Calender Make Over

Every year we get a new calender from the mosque . There is page for every day with the prayer times as well as the important days of the Islamic year. They are kindly sponsored from businesses around the local mosque. As we are not fortunate enough to live close to the mosque my father in law always gets us a calender .

 

With a little bit of scrap booking paper and a scapel and the trusy computer I converted the calender into a pretty picture that hangs in my kitchen. Very easy but what a difference it made.

 

Dolls clothes

My little girls preschool kindly let me leave my craft flyers at the preschool and bought some of my heat packs. Thank you very much.
During the conversation and noting my ability to sew asked if I could come up with some easy to take on and off  dolls clothes. I scanned around the web. Not really finding anything I could make and that would suit the kids.
That was until i spotted a pretty peaseant top that had an elastic neck line. I thought thats it. So after a bit of tweeking I have made the dress version in several colours and a top and matching shirt, Even a nappy to match. Hope the preschoolers enjoy.

Autumn is Here

Autumn is here. We are talking crisp cool morning. Days where the blue sky goes forever and cool nights to snuggle and sleep tight.
We are slipper shopping today and i have started my first scarf of the year. Love love Autumn.

My blog name

My blog name is a play on my husbands and my names. His being Gem and mine Julie so it seemed perfect to call the blog Gems and Jewels and as that aptly describes how precious my children are,  it seems the perfect fit.
Each of us precious but unique. Each of us shining and sparkling but with our unique characteristics .

I've Been a Crafting

Over the last couple of weeks I have been busily sewing. Making aprons, skirts, colouring in folders. However my greatest obsession has been paper mobiles. It started at Terrigal over Christmas. I saw them in a gift shop and said I could do that.

I found a great butterfly y template  at  http://bugsandfishes.blogspot.com she does a great mobile tutorial as well.I also did heart and stars and birds. It took all week to make them. Cutting, sewing  in and around the general chaos that is my home.

 

My Before and After Photos

This is me before along  side my little girl and wonderful husband

This  is me three years later again with my angel. Enjoying our summer holidays

A Busy Week

My son has returned from his stay at his Nana's farm refreshed, very tanned and full of the animals he saw or touched. he rode his motor bike. He loves the freedom of the farm and not competing for attention from his little brother and sister. Mudgee is about 4hrs from here and even at 8 it is a long way. so in years to come the little ones will go but for now he has the monoply.

Monday was our running around day appointments for Billal gym for me and the rest household duties ie grocery shopping bill payiong . I am sure you all know the drill.Then some crafting i made fabric covers for note books they look great and aprons. I am planning a mother's day stall to sell my wares maybe at the markets. not sure or just a garage sale.

Tuesday was gym, then off to meet my friend at Lollipops which is like a funland for kids climbing equipment dress ups etc. Sometimes i think Allah sends someone your way just when you need them. We were talking about budgeting  and being mindful of your money, but also the blessing we have been given with our wealth. She also mentioned that she has only being eating Hillal food and even travelled 30minutes to go to a MacDonalds that only serves hilal. It has inspired me to do the same. How simple is it!Thank you Allah.

Wednesday starting with appointment for OT. we are working on thinking two steps ahead.Stopping and thinking what the outcome of a decision might be. It isn't a dramatic therapy but i know over time it will help. It gives him food for thought and allows him to apply different strategies to help  him cope better at school.Then gym and then home. Where my eldest daughter shouted lunch subway for us and Macca's for the kids very generous and much appreciated. She loves to spoil us and we enjoy it too.  The rest of the afternoon was a massive dust, clean and sparkle. which was exhausting but when i woke up this morning to smell the freshness. it was worth every minute. Whilst cleaning i take breaks by reading books to the kids and helping my son through a level of BEN 10 on his playstation.Its nice to be home.

Today  my plan is gym again and then home for lunch and then onto lollipops again to meet my mother in law and foster son for a fun afternoon with the kids. I know lollipops twice. Last week we had nothing on this week we haven't stopped. Luckily the kids love it there and they make great coffee.

There is a theme in my week which is the gym. Prairiewood leisure centre in fact.I try to do at least 7hours a week of classes. This week i will get to 10Hrs. WHOOO HOOO!!!
 My obsession for the gym has stemmed from me losing nearly 50kg. It took me 37weeks and i have now kept it off for two years. It is one of my greatest accomplishments. I always wish i had done it sooner but Allah knows best.
I used the weight watchers programme and still do. I count points and use portion sizes. I do fall off the wagon but always get back on. There is no going back.

I was going to upload photos but its not working this morning so stay tuned....

I am struggling with the button thing

I have been trying for the past three days to put buttons on my blog. Unsuccessfully! As an interim to my issues for now i thought i would list the blogs i love and you could link to them that way.

Trendy Treehouse - http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com
Craftaholics Anomonous- http://www.diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com
12 days of Christmas - http://www.twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com
Gerties Blog for better sewing http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/

They have great blogs. They are insightful generous and have lots of humor. The above blogs are apart my morning bookmark check. All these ladies rock!!!!!!!

Today

Today was our annual banking day, the day when we gather our money boxes and deposit them into the bank. My son and daughter were very excited to give their money to the bank and see how much they had saved over the year. My youngest on the other hand liked the idea until the bank took his money and wouldn't give it back. At that moment I dragged a screaming 3 year old  away. Not the best experience with banking so I pray he is not scarred for life.
This brings me to a conclusion of 2010.Let the new year begin.( i know i am a bit late)
I have made many new year resolutions this year but my biggest is to get more organised and financially in a better place. On one income and four children with no government assistance it can get very tough and I find the older the kids get and the more things they do the harder it gets. Every activity every term is minimum $200. My sons OT and pediatrician fees have eaten a great big whole in the budget.And the cost of living has dramatically increased over the last two years.
I now plan to slow down ,take inventory and make do with everything we have.

 My Plans to achieve this

1. I am planning to avoid the shops as much as posssible to reduce the incidentals and the "ooo" isn't that nice purchases.

2. make list of Birthday presents and Ramadan monies and gifts. I am not going to sway from these.

3. Using up my pantry items and then only re stocking what we need.

4. using recipes that don't require one off ingredients.

5. make a list of the grocery items purchased  then check whether we need it or not.

That is all for now but i am sure better ideas will come. please comment  if you have any money saving ideas. I would appreciate all the help I can get.

My First Tutorial- Upcycled Notebook

A little nervous beginning this tutorial, I Love doing all things craft but sometimes the costs can be quite daunting. So this year I am trying to use what I have to enjoy my crafting obsession. My husband gets lots of end of year gifts from his suppliers in particular notepads . I took these notepads and turned them into pretty gifts. I plan on donating them to my son's school for the mother's day stall.

  My Raw Material

I then went about with some wave pattern craft scissors and took the logo off the bottom . I saved these for a further project.

I then cut out two pieces of plain paper to line the inside of the note pad. Good quality printer paper worked best as other paper I had was to thick and made the notebooks buckle.Using clear gum  secured the paper to the inside trimming off any excess with scissors.

Once lined, the fun and creativity began . Scrapbook paper and embellishments at hand I set about covering the notepad.

I used clear gum i attached the paper and trimmed any excess and then using some tags  and brads added a label. 

 

The final product. Overall I made eight of them with varying paper and embellishments of ribbon, hand made flowers

You now ask what happen to those strips of paper that came of the bottom of the notepads.Up cycled to gift bows

 

The love of learning

 I love learning and I am always trying new ways to inspire  my children to learn. Museums,parks, shopping centres I try and take every opportunity to show them or teach them something. This morning i stumbled across a fantastic i need to say it again FANTASTIC website for any one with preschoolers and as i have two its double the fun.http://preschoolpalace.org. It is an invaluable source of work sheets and ideas to teach your children nearly everything it even has assessment sheets. Brilliant.

One of the best sites for my eldest boy he starts year three next year is a site called Smartkiddies www.studyladder.com.au it is a great maths tutoring program it also has an english section but i have not utilised this as yet so unsure about how good it is . I highly recommend the maths though. 20min a day and it runs through the entire NSW curriculum giving a lesson and question on all topics. I am sure this is the reason for my son maintaining B's this year.