I actually despise this year at college and it's only been two months since it started. I'm not saying that because I'm the stereotypical teenager that doesn't care about the future and just wants to party all the time (although that would be awesome!), in fact it's not the classes or the institute at all, it's the people. This is my third year studying at Inverness College and it's never been like this before. In my first year it was such a tight-knit group and we were all really good friends, my second year was quite cliquey but everyone still had time for one another, then there's this year and I don't even have words for it. A few weeks into the course someone in the class had set up a Facebook page under a false name and started sending everyone else in the class abusive messages whilst leaving very distinct clues about who it was. They were so personal and offensive that one of the girls dropped out of the course over it because after threatening messages she genuinely did not feel safe on campus. I thought that was as far as it was going to go but on top of all the bitching, arguments and more bitching, there's now theft! Yeah, theft. One of my classmates, a 'friend', stole my phone and my homework diary yesterday. I couldn't believe it. The diary isn't particularly important because everything that was written in it I can find out again from my lecturers, but my phone is the only way I have to communicate with people the majority of the time! I'm hardly ever home to use the internet here and I speak to people mostly by text... so until I can afford a new one I'm effectively out of contact to everyone I know. Who would do that, and more importantly why? What drives people to steal from their friends?
Whoever you are, I hope you're riddled with guilt, I know I would be.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Custom shoe/keyring commissions
Over the last few years I've spent some time painting canvas shoes and making clay keyrings/necklaces/bracelets. I've never had enough money to produce any of the latter in quantities that would make selling them online a possibility, but since getting a job that may not be as unlikely as I originally thought! I should be able to afford to stock up on clay, paint, shoes, canvas and other materials soon so I think I may just give this online business jazz a shot. I'll hopefully have some spare money out of this month's wages (which I get tomorrow!) so I'm hoping to buy at least some of the materials I need. *fingers crossed*
Left to my own devices I would probably make only Pokémon and My Little Pony products but the good news for you is I will take commissions. I'll probably set up a separate email address for people to send their pictures/ideas to when I'm ready to start taking orders, but watch this space for an update on that. I'm yet to do the maths for a price list but don't worry - I won't be charging anything outrageous! I would hope for some profit from my products as a lot of time and effort is put into hand-making and hand-painting, however most items will still fit the average budget quite nicely if everything goes to plan. I will also upload more pictures of items I've made before I start selling.
I don't have many pictures of my work as of yet, but I do have these which are a pair of Pokémon shoes I made for myself and a penguin keyring (polymer clay). Apologies for the horrific quality of the pictures; they were taken on a camera phone with a something ridiculous like 2mp. :(
Abrazos y besos xo
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Samhain
I'm really excited; less than a week to go!
Samhain (pronounced sow-in) has been replaced by the majority with what we know as Halloween. The word itself means 'summer's end' as it marks the start of winter, and it is the final harvest of the year. October 31st is the old Celtic New Year, or the Witch's New Year, and the concept of 'Halloween' is taken from the traditions this day holds. It is the second of the two "spirit days" of the year, the other being the 1st of May; known as Beltane. October 31st (or November 1st; some prefer to celebrate a day later) is supposedly the day of the year in which the spirit world is most connected with us and is used to celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth, as well as a day to honour and show respect to our loved ones that have crossed into the spirit world. It is also seen by some as the time to honour the Dark Mother and Dark Father (often symbolised by Crone and her consort). The traditions for this day originated with Celts who left offerings of food on doorsteps for the 'wandering dead' and left single candles in their windows so spirits would be guided to their homes. Commonly extra chairs and space would be allocated at the dinner table on this night for the unseen guest too. Other Celtic Samhain traditions include hollowing out turnips as protectors because this night was believed to be chaotic and burying apples along roadsides for spirits who were lost and/or had no families to find. Any plants or crops that were still unharvested by this point would be left as offerings to the Nature spirits and all the peoples' cattle would be slaughtered and kept as a food supply for over the winter months. Traditionally bone-fires (now known as bonfires) were set up and all the bones from food that day would be tossed into the bone-fire. Another tradition was writing the names of late relatives onto stones, tossing them into the bone-fire and going back to get the stones the next morning after the fire had completely burnt out. Some people believed that the amount their stones had burnt would reflect their fortune for the upcoming year, and often any ashes from the bone-fire were scattered across farming fields to 'protect the land'.
A lot of these Celtic traditions are still practised today amongst Pagan/Wiccan families, along with many more. Of course, all of this is debatable regarding whether it has any truth or not, so how about this year instead of telling goofy little ghost stories to your friends you try out the traditional celebrations and see what happens?
xo
Samhain (pronounced sow-in) has been replaced by the majority with what we know as Halloween. The word itself means 'summer's end' as it marks the start of winter, and it is the final harvest of the year. October 31st is the old Celtic New Year, or the Witch's New Year, and the concept of 'Halloween' is taken from the traditions this day holds. It is the second of the two "spirit days" of the year, the other being the 1st of May; known as Beltane. October 31st (or November 1st; some prefer to celebrate a day later) is supposedly the day of the year in which the spirit world is most connected with us and is used to celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth, as well as a day to honour and show respect to our loved ones that have crossed into the spirit world. It is also seen by some as the time to honour the Dark Mother and Dark Father (often symbolised by Crone and her consort). The traditions for this day originated with Celts who left offerings of food on doorsteps for the 'wandering dead' and left single candles in their windows so spirits would be guided to their homes. Commonly extra chairs and space would be allocated at the dinner table on this night for the unseen guest too. Other Celtic Samhain traditions include hollowing out turnips as protectors because this night was believed to be chaotic and burying apples along roadsides for spirits who were lost and/or had no families to find. Any plants or crops that were still unharvested by this point would be left as offerings to the Nature spirits and all the peoples' cattle would be slaughtered and kept as a food supply for over the winter months. Traditionally bone-fires (now known as bonfires) were set up and all the bones from food that day would be tossed into the bone-fire. Another tradition was writing the names of late relatives onto stones, tossing them into the bone-fire and going back to get the stones the next morning after the fire had completely burnt out. Some people believed that the amount their stones had burnt would reflect their fortune for the upcoming year, and often any ashes from the bone-fire were scattered across farming fields to 'protect the land'.
A lot of these Celtic traditions are still practised today amongst Pagan/Wiccan families, along with many more. Of course, all of this is debatable regarding whether it has any truth or not, so how about this year instead of telling goofy little ghost stories to your friends you try out the traditional celebrations and see what happens?
xo
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
My Little Pony
Hello again!
A lot has changed since I was last on here, I forgot which email address I had used to set up this account (clever, I know) so I haven't been able to access it since August. But hey, I'm back! And in trying to find out which email address I had used for here, I managed to accidentally sign into an old blog of mine that holds many things I didn't want to lose - win/win!
So yeah, like I said, a lot has changed and I'm not entirely sure where to begin with that, possibly with the part that has made the most difference to me - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I understand that this probably sounds crazy and no, I have not lost my mind, it may seem strange but please read on! The newest generation of My Little Pony ponies are some of the cutest things I've ever had the fortune to set eyes on, add to that a captivating story and important morals that are so basic they are often forgotten and boom, you have an amazing TV show! In my opinion at least. Someone very close to me, despite not wanting to, let me in on their secret of Pony love and I warily decided I would watch a bit of it to see what it was about. I was told "you're hooked after the first two episodes" and I think, knowing me, I probably accepted it more as a challenge than anything else. But right enough, I watched the first two episodes and it has been my guilty pleasure ever since! If someone from the future had come and told me a few months ago that I would soon be calling myself a 'Brony'/'Pegasister' (names given to fans of the show) and spending my time watching My Little Pony, thinking about ponies, drawing ponies, attempting to make models of ponies, trying to get my friends involved with ponies... I would have laughed. Honestly, I would have. It's the sort of thing that is so easily judged and like everything else that is shoved into categories and stereotypes, the idea everyone has of it is completely misinformed. You hear the words 'My Little Pony' and they're probably followed by "little girls", "kids", "gay", right? Wrong. Unlike Balamory and In The Night Garden, My Little Pony is something I would be quite happy to sit down and watch with my (theoretical) children. Just look at them:
"This adventure has taught me to never lose faith in your friends. They can be an amazing source of strength, and can help you overcome even your greatest fears."
and
"This week I've learned that being jealous and telling lies gets you nowhere in friendship. I also learned that there's plenty of love for every friend to share."
What is there not to like about such sweet and positive messages? They certainly leave a smile on my face and when not-so-great things have happened with my friends, I've reminded myself of Twilight's kind words and found some way to overcome whatever the problem was. This is the sort of thing we should be bringing our children up watching, it's not going out of its way to try to be educational or 'dumb things down' but it still gets important messages across and it can teach things so much more valuable than spelling and numbers. Also, unlike Teletubbies (for example) it's something they could grow up with and continue to embrace throughout teen years and adulthood. I really wish there was something like MLP:FiM around when I was younger, since watching it I have become a much better person and it has really opened my eyes to the world - if I had had the chance to watch it as I was growing up I doubt I would ever have had such a bitchy and hateful phase or lost so many of the people I held close to my heart. I urge you to at least give the first two episodes a shot, you may be incredulous and skeptical but there are not many people that this show doesn't appeal to in one way or another. It all begins here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZryW1J_wj4, which will lead you to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPUQvzibKGA&feature=relate and the next thing you know you'll be a Brony/Pegasister too! Come get involved on Twitter; search #TwitterBronies to find your new friends and check out the Brony-run websites (I'd recommend http://bronyfarm.com/ and http://www.equestriadaily.com/!) to keep up to date with all things Pony!
I thank you if you've read this far, and hopefully leave you with a smile,
Helly xo
A lot has changed since I was last on here, I forgot which email address I had used to set up this account (clever, I know) so I haven't been able to access it since August. But hey, I'm back! And in trying to find out which email address I had used for here, I managed to accidentally sign into an old blog of mine that holds many things I didn't want to lose - win/win!
So yeah, like I said, a lot has changed and I'm not entirely sure where to begin with that, possibly with the part that has made the most difference to me - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I understand that this probably sounds crazy and no, I have not lost my mind, it may seem strange but please read on! The newest generation of My Little Pony ponies are some of the cutest things I've ever had the fortune to set eyes on, add to that a captivating story and important morals that are so basic they are often forgotten and boom, you have an amazing TV show! In my opinion at least. Someone very close to me, despite not wanting to, let me in on their secret of Pony love and I warily decided I would watch a bit of it to see what it was about. I was told "you're hooked after the first two episodes" and I think, knowing me, I probably accepted it more as a challenge than anything else. But right enough, I watched the first two episodes and it has been my guilty pleasure ever since! If someone from the future had come and told me a few months ago that I would soon be calling myself a 'Brony'/'Pegasister' (names given to fans of the show) and spending my time watching My Little Pony, thinking about ponies, drawing ponies, attempting to make models of ponies, trying to get my friends involved with ponies... I would have laughed. Honestly, I would have. It's the sort of thing that is so easily judged and like everything else that is shoved into categories and stereotypes, the idea everyone has of it is completely misinformed. You hear the words 'My Little Pony' and they're probably followed by "little girls", "kids", "gay", right? Wrong. Unlike Balamory and In The Night Garden, My Little Pony is something I would be quite happy to sit down and watch with my (theoretical) children. Just look at them:
Cuteness!
There are so many instances in the episodes where males and females, children and adults alike can relate to what's going on. For those who like music there are songs, for those who like challenges there are puzzles, for those who like cute things there's plenty here! And somehow, Lauren Faust (developer/producer) has managed to make all of this appeal to everyone between age 3 and 30+! It's neither too childish nor too grown-up, it allows you to indulge in factors of your childhood at the same time as respecting you are an adult. To outline the story, Twilight Sparkle was sent to Ponyville so she could learn the importance of friendship. This is something a lot of people seem to have issues with remembering; perhaps all we need is a little Pony in our lives to remind us of how special it really is. At the end of each episode Twilight writes a report to Princess Celestia, her teacher, which effectively recaps what the moral of the episode was. Her letters are really touching, including things like:
"Today I learned that it's hard to accept when someone you like wants to spend time with someone who's not so nice. Though it's impossible to control who your friends hang out with, it is possible to control your own behaviour. Just continue to be a good friend. In the end the difference between a false friend and one who's true will surely come to light.""This adventure has taught me to never lose faith in your friends. They can be an amazing source of strength, and can help you overcome even your greatest fears."
and
"This week I've learned that being jealous and telling lies gets you nowhere in friendship. I also learned that there's plenty of love for every friend to share."
What is there not to like about such sweet and positive messages? They certainly leave a smile on my face and when not-so-great things have happened with my friends, I've reminded myself of Twilight's kind words and found some way to overcome whatever the problem was. This is the sort of thing we should be bringing our children up watching, it's not going out of its way to try to be educational or 'dumb things down' but it still gets important messages across and it can teach things so much more valuable than spelling and numbers. Also, unlike Teletubbies (for example) it's something they could grow up with and continue to embrace throughout teen years and adulthood. I really wish there was something like MLP:FiM around when I was younger, since watching it I have become a much better person and it has really opened my eyes to the world - if I had had the chance to watch it as I was growing up I doubt I would ever have had such a bitchy and hateful phase or lost so many of the people I held close to my heart. I urge you to at least give the first two episodes a shot, you may be incredulous and skeptical but there are not many people that this show doesn't appeal to in one way or another. It all begins here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZryW1J_wj4, which will lead you to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPUQvzibKGA&feature=relate and the next thing you know you'll be a Brony/Pegasister too! Come get involved on Twitter; search #TwitterBronies to find your new friends and check out the Brony-run websites (I'd recommend http://bronyfarm.com/ and http://www.equestriadaily.com/!) to keep up to date with all things Pony!
I thank you if you've read this far, and hopefully leave you with a smile,
Helly xo
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