Thursday 31 May 2012

Log your Memory: Week 22

Hi everyone :)

I’m almost back on track with Log your Memory this week.  The prompt for Week 22 is all about your handwriting and fonts.

I know lots of people don’t like their own handwriting… it’s a common thing when I run scrapbooking classes to hear people say that they NEVER do their journaling by hand. 

When I was at school I really disliked it when teachers expected me to use sloped or linked writing… I just don’t like doing it!  I ALWAYS print… and most of the time it’s straight up and down LOL  Having said that, I have absolutely no problem with my own handwriting which is good because at school a LOT of what I do involves me writing by hand… writing on the whiteboard, filling in my teacher planner and commenting in kids books. 

For wall displays I pretty much always use fonts and create the text for displays on the computer.  I’m always on the lookout for ‘just the right font’ for displays, kids activity sheets and scrapbooking layouts.

Here’s my layout for this weeks prompt:Week 22

For me the decision over whether to handwrite or computer generate journaling for a layout often depends on how much I have to say on the layout and the overall feel.  There’s no question that handwritten journaling creates a more personal touch… but sometimes I just have too much to say!  I know my family is going to laugh over that last bit!!

Luckily for me I think I’ve got the best of both worlds… handwriting (or in my case, printing) I like and a world of fonts at my fingertips.

If you’re looking for some cool FREE fonts then I highly recommend Kevin and Amanda’s website which literally has hundreds of fonts available for you to download and use!

Hope you’re all having a happy week and I’ll catch up with you again soon xx

Sunday 27 May 2012

Project Life: Week 21

Yes I’m back again!  This time I’ve got my Project Life post for Week 21.

When I put my pages together this week I realised that there are a LOT of words.  Clearly I’ve had plenty to say this week LOL

Here’s my spread for the week:Full_1

I’ve had a brilliant week at school.  We’ve been doing science experiments this term and the one we did on Monday was great!  It involved balloons, water and flames and had the kids totally gobsmacked which was funny to see.  We’re half way through the term now and there’s still so much I want to get through.

Here’s a look at the start of this week:Left_1

We also did some really wonderful autumn artwork and poetry.  The kids enjoyed doing their painted backgrounds using scrunched up newspaper for our brushes… and the best part was that at the end of the lesson we simply screwed up all the soggy newspaper and threw it in the bin… no paintbrushes to wash!

Mr Toby has been on an eating frenzy too!  I came home to find that he’d somehow managed to get my red bra (the only coloured one I own!) and chew it… there were little bits of red everywhere and Mumma was not happy about it!

Something that did make me happy this week was watching Masterchef on Tuesday night!  It’s getting quite exciting as we get closer to the final and I’m glued to my sofa every Tuesday night watching it.

Plus I’ve discovered that I can save $13.95 ordering my contact lenses online versus ringing through my order by phone… that’s a great saving!

Here’s the second half of my week:Right_1

I’m really enjoying books this year!  I’ve discovered a couple of new authors that I like and I’ve been really galloping through them.  Krystal introduced me to Cayla Kluver’s writing and it’s phenomenal!  She writes incredibly well and I’ve now read two of her books that form a trilogy… the third book is due out in November.  What’s really amazing is that Cayla is only 20 years old!  She’s got a great future ahead of her!!!

You might have noticed the photo of Tauranga hospital.  Mum was at work on Wednesday and doing all the usual things she does when she had horrendous pain through her chest.  They thought she may have been having a heart attack but thankfully it wasn’t.  She’s actually pulled a big muscle right through her chest.    I did a quick trip to Tauranga Hospital on Thursday afternoon to make sure she was alright and was pleased to find her sitting up in bed with a magazine… although she did have several needle marks in her from all their testing.

When I was talking to Krystal yesterday morning she said that she wouldn’t be surprised if it had have been stressed because she gets stressed running around uni and going to work and “Grandma is THREE TIMES my age” LOL  We also talked about how much Mum weighs… or in her case how little she weighs… and Krystal’s instant response was… “It’s just not right Mum!  Tell her to eat a burger!”  I won’t tell you how much Mum weighs but I will say that she is the only person I know who weighs less than her age!!!

I’ve got a little someone to introduce you to this week.  Meet possum:Daphne's Opossum_1

I grew up hearing the saying that the only good possum was a dead one… but this one is stunning!  Besides, she doesn’t have a mouth so she can’t eat anything that she shouldn’t!  Possum is actually a hand puppet that Auntie Daphne made herself.  I was quite taken with it when I saw the photo Mum had but last night I actually got to meet Possum and she has lots of expression!!!  Toby was very enthralled with Possum too and Auntie Daphne, Possum and Toby spent quite a bit of time talking to each other!

Here’s my little bit of creativity for the week:Creativity_1

After having a couple of eventful weeks I thought I’d put it out to the universe that a bit of love and laughter was needed in my household… in other words… enough with the dramas!!! 

Auntie Daphne, I hope you had a great trip over to Tauranga and that you can get that mother of mine sorted out please!  Thanks for visiting… hugs from me and Toby!  xx

I hope you have a great week everyone xx

Log your Memory: Week 20 and Week 21

Hi everyone :)

Hmm what happened to Friday??  I have no excuse… I’ve just been getting other things done first LOL

Week 20

The prompt for Week 20 at Log your Memory is all about software and apps.  I have to admit that I was completely stumped by this one for a while.  Since my phone is still in the ‘dark ages’ I couldn’t think what I would do until I realised that I use quite a few different things on my computer… so here’s my page for the prompt:

Week 20

At school I constantly use Microsoft Word to create documents as well as the very cool software from ActiveInspire which is for my smartboard.  I really, really like this software as it makes my lessons a LOT more interactive for the kids and I can also save and print everything I want to from it… which is better than trying to keep it all on the whiteboard.

I’m also finding myself using PDF programmes more and more both for creating and reading documents.  Of course the great part about it is that in general they make all documents much easier to send via email!

Right now I’m using Live Writer to update my blog and it’s seriously GOOD!  Unlike Blogger it actually puts my photos exactly where I want them.  It doesn’t try to have a mind of it’s own… and it’s so super simple to use that it makes blogging so much easier.

This year I’ve been using Photoshop 7.0 and learning how to do a lot of different things.  I know there are more modern versions out there but this one is perfect for me. 

And finally there is the internet.  For a long time I was loyal to Internet Explorer but after changing over to Mozilla Firefox a few months ago I’m a real convert… it’s so much quicker and easier to use… and it has some neat toolbars that really work for me.

Week 21

This week’s prompt was all about mail… the kind that gets delivered to your mail box.

It’s true that some weeks I can get absolutely no mail except for the kind that gets thrown straight in the bin/recycling.  Thankfully this week has been a little bit more interesting!

Week 21

Right now I’m hosting the ATC swap for Scrapbook Dreams so I’ve had some wonderful artwork coming through my mail box… of course I can’t show you what’s inside those envelopes just yet!

I’ve also had a ‘personal’ invitation to use the new Westpac branch in Rotorua that will be open 7 days a week along with a pre-approved loan from a finance company… (don’t panic Dad I won’t be taking them up on their generous offer!) 

I’ve also received the registration details for my new car along with a voucher to go to Lonestar next month… and so long as I take four or more friends I can eat for free!  I might have to think about that one because last year I didn’t use my voucher.  Maybe I should organise a ‘team dinner’ with some people from work!

So that’s me all caught up… and I’ll be back later on today with this weeks update of Project Life :)

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Project Life: Week 20

Hi everyone :) 

If you saw my post on Sunday you’ll know that I had some issues last week… and I had planned on having this updated last night… but it would seem that my ‘plan’ was not meant to be.  I had my photos all set to go… finally got down to my local photo centre to have them printed… BUT the machines were all turned off!!!  Nope I hadn’t missed the deadline… the guys working outside on the footpath had cut through the gas main and everyone had to be evacuated!!  Talk about dramas!!

Finally… here is my full spread for the week:Full_1 

The week started off just fine… I got my classroom wall display in the foyer up and had lots of positive comments. 

On Tuesday I headed over to Tauranga for another Tutor Teacher course… but on the way over the car got REALLY hot!  It took 2 1/2 hours to do what normally takes one hour!  I finally got to the parking building near the course with steam coming out the front and water gushing out underneath… but at least I’d arrived.  I was at my course until after 3.00pm.  Then I sent a text to Loreen and turned up ‘unannounced’ at her work… amid a LOT more steam!  She was able to get the mechanics to have a look at it for me and they told me what was wrong… not good news!  The head gasket had blown! 

There was no way my car was getting me home but thankfully Loreen is a really wonderful friend and without even blinking an eye she offered to drive me home to Rotorua!  She even took me up to the tow truck place so that I could organise getting my car back… now that’s a GREAT friend!

Here’s a look at the start of my week:Right_1

On Wednesday night I had one of my night classes.  We were all crafting away happily when my cuttlebug decided that it wasn’t going to work anymore.  Well that didn’t impress me but ‘Mouse’ said she reckoned we could fix it.  Out came all my tools… we took it apart… worked out what the problem was… fixed it and put it back together again… and YES it’s working absolutely fine again :)  Girls can do ANYTHING!

We also had cross country this week which was exciting for the kids and I have to say that I was pretty jolly proud as every single one of my kids ran in the race!  Good on you Room 4!!

For some reason I’ve had some good quotes come my way in the past week so I decided to include them in Project Life this week too.

Here’s the end of my week:Left_1

On Saturday morning Nina took me down to have a look at some cars.  We actually had quite a bit of fun and it was pretty darn exciting when I actually found a car I really liked!

After a test drive and a bit of negotiation it was off to the bank to get some money followed by a quick morning tea… always eventful when Miss Nina is around!  We had a few laughs and I made sure to get a photo of my holding the money LOL

After buying the car I headed over to visit Loreen and Veronicah in the afternoon.  We had such a good time catching up and Veronicah brought some of her gorgeous art journals with her… trust me they weren’t just ‘eye candy’ they also had texture galore!!!  You can have a look for yourself on her blog!

Next we were off to see Mum as she was back from her trip to Australia.  It was good to catch up and Mr Toby thought it was pretty darn awesome having a vegetarian dinner for a change… mashed potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, peas, corn all mashed together with a bit of gravy!

Here’s my creativity for the week:Creativity_1

I did some inking and distressing before adding a felt tree cut on the cuttlebug after we fixed it and then I added some bling for a bit of glamour.

So that’s been my week… a couple of major dramas but all in all it’s just part of life I guess.  The one thing that I’ve learnt this week is that you can never have too many friends! 

A big THANK YOU to:

  • Loreen for really being there for me when I needed some help and bringing me home on a cold and wet night when you could have been sitting at home all cozy and warm!
  • Carey for taking me to and from work for three days while I had no vehicle!  You were awesome and I really appreciate it.
  • Nina for taking me car shopping and giving me some much needed laughs in a stressful situation!

You are all wonderful women and I’m so thankful to have you all in my life xx

Have a great week everyone and I’ll be back with Log your Memory on Friday xx

Sunday 20 May 2012

Just to let you know…

Hi everyone :)

This week has been very full of dramas in my house… the car blew it’s head gasket so no transport for four days… the cuttlebug decided to have a hissy fit and not work… and I’ve spent 6 hours at school today and didn’t get very much done… plus I didn’t get my Project Life photos printed in time :(

I’ve never been late in posting my Project Life week on my blog and it’s bothering me… as in it’s REALLY bothering me!  I’m feeling a bit deflated tonight but I know that I’ll be able to get the photos all printed off tomorrow and into their album.

In the scheme of things it’s probably not such a big deal… but tonight it FEELS like it is.

I’ll definitely be back tomorrow with a Project Life update.  xx

Sunday 13 May 2012

Project Life: Week 19

Hi everyone :)

Gosh this week seems to have rolled around extra quick!  Maybe it’s because things have been so busy at school!

Here’s my full spread for the week:Full_1

I had quite a ‘flat’ day on Monday… really wasn’t feeling so good but my ‘Tobyloby’ made sure he gave Mumma lots of cuddles :)

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had ‘student-led conferences’ at school.  They’re an alternative to parent/teacher interviews and totally involve the children which means that they feel really in control of their own learning… a happy ‘upside’ to them is that we get a lot more parents coming!

Here’s the left side of this week:Left_1

We’ve been doing some great reading projects in Room 4 plus on Wednesday I ran a card making session during lunch time and it went really well.

The other night I was watching Animal Rescue and Mr Toby heard some little kittens crying.  He got up off the sofa and tried to find the kittens which of course were on the TV.  We ended up with a lovely Toby ‘nose print’ in the screen which was very cute!

I’ve also been looking at some cool stuff on Pinterest.  There are so many ideas to get those creative juices flowing… plus I’ve seen some neat things for school on there too.

Here’s the second half of this week:Right_1

On Thursday I went up to the dairy after school and while I was in there I heard a cry for help.  An elderly man had been bitten by a dog and everyone was ‘flapping’ around.  I’m not sure how it happened but I found myself calmly talking to the man (turns out his name was Vincent), asked him for a hankie and then held it on the wound until the police and ambulance officers arrived.  He went off to the hospital for a tetanus shot and some stitches but was later sent home.  Yay for me watching those medical programmes because the ambulance officers were most impressed with what I’d done and all the things I’d observed while we were waiting for them to arrive… pulse rate, sweating etc

We’ve also been doing lots of science in Room 4 and the kids are loving the ‘hands on’ approach I’m taking with all the experiments… turns out they LOVE science!

Last night I saw the movie ‘The Vow’ and it had an enormous impact on me… I usually find it quite difficult to cry but after the movie the ‘flood gates’ really opened and I ended up having a real ‘heart/soul cry’.  GREAT movie and I do feel a lot better for letting it all out of my system.

Of course the weekend has finished with it being Mothers’ Day and I’ve felt quite spoilt.  I had a wonderful early Mothers Day with Krystal last weekend and then today I got cards from both Mikayla and Toby along with a gift box of my favourite Ferrero Rocher chocolates!

The cards are too good not to share so here they are:

IMG_7547_1     IMG_7549_1

On the inside Mikayla’s card (the stork one) reads: Sorry, No Refunds!

Toby’s reads: … but I sure came closer than those other misfits I call siblings.

CLASSIC!!!  Loved both of them :)

I ended up using some of the Ferrero Rocher packaging on my creative card this week:Creativity_1

The doodled cork background is one I made using Photoshop and I quite like how it turned out.

So that’s my week… tonight I think it might be time to put my feet up in front of the fire and watch some TV LOL

I hope you all have had a great weekend and if you’re a Mum… Happy Mothers’ Day! xx

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Log your Memory: Weeks 18 and 19

Unfortunately I didn’t get my layout posted on the blog last week… sometimes life just gets in the way!

The May prompt for Log your Memory are all about ‘communication’… something that my family will tell you is right up my alley!!  LOL

The focus for Week 18 was phones… cell phones, landlines, texting and all those other things.

I got my first cell phone quite a few years ago now and since then I’m only on my fourth phone.  I get a new one when Telecom rings me and says it’s time to update.  I’ve never broken one, lost one or anything like that.

Mikayla has lost more cell phones in the past 12 months than I’ve ever owned… she’s left them on the bus, in other peoples cars, or simply lost them in town… how does that happen???

I could pretty much live without my cell phone… I don’t like that they can cause misunderstandings because you can’t hear the ‘tone of voice’ through a text!  I do however love talking on the landline!!!  None of my family live in Rotorua so it’s a great way for me to keep in touch with them… and there’s nothing like hearing ‘Hello Auntie’ on the other end of the line!

Here’s my phone layout:Week 18

While I was at school camp Mikayla was texting me to let me know how Toby was getting on without me and I got some pretty cool texts from her!  I’m also enjoying texting with Mum at the moment as she’s over in Australia and it’s nice to hear how her trip is going.

One thing I really like with the phones these days is ‘Caller ID’… whoever thought of that needs a medal!

Now onto Week 19 and the focus for this weeks prompt is the internet.  So many people are using the internet these days and like pretty much anything it can be used for good and bad.

Obviously I use the internet to blog… otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this at all LOL  I also check my emails, do online banking, run a website business, access stuff for school, view tutorials and get information on a regular basis.

I’ve met some really lovely people in real life who started off as ‘internet friends’… I’ve also been able to catch up with people that I’d lost contact with.

Week 19 Without the internet I would never have started the Log your Memory project because it’s all based online too.

One thing that I’ve found just isn’t really me is the ‘social networking’ sites.  I’m on Facebook but it’s not something that really interests me… unfortunately I’ve seen a few issues surrounding those sites happen at school… and some of them have caused huge problems!

However, I also saw on the news the other night, that a really bad driver was caught by the police thanks to people ringing in after seeing the call for assistance on Facebook so there are positives for it too.

Using the internet certainly brings a world of information right to your doorstep… it’s just how you use it that matters.  As I tell my kids at school… “Just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true.”

So that’s it from me… I hope you all have a fantastic week xx

Sunday 6 May 2012

Project Life: Week 18 & SD May challenge

Hi everyone :)

We’re into May already and it’s been a busy week here in our household.  This weeks project life seems very full of school but that’s the way it goes sometimes I guess.

Here’s the full spread:Full_1

On Monday I taught another modelled lesson in Veronica’s class and it went pretty well.  After staff meeting that night I shot home to pick up Toby and then we went out to John and Wendy’s for dinner.

Last time we went Toby had to go and sit in the car because he kept trying to ‘hungus’ our dinner.  This time we was really quiet… a little too quiet!  While we were having dinner he was busy ripping Miss Molly’s favourite toy apart… there was stuffing everywhere!!

Left_1

On Wednesday my class went to the Rotorua Museum for the Diary of Anne Frank exhibition.  If it comes to your town then I highly recommend it!  I was really surprised at how many photos they had of her plus there was even a short piece of her on video… totally amazing considering the times!

We also started our science unit this week and Santana was very focussed on working on his experiment!

We also did an instructional writing lesson using link cubes with all but one group writing really good instructions for their classmates to follow.

Right_1

You might be wondering why Oscar the Grouch (from Sesame Street) is in my album… well that was me on Thursday night!  I’m not quite sure what happened but I definitely felt GROUCHY!!!  I remembered the words “if you can’t say nothing nice then you’d better say nothing at all” so I stayed off the phone, email and texting and got an early nights sleep instead! LOL

Krystal rang me last weekend and asked me over to Hamilton to see a chick flick with her… it turns out that she thought it was Mothers Day today!  We had a wonderful day together.  We went window shopping (sometimes that’s the best kind!) although she did buy a sofa set and got herself a great bargain!  We took Toby to his favourite dog park… went to the food hall for lunch… and she did her groceries.

She also gave me a gorgeous new bag and some chocolates… the chocolates are all gone now but the bag will be with me for a long time… it’s very ME!  We spent the afternoon playing play station together which was more cool than it sounds and then we went to the movies.  Afterwards we had pizza at her place and then Toby and I went home.  It’s so nice to see Krystal relaxed, happy and very focussed on her future.

Here’s my little bit of creativity for the week:Creativity_1

I couldn’t resist using this gorgeous photo of Toby and his little friend Benny.  Benny is a maltese/pekingese cross.  He had a miniature tennis ball that he was fetching and Toby was very interested in what Benny was up to.

It’s actually been a pretty good week apart from Thursday night!

Now for something different.  The May challenge over at Scrapbook Dreams is anything to do with Autumn.

Our Guest Designer this month is Brenda and she’s created this gorgeous layout to share:IMG_1677

I really love all the embellishments and how they draw your eye into the photo.

This afternoon I finally got time to get my layout done and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Mum took the photos last year and thankfully she’d sent them to me :)

Autumn acorns_1 copy

I’m actually feeling quite proud of myself too because all those leaves were cut out using some Cherry Lynn dies that I bought last year and hadn’t used until today.

So that’s it from me… and p.s. thanks for the emails about my ‘missing’ Log your Memory’ post on Wednesday.  I’ve got it done now so I’ll do a double post this week :)

Have a great week everyone xx