Time to get my act together ;-)

I posted earlier in the year HERE about being at 6s and 7s 

Well I have been slowly working on a few plans to help get myself a bit more organised around the home.

I read a post this morning on Oz Handmade's blog - having read what Gill has to deal with, I should have no problems at all ;-)

On Monday, I purchased this .............

The items of the left are the 'must dos' and will stay assigned to their respective days; the items on the right (red) are the 'want to dos' which will most probably change from week to week.  This list will be refined over the next few weeks as I see how it actually fits in, but it is nice to know what the week will hold at a glance.  The Saturday & Sunday spots will also have any 'jobs' hubby needs to do around the house.

I know I shouldn't have to remind myself to wash the towels and sheets - we have two sets of each - the idea being one set is in the linen press, one set is being used.  But how many times have I changed the bed and found that I have forgotten to wash the sheets/towels from the week before - so that means I have to wash the sheets/towels that day no matter what the weather is doing ;-)   

I think it stems from the fact that now, I have way too much time at my disposal ;-)  I fritter it away on other things like blogging and sewing and cardmaking and taking photographs ;-)

So for this last two months or so, I have only given myself permission to get on the computer if the dishes are done and the sink is shiny ;-)   Guess, what, it seems to be working ;-)

(ignore the spatula soaking in the sink ;-) )

So to answer Gill's question ......... 

My solution is to write a list and prioritise things into what HAS to be done and WHEN it has to be done by. 

Gill has an enormous amount of responsibilities - I don't think I could keep up at all.  My suggestion to Gill would be to work out what is most important to her and her family and concentrate on those things.  Maybe allocating a certain number of hours in the day for certain things, or even just doing 1 load of washing EVERY DAY, may keep things a bay, or maybe the Community stuff may need to take a back seat for a little while ;-(  

It is so hard to know what to suggest ............... here I am in an opposite situation with too much time, but I still have the same issues about things not running as smoothly as I would like.

I could suggest FlyLady  as a resource to help get yourself into some form of routine - 15 minutes at a time ;-)

It works for some! I utilise it with my ongoing Decluttering Project ;-)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

The ways of Pinterest :-( - UPDATED

I have been watching the Pinterest explosion with interest (pun NOT intended), and I have come across some information which concerns me ;-)

I often wondered how people could pin something (as good as taking it from the original source - be it a blog, or a photo gallery) and not seek permission from the original owner.  Yes, there is an option to credit the original source, but how many 'pinners' go back to that original source?

Now it seems the 'plot has thickened' and there is more to this than just pinning.

I have discovered a wonderful blog post HERE which articulates so wonderfully what my concerns were and gives some more information.   

UPDATED:  Some links to 'how to stop pins' are HERE - thanks for Sharon from Pin Tangle for sharing.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Merry Birthday Blog Hop

Following a wonderful suggestion by fellow Belle Stacie, all the members of the UnstampaBelles Design Team have cooked up a surprise blog hop for our Team Leader's birthday today ..........

Surprise!  Happy Birthday Merry!

Here is my card ;-)

You may remember I made this card for a challenge and was keeping it for someone special ;-)

I have actually posted this card, and if the postman has been kind, Merry should have it now ;-)

Please join in our little Blog Hop and visit all the team members' blogs (see links on the sidebar) to see their lovely surprise Birthday messages for our Team Leader.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

I've been shopping again .......

Hi everyone

I had a bit of a splurge in Spotlight the other day.

I have had a request from my nephew's wife to make up some letters for the nursery.

so I went to spotlight and got some supplies ;-)

There are other letters under there - stay tuned!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

For the Bride

My friend Lynn's daughter is getting married on Saturday and I was most honoured to received an invite to check out the ceremony ;-)

But we had some terrible weather yesterday and realised we had an overflow problem with one of our gutters at the rear of the carport.  

here is a pic of what was happening with the gutters - thankfully, it was only over the end of the carport and not the house.

So we are going to be spending our Saturday fixing our guttering ;-(  ready for the next lot of rain.

EDITED:   The cause of our gutters overflowing

a broken CD was in the gutter and was over the opening to the downpipe - took us about an hour to find it as it was covered in silt

I am so disappointed that I will miss out on seeing the Bride :-(

I hand delivered a card to Lynn's place and hope that the Bride has an absolutely wonderful day.

I received so many compliments on the card I made for my niece in October last year, I decided to use a similar layout, but left it simple.

Bridesmaids will be in Midnight Blue ;-)

Products Used:

Quartz Shimmer cardstock from Blue Edge Crafts

Stamp:  Lili of the Valley

Flowers:  Blue Edge Crafts, Pizzaz Aplenty

Cuttlebug embossing folders

Copics

I wish to enter this card in the following challenge:

Stampin for the weekend - photo inspiration (pinks & blues)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Flashback Friday

On Flashback Friday, they have asked us to show our first paper pieced card.

I went back ALMOST 3 years to the day, to find this card - which was originally posted here

Images were handstamped onto different scrapbook papers and 'paper pieced' to add a bit of dimension.  Cuttlebug was used to emboss dots across top of card, and added Kindy Glitz/Stickles to paper flower.

A very simple card, and as I had a lot of fun making it up, I made up some more ;-)

Note:  a little pearl necklace has since been added to the above card ;-)

It was good to revisit this technique - I must remember to do it again soon.

These cards are available in my ETSY store.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Now I can show you .....

Hi everyone

some of you may have noticed my card blog has been a bit quiet of late ..... well I have been working on some wedding invites for a friend's daughter's wedding.

I can reveal all now ;-)

It has been a collaborative effort between myself and the Bride - they wanted a pocket invite with a Hollywood type theme

Lights, Camera, Action!

Total Invites made:  50

Products used:  Purple Shimmer cardstock & Quartz shimmer paper from Blue Edge Crafts.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

it's the unexpected things ............

that produce the most wonderful feelings ;-)

During February, we celebrated our 30th Wedding anniversary and we caught up with some of the family and some close friends and received some beautiful unexpected gifts.

One of my surprises were these lovely cards from my husband

the surprise was not that I got a card, but the style of cards he chose - very me (I think ;-) )

and from hubbie's brother & wife - Greg & Rosa

card from Chris & Cathy

To me, all of these cards reflect the givers so beautifully ;-)

but the biggest surprise were the lovely gifts from Greg & Rosa (chocolates included, but have since been eaten)

and a gorgeous decorative vase from Chris & Cathy

The BIGGEST thank you ever!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Challenge #9 UnstampaBelles - Easter

Challenge #9 for UnstampaBelles is up and running - boy of boy, where is the time going?


Theme is Easter with a bonus technique "extra folds"
This challenge closes Friday, 30th March 2012 and Winners announced Monday, 2nd April 2012 - Remember we are working on Aussie Time.


Here is a quick recap of the rules:


No Stamps! This means no rubber stamps, no digital stamps, clipart or line art which includes pre-coloured versions. Inclusive of sentiment stamps.


You may think this will be difficult, but here are some suggestions on what you CAN use:
3D papertole, decoupage, quilling, iris folding, stitching, beading, origami, fancy folds, cutting machines (e.g. craftrobo/silhouette, cricut), paper punches, canvases, stickers, rub-ons, parchment, etc.......




Due to graphic technology any entry with a graphic image will be subject to the Design Teams' discretion and we will contact you if we feel the entry does not meet the ethos of our challenge blog.




A technique challenge will be included as a bonus.  This will not be a requirement for an entry but if you do use the nominated technique in your project, it will count as two entries for you.

Our sponsor for March is Blue Edge Crafts - my go to shop for most of my craft supplies.

Now for my DT entry.

In the past, I haven't really done many Easter cards and must confess, I struggled with an idea of what to do.


I came across some colouring in pages and they had a wonderfully cute image that I thought I could incorporate into a cutting file.


Another clean and simple card for me.

Square white cardbase, layered with 6 x 6 scrapbook paper, highlighted with peel-off stickers.  Rabbit cut out using CraftROBO, layered and highlighted with chalks and kindyglitz.  Cardstock, scrapbook paper and stickers from Blue Edge Crafts.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:


Colour Create - yellow, grey, black & white
Cooking it up with Katie - 3 fave things (CraftROBO, KindyGlitz & Cuttlebug)


Please visit the UnstampaBelles blog  and see who won last month's challenge.

Each month there are some amazing entries and it really is getting more difficult for the DT to pick a favourite!



Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

RIP Davy Jones

Davy Jones, from The Monkees, has passed away.

I grew up watching The Monkees and still enjoy their music today - I have most of their songs on my iPod

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day. 

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-) 

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.