Kim Archer | Mindful Living

Namadji

I love how a paint colour can totally change the look of a room!!!

We're doing a little painting and redecorating to our home including a few new pieces of furniture, new carpet and new white timber blinds in the bedrooms over the coming months.

While "resting" and having my break I continued with some wall painting in the house.

Room by room I am painting all of the house in Dulux Sandy Day with Dulux Naural White glossy trim which will replace the very yellowy creamy tones the previous owners painted this entire house years ago! And it's a big job so I am pacing myself and doing sections at a time. I hate half finished jobs and the mess that painting brings so I am refusing to move onto the next room until I have finished the first.

And I'm throwing in a feature wall colour here and there.

It's making such a difference already and I've only painted our entry, hallway and Brandt's bedroom.

Annnnyway, I had painted a feature wall in Aqua a while ago in our little entry and I do LOVE the colour (it's repeated as a feature wall in our family room), but it was the wrong colour for the entry.

So I toyed with what colour I would go with and decided I really wanted a charcoal coloured wall. It took me some time to work up the courage to paint it charcoal as it seemed SO dark but after googling images of black walls I knew this was the right colour!!!

I chose Dulux Namadji.

I must admit when the first coat went on I thought what on earth am I doing!! I'm going to wreck the entry!!

BUT I LOVE IT!

I am so, so happy with how it looks. It's better than I imagined and I am now looking around for what other walls I can paint charcoal!! (Taken on my iPhone so not all that clear and a bit "blacker" in real life)

 

And I especially love my little original Kate Mason work of art now sitting there at the top of my photo collection. I want to add in a few other frames too eventually.

I'll share other rooms and things as they come together too.

A little project

I'm heading back to one of my favourite little towns - Wingham, NSW (my birthplace! Well I was born in Taree hospital but we lived in Wingham at the time) after being invited by the lovely Leisa Barwell from Scrapsidaisy to come on down and teach at her Scrapsidaisy Retro Retreat.

You can read more about the Retreat here on Facebook. The retreat is being held Saturday, April 16-17 and my class runs Saturday afternoon. You can also check out the Scrapsidaisy website here.

I'm teaching a lovely little class called Come On Get Happy - a very textural mini book with a fabric cover and filled with all of those random photos that just make you smile.

Here's a little lookie.

Maybe I will see you there ;-)

Drinking my greens

THANK YOU to my wonderful Support Team girls (especially Janelle) for holding the fort for a few weeks while I took a little breather from blog duties and work stuff.

I've had a pretty crappy kick off to 2011 health wise BUT I am back on track and feeling good. Well, better than good..I feel finally on the right track with everything. I was frustrated with myself for taking SO LONG to feel better and in the end when people asked how I was feeling now, I would hear myself say, "good thanks" because I was over saying, well actually I am STILL not 100%! Two and a half months since I first started coughing and I was still not quite back to normal!

Besides having visited my GP last week and starting a further course of antibiotics, a change of asthma meds and taking Immune Biotic liquid from the Chemist to try and buld up my immune system, I have been having my morning serve of green veges..drinking them down in my Super Greens Banana Smoothie.

Mmmm mmm doesn't that look delightful?

Seriously, it tastes better than it looks and I have been having my special green smoothie every single morning and I do feel a huge difference and think it has definitely helped with making me feel better.

The special ingredient is Premium Super Greens powder which is a combination of spirulina, barley grass, chlorella and wheat grass - packed with vitamins and equivalent to five + daily servings of vegetables. There are plenty of different brands on the market but the one I use is made by Synergy Natural, you can check out the website here. Find it in health shops or the supermarket health food aisle.

And it's helped.

I can't quite bring myself to drink it mixed straight into water as that would make me puke but blended with skim milk, 1 banana, a handful of blueberries, a squirt of honey and 1 heaped teaspoon of the green powder and it tastes quite nice!

So I am back - again - and ready for action. Stay tuned here on the @Home blog. I will be back to blogging more regularly - it's my New Years plan and we have a LOAD of things in store this year to share with you all.

Colour Challenge Winner...

After placing the names of all the Colour Challenge entrants into a bowl, my daughter chose a random winner for me. I am so pleased to announce the winner of last week's Colour Challenge is....

drum roll please...

Lee Mills

Congratulations Lee. Your layout is fantastic, and I love how you have used all the colours too. Well done!!! If you would like to email Kim, she will organise your $10 voucher to the @home site.

A HUGE big thank you to each and every one for entering our challenges while Kim has been taking a much needed rest. I have loved seeing each of your layouts as they have popped into my inbox too. x Janelle

Colour Challenge Entries...

I was SO very excited to see all of the layouts popping into my inbox for Lisa's colour challenge. Everyone embraced the colours beautifully and created stunning layouts. A BIG thank you to everyone who entered. Here are the layouts for you to see too.

First up we have Nic Pomeroy. Nic has shared her thoughts and additional photos of her gorgeous Summery layout on her blog HERE. I love how Nic has incorporated the use of fabric in her layout too. Thanks Nic for entering our challenge and for creating such a fun and colourful layout.

Next up is Lorraine Vidler. Lorraine says 'I loved the colour combination …so fresh and summery… and it went perfectly with this photo of our DD,  I love the end result'. We love the end result too Lorraine - your layout is gorgeous. Thanks so much for entering the challenge.

**image removed for publication - well done Lorraine:)

Our next layout was scrapped by Alison Abernethy. Alison says - 'When I saw the Summery colours Lisa had chosen, I immediately thought of this photo of my daughter. I loved using this gorgeous combo – thanks for another great challenge!'

We love the colour combo too and how you have used them on your layout as well. Great work Alison.

Next is a beautiful layout by Sophie Koschmann. Sophie says - 'I couldn't resist having a go at the colour challenge. I wouldn't have thought of putting these shades together, but I like how it turned out.'

Your layout is wonderful Sophie. I love all the little touches you have added too, just gorgeous.

Next up is Lea Ingram. The beautiful Lea has once again created a gorgeous layout. Lea loved the colour palette as well. We love your layout too Lea, thank you for scrapping our challenge.

And last but definitely not least is Lee Mills. Lee says - 'I have NEVER just worked with colours before, it was fun and challenging to find a photo that would 'work', such a great colour pallette to work with.'

We agree Lee, you have scrapped a great layout using the colour palette. Thanks so much for entering our challenge.

A BIG BIG thank you girls for entering our challenge. I love all of your layouts and think you have interpreted the colour palette beautifully.

I will be back later on today to announce the winner - drawn randomly from all of the entries above. x Janelle

 

Colour Challenge Layout - by Sheree Forcier

This morning I am thrilled to share another Colour Challenge layout, this time scrapped by the talented Sheree Forcier. Sheree has used the colour palette to perfection - LOVE your layout Sheree.

Don't forget, there is still time to enter this challenge - so grab your scrapping supplies, scrap a layout using some or all of the colours in the challenge (see a few posts below for details) and email a photo or scan of your layout to me by midnight Sat 19th Feb. Email me at [email protected]

Can't wait to see your layouts... x Janelle

Colour Challenge Layout - by Mardi Winen

This morning I am excited to share with you another Colour Challenge Layout, this time by the beautiful Mardi Winen. Mardi has once again created a stunning layout - we all adore it. Here is what Mardi had to say...

"What can I say.....thankyou Lisa!!!
This was such a fun and fresh colour pallete to work with....and it suited this photo of Bella at the lake perfectly. I tried a few new tricks with this layout...
1. I used a colour challenge... (I never normally use colour as a starting point.)
2. I journaled directly on the layout
3. I finally took the lid off my glimmer mist
Thanks again Lisa

Thank you Mardi for sharing your gorgeous layout with us. You have used the colour palette beautifully.

Back soon to share more Colour challenge layouts by the Support Team girls... x Janelle

Sketch winner...

Drum roll please...........

It is time to announce the winner of our Sketch challenge. All of the names of those who entered were put into a hat and the winner was drawn by my hubby. I am happy to announce that KIRSTEN NORTHFIELD is the winner of the $10 voucher to the @home site.

Congratulations Kirsten. If you would like to email me I will organise for your voucher to be sent through to you.

A HUGE thank you goes to each and every one who entered our challenge. For another chance to win, why not enter this weeks colour challenge. Can't wait to see your entries. x Janelle and the ST girls

Another layout to add to Mardi's sketch challenge...

Due to an email glitch, this stunning layout by Lea Ingram didn't arrive in my inbox last week. Thankfully Lea checked with me when reading the post below and was able to resend it to me.

I am delighted to share Lea's beautiful sketch layout with you. Thank you Lea for entering our challenge too. Your layout is just beautiful. x Janelle and the ST girls.

Colour Challenge - by Lisa Pate

Are you ready for another challenge? I know we Support Team Girls are. This week the lovely Lisa Pate has set our challenge - a colour challenge.

Lisa has chosen a fun, summery colour palette for us to be inspired by. This week we challenge you to use these colours as inspiration for a brand new layout - choose two colours or use them all, we don't mind. We just want to see your layouts.

To be in the running to win a $10 voucher to the @home site, scrap a layout inspired by Lisa's colour palette and email it to me ([email protected]) by midnight Saturday 19 Feb.

Today I am super excited to share the first Support Team layout scrapped using the colour palette as inspiration - here is Yvette Adam's gorgeous layout.

This is what Yvette had to say - "I loved this FRESH summery colour story.  It went beautifully with some summer photos of my daughter Tasmyn and her best friend Bella, taken after they'd been for a swim.  I turned the photo into a pocket and hiding behind it is a note from Bella to Tassy and a cut-out stamped Japanese girl which always reminds me of the Momiji dolls that Tassy and Bella both collect."

So grab your scrapping supplies in the these beautiful colours and get scrapping. We want to see YOUR layouts... Have fun x Janelle and the ST girls.