Australasian Blog Hop - October 2019 Hawthorn

Well hello!
Welcome to our Australasian Blog Hop for October!
Did you arrive here from Maz's blog or are you a regular visitor? Either way I am happy to see you here and to showcase this month's Close to My Heart feature paper pack "Hawthorn"

I adore the colours in this one - rich Autumnal tones (which perfectly match a lot of my wardrobe)  Clearly I am not the only one who loves these colours as at a recent Close To My Heart Event several of my friends and our beautiful president were all wearing Hawthorn colours!

It really is a very versatile and easy to use pack and I love how it works for more masculine pages too!

First up, the Craft With Heart Subscription pages - if you haven't yet signed up for Craft With Heart I really can recommend it.  These pages come together so quickly and easily and really need only your favourite adhesive.  Because there are two double page layouts for each month you end up with a stunning album at the end of the year for less than a dollar a day!  You may notice that I rotated the pages to work for my portrait photos. 

Next are pages from our Make it From Your Heart Volume 3 page 6. 

This is a great layout for adding flip flaps to get extra photos onto your page.  I love the way the leaves from this month's Stamp of the Month worked in so well on this one (and how amazing is our new "Paprika" cardstock?)  The really great thing about this layout is that it really only needs one strip of 4 x 12" patterned paper and a couple of teeny strips - a great layout to do right at the end of a scrapping session to use up those last few precious bits!

The plaid in this pack works really well for my daughter's school uniform so it was easy to modify the Hawthorn Scrapbooking workshop kit to suit her school album.
Lastly a couple of quick, masculine cards using our stitched frames and the Hawthorn Cardmaking Stamp set (C1798) which has a great range of masculine images.  The thank you card used up some scrappy zip strips and offcuts from Hawthorn and Mix In papers and the "Thank" was cut out from the "Thankful" stickers in the Craft With Heart Subscription pages while the "you" was stamped.  I like to get extra mileage out of my scrapping supplies so if ever a title or embellishment doesn't work on its intended page then you just use it somewhere else!

I hope you enjoy using Hawthorn as much as I did.  Don't forget to put in an order with your consultant as this one will be gone for good at the end of the month!

Now hop on over to Lauren's blog to see what she has been busy creating.

Until next time,

Happy scrapping,

Nell

Taking Stock - October

Hello again! I have just come back from a glorious weekend in Tassie at our Close To My Heart Business Builders and then a week on the Eyre Peninsula with my family so I kind of feel like I need a holiday to get over the holiday but my love cup is certainly full!

I realise it has been such a long time since I updated the blog and to be honest, like many bloggers, I've been thinking about whether I let it go or not.  Photos have been my big issue (Samsung at home/Apple at work - Luddite girl in a digital world etc) but I think I may have worked out a sneaky way around that so we will see what happens. 

I have missed the accountability of regular Australasian Blog Hops so expect to see them making a comeback!

Anyhow, along with a few photos, here's what I'm up to:

Making : a mess - actually multiple messes all over the house as I try to do lots of last minute things before school starts tomorrow
Cooking : pork roast for tea
Drinking : copious cups of coffee in my new CTMH mug (love it!)
Reading: "The Expected One" - kind of similar in style to "The Historian" with shades of "Da Vinci Code" - not hooked yet but it is well written
Wanting: a holiday to get over my holiday
Looking: at the lavender outside the kitchen window which seems to have gone nuts while we were away
Playing: Stacy Julian podcasts on my phone
Deciding: to be more intentional (about my teaching and my business and my relationships with the teens)
Wishing: I had just 2 more days of holidays 
Enjoying: the blackbirds' antics out the window
Waiting: for lots of lovely new teaching resources to turn up in the mail
Liking: that I got to see a little bit of Hobart before I flew home last night
Wondering: how I got so lucky
Loving: That we are all home under the one roof and that hubby washed and changed sheets while I was away (it's the small things!)
Pondering: whether I will get some spinning time tonight
Considering: how to make the most of my day off this week
Watching: in between shows at the moment - just finished "Afterlife" and loved it, now not sure what to watch next. I haven't seen Better Homes and Gardens for a couple of weeks so I am wondering if I may finally have kicked that habit? Is it time for a new Friday night routine (gasp!)
Hoping: for an uneventful week at work (although it is a full moon!?!?)
Marvelling: at the unexpected strength of individuals in our community
Needing: to regroup and find some quiet reflective time
Smelling: pork roast (yum)
Wearing: skirts and t-shirts (my unofficial Karma East Summer uniform)
Following: teaching ideas on pinterest
Noticing: the weeds that have invaded with the warmer Spring weather
Knowing: my limits
Thinking: of the term ahead
Admiring: my friend Mel (an extraordinary human being)
Sorting: spelling sheets and lists of high frequency words
Buying: timers and counting games and big dice online
Getting: over a headache
Bookmarking: crochet shawl patterns
Disliking: waking up with headaches - think it might be time to go see my remedial masseuse.
Opening: Scotch Finger biscuits (nothing like them with a cup of tea for the ultimate comfort food)
Giggling: over Dan's "tick tock" that he created while I was away
Feeling: grateful for so many wonderful holiday memories
Snacking: on roast almonds
Coveting: beautiful wooden toys from Lyrebird
Hearing: gentle hum of the oven and the sound of Bathurst racing in the background
Knitting: trauma teddies for the charity project, a beautiful stranded yoke test knit, and hats for the market stall (slight addiction to Helix knitting at the moment - I seem to be a bit obsessive when I learn something new!)
Scrapping: a delightful new Christmas project from Close to My Heart
Grateful for: all of it; this beautiful life!

Until next time, I hope this finds you well, happy and living your best life!
Keep smiling,
Nell

This crazy chick got her "pirate teeth" in 3 separate dentist visits this holidays!

Helix knitting - the new obsession - perfect for using up precious scraps of sustainable merino

Coffin Bay - so good to finally get my Dad here even if the fishing wasn't great!

Close to My Heart Business Builders Australasia - how funny was it that my two lovely friends and I all turned up in the same Saffron colour! Love these girls and the positive influence they have on my life!

Mum and Dad brought my niece with them - such beautiful holiday memories for these two sweet cousins

Saying goodbye to these two never gets easier but we did have such a glorious time!

I got to play "tourist" in Tasmania last night (thank heavens for daylight savings!) This is the entrance to St David's park

Our beautiful Close To My Heart President, Monica Wihongi - I couldn't resist a photo when we are both wearing matching colours for this month's Hawthorn paper pack!  Monica has the rare gift of making every single person she comes into contact with feel special and unique. She frequently uses her presentations to tell me exactly what I need to hear at that moment in time! 

Moments like these make my heart soar - my Mum playing checkers with Mads and her cousin - just an ordinary, everyday moment made so precious by the fact that we don't get to spend much time with these two very often.