I ... survived!

I survived ... a twelve week term of school! *relief*

And … am now on a two week end of term school holiday break - *yay*. For those who don’t know me personally … I work in a high school in the administration side … student total of 1,200+, around 150 staff and … it’s a split shift school (ie: VCE students start later in the morning - around 10:50 am and end much later in the day). I do most things in the office but mostly AR (Accounts Receivable), produce the school newsletter, reception, school forms, etc, etc, etc. Never a dull moment - never without nothing to do … always busy/busy! I intend these school holidays to just be a ‘sloth’ - just chilling and hopefully lots of playing (ie: crafty stuff!).

Had a friend over yesterday - a long time friend from my own high school days! Went out for dinner and did Thai - fabulous food and as always, ate too much!!! She too works in a school but she’s off to Queensland for most of her school holidays - I’m just so looking forward to ‘standing still’.

And today … ditto to the above - ‘ate too much’ (again)! It was my mothers ‘anniversary’ to her coming/landing in Australia - 60 years today she arrived in Australia! Guess that makes her more Australian than many Australian’s - ie: those aged less than sixty … lol. Went to the Casino in town and had lunch, then strolled along the banks of the Yarra for a bit, then went on a river cruise (on a boat … of course) for about an hour. Had a totally wonderful day - my brother and his partner, my parents, myself and my daughter and her partner. A really enjoyable day - I felt so relaxed (and full!)

Above is a card/booklet I made for our Business Manager who took Long Service Leave/Retirement last term. It was in a booklet form with a page for each of us to sign and write a message. I didn’t want to have ‘Retirement’ on the card/booklet so I chose ‘Delight in Life’ in it’s place … reads more ‘exciting’ and less ‘aging’ (kinda thing).

PS: NO work tomorrow ... life is good (for the next two weaks at least!)

Card Making Weekend

Another lovely ending to my week … busy/busy though! Yesterday I had PaperMates where Petrina showed us how to make a ‘particular’ card (not sure what type of style it’s exactly called - sorry). Though I didn’t do an ‘actual’ finished card, others did, and they looked faaaaabulous! I only managed to do a template of it for a future project (UFO - I’m sure!). Thanks Petrina for sharing your talent with us.

Today was yet another Card Day. Spent the afternoon at Sue Collin’s place for a Stampin’ Up Stampers Stack Workshop. Sue is my Stampin’ Up ‘dealer’ - other than taking my money (so to speak … lol) - she’s a wonderful person and so very talented. We made ten gift cards and a stamped cut-out hand bag … had a fun time with Ruthie, Keryn and also Jessica. If you ever require any Stampin’ Up ‘stuff’ - let me highly recommend Sue. Apart from her being very talented - she’s knowledgeable in her stamping skills (been stamping for over 10 plus years), reliable and fast with her orders too!

Above are just two ‘samples’ of what we did … cute eh! Excuse the scan - came out a bit fuzzy around the right edge on both of them - not sure why … ?

After my ‘not so pleasant’ dramas and sagas of early last week - thought I needed some spoiling. Soooo … I finally bought myself a Sizzix Bigshot and eight Cuttlebug embossing folders (and some other ‘trinkets’ too). May of spoilt myself a tad too much … guess I’ll be laying an egg when my Visa bill comes in! Worry about that one … later!

PS: One more week of work (AND counting!) … till the next school holidays!

Busy/Busy Week ...

Well my week has definitely been an interesting one to say the least but has ended up being a delightful one in comparison to the ‘challenges’ I had to deal with earlier in the week.

Saturday morning I caught up with Bevlea to ‘view’ a possible venue for a ‘particular coming event’ (more details on on Bev’s Blog @ www.soularts.typepad.com). Raced home from that to start preparing for my evening visitors (three couples - dear friends from up on the mountain where I once lived - plus me) … a social card night that we’ve been doing for many years. It’s basically an excuse to get together and have a good feed and lots of laughs - which we did!

Re: Today … I just ‘chilled’ in the morning and in the afternoon I went to my gorgeous daughter’s to have a Mother/Daughter day - just vegging and yapping while watching DVD’s - it was just wonderful, her and I having a girly afternoon.

Creative wise … well … I’ve made a positive start on the Paper Queens Jigsaw project ... finally! Not completed but it’s all ready to go when I have a decent stretch of time to ‘piece together’.

Above is something I did way back in April for VicStampers - it was an Inchies Tile Swap ... they were actually 1 ¼” Inchies - go figure? lol Fun to do and a challenge to work within that size. ‘Gone Loopy’ is what I named this tile.

PS: Two more weeks then school holidays! *yay*

My Week

This week … not on the productive side of crafting as I had hoped for (yet again!) … though I did manage to do a couple of ‘nice’ things to break the routine of work, eat and sleep. On Wednesday - went to the movies with Marion (our PaperMates Leader) and saw ‘Then She Found Me’. Interesting movie - starring Helen Hunt, Colin Firth and Bette Midler … not sure what to say/think about the film - other than … one - I didn’t dislike the movie (but may have to see it again … I think) and two - regardless what my ‘thoughts’ are about the movie, it was worth seeing just for Colin Firth!

Had ATC Club yesterday, with Bevlea running the show. Mission … mess about with Alcohol Inks. Above is my ‘sample/example’ (it’s rough!) using Bev's supplied image and some other bits. Being a metallic background - the scan doesn't show as nice as if visually in your hand. I named this ATC, 'Bewitched'.

As for today (mid morning) … family drama and sagas! So what I had planned to do ALL day (ie: craft) didn’t happen and my motivation to craft is now ‘flat’. Tomorrow is a new day and with fingers crossed, it starts (and ends) off better than it has today. Thank goodness it’s a long weekend!