Patch of Paradise

2011-03-24T15:39:00.004+11:00

"Life begins when you accept that you are responsible for your own destiny - take charge now"

And thanks to the new forum Chat with Charm that has been set up with a huge number of blog challenges and the great inspiration that is available in one spot - I've scrapped!!!!!! The first one is for Scrap the Girls and I just loved the "She" quotes that Kate has listed on the site and couldn't wait to get stuck in and scrap this gorgeous photo of Jessie :). Using lots of new stuff that I've recently received from Scrapboutique, where Chelsea has been getting in some of the yummiest products around :).
and this one I finished off after the Donna Downey classess I attended a few weeks ago now at a local shop - it was a super, duper UGLY piece of paper and I've added lots of layers of paint, glimmermist, ink and more paint - I think I've made the ugly paper look heaps nicer :).

2011-03-19T12:03:00.002+11:00

"simplify your life - it will reduce stress and give you more time to be joyful"

how true is that quote, but easy to do????? perhaps not. Life certainly has gotten busier here with me working a few days a week ontop of all the usual stuff that still needs doing, but I'm happy, super happy so all is good for now.

And check this out Nic Pomeroy is having a massive giveaway (check it out here http://nmpomeroy.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-75000-hit-giveaway.html - and just check out her scrapping/art/inspiration, always love visiting her blog to see what she's been creating.

And I've not scrapped much since my last post ...... but I was super lucky to attend a couple of Donna Downey's workshops at the Pages 2 Scrap shop at Tuggerah last weekend. To say I was inspired would be an understatement, just loved her enthusiasm and the incredible amount of talent she has - I'm busily working on finishing off the projects we did, but so far not much luck, between work, school open day, trips to Sydney, Newcastle Show Day and the everything else I'm only now sitting down to have a play - wish me luck!!!!!!!

2011-02-01T14:43:00.007+11:00

"take advantage of the healing power of laughter"

and wowsers in January I managed to complete a whole 8 LO's!!!!!! YAY ME!!!!!!!.

This first one is Week 3 of my 52 weeks album, we spent 5 days in the beautiful Jervis Bay and the kids swam, some canoeing, some sailboarding for Tim, some scootering for Pat, and more swimming, was the perfect little getaway before the kids had to head back to school.
and this one is Week 4 of - using the sketch for February over at Scrapboutique. We had a super fun day over on the lake for Australia Day - great way to spend it too.

The kids have all eagerly returned to school with Jess starting Year 6, Pat in Year 5 and Drew starting Year 3, so that's it for the infants department for us :(, all too quickly!!!!!!

2011-01-15T17:11:00.003+11:00

What a week, floods in Qld and bushfires in WA, and now also flooding in parts of Vic and Tassie, what is happening with the weather, it's all so sad and horrific and heartbreaking. But it's been great to see the fantastic Aussie spirit shine through and people helping out in whatever way they can :).

And inbetween ferrying kids around I've managed some scrapping, both are for challenges at Scrapboutique, and both are for the first two weeks of my 52 week album - great start, hope I can keep up with it :). The first one is about my word for the year "balance" I need to find a better balance between work and "play" and kids and hubby and life in general, fingers crossed I can achieve it throughout the year.

And this one using lots and lots of numbers, as I've watched my odometer tick over and over and over with all the trips this week :) . Lucky kids and the great social life they all have!!!!!!

Please may this week be full of good news and sunshine.

2011-01-05T13:27:00.003+11:00

"View every life change as an opportunity to make your life more fulfilling"

So here's my first ever entry for Stuck Sketches, gee it feels great to be plowing through all our holiday piccies :). Used up some more bits on my desk ranging from October Afternoon, Basic Grey, 7 Gypsies, Maya Rd, etc, etc, etc. At least it's a few less things I'll have to pack up one day :)

And I think I've made some sort of record - I've done 4 LO's in 5 days - crazy huh!!!!!! This last one is for the Savvy sketch challenge for the month :), lots of leftovers again, some paint, some bling, some stamping and some really old Fancy Pants papers and ta-da :) GO ME!!!!!!!

2011-01-02T15:48:00.004+11:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

it's been so long since I blogged last that I thought I had forgotten my password, but the old grey matter can remember some things - LOL, and better late than never so .........

I hope everyone has had an awesome Chrissy and fabulous New Year - we sure did :). And I've been re-invigorated to scrap, had a few very unmotivated months there!!!!! But glad to say I've found my groove again and I'm all excited :).

So here's one I completed yesterday, just because I was in the mood - one of the billion of photos I took while we in WA last year!!!!! Used up lots of scraps and bits and pieces just sitting around on my desk.

and this one I finished off today for the most recent Bons Room of the Month Challenge - just loved the room and the colours depicted so couldn't wait to get stuck in :). Once again lots of different products that happened to be cluttering up the desk so it was about time I used them up.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I'll be also re-invigorated to actually blog a little more regularly this year too - but don't count on it - LOL!!!!!!!!

2010-10-05T09:43:00.020+11:00

"take time out to follow your dreams - your life will be immeasurably richer"

and we're back!!!!!! we've been off having the most wonderful adventure :). We have spent the last 3 weeks in wonderful WA living life and having a blast. On Saturday, 11 September we flew from Sydney to Perth where we picked up this little beauty to be our home for the next 11 days, and then proceeded to travel around south-western WA trying to squeeze in as much as possible so here's a very small "snapshot" of where we went and what we saw:
Fremantle of course, just love the place and could spend longer wandering around, of course had to visit the goal which was only closed in 1992 and the markets and other "old" places

Then we travelled onto Bunbury, where we visited the Dolphin Center and wandered around a really gorgeous town, onto Bussellton and the jetty (which unfortunately was closed for refurbishment - next visit we'll get to walk it!!!!!)

Of course we also had to stop at Margaret River, I had to sample some of the local wines :) and of course Tim had to see Prevelly Beach, it's one of the places he's always dreamed of sailboarding at - again next time when we drive over we'll take all the gear for him to do that :). And of course we had to visit some of the beautiful caves too:

Down further to Augusta and Cape Leeuwin and the lighthouse, Tim and the kids went inside and up to the top :)

Around further to the Gloucester Tree which once again Tim had to climb a straight up 72mt (I think) to the fire lookout platform at the top!!!!!!, no safety gear or anything you just climb on up!!!!!! and of course also onto the Valley of the Giants and the treetop walk (which I even managed to do even though it was blowing a gale and I'm terrified of heights - yay for me)!!!!!

Off and onto Albany a gorgeous old whaling town, where we did see whales in the bay, magnificent, amazing, beautiful animals, it's crazy to think that not long ago they were nearly hunted into extinction:

and of course the wonderful landscape down there, natural bridge, the gap, the sheer coastline, the wind!!!!!!

and then back to Perth, where of course we spent one day pottering around the city and the other over on Rottnest Island, cycling around and checking out these cute little quokkas:

From Perth we flew up to Broome, where we had to go to Tim's brothers wedding, and I have to say if you're getting married than Broome is one of the most gorgeous places to have a wedding :), David and Ange walking down the isle:

The wedding reception was held at Eco Beach Resort, so after the wedding we had a nearly 3 hour catamaran ride over to the resort, what a gorgeous way to spend a wedding day and the next couple of days we resorted it up, drinking, eating, partying and watching the most gorgeous sunsets you can imagine:

After the wedding we bused it back to Broome for a couple of days of the sightseeing (in 38 degree heat!!!!!!) and of course more sunsets off Cable Beach:

we also saw the staircase to the moon while we were there, but the tide was a fraction too high so it wasn't the best viewing, but it was still amazing to watch. And of course we had to go to Malcolm Douglas's crocodile farm, particularly after his sudden death :(, where the boys got to hold these baby crocodiles:

and then last but not least we drove all the way from Broome to Karratha (in a mini-bus) with the newly married couple to spend a few days with them in their home, so a big day of 8hours of driving, the kids were amazing for the trip and we got back to Dave and Ange's place all intact!!!!!! We visited the Burras' (actually at Dampier), but just down the road and Woodside gas mining and did some more swimming

Before finally flying home again so Pat and Tim could compete in the State BMX races held at Tamworth on the weekend - Pat came an impressive 19th in his age group and Tim came 7th - whoop whoooooo!!!!!!!!! all that with no training for nearly 4 weeks!!!!!!

Now we are finally home and I just loved sleeping in my own bed last night :), back to reality and the washing, ho-hum!!!!!!

Hope everyone has been happy and well.

2010-08-31T11:31:00.002+10:00

"take responsibility for changing yourself; no one else can do it for you"

and I've been at it again, sssshhhhhhhhhhhh .............. don't tell anyone - LOL!!!!!! I had so much fun creating yesterday that I whipped this one up this morning, lots of Fancy Pants goodness with a spash of a Kaiser wood frame, LYB ribbon and BG tabs, a bit of ink, string and paint and tada ..........
one of my favourite photos of Drew, taken earlier this year, isn't he a big spunk :), I used the Room of the Month challenge over at Bons' to kickstart it. Now I really, really, really should start on my list of things!!!!!!

2010-08-30T15:16:00.002+10:00

"Making a difference really is possible - one person at a time"

And it feels like forever since I was last here and updated, or even just scrapped for that matter!!!!!!! Life has been super, duper busy and I should be doing other things today, but guess what I've ignored it just for a few hours to create this, and boy did it feel good, got nice a messy with some texture paste, ink, paint the works, just love it and here's what I created:
It started off for Niq's challenge at the recent SnB "mini" cybercrop, but it morphed into something else instead - LOL. And now it's back to the list of things I'm supposed to be doing today - ummmmmaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-10T15:32:00.003+10:00

"giving love and dignity to others enriches your life and theirs"

I've been having a lovely day today, actually doing some scrapping ....... gotta love it when a plan actually goes to plan :). Just had to scrap this "new" old car that we bought, a beautiful '62 EK Holden in completely original condition, the colour is atlantic coral or salmon or something like that anyway :) and her names Kay :). The kids just love her and so do Tim & I, we are getting seat belts put in the back for the kids so then we can actually drive her without stressing all the time about the kids sliding all around the place in the back :), they think that's a bit special, but I don't!!!!!!! I've used the new Fancy Pants Wishful papers and stickers available at Scrapbooknbits shop, I've added some Pink Paislee big numbers and MME brads and the cool Studio Calico Fabrips that I got in a kit from Bons :)
and this one is using the scraps up from the kit that Peta sent me for DOTM for Scrapbooking from Scratch in June, got the idea from the Aussie Scrap Source blog awhile ago where they DT were challenged to use strips in a similar sort of way :) and as you can see my sewing machine is still copping a workout :_
Hope everyone is enjoying their school holidays, we've just finished one very busy one and have another 2 to go :).

2010-06-27T11:00:00.004+10:00

"when making major choices, be guided by what is most precious to you, not by others' expectations of you"

Interested in a free class then pop along to the SnB forum Monday night at 7.30pm and I'll show you how to create this LO :), I've used lots of the new BG Max & Whiskers papers, some October Afternoon, some Tim Holtz paints, inks and bits and some leftover Prima packaging (would have hated to waste it - LOL!!!!!!!)
and here is another LO I completed for DOTM at ScrapbookingfromScratch and the new Girls Paperie - On Holiday kit that Peta has put together, and if you missed out on purchasing one of them before, than Peta has more available now :)

It's a gorgeous sunshiny day here today so I'm off outside to enjoy, I hope you do too :)

2010-06-17T11:48:00.003+10:00

"move out of your comfort zone to help those needier than you"

and here are my other DOTM LO's, how nice is that diecut paper :). Using a photo from Mothers Day this year, Pat as usual has the "dumb" look on his face, what is with doing that in every photo I take of that boy!!!!!
and this one, added some splats of glimmermist and my trusty dymo :) gotta love the dymo :)

and I'm currently working on another LO using this awesome kit and have another one planned in my brain - LOL!!!!!!! so you certainly get bang for your buck from this amazing ScrapbookingfromScratch kit.

and in other news, not much, the usual chase my tail around and never feel like I'm actually doing anything!!!!!!

2010-06-09T15:07:00.003+10:00

DOTM

that's me - pretty cool hey, got no idea what I'm talking about, then let me explain I'm the Designer of the Month over at Scrapbooking From Scratch , I was so excited when the lovely Peta contacted me and asked if I would be her designer for June :), hope I live up to the expectations!!!!!!! and she sent me this wonderful kit, jam packed full of the NEW The Girls' Paperie On Holiday Papers, Stickers and Diecuts along with some Twiddlebitz chipboard arrows, a gorgeous pack of all new products. And here is the first LO I created from the kit, the colours and products suit both male and female orientated photos. Love this photo of our gorgeous "little", big, girl and couldn't wait to get to work, check out Peta's kits you won't be disappointed.

and this LO I started for a sketch challenge over at Bons, but didn't get it finished in time ...... seems to be the story of my life lately. Used the new Basic Grey Max & Whiskers range and the Basics range, teamed up with Prima papers and transparency which were/are all available over at Scrapbooking n' Bits , and check out all the new stuff Karen has in store too, Fancy Pants, Kaiser, Tim Holtz and more :). The photo is of my DH's family gathering that we have every year at Chrissy and every year there's always a few more new great grandchildren to squeeze into the frame.
I'm busy creating more LO's for my DOTM role at Scrapbooking from Scratch so pop back soon and check out what else I've done :)

2010-05-20T11:59:00.005+10:00

"never leave for tomorrow a loving comment that could be made today"

well that's another month that has successfully flown by!!!!!! last weekend saw in the SnB retreat a wonderul 4 days of scrapping, eating, laughing, enjoying and shopping :), Karen had available some of the new Basic Grey Basics along with the Max & Whiskers range, just love the colours from this range :). Over the retreat I was able to complete 7 LO's and started and 8th - YIPPEEEEEEE was so excited to have accomplished so much.

Here is just a taste of what I created, the first one in using some of the new Websters papers, along with a smattering of Prima and Maya Rd thrown in for good measure and a chipboard chandelier (not sure where I got that from but have to love it :)), add a little ink and some of the new Tim Holtz crackle paint and ta-da: Tried to mimick the lovely Kathy Links whimsical style, not sure if I pulled it off, but I was very happy with the clouds I made, simple cardstock and glimmermist, too easy!!!!!! and had to use the new October Afternoon papers and stickers, and some new Basic Grey basics papers (which Karen should be adding to the site soon) the LYB clear clothesline stickers , some old Crate rubons some Jenni Bowlin "banner" stickers and some bubble trim, and the boys with their latest catch of edible fish - yummmmoooooooo.
and the last one for today is this one of our gorgeous girl, she's going to have lots of "sniffers" as she gets older, and used the new Crate Paper papers and stickers and brads available through the SnB store too :) and I added a Jenni Bowlin butterfly (very cute): Thanks for stopping by and hopefully it won't be another month before I actually update this thing again!!!!!!!

2010-04-16T16:36:00.003+10:00

"we usually teach what we most need to learn"

busy, busy, busy, that's what we've been for these school holidays, we spent some of Easter in Bathurst celebrating little Sid's christening and Tim's sisters 40th birthday party - loads of good fun!!!!! home to have my wonderful SIL and her 5 children to stay for a few days, back to Bathurst for a funeral and an unexpected sleepover in Kurrajong (due to a huge truck smash on the F3 freeway, which clogged up all north bound traffic), but it did mean we spent a day with the kids bushwalking and chillin' out with their cousins some more :). Home for a couple of days and today we spent it at the movies and then the beach, just perfect weather for it, just love this time of year. And tomorrow I'm cooking up a storm to take a heap of food to a party in Sydney on Sunday, I'll be glad when the holidays are over and I can resume the normal routine!!!!!!!

Below is a LO I started for a challenge yonkers ago ........ I did finish it awhile ago too, but kept on forgetting to photograph it!!!!!, I've used a wonderful WIOIN kit that the lovely Linda sent to me as a RAK awhile ago - thanks again Linda for your generous surprise, these products are just so me :). It's Pat of course still riding a "mini-bike" he had when he was 2, still hasn't lost its charm even after 7 years of constant riding!!!!!!.
In other news this Tuesday, 20th April will see the start of another Bon's CyberCrop, starts at 7.30pm and as always there will be loads of inspiring challenges and prizes up for grabs, not to mention lots of fun and chatter, hope to see you all there :).

For those of us still on school holidays hope you all enjoy the last 2 days left before the "routine" begins again :), and those who are already in the routine - lucky you :).

2010-04-01T17:19:00.008+11:00

"never miss an opportunity to encourage and nurture a child - help them to become the best person they can be".

WARNING too, the following pics may be disturbing for some people, these are the shots of Pat's injuries after taking a 9ft drop on his mountainbike last Friday, I took these photos 2 days after it had happened so alot of swelling had already gone down!!!!! I just thank god that Pat was wearing his full faced helmet and body armour, as Tim honestly thought he was dead!!!!!!, but nothing broken at all, just lots of lacerations and bruising, he's one tough nut!!!!!

The elbow that required only 2 stitches,and his very bruised face, glued chin and swollen/split top lip, all his gums were split open too and his front 2 teeth were wobbly, but the dentists xrays show they are still intact :). and the drop he went down, hard to show exactly how steep it is and that big log that Pat is standing on is what he hit with his face/chest!!!!! he's so lucky that he's walking and talking and in one piece, I thank god everynight for saving our son. and I've had a massive cleanup of our house - took just over 2 weeks, but everyroom has been decluttered and reorganised and it feels AWESOME, lots of rubbish/junk to the tip and some more to the op. shop and lots of clothes to the kids cousins, GONE, GONE, GONE, love it. So to celebrate I scrapped a page today, orginally I started this for a Savvy challenge, but didn't get it finished in time (I was on a mission), so now it's done using lots of the new Prima loveliness from SnB, and I totally lifted this from an idea I saw on the web, somewhere, oneday!!!!!!!
So I'll get in early and say HAPPY EASTER to everyone. Stay safe and drive carefully if you're going away this weekend :) and enjoy whatever it is you're up too.

2010-03-17T16:43:00.001+11:00

Just a quickie - LOL, can't resist a good giveaway a bit of a RAK a bit of fun then head over to the Lovely Linda's blog and check out the enormous RAK she's getting together to give away.

http://loopylouslens.blogspot.com/

Someone or someones are going to be very happy :)

2010-03-08T12:58:00.002+11:00

"always be loving and uplifting and you will live without regrets"

and caring and positive and sensitive :) .

and I've been scrapping, this is the LO for the free class I held over at SnB last week, using up some of the older stock to make room for the CHA goodies that Karen is getting in :).
and I scrapped this one today, while I should be doing paperwork for a committee meeting tonight (but that's hours and hours away yet - LOL) so I thought I'd squeeze some scrapping time in instead. This one is for Flis's sketch challenge at Bon's , loved the sketch and the inspiration that Flis shared so here is my take on it :)

still lovin' my sewing machine - LOL!!!!!!! lots of scraps used and bits and pieces I found on my desk, yippeee yeah!!!!!

2010-03-03T11:47:00.002+11:00

"the measure of life is in what you give, not what you accumulate"

love that quote, but do you think it refers to scrapping supplies ......... I'm thinking they'd be exempt as we share our thoughts and feelings to people around us :). Do you think that works - LOL!!!!!!

Here we are into March already, where in the heck did February go???, I've not done much scrapping :(, been too busy sorting out the BAS and filling in loads of paperwork, sorting the kids into the school and after school routines and generally having a life, a busy life, hopefully this month is more settled and I can get stuck into some more things for ME :).

But if you're looking for something to do I'm running a free class over at SnB, this Thursday (4th) at 7.30pm, there is an optional kit you can purchase for $9.95, bargain!!!!! the instructions will stay up for awhile so if you're keen, check it out, would love to see your creations in the gallery :)

2010-02-15T12:05:00.003+11:00

"be there, no matter what, to support those you love"

and check out all the new products that Karen has in store at SnB - theres lots of bits and pieces from Jenni Bowlin, SassLass, Imaginisce, Websters and Cosmo, makes a scrappy girl happy :). And while you're visiting check out the monthly challenge for February it is easy peasy :) just use the colour combo of brown/blue/white and or cream and you can be in the running to win a $20 SnB store voucher, too easy and think of all those new CHA products you can purchase :), check it out here: http://www.scrapbooknbits.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2858 .

and you know what else makes me happy - all the rain that lots of family and friends are getting further out west - finally, thankgoodness, although I'm a bit over it here!!!!! I have so much washing trying to dry around the house, blah.

the other thing that makes me happy is theres a cybercrop on over at Bons, starting this Tuesday the 16th so check it out for lots of awesome challenges, some games and of course some fun.

and heres some more creating I've been up too, crappy photo of DH and I, but you've got to make the best out of some situations, otherwise I'd be waiting for another lifetime before I get a good one !!!!!!!. Using some Bo Bunny papers, LYB rubons, Prima pebbles, paint, glimmermist all things that make me happy :).

2010-02-11T14:32:00.002+11:00

"believe those you love will always be with you"

you have to believe that don't you, otherwise there wouldn't be much point to it all !!!!!!!

the new PRIMA has arrived in store at SnB - yipppeeee yeah, can't wait to get my hands on some of the new products and have a play, what I've seen online so far have been gorgeous :) .

and I've been scrap, scrap, scrapping!!!!!. This first one is of Pat, after he had just competed in his first State BMX rounds, he made it to the semi-finals, and we are so proud of him and I'm so glad he's found that something that he just LOVES :)
and to balance out the boy stuff, here's another one, of our sweet (well nearly always sweet - LOL) little niece Rosemary, I so wonder what she was thinking she was about to do, or get away with!!!!!!, if only we could read minds. Used some older Bo Bunny, MME and Prima goodies that all at some stage were available at SnB, teamed up with some yummy fabric, dymo and Twinkling H2O's

Can't believe it's already the middle of February and we are well and truely back into the normal school routine, ho-hum!!!!!!

2010-02-06T17:00:00.007+11:00

I {heart} today ...

of course a day doesn't go by I don't love this man, here are us both in our wrinkley glory :)
and our 3 little trouble makers, oh, I mean angels ........ LOL!!!!!!

our backyard, well actually it's our frontyard, but anyhow you get the idea, we live in the best place :)

and of course I can't forget Jeffrey, but it's giraffes in general i love, don't you think they are amazing creatures :)

and this is my EGGSCALATOR, LOL, made by my wonderful DH out of stainless steel of course, I love it that I have a creative, handy, patient hubby who loves making things for me :)

so you might have guessed that this is all part of challenge set by Flis over at Bons in the great game on that's half way over, loads of great challenges and fun.

Have a great weekend everyone.

2010-02-02T15:35:00.004+11:00

"a strong, positive attitude can overcome the biggest obstacles"

what a week, the kids are all happy and enjoying school again and I've been happily spending some time at home catching up on some overdue chores and also scrap, scrap, scrapping :)

This LO is for the game on challenges over at Bons - had to be mainly blue and a male family member (but not your kids) and of course I have this amazing photo of the kids great-grandpa and little Sid so was the perfect choice for this challenge, loved using this older Crate Paper and lots of bits and pieces, great to get the memory down :)

and this one is another challenge I choose the criteria, red and sewn on buttons, but I think I overdid it and it looks a lot like button "sneeze" on the screen!!!!! in real life it honestly doesn't look that bad, but seeing it here on the computer - LOL, makes me laugh and cringe at the same time, so you can be honest now and let me know if I've gone a little overboard LOL!!!!!!!!

Have a fun week everyone.

2010-01-30T13:01:00.006+11:00

Favourite 9 for 2009

Flis over at Bon's has challenged us to list our favourite photos/LO's for 2009 - oh my what a decision!!!!!!, these all remind me about amazing bits and pieces of our year - here they are in no particular order:
Pat all kitted up for his BMX racing, makes be happy that he does something he loves and is really good at :)
The lovely Jess, contemplating something, what I have no idea :)
The dust storms we had:
My gorgeous SIL with her new son Sid :)

A LO of DH and I using the only photo I have thats half decent of the two of us!!!!!

Just love this of Drew inspecting his sandcastles - photo taken on our holiday to Hervey Bay (one weeks holiday a year is no where near enough).

Drew and his new rabbit, he was just so excited to get this for his birthday and brings me such joy to see him so happy :)

and this is the kids Great Grandpa nursing the youngest and newest great grandchild Sid, look at the joy on his face, priceless:

and another favourite LO of mine, photo look familiar - LOL.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend :)

2010-01-28T17:23:00.004+11:00

"remember to love yourself - it's your life-sustaining force"

Two, yes 2 posts in one day I think that has to be a record for me - LOL!!!!!!!

I've totally enjoyed my first kid free day, the first one for nearly 8 weeks, the kids were super excited to be off to school this morning so they were up super early, dressed, breakfasted and organised like never before (probably the first and only time this year), but it was fantastic to see them all so ready to go :).

and I've scrapped a 2nd page today as well - I know, don't fall off your chairs in shock - LOL!!!!!!!. This one is for the Write Now challenge at Bons, you had to scrap something that was "new", use masking tape (I only added a tiny smidge) and a mixed alpha title (& that's about as mixed as you'll see me doing :)).

How cute is Drew with the little rabbit he scored for his birthday :), to say he was over the moon would be an understatement and I just love this range of papers from Prima, have to use some of them up before the new batch of Prima hits our shores :).

2010-01-28T12:04:00.000+11:00

"with commitment and focus, anything is possible"
What a wonderful Thursday it is, the kids have all gone back to school and I'm enjoying the peace and quiet - LOL!!!!! So with no interruptions I've started to scrap :), geeeee it feels awesome too. This LO is for the sketch challenge over at Bons and also is part of the Game On challenges being set, certainly looks like it's shaping up to be 2 fun filled and busy weeks, hope I can keep up ......... life seems to get in the way far too often - LOL!!!!!!!!

and if you're after some Prima goodness then head over the SnB where Karen has already put a heap of new goodies up for preorder (once again you don't have to pay for anything at all until the stock is in the store :)). Have a great day everyone - I know I am :)

2010-01-25T13:19:00.002+11:00

Here we are virtually at the end of the school holidays already and no the kids haven't driven me completely batty just yet ......... probably soon though LOL!!!!!!! We've been to visit the IL's for my wonderful FIL's birthday and then into Sydney to visit the Maritime Museum with the kids great-grandpa, a spritely 92 year old :) and endured a super hot weekend of 43 degrees - icky poo, the beach yesterday and bike riding today!!!!!. I have taken lots of piccies and am keeping up with my 365 day project, but I'm certainly not going to bore you all by uploading them, you'll just have to trust me :). And subsequently I've been to busy or too hot to be bothered with scrapping, but hopefully later this week when the kids have returned to school I'll get stuck back into it.

Drop into SnB Karen has some of the new Maya Rd products up for pre-order and you don't have to pay anything at all until they arrive into the store :).

And over at Bons is a new Game On being run, starting 28th January and running for 2 weeks, 2 weeks of competitions, challenges and chat, check it out :) .

Enjoy the last few days of holidays before the school rush starts again :).

2010-01-17T15:43:00.002+11:00

"always look for that glimmer of life; then nuture it and watch it blossom again"

Up until late yesterday I was sad that the school holidays are nearing the end, but after having the kids bickering and fighting and at each other for 2 days I am welcoming the return of school with open arms - LOL!!!!!! Luckily (for the kids and me) my wonderful DH took them all out on the boat for some fishing, which meant I had some uninterrupted me time, what bliss and now my sanity has nearly returned.

This first LO is for the Scrap the Girls challenge, very simple, but that's how my LO's are becoming more and more :), I mainly used the Savvy girl kit, just love the colours in this kit and I added some older bits and pieces from my stash too.

and I finished off this LO as well - it had been nearly finished since the SnB retreat in November, and it was today that I just got in and DID it :). Loved this range of papers from Cosmo Cricket and lots of Dymo tape there too :).

We've been having some crazy storms today, but now the sun is out and shining brightly again!!!!!!!

2010-01-08T14:25:00.002+11:00

"make dreaming a high priority - without dreams, life is just breathing"

ooppppps, forgotten to take today piccie so far - must get onto that :) and here are a couple of LO's the first one is about our heatwave of 40 degree days in November last year, used some of the gorgeous and bright Bo Bunny papers, Paper Inkling rubons, Scrapware chipboard and other bits and pieces, most of which were available through the Scrapbooknbits shop and this LO idea I lifted from the wonderful Peta MacBeth (thanks Peta :)).

And if you're after some bargains than you should check out the Scrapbooknbits shop, Karen is currently having a 40% off MOST of the stock in the store - so check it out and pick up some bargains.

and this 2nd LO is for the sketch challenge at Savvy using the new We're Savvy kit, lots of gorgeous bright colours, I added some glimmermist and the very old journalling card (trying to use up the old stash little bit by little bit :)), and a couple of extra bits.

Thanks for stopping by.

2010-01-07T09:58:00.003+11:00

"believe you can make a difference and you will"

The kids and I escaped for a few days to spend with friends who were camping down at Wisemans Ferry, the weather was perfect and sunny and warm and the kids had a ball. And now today is cloudy and overcast again and it's forecasted for more rain!!!!!! But here are my photos - the first one is us on one of the ferries to get to our destination, about as close to getting on a boat as I enjoy :), the kids are fascinated by how the ferries work, pity you aren't allowed out of your car anymore to have a closer look :(.

This one of course is everyone having fun in the boats skiing, Pat took me by surprise and gave skiing on the kids bar thingo a go, and he did it, he was so proud of himself, and Tim came down at night and had a whirl at skiing too, he hasn't done it for years, but obviously hasn't lost the knack he was up and at on his first try (the muscles are complaining today though - LOL) ...... Jess and Drew at least had a spin around the river in the boats, this is only 2 of the boats of about 5 that the group had there!!!!!!! I can only imagine the money tied up in these things.
and how cool is this jumping balloon thing, there was so much for the kids to do while we were there, swimming in a pool with fountain thingos, mini golf, playground, tennis, this jumping thing, they all had a wonderful time and now are all WRECKED, but in a good way, at least they are being super quiet :)

2010-01-03T14:26:00.002+11:00

"You can effect change in your life if you are willing to put in the effort"

this is a great quote and one that sums up exactly how I'm feeling about this year, I can if I DO. And here is my very first LO for 2010 (gee it's weird typing 2010!!!!!!) this is my year for just DO-ing getting stuck in and achieving, finishing, completing whatever it is I set my mind too, no more excuses, no more reasons, just DO :). It's also for the BOM challenge over at Savvy, I've used some yummy Prima Wink paper and a cool vine thingo and some Prima flowers - have to love Prima, I can't wait to see what they have manufactured for the first CHA this year.

And this is my photo for today, a selection of DVD's and Wii games, can you guess it's raining again and we're amusing ourselves by being glued to the magic black box - LOL
Three days down only 362 to go - LOL!!!!!!

2010-01-02T14:40:00.005+11:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR, better late than never hey!!!!!

Hope the silly season has treated everyone well and that its been fun, happiness and joy :).

I say it every year, but I still can't believe another year has gone ...... and the start of a new one and a new decade to boot!!!!.

I'm ready and raring to get into the swing of things again, and itching to scrap :), so what better way to start with a word, my word ....... DO, simple enough isn't it, but I'm the worlds WORST procrastinator, I know all the excuses, all the road blocks, all the ways to avoid doing everything, but this year is the year to just get stuck in and DO. DO the housework, DO the bookwork, DO the scrapping, DO the everyday, DO the mundane and DO all the cool and fun stuff inbetween.

So to prompt me along I've decided I'm taking a photo a day ..... everyday ...... may as well jump in the deep end!!!!! So here's yesterdays piccie:

of course Pat started the year off in his usual style by trying to cut his toe in half while riding his scooter!!!!!! I wonder how many "accidents" he'll have this year LOL.

and todays ....... of course its POURING with RAIN AGAIN!!!!!!!, so much for summer, but I am still eternally grateful that it is raining and that it is also raining in some of those areas that desperately need it, even though the kids are now starting to drive me NUTS!!!!!!!!
and I'm not going to be crazy enough and say I'll update this blog everyday either - I'm not that mad!!!!!!

And 2010 is going to be a FANTASTIC year, I can feel it in my waters LOL, have to be honest though I was a little sad to see the end of 2009 as it was a wonderful, fun-filled year with lots of stuff happening, but onto the new and the better :).

Hope everyone has the year they are dreaming of.

2009-11-30T14:33:00.003+11:00

"every great journey starts with a simple step"

I'm back from a wonderful 3 days of retreating with the SnB girls - to say it was awesome would be an understatement - thanks Karen for another great retreat, can't wait for next years to roll around ..... :)

And to make it even better I actually scrapped - 8 LO's to be exact, unheard of for me and I now feel great and want to keep on creating, but as always there are more important things on the "to do" list!!!!!. But below are 2 of the LO's I finished, the first one is for a colour challenge over on the Savvy forum, just love how it turned out :)

and this one was also for a Savvy challenge, Kerryn's "me" challenge, used up some older Bo Bunny papers, Prima transparencies and Fancy Pants rubons, really love how the lime green and pink work together :)

I will share the others in due course, but for now I hope everyone has a great week.

2009-11-18T13:16:00.002+11:00

"caring for other living creatures helps you care for yourself"

oh, that's bright white and a bit scary!!!!! but below is my entry into the November Scrap the Girls challenge (using white, orange, red and blue). Had fun with the glimmermist with this one, didn't turn out how I imagined in my mind, but oh, well, it's done!!!!!!! And if you haven't seen it Scrap the Girls are on the look out for new members for their Creative Team so check it out and send an entry in :) , more information can be found here http://scrap-the-girls.blogspot.com/ .

and I just love this next LO I finished off for a sketch challenge at Bons, used some Imaginisce and Cosmo papers, bookpaper, glimmermist and lots of other bits and pieces, really love how this one turned out :)
Hope everyone is coping in the heat, it's supposed to reach around the 40 mark here on Sunday, not looking forward to that at all, fingers crossed for an unexpected cool change :).

2009-11-13T16:25:00.002+11:00

"fulfillment and joy come to those who make the most of what they've got"

Well, with only another 6 weeks to the Chrissy madhouse I've been busy sourcing, buying and hiding everyone's Chrissy gifts :). Still have heaps to do though, never seems to end!!!!!!! inbetween the usual sport stuff, after school stuff, paperwork, house stuff and more stuff!!!!!!. Tim and I celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, and yesterday saw us head out to the Hunter Valley wineries for a romantic lunch, Tim drove, I drank wine and some more wine and yep well - LOL was a great afternoon, but saw me in bed by about 7.00pm!!!!!! that'll teach me to drink in the middle of the day - LOL.

I've also been scrapping, inbetween everything else I've been doing, below is my interpretation of the SnB sketch challenge for this month - there is only this one challenge this month and get your entries in to win a huge $20 voucher - AWESOME!!!!!!!

Used up some of the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird papers, spotty Bazzil, Pink Paislee rubons, foam thickers, Kaiser pears all available in the SnB shop :).

The next LO was for the sketch challenge on the Scrapbook Savvy site - loved the clean cut lines to this sketch and used some of the gorgeous Fancy Pants papers, journalling notebook and stickers.
Thanks for popping by :) hope everyone has a great weekend.

2009-11-03T09:09:00.003+11:00

"Spend and afternoon alone. Give yourself time to reflect"

and I have been scrapping :) and it's felt good too, but the house is paying for it - LOL!!!!! This first LO is one I completed at Peta's retreat and I have to say what a wonderful day it was, got to meet some gorgeous girls Sar, Marijana, Leesh, Deb, Ang, Barb, and of course to catch up with the "others" Kate, Michelle, Carol, Tash ......... lots of laughs had the best day.

so this one Summer = Brown is exactly how I remember life on the farm BROWN, DUSTY, lots of DIRT and flies!!!!!, glimmermisted nearly everything in sight and had loads of fun doing it :). Used the Jillibean soup Kraft paper, Maya Rd kraft journalling spot and chipboard tree and ricrac, Jenni Bowlin ticket, thickers and alpha stickers all available at SnB.

and this one was for the sketch challenge at the Scrapbooknbits cybercrop over last weekend, just love this photo of Drew inspecting his sand castles LOL, again some more glimmermist and some Fancy Pants papers and rubons and bits.

Hope everyone has a great Melbourne Cup day and hopefully someone will win something!!!!!!

2009-10-29T20:09:00.002+11:00

Sale, sale, sale .......

Scrapbooknbits is turning 3 so come and celebrate and get some bargains on the way, 20% off store wide to help stretch your $$$$ further :).

2009-10-25T10:30:00.002+11:00

"believe in yourself and your ability to succeed"

this Friday is another fun filled Cybercrop at Scrapbooknbits, pop in for some laughs, games, prizes and scrapping of course!!!!!!

2009-10-21T10:15:00.002+11:00

"success will come to those who are the most persistent"

well eventually you would like to think that if you keep on trying then you will succeed, won't we!!!!!!!! I'm sure we do, it just takes longer than we hope :)

If you're looking for something fun this week visit the SnB forum and join in the fun and games that Karen has planned for this Friday night at 8.00pm - it's PICTURE NIGHT, I can only assume what it involves as it's still all a big secret, but come and find out it's bound to be a hoot.

and if you're up for a challenge and some awesome prizes then check out Bons up for offer is a 3 month subscription to one of the monthly kits, over $100 worth of prize up for grabs, can't be any easier or better than that :)

I've not been scrapping (story of my life at the moment) still recovering from a super busy school holiday, and now we're on the run down to Chrissy so onto the next level of busy!!!!!!!! Have a great week everyone.

2009-10-01T15:10:00.004+10:00

"It's the choices you make in life that make the difference"

and another month down and another month down, another month bites the dust ........ but it's been a great month - it's my birthday month (and it feels like I've been celebrating for the whole month too!!!!!!!) Back a few weekend ago I had a HUGE, bonfire bash here at our house - lots of friends and family came to help me celebrate and I had an awesome night.

Here I am with the amazing turkish delight chocolate mud cake that my wonderful SIL made for me - it truely was a work of art and was delighfully sinful to eat - LOL!!!!!!

and then last night I had my fabulous IL's here for tea - a few too many wines, lots of laughs, and seafood for dinner - another perfect night. My sensational DH bought me this gorgeous ceylon sapphire ring (to replace the engagement ring I lost a long time ago now) and a matching bangle ........ isn't he just the sweetest!!!!!!!! It was a massive surprise as my DH doesn't do shopping and certainly not impractical, trivial shopping like this so I was just not expecting it - LOVE HIM TO BITS.

and my lovely kiddies all helped their Dad to purchase a Wii Fit for me - yippeeee yay, I've been having so much fun on it - that's if I can ever the kids to let me have a go :) So I've been super spoilt this year, but you only turn 40 once so we've made the most of it :).

and I've also been scrapping this one is of the kids dressed up as their Book Week characters, used some of the new Imaginisce Perfectly Posh papers, Twiddlebitz & Scrap FX chipboard, Tim Holtz journalling ticket, Kaiser pearls and glimmermist.

and for this one I had a play with the new Cosmo Cricket Earth Love papers - just love this range :) and added a Maya Rd journalling spot and owl stamp and some funky My Little Shoebox acetate shapes - too cute.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time - cheerio :)

2009-09-26T10:06:00.005+10:00

"hold onto your vision for the future and you'll be ready to soar when the time is right"

and what a night of fun, laughter and adventure :). I travelled across to Peta's last night for a night of scrapping and laughing, it was awesome and just what I needed, thanks Peta and friends :). So I managed to finish this LO (I know I did actually scrap - LOL!!!!!), using some of the new Pink Paislee papers and alphas, aren't those colours devine!!!!!! And it's also for the recent 123 challenge - use the word Smile, bookpaper, and a household object (mine was a brown paper lunch bag that I glimmermisted to co-ordinate).

But that's not where the fun ended - I managed to get a flat tyre on the way home :(, boohooo, of course in the middle of the night, in the pitch black of night on a country road and I had not a chance of loosening those darn wheel nuts!!!!!! so what do I do - ring my absolutely wonderful hubby, who packed up all three kiddies and came to rescue me :), (my knight, my hero) and in a flash he had the wheel changed and back on the road - what an adventure!!!!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

2009-09-23T09:45:00.004+10:00

"don't worry unnecessarily; nothing is as terrifying as it first appears"

and this is what it looked like out our back door at 7am this morning!!!!!! It was really, really freaky and the sky really was this colour I've not altered these piccies in anyway!!!!!!!!. It is/was so orange/red that it was almost like it was glowing, and the colour is only now starting to fade (10.30am), but the air is still really "thick". Stay safe those in ours and surrounding areas, the wind is supposed to get even more intense as the day continues.

2009-09-04T15:13:00.003+10:00

"treating people with understanding, respect and honesty is the foundation of success"

and just a real quick one from me - I've been desperate to scrap, but not had much time on my hands, isn't it the way!!!!! So with a couple of spare hours this afternoon I whipped up this LO using the September sketch from Scrapbooking From Scratch, using some of the older Cosmo Cricket papers, my new love Glimmermist and Doodlebug alphas and a chipboard heart.

2009-09-02T13:24:00.002+10:00

"accept all your emotions, even the negative ones, to begin the healing process"

as promised here are a couple of LO's I've recently completed. The first one and one of my absolute favourites is this one, it just sort of fell together, have to love those LO's:

All about me and the fact that I'm about to turn 40 ...... yep 40!!!!!! my journalling reads to the effect that I don't feel 40, I don't act 40 and I don't think I look 40, but there's no denying the fact that it's happening and real SOON. But have to be honest and say I've not felt better about who I am, where I'm at and what I'm doing ..... LIFE IS GREAT. Used some Bo Bunny papers, Prima bling and flowers, Maya Rd sheer bits and assorted bits and pieces, the majority of which can be found at SnB. So this months challenge at SnB is to create a LO about you, if you incorporate some Bling, Black and Birds then you can be in the running for a $10 voucher at SnB :).

And this one was for the recent CC - which by the way is still running (till the end of this week), Niq set the challenge to create a LO using oranges/browns/greys (blue-greys) and also incorporate distressing and some sort of travel themed paper/embellishement so I created this:
Using some of the Crate paper, Fancy Pants paper and chipboard, Prima pebbles, stamping, inking, thickers, ricrac etc. Not sure if I like the end result or not, but it's another LO for the album!!!!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great "hump" day :)

2009-08-28T15:25:00.002+10:00

"you are always stronger than you think - look deep to find your way to survive"

And there we have them - a fairy, and the most beautiful of all the fairies - (Jasmine the present fairy):

A cute little, fiery pirate :) ahoy me buckeneers, where's me buckenparrot - LOL!!!!!!! Suppose we're lucky that Drew didn't trot off to school and say that line, Tim said it often enough!!!!!!!

and my knight in shining armour - does he look mean enough!!!!! and glad that's over and done with for another 2 years - yipppeeeee yeah.

And I've managed to finishe off some samples for tonights cybercrop at SnB hopefully I'll remember to upload them once the weekend is done and dusted.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

2009-08-26T15:12:00.002+10:00

"decide to be happy and you will be"

Well things haven't slowed down yet ...... they did for a day or two and I thought yippppeeeeee ....... but it's gone back to being FLATOUT!!!!!!! It's bookweek this week so I've been scouring places for costumes for all the kids, we now have one fairy, one knight and one pirate, hopefully it will all come together tomorrow for the the big parade!!!!!! In other news we've had another birthday celebration Pat turned a big 9, already, 9 years gone and finished. Slow down time I say.

So this weekend is a fun Cybercrop over at SnB, there of course will be challenges, prizes, games, and of course good old scrappy fun, hope to see you there.

2009-08-06T14:35:00.007+10:00

"don't be afraid to be yourself - you are unique and special just the way you are"

hiydi-ho, well what a month of frantic activity!!!!!! I'm only just starting to get back into the groove of the back-to-school life - i suppose it's only been 4 days, but already it feels like forever!!!!!

We've been super busy here for the last little bit - the school holidays were just frantic with activity - it started with the kids and I going to Bathurst for a few days to visit the families, it was cold and windy, but the kids loved it. Home again for a few days and then it was Jessie's 10th birthday party, she had an amazing day, most of her cousins were visiting for the week, and she also had a few girlfriends over for a day at the "Treetops" adventure park where you get to do cool stuff up in trees in special harnesses and things - to say the kids loved it would be understatement!!!!!!! Here she is doing the cake bit:and then before we new it we were packing up and heading up to the lovely Hervey Bay for a week, spent a day on Fraser Island and once again the kids were super excited the first time in a plane, the first time on a super flash holiday - it was AWESOME - this is Lake Mackenzie on Frazer Island, just idyllic!!!!!
and I've also scrapped my first page in about 6 weeks!!!!! Just loved this months 123 challenge criteria so this is what I've created - using an out of focus photo, about 16 staples and some metal snap thingoes, and some of the new Crate Orbit papers, diecuts and rubons - just love how it turned out.
Have a great August everyone :)

2009-07-08T12:58:00.003+10:00

Interested in a cyberscrap/retreat type weekend!!!!! Then check out what's on offer here in the forum at SnB it's going to be a jam packed, fun filled weekend. Hope to see you there.

2009-07-05T13:20:00.004+10:00

Come and join us in a fun-filled cyberscrapping weekend, it'll be 5 days full of workshops, challenges, competitions, prizes and lots of fun :). Check it out in the forum and look forward to seeing you there :)

And this is a LO I completed for the sketch challenge for the last CyberCrop that SnB held. Still loving my sewing machine, ink and tiny alpha stickers :) and these are funny photos of the boys from a couple of years ago, felt good to dig some oldies out.

In other news I'm swimming in the end of financial year paperwork drama - icky poo. And we've had a run of bad luck lately too - started with Pat falling over on the rocks at Terrigal and splitting his chin open!!!! and this week Drews been in immense pain for a couple of nights with suspected kidney stones - who knew a 6 year old can get kidney stones!!!! He's had a few very quiet and restful days and no more episodes of pain, so perhaps he's passed them and that's the end of the that - do I sound positive enough?????? and Tim's been working more than his fair share, he's even at work today :( .

But today is a gorgeous sunshiney day, the kids have been out playing, and I've been doing paperwork ..... hope everyone is having a great weekend.

2009-06-12T09:12:00.006+10:00

Two posts in a week ...... it's a miracle!!!!!

"there may not be a tomorrow so make the most of today"

how true is that quote, love it, and having said that seeing it's my first full day at home this week I'm SCRAPPING, I should be doing housework and stuff, but heck it can wait for once - LOL.

So onto the news front - SnB is having a cyber crop on the 26 - 28 June, there will be challenges, prizes, games, laughter and scrapping :). So if you're looking for something to do then pop on over and check it out.

The other SnB news is there is another Mega Crop on this SUNDAY, 14th June, to be held at the Toronto Workers Club, there's a small fee of $10 which covers the cost of the room rental, and Karen has the shop with all her goodies :). It runs from 10.30am till 8.00pm, should be an awesome day.

And these 2 LO's are ones we completed in a class I ran lastnight at SnB - using the newish MME French Flea papers and bits. I had lots of fun getting messy in the jump LO, have to love the glimmermists and things on the market at the moment they make it so much easier to get messy!!!!!!

And the lovely Ceci has tagged me so here goes:

8 Things I Look Forward To

Quiet time at home with hubby
The kids getting home from school
Visiting our families
Scrapping
Reading
Parties ..... particularly mine
Good health ..... again
A great glass of wine, or two

8 Things I Did Yesterday

Picked up some scrappy goodness from Karen
Went grocery shopping - icky poo
Paid some more bills - another icky poo
Met with Pat's teacher
Organised eye sight tests and other bits
Cooked vegetable frittata for tea
Had a beer
Taught an online class

8 Things I wish I could Do

Solve the worlds problems
Install a solar power system, if only we had the extra $$$$$
Have a big, long holiday overseas somewhere
Employ a house cleaner
Fly like a bird (wouldn't it be cool, no more cars, no more traffic jams :))
Be more motivated to keep things tidy
Reach my goal weight, still working on it!!!!!
Have more time in the day to do all I need to do

8 Things Or Shows I've Watched Lately - this is going to be hard, we don't watch much at all

Spicks and Specks
All Saints
Masterchef
The Bill
oh and Ella Enchanted with Jess on Monday

8 beautiful Blogs I am tagging .... well from what I've seen most people I know have already been tagged so if you want to give it a whirl you're more than welcome too.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, I'm looking forward to one where no-one in the house is sick :)

2009-06-09T15:06:00.005+10:00

And winter begins .....

and boy is it cold today, I've got the fire roaring and the house all toasty warm, but I do hate going out into the cold to get wood!!!!! So I've been busy, both with general life, sick families, school, house, paperwork and scrapping :). So below is a recent LO using some of the very new and yummy Collage Press paper, Fancy Pants Notebook paper, Prima transparences and alcohol inks, Twiddlebitz chipboard, MME diecuts, Maya Road owl and bits. Had loads of fun creating this one and it's a super, special photo of hubbies Grandpa (he's a great old stick - LOL).

and another LO, using the super cute Crate papers and die cuts, new Jillibean journalling cards, the usual thickers and MM alphas and some Prima pearls, this one is the inspiration for the monthly challenge over at SnB - a colour challenge using brown, pink, green and yellow :)

and phoooieee just cause I want to add more images blogger is giving me grief!!!!!! typical.

Have a great day everyone.

2009-05-09T12:07:00.003+10:00

wow, a month has gone by in a flash!!!!!!

not too sure where it went, but it did, I think from memory Easter and camping was in there somewhere, lots of visiting and friends and sleepovers, and then of course back to school and back to piano lessons, BMX, afterschool stuff, and the usual.

And this weekend it's mother's day, I'm hoping for a nice sleep in some pampering and some scrapping and then I'm one happy mummy :).

Next weekend is the SnB retreat weekend - 3 days of scrapping - yipppeeeee yeah, cannot wait, lots of fun, laughter, classes, chatting and scrapping, who could ask for more.

And to top it off there is another cybercrop being held the same weekend, this months theme is "Spin me Round" so if you're looking for some challenges and inspiration head on over to SnB and check out what's on offer (while you're there check out the new Jillibean Soup journalling cards and the Crate paper in stock - yummmmmoooooooo)

2009-04-02T17:44:00.004+11:00

"one of life's great challenges is to follow your own advice"

ok, so the weeks are all running into each other and I've lost track of where I'm supposed to be!!!!! We've had teacher/parent interviews some great news, some sad news and some expected news!!!!! that's the way the cookie crumbles though.

we've had some rain ..... not stacks like further north, but enough to make the grass grow and fill the tanks. We've had some visitors, we've been to the Newcastle show and we've done some cool stuff and all the usual stuff inbetween.

I'm now looking forward to school holidays, where we can unwind and actually have some proper family time - we might even get to go away camping for a few days (with Tim's work that rarely happens at this time of year so it will be super nice!!!!).

And here are some LO's I completed for the challenges at the latest SnB cybercrop :)

this one was for Toni's colour challenge - and it was certainly a challenge, a little scary at first, but I loved the end result (try it you might like it - orange, purple and green) :)and my challenge - from one of the great Becky Fleck Pagemap sketchs - gotta love them :)

thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

2009-03-23T12:10:00.003+11:00

Just a couple of things coming up, firstly there's another Cybercrop on at Scrapbooknbits this Friday, 27 March starting at 8.30pm NSW time, there will be 3 challenges and a game of bingo on the night so if you're looking for something to do, pop in and say hi :)

The other cool thing that it on is the MEGA scrap day - this Sunday, 29 March, so come and join Karen and the other girls from SnB for a huge, fun day.

2009-03-12T15:02:00.003+11:00

And if your interested than have a look below - check it out there might be something there that catches your eye :).

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exciting stuff - so check it out at Scrapbook Blossoms.

2009-03-02T17:26:00.005+11:00

"be proud of who you are and what you believe in"

and it's March already - who has the magic machine that can slow down time?!!!! as always I've been busy with kids and music lessons, BMX, friends, parties, paperwork, our BAS and the usual stuff!!!!!

So I've been busy creating some I can share - others have to wait, but here are a couple:

this was my entry into the white with 1 for February, the all white initially scared me, but I love how this turned out in the end - gorgeous and simple, used lots of my cuttelbug folders on this to emboss the cardstock, added some kindyglitz and flocking and sewing and ta-da.

This is another favourite of mine, but probably not for what you can see, but it's all about what you don't see - I took this photo while my DH was sick in bed (and it happened to be Valentines day, not that we do presents or stuff, but we always have a special meal together!!!! well this year it didn't happen of course), but regardless I always know he loves me and is there for me ...... aaahhhhhh.
and this is our funny little nephew - loads of trouble, but so cute while he's at it - LOL - used the new Cosmo Snorkel range that SnB had ..... I think it was up on the site for a whole 2 days before it sold out ...... so lucky I got a little bit at least, and I teamed it up with the cute Prima felt factory journalling spots and rubons :). Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

2009-02-16T10:11:00.004+11:00

"confront your inner fears. You can't grow until you do"

It's hard to know what the weather will do next - 43 degrees one day and 18 degrees the next!!!!. And this weekend we've had close to 200mm of rain - I wish it would keep going further south though!!!!

So what's happening this week :

fun and games at SnB with a cybercrop starting this Friday night and running over the weekend - so drop in for a few challenges and some fun and laughter :).

Other news - check out these amazing kits that Kell and Sharon are putting together at Simply Fresh great kits at great prices :).

and I've also been creating - some I can share and some I can't (I've been busily working on retreat classes for the SnB retreat in May - yipppeeee yay!!!!). So here are some I've done, well I had more but now I can't find them on the computer ...... hmmmmmmm, wonder where they went!!!!!

But anyway this is my latest favourite - fairly simply, some painting, some cute paper, a bit of grungeboard and ta-da, but please ignore the black splodge - my camera has crap inside it so takes crappy photos at the moment (need to send it away). So thanks for dropping by and have a great day.

2009-02-11T15:10:00.002+11:00

"Good health is a choice - access the awesome power of the body-mind"

and I can't stop thinking about all those people who have lost loved ones, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and their homes - it's all too sad, and all because of some stupid, stupid, stupid person. I do hope they catch whoever is responsible for the most horrific fires that swept through Victoria this week and deal with them ..... in a fairly similar, horrible way!!!!

So this week has seen me sorting clothes and belongings ready to send down to these people in desperate need of so much more than I can possible offer, but I'm hoping it can help someone out along the way. Our donation has gone through and I urge everyone in Australia to donate whatever they can ..... their pain will never go away :(.

2009-01-26T19:36:00.003+11:00

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY EVERYONE!!!!

I've had the most perfect day, Tim took the kids fishing this morning - caught some nice whiting which we ate for lunch and then this afternoon he took them out again for some bushwalking/moutainbiking/bug catching, whatever they were doing and I stayed at home all alone and baked some anzac biccies and a pavolova (yummmoooooo, and a favourite here!!!), cleaned the kids bedrooms, and I scrapped, what a day, what a perfect day. So here is what I created today -

So not my usual style, these papers are way bright and I really struggled to use them, not so sure why I bought them to start with, but I did love them :), I think it turned out alright in the end, and it means I have actually scrapped some of our recent Chrissy photos, I hate scrapping these sorts of photos they are always so bright and messy and confused, but thanks for looking and I hope everyone had a fabulous day.

2009-01-19T03:11:00.009+11:00

"trust your inner voice. It may well be the voice of wisdom"

the most lovely Ness has awarded me .... me with an award!!! I feel very priviledged now - thanks Ness.

This is called The Proximity Award."These blogs believe and invest in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their awards".

So I'm going to send it onto:

Julie and Kelley and Kylie and Lexie and Sara and Melissa and Kellie - all just fabbo girls hanging out and creating over at SnB

and we've been busy, keeping the kids entertained and out of trouble - LOL, days at the beach, parties, friends, bike riding .... and trying to stay cool so more fun in the pool as well!!!

and inbetween I've done a little bit of scrapping, both of these LO's are for challenges over at Bon's, just love the kids creating their "sandart" - these piccies were taken in July last year - hard to believe it was the middle of winter the weather was perfect.

and Jess and Snowy at the beach - these photos were only taken last week - she had so much fun with her little dog :) have to love a great imagination!!!! and used up some leftover bits and pieces of Crate paper, trying to get rid of some "older" stuff before all the new CHA products start flooding the market. And speaking of CHA - WOWSER, there's a massive amount of gorgeous stuff being produced, what's a girl to do .....

Thanks for stopping by :)

2009-01-09T13:40:00.005+11:00

"treating people with understanding, respect and honesty is the foundation of success"

the last few days have been HOT, HOT, HOT - 41 degrees outside in the shade and about 48 degrees in the sun - SCORCHING!!! thankgoodness we have a pool and we virtually spent 3 days straight in it :). But the weather, being the unpredictable beast it is has returned to a very respectable 23!!!! , and we can all sleep again.

I've been busy creating for ScrapbooknBits with the continuation of the BOM for the new year and the first challenge is to create a LO describing the things that bring us happiness, the people, activities, sounds, smells - whatever it might be that brings a smile to your face, and here is what I came up with:

I've hidden my journalling away for this LO - cause it's just a little bit personal :) and have used some of the older Fancy Pants True papers and transparency, teamed up with thickers (they make me happy too - LOL).

and I've also created a journal for 2009, used a Love Elsie album and the Chatterbox fine flocked papers and all the bits that co-ordinate with it. I'll be updating my journal at the end of each month, mainly with loads of journalling, but a few piccies here and there as well :). It should be fun to look back on in the future to see where we where, what we did and how I felt about it all!!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

2009-01-02T10:16:00.002+11:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

just a little bit late - LOL!!! we've been busy (haven't we all) and to tell the truth I've been a bit blah, I'm putting it down to the gorgeous, hot, summery weather we've been having, but I really think it's just a BIG RUT that I have to push myself out of!!!

So christmas has been and went in a blur of great company, good food, a bit too much wine and some amazing presents. The kids had an absolute blast getting loads of cool pressies and Tim and I didn't fare to badly either !!!

Now I have to sort out where to put all the great things everyone got and to re-sort my scraproom .... AGAIN - it's just out of control and everywhere so it's part of my mission for this week, lets see how we go.

I hope that everyone has a great 2009 and that you achieve your goals or dreams.

2008-12-04T15:12:00.005+11:00

The countdown is on ....

the Chrissy countdown of course :)!!! the kids are uber excited, and looking forward to finishing school. Last night was Drew's Kindy Concert (he was a star - of course) and he looked just gorgeous and silvery and cute, when he got to school they added a little halo of silver stars and glittered his head and face - too cute!!! He looked so tiny up on stage, but he said his lines and sang and danced like a true STAR :). Can't wait for the DVD and photos CD they are making (won't be ready till next year though, so have to be patient).

And of course last weekend saw the SnB retreat - super, duper, cool weekend, loads of laughter and fun and the classes I taught went well and here's a couple of them:

lots of Crate paper yumminess, these ones are using the Mia and LemonGrass ranges both papers and "bits", and of course Thickers!!! I also taught a 3rd class with the Prudence range, but blogger is being a pain so I'll show that another day :)!!!

And in other news check out some new kits available on the Australian market at:

www.simplyfreshkits.com.au

run by two lovely ladies who live locally in the Newcastle area and the added bonus to these kits is there are no subsciptions, so no locked in fees/charges, pick and choose the ones you like and tada, they will be delivered to your door.

Hope everyone survives the hectic rush towards Chrissy - I'm not prepared at all, but I'm looking forward to it (as always) the kids are going to have so MUCH FUN!!!

2008-11-10T15:06:00.003+11:00

"have faith in yourself and you will achieve your true potential"

and it's also true that I'm a slack blogger - where have the last 2 months gone???? In a blur of school, sports, holidays, camping, fishing, sand duning, friends, family, stuff ... but all good :).

So the latest and greatest news - I've been busy creating classes for the SnB retreat later this month - well actually it's only 16 sleeps to go - yippeeee yeah :). This retreat will see me teaching (for the very first time, so just a little bit nervous, scared, worried) in total 3 classes each class using the new and yummy Crate papers and specialty bits. But it does mean 3 whole nights without having to worry about anything - no cooking, no cleaning, no "mum can I eat something!!!"

I'm also running an online Calendar class in November and a Prima class early December (using the new Youth range), so I've been busy along with all the usual stuff. And while I'm talking about SnB - Karen is having her 2nd birthday sale, loads of cool goodies on special and thickers are only $5.50 - so head on over and pick up a bargain to two :)

The LO "our V8" is the BOM inspiration - couldn't help myself and used the new Fancy Pants daily grind products along with thickers (can't seem to get enough of them lately). And also the Family LO - using again yummy FP products and a very cute Maya Rd butterfly and the standard thickers.

Hope everyone is well in blogger land and thanks for stopping by.

2008-09-16T14:48:00.005+10:00

2nd place!!!

go Tim, go Tim, go Tim, faster, faster, faster - we did a lot of that on the weekend - LOL, but all the training paid off. Tim's team placed 2nd in the mens' teams division in the Gloucester Mountainman Triathalon, to say he's excited is an understatement, to say I was excited for him is an understatement!!!! Tim did an amazing bike leg and completed his section in just over an hour, the kayak leg was completed in about the same time and the man they had running did his section in 39minutes - now that was just amazing, he was a machine!!!
and while we were watching the end of the bike leg, a super freaky and scary thing happened!!! A MASSIVE branch off a gum tree fell out - right there in the middle of the track - and thankfully not one competitior or spectator was hurt - it was a heart racing moment and the kids are still talking about it - scared the crap out of me that's for sure.
the kids had a great time playing with friends and motorbiking, horse riding and partying - loads of fun.
and on Friday were brought home 6 of the cutest little chickees - they are being "loved" by the kids that's for sure.
and yesterday we had a kindy excursion to Oakvale farm - Drew just loved feeding the baby lambs and the kangaroos and patting the koalas - it's an awesome place for littlies.
so we've had a super busy weekend and start to the week - now I've got a scratchy throat and pounding head - I just hope it goes away as quickly as I got it!!!
here are some piccies of our weekend:

and here's a piccie of the only LO I've completed recently - it was for Sandie's challenge over at Bon's - you had to use staples, something green and stitching - had fun creating this:

thanks for stopping by and having a look.

2008-09-08T15:09:00.004+10:00

YIPPPEEEEE YEAH

I'm excited, I was lucky enough to actually be one of the winners with my August 123 Challenge entry - how cool and how lucky am I!!!

and it's spring, just love spring - the flowers are blooming, new baby birds and other animals, the weather is warming up and the days are getting longer - it's just the perfect time of year.

It was my turn to set the monthly challenge over at SnB so I choose a sketch from Pagemaps (just love the sketches and samples there) and ta-da, my sample page using the sketch, Jess dreamed about and talked about her birthday for months and months, she's so sweet (nearly drove me nuts though!!!). Used some of the Prima Whisper papers, Pink Paislee topsiders, fancy pants stamps, bird stamp, thickers, Doodlebug alphas, Bella glitter cardstock and some old MM buttons and brads - tfl.

In other news, Pat came home last week with a kindness award from school - aaaaawwwwweeeee - he's a good boy. Jess managed to get something in her eye and spent a day at home recovering - so glad it didn't turn into anything nasty. And Drew's chickens are hatching in his classroom - lots and lots of tiny, fluffy little baby chickens, they are just the cutest.

We spent a busy weekend with Tim for his father's day - although he did leave a lunchtime to drive to VIC to pick up 4 subaru brumby motors off some dude he bought them from - he should be home Tuesday hopefully. And am I the only scrapbooker out there that didn't take any photos on Fathers Day - how bad does that make me - just didn't think of it, too much fun was going on - please tell me I'm not the only one though :).

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

2008-08-31T15:48:00.002+10:00

"seek spirituality in nature"

well it sure has been awhile!!! nothing terrible exciting happening, just life in general - LOL. But today was the perfect day for scrapping (wet and raining and miserable) and I can't!!! I've hurt my back/neck and it's really giving me some grief - this is day two and if it doesn't come good soon I'll have to see the "man" about it. So to sum up life in general Tim has been busy working, working, working, and training for his triathalon coming up soon, Jess has been having a great time at school with an excursion to Sydney to see Old Government House and Elizabeth Farm, Pat's been racing BMX as usual and now he's 8 he's been put up a grade and this week he won 4 out of 5 of his races - he was so proud of himself - he makes me smile and Andrew, well he's still Drew still dressing up and driving everyone nuts, but geeeeee he's cute - lol.

So I have done some scrapping the "hugs are all I need" is a LO I created for the CC over at Bon's last month - really love how this one turned out and who wouldn't love that cute photo of a small boy and his dad!!!

And the "i can see clearly now" is for the 123 Challenge for August

- had lots of fun creating this one - used some new stamps (for the heart) and covered it in some of the Doodlebug glittery stuff, lots of mess, but love the end result and used my favourite Sweetwater papers.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, I'm hoping I'll be back to normal (well for me anyway) real soon.

2008-08-06T14:33:00.002+10:00

"Look for beauty in everyone you meet"

Last night I had a whole lot of fun with my very first, official online class with SnB - we created these two LO's and I have to be honest and say I just love the Prima transparencies, they are so groovy. And I have to be honest and say I was a little worried and excited how it would go, but I shouldn't have :)

We've settled back nicely into the school routine and this week has been consumed with me moving rooms around, packing "stuff" away and chucking a whole heaps of "stuff" that wasn't/hasn't been used in years and I've just gotten sick of it hanging around. So now DH and I are sharing the "shed" where I scrap (don't know if that is good or bad, time will only tell), so that Pat who turns 8 on Monday can finally have a bedroom all to himself!!! He'll be surprised when he gets home from school with a new room, new bunk/trundle bed combo thingo and a new guitar and other bits and pieces (I love birthdays). Pat's celebrating his birthday by a sleepover night (hope I survive), lots of choccie cake and ice cream and lots of BMX racing!!!

2008-07-30T13:40:00.004+10:00

"be alert - coincidences often have purpose and meaning"

and yippeeeeeeee yeah - I'm in the land of the broadband - LOL - finally went the whole hog and got the satellite installed yesterday and how good is it, at this rate I'll be over my download limit in about oh, a week - ROFL!!!

our kids finally went back to school this week, they are so special they get an extra week!!! so last week we went to Iluka and did a spot of camping, bushwalking, bikeriding, surfing, fishing and canoeing, we had a ball, even if the last couple days where a little bit cold, wet and windy (but I suppose you get that in winter!!!)

last Saturday I spent the day at the Muscular Dystrophy fundraiser in Newcastle and had an absolute super day - managed to catch up with lots of "old" friends and met some "new" ones, all in all it was a great day and over the day over $3000 was raised, what an amazing effort from everyone.

so I've been busy creating - here is another LO for Pat's book of a-z (he is our ultimate hoarder!!!, everywhere we go he brings home some little treasure!!! like dirt or rocks or seaweed or nuts or bolts or something)!!!

and the other one "my heart is full" is a just because LO - had an idea with and just ran with it - and love how it turned out, gotta love those Prima say it in crystals, too cool.

have a great week everyone.

2008-07-11T15:57:00.005+10:00

Zoo Fun ...

we spent a great fun day at Taronga Zoo on Monday - we all had an awesome time and I have to be honest and say I think that giraffes are the most amazing (and cute) animals :). The day started off early with the drive to Manly, a quick visit with DH's grandpa, and then a quick walk to the ferry, two ferry rides and a cable car trip up to the zoo and here are some photos of our fun :

And here is a sneak of my up and coming Prima class at Scrapbook n Bits - to be held 5 August - loved working with these products and quietly impressed with how they turned out!!! and you get to complete two LO's on the night!!!

This weekend I think I might brave the cold weather and take the kids to visit their cousins in Bathurst - it's one of DH's sisters birthday and we're having a bonfire and the whole works, should be loads of fun.

Hope everyone is enjoying the brisk mornings and the gale force winds!!! thanks for dropping by and looking.

2008-07-03T14:53:00.005+10:00

"giving love can heal and transform"

and the start of another financial year, so I'm swamped with the group certificates, paperwork, the profit/loss, paperwork, the trial balances, paperwork ... well you get the picture!!!

and the last few weeks have been a bit sad for me - one of DH aunty's passed away and one of my best GF dad passed away so a couple of funerals, lots of tears and some well needed tlc for lots of people.

and we have the wind down till the school holidays. We received the kids school reports on Monday and my word am I impressed with how they are going - made me smile (alot!!!). So as a special treat we may actually have a small holiday - yippeeee yeah - as well as a trip to the zoo and some parties thrown in there for good measure.

so the lovely Malinda and Ceci have tagged me, so here goes:

Here's how it works. Answer the questions about yourself. At the end of your post, tag another 4 people & post their names. Go to their blogs & leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged. Let the person who tagged you know that you have posted your answers.

My answers are:

Q1: Ten years ago.....I was 28 and working as a Personal Assistant for a Director at Scholastic Australia - absolutely loved the work and the pressure I was constantly under to have reports, schedules, financials, dry cleaning, lunches, absolutely everything organised!!!

Q2: Five things on today's "to do list"..... get my hair cut and coloured, finish off the Group Certificates, do a load of washing, start reconciling and entering all the data for the profit/loss etc, etc, etc, clean the house.

Q3: Snacks I enjoy..... cheese and wine (ok, so i know that's not a snack, but if you're eating cheese you need to have wine - lol).

Q4: Things I would do if I was a millionaire..... travel, travel, travel, set our kids up for life with uni funds, a house, and car and whatever else they need.

Q5. Places I have lived.... a small place called Georges Plains, Bathurst, Berkeley Vale (central coast), Gwandalan (lake macquarie) and where we are now just on the fringes of the Hunter Valley.

and I'm going to be a rebel and not tag anyone, so if you want to do it you can pretend I tagged you - LOL.

and I've been busy doing some Christmas in July bits and pieces for SnB - it's a month long of inspiration, games and fun.

and (oh, lots of ands today - just to annoy you!!!) I've done these, the "things you need to know" LO was for a free class that I organised for SnB - using of course some of the sort of new Fancy Pants products, I'm sure there's going to be a huge influx of amazing new products once the next CHA is underway!!! the 2nd LO is "in the beginning" for the BOM underway at SnB - using some of the new Chatterbox papers and ribbon and buttons and chipboard and things (just love the feel of the flocked paper - it's just sooooooo noice!!!).

Hope everyone has a great week and that if you're about to go into school holiday mode that the weather stays fine and you all have fun.

2008-06-11T14:02:00.004+10:00

"respect the beliefs of others - you will learn from their wisdom"

flat out - that's what I've been - so busy I can barely keep up!!! the retreat with SnB was absolutely fabulous - great company, great laughs, great food. And it's all going to happen again later this year, Karen has organised for another retreat 28, 29 and 30 November so mark it in your diary and come along - LOL.

and before I forget there is a fun, stress free cybercrop on at SnB this Saturday too - so check it out if you're looking for something to do and while your there check out SnB's end of year sale - Karen has discounts of up to 40% off selected stock - loads of great bargains to be had and while you're there the new Chatterbox is in and all I can say is YUMMO - you really have to see this stuff to appreciate it, it's fluffy, it's sparkly, it's nice!!!

and this is what I've created this week - I did do a few other pages at the retreat, but I'm still too lazy to unpack it all and sort out yet!!!

and Karen has me working on some new fun little projects coming up, so I'll be busy creating away here in my little "hole" for awhile - have to say I'm loving it - LOL.

Take care everyone and TFL.

2008-05-25T16:17:00.003+10:00

"look beyond power, prestige and personal possessions to find true love"

a couple of LO's to share - the first on is of our gorgeous little neice Emily - who is the only one in the family to inherit the red hair and with 16 grand-children (so far) that's pretty amazing!!! and she's full of spunk and determination and strong-will. Used lots of the GCD Studios papers, SnB flowers and ribbon, Kaiser bling, flower felt ribbon and the new Maya Road sheer journalling cards. I had lots of fun creating this one - as red is not a colour I use of lot of!!!
and the second LO is of Jess and her god-parents on her communion day - she is so very lucky to have such wonderful people in her life - the diecut journalling spots lift up and that's

where I've put all the information on the communion and bonfire night. Used the new Teresa Collins Bella Girl and Journal It ranges.

So this week I'm busy packing and organising for the SnB retreat - which is for 3 days this year - and I can't wait!!! It's going to be a huge, fun weekend - and with someone else doing all the cooking and cleaning - LOL.

and I'm trying to get organised for the CC at Bons too, starts on Monday night and while I'm chatting - Bons is holding a competition where you can win some awesome prizes - so you should check it out. Only runs for a few weeks in which time you can earn points for a whole range of different things - so be in it to win it I say.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

2008-05-12T16:43:00.004+10:00

Mothers day, family and communions!!!

that's what the weekend was all about - and it was a great one. Jess had her first holy communion on Saturday evening and afterwards we had the "bonfire" of all bonfires and lots of family and friends over just because it was a good reason to have a huge party!!!

and of course on Sunday the kids spoilt me with handmade gifts and were the perfect little angels all day. And Tim outdid himself by organising and cooking a champagne breakfast for me and all the other mothers that had stayed overnight at our house.

All in all it was the most perfect weekend and here are some piccies of the weekend:

So on the scrapping front I didn't achieve very much this week - too busy with cooking and cleaning for the "few" extra people we had (about 30!!!). So I hope everyone has a fun and productive week.

2008-05-05T13:20:00.005+10:00

"happiness has nothing to do with what we have and everything to do with how we think"

and if someone knows how to slow down time, now is the time to do it!!! May already, that's like a whole third of the year gone already - where did it go and what have I done!!! not enough by the feels of it, but gee I seem to be busy - LOL.

so here are some LO's to share - the "flowers" LO is for my BOM over at SnB - it's a challenge to do a LO about flowers - either ones you get as gifts, or ones you grow, or just your favourites!!! My favourite "flowers" are those picked by these small hands - he always does it and it's always so cute!!! Used lots of the new Blue Hill Crate papers, chipboard buttons, rubons and Fancy Pants Rubons and bling - all of which are available at SnB.

The proud LO I completed for the CC over at Bons - had to use black cardstock as a base and 2 pp and bling, I've also added the flowers, and flourish stamp and bits. The journalling is about how we are so proud of how far Jess has come in the last few months - she's always had expressive/receptive language problems and also reading/writing problems, but with lots of hard work and determination she is now part of the Year 3 spelling class instead of the "happy" face class - she is so proud of herself and so are we. The sky is the limit now (well that's what I keep telling myself anyway).

Hope everyone has a great week and thanks for stopping by.

2008-04-28T08:59:00.004+10:00

"a kind word or deed can work miracles"

and school starts again!!! back to the usual routine, back to some quiet time, back to hot coffee!!! Well we have been busy over the holidays, a visit to Bathurst to catch up with the family and then lots of rain when we got home - managed to keep the kids fairly busy, but the last day of rain was starting to push everyone to the limit!!! But we managed to get a couple of glorious sunny day to finish off the holidays, so squeezed in a beach visit, some bike riding and did some rounds of playgrounds, lots and lots of great outside fun.

Haven't done much scrapping the last couple of weeks - too busy with the kids and finishing of our BAS. But here are a couple I've completed:

our little, mixed up Princess Fairy Lei-Lei, our DS just loves dressing up and this is what he ALWAYS dresses up as!!! he is very cute and usually has the pink, plastic Barbie shoes to top it off!!! used the new FP transparency border and papers
and our DD with her new "do", she wanted to go short so had about 5 inches chopped off her hair - she now looks so grown up, used some older Love Elsie papers, lots of paper flowers from SnB and bits.

Thanks for looking - hope everyone has settled into their routine.

2008-04-09T12:39:00.006+10:00

"empty your mind of disbelief to allow room for true faith"

I've had another bit of excitement!!! I actually won, one of the CC Challenges at Bon's this week!!! how cool - it was with the Friends LO below - too exciting - and thanks Bon for a great challenge and awesome prizes - have already spent my voucher!!!

For me it's the last week of term - so I've been busy creating to catch up on all my committments before I get busy with kids stuff for the next couple of weeks. This LO is of my very new (well in December) little niece Rosemary - how quickly you forget how tiny they are. Loved using the new Fancy Pants Celebrate range of papers along with their transparencies and rubons and felt - all available at SnB.

And this one using the Fancy Pants All Boy range and adding in some of their chipoboard and of course the thickers - hmmmmm, love those thickers!!! and the yummy new KI star lace paper - this was for another challenge at the CC and I really struggled using a photo this large - I've never used a photo this big before and it was hard, but I really love how it turned out.

Thanks for visiting.

2008-04-04T14:25:00.006+11:00

"Face your fears - you will grow in strength, courage and confidence"

and it's completely amazing, but the lovely Amy Teets of Dream Street asked if she could showcase some of my Dream Street LO's on their blog!!! how cool is that and of course I said yes - I'm stoked - THANKS AMY.

In other news - hmmmmmmm - besides the mountain of paperwork coming out my ears and the cleaning and the cooking and the laundry and the school homework and the lunches and, and, and .... tell me it slows down at some stage??? But I have of course done some scrapping - this one is for a CC Challenge over at Bons - had lots of fun creating this one and just love this photo of DD with her friend - how gorgeous are those two!!! And I'm currently working on the other two challenges, I hope I get them finished in time!!!

And this one is a favourite of mine - have to just LOVE the photo of my DH's grandfather with the newest little addition to the family. Just how sweet is that - and I've painted the felt flourish (down there are the bottom) to suit the LO better - it started of this woeful brown colour, but ended up not being too bad at all. It was done for a CC over at Scrap World a couple of weeks ago and had to be "pastel".

I'm looking forward to a nice and relaxing weekend at home this weekend - hope everyone has a great one too.

2008-03-28T11:31:00.006+11:00

"Be sensitive to other people's feelings - it brings out the best in them"

Easter has been and gone for another year - this year my parents and sister came to visit for Good Friday and Easter Saturday, they left to go home on Sunday while we went to Gloucester to visit some friends that we haven't seen for a very long time!!! The kids had an absolute ball. The boys had a wonderful time riding their motorbikes, while the girls did girlie stuff - and for most of the time were so busy we didn't see them at all unless they wanted food!!!

And of course we did the easter egg thing on Sunday before heading off visiting - all you could hear from the boys bedroom in the wee hours of the morning were "Pat, Pat, Pat look I've got a GOLD EGG!!!" too cute. But like every year there stash of easter eggs are still mainly uneaten and like every year I will probably have to toss them out in about September!!!

And I've been busy creating - more DT items for SnB - using the Dream Street Papers - just LOVE these papers, the colours, are just me. And of course a good splattering of SnB paper ribbons and paper flowers and the new Thickers too.

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks to everyone who stops by and has a peek.

2008-03-19T15:38:00.002+11:00

Fancy Pants Overload!!!

and don't I LOVE IT - LOL. I visited Karen today and picked up my latest order - she has all the newest Fancy Pants, Thickers, KI Lace instore NOW!!! - and of course you can't forget the paper flowers - best value flowers available anywhere. Can't wait till I have some more free time to have a proper play. So if anything gets your attention visit www.scrapbooknbits.com.au and see for yourself all the new and amazing products Karen has from CHA, and she has still more on order to come in over the next month or two.

And here is one of my Dream Street LO's - used the Art Nouveau range and the Dream Street journalling spots, some new wine Thickers and coredinations cardstock and Fancy Pants chipboard, buttons, and stamps etc.

Also if you're a Newcastle/Central Coast/Hunter girl and are looking for a weekend away scrapping then check out the SnB retreat on 29 May to 1 June 2008 - Karen has organised a 3 night ($210) retreat this year, but you can go 2 nights ($140) or just 1 night ($80) - to be held at the Bethshan Conference centre at Wyee. So perhaps I'll see you there. Thanks for stopping by.

2008-03-15T15:23:00.004+11:00

"nuture your goals and be open to all opportunities"

we have a new (and very little) addition to our family - welcome baby Black Rose (Jess got to choose the name). Our last lot of rabbits were massacared one day by a dog or a fox, so we've fortified the cage and decided it was time to get another one. Isn't she just the cutest little thing and please don't mind our exceptionally hideous lounge!!!

And I've been super busy this week - I've managed 4 LO's and an OTP item all for my DT committments for SnB - unheard of for me, but just love how they have turned out. Can't wait to share - they are all using the new Dream Street products available at SnB.

But I can share this one it's of our gorgeous little Drew "Bear" - for his A-Z album I'm creating for him - this is just one of my most favourite photos of Drew. Using mainly old MME papers and daily dose card, some new Grungeboard (again!!!) and the new Thickers from SnB - Karen has got all the newest and latest and greatest thickers in store at the moment - I LOVE THEM!!!

And how glorious is this sunshine - I've been out mowing and washing and more washing and enjoying the warm, sunny outdoors. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

2008-03-08T14:39:00.002+11:00

Crazy Storms!!!

wow, what a night that was, one crazy storm, lots and lots of thunder and lightening and lots and lots of rain - 138mm in just over an hour. My "shed" had a river or water flowing through it - with a couple of wet rugs and a paper bag full of photos that I had "forgotten" about on the floor!!! And some windows leaked so some wet carpet and lots of mopping up to do.

The kids spent the storm time "watching" it all from the safety of Pats bed, if it hadn't been so scary it would have been really cute.

And of course the creek at the bottom of our "yard" is running a banker so the kids have had a ball floating "boats" down it and seeing whose will win!!!

I hope everyone else in the local area are all safe and dry - and I'm official over the rain - sorry everyone who needs it, but I've had enough!!!

2008-03-05T12:53:00.006+11:00

"Sometimes the least likely teacher offers the most for us to learn"

and for my latest creations this is another page for my BOM - it's an obvious one!!! the people in my life who I love above all else. Thought it was appropriate seeing as we've just had valentines day (OK so it was nearly a month ago now!!!) Used lots of glorious Fancy Pants products - just too nice.

and this one of Pat for his A-Z album, I've done one previously for Jess and the pressure has been on to do one for the boys so I've started one for each of them!!! have to say I love the grungeboard - how cool is that stuff!!!

2008-02-24T15:01:00.005+11:00

"accept that some situations are beyond your control and rise above your disappointment"

hmmmmmmm, will have to remember that one!!!

I've been busy, super busy, flat out busy, but you would think that with the kids at school I'd have more time on my hands, but it just hasn't turned out that way - yet!!! I had this idea that I would have more spare time to scrapbook in, but in the last month I've done a total of 3 pages, yep you read that right a total of 3 pages!!!

This one is another page for my gratitude journal - love my kids and all the noise, but I do have to have some silence everyday - otherwise I'd go completely mad!!! used some MM Noteworthy and the yummy Hambly rubons.

And "remember when" the next topic for the BOM I'm heading off at SnB - had lots of laughs remembering all those funny things that no longer exist or have dramatically changed over the years - such as the big cardboard boxes we used to drag to school and were aptly named "the port"!!! milk in bottles with foil lids, pies that only cost $0.20 and so on, it brought back so many memories, it was great.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

2008-01-30T11:35:00.000+11:00

Do you hear it?

nope, then that would be the silence I'm enjoying with all the kids going back to school today!!! And it is Drew's first day at big school, he was super excited and looked very cute, and very small. Jess was happy to go to see her friends (that's what it's about isn't it???) and Pat was going cause he had too - but I think deep down inside he was happy to be seeing his friends too.

So now I'm sitting here, just soaking up the quiet, I could be doing bookwork, or cleaning, or mowing the grass, or hanging out the washing, but I think I might just sit here for a moment longer and just enjoy - LOL.
But over the weekend I did finish off this LO - I've started a BOM over at SnB and this is the first topic - it's to be about something that has changed or will change in the near future. Mine is all about Drew going to school and leaving me here at home all on my own LOL . So now I have the dilemma of finding something for me to do, something that will make me feel needed, useful and keep me happy. Oh, what to do, what to do!!!

2008-01-06T21:11:00.000+11:00

"Follow your deepest instincts. Where they take you is your true destiny"

a bit more of the profound quote thing from me ... and another update ... so soon too!!!

Over at Scrap Needs some of us have started a "gratitude/joy/thankful" type album, not too sure what mine will be titled really and haven't thought too much about the album cover itself yet, but I have done two LO's for already - must admit they are only 8x8 so really quite quick and easy. But mine is generally going to be about the little and sometimes big things that I often take forgranted and should be more grateful for in life, I do have a really great life and I should be super happy with it. And 90% of the time I am, but you now sometimes you just get a bit ... blah. Enough waffling anyway, the Freedom LO is a favourite at the moment - love how the clear Kindy Glitz on top of the rubon turned this amazing flourescent green colour - weird or what!!! and finally pulled out some of the Love Elsie stuff for the coffee LO - just love my black coffee and can't imagine starting a day without it.

Enjoy the start of a new week.

2008-01-03T15:55:00.001+11:00

Three days in a row ... it's probably a record!!!

the lovely Julie Collins (http://www.julie-girltalk.blogspot.com/) has tagged me so here goes:

The rules of the game:
• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

hmmmmm only 7 (how to narrow them down - LOL), and I think I've done this before too - so if it sounds like I'm repeating myself, perhaps I am, but I'm too lazy to go back and check:

1. I am super clumsy and accident prone (this week so far I've gotten glue everywhere - see below post, I've dropped the cheese/deli draw out of the fridge and smashed it everywhere, and closed the garage door on the car - hmmmmmmmmm!!!) and I've still got 3 days to go.
2. I used to drink between 12-15 cups of brewed black coffee a day - I've cut it down to about 6 a day now (and no I don't have any problems sleeping).
3. I bite my fingernails - hate how they look, but can't seem to stop myself.
4. I lived on a farm for 26 years until getting married and had lots of cool pets like poddy lambs, chooks, horses and a zillion dogs (well OK the most we ever had was 9, not counting when they had puppies).
6. I went to Orange Ag College!!! and on our orientation day we were made to crawl through a tunnel of offal, and honestly not to sure why I ever went back and completed my associate diploma in Rural Business Administration!!! (does that sound fancy - LOL).
7. I love going to the beach, but by golly I HATE SAND!!!

Okay so now I'm supposed to tag 7 people - hmmmmmmmmm don't think I know that many that haven't already been tagged so I'll go for:

http://www.kelliec.typepad.com/ - Kellie C.
http://www.marionspassionforscrappin.blogspot.com/ - Marion W.
http://www.caroldillon.blogspot.com/ - Carol D.
http://www.tashallen.typepad.com/ - Tash A.

2008-01-02T16:37:00.000+11:00

"Be open and non-judgemental - life's teachings often come to you in disguise"

I bought this wonderful little book of inspiration and it has some great "quotes" in it so I thought I would share.
and I've actually done some scrapping already!!! okay, okay, okay then if the truth be known then I did start them last year and it's taken till today to get a few spare minutes to finish them off!!!
I managed to complete 10 calendars as presents for teachers, preschool teachers, friends and family and this one is the one for me - it's supposed to be a reminder of all the very important dates I have - and January looks like it's pretty empty but in real life it's chock a block full of parties, BBQ's, outings and the usual school holiday activities.

And the LO is about my lovely little nephews absolute obsession about all things fishy - I think he even sleeps with a toy fish - LOL.

And I've been at the "dumb" things again. Today I dug out a very old tube of silicone glue (the metal tube ones) and was trying to squeeze out some glue - it was a little bit hard (well, OK, really hard), but I persisted and squeezed and squeezed and twisted and pushed until suddenly the glue came out THE WRONG END!!! I must have made a small hole at the other end of the tube with all my struggling and the glue burst out all over my T-shirt and all over the LO, the table and everywhere else!!! What a MESS!!! so trust me when I say if at first the glue doesn't come out then don't try and make it, it's bound to end in disaster - LOL.

2008-01-01T15:33:00.000+11:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

What a great night, finally ended up going to friends for a BBQ and a "few" drinks - LOL. The kids had an awesome time playing and running around and we made it home at about 1.00am (we had orginally been invited to a child-less party, but didn't think that it would be much fun. Our guys actually slept in till nearly 10.00am this morning and we've spent the day in and out of the pool, and tonight we have friends coming for tea, what a way to spend the first day of 2008. It's been awesome.

Hope you have all had a great night and a wonderful start to another year.

2007-12-21T17:40:00.000+11:00

Today saw the end ...

of a fairly significant part of my daily life!!! Today was the last day of preschool!!! For the last 5 consecutive years I've had either 1 or 2 kids in preschool and today it was Drew's LAST DAY!!! They perfomed a wonderful concert and Drew sang and danced like a little champion. Sorry I can't share the photos but some of the parents weren't keen on photos being taken in the first place.
So next year sees me with all 3 kids at BIG school - that means a whole 5 days basically to myself, you know, besides running a business and all the other stuff that happens in life. What should I do, what should I do!!! the question burning a hole in my brain (ok, ok, ok I know there isn't much brain left to worry about LOL).

But cause I'm real busy (as is the whole of the world) I will do this now ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE - I WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY.

Hope everyone is safe, healthy and looking forward to what 2008 brings.

2007-11-30T12:34:00.000+11:00

It's raining ... it's pouring

oh my goodness I've been busy - LOL.

the weekend before last we spend it camping at Hawks Nest - had an absolutely wonderful time and we had a huge family get together for my side of the family (first time in nearly 4 years). Some of my cousins I haven't seen for nearly 20 years, never met there partners, never met their children so it was AWESOME, talked, drank and ate the day/night away and honestly we should do it more often, but with some of the coming from Perth, Darwin, Adelaide, Melbourne etc, etc, etc, sometimes it just seems too hard and for some very expensive!!!
And there was poor Jess, the only girl (except for a little 5 week old)!!! but she joined in and held her own and had a wonderful time. And of course we went to the beach which the kids as always just love.
And last weekend Pat was busy with BMX racing and Tim had a 8 hour moutain bike race to compete in, and I was left with extra kids to look after, lucky they are all great kids.
And once again blogger is being a poop head and won't let me upload photos - so I'll leave it for now - have a great weekend everyone.

2007-11-11T10:08:00.000+11:00

12 years ago ...

Tim and I were married.

Love you sweet, now more than ever, perhaps even more than 12 years ago.

Can't wait to share the next few decades with you either. Love always.

And also my DT work for November for SnB - used some of the Paper Trunk papers, and some of the new MM noteworthy journalling spots and glitter alphas and die-cuts (very nice!!!), some FP felt, Heidi Grace rubons, Hambly rubons, FP and Autumn Leaves stamps and AC thickers. Had lots of fun creating these (again) and I'm busy at the moment with my Chrissy calendar production line for presents for the kids teachers.

I also just got the new Ali Edwards book and can I say I LOVE IT, got me thinking in a whole new way.

TFL and enjoy a wonderful Sunday.

2007-11-02T14:27:00.000+11:00

WOO HOO ...

boy talk about being a pain, only been trying for 2 days to upload these!!!

These are the LO's I completed as inspiration for the CC challenges over at SnB the other weekend. And I know, I used the same photo, but let me explain one is a 12x12 LO (for me) and the other is a 8x8 LO for my SIL and her gift album I'm creating for her. And because I just love this amazing photo I took of my lovely little neice so I had to use it for both!!!

Once again I've used loads of Fancy Pants products on these LO's and just loving it - how great does that transparency look - lol!!! anyway thanks for looking.

And I've also been busy completing our BAS!!! and I've actually done some Chrissy shopping today - a whole 3 presents - it is a start, maybe small, but a start.

And on Sunday if I can organise it (ie, organise DH to be at home) than I'm going to wander down to the Papercrafts at Penrith and have a little look see and perhaps do a class or two and maybe just a small bit of shopping - LOL.

Hope everyone else has a great weekend.

2007-10-16T17:08:00.000+10:00

BACK TO IT!!!

the usual routine of school, the bags, the lunches, the homework, the reading ... I'm so glad this is the last term for the year!!!

I had a great day scrapping on Sunday - even managed to finish 2 LO's (shock, horror) - now I just have to remember to photograph them and upload them - hmmmmmm.

And if you're looking for some fun and a bit of CyberCrop then drop into http://www.scrapbooknbits.com.au/ and check out the CC Karen has organised for Friday, 19 (THIS FRIDAY) kickoff at 6.00pm - for a very small donation (all of which goes to Breast Cancer Research) you can be in for a chance to win some really cool prizes. Check it out and hope to see you there.

These are some of my DT work for October - lucky me got to use lots of the new Fancy Pants papers, transparencies, diecuts, chipboard and stamps - I was in HEAVEN. Just love how these 2 LO's turned out so thanks for looking.

2007-10-12T09:08:00.000+10:00

FUN, FUN, FUN ...

that's what we've been doing during the holiday. We've been to Bathurst to visit the family(ies) had three birthday parties while we were there and got to catch up with mostly everyone, it was awesome. The kids then decided to stay at Trish & Ian's house where they got to go fishing, canoeing, shopping, swimming - all great things, and they didn't get home till nearly the end of the first week. Meant that Tim and I could spend some time together as a couple - eating tea without interruptions, having a conversation without any big ears around and not having to rush around and organise things for anyone else - it was heaven, but by the end of it I was happy to have my lovely, noisy, busy children back - it was starting to get too quiet!!!

And this week we've been to Forster camping with one of Tim's sisters and her husbands family. Lots of swimming at the beach, fishing, bike riding and eating too much food. Loved IT.

So here is a few piccies of our time away. Love all of these gorgeous kids to bits - all of them are cousins to our three and they all get on so well it makes you smile.

The holidays are already nearly ending and I'm sighing a big sigh - it's just been so full on and so busy that I just want to sit for a day or two and do NOTHING!!!

Hope everyone else has had a lovely holiday.

And just for fun I have a little game of Eye Spy running over at SnB so check it out and win a gorgeous ribbon pack from Karen.

2007-09-26T13:17:00.000+10:00

Hi-di-ho there

I've been super busy doing "stuff" and really unmotivated to do much scrapping and now that the school holidays are quickly gaining on us I don't think I'll be getting much accomplished in the next couple of weeks!!!

But here is a LO I completed for a CC challenge but once again I didn't get it finished in time (hmmmmmm there's a pattern here!!! it's either I get too busy or I'm just really slack!!!). Pat's new bike he got for his 7th birthday, it's a little big for him just yet, but he can ride it like a champion already. Used some of the new Kaiser papers, Fancy Pants chipboard (have to be honest and got the ribbon idea off the FP website), the new FP stamps - yummmmooooooo!!!

And if you are in the market for some cheap paper head over to www.scrapbooknbits.com.au where Karen has reduced all patterned papers (excluding glittery ones) to only $0.95 sale starts midday Thursday and ends midnight on Monday so head over and pick up a bargain or two.

Have a fantastic weekend/school holiday everyone.

2007-09-11T14:24:00.000+10:00

Time!!!
Where is it going, the days are disappearing too quickly and I feel like I'm running up a big hill with no end in sight.
Had a great weekend in Bathurst with my Dad who turned 70 - 70 years old - crumbs!!!
Been spring cleaning, homework, scrapping, visiting, organising, cooking, more cleaning it just seems to never end.
But I do have some LO's to share - these are my August LO's for SnB. Got to use the yummy Paper Salon papers and rub-ons (love how some of these papers are all glittery), Blueyedezines felt flower ribbon, Hambly transparency, thickers and lots of other bits and pieces. So here are a couple of them.
Our gorgeous girl and all her hair!!!
and Pat's 7th birthday party - TFL.

The rest of the month is going to be just as busy as the start - bonfire night to organise, more birthday parties, school concert and not to mention the other "usual" stuff, will be back with more later.

2007-09-01T09:27:00.001+10:00

It's SPRING (already)!!!

I have to say I LOVE SPRING - our wisteria is about to bloom, our orchids are flowering, the sun is shining, the kids are happy and outside - what more could you want.

I've been scrapping up a storm this last week finished off my DT work for SnB and will share it as soon as I can, I also entered a challenge at Scrapbook Savvy, had to use a Becky Fleck sketch using LOTS of photos - way out of my comfort zone, but pretty pleased with how it turned out - loving the new Kaiser papers, also used some Hambly rub-ons and Bella chipboard.

And for something funny (and some people know that I'm the queen for breaking things and doing dumb stuff)!!! So I shared this story over at SnB and made some people laugh so thought "what the heck" I'll share it here too and if I make you laugh than all is good (I think - so long as you're laughing with me not at me!!!). Anyhow I was having a lovely day scrapping yesterday when I did this:

"Now I'll warn you all this comes straight from Jane's personal handbook of dumb things NOT TO DO!!! number 1456!!!

Under no circumstances should you lather loads of mod-podge onto your patterned paper to adhere to a lovely Kaiser OTP "holder" thing and then remember some wise person telling you to get it to stick well "SIT ON IT" - honestly girls don't do it. The excess mod-podge will undoubtable ooze out from the sides of your paper and promptly adhere said object to your backside!!!

In the process I think I may have ruined my favourite pair of jeans , and I've ripped the blasted paper trying to remove said object from my large rear".

And do you know what Tim did when I told him - rolled his eyes, laughed and said "you're hopeless" - in that loving, wonderful way he does.

Hope everyone is enjoying the first day of spring - may there be a spring to your step, and a clean smell in your house!!!

2007-08-25T13:44:00.000+10:00

Here are a few!!!

pages from the cousins mini-album I made for SnB - used one of the Bella tab books, lots of Junkitz papers, stickers, transparency bits and chipboard - have to say loved using the Junkitz it's soooo nice. It worked out perfectly with each "cousin" having a page in the book.

In other news - check out the Scrap Needs site - link over on the side - there is a Retreat organised for September 21, 22 and 23 - you can just pay and go for the days or you can arrange your own accommodation if you want a night or two away from the other bits in life!!! so if you are interested go to the site and check out the finer details, there are classes and other things organised for the weekend.

I signed up for the Scrap World CC last night - there are some awesome challenges up and I'm trying to work slowly through them. And tonight there is a CC at Bons, but we are going out for dinner at friends so we'll see how much I actually get done.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

2007-08-21T15:02:00.000+10:00

WOW what a weekend

had an absolutely fabulous time at MIL party. For the family party on Saturday night all the daughters/DIL's had to make a lemon meringue pie - so 5 in total and Trish (mil) had to judge them - so much fun and there is a really long story about lemon meringue pies but I won't bore you with that at the moment!!! The kids (16) were fantastic and sang a special version of My Favourite Things for Trish (will scrap that one day) and it was sooooo cute. Then all the siblings sang Scarborough Fair (one of Trish's favourites) my goodness that family are so musical it makes me jealous!!!

Then all the kids got to "camp" in the lounge room while some of the adults had beds or camped in tents or slept in the back of their cars (Tim and I!!!) was loads of great fun.

Then on Sunday we made a mad rush into Darling Harbour to surprise Trish with a cruise around the harbour - around 60 of her friends and family, a Jazz player, seafood buffett, 5 cakes to spell TRISH - and even though it was raining it was one of the best days I've had.

Have to recharge the camera and download some photos (again).

Here is a LO that I completed for a CC challenge at Bon's - just a little late!!! had to use loads of colour, felt, something new (Kaiser gems) and something old (the chippy title), really loved doing this round LO, and plan to do some more (oneday!!!).

Thanks for looking - I'm busy today organising Book Week costumes for Jess and Pat - but hopefully they will look great.