Kiva - February 2014

Last month I shared with you my New Years Resolution for 2014:

Once a month, support a loan on Kiva.

You can read about my January lender story in this post, which also has a brief description of what Kiva is all about (in a nutshell, $25 USD donations to micro loans).  Needless to say, it's a great and worthwhile cause and I've loved being involved even after just two months.

Well, February has come and gone so it was high time I decided on a new lender to support.  I'm really excited about this initiative - partly because of the purpose of the loan and partly because this is one of a series of new loans that are repaid through a new 'carbon credits' system, which is linked with helping encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint.  It's like a win-win system on top of an already win-win system!

Christine (Kenya)

A portion of Christine's $1500 group loan helps a member provide communities with free access to chlorine to treat their drinking water.  This health initiative will help to prevent water-borne diseases, which often cause residents to be unable to work or attend school.  The use of chlorine will also remove the need to first boil the water, thereby reducing the village's carbon footprint.

At the time of this blog entry, Christine's group loan has been 21% supported and has $1175 USD funds to raise to completion.

If you would like to read the full details of Christine's story and perhaps even add your support, you can read her Kiva loan request here.

I really cannot say enough wonderful things about Kiva.  Sound interesting?  Please join me!

Pinspiration Sunday

Hey there and welcome back to a new year of Pinspiration!  To be completely honest, I had planned to post a new set of pins last weekend and then decided I would be lazy.  Bad me, but to be fair, I hadn't been online for some time and hadn't really been in touch with what was new out there.  That's not been a problem this week so go grab your hot beverage of choice and here we go!

Currently:

* listening - to upstairs neighbours making strange noises above my head...
* reading - catching up on magazine subscriptions
* making - UFO class photo LO
* eating - roast chicken sandwich *Homer drool*
* drinking - water
* wearing - jeans, knit shirt, hoddie
* weather - snowy, -4C
* feeling - warm & cosy
* wanting - 7-day weekends
* needing - to co-ordinate key drop-off with chimney sweeps this week
* planning - next few scrapping & sewing projects
* thinking - as little as possible
* loving - having a 2-day weekend to myself, tucked up in bed
* enjoying - Oskar snuggled next to me

And now on to the pins...

Family Tree Quilt

How awesome is this family tree quilt?  Of course, it doesn't hurt that it uses both orange and turquoise colour palettes or that it incorporates an owl in the design.

Simplify by Camille Roskelley

Okay, technically not a pin but I recent discovered Camille's sewing blog and have really been enjoying her work so I'm passing along her link.

Cupcake Runner

OMG, a real reason to use hexies!  Okay, forgive me if you're a hexie lover - I am not but I can totally get behind pretty much anything that's made into a cupcake (real or otherwise).

New Years Resolutions by Celine Nevaro

It's that time of year again when folks are making their New Years resolutions so why not document them?  I quite liked Celine's take on the concept.

Monthly Review

Or perhaps you're more of a summariser and if so, then perhaps this monthly review approach is more your style.  I really liked the circular design and the mix of stamps and bits and bobs.

New Years Card

Does anyone actually send out New Years cards?  I can't for the life of me remember getting any growing up (but then my memory isn't great at the best of times) so perhaps this is a newer trend I'm not familiar with but either way, I like the split diagonal design of this cad and the layered tag and mini bunting.

Crocheted Edging

Okay, you need to understand that I am utterly rubbish at knitting.  Utterly.  However, I have this wild hope to learn to crochet this year and I really love the look of crocheted edges on the right quilts.

Tiny Amigurumi Owls

See now, if I ever do learn to crochet, I can make a whole *stare* of these adorable owls.  (Yes, that's right, I worked in the collective noun for a group of owls - I am just that much of a geek.)

Black Eyed Susan Brights

And here's a cheery colour palette to share with you today - just love that combination of yellow/orange and turquoise!