An Accomplished Day.

I'm sure most Mothers {or Women for that matter} would relate with me & understand, when I say that everyday is so different....and can be so unpredictable. You can try to 'run a tight ship', have a structured routine, be organised, have a plan, stick to the to-do lists etc.....but at the end of the day....each day is so different!

I'm not a fulltime stay-at-home-Mum.....but I am lucky to be able to job-share my class....which means I only work 3 days/week as a Teacher...I love that! So....my Mondays & Tuesdays are all about being a MUM! I also run a business, keep a house, love a husband & then try to squeeze some 'me' time & my hobbies in too! Like everyone, I'm constantly striving for balance & organisation and a way to make it al work!

Some days are great! Others are disastrous :) You know those days, where you're tired & irritated?! When the house is mess, but you are struggling to find the motivation to clean it.....where cooking is the last thing you feel like doing....where your emails are building up faster than you can read them......where the kids are just as irritable & frustrated as you.....where the only mail you get is bills.....where you feel impatient & snappy! I too, have those days! And then that night as I'm tucking Ella into bed, I feel a little guilty that the day wasn't filled with excessive smiles & craft & photos & trips out & lots of play! I kiss her little face & promise that the next day will be better & that having bad days is all part of the balance of life! She gets it :)

Well....yesterday was not one of those days....it was a GREAT day! An accomplished day! And although I wish everyday was as productive & fun.....I know that we have to take the bad to better appreciate the good....and to keep things interesting, it can't always be good! It's all part of the flow of life I guess....and all part of the journey :)

Yesterday.....Valentine's Day 2011.... started with a great feeling! Ella was unwell {still sniffly & congested} so we had to cancel our plans for the day :( I refused to let this get us down....so a great day we had!

We crafted & painted:

We made a quick trip down to the local grocer to get some supplies for a special Valentine's Dinner for Chris :) We then made the most scrumptious Flour-less Chocolate Brownies!! Recipe from here!

We set the table...full of love & colour! We used Ella's art creations from the day, as placemats :)

Then we squeezed in a bike ride down to the local creek, where I attempted to do a 'Valentine's Day Photoshoot'....I'm not photographer....but love to snap away & pretend to know what I'm doing haaa {more photos to come later}:

And, somewhere amongst all that, I managed to do 2x loads of washing, Ella wrote letters to all her friends & enveloped them all, we read books & made organic vegie patties for dinner, we watched Barbie A Fashion Fairytale & we went on a mini bug hunt in the backyard! WHAT A DAY!

I'm not listing all this to rub it in or make anyone feel bad.....coz I sure know....it's all about balance baby! And with each GREAT day....probably comes a couple of bad days :) So, I'm taking yesterday's awesomeness & appreciating it for everything that it was!

“There’s no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves” {Frank Herbert}

How was your VALENTINE'S DAY?

Who knows what today will bring.....let's go find out....

Week-A-Boo.......{She's nearly 3, inside play & rainbows}

Yay, Week-A-Boo is back on track & kicking off for the first time in 2011! Another weekend....come & gone! And yep....it still rains here! This weather is just crazy! I'm over it.....where's my long, warm summer days of beach-going, swimming, salty-crusted skin & picnics in the park?? I think Coolum is hogging all that summery-fun, coz back here on the Gold Coast....it is STILL raining!!!!

So....we've been enjoying plenty of {forced} inside play! The girl LOVES puzzles at the moment & she's really digging the ABC's too :)

{above: this one is her fave....she's on a constant 'E' hunt....spotting them out everywhere we go! "There's my name Mummy....see "Eh" for Ella....that's me!!!"}

{BELOW: Here she is in her ABC glory......she cracks us up!}

Oh....And, she's LIP GLOSS obsessed! Ooops, she got that one from me :) I have way too many lip glosses & rarely leave the house without some! Santa left her a new range of fruity lip glosses & her new 'thing' is: "I'm a lady Mummy, and you have to come to me & say "Please Lady will you paint my lips pretty for me!" Ok Mummy, do that!" And I oblige....and we do that repetitively for about 10mins until my whole face is sticky & glossy :) 

In between holidays, shopping sprees, mammoth de-cluttering missions & rainy days, we've been preparing for a certain little someone's upcoming 3rd Birthday!!!! THIRD......O.M.G! THREE years old!! In just 16 days, I'll be the Mother of a 3 year old.....where the heck did those 3 years go???? Many months ago, Ella asked if her next party can be RAINBOW theme....and EVERY SINGLE DAY {without fail} she has mentioned this rainbow party!!! So.....in a couple of weeks......A RAINBOW PARTY WE WILL HAVE :)

{the invitations, designed by me!}

On Saturday night, I enjoyed a night out with a few girlfriends.....just chilling, eating, drinking, pigging out on ice-cream, laughing, eating some more.....you know...the usual relaxing girls night out :) 

{excuse the orange tinges......it could be due to my uselessness at taking photos in anything other than natural light.....but for now, we'll just blame it on the ugly orange lighting of the restaurant :)}

{My gorgeous friend, Jackie {on the left} is expecting her 1st child.....13 weeks into the pregnancy! I'm so excited for her!!}

The weather forecast looks pretty glum this week, so I guess we'll be doing more of this:

But that's ok....I was quite content hanging in my pj's til 1pm today....doing art n craft, movie watching & puzzles :) Keep posted tomorrow.....I've made a few new print designs & exposing them tomorrow :) Scissors Paper Rock is open for business again as of tomorrow....I enjoyed my break....but am now looking forward to getting back into the swing of things too!

So....tell me, what did you get up to this weekEND?

Please, share your link below! I can't wait to pop in to see what your weekend entailed! 

An Easy Christmas Craft......{& a free DIY printable}

I've always been one to fully absorb myself into the magical atmosphere that only Christmas can bring each year :) As a child, our Christmas focus was never on materialistic items or money value....it was always about being with family & friends, great food, music, traditions, holidays, summer, savouring, appreciating & celebrating! Now, as an adult...and a Mother, I want to saturate Ella with a true love for Christmas too. Of course, {like all kids....or humans for that fact} she will want this toy & want that piece of clothing etc....and as Parents who like to give & enrich &.....basically spoil....she'll get lots of lovely goodies. BUT.....I want her memories of Christmas to be not just of 1 day of presents.....but a whole month of love, celebrating, involvements & celebration. In December, we will bake & craft & decorate & view lights & admire window displays & sing along at Candlelight Carols Concerts & write to Santa & show thanks & give all that we can...we will surround ourselves with loyal friends, loving family members & positive people in our lives......oh yeah, we will do it all baby!!

Last night I designed 2 simple Christmas bookmark templates for Ella to decorate to give as presents......and thought I'd add them here to my FREE DIY Printables so you can use them for free too!

Simply click here to download them for free. Then print and decorate {we used water paint & glitter}! I then mounted Ella's onto red paper, laminated & added some red ribbon up top through a punched hole ;)

A little bit of {easy} homemade, handmade goodness to do with your littlies this year :)

And the finished product....by the divine Miss Ella:

EASY :) We had fun doing them & I hope you do too!

It's the 1st of December tomorrow.......YAY!!!

Feature Interview with Melli's Designs

It's been a little while since I've done a feature interview on my blog {mainly due to disorganisation on my behalf!} But I'm breaking the dry spell today with a lovely chat with the gorgeous Mirela from Melli's Designs! Mirela is a Mummy, Wife, Blogger, Business Owner & I LOVE her work! It was such a pleasure to get to know her better through this interview!

Tell us a little about your business/job: Melli's Designs is all about creating  and designing Art for kids rooms, my artworks are made from 100% handmade products and are all custom hand designed.

Each art work is made to be Uniquely different and Original in many ways. I like the idea that each designs are never made to look identical, i believe each personalized gift should be as unique as the child,it makes it all that little bit more special.

Melli 's designs was created 2 years ago  and is my small home based business ,when i noticed i was doing a lot of paintings through mother's group and word of mouth, i got  myself thinking why don't i start  start my own business and show people what i can really create when i put my mind to it. It  has been a long time dream of  mine and loving every minute of it .

What/Who inspires you? Creative people whether they are Artists,Fashions designers or Interior designers....
Bloggers have a big part of my inspirations,i just love how there is so many beautiful and talented people out there.
My family inspire me everyday.

What do you love most about what you do? I love that i can create something from a blank canvas and create a piece that creates smiles.
I love that i get to meet lovely people that have similar interests than i do
 it makes my day when i get recognition from my work.
Most of all i love that i can have both of best worlds where i can work   from home and be with my boys at the same time.

What has been the highlight of this year so far?
opening up my own Made it store online and preparing for my very first stall market

Explain a 'normal' day in your life? Its as normal and busy as they get.....
wake up ..coffee.drop boys to school,coffee,emails,planing orders,coffee
spending some time with Lucas,post office runs,prepare dinner,pick up boys school,home-work,Dinner,Boys - bath-time,Boys bedtime..ME and hubbie time watching some TV,blog time and midnight MY bedtime. {wed afternoon,Thurs nights and Fri nights work in a men's clothing store.}

Your Favorite Quote/Motto: To accomplish great things,we must not only act,but also Dream,not only Plan,but also Believe

What are your goals for 'Melli's Designs', where do you see yourself in 5 years? Keep my Made.it store going and expanding new designs,open up my  store on Etsy,
but mostly my all time DREAM is having some of my artworks selling in a kids boutique  store one day 

Why do you blog & What do you blog about? There is three things  i love most apart from my family and that is PAINTING,INTERIOR DESIGN and anything BEAUTIFUL.
My blog is a mixture all the above and what inspires me the most.when i started blogging i wanted to have a place where i can display my designs and talk about my inspirations but it has become more than that its become my personal journal through my ART ..... with a little bit about me and my family mixed all on one!.


3 Things you are: Creative,Sensitive and Dreamer

3 Things you aren't: Loud,Messy, Sporty

Anything else you'd like to share with my readers:
Its never to late to be what you want to be

I recommend you all head over to Melli's Designs to check out her beautiful, custom made products! they would be the perfect Christmas gift :) You can join her FACEBOOK page here, read her BLOG here & shop at her MADEIT store here!

Have a great Thursday everyone! And thank-you Melli!

Week~A~Boo.......{blue skies & oversized sunnies}

Why hello there Sunday Night...you greet us yet again :) 

My friend & I were having a little giggle the other day....we were discussing how fast the years seem to be flying. I mean...c'mon.....November.....how the heck did we get to the the 2nd last month of 2010 already?! We were saying that maybe it's just because we're getting older & busier & more mature {haaa} and this is giving us the illusion that the speed of time has increased....but then our serious chat turned to giggles of conspiracies.....maybe, just maybe... time HAS sped up & some crazy little scientist {in a white coat of course} {and he'll look something like this} will soon prove it....that time, in fact, IS racing by & it's not just us busy people imagining it. 

Anyways.....getting sidetracked here :)

How was YOUR weekEND? What lovely {or not-so lovely} adventures did you entail?

Here's a peek into our weekend through a collection of piccies:

The sky was a BRILLIANT blue all weekend....and the clouds on Saturday afternoon were so amazing! They were quite low....they gave the illusion that they were close enough to grab!! LOVED IT!

We bought a $3 packet of DORA Stampers & had some 'clean' crafty fun :)

And....I'm linking these photos up to Kasia's Kiddy Art! Head over there to get some weekly Kiddy Art'n'Craft inspiration!

{Above} That's a picture of me...didn't you recognise me, with my legs growing from my chin & my 1 ear :))

We lit the candles in the daytime....just because they make the house smell so damn good.....and it was the WEEKEND :)

And watered the herbs in bikinis.......JUST BECAUSE :)

And....we made pizzas, whilst wearing animal aprons & Christmas accessories.....because that's how we roll on a Saturday evening in our house :)

We made doughnuts & scones & then got in our party best to celebrate Miss Ava's {my eldest niece} 9th Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS GIRL!

And....we rocked out over-sized sunglasses on our way to the local shops!!!

So, that my friends was a peek into bits of OUR weekEND!! I'd love so much to see a snippet or a whole album of what you got up to this weekend! Please show me.....link your weekend blog post back to here & add your post to the linky below!

Have a great week All.....and keep an eye out for that Scientist....I swear time is speeding up :)

Wordless Wednesday.....{Art n Craft}

Head over to Faith, Hope and a whole lotta Love for more Wordless Wednesday photos!!

Have a great Hump day everyone!