One day you are in, the next day you are out

One day you are in, the next day you are out....

I loved watching Project Runway on TV when it was a hit reality show quite a few years ago and those where the last words that the departing aspiring fashion designer would hear from the chief judge on their last day of the show.  They would pack up their tables and all their tools and leave.... often visibly broken and in tears.  And watching them leave, I so often thought how harsh those words are.  This might have been reality TV but those contestants are real people, all talented designers otherwise they would not have been chosen.  They believed in themselves, designed their hearts out show after show - and honestly some had jaw-dropping creations.  But there were rules and all knew it and at each show, one or even two on some occasions were told to leave.

But that was reality TV..... Yet that happens too in our everyday lives.

One day you are in - in friendships, relationships, marriages, workplaces - and the next day you are out.  Gone.....

And that is how it was for me on the 15 March 2019.  I work up, like normal, went to work, like normal, worked at my desk on jobs, just like normal.  I was in.  Then at 3 pm that day, it all ended.  I was called into a meeting and handed a folder white letter, informed that my role was being made redundant and I could leave early that afternoon with the rest of my employment time off.  I was out.

First redundancy ever, in 38 years of working and first time.  I guess I am lucky to have escaped the redundancy process in all this time as I have certainly witnessed a few in my time.  But one never thinks it is going to happen to you .... do you?

I left with a range of emotions, hurt, disappointment, anger - just a complete whirlpool of emotions.  My first week was spent still processing all these emotions while I dealt with the required meetings and negotiations for settlement.

Now all that is out of the way and 3 weeks have since passed.  I still feel angry at times that my loyalty and hard work over the past year was all for naught, but all that is slowly passing over.

Now it is time for reassessing my life, our lives and looking towards the future ... whatever it may bring.

Priorities!

So following on from my previous post, this is my chosen word for 2019.  Already 27 days into the the new year, I have had to forcefully put this word constantly in front of me - to constantly remind myself what I want from life this year, how I want to live my live this year and how I will successfully end this year.

Priority:  a thing that is regarded as more important than others;  the fact or condition of that being regarded or treated as more important than others.

Let's add in another word:  MY PRIORITIES.

Simple, straightforward.  This is how I intend to live my life in 2019.

Not a good blogger am I .....

Oh dear, I jump onto my blog to kickstart it all again and sadly I posted only 3 posts for the whole of last year (in January monthly only) ...... so sad to think how life got in the way of everything last year.

So I shall memorise this senenance and make it my mantra for 2019.

The Busyness of Life

I saw this catchy quote recently.  And it got me thinking.

We are only 15 days into the 2018 and already I feel like the busyness and dailyness of life all around me is crushing me.  Just over 10 days ago I was on leave, resting and relaxing and already it feels like a distant memory.  And busyness is consuming me and already threatening to invade my space and mess up everything I want out life.

So I got to thinking today ..... whilst I won't be able to free myself fully from life's demands - after all I have to work, have to do everything the best I can, give the best service to my clients at work and be a wife to my husband, run a happy and organised home and also be kind to myself ..... all in a day 24/7 ..... wow that does sound super busy in just jotting down these thoughts - I still need a sense of balance.  I need to able to shift between the 2 extremes of life's demands and life's quiet rest without spinning out of control and becoming frustrated and and overwhelmed.  And when I am overtired or worried about things, this does happen to me - too frequently and all to easily.

So I am going to really focus on taming the stressful busyness in my life this year and finding the balance that I need.  I plan to draw up some rules and goals to live my life in 2018.  I think if I focus on what I want out of life now and put in a proper structure to achieve this, this will work for me.

As I said earlier, I plan to Sparkle and allow nothing to dull or dim my sparkle.

So time for some planning and strategy ......  Let's get this on!

Leave A Little Sparkle Wherever You Go

Sparkle - my one word for 2018.

First just a little about my "My One Word" tradition.

Usually I spend that last few days of the old year reflecting on the past 12 months and also thinking about what I want out of the next 12 months.  I don't bother about long resolutions - I choose just one word for the year and this year I want to Sparkle!!

For too long now I have felt my shine and sparkle has gotten dull and dim.  Has it been such that I have been for far too long saturated with the clingy suffocating cloak of the every day rut of life,  ..... work, home and all that goes with just trying to cope with everything .... that my spirit feels trampled and stomped on;  that my soul has lost its gleam and shine and slowly getting covered with a soot of mediocracy and weariness.  Has everything in the daily grind of life exhausted me to the point of where my soul has lost its lustre and shine .....

SO - now is the time to get back on my unicorn, seek out the shining jewels of life, and begin to Sparkle!!  It is that simple.  To live the life you want can be that simple .... with a few rules.

Just take each day as it comes;  find the magic that each day brings with it;  be you as you are, this unique special person that you are;  draw on your inner beauty and spirit and zest for life and live each day in an inspired and joyous way. It does not matter if you are quirky, free spirited, individualist, graceful, remarkable, or just plain normal - just be you with your beautiful soul as a guide.

That is what I want 2018 to be for me .... and so for today, tomorrow and the rest of the year I just want to be sparkly ME.

So I will leave a little glitter and sparkle wherever I go this year.

Year 2017 - A frenetic year of imbalance? Was it really?

2018 - a brand new year ….. Wow, what happened to 2017?!  How did 365 days disappear in a flash?  I feel like I started the year in then fell asleep on a long 300 days nap and woke up in 2018 ….. Where was I all those 365 days?  Some how caught up with Life and getting through it last year.  And I had the year word of Balance set up for 2017.  Where was the Balance in all of those 365 days??

When I think about it, last year was a blur of activity and just getting through one thing and another and so caught up in all these activities that all seemed to have disappeared in a hazy blur.   What happened to my 2017 wish and life motto of Balance?  Was it ever there?

On first reflection, it seems like we just threw our life as we knew it into turmoil.  Yip, we took our life and threw it up in the air and spent the year juggling all the balls as they came down to rest on the ground.  Some were clean catches and others not …. they bounced around on the ground while we tried to catch them and sort out the order of our new life.  But hey we got through it all and came out the other end still smiling and laughing into 2018.

So 2017 review in a snapshot:

January - put our Auckland house on the market and put in the offer in our house in Kawerau
February - busied ourselves with packing up our lives in the city and unexpectedly having to deal with the first challenge of a very nasty flash flood taking out the bottom storey of our new house before occupation.
March - arrived in the Eastern Bay of Plenty - new house and new job for me - all a bit chaotic
April - muddled around trying to find our feet - still in that honeymoon phase of new and exciting taking the pressure off the challenges that started to appear
May - off to the USA to do our motorcycle pilgrimage ride for Run For the Wall. An exhausting but wonderfully cathartic trip to take our minds off things
June, July, August - horrible cold wet winter and dealing with a magnitude of maintenance issues with the new house
September to November - Spring slowly coming around and finally seeing the end of frustrating challenges of new house, new job and new life
December - Summer at last!!  And the promise of some well deserved rest over Christmas and New Year.

So yes a lot of things to deal with …. balls of life going everything, frantic activity, head-bashing, feeling a little knocked about at times and getting back up to move forward again.  Yet we managed to deal with all of this with amazing strength and resilience and still loving life through it all.  Yes, the switch of busy Auckland life to what we thought would be a slower pace, better quality of life was not quite what we envisaged but we still know we made the right decision.  

We coped;  we did what we had to;  we persevered;  we believed.  God gave us the strength we needed and we thank Him for faithfully guiding us through these rough waters.

So in reflection, 2017 was a little tumultuous but sometimes it is good to have to fight a few battles to know and appreciate the rewards at the end of journey.

We are now settled into our new life here in Kawerau and the Eastern Bay of Plenty.  We do so love our house that we fell in love with from first sight.  I am finally feeling content in my job back in Whakatane.    We have slowly started getting to know our new community and have made some wonderful friends here locally.  

We won the race of change.  We got there in the end.  Maybe the Balance was only meant to come to us at the end of the year …. so in hindsight and on reflection Balance was the perfect word for the year.

And so we hurtled full steam into 2018 I embrace the gift of seeing one year out and another new year in.  I am hopeful that it will be an easier year for us.  So here is to 2018!  Bring it on!  I am ready for you. And as usual I have a new word for the new year - Sparkle.

…. but more of this is another post ……

MY SAD BLOG

Oh dear, what happened ..... Just about nothing on my blog for last year??  So sad to think how busy my life was that I just did not have time to even write on my blog page.....

OK - so let's try this again.  Let me make a concerted effort to get my blog back up and running again this year.  Let me try to keep my journal of Scribbles up to date this year.  Let me keep sharing my craft projects this year ....

Try - I guess that is all I can promise at this stage.  But try I will!

NEW BEGINNING

January 2017:  New year, new beginning.  Time to get my blog up and running again.  So have kicked off things by updating my Journal Scribbles page.

Celebrate the Small Wins - a reflections back on the last 3 months

It has been a more than 2 months since I posted something on my blog.  But everything just seems to have stood still in a way since our motorway accident on the 6 March.

Taking a moment today to reflect on the last 3 months - with this message....

It has been quite a 3 month journey since our terrible motorway accident on the 6 March.  But today I wish to take a moment to acknowledge the small steps we taken to get back to a sense of having a normal life again.  Who would have thought that broken wrists could have totally thrown our life in a turmoil.  One day we could dress ourselves and feed ourselves and the next day we could not even achieve these simplest of activities that are so taken for granted.  Just normal every day chores like shopping, doing the washing, making a bed, making a meal had suddenly become one of the most difficult things to do.  And being stuck at home for weeks on end sore with pain and frustrated at the loss of our control over these things really challenged our spirits.

But slowly over the last  92 days we have gained back daily a slice of normal life.... Our left hands are getting stronger with physiotherapy, Edwin has been able to drive for a while and at last I have been given the go ahead to drive as well and life as we knew it is slowly coming back to normal.  We still have many things we cannot easily do but we can do a lot of things we could not do 2 months ago.  And all in all we still have a way to go to see if our left hands will function 100%.  It has been a huge unexpected journey for us, one that has surely tested our resilience

So on reflection,  I want to celebrate what I call the small wins - they were in reality huge wins for us during this time... for which each small thing we learnt to do, we overcame a hurdle and moved forward.  Life the last 3 months has been a series of baby steps all going forward towards progress.

We are still apprehensive about some things.... will I still need an operation on my hand, will Edwin regain full strength in both his hands and arms to ride his beloved Goldwing again, will I be able to have the courage to get back in pillion seat.  So much still to face ..... but for today and for each day going forward, all I want to do is to concentrate of what we can achieve, no matter how small they be.  And celebrate them with a happy and thankful spirit.

And a year from today, I would like to look back only to really see how far we have come.

Graphic 45 Design Team Audition 2015

Oh my Goodness!  My heart is pounding and my tummy is full of butterflies ..... But I just have to do this!!  Since I recently saw the Graphic 45 2015 Design Team Call, it is a dream calling for me.  I look at all the wonderful creations of the existing team and just stand in awe of their beautiful and inventive creations.  But G45 is my passion, my obsession ever since I discovered these gorgeous papers and being on the G45 Design Team is on my dream bucket list - so it is just something I have to do.

So what the heck, I am going to toss my hat, or should I say my designs into the ring and see what happens.  Regardless of what happens, I will always be a G45 obsessed fan.  I will still continue to promote this brand of paper in New Zealand and still keep on encouraging my fellow scrappers in Kiwi land to get know and love these beautiful papers.  I would love crafters to see just how versatile and adaptable they are....  They are not just used for altered projects - they are just as perfect for traditional scrapbookers, card makers and paper crafters alike.

So what is my style?
It is a bit of this and a bit of that.  I do love shabby chic, vintage and romantic styles - these are definitely my favourite go to styles.  I love distressed paper, lots of layering and 3D elements and very happy to do fussy cutting... and now having fun with mixed media.  But having said that, I often need to do a lovely clean and classic project, just to have a bit of balance in my crafty life.  And probably 12 x 12 single page layouts is my favourite form of paper crafting.

So these are the projects that I am putting in for this audition.  I specifically chose these examples because I really want to encourage beginnerpaper crafters to use G45 in their craft.  I honestly think they are one of the very best paper brands out in the market.

Project 1:
My first project is a layout made from Once Upon a Springtime.  I was so so excited to see this collection come out again as a deluxe collection.  I have always loved fairies since I was a little girl and this is my dream collection.  For this page I wanted to do lovely cutesy layout with lots of fussy cutting and detail.

Project 2:
I made this baby boy layout using a combination of papers from Graphic 45's latest collection, the Precious Memories and the Botanical Tea collections. 

What I find though is that often scrappers love G45 papers but think the papers are very busy or intimidating with too many graphics and pictures that seem to require a lot of layering and fussy scrapbooking - so really just difficult to work with.  Whilst I personally love all the layering, fussy cutting and 3D style, Graphic 45 is really not restrictive to work with. These beautiful papers have a lot potential and uses for both conventional scrapbookers and cardmakers.

In doing this particular page I wanted to show that these papers are just as beautiful for clean and balanced classic layouts, perfect for those crafters that like clean lines and ideal for beginner scrappers. As the papers are double sided, there is always a lovely patterned side that can be used - like I used here. The papers are thick weight so they cut beautifully in die cutting machines and just are wonderful to work with.

Project 3:

Here I teamed up G45 Sweet Sentiments odds with some lovely soft vintage papers from Maja Design to make this shabby chic Valentine Card.  I just love how G45 papers are just perfect to use with other complimentary papers and patterns.  Once again to show just how versatile G45 really is.

Project 4:

Another one of my favourite collections is the Couture Range.  I just love the sophisticated and classy look of the images.  This collection makes just the most beautiful cards.

Project 5:

And I have had a play with a mixed media project.  I have a lovely little pile of G45 scraps and thought how wonderful it would be to use them on a canvas.  So I made this lovely little wall hanging sentiment to keep for my scrap room or give to a special friend for a gift.

Thank you so much to Graphic 45 for putting out this call.  I have my blog but also very active on Facebook - on my personal page and also my scrapbooking page called Jannee's Scrap Shack.

14 March Workshop - Reschedule

Hi all, just wanted to let you know that hubby and I were part of a 5 vehicle accident in Auckland on Friday, 6 March. We both have left broken wrists and hubby has radius injuries and lots of aches and bruises. But otherwise OK - could have been so much worse!! I need to make sure my wrist starts the healing process this week, so I am going to postpone my workshop. If all goes well with my healing process, I am looking at re-scheduling the workshop for 28 March.

Back scrapping some of our old family photos. I have always loved this photo of mom sitting alone and quietly at the side of the Olympic pool in my childhood town. There is just something so beautiful and serene about this scene. To compliment the vintage layout I used the gorgeous soft, muted papers from Maja Design. I played with a little gesso on the background, distressed the papers, added some delicate stamping and some complimentary flair buttons and embellishments.

Graphic 45 Baby Layout

I have been wanting to work on some boy pages, so I started with this baby boy layout using a combination of papers from Graphic 45's latest collection, the Precious Memories and the Botanical Tea collections. As you are well aware I have a passion for G45 and absolutely love working with it.

What I find though is that often scrappers do like them, some love them but think the papers are very busy or "loud" with too many graphics and pictures, and seem to require a lot of layering and fussy scrapbooking - so just difficult to work with..... Whilst I personally love this layering, fussy cutting, 3D style, Graphic 45 is really not that restrictive. These beautiful papers have a lot potential and uses for both conventional scrapbookers and cardmakers.

In doing this particular page I wanted to show that these papers are just as beautiful for clean and balanced classic layouts. As the papers are double sided, there is always a lovely patterned side that can be used - like I used here. The papers are thick weight so they cut beautifully in die cutting machines and just are wonderful to work with. I did a lot of cutting here with my Silhouette Cameo machine to create the rounded edges and trellis overlay - whilst using a classic layout design. And the Graphic 45 papers I used here all came from a 8 x 8" pad. 

Oh the totally cute baby here is my great great nephew who has just about to celebrate his 1st birthday soon.

The cute rosettas I cut with my Silhouette Cameo machine.

Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime - fairy paper!!!

Fairies!! Fairy papers!! Just arrived in. At last Graphic 45 have re-released their beautiful Once Upon A Springtime range in a special Deluxe edition of the most beautiful papers full of fairies. Oh my gosh, I so love this collection!! Here are a few photos of some of the sheets of paper.  Love Love Love them!!  Can't wait to play with them!

14 February Tag Workshop

Thanks to all the lovely folks who came to my Tag workshop today. I had so much fun and just love all the wonderful tags you all made. 

Here are all the gorgeous tags made today!!  I love them - what awesome work!

February Mixed Media Tag Workshop

Okeee Dokee - so you want to know what you could make at my workshop next Saturday, 14 Feb?? Here you go ... A gorgeous mixed media tag, all done with spray mists and gesso. 

If you have never really worked with inks, sprays and mixed media techniques, it is great fun!  Hoping to have a nice full class.

Playing a bit with Prima papers

I decided to have a little play with some Prima papers and made this quick little scrapbook page one evening using the 6 x 6' Prima Princess Collection pad. This super little pad has the most gorgeous soft patterns - 48 sheets in total and the papers are a lovely thick weight quality, more like light cardstock. 

This layout is actually a 8 x 8" page and this 6 x 6 pad is just perfect for the smaller layouts like this.  Little pads like these are wonderfully versatile and so cost effective.  

I normally take my time, hours and hours to do layouts, but just was spending some time in my craft room and honestly rustled up this layout in about an hour.   Record time for me!

HOT trends for 2015

Hot Trends for 2015 : Just been doing a snoop around the scrapbooking circles to find out what is hot for 2015 in scrapbooking and paper crafting, especially as a lot of these hot trends are introduced or visible at the big Craft and Hobby Expo in January in the USA. So what are they:

1. Gold is HOT, HOT, HOT - gold in paper, gold in embellishments, gold in everything
2. Naturals, i.e., Kraft, whites, blacks and grays were clearly visible in embellishments and accents.
3. Smaller pages or albums, 8 x 8', 8 x 11" and 6 x 6" the size for mini albums
4. Travel themes and collections as well as party themes
5. Bright fun colours in paper, even watercolour themes
5. Stars seem to be featuring, so looks to be trending in 2015
6. Mini embellishments all layered up seem to be good trend for the year
7. The in colour for 2015 is Burgundy, or what the experts call Marsala
8. Puffy acetate stickers.
9. Mixed Media is still very in and trendy for the year. So all that goes with mixed media will be hot.
10. Filofaxes and planners are apparently huge this year - so crafters will be doing them up with all sorts of creative projects. Suppliers are already busy working on all sorts of new releases to suit this hot trend.

Right there you go - that is the hot goss from CHA2015 and other scrapbooking fundis out there!

But remember there is nothing wrong with being untrendy!  Some of us like to be unique and different - so use your unique style to be your point of difference!!

But I must say I do like the gold trend .....  so GO FOR GOLD!!!

Whoop Whoop!!!  Doing happy happy dance!!  Got invited to be part of the Funky Flair Studio design team!!  Did not expect it but so stoked.  I recently went on scrappy spending spree and put the cutest, most awesome flair buttons, all beautifully handmade by Funky Flair Studio.

So I had to quickly put together an example for the group.... so here is a shabby chic Valentine card I made using Maja Design scrap paper, some Graphic 45 from the Sweet Sentiment collection and an oh so cute little heart flair button.

Reflecting .... What to do for my workshops ...

OK, so I have been mulling of what to start off with in 2015. I have decided to go with a scrapbooking page kit using Maja Design papers.  The kit will come with a sketch, the layering papers and primary embellishments to make up a easy but beautiful page - all you will need is your own 12x12 background paper of your choice. And this is what the finished page could look like.... but with your own photograph (or two) and your own journalling. And you can add a title if you wish. And I am happy to put together a separate add-on kit for the 2nd page so those of us that like to do double layouts.

And this is what I am also thinking of doing at my first workshop for the year. The kits will also be available for posting out to those who aren't able to attend the workshops. I get out more details over the next few days.

And some close ups of the flowers, die cut from scraps of Maja Design paper.