New challenge!!

Hello world!!! Yes I'm still alive and haven't been buried and crushed under piles of fabric or been eaten by a mutant sewing needle with teeth... Although I've sure stabbed myself enough... But anyway I've been extremely busy lately and keep forgetting to post.. And eat lunch... And sleep...

This post may be a bit long as I will write about my challenge, copy and paste my links... I will create another post on Saturday with all the pictures of the items I have created so far for my first week!

So I started my challenge on November 1st 2014 and am finishing it on November 1st 2015 and my challenge is to create something new, every day for 365 days- #CreateChallenge365

My challenge rules are below:

 - I must create something new every day, for 365 days, from November 1st 2014 to November 1st 2015

- As proof if creation I must take a picture of the item and upload it to this page (and other associated pages) before 11:59pm Perth time on the same day of creation

- For each missed day I will donate an extra $50 on top of the final total

 With this challenge I hope to change that because I will be making myself take time out of my day for me so that I can create for my challenge.

At this stage I don't have any ideas of what to do with my collection of items that I will create over the course of the year...

I was thinking of perhaps having an auction to sell off the collection, either piece by piece, or a whole and donate the proceeds of the auction also to Telethon.

However if you have any better ideas please drop me a line and let me know... :)

Also feel free to get involved with the challenge as well as post pictures of YOUR creations!!!

 

If you would like to donate or sponsor me please click on the link below and it will take you to my fundraising page.

https://www.mycause.com.au/page/84417/createchallenge365

 

Also please check out my pinterest challenge board and "like" and share my Facebook Challenge page amongst your friends, family and work mates!

 

www.facebook.com/createchallenge

http://www.pinterest.com/ocrafty1da/createchallenge365-telethon/

 Thank you and I hope you all get a laugh out of my insanity! (Yes my partner is thinking of getting me a straitjacket for Christmas! :P)

Steph, xx

 

 

Christmas Decorations

Here's another link for a great starter shopping list...

https://www.unpakt.com/blog/new-apartment-heres-your-grocery-list/


But getting off the moving obsession.  I was looking on eBay yesterday for Christmas decorations for both tree and tinsel... I was amazed at how expensive some of them were even though they looked fairly dodgy and plastic...

I have therefor decided that I will be making my own... :) I will start off making ones out of felt but there are a few other styles of decorations that I would like to try and make as well...

Below are some images I found off google by searching for "felt Christmas decorations"

I don't know how mine will turn out but I will be making enough of each to decorate our new Christmas tree this year (once we get said tree of course) because I want it to look really pretty and festive this year!

First Grocery shop

So quite literally where my partner and I have moved into there a park literally a minutes walk from the end of the driveway. The local IGA and shopping complex is 15 minutes away to the right and and to the left 20 minutes is the local shopping center with a Sanity, Woolies, Coles and a really good butchers as well as my nearest bank branch.

My mom and dad are now further away and not having my license doesn't help in that regard but we are free and quite happy... And at least now I can just walk to the main road and catch the bus straight up then get off and walk the rest of the way.

Just came back from doing the first grocery shop with a $50 note... With that I got a shower curtain, a stainless steel potato masher, liquid hand soap, sausages (about 750g), 750g gluten free bacon, gluten free crushed garlic in a jar, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, a 1kg bag of frozen mixed veggies, 2x 1 liter long life milks, and 30 meters of glad wrap.

Luckily the people we moved in with already have cutlery, crockery, some cookware and things like rice, potatoes, pasta and some sauces. So we have enough now to hold us over for a few days...

A really good list I have found in my googling is the link below and I will also copy and paste the list.

http://betterthandormfood.com/2012/08/29/new-kitchen-grocery-list/

GROCERY SHOPPING LIST

Canned  and Jar Goods

• Beans (Black, pinto, garbanzo)
• Canned corn, string beans, etc
• Canned Chili
• Diced Tomatoes
• Pasta Sauce
• Salad Dressing

Dry Goods

• Pasta (various kinds)
• Rice (white and brown rice)
• Breakfast Cereal
• Crackers

Spices, Flavorings and Cooking ingredients

• Salt and Pepper
• Cinnamon
• Ground Cumin
• Curry Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Cornstarch
• Sugar
• Chicken Bouillon Cubes or powder
• Seasoning Salt (Lawry’s)
• Soy Sauce
• Canola Oil
• Vinegar ( red wine or balsamic)
• Peanut Butter and Jelly

Produce

• Garlic
• Bag of potatoes
• Onion
• Lettuce
• Your favorite fruits and veggies

Refrigerator Items

• BBQ sauce
• Butter
• Eggs
• Sauce, mustard
• Milk
• Cheese

Frozen ( or items to keep in the freezer)

• Bag of frozen skinless chicken breasts
• Flour tortillas
• Whole Grain Bread
• Frozen Fruit (for smoothies)
• Ground beef or turkey

I would also include in that list:

- Long life milk

Learning to fly

Last night and all of yesterday was completely crappy for me and my partner. In fact our weekend in general started off fairly poorly... I had cleaned the bus the same way I do at the end of every term which takes me to about 5:30 to 6pm... My partner then came and picked me up and we went home.

When we got there I had made a cup of tea and sat down for a few minutes to drink it because I was really sore and my back was aching from contortioning myself to get under the seats to sweep them properly....

We then had to deal with one of my partner's sisters yelling from around 6:30 to about 11:30 going off about how we hadn't been doing jobs or paying rent when it had been agreed between us and his mom that we would be doing jobs in lieu of rent.

This did not occur to his sister however and she had a right go off her nut. We went to bed after she had left. This was all Friday night.... We didn't end up being able to get to sleep until about midnight. Then I woke us up at 7am so we could get an early start on our jobs and I heard the house phone going off the hook. We started cleaning and doing the quiet stuff till his mom got in the shower at which point I put the washing on and did the vacuuming... A few hours later we had his aunty come round and have a talk to us about what we were going to do... Were we going to be able to afford our place soon. That wasn't too bad... It wasn't until his other sister came around that the trouble started. We kept working away and his sister kept getting more irate and in the end she said I should pack my stuff so I started doing just that.

Took me a few hours but I got there and then I found that Nic was moving with me too which I thought was fantastic... We ended up getting back to the mates house about 10m Saturday night... But I finished unpacking what I could of the room today which was fantasic... It looks like home now... :)

Tattoo artistry, drawing

What I've learnt today: Some people can be extremely judgemental. My partners eldest niece told me tonight that she wants to be a tattoo artist and seeing some of her drawings by hand I can see why.... I mean she is a brilliant artist! Her work is clear, bold and beautiful.

And yet as she was sitting at the dining room table with me drawing designs after dinner, she had her grandma, and another of her uncles sitting at the table lecturing her in how she didn't want to be a tattoo artist, how she didn't want to poison people's body's, and the fact that tattoo artists don't earn much. They kept going with the barb that "your a smart girl. You should do something with it"....

Or the other one "I wish you spent as much time on science as you do on your drawing"

Her grandmother's argument was that her husband regretted getting his tattoos.

But that is not a good reason to discourage someone from doing something they love and are good ... No BRILLIANT at!!!

If drawing makes her happy then fantastic it should be encouraged....  Her free hand drawings off images are amazing....

Even if my partner are the only people in his entire family to encourage her then that's fine... I will happy support her choice because if she can wield a tattoo gun as well as she draws she'll have no problems owning her own parlour....

Don't EVER let anyone discourage you from your dreams if it's what you really want... Go for it! You CAN do it! You are everything that you need... :) And stop procrastinating... Just take that one small step to get started and you've tackled one of the single most hardest barriers on your way to success and that is simply getting that start!!!

Depression

What I've learnt today: Never, ever underestimate people. And by people that means yourself too!

The last week and a half I have been incredibly slack and putting off doing much crafting because I don't feel well, or I'm tired, or I can't be bothered getting things out just to put them away again a few hours later (I'm not lucky enough to have my own dedicated craft space :( Sad I know...)

Well today I made progress with myself. I stopped underestimating my own powers of weasling out of doing things and I wrote a very specific to do list. I promised myself that if I got at least 5 things (about half the list of not very big jobs) done then I could read or lounge for a bit of my day. (I work split shift)

So after some procrastinating I got stuck into my list and the funny thing is I got my 5 done and then I kept going because I was on a roll.

And one of the things on my list was to get help and call Headspace. They are a service for people aged between 12 to 25 that can give you access to mental health information, counselling, sexual health advice and specialised GP, as well as drugs and alcohol counselling and lots of other things.

I've made an appointment with them because I have a mental health barrier which stops me from having positive mental health. I reached out because I have a very bad habit of bottling problems up and "dealing" with them "later"... So not healthy.

I have mood swings, trouble getting to sleep, then once I am asleep, actually STAYING asleep. When I wake up I'm always tired, I'm easily irrated and I loose interest in things easily like sex... Which makes things worse when my partner and I argue about the lack of because then I feel worse about myself and the fact the I've lost interest and my guilt over it is crippling.

This is just the tip of the daily iceberg of issues... But I am seeking help. My appointment is in two weeks. In the mean time I will motorvaye myself to at least blog more if not actual get a tuoriak going.

Wish my luck blogospehere!
Also if there are others of you out there that feel like this or worse please comment below and let me know how your going and we can support each other.

I will finish this post with my favourite Yoda quote (of which I'm always reminding myself)

"Great power in you, there is."

Scrapbooking

The above picture is one I snapped of a new tool that recently come in at my local scrapbooking store...

It's only $30 but it says it creates stickers , which depending on the quality and type and what they're made on (ie how expensive it's other neccessary materials are), this could quite marvellous for my sticker obsession and scrap booking. I am always looking for, and buying, stickers but they are not always destined for scrapbooking or use at all. (I have a tendency, that my partner finds hilarious, to buy pretty, arty sets of stickers and then leaving them untouched in their packets, prop them up against things for cheap but cute art.)

Daily that isn't so daily

What I've learnt today: Sometimes no matter how many chances you give a person there is a certain point at which after that... It's probably best to give up.... Especially when your reminding yourself of a broken record....

Long time, no blog...

For the last month's I have been quite severely down, bordering on depression... I am still working at my moods to improve them and be able to be happy again but also more importantly- I'm working to be happy with myself as I am...

Recently learning that a couple of my biggest idols also battle constantly with both inner demons and body image has really helped but I know that I'm not going to recover in a blink... I've spent years tearing myself down so it stands to reason that I'll be working for years to build up my self confidence, self respect and body image again...

Eleannor Roosevelt was quoted quite famously with a my favourite.
"No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent"

Stereotypes

As a general rule I find stereotypes disturbing and rude when they are assumed in a negative context such as "all black people steal things" or my all time my most hated one- "all people people under the 25 are drop kick bogans with no job, respect for those older than them or authority figures and just destroy everything".
This one grates on me personally because I know a lot of young people are NOT like this. It is only a minority of young people who behave in this way and give the rest of us a bad name.

However sometimes stereotypes can be funny. Such as when someone asks what I'm listening to or what bands I like. The amount of times I have been told I shouldn't listen to a band is hilarious and I'm starting to think I should get badges or a shirt printed along the lines of "So I listen to (insert various bands and artists here).... Whats it to you?". Such as Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, Panic! At The Disco and Tattoo. I got told I shouldn't be listening to them because they are bands for either Emo's or Boy's or even worse (mock horror) the apparently frightening Boy Emo and since I'm none of these I should listen to wholesome country or something... :) Now I don't mind some country but its kind of stupid to judge a book (or a human bean) by their cover so don't assume what I'm like or should be listening to based on my looks.

I think next time someone tries I will engage them in a discussion about Phantom of The Opera and ask them whether they thought the Movie version with Emmy Watson was better than the original novel by Gaston Leroux. Or ask them which of the original Justice League is their favorite. Or maybe even what they think of the ocean level rises and the scientific research being conducted into how high the ocean levels will rise and therefor impact ocean front housing.

Official opening

So the "Official Opening" date I set for myself and my etsy store is fast approaching and I have realised that I have done NONE of the stuff that I have been writing down on my to do lists. Which means quite simply I am REALLY starting to freak out!!!

I haven't had a lot of time for creating items for my store either between work, family issues and volunteering. My 50 litre plastic tub that I so proudly bought for the sole purpose of storing my items (dust free) until time for their photo shoot/selling has sat virtually empty with only 3 items in it.

This weekend just gone had been the time that I had been planning to get stuck into creating only to have nosy family cause arguments ALL weekend.... AAAAARGGHHH!!! So I ended with a wasted weekend and nothing crafted.... I have the house to myself for the next four days however so I shall be using that time to craft and sew to my hearts content!

Raw Food Diet

Hello world,

The following link is for what is called the Raw Food Diet plan and while I don't generally subscribe to diet plans or fads this one actually seems to be the real deal in terms of nutrition.

http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/raw-food-diet-plan.html

So because I not only have a problem with shifting weight but also keeping it off I have decided to start trying to follow this diet and see how I go..

Now before you roll your eyes and click the back button I am not a size 4, 16 year old constantly complaining about the non-existent fat on her praying mantis thin body. I AM however a 23 year old who is a size 16 and overweight with most of the weight being on my stomach area and thighs which for me are the hardest areas to shift weight from.

Livelighter (website below) is another website I have been going to for healthy recipes and advice on trying to shift the weight and leading a healthier lifestyle and although so far there hasn't been a great deal of change but I need to stay positive and keep at it.

If anyone out there reading this has any great websites/books read/tips or tricks/recipes or advice that could help that would be great if you could leave a comment with it below!!

Thank you in advance!

Easter, health and gaming

So happy Easter for those that celebrate the Judaeo-Christian/Catholic celebration of Easter.

Daddy got out of hospital the other day with an all clear and yet the polyps in his stomach are still there yet there is nothing wrong showing up on ultrasounds, x-rays, blood tests or the other multitude of tests that he's had to have done. He's had this bizarre (and at times crippling) pain in his stomach/kidney are for the last year and yet it's nothing that Doctors or specialists can pick up on... On Thursday he had to go into hospital for an endoscopic biopsy so even though he got cleared on the day we're still waiting for the biopsy results. In the meantime every one keeps saying for us not to stress and not to worry until we have to but it can be really hard to do. So I pray to the Goddess and God for help and guidance and just try to stay positive. I don't want Daddy to see me worrying and make him feel worse because I'm pretty sure he's already worrying enough for the both of us.

Something I have been using to try and keep myself positive so I can be positive for Daddy is having Sims FreePlay on my phone- both a blessing and a definite curse! It means I can take my little town and Sims with me everywhere but that's also the down side...  It's a really great distraction though and it can be easy to be sucked into it.

Will the truth set me free?

"Careful"

I settled down a twisted up frown
Disguised as a smile, well
You would have never known

I had it all
But, not what I wanted
'cause hope for me was a place uncharted and overgrown

You'd make your way in
I'd resist you just like this

You can't tell me to feel
The truth never set me free
So, I did it myself

You can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer
You've got to reach out a little more
More
More
More, more

Open your eyes
Like I opened mine
It's only the real world.
A life you will never know

Shifting your weight
To throw off the pain
Well you can ignore it
But only for so long

You look like I did
You resist me just like this

You can't tell me to heal
And it hurts remembering
How it felt to shut down

You can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer
You've got to reach out a little more
More
More
More, more

The truth never set me free
The truth never set me free
The truth never set me free
So, I'll do it myself

You can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer
You've got to reach out

Can't be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you
Won't come any closer
You've got to reach out
More
More
More
More, more

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/paramore/careful.html

Comic-con Perth 2014

I had a lot of fun on the day despite the fact that my man and I were flat broke... I'm seriously not kidding... We had $20 cash (left on us once I had bought my MUST HAVE autograph for Jewel Staite), paid for our all day ticket to Perth and that was it!

Despite that he also really enjoyed the day. (The fact that we went with our mutual best friend really helped with the awesome making)

She bought him a plushy Creeper as a late birthday present and a Disney sanctioned plush Cheshire Cat for a (really) early birthday present for me. The Cheshire Cat has always been one of my favorite characters.

  

But anyway for the pictures!!! See below for the photos I took or had taken on the day.



















This guy did his own take on Assassin's Creed and as a result looked awesome!!



Princess Tiana from The Frog Princess



Me with Kiki! From the Studio Ghibli film "Kiki's Delivery Service"





Wow! Didn't notice before but Rapunzel looks a little freaky face wise... Sorry princess!!



Misty had a septum piercing!!!





Female Nick Fury and  Dead-pool with a random Dead-pool was pretending to shoot. :) He was good natured about it too...



Steam-punk and Star Wars in the same band of merry travelers!


Tome Baker with a Weeping Angel on either side. The one on the left is his lady with the wings being attached to her back via a backpack. The other lady's wings were carved from craft foam, also attached to a backpack and then carefully placed on her back.



My partner with his favorite Game of Thrones character.



This lovely young lady's sister was also dressed as Elsa (Frozen) but I kept missing them so I couldn't get a shot of them together but apparently they both made as much of the cos-plays as they could themselves rather than just purchasing them. Elsa's cos-play was really well done as well!



I really do look quite evil...





This lovely lady said it took her over 300 hours to hand piece the different colored pieces of tulle for the skirt. Her mom did the embroidery on the bodice.



These two were so cute!!! I think they were my favorite cos-players on the day purely for their humor and simple but well done cos-plays. The guy is dressed as Castiel and his friend (girlfriend?) had a Team Winchester top on. I just happened to get the shot as she had her hands up in what I like the call the classic Will Smith show off pose.



Best damn Anne Hathaway Catwoman and Batman cos-play I have ever seen!



Optimus-pram... (Direct quote from the makers wifey!)




I just really liked this honeys outfit. When I asked her she said it wasn't a cos-play but just her style and then happily posed for me when I asked... Her boots and dress are just so damn CUTE!!! And probably also quite expensive being lolita.