I know lots and lots of you are enjoying long summer holidays and the rest of us are stuck inside trying to keep warm so I thought I’d do a very quick tutorial for a great card idea.  This card can be used for a variety or things and if you cut it to size will fit a CD in the middle.  A nice idea is to burn a CD with some of your favorite music or photos and give it to a friend inside this lovely handmade card.  Or it can house a gift card/voucher or even just a note to say how much you love them, even a very quick and personal birthday card.  The possibilities are endless.

Step one, cut a piece of card stock to a perfect 24cm sqare and draw a line 6cm from each edge.

Stop two, cut off the corners.

Step three, using a CD draw an oval at the top of each flap and cut.

Step four, select some nice co-ordinating paper and paste it to each flap then trim off the excess.

Step five, flip the card over and carfully fold the flaps in.  The trick here is to fold in a clockwise direction.

Step six, when you get to the last fold tuck it under your first fold, and vwalah!

If you want to on the inside you can place a pocket to hold a gift card or a note.

There are so many ways to decorate the card it really is just limited to your imagination, so go wild.

I am thinking about asking my son’s teacher if she would like me to teach this to the class as a Christmas activity.  I will buy some Christmas wrapping paper and take a photo of each of the children in a Santa hat!  Then the kids can decorate the outside with the wrapping paper and put the photo of themself inside with a nice seasonal greeting.  I’m thinking red or green double sided paper for the card would look fantastic too.

I hope this has inspired you and given you a lovely activity to do over the summer holidays or on a cold and wet weekend.

Have a great week everyone.

TTFN

Today’s post is a mixed bag.  First up I’d like to wish Cherry, over at Tales From Pixie Wood all the very best in her up coming marriage.  She is a lovely girl and her most recent post, talking about her pending nuptials, sent me right back to those special days leading up to my wedding.  All the very best Cherry.

Second on my list of post stuff is a link to a really fun, free web site designed for kids of all ages, it’s called Pivot Stick Animation and my children love it.  Here in Aus the kids have just finished two weeks of school holidays and I know on the other side of the world you are all entering into your long summer holiday so I thought many of you may appreciate a great link for your kids/grandkids to enjoy over the break.  Pivot Stick Animation is a free program to download and I guarantee your wee one’s will spend hours making their own animations.  Anything that’s free this day and age has to be good in my book. 

Now, the other day I was shocked to hear from several people at work that they had never used, or even heard of, Google Earth, I kid you not!  So if you are one of the few people left on the planet that has not Googled their home, spent an hour of two in Paris or taken a cyber trip around Las Vegas, then it’s time you did.  Once again this is all free to download and I know you will spend hours and hours roaming the planet.  This little You Tube clip explains it all.

Finally I thought I’d play a little game over the next few weeks using Google Earth!   I will post a picture from Google Earth along with a clue; all you have to do is find it!  How easy is that?  So once you find this amazing place leave me a comment and the first correct answer will win a prize.  So without further a do I give you this weeks picture, the clue is “fit for a princess”.

Have a great weekend everyone.

TTFN

You are not going to believe what happened to me today…

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.

I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, ‘If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?’

‘No, I had to stop drinking years ago’, the homeless woman told me.

‘Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?’ I asked.

‘No, I don’t waste time shopping,’ the homeless woman said. ‘I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.’

‘Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?’ I asked.

‘Are you NUTS!’ replied the homeless woman. I haven’t had my hair done in 20 years!’

‘Well, I said, ‘I’m not going to give you the money. Instead, I’m going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.’

The homeless Woman was shocked. ‘Won’t your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I’m dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.’

I said, ‘That’s okay. It’s important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.’

TTFN

When I was about ten years old my parents gave me a record player for my birthday, along with an album titled ”Abba”, I still have it today (note to self to check eBay prices!).  I played that record over and over again; all the while holding my hairbrush and pretending to be Agnetha swishing my long blonde hair behind me just like her.  My walls were plastered with their posters, along with Leif Garrett, and sadly Chachi from Happy Days, very sad really!  I knew all the words and ALL the actions, yes I think I liked the actions as much as the words.

This afternoon my sister, niece and I went to see the musical Mamma Mia  at the flicks and I’ve gotta’ say girls this movie is fantastic.  We laughed, my sister cried and we all sang along to each and every song.  Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan are really great and you won’t believe Colin Firth, let’s just say he’s no Mr Darcy in this performance!  So get your girlfriends together, probably not one for the fellas, and go and see this movie, it’s a ripper!

Have a great weekend everyone.

TTFN

With such a beautiful array of colour it was easy get creative.  I’ve had these two big letters for ages, they are gifts for a girlfriend who has two very lovely little girls, Abby and Lilly.  I just need to paint the edges in a dark pink which will set off the letters and they will be ready to wrap.

I hope you are all enjoying a great week, here it’s the last of the school holidays.  Yesterday I took the boys to see Kung Fu Panda, what a hoot.  Today I’m back to work, only a half day so it will fly. 

TTFN

I’ve been crook with a nasty flue over the past week and not felt much like blogging or anything else for that matter.  Lucky for me as my blogg has been up and down like a fiddlers elbow, apparently the server has “issues” mmmmmm.  I’m not really sure what’s been going on but each time I’ve logged on the server was down and that is sooo very annoying, hopefully it’s all been fixed now.

While I’ve been curled up on the coach moaning and requesting drinks, tissues and chocolate, to ease my sore throat you understand, I have also been able to watch loads of television and I have to say there was plenty of good stuff to watch.

For instance, Friday night now starts off with Big Brothers Friday Night Games, yes yes I know “Big Brother” I hear you cry, but I just love it.  I really like watching the housemates battle it out in their silly outfits all the while pretending not to notice the camera crew all over the place.  And how they suffer when there are no mirrors around to preen themselves in, this years bunch has been particularly vein. 

After BB I switch over and I get two rippers in a row, Silent Witness followed by Spooks.  If you’ve not seen Spooks before it’s a British series based around your typical MI6, undercover, very covert team of dedicated spies.  OK … I really just watch it to drool over Adam (Rupert Penry-Jones).

Now Saturday nights has also turned into a really good night starting out with The Vicar of Dibly followed by a double episode of The Bill and finishing up with Midsomer Murders.  Last night was doubly good as Wimbledon followed with the women’s final.  Admittedly I didn’t get to bed until just after 1am but with all my laying around I really wasn’t that tired.

Sunday is not without it’s share of great viewing either!  During the afternoon I spend an hour folding washing while I watch The Gilmore Girls.  I need to keep my eye on the TV guide for this one as Channel Nine have a nasty habit of changing the time it’s on, naughty little buggers they are. 

But the piece de résistance to our weekly viewing is at 7.30 with the return of Dr Who, yes we are a house filled with loons!  I rush the dinner to make sure it’s all over nice and early then we all gather round the telly and spend an hour transfixed … alright it’s not that bad but we do love the Dr.

So if you have been wondering where I am and why there hasn’t been much blogging action you can blame it on UK television as I’ve just noticed most of the shows I rush to watch at predominantly British.  I’ll try to be a better blogger this week, as I am feeling much better today.

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely weekend.

TTFN

A few months ago I mentioned that I had started to go through menopause and that I had been really suffering with hot flushes.  The flushes had become so often that I was having them hourly, which is very unpleasant.  I did a bit of online research and found that a lot of people got good relief from Evening Primrose Oil, nice and naturale with no nasty side effects.  I started taking them on Friday night and although I did have a few hot moments during the night, nothing to do with Lee the Love God, Saturday was flush free.  Halleluiah!!  So if you have been suffering try these…

My weekend was spent mostly here…

Doing lots and lots of this…

The boys are on school holidays now so I’m gong to have to do the ‘working-mum-juggle’ and try to suppress the constant feelings of guilt for not being home with them.  They are such good boys though and they never complain.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

TTFN

I love movies of all kinds, old, new, love stories, thrillers and especially musicals, I guess I just love watching a good movie.  Over the past month I have watched a couple that I’d seen before but forgotten how fantastic they were, so I thought I’d do a post on “my all time favourite movies”.

First up is The Color Purple.  I probably saw this movie twenty years ago when I was “young” and really not that interested.  Sure I loved Whoopy and Oprah but I didn’t really get it, well that has certainly changed since my last viewing.  This movie doesn’t just tell a tail it also gives us an insight into history.  The scene that got me the most was when Sofia is asked if she would like to be the maid for the Mayor’s wife and she replies “hell no”.  You just know that her life is about to change, and for the worse.  If you haven’t seen this movie for a while it’s well worth a look.

Dirty Dancing is next up.  I think I saw this movie three or four times at the movies, a dozen more times on video, DVD and the telly.  It’s just one of those love stories that lifts you up and makes you wanna sing.  And of course there is that line … “nobody puts Baby in a corner”!

I couldn’t write this post without including Little Women, whenever I see that it will be on telly I’ll make sure I’m home and that the boys are out.  I love all three versions of this classic, including the newest version filmed in 1994.  The 1933 version staring Katherine Hepburn is great but I think the 1949 version is by far the best.  And how could it not be with stars like June Allyson, Margaret O’Brien, Janet Leigh and the amazing Elizabeth Taylor. 

If you have an entire afternoon free to watching telly you just can’t go past the 1939 extravaganza that is Gone With The Wind.  Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable burn up the screen with their love/hate relationship.  If there is one movie with more quotable lines in it it’s this one.  Who could forget Scarlett exclaiming “Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war; this war talk’s spoiling all the fun” and “Great balls of fire. Don’t bother me anymore, and don’t call me sugar”.   Of course Rhett Butler doesn’t get away without a couple of memorable lines, I mean how many of us haven’t exclaimed at one time or another “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”.  But it’s this line that I wish I could remember on occasion,  ”I’ve always thought a good lashing with a buggy whip would benefit you immensely”.  Finally I couldn’t write about this movie without one more quote, which I use often … “After all, tomorrow is another day!”

When my nieces were small and I would spend the night babysitting we would often find ourselves watching Father of the Bride.  This is a really funny movie with loads of lines I just love.  Martin Short’s carecter, Frank Eggelhoffer, is wonderful and has more quotable lines than I have room for in the post.  A great chick flick if ever I saw one.

Another really sweet movie that I love on a rainy day is Serendipity, it’s just lovely.  There is something really magical between John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, and who hasn’t bumped into someone for a few moments and wondered what could have been?

While on the subject of great on screen romance, I really love the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan combination.  Two movies I could watch over and over are Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, no violence or swearing just lovely.  If I were single and living another life it would be in the NY apartment that Meg’s character lives in, just wonderful.

Tom Hanks should probably have a category all of his own as he just doesn’t know how to make a bad movie.  Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 the list really is endless.  His voice over work on all three Toy Story movies are classics as well, whenever my boys would ask if they could play their Toy Story DVD I’d always have a little secret smile.

Trilogies, lots and lots of trilogies!  Of course there are the blockbusters like James Bond, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Treck, all great movies but would I watch them over and over?, nahh not really. 

When I was a kid I just loved musicals, I didn’t have the movies to watch, I had the records to play.  I know that really dates me and my kids probably wouldn’t understand how I could play those records over and over but I did.  I’d spend all Sunday afternoon switching from Hello Dolly to Oliver or West Side Story and South Pacific.  It wasn’t until I was married and we bought our first video player that I got to see the characters behind the words.  More recently I’ve been able to get them all on DVD and when the boys are out I’ll put one on, turn up the volume and sing to my hearts content!

And finally I’d like to finish with a little movie, not a blockbuster but one of my favourites, Steel Magnolias.  The women in this movie are fantastic, all play wonderful parts but my number one character has got to be Olympia Dukakis as Clairee Belcher, what a woman!  This movie has more one-liners than any other so I’ll just quote a few for you… “In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight”, “Sammy Wayne Desoto, what is this in my Frigidaire?” “Well, we went skinny dipping and we did things that frightened the fish”.  If you would like to read more you can go here, I highly recommend it!

I was going to link each movie to IMDb but it would have taken me way too long so I’ll just leave you with their link, it’s a great site for movie trivia and has settled a number of arguments in our house.

Well that’s my list, I’ve left out some great movies like Pride and Prejudice, Grease and Pirates of the Caribbean which it goes without saying I’d watch over and over.  Let me know your favourites and have a great weekend everyone.

TTFN

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post, I got just a little paranoid that you’d all left me never to return!!  There was a small story behind that beautiful lily from my husband.  It was a peace offering!  My lovely husband had been spending far too much time on the xBox and not attending to all the other things he should have been doing and I had a bit of a meltdown.  But after the lovely lily arrived all was forgiven. 

As I have no pretty photos to share I thought I’d do a Mosaic Monday entry.  Here in Australia it’s mid winter, cold and wet with little colour in the garden to inspire me.  As I’m craving colour I thought all this wonderful colour would feed my soul.

I received a beautiful parcel last week as part of Zoe’s Words and Bookmark Swap.  Thank you to Jo for the great parcel, no Kisses left but I’m going to really enjoy the book.

Monday is my housework day so I’d better be off and get stuck into it.  Have a great week everyone.

TTFN

When I got home from work today this beauty was sitting on my kitchen bench, isn’t she lovely.  My husband has great taste don’t you think?

Now to other news.  I’m not sure if it’s me or my blog but over the past week comments have dropped from 5 or 6 per post to only one!  What’s going on, I ask myself?  A friend said she had tried to leave a comment but had trouble, so if you too are having trouble please let me know on madelinedunster@hotmail.com and I will look into it.  If not I’ll take the hint …

Hope your week is going well.

TTFN