Sunday, April 26, 2009

Week 18: Communication

Yippee!!! I'm actually on time this week LOL

In these days of technology people can pretty much get hold of us wherever we are... sometimes that's a really good thing... and sometimes it's not! Mostly we don't really think about it unless we're somewhere with no cell phone coverage!

I can still remember growing up on the farm and having a 'party line'. You certainly learnt fairly quickly to say NOTHING on the phone that you didn't want the rest of the community knowing about! Then came dial phones... Granny used to 'dial' with a pen so that her finger nails didn't get caught LOL

These days the phones are getting smaller and smaller... but what if you phone stops working??? That happened to me this week and it wasn't a lot of fun!!!

The journaling reads: On Wednesday my phone went on the blink! I could receive calls but couldn't dial out... I could get on the net... but couldn't send a text! After several hours it all came right again... but in the meantime it was a BIG problem!

I hadn't actually realised how much communication I depended on each day. I DO talk on the phone a lot! I like to keep in touch with friends and family. I like to share what's going on, what we're up to and how things are going!

In some ways it was NICE to not have the phone interuptions... I definitely got more done!

But overall... I'd rather be able to communicate... especially with ALL of my family and MOST of my friends live out of town!

I always find that I prefer to catch up via PHONE than via text too! Texting seems too impersonal for me... but it's great for getting funny jokes :)

Thank goodness I have a GREAT phone plan!!!

Having a good phone plan has certainly made life easier too! I know that my phone bill would be HUGE without it!!!

So now it's your turn... do you like 'communicating' regularly?? Are you a 'chatterer'?? Do you prefer texts or talking??

Have a great week everyone :) And if you feel like communicating by leaving me a comment on here I'd love to hear from you!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Weeks 16 & 17 :)

Time to catch up again :)

Week 16: Time to Play

How often to do 'play' without actually worrying about the results?? How many really cool things have you seen on the net and thought: "I want to try that" but you don't actually get around to it?? If you're anything like me you've probably got a file (or files!) on your computer filled with all those really cool things but you haven't actually done any of them! So now it's time to play!!!
The journaling reads: I've just been re-discovering how important it is to 'play'. Sometimes when I'm browsing on the net or reading scrapping mags I see really cool techniques and ideas... but I don't actually get around to having a go myself.

Last weekend Tricia came over and we set about having a play with paint! It was so neat to actually get messy and just see what effects we could achieve.
Best of all was Tricia's smile after playing with paint and getting the background of her canvas done!

It reminded me that 'playing' is actually an important part of scrapping for me!

It's not really about whether or not it works... it's about trying something new and experimenting.

Sometimes I'll like something so much it becomes the new technique I use on everything! I've just been going through a beeswax phase!! Very cool!

Sometimes it's really nice just to try! So... I'm going to put more play into my scrapping time!

Today I found some watercolour crayons!! I've been looking for some for ages... and today I got some :) So this afternoon I'm going to play without worrying about what I'm creating... just because I'm playing!

Week 17: Relaxation

Let's face it... we live in a fast paced world where we never seem to have time to just sit and relax... or if we do we often feel guilty about it because there's so many 'other' things that we could/should be doing! I think that's part of the problem... we're so busy doing that we aren't really enjoying just being! So that's the focus of this weeks prompt: Relaxation!

The journaling reads: I got myself into a really sorry state a few months back... I had forgotten how to relax!

Plonking yourself down on the sofa at the end of the day feeling exhausted is NOT relaxing! That's what I was doing! I was so tired from doing all the time... but my mind was still running.

Then I was looking at something on the net and it said: "The art of relaxation is in the easing up from effort and attention."

So I began to think back on what I found relaxing. It wasn't relaxation music that's for sure! I've tried that and I always end up simply feeling bored!

I used to be right into aromatherapy. And while I find lavender scented oil very relaxing, most of the time I either don't want a bath or just can't be bothered lighting the oil burner. so what else??

Then it hit me... reading! I love to read but I was reading text books, business guides and technique books!

Now I'm reading other books. Books to relax! Best of all... it helps to get me off to sleep!

If you're looking for a good book then I highly recommend Diana Gabaldon! If you're going to read her books then definitely start with 'Cross Stitch' because it's the first book in the series :) There's a bit of everything in her books... war, family values, Scottish history, humour... and a few of the scenes give Mills & Boon a real run for their money too!!!

Have a good week everyone and make sure you get some 'play' and 'relaxation' into your week :)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Weeks 14 & 15

I'm playing the catch up game again tonight! But it's all in a good cause because I've been busy scrapping all weekend :)
Week 14: R.A.K.'s (Random Acts of Kindness)

We've all seen the movies based on R.A.K.'s... some of us have even won or offered R.A.K.'s on scrapping blogs etc... so what does it mean for you? I've been wanting to do this topic for a while now because it kind of goes with the 'attitude of gratitude' that I've been reading about. Basically it says that if you feel and acknowledge how grateful you are for what you have in your life then more good things will keep happening to you... which leads me into what happened to me recently!
The journaling reads: A couple of weeks ago, one of the teachers at school came to offer me some FREE tickets to go to Circus Aoteoroa. I was blown away because I'd actually thought about taking the girls to see it but decided against it due to the cost!

She also offered tickets to one of my friends, so we thought we'd both go and take our kids.

The next night we all met up... 2 adults and 4 teenagers! The kids were surprisingly excited about the whole thing!

While we were talking we found we had a spare two tickets. We saw a couple waiting to buy their tickets and offered them our spares. They were thrilled because it saved them $60!!!

Later on while we were waiting for the show to start, the couple came up to us with 6 bags of POPCORN! What a nice thing for them to do!

It certainly made me realise that good things DO come to those who do GOOD for others!!!

Sometimes life surprises us with little (and not so little) good things. Things that make us smile and feel good inside. And sometimes we get to do something good for someone else 'just because'. Why not try and make someone else's day this week... you will definitely feel good about yourself :)

Week 15: Mojo

I've been suffering from lack of 'mojo' lately! In fact, I hadn't done a layout since I prepared my layout class for Scrapfest!!! That's not to say that I haven't been 'thinking' about it... just hadn't actually 'done' any!!! The tide was OUT!!! And I was wondering if it was ever coming back... but it HAS and it feels GREAT!!! So here's my layout:The journaling reads: What do you do when the MOJO just isn't flowing? What about when you're just OUT of ideas?

I haven't done a layout since JANUARY! I was getting WORRIED!!! Then I was having a look at one of my paper kits... and I felt an excitement I haven't felt for a long time!

I gathered my supplies together and actually started to SCRAP! Within 24 hours I had one 12 x 12 layout, two 8 x 8 layouts and a completed mini album!

Now the ideas are coming thick and fast!!! I don't really know why... all I know is that it feels FANTASTIC to scrap again!

I don't really know what the mojo actually IS... all I know is that sometimes it's FLOWING and sometimes... there is nothing!!!

One thing I do know is that it ALWAYS comes back! Otherwise I'd never get any scrapping done!

So after a full weekend of scrapping I'm feeling GREAT! Really creative and inspired! It's a happy place to be!

So how's the mojo going for you??? If you're feeling inspired and creative... Great!!! And if not... just remember that it WILL come back!!!

If you'd like to take a look at what I've been scrapping then have a look at my other BLOG... there's lots of eye candy to look at :)

Have a great week :) Shell xx