Knight

My IRL friend Laura Meilman is an awesome artist, and she has made five drawings of mermaids for the environment.

They’re all for sale as prints over at her Etsy shop, and portions of the proceeds will go to the United Way of Genessee County’s Flint Water Fund, The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and The Nature Conservancy.

#TheFutureIsAccessible #TFiA

http://bonfire.com/thefutureisaccessible

[Image Description: indoors, Annie is sitting in a power chair front of an elevator wearing sunglasses, wrist/thumb braces, and a black t-shirt with text that reads, “The future is accessible”]

Shit No One Told Me About My Period

I knew the basics before I got it, but I had no clue…

* The blood wouldn’t necessarily be red. When I first got my period, I spent a few min looking at my underwear wondering how I shit myself. I didn’t know the blood could look brown, or be thick.

* That tampons weren’t a good idea yet. I was 10 or 11 when I got my first period and physically smaller than an adult woman. My first attempt at inserting a tampon was very painful and unsuccessful. I wouldn’t use them until I was around 14 or so.

* That when you use pads the blood can get on your bottom and I’d have to occasionally clean off the toilet seat after using it.

* That getting your first period DOES NOT mean you’re fully developed and fully able to bear children. I could have technically gotten pregnant at that age, but I was still a child and pregnancy would have put my life in danger because I was still physically immature.

* That it wouldn’t be regular for another few years.

* That very painful cramping is NOT NORMAL once you reach your 20s and is cause for concern.

* That the blood and tissue you pass can look chunky or stringy and not like blood from a cut.

* That stress can halt your period for months BUT

* That doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant

Feel free to add your own

High End landscape architecture for a mixed-use complex features organic-shaped wooden footbridge | Singapore See the full project http://bit.ly/1H42HSO

I’ve been thinking about places to live, in the desert and in generally hotter climate, and the idea of underground houses seemed like a good one. For now, here is a stairwell leading down to such a house, complete with tiny greenhouse. It has translucent solar panels as glass, which still let the red light through that plants need most.

After Planting a Tree Every Day for 40 Years, Man Has Created Blossoming Forest on Barren Wasteland

Do you know how to take care of your sewing machine?

Taking care of your machine over the long haul influences the longevity of your machine. It could mean the difference of having a machine over the span of 5 years versus 50+ years. Can a sewing machine even last 50 years? Yes, with proper maintenance and care it can! My personal machine was released about 1960 making it 58 years old. My grandmother’s Singer Touch and Sew is around 50 years old and she uses that machine so much it’s ridiculous it’s still working!

So how do I take care of my machine?

Glad you asked! It’s really not that hard to take care of your machine, in fact, the instruction booklet that came with your machine probably tells you how. Some new machines make it really difficult to take them apart to clean them up, but you’re going to want to figure out how!

If your instruction booklet doesn’t tell you how to clean your machine, below are some pictures from my own instruction booklet. Most machines are very similar and you can generally follow the same instructions. 

Here’s some general advice for cleaning your machine:

Firstly, dust out your machine. This means removing all the lint that gathered up from your last project (or projects). You can take compressed air and blow out your machine, or, like me, you can take a small, soft paint brush and gently brush it out.

Second, time to oil your machine! You can find sewing machine oil at almost any craft store. I recommend one with a zoom spout to make it easier to oil your machine.

So what do you oil? Pretty much any moving parts except gears and your belt. (Take a look at the pictures.) Work in the oil as you apply it by turning the hand wheel toward yourself. Also be sure not to put oil anywhere you would have thread or fabric moving through. Those places generally aren’t meant to be oiled and it will end up on your projects!!

Lastly, lubricate your gears. This is also a great time to check the condition of your gears. Gears wear down over time and I can say that I’ve had to replace gears before due to wear and tear. The teeth on the gears break with age (or improper machine use), although it can take a while before that happens.

LUBRICANT IS NOT THE SAME AS OIL. DO NOT OIL GEARS. NO. STOP. BAD. You can also buy this at your craft store, most likely.

How often should I be dusting and oiling my machine?

After every major project, or, if you’re working on a very large project (like a leather jacket), you might want to do it sporadically throughout.

How often should I lubricate my machine?

If you don’t use your machine frequently, once every two years is probably acceptable. I use my machine frequently enough to justify once a year.

OMG I FOUND BROKEN PARTS WHAT DO I DO?!

Google it. Most likely someone has already had the same problem and it’s probably documented somewhere on the internet just waiting for you to stumble across. Gears and belt replacements are the most common. 

If you’re looking for Singer Sewing machine parts, I highly recommend ordering parts from www.singeronline.com. Not only are they reasonably priced, but their products are high quality. I’ve ordered many parts from this business and they have my star of approval. They also have a youtube channel and document some common problems with machines as well as how to fix them. Check it out: Singer Online YouTube

Source

 One Waterfront, a proposed waterfront park in Boston