Today is the day.......

Judy and Michael arrive..........YAY. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this. Judy has put me up at her place so many times in the last year (admittedly I was working most of the times) and at Christmas she kindly let us housesit for her so we (my family) could have a great 3 weeks in Sydney visiting friends for Christmas and also experience the New Year fireworks on the harbour. Here are a couple of photos, still trying to work out this camera of mine!

So I am looking forward to showing her my little part of the world and returning some of that hospitality.

The Artistic Journey retreat is fast approaching and I have booked into Lesley Riley's class on Sunday now too. Judy is doing the same class so it should be heaps of fun to create together for pleasure rather than work!

My baby goes on her Year 8 camp today for 3 days, I know she will have a great time, but the house will be quiet without her.

My next bag is coming along nicely and should be finished sometime today, so stay tuned for a snap.

Take Care and enjoy the rest of your week, we are on hump day!!!!!!!!!!!

Bags

You may (or not) recognise this little gem as the Felted Bag that Cathy Zielske has been knitting and displaying on her blog. Well I thought I would give it a go as I have been known to knit in my time. This is my first effort so it needs a little modifying, but I was pretty happy with it. It’s like I need something else to occupy my time – NOT! But when I can’t scrap I have found I can knit…..like waiting for the bus to come in from school in the afternoons or watching TV with Steve. I’m not sure that he thinks it’s such a good idea, he keeps looking at me strangely.

I’m now attempting the shoulder bag on Donna Downey’s blog now…..they are very quick to knit up and the results after they have been felted is quite impressive. Now Renae wants one too.

We had a very busy weekend catching up on things around the house. Our washing machine decided it was time to be replaced on Saturday and then the chlorinator cell in the pool joined in on the fun……why is that things decided to go on the blink at the same time and the worst possible times too. Conspiracy I think!

Judy and Michael arrive on Wednesday so there is much to do before that so I best disappear and do those things that we do before visitors arrive.

Take care until next time.

Opinions, Layout, Hugh & Puppets

Are we not entitled to our opinion? I try and teach my children that just because you have an opinion on something and perhaps someone else does not agree with it then does that make it wrong? No, I think not. I often agree to disagree with others and that’s ok!

I have found in the scrapping fraternity that unless everything said is of an “agreeable” nature then it can be misconstrued to be of a negative nature. Does that make sense? Are we as individuals not allowed to speak up and give our humble opinion on something, anything, without being shot down in flames and told not to speak unless we agree. I thought we lived in a democratic society? Do we not have the right to our political opinion every 4 years or so? I think in a way, that the world we live in today has become so “secretive” in the sense that our votes are secretive, our real opinions are held in secret (or sometimes voiced only to our closest friends).

Aren’t we entitled to speak out and have our say? Sure people are either going to agree or disagree but it sure makes this world a little more interesting. Debating an issue or topic is an art that has been around for centuries. I know I was taught how to debate at school, I think we all were.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for supporting others in this wonderful craft that we all share in. I have no problem in saying anything positive to a fellow scrapper, but when the “disagreement” is aimed at an individual then the way we say something can be misinterpreted as something nasty, when in fact we were just voicing our opinion!

Food for thought!


On a different note, my "Hanging With Dad" layout has been accepted by For Keeps so it's on holidays from my gallery.


Off to the movies tonight for a date with Hugh! Looking forward to a good laugh.

If you are ever in Sydney then you have to visit a place called "The Puppet Maker" located in The Rocks. It has become a tradition of ours, whenever we go to Sydney together or alone we try and visit this cave of wonderous goodies. The girls loved it when we visited and Renae bought a stunning mask. Highly recommend it.



Take care.

Sheer Delight Online Class

Well I loved the class and the LO has come out beautifully. Nic’s instructions were spot on and very clear (which is always important when doing an online class).
Here is the end result…..

You can check out some of my classmates layouts here.

I had to substitute a few things like the stamping on the acetate became BG Rub ons, I really don’t like my handwriting on my layouts so I used rub ons again and I machine stitched instead of hand stitching (time issue). Sorry Nic!

If you haven’t done an online class before and would like to then I highly recommend it. You work on your own so there are little distractions which can be a good thing for some. Nic was on hand at all times to help you out if you needed it. Great concept that there should be more of I think!

Anyway, have a great day and hopefully I will be back soon with some more goodies to show you.

A bit about everything and lots about nothing!

This post is quite disjointed actually!

I am very uninspired at the moment, not necessarily work wise but life wise. I don’t like the down process one has to go through before you see light at the end of the tunnel. I wish I could skip that bit, it does no good to anyone, but then again maybe it’s part of the process you have to go through before the light blinds you.

Anyway, life throws you a curve ball every now and then; I guess it’s how you handle it as to the outcome. Talking double Dutch I know. Sorry I will stop now.


We all need stuff don’t we? So if you are a scrapbooker then you need things like cardstock, paper, and embellishments of every sort! This can become an addiction for many, if not all of us. Then of course the dilemma comes “what do we store all this stuff in?” There are so many products on the market whether they are specifically for Scrapbooking or just storage containers you find at your local hardware store. As you can see from my stuff it is stored in various container types, from white plastic boxes to vertical storage to a fabulous home made (by my very talented husband) cardstock box. Over the years I have tried several different solutions and as my stuff has grown I have had to re-think this many times. I guess you could call me an addict to storage solutions! I am yet to find a product that covers it all and better yet is colour co-ordinated. If you know of one then please let me know. I think this will be an eternal search.

I am doing Nic Finlayson’s Sheer Delight online class with Scrap to the Max tonight, looking forward to that very much. Dinner is organised and the kids don’t have anything after school today so I’m all set. I will share my layout with you when it’s done, so stay tuned. In the next few months Nic is also running some online classes of her own cleverly called Stitch-a-licious. Check them out!

I am still working on the album with Judy and as she mentioned on her blog we would love to share some of our creations but it is a bit of a privacy issue, which is fair enough too. It’s only a week til Judy comes to visit us, Steve still has not met her IRL even though he speaks to her nearly every day. We are having Michael stay with us too for a night and look forward to meeting him and Steve has so many questions for you so be prepared Michael. I am really looking forward to the Artistic Journey Retreat, spending some social time with Judy and doing Michael’s shoe shrine class. That reminds me I have to find a shoe!
Good Sammy’s I think, they should have what I’m looking for.

Til next time take care!

Special Guests

Well if you blog hop then you would already know who came to visit me yesterday. Lis and Alli came all the way out to Bullsbrook with a packed lunch and a water bag to come visit me and see my special view. We chatted about life the universe and everything (well almost everything) and then went down to Ellenbrook to The Scrapbook Shop and of course had to eat so we walked over to Oscars and enjoyed a lovely meal (with lots of lettuce).

We all agreed that it was a lovely way to spend the day and we should do it more often. Let's hope this happens becasue I had a great day with some special friends.

Back to work today, just working on some planning for some new layouts in between hanging the washing, putting away washing, putting the bins out, sorting dinner etc etc etc. You know how it is!

Til next time take care!

Flowers

Look at what Steve came home with for me today!

I have several favourite flowers but Gerberas are certainly one of them. Lucky me.

Oh yeah I also got 3 snakes out of his lollie jar (after he read my blog).......gosh that doesn't sound too good does it! ROFL

Enjoy the rest of Valentines Day.

Happy Valentines Day

To everyone!

I just wanted to share what I made for my better half.

I’m the chocoholic, but one Steve’s favourite is lollies, the “jubey” kind. I was stumped as to what to make him this year and I got the Designing With calendar this week (I know it’s February, better late than never!) and the project for last Sunday was a lolly jar decorated with ribbons. So I purchased the jar and lollies when I was food shopping and of course I already had all the ribbons, so I set to work at 10.15pm last night! Nothing like leaving it til the last minute. Sorry Judy, I had to stop work for just 8 minutes. As he was working also last night I delivered it to him in his office at the other end of the house at about 10.30ish, I never can wait to give presents. Response “Its Valentines Day tomorrow is it?” Now I’m sorry but he listens to the radio, watches TV (admittedly it’s Foxtel to avoid the adverts) but how could he not know it was Valentines Day sometime soon. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want or expect anything in return (well a lolly or two wouldn’t hurt) but how could he not know! They start advertising Valentines day post Xmas sales don’t they?

That reminds me, we spent Xmas and New Year in Sydney this year and we hit the post Xmas sales to get ourselves a bargain and lo and behold they were putting out Easter eggs and chocolates for sale ON THE 2nd OF JANUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the? I was totally deflated when I saw this, I was still recovering from Xmas for goodness sake. Commercialism, it’s a wonderful thing.

I am in full swing scrapping at the moment, last week was a bit of a disaster, one of those weeks when I was out doing things during the days every day, but this week has been very productive so far. Powering on!

I started aerobics again on Monday with a lot of encouragement from my good friend Michelle, and Steve certainly thought it was a good idea. I only stopped once due to a little dizziness, but feel pretty good today, just a little tight in the leg muscles. Our instructor said she will take it slowly for the first few weeks and slowly step up the pace as time goes on. Good, I want to keep this up no matter how sore I get. It’s funny how easy it is to commit to the couch every night, but aerobics; well that’s another thing isn’t it. Staying power, that’s what I need!!!!!!!!!!!! I do feel good after it I must admit (just don’t tell Steve that).

Anyway I hope you all have a wonderful day. I have two special visitors today, but I will share that with you in the next few!

Take care.

Autism Crop Fundraiser

Alli Patterson is doing it again!

Autism Crop Fundraiser that is, you can find out all the details by clicking on the button in my side bar . It would be fantastic if we could support Alli in this very worthwhile cause and I have no doubt that it will be a fun filled day. Hope to see you there. Oh and don't forget if you can't make it and would like to donate some goodies then contact Alli!

Apologies

Sorry about my blog changing so much, just need to get it the way I want it! I am working on some new graphics that will hopefully "make it mine".
Thanks

Well as some of you are aware last February I was chosen as one of 2 Australians (along with Kerrin Quall) for the 2006 Design Team for Scrapworks. While we all got off to a great start with the company, well let's just say that the 'gig' didn't quite turn out how we all expected it to. Half way through the year Scrapworks were bought out and communications broke down. But, my reason for this post is to officially celebrate the end of my year contract with them and share with you my favourite layout from this experience. This layout was also one of the lucky ones to be published in For Keeps too. You can see some of my other layouts created throughout the year in my gallery. Please feel free to leave me a message either here or at my gallery, I would love to hear from you!

Cheers!

Guess Who?

Judy now has a blog!
You can check out her amazing work too.
Welcome to blogland Judy.

Good Monday morning to you all!

Long post……be warned!

Well another weekend has passed us by. Can someone please tell me where January went? Some exciting things have happened already for me this year…..

Firstly, I am working with the very talented Judy as you all know on creating individual albums usually commissioned by a family member as a surprise gift. So we have commenced our first album for 2007 and I’m looking forward to sinking my teeth into this. I love doing this work, at times it is challenging to come up with something new and different but at the same time it is good thing to stretch the old grey matter.

Secondly, I also have one of my own clients here in Perth to create for and hope to be advertising a little and extending my own client base.

Thirdly, I have been invited by Karen Smith to teach once again at Outback Scrappin’ retreat in Hyden on 30th, 31st March and 1st April. I was lucky enough to do this last September and had a great time with all the ladies from the area. Again I will be joined by the very talented Lis Cassey and for the first time Alli Patterson will be teaching classes also. Very excited about this!
If you are interested in joining us for the weekend then you can contact the lovely Karen on (08) 9875-1021 and find out some more details. Believe me, you will have a ball!

Fourthly, sorry got carried away, there is no fourthly at the moment but the way things are going it won’t be long!

That reminds me did anyone watch that show “The Secret” the other night. Check out http://www.thesecret.tv/home.html and to quote the website………………

“For the first time in history, the world's leading scientists, authors, and philosophers will reveal The Secret that utterly transformed the lives of every person who ever knew it... Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein.”

Interesting stuff but a little over the top for me, although there were elements of the programme that I think we could all put into practise in our day to day lives.
The power of positive thinking does have a place in my life but I think I lack the discipline to follow it through.

A good topic for discussion at a dinner party though!

Enough rambling for one day. Enjoy your week everyone.

Funny face

I love this photo of my girlfriends daughter! This layout has been in my UFO pile for about 4 months now. Finally finished.

Thanks for looking!