SugarCraft: not for the faint hearted

My artistic capabilities leave much more than much to be desired. Painting my nails is the closest I should be allowed to painting, but as someone who loves to indulge my creative spirit I am greatly disappointed that I am completely inept when it comes to translating ideas into art. In April I spotted, off in the distance, a glimmer of hope: in the form of Suger Craft (otherwise known as icing cakes). Having spent the girliest day, possibly ever, fussing and faffing about how to use a piping bag and the best way to cut flowers from icing, I came home with my frighteningly fragile birthday cake, creatively inspired. I was ready to reattempt all sorts of artistic endeavours, from drawing to knitting and everything in between. This was in April, since then I have altered a jacket here, made a bracelet there but I have yet to brave the challenge of SugarCraft unsupervised and in the comfort of my own home.

This delay has been inevitable and frustrating, due to the arduous, strenuous, torturous (and many other -ous words too) never-ending revision spin class* which I have been pedalling since mid-April. *(for anyone not familiar with revision, you go round and round in circles until you are exhausted, sounds like a spin class to me!).

There is hope yet, a second attempt at SugarCraft made it onto my list of post-revision fun (and dangerous) things to try. You may wonder why I say this with caution and trepidation, the answer is simple - it all comes down to supervision.

The cake I decorated for my Birthday (see picture below, isn't it a beaut - proud), was decorated under the supervision of leading SugarCraft artist Rachel Mount, not only was she standing by for any sugar-emergencies but also - I'll let you in on a secret here - she had mixed the petal paste, which is what we used to create the flowers, of which I used a fair few! Considering that some ingredients of petal paste include liquid glucose and "Gum Tragacanth" you may understand my concern that this complicated concoction could go horribly wrong...

Optimistic and up for any challenge I am determined that I will succeed and I'll keep you posted on my progress (in the new Blake Bakes part of this blog) as I experiment with the techniques I learned direct from the master herself. Give me time and I'll be knocking out beautifully crafted birthday cakes at every opportunity, of course all of this in preparation for "Blake's Cake Bakery" someday, watch this space...

Link to Rachel Mount's website: http://www.rachelmount.com/
Yes those really are all cakes, she is certainly the coolest artist I've ever encountered!

Free as a bird

7 years at secondary school, 1 year studying Wuthering Heights and Dracula, 3 months of Periglaciation, 1 month of relentless revision, 3 days in a silent room, now I'm free. A level exams have been a long time coming and were over in the blink of a stressed and tired eye. I breathed a sigh of relief and excitement as I handed in my french exam paper, regaining at the same moment my time, my freedom and my sense of spontaneity. I was at that moment freed from revision, plans, self-inflicted house arrest and rapidly thinning hair...

So what next? Celebrate was top of the list...followed swiftly by squirrelling away stacks upon stacks of revision notes and breaking out the books that I actually want to read. This afternoon however, in the spirit of embracing my (recently repressed) creativity, I found myself experimenting with my camera, an excitable canine muse and her stuffed toy goose. Proud of my efforts I thought I'd share the highlights:

You look as good as your outlook

I'm sorry for the lack of activity on my blog recently but unfortunately I have become some kind of revision monster. Perpetually (self)imprisoned in my room under a mountain of spider diagrams, practice papers and felt tip pens. Whilst I had convinced myself I didn't have the time, let alone the brain space, for a blog until the 17th June (the day of my last exam), I could do with a welcome distraction from periglaciation and Wuthering Heights.

Academia has ruined May, any student will tell you that revision is the most boring exercise you may ever have to do. Take something initially interesting and repeat it and repeat it until you beat your stubborn forgetful brain into submission. This may seem like a harsh view to take and I assure anyone not familiar with study leave that there are one or two benefits(see below). However this does not detract from the depressing and demoralising, seemingly never-ending nature of Revision...the untameable beast. What is more is that revision feels self-inflicted, especially when it comes to A2 revision, there's a uni place in your sights and a fear of failure pushing you to revise, conflicting nastily with a laziness and lack of concentration that lurks inside us all. To anyone who doesn't relate I'd say my emotional dial can lurche, leap and swing from motivation and proactivity to total apathy and procrastination several times per day.

However, having recently heard (and adopted) the phrase you look as good as your outlook, I choose to rise above all this negativity and search for the positive in any way that I can...
Despite the demoralising nature of study leave and all that it entails there are several ways to survive it with your mental health intact.

1 - any student will appreciate the constant proximity of the fridge during study leave, snacking is always a valid excuse for a break and yummy too.
2 - pyjamas all day and no reason to wash hair, shave legs or pluck eyebrows sounds like a good idea to me (yes I now resemble some kind of revision troll living in the cave of my bedroom)
3 - not to mention the promise of summer...my inter-railing trip around Italy is the only thing currently getting me through study leave, the promise of sun and spontaneity is crucial in order to preserve my mental health at the moment

There are, I am sure, many more benefits to be found and coping methods to try when it comes to the trials of tackling the revision monster (please let me know if you have any suggestions).

As far as I'm concerned plenty of tea and a sunny outlook will get you through anything.

Those of you reading in the throes of revision - I wish you luck in your exams and remember to look forward to the nice long summer to follow!

and to those of you currently not revising - please be sympathetic to your friends/family who are revising, I promise the mood swings and lack of sociability will become mere memories of May, until next year...