Project Life: Week 4 plus some changes

I got quite a shock when I put this weeks page together… and so did Mikayla!  We had no idea that we’d done so much during the week… that’s another good thing about this project :)

Here’s my full spread for the week:

If you’d seen the lounge and dining room last Sunday you would have been SHOCKED!!  I know Mum was!  With daughters moving in and moving out again… things left behind and some of my own school stuff here the place had turned into a real TIP!!  On Monday morning I asked Mikayla to help me clean up and bribed her with dinner out somewhere. 

We both got REALLY motivated and did so much including Mikayla getting under the house to move the aerial cord for the TV… I did it last time.  After taking a VERY full car to the landfill the place looked amazingly different…. and then we were too tired to go out for dinner so we had KFC for dinner instead :)

Here’s a look at the start of our week:

Mr Toby is a real poser for the camera!  All he has to hear is the familiar little sound it makes when it turns on and he comes running.  But on Tuesday I’m absolutely positive that he WINKED at me!!  Here’s a close up so you can see for yourself:

On Tuesday my friend Sheree came over from Katikati and we did some digital scrapbooking stuff but I forgot to get the camera out… NEXT time Sheree!!! LOL

The second half of the week has been just as busy… Mr Toby has totally DESTROYED one of my books… thank goodness it wasn’t a library book!  We’ve been to Holden’s Bay for a play and then on Thursday the brand new (and quite expensive) ‘Toby House’ arrived.  Mr Toby has made it quite clear that HE’S not going in it!!

On Friday I had my Teacher Only day and Mikayla was working so we put Toby outside much to his disgust.  It started POURING with rain after lunch and when I got home was he in the Toby House???  Ah… NO!!!  He was sitting on the back door step (about 1 metre away from the Toby House) absolutely DRENCHED!!!  Silly Boy!

For now Toby is having his breakfast and dinner in the Toby House and he really stretches his body to reach his food without having to go in.  The photos of him IN the house we’re done on ‘sports mode’ which was lucky because he only stayed in there about 15 seconds!!

All is not lost though because Miss Brandy has decided that it’s the PURR-FECT place for her to sleep and best of all she knows that Toby isn’t going to bother her there!

For my ‘creative’ piece this week I used some Tim Holtz Kraft Resist and inked it up before layering it with some cardstock.  Then I added the date and some foam brackets and the number 4:

And now for some changes…  I’ve been teaching myself how to use Photoshop Elements… and I’m making good progress… so I’ve made 5 little changes to my Project Life album.  I bought Becky Higgins small journaling cards and I really do like them… but every time I flicked back on my pages ‘something’ was bothering me… and it was the rounded corners on the cards.  PLUS although I quite like my handwriting it just didn’t seem to be ‘right’ for my album so I’ve changed the 3 x 4 cards that I did using the journaling cards.

Here’s the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots:

And he’s my favourite one… LOVE the little stick figure!

So that’s been my week… lots of different things happening.  We’ve got Auckland Anniversary holidays this weekend so we don’t start school until Tuesday… but for now I’m off to school to do some final organisation for next week.

I hope you all have a great weekend xx

Log Your Memory: Week 4

This week at Log your Memory the theme was all about books.  I really love reading and I have definite authors that I look for when I go to the library.

For this prompt I decided to focus on the books that I actually own and I was surprised at the variety of books I have… although they fall into very definite categories.

Here’s my layout for the week:Click image to enlarge

I love watching CSI, Criminal Intent and other crime shows so it’s no surprise that my collection of books includes some ‘who dunnit’ books.  I really like Sue Grafton’s ‘alphabet’ mysteries.  I started collecting them several years ago and I often go back and re-read them.

Nicholas Evans is another favourite author.  He wrote the Horse Whisperer and funnily enough that is his only book that I don’t own.  I first read his book ‘The Smoke Jumper’ and there is one part of the book that literally has me crying like a baby every time I read it.  His books really tell an emotional story mixed with some interesting information.  If you like Nicholas Sparks (love his books but don’t own any)  then you’ll probably like Nicholas Evans as well. 

Richard Carlson has written the very popular ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’ which I got a lot out of.  Since then I’ve added several of his titles to my collection.  His wife has also collaborated on some of the books with him and she offers a good ‘female perspective’.

Of course I’ve got some lovely cooking books.  Most are kept in my kitchen but I like to keep my new ones on the bookshelf for a while so that I read them a bit more.

And then there’s my scrapping inspiration books… Nic Howard, Ali Edwards, Vinnie Pearce and Claudine Hellmuth.  I’ve also got Tim Holtz’s book but that’s in use right now LOL

For the last few years I’ve been getting into ‘Chick Lit’ books… you know the ones that are like a Chick Flick but in a book.  Marian Keyes, Sheila O’Flanagan and I’m currently reading Carole Matthews.  Every night I read a chapter… sometimes two… and it’s a real wind down from the day.  I find them fairly predictable… but that’s part of the attraction… it’s a way for my brain to wind down and switch off at the end of a busy day.

I’d love to hear what you like to read!

Have a great week xx

Project Life: Week 3

I really didn’t think that much had happened this week until I started putting together my pages and then I realised that there have been lots of things… I think that’s one of the beauties about this project… it’s a great way to capture the ordinary, everyday things that you don’t want to scrapbook but you don’t want to forget.

Here’s my spread for Week 3:

If you’ve seen my previous post then you’ll know that I’ve been painting my kitchen… and I have to say that I really, really love how it’s turned out! One thing I’ve learnt is that you’ve got to ask LOTS of questions before you start. Since painting the window surrounds and the pantry door with ‘flat’ paint I’ve learnt that it marks REALLY easily so today I went back to Bunnings and I’ve bought some ‘Low Sheen’ paint to go on those areas… now I’ll have the look I want with the benefits of being a lot more ‘wipeable’.

Here’s a closer look at the left side:

After doing the kitchen I felt a bit ‘low energy’ for a couple of days but there were still things happening. I had an appointment with the bank about my mortgage, Mikayla’s Christmas present for me finally arrived in the shop… and I found a ‘snapped’ photo that Mikayla took!

Here’s a better look at the right side:

Yesterday my sister Katie had planned on coming over to see me with my gorgeous wee nieces. We decided that a picnic at Holden’s Bay would be a good idea… and we had a fantastic time!

About 5 minutes after we arrived a water plane landed on the lake. Miss Jessie was SUPER excited about it! Better still, the plane actually came right up to the shore beside us… the girls were really thrilled!

As you can see from the photos Miss Sammie is now walking! It was so cute to see her toddling around… and she’s developing some awesome expressions!

It was a day of surprises because just before we arrived at our picnic I got a text from Mum saying: “We’re at your house, where are you?” Mum’s husband, Richard, had decided to take Mum for a drive and they ended up over here… so neat because Mum was able to have some all important ‘Grandma’ time with the girls too!

Here’s my little piece of creativity for this weeks page:

I used some My Minds Eye paper along with some foam letters, a printed quote left over from another project and then I die cut the ‘3’ and the bird using stiff felt… love how that turned out!

So that’s my week… lots of little things happening and still loving playing with all the digital stuff… plus lots of photos to scrapbook! I took 50 photos at our picnic yesterday which I thought was pretty good until I saw how many Mum had…. Miss ‘snap happy’ had taken 97!!!

I hope you’re having a lovely weekend xx

Log Your Memory: Week 3

One of this weeks prompts on Log Your Memory is Before and After projects.  Those of you who know me know that I’m a bit of a D.I.Y. girl… and although I had other projects that I could have used I decided that it was time for a kitchen makeover!

Before I show you my page for Week 3 I want to share with you a few photos.  When I bought my house five years ago one of the first things I was going to do was to get rid of the hideous paint colour!  Although it doesn’t look so bad in the photos the reality was much, much worse!  Think Karitane yellow… or for the farmers out there… ‘calf muck yellow’!  SERIOUSLY!

It really was FAR more hideous in real life than the photos would have you believe!

So on Monday I went to one of my favourite places… Bunnings!  I bought paint, sugar soap, polyfilla, rollers, brushes etc and then the work began.  Here’s a couple of ‘in progress’ photos:

And what was Mr Toby doing during all of this???

Yes he was waiting for the paint to dry!  Every night just before 7pm Toby ‘reminds’ me that it’s his dinner time… and clearly I wasn’t paying enough attention on Tuesday night while I was up the ladder because I turned around to see him LICKING the fridge!  Wish I’d gotten a photo of that!

So before I bore you with too many ‘after’ photos… can you tell how proud I am of my kitchen yet?… I’ll share with you my page for Week 3:

Click photo to enlarge

You might be wondering where the title for this one came from… Mum gets to take the credit for that!  I was trying to explain what the paint colour looked like (it’s actually Dulux Willow Flat) and in the end I sent her a photo and she said… “Oh, it’s like Duck Egg Blue except that it’s Green!”  Mum was absolutely right and I thought it made a great title.

Here’s a few ‘after’ photos…. so pleased with how it’s turned out!

So there you have it! 

I hope you’re all having a fantastic week and thanks so much for visiting. xx