scrapologie

Some thoughts on friendship and mid-life...

Today I spoke to a dear friend who I had lost touch with. She went to college with me and was there for me at an inordinately dark time in my life. Though she was from Pakistan, and I from India, (two countries who have historically been pitted against each other in enmity), our connection as women and as humans transcended any recognition of that. We learned and laughed and cried together. She came from an educated, cultured family, and her father had been politically murdered in Pakistan, thus resulting in her relocation to the U.S. at age 18. She was a brilliant student - eventually getting her masters degree in Political Science and Public Policy. She moved to D.C., then married a Dutch university professor and had a child. Within a year of having the baby, her husband left her for another woman. That was nearly four years ago. But something extraordinary happened - she found herself, and found, that now, in her thirties - she is happier than she has ever been in her life, in the life she has made for herself, with her son. We spoke of how extraordinary it is when we think of the women we were in our twenties, and how very different we are in our thirties. We are stronger, more resilient, independent, happy with our choices and our decisions, we have really come into our own element and in touch with what is important and necessary for happiness and for the nurturing of our souls.

So that when I think of women entering their late thirties, 40s, or even 50s, -- and if you are one of those women who will celebrate a 40-ish birthday with me this year, I hope that you will celebrate that number with me, whatever that number is. I hope that you will celebrate being a woman who has faced life and lived extraordinarily, and not worry about the grey hairs and the laugh lines. I hope you will embrace how beautiful you are in your maturity -- you are ---- SO very beautiful on the inside and the outside too. And I hope you will celebrate this season of your life - whatever season it may be. Nature transforms all living things beautifully, even in the very winter of life. And I hope you will celebrate the friendships you share with other women, for it is through these soul connections that we realize our interconnectedness to each other and to humanity, at large.

The most beautiful discovery that true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."
- Unknown

Lucky Lass & French Flea Market Pendant

Thanks everyone for supporting the Lucky Lass Kit -- we are nearly sold out of it, I think we may have two left in the store. I'll start packing and shipping kits tomorrow. The third project from that kit is this one here, the Lucky Favor Cone - very simple and fun to do - the only tricky part is attaching the little glittered leprechaun hat. Project instructions will follow in a day or so. I just filled the cone with plastic shamrock coins (though chocolate would be nicer!), a glittered up pot of gold from Joann's and a photo of Alekha plus some vintage images. I had some nice glittery gold adhesive heavy weight paper from J's I wanted to cut into a scallop for the rear of the cone -- but it ended up breaking my marvy uchida scallop punch which irked me to no end -- as I had *just* bought the punch. Sigh. Lesson learned -- never use my marvy punches for anything other than patterned paper and simple cardstock. Vent over.

If you didn't get the newsletter yesterday, please let me know and I will send you a copy. In the newsletter, I mentioned that we will be selling lots of oldies but goodies inventory, some at substantially reduced rates, both in kit form, and individually, in the months to come -- so keep an eye on the store as we start adding categories there at sale prices. I will also be adding a few wholesale lots for kit club owners or really anyone else interested in purchasing larger quantities as well. Our first such offering was a kit I threw together called Think Pink -- and it contained lots of oldie goodies - a heidi swapp mini iron, sei iron ons, queen and company fab flowers and sequins, doodlebug florals, doodlebug sequins, heidi swapp chipboard, pink binder clips and a wealth of ribbon. We sold them all for $19.99 (it was a $50 retail value!) so keep watching out for those deals.

Also - in the newsletter, I mentioned the gorgeous French Flea Market Pendants (my name for them) that we recently found. We sold out of them within the first fifteen minutes but we will be ordering more. The pendants are handmade, double paned glass that is hinged to display your flat artwork. They're really lovely and are priced at $5.00 apiece. They come with a yard of luxurious Austrian velvet imported ribbon in taupe. Here's a picture if you missed it:   these are just perfect if you like the look of soldered jewelry but don't want the time, cost and mess of learning how to solder. Plus these are interchangeable. You can change out the artwork as the whim strikes you. I will be reordering them shortly - so watch the blog as I will post here when they are back in stock.

Other than that, I think we all may be getting a bit sick around here - so send us some positive flu-be-gone vibes please! Hope your Monday is productive!

Ranjini