career

Goals list update

July 16, 2013 by Angela

It has been two years since I wrote my first real life goals list. When I came across the “101 goals” lists, I knew I wanted to do it because it was just big enough to give the encouragement I needed to accomplish the big goals over the next three years (I don’t do it unless it’s in a list!), but not too big that if I didn’t complete something I’d feel like a failure. What I didn’t expect was that some of my goals would change – there are definitely things I would swap out now, but I have almost a year to go! The important thing is that I finally feel I’m making some real progress on my goals.

I don’t know why I even put paint a picture on there, I’ve done it so many times, but this time it was for my new apartment. But that’s what you get over two years: things change and evolve and what you thought was big then might be silly now, or what you didn’t know you wanted might emerge later on.

What are your big goals? Do you do lists like this?

10 ways to be a more eco-friendly crafter

April 22, 2013 by Angela

Happy Earth Day, friends! Earth Day is a time to reflect on one’s lifestyle, choices, and commitments. Let me begin by saying that I’m from a very environmentally considerate part of the world – the PNW – and while I’ve always celebrated nature – it wasn’t until college that I saw my role in protecting and maintaining the awe-inspiring planet we live on.

What’s not to love about a day to take a look at the beautiful natural world around us and think about what an awesome time we have taking walks on sunny days, going on hikes under a dome of trees, learning about our favorite animals, or photographing our adventures and travels?

When I think of the words that define me, it’s sometimes hard to consider them in terms of the Earth. I am a writer and crafter – and both can means lots of consumption and waste. I can’t imagine how many notebooks I’ve wasted writing a few words and thinking no, this isn’t what I want to say, and scrapping the whole page for the next. Going to college really got me thinking about my ecological footprint though, and now Earth is on my mind nonstop. It’s almost annoying, actually! I can’t help but critique a product’s packaging or take note when someone trashes something when a recycle bin is nearby. But I try not to judge.

Anyway, I thought all us crafters could use a handy list of tips for being more eco-friendly. We’re all making beautiful art, gifts, and products for others to treasure so we’re a step ahead of pack. We know that handmade trumps mass produced. But we can do better, too.

1. Consider the source.

Although so many inspiring designers are behind the supplies at the craft store, we should still read the label and find out where/who produces them, just like we would our food or clothes.

2. Don’t scrap the scraps.

When scrapbooking I can’t stand letting extra paper, ribbon, or yarn go to waste. There’s always something that can be made with it. The art journal in the background of the above photo is how I reused much of the scraps collected for years. It’s made up of book pages, old stickers, used packaging, and more.

3. Buy in Bulk.

This is hard for the indecisive crafter, but buying in bulk cuts down on packaging big time. Plus it usually saves on shipping, drives prices down, etc.

4. Don’t buy what you can make.

Being cheap is how I started making my own crafty embellishments. Then I realized it’s a lot more fun. I also no longer buy supplies like inkpads – I can just use washable markers I already own for stamping.

5. Know that secondhand doesn’t always mean used, and, vintage is in.

You can find a ton of craft supplies – including paper – new or lightly used at thrift shops. Not only are they cheap, but why create an unnecessary demand for NEW supplies?

See how artists combine handmade and secondhand on Etsy.

6. Get organized.

Things I buy because I always lose them: sewing needles, threads, glue, tape, etc. If I’d just get organized I would eliminate this need.

7. You just made a gift, why not the packaging?

It’s half the fun and can probably be made with scraps from other projects. There are tutorials all over Pinterest for spicing up gift wrap and making creative packaging.

8. Find your way around plastic.

Plastic never dies and there are often great alternatives for its use.

9. Two words: small business.

Just recently I started crocheting with handspun yarn (from an Etsy shop). I know that if I swap the items in my shop for only sustainable, locally made, I’ll have to increase my prices a lot. But it’s something to consider in order to be a more sustainable crafter and have higher quality goods in the long run. Peruse the internet or your local farmers/craft markets for materials.

10. If your craft is sustainable, promote it.

Eco-friendly is marketable. People want others to know when they’re doing something good. And buying handmade, natural, secondhand, and sustainable – that’s good. Why not let people know?

Of course, this is just my take on eco-friendly crafting – if you have ideas, PLEASE share them in the comments! This whole week is Earth week, so don’t forget to celebrate!

Equality

January 21, 2013 by Angela

There are a lot of historically important days that I breeze by, thinking only of what I need to accomplish at the present moment, how to get to the next moment, and what is going on with me, and only me. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is one of those that could easily be pushed aside as ordinary.

It has always bothered me when I see one person treated as lesser than another, and living in politically and socially progressive cities all my life, it’s often hard to imagine that people are still being treated in such ways. It wasn’t until a sociology class in college that I realized how truly how wrong that assumption was, that not everyone thinks like me. It’s easy for us all to think we believe in true equality. We all want to think that regardless of race, religion, gender, orientation, class, and whatever else, that we don’t treat people differently. But we often judge people based off of how we personally perceive life, based off our experiences + assumptions.

After briefly hearing speakers on MLK and black history month last week, I did some reading of my own. I hadn’t known that MLK graduated high school at fifteen, or that in eleven years he spoke on equality over 2500 times. It’s easy to think that if he hadn’t made such advances, someone else would have, but it takes a remarkably brave person.

typography quote from TheMotivatedType

My freshman year of college I had a professor who, on the last day of class, showed us a video of a “nonviolent” protest she had been involved in (I don’t even remember what they were protesting!). It involved smashing windows and the general dirtying of streets and neighborhoods. The fact that MLK and his allies boycotts’ were actually peaceful (to my knowledge), and yet people were still arrested + abused for participating, is wrong, but shows their power + resilience, and faith that the issues they faced needed to be changed.

The funny thing about civil rights has always been to me that we base our assumptions off of laws. Women couldn’t vote because of laws, interracial couples couldn’t get married because of laws, and a plethora of unjust laws still exist. Were these actions that were wrong before suddenly acceptable because the laws were amended? Obviously not. Sometimes, we need to base our actions off of other reasoning in order to advance. Sometimes it seems like America prefers baby steps to the leaps + bounds that seem necessary.

It bothers me that there is still so much work to do—but I think today is the perfect day to put those fanciful notions we all like to live by—you can do anything, hard work pays off, just believe in yourself, live your dreams, love is all that matters—to use in the littlest of ways: resolving problems with peace, hanging in there when things seem unjust + doing what you can do turn it around.

Goal no. 48: read books from childhood

September 6, 2012 by Angela

One of my goals has been to read five of my favorite books from when I was little. I wanted to reread the ones that I had a distinct memory of, and relive those moments when I was lost in a chapter book. It has been a little over a year since I started my 101 goals in 1,001 days project, and I’ve finished three books from my childhood. The fourth is “The House At Pooh Corner,” one of AA Milne’s masterpieces! I read the first book in a sitting (is that really something to boast about, being a children’s book and all?) and it just put me in a happier mood. To be honest, sometimes I have a few perfectly interesting/good/intriguing books on my shelf for me to read, but I pick up Winnie the Pooh instead. It’s relaxing sometimes to read without actually feeling like you’re reading, you know? I love reading but I am the type of person that has to be in a certain mood to read a certain genre…sometimes I over-think the very thought of reading to the point where I don’t get anything finished. Often, I’m too eager to start a new book to pay attention to the book I’m reading! It’s kind of embarrassing, calling myself a lit-lover, when for a week all I might read is an illustrated chapter from this book. As I’m reading it, I’m reminded of the animated series, and know everything the characters are about to say and do. Who knows? Maybe Winnie the Pooh is somehow subconsciously why I majored in English and want to make writing part of my life’s work.

I’ve also read two titles from Sharon Creech, and not too long ago (before I officially made that goals list) I reread The BFG. I think I may move on to The Magic Treehouse series next. What are your favorite children’s books?

Be: environmentally conscious

April 22, 2012 by Angela

Happy Earth Day! I hope you found time to celebrate the B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L planet we live on. I’ve been searching all week for a comprehensive list of simple things we should always to do respect the environment and make it a better place for all of us live! Unfortunately, I found no such list. There is just so much to be said.

A lot of bloggers are crafty/DIY people. Handmade is pretty much always better than mass produced. But we should all think about where we get our materials. There is often a better alternative. I especially love seeing paper crafters who use only recycled items. Paper is such an abundant resource that I don’t really see a need to buy more.

Many of us use recyclable bags already. But if you buy a lot of veggies, you might want to think about how much plastic you use for each of those.

If everyone made a small change in the way they use plastic, we’d eliminate SO much waste.

When I first came to college, I figured everyone was like me– ~~obsessive~~ passionate recycler, conscious about wasting things, tries to save energy – but that’s not true. I live in a very environmentally conscious city, but I’ve still met plenty of people that throw garbage bags of recyclable material away constantly.

These bloom+grow and party favor projects are simply amazing. You don’t need to have an Earth Day party, but if you have some things lying around that would normally be trashed, it would be fun to make a newspaper party hat or a chip-bag garland.

If you work at a business that has a lot to throw away, consider all the alternative uses for those items. When I worked at a gift shop I’d bring home the cardboard boxes and use them when I sold things on eBay.

The most important thing you can do is educate yourself and others. Some areas that people need to know about are: pollution, waste, energy, sustainability, and animal safety.