this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

www.soulemama.com/soulemama

I Pledge- Will You? Plastic Pollution Coalition

We are in a time of new beginnings and I believe with all the vibrations in my body that I can change the world.

For one breath I beg you to think about this:

Every bit of plastic that has ever been made is still here-

It takes 1,000 years for ONE PLASTIC BAG to degrade (and contaminate our soil and water).

Plastic and the toxins it is made of are over flowing landfills, oceans and their breakdown is releasing toxins into our food and bodies.

Today I am embarking on a Social Experiment and I look forward to you joining me.

Everyone knows the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle-

The Plastic Pollution Coalition has added Refuse.

So obvious right!? Refuse the extra packaging, refuse one time use items!

Single-use plastics and disposable plastics are some of the greatest sources of plastic pollution.

Designed to be discarded, these objects offer a small convenience but remain forever.

As I know many of you do- I take my own bags with me when I grocery shop. I wash plastic yogurt containers out and reuse them; but I buy my deodorant in a plastic container.  As a mother I know convenience is important so I pledge to acknowledge and be accountable for the plastic waste decisions I make for my home and family.

I have signed the pledge to be a SUPER Hero (Single-Use Plastic Emergency Response)

I would LOVE it if you joined me in signing this pledge and participating with me to make a different.

To sign the pledge takes two seconds- Type in a user name (I used Lady Ren) - and an email and then confirm the instant email you’ll receive in your inbox.
The website offers tips to get started

Please let us all know that you signed or will sign the pledge
by leaving a comment below-

Essbesee

I love creative people. I love creative mom’s, especially mom’s who don’t lose themselves in mommy-hood and who teach by example. Sherri is a music loving, creative and fun loving woman with a great sense of humor- who also happens to have two totally adorable monkeys with super cool names (if you follow along on her blog The Claw she may slip up and reveal those cool names). She is married to a rock star who by day is a doctor- (I’m married to a doctor who wishes he was a rock star).

In a previous life Sherri worked as a digital artist and has a new website called Headers for Hire

(she did mine which you can read more about here).

She also makes Stuffed Guys and Gals (as well as bags and banners) for her Etsy shop Essbesee and writes about them on her Essbesee blog.

These are her initials SBC! So clever.

Sherri agreed to answer a few questions for me so that we could learn about how this lady ticks:

What was your favorite toy as a child?
I had so many favorites. One was a stuffed animal elephant in blue jean overalls, who I named Elephanti. I loved stuffed animals and said goodnight to every one individually before I went to sleep. I also loved playing with Barbie dolls and designing new clothes for them fashioned out of my old socks. And then I'd promptly cut off all their hair.

Where do you find inspiration for your creations?
Fabric and color inspire me a great deal. I love bright colors and vintage patterns or fabrics (particularly, the sixties and seventies era). Also, my children inspire me daily. They love creating art and crafting, and watching their excitement making things keeps my creative juices flowing.

Do you visualize your final outcome or is you process more intuitive?
In general, I like to sew stream-of-consciousness without much idea of the outcome. I love sitting down to make something with no clear cut idea in mind of what I will end up with. I've always worked this way, when I used to paint, which I don't do much any more, that is the way I'd start out a painting. I'd paint something abstract and see what I "saw" in the painting and let that inform me what to do next. With my stuffed guys, that is pretty much the way I work as well. I cut out the shape of my stuffed guy or gal freehand, (I never draw it out first onto the fabric or do a sketch), thus the asymmetrical, imperfect quality they have in the end, which I like. After cutting out the back and front of the body, I work on the face, my favorite part. That is how the personality of each piece is cemented. Once I get the face done, it sort of tells me what else I need to do - whether or not the creation needs clothes or not, what kind of further embellishments make sense.

You often have detailed descriptions of your monsters and their characteristics- do you find that you become attached as each stuffed guy takes on a personality?
Definitely. The face lets me know the personality of the stuffie. I generally come up with their name after the face is completed. And I enjoy making up the back story for fun and hopefully, the buyer will appreciate my sense of humor when they read the description.

What are your favorite stores/websites to purchase your fabric from?
Especially the fabric for your bags-
I usually shop at our local JoAnn fabrics store, I find a lot of great fabric there, vintage and newer stuff that is pretty inexpensive. I love buying scraps that are marked down, you can find a lot of great stuff that way, if you don't mind wading through a lot of less appealing fabric.

You have described your creative space as your 'apartment'- what aspects of this space do you feel represent you the most?
It is a bit disorganized and a tad messy (sadly, this is very me) and it is a hodgepodge of a lot of different things from past and present.

Thanks Sherri!

To check out one of my favorite daily reads see Sherri's blog:

The Claw

(She is hosting a Fall Swap- the Spring Swap was loads of fun and I'm IN)

Blog: Essbesee

Shop: Essbesee

Monkey Dreams

Homes that reflect its inhabitants needs and styles not only create harmonious energies within the home but they are practical in terms of creating space that everyone enjoys spending time in.  

I have always wanted to incorporate monkey friendly architectural designs into my home and really love this indoor/outdoor slide by Aboday. 

Do you know anyone who would love having this in their home?

If you don't have the resources to add a whole indoor/outdoor slide into your home maybe you would consider a handrail fit for a matchbox car?

I am pretty sure this is cooler than throwing cars down the laundry shoot- a common practice in our home!

To read the full article from Dezeen click this!

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

www.soulemama.com/soulemama

Maus And Persepolis

Maus by Art Spiegleman and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi are both comic books about wars.

They are ultimatly an examination of the lives, sentiments and conditions during times of unrest.

The book and movie of Persepolis tell the story of the revolution in Iran and how one little girls life was changed.

In his own words and typed by his own opposable-thumbed monkey hands- A review of Maus:

Hello, I am monkey number 1.
I am 9 years olds and the first time I read this book I was 8. When I first saw it I though it looked like a weird teen magazine- (p.s. only because I was in the teen section of the library) but I still read it. I knew there was something good about it when I got back home and my dad told me he read it when he was a kid, so I read. I have read it 3 times and now I am writing this review.

The book
Is about a World War II story and the characters are mice, cats, and some pigs. It’s a comic book with black and white illustrations. I think it is based on a real story, because I know these things really did happen. (Actually come to think of it I have a ‘Call Of Duty’ game on my DS that was based on WWII.) Really it’s just an old mouse telling his son a story about his time in WWII.

How I felt about the story
It is a good story if you know about WWII. I don’t think it would make sense if you didn’t study it. It would make a good age group for maybe 7 (if you are a good reader) but I think 8 to adult are best. If you read this book I hope you like it!

*disclaimer* I edited this review but as far as words, thoughts and presentation it was all done by monkey, willingly and not for any school related assignment- He wrote it because he loved his brush with fame and all the comments you left when he wrote a haiku on Grace's blog My Year in Haiku.