Happy Australia Day!!!!!!!!!!

I went shopping with the girls yesterday and we were commenting on how many people had those Aussie car flags stuck to the windows, boots, trailers just about anywhere you could put one we saw it......until today! Steve and I went out today down to Fremantle for some lunch at the famous Cicerellos.....Yum!

On the way home we came across this fellow! As we approached him Steve said quick grab the camera and take a shot of this guy.......

As I hung out the window with the camera he smiled obligingly...This guy was not to be outdone by the car owners with windows from which to attach his flags...ROFL....note the Gaffa tape holding them on....classic!!!!! Maybe next year he will set up a stall selling ones for motorcycle helmets!

I went to Tomorrow's Memories last night for the Moonlight Scrap - Can't show you what I was working on just yet but hopefully very soon. I had a ball, I just worked on something for me - went totally unprepared, bought what I needed when I got there and focussed for nearly 4 hours on me.....felt good!

I have been asked to teach again at the Scrappin' Outback 6th Wave Rock Scrapbooking Retreat which is being held on the 28th - 30th of March 2008 in Hyden, if you are interested in attending this fabulous weekend then please contact Karen via her blog. She is making final arrangements this week and hopefully forms for registrations will go out by next Sunday. This event is always lots of laughs and the girls that attend are some of the nicest people you would want to meet and make us all feel so welcome.

Take care and I hope you are enjoying the long weekend with family and friends!

It was meant to be!

I asked a question a couple of posts back about how people organise their photos electronically ready for scrapping....the other day when I was at Lis' she showed me how she organised and edited her photos and also how she stored them - very clever. Have I done mine yet? No! Yesterday I was reading Ali E's blog and she had a copy of Stacy Julian's new book called.......Photo Freedom - so of course I had to pre-order it....it was meant to be!

You can read some more about it here.

I know it's not about electronic storage and organisation of your photos (Well at least I don't think so) but I thought that perhaps I could adapt some of her ideas to suit.

My Paper Pesto February Kit arrived yesterday too - you can take a look at the sneak peaks here. Yum I love it and as soon as I opened it and devoured the contents I knew what photos were going to be scrapped! Can't wait to get into them now.

I have itchy feet - Steve looks like heading away overseas for work next month and I haven't really been anywhere for a while now (over 12 months actually) so I was thinking of choofing off somewhere in the next 6 months or so. Just need to decide where !

We have some exciting things to launch at sharonmanning.com.au in the next few weeks.....First one has already been posted up and that's my new Project Kit - you can check it out here. I'm working on the materials list and photos of the inside pages today so I should be able to add them to the site tomorrow. This kit is quick and easy, has plenty of room for journaling and comes with everything you need to complete your mini album, but more importantly is good value for money. I only have 9 of these kits available so if you would like one just follow the instructions on the Product page.

There are moves afoot on the Messageboard too with a new Swaps Forum which will be headed up by the very talented Jen Burns. Jen received a Honourable mention for her mini album in the Scrapbooking Masters and you can check out some of her latest journal work at her blog. So make sure you register (if you haven't already), more news to come in the next few days.

Tomorrow's Memories in Bassendean have a January special on my Acrylic 12x12 Frame-a-Page frames at just $15.95 each they are a bargain - go check them out!

I have been updating my 366 photos on Flickr - I've been taking photos daily but only uploading every couple of days. It's been fun - recording everyday stuff as well as the more exciting stuff. At the end of the 12 months it will be great to look back on I'm sure!

I know this is a long post so I will sign off and get back to some work. Have a great Australia Day long weekend everyone!

More Play!

We went to some freinds' place last night for a BBQ and lots of water play. We had the best time with all the cool pool toys and water canons they had. Here are some photos from the pool play where I think the adults had more fun than the kids. Thanks guys for a great night!!!!!!!




The February kit for Paper Pesto is winging it's way to me and I have been assured by Kate that it is the best one yet! I can't wait now to see it and start creating. These girls manage to put together amazing kits with quality product every month.

If you are interested in my Acrylic Frame-a-Page display frames then make sure you visit Tomorrow's Memories this month as they have them as their monthly special for just $15.95 - GREAT VALUE if you ask me.

OK that's it for this Sunday - I'm off to catch up on some housework. Yuk!

Amazing Day!

Wow I have had an amazing day today!

This morning I was very privileged to photograph the girls in Lis’ family! Morganne in particular, but of course we couldn't leave E out of the picture! She was such a good girl and very patient. I was pretty nervous to start with but once I got into it I was having a ball. I do hope Lis likes the results! I have been editing all afternoon.

Here are some after editing.......

There are so many to choose from! Lis has some of the originals on her blog too.
I will be posting some more in my Photography Gallery on my website in the next few days, so be sure to check them out. I would love to build up this side of my business some more, I love seeing the results!!! Thanks so much Lis for the opportunity.

Last week when I was out shopping one day I came across this book….

I was so totally impressed by it that when I was out shopping with Steve on Friday night I showed it to him. Guess what! He bought it for me today! What a great surprise, I can’t wait to sit down later tonight and devour it (the book that is!).

Here’s a little Synopsis….

This cutting-edge book presents in a luxuriously produced and embellished package Brew-Bevan's selection of 45 portraits - and the stories behind their creation. The format of the book reflects the richly layered nature of the material within. Finished portraits are accompanied by facsimile pages from Peter Brew-Bevan's visual journals, containing his working notes made before, during and after the shoot. These include preliminary sketches of his vision for the final photograph, lighting plans, thoughts on costume, hair and make-up, inspirational tearsheets, quotes from the sitters...and the photographer's observations on his interaction with his subjects. Proofsheets, 'out takes' and images pre- and post-digital manipulation are also included, opening a fascinating window on to the creative process, the personalities and the stories behind the celebrity images that intrigue us all. The subjects include Naomi Watts, Rachel Griffiths, Sam Neill, Blondie, Ian Thorpe, Barry and Miranda Otto, Rose Byrne and Jamie Oliver.

Not long now until the girls are back at school, we picked up the school books yesterday so I had better get onto covering them or showing the girls how to at the very least! I can't believe Renae is in Year 11 and doing TEE and Gemma is in Year 9 - wow where have the years gone?

OK I had better be off and get dinner on....very distracted today...I wonder why?

She's Home

366

I have decided to jump on the band wagon for 2008 and record the year with an image a day. Why an image a day?....well I didn't take my camera out on the 8th, 9th or 10th so I had to come up with something. Luckily Renae sent me some photos of her and Lachlan in Melbourne so that took care of 2 days and we saw The Golden Compass yesterday so I figured the poster would remind me that we saw the film. In fact this will kill 2 birds with one stone because Steve and I were only discussing the other day that we must start writing down the films we have seen and the ones we want to see.

366 because it's a leap year!

Here's the link to my 366.

Back from Holidays

We have just spent the last 5 days in Ledge Point on the coast and about and hours drive from home. We were extremely lucky to have 3 holiday units available to us and had some friends join us for the weekend which was lots of fun. We had a fabulous time and soaked up lots of sun and sand. We even managed to bog the 4WD we had use off up to it's axles - I won't tell you how much it cost to get pulled out....no photos of it sorry. Luckily we were right on the beach when it happened and we were able to swim and stay cool while waiting for help.

Here is a collage of photos from our holiday - I managed to snap 657 photos all together. Thanks to Ilka for the site to create these mosaics - much easier than fluffing around in photoshop.

I need to edit all the photos and decide if I'm going to do a mini album to record the holiday.

We have really missed Renae during our time away....some things are not the same without all the family there to share them together. I think she is missing us too, but I keep telling her to enjoy the time in Melbourne while she can because she will be home soon enough.

Are you wondering why I took a photo of the clock? The batteries had run out so the clock stayed on 3.40 the whole time, so whenever someone asked what the time was the response was always 3.40....who needs a clock when they are on holidays anyway!!!!

I'm trying to get myself organised for the year and as you all know I am a list maker so I have found this site they have heaps of to-do lists and planner pages to download and print off. There is also a great article about making the time to Scrap which is something I am finding difficult to do. Time management is the key for me! So I have selected my ring file which I want to call "My Daily" and hope to get a start on this sometime tomorrow.....after dropping off my car for new tyres and doing the food shopping!

Something else I hope to do over the next week or so is to start creating electronic folders that I can store my photos in that I have yet to print and scrap. You know like the pretty boxes that people have to store all their printed photos in - all with neat dividers with the event and date on them. Well I don't print off my photos until I need them so I need to start filing them electronically ready to print. I forget about so many and then it takes me ages to wade through all of them to find that one I wanted to scrap when I saw it! Yes Time Management is the key here, hopefully if I get more organised then I will save time in the long run.....well that's the theory! I'd love to hear how you store your photos electronically ready to print and scrap!

I'm still trying to decide on what will be my "Ali word" for the coming year...maybe I will use the list to focus on maybe one word a month and hopefully make some improvements across many areas of my life.....as the saying goes "One day at a time".

So I'm all refreshed and re-energised about www.sharonmanning.com.au and have some exciting features to add over the coming weeks....so stay tuned!

I hope you are staying cool this week - it's a hot one here in Perth!

Wow is it really 2008?

Every year I say the same thing....Where did the year go? But the years are starting to go faster and faster and I cannot believe it is 2008 already. Is it because we are older and need to cram more into our days/months/years or is it just the way it goes? I don't know, if someone does please let me know.



2007 was an eventful one for us that I hope to record in some way during the holidays just not sure yet how? Mini-Album, layout or even just a photo collage for the wall. Still deciding.



Renae left today for Melbourne to visit her boyfriend and his family for 12 days. She surprised Lachlan, he thought she was arriving on the 7th - Thanks to Karen for helping her keep it a surprise and welcoming Renae into your home and family. Renae can now tick another thing off her list - flying solo! I'm going to miss her terribly.

2008 is shaping up to be a very exciting one for me with some plans in the process for my website and my thoughts in the last few days have been about the coming year and the improvements I'd like to make in so many areas of my life, both on a business level and personally. So on that note here's to a fun, exciting, successful, sharing, loving year ahead.

I'm taking some time out over the next week or so to focus on a few things and spend some time with my family so I will check back in soon....if you are in Perth try to stay cool! Oh almost forgot, I'm thinking of having a Scrapping Day late Jan or early Feb and you can register your interest here. I have some fun things in mind so stay tuned!