Done :)

I am done with the senbazuru. Approximately 4 months, 4 days, and (APPROXIMATELY) 4 hours have passed since I begun.

Pictures to come.

I hung them from two headbands... again, this will make more sense once pictures are posted, but there were these small wire twisty things meant to fix it to your hair/scalp. Instead, I used them to tie the strings to. Now, I just have to tie the headbands together. They kind of form an infinity symbol, which I really like.

So proud of myself. It's been a long journey. I'm debating to fold one last non-mini (all of my other ones are teensy) crane and make it 1,001. Thoughts?

Merry belated Christmas! It's been forever since I posted because I have been folding like CRAZY. I folded 75 cranes today. Also, I stabbed myself with the needle a ton when I was stringing and then dropped the headband on my foot when I was hanging. Yes, I am clumsy... *sigh*...

I hope everybody is having a happy holidays filled with good weather, smiles, and joy. I really want it to snow here because now that it's gone, well, I want it back. Snowballs, forts, angels, and sledding, I want to do it all! Preferably before winter break ends.

xx Anya

Artsy Literature (again)

i lost myself in
september.
felt myself shatter 
tiny little pieces, i think

your necklace hung
a promise, burning my
skin with the lie. I felt
the silver chain,
was tempted to break it
like it had broken 
me.

Isn't it funny, the way
words are so small.
infinitesimal, really 
a slice of life in a world
too big for humans. 

 you lost yourself
twice: february, then
again, september.
 
isn't it funny the
way you hear them
and you stand, silent
knowing they have
changed you?

we betrayed each
other without even
knowing it. words. an
almost apology in 
the air. a quiet
acceptance, from both of us.

the next time you feel
yourself falling, reach out to me: let 
me feel the warmth of your skin
the weight of your world. let
me take some of your burden--

the next time you are lost
can we be lost together?
-
This is for my English portfolio. It's for/about one of my good friends, who has a few family problems, but is such a sweet, kind, smart guy. :) Thought I would post it. Also, goodbye, finals!! Hellooo, Winter break!!!!!

Day of Silence

Sandy Hook

Tomorrow, my school's service club (me and many good friends) are holding a sale to raise money for Sandy Hook. This money will go towards counselling money, money for parents to take a leave of absence for work, funeral money, memorial money etc. We are selling candy canes wrapped with ribbons. The ribbons will be worn the rest of the week in Sandy Hook's school colors (green & white) to show support for the brave people of the school, relatives, and those affected.

I'm swamped by finals (it's the end of the term) and haven't had time for ANY crafts projects! However, I'm looking for little bits of fabric, clay, beads and other for my little village, which will be started after my 1000 cranes are done.

While I am struck by this tragedy, I am still amazed with how people have come together as communities to help Sandy Hook. Today at least 75% of my school wore green & white, the Sandy Hook Elementary school colours, while 5% wore blue & yellow by accident--the high school's colours. Wow. Hope, teamwork, and understanding will never cease to amaze me.

I went to the concert last night of the locked-out orchestra of our state. It was amazing. Beethoven's 9th was played (and as a classical music dork, of course, I was about to die of happiness!) and it was amazing. Again, in awe of the volunteers & supporters of the orchestra that came together, selling t-shirts, buying concert tickets, making buttons, yard signs, stickers. I have never clapped for that long-- the conductor and solo voices came out at least 5 or 6 times! So many standing ovations... and I was of course elated because I have never heard Beethoven's 9th performed live, with a chorale and everything.

Excited to start on a Christmas present for family friends when winter break begins!! For now, off to studying the Great Depression...

(p.s. Tomorrow is the Day of Silence for Sandy Hook, bloggers! participate, please!)

School Shooting

Imagine what it must feel like. Panic. Fire. Blood. This is a school shooting; this is what happened today at 9:40 a.m. in Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut, USA.

It's not the pictures that kill me, surprisingly. It's the numbers. 27-- 20 kids, 6 teachers (including the principal, I think) and the shooter himself. I cannot even begin to express the grief that the whole nation is feeling right now. You know what hurts? Not paper cuts, not skinned knees. It's the fact that these kids' futures have been ripped away from them. Ages 4-10, these kids will never experience school dances. The first day of high school. Physics. Graduation. College. Professors. Weddings. Jobs. I mean, all it took was somebody with no right to pick up that gun, no right to fire it, "100 rounds" as one parent who was there described it. This is more than gun control, debating, or blaming Obama... this is more than a political brouhaha. Put away your arguments for a moment. Just breathe. Grieve for these lives lost. For all the futures that will never happen. For the teachers who aspired to make these children better. Pray no matter your religion. For survivors, parents, anyone directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy.

I guess this is learning about life. Another part in Anya's Learning How To Grow Up. The director of my school announced it today. She was choking up. Crying, almost. She said: "This could have been any one of us. You are all so precious...I know you think that when we have lockdown drills, it's just a silly precaution, but then something like this happens and it's not."

The weird thing is that I am not at all directly affected by this...not my school, relatives, friends, teachers. And yet I can feel. What's that emotion called? Long-distance sadness, maybe.

Today, I fold cranes for Sandy Hook. :)

Coming Soon: Pop-up cards are beautiful!

What I've learned, 2012

740 cranes! The picture doesn't reflect mine at all, but whatever, I guess. Every crane is beautiful. Every crane feels like a little bit of hope...folding is therapeutic, in a way. I'm almost testing myself. The clock is ticking. Paper, paper, paper. We love and we live, and this is a way to go beyond myself. Origami? I've never been good at drawing, or art in general. My fingers haven't started hurting yet. I fold during class, while I study, eat, read. I do better in school now because I can work with my hands. I'm a kinetic learner: I need to feel. Sometimes I even dream of cranes. I dream that they float down in the wind. I dream that they tell me to keep going, that I am close, and that it is worth it, this project, that has taken me months, that I have doubted myself over, that I have wondered if I can do this. 100 became a goal, 200, 300. And I realized that I would not stop. Not unless my family friend's disease was cured, although what I fold for is bigger than a cure. It is bigger than a violin. I fold because cranes are a promise. One day, I will write a letter, fold it in a crane, seal it in a biodegradable bottle, and throw it out to sea. I think of all the words I haven't said... I fold. Cranes are my constant, my rock, my life vest. Because this year has been hard. Not just this school year; since January. Divorces, runaways, surgeries. Sometimes I wonder if I've made the right decisions. I guess cranes have become more than cranes. Because so many things have betrayed me this year. So many things have gone wrong. But through it all I can fold. It's like the way I practice music, except that for once I can hold something tangible.

740...

I forget to count sometimes, just fold, surprise myself at the end. 60 more, I tell myself now, and I'll only have 200 left. My friends offer to help. Really, this is something I feel like I need to do alone. I wonder, when it comes down to crunch time--next week--what will come out of this. I wonder what it will look like when I'm done. I'm procrastinating on stringing again. I've learned so much: in awe of the kindness of people who fold me cranes and are my personal cheering section, in awe of my own strength, and in awe of my mom, who persuades me to persevere.

Thank you to all the people who have helped me with this project. It is so much more than a piece of paper-- 1000 pieces of paper-- and so much more than a gift. It's ending soon. What will I do? Who knows? I don't. When the phone rings I hope it's not bad news. I am wary of surprises. I don't believe in romance novels anymore. I watch my friends, hoping they're okay. These are all the things I have learned to do this year... When 2012 ends, I know I will have learned the good too. I do believe in miracles now. The power of dreams. When a friend is in need, I will rush to their side. I know life better. I live, I love, I dream, I hope.

Artsy... Literature?

720 cranes :D
Also, it's 12/12/12!

But aside from that... Tis the season to be *swamped-by-homework-and-feel-like-you-are-going-to-slowly-painfully-die-in-the-ever-growing-pile-of-test-notices-in-the-corner* merry, tralalalala, lalalala.

Also, I am a year older now! My birthday was on the 10th of December, sadly accompanied by a quiz, math test, math meet, and SS presentation. And... English!

In preparation for our Creative Writing unit, we have to do some writing challenges, and I thought it might be fun to share some. After all, literature is artsy, too :) You are welcome to write with me and share your snippets in the comments section!

Challenge 1: Write a fable! It cannot have a happy ending. (15min.)
Timer: 5:48-6:03
By: Anya and Emilie

Once upon a time, there were two best friends. One was Hildegarde; Hilda, who had long, fair hair and a smile that could charm even the darkest soul. And of course you could never see Hildegarde without Margaretta-- Mags, the village people called her. Her hair was sable silk and eyes like the ocean. They had been friends since they had met in the village school. They lived in an old village, far away from London, in a place just slightly in the middle of nowhere, near the Big Woods in England: The village of Raven's Swoop.

Mags and Hilda knew exactly what they were going to do: they had vowed to become schoolteachers together. Hilda for English; Mags for maths. They would teach at the school where they had grown up. They would be forever close. They would have no secrets, because we all know that secrets become a private anarchy between friends as close as Hilda and Mags.


And yet there is always something more. That summer, Mags's father was killed in a fire at the factory where he was a tailor. Mags, who had run in to try and save her father, now bore a face so scarred that her school friends could hardly bear to look at it. And Hilda?

Hilda and Mags, forever, Hilda told herself. She forbade herself to dream of anything better. Secretly, Mags was just another burden... Was this really her childhood friend? Margaretta, the fair? Hildegarde, the princess? Where was their friendship going? But such questions are the foundation of loss. And slowly, Hilda began to let go of Mags. Little things, at first. No, sorry, I'm busy today. They grew bigger, these arguments. No, Mags! If you weren't just so gloomy-- And the grand finale: Mags, why can't we just go back to the old times? You've changed. I wish we'd not ever been friends in the first place! And later, Hilda to her new friends: Mags is so ugly. I can't believe I was friends with her.

Mags and her mother moved. Another village, this time in the South of France--her mother's mother's home, a quaint little cottage. Mags did not tell Hilda where she was moving. Hilda found that she didn't quite care. Mags changed her name back to Margaretta, Hilda back to Hildegarde. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

They met, once, for the last time, in a train station somewhere in London. They did not recognize each other. Two ships passing in the night; Hilda, being pushed in a wheelchair, leg mangled. She had just been in an accident involving a drunk trolley driver. Margaretta, walking swiftly, scars healed. Hildegarde saw her--perhaps once--and called out: "Mags!" Pushing herself through the crowd, to the train. "Mags!"

Margaretta turned around, once, just after the conductor punched her ticket, in the doorway of the compartment. Hilda called once more, "Mags!" They found each other, eyes connecting, in the crowd. Margaretta turned back. The doors slid shut.
 
(Ze End...)

A Letter

Dear Snow,

I love you, I really do. It wouldn't be a proper winter without enough wet, sticky snow to build a snowman; without sledding down the hill; without snowballs. But sometimes, you're a menace. What were you thinking? First you came down, then the snow plows cleaned, then... you came again! And faster, thicker, longer than before. As the sky began to darken, you have turned from magic to monster. And on the day of my birthday celebration? I repeat: what were you thinking?

Thankfully, just one friend was stuck in her driveway and the rest battled through icy winds and traffic and an ever-growing thick white sheet that seems to have covered every single street and sidewalk. Cookie decorating was fun--complete with lots of jokes about bad baking, and abstract art-- but it just wasn't the same without her.

Remember how this happened last year? And the year before that? And the year before that? And-- well, you get the picture. But we really need to talk. Our friendship is hanging by a thread. You're so dramatic. I just can't deal with you sometimes! And when we fight, it's always me that has to apologize to you because you're such a sore loser. I just wish that we could be closer. But whenever I want to hang out, you overdo everything. Then when I ask you to go away you give me the cold shoulder. Ugh!

You're beautiful and fun. But please, control yourself! You're so clingy. Could we sit down and talk? Whenever you're available, preferably after winter break begins.

Sincerely,
Anya

p.s. and if you really want to work things out before then... give our school a snow day!!

Snowing~

Anya's Top 10 Things She Loves About....

WINTER!

Yes, it's snowing already. Yikes. (Also, somebody broke my snow globe. *Looks around house and glares* the music stand broke in two... grr.) Winter, winter, winter!!

10. Pretty Christmas ornaments.
9. The wrapping paper that goes on sale (!!)
8. Candy canes.
7. Going shopping at Whole Foods for cookie ingredients and eating all the free samples for stuff.
6. Michaels sales!
5. The crunching sound that snow makes under your boots.
4. When you wake up in the morning and there's this ethereal silence and you know it has snowed, and you look out the window and you're right: everything is so quiet and still and it feels like the world has stopped just to stare at how gorgeous everything looks, like a little frosted village.
3. Frost patterns on the windows.
2.  Snow at night (well, not driving in it...) but when you can see it under the streetlight and it's so pretty!
1. ...My birthday, which is on Monday!

I've begun my crafts spree and bought some decorations for my village. I'm going into this completely blind... I have no idea what I'm making, I'll decide later. I want to see what happens if I just kind of build. Like, what will it look like? Will it be better than planning every detail? Once I finish crafting, I'll begin the engineering part with the pulleys and wind-ups and et cetera. Look at these sparkly things! I saw them and couldn't help myself... only $0.39, too.


And, since my birthday fiesta is tomorrow... I bought some cookie decorating supplies: frosting, sprinkles, etc. Fingers crossed that it goes well. I'm excited...and nostalgic. One of the girls who is coming has been my best friend since Kindergarten. Just this Friday, I heard her give a speech to the school. *Sigh* she's grown so much! Of course, I'm shorter than her, so I'm not quite one to talk. 

Also, I have somewhere around 680 cranes. I'm planning to string some tonight (120 of them... *sigh*) but I have an audiobook to listen to while I do it. I don't enjoy stringing. On the other hand, when I feel like I want to stab my eyes out with the needle (...exaggeration) I think about how I have to study for my math test (ew, imaginary numbers in quadratic functions! YUCK!) and appreciate.

Off to stringing. Happy winter (although not officially)!!

A Little Village

 

And here another project begins...


 Can you guess what it is???

Except that I am sick and tired of all these beautiful little Christmas villages. Why don't we have a different Christmas village? Like, I don't know, a summer village or a spring village? Goodness knows that we get enough winter where I live.

However pretty it may be... Let's make things move! But not by pre-made electronics, cause we all know that the more handmade, the better. Probably. So. Here we go on the Next Big Project.

That sounds like the title of a TV show... -_-

Really, though. Ideas on what should actually be on it? Themes? I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Xmas is nice and all but my family doesn't celebrate it excessively and I want to step away from the tradition.

Here's what my friends have suggested in place of the xmas theme:

-Fairytale theme
-Music theme
-City theme
-All around the world theme
-"Behind the Scenes" theatre theme

Yes, these all do pertain to my life and the life of possible giftées. That's my problem with crafts like this, I always feel compelled to give them away!! Cranes, snow globes, calendars, mobiles... *sigh* I love gifting diy creations to my loved ones :)

An Inspirational Post, Hopefully

As my birthday draws nearer... I found a piece of paper outlining my birthday wishes from last year.

"A House"
One day I will have a house. It won't be big. Big houses are hard to clean. I'll share it with my friends, and we'll paint the walls. But not blue or pink or yellow. The walls will be masterpieces. They will be Starry Night with a touch of Picasso, a collage of scrap music paper, aged by tea bag tricks, a wall of quotes, and a graffiti wall. One of them will be splatter painted. One of them will have glued on envelopes with a thousand pick me ups inside. A photo wall, too. One wall will have a map of the world and we'll write the places we want to go. And it will be a library. There will be shelves of books every which way and that and a long spiral staircase that branches out so every room is accessible but one, which you'll have to use the rock climbing wall to reach. That one? Its walls will be white. At the top of the house, with a window, maybe scented with air freshener. It will be empty. One empty room in a house that is alive. It will be nobody's room. Just a room with a view and a fresh breeze and thoughts.
*The End*

ANYWAY. Today is a day of quotes because I have to put mine in the yearbook and decide before winter break!! Here are a few of my favorite ones.

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible."

"Everything you can imagine is real.”

“It's not about what it is, it's about what it can become.”  

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”

“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” 

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

"Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere."

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”

And my favorite... "Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever."

Smile!
xx Anya

Senbazuru Update & Origami Advent

596!

59.6% of the way there... So excited, happy, and proud.

On the other hand, I made an origami advent. I made different origami animals and put them into envelopes, labelling them with odd-numbered days in December. Then the next day would be a corresponding fun fact written on colorful flaps taped onto a foam board. So if Dec. 1 was pelican, then Dec. 2 would be a pelican fun fact. (This was for the family friend that I'm making the senbazuru for, btw, and she loves my origami and also loves to learn.) Instead of going to Christmas, it went to January 2nd. Originally it was going to go to New Year's to allow for more time to fold and stuff but we're celebrating together on the 3rd so it would be a nice buildup.

A rushed project due to a glue disaster & some sticky situations (lol, pun intended) so no pics. >:(

But my birthday is coming up, the 10th, so I'm super excited about party planning. As according to plan, my besties and I are going to do some cookie decorating (at home) so I need to make a grocery list... and of course with a side of ice cream!

Sooo... what's your favorite party food & activity? (No I don't mean clubbing, I mean birthday party style.) I think I might get to making party hats. Birthdays are an excellent excuse for creativity and art projects... house decorating, cookie decorating, invites (although we did e-vites this year sadly) and goodie bags. How could we miss goodie bags?! I is excited ;D and also thank you cards.

Also, the mantel shelf is a mess. why? because I put all my arts stuff here. Thread, needles, paper, glue, tape, paint, watercolor, brushes, pencil, you get the idea. When I have an idea I just pull stuff out and vóila, an art project! My mom simply shakes her head; she's long given up on cleaning it... it's my mini arts studio except, you know, SUPER messy...

Happy December, crafters!!