Just a Glimpse of us

Ok so I'm the slackest Blogger in the World!

2009-09-04T15:32:00.000+10:00

I have no idea if anyone even looks here anymore. I know I am the slackest blogger around. My husband has been hounding me to update for ages - I told him he could do it but he declined. I never seem to have any time to do the things I would like anymore. The Shop really has taken over my life, lol.

I found these images that I had loaded into a post but never actually got around to finishing - they are from Easter!!!!! Oh dear, that proves it doesn't it, lol.

I am hoping that I can be a much better blogger and update a lot more regularly. I have to run now but I promise I will be back with photos from the Ella & Huddy's Birthdays they have recently had :)

The JUNE 123 Challenge is....

2009-06-01T17:41:00.000+10:00

1. Buttons - lots and lots of buttons, minimum of 6 - Giovanna Scott
2. Use some fabric - Manon Keir
3.Hand Stitching - Fiona Shultz

Email your entries to: challenge_123@hotmail.com by the last day of the month!!!

BONUS RANDOM PRIZE DRAW: Complete your June 123 Challenge entry before Monday June 15th, 7pm for your chance to win a $10 Voucher - to be randomly drawn on the night of the 123 Blog Party

May Challenge for 123...

2009-05-01T15:26:00.000+10:00

May 123 Challenge is up on the blog and it's an easy one this month!

1. Mixed up alphas for the title - Tash Allen and Long Title - Jan Fletcher
2. 3 different ribbons used creatively (not just stuck down straight) - Nina Granzian
3. Journaling spots - Manon

I did this at the beginning of May but have just realised I didn't publish it, ooops!

A belated....

2009-04-13T18:41:00.002+10:00

source: KI Memories
Source: Bakerella

From us to you :))

Latest 123 Challenge

2009-03-25T19:54:00.000+10:00

It seems the only Scrapbooking I do at the moment is one layout a month for the 123 Challenge, *sigh*. I really wish I had the time, energy and motivation to do a lot more but the shop seems to take everything at the moment. I know it won't be like that forever (well I hope it won't, lol).

The shop has been going really well so far, we have new people popping in everyday and the 2 Crop nights we've had have been really successful. I can't believe it's been 7 weeks already!!! Unbelievable. This year is going to be over before I know it.

Anyway here is my layout for the challenge, I love this photo taken by the ultra talented Rachel Richter. You've still got a little time to enter. it closes on the 31st March and there are some fab prizes, so have a go!!

Wow!!!

2009-03-02T18:33:00.002+10:00

I saw this on another blog and thought it was amazing and that I should share with you too :)

March 123 Challenge

2009-02-26T09:04:00.002+10:00

is...Criteria One: Make your own flowers from Jayne Smith

Criteria Two: Autumn Colours - Browns Oranges Yellows from Teina Cumming

Criteria Three: Texture of some kind....Felt, Fabric or scrunched up paper {for example} from Kylie Beard

SO.... we hope that you have FUN with this one!

Email your entries to: challenge_123@hotmail.com

DUE: Last day of the month

The challenge has slighlty changed this month with the choosing of the criteria so it should be a little easier for you all so come along and jpoin in, nothing like a good challenge to get the mojo going :)

And while I'm here, here's my layout from last month using the gorgeous Crate Paper Mia range, some diecuts from the Amy Butler Lotus Paper range and a fabulous photo by Rachel Richter.

Calling all scrappers!

2009-02-12T12:09:00.005+10:00

I saw this on Sarah Gladmans blog last night and thought it was a fabulous and tangible way that we could help out besides donating money which I'm sure we've all done. So I am now urging all scrapbookers out there to try and do at least one or two layouts to help the people of Victoria try and rebulid there lives and memories. For all Brisbane scrappers who would like to do layouts we are more than happy for you to drop your layouts into Flourish - 3/12 Kenrose St, Carina and we will post them all together. If you can complete and drop them off by the 15th March, that will give us a few days to get them posted to Sarah.

So start scrapping, it's such a small thing to be able to do for people who have lost everything and pass the word onto all those scrappers you know!!!

the devastation in Victoria

2009-02-09T23:35:00.003+10:00

I can't begin to understand how the people affected by the total devastation of the fires in Victoria are feeling but my heart certainly goes out to them and their families.

I hope they find some way to rebuild there lives and carry on.

I have been watching the news with tears in my eyes and a very heavy heart and to think that someone would purposefully do this is insane.

my thoughts and prayers to you all
xxx

February 123 Challenge is:

2009-02-05T13:42:00.000+10:00

CRITERIA ONE:
use a shaped base to your Layout - not square or round....try cutting it yourself!

CRITERIA TWO:
No use of hearts on the layout

CRITERIA THREE:
I think nature would be a good theme with a shaped background and no hearts.

email your entries to: challenge_123@hotmail.com
please name your layout image with YOUR NAME to make it easier for us {PLEASE!}
Entries due: February 28th Midnight!
So there you have it!! Happy Scrapping everyone ;0)

We made it!

2009-01-31T21:37:00.007+10:00

Friday night we had the Grand Opening of our new shop -
ScrapArte Studio

3/12 Kenrose Street

Carina QLD 4152

ph: 3843 1115

email: flourish.studio@bigpond.com

http://www.flourishstudio.com.au/

It was five weeks of very hard work, long hours, stressful moments but also lots of laughs, great friends helping out and excitement sice we took over the lease. The shop has been the culmination of lots of planning and dreaming and Ruth and I are ecstatic we have finally made it to the point where we are open for business!!!

Here's a few photos of the shop but check out the shop website for more.

Our canvas we asked everyone to sign with as much Flourish as possible.

Our front entrance area, filled with lots of lovely things.

The wall of colour, it looks so beautiful, we had lots of wonderful help from Deb from Down Under Direct to get it looking this good.

We have some lovely things to display our goodies in.

Our front counter with the gorgeous Lorna and Briohny behind serving, they are our extremely talented ladies who will be taking classes for us.

So that's what the sneak peeks have been about, I'm sure you probably guessed though, lol.

Please come and have a look around our store and introduce yourselves to us, we 'd love to meet you all.

Eeeeeekkk!!!!

2009-01-29T01:02:00.004+10:00

Only two more days to go!!!

Lots still to do and organise!

Will show all on Saturday after the Grand Opening of......................................

Hmmm Flourish what????????????????????

Sneaky sneaky peeks..............

2009-01-21T18:35:00.001+10:00

it's getting closer!!

2009-01-19T23:48:00.002+10:00

A few more little sneak peeks................

2009-01-14T17:38:00.005+10:00

Hmmmmm pretty!!!

Somethings coming.............................

2009-01-12T00:14:00.002+10:00

Can you guess what it is????????

Better late than ever.....

2009-01-11T13:26:00.003+10:00

At the beginning of December we had photos again with the very talented Rachel Richter and I meant to put up some of the gorgeous photos she took but with Christmas and everything else that is happening here it just didn't happen. So here I am sharing just a few of my favourites because I seriously LOVED them all!!! Rachel is so lovely with the kids and manages to somehow get the best out of them, if you are up in Brisbane at all I highly recommend you getting her to take some photos for you, you won't regret it!!!

LOVE THIS ONE!!!!!

So cute.

Awwwww

2008-12-24T17:18:00.005+10:00

I've been very slack where the blog is concerned, there just hasn't been enough hours in the day to get to it unfortunately. We have been insanely busy and are all feeling completely worn out but unbelievably excited abut Christmas.

There's a lot happening in the Fletcher household at the minute, some very exciting things coming up as well as a lot of work that needs to be done. Stay tuned for more news of this :)
I thought I was very organised having done most of my Christmas shopping for family in Victoria when I was there in October but fell in a huge heap when I got back - constant sickness will do that! Anyway we are now all organised, the presents are wrapped, the chocolate pav is in the oven, the prawns are peeled and ready to be devoured and the kids are sooooo very excited about the big fat man in red coming tonight!!!!

We would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and hope that tomorrow is filled with laughter and joy and that your New Year is full of wonderful and exciting adventures!!

Merry Christmas!!!

123 Challenge December is......

2008-12-04T14:05:00.001+10:00

1. A Christmas tree somewhere on the page
2. A big splash of paint.
3. Lots of bling......pearls, rhinestones, glitter, anything sparkly.

Now there is NO WAY you CAN'T ALL do this one!!! Come along and join in!

How cute is this....

2008-11-21T10:04:00.004+10:00

Scrapware have a new blog and this gorgeous new little Birdhouse. Go check it out. They have a giveaway at them moment too.

Warning Photo Overload!!!

2008-11-08T16:48:00.000+10:00

Just thought I would share a few of the hundreds of photos I took while we were away. We're back home now and I unfortunately have been suffering the last few days from conjunctivitis, and an ear, throat and sinus infection! So this is just going to be a photo share, still not feeling great and don't have the energy to write loads which I'm sure your all glad about, lol.

Dad got the famous 'Fergie' going and the kids had a blast going for rides on it with Dad.

We spent a few hours down the beach when we were at Col's Mums, the one thing the kids were really looking forward to funnily enough. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great and it was a very grey and overcast day when we were there, that didn't seem to bother Ella and Huddy too much though.

We really miss only being 5 minutes from the beach.

Huddy picking up "Jelly Blobbers" (jellyfish as named by Nana) and throwing them back into the water, he had a ball doing this and it kept him occupied for ages.

It was Max's 5th Birthday while we there, can't believe it's been 5 years since he arrived in our lives! He had a party at a fab play centre with a great monster cake made by Sharon.

The Play Center was mainly all big slides.

Ella and Max are both really into letters and words at the moment so they had a great time with Nana spelling out everyons names - including all the cats we have between us, lol.

Ella's playdough cake creation, she was very proud of it and wanted to bring it home with us.

A fabulous morning out at a great community built park not far from Sharon and Andrews.

The kids had a ball climbing this.

Well that's it, back to the couch for me I think. Will be back soon!

November 123 Challenge....

2008-11-03T23:05:00.004+10:00

1 . Lace
2. Pics of scary faces... we have just had halloween so this should be easy
3. Monochromatic color scheme

Looking forward to seeing some SCARY layouts ladies!!!

** Scary faces is your own interpretation.... doesn't have to be Halloween related!!!
HAVE FUN!!!

So talented.....

2008-10-17T22:47:00.006+10:00

A while ago a girlfriend introduced me to this amazing couple who met on flickr from opposites sides of the world and then fell in love, such a sweet romantic story. Rosie and Aaron have now started a blog as well so I thought I would post about it, they are definitely worth a look.

I love their photos and the amazing photoshopping they do.

Do yourself a favour and GO check them out...................

Quick update.

2008-10-17T20:43:00.007+10:00

Just thought I should do a quick update.

The kids and I flew down to Melbourne on Tuesday and after a quick lunch with Andrew, Sharon, Max and Mima we headed up to my Mum and Dads house in Charlton.

We have been having a lovely time, it's very relaxing here and Ella and Huddy are loving being with their Nana and Poppy. The thing they were looking forward to the most (besides seeing Nana & Poppy of course) was going for a ride on Poppy's tractor! Unfortunately that hasn't happened yet as the tractor wouldn't start, needless to say the kids were really disappointed but Dad did get it started late today so it's on the agenda for first thing in the morning. Cross your fingers that the old Massey Ferguson, more endearingly known as Fergie, starts tomorrow for us, lol.

I love coming to my parents house, it's relaxing, cool in Summer (cold in winter though), has a lovely garden and is a beautiful old home filled with lots of memories from my childhood, not that I grew up here but my mother is a true hoarder and there are lots of little things around the house that remind me of my childhood.

Hudson has been following my Dad around like for the last few days, concerned about where he is when ever he can't see him and pestering him for rides on the tractor or for a push on the swing. Poor Dad has spent quite a bit of time the last few days pushing him or Ella on the swing on their back verandah - bliss for me though, lol!

Tomorrow is a big day for Charlton, it's the Charlton Agriculture Show, an annual event that the whole town comes out for. Mum has been busy doing her bit to support the town and show by entering some floral arrangements. I'll try to remember to take a photo of them tomorrow, she's done a great job considering they are in the middle of a drought and she has had a lot of plants die and the garden definitely isn't up to standard. I'll let you know how she goes, lol. I have very fond memories of the Wycheproof show and entering numerous things, quite often getting a prize too. I'm looking forward to tomorrow as are the kids, Ella's keen for the animals and Huddy the rides. They are even having fireworks tomorrow night, hopefully the kids will last as I'm sure they would love it, it won't be up to the standards of NYE or Riverfest but I'm sure the kids will think they are spectacular none the less.

We are off down to Rye on Tuesday, really looking forward to catching up with some friends down there. The last few times we've been 'home' either I or the kids were sick so unable to catch up with anyone. I've organised a lunch with some girlfriends, a dinner with some other girlfriends and a another lunch with friends so that should be heaps of fun. Other than that we will be just spending time with Col's family and chilling out. We then head to Andrew and Sharon's house for the rest of our stay. This is a huge highlight in Ella and Huddys eyes as not only will they get to play with Max and Mima but it is also Max's 5th Birthday while we are there and he is having a party - the absolutely most exciting thing that could happen according to them, lol!!!!

So there you are, a quick update on our whereabouts, well not so quick but that's what happens when there is nothing on tv, no scrapping to be done and the housework isn't calling.

Ahhhh holidays, bliss!!!!!!!

More yumminess!!!!!

2008-10-17T20:30:00.005+10:00

Oh my I am definitely getting myself some of this - the new Sassafras Lass Christmas range, Life at the Pole. They just now how to do it don't they, the epitome of cuteness. Loving it!!!!

Loving this!!!

2008-10-17T11:19:00.004+10:00

Just saw the new range from Websters pages and I must say I love it! So pretty.

And they are having a giveaway too, go here to check it out :)

October 123 Criteria is.........

2008-10-01T19:44:00.002+10:00

It's a little different this month as Charmane and Karlene loved all the suggestions put up....

Use THREE of the following criteria on your layout:
1 Hand-stitching
2 Use the colour purple somewhere on the layout
3 garden theme!
4 an animal somewhere... there's loads of cute animal embellies at the moment like birds, owls, bugs, butterfly or create your own

if you want to use all of the criteria - EVEN BETTER!!!

THE NEXT 123 Cybercrop WILL BE HELD ON Monday 13th of October starting at 7:30pm - MORE details coming soon!

Fab Family Day!

2008-09-29T20:18:00.005+10:00

It was a gorgeous day in Brissy yesterday so we decided to take the kids down to the beach. Now there aren't a lot of choice for beaches in Brisbane itself, there are mostly mud flats but there is one really lovely but very busy spot not that far from us - Wellington Point. So we headed down there and the kids had a ball, they had their first swim (well paddle really) and made their first sand castle for the season. It was lovely. The playground there has been redone and Ella and Huddy had a great time playing on it as well as climbing all over the huge root system from the magnificent Moreton Bay Figs there.

Of course I had to take my camera with us to have a bit of a practice, lol.

Huddy loves to kiss and cuddle, I dread the day where he'll be too embarrassed to kiss us in public, I hope he never stops doing this.

We were going to just get take away from the Cafe there but they were so busy we ended up going to the restaurant and having a lovely lunch with a nice glass of wine - pure Sunday bliss!!!!!

Ella and Col decided to swap sunnies.

Of course Hudson had to be in on it too.

This kids got attitude!!!!

When we got home Ella insited on going in the pool for a swim, there was no way I was getting in, the water was freezing. She had a lovely time paddling around although she did admit to be 'freeeeeeezzing' when she got out, lol.

It's not so scary after all!

2008-09-23T17:52:00.011+10:00

Last Saturday Kath, Anita and I did a photography course up at Mount Tambourine with a fabulous company called Bluedog. It is run by two extremely talented and lovely people, Nick and Danielle Lancaster who have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to photography and who really made it all sound so simple. I got heaps out of the day and came away having learnt heaps about my own camera as well as Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO. I highly recommend them to anyone wanting to get to know their camera better as well as demystifying the lingo that goes with a camera.

I thought I would share a couple of photos (straight out of the camera) that I took on the day, not brilliant ones by any means but just shows you some of the cool things we did........

like freezing water

and slow shutter speed nighttime photos

closeups with a blurred background

and landscapes with a long depth of field.

On Sunday Col took Hudson for a 'boys' day out to the 'Festival of Speed at Tweed' so Ella and I had a lovely girly day together. We went for a picnic down to a lovely park on the river - Colmslie Park and of course I had to take my camera with us for a bit of a play. Ella wasn't really into co-operating much (what's new) but I did manage to take a couple of photos like these ones of my girl :)

Unbelievable!

2008-09-18T09:55:00.004+10:00

For anyone that watched So you Think you can Dance you would have seen this last night but I thought i would share with you. These two guys are astounding! I'm not really into popping but I couldn't believe some of the moves these guys have. Robert the one in the pac man t-shirt must be double and triple jointed to be able to do the moves he does. Awesome - check it out!

Scrap share.....

2008-09-14T23:29:00.011+10:00

Just a couple of layouts to share with you.

This one was done for a challenge on The Boxx. It was for a monochromatic lo using the colours, Bright green, orange or aqua, I obviously chose the green, lol.

This lo is for the latest 123 Challenge. I've had this photo of Ella and Hudson for ages and have kept putting off scrapping it because I loved it so much and wasn't sure how I could do justice to it (even though it's not really a great photo).

For some reason the colours in this lo look really washed out but it's not all when you see it irl. I should have photoshopped it but can't be bothered going back now to do it.
*Edited to say I have fixed the colour in the above lo and it looks much more like the true colours it is.

These last two are just ones I put together, trying to use up some of my stash! The first one is a photo of Hudson and I on Mothers Day this year, he loves to grab my face and pucker up for a big smooch - I love it too!

Aaarrrrggghhhh! Me hearties

2008-09-04T14:44:00.005+10:00

We've been in total Pirate mode the last week with Hudson's Pirate party last Saturday. He had an absolute ball and has been really sad and disappointed this week that his Birthday is now over, lol. Ella and he dressed up as pirates and I thought they both looked very cute indeed. Hudson was a bit subdued but Ella really got into the whole pirate thing and even had a parrot (well duck) on her shoulder and ran around yelling "Where's your buccaneers? On your Buccanhead" which was courtesy of Col!.
I made name tags for everyone with their pirate name on them which I got from here which we all had a bit of a laugh about. Hudson's was 'Cheatin Harvey Jones', Ella's was ' Cap'n Jezebel Fancypants', mine was 'High pitched Wilma' and Col's was 'Pirate Edmund the Dagger'. Hehe I think they are very funny, If you have a go make sure to leave me a comment and let me know what your Pirate name is too :)

So here's Cheatin Harvy Jones

The Pirate Ship Cake which Huddy insisted on ( I tried to get him to change his mind to a treasure chest because I thought it would be easier but he wasn't having it, lol)

Pirate cupcakes and treasure chests.

More Pirate ships and we also had fish bites in the shape of fish which the kids loved.

Cap'n Jezebel Fancypants with her parrot ;)

and the very cute but Motley bunch of Pirates who were giving us their best "AARRRRRGGHH" :)

doesn't Lucy (the baby) look so cute with her eye patch on, lol.

123 Challenge Blog

2008-09-03T22:55:00.001+10:00

September 123 Criteria is....
1. Use scallops on the
2. Use the colour TEAL!
3. Spots! Any way any how :)

Looking forward to seeing LOTS of your layouts ladies!!! What a great and EASY Criteria this month!!!

Our little boy is growing up

2008-08-26T11:39:00.006+10:00

From this:

To this in a day!

Hudson had a hair cut last week and asked our hairdresser Mary to cut it short so that's what she did. I think he looks a lot more grown up now. I know that Auntie Sharon and Uncle Andrew will be very happy to see Huddy with all his locks cut off but I'm not sure I like it as much as with a bit of length. He has had lots of favourable responses to it though.

He turns 3 in 2 days time so I suppose I can't prolong the inevitable of him growing up but I'm really a bit sad that he is getting so big so quickly. I don't have a baby anymore (although they will both be my babies forever) and it makes me even more clucky, lol.

We're all gearing up for the big Pirate party this Saturday. Hudson has requested party bags, party food and parcel the parcel (otherwise known as pass the parcel, lol), his main concern is the lollies I think don't you, haha. I'm still trying to think up ideas for pirate food - any suggestions would be greatly welcomed! So far we've got fish bites, cheerios made into small boats, milky way treasure chests, gold nugget cheezels and pirate bread (the pirate version of fairy bread, lol). Oh and cupcakes and the Pirate Ship cake of course too :)'. Hmmm think we may need some fruit to counter act all the junk. I'm sure he'll have a great time whatever food we do.

Very sad news

2008-08-20T18:36:00.013+10:00

Last night our beautiful big boofy Cosmo was hit by a car and died. We are all totally devastated and can't actually believe that he's gone and that we won't ever see him again. It all seems a bit surreal at the moment and I'm feeling extreme guilt for not putting him in the house before I went out late yesterday afternoon, if I had he would still be here.

Cosmo was a very gentle, easy going cat that took a lot from the kids. His favourite position was on the back of the couch on his back with his legs splayed or sitting in a box / pram / basket. We loved him heaps, he was more than just a cat he was truly part of our little family.

We've told the kids (one of the hardest things I've done for a long time) but I don't think they really understand. Hudson keeps asking for Cosmo and wants to cuddle him. Ella understands more, she keeps telling us he's in heaven and has lots of love with him. Cosmo's sister Cleo has been very loving and affectionate so I'm sure she's aware he's not with us anymore.

So I thought I would share some photos of our beautiful boy, it's amazing how much they can make you love them.
We will miss him heaps :(

August 123 Challenge

2008-08-12T14:18:00.002+10:00

Here's my layout for this months challenge - Self Portrait, at least 5 colours and lots of bling. I 'heart' these Sassafras Lass papers and have had them for a little while but this is the first time I've scrapped a layout using them, they are so bright and fun!
So come on ladies, you have until the end of the month to get your layout into Charmane and Karlene and you could be in the running for a prize! We all love a prize don't we especially a voucher to spend on scrapping goodies :)

For the Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess.....

2008-08-10T17:44:00.000+10:00

I just thought I would share with you the 2 Castle albums I've just finished for The Scrapbook Princess. I did one for Ella and one for Hudson (using the old style album) and wrote the journaling in a 'fairy tale' story way so it told a little story about each of them. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out in the end even though they were a bit of a long process - mainly due to my lack of motivation, lol.
The photos here are quite small so if you want to see them better then just click on them and they will open in another page bigger,

I used all Basic Grey Archaic papers for Hudsons, love the colours and the dinosaurs/dragons are very cute!

I used the Fancy Pants Kaitlin range for Ella's book, really pretty colours and patterns.

The photos really don't do them justice I think, they sort of look unfinished in the photos but in real life they look like they are, maybe that's just me though. Has anyone else noticed that with photos of layouts or off the page things?

August 123 Challenge.

2008-08-07T17:35:00.001+10:00

Ooops I should have been on here earlier to let you all know the new criteria for the 123 challenge for August.

1. Lots of Bling
2. A Self-Portrait (Arrggh!)
4. More than five colours.

So come and join in, you have until the last day of the month to get your layout in and you could be in the running for one of the great prizes!!

Some photos......

2008-07-22T11:17:00.001+10:00

Here's a few pics of the very 'Pink' party that Ella had, all of them have been taken by the very talented Megan. For some reason my computer isn't allowing me to download my photos so I've pinched Megans, hers are a lot better than mine would be anyway, lol.

We've survived!!!!!

2008-07-19T17:59:00.000+10:00

Well the Princess is happy and very pleased with how her 4th Birthday Party went, Huddy is raring to go and on a sugar high and Col and I are totally knackered!!!

We've had such a fantastic but frantic few weeks here with Andrew, Sharon, Max and Mima staying here, a surprise visit from my Mum and Dad (which was the best birthday present ever!!!), my 40th Birthday and Party (which I'm still recovering from and which my Darling Hubby did such a brillliant job of organising), a wonderful surprise visit from Miss Kirsty for my Birthday, a huge sale at The Scrapbook Princess and now Ella's 4th Birthday. We've survived though and have had an absolute ball the whole time but being the 40 year old that I am now I'm finding I don't cope too well with all these big things happening now, especially when they all happen at once, lol.

I will be back tomorrow with photos to update you all but I really need to go and just vege on the couch for now, lol.

Oh Me Oh My!!!!

2008-07-17T23:54:00.002+10:00

A while back I applied for a Creative team position on the 123 Challenge blog thinking it would just be good experience to apply and lo and behold I made the creative team!!!!!! I'm a bit gobsmacked really, I wasn't expecting it at all especially seeing I've only done the last 3 months challenges. I loved doing them all and love the fact that it pushes me to use or do things that I wouldn't normally do in my scrapping. It's lots of fun so I urge you ALL to have a go!! The 123 Creative Team has been announced now so check it out on the blog.

Congratulations to all the very talented ladies that also made the Creative team.

I'll be representing an online site on the 123 Challenge blog - Scrap with V so I will be popping over there as soon as the craziness calms down here and introducing myself to all the lovely ladies there. :)

Here's my layout for this months challenge : Use string as a border, Use Orange, Green, Pink & Maroon {will allow Red} & Stamping.

Also the next 123 Cybercrop will be held on Monday 17th of August starting at 7:30pm - we would LOVE to see you there! MORE DETAILS SOON!
Winners of the 123 June Cybercrop will be announced Soon!

Big excitement in the Fletcher house!!

2008-06-27T13:54:00.000+10:00

The first is that we have Andrew, Sharon, Max and Jemima arriving here next Monday for nearly 2 weeks and the kids are so, so excited about having them here. I love the way they all play so well together (not that it looks like it in this photo taken last time they were up here), we are planning a few special days out with them to make the most of their visit. I wish they could stay longer as I know their visit will just fly by so fast and we miss them all so much. I know Sharon's response to that would be to move back home but unfortunately it's not that easy. I wish it was. We will just have to make do with the couple of times a year that we see them.

The second excitement is that Hudson has finally decided that he wants to wear big boy jocks!!!!! He tells me he's not a baby anymore but a big boy so needs to have his 'wiggle' jocks on. I'm very excited about the idea of having no-one in nappies anymore but not really looking forward to the time I know it is going to take him to get it all down pat and all the accidents I'm sure he'll have. Keep your fingers crossed for us that it happens quickly, lol. It also makes a little bit sad as it's just another sign that my baby is growing up, sob, sob!

I want to go on this!

2008-06-26T22:07:00.005+10:00

Check this out- what a treat.

I think this would be classify as one of my perfect getaways, time to get messy and create and time to indulge and be spoilt, what more could a girl want?????

Had a great time

2008-06-12T21:30:00.002+10:00

We had the Scrapbooking Expo on here last weekend and Ruth and I were lucky enough to be able to go on Sunday and Monday to do some of the fantastic classes on offer. We did 3 on Sunday and then spent Monday morning shopping and checking out the beautiful layouts on display followed by 2 more classes. I had a fab time, learnt lots and did some beautiful layouts (well they will be when I finish them, lol).
I did a photography/photoshop course with the very talented and lovely Rachel Richter and learnt heaps, so this week I have been playing with Photoshop Elements and realising that it really isn't that hard or scary. I just wish I had learnt some of these things 18 months ago when I got it, lol. Thanks Rachel!!!
We did the most gorgeous layout in class with the very talented Loretta Grayson which involved lots of layers, stitching and making a picture rather than a layout as such. I still need to finish off mine but you can check out what the finished layout should look like on Loretta's blog. I really love her work and loved doing this type of layout, something I would like to do more of.
Ruth and I also did a class with the new Making Memories Noteworthy range with Gail Pierce-Watne who works for Making Memories. I absolutely love Making Memories and the Noteworthy ranges are so, so divine so I loved all 3 of the layouts we did.
I will post photos of them all as soon as I have added photos to them and finished them off.
So this week I have spent just trying to catch up after such a busy weekend. Feeling pretty tired, which hasn't been helped by the kids having bad nights the last few nights. Ella woke up screaming last night and we finally figured out that the tiny little torch she insisted on taking to bed with her, she had rolled onto and turned it on giving herself a fright. So after comforting her (and Huddy who she woke up) and putting her in our bed she then woke up a few hours later screaming again from a nightmare, poor little thing she was really beside herself, which breaks your heart but isn't great in the middle of the night. I will catch up on sleep one day, lol.

Hope you're having a happy week :)

WoooHoooo!!!

2008-06-06T18:58:00.008+10:00

I decided to challenge myself and do a layout for the blog 123 Challenge for last month. I checked on the blog this afternoon and lo and behold I won a prize!!!!! I can't really believe it, it's a huge surprise, particularly seeing it's the one and only challenge or competition I have entered before. I won a voucher to spend at the online store ScrapTherapy which will be fun trying to choose what I will get, not sure how much its for, $20 I think.

Here's the layout I did for the challenge. You had to use a CD as an embellishment, at least 3 different patterned papers and a 5x7" photo or something from the garden used as a stamp. I went with the 5x7 photo. I used the gorgeous Scenic Route papers from the Lynden range which was their Easter range, such beautiful spring like colours.

The butterfly is a Heidi Swapp Acrylic one that I covered the back with a butterfly from a serviette (thanks for that Ruth!!).

Also another one using a photo taken early last year, I just can't keep up, lol. Lots of machine stitching on this one which you can't see in the photo but which adds some texture to it, love these Dreamstreet papers. gorgeous colours. I think I have thing for green at the moment, lol.

Some flickr goodness!!!

2008-05-29T16:48:00.002+10:00

1. enchanted castle in the clouds, 2. Colorful Seafood Sign Rockport, Massachusetts 2008, 3. Pink Sweet Hearts, 4. rose cupcakes, 5. Vacation Owl - nice texture, 6. Untitled, 7. Orange Chocolate Tart, 8. Untitled, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. Sequin Jar, 12. Jar-o-Fluff, 13. WIP: Future Craft Room : 4/27, 14. My craft shop in the barn during the summer season., 15. Just hanging around, 16. Last scrapper standing - round3

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

2008-05-23T12:52:00.003+10:00

Just thought I would share my photos from Mothers Day, I don't have any of just me and the kids really so I asked Col to take a few when we were out for lunch. As you can see it is an impossibility to get one of me with both kids, they just wouldn't both look at the camera at the same time.

Ella just tried to strangle me with her cuddles and Huddy wouldn't stop kissing me long enough to look at the camera, lol. I still love these photos anyway, that's just them.

I saw this idea with the spiderwebs in the cut out spaces somewhere ages ago (sorry I can't give the credit properly) and then remembered it for this photo of Ella in her spiderman suit. The other bracket came off and I didn't realise until after I had taken the photo, hate the fact that supposedly sticky letters never stick! Otherwise I'm pretty happy with this layout, for a change lol.
This is made with the latest kit from Scrapbook Princess, you get the patterned papers, 2 cardstock, a chipboard frame, 3 flowers, 1/2 metre of brown ribbon and a sheet of grungeboard for you to play with. Pretty good value for $10 really. I used my new 2 inch square punch which I love (thanks Andrew for carting it all the way home from the States for me).

Some Scrapping to share....

2008-04-24T21:56:00.001+10:00

Here's a few layouts I've done lately, two I did (one with the owl and the Christmas one) while I was down in Victoria and the others I did in the last few weeks. I love that little Collections owl, he's so cute and was lots of fun to make, I can't wait to do the other 2 that I got in the pack.

This Christmas one was done using some of the Christmas cards we received last year and my new 2 inch square punch that Andrew so kindly lugged back from the States for me.

This one of Col, Ella and Huddy walking along the beach was done using some of the very cool QTea kit I got at the Crop for Kids I went to with Sharon when I was in Victoria. Love her kits and think I will seriously need to subscribe to them.

I had a heap of fun doing this layout using the very talented Tim Holtz's fragments, they really are very cool and easy to use so, everyone should really have go at using them . Check out his video that shows you how to use them first. You could do so many thing with these. I'll definitely be doing some more layouts with them.

I used the gorgeous new Basic Grey range, Boxer for both of the layouts above and below, I LOVE it, so versatile and beautiful to use.
This layout is using a sketch that Lorna from the Scrapbook Princess is using for one of her classes. I love doing sketches and seeing all the different versions of it.

Love these girls too.

Love these girls!!!!
These last 2 layouts I did using the Scrapbook Princess's Royal Stash kit we organised. I love the American Crafts paper and haven't used it a lot at all so I was really happy to have them to use. Please excuse the photos, I forgot to take some before I took the layouts down to the shop so these are taken on the wall in the shop in the frames they are displayed in.

Unfortunately this kit is about to finish (I'm a little behind, lol) but there will be a new one released on the 1st of May, so get down to the store and check it out, it's going to be using some of my favourite brands papers and some other groovy things as well. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks.

So Cool!!!

2008-04-22T10:21:00.002+10:00

I was lucky enough to go to the Matchbox 20 concert last night and they were FANTASTIC!!!! What a brilliant band they are, loved it all.

Enjoy.

Cool stuff.

2008-04-12T12:44:00.002+10:00

I found this very cool site, Polyvore, where you can create pages of things that inspire you or that you just love, you can import your own favourites into the site too for others to use. I had a bit of fun playing around this morning - another great time waster, lol.

The things they say.

2008-04-11T21:47:00.001+10:00

On the way to the shops today Ella asked "Who am I going to marry Muummy" apparently something she was talking about a few days ago with Col. After much deliberation she decided she wanted to marry Huddy to which I explained that it wasn't really a good idea as he was her brother. We were then going through all of their friends names with me explaining that it was a better idea to marry someone their own age when Huddy piped up that he wanted to marry................wait for it..................................Uncle Andrew!!!!

I was floored and in tears of laughter, no idea where he got the idea that he wanted to marry Andrew, and after our call to Uncle Andrew tonight and Huddy actually asking him and then Andrew telling him he was already married to Auntie Sharon so he couldn't marry him he has decided he will actually marry Esta (hope that's ok Ruth,) lol.

Oh and Ella finally decided that she wants to marry Jack.

Total Exhaustion!!

2008-04-11T21:19:00.000+10:00

I had a very last minute but totally exciting opportunity to go to SIA (Scrapbooking Industry Association) inaugural expo on Tuesday and Wednesday in Sydney which was fantastic and which I thoroughly enjoyed. I did some great classes, met some fabulous people and had a great time soaking all the fabulous products and talent in. It was really exciting to be a part of the first expo and I'm sure it will be a fabulous event every year for people in the trade. I was lucky to be able to go with Sharon for the Scrapbook Scene where she works and to meet some really lovely ladies, Michelle from Sissey and Marianne who is on her DT , Julie, Robyn, Rachael and Kim from Scraptacular and Helene and Devorah from Buzz and Bloom to name a few. Thanks Sharon and Janet for letting me fill in at the last minute, loved it all!! I will add some photos when I get a chance.

I got home late Wednesday night totally exhausted and hanging for a good nights sleep only to spend half the night up with a little boy throwing up! Thankfully he's feeling better today after a very quiet day at home on the couch cuddling his Mum. Needless to say I am totally and utterly exhausted and had to have Nana nap this afternoon to get by.

Looking forward to a quiet weekend at home, hopefully getting some scrapping done after all the inspiration I've seen this week :)

I am alive!!

2008-04-03T16:03:00.013+10:00

Alright, alright, I know I've been worse than slack with the old blog here but it's been a very busy last few weeks spent in Victoria with family and trying to recover from the horrible pneumonia and flu I had prior to that. So here I am finally blogging again with lots to fill you in on.

We went to Melbourne to help my Dad and his twin sister celebrate their 70th Birthday and to spend a week with all of my family in a gorgeous house we rented in Phillip Island.

We went out for dinner on Dad's birthday with all the kids and took a cake that they had decorated. They loved it. The next night we all (the adults) went to a fabulous restaurant, Libertine with the rest of my Dad's family. It was a great night and it was really lovely to be able to go out with my family to celebrate.

My sister, Nicole and her husband, Rob and my nephew, Jake, all came out from London which was so wonderful and we all had a fabulous time together down at Phillip Island. The weather was brilliant and we spent nearly every day at the beach which the kids loved. We ate extremely well, drank too much and had a lovely time just chilling out with each other.

I've included a just a few photos from our week away which was very difficult as there was a over 3000 taken for the whole week between us all!!!!!!

At the koala park where Ella was very taken by a stuffed koala (not this one) that she really thought was alive and Col being silly at the Maze and funhouse.

We took the opportunity to take some family photos while we were there together.

Some cuteness.

2008-02-19T08:34:00.003+10:00

Col:" What's your name?"
Ella: "Ella Jessie Crocodile Fletcher"
Col: "And where do you live Ella?"
Ella: (after much thought ) "In a pink room"

A Ballerina in the making???

2008-02-10T22:52:00.001+10:00

Ella has been hounding us for her to do ballet for quite a while now, "not dancing Mummy, ballet" so after much whinging and needling she started last week and so far has loved both of the lessons she's had which is particularly good considering the first lesson she had was with girls about 2-3 years older than her. The teacher must of miss heard her age when I told her and told me the wrong group for her age so we followed her directions on the first day and went to the room she told us.

Ella did her class and although I wasn't allowed to watch her I could still tell that they were all quite a bit older than her but she still seemed to be keeping up with them as well as I could tell through the window. Anyway when the class was finished 'Miss Annette' asked me how old Ella was and seemed quite shocked when I told her she was only 31/2 years old and then proceeded to tell me that although Ella had done really well and kept up with the class she was in the wrong group. So yesterday we went to the right class and there were lots of little girls her age there and she still had a great time and came out after the class squealing with delight!

We hadn't taken her to get the 'class' uniform straight away in case she decided ballet wasn't for her but she is so excited about it all so after her class yesterday we went up the the ballet store and got her leotard, skirt, special socks and shoes (an expensive little outing I must say) and she was beside her self with excitement!!!

Ella was so excited she insisted on putting her new outfit on yesterday afternoon again and wanted to practice her ballet. So Col got her all dolled up and out she came with the biggest possible grin on her face, she was so excited.

She wanted music to dance to so Col got on the kids keyboard, Huddy the microphone and Ella danced to perform the first Fletcher Family concert!!! It was sooo gorgeous and one of those things that make you grin from ear to ear. :)

Here they are:

Changes.....

2008-02-10T22:28:00.000+10:00

So in the first of new things for the Fletcher family this year, Ella and Hudson started Childcare last week which they both loved and had a really great time at. They were both so excited to be going and loved their new bags and drink bottles etc which just added to the excitement. I was quite apprehensive particularly about Hudson and his feelings about being left at the centre but he was fine, I think having Ella there was definitely a security blanket for him which helped a lot. He has had his moments but has been able to pop next door whenever he wants to check in with Ella and has even had sleeps at the centre without a bottle!!!! a huge thing for my bottle loving boy. I was so proud of how brave he was and how he has adapted to the change of going to childcare.

Ella on the other hand couldn't wait for me to leave, she is SO ready for some extra stimulation and has loved every minute of her time there. She has not blinked an eyelid about being left and has taken the whole change in her stride, just been extremely excited about the everything.

So here they are on their first day ready to go and looking so grown up.

TIME

2008-01-28T22:02:00.001+10:00

For you Shaggers :)'

2008-01-27T21:38:00.000+10:00

Just a couple of layouts that Sharon was hounding me to see. Nothing too spectacular but I really love doing Christmas layouts, probably because I absolutely LOVE the Christmas season. I have a few more in mind to do, as well as a mini book. Just got to find the TIME to do them.

Any readers of Ali Edwards blog will know of her idea of choosing a word to honour during the year. I decided to choose the word 'Time'. this year.
I need to make TIME to do the things I want to do for myself,
I need to make more TIME to catch up with family and friends,
I need to use my TIME more wisely,
I need to spend more TIME playing with the kids instead of getting caught up in the housework and everyday stuff,
I need to make more TIME to spend with Col, one on one,
I need to stop wasting TIME on the computer,
I need to stop wasting TIME procrastinating,
I need to make more TIME for the creative things in my life,
I basically need to find some more TIME, lol.

I've just realised that this last one isn't quite finished, I need to put something in the little name plate, forgot to do that. I think I might frame it and hang it in Ella's room (thanks Ruth for that idea), it's a lift of one of her t-shirts which I love. Any suggestions as to what to write in the little frame will be gratefully accepted. :)

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived."
Captain Picard from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

A Year of Promise.....

2008-01-20T17:31:00.000+10:00

For some reason this year feels like it will be full of promise, like things will finally fall into place for us, like good things will be happening and like exciting things will go ahead. I don't know why this year feels so much more like that than any of the previous ones but it does. Maybe it's because the kids are getting older and easier and they are becoming less reliant on me for absolutely everything. Maybe it's because I am coming out of the pregnant baby fog that has been clouding me for so long. Maybe it's because I've made a pact with myself to finally get myself fit and to lose weight. Whatever it may be the year is going to be a good one, I can feel it in my bones, lol.

We have had a few dramas at the business. The spare parts manager resigned the night before (yes, Sunday at 8.30pm) we opened again after the Christmas break giving us no notice at all. He said he wanted time to be with his wife who has been unwell but on Friday Col found out he is working somewhere else and had the job 3 weeks before Christmas!!!! That leaves us in a bind as he hadn't finished the stock take and we need someone to finish off that and try to keep on top of things. Col has decided not to get another spare parts person, he will take over the majority of the day to day things but instead we will be getting an apprentice to take up some of the slack off the floor. So that means yours truly is the one that is going to be going in to do the stocktake and try and get some things organised. I'll also be learning all of Emma's stuff as well so she can feel comfortable going on holidays and not come back to a huge workload.

I'm feeling a bit excited at the prospects of going to work and spending time with adults, some time to feel useful again will be nice. I've booked the kids into the childcare centre across the road from us and we have been a couple of times for them to see it and get used to what happens. Ella will love it and has had a ball each time we've been, she is so ready to have something extra. Huddy is not quite the same, he is quite shy and takes a whike to warm up to people but I'm sure he will adapt and will love it in time.

So a few big changes in the Fletcher household already. Keep your fingers crossed that it all works out.

Finally here

2008-01-17T14:03:00.000+10:00

Well we arrived home safely from our big trip south for Christmas with 2 sick kids and 2 adults fighting it but we did have a fabulous time while we were there. It went way too quickly and we didn't have nearly enough time to catch up with everyone but we are back in March so hopefully we'll be able to then. I took a lot of photos, so I thought I would just add a collage of them instead of lots of seperate ones. They are from our 2 Christmas days, New Years Eve, Sharon's Birthday, the road trip, Ella's spots and just some of the things the kids did. I know it's small but if you click on it it will bring up a bigger version. I don't know why it doubled p on a couple of photos though.

We had such lovely Christmas days and were really happy we got to spend NYE with our very dear friends the Smiths. I had a great time at Sharon's 40th Birthday lunch, it was great to catch up with her girlfriends and we had lots of giggles. We spent a lovely day with Mum and Dad down the beach and then a few great days with Sharon, Andrew and the kids. The four of them had a ball together, they played really well together and had so much fun. The drive down and back was ok, Ella and Hudson travelled really well and except for the storms we drove through in Central NSW on the way down and the kids having tonsillitis on the way home it was uneventful. So that's a very short and quick update from us. Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year xx.

Some crafty stuff

2007-12-20T09:45:00.000+10:00

I decided to make Ella & Huddy a Christmas Stocking that I got from the Trimming the Tree workshop by Kim Archer and got a little carried away. I ended up making all our friends one as well, they looked very cute hanging on the Christmas tree. I also made MUM & Dad and Col's Mum a little ornament to hang on their tree although I'm not sure if they will really want to have a photo of us on their tree, lol. They are a nice little extra to their Christmas present and I think they will like them.

Here's a couple of layouts I have done for the Scrapbook Princess, I found the first one really hard, it took my a while to work out what I was going to dd with the fancy pants crochet flowers that Melinda gave me to use but I'm happy with the way it turned out. The "play" layout is done using a transparency over the top of the patterned paper with strips over the top of that. Love that photo of the kids all playing under the play equipment, a funny little thing they do each week at the park.

This is a mini book I did using a foil, flock and glitter kit which was great fun to use. I had to rush to finish it so it's not fantastic but I loved how the glitter and foil turned out.

and finally a couple of layouts I did before the Christmas rush started,one using the gorgeous Making Memories 'Noteworthy' range and the other using the new MME range.

Funny!!!!

2007-12-19T23:38:00.000+10:00

I found this the today while looking on YouTube (love that site!!) and thought it was really funny so I had to share with you :)

A Christmas Tradition...

2007-12-18T08:11:00.000+10:00

We went into the City on Saturday with our very dear friends, Kath, Mark, Ruby and Max to see Santa, ride the Santa train in Myers, look at the Christmas windows and see the HUGE Christmas tree they have at the end of the mall. The kids were so excited and Ella was rambling on about visiting the 'city' all morning although I'm sure she didn't really know what we were going to do, lol. We also had our close friends son, Nathan staying with us as well which the kids were very excited about as well. We talked about the train on the way into the city and Huddy was very excited about it, especially since he has been asking Santa for a 'train' each time we have seen him (about 8 times now, lol) but when we got there and it came to getting on the train he got really upset and decided he didn't want to go. Ella was more than happy to get on and go, a different story to last year where she was strapped in and burst into tears just as the train took off. The only train Hudson went on was the one out the front where we had to wait for Santa, he was more than happy to get on that one!!

I was a bit disappointed with the Christmas windows this year. The theme was from the book "Uno's Garden" a book by Graham Base (of Animalia fame) and even accounting for not knowing the book, I found it really hard to follow the story. The animals in the story are all make believe - made up of parts from all different animals but without knowing the story we had no idea as to which each one was. The animation was fabulous but the storyline left us at a bit of a loss unfortunately.

The City of Brisbane has a beautiful enormous tree set up each year at the end of the mall and it really is beautiful. They have a gorgeous Santa in a sleigh being pulled by the reindeer's which is made out of very thick wire and glass (I think), it looks lovely during the day but lit up at night it is gorgeous!! Rudolph even has his red nose too :) Thre are angels all the way up the mall too, so beautiful.

We did this little trip into the city last year too and loved it so much we decided it would become one of our little Christmas traditions to do each year. We had a great time and had a lovely meal at one of the restaurants in the middle of the mall so the kids all had a great time running around, a really lovely Christmasey night!!!!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree........

2007-12-07T13:57:00.000+10:00

We put up our Christmas tree last weekend, the kids were both so excited and wanted to do it from first thing Saturday morning but had to wait until Sunday when we actually had time to do it. They both had such a great time hanging the decorations on the tree and discovering all our Christmas Decorations again.

We told them they had to wear their Christmas hats to decorate the tree and Ella kept hers on the whole time, Huddy wasn't quite so good at leaving it on but I think they both looked so cute in them.

The finished product and two very proud children :)

Where does the time go???

2007-12-06T10:50:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I blogged last, the time is just flying past - only 19 days to Christmas, another year nearly gone and I feel like ti was only 6 months ago we had last Christmas, *sigh*.

We've had a busy month with visitors and my Mum and Dad staying, it's been crazy but good. The kids (and Col and I) loved having Mum and Dad here, they came for a quick trip for a week which flew by but we had a really lovely time with them. Col asked Dad about a month before if he would like a free lunch, of course Dad said yes, Col then told him the proviso was having to come to Brisbane for it, so they did!!! My Father will do anything for a free meal, lol.

We went to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens at Mt Cootha which was a first for us as well. The gardens are beautiful and very inspiring. The kids had a great time feeding the ducks and turtles and exploring everything.

It's hard to believe we are in the middle of a drought by these photos, everything lookes so green and lush. They use recycled water in the gardens and it all looks so beautiful.

This is the magnificent Japanese garden, so perfect and beautiful.

The view from the top of Mt Cootha of the city.

This was taken at our work Christmas lunch - the free lunch they came for, lol. We went to Sirromet winery and had a magnificent meal. The food was beautiful, the service excellent and the atmosphere fun.

We took Mum and Dad up to Montville for the day and had lunch at a restaurant just outside of Maleny, the view of the Glass House Mountains was spectacular.

From Ella and Hudson's point of view, one of the best reasons for having Nana and Poppy to stay is the stories they read to them. They will have story after story if they let them. It's a lovely thing to see them all cuddled up on the couch reading books.

How cool is this!

2007-11-03T08:47:00.000+10:00

Sharon was telling me about this really cool scrapbooking stuff called Grungeboard the other day, it's so cool and looks like it's much more versatile and easier to use than good old chipboard. I thought I'd share with you all.

Check it out.

Couple of layouts.

2007-10-30T14:47:00.000+10:00

Just thought I would share a few of the latest layouts I've done. I've been very slack since my scrapping weekend away, I had great intentions of keeping the mojo going but I've been so , so tired lately and just don't seem to have the energy or motivation to do much scrapping at all. I'm about 10 weeks behind on my art journal challenge with Emily Falconbridge and I have hundreds of photos to scrap!! SO I am making a concerted effort to get motivated!!

Here's the few I have managed to do anyway:

Feeling old!!

2007-10-28T17:57:00.000+10:00

I used to nanny for the family of the trumpet player in this band, The Cat Empire- Harry . We just bought their new album and I love it, such fun funky music. It makes me feel really old though to see Harry up there playing his trumpet, he's a very talented young man!!

More...

2007-10-28T16:33:00.000+10:00

Here's a few more photo's from our day up in the hills, it's so beautiful up there and if it wasn't so far away from the business we would seriously look at moving there, we both loved it so much. I had been to Maleny for our girls weekend away but not Montville and I wish we had of headed straight to Montville, it's such a pretty little town with lots of cute and quirky shops to wander through. Next time we have visitors we will definitely be taking them up there for a look.

We took this one of all of us by self timer but it's a bit dark, it was late in the afternoon. I thought I would include it anyway as it's not often we have a photo of all of us together.

Sisterly Love???

2007-10-28T14:23:00.000+10:00

Ella has been going through a very loving stage, she wants to hug and kiss us all the time, sometimes with a little bit too much passion. I love that she wants to do it as does Col but I'm not sure that Huddy does. I took these photos on our day up to Maleny/Montville for Col's Birthday. The cafe where we had lunch had a cubby house in the garden which was perfect to keep the kids happy while we had lunch. Ella decided she needed to give Huddy one of her hugs and kisses while we were there. He already has the "get off me and leave me alone face" of embarrassment, lol.

My poor Hubby!

2007-10-12T16:54:00.000+10:00

It was Col's Birthday on Wednesday but yet again we were a house of sickness :(. Ella and I had some horrible tummy bug and she spent Tues and Wed vomiting, and I felt like crap so Col's birthday was a huge non-event. I don't think the kids even realised it was his birthday as we decided to postpone it until Sunday when we are all feeling much better and he is home for the day. The kids and I have been shopping to get his presents and they are very excited about his Birthday on 'Sunday" lol. I hope we can make up for the horrible day that was his actual birthday.

So if you read this before Sunday, give him a call on Sunday to wish him Happy Birthday, he'll wonder how on earth you know, lol.

Oh as an aside, I just wanted to say I'M SICK OF HAVING SICK KIDS!!!!!!!!! We have had such a bad run of sickness the last few months I think we have well and truly had our share so NO MORE! thankyou very much.
Ok I feel better now I got that off my chest, lol.

Our little Artists.

2007-10-12T15:48:00.000+10:00

Ella ia really enjoying her drawing at the moment and has started doing drawings of people that you can actually decipher as a person instead of doing a head on one side of the page and eyes on the other (not in the head) and feet/arms/ears etc, elsewhere. She is very into drawing all of us at the moment and I am loving it. I thought I would share a photo of her artwork, it's got the whole family in it, including the two cats, lol. She had done individual ones of all of us prior to this big one and was getting sick of it by the time it got to Huddy and the cats.

Thought I should also share a photo of Hudson's artwork too, he loves drawing as well and I can't wait to see his interpretations of us in the future.
Excuse the crap photos, the drawings are hanging on the wall in the kitchen where I can't get straight on so I've had to take the photos from an angle which makes the drawings looks a bit odd.

A Wonderful weekend away......

2007-09-21T07:36:00.000+10:00

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend away!!! It was a beautiful spot, the house was perfect for a large group and for scrapping, the food was yummy, the drinks plentiful and the company superb!!!!! What more could anyone ask for??

I managed to be quite productive with the layouts (well for me anyway) and finished 8 of them as well as a starting a mini book so I'm rapt I did more than the last weekend away. One of the layouts included a really fun challenge by Sharon which was a round robin where we each started our own layout with a photo taken on the weekend by Megan of ourselves and then passed it around the table, each having only 10 minutes to add to the layout. All the layouts turned out fabulously and I love mine - it's the one with smile on it. The talent there on the weekend was phenomenal and really inspiring for me, I've come back with a renewed energy for scrapping, I just hope I can keep the mojo going.

I missed the kids and Col terribly while I was away but I must say it was nice to only have myself to worry about and organise and it was wonderful to be able to wake up by myself each morning instead of waking up to yelling children!! I think having some time away makes you more appreciative of everything you have and it helps to renew your energy as well. Hopefully we'll be making this a 6 monthly event, I can't wait until the next one, lol. I didn't take many photos at all on the weekend and none of all the girls really but I thought I would share some of the ones I did take, it was such a pretty area, so green and lush looking thanks to all the rain they've had up there lately - so beautiful. Also I've finally checked out Picasa and wanted to have a play :). The last photo is of all the work done by us all on the weekend - not bad hey!

So EXCITED!!!!!!

2007-09-13T13:55:00.000+10:00

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Maleny to stay at Wattle Gully Retreat for a weekend with the girls - Ruth, Gayle, Megan, Kath, Sharon, Kirsty and Anita. I cannot wait!!!!! Well I have been waitng nearly 5 months for this to come around so I'm really excited and looking forward to heading up there tomorrow. We are going for a craft/scrapping weekend to get away and scrap to our hearts content or to just put our feet up and relax. I'm nearly organised, just a bit of cooking to do, pack the scrapbook supplies into the suitcase properly and find a few clothes to take with me. I've even planned a few layouts, my aim is to well and truly beat the total of 5 layouts I did on my last weekend away, I'm such a slow scrapper but this time I'm a bit more organised and have managed to plan my layouts a bit more.

I haven't been to Maleny yet but hear it is really beautiful, will let you know next week when I get back. We're going to have lunch in Maleny tomorrow on our way to the farmhouse we're staying in and then get ourselves set up and organised and scrap, scrap, scrap!!! I'm sure there's going to be lots of laughter, drinking, eating and not much sleep over the weekend - I can't wait!!!

Shall share the finished products next week with you :)

And lastly a layout I did for the Scrapbook Princess using some of the Love Elsie range and a lot of bling. The photo doesn't show it properly but the dots in the chipboard ovals are all bling.

Happy Birthday Blog!

2007-09-13T13:12:00.000+10:00

Wow I can't believe I've been doing this blog for just over 12 months, where does the time go? In the last 12 months I've done 65 posts, just over one a week so that's not too bad I reckon. Although I do wonder at times why I am doing it, my Mother has no idea how to get it up even after I have told her how many, many times *rolls eyes* and I think the only family member that checks it regularly is Sharon, the main reasons I started it. Still I think it will be a lovely thing for us too look back on and see where we have been. I know there are a few people that check in regularly but if you stop by please leave a comment so I know I'm not rattling on totally to myself!!
xxx

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there

2007-09-02T16:20:00.000+10:00

I hope you've all had a wonderful relaxing day with your loved ones. We've had a very lazy but lovely day. The kids woke at the usual time just after 6am so I got up with them and we let Col sleep until 9 when we woke him with his stash of pressies and breakfast in bed. The kids thought it was really exciting opening pressies in bed and then having breakie there, they wanted to have theirs there too.

Ella & Hudson gave him the obligatory socks and jocks (which Col needed), a children's story book called "My Amazing Dad", a deep fryer that Col has been wanting for ages and a little book I made which was full of photos of Col and he kids. I think he was pretty happy with it all :).

We had a lazy morning and then packed up a picnic and went down to a local park where we fed the ducks, kicked the soccer ball around, played on the playground and ate heaps - a very lovely pleasant way to spend the day.

And of course here's a few photos for you :)

Huddy looks like Chad Morgan in this photo with his hat on sideways, lol.

Where have the last 2 years gone?????

2007-08-28T22:48:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it's 2 years since Hudson was born but it is. It was his 2nd Birthday today and he's not my baby anymore but a real little boy - a rough and tumble, cuddly, loving, thug of a boy!!!

Sadly we had a very quiet day today due to both Hudson and Ella being sick again (just not our year this year) but we did have a lovely little celebration with our friends on Sunday. It's our gorgeous friends Erin's 4th Birthday on Friday so we had a joint celebration for them both and thank goodness the weather turned and it stopped raining on Saturday and was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday. Hudson was a very spoilt boy and got lots of fabulous presents which he is having heaps of fun exploring. He also got quite a few presents in the mail which was very exciting for him, opening the parcel and then the present - a double present, lol.

We had a little family party tonight with fairy bread, cheerios (little boys/sausages), homemade sausage rolls and Birthday cake for tea. Not a gourmet dinner by any standard but Hudson and Ella both thought it was pretty great. They were both so excited about making the cake this afternoon, decorating it and then blowing out the candles (we did it 5 times, lol) for neither of them to actually eat any of the cake. It was a really lovely low key night.

Funny!!!

2007-08-25T23:54:00.000+10:00

Saw this on another blog, it tickled my fancy.

Very funny & clever Mum!!!

they survived......

2007-08-25T23:41:00.000+10:00

the curls that is.

Huddy had his hair cut last weekend and I was really worried that his curls would all disappear. Not that he had a lot cut off but it is a lot shorter than it was - don't think I could do a top knot now, lol. in fact the curls have come back with a vengeance, I think the weight of his hair was pulling them down.

Very happy Mummy here, I love my boys curls.

Before

and After

excuse the grubby face in the last shots, Huddy had been eating one of his favourite meals, marinated chicken wings.

Some pics....

2007-08-19T11:41:00.000+10:00

Just thought I would share some of my latest layouts. I've been doing a few as part of the Design Team for the Scrapbook Princess and had heaps of fun working with things I proabably wouldn't normally pick myself. It's great to challenge yourself and think in a different way, fun too!!

And these are a few I did a little while ago but haven't shown you :)

M.I.A.

2007-08-16T19:01:00.000+10:00

Wow what a bad blogger I've been. I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last blogged - bad, bad, bad!!!!

I do have some sort of excuse, probably not the best of excuses but an excuse none the less. We have been the house of illness, take your pick from conjunctivitis, tonsillitis, respiratory tract infection, sinusitis, flu, gastro and might as well throw in a case of constipation as well. You name it we've had it, thank god Margie was here as there is no way I could've coped being sick and looking after both sick kids as well, she was a lifesaver. We also spent 6 days down on the gold Coast as well so that's the reasons I haven't been here, motivation is still coming back I'm afraid.

So what's happening with us otherwise??? Here's just a quick update and a few photos to share with you.

Ella & Huddy have started playing together a lot more and it's so gorgeous to see them having fun together. I suppose it has a lot to do with Hudson being nearly 2 and a lot more interested in what Ella is doing. He still doesn't have the attention span so it doesn't last long but that will change before we know it I'm sure. They love to have tickle fests and I just adore the giggling that comes from them both when they do, so cute.

We had to laugh the other day when we heard Hudson yelling out "help, help, stuck" and came into the playroom to find him like this, lol.

We have loved having Margie here to stay with us and the kids have used her story telling skills to great use. It's so lovely to see this every night, they are going to miss her terribly when she goes home next Monday ( and so will we!!!)

Ella's drawing skills are coming along in leaps and bounds, I took this photo of her drawing of Col the other day as I was so impressed, I was so excited to see an actual face with eyes, nose, cheeks and mouth actually in the head space and not all over the place as she has been doing, lol. I love this stage, watching them get their drawing skills together.

Hudson's hair is getting longer and longer and he is actually going to the hairdresser on Saturday for a hair cut not just a trim, I'm praying he doesn't lose all his beautiful curls. I've been wanting to put his hair up in a top knot for ages and ages but Col wouldn't let me. He couldn't stop me when he was at work though. Isn't he a pretty boy! Huddy actually quite liked it and wore it for the whole day like this, much to Col's disgust, especially when I took him to the airport to pick up Murphy & Merrick. Huddy hasn't let me put it up again though, I think Col may have had words with him, lol.

As I said we spent 6 days down on the Gold Coast at an apartment Margie booked through timeshare. I wasn't sure about going seeing we were all still recovering from our illnesses but it was really the best thing for us all. We had a wonderful time and it was really, really relaxing, no housework, washing, jobs staring at me every day!!! The weather was beautiful, lovely sunny days and about 25 degrees everyday - perfect. The kids had fun in the spa and down at the beach and park and we had a couple of lovely lunches with friends catching up.

This was the view from our apartment, it was in Labrador up on the north side of the Broadwater.

Col cooked a seafood extravaganza one night at Murphy's request and it was DELICIOUS!!!! He outdid himself, we had crayfish, prawns, scallops and oysters and not one bit was left over. I had to take a photos we were all so impressed.

And finally a photo of the kids in the spa with Murphy, it looks like it was taken a night time but it was actually at about 5.00pm just before sunset, and Murphy does have bathers on, you just can't see her bikini top, lol.

So that's it really, in short form anyway, I promise to try and be a bit more diligent and update a lot more regularly.

Love to all xxx

Our Baby is 3 !!!!

2007-07-18T22:05:00.000+10:00

Today is Ella's 3rd Birthday, our baby is a little girl now , sob, sob. I can't believe three years ago I was in Hospital in Vic having my first baby, it seems like yesterday and so much has happened between then and now!!!

Ella has had a fabulous day and has crashed into bed a very happy little girl. We had a small party on Sunday when I made her her special cake, her first request was an Elephant cake which I refused reminding her that was what she had last year, then she asked for a Giraffe cake which she also had last year so she then settled on a Butterfly cake. She had a lovely time and has been so excited about her big day. Col's Mum arrived on Saturday too which is wonderful, it's lovely that she is here for Ella's birthday helping her to celebrate and spoiling her rotten.

She had another cake at our regular park get together, a donut cake (ring tin) as Ella called it, decorated in smarties by her and Huddy. The kids all loved it and Ella had a wonderful time.

Ella was very spoilt and got some gorgeous presents. She is full on into the imaginative play at the moment so we got her a toy kitchen and a great set of food to go with it. She also got some lovely books, clothes,cd's, jewellery, games and some fabulous cooking things as well.

Here she is checking out her stash:

Opening some of her presents.Helping Daddy put the kitchen together.Showing off some of the cooking outfit she got, it came with a mini rolling pin, spatula, wooden spoon and cutters, very cute indeed. :)Today on her actual Birthday we went to a little fun day with some lovely friends, they had a concert, jumping castle and face painting. Ella wanted to be a tiger again but they didn't have tiger faces in their repertoire so she came home as a cat, very apt seeing she has spent a great deal of time lately pretending to be a cat lately.

Tonight we went to a hotel on the North side at Everton Park that I had read had a great kids play area so off we went to check it out. The review was right, the play area was fabulous and Ella & Huddy had an absolute ball playing in there. They were so good seeing as we didn't get there until 6.30pm (bloody traffic!!) and they didn't eat until after 7, an hour later than they usually do. The playground definitely made up for the wait for dinner though and we will be going back again, probably when it's a bit warmer though, it was very chilly out there tonight.

Having a Fabulous week......

2007-07-06T14:15:00.000+10:00

My Mum and Dad arrived here on Monday night, just in time for my Birthday and it's absolutely fabulous having them here. The kids are loving it and ask first thing in the morning "Where's Nana and Poppy?" and then proceed to harrass them for the rest of the day. It's been nearly 2 years since they were here last (when Huddy was born) so it's been a long time. We've seen them quite a lotdown south, they just haven't been able to make it up here with Mum being so unwell for the last few years. Thankfully she's on the mend now though. We don't have very exciting plans for them while they are here but are just enjoying being able to spend each day together.

It was my Birthday on Tuesday and I had a wonderful day!! We had our regular park catchup where Megan bought along a fabulously delicious flourless chocolate cake and they all sang Happy Birthday to me. Col took half the day off and so we went out for lunch to Sirromet Winery for a really beautiful lunch. The weather was magnificent and the view there is lovely. The kids all had a great time playing together in the kids area while we all had a lovely wine or two. It was a wonderful lunch with wonderful family and friends and I was spoilt rotten. There are no photos though as I forgot my camera which I was very cross about.

Some more exciting news I got this week is that I've been chosen to be part of the Design Team at my local Scrapbooking shop, The Scrapbook Princess, Yahoo!!!! I'm really excited and still a bit surprised that I was chosen but I can't wait to get started. My lovely friend Gayle was also chosen so I'm sure we will have a lot of fun together :). The very talented and gorgeous Briohny is a Design Team member there already and I'm hoping that some of her talent will rub off on me.

The finished work.....

2007-06-28T19:27:00.000+10:00

I just love this photo of Ella even though it's a bit fuzzy and dark. I found it again the other day and thought it would great with these MME paper I had. Love the Heidi Swapp bling words too, I've had them for ages and used a couple on the weekend. How funny is this photo of Hudson??? I love it, it's of him winking, hence the title, lol.
I had fun with a bit of doodling on this layout, had to tell myself to stop rather Kirsty had to tell me to stop, lol.
This is a photo of my Mum and her sister, my Auntie Joan that was taken earlier this year at my Mum's 70th Birthday party, I think it's a great one of the two of them. I used the Crate Paper tags and paper for this layout. This is a scrap lift of a layout in the very talented Ali Edwards book, A Designers Eye. I hadn't planned on doing this layout at all, I had the photos with me to finish off the mini book from the Convention. I decided to use the B&W ones for the book so had these spare as well as the papers which I had just thrown in in case I needed them. Glad I did.
And lastly, a layout using the gorgeous Basic Grey range, Phoebe. It took me ages to get this right but I'm quite happy with it now. You can't tell but the circles and birds are raised by using pop dots so it has a bit of dimension to it.

What a Fabulous Weekend!!!

2007-06-27T22:56:00.000+10:00

I had an absolutely awesome time away on my scrapping weekend. The company was wonderful, the cottage very cute and the weather surprisingly mild. I was expecting to really feel the cold but it was very pleasant and the house had a coonara fire so we all kept very toasty warm. I flew down Friday morning and we headed up to the house Friday afternoon via a Scrapbook shop for last minute supplies of course, lol. We found the house up the end of a very hilly, narrow dirt lane and unpacked our gear, popped into Healesville for a few bits and then got back to start scrapping. I managed to complete one layout with the second nearly finished too, I was very happy with that.

We met another lovely friend of Sharon's, Tracey on Sat morning in Healesville and then took ourselves out for a very yummy breakfast. Then after a quick scrounge in the local op shop (got some really cute buttons) we started our scrapping day, only stopping for a late lunch, to say goodbye to Tracey and then for dinner. I finished off my layout from the night before, completed 2 more and then started the last one which I finished on Sunday. I would of liked to have done more but I am a very slow scrapper so that wasn't too bad really, we all could of stayed and kept scrapping for much longer. It was so wonderful to be able to sit uninterrupted and scrap away with the lovely, funny & talented company of Sharon, Steph & Kirst. These women were so much fun to go away with and totally inspiring as well, I had an absolute blast with you ladies!!!!!
Thankyou so much Sharon & Andrew for one of the best Birthday presents ever, it was exactly what I needed and I had the best time ever. It was fabulous to see you again and to have a cuddle with Max & Jemima, we miss you all so much.

So here's a few photos from the weekend:

The girls outside our very cute little cottage.

Steph & Kirsty hard at it.

The five of us on Saturday just before Tracey went home.
The view or lack of on Sunday morning. It was one of those very foggy mornings that turn into a beautiful sunny day :)

It is just so beautiful up that way, I love it.

Funny photo of Sharon

Everybodies work for you to see.

We went out for lunch in Healesville on the way home to a fabulous wineries cellar door called Giant Steps where we had the BEST pizzas I have ever eaten, they were so delicious and so was the wine. If you're up that way make sure you call in and check it out, it's a fab place and it was a totally wonderful way to finish off a fabulous weekend.

I haven't had a chance to take photos of the layouts I finished, hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow so I'll share with you all then :)

Off to bed now, sleep well all xx

WOOHOOO!!!!!! Doin the happy dance!

2007-06-21T12:02:00.000+10:00

I'm off for a few days of scrapping bliss! The wonderful Sharon (and Andrew too) have shouted me a flight south for the weekend for my up coming Birthday and she has also organised a scrapping weekend with the gorgeous and fabulous Kirsty and Steph. We're going to be staying at this very cute cottage, I can't wait! I'm going to miss the kids terribly & Col of course, I haven't ever been away from Hudson and have only left Ella for a few days when she was 10 months old and we came up here to find a house to live in. I must admit though I am looking forward to waking up on my own and then just rolling over and going back to sleep, lol.

I had planned on doing my next art journal card before I went but haven't got to it so that will be on the list of projects to do on the weekend. I shall share what I manage to do with you next week. :)

Have a great weekend xx.

Finally catching up........

2007-06-18T16:48:00.000+10:00

I finally got a chance to finish off the little book I started in the class I did at the Scrapbooking Convention with the very lovely and talented Loretta Grayson and also the layout I did in the class with the gorgeous Kelly Goree. I still have the book to finish from Kelly's class, hope to get to that later in the week. I had grand plans of doing them last week but I felt completely exhausted and had to drag myself off to bed early every night, so not like me to be in bed before 10pm but I was last week.

We had our regular 'Crap & Craft' night on Saturday night so I was able to get them both finished then. I love our craft nights , so much fun and so great to be able to sit and chat child free with the girls while scrapping . LOVE those girls too, they have made our move to Brisbane so much easier and have welcomed us with open arms, THANKYOU from the bottom of my heart xxx.

So here's the proof that they're finished :

This little book is made out of one 12x12 piece of paper, very clever and very cute! We got a big pack of Heidi Grace papers, some rubons, stickers and ribbons in the class to use and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

This is the layout from Kelly's class, all done in the beautiful Basic Grey Romani range, love it!! I should've put the title a bit higher but I'm still pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Art Challenge - Week 23.

2007-06-15T14:46:00.000+10:00

This weeks prompt is 'Right Now', as in what is happening in your life right now, right here.

We've just sold our investment property in Victoria so that we can buy a home here for us in Brisbane. Its something that I really didn't want to do initially because the house was mine before I met Col. I bought the house after a rather nasty breakup and I was so proud of myself for achieving something so big on my own. The prices here in Brisbane are a lot higher than we ever expected and it was silly for us to be putting our family second just because I had sentimental attachments to the house. So we have sold and we can now look seriously for a home here for us in Brisbane. I'm so over renting and I think it's made living here in Brisbane feel like a it was a temporary thing, not that we have decided we'll be here forever but we gave ourselves 5 years and then we'll decide so we still have 3 to go.

So here's my card for this week, pretty happy with myself for actually finishing it before the next challenge is out, lol. I used one of my new stamps from Autumn leaves, my dymo and cut out the arrows from Scenic route paper. I' m pretty happy with how it turned out.

Just wanted to also say a big thank you to all you lovely ladies that have put a comment on my blog, it's so lovely to read them and to know that I'm not rambling on to myself, lol. I've been loving checking out everyone's cards and trying to comment more on your blogs :) .
Thanks Emily for such a great, fun and inspiring challenge too.

Carnival fun.

2007-06-14T12:14:00.000+10:00

I forgot that I hadn't added these photos from the Carnival we went to the weekend before last. It was the Crackerjack Carnival which raises funds for local youth groups. We went down on the Sunday after most of the festivites were finished but the kids still had a great time. Of course the first thing we saw when we walked in was the face painting and what did Ella want??? A Tiger again! I tried to convince her to have fairy or butterfly or another animal but no she definitely wanted a tiger again. So here she is, not a great photo because she moves and bounces around so much that it's hard to get a good one of her.

I must say I was very impressed with the face painting though, she looked like a fabulous Tiger!

The other thing the kids loved was the pony ride. Hudson wasn't sure at the beginning as you can see but he warmed up a bit as the ride went on.

Brisbane Scrapbooking Convention

2007-06-10T22:28:00.000+10:00

I took myself off to the Scrapbook Convention today to do a couple of classes. I did a class by the lovely Loretta Grayson first and then the very full of life, Kelly Goree. What a heap of fun!!! I loved both of them and learn't a lot. I haven't got photos yet as I didn't finish either of the projects in the classes and I was hoping my mojo would continue when I got home but then I finished off the bottle of Vintage Grant Burge (to celebrate!!! more of that later) and I sort of fell in a heap, lol.
Promise to post photos soon.

I'm looking forward to catching up with our gorgeous friends Amanda and Nathan for lunch tomorrow, poor Dave has been called to Newcastle to help with the huge storm damage they've had down there so won't be here and we'll miss him but otherwise it should be fun!!

Enjoy the long weekend. xx

edited to add: I forgot to say that I walked around a corner of the exhibition today and saw a huge photo of my boy that was up as part of the very talented Rachel Richter's display. Also another gorgeous one of Max and Jemima, photo as proof following!

Art Journal - week 21 & 22

2007-06-08T18:13:00.000+10:00

Well I was going to try and be really good and do each weeks prompt on time but I've already been a bit slack. Last weeks prompt was 'your redeeming qualities or qualities you aspire towards' which I found really difficult. I was going to take the easy way out and do qualities that I aspire to have but I decided to do as Emily suggested and take some time to think about my qualities. In the end I had to ask Col what he thought they were as I just felt like I was being really vain and then I started to doubt that I actually was these things. Anyway here's week 21 Art journal card:

I tried out a method that Emily told us about at the beginning of the challenge (week 3). You can't see it very well but my photo has been burnished onto the card. You take a colour photo copy of a photo then paint the back with nail polish remover and then burnish it on with a spoon. You're supposed to use nail polish remover with acetone in it but of course my nail polish remover was acetone free, lol. I tried it out anyway and it did work but probably not as well as using the proper stuff. It 's was a lot of fun trying it, I'll definitely give it a go again.

This weeks challenge was 'what would you love to learn?'. There are so many things I would love to learn, another language, photography, adobe photoshop, patience lol, new cooking skills, quilting, felting, shall I go on!! I had trouble just choosing one of them. In the end I settled on learning to sail. something I've always really wanted to do, I think the feeling of being in control of a boat sailing around on the water would be bliss. I love the water and what better way to enjoy it more. So here's the card, not really sailing inspired at all........ but I was pretty happy with it. You can't see very well but there is a little bit of bling on the card, every girl needs a bit of bling don't they.

A bit of fun!!

2007-05-28T22:03:00.000+10:00

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a bit of fun. I sent Sharon the link so she can put it up on her blog too, why don't you have a go, all you need to do is highlight the things you have done. I've done 76 out of the 150 listed, not bad, a few more things on there I will definitely try to do.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a Tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said, "I love you," and meant it.
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Vistited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at night
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's nappy
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on Champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked a stranger out
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Vistited all 6 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Vistited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70.Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Climbed Uluru
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised or raising children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
99. Missed out on sleep cause you were blogging/surfing the internet?
100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over
101. Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries that Australian states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroack
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read the Iliad AND The Odyssey
135. Selected an "important" author who you missed in school and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
142. Thought to yourself that you are living your dream
143 Had to put someone you love into hospice care
144. Built your own PC from parts
145. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
146. Had a booth at a street fair
147. Dyed your hair
148. Been a DJ
149. Shaved your head
150. Caused a car accident
149. Saved someone's life

The Deck on Me challenge

2007-05-27T20:08:00.000+10:00

The very talented Emily Falconbridge has been running a challenge on her blog since the beginning of the year, the "Deck of Me" art journal challenge. I started a bit late, at the end of January and caught up but then fell behind again. I've caught up again now except for the one from today. Each week Emily gives us a prompt for us to use as inspiration on our card ( a playing card) and at the end of the year we will have a lovely set of 52 cards we have created during the year.
I am loving this challenge and find myself trying out new methods and thinking outside the square at times. So I thought I would share with you my cards. You can check out the prompts on Emily's blog if you can't work out what they are from my card. They run in the order of each week,the fronts and then the backs of each one.
We're up to week 21 this week, only 22 more for me to do :)))

These 2 are 'surprise' and 'change'. This is also the surprise one , it's supposed to be a parcel that you open and when you look inside there's a photo of Ella with her 'surprised' face, lol.

Some more to share.

2007-05-27T18:28:00.000+10:00

This is another layout from Ella's 2nd Birthday. We gave her Baby Maggie for her birthday and she was very taken by her. She took her to bed with her, had a cuddle on the rocking chair and then gave her a kiss good night, very cute!! I used the very bright and funky Scenic Route papers for this, love them.

I have a regular 'crap & craft' night each month with the girls, which I love. It's a great night to get together and sit, chat and scrapbook, although sometimes I don't get very much done at all, lol.

Last Saturday Kath & I decided to do scrap lift of the very talented Ali Edwards, we took a layout from her book and this is my interpretation. It was a lot of fun and we will definitely do it again.

I've been tagged!!!!

2007-05-23T22:06:00.000+10:00

by the lovely and very talented Rachel and Briohny, what a lovely surprise :))

So, here are the questions:
1. Four of my favourite jobs
2. Four of my favourite local places
3. Four of my favourite foods
4. Four of my favourite international places
5. Four name's of people I am tagging

so here goes......
1. Four of my favourite jobs.
I know it will sound sucky but my most favourite job would have to be being Mum to my two gorgeous kids. I loved teaching kindergarten while I did it and think it's a bit of a shame I didn't stick with it longer, a shame what others in the industry can turn you to do. I loved being a nanny way back when, being such a big part of those little children's lives was so wonderful. I loved my job at Southcoast Medical too, the girls I worked with were wonderful and we had such a great time.

2. Four of my Favourite local places.
I love Roma St Parklands, it's a wonderful piece of paradise in the city and every time we go there we have a great time.
We love the park at the end of Underwood Rd, we go there each Tuesday for our little get together and the kids love it. I love it because it's a terrific park for them to play at and has great facilities.
Anywhere along the river in Brisbane is pretty good, Southbank, Eagle St pier, Colmslie park, New Farm, all great.
The Gold and Sunshine coasts and the fact that they are really so close to us. We can pop up or down just for a day really easily so that makes them sort of local, lol.

3. Four of my favourite foods.
Hmmm that's a hard one to pick just four, lol!! So runny brie cheese, ice-cream, indian from Miss India and slow cooked meat with a tossed salad and roast potatoes are but a few.

4. Four of my favourite International places.
Another hard one. If I really had to choose I would have to say Paris & the south of France (sneaking 2 in there), New York, Ireland and Tuscany.

5. Four names of people I'm tagging.
Tabi
Dani
Anita
Sarah
Go for it girls!!

2007-05-23T20:48:00.000+10:00

I haven't been very good with the old blog of late, had a house full of sickies including myself and really haven't had the energy. :( Anyway we are all on the mend now so no excuses!!

Just thought I would share a few layouts with you all. Yes, I've still been scrapping. Had a wonderful time when Sharon was here scrapping with her, was so lovely to have someone here to play with!!!

This is Hudson having his first bath, awwww.

Some photos from a wonderful day we spent at the Spit on the Gold Coast last year.

One of the gorgeous photos Rachel took last year just before Hudson turned one, obviously, lol.

Finally did some of the photos I took when I "walked with the Tiger" last year at Dreamworld, definitely something everyone should do, fabulous experience.

and finally a layout for Ella's 2nd Birthday, I'm trying to catch up on a lot of old photos I have, slowly, slowly!!

Happy Mothers Day

2007-05-14T23:28:00.000+10:00

Happy Belated Mothers Day to all the Mums out there. I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating with your beloved ones. I had a fab day, started with a sleep in (Yay!!) and then I got totally spoilt by receiving the best Mothers Day presents ever. Ella had taken Col shopping on Saturday afternoon with a definite present in mind for me. She was a girl on a mission he said. When they got home I tried to find out what she had bought me but even with lots of prodding and question asking she would not tell me what her surprise was. She told me "It's a big secret Mummy, no!" and "don't you go near the car Mummy, or I'll be cross!!!". Anyway I got the most fabulous, silliest, funniest HAT that they could find, lol. She was determined to get me a "funny hat" apparently and after traipsing around the shopping centre they finally found this one
You can't see it very well but it is all silver and sparkly, just beautiful. I had much coaching from Ella too on how to make the funny face that goes with the funny hat. She's a kooky one that girl, lol. I also got 2 beautifully decorated cards from Ella & Hudson.

I also got a fabulous new man to help me with the housework, his name is Ronaldo and he is a little gem!!!! No, he's not tanned, muscley and good looking but a Roomba, a fabulous robotic vacuum cleaner. I'm very, very spoilt.

We then went out for a lunch cruise on the river with some very dear friends and had a lovely time, the kids thought the boat was fun. We wandered around Eagle St Pier afterwards, had a few more drinks while the kids all ran wild and had a ball on the steps nearby and then we came home and collapsed, a very lovely day in deed!!!
This is the only photo of Ella & Huddy together, they just run and run, it's impossible to get them to sit still long enough to get a photo of them, lol.

New photos from Rachel Richter

2007-05-06T23:21:00.000+10:00

We had some professional photos taken by the very clever Rachel Richter just before Easter and got them back last Friday. We were very excited to see them, we'd had a session last August and we were rapt with the photos so knew these ones would be great too. I love the ones of Ella & Huddy and I'm so glad we got more family shots this time, such a lovely thing to have for the future. If your looking to have some photos of your family taken I would highly recommend Rachel but hurry she's taking some maternity leave towards the end of this year and is booking out fast!!

Teddy featured in quite a few of the shots which Ella thought was fantastic.

Sharon & Andrew had some done while they were here (check out her blog to see them, gorgeous!) so we thought it would be a great opportunity to have some taken of the four cousins together :) It didn't quite work out that well though, lol. Hudson hurt his foot about 1/2hr before we left to have the photos taken and really wasn't in the best frame of mind and the Max & Ella were too busy annoying each other. The end result is quite funny though I think, what do you think??

Love Jemima in these photos, she's completely oblivious to the others. teehee.

ROARRRRR.....

2007-04-25T23:21:00.000+10:00

We went to the Eumundi market last week, a fabulous market in the Noosa hinterland. Ella spotted a woman doing face painting not long after we got there and was very, very keen to have her face painted. This was the first time she has ever had her face painted and she took a long time checking out all the photos of what she could have done before finally deciding on the Tiger, no fairies, butterflies or hearts for my girl, lol. I was so proud of her sitting so still while she had it done and the look on her face was priceless. She was so, so excited and wore her Tiger face proudly :)

Her Tiger roaring.

Max chose to have a Batman face which the lady did in blue colours, much nicer for a little boy. He was pretty proud of his face too and kept showing off his Batman muscles.

Max gave his face the "two thumbs up".

How funny is this!!

2007-04-22T22:02:00.000+10:00

Sharon and I were on the couch laughing so much we were crying when we first saw this, I hope you think it's as funny as we did.