Rainbows!

Lately, I have been working on a line of rainbow jewellery to celebrate gay pride.

Here is a selection of some of my pride items.

These two pairs of earrings were inspired by the bisexual pride flag:

 

And here are some more rainbow items:

The collection above is all made made with tagua (vegetable ivory). 

Tagua, or vegetable ivory, is a nut that can be dyed various colours. It is a renewable resource from South America. 

One pair of earrings made with Swarovski crystals is here:

Here is an adjustable wire bracelet made with acai beads:

There will be many more rainbow items in the future!

Perspective

http://bitsotruth.blogspot.ca/2012/08/02500.html

I am very guilty of talking about my problems. I complain. A lot.

A few people in my life get to hear me whine and complain far too frequently. Every now and then, I catch myself doing it and try to stop. It's an incredibly hard habit to break, but it's definitely worth trying to change!

How much happier would you be if you spent your day talking about all of the great things in your life instead of the bad ones?

Does whining about your problems actually fix anything?

Sure, there are problems you need help solving, and getting the opinion of someone you care about can provide insight, but sometimes, you're just saying negative things to vent.

My goal is to try to cut back on the amount of time I spend complaining, and only talk about negative things if it's actually constructive in some way. If talking about this problem could have no benefit other than getting it off my chest, I should either not talk about it at all, or mention it briefly and then try to let it go and focus on something more positive.

I'm not saying that we should bottle up our emotions. However, endless talk about everything that's wrong in our lives will not make our problems go away, it will just keep us fixated on the bad things instead of all of the things we should be grateful for.

So, the next time you've been ranting about a problem for a while, take a moment to consider switching your focus to something more positive.

I will try to do the same!

A panda pick-me-up

Today I couldn't just choose one cute photo to share with you. Last night, I started looking at pandas. It's a slippery slope of cuteness that you might not want to venture towards unless you have some free time. However, to save you from getting lost in a sea of pandas for days, I have chosen some of the most adorable panda pics to post here.

http://crimson-tiger.tumblr.com/post/15849067319/just-smile

This site is full of red panda pics, including the two below
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/baby%20red%20panda

And now for some giant pandas...

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1aJXCnpg2peVyCz7D-aTKO3nBrJApF-8JIL20ge1SCODnxLHcuQCaMWi40BTMMxmMjaCJuTn9GCkFU6wCbMe4K-fYgbAp_hoV6QLRAw-_wkYJrZ9UfEYiw40Cd923u53wyq0KurwIaQ0/s1600/cute+baby+animal009_.jpg

This site has all of the panda pics posted below:

http://cutmild.blogspot.ca/2012/07/cute-baby-panda-pictures.html

And that is your Monday morning cuteness, courtesy of Hodder Designs. :)

I hope you enjoyed it!

Time and Values

Image from: http://students.iitgn.ac.in/palantir/?p=510

"Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."

~H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Nearly every day, I feel as though I don’t have enough time. I am always wishing for extra hours to accomplish more tasks.

Of course, this is silly. I cannot actually add hours to my day. What I can do is change the way I use the time I have. The universe cannot give you more time. Only you can.

Today, take a moment to think about what you spend your time on. Is there something you spend time on that isn’t actually very important to you? Do you make time for the people and the activities you really value?

I’m currently trying to focus my attention on the things that are most important to me. Of course, there are things we can’t avoid doing, like earning the money we need to survive, but there are many small things about our daily activities that we have complete control over, and can rearrange accordingly.

You never know what day might be your last. Make sure you do something every day that you can feel good about.

Batgirl...

I love doing animal rescue work. Something I stumbled across that made me incredibly happy recently, is this article about some people who rescue bats:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344988/Crowded-baby-bat-clinic-barometer-Australias-bad-weather.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#axzz2KYRBsIAY

Maybe you don't think bats are cute? Maybe these pictures will change your opinion.

The article above is a bit older, but the organization seems to still be active.

http://australianbatclinic.com.au/

How far you've come

Image from: http://www.livelifehappy.com/always-focus-on-how-far-youve-come

It's easy to get caught up in the list of things you need to accomplish each day. Instead of being happy that I finished something, I tend to quickly move on to the next item on my list, focusing on what is left to do. 

Sometimes, though, I remember to take a moment to think about what I have accomplished, and to feel good about that. 

It's important to take time to celebrate your accomplishments! Sometimes, this means just taking a moment to smile and internally congratulate yourself on finishing that difficult task you had been working on for a while. Sometimes, it is a tiny task, but one that you have dreaded doing, and you feel like you have accomplished something great by tackling it head-on. 

Sometimes, this moment of congratulation doesn't come naturally, and you should force yourself to pay attention to what you have accomplished. 

Something that may leave you feeling a bit warm and fuzzy would be to sit down for a minute and write (or type) out a list of things you have accomplished. These could be big things that you have accomplished over your lifetime, or smaller things you have accomplished over the past few days or weeks. Either way, write them down and take a moment to think about how great you are, and how far you've come. 

Don't let yourself get too caught up in the future and what you have yet to do with your life! Take a moment to think about how far you've come, and how proud you should be for getting to where you are today. 

Hodder Otter

An otter who just received some thrilling news:

http://i.imgur.com/UOjno5H.jpg

Gandhi

Something I truly believe:

This is my foster cat, named Gandhi, who was adopted earlier this year. 

I foster cats through Cat Rescue Maritimes, an absolutely wonderful organization. 

http://www.ca-r-ma.org/fredericton

More cuteness than you can handle

This video is full of absolutely adorable animals.

Owls, cats, bunnies, hedgehogs, puppies, a slow loris, a sloth, a hamster, turtles, and so much more. All doing incredibly adorable things. It’s all you could ever ask for in a video, in my opinion.

I can't stop smiling whenever I watch it. If you're in need of a smile this morning, here you go! Who doesn't need some extra cuteness in their day?

And if you've already seen it, who cares? Watch it again.

Warning: Content may be too cute to handle.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200199945835353

A hint of something included in the video:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnfhApMWq23p1jSjYkn9qhYy_37NwG62yfLEtfmnejITRs9N6LtNTW2dPCalS0dMq9WB3KOZIjDkRtqkvt-HpPMGCOvzLU5mQhCA0x7ZQMI3IoMjNcxvFJMGDrFc1z3x4MhPVy4iUpPoff/s1600/cutestowl.jpg