Kim Archer | Mindful Living

{saturday}

Over the past 12 months I have run a series of 6 week ME Workshops and then each month we have a monthly ME class as well that the girls can continue coming along to.

Yesterday I ran a Super Me catchup morning at the Megastore from 9am, where those who had missed any monthly classes could catch up on their pages!

It was heaps of fun. Rather hectic having so many samples and themes and everyone doing different things. It was a great class and these girls are such lovely, easy going people!

Another happy, smiling bunch of ladies! Hello to you all!

{this week}

So many classes this week! I've been so busy! But it's been fun. I had my week 1 class for my second series of Getting Started workshops this week. We have had so much interest in the starter classes and now have a waiting list and plans for another series in January and February! And both series of classes have been booked out very quickly! Which is WONDERFUL and shows just how many people are taking up scrapbooking. I love it! Its just so common these days to scrapbook or know someone who scrapbooks!

So I met my bunch of new ladies on Tuesday night. All such lovely and keen and eager ladies!! Another fun group!

And tomorrow I have a double class! A big three hour class from 9-12noon and then another class in the afternoon. Some are staying for the entire day! Should be fun but will be tiring!

I've also had lots of things to finish for SM as well as the Boxx. Still going with the Boxx stuff but I'm getting there.

Oh, yeah, and my very exciting news(last but certainly not least!).

Lot's of you have probably heard already but I wanted to make it all official on my blog. I got one of the additional DT spots with the Australian & NZ Chatterbox DT! I am really excited. Firstly because I had this feeling, that instinct, that I had missed out. So I had actually put the whole thing out of my head. So it was very surprising to get a call last Friday night from Nita telling me the news. Secondly, it's a great team! I'm looking forward to working with everyone. Some girls I know well, others I don't and it will be fun to get to know everyone. And thirdly - I get to work with Roz! AND I get to work on a team with Max again! So all in all, it's an exciting opportunity and I look forward to seeing what's in store for all of us!!!

Happy Friday everyone!

{go kate!}

{ho ho ho}

I gave them warning!

I told the three of them yesterday morning it was photo shoot day that afternoon! I told them that at the end of the day we were doing a photo shoot for our Christmas cards this year. My request was NOT met with much enthusiasm. I think they thought I'd forget by the end of the day.

5pm and I was STILL desperately trying to find the Santa hats from last Christmas. I was SURE they were in the linen cupboard with the ornaments box! But noooo. They were missing. I found two daggy, felt ones. All squished from 12 months stuffed in a box. But they weren't what I had visualised! I wanted the fluffy, plush looking hats! The hats I bought especially for last years photo shoot!

No one helped me look. The kids disappeared very quietly!Again, I think they thought with the clock ticking and the light fading, that I would give up and not worry about any photos!

But nope.

I found a Santa baseball cap instead. Not what I had in mind but I wanted at least SOME photos before it was night time.

Why don't my kids ever cooperate? This photo of Jamison TOTALLY sums up how the photo shoot started. Not happy Jan!

They argued. They whinged and whined. It was torture! FOR ME TOO!

I took as many photos as I could before they protested BIG TIME. Hardly any are useable. They kept asking, how many more? I kept saying, just one more - hoping for the perfect shot!

Eventually, I knew I had crossed the line and taken one photo too many! They were OVER it. So I let them go!

But it's ok, cause they don't know it yet, but my Christmas card photo shoot part two is on this Sunday afternoon!

{raks....}

...are all finished! YAY! I apologise BIG time for the delay. I am too scared to add up the months these are overdue. I guess my biggest thing was deciding what to make. So I deliberated BIG TIME for so long and then of course had a mountain of deadlines and other personal stuff going on. FINALLY, I got stuck into finishing them at the crop on Friday night at the Megastore. And I am very pleased they are finished. I will be posting them first thing tomorrow!!!

So for those who entered my challenge - thank you again. If you want to see the raks click here. Or if you want it to be a surprise don't click!

{style...}

Two weeks ago at the Paper Crafts Festival at Penrith I got to meet up with Maxine Hazebroek again.

We were both on the Elite team together in 2004. THE best thing about being on the Elite team was meeting the other three Elite girls. We all just clicked. Instantly. Kylie, Max, Jo and myself shared the ups and downs of that year together. We have our own little online group which we have sustained long after our Elite term was over. We lived and breathed the Celebrate book together. And we shared some tough personal times which just brought us all even closer together.

So it was WONDERFUL to see Max again on the weekend. Fiona and I got to see Max in action at her book signing. MAX now has her VERY OWN BOOK! I'm very proud of her. And it's a gorgeous book too. Pride has done a great job on this book with the styling. It's presented beautifully. Photographed beautifully. And filled to the brim with all of Max's gorgeous creations. You can buy it here

{and I DESPERATELY need a hair cut and colour in these photos.yuk}

   

{yesterday}

The funeral went well. As far as funerals go. It was sad but a lovely service. And a nice celebration of my grandmother's life. Her friends from the retirement village were there and it was also sad to see them farewelling their friend.. And there were people there we hadn't seen for many years.

After the service we had a get together/lunch at the hotel my parents and aunty and uncle were staying at. It was so nice to catch up with cousins and friends and relatives we hadn't seen in a while.

I decided to take my camera. Wasn't sure if it was appropriate to have a camera there but I am glad I did as I had the opportunity at the end of the day to take some nice family shots!

So, this will be boring for my scrapping readers so bear with me as I wanted to share these pics with my family and those friends who know or know of these people:O)))

This is my sister Debbie and I and the Rafanello girls. We grew up with these girls. They were my grandmother's neighbours for as long as I can remember and their parents still live in the same house next to where my grandmother lived. But her house is long gone. She moved into a retirement village 5 years ago and her little house was demolished to make way for a monstrous cement rendered mansion!

Seeing these three girls, Gai, Donna and Maria brought back so many memories. They felt so familiar and it was if there hadn't been a passage of time at all. We have a little story in our house (and my sister's house) about Maria that we always use on the kids at Christmas time. You see, one Christmas, Maria was really naughty. I was about 7 and she was three years older. Her mother threatened her that Santa wouldn't come if she was naughty, as mother's do!

Well, Maria must have been REALLY naughty because Santa didn't come that year! I remember being at my grandmother's house and running into Maria's house Christmas morning to see what the girls got. Maria got NOTHING! Zilch! Zero!! Nothing! As a 7 year old I was HORRIFIED. So I use that story on my kids. I'm sure they think I have made it up and that Maria doesn't exist. So it was quite satisfying to introduce Maria to Brandt (Capri & Jamison didn't come with us to Sydney) and say..SEE SHE IS REAL!

And these are my cousins from my dad's side. There's not many of us. Glen is the one who was recently married on the Gold Coast at Versace. I will FINALLY share his wedding pics actually as Glen and his beautiful new wife Mary gave their permission for me to! In fact Glen said he has been reading my blog so hi to my cous!

But I will save the wedding pics for my next post.

Next to me at the back is Louise, Glen's sister(she scrapbooks!) and lastly, the other lady next to my sister is another cousin Leanne who all of us hadn't seen for many years. As you can see Leanne didn't get the tall gene we all got!

Another photo of us all - with the Rafanello girls. {Like the backdrop! It was a huge aerial photo/poster of Sydney which was nicer than standing in front of a brick wall!}

And finally, a photo of my sister Debbie and I - just because I like it and there are very few of the two of us together!

{idol}

Last post for tonight..must be a record for me..THREE in one day!

Just HAD to mention Idol tonight. I got SO involved! I was disapointed when Dan left BUT I have always liked Kate and I would have been happy for either to win. And as Dan is gone I am backing Kate to WiN!!!

I think I like Kate because of her panic 'issues'! I watched her have an anxiety attack on Inside Idol where she said everything was going black and she felt weird in the head! Yes, maybe it was lack of food, a stressful and hectic lifestyle and the pressures of Idol etc but there were tones of anxiety issues in the way she was acting and speaking! And I could SO relate. To come out and sing so brilliantly after that was amazing. Sometimes you can see the fear in her eyes and she does so well to keep going. And conquer those fears!

One of my favourite moments was when the Idols visited the children's hospital and Kate was asked to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow by the mum of a little girl, seriously injured in a car accident. Kate's voice was so pure and lovely. She has tones of Kelly Clarkson and I like that!

While Emily will probably win(and she is a FANTASTIC SINGER but I just don't connect with her) I would LOVE to see Kate take the title this year!

So GO KATE!

{layout}

Meant to add my layout sample for my workshop yesterday. Using Chatterbox papers and almost a whole pkt of Heidi chipboard label holders! Plus the couple of card samples I made with the offcuts.

 

{a happy day}

I had THE best day yesterday. It was my Paper&Stuff workshop day at Cooranbong and it was such a fun day with a wonderful mix of beautiful girls. And a welcome distraction from the sadness at the moment.

The store owner Cath is the most obliging and easy to work with lady! And quite the comedian. She gave a great intro and entertaining welcome speech and finished by saying..'the only rule in this workshop is to have fun'.. And we did.

We spent the next 4 hours cutting, pasting, sanding, painting and creating. And Cath appeared at regular intervals with buckets of lolly pops for our sugar fix! We also spent the next four hours laughing, chatting and eating!

 

Cath organised for us to phone through our lunch order to the local deli and they make the most DELICIOUS chicken caesar wraps! MMMM

And a lovely surprise guest being a dear friend from school Cathy who had come along with her sister. Cathy and I met and became friends way back in year 7 and it was GREAT to see her again for a catchup! Plus, she SCRAPBOOKS. I have very few 'before I was a scrapbooker' friends who actually scrapbook.

Rach Greig came along too. I didn't know she was booked in so it was a wonderful surprise to see her walk into the workshop!She was down the other end of the table..the loud end!!! And she came with Simone! What a great girl! Funny, friendly and armed with a container full of homemade Weight Watcher (not) chunky choc biscuits! It was great to meet you Simone!!!

Also there was Janelle (NellieJ on Scrapboxx) - always great to see her. Although I pay out on her ALL the time I still love her to bits!

So here we all are, showcasing the masterpieces from the day!!The girls made a CD gift folder, 12x12 layout and a greeting card! Thank you everyone for making me most welcome.

I look forward to coming along to future days just like this next year!

{footnote: funeral is tomorrow at 11.45 in Sydney. Thank you again for all your support everyone}