Monday Musing, 28th October 2019!

Here we are again, Monday, it's a thing!

Happens every week LOL

So today I'm feeling a little sorry for myself because I had to see the skin cancer specialist again this morning.  All was really good until he had a much closer look at a patch under my right eye. Right in the corner at the bridge of my nose. You know that spot, if you wear glasses, where your glasses sit right?  So he says hmmm think I need to do a biopsy on that!  Within 2 minutes he's stabbed me with a local. Did you feel that he asked. I said have you done it yet? My eyes were shut and I was deep breathing.   Nope didn't feel it, he was surprised.  Must be all the injections I have regularly, and the fact I'm always doing BGL tests with my fingers.

However, right now, a bit over 2 hours later, it's hurting like a biatch, I've almost got feeling back there and I can almost blink properly again. I was looking a bit like a cyclops there for a few moments ☺.  Let's pray I do not get any phone calls in the next week in regards to this one, it's too close to our son's wedding and too close to OnStage Sydney and tooooo darn close to my eye!!   At least I could put my red lippy on afterwards!

[gallery ids="1798,1799" type="rectangular"]

Have a great week everyone.  I'm working on tomorrow's Tutu Tuesday, stay tuned!

til next time, remember,

happy stamping, colouring & creating!

---

Monday Musing, 21st October 2019

Here we are again, where has the last week gone, blink and it's passed me by.  It's been a busy time of it. Had some huge highs and some very very low lows over the last 8 days or so.

Currently I'm waiting to hear from my sister as my dad's been taken to hospital again by ambulance earlier this morning.  (he was only taken last Tuesday night) This getting old malarkey and this cancer bullsh*t is enough to raise the old blood pressure to alarming rates some days. But I know I'll get through this, I usually do. Staying focused on the positive and getting more done around my little hovel.

It's funny, yesterday I got hubby to get some things down off the top of my huge craft desk.  Stuff is only put up there when I don't need it during my every day routines.  As far as I can tell, I've nothing left up there since yesterday, yes!  Now to get to the shelves  and hanging baskets and be 'ruthless'.

I have the biggest pile of brown packing paper that my Stampin' Up! orders use to come packed in.  It's going to help me save some money on bubble wrap at the moment that's for sure.  Yes, it was up on top of my craft desk's hutch. No way I could have reached it down by myself. As it was I had a 'domino effect' with some that hubby didn't get down.  Handy tool that long handled 'grabber' I've got ;-)



Whilst hubby got one particular box down that I'd not opened in probably 10 years, I'm so glad he did.  I did a walk down memory lane from many different swaps I use to take part in from the late 1990's til I think about 2005 or 6 that box had stuff from.

My kitchen bench was all cattywampus for hours.  Now there's a word worth musing over. Here's what I found when I searched it's mean. It's now up there with my two favourite words "serendipity" and "extemporaneous" !

cattywampus  adjective

The definition of cattywampus, often spelled catawampus, is not lined up or not arranged correctly, or diagonally. An example of something cattywampus are the positions of the items on the top of a coffee table after a two year old has been playing with them and moving them around.

Man did we make some amazing things this box of gorgeous memories was telling me!  Check out photos of this creation!  Yes Louise Magetti, I've kept this all that time! I'm not sure of the date, but I think it goes back to either Stamping Top 50 or The Scrappers Stash days, or maybe even the old OzStampers yahoo group.  Yes, that long ago!

[gallery ids="1764,1765,1766" type="rectangular"]

And this funny card, which I can still chuckle about but I was being 'subtle' to my father, didn't help, he still got lung cancer and my Mum has been gone since January 2007! Both of them heavy smokers, sigh...



Check out this gorgeous card, yes I do own the stamps so I can't be sure if I made this or it was in a swap, there's no writing or post it note inside to jog my memory. I love this bear, it came with a front & back.  I recon it's coming out again real soon! Ooo & I have some crown stamps as well ;-)





Whilst I potter around the house and await any further information on my father, I'll leave you with these gorgeous creations my Mum made, yes she was a very talented parchment crafter. These would have been created around 2003 to 2006.

[gallery ids="1770,1771,1772" type="rectangular"]

Til next time, remember

happy stamping, colouring & creating!

---

 

Monday Musing, 7th October 2019

This is a Fabulous Fridays @ Five'o'clock'ish revisited. This was last September 7th, 2018.  I don't think it got seen as I'd set is as a page not a post. So here we go, for those who missed it!

Welcome!

Have you ever wondered how colour trends are created?  Do you ever wonder how some people can pull colours together and seem to make them work, though they may not have been colours you may  have thought of?  Well let’s take a little dip into the world of colour.  I love colour and my heart goes out to many in this world who can’t see it for whatever reason, not just blindness.

In the world of colour there is the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM^®.  You may or may not have heard of Pantone, not to be confused with ‘pantene’ the hair products.  I’ve known about Pantone most of my adult/working life.  I have worked in publishing, printing and media places where sometimes you have to get the right colour ‘coding/numbers’ eg hex codes so that shades can be mass produced, paint colours mixed, ink batches to be consistent.  And yes even colours on a webpage to be consistent. Ever wonder where most modern colour matching/coding comes from?  Yep, Pantone©, you got it!

I’ve been subscribed to Pantone’s newsletter for quite a few years. Here is an excerpt from Pantone’s website about them and what they do and how the world uses their powerful colouring ‘tools’

NOTE: this is a quote, I did not write this, I do not claim ownership of this quote...

About Pantone Standards

In 1963, Pantone revolutionized the printing industry with the colorful PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM^®, an innovative tool allowing for the faithful selection, articulation and reproduction of consistent, accurate color anywhere in the world. The tool organizes color standards through a proprietary numbering system and chip format, which have since become iconic to the Pantone brand.

Pantone’s color language supports all color conscious industries; textiles, apparel, beauty, interiors, architectural and industrial design, encompassing over 10,000 color standards across multiple materials including printing, textiles, plastics, pigments, and coatings.

Pantone Standards are available both digitally and physically. Integrated workflow tools such as PantoneLIVE and Pantone Studio, ensure market-relevancy and color achievability as technology continues to transform the design process.

So why am I writing about this today?  In my Pantone newsletter overnight, this is one of the photos that stood out to me, it made me go wow!  I go wow a lot but a light bulb went off and I just had to write about it.



Stampin’ Up! is so on the ball and I know from conversations I’ve been privy to in the presence of Sara Douglass, SU’s CEO, that they work way way in advance to bring you what is going to be on trend and current. Most of the time 2 years ahead, I kid you not!

When this year’s latest ‘in colours’ came out in the current annual catalogue, the 5 in colours really stood out to me more so this year than many others.  It goes back to when I worked in publishing. To when I helped my son through his uni degree in graphic designing. I thought of the Mondrian style of colour blocking, all things we learned together and things I learned through my working life (oh and as well as art history in high school). Recognise this colour blocking in the photo below?  Yes, that is Piet Mondrian, a Dutch artist who was very influential in 20^th century modern art.



If you are around my age give or take 10 years older or younger, you may remember a certain brand of hair spray that used this colour blocking on their white tins.  I loved it during the ‘big hair’ days LOL.

So what I’m trying to get at with today’s post is this.  If you feel matching colours is beyond you, if you feel that you could never get the results some artists get because you get overwhelmed with trying to match things, let Stampin Up’s colour suites help you.  Let Pantone© help you.  Use what you see around you in design and media, shop front window displays, doona cover designs, what ever.  Let it speak to you and think yeah, I CAN do that!

til next time, remember,

happy stamping, colouring & creating!

---

Product List

Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad [147138] $13.00	Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad [147140] $13.00	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad [147141] $13.00
Call Me Clover Stampin' Pad [147139] $13.00	Grapefruit Grove Classic Stampin' Pad [147142] $13.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $10.00

---

 

Monday Musing, 23rd September 2019!

 

Well if I blinked I'd have missed the last week or so!  It went by so fast that I'm wondering if it really did all happen LOL. 

I'm feeling a little worse for wear though so I am having a very quiet Monday.  I've been trying to get out of my creative 'slump' but all I seem to be doing is sorting, filing, putting things away and culling! Not just crafting things either, all around the house!   I start looking for something and get sidetracked by something else and the next thing you know I'm culling again.  Sigh sigh sigh!  Doesn't help I forgot to take a hat to Melbourne last week and lupus/fybro myalgia are being a bit bothersome!

The Herbster and I have had a fabulous time though we are both a bit tired and sorry for ourselves.  Too funny, we were up at 4am to go to Melbourne last week as my Thoughts on Thursday post explained. But I also had to be up with him at 4.30am on Friday.

Here's my SailorMan as he's been affectionately known as for the 30yrs we've known each other, yes 30yrs as of a couple of days ago!  This is in his refurbished workshop up the back yard where he creates those huge model ships. Doesn't do anything by halves does he? No model boats under 12ft long.  That finished one just under the bench, the Yamato! It's 14ft long and took 8 1/2 years to create right from the hull up!  You can see some of his pieces he's working on currently of the Kirishima.  Yes he's a world war two history buff!




Guess what?  Neither of us heard our alarms!!  5.30am and the Herbster's running down the hallway going sh*t, quick get the kitty meds and lets wrap that kitty up like a burrito and get it into him, I'm going to have to drive to work!!!  When he's lecturing/teaching, he starts at 7am sharp in the lecture/simulator rooms on the navy base.  Once a sailor always a sailor, must be on time!!!! I just hope he didn't speed through the back streets of Surry Hills and Paddington on his way to Randwick barracks, LOL, he's done that before, oops!



So why did we have to be up that early again?   This little fellow here, yup the 'all kinds of speshul' Mr Nibbles the Ragdoll was going in on Friday to have his yearly complete clipping (and vet check, vax and claw clipping too). He has to be sedated because he's terrified being at the Vets.  I was a tad worried because last week was quite horrible weather wise. When in Melbourne we baked, when in Sydney we were freezing.   Nibbles didn't mind, he has been hiding himself under any throw blanket or bed doona he can find LOL.  He went in a Ragdoll, came home a temporary Siamese ROFL.



  

He's very active again and quite vocal. Plus I feel looks rather handsome too! Miss Pip doesn't recognize him and has been hissing at him ever since. My the tables have turned. Nibbles the bully has become the bullied and Miss Pip is being the bully.  Ah cats, they are so unique and funny and so hard to work out some days but we love them and I think they love us and each other. They have a funny way of showing it though sometimes ;-)

Anywhooo that's all for this Monday, I do have to get dressed and go up to the shops for some fresh fruit & veggies.  I hope you all have a great week no matter where you are or what you are doing!

til next time, remember,

happy stamping, colouring & creating!

---

 

Monday Musing - 16 September 2019

Hello there,

Yes, musing on Monday again.  Had a fabulous weekend, it was Aiden's 4th birthday party and so much fun! See that photo of him in the Buzz Lightyear tshirt?  That was my Ben's Tshirt which had been saved in a draw for nearly 22yrs!  Aiden did many tshirt changes through out his party but he finally put the Buzz one on and stayed in it!  How that warmed my heart!  We played totem tennis, we laughed, we ate pizza and cheese and crackers and dips and Aiden and I shared a pink musk stick lolly too. Ah he loves his GinGin and Herbie like he loves all those around him who love him so much.

  

  

  



Father and son got to battle out the totem tennis and yes Ben, ya mumma's arm did bruise, but not too bad, a bit like having a vaccination shot, I'll live ROFL.

---

HOWEVER...

... the last few weeks have been hard. Really hard.  You see I took my father for a check up with his urologist 2 weeks ago and last week for his 3 monthly oncology check up.  Within the space of those 2 appointments, I saw my father, my Daddy, deteriorate into this feeble old man (his mind is still a 'naughty boy' mind though LOL)  He was completely different from one check up to the following one.  I've not cried, I think I've done so much of that but this time, I don't know. I think Dad and I both knew something wasn't quite right and we talked about it and we agreed with his oncologist's assistant that we expected there to be a return of the cancer in his right lung.

Well no said Roland when he walked in to to have a closer look of all the scans. No no, no no, we can't be certain.  You see your father is in this research trial, the radiation treatment was nearly a full year ago but it is still doing it's 'job', this shadow could still be the scarring forming.  But Dad was really breathless that day.  He said he's usually like it when he has to get up earlier than he usually gets up. Well to me getting up at 9am is not early but for Daddy it is, he's usually up about 11am'ish.  Anyway, Roland said Dad needs to get back to his respiratory specialist because this not being able to breath and the fluid/phlegm he can't seem to cough up from his lungs (it gets stuck in his throat) needs to be checked out.  Dad's on some antibiotics to help with what infection the oncologist feels is there.  A referral has been sent to Wyong hospital and Dad's letting me know when that appointment will be.

Now  to make matters worse, Dad can receive calls on his landline but for some strange reason no one can hear when calls are made out from his landline. Dad's paying for all these phone calls only to be hung up on because they can't hear him.  Talk about funny in a way because it's Dad's that going deaf! I feel the need, the need to call Optus faults and let rip again.  If I have them say to me on you'll have to get your father to call I will freak'in loose it!  I had more than 5 months of that at the beginning of the year.  Don't tell me that B/S all over again.  We know where that landed don't we!  Yes with the Telecommunications Ombudsman!!!!!

Between Dad and my sister, using her mobile is a comedy of errors.  You see my sister is mildly intellectually handicapped so relies on my father, as he does her.  She doesn't drive either, never has. My sister and I agree that we don't like Dad being on his own when she's got to/wants to go out. My sister can be quite independent but she doesn't handle change/technology/bad news very well, doesn't and can't mentally repeat things she's been told that she needs to tell others, she just hands my father her phone but poor dad can't hear properly on a mobile phone, sigh.

Talk about caught between a rock and a hard place!  My blogging, my crafting, my regular FF@F'o'clock'ish and Tutu Tuesday posts have taken a back seat for now.  I drove nearly 800ks in the last two visits and back. Taking Dad to oncology is not like in Sydney. I've got to drive up the day before to Chain Valley Bay North, then drive down to East Gosford, then drive Dad back up to Chain Valley Bay north then drive back home to my place in Sydney.  It's a lot of driving when the sun is getting warmer and bright sunshine hurts my eyes so very badly.  I have my own 'issues' and the sun makes them worse. Think lupus SLE and fibromyalgia for a start.

Any-who, if you read this far, thank you.  Writing some of this down helps me get out some of my frustration and grief without having to repeat myself.  I'm trying to cope as best I can but summer is coming. Our Ben's wedding is 30th November and the ceremony is outside.  I think I need a new hat!  A nice red one to go with my outfit I am wearing. Yes?  Yes, a new red hat may be perfect!

Bye for now, and remember,

happy stamping colouring & creating!

---

 

Monday Musing, 12thAug2019!

Hi everyone! 

Well what a wild and woolly past week we've had over here on the south-eastern side of Australia.  And it isn't over yet they tell us! Not a lot of people equate Australia with being freezing cold but yes, we do get snow, we do get under zero temperatures (celcius)  even here in Sydney too! So glad we didn't have a footy (AFL) game to go to over the weekend because I do not think I could sit at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) in our member seats. Check these news photos out, only a couple of hours drive from where we live in the far north west of Sydney's outer suburbs!

Blue Mountains residents woke up to a winter wonderland today (Saturday) as cold weather saw snow fall overnight.

Blackheath Weather reported a dumping 5cm deep about 7am while Katooomba was also covered in snow.

The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a maximum temperature of 5 degrees Celsius for Katoomba on Saturday, with the temperature expected to climb only one degree higher for Sunday's maximum.

 

The wind has been so bad, I've swept up 2 otto bins full of debris from around the back of the house as well since last Wednesday. Glad the bin was emptied Friday morning.  Yes it is that time of year for the Jacaranda to drop it's leaves/seed pods. And yes it's that time of year we do traditionally get high winds, particularly leading into September.  But this has been unusually arctic the BOM tell us and don't we know and feel it!  Kind of glad I don't own that house up in Katoomba these days!  However, how pretty does this scene look!  I use to live not far from that place. Two snowy winters living in Katoomba was enough for me not to want to live there for ever ☺ Though I do prefer the cold.



Saturday morning we did have some sunshine so hubby and I spend the morning building our kitties a 'climbing gym' from wood left over from our recent house repairs.  We nipped to Bunnings and bought extra sand for their sand pit and another sheet of artificial turf to go over where the 'problem child', Nibbles, started to dig holes a month ago. This saw him end up at the Vet's in an emergency. He was sedated, xrayed, bloods taken and a few other things done to him.  Daft kitty got too much of that fine dirt in his bowels and blocked himself up. Eww!!  But, hundreds of dollars later, he's fine again and he can no longer dig in the dirt.  He's found a new love of his sandpit LOL.  They love their new structure!  Now if the wind would die down, they may just spend more time out there instead of under my bed's doona!

Yes, Pip's a bit of an 'acrobat' ROFL.

The Herbster was very happy with the results of our recycling of discarded wood!  Me thinks Mr Nibbles is happy too!

And little Miss Pip loves that she still has the logs in there too!

I hope you have a wonderful week, thanks for stopping by, watch out for a new tutorial soon!  I'll be using some new Stampin' Up! products. Not long til it's all for sale.  That will be on 4th September, it's not that far away!

til next time, remember,

happy stamping, colouring & creating!

---

 

Monday Musing, 29th July 2019!

Crikey, where did the last week go, and the weekend for that matter!  It's been a busy time, traveling up to the central coast, visiting long time friends I've not seen in a while, and generally trying to keep culling things from our little 'Hovel'.  Oh yes, and finishing and delivering my son's wedding invitations.  Yes, I will share them with you but not for another month or so!  My birthday was amongst all this so a little bit of celebreating too!  Thank you everyone for you beautiful wishes. Man I still recon they made a boobooh on my birth certificate, 61? How did that happen, LOL!

I'm so sorry there was no Fabulous Friday's @ Five'o'clock post, the weekend did get away from me. We were at church in the morning yesterday then straight to the SCG yesterday afterwards, for the Swans vs Geelong game.  Needless to say, the Swans lost, AGAIN!  LOL, I did find it rather humorous that we played Geelong, given that Geelong is near where we are relocating to!  Yes, the Herbster and I did make it up onto the giant score board again too, check us out, too funny! I took the photo just before we went into the grounds as it was nice and warm and sunny out the front on Driver Avenue.



And there we are up on the top left hand side LOL, it's fun to see if we make it up there, so that's 5 times this season, on a roll! ☺ .   Michelle, that lipstick you gave me for my birthday is gorgeous and has some good staying power too.  Who doesn't love a good red lipstick!!!!

I am sharing with you a really cute card I made for my bestie's birthday.  It's the main reason I really didn't hurry to get it online on Friday because it will only be getting delivered today.  Many happy returns dear Maggie, I'm so glad you've had a lovely extended long weekend.  Not much longer now and we'll be down there to paartaaaay when ever we want!!

I finally christened this oh so cute Over the Moon stamp set, moooooo!  Isn't it adorable! I've also used patterned paper run through the Tufted 3d embossing folder, love that folder, it's so pretty!

I hope you have a lovely week! Check back tomorrow, there may just be a TuTu Tutorial for you all ☺

Til next time, remember

happy stamping, colouring & creating!

---

Product List

Over The Moon Cling Stamp Set [149331] $35.00	Frosted Bouquet Dies [147895] $57.00	Lovely Flowers Dies [148526] $56.00
Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] $17.00	Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper [149100] $20.00	Tufted Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [146335] $16.00
Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay [131286] $15.25	Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad [101406] $17.50	Watercolor Pencils [141709] $27.75
Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2 [149014] $21.75	Share What You Love Embellishment Kit [146928] $19.25	Black 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Glittered Organdy Ribbon [147897] $14.75
Silver Foil Sheets [132178] $8.75	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $6.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $8.00

---