Potato - Day 12

Thought I might blog on my tattie a bit too.



I threw him in Dan's lemon tree pot after it started sprouting little white hairs to annoy Dan but it ended up growing leaves so I have planted it in a beautiful bin bag outside Rob's window with a couple of others (that haven't made an appearance yet).

Oh Yoga & Jamboree success

So here's a nice long ramble to stop myself from playing Oblivion all day.

I was cleaning the bathroom and all of sudden the mother of all cramps hit me - you know those ones where they actually knock the breath out of you? I had to stagger to the kitchen to gulp down some anadin but we only had the stupid dissolve stuff and it took too long to dissolve and after swallowing that I realised I hadn't had breakfast. So, seeing stars, I choked down an apple and then walked around in circles like an insane horse.

In that lucid, pained state that I was in I decided enough is enough and I have to really start working on my health. I tried to fit into my beautiful orange dress again last night after a month of dieting and it still won't zip up around the bust *sob sob*. All this worrying about my weight is unhealthy anyway! It's probably just adding to it!

Unfortunately living in Dundee poses a continual deterrence to physical exercise. I don't want to go running next to horrible roads with busses roaring and seagulls threatening to attack me round every corner. So what else can I do? Home exercise, yes... Okay what I'm trying to say is that I am lazy and would really like a calm form of exercise and I have been eyeing yoga for a while so...

Yoga!

It's just an idea but we'll see how it goes, I can't see me tying myself in knots any time soon but I know it will improve blood circulation which helps to carry oxidants and things around the body - right? So I'll be healthier in mind and body.

So I'm going to try a 30-day yoga starter. Poses and breathing techniques, I've written down a basic daily routine to work on. By the way aren't all these names just fantastic? Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Tadasana, Urdhva hastasana... Awesome. So I start with pelvic tilts, then some cat-cow poses (that name isn't so great), then urdhva mukha svanasanaanadbn.. (downward facing dog ha ha) etc.

I really wish I could afford to eat all these super healthy foods all the time. I guess hummus isn't really a bank breaker but it's the variation in diet that is so important. (This is making me hungry.) Celery and salads... I think I might work a good diary into this blog too but considering I currently have 7 followers (hi guys!) it's really more of a personal therapeutic thing at the moment anyway. I can come here and chat to myself and work on my wordsmithing at the same time. Maybe in time I'll get insights and comments, critisisms and conversations going but until then I'm quite happy.

As I write I'm watching a very trippy yoga film Rob downloaded for me, a bunch of very healthy beautiful people wearing white and purple in "tree pose". They're in some sort of white-sanded never ending, space age desert. "The trick is to look at something that's not moving and not let your mind move. ... Keep heavy, stay rooted, grounded. If you start to sway, don't give up. Trees... Swaaaaayyyy... Stay grounded..." haaa haha, amazing

I downloaded some Jonsi and Alex to chill out to and I dabbed myself with some lavender essential oil. Feeling zen, but I'd feel more zen if my room wasn't such a mess. I was going to do that until I got crippled by my womb. I may attempt to yet...

On a completely different note, apre-paux of nothing, I got a freaking CASTLE in Oblivion! It's one of the add-ons Rob bought and you fight a few bandits and are rewarded with your own castle with guards and servants and a personal trainer and everything. I'm feeling particularly awesome in that game, although my combat skills are RUBBISH. I haven't been training them though, my alchemy is wicked and my security is not something to be sniffed at, but when it comes to actually fighting something... Well it takes me about half an hour (in game) to poke a boar to death. Mitch, Dan and Rob are so very tired of watching me fail so I feel a bit bad playing it during the day, maybe I'll sneak on tonight.

Now that the Jamboree is over I really have to work on my online presence. I'm going to work on my Folksy and see if I can get a few sales on that of my beasts. But FIRST I have to make more beasts and before THAT I have to clean my room. I really wish I had a big chest of drawers to store all my fabric and paints and supplies, it's all in strategically placed tesco bags and boxes on the floor at the moment.

I've been watching a bit of Gok's How to Look Good Naked With a Difference - he's helping disabled ladies feel and look beautiful. The first episode is so touching, a lady in a wheelchair who is gorgeous but can't look at herself, he makes her feel amazing and it's so encouraging to watch! Watching him boost someone elses confidence boosts MY confidence for some reason. And he ALWAYS makes me want to have a proper wardrobe clean out and a bit of retail therapy after the program's over.

I suppose I should mention the Jamboree and how that went! It was AWESOME. I haven't worked out how much I made yet, I need to tidy my room first (I've said that so many times in this post I think once I'm done I'll ACTUALLY do it). But it was a considerable amount. My badges sold really well, people loved them! A lot of people asked what they were and how I did it, some people got very excited about the resin. Everyone LOVED the creatures, especially Dikdik. Y'know I didn't sell any of them (apart from Wolfface) but I felt so good from all the compliments I got about them. One well known artists - this is really exciting - said I was an inspiration! He was really, really lovely and didn't recognise me from when he gave a talk to our class a year ago but I was just like a little excited fangirl haha.

Half way through the night (about five or six hours in total) they got some live artists to do their stuff. One guy makes music using only a gameboy. It was brilliant! I didn't realise he was doing it live until he came and spoke to me for ages and left, the girl next to me explained he was doing it and I was just stunned. He was so good! And so lovely!

I had a really awesome night, it made me feel so, so good. Oh and the best seller were Rob's baguettes! They sold out! And it was word of mouth that did it too which is REALLY exciting. One person bought one, shared it among friends ("you HAVE to try this!") and then three or four people come over and buy one or two each... He made a comfortable £20 from that. I didn't get one because I wasn't allowed thought but everyone assured me they were delicious.



SO a brilliant night. Here's a lovely photo Joanna Montgomery of the Skinny mag took of my bizarre blobby honey cupcakes.



And if you go here you can watch a "Superfly on the Wall" documentary of the night. Chemosit is in there along with my floral shoulder for a bit!

So siiigh. My cramps have gone hallelujah! The therapeutic blog post triumphs. Now I shall tidy my room and go and buy some plants, yes.

Over and out!

~Mads

A small update

I MADE CUPCAKES!

Practicing for the Jamboree. They're honey cupcakes with honey icing, and were very delicious but too honey-ish. I think the next batch I make will have a lemon cream cheese icing instead of a honey icing -- it was too sticky too, if people were to eat them at the Jamboree they'd get sticky blue fingerprints all over everyones work- nightmare.

BUT they were yummmmmy

Experiments

I getting really panicked for the Jamboree. It's on Monday and I'm going to be in Glasgow most of the weekend. Do I have enough? Do I have too much? Should I make more owl hats even though it's so hard to sell them? So instead I decided to calm down and look at it as a fun time, it's nic-nacs I've cooked up.

So in light of that I made these harbls, haha, they're great. They're weighty and fluffy and stupid but they look so silly lying around the sitting room.

I also tried out a new pattern for making gryphons! And thus the monstrosity was born:



Bear with me! Imagine him in lovely colours with a soft, luscious coat instead of that hideous, cheap black rubbish. Yeah? Maybe?

It was an experiment with needlefelting to see if I could make manes and plumes and whatnot and I can. They're rather firmly stabbed in! Now I just have to make one I'm actually happy to sell hehe

Moo Cards! & I passed 3rd Year!

My mini moo cards have arrived and promptly been turned into tags. In retrospect I sort of wish I had designed a blue one but hey, noted for next time.

Also bails and necklaces arrived yesterday so I made bottle cap necklaces!



I wonder if they'll be popular, a few people have suggested making necklaces of them and now I have. We'll just have to find out at the Jamboree...

In other (exciting) news, I got a B2 for third year! Celebration! I had a B2 for the mid crit but I managed to get my research and development up a couple of notches. I'm so pleased. Especially considering this time last year I JUST scraped a C3.
Aims for next year: A.

Rob bought Rock Band Beatles and 2 so now my good crafting intentions are being tainted by singing loudly and playing a fake guitar.

And finally, there was an awesome, AWESOME market in town today. I wish I was a millionaire.

~Mads

Finished Badges

The badges are up on Etsy! I had to stick the pins on with araldite and that stuff is hardcore. But hey at least the bottle cap and the pin will never lose each other. It's like a love story where the lovers are bonded with epoxy adhesive. Awww...

Anyway I had loads of fun with these photos, apart from destroying my knees. I forgot about my vine, it's a great prop. I was going to use satin again but the vine is better.

These are for sale for $4 over at my Etsy shop or come and find me at the Dundee Jamboree on the 17th of May to pick one (or two!) up with no shipping.

Badges

Badges... Or necklaces?

This is a photo to show you HOW MESSY I am with resin. I said to myself yesterday "when I make these badges I'm going to be really careful with my resin, don't want it going EVERYWHERE like last time". I partly succeeded in that I didn't get it on the table, just all over the baking tray (and my trousers). This is because I was using chopped up plastic bottles as a resin mixing recepticle instead of a pouring... thing...

Resin is tricky stuff. All these badges have SO many tiny bubbles it almost makes it look cloudy sob sob. I heard holding something hot over them makes the bubbles rise and burst but I don't have anything hot other than my hairdryer and that makes the resin go everywhere.

Also this was the last of my resin, the remaining few drops, so about quarter of my carefully peeled, baked, glued and 1st layer of resin-ed badges won't get finished unless I buy ANOTHER 600g tub, and that would last me forever. And I don't have any more teeth, and although they are cheap I'm not sure if I should make a GAZILLION more badges or not...

I don't know if this is enough for the Jamboree or not. There are 27 here and I have a few rubbish ones from the last set, I just ordered a butt-load of mini cards from Moo as display holders...

Nevertheless, whether I do buy more supplies or not, my favourites out of this lot are the two top left, the blue floaral Liberty print. The white fabric went see-through so now it's beautiful swirly blue flowers on a slightly pearlescent shiny background. Awesome.

In other news



OWL HATS! Loads of them! These are for the Jamboree too but they are on my Etsy page until then. And THESE ONES HAVE POMPOMS! Woooo! They took forever to make but the price is still $30/£20. Bargain.

I tried to make one with lining and FAILED miserably. ):

The badges will be for sale in a few days, once the resin has set properly and I've glued the pins on.

Over and out amigos!

~Maddy