And for something a little different (and cheeky), some of the mental lists I keep....
Find the missing part list:
1. The tiny yellow/beige tubey-shaped Lego piece half the size of my fingernail
2. One green school sock (desperate situation: we now have 2 pairs of school socks for 3 days of green-school-sock-required days. Now my chi is all out of whack)
3. 3-D glasses because you just can't look at a 3-D footy card without them.
4. Sparkly nail polish the colour of the smear that's on the carpet.
The refill fairy list (because let's face it, the rest of the household thinks a fairy does it):
1. Honey pot
2. Sugar bowl
3. Toilet paper basket
4. Liquid soap in two bathrooms
5. Water in coffee machine
6. Beans in coffee machine
The empty-it fairy list (because let's face it, the rest of the household thinks a fairy does this too):
1. Bin
2. Bin
3. Bin
4. Coffee machine recess
5. Bin
6. Recycling bucket
I just know you have so many more ;)
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
{My Creative Space} A little journal
So I'm going a little crazy with collage and washi tape and lots of things that I don't usually work with.
I created my first journal.
With a collage front cover...
and plain paper inside with a cute stamp on each page.
Other lovely creations here.
I created my first journal.
With a collage front cover...
and plain paper inside with a cute stamp on each page.
Other lovely creations here.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Potato Gnocchi
I spent time on the weekend with my mum making gnocchi.
It's been a long time since I helped her with making pasta so it was great fun.
And the kids reaped the benefits at dinnertime!
A sure thing with this recipe.
Potato Gnocchi
1 egg
200g plain flour
1 kg potatoes
pinch of salt
Peel potatoes and boil until cook through. Mash the potatoes using a potato ricer. Allow to cool. (It's important that the potatoes have little moisture).
Add flour and salt to potatoes and knead gently until pliable.
Cut sections of the dough and roll out into a snake shape (see photo). Then cut up into small pieces. We roll each piece on a fork to create shallow indentations but that's optional.
Cook gnocchi very briefly into a large pot of salted boiling water. Usually this takes a minute or so - until the gnocchi come to the surface of the pot.
Add your sauce. We use a tomato-based sauce but anything to your liking will do!
Yummo!
It's been a long time since I helped her with making pasta so it was great fun.
And the kids reaped the benefits at dinnertime!
A sure thing with this recipe.
Potato Gnocchi
1 egg
200g plain flour
1 kg potatoes
pinch of salt
Peel potatoes and boil until cook through. Mash the potatoes using a potato ricer. Allow to cool. (It's important that the potatoes have little moisture).
Add flour and salt to potatoes and knead gently until pliable.
Cut sections of the dough and roll out into a snake shape (see photo). Then cut up into small pieces. We roll each piece on a fork to create shallow indentations but that's optional.
Cook gnocchi very briefly into a large pot of salted boiling water. Usually this takes a minute or so - until the gnocchi come to the surface of the pot.
Add your sauce. We use a tomato-based sauce but anything to your liking will do!
Yummo!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
{My Creative Space} Washi Tape
Washi tape is definitely all the rage at the moment. I bought my stash from Memtree recently. I am fascinated by the stuff. It's basically Japanese decorative tape. There are many colours, patterns and widths. It's awesome!!
Other creative delights here.
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| Playing around with tag ideas |
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| Playing with all the tape I have and then using a die-cut |
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| More play with tags |
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| Who doesn't love a bunting?! |
Other creative delights here.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Zine love
My love for zines is a recent one.
Zines are a funny thing. They're not quite a magazine, not quite a booklet, not quite anything. Sometimes they are a book of art or ponderings. They can be very personal or not so. They are usually about a particular topic.
My first ever zine was by the uber-cool Isis. I highly recommend her lovely blog. Isis asked for contributions to her zine dedicated to tea. The rest was all her.Little doodles, lots of crafty goodness and all about tea. A limited edition and handmade.
The next two were by Em from her store Memtree. She also has a lovely blog here (she also sells Washi tape which I've bought. I will show you all the fun I've been having with that on the next Creative Space).
Now I need to make something clear. I'm not an artist but I certainly have been dabbling in the stuff that artists do. I've been creating collage on my cards, recycling all sorts of stuff - like fallen autumn leaves, pages from old books and bottle tops. It's been fun.
And zines are also a popular venture for artists to express themselves. I have strong beliefs about palm oil and the future of the orangutan so this little zine by Em was lovely. She's used washi tape, collage, and handwriting. It's small but it's big on expression.
The other zine by Em is good world which is about RAK - random acts of kindness which includes simple collage, text and hand-drawn backgrounds.
Em's zines are very different to Isis' and just demonstrates how much you can do with them. You've probably guessed that I would love to make one of my own one day :) Definitely. Not sure if I can pull it off with my IT/teaching/lack-of-artistic background!!
Until then, I'll be collecting other people's zines....
Zines are a funny thing. They're not quite a magazine, not quite a booklet, not quite anything. Sometimes they are a book of art or ponderings. They can be very personal or not so. They are usually about a particular topic.
My first ever zine was by the uber-cool Isis. I highly recommend her lovely blog. Isis asked for contributions to her zine dedicated to tea. The rest was all her.Little doodles, lots of crafty goodness and all about tea. A limited edition and handmade.
 |
| the little tea zine by Isismade |
The next two were by Em from her store Memtree. She also has a lovely blog here (she also sells Washi tape which I've bought. I will show you all the fun I've been having with that on the next Creative Space).
Now I need to make something clear. I'm not an artist but I certainly have been dabbling in the stuff that artists do. I've been creating collage on my cards, recycling all sorts of stuff - like fallen autumn leaves, pages from old books and bottle tops. It's been fun.
And zines are also a popular venture for artists to express themselves. I have strong beliefs about palm oil and the future of the orangutan so this little zine by Em was lovely. She's used washi tape, collage, and handwriting. It's small but it's big on expression.
 |
| Found by Memtree |
The other zine by Em is good world which is about RAK - random acts of kindness which includes simple collage, text and hand-drawn backgrounds.
 |
| good world by Memtree |
Em's zines are very different to Isis' and just demonstrates how much you can do with them. You've probably guessed that I would love to make one of my own one day :) Definitely. Not sure if I can pull it off with my IT/teaching/lack-of-artistic background!!
Until then, I'll be collecting other people's zines....
Friday, May 11, 2012
Pesky housework
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| image source: down to earth |
To be honest, I don't know if I understood it correctly. But I do know that some people enjoy housework and some of those people are too embarrassed to say they do.
Firstly, I say, each to their own. If you enjoy housework - that's okay and don't hide it please. Secondly, and let. me. be. clear. on. this. I'm not one to enjoy housework.
I'm house-proud. That's different. House-pride is awesome. Housework, not so much.
Ways to reduce the stress of pesky housework:
Option 1
Work to your strengths. If you're a morning person, then do the mopping in the morning. Make sense, right? If you're a night-owl then sweep at night (but don't put the washing machine on too late. You might get some nasty remarks about your strengths.)
Option 2
Schedule in housework. Don't do housework at the 3ish-in-the-afternoon-slump. It might be the only opportunity you have in the day but it won't work. Sit with a cuppa and a good read. Later, reschedule things so that there is time in your day. I have a schedule that I generally stick to but I'm flexible too. I don't want to stress myself out just because I didn't do the vacuuming on Tuesday. I schedule in cleaning, university study, errands. Another thing - I don't wait for the kids to be in school/kinder to do ALL the housework. It just doesn't work for me.
Option 3
Trick yourself. Nicole at Planning with kids loves the idea of 15-minute blocks. Yep, that works. She knows what she's talking about. Do what you can in 15 minutes and then it's back to playing with kids, loitering in the garden, etc. I've managed to trick myself in a way. I HATE doing the dishes after dinner. It drives me mad. But I do a lot of cleaning up before dinner, while I'm cooking so there is little to do afterwards. Works a treat for me.
Option 4
Delegate. Yep. Do it. And if you're not great with delegating, please practice, practice, practice!
Monday, April 30, 2012
The ME basket
Well, I have an idea. I can only imagine it isn't original but 'tis to me so here goes....
I've been reading lately how bloggers are feeling. When the creative urge goes awry, motivation goes AWOL, pessimism wins over optimism and everything seems overwhelming. Me too lately. I was looking at my fingernails. I've been meaning to neaten them up and put a little polish on them just because....but it never seems to happen.
So the idea...
What about a ME basket (or bag). What is it? I'll tell you with pleasure.
It's a bag of goodies just for you. I'm picturing you're too tired or feeling yukky to do any big projects or complex financial planning so the bag of goodies or The ME Basket will have small things. Things you can sit with in front of the TV of an evening with your family or on your own - whatever you like.
The ME Basket can include:
A small crafty project that doesn't need too much thinking. Crochet one granny square, a few lines of knitting, maybe some mending if that way inclined.
- Some reading. Your current read whether it is a novel or a magazine or a couple of articles you've cut out and have been meaning to read.
- Some inspiration. The ME Basket isn't about getting organised or ticking off things from a list or getting all revved up to do stuff. I mean simple pleasures, like an art book or some poetry or a pretty craft book.
- Maybe a notebook or journal and pen/coloured pencils if you're the writing/artistic type. Are you a list-taker? A doodler? An artist?
- Pampering bibs and bobs. Nail polish, nail file, hand cream, face mask, slices of cucumber if you need it (!) or anything else you'd like to do to relax.
- And anything else that you find relaxing, inspiring or just plain beautiful to look at
The ME Basket can be changed over from week to week. Some things can be swapped out with other things, maybe it might last you a month. But it should never go stale. You should always look forward to reaching into your Basket for some ME time.
My ME Basket is actually a bag.
It was difficult to just stick to a handful of things because I know I can swap things around when I want a change.
Right now it includes:
I've been reading lately how bloggers are feeling. When the creative urge goes awry, motivation goes AWOL, pessimism wins over optimism and everything seems overwhelming. Me too lately. I was looking at my fingernails. I've been meaning to neaten them up and put a little polish on them just because....but it never seems to happen.
So the idea...
What about a ME basket (or bag). What is it? I'll tell you with pleasure.
It's a bag of goodies just for you. I'm picturing you're too tired or feeling yukky to do any big projects or complex financial planning so the bag of goodies or The ME Basket will have small things. Things you can sit with in front of the TV of an evening with your family or on your own - whatever you like.
The ME Basket can include:
A small crafty project that doesn't need too much thinking. Crochet one granny square, a few lines of knitting, maybe some mending if that way inclined.
- Some reading. Your current read whether it is a novel or a magazine or a couple of articles you've cut out and have been meaning to read.
- Some inspiration. The ME Basket isn't about getting organised or ticking off things from a list or getting all revved up to do stuff. I mean simple pleasures, like an art book or some poetry or a pretty craft book.
- Maybe a notebook or journal and pen/coloured pencils if you're the writing/artistic type. Are you a list-taker? A doodler? An artist?
- Pampering bibs and bobs. Nail polish, nail file, hand cream, face mask, slices of cucumber if you need it (!) or anything else you'd like to do to relax.
- And anything else that you find relaxing, inspiring or just plain beautiful to look at
The ME Basket can be changed over from week to week. Some things can be swapped out with other things, maybe it might last you a month. But it should never go stale. You should always look forward to reaching into your Basket for some ME time.
My ME Basket is actually a bag.
It was difficult to just stick to a handful of things because I know I can swap things around when I want a change.
Right now it includes:
My current read.
A small art book.
My inspiration journal to jot crafty ideas.
That nail polish...
I had to stop myself from selecting too many things. I can always swap things in and out as I please.
Have a go! If you put together a ME Basket, let us know in the comments what you select :)
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