Anniversary or Purgatory

Today is our 20^th wedding anniversary.  We are celebrating by spending a much needed weekend away from the kids. But not before starting the day the same as too many others in our 20 year history, with a fight.  With catty remarks and personal attacks about our personality traits, parenting styles and a competition over who does more around the house and who has it tougher than the other.

I see a lot of my FB friends post heartwarming tributes to their other halves on their wedding anniversaries and wonder if I’m the only one who wants to be doing the same but struggles to say anything nice.  Happy Anniversary Arsehole doesn’t have the same ring to it.  They write things like, can’t wait for the next 20 years, you are my rock, thank you for having my back. I've tried to express the same sentiments but can't bring myself to hit the Post button on what is essentially a lie. I worry about how people will react if I write "I'd be up for parole by now".  Then I worry what people will think if I write nothing at all.  What message does that send?  Is it worse than the truth?

We have our moments of clarity, where we agree that we love each other, we both work as hard as the other just in different ways and want to move forward as a united partnership.  The one thing we always agree on is that we are both exhausted.  By the constant battle for supremacy, by the pressures of work, parenting and life in general.  But where do you draw the line in the sand, who surrenders first, who takes the higher ground, who turns the other cheek???

I'm really looking forward to this weekend away.  Not so much for the quality time with hubby but for the break from the kids, from the cooking, from the brutal schedule I subject myself to to ensure that I'm organised and ready for the coming week.

Who knows, I might even discover the man I fell in love with so many years ago.

Time for a Reality Check

A 10 minute drive from where I live is this.........

Imagine what this view looks like with no clouds.

It's a beautiful place to be but is almost always forgotten in the hustle and bustle of life in general.

In my quest to find inner peace I have vowed to stop and smell the roses (or in this case the sea air) and feel the sand between my toes.  So often in our lives we are so pre-occupied with what we think are the must-dos that we don't give ourselves the time to appreciate all the small (or in the above case, the large) treasures around us.  Whether it be the flight of a butterfly or the crash of a wave we need to remind ourselves that these things have the ability to provide us with a much needed moment of peace.  A chance to take a deep, calming breath and give thanks for what we have.

SIGH................

Let's Get This Party Started!!!!

It's been a while.  That's an understatement!!  I admit I've been a bit slack.  If there is one thing that I'm good at it's procrastinating.

NO MORE!!

I want to knit, I want to sew, I want to craft my little heart out and put lots of lovely goodies on this blog.  So it's time to get my finger out.

I will need your help to get my blog out there.  Please tell your friends, and your friends friends and your friends friends second cousin twice removed.

The album below is one I recently made for a close friend who just had a baby girl.  I know what you're thinking, "it's not a traditional baby album" but that is the way mummy wanted it.  No pink please.

I'm really happy with how the album came out and it is very versatile and can be made to suit any purpose.  The design is by the amazing Laura Denison and it has lots of space for photos and journalling (comments about the photos) for those non-scrapbookers.


Front Cover



Inside Front Cover

 The dimensions of the album are 6.5" tall and 4.25" wide (pages, the cover measures 7" x 6").  Each page has a pull out photo matte which slides out from the right side.  The inside covers also have 3 photo or journalling mattes which measure 3.25" x 5".


Inside Cover - Flap Open

 
Each page also has a flap which opens out to the right, providing more space for photos or journalling.


Diagonal Pocket Page

 Each page also has pockets for smaller photos or mementos and journalling.  This is the diagonal pocket style.  The pull out mattes measure 3.25" x 3.25".


Vertical Pocket Page

 This is the vertical pocket style, the pockets slide out from the left, the back one measure 2.75" x 5.25" and the front one 3.75" x 5.25".


Horizontal Pocket Page

 This is the horizontal pocket style, the pockets slide out from the top of the left page and measure 3.25" x 6" for the back one, 3.25" x 4.5 " for the centre one and 3.25" x 3" for the front one.


Inside Back Cover

 This is the inside back cover which has the same size mattes for photos or journalling as the inside front cover.

This album has five pages and I mixed the pocket styles around.  You are not limited to using all the pocket styles so the album can really have many different looks.

This album would make a lovely gift for mothers or nannies, as Mother's Day is just around the corner.  You could fill it with photos of the kids or grand kids.

If you'd like an album made for you leave me a post and we can discuss styles and colours.

Stay tuned for more crafty bits coming soon.

Thanks for reading.

Cards As Promised

These are the cards that I have available for sale at the moment.  If any of them appeal to you just leave me a comment and I'll contact you to sort out payment and postage.  All cards are blank and come with an envelope.  I hope you like them.

Just Wanna Say Hi

Have A Great Day

Thanks

Thinking Of You

Warmest Wishes

Dad

Love

Dad (2)

Congratulations



The Beginning Of.......

The beginning of what?, I hear you ask.  Good question, I say.  I'm hoping that this blog is the beginning of many things.

A place where I can share my love for handmade cards and papercrafts.

A place for people to buy something lovingly handmade for that special someone.

A place for people to share my journey to a lifestyle I've always dreamed of.

Who wouldn't want to sit at home all day and craft, then have people show their appreciation for my creativity by buying my stuff???

My plan is to show my work in progress, and the finished items.  If you like anything in particular, leave a comment and we can arrange payment and postage.  Sounds simple huh?

Slight problem, I'm currently in the process of selling up and moving to the beautiful Gold Coast.  That means that all my crafty bits and pieces are packed safely away and will remain so until after I've moved.  When will that be?, I hear you cry.  Mid-June!!

For the time being, I will post some photos of the greeting cards I've made and if any of them appeal to you just leave me a comment.  All cards are $5.00 plus $2.00 postage and packaging.

I hope that you enjoy my blog and look forward to, what I'm hoping will be, an exciting and fun journey towards my spiritual eden.