christmas 2016 - its a wrap

Christmas was in Port Lincoln for us this year with my Dad and Jane. And thank goodness for that as it was 41 degrees here, and only 28 down there. Its amazing that it can be so different in temp when its really not that far from here.

The kids decided to only unwrap their Father Christmas gift on Christmas morning and then take the rest to Lincoln to unwrap with their Grandparents. Little blossoms x. I'm so proud of them for doing that, for restraining themselves and wanting to include others in their day. And I didn't prompt them for that idea, it was all their own.

So gifts were handed around, unwrapped and ohh'd over before lunch.  Being a predidcated really warm day in Lincoln (it didn't get anywhere near it) the turkey was cooked the day before, but the ham was fresh out of the webber and it smelled divine.  Prawns were peeled and there were oodles of salads. Instead of the traditional pudding, we have pav. It was to die for. I think the kids inhaled theirs.

Afternoon sleeps were next on the list before a quick trot down to the swimming enclosure for a dip with the Modras, as it started to rain.

The kids had a game or 10 of nerve jangling Jenga,

learning the nuances of Blackjack and high stakes checkers before we all started on the pass the parcel game - with a twist. While you are desperately trying to peel off a layer of paper with oven mitts on your hands and a  Christmas hat on your head, the person next to you is rolling two dice. As soon as a double is rolled the parcel, hat and mitts go to the person on the left, as do the dice. Quite often a double was rolled just as the hat went on, let alone the mitts and getting a go at the wrapping. Its a loud, funny and fast game that was a great way to bring everyone together. The prize at the end was a Footrot Flats book which every single person in that room loved.

More prawns, ham. turkey and salads for tea, followed by mojitos and Baileys. Home by 10.30 that evening. All puffed out and with a top day in the memory bank.

hip hooray 9 today

I just love how this one has turned out. Masking fluid, watercolours and leaves plus a scattering of embellies. What's not to love?

non scale rewards

I did it!!
I put on the damn swimsuit. Must admit I wore a rashie and boardies as the bathers are now a couple sizes too big now and it shows (think unsupported puppies 😳). I haven't worn bathers in a very long time #nonscalerewards
This is what gave me the courage
https://www.facebook.com/littlethingscom/videos/580554148820628/ — at Cummins & District War Memorial Swimming Pool Inc.

jerry

Seven years ago I had a number of big stacks from this particular 17 hh horse that totally shattered my confidence and left me with a bone chip off my hip. And shoulder problems. I quit riding that day. 

Today, with the encouragement of Sheree, I threw my leg over Jerry, and got my bum back in the saddle, and it felt awesome. It felt like home. He's older, wiser and a gentleman now with a lot of reschooling from a much better rider than I ever was.

Basically when I was hunting, I had short Dick disease. I was the shortest rider on the tallest horse and never had long enough legs to wrap around his belly. When he started bronco bucking I was so easily spat off and I was riding scared. 

Today I was excited.
Tally Ho.

9

A strongly +Wilna Furstenberg  influenced LO of Annie with her 9th birthday present, back in 2011. 

I love love love the skeleton leaves, they seem so delicate, even if it did take quite a while to properly seperate them from the silhouette cut files as they didn't quite cut all the way through.

transition

That nest of threads was actually a cast off from Amy during #scrapshack2016 weekend some time ago. As she popped it into the bucket bin, I reached in and pulled it out and popped it on the LO. Perfect.

first day of school

The first real day of school, not transition, for my son was always going to be recorded. I've used black gesso through an alphabet stencil and then used chalk to further enhance the background. The photo strip was the best way to showcase a number of the pics taken that morning he went to school for his first time.

easter 2011 - annie

Using the same idea for the background as Sean's Easter LO, but with a different mask (a home made one) and drawing the colour combination from the colours of the pyjamas, this one is for Annie's album.

escape2create 2011

The fourth escape2create scrapbooking retreat was all about Buzz Lightyear on our table. He was found in Amy's tote and became our table mascot. He started our tradition of a table mascot for every retreat we've been to ever since.

harry potter stats

Some layouts don't require any embellishing at all.

Journaling says: Harry Potter. 3407 pages. 7 Books. Read in 6 months @ age 8.

climbing Mt Greenly

Today the kids and I climbed a mountain.

Its only a little one, but its called Mount Greenly and so I'm calling it a mountain.  

I've been wanting to do it for quite some time but didnt think I could with my knee issues and being overweight. Recently I've been on a Winter Warrior Fitness program, and I'm now onto my second 10 week Spring Warrior challenge.  As a result I've dropped 12.5 kgs and I'm the fittest I've been since giving up equestrian sports.

So today was the day. It was a cooler day than yesterday and before the warmer forecasted day tomorrow. Being aware that snakes are on the move I popped into my backpack compression bandages for possible bites, band aids for blisters, Ventolin and the spacer for asthma as all three of of us are asthmatic, water bottles each of us, choccie treats for the kids up at the top, Annie's little compact camera, and my phone for GPS recording of the trip for the elevation.

I wanted to miss the warmer part of the day and chose to start off from the base carpark with the kids at 9am. The kids took the lead and found a well trodden path right from the get go through the scrub at the bottom of the foothills before climbing our way up onto the slope.

It took us an hour of steady pacing and frequent water stops so the kids could help lessen the weight in my backpack.  I only saw one little snake on the way up and it was between the kids further up the slope and me. It scooted off into the rocks as quick as a whip.  I do wonder how close the kids came to it though.

Sean's goal when he made it to the top was to pee of the side of the mountain. Such a boy thing. Annie wanted to yodel out into the atmosphere. I just wanted to make it to the top.

You know when you've made it to the highest point as there is a stone cairn there. The kids and I added a rock each to leave something of ourselves other than our footsteps there.

The kids had their snacks, and I took a few shots and the kids took a few shots too.

Coming down was definitely harder than going up for me. My knees are really crap and while the kids scooted on down, I took each step with concentration and deliberation.  They very kindly waited for me to catch up every five minutes or so before they took off again. They were like mountain goats and I happened to mention that to them. Then every time Sean noticed I was falling further behind he'd call to Annie out in front of him in his best goat noise as a signal to stop and wait for a bit. Classic.  I was a little chuffed that he was considerate enough to do the wait stops and often asked if I was ok.

It took us about an hour to come down and I was so damn proud of them. Not once did they hesitate, or complain. They were as keen as I was to give it a shot.  And I think they were just a little proud of me too, and I love that.

We drove to Dutton for a look, onwards to Little Douglas as I've never been there and I've heard lots about it, and finished up in Coffins so the kids could have an ice cream. By this time it was about 12.30pm. We took the scenic way home from the bottom of Settlers Rd because its dried up now at this time of year and can be accessed. Its a dry weather road and its terribly chopped up by people attempting to get through it when its underwater.

By the time we got home, the kids were tired and I was just a little puffed. Not muscle sore, just puffed from many days on the go, so we all had a little quiet time.

netball

As soon as Annie uttered those words back in 2011 I wrote them down. Those little moments of wisdom should be recorded for ever.  Its taken me 5 years to get to the moment to scrap her LO and I am so glad I wrote that little nugget of gold on paper back then to use them now.

cherish your yesterdays

A bright layout created during #scrapshack2016 a few weekends ago. 2011 seems like ages ago by date, but in reality it was only just a blink ago.

Thank you for the parents consent so I could post this.

grandpa

This one is for my sister in law to keep. But have permission to show and tell, and submit.   Loved the clocks faces in the background to show the passing of time in regard to the 3 generations.

easter 2011 - sean

Time is whizzing by far too fast. 2011 feels like it was only yesterday.

#scrapshack2016 october

Four of us scrap-a-holics had our second #scrapshack2016 last weekend. That's now 3 since we came up with the idea.  What an absolute blast. Four days of bliss. Much wine was drunk, many many bellies laughs were had, good food, powerwalks on the oyster trail to meet Spring Warrior criteria and meeting up with fellow Spring Warriors for a sesh on the lawns by the yacht club.

#scrapshack2016 was revitalising, refreshing and was an awesome outlet for the creative soul. Mel, Amy and Bec: I love you guys so much. Lets do it again early new year!!

winter warrior stats

Just a note to remind myself later of stats for scrapbooking

In 10 weeks I am:

• 55.5cm less
• 10kg down
• 2 dress sizes down
• 2 shirt sizes down
• 3 jean sizes down
• bra size down. 
• cup size down

Runkeeper stats when I was on the bike or powerwalking for the last 10 weeks.

pretty damn happy with progress so far
x

I am a Warrior

Winter Warrior Testimonial – Tiff Firth  - October 2016

The Winter Warrior Fitness program has been a game changer and a life changer for me. Iron Grit Gym & Boot Camp owner Kate Holman, and her team (Jodi Mickan, Morgan McDonald and Belinda-Jane Moroney), have created this incredible program to motivate you to move your butt.

When I first started my goal was to lose 10kg. 1kg per week during 10 week program. If you lift a 10kg kettle bell, you’ll know exactly how heavy that 10kg is.  That’s the extra baggage I am on the way to losing. I’m so very happy to say that by the end of week ten I have lost the 10kg. Going by the tape measure I've lost a total of 55.5cm. That's frigging huge!    FIST PUMP!  

Kate is on hand if you choose the Challenge and Change package (highly recommend) for dietary and trainer advice. I chose this package to keep myself accountable to not only myself, but to Kate, her crew and to my Warrior tribe. I want them to be proud of me, and to do that I needed to be kept on track. And I can tell you, that is exactly what has happened.

Has it been hard? Not really, surprisingly enough. When something you do is fun and rewarding, then it’s not hard. The support from other members of the Warrior Tribe has been a key motivator to keep me moving and sweating, keeping my end goal in sight.  A fellow Warrior waving or a shout out to you when you’re out doing your thing is so uplifting. 

Do you need to have some level of fitness to go on the program? No. There’s a challenge level to suit you wherever you’re at for your health and well-being.  Is it suitable for any age? Absolutely.  Modifications can be made to each section of the weekly challenges so you can achieve and then extend your goals.

The beauty of this program is that you can do it in the privacy of your own home, or you can access Iron Grit Gym as you need.  Just like a 24/7 gym.

I’ve taken the weekly set challenges for my chosen level by the ears and done more than I need. My philosophy is that I have a lot of booty to move, so I need to move my booty a lot. At the beginning of week 5 I had my second measure up. I had lost a total of 25.5cms. That’s a dress size down, a bra size down, a bra cup size down, and a jean size down.  Man is that a greatest feeling to get back INTO those fave jeans! Now those same jeans are too big. Whoohoo!

The other key factor during the 10 week challenge is diet. For those who know me, I’ve had a love affair with Farmers Union Feel Good Ice Coffee since forever. I can quite honestly say that during the 10 weeks I’ve only had 4 small ones as a reward for a large achievement. For an addiction, it was so simple to go cold turkey and give them up. I looked at the calories on the carton and compared how much I needed to work to sweat those calories off. It just wasn’t worth it, so I stopped having my customarily two to three 600mls ice coffees per day. Now it’s a treat, and only if I’ve really earned it. And I don’t crave them anymore. WIN WIN. If I can do that, then anyone can!

I had a goal to ride my bike from the farm into town (11km), smash out a gym session, and then ride it home.  I’m pretty chuffed to say I did that back in week 6. I’m finding that I’m resetting my goals weekly, as I have been constantly extending myself beyond them. And that’s incredibly rewarding.

TBH I can’t rave enough about what the Winter Warrior program had meant to me. I urge you to contact Kate ASAP 0427 977 414 or email her at irongritgym@gmail.com to get on board the Spring Warrior. I have.

bloom

Annie's first photo of her gawjus smile after she had the braces taken off her top row of teeth to close a gap. I've used a Wilna cut file from her Art 2 Heart class and its gawjus too.

skwool

As much as I loved the look of the chalkboard in scrapbooking, I really didn't want to hand write a LO with white chalk on blackboard paint. What was I to do.....

A Hybrid of course. After 30 seconds jumping around on Pinterest I found what I needed for the background, the scroll and the fonts. The apple buttons and apple papers I already had in my stash.

Boom. Done.

spring is in the air

This is what today's unseasonably warm weather is going to remind us of.  Spring is in the air. Just round the corner. And doesn't it feeeeeeeeel good.

I just love love love large photo LO's. Embellishing is minimal with the photo and the journaling are the stars. 

Journaling says "Spring is a time to find out where you are, who you are and move toward where you are going" - Penelope Trunk.

wild & free

This would have to be one of my all time faves for a number of reasons.  

1 - and most importantly, the journaling is Annie's own words. How deep is her wisdom for her age?!!  She often scribes one liners or a paragraph of wisdom in her notebook. She's also writing a novel atm. She's several chapter into it and its developed into quite a good read.

2 - The colour wash in the background just happened to work beautifully with Wilna's cut file that was in the pack at e2c. I didn't plan it that way at all. 

3 -The title was a sticker in that same pack that fits exactly with the sentiment and the colour scheme.

4 - I ended up pulling apart the LO I started with Wilna's class at e2c as I wasn't happy with my painting technique, and the tags on that LO also fitted perfectly with the sentiment and hues on this LO.

I must have had it together all my subconscious as I certainly didn't visualize this one like I do for most of mine. This one just evolved as it happened.

lovely

I was lucky enough to receive an extra cut file from Wilna at the recent #e2c2016 retreat she taught at. So I had a second go with one of the layouts she taught with the extra cut file than what was used, and added a Tiff touch with it.

I hugely admired Julianne's layout with her perfect dusting of glitter on her flowers in the masked area. She did it so much better than I ever could, and it must have made a memory as I reached for my glitter gel to do something similar without even thinking why I did. As I said, Julie's glitter effect is so much more lovely than mine.

hello wilna

The journaling says it all. Its a bit small but it needed to fit on that tiny journal card. Its says:

"Wilna. I've had a scrapbooking girl crush on you for the longest time. So to be able to meet you in real life was a precious gift. Your megawatt smile is what I remember the most. It's genuine and it lights up the room. Thank you for spending time to teach at #escape2create2016."

lou, wilna & #escape2create2016

The weekend of June 25th to 27th was looked forward to with much anticipation. Not only do I get to spend time with Lou again, both during and after the weekend ...

 

I was able to meet my other scrappy idol in real life. I've had a girl crush on Wilna Furstenburg for the longest time and to be able to interact with her was a gift I will treasure.

 #escape2create2016 #e2c2016 was held at the Lincoln Hotel this year due to a long term booking at the Lions Hostel. I missed the shed and all the buzz that happens in there. I prefer it to the hotel for a number of reasons, but I'll keep them to myself. 

The scraproom was festooned in colour and 93 ladies were creating all weekend. It was brilliant to be in a room of like minded souls all busy with memory keeping. To be able to switch off from the real world and take some time out for myself was lovely and appreciated.

My lanyard and coffee cup which become my tote as table space was very tight this year due to all of us in a far smaller space on far smaller tables than in previous years.

Wilna had her daughter Tia over for the trip from Canada to experience a bit of our Aussie way of life. She's lovely and a real credit to her parents.

Wilna and I took 5 mins out in the foyer for photos and we couldn't resist tempting the little lady devil inside her to show. My first thought was it would be a great pic for Halloween which she does celebrate back in her hometown in Canada.

Amy had the foresight and creativity to mock up her Wilna Apron which Wilna signed. Oh the envy around our table. 10 out of 10 Amy.

I can't wait to start scrapping these pics. I asked Wilna to sign as special Polaroid frame which I'm about to use to create a LO based on meeting her.



Our fun loving table crew. These guys are da bomb and always good for a laugh.

Ready, set, create.... with these beautiful souls. My love to all of them, they gave me courage this year even though they didn't know it at the time.

:)