Spooky?

Yes...I let my children go out in public looking like this :)


She REALLY didn't like me putting knots in her hair!

Who IS this revolting looking person? LOL

They take so much pride in the fact that they look ugly...the uglier the better! Only on Halloween :)

And just so that she didn't feel left out....

... a "spooky" Halloween t-shirt!

Here's to Halloween...anything that involves lollies and chocolates can't be all bad!

TTFN xxx

BOO!

It's Halloween!

I know, I know.....we don't live in America, but I've noticed in the last few years that we seem to be involved in something "spooky" every year, and it's fun! Last year the kids had a Halloween disco at their school, and loved getting dressed up, and I have to admit, I had lots of fun making them all spooky too :)

This is a LO I did last year about Riley in his vampire costume...


...and how cool is the Halloween paper! I've stocked up on a few papers again this year, so expect to see some more Halloween LOs soon. Tonight the older two are off to a Halloween party, complete with trick-or -treating and pizza for dinner, and at this very minute are deciding what ghoulish colours they will be painting their faces. All good fun!

It didn't take me long to break out my DT pack from Tomorrows Memories! I have made one LO so far...



Now, you have to try to imagine the background being clear acrylic (not green) because that's what it is! It's REALLY hard to photograph it effectively...see my reflection in the photo? Take my word for it, it's clear.

Try the side view...


..you with me? Looks a bit cool IRL...just wanted to try something a bit different, and love the way it turned out! I machine stitched the patterned paper to the acrylic to stabilize the page, and inked the lace and paper doily with sepia ink. After I took this photo, I added a couple more rub-ons to the acrylic. The papers are from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Webster's Pages, and all the goodies are available from Tomorrows Memories.

Speaking of which...I copied this from the TM blog...check it out all you local girls...

We have some AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING offers for you.....
Make sure you read this all so you don’t miss out on some amazing deals!!!

MAKING MEMORIES SLICE GIVEAWAY
Yes – you read it right!! Starting from Saturday 1st November until Saturday 29th November 2008, every $70.00 that you spend in store (after discounts), will give you a ticket into the draw for a Slice Starter Kit valued at $299.00! The prize will be drawn in the first week of December and the winner will be notified by phone.
Check our website on www.tomorrowsmemories.com.au to find out more about the Slice and what it includes.
This is an amazing offer – so come in and do all your Christmas Shopping in the month of November to earn a ticket in the draw for this amazing prize!

WOOD MOUNTED STAMPS
Due to the popularity of Acrylic stamps, we will no longer be stocking wood mounted stamps. We are still happy to order these in for you. All wood mounted stamps in store will receive 40% off until cleared!

NOVEMBER CLASSES
As you all know, November is a busy month for us all – getting ready for Chrismas, parties, school commitments. To entice you all to book in for some of our November classes, we are offering an amazing deal.
Book one class for November and get a second class (of the same or lesser value)
In November at 50% off.

SPECIALS/CLEARANCE SECTION
We have had a lot of new stock arrive recently which has left our clearance area well stocked! Therefore we are offering 50% off the already lower marked prices for Friday 31st October and Saturday 1st November ONLY.

20% OFF STORE WIDE
For Friday 31st October and Saturday 1st November we are offering 20% off storewide. This is for floor stock only. Don’t miss this great opportunity to get all your Christmas scrapbooking items!!

Get in there if you can and grab a bargain!

OK....I had best go and help my little ghoulies...enjoy your Halloween!

TTFN xxx

What would YOU pay?

It would seem that the difference between a photo like this, complete with eyes rolled back in her head, feet in the air and arms crossed...


...and a photo like this, happily playing on her computer, is....

...this!

Let me explain :)

This morning while I was cleaning the bathroom, Merryn was sitting on the little pink chair, happily playing with her Barbie computer. She looked so cute, and so relaxed that I snuck out to grab the camera. Of course, as soon as I went to take a shot, she started mucking around, pulling silly faces and kicking her legs in the air! Which made me more determined to get a photo LOL.After asking nicely, and using a little "tone" in my voice, she still wasn't having a bar of it.

We had been grocery shopping earlier in the morning, and I'd bought her a chocolate as a treat, planning to give it to her after lunch. It got the better of me, and I told her if she behaved herself and let me take a photo, she could have it. Bribing for a photo is not something I would normally do, and the minute I did it, I started to regret it. I can't help but think that I may have set a VERY dangerous precedent! No chocolate=no photo type of thing. Hmmmmm....time will tell!

I actually scrapbooked a page this afternoon...YAY! It's been a while :)

This is my "pink page" that I created as part of the "Girls Night In" on the Scrapsidaisy forum. Since the idea is to raise money for Pink Ribbon Day (and breast cancer research), you just need to scrap a page using predominantly pink.

Sorry about the camera flash in the middle of this one...not ideal lighting conditions here at the moment. It actually looks VERY pink IRL. The good news is...you still have time to enter! You just need to upload to the forum by noon tomorrow, and the prize is a pack of yummy pink scrapping goodies for the winner! What's not to love about that?

TTFN xxx

Some days....

...are just perfect for stitching. Today is one of those days.

I woke this morning to the sound of rain on the roof (always a beautiful way to start the day) and felt a chill in the air, and thought to myself that today would be a perfect day to knock over another block for my Christmas Belles quilt.

I spent the morning catching up on my housework, so that when Merryn came home and hit me with the inevitable "Can I watch a DVD?", I would be prepared! We snuggled on the lounge together to watch the "human" version of Charlottes Web...have you seen it? It is beautiful. The book was one of my favourites as a child, and we've watched the cartoon version countless times, but the "human" version is divine! (Might have to ask Santa for my very own copy LOL)

Anyhoo... we sat and stitched the "gardening angel" block...



Isn't she sweet?

Now, when I say "we", I really do mean "we". Merryn (and the other two as well when they were younger) loves to stitch with me. She sits up nice and close, and as I poke the needle to the top of the fabric, she pulls it through. Then I stitch back down into the fabric, while she waits for the needle to pop through to the top again. It took a while (and lots of needle re-threading) before she got the feel of when to stop pulling, but now she is quite the expert. She loves it , and really, what better way is there to spend a rainy afternoon?

Very little happening on the scrapbooking front, but all that will probably change with the arrival of my new DT pack from Tomorrows Memories today, which holds lots of Christmas goodness...just as well I haven't finished scrapping all those Chrissy photos :)

Enjoy your Tuesday

TTFN xxx

Pink Ribbon Day

Today, Monday October 27th is Pink Ribbon Day, which raises funds to aid in the search for a cure for breast cancer.

Breast cancer affects so very many families...if not directly, then indirectly. My son came home from school today, and told me about a young boy in his class who was crying this morning before school. When asked why, this little boy replied that today was Pink Ribbon Day, and that his Mum has breast cancer. It still brings a tear to my eye, just writing that sentence. Our family has been affected, too, and it makes me so sad to say that my girls have a family history of breast cancer. Luckily, due to the research already done, the disease did not prove to be as devastating as it could have...but it makes me realize how vital it is to support the research, and give if you possibly can.

The girls at Scrapsidaisy are holding a "Girls Night In" tomorrow night...one of hundreds all over Australia, I would imagine. In conjunction with this, Leisa is holding a little cyber challenge. Scrap a page using pink, and post on the forum by Thursday at 12noon. The winner will receive a pack of pink scrapping goodies, courtesy of Scrapsidaisy. Why not have a go? I know I will be pulling out my pink stuff to take part!

Please consider making a donation this week to support the Cancer Council...every little bit helps.

TTFN xxx

New stuff from Tim!

I was checking out Tim Holtz's blog this morning, and was pretty excited to read about his new product, Distress Stickles....they look awesome! Anything which produces such an amazing effect with minimum mucking around gets my attention! Check it out at www.timholtz.typepad.com . I don't mind a bit of Kindyglitz here and there (should I be admitting that in public?) but this takes the look to a much classier level. Love it.

I thought I'd put a picture of the new colours here on the blog (see below), and while it was loading, I got the brainwave that you might like to see a photo of when I actually MET Tim...just for a laugh.

So here it is...back when I was playing with different colours in my hair LOL! I was lucky enough to do some classes with Tim a couple of years back when he was here in Perth, and he was very happy to have his photo taken with anyone who wanted a souvenir shot. He was a great teacher...love his laid back style!

And here are the new release colours...

...which match the colours in his other "distress' lines. Gotta love that. He is also having a giveaway of the complete line to 3 people, so pop over and leave a comment if you are into a bit of glitter! Just be warned though...if you win, I may have to come to your place to check out the prize!

Not much happening here in the way of creating...and not likely to be any time soon either! LOL. Kids are keeping me busy (as usual) and some friends are coming over this afternoon...why is it that 3 kids are such hard work, but when I have 5 here I hardly hear from them? Funny that.

Anyhoo...enjoy your Saturday, and try to find some time to create something!

TTFN xxx

That magical sound...

To a hayfever sufferer in Spring, there is no sound more wonderful than rain on the roof. Rain magically settles down all the pollens in the air, and brings much welcome relief to the nose-blowing, eye-rubbing and wheezing that has dominated the last week or two. May it rain for days and days and days!

I have finally been able to focus on making my Copycatcard for this week, which is to incorporate beads on a card. Let me just say....I am SOOOOO not a bead girl. Trying to find a bead was hard enough, and then putting it on a card? Hmmm.


I did my best. The cream card is embossed with a Christmas tree (just in case you can't tell), and I have then decorated the tree with green microbeads and red seed beads. "Christmas again?"... I hear you say. In my defence, these are the only beads that I own, so the options were quite limited from the start! I have adhered the beads with Dimensional Magic, which SHOULD hold them in place, and used some Making Memories Fa La La paper to back the embossed tree.
"Merry Christmas" is stamped with Staz-On ink onto a transparency, which is held in place with red brads.

Happy Friday ...hope the weekend holds lots of good times for you. Oh...and lots of rain!

TTFN xxx

Taxi Day...

I call Thursday my "taxi day", because I spend most of the day taking my kids from what seems like one end of Perth to the other! Each of them has their own busy schedule on Thursdays, and it seems that it's my job to get them where they need to go :) Whoever came up with the phrase "stay at home Mum" was obviously not referring to me (or any other SAHM I know, come to think of it!) These are the joys!

I often use the phrase "get with the program", and I am very proud to say that my husband seems to be getting the idea. Yesterday I was doing the ironing, and he came in and said something like..."I've got something funny to tell you...you might want to write it down". He proceeded to tell me of a conversation that he'd just had with Merryn that I might want to document. Heelloooo??? We have a breakthrough! He is telling me things that I might want to include in my scrapbook...YAY! So proud....LOL...he is definitely getting with the program!

Anyway, I thought I would break out my new Sassafrass Lass papers and create a page about this conversation between Merryn and her Dad.

Merryn is all about keeping out of trouble at the moment. If there is the slightest chance that she might be busted for doing the wrong thing, she will make up a little white lie to try to cover herself. Very naughty....but also very funny. The trick is not to let her see that you are amused by her.

I used Sassafrass Lass Hog Heaven paper (which is all about HEDGEhogs, not piggy hogs, much to my initial disappointment!). I gave my Fiskars Threading Water punch a woprkout to create the edge around the yellow cardstock, but despite watching a tutorial on YouTube, still managed to stuff up the corners...ggrrrrr.

There is a new Copycatcard challenge...create a card using beads. I haven't attempted mine yet, but have given a little bit of thought to it....maybe tonight? Why don't you have a go too?

I had better get moving...my taxi is very much in demand this afternoon!

TTFN xxx

I'm bringing Christmas back (yeah)..

The title of this post is a blatant take-off of Cathy Zielske (taking off Justin Timberlake LOL). Sorry, couldn't resist :) (if you read her blog, you'll understand hee hee)

Last night I went to Tomorrows Memories to do a class in the Me Myself and I Create series...the one that I mentioned last week. It was so fun! Our homework was to record all the little things we do in a normal day and take a few photos to accompany them. We then created a LO for our "ME" album. It was so cool to see what everyone does in a "normal" day...and while not all of it was exciting, I think it will be great to look back in a year or so to see how much our lives have changed. Also great for anyone in 30 or so years to see what is normal for 2008 (if my life is considered "normal"...????)


This is a peek at the top of the LO...what a cool way to record the date!

At the class I also got to chatting to Helen, a fellow scrap-a-holic (hi Helen xxx) about why we don't scrap as much as we would like. Helen said she gets a little overwhelmed at times by the sheer volume of photos that she has yet to scrap, which I can totally relate to.

Getting to the point...LOL...I think that is one reason why I am scrapping so many Christmas photos lately. I have all my Christmas photos, and papers and embellishments, sorted seperately from all my other stuff....which means it is not NEARLY so overwhelming to attack the Christmas photos. There is a finite number of them. One day I will actually get to the bottom of that pile. And some days, that is a really nice feeling :)

So here is another Christmas LO...

These are (once again) the Making Memories Fa La La papers...another good reason to scrap Christmas photos! I've used Skinny Stripe, Poinsettia Stripe, Artisan Solid and the paper poinsettia on this one.

I could, however, have an ulterior motive for all these Christmas LOs....have you seen the new Basic Grey Wassail range? YUM! I have held myself back from buying some so far, but if I was getting short on Christmas papers...I might just have to order some (wink wink). Check them out at www.scrapsidaisy.com and let me know what you think!

TTFN xxx

Real life shots...

It's a funny thing....my very favourite photos are usually the impromptu, not posed, messy hair type shots. I guess they capture real life...life as it is in our house on any given day, and life how I really want to remember it. I find these type of photos popping up on my camera every now and then, and they make me smile.

Take the photo that I used in this LO...

Merryn saw that post a few days ago, with my puffy eyes, as I was writing it. She was quite fascinated that I had taken a photo of myself, and like any four year old, wanted to know how I did it. So I sat her up on my lap, and took a few shots of us laughing and pulling faces (you know how it goes...gotta love digital cameras!). Flicking through these photos , I came across the one above, and it took my breath away. This is just SO HER. With a little cropping, I cut my wonky eyes out of the shot :) and printed it out on my home printer, so I could scrap it right away. Love real life shots :)

I created this LO following the sketch challenge number 20 over on the Scrapsidaisy forum, using some more of those yummy Basic Grey Urban Prairie papers (I seem to have overcome my fear of cutting into them LOL) They matched the colours in the photo perfectly...I couldn't have set up a photo shoot better :) Also used some MM 5th Avenue photo corners, Noteworthy metal signage, and my older-than-old MM Heidi rub-ons. I remember buying my very first pack of those, trying to justify the almost $20 price tag. I'd hate to count how many I have bought since...they were a scrapbooking staple a few years back :)

Have a great Monday...

TTFN xxx

Events and parties...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending WA's first ever Fiskars Scrapbboking event held at Just Scrapbooking at Jandakot. The day was an absolute credit to the girls who organized it...great projects, great food, great prizes and great fun! I was lucky enough to win LOTS of prizes...

... and generally just have a really nice day out. Thanks to Kim and Evana...you did a fantastic job!

Sadly, there has been no creating happening here for the last little while...apart from the hayfever issue, we have been busy! Merryn headed off to a friends birthday party this morning...

Just look at her! She was so excited, insisted on wearing a dress, and had a lovely time. I am really going to miss her when she grows up :(

I have spent the afternoon so far cleaning and sorting in my scrapbooking room...honestly, I don't know how it got so messy! It's not like I've created anything for days (and days!) now. Maybe now I can see my desk, I might be inspired to do something...here's hoping!

Enjoy what's left of the weekend.

TTFN xxx

When the going gets tough...

...the tough make cards! LOL

My poor husband was gobsmacked that I would put such a revolting looking photo of myself on the blog, but the way I figure it, sometimes life IS revolting! (see previous post, if you dare LOL).

I've spent the afternoon whipping up some cards for a couple of parties that we are going to on the weekend...little boy parties, in fact. I am really not good at boy cards, so kept it pretty basic. I also cheated and used the same papers...that's allowed, you know.


This is a smaller-than-usual card for a friend of my daughters...he's turning four, so I thought the dinosaurs would be a safe bet. The paper is Basic Grey Archaic. Rather than reach for the paint to colour my chipboard circle, I've inked it with some black ink...love the effect (and love not having to wash up paint gear too!)

The next is for a...can you guess?...one year old. I was tempted to do "baby boy" colours and theme, but figure he's old enough for dinosaurs! I Cuttlebugged the paper circle, inked the chipboard circle underneath, and sponged the white chipboard circle on top.

As I was flicking back through my photos on the computer, I came across this LO. It would have to be one of my favourites, so I thought I would share :)

I used some of the MM Spellbound papers, some Little Yellow Bicycle paper, and the frames are MM 5th Avenue. There's lots of stitching on it, and I just love the photos of Lydia dressed up as Fern from Charlottes Web for Book Week this year. Just goes to show that the Spellbound papers have so many more uses than JUST Halloween layouts :)

OK, that's two posts from me today, so it might be time to turn the computer off and enjoy a BBQ dinner with my family. Hope you have a great weekend, wherever you are!

TTFN xxx

Is it any wonder....

...that my mojo is missing in action? Have a go at these eyes...

Yes, it's hayfever season, and I have got it BAD! I haven't slept for days, my nose is runny, my eyes are itchy, my mouth is itchy and I feel like cr*p! I haven't done anything creative in a while either, because by the time I get the kids to bed, my eyes are ready to close! Blah. None of the drugs work, either. I paid $40 for 28 tablets today...a new "miracle" formula...NOT!!!

So, I will stop whingeing now...but don't expect too much creativity happening any time soon LOL!

And what do I do when my creativity has gone walkabout? Yes, I reach into my stash of kits!



This one is from Tomorrows' Memories, and is a LO from the Me Myself and I Create series. I usually go to the class, but had to miss a couple a while back, so I bought the kit instead! A good thing, really, beacause the way I have been feeling, I really couldn't be bothered coming up with anything original! LOL!

Anyhoo...thanks for putting up with my moaning today :) and if you know of any good hayfever drugs, I will be your friend for life!

TTFN xxx

Can't resist sharing....

Now, I realize I may be a little premature here...after all, it doesn't have binding, or a quilt label yet,but I can't resist showing you this....



I picked this quilt up from the quilters this morning...isn't it sweet? I have been working on this quilt for literally years, which is a little embarrassing considering how small it is! I originally started making it for Lydia, and it will remain Lydia's, even though she now has two quilts, and poor Merryn doesn't have any :( ...guess I had better get moving on a quilt for Merryn!

For those non-quilters who read, a word of explanation. I stitched and pieced the top of the quilt, and then took it to a professional quilter who put the top onto a layer of batting (the woolly stuff in the middle that makes it warm) and a backing (the bottom layer). She then used a machine to stitch all the wavy lines (called stippling) on top to hold all the layers together, and now I need to put a binding on it (the bit that goes around the outside edge of the quilt). Since the binding is scalloped and may take a few days, I decided to share it today!

In other news...one of my LOs has been accepted to the Basic Grey gallery! A bit exciting for me, as it is the first time I have submitted anything to anywhere...don't know what came over me, really :). It's the LO of Lydia a few posts down...in case you don't have time to check it out LOL.

I'm doing a class next week at Tomorrows Memories (being a student...yay!) whereby you document in words and pictures what you do in a day. Today is the day I have chosen, so I'm writing down all the bits and pieces of my day. It's only lunchtime but after reading my list so far....I feel EXHAUSTED LOL! I'll share the LO when I'm done, but if you live in Perth...why not come along too? Call TM for details.

Back into all the after school activities this week, so I had better get organised...

TTFN xxx

Inspired by Tracey...

This year, I am determined to be a little more organised for Christmas. I say it every year, but this year I am going to do it. I plan to have my Christmas cards made, handmade Christmas dresses for the girls, and gifts organised by December 1st....LOL, I wonder how I'll go :)

With this goal in mind, I had been racking my brain for gift ideas for the children's school teachers. I wanted to do something other than chocolates, or wine, or teacher coffee mugs, which is what I usually resort to because of my lack of organisation. NOT THIS YEAR!!!

The very talented Tracey (check out her blog http://alusciousjourney.blogspot.com) has come up with a brilliant idea! She made a beautiful card set as a gift for her daughters teacher, using the MM 5th Avenue Journaling Book. I saw these in real life the other day, and couldn't help but think to myself..."what a marvellous idea", AND "I have got a few journaling books in my stash", AND "what a great way to use up some stuff!" So, with her permission, I set about creating my own :)



As much as I would have liked to copy hers (they are stunning), I thought I had better put my own spin on them...

I have made two sets of these so far, and plan to use the same idea but a different journaling book (I have a few:) ) to create another couple of sets for the other teachers.

Tracey is such a talented chicky, and her seemingly never-ending supply of wonderful ideas blows me away sometimes! Thanks for the kick-start Tracey xxx

Kids are back at school today, so I am hoping to get into a bit of stitching...if I can ignore the housework for a while :)

TTFN xxx

Holidays, mulberries, scrapping and stitching!

Today is officially the last day of the holidays here in WA (even though the kids don't actually go back to school until Tuesday). We've been quite busy the last couple of days, trying to cram in the things that we wanted to do, but didn't get around to earlier.

We went bike riding yesterday, and discovered a big old mulberry tree, packed full of juicy, ripe mulberries! It brought back lots of childhood memories for me...our neighbours had a tree when I was little, and we'd stuff ourselves. I used to love the silkworms too, and would collect them in an icecream container. Good times. Shame they leave such STUBBORN stains though LOL.

I did a little creating this afternoon while the kids were quiet (swimming at the local pool all morning must have tired them out LOL). I was looking through some old copies of Scrapbook Trends, and found a LO by Dawn Hagewood that used some KI Lace cardstock, which I have quite a bit of, so I thought I'd copy it!




As with every time I try to scraplift, my LO turned out quite different to the original, but this is good! Sometimes you need a bit of a kickstart to get your mojo happening :) I have no idea why I dug out these photos from 2005...some rare snaps of me in swimmers, no less! I should point out that it's all straight in real life (looks a little crooked from my photo!)

I also finished another block for my Christmas quilt last night. Things are going a bit slowly on this atm...I have stitching time, but not much time to create the blocks so that they are ready to stitch IYKWIM.


See, it still has the marks from my embroidery hoop on it! I know, I know...it's only little. I'll try to get another block ready tonight :). At the rate I'm going, it may be ready for Christmas.....NEXT YEAR!!!

TTFN xxx

New one and old ones...

Some layouts to share today :)

I received a parcel the other day containing the new and ever-so-delicious Basic Grey Urban Prairie and a few sheets of Granola (one of BG's other new ranges). For some reason, I have been having trouble cutting into it...it is very beautiful :) I have learned a very valuable lesson over the years though...don't hang onto scrapbooking papers or embellishments because they are too "special" to use, because it only takes the release of a new (and even more gorgeous) range to relegate those papers into the drawer, never to be pulled out again!

With this in mind, I got stuck into it!


This LO uses Urban Prairie Bluebird, Petticoat, one of the chipboard shapes, as well as one of my very favourite MM Noteworthy journaling book pages...I am going to be very sad when I've used the last page! Love them! The journaling is about my sweet little girl, who manages to be sweet even when she is about to be sick LOL...just one of those little everyday things that I love to record in my scrapbooks.

The next couple are a little older...I made them for Tomorrows Memories back when Noteworthy 2 was first released, but haven't shared them here yet.

This one is just "random stuff" about me back in May (when I did the page) ... and I am amazed that, even just a couple of months down the track, a couple of the things are no longer relevant so much :)

This one is quite a bit different to my usual thing...I stamped with paint and bubble wrap to create the background, and the colours are a bit "out there" LOL....but I like it! Used my favourite little MM alphas too.

That's all for today, I think. My hayfever is making life a little miserable, but....it IS Spring, so that is to be expected. I wish those drug companies would work a little harder for some effective relief! LOL.

TTFN xxx

Tricky tricky...

The Copycatcard challenge for this week, as set by the lovely Hope, is to create a round card...tricky tricky! I'm a few days late in creating my sample, because I really couldn't decide what to do. My head kept saying Christmas bauble, and I couldn't silence it! So in the end I cut a piece of green cardstock into a circle as a starting point, and went from there.


I have to say, I love the way it turned out! A circular card is not something I would create all by myself usually, but I guess this is what it's all about :) Probably the trickiest thing about this card was taking the photo out in the afternoon breeze...it kept falling out of the tree! I figured hanging it on a branch was probably my best option LOL. I haven't even used patterned paper on this one (shock! horror!), just some cardstock cut into strips ( the white embossed with my favourite Cuttlebug folder) and a Bazzill Chip Topper sticker from a few years back...nothing too tricky about that!

If you are thinking about making your own circular card...hop to it! Leisa is away on holidays, so you have an extra week to come up with your design :)

Thank you for all your lovely comments over the last few weeks. If you have been too shy to leave me one...please, don't be! I'd love to hear from you.

TTFN xxx

And while we are on the subject of happiness...

...this is a LO I made last night. We have just started to dip our toes, ever so gingerly, into the property market after being out of it for several years. We are finding that the questions just keep on coming...what are we looking for? What features are important to us? Where do we want to live? etc etc

So this LO takes a lighthearted look at all of those questions...I think it will be great to look back on in a few years.

I have delved into my scrapbooking stash again for this LO (YAY ME!!!!) and used some Love Elsie papers from Elsie's Jack and Abby line...now that was a while ago! The photo was taken by Lydia, and I couldn't resist using it (even though my hubby hates it LOL)...I think it fits the lighthearted nature of the LO perfectly! It came together really quickly too (love it when that happens)...I've machine stitched along all the wavy lines, and around the edges.

TTFN xxx

My happiness...

...has come in many forms today :)

It's visiting the Swan Bells (a tourist attraction here in Perth that I've wanted to climb for the longest time!) and being a tourist in my own city.


It's watching the kids out playing in the beautiful sunshine, making wishes and discovering new things.

It's eating fish and chips for lunch at the Esplanade, listening to the water lapping on the posts and watching the watercraft sail by.

It's a bag full of my favourite lollies, just for me. (The children got their own bag :) )

And it's finally finding a new doona cover that my darling husband and I can agree on! Believe me, this process has taken many years, and I couldn't wait to get home and put it on our bed LOL.
Merryn actually suggested that I take her photo...a highly unusual thing...and posed without any directions from me...she's looking very relaxed, huh? I know it's bright, but I love the fresh colours. We've had a patchwork quilt on our bed for years, and have wanted a new quilt for ages but couldn't agree on anything! I really didn't want to tackle making another patchwork one either. Can't wait to snuggle into those yummy big pillows :)

Back with a new LO shortly

TTFN xxx

Love a cold rainy day...

...because it means I can have some guilt-free scrapping time! Yesterday was miserable here, and the kids were recovering from their big day at the show, so I scrapped well into the night :)

I finally delved into my new stash of SEI Poppy to create this LO about Lydia. Earlier this year, she had a HUGE length cut off her hair...probably about 50cm? and it made a big difference to her personality...amazing that the length of her hair could make such a big change in her!



I used SEI Poppy Azure, Adirondack, Starfruit, Rattan, and one of the journaling tags, with lots of silvery touches...it is very sparkly!

Then I scrapped these baby photos of my beautiful boy:)



Some stitching on here, to match the papers. I have mostly used elements from the Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie kit which I bought ages ago, loved, but never got around to using! That happens a bit around here.

Hope you have all had a great weekend...or continue having a great weekend those lucky people in the Eastern States who have a long one :) We are heading into Week 2 of the school holidays, so are hoping that the weather is a little kinder to us this week.

TTFN xxx

The Show...and some decision making.

We had a fantastic time at the Show... so glad we made the effort this year! I'm noticing as the kids get older, I am enjoying these things more and more...so much less planning and organization required. We didn't even take the stroller this time, and the kids walked and walked and didn't complain even once. Merryn did all the usual kiddie stuff...clowns and merry-go-rounds and kiddie boats. I am really going to miss this stuff when she grows up a bit :(




The dodgem cars were great fun too. We met up with some friends while we were there, and I handed the camera over for once...yay me! Mel took some great shots, and it was so nice to look through them all this morning (thank you Mel xxx).

The kids went on lots of rides, and patted lots of animals, and ate lots of food, and generally had a great time. They are still fossicking through their showbags and eating lollies, so it's all good LOL.

We've had a very lazy day today, and I've done a lot of paper shuffling, if not so much scrapbooking LOL.

For a long time now, I've been trying to decide what to do about the hundreds of $$$ worth of Creative Memories albums that I bought way back when I first started scrapping. The method really doesn't work for me these days...the whole chronological scrapping thing especially doesn't work for me, actually! I still have many baby photos of Riley that I haven't scrapped, and I balk at trying to scrap them in order so as to put them in the CM albums...see my problem?

So today I bit the bullet, and made a decision. There is far too much money wrapped up in these albums to just ditch them (as tempting as that is LOL) but they are also hindering my creative process, so.....

I am going to live with them. I will fill the empty pages that I have, but only the ones that have something on the back (IYKWIM)....no more pressure! Any other LO about Riley as a bub can go into the gorgeous American Crafts black leather 3 ring albums that I use for everything else. Done.

So, I made the LO above as the title page for his CM album...I kept it basic, because anything too fancy would look a bit out of place in this album! (Try to picture lots of paper piecing and photos cut into circles, ovals and other more creative (???!!!) shapes, and you will get the picture!) I have a few more pages to fill, but after that, I am done.

And then...well, I can scrap the baby pics as I feel like it...no more pressure to get them in just the right order! Phew!

Pull Aparts

And no, I am not talking about the yummy bread from Bakers' Delight LOL.

I am describing my scrapbooking experiences of the last few days :( It seems that everything I have made lately I have pulled apart! You know the ribbon LO from the other day? I made the mistake of sitting it on my display easel next to my scrapping desk, and for some reason a couple of the ribbons just kept asking me to take them off. So I did, but not without ripping the paper underneath, which then presented a whole new problem! Do you ever have days like that?

The we come to this LO....



It wasn't created without it's share of paper ripping too (and I don't just mean the bits that a meant to look ripped LOL). My poor son was horrified to see me tearing the whole LO to pieces right before his eyes! Ahh...the frustrations!

I love the end result, though :). I really want to record how my kids came by their nicknames in their albums, so I started with Lydia. She is , and always has been, "Fairy Floss" and she didn't know why when I asked her. This photo brought back so many beautiful memories for me...I love babies, and she was just gorgeous.

I have used some Melissa Frances paper, some October Afternoon paper, and some of my favourite tiny MM alphas...love those letters!

We are off to the Perth Royal Show today, so I'm guessing there won't be much creative stuff going on around here...but maybe lots of new photos to scrap after that!

Have a great Friday!