Kim Archer | Mindful Living

A CATCHUP, BUT NO PHOTOS TO SHARE..

This last part of January has just raced by.

Tomorrow school starts.

I have been working VERY part time since Christmas. It's been a bit of a struggle juggling work stuff with the kids home so as Ken was also on holidays, I pretty much took January off..

I am itching to get back into work full time though. I have LOTS of stuff in the pipeline which I need to attend to and work for Scrapboxx due as well as some other things happening, so from tomorrow it will be all systems GO!

So what's been happening around here?

We have been in MAJOR cleanout mode. I have bagged up so many things from the kids cupboards and have been very ruthless with Capri's toy box! We are not quite there yet but I have achieved a lot these holidays with the house.

I have also been painting..

After painting Jamison's wall I got busy in our front loungeroom. Its the least used room and it's such a sunny space with a lovely outlook and I have always liked that room and wanted it to be utilised more. But the furniture is crappy and the room was plain cream and needed a spruce up!

Soooo. I painted a brown feature wall. Happy with that colour, I then bought a new, very out there, funky floor rug. Was undecided and took almost an HOUR to choose from several rugs at Domayne on the weekend and finally decided on a very geometric olive green, cream, brown, can't remember the other colours rug!

And now it's home and in there brightening the floorspace..I love it.

And then still excited over my brown feature wall, decided to paint another feature wall..late yesterday.

Hmmmm. So the colour is a green. I am very much in my green phase. Love all shades of green. well except very dark greens...And the colour chart green looked really nice. But now it's on the wall..it looks dark. Maybe too dark. And a bit TOO green. I can't decide. I am about to go and paint the second coat and i am hoping I will like it better once its all done.

It doesn't help that the furniture in there is mismatched and dated! So we went shopping for new chocolate brown leather sofas yesterday. Again, I narrowed it to two choices and then stood there undecided, deliberating and wasting time for about 40mins! I hate it when I get indecisive. Ken was sold on one particular style sofa but I wasn't quite 100% sure about that one.

So we came away with nothing but a brochure! Which was very disapointing.

Anyway, thats all for now. We are having my friend Marie and her kids, Bridie and Nick here for a visit today and I do want to get that next coat on the wall so must get moving..

have a great Monday everyone.

FRIENDS, LUNCH, HEIFERS AND PRESSIES:)

Lunch yesterday was GREAT! We went to the Red Heifer in King St.

Lots of friends all in the one place at the one time! I had NO idea it would turn into a birthday party for me. I was totally stunned when everyone started handing me presents and beautiful cards!

Heres some of the presents I got from my scrapping friends:) at lunch yesterday as well as in the mail over the past week. Each and every gift was so thoughtful and unique and I LOVE everything I received!!!!!

So, back to our lunch...Who went?

Me (obviously:), Janelle, Fiona, Megan, Donna, Mishell and Jen plus lots of kids! Megan organised a delicious chocolate mudcake, complete with message...AND they all sang (at the tops of their voices!!) a VERY musical rendition of Happy Birthday. And I am not sure who sang louder - the kids or the mums!!!

As Megan has already mentioned on her blog, we had the place to ourselves except for 3 men who i am sure wished they had have chosen somewhere a little quieter for lunch!

Here's some pics from the day!

So thank you girls for a wonderful day!!!!! Look forward to another get together....and THANK YOU everyone again for all the lovely gifts and cards and messages for my birthday:)))))

[edited to add: ok, the presents I got from everyone included: the pencil tub beautifully decorated by Julie & Janelle, my BIG white letter K from Fiona, Nutrimetics handlotion and bath fizz from Mishell (LOVE IT!!! They smell delicious!!), my bling metal K for my phone from Rozzie plus a Rituelle soap stack, a very funky felt flower hanger handcrafted by Jen for my scrapping tote (just GORGEOUS!), a twin set of pink pencil cases from Donna (these are SO cute and will be a beautiful addition to my tote for storing some essential scrapping tools!!!), very unique (haven't seen them before) friendship teabags from Janelle (can't wait to use them!!) and a beautiful assortment of cards!!! You girls are SO clever!!]

MINI BREAK

We're home from our mini holiday.

We spent a few nights at Port Stephens, about an hours drive north of our place. Left home Friday afternoon and got home last night.

Weather was great, although windy at night. Lots of fishing, swimming, relaxing and eating:)

Celebrated Ken's birthday on Saturday. The boys played golf late in the afternoon and then we went out for dinner.

Jamison spent a lot of time here>>>>>

Fishing is Jamison's latest obsession. He is right into it! Likes to check out the tides and work out the best time to head down to the jetty. Baits his own hook and is happy to stand there for hours!!!

On both nights Ken and Jamison fished from the jetty until midnight. Jamison chatted with all the old fisherman who were out fishing as well! They didn't catch any fish but came home with some squid which Jamison cleaned, cut up and pan fried...after midnight!!! He thought it was such an adventure. Which, when you are 11 and allowed to stay up so late fishing and then cooking your catch, it IS exciting.

I love that he loves fishing because at his age, I did too. We always spent January away on holidays somewhere and always went fishing and prawning. In fact, at his age, I had a crash course in prawning when I was allowed out in the boat, late one night while we were holidaying at Sussex Inlet on the South Coast. [ironically,in later years Ken and I moved to Sussex with Kens work and we spent 18months there]

I thought I was pretty special being allowed to join my dad and uncle in the boat (along with dozens of other boats this particular night, as the prawns were literally jumping out of the water!!!). That night we caught SO many prawns!! And I remember staying up late as well while dad cooked them up in boiling water! That was one of my favourite holidays.

And in fact, the prawning and that night had a big impact on me.

I was heading into year 6 that year (same as Jamison) and I had to write a three minute speech early in term one (which I hated doing as I just hated public speaking!!!!) I chose prawning as my topic and gave an incredibly detailed speech on the ins and outs of prawning and how to boil them after they were caught! And my efforts earned me a merit card! Which I still have:)

Anyway, I digress again....

Here's some more fishing shots...

Yesterday we then drove up the coast further to Forster to pick Brandt up. He's been holidaying up there with our neighbours this past week. We all missed him terribly and while he had a great time away, I think secretly he was happy to be home in his own bed! We had lunch and then drove home.

And now today...well, I had a great day!!!

I met up with Megan, Fiona, Janelle, Mishell, Donna and Jen. And lots of kiddies! Was a great day! Had no idea it was goign to turn into a birthday party for me. Lots of pressies, cards and cake!!

haven't downloaded my pics yet but want to give our lunch it's own blog post..so stay tuned tomorrow...

Thanks girls for a great day!!!

Today..

So today is my birthday:)

Thank you to everyone who has sent me messages today.

THANK YOU also to my friends Janelle & Julie who joined forces and organised a gorgeous decorated with photos of my family from my blog pencil tin! I LOVE it and it's taking pride of place right here near my computer. Pics to come later:)

THANK YOU to Fiona and her girls who rang me today and sang a great rendition of happy birthday over speaker phone. And also thankyou to Fiona for a beautifully hand crafted birthday card and funky huge timber letter K - perfect for my studio - which arrived a day or so ago. Again, pics to come:)

I've had a lovely birthday. Hate the fact my age is creeping upwards but loved being woken by Capri whispering happy birthday in my ear VERY early this morning. And the kids bouncing on the bed armed with presents and cards and excitement!

I got some great pressies.We met Ken for lunch.  Lots of lovely emails and cards and phonecalls AND had a nice dinner out with some friends last night to help me celebrate.

I met up with my best friend since we were ten Margaret and her sister Tracey and Marie last night..Had a great meal at The Beaches which is opposite the beach (funny that:) and a night of laughs and silliness!

Now, Marie could NEVER be a scrapbooker. OR hang with a group of scrapbookers. Why? Because I whipped out the camera for a quick group shot of us and she cringed. And whinged. And complained. And baulked at the idea. And was embarassed!

Embarassed????!!!! I couldn't believe it.

I just wanted one quick photo with the camera on timer and perched on top of the serviette holder! And she was embarrassed. Worried we were drawing attention to ourselves. She hasn't ever seen a large group of scrappers together each of them taking photos of everything!

She was worse than my kids when the camera makes an appearance LOL.

That she knew the table of doctors and anaesthetists and specialists sitting at the table behind us (she works as a nurse at the hopsital) MAY have had something to do with her reluctance..but come on! I was NOT going home without at least one photo of us!

So I lined it up. Conscious I was only allowed ONE shot at this. And set the timer. And we all leaned in and waited for the ten seconds until the camera clicked! And ok, the flash WAS bright and a few people did turn to stare at us....but we didn't draw too much attention...

And Margaret leaned in much further than the rest of us, completely blocking Marie with her turtle neck impression...and the rest of us are blurred.... *sigh*

 

So after we composed ourselves from laughing so hard at Margaret, we convinced Marie to let us do a couple of more shots.

And the above lower two photos are ALL I came up with. Nothing like some nice, blurry photos to remember the night by LOL!

it was a great night. One of those nights where you slip into the comfortableness (I made that word up!) of old friendships. Where you laugh at stupid things. And talk non stop. And just enjoy the company!

And they gave me some pretty cool pressies too. Thanks girls:)

And I must also wish Caz, fellow Scrapboxx DT'er a very happy birthday today as well.

have a great day..

ICE SKATING..

Kids enjoyed ice skating yesterday. My sister and I enjoyed a hot chocolate and a chat while we watched the kids whizz by!

Quick post today.

And a huge congrats to my friend Maree and her hubby Paul as she had a new little son early this morning...

MONDAY MORNING....

The first Scrapboxx newsletter for 2007 is out. Check it out here..

Here's my layout for the newsletter featuring the custom designed especially for Scrapboxx journaling stamp by Erica! Very cool!!

Photo collage straight from my blog - I didn't even cut the photos out individually..blogs come in handy don't they!

Also, VERY exciting news over at Scrapboxx with the announcement, finally, that Roz is joining the DT! yay! welcome aboard Rozzie.

Jamison slept in his brand new room last night for the first time. He was insistent, even though the paint fumes were still lingering!

All he has in there is his bed! So it's VERY clean. And ideally that's all we would like him to have in there permanently! BUT we will get him a new desk and a side table and some other things..

He hasn't even moved his clothes in there yet! And you should see what was left UNDER that bed in his old room! Lots of things we thought were lost had been hiding under there :)

So today we are off to ice skating with my sister and the kids..lots of photo ops:)

have a great day!

ANOTHER CATCHUP!

Well, thanks so much for dropping by and leaving me a hello comment! It was so lovely to hear from everyone!!! I am trying to get through all the comments and reply but am still a bit behind but getting there.

Just to clarify.

The layout below wasn't actually my first layout. It was my first 'shared online with a scrapping group' layout.

I wasn't brave enough to actually attempt a page without scraplifting someone else for my first page! My first layout was the paper pieced pregnant lady layout - scraplifted almost exactly from a layout by Lori Field which I had seen in SM! You can see it here.

So, this was probably my 6th layout?? Not sure. I made quite a few in the first week of starting scrapping.

In other news!

• We have had two injuries! Jamison cut his leg open in various places (from the metal pedals on his bike flicking back to hit his leg) and we spent some time at the hospital - thankfully my friend Marie was the nurse on duty in Emergency so she was a nice familiar face for Jamison as he was freaking out a bit about getting stitches. Thankfully they decided not to stitch it!
• Capri then sliced the bottom of her foot open after cutting it on a nail in my friends decking. Its quite bad but again no stitches. But she's sporting a big bandage and lots of steri strips.
• Ken is still on holidays
• I have *almost* cleaned out the room which will become Jamison's bedroom. I am painting a blue feature wall today! My plan is to have him in there by tomorrow night..
• Jake & Chelsea have been visiting for a few days which has been fun.
• We saw Happy Feet. Ok, so am I the ONLY person out there who was surprised at the G rating. The movie freaked Capri out. Lots of scary scenes. Unexpected scary scenes. This was supposed to be HAPPY Feet. We weren't feeling very HAPPY there at one stage. And Capri came out of the cinema and declared that she wouldn't be seeing THAT movie again! I appreciate the brilliant ground breaking animation and breathtaking cinematography but wished we had known of the scary, in your face bits in the film before hand.
• We spent a most pleasant day with my school friends at Jenny's home last Friday. Check out her tropical oasis nestled in the backyard...

 

Isn't it gorgeous!!!

Kids all got on well. It's very hard to get ten wet kids waiting for lunch to all look at the camera AND smile at the same time!

Heaps of food - Jenny and Sandra catered so generously - thank you! Plus a surprise early birthday cake for me:) Got to catch up with the girls again. Share Dom's pregnancy news. Marvel at Maree's belly - she's having her third baby on Tuesday (thinking of you!) and catch up with these girls who I have known for so long now we slip straight back into that comfortable 'we've just seen each other last week' mode.

But then Capri sliced her foot open so we headed home:)

• Mum took the kids for a drive to my sisters to take Jake & Chelsea home yesterday. And she took some photos of the boys yabbying in the creek! LOVE the photos she took. Here's some of them..

Free brushes on this collage from here - a fabulous site Ngaire shared recently on her blog..and some brushes and things I bought from 2peas here..

And here's about all the boys caught...no luck with the yabbies.

• Jamison has watched The Wedding Singer SO many times he is walking around the house reciting lines from the DVD. So that Christmas present was a huge hit!
• We recently rediscovered the Nintendo Donkey Kong game which was gathering dust in one of the cupboards! Very addictive and I will have you know I am THE BEST at the game:) even if I do say so myself.
• It's taken me soooo long to compile and finish this post that I have now finished one coat of the wall in Jamison's room...and its looking good. Here's a peek..

And now I am off to make lunch..

Have a great Sunday..

STILL in holiday mode here..

...but slowly starting to get back into the swing of things.

So, January four years ago I made my first layout.

My first layout if you don't count the CM style page I made at a friends party 18 months prior where I was horrified that people were cutting their photos into shapes. In fact I was horrified they were cutting their photos at all. And I remember thinking that scrapbooking just wasn't for me and I couldn't ever imagine getting into the craft.

My how times change.

Anyway, this month also marks the anniversary of my discovery of the ONLINE SCRAPPING COMMUNITY!!! I can't remember how I even found online email groups?? But I did. I stumbled upon a group called Aussie 3D Embellishments.... Actually, I do remember..

I found a great little online store called Scrappit and its owner at the time, Gabbie, also moderated the Aussie 3D email group and i followed a few links and before I knew it I was joining up and joining in!

I was SO new to the whole computer thing, the online thing,the group email thing but the girls I met there were welcoming and friendly and supportive and helpful and I met my first wave of great online friends...

Those girls were the ones to encourage me to share my work with them online. They were also the ones who encouraged me to submit my work to a magazine for the first time. It took me a long time to even consider posting my work within the group let alone actually thinking about sending work in to be considered for publication!!!!!

So there was a bit of a run of layouts being shared at the time called Things About Me so I gave it a go.  It took me hours. Hours of deliberation. Hours to choose what products to use. Hours to find a half decent photo of me. Actually, hours just to find ANY recent photo of me!

And I attempted a very pathetic version of a wire beaded dragonfly someone had shared the instructions for. I was pretty proud of the wire beaded dragonfly even though it was VERY dodgy and looked NOTHING like the beautifully crafted one someone had shared!!

So I was all ready to share my layout.

For the first time.

With my new scrapping friends. And I was TERRIFIED!! I prepared my email with the layout attached and then it sat there in my drafts folder because I was too scared to press send!

Eventually I did press send. And I got such a wave of generous and supportive comments. I was beside myself with excitement....

So here's the layout.

Very, ah, purple! And I might add all those handcut flower embellishments were foam mounted to add extra dimension! Very special:)

Ironically this whole post today started because I am cleaning out my scrapping space and finding all sorts of little gems!! And I came across a disc of all my original layouts. Coincidently when I looked more closely at this layout it is stamped the 11 January 2003 which is when I completed the page annnnnd here we are today...the 11 of January 2007! Exactly four years later! How cool is that!

Anyway, everyone has there own story about their introduction to scrapping and their first foray into the online world! It's when we realise hey, this is pretty cool this scrapping thing. And it was my realisation there were like minded people out there who shared the same hobby as me....

Sooo, after reading Lees blog and learning that it is National Delurking Week I decided I am going to go and leave a hello comment on all the blogs I read regularly..

And if you feel inclined, I would love to hear from those who read this:) Whether you are a regular comment leaver or a lurker..I don't mind..just drop in and say hi!

We are off to see Happy Feet..

Have a great day!

CATCHING UP..

We are still very much in holiday mode here...

I love January for that reason. It's holiday time.

[don't you just luuurve big brothers!!]

For me, January has always been my official holiday month. In recent years my quiet time with my business was always January which would mean I had some time off to relax and regroup before heading into the year...no phones. No orders. No messages. No work and basically no income for me but that was ok..I was on holidays...

When we were kids, mum and dad would pack us up and we would head off for a few weeks Summer holiday in January...They always seemed to find the BEST holiday places..

We would rent a house somewhere along the coast and spend a couple of weeks, usually with cousins, at the beach. Lots of sun, surf, swimming and the infamous....THUNDERTUBE...Oh how I loved that thing. It was my sisters bright yellow massive big inflatable tube that would throw you around mercilessly in the surf and you would come crashing into the shore and dumped unceremoniously onto the beach..with sand in your hair, eyes, mouth and places that really, sand should never be in..Loads of fun. And we would take a beating on that thing but keep going back for more..

but anyway, I digress..

Sooo, we have been having very lazy January days.

My sister called in through the week to visit (they live an hour away) and she stayed for lunch, dinner and ended up having a sleepover. I LOVE that. I love impromptu, unplanned stuff like that. I love that she can be impulsive (ok, not a good thing ALL the time but great in this instance).

She came with Jake who is Jamison's age. The rest of her family were all doing other things so she thought, why not.

My parents also came over for dinner. And then Debbie, mum and I went to a late night movie. The Holiday. It is seriously my new favourite movie. I loved it.

Yesterday we spent the day back in Sydney, this time at my cousin Trudi's home as a get together before my Aunty flies back home to the Gold Coast. We had a girls day out..mum, me, Debbie, Capri & Chelsea and we met up with my cousins and mum's sisters!!

My camera battery went flat so sadly...I have very few photos...here's one of the four girls playing Trudi's piano...

Debbie has some photos on her camera so thats good.

And then today..

Ken is still on holidays so he took Jamison and Capri into the foreshore to do some fishing. Jamison planned it all. He checked the tides on the net and the weather forcast. He got all the lines and gear ready and wanted to be gone before 8am this morning.

 

I am not digging that new Harry Butler in the Wild full on holiday beard Ken is now sporting, not to mention that Wallabies bucket hat (why, oh  why??) but that beard and that hat make him happy so that's good!

It is now windy, overcast and rainy so I am expecting them home soon!

And check out the cool Photoshop story board frames I used for the fishing photos.....find them here......along with some other free stuff!

happy holidays....

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2007.

A brand new year. A new banner for my blog and only one new year resolution this year for me. To get [and stay] fit and healthy!

We got home late yesterday from a few days at my cousins home in Sydney. We had our annual extended family get together. Great weather. Jacki and Mattie have THE best place for a get together. Kids had fun in the pool. Lots of food. Laughs. Chatting and catching up. Late night. Fun music. Loved it!

Everyone was able to make it except sadly, my sis Debbie and her family and our only boy cousin amongst our family of girls, Brett and his partner Julie..

Heres some pics....{warning..photo overload below:)}

And some group shots..cousins, aunties, inlaws..

and our youngest family member Abbey..such a cutie! Some photoshop action happening on this photo...

and a couple of favourite shots..