“What better to represent the cycle of life than a grain of wheat?

It is burried in the earth to resuscitate and bear fruit symbolising life and ressurection…This ancient land still adores his female Godess Demetra,the fruit bearing mother,who provides the wealth of wheat.The mother is the dark subconscient uteris that gives birth to the worlds and reabsorbs them,just as it buries the wheat deep-in her entrails and springs it to life….”

These beautiful words belong to Natasa Ieridou,an Art Historian,who continues in describing the growing of wheat in Cyprus in its different phases as a metaphore of the phases of existence.Adjoining this delightful text is a collection of photos by Christos Ierides, depicting the more traditional side of Cyprus along with explanations.This mini booklet is titled:”Cyprus-a treat for the soul,Wheat bearing land”

From the first moment I set eyes on this ”experience”(the written booklet with the set of photos)I was immediately stricken by a magic spell which took me at once to this ancient land in its original version,another time,when oddly enough,it seeems as though ”less” was ”going on” but everything had ”more” meaning…which to me personally translates into a much richer existence..

Unfortunately ,I choose not to share any of the photos here or anymore of the text out of mere respect for the creators,as I do not have the opportunity to ask their permission.

But I can state that I found this piece of ”life” in an extremely special book shop in Nikosia,Cyprus,named MAM.I entered this shop searching for a specific book on traditional Cypriot handcraft and asides from discovering the shop actually specialises in all books related to Cyprus,I fell upon the owner Mr Mikis, who himself clearly belongs to another era.One of the sweetest people I have ever met,passionate about what he does,extremely courteous,generous and kind.His work ethics are clearly those of a world who once took the ”other” into far more consideration,long before the need was born to come up with terms such as  ”ethical commerce” to repair an existing value system..

  I also ended up buying  three beautiful books on traditional textiles and embroidery in Cyprus,a theme I am fascinated about:

Cypriot Ethnography collections in British museums/Eleni Papademetriou

Lefkara lace embroidery/androula Hadjiyiasemi

Textiles from Cyprus/Eleni Papademetriou

Pink n` Purple lippouch/Kahliya

Lemon Raspberry lippouch/kahliya

I have mentioned that I have returned from my recent travels with renewed energy,inspiration and material,and I am actually working on several new ideas for this summer which excite me very much.

One of the concepts is working with recycled plastic bags,something Ive learned from a dear friend who is also very creative,and I am very grateful to her.I have written about Cristen and her initiative here.

As you may know by now,those innocent looking plastic bags we still recieve upon many of our purchases,once we dispose of them ,we actually never ”get rid of them” as they are not biodegradable,simply meaning their structure is unable to dissolve ,resulting in creating a major toxic waste ,endangering the earth aswell as many animals .

Hopefully more and more people will understand this very  important point and seriously find alternative ways to carry their purchases back home with them.I also hope the distribution of these bags will finally be completely banned,aswell as their production which is equally problematic!

In the meantime,in an effort to keep them from polluting the earth ,scattered all over the place and creating real danger,there are many creative people who came up with the idea to do something useful with them,forming them into new products to be used in daily life.

I have decided to “join the club” and I too am collecting them  to create cool accessories .

One of my latest creations is the “LIP POUCH”, a pouch created to hold a lip balm or a lipstick in wonderful refreshing colors for the summer,hanging on a necklace enabling to carry the lipbalm/lipstick on you wherever you go,especially to the beach/poolside,as a chic fashionable accesorry.

Evidently,all this abundance of colors,aromas and love has strongly awoken my creative juices and I am dying to get back to work!

With spring coming along with it`s bright sunshine ; I cant wait to get to a new start as soon as I get back from Cyprus..

With the help of:

Some fabulous fabric I got in Jordan..

Some beautiful local traditional pieces of needle-work..

Some amazing “Faux”-leather I got here..

Tons of  plastic bags that Ive collected from which I`ve started creating a collection of colorful articles..inspired by my friend Cristen,look what this amazing girl is up to now!

and some new additional guidance from a book I`ve been dying to read,and when I recently read about it again in an excellent inspiring  post that Jena from modishbiztips wrote,I finally ran to buy it!

Looks like it`s gonna be a vibrant colorful spring-summer collection..can`t wait to get back and get to it..!

See y`all when I get back..!

                    Embroidered wall hanging,my creation,Kahliya

In continuation to my post message of love  I would like to wish you all

HAPPY VALENTINE`S DAY !

May we remember to genuinely appreciate,cherish and forever celebrate Love. May we call upon the energy of love to sooth our pains,ease our despair,and regenerate our vitality.May we transmit and offer love generously and abundantly ,even and despite ,  moments of doubt , fear or anger:  to our lovers; families and friends; neighbors and even our enemies, but most of all – to ourselves.

Learning to love ourselves sincerely and truly ,in full forgiveness,with our beauty and ugliness,our strength and weakness, is celebrating the creation of life, as it encompasses all – the GOOD and the BAD. The only true journey to ‘true love’  enabling us to love and accept others whoever they may be,with much less judgement.

Celebrate yourself,your loved ones,the beauty around you, a lovely flower, a breathtaking landscape, a great book, an amazing dish..all this is love!

                                                   photo courtesy of  Century

I encountered this adorable photo adjoining a lovely post written by Sriram from his blog century,titled-

‘Unusual friendship’.

To which I would like to add..

How lovely can it be to allow our pure souls to connect and experience sincere love and friendship disregarding the aquired  and customary barriers of ’society’ and ‘education’ ?

Is it not time to realise that there is so much to learn from ‘the other’ , ’ the different’ ,while at the same time there is much more in common than we realise? Why do people tend to feel so threatened by someone who is different than themselves?

Food for thought..for a lovely Valentine`s day..! Have a good one!

P.S  If you like the embroidery in the photo,check out my online handcraft shop!  :)

All my Love,

Mia

It is the season of Love with Valentine`s day coming up,and I would like to put an emphasis on the word LOVE.I believe it is exactly what is needed much more of on this earth at the moment,for it is the lack of Love,which is causing us to act in fear,anger and pain ,believing this  can restore the harmony ,tranquility and Love we all so yearn for…but it is my humble belief that ONLY LOVE can bring LOVE..

I agree, it takes an enormous amount of courage to step up,reach out ,extend a hand to ‘the other’ whilst the prior offense and pain  are  fresh in our memory,but  ’forgiveness is light’  and by taking that ‘chance’ on forgiveness and compassion,by respecting and opening ourselves to the other,we open ourselves to join hand in hand  in respect and appreciation of the greatest gift of all, the gift that GOD has given us, the GIFT of LIFE.

At the very least maybe we can begin by trying  to generate as much love as possible when and where we can ,taking into consideration more and more ‘others’ ,being whom we would normally not care to think of,within our comfortable and safe boundaries,slightly stretching them as we go along..just a thought for valentine`s day.. 

We are all in this together!

Bearing these thoughts in mind, I am creating a series of  crocheted heart -pouch necklaces ,as gifts for Valentine`s day to sell in my online handcraft shop,while I choose to DONATE the benefit of their sale to UNICEF who is currently raising funds to purchase urgent necessities for the children of Gaza,in a symbolic effort to recreate balance of love in the world;and as an act of pure compassion as human suffering is human suffering,and we should never close our hearts to the suffering of others.

Think of it as an opportunity of offering your love to your loved one aswell as to an unknown child in need at the same time;an opportunity of aiding in restoring the balance of LOVE in this world.

Visit my shop here .

GOD BLESS,

Mia

Chuck of  ‘downtothewiredesigns’

What a highly inspiring way to begin this New Year!

In the midst of all the craziness going on in this world,it is just so uplifting to see people take the real needs of this world seriously ,set with a pure value system and a heart of Gold!

I read this article on Etsy`s handmade blog  interviewing Chuck, a Jewelry  Designer who owns the line Downtothewiredesigns and has an online shop on ETSY.

Call me a dreamer,but I believe there is a revolution going on,maybe slow and maybe quiet,but it`s there..More and more people are tired of a reality inwhich material power overrules, disregarding the needs of others,destroying the basic natural harmonic balance of all creation!

Chuck does not suffice with creating beauty with his pure hands and soul,contributing already in changing the existing monopoly of Mass production,aiding in changing our value systems,but allows himself to doubt even more about his work and contribution to humankind,searching endlessly for ways to give and make a change,he has decided to give of his creations to charity in many different ways.

I was deeply moved to learn about his quiery and inner debate whether he was giving enough,as I was equally glad to see the immense amount of handcrafters responding to him sharing the same values!Read the full article here.

                           bookmarks by ‘downtothewiredesigns’

 I want to thank Chuck for the inspiration,and Etsy for the article.Etsy is a blessed initiative in itself bringing together and promoting  handcrafters from all over the world creating a beautiful power of change!

I am proud to be part of Etsy as I am equally proud to be part of a growing population of  people who care and search to make a difference!

                                     photo by Gulnur Ozdaglar

I discovered Gulnur Ozdaglar via Design*sponge and I am thrilled!

Her work is so stunning I am practically speechless..I am particularily moved by her so creative initiative of recycling  used plastic Pet bottles! I believe she takes recycling up to a whole new level,investing so much fine work and creating such beauty that form genuine products of luxury!

I find it very inspiring and uplifting to begin the New Year learning of such a Positive initiative!

Harika Gulnur!Bravo! and Thank you!

For more of her work check out  the article on Design*sponge  and Gulnur Ozdaglar`s  blog!

Yeahhhh!

I`m so happy to announce I have finally opened my new online handcraft shop!

Be sure to stop by every here and there,because if you know me..you never know what surprises I have in ’store’…

 I will gradually be adding more and more products of a vast variety. Making a strict point of enjoying what I do, I never limit my creativity to any defined barriers other than carrying Love and Joy aswell as trying my best to apply Natural or recycled materials…

Please take note that there is a link to my shop here on my blog(towards the bottom right column),

aswell as on my site-www.kahliya.com

See you all at my shop!

I`ve been searching all over town,for the best looking models

to present my creations…and what was I thinking…they were here all

along!

My fabulous adorable nieces…not only are they beautiful,but with 

their Amazing loving energy I could knit endlessly!

This is a gift my great friend Tanja gave me years back..

and I have carried it along with me wherever I went,holding

in it all my valuables.

It is a gift I cherish very much,as it was handmade by her,

and shows how much Love she has put into it for me,it is

absolutely gorgeous and although it has travelled with me

around the globe and has been in unfavorable conditions,

it stands out bright and proud of itself,as it should!

Once again,I believe in gifts made and given with intention

and Love! Nothing else exists!