Hannah's Socks

Brrrrr, it's cold out there! Consider helping those suffering from exposure to the elements, and make a little girl's dreams come true, too. A local charity, Hannah's Socks, is securing socks for the poor and homeless of metropolitan Toledo and Cincinnati, all because little Hannah Turner, a four year old who accompanied her mother to a soup kitchen to feed the hungry, noticed that some of the men weren't wearing socks, despite the very cold weather. Hannah wanted to give one of the homeless men her own socks, but when it was made clear to her that they wouldn't fit, she decided she wanted to collect warm socks to give to anyone poor and homeless that would otherwise be without them. Thus, "Hannah's Socks" was born, and nearly 60,000 pairs of socks have been collected for men, women and children in need. 

Check them out at www.hannahssocks.org . 

(The photo and article below are taken from the Toledo City News magazine.)

Little Winter Visitors...

Happy Holidays!

A Little Gingerbread Cheer...

I love the 577 Foundation. Since moving to northwest Ohio, it has become one of my favorite destinations. Established by local philanthropist Virginia Secor Stranahan, the 577 Foundation offers all kinds of creative courses and opportunities that are in line with 577's mission of providing community offerings that are "educational, environmental, experimental--and fun" . I've taken Chinese cooking classes, courses on composting and winter gardening, and ceramics classes, including a recent workshop where we learned how to make these cute gingerbread house (out of clay) which we "personalized" with our own creative touches. With a little votive candle tucked inside to illumine this little cottage on cold and cozy winter evenings, I will treasure this little craft for years to come! Thank you, 577 Foundation--you all are fabulous!

www.577foundation.org

Have Yourself a Merry Fair Trade Christmas...

A Nativity--made out of recycled materials. From the Philippines, purchased at 

Georgette's Grounds and Gifts. www. georgettes.org

The Nativity--with the Virgin Mary in a sari, compliments of the fair trade gift shop at Grailville. www.grailville.org. 

Peace dove ornament carved from a large seed. 

www.tenthousandvillages.org

South African Christmas Angel (complete with cool sunglasses). 

www.artaidsart.org

Giving the Gift of Crafting...

This year we're "getting creative" with our holiday donations for those in need. Mercy College of Northwest Ohio student Bobbi Schelkun is seeking donations of yarn and knitting supplies to teach the kids at Toledo's Padua Center how to knit Christmas gifts for their parents. Padua Center, sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Toledo, is a community based presence reaching out by empowering people at all stages of life to achieve their maximum potential through education, counseling, support and community involvement...as well as, apparently, through learning a craft.

So, instead of sending a check, we went out and bought "kid size knitting needles" and enough yarn for two or three simple projects such as hats and scarves. We are pleased to support a project that teaches urban young people an enjoyable and useful craft skill, but we also want to encourage and applaud Bobbi for her innovative and imaginative use of her crafting talents to help "craft a better world".

Bobbi also wants to start a Project Linus chapter at her college. Donations or inquiries can be directed to Nancy Surella, Community Partner Liaison, Mercy College, at (419) 251-1411.

This holiday season, consider funding a grass roots craft initiative as part of your holiday giving to those in need. Consider sharing information about your project with us.

www.paduacenter.org

www.projectlinus.org

Georgette's Grounds and Gifts

Consider doing some holiday shopping at Georgette's Grounds and Gifts of Maumee! This is a great little store, with a great little story.

Georgette's Grounds and Gifts is one of the many projects that have been born of The Sunshine Children's Home. Founded by Georgette and Roy Engler, a local couple who raised five disabled children and vowed to begin an organization to help the disabled and their families have access to vital services, The Sunshine Children's Home currently has sixteen group homes and serves 110 clients living in their own homes, all of whom have disabilities and many of whom have Downs Syndrome. The Sunshine Children's Home not only provides basic services, but works specifically to offer a great quality of life for the disabled and their families, and values and creates meaningful employment opportunities for those with disabilities. Georgette's Grounds and Gifts, a coffee shop and fair trade store in downtown Maumee, is such an opportunity. On any given day, you can visit the store and find several of Sunshine Children's Home's clients assisting customers and keeping the premises sparkling clean and inviting. The atmosphere is warm and cozy, their food is great, and just being there invites you to slow down and remember the good things that life is all about.

Georgette's serves fair trade coffee, as well as sells the coffee by bulk. The fair trade store sells gorgeous crafts, soaps, jewelry, CDs from around the world, and, at this time of year, lovely creches and Christmas ornaments. You don't have to live in northwest Ohio to shop at Georgette's; many of their products are displayed online. 

Check out the following web sites:

www.sunshinefnd.com

www.georgettes.org

Renee's Quilted Creations

While I was on retreat at Grailville, I had the good fortune to attend a seminar given by the Reverend Dr. Renee Keels, on spirituality and quilting. Not only did several of us have a wonderful time assembling "mini quilts" and experiencing the quilting process as a sort of meditative prayer practice, but we all became acquainted with Rev. Renee's gorgeous hand made bags.

Many of her "black and white bags", as she calls them, have vibrant accent colors to off set the blacks and whites. She also does beautiful bags made by wrapping fabric around, of all things, clothe line rope, and then sewing the ropes in basket style hand bags, like the one shown above.

Be sure and check out Rev. Renee's hand bags online at www.reneesquiltedcreations.com . You can order bags, specialty liturgical stoles, housewares and quilts from her website.

I'll Be There...Will You?

The Holiday Open House at the Polish Art Center in Hamtramck features their annual szopka (handmade Christmas altars) competition plus, music, hors d'oeuvres and nice things to buy for the holidays while helping Polish artisans.

Remember, our sisters and brothers in Eastern Europe are still emerging from decades of economic, artistic and spiritual oppression. Buying their gorgeous arts and crafts is a way of helping Eastern Europeans get back on their feet. 

Holiday Open House

Saturday, November 21 11 am-5 pm

Sunday November 22 11 am- 5 pm

Polish Art Center 

9539 Joseph Campau Boulevard

Hamtramck, Michigan 48212

www.polartcenter.com

More Double Duty Donations...

Every fall I order socks from our friends at Kullakas women's knitting cooperative down in La Paz, Bolivia, to give to various charities. This year, I ordered the socks through Nest, a not-for-profit organization helping women's crafts cooperatives, founded and operated by Rebecca Kousky. Rebecca has graciously agreed to highlight Kullakas products. A small percentage of the sales from Kullakas goes to Nest, to help Rebecca give funding to even more women's crafts cooperatives so they can buy essential supplies and get "off the ground and running" as a business.

The socks will be going to a local charity this year, Hannah's Socks. Hannah is the cutest little girl you could imagine, with her own not-for-profit to boot! Hannah served at a soup kitchen with her parents on Thanksgiving, and saw that one of their guests was not wearing socks even though it was freezing outside. She told her mother she'd like to give the man her own socks so he could stay warm. Hannah's Socks took off from there, collecting and distributing over 40,000 pairs of socks to individuals in need in both Toledo and Cincinnati. 

So, once again, we thank Kullakas for providing us with hand knit, ultra-warm socks, to provide in turn to those in need.

Check out these two really wonderful organizations:

www.buildanest.com

www.hannahssocks.org

Rug Show Weekend at Adopt a Native Elder

If you're like me, you're probably NOT going to make it out this year to Park City, Utah this year for the 20th Annual Navajo Rug Show sponsored by the Adopt-a-Native Elder Program. However, I can think of few charities as deserving of your attention at Adopt-a-Native Elder, which was founded by artist Linda Myers to assist Native elders, our national treasures, maintain their traditional life style on the reservation with dignity and purpose.

In their own words Adopt-a-Native Elder was "established in the Native tradition of the Giveaway Circle... support(ing) Elders living on the Navajo Nation. Each spring and fall volunteers deliver food, clothing, basic medicines and medical supplies to help the Elders sustain themselves as they maintain their traditional way of life. We provide wool yarn so they can continue weaving their rugs. The Rug Show is an important opportunity for the Weavers to sell their rugs and support their families. The event is also an exceptional window into the culture and traditions of the Navajo People."

Adopt-a-Native Elder looks for volunteers every year to travel out to the Rug Show and assist in all aspects of putting on and running the show and sale. An important aspect of the Rug Sale is, of course, purchasing the rugs. Even if you are unable to make it out to the show, you can go on line and check out their web site www.anelder.org and look up "Rug Sale" and "Catalogue" for the Rug Sale, and purchase a rug to be shipped to you.

Consider "adopting" a Native elder. For not much more than what winds up being about $10 a month, you can be assured that your elder will receive spring and fall food boxes that are important supplements to their resources. What better way to honor the indigenous people of this country than to respect, honor and assist their treasured elders.

www.anelder.org

A Weekend at Grailville

I just got back from a long weekend at Grailville, in Loveland, Ohio northeast of Cincinnati. I was there for the annual national conference to explore membership with the Grail, an international women's organization. Attending were eighty other women from around the United States and from as far away as Australia, Italy and South Africa; black, white, Latina and Native American, in their thirties through their nineties, of various religious and spiritual backgrounds. We danced, created art, sang together, ate great food--much of it locally grown--and attended planning sessions, talks and spiritual practice groups together. This is a group of women I could find myself at home with. 

The mission of the Grail and many of its core values are near and dear to my heart. Their mission is to empower women to work for world transformation by:

--building bridges among diverse faith traditions and spiritual paths

--advancing peace, justice and a world free from military dominance

--fostering international exchange and solidarity

--challenging economic systems that put at risk the most vulnerable, especially women and children

--creating communities for a sustainable future and

--celebrating the arts as a means for personal and societal transformation.

Any of this sound familiar?

Their core values include spirituality, women's empowerment, dignity of persons, justice, community, care of the earth, creativity, bridge building and a living integration of spiritual search, social transformation, ecological sustainability and a release of women's creative energy throughout the world. 

Check them out yourself at www.grail-us.org .

A Walk in the Woods...

Black Walnuts

Stephen and I spent some time recently harvesting black walnuts. We smashed the green husks off each nut with a large hammer, and removed the remaining bits of husk by shaking the nuts in a sealed, plastic container, with three parts pebbles to one part water, acting as a "slurry" to loosen and remove the husk bits.  With some vigorous scrubbing using a steel wire brush, we got the final bits off. The nuts, in their cleaned shells, will be curing for the next few weeks, after which time we should have some very tasty black walnut meat. 

Goodbye, Harvest Season

My favorite farm stand is literally a stand at a farm...

Fresh potatoes are two dollars for a huge bag, peppers, tomatoes and beans, a dollar a quart, and it's all so delicious...why would you ever buy the stuff in a supermarket again?

...and if you can't eat it all at once, there's always canning!

The harvest season is coming to a close, with the local farm stands all shutting down around the end of the month. Corn and soybeans are still out in many of the fields, but I've noticed the combines poised on the perimeters for harvest... 

One of the things I've really enjoyed about moving back north has been the easy access to fresh food from local farms. It makes eating healthy so much easier. Also, I've been intrigued how so many women here are really into gardening and canning. 

Last month I took a canning course at the 577 Foundation, one of my new favorite places. I'll post a run down on "everything wonderful" about this unique community center at another time, but for now, let me just say that the canning course was a godsend. I've had the Ball Blue Book on canning and preserving for years, which I used for jam recipes that I would seal with melted paraffin, but I was always nervous about doing hot water canning from written instructions, without actually watching someone else first. Yet I found out that with a minimal investment in canning equipment, hot water canning turned out to be easy enough. The woman who gave us canning lessons at the 577 Foundation, Deb Trzcinski, did a great job, teaching us basic canning skills with an easy but really delicious pear jam! (Gorgeous taste and texture--who knew pear jam could be so good?)

This year, I canned spicy pickled okra, mushrooms, pickled cauliflower and my own salsa. I missed the fruit seasons (except for apple and pear) so I'm waiting for next year to try canning some jams. It's given me such a feeling of pride and accomplishment, as well as a little pantry full of tasty goodies for much less than I would have paid for them at the store (have you checked out the price of a bottle of salsa lately? Or okra pickles?) And it's wound up being a very nice hobby. 

I will miss my weekly trips out to the farm, coming away with more fruits and vegetables than I can carry to the car in one trip, usually for less than $10. I like knowing I'm helping our local farmers, and sincerely hope I am "investing" in keeping the beautiful fields and farm lands that surround our city safe from development...at least for now...

The Sewing Machine Project

I subscribe to "Country Woman" magazine and found a great article in their most recent edition about an organization called "The Sewing Machine Project". Margaret Jankowski of Wisconsin was so touched by the story of a tailor who had lost her sewing machine--and her livelihood--in the Southeast Asian Tsunami that she gathered, refurbished and sent 25 sewing nachines to Sri Lanka, so people could get back on their feet economically. Her project has expanded to sending sewing machines to the far corners of the world, as well as to New Orleans, helping individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina. You can read about Margeret's wonderful, grass roots efforts at www.countrywomanmagazine.com; click under the "Link" heading to be connected with Margaret's story and website: www.thesewingmachineproject.org.

A Walk through Fallen Timbers Metropark...

On the way, a quick appearance by one of our many local deer...

Enjoy!

The Quilt Foundry

My first quilt: Ohio Star pattern baby quilt

I've always wanted to learn how to quilt. I have made three quilts in the past, but had only done the surface piecing; I sent the quilts out to local Amish women to have the layers quilted and the binding put on. So I was thrilled to find the Quilt Foundry in Maumee, a quilt supply shop with an extensive list of classes where I signed up for "Quilting 101" and learned how to assemble a quilt from start to finish.

My teacher was Mary, one of the four women who founded the Quilt Foundry and, who I discovered, worked for years organizing the annual Black Swamp Quilt Benefit Bazaar, and worked collaboratively on many quilts that at auction brought in thousands of dollars each. This annual quilt auction raises funds for the Sunshine Foundation, which is a local residential and day program for the developmentally disabled. 

Mary was very patient with me and the other beginners in my class. I learned a bit about using those intimidating roller cutters and plastic pattern grids, as well as learned machine and hand quilting and--my biggest fear overcome!--how to put on the binding. Now I am just waiting to sign up for "Quilting 102" !!

Northwest Ohio has a wealth of craft organizations, many of whom craft for charity. I invite you to check out these web site:

www.quiltfoundry.com

www.blackswampbenefit.org

www.sunshinefnd.org

A Day Out At Bittersweet Farms

Contemplating the beauty of nature during

this wonderful season of fall

On Saturday, Stephen and I headed out to Bittersweet Farms in Whitehouse, Ohio, for their fall festival. Bittersweet Farms is a residential program for adults with autism, but is a very special and unique program that provides a balanced lifestyle for its residents, who tend a small farm and have several creative workshops where the residents make income producing products, such as woven rugs and place mats, ceramic ware, bird houses, wind chimes, dried flower arrangements and canned goods, just to name a few. 

The fall festival was wonderful. There were lots of crafts and baked goods for sale, as well as pony and horse drawn cart rides, performances by local talent, carnival style games, and simply the chance to be "on the farm" on a gloriously crisp but sunny, autumn day, walking through the fields and communing with the farm critters.

We got talking to one of the mothers of one of the Bittersweet Farms residents, and she expressed profound gratitude for this alternative living and working environment for her adult daughter. Her daughter did not appear to us to be very verbal, but apparently she is, according to her mother, passionately interested in art, and has found, in creating things, a real sense of pride, purpose and peace about herself. Her mother said that prior to entering Bittersweet Farms, her daughter had been employed in a subsidized sheltered workshop where she expressed frustration and boredom with the tasks given to her. Now, when her daughter comes home to visit her, she is eager to get back to Bittersweet Farms, and eager to get back to her work. I can't think of a better testimony for a residential program for the disabled than this sort of enthusiasm. 

Everything produced at Bittersweet Farms is lovely, colorful and professionally made. The farm itself is on a rural setting that is peaceful and beautiful. I found it deeply touching that many creative and hard-working people have given birth to, and sustained, this dream of a holistic, balanced and creative lifestyle for adults with disabilities, who are so often given so little in our society. 

But the visit also caused me to reflect on my own lifestyle. Am I living a balanced life, in a sustaining community, doing work of which I am proud and which serve a sacred purpose? Putting beauty and creativity into the world is, I believe, a sacred purpose, and a source of strength and inspiration to the greater community. 

My little community of two (me and Stephen) is a tiny one, but my "greater community" continues to grow as I settle in here more and more. And I continue to find having time to create art and do my writing, cook meals from scratch, participate in spiritually caring for the sick and dying as well as being of service in other small ways to the community, to write this blog, and to create a warm and welcoming home for my "little community" is well worth the cut in pay! Stephen and I don't have lots of "things"and have to be careful with how we spend money, but we have a lifestyle that, I'm beginning to see, I wouldn't change for anything. It is slow and full and rich, and I am thankful for it. It allows me to prioritize for the important stuff--like a day out at Bittersweet Farms!--and to support the dreams, visions and creative endeavors that are life sustaining for others, especially the poor, the oppressed and those whom society so often overlooks.

I invite you to check out their website at www.bittersweetfarms.org . 

New Beginnings in a Season Full of Endings

Out walking on a weekend trip in southern Ontario, as autumn begins to unfold...

A monarch butterfly stops off besides Lake Erie in southern Ontario, 

on its way to Mexico...another long journey in progress...

Back in late August, I made the decision to end this blog. I felt it had run its course and served its purpose. I saw myself as off on a new and different journey. Now, at the request of some of my friends and readers (thank you for your support and feedback!)--as well as having reconsidered my stance on what this blog might be about (and what it appears to mean to many others who are on a similar journey)--I've decided to begin again, in this lovely season full of endings...

When I came to northeastern Ohio, I was immediately struck by the many organizations available here to get women in touch with creating, purchasing or supporting the arts and crafts, both locally and globally. Right here in town we have two wonderful and extensive fair trade organizations. We have quilting organizations that quilt for charity purposes and fundraising, and charity organizations that have extensive arts and crafts programs. We also have thriving arts organizations and community centers with extensive adult learning programs focusing on the arts and spiritual development. In fact, I found so much going on here that at first I thought, "There's no need for my individual efforts here--why not just sign on with some of these organizations and help THEM out? They're older, bigger and more experienced at what they're doing. Why try and re-invent the wheel as they say with my own tiny blog and efforts?"

Happily intrigued by all I was finding, I dove in head first, signing up for a work shop in traditional rug hooking, as well as  taking a quilting course and signing on for a ceramics class as the prerequisite for having studio privileges at a local community center. I volunteered to work at a quilting organization's annual fundraiser that raises money for developmentally disabled kids, and I volunteered, along with my husband, to demonstrate "pioneer era crafts" at our local metroparks. 

Soon I was also taking courses in organic gardening and food preservation, Chinese cooking, and much more. I also started frequenting local farm stands, and learned how to can and store the various delicious seasonal foods. I was kind of like the proverbial kid in a candy store that didn't know when to stop popping chocolates into her mouth! I found I was learning all sorts of new life skills--and loving it!

But something more is going on here for me...Now that I am only working part time--and VERY part time at that--I have had a lot more time to pursue, vocationally, my art and writing. I have set up my own studio and am getting back to illustration, painting and mosaic work. Currently I am working with a publisher on a book, as well as still freelancing articles for various publications. I also have established a bit more of a routine for prayer, exercise and meditation, and am looking into affiliation with various spiritual and faith-based organizations, realizing that, realistically, I can probably only affiliate myself with one of them effectively...but this is a time for checking each other out, not yet for making commitments... 

And to top it all off, Stephen and I have been simply mesmerized with the changing of the seasons, which we have missed for several years now, and have been out taking advantage of the many lovely metroparks that abound in this area. Being in nature is feeding my soul, both artistically and spiritually, at a new and deeper level. I've been fascinated to find almost all the birds we knew around our pond during Florida winters to be here in Ohio during the summer (heron, egrets, they're all here--except for the roseate spoonbill and the anhinga) and we are enjoying our "new birds", like the hummingbirds, indigo bunting and the gold finch which we see in abundance in this area. 

Can you see where all this is going? Lots of new beginnings and great discoveries, all right in the middle of one of the most beautiful times of the year up north...

But then I got thinking, "Why not simply document for people what it is you're doing and discovering, especially in terms of all the new arts organizations and crafting activities you're involved with, and your own spiritual journey through it all?" Surely, some of this stuff will interest some of your readers. And the whole purpose of this blog isn't to highlight my accomplishments per se, if there were any! The purpose of this blog is to be a vehicle to network with other "crafty" women about what myself and other women are doing in the area of the arts and crafts to help build creative and spiritual community, and build a better world, right? And believe me, there's plenty going on up here to share with you all.

So my dear friends and readers, if you'll bear with me during this wonderful time of new beginnings and transitions, and if you don't mind the fact that I might be posting entries a bit more sporadically than before, let's begin again in our mutual quest to craft a better world through fair trade networking, participating in crafting communities and through our modest but sincere attempts to build a better world in small but important steps. 

You'll notice my blog has a new name: The Artisan's Retreat. There's two reasons for that. First of all, I was beginning to feel that "Global Women's Artisan Alliance" was a rather grandiose title for such a modest little effort. Second, I am hoping you will find, or continue to find, this little blog to be a place of "retreat", where you, fellow artisan, can take a moment to rest, perhaps over a cup of coffee, and connect with me and with the efforts of other kindred spirits out there in a manner that will inspire and energize you. I want this blog to continue to be a little haven and network for all women artisans who see crafting and creating things not only as a way to make stuff, build community and create a better world, but as an important part of their own spiritual journey. The feedback I'm getting from nearly everyone who contacts me about this blog is that for them, as well as me, making things is an important part of who they are spiritually, and an important part of their own unfolding journey.

So, my friends, are you ready for a new beginning during this autumnal season full of glorious and brilliant finales? Then let's begin!

Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village

ll right, so I have been a terrible blog host these last two months, but do know that I am running around like a kid in a candy store, checking out all the riches of northwestern Ohio which, it turns out, is a arts and craft lover's paradise. I'm investigating quilt classes, checking out arts centers, looking for a studio out of which to do my ceramics and meeting all kinds of interesting women artisans. Have some patience and stay posted, because eventually I'll be sharing it all with you...And don't think I've given up on our global women--things continue to brew there too, and I will be sharing updates with you shortly...

Last week I went out to Sauder Village in Archbold, Ohio and attended their 13th Annual Rug Hooking Week. I have always wanted to learn how to hook rugs, and took an introductory course with Nancy Blair of Tomorrow's Heirlooms in Allendale, Michigan. I cannot say enough about Nancy--she was a fabulous teacher and a wealth of knowledge. I have tried rug hooking before and wasn't happy with what I wound up with. (I figured I just didn't have the touch.) But Nancy was able to recommend what kind of fabric I should use as well as what type of hook might make rug hooking easier and more satisfying for me and my style of working, and she was able to help me learn to space my hooking for better results. 

I plan on attending next year's Rug Hooking Retreat, scheduled for August 16-21, 2010. Check out www.saudervillage.org for details. You can also reach Nancy Blair via email regarding her products, patterns and teaching schedule at thhkrugs@altelco.net .