tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59311520915720523472024-03-05T19:28:38.079-05:00That Neck of the WoodsBaking, Sewing, Gardening, Crafts, sometimes a halfway intelligent thought for extra flavor with complementary sarcasm.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-64605801074268158342016-05-08T16:46:00.001-04:002016-05-08T16:46:09.696-04:00Reflections on Mothers Day... from a non-motherAs a kid, I had a pretty good idea of what life would be like as an adult. I would be taller. I would be allowed to stay up late. I would be able to drive. And I would have my own kids that would make sense of all the <i>One day, when you have kids of your own, you'll understand</i> comments from my mom.<div>
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In my early twenties, I was sure I was on the <i>right</i> <i>track</i>. Heading in that direction you assume you're supposed to be going. College, Job, Married, House, Kids (maybe not necessarily in that order). In my mid-twenties, after graduating college, I got married. Friends, family, peers, even acquaintances started nudging and asking when I was going to start having kids. Even the nurses at my family doctors office would remark on the way I engaged with the kids in the waiting room and sweetly ask when I was going to bring in news of my pregnancy.</div>
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It wasn't until my late twenties that I started to feel like I had made some kind of tragic mistake or series of mistakes somewhere. While my marriage fell apart, I watched those around me continue heading in the direction I'd once thought I was headed. They were having babies, buying houses, sending kids off to school... and I wondered what I'd done wrong.</div>
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Now that I'm into my thirties, reflecting on what I thought my life would be leaves me with what feels like a mixture of nostalgia and sadness. Two of my little sisters and almost all of my friends have kids by now. It's been years since anyone asked when I'm going to start having kids (the only exception being my mom). There's a threshold you reach, it seems, after which people stop looking at you expectantly.</div>
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I'm 33 years old now. And I'm in a place in my life that I never, in all the possibilities of how things could turn out, thought I'd be here. I am finding myself falling in love with two kids who I didn't give birth to. And my heart is ripping wide open like nothing I've ever experienced.</div>
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I didn't get to feel the anxious excitement looking at that positive pregnancy test. I never felt that first flutter of movement. I never whispered loving promises to my growing belly. I never waited with growing anticipation over getting to finally look into the face of these incredible little people I had created. I didn't hold them after they were born and marvel at the features on their faces that reflected aspects of myself or their father. I didn't feed them, burp them, or rock them to sleep. I didn't change their diapers. I didn't stay up all night with sicknesses, nightmares, or colic. I didn't worry about rashes, fevers, or whether I was making all the wrong choices. I never watched them sleep and saw in these little humans the miracle of life that I had brought into this world.</div>
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I am not their mother. I do not know motherhood. I don't know what it's like to wake up each day with the thought of my children being the first thing on my mind. I don't know what it's like to hear a sound in the middle of the night and wait, listening to see if was one of mine who may need me. I don't know what it's like to hear your baby say 'mama' for the first time. I don't know what it's like to wipe tears from your eyes the first time you see your kid walk, or feed themselves, or learn something new and see the look of wonder in their eyes.</div>
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There is a lot about motherhood that remains a mystery to me. There is a lot that I wish I had. I still want to know what it's like to love another human being with so much intensity that your whole being is wrapped up in their happiness and security. I wish I knew what it feels like to see this little human and know that you'll never love another person the way you love them. I wish I knew what it was like to wonder at the reality of being able to love each of your kids with that much intensity and marvel at the depth of that love. </div>
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In all the ways I imagined my life as a kid, I never thought would have imagined the possibility that I would love someone else's children, and that they would have such a profound impact on what I thought of who I am and what my life means. I never would have imagined how difficult, confusing, and emotional building a relationship with someone else's kids might be.</div>
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Life around someone else's children isn't easy. I am not their mother. They know it, I know it. Our relationship is a different one. And because my role in their life isn't assumed based on parentage, I must carve out my role around them intentionally; with care, consideration, and a lot of respect.</div>
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My feelings for them is fostered in a different way than a parent's would. I understand their limitations and their possibilities, and I am overjoyed that I'm able to participate in their exploration of the world around them and their growth as people. I see their wonder at the world and am excited to be able to keep that feeling of awe alive for them in all things.</div>
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There are many things I had assumed I would come into automatically when I gave birth to my children. Things I am only now beginning to realize can be grown into without ever giving birth. And while I am still navigating an unknown relationship dynamic, I am also beginning to look at where I thought I would be with reassurance that I may be headed there anyway.... just taking a slightly different path than most people.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-82258668840120150262015-10-14T18:53:00.000-04:002015-10-14T19:09:18.004-04:00Safety<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1Lm6svRtOKKh_y3JD6QyMB5yWO2C2SFFkxI2YzWuhyphenhyphenlrZ_koxYWSn0r8XmQu52nfUTQD66JTFOeUObSbsfUQbIa68kXV6PMK9SGBrQVd0dA6Uusy56068E4SDjVaOC5YtuCmG4-jq9JK/s1600/hug.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1Lm6svRtOKKh_y3JD6QyMB5yWO2C2SFFkxI2YzWuhyphenhyphenlrZ_koxYWSn0r8XmQu52nfUTQD66JTFOeUObSbsfUQbIa68kXV6PMK9SGBrQVd0dA6Uusy56068E4SDjVaOC5YtuCmG4-jq9JK/s640/hug.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I need to feel safe. Security is something I had very little of growing up. I couldn't rely on my home being a safe place for me. My relationship with both of my parents was unpredictable at best, and downright scary at worst.<br />
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We didn't have the type of family where we talked about our emotions. We didn't really talk about anything; with each other or with anybody else. The kids followed orders or otherwise we kept a low profile and just hoped that we wouldn't be targeted by a foul mood or an errant chore.<br />
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The masks we wore in public were something we learned from a very early age. We were to behave a certain way when company was over or when we were out in public. We were well-behaved, courteous, and quiet. We were clean and dressed appropriately. We all played the part very well. It was like a play being performed. No fighting with each other, no back-talk, no doing things you aren't supposed to do... otherwise we all knew the consequences when we'd get home, or get in the car. Most importantly, we never talked about the things that went on at home to anyone. We didn't talk to family, friends, teachers, neighbors; we just didn't talk about it. It wasn't just discipline that kept us quiet, it was genuine fear. The threats uttered weren't idle for us.<br />
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Unpredictability became so commonplace that I grew to find monotony and routine as the calm before the inevitable storm. The longer the calm lasted, the more anxious I would become. Before I was even 11 years old, I began to find laughter, celebration, and general good moods around my house to be such high-tension moments of my life that I had trouble sleeping and eating became difficult.<br />
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Things are very different in my family today. So different, in fact, that I often feel like I don't belong to this new family. It's an environment where good moods and laughter are much more common. Joking around, playfulness, and frank conversations happen frequently.<br />
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But I still don't feel safe. The scars left on me from all those years have never healed. I am still anxious in moments of peace. I still struggle with talking about my emotions instead of letting them run rough shot over my life. I still feel inadequate most of the time. I still fight urges to try to play peacemaker in every situation. I still feel alone due to finding it so difficult to talk to people about how I'm feeling or what I'm going through.<br />
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I'm working on it, though. And that's all any of us can do: try. I don't want to feel alone. I don't want to feel like I don't belong anywhere or that I am somehow beyond repair or more than anyone should have to 'deal with'. So I'm working on it. I'm talking finally. I'm letting the poison out so that I can begin to heal and begin to find my voice.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/109572878&auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-86855267930711027452015-09-27T13:31:00.000-04:002015-10-02T19:01:36.592-04:00Are you really living your life? Or are you just surviving it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-R3_mDPmSTq1qPTzuaWm80F0WGliWZMWNDBSm4eHLALR-tBLklgdWhYA8lEhFxsvoJURtDnp37NxXBEqoo4JuMpvkdgN7qsApk7x_yo2QQYJpsIzRHczxIzxAy8FPIYnL4Yhs9knaZrN7/s1600/contemplate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-R3_mDPmSTq1qPTzuaWm80F0WGliWZMWNDBSm4eHLALR-tBLklgdWhYA8lEhFxsvoJURtDnp37NxXBEqoo4JuMpvkdgN7qsApk7x_yo2QQYJpsIzRHczxIzxAy8FPIYnL4Yhs9knaZrN7/s320/contemplate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We all have our routines.<br />
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When I put my shoes on, the right one always goes on first. When I drink coffee, I always put cream in before the coffee so I don't have to stir it. When I get in my car, I always put my seatbelt on before I start the car. These things are so ingrained in my life they barely register consciously.<br />
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Then there are those parts of our lives that we engage in.<br />
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We are present and consciously aware of our actions and reactions. When I'm listening to someone explain something I'm trying to understand, I will actively create mnemonic devices to commit facts to memory. When I am trying to cheer someone up, I will always look them in the eye and smile a lot (we are mimic creatures and we can effect one another's emotions with assertive social cues - how neat!). <br />
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Unfortunately there are aspects of all of our lives we aren't really sure how to deal with.<br />
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When we experience an upsetting event, do we allow our emotions to respond naturally and ride it out? Do we stop, step back, attempt to control what we're feeling and stub it out or swallow it down? When it comes to things like mental health, trauma, abuse, etc., it can be very difficult for many of us to feel confident that we know how to handle things.<br />
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My trauma</h3>
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Recovering from childhood trauma is not easy. It is not quick. It is not neat or clean or painless. And it is anything but predictable or even measurable. It can sometimes also be very difficult to do alone or without professional help.<br />
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Childhood abuse causes severe, long-term trauma. Some of it you find yourself tripping over well into adulthood; many years after the <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2010/03/the-me-inside-me.html" target="_blank">initial incidents</a>. I have been doing <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2014/12/my-change-isnt-your-change.html" target="_blank">recovery work</a> for going on ten years now. And even this many years after entering counseling and exploring behavioral cognitive therapy to change how I think and process information, I am still stunned sometimes at how much I unearth and how much work I have to do.<br />
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Self doubt. Imposter Syndrome. Anxiety. Worthlessness. I have a lot of markers of an abuse victim.<br />
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Impatience. Hostility. Stubbornness. Tenacity. I also have the markers of a fighter and a survivor.<br />
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Emotional sensitivity. Heightened empathy. Candid communication. Transparency. I have discovered ways to use the survival skills of being around abusive people for positive internal growth and have even found a career that enables me to utilize these traits effectively.<br />
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How I live</h3>
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While I bear these scars from my childhood trauma, some traits have become helpful, but many are not. The anger and hostility, for example, have done irreparable damage on many relationships. And while the defense mechanism of protecting myself with an intimidating exterior is effective at keeping people who may harm me at bay... it also prevents those who may help me from ever reaching me. I work on this particular negative trait continuously.<br />
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I am triggered constantly. It took me many years to recognize many of my triggers, but having realized what they were also enabled me to acknowledge them and handle them in a safe, healthy way for me. Instead of ignoring their effects, I would allow myself to explore if my immediate inclined response was appropriate or if I was reacting to the trigger. In many cases I was able to identify an overreaction because of a trigger, and control my reaction. This work remains ongoing.<br />
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Healing</h3>
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When I first started seeing a counselor several years ago, I started to learn how to change how I process information and how I react and why that has to be a conscious effort. Every single time. Every time I am going to react, I have stop, breathe, and think about how my brain is processing that information. In doing this, you quickly realize how illogical your abused mind is. How defensive and paranoid it can be. You have to stop the way you process and consider only the facts presented to you instead of your assumptions or your fears. You must continue doing this until your immediate inclination is not harmful or contributing to toxic thought processes.<br />
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I am happy to say that by and large my hostility has receded into a reaction that isn't common or expected any more. It was my first big challenge in my recovery. And while I still retain the ability to react in a hostile way during moments of stress, I am almost always able to manage it in a healthy way.<br />
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Today</h3>
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The two traits that cause me the most ongoing distress are my nagging self doubt and the feeling of being an imposter.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The imposter syndrome is the inability to accept and claim accomplishments no matter what level of success, even with hard-won achievements because there is an irrational fear that you don't deserve the success or maybe you are just a fraud. Outward signs of accomplishment are seen as just good luck or good timing. An "imposter" feels as if she or he has been deceptive and has made others think he or she is more intelligent or skilled than they really are. While this is true for narcissists who don't necessarily have the resume to back up the grandiosity, it is not true for hard-won success."</blockquote>
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To begin to understand why I experience these two traits (often in conjunction with one another), I have had to dive deep into the interactions I had growing up in <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2014/02/dont-say-im-sorry.html" target="_blank">the environment I had as a kid</a>.<br />
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Once I begin to unravel the roots of where my self doubt came from (constant criticism), I have had to then explore why I have such difficulty owning my achievements and attributing my successes to my own accomplishments and not feats of 'luck' or 'fortuitous timing' or (worst of all) 'by the grace of others'.<br />
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That's all well and good to lay out like that in black and white... but that doesn't mean it's easy. It doesn't mean that in those moments I'm able to objectively and critically analyze what is going on and respond with grace and poise.<br />
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This is constant work. It is every day, all day.<br />
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How I keep getting up every day</h3>
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It is you. You who made it this far. You who read all of this because you care. Because you want to understand. Because you ask. It is with the support of others around me that I'm able to keep fighting for myself. To keep plowing forward every day when I'm feeling like giving up and giving in.<br />
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I am thankful to those who support me more than I feel like I've ever been able to articulate. I am thankful for the people in my life who challenge me. Who support me completely. Who believe in me. Who know I can push through my dark times and who celebrate for me when I'm unable to. I am appreciative of the patience and understanding and genuine care and concern the people in my life have for me.<br />
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Find those people who won't walk away, and cherish them. Tell them you love them and keep them close to you. Your support network really does make the difference between actually living your life and just surviving it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-31961908326284326852015-07-19T21:18:00.000-04:002015-07-19T21:18:52.986-04:00The fork... and beyondImportant parts of you change as time ticks ever onward. This is both a generalization and a simplistic view of human growth. I'm not just referring to the aging and decaying process that happens as our bodies and our minds begin to break down; but rather the psychological effects of exposure to new experiences throughout our lives.<br />
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We can allow these experiences to wash over us; leaving their mark on us... or we can immerse ourselves in those experiences. We can deconstruct those events and attempt to examine their significance to us and how those events in our lives may help us continue to grow.</div>
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Things I learned ten years ago...</h3>
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With each new experience, we have an opportunity to take a step back and examine what has happened. </div>
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<i>Was this a positive experience? Negative? What gave me feelings one way or the other? What did it teach me? What did this event make me question about what I already knew? What effect might it have on what I currently (or used to) know to be 'true'?</i></div>
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There are things that can happen when you take that step back, though. And you have to be prepared for the unexpected (<i>how profound, right?</i>). You may find that you've suddenly realized something that upsets all of what you know. Or at least enough of it that you feel like your hold on pieces of your life are beginning to fall through your fingers.</div>
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You look at something carefully and you have this moment. It can be as clear and as astonishingly simple as finally realizing what it is you've been looking for... and suddenly your whole world comes to a halt and you're forced to question everything.</div>
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I believe these are the moments that define us. I take these moments very seriously. Those moments of impasse where I have a chance to take the terrifying leap into the unknown - in the direction of my epiphany... or I can duck my head and plow in the same direction I've been heading and trust my tenacity for endurance to keep me satiated.</div>
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With each new experience in your life, you have two questions before you:</div>
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<i>Do you take the road you've been following and allow a fairly predictable future to unfold before you to a fairly predictable outcome?</i></div>
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Or...</div>
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<i>Do you see the light on a different, fairly unpredictable path, but with more possibility for ongoing growth and fulfillment and take the leap?</i></div>
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Things I learned three years ago...</h3>
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When I was a little less experienced, I would almost always choose the path of highest predictability. The least amount of unknown usually meant the fewest instances of unexpected stress (if you know me at all, you know this is my single biggest undoing in any given scenario). But a few decades, a boat load of experience, two moves, and a smattering of exes later... I have become pretty comfortable with the blind jump off the cliff.</div>
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I have come to trust what you could say are my <i>instincts</i> (which are, really, likely just a combination of critical thinking and analysis skills I have acquired and honed to such a fine point that making decisions feels seamless and obvious). Decisions to follow the unknown path have served me well so far and have always lead to a more rewarding life.</div>
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Things I'm only now realizing...</h3>
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You may reach a point where decisions aren't as simple as one path or another. So what do you do in that case? What do you do when you catch a glimpse of the future and it isn't where you want to be headed? Additionally, what do you do if the alternative may give you more immediate gratification but has more unknowns than you're comfortable with?</div>
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Is it possible that blazing a whole different path is an option? It is possible that having seen both paths clearly that neither of them is suitable? Am I capable of stepping completely off both paths and going forward with nothing more than a guide that tells me where I <i>don't</i> want to be...?<br />
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I don't have the answers I want. Or the answers I feel that I need.</div>
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I may be headed toward what may be a blind leap into total unknown.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-45780949040325461692015-04-17T21:28:00.002-04:002015-04-18T10:26:44.027-04:00Photo Frame Collage ProjectI've seen these photo wall collages for years and have always thought they are a clever way of clustering neat visual elements.<br />
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5e/1e/78/5e1e78304aecfd98252f74466bdf7fb7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/5e/1e/78/5e1e78304aecfd98252f74466bdf7fb7.jpg" width="466" /></a></div>
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Many moons ago, when I was still rocking a 35mm camera, I tended to have a ton of physical photos kicking around. After a lot of years of collecting frames for all my photos, I had ended up with a pretty decent stockpile of neat frames. So I had an idea of creating a cool wall collage with the nicest of the ones I had collected.</div>
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The only problem: they were all different colors that didn't really go well together. Solution: painting time!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBj67ljhVuj7yPt_qVQYWIgiPbVhfIWS_PMzNQIi7-H0wD-Ma82rsF1gBKKBtVkgrHKFgTgXAfZtx-UerulJa7GpJNAL8K2p4mVermicn-RXlVixBUCi1wkxnWsRPQEIcUacJkiPVVnmA/s1600/frame-tools.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBj67ljhVuj7yPt_qVQYWIgiPbVhfIWS_PMzNQIi7-H0wD-Ma82rsF1gBKKBtVkgrHKFgTgXAfZtx-UerulJa7GpJNAL8K2p4mVermicn-RXlVixBUCi1wkxnWsRPQEIcUacJkiPVVnmA/s1600/frame-tools.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Conveniently, I had some paint left over from the <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2012/08/distressed-coffee-table-refurbish.html">table refurbish project</a>, so I simply used that to repaint the frames I had.</div>
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Once I had the frames finished, I arranged them in about a dozen ways to try to figure out what worked with what I had and came up with this layout.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjaGDKBPenzvDxj72jw9z66Sp8wCF0fbUNevY6xWmvTIAbV2IAaG6EQPrqbe3exOXAt8YGSTgGiOnGd1W926jR2yncOlpEqrq6zVxG9RiggFDuvfMT7bZ_J2jpqa2nFDSygy4LTNlXa5a/s1600/painted-frames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjaGDKBPenzvDxj72jw9z66Sp8wCF0fbUNevY6xWmvTIAbV2IAaG6EQPrqbe3exOXAt8YGSTgGiOnGd1W926jR2yncOlpEqrq6zVxG9RiggFDuvfMT7bZ_J2jpqa2nFDSygy4LTNlXa5a/s1600/painted-frames.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Once I had the frame configuration figured out, it took me a while to decide what I wanted to do with what would go inside them. Finally, I decided to fill each frame with pieces of cloth from my <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2014/01/quilting-quilt.html">quilt project</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-kK70MkYLqYSd-7voQBNJAy4uo8lJ07k-r6O4MPJ7Yr7XZrZAyHkmkGu0qWqag8LWpsJg48X_gKB6WfFVtWEBQPDjfNMPQfuCy9gDjITcco4pANI25_A8WJKKCIhPO6CaQ8emO_WH9Iq/s1600/filled-frames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-kK70MkYLqYSd-7voQBNJAy4uo8lJ07k-r6O4MPJ7Yr7XZrZAyHkmkGu0qWqag8LWpsJg48X_gKB6WfFVtWEBQPDjfNMPQfuCy9gDjITcco4pANI25_A8WJKKCIhPO6CaQ8emO_WH9Iq/s1600/filled-frames.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then began the task of getting this bad boy up on the wall. I didn't take photos of how I did this part (mostly because there was a giant mess during the process and I like pretending like all my projects are well organized and always super clean haha).</div>
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Here's how I suggest doing this:</div>
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<ol>
<li>Make a layout plan on the floor or a large table (mind spacing and sizes and designs as much as possible)</li>
<li>Turn over each frame and place a strip of parchment paper or news papers over the backs of the frames. </li>
<li>Feeling through the paper, mark where each frame will be hung. </li>
<li>Using a laser level, make sure the markers are level and tape your paper to the wall where the frames will go.</li>
<li>Drill small holes through the paper into your wall to prepare for slightly larger nails (if you have heavy frames, you may want to use screws instead of nails)</li>
<li>Hammer in your nails and pull off the paper from the wall</li>
<li>Hang your frames</li>
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<a href="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--G5tnPi0l--/18fbva351qra4jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--G5tnPi0l--/18fbva351qra4jpg.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a>Protip: when drilling holes in walls (especially if you have plaster walls like I do), to avoid the mess, stick folded post-it notes to the wall under the place where you're going to drill your hole so that it catches all the wall mess. I learned this trick a few years ago and have been using it ever since!</div>
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Here's how mine turned out!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAK0ZahaJRoN4Lr_kfkmBkEtUu8CgmqQF0NryNO9a-Y4LgeyqIXkWNzC6fQffTzw9OCHcnhJ-jUGYslRqO7fTl3brtRE2J45dsdIst3o5kCJBQZMWE7IbCLCC7te7xXMCkywy8lZSoF_LS/s1600/finished-photo-collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAK0ZahaJRoN4Lr_kfkmBkEtUu8CgmqQF0NryNO9a-Y4LgeyqIXkWNzC6fQffTzw9OCHcnhJ-jUGYslRqO7fTl3brtRE2J45dsdIst3o5kCJBQZMWE7IbCLCC7te7xXMCkywy8lZSoF_LS/s1600/finished-photo-collage.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-60871612304885333182014-12-22T07:51:00.001-05:002014-12-22T11:51:35.898-05:00Cranberry Pecan RugalachRugalach (pronounced ROO-guh-la) is a magical, delicious Jewish pastry. These are one of a couple kinds of cookies I make at the holidays these days. The buttery, flakey cookie part of these crescent-shaped pastries are balanced out by the tart, crunchy filling. You can replace the cranberries in this recipe with cherries or apricots if you prefer and they still turn out delicious.<br />
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I made a double batch of these bad boys, so if you're doing a single batch you'll have half of the stuff you see in the pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8TQLQXNPH-gWZ6Gby1llzUKDoplLNBGzZ050NmVWnGYBlEY1_f0HREwL_hqMIgwHKGKyKhvsvc5qINBKwidp-Lw79PT51G2un8Dkd7KQBqxwHqXGiNwxzyrTZLaHZ0oZ0xgmAoxMJ6b4/s1600/2014-12-20+18.36.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8TQLQXNPH-gWZ6Gby1llzUKDoplLNBGzZ050NmVWnGYBlEY1_f0HREwL_hqMIgwHKGKyKhvsvc5qINBKwidp-Lw79PT51G2un8Dkd7KQBqxwHqXGiNwxzyrTZLaHZ0oZ0xgmAoxMJ6b4/s1600/2014-12-20+18.36.59.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Cranberry Pecan Filling</h3>
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3/4 cup sugar</div>
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2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted</div>
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2/3 cup finely chopped sweetened, dried cranberries</div>
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1/2 cup butter, melted</div>
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1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon</div>
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3/4 tsp ground allspice</div>
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Stir all ingredients together until well mixed.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSxhumuoLK-tw-9dnSDhO4_vIhRgXY0F_Wchozll9nk5U8jDYxbeJQ0Wt6nqH9QqZ8AJ0qdFbm71j6vsxKQz2Co6OmmnzjY1d9j9NJhI2V5jYcR1juft-Gk7cR6Wob4fzLNYVthCL78Md/s1600/2014-12-20+19.01.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSxhumuoLK-tw-9dnSDhO4_vIhRgXY0F_Wchozll9nk5U8jDYxbeJQ0Wt6nqH9QqZ8AJ0qdFbm71j6vsxKQz2Co6OmmnzjY1d9j9NJhI2V5jYcR1juft-Gk7cR6Wob4fzLNYVthCL78Md/s1600/2014-12-20+19.01.05.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I'll just pretend that when I bake my workspace always looks so neat and organized. Because, you know, I secretly live on a cooking show.</div>
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The filling is pretty straightforward, but to work with it easier later, I find heating it up over low heat makes it a little more spreadable.</div>
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I suggest having a good amount of counter space instead of using the kitchen table like I do. I made the filling and dough the night before and let the dough chill overnight before starting on assembly and actual baking. Spending 5 hours bent over the kitchen table assembling these does a number on your back so try and use a counter if you have enough room. Also, one of those sweet <a href="http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,42194&p=71127">anti-fatigue mats that Lee Valley sells</a> is a good idea for all baking. Well really just about everything at Lee Valley is awesome (no, I'm not getting money for saying that... and now I'm rambling).<br />
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MOVING ON.<br />
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<h3>
Cranberry Pecan Rugalach</h3>
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1 cup butter, softened</div>
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1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened</div>
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1/2 cup granulated sugar</div>
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2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour</div>
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1/2 tsp salt</div>
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Cranberry Pecan Filling</div>
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1 large egg, lightly beaten</div>
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1/2 cup sparkling sugar</div>
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Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWyS9n5S5c_hIecRKbTe9rHAZhV1VuZBsnX7a2g7ZNm4ztua8gMHz1kOC_J3eJJGXUlO5rz2st1Mywp5PlhxCKEYVAx76eUxxFeMPb0-K1_T3kqo-Gth7Be0dGh2-a8CHJf1ACHbAv7kQ/s1600/2014-12-20+19.29.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWyS9n5S5c_hIecRKbTe9rHAZhV1VuZBsnX7a2g7ZNm4ztua8gMHz1kOC_J3eJJGXUlO5rz2st1Mywp5PlhxCKEYVAx76eUxxFeMPb0-K1_T3kqo-Gth7Be0dGh2-a8CHJf1ACHbAv7kQ/s1600/2014-12-20+19.29.42.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Yes I realize that's a terrifying amount of butter and cream cheese. Believe me, the second you inhale your 7th or 8th cookie you'll not only appreciate all this fatty goodness, you will start to hallucinate an angelic choir lulling you into pastry euphoria. Or you'll end up with a stomach ache. Either way - worth it.</div>
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Gradually add granulated sugar, beating until fluffy. Stir in flour and salt. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUsr2T_QMEi-53zTMWsLwFEIVzJdXzyDuHSYKcCPgrejsBQZCfz9Z8IqabbladFhlv_T8Prvv2P6H_H8DrvCHNf49BvqzXFxUWyP14G63jyk8Z2qqdYkAplzCopdlwGs9bG-Pd5z_3cMR5/s1600/2014-12-20+19.39.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUsr2T_QMEi-53zTMWsLwFEIVzJdXzyDuHSYKcCPgrejsBQZCfz9Z8IqabbladFhlv_T8Prvv2P6H_H8DrvCHNf49BvqzXFxUWyP14G63jyk8Z2qqdYkAplzCopdlwGs9bG-Pd5z_3cMR5/s1600/2014-12-20+19.39.49.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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I like using a pastry cutter to get the initial mixing done. But nothing beats just getting in there with your hands to make sure it's mixed well. You'll want to make sure the dough is very smooth. You'll know it's ready when it's the consistency of soft playdough.</div>
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Divide dough into 8 equal portions.</div>
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Flatten each portion into a disc, wrap separately in plastic wrap, and chill for 8 hours.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNc64f_g8kLy1VXDiIAG9PZ21qvwHTVlGIAFKEZCMS7dxSvqGpT_nD1f4Vw2UgOUuAWI7v0DIj0alnE-z0ky9VWlU0ZvbmMZ5s7o9KtLfqCmhQLQ9zBTmzJ9xhllVFkCRIhvMU7sjqm4J/s1600/2014-12-20+19.47.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNc64f_g8kLy1VXDiIAG9PZ21qvwHTVlGIAFKEZCMS7dxSvqGpT_nD1f4Vw2UgOUuAWI7v0DIj0alnE-z0ky9VWlU0ZvbmMZ5s7o9KtLfqCmhQLQ9zBTmzJ9xhllVFkCRIhvMU7sjqm4J/s1600/2014-12-20+19.47.15.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Having done a double batch, I ended up with quite a few of these (16).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Es0_JtGALJXisFhA2PZ6PNnyH8CioIXcilRorpcKCc1vAo1X-CsXXnFvhHjofJxHMgL3Jq-508rVV8rulcLhTX-L-J4HJuJUc54XxZuRg8QYX5yu3V96TC0GDDKrlWXOPE2AadSEDRSy/s1600/2014-12-20+19.52.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Es0_JtGALJXisFhA2PZ6PNnyH8CioIXcilRorpcKCc1vAo1X-CsXXnFvhHjofJxHMgL3Jq-508rVV8rulcLhTX-L-J4HJuJUc54XxZuRg8QYX5yu3V96TC0GDDKrlWXOPE2AadSEDRSy/s1600/2014-12-20+19.52.39.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Remove dough from the fridge (or the porch if you're making these in Canada in the winter). <br />Roll one portion of dough at a time into an 8" circle on a lightly floured surface. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkVH8kwGofct1Pm_Yy30jyCHaNiLIZA1X2uTraI_18SOlztgqauUTTTjtxtYzu6gYqEdU-9rBLacX_GtXMQSYm70F-Els0nkS4YleCvARMfObGX4pJMeH4FIa35rFt4nZOBSVYnkRbCTS/s1600/2014-12-21+17.00.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkVH8kwGofct1Pm_Yy30jyCHaNiLIZA1X2uTraI_18SOlztgqauUTTTjtxtYzu6gYqEdU-9rBLacX_GtXMQSYm70F-Els0nkS4YleCvARMfObGX4pJMeH4FIa35rFt4nZOBSVYnkRbCTS/s1600/2014-12-21+17.00.11.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Spread with about 3 tablespoons of the Cranberry Pecan Filling, leaving about a 1/2" border around the edge. Cut circle into 8 wedges. Roll up the wedges, starting at the wide end, to form a crescent shape. Place, point side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet (or on parchment paper).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiGS6tGi6z52XvWSxO5JKUQvKbAyJs-aOFuQXw2Yv-9JJVJwMrshXqSLstp5uCDwFSUWGSYFJINw-hbdDtN8KVKCJQqIJBQ85GleiMFf4rWfG0y64d5f2ymBytB2QrxwgUcOf9liRCPu4/s1600/2014-12-21+17.09.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiGS6tGi6z52XvWSxO5JKUQvKbAyJs-aOFuQXw2Yv-9JJVJwMrshXqSLstp5uCDwFSUWGSYFJINw-hbdDtN8KVKCJQqIJBQ85GleiMFf4rWfG0y64d5f2ymBytB2QrxwgUcOf9liRCPu4/s1600/2014-12-21+17.09.20.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is what takes the most time with these cookies. Getting the filling to spread out evenly is tricky, and getting the crescents rolled up without all the filling falling out is tricky. Then picking them up and placing them on the tray so that they don't unroll is also tricky. My best advice here is to take your time and cut yourself some slack if they don't turn out perfectly - they'll still be delicious.</div>
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Brush gently with egg. Sprinkle evenly with sparkling sugar. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMNHcMCh8aBkFQTjIU_rjLBfkBu6MXwpf0qsOZqJxXp0hDns51gAc2q7Hj3PHo7-JFpmdeUgVr1bUqKQBub5lxlKY6ctgzShqd82c-7VYwzFxDQOE3DkeYbSD1Dj6TXAG0W5alKKRBJRc/s1600/2014-12-21+17.09.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMNHcMCh8aBkFQTjIU_rjLBfkBu6MXwpf0qsOZqJxXp0hDns51gAc2q7Hj3PHo7-JFpmdeUgVr1bUqKQBub5lxlKY6ctgzShqd82c-7VYwzFxDQOE3DkeYbSD1Dj6TXAG0W5alKKRBJRc/s1600/2014-12-21+17.09.57.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Bake at 350 degrees on a lightly greased baking sheet (or on parchment paper lined baking sheet) for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXarg4OSgMBaT2ZueQGI0C9qUElY4WjgqHn8vFjidD62FHdOGZoFGE_gt6aydGEgeC6MJcgdymvbVzpEqIPVpBmuTmJR_qNoaGsyDWa4gICMaAdynUnrat_4b68lj1j7_OpAylOC02Y4iJ/s1600/2014-12-21+17.36.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXarg4OSgMBaT2ZueQGI0C9qUElY4WjgqHn8vFjidD62FHdOGZoFGE_gt6aydGEgeC6MJcgdymvbVzpEqIPVpBmuTmJR_qNoaGsyDWa4gICMaAdynUnrat_4b68lj1j7_OpAylOC02Y4iJ/s1600/2014-12-21+17.36.01.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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I ended up making a double batch for Christmas since they're always such a hit. They are admittedly tedious to make but worth it!<br />
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Merry Christmas!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-74909365521427704162014-12-15T11:35:00.000-05:002014-12-15T21:01:43.685-05:00My change isn't your changeAt various moments during my adult life, I have retrospected on <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2010/03/the-me-inside-me.html">my identity</a>, <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2014/02/dont-say-im-sorry.html">my past</a>, <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2012/01/contemplation.html">who I would like to be</a>, the <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2011/11/post-op-guilt.html">major epiphanies of my personality</a>, and <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2013/01/things-i-learned-before-30.html">the lessons I've learned</a>. As an effort to grow as a person, I have come to believe strongly in the very real changes that can occur when you swallow your ego and face your shortcomings head-on.<br />
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Since my early 20s when I really began quieting down and looking inward, a lot has happened. The first few years were a fast progression of positive change, and then things slowed down and fell into a pattern of cycles.<br />
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<i>Epiphany, introspection, personal challenge, work work work, rinse, repeat.</i><br />
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This cycle has become a part of my life. I'll admit that the hardest part is that initial realization of unhappiness on some fundamental level. Often it comes on the heels of some upsetting event and I decide I need to reevaluate my life and my state of mind. I'll save you the suspense and tell you that most of my biggest problems exist as a result of how my mind is working (how I process information; how I react to life events; how I interpret social situations, etc.).<br />
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It's taken a lot of years of humble honesty (accentuated with some counseling and behavioral cognitive lessons on changing how I think) to fully accept that the only way to fix what's broken is to acknowledge that something is broken at all.<br />
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One of the unfortunate by-products of this cycle hits during the 'work' phase. This phase is difficult for a number of reasons, but without getting into the dirty details of why it's hard for me, I want to talk about why this is hard for those in my life and those who care about me.<br />
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Just like it's hard to concentrate on inner dialog in a room full of loud people, it's nearly impossible to be really introspective if you're surrounded by people asking you how you're doing; why you're behaving a certain way, etc.. How I've learned to face this is by going into what I call my <i>autopilot mode</i>. My routines are maintained (work, chores, eat, distractions, etc.) but all else takes a backseat while I reroute all my internal energies into sorting through whatever is causing me distress.<br />
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Over the years I've made tweaks to this process here and there. I've begun to allow certain types of social interactions with some people who I know won't <a href="http://outofthefog.net/CommonBehaviors/Sabotage.html">sabotage</a> my work, and I've gotten better about communicating what's going on and why I'm withdrawn. If nothing else, I'm able to tell people that I'm trying to work through some things and that I need some <a href="http://tinybuddha.com/blog/need-alone-time-allow-recharge/">time alone</a>. It's often hard while it's happening to really articulate what it is that's upsetting me, why I think it's happening and how I think I can fix it.<br />
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Change is hard, though. It's a lot of work, it's humbling, it can be painful and it can effect relationships in big ways. But it's possible. From the vantage point of my admittedly biased armchair, I am able to confidently say that real change <i>is</i> possible. Despite popular denials and despite all of your experience with people who simply dig in their heels and choose stagnancy; changing how you think, how you behave, and how you react <i>is</i> possible.<br />
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I've had a lot of difficult conversations when people offer advice. I understand the inclination to offer advice, help, support, empathy and understanding. While I appreciate every time someone takes the time to try and help me, often that advice simply can't work for me. A major benefit of those quiet times alone with my thoughts is how well I have gotten to know myself and how I tick. I know my limits and I know how to break them. I know what works and what doesn't for me. I know why I think the things I do and what causes those thoughts.<br />
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I think the key message to remember about change is that how you make changes in your life isn't necessarily how someone else might. There is no one catch-all solution to change and growth and progress. It is only you who can work to identify what is effective for you. I encourage you to explore the possibility of real fundamental change within yourself on a regular basis. If for no other reason than simply growing as a human being.<br />
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We might all be on this rock together, but we are very much leading our own battles in our lives. Accept each others' differences and move forward alongside those in your life you care about with positivity and an encouraging word.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-26092306264802876292014-02-17T17:33:00.000-05:002014-03-22T10:28:00.953-04:00Don't say I'm Sorry<br />
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After my dad died, I never stopped walking on the pads of my feet.<br />
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When you've lost a parent at a young age, you come to predict the types of reactions you'll get from people when they find out. One reaction you never get is relief.<br />
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I still have moments sometimes where I am yanked into my past.<br />
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I am 11 years old and I am walking on the pads of my feet. The curtains and blinds are drawn throughout the house. It is summer and our house is like a crypt. We speak in hushed tones when we speak at all. Dad is trying to sleep. The coughs from the bedroom at the far end of the house are a constant reminder of why we're so quiet.<br />
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I am 9 and it is late fall during a wind storm. The sun has gone down, the power is out and dad is drinking. We huddle together in the light of mom's hurricane lamps. As my siblings make jokes and try to scare each other about the dark, I watch mom as she watches dad. Their dance is a familiar one. Dad is on his second beer and has just hit his happy buzz. Like mom, I know how short-lived this phase is, and how easily it can turn. I try to crack jokes to lighten the tension in the room. The other kids don't seem to notice. Dad asks me to get him another beer. Mom's lips tighten in the dim light and Dad says, "What?" with an accusing tone to her. I jump up and ask Dad if he wants me to crush the can. I join the dance, and diffuse the tension a little. I leave the room on the pads of my feet.<br />
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I'm 10, it is spring and we're on a good run. It's been days since anyone got in trouble. Mom suggests we eat dinner in the living room while we watch a movie. Dad agrees. In the blurry span of minutes, our house goes from laughing to screaming. A red plastic dinner plate flies from where dad sits to the dining room floor. We sit frozen, unsure of what we should do. The screaming goes on for a few hours, long after we're banished to our rooms. We sit by our doors listening to the fight. I silently wish someone would come save us. We walk around on the pads of our feet.<br />
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I'm 6 or so. Our aunt and cousins are over and we're all in one of the bedrooms. Our uncle has beaten our aunt again, and my dad is shouting in the living room. Soon there's shouting outside and there are women screaming. Soon we see red and blue flashing lights from the bedroom window. Later I overhear mom saying that my uncle is in the hospital. I hear something about a baseball bat and dad. I sneak back to my room on the pads of my feet.<br />
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I'm 9 and one of us has done something bad. We're punished in turn until the guilty person confesses. Not for the first time, our youngest sister confesses even though we all know it wasn't her. She speaks up to keep us all from getting in any more trouble. Dad won't punish us, but forces mom to. Mom knows it wasn't our sister who did it, and sends her out to the living room to sit with dad. We all know she is dad's favorite and she'll be okay with him. My brother confesses, and when dad hears he pulls my brother into his bedroom and closes the door. That is the first time I feel true rage. This is the first time I think about killing dad. I walk past the door on the pads of my feet.<br />
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I'm 12 and it's summer. The street lights are just coming on, and I'm walking with my friend around the corner from her house to mine. As we draw near, I see the front door is open. This means mom hasn't closed the door so the neighbors won't hear the screaming. We walk in and it's quiet. I don't hear anybody, so I wonder who's home. I find mom in her bedroom, crying. She tells me my sisters are at a neighbor's house and dad is in jail. Either then or eavesdropping later I hear something about guns, suicide attempt, drinking.<br />
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I'm 12 and it's summer. I am walking down my friend's gravel driveway, my left hand feeling the tops of the messy white cedar hedges as I walk and I hear myself say, "I wish he'd just die." The echoes of those words reverberating through all the years between then and now...<br />
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I am propelled back to the present. Silence, which has been drilled firmly into me, is golden. I walk around my apartment on the pads of my feet. I find myself wondering what is must have been like for other kids who grew up without the fear of violence. I wonder what it must be like for the kids in our family now. Now that he's dead and my mom has found her freedom and her happiness in a relationship with a good man who is raising the kids right.<br />
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It's taken a lot of years of honest inner reflection to face the demons that kept me in pieces. I've overcome more than I ever realized I would need to. I am genuinely proud of how far I've come. Yet I still flinch when someone shouts suddenly near me. I still struggle making eye contact and being assertive. I still harbor a lot of anger and bitterness. I still walk on the pads of my feet.<br />
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I did lose a parent at a young age. A parent I loved very much. A parent I learned a lot from, was inspired by and who helped shape me into the person I am today.<br />
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But I don't need condolences. I need relief. Relief for having been freed from a life of lies, secrets, violence and manipulation. I need pride for my mom for surviving and overcoming all she did for us and for herself. Most of all I need patience and understanding. Because I still walk on the pads of my feet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-54266972019371465512014-02-07T18:13:00.001-05:002014-02-07T18:13:22.000-05:00One of the BoysI've always been drawn to boys' social circles more than girl circles. It's just who I am. With a few exceptions in my life (and living in a lot of different cities growing up), I was always welcome with the boys. It was great to be included and welcome, and the boys genuinely liked my company.<br />
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It never occurred to me that one day the playing field would shift, mindsets would change, and as those boys became adults, they would learn the ways of a culture I myself hadn't even become aware of yet. I never imagined that one day the only social place I felt safe as a child would be the most unwelcoming and sometimes even hostile environment.<br />
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"You won - gender inequality doesn't exist anymore."<br />
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If gender inequality doesn't exist, then why are women so vehemently jealous of their partners having friends who are women (and vice versa!)<br />
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If gender inequality doesn't exist, then why do men treat women differently (and vice versa!)<br />
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If gender inequality doesn't exist, then why are men regarded as better authority figures than women<br />
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If gender inequality doesn't exist then why are men seen as 'assertive' and women seen as 'combative'<br />
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Stop saying gender inequality doesn't exist. It does exist. It permeates the behavior of men who genuinely believe that they are 'modern' men who have equal, respectful relationships with their independent, self-empowered wives. The mindset is so ingrained that it leaks out in subtle ways constantly. Each act in itself insignificant, but added up create a persona of superiority, dominance and indifference.<br />
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The obvious attacks are the ones you can prepare yourself for. You can prepare yourself mentally for the comment about to come out of the loud mouth of the ass-slapping type of guy. There is no preparation for being talked over in the middle of a thought; for watching someone open their phone as you start to speak to them; you simply can't prepare yourself for the subtle ways men have of cordoning you into a box in their mind, and their immediate aversion when you step outside that box.<br />
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Stop saying gender inequality doesn't exist. It does exist. What's between your legs <i>does not matter</i>. Instead learn to judge people on the basis of who they are as a human being.<br />
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I'm not a kid anymore, and I can't just go hang out with the boys. I've been forced to accept my assigned role, and I'm required to feign gladness at my good fortune that I wasn't unlucky enough to be born in a less fortunate country as a woman.<br />
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Gender inequality <i>does</i> exist. And every time you treat someone differently because of gender, you contribute to the problem.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-90063468473163581932014-01-01T13:13:00.000-05:002014-01-01T13:50:50.948-05:00Quilting the quilt<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEwMyEQH3TOmmQLibfoXSm3TTvirBkzIj8v-EoF8r1yD3unhfR_7izpqPoS6NKzIXXGhbXGK-mM1gMcFOtcp8X29aFcleueWbHYM56cEWK8Db53rd4KB5Fb8j_hOqedZwyDu9cD6JL5Mi/s1600/DSC_5099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggEwMyEQH3TOmmQLibfoXSm3TTvirBkzIj8v-EoF8r1yD3unhfR_7izpqPoS6NKzIXXGhbXGK-mM1gMcFOtcp8X29aFcleueWbHYM56cEWK8Db53rd4KB5Fb8j_hOqedZwyDu9cD6JL5Mi/s400/DSC_5099.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How I spent my holidays</td></tr>
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It's been a little over a year since I started on the Great Quilting Experiment. I started off in November of 2012 with an idea to create a quilt and managed to feel pretty good about <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2012/11/quilt-project-installment-1.html" target="_blank">my very first completed block</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfREfTQlZKC2jKl89OMiqwH_hQft8v1kr8lx85RffoooBtHoRL-ejWoTm6Ij_7V3KnqD8LHYI7NIUPBxN9RKXFj_G2yGRfCOfAZXuaHa2_Vyr8vm8HJI0XuLXM0IORD6jVu6U4wHOMK0R/s1600/DSC_4311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfREfTQlZKC2jKl89OMiqwH_hQft8v1kr8lx85RffoooBtHoRL-ejWoTm6Ij_7V3KnqD8LHYI7NIUPBxN9RKXFj_G2yGRfCOfAZXuaHa2_Vyr8vm8HJI0XuLXM0IORD6jVu6U4wHOMK0R/s320/DSC_4311.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my first block</td></tr>
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Not long after my first block, my trusty little beginner's Singer died a grindy, noisy death and I started looking around for a replacement. I dropped into a sewing/craft store around the corner, <a href="http://www.kwsewingmachines.com/" target="_blank">KW Sewing Machines</a>, and had a great chat with one of the saleswomen there. I told her my level of experience, and where I wanted to go with my sewing and she introduced me to one of the coolest pieces of technology I've ever been fortunate enough to meet - the <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2012/11/my-white-whale.html" target="_blank">Janome 2030 QC</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_D5lqL55nvB_Vub7aE_mLX5GX5DRWccHg2nYx9UMhyphenhyphen-hiyCBAnVrBAdfWf8ZzGIAyl1Xqi1ZlWR-ATheiTRv76SNnLCn4OdGmObKCRid0Bmxb5s3eod9kJiQTX7J-_EwZ6UPxxsZaS0BE/s1600/2030QDC-B_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_D5lqL55nvB_Vub7aE_mLX5GX5DRWccHg2nYx9UMhyphenhyphen-hiyCBAnVrBAdfWf8ZzGIAyl1Xqi1ZlWR-ATheiTRv76SNnLCn4OdGmObKCRid0Bmxb5s3eod9kJiQTX7J-_EwZ6UPxxsZaS0BE/s320/2030QDC-B_a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It has a computer inside!</td></tr>
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For those of you who don't know, I get a little geeky about technology so needless to say I was very impressed with the capabilities of this little beast. The <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2012/08/distressed-coffee-table-refurbish.html" target="_blank">hands-on</a> creative addict in me loved everything about this machine (to name a few features: it threads its own needles, ties its own knots, and has a sweet no-pedal option for perfect speed sewing), and with a lot of work I managed to secure this beautiful piece of work by January of 2013 so that I could continue my sewing adventures.</div>
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By March of that year I'd completed about half of the 30 blocks needed for my king-size quilt (<i>what was I thinking for my first quilt?!</i>). I put together a quick little photo tutorial for the <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2013/03/sarahs-choice-quilt-block.html" target="_blank">custom Sarah's Choice quilt blocks</a> I was making so that I could share the cool stuff I'd been working on.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xayz9EUam1P4m6g3Mm79oeb4TOjxl4WsmzOsohkzJMpbrqB46A3-_Sr4tBqbi-JHhhBRfg7G42PkIbA1Z2uAcMFR3UUikotjWF14plU8ltrJYUxK6Ck05iaoZkPyB9DjV7_5I6MmpfLw/s1600/DSC_4309m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xayz9EUam1P4m6g3Mm79oeb4TOjxl4WsmzOsohkzJMpbrqB46A3-_Sr4tBqbi-JHhhBRfg7G42PkIbA1Z2uAcMFR3UUikotjWF14plU8ltrJYUxK6Ck05iaoZkPyB9DjV7_5I6MmpfLw/s320/DSC_4309m.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">taking a break to share my process</td></tr>
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I worked on my quilt off and on for the next several months, and by October 2013 I'd <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2013/10/quilting-progress.html" target="_blank">finished all the blocks</a> I'd needed. I made 36 but decided to only use 30 of the 12" blocks because I'd neglected to account for the sashing and cornerstones when doing the math for a standard king size blanket.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MGuIoRt0fGnTZ1TsuAC_VbCWj9AzI5ltVQ097ULVAeIj54wUPrKs00hCpCj3n4qwL-CkQrAOKKoy0JoTawDs2FZlyA1EnMTWeVoD2vJU6adww8vfYBRqhZb0cdlhkN4JK-8Broxlk5tt/s1600/DSC_5081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MGuIoRt0fGnTZ1TsuAC_VbCWj9AzI5ltVQ097ULVAeIj54wUPrKs00hCpCj3n4qwL-CkQrAOKKoy0JoTawDs2FZlyA1EnMTWeVoD2vJU6adww8vfYBRqhZb0cdlhkN4JK-8Broxlk5tt/s320/DSC_5081.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">all the blocks finished with sashing and cornerstones</td></tr>
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Once I had the front finished, I took a break for a few months to bide my time till Boxing Day after Christmas so that I could get the batting and backing I needed to finish the quilt. Sure enough, there were sales all over the place and I managed to pick up 3 meters of Warm and Natural cotton batting and 3 meters of wide fabric for my backing. As soon as I had all my supplies, I immediately got to work.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQzaOdCHj7GI_9qJzFuLjDC8olhKkfO7dCtSADe-m5SNhSb-iABxqa6G3ydJxvHMqAqTOYj-UwNS04Ok06xL9fWl3V7QTi2DK6Zl7lVZcm9k38T51ASerXnI3EJL1Jj0K-eCWC-U_5oYv/s1600/DSC_5101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQzaOdCHj7GI_9qJzFuLjDC8olhKkfO7dCtSADe-m5SNhSb-iABxqa6G3ydJxvHMqAqTOYj-UwNS04Ok06xL9fWl3V7QTi2DK6Zl7lVZcm9k38T51ASerXnI3EJL1Jj0K-eCWC-U_5oYv/s320/DSC_5101.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">safety pins are cool and all, but this stuff is a lifesaver!</td></tr>
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I read a tip online that the easiest, quickest way to secure the layers of a quilt was a good temporary adhesive crafting spray. They don't gum up needles and the spray itself washes out in a normal wash cycle once your project is finished.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_U1vuRrCmVQ4HiiECrBuUAuGnpohynkscEVulyJQkV-Eo4Lc6-YanJkO0LRkorAOZ94XY7LNiwIzO4owWhie7G-M3nH5KVaDb5CvAFntYpVWS4wu43USH6KUgI1QF5wO4LySv3Fc-3fV/s1600/DSC_5102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_U1vuRrCmVQ4HiiECrBuUAuGnpohynkscEVulyJQkV-Eo4Lc6-YanJkO0LRkorAOZ94XY7LNiwIzO4owWhie7G-M3nH5KVaDb5CvAFntYpVWS4wu43USH6KUgI1QF5wO4LySv3Fc-3fV/s320/DSC_5102.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">for working with large projects, these are a MUST HAVE</td></tr>
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Once the quilt layers were secured and I started actually quilting this huge thing (again: <i>what was I thinking!?</i>), I started to get very sore shoulders and realized I needed a better way to handle all the material. </div>
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I ran out of thread pretty quickly at this stage (I only had two spools of 250 yards), so when I ran to the fabric store to get 3 more spools (which still might not be enough - <i>I must be out of my mind</i>), I spotted these spiffy <a href="https://www.shopfonsandporter.com/product/Machine-Quilting-Gloves-Large/fabric-and-notions" target="_blank">Fons & Porter Machine Quilting Gloves</a> designed to grip fabric easier and to reduce tension in the neck and hands when sewing. They look cheesy, but they're fantastic - I highly recommend getting some of these if you do a lot of machine quilting.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjJ8nBxLCovPmf-gowFAOZ8eNnb4kWL893np4PRsm0WQDLA29K7mtzXGR1nHuQOhrsswQGwP21Zlgqu3CY1qnEePmF5tiD37BmxHAX2NJZ3lBbXqFYNCOhvD0bo4_j_rEdeYhrNI0CrVc/s1600/DSC_5100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjJ8nBxLCovPmf-gowFAOZ8eNnb4kWL893np4PRsm0WQDLA29K7mtzXGR1nHuQOhrsswQGwP21Zlgqu3CY1qnEePmF5tiD37BmxHAX2NJZ3lBbXqFYNCOhvD0bo4_j_rEdeYhrNI0CrVc/s400/DSC_5100.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">showing some love for the walking foot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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All in all, I'm very pleased with how the quilt is coming along and I can hardly believe it's been such a long work in progress. It's been a very lovely holiday this Winter working on this final stage of the project.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfapsIP-608WMojYfqst7wOTdtbIzj6kpCxRydZesbdMBz_Eo9k-9mcDgSU6yjZZ7CUPCDtEIQDSWkBCoY28gR7_DRS3BvMEQ9h9BpyOkJBqd3wtWC0M8gJOuVfcirgRNtfxPZQh24fi-Q/s1600/DSC_5099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfapsIP-608WMojYfqst7wOTdtbIzj6kpCxRydZesbdMBz_Eo9k-9mcDgSU6yjZZ7CUPCDtEIQDSWkBCoY28gR7_DRS3BvMEQ9h9BpyOkJBqd3wtWC0M8gJOuVfcirgRNtfxPZQh24fi-Q/s640/DSC_5099.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">coffee, quilting and Netflix - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to me!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What I have left will probably take some time to wrap up, and then I get to try my hand at binding this bad boy. Stay tuned for updates as I move into the next phase (and I continue to question my sanity).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-9178866559521319752013-10-13T13:12:00.000-04:002014-01-01T15:02:24.585-05:00Quilting Progress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1lsUdI3_fzmvNCfUoSCzZedzyfkO14FXuKeLCJOFy9KsCj72UaRZOiXf8Bu7DC-p1AAd85axLSn8J5k8Sg_hnvV1wIKCDFUoVCv_rKPMeNI6qwUPKfVCy1FNyxL9EHXNNqbaEH0GVHIv/s1600/DSC_5081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1lsUdI3_fzmvNCfUoSCzZedzyfkO14FXuKeLCJOFy9KsCj72UaRZOiXf8Bu7DC-p1AAd85axLSn8J5k8Sg_hnvV1wIKCDFUoVCv_rKPMeNI6qwUPKfVCy1FNyxL9EHXNNqbaEH0GVHIv/s400/DSC_5081.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After 8 long months, I'm happy to announce that I've finished the front of my quilt! It is a king size quilt (approx 93" x 112"), and consists of 30 13.25"<span style="color: red;">*</span> blocks with cornerstones (2" square<span style="color: red;">*</span>) and sashing (2" x 13.25"<span style="color: red;">*</span>).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg405qhCZjRMAzYHvvp2MA-uM9XqXR-RtJdugmwfXoW0kUcp5tfT8bgL__c1_tHPSYmSXlvbDzoCgy4c9f-DpDy4L1_67sK9iwKuO0r0O6H6DF9IHz3Hvl8AT5F9s73_dF5WLCEvws3odNr/s1600/DSC_5070_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg405qhCZjRMAzYHvvp2MA-uM9XqXR-RtJdugmwfXoW0kUcp5tfT8bgL__c1_tHPSYmSXlvbDzoCgy4c9f-DpDy4L1_67sK9iwKuO0r0O6H6DF9IHz3Hvl8AT5F9s73_dF5WLCEvws3odNr/s400/DSC_5070_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
Once I had the blocks all finished, I laid them out on the living room floor to make sure the two styles of blocks I'd done (squares and pinwheels) alternated properly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZrf1RN2NPI63Bqf7KQdnQl9VtENhmnPkBuEk48omuoxEJWJFBrY5c4CxxweXG_YyJRQLTwiIxKOS916a1T2ib68Q7c8lfO3k-c_Yl2K5CHcUiUbFNKakoKYZ-kEWTYdnqGKHN_Vw8DV2/s1600/DSC_5072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZrf1RN2NPI63Bqf7KQdnQl9VtENhmnPkBuEk48omuoxEJWJFBrY5c4CxxweXG_YyJRQLTwiIxKOS916a1T2ib68Q7c8lfO3k-c_Yl2K5CHcUiUbFNKakoKYZ-kEWTYdnqGKHN_Vw8DV2/s400/DSC_5072.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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<br />
Once I had the order of the blocks ready, I then sewed the blocks into rows with the sashing between the blocks, and sewed the sashing and cornerstones into rows. Below is what the square rows looked like (I don't have a photo of the sashing and cornerstone rows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmJ9gco2875L9A3ezCAA6b5kdEpDCDXTPl6luJ3GEBBSsD3mRM25Qdzn6a4yKDYRn_DC0tu27HYIz7lo-upofIjy70TFTPN5l9rrJYx4wTrgDNPVAgwjR9ufvh9KIYzcxmJ1kVaYo_vGz/s1600/DSC_5071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmJ9gco2875L9A3ezCAA6b5kdEpDCDXTPl6luJ3GEBBSsD3mRM25Qdzn6a4yKDYRn_DC0tu27HYIz7lo-upofIjy70TFTPN5l9rrJYx4wTrgDNPVAgwjR9ufvh9KIYzcxmJ1kVaYo_vGz/s400/DSC_5071.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<br />
This is the method illustrated below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzi4TTAlKEHp3SxeNaHL4wuUt8r_Ipz6OqoIcgL_wOb-hNMDhL56OxafG8Lvk1zps-i7LkQXJPnX8P14_okCOfknHacPWcsOyaMlWm-21otSRCTRG_iSNJ8AKEfY1KexJwPJxojVK-_Kml/s1600/quilt-sashing-example.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzi4TTAlKEHp3SxeNaHL4wuUt8r_Ipz6OqoIcgL_wOb-hNMDhL56OxafG8Lvk1zps-i7LkQXJPnX8P14_okCOfknHacPWcsOyaMlWm-21otSRCTRG_iSNJ8AKEfY1KexJwPJxojVK-_Kml/s320/quilt-sashing-example.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And, viola! As shown above, here's the finished front part of the quilt!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MGuIoRt0fGnTZ1TsuAC_VbCWj9AzI5ltVQ097ULVAeIj54wUPrKs00hCpCj3n4qwL-CkQrAOKKoy0JoTawDs2FZlyA1EnMTWeVoD2vJU6adww8vfYBRqhZb0cdlhkN4JK-8Broxlk5tt/s1600/DSC_5081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MGuIoRt0fGnTZ1TsuAC_VbCWj9AzI5ltVQ097ULVAeIj54wUPrKs00hCpCj3n4qwL-CkQrAOKKoy0JoTawDs2FZlyA1EnMTWeVoD2vJU6adww8vfYBRqhZb0cdlhkN4JK-8Broxlk5tt/s400/DSC_5081.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: xx-small;">*finished dimensions - I use quarter inch seam allowances</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-58675317223147160362013-09-10T08:34:00.000-04:002014-01-01T13:57:38.554-05:00Why I'm a Feminist<div class="MsoNormal tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUBEe3W1CiEnfExKa_qheRoT5NZCf5f5aHssPQDmRmmRbfHr-op0E6JzyLdxKAsiK8S5uV3FNGuVzxx8gj_aZjQ-_l9-UsavknHh5i0ht5YWPpeV1GZ7vOuW1hQCatbyaMiaRMv2jFMEX/s1600/Feminismradicalnotion-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUBEe3W1CiEnfExKa_qheRoT5NZCf5f5aHssPQDmRmmRbfHr-op0E6JzyLdxKAsiK8S5uV3FNGuVzxx8gj_aZjQ-_l9-UsavknHh5i0ht5YWPpeV1GZ7vOuW1hQCatbyaMiaRMv2jFMEX/s1600/Feminismradicalnotion-1.jpeg" /></a></div>
From movies, television, music and games to the workplace
and the family, women are treated as inferior to men. We have raised generation after generation to
view the world and women from the point of view of men. Women are objectified (denied agency), and
are seen from the outside - our own consciousness , our thoughts and our
feelings completely overlooked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even in our every day conversation, male pronouns dominate
our vocabulary and our ideas. Every dog
we see is a 'he', every stick figure a 'he', even humans thought of as
'mankind'. The only exceptions are
boats, cars, bikes and ships - which are (not surprisingly) 'she' - because
they are objects and possessions of men.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even when we're shown cases of male violence and sexual
abuse, we look at it from the man's point of view: "He must have been
provoked", "He was a nice guy that just snapped", "She must
have confused him with her signals", "I bet he was falsely accused,
it's horrible he has to go to jail now."
We victim blame, we spit out rape/violence apologist comments, and
through it all we start to see that as a society we only look through men's
eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remarkably, even in defense of women we tell society to look
at women as objects. Even when we speak
out against violence against women we see people telling others to imagine her
as "somebody's wife, somebody's mother, somebody's daughter, or somebody's
sister," As if it never occurs to us that maybe... JUST MAYBE... that
woman is also a "somebody".</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Movies and Television</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really shouldn't need to point out how we objectify and
scrutinize and marginalize women in our movies and television. But for the sake of consistency, I will. I do want to start by saying Objectification
doesn't necessarily mean women dolled up in varying degrees of undress purely
for men's eyes. Sexual objectification
is certainly its own problem, but that is simply one part of the problem.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Women are reduced to the sum of their body parts,
Photoshopped to fit an ever-narrowing standard of female beauty, and put on
display as pieces of property to be owned.
This grabs our attention, and most if not all of us recognize the issue
with this imagery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet only focusing on the 'sexual' aspect can obscure the
much bigger issue of real 'objectification' which goes on in our society. The big problem is the difference between
subject status and object status. A subject
is, by definition, active - with agency, while an object is passive - being
acted upon. For example, "Fiona
stroked the cat" - we can see that 'Fiona' has subject status, while 'the
cat' has object status. Ideally, we
would each find ourselves cast as either subject or object at different times
in conversation and representation, because that's normal vocabulary. However, in our society, the dominant verbage
used is heavily gendered, with men granted the status of subject and women
severely objectified.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These messages start at a remarkably young age in our
culture. Janice McCabe did a study that
showed male characters in children's books outnumber female ones, and even when
characters are gender neutral (like animals), parents often read them as male
to their kids (<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/06/gender-imbalance-children-s-literatur">Guardian</a>). This also happens in children's shows, where
only a third of lead roles are female (<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/childrens-television-lacks-female-role-models-says-mp-2319560.html">The
Independent</a>). It's referred to as
the Smurfette Principle, where only one female character is present on an entire
cast of male ones. 'Female' has become a
characteristic all its own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our entire visual entertainment culture revolves around boys
and men. The majority of films produced
tell stories about men, with women cast as girlfriends, wives, mothers or other
periphery roles (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-women-film-20130513,0,2661695.story">LA
Times</a>). In any given year, only
about 12-15% of top grossing Hollywood movies focus on women and their stories
(<a href="http://womenandhollywood.com/factoids/">Motion Picture Association of
America</a>). And those are degradingly
referred to as <i>chick flicks</i> and are
almost always focused on women looking for a man to 'complete' them, 'save'
them, or 'redeem' them in some way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Video Games</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were about 17.4 million gamers in the US in 2012 (<a href="https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/pr_120905/">NPD</a>).
This number means a significant part of
our culture exists online in games, which also makes it a medium we simply
can't ignore. Just hearing a female
voice used over voice-chat in online games is enough to illicit a negative
reaction toward females in games.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Researchers from Ohio University ran an experiment within
Halo 3 which looked to determine whether gamers reacted differently to male and
female voices within the online game.
The experiment was run with two accounts, one male and one female who
were not aware they were a part of the study.
For each account, identical phrases that were designed not to illicit a
negative response were recorded by both the man and the woman, and were played
through an iPod during live play. The
two accounts only varied in two ways - their nickname and gender
representation. 245 games were recorded
and played live, and 163 of those included verbal communication and were later
analyzed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The result - the female received nearly three times as many
directly negative comments as the male.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The phrase "hi everybody" alone was enough to
spark reactions ranging from "shut up you whore" to "so whatever
that voice was, are you a hooker or are you a dude?" When the female
wasn't receiving derogatory gendered language, she was asked out (<a href="http://nms.sagepub.com/content/15/4/541.full.pdf+html">New Media and
Society</a>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Workplace</span></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Women still only make 77 cents for every dollar a man
makes. That's a difference of $10,000 a
year (<a href="http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-by-occupation-1/">Gender
Wage Gap</a>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This gap starts as early as college in North America, where
women make an average of 82% of what men make (<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2012/10/24/gender-pay-gap/1652511/">AAUW</a>)</span>. In the first year of their careers, men
typically make $7,600 more than women (<a href="http://www.jec.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=66769080-37f9-4e7a-b2fa-7ac208d9f575">Bureau
of Labor Statistics</a>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Women, on average, make up only slightly more than 10% of
chief financial officers (<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-06/women-cfos-reach-record-level-in-u-s-as-top-job-remains-elusive.html">Bloomberg</a>). More than 1/3 of North American companies
have zero women employed in senior management positions at all (<a href="http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/2012-catalyst-census-financial-post-500-women-senior-officers-and-top-earners">Catalyst</a>).
Of the companies that did have women at
the top in 2010 - they only made up 6.2% of those top earning positions (<a href="http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/2012-catalyst-census-financial-post-500-women-senior-officers-and-top-earners">Catalyst</a>).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
On top of the statistical barriers that hold women back,
there's the psychological roadblocks in our culture that aim to keep women in a
position lower than men. Women face a
variety of stereotypes in the workplace like: They don't need more money
because they're not the primary breadwinner, they can't do certain jobs that are
considered <i>men's work</i>, they're
supposed to act a certain kind of <i>feminine</i>
in the workplace, they're not as committed to their jobs because they're the
primary caregiver of their kids. Office
culture is the longest-standing gender biased area of our society, and the
norms there are grossly dominated by men (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2012/11/12/how-masculine-norms-in-the-workplace-could-be-holding-women-back/">Forbes</a>). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Why I'm a Feminist</span></h4>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I wrote a brief piece <a href="http://thatneckofthewoods.blogspot.ca/2013/09/why-you-should-be-feminist.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a> about some of the verbal attacks I've received in different situations, and attacks I've witnessed on friends.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The post got two responses:</div>
<blockquote>
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">abuse wise on average, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners in this country every day. In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. The same year, 440 men were killed by an intimate partner. Intimate partner homicides accounted for 30% of the murders of women and 5% percent of the murders of men.</span></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">(Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001, February 2003. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S. 1993-2004, 2006.)</span></i><i><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" /></i><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span></i></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">More people die from aids, car accidents, smoking, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and hippopotamuses. With only 20% women experiencing domestic violence in their LIFETIME. I fail to see how this abuse is an out of control problem unless you mean, "someone said something mean to me" and we should "stand against this abuse" of mean words. Sounds like you ran into a jerk and they come in all races/genders. So maybe you not talk to those people anymore instead of making a call to arms on the internet.</span></i></blockquote>
<br />
And this gem:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Feminists are retarded. This article is proof.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> </span> </i></blockquote>
<br />
You see, even within 5 hours of posting I was already receiving confusion, discouragement, and abuse. THIS is why I'm a feminist. Our patriarchal society is so overarching that we don't even think twice about slamming women when they speak out against injustice, and even go so far as to cite statistics as to why we should 'not talk to those people' anymore.<br />
<br />
Why hadn't I thought of that?!<br />
<br />
*Starts packing for the shack in the woods*Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-72462738918730204322013-09-09T21:38:00.000-04:002014-01-01T13:50:29.123-05:00Why you should be a feminist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Get a sense of humor.<br />It was just a joke.<br />You're too sensitive.<br />This is just how it is.<br />This is our world, not yours.<br />We only gave you rights to shut you up.<br />You should be grateful for what we let you have.<br />Your kind are the reason women need to get beaten.<br />Learn your place.<br />Get on your knees where you belong.<br />Someone is going to rape you one day.<br />I hope someone finds you in an alley.<br />If my wife talked like you do, I'd knock her teeth out.<br />You need a tampon.<br />Someone has sand in her vagina.<br />Sounds like it's somebody's time of the month.<br />Someone needs a man to put her in her place.<br />Get back in the kitchen.<br />Make me a sandwich.<br />You wouldn't talk so much with my ---- in your mouth.</i><br />
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There is an idea that this kind of scum only exists in seedy places like poorly-lit bars or in back alleys of sketchy neighborhoods. Wrong. These are things I've heard said to me, and I've personally heard men say to friends of mine. At bookstores, in offices, in coffee shops, and on the street. The place I hear these types of things the most often though - male-dominated parts of our world. Places that men have claimed and hold on to with a ferocity that rivals wild animals.<br />
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The irony is how often these types of comments are thrown at women who have done nothing to provoke the attack. Simply by existing in the vicinity of men, women are now the target for these kinds of attacks. And we are made to believe that not only do we deserve this treatment, but we need to just allow it to happen because 'it's just a joke' or 'we need to lighten up'.<br />
<br />
I for one am SICK OF BEING THE BUTT OF JOKES.<br />
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I am well beyond the point of rational, calm discussion about this. This has got to STOP. And the only way it's going to stop is by every single person taking a stand against this abuse.<br />
<br />
These are your sons, your husbands, your brothers, your coworkers, the people you hang out with, the people you laugh at, the people you turn a blind eye to.<br />
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These vermin are attacking your daughters, your wives, your sisters, your mothers, your friends. Are you going to stand up for them or turn a blind eye until you find yourself standing at their graveside wondering how the hell it got so bad for them they saw no other way out??<br />
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When are we going to wake the hell up...<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-33969176610040509952013-04-10T18:22:00.001-04:002013-04-10T18:24:04.942-04:00Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgOVg7YhyGrgjIn_XaL9iJJ5KvRxxTWuiSa30IESnAo_Q2yd-ShYbz5xugTwaNS17ZqZcCf-5YrKSUEQlnsnCijBB5V_lI2Y5QYvLb3BF7vZViGrvbTlYEt8JOf1LH8fyPfXg=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgOVg7YhyGrgjIn_XaL9iJJ5KvRxxTWuiSa30IESnAo_Q2yd-ShYbz5xugTwaNS17ZqZcCf-5YrKSUEQlnsnCijBB5V_lI2Y5QYvLb3BF7vZViGrvbTlYEt8JOf1LH8fyPfXg=" width="320" /></a></div>
Before we learned to document our knowledge into books, we told stories. In every tribe, in every country, throughout history, our elders passed down their wisdom to us through the art of storytelling. It was through these stories that we cultivated morality and self awareness.<br />
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Every aspect of our barbaric lives were accentuated by parallel stories and legends - stories meant to teach us and guide us. After many generations, the stories told by the elders were refined and polished by the wisdom gained by each retelling of the story. As our tribes grew and our travels reached ever outward, our curiosity expanded our knowledge, and we told new stories. What always endured, though, were the core legends of our people. We held fast to our traditions and our rich history of stories because they offered us a way to honor and practice the knowledge our people had gained.<br />
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And before long our tribes had grown, split off, spread out and multiplied. And with them went their stories.<br />
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I wonder how our elders would feel seeing what we've done to their stories.
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<b>Approximate Finished Quilt Size:</b> King Size (100" x 100")<br />
<b>Blocks:</b> 14" x 14" (x36)<br />
<b>Fabric Yardage: </b><br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Dark Brown: </b>2 yards<b> </b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(1.8288 meters rounded up to 2 meters)</span></li>
<li><b>Blue: </b>2 yards<b> </b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(1.8288 meters rounded up to 2 meters)</span></li>
<li><b>Cream: </b>4.5 yards<b> </b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(4.1148 meters rounded up to 5 meters)</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">two each per block (x36)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sDWiWv73g1jn0Ev0sxNDn-pXzBgW7q5Skdm2Xp61jq8DYT9Fm2K1aZlCChy8g6p_vkPK3A-Rv5MCUB5EyWAhyphenhyphenOXWFyh3BC0mAPNUPQB-19PCq42brHeXS0M5oGTsZ1mTvAhjRZyBY4Ub/s1600/DSC_4585m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7sDWiWv73g1jn0Ev0sxNDn-pXzBgW7q5Skdm2Xp61jq8DYT9Fm2K1aZlCChy8g6p_vkPK3A-Rv5MCUB5EyWAhyphenhyphenOXWFyh3BC0mAPNUPQB-19PCq42brHeXS0M5oGTsZ1mTvAhjRZyBY4Ub/s320/DSC_4585m.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3r8wgJcoATp_J1Nz3CAnOS6rlprFdaxTXXDTpmHvktMp7gpM1lhvZgkhAq1oxRWXvzX2NMyq1QqDrIeJ2LLH6V_H-7oX2ZTcwRVjFhWWZPf1CIKRxD4tPefGHFvYPqB7R4Oj0tsR6TUK/s1600/DSC_4588m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS3r8wgJcoATp_J1Nz3CAnOS6rlprFdaxTXXDTpmHvktMp7gpM1lhvZgkhAq1oxRWXvzX2NMyq1QqDrIeJ2LLH6V_H-7oX2ZTcwRVjFhWWZPf1CIKRxD4tPefGHFvYPqB7R4Oj0tsR6TUK/s320/DSC_4588m.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7S3RElN0tH0n_IPVctsPfl4JnoyomaiWo1njlC1w0-j3bC-zTddgAaOEIdtuhE6kT8Li7Oj_55hz_jAaexFC7eTDEMKYa5gVVcLWnpSNoatHovCc8HKYvgv3BfQpGOhqOgL3QAtEPmty5/s1600/DSC_4589m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7S3RElN0tH0n_IPVctsPfl4JnoyomaiWo1njlC1w0-j3bC-zTddgAaOEIdtuhE6kT8Li7Oj_55hz_jAaexFC7eTDEMKYa5gVVcLWnpSNoatHovCc8HKYvgv3BfQpGOhqOgL3QAtEPmty5/s320/DSC_4589m.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gather the <b>two 4 1/4" dark brown squares</b> and the <b>two blue squares</b> of the same size. Use the <a href="http://quilting.about.com/od/quickpiecingtechniques/ss/halfsquaretria.htm">sandwich method</a> to sew a dark brown square to a blue square. Cut them apart to <b>create two half-square triangle units.</b> Press flat, with seam allowance in the favor of the blue half. Repeat to <b>create four units.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gather <b>four 4 x 7" cream rectangles</b>, <b>two 4 x 4" dark brown squares</b> and <b>two 4 x 4" blue squares.</b> Use the <a href="http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltpatternsprojects/ss/block_one_2.htm">quick flying geese method</a> to <b>create four flying geese</b> for the outer rows of your quilt block. Take care to orient the squares as shown to end up with a unit with a dark triangle on one end and a blue triangle on the other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Arrange the pieced units and four background squares into three rows - as shown in the example illustration below. You can get creative here with how your pieces are arranged. Sew components of each row together. Press seam allowances in top and bottom rows towards the corner squares. Press seam allowances in the middle row towards the center unit. <b>Create thirty six blocks.</b></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-27740405959231039132013-01-01T14:11:00.000-05:002014-01-01T22:10:21.395-05:00Things I Learned Before 30<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h3>
Happy 30th</h3>
In three short weeks I'll finally <strike>dance gracefully</strike> stumble into the big 3-0. It's incredible the magnitude of that number for some of us. Thankfully, after many years of rewiring my thinking and an infinitely patient counselor, I'm happier looking back and remembering the lessons I've learned, the successes I've had and the obstacles I've overcome. I'm going to share with you 30 life lessons I've learned so far.<br />
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<h3>
30 Life Lessons</h3>
<div>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
1. Change is a must.</h4>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
For many years I knew things needed to change. Bitterness was a constant companion and it took looking inward at very uncomfortable moments sometimes to realize that the only person that could change my unhappiness was me. For me, change wasn't just a nice idea, but a necessity for my own peace of mind. But changes don't happen for people when they're not ready. The change has to be a necessity before you'll work for it. Recognizing that necessity will give you the courage to make significant changes in your life.</div>
<h4>
2. Your ego won't save you.</h4>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
Ego is the antithesis of humility, and without humility we cannot accept growth and change for ourselves. The Japanese method called Kaizen, which essentially means continual growth and learning, is impossible to even begin to practice without first sacrificing one's ego. Ego will blind you to truths about yourself, it will prevent you from apologizing for being wrong, it will hinder your ability to accept criticisms, and will eventually sabotage your relationships.</div>
<h4>
3. Growth and Giving are the meaning of life.</h4>
<div>
Living a meaningful life is simple; commit yourself to a lifetime of continual growth as an individual and give to your community in a meaningful way. It's just that simple.</div>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
4. Finding your passion is important.</h4>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
My passion is social activism. I used to think it was drawing, painting, reading, or some other more creative outlet that I have accumulated over the years. Once I realized what my true passion was, it changed my life. Do yourself a favor and find yours - it will change everything.</div>
<h4>
5. Relationships matter.</h4>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
Not all relationships will equate to ground-breaking, life-changing phases of your life... but there are a few key relationships that matter significantly more than the others. For me there have been less than ten that I've experienced that have genuinely changed who I am as a person and have profoundly effected my state of mind in relation to a great number of topics (family, politics, religion, technology, etc.). Remember those relationships (you'll know the ones), and what they taught you about the world around you and about yourself. It's those lessons that will serve as pins in the roadmap of your growth.</div>
<h4>
6. You don't need everyone to like you.</h4>
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It's natural for us to seek acceptance, but just like you can't place equal value on every relationship you have, you can't expect other people to always value you as much as you'd prefer. <br />
<br />
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<i>"Popularity is the crown of laurel which the world puts on bad art. Whatever is popular is wrong."</i></div>
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<i> - Oscar Wilde
</i><br />
<h4>
7. Status isn't important.</h4>
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Along the lines of popularity, as a people we place a lot of value on material wealth as an indicator of true wealth. I've met plenty of people with what appeared to be very lavish lifestyles who were, in reality, almost completely devoid of true contentedness and bankrupt emotionally. Like the quote from Fight Club:<br />
<br />
<i>"You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your khakis."</i></div>
<h4>
8. Jealousy and Envy are wastes of energy.</h4>
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Jealousy used to be a driving force for my ambition; making me a slave to keeping up with the status quo. This is still something I suffer from, and work at overcoming constantly. Now that I've refocused my ambition to more altruistic pursuits, I am able to see more clearly the effects jealousy and envy have on relationships. I've never subscribed to the idea that displaying jealousy in relationships is a sign of caring. From what I see, it is better for the health of a relationships to show you care by trusting people, and telling them that you trust them. When you trust people around you, jealousy just sort of naturally disappears.</div>
<h4>
9. Find your comforts, but don't let them become crutches.</h4>
<div>
Many of us develop bad habits with the idea that they are an outlet for releasing negative energy. Realizing the difference between a <i>vice</i> and a <i>comfort</i> can prevent developing <i>crutches</i>. Crutches serve only to foster a dependency on unhealthy habits.</div>
<h4>
10. Love. A lot.</h4>
<div>
It sounds cliche to repeat that old saying 'it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all' but the message is no less true. Just as it's important to remember those key relationships that have changed you, committing yourself and allowing yourself to love is key. Loving is what slows down life and creates those moments of surrealistic beauty in between the daily grind.</div>
<div>
<h4>
11. Just feeling Love is not enough.</h4>
</div>
<div>
It's important for us to love. But feeling love and <i>showing</i> love are entirely different. Express your appreciation to those you love by actively showing it.</div>
<div>
<h4>
12. Success is just perspective.</h4>
</div>
<div>
Some people view the house, car, 2.5 kids and a pile of 0's in their bank account as success. Some people think success is the ability to find contentedness in any situation. There is no right or wrong answer to what success really looks like. Find what fulfills you and satisfies you; discover what your dreams are then go out and work for them. Satisfaction is success, and only you can define what that means.<br />
<h4>
13. Health is much more important than most people realize.</h4>
Without a healthy body, nothing else matters. Your self-esteem suffers, your activity level suffers, and eventually relationships begin to suffer. Take care of your body, and it will repay you. It is, after all, the only one you get in this life!<br />
<h4>
14. Sentimental items are disposable.</h4>
<div>
Recently I lost a great deal when a harddrive suffered a mechanical failure. I lost 13 years worth of photos. I am a casual but thorough photographer. I tend to come home with several hundred pictures to edit and post and file away when taking photos. The upsetting reality I had to face when accepting that those photos had been lost was nothing compared to the resignation of the beautiful memories of the moments I'd captured. Realizing that it was enough to remember fondly became enough of a comfort. It's been a lesson I've been reminded of a handful of times in my life.</div>
<div>
<h4>
15. Awareness is the key to freedom.</h4>
The ability to focus on what is important is a habit more difficult for some than others. A part of having a keen awareness is the acknowledgement that most of our lives are filled with excess and to see things clearly we need to clean out the superfluous junk that distracts us.<br />
<h4>
16. Live in this moment.</h4>
<div>
Stop allowing your 'should haves' and 'what ifs' to be anchors holding you back from living in this moment. Instead, allow yourself to fully concentrate on making <i>this moment</i> as meaningful as possible. Living in this single instance will prevent you from stumbling from looking over your shoulder for reminders of your past failures and missteps, but will also serve to focus you on forward momentum. Living in this moment will build a series of positive forward-moving moments that will lend themselves naturally to a successful and fulfilling life.</div>
<div>
<h4>
17. Honesty is one of the cornerstones of a healthy state of mind.</h4>
Don't lie. It's really that simple.<br />
<h4>
18. Never be afraid to be Open.</h4>
Being open is more complicated than simply being honest. Openness requires being articulate, and telling the entire truth. There are no expansive rules for openness that apply to every person; it is subjective to the individual. You have to learn how to be honest with yourself before you can be open with other people. But that's not to imply that you have to open up about everything in your life - just what matters and what you know you need to share with others to obtain what you need - whether it be as simple as them listening so you can vent, or some other type of support.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“It may...be judged indecent in me to come forward on this occasion; but when I see a fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak, that I may say what I know of her character.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">― </span>Mary Shelley</i><br />
<h4>
19. Hype and Shock can deteriorate rational thinking.</h4>
</div>
We are pawns, my dears. We are all victims to the unstoppable corporate machine. It isn't hyperbole, it's just a sad truth we face in our society. But luckily there is a way to counteract the barrage of fear-mongering, war-romanticizing, emotional propaganda making talking heads. We can train ourselves to not only ignore the hype and the shock messages, but to respond with a venomous distaste so strong we begin to encourage those around us to think more analytically about what information we're told and what emotions we're being encourage to feel.<br />
<h4>
20. Fear is often an unnecessary emotion.</h4>
What do you fear? Often what we're scared of doesn't actually have a real impact on our lives, or is something out of our control anyway. Overcoming those irrational fears is a must.<br />
<h4>
21. Change is nothing to fear; it is simply growth.</h4>
Everyone talks about hopes for a brighter future; something they could be proud of one day. But many of us don't have the courage to change the present to attain that brighter future. Change is something we believe we should fear because it means uncertainty, and that can mean discomfort and nobody likes that. It's only when we learn to enjoy the process of change and welcome it when we recognize the signs for it that we can really enjoy the rewards of change. Change is how we grow.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">― </span>Haruki Murakami</i><br />
<br />
<h4>
22. Events of the past do not predict outcomes in the future.</h4>
</div>
You can't change the past, so it's important to focus on the present. Learning and applying the lessons you learned in the past is how to effectively live in the present. If you find yourself looking backward from time to time, learn to reflect on the lessons instead of the 'what ifs'.<br />
<h4>
23. Your job isn't always your mission in life.</h4>
There is a difference between having a job to make ends meet, and having a job that is an extension of what you're passionate about. And there is no better or worse; just different. Your job doesn't <i>have</i> to define who you are. In fact, those who are lucky enough to have found a way to make a living from what they're good at and enjoy doing, are in the minority. It is a rarity, and nothing to be ashamed of if you haven't found. There is great respect to be given to those people who spend time invested in a job that they recognize is a necessity and still apply all their work ethic to.<br />
<h4>
24. You are not the center of the universe.</h4>
Looking at the world around you from a perspective not your own is not easy for everyone to do. We are predisposed to worrying about what is going on in our own lives to such a degree that it may be difficult for us to see things objectively sometimes. We are acutely aware of what is going on in our own lives that we start to believe and behave like everything is connected to our own lives.<br />
<br />
Only when you disconnect yourself from the idea that you are the center of the universe can you truly pay attention to what is going on in front of you, around you and inside you.<br />
<h4>
25. Pain happens; suffering we choose.</h4>
Pain is what we feel when something is wrong. It's a valuable indicator that we need to change something immediately. Suffering is an active choice. Sometimes we choose suffering when we can't muster the courage to make a change to stop our pain. Once we accept the lesson the pain taught us, we can end our suffering and move on.<br />
<h4>
26. Doubt will hold you back.</h4>
<div>
The only person stopping you from doing everything you want, who stops you from being free, who stops you from being healthy or happy or passionate or ambitious or living a meaningful life, is you. Doubt can drown every ounce of your life if you let it.</div>
<h4>
27. Wait sometimes.</h4>
<div>
We are in such a rush in our lives. Sometimes it seems as if the entire world flies by us and by the time we look up for air, months have gone by and we're dizzy trying to regain our perspective.<br />
<br />
Pause for a moment. Enjoy this moment. Stop wherever you're rushing off to, and wait. Look around, take a deep breath, hear the sounds around you, take in those moments for a brief respite from the blur of time flying by. You'll remember those moments later, and they will help you feel as though you lived each moment instead of wondering what you <i>did</i> this past year.</div>
<h4>
28. Happiness can't come from without.</h4>
<div>
Lacking happiness creates a void within us. We often fall victim to attempting to fill that void with <i>things</i>. Shopping, eating, distractions, alcohol; whatever. At best, these things will only briefly satisfy you. At worst, these things can become the focus of our lives, and we end up watching helplessly as we dismantle our lives right out from under ourselves by being empty and depressed and more alone in a sea of material items. It is during those moments when even being in a crowd of people you feel completely alone.<br />
<br />
Find happiness that will truly fulfill you. (See <i style="font-weight: bold;">4. Finding Your Passion is Important</i>)</div>
<h4>
29. Learn to say Goodbye.</h4>
The first lesson I remember ever learning was: <i>overcome grief</i>. At its core, grief is the process of saying goodbye. Saying goodbye to a friend, a job, a house, a pet or a family member; grief manifests itself in so many ways in our lives, and will be a constant companion until those around us must grieve our inevitable death.<br />
<br />
It is understanding the process of saying goodbye, and the necessity to overcome grief that allows us to not become a slave to the griefs we are bound to encounter in our lives - over and over. To be a master of the grieving process is a must for a healthy mindset regarding the end of things, the change of things, and accepting opportunities that present themselves.<br />
<br />
Mastering grief is a must in the process of accepting necessary growth.<br />
<h4>
30. You don't have all the answers.</h4>
</div>
<div>
Accepting change, abandoning ego, and welcoming what the future holds allow me to comfortably say that I don't know everything. My beliefs, principles, and values change with new knowledge and new experiences... and I accept that I will look back on these things I've learned, and I will modify what I've learned, and will continue to add to what I've learned.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I don't expect these lessons to apply to everyone, and certainly I am not attempting to categorize anyone inaccurately by supposing these lessons I've learned are even relevant to other people or that anyone can definitively appreciate or empathize with any of the things I've come to learn.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's only my hope that in reading some of these things, you may have found answers to areas of your own life that you've been having struggles with. And it is my hope that you'll be inspired to look back and take stock of the things you've learned in your life, and perhaps be able to acknowledge areas you then recognize that have a need for some changes... and the courage to take steps to make those changes happen.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>(Note: this was inspired by the brilliant Joshua Fields Millburn: 30 Life Lessons from 30 Years)</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-62753331249126507152012-12-15T20:50:00.000-05:002014-01-01T15:00:09.386-05:00Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_GZn2qk4RG7msZAajB6D9yMPIxDevmcutnORPbgpNrSrzKguj1MnEQoKb-yuV68_ohoEQW0Mq6W6ZfcE3_f51ow8dV5GWtXiLRINsttmnDg0oze83HKuUE87Zk3Da5-xUBkCKwPJ2Zw-/s1600/DSC_4359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_GZn2qk4RG7msZAajB6D9yMPIxDevmcutnORPbgpNrSrzKguj1MnEQoKb-yuV68_ohoEQW0Mq6W6ZfcE3_f51ow8dV5GWtXiLRINsttmnDg0oze83HKuUE87Zk3Da5-xUBkCKwPJ2Zw-/s400/DSC_4359.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Yield:</b> Makes 12 servings<br />
<b>Active Time:</b> 1 1/2 hours<br />
<b>Total Time:</b> 4 1/2 hours<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Ingredients</span></h3>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
For Cake Layers</span></h4>
<table class="ChartTable"><tbody>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">3 cups</td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">sugar</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowEven"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">3 cups</td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">all-purpose flour</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1 cup + 2 Tablespoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowEven"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1-1/2 teaspoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">baking powder</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1-1/2 teaspoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">baking soda</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowEven"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1-1/2 teaspoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">salt</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1-1/2 cups </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">whole milk</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowEven"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">12 Tablespoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">unsalted, melted butter</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1-1/2 teaspoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">vanilla</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowEven"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1/4 teaspoon </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">almond extract</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1-1/2 cups </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">boiling hot water</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">2 </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">large eggs</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">2 </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">large egg yolks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
For Filling</span></h4>
<table class="ChartTable"><tbody>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">14 ounces </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">sweetened flaked coconut</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">2 cups </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">coarsely chopped pecans</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">2 x 14 ounce </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">can sweetened condensed milk</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">1 Tablespoon </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">vanilla</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
For Glaze</span></h4>
<table class="ChartTable"><tbody>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">5 sticks </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">unsalted butter</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">20 ounces </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">fine-quality semi-sweet chocolate</td></tr>
<tr class="ChartRowOdd"><td class="ChartTextCellLeft" style="padding-right: 20px;">6 Tablespoons </td><td class="ChartTextCellLeft">light corn syrup</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Special equipment: 4 (9 inch) round cake pans<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Preparation</span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Make cake layers:</span></h4>
<div class="instruction">
Preheat oven to 350°F and oil cake pans. Line bottoms of
pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Sift together sugar, flour,
cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond
extract in another large bowl until just combined. Beat egg mixture into
flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high
speed 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just
combined (batter will be thin). Divide batter among cake pans (about 1
1/2 cups per pan) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching
position of pans and rotating them 180 degrees halfway through baking,
until a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.</div>
<div class="instruction">
Cool layers in pans on racks 15 minutes. Run a thin
knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully
remove parchment or wax paper and cool layers completely.
</div>
<div class="instruction">
</div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Make filling</span></h4>
<div class="instruction">
Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.</div>
<div class="instruction">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqLZfPhVtWzVmXKUVWginFEZcSHs_X9ICRAPK8gzhryQST46IF80WHrR3a0HGSvse6naqYOLJX5vHn0fHpLrsmatW6LJxPlIS_5sXGBYEJWMaCaa5AazOJikhwRFYyL_4706j8IZgofZW/s1600/DSC_4352.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAqLZfPhVtWzVmXKUVWginFEZcSHs_X9ICRAPK8gzhryQST46IF80WHrR3a0HGSvse6naqYOLJX5vHn0fHpLrsmatW6LJxPlIS_5sXGBYEJWMaCaa5AazOJikhwRFYyL_4706j8IZgofZW/s320/DSC_4352.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans
in another. Bake pecans in upper third of oven and coconut in lower
third, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove
pans from oven.</div>
<div class="instruction">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Increase oven temperature to 425°F.</div>
<div class="instruction">
Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate
and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven
45 minutes. Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate
and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. Remove pie
plate from water bath.
</div>
<div class="instruction">
<br />
Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm, covered with foil.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqRvM6GKA_6K4Qyezfvmc8qRQ_9w32A5tq9egVchJw9mJWL30CX0G8bLGKBe-VvL8nWuh5qN9xhL7QjLOEBPQoEQQvBNpY04fnQkVVCNu8i8b6Uw7xcnIc8fG-6NG2FtFZMK-rooN4kt6j/s1600/DSC_4349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqRvM6GKA_6K4Qyezfvmc8qRQ_9w32A5tq9egVchJw9mJWL30CX0G8bLGKBe-VvL8nWuh5qN9xhL7QjLOEBPQoEQQvBNpY04fnQkVVCNu8i8b6Uw7xcnIc8fG-6NG2FtFZMK-rooN4kt6j/s320/DSC_4349.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Alternatively, you can empty the contents of the can of condensed milk into a saucepan and, stirringly constantly, allow the milk to thicken and brown. You will know it has reached the right consistency when holding the dulce de leche upside down from a spoon doesn't make it fall. It may burn, so watch it closely. If you find it has become too hard to really work with, you can add small amounts of cream to re-thicken the dulce. </i></div>
<div class="instruction">
</div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Make glaze while milk is baking</span></h4>
<div class="instruction">
Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove pan from heat
and add chocolate and corn syrup, whisking until chocolate is melted.
Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl, reserving remaining glaze at room
temperature in pan. Chill glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until
thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.
</div>
<div class="instruction">
</div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
Assemble cake</span></h4>
<div class="instruction">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7gzLolJwJVRdeE4gZQR8VKvsrDz0BmHXxfbvCezGVPd_FYoB_UlVjmbiLqYNKBvtjndTab2V1wyhzPq3uueovnQjHfqRNFix7XFyHmUJedvtmMoBArMs_5D9S9YK64DEXz6iS3ZlO26T/s1600/DSC_4356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7gzLolJwJVRdeE4gZQR8VKvsrDz0BmHXxfbvCezGVPd_FYoB_UlVjmbiLqYNKBvtjndTab2V1wyhzPq3uueovnQjHfqRNFix7XFyHmUJedvtmMoBArMs_5D9S9YK64DEXz6iS3ZlO26T/s320/DSC_4356.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Put 1 cake layer on a rack set over a baking pan (to
catch excess glaze). Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly
over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula. Top with another cake
layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner. Top with
remaining cake layer and spread chilled glaze evenly over top and side
of cake. Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until
glossy and pourable, about 1 minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake,
making sure it coats sides. Shake rack gently to smooth glaze. </div>
<div class="instruction">
<br /></div>
<div class="instruction">
Chill cake until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a plate. </div>
<div class="instruction">
<br /></div>
<div class="instruction">
<br /></div>
<div class="instruction">
<i>Tip: For easier handling when assembling cake, place bottom layer on a
cardboard round or the removable bottom of a tart or cake pan. </i></div>
<div class="instruction">
<br /></div>
<div class="instruction">
<br /></div>
<div class="instruction">
<small><i>Original recipe (2 layer version) found here: <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Inside-Out-German-Chocolate-Cake-103202">http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Inside-Out-German-Chocolate-Cake-103202</a></i></small></div>
<div class="instruction">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-72261322200773812582012-11-20T06:47:00.001-05:002012-11-20T06:51:31.928-05:00My White WhaleAs you probably already know, I have a casual love of sewing. To date I've done several dozen receiving blankets for new moms, two sets of two decorative throw pillows, two sets of curtains, and a baby rag quilt. Recently I started my most ambitious sewing project; a queen size traditional quilt.<br />
<br />
Sadly, while sewing together the pieces of my 5th block, my adorable little beginner's Shark machine started making a decidedly unhappy <i>clunking</i> sound. I did all the usual things - rethreaded the machine, took the bobbin out and reloaded that, even opened the cover and oiled the right spots for the arm mechanism... turned the Little Sewing Machine That Could back on and still that icky <i>clunk clunk clunk </i>whenever the mechanism would turn around.<br />
<br />
So (sew?) taking into consideration that it will cost me more to have it looked at, have it tuned up, have the timing tuned and to have it repaired than what the machine is worth, I've decided to let the Little Sewing Machine That Could rest in peace. It taught me well, and I absolutely got every cent it was worth out of it and then some!<br />
<br />
Now on to happier news! I stopped in at this fantastic place near my apartment called K-W Sewing Machines (<a href="http://www.kwsewingmachines.com/">http://www.kwsewingmachines.com/</a>) and talked to a very informative woman named Wendy about my options for a new machine considering my level of experience and my intended uses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_D5lqL55nvB_Vub7aE_mLX5GX5DRWccHg2nYx9UMhyphenhyphen-hiyCBAnVrBAdfWf8ZzGIAyl1Xqi1ZlWR-ATheiTRv76SNnLCn4OdGmObKCRid0Bmxb5s3eod9kJiQTX7J-_EwZ6UPxxsZaS0BE/s1600/2030QDC-B_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_D5lqL55nvB_Vub7aE_mLX5GX5DRWccHg2nYx9UMhyphenhyphen-hiyCBAnVrBAdfWf8ZzGIAyl1Xqi1ZlWR-ATheiTRv76SNnLCn4OdGmObKCRid0Bmxb5s3eod9kJiQTX7J-_EwZ6UPxxsZaS0BE/s320/2030QDC-B_a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is the machine Wendy had me pull out a stool and sit in front of. And oooh my how impressed I was! I had no idea new sewing machines could have sweet little LCD displays and so many cool features!!<br />
<br />
This is the <b>Janome 2030 QDC</b>.<br />
<br />
Here are its very cool features:<br />
<br />
<ul style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #35383d; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 5px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Top loading full rotary hook bobbin</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">30 built-in stitches</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">3 one-step buttonholes</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Manual thread tension control</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">One-hand needle threader</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Snap on presser feet</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">7 piece feed dog</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Free arm</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Drop feed</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Start/stop button</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Speed control slider</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Locking stitch button</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Memorized needle up/down</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Easy reverse button</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Auto declutch bobbin winder</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Extra high presser foot lift</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Back lit LCD screen with easy navigation keys</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Maximum stitch width: 7mm</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Maximum stitch length: 5mm</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px;">Soft cover included </li>
</ul>
I also really love the <i>optional</i> foot pedal. I didn't even realize that was an <i>option</i>! As an entry-level machine, it's pretty impressive the amount of handy things it comes with - including a full set of quilting feet including a walking foot for doing binding (which I've already heard horror stories about haha!). <br />
<br />
I have to scrounge together enough allowance (yes, I give myself an allowance shh!) to be able to get the rest of the fabric I need for my quilt and in the meantime this is my next crafty goal. What's nice about sewing in general is it's not like many other crafts; you can pick it up and put it down for months and it's none the worse for it (assuming you store your fabrics well).<br />
<br />
What machine do you have? What's <i>your</i> White Whale?<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-56661230653056319082012-11-17T14:20:00.003-05:002014-01-01T13:51:42.836-05:00Quilt Project - installment 1I decided this week to start a new project - a full-size quilt! I'm doing a Sarah's Choice pattern, and I'll be using a series of installments to track my progress through this quilting journey.<br />
<br />
I have to do 16 12" blocks for the size quilt that I'm making. Then I'll be doing the sashing and border once the blocks are finished.<br />
<br />
My goal is to get at least one block done every week. If I get time, and I have the daylight on my side I'm hoping I can do more (I have terrible lighting in my apartment and the only time I can really get good light is when I'm home during the day on the weekends - since it's been getting dark around 4-5pm lately).<br />
<br />
So enough of the boring details, here's the first sewn pieces: <b>sandwich</b> style squares<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT2SfsbYLJbyq7q9UW4BhG5tmthasynv_AJ_iTZDQyKlb1p-UOGUt-c_rsr32sCG6qVfb_KS45RUerGI49SbSE4_0xJhNjSnu6ZGIfiScjkxFlL4KoHVlyD2YjyAdAacJUunXgIlNYwdN/s1600/DSC_4307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT2SfsbYLJbyq7q9UW4BhG5tmthasynv_AJ_iTZDQyKlb1p-UOGUt-c_rsr32sCG6qVfb_KS45RUerGI49SbSE4_0xJhNjSnu6ZGIfiScjkxFlL4KoHVlyD2YjyAdAacJUunXgIlNYwdN/s400/DSC_4307.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
And some <b>flying geese</b> style rectangles<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_m6rzyH2LsQ5XkXLrJmxWNGD_kEioC3HXbFDeo7EE47MkDIMIeBH0NHtG-XbD_TsBBZRnmvjc8eZ-2TTZw0FUPMib7TmQhgtybXRNa9u7nQ3IHAjzfFcaV6zUWzqmhl2qVmTjN4MHKQul/s1600/DSC_4309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_m6rzyH2LsQ5XkXLrJmxWNGD_kEioC3HXbFDeo7EE47MkDIMIeBH0NHtG-XbD_TsBBZRnmvjc8eZ-2TTZw0FUPMib7TmQhgtybXRNa9u7nQ3IHAjzfFcaV6zUWzqmhl2qVmTjN4MHKQul/s400/DSC_4309.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And tadaa!! My first block!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfREfTQlZKC2jKl89OMiqwH_hQft8v1kr8lx85RffoooBtHoRL-ejWoTm6Ij_7V3KnqD8LHYI7NIUPBxN9RKXFj_G2yGRfCOfAZXuaHa2_Vyr8vm8HJI0XuLXM0IORD6jVu6U4wHOMK0R/s1600/DSC_4311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfREfTQlZKC2jKl89OMiqwH_hQft8v1kr8lx85RffoooBtHoRL-ejWoTm6Ij_7V3KnqD8LHYI7NIUPBxN9RKXFj_G2yGRfCOfAZXuaHa2_Vyr8vm8HJI0XuLXM0IORD6jVu6U4wHOMK0R/s400/DSC_4311.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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It's a lot trickier than I realized to get all the corners to line up perfectly, but hey it's only my first block so far :)</div>
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Stay tuned for further installments! </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-76668630093647500402012-10-06T21:46:00.000-04:002014-01-01T15:00:53.902-05:00Harvest Apple Caramel Cheesecake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkl807B5Z_KinA0C3v3U0LTQyYsMLdUVkxqhYZNOFGHjqlEd0WD3F0gq_UB3H_3hsNztySEHrLyQNlrKZUe230OgGQ7UvYxHsMaj1TQaO7hqWGUvbLbJGzNHEooWdBk8v5-f9qhp5cGl0G/s1600/DSC_4300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkl807B5Z_KinA0C3v3U0LTQyYsMLdUVkxqhYZNOFGHjqlEd0WD3F0gq_UB3H_3hsNztySEHrLyQNlrKZUe230OgGQ7UvYxHsMaj1TQaO7hqWGUvbLbJGzNHEooWdBk8v5-f9qhp5cGl0G/s400/DSC_4300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Topping</span></h4>
3 Apples<br />
3 Tbsp butter<br />
1/2 tsp corn starch<br />
1/2 tsp cinnamon<br />
1/4 tsp nutmeg<br />
1/4 tsp salt<br />
<br />
Peel and slice apples, soak in cold water while preparing. Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Once the foam in the butter subsides, add apple slices, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir to incorporate. Let simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thick and syrupy. Remove from heat and set aside.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Crust</span></h4>
1 cup graham cracker crumbs<br />
3 Tbsp sugar<br />
2 Tbsp finely chopped pecans<br />
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon<br />
1/4 cup butter, melted<br />
<br />
In a large bowl, combine the crackers, sugar, pecans and cinnamon, stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of lightly greased 10" springform pan. Bake @ 350ºF for 10 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool while preparing filling.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Filling</span></h4>
3 packages of 8oz cream cheese<br />
3/4 cup sugar<br />
3 eggs lightly beaten<br />
1/2 cup sour cream<br />
3/4 tsp vanilla extract<br />
<br />
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar till smooth. Add eggs, beat on low speed till just combined. Stir in vanilla and sour cream. Pour over crust. Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes with a deep pan of water on a lower rack (this will prevent cracking and will ensure the cake stays moist). Pour apple mixture over cheesecake, return to oven for another 10 minutes. Turn oven off and let cheesecake cool in the oven (this will further prevent cracking).<br />
<br />
Cool overnight.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-27591484314678047342012-10-06T21:22:00.003-04:002012-10-06T21:24:23.257-04:00Savory Feta Asparagus Tarts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHdJZnCvoWvL3u_Pkb-3pIg8fSLp6z-pi7uD-_Di_Jzoc4nv2XElabdqwUfwZRDw8Wwar8NacpKX_rlD3hO6pCB1QeP-HYSMU_xdmWcvYljww-nVqqEseMsfMPdtHi041UtBc6tpWEn8s/s1600/DSC_4302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHdJZnCvoWvL3u_Pkb-3pIg8fSLp6z-pi7uD-_Di_Jzoc4nv2XElabdqwUfwZRDw8Wwar8NacpKX_rlD3hO6pCB1QeP-HYSMU_xdmWcvYljww-nVqqEseMsfMPdtHi041UtBc6tpWEn8s/s400/DSC_4302.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_882533895"></span><span id="goog_882533896"></span><br />
<span id="goog_882533895"></span><span id="goog_882533896"></span> 8 oz package phyllo pasty<br />
3/4 cup butter, melted<br />
8 oz sprue (thin asparagus)<br />
4 oz feta cheese<br />
1/2 cup plain yogurt<br />
2 eggs, beaten<br />
3 green onions, finely chopped<br />
1 Tbsp chopped mint<br />
salt and pepper<br />
<br />
Cut the sprue into 1 inch pieces, leaving the tips whole. Cook in
boiling salted water until just tender. Rinse under cold water and
allow to drain completely. Mix together thoroughly the cheese, yogurt,
eggs, onions, mint, salt and pepper. <br />
<br />
Use a tart tin with 12 spaces or use 12 ramekin dishes. Cut the pasty in squares large enough to fill the pans or dishes, with enough to overlap the tops by about 1 inch.<br />
<br />
Layer 3 sheets of pastry, each brushed with melted butter. Cut into 3 inch squares, turning each slightly to make a frilled edge. Carefully push the pastry into buttered tart tins or ramekins. Stir in the drained sprue and fill
the pastry to within 1/2 inch of the top. <br />
<br />
Bake in a preheated 375ºF oven for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden and the filling is set and risen. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then remove to a serving dish.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-36856860987101814212012-09-04T20:13:00.002-04:002014-01-01T13:54:02.842-05:00Peace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UqSjMDmuYPioSdBuXb3HtrARVJ3LBrj1IMUWx4EqD0DVnyVx4ECypsAVlMSrPjQmiTNWyV97DubYQ6SniopP9NlcV6teYD74TKqUZRoM6gYYfhygLXUKg-LOgs5REUMFqiiT2oGbEYv5/s1600/Under-water-scene-with-3D-bubbles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UqSjMDmuYPioSdBuXb3HtrARVJ3LBrj1IMUWx4EqD0DVnyVx4ECypsAVlMSrPjQmiTNWyV97DubYQ6SniopP9NlcV6teYD74TKqUZRoM6gYYfhygLXUKg-LOgs5REUMFqiiT2oGbEYv5/s400/Under-water-scene-with-3D-bubbles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
By the time I opened my mouth to breathe, the surface of the murky water was already years above my upturned face. The scream shredding its way from the depths of my lungs gripped my throat, and with a will I'd never known I had, I swallowed it and closed my eyes.<br />
<br />
I didn't ask for the blows dealt me. I didn't ask to have my childhood torn from my hands. I didn't volunteer my innocence. No one asked when my naivety was stolen from me.<br />
<br />
I didn't ask to be uprooted; I didn't ask to have my friends taken or to have to rebuild my life.<br />
<br />
I never wanted the negativity. I didn't want the years of confusion, I didn't want the sleepless nights, the hungry days, the angry outbursts, the lonely tears, the vicious tongue or the calloused hands.<br />
<br />
I don't want these scars. I don't want these memories. I want to forget the smells, the loss, the consuming anger.<br />
<br />
I want back the life I was promised.<br />
<br />
I want to mend the seeping wounds that have tracked their way through the recesses of my mind.<br />
<br />
I want the ghosts to stop biding their time in the shadows, watching for cracks in my defense.<br />
<br />
I want to walk without the tangled purgatorial chains on my ankles weighing down each step forward.<br />
<br />
I ache for freedom.<br />
<br />
I weep for peace.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F34777610&color=67d0de&auto_play=true&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-65507290377889644332012-08-06T17:11:00.000-04:002014-01-01T14:47:30.201-05:00Table Refurbish pt 2 - Decoupage!Yesterday I posted the painting and distressing I did to refurbish an old wooden coffee table. Well today I blasted through part 2 of the refurbish - a decoupage effect on the table top with anatomy sketches!<br />
<br />
I won't bore you with tons of details, so without further ado - here's the progress!<br />
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I used just regular glossy <a href="http://www.michaels.com/Mod-Podge%C2%AE-Gloss/cp0370,default,pd.html?start=20&cgid=products-generalcrafts-modpodge" target="_blank">Mod Podge</a> from Michael's, glossy Minwax Polycrylic from Michael's, an art knife, soft-bristled paintbrushes (medium and wide), a scraper for flattening the pictures, a hand towel for wiping up excess liquids, an art book with large-scale hand-drawn sketches, and dark coffee for staining.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJ4mTo9PAx5DlOyn0RK32-sSe70U9a0q1DX3mvwWdIoLp9Cej_55f3Of2lAXj8QJ31nUql8I-W2IppeQI_aDkX2ELh_cdgXPo8YUj_vBjgubFniC7YeBcQTYO6ffyxYCSVVXIOEQrMPJG/s1600/DSC_4139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJ4mTo9PAx5DlOyn0RK32-sSe70U9a0q1DX3mvwWdIoLp9Cej_55f3Of2lAXj8QJ31nUql8I-W2IppeQI_aDkX2ELh_cdgXPo8YUj_vBjgubFniC7YeBcQTYO6ffyxYCSVVXIOEQrMPJG/s400/DSC_4139.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_As2w_zgqGYX87kDAVxBneyXqU5QkfcnN4ygnN0wkWDK-52pieZ63NsKzbTSsdGtME7jjj9n7ewKD_loqW-gIVrJfcJtW5YNSyL5CE_IOCKjlQz9ep2MVqngBJvgvM7qV1nzWO81GkeS/s1600/DSC_4137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_As2w_zgqGYX87kDAVxBneyXqU5QkfcnN4ygnN0wkWDK-52pieZ63NsKzbTSsdGtME7jjj9n7ewKD_loqW-gIVrJfcJtW5YNSyL5CE_IOCKjlQz9ep2MVqngBJvgvM7qV1nzWO81GkeS/s400/DSC_4137.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGO5PjlG3scfCyPzakInB_IzX-fnq7cwfLfkgQ7z5ij3ONFtgi2pT-xPsLy3W1cEd15dNEvsbkPX6j9aCa5YPQTeq2MuOSCsoxEUljzSnA3McSILS6FgF67bpGW9zsOw7mBv6IURN1rp1/s1600/DSC_4138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGO5PjlG3scfCyPzakInB_IzX-fnq7cwfLfkgQ7z5ij3ONFtgi2pT-xPsLy3W1cEd15dNEvsbkPX6j9aCa5YPQTeq2MuOSCsoxEUljzSnA3McSILS6FgF67bpGW9zsOw7mBv6IURN1rp1/s400/DSC_4138.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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I have to start off by giving due props to <a href="http://www.mrkate.com/2012/07/29/diy-home-art-book-decoupaged-coffee-table/" target="_blank">Mr. Kate</a> and her awesome idea for this :)</div>
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I started with the above human anatomy sketch book and got to work ripping out every cool sketch I could find. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhDQMHoOAPUAPAOWT19zmFOMiVOPR-tGzCC47TYhxhm35TUctNoWnKipFpdReexBx0soJQoRFqLuAv-sdQir8nyZnkuQlAKloRoXglbqk7UtIs9OugH92jXydyuRsO55dUqmGEIqWkYNY/s1600/DSC_4141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjhDQMHoOAPUAPAOWT19zmFOMiVOPR-tGzCC47TYhxhm35TUctNoWnKipFpdReexBx0soJQoRFqLuAv-sdQir8nyZnkuQlAKloRoXglbqk7UtIs9OugH92jXydyuRsO55dUqmGEIqWkYNY/s400/DSC_4141.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Once I had all my sketches ripped out, I laid them out the way I wanted them (approximately) on the top of the table.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC1hfNkOrAPwIQ1rJZMrhycFRwtT6faB2yPzD-bR25IUfQQDiy2s-UoFEhAiG85hn0_9XlkwERaR9eWQtkGNiDJX52m9peD4Jpf5DS25tJ3v2cpSfuKpv4GX8Uya3R-3b6Q0Kn0KfIX3Q/s1600/DSC_4143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC1hfNkOrAPwIQ1rJZMrhycFRwtT6faB2yPzD-bR25IUfQQDiy2s-UoFEhAiG85hn0_9XlkwERaR9eWQtkGNiDJX52m9peD4Jpf5DS25tJ3v2cpSfuKpv4GX8Uya3R-3b6Q0Kn0KfIX3Q/s640/DSC_4143.jpg" width="426" /> </a></div>
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Once that was done I got to do the real work! I started on the left and moved right in layers.</div>
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Each piece was dipped in a lasagna pan (you can use any wide, flat container) with about an inch of dark black coffee in it. Don't dip the pieces for too long or they'll tear. </div>
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Paint a layer of the Mod Podge in the spot you're going to lay your piece down once it's been dipped. Lay the stained piece over the glue, and use the wallpaper scraper (or whatever flat surface you're using) to get out any air bubbles. Gently mop up any excess coffee/glue then paint over the whole area again with the Mod Podge (you just don't want puddles of coffee everywhere).</div>
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Repeat till the whole table is covered. Once the pieces are all down, take your art knife and trim the excesses off the edges of the table. Paint the whole area again with a thick layer of Mod Podge and let the whole thing dry (about 3 hours). </div>
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Once that is dry, you can paint on a couple layers of the Polycrylic to seal everything in.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWi7Np2CoXSjBnwJo-mkDEBzOqKzudpVsLQmyr6LEyp-_MdN3E109J1seFX4zn4fM6Zdc2PwHEWWaTT_3QSYtqm65HTkd-Yyt-GUu3uQZ4V_O-r_Ps6_8nulZJI9LvPVDYupBbxE2GEZ7x/s1600/DSC_5083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWi7Np2CoXSjBnwJo-mkDEBzOqKzudpVsLQmyr6LEyp-_MdN3E109J1seFX4zn4fM6Zdc2PwHEWWaTT_3QSYtqm65HTkd-Yyt-GUu3uQZ4V_O-r_Ps6_8nulZJI9LvPVDYupBbxE2GEZ7x/s640/DSC_5083.jpg" width="418" /></a></div>
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And here's it finished and sealed!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-8077842447096129832012-08-05T21:14:00.001-04:002014-01-01T14:49:48.429-05:00Distressed Coffee Table RefurbishA few weeks ago I decided I needed to lighten up my living room. I started coordinating so that creamy colors and soft sand colors were the predominant colors. One of the signature pieces I had my eye on to tie this all together was the coffee table. Mind you, a few weeks ago this table was being used to hold the monstrosity of a TV that used to live on the other side of the room (which you won't be able to see in the coming photos).<br />
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My vision for the solid wood table was to sand down the worn finish, paint the whole thing a creamy white, distress it, seal it, and plunk it back down in the living room all Martha Stewart perfect and all would be well with the world.<br />
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The idea was great and simple in my head - the work, however, would prove to be back-breaking and very tiring (I did this all yesterday, and I'm completely beat today complete with sore back, shoulders, and even my hamstrings are sore from all the bending over and sanding haha!)<br />
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So without further ado, here's how it went!<br />
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Materials</h3>
<ul>
<li>Old, worn solid wood coffee table </li>
<li>Primer (I used Painter's Touch primer from Home Depot)</li>
<li>2 cans of Creamy White spray paint (I used <a href="http://www.homedepot.ca/product/pt-2x-satin-heirloom-white-aerosol/968966" target="_blank">Painter's Touch Satin Heirloom</a> from Home Depot)</li>
<li>1 can of polyurethane to seal it (I used <a href="http://www.homedepot.ca/product/satin/911376#" target="_blank">Minwax polyurethane spray</a> from Home Depot)</li>
<li>Sufficient outdoor space (and some accompanying good weather) </li>
<li>Plastic drop cloth</li>
<li>180 grit sandpaper (for the initial 'roughening')</li>
<li>220 grit sandpaper (for the 'distressing')</li>
<li>*Optional* Foam block sander (these are fantastic for softly sanding edges without the risk of compromising the nice, strong lines of sharp edges) </li>
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You'll want a lot of outdoor space for this, between the sanding, paint fumes, and definitely the sealing fumes. At the generosity of a good friend of mine (who I'll totally plug <a href="http://www.facebook.com/uniquejourneysphotography" target="_blank">HERE</a>), I was able to do this outside during a very nice day (albeit very humid).<br />
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I started off sanding the entire table so that the primer and paint would stick to all the old surfaces. I was lucky enough to have some help with the sanding from two little darlings who were anxious to get involved with the project (thanks, ladies!)<br />
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Once that was finished I moved on to priming the entire table. As you can see below, there were a lot of ridges and little nooks and crannies where I had to be sure to get the primer without over-spraying and causing unwanted buildup or dripping.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGqqW_CKcR1POwET44-h0gDXUn5A88ctHfSXGAGWdN0zTrnJbnOU29q4ssB8wU_g-qtHELqae_Jla8o_tFTLGv63MKcrN1m3OIZ00nC3UP6D7d-yFZ5vLzQ5KHI4wC8XG9HueOA6oXS1_/s1600/DSC_4124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGqqW_CKcR1POwET44-h0gDXUn5A88ctHfSXGAGWdN0zTrnJbnOU29q4ssB8wU_g-qtHELqae_Jla8o_tFTLGv63MKcrN1m3OIZ00nC3UP6D7d-yFZ5vLzQ5KHI4wC8XG9HueOA6oXS1_/s400/DSC_4124.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Getting all the edges ended up being easier just leaning the table over on its side as opposed to putting it upside down (which would have hindered the ability to do the top of the table while the legs were being done)</div>
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Once the primer was completely dry (which didn't take long since I got the quick-drying spray) I started on the first of two coats of my creamy white paint. Because it was humid the drying time was a little longer than expected (and because I got the 2x coverage paint it went on quite heavy). Total drying time for 2 coats was approximately 3 hours (that does not count <i>curing </i>which can take several days)</div>
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I didn't actually document the process of distressing since it was very labor intensive in the heat and with all the bending over and kneeling (on my bad knee this is a pretty big task - and also explains why my hamstrings are killing me today... where <i>did</i> I put that chardonnay...). Essentially what I did to distress this piece was I mostly used a foam block sander at a very soft grit and I went along all the sharp edges of wood anywhere I could see. I took off only a little bit of the paint in these areas, and on all the corners, and did a little distressing on the curved portions of exposed wood on the legs and the cross-beam. After I was satisfied with the distressing, I thoroughly dusted the entire piece and wiped it down with a damp rag to remove any missed paint/wood dust.</div>
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Once the distressing process was finished, I had to get to work sealing it. I used a spray polyurethane fast-drying sealer for my table. I have intentions for the top of this table at a later date, so I wasn't too generous on the top with the sealer as it will be re-sealed later anyway. I did do two full coats of the sealer on all sides of the legs to prevent staining or unwanted 'distressing' from wear and tear.</div>
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After all was said and done, the edges on the legs look exactly how I was envisioning they would.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXGjlju_U-m0AaDH49rWQQpwXmAtJhW81YGFmAIfMA-STknldWfNUmvJKsSp-Nc7MN8KCXRjsvbSMHwj3mkZwkCMusCNPPpYVdBF0m5lUxtCDfLreevO17RsEmwXqgd6ca9KeOK69EV9y/s1600/DSC_4130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXGjlju_U-m0AaDH49rWQQpwXmAtJhW81YGFmAIfMA-STknldWfNUmvJKsSp-Nc7MN8KCXRjsvbSMHwj3mkZwkCMusCNPPpYVdBF0m5lUxtCDfLreevO17RsEmwXqgd6ca9KeOK69EV9y/s400/DSC_4130.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I was very pleased with the finish of the polyurethane and how it made the whole piece shine too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TKXdOz8xZ0Jt2gj9rHO9id3R8mPmgUKw1Zao1hyphenhyphen28oPLwWYTTOQerbuprOtxTJd37Ty0CdKOUNhH_KGvgVeX3dzI4JHr_Itd2stlCj8nJUBiLTtRHCpdqmwprrHFOvdhH1CuQ_buEzPk/s1600/DSC_4133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TKXdOz8xZ0Jt2gj9rHO9id3R8mPmgUKw1Zao1hyphenhyphen28oPLwWYTTOQerbuprOtxTJd37Ty0CdKOUNhH_KGvgVeX3dzI4JHr_Itd2stlCj8nJUBiLTtRHCpdqmwprrHFOvdhH1CuQ_buEzPk/s640/DSC_4133.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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I think the new table fits very nicely in my living room!</div>
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If you have any questions or would just like to pass on your own fun DIY tips, I'd love to hear from you! </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5931152091572052347.post-23119140857544715422012-03-12T20:09:00.000-04:002014-01-01T14:34:31.931-05:0020 weeks post-op<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCM6vMGr3xCzNw8Frtvk1OqXnp6L3ilB6OlNF35-1Nfg_Q-NgRdjWk8bb2fR91o2oFyoRYIgGweODdiWaGvIjETzY1Lyccy3VexGovog8MrYw1jKuf8X9gwdBa66-XldgZ6IY_Gybu1GkR/s1600/IMG-20120312-00399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCM6vMGr3xCzNw8Frtvk1OqXnp6L3ilB6OlNF35-1Nfg_Q-NgRdjWk8bb2fR91o2oFyoRYIgGweODdiWaGvIjETzY1Lyccy3VexGovog8MrYw1jKuf8X9gwdBa66-XldgZ6IY_Gybu1GkR/s320/IMG-20120312-00399.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
It's been 20 weeks today since knee surgery, and it's been nine weeks since I started going to the gym three days a week. I'm happy to say that progress has been coming along nicely, and I'm feeling pretty good these days. Stairs still give me a little trouble (going up and down) but other than the dull pain from that the most I get is this ache that never really goes away. I rarely get the sharp pains that I was getting before.<br />
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I won't bore you with the details of my gym routine but suffice it to say that I'm VERY pleased with the progress I'm making there and I'm hoping that now that I'm getting my ass back to the gym more regularly I'll start seeing some good results!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05396507915170225918noreply@blogger.com1