Monday, October 22, 2007

I love long weekends!!!

Here in New Zealand it's Labour Weekend and it's great to get an extra day of creativity into my weekend :) We've had a busy weekend and Miss 15 had her first driving lesson today! My heart beat has finally settled back to normal... I didn't realise how not.in.control. I would feel with her in the driving seat. I think we've got a lot more driving lessons to do yet LOL
Week 32: quiet. This prompt gave me a complete creative block. Our house is hardly ever quiet!!! With two teenage girls there always seems to be noise... it's not so much them talking it's all the stuff that goes with being a teenager... hair dryers, music (with lyrics I can't figure out!), the beep of the cell phone, playstation, videos playing etc. But then I realised that we do have a rule in our house... NOBODY is allowed out of their bedrooms until 6.30 because the early morning is 'My Time'. Thanks to the lovely Nie for the little owl she sent me in a 'Happy Mail' parcel... it was just perfect for this card!Week 33: 10 minutes! Talk about challenging!!! I think I'm a relatively quick scrapbooker but I've never timed myself... I just work on a layout and when it's finished I'm quite happy... I just didn't realise how quickly time flies when I'm being creative. I stuck to the 10 minutes fairly well... 40 seconds over time... but it was a lot of fun to create a little bit of art simply for the sake of creating. I think I might set myself more 'play time' to just give things a go and see what I end up with.Week 34: funny ha ha! I love to laugh! Sometimes it's just a quiet little laugh, sometimes a giggle and sometimes it's a full.on.tears.running.down.my.face kind of laugh! Had one of those moments today. My sister sent me a photo of my niece... Miss 18 months has just discovered tomato sauce and OMG she had it everywhere!!! Trac even had to wipe it off her eyebrows!!! How the heck do you get tomato sauce in your eye brows??? I'll definitely be scrapping those photos very soon!Week 35: Strength. Over the past couple of years I've noticed how much stronger I feel as a person. Sometimes when life is really tough you wonder how you're ever going to get through it but you do. I remember watching 'Castaway' and Tom Hanks' character said... "you just get up every morning and you breathe... and you keep on breathing and you do it all again tomorrow". And sometimes life is like that... I had a brain aneurysm in January 2000 and it didn’t look good at the time but I survived. I got stronger and I went on with my life. Sometimes people say “that’s amazing, I’d never have known”. To me that’s the whole point! I survived, I got strong and I’m not going to let circumstances define who I am!So that's my update. As always, thank you for your comments!!! Have a happy week :)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Time to update

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks here!! I flew down to Christchurch on Thursday night for SENZ and it was fabulous! I've discovered that I really love flying and definitely want to travel more in the future!

I had a great 4 days away but I've been really, really tired since I got back so I only have three cards to share this time. Hopefully my energy will return over the weekend and I can get some more creating done... got HEAPS of ideas just need the time and energy to get them done LOL

Week 29: define perfection! I often tell my girls that nothing is perfect but actually some things are! Things seem perfect in those moments when your heart just wants to burst with happiness and you can't imagine that life can get any better than it is right at that moment! I often get that feeling when I'm playing with my nieces and nephew or hanging out with my girls. It's hearing 'I love you Mum/Auntie' just because! It's appreciating the end of a fantastic day or sitting by the fire in winter knowing that it's really cold and wet outside but you're snuggled up cozy and warm with the people you care about. And it's the feeling I get when I've finished a scrapbooking project and I'm really pleased with the end result :)
Week 30: count them! (blessings that is). I've been thinking a lot lately about my life and how 'blessed' I am to lead the life I'm living. I remember hearing about having an 'attitude of gratitude' and I think it's one of the most powerful things I do in my day to day life. I have a family who are important to me, creative talents that let me express myself, the ability to achieve my goals and the dream of what could be.Week 31: no regrets. Are there things I wish I hadn't done in my life? Definitely!!! Do I regret them? A few. But mostly I think that the things I've done (good and bad) have helped me to be the person I am today. I'm stronger than I was at 20... I think I'm wiser!... and I'm definitely happier!!! I remember reading Johnathan Livingstone Seagull a few years ago and it was a really powerful book for me at that time. My favourite quote from the book is: "I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can't, that's all. I just want to know!" I feel like that in my life too... I just want to know what I can do and what I can't... and I love discovering the answers!!!Well that's my update! Just so you know.... I kept my Week 29 prompt (goal of the week) on my desk last week while I was getting ready for SENZ and it really did help me to get myself organised! Have a great week everyone :)

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The mojo is flowing!

Getting away for a few days camping has really refreshed the creative spirit in me. I'm bursting with ideas and everything seems to be flowing really well at the moment! I know I only updated my blogs yesterday but I've been busy making cards for these prompts and just had to share :)

Week 23: right now. Well apart from the mojo flowing (long may it last!) I'm feeling really grateful for a lot of simple things at the moment. When Miss 12 and I got back from camping we desperately wanted hot showers... and we could have them at the turn of a knob! Light was no problem... just flick the switch! Flushable toilets... heaven!... there is just no way to squat elegantly over a long drop!!! I honestly do love camping... getting away from civilisation, exploring, and collecting little 'treasures' but there really is no place like home... with all its little creature comforts!Week 24: remember when... Lots of things popped into my head for this one: Remember when I didn't have kids? Remember when I was a teenager? Remember when I was learning to drive? (Miss 15 has just got her Learners Licence!) In the end I chose... Remember when we lived on the farm. We had a pretty good lifestyle growing up... lots of fresh air, space to play and huge amounts of imagination! We used to make huts in the hay barn and build tunnels which never failed to annoy our father! We had a huge amount of freedom and it was a completely different life to what my own girls have had. One funny story (at least for me and Trac!) was when we had our horse Laddie... he wasn't a big horse but he was a lot of fun. This particular day we were out in the paddock annoying him and he had enough and chased us. It wasn't so bad for me and Trac... we took off and got through the fence... BUT Kate was only little and her legs couldn't move as far as ours... she got her top half through the fence and then Laddie bit her on the bum! She howled and cried and we made sure she didn't tell Mum cause we knew we'd be in trouble but that night she just couldn't sit down so Mum checked it out and one butt cheek was completely bruised!!! It's funny now but it sure wasn't at the time!Week 25: a photo that means something to you. It's true that most of the photos I have tell a story. When I look at them I can remember how I felt, or what was going on... a million memories come to mind with most of my photos. Then I came across the photos of my graduation from Teachers College. I remember feeling really proud for finally finishing something and sticking with it even though it was hard at times. I'm pretty sure I was talking to Trac (my sister) on the phone and telling her how it had all gone because she couldn't be there to see it... and I wasn't letting that Diploma out of my hands!Week 26: Celebrating daughters. Loved this prompt!!! The first photo was taken when they were 5 & 3 and they were being flower girls for their Grandma's wedding... the second photo was taken when they were 12 & 10 and they were junior bridesmaids for their Auntie's wedding. I can't believe how quickly they've grown up! A few years ago I wrote a poem for a layout I did about my girls and thought I'd share it with you:

Two little girls sent down from above

For me to watch over and cherish and love

Both of them beautiful and clever and kind

Both of them have a very strong mind

One of them dark the other one blonde

And we have between us a very strong bond

A decade has passed since we've been on our own

In less than the next one they both will have flown.

Week 27: junk mail. My kids love it!!! They like seeing what specials Dominoes, Pizza Hut, McDonalds etc are having... and they casually remark on 'what good deals they are'... meanwhile knowing that they don't really have a snowballs chance of getting it LOL. Most of the time the junk mail goes in the bin but every now and then something unsolicited arrives that catches my eye... Telecom have been doing some great junk mail with lots of doodling on it lately!
Week 28: goal of the week. This was a very easy prompt... my goal for the next week is to get everything organised because I'm off to SENZ!!! For those of you who are overseas, SENZ is a scrapbooking event (similar to CHA I think?) They held one in Auckland in May but I couldn't go because Miss 15 was having her birthday so I booked tickets to go to the Christchurch event. That meant I had to book flights too... yippee!! I haven't been on a plane for 20 years!!! So exciting! I'm flying down next Thursday night with a stop over in Wellington. Friday morning SENZ begins and I'm booked into a class at 9am... it goes all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday... it will be like scrapbook heaven for me! Then I'm flying home again on Monday. So looking forward to it but there's heaps to do before I go so I've made my list and I'm going to keep this weeks card visible so that I'll remember to do everything!Hope you are all enjoying the prompts as much as me! I'm finding them really awesome for journaling about things I wouldn't normally write about and I'm sure when I look back at them in the future they will give a real insight into what was going on in my life right now... actually it's almost like a time capsule! Happy crafting everyone :)

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

More Creativity!

I've just had the most brilliant 4 days away camping... actually the weather was shocking (torrential rain, hail and 100km winds!) but it was brilliant for getting away from civilisation for a few days and restoring the batteries so to speak! Here's a few more cards that I've done... hope you like them :)

Week 19: surprise! This was absolutely perfect timing for me. My sister is pregnant with her third baby and I was lucky enough to go to her scan and 'surprise' it's a boy! She's got a son (5) and a daughter (18 months) so it will be lovely to have another little boy in the family... especially since we're a family of three girls and I have two girls and our other sister has a baby girl as well. We need some more boys to balance things out a bit! I also took the opportunity to journal about being an Auntie which is one of my favourite roles in life. I adore being an Auntie!!!

Week 20: change. So many things in life change and over the years I think I've adapted really well to the different stages I've had to go through. One of the biggest changes in my life at the moment is the changing of dreams! For the past 10 years I've been teaching primary students (mostly 8 - 11 year olds) and I used to really love it but for the last couple of years I have felt like I'm simply 'going through the motions' and it's time to make some big changes... as the stamp on the card says: it's the journey not the destination!Week 21: your redeeming qualities/qualities you aspire towards. This prompt really got me thinking! I asked Miss 15 what she saw as my strengths and was quite blown away with her response (have to say it was a real boost to my self esteem!)... and then I thought about what qualities I would like to have... that was a bit easier... my step-dad used to say: Most people show you what not to do and only a few show you what you want to be like. He's quite right too! My sister (Trac) is a really good role model of what I want to be like and I think I've become more like her in the last few years... with some mixed reactions from other people! But I'm definitely becoming more the person that I want to be!Week 22: what would you like to learn? Another thought provoking prompt... there are so many things I'd like to try... just to see if I like them but more than anything I want to learn to take one day at a time... to relax and enjoy the special moments that happen every day and to fully appreciate how wonderful life really is!So that's my update... I've still got a little way to go before I catch up but I'm happy with how it's all going and I'm really enjoying hearing what you all think of my cards. Thank you for your comments because they really do mean a lot to me :)