Bonnie's Good Game List + Goodbye

I'm sure you've been at an event where games have been run before. Whether it's icebreaker games in a more formal group setting, vigorous games at a kids camp, competitive games at a birthday party.... games are great for having fun. And someone has to run those games.

I've had to run games at kids camps, birthday parties, family get togethers and all sorts in the past. I'm sure I will need to in the future, too.

So, given that it's likely you'll end up running games at some point in your life, how do you know what games to run?

Really, the best way I've found to find good games is to watch closely when others are running games and you're a participator. 

That way you can easily and quickly see if it works. How it's run. How it plays out in a group setting. What the group thinks of it. What group size it works with. And the best thing? It becomes tried-and-true.

Of course, you can go through a games book and pick out a couple that sound good. But you don't know how well they'll work because you haven't tried them before.

Whenever you're a participator and someone else is running games, take careful notice of what games they play. If you finish the game thinking, "that was fun!", "that was a good game!" or "I wanted to keep playing that game", you've quite possibly found a new game to add to your list of good games.

Now that I've just been preaching that the best way to find good games is to find them in real life, I'm going to give you a list of my favourite games. :P Haha.

Maybe you've heard them, maybe you haven't, but here are my top seven favourite games to run.


1. Ball Through Legs (I don't know it's actual name)
Group size: Any
Agility level: Somewhat high
Equipment needed: A ball

All participants, facing outwards, stand in a circle. Each participant has their feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Everyone must be touching the feet of his or her neighbour so the circle is continuous and there aren't any gaps in the circle of feet apart from in between the legs of individual players.
The aim of the game is to try and get the ball to go through the legs of another player, while keeping it away from the gap between your legs. Everyone is facing outwards of course, and they can only use their hands to push the ball around. As soon as the ball goes through someone's legs from inside the circle to outside the circle, that player is out. When someone is out, the circle must be closed up tighter.
Works well with vigorous people and can be quite hilarious because when you're facing outward with your hands in front of you so the ball doesn't go through your legs, it can be hard to see what's going on with the ball in the circle!


2. Empires
Group size: Between about 10 and 30ish would work best
Agility level: None needed
Equipment needed: Slip of paper for each player, pen for each player

Each player sits around the room. Everyone writes on their paper a secret name for themselves. It could be anything - Cleopatra, Gerald, Ferdinand, the name of someone in the room, whatever. All the papers are then folded and given to someone (best to be the player who won't know anyone's handwriting; or an innocent bystander). That someone reads out each name, one by one. Everyone tries to remember as many names as possible. The list of names is read twice. Then someone begins the guessing.
The aim of the game is to build your own 'empire' by correctly guessing which fake name belongs to which player.
For example, I might say to Danella, "Danella, are you 'Herbert'?" If Danella's secret name wasn't Herbert, Danella would then be able to guess. If, however, I had guessed correctly, Danella would leave her seat and come sit next to me. She would have become part of my empire. I could then have another turn.
While my own secret name remains unguessed,  I am able to guess others and add them to my empire. As soon as my name is guessed, me and my whole empire of people I have guessed go and join the empire of the person who found out my secret identity.
The winner is the person who stays right to the end and remains unguessed. They will end up with the entire group of players in their empire.
This is a truly great game. :) Definitely one of my favourites!


3. Balloon Stomp
Group size: Any - more is better!
Agility level: High
Equipment needed: Piece of string (1-2 feet long) and a balloon for each player

Each player blows up a balloon and attaches it to their ankle using the piece of string. Upon the game beginning, players must run around and try to stomp on everyone's balloons using their feet. If your balloon is stomped on, you are out. Of course, each player is trying to get others out while protecting his or her own balloon. The last player with an intact balloon is the winner.
This is always a high-energy game that is rather fun to watch.


4. Taco, Nacho, Burrito
Group size: Any
Agility level: Low
Equipment needed: None

All players stand in a group with the leader in front of them, like in Simon Says (I'm going to assume you know how to play that one!). The leader turns around so his or her back is to the group. Each player standing in the main group then individually chooses and assumes a position - either Taco, Nacho or Burrito.
Taco = Arms out to the side
Nacho = Hands above head with fingertips touching forming the point of a triangle
Burrito = Forearms together up against chest
When the group is all in a position, the leader quickly chooses and assumes a position also and turns round to face the group. Each player who is in the same position as the leader is out and must sit down. The game is played as many times as it takes to whittle the group of standing players down to one, who is the winner.
This is a great game and works well with people of any age. Warning: it doesn't take very long! Don't play it if you're looking for a long game.


5. Plain Clothes Man
Group size: Any reasonable size
Agility level: High
Equipment needed: Handkerchief or small object

One player goes out of the room, while the others stand in a fair-sized circle, putting a handkerchief or small object on the floor in the middle. They also settle upon one of their number to be the plain clothes man.
The one from outside is then called in; he is of course ignorant of the identity of the detective. His aim is to snatch up the object from the middle of the ring and escape without being touched. Those forming the circle must be careful to stand sufficiently far apart to allow fair gaps between each two players. As soon as the thief has picked up the object, but not before, the plain clothes man may spring after him and try to touch him, but if both thief and plunder get to the outside of the ring then they are safe.
I haven't actually tried this game myself yet (I know, shocking!) but it sounds like a really good game and I'm planning to try it. I have a friend who has tried it and said it works great, so it is tried and true. :P


6. Picture and Sentence
Group size: Upwards of four or so, large numbers don't matter at all
Agility level: None
Equipment needed: A strip of paper and a pen/pencil per player

The game begins with each player writing a short sentence or phrase at the top of their strip of paper. It could be anything, from "The apple has a worm in it" to "I can't tell the time".
Then the papers are passed around to the next player, which direction it doesn't matter, as long as the direction is the same the whole game. We usually pass the paper to the player on our right.
Each player then looks at the sentence on his new paper and draws a picture of the sentence underneath it. If it was my first example, for example, I would draw an apple with a worm in it. Then the sentence is folded back so only the picture can be seen, and the papers are passed once more.
Each player then looks at the picture and writes a sentence below it describing the picture. When that is done, they fold the picture back so only the sentence is visible and pass it on again.
The game continues in this vein. If a picture is visible, you write a sentence; is a sentence is visible, you draw a picture. The pictures don't have to be incredible- stick figures are always good! :)
When you've filled up the whole strip of paper and you get to the bottom, the game ends. Unfold the papers and pass them around for general enjoyment. No one wins but everyone wins. I guess it's not such a 'game' as such but I'm putting it in the list because it's really good still. The papers are often hilariously funny.
This one is a favourite in my family. It's especially great to play with friends.


7. Continuous Tag
Group size: Any - the more players, the longer the game will go for.
Agility level: High
Equipment needed: None

This is a game of tag where every player is in. The only way to tag someone is to touch them below the knee. The rules are simple: If you are tagged below the knee, you are out for the time being and must sit down where you were tagged. Then you watch the person who tagged you. When someone else tags them, you are allowed up again and can run around tagging others below the knee as before. Basically, if you're tagged, you're down, if the person who tagged you is down, you're up.
It's called Continuous Tag because it keeps going - players popping up and down all the time.  The only way to win is to tag every player, hence the game is more difficult with more players. You will likely find it keeps going on forever because none of the players can tag everyone - so stop it when you see fit.


And there you go! My seven favourite games. I tried to pick ones you may not have heard of before.

Also, to completely change the subject, Danella and I are going on an overseas missions trip for three and a half weeks leaving on the 13th of November. Annnnnd given that I probably won't have much internet access (also I will be kind of busy) and that I haven't scheduled ANY posts to cover that period, you get to have a break from posts being posted on Bonnie's Blessings for a month or so!

So, I hope you have a fantastic month and that you don't miss me too much... and I'll tell you about the trip when I get back!

(Also this is my 550th post!!!)

God bless you! (Also what are your favourite games?) Wow that was a lot of 'Also's.

Your Man Needs Prayer

Someday, Lord willing, I hope to marry a wonderful Christian man.

I believe in the power of prayer. I also believe that each of us can do with as much prayer as possible! :)

Since at the moment I don't know who this wonderful Christian man is, I think it's a good idea to pray for him (okay, okay, I'd still pray for him even if I did know who he was). He might be going through hard times. He might not even be a Christian at this exact moment. Whoever he is and wherever he's at, I think it's a good idea to pray for him. So I do.

Over the past year or so, I've been writing letters to my husband-of-the-future. I've been writing them and then putting them all into a special box which I hope to present to my husband one day. And, just recently, I've started writing down some of my prayers for him and popping them into the box, too.

Some people are into notes and stuff. Others aren't. Whether I marry someone who likes encouraging notes and letters or not, I think he'll still appreciate it! Besides, there's something so special about being prayed for. And I'd love to receive prayers that had been prayed for me years before! Who wouldn't?

I wouldn't normally put this sort of thing on my blog. But I was writing one of my prayers for my future husband down and it struck me that maybe there might be some girls out there who would like to do it, too, only, they haven't thought of it yet.

You can never start too young! Why not start today, if you feel like that's something you'd like to do. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Just from your heart. Your heart's desire for your future husband... prayers that his walk with the Lord would be strong.... anything really.

There's some lovely inspiration for prayers and things on this website. I also really love the book 'The Power of a Praying Wife' by Stormie Omartian. Sure, it's about wives praying for their husbands, but I don't see any reason us girls can't get a head start on the praying by starting early!!!!!! :)

And for you young men reading this - feel free to do the same if you're so inclined. I don't think I know any young lady who wouldn't be enormously blessed receiving handwritten-with-love prayers for them from before the young man even knew who she was!

May you be richly blessed today! :)

A + A // Such an exciting $5 note

Awkward:
- Having one of those awkward days when you drop just about everything you pick up, dirty just about every article of clothing you wear and stuff up many of the sentences you say.
- Being asked directions to somewhere you don't know.
- Knowing someone's name, but saying the wrong name because your brain decided to pop that in the sentence to surprise you.
- Being given wrong information to find something so not being able to find it.
- When you're making a customer's sandwich and they creepily stare at you the whole time. Most people look at the sandwich I'm making, but this guy watched ME the. entire. time. Totally weird (and it makes you wonder if a gigantic iguana lizard is sitting on your head and making faces at the guy).
- Discovering new ways to accidentally embarrass yourself in public that you hadn't discovered previously.
- Walking along and watching something so intently on one side of you you bang into a stationary object in front of you.
- Being so tired you ask the same question about four times because you couldn't remember the answer given.
- Driving home from something late at night with your sister, and you come to an intersection and wonder which way to go. You reckon you should go right, your sister reckons left. She turns right (for some reason - she should have known my sense of direction is really bad!) and you go down that street for a while and eventually decide you are now well and truly lost. This happened more than once on that same drive back home.
- When two people are casually talking about something really interesting and you want to join in their conversation... but they're two strangers and probably wouldn't like some random person joining in!
- Discovering your littlest sister getting into the banana box something like the fourth time in one day.That girl is an absolute banana addict and doesn't take any notice of consequences!


Awesome:
- Being able to casually pun. Case in point:
Coworker (busily tying up a rubbish bag): "Hey, look, a bean bag. This looks comfy."
You: "That looks comfy?! Rubbish!" ;)
- Waking up when it's light outside and going for an early morning walk. There's something special and sort of magical about the world in the early morning.
- Getting to see and bring home one of the new $5 notes (New Zealand is changing the look of some of its money). It looks pretty cool.
- The Bible in 50 words:



- My newest favourite quote, from a Winnie the Pooh book by A.A. Milne:

“Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?'
'Supposing it didn't,' said Pooh after careful thought.

- Spending time with the Lord and coming away from it feeling completely refreshed. :)
- Beautiful colours in nature. God made us an amazing world!
- Finishing off a packet of something ON THE DAY OF ITS EXPIRY.
- Going shoe shopping and finding nice shoes that you like, that are comfortable, and that are on sale for a rather good price.
- When you say something and someone else says exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. It's quite a neat feeling, really.
- Finding money you didn't even know you lost


What is your favourite quote?
If you're a New Zealander, have you seen the new currency yet?
Had anything super awkward or awesome happen to you lately?

From Access to Kingship

I want each of you to imagine a house in your mind's eye.

It can be any house. Your house, your dream house, a palace, a mud hut, whatever. Decorate it however you like, whether you want to have soft leather couches in the living rooms or ornate carved pillars in the formal hallway. You choose.

This house represents your heart.

After you've had your house for a while, it gets a bit dirty. Some cobwebs start appearing up by the corners of the ceilings. Dust gathers on the windowsills. The sheets on the beds get a bit dirty. Maybe sticky liquid gets spilled on those soft leather couches.

And we start to notice the dirt. We don't like dirt in the houses of our hearts. So we try to fix it ourselves. Maybe we try to sweep up the cobwebs. We might wash the sheets. But the dirt keeps coming back, and no matter what we do we just can't get the stain off those soft leather couches!

And all the time while we're trying to frantically clean up our house, a professionally trained cleaner is standing, knocking, at the door. Eventually we get sick of all the dirt everywhere and invite the cleaner in to our hearts. The cleaner's name is Jesus.

But lots of us stop there. We invite him in and show him into the kitchen. We politely give him a seat and show him the dirty stove top and fridge, which he lovingly helps us clean. Then he sits down at the kitchen table for a while and waits for us to talk to him and tell him where you would like cleaning. We awkwardly stand there, hoping he doesn't ask to see the living room, with those stained couches and dusty mantelpieces.

Jesus helps us clean where we ask him to, he mops the muddy kitchen floor and even ventures out into the foyer (at our request) to mop out there, too.

Our kitchen's nice and clean. But the whole house of our conscience is still rather dirty, because we haven't granted him access to our entire house!

You see, we shouldn't grant Jesus just access to the domain of our hearts. We must grant him ultimate kingship. 

We must give him the key to the cleaning cupboard, then step back and say, "Lord, you have complete reign over my entire heart. Clean my house. I don't want to live with the dust and dirt of my sin anymore. Cleanse me completely - I want to be clean. Do whatever it takes, no matter how painful the process is."

We must surrender our cherished cleaning cupboard key. Because he is a gentleman and will politely wait for us to tell him what we want him to clean. But He is so much more effective in our lives if we allow him to cleanse us completely and purify us utterly... from all sin.... not just the sin we're not uncomfortable about!

Give Him ultimate kingship and reign and access over ALL your heart. Don't just give him little bits here and there. That implies you're still in charge. Make him in charge. Give him the responsibility. He is a cleaner like no other.


Psalm 51:2
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Hebrews 9:14
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

No matter how embarrassed you are to give him the key of your cleaning cupboard, knowing full well how stained your soft leather couches are, give him the key. Throw wide your doors and let the light in to your house.

Give him kingship. Not just access.

PS. I'm back!! I know you missed me terribly :P

Flashlight

I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me, and see a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Can't stop my heart when you shinin' in my eyes
I can't lie, it's a sweet life...
- From 'Flashlight' by Jessie J

This song continues on the main theme. When I first heard it, I kind of figured it was probably written about a relationship between a girl and a guy (or a woman and a man, whichever way you want to look at it). It's the sort of song people write nowdays. About how a relationship (the perfect relationship, no less) and being in love will make you happy and complete you.

I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me, and see a sweet life

It sounds like such a nice, box-of-fluffy-ducks thought, doesn't it. Doesn't it? It does to me. :) A girl and a guy, together, in the perfect relationship, happy and fulfilled in each other. Aah, how nice. Surely this is how relationships work.

Hang on a minute. Maybe we should have a bit more of a think about this.

I got all I need when I got you and I

Excuse me? You what?
Since when did finding a flawed human being to attach yourself to gave you everything you need?

On the surface they sound like such nice, innocent lyrics. But they aren't.

This song - and countless songs and movies and media presentations like this one - are very responsible for society being what it is today.

You see, we hear songs like this and think, oh, the reason I'm not happy is because I don't have a boy/girl to love me. I'm not happy because I don't have a 'you and I'. But do you know why that's dangerous thinking?

Because it isn't true.

You get into a relationship. You get a 'you and I'. You will very quickly discover that being in a relationship does not make you fulfilled. Being in love does not mean you are complete. The other person will not, and cannot, complete you.

Because that's just how it works. You are flawed. So is the other person. (Spoiler alert: this fact is absolutely guaranteed.) Being in love will be absolutely wonderful, sure. But it will not be the fulfillment of everything. It will not make you a complete person.

Ladies and gentlemen, the only thing that can complete you, the only thing that can fill that empty, aching hole in your heart... is our Lord. God created you with a hole that only He can fill. People search everywhere for things to fill their holes... but they search in the wrong places. They think being in love will complete them, fill their hole, make them happy. And then they are surprised when it doesn't work that way.

Because in a relationship you must give all of yourself. You have to work at it. It's a journey. Give 110%, every day. And if you think marriage will be easy? Think again. (Read this blog post. It's brilliant.)

So what am I trying to say in all this? I guess I'm trying to say how foolish it is to get all wrapped up in lyrics like the lyrics to 'Flashlight'. They're nice lyrics. But whatever you do, don't expect all your troubles to magically end as soon as you fall in love.

One thing I thought of was the fact that the lyrics to 'Flashlight' could just as easily be sung about Jesus as about anyone else. No really, it's true. See -

I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me, and see a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me through the night
Can't stop my heart when you shinin' in my eyes
I can't lie, it's a sweet life...

I got all I need when I got you and I - yes, yes, yes! If we have God, our life is complete. Fulfilled. We have everything we need. So true. Philippians 4:19 "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

I look around me and see a sweet life - yup. God is faithful. Life truly is wonderful when you're following the Lord. :) Psalm 36:5 "Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds."

I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight - John 8:12 "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Jesus is the light of the world. He's definitely a flashlight, only brighter!

You're getting me, getting me through the night - When God is with us, we can go through anything. Job 1:21 "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." He gets us through any darkness, night or trials we may go through.

Can't stop my heart when you shinin' in my eyes - God is absolutely wonderful. As the hymn says, "Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." We could never express the magnitude of our love for him... and that could never compare to the magnitude of God's love for us.

I can't lie, it's a sweet life... - We have been greatly blessed. Lamentations 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."



What do you think of when you hear the song 'Flashlight'?
Doesn't it make you so grateful when you think of all the Lord's wonderful blessings? :)

Art

Art. Aaaah, what a lovely thing. The ability to express one's thoughts by putting lines on paper. How nice.

One of my lovely readers (yes, I'm talking about you, Ashley) asked me if I could do a tutorial on how I do my art. First I was like, "sure!". Then I was like, well, I have no idea what sort of art I should do a tutorial on, and besides, doing videos are SUPER annoying (this is why I rarely *read: never* post videos) because they take literally forever to upload. So I'm going to do a post on art, sort of chatting about how I like to produce my art and maybe giving you a couple of tips here and there.

 

Firstly I'd just like to say that I'm in no way an expert artist. I am learning a lot as I go along, and I think that's really the best way to learn. There's no one way to draw. I'm just doing my best, hopefully producing elephants that look somewhat like elephants, and having lots of fun in the process.

 

Speaking of elephants, look who we have here!

 

Behold, you have before your eyes the first official peek into my sketch book. :P

 

The reason I'm showing you one or two sketch book pages is because I wanted to use my sketch book to illustrate (ten points if you get the pun) my first point.

Point Number 1:
The most important and helpful thing you can do to improve your art is to (yeah, you guessed it) PRACTICE!!!!

You know what they say - practice makes perfect. The only way to improve is to practice.
I'm always drawing. I'll be sketching the backs of people's heads while on the bus (case in point: First drawing on the left page of the photo on the right just above) and all sorts. I'm really lucky that there are great resources out there. One book I've been enjoying lately is How To Draw Everything, by Barrington Barber (note, if you get this book, you'll have to be a bit careful because some of the drawings in it are unnecessarily detailed, especially when it comes to the human body, if you know what I mean). It does have a lot of other great stuff in it though.

The violin drawing on the left page above was done on the morning of a big orchestra concert. The orchestra was all tuned up and was waiting to be called down to the wings of the stage. I was sitting by my violin case so decided to just sketch my violin sitting in the case. An example of how you really can draw anything, anywhere. And really, anything is a great opportunity to practice your skills.

Right, now we'll move on from that little illustration (you know I'm quite proud of that pun, don't you). I'd like to talk about my favourite art supplies (or rather, the art supplies I have, with a commentary on the pros and cons of each supply).

 

The best thing you can have is this. A book in which to sketch in. Or paper. Any paper will do. Goodness, even dirt will do (you can use a stick to scratch with, if that's how you're planning on doing it). Just find something to use to draw on.

 

And, just as importantly, find something you can use to draw with. As long as you have something to draw on and something to draw with, you're really all set. Everything else is just extra. (Even the rubber and sharpener aren't completely necessary. Well I guess the sharpener is unless your pencil somehow magically self-sharpens.)

 

 

  The next two art supplies on the list are the coloured pencils and watercolour paints. Coloured pencils are great for if you want to colour something in. You have lots of control over what you're putting on the paper, how you're doing it, and the final outcome that is going to be made.

Watercolour paints have the advantage of being really easy to use and spreadable. I love these things. They are in fact, great for backgrounds, for when you want pastel colours, light colours, for when you have a big area to paint and don't want to waste acrylic paint, and just for when you want the outcome to be smooth and beautiful. With watercolours, you mix the paint with water, then brush it onto the page. It really makes a little paint go a long way. I love watercolours, personally. They are so versatile.
   

Next we have acrylic paints and brushes. (Note: brushes are also useful for watercolour painting.)

Acrylics. Hmmm.. Acrylics are great for when you're doing a detailed scene. Say, I'm painting a flower and I want it to really stand out. I'd use acrylic paints. They don't go as far as watercolours do, because you use the paint by itself. You can mix the colours more easily and make a wide variety. Acrylics are more difficult to make a nice outcome with, maybe easier to mess up.  

 

And the brushes. Brushes are great. Great for painting.

 

 

 The next category of art supplies I'm going to be talking about are pens. Now, if you're not really into artist pens, feel free to skip this bit. If you are, or are curious, read on.

 

The above are my favourite pens. They are Staedtler fineliners. They are smooth, easy to use, beautiful, come in a wide range of colours (I only have four but would love all the colours haha!) and are so fine. Fineliners are fantastic. They can be used for absolutely anything!! I've used them for decorating my Bible, writing letters, underlining, creating sketchnotes, creating art... really, anything. These things are fantastic.

Ah. These things. On the left we have some Faber Castell Pitt pens. These guys are really awesome. I purchased these tentatively because I wanted some artist pens and didn't really know where to start. It was a good choice.
I have them in four sizes - Bold, Medium, Fine and Small. They are all fineliners, apart from the Bold, which actually has a brush tip. Actually maybe the B stands for Brush, not Bold... anyway I digress! The Brush one is a great option if you want to get into brush pens. The only thing is, it's quite thick and will become worn down really quickly if you press hard. Be careful. The other three are nice. It's great having the different sizes to choose from when lettering.

On the right we have a gold metallic calligraphy pen. I'm not too sure why I bought this, seeing as though I don't use it much. I'd rather have had the silver one, to be honest! Still, I really like how it has two ends, a thick end and a thinner calligraphy end. It is a lovely pen and I have nothing against it, I just don't find it too useful for my purposes!

And last but definitely not least is my Kuretake Zig Calligraphy 2.0 pen. This is pretty cool. It is a proper calligraphy pen, with a lovely end and making a nice line. If you want to try calligraphy or just want a really cool pen, this is a great option. Just be warned though, this particular pen seems to be water based so be really careful if you're using it with watercolor paints or similar.

 

My biggest piece of art advice, is, as you'll probably remember,
PRACTICE!

I don't care how you do it, just do it. Actually doing art is so valuable. Drawing, painting, sketching, doodling... it's all very pleasureable and what's more, you'll improve the more you do.

You don't need a bunch of supplies. Pencil and paper is awesome. Anything else is really just extra. You do not need a whole lot of pens, either. I just happen to be a bit of a pen collector. It's quite terrible really.

I'm sorry, Ashley, this didn't really end up being a tutorial, did it! Forgive me!
If anyone would like any specific art 'advice' and you feel I may be able to provide it (who knows, miracles may happen), feel free to leave a comment.

Other than that, have a fantabulous day, and I shall catch you later.

 

Lilla Rose Flexi Clip Review

Hey everyone!

So for positively ages I've been seeing these wee flexi clips around. They are hair clips that are supposed to hold your hair amazingly, feel really comfortable in your hair and be really strong and durable. They are unique pins that come in an array of sizes to fit any head of hair, and colours to complement any outfit.

Anyway, Lilla Rose (the company who makes them) was having a sale recently. So I decided to see for myself if these flexi clips that I'd been hearing so much about really did what they were supposed to do. Besides, they really are extremely beautiful and I loved the idea of such versatile hair clips. So I purchased two - the Tidepool Treasures flexi in extra small, and the Soaring Butterfly in medium.

Then I waited. (Postage to New Zealand seemed to take forever! 11 days in total.)

And then... my beautiful flexi clips arrived.

The first one, Tidepool Treasures, is a beautiful silver clip with blue beading around the figure eight and an aqua blue starfish in the center. It is a lovely clip. I ordered it in extra small because I wanted a clip that could be used for half-up styles and this certainly is proving useful for that.

The second one is a silver clip with a gorgeous silver butterfly placed in the middle. It has deep purple beading in different shades around the outside. It really is beautiful and has probably ended up being my favourite of the two clips I ordered. I got a medium sized Soaring Butterfly and am really happy with the sizing. It's a bit too big to hold my ponytail neatly, but holds buns perfectly if I'm careful with how I position it.

 

 

Company service - I found the company sensational and wonderful to work with. They were great with contact, dispatched the clips fast and really gave me a great experience. The clips are well made and certainly live up to the Lilla Rose promises. (There are even guarantees for if you got a size you didn't like.) The clips came beautifully (and safely) packaged. I was really happy with the company service.

Clips themselves - While I do love the clips, there are a couple of things I would mention:
- They aren't as comfortable to wear as I was imagining. The reviews I read said they were extremely comfortable, and the website said so too. While they certainly aren't uncomfortable, they do take a bit of getting used to and I can feel the clip is there, especially if I had to dig it into my hair quite deep to get it to hold properly.
- It's a bit harder to use them than I was expecting. All the videos on youtube on how to style them make them look so easy! It can be tricky trying to get them into position neatly, and then to hold all the hair and not fall out. They're easy if you know what you're doing. ;)
- I was a bit disappointed I didn't get a 'small' size. Extra small is just a teeny bit too small to fit my ponytail, and my medium is just too big! I didn't plan that very well, did I. :P There's supposed to be a 'perfect' size for everyone and while you can use most sizes, it's just not as easy. I think small is my perfect size based on my experience of not having it! If I ever get another one, I'm definitely buying the small size. (This isn't anything against the company or the clips, it's my fault for not researching the sizing well enough!)
- If you plan to buy a flexi clip, I'd recommend waiting till the company has a sale. They sometimes have quite big sales so it's wise to wait for one! The clips are surprisingly expensive so you'll want to choose wisely.

So, in conclusion!

I absolutely love the flexi clips. They are beautiful, and once you've played around with styling them a bit, work great! :)
Highly recommended, just wait for a sale on the company's website. ;)

I'm not being reimbursed in any way for my review, I just wanted to review them, just so you know. :)

Have you tried flexi clips? What do you think of them?

PS. I'm away for a week from today, so any posts between now and a week or so from now are scheduled. :)

Imperfection

Good morning, friends :)

Today I've got a little story to share with you. 

I learnt the hard way that if you paint watercolour over top of a Kuretake calligraphy pen, the pen will run! Big time!
As you can probably see, the lettering was done with different pens. The two lines of Calligraphy pen ran. They would have been fine if I hadn't been too impatient and lettered the words first (FIRST! Can you believe me? Neither) then watercoloured over the top!!
Oh dear. The price I pay for my impatience.

I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to life in general. (I tend to have a 'she'll be riiiight' attitude rather too often!) But when it comes to my art... I like it to look pretty. I want it to be beautiful. Imperfection is just plain old annoying!

So in times like this, when you make a major botchup (and it wasn't even a mistake - it was just because I got impatient *ouch*) what do you do?

You learn from your mistakes, of course!

As Thomas Edison so famously put it - he didn't fail, he just found a thousand ways to make a lightbulb that didn't work.

I'm not failing when I make art I'm not happy with. I am learning. I am gaining valuable life lessons along the way.

And then when I'm looking through my art book, admiring some art and flipping quickly past other pages, I'm reminded yet again of my imperfection. And of how I'm learning so much through this. How we can't rush things. How impatience is never a good idea.

I'm not going to try and 'fix' the blossom tree painting. I could try. And I think it probably would work. Because I learnt something through botching it up. And every time I see it I'm reminded of what I learnt.

So here's what I've learnt:

• Imperfection is a great teacher if you will let it teach you. 
• If you don't learn from your mistakes, there was no point making the mistake.
• Never give in to your impatience. Especially not when you're contemplating watercolour painting over a Kuretake calligraphy pen. ;)

PS. A big thank you to the lovely Margaret from Happy in Heels for her guest post on Bonnie's Blessings! It was lovely to have a bit of a break. Thank you!

Guest Post // Margaret from Happy In Heels

Hi! My name is Margaret and my fashion blog is

happyinheels

 

I hit a squirrel with an acorn.

I really didn’t mean to. It just turns out that I can throw an acorn a lot faster and more accurately then I thought I could. Oops.

But no worries, said acorn gave said squirrel nothing more than a bad attitude. I feel bad for the squirrel. Not because getting hit by an acorn hurts, but because it would probably be really embarrassing. 

A squirrel getting hit with an acorn is like a kid getting hit with an ice cream cone.

Embarrassment can hold us back from doing amazing things.

So can self-doubt.

I surprised myself by actually being able to hit what I was aiming for. Sometimes we don’t realize what we are capable of.

God intends each of us do to great things.

Hitting a squirrel with an acorn is really not that big of an accomplishment.  But I’m sure that one day I will accomplish big things so long as I don’t let embarrassment and doubt stand in my way.

And so long as I realize that I can hit what I am aiming for.

Thanks for reading my guest post and be sure to check out my blog at

http://happyinheels.blogspot.com/

~Margaret

  

 

Q + A - THE ANSWERS

Thank you so much for all the lovely questions you asked me in my Ask me Anything post. I have had a vast amount of fun answering them all (my goodness you sure are curious.. I mean... anyway- you'll see what I mean, lol) and now we have them - the answers!

I answered all of them. (There are substantially more questions than last time, wow!) There was actually a surprising number of double ups so I didn't answer the extra ones.

Like last time, I've broadly arranged them into the categories to which they fit.

Enjoy!

Personal Questions / Questions about Me or My Family

Do you like it when people give you nicknames?
I actually do rather. If it isn't a horrible nickname of course... 

Are you a procrastinator?
Yes.

Have you read The Lord of the Rings? If so, how long did it take you?
I have read the Lord of the Rings. It probably took me about an afternoon per book. I honestly don't remember because it was many years ago. I read the Hobbit again recently and enjoyed that rather more than I thought I would. The Hobbit is way more awesome than the trilogy. :P And yeah I'm aware that's an unpopular opinion. :P

Have you ever played any sports? 

I certainly have. I can swim, have been part of an athletics club, done gymnastics, played tennis for a few years and netball for quite a few years. I don't play any sports currently.

Who is your best human friend who is not in your family?
Well, probably none of my readers would know her! Her name is Kate, she's two months older than me and absolutely lovely. :)

How tall are you and everyone in your family?
I am 5 feet and 4 or 5 ish inches, lol. Everyone in my family is probably around about 55- 60 feet in total. (Haha I'm aware that's not answering the question :P The answer is I don't actually know everyone's heights)

Do you drink tea or coffee?
I don't like tea or strong coffee, I'll occasionally have a mochachino if the opportunity presents itself. Mocha's are great.

How much money do you have?
I have some savings tucked away in a bank account. 

Do you have many friends?
How many is many? I would say I have many friends. Not bucketloads, but my friends are wonderful so I don't need bucketloads. :) Besides, who is counting friends???

What do you usually have for breakfast?
A lemon and honey drink, maybe cereal, maybe toast, maybe leftovers from the night before. 

How much time do you spend studying each day?
Probably not as much as I should, lol! Half an hour or so music practice, most of the morning studying and some of the afternoon as well. Depends on how much time I have.

Do you, or anyone in your family get pocket money?
We don't get pocket money, but we do have to do housecleaning (every week) which we get paid for.

How many hours of housework do you do a day?
Ummmmm.... I have no idea. I just help at random times of the day and also fold the washing when the stack gets big and people start complaining of not enough clothing, lol :P

What is the latest you've ever gone to bed at?
Like 2 o'clock or something maybe?

Does your family ever get fish and chips? If so, how many scoops of chips do you get?
Occasionally we do. Not very often. I normally consume between a half and a whole scoop.

What makes you feel loved? 

Spending time with people

When people take the time to get to know me and don't just class me as "one of the Smithies"

Hugs

Good conversations

What is the best compliment someone's ever given you?

People have given me all sorts of lovely compliments. The one that always sticks with me, however (and I actually have NO idea why because it's kinda random, lol) is when after I complained about something squishing my nose, my friend was like, "you've got a small nose, too". I don't even know why I think of that particular compliment, just because I've never thought of myself as having a big nose!! lol :) I'm weird sometimes. 

How many times a year do you make dinner for your family?
When Mum's tired and the other girls are busy.

How heavy are you, and how heavy is everyone in your family?
Now we're getting serious! Why on earth do you want to know my weight?? I'm between 30kgs and 60kgs, does that answer your question? How heavy is everyone in my family, probably about 500kg? Ish?????

What's the longest you've ever slept in?
I'm not much of a sleeper-inner. I can't bear to stay in bed past quarter past eight! 

What's the earliest time you've ever gotten up in the morning?
About 4 o'clock I think.

What do you play with your brothers and sisters?
Good question. It depends on which brothers or sisters it is. If it's any of my 'close in age' sisters, Abbie, Danella and Sophie, it will be a board game, card game, general chat or fashion advice. :P If it's just Danella, it's usually us making music together. She plays either the piano, flute or harp and I play either the violin or piano. It's lots of fun.
If it's Ben or Johnny, it will be a board or card game or doing something active (like hockey, frisbee or cricket in the backyard) together.
If it's Lydia, it might by playing with our Sylvanian families with her, it might be playing with her hair, it might be reading her books, it might be dressing up, jumping on the trampoline, playing houses, hospitals etc, or doing ballet with her.
If it's Caleb or Jacob, it will probably be one of the 'Lydia' category but with the exception of Sylvanians, ballet and hair. :P It also might be one of their favourite games like Pop Up Pirate or Memory.
If it's Jana, it will be reading books, jumping on the trampoline, dancing, carrying her around doing whatever I'm doing, piggybacks, 'horsy' rides, taking her outside to play in the sandpit etc.

How many minutes/hours of free time do you get a day?
Two hours, forty-seven minutes and twelve seconds. Well actually I don't know. It's different every day. :P

What's the furthest you've ever run?
I am hopeless at long distance, so probably round our block a couple of times, lol.

Faith/Christianity/what I believe / thought provoking questions 

What is one thing that makes you really sad?
When people don't realize how blessed they really are and take things for granted. I also hate it when humans cause unnecessary suffering for other humans.

When was the last time you cried?
Two days ago.

Have you ever thought you were about to die?
No, never. Oh actually, the thought fleetingly passed my mind during the Christchurch earthquake back in 2010. That was kind of scary.

What's the bravest thing you've ever done?
I really don't know! Playing my violin in front of people requires some serious guts though.....

What's the most difficult choice you've ever had to make?
I had to make a really tricky choice a few months ago. Took a few sleepless nights and some serious prayer but I think I made the right decision in the end.

If either you or your best friend had to die, who would you choose?
Of course I'm going to say me. I'm not going to be all selfish. However, if it was a split second decision in a life-or-death real life situation, I honestly do not know what I would choose. I am a selfish creature. I do not know that I could honestly say I would choose myself. I sincerely hope I would when it came down to it, but yeah.

How old do you want to be when you die, and how would you like to die?
How would I like to die. Shivers. (No that's not the form of death, that's me shivering at the thought.) Peacefully, of course. Who wants to be tortured to death or be ripped apart by sharks? I would like to know death was imminent so I could say my last goodbyes, make sure my family have picked nice photos of me to put up at my funeral, etc. And hopefully at a ripe old age! But all these things are in God's hands. It's really not my decision, haha. :)

If you could think of something that would make you cry what would it be?
Someone I love passing away... really tender touching moments.....God touching me....

Do you have a young man interested in you, or are you in a courtship with anyone?
I am not in a courtship with anyone, no.

What church do you attend, if any at all?
I attend C3 Church Christchurch with my family. It's a great church.

Have you ever dealt with insecurity or thinking you're not worth anything or maybe ugly in your life, and if so, how did you deal with it?
I've dealt with a bit of insecurity here and there, just you know, looking in the mirror and not liking what you see... I think it's something a lot of people struggle with. I wouldn't say it's been major, but it sometimes crops up here and there. And yes, I deal with it by affirming myself through Scripture. Trying to see myself as God sees me, as His beautiful daughter. 

What do you think is just so unfair?
Life. :P

(I just had a thought - I could have renamed this section "Dying and Crying Questions" :P)

Questions about my favourite things / 'Would you rather' questions

Would you rather be smart and ugly or dumb and beautiful?
Ooooh this is such a good question! Haha! I'd probably have to go for the first one, just because I'm not sure how dumb I'd be if I really was beautiful and the thought of being really dumb (Like not-knowing-your-own-name-dumb) scares me. Besides, my closest friends and my family would still love me even if I was ugly. And I'd still be smart. :) 

What is your favorite book?
The Bible of course! It's such a great book. You should read it sometime. 

What is your favorite day of the year?
MY BIRTHDAY AND CHRISTMAS OF COURSE.... how was that not obvious

Would you rather have fingers as long as your legs or legs as long as your fingers? :p 

Oh dear, both scenarios sound kind of depressing!! I wouldn't like being really short so I guess I will say fingers as long as my legs. Then, too, I could reach stuff without getting up from my chair. Maybe that wouldn't be all bad. Lol. Good question!

What is your favourite book of the Bible?
Isaiah.

What is your favorite riddle?
Go look at my "About Me" page. :P

What are your favourite worship songs?
I love lots of worship songs! I can't pick one favourite, but I love these ones.
- I Exalt Thee
- Great is Thy Faithfulness
- As The Deer
- How Deep the Father's Love for Us
- Glorified

Question(s) about blogging

What is your favorite blog that's not yours?
I really like Olivia's Fresh Modesty blog. It's a great fashion blog. I have lots of favourite blogs though... You can find a whole lot of my favourite blogs in a list on the sidebar. 

[Really] Random questions

If you had to choose to live without one of your five senses, which one would you give up?
Hmm. Probably either sound or smell. Maybe smell. Yes, smell. I feel like it's the one that would be the easiest to give up (not that any of them would be easy to give up!). 

What is your most bizarre talent?
Not sure. I can do the splits... is that bizarre? Also I can whistle. Someone told me recently that whistling is a dying art. That's sad. Whistling's awesome.

What is the most dangerous thing you've ever done not counting skydiving?
I have honestly got no idea, sorry.

How many words per minute can you type at? How many words per minute can you read at?
I checked it a while ago and it was 92 wpm typing speed. Reading speed I'm not sure.

What's the fastest you've ever biked?
35 km an hour maybe? 40 perhaps. Not sure.

Have you ever dreamed you could fly?
Yes I have, and it is pretty awesome. :) You should all try dreaming it sometime.

Have you ever dreamed you could breathe under water?
Nope.

What is the thing you have drawn most recently?
This. All completely freehand. 

Which film would you rate a perfect 10 out of 10?
The movies by the Sherwood brothers. Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Courageous, Flywheel and the latest (BRILLIANT) one, War Room. Every Christian should see them.

What is a passion of yours that you can't talk about because no one around you 'gets' it?
Haha there's a really silly one... it's spelling and the English language. I love words. My sisters are great, playing games like Boggle with me. But in my wider friend circle, it's mostly homeschoolers, and there's this big stereotype that homeschoolers can't spell. So no one really has very good spelling and it kind of annoys me. That was such a ramble sorry!

What's been your best birthday ever?
I loved turning 15 and 16, both those birthdays were on a camp and everyone made it really special. Turning 17 was pretty awesome though, I was at home but I had to go to work. My two coworkers made my birthday incredible... one of them gave me this LONG handwritten letter about how much I meant to her and I still read it often because it is just so sweet!!!! Katie, you're awesome by the way, if you're randomly reading this. :D

Can you tell us another of your jokes and riddles? You seem to know heaps.
Hmmm... okay, here we go. 
What's white and can't climb trees?
A fridge. :P

What's been the biggest fright you've ever had?
I do not know, honestly. I've had several big frights.

How do you start a conversation? 

If it's with a girl, I often compliment her on something she's wearing. That's a good conversation starter. If it's with someone else (or I've already complimented her) then I'll talk about anything - the weather, ask them how they've been, ask them what's the best thing that's happened to them all day, ask them what they're doing on the weekend... etc.

What is the longest time you've gone without sleep? ;)
Hours and hours.

Have you ever wished that you could go invisible?
I certainly have. I often think it would be dreadfully useful to be able to go invisible! But you know what they say - eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves, lol.

What is your very favourite baby's name? 

That's my secret! Haha. I like traditional Biblical names for boys, and for girls I like long pretty names. 

What would be the best birthday gift that you could ever receive?
That is a very good question. I'm not actually sure, to be perfectly honest with you.

What's the fastest you've ever driven in a car?
Me driving, 115 km an hour. Someone else driving, I'm not sure. 120 maybe?

What's your time in the hundred metre sprint?
When I was 11, I was timed at 17.7 seconds. I would have no clue what it is now. Probably a bit faster than that.

Are you the fastest in your family? If not, who is?
Not counting Dad or Mum, I have been the fastest pretty much my whole life growing up. Danella often gives me a pretty good run, but I can usually beat her. However, my brothers are now very speedy, so I'm not sure I'll be able to retain my title for much longer!

What's the longest book you've ever read?
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss seemed to go on and on. The Bible is a pretty long one too, does that count?!

What's the longest movie you've ever watched?
I have no idea.

Questions about my future

What do you want to do for a career?

At the moment I'm studying to be a legal executive/secretary, so I'd like to get a job in a law office at some point. I'd also quite like to do mission work at some point. And of course hopefully get to be a mum at some stage!! :) It all depends on God's plan, really.

How many kids do you want to have? 

The perfect number.

What is one awesome thing you would do if you were Prime Minister of New Zealand?
(okay, I'll confess. I asked this question to myself :P) 
I would make everyone who has a house with road frontage plant a blossom tree on their lawn.

Do you plan to play any sports in the future? 

My Dad is part of a volleyball team. I'd like to go along to his games and maybe even join in at some point in the future. I haven't really done much volleyball at all so that's something I'd like to do. I'd also like to be able to play soccer to a reasonable extent... not sure if I'll ever pursue that but anyway!

If you could travel to any one country in the world where would it be? 

I'd love to go Israel and get to walk around where Jesus walked. That would be amazing. Other than that, the US has always fascinated me. At some stage I'd like to go over there. 

Would you rather travel back in time or go into the future?
I would probably rather go into the future. I already know what's happened in the past, I do not know what's happened in the future. Therefore since I am curious I would rather see what happens in the future.

Thanks so much for asking me questions! I hope you enjoyed reading my (sometimes frustrating) answers. (But seriously guys, honestly, why do you want to know my weight?!) And that Prime Minister question, my goodness!! (oh wait, that was the one I asked myself).

Anyway, thanks for asking, and I hope you have a fantabulous day.