Monday 12 November 2012

Christmas is coming




 

 Isn't the Internet a wonderful tool?  

While perusing PinInterest a few weeks ago I came across a photo that linked to Lisa's Craft Blog where she has a tutorial for puzzle piece ornaments

As I happen to own a 1,000 piece puzzle which I purchased specifically for a purpose such as this I began gluing and glittering until my heart was content - above are six of my creations.  I have yet to put ribbons on them but once they have been attached they will grace our Christmas tree this year.  

Sunday 11 November 2012

A Time of Change

The last three months have seen some fairly radical changes to our lives as a family so I must apologise for being missing in action so to speak.


Time to craft has been hard to come by but I have managed to snatch time occasionally to create.  Above is a paint chip decorated cover of a new journal and the first page of the same journal.

Radical I guess only just begins to describe the life less ordinary we are creating for ourselves. Earlier this year we moved back to the rental we vacated a year earlier to lower our living costs. Two months ago we made the decision to become a single income family and we have begun to shed the trappings which we'd begun to take for granted - things like cable tv,  a high speed internet connection, convenience food and national calling.

We've started doing simple things like baking our own bread, meal planning and cooking meals from scratch, op shopping, borrowing books/cds/dvds from the library and whenever possible walking. All things we did prior to becoming a double income family and we are all feeling the better for it.

Tuesday 21 August 2012

As promised


Project Life pockets filled with scrapbooking papers and other items I've been collecting, alas no photos yet but never fear they will be added through the reminder of the month!


Note quite as colourful as the first but this page is probably more complete
(but by no means finished yet as I want to add some journaling to it)


And finally some backgrounds I've cut out from an educational prospectus which I intend to scatter into other layouts as time goes by.  

I haven't used any of Becky Higgins cards as I've not yet found the funds to purchase a kit (and they're not yet on sale here in NZ) but the minute I do I'll post pictures of them!

Wednesday 8 August 2012

A New Project...

Surfing Pinterest I literally stumbled across Project Life - a really neat system by Becky Higgins which has had me intrigued and just a little bit excited. You see I haven't taken up scrapbooking simply because of a lack of time and resources but this system seems fantastic as it is made up of small cards which would be so much faster to put together. So tonight I ordered a mixture of 12 Photo Pocket Pages so that I can sample Project Life and see if its for me. Keep an eye out for my first finished page!


Sunday 8 July 2012

Decorated Diary - 28th June 2012


My youngest daughter put together these awesome flowers on this page


 

My Journal side on - packed full of decorations, photos, journaling etc....

Friday 6 July 2012

Being made to slow down


Over the past few weeks there has been an advertisement on the television blaring about having "no time for sick" showing an overworked sick mother racing around her kitchen, feeding her children and trying to get them out the door all in the effort to sell their product.  Not only is this advertisement loud but it grates horribly on the nerves, it has gotten me thinking though, and probably not in the way the advertising agency intended.

You see there have been plenty of times where I've thought 'uhh ohh - sore throat', 'nope cannot be', 'I cannot get sick', 'I do not have time to be sick'. Recent events however have made me examine these thought processes slightly.

Last week when I began to come down with the cold my daughter had had for almost a week I had to stop, take stock and practice what I have been preaching to her in previous days... i.e. you need to stop, take time to rest and look after yourself, and I'm pleased to say that that is what I've done. It hasn't been easy I have to admit, taking time off work, ignoring the housework, asking others to help when needed and pretty much having to live at a slower pace so that I can get well has been somewhat of a learning curve but in the long run it has paid off, the cold is slowly resolving and I haven't experienced the normal dreaded fibromyalgia flare which almost always accompanies a cold like this.

I don't think that the "no time for sick" company quite intended their potential consumer to react in this manner, sadly they won't be making any money from me any time in the future.

Do you slow down and take time to get through illnesses? Or do you power on as we're bombarded to believe we should?


Thursday 28 June 2012

Mini Vacation Ideas

In the interest of Living a Life Less Ordinary (and having recently experienced a weekend escape, coming back refreshed & relaxed) my DH & I have decided that every few months we're going to escape from the house and take a Mini Vacation together.

The list of places we'd like to visit so far:
Do you have any ideas for us? If so leave a comment and I'll add it to our list :0)

Updated 15/7/2012 to add The Lost Spring - Whitianga

Ruru Says... Never Drive


Wednesday 27 June 2012

Rotorua Photographs

 More photos from our weekend escape :0)

Close up shot of the Maori design on the Rotorua Information Centre

The scenic lookout on the Napier-Taupo Road

 Close up shot of the ironwork on the Band Routunda

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Monday 25 June 2012

Ruru Says....


Passing through the Bay of Plenty we spotted a series of signs that we just had to stop and photograph
We found the signs below explaining who this wise owl is and what he does:




I thought it might be fun to reveal a new sign each day over the coming 10 or so days rather than post all the photographs at once.  (Please don't get me wrong, each of the signs has a very important message for drivers - I just thought they were so well executed that I just had to share them with the world!) Look out for future posts entitled "Ruru Says..."

Sunday 24 June 2012

A weekend escape

That's right, we escaped the HB this weekend just been and enjoyed a trip up north where I indulged my fondness for photography as well my passion for soaking in hot pools!

Private mineral pool at our motel
The top storey of the
Rotorua Information Centre
Band Routunda

Sunday 17 June 2012

Attitude Of Gratitude Journal Pages




Above are three pages which have evolved over the past month (I often start a page and then leave it part way through coming back to it when I have time and inclination). Each of them is in my Attitude Of Gratitude (AOG) journal.

Tuesday 22 May 2012

New Journal - Yummy Goodness



This gorgeous journal came into my work amongst a bunch of books for clearance and I just couldn't help buying it (infact I managed to find three in the end so my daughters could have one each as well). 


The first page sums up what I intend to put in this journal which is now being carried around in my purse, I intend to use it as a gluebook for positive thoughts, inspiring pictures, quotes etc... 

The above page was made up from my copy of That's Life magazine, the photo caught my attention as I love photography and I thought the quote very apt as it would have taken incredible perseverance to catch something that cute.

Monday 21 May 2012

Bottle Top Fridge Magnets

My eldest daughter was kind enough sit down and craft with me on Mothers day and share her bottle top ingredients with which I had fun making the above three fridge magnets.



She made some herself too :0)

Sunday 20 May 2012

Birthdays - Cakes & Cupcakes

 Yumm sponge cake with fresh whipped cream and raspberries galore - this beauty was assembled by my youngest daughter for her older sister.

 Cup cakes & daughters sense of humour make for a good photos!

 And youngest daughters birthday cake - chocolate!

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Solar Cooking


Now that the hard work of moving, unpacking and organising is pretty much done I've found the bits and pieces that make up my solar cooker. Given that it's a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in sight here in the HB I decided to try my luck and see what sort of temperatures I could get - imagine my delight when the thermometer got a smidgen over 82 celsius, especially as we're in the middle of autumn!



Summer has been a bust this year so I'm going to pack the solar cooker away until next year when I will dust it off, refresh my memory by perusing http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Solar_cooking_frequently-asked_questionslook up some solar cooking recipes and get stuck in! This is exciting - especiallly now that I know the cooker is capable of attaining a decent temperature. I will also keep on looking for black cooking pots and/or dutch ovens for next summer!