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Saturday 31 December 2011

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and prosperous 2012.

For me 2011 has been full of ups and downs, with the downs seeming to last far longer than the ups. One of the few bright patches has been starting this blog. I pray that this coming year will be the best one so far :-)

So wherever you happen to be and however long you still have to wait for the new year, enjoy tonight's celebrations!!!! If I am lucky I might even still be awake at midnight. :D

Chipper

Tuesday 27 December 2011

A productive Christmas break

Over Christmas we closed our shop for three days. We really needed the break! Today we have spent part of the day reorganizing the house. As we are hardly ever home we just don't get alot accomplished so today was the day :-)

The best area that was reorganized was my craft space. The kids and I share the only spare space in this house. The house is at least a third smaller than what we have been used to and we still can't fit everything into it. This room combines storage (in wardrobes that we don't need in this house. They store all our photos and memorabilia that we can't hang on the walls in our rental), the kids playstation and my craft space. The room was a bit of a mish-mash before as it was all unpacked in a rush. The kids couldn't even sit on chairs to play!

So we have set up two separate areas with my craft space getting the best of the natural light. It would be terrible to not take advantage of THREE windows! The best part is that the kids area is closest to the door. They don't have to squeeze past craft stuff to get to the TV. It is a little tight but I get to keep my sewing machines out now. I am teaching The Princess to sew and this means she will be able to use them when ever she wants.

I am too tired now to even go in there to use my room, but it is all ready to go :-) Enjoy the photos.

Chipper

Monday 26 December 2011

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have had a safe and enjoyable Christmas. Love from all of us.

Thursday 22 December 2011

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!  14 years ago on the 21st of December we tied the knot.


Boy how time flies and neither of us look like that any more!  It has been an adventurous 14 years and I am sure the years to come will be just as exciting.  Last night was the only night we could finish our Christmas shopping for the kids so we spent most of the evening shopping and when the shops shut we went to a late night restaurant.  I had very yummy fish and chips while The LOML had ribs.  Now you can't go out for an Anniversary dinner without having dessert :) so here is my HUGE banana split.  It was very good even without the cherry on top (I did sulk just a little when it came out with strawberries!).  The LOML had pancakes with ice cream.


As you can see we always have a very busy December!  Now to turn the focus to Christmas :-)  How are your Christmas plans coming along?

Chipper

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Birthday Boy!

Party food!

Last week The Thinker turned 13!!!  Hard to believe that I now have TWO teenagers in the house.  He had a party with his friends at a laser battle place on the Friday night.  After two games we gave them all dinner in the food hall and had some cake.  They all had a GREAT time!  We didn't opt for the official party at the game place as it was way too expensive and they only get a tiny meal.  Definitely not enough  for a pile of teenage boys!  The boys all thought it was wonderful as they ate a HUGE meal each from the turkish place.  It is a very small and quite food court and I think the owner of the Turkish food place thought it was great that we were buying lots of dinners.  We were originally going to get pizza and bring it into the food court as it was cheaper.  But while they were playing their games we were beginning to feel very guilty ... we know very well what it is like to be a small business in this day and age and we just couldn't bring in food.  In the end I am glad we didn't as everyone was happy all round and the guy who owns the food store was so appreciative he gave us PILES of chips and some turkish delight as extras.
Present time!
Birthday Breakfast Waffles.
On Saturday morning the teenage gene kicked in :-)  The Thinker slept in .... he NEVER does that!  By the time I had to wake him up, I had showered and dressed, set the table, AND made the waffle batter!  He was supposed to help me with that.  But the waffles were delicious and for once everyone was too full to finish them all.  Good thing cold waffles make a nice snack :-)

Then is was time for presents.  We gave him a gold chain.  A special present to commemorate turning 13!  All up he scored lots of iTunes cards, money, gadgets and clothes.

Happy Birthday to our Thinker!!!!!  Love you lots.

Presents from us
Chipper

Saturday 10 December 2011

Spa mini album

I decided to make a mini album of spa treatments for my niece whose birthday happens to fall on Christmas Day. I wanted her birthday present to be completely different to her Christmas present. It took me a very long time to pin all those recipes and I wondered who else I could give it to. So I am halfway through her album, plus one for my mom and this one that I made for a friend. She is leaving in the new year to travel around Australia with a tent trailer. So I had to rework this one to make it smaller. It is a 6x6 album but I made the cover from scratch to keep it as thin as possible.

I cut the back to fit the page protectors along with a front from chipboard. I then cut a thin strip out of the front where the hinge is on the page protector. I used a wide satin ribbon to make a space that would fold so that my cover is hinged. It is the black strip in the cover photo. I then covered the rest of the album with papers. I made this one with a new Teresa Collins range.

The album is divided into three sections. Body Scrubs, Face, Everything Else. I have also stamped blank journaling blocks for additional recipes. I kept the inside fairly plain as I didn't really want the pages heavily embellished. My friend is not one for unnecessary stuff!!! I should have hinged the back cover too and it would open better as the page protectors aren't double hinged (the extra plastic strip found along the spine of postbound refills). But I will put that down to a learning experience and a serious lack of time :-)

Now to keep cutting the pages of my nieces album.

Chipper

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Almost a Birthday

It is almost time for The Extroverts 13th Birthday. Which means it is his turn for a party. I have just now finished his invitations. They are kind of teenagery (not really a word!) with a bit of sparkle thrown in. I cut the card blank on the Cricut and embossed the front with a brick wall. I used coredinations card so I could sand it back. He wanted dark blue and I added a bit of red sparkle with 'Mels Diner' glimmer mist. I cut the inserts to fit and sprayed them with a quick blotch of 'bell bottom jeans' glimmer mist. I then stamped the insides and filled in the blanks.

He is off to a laser battle place with some friends and then we will all have pizza.

I love parties and I can't wait!
Chipper


Busy, busy

Today was possibly my last day off until Christmas. So I spent part of it cleaning (YUK!) and the rest crafting at my house with a friend. I am still working on Christmas presents and have a few in various stages of completion and another two completed today.

Today's projects were sewing!! I made two pillow mattresses that I found on pinterest. I didn't really follow the pattern as at it's simplest it is just a long tube divided into four. I will link to the original post when I am back on my computer (I am typing this from my phone). Below are two photos. One is a completed pillow mattress stuffed with pillows. You fold the top section under to make a raised pillow. The other photo is the one I made for The Princess. When we were fabric shopping she kept asking me if I could make her one too. I told her she was too big. And she is, so I made hers an extra pillow longer. By the time she got home from school I had all traces of sewing packed away!

I hope you Christmas preparations are flowing smoothly,
Chipper