Three little birds

"Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin': "Don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"

Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', ("This is my message to you-ou-ou:")

                    Bob Marley, Three Little Birds


There's a beach very close to our house -probably 5min away- we like to go. Waves are not big, and it's quite windy, that's why even though its real name is Ironwoods, we all know it as "Shitties". It's quiet and for whatever reason not a lot of people hang out there, so naturally, we do. White sand, lots of green in the background, some huge houses in the back -all of 'em empty!- and tons of drift wood. It's just amazing! There's something about this wood that I truly love. I'm not sure what it is; might be its softness? Or it's clear-almost-white color? Perhaps its story? Who knows how long ago that piece of wood was part of a live tree, or how long it's been "swimming" in the ocean and where it's been. I don't know, I just love it! And of course I wanted to use it.

I found great website, spoolsewing.com where they have a free pattern for cute birds. Following the pattern, and adding my own touch I ended up with these mobiles. I made the birds with 100% cotton, filled them with Polyfiber and glued them onto little pieces of Maui drift wood. They are simple and colorful, and can turn a regular room into a fun, full of life space. They can be hung in almost every room of the house and would make an awesome baby shower gift or a great excuse to upbeat your special corner. So far I made a two, three, five and an eleven birds mobile, but there's no limit on how many birds you can have.

I have made more than a couple, and given them away to family and friends; these birds now live in Buenos Aires, in Maui, in Maine and in Canada and for what I've been told, babies absolutely love them! According to my friend Chachi, "I set it just above where I place Simon when I change his diapers; he just stays totally still, absorbed, staring at how the birds spin".

I wonder where will be their next home?

Two Birds

 Three Birds

 Five Birds

Detailed branch from Five Birds 

 Detailed Bird

Where almost all the drift wood comes from

(sometimes I pick ramdom wood I find elsewhere)

Let's make the change!

Do you know how many coffee cup sleeves you use per year??? It's easy, if you drink a coffee a day (at least) when you're going to your work.. another one after lunch maybe? Being conservative, you have two right there... multiple it for the amount of days you work in a year, around 220 days (if you are the lucky one that takes 1 month vacation) you're already in 440 cups plus 440 cup sleeve in one year. Sounds like a lot of trash, awh? It is.

Sometimes we think about this and try to bring our own mug to the coffee store, but someone can say it's inconvenient, or it's big, or we forget, and so on. But there's something else we can do: take the sleeve out of the problem. It's not everything but it could be our little contribution. And most of the times, it's better to do something small than nothing at all. Doing some quick online research I found that cup sleeves make 2.8 billion pounds of waste each year; that sounded way too much trash that we can easily avoid by reusing the sleeve.

I think a good way to do anything you have to do is to make it fun. That's why I'm making these cute coffee cup sleeves that you can carry in your purse, leave it in your car, have it at work, slide it in between paper stacks, etc. They are all hand made with 100% cotton and have a Velcro closure, so they fit easily in 12oz, 16oz and 20oz cups. Some are made of printed canvas and some others are made from a thinner cotton and have also a layer of an insulate material so you don't burn your hand (the canvas' ones don't need it).

Email me if you'd like to help the cause by using one of these, or if you'd like to give it to someone special and spread the word.

         

My first blog

So, here we are... Finally trying to make this happen. I honestly don't know much about blogging, or even writing -specially because, as everybody knows, English is not my first language- but here we go.

My name is Sofia, I'm from Buenos Aires and I've been living in Maui with my husband, Matt, for the last three years. Even though this is not my country nor my hometown, I love it here as though it were both. We got married here, we play here, we work here, we go out on vacation from here, we invite friends and family here, we struggle here, we are homesick sometimes.. we live Maui in every possible way. And we are making it work, always having fun.

A while ago I bought a used sewing machine and start sewing small things for us. First some pillow cases, then a little pouch, stuffed animals for my niece and nephew, a pair of pants for me... I love to sew, is so relaxing and fun! And the most important thing, after you're done, you have something that didn't exist before. Seeing that all my production had had a great acceptance, I decided to start selling it. I will be posting everything I do so you can see it and eventually, buy it. I also will have as much as I can published on Etsy.com (www.sofidelasota.etsy.com), so people I don't know can enjoy it as well.

This is the first of a long series of postings filled with nice hand made stuff; I hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Aloha!