29 November 2011

Saddest Farewell

Today has been an incredibly difficult day for me and the rest of my family. My cat Felix had to be put to sleep due to having fluid on the lungs and her body starting to shut down. She was 15 and her health had deteriorated recently but last night she took a turn for the worst. My husband is currently away on tour with his band for a month too so it meant I was on my own, fearing the worst and trying to keep Felix comfortable and loved on what I knew would be her last night :( She is not suffering anymore but it hurts my heart so bad to know I had to make the decision to let her go. I was barely a teenager when she came into my life so more than half my life later, it is one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to do.

I am unsure when I will be ready. Whether it is something I want to do straight away or once the pain has eased. But I decided I want to scrapbook this experience to make sure Felix remains a well documented part of our lives due to the importance she will always have for myself, my husband and my parents. So I have just typed up the emotions I am feeling today, so that I can add this to an envelope on my page when the time comes.

On 29th November 2011, I had to say goodbye to you Felix. It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. You had fluid on your lungs and your kidneys had started to fail so it was not fair to let you suffer. You had been becoming frail for a while. You lost so much weight and were breathing heavy and sneezing lots. But you were still eating everything in sight… even most of Villain’s food. You still jumped up on the chair beside me or gave us your big cranky meow when you wanted dinner… or wanted some of our dinner. Chicken was your favourite.
You’ve been in my life since 1996. More than half of my life. It was September and we just came home from Portland for a family holiday and Tanya brought you over. She used to have your sister Jasmine who looked just like you with your big thick grey coat.  You were my cat and I loved you so much. I will always love you and miss you. You were never a very cuddly cat. You hated walking or sitting on people but you were fine to be picked up and cuddled sometimes. You loved to be pat or brushed and would purr so loud at the slightest thing. Sometimes we just had to look at you and you would start purring.
Even as a kitten you had a really loud purr. Back then you used to sleep on my chest and your whiskers would tickle my face. I can’t remember when you stopped sitting on me but you still liked to be nearby. Even on your last night you stayed where I could see you and I could not sleep because I wanted to know you were okay. You slept in the doorway of my room, with your heavy breathing and barely moving. But it was reassuring to still hear you. And you purred for me on your last day.
Last night I cried so hard because I knew I was going to have to say goodbye to you. I lay on the floor with you and pat you and made sure you knew how much I loved you. Simon was not here to say goodbye. I know he wished he could have. You were so loved by us both Felix.
I think I knew once I took you to the vet today that it was unlikely you would be coming home, but that did not make any of it any easier. I gave you a last big hug and a kiss and told you I loved you. I couldn’t be there when you were put to sleep because it breaks my heart too much knowing we had to make that decision. You are at peace now. No more pain. We are having you cremated so you can still be part of our lives even if you are not still physically here.
I am going to miss everything about you my Felix. Your deep, husky purr. The way you would talk back to us if we meowed to you. The way you snored in bed. Those great memories of times you would come running to bed as soon as we were in bed, meowing frantically for attention. Having you sit beside me on the arm of my chair or glare until I made room for you. The way you enjoyed being brushed. And the adorable way you would sometimes curl around my arm when I would rub your belly. I will miss everything about you and the family that we were together. You, me, Simon and Villain.
All my love forever to my beautiful Felix xo


28 November 2011

Wedding Card

Hello everyone,

Today is my first day of holidays. I'm doing nothing interesting on my holidays... but the idea of spending a week at home doing only what I feel like doing is a pretty nice thought. My husband is currently on a month long tour with his band and I thought about meeting him in Melbourne for a few days but its an expensive time of year already, along with the fact that I really needed some chill out time so I decided to spend my week at home.

On Saturday one of my former co-workers married her partner... who is actually still my co-worker. A little funny that they met behind bars in a high security prison but they truely are a perfect match. The wedding was lovely, at a gorgeous hinterland chapel and winery setting. Very fun night... other than the fact that I got very ill afterwards. A 24 hour bug or something maybe. Its gone now and I'm so glad it didn't hit during the celebration.

This is the card I made for the occassion using Kaisercraft Chapter one mini pad. I even made a little pocket inside to slip in the cash for their wishing well.



 And here is the bridal party. I only just realised what a funny face the groom is pulling in this photo hehehehe

Hope you have all had a wonderful start to the week

Holly xo

23 November 2011

ScrapHappyKat November Challenge

Hi all,

Firstly I just want to say thank you to all the lovely people who visit my blog. Your kind comments and interest really means a lot xoxoxoxoxo

This month I was lucky enough to score a challenge kit from Kathie over at Scrap Happy Kat for November. The challenge kit was filled with gorgeous SEI papers and the challenge was to use nothing but the materials in the kit... no extra embellishments at all. That meant alphas too. Eeeek!!!

Lucky I have a cuttlebug to create some alphas out of the papers. Here is my layout... although I'm hoping to create a few more layouts out of the gorgeous papers as there were so many in the kit.




Thanks for visiting xo

19 November 2011

Getting Published

Ooooh I forgot to share my exciting news. I mentioned a while ago that one of my layouts had been picked up for consideration by Scrapbooking Memories magazine. Since then I've had to post 3 layouts off to them for consideration. Yay!

On Wednesday I came home to a very exciting email... the first of my accepted layouts is actually getting published. Woot! It'll be in about 6 months time... Vol 14, No 5 to be exact but how exciting! I am stoked! A sign of things to come maybe.

It's just such an honour to think one of my creations is considered good enough to share with the public. It just makes me realise how far I've come in less than a year since I started blogging and really getting into my scrapping!

Actually, that reminds me... my bloggiversary is in December. Might need to do a bit of a blog candy to celebrate :) Stay tuned...

Stocking Garland

Hi Everyone,

This year I am getting organised a bit early with the festivities of christmas and so I have started creating some new OTP decorational items for the house for the christmas period. This stocking garland was actually part of the awesome christmas themed DT pack from Scrapbooking Haven and I loved making it. It came together so quickly and easily.





Materials: Kaisercraft: BTP stocking garland, Be merry papers, chipboard, rub on and mini pad; RW lasercuts chipboard title; Everlasting keepsakes chipboard bookplates; Tim holtz distress inks; other: paper doily, organza ribbon.

13 November 2011

The Colour Room #84

Hi all,
I played along at The Colour Room with their current colour combination. Love the way this simple layout turned out. Unfortunately it did not photograph so well though! The title, Nothing Else Matters, is a song by Metallica that we signed our wedding registry to.




Materials: Coordinations cardstock; kaiser and making memories patterned paper; prima flowers; AC thickers; Jillibean soup alphas; Kaiser rub on; other: doily, old book paper, beading.

10 November 2011

Employee of the Month

Hi Everyone,
As some of you may be aware from my previous post or those of you who are my FB friends, I have been through a very traumatic time at work recently along with being excessively short staffed and over worked. Never known burn out to this extreme and each day has been an upward battle to keep on top of the ever increasing workload.

I work in a male high security correctional centre as a psychologist. Recently promoted to senior psychologist, which is a pretty amazing achievement at 28. A bit of luck and the fact that I am good at my job, reliable and all that.

Unfortunately I cannot discuss the incident, however it was a real blow to confidence in an already challenging time. There were moments of self doubt that overall I know were not warranted because I am good at my job and did everything well. Its just one of those unlucky things when working in a high risk line of work that you can be the best at your job and even then it isn't always enough.

Well today I had a nice little bit of a boost. I received the employee of the month award at our staff meeting. It means a certificate presented in front of all rostered staff, a $250 gift voucher and a parking space up next to the senior managers. So its a nice little bit of an incentive. I was nominated by my manager and the director for putting together a training package for staff a while ago but one of my lovely new staff nominated me again after the major incident due to my hard work. It was such a nice feeling and all the lovely comments on my facebook page from work friends and other friends and family has been extra special just hearing the appreciation. All exactly what I needed right now.

So I just wanted to share my happy news! Something small but with a big impact after such a low, stressful period!

Hope you are all well xo

01 November 2011

New Month = New Challenges

Hi everyone,
How is your week going? I have had quite a challenging one myself, after experiencing a very traumtic event at work last week. Unfortunately due to the confidental nature of my work, I cannot disclose exact details however its something I have been working through day by day. Each day gets a bit easier at least.

Here is my take on the November sketch at Scrapbook Kits with a Difference.



Recently my husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. He took me away for two nights in Brisbane. Well the first night his band had a gig so it was convenient to stay in the city to allow us to party on lol But the next night he took me to dinner overlooking the Brisbane river at a popular resturant and we enjoyed each others company. It was a great chance to really relax together and celebrate our past year as a married couple. And he was stoked that I got him Soundwave concert tickets, which is a massive alternative music festival that we were both keen to attend hehe

Hope you all go play along with this great sketch and check out the awesome kits in store!

Holly x