Project Life | Week 12b

Hello ten days later... In addition to my normal weekly spread for this week (see previous post), I created an additional spread. This tells the story of a Boot camp party the kids attended. As I said in my previous post, I realised that I probably could have just included one photo and called it good, but alas, there were too many that I loved...

 

Hence a whole extra spread, AND a half page insert! 

The Boot camp card came from their party packs, kit cards are all from the BH Coral kit, and Word Art is from Ali Edwards. I can't find the "Have heart" freebie on my Pinerest board now, but I think it was probably also from Ali. The blank card is for a song they sang while drilling, still need to write it down.

 

This page tells the story of them getting their war paint on. Then doing some warm-up exercises. At this point Liam was wiping away tears and I thought this isn't for him, only to learn later that he was bumped over with the running, but kept going tears and all.

And then there was this amazing moment: They were all told to freeze. Who-ever moved had to drop down. The Sarge - who was really a lot of fun and excellent in bringing the team together - was walking around trying to see who moves. They went one after the other. When he came past Liam, he suddenly yelled in his face, but to everyone's astonishment, my Lionheart didn't blink an eye. Nope, taking his STAND.

He was so seriously into the whole thing, it was too precious.  

And then they were off to a run through the bush. Waving their Mommas goodbye and singing as they went. I followed at a distance with the camera...

 

They so enjoyed themselves, and by the time they came back from their forest hike, the team has bonded and the Sarge could take them over a wall if he wanted to. After some snacks they were ready for the obstacle course that was also met with a lot of zeal. Finally time to pass out and the parents was asked to join. And then it was time for cake and party for the mud covered troops.

 

 

Definitely a party we'd like to do at some stage, and a venue I'd recommend.

 

 

 

 

Project Life | Week 12

Welcome to week 17 - 23 March.

 

This week actually runs over two pages with the second spread containing more photo's of a Boot camp party we attended. When putting it together I thought that I probably could have just told the Boot camp story on the insert included here, and called it good. But as per usual, at the time when selecting the photo's there were too many I didn't want to leave out. For the insert I used Ali's 6.6 x 12 Words and photo's template. Loving them right now.

 

The challenge this week was that our geyser leaked, resulting not only in a big hole in the ceiling, but also in the ceiling entrance hanging in pieces when it gave way upon inspecting the geyser.

 

But with a long week-end thrown in this week was redeemed.

 

And here's a look at the flip side.

 

More Boot camp photo's to follow in the next post.

 

 

Project Life | Week 10

I skipped a week yesterday, but here it is: Week 3-9 March.

 

I never plan a colour scheme, but it's funny how one often emerges.

 

Snippets from this week: Liam losing a tooth at school :: Reuben taking orders for Scoobies..

 

Our Wire haired terrier making himself right at home (yes, he sleeps like that) :: An unexpected power cut, handled very well by me and the boys. There were talks of load shedding being back, but gratefully it's only been the one cut so far.

 

This was also a time where we've been waiting for a phone call from an interview T did. He was one of two candidates and if he got it, it would mean us relocating. So lots of being in limbo for us, and they were taking very long. ("This" card hand stamped, the white bit was cut from a kit card and placed over a patterned card that matched the page.)

 

A site photo with the company name being up (I blurred it out) :: I can't remember what we did on the week-end. Some weeks I'm more focused on details from the week, other times the week-ends, some weeks are a mix of both.

 

Word art is from Ali Edwards available at Designer Digitals.

March card was a freebie- not sure from where now.

 

Project Life | Week 11

Wow, I can't believe I'm still not nearly caught -up on my PL posts. Life keeps getting in the way, and that's a good thing I suppose. Well, here we have Week 10 - 16 March. When it rained a lot...

 

That heart shaped leaf was a little gift and a reminder that you could still give your beauty to others, even when things aren't looking up for yourself...

 

Not that I was feeling all saintly and superwomen that week, nor sufficiently grateful for the rain. When I see that hand stamped card saying "rain rain and more rain" I remember loads of wet washing that had nowhere to go but all over the house...ahh perspective. Something that's been giving me wonderful perspective is this daily devotional called Whispers of hope by Beth Moore.

The "heart this" card was a limited time freebie once from Carla Dudley.

 

Here- more everyday details. I previously blogged on my morning learning Lino printmaking. The last photo is my man's hand making us scones every Sunday morning..."Good stuff" also cut from a Carla Dudley card. "Real Life" was a freebie from Ali Edwards. Word art also Ali.

 

And then I need to tell you about my recent discovery. She's a bestseller, and when I came across her on Pinterest I knew I've heard the name before, but it's the first time I went to her blog...

 BLEW ME AWAY.

I'm talking about Ann Voskamp. Watching this video about her book, One thousand Gifts, affirmed again for me why I was doing Project Life: It's about being awake to all the moments, all the gifts from Above that is the bits of my life. And to live with a attitude of gratitude towards all this everyday beauty. To see the blessings pouring down...even when it rains.

 

 

Living with photo's | Mother's day edition

I've been meaning to share another project where I actually got photo's off my computer and into my life. Then I realised that this could be a really nice (and quick) Mother's day solution for older kids or even made by yourself for your own Mom. I recently made this oven clay Polaroid pendant inspired by this post. In the tutorial she advises that it's messy and to rather just buy one that make it.

Well I'm happy to report that I found it quite do-able. I think I've been fortunate that my clay was pliable and easy to work with. I used Scuplty (picked up in Jhb at Seedpod studio in Broadacres).

 

But first the photo: I used Poladroid, (a free fun program to digitally turn your photo's into polaroid looking images. I love that it even makes the sound of a Polaroid as it processes images) Turned some photo's into Poladroids and then moved a few photo's onto a blank page to make them the size I wanted before printing.

 

I made mine a lot smaller than the tutorial, as you can see in the image above. Just how I prefer it.

I noticed that the clay shrunk a little in the oven. I'd suggest making a template by drawing around your photo but with your pen at a bit of an angle to make it slightly bigger. Then do the outer line of the "polaroid". Template done. I didn't have glass to work on, so I used a tile (from my mosaic stash). Worked great.

I applied some wax to my hands, the rolling pin and tile before I started. Not sure if it helped, but I didn't really have a problem with sticky clay. I used special clay wax, but I suppose hair, lip or cuticle wax would work fine. Keep the clay you're not using sealed or under a wet cloth to keep it from drying out. I rolled out the clay, and cut out the templates. I was a bit quick to move the part with the window onto the solid block, but since it was still soft I could correct any dents I made. This was also the time where I placed the ringlet between the two layers to attach it to the chain later.

 I then placed it into the oven still on the tile. Baked it according to the instructions.  It was completely loose from the tile when it came out. I used sanding paper to sand it neater. I didn't go for perfect edges as this is supposed to look handmade. Later painted it with white cutex and added the photo. I accidentally dropped my pendant on a hard floor and it was completely undamaged. Hardens really well. And a fun piece of jewelry.

 

Here's another really quick and easy project that even younger kids can try: Photo candle glasses. I made it some time ago inspired by many similar projects on Pinterest.

You will need : A photocopied image. It has to be laser copy, inkjet won't work. High contrast works best, and your end product will be a mirror image of the original, so you might want to turn your photo around before printing. A roll of broad cellotape. A patterned image from a magazine. A glass or clear jar.  

Measure your glass. Open your cellotape to the same length. Stick images on top. The patterned images are really handy here when your photo might be too short, and very pretty alongside the photo.

Dampen  your strip and work the paper off with your fingers. The images will remain on the cellotape. It should still be sticky enough to apply onto the glass, or else you can use some modge podge to glue it on. 

 

Easy, and looks great with a candle lit inside. Or even just like that.

 

Wishing you a wonderful Mother's day this Sunday. I loved this post on real Motherhood by Ann Voskamp. And these words by Stacy Eldredge in her book, Captivating:

 

"As large as the role is that our mothers play, the word mother is more powerful when used as a verb than as a noun. All women are not mothers, but all women are called to mother. To mother is to nurture, to train, to educate, to rear. As daughters of Eve, all women are uniquely gifted to help others in their lives become more of who they truly are - to encourage, to nurture, and mother them toward their true selves. In doing this women partner with Christ in the vital mission of bringing forth life."

 

 

 

Project Life | Week 52b | 2013.

Yes, we're well into May here. It's a glorious autumn day as I sit blogging in a corner of the garden. A chance discovery as I wanted to be out of the house while our ceiling's finally being repaired and about half of it is currently on my diningroom floor...sigh.

It is also Election Day here which means hubby is sitting with me here in the garden, and we'll go and vote a little later. But for this post we're jumping right back to the last week of last year...

 

That would be the day after Christmas and on. I have one and a half more pages to go to finish this album. With my last bulk printing trip they somehow didn't print those, so they'll have to follow later.

 

Boxing day we were packing to leave for Mpumalanga. We stayed at a lodge near my hubby's site for two weeks. Journaling idea: Record the music you like to travel on. We were listening to Philip Philips, and an old traveling favourite of ours, the soundtrack of Juno on our four hour drive. I'm a collector of heart shaped stones, and I was thrilled with this huge heart shaped rock my man found on one of our walks in the reserve. The photo of me was taken in front of our cabin and the white in the background is the river- wonderfully close.

 

This was a place I probably never would have put on my destination list, but I ended up loving the African Bush and the time of deep rest. You'll see me sitting with my laptop, but I hardly had any reception, so mostly read and swam and took some afternoon naps. Bliss. And the kids had a great time too. Ali word art, on the bottom photo combined with my own journaling.

 

Kit used here was the Cobalt.

Project Life | Week 1

Hi there, I'm sharing the last of the pages from the beginning of 2014 not yet shared. Cover page still needs to be completed at some stage, hopefully before I move on to the next album.

 

Week: 2-5 January. This mostly documents our time in the bush.

 

I was apprehensive about staying here, but completely fell in love with the peacefulness of the bush. The lodge was really quiet over December, so we had the roads on the reserve (great for morning walks and bike rides) and the huge pool all to ourselves.

 

This page also documents my One Little Word for this year, New. I added the words on my morning exercise silhouette with white pen.

 

The huge photo was taken on one of our drives through the reserve. Good memories.