Wisdoms From Stasia Savasuk at Design Mom

Sometimes you read something that speaks to you and you realize that what you are reading has encapsulated things of great importance to you that you have not been able to so succinctly capture until the moment you read them in someone else's words.

The amazing thing is that after I read this week's "Living With Kids:Stasia Savasuk" post at
Design Mom I went to the comments and starting reading comments from others who had been strongly moved by Stasia's words. Surprisingly in the comments I saw more amazing quotes from the piece that I obviously totally and complete missed. I will definitely go back and read this one.

This post is a great read for anyone who has ever not felt quite themselves, has struggled with how to express themselves through what they wear and how their home looks and how they care for themselves. I really think there is something for everyone here.

The things that stood out to me most were three things and I almost don't want to mention them so that I don't color your own perspective if you go over and look at this post. But here they are:

1) When we hide (protect ourselves from shame, vulnerability, and Oh-my-goodness-what-will-they-say) we make ourselves LESS POWERFUL. Knowing who you are, and presenting that knowing on the outside is life changing.

2) There is no such thing as balance, just choices. Be better at accepting those choices rather than getting flustered because I can't do all thing perfectly all the time.

3) Adversity when paired with fierce love, creates whole humans. Whole humans are flexible, honest, confident, creative and above all else loving.

You can read the full post and see Stasia and her expressions of home, family and personal style here.

I'd love to hear in the comments below what stood out to you. I'm very interested to see this piece through other's eyes!

Seeing Life From The Air

Hi Friends! I've missed you. It's been a tumultuous, mega-adventurous few weeks. I've logged miles in a few different states by air and ground. I've met  at least a couple hundred new people, tried all sorts of new foods, and am getting used to working in an office full-time again. It's been a humbling and exciting time for sure. It's been a good reminder to keep your eye on the big picture and not get too mired down in the daily grind.

So my theme for this year was Shine, as you may remember. I've been carrying that with me through all my new adventures and travels. I have been bolder about talking to and getting to know strangers. I'm inherently shy but when I put on my "Journalist/MarComm" hat I am much braver about speaking to strangers. It's been a great experience to have conversations with all sorts of seatmates on planes and I've learned a lot and made some good networking connections.

Living Shine has been a challenge when I feel like I am drinking from a fire hose still after several weeks. It's so easy to get down on oneself when after a couple of weeks you don't have volumes of new knowledge all settled in your mind. I really have to remind myself and thankfully others around me are reminding me too that it takes time and I'm not expected to know everything after two pay periods. I have to remind myself that I can still shine without being perfect or putting pressure on myself to be super human when only regular human is required.

I've been learning to be thankful for wonderful little life moments and every moment I have with loved ones. I've been appreciating sunsets and beautiful clouds more. I'm feeling really grateful for safety and life after a few too many close calls in the past month. Nothing like almost being run off the road by a semi to get you a little gun shy about driving....and big rigs.

I've learned a lot about letting go of things and opening oneself up to new things -- and even making peace with new things you really don't like (such as allergies!) while trying to stay focused on the things you do like about your new situation.

One of the best shine lessons I've had this year is the power of greeting everyone who comes my way with a smile. People are always happy to see you when they see you smiling every morning. I think it catches grumpy people off guard when you refuse to be grumpy too and greet them with a smile.

I have lots of photos and new things to share with you. I just have very limited internet access, which is why I haven't been online much or updated this happy blog. But hopefully things are settling down so that I can be here more often now. Things are going in good directions and I have a lot to be happy and excited about. No my life is not problem-free by any means, but we are making our own joy.

I'm going to start sharing more on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook too, so I'd love to meet up with you there. Sending you my very best wishes. Looking forward to hanging out with you again. You've been missed.

Personalized Headphones Cords: My Beads USA

*This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the five winners listed below. Thank you so much for entering. It's fantastic to see the interest in MyBeads spreading the past couple of weeks. Winners please email me your mailing address to kalanicut at hotmail dot com.

Hope you have a great time personlizing your headphones! If you get a chance we'd love it if you would post a photo of your finished project on the MyBeadsUSA facebook page. It's so cool to see what everyone comes up with.

1) Lori from Parkhurst Party
2) Jennifer from Jen's Grateful Year
3) Jane from The Borrowed Abode
4) Alina Wilson
5) Shannon from I'm No Domestic Goddess
------------

I am very happy to introduce you to something so fun and cool that I've been excited about the past few months. Meet my personalized headphones using My Beads by My Beads USA. These are beads created to personalize your headphone and charger cords. They have a slit in the side so you can slip them right on your cords.

In full disclosure, I have been working with My Beads USA on marketing. Now let me tell you why My Beads are so cool to me as a user. I've been using them for a few months and they've kinda changed my life...really they have. See #4 and 5!

1) Fun Craft Project: This is a project anyone can do. I just saw a really cool pair of headphones personalized by a four year old this week, so it's fun for all ages. You could decorate them with holiday colors throughout the year.

2) Show Your Personality: With 500 beads in each bag, the color combinations are incredible. See a sample of all the cool cords people have made on Facebook. Randomly places or in an intricate pattern, you can make your own look.

Show them off while sporting your headphones at the gym. Imagine wearing your favorite college or professional team colors at the big game or having your entire sports team sporting their headphones with team pride colors.

3) Protect Your Cord: These beads absorb pressure and keep your cords from getting dirty, pulled excessively and banged up.

4) Easy To Find: Less losing your cord in your bag or around the house. The bright colors make them more noticeable and easier to grab. When you're reaching around in the dark or in the bottom of a bag for the beads they are much easier to recognize than trying to see or feel a little cord.

5) No More Confusion With Identical Cords: If you have a family or roommates with similar cell phones everyone's cords and chargers look the same unless you personalize them. Now that my cords are pink and yellow I haven't had one problem in months with The Man accidentally taking my headphones! This is big. That has been a long-term problem.

6) Best Of All: No More Tangled Cord! Yes it's true, you will never have to waste your valuable life energy untangling your long headphone cords. Again, life changing.

In my mind these are the ultimate stocking stuff for Christmas 2014. They are also great for gift bags or for kids' friend gifts for the holidays.

MyBeadsUSA also has a great fundraising program is you are associated with a school, church or youth group or sports team that has to do fundraisers. The best part is you can return anything you don't sell for a refund.

My Beads are available at MyBeadsUSA.com. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The Bug is working on her black and purple headphones this week. If you decorate your headphones or charger with My Beads we'd love to see your creation. Post photos to Twitter and/or Facebook.

I'm going to wrap up this post with a giveaway. We will give away one pair to five people drawn randomly from the comments below. Leave a comment and tell us what colors you would use to decorate your own personalized headphones or what feature most interests you? Drawing ends midnight (PDT) Wednesday September 17, 2014. Good luck.

8 Sassy Gift Tags Anyone Can Easily Make

*This giveaway is closed but enjoy the tags.

A beautifully wrapped gift is really two presents in one. Yes it's the content of the gift, but it's also a visual and tactile gift to the receiver. I've always loved wrapping a pretty gift, although I've become much more relaxed about it over the years. One of the things that makes a gift most unique and special is a handmade gift tag.

I like to punch a hole in my tags and tie them in the bow on a boxed gift or to the handle of a gift bag. In smaller sizes these are also very cute on treat bags and can be personalized with theme colors for a wedding guest welcome bag too. I think the final, beautiful touch on all these is a quick, handwritten greeting scrawled in a high-quality pen. Sometimes I use silver, gold or white pens, other times a good quality black or blue gel pen will do. I often write in all lower case cursive as it has a festive, unified look.

Here are 8 ideas for simple gift tags that will set a gift apart and exude creativity with very little trouble or time.

1. Watercolor & Stamped (seen above) - All you have to do is watercolor a sheet of paper and let it dry. Then cut it up in whatever shape you like and quickly stamp a little greeting on it. Easy to do ahead of time and have on hand. Easy to coordinate colors with wrapping paper.

2. Layered Cutouts. This is all about layering pretty papers. All you need to do is cut two rectangles and then one tiny square or circle. Glue the large rectangles together then adhere the tiny square or circle with a foam adhesive square for dimension.

3. Simple Initialed Tags. It's hard to see in this photo but the initial K is done in pink, green and blue. I actually used a sealing wax stamp K for this project. Simple, charming with a little note written in bright white or silver ink.

4. Random Scraps. These gift tags are a great way to use up your small scraps of paper. You can layer leftover bits, make a quilt-like pattern, there are lots of options.

5. Pretty Labels. So easy. Just buy some beautiful adhesive labels and stick them on pretty scraps of paper. These are Martha Stewart and her line has a gorgeous variety. These are also printable so you could print a message on them. These would make cute name tags too.

6. Stamped Greeting. Again just a pretty little strip of paper with a pretty message stamped in a lovely aqua blue shade. This stamp had a real retro feel to it and came out so beautifully on the paper. I can just see a really bright red ribbon used with these. Wouldn't these be cute tied around a pineapple you brought back for family from Hawaii?

7. Sticker Embellished. Simple pieces of paper glued together with a cute foam backed sticker added. So easy, so super cute! All the stickers here came from one sheet.

8. Three Rectangle Strips. These are my favorite, my go to for gift tags. They look so cute with a pretty message written in lower case cursive across them. I made a bunch of these one Christmas for my mom that said "from the kitchen of " and her name on them for all the delicious delights she so frequently delivers to friends and neighbors.

You will probably notice that on none of these are all the edges straight and everything in perfect alignment. I seek the imperfection on purpose, I think it's more interesting to the eye. So there are eight gift cards you can quickly put together to spice up your gift giving routine. 

So Here's The Giveaway -- 

Now here's the fun part for me. When I made these for this post I decided to make 100 and give away 10 packs of 10 gift cards to readers. The first 10 people who comment on this post will win a set of 10 gift cards. Which is your favorite or the one you can most easily see yourself trying? Please leave your comment then email your mailing address to me at kalanicut at hotmail.com. Happy winning. Happy Friday!

This is linked to:

Look At Me

The Frugal Girls

Weekend Bloggy Reading

Spring Giveaway!

**Winners Announcement**

1st Prize Winner: Heather

2nd Prize Winner: Mandy

This contest is now closed. --

I am so happy to finally have another giveaway here. Hooray! It's been way too long. I have to admit that I would like to just keep this stuff for myself -- ah, but no, I made it all for two lucky friends of kalanicut. I do so love to create little gems that I can share with you - more than just the written word and pictures.

Here's the scoop. There is one 1st prize: 

• spring-tastic blue kalanicut tote bag
• 1 large colorful patchwork toiletries bag
• splashy HI notecards (set of 10)

and one 2nd prize:

• 1 super cute small purple toiletries bag
• splashy HI notecards (set of 10)

I had so much fun putting this all together and making things knowing I would get to give them away to dear blog reader friends. There is something very enjoyable about mailing away fun treats.

So here's all you have to do. You get one entry for any of the following (let me know in comments how many of them you did):

1) leave a comment here

2) retweet a tweet about this giveaway

3) follow me on twitter (new or existing)

also added

4) follow this blog

5) share this post on Facebook

**But you must let me know how many entries you are thus eligible for in the comments below.

The winners will be named, through a random drawing. Contest ends midnight PDT Monday April 18. Winner will be announced Tuesday April 19. 

I still have a few toiletries bags in stock if you were hopping to snag some. Hit me up here, on Twitter or FB and I'll get them to you. Okay here we go with a fun contest. Have a great rest of your day!

A Gift For You

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I am so excited to start a new gifting experience here on kalanicut. All you have to do is be one of the first 20 people to send me an email regarding this post to take part. Sounds easy, right?

I have really enjoyed reading and studying Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy this year. Last year I did some of it, but this year I incorporated it into my daily morning ritual and it has definitely been my favorite part of my mornings.

I am buying used copies of Simple Abundance (in excellent condition) wherever I can pick them up. Then I am sharing them with you in hopes of spreading the message of simple, joyful living. I have several books on hand now and will continue to pick them up as I go. I will ship out a book to one of you as each one comes in. Just be sure it's something you'll use before you sign up as it requires taking part in a daily five minute read with accompanying action.

So if you are thinking you could be happier, more peaceful, more focused, more relaxed and living a simpler, richer life send me an email at kalanicut@hotmail.com. In the email please include: name, email address, mailing address and a sentence or two about why you would like a copy.

*Because this is completely experimental, I am putting an initial cap on offering 20 books for now. Then I'll re-evaluate. I'd love to make this an on-going practice with this and other inspiring books.

image by kalanicut

And the Winner Is

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. We had a very soggy one and stayed indoors almost entirely all weekend - and it's still raining. Going to real winter cold for the holidays doesn't sound nearly as bad as constant buckets of rain forecast for SoCal.

To see the winner of the Pollen Jewelry giveaway, click here.

Last Chance to Enter Pollen Jewelry Giveaway!

Only a few more hours to enter to win the Pollen Jewelry Giveaway! Odds are good! Enter now!

PLEASE NOTE: This giveaway is now closed.

Interview with Jewelry Designer Maureen Tuohy

Hope you saw the Pollen Jewelry giveaway that started yesterday. Please enter! It's been an exciting kickoff already. I am  so happy to welcome Maureen from Pollen Jewelry for an interview today. I thought you would love to know more about her and the great necklace we are giving away.

I’ve known Maureen for almost five years and she wears the most fantastic jewelry every day. It was always fun to see her each day at work and see what beautiful accessories she was wearing. I quickly became a customer as did a lot of other people.

Kalanicut:  Tell us a little about the beautiful necklace you are giving away here this week.

Maureen:  The necklace has a faceted teardrop blue chalcedony, gold tone African trade beads, and lavender freshwater pearl accents.


Kalanicut:  How did you get started making jewelry?

Maureen:  I'd always admired people who could make their own jewelry then had the opportunity to learn some of the basic skills on a dare. A few co-workers and I formed a club called Project Funway where we gave each other challenges to design and sew clothes for our models (dolls from the dollar store). One challenge had us make jewelry for ourselves, and a friend took me to the bead store and showed me the basics and I've been addicted to it ever since.

Kalanicut:  What feeds your passion for jewelry design?

Maureen:  Beads are like candy for grown-ups - pretty and shiny, with endless possibilities for designs. I love creating visual motifs and patterns, and I love how much my sense of style has evolved over the 2 years I have been doing it.

Kalanicut:  How did you go from creating jewelry as a hobby to creating your business?

Maureen:  I didn't plan on turning this into a little business venture but friends and co-workers would see my work and offer to buy it, and that continues to happen. I've thrown a few open studio parties and used Facebook to get friends to share the invite with others. And I just opened the Etsy site.

The selling part has become a function of necessity - I just have so much jewelry and want to make more because I love it so much. I have to put myself out there and share my passion so that I can keep doing it, and it's so satisfying to connect with others over a mutual passion, or the love of designing and crafting.

Kalanicut:  How did you come up with the name Pollen Jewelry?

Maureen:  The name Pollen has a couple of inspirations. I like that it conjures nature. Pollen is what fuels nature, it is all the plants and flowers pro-creating. It is what gives us all the flowers and plants. It is how nature constantly recreates itself.

Kalanicut:  I know you work in semi-precious stones. What are your favorite materials to work with? 

Maureen:  My favorite materials are: pyrite, turquoise, labradorite, rock quartz and agates.

Kalanicut:  Thanks so much Maureen for sharing about your art, business and passion for jewelry making. All your fans are so excited to see your business grow!

You can enter the Pollen Jewelry giveaway here. (THIS GIVEAWAY CLOSED)

And as a very cool added bonus, Maureen has graciously given kalanicut readers a great way to save 15% on your entire purchase between now and the end of the year! Enter Coupon Code PJ001 when you make your Etsy purchase. What a great deal! Shop quickly for last minute holiday purchases and then buy yourself something after Christmas!

Have a Happy Wednesday. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season in all the ways you'd hoped.


all photography from Pollen Jewelry

Holiday Giveaway from Pollen Jewelry

Monday Dec 20. THE WINNER of the random drawing is: Dave & Catherine - please email me your contact information at kalanicut@hotmail.com. Congratulations! Thanks Maureen for a great giveaway!

I am so excited to offer this giveaway today. I love supporting creative folks with handmade talents. I am pleased to join very talented friend and jewelry designer Maureen of Pollen Jewelry to give away this gorgeous necklace (seen in three different views above) made of semi-precious stones.

Maureen was one of the masterminds behind the Project Funway competitions at my former workplace. Competitions included holiday baking, Christmas cards, handmade creations, collages, haute couture doll clothing and more. In an office full of very creative people it was amazing to see what people created.

After she started making jewelry several years ago, she realized it was something she loved to do and had an eye for. She has designed an amazing selection of pieces in that time. I have a couple of pairs of earrings and two necklaces from Maureen. I find they go with so many different looks and are pieces that really set off an outfit in the best way. I always get compliments on my pieces she's created - and I love supporting small businesses and helping them grow!

Lucky for everyone, Maureen just took the big step to set up an Etsy shop. Go check out some of her beautiful collection. Here are a few of my favorites: Turquoise Howlite Earrings, The Bonjour and The Honey. Prices are very reasonable, materials and workmanship are of the highest quality, and each piece would make a fantastic gift for the holidays, anniversaries, birthdays or for you just because -- the most deserving gift recipient of all.

To enter the necklace giveaway, leave a comment below sharing your favorite piece from her Etsy shop and where you'd wear it this holiday season. The giveaway will close Friday Dec. 17 at midnight PST. Enter now, you have a GREAT chance to win!

And as a very cool added bonus, Maureen has graciously given kalanicut readers a great way to save 15% on your entire purchase between now and the end of the year! Enter Coupon Code PJ001 when you make your Etsy purchase. What a great deal! Shop quickly for last minute holiday purchases and then buy yourself something after Christmas!

You can also find and follow Pollen Jewelry on Facebook for all the newest creations, upcoming sales and more. Maureen throws some great jewelry parties in SoCal. You can contact her here for more information.

Happy Holidays! Good luck!

photo by Pollen Jewelry

When Keith Johnson Comes Knocking

I am still thinking about the most recent Man Shops Globe episode on Sundance Channel which originally aired Wednesday night. Sweden was splendid. One part of the episode is particularly haunting me. Keith visited a woman who makes gnomes, which are big in Scandinavia. He was intrigued with her but wasn't looking for gnomes. But in her workshop she also has hanging many unique, almost haunting felted wool birds she had made.

Keith asked to buy all of them, every one she had. Keith, the internationally known buyer for Anthropologie. That's Anthropologie! THE Anthropologie. This woman clearly didn't know about Anthropologie, which is not a store well known to Swedes apparently. But without doing any research or asking any other questions she said, Oh, no! I couldn't. Then I wouldn't have any for my craft fairs and markets.

I was stunned. Still am. Still thinking about it! Without knowing it, she gave up an opportunity to have her art seen on an international stage, in one of the most inventive and style-setting stores in the world. Who cares about craft fairs?!

Clear example of thinking too small when opportunity came to knock at her door. I feel sad for that lady. She missed a phenomenal opportunity. Opportunity came knocking, Keith Johnson came knocking and she  said "No thanks" to a chance to grow and expand her business and her life experiences. She could've flown to London for the gallery opening and met amazing, influential people. She could've appeared more on the Man Shops Globe episode. She could've had many new customers. So many opportunities lost.

The thing I walk away with is a promise to myself to never think SMALL when LARGE opportunity comes knocking, when a "Keith Johnson moment" comes knocking. Ask questions, do a little research, be open minded, think big picture and be ready to jump when the chance comes. Promise me you'll do the same. I couldn't bear to see you go "craft fair" when Anthopologie comes knocking!

photo via

GIVEAWAY WEEK day two

GIVEAWAY WEEK
DAY TWO


It's day two of the week of giveaways at kalanicut. Today's giveaway will award three winners who will each receive a set of three toiletries/catch all bags. 


Winners will be able to choose a 3-bag set of pink, blue or red or choose one of each color!

Just comment below before midnight Tuesday February 9. Once again, share a favorite post. Winners will be notified Wednesday February 10.


Winners are:

marci said...

I love your bags and would love some new ones! :)

09 FEBRUARY, 2010 06:57

Sarah Kihara said...

Sarah Kihara said

I love the blog post about waking up to simple pleasures! ~Sarah

09 FEBRUARY, 2010 08:55 

Amanda said...

I totally love organization and I love bags. What an awesome combo.

I got sent here from Christy's blog (we used to be roomies and you helped us plan our trip to Europe in 2001!) so I haven't read a lot of your posts - but I did read back a few and love the one on getting up a little earlier to workout. Very inspiring. I might just try it.

Winners please e-mail me at cayecee@yahoo.com with your mailing address and what color bags you would like and we'll get them in the mail to you! Congratulations! Thanks for entering!

GIVEAWAY WEEK day one

Giveaway Week
Day One


It's here! Our first giveaway week. Been looking forward to this for months now. This week every giveaway is something I have designed and handmade.

The first giveaway is lovely hand torn paper art stationery. Made with a mixture of gorgeous papers, each card is one-of-a-kind. 

Two winners will be chosen randomly and each will receive a fun package filled with goodies including a set of 12 cards, envelopes and more.


Enter by leaving a comment below about your favorite kalanicut blog post. 


Contest ends Monday February 8, midnight PST. Winner will be announced Tuesday along with the next giveaway.


Congratulations to Deb and Black Widow winners of the day one giveaway! 

The Black Widow said...

This post! This post where you gave away free stuff is my favorite.

 

Deb said...

I really enjoyed the "Making Time for Your Life" blog post. Great suggestions on how to achieve the things we want most.

e-mail me (at cayecee@yahoo.com) your mailing addresses and I will send you your prizes! Thanks for entering!