tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13953737606237427562024-02-07T15:34:22.807+11:00simple.creative.lifeAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-87032374141624504582017-10-10T10:43:00.002+11:002017-10-10T10:59:17.042+11:00Thoughts on winter and on turning 40 and other stuff.NOTE: This post was written last year, but for some reason I never hit "Publish" on it, so it's been sitting here as a draft. Upon re-reading it today I believe it has some valid thoughts, so I thought I'd finally post it. Here it is:
Well, the months have flown by again, but I do like to pop in here from time to time to let you know that I haven't fallen off the planet! It is the last month of Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-8188926287202808032016-01-04T11:10:00.000+11:002016-01-13T11:04:24.363+11:00Christmas 2015 round-up.
Well Christmas has come and gone, and here I sit on this 4th day of January, reflecting on December and quietly pondering what the year ahead might bring.
Our Christmas was spent up at my sister's family farm at Mullengandra in NSW. It was quite hot, but not unbearably so. Christmas magic was plentiful, thanks to the presence of my 3 1/2 year old niece. Littlies Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-5920552719751667032015-12-04T10:19:00.000+11:002015-12-04T10:26:22.170+11:00How on earth can it be December already? Really friends........how did we get to December so quickly? I have just a couple more weeks of school for my boys before summer holidays start. What a crazy couple of weeks they'll be. My youngest is finishing primary school, so we've got a full calendar right there - graduation, last primary school Christmas concert, last school assembly, orientation day for high school. Throw in his Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-32960941567937003072015-08-31T09:28:00.001+10:002015-08-31T09:28:13.771+10:00New (two year old) quilt completed!Hi all! I'm so happy to say that today is the LAST DAY OF WINTER! Yes, I am shouting and, yes, I know that's not good blog etiquette, but I'm super excited to kick winter in the butt today and welcome in a little more sunshine and warmth. Here's a pretty camellia bloom to celebrate. Speaking of warmth, there's nothing like a cosy quilt to keep you warm on those chilly winter nights. Since myAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-66664201205833355752015-08-12T10:53:00.001+10:002015-08-12T11:13:09.493+10:00Mug cosies and tshirt yarn
Well, here I am sitting at my kitchen table and I thought I'd let you know just a little bit of what I've been doing and making around here. It seems to be the season for crochet at the moment. The more I do, the more I'm inspired to do. It all started with my decluttering efforts actually. As you may have read in my last post, I can't bear to throw away craft suppliesAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-48557206744929678752015-08-07T09:46:00.001+10:002015-08-07T09:47:08.989+10:00Using up my yarn scraps.I thought I'd change theme today and show you a crochet project that I finished last week. If you're a crafter, I'm sure you're familiar with the dilemma of having lots of leftover scraps that you I can't bear to part with. In this case, I had loads of scraps of cotton blend yarn. By scraps I mean a couple of full balls, several half balls and lots of little bits and pieces. Not really enough to Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-71560854506988609612015-07-31T06:53:00.003+10:002015-07-31T10:46:27.682+10:00The stuff that actually matters
The stuff that matters is not "stuff" - ie. material possessions. It is not what kind of car you drive, how big your house is, how many clothes you have. It's people that matter. It's kindness that matters. And love. A friend of mine has been confronted by some very scary medical news these past couple of weeks. While the diagnosis is not Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-32100306686615216942015-07-15T09:53:00.000+10:002015-07-15T09:54:45.940+10:00My Facebook fast.
I recently took a two week break from Facebook. It was during the school holidays, so I could say that I did it so that I could be more "present" for my children during their holiday time. And that was certainly a contributing factor. I was more available to them, and I was setting a good example for them by not having my eyes glued to my phone or my ipad constantly. However the reason I Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-79857288343495068512015-06-18T07:11:00.002+10:002015-06-18T07:11:39.203+10:00Up early and enjoying the quiet.
The perks of getting up early on a freezing cold Sunday morning to drive my son to basketball training: seeing this stunning sunrise!
The title of this post says it all really. I've been longing to write for a while, but the pace of life around here seems so hectic lately that, most days, I can barely manage to write a shopping list let alone a blog post. Nonetheless, here I am. I woke up atAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-14001330892122436702015-03-16T11:24:00.000+11:002015-03-16T11:24:31.009+11:00Celebrating milestones.Yesterday was my parents 40th wedding anniversary. My parents were so young when they married - Mum was 18 and Dad was 21 - still growing up really. To be honest there were times when I wondered if they would be together for the long haul. But I have realised in recent years that they do love each other deeply and they make it work, even if it's not always hearts and flowers. They've raised two Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-36493414428647093942015-02-20T10:47:00.000+11:002015-02-20T10:50:11.140+11:00Art in between the chaos.Yes, that's the reality for artists who are also parents. It's often hard to fit art in between all the activities of family life. But I do try, and I wanted to share a couple of my fairly recent pastel pieces here on my blog. I adore pastel for it's blend-ability. My artwork tends to be in the style of realism as I obsess over every little detail. Family and friends are very complimentary of Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-35517792176192062232014-11-19T13:02:00.000+11:002014-11-19T13:02:02.339+11:00Christmas ornaments and the latest on my health.Well, there is no denying it, the Christmas season is upon us! Oh, I know it's only the 19th of December, but Christmas is everywhere my friends.......in fact, it's presence has been steadily increasing in the shops for over a month. Now Christmas decorations are up in the shopping centres and I've even heard Christmas carols being played. Whilst I do love Christmas, I must admit, that these daysAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-68883917574897599512014-10-22T11:29:00.001+11:002014-10-22T11:48:25.127+11:00Birthdays, blessings and breathing through the rest. It's been a crazy week as usual. My littlest boy's birthday was a very happy one. There was no huge party this year. Just a small family lunch on Sunday and yesterday (his actual birthday) he had a friend come after school. I had to go to basketball training with the eldest so hubby took the birthday boy and his Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-17944788017836055942014-10-19T22:00:00.001+11:002014-10-19T22:11:45.539+11:00Mummy days and art play.So my return to blogging has been a bit intermittent, but that's the way life is these days, so we'll just go with it. I've been busy playing nurse to my eldest son who has been sick. He had two days off school last week and I made sure he had a complete weekend off sport too. He's running on empty for a couple of months. He first came down with some sort of upper respiratory bug 2 months ago, Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-82876543091571063332014-10-08T11:54:00.001+11:002014-10-08T12:00:23.064+11:00It started with choc chip biscuits.Yesterday I posted this photo on Instagram: Then I went to basketball with J last night one of the other mums said "Well, where are they?" I was caught a bit off guard so I asked what she was talking about."The choc chip biscuits! You can't post pics like that online and then not bring us some!" It was said in a joking tone, so I laughed along a bit. I said maybe I'll bring some along to theAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-61841648432075735202014-10-07T11:09:00.000+11:002014-10-07T11:09:11.604+11:00I've missed blogging.
About 6 months ago, I decided that I wasn't going to blog anymore. A bloggy friend had expressed concerns about people downloading pics of her kids from her blog and quite frankly it creeped me out. So I set my blog to private and decided that I wasn't going to put my family out there for the public to see.
But in these last couple of months I've really missed my blog. I've missed the Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-77020249681303228002014-08-15T17:32:00.001+10:002014-10-08T12:01:43.788+11:00The housewife diaries.I have to record the sense of contentment I have right now. I am about 8 months into my role as a full time homemaker/SAHM and I have never been happier. I get a great sense of satisfaction over seeing things get done around my home. Things that are beyond just the bare minimum. Things like a spotlessly clean bathroom, regularly vacuumed floors, dinner on the table pretty much every night, Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-63487253470067458212014-03-12T14:13:00.001+11:002014-03-12T14:13:40.932+11:00A painting day - immersing myself in creativity :)I've had the most lovely day in my little art room! I decided to pull out a painting I started last year but never finished, to see if I could bring it to life. Oh joy of joys, 4 hours later I think it's done. (I always give my work a day or two after I think it's finished, so that I can come back to it with fresh eyes and 'tweak' it if needed). This is an acrylic painting done on an 8 x10"Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-41097604695044825392014-02-19T21:54:00.001+11:002014-02-19T21:54:17.295+11:00Unblogged pics of my artwork from last year.I've realised that due to the fact that I hardly posted on my blog last year, I haven't shared very much of my creative output for a long time. So I'm going to put it all out there......most of these are just photos of my work which I've posted on Instagram. I've worked in acrylic, coloured pencil and pastel. And I've experimented with a tight, realistic style, as well as a looser, more painterlyAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-29595166379867497162014-02-19T13:11:00.001+11:002014-02-19T21:18:53.198+11:00Artful learning - playing with watercolours.Today I had a play with some watercolour paints. Quite frankly, watercolour has always scared me somewhat. It is so unpredictable! It runs free and is difficult to constrain. It blends of its own accord. It creates colours that I wasn't planning on. But you know what? That is also what excites me about it! Do I have any idea what I'm doing? No. Will I keep experimenting with watercolours toAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-22183006286974913462014-01-18T13:10:00.001+11:002014-01-18T16:38:46.074+11:00Hello 2014! And lessons learned in 2013.2013 was a really tough year. I'm not going to go into every detail because it doesn't serve a purpose to record all that negativity in a public place. Instead I'll talk about the lessons that 2013 taught me.
The major thing I've learned is that it's ok to sometimes stand up for yourself. I have always been a peacemaker. I have tried to avoid conflict in my adult life. I have tolerated Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-52086096665179613802013-12-08T17:27:00.000+11:002014-10-07T09:25:28.953+11:00What type of craftiness are you up to now?
Well hellloooo! It is nearly the end of the school year (yay!!), and therefore, nearly the end of my time at work. Have I mentioned that I am SO looking forward to being a stay-at-home mum again next year? I foresee quite a bit more crafting in my future in 2014 and that can only be a good thing. I have missed having regular creative play in my life. It is so fundamental to my wellbeing, Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-64893082292940950692013-11-07T16:45:00.001+11:002013-11-07T22:50:08.412+11:00Making cotton dishcloths againI'm joining in with the dishcloth swap that Mel from One Crafty Mumma is running, so I've whipped up a few new dishcloths. Some use my favourite waffle knitting pattern from Deb at Homespun Living. I've made dozens and dozens of these over the years - probably over a hundred actually. I've also tried a couple of new crochet patterns, including a fun star dishcloth which I found on Pinterest. I'veAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-79266569147184316942013-10-25T10:18:00.001+11:002013-10-25T10:18:25.299+11:00Coming home in 2014
Well, I can officially confirm that my working days as a kindergarten assistant and coming to an end at the end of this school year, and I'm coming home to be a full time SAHM in 2014. As much as I've LOVED my job working with the kinder kiddies over the past 2 years, my health has been in steady decline this year and I've taken the difficult decision to finish up at work. I need to return myAnitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1395373760623742756.post-31548123013086584812012-10-09T15:22:00.001+11:002012-10-09T15:22:03.906+11:00Card makingI've spent a lovely day in my craft room today making a few cards. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy just pottering around and crafting. Thought I'd share these (iPhone) pics with you. Hope you've had a beautiful spring day and got to do something enjoyable. Anitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05343136624120388375noreply@blogger.com3