Second holiday goal complete - Beyoncé Stencil

Something Crafty

For a long time I have been meaning to do an Andy Warhol style piece of Beyoncé stencils grouped together in different colours. And the other day, I finished it.

I completed the actual stencil about a 3 months ago, but the weather hadn't been great on weekends, I didn't get spray paint until a while after, and I was still busy with basketball and school. So what better tim to do it in the Holidays. 

My friend from school mentioned to me a while ago, that her friend makes stencils from covers of display folders. So I cut off the cover of a spare display folder. Printed a Beyoncé stencil off the computer, stuck it on and got cuttin'.

I did it out side on a old pin board leaned up against a tree in my yard. Then began sprayin'.

The thing that was a bit difficult is scrubbing the spray paint off the plastic with turpentine while trying not to bend the stencil. I recommend getting a flat tray (eg. paint rolling tray) before doing this, filling it with turpentine, (just enough that if you lay the stencil down it would cover it), so that after your finished with one colour/the last coat, you can get it off easier and it doesn't ruin your next one.

What you'll Need:

- Display folder to cut out stencil. (can use thick paper)

- Spray paint

- Stanley knife

- Gas mask or mask (for fumes0

- Turpentine

- A couple of rags (to put the turpentine on

- A flat tray/ Paint rolling tray (to put the turpentine in)

- Gloves (to wear while spraying or using turpentine)

- Flat board or ground to use as a surface to lean your stencil on

- Flat paper or wall (depending on what you will be spray onto)

My stencil...

Stencil I cut out on display folder cover

You can make any thing!... Tshirts, Cards

First holiday goal compete - Gingerbread men

Although its not Christmas, I completed my first holiday goal of creating some Gingerbread men.

At Christmas time I love to be extravagant, and create an entire creation of a Gingerbread house. However because it's not Christmas, I thought I could settle with making something a little toned down.

Making Gingerbread men is fun and easy. You can make a number of different sizes and shapes, and it doesn't even take that long to make.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Time to cook: 10 minutes

All you need is: (to make 25 average sized men)

1/2 golden syrup

2 1/2 cup Plain Flour

1 tsp bicarb Soda

125g butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup Brown sugar

1 egg separated

tbs ground ginger

tsp nutmeg

tsp cinnamon

Royal icing:

egg whites (from the separated egg)

1 cup icing sugar (can vary)

Food dye, any colour (amount varies, for me usually 3 drops)

Icing- for when you drop the egg whites, or accidentally throw them out:

2 tsp butter

tbs milk

1 cup icing sugar

method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

2. Beat the butter and brown sugar with wooden spoon or electric beater, until creamy

3. Beat in egg and golden syrup until combined

4. Add flour, and use a wooden spoon and your hand to fold into the mixture along with the cinnamon, 5.ginger, and nutmeg

6. Then pack in tight ball, wrap in glad wrap, and place in fridge for 30min

7. Meanwhile, make the icing, by putting the icing sugar in a bowl and gradually adding the egg whites (or milk and softened butter) and food dye, until thick but not dry.

8. After 30 minutes in the fridge, Dust some flour over a flat surface/bench top, take out the gingerbread and roll out into a 4-5mm thick disc, to cut shapes out with your cookie cutters

9. Place in oven for 10 minutes (keep an eye on them through out)

10. After 10 minutes take them out and wait till they're cool. Then decorate with the icing. You can use a piping bag, or Zip lock bag with a small whole in the corner.

Enjoy!

Ingredients needed to make the gingerbread


Butter and brown sugar combined


Separated egg


Egg yolk and golden syrup added



Flour and Spices added



Flouring surface for rolling

Put in a ball in glad rap to be placed in the fridge

 Cookie cutting time

Some of the cookies on the greased trays to be put in the oven

Fresh baked Cookies

Iced Gingerbread men

Some close up faces

Icing out in a zip lock bag. If you want to save plastic you could put two in one like i've done here

Pipin' away

The Cheetahs hit the Beach...

The Cheetahs went down to the beach to have a picnic...
We read trash mags, ate food, and went walkin'...
Having a Cheetah catch up is great fun, especially when your an easy bunch of Cheetahs...
Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, Aquanetta ... Growl Power ...

Cheetah Adventure Details:

Adventure food: Cheetah olives, Cheetah avocado dip, Cheetah tsatziki, Cheetah corn chips, Cheetah fruit salad, Cheetah Pepsi, Cheetah fairy bread, Cheetah cheesles, Cheetah chocolate, dried Cheetah mango, and Cheetah bread sticks.

Adventure activities: mystery of the unexplained cloud of water shooting out of something changing continuously from clear to black, cartwheels and round offs, walk along the beach and the pier, trash mag talk, photo capture, and the distant sense and spotting of familiar people.

Adventure transport: Tram, and by foot. 

Future Adventure: Next stop... The beach again... 

Watch to see what we got up to... 'We're so classic'

Holidays have begun...

Holidays are a great time to create, do, and admire...

What I aim to complete during these two week holidays...

1. Make something crafty

2. Read a book

3. Go roller blading down at the beach

4. Take out my braids

5. Go for 3 runs around 'The Tan'

6. Make some Ginger bread men

7. Become a pro at the cup song

8. Complete my homework

Keep checking my blog, follow, or subscribe to see how many I can complete...

Lost

Yesterday I finished the TV series lost...

I am definitely the biggest fan of suspense TV shows...

I always start out in the first 5ish minutes of the first episode, thinking...'what the hell is this?' 

Then just like oh this isn't that good, but i'll just watch the next episode. Then you think, 'oh my god is this going to get any better.. what am i watching?' So then you move on to the next episode, and by then your kinda getting to know the main character a bit. And by the next episode you want to know what that 'thing' is for. Then you end up watching the whole series because they never tell you the 'thing' until the end of the whole series! Or they just keep bringing new crazy hidden 'things' out. And by the second last season, you know everyones life story and you feel sorry for them all.

And yes, 'Lost' was completely like this. I kinda feel like by the 4th season, they started making up some random crap so they could make more episodes. 

The character's in 'Lost' were easily attachable. From the start we all knew who we liked best. For me it was Kate. Then I began to like Sawyer, and Jin, Desmond and Penny, Ana-Lucia, and definitely Hurley. Charlie was possibly the most annoying character in a show I have ever witnessed, i don't know why but he just was, he made stupid decisions, and his character just annoyed me. I also hated Ben, until he became good, and hated Juliette because she was so neutral and content all the time like nothing was happening, however then also came to like her as well. I absolutely hated Lock in the second half of the series because he just tried to take over! Didn't mind Jack the whole way through but began to be irritating when he started with the 'we are here for a purpose' crap. Did't mind Richard until the second half, and Sayid was annoying but I kinda didn't mind him. The rest of the passenger characters weren't too bad. Loved Alex and Danielle Russo, hated all Charles Wigmore's men.

Most of the themes in Lost weren't too bad. The time travel was pretty cool but annoying because I like things that could possibly be true. But it was good to watch and see them go back in time to the Dharma initiative, find family, etc. Jacob and 'the man in black' annoyed me because we never knew 'his' name. And I generally didn't care about them. I didn't really like the whole island being pockets of energy thing, and we can't release them because bad stuff will happen. And I really liked the side-ways flash world, and back in the real world scenes about the passengers.

What I didn't like about lost was like i said above... The pocket of energy thing, jacob and the man in black. The fact that people became 'infected', but then kinda turned normal again after a while (eg. Sayid, and Claire). I also didn't like how the series made you think that the whispers were 'The Others', when they were just 'people who the island wouldn't let go of'. I didn't like how it didn't explain 'The Others' tip toeing bare-foot through the jungle. As well as the other un answered questions like the food drop, room 23, the Polar Bears, and the cause of pregnancy issues. And I didn't like how the last episodes left me confused about everything that just happened. Eg. Are they all dead? or are they all alive? How long have they been dead for? How did they die? If their dead there, then did the plane even return them? Or is it really far into the future, after the ones who returned have lived their lives? Like Kate, the Pilot, Miles, Richard, Claire. Please explain. You can't make me watch the TV for 2 months and not tell me what actually happened in the end.

But it does leave you thinking. And i'm sure it will leave me thinking for a very LONG time. But I highly recommend Lost. watch it (it's funny watching them age too). I also recommend  Prison Break, and Nikita! They are both my favourites! 

Marlometer: 8/10

Watch again: Yes, in about 10 years.

Why I liked it: Suspenseful, entertaining, annoying, able to connect to characters.

I Don't Like...

There's a lot of things that I don't like... and here's a few...



1. Indian food

2. Debating about Vegans and Vegetarians

3. Greedy people on Deal or no Deal

4. One Direction

5. Shitzu dogs

6. Strawberry milk

7. When name their children stupid names

8. When two people talk to you at the same time!

9. When people wear their hair on the side

!0. When people eat with their mouth open, chew loudly, and make small annoying noises!

Caribbean involvement in Melbourne

For all the Caribbean community in Melbourne/Victoria.
There aren't many organisations out there for the smaller cultures in Melbourne.
And for some cultures and nationalities, it's rare to see many people from the same area or country.

Tobago, where i'm from, and other smaller islands in the Caribbean are definitely some of them. I guess if you don't know where to look.

A few years ago when I was down at the park, I was just rollerblading around when I noticed two kids and a father playing hide and seek. And as black people do, we acknowledged each other. And he then asked me where I was from, and from there we talked for a while as he was also from the Caribbean. During this conversation he introduced me to something called 'Caribvic' which he told be to go look up when I get home.

He said to me, that I should come to the next event/meeting. But I never ended up going, as I completely forgot about it. However after remembering after so long, I have checked out the events coming up and have dated the days and times. 

There's an event in September and in November. I will be attending.

'CaribVic' is an organisation that holds events and promotions for Victoria's Caribbean community. It has things like, Steel pan festivals, picnics, lunches, etc. It seems to usually be on a Sunday, times varying depending on the event.

Anyone else who is interested should defiantly check it out on the Link below! Or just search 'CaribVic' in google or your alternative search engine.

 http://caribvic.com/ 

It's a really great chance to expand your knowledge of Caribbean culture in Melbourne/Victoria, so it would really be worth taking notice of, or simply supporting it.