Kim Archer | Mindful Living

{scrapabout saturday}

Great day on Saturday.

I taught my calendar class and it was such a fun day!

Leanne from Scrapabout is wonderful. I can't speak highly enough of Leanne and her store. It's not a huge premises but you know what - that's what I loved about it!

It had a boutique feel.

And was it was so well stocked!

Leanne has really done a great job in stocking all the latest and greatest.

I checked out the new Basic Grey and lots of Heidi stuff including the supersized flowers!

The class was fun.

So many lovely girls and they were all busy little bees throughout our 3.5hour class.

The calendars were all totally different, which I loved, and everyone produced such gorgeous creations.

Here's my usual group shot!

Ok - who put that chair in the way!

What a happy bunch we all are!! Actually, that's a good word to sum up the day! It was a HAPPY day.

The bright, cheery colours Leanne has painted the workroom and the shop were happy colours and everyone was in such an 'up' HAPPY MOOD!

And here's Sally D and her friend Alexis doing their Legally Blonde bend and snap pose! Well, the seated version :O)

Also there was Alison, Yvonne and Caz who is on the Boxx DT with me!!

And I also got to meet Kelly Cruz (lovely girl) who has a daughter McKenzie (LOVE that name and it was one of the choices we had before Capri was born)..annnyway, Kelly has the name Capri for McKenzie's middle name!!! And she chose it because she had seen my Capri's name in one of the scrapping mags! How cool is that!!!

So, I am heading back to Scrapabout on April 8. I'm doing two lots of 2hour workshops this time. And I picked some great products to use too.

Will keep you posted.

On my way home from Scrapabout I called in to see Fiona.

She was teaching at a retreat at Turramurra for Sonia from Forever Always.. What a lovely setting for a retreat. So picturesque! Here's the three of us..

It was great to catch up with Fiona and see her in action teaching one of her classes. One girl travelled all the way from Nyngan because Fiona was teaching (*hi Narelle) - isn't that lovely!!!

So then I headed home to Newcastle!

Sunday we ventured out to Paper & Stuff at Cooranbong for their 8th birthday celebrations. I didn't take my camera! Can you believe it. The damn things travels everywhere with me and I forgot to take it.

Soooo

I could have had a photo of Capri riding the mechanical surfboard and jumping on the jumping castle(all FREE!!), Jamison enjoying his FREE fairyfloss, Janelle with her happy face on and a huge bucket of Sherbies and lollypops,meeting and greeting people as they entered the store, Cath's hubby dressed in his Paper & Stuff clown costume complete with Lumiere painted boots, a packed shop with people everywhere and Cath standing on the shop counter handing out 30+ bags of freebies for the lucky door prize draw!

But I didn't.

So you will have to close your eyes and imagine it!

It was a great day. A fun family outing and a wonderful celebration and fantastic turnout for Cath! And I also saw Rach Greig and little Ethan as well as Simone and a few of my regular ladies!

And that was my weekend:O)

[PS I am OVER my computer at the moment. It keeps freezing up and is so slow!! So frustrating]

{happy friday}

Busy week.

Just getting sorted out today for tomorrow's workshop at Scrapabout:o)

Having probs with Typepad and I'm not receiving email notification anymore for my comments - for about 3 weeks maybe?? Anyway, I just wanted to say THANKYOU for all your comments and apologise for not being able to respond individually. I have been adding my replies to the comments section under each post - so if you ask me something specific, check back to see if I answered:O)

Kerrin thinks it may be to do with Big Pond users so I am investigating.

Here's a quick share. Layout for the Boxx newsletter which went out a while ago but I haven't uploaded it here yet...

I love this photo of the kids and yes it used to be my blog banner..which reminds me...that New Year one HAS to go.

And to those heading to the Scrapboxx retreat - have a great time! Which I know you all will.

Happy Friday everyone.

PS Janice!! I have finally uploaded your online class layout into Wednesday's gallery. Sorry for the delay. So glad Janelle and I finally sorted out the email/attachment prob with your layout:)))))

{scrapabout australia}

{edited to add: I meant to mention that due to Copyright I'm not reproducing the actual calendar part for this class. Our calendars will be a plain Publisher document calendar template printed onto white paper. HOWEVER, for those attending, if you would like to purchase the calendar template I have used you can check it out here. It was designed by Tracy Robinson and I printed each month onto white cardstock.}

I'm heading to Sydney on Saturday. Visiting Scrap About Australia in North Parramatta to teach my desk calendar project.

Remember it?

Originally designed for my mum for Christmas, Leanne at Scrap About approached me about the possibility of turning it into a class for her store. And I did.

There are still some places left if there's anyone out there who reads this and lives near Parramatta??

Here's the website - check it out here.

The workshop will run from 11am-2.30pm this Saturday 25 February.

Will be fun!

I'm pencilling in a few different freelance classes for this year, so I should start adding them to my sidebar! And that banner STILL isn't changed...perhaps tomorrow.

Oh and YES Scrapboxx is doing online classes too which will be great! I will be teaching some classes over there for Maria which will compliment perfectly my own online classes here on the blog. I love doing the guest teaching stuff - online or in real life! Lot's of fun.

Stay tuned.

{one of those weeks..}

I've had a crazy week.

You know - where everything is due at once and you have a huge list and you don't know where to start!

And I don't even really mean just work stuff! There's been family things. Social things!!  School commitments...just everything happening at the one time. I wasn't really stressed. Just tired out and trying to get through everything. Just busy like everyone is!

This weekend was busy too.

It kicked off Friday night with my night out at the BIG movie double feature night in downtown Boolaroo at the cute little family run cinema in the main street! Sorry can't remember the name.

I had never been there before but my friend Marie (you know the one who LOVES the movies and gets so totally involved in every movie we see) swears by this little theatre. She luuurves it.

It was great value!

We paid a HUGE $8 to see two movies. And the theatre was packed. Obviously a popular night out. Marie had to ring ahead and book our seats.

It's a family run cinema with incredibly dated decor BUT that is the charm of a night at Boolaroo. I felt instantly transported back to another era! The dated carpet, lacy curtains in the toilets and old fashioned little ticket booth and the musty old smell. It was so cute!! And the fact the popcorn was SO CHEAP was a bonus!

The dad sold the tickets, one of the teenage sons sold the popcorn and the other son showed us to our seats. At intermission - yes they had intemission, just like the old days - they served tea and coffee and a biscuit. I'm sure there must have been a mum somewhere - maybe she was getting the cuppa ready and baking the biscuits!

And at the end of the night, the dad stood at the door to say good evening to us all.

Movies we saw - finally got to see The Family Stone - LOVED it. Laughed. Cried. REALLY enjoyed it. Mmmmm, other movie we saw - Perfect Catch or something with Drew Barrymore. Um, maybe I was tired. But I didn't like it all that much.

Then Saturday the kids had swimming first thing.

I had a class in the afternoon and a sample waaay overdue. Plus we were having our good friends from a few houses down over for a BBQ - to christen the new BBQ, table and plants! So I had to clean the house!

I must thank Ken though, because he really organised most of last night from the grocery shopping, preparing the chicken kebabs and cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms while I was at work! What a champ.

Sadly, no pics of our BBQ last night BUT here's a pic of the kids. They ate inside to enjoy the air conditioning as it was SO HOT last night..

Wish I had have taken a mood shot of outside because I had lots of candles and it came up looking good! {even if I do say so myself}

After our neighbours left at somewhere around midnight, I had to start my handout for Cooranbong today!!!

Um, yes, I  know, I left it to the last minute but I just hadn't had a minute to sit here and prepare it!

But it got done!

And now today!

I was back at Paper & Stuff at Cooranbong. Love that place. Always something new to look at too. New Scenic Route chipboard patterned letters - hadn't seen these before. New SEI papers which were gorgeous (stocked up on them) and some new Heidi stuff.

And the girls were SO friendly. And welcoming. And FUN!

They were a GREAT bunch. I got to catch up with Rach, Simone and Janelle again...here we are...and some of the ladies *hi Niki and Jean* who came last along last time and lots of new faces too.

PLUS I got to meet Lisa Pate, one of this year's SM Masters! You can check out her blog here.

Lisa is the one next to me in this group shot. *Hi Lisa*

So here is the group. Janice is missing *hi Janice* as she had to leave a little early. And Cath, Paper & Stuff's owner is also missing..

Here they are with their 12x12 masterpieces!! Everyone's layouts turned out beautifully!! well done.

And here are all the busy bees during class..

Now, I must tell you about next Sunday (26 Feb 06) - it's Paper & Stuffs EIGHTH birthday and Cath has organised a HUGE, and I mean HUGE day.

A massive sale, heaps of lucky door prizes, a BBQ(I think - actually don't quote me on the BBQ!!), birthday cake, jumping castle, mechanical surfboard and LOADS AND LOADS of fun and frivolity.

She had BOXES of stuff sitting there waiting to be unpacked and priced for the sale!!! So, if you are in the area next Sunday..call in and check it out!

So I headed home and then took Capri and her friend Kate for a swim at my parents house and then dropped Kate home, made dinner and herded Jamison and Capri to bed as they are exhausted from our late night last night..

Brandt is at work and has to be picked up later tonight and all in all I am TIRED!

So I am heading to bed AFTER I do that sample that is STILL overdue for the store...

If you read this entire post then give yourself a big clap! This was a loooong one...:)

And I OWE emails everywhere so if I owe you an email I will be attending to my overflowing inbox TOMORROW!

Plus I REALLY need to change that blog banner! I'm a bit OVER seeing Jamison blowing that thing in Capri's ear!

Nightxx

{paper & stuff}

Yay! I am heading back to Paper & Stuff at Cooranbong on the weekend. A 3.5 hour workshop this Sunday. It's all booked out but I wanted to share my projects...

We will be creating a single layout focusing on Heidi Swapp scrapbooking tape..

Plus a cute little handbag and a mini album which pops inside..

Looking forward to the day. They are such a welcoming lot of girls and there's always something new to find in the store!! Will post pics late Sunday...see you there Rach G, Simone and Janelle....

{swimming carnival}

Ok, so my blog banner needs changing as it's no longer really New Year anymore hey! Must get on to that!

Crazy week here. I have so many classes on again plus running kids around and doing samples and some magazine stuff etc. Just one of those weeks where everything is due:)

So yesterday I spent a hugely HOT day at Jamison and Capri's swimming carnival.

The infants kids just participate in novelty events so I got to see Capri in the egg and spoon race, diving for minties, wading relay and... my all time favourite...carrying the quoit on the head race!!! Always a highlight!!

But in true Capri style, she had a fun time and enjoyed every activity!

Here she is with her friend Kate.

Jamison swam well and won his heat for the 50m.

In the finals he came third - it was a really close race with only a split second between 1st, 2nd and 3rd!

Thats him in the middle of the three swimmers you can see.

So now Jamison is off to the Regional carnival in a few weeks.

Check out the action diving shot! That's Jamison about to hit the water!!

Jamison is really tough on himself and worked himself up to feeling sick before the carnival. He was so worried about racing.

He didn't care if he won or not, he was just worried he would come last and be laughed at.

He has the ability but so lacks the confidence. We're working on his self esteem though:)

[** ONLINE WORKSHOP GIRLS PLEASE NOTE - other than Lauren and Janice (your layouts will be uploaded shortly) I have uploaded all the layouts I have received so far from the online classes. If you have sent me a layout and it hasn't been uploaded yet, can you email me:)

Also, I have had a crazy week and didn't get the opportunity to type a comment under each layout in all galleries...sorry!! I LOVE all the layouts and am so proud of everyone's efforts! I just ran out of time this week to add a comment to all of them]

I'm off to a class tonight! Enjoy the rest of the evening everyone.

KIMx

{the wedding....}

I typed an ENTIRE post here about the wedding and then it disappeared! So here I go again..

Mishell has given me permission to post about the wedding and also upload some pics!

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL.

Everything ran perfectly although when Mishell was late for the service and someone ran down to the waiting guests to say the hair dresser was needed urgently, I was a bit worried! But it was all ok.

Nigel's daughter Emily was Mishell's bridesmaid. Emily is mature beyond her 12 years. She handled everything with such grace and maturity and gave a heartfelt speech at the reception.

And she had on the COOLEST shoes which I didn't manage to get a photo of!

Her brother, ten year old Jeremy was the best man.

He handled his duties perfectly and was a great best man!! PLUS he is so good with the little ones especially making sure Daisy didn't end up in the lake!!

Thankfully NO ONE ended up in the lake, although not for lack of trying! The jetty was like a magnet!

And how gorgeous were Mishell's little girls!!

Such beautiful little poppets!!

Lily led the way down the red carpet after Emily.

Lily and Molly each carried a basket of rose petals which they scattered along the red carpet before Mishell and Daisy appeared.

I thought Daisy was going to run off in the opposite direction, especially when she saw us all waiting BUT she came through with flying colours and walked Mishell down the aisle.

They were met half way by Nigel who walked them all to the gazebo for the service with a very hip and happening Pastor.

I know now why Mishell has been stressed, exhausted and writing all those crazy late night posts on her blog because it was evident just HOW MUCH WORK she has been doing to prepare for this wedding. And everything was so beautifully presented!

One word to describe Mishell was RADIANT. She was positively glowing. She couldn't take her eyes of Nigel and he couldn't take his eyes off her. It was so sweet!

Their vows (which they wrote themselves)were so touching and and heartfelt!

I loved how each of Nigel's children gave a short speech welcoming Mishell into the family and telling her how much they loved her and were glad their dad had married her.

But the highlight of the speeches came from 7year old Lily.

She stood with confidence and spoke so well. She thanked everyone and told her mum and Nigel she loved them. She told everyone there she loved them. And then as we were all smiling at her she finished by saying..'And I hope my sister doesn't wreck the rest of the night!' Classic!

These are the place cards Mishell was STILL sitting up finishing off at midnight the night before the wedding.

And here's Rachel Greig - photographer extroadinaire in action!

She was everywhere!

Climbing on chairs and even scaling the gezebo to get just the right shot!

And here's the happy family!

A new start together and it's TOTALLY obvious these guys are such a happy, loyal and committed little family unit!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

{happy wedding day}

Happy wedding day to Shell. I hope you are all organised and finished those place cards!! See you this afternoon:)

For her hilarious account of the last two frantic days before her wedding just read  this!! as well as snapshots from the hens night. I didn't have my camera so I don't any pics from that night to share..but there's some gems over on Shell's blog!!

{online class galleries}

The albums are filling up!

Check out the great creations from everyone over this past week during the online classes. I will add to the albums as more layouts come in. It always amazes me how different the layouts can look by changing the colours, the photos and each person adding their own twist to things! Love it.

Happy Friday everyone.

{a catch up for the family}

This is for the family:) and anyone else interested!

Ok , kids are back at school - happily settled in. Homework has started already. And after school activities!

Capri has joined the school choir! She's pretty proud of herself. There's only 12 kids in the choir apparently so I am figuring perhaps it's not that cool to be part of it:O)))) But she's happy.

Quote of the day was from Jamison who, when he found out Capri was in the choir told her..'You're in the choir!!!!!?? You know you have to sing and stuff in the choir!' - um, yeah, I thought that was the idea!

And Capri had an accident on her bike on the weekend - ran into her friends bike and somehow (not sure really how!!) her neck landed on Jemima's bike's tyre!

She had a horrible burn mark there and was quite distressed afterwards. Its healing so well though and this photo doesn't show half of what it looked like when it first happened!!!

You could even see the tread mark from the tyre!

In other news - Jamison has joined the school band! Apparently it IS cool to be in the band.

He's playing the drum. Yep. One drum. Singular. Eventually they work their way up to a full drum kit and quite frankly I am more than happy to wait for that day!

He's been doing drum rolls all afternoon. Everytime someone enters the room he announces them with a drum roll. Sooo... it was funny the first few times but then it wore thin. Very thin.

And BIG NEWS FLASH!! I finished the cover of my circle journal. I am soo behind with this journal and feel bad!

Everyone else, even Fiona have finished or almost finished. And I even have Janelle's gorgeous CJ already waiting for my entry in that!!

Sooo...drumroll (from Jamison) pleeease...here it is..um, only the cover but the rest will be done hopefully tomorrow as I have a block of time to hopefully do it - in between finishing a few samples plus shopping for Shell & Nigel's wedding present...

My theme - The Sisterhood of the Travelling Circle Journal - a celebration of friendship...'