Ooh! All ready to start!

Super shiny bright pink!

White plastic; I’m gonna chop you up!

Circuit board spotty background

Wall paper; thank you habitat

You’re staying exactly as you are!

Cork

Weird stuff to chop up

I was back in printing yesterday ready to do my first ever screen print and it was just so much fun – I am still buzzing!

I am completely hooked on printing and plan quite obviously on steering every idea and concept from my specialist subject 3D to needing a printed piece!

This design is very much in response to Edward Middleditch’s Sheffield Weir. It was inspired by lots of my 3D pieces particularly the daft Lego circuit board and cut-out words, the British Steel and GMPTE logos, proper circuit boards (not Lego ones) the London Underground and Eduardo Paolozzi.

The plan now – after I’ve stopped swooning at my many prints – is to destroy, alter and transform a selection of these into something new. And that frankly sounds like a lot of fun!

Today I would like to share with you that I am happy. Life is good! I am all giddy and smiley and feel really goofy!

Do you ever have those days?

- where you want to just belt out singing

-or dance like crazy?

I DO! Today is one of those days!

I hope that my days begin and end like this on a daily basis. It is very pleasant for myself and others around me!

My regular exercise routine, daily shakeology and school up-keep really helps!

Have a FABULOUS day!

-A

Giddy Up Blendy El Grande Deluxe Kit

Music inspiration: Taylor Swift‘s “RED” album!

And while I’m here writing, my sidekick is fast asleep:

Eager to finish writing this book now!

I’ll update more soon,
Brogan.
xo

There’s a frantic squirrel doing somersaults,
Spinning like a demented dervish up the lawn.
Is it me, seeing my own madness
Turning out of control, or is it really this world
And the wheels that never stop their giddy turns?
My head has lost its gyroscope, it wobbles
Like a coconut about to fall from some
Monsoon-struck palm shaking in the storm
With an apoplexy, an epileptic fit
Squirming and writhing like a chained dog
Tugging at the leash, a web-caught fly flapping
Frantically, to break free. Trapped. That’s it.
Me, caught in a net of anxiety, frustrated
As a sexual fool watching a porno flashing
Through the red fog of his befuddled brain
That lusts to burst, to erupt from the stuffed psyche
That is Pandora’s box choked by dust
When the keys of time are lost. Come on, Jack,
Spring out of your sack, bounce and jig
On a wire spring, some nodding thing
Out of control, like a chicken without a head
Running round in circles before it’s dead.
I think, maybe, there’s a cosmic earthquake
Under me. The floor keeps moving
And the whisky bottle has crashed out
From the party from the night before.
I stagger blind towards the toilet door.

unwrapping patiently, proverbially pissing you know what with excitement

exquisite packaging, attention to detail

tell me that ain’t gorgeous

necessary tools included, German made – impressive

cracked culprit removed – tape bubbling, couldn’t bear it anymore

minutes later, slipped into place … perfect fit

brandspankingnew danistrulytheman, Merry Christmas motherfucker

hello universe!

merriest Christmas and a promising, a whole lot more awesome 2013 ahead to you! haha! it may not have been a completely easy, bright and breezy 2012, but a generous part of my being rejoices in the fact that there’s hope beyond all these. as it goes “its always darkest before the dawn.”

i am currently looking and constantly searching for my life’s dawn… *insert deep full force sigh here*

in addition to being hopeful, ive put it upon myself to make a mental/written/overthought points i need to decide on for the promising year ahead. i think ive come to the point in my young (YES I SHALL CLAIM THAT I AM YOUNG) life where i need to reassess all that has been and all that i could make to be. i casually spoke with my aunt a few days back about people making their own destinies, and i will order myself to make my own destiny.

so here’s to yet another leap into the unknown hoping and enthusiastic for the net to appear everyday from this point on under another hopeful orange sky.

…well not really ‘found’ but I’m poorly and it’s Christmas Eve! Big Christmassy kisses! Remember Santa HB pencils please! XXXX

I’m not sure how many blogs I’m meant to nominate but just over a week ago my other blog (the one before I went to college received a super sweet blogging award and this is almost the same list, only shorter. I’m required to play Lego!)

For this award I would love to nominate… drum roll please!

• jennifer tan
• everyday objects
• ianwalpat
• optical paradox
• the200milemacmillanmadness

Awards have rules and they are to thank those who nominated me, tell those I have nominated and share 7 random facts about myself:

1. I am still the reigning May Queen of a village in Derbyshire (since 1984!)
2. I used to add the laughs to You’ve Been Framed, the door bangs to Coronation Street and I’ve held paws with Sooty
3. I have twirly blonde hair
4. I invented a disease when I was six years old called ‘scalapoffasease’. Watch out! It’s deadly!
5. I am dyslexic. Secondary school was awful but words don’t scare me anymore I just accept my mistakes
6. I’m good at baking bread
7. I spent a lot of my childhood walking around on tin cans

So that’s me done! I’m still trying to understand these blogging awards – who starts them and do we die a painful death if we don’t play along? It doesn’t matter either way really. It’s just a bit silly.

So Merry Christmas! I’ve asked Santa for some proper HB pencils. My lovely life drawing teacher Lisa lent me one to draw with a fortnight ago – it was magic! Much better than the ones acquired from my kids pencil cases!

Let’s be honest – the likelihood of the world ending tomorrow is more or less non existent. But, if you’re like me, you’re used to things NOT going to plan. This is why I have decided to take this opportunity to look back on my last NEARLY 20 years alive, and reflect on the good, the bad and the WTF’s.

Firstly though, I feel it justified to express my sincere regret and feelings of victimisation at having NOT hit the magic 20. Yes, my birthday is 9th January, and this guesstimation for the world to end couldn’t have come on more of a teasing date – 19 days until I was due to officially turn 20! I feel so hard-done by! I mean, I was so close to having reached the old and decrepit milestone of two decades.

But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Enough dwelling, now let’s hit the juicy stuff. That’s right, reflection. On my last nearly 20 years on the Earth.

The Good Times

1. Let’s start with the obvious (although it’s obvious that doesn’t take away from its importance!) I was born to a good family, always had a home, food, drink, etc. I was not born into poverty, murdered, abused in any way. In this sense, I have been extremely lucky, and I am grateful for this. I have never had to worry about disease, I still have both of my parents. I didn’t have any childhood traumatic experience which greatly effected by current well-being. In this respect, I have been blessed compared to other unfortunate souls. Some children just want to be loved for Christmas. Some babies die from illness, or worse, murder and abuse. I would give my life for them to have lived, because I’ve had nearly 20 years and they haven’t gotten to live life at all. Tragic.

2. I am a hyper individual and I’ve always been able to cheer other people up. This may be something small but I do feel it is significant. I’ve not always been able to cheer myself up with the same strategy, but my mother used to call me a born entertainer, which was possibly more accurate when I was a child. Currently, many know me by my loud laughter, eccentricity and hyperactivity. For quite some time, I was self-conscious about this. But now, as someone who has experienced nearly two decades on the planet, I can see that maybe I contributed more to other people than I realised. Maybe I have cheered people up, helped them etc on a wider level which I was not even aware of at the time. This, to me, is something I can safely celebrate without sounding big-headed (Even if I do, there’s no point changing now. I’m due to die tomorrow, as are the rest of you!)

3. Obviously my personal achievements, although I regret that I have not even fully explored my interests nor had the time to do so in such a short time in the world. However, I have written numerous poems, one of which was published (I don’t mean to brag) and others which are of a generally melancholic theme, which can be found online at  http://allpoetry.com/AislingKell I’ve had a lot of people compliment me in this regard, which has been wonderful. However, I feel that at the young age of nearly 20 I still have a bundle load of poetry inside of me which I still need to write; but which have not been written yet due to a lack of life experience in many areas. Secondly, I would like to reflect over my Youtube Channel. I started the channel in 2011, and started doing vlogs and such. Now, it’s not a very successful channel, but through it I began getting interested in video-making, editing and scriptwriting in particular, which is what made me decide to go to college and study it there. I got into a college and studied a PLC course in TV and Film, then got into an Institute of Technology to study TV and Media Production; so yes, I would regard these as achievements (Getting into college is an achievement, right?) You can find my Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/AshyShash Also I’d like to recognise my creativity in many areas although I am self critical and realise that if I wasn’t as lazy, I would’ve expressed my creativity a lot better in the last nearly 20 years.

I won’t harp on about The Good Times anymore as I’m sure it’s rather boring. Besides, I have had many good times and trying to remember all of them in detail here would be impossible. But I will conclude this section in two blissful words - Santa Clause (and of course other childhood heroes – the epitome of the good times for me.)

The Bad Times

I am not a believer of dwelling on bad parts of my life. But I will briefly touch on this (I’ll spare the details) Growing up wasn’t always easy. I had low self-esteem, I suffered with bad depression, I had no self worth. All of this became very bad when I was around 17 years old, but thankfully through medical help and support from my family, I overcame the majority of my demons, and should they arise again, I deal with them in a much more productive way. Aside from this, I cannot think of any other major bad times in my life. I have had ill family members but it has never been anything too serious. Finances have always been hard, especially where college is concerned. But my family and I have always been able to manage, even if we’re short a few bob, which is fantastic.

How I saw the next 20 years going

I have/had all sorts of plans of how the future was going to go for me. Obviously, I was going to graduate college, in 2015 to be precise. Then I am/was going to travel. I want to go everywhere, I know everyone says that, but I LITERALLY want to go everywhere. Wherever I go, I’ll go with an open mind and have a job in TV production hopefully, and meet a lot of friends while traveling. In my mid 20′s or so I’ll calm down the traveling a bit and settle into one place, perhaps back to Ireland. But only if the economy has improved by this time. I would have liked to meet someone and have children, but I wouldn’t have liked to get married, at least not in a traditional ceremony performed by a Priest (Let’s not get into that) I’d have one or two children and I have no idea what they would have been like but I haven’t thought that far ahead because really, who the hell knows? I would have liked a nice house, materialistic stuff, not A LOT of money, but over enough money to just survive. I haven’t really thought about much else in the future. I suppose that’s why you’re not supposed to plan your future and you’re just supposed to live in the moment.

Yes, there is a lot I would’ve done differently. But I’ve had my chance, I lived it. Maybe I didn’t always live it right, but I lived it my way, mistakes an’ all!

It was lovely knowing everyone, of course! See you on the other side!

there is something so unexplainable and incredibly magical about not wearing glasses (or contact lenses; whichever applies). everything definitely is blurry, hazy and indistinguishable but within that confusion and intense effort to make sense of what you’re actually seeing, you end up seeing something that you wouldn’t be able to have you had “perfect vision”

while on a shuttle to my house from the concrete jungle, i took off my glasses to rest my eyes and attempt to get much needed “moment of zen”…

earphones on, volume on max, glasses off.

looked out the window and saw the led christmas lights hanging on trees outside the speeding shuttle. the rush, the blur, the suddenness of everything i was seeing (or not seeing) was revelatory. though im not fully sure (cause i have yet to overthink it) what the revelation was, i know for sure im supposed to realize something. haha!

till the next time i take my glasses off, searching yet another revelation waiting to be seen (or not) under such a perplexing orange sky.

They say that this is no joke. No laughing matter. A trap. A hell hole. A window-less prison. But I’ve never been more serious. I wouldnt mind being stuck in an inescapable cell if it meant being able to have your hand to hold in the dark. Always. As I walk towards you, know that the look on my face, so easily misconstrued as fatal fear, is excitement. Paired with the fear that I might never be able to make you as blissful as you have made me. But if this means a lifetime to spend proving it. So be it. Shackles never felt so comforting.

I’m actually new to baking. That is to say trying to bake properly on my own. I have very happy memories of baking as a child with my Ma and I think this is what inspired me recently to start again after a stressful time in my life. I needed some fun and relaxation (and sugar so it seems) so my baking voyage of discovery started.

Oh one last thing, just to make things all the harder for me, all my making has to be gluten and dairy free as my hubby can’t have either. So everything I cook will free of these nasties (for him anyway) and I’ll be keeping you informed on any top gluten, wheat and dairy free tips I find.

Right, I better get baking….

L xx

Without a warning,

Without my authorization!

After years of denial

 After years of enclosure,

You seemed to have unlocked the enigmatic riddle of my soul.

You make me smile—in your presence, in my mind, in my dreams.

You make me laugh—because you’re playful, witty, and of course, intelligent.

I’m sure you’re aware that we share certain thoughts.

And I’m most certain that yesterday you too felt our eyes speak octaves.

You’ve probably heard that eyes are the windows to your soul, And I completely agree.

I don’t know much about you.

Nor do you about me.

But you’ve become so important in my life. I only wish I could tell you.

I’ve been so lifeless and cold.

I hardly remembered what it felt to have butterflies flutter around in anticipation of someone’s presence.

My heartbeat races as I think of you; whenever I’m close to you. I can hardly wait to see you again, even if it’s only been a minute since you’ve left. I think of you randomly and it makes me feel giddy and happy.

Not to mention I almost biked into a sign because I was thinking of you.

There are no expectations from this, and I’m completely aware. I doubt you’re my soul mate or my future husband, even if I wanted you to be. Oh, what I’d give for you to become a potential love interest.

But I’m not ready. I’m still damaged. I’m only starting to get whole.

I can only thank you for having awakened my soul.

It’s been years since I’ve had my heart race and a blush cross my face.

You’ve made me smile so much that teardrops form. 

I cry tears of joy,

I’m happily becoming alive again.

I’m extremely relieved.

I’m happy to know that my soul still lives.

I’m happy that I can someday love again, and even if it’s not you, at least you’ve got my gears operating again.

I wish I could hug you as a sign of gratitude— however I doubt it’d be sufficient.

I can’t thank you enough for exposing my soul.

I’ll always be indebted to you from this day on.

Thank you, moy dorogoya

The beating heart of it all is that I’m here and I’m finding it difficult to believe that you are too.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting off some of my work as presents to family and friends – they have received lots in the past but never of this standard!. My best mate Emily who inspired the collagraph is being sent two of those (she already has a ‘loved up’ print hand delivered at the weekend).Which leaves five other ‘loved ups’ – I’m keeping the first print it’s so yummy! I’m pretty certain the rest have happys home to go to.

Tomorrow (and at LAST!) we move onto our next adventure and into our specialist area… I’m rocking out in 3D and I cannot wait!

Oh and “Hello Poland!”

Favorite Quote: I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.

Disappointed at the light plastic balls, etc

Product Features for Melissa & Doug Sunny Patch Happy Giddy Croquet Set

• Family fun is guaranteed with this delightfully buggy version of a classic game
• Unpack the carrying case, set up the wickets and goal stake, and you?re ready to play croquet
• Classic backyard fun for the whole family
• Includes 6 wickets, 4 mallets, 4 buggy balls and 1 goal stake
• Exceptional quality and value

Great Starter Croquet Set!

Great outdoor game for preschoolers and older!

We purchased the Melissa & Doug croquet set for our daughter in time for her 4th birthday party. The set comes in a handy bag which makes it very portable. We loved the faces and bright colors on the wickets and balls. It’s great that there are four mallets instead of just two. The kids enjoyed trying out the game, and I think that they will grow into it more as they get older. The only thing that I’d suggest is perhaps instructions for parents like us who have never played croquet! In summary,