anita meade - simple.creative.life

Making Merry Monday #15

Lots of cards to show you today as I had a bit of a "session" on Friday. Pulled out some lovely "Wintergreen DSP" which is now retired and made up a few cards using the coordinating colours - Soft Sky (retired), Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla.

The stamps I've used are : Lovely as a Tree, Many Merry Messages, Circle of Friendship, Winter Post, Baroque Motifs and Short and Sweet. I also made use of my collection of punches, using various sizes of circle as well as the curly label and eyelet border punches. This batch of cards shows how versatile SU! products are and how easy it is to get a coordinated look using their cardstocks, patterned papers, ribbons and inks which all match together perfectly. Too easy! And now my Christmas card stash is up to about 25......a fantastic start on this years "to-make" list for Christmas.

 

       

       

      

 

Thanks for stopping by today. If you have any specific questions about any of these cards, please leave me a comment. Have a very Merry Monday! Love Anita. xxx

Making Merry Monday # 14

Well, here I am with another late one today :) This week it is the fabulous Holiday Line-up stamp set. I am just in love with these reindeer. Their expressions are priceless. I've used some gorgeous patterned paper from my (ahem.....extensive....ahem) stash for this one along with a scrap of matching satin ribbon. Everything else is by Stampin' Up!

 

My apologies for the less than stellar photo. My Nikon batteries are BOTH flat so I've taken this with my little point-and-shoot.

The image is stamped on watercolour paper with Stazon ink and coloured using my markers and an aquapainter. I've popped a little Crystal Effects on Rudolphs nose to make it "glow" just a little more. The sentiment is from the set "Warm Words". Thanks for dropping in to see this Monday's merry creation. More rambling from me soon :) Love Anita. xxx

Grateful

I have been spending a lot of time at home lately and I have been feeling very thankful for the lovely place we have to call our own. With me not working the purse strings have been pulled fairly tightly. Whilst we have been dipping into our savings for a while, they are fast running dry, so I am having to think more carefully about how we spend our money (like many families are at the moment). I have been focusing on appreciating what we have and not needing more and more "stuff" to make me feel good. It has been an enlightening exercise.

Today I am grateful for the changing seasons which we enjoy here in Melbourne. Take a look at the difference a couple of weeks make.

  

I am grateful for the autumn leaves collected by my kids which are on display in our home. I am glad they appreciate the beauty and wonder of the seasons.

 

 

                 

I am grateful for my creative abilities. I am teaching myself to knit and crochet with the help of some books from the library, online resources and my local woolcraft shop. At the moment I am in the middle of knitting a beanie to keep Danny's head warm at work, and crocheting a scarf - just for me! Here's the beanie in progress...

 

Whilst I am not a big fan of the colder weather, I am trying to appreciate the opportunities it presents; like knitting and wearing warm woolies, staying home and enjoying just being together on the weekends, watching my kids enjoy getting fit and filthy at Auskick, and not having to shave me legs very often :)

I have also recently made a pretty fabric cover for my Nikon camera strap. I adapted this tutorial, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I can see I'm going to be making several versions in different fabrics to suit the seasons.

 

 

I also wanted to share this part of my home which I enjoy seeing every day. It is the photo gallery wall in our entrance hallway and it is filled with snapshots of some of the very special people in our lives. Friends and family all gather together in this spot. Even though I walk past these photos many times a day, I still enjoy just stopping and looking every now and then - being thankful for all these people who are so important to us.

Here's the view of the gallery wall from our lounge room.

 

And here are some other things in my home making me happy today...birthday flowers! Gerbera's from Christine,

 

...... a cyclamen from Joylene,

           

..............and yellow roses from Jo and Nicole.

 

 Thanks so much girls. Your friendship is priceless.

The last thing I want to share is also priceless. Notes from Corey (who is in Grade Prep and is super excited about learning to read and write). These are post-it notes stuck to the back of Danny's dressing gown. Now that is what I call ADORABLE.   :)

 

So there you have it.....I certainly have a lot to be grateful for. Hope your day is going beautifully. Remember to look around you and appreciate the gifts in your life, no matter how big or small. 

                                        Love Anita. xxx

A catch up - *warning ..... l - o - n - g post* :)

I have been wanting fill you in about the recent happenings here in Meadeville, but it has been so busy that I haven't had a chance. I have had a lovely, l-o-n-g birthday celebration. It started on Friday with what I thought was a morning tea at Erica's place. She sent me this gorgeous "waterfall" invitation to a birthday celebration for me at her home. Isn't this invite just beautiful?

          

Shortly after I arrived, a lovely lady named Martina turned up to give myself, Erica and Joylene some special pampering treatments. We all enjoyed a foot spa, pedicure and facial, while eating the most delicious lunch and nibblies prepared by Erica. Divine! How spoiled am I?! Erica is truly such a thoughtful friend, and along with Joyles, started off my birthday celebrations in very indulgent style. To top it all off, Erica constructed this amazing paper cake made from wedge shaped boxes and adorned with handcrafted paper flowers. Incredible isn't it!

 

 

 

I have just popped over to Erica's blog and I'm happy to report she has rejoined us in blog-land. Why don't you go and check out her latest creation (after you've finished reading my blog of course! ) and leave her an encouraging comment so she realises how much we all enjoy seeing her amazing work. We would all love to see more of your incredible handiwork Erica, so please keep sharing it. Love you lots darling; thanks for making me feel so special on my birthday. You are a wonderful friend and I am so blessed to have you in my life.

My birthday was on Saturday, and I awoke to kisses from my three boys and presents, including these groovy red shoes. Have I mentioned that red is my favourite colour? I feel happy wearing these shoes :)

 

We were blessed with glorious sunshine for Auskick in the morning, although the wind was a little chilly. Brrrr. When we arrived home, we didn't have long to wait until my precious sister Jodie and her kids arrived to stay for the weekend. It was so nice just hanging out at home with her and the boys.....I love spending time with them.....we all do.

For dinner we stayed in for fish'n'chips and we were joined by the Browning family and Uncle Skip. It was loud, fun and festive. Then we lit all 33 candles on my birthday cake (made by Dan and the boys). Dan tried to make it a Hawthorn themed cake (ie. brown and gold) but the icing was actually more "apricot" in colour.....never mind! The thought was there. He made a no. 33 out of Maltesers, so that was pretty special :) I had some helpers when it came to blowing out all those candles. None of the adults wanted a piece of cake from the section closest to Corey for some reason. I guess he used a "wet extinguisher" (ie drool) to put out the candles! lol!

 

 

Laura, my dear sister-in-law chose this little word statue (? not sure what to call them?), along with three other matching ones, as my gift. She even bought it from my favourite country homewares shop in Bright (when she and Gary were there to visit a couple of weeks ago). She knows my style so well! Thanks Laura. Mwah!

Here's a pic of my sissy with the PJ wearing boys after dinner. Cute! Love kids in flanelette pyjama's - they're so cuddly!

 

 It's a bit squashy on that two-seater couch with all four of the boys and Aunty Jode! I love that Jayden still has his Richmond footy socks on at the end of the day! And the Tigers had a fantastic 3-point win to top off a wonderful day!

  

Today I enjoyed a visit from a new friend, Christine Blain, who is a fellow SU! Demonstrator. You can check out Christine's beautiful cards at her blog. I was lucky enough to receive this absolutely stunning card from Christine, along with some beautiful pink gerberas. We connected via blog-land and she is also a friend of my up-up-line Claire Daly, and we have hit it off right away. She is a really lovely lady and I'm so glad we got to spend some time together today. I look forward to growing our friendship in the months and years to come. Thanks so much for visiting, and for the beautiful card and flowers, Christine. You are a darling!

             

I have more things to blog about....lots of photos to share and a show-and-tell of my non-paper crafting (ie. knitting and crochet and even a little bit of sewing). I also want to show you the gorgeous jewellery my talented sister made me for my birthday and lots more. But right now I should get off the computer for a while and prepare some dinner for my family. Drop in again soon.....I love it when you come to visit.

                                Love Anita. xxx

Lucky.

Look at what my beautiful husband brought home with him last night.

 

Aren't they just gorgeous? And why did my husband bring me red roses last night? To be honest, I had no idea, until he gave me the handmade card to go with them.

 

Yep, we have been married for 100 months! I have to admit, I had no idea about this important anniversary. But that's the kind of guy Danny is......he remembers the little things and always tries to find ways to show me I am loved. Lucky me huh?! He had also booked a table for us all to go out for dinner to celebrate. Love that man to bits. Apparently he worked out when our 100 month anniversary would be several months ago and has been counting down to the big day to surprise me. I just love the card, even more than those magnificent roses. Note that it is made from corrugated plastic board, with cable tie hinges, hardware numbers, electrical tape border and he rounded just one of the corners for artistic effect! Can you tell my hubby is a tradesman?

MWAH Danny! Don't know what I did to deserve a guy like you, but I'm sure glad that you came into my life. Thanks for our 100 months of wedded bliss. I love you.  Neet. xxx

A good Good Friday.

    Last night we had the Meade clan descend upon our home for our Easter get together - which is always held on Good Friday. This year it was our turn to play host. I really don't mind hosting Easter because it is traditional for the local fish'n'chip shop to cater. All I did was whip up a green salad and a batch of cupcakes. Easy peasy. It helps to have a bunch of awesome sisters-in-law who all bring along goodies for dessert. Needless to say there was  an Easter egg exchange - which my boys always do extremely well out of. It was great to see our nephew Travis, who surprised us all by visiting from Queensland. We were all in shock at how much he's grown since last time we say him. Here's a few random pics from our evening. I'm so lucky to have married into this family.

      

                 

                

       

     

    Can you tell from that last photo how happy Corey was that Travis came to visit? There's a bit of big-cousin-idolisation going on there!

    Today has been mega quiet. I have been recovering after a busy week..of course that means my pain levels are up, but hey, you know what? I am OK with that .....I don't mean I like the pain.....I don't! It is horrible. The positive side is that I know that I have it because I've been doing a lot over the last few days. I have realised that I just have to be prepared for the consequences of overdoing things. Sometimes it is worth it. Life is not much fun if you just lie around trying to avoid discomfort. Every now and then I just go for it - even though I know I will pay. I take the good with the bad. It is the only way I can keep my sanity. Life is too short to lie on the couch all the time. I have so much to enjoy in my life. Just take a look at the photos above, for example.

    Tomorrow is our first Easter here at home without my family around (we will be seeing them next weekend). We are hoping to just spend some quality time together and of course we'll be eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner! lol!

    Hope you all have a safe and Happy Easter. Back with some crafty stuff in a few days.

                                        Love Anita. xxx

Celebrating our anniversary

    Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary (and the ninth anniversary of the day we met). We decided to celebrate as a family this year, with dinner and a movie with our boys. It was a fun evening as we went to see "Bedtime Stories". We usually go to dinner and a movie for our anniversary because that is what we did on our first date - which, by the way, was a blind date that neither of us thought would go anywhere! Boy were we wrong! Exactly one year later we were tying the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Hawthorn. It was a dream come true romance. Here's a page with a pic of us on our wedding day.....seems like just yesterday.

 

    I didn't get around to taking a photo of us on our anniversary this year, but I did do this quick page with a photo from our anniversary last year.

      

    I really love this guy, and it just keeps getting better. Sure it's not all hearts and flowers EVERY DAY but I have no doubt that we were put on this planet to be together. He makes me ridiculously happy and I'm so grateful that he knows all my faults and loves me anyway!

    After nine years together, he came home yesterday with the most amazing bunch of 20 long stem roses....."Sure", I hear you say "flowers on your anniversary....not so unusual". But it was the fact that  when he gave them to me, he commented that he picked out the champagne colour roses because they were the exact colour that was in my wedding bouquet - now that completely blew me away! He's such a romantic....often more so than I am. How lucky am I?

                                Love   xxx

Birthday Boy!

           

   Yesterday was Jayden's 7th birthday - can't believe my firstborn is 7! Where have those years gone?! And what a huge birthday he had! Here's a rundown:

    First thing in the morning he was super excited to receive his new bike. He was out practising on it at about 7.30am with the whole family watching....including Mummy in her dressing gown - sorry neighbours!

 

        Here's the card I made for him, complete with seven balloons.

 

    First on the agenda for the day was swimming lessons (the boys are doing a "Fast-track" program every day this week at our local swim school and they are LOVING it!)

                         

 

    After swimming it was off to the bowling alley with some of Jayden's buddies for a ten-pin bowling party. We all had a fantastic time......I bowled TERRIBLY but tried not to sulk about it too much! lol! The Dad's, Danny and Warren were extremely competitive and took it all very seriously :)

 

   

 

    Jayden's first birthday cake of the day was his favourite chocolate mud cake, made by Dad.

             

    While we were out at swimming we received a phone message from our local Holden dealership (where we bought our lovely new car a few weeks ago) to say that Jayden was the winner of their December colouring-in competition and there was a prize waiting for him to pick up. He was over the moon to say the least. He had put so much time and effort into his entry and it had paid off. What an awesome birthday.......here he is with his prize, a very nice Holden cap filled with chocolates and decorated with balloons. He also received this certificate in a frame to recognise his win. Well done Jayden. We are so proud of you!

  

    Well and truly exhausted by evening we enjoyed a quiet birthday dinner at home (with Jayden's favourite food - spaghetti) and another cake (also made by Dad!).

  

Our lovely niece Melanie came to visit and after our cake we enjoyed a few games on the Wii and a new game called "Hedbandz" which was a birthday present from her and her family (who are holidaying at the beach).

                       

    All in all, I think my "baby" had a pretty fantastic birthday. Today has been another great day, with swimming again and then a visit by Aunty Jackie and cousin Danielle. There has been continuous Lego construction today with lots of great new Lego masterpieces to admire. Better get off the computer and go and enjoy some of that left-over birthday cake with a cup of tea. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back with some more good stuff soon.

                                      Love   xxx

Some cards that aren't Christmas cards....

    I have been meaning to post these cards for a few days now. I made this set of four cards to give as a Kris Kringle gift along with matching stamped envelopes. I am completely smitten with this patterned paper called "Ginger Blossom" from the new Stampin' Up! Summer Mini Catalogue (email me if you'd like a free copy). It coordinates perfectly with this stamp set called "Embrace Life" also from the mini. This simple set of cards makes a lovely Kris Kringle gift and is so much more personal to give than any store bought present. I gave this card set to my lovely friend Bron at our uni-girls Christmas BBQ on the weekend and she loved it. I've made a mini-card set with the same theme (out of Stampin' Up! "Love Notes") for Corey's kinder teachers which I will post here as soon as I've photographed them. 

 

 

Here is a photo of one of the cards with it's matching envelope.

            

    I know Christmas is coming fast, but if you have the time, I'm sure someone close to you would appreciate a handmade gift like this simple card set. The time, love and effort that goes into a handmade gift increases it's value a thousand-fold. And with so many beautiful papercrafting goodies out there to play with, how could you resist? ;)

    The Stampin' Up! Summer Mini catalogue looks like this (below) and you can view it online here. You can also email me and I will post you out a free hardcopy. There are some gorgeous things in there so make sure you check it out! Also a quick reminder that the Single Marker offer ends on the 14th of December (Stampin' Up! kindly extended the original offer by two weeks due to overwhelming demand). See this post for details - if you'd like to order some of these markers individually I can take credit card orders right up until Sunday pm. Just email me and let me know.

                          

    Life is so busy at this time of year, but it's also a wonderful time to catch up with family and friends and celebrate being together. We had a wonderful day on Sunday at Lilydale Lake with my beautiful uni friends and their hubbies and kids. We do this every December and it is fabulous to see how our little group of six nurses has grown into six families over the years. We missed Mel and Carl and their beautiful little girl Aleisha this year as they are currently living in South Korea. Everyone else made it this year though, and a fun, relaxing, festive evening was had by all! Here's our group photo (Check out the cheeky little boys in the front row!)

 

    Well that's probably about it for now. I have so many projects in my head.....not to mention that I haven't actually posted a single Christmas card yet........do you think it would be wrong to ask family and friends just to look at their hand-stamped Christmas cards on my blog? Hehehe! I'll get there eventually!

    Hope you're all enjoying this wonderful time of year. Come and visit again soon.

                             Love  xxx

 

Frosted cupcakes for Colin

    I'm on a roll with birthday cards, and Certainly Celery at the moment. This one is for my brother-in-law Colin who turns thirty-something today (hint: he's not 40....yet!) I've used the cupcakes from "Birthday Best". I've coloured them with my blender pens and Stampin' Pastels. Then I've covered the frosting with Crystal Effects and sprinkled them liberally with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I've cut out two of the cakes and popped them up on some Dimensionals. I've inked the edge of the cake block with Certainly Celery ink and mounted it on a Perfect Plum mat before mounting it on my Certainly Celery card. The edge of my card has been stamped with the bow from "Big Bold Birthday" in Certainly Celery ink. The sentiment is from the "A Little Birthday Cheer" set - very handy!

              

    Hope this card isn't too girly for Colin. He's a strong, honest, country bloke - I'm sure he won't mind a bit of glitter and purple on his birthday card though! Happy Birthday Col!

                       Love  XXX