We have only one bookshop on the island (tragic, isn't it?). A month ago, they had a few copies of Paolo Coelho's new book "The Witch of Portobello". I didn't have any cash on me at the time and, when I went back the next week, it was sold out. Woe me! I've been following his spiritual quest in his books for some time now and was so disappointed when I couldn't read his latest spiritual odyssey.

I decided to see if the book was available online and, hey presto, discovered that all his books were. Paolo Coelho himself opened a pirate blog for his readers to download books. He believes that "The sales increased a lot. There is no conflict between the fact that you have something for free, it stimulates people to read and to buy, because they have the possibility of trying".

Here is the link for "The Witch of Portobello":

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

and here are some others in pdf format.

If you want to read his books in other languages or prefer torrent and other file formats, go to Pirate Coelho.

I'm reading "The Witch of Portobello" online right now, but I'm looking forward to buying the book when it's available again. There's still nothing better than curling up with a favourite book and a cup of tea. And curling up is hard to do with a laptop...

It often helps to supplement your creative visualization by putting your energy into making a craft object for your needs. Focussing on drawing money into your life whilst crafting this money spell bottle will help you to manifest the money you desire. This spell is best done at the new moon.

You will need:
small glass vial with stopper
green glass paint
glass outliner in gold or copper
copper or brass wire
green and gold beads
green feather
gold coloured yarn
jump ring
jewellery tongs

Step-by-step instructions:
1. Paint the glass vial and draw the money rune Fehu (see picture) on it.
2. Wrap the wire around the neck of the vial a few times.
3. Make 2 beaded chains and attach to the wire.
4. Push a feather through the wire.
5. Attach a couple of dangling beaded chains to the other chains.
6. Wrap around the vial with gold coloured yarn.
7. Fill the bottle with any 7 of the following ingredients: malachite, jade or any other green gemstone, something copper or gold, a piece of root ginger, almond, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, patchouli oil

Hang it around your neck or on a keychain. Keep it in your handbag; just carry it on your person. Once you have made your magical money vial, don't obsess about it. Trust that the Universe will provide ...

In one of my many incarnations in this life, I was an English teacher. Usually, at some point during the year, I would ask my students to write out their ideal day using the 5 W's and How. It's an exercise I've done myself as well and find very useful as a creative visualization aid. (And as long as there's nobody around to check your grammar, writing down your ideal day is a lot of fun.)

The 5 W's are:
When? What? Who? Where? Why?
Add the How? to flesh out the details with sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.

First, grab a pen and paper and make a diagram or list of sorts.



In each of the areas jot down some ideas of how you would spend your ideal day. Write down or sketch as many details as you can. You might want to break up the activities into chronological time frames as well, i.e. a separate chart for the morning, afternoon and evening.

Here are some examples:
When?: after waking up in the morning at 7 a.m.
Where?: on my wooden verandah overgrown with bouganvillea, in my cane rocking chair, overlooking the sea
What?: drinking a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and enjoying a breakfast of sweet juicy papaya and crispy toast
Who?: together with my beloved soulmate
Why? starting my day in a relaxed manner
How? contemplating the view and enjoying the intimacy of conversation
or:
When?: at 10 a.m.
Where?: in my large airy violet-walled art studio stocked with everything I could possibly need
What?: conducting a workshop on collage
Who?: together with lively creative workshop attendees
Why?: this is the course I'm currently giving
How?: with active participation, music in the background,

Spend some time imagining and filling in your diagram or list, then write down your story in the present tense as though you are living it. Fill it with details and make it vivid. Get excited about it. This is, after all, about creating your ideal future.

Read your ideal day visualization out loud to yourself every day or week with enthusiasm. If you visualize an event in great detail and with a lot of emotion, your subconscious mind will be "conned" into believing that it’s really happening. This is important, because once your subconscious believes your visualization to be a fact, the Universe will start sending you an endless amount of ideas and opportunities to start living your ideal life.

Tania at Whole Living Today awarded me! Thank you! I feel truly honoured.



I'd like to pass them on to Sara at Crafts of Texture, Ivonnardona at Ivonnardona's Creations, Stephen at Birthing Your Dream and Christine at Live Passionately for providing lot's of inspiration and creativite ideas.

Strangely, this is the "spice" I love the most and actually can't live without.

You Are Cilantro

The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you. The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world. You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

What Spice Are You?

This week I've been getting into glass painting. These are three mugs (of the many, of course) that I painted. I usually sell them at the local market. The streaky effect is created by using glass paints instead of porcelain paint. Hope you get inspired to do your own.

Living on a tropical island, I am lucky to have a large supply of one of nature's most beneficial foodstuffs. Coconuts as well as coconut oil have always been a mainstay of the Seychelles diet.

Coconut oil is a food, and is one of the best cooking oils you can use. Unlike most vegetable oils, coconut oil's chemical structure is kept intact even when used in higher cooking temperatures and is therefore resistant to mutations of fatty acid chains. Research shows that the fatty acids found in coconut oil raise the body's metabolism, boost the immune system, and help provide greater energy which can also lead to weight loss.

Saturated fats have received a bad press in recent years. They've been linked to raising cholesterol levels and causing cardiovascular and other diseases. Coconut oil is rich in saturated fats, so many people put it in the same category as animal fats. Actually, in contrast to animal fats which contain cholesterol, coconut oil has no cholesterol.

There are two types of saturated fats: medium chain and long chain fatty acids. Coconut oil is mainly composed of medium chain fatty acids, which are easily digested and converted to energy. They do not raise cholesterol nor increase the risk of heart disease. Animal fats are long chain fatty acids, which have the ability to raise cholesterol and are easily stored in the body as fats.

Are there any people who live on saturated fats who are healthy? Yes! People who live in tropical climates and still have a diet high in coconut oil are healthier, have less heart disease, cancer, colon and weight problems, than unsaturated fat eaters. Two groups of people which have been studied are Melanesians and Mexicans from the Yucatan area. These people are slightly hyperthyroid (faster metabolism) because of the thyroid stimulating effects of coconut oil plus a diet which includes protein (fish) and adequate fruit (stimulates thyroid function).

The health benefits of coconut oil:

• Thyroid-stimulating and anti-aging The cholesterol-lowering properties of coconut oil are a direct result of its ability to stimulate thyroid function. In the presence of enough thyroid hormone, cholesterol (specifically LDL-cholesterol) is converted by enzymatic processes to anti-aging steroids, which are required to help prevent heart disease, senility, obesity, cancer and other diseases associated with aging and chronic degenerative diseases.
• Weight loss stimulating Because the thyroid gets stimulated, the metabolism gets boosted and calories get burnt faster resulting in the pounds coming off.
• Anti-cancer Studies have shown that in chemically induced cancers of the colon and breast (it does seem mean to do that, but researchers will be researchers...), coconut oil was by far more protective than unsaturated oils. One study showed that 32% of corn oil eaters got colon cancer whereas only 3% of coconut oil eaters got the cancer. Many other studies since the 1920's have shown an association between consumption of unsaturated oils and the incidence of cancer.
• Antimicrobial (antiseptic) Coconut oil contains medium chain fatty acids. One of these is lauric acid, which has strong anti-viral properties. It is present in breast milk and protects infants from viral, bacterial or protozoal infections. Lauric acid also has adverse effects on other pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, yeast and fungi. There has even been a lot of research recently on the benefits of lauric acid in HIV infections.

So how can we benefit from the wonderful healing properties of coconut oil? It can be used for frying, instead of other fats in baking, in puddings; it's up to your imagination. One of my favourites is coconut rice pudding. Yummy! The kitchen beckons ...

These are some free personal development ebooks I downloaded last week, which I thought were excellent reads.

Psychic Demand is an early work from Frank C Haddock, one of the early abundance and Law of Attraction writers of the 20th century. Basically, LOA before the term LOA. Thanks to Wendy Piersall for offering it on her website.

The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment by the late by Thaddeus Golas. In his words: "Laziness keeps me from believing that enlightenment demands effort, discipline, strict diet, non-smoking, and other evidences of virtue." Just my cup of tea ...

Time Management for Creative People by Mark McGuinness. Loved the book, love his website and yes, I've signed up for the feed without it being a requirement for download.

20 Little Way to Stop and Smell the Roses is a wonderful book highlighting little ways and means of looking after yourself. Although I love pampering myself, I do occasionally need a reminder or two...

The Power of Frustration - Insightful guide on how to turn frustration into a positive force for change and growth.

From time to time we all suffer from creative block. When the going gets tough, I open up my creativity jar and pull out a little creativity prompt to get me going. I downloaded these cards from eyewire.com some years ago. The website unfortunately no longer exists, but I kept the cards on my hard drive.

You will need:

• a jar, either glass or porcelain
• glass paints and glass outliner
• gesso or white acrylic paint
• acrylic paint
• print out of eyewire cards (click on images to get a larger view)

Step-by-step instructions:
1. wash the jar and lid with soap and dry thoroughly
2. prepare the lid with gesso or white paint
3. paint the jar with glass paint
4. paint the lid with acrylic paint
5. decorate the jar with the outliner
6. let dry for 24 hours
7. burn the jar in oven (not the lid!)
8. cut up the cards and put in jar

Now you're all set to cope with your next creative block.

I first came across the term creative visualization when I read the book of the same name by Shakti Gawain in the early 1980s. The term may have been new to me then, but not the concept. I had been doing magic rituals for some years before and realized that creative visualization and magic were one and the same. Dion Fortune defined magic as "the art of changing consciousness at will" and I recently came across this definition of creative visualization: "Creative visualization is not just a technique. It is a state of consciousness. It is a consciousness in which we realize that we are the continuous creator of our universe and take responsibility for it. "

The idea is that we are always creating our own reality; what we need to do is start consciously creating it. This thought has been flying around the personal development scene much more recently with all the new books and sites about manifestation, Law of Attraction, etc. I truly believe it is a good thing that more and more people are becoming aware and living more consciously. BUT ...

Where's the fun?
A lot of the information concentrates on manifesting abundance (many seem to focus on money) and is presented in a deadly serious manner. I'm not saying it's not a serious business (literally business for many!), but a little lightheartedness and humour might not be amiss. My daughter actually pointed this out to me the other day when she said she was sick of the whole spirituality shebang; it used to be much more fun when we sat in front of the altar chanting spells and dancing around standing stones. Out of the mouth of babes ...

We shouldn't just listen to our kids; we should emulate them and PLAY more. Rituals are a good way to play with your imagination. It is much more fun to dress up in red flowing clothes at the full moon and chant spells on the beach or even in front of an altar filled with visual images, candles, etc. Adding a little drama to your visualizing puts you in the mood and prepares your mind and gets those alpha brain waves going.

Once the scene is set (yes, I think of it as a play), it is so much easier to focus on the actual technicalities of creative visualization. Then you can sit down and let your imagination run wild on what you want to manifest. For instance, if you want to manifest love in your life, you might dress in red, light a candle or two, burn some rose oil in an oil burner, put on some music and then visualize your ideal relationship. The principles are the same: use all your senses in imagining you and your beloved being together. Enjoy the feeling of togetherness and love, smell your happiness, hear the violins playing ... Just engage all your senses in some way even before starting the visualization. You'll already be in "pretend mode" and visualization is all about "acting as if".

You might want to end your ritual with a statement. This one works for me:
This, or something better, now manifests for me in totally satisfying and harmonious ways, for the highest good of all concerned. So mote it be. Blessed be.

Then let go of the ritual and start enjoying the moment. Have fun!

All week long I've been trying to convince people that getting up early is not for me and am tired of hearing about early birds getting the worms. Who wants worms anyway?

You Are a Night Person

For you, there's nothing worse than having to get up and moving early. In fact, you probably don't hit your peak until well after the sun has set. So if your struggling to make it on a normal schedule, realize it's not your fault. You just weren't meant to do anything during the day!

Are You a Morning Person or Night Person?

I found this little video gem the other day and would like to share it with you. It shows you how to relax using deep breathing techniques. This quick and useful guide will teach you how to master the basics of breathing in order to relax the body and mind.


How To Relax Using Deep Breathing Techniques


Step 1:
Make yourself comfortable
You can do this technique in any setting, but it is better when your mind is calm and your body is relaxed. Find a quiet place if possible. You can either be seated or lying down. Once in position take a few deep breaths.

Step 2:
Focus your attention
Close your eyes and begin to empty your mind and clear away all thoughts. Pay particular attention to your body and your breathing.

Step 3:
The inhale
Begin by placing your hands on your stomach. Slowly inhale through your nose, filling first the abdomen as you feel your hands rise while the air enters. Continue filling the lower lungs, and finally the upper chest around the heart.

Step 4:
The exhale
Now, slowly exhale the air out the mouth, going in reverse order, first emptying the chest then the lower lungs and finally the stomach, allowing the belly button to fall towards the spine.

Step 6:
The rhythm
Now that we've practiced the form, it's time to set a tempo. Different patterns of breathing have varying effects on the systems of the body. For relaxation, we will attempt to slow the heart rate to calm the nervous system. The key to achieving this is to make the exhale slightly longer than the inhale. This can be done by counting slowly to 5 on the inhale.1..2...3..4...5. then count to 8 on the exhale. 1..2..3..4…5…6..7…8.

Step 7:
Putting it all together
Now that we've got the style, it's just a matter of practice. It is good to start out with sessions of about 5 minutes each. This will be enough to slow the heartbeat, lower the blood pressure and improve the functioning of the all the body's systems.

I'm sick and dying this week, so I've been looking for some inspiration online and browsing blogs on holistic and alternative health.

One blog I found that is nearly overwhelming in the information it offers is The Holistic Care. Tons of useful articles on yoga, energy medicine, ayurveda... you name it, it's there. Also offers free Reiki attunements. I'm a Reiki II and will be "upgrading".

Doc Robert's Holistic Health Blog brings you the latest news updates in alternative health. I am addicted to "the latest study shows" type of health news and this blog delivers it.

I love eating. I love eating healthy food (never mind the occasional binge on the not-so-good-for-you-stuff). Laurel on Health Food is all about healthy eating and offers some mouthwatering recipes as well.

Living near the beach in a holiday resort, I often pretend I'm a tourist and go on a mini holiday. I usually take a book with me, some sun tan oil (which I never use otherwise), a colourful pareo and go plonk myself in one of the sunloungers at a hotel. It's lovely to while away the afternoon sipping (sometimes laced) coconut water and going for occasional dips to cool off. The people I meet invariably think I'm on holiday as well and I've struck up some really good conversations and met many interesting people from all walks of life. At other times, I will go down the beach to be on my own, writing in my journal. It's amazing how a mini vacation can recharge your batteries and fire up your creativity. Try it!

Pack a big bag with:
some munchies
a journal or notebook and pen
a flask of your favourite beverage
a good book
some cash in case you feel like mixing with people in a cafe
a yoga mat or whatever you feel you might need

The key is to not plan ahead exactly when and where you plan to be. If you're going to the beach or woods, let your intuition guide you to the best spot. If you're visiting your town, be spontaneous and do exactly what you feel like doing at the moment. This might be sight-seeing, going to the museum or busking in front of a cafe. Let the day just unfold. Celebrate being. That's what you do when you're on a "proper holiday", isn't it?

I've got the flu and was feeling totally depressed about my blog. Here I was, busy blogging day after day, and, poor pathetic me, nobody cared. Nobody reacted to anything I wrote. Was I so boring, so uninteresting? Suddenly, in the clarity of fever, it dawned on me that maybe something was wrong with the system, whereupon I asked my daughter to send a test comment. This, of course, never arrived. Then I went to Haloscan and saw that there were loads of comments "pending my approval". This made my day! I am now smiling (albeit feverishly and manically). It just goes to show that sometimes you need to go searching actively for the good stuff. Thank you, everybody! I'll be responding tomorrow.

Valentine's Day is coming up and many of us are still alone, but wishing for a partner. It often helps to supplement your creative visualization by putting your energy into making a craft object for your needs. Focussing on drawing love into your life whilst crafting this love spell bottle will help you to manifest the love you desire.

You will need:
small glass vial with stopper
glass paint
glass outliner in gold or copper
copper or brass wire
beads
red, pink or green feather
gold coloured yarn
jump ring
jewellery tongs

Step-by-step instructions:
1. Paint the glass vial and draw a heart shape on it.
2. wrap the wire around the neck of the vial a few times.
3. Make 2 beaded chains and attach to the wire.
4. Push a feather through the wire.
5. Attach a couple of dangling beaded chains to the other chains.
6. Wrap around the vial with gold coloured yarn.
7. Fill the bottle with any 7 of the following ingredients: rose quartz or any other pink or green gemstone, something copper, cumin, anis, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, rose water, rose petals or rose oil, geranium petals or oil, vanilla (real vanilla extract or pod)

Hang it around your neck or on a keychain. Keep it in your handbag; just carry it on your person. Once you have made your magical love vial, don't obsess about it. Trust that the Universe will provide ...

I've been tagged by Andrea at Circle of Women. Yes! I am a happy person. How about you?

You Are 96% Happy

It's unlikely that you know anyone happier than you. You know how to be happy, no matter what life throws at you.

How Happy Are You?

I'm tagging:
Maitri at Magic and Moments at Dragonfly Cottage
Kristen at I Share Happiness
Stephen at Birthing Your Life Dream
Nicole at A Modern Goddess Online

Not really on a creative roll this week, largely because I had my tooth pulled midweek and spent a couple of days bemoaning my misery. However, before this tragic event, I did manage to recycle a few Ovaltine jars I had hanging around. I've put my paintbrushes into one of the smaller ones. I think the larger embellished jar might be nice for some dried flowers if they were in some wacky arrangement.

Sleeping isn't the only way to recharge your batteries. I don't particularly like sleeping, so I need other ways to get my energies flowing. Here are seven ways I have found both helpful and fun. Try and make time everyday for at least half an hour to indulge in these healthy pursuits.

1. Move your body
All forms of exercise are great for relieving stress, and it works in many ways. Firstly, it releases endorphins, the body's natural pain relievers that improve your mood. It also removes the build up of adrenalin that can occur if you are stressed and relaxes your muscles by warming them up. If you're not very sporty (like me!), try dancing and going for walks.

2. Picture this
At the end of the workday, imagine your stress liquefying and running out of your body so that with each step, you leave a coloured footprint that represents your stress. Then, notice that the further you walk from work (whether in the home or outside), the fainter the footprints become - until the stress has disappeared.

3. The scented touch
A massage with essential oils is absolutely heaven! When you breathe in the oils, they send a direct message to your brain via your olfactory nerves, where they affect the endocrine and hormonal systems via the hypothalamus. Odours have an amazing effect on our emotional states, because they hook into the "emotional" or primitive parts of our brains (the limbic system, also known as the rhinencephalon - the "smell brain"!). Aromatherapv massage benefits the physical, the emotional and the psyche. Create your own massage oil by adding up to 30 drops of a blend to 30 ml of pure vegetable oil, such as grapeseed or almond. The massage oil can he used for a full massage or spot massage at pressure points for quick effect. Anyone offering?

4. In comes the good air
Babies breathe naturally, but most children learn that shallow breathing seems to reduce feelings of emotional pain. Think of the furious child who holds her breath. These emotions don't go away, though. They accumulate in the form of stress and tension in the solar plexus, where they can cause all sorts of physical ailments. Shallow breathing also depletes our intake of oxygen, which can cause anxiety.
Relearning how to breathe is an important step in releasing stress. Try practicing natural breathing for five minutes a day. Imagine your breath rising from your feet and travelling up your body to the top of your head as you inhale. On the exhale, feel your breath descending again to your feet.
Do this also whenever you feel yourself getting tense. Lean back in your chair and just breathe.

5. Sound advice
Since so many sounds can be stressful - the 3 a.m. wail of your baby, the 6 a.m. screech of your alarm clock, the 6:10 a.m. screech of your alarm clock, the 6:20 a.m. screech of your alarm clock - it's only fitting that other sounds should serve to soothe. Why not take a 20-minute "sound bath" anytime your knickers are in a twist? Put some relaxing music on your stereo, then lie down near the speakers with knees slightly bent and allow the music to wash over you. The washing imagery is important; you should feel the music rinsing away the day's stress from your tired body.

6. Laugh it off
Laughter is a very effective stress-buster. When we let out a belly laugh, our bodies let out endorphins, those painkilling darlings of the exercise set. Related to morphine, endorphins make us feel good, which in turn makes us more resistant to stress. But it's not enough to sit back and wait for a coworker to fall facefirst into a custard tart. Humour must be actively sought out. One easy way to do this is to imagine how the writers for a TV sitcom might handle your most stressful "snags."

7. Craft it
The power of creating a bedcover, a garden or a cake can't be underestimated, especially if it reflects some aspect of you. It's great when the project turns out well, but there's also value in the doing. The act of concentration can become meditative, even trance-like, and mind clearing.

These sites are doing a wonderful job of getting indie crafters noticed by recommending products, designs and crafts from the independent sector.

Indie Quarter is a UK-based blog promoting independent designers, makers, artists and crafters. I especially like the "A day in the life of ..." series.

Anything Indie is run by a jewellery artist who clearly spends a lot of time looking for interesting artisans on the internet and getting them noticed.

Indie Love The title says it all ... I love her enthusiastic style.

MissMalaprop.com No malapropriasms on her site at all, just great reviews. MissMalaprop is also interested in eco-friendly and sustainable products and ideas, a view that I share.

Pretty Crafty Thing promises sensory overload and certainly delivers.

Please visit the wonderful blogs and support indie artisans.

If I'm suffering from a creative block, I can often get through it by sitting for a few minutes with my hands in the ushas mudra position.

A mudra is a yoga hand posture that facilitates the flow of subtle energy in a specific way. Our thumbs, fingers and the palms of our hands are constantly emitting currents of energy. By creating certain postures with your hands, fingers and thumbs you can stimulate certain energies and send this energy to particular chakras. This is a mudra which activates the sacral chakra (centre of creativity and sexuality) and hence is good for getting your creative energies going.

Mini mudra meditation for creativity
Put your hands in your lap, palms up, on top of each other. Ladies, interlace your fingers with palms facing upwards. Encircle your right thumb between your left thumb and index fingers. Guys, interlace your fingers with palms facing upwards. Your right thumb rests on top of your left thumb with gentle pressure. (This is because our energies rotate differently. But you knew that one already ...)
Concentrate on the sacral chakra at the sacral bone (on the lower back). As you sit, remember to pull your belly button towards your spine. This helps circulate the energy in the sacral chakra area.
Breathe gently.

You can do this as a mini-medition a couple of times a day for 10 minutes or even whilst doing something else. Mudras can be done anywhere and anytime. I often do mudras whilst vegging out in front of the TV. You don't have to concentrate on the mudra, just keeping your hands in the position (and sitting up straight whilst doing it) will do the trick as well.

You will also feel an increase in sexual energy, as creative and sexual energy is basically the same. If you don't want that ... well then: sublimate, my dear, sublimate.

You could just randomly brainstorm and write down all the things you love and bring you joy in life. A more fun way to mind map all the things you are passionate about is to make a word collage of cut-out words. Spend an hour or so browsing through magazines and cut out key words that jump out at you from the page because they resonate with your soul. Put them all into a little box or tin.

Next, try arranging them on a page in your journal or any blank piece of paper. Group them into sections that make some sense to you. Arrange them in shapes and patterns, possibly connecting them with lines.


Now you have established what you truly love, make sure to indulge in at least some of the pleasures every day. Ultimately, your goal might be to incorporate all or most into your daily life and work. Doing what you love and following your bliss is, after all, your life purpose. Keep looking at your word collage and let it carry you away into your ideal life.

Looking at my word collage, I might think of opening a craft coffeeshop that also serves as a meeting point for spiritually minded people. Or I could blog about all the subjects dear to my heart. Or I could open a spiritual retreat centre offering art and personal growth workshops. The possibilities are huge. And yes, I am working on a couple of ideas and letting the universe guide my on my path ...

You Should Be a Social Worker

You are deeply caring and empathetic. You are able to take on other people's problems as if they were your own. Sensitive and intuitive, you understand human emotions well. Helping others gives you the most joy in life. You feel like it's your purpose in life. You do best when you: - Have a lot of responsibility - Greatly impact someone's life with your work You would also be a good philanthropist or stay at home parent.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

This week, I've been on a creative roll; writing (this blog) actually increases my craftyness and artyness. I've been interested in mixed media and found object art for a long time now and have made a few assemblage pieces. (They're showcased in the flickr box in the sidebar.) After working on some Valentine's jewellery for my craft stall, I got tired of all the sweetness and decided to go for the meat. These are some of my latest mixed media jewellery pieces:
Also made some suncatchers out of pieces of broken window glass. I have louvred windows and someone smashed one and fished my handbag out through the burglar bars. I decided I needed to get something good out of this and turned my anger into creative energy. Hey presto, the suncatchers were born! They should bring some posivitive vibes...

I’ve been tagged by Tania at Whole Living Today. Hmm, seven random or weird facts about me…

• I will do all sorts of DIY home improvements, but refuse to use power tools. That's what brothers and boyfriends are for ...
• In 2005, I finally visited Venice. I stopped short at taking a singing gondola, but otherwise it was everything I had imagined.
• I love Bollywood movies. Whenever I'm feeling a bit low, I'll watch a Shah Rukh Khan DVD and my heart starts soaring again.
• I grew up with loving parents, good feedback at school and plenty of friends. Yet I thought I was bad and the black sheep of the family. Can there be too much positive feedback?
• I didn't know unicorns were mythical creatures until I was 23. I just thought they were extinct. Still not sure ...
• Many people have said I am like: Liza Minelli, Sophia Loren, Fran Drescher and Barbara Streisand. I'm still trying to see the common thread ???
• Although my housewifely skills are on the low side, I enjoy hanging up clothes. I find it quite relaxing.

Ok… consider yourself tagged:

• Lady Rose at Enchanted Crafts
  
• Andrea at Mind Body & Soul
  
• Chris at soupornuts.com
  
• Fallen Angel at Secret Monologues
  
• Cat at Cut Out + Keep
  
• Sage and Daisy
  
• Tamaryn at her page on Indiepublic
  

Now for the rules:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.