Silly me ...

I came to sit here and finally update my blog and was going to mention my lovely children who are outside skipping, and what a wonderful old fashioned pastime it is ... even in todays generation (hear the flowerly music in the background?) ... HA! by the time I'd signed on, started to upload pictures, they were yelling at each other and Charlotte in tears. I'm sure those with big families will hear me when I say there are different combinations at different times that get on very well, and also those combinations that are just plain hard work ... right now, the worst combination in our household is Josh (12.5yo), Rhiannon (8yo) and Charlotte (5yo) - actually it is really a Josh and Charlotte clash - his sense of rightness and perfectionist does not combine well with her 5yo wanting her own way and being very vocal and strong about getting it, no matter at what cost .... *sigh* lucky enough I do know, that six months from now they could quite possibly be getting on wonderfully as the shifting and sliding of personalities and ages changes ;)

Okay ... on to fun things ... I forgot to update my L*K Blessings and Advent Calendar SAL last time I posted ... so here are the pictures of those - as you can see I stitched one of the Advert Calendar squares the wrong way - just as well I plan to cut them out and make individual ornaments! LOL



... and an update of Sampler Gameboard - I managed to finish that bottom corner over the past week - it really feels like its starting to grow and maybe just maybe I can see the end of it getting closer (I've only been working on it since I dunno, about 2002 maybe?)


Lastly, three cards I made yesterday - Friday night at work (yes, those girls who know me, it WAS very quiet again LOL), I looked through the Split Coast Stampers website and managed to find a page with all their old sketches on it - not only do I plan on joining this wonderful site soon, I also plan on trying to do some of their challenges each week. Anyway, I printed out the old sketches got each lovely child to pick a number from 1 to 119 (the number of sketches there are) and then made myself make a card from that number they picked out (see, the kids DO come in use!) - these are the result - the "tall" card, I'm not that thrilled with - it needed some paper or something else in the background ... although I'm pretty sure one of the girls' friends would be delighted with it ;) - I don't always feel very creative, so it was a great way to have a start point and work from there.

In other family happenings - Cameron is away in Taupo with a soccer mate at the moment, he left Friday and comes back Monday (hence *really* having the two girls and Josh combination happening), I imagine he is having an awesome time, another friend's father has just been transferred up there, they're not moving for a few months (father is commuting for a while) but have bought a holiday home there which is just down the road from the friend (who Cameron is with)'s holiday home (well, garage plus caravan apparently) - so the three boys will be having a great time. Rhiannon had a kidney infection a couple of weeks ago so last week she went in for a scan to make sure there is no permanent damage - we did that Friday and will see the doctor for results on Tuesday - the radio-whatsit lady didn't say much, but did say they look good - I'm pretty sure they will be - but you always worry!

This is our last weekend before the crazy soccer season starts, all five kids are playing so it gets busy! ... as of right now we have two soccer training sessions on Monday night, two gym sessions on a Tuesday night, two soccer training sessions on a Wednesday night, one gym and one soccer session on a Thursday night ... and nothing on a Friday night, then five games plus two gym training sessions on a Saturday - welcome to our world LOL (and still haven't heard when Rhiannon's team will be training).

I think that's enough rambling for one day ... I need to go make another cute bag - this one for a friend of the two girls - it is her Birthday party on Tuesday, our spending money is kinda non existent right now, and it is at those times I love being able to put something together from my fabric stash ;)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Cards, cards, cards ... and no stitchy photos!

I think I need to change from "Stitchie" Kiwi to ... um ... something else Kiwi! LOL I have stitched, I joined in the needleroll SAL last week, but stitched a little something, plus a matching little something for an exchange so I can't show you pictures. Then I got really busy this week and hardly had time to stitch at all. I think I said that I'd started doing the accounts for DH's work - planning on doing them once a week - well they are SUCH a mess from not being done properly for a couple of months, plus Head Office were screaming for them to be sorted out so I ended up working Wed, Thurs and Fri last week - as well as the usual ferrying kids around - all that working time eats into precious stitching time! Even my normal job was busy on Thursday night ... not good planning at all ;) I'm planning on a full day back at DH's office tomorrow, Mondays are our no after school activities day so I'll get the teenager to baby sit and work until 5.00pmish - hopefully meaning I'll finish everything off ... I have to do the big reconcile, so we'll see.

I have been making cards though :) These are a couple of weeks worth - The blue and pink dresses below, I did yesterday - the "bees" I did last week sometime - I came across a tutorial on adding ribbons in a blog somewhere last week, so suddenly I'm using even more ribbon LOL

These ones I did last weekend - I was trying to make cards with the cool paper I've picked up, and not a lot of stamping, and these were the result :) The Friendship one is based on a sketch - probably from 2 Peas? I've been doing a lot of surfing for ideas, and should really write down where I get them from! Anyway - I really like the layout of that particular card - and used again as I did with the Bee one in the picture above.

and these ones are from maybe the week before - just trying to do different things with the same stamp. I am seriously stamp challenged - I have discovered LOTS I love on Trademe and Ebay ... but finances rule at the moment so I can't go and spend what I'd like ... which probably isn't a bad thing!
and lastly - this is one Charlotte and I made for Daddy yesterday - she wanted to do one "with" me ... she coloured in the soccer balls while I stuck the paper on, I then put the cellotape on and she "placed" the soccer balls ... she wrote on the inside.

and speaking of Charlotte - here she is at gym last week - she has started the "pre" competitive class this year and is loving it - I wanted at least one good photo and this is the best I got - I told her to stand still but she just couldn't quite do it ... so we lost her arms ;)

They are entering these girls into a "general" gym competition to give them a taste of the real thing - I think its in May - so they're practicing very simple beam, bar, vault and floor routines - they're very cute ;) Rhiannon is doing Level 3 this year and working really hard - so, between the two of them I think we spend about 8hrs/week at the gym - I need to start a new piece of knitting!

Rhiannon and I are doing a Parent and Child class at the local scrap booking shop this afternoon - should be a lot of fun ... we're making a box, I'm picking a pretty simple one as its aimed to kids, but Rhiannon loves that sort of thing, and loves one on one with her Mummy - DH has been busy working and with Cameron's Cricket Rep team for what seems countless weekends lately, so I'm looking forward to a few hours out and leaving him with the mess of the house and running around after the other kids.

Hopefully I'll have more stitching updates next week! I was aiming for Thursday being a VERY stitchy day last week and it just didn't happen ... maybe this week it will :)

Where have I been?

Hmmm ... so where have I been? No where exciting at all LOL ... I just seemed to lose my blogging mojo, not to mention my stitching mojo. I'm settling into a whole new routine of having all the kids at school and having 9am-3pm, 5 days a week, that is basically my own. It's not that I don't have lots to do, but the whole "being on my own" is still like a special treat :) I'm actually keeping pretty busy - I'm still doing my cricket job which took up a couple of days last week, basically catching up from things I've put off over the holidays. I'm walking four mornings a week with a friend - we leave at 6.30am 3 days during the week and walk 8km, and on a Sunday morning leave at 7.30am and walk 10km. I've also just agreed to input the accounts for DH's work - I'll be doing this on a Friday before I leave for my normal job - means I'm out of the house all day, and working all day - but it's a wee bit of extra money, means I'm involved in the business (which over the next few years I think the franchise's idea is for the present owner and DH's boss to become more of a silent partner and for DH to take over more and more working up to a profit share/part ownership) - so it's good for me to be involved too :)

So, definitely still busy - but also time to craft and smell the roses which has been lovely.

Charlotte has settled into school very easily - the teacher stopped me a couple of days ago to say she is doing really well and is such a lovely, happy, open child (not sure about the "open" - probably means she's been telling her stories and our secrets! LOL). She's already moved her up a reading group, we couldn't have hoped for a better start for her.

Okay ... on to the crafting, I've been bitten by the paper-craft bug, really really badly ... I have all sorts of ideas I want to try and things I want to do - it's probably just as well we're still waiting for a nice bonus from DH's work ... I have so many things I want to buy! LOL ... I think one of the reasons I'm loving it so much is the beautiful paper/card out there - it's very like the quilting fabric thing ;) I've set myself up a table in DH's garage (much to his disgust), and it is perfect for being able to leave all my stuff out and just come and go as I please and am able.

So, on to the pictures ...

Firstly - Ashley's Roses - all FINISHED!!! I started this, I think, maybe about 2000, I know that my last progress picture before I picked her up again was January 2001 - and there wasn't a lot done. It is so nice to have a Mirabilia/bigger piece crossed off my WIP list. I've promised the two girls this one for their bedroom - just need to find the extra pennies to get it framed.

Ashleys Roses - Stitched on Sky Blue 28ct Lugana

Started approximately 2000, Finished February 2007

Then there is Sampler Gameboard, another long standing WIP - I read on a blog somewhere, sorry, I can't remember who's or where!! that there was a SAL on the 20th of each month, so I decided to join in, I hope nobody minds - let me know if it is you I am gate-crashing :) So, 20th of this month, I did indeed pull it out and spend a couple of nights doing two squares - here is where it is at now -

Lastly, a couple of the latest cards from the latest obsession! The pink one is obviously a great little girl one, Rhiannon has told me that she is not giving it to any of her friends for their birthdays because she'd be jealous that they had it and not her LOL

Oh, and I should tell you all about my adventure, so you can LAUGH at me LOL ... I decided it would be a great idea to bike to the office on Tuesday, rather than drive - the office (sports office for cricket) is in Waikanae - which is across the river from us - I live on the other side of the river, just a hop, skip and a jump walking or on a bike, but a drive up to the main highway and back down if you go by car. Sooooo I couldn't quite work out how to bike down next to the river so biked up the road once I'd crossed the walking bridge - took a while, talked to the sports person at the office and he gave me some good instructions on how to get to the "walkway" down the side of the river, mentioned there might be a couple of places I'd have to carry my bike over some rocks. Ah, yeah - found it okay, found the rocks - HUGE boulders! LOL to carry my bike across, all was going well - just as I was leaving the stony part of the track and had come to the easy biking walkway/road I realised my tyre was flat :( ... I ended up walking the I'd say about 6km, all the way home ... in the hottest part of day, with no sun screen ... I was a hot and bothered girl by the time I got home ... BUT the river is so beautiful, we - the family - just don't spend enough time appreciating the great environment we live in! I need to replace my road tyres back with some good mountain bike thick ones, and I'll go back and do it again :)

Lastly, I've had three acquaintances - SIL, woman I work with, mother from school - lose one of their parents this week, they say deaths come in threes and I'll be certainly thinking of them and their families.

More cards and a finish!

I'm loving making cards :D ... in fact, I got DH to put a table into the garage for me over the weekend so I can take my stuff in there, spread out ... and leave it there - rather than having to clear the dining room for dinner! ... Of course, yesterday I needed a card for Charlotte to take to a birthday party, so I just "quickly" got a few things out - maybe today I'll carry a few things through to the garage and set myself up. Anyway - here are yesterday's cards - two the same (do other people do that, if I'm going to make one, I might as well make two at a time!)

and a stitching finish! Here is Lizzie*Kate's Winter Sampler - I started these samplers, oh so many years ago - probably about 2001ish, that seems to be when I started a LOT of things, probably coincided with about the same time I discovered online shopping and the internet stitching community. Anyway, I've had Autumn and Spring finished for quite a while - Winter is on my WIP list. Only Summer to go now! I started that as well :)

Lizzie*Kate - Winter Sampler
Stitched on a tan coloured fabric - can't remember excatly what it is!
Finished 18 February 2007

I also finished Ashley's Roses last night ... but you will have to wait until later for a picture, I'd uploaded these ones yesterday and then ran out of time to post!