ON MY MIND | What's the plan for 2014?

Hope you all had a lovely festive season! 

Our Christmas morning was a flurry of excitement with wrapping paper flying everywhere and a lot of woah's, cool and awesome's thrown around by two very happy little boys.

And then lunch and swim at my brother in law's place where hubby and his brothers competed to see who could fire the quickest and best sibling insult, and the boys and their cousins played and laughed. It made me realise how lucky I am to have such beautiful people in my life -- quick witted as well.

So there are only 5 more days until we see in 2014! 

I do not set goals specifically for a new year as I like the option to start them at anytime I am motivated to do so. (less pressure!)

Having said that, the closing of one year and the beginning of another always inspires me to assess where I am at, and where I would like to be heading.

Right now, my aim is quite simple. It is about making IMPROVEMENTS to the way I am currently doing things. 

This is what it comes down to:

1. Eat more regularly and stop skipping meals

2. Drink more water

3. Go to bed earlier

4. Be more present and patient with my little boys

5. Have more family time together

5. Visit my mum more often

6. Be more organised so that the boys are fed and get into bed earlier

There is nothing about work, money, holidays, Project Life or digital designing. That’s because the most important thing for now is to build good foundations and hopefully the rest will fall into place.

I most definitely have creative projects I have on the go, namely getting my boys’ photos into albums. But these are ongoing and I continue to chip away at it. And it’s something I love doing so I don’t need a reminder to get onto them!

I found this awesome quote on pinterest yesterday that I have added to a photo I took  last year at the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens. This quote resonates with me so much that I will be pinning it on my PHYSCIAL WALL in my craft room.

What is on your radar at the moment for change or improvement? Do you make New Year's resolutions?

My Christmas cards for 2013

I'm here with a quick post tonight to share the Christmas cards I made today.

I used the Christmas Tradition and Christmas 2013 stamp sets from Kellie Stamps.

My initial thought was to use Christmas patterned papers and a few stamps. Maybe even some embossing. Well...that didn't really happen. 

When I looked at Kellie's stamps, there were so many phrase stamps that I loved, and it was very hard to just use ONE greeting.

So this is what I came up with.

Here's a close up.

I am really happy with how quickly I could make these. I made these in under an hour which for me is fast in terms of my card making.

Don't you just love the JOY stamp? I love it so much. It makes me happy looking at it :-)

Hope your preparations for the festive season are coming together nicely and according to plan. 

As for my preparations... let's just say we are desperately trying to break the "tradition" of being up until 3am wrapping presents!

Christmas 2013 Photo Overlays

Ahhh....here they are!

From the moment I released my Summer Christmas Collections, I had been planning to design some photo overlays to complement them.

It has taken me this long to get them done! 

My excuse? Well...I went and found myself a job so it was a matter of juggling work, children, home and still finding time for the basic eating and sleeping. Unfortunately, the sleeping component has suffered somewhat, lol.   

These are available from my online shoppe as PNG files. 

These photo overlays have been designed for 4x6 photos, but I'm sure you could use them on 3x4s as well.

I am considering choosing a few photos and using them as Christmas cards this year too.

Anyways, I hope you like them because I have really enjoyed making them.

Enjoy the rest of your week xx

ON MY MIND | Our amazing school teachers

There are only two weeks of school left for the boys. Where has the year gone!?!

Little Jake has almost finished his Prep year. As I walked him to his classroom this morning, I held his little hand and could not believe that he is going into Grade 1 next year.   

I have huge respect for the teachers who are passionate about encouraging, teaching and nurturing our children to reach their fullest potential.

My big boy Isaac is going into Grade 4 next year. Yup, Grade 4. 

I had a chat to Isaac's teacher last week and I felt very grateful he was placed into her class this year. 

I am also a little bit sad Mrs C won't be teaching Isaac next year. She has been the most amazing teacher who was committed to giving him the push he needed to grow in confidence, yet being gentle enough to not overwhelm him. 

His marks have improved from last year, and I am 99.99% certain Mrs C was the catalyst.  

Check out this drawing that is currently pinned up on the whiteboard in Isaac's classroom. 

To put it into perspective, the RHS of the vase was blank. The LHS of the vase had the pattern outlined in black. His task was to copy the pattern onto the RHS, and then colour everything in. 

You will have to excuse my proud mummy moment. I just love the striking colour combination he has chosen, and his attention to detail.  

Teachers can have such a massive influence on our children. And the good ones, well...I feel forever in their debt for nurturing and guiding my boys.

Speaking of gratitude for awesome teachers, I made this mini album for Jake's kindy teachers last year as an end of year gift. 

I've shared this mini album before, so here's the link to to the original post (only requires one sheet of 12" x 12" card stock).

Maybe you might like to make a mini album for your children's teachers. Check out the tutorial, the possibilities are endless. 

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you have a fantastic week! xx