School's Out!

How is it this time of year already? Wasn't it only just the last day of the year? One way or another, the last day has rolled around again and I have a blissful summer stretching ahead of me once more. I'm very excited as I get to be a full-time blogger for six weeks. Woohoo!

Although I've been looking forward to the summer, I'm also sad to be saying goodbye to my lovely class. I arranged some little treats for them as a goodbye gift. (Before anyone accuses me of gender stereotyping, I chose presents that the kids would really like. In the past, I have actually given a boy one of the "girls'" bags because I knew he'd prefer it).

 For the boys: A foam ball, compass, pirate stickers and chocolate. 

For the girls: Chocolate, bracelets, a ring, lipgloss and bubbles.

As you can see, I wrote out a personal thank you card for each child to say why I was grateful for having them in my class this year. I also made silly little certificates for each child to award them for being "the best superhero", "craziest animal", "future wrestler" and so on.

We had a party, and the children brought in loads and loads and loads of food. I teach mainly Pakistani children so there were loads of pakoray and samosas. I am determined to learn to make pakoray over summer. 

My friend- and wonderful TA- had a great dance to Beyonce! This photo was actually taken by one of the children- a 9 year old! Not bad, right?

I was very, very spoilt! The children (and parents, of course!) were so generous! 

 
One of my boys gave me a card, inside which he had written:

Thank you for being you
Thank you for being the best teacher
Thank you for helping me be the best I can be
Without you I would not be the person I am today
I hope you know what an amazing person you are.
and in case I forgot to say
Thank you
I will miss you so much

I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried in front of the whole class! I'm going to miss these children so, so much! 

Giveaway: Diana F+ Camera and Lomography Film

I absolutely love my Diana F+! I need to use it more often but it's so fun to shoot with film. The best part is that you have no idea what you're going to end up with. The excitement when you get developed photos back is amazing! (You can see some of mine here) 

This month's giveaway is your very own Diana F+ camera. I'll even chuck in some film for you. Awesome, right? 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Small print: Prize is the Diana F+ camera and Color Negative ISO 100 120mm film featured above. If the prize is out of stock, the winner can choose another kit of equal value. Giveaway is open to all readers of Becky Bedbug, including international readers. Prize is bought with my own money and is in no way sponsored by any other third party. To keep these giveaways going, consider sponsoring Becky Bedbug. 

5 tips for taking photos of yourself

Back in June, I shared my tips on taking great blog photos. A few people have contacted me to tell me that they've helped them, which is awesome, and some of those have said that they would love some advice on self portraits too. 

As ever, please remember that I have never had any form of photography education. I'm totally self-taught, so I'm not perfect and I might be doing things the wrong way! This is just what works for me. I recommend experimenting so you can find out what works for you. 

The previous tips apply, especially those on lighting, background and focus, so read those first, if you haven't already. These are additional tips to help you specifically with self portraits. 

25 things fat people shouldn't do: Roll down a hill

"25 Things Fat People Shouldn't Do is an unabashed middle finger to the preposterous idea that any human who weighs more than the status quo does not deserve to live a full and well rounded (ahem) life. The list of 25 is composed word for word from direct lists of sheer assholery found on the internet. These range from the absurd to the profoundly shameful, and I will be disproving this offensive notion with style. May the Chub Club live long and prosper!"-The Militant Baker

Roll down a hill

I've wanted to give this one a go for the longest time but, every time we went to the park, there were loads of people on the hill. I didn't really want to roll straight into them and their dogs! Luckily, I got the chance this week when Laura and I visited the park late on Saturday evening. 

It was so much fun! I laughed the whole way down. I was surprised at how fast I went and how scratchy the ground was. Seriously, everybody should try this! 

A surprise visit

Yesterday, after getting in from my driving lesson, I found a text from Laura asking if she could visit. She was attending a christening in the next town over the following day, and figured she could visit me, crash at ours, then go to the christening in the morning. It was a lovely surprise visit!

As it was such a lovely evening, we decided to head to the park and make like 8 year olds again! Such a lot of fun!

 I risked the slide, convinced that I was going to get stuck halfway down but, miraculously, I managed to slide all the way down. It was a very exciting moment! 

Look at that beautiful sunset!

Diaries 2004- 2005

Are you ready to unleash the angst? Towards the end of 2004, something happened that unlocked the bitter, angry teenager that I was to become. The first diary in this post was the one I was using when it all kicked off. Brace yourself! 

As always, excrutiating grammar and spelling is left intact. Look out for the killer apostrophe! 

Bessie (3rd August 2004- 26th December 2004)

"A bit about me:
I hope that one day I'll become famous for my diarie's like Anne Frank or Samuel Pepes. 
You are my ninth diary. My first one, Cally, last three years; My second, named Emma-Rae, lasted eight months. My third diary was called Tallulah, who I had for five months and Esmée-Lola, my fourth diary, lasted two months. I had my fifth, Felicity, for five months; Jocelyn, my sixth diary, for two months; and my seventh, named Francie, also lasted two months. My last diary, Lily-Marie, lasted just over one month. I hope you will be as faithful to me as they were.
I am sixteen years old, and have brown, shoulder-length curly hair. I wear 'antique-brown' glasses and braces. I am 5'4, with a 34D chest and an hourglass figure which I absolutely adore!
I have a wonderful boyfriend who is also 16 and lovely! I've been with him a month tomorrow and I love him very much."

3rd August 2004:
"I've seen guys in the past, but I've not had a proper boyfriend. I'd actually given up on finding love". 

6th November 2004:
"It's Marie's birthday today. I want to get her a card with Busted on and completely deface it 'cos she hates them". 

22nd November 2004:
"After, we went to the drive-thru and guess who we saw through the window? That's right- [My ex boyfriend] himself! We locked eyes for a seond then he walked away. I was like "yea that's right. You walk away." I thought I'd be upset if I ever saw him, but there was no sadness at all. All I felt was angry, raw hatred. I didn't know the meaning of hate 'till last night".


Billie-Jo (28th December 2004- 4th March 2005)

"A bit about me:
You are my tenth diary. The previous nine were: Cally, Emma-Rae, Tallulah, Esmée-Lola, Felicity, Jocelyn, Francie, Lily-Marie and Bessie.
I am sixteen years old with curly, shoulder length hair. It's naturally a mid-brown colour, but I'm in the process of dying it unnatural colours. It's currently pink. I wear cool purple glasses and braces.
I'm into punk-rock, particularly Green Day, and I'm hoping to get my bottom lip pierced as soon as my braces come off"

28th December 2004:
"I have three main requirements in a guy, well, my main requirement is that they are into cool music, but if they fulfill the next three then they most probably are: floppy brown hair, ear tunnels and a bottom lip piercing to one side. I also like them to be musical, but that's not necessary."

30th December 2004:
"I refuse to follow the crowds. I hate things as soon as they become "normal"- even if I loved them before... I just love the whole idea of being different. I have pink hair, for God's sake (well, kind of terracotta now as it's faded). Going against the crowd, standing out in a sea of faces, that sort of thing. Who wants to look the same as everyone else? Who wants to blend in? That's why I love the whole punk/ rock/ nu-metal etc scene so much- it is completely anti-acceptance". 

3rd January 2005 
"It's the most distressing, traumatic, significant event of my life, and trust me, I've had a few of those!"

Marnie (5th March 2005- 20th March 2005)

12th March 2005:
"OH MY GOD!!! I am going to see My Chemical Romance. On 9th April- 28 days time. And I am so excited!! I can't wait! It's so cool! I'm listening to them now and getting more excited by the second! Aaaaah!!"

17th March 2005:
"In English today, ...Matt asked an interesting question: If we don't want anyone to read our diaries, what's the point of keeping them? Why am I writing this? In the first entry, why did I write about my desire for my belt, earrings and bangles? There's absolutely no point- it's useless. But I still do it. It's addictive!" 

FF XVLIII

Georgina's top is so adorable! 

Kate Gabrielle's DIY is lovely! 

Leonora has great advice on how to deal with numbers-envy. It's aimed at Etsy sellers but is applicable to bloggers too. 

Rachele is the bomb. Fact!