The Handmade Home: Papercut Writer

I've always admired the work of Rob Ryan and the likes.  The intricacies of Papercutting really interest me, I've seen such beautiful artwork in this form and have really wanted to give it a try.  I love the depths that Papercut artwork creates and, particularly with Rob Ryan's work, there is a certain 'life' to the flimsy and magical world he creates with his laser-cutting techniques.

The delicious and quirky world of Rob Ryan

Father's Day was in fear of coming and going this year.  I've been so busy writing, blogging, raising Daisy and planning ahead to post-Mat Leave work that trips to town are becoming scarcer by the week.  This year, to mark Mr Peachy's first Father's Day, not to mention avoid the Paperchase queues like the plaque, I decided I would try my hand at some simple Papercutting to make a card for Mr Peachy.

John Lewis stocked a very handy and inexpensive pack, which consisted of a self-healing craft mat and craft knife and I bought some black card and pastel paper to practice free hand writing on. It didn't take too long to get to grips with the amount of pressure the craft knife needed and the results, two hours and several feeds later, was quite accidentally a Kid Acne inspired piece of writing!
To help enhance the words, I placed some pastel peach paper on the inside of the cardand added Daisy's painted footprints (I had only had the stamina to do one set with her - the hands will have to wait); accompanied by the message 'thank you for helping me to find my feet'.

Overall, I was impressed with how quickly I felt confident in gliding that craft knife across the paper, there was a certain ease to it, though I now feel I want to try my hand at some more intricate images and challenging italics (never satisfied).  

I might not be quite up to scratch just yet, but this simple technique has definitely given me the bug for paper cutting.  Watch this space for more papercut 'masterpieces' to come!

Have you ever wanted to try a craft?  What was it and how did you get started?

Paranoid Androids - When Is It Time To Ignore The Press?

 

'It's a campaign of fear and consumption, keep everybody afraid and they'll consume' Brian Warner on 'The Media'

Last week, the BBC shared this news story about the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' warning that pregnant women 'may want to play it safe and avoid potentially harmful chemicals found in everyday cosmetics and household products.  It is safe to say this has been met with harsh criticism, with critics labelling it 'unhelpful, unrealistic and alarmist'.

View the original article here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22754944

General feedback has suggested that pregnant and breastfeeding women were somewhat scapegoated as both vulnerable and mis-informed; members of society who are already so careful to follow suggested guidelines and avoid foods and substances that may potentially harm their unborn.  This latest article, simply led me to question, when is it time to switch the laptop off, toss the newspaper in the recycling (the world is getting warmer, you know), remove yourself from online forums and ignore the press?

Scaremongering tactics, as we know them, have long been evident in our media and the invention of the Internet has only worsened the fleet of paranoid articles and posts that come flooding through our inboxes almost daily.  Contoversialists and conspiracy theorists suggest media is a method of control, others talk about greed and financial gain (look at the unfounded MMR 'risks' that have recently come to light.  Either way, it seems we are the victims of paranoia attacks and I never felt this more, than throughout my pregnancy.

Being prone to asking worrisome faces and questions I decided, from Day 1 of my pregnancy, that I would listen to the advice and judgment of those who were dealing with MY pregnancy (my Doctor, my Midwife, my parents and my partner).  But, like most parents in need of momentary support at times, I would occasionally log on to a forum in an attempt to seek advice from people in the same boat.  There, I was bombarded with 'he says, she says', do's and don'ts and tidbits of myths that led me to singularly question every stage of my pregnancy.  One woman had placed a mildly concerned post on a forum about her baby's movements slowing down; four comments down it descended into chaos as one woman scolded her for not rushing to A+E amidst the fears of Strep B or broken placenta.  Alarmist indeed.

We are both fortunate and unfortunate to be in possession of too much information these days; fortunate in that we can make informed choices to protect and nurture as best we can, unfortunate in the panic inducement and the misplaced guilt that articles such as yesterday's can cause.  It comes as no surprise to me that in between dodging fish, unpasteurised cheeses, avoiding alcohol and not standing up for too long; that the powers that be have decided that we pregnant ladies simply do not have ENOUGH to worry about.  If we listened to every warning put to us, we wouldn't open our front doors, for fear of an unnamed planet smashing into our back garden.

We can only do our best for our children, and I believe it is natural to worry about the effect this world has on our children, household cleaning appliances or not.  Our common sense must always prevail, I conclude that we are right to be 'careful' throughout our pregnancies and beyond, but it is not right to pump unnecessary and unfounded fear into a society already full to the brim.

Agree?  Disagree?  Let me know your thoughts on the article at https://www.facebook.com/lifeispeachytales

Or connect with me on Twitter @LivePeachy

 

Welcome To The House of Fun...

Once upon a time, a wise old 'Clever Clog' on Twitter was reported to have shared this gem of a tweet amongst his followers; 'The Internet called, it says it has enough Blogs now'. I laughed, then I moved on.

To Blog or Not To Blog?

Throughout my pregnancy, I was sometimes shocked at the level of negativity some of the motherly types I spoke to, about the impending change I was about to welcome to my life.  I was led to believe, by some, that there was little to no point in getting up in the morning, as life as you knew it would fade into oblivion; you would be left in a haze of oversized tees, baggy leggings and incessant screaming.  Daisy was born on March 14th, after two weeks of waiting, waddling to the nearest coffee shop and downing curries.  Life, as I had known it, became suddenly enriched.

I think this feeling of euphoria sealed my decision to set up Life is Peachy.  I thought I knew what to expect, I thought I would have no time for anything.  I had trawled through the internet, through working mums, stay at home mums, debating mums, sadly unhappy mums and decided that perhaps I wanted to put Motherhood in a purely positive light.  

Do Something Everyday...For You

When you become a Mother for the first time, the one thing you cannot be prepared for is the sheer amount of love and adrenalin you will wholly exist on.  Your world changes, your priorities change and you are suddenly facing each and every day with a tiny person whose constantly changing face and abilities will astound you.  There are times you will be tired, there are times you will be frustrated, but this always fades into insignificance when you consider what you have achieved.  Daisy is approaching the three-month mark and she's already insisting on standing when being held, she has developed a morbid taste for Lana Del Rey (just like her Mother) and loves nothing more than chatting and smiling away in her chair.  Those few things alone, personally, make it all worth it. 
As for me, the personality lobotomy I was so afraid of during those bleak, self-aware hours before I was commanded to 'push', it turned out, was nothing more than an urban myth.  I was proud to leave hospital the following day in a cheerful, if somewhat impractical, dress and tights.  I still found I had a borderline obsessive interest in music new and old, books, writing, fashion, crafting, baking, recipes, tattoos and I was still itching to try pastel hair.  In the end, the pastel was a short but much-loved moment of my peachy life.  I set about trying to do one thing every day that I enjoyed.  I read, baked and wrote my way through things I had been meaning to do for months and I created Life is Peachy to share these great things with you all, as I continue to grow, try new things and develop the sense of the word 'mum' that I am most comfortable with.  I'm lucky enough to have the support of the wonderful Mr Peachy, who loves nothing more than to Daisy-dote for an hour or two so I can type up my latest musings.  Everybody has different experiences, I feel I want to share mine through Life is Peachy And that, Mr C Clog,is why I believe there can never be enough Blogs. 

I hope, if nothing else, that Life is Peachy inspires others not to be afraid of losing their identity, to try new things and most of all, to be proud and comfortable in themselves.  Whether it's practicing a new craft, sharing a new recipe or daring to bear the wardrobe, Life is Peachy is a celebration of the creative parent, who challenges themselves and embraces all that they are post-birth.  Parents do wonderful things, but this should never be at the expense of losing all sense of themselves.  Life indeed feels Peachy, I hope you'll all agree... 

E x