AT MY BEST...: January 2016

Scrapbooking Delights - Design Team

2:34 PM

2015 seems to have been that year that flew by. And don't the years seem to be getting quicker and quicker?

I wanted to do a blog post review on 2015. The highs and the lows, and a couple of favourites from the past 12 months.

To start, I achieved nothing in the lead up to Christmas that was on my list, but that's ok. Life simply got in the way, and I was exhausted. When it came to crafting over the Christmas break, I opted for adult colouring in books and catching up on tv shows. I was relaxing, but I feel a little guilty for not getting into my scrap room and even piecing together a single layout.

2015 saw us buy and move into our first house. We have changed wall colours, bought new furniture and made minor improvements to make the house our home and more our style, and it is still a big work in progress. I'm sure most houses are a work in progress for the whole time you are there, so I am prepared for a long haul on this one and there is no rush.

We ventured to Canberra for the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in World War I. We climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge to celebrate on amazing ladies 80th birthday. I got into baking at the start of the year, and this died off as the year went on.... But due to my 'magic oven' I can now make scones and they are good (if I can say so myself)! I started sewing (just to add another hobby to the list. We saw Les Mis in Sydney and had a lovely night at the theatre. We attended a couple of AFL games in Sydney, and watched our nephews in their first season for our local club. Convoy was another big one for the Illawarra and The Peoples Truck. The fire pit was used on several occasions our the back of our house and we discovered how great our house is for entertaining. Barry the elf returned with some mischief and there were plenty of cuddles with our furbaby. All in all, life was busy but eventful. There were no holidays for us in 2015, so by the end of the year it was shear exhaustion, but we knew that we would be planning for bigger and better in 2016.

My scrapping/crafting died off in 2015, but after creating my to-do list, I have been crossing many things off this list, which has felt very rewarding. Its nice seeing things come together and the memories not lost... and the hard work worth it in the end.

2016 will be a year of making memories, adventures and holidays, planning and decision making. I want to get back into my craft room, get more albums finished from holidays gone by, finish my Documenting December album from 2015 and get the room organised now that I have my new desk in place.

I want to pause life a little more often, say NO when things are getting out of control, and basically put myself first.

I am using a planner this year rather than a standard diary to keep organised, and those of you that know me, know that I cant live without my diary. The up side to the planner is that I feel I can be a little more creative with it, but it has a monthly goals section that I can use to keep myself on track. I am also mindful to keep goals realistic and take small steps to achieve them.

I will post more about holidays and my planner in up coming posts.

I hope you saw in 2016 in a great way and have fond memories from 2015, regardless of how big or small.

Heres to 2016 being a fantastic year!

adventures

Travel Kit - Overseas with Limited Space

7:50 AM

Card File

Card Files - Using Memorabilia

6:30 AM

One of the long lingering items on my to-do list has now been crossed off.... finally. And I love the result!

I have had a bag floating around with both our engagement cards and wedding cards in it, with an idea on what to do with them, but no more ideas beyond that. I finally forced myself to sit down and get it done, and I'm so much happier for it. People send a lot of money on cards for very special occasions like these (plus all of those beautiful hand made cards), and write some wonderful advise and loving words, that I didn't want to throw them away. I wanted them to be on display for all to see.

These card files were the answer. They have simply been made from 2 pieces of thick cardboard/chipboard a little bit bigger than the biggest card we were given. They have been covered in paper on the outside, lined on the inside and bound with some ribbon/lace. Then they were decorated and holes punched to match the smallest card we had. So simple.

Being me, I have put a bit of a memorabilia twist on these, just to make them more personal again.

The gold paper on the cover of this album, and the ribbons holding it all together are from a gift bag that one of our gifts was in. I wanted to use this as a part of the memorabilia from the occasion. The teal ribbon on the cover and the punched teal butterflies are the same ones from our invitations. The navy blue was also a colour from our invitations/party theme.

The Engaged title is a piece of Words of Whatever chipboard and has been inked with Tim Holtz black distress paint, and the date is Thickers.

The inside has been lined with a black and white/cream paper, where I have recorded a couple of notes from the time.

A view of the inside of the file.

A close up of the front cover so that you can see the layers of decoration.

I have used the same technique with the Wedding card album. The black lace was used on all of our wedding invitations, RSVP cards, menus and scatter cards... It was even used on the cake!! There is a funny story to it too, so I wanted to use it as memorabilia from the event.

The Our Wedding title is a piece of Words or Whatever chipboard, that I have cut down to make two words so that it fits. It has been painted black with Tim Holtz distress paint. The hearts are also chipboard from Words or Whatever and have been sprayed gold with Heidi Swapp mist. The date is Thickers.