Week 36: Life is beautiful! I've been so busy over the past couple of months with work, kids and various projects that I haven't really taken the time to appreciate just how beautiful life really is. Sometimes it's easy to forget that life has so much to offer so today I took a 'Mental Health' day. A day just for me... no work, no kids, no nothing... just me in my scrap room and I LOVED it! I feel much more balanced now and more ready to take on the challenges leading up to Christmas. I even tried out a new technique (new for me that is!)... I embossed the pattered paper with the cuttlebug scroll folder... totally loving that new toy! Then I used white StazOn to stamp onto some transparency. Really love the effect and thinking it might look good on greeting cards as well.
Week 37: draw something. I've always loved 'creating' stuff. At school the best part of doing projects for me was doing the title pages and borders. I learnt to colour in quickly and I've always been a 'doodler' while on the phone BUT I've never been a drawer! It wasn't until I was at teachers college that I finally found the ability to draw something that mildly looked the way it was supposed to. Over the last few months I've been loving butterflies so I thought I'd give it a go and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I used watercolour pencils a zig pen and finished it off with a little bit of bling for the body :)
Week 38: I wonder. I think/wonder about a lot of things... what my life will be like in 5 years time... what if I won LOTTO (I like wondering about that one LOL)... what life would be like without kids (mostly think that one on a bad day!)... what if I'd never gotten divorced (can't imagine still being married to the ex!)... but mostly I think what the girls will do career wise once they leave school... will they be able to look after themselves out in the 'real world'?... have I done a good enough job raising them for them to be able to stand on their own two feet?... will they be happy?? I definitely hope so!
Week 39: someone special. I've been really lucky in my life to have a lot of people that have been very special to me. My great grandmother (Nana) was the first person I thought the sun shone out of :) I'm related to a few wonderful people... I'm related to a few nutcases as well!! And I've had some really special friends over the years! This time I thought I'd dedicate a card to my relationship with Dave. We've known each other our whole lives (I'm only a few weeks older than him), we've loved each other, tried living together, gone our separate ways for 10 years, gotten back together and tried living together again but it just never seems to work out the way we hope it will. In some ways we're really alike and at our best we are best friends... we sit up and talk to each other until sunrise regularly and we enjoy lots of the same things. At our worst we can't stand each other... nobody else can make me as annoyed as Dave! He really knows how to push my buttons!!! But in spite of all that there is an invisible link between us that has lasted for 37 years. I don't know what the future holds but I do know that he will always be important to me.
Week 40: Not anymore. Not anymore will I wear glasses in public... not anymore will I be pregnant... not anymore will I eat food I don't like just to be polite! But more than anything... not anymore will I live my life based on what others think!!! This has been a hard one for me and something I've been working on a lot over the past 18 months. I'm learning to stand up for what I want and need. I'm learning that I don't have to be liked by everyone. I'm learning to follow my dreams and I'm learning to live my life based on MY beliefs. I'm getting there... I'm making progress... I'm learning a lot about myself and I'm really beginning to understand WHO I really am. It's a journey... it's hard work at times but it's really, really worth it!
Week 41: Magic carpet. If I had a magic carpet where would I go??? ITALY!! I've never had the desire to travel... I was quite happy to get married at 19 and settle down. Lately though when I think of the girls leaving home (luckily it's still a few years off yet!) I think about what I would like to do... and I'm thinking that I'd live to explore some places that interest me. I'd like to go to Europe and see some of the amazing things I've only seen via TV and the internet. Mostly I'd love to go to Italy! I'd like to eat fresh pasta made the traditional Italian way... I'd like to visit the wineries and drink some of the local wines... I'd like to explore the art world and visit local markets. Maybe I should go and learn to speak Italian!
Week 42: a grateful week! I've made it a routine now that when I go to bed I think of at least 3 things that I feel grateful for. Some days I barely get me 3 and other days I get to 30 in the blink of an eye... it all seems to depend on what's happened that day and how I'm feeling. Having an 'attitude of gratitude' really does work for me! 
So that's my update... I'm feeling really good again now :) It's amazing how just a few hours to yourself can make such a big difference! Thanks again Marjolein!!
Week 37: draw something. I've always loved 'creating' stuff. At school the best part of doing projects for me was doing the title pages and borders. I learnt to colour in quickly and I've always been a 'doodler' while on the phone BUT I've never been a drawer! It wasn't until I was at teachers college that I finally found the ability to draw something that mildly looked the way it was supposed to. Over the last few months I've been loving butterflies so I thought I'd give it a go and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I used watercolour pencils a zig pen and finished it off with a little bit of bling for the body :)Week 38: I wonder. I think/wonder about a lot of things... what my life will be like in 5 years time... what if I won LOTTO (I like wondering about that one LOL)... what life would be like without kids (mostly think that one on a bad day!)... what if I'd never gotten divorced (can't imagine still being married to the ex!)... but mostly I think what the girls will do career wise once they leave school... will they be able to look after themselves out in the 'real world'?... have I done a good enough job raising them for them to be able to stand on their own two feet?... will they be happy?? I definitely hope so!Week 39: someone special. I've been really lucky in my life to have a lot of people that have been very special to me. My great grandmother (Nana) was the first person I thought the sun shone out of :) I'm related to a few wonderful people... I'm related to a few nutcases as well!! And I've had some really special friends over the years! This time I thought I'd dedicate a card to my relationship with Dave. We've known each other our whole lives (I'm only a few weeks older than him), we've loved each other, tried living together, gone our separate ways for 10 years, gotten back together and tried living together again but it just never seems to work out the way we hope it will. In some ways we're really alike and at our best we are best friends... we sit up and talk to each other until sunrise regularly and we enjoy lots of the same things. At our worst we can't stand each other... nobody else can make me as annoyed as Dave! He really knows how to push my buttons!!! But in spite of all that there is an invisible link between us that has lasted for 37 years. I don't know what the future holds but I do know that he will always be important to me.Week 40: Not anymore. Not anymore will I wear glasses in public... not anymore will I be pregnant... not anymore will I eat food I don't like just to be polite! But more than anything... not anymore will I live my life based on what others think!!! This has been a hard one for me and something I've been working on a lot over the past 18 months. I'm learning to stand up for what I want and need. I'm learning that I don't have to be liked by everyone. I'm learning to follow my dreams and I'm learning to live my life based on MY beliefs. I'm getting there... I'm making progress... I'm learning a lot about myself and I'm really beginning to understand WHO I really am. It's a journey... it's hard work at times but it's really, really worth it!Week 41: Magic carpet. If I had a magic carpet where would I go??? ITALY!! I've never had the desire to travel... I was quite happy to get married at 19 and settle down. Lately though when I think of the girls leaving home (luckily it's still a few years off yet!) I think about what I would like to do... and I'm thinking that I'd live to explore some places that interest me. I'd like to go to Europe and see some of the amazing things I've only seen via TV and the internet. Mostly I'd love to go to Italy! I'd like to eat fresh pasta made the traditional Italian way... I'd like to visit the wineries and drink some of the local wines... I'd like to explore the art world and visit local markets. Maybe I should go and learn to speak Italian!Week 42: a grateful week! I've made it a routine now that when I go to bed I think of at least 3 things that I feel grateful for. Some days I barely get me 3 and other days I get to 30 in the blink of an eye... it all seems to depend on what's happened that day and how I'm feeling. Having an 'attitude of gratitude' really does work for me! So that's my update... I'm feeling really good again now :) It's amazing how just a few hours to yourself can make such a big difference! Thanks again Marjolein!! 
6 comments:
Great pages, good to see you back.
Nice cards. Love your journalling too. Isn't Marjolein great? She always comments on my cards and when I was MIA, sent me an e-mail too.
Wow, you've got me blushing here Shell! Very nice of you to thank me, I was just wondering where on earth you were:-)
But... I think it was very clever of you, to take a day for yourself, this is really awesome, love the techique you've used!! (would love a cuttlebug too LOL)And I just really like the way you do your cards, love the simplicity of them, all the journaling and little doodling on the sides!
Aren't you finding it strange that we only have 3 more weeks to go?
Love how you provide so much journaling on your cards!
Wonderful cards :)
Wow, what a lot of beautiful cards!!!
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