Catch up ~ Fun with Canvas and Swaps

It has been such a busy few weeks seems like everything happened at once. I have not posted in such a long time so you better get a coffee while I try and remember what I have been up to.


We will start with the last week of the school holidays, what fun we had, my husband was away that week for work so I tried to fill in the days with fun activities. My daughter wanted to invite her best friend over for a Princess Tea Party. A royal invitations was sent out and an other Princess arrived from another land (suburb lol).

The 3 Princesses and a handsome Prince Cowboy.

The table was set with china and yummy choc cake covered in Princess sprinkles (pink and pink sugar) we had choc covered teddy biscuits, piklets with princess sprinkles and some with jam and cream (for the Queen) and fruit.

Since it was a warm day the coffee pot had special royal pink drink only for Princesses and Princes to enjoy while the Queen enjoyed a pot of Lady Gray.

It was such a lovely morning I really enjoy setting up the table when little friends come over and the children always enjoy using tea cups and cake forks:)

On the weekend of the last week of the holidays our Church had its annual Ladies Camp and I went along. (first ladies camp ever) I was a bit unsure of how I would go as I have never been away from my Children before. I as on the planning committee which helped the whole separation thing.

During the Camp we had some electives I ran the scrapbooking on canvas with another lady which was fun. The night before the camp I made one as an example. (I had never done scrapbooking on canvas before)

This is the one I did the night before.

I did a larger one for my eldest daughters room of her birthday party.

During the last week of the holidays I let my daughter do a canvas, she had so much fun. The picture she made was of rainbow fairies flying over rainbow mountains. She used coloured sand and 3D pens this is now hanging on her bedroom wall.

I have also entered 2 swaps and am so looking forward to doing them, see my sidebar for links to the swaps you can still sign up but they will be closing soon.

Oh and Kylie from a Bite of Country Cupcakes gave me an award. Thanks Kylie.

I give the award back to you and I give the award to Jo Anne and Merrin and to all my other blogging friends out there you know who you are.

Questions

Do you have any friends from childhood?
Yes I have a couple and even though we don't see each other or talk often I know they are there.

What do you value about your friends?
That they don't judge you as they know your heart.

Are they your sounding board?
Working on it I am others sounding board and I am learning how to find true friends.

What activities do you like to share together??

We don't see each other often due to distance so we blog and facebook a bit. got to love the computer age:)

Well that is it from me for now.

I made something other than cupcakes this week

Well I have been doing another craft this past week. Can you guess.....


Last Saturday Kris from Tag Along Teddies popped over, we have been trying to get together for a few weeks now. Kris is great and if you have not visited her blog pop on over.

Kris showed me how to knit, my grandmother taught me when I was a girl but she passed away when I was 11 and I have not knitted since and could not remember how to get started.

I have been really enjoying it as it is something I can grab when I have a few minutes or waiting for my eldest to finish her ballet lesson. There is no set up or clean up:)

Thank you Kris for showing me again. Here is my youngest sporting her new scarf she was so excited when it was finished and has been dragging it around everywhere with her.

Last Saturday I decided to clean out the craft/junk room it is such a mess and I don't know where anything is. Not only does it have craft items in it, it also has unpacked boxes form our last move, kids broken toys, mending and anything that does not fit in the rest of the house. So it is time for a clean out. I am quite embarrassed to show the before photos but figure if I post them I will them be more motivated to clean out the room:)

My work area where I can look out the window and watch the children play in the garden.
Cupcake area
Junk... Don't you love how I have uses the air walker it is great for holding lamp shades.

Sewing, mending and junk and ironing area. So as you can see I can't really use the craft room cause I can't find anything and there is not space to put anything.

After taking the photos I took a break to help the children make some Rock buddies.

This weekend I will be working on the craft room and hopefully have it all neat and set up by Sunday night. I will post photos when it is finished.

Last but not least Kylie from A bit of Country Cupcakes has given me an award. Thanks so much Kylie.

These are the rules:
1. The recipient must link back the the awards creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.Characteristics for the Smile Award:1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)2. Must love one another3. Must make mistakes4. Must learn from others5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world6. Must love life7. Must love kids

The 5 people I have chosen for the award are.
1.Jo one of my sweet friends who I have enjoyed watching grow into a beautiful woman of God full of love for her creator, husband and family;
2. Merrin, I am really enjoying getting to know you;
3. Candy, it has been fun getting to know you;
4. LeAnn who brings a smile to my face when I read about her life;
5. Robin I have just started reading your blog regularly and have been enjoying getting to now you.

Family Room and Award

This weekend I decided to give the dining/family room a much needed makeover. I forgot to take before pic's sorry but if you look at this post of Mikayla's birthday party you will get an idea of how the room was set out.

This is how it looks now, the first 3 photos are from the kitchen door.

I moved the hutch it use to be next to the heater and I turned the dining table around. We still have enough room to extend it if we need to.

I am thinking of making a curtain to put in the office doorway, the office does not have a door.

I changed the modular couch around.

The above photo was taken from the back door.

The above photo was taken from the laundry door. The white door next to the TV unit goes to the craft/junk room.


The above photo is taken form the office door.

I still have some things I want to do to the room like get a nice mat for the floor and some wall hangings and I want to rearrange the items TV unit and maybe purchase something else to put on there.

Trying to strike a balance between making the room look nice and being functional for a family of 5 to use everyday is what I was aiming for. I have made the lounge room where I have a lot of breakable and pretty things and the children know to keep that room clean and not to touch the "pretty" things. But you still need an area where kids can be kids and be able to draw and play board games and do puzzles, sing and dance. We do have a play room where all the toys are kept which helps a lot.

So if you have any ideas or suggestions feel free to let me know sometimes you look at your own stuff for so long you get stuck and a fresh set of eyes can see things you have missed.

Next two rooms due for a make over are the office and the craft/junk room.

Okay now onto the second bit I got an award from Kylie from A bit of Country Cupcakes. If you have not visited her blog pop in it as she is pretty new to blog land. Thanks so much Kylie for the award I was very surprised.

WYLDE WOMAN AWARD

The rules of this award are:

1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.

2. Link back to this blogsite http://www.tammyvitale.com/ so Tammy can go visit all these wonderful women and remember the Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.These women continually bring joy to my life through their encouragement, humour, inspiration and talent. It is with great pleasure that I award the "Wylde Women Award" to:

This was so hard as a few of the people who I would have given it to have already received this award, people like Shannon and Mandii.

Other people who have supported me and brightened my day are:

LeAnne at For the Love of Cottage I really enjoy reading her blog especially after a long day with the kids. LeAnne has helped and me in so many ways.

Candy at A pretty Home is someone who I count as a true friend thank you for your support and friendship.

I could go on and on but I chose a few people who have impacted my life the most, otherwise I would be giving awards out all day and I have 4 hungry children at my office door asking for lunch. You are all wonderful and I have enjoyed reading your blogs and getting to know you.

Catch up and My first award

It has been pretty busy here and I have not been blogging much at all. Now that school is back things should start to quiet down again soon. I hope....

It has been soooo cold here, yesterday our back yard was covered in hail and we had sleet. It snowed not far from us. I have all the heaters on but with an old house it is so hard to warm it up.

I really don't have any news, I have been working on cupcake orders and some other things which I will be posting about later.

I have just been given my first award. Thanks so much Mandi....
Sweet Mandi from gave me an award.

The Rules Are:
1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you
3) Nominate at least 4 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

I am going to pass the award onto 4 blogs that I love to visit......

Col

Le anne

Amy

Shannon