Recycling Toilet Paper Rolls...

Hey there

I've done a bit of creating the past few days, but unfortunately most of it is DT work so I can't even share just yet. Otherwise, its been all about christmas cards. I have made close to 30 now so am pretty happy with my efforts. I will share some photos sometime soon of the latest few I've done.

On Monday I had my weekly doctors appointment due to being in the late stage of pregnancy. It seems my perfect blood pressure is no longer travelling so great and the doctor told me it was borderline at this stage and I would have to closely monitor for any headaches, excessive swelling (I've already had cankles for weeks...) and other feelings of unwellness just in case it rises further. So with that news, I have actually taken it pretty easy this week for a change. That means there are lots of pre-baby tasks I haven't done that I would like to do before bubs arrives but I guess some can wait til after. Or never... lol

I am 39 weeks today so it really could be any time, but I think I have a good chance of going over my due date as bubs is still fairly high. Although I don't really have much say in these things so we'll see.

Instead I have been spending some time today being inspired by my favourite website... Pinterest and even a bit of Youtube today. Ages ago I saw this totally gorgeous mini album on Pinterest by Emily Lanham on the Authentique DT:

 

And I was fascinated to learn the album was made from toilet paper rolls. Since this time I have hoarded a few rolls here and there, with a plan to one day make my own TP mini. That day has yet to come but today I am feeling inspired so have been looking online for tutorials and inspiration for a TP mini.

 

Here are some that I found:

Love love love this one. So much detail and such a gorgeous colour scheme!

 

And this one is a great tutorial for making the mini albums.

 

So now I just have to sit down and start creating! I am off to dinner tonight with my team from work as a pre-baby get together since we didn't get to have a seperate team one before I finished work. It will be nice to catch up with most of them tonight and see how they are going almost 2 weeks without me lol Hopefully all is going smoothly. However as I'm sort of in night mode now to try and fit in with my hubby's work hours, I might get a chance to get into my first TP mini tonight hopefully.

 

Oh and this might sound amusing to those of you who are tool vetrans, but I finally got myself a Crop-a-dile this week. OMG... how did I survive without one! I had been trying to manually do holes for my minis all this time but the ease of this tool is fabulous! So mini albums here I come...

 

Would love to see your own take on a TP mini. If you end up making one or if you have previously made one, link it in my comments so I can come have a look and stay tuned for my own first attempt :)

 

Holly x

A2Z Scraplets November Releases Pt 2

Hey there

 

Still no clue what to do with blogger and my issue of having no room left in my picasa web albums. I don't want to upgrade and pay for an account. Would love to know what everyone else does for uploading their photos? I realise my file sizes are probably my biggest problem as I don't usually reduce the size and am now stuck with this issue since I dont plan to go back and re-load all the photos into my old blog posts at smaller file sizes lol. So all tips much welcome :)

 

So onto the next lot of shares:

 

Bright Sunshiney Day - How cute is that title?

 

 

 Materials: Echo park pp; Crete paper pp; Kaisercraft Collectables; D-lish scraps doily & other embellishments; Kaisercraft rub on; A2Z Scraplets title; Kindy glitz; other - flowers.

 

 

Baby Boy

Materials: Kaisercraft PP, Mini pad & alpha stickers; A2Z Scraplets heart; adornit alphas; AC Thickers; D-lish scraps flowers.

Anyway, it is almost the weekend so I hope you all have something exciting planned. For me it will be a busy one. Tomorrow we have lots planned to do around the house. Hubby is going to mow and I want to get a few more things ticked off the to do list because at this rate, I am not going to get half of what I want done before our bundle arrives. But I did achieve a couple of to do list items today -  defrosted freezer and negotiated better rate on our home loan. It doesn't hurt to ask. The savings may not be huge but every little bit in our pocket instead of the banks is a bonus.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend planned... and hopefully some scrapping!

Holly x

A2Z Scraplets November releases Pt 1

Hey there

I just realised I have yet to share my November DT layouts for A2Z Scraplets, other than over at the A2Z blog. Oops!

So here are the first couple:

"28"

This one I am entering into the current Authentique sketch challeng on their blog. Don't you just love their papers. I do!

Materials: A2Z Scraplets zipper; Authentique Unique paper, Authentique Uncommon 6 x 6 pad; Bo Bunny paper; AC Thickers.

 

 

 "Footprints on my heart"

 Materials: A2Z Scraplets title; Echo park, Glitz designs papers; D-lish scraps embellishments; Kaiser brads & paperclip.

This layout was a pretty difficult but important one to create. As you may have seen on earlier posts, our little Squeak kitten was diagnosed as having a heart murmur when we went to get him desexed. We were devastated that he could have a shorter life span because of it. So I wanted a place to include lots of extra journalling and photos. Therefore I decided to create a mini album into my layout. Unfortunately I have run out of room on my google account for photos so there are a couple more pages that you may need to pop over to my recent post at A2Z scraplets blog to see more.

However, the good news. Yesterday we took Squeak to the cardiologist vet for his specialist appointment. Extremely expensive but we wanted to know what we were up against. The good news was not expected by us or the vet. Turns out it isn't a heart murmur but in fact a small ventricular hole... hole on the heart. It is so small that it is unlikely to affect his life span providing it does not increase in size. The vet was great explaining everything and said he'll need a 6 month re-review with ultra sound etc to make sure nothing has changed then yearly from there but that means we should get at least a year or two warning when things are starting to go bad and can look at medication from there to manage potential fluid on the lungs. So overall... looks like our baby should be with us a long time still! Could not be happier.

And the vet was most impressed with how chilled our little guy is. He said it was like working with a dog because he just laid down and let the vet do as he needed with the ultrasound. That's our boy! hehe He's quite the sweetie. Not like his much rowdy big brother who is a total bad influence haha

Anyway I shall share more of my November layouts from A2Z once I figure out the technology to allow me to share more pics lol

Have a great weekend

Holly x

Maternity Leave & Christmas Cards

Hey there

So on Friday I officially finished work. Hard to imagine walking out the door that day was my last day for around 7 months. Not to say my next 7 months will be easy but it's a nice thought to know no 40 minute drive each way and no Mondayitis! I will miss my team during this time but will be sure to keep in touch to see how they are all going.

I did get quite spoilt on my last day too. A BBQ, cake and some lovely pressies. It was a really nice day... other than the extreme fluid retention giving me the cankles from hell haha

So I'm down to the last couple of weeks of pregnancy and yes, it has finally started to get a little uncomfortable. A lot actually. The fluid retention has been going on for a few days and is especially bad on really hot days. So I no longer have normal ankles. Or feet. Or legs for that matter. Maybe all over is a little bit swollen. Freaky. But ice packs are my friend. Then Saturday I woke up with horrible aches and pains down my back and side. This progressed to complete hell by Sunday. I think I have something called pelvic girdle pain which has symptoms pretty much like sciatica nerve pain. And anyone who has had that would know how painful it is. It means I am pretty much hobbling around in pain at the moment and putting weight onto my left leg can be agony at times. Oh the joy!

But on a positive note, I have managed to get a nice start on my christmas cards. Here are some pics of their progress.

Sorry for such horrendous photos. I took these indoors, at night under unnatural light as I knew I'd have no time to photograph them the next morning as it was my last day of work and half these cards were made for my team and other co-workers.

I have got another crafty project in progress that I cannot reveal the details about for quite some time. Lets just say it's going to be a very exciting secret to reveal once the time comes :)

Hmm... now I think I might finish cleaning out the junk corner from my bedroom. Gotta love the nesting instinct... since its almost midnight!

Holly xo

23 Days...

Hello

I have been a slack blogger. Oops! It doesn't mean I haven't been creating anything, because I have. Not a lot, but a few bits and pieces. A DT project for Designer Scrapbooking which I can hopefully share soon and I have started on my christmas cards.

There are only 23 days left until our baby is due so that countdown is getting a little scary. Scary mostly in the way that there is sooooooo much I want to do before she enters the world but as I haven't yet finished work, my time is limited on a lot of those tasks until next week. So Friday is my last day of work for 7 months. Hard to imagine! A lot to finalise there too and I feel bad leaving my team but they will be in good hands I hope...

My focus will then become my house. It is still quite a disaster and I had planned to completely declutter and organise it before the baby arrived but at this rate, I don't think it'll be quite where I wanted it to be. But I am doing little things where I can like listing a few unwanted things online since I'm too lazy to organise a garage sale. And I have been cleaning out different areas when I get a burst of energy, such as the linen press last weekend and the ensuite cupboard this week. Small steps are better than nothing! But come Monday... or maybe even Sunday, it will be full operation house organisation time! LOL

At least on the weekend we got to have more cuddles with my adorable nephew Caiden who is just over 3 weeks now. Uncle Simon finally got to meet him and had a chance to get in some baby holding practice before our own arrives lol Very cute!

So just to prove I have been doing some creating in between working and preparing myself mentally for motherhood, here are some pics of some christmas cards I did last night. I am shocking with the fact that cards can sometimes take me hours because I over think them. This time I went with the KISS method... Keep it simple stupid... because it's the only way I am going to get the stack of christmas cards I want to finish done before bubs arrives.

 

Anyway... time to make some more cards. I have another couple in progress tonight so that should make it a total of 6 cards in two nights at least. Woot!

Holly x

December Daily

Hi all,

I recently got an iPhone 5 so thought I'd have a go doing a blog post on my phone.

I've been working on my December daily album to get myself organised before December arrives. Especially since we are expecting a little bundle of joy December 6th.

So here is my front cover: