Blackberry: A magazine and a Giveaway!

For the past six months I have been wanting to write more. For the past three months I have been writing more. One of my goals was to submit to Blackberry: A Magazine, the lit magazine by my FB friend Alicia Sommer.

One of the reasons I have been wanting to submit is that I like what I see. More than any other magazine aimed at Black females I feel like this one gets me. Gets that I am not wanting to see a zillion ads for skin lightening cream or hair straightener. One that recognizes I am both reader and writer. One that has flesh, bone and blood.

So in January when I was able to pull together some pieces that would work with the theme I got so excited about submitting that when I was accepted there wasn't a lot of room left to get all crazy. Until Wednesday night when I got this message on FB: Hey S Luna Raven, look who made the cover. :)

Are you kidding me?!

So, I have two poems in this issue and I made the cover. I made the cover. I made the cover. Okay, I think it is safe to say that I am really, really excited!

Now the good for you part: if you buy a copy of the magazine, let me know in the comments so you can be entered to win a signed 5x7 copy of this photo. You can buy either the digital or print version of the mag, you just need to let me know in the comments that you did. That's it! It's so worth it, not only to support me (which I thank you for) but all the other ladies and the fabulous Alicia, who works so hard to make this so great!

The giveaway ends March 8th at Midnight. Don't be shy, tell all your friends!

<3

Luna

Reciprocity

The call in the world right now is do good, help others and everything else will fall in line. There are certainly some though, who might attest that it is not always quite so simple. I say things may be lining up, though very different from how you envisioned. This might be the perfect time to step back and assess.

So, what good have you gained from the good you have put out into the world? Has it taken a form that made it almost unrecognizable as reciprocity? I have found that much of what I do for others is paid back in kind from completely different quarters. Today might be a good day to really sit down and count your blessings.

You will be surprised at the bounty of goodness you have received when you weren't even looking.

What abundance have you reaped that might have come from good you did for someone else? Share it in the comments, because celebrating abundance always brings more!

Crocheting with Wire

Due to some questions and the amount of surprise I have been getting, I want to talk about crocheting with wire. In my opinion, it's no harder than crocheting with anything else. Since I crochet with fabric, yarn, tulle, plastic, wire, raffia and anything else I touch, I feel pretty confident about that!

First off: it is vital try different wire. Wire varies not only from the metal, but the color as well. I learned quickly that the higher the value, the thicker the wire. The thicker the wire, the harder it is to work with as it is not very malleable. Too thin and then the wire breaks at totally inappropriate intervals. Gold is fairly delicate, and copper seems to be quite resilient.

Gold wire necklace with blue seed beads. Very delicate & lovely.

 I don't worry much about shaping until the end. It is a very delicate process that requires a gentle hand.You can easily flatten a piece with flat pliers if you want to, though to pull up or apart, I prefer to use the round end of the hook.

Love colored wire!

 It's fun to experiment and see what works best for you. The most important aspect of wire work besides wire is your equipment. I use plastic hooks for many things, but not wire work. I prefer the smaller, metal hooks which are pretty easy to find and take some patience to get used to. You would also do well to take breaks when working on pieces like the one above. Those tiny hooks can cause some cramps....

See? Those are some pretty small hooks!

As with anything, you will want to have the fundamentals down before you dive into wire, so make sure you can make a loop, chain, etc. Then, just let your imagination go wild!

What is your favorite material to crochet with?

Unicorn hair, ramen and weekends

This past week was so busy! I learned Excel, did pilates twice and attended a yarn conference.
As far as pilates goes, I have lost 3 inches off my hips and not sure how much off my waist. It's quite visible to me though and the best part is I go once a week for an hour. Thus far that is 7 weeks very well spent!

Friday I started a new painting which I am quite happy with. I restarted the Willowing art and healing class, which was just what I needed to try and get some of the shading down that has been alluding me. I wanted to do something fun, so this is what I sketched out...

I had the chance to hit up Stitches West for the first time, which was made all the better by friends! Heather was kind enough to drive and then I got to hang out with her Elaine, Maia and Nathan, plus I fell in love with Purlesence Yarns, who helped me fall in love with Xcentricities Corsets, then I discovered Little Red Bicycle and fell further in love with Craftsy.

Some of this will be used for magic in the shop, woo!

I think my only really gripe is that I would have liked to see more crochet and what I did find was sort of hidden off in corners. No one was rude when I said I crocheted, but most of the products seemed very much geared towards knitters.

For dinner we went to Ramen Club where watching the ramen get made was part of the thrill of eating it. I have to say, Ramen Club is most certainly worth going out of your way for!! I rounded off my weekend with book club lead by Christina in which we discussed Four Kitchens. Four Kitchens makes me wish I had had the ability to stage as she did. It's been a good read so far and her talk of Noodle Town made me so hungry!

This week is more networking and the finally the SF Chocolate Salon an event I always look forward to. Hope you have had a busy week too, don't forget to share what you've been doing!