Project Life - January

I've been thinking a lot about Project Life lately... will I - won't I do it?  Do I want to?  Do I want to change how I do it?  Can I get enough photos each week?  Do I want to tell more 'story' about what is going on in our lives? Do I want to cut down to one page protector per week?  Digital vs hybrid?  You get the picture??

Anyway, as I was thinking, pondering and wondering about all these things... and as January was quickly going by... Cathy Zielske posted something to her blog that made me go... YES that's how I want to do this!  Here's a link to Cathy's POST.

I loved what she'd done for several reasons:

1.  I LOVE Cathy's use of white space, wide page margins and her signature 'clean' look
2. It was completely digital which makes it easier to share online because I don't have to try and take photographs of my finished pages in low level lighting in winter
3. Instead of having two heaving albums I will have one photo book
4. I can change the layout of each individual page without having to buy special page protectors and trying to match up the back and front sides of each page protector
5. I don't have to buy new albums (which I'm fast running out of room to store)
6. I don't have to buy more page protectors and inserts
7. I don't have to go and get photos printed off each week
8. I REALLY liked the monthly layout Cathy used

I already knew that I liked working with Cathy's templates because I've purchased several of them over the past few years and used them in other projects so, with all that in mind, I decided to go ahead and purchase a couple of the templates Cathy used for her Project Life book and give it a go... and here's what I've come up with for January:

 

I've decided to use my favourite black, white and red colour combo for my album but I'm also adding in a little bit of light and dark grey, limey green and dark turquoise as well just to add some visual interest.  Since Nivea was brand new to our family she features quite heavily in the photos :) 

Michael got busy making Nivea her own little dog kennel which she totally loves... although she still prefers to sneak up to the bedroom and get on our bed at every opportunity.  Michael also spent quite a  bit of time making our backyard 'Nivea proof'.  She's a great jumper and has proven that she can also dig holes!  At one stage she disappeared and we had no idea where she was until we spotted her coming back under the neighbours fence from the park.  Turns out she'd jumped the fence between us and the neighbour and then dug a hole under their fence and was quite happily playing in the park!  The fence has now risen to 1.8 metres and further unsupervised trips to the park have been stopped!

Krystal moved home in early January, complete with a portable cabin.  It fits perfectly on our patio and gives her... and us... some privacy while also being close enough to hang out together on a daily basis.  Michael managed to 'break' the washing line in half... it had three loads of washing on it at the time!  There wasn't a lot of point in repairing the old line as the whole pole had rusted so we headed down to Bunnings to get a replacement.  He got it all set up and concreted in place... and then it rained for three days so it was a little while before I could try it out but it works great!  Esther and Liam came to visit for a few days and Esther and I spent some time in the art studio... good fun and we enjoyed playing around with paint, stain, ink and stamps!

The herbs in our front garden were coming to an end so I decided to have a go at preserving some sage.  I made sage butter and sage oil and they both turned out great!  Nivea and Toby have discovered that when Michael leaves to go to work they can watch him from the bedroom window.  As soon as he goes out the front door they rush down to the bedroom, hop on the bed and watch him as he goes up the road... super funny!  I've been going to an osteopath for a few weeks now and it's made a HUGE difference!  You might not recognise Miss Mikayla... she's dyed her hair bright purple!  Actually I think it really suits her :)

Nivea inherited a pink piggy toy from Toby.  Mikayla gave it to him when she was up in October but he just didn't take any interest in it so when Nivea liked it he pretty much just let her have it.  Turns out she's as good at de-stuffing a toy as Toby used to be and we had 'piggy fluff' all over the lounge for days on end!  Mum and I had a little bit of photo fun when we took the dogs for a walk in the forest.  On January 17th a new phase in my life started... a signed up for boot camp!  It all started off with being weighed, measured and pinched... and the numbers were not in the least bit impressive!  I now attend boot camp on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and I'm LOVING it!  

Each evening we get put through our paces... and there's a LOT of us!  More than 400 people signed up for boot camp and there's people from all different walks of life... we're all on our own journey towards health and fitness and it's one of the best things I've done for myself in years!  No we didn't buy another car... the purple car is Miss Mikayla's new pride and joy... and it matches her hair!  I did get the opportunity to go up to Whangarei for a few days to visit Dad and Jan.  Miss Nivea thought she was going to come for a car trip too but she was sadly mistaken.  Dad, Jan and I spent lots of time just hanging out, catching up and chatting.  I even managed to go walking separately with both Dad and Jan which was great.  On the way home I was a bit heavy-footed and managed to get myself a speeding ticket which Michael has taken great joy over teasing me about!

I added some journaling to my album... nothing too heavy, more just a brief overview about what had happened during the month.  Little things to make it all more interesting.  I also figured out how to take a screenshot from my phone and upload it into my page... just a little bit of evidence about my steps, water and active minutes for my journey towards health and fitness.

For my final page for January I did a 'snapshots' page.  Some of the photos had already appeared in the previous pages (like my shoes, the berries and the blanket box)... and some of them are photos that didn't really fit but which I like for one reason or another... like the cool handwash bottle I bought in Whangarei... or the fact our herbs are growing so well... or the HUGE tomatoes Dad grows so one slice fits an entire piece of toast!  I also included a quote and a piece from my Move More Eat Well class.

I like that I can tell a bit of story but I can also let the photos do the talking.  I love that it was 'time manageable' to put my pages together. I also like that I can easily move things around if I want to.

At this stage, the idea is to complete 4-6 pages per month and then do a 'snapshots' page with some of my favourite photos.  

I've downloaded the personalised photo book app from Vistaprint to my desktop and as I complete my pages I'm simply putting them in the order they will go in the book... that way at the end of the  year all I'll have to do is wait for a good deal (they come up all the time) and order my book.  

One thing I've discovered with the Vistaprint app is that you can have more than one book being created at a time so I'm currently working on Mikayla's overdue 21st album as well.  

Thanks for visiting and any feedback would be greatly appreciated xx

Creativity is alive and well!

Hi there :)

My friend Esther has come to stay for a few days and we're having some creative time in the art studio.  We'd both seen Tim Holtz blog post about the Technique Remix tags for 2016 and decided that we'd like to give them a go.  Here's Tim's remix tag for January:

I'll show you the back of the tag I made first since it shows the two techniques Tim put together for this tag - Industrious Metal and Chalkboard:

I've done the Industrious Metal technique before and loved it but I've never actually tried the chalkboard technique.  Here's how my tag came out:

I'm still not 100% sold on the chalkboard effect... I tried several different stamps but this was the one I liked the most.  I've actually got some blueprint stamps on order so when they arrive I'll give this technique another go.

Meanwhile I decided that I'd make a tag book for 2016 showing all the various tags, so I made a mini tag for January:

On the back of the tag I did a little journaling about the techniques:

Esther decided that she didn't like the chalkboard technique so she used white embossing powder for her stamped image and then added chalk over the top:

It's actually very eye catching and effective!  I might just have to give that a go myself.

By the time we'd finished our tags we wanted to use a bit of colour so we moved onto another project... I can't show you the finished tags yet but you can have a look at the backgrounds I made on these MINI tags!

I used lots of distress paint, distress ink and stamping... and my fingers got very inky!!

I'm looking forward to seeing what other techniques Tim is going to combine during 2016 :)

December Daily: Dec 9

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s official… Dougal has a BIG crush on Auntie Chris!  Today he came to school with me… in fact, he was trying to wake me up before the 6am alarm went off so we could get ready! 

All through the day he’s been finding excuses to go and visit her classroom… aka making a pest of himself!  The funny part is that he’s so cute about it all so it’s hard to growl really.

The day was pretty full on with end of year school stuff including a practice for our Year 6 Leaving Ceremony which is happening on Thursday night. 

At the end of the day I had some things that needed photocopying and Dougal offered to come with me (hoping to see Chris I suspect).  I’d finished the first lot of copying and turned my back for just a few minutes and when I turned around I got a HUGE shock:

I turns out that Dougal thought he could give Auntie Chris a ‘smile’ to take home with her… silly boy should have given her a photo instead!

This morning I actually did a tiny bit of work on another one of my Creative Chemistry tags.  This one involved covering die cut grungeboard pieces with Distress Crackle (Clear Rock Candy).  I’m never patient enough to let the stuff dry on it’s own… in fact I’ve ruined many projects over the years putting my fingers into crackle medium and Dimensional Magic to see if it’s dry!  This time I figured that if I got it all done before school it would be completely dry and ready for the next step when I got home.

I hooked up the video to the TV and watched Tim apply Distress Paint, Ink and Stain to his pieces and really liked the effect.  Since it’s pretty close to Christmas I used that as a theme for my tag and I’m super happy with the results.  I especially like the paint and stain together… very effective!

Here’s a better look at my tag… just because I’m super happy with it:

So there you have it… another day… another tag… and another stunt from Dougal!

Catch you all tomorrow xx

December Daily: Dec 8

Hello again!

I’m back again LOL  This time I’ve got another update for the December Daily project. 

I’ve been having such a good time today.  I started off making lots more stars and I’m really thrilled with how they’ve turned out.  I ‘might’ make some more yet but I’ll have to wait and see.

After a while I wanted to try something new… there’s something quite exciting about learning new techniques and seeing how else you might use them in the future. 

I hooked up my laptop to the TV using the HDMI cable and then clicked onto a couple of the videos.  I don’t know how I got by before because now it’s like having Tim right beside me showing me how to do each technique.  The bigger screen means I see WAY MORE detail and the sound is crystal clear!

So far I’ve done the Industrial Metal technique which is pretty similar to how I did my stars except that you use paint instead of alcohol inks.  It gave me a comfortable place to start.

Then I had a go at the Eroded Metal technique.  My first attempt didn’t really work but I figured out why so I gave it another go and I’m pretty thrilled with how the second tag turned out!  I think it would be a good technique for the background of an art journal page… I’m processing that idea so I’ll have to see what I come up with.

I didn’t actually look at the time while I was working on my tags but when I checked it was definitely time to get going to Deidre’s afternoon tea party.  Deidre is ‘Mum’ to Auntie Chris so she’s practically family LOL

I thought Dougal might enjoy going to a party and he certainly did.  He managed to get around everyone for some cuddles and chats.  They heard all about his travels overseas and his love of glitter.  In fact at one stage I almost had to ‘pat him down’ when he saw some sparkly jewelry on one of the guests!

When Dougal spotted the pavlova there was no way he was going to miss out… in fact he got the very first slice!  He also managed to get a good sampling of the ambrosia thanks to Auntie Chris!

By the time we left he’d made several new friends and was feeling quite pleased with himself.  On the way home he talked about everything he’d seen… everything he’d tasted… and everyone he’d met… but mostly he talked about Auntie Chris!

Looking back on it, he did spend a LOT of time sitting right beside her and just staring at her… I think he may have a wee crush on her!  I’ll have to wait and see if he tries to come to school with me this week since he knows that Auntie Chris works with me LOL

So that’s been our day… and it’s been a good one!

Project Life: Week 49

Hi everyone :)

This has been the best weekend I’ve had in a long time… mostly because I’ve been able to get my fingers inky and have a bit of fun learning new techniques!  I’m having a blast!!

Here’s an overview of this week:

This week I’ve made a start on packing up my classroom… and when I say a start I mean a start!  Initially I thought I didn’t have that much of my own stuff in my classroom but a closer inspection tells me that I’ve got quite a bit there!

One thing I’ve been really conscious of since Mikayla has left home is taking good care of myself.  I’ll admit that some nights I just don’t feel like cooking and a toasted sandwich is fine… but earlier this week I really felt like having some steak.  I did ‘cheat’ a little though and bought myself some salads from the deli to go with it!

I’m so pleased I was able to get home early the other day and get Toby all sorted out with his annual check up, vaccinations and ‘pedicure’ before Christmas.  Now I don’t have to worry about his medical stuff for another year!

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

Cornwall Park School came to give us a concert this week and these kids are really talented.  I was very impressed with the Year 4 boy who effortlessly played a piece of piano music that I never got right when I was learning… he was amazing!

While I was in town the other day I popped into Dick Smith and picked up an HDMI cable.  Basically it hooks my computer up to the screen of my TV and now I can watch all my Tim Holtz videos for the Creative Chemistry classes on the big screen.  It’s so cool and the sound is fantastic as well!

On Friday I finally got myself organised and went to get lots of photos printed.  I had three weeks worth of Project Life along with several weeks worth of Feel Good Friday photos to print and now my albums are all up to date again.  It’s hard to believe that the year is almost at an end!

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

My poor fridge is really on the way out!  The ‘iceberg’ at the back of the fridge is growing daily and all my condiments are getting encased in ice.  I’m definitely going to be going to have a look at all the whiteware specials I’ve been seeing on TV lately!

As you know, I’ve been making stars.  I was so happy with the ones I made yesterday that I got busy this morning and now I have three large stars and FOURTEEN small ones!  I’ve branched out and used some other alcohol ink colours too… but those ones are for the tree.  My ‘Vintage Christmas’ theme is really coming together now.

After making all my stars I was ready to tackle something different and although I was thinking about doing my art journal page for the One Little Word project I actually ended up making a couple of technique tags from the Creative Chemistry 102 class.  So far I’ve done the Industrial Metal  and Eroded Metal tags.  I really like the techniques and I’m pretty sure I’ll use them again.

This afternoon I took Dougal with me to an afternoon tea party and we had a wonderful time.  As soon as Dougal saw the pavlova he got excited… he’s got a really sweet tooth!  As for me… I enjoyed some of the wee savouries… really delicious!

So that’s been my week!  Thanks for stopping by xx

Project Life: Week 44 and an insert

Hi everyone :)

Well it’s been an eventful week in our household with lots of things happening.  I also had a great day yesterday doing something I haven’t done in years… but I’ll show you that soon. 

I’ve been having some problems with the photos on my blog… they’re coming through really pixilated and going in all different sizes even though I’m using the same settings as normal so I’m going to try something a bit different this week.  In the meantime here’s an overview of my week:

I’ve had a bit of feedback from my Feel Good Friday this week and it seems everyone likes the otter lounging on his back in the water so I decided to use his photo for this weeks’ date card:

Last Sunday night my youngest sister came over for a visit without her children and we ended up having an impromptu dinner party since Holly had arrived to take Krystal home.  Thankfully I’d made lots of Tandoori Chicken and had it marinating in the fridge since Saturday.

And what’s a dinner party without dessert??  Holly and Krystal got busy and made walnut brownie which we had with Pavlova, cream, strawberries and passionfruit.  It was a great end to the evening.

Of course Monday was Labour Weekend here in New Zealand which meant that I got to get lots of those ‘little’ jobs done… the ones that seem to have been on the ‘to do’ list forever!

I seem to have bought a few things lately and one of my purchases finally arrived with the Home Care lady.  I’m super pleased with my new Santa table runner and I know it’s going to look great on the table at Christmas time.

On Monday while I was at the Warehouse I spotted the ‘Clever Sharp’ from those really annoying ads on TV.  It turns out that it really does do everything they say it can do and now all my knives are like new again!

I also made a quick trip to the local Indian Spice shop and found some really good spice mixes.  I was super thrilled to find a more ‘authentic’ Green Thai Curry paste and I’m looking forward to trying it out.

Meanwhile, Mikayla loaned me her copy of the Hunger Games.  I’d heard quite a bit about it and to be honest I didn’t think it was my kind of story… but in the end I read the whole thing in just a couple of days.  The book is FANTASTIC!!  Really good writing and a nerve tingling plot.  Mikayla also owns the DVD version which I’ve now watched and quite frankly… what a disappointment!  I’d score the movie 2/10 and that’s being generous!

This week we’ve been down at the Aquatic Centre every day for the kids to complete their swimming programme and they’ve done so well.  They’re all much more water confident and most of the kids actually completed the required 200m swim to pass their assessment!

Chris (one of the teachers I work with) gave me some good pointers on how to get the rest of my wall paper off the toilet and it worked brilliantly.  Actually it probably worked a little too well because I got so excited that I ended up removing all the wall paper from the bathroom as well… it really did need to be done!  Now I’ve got to get it all prepped and ready to be painted.

Every three years teachers have to renew their Practicing Certificates which is fine… but it certainly takes a long time and it also costs us.  Mine took 6 weeks for the paper work to go through and a whopping $270!  At least I know I can carry on teaching for another three years!

While I was in town on Monday I bought a new duvet cover to replace the one that His Royal Highness decided was good to eat!  I was just about to throw the old duvet cover out when I suddenly had an idea.  I put Toby’s duvet inside the old cover and put it back on his bed… and it’s worked!!  Toby has actually stopped sneaking up onto my bed during the night and we’ve had five nights in a row with him sleeping on his own bed quite happily.  Life is Good :)

The courier man arrived on Saturday morning with a small order I did in America.  There were a couple of things I needed for the Creative Chemistry 102 class that I couldn’t source here in New Zealand so I used the class coupon and grabbed myself a discount.  Actually I got a couple of things that I didn’t need for the course as well but that’s beside the point LOL

This morning Carey and I got together for a weekend meeting… nothing heavy… but we figured we might as well go out for breakfast and talk while we were there.  Capers do a fab Eggs Benedict and we both left feeling very happy :)

While I was trawling around the internet I came across this gorgeous photo board on Pinterest and I’m looking forward to using this idea for a project I’ve got in mind.

And now for the insert!   Yesterday Mum was having one of those ‘can’t get out of your own way’ days… I know exactly what she means… anyway she’d had a look in the paper and found out the races were on so she invited me over to have a look.  Here’s how the insert turned out:

Before we went to the races we popped into town for a quick look around and I found this cool carved ball with the quote “Love is patient, Love is kind” and absolutely knew I had to bring it home with me!

Then we were off to the races!  It was actually a LOT of fun!  I had a bet on the first race we were there for… just a little bet!  Turns out it was beginners luck because I didn’t get anything after that!!  But the horses I picked came in second and third so I was pretty chuffed!

We arrived just as a race was starting and the Marshall’s were all dressed in Santa outfits… Christmas is starting earlier and earlier every year!

I was lucky enough to have my camera on sports mode and managed to get a good photo of the horses at the start of their race.

When we arrived there was nobody there to take out $5 entry fee so we just followed where other people seemed to be going.  Turns out we ended up in the Members Grandstand but nobody told us to get out so we just stayed there.  We had perfect seats right in front of the finish line and when the horses were parading before each race we had a fantastic view!

On the second to last race Mum decided to bet on her ‘favourite’ horse Number 15.  When I checked out his stats he wasn’t expected to do very well but Mum insisted that was the horse she wanted.  I’m wishing I listened to her now because ‘Sacred Star’ won the race!

All up we had a fantastic afternoon at the races… we saw lots of interesting fashions… quite a few ‘fascinators’… got very caught up in the cheering as each race ended and even managed to find the ice cream man during the afternoon.  Plus the weather was absolutely stunning!

After we’d been at the races we headed down to The Warehouse because Mum had seen a TV she wanted with built in Freeview.  It was quite a good price because it already had $100 knocked off it but as she went to get the TV I noticed the second one had clearance stickers attached to it.  She ended up saving a whopping $140 off a TV that originally cost $299… talk about lucky… or maybe it was just good timing!

We actually took this photo after dinner 

Whether it was luck or good timing Mum decided to shout us takeaways for dinner so we grabbed some Chinese from her favourite restaurant and we headed to a local park for dinner.  It was the perfect setting to eat and over the years we’ve had lots of good times there.

I did mention to her that ‘good things come in threes’ so we stopped off to get her a LOTTO ticket on the way home.  I haven’t checked with her yet to see if she’s won anything but maybe she’s already booking herself an overseas holiday LOL

So that’s been my week… and it’s been a good one!Hopefully you’ve been able to see the photos (and writing on them) a bit clearer this week. 

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead xx

Project Life: Week 21 and a MAJOR event!

Hi everyone :)

I’m a couple of days late with this blog update but it ended up in the ‘I’m just too tired to do it’ basket!  I’ve had a hugely eventful weekend at Creative Escape Downunder and it was totally awesome!  Of course I will show you all the project… but not today… and I’ve got an insert as well… but not today LOL

Here’s an overview of last week:

I’m a big fan of Masterchef Masterclass and I like to pretend I’m right there with the contestants… I’m sure I’m not the only one… although the little voice in my head says I might be one of the few to admit it!

Last weekend Josh showed everyone how to make a very decadent and grown up bread and butter pudding and I decided to give it a go.  I did make a couple of changes like adding cranberries instead of raisins and changing the alcohol to white chocolate syrup but the final pudding was pretty delicious!

We’re right into the whole cooking thing at school now too and on Monday we made hokey pokey in class which the kids thought was pretty awesome!

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

I finally got all my preparations done for my big weekend.  I ended up making 18 swap pins which I was pretty pleased with and then I decided to make some large tags to label all my stuff.  I totally love how they turned out… and then I got a bit carried away because I had just a little more paper scraps so I made two smaller tags as well.  I have now used all the Graphic 45 paper that I had for this project but still loving the collection!

I also realised that my old jeans just weren’t going to stand up to another wash so it was time to get a new pair.  While I was trying them on I spotted some cool socks so I got them too because Mr Toby has a tendency to ‘borrow’ aka STEAL socks!!

On Thursday morning I got the car all packed and ready to go and to be honest I was pretty impressed with myself.  I also had a list of what I needed to take and managed to have everything on the list labelled and packed and just for once I didn’t forget anything!

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

Since it was raining on Thursday afternoon we couldn’t do our senior school sports so the kids and I opened up the gingerbeer we made the week before and they LOVED it!  They actually drank every last drop of the 5 bottles we made.  It was super fizzy and had a great flavour too :)

I did a quick trip to see my chiropractor on Thursday since I’d woken up with a ‘kink’ in my neck and then I was off to Auckland for three days of creativity!

I’m not going to put too many details here because I’ve got an insert with photos to share later on in the week but I will say it was absolutely fantastic!

Mum came with me and we met up at the hotel.  Registration closed at 7pm and she knew I wouldn’t get there before then so she registered me and the goodie bag was pretty cool… lots of neat things to use over the weekend and beyond.

Our first class was with Donna Downey and she is hilarious!  We laughed all through the class which lasted from 9am until afternoon tea.  She also gave my Mum a nickname which ended up sticking for the whole weekend… I’ll tell you more about that with the insert.

We did two classes each with Teresa Collins and Heidi Swapp and these women are both hugely inspiring story tellers as well as being humble and generous women. 

It was a huge event and one that I’m so pleased to have taken part in… and I honestly do promise to share lots of photos and details with you later in the week.

And now for a MAJOR event… I’m such a proud Mumma today… and to be honest I’m also a little bit teary about it… but today my ‘big girl’ is 21!

I don’t know where the years have gone… I still have such vivid memories of the day she was born but 21 years have flown by and now my precious newborn baby is a woman in her own right.

Happy 21st birthday Krystal… you are beautiful on the inside as well as the outside, super talented, kind, generous and totally unique.  I’m so proud to be your Mum and I love you very much xx

So before I need another pack of tissues I’ll wish you all a great week xx