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