Midlife Rebel

If you are in the Rebel Badge Club, you will know about the Rebel Cup and understand why I have taken a silly photo of some courgettes! This act of random silliness earns me a bonus point for Team Rosa, the patrol I am part of. For those of you who want to know more about the Rebel Cup, details can be found on the Rebel Blog on the Rebel Badge Store website!

Here is another one for the Rebel Badge Club's Craft badge. This collage took quite some time to evolve. A sugar skull isn't normally my kind of thing but I'm actually really pleased how this collage turned out. So pleased in fact that I even bought a frame for it. The collage was created from a book called Extraordinary Things to Cut Out and Collage. I spent many hours cutting out images from the book and playing around with different ideas. I tried a few concepts for my collage including a scene in a goldfish bowl and creating a sea goddess but they weren't working very well. Luckily the sugar skull idea came together so I'm glad I managed to create something I was happy with in the end.

As part of the Craft badge for Rebel Badge Club, I completed this Miffy cross stitch kit by Cotton Clara recently. This was the first time I have tried cross stitch. I found the pattern easy to follow and it was enjoyable to do. I was surprised how time consuming it was though especially with it being a simple design. I think I would do another cross stitch in the future but I have other projects lined up first.

A few months ago I mentioned in my blog that I attended a calligraphy workshop. This workshop was the start of my Craft badge journey. At the time I did not know how hard calligraphy was to master using a nib pen and ink. The workshop was held at Lytham Hall by Mellor & Rose. Beverley and Lucy Mellor taught the basics of modern calligraphy which included how to hold the pen correctly and a series of worksheets were provided for practice. I found holding the pen so unnatural as I don't normally hold my pen in such a way. My practice strokes were terribly shaky at the workshop and they still are even after months of practice! I have better control over the ink now though and leave less splodges on the page. Although I am finding learning calligraphy a tough challenge I am determined to improve.  In my determination to master calligraphy to some degree, I have signed up to a six month subscription to The Calligraphy Box. The monthly box contains materials and a two hour video less...

This is just a quick post to give a little update on my Rebel Badge Club journey. This month, I have completed the Diarist badge and also the Reader badge, hurrah! I also signed up to the Big Kid Summer monthly badge.  I am continuing on with my diary each day still and hopefully will manage to keep it up for the rest of the year. It's not a detailed diary, I just keep a brief note of what I have done each day.  The Reader badge took me a long time to complete so it's nice to finally finish it. Here is a link to my book list  if you are interested in finding out what I read. When the Big Kid Summer monthly badge was announced, I immediately thought of my sister so I signed her up for the badge too. So far we have played crazy golf together at The Hole in Wand in Blackpool (a wizard themed mini golf course) and blown some bubbles (with liquid soap). The golf was good fun and I was awarded a hole in one pin badge even though I didn't manage to get a hole in one! We both lef...

At long last I have finished reading a fiction book for the Reader badge for Rebel Badge Club. Initially I made good progress with the Reader badge but my progress has slowed right down since I decided to read an actual hard copy book rather than listening to an audiobook. I chose to read Ann Sei Lin's debut novel Rebel Skies as I was drawn to the artwork on the cover and the name of the book! The reviews I read beforehand were also highly positive. Although it took me a while to get through the book due to other priorities in life, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very different to anything I have read before. I recently read a review about Rebel Skies which said "The story definitely gives off Studio Ghibli vibes." This is my thought on the book exactly. Rebel Skies is a very imaginative book and would be visually stunning if made into an animated film. One can only hope! The same reviewer also comments that the story is told from two main perspectives: Kurara, the main ...

I have been a fan of Van Gogh's artwork since visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam four years ago. By creating this set, Lego have enabled me to make my very own masterpiece of The Starry Night. I spent many relaxing hours on taking my time to build this set from 2316 Lego pieces. Well, I say 2316 pieces but that's not quite true because to my surprise my set had a piece missing! So here is The Starry Night composed of 2315 Lego bricks. Happily though, Lego customer service are sending me the missing brick in the post. I love the colours of the bricks used for the sky in this set and I also love the little church and houses. In the foreground you can see Van Gogh himself painting the scene. Upon completing The Starry Night, I have now completed the Builder badge for Rebel Badge Club. It's just as well because as enjoyable as Lego is, Lego is a rather expensive hobby! I am now ready to crack on with some other badges :-)