Project Life: Week 23

Hi everyone :)

Gosh it’s been a topsy turvy week this week… but thankfully the ‘ups’ have outweighed the ‘downs’ and in spite of the rain I’m having an awesome day today :)

Here’s an overview of my week:

Since Monday was Queen’s Birthday I didn’t have to go to school so I spent ‘far too long’ playing around with Photoshop making the retreat flyer for Scrapbook Dreams October retreat.  I’m pretty stoked with how it turned out too!

I also got a new box of contact lenses delivered by courier so I started off my week quite well… and then we had some trouble at school.  One of my boys seems to be on a ‘self-destruct’ course of action at the moment.  I’m not going to lie… it’s HARD watching kids do things like that!  Unfortunately it all got way to big for me to handle and management took over which resulted in him, along with two other boys from my class, being stood down from school.  It’s not an action taken lightly but it was definitely necessary.

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

On the positive side, my kids have been producing some amazing work lately and we’ll have some great new wall displays going up this week!

On Thursday we had our final Thursday night class for winter.  It’s time for me to take a bit of time out to keep my batteries charged up.  We had a really fun night though and lots of ‘silly moments’ LOL

Friday was a full-on day at school… and it was definitely the best day of our week.  The kids and I were all a lot more relaxed after the turmoil earlier in the week and we had some ‘fun stuff’ planned.  We started off the day watching the movie to go with the book ‘The Mouse and the Motorcycle’… it’s a great story and the kids enjoyed the movie.

We got lots of art finished off as well as some reading activities that are going on one of our wall displays.  Then in the afternoon there were some kids who were finished everything so I said they could make chocolate chippie cookies.  Unfortunately two of the girls fought over holding the bowl and it ended up being smashed on the ground… which of course meant no cookies for anyone!  The girls did help by vacuuming the classroom though!

Here’s a close up of the second half of my week:

After the kids went home on Friday, Carey and I worked on our reading programme until 6pm by which time hunger was getting the better of us so we joined up with Carey’s husband and son for dinner at a local restaurant.  The steak looked like a good option and we actually all ended up ordering it!  We had some delicious chocolate desserts to finish off… totally a great start to the weekend.

I got a voucher from Spotlight in the mail this week so on Saturday I popped down for a bit of a browse and bought a few little ‘essentials’. 

I had planned on getting Toby’s new ‘man cave’ done this morning and then going into school to get some more work done but in spite of the fact that it was an ‘easy kitset’ shed it actually took a huge amount of time and effort.  But this is a major upside… he will actually go INSIDE his new outdoor home which means that over winter he doesn’t need to sit on the doorstep getting wet because he won’t use it!  The things I do for my boy!!

So that’s been my week… and it feels pretty good right now.  I’ve even got my last load of washing through the machine so now I can go up to the laundrette and get it all dry ready for the week ahead.

I hope you all have a great week and thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet xx

Something to share

Hi everyone :)

Back in April we had our Scrapbook Dreams mini retreat and one of the participants (Jacqueline) spent the weekend working on some very cool digital projects.

Afterwards she gathered in some of the photos and set about creating digital layouts celebrating the weekend.  On Sunday I got a lovely surprise in my ‘inbox’ when she sent me a copy of what she created and she very kindly let me share it on my blog… so here you go:

Thank you Jacqueline for letting me share your layouts… I might just have to print them off for my Project Life album :)

Have a great week everyone xx

Project Life: Week 17 and an insert

Hi everyone :)

It seems like months ago since last Monday and as I put together this weeks pages I couldn’t believe how much has happened and changed in such a short time.

Here’s an overview of the past week:

On Monday morning Mikayla, Toby and I woke up at Mum’s/Grandma’s house.  In fact, Toby got up with Grandma at 4.30am to have breakfast with her before she left for work (that boy never misses a chance for a free meal!)

Before we left Grandma’s house he wrote her a letter for when she came home… yes he really is quite clever at times!  Here’s what it said:

Dear Grandma

Thank you for letter me and Mumma and Mikayla come to stay for the night.  I did like getting up early with you this morning.  But I did need a little nap after you left.

Your phone has been going ‘ding’ ‘ding’ all the time and it did make me go crazy!

I did try to leave you a present on the lawn but Mumma did throw it away.  She said you would not like it.  But you WOULD like it eh Grandma!

Mumma did put Rusty outside and I did say “Ha” “Ha” because he did say “Ha” “Ha” to me through the window last night AND this morning!

Mumma and Mikayla decided not to have a shower at your house so that you didn’t have to wash the towels.  But Grandma, they does smell POO-TANG and they is going to be in the car with ME!!

I’ve got to go now cause they is ready!

I love you lots and lots Grandma and I’m glad I came over for your birthday.  You is glad I came too eh Grandma!

Love from Toby ‘lick’ ‘lick’

P.S. Mumma did use your internet but don’t tell her I told you ok!

Clearly my son has no sense of loyalty whatsoever since he was quite willing to tell on me about the internet!

On Monday afternoon Toby got a text from Grandma:

Thank you Toby so much for your lovely letter.  Your Mumma has taught you well.  I feel sorry for you in the car with no showers BUT I’m very pleased Mumma got rid of your present.  Don’t want to appear ungrateful.  Love you, Grandma

It’s amazing how much fun we have with Toby in the family! LOL

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

When we left Mum’s we went down to the Education Resource Centre and I bought some new borders and letters for my classroom.  Then we carried on back to Rotorua and ended up having a real ‘retail therapy’ day.

We went down to the recycling centre and after dropping off all our paper, cardboard and other things we stopped into the second hand store there where I managed to get a big box of Mason jars, jam jars and sauce bottles for the awesome price of just $10

Then we headed to another second hand store where I happened to spot a really pretty sugar bowl and milk jug set.  I’ve been thinking about organising a ‘high tea’ one day and I knew I wanted something really pretty but pink just isn’t really my thing so this set will be perfect.

Mikayla came with me to the chiropractors and took some photos for me and then we headed to The Warehouse where I scored a foot spa that I know will get a good workout and Mikayla picked up a really groovy chair for her room along with the 'In-Styler’ she has been coveting for a while.

Here’s a close up of the second part of my week:

Toby has been a bit ‘POO-TANG’ himself lately so Mikayla gave him a bath and he was very keen to get the towel off her.  Apparently it’s much more fun to shake himself off in the lounge because he gets more attention that way!

On Wednesday it really hit me that Matthew had passed away after a tragic accident.  They never teach you how to deal with something like that at teachers’ college and to be honest I feel like I’m floundering in the dark a bit.  I’m really pleased that I take so many photos in my classroom because I’ve got some really lovely photos of Matthew that I know his family will want to have.

On Thursday, Carey and I went around to the house to see Matthew and spend some time with his family.  We also spent a bit of time with Barb and her family.  Carey and I have both worked closely with Barb for a number of years (and in fact she works in my classroom this year).  For her to loose her grandson in such a tragic way has been unbelievable.

On Thursday and Friday Mikayla was an absolute legend helping me get organised for the Scrapbook Dreams retreat.  She cut felt and hessian, die cut tags, packaged classes and generally did a million jobs.  The best part of working with her is that we know each other so well that we barely had to talk about what needed doing… we just got on and did it.

On Friday night we borrowed the school trailer and took all the stands down to the hall and then started working on the displays.  We finally finished just after 1am and as we were walking towards the door Mikayla rattled the keys at me so I knew she had them.  I flicked off the lights, set the alarm and shut the hall door (which I’d pre-locked earlier in the evening).  Then I asked her for the keys…. and she said she’d put them on the counter by the alarm!!!  So there we were… 1am, dark outside, no keys and Toby was in the car.  Thankfully I had my phone on me and we rang the security company who very kindly came down and let us back into the hall!

And now for the inserts! Here’s the front of the insert (6 x 12 size)

I’ll have to pay Mum a ‘photographers fee’ soon since I used a few of her shots!  We had an awesome bunch of ladies at the retreat and there were so many wonderful layouts and projects to share with each other.

Here’s the back of the insert:

Usually we finish the retreats at 2pm and everyone says that they’d like to have more time so this time we planned on staying until 5pm.  The funny thing was that at 2.15 the only people left were Karen and Bridgette!  They decided to scrap for as long as possible which worked out great for us because it meant that we could pack up and take the stands home without having to lock the hall up!

It’s been a very full-on week but before I go I just want to share two layouts with you.

The first one is Karen’s layout from one of the classes.  She used the class kit as the basis for her layout and then changed lots of things on it and I think it looks amazing!

The second layout is the Challenge Pack winner created by Sheree!  Mikayla chose the winner since she didn’t know who had made each layout and this one really appealed to her:

I can totally see why it appealed too because it was absolutely stunning.  Congrats Sheree!

I hope you all have a great week xx

Project Life: Week 15 and a layout!

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s Sunday afternoon again… the weeks seem to be going by quicker and quicker lately.  This week I’ve been busy at school (nothing unusual about that)… busy with night classes (nothing unusual about that either)… but I’ve also been busy making jam!  Yes I made some plum jam yesterday and I’ve already tried it and it’s delicious LOL

Here’s an overview of my week:

My week actually didn’t get off to a great start.  On Tuesday morning I woke up to a ‘metallic’ smell and as soon as I turned on the light I got the shock of my life!  Toby had clawed at his throat and made his whole neck bleed… wasn’t quite as bad once he let me clean him up a bit but it definitely required an emergency trip to the vet.  It turned out that he’d gotten some sort of infection and he’s been on antibiotic and steroid tablets all week along with getting special cream rubbed into his neck three times a day. 

Toby hates taking tablets so I ‘hide’ them into a small piece of cheese and now he’s totally convinced that cheese it a necessary part of his diet.  I had to inform him that as soon as the tablets stop so does the cheese!

Last week my Tuesday night class ladies didn’t turn up and I wondered if they’d gotten their days mixed up… sure enough this week they arrived promptly for class so this week I’ve done two night classes.

Here’s a closer look at the beginning of my week:

We had a school band from Australia come to school this week and the girls from Ivanhoe Girls Grammar in Melbourne are extremely talented.  The girls all sing and most of them play at least two instruments.  They certainly kept our kids entertained!

I realised that I’d missed the start of the NZ Masterchef Master classes this week but thanks to TV on Demand I am now all caught up.  It’s not quite the same as watching it on the TV but it’s a whole lot better than missing out completely.

My class has also started making recycled paper from our old newsletters, activity sheets and other paper from the recycling bin.  We had a ‘ripping’ good time on Wednesday afternoon getting the paper prepared to be soaked overnight.  The kids said it was heaps of fun and some of them ‘imagined’ that the paper was someone they didn’t like as they were tearing it up.  I totally get what they mean about that one!

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

Earlier this week, Mikayla informed me that she had RESIGNED from her job at Pak’n’Save to ‘focus on her studies’.  Please, she only works one day and two evenings per week… and her classes are only four days a week!  I remembered what Nigel Latta had said about teenagers not being ‘right in the head’ and have come to the conclusion that he’s not completely wrong!  There’s not much I can do about it now because by the time I found out about it she’d already done it… I just hope that she knows what she’s doing.

On Friday we had a Teacher Only Day and it was FULL ON!  It’s actually the first time we’ve closed the school for a TOD in over three years but they made up for it by making us work extra hard for the whole day.  We’ve got another one in the school holidays in July and I’m pretty sure that will be just as busy.

On Saturday morning Carey (who teaches next door to me) and I went out for breakfast.  Last year we went out to Third Place for eggs benedict and had such a great breakfast that we went back again and it was just as good this time around.  Great food… great company and a gorgeous view out over the lake… what more could you ask for to get your weekend off to a great start?

And then there was the jam!  Lots of gorgeous pink plum jam and it’s totally delicious! 

I’m super proud of myself!  The last time I ‘tried’ to make jam Krystal was just a baby and it totally didn’t work at all and I wasted a huge amount of apricots!  This time though it was smooth sailing and lots of happy little jammy moments LOL

Now for something that I haven’t done for ages… I’ve actually got a ‘traditional’ layout to share with you.  This one is for a class I’m teaching at a retreat in two weeks time and I’m really pleased with how it all turned out!

The paper is from My Minds Eye and it’s really beautiful to work with.  I love the soft blues and greys and the flowers just added the perfect finishing touch:

I also added a very cool resin embellishment that I coloured to match in with the colours on the layout:

I’m really looking forward to the retreat and I’m hoping that the ladies are going to learn some good techniques during this class.

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

December Daily: Dec 8

Hi everyone :)

Well the Telecom Fairies have been and I’m now able to blog from home again.  At least now I’ll be able to catch up on everything again!

On Saturday we had our Scrapbook Dreams December crop and it was a lot of fun.  It’s always neat seeing what other scrappers are doing and getting ideas… plus it’s nice to have a laugh with friends!

Here’s my journaling about the day:

My friend Nina has joined in on the ‘Elf on a Shelf’ project and she’s found herself a gorgeous elf!  I had to include a photo that Nina took when she was getting ready to come to the crop.

Dougal came to the crop and Toby came down when it had cooled off a bit.  Last year Mum got a great photo of me and Toby (complete with him wearing a Santa hat) that I used for my Christmas cards and I thought that this year we could have a ‘family photo’ but I hadn’t counted on having any sibling rivalry! 

It turned out that Toby didn’t want to have a photo taken with Dougal in it.  In fact he didn’t want Dougal getting any ‘Auntie’ attention at all!  In spite of the fact that we gave it several goes it just didn’t happen but the photos we did get made for a pretty cool photo page:

So that was my Saturday… 12 hours scrapping!  It was a great way to spend the day :)

Take care xx

Project Life: Week 40 and the retreat!

Hi everyone :)

WOW!  What a week it’s been!  Most of the week was spent getting ready for the retreat and for the first time ever EVERYTHING was ready before everyone arrived… thanks to a really wonderful team of assistants :)

Here’s an overview of the week:

On Monday I got really inspired to create my mask for the retreat.  Over the course of the day I had my mask in varying states including a LOT of drying time but by Tuesday morning I had something that I was super pleased with.

Here’s a closer look at my mask:

On Tuesday night ‘Nana Chris’ came to visit and she bought Toby a new baby… a lovely white teddy bear.  While Chris was here Toby played ever so gently with his bear… he carried it around, licked it and was really gentle… BUT… within 5 MINUTES of Chris leaving the nose was off and stuffing was coming out of Teddy’s face!

Have a look at the photos and  you’ll see what I mean:

We kept cleaning up the stuffing but it kept coming… it’s quite surprising just how much stuffing goes into one small bear!

The last couple of days were spent packing up the shop and doing all those last minute things in between visits to the chiropractor… and my back is definitely improving!

Here’s a better view of the end of the week:

After being cooped up at home with me for three weeks Toby was almost beside himself with excitement when he went to Holden’s Bay on Friday morning.  He ran… he jumped… he played… and he even went in the water all by himself!  When Mikayla came back with loads of photos I wasn’t surprised… I think she takes after me like that!  Her only comment was “Toby’s got sand all over his bits”.  She comes out with the funniest things sometimes.

On Friday morning Loreen and Esther both arrived and we picked up the trailer and got everything loaded.  We were a super efficient team and everything went pretty smoothly.   A huge thanks to you both for all your hard work this weekend!

The final photo is of everyone dressed up with their masks on Saturday night… it was such a fantastic weekend and wonderful to catch up with everyone again!

You might think that after scrapbooking all weekend I wouldn’t have any creativity left but today I woke up with an idea in my head and here’s the results:

The paper is some that I had left over from another little project and the flower is a gorgeous Prima one that I found when I was tidying up… love it when that happens!  The mask is a resin piece that I painted with Glimmer Glaze.

Here’s a close up view:

And now for the insert!  On Saturday Mum came over and took loads of photos in between being busy with classes and she actually got a shot of everyone at the retreat so I made up mini photos so that everyone is on the insert.  I’ll probably have to start paying Mum and royalties she mentions soon LOL

I made sure to include all the classes too… the layouts from the classes were absolutely outstanding and I had such a good time listening to everyone’s comments.

Here’s the back of the insert:

Tina made a fantastic mask!  Absolutely outstanding effort so she received a stamp set.  Here’s a close up of her amazing mask:

The challenge pack was super popular this time!  The range of layouts made using the pack were so varied it was mind blowing and there was no way I could choose a winner so when Mikayla came to visit on Sunday I got her to choose and here’s Raewyn’s winning layout:

So it’s over… the retreat has been and gone and it’s VERY quiet around home today… I think I’ve gotten used to the conversations, laughs and general chatter of the weekend.

I hope you’ve all had a great week and I’ll catch up with you again on Wednesday xx

Log your Memory: Weeks 39 and 40

Hi everyone :)

This week I’ve got two prompt for my Log your Memory project and then I’m finally back up-to-date again!

Week 39

This is the last prompt in the “Life’s Challenges” section and quite frankly… thank goodness!  I’ve had a few to many challenges during September!

This time it’s all about that eternal thing we’re supposed to strive for… Balance!  Over the years I’ve heard people discussing the need for balance so much… and it seems in this day in age it’s something we all strive for… but personally I think balance can mean so many different things.  Take this for instance:

For me balance is all about being able to do the things I HAVE to do and still finding time to do some of the things I WANT to do.  When I have time for both I’m a happy girl… and when that balance is off and I’m working too hard I know I need to make some changes!

Here’s my layout for this prompt:

Since Toby has come into my life I feel a lot more balanced because basically you can’t reason or bargain with a puppy.  The need (and deserve) attention and they want it right NOW! 

When I spend time with Toby going for a walk it actually gives me a chance to talk about my problems and he’s a fantastic listener!  It also makes me take a few moments to breathe… to slow down without feeling guilty.

I especially notice that when I go for a walk with Toby after school it makes a clear cut break between the ‘have to’ and the ‘want to’ areas of my life.

Adopting Toby was one of the best things I’ve done in my life :)

Week 40

The month of October is all about shopping… when I saw that my heart sank because I’m really not a shopper.  The idea of going to try on clothes ‘just because’ is one of my worst nightmares.  I’ve got a friend who loves spending the whole day trying on different clothes… but she very rarely buys anything… what’s with that???

When I need new clothes for school I psych myself up for it a few days ahead of time and then I drive over to Merric (we don’t have one in Rotorua) and get all my clothes in one go!  It actually works for me pretty well.

Here’s my layout for this weeks prompt:

Buying groceries is certainly not something I look forward to but I’ve been patting myself on the back lately because I’ve got a good routine now.  I pick up Mikayla from work on Saturday and we do the groceries straight away.  It forces me to get into a routine and it’s actually working out really well.

Shopping for craft goodies though is a completely different story!  I can spend HOURS looking at paper, scrapping tools, embellishments and glitter. 

I love seeing new products and getting ideas for how I’d use them.  Going to SENZ is like letting a kid loose in a candy store… there’s so many goodies to see and new techniques to learn!  It’s my very own kind of ‘happy place’ :)

So that’s it from me… I’m off to work on all the ‘little things’ on my list that I need to do before the Scrapbook Dreams retreat starts on Friday… SUPER excited about that!

I’ll be back on Monday with my Project Life update so until then enjoy the rest of your week and have a wonderful weekend xxx

Project Life: Week 39

Hi everyone :)

I’m totally loving daylight savings today!  We’ve got great weather here in Rotorua today and the temperature has certainly improved… I guess all good things DO come to those who wait :)

Here’s an overview of my week:

I’ve just had a full week off work (thanks to ACC) and I’m making very slow but steady progress.  My world seems to have shrunk dramatically this week without school and getting out and about to keep me busy and entertained!

On Monday a friend called in and I was able to get them to do my vacuuming for me… somehow it is easier to be incapacitated in a tidy home LOL

Toby didn’t take too kindly to the tidying up though and as soon as it was done he got his toys out again… but then he tried to tidy up himself… have a look at the close up and you’ll see what I mean:

I’ve been working on projects in very small doses this week… on Monday I actually got my September ATC’s done and sent away… yippee!

Mikayla was good at keeping Toby occupied for me outside too… he loves playing the ‘scare me’ game and never ceases to have enough of it!

The Rotorua Young Achievers were in the paper this week too and it was so neat to see kids that I either know or have taught being selected.  They’re all in their last year of college and it seems just like yesterday that they were only at primary school.

Here’s the second half of my week:

I’ve been playing around with resin, molds/moulds and paint over the past few days.  Mostly I’ve been working on my swap pins for the Scrapbook Dreams retreat next weekend and they’re almost all done now!

I’ve also been working on some samples to show the ladies when they come and I’m hoping to get lots more done this week.

When Toby was a ‘little boy’ he used to curl up in our lap and have a sleep or a cuddle and this week he seems to have decided that he’s a ‘little boy’ again!  He’s been trying to get onto Mikayla’s lap most of the week and as you can see from the photo he doesn’t have much chance of that happening!

This time next weekend the scrap retreat will be all finished but at the moment there’s still loads of little details to take care of and things to do.  I’m so looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting the new people who haven’t been before!

Here’s my creative piece for the week:

Since daylight savings has started I decided to do a piece about ‘time’ using some of the resin clock faces I’ve been making.  I also used some Tim Holtz paper and spinners and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

So that’s been my week… I hope you’ve all had a good week and are having lovely weather too xx

p.s. Since it’s the retreat next weekend my Project Life won’t be up on the blog until Monday night.

Scrapbook Dreams sketch challenge

Hi everyone :)

This week we announced our mid month sketch challenge.  It’s a lovely sketch… just perfect for so many different photos!

Our Guest Designer this month is Janeen and she’s created a fabulous layout using the cutest photos:

Thanks for being our Guest Designer this month xx

If you’d like to take part in this challenge simply create a layout using the sketch for inspiration and upload it into our June gallery (or email me a photo and I’ll upload it for you)

Birthday Activity #3

This week we’ve got another birthday activity for you :)

This week we're going square with a twist! You need to create a square project... either a layout, card or something of your choice... but it must be square.

And here's the twist... we've got a colour theme for you:

Yes it's my own personal favourite: red, white, black and craft!

4 x 4 cards are really popular and if you've never tried them here's the perfect opportunity :)

Simply create your SQUARE project using our colour theme and upload it into the gallery.

p.s. we've had a few people ask about deadlines for these activities... you have all the time you need as we're going to give you an extra 4 days after the end of the month to upload your projects!

Happy crafting  everyone xx

Log your Memory and some tags :)

Hi everyone :)

I’m playing the ‘catch up’ game again this week with two layouts for Log your Memory.  June is the month of Transportation prompts and I don’t quite seem to have the ‘right’ photos so I’ve been doing a bit of hunting on the internet to help me out.

Week 23: Maps and Directions

One of the prompts this week asked if you needed maps or directions to get around town.  In general my answer would be no as I tend to go to the same places day after day.  However if you asked me to find my way to a specific place I’d need to check out the maps in the front of my local phone book.

Most days I’ll start off at home and go straight to work (bottom star to top star on the map).  It’s only a 5-6 minute drive which is very handy.  If I need something from the dairy there’s one on the way (middle star) plus there’s a handy butchery, chemist and produce store there as well.

I go the the public library around once a week, buy my groceries at Pak’n’Save and then if there’s anything else I need there’s  Central Mall which is home to The Warehouse, Take Note, Warehouse Stationery and Number One Shoes as well as loads of other shops.

As I said in my journaling, I’m a ‘creature of habit’… but it works for me :)

Week 24: Petrol Costs

Let’s face it… petrol has become quite expensive.  For some the costs are just getting too high and I know a few people who own bigger cars that have either sold them for something more economical to run or they now walk/bike more than they used to.

Krystal walks everywhere in Hamilton… she even finds it quicker (and cheaper) than using the buses in general… although she does love it when family goes over to visit and she can get rides to the supermarket to do a bigger grocery shop than normal LOL

For me, I’ve gotten over it.  If I want to go and visit Krystal or Mum I just tend to do it and then save money in other areas of my budget. 

Getting to and from work each day doesn’t drop my petrol tank by very much which means that I’m able to do trips to Tauranga or Hamilton when I want to.

The one thing that HAS changed is that I pay more attention to those little petrol vouchers you get at the supermarket.   In fact a couple of weeks ago Mikayla and I did a BIG grocery purchase and got a massive 30 cents per litre off petrol!!!  Now that’s got to be good!

So that’s my Log your Memory all updated again!

Now for something different… at Scrapbook Dreams we’re celebrating our 4th birthday and we’ve got ‘Birthday Activities’ you can participate in.  This weeks activity is to make a series of 4 themed tags using any theme you like.  You can see all the details HERE.

I decided to do my tags around the theme of London buses and here’s what I came up with:

I started by cutting black tags and ‘Admit One’ tags from the MME range.  Then I used some Tattered Angels Chalkboard glimmer mists (Chalk & Decadence) on the backgrounds.  You can’t see it but they’ve got a nice bit of sparkle on them. 

Next I stamped with some white paint to put the swirly designs on.  The subway art and bus photos are all from the internet and I cut and ripped them before adhering them. 

I actually printed each bus twice and cut just the bus out of the second print which is popped up with foam squares for a bit of dimension.

The creamy text ribbon is from Graphic 45 and the pearls are some I’ve had in my stash for ages.  I almost forgot about the lace… that was ‘borrowed’ from Mum’s stash… I’m sure she won’t have missed it LOL

Here’s a close up of each tag:

   

If you click on the photos they’ll come up bigger :)

So that’s all from me… I hope you have a wonderful week and I’ll see you back here later xx

Project Life: Week 23

Hi everyone :) 

Yes I missed posting my layout for Log your Memory this week.  I’ll do a double post on Wednesday to catch up.

Here’s a look at this week:

My week started off with a great uplifting email from the Brave Girls club… I so love their daily emails!  I also finished my latest book from Lesley Pearse… Gypsy.  GREAT story!

On Monday I went into town to pick up my new DVD player which I got from cashing in some of my Fly Buys points that were about to expire and while I was there I bought an electric blanket.  I’m loving it… Toby’s loving it and I can’t believe that I resisted getting one for so long!!!

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

I decided that for Arbor Day Room 4 would do some ‘4 seasons’ artwork.  So thankful that I have the silhouette to cut out all the blossoms… 405 in total!

The kids worked on one season at a time and by lunchtime we were almost done.  I’ve mounted all the artwork but forgot to get photos of it before I hung it all up so I’ll share the finished artwork with you next time.  They really look fantastic!

We had 3 metres of firewood arrive on Tuesday afternoon… just as the rain was about to start so Mikayla and I worked very hard while Toby ‘supervised’ us putting it all in the garage.  It was a full-on 35 minutes but we got there in the end!

Before you get excited and start thinking that I’ve found a new man… the photos are of my ‘brother’… he’s actually my ex-brother-in-law but we still think of ourselves as family.  He’s just moved to Australia and now we have to catch up via Facebook rather than via phone. 

Here’s the second half of my week:

Scrapbook Dreams celebrated it’s 4th birthday this week… quite a milestone for me!  It’s been hard work but I still really love it!

I’ve also been really inspired by photos I’ve found on Flickr so I decided to include them in this weeks pages.  The vintage roses and books are really ‘speaking’ to me at the moment so you may see them in some of my artwork soon.

On Friday nights I usually get takeaways on the way home as Mikayla works Friday nights and it’s a chance for me to have some time to myself.  This week I decided to make myself homemade hamburgers… very tasty indeed!  Toby and I curled up in front of the fire and watched some TV… such a great way to start the weekend.

On Saturday I received a lovely card from my friend Jane.   She’d made the card for one of the Scrapbook Dreams birthday activities and then sent it to me… it was such a lovely surprise :)  Thank you Jane xx

Here’s my piece of creativity for the week:

I’ve had this image for such a long time and used it when I made my grungeboard album.  This weekend I was looking for something on my computer and came across it again so I had to use it.  It’s hard to tell from the photo but it’s got quite a vintage feel to it… in spite of the bling!

So that’s been my week… and now I’ve got a project to work on while I watch a movie on the new DVD… the fire is going… Toby is curled up asleep and I’ve got chocolate… what more could a girl want???

Have a great week everyone xxx