A Mustache for Movember

My cousin, Jeff, grows a mustache every November. Come December 1st he shaves it off - and happily, too. He does not like growing a mustache. Why does he do it? To raise money and awareness for Men's Health.

Men across the world are growing mustaches in order to raise money for a charity of their choice. Jeff has gone with Prostate Cancer Canada, definitely something that men just don't mention casually to one another. When he started his pledge to raise money, I wanted to help him -but I just couldn't afford it.

So I decided to make this tough, rugged, and manly Mustache Journal to help him raise money for his cause.



This Journal is Up for Auction and all proceeds will go directly to Jeff's fund for Prostate Cancer Canada. I think it is one of the best journals I have made so far, I absolutely love the detail of the fabric and the binding is so sturdy.



Jeff may not like mustaches, but I sure do! Besides being pretty tough, rugged, and manly, I think they can be pretty sexy too. I mean, Tom Selleck couldn't be wrong - could he?

For more details about this notebook, please Click Here!

To donate directly to Jeff's cause Click Here!

xox
Farren Square

The best way to clean up!

When I was younger, I loved playing and hated cleaning up. Who didn't, right?
My sister and I loved our lego, barbies, troll dolls (remember them?!), blocks, and pretty much anything else with many tiny pieces. You know the ones that seem to float all over the floor, but never in the toy bin where they belonged?

Toys inside, the playmat hangs nicely.

Then one year we received PlayMats from my Auntie Lana who is probably the craftiest person in my extended family - I can remember LOVING how easy clean up became: just throw everything into the middle of the circle, pull the drawstrings and it turns into a bag that holds all your toys until next time!

The playmat opens up for playtime.

Now that I have made a few of my own PlayMats for friends and their families, I also realize what a great great gift bag they make - the kids may not be into it at first, but Mom always is, and the kids come around the first time they use it. You can find more pictures of this playmat in my Etsy shop!

Simply Pull the Drawstrings - All clean!

My first Blog Feature!

Wow! I am very excited to share that my Etsy Shop was featured on another blog today!

SimplyInvitingCards asked me a few questions and you can find it all here! She has a great blog and a great shop - worth checking out especially if you send out Holiday cards around this time of year.

I'm also learning about Twitter this week! I am at http://twitter.com/FarrenSquare so follow me if you have an account and I will follow you back!

Creative Triggers

It is a rare moment that I sit down and say to myself, "Okay, time to be creative," and wait for the juices to flow. I just simply can't be ordered to create when I am not feeling in the moment. Poetry is the best example of this. If I get an idea for a poem I really like, I have to launch into the moment to create the masterpiece. Poems are like realizations, one must pluck them from the air before they pass. In other situations, like crafting handmade things or hoop dancing, this rule is pliable; in the last four years I have figured out different "creative triggers" that will often launch me into that head space I need in order to be at my most creative. While some of them were a no-brainer for me, other things seem so small and random! But each one has their place.

Here is a list of where I draw the most inspiration:

• Deadlines! The most obvious, of course. This summer I realized just how much it will motivate me, when I'm heading out that door for ten days to spend time at the craziest art festival in the world - that is a deadline that got me moving, and happily.
  
• Fellow Artisans and Creators. Looking around can be so inspiring! Whether it is fantastic art pieces, costumes, or handmade designs - I can always find something to get my own wheels turning in completely different ways.
  
• Sitting down in my little crafting nook that I've set up for myself! It is awesome in there with my electric typewriter, sewing machine, and all my supplies in reach. I've started to realize the merit in starting projects - but always leaving one small thing undone in such a way that picking it up and finishing it would be a breeze... and while I'm there, I usually jump right into the next project.
  
• Painting my toenails. Weird hey?
  
• Looking away from the internet. But just once in a while. Not too much. But if I don't, I could get trapped for days. And I mean days and days and days. I love you, internet.
  

What are your creative triggers? Listening to music? Kissing cute people? Both at the same time?

xox
FarrenSquare

Happy Birthday to Meeee

I'm one hundred and threeeeeeeee... Its my birthday today! And the best gift would be to sell some lovely items from my Etsy store. Its a definite win / win for both of us! ^__^

What is all the Hoopla?

If you had told me two years ago the level of importance that circle would play in my life, I'd have laughed. To be honest, I think any sane person might laugh if you told them that a hula hoop could mean so much spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally to a person. But it does.

My hoop is my sanctuary, it is my temple. It is such a simple motion, but it takes my all my focus and clears my mind of all clutter.

There are moments inside my circle that I'm feeling the music and using my body to propel such a simple shape in some pretty imaginative ways. That we have legs and arms and skin and cells that can do and be so much is in itself a miracle! But that we can take patient practice to study, learn, and perfect movements that make us so happy is just beyond that in so many ways, it may not even be communicable. I encourage you to try it, and if it doesn't suit you - try something else. Because this kind of passion for movement and grace (something I'm definitely working towards) can be within everybody! This is a feeling worth seeking. I wish it upon everyone I know.

And now that I'm working towards becoming a paid performer - with a few gigs already under my belt - I'm just ecstatic. I understand the drive to create and share and aim for independence. I understand the artist's elation - because to benefit from doing something you truly love to do is the ultimate joy.



Click here to see my hooping pictures on Flickr

Click here to see my hooping videos