Lucky, lucky, lucky

Sometimes I need to pinch myself, not too hard, but hard enough to remind myself that I'm lucky, lucky, lucky! Everyday drudgery can drag you down if you let it. It's important to remind yourself about the good things in your life!

I've had a tough couple of weeks at work; lots of negative media, a member of my team refusing to do her job, having to work all of the school holidays, including my two precious Fridays. All this combined to make me a little droopy around the edges when I finally left the office at 6pm on Friday night (it was dark, I never leave the office in the dark). But then I came home and my family were kind and funny and oh so real that my kinks fell out and I shut the door on the week that was and took up my real life once more.

The weekend of course has gone too quickly but it's been fun. I was lucky enough to go to a crop day yesterday, I had hoot, laughed, talked and scrapped myself silly :) I got six LOs done - magic - I managed to complete a heap of challenges that I just haven't got to in ages and all before the end of the month (just).

So, I scrapped the boys - my recycled item is the Quiksilver tag from Angus' tshirt.

And I scrapped the girls too - I didn't do a 8.5x11 as I wanted to use slightly larger photos of my sisters and I hamming it up in Hong Kong.

Then I played along with Once upon a sketch - the theme is home - this is the group of scrappers I shared yesterday with - they always make me feel at home (the photo was taken at our Christmas function).

And that is probably enough LOs to share in one day :)

This morning my daughter took me driving. She got her Learner's permit on Thursday and I missed it but her father has been very calm and very patient and has taken her driving everyday. And yes, he remembered to take photos for me :) I am so proud of them both. Zoe for being so sensible and focussed and a very good a student and Rob for being the best sort of Dad a girl could hope for.

Tomorrow is looming large and fast but for now I'm savouring an evening in with my family and I hope that whatever you're doing you're enjoying the little things and savouring all that life offers.

Catch up

I seem to be constantly playing catch these days...  Ready for some LO overdrive?

Ok, first up three wp sketch creations. Things have been pretty quiet over at wp sketchie central, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself when I post the sketches and my examples. Oh well, I'm having a happy little creative time all on my own :) BUT if you want to have a play I'd love to see you at wp :)

Sketch 2 + mvbs. I used some really old BG Lime Rickey, I still love this range and it was perfect with my little mvb critter.

Sketch 3 + buttons (a felt rose MVB for good measure)

Sketch 4 + bunting (lots of fab A Lil Somethin' on this one)

At the beginning of the month I did a couple LOs for Challenge Heaven. 

Heather's sketch challenge

Donna's banner challenge

 (maybe you can see that I used this LO to create the wp sketch that I then created my MOO LO with?)

And this one is for Deb's quote challenge over at SFS - the more you enjoy life the more you find to celebrate. Zoe was so keen to be chosen to dance when we went to the Hangi in New Zealand that she swapped seats with me to be closer to the front. Luckily she was chosen and had a fabulous time performing the Poi Dance. Some more old stash and a couple of fab handmade embellies :)

Thanks for popping by, I hope you're enjoying your ANZAC Day.

Purple Pumpkin and Top 50 Challenges

Last weekend, I had a little play with the Purple Pumpkin sketch challenge, using some bits from their yellow and grey embellishment kit, not sure why it took me a week to post it here {oops}.

This weekend I had a little play with Sarah's April Fools challenge over at Top 50. Look here it is, posted on the same day I did it {that'll never happen again...}.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to face the week :)

Mojo booster

Over Top 50 Vicki decided to set a mojo boost challenge - she wanted to shift some of the supplies on her desk so she challenged herself and us to create a LO using only stuff that was lying around. I had a corner rounder, a Heidi Swapp distresser, a Charm's Creation star and a Purple Pumpkin car button. Here's what I came up with: Angus and his cousin out cruising the shops with Grandma.

 This one was for Ant's rectangle challenge - yep still loving this size - it's a rectangle!

And this one is the first April sketch at wp - sketch + stars

Now off you go and eat some chocolate :)

Easter cards

About six months ago I started in a new role within my organisation, I'm still not sure what my team think of me (they're a tough crowd) but every day this week I've gone to work to discover a new chocolate offering on my desk. So, either these people are really into Easter or they've finally accepted me as one of their own. Either way it's been a chocolate bonanza :)

This is some of what I found...

Yum! I decided to thank them with some cards (and some chick eggs). Here's what I came up with:

And some close ups.

I think they liked them :)

Have a wonderful Easter and do eat too much chocolate - I intend to!

Purple Pumpkin Giveaway

Ooh  would I would very much like to win this prize...

And I bet you would too, visit Purple Pumpkin's blog for more details.

Tough enough?

It's been a tough week for a variety or reasons, none of them big when faced alone but added up they threatened to topple me. I wibbled and I wobbled but just in the nick of time my sense of humour returned and I regained my balance and with it my ability to cope.

So this week if I was going to give any advice it would be - don't visit your issues upon someone else. If you're doing it tough don't start name calling and foot stamping in the hope that everyone else will feel as terrible as you, you risk becoming a bad person and it makes everyone else sad, it doesn't matter if you're 17, 31 or 50 the same rules apply.

I witnessed some truly awful behaviour this week from a variety of sources and it did make me sad. It also struck me as ironic that some of the nastiest, most vocal people then had the gall to suggest they had been wronged and that everyone is judging them. Hello pot, this is kettle calling!

Perhaps my other piece of advice would be grow up! The strangest part was that the behaviours were being mirrored in both my professional and personal life - further proof that being a manager and the mother of teenagers requires the same crisis management and negotiation skills oh, and a thick skin...

Ok, climbing down from my soapbox now. In amongst the chaos and the tears I spent some time scrapping. I entered a couple of the challenges for Top 50s' Shape Up cc and here they are:

This one was for Sue's cross training challenge - use the sketch provided and three different shaped embellies. This LO looks pretty simple, I used some new basic grey papers - lovely rich colours and a little Purple Pumpkin elephant button, but the story attached to its creation is what makes it special.

Zoe loves these elephant buttons and she went through all of my buttons to find one as she was sure it was just what my LO needed. Funny girl, but I think she was right! She and I spent ages trying to come up with a title and I think Cake Stars works just fine. These two girls are so good for Zoe, they remind her that life isn't all about homework! (Or least they did today when they produced a movie ticket for her and removed her from her computer - they are definitely not the girls I was referring to in my little diatribe.)

Oh and Angus decided to give a me cuddle while I was journalling so a couple words look a little odd but the cuddle was well worth it :)

This next one is Vicki's going in circles challenge - use circles and masking. When visiting Wendy Smith's blog I chanced upon a couple of LOs she'd done using circle punches to make a mask. I loved how it looked and was dying to give it a go. This challenge couldn't have been more perfect.

All the embellies on this LO are from A Lil' Somethin' - I'm loving their latest kits.

These photos appeared on my camera after I left it on the table. Probably not Rob's best angle but he really should have expected me to scrap it. The funniest part is there was also a photo of Zoe but she very sensibly refused to pull a silly face - not Angus - he takes after his father!

Thanks for stopping by, I love it when you leave a comment - makes my day and reassures me I'm not talking to myself. Be kind to yourself and those around you - good karma makes the world a happier place :)