AJ's Antics

  Reporting is done and the count down til the holidays has begun.   I'm trying to lessen the stress and enjoy the experience..... I'll let you know how that goes!

'Twas with a heavy heart I stitched some more of this beautiful city last night for #Saturdaynightcraftalong  Reminiscing about our holiday there almost 2 years ago....#peaceforparis

Miss Barefoot has set down a new challenge for the next 12 months...Actually sending mail via the post! You can read about it here and join in when ever you like! October saw her posting about a Splatter Paint note card and we couldn't resist getting out the paints and easel for a go. The boy had fun mixing colours and experimenting with different amounts of water to get a nice splatter. It was very messy and lots of fun! I'm glad I set him up outside! We turned these into cards for Teacher's Day at our school...so while we didn't technically post them, they have been delivered. If you want to see what Miss Barefoots splatter painting looks like and the next challenge for November check it out here .

Good friends are more precious than gold! A weekend away with laughter, and crafting and more laughter is just what my soul needed. I feel rejuvenated, re-set and ready to tackle the end of year count down. I can't thank the girls enough for their support and kindness. Oh and did I mention the goody bag!! Bring a few items and go home with a bag full of treasures! I started a new project, added more rows to my ripple and worked on a very old WIP that I'd like to finish for a Christmas gift. Thank you girls we must catch up again soon! And in case you noticed, yes I am/did fail miserably at Blogtober...and I'm Ok with that. :)

This box fell over while I was digging through those piles in my craft room and out popped some hexxies! Pulling out old craft projects brings back lots of memories. I started this quilt in March 2007 and blogged about it here .  I last blogged about it here in April of 2010. I was really tempted to pull out the scrap basket and make some more to add to the current count of 1283, but I knew the purpose of cleaning up was just that, cleaning and organising NOT getting sidetracked and crafting. So after taking a few photos and patting the pretty hexagons I popped them back in the box..... like this..... for my OCD friends. Although I'm sure they will tell me that the rainbow order is wrong. Too bad! They fit best this way! So I've packed them up for now but I'm thinking they might make it to camp this year. 

This boy is a fruit bat, always has been. When he spotted a case of mangoes his face just lit up. Despite the steep price, I indulged him. So worth the sticky sweet smiles!

How delightful it was to come back to my blog and see 4 people have left comments! Blog readers and reminders must still be working on some blogs, even for the ones covered in cobwebs! Thank you ladies for taking the time to comment.  The blogging grapevine and where I go for all things bloggy tells me that Blogtoberfest is not officially happening this year as it has been retired.  Well that won't stop me and I'm going to try and blog every day to get back in the swing of things.  So here it is....my messy craft and work room. This is where I need to start. When we moved to this house 12 months ago, my sewing table, that was originally my great-grandparents small dinning table, was sadly broken and so I was using my sisters table while she sort-of lived with us for a while. She has taken it back to make her own sewing room and I've been left with a big empty space.   So while I had the room to spread out and the school holidays to fill I thought...

*clears throat*  Hello   My name is AJ   It has been 7 months since I last blogged....  I think I'm ready to give this another go....I think Something has been missing in my life and I think it is this....not blogging but crafting... I miss it.  I have been s.l.o.w.l.y working on my rainbow ripple and it is growing nicely. I've been adding a little at a time to my cross stitch, although it doesn't look any different. I played with Project Life last holidays and was very pleased with the months that I did get done.  School terms are busy, life is busy but sometimes you just need to sit and be and craft.  I'm off to look in the sewing room, to see what I can play with.....see you soon.

I'm a Saturday morning footy Mum! We are loving the Rugby Tots program . There are 2 trainers and only 2 kids in his group. 1-on-1 attention you can't beat that! He says he is going to play for the Wallabies....

School starts next week for most of the country....for me it starts tomorrow! Ekkkk! It's my first year as a 'school Mum' as my boy starts Prep and my first year teaching Prep. I get to meet my little ones tomorrow as the come in for orientation. I've spent all week doing long hours, 7am til 6pm, at the classroom and then many more hours into the night  to get ready with name tags and fine motor games, and curriculum planning and resources for the classroom. I'm basically building a Prep room from scratch as resources and funds are low. I'm being thrifty where I can and excepting donations from family and friends. Which brings me to sharing my next #finishitfifteen project!  You can read more about it here . but basically the aim is to finish 15 projects in 2015. 2 in less than a month means I'm winning....so far... MIL gifted, ie left them at our house, these foam cushions and I've always had intention to turn them into cushions I can use a...

Quilting was practically non-existent this year :( Returning to work full time has seriously taken a HUGE chunk of my crafting time. I'm going to make up for it this year, although still working, I'll be doing only 1 full time  job not 2 part time jobs that was like 2 full time jobs! In December I finished a quilt for Aden's beloved Kindy teacher. Embarrassingly this quilt was started in June 2009 when I was 8 months pregnant! I added a border and sandwiched it at Quilt Camp 2014 (which I must blog soon too I guess). The colours were perfect for his teacher Aden had 1 Kindy teacher and 2 assistants so I pulled 2 finished quilts off the shelf that were made for no-one in particular and gifted those as well. He has super excited to be giving quilts to his teachers and so was I. They have often complimented me on the quilts Aden  took to Kindy for rest time. I've got some lovely pictures of him wrapped up in quilty-goodness with his teachers.  We ...

Didn't think I would be back so soon did ya! Well here it is... my first finish for the year for #finishitfifteen 1 year ago today we were visiting London and when we got back I found these via Instagram. I'm going to add the date and frame them for my craft room. I can't decide if I should leave them in a hoop or frame them under glass. Any display tips welcome!  It was super fun to stitch up and the perfect little carry around project.  I also have Pretty Little Paris to start soon.  The holiday planning goes into overdrive when you see the other cities that NEED to be stitched!  1 down 14 to go! #finishitfifteen

I'm usually pretty hopeless at these but I thought I'd try anyway! So the Challenge is #finishitfifteen  The rules: FINISH Fifteen half started projects in 2015. The projects can be anything you want. Car is challenging us to finish 15 projects in 2015 . You can join her here . Like Car I have a HUGE mess in my craft room....with bits of everything everywhere. I've started tidying it up and get overwhelmed at everything and don't know where to start! I've separated my work stuff from my craft stuff and hopefully that will help a bit. And because I'm clever like that I've already finish a project! I'll share it soon!

Well actually there was no ringing to be heard, just noisy neighbours and heavy rain, a few drinks and family chatter. An appropriate end to 2014. It was a bit of a 'meh' year....nothing too terrible, nothing too exciting, just busy full-time work and the stress that goes along with it, family events and getting on with things. 2015 is bringing some changes and with it a new outlook. I'm still thinking of my 'one little word' for 2015 and I'll post about that as soon as I have it nailed. My boy is starting school in a few shorts weeks and we are both feeling some anxiety towards it.  . He is more than ready both academically and socially, I'm just not sure how he will go with the 'sitting still and listening' part of school. He always has a thought to express or a question to ask. He doesn't like to 'do it wrong' and sometimes is unwilling to try if he perceives that he might fail. I've handpicked his teacher (the perks of hi...