I love Hooping! Beginners lessons with Stakatto Blue

I've mentioned my hoop before, but not for a while... although I still enjoy hooping (and went to a few tricks classes) I realised I was missing the foundations to build up my skills - how to stop the hoop falling down. Opps!

Kat from Stakatto Blue was advertising beginners lessons so I signed up and magically found a friend or two to join me :) Kat is a wee firecracker, her enthuasium is contagous and she always seems to have a big grin on her face. You get a hoop included with the class so I went for a travel hoop - it's abit lighter than my other hoop, so better for tricks.... but harder at first for waist hooping.

There is ALOT crammed in to each lesson and she does a video recap at the end of each lesson to take home. I can't wait for more park weather, the joy when it's light when you finish work.  There is so much in each lesson I really need to practise it as I go to fulfil my dream of being able to hoop dance. There is so much scope, I've seen people doing amazing stuff just dancing while hooping, while others manipulate the hoop. The options are endless.

Here are a few of my fave hoop dance vids on youtube -







Are there any hoop dancers you really admire? I would love to hear any recommendations.

Barnicles xx

I'm posting more on my facebook now - so if your interested in my adventures and random inspiration links come say hi :)

Adventures at glastonbury festival

Everning world, Barnicles is back in scotland after an adventure to Glastonbury Festival.

Much freedom, great music and fun was found. Highlights would be relaxing in a non judgemental atmosphere - where acceptance and friendly faces were everywhere and spreading the poi poi word and teaching the kids to poi! I bought some glow poi on the thursday night which were great fun - watching random kids play with them watching the pyramid stage was amazing.

We bumped into a big family who had all ages with them and cousins and nieces and nephew - a few adults too but that was a very cool crew! so lucky to explore Glastonbury festival so young. The wee kids kept getting the poi poi stolen by their older sisters/cousins so I had to step in and give them one each. There was another wee girl who was too shy to play at first - after a while she camp up and poked me asking for a go :)

This is me preparing for a day out. I'm not sure if my outfits were crazy enough but I kept adding glitter and my eyemakeup grew over my face as the nights continued :) My new tutu was finished in time and I was seen wearing one or two homemade flower crowns at all times!

It was also great to see Fairylove, Rosa Bloom and Miss Katie Cupcake there and lots more indepentent boutiques!

I haven't even mentioned the music - Amanda Palmer was my favourite - great friends with me and a friends 11yr old daughter danced with one poi the whole way through in a punk dress! rad times :) Mumford and sons were great, PIL, Public enemy, the egg, the resonators - my friends band and more.

I'm home, rested, preparing to face the world again and create the future. Spent today getting used to bloglovin after the death of google reader. What are you viewing blogs on at the moment?


Lots of hippy love
Barnicles
xxx

I moved...

I moved to a new world and it's busy. I have two flates now instead of one and I'm socialising more than ever (and exercising too). I'm happy but its busy and tiring commuting during the week. My poor herb seeds have yet to be planted. There's alot of aussie rules footy but I have a lovely craft room I can retreat to if needed.

I think I look like a Mary in the photo above, it is one of my real names so I may try it out. Totally loving my new sunglasses.

Busy busy Barnybee xx

Listening to - Nina Nesbit - stay out and P!nk - just give me a reason 

I Love Aerial Yoga

I have recently discovered aerial yoga and fallen in love with it! It makes exercise fun and has such a calming effect, a fellow student commented how she feels she's had an all over massage afterwards. Is it exercise - yes! Do my muscles shake when planking? yes! It is relaxing- yes! Aerial yoga photos cutesy of Angela - Cloud 9 Yoga.

I think I'm quite lucky I found an amazing teacher whose teaching style suits me so well. In my first session the other students were so friendly and there were plenty of giggles. I went on my own after finding out about the class through facebook. I have hardly any yoga knowledge, don't go to the gym often enough and I am more likely to play with my hula hoop or poi poi. In my first session I tried everything the others had been doing for a few months, flying, inversions etc. Perhaps with bad posture and for not as long but I found it very accessable for a beginner.

I was really surprised how much fits into an hour. The sessions are broken down relaxation and breathing, stretches, flying, inversions and relaxation in your hammock to finish. Each session is slightly different which keeps it interesting. Sometimes it feels like a hammock, sometimes a trapeze, the options for experimentation on an aerial yoga hammock are endless! I want one at home now.

You may have noticed Pink using aerial silks in some of her performance pieces. Youtube will bring up examples and interviews - I love how she describes herself as a live artist, who doesn't record as well and says that singing upside down is actually easier for her. Silks are slightly different to hammocks and alot longer/higher but some of the moves are similar.

Me yesterday hanging out, you can go upload down from this move ... which is of course what I did next. I don't like interrupting the flow of the class to ask for pics but I'm happy just to get one! I have noticed a definite change in my body since I started Aerial Yoga... however it also coincided with my move to glasgow and a other change so I can't define wheither my weight loss was purely yoga. I can however blame being able to touch my toes, sometimes with my entire palms on my yoga teacher Angela, what next I ask? Bring it on.

 I encourage you to try if you have the oportunity, many places offer taster sessions and it's pretty much worldwide now although I am lucky to live in a city. If you have any questions just ask in the comments or email me. This post isn't sponsored I just fell in love and have so much fun.

Barnicles x

Barnicles daily blog reads

Which blogs do you check to cheer yourself up, your 'go-to' reads when you have time, your addiction where you wish for a new update to get a taste of new writing or pictures?

Here's my check list - please share your top 5 reads too and I'll be sure to check them out.

My daily blog reads change over time, sometimes they are foody, crafty and sometimes they are family blogs.

1. Ashley Ann - Under the Sycamore

2. Girls Gone Child

3. lil boo blue

4. The Anderson Crew

5. A Beautiful Mess

me in my new craft room - a work in progress- sorry about the mess!

Barnicles x

Moorea Seal wishlist

I have been a fan of Moorea Seal for years and reading her blog. All blogs develop over time, but I think Moorea has outdone herself with the photography, graphics and content of her blog recently.  It's clean, professional and inviting. 

Here are a few of my favourite Moorea Seal designs.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

I don't wear a lot of jewelry, (aside from my facial piercings) as I think they are quite statement and too much other jewelry can look overdone and I prefer a more subtle understated look like the examples above. I miss having bright hair but that was another distraction and I think being dark again I can get away with more. I really want a body harness but a very simple one like shown above. I may have to give in and buy on payday or make my own! I love quartz and leather and the earthy natural qualities to Moorea's collection. 

Barnicles x

Gran's tatting board

I am very lucky to have had two amazing grandmothers. I'm sad there is such a large age-gap as there is so much I could learn from them. RIP granny in America, an amazing dressmaker and card player. She knew how to host a good cocktail party and my barbies were the best dressed in town!

This is post is about my other Grandmother and I wanted to share her textiles work, hope you enjoy.

My dad's mother is amazing at textiles, taught me to knit, crochet, weave at a young age and as I have matured I have thrown myself into textiles again. If i had to define my creativity I guess textiles would sum it up, although I love constructed textiles too. I'm dreaming of a lace tatted dress. What do you think?

I got a new htc one + phone and I've been trying out the camera. I love my dlsr but as I mentioned in my last post instant blogging I prefer to blog what's on my mind, and if that means phone pics then at least I'm sharing. There is a queue of dslr pics to post, my new desk setup is awesome though so I'm hoping to be more productive!

This is my Gran's tatting board that she used to show examples when teaching tatting! I'm SO impressed. She gave it to me last time I visited. It's amazing. Tatting is just another string craft, like fish nets or friendships bracelets. A series of knots and picots to create a pattern. Concentration is the biggest challenge to get the pattern right. As it's knots it's not as easy to frog (unravel) as knit or crochet.

I know it's not a skill with large financial gain however it is an interesting skill that I believe should live on. I'm looking into teaching workshops, which would be aimed at customizing  and making personal projects. I have a beautiful waistcoat (of course from my Gran) with tatting edge. While it is intricate and detailed, tatting can be used in big scale, just as knit.

Hope you enjoyed these photos, I posted one on instagram and had imediate interest.
I can't wait to build up and share MY example board ;)

Keep calm and craft on!

Barnicles x

instant blogging?

Currently I'm moving house and abit frustrated with blogging. Sometimes when I don't blog instantly it feels pointless. I thought my blogger blog would be as easy as past blogs but for some reason its different. While I'm working things out I'm just going to try and update when I can. Things are changing with the move good or bad habits may be formed!

So this photo is me today, before I can opt out and delete this post. Complete with spots and blemishes.

This is my lunch - smoked tofu sandwich with spinach in ciabatta. SO TASTY! nom nom. (No I'm not vegan.)

and this is my sexy face :)

Barnicles x

Pinhappy - be inspired

We all love Pinterest. If you haven't already I encourage you to sign up and use it for knitting/crochet/quilting tutorials or recipes! The categories are large and amazing and you can pin any other recipes/tutorials you find. It's a great way to keep track of your favourite pages on the internet. Don't let your bookmarks get out of control. If you pin it you can always find it again! (This is not sponsored, I promise and if you pin 400 things to one board it may take you a little while to find it!)

Pinterest can be overwhelming at times with the amount of inspiration from completed projects and tutorials. It can be visual overload, but it's a perfect inspiration board.

This year I finally got Pinterest on my phone - and I'm loving the app. I have a bad habit of pinning everything to my inspiration board - it does all inspire me, but it's a lazy way of pinning. Then later sorting it later into categories. One of my goals this year is to go through the tutorials and diy's and repin them to my competed projects/tutorials board with an example of what I made.

I highly recommend you check it out - you can find me at here - Barnicles on pinterest. I'm not promoting the site - I'm promoting creating. I've taught myself so much since discovering pinterest, full of tutorials. To give you an idea here are some of my boards - Food, Embroidery, Sewing ideas/tutorials, wool crafts, my dream studio, photography (full of tutorials+info), paper crafts, quotes, diy's, etc, see them all here!

I believe we don't need a university or tutor to teach us, so much information is in libraries or on the internet we can teach ourselves, even if your grannies are too old! (I kind of wish I was born 10 years earlier so my grandparents were younger and I could learn more from my Granny in America who was an amazing dressmaker and my Granny Judy in cornwall who taught me to knit, crochet, tatting etc.

Enjoy and be inspired, try new things.

Note - do you think pinterest is creating too much inspiration for us or targeting too many people with the same ideas? 

Barnicles

Blast from the past

I'm enjoying sorting through all photos and thought I would share some photos that document my life and how I have evolved.

Do you believe in fairies? I used to be a silver-faery. The past is part of us, that I think we should embrace. Sometimes I miss that girl ^^^.

Barnicles x

Happy Snow Day

I'm actually still in work, but there seems to be snow everywhere! Particularly in places it never snows like London and Paris!

My beloved blowfish boots now have holes in them so I've been doing my best in wellies. I do feel silly walking around town (where there's no snow left) in them but outside the city at work there is still a foot of snow!

Saw this and loved it so much I had to share. No credit so if you know where it's from let me know.

http://imgur.com/A6kEWCw

Did you get any snow, go tobogganing or build snow men, castles, or rude objects?

Barnicles

Weekend life

Hey there, I'm surrounded by my family - my best mate/flatmate and boyfriend and feeling inspired to update about the simple joys of a weekend at home.



Nothing is as enjoyable as spending a day with my family with us each doing our own things. Why? Because we love doing our own things together. Currently Gus my boyfriend is playing on my pc "Heroes of Might and Magic", Charlie my amazing flatmate is playing LOTR lego, which I love watching but do not have the concentration span to play! While I write blogs, knit, work on a jigsaw and potter about doing chores. Which shouldn't really be called chores. An unforgettable quote from my mum which my brother in law quoted me was about being happy if we are present in every task we attempt. Yup, Im attempting to be present while washing up and walking places rather than imagining being elsewhere and my to do list. It's working remarkably well now, even though I wasn't very receptive at the time I heard it.

Side note - lego building in video games sounds awesome. Listening to the game makes me want to watch LOTR again! I am actually disappointed when Charlie decides she needs a break from the game. So fun to watch. Incase we all sound very lazy right now, we all have full time jobs, some of us study as well and for all of us this is our down time.

Gus made us a great dinner last night which we will be reheating for dinner tonight (it was that good). Pasta with haloumi, sun-dried tomatos, olives (black and green) and sausage. He kept it fresh with no butter, frying the sausages in vegetable oil and dressing the pasta with light amount of olive oil and balasmic vinegar.

So while my boyfriend uses my beloved pc (or should that be beloved bf uses my... amazing pc). I'm using the oldest ibook in the world. Connected by an ethernet cable this is my laptop. I find it alot easier to write on a laptop than pc, but easier to link in photos on a pc (or faster machine!!)

Hope your having a relaxing weekend :)
Barnicles

Dear 2013 - you start with bad news

We look forward to a new start - a new chance in the new year. Then this week I heard two pieces of bad news which were more important that my stupid little problems. The news shook me, it wasn't mine and perhaps it is silly for me to be upset by it. I'm sensitive though, and overwhelmed by empathy. I spent that night on my own, doing nothing. My brain needed a vacation.

This year will definitely bring change. There is so much we cannot control and all we can do is focus on ourselves and our loved ones around us.

Today is also the anniversary of an old friend passing. His sister and friends keep his memory alive and he is forever in our thoughts. His essence and goodness lives on. It is so nice to see him being remembered so strongly years later.

I didn't feel like posting resolutions or normal posts this week. While I was swept up in new year fever of inspiration and new goals the bad news was sobering. Of course we can find the good in the bad and make ourselves better, more decisive and constructive in our lives. Saying this I still found it hard to find a pic to accompany this post. I am working on 700 pics from christmas with the family in wales, and wasn't sure if any of them fitted...

I'll leave you with this photo and a bad rehash of something said at pales quaker christmas meeting this year. The theme was rebirth and although the members of the meeting are older, my nephew was there, squeaking and coo-ing during the silence (time at the beggining of a quaker meeting where people can reflect and think, and perhaps afterwards share their thoughts with the meeting). My sister was embarassed but I think everyone enjoyed his presence. Babies are a good reminder of the good in all of us. We lit candles on the table in the centre of us to make the light grow. A few people talked about winter, parts of us dying in order for rebirth and the light of the spring. We have seasons in our life independent of the earth's seasons. It is a nice metaphore. This year is about change. My relationship with my dad had, perhaps died and in 2012 was was brought back to life. My gorgeous nephew brought the family together and a series of celebratory events drew us closer. None as important than his birth.

 xxx Barnicles

Dinner

Last night I took inspiration from Lil Blue Boo Ashley and had a butchers block dinner.

It's more exciting that my usual bag of salad with dressing to dip into or carrot sticks. I even tried ranch dressing - but I'm still making my mind up on that. I also had a load more salad - that stuff does not fit on a plate and lettuce disappears so fast when you start snacking on it.... with a little bit of french dressing to dip. I go for extra crunchy salad. Yum!

 Things you should know :-

1. I'm not pretending my photo is as nice as Ashley's, in fact I'm not even competing.
2. This isn't about calories or health. No pretending!
3. The chicken was the last thing left on the plate, no joke.

In no order - cooked chicken, pickles, carrot sticks, crunchy lettuce, Philadelphia for the carrot sticks and french dressing for the salad leaves.

CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH :)

Barnicles

Glasgow (random) adventures

My new case - a bit beaten but I think it's pretty. Kinda heavy when full but extra useful for carrying Christmas Tree Fancy Dress outfit. Oh yes, that's what I said... Tree costume!

 

The best way to improve makeup skills? Practice on the train! If your lucky you will have a nifty space on the back of the seat in front to wedge your mirror.

Remember at this stage NO - MAKEUP is better than BAD - MAKEUP aka black eyeliner EVERYWHERE.

I gave in a bought a knitting magazine, was mostly unimpressed apart from these labels! so lovely :)

When I was next in Edinburgh Fabrics I picked up a roll of tape with 'handmade with love' - it is a very good motto!

Introducing Mono - Glasgow. 

All I can say is great bloody marys and smoked tofu sandwich. mmmmm

I'M A CHRISTMAS TREE

And finally to finish the weekend - back to mono for chocolate chip pancake with maple syrup AND cream and of course another tofu sandwich - I'm addicted. I can't help it! I can't find smoked tofu in Edinburgh and it's driving me mad. Glasgow has so many nice vegan places with yummy salads. I'm not a vegan but I just like a variety of food.

Happy Christmas!

Barnicles

Guest Post - Ponychops

Check out the Christmas themed DIY on Ponychops today! DIY Embroidered Christmas Cards written by Barnicles!



I had a little trouble with the photos since it's so dark up here and I had no access to hours with natural light to shoot.
 

Please check it out and let me know what you think :)

Happy Christmas crafting! Today I am finishing up baby mittens and knitting some armwarmers for my sister!

Barnicles 

Are we over-exposed?

Are we over-exposed? over-saturated or over-inspired?

Is it really possible to be over inspired? Perhaps creatively not, any inspiration is good, however my brain likes to be able to process things. It says stop - I am not able to take in anymore... that there are too many unfinished projects in my mind and I'm struggling loosing control of them all, and what if I forget the best idea in the world?

What if I stop, and I let my brain unravel and I try everything it wants me to. I make or attempt everything until my ideas are exhausted.

Then I would be ready to charge up on inspiration again and hopefully keep up with my creativity.

Somehow all those ideas which have never been realised are suffocating me.

I continue to create yet am I really moving forward?

B

" I create, therefore I am "
 

Travels

So the road, or the family calls. Bags are packed and monies transferred, flights booked and panic about car hire. We were off on another ADVENTURE!

Thursday

Goodbye Edinburgh

Hello airport gate queue!

I had just picked up a bento box from Yo sushi so was vhappy :)  (bento box not pictured. it was salmon and tuna and very tasty)

Friday - Hello bristol, hello dad, hello stepsisters wedding!

Hello sis and nephew. Hello highly inappropriate shoes for babysitting/dancing. As my sister put it "Just a usual fri nite out with the baby #getemongottobedone#"

Saturday - Hello babysitting! or baby watching. He's magical and I just watched him sleep for an hour admiring his tiny 6 week old features. (that cute nose!)

Sunday - My stepmom made the best breakfast ever - pancakes with bacon AND/OR smoked salmon! She spoils us!

These are just a few phone pics, with proper pics coming soon! Hope your all doing well preparing for Christmas or whatever you celebrate! I'm so excited about my birthday in less than a WEEK! WOOOOOOHOOOOO

Barnicles