New Years Resolutions for 2015

The New Year is about 3 hours away and I'm feeling rather festive (although I don't know if that's the appropriate term for New Years as opposed to Christmas.) Well, it's been a fantastic 2014, and I feel like I've achieved a lot and gained a lot in experience, independence and in happiness over the year.  From walking the first 67 of the 214 Wainwrights that I wish to complete by September 2015, to getting to know somebody who I think is going to contribute greatly to my happiness in the future, and to getting through my A Levels with the respectable grades of A*A*A.  It's been a journey, but a very rewarding one.

I've learned a lot: from quitting my first job (that was incredibly emotional), to a month out on my own in the Lake District - learning a lot about looking after myself and about communicating with people I've only just met.  I've had the intense, stressful, brilliant and enjoyable experience of university interviews and I have my fingers crossed that the results will be favorable:  I've had to think about my weaknesses, my strengths, what I enjoy and what I want to do with the rest of my life.  It's been an incredible experience.

So, looking forward to 2015, I want to set myself a couple of goals.  Mentally, I want to take some risks (not the dangerous kind, but just to go out of my comfort zone and learn that not everything has to be meticulously planned for it to be any fun).  Emotionally, I want to really make an effort to commit to things, and to approach a new relationship with an open mind and an open heart (sorry if that sounds a bit soppy).  Physically, I want to get in shape: I've just signed up for Ten Tors 55 miles and I've realised that I've got some work to do before I'm ready.

Let this be the best year yet!  I'm looking forward to every minute and can't wait to see what happens.

"Rape is Rape" - Judge Mary Mowat

When reading an article in the Spectator this week, I came across this case.  With my current reading material including 'Everyday Sexism' by Laura Bates, and 'Eve Was Framed' by Helena Kennedy, it all seemed incredibly relevant and completely built on what I have been seeing more and more: there needs to be more clarity in the law regarding rape and sexual assault.

The main vein of the article revolved around the fact that implying that all rape is the same cheapens the incredibly violent or degrading experiences of some women, when comparing with other situations where perhaps the woman consented - but only after consuming a large amount of alcohol. This seems to make sense: not only might it help for courts to take some rape cases more seriously, but it would allow even women who are in the situation of having been plied with alcohol know where their case stands in the eyes of the law.

Basically, the issue of alcohol and consent is always going to plague us.  Alcohol is a drug that lowers inhibitions, and we have to decide whether or not that should act as a mark against the victim (for making themselves vulnerable) or whether it should be a mark against the perpetrator (for taking advantage).  Personally, I'm in the camp that 'no' means 'no', and that it's frankly a little insulting to men in general to argue that men can't help themselves if a woman is looking particularly attractive.  If a woman is drinking (of her own volition) and then says 'yes' - then any later regrets are her fault, not the man's.  If a woman says that she's not interested, but then the man hangs around until she is drunk and then propositions her again, then maybe it's a bit more murky. For me, it hinges on whether the man knows that if she was in her right mind, she would have said no.

There's a reason that such a small proportion of rapes are taken to court, and it's not just because the subject - to many - is taboo.  The system needs clarifying for women to be fully protected by the law - any ambiguity leaves wiggle room for guilty people to be released on a loophole.  For me, I think this could be done to some extent through case law - if a few standout cases are looked at, where the case is a clear example of a scenario, then this could be used as something to gauge the guilt of people in similar situations.  Difficulty arises when different judges have such polarised views - and ideally, I would argue that perhaps a panel of judges might be appropriate - but I don't really know whether that would be feasible.

How should judges be appointed?

If how = on what grounds

If we take this to mean - 'on what grounds should somebody be appointed a judge,' as with any position, it is usually judged best to appoint somebody on merit.  There may be, however, some debate as to what constitutes merit - pointedly, whether it is success in cases, academic repute, or years in service, but regardless; the best candidates should get the job.  However, in recent years, there has been increased debate as to whether the gender or ethnic minority of the judge in question should allow them to gain some weight over other candidates - i.e. judges should be appointed due to experience gained by natural or cultural differences.  Some studies have shown that female judges, for example, are likely to judge in a differing way to their male counterparts in issues of family and children - and this might be seen as favourable, or otherwise.  It should be argued that while having as many varieties of cultures and opinions in the profession might be seen as an expression of society, there needs to be some solidarity within the beliefs of the top judges - magistrates are supposed to follow precedent and not be seen as acting "out of the norm," and this must be seen to carry throughout the profession - with the principle that a case could be brought before any number of judges and reach the same judgement. 

If how = in what way

There is also some argument hinging on who appoints judges and how the system of appointments should be made.  For example, should judges be appointed by a system of government, should this be by election by peers, or should there be some independent commission to complete this task?  In this case, we might immediately reject the idea of the government selecting these judges, after all, the whole idea of a 'separation of powers' entirely relies on an independence of the judiciary from the legislature.  It would be difficult to argue that the system is entirely independent if the top jobs were allocated by the government, and as such, the top lawyers trying to curry favour with the top politicians.  A legal system, indeed, is to hold the legislature - to some extent - to account, and it requires such independence to achieve this.  A free and fair election, to some, might also be seen as preferable; with some degree of transparency.  However, if we look at how society sees politicians, often as corrupt and not to be trusted - it might be seen that this type of system does not guarantee high quality people in the highest positions.  We might even argue that the "common man" is neither interested enough nor educated enough in law to make such a decision - if we take the low turn out at mayoral elections and the AV referendum in 2011 as an example, and even low turnouts at general elections, then we might argue that it would be irresponsible to put such an important decision in the hands of the uninterested commons. 

Conclusion

Therefore, such an important decision should be left in the hands of those who are most directly affected by it: every day, lawyers refer to judgments as precedents in everyday cases, and would therefore have a vested interest in electing competent and effective judges.  Judges elected by their peers would most likely be the most knowledgeable, personable and have the best track record - those who work beside them or have read articles written by them would be the most qualified to judge their merit, and to decide whether they would be best suited to the role.

Climbing the Mine at Honister

Today my sister Rebekah and I scaled the inside of Honister slate mine with their new experience, the 'Subterranean Climb the Mine.'


At £29.95 per adult (over 16s), this two hour experience was absolutely value for money.  In part, I think that this was because there were only three of us when we completed the course, and with spaces available for 12 people per excursion, I can imagine that there could be long periods of waiting for the person ahead or behind to move on or catch up.  For me, however, this was a fantastic experience - I'm not afraid of heights, and some level of agility was needed, especially in the first section of the climb which was the most physically challenging.

Our instructor, Adam, was an absolute delight - he talked us through the climb stage by stage, and was really helpful when my sister had a little trouble with the height and the frosty cold bars that we had to hold on to (grippy gloves would definitely be recommended!), and he helped hoist her down, and she then joined us on the next section.

After the first difficult climb, we climbed a metal ladder (while attaching ourselves with caribina clips onto wire loops) and onto a tightrope with two handrails either side.  We traversed this (see picture below) and then worked our way around a corner.

From here, we went up a fairly extensive ladder, and up to another tightrope - this one was a bit more difficult, with only a loose rope to hold onto.  I found, personally, focusing on the tightrope itself allowed me to move fairly smoothly along.

Once we'd climbed across this second tightrope, we walked through the mine for a little while, walking across a plank over a drop (once again clipped onto a wire) and through some fairly low tunnels.  The tunnels, incidentally, were a bit breezy - so I'd definitely recommend wearing a jumper and a windproof coat/mac.

We then climbed down a fairly steep tunnel/shaft.  There were hand-holes, bars and climbing holds everywhere, and plenty of places to put your feet.  This was the last bit of climbing of the experience, but it was fairly extensive - really made me realise how high in the mine we'd climbed earlier!

When we finished and left the mine, it was tipping it down with rain - if it's a rainy day in the Lake District, and you want a challenge, this is definitely something I'd recommend - those completing the Via Ferrata (which I did about 2 years ago) would (and did, today) get soaked through, and a similar experience can be achieved with the mine climb, staying significantly drier.  We caught the Honister bus back to the mine, returned all of our kit, and had a cup of tea.  All of the photos were taken by our instructor, Adam, and could be bought for £15 at the reception desk when we finished.  You can have a look on the screen by reception to double check that they're worth buying, but it's always good to memorialise an experience like this, that you might only ever do once!

 A big thank you to everybody at Honister who had a part in arranging this experience, and especially to our instructor, Adam, who was fantastically helpful and a fountain of climbing knowledge.  Would definitely do this again!

Community Assets and Blencathra

What are Community Assets, and what does this mean for Blencathra?

Credit for this photo goes to borrowdalehouse.co.uk "Blencathra from Catbells"

Simply put, a community asset is an area of land or a building owned by a community organisation.  This was implemented under the Localism Act in 2011 - community groups or parish councils can recommend "assets" to the community list held by the council.  In this case, because it is already owned by a private individual, this Act gives the community group up to 6 months to raise the money to make a higher bid than the one currently accepted - but by no means does this mean that they will raise the necessary amount of money, nor does it guarantee them the sale.

However, bear in mind that the successful bid this week was said to be "significantly" higher than the alternative bids, and the asking price - the tax that is being paid off by the sale was £9million, and any bid would need to be as close to this as possible in order to be successful - Friends of Blencathra would have to raise a significant amount of money in order to buy the mountain.

To find out more about the Localism Act, click here!

Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Pie

Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Pie

I grow strawberries and rhubarb in my garden, and wanted to find a way to combine them in a dessert: I wanted to make a pie, but my dad wanted a crumble, et voila!  Combined the two, and it worked out really well.  

Use a 9inch round, fluted tin, ungreased for this recipe.

Ingredients - Pastry

 - 175g plain flour

 - pinch of salt

 - 2 tbsp icing sugar

 - 110g unsalted (cold) butter, diced

 - 1 egg yolk mixed with 1tbsp of ice cold water

Ingredients - Filling

 - 6 medium stalks of rhubarb, sliced

 - 300g strawberries, sliced

 - 3tbsp cornflour

 - 85g caster sugar

Ingredients - Crumble Topping

 - 130g plain flour

 - 110g demerara sugar

 - 110g unsalted (cold) butter, diced

Method (in a food processor as I did)

1. To make the pastry, put the flour, salt, and icing sugar into the food processor and mix until combined.  Then add the cold diced butter and process until combined.  Then, with the machine running, slowly add the egg mixture until the mixture comes together.

2. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and refrigerate for 1 hour (I only had time to do this for 15 minutes, and this ended up, pleasantly, with a really flaky pastry, but was really difficult to roll out in one piece, so I'd recommend chilling for longer).

3. Roll out the pastry and put into the tin, don't trim yet! - put back in the fridge until you're ready to fill with your fruit.

4. Turn your oven to 205 degrees centigrade, or 190 in a fan-assisted oven.

5. Put the sliced strawberries and rhubarb in a bowl with the caster sugar and cornflour.  Mix these together vigorously - the strawberries will release their juices and create a syrupy sauce.

6. Drain the majority of the liquid off of the fruit mixture (we don't want any soggy bottoms!).  I kept this to one side and mixed it with custard, which made a really lovely strawberry custard.

7.  Remove your pie tin from the fridge and fill with your fruit mixture.

8. Put all of the crumble topping ingredients in the food processor and process until they reach the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs.

9. Sprinkle your crumble topping on top of the fruit - as much or as little as you like.

10. Bake for 25 minutes, at which point, remove from the oven and trim off the excess pastry 

11. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, cover it with tinfoil if you are worried about over-browning.

12. Cool for 20 minutes, and then remove from the tin - serve with cream, ice-cream, custard, or strawberry custard like I did!

Friends of Blencathra

I've been visiting the Lake District every year since I was born - with at least 2 weeks every year, and sometimes Christmas-es and Easter too, that works out at about a year of my life in this beautiful area of England.  Last Summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete my Gold Duke of Edinburgh at the Blencathra Field Studies Centre in the shadow of this beautiful (and frankly a little daunting, from a walker's point of view) mountain.

It has been plastered all over the news in recent weeks that Blencathra (yes, the actual mountain!) is for sale.  I've never actually heard of this happening before, I never really considered who actually owned the British countryside, but it seemed beyond me that it could belong to a person, and not to the National Trust, or the British people as common land, or such like.  I was even a bit bewildered that Blencathra currently belongs to the Earl of Lonsdale - visiting the mountain, there didn't seem to be any sign that it belonged to anyone at all!  It made me start to wonder who actually owns Britain's mountains.

England
     - Helvellyn: half is owned by the National Trust, and the other (oddly) is owned by the USA
     - Great Gable: owned by the National Trust

Wales
     - Snowdon: jointly owned by the National Trust, national park authority, and a private trust

Scotland
     - Ben Nevis: owned by the John Muir charitable trust
     - An Teallach: sold in 2000 to a private buyer
     - Buachaille Etive Mor: owned by the National Trust for Scotland
     - Suilven: owned by a community group
     - Liathach: owned by the National Trust for Scotland

The John Muir charitable trust that owns Ben Nevis has said that it has considered making a bid for Blencathra, though the National Trust has said that it will not be making a bid.  Another potential buyer, however, are the thousands of people who are pledging money through the "Friends of Blencathra" initiative.  By making a pledge, you physically transfer the money to the fund, however, if the bid is unsuccessful, you get that money back.  This means that the people more or less jointly own the mountain, which I personally think is a lovely idea.  This also means that I have an excuse to buy a new T-shirt... (modelled by me below)  You can buy these through the Friends of Blencathra who you can find on facebook, or on their website: click here!

New Kit: Waterproof Trousers

Over the last few years, I've gone through a number of pairs of waterproof trousers.  As a regular Dartmoor walker due to a rigorous Ten Tors training programme, I have had a number of close shaves with gorse bushes and with barbed wire fences, meaning that I've had a number of waterproof-trouser-casualties.

Tresspass Womens Tutula Trousers (2010-2012)

These were my first pair of proper waterproof trousers, and were fairly decent value.  I think they were about £30 when I first bought them in 2010, and are around the same price now.

Features:
Waterproof: 2000mm
Breathable: 3000mvp (meaning moisture vapour permeability)
Windproof
Size: S

Advantages:

- Lightweight, waterproof, windproof and breathable

- Pockets!  Not something that you get in waterproof trousers very often!
- Straps at the bottom of the trouser allowed it to fit closer to the leg

Problems:
- No zips at the sides meant that they were very difficult to get on over walking boots
- Drawstring pulled out of the waistband after about 10 uses, this could very easily have been my fault, but I think the fact that nothing was there to secure it is a slight flaw to the product

Cause of Death: climbing over razor-wire (which was over a stile) cut open the side

Mountainlife Downpour Womens Overtrousers (2012-2014)

My second pair of waterproof trousers; were fantastic for the first year or so, and then bits and pieces started falling apart.  As far as I can remember, when I bought these they were about £40, and I went for them because I needed a more resilient fabric to battle sharp rocks and brambles.

Features:
Waterproof: Tested to 500mm
Breathable
Windproof
Size: 10

Advantages:
- Zip and poppers up the sides meant that I could pull them on over walking boots
- Heavier-duty material stood up against gorse a little better

Problems:
- The seams split, and not just in the one place; down the inside leg and (embarrassingly) in the crotch area
- Not as waterproof, after about 12 months started to allow water in, despite re-proofing

Cause of Death: The seams fell to pieces and I got fed up with piecing them back together using waterproof tape

Berghaus Womens Deluge Overtrousers (May 2014 - Present)

My brand new waterproof trousers!

Features:
Waterproof
Breathable
Windproof
Size: 10
Weight: 226g

Advantages:
- Side zips open from both top and bottom, which allows venting when it's humid and warm
- Very lightweight!
- 100% nylon ripstop - will hopefully resist tears on this pair

Disadvantages:
- Hopefully none?

New Kit: Meindl Boots

These boots are my babies!  I love these boots, and they love me - in that, I mean that I look after these boots: I wax them, I proof them, I clean them, and in return they don't give me blisters, and they don't let the water in.

These are the Women's Burma Pro GTX - when I first bought them, they looked gorgeous and suede-ish, but I swapped the visual appeal for additional waterproofing, and applied a liberal amount of boot wax, making them appear more like leather.  I bought these from George Fisher in Keswick last summer, and on their maiden walk, I took them up Scafell Pike (probably a bit of a risk, but I had faith in these little beauties).

So, in the year that I've had them, these boots have gone up Scafell Pike twice, around various Lake-District lakes, and have trawled around 150 miles around Dartmoor, and haven't once afforded me a blister.

On Scafell Pike.  Another planking shot!  And, oh look!  New Boots!

New Kit: Rab Gaiters

My birthday present from my Nan and Grandad!  Well, I was given the money, and told to spend it on kit; I needed a new pair of gaiters, so I bought a pair of Medium Rab Latok Alpine Gaiters.

One of my favourite features about these gaiters is that you can hide away the annoying elastic at the back of the gaiter!  The product designers at Rab obviously have had the same problem that I have, in that that relentless piece of elastic constantly would twang into my leg, and leave me with bruises all up my calves!  So they sorted it, giving a loop to tuck it into, solving this problem - and not something that I've seen other gaiters do.  Something else that I thought was superior, is that you do not have to cut the under-boot strap to adjust it, meaning that it is a pair of gaiters that can be used with different boots, and for different people.  The in-gaiter adjustment system means that you can alter the length of this strap without cutting the excess off, and means that you can lend your gaiters to another member of the family with no problem at all.  The final factor in the choosing of this particular set of gaiters is that there is no zip to break!  The simple velcro system means that they are really easy to get on and off, and I'll never get stuck in them like I had with my old pair.

New Kit: Helly Hansen Base Layer

I've been on an extended shopping spree for new kit over the last 6 months, and my next few posts will be based on what I've bought.

My most recent purchase is my base layer by Helly Hansen, called "Lifa."  I went for "magenta" on top and black on bottom.  It's a fantastic piece of kit, I bought the set (top and bottom) for £39.00 from Cotswold Outdoor, and I'm really pleased with it.  I chose it over the alternatives for a couple of reasons: as a wicking layer, it moves sweat away from the skin - so it will keep me really cool when it's hot, but also keeps me dry so that I don't get cold either.  This will be ideal for my walking in the Lake District, as it always rains, at least for a little bit, every day.  Something that you can't really see from the picture is that this is a mesh-type fabric, and not a lycra-type fabric like people often use when out running.  This makes it a lot more breathable, once again keeping me dry.  Let me quote what it says on the box: "Dry Equals Warmer! The key to staying warm, is keeping your skin dry.  While traditional baselayer fibers hold moisture next to your skin, Lifa Stay Dry Technology moves the moisture away from the skin, keeping you warm, dry and comfortable".  That pretty much sums it up really.

The other reason I went for this particular product is because its able to be used as both an extra layer to wear under my other kit, but can also be worn as an outer layer on its own, when it's warmer.  When I go walking, I like to look chic, and don't like my layers flapping around, so this is ideal for me.

The picture above is me in my 'old' kit, planking on the top of "Sail"- one of Wainwrights peaks in the Lake District, a walk that I completed last Summer from Braithwaite, where we stayed at the lovely Farm House cottage in the centre.  Credit for this photo goes to a good friend of the family, Paul Taylor, who joined my dad, my dog - Zorro - and I on the walk with his wife Jenn and adorable dog, Fluke.  We walked all the way to Grassmoor (not Grasmere, might I add), and just got to our destination before it started to rain, so we didn't stay long!

A Level Revision

Exams are coming up, and I've started on my revision.  This year, I'm taking History, English Literature and Government and Politics to A2 level (all on Edexcel) and I'm also taking Critical Thinking to AS (this is OCR).

The Plan:

Well, I've got a Politics mock on Monday, so I've got a lot of revision to do today, but luckily over the last few weeks, I've spent about 20 hours making a set of 200 flashcards, and about 60 'Top Trumps' style cards.  (I like to be creative with my revision!)

Of the books that I've been looking at, obviously I've been using the exam textbook provided by Edexcel, but I found that it wasn't sufficient for everything I needed to know.  The school recommended "Political Identities" by Andrew Heywood (who is one of the Chief examiners) and I have found that really helpful, but the best book I've found is "The Politics Book" - it is absolutely fantastic for political thinkers!  Thought the one downside (as with most supplimentary politics books) is that it doesn't class Multiculturalism as an ideology in itself, when the exam board has allocated it a whole topic.  So examples are hard to come by.

One of the more interesting examples that I've found seems to be an example for conservatism, but I'm not sure whether I'd be able to use it in an exam.  It deals with the thinking of the ancient Chinese leader and philosopher: Confucius.  I've found that it deals with an early form of patriarchy - and that the idea seemed to be that the leader is seen as superior and of purer morals, and that as the people can learn from example, a strong leader can teach them good morals.  This appears to be a really good justification for patriarchy and monarchy, but as it is so early I'm going to need to check if I can use it.

As a politics student, I've found that examples of political thinkers are gold-dust in exams, so would definitely recommend this book to anybody taking the same course.

At the moment, I have precisely 19 days until my first exam (scary!).  Managing my school work and paid work is becoming increasingly difficult, so am going to ask to stop being given shifts after next weekend so that I can start working really hard.  On average, I have been revising 7 hours a day (at weekends) and about 2 hours a night on school nights - when I don't have work - and I'm feeling 100% more prepared than I did at this point last year.  I'm hoping everything's going to pay off!

+1 , Comment and Share :)

What you know you know

Thought I should probably start blogging about serious things again, and today I found a book that really caught my interest.  It's called 'The Politics Book' and I found it in my school library, and I've been using it to support everything that I've been learning in politics.  Amongst all of the political thinkers that I've been studying at school: Marx, Hegel, Burke, Locke, Rawls, etc, I found a quote from an ancient philosopher called Confucius.

"What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know, this is wisdom."

For a minute I didn't know where I heard this before, but I realised that although we didn't look that far back in politics, we did look at a speech by Donald Rumsfeld (who was the US Secretary of Defense at the time of 9/11).

"There are known knowns.  There are things that we know that we know.  There are known unknowns.  That is to say, there are things that we know that we don't know.  But there are also unknown unknowns.  There are things that we don't know that we don't know."

I found this particularly interesting for two reasons: first, it occurred to me how principles and thoughts, even as early as 500 BC, echo through speeches and thought throughout history.  Second, I find the concept of unknown unknowns fairly ominous.  The idea that there are things that weren't even considered as options is understandable in retrospect, but if you look at the example of 9/11, arguably there were signs that could have been taken into account.  Does this mean that we're missing real signals of things that might happen in the future every day?  Probably.  And doesn't that make you just a little bit paranoid?

I think Confucius had it right, it's the knowing that makes us wise, whether this is knowing that we're safe in our knowledge, or knowing that we don't know and being able to prepare for it.  This is wisdom.  But the unknown unknowns...

Lord of the Rings Birthday Party

A couple of days ago, all of my hard work from the last month cultimated in my 18th birthday party!  I thought I'd share some of the pictures and experience with you :)

Upon arrival, my guests entered through a hobbit size door which I had made out of a huge piece of cardboard and mounted just inside my front door (to keep it dry!)

 

I also made some little wine glass charms out of FIMO clay, each representative of one of my guests dressed up as their assigned character!

 

 

Upon arrival, we all had afternoon tea (the first of our hobbit meals) made up of tea and scones with cream and jam - whilst watching the Fellowship of the Ring (all films were in special extended edition).  After the film ended, at about 7pm, we went into the dining room for dinner.

 

Dinner Menu

 

Starter

A choice of roasted red pepper or leek and potato soup, served with freshly baked lembas bread

Main

Roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings

Dessert

Tarte au citron and summer fruit and apple pie

 

After dinner, we brought through the cake (though we were too full to eat it straight away!)  I had made a checkerboard cake (chocolate and vanilla sponge) and decorated it as a hobbit house, this took in total about 4 hours.  To create the 'wooden' effect, I marbled brown food colouring paste through fondant, and I textured the door using a cocktail stick, using a gold sugar ball for the handle.  I used small ivy leaf cutters for the leaves, and coloured buttercream green and piped using a no. 233 icing nozzle. 

 

 

After dinner, we watched the second film and got really tired, so decided to head downstairs to sleep.  The intention had been to stay up to watch the first half of Return of the King, so that everybody could be in the mood to face Shelob (my paper mache spider) when we got downstairs into my bedroom.  However, this was not before playing the 'ring doughnut game,' tying ring doughnuts from string and hanging them from the curtain rail, and having to eat them without using our hands - my friend Aggie was named 'Lord of the Rings.'

 

 

 

In the morning, we woke up and had first and second breakfast, cereal and tea for first breakfast, and a warm fruit drink and blueberry pancakes for second breakfast.  We then moved back into the living room and watched the final film before everybody left at 11am.

 

And so ends the chronicle of my 18th birthday!  Subscribe, +1 and comment!



Lord of the Rings Invitations

This evening I've been working on the invitations.  I've taken inspiration from MentaDesigns on deviantart, but am making a few changes to make these invitations really my own.  If you want copies of any of the borders or anything, message me and let me know.

  Including me, there are going to be 9 people at my party.  This means 3 hobbits, 3 elves and 3 (wo)men.  I've decided to do slightly different invitations for each race, so different colour schemes and different embellishments on each border.  I've tried to go for something that symbolises each race: an Evenstar for Elves, a Tree of Gondor for Men, and I was going to do a smial (hobbit house) door for the Hobbit invitation, but I ended up doing the Tolkien signature instead because it looked really cool.

Step One: Cut card to size!  I've used card by Core'dinations in 'Leapfrog' (Green), 'Ming' (Dark Blue), and 'Dream of Wheat' (Beige/Peach)

Step Two: Fold.  You can do this however you like, but I folded a small panel, followed by two larger equally sized panels.  These split into 1 x 6cm and 2 x 11.5cm.

Step Three: The computer editing stage.  I used PowerPoint, it was fairly basic to do.  I basically intertwined 'curve' lines that went around the border of my page in different shades of silver, gold or bronze.  I used silver for the "elf" invitation, gold for the "man" invitation, and bronze for the "hobbit" invitation.  At the top of each page within the border is an icon which represents each race, i.e. a Tolkien signature, an Evenstar or a Tree of Gondor.  Contact me if you want me to send you the templates that I used.

Step Four: print and stick everything on!  

Step 5: I made mini envelopes so that I could put some Polaroid style pictures of LoTR characters within for costume inspiration, I made this out of a cream coloured weighted paper and stuck it onto the envelope.

Step 6: Seal - (see my Wax Seal post for more details of this).

Et voila!

Wax Seal Stamp

I needed to make a wax seal for my invitations.  I used some 'FIMO Effect' modelling clay by #Staedtler in Glitter Green (though the colour doesn't matter for this particular part of the project).

I cut a small section of it off and rolled it into a ball (about the size of a conker - slightly smaller than a table tennis ball)

I then rolled it flat, allowing 1cm height

Using an ivy leaf fondant cutter, I embossed the pattern onto the FIMO, using a cocktail stick to emphasise the main lines and to add texture.

I made the edges of the stamp slightly cleaner with the edge of a knife, and my stamp is complete, ready to bake.  I did this on some tinfoil in the oven at 110 degrees centigrade for 20 - 30 minutes.

The next stage was attaching a handle to make stamping easier, I had a short length of doweling rod that I stuck on using super glue.  I then melted my sealing wax, which I bought here, stamped my design into it, and allowed it to cool.