So I came upon a handful of  handmade treasures that I thought I’d share, especially with Mother’s Day right around the corner. These ideas are simple, easy, creative and fun to do! I think any of these crafts would make the perfect handmade gift for mom with a personal touch of unique creativity!!

Jersey Knit Bracelet – Cute & Creative

Printed Candles – Chic & Cheap

Tile Coasters – Simple & Sweet

Spa Set – For that Sunshine Glow

Bread in a Bottle – A Tastey Treat for Mum!

Reversible Cup/Mug Sleeves

Candy Cones – Fill them with Moms Favourite Sweet Treats

 The hands are my favourite body part…and so I thought today I would share with you some interesting thoughts on hand communication… the language of gesture and touch.

This was written by author, public speaker and ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro. Navarro specializes in the area of nonverbal communication or body language and has authored numerous books

“Among all species, our human hands are unique — not only in what they can accomplish, but also in how they communicate.  Human hands can paint the Sistine Chapel, pluck a guitar, maneuver surgical instruments, chisel a David, forge steel, and write poetry.  They can grasp, scratch, poke, punch, feel, sense, evaluate, hold and mold the world around us.  Our hands are extremely expressive; they can sign for the deaf, help tell a story, or reveal our innermost thoughts.” (“What Every Body is Saying,” Harper Collins)  No other species has appendages with such a remarkable range of capabilities. And yet if you asked most people about the nonverbals (body language) of the hands, they would be hard pressed to tell you all the things the hands reveal.

Despite the acquisition of spoken language over millions of years of human evolution, our brains are still hard-wired to engage our hands in accurately communicating our emotions, thoughts, and sentiments.  Therefore, whether people are speaking or not, hand gestures merit our attention as a rich source of nonverbal behavior to help us understand the thoughts and feelings of others.

      It is interesting that our brain gives a disproportionate amount of attention to the fingers, and hands, as compared to the rest of the body. This could be in part because our first touch is with our hands and we seek the hands of our parentsfor safety or it is because the human hand can hold a weapon. For whatever the reason, we tend to focus on the hands and are mesmerized by them. Hitler used them to his advantage, as do magicians, orchestra conductors, and surgeons.

    Our human need to see hands is so important you can try a simple experiment. Without revealing your intentions, hide your hands during a conversation, for the complete duration of the conversation. At the end of the conversation, ask the participants what they thought and what they felt as you conversed with them. You will find that people will sense something is wrong. In my work with mock juries, we found that attorneys, or for that matter witnesses, that hide their hands are perceived as less open and less honest by the jurors.

    Because the hands can reveal so much, I decided to write in my new book, “Louder Than Words,” (Harper Collins), about the kinds of information we can glean from the hands and what others may interpret. Here are a few of the comments excerpted from the book:

·         Our hands reveal a lot about what is going on in our heads.

·         How we touch others is determined by how we feel about them. Full touch with the palm of the hand is warm and affectionate while touching with the fingertips betrays less affection.

·         When we are comfortable and contented blood flows into the hands making them warm and pliable. Stress makes our hands feel colder and more rigid.

·         You may not have noticed but when you feel strong and confident, the space between your fingers grows making your hands more territorial. When you feel insecure, that space disappears, in fact, you may find yourself tucking your thumbs under your fingers when under a lot of stress.

·         When you feel confident, your thumbs will rise more often as you speak, especially if your fingers are intertwined in front of you.

·         You will steeple your fingers (fingertips together like a church steeple) more often when confident but it will vanish the moment you lack confidence or have insecurities.

·         Steepling is important to get your point across that you feel strongly about what you are saying, it is probably the most powerful display of confidence that we possess.

·         When you are stressed there will be more rubbing of the hands together (self massaging or “pacifying”) which will increase in frequency and force commensurate with the stress.

·         When things are really stressful, you will rub your hands together with fingers stretched out and interlaced. A behavior we reserve for when things are really bad.

·         The first time we touch others is usually with a handshake. It may seem trivial, but get it wrong and it will leave a lasting negative impression. Get it right and you score emotional points.

·         Because any touch affects our emotional center (either positively or negatively) how we touch or even shake hands matters.

·         No one likes an aggressive handshake and vise-like grips are not appreciated.

·         1980’s style hand jujitsu where you try to dominate the other person’s hand leaves very negative impressions and is really very amateurish.

·         Handshakes should mirror the other person’s handshake with good eye contact.

·         Handshaking is a social phenomenon which is not equally practiced around the world. If you receive a very weak handshake, don’t grimace, just deal with it as that is the other person’s preference and we should strive to mirror others where we can for the sake of social synchrony.

·         Avoid using what’s called the “politician’s handshake” (two hands shaking one) as no one likes it, particularly from strangers. Save this handshake for your grandmother who will appreciate the extra tactile touch (both hands covering hers for a long time) a lot more than your business acquaintances.

·         Remember in some cultures, a handshake is a secondary greeting gesture. A hug or an abrazo, even a kiss, may be more in order.

·         Don’t point with your index finger, even if it’s to direct a person to a chair. Use your whole hand (fingers extended) to direct or point.

·         Hands also indicate how much we care for ourselves and how we view social convention.  Hands may be tended to or they may be filthy; nails may be manicured or look ratty.

·         Long nails on men are seen as odd or effeminate and people typically interpret nail biting as a sign of anxiety, nervousness or insecurity.

.         Wear too many rings, or a pinky ring, and you won’t be taken seriously.

·         Tattoos, on the hands in particular, are not very well received in the professional ranks and should be avoided if you are in the business sector, medicine, law, and finance.

     These are just a few of the messages we derive from the hands. The hands really are exquisite transmitters of our emotions and thoughts, even our well being; we can’t afford to ignore them.

This short film captures the beauty, strength and magic of our lands. “We were Wanderers” grounds the viewer, entrances the viewer, and reminds the viewer of our roots, our history and our responsibility to the Great Mother.

Click on the photo to watch this inspiring short clip.

“We were asked by Tourism Malaysia to make two films, one on the subject of Malaysian history and one on nature. We Were Wanderers is our ode to the beautiful flora and fauna of Malaysia.

We would like to thank the amazing people of Malaysia for their hospitality and in particular a big thank you to Anne, Kumar and Rooslee (Bruce Lee) for their invaluable assistance.

Thanks for watching!”

- James W. Griffiths

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea”

Paluksht Mark

“Sea”

Tis the season for gift giving and receiving. I personally LOVE gift giving… and a well-wrapped gift at that! I really enjoy being creative with the way I present a gift… it’s like a work of art by the end of it. Something that really should be left untouched… but alas. Here are some really neat and affordable ways to wrap, present and give your gifts this holiday season! Check out the photos below for a little extra inspiration!

Vintage postcard box - this is a cute tutorial on how to make a quick gift box out of a single folded postcard. The website contains an additional link to a number of other free gift box templates to use with postcards.

Gift wrapped in a gift - use a shawl, a shirt or any other fabric gift as a gift wrap and make the receiving doubly effective and sustainable!

Not your usual paper wrap - use any leftover wallpaper, magazine page, calendar, newspaper or even your child’s drawings and wrap away.

Twine and Raffia - use them to achieve a simple and elegant look. They are completely natural, so they are biodegradable too.

Furoshiki - use the Japanese fabric folding technique to effectively turn a piece of fabric into a beautiful wrap, even for bottles. The Hop Frog Pond gives you numerous techniques and ideas on how to wrap your gifts with fabric.

Spoken-word poet Sarah Kay was stunned to find she couldn’t be a princess, ballerina and astronaut all in one lifetime. In this talk from TEDxEast, she delivers two powerful poems that show us how we can live other lives. (www.ted.com)

Click on the photo to watch this inspiring clip!

Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Sarah Kay also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off.

Now 22, Kay is a successful spoken word poet and codirects Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). Founded by Kay in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages people, particularly teenagers, to use spoken word as a tool for understanding the world and self, and a medium for vital expression. (www.ted.com)

Written on 6/19/2007 by Leo Babauta, a writer, a runner and a vegetarian, and the owner of Zen Habits. He is one of my personal favourite bloggers whose insights, advice and life lessons have impacted my life in profound ways. Take a moment to enjoy this list of 39 Ways to Live, and not merely exist.

Love. Perhaps the most important. Fall in love, if you aren’t already. If you have, fall in love with your partner all over again. Abandon caution and let your heart be broken. Or love family members, friends, anyone — it doesn’t have to be romantic love. Love all of humanity, one person at a time.

Get outside. Don’t let yourself be shut indoors. Go out when it’s raining. Walk on the beach. Hike through the woods. Swim in a freezing lake. Bask in the sun. Play sports, or walk barefoot through grass. Pay close attention to nature.

Savor food. Don’t just eat your food, but really enjoy it. Feel the texture, the bursts of flavors. Savor every bite. If you limit your intake of sweets, it will make the small treats you give yourself (berries or dark chocolate are my favorites) even more enjoyable. And when you do have them, really, really savor them. Slowly.

Create a morning ritual. Wake early and greet the day. Watch the sun rise. Out loud, tell yourself that you will not waste this day, which is a gift. You will be compassionate to your fellow human beings, and live every moment to its fullest. Stretch or meditate or exercise as part of your ritual. Enjoy some coffee.

Take chances. We often live our lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all. Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan it out first!), or go up to that girl you’ve liked for a long time and ask her out. What do you have to lose?

Follow excitement. Try to find the things in life that excite you, and then go after them. Make life one exciting adventure after another (with perhaps some quiet times in between).

Find your passion. Similar to the above tip, this one asks you to find your calling. Make your living by doing the thing you love to do. First, think about what you really love to do. There may be many things. Find out how you can make a living doing it. It may be difficult, but you only live once.

Get out of your cubicle. Do you sit all day in front of computer, shuffling papers and taking phone calls and chatting on the Internet? Don’t waste your days like this. Break free from the cubicle environment, and do your work on a laptop, in a coffee shop, or on a boat, or in a log cabin. This may require a change of jobs, or becoming a freelancer. It’s worth it.

Turn off the TV. How many hours will we waste away in front of the boob tube? How many hours do we have to live? Do the math, then unplug the TV. Only plug it back in when you have a DVD of a movie you love. Otherwise, keep it off and find other stuff to do. Don’t know what to do? Read further.

Pull away from Internet. You’re reading something on the Internet right now. And, with the exception of this article, it is just more wasting away of your precious time. You cannot get these minutes back. Unplug the Internet, then get out of your office or house. Right now! And go and do something.

Travel. Sure, you want to travel some day. When you have vacation time, or when you’re older. Well, what are you waiting for? Find a way to take a trip, if not this month, then sometime soon. You may need to sell your car or stop your cable bill and stop eating out to do it, but make it happen. You are too young to not see the world. If need be, find a way to make a living by freelancing, then work while you travel. Only work an hour or two a day. Don’t check email but once a week. Then use the rest of the time to see the world.

Rediscover what’s important. Take an hour and make a list of everything that’s important to you. Add to it everything that you want to do in life. Now cut that list down to 4-5 things. Just the most important things in your life. This is your core list. This is what matters. Focus your life on these things. Make time for them.

Eliminate everything else. What’s going on in your life that’s not on that short list? All that stuff is wasting your time, pulling your attention from what’s important. As much as possible, simplify your life by eliminating the stuff that’s not on your short list, or minimizing it.

Exercise. Get off the couch and go for a walk. Eventually try running. Or do some push ups and crunches. Or swim or bike or row. Or go for a hike. Whatever you do, get active, and you’ll love it. And life will be more alive.

Be positive. Learn to recognize the negative thoughts you have. These are the self-doubts, the criticisms of others, the complaints, the reasons you can’t do something. Then stop yourself when you have these thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts. Solutions. You can do this!

Open your heart. Is your heart a closed bundle of scar tissue? Learn to open it, have it ready to receive love, to give love unconditionally. If you have a problem with this, talk to someone about it. And practice makes perfect.

Kiss in the rain. Seize the moment and be romantic. Raining outside? Grab your lover and give her a passionate kiss. Driving home? Stop the car and pick some wildflowers. Send her a love note. Dress sexy for him.

Face your fears. What are you most afraid of? What is holding you back? Whatever it is, recognize it, and face it. Do what you are most afraid of. Afraid of heights? Go to the tallest building, and look down over the edge. Only by facing our fears can we be free of them.

When you suffer, suffer. Life isn’t all about fun and games. Suffering is an inevitable part of life. We lose our jobs. We lose our lovers. We lose our pets. We get physically injured or sick. A loved one becomes sick. A parent dies. Learn to feel the pain intensely, and really grieve. This is a part of life — really feel the pain. And when you’re done, move on, and find joy.

Slow down. Life moves along at such a rapid pace these days. It’s not healthy, and it’s not conducive to living. Practice doing everything slowly — everything, from eating to walking to driving to working to reading. Enjoy what you do. Learn to move at a snail’s pace.

Touch humanity. Get out of your house and manicured neighborhoods, and find those who live in worse conditions. Meet them, talk to them, understand them. Live among them. Be one of them. Give up your materialistic lifestyle.

Volunteer. Help at homeless soup kitchens. Learn compassion, and learn to help ease the suffering of others. Help the sick, those with disabilities, those who are dying.

Play with children. Children, more than anyone else, know how to live. They experience everything in the moment, fully. When they get hurt, they really cry. When they play, they really have fun. Learn from them, instead of thinking you know so much more than them. Play with them, and learn to be joyful like them.

Talk to old people. There is no one wiser, more experienced, more learned, than those who have lived through life. They can tell you amazing stories. Give you advice on making a marriage last or staying out of debt. Tell you about their regrets, so you can learn from them and avoid the same mistakes. They are the wisdom of our society — take advantage of their existence while they’re still around.

Learn new skills. Constantly improve yourself instead of standing still — not because you’re so imperfect now, but because it is gratifying and satisfying. You should accept yourself as you are, and learn to love who you are, but still try to improve — if only because the process of improvement is life itself.

Find spirituality. For some, this means finding God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha. For others, this means becoming in tune with the spirits of our ancestors, or with nature. For still others, this just means an inner energy. Whatever spirituality means for you, rediscover it, and its power.

Take mini-retirements. Don’t leave the joy of retirement until you are too old to enjoy it. Do it now, while you’re young. It makes working that much more worth it. Find ways to take a year off every few years. Save up, sell your home, your possessions, and travel. Live simply, but live, without having to work. Enjoy life, then go back to work and save up enough money to do it again in a couple of years.

Do nothing. Despite the tip above that we should find excitement, there is value in doing nothing as well. Not doing nothing as in reading, or taking a nap, or watching TV, or meditating. Doing nothing as in sitting there, doing nothing. Just learning to be still, in silence, to hear our inner voice, to be in tune with life. Do this daily if possible.

Stop playing video games. They might be fun, but they can take up way too much time. If you spend a lot of time playing online games, or computer solitaire, or Wii or Gameboy or whatever, consider going a week without it. Then find something else to do, outside.

Watch sunsets, daily. One of the most beautiful times of day. Make it a daily ritual to find a good spot to watch the sunset, perhaps having a light dinner while you do so.

Stop reading magazines. They’re basically crap. And they waste your time and money. Cancel your subscriptions and walk past them at the news stands. If you have to read something, read a trashy novel or even better, read Dumb Little Man once a day and be done.

Break out from ruts. Do you do things the same way every day? Change it up. Try something new. Take a different route to work. Start your day out differently. Approach work from a new angle. Look at things from new perspectives.

Stop watching the news. It’s depressing and useless. If you’re a news junky, this may be difficult. I haven’t watch TV news or read a newspaper regularly in about two years. It hasn’t hurt me a bit. Anything important, my mom tells me about.

Laugh till you cry. Laughing is one of the best ways to live. Tell jokes and laugh your head off. Watch an awesome comedy. Learn to laugh at anything. Roll on the ground laughing. You’ll love it.

Lose control. Not only control over yourself, but control over others. It’s a bad habit to try to control others — it will only lead to stress and unhappiness for yourself and those you try to control. Let others live, and live for yourself. And lose control of yourself now and then too.

Cry. Men, especially, tend to hold in our tears, but crying is an amazing release. Cry at sad movies. Cry at a funeral. Cry when you are hurt, or when somebody you love is hurt. It releases these emotions and allows us to cleanse ourselves.

Make an awesome dessert. I like to make warm, soft chocolate cake. But even berries dipped in chocolate, or crepes with ice cream and fruit, or fresh apple pie, or homemade chocolate chip cookies or brownies, are great. This isn’t an every day thing, but an occasional treat thing. But it’s wonderful.

Try something new, every week. Ask yourself: “What new thing shall I try this week?” Then be sure to do it. You don’t have to learn a new language in one week, but seek new experiences. Give it a try. You might decide you want to keep it in your life.

Be in the moment. Instead of thinking about things you need to do, or things that have happened to you, or worrying or planning or regretting, think about what you are doing, right now. What is around you? What smells and sounds and sights and feelings are you experiencing? Learn to do this as much as possible through meditation, but also through bringing your focus back to the present as much as you can in everything you do.

Click on the photo to watch Old School Tools

Written by Tara Young, Senior Video Producer for Etsy’s blog. 

Orien MacDonald, a.k.a. Old School Tools, grew up in Alaska and Southern New Mexico, where his parents were part of the Back-to-the-Land movement. His dad taught workshops in building handmade houses out of adobe clay and had a vast woodshop where Orien whittled his first woodworking project at the age of five.

It didn’t take Orien long to recognize his passion for handicrafts. Never interested in formal schooling, Orien took it upon himself to learn everything he could about woodworking, luthiery, blacksmithing and leather crafting. It took him ten years to hone his craft, but he persisted in raising the level of workmanship with each new challenge.

Of special interest to Orien are tools and techniques from the 19th century. After years of building guitars and lutes, then moving on to hunting bows and arrows, Orien’s latest fascination is blacksmithing with a forge from the 1800s. He uses a minimal amount of power tools and prides himself on using recycled and reclaimed materials.

Orien and his wife, Carrie, built their adobe clay house on the property Orien grew up on, and his homesteading parents still live in Glia, New Mexico. They grow their own vegetables, hunt rabbits for meat and try to live as simply as possible. Selling his wares online allows Orien and Carrie the time to enjoy life in the countryside. They relish hikes in the high desert, swimming in the nearby natural springs and visiting Native American ruins on the mesa near their home. Living simply doesn’t sound so bad after all, does it?

I can scarcely measure the sky’s most spacious eyes
and I lean down to your mouth to kiss the earth.

Eric Cahan’s fine art photographs inspired by color, nature, and memory are consistently shown in galleries in and around his native New York. A devotee of contemporary art, Cahan’s influences include Mark Rothko, James Turrell, and the Light and Space movement, a brand of minimalism that originated in Southern California in the 1960s and focused on perceptual phenomena such as light, space, volume and scale.  

The photographs in the ongoing Sky Series are initially captured as sunrises or sunsets. His objective is to create a window into a time and a place, and to demonstrate how memories and colors shift and become abstract. Cahan produces chromium prints of each image numerous times until the result is seamless, free of banding or blemish. Beyond technical description, the picture evokes the presence of, and the artist’s reverence for, nature at its most sublime.

To learn and see more of Eric Cahan’s work, visit his website here.

Point Dume, Malibu, CA – Sunrise at 5:46am

Bridgehamton, NY – Sunset at 7:48pm

San  Paulo, Brazil - Sunrise at 6:55am

Venetian Causeway, FL – Sunset at 6:54pm

The Dunes, Amagensette, NY – Sunset at 6:47pm