Inspired Blueprints

So much for my plan to post on my blog on a regular basis, it is just not happening for me lately even though I have a ton of things I want to share. I think maybe this happened last footy season too..
So long overdue for sharing are my two layouts from Inspired Blueprints sketches.

sketch86

sketch 87

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with another share.
Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Bird is the Word

After a little break Bird is the Word is back up and running with monthly prompts again, Yay! The new word is "Moment".
I gathered together supplies and made quite a mess (thats half the fun) making this one, but am super happy with how it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Illustration Friday

I have continued practising my drawing by following along with the Illustration Friday themes, I thought (wrongly) that after a few weeks that "wham" it would all fall into place and my drawings would be like some of the other amazing ones that are on the site.....BIG reality check...there not....I got frustrated for awhile and almost crumpled the whole lot up and threw them away.
I know that some might say thats a really defeatist attitude to have and they would be right, but I just couldnt move past how simple and amateurish the drawings were. That is until one night my sons girlfriend saw one of them and said how cool it was....
That one simple little comment made me stop and think and realise that I was over thinking the whole drawing exercise. All the other creative/crafty things that I do, I do because I love doing them, they make me feel happy. I needed to get to that place with my drawing!
When I sat back and really looked at what I was drawing I realised that it didnt matter what they looked like, it mattered that I was enjoying the process. I may continue to draw these simple illustrations or they may get better, but I know now that it doesnt matter as long as I keep enjoying my drawing,.

The collage above are drawings ive done over the last few weeks, Egg, Urban, Friends and Wild.
They are all either coloured pencil or watercolour. Ive done a couple more that I have yet to uplaod but will do so over the comming days.
I want to thank Ash for making me stop and realise that I was being way to criticial of myself.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Lets go fishing...

 I have been totally slack at updating lately, I have the posts all planned out but seem to run out of hours to sit here and type up a post. Quite a few family stories to tell as well as craftiness to share in the future so stay tuned :)

Good Friday was a rare day that everyone not just had the day off  BUT were actually all going to be at home at the same time!!
Josh wanted to go fishing so we thought we would make a family day of it, so we packed up and headed down the coast to the Spit. We tried a spot on the rocks but after the lines kept on getting snagged we moved further down to the beach. Much more comfortable for those of us who dont fish haha.
As per usual John spent most of his time sorting out rods and lines and whatever else it is he does with them (im clueless).



The boys enjoyed themselves and even Ash had a go fishing (some of the time) whilst Shantel and I just sat and watched or I wandered and took photos - as you do.
Always wanted to do the writing in the sand thing haha

It was a fabulous day, I loved just being all together, all of us  (7 now - gosh we are growing) and enjoying the time because it is a very rare occurence.
As the sun started to set we headed home to a big seafood dinner (brought not caught lol).
Hopefully we can fit more of these type of days in this year.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Scrap the boys

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With 3 teenage boys who are constantly on the go, school, sport, work and girlfriends I am definately never at a loss for something to scrap.

They have learnt over the years that mum wants//needs photos and are usually pretty giving....the older two with girlfriends I get more photos from with the invention of instagram and iphone cameras!

This month I had a play along with the Scrap the Boys challenge, a sketch. My youngest helping out his Pa on our last trip to Tassie!

 

I had a short break from my crocheting and have some more layout to share, will have a post with them some time this week.

Thanks for stopping by.
Lis :)

Crochet - Works in progress

Somewhere along the way I changed the way I undertake projects. I used to be very big on finishing one thing before I started on something else. This is certainly not the case lately, when you are continually browsing around the internet looking at Pinterest and FlickR and pages on Facebook  as well  my instagram feed its hard not to be inspired to start up a new project.
Maybe I shouldnt be starting so many new projects and just be concentrating on one till its done, but Ive found that with one large project going that a few little ones actually help me to get the larger one finished, im not getting bored with such a large job (does that make sense?).

I thought I would share what projects I am working on at the moment - these are just my crochet projects (hah yep I have others too).

A little secret project for a special day comming up soon.

 This started as me playing around trying out different stitches but has turned into a baby blanket for a friend.
 

After making my ripple cushion a few weeks back I decided that my bed needed another one so am going with a granny square one.

 My ripple blanket which I am almost finished, jsut a few more rows to go and its all done and ready to be packaged up and sent to Tassie for a new baby boy who will be here soon!
 

 
I also may  have just gone out and got some pretty girly colours to start on another blanket using a new (to me) pattern I found the other day. Not sure how this will turn out but willing to give it a try.

 What projects are you working on ? Please share links with me I would love to see and of course if you have any favourite patterns would love to see those too.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Books to read

I love reading, always have and over the years have read many books from a variety of different authors and genres. I don't really have a favourite, although in my 20's I did collect every Virginia Andrews book that came out!!
Since I started to get into all my different craft/art projects reading has taken a bit of a back seat. At the beginning of this year I made a list of all the books I had here at home that I have yet to read and my plan is that over the year I will get them all read (and hopefully more).
So far this year I have managed to read 3 books and am part way through another, for me that's pretty good seeing as though we have only just hit April.

 

My Sisters Keeper I sourced and read after seeing it on a few other blogs and WOW I'm glad I did. Although it was a little hard to follow at first with every chapter being through a different characters eyes, it was amazing and had in me in tears a lot of the time. Not sure I want to see the movie.....

Lucky Man, I had to force myself to finish, whilst I did enjoy it to start with it was very heavy on the medical facts about Parkinson's Disease.

 The Next Thing on My List I picked up at a thrift store because I like the cover lol. It was a fun light read.

 

 I have a whole list of Jodi Picoult books that i want to read, I really like her style so far. Jean Auel wrote a series of books of which I have read the first few, would love to find copies of them so that I can read again before I start on the last one.

My list of books to read

The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum
Jessica - Bryce Courtney
Marley & Me - John Grogan
The Last Juror - John Grisham
The Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank (re-read)
The Shelters of Stone - Jean M Auel
Wuthering Heights - Bronte
Keeping Faith - Jodi Picoult (currently reading)
The Pact - Jodi Picoult
The Forgotten Children - David Hill
Tandia - Bryce Courtney
The Valley of the Horses - Jean M Auel (re-read)
Picture Perfect - Jodi Picoult

I love browsing through books at thrift shops and picking up books for really cheap and I'm sure this list will have grown by the end of the year.

Do you read ? What books or authors do you love ?
Would love some suggestions for great reads.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)