2014 Nobel Peace Prize winners

Fall is in the air.  I can feel it from the chill in the air, the smell of burning leaves, and my Twitter account going aflutter with the hashtag #NobelPeacePrize.

Yeah, I'm a geek that way, I like seeing what I'll be reading next.

This year, however, there seems to be an extra buzz as people are realizing that yet another Muslim has won!

And while a major news network is telling our fellow Americans that Islam is "one big bad idea," the rest of the world is awarding members of it the Peace prize.

As a matter of fact, eleven Nobel Prize winners have been Muslims, seven in the Peace category.

For the first time in days there was some Muslim news that doesn't involve beheadings, bombings, or complaints about pumpkin spice in our hummus!

I'd like to present you with these eleven Muslims here for your educational enjoyment.

Peace
1978
Anwar al-Sadat
Egypt

1994
Yasser Arafat
Palestine

2003
Shirin Ebadi
Iran

2005
Mohamed El Baradei
Egypt

2006
Muhammad Yunus
Bangladesh

2011
Tawakel Karman
Yemen

2014
Malala Yousafzai
Pakistan

Literature
1988
Naguib Mahfouz
Egypt

2006
Orhan Pamuk
Turkey

Physics
1979
Abdus Salam
Pakistan

Chemistry
1999
Ahmed Zewail
Egypt

On the 1,008th Night

One of the many perks of volunteering at the Seattle Art Museum is the Volunteer Art Show that is held every fall.

I have never submitted to this exhibit but have enjoyed it as a spectator.

I decided to participate this year with this artwork titled On the 1,008th Night.  It is currently in the 1st floor hallway, next to 1st and University.  Please stop by and see it in person if you get a chance.

On the 1,008th Night by A Crafty Arab

Vending at the Olympia Arab Festival – Shuruq II

Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim friends!  What a joyous day for celebrations.  Our family will be gathering with loved ones tomorrow for our party.

Today I had the honor of vending at the Arab Festival – Shuruq II, which was held south of Seattle at the Olympia Center in beautiful Olympia, Washinton.

I took my grid wall instead of a table because so many of my items are now vertical.  I had brought fabric to drap behind my wall because I had anticipated being behind another vendor.  They came in really handy once I was moved over to a window wall.  Here is my completed booth space.

I love this event because it's always fun to see friends and catch up.  I'm always amazed at the sheer number of Seattle Arabs that make the trek to Olympia. The Shuruq, which means sunrise in Arabic, really brought the community together for a day of eating, listening to rhythmic music, watching little girls giggle in a fashion show, eating, touching rich textiles, getting educated, and more eating.

Shukran to the generous volunteers of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for making this event possible.  And a special Eid Milad Said to Farihan Bushnaq, the Festival Coordinator, for her dedication to the success of this important event.  It in highly needed in these turmoil times of our beloved Levant.

The Mural café and Hookah Lounge outside.

Beautiful program guides.

Rachel Corrie Foundation Booth

Hookahs ready to rent out.

Free Gaza.

Children learning about inventions of Arab origins.

Yet another reason why Zibbet is the best

Zibbet has become the go to place for handmade.  It's true. 

Other sites are all over the news lately for leaving handmade behind in their quest for shareholders. But this just made Zibbet even more determined to put the handmade artists first. 

A short while ago, Zibbet rolled out a new look and a new pricing plan.  The new look is sleek, clean and really beautiful.  And the pricing plan is well worth the investment for handmade artists that are willing to finally put their money where their shop is.

Today I received one of the many worthwhile perks from selling as a Lifetime member: my own stand alone shop. It. Looks. Amazing.


A Crafty Arab Zibbet Stand Alone Shop

Look again. 

Everything on the page belongs to A Crafty Arab.  There is no links for other shops. All links in the header banner go to me, myself and I. Zibbet is mentioned in the address in the bar above and with a logo in the bottom right, that is all.

I'll be spending the next few days editing and cleaning up the new stand alone.  I'll also start the process of moving over my main website to there. I'm hoping this helps reduce the number of confused clicks from fingertips to my product's PayPal button.

I know this because I recently submitted my main website to Peek by UserTesting, a reliable service that will check the ease of your website.  You can watch the video here, but the jest of it is that the tester went from my main website to my Zibbet shop (which is a goal), yet when she got there, she easily left my shop and was forever lost to me.

Note the irony at minute 5:35 when the tester comments "I don't really see anything that frustrates me" as the exact moment that she clicks off my shop site into beautiful Zibbet land.

I've played it in my mind about three thousand, four hundred and eighty seven times since I first saw it. (For the record, I do not personalize blue champagne flutes with Arabic or Farsi.)

Now, when I give someone my link to my shop, I know they will stay and shop.

If you are also interested in having a shop where your customers stay and shop, head over to Zibbet and be prepared to have your selling experience be taken up a notch.

3 comments:

Connie Hill said...

Great review - thanks for sharing your comments about this new option. I'm still iffy about it. Looking forward to seeing the coming customization options...
~Sunfire / Breath of the Dragon

October 2, 2014 at 2:55 PM

Dancing Rainbows said...

Fabulous review. It's a great tool and will be getting even better with the coming options for customization.

October 3, 2014 at 2:06 PM

Deb Ochs-LaGrone said...

Thanks for the review. I have a lifetime membership but haven't taken the time to set this up yet. I think that will go to the top of the to do list now!

October 8, 2014 at 2:19 AM

Fall 2014 Quilling Board

I will be teaching Beginning Quilling again this fall at Ben Franklin Crafts and Frame. 

To entice students to take the class, I always create a display board for the front of the store.  I just dropped this one off today.

A Crafty Arab Beginning Quilling Fall 2014

I hope to see you October 8th or November 12th! Click here to sign up or call 425-883-2050.

A Crafty Arab Quilled Batman

A Crafty Arab Quilled Christmas Tree Card

A Crafty Arab Quilled Birthday Cupcake Card

A Crafty Arab Quilled Earrings

 

Haute Sugary Interview

Tell us a bit about yourself?
Assalamu alaikum. You can call me Umm Aziza. I am a Native American Muslim revert from 2006 and a single mother to three lovely children. I am also a survivor of spousal abuse who was lucky enough by the mercy of Allah to break free alhamdulillah.

I currently reside in the heart of America (Kansas). My journey began a few years ago with the desire to learn how to make my own facial moisturizer so that I did not have to spend ridiculous amounts on creams that just didn't work or live up to their promises. I spent a lot of time researching and started off with a basic formula and tweaked it until I found something I was happy with. From there I was introduced into the world of scents and shortly after that was inspired to make my own makeup as well. Enter Haute Sugary!

Having an online business is a lot of work and I love every single minute of it!

Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?
Taking care of a toddler (my other children are older) and trying to start up an online business is so time consuming. In addition to that I am busy trying to piece my life back together and give my children a stable home and life. It has been less than one year since this new chapter in my life has begun and with all the hard work and struggle I am learning about new strengths in myself.

What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?
I am a lover of all things beautiful; in eyeshadow, makeup and in life. Everything has is it's own beauty. The way colors blend together on a canvas, the way ingredients combine in the makeup grinder, glitters sparkling and twinkling and bouncing the light of the room,the moment when oil and water emulsions combine, the innert beauty is my passion and inspiration but my biggest inspiration of all comes from my children. To be able to put food on the table, to buy them a toy or book; their smiles give me the will to go on, to push me and drive me forward.

Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?
I look up to and salute all the single mothers, stay at home mothers, full time working mama's and all those who strive in the way of Allah. I applaud all of your hard work and dedication.

What other passions do you have in your life?
 I wish to be able to help people out in the future by being an advocate and a voice for the victims of domestic abuse.

How do you promote your work?
I am not the best at self promotion and for now I use Instagram, and Facebook. In the future inshallah I wish to be able to participate in local events and have my own booth to boost local sales and to start getting my name out there.

In the future I’d like to be…
Self sufficent. Starting over from nothing and with nothing is a daunting challenge that I wish no one would ever have to endure. I wish to be able to leave behind a legacy of overcoming all obstacles and teach my children that with enough faith anything is possible.. never give up.. keep trying and always keep your head up with a smile on your face even when things look bleak and grim.

2014 Onyx Fine Arts Fine Arts Exhibit Acceptance

Border Camel, a piece of artwork that I submitted to the 2014 Onyx Fine Arts Fine Arts Exhibit to be held at the Washington State Convention Center has been accepted!

I want to apologize to everyone that could here the ululations breaking the sound barrier from my house.

Border Camel

The exhibit is due to start on October 10th, with an artist reception on October 19th from 2 to 4pm.  I hope you can join me to see this artwork in person.

2 comments:

Jameela Ho said...

Congratulations. Did the Camel Crossing get accepted too? This is nice too but personally I like the Camel Crossing better.

September 17, 2014 at 9:04 PM

A Crafty Arab said...

No, Camel Crossing did not get accepted. She went back up on my wall. She's my favorite too :)

September 18, 2014 at 6:10 PM