Thoughts on how joy and passion connect me to Divinity

Thoughts about divine, spirit, god/dess energy...

...a few days ago I went for short visit to the fabric store. It's far away and I don't drive so on the occasion that I get a ride there, it's an exciting thing! I walk in and feel like a 'kid in a candy store'.
It was a short visit, about 15 minutes, and I managed to find exactly what I was looking for... which is pretty neat considering I went in wanting "something satiny and slippery to make a scarf from... in colours I like" ... but didn't even have any colours in mind. ☺

I got 4 pieces of fabric and a bias tape maker and came back out to the truck with a huge grin on my face. I kept touching the fabrics on the way home and feeling so excited about working with them.

What does this have to do with divinity?

I have noticed that when I feel good, excited or passionate, about anything, I feel connected to the divinity within me and around me.
It doesn't matter what I'm feeling passionate about. It doesn't need to be something 'spiritual'. Last week we had a mild spell and I was on top of the world to be out on the deck, blowing bubbles. Yesterday I had great fun giggling with my partner over the antics and idiosyncrasies of our cats. Both of those got me connected to that divine spark within me, the spark that I believe is connected to the great, cosmic divine energy, that I believe we are all part of.

I have also noticed that when I feel down, depressed, sad or despairing, I feel disconnected from that spark. I know it's still there, but it feels like I'm wrapped up in layers of heavier emotions that come in between me and that spark.

I feel like the disconnection from divine is what makes me feel so down, so heavy... and yet at the same time, I feel that it is the very feeling down and heavy that disconnects me. So it's kind of confusing to know which comes first, or how it comes about.

The important thing in this, for me, is knowing that feeling joy, passion and love coincide with feeling connected to divine. It doesn't matter which comes first... just knowing that they happen together for me means that I can feel more connected by purposely doing things I love, doing things that excite me or inflame my passion.
I think I'd like to make a list of things that elicit love or joy in me.

A few that come to mind:
blowing bubbles
painting

rainbows of all kinds

talking to trees, plants and animals
sewing
dancing to a song I love
being in nature
doing or saying something that makes another person feel good
swimming in lakes
planning creative projects
gardening
singing to my cat (he loves it :)

What are some things on your joy list?
I'd love if you shared in the comments. It is so wonderful to read others' joys, loves (and I often get great inspiration!).
~☼~

Super Simply Sewn Satiny Scarf forThree Dollars

I adore all things shimmery, satiny, sparkly and metallic. I also love flowing clothing that moves when I do. At the same time, I'm a bit of a tomboy - the type who likes climbing trees, can't wear white without getting it dirty, washes all colours together in the laundry, and has zero tolerance for clothing that is uncomfortable. Fragile clothing, worn by me, invariably gets damaged. I choose jewelry based on how unlikely it is to get caught on things or banged up in the garden :-) When I see women with rings that stick up, I instantly think, "How do they handle that? It would bang into everything!"

I've been eying the many styles of scarves in stores lately and most of them are either made from material that feels scratchy or are so fragile they would fall apart in the wash (I also have low tolerance for clothing that can't just be tossed in the washer with everything else :).
The scarves out now are also pricey! It feels wrong to me to spend $15-20 on a tiny piece of fabric that would cost about $1 to buy.

So I decided to buy fabric and try making my own! My sewing skills are basic and I don't have patience with patterns and pinning so my creations sometimes work... and sometimes don't.

Thankfully this experiment went pretty well.

This lovely fabric shimmers in the sun and has a beautiful, satiny feel to it... yet it's made from polyester and can be tossed in the washer and dryer - yay!

widthwise seam, inside

I didn't take a photo of the first step which was to cut half a meter of fabric in half, lengthwise and sew two ends together widthwise. You can see those ends sewn together vertically in the photo above.

lengthwise seam inside

Then I had one long, narrow piece of fabric about 10 inches wide. I folded it in half with the right sides together and sewed the 2 'wrong' sides together. I didn't bother pinning, just matched up the sides as I went along with a simple straight stitch. The fabric was not cut evenly at the store so it's not even but it doesn't show when it's being worn.

widthwise seam, rightside out

That photo above is how the outside seam looks where the 2 long pieces were joined widthwise.

lengthwise seam rightside out, unironed

When I was done sewing lengthwise, I had a long tube with both ends open. At that point, if you wanted closed ends, you would sew one end closed all the way and the other end closed except for a few inches (then pull the tube rightside out through the small opening and handsew it closed). I wanted my ends left open so at this point I simply turned the long tube rightside out... and I was done! I could have ironed it so that it will lay flat but I really like the body and fullness it has and I don't want to flatten it one bit :-)

big, long tube scarf, outside

The ends didn't match up perfectly and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. I'm pretty laid back so I may just leave it :)

Total cost for this project:
only
$3
(for the fabric)
☺
☼

*I've never tried to describe a sewing project in text before so if you have any questions or would like me to clarify something, please do not hesitate to let me know in the comments :)

Very Tiny Butterfly Doodle

I recently found some Fiskars squeeze punches at a discount store for $5 each. Wow! They work like a dream.
After testing them out with some white card stock, the little punched pieces suddenly looked like perfect, miniature canvases - just crying out for colour...


This butterfly is about the size of a penny :-)
Materials: micron pens, markers, card stock, punch

For some reason I find that I like doodling on smaller pieces of paper much more than on larger ones.

Do you have a size of paper you prefer doodling on?

Rainbow Crochet Cell Phone Cover - in progress

The sun has been shining brilliantly, gloriously, scintillatingly... all day!
I am so amazed at how much this can effect my mood, physical energy and mental state.
Just yesterday I was sharing how I haven't been motivated to take photos of works in progress, let alone upload and edit them.
Well... the radiant, dazzling sun and clear blue sky have worked their healing magic on me and I've gotten motivated to write this post :-)

I've only had a cell phone since Christmas and I've already dropped it in the snow!
Thankfully it was fine but it made me realise that I really want a case for it.
I don't like any of the ones in my price range so I decided to try and crochet one.

Almost done!

It's very simple and it has an almost rainbow progression(it's missing purple) so it is soothing to the part of me that has been craving colour amidst all the white and grey of an Ontario winter.


When I get to the top, I'm going to crochet back and forth on only one half of this tube to make a little flap that will fold down over the top of the phone. I'll post pics when it's done.

My cell phone is also an MP3 player and since that's what I use it most for, I think I may add loops that I can attach a long single crocheted chain to so I can wear it either around my neck or shoulder-bag style. That way I won't have to unzip my coat if I want to switch songs! Brrrrrr.
:)

Update
After posting this I was thinking about how much I like how snugly the cover fits on... and I suddenly realised there was no way to have the headphones plugged in if the phone was in it's cover! OOPS! So if you decide to try something like this, be sure to leave a hole in the side that matches up with where your headphone jack is. Luckily I only had to pull out a few rows to go back and correct this (I'm glad I didn't realise after it was all done!).
☺


~

Thanks mom for teaching me to crochet all those years ago. I am still at a very low skill level... but it suffices for me and I love doing it :-)

Sharing Beauty - Links To Other Bloggers' Work

I seem to be in a winter hibernation mode... spending a lot of time within both the house and my own heart and mind. I'm doing creative things in tiny bits... at slow paces... and rarely feeling inspired to take photos of them (let alone upload and edit those photos I do take!).

Wintry Window

Winter is a darker time for me - inside and out. I've been craving colour so I'm working on a rainbowy crocheted cell phone cover that I hope to share soon.

Until I have something of my own to share, I thought I'd share some things I've seen in the Blogiverse that I found beautiful or that reached out and brightened my life in some way.

These are all from blogs that I follow in my RSS reader - they are my equivalent of a daily newspaper - a morning dose of wonderful inspiration and beauty!

In no particular order...

These wonderful seasonal tree paintings at Curls Of Red

Every Single Post at A Magic Mom and Her Mandalas (seriously... I could not pick just one - many of her poem/mandala combinations move me to tears of beauty :)

Rabbits are a very special spirit animal for me and so I am loving Leah's New Moon Rabbit and Lit From Within.

This cheerful box and frame at Grace Is Overrated (and all of Christie's journal pages - they rock).

Eden's fabulous, vibrant Doodle Directories!

Dandelionlady's rich painting: Offering to the Swans

This amazing, colourful Tree drawing (done with markers) by Amy at Surviving the Day Every Day.

iHanna's hand-embroidered bicycle seat warmer. Wow!

Although not art directly, I'm really enjoying Lauren's series of Artist Interviews over at VisionWise - Earth Livity1111♥

This Flower Power print by Eliza Lynn Tobin of Art Asana


What are some of your favourite creative blogs to visit?
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