Crafting, Women, Justice Work...and Rest!

As winter continues here in northwest Ohio, I've found myself immersed in a variety of projects, exploring new crafting techniques and taking classes at local arts center. Taking courses at these local arts centers has helped me reawaken my creative abilities, and begin to focus them on future artistic aspirations. At the left you'll see a nine patch quilt I'm working on, with the help of the very gifted women of the Quilt Foundry.

I have also joined some women's groups, and am involved in a cooking and recipe club, as well as a crafting group, both of which meet monthly...And I continue to take monthly Chinese cooking courses with the remarkable Ching Leong through the 577 Foundation, opening myself up to a new world not only culinarily, but culturally as Ching shares with us her life and experience...

The activities may sound mundane, and in no way related to our past work of supporting women and artisans, but what I have found through the courses at the arts centers, and through my women's group, are dozens of new women acquaintances, almost all of whom seem to have a heart for other women, and a thirst for helping others and for righting the world's wrongs in their own small way and in their own backyards...be that through crafting, or other forms of advocacy and community-building...

So, I am getting a well-earned sabbatical, crafting, cooking and of course, writing my book, but I am also finding my horizons expanded and challenged by the good women I'm meeting, and by the northwest Ohio tradition of activist crafting and supportive women's organizations...In the meantime, I am finding many allies for moving forward to "the next step"--whatever it is that the future will hold for me by way of supporting craftswomen locally and globally...

What's Wonderful about Winter...

OK, after "Punxsutawney Phil" supposedly saw his shadow the other day, you might be thinking to yourself "What's wonderful about winter? Not much!--and here comes six more weeks of not much!"

Well, on some days I'd be inclined to agree with you. It's been an adjustment coming back north after our time in Florida. Yet on the other hand, having the perspective of having lived down south, some days, we're really enjoying the winter.

Here's some of the highlights of the past few months and "what's wonderful about winter"...

You can pull all those old afghans out of the closet and get lost under them in front of a great DVD--(we've been watching "Mad Men" reruns, and the old BBC series "Manor House"...)

Casseroles, pancakes, hearty stews and crock pot meals for dinner! All that comfort food you don't eat during the warm weather...

You can "waste" ( but it's never a waste!!) lots of time day dreaming, going through old scrapbooks and photo albums, putting the finishing touches on crafts projects, planning the garden for spring, spending a snowy afternoon learning--and then cooking and eating!--a new recipe or two, watching the birds at the bird feeder...

Putting on the fire place--every night!--and warming up with a spiked cocoa or a frothy coffee drink...

Hot bubble baths, and slipping into a thick, cozy bathrobe...

Going through that stack of books and magazines sitting two feet high by the arm chair...

Saturday afternoons roaming through book stores...to add to that two foot pile by the arm chair!

Hand knit wool socks to warm up your toes!

Having company over, to sit around the kitchen table after a great meal of Amish ham loaf, German potato salad and a minced meat pie with ice cream, to just talk and talk and talk...

A "hot date" with my hubby--a night out at the health club's heated pool, sauna and jacuzzi...

Feeding the deer apples at the metropark...

Perfecting my stone bowl bibimbap cooking technique...

Catching up with friends via email or the phone (because they're all stuck inside too!) or better yet, meeting for a cup of coffee (or hot cocoa) to get you both out of the house...

Learning a new language on the computer for that summer vacation coming up...

Getting together with other local women to "craft" around the living room coffee table...

Sunday morning in bed, with coffees and the New York Times and cuddling underneath the down comforter...

You can stare out the window at the slowly falling snow, nursing a cup of tea, just daydreaming...

Life moves so much slower in winter, and so do you, if only because your joints are frozen! Warm 'em up, and enjoy winter...while it lasts!

Mexican Folk Art

Some of our photos from our January trip to Mexico,

featuring some "folk art highlights". Enjoy!

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.