December Daily cont cont cont

Here are my last 5 pages! I am so happy with how this album has come together in the end. It has developed into a bit of a trash into treasure project, as I have tried very hard to to buy anything for this album and just work with what I already had in my stash. I think that this strategy has given my album a very fun and funky feel.


Page 21 Here is the other part of the plastic make-up type bag that I cut up, with this page I sewed on four pieces of ribbon with purple thread and added four purple buttons.


Page 22 This is one of my favourites, I found this page in the back of a Kikki-K catalogue, it was a Christmas wish list. But I used Photoshop to create a block with the words twenty two to cover the original title. Great bit of recycling if I do say so myself!


Page 23 Again left over paper from a Christmas page a couple of years ago, I just put it into another 6 x 12 inch page protector with painted chipboard numbers.


Page 24 This strip of paper for some reason I have kept for ages just floating around my desk. I do love it's colour and finish. The numbers are simple letter stickers.

Page 25 Last and most simple, just a 6 x 12 inch page protector that will hold a full picture, with 'Dec 25th' on the top.

Next week the 25 days of Christmas begin, getting exciting! My husband loves this time of year, so much so that love is a big understatement. Hope your December Daily Albums are ready to go, love to see what you have done.

December Daily cont cont

Here are my next 5 pages!



Page 11 Lovely die cut cardstock with a cute envelope with a clear envelope where I have put the number 11, particularly love the little green flower.


Page 12 This is such cute Christmas tree paper, the number 12 I made on the computer using photoshop and a font called 'Jane Austin' (download able for free from Dafont)


Page 13 This is what was left over from some chipboard tags, I painted it and added the number 13. I think this page is going to look great when I fill the other windows with photo's.


Page 14 I made a pocket out of some paper I had left over from making a friends baby shower thank you cards, the tag is something I have had for ages.


Page 16 More leftovers! The red circles are from some funky bookmarks I picked up from a book store. It is made out of metal and I just loved the feel and colour so just couldn't throw it away (glad I didn't). The background is a left over Christmas card from a copy of years ago.


Page 17 This is funky paper, I am planning to have the number 17 on one of photos or in the journaling not sure yet.


Page 18 More Christmas themed paper, I have used this page a few times already in the album, as spines on some of the pages. It has been really versatile.


Page 19 Kind of a strange colour I know but it will make sense when the 19th comes around, I made the file folder out of a combination of others templates, making it just how I want it.

Page 20 This is half of a circle piece of paper, I came across it by chance when I was wondering around on of my fav scrapbooking stores. This is another number that I made on the computer.

Diving into digital

This is a layout that I have done totally digitally as a part of a Christmas gift.

I love traditional scrapbooking, love the feel of working with paper and ribbon and all the rest. But I have found that digital scrapbooking is quite addictive.

I think it's the fact that you can't make a mistake cause you can just undo anything. Also the pages seem to come together alot faster, though I am pretty sure that is not true.

To make a page all you really need is a program like Photoshop (I have version 5) and digital supplies, if you type 'Digital Scrapbooking' into Google you will get loads of sites. Some of my favourites are Cherry on Top, Two Peas in a Bucket, and Shabby Princess but there are loads more out there.

Your not completely on your own to learn fun digital techniques that can make your pages look like you put them together with scissors and glue, again Google is a great place to look for hints and tips. My favourite site for lessons and instructions is Jessica Sprague, there are fantastic lessons on this website some of them are free! Sign up for her newsletter and you'll get notification of any new or free classes coming up.

Get online get some digital suppies and give a digital page ago today!

December Daily cont.

Here are the next 5 pages of my December Daily album

Page 6 Loved this journaling block!

Page 7 Again another one of the 6 x 12 inch page protectors, I cut this one down and added this large journalling block. I am planning on putting the number 7 on the photo's.

Page 8 Slightly hard to disticugish in this picture but I cut up and clear plastic make-up type bag and used stitching to outline the page and to attach the number 8 which is made of painted chipboard

Page 9 Here is another 6 x 12 inch page protector I stitched in a number 9 that I covered with pattered paper, really like how it turned out.



Page 10 This is such fun paper!

Stepping out

I think that God has been challenging me to step outside of myself, I really am starting to realise that I am only going to get a job by doing stuff that I wouldn't normally do. And I started on Saturday, during the week I was Christmas shopping (nearly done!) and I saw a store that I like to shop in had an advertisement for Christmas Casual positions. But to apply you had to drop in your resume in store, there was no e-mail address.

So I went home and wrote up a generic cover letter and print multiple copies along with my resume, and on Saturday I went down to the shop and dropped off my resume (along with alittle prayer). I know that it was the right thing to do because on the drive down I didn't feel anxious or nervous. Which I know was all because of God because I always feel nervous and anxious with anything to do with dropping off my resume and doing interviews. But I have been doing alot of praying for guidance and I am sure now that god has been answering those prayers and has given me a sense of carm and confidence.

You really do have to just take that step, even if nothing ever comes of it. I don't know if I am going to get this Christmas casual position but I do feel good about taking the chance and giving it a try.

I have been able to pick up some work lately, my husbands store is coming up to the end of year stocktake so my wonderful husband has hired me to help out with some of the preparation needed before stocktake. It isn't alot, just labeling once a week for 2 or so weeks, then the day before helping count the stock then on the day I think I am going to be doing the catering for those who are doing the final scanning and entering. It isn't much but I am thankful to be doing something, it felt so good to be working. I have such a wonderful husband who has been worrying about me and wants to do anything he can for me I am a very lucky person.

December Daily

This is such a great idea for people like me who want to make an album about the Christmas Season, every year it takes me 6 months to actually finish. This year I found this great idea December Daily it is an album idea from Ali Edwards. Basically it is an album that is prepared in advanced and it is filled with pictures from the 25 days of Christmas, with alittle planning and preparation all you'll have to do during the 25 days of Christmas is take photo's, print them and write alittle journaling.

Here are my first 5 pages of my December Daily album

Page 1 Left over Christmas cardstock from last year, with a cute fabric tab.

Page 2 More of the cardstock from the previous page and some die cut cardstock that I bought to use on a layout I never ended up doing.

Page 3 This will be a whole photo with these green flower brads

Page 4 I had a whole pack of 6 x 12 inch page protectors, I cut one in half and used some hand stitching to hold a star tag and a card with '004' on it that I got for free when I purchased some journaling and calander cards from a Esty store called Elle's Studio.

Page 5 This is some card that I had left over from making baby shower invites I made last year for a friend of mine, I made it into an envelope, the quote block I love so much that I have scanned it so I can use it again.

I'll post more pages as I finish them, I am so looking forward to starting to take photo's for the album.

Beginning

Welcome!

I love making things! From cooking to craft I give most things a try. I can't wait to share with you the things I try, what works, what fails and what I would do differently. I find that sharing ideas with others helps to keep that creative spark going and I hope that is what you will find here. Not only original ideas but ideas that I get from other places and want to share.

So let your creative spark start here and lets see if we can't turn it into a flame.

Late night post

I have been staying up late alot lately, I really enjoy this time of night. It is a peaceful quite and there is no pressure to do anything. Nothing has to happen, everything can wait for the morning. But there is a downside, I have to go to bed eventually.....especially since I have been forcing myself to get up at 8am every morning or there abouts.

I also find that this is when I feel the most peaceful, don't really know why. There is really nothing special about this time of the day that would make me feel peaceful. Guess I am just a night owl. Always have been, and I am defiantly not a morning person, there is a joke in the family that I am best at about noon and then it is all down hill from there.

Still haven't heard about the job that I interviewed for on Wednesday, I am hoping and praying that they needed the weekend to think about who they want to employ. I think that my application really throw a spanner in the works for their decision making process. But I will probably defiantly take a sense that I am someone who can impress, that my resume can catch a potential employers eye. That is a good thing.

Well blog readers I should go to bed, the one thing I have learnt during these last couple of months is that you have to keep going. Everyday you get up and go on with life is one day closer to getting your new job.

What's in my bag?

This is something I saw on one of my fav blogs, it is such a fun idea and was a great distraction to photograph.

The handbag was a Christmas gift last year from my sister, it is a bag I probably wouldn't have bought for myself but I love it.

I have the usual stuff in my bag, sunglasses, wallet, keys and mobile phone (not pictured it was charging!). The small bag in the top corner is for medication, lip balm and mints (particularly important with job interviews), I have had this bag for ages but have only been carrying it in my handbag for a couple of months.

Sanitising gel, I am allergic to soap so can't use the soap to wash my hands in public toilets. Manicure kit in a cute little re & white poke-a-dot case, I also carry a fold up enviro-bag. Quite a few retailers are starting to charge for the use of plastic bags and we always try to do everything that we can to reduce the amount of waste that we as a family produce.

Brush, notebook and pen I am such a note taker and a list keeper, guess that it comes from the over organised person inside of me. My MP3 player lives in a cute little green bag with a little asian doll on the front, I got in from Smiggle love that store, so much funky stationary. I am a bit of a stationary addict.

These two things in my handbag are probably the most important to me, my small digital camera. I am a scrapbooker so having a camera with me always means that I don't miss the important moments. And the small white bible, this particular bible doesn't matter but it is what is inside that touches me on a daily basis, God's word. Where ever I am I know that God's word is with me, it is very comforting.

Lastly my glasses, I have two these are my husbands favourites green and funky, I also have another pair that have cute butterflies down the side (see my previous blog to get a close look at my glasses).

I do rather have alot of things in my handbag, always like to be prepared for anything. Things like my camera, glasses and enviro-bag do migrate in and out of my handbag depending on where I am going and what I am going to be doing. But there are alot of times when I carry all of the above, now that I have looked at it all spread out I think that I'm nuts! But I am glad that I am always ready for anything, and that is not a bad thing.

Let me know what is in your hand bag.

Something that spoken to my heart

I was doing my bible reading this morning and this verse which I had previously highlighted but still loved the words, and I think that it was something that I needed to hear.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:2

I have been learning to rely on God more in my daily life, especially now with my unemployment which I have been struggling with. The enemy has been flooding my head some days with negative thoughts and guilt, but I have been fighting those thoughts and feelings. And this verse certainly does help the fight. No matter how I feel or what is going on God will not leave me, He has always been there, and when things are at it's worse I can rest in His embrace until I am strong enough to continue on.

I don't think that I have ever been so focused on fully relying on God this much before, I know through talking with my Pastor and my wonderful husband that I have to turn to God in this time, and He will give me the strength and guidance that I need. And that is so true, I can a test to that.

If that is one piece of advice that I can give to anyone who is unemployed and is struggling with depression and guilt, turn to God open a Bible and start reading. Also pray daily for guidance and strength.

God's hand clear & loud

I really thought that my job interview was just like any other interview that I have had, I mean so happy and blessed to have gotten it. But other than that it was going to be like any other interview, I was very very wrong.

Turns out that God had a big hand in me getting this interview. I know that God has had a hand in all the interviews that I have had, just with this one I was able to see clear as day God's hand. While I was at the interview that lady I was interviewing with 'H' told me that the newspaper (found the job ad on the newspaper website) had put the wrong closing date on the ad, and in fact the ad had closed weeks previous to me sending in my resume. She had received hundreds of late application letters and only opened 5, one of those was me. And of that 5 mine stood out and I got an interview, which was way after the official interviews. During the interview the fact that I had a short work history was a sign of loyalty, which they were looking for, and my history of having to look after my Mum after graduating from Uni showed how important family was to me, again what they are looking for. And my work as a youth leader with church show them my leadership skills and my ease with working with teenagers, there will be about 4 junior casuals working for the business, also my involvement and importance of church show that I had a grounding in the community and had a good support base.

I honestly couldn't believe it, everything that I always worry about telling/explaining to prospective employers my short work history, why I never used my degree, the importance of church most employers don't seem to understand or respect any of that. But H saw everything as a positive and was exactly the qualities that they were looking for.

I find out tomorrow if I have gotten the job, I have been praying that I do. I mean God's hand was so evident, He made sure that I got that interview. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I will pray for the job. I do desperately want this job, it seems like I was meant for it, but I am so scared of that thought. Scared of the disappointment if I don't get the job, but I have to trust God. He is the one who got me this interview, have to trust.

Though no matter what the outcome this interview has defiantly given me a boost in how I feel about myself, it made me feel good about myself and have to say alittle confident in myself.

Remembering

Today is Remembrance Day, a day that we take time to pause and think about those who scarified their lives to protect the freedom that we enjoy in this country. I also think that it has also become a day when you think about those Defence Force personnel who are currently serving overseas. I think of my brother, who thankfully isn't overseas but I know that could change, I also think of those Australian solders who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. During my minute silence at 11am I am going to pray for the end of all wars and conflict, and for the families who have already lost a son, brother, husband or father.

On another note I have a job interview today, well this evening to be exact. It has been a while since I have had an interview. There is only one problem, the person who I spoke to on the phone with didn't say what the job interview was for. I think that I know what job it is but I am not 100% sure. This unfortunately means that I can't do much in the way of preparation, normally I would try to research the company or work place which can be great to be able to guess what some of the questions could be. I am not worried, have no reason to be. Please pray for me at 5:30pm when I'll be at my interview. I really feel that this interview does have alot of promise.

Sorry I've been gone

Well it has been awhile, another new month has begun. Nothing really has changed since this time last month. Still unemployed, still searching. Honestly things have been getting harder, those negative thought have been alittle hard to silence at the moment. Though I havn't been being as proactive as I possibly should be with keeping active. I seem to have slipped into sitting on the couch, eating and watching the clock waiting for my husband to come home.

That has got to change, and it will change. Next week I am going to get into the garden, I am going to clean the house, sort my scrapbooking room and reorganise the kitchen if I have to. But there is no way I can let these voices beat me.

It would have to be one of the hardest things, silencing the voices. They seem to be getting louder and louder lately. My Pastor said that I have to think of something else that those voices could do me alot of harm (mentally). It is really hard to make purposeful changes to your inbuilt behaviour. I have to come up with a list of things that I can look forward to, things to aim for. That I think will be the secret of surviving this chapter of my life, this turning point. Please pray for strength for me.