TED Talk Thursday – Shane Koyczan: To This Day … for the bullied and beautiful

TED Talk ThursdaysAccording to TED.com: “By turn hilarious and haunting, poet Shane Koyczan puts his finger on the pulse of what it’s like to be young and … different. “To This Day,” his spoken-word poem about bullying, captivated millions as a viral video (created, crowd-source style, by 80 animators). Here, he gives a glorious, live reprise with backstory and violin accompaniment by Hannah Epperson.”

“Shane Koyczan is a poet, author and performer. He performed at the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, where  an audience of more than 1 billion people worldwide heard his piece “We Are More.”

“He has published three booksStickboyOur Deathbeds Will Be Thirsty and Visiting Hours, selected by both the Guardian and the Globe and Mail for their Best Books of the Year lists.”

“In 2012, he released a  full-length album with his band Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long. The album includes the viral hit “To This Day,”  which explores the anguish of anyone who grew up feeling different or just a little bit alone. To bring visual life to this image-rich poem, Koyczan invited artists from around the world to contribute 20-second segments of animation to the project. Posted on YouTube on February 19, 2013, by the close of the month the video had been viewed 6 million times.”

Shane Koyczan: To This Day … for the bullied and beautiful

For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

Mandala Monday – Simple Mandala Mehndi Design by Om Henna Om

Our tutorial today is on how to create a simple mandala mehndi design by Om Henna Om!.

According to WikipediaMehndi or “Mehendi” or henna is a paste that is created from the powdered leaf of the henna plant and is made into designs for men and women. Mehndi is derived from the Sanskrit word mendhikā. The use of mehndi and turmeric is described in the earliest Hindu Vedic ritual books. It was originally used for only women’s palms and sometimes for men, but as time progressed, it was more common for men to wear it. 

Mehndi in Indian tradition is typically applied during special Hindu weddings and Hindu festivals like Karva Chauth, Vat Purnima, Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Teej. In Hindu festivals, many women have Henna applied to their hands and feet and sometimes on the back of their shoulders too, as men have it applied on their arms, legs, back, and chest. For women, it is usually drawn on the palm, back of the hand and on feet, where the design will be clearest due to contrast with the lighter skin on these surfaces, which naturally contain less of the pigment melanin.”

Simple Mandala Mehndi Design by Om Henna Om

Here is a short video showing some of Om Henna Om!‘s other beautiful Mehndi designs. Enjoy!

Mandala Mehndi Om Henna OmTo see more of Om Henna Om! go to:

Website: http://omhennaom.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omhennaom

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

Mandala Monday – How to Crochet Mandala Dreamcatcher by Naztazia

How to Crochet Mandala Dreamcatcher by Naztazia is our tutorial for today. This is what she has to say on Youtube about this video:

“Donna Wolfe from Naztazia http://naztazia.com shows you to crochet a mandala or dream catcher with yarn and a hula hoop. This works great as an indoor decoration or outdoors for a yarn bomb event (urban graffiti).”

“This is more of an intermediate or advanced crochet pattern. You will need to know how to crochet the following stitches before starting this project: single crochet, double crochet, treble (triple) crochet (wrap your yarn around twice before inserting your hook), double treble (wrap your yarn around three times before inserting your hook), slip stitch and slip knot.”

I hope you enjoy learning how to create this beautiful dreamcatcher.

How to Crochet Mandala Dreamcatcher by Naztazia

Pattern, text, photos, video © 2016 Naztazia® Music written and performed by Donna Wolfe

 Naztazian Crochet Mandala DreamcatcherTo see more by Naztazia go to:

Website: http://naztazia.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/naztazia
YouTube: http://youtube.com/naztazia
Ravelry: http://ravelry.com/designers/naztazia
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/naztazia
Google+: http://plus.google.com/+naztazia
Instagram: http://instagram.com/naztazia

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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!