Friday, September 29, 2017

I knew there was something I had to do today

I was lying on the lounge, in my pyjamas, thinking that there was a lot that I needed to do that day.  I only found it mildly disturbing that I couldn't remember any of the things I needed to do.
"I should get off the lounge and get dressed" I was saying to myself when I heard a knock at the door.
I dragged myself off the lounge and staggered to the door as I tried to work out who could be rudely knocking on my door at 9:30am.  The light from outside almost blinded me as the face of my grooming lady also came into view.  It took me a moment to realise who she was.  Gasping, I said, "oh no! I completely forgot you were coming."

I called to Shelly and walked outside to try and find her.  She looked at me quizzically and stalked back into the house.  When she saw my groomer, she started to bolt.  Shelly did a few laps around the house, ducking behind armchairs and diving under tables, all the while chased by me, in my pyjamas. She finally settled in under a wardrobe in our garage, that was surrounded by several large boxes of sheet music and electrical items.  There was no way I was getting to her.  Defeated, I left her alone and rescheduled.

An hour and a half later, I emailed my sister to tell her this story and ended it with ...
Shelly is still under the wardrobe and I am still in my PJ's.

My sister replied with a laughing emoji and "You just made my day."

I hope I just made yours too.



Friday, September 22, 2017

Goal Update

Let's see how I'm going with my goals for this year.

This Year, 2017, I will…

Quit… eating because I’m bored, sad, angry, frustrated or confused.

It's holidays again!  Woo hoo!  I'm doing very well!  :)

Eat…   three balanced meals and two snacks at least 6 days a week. 

I'm doing okay with this one.  It was hard to make good choices and keep track of balanced meals when I got the flu.  It took a little while to get it together after that too.  I'm doing okay. 

Start… exercising for 30 minutes, at least 4 times a week.

I've been doing more incidental exercise and now that I'm on holidays, again, I have started a new walking routine.  Ask me next month!

Visit… family and/or friends once a month.

Totally on track!! Woo Hoo.  Thankfully, the family have been making an effort too.  That helps.  :) 

Accept… that I cannot fix everything. 

Gigantic Tick for me!! Insert Happy Dance!

See…    Melbourne in real life/ Capital Cities.

I know it isn't technically a capital, but my Mum and I are planning a weekend on the Gold Coast in October.  We are going to Sydney to see family at the end of this month and I am planning some fun while we are there.  I am looking at Melbourne and Hobart for next year.  

Learn… at least 12 scripture passages by heart. 

Let's See: Scripture Verses learned so far
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Psalm 23
Psalm 32:7
Colossians 1:11

Psalm 32:8

Philippians 4:19

John 3:30

Working on more...

Therefore, I'm on track! Loving my memorisation app!

Give… to Christian Missions overseas and in Australia (12 times or once a month).

I have been continuing with my regular sponsorship of a day care centre overseas.  I am saving some money to send to an orphanage in Cambodia where my cousin is the director. 

Be…   Quiet

Doing okay.  Need to do more.  Trying to keep my words to a minimum.  Is it working? 

Grow… spiritually by reading my Bible 5-7 times a week and attending church at least 3 times each month.

Being sick and Mum's glittering social life has prevented me from as much church attendance as I wanted.  It took a little more than 12 weeks for me to finish the Everyday with Jesus writing plan I told you about last time.  I purchased a one year devotional called Women of the Bible and I was going to move on to that.  Instead, I decided to leave that until January.  I am sticking with the Everyday with Jesus devotional.  The plan I'm following now is an in depth study of Colossians.  I'm finding it helpful.  I have learned so much through working on this goal.  

Invest… in reaching these goals.

Obviously I'm doing this.. I have realised that some of the goals on this list will be a continuous struggle for me.  These goals are helping me to make better choices and form good habits.  That's good.  I already knew it, but I need to remember, that some goals will require a conscious effort forever.  

Stick with it! 


Friday, September 15, 2017

More Cards and New techniques

I've been experimenting!

I need some more practice....

So, this wasn't really a new technique.  It's just another card I made.  
That baker's twine is such a pain! 

I tried this technique using my small square and small circle punches and it worked okay.
I tried out some shadow stamping using my Stamp Master after watching a 
Catherine Pooler video that you can watch here.  I am loving this
shadow stamping technique and I will definitely be using it more! 
I need heaps more practice on this one!! 
I created this card after watching this Catherine Pooler
video where she created a background using a sentiment stamp.  

That's that for today! :)

Friday, September 8, 2017

August Card Collection

I have been making LOTS of cards.

There was a Fathers' Day Stall at a friend's church activity, so I contributed some cards for that.  I had lots of fun making these mini cards.  Although, I would have preferred to have some pre-cut mini cards on hand.  I found some at the local bargain store AFTER I had finished all these cards.  Talk about kicking myself. Check these out.
Excuse my finger... inspired by this pin and a tutorial for partial embossing here

Inspired by this

If you are a regular around here, you will know
that I love this basic card layout and technique.  
It works for any occasion and this one was no exception! 

 Now for the birthdays.  I'm trying to get ahead of the curve again so there are a quite a few of these.
This was just a simple layering card. 
I used my new rough squares die set. :) 
I made this one for my grandmother. 

I had fun making this card.  Inspired by this pin


More layering with my rounded rectangle die set and my Happy Birthday die. 
I had heaps of these textured papers from the Go Wild Decorative Papers from Kaiser Craft.
So, I decided to use them.  


I recreated one of  Catherine Pooler's KISS cards
As Catherine suggests, I used the stamps I had on hand,
as I didn't have the stamps she used. 


I whipped up this card in under half an hour! 
Some washi tape, and a new Happy Birthday stamp 
added to some decorative paper I had left over
from another card went together nicely. 
I'm really proud of it! 
Last one for now... a Fathers' Day Card for my grandfather.  He loves fishing and passed on that love to my Dad and uncles.  Many memories were forged on the end of a pier or in a boat with a fishing line in our hands.
My aunty sent me a bunch of stickers and die cuts when I asked for anything
I could use for a fishing themed card for Fathers' Day. 
There are more that I have added to my stash now.  

Next Week: more cards that I made recently, including some new techniques I tried out - with mixed levels of success!


Saturday, September 2, 2017

Fathers' Day Gift and Card DIY

A few weeks ago Mum received a message from an old family friend.  Why was this significant? The message was a reminder about a question the friend had asked several weeks before.  She asked Mum if we could go to a kids group and 'do' the Fathers' Day craft with the kids.  Mum had forgotten to tell me.  So, we had exactly a week to find a craft, make one, buy materials and put together craft packs so the kids would have all their supplies ready to go.  We also needed to choose a card and do the same thing with that.  Thankfully there were less than 10 kids in the group.

We chose a craft that cost a bit to pull together, but it was easy enough for little kids and big kids.  The card we chose was fun and simple to make. We had all the materials for the cards in or craft stash so it didn't cost us anything.  Although, if you had to purchase the materials, you only need coloured card, goggle eyes, scissors and glue.

Here is the gift we made... inspired by this Pin.





The card we made was inspired by several cards I had seen on Pinterest.  It's so cute.  :)



Next Week: some of my latest cards!

Happy Fathers' Day!  Enjoy your Dad's while they are still here.