Tuesday 26 March 2013

Journalling the old fashioned way

It was my Birthday recently and as a consequence I had a little money to spend on myself.

I procrastinated over handbags, sandals for the summer, jewellery and a number of other things that I don't need. In the end I settled upon finally getting myself set up to journal the old fashioned way; paper, pen, ACTUAL photos. To modernise my journal I also purchased some fun washi tape and post-it notes.

One of the things I struggled with, was a way to instantly print a photo to add to my journal. I do own a photo printer but the pictures come out too big (or be a faff to resize). Ideally I wanted something that would print a small sticker so I could just stick it straight into my journal. I did a bit of research and came across Printstagr.am, where you can print your Instagram photos as stickers...perfect! except I can't have them instantly and you have to order a few at a time (252 to be exact). I did order some (of course), I just couldn't resist, but it wasn't the long-term solution I was looking for. Then my husband remembered a gadget it heard about in the past called a Polaroid Pogo. Unfortunately Polaroid don't make these anymore so we searched for second-hand ones. It prints a small print direct from my camera, or PC and can be used as a sticker too. It is perfect for my needs. 

Polaroid PoGo

Aqua

It arrived today and it's brilliant. Easy to use and the picture quality isn't bad. Unfortunately it isn't compatible with my iPhone, major fail on Apple's part in my opinion. For now I am printing directly from my camera, but in future (when I arm myself with a USB to USB cable, I will print from my PC)
Amazing! I can't wait to get the rest of my journaling pieces so I can get going with it #nofilter

Not bad at all
Untitled



Sunday 24 March 2013

Oil cleansing

For as long as I can remember I have had problem skin. Too oily, too dry, large pores, acne.

I have tried everything to clean pores, clear spots, moisturise dry areas, whilst de-oiling the oily parts. So far nothing has worked and I'm still on this lifelong mission to find something amazing.

I found a link on pinterest for oil cleansing. I'd never heard of it before but it made perfect sense and so I pinned it to try later. A friend of mine noticed that I'd pinned it and (jointly with another friend) bought me the bits I needed, for my Birthday. I was thrilled! I've been meaning to buy the stuff in for a while now, but going out to buy things I need seems to be a road block for me to do anything new...but now I have no excuse.

For anyone who isn't familiar with this technique, here is the link to the original blog post that inspired me.

I'm using equal parts Castor Oil and Sweet Almond Oil. You simply mix them together and store them in a container of your choosing. I'm using an old facewash bottle.

Oil cleansing

The blog post above states you must use cold pressed Castor Oil...check!

Oil cleansing

Ok, so I guess it's time to embarrass myself and show you my skin sans foundation...these will be known as "before" 

Here goes...

Oil cleansing

Oil cleansing

Oil cleansing

So basically you put a small amount in your hand and massage it into your face for 1 minute. Then you get a wash cloth nice and hot (but not so hot that you scold yourself) and put it over your face for a minute. By the end of the minute your cloth should have cooled. Then simply wipe (not scrub) the oil from your face. 

Ta da, you are done!

Do this at night only and rinse with plain water each morning.

I've had my first wash with my oil mixture and first impressions are that it doesn't feel even remotely as bad as I thought it would. In fact my skin felt lovely afterwards. I'm used to having tight skin after a wash and trying to calm it with moisturiser, I didn't need to do that this time. 

I will report back after a week...watch this space. 

Wednesday 20 March 2013

A new beginning: Weighday

I made the decision today to make my journal a little broader than craft alone. 

There are several aspects of my life that I would like to write about, so rather than having several blogs posted here, there and everywhere, I thought..why not just have one blog that covers everything? 

Therefore my first non-craft related post will be about something that I've battled with for my entire adult life...my weight. I've dieted on and off since I was about 15yrs old, even though I didn't really have a big weight problem until I was around 21 years old (2 years after moving in with my husband, funnily enough). 

I have tried many many diets, but the only one that works for me is Slimming World...I have been successful in the past on Slimming World, once losing over 4 stone...then I had 2 children. 

I rejoined at the beginning of this year and I've been yo-yoing since. Today I am back on plan. My Birthday is out of the way (and I only gained 0.5lb over that 2 week period, so I was pretty pleased about that) and I'm going to attempt to go back to basics and have a green week. I've also bought myself a lovely diet plaque (see below) to spur me on. Watch this space to see how that works out for me. 

diet plaque