Party Photos

This has got to be the easiest party ever … laser strike = no stress = no planning = no mess = easy! (Okay so there was mess … but we left it there and some other nice person came and cleaned it up … not me!)

Generally speaking … I enjoy planning parties, I enjoy creating amazing themed party supplies, themed games, themed cakes and generally going all out in fun stuff. But this year I just didn’t have the inclination to do all that. So we went with a Strike party.

There was the briefing …

And the guns and vests …

And the little girl who wore a tutu all day today (even at Church) who found it glowed in the dark really, really well.

And a Mum who had a great time playing with camera settings and capturing cool shots of lights and kids shooting each other.

And a rather excited 8 year old who couldn’t believe his luck … all that coke was for him and his friends to drink.

And of course … cake and candles too.

The only creative thing I did was a bit of last minute inspiration to stamp on some brown paper bags just to dress up the standard goodie bags a bit … oh and that sign on the front of the cake which I cut with my nestabilities to cover up the gap where the cake trim didn’t quite reach all the way round the cake.

So all in all a successful party and a happy big 8 year old having fabulous dreams tonight.

8 years ago

This little guy was born. I’d show you baby photos but don’t have access to them without getting off my seat … yep I’m being lazy.

Happy Birthday Alexander.

When Scrapbooking Met Crochet

It was only a matter of time …

When I first set out to master the art of crochet my motivation was to make my own little crochet flowers for my layouts and cards … with that achieved I had to move on to bigger crochet goals. I wanted a fancy lacy look for this layout, so I used the holes made by my Fiskars threading water border punch to add a crochet frilly border.

Totally excited about how it worked … and the potential for a similar but different look just by changing the wool/cotton and size of the hook used.

(Thought I should do a layout about the ‘new’ pink boots before I do a layout about the now ‘old’ pink boots!)

I’ve also been expanding those crochet skills into the realm of cupcakes … am I predictable?

Maybe just a little bit.

So yeah … I’ve been scrapping and creating a bit this week … and it feels good. Haven’t got photos of the other layouts though so don’t have pics to share sorry.

And a catch up on stuff I’ve created for Craft House …

but keep forgetting to take pics of … pinched these of the website …

These are my canvas people … one of the new holiday craft classes … a bit of paint, a bit of pastel, a bit of stamping, a few words … you can probably see a bit of Donna Downey influence in there …. ’specially with the word thing … only I’m cutting up an Enid Blyton story book and she uses hot and steamy romance novels!

Chipboard wall hangings … this was a project I made for Rebekah’s birthday party … yay for the Enid Blyton book again … and Fancy Pants Biggest Board Chipboard.

And then there’s the projects I’ve made for kits … these can be seen (and purchased) here. Not all of those are mine … but you can probably pick the ones that are.

Off to enjoy high tea this afternoon … to celebrate an 80th birthday. Hope your weekend is going well.

Yesterday

So it’s been a tough week …  Wesley’s funeral was a perfectly fitting occasion to celebrate an extraordinary life … although kinda sad. It was a beautiful day – weather wise – and the helium balloons looked amazing floating away in a clear blue sky. It’s also been a year since Grandma died … so just not such a nice week all round really.

The blue skies and sunshiny days have been a welcome thing though. And yesterday I made the most of the weather and spent some Jessi and Mummy time out in the sun with my camera.

Once, not so long ago, I was taking photos daily … lately, not so much. Not sure if it’s because I’m not scrapping as much, or maybe I’m not scrapping because I’m not taking photos. Whatever … all I know is that they are two things I enjoy doing, things that make me happy and I need to find that happy place again.

So … after checking out a craft show … Jessi got to play, while I enjoyed a coffee and took photos.

This is about the point when I remember why living in Wellington is not so bad … check out that view I enjoyed while watching Jessi play.

The water called to us and we just had to cross the road to get closer … if she wasn’t busting for the loo I’m sure I would have had a great deal of trouble getting her to leave here.

We then did a spot of tree climbing (and more photo taking) … the trees were perfect for climbing and it was good to see that at least one of my children hasn’t inherited their father’s fear of heights.

It soon became evident that we should perhaps buy the little miss a new pair of boots … it wasn’t that long ago that these were new … now … they are just well loved!

So, now that I’ve got the photos … might just see what I can do about scrapping a layout or two.

In Memory of Wesley

… who passed away earlier this evening.

Now walking with Jesus in Paradise … and free from pain.

I created this layout last year after watching Wesley fight cancer for the second time, so brave, so full of faith and so able to talk in intellectual circles around the whole ‘faith’ concept … will miss those Wesley conversations.

Murphy’s Law …

…. I guess that’s what you call it when a box of Prima goodies arrives the same day as the credit card statement … which happens to be the very same day in the holidays that I’m working and dh is at home looking after the kids.

It’s very nice prima stuff though

And totally worth it for the layout opportunities.

Don’t you think?

Have used the Prima Build a Page Sketch for July … seems sketches are entirely useful when you don’t have much scrapping time and need a good place to start.

Been experimenting with a few other crafty ideas this week, playing with spoons and dominos and getting my fingers inky … fun! Plan on doing more of the same this weekend … probably a good thing considering how cold and wet it is outside.

Blue Skies and Sunshine.

I hadn’t realised just quite how much I’d been missing the sun until it returned this weekend.

Have enjoyed being outside and walking again. Yesterday I spent the afternoon wandering along the Wellington waterfront … enjoying some ‘me’ time (a welcome thing at the end of the holidays). The weather was perfect … it doesn’t get much better than eating sorbet at the edge of the water while watching the world go by … okay so I may have equally enjoyed a peaceful afternoon here at home today … lying in the sun while reading Janine’s cloth paper scissors mags. Life is good!

Still haven’t got the layout on my desk finished … sometimes it’s just nice to take these things slowly, enjoying the process instead of rushing for a deadline.

Can share this one though …

And it’s a double too! Not many of those in my albums. I actually put this one together for a beginner scrapbooking class I took the other night … wanted to show them that you could take a single layout and flip the design to add another page and make it a double. It started as a page maps sketch.

Not sure if you can read the journaling but just wanted to record that it was on this day that we got to know Michael’s birth mother … the ‘unknown Grandma’ as the kids referred to her. Just noticed that I haven’t yet added the date … will have to do that!

Jessi is currently having her 5th meltdown since she got home from school …. I think an early night will be necessary tonight! Better go give her some attention.

10 years of parenting.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks.

For a start this girl turned 10.

Check out the beautiful weather we had in Wellington today.

A good day to buy a bunch of balloons and do a photo shoot with my new 10 year old.

Unfortunately her new ‘10′ year old attitude showed through in a lot of them.

We had a ’sleep-over’ party last weekend … not much sleep was had of course. Lots of high-school musical singstar, party food, dvds and other such fun party stuff.

I’ve been practicing my crochet skills. I thought I’d jump from making wobbly little flowers to making a hat … even followed a pattern, Jessi was pretty happy with it.

Then I made another hat for me … don’t have a pic of that one though. It’s been fun … but I still have a need to scrap (it keeps me sane) so can’t see crochet taking over or anything.

Speaking of scrapping … I have a layout partly finished that I’d like to stick down tonight … hopefully will be able to share in a day or two …

First it was crochet …

And now …

So besides the lack of a perfect 50’s housewife body … and maybe the fact that I don’t clean, cook and dust as often as I should … I think I could pass as a 50’s housewife. (Apron is actually polka-dotted but my camera didn’t seem to like that.)

Okay so maybe I’ll stick with being a 2009 housewife!

It’s been a busy weekend, besides the 50’s party there was a baby shower for a friend …

I made a quick canvas for a gift.

All ready to add a photo once baby is born.

And Rebekah went to a sleep over party …

I made a quick cell-phone cover as part of the gift … and also a beaded necklace.

It’s been a fairly creative weekend … sewing, needle felting, beading, scrapping … no wonder my desk looks rather trashed right now!

Looking forward to a week of holiday fun … and a bit of child training … they need a bit of a reminder about manners, kindness and cleaning up after themselves.

Nana Lessons 101

So maybe I passed 101 with the nana naps … I’m good at those … but check out what I can do now!

Yep … I can do the crochet thing! Thanks to Sarah and her patient tutoring (and her warm house and comfy chairs). So I may need a bit more practise but I totally ‘get’ it now … Nana would be proud.

Don’t think I have any other creative stuff to share this week … it feels like I’m working on a million little projects but nothing’s finished or worth taking a pic of yet.

We are struggling through the last week of term … kids are tired, it’s cold outside and we are all sick of the morning routine. Looking forward to having a few days of sleep in’s and not having to pack lunch boxes. Bring on the holidays!