What if Wednesday

What if your umbrella is too small for the rain?

get your back into it...

Before I begin - I would like to say that I enjoy going to the gym. I like running and when you get really into it - there is nothing better and it's a great way to clear your head. However, if for any reason (ie - a 3 week long trip home) you get out of the routine of exercising and going to the gym - it can be very difficult and stressful getting back 'into' it. Follow this easy

"GET-BACK-INTO-GYM-AFTER-A-3-WEEK-LONG-INDULGENT-HOLIDAY" plan

and you can't go wrong.

(take your time. vital.)

Consult schedule and decide that it is just too overwhelming with all the things you already have going on. Put schedule away and try again another day:

For the following several days:

(that was very rude of her)

ignore treadmill and it's evil taunts. "Nastiness will get you NO-WHERE mr treadmill!"

Do not panic. 

Death is not ok.

FINALLY,

STEP. AND REPEAT. 

yeah, it's tough getting back into it after a blissfully indulgent vacation... but it's the only way.

Anyone have any gym procrastination tips they would like to share... perhaps there should be a part two to this post... We need all the help we can get. 

Edutained

I work in Korea teaching english at an English Theme Park  called "English Village". The concept of English Village is to create the experience of a foreign country where guests can come in for the day and practice their english in a role-play type environment. (We also have week-long and month-long programmes where students come in and stay at English Village like a school camp.)

The entire theme park is created to look like a real village complete with a 'post-office', 'police-station', 'bank', 'travel agency' and 'clinic' where we do role-play classes. Our other lessons include t-shirt painting, cooking classes, toy making,  lego workshops, creative/craft workshops, ceramic workshops, music classes and cheese making. (yes, cheese making.)

Apart from the teachers at English Village we have a company of talented "edutainers" (that's the cool word for educating+entertaining). They are theatre trained and produce ESL musicals which are performed in the concert hall. The Edutainers also create game shows and outdoor entertainment for the English Village guests. The fabulous Blake Pfeil has created a documentary to show potential Edutainer Applicants what it's like to be an Edutainer. I helped out a little with some artwork. :)

If you're interested - here it is:



Want to be an Edutainer?

Come join me...

7 Things

1. It's always good to catch up with old friends
2. Typhoon season is only good for ducks and frogs
3. You can find inspiration in the people and things around you
4. Having your own big project to work on is both challenging and exciting.
5. You are your own biggest motivator.
6. Pizza and movies are rain's biggest friends.
7. Puppies make very good company.

Desktop Wallpaper project

Need an awesome new desktop pic?

Check out the Desktop Wallpaper Project from The Fox is Black

(available to download in a variety of sizes. olleh.)

Cape Town. FTW.

i love all things designery, artsy, craftish etc and now Cape Town has been selected as one of three potential candidates for the Design World Capital for 2014, up against Dublin and Bilbao.


Last year, the World Design Capital was Seoul and I got to see a whole bunch of exhibitions, galleries, innovative design ideas and the works of super creative and talented people. (You can check out two old posts HERE and HERE.)


You can read more about the bid on the official committee website here and grab one of the supporter badges for your blog or website :)

Fabric Rose DIY

I recently went back home to South Africa for my mom's birthday. (You can see the invitations I designed for her party here.) We had a celebration in a barn and little Miss Berries over here got the task of chief decorator. Lucky me. The theme for the party was very casual - "just jeans" So I decided to make some roses using denim, blue and cream fabrics. Here is how it went down:

THINGS YOU NEED:

• A pair of scissors
• Different fabrics
• A thick piece of wire to make a stem
• Thin wire to fasten the petals onto the stem. (Sticky tape is also ok.)

First step is to cut petal or tear-drop shapes out of the fabric. They don't have to be identical/perfect. You probably need about 15 per flower - depending on how thick your fabric is. If you are smart about this, you will get someone else to do the cutting for you. (ha) 

Next, you will need to take a petal-shape and wrap it around the main-wire stem. Secure the petal in place by tightly wrapping the thin wire around it. You can also use sticky tape, but I found that the wire ended up looking a bit neater. Once the first petal is secured place a second petal around the main stem, overlapping the first one and secure it in place. Repeat. Each fabric falls slightly differently - so experiment with the best ones. The stiffer denim fabric worked best for me, but it also depends on the look you are going for. (The Downside of using wire opposed to tape: after about 20 flowers, your fingers will be raw. {just saying})

It's up to you what you choose to do with your flowers. I found some old-school glass coke bottles and stuck a single one in each bottle. I tied some of the fabric scraps and string around the neck of the bottles and then hung them from the rafters in the barn. They look really effective when there is a whole line of them hanging together.

(yes, i know the pic on the right is completely blurred... but i like it. so... yeah.)

meep