Craftivism

Craftivism - activism using craft (cross stitching, knitting, etc) as the way of protest.

So i found this website called craftivist collective and they are totally sweet. they combine the idea of activism with the awesome craft of cross stitch. the idea behind it is the idea of gentle protest. for example: if there an injustice in the world that you don't like, say equal pay for workers (meaning a company isn't paying their workers equally/fairly), go to the store that isn't paying their workers fare wages and sit outside that store and cross stitch a message for them. not blocking the way to the store or anything, but for sure in front of the store. then when you are done, you can mail the message to the CEO of the company so that they have the message you made. like a handkerchief that says 'don't blow it. pay your workers fare wages'. the gentle protest in this is that you are sitting outside the companies store and people might come up to you and ask what you are doing. so you kindly tell them. you aren't shouting in peoples faces what you are protesting. but you don't shy away when being asked what you are doing. after your 'sit-in' at the store, mail the handkerchief to the CEO and they have a gentle reminder that they should pay their workers fare wages.

i really like this idea of the gentle protest. you aren't shoving your ideas into peoples faces, but you still aren't backing down with what you believe in. and using cross stitching to do this just makes it even better!

Craftivist collective has a bunch of starter ideas/projects on their website to help you get going with how you can gently protest what you see in the world. i bought their starter kit, which gave you a book, some stickers, a button and the project Footprint kit. here's a picture of all the stuff i got in my starter kit:

the idea behind the footprint kit is this: "helping you find the wisdom that inspires you to walk through life as the best global citizen you can be." (from the craftivist website). and with this you get a piece of cloth cut and dyed to look like a foot, some string, a needle and a booklet to help you with inspiration to create your foot. what you do is cross stitch a quote onto the foot cloth and then frame it however you want so that it is on display. so when it is on display the person who has the foot thinks about their impact on this earth.

so for my footprint kit project i used the quote "when people ask me where my roots are, i look down at my feet, and i see the roots of my soul grasping the earth." by rudolfo anaya. i really like this quote.

here's some pictures of me working on my foot.

now another part that the craftivist collective talk about when making your projects is what your thinking about when making your projects. your 'crafter thoughts'. when i had tweeted to craftivist collective that i had picked my quote and started my project, they asked me what my crafter thoughts were. my crafter thoughts for this project were this: 'my feet make an impact on this earth and it should be a positive one. since my feet impact this earth i should help take care of her and all that are on her.' and i believe those things. my feet do impact this earth and so i should take care of the earth and take care of the people who are on this earth. this is where my quote comes into play. my soul is connected to this earth. and if i treat mother earth badly, i treat my soul badly. it is all connected. 

i really enjoyed making this project and enjoyed the thoughts it put in my head. i'm going to keep this project that i made for myself. i need to remind myself that i am connected to this earth and she is connected to me. this is a gentle protest to myself. i need to never forget my impact on this earth and how i can be a better citizen of mother earth. here is a picture of my finished work. i really like how it turned out. 

so overall i really like this whole idea of the craftivist. i really like craftivist collective and all that they stand for. i really suggest you check them out! i for sure will be doing more projects inspired by them. i'll make sure to share what i make and to who i send them to. i already know the next projects i'm going to get and who i'm going to send them too. so more to come for sure!!!!!