Creative Hiatus

As my last semester as an academic winds down, I've found that a creative hiatus has been forced upon me. Instead of hooking and designing, I'm briefing and researching. I graduate in less than two months with a J.D. and an M.P.A. After that, the grueling process of studying for the Colorado bar exam begins. Somehow, I don't think I'll be able to really get creative until July 30: the day after the bar exam.

In the meantime, I do have a wee bit of good news. I'm still getting custom orders in, which gives me just enough creative inspiration to not go stagnant. I'm still teaching classes, and one of my students is advancing far enough that I'm designing custom projects for her to complete. She will soon advance to the point we'll need to sit down and figure out if I'm her teacher or her designer. And I was just approved as a Stunt Stitcher for Stitch Diva. I'm really excited about that gig; test crocheting new designs or recreating existing ones for trade shows. So exciting.

My only big creative plan to fill the gap between now and the bar (besides filling custom orders) is to submit some patterns to publishers. If I can get even one published, that would make my creative year.

I don't anticipate blogging very much until after the bar, but those brief moments when I do, I'm sure I'll be sharing something special.

Until then, dear readers,
~Angelina

Do-Gooding with a Kapital K

Ah, Kiva. If you haven't heard of it yet, then you are living under a rock with no web access. Seriously, though, Kiva is the leading microlending site on the web, empowering regular ol' folks (read: people like me) to give give personal loans to people who need a little bit of money (read: usually between $200-$800 USD) to get their business (read: livelihood and means of survival) where it needs to be. There are no real banks involved, and the money comes from regular ol' folks who give $25+ USD a pop until the loan is funded. When the loan gets repaid, the money sits in your Kiva account as a credit, waiting to help another person in need. Oh, and you, the lender, get paid interest. As if you were a bank, and as if you would do this to make $0.17 USD off of the $25 USD you lent out.

I love Kiva. I love the time they take to partner with reputable organizations. I love the team fundraising aspect (although I always have a tough time picking which of my teams will get my funding credit). I love that repayments get fed back into Kiva, ready to help another person. I love the community aspect. I love that you can read about the things your loan went to that helps someone a thousand miles away. Kiva just flat out rocks.

And it costs less than getting a venti Caramel Macchiato twice a week at Starbucks. So why not build up your karma and do something good for the world, and perhaps your waistline, and visit Kiva today.