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Days For Girls Update

A little over a year ago I posted here about the non-profit grassroots project called Days For Girls. I had just started up Italy’s first (and only) team and was really excited and full of ideas of how I could build up a community of women who would be willing to help me help girls around the world manage their monthly menstrual cycles with ease and dignity.

I’ll be honest, at the beginning it felt slightly awkward talking so openly about periods, pads and menstrual flow with complete strangers. But I’m happy to say that I am now 100% comfortable talking about every detail of women’s reproductive systems with everyone from the local baker to my car mechanic.

For those of you who have never heard of Days For Girls I’ll quickly re-cap what the project is all about.

Days For Girls was started by Celeste Mergens in 2008 after working in a Kenyan orphanage and noticing that a lot of the girls weren’t educated about their menstrual cycles nor equipped to deal with it.

Soon thereafter Celeste started up Days For Girls which is an incredible and supportive network of volunteers around the world who make and put together re-usable menstruation kits that are then delivered to girls in need in over 60 countries around the world (over 60,000 kits have already been delivered).

These kits last for approximately three years and have literally changed the lives of girls and women who before had to miss school or work due to their periods. This in turn has helped lower school drop-out rates in many areas as well as less loss income for days missed at work. So much good!

This project has come to mean so much to me over the last year. I’ve introduced Days For Girls at many local clubs and events and have always had so much enthusiasm from everyone I’ve met. Even the sweet and hilarious 85 year old man who kept insisting that they would make perfect pencil holders before realising their real use.

One of the most common reactions I see from people as I explain the project is the feeling of shock when they realise that they had never actually thought about this problem before. We think of helping people with food, water, clothing and shelter but rarely does it come to mind to help girls deal with monthly menstruation and educate them about women’s health and the female reproductive system. To hear more about our Indian kit delivery and see photos click to read on… Continue reading →

Tags: days for girls, grassroots, India, menstruation, non profit, project, travel

Comments 27 Comments
Categories days for girls, Family/Kids, grateful, Inspiring Souls, photography, Travel

Blago 2014

2 May

One of the things that I love most about blogging is the community of like-minded fellow bloggers that I have met over the years. I have blogger friends all over the world who write about everything from design to food to fashion to sewing. These creative souls have become an important part of my life and a support network that inspires and encourages me to no end.

So you can imagine how ecstatic I was when a few of them arrived in Italy a few weeks ago to attend a little face-to-face event called Blago that I organised.

I came up with the Blago concept after attending The Hive Blogging Conference last year and realising that I really loved spending time with all these creative and amazing women that I have been friends with online for years. It’s great having these online friendships but even greater when you can take it into “real life”.

So a few days after arriving home from The Hive I sent out the first Blago pitch to some of my favourite blogger pals. Luckily I received really positive and enthusiastic responses from all of them immediately. My idea was for us all to meet up here in Italy to spend a few days visiting Milan Design as well as the lovely lake region that I live it.

And because I’m a big nerd I named the event Blago which is a mix of the words lago (lake in Italian) and blog. I figured if you’re going to organise an event with fellow bloggers you’ve got to come up with a catchy title (and hashtag too – check out #blago2014 on Instagram!).

And of course being a blogger also meant I needed to come up with a cool official invite to the event. Luckily, I LOVE that kind of stuff. Like seriously love it.

After a lot of contemplating and looking through my stash of craft and sewing supplies I decided to make a linen envelope (the leather version failed miserably). I used a really pretty Max Mara linen with map print for the outside and a gold linen for the inside. I even added a little tag which I always find makes a hand sewn item look a tad more professional.

Inside the fabric envelope I included an invite with the official Blago logo (designed by the talented Judith who was an attendee) and a little bag of my favourite Italian candies.

I’m a lover of anything to do with snail mail so I was so excited to get these into the mail and to their destinations (which actually took longer than expected due to the fact the local post office accidentally sent half of them back to me).

I’ll be back soon with more details about the actual event (which turned out to be a big success). And yes, I am already mentally preparing the next Blago get-together (and it’s going to be a good one!).

Tags: blago, blago 2014, blog, bloggers, photography

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Categories Creative, Inspiring Souls, italia, photography, Sewing, Uncategorized

Days For Girls

6 Mar

A few months ago I was poking around online and came across a site for the grassroots non-profit project called Days For Girls. From the second I read their action plan, and subsequently their entire site in that first sitting, I knew it was something that I wanted to be a part of.

Days For Girls was founded in 2008 by Celeste Mergens after working in a Kenyan orphanage and noticing that the girls weren’t educated about their menstrual cycles nor equipped to deal with it (no feminine hygiene products available to them).

This feminine hygiene program’s motto is: Every Girl. Everywhere. Period. Their vision is for every girl and woman in the world to have feasible access to quality sustainable hygiene and health education by the year 2022. Like I said before, I’m on board 100%.

Days for Girls volunteers produce reusable menstrual cycle kits. The program has already sent kits to over 60,000 girls in over 60 countries worldwide. These kits last approximately three years and have literally changed the lives of many girls and young women who before had to skip school and/or work due to their menstrual cycles. This in turn has resulted in lower school drop-out rates in many areas as well as a lot less lost income for days missed at work.

Days for Girls is also very active in helping set up local sewing cooperatives and teaching the local women how to make the kit components themselves.

After writing back and forth with their International Chapter Liaison Cindy Murdock I started up one of Europe’s first Days For Girls teams. So, I’m now official and couldn’t be prouder! I’ve been busy cutting, sewing and gathering supplies for kits and luckily I have a fantastic group of friends who are happily getting involved and helping me out.

A project that helps girls and women in need and that involves sewing? A match made in heaven for me.

If you are interested in becoming involved or donating supplies contact Days for Girls here (or look here for a team or chapter near you). If you’re living in Italy or even Europe and would like to help out my team by sewing kit components or donating supplies (cotton, flannel, ribbon, miniature soaps, new cotton underpants or facecloths) contact me at VareseItaly@daysforgirls.org. I’d love to hear from you.

Tags: celeste mergens, days for girls, photography, Sewing

Comments 14 Comments
Categories Inspiring Souls, misc., Sewing, Uncategorized

Handmade Winter

30 Jan

It’s a cold and rainy day here in Northern Italy. We had a very much anticipated snowstorm last night that had lots of local school kids crossing their fingers in their sleep for a day off school. Unfortunately the snow turned to rain and the school buses left at their usual time. There were quite a few disappointed kids heading to school this morning.

After months of mild and sunny days I have to get used to these lower temperatures and the need to wear scarves and winter coats. In general I’m not a huge fan of the cold but I do love these chilly days where I get to hole up in my house with the fireplace on and putter around keeping myself busy sewing, baking and crafting. I know the novelty will wear off pretty quickly so indulge me while I wax on about my love for these wintery days.

Today I wanted to tell you all about a great way that you can keep positive, creative, warm and busy through whatever kind of winter you’re experiencing.

A few months ago some very talented artists, designers, bloggers, mothers and overall amazing ladies put together an incredible e-book called Handmade Winter with over 50 winter-inspired crafts, activities, recipes, entertaining ideas and more. They’ve included everything from how to brew the perfect cup of tea to a maxi-skirt sewing tutorial to instructions on how to make yourself a leather and chain chevron necklace. One of my favourite things about this book is the variation it offers. There is something for everyone (husbands and kids included).

This book will help us all get through these long cold wintery months (especially thanks to the Warm Masala Chai recipe found on page 25/26!).

Handmade Winter costs $15 (US) and is easily purchased and downloaded on-line.

Tags: craft, e-book, family, Handmade winter, recipes, Sewing

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Creative, daily life, Family/Kids, gift ideas, Inspiring Souls, Recipes, Sewing

Internet Inspiration

1 Oct

Since I haven’t been able to do much of anything blog-related lately I thought I’d share some favourite projects, links and videos I’ve been enjoying on the internets lately:

Ever wonder what it would be like to buy an old factory in France and renovate it into an amazing designer house? My friend Judith from the blog Joelix did just that and is letting us all take a virtual visit throughout. So beautiful.

Another talented friend of mine Jennifer from the blog Classic Play just released her new PBS video series called Adventures in Learning. These short videos are a full family project with her and her kids starring in them and her husband filming and producing them. They are great fun to watch as a family and have the added bonus that they are educational! Above is the video on stargazing and learning about the constellations. Click here for the second video where they visit the local farmer’s market:

Here’s a great board to follow for all you Pinners out there. The Mamas….Making Pinterest board is full of the most amazing and creative ideas for families of every kind. Everything from kid’s art projects to family friendly recipes to sewing projects just for Mom. And I’m proud to be part of it.

I cam across this gorgeous purse made by Jane from the blog Buzzmills. It was one of her Selfish Sewing Week projects and I absolutely love her choice of fabrics, designs and colours. The pattern is the 241 Tote from Noodlehead. I’ll be buying it to make with my weekly sewing group (and I have the perfect Japanese Echino fabrics to use!).

Some days you just need something silly to put a smile on your face. This did it for me. And it’s possible I even headed out to my chicken coop with my old fashioned ghetto-blaster and re-enacted the whole thing.

Tags: creative, design, Inspiration, internet, photography, Sewing

Comments 8 Comments
Categories Creative, Family/Kids, Inspiring Souls, Sewing

Zero the One

23 May

A few months ago I stumbled across some absolutely stunning photos of the streets of Torino on the blog Poppytalk (see post here). After clicking away I found the blog and the artist behind these amazing shots. The blog is called Zero the One and the artist Kat. I was immediatly smitten with all her work and became an instant admirer.

Zero the One is an inspiring, original and captivating blog where you can browse through photos, videos, thoughts, tutorials, recipes and so much more. Kat isn’t your run-of-the-mill blogger but more of an artist who blogs (big difference). And she does such a good job at it. Kat is a cheerful, enthusiastic and extremely generous soul and it definitely shines through all her work. And to top off her many attributes she has a board on Pinterest called “Yummlings”. I love that so much.

Kat can transform any photo into something absolutely enchanting. And to make it even better she generously posts photoshop tutorials that are so well explained and easy to follow. Check out this one about adding pink splash to your photos. I tried it and it worked out beautifully (this says a lot coming from a non photoshop user).