Well, I have been very busy for the last few weeks and feel myself finally emerging from school carnival and shipping container chaos. The school carnival was successfully carried out and much fun was had by all. The very next day our Australian shipping container arrived and I have been wading through way too many boxes and possessions ever since. It would have been fine if I was just unpacking and putting away but, not having seen everything in nearly two years, there was much more sorting (and giving away) than normal. Why did we keep all this stuff???? I really wonder at my state of mind sometimes but many conversations with friends and family has made me realise this is a very common occurrence. I am making a pact with myself to sort through at least one cupboard/drawer every other week to make sure we don't start accumulating unnecessary items again. After two international moves in two years I can honestly say that I would like to keep my house 'pack ready' all the time so we can move with more ease next time. Short notice is not uncommon and to be ready would be much less stressful. I will comment down the track as to how my resolve holds out on that one.
In the meantime Miss E and I did complete a few projects with our cherished blue and white stripey shells and here are the photos of our endeavours. It was very hard to take photos with the glass in the frames so these are not the best pictures. I am looking forward to starting my photography course to learn these things! The top one is a simple project of symmetrically arranged shells inside a shadow frame. Very predictable I know but I like it all the same and I have had quite a few comments on it from visitors so that gives me a nice little buzz.
This one is a joint effort between Miss E and myself. She wanted to make a frame to hold David's annual Father's Day photo of the kids (I take a photo of the two of them together holding a sign - handmade by Miss E now that she is older - saying 'We love you Daddy' or, this year, 'Happy Dad's Day'). The brown toned shells were David's favourites so Miss E just painted the frame a nice light blue and we glued a pattern of shells onto it. I have been trying to find a spray varnish to finish it off but haven't had any luck here yet.
This picture is Miss E's creation and I love it. She mixed the background colour herself until she was happy with the shade, painted it on to a piece of medium weight card, I drew the swan outline and then she applied lots of glue and placed all the shells on top. She finished off with some of her sparkly little 3-D stickers which I think really make it. I will try and take a better photo of it hanging up in her room once we get that done maybe.