Surfing around the web the other night, looking for I don’t know what, I ran across a blog post about a rather novel holiday, Discardia, whose main purpose is declutterng of the home and mind. Since this is something we’ve been working on for a while the concept really spoke to me.
Discardia is celebrated by getting rid of stuff and ideas you no longer need. It’s about letting go, abdicating from obligation and guilt, being true to the self you are now. Discardia is the time to get rid of things that no longer add value to your life, shed bad habits, let go of emotional baggage and generally lighten your load.
Lightening the load, physically, mentally and emotionally is definitely where I am at right now, because when there is so much stuff, both physical and emotional, it weighs us down. And if it, whatever it is, is interfering with your ability to live your life positively, then why keep dragging it around?
I also liked the idea that simplifying, organizing, and prioritizing are not enough, but we must be able to value and enjoy what we have. And that’s the ultimate point I think. If you have everything, but it brings you no joy, then you effectively have nothing, and what’s the point of that?
After a rather rough, uncertain start we finally made it to the Glass Festival in Staunton, Saturday afternoon. The highlight of both days was of course the glass blowing demos. Chatting with various artists about different techniques was also fabulous. It never ceases to amaze me how willingly glass artists share tips and techniques, they always seem so approachable. Unfortunately I was too busy watching to take many pictures, but here are a couple of Chad Clark, who teaches glassblowing over at TCC. He really wowed the crowd with his “Ray Gun” that shot real fire.
I still can’t throw pots. Ok, well I suppose if I picked one up and pitched it across the room I could, but actually forming one on a wheel, fughedaboutit.
Given my throwing difficulties I’ve decided to change tacks and focus on slab building instead. One thing I find appealing about pottery is the ability to add texture to the piece, something which slab building lends itself to quite nicely.
First I’ll sketch some shapes on paper to get a good visual. Then I plan on going through the million and one stamps in our craft closet so I can make my own relief stamps for texture and elements. There are some tutorials on making stamps online including creating a texture stamp wheel so the pattern can be rolled continually on a piece. I may also dabble with carving slabs. After printing a pattern I’ll lightly trace it on the slab then carve it out with tools to make the relief
Hopefully I’ll remember to take some pictures while we are in the studio on Sunday. Finger crossed for more positive potting!
After a week and a half break today’s first piece was a fabulous disaster. Do not pass blow, do not collect $200, straight to the bucket it went. As soon as I ended up reheating my first gather I knew it was not going to work. An off center bubble is just not worth fighting with.
Second time around ( there was a second time, yay! ) started badly but got better. Ed helped me recover from a poor, elongated piece which looked something like a glass elcair! He also pointed out I was not going into the glory hole deeply enough to heat my glass evenly. Partially heated glass results in thin spots where you don’t want them.
Another mistake I made was waiting too long before making my jack mark. Previously I would blow and shape a few times before I put in jack marks. Getting the jack mark in early helped pull the mark farther away from the blowpipe making breaking off the piece to transfer much easier. No fighting with the end of the blowpipe for clearance.
After reshaping all went well until I over-blew the piece. The bottom was so thin it started to collapse when I flattened it. In the end I had to skip opening up the neck so now I have something that looks sort of like a flat bottomed gourd. Wednesday I may try to trim the opening and grind it down. It may have a future as a vase.
New techniques for today included decorative lips wraps, over-wrapping and adding handles of various shapes, sized and complexity. So yeah, maybe next week my gourds can have handles!
For those of you are are unfamiliar with glass blowing here is a video from You Tube that does a good job of explaining the basic equipment and techniques used in glass blowing. The commentary is a bit corny but otherwise it’s a great overview.
While we were in Philadelphia a few weeks back shopping at Reading Terminal for gifts for my Mom the children ran across some homemade glycerin soap. It was a deep translucent purple with opaque lavender hearts embedded in it. The soap was made by a little boy who was trying to raise money to go on a mission trip with his mother. Fascinated that a little boy had made this cool looking soap we discussed the process involved, which everyone agreed sounded like fun.
Unlike traditional soap making which involves melting fats, adding lye, curing and such, melt and pour is very easy. You simply take a premade soap base, melt, stylize, pour into a mold, then viola, soap! Actually it’s more akin to candle making than soap making. A basic bar can be finished in under half an hour, although some of the more intricate bars can take much longer. Even simple bars can be quite striking just let your imagination run wild.
If you decide you want to give it a try you’ll need a few basic supplies which can be picked up at most craft stores. You can also buy kits but I’m not much of a kit girl so I mixed and matched my own.
Basic Supplies:
Melt and pour glycerin soap base: Ours came from Michael’s , not the greatest stuff but fine for learning the process. We used a clear glycerin and an opaque glycerin. They also had olive oil, shea butter and some other flavor. If we continue making soap I’ll order something of a higher quality online.
Measuring cup: Something microwave safe with a spout to pour the melted soap into the molds. Some people use a double boiler on the stove top for greater temperature control but microwaving takes like 30 seconds so that is what we did. I mean this is supposed to be fun right and double broilers are too much like cooking!
Molds: Literally you can use anything as a mold. If it can stand the heat of the melted soap and you can get the hardened soap out of it, then it’s a mold. Candy molds, cookie cutter, loaf pans, Tupperware are all good candidates. We purchased some bar shaped molds in addition to some mini cookie cutters we had around the house.
Colors and Scents: If you want to colored soap, and who doesn’t want colored soap, you’ll need some sort of dye. Food coloring is an option but too much can cause the soap to stain hands which defeats the purpose of soap now doesn’t it? Michael’s had liquid dyes which were ok but I have since found some fantastic powdered colors I’d like to try. As for scents again Michael’s has them. We chose vanilla but you can also essential oils. Check that any essential oils you use are safe for skin contact, no one wants any nasty reaction from their soap!
Embeddables: Is that a word? Anyway you can embed items in the soap too. Pieces of soap, seeds, flower petals, beads, small toys, again basically anything that can withstand the heat of the melted soap and won’t react harmfully to skin on contact. It might also be a good idea to make sure it’s safe to, or too big to, go down the drain.
Mister: At times you’ll need to mist your soap with rubbing alcohol. This helps dissolve foam and keep layers together. I forget this step once and my soap bar began peeling apart in layers!
Miscellaneous Tools: A cutting board and knives to cut soap base or a finished soap loaf, saran wrap to cover the soap in the microwave, a vegetable peeler to make curls and trim edges, stir sticks to mix in dye and scents are all handy. We used wooden crafts sticks so we could thrown them away when we were done. This avoided inadvertently mixing dye colors together.
If you use any plastic items in your soap making be sure to label them for soap use only afterward since plastic can retain scents and dyes which may skin safe but not necessarily edible.
Ok I’m lame because I haven’t posted anything in ages, so here is a quick “family” update to catch up then I promise to try to blog more frequently.Of course I’d suggest not holding your breath though. Well unless blue is your color.
Glassblowing: Jc and I are taking a glass blowing class together at the local community college. It’s quite challenging and a great cooperative learning experience since Jc and I are partners. The only downside is there are a lot of people in class so you are lucky to get a chance to blow twice during a session but overall we are having a blast.
Melt and pour soap:It’s all the design fun but none of the nasty chemicals required for traditional soap making.The children and I have been having a good time with this.
Photography:I recently acquired a macro lens which allows me to take pictures that appear life-size or even larger with my doubler. I’ve not had much of chance to play with it yet but I’m very excited to start playing around.
Driving school! If all goes well, thanks to a change in the law favorable to homeschoolers, AN should have her license by the middle of April. So far she’s doing really well as she seems to be a natural.
Drawing: AN took an eight week figure drawing class. Maybe she will photograph some of her work and post it. Hint, hint.
Writing workshop: SJ and JA are taking a writing workshop where they learn to write and edit various forms of short writing such as short stories, essays and research papers. It’s been a great experience for them. Last semester they wrote and bound their own books.
Earth science class:Another great class that SJ and JA are taking. The teacher is really hands on so it’s fun. A few weeks ago they made volcanos which we hope to tape a demonstration of soon.
Arabian Nights:SJ is taking a literature study where they use skits, songs, and projects to understand the culture and ideologies used in the Arabian nights. She loves this class, which is quite lively!
Creative writing class:SJ is quite the writer so she’s taking another writing class. They are spending several weeks covering the elements of fictional writing then they’ll share and critique stories they have written.
Irish Dance: SJ is taking a beginning Irish dance class. I’ve not seen any of the dancing but I can hear the stomping through the ceiling!
Chess:JA is learning chess, the class emphasises logic, critical thinking and good sportsmanship. They are using the Championship Chess http://www.championshipchess.net/ program.
Art History: This class covers the major periods of art history including the pre-historic, Medieval, Renaissance, Neo-Classical, Romantic, Modern and Contemporary periods. Each child chose a type of art to study in-depth throughout all the periods. JA chose sculpture as his focal point which made Philly fun since there are dozens of sculptures in Center City.
Play and Learn: SA is on hiatus right now since his teacher just had a baby! She should be back next month. SA has really blossomed in class which is nice to see.
Philadelphia: We took a working vacation to Philadelphia. In between our trips to the Buyer’s Market we got a chance to see the Narnia exhibit at the Franklin Institute, toured Independence Hall and went to the Lego store.I’ll post pictures later. No, really I will. J
SA is six today! How is it that he grew up so quickly? My “baby” is no longer a baby but a charming little guy, full of life and exuding character like nobody’s business.
It seems like just yesterday I was on deaths door after having had him, wondering if I would even live long enough to see his face or hold him in my arms. To this day I still think of all those who prayed me for during that time and I thank G-d for each one of you! And my family who dealt with the difficult pregnancy and months of illness that followed. How blessed I was they did so much and never complained.
We had a small family party at my mother’s house to celebrate. SA got more Lego sets than should be allowed by law. At one point as he was opening his presents he began to make a “drum” roll noise just to up the drama a bit. He always amazes me with his wit.
I am not one to make “New Year” resolutions. I have plenty of self imposed guilt so I don’t need to add to it unnecessarily. Instead I have some areas I want to make a greater priority in my life, things which will empower me to be a happier, healthier, more productive person in the coming year. Many of these are things I have already been actively pursuing for some time but I will re-acknowledge them again so they will remain in the forefront of my consciousness.
My list in no particular order:
Proactively acknowledging the blessings and bounty in my life. It’s so easy to focus on the negative, I want to make sure the positive is what shines through.
Be more active. Now that the health problems I suffered over the past year or so seem to be resolved I want to use this time to improve my overall health and enjoy the gift of just being able.
Spend time with my family. I want to try to spend more individual time with my children, laughing, learning and having fun, which can be hard in the hustle and bustle of a large family. They are so special and important to me so I want them to know it!
Enjoy my spouse. Spend lots of time with my fantastic husband. So much of our life is focused on dealing with mundane tasks. I want to take time out to spend some frivolous, one on one time with the man who means the world to me!
Seek out positive relationships. By surrounding ourselves with positive people we can really grow to our fullest potential. Hopefully we’ll also be able to give back some of what those wonderful people give to us, even if just in a small way!
Get organized. A place for everything and everything in it’s place. After literally YEARS of home renovations which are finally coming to an end, I want to have my life in order!
Take time for my hobbies. It’s so easy to put off things which aren’t necessary but all work and no play makes Jane a dull, stagnant girl.
Reconnect with G-d. Spend more time with the siddur, in prayer and get back to Shul.
Continue reducing the stress in my life and learning positive ways of relating to people in my life.
Enjoy the little things in life because those usually mean more than anything else.
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December 22, 2008 – 03:59
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It’s not often one wants to be considered a loser. I mean honestly what could be worse? Perhaps it’s just my masochistic streak but I signed up for a homeschool version of Biggest Loser which starts after the first of the year.
The premise is good, everyone throws some money into the pot, then begins any weight loss program they choose. Each week we weigh in to determine who lost the most weight for the week. Whoever wins gets a cash prize. Then at the end of the 12 weeks the person who lost the most weight wins the grand prize.
What could be better? It’s office pool meets Weight Watchers. Of course I doubt I’ll lose an once since my thyroid hates me. Last time I did a fairly strict diet and exercise regime for three months and lost nothing, which was discouraging to say the least. On the up side I was in great shape just no closer to a healthier weight then when I started.
In all honesty I am not overly concerned with my appearance but I know losing a good 20-30 pounds would be very beneficial to my health. So I guess we’ll see what happens in the coming weeks.
Wednesday I may try to trim the opening and grind it down. It may have a future as a vase.