Crafty bliss.

So today I can cross off two items on my 101 Challange, at least somewhat....

My craft stuff is all in one place and reasonably neat and ordered now... stayed up until midnight getting it all done on Tuesday so that my office was clear for work day on Wednesday.... WHEW!!!

Now thats my craft stuff all piled up.... about a year or two ago I lost my crafty groove and got rid of about two thirds of it, but now that I have started up a craft circle with a group of friends I am starting to enjoy crafting again, and really enjoying teaching what I know to others, and opening my home to allow others to teach what they know and just generally feeling good about craft again. I posted this on facebook and a lot of people said WOW you have heaps of stuff, but to me, this is a small pile... I want to keep it that way though as for awhile there I had so much and so many projects on the go it was overwhelming. Now I am feeling I have it in a better perspective and a much more manageable load. I have also started "specialising" in just a few select crafts instead of trying to do everything. I dabble in this and that, but I mostly just stick to scrapbooking, knitting and embroidery and even knitting is really just a bit here and there...

Really looking forward to making these skirts for the girls for Christmas though :-)

 If I can find some cool tops and short tights to go with they will all have a gorgeous Christmas outfit to wear for the day :-)

I mean HOW CUTE ARE THEY!!!! And sooo easy, take scraps of fabric in different colours and lengths, and a length of  elastic, sew the elastic in a circle the right width and loop-tie the fabric pieces on! Viola!!

Loving it.

So anyway, back to the story...

After piling all my craft stuff on the floor I started thinking about what to do with it. We have a beautiful tv cabinet just shunted into a corner of the living room, behind my office nook, which has sat there for almost a year now, we have been listing it over and over on trade me and NO ONE WILL BUY IT which is odd because we think its one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture we have ever owned.

Isn't it???

And I thought, well its just sitting there, doing nothing... I may as well use it. And all my craft stuff being stuffed in boxes in various locations around the house is really starting to drive me (and my husband) insane, so out came my graph paper and pencil and i measured, and thought, and measured and planned. Then I went browsing, and took my tape measure, and measured and planned, and priced. And got rather depressed, because to make it EXACTLY what I wanted to make it was going to cost a little bit more money than could justifiably spent. So I thought some more.

Finally, I thought well, I cannot (CANNOT) keep trying to work with a pile of craft stuff in my office, its so crowded and distracting that NOTHING is getting done. And so I went searching throught the house, turns out that there are bits and bobs from previous attempts at organising my craft clutter about, so I brought them all in (washed most of them) and looked, and thought. And came up with a plan. And got to work.

THEN my dearest mummy took me birthday shopping on Tuesday and let me choose some baskets to use for storage, which I so desperately wanted. and so I came home very inspired. And the next day (after my midnight doings) it was done!

Final results:

So I am rather pleased to at least have it all in one place, It will be (as many things often are) an ongoing project as I slowly get the rest of the wicker baskets to match and make the unit really look awesome. A work of art, that doubles as my craft space, which is functional, inviting, and ORGANISED I love feeling organised.

The other thing I can semi cross off my list is my notebook with Rockchick:

Happened to find the same one as Paisley Jade and it was the ONLY one I could pick as it was so right for the job!!! Was only $2.99 from The Warehouse!

Its meant to be secret but I couldn't help sharing her first letter: Dear Mum, How did the unicorns really die? So gorgeous!! And it gave me an idea for a childrens story I can write for number 26) Get a childrens book published. 

Ohhhh yeah, got my creative groove on now!! See me pumping!!!

xx The Ramblings of Another Mother.

101 Challange

Thanks to Paisley Jade, I have fallen in love with (yet another) project stolen from: Catalina's 100 challange. A fellow linker, and then I spent half of last night creating my "list". Its fantabulously amasing and I have included a lot of stuff I want/wanted to do anyways.

I am doing it from birthday to birthday, but its starting a little early. I turn 27 next Tuesday, and then by the time I am 28 I intend to have achieved the following 101 Tasks. (yes true to form, I have altered the WHOLE challange... I do this with almost everything. thats why I can't sew....I don't do patterns)

So here goes:

1.  Do this challenge first - Buy yourself a notebook. Use this as your journal to document your challenges. Take pictures of completed challenges where possible and add them to it. Use this notebook to collect all the things you need to write down. Use the notebook for all the lists you have to create during challenges.  26-09-2011


2. Buy a big canvas, and use some paint, with spoons, forks, in spritz bottles with the kids to create a masterpiece. Give them each a colour and myself. (and DH if he's home). Hang the masterpeice in a prominant location in the house. Sign and date it like "real" artists.


3. Go out of your way to do something kind for a stranger.


4. Do a body detox.


5. Write in my journal on a regular basis.


6. Have a picnic.


7. Make Tutu Skirts for the girls.


8. Buy our house.


9. Get my craft stuff organised and in ONE place.


10. Makeover the twins room.


11. Go to an opshop and buy something "ugly" with potential. Make it beautiful and wear it proudly.


12. Do the Dale Carnegie course.


13. Help someone do something they thought they couldn't.


14. Write down 7 separate places from my life that I hope to take your children to see.


15. Don't log into facebook for a week.


16. Listen to classical music while doing the housework.


17. Wake the kids up at 10.00 pm one night, just to say "I love you".


18. Look through my old recipe books, choose one book and try cooking every recipe in it!


19. Make exercise a part of my day.


20. Plant a vege garden.


21. Host a New Years Eve Dinner party.


22. Scrapbook the wedding.


23. Volunteer at Rockchicks school for a day.


24. Go for a family walk on the beach at sunset.


25. Create an eco-friendly home by making my own cleaners.


26. Get a children's book published.


27. Makeover Rockchicks room.


28. Plant spring bulbs.


29.  Make homemade icecream.


30. Make a loaf of bread from scratch.


31. Stop taking my laptop to bed every night.


32. Send a personal letter, every week. Buy a letter writing set to do this with.


33. Create an occasion to wear my most impractical pair of shoes.


34. Go to a Sunday market and look at all the colours, people, stalls, food, gifts and smell and listen.


35. Go out of your way to do something kind for a stranger.


36. Write a letter to myself to read in ten years time.


37. Have a long, relaxing bath with bubble bath and bath oil. Read till my fingers wrinkle. Then go straight to bed. Do this as soon as the kids are down for the night.


38. Send a surprise I-think-you’re-fabulous handwritten note to someone.


39. Go fruit picking.


40. Write letters to 5 people who have influenced my life for the better and post them.


41. Make home-made jam or relish or preserve fruit and give the first one away.


42. Make a list of my 52 favourite quotes and make a deck of cards book with them.


43. Cut flowers, weeds, tree branches whatever is there and arrange them in a vase creatively. Thank the flowers etc as you cut them. Out loud.


44. Create the kids Journey Books.


45. Do the housework listening to classical music.


46. Make an "I'm Bored" jar. Make some Activities bags.


47. Answer the "50 questions that will free your mind".


48. Start a Notes Journal with Rockchick and keep it.


49. Pay for the next cup of coffee.


50. Don't complain about anything for a week.


51. Get a tattoo.


52. Write all my worst memories on paper. Burn it.


53. Make Gingerbread Houses.


54. Collect all my family and friends birthdays, put them into my calendar and send them all birthday cards by post.


55. Buy someone a bottle of bubble bath and a rubber ducky – this has got to be given to an adult!


56. Create my Dream House file.


57. Make friendship bracelets.


58. Blow up balloons for the kids birthdays and leave them on the floor for them to wake up to.


59. Donate Blood.


60. Lose 10 Kgs.


61. Make over the master bedroom.


62. Leave a card with a nice quote for someone under their window wiper.


63. Be a good friend and take over a batch of homemade cookies or a cake.


64. List 100 achievements I have managed in my life so far.


65. Collect all the crystals in the house, take them to a forest and roll them in the dirt, then to the beach and wash them in the sea. Bring them home and leave them in the moonlight. Replace them in the house the next day. Do this on a full moon.


66. Find out a friends fave cake flavour and bake it for them.


67. Jump in the bath with the kids.


68. Create an inspiration board.


69. Read 20 new books. And a few old and dear ones.


70. Build a sundial with the kids.


71. Put a love note in Rockchick's lunch box.


72. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself and put it on my mirror.


73. Create an Annual Scrapbook Template and use it!


74. If someone could describe you in 10 words what would you want those words to be? Write them down and read them every day this week. See if you really are living up to those words.


75. Wear a skirt or dress for an entire week.


76. Find a favourite piece of poetry – frame it, hang it.


77. Go on an op-shopping adventure with a friend.


78. Choose a photo of me and a friend. Write something on the back and send it to them telling them why I like the picture


79. Lay on a blanket with my kids and watch the clouds. Ask the kids what they see?


80. Finish my 365 days of photos challenge.


81. Make a gift for a friend, just because.


82. Make a reusable Advent Calendar.


83. Create my Crafts Book.


84. Go outside in the rain and get really wet. Take the kids. Look at the rain. Look at the colours.


85. Do a Marketing Course.


86. Create an "old magazine" creation.


87. Make a time capsule.


88. Create an area in your home that is just for my ‘creative space’ – maybe a corner with a chair in it or a whole room!


89. "Kidnap" Rockchick from school one day and go roller skating.


90. Buy a tabletop card holder and fill it with photos.


91. Create a craft box for the kids and pull it out at least once a month.


92. Have a romantic candle lit dinner for two.


93. Reuse the broken crayons to make new ones, and a couple of colourful candles too.


94. Write a letter to myself as if I was 70.


95. Have a family meal by candlelight.


96. Embroider a favourite quote. Hang it in my office.


97. Make Gloop


98. Plant a tree.


99. Let the kids decide the dinner menu one night, help them to make it, set the table and decorate it with whatever they want.


100. Read over my notebook and feel fantastic about everything I have achieved.


101. Buy my next notebook, and start my next list.

Things I am Loving

Seen this all over the blog network and here I go, my first try! Linking up with Paisley Jade HERE

Having never "linked" before I am not sure exactly how it works so i hope it comes off alright.

So onto: Things I am loving RIGHT NOW

My kids playing dress ups, hearing them laugh their brains out over the dolly parton wigs, and DH joining in, throwing on the wig and shoving a pillow up his top to sing "Jolene"

http://pinterest.com/jazzem/ Yes yes I know, its OLD news, but for me its new and exciting and I am getting thousands of ideas of things to do and what I want to make.

That rockchick is turning out as creative as me with her lil scuptures. That she can come climb on my knee and have a nice cuddle, and do a little blutack sculpting at the same time.

  My new Smartphone!

Teaching my kids about compromise: I wanted Rockchick to wear White shoes to an upcoming family wedding, Rockchick wanted sparkly ones, so we painted some white shoes with clear glitter nail polish. I think the effect is quite cool!

Getting my creative groove on, Here we have a few of my latest projects. A wall hanging (there will be one each for the twins), a new grab-bag for me, and my ever growing heart quilt.

Again: Thanks Pinterest!!! This is the start of our family centre. There is an inbox for each family member, a meal planner and shopping list, and a monthly. I want to make a bigger monthly planner, and still have a few things to add, but its taking shape, and is already so useful!

OH EM GEE

SOOOO apparently I am good at what I do. I went to head office on Monday last week and they now want me to turn what I do into a manual and train every other agent in the country. They also want me to find the best online software solution to connect the country for referrals, quality control, and inter-company communication.

This is MUCH easier said that done...

I have extremely specific criteria I want in one of these, but finding one that provides it is not easy. And then add in the necessity of branches and its like -say what?

I get the email version of a funny look I think.

"No sorry our program is designed for SMALL business's and does not support branches."

I didn't really realise that small business's had to stay that way... Don't most companies start out small but hope to grow? I hope mine will grow. If I was using a program that met all my needs then suddenly I decided to franchise it, but had YEARS of data and found the program was no longer able to meet my companies needs I would be fairly ticked off.....

SO the list so far is:

http://www.workflowmax.com/

This program is amazing, and cost effective. It did everything I wanted from a software program EXCEPT support branches! It also has an excellent set of videos that takes you through the entire program, how to use it and lots of extra little features. One of the things I loved about it was that you could place all your own branding onto the site, so it looks professional and clean.

http://www.zoho.com/

Zoho is a great set of applications, and would do everything I wanted but the thing I did not like in the end was that you really had to double or even triple enter data to make it work. You may use the CRM (customer relations management) the project manager, the contact manager the calendar, and even others, but they dont really seem to communicate with each other. Correct me if I'm wrong! One thing I DO like is that there is a creator application, so you can basically create your own forms and things according to your companies needs, unfortunately  to really try it out you have to pay. I am not prepared to spend money just to test something out.


http://www.worketc.com/

This is meant to be a one stop shop for all your business needs, it covers contact management, project management, invoicing, customer relation management. It also incorporates a support desk application which can be used for inquiries and issues too. I like that you can connect email to it, and send emails from the application that the customers can answer and they will appear in your dashboard for viewing when they log in. I also like that you can place some branding within the system so people see your logo etc when they log in and that you can give customers the ability to log in to see their own jobs. It may not support branching as such but it does support company contacts and you can create your own tags. You can also sign contacts up to mailing lists which is great if you want to have a newsletter or similar to send.

A few I have heard of but not yet fully explored are:

https://www.salesforce.com/au/

http://www.netsuite.com/portal/products/netsuite/main.shtml

http://www.greentree.com/

There are literally thousands of these out there. Every one is basically the same in the end, but there are differing features for each that mean it works best for different types of companies.

I am really excited about the new responsibilities head office are wanting me to take on, but at the same time a little nervous. I don't want to take on more than I can handle, and I am seriously hoping to avoid FULL time until the twins are three. But  at this point I may be wishful thinking. I am even more excited about making more money!!

xx The Ramblings of Another Mother

Brain pain and anniversarys.

So fisherman and I celebrated our 3rd wedding annivarsary on Tuesday past, and had a lovely night out last night in honour of it. Went to our old beloved restaurant for dinner (where we had our 3rd date and our 1st wedding anniversary dinner, and probably every year from now on too, being that its a sentimental place for us) and went to a movie. My lovely hubby man bought me a pandora bracelet which he intends to slowly fill with charms over the years. He is also thinking of getting each charm engraved with that year so we can keep track. I love my fantabulous hubby!

The Help is a must see movie for everyone. It was touching, beautiful, funny, and very real. And it made me angrier than angry to think that it was set in the SIXTYS ...that racism lasted that long just makes my blood boil! That racism exists today makes my blood boil.

On a lighter note, BankyBoo and CheekyLala have been funny and clever lately. I never used to believe the parents saying "oh they make me teach them the letters, etc" but now I must shamefacedly eat my words, CheekyLala comes and climbs on my knee on a regular basis, with a pen and paper in hand, points to the paper and says "square" "A" "haut" (heart) and so on. And me having a mother that was also a teacher of 5 year olds and a reading recovery program creator (or something like that) is also saying A, ah ah ah, and so on. So now she sits there and says a, ah ah.

Little side note here, if your child is pushing these things at you, to help them when they reach school, teach them the lowercase letters first, and teach them the phonics (letter sounds) at the same time, "a is for apple" is great, but "a, ah ah, apple" is better. Also when teaching them letter sounds for letters with two sounds (G has a guh sound and a jeh sound) teach the hard sound. G gah gah gate, not G jeh jeh giraffe. Little bit of wisdom from my mother, to me, to you.

I feel quite bad that CheekyLala is getting all this one on one teaching from me, and BankyBoo is not, but BankyBoo will stand there for a minute and watch, then grab the pen to do her own drawing. BUT the surprising thing, when she does stop and join in, is that she knows it all. I believe in twinsense. CheekyLala is doing the learning, and BankyBoo is absorbing it in her own way. I hope. I really don't want one labelled as "the stupid twin" at school (I would not allow it, but I can see THEM doing it....if I'm not careful)

Of course, for some reason I woke up this morning with a headache, I am getting migranes back again, which is so annoying its not even funny. It starts out like this, slow dull aching and steadily worsens until I feel nauseas and my vision goes blurry, Theres no rhyme or reason for them, no pattern. Just ouchieness. Makes it hard to think and function, a sore brain is one of the few things I find hard to ignore.

Anyway, thats my little ramble for today.

xx The Ramblings of Another Mother

Sick... lovely.

Sick sick sick... me, the twins and hubby too. Been sick sick sick.

Poor Cheekylala is not feeling very cheeky just now, shes feeling like sleeping and laying on the couch watching Dora. Bankyboo is mostly over hers (I hope) but is pretty cranky and the yelling is not very nice for my poor head which is aching. I have a mild fever, a sore throat (like there must be some guy with a skillsaw in there, you know like on the strepsils add?) KNEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ouch. And my head is kinda pulsing in this dull blah way. And everytime someone yells my heads does too. Which is very loud.

The weird part is, that I still somehow scrubbed my kitchen floor which, yes, sorely needed it, in general the house is a tip. I have no idea why, but when I have had no sleep, or feel like utter crap, or having a depressed day, while the basic stuff is less likely to get done I tend to do these "extra" things that i dont do otherwise.... maybe its cos my body knws its getting a break from the day to day dramas...

Like clean out the pantry, or get down on my hands and knees and scrub the kitchen floor.

Then I get up, walk past piles of clothes and toys and dress ups, and ignore the dishes on the bench. And sit in front of my computer.

xx The Ramblings of Another mother.

PS:  no I will not come scrub your kitchen floors next time I feel like this :-P

The Midnight Horrors

So I managed to get a nice early night last night... A very nice one, I was asleep by ten.

My mate murphy (s law) knocked on the door by midnight in the form of a yelling child... it took me a minute to figure out that thats what had woken me up as she was being very quiet about it and at first I thought it was the cat mewling somewhere. But it shortly grew insistent and loud and I knew it was a child.

So I stumble through to their room, and see that one of them is standing up in her cot, she grins at me, and then I realise that its actually the other one moaning....

So I go rub her back, and give her back her dummy (which is right in front of her face) and she goes quiet. Then the other one looks at me expectantly and holds up her arms "Duddle?"

I don't bloody think so, its definitely on of those moments that is "Can I please get up and play?" HAHA you're really funny child not at midnight, or any time after 7 o clock thank you!!

So I lay her down and tell her to go to sleep.

Back in bed and all is quiet. Ahhh that worked, thats surprising. I JUST  feel comfy and warm and sleepy again when there is an insistant howl from their bedroom....

Sigh. Ignore it. It goes on, and gets louder. and louder. Shes gunna wake her bloody sister up! SO up and down the hall into their room.

The same one is still upright and staring at me, and again, the other one is moaning!!! I give her another pat on the back, she does still have her dummy. I tuck her in a little tighter and snugger, and turn to the cheeky rascal.

She grins, holds up her hands and says "Duddle?"

Uh, no. I lay her down, and hand her her stuffed bunny, "goodnight darling, its sleepy time"

Back to bed, nice and comfy, starting to drift off to sleep, and "Nummy!!! NUMMY!!!"

Argh (enter rude word of choice).

Back down the hall, the sleeper is still asleep, the cheeky rascal is staring at her dummy on the floor (barely visible in the half nightlight light) and calling it. As if that will make it come. Which it will, cos mummy will get up and get it wont she?

Its almost time for the dummy fairy to take them away I think.

Hand her back dummy, and I think she has the message clear now, because she lays herself down and starts trying to tuck herself in, I give her a hand and then go back to bed.

That's the end of being called in by toddlers for the night, but do you think I can get back to sleep now?

So today I am very tired. Oh well, that's really not unusual!

xx The Ramblings of Another Mother