Know Your Power

Ever have one of those days/weeks/months when you feel like you're floating outside yourself and can't quite get back into your groove?  This happens to me after some sort of trauma.  It can be a 'small' trauma (like getting a pink slip at work) or a big trauma (like your dog jumping off a roof and nearly dying), but the result is the same- out-of-body, must-find-grounding.

The only way to get back into your body and back to your life is to KNOW YOUR POWER.  Through all the situations I've been dealt, my resilience, patience, and perspective is what's gotten me through.  Of course, when combined with the support of those around me, my power is limitless!

I'm working on remembering how powerful I am each day.  And I have wonderful friends and family who remind me of this often.  Do you KNOW YOUR POWER?

*peace
    n

Making of the Vagina pillow

As promised, here's how I made the pillow in the last post.

Supplies needed:

Screen frame, Printer, Modge Podge glue, Small paint brush, Painter's tape, Fabric paint

I've been teaching myself how to make screens for printing.  I bought simple curtain fabric for $3.99/yd and some "build-your-own" frames.  I glued the frames together with wood glue, and after they dried I stapled the curtain fabric around the frame.  Once I had the screen frame, I was ready to get started.


Using Photoshop, I created the quote and enlarged it to fit an 8x10 paper and printed it out.

Once I have the printed image, I traced it with a pencil onto the screen.  Be sure to trace the image with the screen flat on the image.  This is the same direction you will be printing from once the screen is ready, so it's a direct-image transfer (no need to reverse the image).

The next step was to make the screen by filling in the space around the printed image using Modge Podge.  This means tracing around the letters with the MP so that only the image that will be printed is left.  This can be a time-consuimg process, but if you use a small brush around the image first, then fill in the larger space it's a bit easier.

The screen must dry before you can print with it.  If it's in the sun, the screen can dry within 4 hours.  Once the screen is dry, use painters tape to tape off the sides of the screen.  This will prevent any paint from getting past the border of Modge Podge.

Now the screen is ready to use!  I wanted the word Vagina to be screened in pink, with the other words in black.  In order to do this, I taped off the words, squeezed some fabric paint on the side of the letters and dragged the fabric paint across the letters.  Once with pink, and once with black.  This can be done easily, but be careful not to overlap colors.

So this was the result of the screen.  Then I got all the parts together to make the pillow.  I decided to add some fabric hearts to 'soften' the message.

  

Once I added my tag to the back of the pillow, it was ready to go.  Here's the final product:

 

You can find this pillow on my Etsy page:

http://nicolesteward.etsy.com

*peace

n

  

VAGINA: not a sign of weakness

I was at the park the other day with two of my advocate kids (I'm a court-appointed advocate for 3 foster kids) and overheard a really sad exchange between two little kids.  An older boy, maybe 8, was trying to get two 6 year olds to fight each other.  When they didn't want to fight, the older boy said, "Don't be such a little girl."

What he meant was, "don't be weak-like a girl".  Being around so many teen boys, I realize that they struggle with being manly and do anything they can to avoid being called a girl, sissy, pussy, or worse.  I've heard this so many times and my response is,  "A vagina is not a sign of weakness."

Until we can all agree that women are not weak and having a vagina doesn't make you less-than, little boys and little girls will continue to define themselves by what they are not, rather than who they are, strengths and all.

I had to channel my anger and frustration by doing something.  This pillow is the result.  I'll add a post about how I created the pillow in the coming days.
Enjoy!

Peace,
nicole

Grateful

 Taking stock of the many things to be grateful for in my life.  This has been an exercise I've been practicing a lot lately.  Imperfect situations creep up, people do things that seem a little off, crisis are staved off one paycheck at a time.  Even in the random chaos that peeks its crazy-making head out every now and then, there are always things to be grateful for.

• my endlessly caring husband
• my entertaining pup Chomsky
• family & friends who give unconditional love
• buds on trees and plants peeking out of the dirt
• upbeat songs that get me through my day
• sunshine
• hugs

There's lots more but I'll have to save them for a later post.

What are you grateful for today?

Peace,
nicole