Look Wider Octant Creativity Phase 2: Make Christmas Stockings

I have recently started to complete the Look Wider Challenge for Senior Section and decided for my Creativity Octant I would make a couple of Christmas Stockings for my cats (I know sounds pretty sad but can I say I love my kittys). I have kinda jumped ahead here and gone straight in one Phase 2, for this you need to complete an activity over a minimun of 12 hours (1 month). For Phase 1 you just need to try out 3 different things that you have never done before, I have found this harder to do as I am very arty and have had a go a most things but I think I am getting there now.

Right back to Phase 2. I am pretty good a sewing, my nan pretty much taught me all I know about this sort of thing and I have become really good at sewing my badges on my camp blanket very neatly so I thought I would do something a bit more challenging and actually create something from bits of fabric, so this is where the stocking idea come from.

Rather than talk about how I made here are some pictures I took whilst completing it.

    



So as you can see it wasn't easy. This took we just over a month to do and there was a lot of sewing involved. I am glad I choose to do them for the cats and not for the people in my house, otherwise I could of been here ages trying to do 4 of them.

Breast Cancer Moon Walk 2011 Look Wider Community Action Octant Phase 2

I did this back in May of this year but really wanted to share with you my experiences from it.

The moon walk is a charity event held each year of a walk around London over night. The event consists of two walk the full moon which is 26.2 miles and the half moon which is 13 miles. This event is to help raise money and awareness of breast cancer and everyone taking part in the walk do it in their bra. Each year they do a different theme that you have to decorate you bra in. Last year it was show time and this year is was wild side. This challenge can be done on your own or as a group. Lots of people from all over the country take part in there local walk. Our local walk was in London.

Myself and my friend Ingrid both set ourselves up for a bit of a challenge back in 2010 when we first applied to do the moon walk. Being very silly and naive we thought we would do the 26 mile walk instead of the 13 mile walk (the half moon race). We thought being that we have done lots of walking in the past on guide holidays that 26 miles would be no problem, well guess what, we thought wrong. This had to be the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. Not only did my ankle give out at the 13 mile walk but my feet became so sore and covered in blisters that it may it sooo painful to walk. I think I cried all the way for the last 5-6 miles. Once I had finished I swore I would never do it again so naturally I signed up to do it the following year with Ingrid again. I must be very stupid.

This year we decided it probably would be best if we actually did some training and prepared ourselves for the walk. Again we choose to do the 26 miles (once you do it once you can't really chicken out and do the 13 miles). For our training each week we went out for a very long walk. The first time we made it from my house in Abbey Wood all the way to Bluewater. This took us I think about 5 hours and was about 12 miles. We done this pretty much most weeks leading up to the challenge.

This year I found the walk a lot easier having trained for it. This year we did it in 8 hours 15 minutes and last year we did it in 8 hours 46 minutes. Although we only did it half an hour quicker this year it was a lot easier having trained before hand. Plus it means if we do it again we haven't got a ridiculous time to beat. 

In total this year I raised about £200 which is fantastic and is going to a great cause. Not sure if I will be doing it again next year, I think I deserve a break (or I may just try a new challenge for charity, no not the marathon, I don't do running).

Thanks to everyone who supported us and sponsored us. We hope we have made a difference.