It has been an emotional couple days for me and I haven't felt much like blogging. I'll be catching up on some posts probably tomorrow night if not Sunday. In the meantime, please share this photo around.
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| source |
Friday, May 10, 2013
Happy Dance
Just a little bit of redecorating around here. :) This has been a while in the making, largely since photobucket wouldn't upload any large files! I'm still tweaking things here and there but I like the look. :)
It has been an emotional couple days for me and I haven't felt much like blogging. I'll be catching up on some posts probably tomorrow night if not Sunday. In the meantime, please share this photo around.
It has been an emotional couple days for me and I haven't felt much like blogging. I'll be catching up on some posts probably tomorrow night if not Sunday. In the meantime, please share this photo around.
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Mini crop
Last Friday, the AU/NZ Creative Memories crew on facebook held a mini virtual crop. 3 different challenges were given to participants: journaling, a card and a double page layout. The idea is to use the challenges and tweak them as need be to suit the materials and photos you have on hand.
Out of respect for the challenge creators, I'll not be posting their work here (as this is not my work blog but my personal one), but I will share my results.
This was a quick break from my back dating projects and some new ideas to work from in future projects. :)
Out of respect for the challenge creators, I'll not be posting their work here (as this is not my work blog but my personal one), but I will share my results.
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| My take on the Journaling Challenge by Lesley Sanders. |
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| My first take on the Card Challenge by Maddy Dunster. |
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| My second take on the Card Challenge by Maddy Dunster. |
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| My take on the Page Sketch by Chris Lothian. |
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| My second take on the Page Sketch by Chris Lothian. |
May
May is a tough month. It's Julia's due date on the 2nd and International Babyloss Mother's Day with my support group on the 3rd and world wide on the 5th, regular Mother's Day on the 12th. That is a loaded two weeks peeps. Lots of coffee coming my way to keep me amped up and able to deal with it all.
Tomorrow should be Julia's 4th birthday, instead Mama is having a Day Out. I am taking Julia Bear (my hot date) out and I'm spoiling myself. A badly needed haircut, overpriced coffee and a pastry at a cafe, a new lip color (heaven knows how long it's been since I changed colors!), a new book from the book shop (Arthurian chick lit? yes please!) and finding myself a new stylus for my phone. My old stylus has worn off the coating and doesn't work too well any more. I'll be tweeting my day with the tags #JuliaBear and #MamasDayOut if you want to follow along with me, @karadavies.
Normally I stay home on her due date but it doesn't feel right this year. I, a grown woman, am taking my teddy bear on a day out. I don't care one damn bit if people think it odd/weird/confusing that I'm dressed up in purple to match my daughter's bear. I don't care if they look twice at me in the hair salon or department store when she sits on the counter with my bag. I'm telling EVERYONE that tomorrow should have been my daughter's birthday but instead, for reasons unknown, she died early and was born on the 24th of November in 2008. I am a grieving mother and how I see fit to honor my children is up to me, not you. Go ahead, stare, look, snicker, I don't care. It's my baby girl's day and it is sacred. I'll honor her memory as I want to. She should be here, she should be four, she should be in matchy matchy outfits with me her Mama, she should be going out for the day, running "grown up/big girl" errands and being treated to babycinos and cookie at the cafe, even her own fancy hair wash and dry at the salon with me.
Tomorrow should be Julia's 4th birthday, instead Mama is having a Day Out. I am taking Julia Bear (my hot date) out and I'm spoiling myself. A badly needed haircut, overpriced coffee and a pastry at a cafe, a new lip color (heaven knows how long it's been since I changed colors!), a new book from the book shop (Arthurian chick lit? yes please!) and finding myself a new stylus for my phone. My old stylus has worn off the coating and doesn't work too well any more. I'll be tweeting my day with the tags #JuliaBear and #MamasDayOut if you want to follow along with me, @karadavies.
Normally I stay home on her due date but it doesn't feel right this year. I, a grown woman, am taking my teddy bear on a day out. I don't care one damn bit if people think it odd/weird/confusing that I'm dressed up in purple to match my daughter's bear. I don't care if they look twice at me in the hair salon or department store when she sits on the counter with my bag. I'm telling EVERYONE that tomorrow should have been my daughter's birthday but instead, for reasons unknown, she died early and was born on the 24th of November in 2008. I am a grieving mother and how I see fit to honor my children is up to me, not you. Go ahead, stare, look, snicker, I don't care. It's my baby girl's day and it is sacred. I'll honor her memory as I want to. She should be here, she should be four, she should be in matchy matchy outfits with me her Mama, she should be going out for the day, running "grown up/big girl" errands and being treated to babycinos and cookie at the cafe, even her own fancy hair wash and dry at the salon with me.
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| Julia Bear, my hot date in her fabulous purple party dress made by her Gramma Gillette. |
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| Reposted wth permission from one of my support group mums. |
Friday, April 26, 2013
A few things
Today is: Friday April 26, 2013 5:15pm
Where am I: at home in my sunny office/guest room/recording studio/scrapbooking studio
Wearing: Urbana 2000 tee (very faded from washing), comfy black dress slacks
Makeup: just mascara, Maybelline brownish black
Eating: earlier, homemade beef & veggie curry rolls, nutella swirls, homemade brownies
Currently drinking: a vanilla yogurt blueberry oatmeal smoothie. I don't like the texture or chalky aftertaste the oats give. (Yuck.)
Listening to: a random mix on Spotify that includes Jars of Clay, Third Day, Demon Hunter, Josh Groban, Sister Hazel, Lady Antebellum, Sting, The Police, Mumford & Sons, U2, Carly Rae Jepsen, Skrillex, Bruno Mars and Coldplay
Recent cooking revelation: I like potato in my curry, it adds a nice texture and bulks it out a bit.
Waiting for: the Mini Virtual Crop to start at 6 tonight. My husband to get home. Heather's new wallet to arrive in the mail so I can send it off to her. My CM shipment to arrive so I can finish off some albums.
Dinner: Butter Chicken and Rice with Spinach Ricotta Pastry Triangles.
Annoyed with: laundry and dishes never ending. Malcolm being voted off Survivor.
Don't want to do: check the mail. It requires shoes and a bra to be put on. I ain't doing it!
Praying for: a positive pregnancy test, a healthy baby and pregnancy, a perfectly textbook normal c-section birth and delivery, hearing a perfectly healthy baby wail. (You know, the usual.) For my husband to get his forklift certification. My sister in law D. to feel better.
Having fun with: assembling my 2013 PicFolio. #blazecolour (do you know how hard it is to put that u in color!?) on twitter with @ShaynnaBlaze.
Wanting: pink cookie sheets and muffin tins for Mother's Day.
*HINT HINT GLENNJAMIN!
ON SALE CURRENTLY AT WOOLIES!*
My dad to visit sometime soon, haven't seen him since Ethan's wedding in August 2011! My Broncos to win this weekend, and by a big margin!
Fears: hearing myself sing, being recorded and hearing myself played back. I think I sound weird when I'm recorded. Spiders, cockies, any creepy crawlies. Never getting pregnant again. The usual.
Love: my Jesus, my husband, my families, my nieces and nephews. My job when I get work. Chronicling our lives in scrapbooks.
Next big event(s): Julia baby's 4th due date (May 2nd), International Babyloss Mother's Day morning with my SIDS & KIDS mommas (May 3rd), Broncos v Bunnies (May 3rd), Mother's Day (May 12th), Memoranza (May 18th), State of Origin Game 1 (June 5th), Evan's 3rd Birthday (June 18th), Evan's 3rd Heavenday (June 22), Our 6th Wedding anniversary (June 29th) among others....
Current view: the sunset over the hills of our city
What have you been up to lately?
Copy/paste this and let's get a blog hop going!
Where am I: at home in my sunny office/guest room/recording studio/scrapbooking studio
Wearing: Urbana 2000 tee (very faded from washing), comfy black dress slacks
Makeup: just mascara, Maybelline brownish black
Eating: earlier, homemade beef & veggie curry rolls, nutella swirls, homemade brownies
Recent cooking revelation: I like potato in my curry, it adds a nice texture and bulks it out a bit.
Waiting for: the Mini Virtual Crop to start at 6 tonight. My husband to get home. Heather's new wallet to arrive in the mail so I can send it off to her. My CM shipment to arrive so I can finish off some albums.
Dinner: Butter Chicken and Rice with Spinach Ricotta Pastry Triangles.
Annoyed with: laundry and dishes never ending. Malcolm being voted off Survivor.
Don't want to do: check the mail. It requires shoes and a bra to be put on. I ain't doing it!
Praying for: a positive pregnancy test, a healthy baby and pregnancy, a perfectly textbook normal c-section birth and delivery, hearing a perfectly healthy baby wail. (You know, the usual.) For my husband to get his forklift certification. My sister in law D. to feel better.
Having fun with: assembling my 2013 PicFolio. #blazecolour (do you know how hard it is to put that u in color!?) on twitter with @ShaynnaBlaze.
*HINT HINT GLENNJAMIN!
ON SALE CURRENTLY AT WOOLIES!*
My dad to visit sometime soon, haven't seen him since Ethan's wedding in August 2011! My Broncos to win this weekend, and by a big margin!
Love: my Jesus, my husband, my families, my nieces and nephews. My job when I get work. Chronicling our lives in scrapbooks.
Next big event(s): Julia baby's 4th due date (May 2nd), International Babyloss Mother's Day morning with my SIDS & KIDS mommas (May 3rd), Broncos v Bunnies (May 3rd), Mother's Day (May 12th), Memoranza (May 18th), State of Origin Game 1 (June 5th), Evan's 3rd Birthday (June 18th), Evan's 3rd Heavenday (June 22), Our 6th Wedding anniversary (June 29th) among others....
Current view: the sunset over the hills of our city
What have you been up to lately?
Copy/paste this and let's get a blog hop going!
Sunday, April 07, 2013
What's In A Name
When Glenn and I were dating, we were talking about having kids, the topic of names came up.
One afternoon in Queen's Park, Toowoomba during AGMF 2006, we were having lunch under the shade of this tree. Names again came up and off we went. I had a list of names I liked and shared them with him.
My top pick was Ellie Mae for a girl and Evan Reilly for a boy.
I love music, and especially jazz, and I liked the name Ellie as a version of Ella. My auntie is May but I like the spelling Mae better.
I went to grade school with an Evan and he was a nice kid. Two other guys I know were named Riley and I liked the sound of it. I'm not sure exactly when I put the two names Evan and Reilly together but it just sounded really nice and like they were meant to be together.
Well, Glenn didn't approve of Ellie Mae. *HE* said it sounded too southern and redneck. I reminded him that we are in the deep south down here in Oz! He had some name ideas that I wasn't too keen on (too old fashioned for my taste) and none of our family names really suited us. After much discussion, we some how came up with the name Julia Rose. When our first baby was born, in my gut I felt that we had had a baby girl, so we named her Julia Rose. As luck would have it, there is a Julia in my dad's family tree generations back. We've only just learned this. I like that my baby Julia is connected to my dad's side of the family by name. It does me good.
The day we found out I was pregnant with baby number two, we settled on a girl's name (which we still hope to use one day so it'll remain private for now) and on a boy's name. As it turned out, we had a boy and we named him Evan Riley. The spelling of Reilly was changed to Riley (for ease of spelling really) and it was the perfect name for our little dude.
I didn't look up name meanings much while pregnant with either baby, but after Evan died, you bet I did! According to various baby books and internet sources, Julia means Youthful or downy haired. Rose, um, yeah. Duh. It's a flower. :p So our first born is a Youthful Flower, which I think is fitting. Seeing as she died young, I like to think that our little rosebud is blooming up in Heaven.
Evan's name couldn't have fit him better if we tried. Evan is a form of John. My mom's dad is John and Glenn's mum's brother is John. A family name without even knowing it! Evan means God is gracious. Riley means Courageous Warrior. Our last name Davies means Beloved of God.
So fitting for our little fighter!
My own name means Dear one, who is like God, Beloved of God.
My husband's name means Gift of God, from the valley, Beloved of God.
Names mean a big deal around here. Our future babies names are mostly chosen and I love their meanings. They fit the personalities I hope we get to conceive, carry, birth and raise. They are loved and hoped for and wanted very much.
I'm linked up with Still Standing Magazine's blog hop.
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| Our tree. When the rest of our group was trying to find us, they'd say "Have you checked under the tree?" |
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| Glennjamin and Miss Scarlet. Very much in love and planning our future. |
I love music, and especially jazz, and I liked the name Ellie as a version of Ella. My auntie is May but I like the spelling Mae better.
I went to grade school with an Evan and he was a nice kid. Two other guys I know were named Riley and I liked the sound of it. I'm not sure exactly when I put the two names Evan and Reilly together but it just sounded really nice and like they were meant to be together.
Well, Glenn didn't approve of Ellie Mae. *HE* said it sounded too southern and redneck. I reminded him that we are in the deep south down here in Oz! He had some name ideas that I wasn't too keen on (too old fashioned for my taste) and none of our family names really suited us. After much discussion, we some how came up with the name Julia Rose. When our first baby was born, in my gut I felt that we had had a baby girl, so we named her Julia Rose. As luck would have it, there is a Julia in my dad's family tree generations back. We've only just learned this. I like that my baby Julia is connected to my dad's side of the family by name. It does me good.
I didn't look up name meanings much while pregnant with either baby, but after Evan died, you bet I did! According to various baby books and internet sources, Julia means Youthful or downy haired. Rose, um, yeah. Duh. It's a flower. :p So our first born is a Youthful Flower, which I think is fitting. Seeing as she died young, I like to think that our little rosebud is blooming up in Heaven.
My own name means Dear one, who is like God, Beloved of God.
My husband's name means Gift of God, from the valley, Beloved of God.
Names mean a big deal around here. Our future babies names are mostly chosen and I love their meanings. They fit the personalities I hope we get to conceive, carry, birth and raise. They are loved and hoped for and wanted very much.
I'm linked up with Still Standing Magazine's blog hop.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
InstaFriday
This week has been a very crafty, bakey, hands on week.
See? My bag was looking a bit nakey so I added some embroidery and pearl beads to bling it up a bit. All freehand drawn and sewn.
After mandatory paid training Monday morning, I went for a walk around the store, just for fun. I like this room setup. It would be really nice in my scrapbooking "mom cave" someday...
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| I liked this rug but I didn't measure our space before I came in. Oh well. |
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| The name caught my eye. |
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| Fluffy clouds at the big blue box. |
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| More illegally dumped rubbish. *sigh* City council is now investigating it. |
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| More crafty goodness. This time, a crossword of our names! Still not sure whether I'll frame this and put it on the wall or if I'll make it into a pillow... thoughts? |
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| Frozen blueberries + vanilla yogurt + splash of vanilla extract + a small chunk of cream cheese = blueberry cheesecake smoothie. Y.U.M. |
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| Part of a little piece I made for a couple that have just recently expanded their family. |
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| Making my version of spanish rice for taco rice night. |
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| YUM! |
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| Oh baby, get in mah belleh! |
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| This one is for mum, all our names. |
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| Love blooms. |
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| All clean and shiny again, thanks to Dr. Thai! |
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| A sign seen outside the shop. |
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| Homemade cinnamon rolls with ginger, cloves and cinnamon chips. |
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| Homemade cream cheese icing. |
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| Oatmeal bread. Delicious when toasted, buttered and served with baked beans and a fried egg. |
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| Cooled, sliced and bagged. Come to my house, I'll feed you right. ;) |
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| Evan's new Easter bouquet, hand assembled and wrapped by Mama. |
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| My gumdrop hair clips by Small Bird Studios, now my shoe bling. I don't think Franchesca makes these anymore, but she might if you ask very nicely. Heads up Fran! ;) :D |
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| Adorable little Easter takeout boxes. |
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| Testing the pens at Smiggle and blessing some of my BLM mommas. |
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| Attempted selfy outside DFO. |
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| Happy Easter bubby. I'm linked up with:  |
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