Change is in the Air

I’ve decided to switch it up and head on over to WordPress. Blogspot, you’ve served me well- but your cluttered interface and tools are just starting to bog me down.

http://www.finickydesigner.wordpress.com

I’m seeing this as a fresh start- a way of motivating me to write more and more often. I’ve come up with a few theme days, so subscribe to my blog and follow my *hopefully* now more consistent ramblings. (Pst- you don't need a google account to follow me, just an email address. Awesome, right?) I’ll revisit blog posts from this blog from time to time and get the favorites onto the new blog eventually. And, with a big deep reluctant sigh, I’m going to start tweeting. I’ll be posting my instagram photos, blog posts, and Etsy shop updates on Twitter- so if you’re a part of the tweeting community, follow me! @creativemelody

Look forward to seeing you over at the new place! http://www.finickydesigner.wordpress.com

It's May?

No really... We're already half way through the busy month of May? I cant begin to describe all that's occurred in the last month. So many good things, so many surprising things and changes that God has had come our way; it's hard for me to even grasp trying to think about all that's happened sitting here right now.

I would like to highlight for you my latest artwork and the direction I'm taking with my new Etsy shop (hopefully opening July of this year). One of my co-workers, Peter, asked me if I had anything I'd like to make and sell at an auction for his program that helps support children in Swaziland, Kids Helping Kids. Boy, did that challenge me! When was the last time I'd created something (not for freelance) that I put my heart into, enjoyed, and would actually consider as sell-able? I knew how much I enjoyed painting the Winnie the Pooh artwork for my nephew's nursery and challenged myself to come up with another series of three pieces of artwork, this time kept just digital and not painted in watercolor. I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out, and though it only sold for $40, was pleased with all of the wonderful comments I received on it and got several people excited for my new Etsy shop, Finicky Prints and Paintings, to open soon.

Let's go on an ADVENTURE

  

I'll be making this series of prints available on my Etsy shop soon, so if you like it- bookmark it and keep an eye out for my opening date. It's also so gratifying for me to be able to donate some of the profit I make on my shop to Mission of Mercy and their programs that greatly need support.

Have a happy May!

My homemade laundry detergent

I did it! I finally did it. I ran out of laundry detergent, and instead of racing to Costco to buy a super huge container of detergent, I ran to King Soopers and searched for products I'd never heard of.


Total cost of supplies: $13


And those supplies can get me at least another 10 batches of this stuff. Only ingredient I'd have to purchase more of is the Fels-Naptha soap. But when 2 gallons only requires half a bar, and a bar runs at about $2, I'd say it's worth it.


I used the recipe I posted on an earlier blog: Frugal and Fantastic Laundry Detergent so I'll just walk through my experience and post some tips on this post.

Fels-Naptha Soap- only use half a bar per batch.

I decided to chop up my soap instead of grating it. I loath grating. And this stuff easily flakes apart.

Here's the tip- this stuff does NOT like to dissolve. So soak it in your pot of water for one hour before turning on the burner and boiling it to dissolve all of the way.

Boil it, dissolve it. This is what made my house smell like it had just gotten a bath.

Rest of the ingredients to be added.

Only one cup of each.

Another tip: Buy a gallon jug of water. The recipe gives directions according to gallons of water, and I wouldn't have been able to know the correct amount unless I had purchased a gallon size jug, especially since it'll tell you to add ____ cups of water, then next instruct you to add "the rest." Annoying if you aren't using a gallon size jug.

I dumped it in a new trash can that I had just put in our guest bathroom. Only thing I had big enough to hold it all. Covered it with wax paper, and woke up the next morning gel like detergent. My husband described the texture of it as "brains." Not sure if that at all gives you a good idea...

I store mine in an old laundry detergent jug and the water jug I was using to measure the water. 1/2 cup per load!

Of course the real question is- does it WORK? (Yes, I took a photo of me smelling my towels)... it does work, and very well. Only issues I have with it is that it doesn't seem to bubble in the washing machine, so I always want to add more. This is just something my simple mind needs to get over. That, and my clothes don't smell really clean. Now, they don't smell dirty! They just also don't smell like detergent, which is difficult to get used to. I might add some essential oils next time just to make me feel better.

Well, there you have it! It was fun- and you should most definitely give it a try. Let me know how your experience goes.

It’s just like Santa Clause

I can actually get out of bed energetically on Thursday mornings (when I say “energetically,” I mean I can open my eyes with slightly more ease). Part of it may be because it’s the last day of work for the week, but the majority of it is because of what’s waiting on my porch. At 5:15 I rush down the stairs, let Dasha out to do her business, then throw open my front door. There, on my doorstep, sits that little white box that I know is full of wonderful, wonderful things. I throw open the lid, and though they’ve never missed a day, I am always pleased to see that there is indeed something inside.

Oh, Royal Crest Dairy, how you remind me so of Santa Clause. On Wednesday night I write to you my wish list, and just before bed I place my wish list in a spot where you can find it. Then the next morning, you magically bring me delicious all natural milk, butter, and eggs… and when I really get carried away with my wish list, you leave me with rich chocolate milk and decadent cookie dough. I open your little box lid as if it’s a special gift, and arranging my fresh dairy products in my refrigerator is my favorite Thursday morning task. In fact, I won’t lie; I often open up the refrigerator door a few times afterwards just to look at the new items inside. Leaving for work I feel rest assured that my dairy needs are met for the week, and excitedly I think about the next wish list I get to write to you.

Maybe I’m exaggerating my Royal Crest Dairy obsession just a tad bit, but it honestly made me think about all the little things in a day that keep me going. Some are pretty ridiculous, like Royal Crest Dairy or writing up a to-do list. But it’s good to notice the little ridiculous things in our days that keep us going.

What about you? What little things (ridiculous or not) are part of your days that you look forward to, that give you that little extra kick?

Winnie the pooh

For my sister's baby shower, I decided to do a series of paintings for her nursery. I whipped  up a few designs, transferred it to watercolor paper, and painted. I knew her colors for the room were green, but I had no idea she was going with a Winnie the Pooh theme. Thankfully, I just happened to choose a Winnie the Pooh quote in one of my paintings- I'm pretty sure we were mentally connected as so happens in many sisterly cases. All in all, after finishing them, matting, and framing them- I was rather pleased. And it inspired me to paint some more. Anyone want a nursery painting?

The steps:

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart... Winnie the Pooh

Gone DIY Crazy

I’m going through a stage… a crazy, out of control, DIY stage where every waking moment (that I’m not at work) I want to be doing things, simplifying things, MAKING my own things! I have this huge circling of ideas just kind of floating around in my head. Yesterday, I made a list of everything I have yet to accomplish around the house- as far as decorating is concerned. I broke up the to-do’s by room, made a short brainstorm for each piece of the room, then totaled up time and cost. It’s not so daunting when you have an organized list… much more structured than just walking around your house, disappointed at every unappealing, unmatching corner.

This book is worth the buy. If anything, it motivates you to finally get
organized and gives you some great tools to do it with. Yes, I have a daily docket!

My priority: the master bedroom. Unfortunately, right now our room consists of all the unwanted items of the house. You know, the items that won't fit into any closet, but aren't things you can throw out; and heaven forbid it be visible in any room you actually use. Yes, we bought a nice bed with headboard and have a coordinating bedspread set that we love. But that’s as far as it's gone. Nothing on the walls (nope, not a thing). No bedside tables (unless window sills count). We do have a sofa table stuck up against one wall since we have nowhere else to put it. We used to have one large lamp on it (the matching lamp was in the guest room) until Dasha got ahold of our IKEA paper lamp in the living room. Now the other paper lamp is stuck in our room so we could have two matching lamps in the living room. Our dressers? I’m using a tall, skinny, black “lingerie” dresser, and John is using an age-old dresser borrowed from my parents. It’s honestly the only room that’s stayed exactly the same since we’ve gotten married- the only room given no attention. So, with the blessing of craigslist, our private haven is going to be the first project tackled and hopefully completed by summer. Now is when I start praying for the people looking through their garages wondering what to sell. “Dear Lord, please, oh please convince them to get rid of their vintage dresser for under $50. One I can sand, and paint, and put cute little knobs on.” It’s all such a gamble. But a gamble that's all so worth it.

Simple Mom motivated me a bit today with her post on simplifying your home throughout the beloved spring cleaning season. I don’t have children yet, so some of it is non-applicable. But for the stuff that is applicable to me- I’m quite excited, especially over the part about sharing our before and afters (nerd, I know). Let’s start decluttering- March 5^th!

Click to see her post.

Of course I’ll be sharing my before and afters on my blog as well- just because I know you want to see all of my crap organized. Feel free to post links to your blog in the comments section if you’re thinking about doing something similar, or just want to share your home moments with me.

Later this week I’ll be posting some paintings I did for my nephew’s room. It was the first time I painted in several years (the last thing I painted was a mailbox for my wedding, which I’m not sure counts). I had forgotten how to stretch watercolor paper and I used watercolor paint like acrylic… they turned out just fine in the end, but it was quite the process of rediscovering how to paint!

Until then...

The Painted Streets of a Communist Camp

No really. It isn’t a fancy metaphor. They’re painted.

And that cross? It replaced a statue of Lenin. Is anything more powerful?

I’ve never really told my story of my trip to Ukraine. It was back in 2005, and other than posting a few photos on MySpace (*gasp*) and filling some journal pages, that’s as far as my story made it. So today I’d like to share a little of my story. Just… a little.

The boys in my activity group when we visited a nearby village.

We worked all morning decorating the camp for their arrival. Every sidewalk was chalked, every door entrance taped with balloons, and every Nazi ward transformed into child like camp cabins. The gates opened, and the children flooded in, children from the ages of five to seventeen. Oddly enough, they looked past the bright colors of the streets and balloons and instead, focused on us, the Americans. They were enthralled with us, grabbing at our nametags in an attempt to read and pronounce the scribbled Russian under our English names. One particular little girl, dressed in a holey t-shirt, pink skirt, and dirty yellow crocs, looked up at me with a large smile spread across her face and said to me, “Melody.” I knew then that this week was going to change my life more than it was going to change theirs. I replied with what little Russian I knew- “Da! Minya zavoot Melody. Kak vas zavoot?” and had wished I could carry on a full conversation with this adorable girl so full of joy, so full of life.

The entire week consisted of games, plays, crafts, and walks to the Black Sea. I got to know so many of the children well, but I really connected with the orphans who all arrived on a bus mid week. My favorite part of the entire time I was there was going into their ward at night and reading them bedtime stories. I had to take turns with each of the girls, sitting in a different bed every night. I knew they couldn’t understand a single thing I was reading, but they didn’t care much for the book that was in my hands. The majority of the time their gaze was fixated on my face rather than the pages anyway.

I developed such a love for these kids. I look back on my trip regretting not taking more pictures of each child and writing down their names. There is one name, though, that I’ll never forget. Yulya.

Yulya deserves her own blog post. I’ll get to that sometime later this week.

If you ever have an opportunity to go on a mission trip, do it. Granted, wherever you’re headed may take you on a 24 hour journey full of long flights, smelly communist trains, and crazy driven vans- and once you’re there, you’re most likely not going to have a single hot shower, your luggage may end up lost, and the types of bugs you find in your bed will redefine your previous fear of them- but you know? All that stuff that matters so much in the states has no relevance when your sole purpose for being there is to serve others, serve children, serve orphans who have no one in their lives to love them. And through that service, they get a small glimpse of the love that God has for them and the hope that is offered to them.

I want to go back. I will go back- someday. And while I know I won’t get an opportunity to see those same faces, I’ll get an opportunity to bring smiles to new ones.

Looking through these photos, these photos from seven years ago, brings back so many feelings and so many questions (like why did I do my hair like that and what was with the purple eyeliner?). I still pray for these kids, when I think of it, and wonder where they are now and if they would remember me like I remember them. I guess it doesn’t matter if they remember me though; it matters more that they remember the love and hope they experienced one summer at an ex-communist camp with brightly painted streets.

мелодй

Christmas? OVER.

I have a hard time moving smoothly through life sometimes. Especially when the highly anticipated moments just come and go without much ado, and then it’s- BAM, 5:30 am alarm clock: beep beep beeeeeep beep, Dasha whining by 6 am, quick shower, no breakfast, pray they have the coffee made at work, oh- John’s lunch! 7 am.. no, 7:03 am… work.

Trying to change my attitude and my perspective a bit… trying to figure out how to enjoy the fleeting moments, then easily move onto the next without any consolation. Sometimes I feel like my entire life resembles a holiday drink at Starbucks. You talk about going by Starbucks and getting your favorite holiday drink all season long, and then when you finally have the money and time to go through the Starbucks drive-thru, the holiday drinks are no longer available. That “limited time only” smacks you in the face and you’re left sitting in your car getting “the usual.”

I’m kind of worried that is going to be the story of my life.

Anywho- apart from Christmas being over, I can reflect on how great it was. We had Christmas at our house this year. While my family decided to tone down the gifts a bit this year, we still ended up with a sea of presents sitting under our tree. Present highlights: Holga camera (welcome, Melody, to the plastic world of photography!) and camera bag for my DSLR. I also received the final tools for my stamped notecards, so I no longer have any excuse for not getting them done.

Christmas dinner was superb (who really uses that word anymore?) and the dessert was sufficient enough (note to self: Don’t try any brand new recipes for such important things as holiday desserts, just stick with what you know!) After dessert, we watched the Packers game, which was rather uneventful, but still a solid win.

I had a wonderful time with my family, and of course, my loving husband. I am so blessed…

Now I feel as though I need to just sleep for the next few weeks. Oh, if only.

Always not enough time...

Motivation. It comes and goes as rapidly and randomly as a Colorado snow storm.

I love watching those inspiring television shows- You know, the ones with people doing things to impact the world. It leaves you feeling helpless and lazy as you sink further into your comfy couch and keep lifting that spoonful of chocolate ice cream to your mouth. Sure, I have legit reasons as to why I cannot impact the world in such amazing ways as those people do. I’m busy. I work 40 hours, do freelance on the side, cook, clean… clean… Ah, even if I did have time, I’m not fortunate enough. Those people have focused their entire lives on these causes and have enough money in the bank to do whatever they want. I have to look out for myself- Invest, add to my retirement fund, pay the bills… Those people can keep impacting the world. I’m just going to focus on my own life and make it as comfortable as I can…

Then I think a little about life and how very short it is. I know, you’ve heard this how many times before? The awe-infamous reappearing “If you died tomorrow-“ clause. The one that’s supposed to make you examine your life and live like “there’s no tomorrow!” Let’s get real- This outlook on life may last you a day… maybe two… for me? Half a day at best.

My pastor talked about change a while ago, and how you won’t change unless there’s a reason for change. For example, you say- I’m going on a diet! And your reason for going on a diet? I want to lose weight! (duh?) Well what about this: I’m going on a diet… because next year, I want to be able to climb Mount Everest. Hmmm, that’s kind of a cool goal. Or what about- I’m going to start reading the Bible everyday because next summer I want to be able to go on a mission trip and share the gospel right from my heart with someone who’s lost.

There’s reasons out there that inspire, that motivate, that push someone in life to do a little more than they’re doing now. I always think about things I can do here on earth that I won’t get a chance to do in heaven. There won’t be any poverty in heaven, no suffering, no pain, no lost… So with my life, let me impact those things now so that someday, I can enjoy all those little heavenly pleasures God has in store for me without looking back on life as a waste of some-odd years.

I suppose I've been contemplating this lately because of my notecards for orphans idea. I wanted to launch this idea back in March of this year- but it didn't happen. So I found an organization I'd like the proceeds to go to- Friends of Russian Orphans. I've contacted them and let them know when my products will be available. Now I've got some accountability, and motivation, and that pretty awesome goal I was talking about earlier. God is still going to have to grant me a good amount of time for this- but it'll happen. John and I have a heart for Russia, and the orphans, and if this helps in just a little way, it's all worth any time I can find.

My etsy shop, On Their Hearts, will be open sometime in March 2012 with a variety of Spring notecard stationary. 60% of what is made will go to the Friends of Russian Orphans organization.

Oh, and if you haven't already, meet Lenhle:

She's a vibrant four year old from Swaziland. Her mother has passed away, but thankfully her father is a believer, so he has stuck around to raise her. Hmm, one child. Do you know how many children in poverty there are in the world? How many don't have a single toy, clean water, a predictable meal? What does me and my husband sponsoring one child do?! 

Well... it is one child. That one child matters to God- so she matters to us. (I didn't mean for this to be a Mission of Mercy advertisement, but you can sponsor a child just like Lenhle- Sponsor a Child)


Go find your motivation... and make a difference.