Crafting Fun!

one of my New Year Resolutions was to start crafting more. I used to spend hours happily making, give me some paint and glitter and I was happy! I'm no great artist and never felt that what I made was 'right'.

But I stumbled across this quote:

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of  being wrong"

Joseph Chilton Pearce

It got me thinking that I don't need to justify what I've made to anyone. SO out have come the paints and the glitter (plus lots more stuff - I get a little carried away in craft shops) and I've been enjoying myself making birthday cards, this birthday present, and  couple of paintings. They might not be the greatest in the world, but I had fun making them and thats the most important thing, right?

6 Months of Dreadlocks

It's been 6 months since I put my dreads in, and they're beginning to settle in and I can truly say I LOVE them!!

Here's me before the dreads:

Having dreads was something I've wanted to do for ages, but never had the courage to actually do. After following Sara and Em's blogs, and admiring their dreadlocks I finally plucked up the courage to do mine! I had a little help from G, and over the course of a couple of days, in between children looking after I dreadlocked my hair. Here's them just after they were all finished:

And here's them now:

Looking back at them just after I put them in and seeing them now makes me realise just how much they've changed in 6 months. They're beginning to lock up and look like 'proper' dreadlocks at last. There have been times when I've despaired that they were never going to mature, but I can see that slowly they are - I'm not always too good at waiting for things!

I've gotten less self-concious about them as time's gone on, at first I was really aware of these 'things' on my head. but as they've settled down, I've settled into them and now I forget they are even there -and it takes me a moment to remember why people might stare - duh! pillar box red dreadlocks!!!!

All in all, it's one of the best decision's I've made - here's to many more years of dreadlocks :-)

{She} ...by Kobi Yamada

She must be something special. She is. Celebrate her.
She loved life and it loved her back. Celebrate her passion.
She listened to her heart above all other voices. Celebrate her wisdom.
She pursued big dreams instead of small realities. Celebrate her priorities.
She saw every ending as a new beginning. Celebrate her resiliency.
She discovered her real measurements had nothing to do with numbers or statistics. Celebrate her self-esteem.
She was kind, loving and patient…with herself. Celebrate her tenderness.
She woke up one day and threw away all her excuses. Celebrate her accountability.
She realized that she was missing a great deal by being sensible. Celebrate her spirit.
She turned her can’ts into cans, and her dreams into plans. Celebrate her goals.
She ignored people who said it couldn’t be done. Celebrate her independence.
She had a way of turning obstacles into opportunities. Celebrate her magic.
She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly. Celebrate her faith.
She discovered she was the one she’d been waiting for. Celebrate her self-reliance.
She added so much beauty to being human. Celebrate her presence.
She walked in when everyone else walked out. Celebrate her friendship.
She just has this way of brightening the day. Celebrate her radiance.
She made the whole world feel like home. Celebrate her warmth.
She decided to enjoy more and endure less. Celebrate her choices.
She decided to start living the life she’d imagined. Celebrate her freedom.
She colored her thoughts with only the brightest hues. Celebrate her optimism.
She was an artist and her life was her canvas. Celebrate her brilliance.
She ran ahead where there were no paths. Celebrate her bravery.
She crossed borders recklessly, refusing to recognize limits, saying bonjour and buon giorno as though she owned both France and Italy and the day itself. Celebrate her joie de vivre.
She held her head high and looked the world straight in the eye. Celebrate her strength.
She not only saw a light at the end of the tunnel she became that light for others. Celebrate her compassion.
She designed a life she loved. Celebrate her joy.
She took the leap and built her wings on the way down. Celebrate her daring.
She said bye-bye to unhealthy relationships. Celebrate her happiness.
She remained true to herself. Celebrate her authenticity.
She made the world a better place. Celebrate her.

 

 

She... by Kobi Yamada 

Sledging

After a morning baking and then sampling our baked goods, it was off to the park to burn it all off with a couple of hours of sledging fun. We had a great time, even Baya enjoyed a little sledge :D Back in the warm now, ready for some butternut squash and sweet potato soup to warm our bellies up (and maybe some more of that chocolate cake for pudding ;-) )

baking day!!!

Still cold and snowy here, so we've spent the morning cosy in our warm house baking some yummy stuff :)

First off we made a flourless chocolate cake

Ingredients

120g dark chocolate

120g butter

150g caster sugar

80g cocoa powder

3 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C (gas mark 2). Grease an 20cm round cake tin, and dust with cocoa powder. 2. In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla. Pour into prepared cake tin. 3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slices can also be reheated for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.

And then we made some oat biscuits, some with chocolate chips and some with cinnamon and dried cranberries

 Ingredients

1 egg

120g brown sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

80g butter

100g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g quick cook oats

1 tbsp milk

* Preheat oven to 180 C and line a large baking tray

*whip egg, sugar and vanilla

*beat in butter, then add flour and baking powder

*Add a pinch of salt and the oats and mix well. Stir in the milk

*Shape into balls, place on baking tray and flatten a little

*bake for 15 mins

don't think they'll last very long!!!!

Handmade Pressie's

I've decided that I'm going to make our presents for peoples birthdays this year, so this is my first one! G's sisters birthday is coming up, and as we don't get to see her very often I thought I'd paint a canvas and add some photo's of her 3 neices on it! Turned out quite well I think, hope she likes it as well :D

Pirates!!

Here's my 3 cute pirate pixie's ready for a friends pirate birthday party today! They had a great time bouncing on the bouncy castle, dancing and bashing the pinata!!!!

9 months old already

I can't believe that this tiny baby

is 9 months old already!!!

Fun in the Snow

After jealously watching other parts of the country get more than their fair share of snow, and only a small sprinkling here before Christmas, we were very excited to get 6 whole inches on Wednesday afternoon!!!!

Lola was straight out there as soon as it started to fall building a teeny but very cute snowman!

The next morning found 2 happy girls peeping out the bedroom window to see the garden blanketed in white. After getting dressed in plenty of warm layers they were straight out to play. Kiki built a snow bunny with help from her daddy, and we marveled at how beautiful our woods looked in the snow.

 

 

 

Goddess Year Workbook

I noticed a link on Em's blog for Goddess Leonie's workbook and planner for 2010.

In Goddess Leonie's words:

"Dream, plan & grow your amazing new year with the 2010: Creating My
Goddess Year workbook & planner. It's an instantly downloadable PDF
filled with 40 rainbow pages of worksheets to help you dream,
manifest, set your intentions, plan & cultivate your 2010.
There are two things I adore… dreaming big and then making stuff
happen to make those dreams come true.  I’ve put all my favourite
power tools into this kit to help you dream up your year, and then
make it happen."

I've been feeling lost the last year and this is just what I need to focus my thoughts and realise what I want to achieve in 2010.

If you'd like to get your own copy go to Goddess Leonie's site. I can't wait to fill mine in and dream my amazing year!

Here I am

so.... something I've been meaning to do for um most of last year was blog! As it's been so long since I've kept my blog, I decided to start a brand new one! This is my little bit of space on the big old internet to share my life and thoughts and what's going on for me and my 3 little pixie girls. Hopefully I'll manage to visit often ;-)