Wishlist: Vintage Look Bike

Hello lovely people. My health and wellness has hit a slight snag this week. I'm dealing with stomach cramps and all the things that come with it. So I'm taking it easy for the moment because I have a busy weekend and need to rest so I can enjoy it. 

Since I started my 12 Week Body Transformation I've been thinking of fun ways to keep active on the weekends. Plus we are coming up to summer and I want to do more outdoor activities. One of them is to have more picnics. I thought it would be fun to get a vintage look bike to help out with being more active and to get to the picnic destination. I found Reid Cycles and their vintage ladies bikes. 

Now I just have to chose the one I would like. I'm leaning more towards the baby blue as I wish the pink was more of a pastel pink colour. Which do you prefer?

I probably won't buy this until after I get back from America (or perhaps I will hint this as Christmas gift :p) But it's nice to have it on the wish list for the moment. 

I hope you have a wonderful rest of week!

Health and wellness goals

Hello hello! Thank you so much for all the positive comments from my last post. Since then I've started to make a change with my health, fitness and wellbeing. After much thinking I decided to sign up for the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation. It started on Monday and today is Day 6. I feel good. It's pretty intense with six days of exercise and a nutrition plan. I've done six days of working out and I'm sore and tired but I honestly feel good. Nutrition wise I'm trying to follow the plan but it has been difficult in the first week. Although she released the exercise and nutrition plan for next week during the week so I will be able to plan my meals better. 

It's 12 weeks so I hope I have the motivation to complete it. At the end of the 12 weeks I will be going to America on my girls trip :) So that will be a wonderful reward I think. 

I will try and update here as much as possible to keep myself accountable. As for me being a procrastinator I'm working on that and trying not to be so hard on myself. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Ballet fun

Hello lovely people. It's been awhile since I've been around. I've written a few posts this year about my goals and how this year is going to be the best year. I did a letterpress workshop and for the past few weeks I've been doing a beginners ballet class. It's a 10 week course and I'm half way through. Ballet for fun and fitness is something I've wanted to do for years. I did it for a bit as a child and a little bit at school in my dance class but I'm doing it now because I want to. 

I usually do Tuesday night classes but I missed my last class so I went to a Saturday morning class today. I like doing ballet in the day time because the sunlight filters through the dance studio.

I love my little ballet shoes. They are extremely comfortable. 

I love ballet. It's an amazing way to build up flexibility and strength. I might continue and do another 10 week course after this one is completed I enjoy it that much. Have any of you taken an adult dance class for fun before?

Have a wonderful weekend.

P.S. I've also joined Bloglovin' too. Follow my blog with Bloglovin :)

Letterpress workshop

Hello lovely people. At the beginning of this year I had made a few goals. One of them was to do a letterpress course/class/workshop. I also wrote another post about more goals and getting out of comfort zone. So far this year I'm achieving these goals slowly and it feels amazing. A few weeks ago I attended a two night letterpress workshop at the Design College Australia. 

It was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I finally took the plunge and enrolled in the workshop. They work with traditional letterpress and type and even though in the future I'm aiming to work with polymer plate letterpress printing it gave me a better understanding of the whole process and the history of the printing form. My instructor was so passionate about it that it filled me with excitement. 

The workshop was over two nights over two weeks. We worked in partners because it takes a long (loonngg) time to put it together and it's easier having someone to bounce ideas off. 

It's terrible but I can't remember what type of letterpress machine this is but it's the one that we all used. 

*TheDesignKids Instagram

I was trying to figure out another way to put the type together and I was concentrating hard. 

* Stongarmpress Instagram

I like this birds eye view of us working. This was taken by our instructor. 

* Strongarmpress Instagram 

Another view from the top. This place was amazing! Apparently it's an old bacon factory (or something like that. Lots of character). 

This was from night two. This part took a long time to do. It doesn't seem like much but if you've done any traditional letterpress you would know the time it takes.

* Minusculetiny Instagram

As you can see I was quite excited to paint and get the print finished. 

A few of our prints. We had to make a few as they are all slightly different. 

So this is the final product. What I love about the traditional form is feeling the wood type in your hands. It has a nice texture and I like the rustic look. The imperfections give it character. Plus our instructor suggested the awesome orange. You can't tell from this photo but it's a delicious looking fluro orange. It adds a more modern element to an otherwise traditional piece.

At the end you feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that you put together this print. We chose the type we wanted to use, the layout and we had to pick a print saying from a list they provided us. 

You can not believe how excited I was to finally do something I've wanted to do for ages. I'm glad I finally stopped making excuses and just did it. 

Oh if you want follow me via instagram. My username is Graciebellabutterfly. 

What have you done that you have been wanting to do for a long time?

Have a wonderful weekend. 

On goals and getting out of my comfort zone

*Photo taken by my lovely friend Laura*

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about my life and what I want to do with it. I guess it stems from my work contract ending in July. I need to find another job but I've been wondering what to look for. This has always been a problem for me, what to do for the rest of my life. I have an idea but it will take a lot of commitment. I might share it one day when I have a better understanding about exactly how I'm going to go about it. 

I decided that this year I'm going to try and learn more. There are these short courses and skills that I've wanted to do for years and I would always come up with an excuse about why I can't do it right now. But I feel as though my life is starting to pass me by and I'm not really moving forward with anything. So I've written down the courses and skills I want to learn and actively enroll in the courses or search for tutorials. Here's my list so far....

♥ Letterpress course (I've wanted to do this for so long and I'm finally going to sign up for a course)

♥ Book binding (I can do basic book binding but I'm fascinated with the whole process and want to learn it properly)

♥ Calligraphy (I bought a starter kit to practice with and hopefully do some lessons this year)

♥ Crochet (I have found a few tutorials which I hope to follow. Plus I've wanted to do this for awhile so I have tools)

There are a few more but they are some of the goals I will be trying to do this year. The other area I've wanted to improve is stepping out of my comfort zone. Again for years I've wanted to go to Cambodia to help out with the SHE rescue home my church has set up for girls that have been rescued from sex trafficking. And it just never happens. Last week I finally emailed to get some information and I have the application form just ready to be filled out. I can't deny that it has made me feel extremely nervous but I have at least taken that first step. 

I wanted to share this on here to keep me accountable so hopefully I will actually do these things. How do you break out of your comfort zone? Any goals you've had for years but still haven't achieved?

Have a wonderful week.

Goals for the Year

Hello my lovelies. I hope you had a great week. I'm so glad it was a short work week. It was easier to get back into it. 

So I have a few goals for this year. I realised when I look over my goals from previous years they are basicially the same goals. Seeing that made a me a little sad but it has pushed me to really organise myself this year and to work towards them. 

1. Flowers from my gorgeous friend Laura. She also drew the card!

2. Happiness journal and book

3. More journals for the year

4. Journals

I had to add the flowers from one of my best friends Laura. She's amazingly talented and I simply adore her. So back to my list...

♥ To do a letterpress course (there is one next month so I HAVE to do it)

♥ To take care of my body better with a healthier diet, more exercise, to sleep better and to relax more

♥ To be organised and work at my organisational skills

♥ To be more involved with my church (perhaps go to Cambodia on a missions trip)

♥ To do devotionals like SheReadsTruth

♥ To have a handmade business

♥ To put together my creative space

♥ One of my main goals this year is to journal more and to keep more memories

I want to live a more creative life and I need to stop waiting for the right time. When is the right time anyway? I have a collection of notebooks that I'm using to organise the different aspects of my life and I'm using the Kikki.K 2013 diary to write a line (or word) each day. I will try to write updates on these goals (and to keep me accountable) I do have a few more but these are the main ones that I want to achieve this year. 

What are your goals this year?

Happy New Year loves!

Happy New Year lovelies!

I spent New Years Eve with some of Jason's relatives and some good friends of ours Laura and Josh. There's nothing like ringing in the new year with good company and a laid back atmosphere. 

I'm not really one for making New Year Resolutions but I like to make some goals for the year.

♥ To live a healthier, more positive life. This includes being more aware of the food I eat, to exercise more often and to stop worrying about all the little things.

♥ To trust in God more in all aspects of my life. 

&heats; To spend more time being creative and to document more of life's moments. 

♥ To live more in the moment instead of waiting for things to get better or for me to be more organised etc.

♥ To have more dates with my hubby. 

♥ To plan more meet ups with my friends. I crave more girl time dates. 

I think this year, I want to stop waiting for the 'perfect' moment, to just do it. There are so many things I want to do achieve this year and I love that the new year brings new hope and new opportunities. I intend for this to be the best year yet!

Goals for the Year

 via Tumblr

Hello lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Mine were both relaxed.

We've had some house guests which is why I'm only getting back into the swing of things. I have a ton of washing and so much organising to do. But I love the beginning of a new year because it gives me the opportunity to start afresh. That is just how I feel anyway.

I don't normally write resolutions because I know that I will never keep them going longer than a month but I do have certain goals and expectations and improvements that I want to work towards throughout the year.

♥ Be more organised - This is always a big one and I don't expect to become a superwoman at it but I want to try and organise my time management skills better.

♥ To capture more moments and memories

♥ To help make a change in this world

♥ Work on my creativity

♥ To gain more confidence in me! And to stop comparing myself with other people (Jason says I'm too hard on myself)

♥ To increase my faith

♥ To stop with just dreaming and do

♥ Write my thoughts out more regularly

♥ Give more of my time to the people who are important to me

♥ Write more letters

♥ Get a new job

♥ Be more aware of my health and fitness

♥ Stop wasting time by worrying

♥ Something I'm too embarrassed to mention here :)

They are just some of the goals and other things I want to work towards this year. I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't achieve them but I would love to end this year feeling satisfied that I have at least tried.

Oh I do have to mention that for Christmas Jason did get me a Fuji Instax Camera :) Plus the Harry Potter books box set. And he got me this wonderful pampering package (1 hr massage, hair treatment, facial, pedicure). I bought him an iPad which made him very happy. Though it was partially a birthday present too. 

Hope you have a wonderful rest of week and fantastic New Year!