Sew, Cook, Laugh and Live

I have missed you! I have a new blog & would love for you to stop by. From Jos with love. xx

2015-06-30T10:39:00.000+10:00

Well hello there!!!

I just wanted to stop by and let all of you fabulous readers know that I can now be found over at

http://fromjoswithlove.blogspot.com.au/

Its a newish blog for me. It's still going to have a bit of sewing, craft, recipes but it is more of a letter to my life.

I would love if you could stop by, have a look & maybe even sign up to the newsletter or to get regular emails of new posts.

Why not have a look through some of the posts that I have written over the last couple of months to get a feel for the new blog.

I have missed you all & would love to see you over there!

Valentines break up

2015-02-13T17:09:00.001+10:00

Valentine's Day is nearly here and I have decided to break up. Break up with this blog. It is not a sad break up but a happy one. For years now (I have lost count!) this has been my little space. It served a purpose. But it seems that I have grown & changed in ways that now see me breaking up with my space. My kids have grown and our now closer to adults than kids. I am entering a new phase of my life. It's a phase that I am going to embrace wholeheartedly. I have fallen in love with living life. One day in the future, I may start another blog but it seems that this one has run its course.

To finish up, I would like to say thank you to each and everyone of you. Thank you for your kind words and support.

Day 3. And I am still holding on!

2015-02-03T17:07:00.001+10:00

It is day 3 of Facebook Free February and I am still holding on! Who knew life would still go on! I am over the Facebook cravings and finding new things to do on the Internet. I have fallen back in love with Bloglovin (a blog reading app). So many blogs that I had forgotten about & are now back on my radar (I will have to write a post about all my faves soon). I have been listening to a lot of music. I have cooked like a mad woman. Every meal has been made from scratch. I have baked bread, cooked scrolls, made a dozen batches of biscuits (hello big nickers!) & I have made bottles of iced tea.

But I am still not on Facebook!!!!!

Why do I like to sew my own clothes. Reader questions answered.

2015-02-02T08:41:00.001+10:00

Last week I asked if there was anything that you have wanted to ask me, anything you want to ask about anything really. I had some lovely readers ask some very lovely questions. The first question that I am going to answer is "Why do you like to sew your own clothes?" Great question! So here goes!

I don't like to sew my own clothes..... I love it! I am very much a person who likes to express my own style and individuality. I love choosing fabrics that catch my eye and make me feel happy. While I love seeing the new trends that come each season with fashion, I do not love going out to see someone wearing the exact same outfit as me. I have been known to see someone wearing something I own & never wearing it again! My local second hand store loves me because I am always donating clothes that are nearly new. So that is why, over the past few years, I have really increased the time I spend sewing my own clothes.

I love the satisfaction that comes from looking through my wardrobe and knowing that at least 50% of the clothes in there are made just for me, by me & that I am the only one who will be wearing that outfit that day. I love knowing that my clothes are made to my exact body shape. That is one of greatest things about making your own clothes. You make them to fit you. I have short legs so if I buy pants or shorts, they never sit where they do on a model. I have had to take nearly a foot off one pair of jeans that I own. Store bought mid thigh shorts finish at my knees. So making my own is just a much better option. Dresses are another problem for me to buy from a shop. I have a true hourglass figure. I have a whole lot of booty & boobs with a waist that is 2 sizes smaller! So making my own dressed to fit that shape is better than wearing something way too tight or way too baggy.

The number one reason I like to make my own clothes.......the satisfaction that comes with being told that someone loves your outfit & you know that it was all because of your own 2 hands.

Do you sew your own clothes? If you do, I would love to hear why!

Hello February. I love summer the most.

2015-02-01T15:06:00.001+10:00

Today is the 1st of February.

It is the first day of a challenge that I set myself to go Facebook Free for the whole month. So far, so good. To make it easier on myself and my husband who is also joining in, we packed up the family and headed to the beach. Thank god I didn't ban myself from Instagram! It was just to much of a beautiful day to not share. I have the blog Facebook page linked to my Instagram account so that I am still "there" but not really! I know that a few of you have said that you would miss my updates on Facebook so I am making it easy for you to not miss me too much!

I have a list of topics that I am going to blog about for the month to keep myself busy. Now that the kids have their first full week back at school, I can have a bit more time for blogging again. It also means that summer is only here for another month. That saddens me greatly because summer is definately my fave season. So for the next month I want to fit in as many trips to the beach as possible.

I love the feel of salt water on my skin & sand on my toes.

I love the cool sea breeze as it tickles the skin after you get out the ocean.

I love the tropical summer fruits. Nothing tastes better than fruit straight from the fridge that gives that crunching sound as you take a bite.

I love long lazy weekends where you just drift off to sleep in the lounge room.

I love that my eldest teenage daughter spends so much time relaxing in her hammock under the verandah roof.

I love that the youngest teenager embraces all things boho & has the most amazing beach hair.

I love that everyone's skin looks a little bit sun kissed & we all have that summer glow.

Summer, I am going to miss you next month so I am going to embrace you wholeheartedly for the next 28 days.

What is your fave season? And I would love to know why!

Facebook Free February

2015-01-23T17:33:00.001+10:00

Yep, you read that right! Facebook Free February. It's happening! I am going Facebook free for the whole month of February. My kids think I have gone completely bonkers & maybe I have. FROM TOO MUCH FACEBOOK!! I have been seriously contemplating this for several months. I just know that I waste way too much time checking to see what other people are doing. Stupid because I could be spending time doing things myself. But I haven't been. I feel like I have let so many things slip. I have let the importants things in life slip to the side. Spending time talking, laughing & learning things with my teenage daughters would be so much more beneficial than reading about people who I probably wouldn't even spend time with in real life. I want to be free!!!!

I am now going to visit my friends if I want to talk. I want my friends to visit me if they want to talk!! Life is always better with a friend or 3 by your side. I want to be more creative. I want to stop looking at what other people are making & cooking and do more of it myself. I want to read more books instead of reading about this weeks top 10 super foods that might cure cancer, diabetes, obesity but might not do anything other than satisfy hunger for 20 minutes! I want to get a book on Buddhism & learn how to live in a more peaceful mindset. I want to spend time looking up at the sky at night and counting the stars. I want to look at the world around me & see the beauty. I want to spend more time practicing yoga. I want to spend more time sitting in the garden writing long letters to my pen pals. I want to do the simple things again.

I see so many negative things on Facebook that should not be taking up any of my valuable time. Things that I would not want to hear about or talk about in real life. My life would be so much better off if my time was spent doing things that made me happy.

I will still be blogging & who knows, maybe I might even have more time for blogging! I will still be reading all of my favourite blogs. I will still be pinning all those things on Pinterest that I might just have more time to do. I will still be using the Internet but it will be my choice what I want to read, what I want to see & what I want to know about. I want to take back control of the things that come into my life. Is it really such a bad thing to live in the real world instead of the virtual world of strangers?

Have you, could you, would you go Facebook Free?

Are you going to join me in Facebook Free February? Come on, what have you got to lose? I think I am going to gain a few extra hours every day!

Things I tell myself to make it through the day

2015-01-21T07:21:00.001+10:00

Today I am going to repeat this to myself to make it through the day. I really need to learn to not react to things that just waste my time. As it comes to the end of school holidays, I sometimes find my tolerance for bullshit lessens. Next Wednesday, when the teenagers go back to school, I think I might find a quiet beach, a book & just breathe in the salt air.

DIY home command center

2015-01-20T08:06:00.001+10:00

This is the last full week of school holidays! Woohoo! While I have absolutely loved spending almost 2 months with my eldest teenager & almost 6 weeks with the youngest teenager, I am excited to be able to think of my house clean for a whole entire day!! In an effort to get this family more organised, I decided that we needed an area to be set aside solely for the purpose of each week running smoothly. So I set off to do this the cheapest way possible.

I found all of this stuff for under $50. I shopped at K-mart & my local discount shop. The wall on the outside of our fridge is perfect for this. And because the teenagers have to walk past it to get to the fridge when they get home from school, I am hoping they will use it.

So we will start at the bottom.

It's a little funky, a little bright, a little colourful & hopefully highly functional!!

Do you have a home comman center? I wish I had made one from day one of my girls schooling lives. But, better late than never!!

Next job, organising tha bookshelf by the front door!

Lipstick in the fridge

2015-01-18T22:59:00.001+10:00

You know how you have one of those big purchase items that breaks and it sucks? And you have to replace it in a hurry? Well, that happened to us on the weekend. The fridge & freezer. Our big, huge massive double door fridge freezer decided that it no longer want to play nice with the current heat wave. The humidity cooked it. This ginormous fridge had seen its last days feeding our family. So as I set out to browse the internet to find a new fridge in a hurry, it dawned on me. Why on earth did our family of four need a giant fridge & freezer? It really made no sense. So I wrote a list of what it needed to be.

It had to be a standard size so that we could put back the overhead cupboard and side wall of our kitchen that had to be removed to make way for that ridiculously huge fridge. Yes, we actually took out storage space to fit in the fridge. It also meant that the huge fridge took up half of the walk way into the kitchen. I will not tell you how pissed off my husband was that within 12 months of spending a small fortune on a new kitchen, I had then remodeled it to fit in an eyesore of a fridge. You could actually see part of the back of the fridge when you looked over from the lounge room.

In an effort to eat more healthy food, I want to be able to see it. Not hidden away in a crisper that the teenagers don't have the energy to reach down and open to see what is in there. One thing I have learnt as the mother of teenagers is that kids will open a fridge, look for the first thing they see & eat it. I want them to see the crisper full of good food. If you want to know what functions a family will need when the kids get older, ask a mum who has teenagers.

We need room for lots of water bottle storage & maybe a little storage for a bottle of vodka or 2. Teenagers NEVER fill up a water jug. EVER. So having several bottles of water. In the fridge increases the chance of you being able to have a cold drink of water at some stage in the day. This is sold as a wine rack but I don't drink wine!

Lipstick. Yes, I said lipstick. Lipstick, lip balm, lip gloss, if it goes on your lips, it needs it's own space in the fridge. Especially in high heat and humid areas.

Enough room on the door for several bottles of milk. In our house we go through 3L of milk a day. From my 20 odd cups of tea, to the husbands huge milo drink when he gets home from work to the kids milkshakes. Some days I think it would be easier if we just had our own cow wandering the front yard. Milk on tap would be awesome! But we don't so the next best thing is plenty of space on the door to fit several bottles of milk because I do not want to be driving to the shop everyday for milk. And I think my husband was sick and tired of getting the "Can you get milk on you way home please". I have often waited for the "No, get it yourself " but it hasn't happened yet.

An ice maker/ compartment. How many times have I had to hear that someone has gone to the freezer to get ice & there is none? More than I care to count! I don't even like ice yet somehow I get the blame. I need an ice compartment so they have to fill the thing themselves! Yes, I know, fantasy. But doesn't every good pro/con list come with a fantasy?

No more broken toes! I have broken several toes over the years from frozen things falling from great heights! I kid you not! The new freezer has to have drawers. And this one does!! Nothing but! Everything hidden away neatly. Well, everything hidden away.

So tell me, what is your must have/want/fantasy when it comes to a new fridge?

I wouldn't mind some cute man inside the fridge who knows what I want before I open the door and has it ready on a silver platter, but that really is a fantasy!

Blogging made simple. The year of simple.

2015-01-13T14:38:00.001+10:00

Hi, my name is Jos & I am now a simple blogger. As you already know, my word for 2015 is SIMPLE. I am on a mission to simplify my life so I have more time to enjoy the good bits. Including blogging. I now blog from my phone. Why not? I do everything else from it! I am still old school when it comes to blogging. No Wordpress for me. Blogger all the way! If you don't have a blog, it just means, well, it just means my blog doesn't look as fancy as others. This platform has served me well for many years so I have just never changed it. Ok, back to the simple part. I have a little app on my phone that is called Blogger and it is linked to my blog. It means that I can write a post on my phone, add photos straight from my phone & hit publish. Hello simple!

No longer do I need to....

turn on the computer,

Wait 10 minutes for it to load up,

upload a thousand photos from my camera to find just one or two good ones,

Edit photos,

Write a blog post,

Publish.

I can now blog when the inspiration hits. Simple. I also don't have to go looking for the DSLR camera, and hope the moment has passed before I get back to take a photo. My phone, as bad as this may be, is usually close by. I upgraded my iPhone 4s to a new iPhone 6 just a couple of weeks ago & I think the photo quality is pretty darn good! It also means that I am taking real photos. Nothing staged, no fancy styling, just raw & honest photos. This blog is an honest look at my life so I am being honest when I say that I do not live a perfectly styled life. So I don't want to give a false impression of what my daily life is like. So I am just going to be a simple blogger & enjoy it.

Now, if you do have a blog, I would love for you to post a link to it in the comment section so I can stop by and check it out! I am always looking for great blogs to read! Also the readers of my little blog might stop by too!!

A week to just catch up.

2015-01-12T13:37:00.001+10:00

Hello again! This last week has been all about catching up. My hardworking hubby had the week off work & after all the long days that he worked towards the end of last year, he deserved it. We decided to not go away as we would have usually done but instead we spent the week catching up. Catching up on things that needed to get done around the house, catching up on sleep, catching up all the movies we wanted to watch & we caught up on family time. Our biggest catch up was finally starting & finishing the bay window seat that had been in the planning stages for over a decade!!

There is plenty of room to store almost all of my fabric under the seat!! Of course I rushed off to buy more though to make the cover for the top. Silly move. After purchasing this fabric......

I then found this fabric when I was packing away my stash....

I had purchased this fabric years ago to recover a lounge chair that has been retired now to the shed. I much prefer it & because it is upholstery fabric, it should hopefully last a long time. Now that the window seat is finished, I think we need to start saving for some new blinds for the window. Not too sure what type yet. I am just so happy to see that the window seat is finally done and being used exactly how I knew it would. It has been used for sleepovers, reading books, watching movies and of course, as a dog lounge!

Today hubby has gone back to work and I have returned to decluttering the house. Today's task is getting rid of any clothes that I did not wear last year. And let me tell you, it is a lot! Then I need to sort out the view from that beautiful new window seat!

A letter to my 15 year old daughter

2015-01-02T23:04:00.001+10:00

To my dearest darling daughter.

I see how hard it is to be 15. I see the struggles that you face. Caught up in a world that says you are too old to be a child & too young to be an adult. I am doing the best I can to ease your pain. The best that I can do even though I was never the same 15 year old that you are. At 15, I was an adult. I lived away from home. I had to work a fulltime job to survive. It was hard, it was tough & it was not what I would ever wish for you at 15. Every day I remind myself that I need to let you live a life that will set you up to be an awesome adult, when you are ready to be one. Please don't think you need to be an adult before it is time. Try your hardest to have fun and enjoy this precious time in your life. Time where you get to discover who you are. It is not yet your time to be an adult, please just wait a little bit longer.

I want you to know that no matter how hard life gets for you, I will always love you.

I want you to know that I will never make you face life by yourself, I will always love you.

I want you to know that even though you feel that the world is against you, I will always love you.

I want you to know that even when you feel like no one loves you, I will always love you.

I want you to know that I will always love you.

Love always, your Mum.

Time to reflect, leave the shit behind & make this year great

2015-01-02T11:01:00.001+10:00

This morning I have been thinking all about the things I did last year, the things I didn't do last year and the things I want to do this year.

HEALTH

This past year I concentrated on my health. Not just working out but also finally getting all of those medical tests that I had been putting off. All of those ones that really are not that bad but that for someone who suffers from anxiety, can be crippling to even think about. I did them all. I might be a little bit radioactive from all of the tests but I am pretty healthy on the inside. That is great. Especially for someone who has put on a few sneaky kilos. That though, was bound to happen when I spent a few months stuck on my arse after rolling my ankle, twice. That damn ankle still causes me issues but I have found ways to exercise that don't impact on it to much. So, in short, I am healthy but I weigh more than I should. THAT needs to change.

FAMILY

This past year saw some family members re-enter my life & also some that I have chosen to take out of my life for my own emotional & mental stability. It was just what my soul needed. So 2015 is going to be the year of the family for me. I also know that with the eldest teenager turning 16 this year, this could be the last year of all 4 of us being together as much as we do now. It is a new phase of life for our little family. Not only will she be turning 16 but that also means she will be getting her learner drivers licence (pass me the vodka, I need to drown my sorrows!). While I am sad that the young teenagers phase of our life is coming to an end, I am also kind of excited to see her grow into a young adult. She only has 2 years left of her high school years. The youngest teen will be turning 14 soon. Mothers of daughters everywhere know that when girls turn 14 it brings such emotional highs and low, low, lows into the family. We survived the first 14 year old so I am pretty sure we can survive the next without breaking.

LOVE

In just over 1 months time, my husband and I will have been together for 18 years. We have beaten the odds. We were only teenagers when we met & fell in love. We had our first baby when I was 19, married 2 days before I turned 21 & had our second baby when I was 21. I am sure there is a lot of people out there who bet against us lasting and who now owe money to someone for the bet. Over the past year we have had more downs than ups. This year I am going to put all of my attention into our marriage. I mean, it deserves it right? Why would I not want to? I don't want to put our marriage last anymore. And don't think I am deserting all the feminist sisters out there. I am so glad that being a feminist means that I have the right to choose. And I choose my marriage. I want the next year to be about spending more time together. Date nights are now going to be a monthly thing. I think my husband will be happy to hear that. It doesn't have to be an expensive dinner at some place where you can't even talk. It could be a walk along the beach, a sunset kayak with a picnic, a drive into town, anything where we get out of the house and away from the kids.

CREATIVE

2014 saw a lot of time to be creative. But I felt a loss of connection with the things I was making. I was trying to do too much. It was no longer about making something that made me satisfied. It was about trying to make everything! This year I want to spend more time on the crafts that satisfy my soul. I really want to find a pottery class as I have been making a few things over the past couple of weeks with clay and I have loved it! Getting my hands dirty and watching something transform from a lump of clay into a peice of artwork has been so rewarding. I have never used a pottery wheel and I don't want this year to end without learning how to use one.

SPIRITUAL

Ok, let me put it out there. I am not a follower of any particular religion. My dad is catholic, my mum is seventh day Adventist & I was christened in a uniting church. I also attended a catholic all girls high school in grade 8. I have attended many different denomination Sunday schools & youth groups. In being exposed to all different faiths, I decided long ago that I did not connect with any of them completely. I do however believe in spirituality. I love the teaching of Buddha. I believe in karma. I connect with my own spiritual being through yoga. Being on, near or in the water gives me a connection to my inner peace. A lot of finding peace within myself has happened over the last year. Something inside me shifted when I completely immersed myself in yoga. It gave me the stillness in my mind to find out things about myself that I never knew. I want this year to be more about finding the inner me. Spending time alone. To be able to hear my thoughts and listen to them completely. I have learnt that it is the time that I spend by myself that helps me to be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter & friend.

BLOGGING

Last year was a difficult year for me with blogging as a lot of you know. So this year I want to embrace my blog. When I was not blogging I missed it immensely. I have found that it is connected to me. So I will be hopefully blogging a lot more. More of my thoughts. More of things that I make. But I want to make it simple, just like my word for 2015. I am not going to spend hours editing photos. I am not going to lose my creative flow by stopping what I am making to take 50 photos from all different angles. It will be simple. A few photos now and then but tutorials are time consuming and can be totally soul destroying to a creative flow. If I find a great tutorial that someone has done and it had inspired me, I will share it. If I find a recipe that I love, I will share it. If I read a blog post that someone else has written and that moves me, I will share it. Some days I will blog, some days I won't & that is ok. If you enjoy something about my blog, tell me. Connect with me via the comments section under each post, connect with me on Facebook or via Instagram. I love to hear from you all. But if it is negative, please keep your thoughts to yourself. Haters are not allowed.

So I am now moving on from 2014 & embracing the new year, new starts & finding my happy place in life.

Simple

2014-12-31T20:23:00.001+10:00

Simple. That is my word for 2015.

I want to get back to the simple things in life.

The simple joys.

The art of living simply.

Somewhere along the line, I forgot how much I love simple. Over 2014 I changed a lot of things about the way I live. I used to think that more meant better. More clothes, more craft items, more electronics, more everything. But it doesn't change anything. It doesn't make me a better person. It just filled my life with things that meant nothing. Things that made the good things in life harder to see. Over the past year I have been decluttering my house & my life. Without even realizing it, I throw out at least one piece of clutter each day, minimum. I remember reading something about a woman who had done a similar thing and it spoke to me in ways I could never have imagined. I came to see that I was holding onto things to try and make the past better than what it was. I was also trying to make the future better than the past before I had even lived it. I know this might sound all kinds of crazy but it is just the way I was living. It was crazy. I had to let go of the past to live in the present. And it worked.

I feel so much lighter. Maybe not lighter in the physical sense but lighter in the emotional sense. I let go of not only stuff that was holding me back but also people. People that had kept me stuck in the past. Some were family, some were friends. It then let me reconnect with those who I had missed the most. I have surrounded myself with people who get me. People who get that I want to live a simple life. I think that is why I took so long to come back to the blog. I had to clear a lot of the useless shit from my mind that was blocking me from writing. I wasn't happy and it is hard to write when you are not happy. Sure I could sit here and bang out a post about how crap I was feeling but I don't want to look back and read months of anger. That is too much of a heaven burden to carry on my shoulders and on my families shoulders. I feel so free of all the emotional shit.

Ok, so maybe I just got off track a little there but I think you can see where I am coming from. Releasing the shit from my life is so overwhelming, totally liberating and a complete relief. It gives me room in my life for all the good to come back in. To live life more simply. I feel more centred, more creative and a hell of a lot happier. When I live simply, life just seems to flow to its own groove.

Here is to 2015 being the year of SIMPLE.

What is your word for the year?

#onelittleword

I am still here. Goodbye 2014, hello 2015.

2014-12-31T19:51:00.001+10:00

Well, hello there!

Yes, I am still here.

So are you I see!

Well, what a year 2014 has been. The highs, the lows & everything in between. Over the past few months I have been quiet on the blog. But I certainly have not been laying back & having a time out. I have been spending my time with my girls, my husband, my family & friends. I tell you what though, I have missed every single one of you! Which is why I have decided to continue blogging. Yippee!

I have missed the times where I would sit & type out a blog post.

I have missed sharing all the amazing things that have been going on in my life.

I have missed sharing all the fun things I have been doing.

I have most definitely missed showing you guys all the cool things I have been making.

The thing that I have missed the most, chatting with all of you online. Yes, YOU!

So, 2015 is nearly here & it is time for me to get back to blogging. I haven't even told my family that I am going to do this so you guys are the first to know! I have been surprised that every day I have still been getting people sign up to the newsletter that I haven't written in over 3 months! So I suppose that I will need to get cracking on writting a newsletter soon! I just hope I remember how to do it! Passwords. Bloody hell, what is the password? Ok, that may take some time to figure out.

Good bye 2014, hello 2015!

Straight from the camera. Photo's of every day life.

2014-11-02T07:43:00.001+10:00

The smell of fresh cooked bread rolls is one of my favourite smells that comes from the kitchen.

Miss Gracie is always around when there is yard work to be done. Building a fence is always a lot more fun when she is up to her tricks. She is the cutest brick that I ever did see!

Make a wish

I have finally found a copy of Mothers & Daughters. I can't wait to read it. Reading the back cover sounded like someone has been watching my life & wrote a book about it!

One of those priceless moments when you are in the garden taking photos of flowers and a little surprise is noticed when you look back at the photos.

Wake up early & get shit done

2014-10-31T08:12:00.001+10:00

I am back in the treadmill. Finally! It feels so damn good to sweat it out. Getting up early to exercise before I can make excuses has been the key. No time to second guess if I want to exercise. No time to say I am too busy. I get up & get shit done!

I have been going to bed at 9:30pm. The same time the teenagers are going to bed. For some reason, it has made the whole house run a little smoothly of a night time. I set the alarm for 5:30am. That gives me time to get up, have a cup of tea, a light breakfast and watch the news. I then wake the kids up and while they are getting ready for school, I get on the treadmill.

I pop on the headphones & crank up the music. I find that music is great for motivation. I have playlist made just for exercise. I have no idea what is happening outside of myself and that treadmill. I do intervals of fast walking, jogging & running. It just depends on what song comes on. It gets me pumped & ready for the day ahead.

By getting up early to exercise, I am making my fitness my number one priority. Then no matter what happens for the rest of the day, I know that the exercise is done. If I have time in the afternoon, then I can jump on the treadmill and do another session. That is a bonus!

It really does feel good to just get shit done!

What I have been making. Crochet Christmas tree.

2014-10-30T08:19:00.002+10:00

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree! Is she crazy? It's not even November & she is already singing Christmas carols! Yes, yes I am crazy. Christmas crazy! I have started making Christmas gifts already. These gorgeous little crochet granny Christmas trees are super cute!
You can find the free pattern HERE.

I made a whole stack of these while I was chatting to friends who came over for a craft morning yesterday. They would make a great garland to hang on a window. They would also make great ornaments to give to teachers as gifts. If you have overseas pen pals like I do, they are nice and light so they don't cost a lot in postage to send.

Have you been thinking about Christmas yet?

I would love to hear about any handmade gifts you are making this year.

The red leather bag that changed the way I think. Living simple

2014-10-28T14:09:00.001+10:00

The red leather bag that changed the way I think. Seriously, this bag is responsible for my current need to declutter.

It is a simple red leather tote bag that I made for myself. It has 2 handles & no pockets. It is about as simple as a bag can get. I purchased the leather from ebay a little while back. I had been searching for a simple leather tote bag to use for every day. The problem was that the more simple they were, the more expensive they are. So I decided to make my own. It was around $40 for the leather & postage from America. About the cost of a fake leather handbag that would be lucky to last a season. I love how it turned out. Exactly the way I had hoped.

Now I can hear you ask, " But how did it change the way you think?" Let me tell you, because of its simplicity & size, I no longer pack for a week. Yep, my handbag used to be so full that I have a permanently sore shoulder. It even clicks when I lift my arm. Now I only carry what I need. My wallet, car keys, lip balm, mints & sunnies. That is it. Gone is the makeup, mirror, hairbrush, note pad, pen, food, receipts and anything else that I could shove in.

After realizing how little I needed to get by, I started thinking that it was a much happier way to live. No excess baggage to deal with. No heavy burden. It made me understand that you don't need to fill your life with more stuff than you actually need. I am on a mission to declutter my life, my possessions & anything in my life that is weighing me down. It is such a liberating feeling to clear things from my home. I love beautiful things but I had filled my home with so many beautiful things that you could no longer see the beauty. Things were hidden, things were forgotten about & things no longer had a purpose for what I had originally intended.

Over the month of November, I am going to be switching gear & going into a decluttering overdrive! I will share my tips, tricks & my progress. Who knew that a simple red leather tote could have changed the way I think!

The best place to start is where you are right now.

2014-10-27T13:43:00.000+10:00

I was so nervous this morning. 7 weeks since I last went on the treadmill. It has been 7 weeks since I had done any exercise. After 2 consecutive ankle rolls, I felt I had finally healed enough to get back to some form of exercise. My ankle still has it's moments but to be quite honest, I think it always will. To help with the stress on my ankle, I need to lose some weight. I am going to admit that in those 7 weeks, I had put on nearly 10kgs. I cried this morning when I stepped on those scales. I cried because I had worked so damn hard to lose those exact 10kgs only a few months before my accident. I am now right back at the start. But, the best place to start is right where I am now. So I set my alarm 30 minutes earlier than I usually would. Even after a very long night with a very naughty puppy keeping me awake, I knew that I could not make excuses. This happened.....

I got on my faithful treadmill & I started. I did not set any records & nor did I want to. I just wanted to start. I went between 3km & 6km per hour. I surprised myself. At the 6km per hour I held on so damn tight to that treadmill because fear was trying to make me give in. If you have ever seriously rollled your ankle, you know exactly what I am talking about. But I got past the fear and at 1 point, I jogged for 2 minutes!

Do you know what else kept me going? Last week I put it out there into the world (well, facebook is nearly the world) that I was going to start today. Putting it out there meant that I could not give in. I know that there is a few of you who also joined in and got up early this morning to do a workout. I hope you were all proud of yourselves. Because you showed up. You made a start. We are all going to do this together. I think we need to motivate ourselves even more by starting an instagram hashtag so we can follow each other's progress. We can motivate each other. We can give each other a virtual pat on the back. Why? Because it is easy to stop but it is even harder to start. Any sugestions for the hashtag?

So here is a virtual high 5 to all the ladies who set their alarms earlier this morning & made themselves a priority.

Calm the f#*k down

2014-10-24T13:48:00.002+10:00

Ok, something has seriously pissed me off so much that it has made me decide to get on my soapbox for a moment (or 2). People need to seriously calm the fuck down! Yep I swore. I swear a lot away from the computer. So do a lot of people. Do you know what? Who cares? Why is it that every body HAS to have an opinion on what everyone else is doing? Who cares if someone shares a photo of themselves on Instagram wearing clothes that you personaly wouldn't wear? Yes you, lady who told me a few months back that my jeans were "fugly". Do you know how pissed off I was when you wouldn't even let me respond to your comment because you then unfollowed me & blocked me! Do you know what? I now wear those jeans with pride! I love them! I love them so much. Those jeans that were so insulting to you. I hope one day you might come across me in real life in see the smile on my face when I wear those jeans that I love so much. Just wondering, does me wearing those jeans really impact on your life so much that you just had to say they were "fugly"? For those who don't know fugly stands for fucking ugly. Yep, such a lovely thing to say about the clothes of a person that she has never even met. Those jeans made me feel awesome as they were the first jeans in years that fitted me the way I like. They covered my rather rounded arse & they were not suck me in skinny. There wasn't even a muffin top in sight! Seriously, I fucking love those jeans! I actually feel that those jeans support me more than that woman ever did.

To the people who who think that their opinions matter so much that they take time out of their super important lives to thrust their opinions onto others, just calm the fuck down!

Who cares what someone else does? Not me.

Who cares what someone else wears? Not me.

Who cares what someone else lets their kids do? Not me.

Who cares what someone else eats? Not me.

Who cares what someone else thinks? Not me.

Who cares if someone else does something that does not involve you? Not me.

Who cares if a celebrity has plastic surgery? Not me.

Who cares? Not me.

Look, I think the whole world would be a much nicer place if people spent more time worrying about being a good person, helping others, learning about others & if people would learn to empathise with other people. How much nicer would it be to make someone smile instead of tearing someone down. We all have shit going on in our lives. I would much rather say something nice to someone to make their day happier than say something that would hurt someone even if only for a second. Seriously, before anyone types, says or writes something about someone else.........remember to calm the fuck down!

The good, the bad and the downright shitty

2014-10-22T14:47:00.000+10:00

This last week or so has been completely shitty. So damn shitty. I had hopes that my return to blogging would be full of creative posts, posts that made people smile & posts that made me feel like a god damn superwoman. That did not happen. Why? Because life has been shitty. So I am keeping it real. My life is not all about being perfect, although how great would that be? My life is the good, the bad & the down right shitty. This last week has seen my creative levels plummet to an all time low. We have had an eclectic mix of shittiness. Skin cancer for the husband, neighbours who only purpose it is in life to cause drama, relatives who decide to only enter your life when they have no one else to listen to their bullshit & then add to that the all important shittiness of way too many bills. Yes, I have used the word shit a lot. So I thought that I would just let you know that if you too are having a shitty week, it is ok because I am too! So here is a flower to let us all know that some days are shit but some days are bright & beautiful too.

Hello sunshine!

2014-10-15T20:08:00.001+10:00

Hello there!

It has been a long time since I sat down to type a blog post. So much has been happening around here. Life certainly did not stop when I stopped blogging. Where do I start? Hmm, well let's just rip off the bandaid and start with the fact that the eldest daughter is now working part time! How the hell did THAT happen?? Seriously, it feels like just yesterday she was running around in nappies! She has seriously made my heart burst with pride every time I see her in her uniform. She absolutely LOVES her job. I love that she is working at the exact same pizza shop that I had my first part time job at! It feels like it was meant to be.

The youngest teenager has decided to change sports, change her mind on what she wants to be when she leaves school & changes her clothes every 2 seconds! 13 years old. Yep, it's the age when you are finding your place in the world & enjoying every single moment. She is so completely funny and has become the most quick witted person I have ever met. The things she says are instant & have us in fits of laughter.

We have a new puppy! Gracie is a rescue dog. She is the most perfect bundle of happiness. She was made just for us I think. She is completely in love with our Molly dog and they have become the best of mates. She has given Molly a new lease on life.

Oh & let me tell you that we have had THAT holiday that somehow changes you forever! We loaded up the 4wd and headed off to Stradbroke Island. It was perfect! We stayed in a little water front cottage and had a holiday that we could have only ever imagined in our dreams. We had just 20 steps from the back door to the waters edge. Every single night the local dolphins would spend hours playing right where we were. It was like magic! They were incredibly playful, cheeky and just amazing to watch. Mothers with their babies, teenagers chasing each other and the older dolphins keeping watch over them all. There was at least 10 dolphins that would keep us entertained. It was 5 days that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We spent so much time together & I think it really brought us together. We hiked, swam, kayaked, went sightseeing and relaxed.

Over the past few months I have sewn more than ever! I have been sewing for myself. Zippy tops, wiksten tanks & I have made a few bags as well. I have taught myself how to sew with leather and I made myself the most delicious red leather tote bag that I use very day. I have never loved a bag more than this simple red tote. I have a gorgeous piece of yellow leather ready for my next project. I just have to figure out what that project will be! {I will share some photo’s of my red tote soon}

I have been spending a lot of time in the garden now that spring has arrived. I have had all of my roses that the girls & hubby got for Mother's Day, come into bloom and they are spectacular! Each time I fill a jar with roses from the garden, it brings a smile & a feeling of love. To know that they bought them for me makes them even more special. The frangipani trees that I have grown from cuttings a few years back, are now starting to fill with leaves and I can't wait for the first bloom of flowers in summer.

I am still trying to live a sweet & simple life. Some days it is hard & some days it just seems to be a breeze. I unfortunately rolled my ankle twice in 3 weeks so my fitness has suffered. I am still supposed to be off my feet but we all know that as women & mothers, that was never going to happen. It is also the reason why I rolled it for the second time! I am hoping to be back swimming in 4 weeks time, fingers crossed. I had gotten to the point in my fitness journey where I was running on the treadmill every day & then I actually rolled my ankle the first time walking down the back step to get to the treadmill! I hope to one day get back to running because I couldn't believe how much I loved it! I have never been a runner, not even when I was a kid. So one day while I was walking on the treadmill & an awesome song came on, something came over me. I pumped up the speed and took off! It was liberating! Even though I could feel my big butt jiggling as I ran, I just kept going! Even thinking about running is getting my heart racing. {sigh} I can't wait to get back on the treadmill.

So, that's the last few months in a few paragraphs. I want to say thank you to all of you who have stuck around & still been chatting with me on the Facebook page. I honestly thought that I may never blog again at one stage. I had lost my blogging mojo completely. I think that I had started to doubt myself and my ability to share my life here on my little blog. But I feel as though I am back on the blogging train. I may not blog every day but I know that you will be here when I do. I feel like the sunshine has re-energised my soul & I have come out of my winter hibernation.

Hello sunshine!

Yarn Over. Shopping for crochet.

2014-06-20T09:57:00.002+10:00

On Wednesday, 2 friends took me on an outing to Yarn Over. It is a gorgeous little yarn shop in Brisbane. I don’t often go into the city for crafting supplies so I had never been to this shop. I had only heard about it. The moment I stepped through the doors I fell in love!

I made a beeline straight for the one reason that I was there. Sugar ‘n cream wool!!

I had seen this wool used for quite some time around the internet & I had been itching to get my hands on some. And now that my hands are on it, I just can’t stop making things with it!

It is a great cotton to make structured things like baskets. It keeps its shape really well.

Because it is a cotton, it is also perfect for facecloths, dishcloths, scrubbies, etc.

I have already started making a bag from the blue sugar ‘n cream. I can’t wait to get some more of the variegated balls as it is just such pretty colours.

Winter sun. Gardening and trying to keep warm.

2014-06-17T08:54:00.001+10:00

Winter has finally hit in full force. Well, about as much cold force as we get here in south east Queensland. Last night got below 7 degrees Celsius. that, for a born and bread Queenslander, is very cold! The great thing though, is that we have beautiful clear blue skies and lots of sunshine during the day. This photo that I took at 8:15 am this morning explains it all.

It is the perfect weather for gardening. I mean just look at this gorgeous blue moon rose! This is the first of my Mothers Day roses that my family bought for me. Just stunning!

The chooks have completely taken over the back yard so I needed to rethink my herb garden. A few years ago I planted up a wheelbarrow with herbs and it worked a treat! So I have done it again. It is perfect for a completely portable garden.

It is an old wheelbarrow that is unusable for anything else as it has a few little rust holes in the bottom an a busted wheel. But it is perfect for a herb garden! I have several varieties of lettuce, chives, coriander, Italian parsley, thyme, baby spinach & sage. All of the good stuff for winter cooking.

I have added a few new pots of colour into the front patio. I just smile every time I see a pansy because they look like such happy plants. All turned and basking in the morning sun.

The hibiscus are seriously blooming. Such huge flowers. These ones are much bigger than an adult hand and have such a bright, intense colour.

The passionfruit vine is starting to die back but it is still full of fruit. I have taken to eating several passionfruit a day just because my freezer is stock full of them. But I am not complaining. There is new growth already started at the base of the vine so I know we will be in for another great season next time too.

I love watching Molly dog on a winter morning. She starts with her doggy yoga stretches inside and then heads out to watch the teenagers leave for school and all of the other school kids walking past while catching a few of the morning rays of sunshine.

Is it cold where you are?

Or are you in the northern hemisphere and enjoying your summer?