Mudita Monday

On May 20, 2013 by Mei
etchythings.com

Queen Victoria

Victoria Day in Canada

Victoria Day, also known as May Two-Four, May Long and May Long Weekend, is a Canadian holiday on the Monday preceding May 25.

Queen Victoria was born on May 24, 1819. Following the death of three uncles and her father, she became Queen of the United Kingdom on June 20, 1837 and reigned until her death on January 22, 1901. Victoria is still the longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. During Victoria’s life, the British Empire expanded considerably. However, her powers as Queen of the United Kingdom were reduced as the House of Commons became more important and powerful in British politics.

The monarch’s birthday has been celebrated in Canada since before the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign. After her death, in 1901, May 25 became known as Empire Day. The sovereign’s official birthday was still celebrated, often on the King’s or Queen’s actual birthday. In 1952, Empire Day was moved to the Monday before May 25 and since 1953, the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II has been celebrated on this date in Canada. In 1958, Empire Day became known as Commonwealth Day, which was moved to the second Monday in March. The Monday before May 25 then became known as Victoria Day, which is a Canadian statutory holiday.

With that, I’d like to dedicate today’s Mudita Monday for all the strong woman out there ‘fighting’ for her freedom, her love, her passion and persevering in times of injustice and deception. May you find truth and peace.

What is Mudita Monday?
http://myogastudio.ca/my-views-on-yoga/what-is-the-purpose-of-mudita-mondays/

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We Love You Kenny Pawgers!

On May 7, 2013 by Mei
etchythings.com

Scrapbook Page in memory of Kenny Pawgers

“A powerful cat” described by a Reiki Master who only saw Kenny’s picture and never met him; Kenny “was truly a miracle.” [Maria Soroski]

Anyone who got to meet him loved him. He had soul; a wise cat who looked into your eyes and understood you. Kenny loved Maria. Kenny was 20 years old when he passed and he spent his last moments in Maria’s arms.

When Maki and I visited Maria to give her our sentiments, she couldn’t hold back her tears. We took some of her thoughts about Kenny and wrote it on the scrapbook page. “He was truly a miracle…” and for always the bond between them will forever be remembered and documented.

With Sympathy Card

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VBA Versatile Blogger Award

On May 7, 2013 by Mei

My VBA Nominator
Thank you Maki for nominating me for this VBA Award. Click on her picture to go directly to her site.

VBA

VBA

What is VBA?

The rules state:

“If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.”

In the rules here, I don’t see any rules about following only new blogs. So if they seem quite tenured, it’s because they rock my world. ;)

In no particular order:

1) JSB Arts
2) 2justByou
3) Secret Solace Supplies
4) Joyful Creations with Kim
5) ByTerrie Custom Bags
6) The Estranged Blog
7) 1AEON

Tis all I have for now…

7 things about me:
1) I’m a Yoga Instructor
2) I’m a Gemini
3) I’m a fatalist
4) I look younger than I really am
5) I love animals
6) I hope to learn at least one new skill every year
7) Prolonged self pity is one of my pet peeves

Until next time!

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Mudita Monday

On May 6, 2013 by Mei
Kyra K. 's The East Wind

Kyra K. ‘s The East Wind

May 6th, 2013 – Kyra’s come a long way since I first met her. Her dream of becoming a visual arts graphic artist and designer came to a halt almost 10 yrs ago when she thought she wouldn’t have the opportunity to get back into doodling and drawing. Life takes you to places that are unpredictable sometimes and she definitely wasn’t expecting what came at her. In getting to know her, I see someone who really does love to draw (and really good at it too)! She officially opened her etsy shop a few months after I introduced her to it and sold her first art piece shortly after. Her success was attributed to her passion for drawing, her desire to create good work and integrity that is unwavering. Mudita Kyra!

Link to the origin of Mudita Monday here.

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R.I.P. Kenny Pawgers

On May 3, 2013 by Mei
Maria's and VOKRA's beloved Kenny Pawgers

Maria’s and VOKRA’s beloved Kenny Pawgers

“IT is with PROFOUND SADNESS that Kenny Pawgers Passed Gently away tonight at 8:30 pm, at Intercity emergency clinic surrounded by Myself and Hilly Wilson seeing him off to his new life. Kenny was feeling good earlier today but began the dying process in the early evening. A gift was given to him to Prevent any discomfort and he was put gently to sleep. Kenny was the most amazing cat i have ever known. His Mission in life was to give Love to everyone that knew him. He accepted unconditionally every single person He met and showered them with Affection. I think Kenny was here on earth to teach us all Compassion and LOVE and JOY. The photos here are Kenny giving you that message before he left us.”

Good Bye Kenny...

Good Bye Kenny…

My first meet and greet with Kenny.

My first meet and greet with Kenny.

It has been a pleasure meeting Kenny and seeing him bring so many people and paws together. Kenny passed away from old age at 20 years.

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Mudita Mondays

On April 29, 2013 by Mei
combat medic to ceramic artist

combat medic to ceramic artist

April 29th, 2013 – It’s definitely been a while since I’ve blogged about Mudita Mondays. For those of you who are unaware, it can be found here.

Today’s Mudita is dedicated to my friend, Shawna M. from JSB Arts. As her blog bio. and name say, she was a combat medic who became disabled during her duty and fell in love with ceramic art when she was going through therapy. Today, she has a growing number of buyers on Etsy as well as a Kickstarter program that is coming to fruition by May 12 (Mother’s Day). It’s great to know people who are (able or disabled) doing everything s/he can to create a life that is fulfilling not only for herself-but also the people around her. This Mudita Monday is for you, Shawna!

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teoTime Tea Review Part I

On April 27, 2013 by Mei
etchythings.com

Local Vancouver shop owner, teoTime, commissioned me for a beautiful custom stamp!

Last week, I was contacted by Matt from teoTime.com to make him a rubber stamp. It was a pretty busy week so I didn’t think too much about the logo he designed himself and what it was for. When I first looked at it, I thought it might be a stamp for a wedding- unless the customer volunteers information to me or I need more info to better the stamp results, I usually don’t inquire what the stamp is for – but of course, tea leafs + hearts and in an hourglass/ time… teoTime logo makes so much sense! :)

Matt is very courteous in his communication and very humble too! He sent me the image file and told me he was new in graphic designing so I am free to make any adjustments. I thought the image looked great!

THE SURPRISE!

I bet his company really loves surprises because when I met Matt to deliver him his stamp, he surprised me with a gift box of teoTime teas!! HAHAHA…

Don't know what goodies I got!

Don’t know what goodies I got!

It was only then when I found out that his stamp was for his company… DUH!!

Nice logo that I just made into a stamp.

Nice logo that I just made into a stamp.

We chatted a short while and him and his business partners are new to their teotime business. I love that! It’s so nice to meet new business owners because every individual who is willing to get out of their comfort zone and work on something they believe in is to be commended.

I asked Matt:
“Why tea?”
Matt: “My business partners and I love drinking teas. We’ve found [competitor's] teas smell great but doesn’t always match the taste. So we wanted to be able to do that for our customers.”

Makes sense.

Me: “Are you selling this at craft shows?”
Matt: “No, just online at the moment.”

Well this is sorta what I remembered because I didn’t really think I would be doing this review… but after I saw what great lengths teoTime and Matt did for me, I just had to tell my readers about this new local tea company.

Whoa! Check out my gift!

Whoa! Check out my gift!

A nice little note in a corked bottle.

A nice little note in a corked bottle.

Inside my surprise box were a bunch of goodies nicely packaged in 2 fabric bags with 2 bags of teas in each bag and a bamboo spoon and a note in a bottle. What a delight! Matt left a note showing gratitude and a true small businessman in the making! Who wouldn’t want to receive a little note in a bottle… LOL

So many teas to try.. where to begin?!

So many teas to try.. where to begin?!

I’m not sure if I should be showing off the new teas but I hope Matt doesn’t mind that I do! These are fantastic.

As a first impression, I give this company 5 Rubber Stamp Stars! I haven’t tried the teas yet and it’s getting late on my end so I don’t wanna be up all night if I brewed one now but I’d love to give this tea a try tomorrow morning.

Matt was open to having a review on their teas done so right away, it gives me the impression that they are confident about their product. I’m not a tea expert and I have not looked into tea competitors or industry standards so this is all purely my review based on my thoughts on the product.

Taste test tomorrow and review in a future post soon!

Until next time.

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Diaper Trike – inspired by FaveCrafts

On April 17, 2013 by Mei

I saw a DIY tutorial on how to make my own diaper trike on FaveCrafts. (<= Click on link to see tutorial) and just had to give this a try.

Last year, I made a diaper cake so I had to challenge myself to making something new :P

etchythings.etsy.com

Diaper Cake 2012
Click on picture to see card to go with this craft. :)

etchythings.com

After wrapping the diaper wires and securing it with an elastic, we used somem ribbons to cover the elastics.


We followed the instructions from Fave Crafts on this one.

etchythings.com

We didn’t tie a knot after attaching the tires because the receiving blankets were not long enough but we tucked the end into the tires and that was fine.

etchythings.com

Our trike seat was actually a photo album so instead of using a bib we used this instead.

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Created a fender over the front headlight (drinking bottle)

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Way Cool Diaper Trike!

Everything FaveCrafts stated in their instructions is pretty correct. I would say the variation with ours and a tip is that weight difference depending on what you add as your gifts (type of bib, bottle and how many diapers etc.) may change the weight ratio and so you might reinforcements of ribbons to keep the trike from tipping. If it’s front heavy more diapers in the back and balance it with something heavier or more ribbons to hold the pieces together would be a good idea.

Happy diaper trike making everyone!

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DIY Rub-on Greeting Cards

On April 17, 2013 by Mei

Last year, I purchased a lot of different embellishments to try out (flocking powder, rub ons, 3D stickers… etc.) and didn’t really get a chance to use any of it much.

So when my mom asked me to make a wedding card for one of her friends’ son, I decided this would be a great opportunity to use my stash of supplies. :)

etchythings.com

Adding Rub ons to a existing card base

Materials:

Martha Stewart card base
Pink flocking powder for rectangular border inside card cover
Rub on patterns
Scissors
Stamps (Double Happiness, and wedding couple)
Pen for hand written quote

Rub on inside of cover a big flourish design

Rub on inside of cover a big flourish design

White backing removed from rub on

White backing removed from rub on

5 rub on designs + hand written quote and pink flocked border

5 rub on designs + hand written quote and pink flocked border

wedding card and envelope

wedding card and envelope

This is a simple card with a variety of embellishments that is easy to add to your card. The quote either inside or on cover of the card is entirely up to you.

Even if you have a commercially bought card and feel like adding your own handmade touch, you can easily add rub ons inside of the card, on the envelope and stamping to give it a personalized touch.

PS. I forgot to take a picture of the double happiness stamp on the envelope. I stamped it right on the sleeve side so it got missed on the picture.

Check out another easy to make card here (birthday):
http://myogastudio.ca/2013/03/31/a-simple-birthday-card/

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The making of pet portrait stamps

On April 13, 2013 by Mei

Last month, I got the opportunity to meet VOKRA’s rescue cat, Kenny Pawgers as well as make a custom stamp for Maria, a brave cat rescuer/ferral cat trapper.

The first pet portrait stamp was for my sister’s black and white miniature fox terrier. Then I worked on my friend’s tuxedo cat, Lala and finally Kenny Pawgers.

Etchythings will donate a portion of the sales of this pet stamp as well as some of her etchythings pet items to VOKRA. If you were referred by Maria or her rescue group, please contact me for a custom listing. :)

etchythings.com

A picture of Lala was transformed into a stamp

Kenny Stamp

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Image progression of Kenny from VOKRA into a portrait stamp

RESULTS:

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From photo to stamp

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Lala’s stamp

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Kenny Pawgers from VOKRA (Maria’s rescue cat)

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