March

The winds whipped up last night, shaking the windows and howling out as they circled around the house. At dawn, the world seemed to be swept clean as I headed off to yoga. My teacher spoke of the importance of having an anchor when a storm blows in. It's a message I know well, but I smiled sheepishly from my mat because I'm always grateful for a little kick in the pants reminder. You see, February is typically my challenging month.  It's been a little more than four years since my life turned upside down- I truly feel wonderful most days, but these deep wounds are always tender at anniversaries, don't you think?  I chose to slow down internet-wise for a little while to allow for some quiet. And some yoga. And breathing. And smoothies. And making stuff. All of my favorites.

I didn't even realize I was anchoring when the winds began to blow a few weeks ago...  I just do so naturally and automatically now. This is a direct result of having a tool kit for survival at the ready. 

I'm amazed that Hope, Make, Heal continues to be my very own guidebook, and I so hope it helps some of you. There are three crafts up on the Well and Good site directly from the pages that might just be the something you could use right now, including the instructions for making the Survival Satchel below that I love so much!

So happy to March forward with you... into the wind we go!

200 feet

I wanted to see how big 200 feet of rope could be. My diameter was 1 foot. I circled around from there for 14 inches in height. I created a slight tapering towards the top to keep it structured when I realized half way through that my tight zigzag stitch hadn't been switched back from a different project. Whoops! This meant that there was some stretch and give… not a serious "bad" thing, but not as sturdy as my previous bowls and baskets. A good lesson- I was happy that I'd only used white thread and I could easily reinforce looser areas by running it through my machine with confidence that imperfections would not take away from the beauty of it shape and overall appearance.

It looks quite handsome standing tall by my back door. That free-form stitching was also a bit fun. I love that I keep learning with these. This vessel turned out to be perfect for its intended use… to not only see what 200 ft offers, but to lovingly store/display our yoga mats so that we always feel invited to roll them out. I'm now practicing in classes three times a week (at minimum) and going for 4 days on my own. Yes- that's an every day goal! We shall see how it goes… it's a practice, after all.

yoga, bags and blogiversaries

The significant adults in my daughter's world all do yoga. She was inspired by our many conversations about how transformative it has been for us- and decided to join in.

Of course, yoga is  a wonderful tool for any age and gender, but I believe that tween girls in our culture can especially gain so much from learning how to tune into their bodies and minds in a non judgmental way. After several months, she's hooked. And will even get up in the morning and do a few poses if there's a mat open and waiting for her. 

And so I've assisted in making three yoga mat bags for my new little yogi and her two friends who all take a weekly yoga class for 9-12 year olds.

The key to making a bag that works for this age (or anyone not wanting struggle!) is to make it roomy enough for a loosely rolled mat. Who needs the challenge of stuffing a mat into a tiny package at the end of an expansive hour? These bags also have a drawstring that cinches into the handles to eliminate tying and fussing.

The girls each selected fabric from a stash of batiks my mother had brought back from a trip to Bali many years ago. These fabrics have been tucked into a back corner of my studio for so long, it's been fun to see them being put to use again.

One of the first times those batiks made an appearance on this blog was 7 years ago in my first month of posting (right here). Look at that little 3 year old munchkin! Oh my!

 In fact, it's  been seven full years this week since I began maya*made! Can't believe how fast it's flown. Life keeps evolving. Children keep growing. Time does not stop. But this online home records frozen moments of beauty and discovery that I find so sweet to revisit. It's also been a steady landing spot for me during this journey, and I'm super grateful for all of you who have joined me along the way! Thank you!!!