Charity News/Inspiration

All posts in the Charity News/Inspiration category

Crafty

Published 04/09/2011 by Amy
My friend Jenn and I like making scrap books and cards, general paper craft really. But the last few years I’ve struggled with the usual scrap books you can get premade from craft shops with the cardboard covers and the rings.. and you just fill in the pages. I find decorating the covers to be quite tricky, and my cringe urge doesn’t help when I can’t stand touching cardboard or newspaper, I know.. I’m weird, right?. 

As a result I hadn’t made any for ages, the last few I made were made from scratch and the covers were just really heavy card stock. Anywho.. My mums cousin Debbie came for a visit the other day and she was showing us her scrapbook and she had used an old style photo album, the type with one transparent flap. It suddenly clicked in my head.. that’s the way for me to make books, Use old style photo albums! Hopefully with an interesting cover or one that relates to the subject matter inside. Then I wouldn’t have to touch cardboard or try and figure out how to decorate it and seal it with sticky back plastic or varnish, both are equally tricky. 

So, this week I popped down to Bastins, because that’s the only stationary type shop we have here unless I drag someone out in the car anyway, which I still might do for more projects. However, Bastins didn’t offer much variety and especially none with the single flaps I wanted. There was one with a cool fashion sketch cover that had transparent flaps and was only attached in the middle to split the page into two 4×6 sections, which my mum and I quickly deduced would be easy enough to detach and have exactly what I wanted. I bought the album and last night spent an entire ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ episode splitting the middles to give the page one flap which can be pulled off at the end and put back on again, for easy filling!!. The album project is going to be for Book Memories, inserts, fav chapters, songs that remind me of the books, photos, pretty much anything that can relate to the memory or the atmosphere of the book on the page. I have so many favourite books I hope I have enough pages but I can always extend later on. I’ve spent today decorating the inside cover and the contents page. 

I’ll keep you posted. 
Before I go! check out Ellie and my ‘Go for 80 challenge’. Ellie has all the information and sponsor page link at her blog.  


Renewed Knowledge And Exciting News

Published 31/08/2011 by Amy
Even though my faith is a huge part of who I am, when I created my blog I deliberately decided, still not sure for the better or worse, to generally keep my ‘faith and feelings’ out of here. I didn’t want to sound preachy or over ‘religify’ my blog and have it just be about that one aspect of who I am. I’m still playing around with the idea of having a completely separate blog for my faith side, more of a journal for myself.. but if people read it too, and commented sharing their own faith battles and support that’s also pretty neat and welcomed. But it would really be an extension of my account on Wordlive so I’m still undecided.
The main reason I bring that up is: this morning I had a mini revelation and I felt I should share it because it’s not particularly religious or faith selective is perhaps a better phrase to use. Anyone can really use it in their every day life and I especially need it. To explain what happened I should probably first explain a little about what Wordlive is and then it might make a bit more sense in the long run!. Wordlive is an online Bible study you can subscribe to via email. It’s run by ScriptureUnion and it has different aspects that you can interact with. As well as emailing you daily with the Bible verse (from you’re preferred version ie new living translation, youth bible..) It also has areas of the days message with background meditation music for you to pause and reflect on in your own time. And then there’s alt which is a chocablock multimedia fest. I particulaly enjoy the ‘alt’ experience as it combines, videos, animations and podcasts. It really brings the daily message to life.
Todays was Micah 3. What Micah and his message is basically talking about is.. Don’t go about doing and saying things in the name of the Lord and think you are completely untouchable, because if you are doing it for yourself then it’s not for the Lord. Micah was telling the Prophets and Rulers off for giving a service but wanting to be paid for it, the Rulers and Prophets said to the people things like, “if you feed me you will be saved but if you don’t feed me you will be damned”. It was not for the Rulers and Prophets to say that, they themselves, who provide a service but seek payment for it have damned themselves and will be cast into the dark with no message from God. God will turn his back to them because of the evil they have done. 
Micah is telling us that we can only be untouchable and defended by God if we do things his way and listen to his way and not do it for our names and under our rules, or we doom ourselves. The reason this really spoke to me today was because last night I almost lost a friend. 
I’ve been talking to this friend for around 6 years now. He lives in Canada and we’ve only met in person once, but we chat every day and we are a great source of support for each other. But he does do some odd things and I call him weird or his actions weird, as a joke. But he took it seriously and to heart. He explained that because I did it so often I came across as quite judgemental and it bugged him to the point he didn’t think that he could tell me anything he did every again, for fear of having his head bitten off. I never meant for it to come across that way, sometimes I just say things how they are in my black and white world and forget people actually have feelings. We did sort it out before we signed off though, never go to bed on an argument!.
This morning when I checked my emails and read todays message it spoke to me because my friend had been right. I don’t listen. He tells me something and I automatically speak and judge. I don’t give him the chance of explaining or the benefit of the doubt. How can I call myself a Christian when I break one of the fundamental laws?. So Micah told me off good and proper, and I appreciated it. Now I can go back to my friend and put into practice the message I have been given, that we have all been given. The message I especially need to work on. 
Staying silent is often the best course of action, it’s completely awkward and uncomfortable. Not our usual behaviour or a first choice. But it is a necessary one. There is always time for talk, but we need to make time to listen. And by we I mean me. But if you think this applies to you to then that’s cool. 


As promised.. the second reason for this post.


The exciting news is on Saturday 3rd September at 2pm, 38 Degrees members are getting together in Haldon Forest Park for a bike ride to help take a powerful message to the government’s forest panel: please protect our forests for future generations.
I’m not going to be on a bike because that would just be silly and possibly dangerous. I’m hoping Ellie, myself and my dad can walk it.. There will be a stop along the 6 mile bike trip for members to talk, share stories about their forest adventures and why it’s important to keep them and look after them, and take photo’s (my dad will be taking photo’s for me so I can bring them back to share on here). They will be collated and put on 38 Degree’s website, who will then take them along to their meeting with the panel in mid September. They will only have a few minutes to talk and share these things at the panel so it’s really important all of us find and support events like this when they are near us. Can you make it?. 
I’ll finish this post off with a lovely picture of some Sunflowers which I bought today while shopping. Ok two because I can mwhaha.
















Save Our NHS With 38degrees

Published 30/08/2011 by Amy
Sign the petition. Send an E-mail to your local MP. Print off a poster or petition. Donate to aid the campaign. You can print posters and stick them in your place of work or schools, you can even donate through Paypal how much easier can it be?. It takes 5 minutes if that. Change and prevention cannot happen without action. We are so close!!. We stopped them selling our forests, now lets stop them making a bad choice that we will all regret.

If you don’t want an American style health system with sections being signed over to private penny pinching clinics then please help and act now. 

More info and campaigns by 38Degrees

WWF 50th Anniversary ‘Make The Connection’

Published 27/08/2011 by Amy
I am so excited for this competition. I just can’t wait to see what great things will be made for a good cause. I wanted to make a video myself but I’m fairly lousy with a camera and I didn’t think various videos shots of the local park and a monologue from me over the top would really be very interesting, I’ll do it anyway just for my own amusement but there are loads of you out there who can actually see what you are filming and really make a difference so please, give it a go! and support WWF in the process, NO not the wrestling.
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