30 Day Challenge

They (whoever they are!) say that if you do something for three weeks it will become a habit. Well I have decided to put it to a test and set myself a 30 Day Challenge. My challenge will start tomorrow, Wednesday September 24th and go until October 23rd. As I suffer with a few allergy issues that Doctors have no idea what is causing them, I have decided to put my ideas into action. So I am cutting out potato chips, sugary sweets and soft drink out of my diet, because I think these could be contributing to the problem. 

Just a couple of my deductions

Also as I am still having major issues moving my frozen shoulder and I have been doing my exercises every day for the past four months without much progress I have decided to do thirty minutes of exercises for the thirty days and see what my progress is.

I am also one to write lists for everything I have to do. Unfortunately more often than not my lists just get added to instead of diminishing. So another part of my challenge to myself is to complete something from my to do list each day.

My Goals

Do you have issues that you would like to work through? Are there things in your life you would like to out of your life or are there things you would like to bring into your life. You are more than welcome ato join our little group on our Facebook page or otherwise just join me on my blog. Together we can all turn wishes into habits.

My week in Lilli Pilli

Well my week in Lilli Pilli (outskirts of Batemans Bay) comes to an end tomorrow morning. I have had the best time hanging out with my son Shane, his wife Stacey and my two adorable grandsons O'Shea (3yr) and Finn (9mths). I don't get to spend a lot of time with this half of my family because we live in different states so it is really special when we are together. One day O'Shea and I went for a walk to the beach which is only about 300 metres away. We had fun exploring all the nooks and cranny's of the coastline.

There was lots of exploring done at the beach

Little Finny boy decided to stay home and have a snooze 

Then there was the day we went to the park for a picnic and a play

Most of the week was just spent just spending time with the boys although today we all headed off to the Mogo Zoo. Strangely I had never heard of this zoo but I was more than pleasantly surprised. It was really well set out and had a pretty good range of animals for a small seaside are. Finn had a happy day as usual, he is such a happy little man.

The big Silver Back was spectacular

This guy was having a bite to eat but kept his eye on me

O'Shea should sleep well tonight as he hasn't stopped running around all day. He just loved looking at all the animals even the huge Burmese Python that had a full belly of something large.

These guys also kept an eye on me

I am really going to miss these guys when I get back home, luckily I have Skype  so I can see their beautiful faces.

My Solo Journey

Today I headed off early on my journey to Batemans Bay where my son Shane and his family live. Knowing that the distance between Eltham and Batemans Bay was to much for me to do in one day I decided to stay in Eden for the night. 

After heading off just after 7am my first stop to stretch my legs was a couple of hours down the highway at my cousin Susan's. It was also nice to spend some time with her. Then it was back on the road stopping every now and then to have a stretch. One such stop was in the tiny village of Cann River. Cann River is alway a must stop, not only for a loo stop but the bakery has the best lamington. 

Finally after 544kms I reached my nights destination Eden. Considering the distance I had driven I felt ok but my eyes were really tired so it was time for a snooze. After a refreshing hours sleep and a bit of a walk it was time for my much awaited dinner. Fish and Chips down at Eden wharf. Not to many meals are better than fresh fish and chips by the water. 

Made from Pinterest

With a couple of markets coming up I thought it was probably a good time to make some jewellery stock so I've got something to sell. Because my stock of earrings was down to about four pairs I thought was the best place to start. So that was were I started, although my thought process for this creative episode was a bit different to what it normally is. Normally I am not a very pinky sort of designer or wearer. But for some reason all the beads I was picking up seemed to be in the pinky girly shades. After finishing I was pretty happy with where my mind took me. But something was missing, I wanted some cards to display my cards on, but I wanted something a little different. That's where Pinterest come in. I have seen this idea several times and in several variations on Pinterest, so I thought I would give it a go. First I borrowed this punch from my lovely friend Michelle from Joy Express.  I cut them out of Watercolor paper and thought I would use three bright watercolours.

I bought this watercolor paper way back in the 80's when I lived in New York -
I knew I kept it for a reason. 

This punch was just perfect for my little job - thanks Michelle

With a group of cards held together with a couple of elastic bands I slightly wet the edges of paper with a spray bottle. Next with a wet paint brush I dabbed the top edge of the cards with three different colours. Having the paper wet allowed the colours to blend down into the cards. 

I am pretty happy with the randomness of the colours

 After the cards had dried I gave them a bit of an iron - not they really needed it. 

Then again with the help of Pinterest I made this little tool to punch a couple of holes into the card to put the earrings into. All it is a small piece of wood with a couple of pins superglued onto it.

Very simple but very clever idea to punch two holes into my cards

I started punching the holes on an old mouse mat,
but then realized just doing it on the ironing board was just as easy. 

After putting a little DavineRaeDesign sticker on the back it was time to complete my display with the actual earrings. 

I am very happy with my end result. 

I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out. I'd love to hear your opinion.