Walk Until Your Feet Fall Off!

We are now 4 days into our Paris adventure.  Yesterday was the Eiffel Tower and today Versailles.  Oddly enough, James and I are already making plans to come back without kids.  Each day we manage about 2/3rds of what we had planned before we give in to the whining and the whingeing and come home for chill out time with the little people.

I find the whole experience exhilarating and I just love the unexpectedness of turning a corner not knowing what you will find!  Such beautiful buildings!  Such a sense of faded grandeur!

LOVING this holiday - I don't want it to end!!!

Bonjour from Paris

Well we are 2 days into our Parisian adventure and I am totally enchanted.  Our home away from home this week is a cozy little 2nd floor apartment (reached by a circular staircase of worn, wooden steps) about a 5 minute walk from the Louvre.

 Yesterday we were all shattered from the plane trip so we took a leisurely stroll over the Pont Neuf and around our local neighbourhood.  We had icecreams at Stohrs (which is where the Queen buys her bakery treats when she is in town!)

 In the afternoon we had a nanna nap..James woke me at 10pm to tell me he had put the kids in their jammies but we had all slept through dinner - damn jetlag!!!

Today we all awoke fresh as daisies and went for petit juener (continental breakfast of juice, croissants and coffee) before heading to the Louvre.  James had the foresight to buy us museum passes which meant no long queues.  We headed straight to the Mona Lisa (although it felt kind of wrong to be rushing past Reubens and Botticellis to see her!)  Because we were early we got right up close!

 Next stop was Venice de Milo and once again front row seats!!!

The Louvre itself is a magnificent building - we kept reminding the kids to "look up!!" as many of the ceilings are so ornate and works of art themselves!  I could have spent days wandering there but the kids had reached their limit.  I did push them a little as I found out that we could see "The Lacemaker" (just for you Judy and Rozzie!!!) - very glad that we took the extra time as the views of the gardens and the pyramid from that level were quite amazing too.

On the way back to the apartment Hannah found a shop selling berets so we ticked that off her to-do list!

Maddie was so chuffed with hers that the whole way home she skipped along saying "Ooh La La!!!" which I am sure caused some amusement to passers by!

We went to le supermarche and bought bits and pieces for a superb lunch back at the apartment.  It felt very French to be sitting in our own little apartment eating huge slices of camembert and brie on crusty bread.  Of course we had to have chocolate eclairs for dessert.

After another short break we set off for the Arc d'Triumph.  My little troupers managed the 247 steps to the top without complaint (and I think I am cured from my ridiculous fear of heights and confined spaces once and for all!)

Then it was a stroll down the Champs Elysee where just stopping for icecream will cost you 24 euro!!!  Still, this is the trip of a lifetime so who cares about the money? 

Tea tonight was eaten at an outdoor cafe - James and I had slow cooked lamb with French mushrooms - very French and very delicious and then chocolate mousse that was so rich and decadent that Maddie couldn't even finish hers!  And so ends our first full day in Paris.  I can't wait for the adventure to continue tomorrow - Notre Dame here we come!!!

Why I still LOVE my camera!

My camera is getting quite old now.  It has been superceded by several newer, fancier models but I still LOVE my Nikon D60.  I especially love the portrait feature.

Of course it helps to have cute kids to photograph (not that I am in ANY way biased!!!)

Sometimes you just have to make your own rainbows!

This week I managed a weeny bit of op shopping in amongst the craziness and you will NEVER guess what I found. Anodised cups.  My very own set of four for $12.  These cups are part of my childhood memories. When I was a kid I was lucky enough to be one of 15 cousins aged between about 5 and 14.  We were often all together at my Nanny's and she would pack us off into the bush (they lived on a farm) with a jaffle iron, the makings of spaghetti and cheese jaffles, and a bottle of sarsparilla cordial, and the anodised cups.  We would come back when it got dark, or the food ran out, or someone got bitten too badly by green ants, or we got scared by old Jock the buck goat.  Owning my own anodised cups has been on my bucket list.  I know that is silly, but these cups have made me ridiculously happy this week!

Today was Hills Spinners and Weavers Open Day and so there were some more happy purchases.  2 braids of gorgeous optim in my favourite colourway, Stained Glass, from kathysfibres.com and this lovely art batt (also shot through with rainbow colours) and a giant crochet hook that I plan to use to make crocheted rag rug bath mats.

I had lots of my little hats and some skeins that weren't my colours and a few other bits and pieces on the Guild table so hopefully I sold a few and that will fund my recent purchases!

Still no news on what will become of Creative Memories Australasia.

Have a good week!
Nell

And just like that...

I was in Spotlight enjoying a bit of child free retail therapy before my quilting group when I got a text on my phone: "check the cmc site" and I did, and just like that, my life changed.
Creative Memories is an American company.  Creative Memories Australia has its own corporate staff and headquarters, and lots of consultants like me that LOVE album-making and believe in the value of our products and what we do.

Recently, Creative Memories U.S. filed for Chapter 11 and part of their new "streamlined"/downsizing has meant not shipping stock to Australia so that Saturday, in Spotlight, I learned that the company I have been a part of for 10 amazing years has gone into "voluntary administration" because of a stock issue.  Life has been a bit surreal ever since - lots of calls and emails from distressed and distraught customers, consultants and friends.  I did not realise what a huge part of my life my Creative Memories business has been.

Thankfully, my wonderful customers and team have been soooo supportive and encouraging and I am so pleased to say that I have not had one single negative word.

So now we just wait.  There is a small chance, very small, that we will emerge from this stronger, and smaller, and probably a little wiser.

I have not felt like scrapping since I heard the news.  My heart goes out to the team at home office (who have always been a part of our CM "family") and who have had their livelihoods plucked away from them suddenly.  I also lament for the lovely CM friends I have all over Australia and New Zealand, girls who have built their businesses one party, one consultant, at a time.  Girls who have used their businesses to buy footy boots for their son, put their kids through private schools, pay for family holidays and help out with their mortgage.  My Creative Memories has always been my "craft budget" - my little splurges on book depository and in quilting shops.  It has also given me a couple of child-free weekends away a year.  Above everything else it has given me so many wonderful friends from all walks of life.

So now you see why this blog has been so quiet.  I know I will get my scrapping mojo back sometime soon, and I have been busy crafting (and I even have photos and stories to share from the lovely woolley fibre retreat I went on before it all happened).  I will try to get back into blogging but right now I just need to be able to be quiet and patient and wait and see.

Long time no blog

Whew, it has been a while hasn't it?

Unfortunately our computer died.  I mean totally, irretrievably, everything gone forever, over the Easter Break.  It was kind of a wake-up call that I need to get better at backing things up, and using things properly.  It was also surprising to see just how dependent I have become on technology (given that I call myself a technophobe!)

Anyhow, at least through the joys of Memory Manager and my external hard drive I have most of our important photos, (about 14000 out of 18000).  It makes me really value my albums even more.

I have been spending lots of time playing with our beautiful new "Its a Boy" and "Its a Girl" range this month (LOVE that we finally have a red and white spot, and love the cute little owls and elephants!)

There has also been considerable knitting,and spinning, and four scarves crocheted with bits from the stash (best to check ravelry for photos of those as they were among the lost-forevers!)

Back soon with more wips to show you.

Happy friday - good to be back in blogland!

Nell

xxx

A Life of Contrast

I had planned to write this post when I got back from Summit in February and then life got in the way!

One of the things I love about my Creative Memories business is that it adds contrast to my life.  At least twice a year I find myself doing things that are a break away from my everyday.  This year Summit (our leadership conference) was held in Manly, Sydney.

I am a country girl. I could never live in Sydney, but, as a place to visit, Sydney has a great vibe and a lot going for it and I LOVE being a tourist in Sydney!

One of my bestest buddies in the whole wide world lives in Sydney so it was great to fly in early (and stay a little later) to catch up with her little family.

We caught the commuter train into Circular Quay and she pointed me in the right direction to catch the Manly Ferry.  I was sooooo excited (in fact I think I amused the German tourist beside me very much!)

This Summit was all about stepping outside of your comfort zone so we were all given saris for a night of Bollywood dancing.  Part of my challenge was to get inked - just a semi-permanent but still something I would not normally do! Do you like my bluebird of happiness?

We did some confronting training on personality/character dominance and I learned that I have zero dominance (which is not always a great characteristic in a leader and something I really need to work on - I do tend to get pushed around a fair bit and tend to need to learn to say no occasionally!)

For our Gala Dinner evening there was more pushing of boundaries with a 6 course French Degustation (not something I would ever normally do!)  My comfort levels will only stretch so far so I do have to confess that I couldn't eat the rare-cooked baby quail or the rare veal cutlet but I did eat seared raw tuna (and quite enjoyed it!)

And then, after a lovely Sunday on Manly beach with my friend, and a lazy lunch in an Irish pub at the Rocks, it was back home to my own dear family and Planet Reality.

This is what my lunch looked like Monday, and you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.  If you are a stay at home mummy with little people I would really urge you to find something that adds some contrast to your life.  It doesn't have to be Creative Memories, but anything that occasionally gives you the chance to step outside of your ordinary life.  For me, Creative Memories gives me an outlet to indulge in public speaking (something I really enjoy - probably my only adrenalin rush!), it gives me the opportunity to help others, to leave a legacy of album making for my children, to mix with other adults (and have "grown up" conversations!) and to see other women grow and blossom in their own businesses.  All of this alongside my most important Mummy role.  It makes me happy!

Here's to a life of contrast!
Have a great week!
Nell
xxx