PROJECT LIFE | King Island

School holidays starts...NOW!

I am grateful that I am able to work from home over the September break.

A few weeks ago I started on selecting and editing photos from an afternoon at King Island. It sounds rather tropical because it's an "island" but really, it wasn't that exotic. That's not to say it wasn't an awesome afternoon with my three boys.

Starting with over 100 photos, I managed to cut it down to 23. There was little hope of fitting it all into 2 pages as originally planned. We were only there for 4 hours! 

Memory keeping lesson I learnt from this spread:
I don't need to obsess about the journalling. I need only journal if there is something I want to say, or if a story needs to be told. There's no need to journal just for the sake of filling up a journalling card. 

Today I'm sharing the first two pages:

Here's a close up:

Supplies: Goals stamp set from Kellie Stamps, Freebie "Adventure" card from Kelsey, Especially.

I like creating simple filler cards with stamps, and I'm a bit crazy for inspirational words words and quotes. I used two of the stamps from Kellie Stamps' Goals set here:

Photo from kelliestamps@bigcartel.com 

Thank you for having a look at my pages. I'll be back next week to share the rest!

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend! xx 

Sweet Potato "Frisbees"

Sweet potato, coconut oil and salt. What a treat!?! 

Mr 10 calls these Sweet Potato Frisbees. He thinks it sounds way more exciting than Sweet Potato Slices, and he is probably right too!

The boys absolutely love these -- and so do I. They are a quick tasty side dish, or great for a quick snack. I make them with rice crumbs so they are also gluten free.  

INGREDIENTS:

- sweet potato (as many as you want to make)

- rice crumbs

- coconut oil

- sea salt

STEP 1: Peel sweet potato and slice to approx 5mm thickness.

STEP 2: Steam for 7-8 minutes until they are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork or end of a sharp knife. It's a good idea to check them after 7 minutes because it's a fine line between just right and overcooked. You do not want to overcook them otherwise they will crumble when go to crumb and fry them.

STEP 3: Place rice crumbs in a shallow dish and add a sprinkling of sea salt, and combine.  Gently place the sweet potato slices in the crumbs and coat both sides. You can also add onion powder to the crumb mixture for a different flavour.

STEP 4: Melt a decent amount of coconut oil in the fry pan (if the oil is solid...depends on the weather) and add the crumbed sweet potato slices. Keep turning them until they are browned and crispy enough for your liking. 

STEP 5: Add salt to taste and enjoy! Be warned: these are a little addictive.

"Let your imagination fly" says Mr 6.

Our children are wiser than we think.

I have had tears from Jacob, my 6 year old over the last few days whilst he tries to draw a mascot for his school. It's a competition, and he is putting a little bit too much pressure on himself.  

In his Prep year (2013), he sat for hours at the dining table drawing. I know he can draw -- here are some of his drawings from last year. He went through a punk phase, as you will see...

We had a chat this morning about how he thinks he just can't draw and that he cannot think of ideas for the school mascot competition. I told him to let go of what he "thinks" things should look like, and to just DO IT HIS WAY. 

When he was younger, he drew from his imagination and didn't care much for making things look realistic. There was no comparing his own drawings to his brother's or anyone's else's. 

It's only a year on, and I can see that side of him slipping away. And I think as adults, that's what we tend to do as well. We put this expectation on ourselves to create in a certain way because we have this idea in our heads about what the "right" way looks like.

After we had a talk about it, he came back to me with this little bit of inspiration. These are his own words, not mine.

I'm inspired by these wise words. I must remember to "let go of expectations" in my own creative projects. 

Hope your weekend is full of creative happiness xx