A Mental Mummy: September 2013

Reasons to be Cheerful

For more information on what Reasons to Be Cheerful (#R2BC) is all about please check out this post from Michelle at Mummy from the Heart for a full description.

This week's Reasons to be Cheerful:

Little Lady is settling in well with the childminder. I really like the childminder too, instantly made me feel at ease.
I have made a start on revision for my OU exam, which is good as I only have 11 days left!
I lost another 3lb at Slimming World. So I have now lost my first stone, well actually 16lbs so far :) Only another 8lbs to my 10% loss goal.
On Friday, I attended a Introduction to Group work meeting at Leeds Mind. I was so anxious the night before and felt so sick, and did my usual trick of babbling away ******** to cover my nerves! But I survived. I think it helps that everyone understands and shares mental health issues. I started the group meetings on Tuesday, and again fought through the anxiety to get there, but felt it helped once there.
Both me and Kiki have had cold this week; for Little Lady this meant she struggled to sleep as she couldn't breathe well; for me, I just feel shocking, tired, aching, etc. I have ended up with painful ribs too, I suspect through coughing. I fought through the urge to just stuff my face with chocolate. I did mention I'm a comfort eater, right? So I'm feeling proud of myself for that.
Even with my cold crappiness, I have managed to keep exercising. Not as much, I have had two days off though.
I gave my friend her weight loss tracker to keep her motivated at Slimming World and she loved it.
I'm still trying to organise my crafty corner, and have started scanning all my patterns and 'how to's'.

So over to you, what have you been up to this week? What are your reasons to be cheerful? Do let me know.

Cheap Weight Loss Tracker Craft

Whilst browsing on eBay recently, I came across Weight Loss Journey mini chalkboards.

Now I liked the idea by handmadebyzoe2012 but at £8.50 including postage, it seemed a little expensive. So I did what any crafter does in these situations, I look to see how much it would be to buy the component pieces and made my own.

Firstly, I bought 2 MDF plaques with 3 hearts each, for a total of £4.95, figured I'd make one for my friend who is currently joining me a Slimming World. I bought mine pre-cut from agilisltd on eBay.

Agilis crafts & Personalised Gifts do various shapes and sizes, check them out here.

I also bought some chalkboard paint, again from eBay. I chose spray paint as I figured it would be easier to get a smoother surface.

I purchased this from gr8value2you. I actually bought two because I have an idea for the other...

It was £5.10 including postage.

Both sellers dispatched orders next day, so I received with a few days, very happy and will use both again.

I decided to spray the plaques as well as the heart, I thought I could add an inspirational message maybe. Or just write the heart details, This Week, Total, To target.

*hint* lay it on greaseproof paper when spraying, it's easier to clean and doesn't stick.

I applied 3 coats of chalkboard paint, letting each layer dry for about 30 minutes.

Once dried, I didn't spray the back as they are to be hung up, but you could, I choose some ribbon to attach the hearts. After playing around with lengths, I cut and tied it.

I wrote lbs on to the 6 hearts, 3 for each.

I decided to add cupcakes as the design. I used a free digi stamp from Wendy at Handmade Harbour's shop. Available here.

I cropped the stamp to just the cupcake, and then in photoshop edited the banner.

I coloured the cupcakes in.

I cut out the cupcake, wrote on the banners, This Week..., So Far..., ...'til Target, and applied to a holographic purple card background. I then added several layers of Mod Podge matt to seal it.
As this dulled the holographics, I added a couple of layers of Mod Podge sparkle.

I glued the card in to place, and done!

What do you think?

Reasons To Be Cheerful

For more information on what Reasons to Be Cheerful (#R2BC) is all about please check out this post from Michelle at Mummy from the Heart for a full description.

This week's Reasons to be Cheerful:

I lost another 3.5 lbs, so the weight I'd put on last week plus another two pounds.
My friends are amazing!
Daddy is happier about childcare.
I got crafty, I'll post soon.
I'm trying to organise my crafty corner, which means scanning all my patterns and 'how to's' to digital.
I'm doing quite well with Christmas presents. We are on holiday this year, so I want to get sorted soon, so we have money to spend!
I finished my last uni assignment for this OU module, I had to pull an all nighter to get it done. Now just need to get ready for the exam.
I was also featured on Michelle's blog as R2BC blogger of the week last week :-) Thank you Mich x

So over to you, what are your reasons to be cheerful this week?

Reasons to be Cheerful

For more information on what Reasons to Be Cheerful (#R2BC) is all about please check out this post from Michelle at Mummy from the Heart for a full description.

My reasons to be cheerful this week include:

I posted a rant about how Daddy reacted to first time childcare after last Thursday's visit to the potential child minder, and I received some lovely messages of support.
Lots of help and support was received from the lovely ladies at Give Mums A Break.
I decided to use the child minder, she is lovely, Kiki seemed happy with her too :)
Although I had a really bad panic attack before I went, I had a great weekend at Plus North, a fashion event for all this plus size, with my closest friend.
We met some amazing people at Plus North and the After Party, especially the Topsy Curvy girls!
Simply Be were kind enough to send me an outfit to review whilst there too. The dress was gorgeous.
I actually enjoyed shopping whilst there! Bought three pairs of shoes for £5 a pair, bargain!

I also bought a skirt from Topsy Curvy.
My friend also bought me a baby Pink Diamanté Skull Scarf from there too
Whilst in Manchester, I accidentally fell in to Swarovski and spent some pennies... I bought this N The Skull Pendant and Slake Fuchsia Ruby Bracelet, which is actually long enough to wear as a choker too. Now if I can only find someone to buy me the Happy Duck - Punk Duck and N the Skull Docking Station....
We went to Afternoon Tea at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Manchester – Piccadilly too, although wasn't worth it, met some lovely ladies there too.
I actually went to a Parent & Baby group today, first one since my post natal groups, nearly 12 months ago.

How was your week? Tell me....

Wobbles Wednesday

I'm dreading my Slimming World weigh in tonight, according to my scales, I have put 4lbs on. Oops!

However, I did have a great girlie weekend though. I have been good apart from the weekend, so hopefully my scales are wrong....

I will update and let you know when I've been judged, oops, I mean weighed :)

Uh Oh! I've put on 1.5lbs!

Simply Be Fashion Review

After I won tickets to Plus North Fashion Event, I obviously needed something to wear, and Simply Be stepped up and offered me an outfit from their collection.

Simply Be offer a range of on trend plus size ladies clothing, including some amazing designers and brands.

I was offered an outfit to review, which meant I had to look on the website and narrow down the choices. There were plenty of things I could have chosen!

As I was looking quite a few of the items went out of stock in my size, I imagine that the Plus North event meant a rush on sales. I emailed them and gave a list of a few things I liked.

These were:

Anna Scholz Tie Belt Jacket £25.50

AX Paris Navy Floral Skater Dress £32.00

Butterfly Print Tea Dress £35.00

Lovedrobe Stud Trim Maxi Dress £45.00

Within 2 days I had received the AX Paris Navy Skater Dress and the Anna Scholz Tie belt jacket.

Luxurious stretch fabric. Anna Scholz has done it again! Coloured jackets are so on-trend right now, straight from the catwalk to you! Sophisticated boyfriend style jacket in fab textured stretch crepe. So soft and drapey, this jacket can be worn open or belted with the self-fabric belt and looks great with the sleeves pushed up for that 'Glam girl around town' look! We all want one! Get it before it's gone! With pockets and self-tie belt. Unlined.
Length from 27in/69cm.

This navy floral dress looks gorgeous dressed up or down. Has flattering pleats to the front and back to ensure your curves look fabulous. The multi-floral print means that you can team with different coloured accessories. Complete the look by adding pink lippy and a cute clutch. Has zip back fastening.
Hand wash.
Cotton.

I tried them on straight away. The colour of the jacket is gorgeous, it's also beautifully soft.

The dress fit me perfectly. I love skater dresses anyway. I'm not a busty girls (I'm between a B/ C cup) and with a shaped bra, there wasn't much room, so for larger boobed ladies, it may be a bit tight.

Same with the waist, so may be worth going up a size.

I wore the dress all day on Saturday and it really is comfortable, no nipping, or digging in, although a bit blowy with the wind. Had a few Marilyn moments! LOL

The jacket is quite long, and roomy on the boobs. I also lost a button within hours of wearing it, but again very comfortable. I wore it with a white T and jeans on Sunday. I ended up tying the belt behind the jackets, I felt it was too bulky with it fastened.

Dress: AX Paris Navy Skater Dress from Simply Be

Jacket: Anna Scholz Tie belt jacket from Simply Be

Purple Patent Dr Marten Clemency boots

I adore the dress, so much so that I'm going to buy the coral in it.

Thank you to Simply Be for the outfit.

Find Simply Be:
@ Pinterest
@ Twitter
@ Simply Be Blog

Photo Canvas Mod Podge Craft

I have a large photo canvas of Kiki from her trip to Olympics, and love the look of it.

I really like canvas prints, but they are so expensive.

I found a few pins on Pinterest about using Mod Podge to transfer images.

The first one I tried was using actual photographs. I bought some mini canvases from Pound Shop, 4 in a pack 7cm x 7cm.

I trimmed some pictures to size and put a layer of Mod Podge on each canvas, I then laid the photograph, image size up, once it had dried I added some extra layers of Mod Podge to seal.

*note* I had no Matt Mod Podge so I used Sparkle Mod Podge. Same thing but glittery. Be warned, if you haven't used it before, it is very glittery.

The angle and light on the photograph affect the amount of sparkle. I would recommend Matt Mod Podge!

Plus North Fashion Event - After Party

Following on from Plus North Fashion Event, Scarlett & Jo sponsored an After Party at the Renaissance Hotel. They had arranged a Disco, Karaoke, hot food, and an exclusive catwalk show. After the great day, we were really looking forward to the night.

As we were staying in the hotel, we went and got changed in our room, before coming down to the event.

When we got to the Suite where it was being held, there was a queue at the bar. We waited about half an hour to get served, then the Navigator in charge told us he was closing down the shutters and we need to go to the other side and get served. People were getting the lift down to the lobby and getting drinks in the bar there, and were still back before we got served! There were a few incidents of overcharging that I was aware of too.

The food run out quickly as we queued, and we had to wait about an hour for more.

Myself and my friend had a great time and met some lovely people, the girls at Topsy Curvy were mental and good laugh!

Again, every one looked beautiful in their outfits.

It was a really good night, but I think the hotel really let them down.

Collection of photos from the night: