Project Life: Week 29

I’ve got another update on Project Life… Week 29 which was July 13th to July 19th.  Here’s an overview of the week:

Although Monday was the start of the new week it was also the end of Roxanne’s visit with us.  We were actually quite lucky to have had an extra few days thanks to the weather but she really did need to head back home.

Mike and I hadn’t been sure what to get Roxanne for her birthday and she wasn’t sure what she wanted either but when I took her and Krystal to Bayfair the previous week she spied a signet ring she liked and said that she used to have one but it had gone missing years ago. 

When we got to Te Puke we saw a jewellers and went in for a browse and Roxanne spotted the most gorgeous signet ring and she was really taken with it so we had it resized and engraved for her.  It only took them a couple of days to get it ready for us too!

The top of the ring has a ‘21’ on it and on the bottom of the heart we had ‘Love Dad’ engraved on it.  Roxanne was pretty thrilled with it.

After the bus left Mike got a call to say not to come into work for the day due to the weather so he got busy in the garage organising things.  He decided that my paper racks were taking up far too much space so he’s now tied them up to the ceiling and actually it has given us HEAPS more room!  p.s. if anyone is wanting to purchase any paper racks let me know!

After tidying up the garage Mike’s next project was to get a wood shed made to store all the wood he’s gathered from chopping the trees in the backyard down.  He decided that Danny would love to help him each night when they got home from a full days work… actually I don’t think Danny minded too much going on the conversations I overheard!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

We had to purchase a couple of posts for the new shed but Mike was determined to reuse and recycle as much as possible for his project.  Toby was quite keen on helping and doing ‘manly things’ with Danny and Mike but I suspect that was because he likes the fire so much.  In fact I strongly suspect that Toby thinks the fire is solely for his personal enjoyment.  So long as he’s warm and snuggly inside he’s a happy boy.

Speaking of warm and snuggly… we had an insulation man come to give us a quote this week.  There are so many more options available these days and we’ve been doing some research into possible insulation ideas so it was nice to have a professionals advice.

I also went back to the doctors this week as the headaches had continued and I still seemed to be super exhausted all the time.  In the end he decided that I might need a little more time off work so I’m taking the first week of the term off to try and recuperate.  My health has been a bit of a worry lately and Mum decided that she’d come over on Friday and spend some time with me.  When she arrived I was in full cleaning mode.  The bedrooms had all been spring cleaned, clean sheets on the bed and not a speck of dust in sight!  I’d also cleaned the toilet and bathroom to within an inch of it’s life and vacuumed the hallway.  I even managed to get the lounge finished as she was getting her stuff in from the car so we were totally ready to enjoy some time together.

Here’s a closer look at the rest of the week:

Mum’s been teaching herself to do mixed-media art and she’s having some great results.  She brought over some stuff with her to get ideas for a canvas she wanted to create… actually she brought over just about EVERYTHING from her craft room I think!  Mum worked on her canvas at the dining table while I took over the family room to work on a special project for Mikayla’s 21st in October.

Of course we stopped for lunch and Mr Toby decided that he was quite partial to ‘sticky date loaf’ and was very keen to try it at every opportunity!  Thankfully we also took him for a lovely long walk that afternoon because he’s not looking quite as ‘sleek and slim’ as he used to!

On Saturday afternoon I made some fresh bread in the bread maker and then I made a seafood chowder for our dinner… complete with mussels in their shells.  It was definitely comfort food and we loved sitting in front of the fire together all talking about our day.

On Sunday morning Mum headed off home and Mike got stuck into the wood shed.  He took apart the old garden shed that was in the backyard and reused the aluminium for the new shed including using the door which looks super professional.  You have to take photos quickly around here because Mike works FAST!  One blink and you’ve missed it half the time!

I did manage to entice Mike inside for some lunch though… left over chowder and some freshly baked walnut and butterscotch muffins.  Toby was VERY keen to help Dad share his lunch and of course Mike gave in so it was a win-win situation for Toby!  And that was our week.

I hope you’ve all had a great weekend xx

Project Life: Week 20

Hi everyone :)

I’ve had some fun events this week like our school cross country and dinner at John and Wendy’s… along with some not so fun stuff like stacking firewood and an NZEI training day… but you have to take the good with the not so good right??

Here’s an overview of my week:

This week got off to a great start with our school cross country which we do at the Redwood Forest.  It’s a beautiful setting and the kids really enjoy running the race… well some of them do!  I’ve got a couple of good runners in my class this year and the boys each got 1st in their age group!  Go Room 4!!!

On Tuesday night I finally did the last canvas night class and they were all gorgeous.  Unfortunately these dark nights don’t allow for such good photography but I did get a neat one of Anne working on her canvas.

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

During Term 2 my class will be doing a focus on FOOD!  The kids are obviously really keen because they know they are going to learn heaps as well as taste lots of different things.  On Wednesday afternoon we made gingerbeer following an Alison Holst recipe and we’re hoping to be able to drink it next week.  I’ve made it loads of times before so it was a ‘safe’ way to start of the cooking!

In this weeks’ school newsletter Room 4 were the ‘Star Class’ so I decided to go with a photo insert showing lots of the different things we do in Room 4 and it was a bit of a hit with the parents as well as the students.

Toby is very happy at the moment because we’ve got firewood which means he’s lovely and warm… but he wasn’t much help putting it all away… actually I wasn’t much help either because it arrived on Wednesday (Mikayla’s day off tech) and I was still at school until 8pm so she stacked most of it by herself… but I did bring KFC home for dinner LOL

Here’s the second part of the week:

On Thursday I was on an NZEI training day and it was pretty intensive so I was pleased to be going out to John and Wendy’s for dinner.  After working on the computer with John for a couple of hours we were ready for Wendy’s coq au vin and it was absolutely delicious!  For dessert she did layers of jelly with panna cotta topped with fresh berries and ice cream… absolutely divine!

This week I managed to find the matching teapot to my sugar bowl and milk jug I got a couple of weeks ago and it arrived safe and sound.  I really love the design on it :)

We’ve been without our computers in our room for two weeks now while they sorted out how to keep them safe from the radiators.  Hopefully we’ve got it all sorted now and we’ll be able to use them tomorrow!

Mikayla often shows me funny things she’s found on the internet but when she showed me this photo and said we should get an outfit the same for Toby I was definitely thinking NO!

Meanwhile, Mikayla decided that Toby’s ‘baby’ HAD to go!  I’ll admit that it smelt pretty manky but he really loved it.  She gave him one of her old bears that has got something stuck to it’s fur but before she did she gave him a little talk. 

Toby was all good with that… and then he saw his ‘baby’ get put into the fireplace and he went mental!  He wanted his baby back and he was not going to take no for an answer.  Fortunately he doesn’t have much of an attention span and after side tracking him with one of his biscuits it was all good LOL

Krystal phoned me last night and she’s been bitten by the baking bug again.  She decided to experiment with some ‘flavour profiles’… LOL picked that one up from Masterchef last night!

Here’s what she came up with:

They are chocolate cupcakes with cameral icing and homemade hokey pokey… she even sent me a close up!

Go Krystal!  I bet they taste amazing!

So that’s been my week… and now I’m off to clean up some more of my stamps… loving organising them all at the moment!

Have a great week xx

Project Life: Week 19

Hi everyone :)

My mum had to work today (Sunday is her ‘Monday’ if that makes sense) so there was no chance of a sleep in and breakfast in bed for her… but Toby actually did let me sleep in a bit this morning and Mikayla made me a yummy ‘breakfast’ (at midday LOL).

To all the Mum’s out there… I hope you had a really lovely day!

Well we’ve had our first week back at school and it was a busy one!  My class had to get to grips with losing a class mate… and we had two new students start on Monday… and we hosted this weeks’ school assembly as well!

Here’s an overview of my week:

Early this week I got the chance to make my own chilli jelly following Nigella’s recipe and it was wonderful!  We’ve tried it on lots of things… even the fish and chips we had for dinner last night!  I love how it tastes and it looks pretty neat in the jars as well :)

I also received a lovely little parcel from my niece.  It was a total surprise but very much appreciated!  Super cute to have a piece of her handwriting as well.

Here’s a close up of the beginning of my week: 

In other news… Mum and I have booked ourselves into the Creative Adventure Downunder and we’re super looking forward to it!  Having the opportunity to learn from Heidi Swapp, Donna Downey and Teresa Collins was too good to miss!  And there’s also going to be a class with  Maggie Armstrong which I know will be good because I’ve done a class with her before and loved her tutoring.

I’ve been busy gathering all the things on my ‘to bring’ list and I’ve even made a few swap pins.  Some are completely done and some are still waiting to be finished off with their resin hearts.

One of the things I’m most looking forward to is being on the ‘other side’ of the scrapping table.  It’s going to be cool to learn some new techniques and not have to worry about all the ‘little details’ for a change!

Don’t get me wrong though… I love teaching scrapping classes and on Thursday night a few of the girls came along to finish their mixed media canvases and they turned out so neat!

By Friday night I was really ready for the weekend.  On Friday night it was REALLY cold and since we hadn’t done anything about the firewood we had a fairly chilly night here so on Saturday morning I dragged Mikayla out of bed and we went out to get some firewood. 

Then I ‘forced’ her to push the wheelbarrow while I mowed the front lawn.  Since I was on such a roll I also trimmed back lots of the blackberry and did all the back lawns as well and then I found this:

I’ve seen these kinds of toadstools before but never quite as big as this.  Tomorrow I’m going to go out with gloves and carefully pick it and take it to school to show the kids.

Last night we decided to have fish and chips for dinner… a pretty rare thing in our house because I don’t usually like them but last night they were perfect.  After dinner we were being silly and Mikayla put the hat on Toby and I managed to get a quick snap… poor Toby!

Today of course was Mother’s Day and I’ve had a lovely ‘breakfast’ and gotten quite a few bits and pieces done.  I even managed to get two loads of washing dry on the line so I feel quite lucky not to have to visit the laundrette this weekend.

Now I’m off to light the fire and snuggle down on the sofa to watch Masterchef… a great way to end the weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful week xx

Project Life: Week 11

Yes I’m back again… and now I’m all up-to-date with Project Life.  Not only was I behind doing my blogging but I hadn’t actually printed off ANY photos since Week 6 so I had plenty to catch up on.

I came home from the photo lab with a huge stack of photos but they are now all in their album and it’s a REALLY good feeling!

Here’s an overview of Week 11:

This week Mikayla headed back to polytech for her second year of Fashion Design Technology and Toby thought his throat was cut!  He couldn’t believe that he was getting locked OUT every day… he’s such a drama king!

Meanwhile Whaea Charlie has just done her second week of teaching in Room 4 and she’s doing really well.  In fact she did so well on Monday and Tuesday that I was able to get some of the kids art up on the wall!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

I had a very much needed visit with Nicola (my chiropractor) on Monday and then again on Thursday.  My back is feeling so much better for it and I can go back to weekly visits again.  :)

Novapay decided to make an entrance into my life this week… there are quite a few people at our school affected by them but so far I wasn’t one of them.  They are disputing the time I had off work last year when I hurt my back but thankfully I’m working with a lovely lady at ACC to get it all sorted.

One thing I’ve noticed with Whaea Charlie doing the majority of the lessons is the children who ‘really’ listen on the mat and the ones that only ‘listen’ when she’s looking.  I was talking to my teacher-aide the other day and apparently it’s the same when I’m teaching so I know where the ‘hot spots’ are now… the kids won’t know what struck them!

Did you notice how brown our school fields are in the photo?  It’s been so long since we’ve had any rain but yesterday we got a bit of a teaser… nothing to write home about that’s for sure!  When I woke up this morning though there was a very little drizzle and we’ve had ‘wet stuff’ falling from the sky all day!  It’s not heavy which is good because that would cause just as many problems but it’s enough that hopefully the grass and plants will feel a whole lot happier.

Here’s the second part of the week:

More school photos!  I’ve been putting in a LOT of hours at school this year… much, much more than normal!  It’s a constant balancing act and I’m really hoping to get the balance better over the next few weeks.

Toby has been very happy to see Mikayla or myself get home each day.  If he could fit more than just his head through the cat door he would!  Mikayla had the funny photo on her phone and it was perfect to include in this weeks pages.

I’ve also had both my Tuesday and Thursday night classes this week to try and catch up a bit and Mouse brought around some gorgeous tiles that she thought I might like to make a mold of… and I did… and they’re stunning!

On Friday morning we had our 8.15 staff admin meeting and once again Peter was asking for a new NZEI rep for the school.  I’ve been getting tired of him asking and although I really didn’t want the job when he offered cake to the person who took it on I watched as my hand went up all by itself… clearly I can be bought!  And even more clearly… I can be bought relatively cheaply!

I’ve also managed to get some more work done on a canvas that I’m working on for the school art auction later this year.  It’s another mixed media piece and this time there’s no photo to worry about so it’s actually quite a neat project to work on.

So that’s been my week… busy as usual but it feels really good to finally be getting on top of everything again!

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend and that next week brings good things to us all xx

Project Life: Week 4 and another insert!

Hi everyone :)

Well my last week of holidays has been another busy one.  As you probably know I spent several days working on my canvas which I really love.  Krystal came home for a visit on Thursday and she had BIG plans so it turned into a pretty busy day!

I met up with Mum yesterday and had a really enjoyable day shopping for clothes and craft supplies and today I decided to spend some quality time with Toby.  We got so busy playing that I actually didn’t get my photos printed but not to worry… I made a template in Photoshop minus the rounded corners so it’s just as good as the real thing :)

Here’s an overview of my week:

Apart from my date pockets I decided to put the steps of making my canvas through the smaller pockets in the pages.  It was quite amazing watching the canvas develop across the page.

I spent quite a bit of time working on some cards for Dad and making covers for my teacher planner this week and I’m thrilled to bits with both projects.

I’ve been continuing to make some ‘good choices’ about my cooking.  On Monday I made a chicken, bacon and chorizo dish along with pasta and some of the fresh avocados that Katey gave me last weekend.

Nina came by for a visit the other day as well.  She’s been learning how to use Photoshop and is going really well.  She’s jumped straight in the deep end and is doing Project Life as well as an online class by Cathy Zielske.  The really great thing is that she’s learnt heaps of new skills and she’s practicing them lots so that she can remember how to do everything.

We had a Kauri Team meeting at school on Friday and it went really well.  I’ve decided to be a lot more organised with my paperwork this year so I’ve got a clear file all ready to go with all the bits of paper I have to file from Friday’s meeting.

At the beginning of the holidays I had it in the back of my mind that I’d get my gardens done these holidays… but actually I’ve been so busy doing other things that I never put it on the list of priorities.  We had a ‘little’ bit of blackberry that has really taken off in this hot weather so I’ve decided to enjoy the berries before cutting it all back… and they’re super delicious after they’ve been warmed up by the sun all day!

Yesterday I bought a couple of new white tops for school as well as a patterned tunic and some grey pants.  I’m all set to start school again now.  We’ve got Teacher Only Day on Tuesday and then the kids start on Wednesday so I’m sure next weeks pages will have lots of school things in them.

On Thursday, Krystal came home for a visit.  She arrived bright and early and talked me into going out for breakfast which was well worth it.  The view from the cafe window was outstanding and the eggs benedict was absolutely delicious!

Krystal wanted to go and visit her former work mates at Spotlight and then we spotted a gorgeous idea in a florist so I had to buy one just to work out how they did it.

Check out this super cute idea:

Basically they took a cupcake case… those heavy ones you have to assemble yourself… and then they added some oasis and moss before sticking in just a couple of flowers.  They had them with all different kinds of cupcake cases and flowers.  You have to spritz them with water every day to keep them fresh but they are super cute!

After we’d been in town we went home to get Toby and then we took him for a LONG walk through the Redwoods.  He absolutely loved it and it was lovely and cool under the trees.

After our walk we went down to Palmers Garden Centre because I’d heard that you can take your dog there.  Sure enough they are welcome so long as you clean up after them and keep them on a lead at all times.

Toby was on his absolute best behaviour and we decided to stay and have lunch while we were there.  The outdoor area where you can have your dogs with you is beautiful and I’m sure we’ll head back that way again :)

After lunch it was time for the ‘real reason’ Krystal came home for a visit!  After having her learners licence for over four years she’s finally decided that she actually wants to learn to drive.  She did some driving practice before we went out to the Redwoods and then after lunch she did some more.  All up she spent over two hours in the drivers seat and she’s making really good progress!

Of course tomorrow is Auckland Anniversary day so I’m planning on getting all those last minute things done (and getting my photos printed off!) before heading back to school on Tuesday.

I hope you all have a great week and I’ll catch up with you again soon xx

My canvas is finished :)

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s been a real journey of art, mistakes, learning and experiencing… but my canvas is actually finished!  I’ve often admired mixed media artwork… and I love the look of art journals… but I’ve never been able to recreate the ‘look’ and I just figured that it wasn’t really ‘my thing’… but I’ve totally changed my mind and I’m so pleased that I listened to that quote Mikayla showed me yesterday and just went for it!

I spent most of last night in front of the TV working on the next stage of the canvas… and Mum is going to have kittens when she sees it… but basically it was gesso time again!  I left it to dry overnight and this is what it looked like this morning:

I actually quite liked the ‘soft’ look of this with lots of white but it wasn’t what I was planning so the first thing I did this morning was get out the test pot of ‘Terrible Billy’ and paint around the sides of the canvas and slightly onto the top just to ‘frame’ it.

Then I needed to decide which sorts of inks and sprays I was going to use… and I got a really big surprise!  I have been a BIG fan of distress inks for a long time… but since this project was all about doing something different I decided that I wasn’t going to use them.

I do have a three glimmer mists that I thought would come in handy along with some chalkboard spray but the glimmer mist was a total let down… the colours were really washed out and didn’t want to stick to the gesso.

Then I remembered that I had my Adirondack colour wash sprays.  To be honest I haven’t used them in a LONG time… but I did have them in both full strength and half strength containers so I figured I’d try them… and guess what…they TOTALLY ROCK!   The colours stuck to the gesso beautifully and were rich and vibrant… plus they mixed well together without going horrible and ‘muddy’!

I started off with espresso around the edges and took a photo:

Then I added some butterscotch in a couple of places and took some more photos:

And then… I got totally into the flow and was enjoying myself so much that I forgot all about the camera until I got to this point:

I had baby wipes lifting up excess ink… both the half and full strength bottles going and the heat gun drying out colours in between!

After I took that photo I carried on for a bit more until I was completely happy with the canvas and this is what I ended up with:

I know it’s really hard to see the details in the full size photo so here’s a few close ups.

I really love the top edge of the canvas!  That vintage lace come up so well!  The cluster of clocks in the top right corner looks amazing in real life too.  When I got to the light bulb I decided to see if I could get the gesso off the light part and with a bit of gentle persuasion I managed it.  Since the light bulb was stuck directly to the white canvas the white kind of shines through the bulb which looks awesome.

One of my favourite parts of this section is the ‘brick wall’ with the cord… I’m really loving that lighter area because it looks so soft and pretty against the dark border to the left of it. 

My two favourite parts at the bottom would have to be the ‘2013’ which I used a baby wipe on once all the spraying was done.  I took it back to the gesso but left the edges intact so it looks quite grungy.  I also love the resin angel by the quote.  The ink has gone into the recessed parts and I used a baby wipe over the higher parts so it looks really antiqued!

Once I was finished I took a photo of the ink sprays to remind myself that these were the ones that worked the best.

I don’t often do this but I do have six of the colours available in the online shop so if you want to get some I can personally vouch for the amazing colours.  There are twelve colours in total and I used all of them on my canvas! 

The canvas is still drying… I’m guessing it will take most of the afternoon or even overnight but I am resisting the urge to ink any more because I know I’m pretty close to doing ‘too much’ to it!  But I can tell you that I am in a very happy place and I have the inky fingers to prove it!

So that’s it from me… I’m so pleased I gave mixed media a go and you can bet I’ll be doing more of it in the future!

I hope you’re all having a great Wednesday xx

An update on the canvas–LOTS of photos!

Hi everyone :)

Well my hands are a bit grubby… but it was oh so worth it!  After doing so much digital stuff lately it was a total ‘feel good’ to be in the craft room with tangible things to work with. 

I’ve painted… I’ve glued… I’ve arranged… I’ve changed my mind… and I’ve had an absolute blast!  I’ve also learned a couple of lessons along the way that I’ll share with you just in case you decide to try a canvas for yourself.

This morning Mum had a look at my blog and she was pleased to see a bit of colour appearing on the canvas.  I wouldn’t tell her what my next step was… but Mum you NEED to SIT DOWN for the next bit!

My first step this morning was to take my canvas from this:

To this:

Sorry Mum… but I did warn you!  Yes I painted the entire thing with white gesso.  Which brings me to my first ‘lesson’ of the day!

When I opened my gesso this morning it was THICK!  Really thick… whipped cream thick!  So… I added a little bit of water… and it looked better… so I added a little bit more water… and it looked better again… so I figured that just a little bit more water couldn’t hurt right??? WRONG!  Just so you know… if you add too much water then it won’t cover what you’re trying to cover!

I decided to whip down to Bunnings and buy another pot of gesso… and guess what… it’s thick!  Not as thick as mine started out this morning… but more like it was when I added the first little bit of water!

I decided to take a photo to remind myself to LEAVE THE WATER ALONE!  The top of the canvas was done with my watered down gesso and the bottom was done with my new gesso:

The photo is a bit crappy because of the lighting at the time but you get the picture.  Once I’d been over the entire canvas it looked pretty darn good.  Here’s a few more photos:

After I’d done the gesso I left the canvas to completely dry.  I’m loving this hot weather because it’s means that I can carry on with the canvas on the same day instead of having to leave it overnight.

By this afternoon I was ready to start ‘embellishing it’.  My first idea was to keep it relatively simple by adding a few things that mean a lot either to myself or the girls.

Here’s a few close up shots of the various sections":

And here’s the overall look:

It wasn’t quite grabbing me and I couldn’t figure out why not so I went back to my ‘idea folder’ and had another look at the projects that inspired this idea in the first place and straight away I knew what was wrong. 

It needed ‘something’… actually it needed a lot of ‘something’!  As I thought about it and wondered if I’d actually have the courage to do it Mikayla walked into the craft room to show me a ‘cool quote’… and it was the ‘push’ I needed to give it a go!

Here’s the quote:

I have gotten to that age where my brain has gone from 'you probably shouldn't do that'... to... 'what the hell, see what happens'

Well this is what happened:

Here’s some close up’s so you can see what I did:

Am I happy with it?  YOU BET I AM!

I’m certainly not finished yet but I’m not going to be adding any more embellishments!  Which brings me to my second lesson of the day… hot glue on metal embellishments is HOT!!  I’ve burnt several of my fingers today!

There is a real story to the embellishments that I have used though… I’m sure Mum and the girls will pick up on lots of them.

So tonight I’m going to sit in front of the TV and do the next step which I suspect is going to involve several hours… but I’ve got a vision in my head of how this is going to look so I’ve got to give it a try!

So that’s my day… and I’m in a very happy creative place right now :)

Happy Tuesday xx