Words for the Day

Courage. Strength. Discipline. Words to focus on as I embark upon the last stage of the Tjejklassik, and what I feel, will be the hardest stage thus far. The weather and minimal amount of snow in Stockholm has not been exceptionally kind for preparations and training for a cross-country skiing event. I've done the best I could to prepare, even making a couple of road trips north in search of snow. Now it's just to relax and try to enjoy the day tomorrow. 

Many people have told me with confidence that I will "klara det," or in English, complete it. Meaning the race. I have to trust them and hope for the best. And I do think that I will, in fact, finish the race. I just know it is going to be challenging, especially given what little experience I have with cross-country skiing. 

But when I think of the sense of accomplishment I already feel from the previous stages I've completed: the Tjejvättern, 100km bike race, the Vansbro Swim, 1km in ice cold open water, and the Lidingö Tjejloppet, 10km run, I already feel like I've achieved the greatest goal. That goal being to go above and beyond what I thought I could do. To push myself to limits I thought were impossible. This past year has shown me how much strength, and guts, I truly have. 

So whatever happens tomorrow, here's to a great experience and a day of true fun and adventure!

Skåll!!! (Och välkommen till Sverige!)

(Cheers! And welcome to Sweden! 

Valentine, I'd Follow You to the Ends of the Earth... On My Bike

Valentine's Day was a few days ago but for various reasons I was unable to make myself sit down and complete this post. So here it is now. Better late than never, right? 

These photos are of the valentine that I made my husband. I bought these tiny, tiny figures a couple of weeks ago from a hobby shop, knowing I wanted to use them in the making of my valentine but coming up with zero ideas. I sat for hours thinking about how I could cleverly incorporate them and the only image popping up in my head was to attach them to the top of a little wooden box (which does not actually exist in real life) that could be used to hold special keepsakes etc. 

This idea came from me assuming that the small figures were painted iron, or some similar hard substance. However, when the day finally arrived and I removed them from their packaging I realized that they were semi-soft plastic and most likely would not hold up to being glued to a box that one might use repetitively. That idea was out the window. 

So as I sat wrapping the tube that held my husband's valentine's present (three small artworks made by the very talented Ashley Percival), my cat helping the entire time, this idea sprang to life. I am not sure I would have come up with the idea if it hadn't been for my cat causing the tube to fall onto its side. My original thought was to glue them to the top of the tube, even though it looked ridiculous and the tube kept falling over. Lying there on its side I suddenly envisioned a single road down the middle and everything fell into place from there. 

Valentine's Day saved, I could then relax. Normally I love to make my own valentines, and this year was no different, though I was not expecting to feel empty of creative ideas. Sometimes that happens unfortunately and you just have to go with the flow. Most times I find that if I just take action and start making something, the creativity will eventually release and come out to play. Lucky for me my creativity kicked into gear just in the nick of time. :-)

Hope you have a Happy Day!

And don't forget... you can celebrate love any day, with or without a a Valentine.

"may my heart always be open to little

birds who are the secrets of living" 

Excerpt from an e.e. cummings poem

Heart Happy

Forget about wearing your heart on your sleeve. Why not wear your heart... on your heart? For all the world to see! Be bold. Be direct. Let everyone know that you mean [love] business. I went through a crafting phase a year or two ago of appliquéing hearts on sweaters. Inspired by DIY projects I'd discovered on Pinterest, as well as a sweater I’d seen in one of my favorite clothing stores, I went to work on making my own. I ended up completing one striped sweater with heart-shaped elbow patches and then this solid black one with the large, bigger-than-life red heart right smack dab on the front. 

I don’t know why but they make me feel a little jolt of happy when I wear them. Perhaps it is because of my love of love and heart shapes, or possibly it is just knowing that there is a little bit of love “hanging around” me. Or just maybe it is the simple fact that I made it myself (and saved some dough). Either way, it is a fun project that you can do by yourself, with your cat, or with a group of friends. :-) And who doesn't want to wear hearts on their clothing?!

Items you will need for this project:

An iron & ironing board

A sweater you don’t mind renovating, or an inexpensive new one from Target or H & M

Iron-on backing, fusible webbing, or even those strips you can purchase to “iron hem” curtains

Felt or other material for your heart

Needle & thread

Old newspaper to make your template, plus a few pins to hold your template in place

Here is a tutorial to show how to make and iron on appliqués and anchor the edges down with a blanket stitch. In addition, this video, also found in the tutorial, gives a great example as well. 

If you start on it now,  you could be finished just in time for Valentine’s Day!