Being creative - and LOVING it!!!

OK... so let me get all the creative stuff out of the way, and then I can tell you all the gossip... or you can just head down below all the pics now... lol!

This is a layout done for Challenge 1 at the Little Scrapbook Shop Cybercrop. It was a sketch challenge that I adapted, and I've used all my new Bohemia collection papers - and OMG, do I LOVE them!!! This photo of Allan couldn't have worked better for me... I'm really liking this layout... ;)

Challenge Two was cardmaking - actually the rest of the challenges are step-by-step projects, which is really handy as a learning tool - I've already picked up a couple of tricks! For these, Emily and I actually did one each together (ohh... aren't I good Mum?) . Hers are on the right, and mine on the left. She did a great job, didn't she?

Then it was my turn to set a challenge - and these are the two 'shaker' cards I came up with for the challenge - they are way cool fun to make - and much simpler that they look. I really enjoyed these, and they just look so much more.... um... more betterer... ;) They look more 'expensive' if that makes any sense because they are so 3d.

Anyway, so that's all the creating for today. But it's been a lot of fun. I want to try and get some of the other challenges done as well - so I'll keep posting what I get done. I now have some very special Christmas cards for some special friends... or family!

Now, for the news of late....

Report cards came home on Friday - and I was pleasantly surprised with both of them! Allan has seemed a lot happier and contented at school this year (the past 2 years he had an on again/off again teacher, who actually passed away late last year - so, lots of sub teachers, and no consistency). His report card showed it, with some good improvements. Pretty evenly spaced between sound and high achievements - and when we were getting low achievements only 18 months ago, it's a big improvement.

Emily's report card was nearly perfect. I had an inkling it would be pretty good, because we'd had a 'private and confidential' letter sent home telling us that she was getting an award this year... which was so nice to get. In her report card, she got all HA's (highest) with one lonely little WC (working competently) for PE... poor thing has been blessed with my physical skills... bugger all!

I'd had the feeling for a while now that we were going to have to be very careful at report card time as Emily is quite a bright spark, and along with that she loves to learn - one of the few children I know that will ask for homework on school holidays!!! Allan's always been a step ahead, simply because he's 4 years her senior. He's a typical boy who tended to fool around in class, and not bring homework home.

But what do you do... these two are quite competitive by nature... but luckily I had Emily to myself Friday afternoon, and we had a heart to heart about the results. I explained that we needed to look at each one's results compared to what THEY'VE achieved before. That we couldn't compare them to each other, because that wasn't fair. And then went on to tell her how lucky she was to have a big brother that could teach her stuff and help her learn more.... and that under no circumstances was she to skite about her results. Luckily she's a very empathetic little girl... ;)

Moving on...

On Friday I taught a 1 hour class to a group of Yr 9 students from Glenmore High as part of a careers day at the Uni. I nearly didn't though. I was told to be there at 11am to set up and start at 11:15am. No-one there at 11... no-one there at 11:15... no-one there at 11:27... and I was about to go home when they finally turned up. I didn't have codes for the doors either, so I couldn't check out the computers to make sure they worked OK... which they didn't. Logged in OK... but the program I needed to teach them wasn't available. And neither was the person organising it - she'd left minutes after leaving the students with me. Luckily I'd written down the phone number of my favourite computer guy who rushed over and sorted things out for me - well, let us into the other computer lab - which is where we should have been booked into to start with, but weren't.

While waiting for him to turn up, I had to do an improv talk about Photoshop, what they could use it for, and other info about it.... thank goodness he didn't take any longer, because I was all out of talk!!!

But, the actual lesson went well - thankfully!

OH!!!! and BIG news - I've finally lost OVER 10kg's!!! YAY!!!! Another milestone... many more to go.... but I'm thrilled that I'm doing this - and getting the results. And poor Michael has to put up with me showing him my muscles at every opportunity I get... and if they can't be seen, he has to poke until he can feel them! LOL!

OK.... that's all for now... sweet dreams!