Street Style

Went shopping in Paddington, Brisbane today and found an awesome hat at The Endeavor Foundation store.

Playing with Words

Just some descriptive sentences I've been creating.

Steal Like An Artist

After reading Austin Kleon's "Steal Like An Artist" http://austinkleon.com/blog/ (a great book that my Mumma gave me for Christmas) I was inspired to do something creative. And the images below display the result :)

Bringing Sexy Back

If like me, your body forgot to grow boobs but you still want to wear a sexy, slightly revealing summer outfit this party season, never fear! A back can be JUST as sexy as cleavage. And thanks to stick on bras we can wear a dress that shows off our back and still pretend that we have boobs at the same time.

These are a few dresses that I absolutely love and coincidentally both are from perfume advertisements.

White Girl Shirts

If your skin is as pearly white as mine and you are of a mature age (aka over 19) then you know that protecting your shoulders in Summer is very important.

And nobody wants the hassle or the greasiness that comes with applying sunscreen every 4hrs, so I've found a practical & fashionable solution; white girl shirts.

Most of my short sleeve, collared blouses (which I've named "white girl shirts") have been given to me as hand-me-downs from my Nanna & Grandma and I love them. 100% cotton is most comfortable in the warm Australian sun and if the blouse is long enough you can make a knot at the bottom for a more modern (or rather 80s) look :)

Here's a few cool "white girl shirts" I've found recently. The brighter and crazier the print the better!

The first top is located at hickorees.com, the second at svpply.com and the third at etsy.com (80s shirts).

The MOST wonderful time of the year?

This time every year I seem to end up in the same situation. My Mum finishes teaching for the year and thus spends alot of time milling about the house enjoying the school holidays. The working year is over but what the f"#* she is still in fast mode racing around the house & yelling loudly when she can't find her glasses or "did you take my camera?!!" No I saw you put it on the kitchen bench yesterday...
"Oh."

It causes me a bit of anxiety because I have to make sure that I don't put a single fork out of place. During school time I swan about my day doing as I please when my back allows me to. But as soon as the holidays start I'm on my guard making sure I don't do anything to unsettle the monster that awakes when a cup (full of water that I am drinking out of) has been left on the bench for more than 1 minute or a fan is on when in the middle of December in Brisbane "it's not even hot, turn it off!"

Then I start asking myself; how the hell did I get into this situation? And then I remember that I have a chronic pain condition that limits the type & number of hours that I can successfully work. Which means that I'm poor as shit and don't yet know how I would be able to live in a rental property and still afford to buy food each day...

So I walk quietly to my room; spray some soothing lavendar spray, lye on my heat mat and hope that the next unessessarily loud words that my Mother bellows aren't directed at me.

Give lots of gifts!

Well it's getting pretty close to Christmas and if you still have some shopping to do why not consider the following option as a way to purchase gifts for people.

A lot of charities and not-for-profit organisations produce a range of merchandise to promote their cause and to also raise money for the good work that they do. The fact that a large portion of their projects and day to day jobs are carried out by unpaid workers is also another reason why selling merchandise is important to these organisations. 

So  why not check out the merchandise available on your favourite charities webpage and see if you can't purchase an item as a Christmas gift for a friend or relative. 

Here are some items from a few of my favourite Australian not-for-profit organisations that would make pretty decent Christmas presents;

This super cute owl shower cap is only $12.95 from the RSPCA website.

You can also get this cool bear shower cap for the same price. There are heaps more to choose from too! I want them all!

This beach towel would be an awesome Christmas gift and is definately needed this summer! Sorry the image is so small.

 

 

 

These thongs are said to be made by Dupe (owners of Havaianas) and are also said to be super comfy! Plus they're only $15.00! 

These sweet Ray Ban impersonations are only $12.00 which inlcudes local postage and handling costs. 

 

What are your favourite charities? I chose the RSPCA because I love animals and we picked up our dog Scout (staffy x cattle dog) from there. And I chose Youngcare because although I don't need 24/hr care I can empathise with what it is like to be a young person and all of a sudden not be able to do the things that a young person normally does (like dancing and running! argh my back hurts just thinking about that). 

Let me know if you find any other cool charity merch products that would make excellent Christmas pressies. Or pressies for any occassion really. Keep charities in mind next time you're looking for a present for a friends b'day, baby shower or any other special event that comes up. Then you can feel extra special because you're giving a gift to a friend and giving your support to someone/something that is less advantaged than you are :)

Amy

Awakening the dead

I am more of a visual person and prefer to use images rather than describing things through words.

So below are two images. The first depicts how I feel when I wake up in the morning and the second depicts how I feel when I realise that after eating some bfast I can take some pain killers that will eventually start to reduce my pain :) Yeaha happy dance!

Who let the elephant in?!

The other day I felt so stiff and paralysed that I couldn't get myself out of bed til 12:30pm.

I don't know why but every now and then I go to bed feeling relatively pain free and then when morning comes my body feels like it weighs about 200kg. Simply moving my leg a few centimetres takes all of my strength and then I fall straight back to sleep because I also feel incredibly exhausted.

It's almost as if there is an elephant lying on top of me and as much as I want to I just can't move until he decides to get off.

The only reasoning I can think of is that despite my efforts to not sit or stand for long periods & stretch everyday, my muscles have stiffened up to the point that they don't have the strength to pull me out of bed after a good nights rest.

The easiest way to loosen them up & get them working again is to lie on my electric heat mat, but of course when Mr. Elephant is sitting on top of me there's little chance of me being able to sit up and place the mat under my back :s The picture below is me under the elephant (with my ruby red slippers) and of course I had to add a fashion related elephant image underneath.

Jaime Pop

OMG I love Pip & Pop art creations and Jaime Lee demi-couture clothing designs. Together they tickle my happy bone & make my heart sing! la la la!

Fashion is...

Someone somewhere at some time said that fashion is basically self promotion.

No Words

I don't have the energy or pain threshold to go into detail about how I've been feeling the last few days. Basically aching, stiff, unable -to- relax muscle soreness. These images are a glamourised version of how my body feels.

Rain = Pain

Why must a rainy or overcast day result in my joints being stiff and my muscles aching (aka a chronic pain flare up)?

I woke up both Saturday & Sunday morning with strong muscle pain and I didn't realise until Sunday afternoon that it was probably because of the weather conditions.

I don't understand how it works exactly but it's freaking annoying. Just because the earth needs some water I have to endure the aches and use all of my willpower to keep my tinman body moving so that I can get things done.

In the future I think all overcast &/or rainy days should be an international rest day for all chronic pain sufferers.

And as Mother Nature delivers the weather she shall also deliver a massage therapist & cup of hot chocolate to each silent sufferer :)

Mad Hatter

Avoid any "summertime sadness" with a fun hat. Now's the perfect time to experiment and work out which style suits your face shape and personality.

A hat that also provides sun protection is a clear winner!

Got Glitter?

Add some glitter to your make up tonight and you can go out and shake your shiny tail feather.

Eat a spoonful of glitter and you'll also be shining both inside and out ;)

Things I've Made

"Hold me closer tiny dancer."
Ballet dancer from a broken jewellery box attached to a flat base ring.

Summer

Summer is here & cool it is not!
Buy some swimwear, prints of bright floral are hot!

Scout

"I swear she's destined for the screen...closest thing to Skippy that you've ever seen."  ;)

My Pinterest Page

My Pinterest page; http://www.pinterest.com/amypinup/boards/

LIFE HACKS

Have recently discovered various "life hacks" posts and this one is very cool. The next time I visit the snow I'm making giant coloured spheres!

The Spoon Theory

Hey there Bloggie, 

have you heard of "The Spoon Theory"? It's a great theory made up by Christine Miserandino. 

Christine has lupus and came up with the theory one evening while having dinner with a close friend. Her friend had known her for a long time and understood what lupus was and the toll that it took on Christine, but what she didn't understood was the daily impact the illness has on Christine's every day living. And so Christine came up with a very good theory to help her friend understand what it's like to live with a condition that no one can see. 

I find this theory relevant not only for lupus but for many conditions that really take their toll on your body. And the daily struggles and decisions that Christine describes is exactly what me and many chronic pain sufferers face every day. 

I know it's long but I hope you find it as helpful and insightful as I do; both as a way of communicating your pain to others and of understanding how other people live with similar conditions. 

*You can find the link to the website below the article. 

The Spoon Theory

by Christine Miserandino www.butyoudontlooksick.com

My best friend and I were in the diner, talking. As usual, it was very late and we were eating French fries with gravy. Like normal girls our age, we spent a lot of time in the diner while in college, and most of the time we spent talking about boys, music or trivial things, that seemed very important at the time. We never got serious about anything in particular and spent most of our time laughing.

As I went to take some of my medicine with a snack as I usually did, she watched me with an awkward kind of stare, instead of continuing the conversation. She then asked me out of the blue what it felt like to have Lupus and be sick. I was shocked not only because she asked the random question, but also because I assumed she knew all there was to know about Lupus. She came to doctors with me, she saw me walk with a cane, and throw up in the bathroom. She had seen me cry in pain, what else was there to know?

I started to ramble on about pills, and aches and pains, but she kept pursuing, and didn’t seem satisfied with my answers. I was a little surprised as being my roommate in college and friend for years; I thought she already knew the medical definition of Lupus. Then she looked at me with a face every sick person knows well, the face of pure curiosity about something no one healthy can truly understand. She asked what it felt like, not physically, but what it felt like to be me, to be sick.

As I tried to gain my composure, I glanced around the table for help or guidance, or at least stall for time to think. I was trying to find the right words. How do I answer a question I never was able to answer for myself? How do I explain every detail of every day being effected, and give the emotions a sick person goes through with clarity. I could have given up, cracked a joke like I usually do, and changed the subject, but I remember thinking if I don’t try to explain this, how could I ever expect her to understand. If I can’t explain this to my best friend, how could I explain my world to anyone else? I had to at least try.

At that moment, the spoon theory was born. I quickly grabbed every spoon on the table; hell I grabbed spoons off of the other tables. I looked at her in the eyes and said “Here you go, you have Lupus”. She looked at me slightly confused, as anyone would when they are being handed a bouquet of spoons. The cold metal spoons clanked in my hands, as I grouped them together and shoved them into her hands.

I explained that the difference in being sick and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. The healthy have the luxury of a life without choices, a gift most people take for granted.

Most people start the day with unlimited amount of possibilities, and energy to do whatever they desire, especially young people. For the most part, they do not need to worry about the effects of their actions. So for my explanation, I used spoons to convey this point. I wanted something for her to actually hold, for me to then take away, since most people who get sick feel a “loss” of a life they once knew. If I was in control of taking away the spoons, then she would know what it feels like to have someone or something else, in this case Lupus, being in control.

She grabbed the spoons with excitement. She didn’t understand what I was doing, but she is always up for a good time, so I guess she thought I was cracking a joke of some kind like I usually do when talking about touchy topics. Little did she know how serious I would become?

I asked her to count her spoons. She asked why, and I explained that when you are healthy you expect to have a never-ending supply of “spoons”. But when you have to now plan your day, you need to know exactly how many “spoons” you are starting with. It doesn’t guarantee that you might not lose some along the way, but at least it helps to know where you are starting. She counted out 12 spoons. She laughed and said she wanted more. I said no, and I knew right away that this little game would work, when she looked disappointed, and we hadn’t even started yet. I’ve wanted more “spoons” for years and haven’t found a way yet to get more, why should she? I also told her to always be conscious of how many she had, and not to drop them because she can never forget she has Lupus.

I asked her to list off the tasks of her day, including the most simple. As, she rattled off daily chores, or just fun things to do; I explained how each one would cost her a spoon. When she jumped right into getting ready for work as her first task of the morning, I cut her off and took away a spoon. I practically jumped down her throat. I said ” No! You don’t just get up. You have to crack open your eyes, and then realize you are late. You didn’t sleep well the night before. You have to crawl out of bed, and then you have to make your self something to eat before you can do anything else, because if you don’t, you can’t take your medicine, and if you don’t take your medicine you might as well give up all your spoons for today and tomorrow too.” I quickly took away a spoon and she realized she hasn’t even gotten dressed yet. Showering cost her spoon, just for washing her hair and shaving her legs. Reaching high and low that early in the morning could actually cost more than one spoon, but I figured I would give her a break; I didn’t want to scare her right away. Getting dressed was worth another spoon. I stopped her and broke down every task to show her how every little detail needs to be thought about. You cannot simply just throw clothes on when you are sick. I explained that I have to see what clothes I can physically put on, if my hands hurt that day buttons are out of the question. If I have bruises that day, I need to wear long sleeves, and if I have a fever I need a sweater to stay warm and so on. If my hair is falling out I need to spend more time to look presentable, and then you need to factor in another 5 minutes for feeling badly that it took you 2 hours to do all this.

I think she was starting to understand when she theoretically didn’t even get to work, and she was left with 6 spoons. I then explained to her that she needed to choose the rest of her day wisely, since when your “spoons” are gone, they are gone. Sometimes you can borrow against tomorrow’s “spoons”, but just think how hard tomorrow will be with less “spoons”. I also needed to explain that a person who is sick always lives with the looming thought that tomorrow may be the day that a cold comes, or an infection, or any number of things that could be very dangerous. So you do not want to run low on “spoons”, because you never know when you truly will need them. I didn’t want to depress her, but I needed to be realistic, and unfortunately being prepared for the worst is part of a real day for me.

We went through the rest of the day, and she slowly learned that skipping lunch would cost her a spoon, as well as standing on a train, or even typing at her computer too long. She was forced to make choices and think about things differently. Hypothetically, she had to choose not to run errands, so that she could eat dinner that night.

When we got to the end of her pretend day, she said she was hungry. I summarized that she had to eat dinner but she only had one spoon left. If she cooked, she wouldn’t have enough energy to clean the pots. If she went out for dinner, she might be too tired to drive home safely. Then I also explained, that I didn’t even bother to add into this game, that she was so nauseous, that cooking was probably out of the question anyway. So she decided to make soup, it was easy. I then said it is only 7pm, you have the rest of the night but maybe end up with one spoon, so you can do something fun, or clean your apartment, or do chores, but you can’t do it all.

I rarely see her emotional, so when I saw her upset I knew maybe I was getting through to her. I didn’t want my friend to be upset, but at the same time I was happy to think finally maybe someone understood me a little bit. She had tears in her eyes and asked quietly “Christine, How do you do it? Do you really do this everyday?” I explained that some days were worse then others; some days I have more spoons then most. But I can never make it go away and I can’t forget about it, I always have to think about it. I handed her a spoon I had been holding in reserve. I said simply, “I have learned to live life with an extra spoon in my pocket, in reserve. You need to always be prepared.”

Its hard, the hardest thing I ever had to learn is to slow down, and not do everything. I fight this to this day. I hate feeling left out, having to choose to stay home, or to not get things done that I want to. I wanted her to feel that frustration. I wanted her to understand, that everything everyone else does comes so easy, but for me it is one hundred little jobs in one. I need to think about the weather, my temperature that day, and the whole day’s plans before I can attack any one given thing. When other people can simply do things, I have to attack it and make a plan like I am strategizing a war. It is in that lifestyle, the difference between being sick and healthy. It is the beautiful ability to not think and just do. I miss that freedom. I miss never having to count “spoons”.

After we were emotional and talked about this for a little while longer, I sensed she was sad. Maybe she finally understood. Maybe she realized that she never could truly and honestly say she understands. But at least now she might not complain so much when I can’t go out for dinner some nights, or when I never seem to make it to her house and she always has to drive to mine. I gave her a hug when we walked out of the diner. I had the one spoon in my hand and I said “Don’t worry. I see this as a blessing. I have been forced to think about everything I do. Do you know how many spoons people waste everyday? I don’t have room for wasted time, or wasted “spoons” and I chose to spend this time with you.”

Ever since this night, I have used the spoon theory to explain my life to many people. In fact, my family and friends refer to spoons all the time. It has been a code word for what I can and cannot do. Once people understand the spoon theory they seem to understand me better, but I also think they live their life a little differently too. I think it isn’t just good for understanding Lupus, but anyone dealing with any disability or illness. Hopefully, they don’t take so much for granted or their life in general. I give a piece of myself, in every sense of the word when I do anything. It has become an inside joke. I have become famous for saying to people jokingly that they should feel special when I spend time with them, because they have one of my “spoons”.

© Christine Miserandino

- See more at: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/wpress/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/#sthash.HilVkUVw.dpuf


The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino


Thanks for reading

Amy x

Clothes I've recylced

These are some more photos of clothes that I've created. Some of them are ones I have already posted but an effect I found on my camera make's them look cooler :) 

These are some clothes that I've altered slightly. I love playing around with different ideas and using second hand clothing is the most sustainable & affordable way to do that :) 

I also had a go and selling some of the items in a handmade store so that's why you can see tags (I called the label Framont Ave.) on some of them. 

These were originally a pair of mens Hard Yakka shorts. I cut and sewed them to turn them into a skirt and then added some blue lace to the bottom as the hem was a bit short. I decided it needed something a bit more exciting so sewed together a bow out of some gold scrap fabric and tied it to the centre belt loops. 

Vintage jacket of Mum's; I added a Mr. Men ribbon (that we had as kids) so the top of the jacket cab be tied together. 

A plain brown t-shirt from Grandma; I cut the neck opening to make it larger and sewed black lace to the edges and also shortened the sleeves as they were quite baggy and long. 
I originally ironed on a black Mickey Mouse image using transfer paper but it didn't stick very well so I peeled it off and sewed some tiger print fabric  (from an old shirt of Grandma's that I cut up) in its place. 

This is a black strapless dress that I had hardly worn and decided to give a slight makeover. I bought a mask from a cheap shop and really loved the attached peacock feathers but wasn't sure what I would do with them. When I decided to makeover this dress I cut the feathers off the mask and glued them onto brooch. Then I simply pinned the brooch to the dress. It would probably look great with a dark green belt around the waist to give it a bit more colour. 

I bought this skirt from Vinnies and sewed an old silver watch to the centre of the waistband to give it some unique bling.

My sister bought this dress but decided she wasn't going to wear it so passed it onto me. I just bought some fringing and sewed it onto the neckline. Later on I added some blue glitter fabric paint to the top of the fringing. I still think it needs something else though :s  Not entirely happy with it. 

A pair of jeans I bought but rarely wore because they were way too uncomfortable around my lower back (chronic lower back pain etc). I grabbed some light pink fabric paint and drew the Barbie logo on the bum :) 

Plain black Supre' skirt. I just sewed an old gold watch to the centre of the waistband. It looks like it's hanging off the skirt but as it's stretch material the watch pulls back and lyes flat across your stomach when you put the skirt on :) 

This is a pair of plain black skinny jeans (sorry the photo's a bit blurry) that I hardly wore, again because they were so tight that they just made my lower back pain 10 times worse. My sister was throwing out an old fake Louis Vuitton bag which had a very real looking lock and key attached to it. I attached both the lock and key to the belt loop. They can both be removed easily for washing purposes. 

This is a top I up-cycled years ago for an Australia Day/Hottest 100 party. On the front and back I sewed two Triple J logo's which I cut off a canvas bag that I was never going to use. I then sewed 3 pieces of white and red ribbon starting at each of the three drum sticks and leading to the back of the shirt. I zig- zagged and turned the ribbons back on themself to give a better effect.