Slow Go

It’s been a great first week of May, thus far. We picked up our crafts from Limerick City Gallery of Art and I placed some new mats and hand bags in the Dolphinwatch Centre on Monday. I was barely inside the door and sold one of the colorful rope mats. Woohoo! That same afternoon, I enjoyed a trip out on the Draiocht – no better way to clear out the cobwebs (Thanks Sue and Geoff).

I titled this post Slow Go because, creatively, it’s been a slow start this week. It’s Wednesday, and I’m just getting to the point where I am ready to start a new project. I’ve got a handful of colorful t-shirts that I will transform into re-usable bags. It’s an easy enough project and one that people will hopefully love.

I’ve also got wash clothes in mind. I’ve got a few skeins of cotton fibres that are perfect for dishes or the bath. I’d like to crochet the fibre into sea stars or maybe scallop shells. The idea is still forming in my head and I hope to have something started before the weekend.

It’s set to be cool for the rest of the week, so a perfect time to let the garden rest and enjoy the indoors. A quick cuppa nettle tea and I should be ready to get a “creative” move on.

Happy Wednesday! Do something you love today!

May Day

It’s the 1st of May or May Day. A day to celebrate the end of winter and the longer days. In just 14 short days my parents and grandmother will be in Ireland. That is, if that Icelandic Volcano stays quiet.

There’s not much to do to prepare for their visit. Sheets are washed, garden is in bloom, Gorse is in the house (Irish superstition/tradition to bring luck into the home), now to just spend the next few weeks being creatively productive….

I’ve started 3 hot pads; I am hoping to finish this morning. If they turn out, they should resemble the Draiocht, the boat used for the Dolphinwatch trips out of Carrigaholt.

Also on my list today is to create two frames for two pieces of art sent to us by my Aunt Teresa. The first, larger piece is a watercolour of Hippos at Sunrise, painted by my Aunt and the other is sort of a mixed media, smaller, that I think will be perfect in the weaving room.

Aside from that creative hulabaloo, Patrick and I are driving to Limerick tomorrow to pick up our crafts from the Sustainable Futures Exhibition as it closed yesterday. We received some great press from the Exhibition and encouragement to put together our business plan to seek grants to help grow/support this venture. I’m just looking forward to adding the “inventory” to the Dolphinwatch Centre display.

Anyway, guess I better get a move on, these crafts aren’t going to create themselves!

Happy Saturday, keep smiling from your liver and laughing from your spleen!

Quiet on the Creative Front

My brother was with us for the weekend. His flights weren’t cancelled as a result of the Icelandic Volcano, so we made the most of his 2.5 day visit!

That said, Conscious Crafts has been quiet. I haven’t quite finished the Bord Na Mona Beach Mat. The only creative good I made while my brother was here were three Sea Stars and one boat for Chadd to take back to my favourite four!

3 Sea stars and 1 Red Boat

They turned out pretty well, for coming up with the idea and creating each souvenir in less than 6 hours, while visiting, drinking a pint and eating dessert. Just proves I work better when I have a deadline.

So, here it is Monday, last Monday of April, I’ve got loads of laundry to catch up on and need to clean up the weaving room before I get back to Conscious Crafts. Looks like this “quiet front” is going to stick around a few more days.

The Bands Around the Briquettes

There are many things in life I am conscious about, with regard to my impact on the environment. Walking more often than not, minimizing my household waste, supporting local, etc. However, like many other families, we struggle with the cost of local produce, the ability to choose veggies not wrapped in plastic, and the big one in my mind our open fireplace.

Although our house is newer compared to most in our village, and it has a C3 home rating (which is closer to good than bad), our only options for heating our home are oil and fire. The oil is a necessity for hot water and to heat the radiators in the rooms we use while the fire heats up our two most used living spaces and I’ll admit is a lovely way to end the day.

We limit the use of our oil and only heat the house in the morning for an hour and again in the evening for a few hours. And now that it’s getting warmer, we’re only heating the tank for hot water, which takes even less time. However, there’s still enough of a chill at nights that a small fire takes the edge off. Which leads to many environmental questions, issues… I’m no expert and will leave this subject to get to my point.

The briquettes we use come wrapped in a green band. Last I checked, this is one of the many things that ARE NOT RECYCLABLE and so they ultimately end up in the landfill. A few months ago, Patrick was dreaming of beach mats we could weave for the upcoming tourist season in Ireland. His first thoughts entailed buying new material, something like Jute or similar natural fibre – to which I replied, that does not flow with Conscious Crafts’ idea of reusing what’s around us. By the time we were settling in by our fire, Patrick realized the bands from the briquettes might be a good alternative “fibre” to weave into beach mats. Hence, an idea was born!!!

We’ve saved these little green bands for months now and we’re thinking we have enough to weave a prototype beach mat. Of course, finding the right fibre for the warp is another issue that I will need to address, as we’re running low on options. The trick about warp fibres is they have to be strong enough to hold the weight of the weft and the tension – being pulled at opposite ends and beaten to pack in the weft. Something will come to mind.

Of course, given the nature of our business, the materials we’d like to use are not always available and in some cases it’s impossible to finish a project without a certain percentage of new material. For instance, I’ve started making frames from recycled sea glass and ceramics. I’m able to make the frame from used cardboard, the material from scraps, the thread from scraps, but to get the pieces to stay on the frame it’s imperative to use some sort of “glue”. So, to finish the project, I end up incorporating 1-10% new material, which, in my mind isn’t so bad. And so will probably be the case with these beach mats….

Considering our total bill at the landfill for the last 6 months was 19 euros for 3 bags of rubbish, and a trunk full of recycle – I’m guessing were not doing too bad.

And if we had just a little more money, I think we could make a few environmentally friendly amendments to our home heating situation and we’d have the financial ability to buy more local foods and goods. For now, we’ll keep going forward on this path we’re paving and see how we’re going and adjust course when/if necessary.

Have you looked through your rubbish lately to see what you could use for a creative/alternative project?

Invisible Ash

Saturday morning and it doesn’t seem much different from any other spring morning in Ireland. Although, the haze is more than likely ash and not mist or fog. On the radio this morning they announced all flights in and out of Ireland are cancelled until this evening and more than likely through Monday. Normally I wouldn’t be phased by this news; however, my parents and grandmother are set to fly from Denver to Shannon on Monday and my brother from D.C. to Shannon on Wednesday. What was supposed to be a quick week of family fun is not looking so fun and certainly looking like an abridged holiday in Ireland.

What’s a person to do. I suppose first things first, revise my “to-do” list. Those things I intended to do as last-minute preparation, like baking and cleaning the bog, can be put on hold until I know we’ll have guests visiting us next week. The next thing is to keep up on the invisible ash cloud and its intended dissipation. Last I heard, one person said this plume could be billowing well into next week, which instantly implies the ash cloud isn’t going anywhere in a hurry.

So what’s this mean for the first family visit to Ireland? I can only surmise at this point. I’m guessing any changes to the flights will be a cost incurred by my parents (like many others in this same situation). For friends stuck in their destination I can’t help but think of the costs adding up as their flights continue to be cancelled (3 days now). Even if my family is able to fly at a later date, the airlines won’t let them extend their holiday without yet another fee. So my family will enjoy an even shorter holiday (which might make my mom’s day who isn’t so comfortable leaving her work). I do know, my father’s 60th birthday celebration and my parent’s 39th wedding anniversary will be on hold until their arrival and I might just have to cave and let Patrick eat the Sloe Chocolate we made special for the visitors.

All the excitement that was building up to my family’s arrival is now turning to ash, the smoldering kind, like a peat or turf fire. On another note, the sun is still shining in Ireland. Through the clouds and haze of ash you can sense the brightness in the day which is nearly enough fuel to get the excitement burning again.

As our neighbour said to me yesterday, what has Ireland done to the world, nothing. So this ash should blow over and leave us be. Fingers crossed and God willing. I like her thinking and figure if enough people are sending out positive vibes to the universe this too shall pass and the flights should resume, delivering my family safely to our home. For now, I’ll add a few other things to my list, keeping my fingers crossed as much as possible and my thoughts positive – sounds like it’s time for a weaving session. Good meditation and good vibes come from this pass time.

Until this invisible ash clears, you can find me at the loom!

Spring Morning, Ashy Haze

April is here!

March is gone and April is officially here, I’m slow to post here as we get ready for a visit from my family from the States.

In the midst of “spring cleaning” we’ve been working on a few projects that will be gifts for our visitors. All are complete and I am finally working on a project for us. A frame made from nearly 100% found or recycled materials. The only new material I am using for the project is the “glue” to hold it together. As I type the glue is drying and soon we’ll be able to display a memento from our wedding in Virginia. Lot’s of finishing touches before the arrival next Tuesday week.

Patrick and I visited the Sustainable Futures Exhibition at the Limerick City Gallery of Art. And we spent a few minutes with Dairmuid Nealan the person who organized the Exhibition. It was great to see our Conscious Crafts on display and to see the artwork of other Creatives from around Ireland. Very inspiring and gave me a new focus for our crafts.

Of course, the reason we made it to Limerick was because I had a friend visiting from Norway. I worked with Kari while I was in Vancouver and haven’t seen her in nearly 2 years. Although her visit was brief, it was great to catch up, see where life has taken us and to share our life on the Loop Head Peninsula! Oddly enough, while we were walking around the Loop Head Lighthouse, Kari spotted a pod of dolphin on the south side, so we enjoyed a few moments as they made their way out into the Atlantic. You just couldn’t pay for that kind of moment!

Oh! I finally finished the brown crab. We named him Seymour, as in “See more crab.” And as much as Lili the Lobster and Seymour the crab were intended to be sold in the local Dolphinwatch Centre, I just don’t think we’re going to be able to part with our new family members. They represent so many “things” for Patrick and I, it would be too emotional to part with them. So for now, they’ll be with us until such time as we can bear to let them go. No such thing as “catch and release” when it comes to these crustaceans and they certainly won’t find their way to the dinner table.

From Sunny Carrigaholt until the next blog – keep smiling from your liver and continue to create abundance through non-materialistic means!

Reclaimed Rope Mats on a wall?

The Sustainable Futures Exhibition is on now in Limerick. Some of our fellow Crafty Ireland Team members were in attendance, Nicedaydesigns and Missy Bonkers, and also have their creative work on display. We’re intending to stop in the Exhibition Saturday week and hope to have a few photos to post here!

In the mean time, check out the following link to NiceDayDesigns’ blog where Ruth posted some photos from the Opening Night.

There’s also an article to be posted in the Limerick Independent this Wednesday. We’ll hope to get a link for that too!

Keep Smiling from your liver!!!

It’s in the mail

The Sustainable futures Exhibition opened yesterday in Limerick. I’ve got three more hand bags that I am posting to the Exhibition today. The “opening night” is this Thursday – unfortunately we won’t attend. Aah well, simply excited to have our Conscious Crafts on display with talented creatives.

We spent St Patrick’s Day with Patrick’s parents in Moycullen. We had a wonderful time catching up, fishing, relaxing, EATING!!! I even had my first riding lesson on Eileen’s sweet horse Patsy (turns out I can balance, but I can’t steer) and Eileen lit a few sparks under our bums… I’m finally on Twitter (I think I’ve got everything connected as best I can) and Patrick has pulled out the start of his book and we’re building the characters and doing some fact-finding about the story. Nothing like spring to get a few new things sprouted.

I think before I start any other projects, I’ll finish the brown crab I started a while back. Then maybe work on a project for the Dolphinwatch Centre.

Spring will be bringing us a few visitors, so let’s hope the weather stays mild!

Sustainable Futures Exhibition Opening 22 March

Alas, the Sustainable Futures Exhibition is opening tomorrow, 22 March in Limerick at the Limerick City Gallery of Art.

Our crafts will be on display along with 24 other creatives. For more information, check out this link.

We’re hoping to go and see our crafts on display; however, if you beat us there, please take some pictures and share them  with us on our Facebook Page for the event.

Please share the link or forward the image/invite to anyone you know that might be in the area!

Come check out the work of Conscious Crafts and other Irish Creatives

Friday Night!

This week sure ended on an exclamation mark.

The weather was beautiful this past week; blue sky, spring temp and perfect low tides for walks on the beaches and cliffs. I’d say we did well getting our exercise in this week.

We also made the short trip to Limerick on Thursday to drop off 20+ of our Conscious Crafts that will be part of the Sustainable Futures Exhibition at the Limerick City Art Gallery, opening Monday, 15 March and running through 30 April! There’s a small chance I may get to do a workshop in Limerick and there’s even a great chance that my parents, brother and Grandma Lauer will be able to see our crafts on display while they’re here in April! Nevertheless, I’m hoping there will be some good press that we can share on our Facebook page and HERE.

I spent a fair bit of time yesterday, organizing fibers and materials. I have this wonderful habit of getting everything in order and then slowly it all finds its way into piles of “projects” in various place throughout the house. Oops. So now that everything is back in its place or in a new place, I am spending a bit of time crocheting a plastic mat using the plastic bags that would have found their way to the dump. I’m also unraveling some day-glow fishing line I found in a nest on the beach – once it’s untangled I’ll be crocheting it into a sea creature (my dad gave me a funny look when I explained my idea), lastly, I’ve got an idea in mind for a semi-felted shawl/wrap that I plan to weave up in the next week – maybe I’ll start measuring the warp tomorrow.

Patrick and I were dreaming by the fire after dinner, “what would we do if we won 2 million Euros?” For a change, we came up with a great idea, or at least what I think is a great idea. If we could work it out we could actually clean up our corner of Ireland and provide locals with work, including ourselves! Ha! I suppose, it’s always worth checking out grants and other forms of funding….

I’ll leave you all with the question we asked ourselves this evening, “What would you do if you won 2 million Euros?”