Wins and Awards

Hello all, I hope you had a lovely weekend! We had a busy one with a trip to Sydney and then Newcastle but it was great we caught up with family and celebrated birthdays.

It was my nieces birthday on Friday and she turned 10! She is a very creative little girl and when I found out that I was the winner or Mirela's giveaway I knew that Angela would love it.

Mirela gave away one of her custom designed canvas' on it's own little easel. She did a wonderful job creating the perfect design for my niece. If you have a boy or girl who would love their own custom artwork you need to pop over and visit Melli's Designs. Mirela has lots of different canvases that she has finished for you to look at.

I have also been really honoured by some of lovely friends who have passed on the Versatile Blogger award to me.

I want to send a big thank you to

Li @ Creamy White

Li lives in Alberta, Canada and is a mum of three kids who is creative and clever. She shares about her life in her blog including her makeovers and crafts.

Christine @ Sunshine and Lollipops

Christine is from Western Australia, she has a gorgeous home and her coffee table makeover that she just completed is fabulous.

and Megan @ Design Matters

Megan is from Texas in the USA and her blog is full of inspiring interior pictures that are just gorgeous.

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading these blogs then please pop over and have a look, all three are excellent reads.

As part of the award I am to share 7 things about myself so I tried to think of something I haven't shared before.

1. I am a lollyholic , I love mixed lollies like the ones in this picture. If I open a packet I can't stop eating them. I will eat them until I feel sick, have a cup of tea and then continue eating them until they are all gone. Unfortunately I always get a craving for them in the afternoon at work. Not very good!!!

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2. I didn't learn to iron until I was in my twenties. It was something my mother didn't trust us to do so I never learnt. As a consequence I am not very good at it. I don't mind ironing but I do pour myself a glass of wine while I iron and that seems to make the chore much better. I set up in front of the TV on a Sunday night and iron away (could possibly the wine that affects the quality of the ironing....).

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3. I really dislike exercising. I do it (sporadically) because I know I have to but I never get to the point where I jump at the chance to exercise. Even at my fittest where I joined the gym and I went to a minimum of 4 classes a week I still had to force myself to go a year later. After 2 years I didn't renew my membership! I try to walk as much as possible and incorporate movement in my everyday life for the whole family!

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4. I have a lot of grey hair. I am not sure how much because I keep colouring it, more and more frequently. I really should touch up the roots every 4 - 5 weeks because all the grey seems to come through where my hair parts and it is wiry and sticks straight up! I always expected I would be grey early in life, it runs in the family.

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5. One day I want to start investing in shares. I want to learn all about the stock market and buy and sell and make lots of money..... One day when I have time that is.

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6. I don't really like to cook. I cook from necessity and I usually will not use a recipe. I cook with what I have in the house and try to make something that is edible. I haven't killed anyone yet! I do like to have dinner parties and that is when I will cook from a recipe and create something special and I like to make slices and biscuits, I try to bake cakes but they never really seem to work very well.

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7. I am really really short sighted. I am getting so bad that I can't read in bed without my glasses on any more. The book has to be so close to my face that it is just ludicrous. I need to visit the laser eye surgery clinic and see if I am able to get the laser surgery done. It really does restrict my lifestyle and I wear my contacts most of the time as my glasses are just annoying and I am a wee bit vain.

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If you haven't fallen asleep yet and you are still with me I want to pass the Versatile blogger award on to these new friends that I have met recently and I really enjoy catching up with.

1. Alicia from Bella Card Company

2. Natasha from Northern Light

3. Michelle from Divine Finds

4. Jane from The Girl in the Brick House

5. French Doors and Verandahs

Ladies please do not feel obligated to play along but if you would like to the rules for the Versatile Blogger award are to thank the giver, list seven things about yourself and pass the award on.

I also want to thank the lovely Simone from Honey and Fizz for giving me the sunshine award. I am really chuffed to get this mention.

Simone is from Sydney Australia and has a delightful blog full of gorgeous pics. You must visit Simone if you haven't already and have a look around.

I have another busy week ahead and I am sorry if I don't get around to visiting you all but be assured that if I get the chance I will! Thanks again for all of your lovely comments and support! Have a great week!

xx

Tagged + Awards = Fun!

I have been tagged to play a fun question and answer game by the lovely Alicia from Bella Card Company. Alica has a lovely blog and an etsy shop where sells her own gorgeous stationary designs.

If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Alicia please do, you can by clicking HERE.

I didn’t realise how tricky this would be until I started and by then I was having fun and hooked.

Here goes……

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? As much as I dream of living in an exotic European location I really don’t think I could move too far away from my family. Somewhere like this would do. Great views Less than a 5 hour drive to family

40 minutes drive to the beach

7 acres of land so I could have a gorgeous garden

2 hours drive to Sydney

Close enough to all of the facilities we require, good school, good shops, good restaurants. All those things that make life so wonderful!

For any one interested this house is currently for sale you can find the details and photos from here. 2. What is your favorite band? This changes on a regular basis and depends on what I feel like listening to. If someone had to buy me a CD and asked what I would like I could guarantee that if they bought me anything by Newsboys or Michael Buble I would enjoy it!

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3. If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be? Aaargh, I am really bad at this. I like who I am. I am not sure that I want to be anybody else. Sure I would love to have all of the wonderful stuff that other people have like Lots of these

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One of these

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Lots of these in all different colours and styles

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Something like this

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But when I think of all of the influential people in the world (yes, I googled them) I don’t think that I want the pressure that they must have to deal with every day and when I think of all of the rich famous people I wonder whether their life is really that good? Are the people around them there because they love and care for them or are they there hoping for something for themselves. After all my research I decided that I am happy being me!

4. Concert or Broadway show? I haven’t been to many of either but I would choose a Broadway show over a concert. The last one I saw was the Phantom of the Opera. It was great and I am looking for to the sequel.

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5. Theme song for your life? Ha, this is tricky and I cheated, yes I admit I googled this question to see what help I could get and guess what I found this great quiz. Have I mentioned that I love the web! I answered all the questions as honestly as I could, or as I cared to admit to and my result was.... Beautiful Day by U2

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I can live with that! I like that song and I like U2.

Please feel free to go and check out what your theme song is! Just click HERE! 6. Would you choose a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant or a picnic in the park? I would happily do either but if push came to shove I would choose the fancy dinner. I love getting dressed up and being waited on. I would love to go here next (hint, hint Darling).

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For those who are not familiar with Australia this is Tetsuya’s and is a multi award winning restaurant and Tetsuya himself has won many awards, he is an outstanding chef. 7. Favorite place to shop? I love to shop and I quite happily shop anywhere, I love the Internet for the ease and the availability but I get the most satisfaction out of getting a bargain so I love to thrift at garage sales or charity stores.

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8. Favorite movie? I think I must be a pretty easy going person as once again I don’t really have an all time favourite but some that I have really enjoyed lately have been

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All great chick flicks that I laughed, cried and scoffed through!

Thank you to Alicia for tagging me, I enjoyed playing along and I would like to tag the following people to play; Laura at My Summerhouse

Trish at A Dream House for Trish Melli from Melli’s Designs

Sarah from Molly's Maison Catherine from A Time to Create

Please do not feel you have to play but if you would like to, I would love for you to answer the same questions that I did and please feel free to get assistance from Google if required! 1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? 2. What is your favorite band? 3. If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be? 4. Concert or Broadway show? 5. Theme song for your life? 6. Would you choose a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant or a picnic in the park? 7. Favorite place to shop? 8. Favorite movie? And for those of you who have managed to get to the end of my long winded post today I just want to finish up by saying thank you to both; Laura at My Summer House for awarding me with the Versatile Blogger Award

and Catherine from A Time to Create for giving me the Happy 101 Award

I really love that you thought of me and please accept this from me!

Thank you for visiting me and have a great day!

xx

Awards

I am so happy and excited as I have been received some awards over the last few weeks and I wanted to send each of the givers a big thankyou! I really appreciate everyone who visits my blog and all of the lovely comments you leave and the friendships that I have made over the last year.

Wow! I just realised that tomorrow is my blogiversary,

One year of blogging!

That’s exciting. I think I may have to do something special for it! Perhaps a giveaway of some kind? Hmmmm, let me think about it and I will get back to you!

Now back to the awards! I was fortunate enough to receive the Happy 101 award from the two following very talented and creative and lovely ladies:

Melli from Melli's Designs and Melinda from Alabaster Rose Designs. Thank you so much for giving me this award I really appreciate your friendship and your support! Melli has a lovely blog where she shares her beautiful artwork and her lovely home. Melli creates gorgeous personalised canvases and if you haven’t already seen them you should her work is wonderful as is she. Melinda designs and sells gorgeous jewellery, her work is so beautiful and you can see her creations on her blog. Make sure you visit, I love her white Wednesday posts she always features beautiful images from her lovely home. The rules of the Happy 101 award are to thank the giver (done), list 10 things that make you happy and then pass the award on to 5 people I think the hardest thing is to limit the list to only 10 things but I will try, here goes: 1) My Faith – Knowing that I am loved and accepted for who I am and that I will never be alone gives me so much joy in my life. It makes me very happy and provides me with a sense of peace and freedom. I don’t need to do anything to receive God’s love, I just need to accept it and that is wonderful! 2) My Husband – I have been so blessed to have this wonderful man love me and marry me! He is my best friend and I love sharing my life with him. 3) My Son – Nicholas is a wonderful boy and I am so proud to be his mother. He is a blessing to me and I am so very thankful for the precious gift that he is. He brings me so much joy and teaches me so much. I strive to be a better person so that he may be the best person he was created to be. 4) Sunshine – I love the sunlight. Beautiful clear days make me happy, they energise me and I love rooms that are light and airy. Spending time outside in the sun makes me happy. 5) God’s Creations – I am in awe of the beauty that is all around me. When I look at the ocean or at the mountains, the sky, the trees, the flowers …. I am overwhelmed by the awesomeness of it all and it makes me happy! 6) My Family – I have a wonderful family who supports me and loves me. I know that if I ever needed them they would do anything they could to help me. 7) My Friends – I have been blessed with some amazing friends. Some I have known for many years and others who I have only met recently. I love hearing from them and spending time with them. People who get me, get who I am, encourage me and keep me accountable. This makes me happy! 8) Flowers – I really love flowers, I know I included them in God’s Creations but flowers are really beautiful things. They have gorgeous colours and beautiful fragrances and they make me smile! 9) Music – Music makes me happy, not all music but the music that is associated with happy memories. I find music to be a very strong memory trigger and I think that it is very important to make sure that you select your music carefully for any special events. Whenever we sing a hymn or hear a song that played a part in our wedding I am instantly taken back to that day and it makes me happy! I love worship music as well. If I am in a bad mood or feeling sad I can put on a worship CD and it doesn’t take long before I am happy and thankful for all the blessing in my life. 10) Holidays – I love holidays. I can just get back from a holiday and I am already planning the next one. I love to get away with my family and relax, creating wonderful memories for the future. My theory is that children don’t grow up and remember how big their house was or how they always had new cars or ate at expensive restaurants. They remember the times that they spent time with their family doing lots of fun stuff and hanging out together. For me it works best it we try and get away so that we don’t get distracted by all the stuff around the house that we need to do or by other people stopping in to visit, but holidays don’t need to be expensive and you don’t have to leave your house. You just need to take the time to slow down and have fun together! I am going to pass this award on to the following 5 friends whose blogs make me happy and encourage me with their lovely comments: 1. Deb from Cappucino Cottage 2. Donna from Rosebuds and Bluebells 3. Flick from Everyday Chick 4. Abby from Two little Dicky Birds 5. Ange from Chair Up

The other award I received was the Versatile Blogger award from the Lovely and talented Flory from Living Creatively. Thank you so much Flory I am so glad that you enjoy my blog and I appreciate your encouraging comments.

Not only is Flory a lovely friend but she also is wonderfully creative. She has an etsy shop where she sells personalised note cards, prints and stationary. I bought this personalised set of note cards for a gift (can’t say who for, just in case they read this). The cards are just lovely and Flory’s items are so reasonably priced. You should go and have a look!

The rules for the Versatile Blogger award are to thank the giver (done), list seven things about myself and pass the awards on to 15 people. I am going to bend the rules a little and rather than risk boring you with another 7 things about me I will just say that this was included in my list of ten things that make me happy (see above) and rather than choose 15 friend to pass this on to I will limit it to the following 5 lovely friends: 1. Mara from Home Shabby Home 2. The Moerks from Lets go Moerkabout 3. Brismod from Fun and VJs 4. Kym from Kyandra Rose 5. Sarah from Mollys Maison If you haven’t visited any of the blogs that I have listed please do, you will find wonderful warm and caring people and inspiring interesting reads! There are so many more wonderful friends who deserve awards and who I would like to thank for visiting me and encouraging me and for being my friend. Thank YOU!!! I really enjoy your visits!

xx