by Bex
I love trying new things so this January Joy prompt from Florence Finds is a good one to get me thinking about what new things I'd like to have a go at this year. I am not good at learning when it comes to reading about things, I was terrible at passing exams when I had to learn from books. I had to repeat a year at university as a result. When I was able to learn skills and practice them and do things, I could pick things up and remember them so easily, passing exams was easier after a certain stage, once the practical work started. I'm a very visual learner it seems.
Anyway, I suspect that's why I love crafts so much, I love learning and doing practical things. Over the last couple of years, since all the crafting and making things for our wedding, I have tried learning lots of new crafts, helped along by the fact I like blogging about them and of course, since I discovered Pinterest!
Recently (in the last couple of years) I've had a go at screen printing (where I met Roz), making decorations out of dough, making cards, making bath bombs, re-learning how to make friendship bracelets, felting and felting patches, a little bit of carpentry (an update on that tomorrow now Christmas is over!), making gift tags and bunting, I even made an apron.
Things I'd like to learn this year include making macarons (something I have been meaning to try for ages - I even have a recipe with tips from aDizzyGirl!), making a neon dream catcher (thanks to Foodie Historian for the pin), making soap (thanks to The Mrs Makes for the idea) and I want to get more adventurous with my sewing projects. I have lots of half made or entirely unmade items of clothing to make but keep putting it off as I need to re-learn how to sew in zips and be more confident cutting and sewing more complicated designs than cushions and vests. Especially since I would LOVE to make myself a maxi skirt out of this amazing green sequin fabric! I also have a half made coat which I began when I still lived in Dundee (about 8 years ago) which I'd love to finish!
I'd also like to learn more about food & fashion photography, I really want to improve my pictures on the blog, especially outfit photos. The problem is finding a willing subject to take pictures outdoors which would be the ideal. I always end up just posing in front of the mirror and snapping myself. If I'm stuck with myself as my own photographer, I might try setting up the tripod in the study instead and see if I can get better shots that way. I love sharing my outfits, it makes me more experimental with my style and I love seeing other outfit photos as inspiration and want to do the same. I just wish I could get better photos to represent my outfit ideas, I see so many amazing outfit photos on blogs like ThankFiFi, Florence Finds and on Pinterest, I just don't know how to get such quality photos by myself. It doesn't help that when I do have a photographer (Nik) handy, I always feel a bit awkward knowing how to pose and he feels weird taking outfit photos of me in public so it's always done in a rush. Any tips would be gratefully received! :)
As far as learning from a personal development objective - I've already mentioned that I'm trying to adjust my attitude this year and learn to be happier with my life, even when things are going wrong. I am really enjoying filling in my "Happy Diary" each day, especially since it's so pretty! :) It hasn't been easy to keep thinking positive, we're still in another state of limbo waiting for my MRI this time and all the while we're still learning of more and more people we know becoming pregnant. I currently know 12 friends who are pregnant and at least 17 who have had babies since we found out we can't. There's no getting away from it, we're at that age where our friends and colleagues are at a similar stage in life and starting families. I am actually finding it easier these days to focus on being happy for them and less on being sad that it may never be us. It's been a while since I cried over our situation (the last time was when my operation was unsuccessful) which I'm viewing as a success! I want to learn to deal with it better for my own sake as well as my friends'. I want to be cool Auntie Bex, not miserable, jealous Bex.
From the list above, I will have plenty of things to keep me occupied this year, whatever happens. Learning new things is always a good way to live life and not dwell on the bad stuff I reckon! And just maybe we'll finally learn some good news about my body and our chances of conceiving after my MRI. :)
I love trying new things so this January Joy prompt from Florence Finds is a good one to get me thinking about what new things I'd like to have a go at this year. I am not good at learning when it comes to reading about things, I was terrible at passing exams when I had to learn from books. I had to repeat a year at university as a result. When I was able to learn skills and practice them and do things, I could pick things up and remember them so easily, passing exams was easier after a certain stage, once the practical work started. I'm a very visual learner it seems.
Anyway, I suspect that's why I love crafts so much, I love learning and doing practical things. Over the last couple of years, since all the crafting and making things for our wedding, I have tried learning lots of new crafts, helped along by the fact I like blogging about them and of course, since I discovered Pinterest!
Recently (in the last couple of years) I've had a go at screen printing (where I met Roz), making decorations out of dough, making cards, making bath bombs, re-learning how to make friendship bracelets, felting and felting patches, a little bit of carpentry (an update on that tomorrow now Christmas is over!), making gift tags and bunting, I even made an apron.
Things I'd like to learn this year include making macarons (something I have been meaning to try for ages - I even have a recipe with tips from aDizzyGirl!), making a neon dream catcher (thanks to Foodie Historian for the pin), making soap (thanks to The Mrs Makes for the idea) and I want to get more adventurous with my sewing projects. I have lots of half made or entirely unmade items of clothing to make but keep putting it off as I need to re-learn how to sew in zips and be more confident cutting and sewing more complicated designs than cushions and vests. Especially since I would LOVE to make myself a maxi skirt out of this amazing green sequin fabric! I also have a half made coat which I began when I still lived in Dundee (about 8 years ago) which I'd love to finish!
I'd also like to learn more about food & fashion photography, I really want to improve my pictures on the blog, especially outfit photos. The problem is finding a willing subject to take pictures outdoors which would be the ideal. I always end up just posing in front of the mirror and snapping myself. If I'm stuck with myself as my own photographer, I might try setting up the tripod in the study instead and see if I can get better shots that way. I love sharing my outfits, it makes me more experimental with my style and I love seeing other outfit photos as inspiration and want to do the same. I just wish I could get better photos to represent my outfit ideas, I see so many amazing outfit photos on blogs like ThankFiFi, Florence Finds and on Pinterest, I just don't know how to get such quality photos by myself. It doesn't help that when I do have a photographer (Nik) handy, I always feel a bit awkward knowing how to pose and he feels weird taking outfit photos of me in public so it's always done in a rush. Any tips would be gratefully received! :)
As far as learning from a personal development objective - I've already mentioned that I'm trying to adjust my attitude this year and learn to be happier with my life, even when things are going wrong. I am really enjoying filling in my "Happy Diary" each day, especially since it's so pretty! :) It hasn't been easy to keep thinking positive, we're still in another state of limbo waiting for my MRI this time and all the while we're still learning of more and more people we know becoming pregnant. I currently know 12 friends who are pregnant and at least 17 who have had babies since we found out we can't. There's no getting away from it, we're at that age where our friends and colleagues are at a similar stage in life and starting families. I am actually finding it easier these days to focus on being happy for them and less on being sad that it may never be us. It's been a while since I cried over our situation (the last time was when my operation was unsuccessful) which I'm viewing as a success! I want to learn to deal with it better for my own sake as well as my friends'. I want to be cool Auntie Bex, not miserable, jealous Bex.
From the list above, I will have plenty of things to keep me occupied this year, whatever happens. Learning new things is always a good way to live life and not dwell on the bad stuff I reckon! And just maybe we'll finally learn some good news about my body and our chances of conceiving after my MRI. :)
1 comment:
One of my things for 2014 is to take better photos! Got myself a new lense for Xmas as a starting point but have stalled there somewhat...!
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