Cozyegg Designs ~ Cozystyle

Fashion, Art, Design, Beauty

June 2020 in Photos

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My monthly marker for June is a photo of the Eagle Nebula.  I honestly can’t get enough of space photos.  June, of course, marked our third month of staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic.  I continued to only go out for doctor appointments (twice) and otherwise I was at home.  I really miss going out to eat at a restaurant, and I miss getting to stitch with friends in person and going to my guild meetings.  But, it’s not worth it to me to go out for anything non-essential, even though Texas started opening things back up to almost full capacity.  Masks aren’t mandatory and people are out doing stupid things, so I just stay home.  So, let’s look back at June.

 

★ I continue to take comfort in my cross-stitching and the friends I’ve made because of it

★ We started our “spring” deep cleaning in the house and managed to get the upstairs done, the dining room, entry, and the kitchen

★ Our kitchen cleaning included going through our bar area and taking stock of what we have and what we may need to drink sooner rather than later – we decided that Sangria and Pina Coladas were high on the list.  And let me tell you, that Sangria was good!

★ I have taken to having a cocktail after work, which I never do, but I’m kind of in that place of whatever it takes to deal with everything going on is ok

★ I’ve been spending a lot more time on Zoom with friends and my guilds are now all meeting virtually.  Thutmose attends all those meetings with me for moral support.

★ The Black Lives Matter movement is showing me that I have a lot of work to do in this area and white privilege and bias are so pervasive that unless I am actively learning and listening and reflecting, I don’t even know they are there.  I’m hopeful we can work towards necessary change and social justice.

★ One of the places where I’m really taking a hard look at bias is in the cross-stitch community.  Not too long ago it was brought to my attention that all the people in mainstream cross-stitch patterns are white.  For that matter, all the mainstream designers are white.  I took part in a diversity and inclusion stitch along because representation matters, and I chose to change the skin and hair color in one of my pieces to be more inclusive.

★ I’m getting back to my self-care routines.  With everything happening, I have been seriously slacking off in this area.  Intuitive selection: Believe essential oil for clarity of thought and spiritual grounding; Iolite for enhancing inner wisdom and self-awareness in order to break negative patterns and make positive shifts; and Opalite for removing energy blockages of the chakras and assisting during transitions.

June 2019 in Photos

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For June I chose Septarian.  I have a Septarian palm stone that I absolutely love.  Also known as Dragon’s Stone, it’s an amazing stone for healers, a phenomenal stone for connecting you with your guides. Septarian expands the waking consciousness of the third eye and crown chakras and enables the throat chakra to assist you in delivering your healing guidance.

After the past few hard months, June seems like it was a flurry of productive activity.  Most of the month was spent deep cleaning the house.  We planned to focus on one room/area each weekend.  We started with the master bathroom and then moved to the master bedroom, dining room, and kitchen.  And it’s amazing what a difference it made.  The energy of the house was revitalized and no longer stagnant.  It makes me want to get back to my Feng Shui practices.

 

★ I decided to finally try my hand at making my own laundry detergent.  So far I’ve really been happy with it.  You can find info here on the recipe I used.

★ I’m continuing to work on getting my Day 1 journal entries filled in with missing photos and up to date, which is a huge project, but worth it.  I also started a new journal in Day 1 to record my creative pursuits – like what I worked on each day, inspiration, changes, challenges, and progress photos.

★ Along with working on deep cleaning the house, I also worked a good bit on trying to go through and organize my stitching and quilting WIPs.  I’m letting go of anything I’m no longer in love with.

★ We finished our rewatch of Game of Thrones seasons 1-7 and then watched the final season.  Gutted.  I was ok with the ending, to be honest.  I’m glad we rewatched though, because I felt like the momentum of it really allowed me to be immersed in that world.  But seriously, gutted.

★ Celebrating the summer solstice with a full tarot spread, Transformation essential oil, Sunstone, and Fire Agate

★ Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

May 2019 in Photos

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For May I was drawn to Bumblebee Jasper.  May I always seem to associate with bees for some reason.  Bumblebee Jasper activates the Sacral and Solar Plexus chakras, enabling you to accept change, find new opportunities, increase your self-esteem and make decisions without relying on emotions.  Seemed appropriate for this time of year.

May was  another challenging month.  I spent a good portion of the first part of the month sick, and then with a lingering cough.

A look back at May:

★ I finished stitching a piece that felt like a major accomplishment

★ We continued with our Game of Thrones watching.  I truly love this show.  It may be my second favorite show ever, behind Penny Dreadful of course, but right up there with Firefly.  I’m so so glad we are rewatching because I’ll be honest, I’m seeing a lot more things and making a lot more connections than I caught the first time through.  We spent all of Memorial Day hanging out and watching episodes.

★ I received the most amazing gifts from a friend – she sent me Palo Santo smudge sticks and a Unakite worry stone.  Unakite is not a stone I would have chosen for myself, but when I looked it up it said “it brings together the abundant, nurturing energy of green with the soft, caring passion of pink on one of nature’s most healing crystals of the heart and mind.  It resonates with the frequency of love, compassion, and kindness, and is a stone dedicated to balancing the emotional body.  A crystal for starting to live in the now.  It supports the physical body by purging toxicity from old emotional wounds and attachments, anger and resentment, and bad habits like overeating.  Unakite’s slow, consistent energy helps teach patience and perseverance rather than the quick-fix of addictive thinking.”  Pretty amazing.

★ I painted my nails for the first time in forever with an elusive to capture steel blue grey.

★ I went to an in-town quilt retreat with friends and also took a workshop from a favorite sampler designer where she presented a beautiful reproduction of an antique sampler in a museum collection.

★ Appreciating the beauty in small things – rainbows, afternoon light, my silly cat.

★ Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (re-read)

 

April 2019 in Photos

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For my April #monthlymarker I was drawn to Prehnite.  I bought a piece of Prehnite back in October at the State Fair of all places.  I loved its cool green, almost translucent quality.  Prehnite is an uplifter and is associated with the heart chakra.  It can be used to enhance intuition.

April was also a difficult month for me.  I had multiple instances where I felt I’d hit rock bottom and did not know how to climb back out.  I was also informed I would be reporting to someone different at work that I have previously had very difficult interactions with.  In essence, April felt like my world was being completely turned upside down, but I took comfort where I could.

A look back at April…

★ We started binge-watching Game of Thrones again in anticipation of the final season.

★ Eric and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.

★ A visit to the crystal shop and I brought home a Rubellite palm stone and Shattuckite

★ I started working on a new project to start filling in missing entries in my Day One journal and once I get that done I want to start importing entries from some of my older journals too so that I have everything in one place.  It’s really cool to look back at the “On this day” feature to see all my previous entries for that day.

★ Tenebrae with Eric.  It is one of the few church services that really speaks to me.

★ Watching Notre Dame Cathedral engulfed in flames broke my heart.  That evening I pulled out a special piece to stitch on – Le Marquoir de Justine, that Sylvia and I started together in Paris.  There are times when I come to my stitching for comfort and there are times when I come to my stitching out of joy and excitement.  I pulled out this piece in need of comfort and as a way to feel closer to Paris, but instead my stitching became a vehicle for me working through my feelings.  The fire at Notre Dame hit me really hard and it took me awhile to work out exactly why.  It was more than just a building, more than what it housed.  It was the potential loss of our history, the potential loss of something that has stood for 800 years and gone in a matter of minutes.  It reminded me of why I have a degree in Art History, of why the preservation and conservation of art and culture is so important to me.  So, now we rebuild.  I make new choices based on the re-igniting of my passion.  Because when the fire burns away, what we are left with is the purity of purpose.

★ Near the end of the month Eric got really sick and then I caught his cold.

★ Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (re-read)

 

March 2019 in Photos

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For my March #monthlymarker I chose Green Aventurine.  Green Aventurine is considered the luckiest stone and is perfect for inviting good luck and prosperity into your life, which seemed appropriate for March.

I’ll admit that March was a hard month.  Mercury was in retrograde, our coffee pot died, I had a migraine for several days, and there were solar storms affecting the energy too.

A look back at March…

★ I finally got to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – loved it.  And it was exactly what I needed at that moment.

★ I was again reminded how amazingly accurate my intuition is.  During one of my rough patches this month I was led to Harmony essential oil, which is for balancing my chakras; shungite for cleansing and aligning all the particles of the body as well as for anxiety relief, and selenite to stabilize and balance the emotional body.  Truly amazing how perfectly these work together and how perfectly attuned they are to what I’m most in need of.

★ I went to a baby shower for a friend, which was super hard for me since I wasn’t in a good place already.  But, at least there was cake.

★ I finished reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and look forward to re-reading book 3.

★ Still using my bullet journal and experimenting to find the right balance of what works for me.

★ Listening to My Favorite Murder when I’m out running errands in the car or going to appointments.

★ At the end of the month we went to the Oddities & Curiosities Expo in Dallas.  It’s the first time we’d been and I’m glad we did. There was lots to look at, lots of things that gave me creative ideas for designs too.  I came home empty-handed but took lots of photos.

 

February 2019 in Photos

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I have to say that February seemed to be over in a blink of an eye.  It was a good month though, and I was definitely feeling better overall.  For my #monthlymarker for February I decided to stick with my theme of crystals and of course had to choose rose quartz.  What could be more perfect to symbolize love?

So, let’s look back at my February.

★ I started the month off spending a three-day weekend with my girlfriends at a local quilting retreat.  Such a fantastic way to kick off the month and I managed to finish a quilt top I’ve been working on!

★ I switched out the winter decorations I’d had up for January and replaced them with some Valentine’s pieces – like a vase of red tulips and my chocolate box-inspired table topper quilt.  Thut really wanted to be part of decorations, as you can see.

★ I’ve been trying to get back into the habit of #selfcaresundays and diffusing essential oils is a big part of that.  Sacred Mountain is a blend that was really calling to me.  It’s a fantastic spiritual oil and is perfect for using during yoga, meditation, or just bringing a sense of calm and grounding to your space.

★ To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Eric and I went to eat a Lazy Dog.  I’d gone there back in November with some folks from work and loved it so I’ve been anxious for Eric to go.  We had a delicious dinner and one of my favorite things about that place is their stunningly gorgeous menus that are full of seasonally-inspired watercolor paintings.

★ Intuitively selecting crystals and oils again played a big part this month and I found myself drawn to Bloodstone, which I haven’t felt pulled to in quite some time, and in the last photo above: lavender quartz, angel aura quartz, and hemimorphite.

★ I mentioned in my January wrap up that I’d joined a group that was reading all the Harry Potter books in 2019 and I started Sorcerer’s Stone right at the tail end of the month.  I finished it up in February and got started on Chamber of Secrets immediately.  Loving rereading these books!

★ February is a hard month overall.  It’s the month my grandmother died and also the month my dad died.  It’s been 7 years since we lost him to pancreatic cancer.  It weighed heavily on my heart this year.  I’d forgotten I had this photo on my phone, but when I saw it I thought it was such a perfect capture of him and his personality.  Miss that smile.

★ And not pictured (because apparently I was having too much fun to take photos), I got together with some girlfriends for an Oscar watching party and sleepover.  It was so much fun and I’m so glad I got to go.  I hope to make it an annual tradition.