin is not enough, there were three leaders all doing there own thing and as long as you keep moving to the right, all will be well.  So now it's time to do the dance for joy......

 I know some of you may be wondering where the Greek fit into my very Swedish life. Well I have a lot of Mediterrnean going on in my family. My children are half Lebanese, and then my sister ,who is married to a Greek and then let's not forget all of the Greek Cypriot family and friends. Opa, if you can't be Greek at least join them. 

The Starlight Lantern

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy St. Michaelmas Day. We love dragons in this family or I should confess that I love dragons in this family. I've always wanted to own one, especially one that flies. Oh how grand that would be.

I know today is commerating St. George and his dragon adventures but really I feel any holiday that even mentions a dragon I will stop and celebrate. 

Brave Spirit Michael is my guide

as free and fearless forth I ride

with courage of St. George of old

I dare to fight fierce dragons bold.

 

St. George can fight them if he wants to , I'm just going to stick with the role of "Dragon Caregiver."

Last year you may have remembered that we made our squiggle lanterns to celebrate. This week has been so busy and I've really had to come up with something quickly that evokes the lantern light of Michealmas and is easy to put together.

Ta dah, here it is the official lantern of 2011, better known as the starlight lantern. 

 
Starlight Lantern Tutorial

You'll need:

• One paper-mache wine box from your local craft store or other cylinder container.
• Knife
• Tape
• Velum paper with patterns and solid colors
• LED small pillar candles

1. Take your wine box and mark a window with a pencil.
2. Take your knife and cut out the window. This is for the adults to do. 
    
   
3. Take your vellum and place the star or pattern piece on the bottom and cover it with the colored piece of vellum.  
4. Take both pieces of paper together and wrap it around your wine box.
5. Tape on each side in the back.
6. Place your LED light into the wine box, cover with the lid and you're ready to go.

I've made these up ahead of time for tonight but once the kids get here I'll let them decorate their lanterns with a variety of craft supplies. Though cutting out the window of the lantern is very easy, if you're planning on having many children and families over, it's just easier to make the lanterns ahead so you can get outside quicker. 

Here's wishing you a very wonderful Michaelmas evening. Happy Autumn!

Blogher Handmade and The Creative Connection

 

After four and half years of blogging, countless comments and emails, and a few hundred memories shared, it was time to finally meet a bevy of my blogging friends. There was no better place to do that than in St. Paul Minnesota during the Blogher Handmade and The Creative Connection conference.

700 of us shared our passion for creating beauty in all of it's genres, our love of business, and our willingness to share. Each morning they had several breakout sessions covering different aspects of blogging, business, and crafting. Our afternoons were filled with crafts, knitting and cooking classes and then night came. Every evening was spent eating dinner, listening and sharing stories, and of course entertaining ourselves to no end.

What became apparent very quickly is that though we are all in different places in our creative blogging and business lives, what unites us in our willingness to learn, share, and create. As the days and weeks roll on I will share some of the kindred spirited women I met and the moments we created together. For now though, I'll just give you a glimpse of our weekend. Here are some of my dear friends both old and new.

Birdsaving author Olivia Bouler

The Toymaker Marilyn Scott Waters

From Left to Right: Terry Walters, Nancy Soriano, Amy Powers, Amy Barickman, Janine Vangool

Sarah Jane Wright

Holly Becker from Decor8

 

Mary Jane Butters from Mary Jane Farms

Thank You Blogher and The Creative Connection

It's been an incredible weekend in St. Paul. I promise some more details tomorrow, but for the moment I hope this slideshow suffices. Many thanks to everyone who put on this event. It was so well done and I felt so very welcome. 

 

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

Blogher The Creative Connection

 

Greetings everyone, 

I'm in St. Paul Minnesota for the rest of the week and weekend enjoying my time at The Creative Connection put on by Blogher.

I'm looking so forward to meeting so many of the bloggers I've come to know over the last four years. Along with our love of blogging we will be crafting, eating, and getting down to business with other creative entrepreneurs. I promise to have lots of photos and updates next week. If you should be there too, please drop me a quick email at valarie at audreypress.com I would love to meet you.

All photos today by blogher handmade.

The Stick Fort

Late on a summer afternoon, after exhausting his mother, Little "O" summoned the help of a new partner to hack and tie together the stick fort.

I loved listening to their conversations about stick length and fort dimensions, 

 

Stacking sticks,

Hacking sticks,

And tying sticks,

Watching this papa embrace his son's love of building and spending some great time outdoors brought a sense of calm to my little family.

As they continued to build, dream and ponder, this momma fired up the grill for a late summer barbeque.

The Hacket

I woke up Saturday to a changing season. The air was cool and smelled of the damp cool earth. The insect chatter is quickly twindling, and the encroaching feeling of needing to be surrounded by wool is descending upon me.

As I stared at my quilt laden boy sitting in his morning reverie, I didn't expect that there was a complete plan for our saturday resting in his head. 

"Mom, I need a hacket." ( pronounced hack-it)

Knowing that my boy was asking for a hatchet, I played along and let the moment unfold.

"Oh, why's that ?" I asked.

"There's tons of limbs down from  last weekends storm and stacked by the street. Could you please help me bring some limbs home so I can build a stick fort? I need a hacket to chisel notches and points into my sticks."

And with that our Saturday began. First I had to run to the outdoor store to buy a hacket and then I spent a good part of the morning carrying a forest of tree limbs to our yard.

The rest of the day was spent hacking, under the watchful eye of his mom of course.

sawing,

and whittling away the hours. He wore his fingers down to a nub, that's why he is wearing the bandges, to cover his blisters.

We've all taken to calling a hatchet a hacket. It seems more appropriate. Name something by what it does. Just another weird word moment in this family. I loved seeing my boy totally engrossed in his creation. It will take a few more days to finish but boy, his dad, katten and I have spent a wonderful weekend working with wood. I promise to show you the results as they unfold.

What did you do over the weekend?

 

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.