Sunday, December 30, 2012

Love,hate,love,hate,love

BEFOE I START THIS IS A LONG POST SO GO AND GRAB A COFFEE OR IF YOU"RE LIKE SUSAN SOME CHOCOLATE.

Yes that was my feeling towards Project Life. A love/hate relationship.
I started in the beginning of this year which was great and easy as i am always on holidays, i had the kit  i had the photos as it was New Years and there is always lots going on. I was doing a two page spread, easy peasy

Then i went back to work and things became more difficult, some were of my own doing.
I like the fancy stuff, i like the cute stuff, i wanted my pages to have lots of embellishments, i like making my own embellishments. (ok i know that you DONT have to do this and its all about the photos and the journalling) but i LIKE it.
I get to use lots of these
and these and but wait there's more - these
I have cute little pots on my desk and old tea boxes to store all my bits in (die cuts and pins from Leena)
Ok by now you have probably guessed that i spend way too much money on "STUFF" but hey i like it.
Digressing as usual
By about week 15 i was not liking this PL thingy very much. Stressing to get photos, then it took me one night to print the photos then at least two nights to do a two page spread.
stressing, getting behind,stressing, getting behind,stressing,getting behind.
and if you know, me as strange as it seems if i get behind on something i don't sit and catch up (that comes later) but it puts me off doing other creative stuff as my brain is saying you cant sew or do a 12x12 Lay out as your Pl is not up to date, so nothing gets done. Zip,nil.nada, O, nothing.

So something had to give and let me tell you it wasn't going to be my 12x12 LO's as i had only just discovered what i am going to call my scrapbook idol SHIMELLE and it wasn't going to be my sporadic card making or my even more sporadic quilt/patch-working, it had to be my PL....BUT....
ho hum when i sat down and started doing it i loved it, my kids and Andrew love it, even my non crafty friends ask to see my albums, and where else could i go to see how many times Joe had got badly burned or badly cut at work (its quite funny really looking back throughout the year seeing all of his injuries each one seeming to be worse than the last one).
mmmm what was one to do
then i had a light bulb moment
i will only do one page a week
so week 37 was my last double page spread
and hello Project Life LOVE LOVE LOVE 
yep this works the best for me and i love it, one page a week, it takes me one night to do so that leaves me with plenty of time to do other crafty pursuits.
I add in two pages here and there as i am very lucky my kids and husband are well trained and always bring me back paraphernalia from whereever they have been which i love to stick in
So there we are, i am up to date, stress free (ok don't mention the monthly quilt kit which is still waiting to be cut and sewn) and loving Project Life
So i say, "Bring on 2013" i am ready for you.
and that is week 51
phew if you're reading this you made it to the end
have you had enough of my ramblings, hope not coz my next post is all about Journal Your Christmas
thanks for stopping by.
xx

Saturday, December 29, 2012

At Last

 Well things must be pretty bad when even Joe is telling me that i have not done a blog post in ages. (i never knew he actually read my blog, so there you go i learnt something)
So here are a few photos to fill you in on our life right now.

Caitlin and friends went to Bali early December

 She had a great time took lots of photos for me to make a mini.

We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary with a luncheon at the new french restaurant at the Crown called Bistro Guillaume
Food was nice but it was missing the wow factor that so many restaurants at the Crown have.

Joe finished TAFE altogether-only one year of his apprenticeship left and that will all be down at the Crown
If i haven't mentioned before Joe and Simon (pictured above) have been chosen to represent Australia in an international cooking competition for apprentice chefs. This is an event organised by Technical Colleges world wide, so although he has finished TAFE Joe and Simon will still be going to practice the dishes that they will be cooking.

Caught up with my two craft buddies for lunch, chat and present swaps, always so much fun.

Our craft get togethers seemed to disappear in the latter part of this year which we must rectify from here on in.

and we had our work Christmas Lunch at yes the Crown again (I love that place, purely coincidental that Joe works there) This time we were at the Atrium
and yes Joe popped in from Nobu and yes Andrew tagged along coz there is no way i could go to the Crown without him. Michelle being Michelle would not have her photo taken.

Our christmas was here this year and although that meant heaps of cooking on Christmas eve for me, the day was awesome and we all had heaps of fun. Boxing day was a day of rest for me as i was exhausted and it has been so hot.

Now i have ventured back into blog land i will post my Project Life update and outlook tomorrow followed by my Journal Your Christmas adventure.

Stay cool or get warm where ever you are in this wonderful world.
xx