I came home to something approximating this sight after training last night!

Plus Hot Fuzz on DVD AND an ipod cover.

I'm in love!

Over at

http://flurogoddess.blogspot.com

Change your bookmarks! NOW!

but in a crafty way...

This post on refasioning a PILLOWCASE into a NIGHTIE for a full grown woman has me a little lost for words...

I am currently re-reading Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters which is an American book about us 20-somethings hating our bodies and thinking that we have to be perfect and that includes our bodies. There are sad descriptions of woman after woman feeling bad for eating a cookie, spending 3 hours on a treadmill to counteract a bite of chocolate and throwing up after eating a pizza. It breaks my heart into tiny pieces and I can't fathom what it is but it also touches the "perfect girl" in me to eat less. It's bizzare.

Yesterday when I was searching through Getty Images for that picture of the note book, I'd put in the search term "too much" and I got a whole array of pictures coming back. There were some pretty disturbing ones of a stick thin model, with her ribs showing trying to saw off some "fat" from her thighs, others with her pinching some skin for the skin-fold callipers and then on the next page, at least 3 or 4 of her pictured throwing up over a toilet. There were pictures of her sitting on a toilet eating a big chocolate cake and others in the series with the empty plate and her puking. I don't know how to feel about these pictures, I think they are a disgrace and that to a certain extent they make a mockery out of a serious illness. Although it is a sign of our times that some people feel brazen enough to set up studio shots and photograph scenes depicting eating disorders, is it necessarily the right thing to do? I mean we all know that people have eating disorders, now more so than ever but is there any need to glamourise it to a certain extent. I do not need to be shown a picture of some made up model in a bikini(!) puking over a toilet to be aware of Bulimia. In fact, I wouldn't say that the girls who are Bulimic are going to be wearing their bikinis to throw up. What's up with that?

Then I was on my way to training last night, thinking about a new-ish girl who is really flippin gorgeous and is doing really well with her martial arts, she seems to be progressing really really well. Anyway I was riding along and thinking to myself that she has a really great figure, nicely curvy and she has these deep brown eyes and black curly hair, a bit like a more polished version of me (at least she makes an effort with her hair)! So we were sparring last night and she said not to hit her in the stomach, which is fine, no worries. She's got a bit of a dodgy knee at the moment, and also I overheard her say something about a bad back to Lee. Basically no concerns. In my ladies class I run her through the Orange Belt techniques and assess her and she passes with flying colours, even with bad back and bad knee. After the class I tell her that she's passed  and well done. Then she says to me, "The reason I don't want anyone touching my stomack or my back is because... (here I'm thinking she's going to say pregnant...) I've had liposuction." EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS!

REALLY?

Really? Because I for one (and I don't say this) can't see any difference at all. Perhaps her belly is a little flatter, but still, she is still her, and still pretty gorgeous. I said, "But you have a lovely figure." and she counteracts this with the fact that she's been wearing black!!! Like that makes any difference other than when you're standing in front of the mirror! In my class I see ladies from all angles and in all posistions, I generally have an idea of people's shape and size. But she protested and said she'd been having trouble with it since the age of 12. The way she protested and the way she dismissed my compliments had echoes of myself in there. I know I have batted away compliments because I have been fat in my head rather than physically. At the moment I am a little chubbier than usual (you know baby weight, well I have house weight) but my head pretty much feels slim. When I look in the mirror at the moment it doesn't reflect what I feel, but I am working on that (just not to the point of starvation or puking or running 5 miles at dawn). I felt a little disapointed that my hope for a "normal girl" in my class turns out to be another perfect girl and a starving daughter. I felt a little bit like when Lindsay Lohan started shrinking because I had seen her in Mean Girls and gone "Phwoar!" over the fact that there was a real woman with real curves playing a teenager in a high school that would most probably be rife with eating disorders. I remember commenting to my hubs that she was gorgeous, and I remember seeing LiLo looking all lollipopped and I just felt like that was one in the eye for the "normal" girls who were just trying to be normal and not a messed-up perfect girl.

Another thought, which however unjustified it may be was, "Gosh if she's had lipo, then does that mean that I should?" I mean she's about the same size as me, same amount of curve, same hair etc.... Fortunately liposuction is something that you couldn't PAY me enough to have. I don't like the idea of diliberately injuring myself for the sake of vanity, when really the work that needs to be done would be in my head. One good thing about this is she says that it has dramatically improved her self-image. I am pleased that it has "worked" for her, but I am sad that she had to take that drastic route when perhaps a few self-help books and a good natter with a best mate would've sorted out the problems in her head. I'm also a little bit sad that I hadn't told her how gorgeous I thought she was before her surgery. Not that it would've changed anything but it might have meant a little bit more to her.

or like a kid in a candy shop depending on my mood!



This is almost what my ideas book looks like at the moment! I have signed up for a Christmas craft fair and most of my ideas are Christmassy ones! I've also got a couple of softies to make, one for my swap and another couple for a secret surprise wedding present in a couple of weeks time.

I have a secret something to do for a certain person's birthday coming up...

And some stuff for my bank holiday craft fair.

I'm also thinking about calendars for 2009 and I just wonder what to put on them. Wonder wonder. I need a theme! I need to start drawing!

Tonight I'm off to training, then tomorrow I will be staying late to get a start on the crafting. DH is out all Saturday so I think I will be crafting then too! I might make use of the space at work, rather than getting frustrated over the tininess of the flat. It also means that I won't have any distractions.... Huzzah!

Oh, I also got 2 huge parcels in the post this morning, lots of 58mm badge backs, so I can make bigger badges, and kids can create their own... And a big box full of envelopes that I will be using for Christmas cards and hopefully some new address cards (if we ever get a new address).

Tweet tweet!

I feel like I've been hit with a sledgehammer!

I lifted weights last night after a week or two off, then I taught my littlies at kickboxing - after that I was in a pretty good mood and was quite awake for a while, but then hubby kept me up till 11:30 on the computer. It's not as if we can close the bedroom door in our little bedsit! Gah! So anyway, I woke up this morning pooped, and I tried to nap at lunchtime but then I got rained on.

Waaaaaaaaaa!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade flurogoddess.etsy.com

I am now doing custom orders on mirrors, also 58mm badges and 25mm badges.

Thought I'd post you some photos from last weekend since the blog has been a little photo-lite recently.



This is my friend Jenny and her husband Mike



This is us! The husband is actually smiling!

Ok, so I joined a UK Crafts Forum, which has proved fantastic! The people on there are really kind and knowledgeable!

Anyway, so I signed up for a swap organised by Claire's Crafty Blog. It is a ROBOT SWAP! Squeeee! I love robots and already have some robot artwork that might inspire me. I get to swap with the lovely K. who is in the process of making a denim patchwork quilt! Eeeeks!

I'm getting ready for the August Bank Holiday craft fair in Goathland - I had a stall there on Saturday and I took a whole pound! I managed to increase my takings by finding 5p on the floor! Wahoo! If anyone is popping by Goathland at the August Bank Holiday, come and say hello, and download my 10% discount voucher for bargains galore!

I'm quite excited about the back end of the year - I've got the 3rd and final wedding to attend in September, where I will be playing photographer, in October I'm going to hold a stall in Brixton again, in November I might be at Bagshot and I'm going to We Make Christmas in December and Brixton again the day after.

I found this on flickr, and I thought you should see it.

Ain't teh interwebs great?

Yesterday I got a private message on a craft forum I visit asking if I could make some mirrors and as of this moment in time the order is paid for, complete and in the post.

I have 150 flea bites.

They look like they are going to leave nice scars.

(and moving on out... hopefully)

Well there's not much left to go with the H-word apart from all the searches, which of course will turn up a billion things that need sorting, I am sure. DH and I and my friend and her kid went to see the house yesterday lunchtime. There is a MAHOOSIVE stain of wet and mould and cringeable stuff in one corner, that I somehow didn't see (I must have been suffering temporary BLINDNESS it is that big). I am an idiot and have been merrily beating myself up about it for the past 24 hours. But according to my Dad (not only a builder and surveyor but teacher of builders and surveyors) it is a classic condensation patch. PHEW. I don't know quite why you need to know this detail, but I have been keeping fairly quiet on the H front, because I am aware that there is no-one quite as boring as a house bore. I have been having everyone else's house stories, and yes, they are boring! I just want to tell you about mine! So yeah, hopefully things are going to be ok, hopefully the searches will pan out, hopefully we won't have to live in that tiny little room any more! Hopefully I won't pass out from the 3 flights of stairs I have to climb every day! Hopefully I will enjoy moving house! Hopefully I will be given a little bit of time off work to move since I have no holidays left....

This is why I don't tell you about the house ;-)

Okay, so in my non-house-related world - last weekend I went to a Hen Do. Yes I forgot to tell you about that! We went to Ladies' Day at Newcastle Races and dressed up and I made some cute little "Jen's Hen" badges with a little chickie on them! We went out for dinner and dancing and I was the tiredest thing on this earth. I almost fell asleep in the club, standing up!

On Sunday I met DH in Manchester and got some "Flurogoddess" coloured vest tops and a zippy hoodie! Then I passed out on the coach on the way home!

I took yesterday off work to pack stuff for the wedding tomorrow, and buy wrapping paper, and necklaces and dance with babies in Leicester Square.

I still have a ton of stuff to do tonight - I am training until 9pm and our train is at 6:15am tomorrow. Deep. Joy.

The weekend has a wedding, a craft fair, and a Traction Engine Rally. I can't wait. I hope there's some room for sleeping in there!

The bank is considering...

I am submersing myself in busy, travelling the length and breadth of the country over the weekend and trying to enjoy myself despite the tiredness. I downed 4 Red Bulls on Saturday evening in an attempt to stay awake, but I still passed straight out when my head hit the pillow.

Here's what I've been doing this lunchtime:

Heh.

I have ordered a badge maker! Hoorah!

I have also made another little notebook with a blown dandelion on the front, that was cute to draw.

Things are still all over the place with the H-word, and it's getting tiring and emotional. There is also some rubbish stuff going on at work, which is horrid and makes me want to stay in bed in the mornings and not come in.

I wish I could just disappear into a little room, shut myself in for a while, and actually get on with some work, and some craft and then emerge like a beautiful, productive butterfly.

Things here are all over the place, like clogs and watermelons.

The craft fair in Kilburn on Sunday was great! I met some wonderful ladies at the African Showcase and I got to wear my first African head wrap! The day was particularly profitable since we walked to the park with our wheelie suitcase rather than borrow the van from work and pay for the diesel.

On Monday I started my new gym workout incorporating plyometric exercises for jumping kicks. Grrr. I have a love hate relationship with it. Part of me thinks I'm not going to succeed, but part of me loves jumping around. I'm also really trying to "trim down" which is not conducive to optimal performance and makes it hard to go without my Pepsi Max crutch.

I ended up teaching 2 martial arts classes on Tuesday, one a private lesson and one a group of 30 students. It was so hot that I wasn't keen on doing any training anyway!

I have a couple of paper projects on the go at the moment - one is the Order of Service for my friends' wedding on Saturday, I just have to finish folding the rest of the 100 copies I printed out last night.

I'm also working on these



but with a sheep and "Notes from Goathland" on the front. The notepads are made from 100% recycled and reclaimed printer paper. They have plain, usable pages on both sides, unlike some of the recycled notepads that are just used printer pages bound together without any thought of use! Of course, these are available in the shop.

I am also thinking about buying a badge maker. In fact it's a pretty dead cert, but I have no-where to put it right at this moment in time. I might just wait a few more weeks since we have had a massive bundle of documents sent from the solicitor re: the H word. I must fax him some stuff today.

I was waiting in the queue this morning and what should leap out on me but a snow leopard!

Ok, ok so perhaps I am a little sleep-deprived, but really, leopards in Tesco! Who knew!?



The girl's hair was completely white, cut in a short choppy crop 'do, then she'd shaved the back right quarter so that it was partially covered by her longer choppy hair, and on the shaved bit - was leopard print. Talk about a girl crush! I almost stalked her right out of the store!