Kim Archer | Mindful Living

AND THE WINNERS ARE....

Hi everyone.

Wow. So many comments. Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment. I combined all the comments from both blogs, printed them out and my trusty helper Capri folded them all and happily pulled out FOUR random names..

So..our four Christmas Spectacular winners are:

WINNER NUMBER ONE: FAMILY GIFTS WORKSHOP - Ngaire Brown

WINNER NUMBER TWO: GIRLFRIENDS GIFTS WORKSHOP - Michelle Wallace

WINNER NUMBER THREE - QUICK AND EASY GIFTS WORKSHOP - Jody

And WINNER NUMBER FOUR - TRIMMING THE TREE WORKSHOP - Jodi

 

Congratulations girls - when you get a chance, send me an email so I can save your details...

and THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who dropped by and left me a hello comment!!

Almost Christmas - and a little competition.

[edited to add: woweeee THANK YOU everyone who has left me a comment here as well as over at the @home blog. At 5pm I will do the draw and announce the 4 winners sometime after that]

Some of you may remember the Christmas Extravaganza I ran through my blog online classroom last year?

We had lots of projects and quick and easy gift ideas and my Christmas Elves, Janelle, Julie, Mardi and Yvette were very busy helping me out with samples. And then it all culminated in a LIVE layout workshop class.

Well, I am very excited to announce that we are back!

Sporting a new name. BIGGER than last year. Fresher. Jam packed with ideas. Loaded up with projects and looking forward to sharing everything with you all. So without further ado I would like to officially announce....

This year:

• we will be offering FOUR different category workshops which means you can book into one, two, three or ALL four workshops.
• each workshop is loaded with ideas, samples and giveaways. And theres not just scrapbook projects on offer- we have stitching, aromatherapy, papercrafts, painted projects and beading
• all workshops will run through my online virtual classrooms at www.kimarcher.com.au
• my Christmas Elves Janelle, Julie, Mardi and Yvette are BACK to help me out with samples along with our Miss September winner Helen!
• AND we have our Miss September finalists Kim, Lea, Leeann and Sasha joining us in the layout class.
• REGISTRATION OPENS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 2 at 9.30am
• The Christmas Spectacular kicks off on 16 November and projects will be uploaded randomly over a two week period culminating in a LIVE layout workshop on Friday 7 December from 7pm. All info will then remain accessible until Christmas Eve.
• We have kits!! Yay. Some of the workshops will have accompanying kits for sale. They will be available from 2 November once registration has opened.

Now, in celebration of our upcoming Christmas Spectacular it's time to have a little bit of a competition...I would love to give away FOUR free workshops..one winner PER workshop category.

So..simply LEAVE A HELLO COMMENT HERE ON THE BLOG (or over at the @homeblog) and I will draw FOUR random names early next week and announce the winners for each category NEXT WEDNESDAY!!

Our FOUR Workshop categories are all priced at $10 per category and include:

FAMILY GIFTS(this workshop includes the LIVE layout class), JUST FOR GIRLS, QUICK AND EASY and TRIMMING THE TREE

For more information...check out the website here!

Long time. No post.

Time to update!

Scrapboxx newsletter is out..here's my latest layout..I am a HUGE procrastinator which is what my journaling is all about in this layout - although I always get the job done especially with a deadline looming..but I do fluff around sometimes instead of getting on with it all!

I had this layout due (overdue!!) on the Friday afternoon. The same afternoon we were going to High School Musical. The same afternoon I had other stuff due. And we were heading to Canberra first thing the next morning. In the middle of that the kids needed to be fed before we left for the show and Brandt needed to be driven to work. And I hadn't even STARTED packing for Canberra.

So what do you do when you have a to do list as long as your arm to get through?

You trace and cut out all your patchwork quilt applique shapes ready to take to Canberra to stitch while you are away!!! You do a blog post and you design a new blog banner. So that made a great subject for the theme of 'habits' I had for the newsletter and I got the layout finished. And I got Brandt to work. And the kids got fed before High School Musical. And I packed and we managed to still get out of the house and on the road to Canberra by 8.20am Saturday morning. A mighty fine effort if I do say so myself!

Now, for the family. Some pics from Canberra. Yep. A while ago now but I still want to add these photos in! Our visit to Canberra was certainly a flying visit but we managed to pack quite a lot into the few days we were there.

Kids got to catch up with their cousins. We caught up with family. And we spent a great afternoon/dinner with our lovely farm friends Rob, Lyn and kids! Always great to see them. And breathe in the country air.  Lyn is Mrs Crafty Queen and I LOVED checking out all her beautiful patchwork pieces especially now I have a new found interest in stitching!!! She creates the most gorgeous stitched projects (and teddies!!) and her home is filled with craftiness!!

I met Lyn and her girls, with Capri at Ainslee's brand new scrapbook store..Scrap Junkie. Such a lovely location!! And a great new premises for Ainslee. PLUS HUGE bonus- I got to meet Yvette!! For the very first time. And she's tall. Mega tall. And strikingly gorgeous!! And such a lovely girl! One of those people you instantly warm to. I felt like I could sit and chat with her all day!!! I also got to meet Tassy!! And she was a lovely thing too - full of personality!!

Lyn generously took Capri and her girls for a drive for an ice cream so I could have some time visiting with Yvette at the shop.  Ainslee made us a cuppa and we got to have a really good chat!! And some shopping of course!

here we are:

And here we are with Ainslee..and Tassy too.

And here's some farm photos..(not so good - blurry and a bit dodgy but the kids had a ball on that quad!!)

We also went to the Kingston markets - always love visiting there. And out for dinner to APK Pizza Kitchen - another fave spot. And out for drinks for Ken's cousin Corinne's hubby's birthday (try and say that fast!) at their new pub they have just bought. And coffee at Kingston with Ken's sister and her kids.

All in all. Quite a social three days!

here's a few pics of the kids and their cousins..

And thats all for now. Tomorrow I have some news. And a little comp. Details tomorrow morning!

WEEK TWO OF THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS...

....has flown by!

Canberra was great. Pics to follow. Soon-ish.

Have loads of work at the minute. Gearing up for what is proving to be a MASSIVE Christmas Spectacular this year. Projects galore. Lots of surprises. Not only scrapbooking projects on offer BUT lots of different craft ideas. Lots of Elves. Giveaways. Prizes AND kits to go with some of the projects..(it's about time my @home shop got a facelift and some new stuff was added in! I for one am sick of seeing those felt folio kits with a sold out sign on them!!!!!)

Info available soon.

Registration opens NOVEMBER 1.

Tomorrow I am teaching a BIRTHDAY class for Kim at Scrap Direct. Give Kim a call or email her to book a place. Here's the project.

Single layout. Plus a birthday card. Some handmade stamped glitter letters. And lots of birthday photos.

CATCHING UP..

Week one of the holidays.

We visited Janelle and her kids, at her studio earlier in the week. In the past, I've done a little bit of stitching, and I mean a little bit, with Janelle and recently I took the plunge and signed up for a Block of the Month Christmas quilt kit from Honeysuckle Cottage.

Each month I receive a selection of fabrics to make one block and then after 6 months it miraculously turns into a gorgeous Christmas quilt.

Well that's the plan anyway.

The Block of the Month is fantastic value - $25 per month and the first month included the beautiful new book by Anni Downs called A Christmas Story. My first month's kit arrived a little while ago and it sat there in it's package for quite a while as I admired it and wondered how on earth I was going to tackle this!

And then Janelle came to the rescue and set me on my way! So I have been very inspired and busy of a night, stitching away! I have a loooong way to go but here's what I have done so far..ok, so only the baubles are actually stitched..the rest is assembled and ready to go...I am SO enjoying my stitching...

And here's some favourite photos from the day as well..Capri, Emily, Jasper and the other two are Janelle's friends kids.

And yes, Emily is a few months older than Capri....check the height difference!

And a cute one of Emily and Jasper..

other news:

Jake and Chelsea are down for a visit. Kids braved the chilly water (even though the weather is HOT the pool is freezing) and had a swim at mum & dads.

Jamison and Jake slept here last night while the girls slept at mum and dads. And tonight we are headed to High School Musical at the Entertainment Centre..4th row from the front. All kids are very excited..

And then tomorrow we head to Canberra to catch up with Ken's family and our good friends Rob and Lyn and kids for the weekend...Will be good to visit with them again..

I have my stitching to take with me and hope to get some more done while we are away..and VERY EXCITING..I am meeting up with Yvette in real life..finally!!! Looking forward to that! See you Sunday Yvette. We're meeting at Ainslee's brand new premises for Scrap Junkie..the official opening of the store is this weekend which was perfect timing for me!

And last but not least....

I am helping out Crop For Kids by teaching an online workshop next year (along with lots of other scrapbook teachers so stay tuned!!)..in the meantime, head on over to the blog and check out Crop For Kids brand new competition.. DESIGN A CHIPPIE..read all about it here. It's a fun comp, great prizes and for a great cause!!

Have a great weekend everyone..

The long weekend..

October long weekend.

Already. October? How did that happen? Christmas decorations starting to appear in the shops. End of year activities starting to happen. And another couple of weeks of school holidays have just commenced here in NSW.

AND most exciting...I started my Christmas shopping. Now this is a BIG deal for me as I am a last minute Christmas shopper. So to even have ONE present bought by 29 September and one family member to cross off my present buying list is a miracle for me!

So. Our weekend.

Well we have managed to pack in quite a few activities this long weekend already. Starting with Friday night and Capri's dance concert. Held at the beautiful Civic Theatre we sat through 49 acts plus the finale from 250 students over 4 hours.

Jamison came with us (big mistake)and groaned and moaned through the entire experience. After the first dance finished he announced, 'only 48 to go!' and proceeded to count down for the rest of the night. But secretly I don't think he was as bored as he pretended to be as I saw his toes tapping away to a few of the numbers!

I didn't take ANY photos on the night. No cameras allowed. And no photos at home before hand either. We had a fishnet stocking crisis at 4.33pm and we were supposed to be on our way to the Civic by 4.30pm.

Capri couldn't find her fishnets WITHOUT THE RIP in them! She could only find her old ones from a few years ago which of course are too small and have a big tear up the leg. And considering she was doing her cheerleading dance with a key role and lots of flipping, cartwheeling and legs in the air where the entire audience would see the nice big ripped stocking, I went into panic mode.

I pulled her bedroom apart, went through the dirty washing, yelled at her, was furious, tried to ring my friend Marie to see if she had Bridie's old fishnets we could borrow (no answer when I rang), tried to SEW up the tear in the stockings...do you know HOW HARD IT IS TO MACHINE STITCH fishnet stockings....mmmmm disaster.

Meanwhile the time was ticking on and it was almost 5pm and Capri was supposed to be at the theatre at 5pm and we hadn't even LEFT to drive into town (a 20min drive in Friday afternoon traffic) and Capri was having a coronary about being late and upset that I was so upset with her.

Anyway, Ken came to the rescue and left work early to go to Bloch at Charlestown, thankfully it is right near where he works and met us at the Theatre so it did work out ok. But for about 20 mins it was frantic and stressful and horrible at our place. Hence the no photos.

Sooo, here's a couple of photos from the studio photo day..the lighting was bad. And I was trying to get in there behind the photographer to take photos but I was at a bad angle..And the only good photos I got were of Capri and her friends but I don't have permission from the other mums to post them publicly so I will only share a couple of Capri by herself.

Her FAVOURITE FAVOURITE dance is her cheerleading one and you could tell that from her big beaming smile and the energy she had. It was fantastic. And she was flipped and turned and spun and cartwheeled all over the stage and not a ripped stocking in sight thankfully!

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Saturday morning I was up and headed for the shops to buy my good friend Sandra a birthday present. She had her big 4-0 birthday lunch Saturday afternoon at Silo restaurant in town along the foreshore. It was a beautiful setting.

Sandra is the first of us to turn 40 (she always liked to take the lead!!) and the rest of us don't celebrate that birthday until next year - and we are all clinging to our 30's with grit and determination!!

Sandra looked FABULOUS!

And some other photos from the day..

And my favourite because we are all in it: Dom, me, Jenny, Lotty, Sandra and Vanessa!!

Love these girls.

Love them for their wit and humour. Love them because Lotty can still ring me and ask what I'm wearing out (just like in high school). Love them because we all still go to the toilet in pairs. Love them for the history we share. Love them for their 'I remember when' recalls. Love them for their ability to laugh at themselves. Love them for their silliness and the ability to bounce off each other as they talk. Love them for being FUN girls who make me laugh. Just love 'em.

Happy Birthday San the wo-man!

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Now this is getting to be a reeeeeallly looooong post. Is anyone still reading it??

What else?

My sister and the kids came down for show and tell after their US trip plus to give us all our souvenirs. And then Capri had a sleepover at mum & dads. Ken, Jamison and I went into Scratchly's for takeaway seafood. De-licious. 

Sunday I did some gardening. Woo hoo.

Went to the nursery and bought some Lavender plants, some more box brush, two Azaela shrubs and some potted colour - petunias! I didn't get it all planted out yesterday afternoon as we then went to the movies but today is a beautiful day and I am about to head out there shortly and finish off my gardening. And it's looking great - if I do say so myself!

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday), Mum, Capri, Marie, Bridie and I went to the movies to see Hairspray. The girls loved it! The mums? Well, I'm not sure what we were expecting (a funkier, hipper Dreamgirls perhaps??) but it wasn't what we thought it would be like. It was good. Just not great. It's had such great reviews and has been such a hit at the box office and Oprah gave it a big wrap..so perhaps there was TOO much buildup before hand?? Anyway, it was still nice to be out with friends and eating popcorn and watching Capri and Bridie enjoy the movie so much!

We were home in time for America's Next top Model finale as well as Idol. I loved Idol last night. After the rock night the other week I thought this lot of Idols may not have been as enjoyable to watch as previous years but I am enjoying the show now..My favourites: both of the 16 year olds (fantastic!), Natalie and Jacob.

Ok, I'm all finished..that was a mega post...if you read it all then you are a champ! Thank you!!

oh and last thing...

The next Instant Workshop is up and running over at the @Home site...the good old Stitch & Rip It workshop is already taking bookings. Read more here and..Book in here