2013 Book Club

This year I was invited by a friend to join a book club and I jumped at the chance. I haven't really put much effort into reading over the past few years ... and I've seen so many good books I want to read so I though this would be a great kickstart for me to read a variety of authors and get that 'bookworm' bug back ...

Also it has been a great way to meet a great group of local girls ... we have met approx once a month on a Friday night taking turns to host at our homes, with a few wines and a homemade dessert ... a great recipe for a fun night!

 

The books we have read are:

The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult
Six Years - Harlan Coben
Children of Liberty - Paullina Simons
The Help - Kathryn Sockett
The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

and our final one for the year is The End of Your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe ... which I'm yet to start reading. We're going to have a meal out for our last Book club 'meeting' of the year and then hopefully start again in the new year ... though there may be a few 'extras' at our meetings as 3 of the 7 girls are pregnant - no not me!!!!! ;)

Now I am looking for a variety of books to add to my summer reading list ... so what books do you recommend?

Washi tape to the rescue ...

... the trophy had already been broken and repaired when my daughter received it ... but it broke again ... so what's a scrapper to do but pull out the 'rescue' washi tape! And there you have it ... a netballer with very cool socks on! hahaha!

Might be best for me to increase my washi stash for any future emergencies ... ;)

On a side note I have been scrapping today with some lovely Kaiser goodies from Liz at Artfull Crafts ... so keep watch in the next few days for some of my creations ...

I have a little secret ...



... that I have been keeping for about a week now ... and now I can share it with you!

 

I am now an ...

 

Would have to admit I did do a happy dance or two when I received the email from Liz.

I am excited about the next 12 months, and I am sure working with such a talented bunch of ladies will be a giant boost to my crafty mojo!

Anyway, head on over to the Artfull Crafts blog and check out the official announcement, and also visit the Gallery to see some examples of their beautiful work.

Happy Sunday :)

Camera Love ...

... As well as being a scrapbooker I do also have a bit of a love for things camera related ... that may include the odd camera stamp (well maybe 6 or 7 hehehe). So when I saw the following Polariod on trademe for a really good buy now price I jumped on it ... and one day if I can buy the right film I'm going to try it out.

 

This next one a Brownie was a find at a local second hand/vintage shop ... it was closing down so had all stock at 50% off which was a bonus!

 

I find I am taking a lot more of my photos on my phone - it just so convenient as I take it everywhere with me. There are so many new apps appearing everyday that you can download to edit your photos on your phone. So here are a couple of photos that I have edited using different apps ...

 

'Hello Autumn' was edited in A Beautiful Mess an app by Elsie & Emma - Elsie was huge in the scrapbook world a few years ago, I have always loved her quirky style and this app is so fun. You can add doodles, borders and use different fonts ...

The next one was edited in the Rhonna Designs app - I have just a little play with this one but the borders and titles, banners and designs are very cool! (This is also a pic of my new toy - a Silhouette Cameo ... I am still trying to get learn to drive it but am happy with the little bit I have learned so far. And I know I have so much more yet to learn)

 

And after all that talk about cameras I thought I should show you a layout I completed a month or so ago ... I had this photo booth strip pics from my cousin's wedding ... 

 

So what are your favourite camera/photo apps?

Project Life style 2013 ...

In 2009 I completed a Project Life style album ... back then I think was called Project 365 ... this was a photo a day. I liked it, and kept focussed and completed the whole year, and it's now an album I love to look back on.

I had intentions of doing this type of album again in 2010 but things changed, our youngest started school, I was working more, then a change of jobs ... and I never got that album started properly.

 

Fast forward a couple of years, a rebranding of Project 365 as Project Life, alot of other scrap manufacturers bringing out PL style products which I loved and started collecting ... and I decided to give it a go again.

 

I am loving my album this year, however had made a few changes in the way I approach it from what I did previously. I include more than one photo for certain days, a double spread typical covers a whole week ... but there are exceptions to this when a special event can cover up to 4 pages.

 

I have taken a few pics to show you how I am putting this together ...

 

... with the page above I created the banner with scraps of patterned paper and stitched them to grid card

... a strip of patterned paper aded to the bottom of a grid card adds an extra bit of detail

... another banner created with scraps of patterned paper, and a die cut star

... I start each new month with the Simple Stories month cards and a calendar card which I add significant dates/events/happenings onto.

And just for the record I am almost up to date for this year ... I have the past 3 weeks worth of photos to print and include in my album ... this weekend's task I think ;)

WOW ... inspired ...

 

Hello peoples ...

I was lucky enough to head up to Timaru the weekend before last to Artfull Crafts for a weekend being inspired by the amazing Donna Downey. All I can say is ... 'wow' ... Donna is such a funny lady, and so inspiring and with a real passion for helping teach techniques and ideas.

 

I did 3 classes with her over the weekend, the first being '40 techniques for art journals' - this was alot of different uses of paints, inks, pan pastels, stencils, stamps, bubblewrap, gladwrap, tinfoil, cardboard tubes ... very cool and I now have a journal with all these techniques as a reference for future art journals. We had a preprinted sticker to add to each page as a reminder of how we got each effect. This class was 6 hours long, but it really whizzed by.



 

 

The next class on Saturday evening was a canvas class ... this used some of the techniques we learnt in the art journal class ... great to see how these worked together ... and here is the final product ... I personally love it!

 

And here I am with my finished canvas and the amazing Donna ...

On Sunday morning we completed a vintage album ... quite simple materials but they have an amazing effect when all combined ... this is an album I will be creating again soon!
The pages were corrugated card, with calico fabric, sacking material, a few tags, a frame, a bit of prima and there you have it ;)

Now that the weather has turned colder I am finding my creative mojo coming back ... maybe I'm just a winter scrapper? I sat down on Sunday for a couple of hours and completed the journalling on 2 layouts and then created and finished another 2 layouts. And now with a long weekend coming up I plan to get a few more created.

This weekend I am also endeavouring to clean out the cupboard in the spare room/craft room/office ... you know the type of cupboard ... the one the gets everything thrown in it - haha. I have a ton of old scrapbook stuff that I want to sort through ... Emma might end up with a  her art trolley ... and a box I will give to someone I know who is starting to scrapbook.

So what are you up to for the weekend?

A spot of sewing fun ...

.. as well as collecting pretty papers, I also have a small (ish) collections of gorgeous fabrics ... hehehe!

After getting some ideas from Pinterest and Etsy I decided to attempt to create some funky mini cushions ... and here is the proof of my efforts ...

 

 

I think my sewing machine seriously needs a bit of a tune-up (the tension is all over the place!) ... maybe it's been 'sewing' a bit too much paper in the past and not enough fabric!!

 

I have been enjoying a crisp autumn day here, but now the sun has slipped down behind the hills it's time to crank up that fire and snuggle in for the night .

Let's give this another go ...

... *wiping the dust away* ...

Yes I know it's been awhile since I was here, thanks for the reminder a few weeks ago Kim! ;) ... but I'm here in the background ... going round in circles sometimes ... the creative mojo is there somewhere (maybe under the dust - haha) ... but have decided to give myself a kick into action!

I am being a little crafty (sometimes) ... I'm putting together a Project Life album for 2013 ... not with any specific kit, just a mixture of papers, journalling cards and bits I already have. So many manufacturers have some cool papers out there at the moment that lend themselves to be used in this format. I am planning on catching up the last month over the weekend so will post some pics soon.

I have also done a little bit of the traditional 12x12 layouts, not as many as what I used to do a few years ago ... just find that I feel like I am too far behind if I try and scrap everything ... so now I just pick the special ocassions or my favourtite photos. I have a couple too that I might share over the weekend.

I have done a little sewing too - made some cool mini cushions ... however think my little machine might need a bit of a tune up and a service before I do too much more.

I am aiming to update this blog a bit more regularly (and don't you laugh Mrs F! I can hear you), I really think by posting on here I almost hold myself more accountable for getting things done ... finishing off projects that I start ... I think it might be the push I need!

So tomorrow (and the rest of the weekend) I plan to be crafty, to finish off a few projects, to get up to date on others and .... to get prepared for my encounter with a scrappy superstar next weekend ... will share more on that soon!

Night

Day 4 & 5

Apologies for the break in transmission ... just a small case of our annual school fair and a sick boy with tonsilitis ... but now with the fair over (with a fantastic profit) and antibiotics in hand for the tonsilitis ... I can now continue with photos of our trip which I know you have all been hanging out for ... hahaha! ;)

 

Day 4 - we woke to a wet day in Greymouth, a bit unfortunate as we had planned to visit Shantytown. We debated for a while but decided to go ahead with the plan ... don't really feel like it was worth full price on such a wet day but think the kids enjoyed themselves. They especially loved getting dressed up and having an old fashioned photo taken (I'll scan that in for the next update).

 

Finn outside the train station

The gold panning sign

 

 On the road again ... with our lunch stop at Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks. A bit windy on this exposed part of the coast - the kids laughed at my new hairdo after that walk - hair there and everywhere!
The stop for that night was Nelson.

Day 5 - as we were staying in Nelson for 2 nights, today we visited some of the sights round the Nelson area.

This is a beach I have visited before ... I loved it then and had the same feeling again today. This is Kaiteriteri .... the lovely golden/orangy coloured sand and the sun shining ... simply stunning.

The kids loved running into the water, skimming stones and exploring the rockpools ...

The perfect settings for a photo opportunity ...

With wet jeans and all ...

Just magical ...

Whenever he found a patch of water he was skimming stones ...

Could just about have been on a tropical island ...

 

So is everyone still awake? ;)

Day 3 ...

So after going to bed with clouds closing in round the mountains it was fantastic to wake up to this view in the morning ... perfect!

This is photo was taken from in front of our cottage .... simply stunning!

 And so began our trek up to the Franz Josef glacier ... about a 40 min walk up to the glacier through a mixture of bush and rocky river bed ... the kids loved the walk and did really well ...

A family portrait with the galcier to the right (using a rock as a makeshift tripod)

It looks small in this photo but to get some perspective I zoomed in and took the shot below

Can you see the large-ish dot near the middle of the photo? It's a helicopter droppping off tourists up on the glacier!

This is a shot of Emma and I standing in front of one of the many waterfalls in the valley.

 Another bush track about 10 min off the side of the glacier carpark takes you to the Peter's pool (thnk that was the name?) and this beautiful reflection pic.

I decided  wanted to go back to the Fox Glacier to see it in better weather. This pic was at the start of the track from the carpark up towards the glacier ... just a shallow pool of water but enought to give another stunning reflection.

And the face of the Fox Glacier ... and unfortunately the weather started getting stormy again, and after walking back out of the valley, 5 min after getting into the car it started raining again.

But not to worry as the rest of the day was spent travelling up to Greymouth where we were staying that night.

Another tour that night ... hubby's choice ... yes the Monteiths Brewery! The tour was ok, the factory is pretty small now with being bought by one of the bigger breweries. The tour included pouring our own lager afterwards ... I tried an Apricot wheat beer ... very yummy. You also got 3 vouchers to sample some more product over the bar and I found my new summer drink  Monteiths Pear Cider - so easy to drink ... almost too easy! They also do restaurant meals and we had tea there after our tour ... yummy whitebait patties ... and fantastic way to finish off the day.

Stay tuned for Day 4 ...

South Island tour Day 2 ...

Hubby and I both took a week off work to coincide with the school holidays. We had been trying decide where to go and what to do ... the answer we came up with was a trip round the South Island. Well to be honest I was voting for a trip to an island somewhere else ... think Raro or something similar ;) But it was our island, the South Island, that won in the end.

It is a trip we have been thinking about doing for awhile ... neither of us had ever been along the West Coast road, or visited the glaciers. And we believe it is a good idea for the kids to experience their own country, and now they are 7 and 9 years they are at a great age to remember a trip like this.

So ... 9 days ... 2,372km ... and 500 odd photos later :) I thought I'd share our holiday experience with you ...

Day One - was last Friday night when we travelled to Alexandra to stay at the in-laws place.

Day Two - on the road of our adventure, today we were travelling from Alexandra to Franz Josef Village.

 Lake Hawea

A bush walk to see the Blue Pools near the Haast Pass

A rugged beach just north of Haast

A trek up the valley to the face of the Fox Glacier but unfortunately a storm was brewing and rolled in just as we got close to the top of the valley

Amazing rock walls down the valley from the glacier

The view from the front porch of our cottage just north of Franz Josef, looking back towards the glacier valley as the storm rolls in

And a view from same position but out towards the coast as the setting light highlighted the rows of trees and hills behind

I had fun playing with my camera on our holiday (as you can see). Maybe not the best photos technically but they capture our memories of our holiday perfectly. I gave the kids my old camera and was interesting to see the photos they took when I downloaded them today ... had to giggle at the potrait photos they took of each other in the backseat on one day of travelling. I also took a few shots on my phone with the hipstamatic app which added a different dimension to some scenes.

So stay tuned for more highlights of our trip ...

Snapped ...

... hubby took this pic of me taking photos a couple of weekends ago ... me perched on a rock trying to get the perfect shot ... hehehe!

Sorry no blog posts in the last month, honestly don't know where the weeks are going, kids with sports finishing, prizegivings, school production, relocating our work office to bigger premises, Blossom Festival in Central and now school holidays ... whew!

Heading away for a few days on a bit of a road trip ... to show the kids some of the most beautiful parts of their own country ... have given them my old camera to take photos for themselves so will be interesting what they capture ...

Enjoy your weekend :)

Dear Lizzy

... *waving* Mrs Frizz ... see I am still here!

... and hold onto your seats ... I've been creating!

... LOVE this Dear Lizzy range ... gorgeous patterns and colours ... add a doily and some stitching ...

 ... had a spare 45 vinyl record ... from when I made invites to Emma's disco a couple of years ago ...

... winter sports over with now ... so a few more hours free now on a Saturday ...

... maybe some scrapping time? ...

Inspired ...

Ever find yourself checking a blog or website ... this leads you to another blog/site, which leads on to another ... and then you emerge hours later full of ideas and inspiration?
I often refer to the internet as a giant magazine ... some amazing inspiration just waiting to be discovered!

So lately I have been inspired by:

- street art in Melbourne

- this lady (and am so glad I found the translate button for her blog tonight ... whew now I can read her blog not just look at the beautiful projects)

- found this talented lady tonight

- loving these products (watch out for some projects coming real soon)

- could spend hours trawling this gallery

- signing up to my first online workshop

... now to just find a spare hour or two to create! ;)

I took a couple of days off work last week to enjoy the school holidays with the kids. I finally took them on a tour of CadburyWorld (third time lucky ... long story) and the kids we excited when Marty joined the tour half way through. Yes, I know it's sad that with hubby working at Cadbury for years this is the first time the kids have been on a proper factory tour. They have been to his office before but never through where all the manufacturing is done. Needless to say they loved it, and loved the big bag of chocolate bars they walked out with!
The kids and I then ventured to my parents for a couple of nights. Mum heped me with a day shopping for clothes for the kids ... it's only in the holidays when they aren't wearing uniforms for 2 weeks that you realise some of their clothes are getting smaller/shorter! So the kids are sorted for clothes for the next few months ... just wish they would stop growing so quickly!!

On a final note the other thing inspiring me at the mo are the little hipstamatic pics I am taking with the app on my phone ... love the photo edge, the slight change in colours ... they have a funky feel to them. I have a few I have printed off on an a4 sheet of photo paper sitting on my desk ready to scrap ...

... my fav from the other night was this one taken by Finn ... of the the 'girls' reading a story at bedtime ... yes the four legged girl had to be a part of story time too ;)

So what is inspiring you at the moment?