Oh My God !!!!!!!

I arrived home from work this afternoon to find a note from the carrying company saying that they had a parcel for me and could I please go and get it. Needless to say, I got the children sorted and back in the car and raced down!!! The parcel was from Dell!!!! Was else could it be but the laptop I won from Ness at Scrap With V !!!!!

As soon as I got home I opened the box, and there it was!!!! It was gorgeous!!!! It was pink and silver !! and..... it was for me!!!!!

I love it Ness!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so very much!!!! How cool is that? Spend $100 shopping for scrapping supplies (really hard to do!!) and get the chance to win a laptop.

I LOVE that it is pink!! I will always remember Scrap With V, Ness and all the beautiful members!!

Have I mentioned that I love it !!!!!!!!!!! Love it!!!! Love it!!!!!

Off They Go.....

My children were very excited about going back to school this morning. They were keen to see their friends again, check out their new classrooms, seeing where they were sitting and see their teachers!

I'll find out at 3pm how their day went.

Another layout I completed Sunday night was for the Sunday Roast Challenge at Scrapboutique, run by Manon. I was really happy with the result.

Less than One Week To Go................

................until the very first sketch challenge is posted on Crafty Sketches !!!! It is going to be great for everyone - whether you are trying to find your lost mojo, or are an addict to sketches or just an avid scrapper (I think that covers us all!!) The prizes will be great, with prizes being offered for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Sponsorship is by the awesome shop Scrap With V with Ness and her friendly and efficient staff and service!!! Got to be in it to win it!!! Or at least have some creative fun trying!!!

Scrapping Again Today

This is my layout for the A2Z Scraplets Sketch Challenge. It is their first challenge on the blog.

Don't forget check in on Crafty Sketches on 1 February for their inaugural sketch challenges. Challenges will be set fortnightly, but you have a month to complete your layout.

Here are a couple of layouts I completed last night for the CC at ScrapBoutique. The first challenge was by Liz to use her sketch, and use summery papers, summer in the journalling, and a summery photo. This is what I came up with.





The next challenge was a numbers challenge by Kate. You had to use 1 cardstock, 2 different alphas, 3 ribbons, 4 circles and 5 brads, as well as use numbers stickers. This is what I came up with.

Don't forget the CC at SWV next week end! It is sure to be lots of fun!

Sneak Peeks

I received a beautiful pack of papers and embellishments to work on for my first DT kit for SWV. I used a photo from our Sydney trip. Below is a sneak peek at my layout. It is very girly. The kit will be available to purchase from SWV from 1 February. Why not go and check out all the beautiful kits from the design team girls then as well. They are all fabbo!!!!



Also on 1 February the inaugural sketch challenge for Crafty Sketches will be posted. This first sketch is just gorgeous! I loved doing my layout for it. Below are the sneak peeks. So, on 1 February be sure to join in with all the fun and challenges on Crafty Sketches. There are great prizes to be won and lots of inspiration.

Almost Ready for it.....

Crafty Sketches put up the first sketch challenge on 1 Feb. So, head over there on that date and get some inspiration. The first sketch comes from Vanessa, and it is just beautiful! It is a very user friendly sketch. I got stuck into last night, and about midnight finished my inspiration layout for the sketch challenge. I am really happy with it. I used another photo from our family trip to Sydney.

For the first time last night I used the Fiskars Craft Knife Fingertrip Control. It was great!! You cut like you write. You put your finger through the holder thingy and then hold the knife like you would a pen. I did lots of fine cutting on the layout, and really quite enjoyed it using the Fiskars Craft knife. I just happened to see it one day at the local newsagent, and picked it up. I have had it for a few months, and tried it out last night for the first time. I usually use a pair of small very sharp scissors, but prefer this craft knife.

For all my other cutting needs, I just love the Doodlebug Craft Knife!! It is gorgeous to look at and cuts beautifully without any pressure being applied. Love it.

Looking Forward to it!!!!

I have decided that I am going to the Scrap With V retreat that is on at the Sunshine Coast end of May. I went last year, and had a ball! Ness, Millie and Lindy did such a fantastic job getting the retreat organised. It was credit to them, and I am sure that this years retreat will be the same. It was great to meet friends IRL! I looked up airfares last night on webjet. I am only looking at $156 return, which sure beats a very long days drive. Now to save up for the deposit!
Head on over to Scrap With V for the retreat details.

Layout for January Sketch Challenge

Over at SWV there is a fabulous January Sketch Challenge. There are lots of circles on it - so not for the faint hearted!! Why don't you go and check it out. Here is my attempt at the challenge. I really wanted to use some photos from our trip to Sydney. I called it "Looking at U Sydney". Ben had a great time looking through the telescopes up in the Sydney Tower. He loved finding various landmarks, and then showing us.

Lovely Millie

Thank you Millie for recognising me for this lovely award.

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

Crafty Sketches

Vanessa is setting up a new sketch blog site called Crafty Sketches. I am lucky enough to be accepted onto the sketch team. Come on over for a look. It is still in its infancy, but will soon be up and running strongly. I so hope you can join us for the fun and sketches and prizes.

A special friend

Unfortunately due to flood waters we were unable to make it to Ingham for the funeral of a dear friend. We made it to Bowen, but were then turned back as the police had closed the road because of flooding in 3 sections. So disappointing! I really needed to go to say my final good byes and to be there for some special friends. However, I know that we tried our best. My thoughts were with the family and friends who were able to attend and celebrate Daniel's life, who's life was so abruptly taken from us. "Daniel, You will never be forgotten. Your memory will live on".

Back in Qld

We flew from Sydney to Brisbane, had a 6 hr stop over, and then on to Mackay arriving at 8pm. It was a long day, but all was good. QANTAS were great.

We should be home by the end of the week. A dear friend passed away last week, and his funeral is being held in Ingham on Friday. We are hoping and praying that we can make it up there to say our good byes. However, at the moment there is flooding and more rain happening up there. Hopefully we will know by tomorrow if we can make it.

Megan took these photos of the sunset, on our Brisbane to Mackay plane leg. She did a grest job.

A lovely Award from Lindy

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

I would like to award these lovely ladies:

KarenB

Ness

Jodi

Last Day in Sydney

Our last day in Sydney has been a fairly quiet one. We caught a train out to the western suburbs to spend the day with Michael's nephew. The kids enjoyed playing with his 2 yo daughter, and swimming in the pool. We went to a nearby shopping centre for lunch. We arrived back in the city about 5pm. We'll be packing tonight, as a taxi is booked to pick us up at 7.30am tomorrow and take us to the airport.

We have all had a great time, and really enjoyed our family time together. We have seen and experienced almost everything possible in our time here.

Our Sunday in Sydney

I am so proud of my children! We walked for many kilometres today, as we have also done every day of our stay in Sydney. They have never once complained about having tired legs or whinged!! Michael and I have been physically had it, and the kids keep powering on.
We walked the couple of kms to the Sydney Tower, toured through there and admired the views. Afterwards we walked through Hyde Park, visited St Mary's Cathedral, walked through The Domain, visited the NSW Art Gallery, strolled around the Royal Botanic Gardens, walked out to Mrs McQuarries Chair, back around to The Rocks and then headed home via train.
Every day we have been out of our motel room by 9am and haven't returned until at least 5pm. Long days, but so much fun! We are staying in a 2 bedroom apartment in Breakfree on George. A great motel - thoroughly recommend it. We saw the PMs wife strolling through the Art Gallery.

Sunset from our balcony last night.
One of the views from the Sydney Tower.

Another view.

And another.

Ben admiring the views.

Megan admiring the views.

Megan and Ben riding the escalators. They love them.

We saw this creation at Hyde Park. It is made from soft drink cans, and plastic cups. It looks a bit like a Tassie Devil......?

The sight of the Sydney Tower from Hyde Park.

Inside St Mary's Cathedral.
This statue at the Art Gallery fascinated Megan and Ben

A statue in the Botanic Gardens.

Ben and I relaxing in Mrs MacQuaries Chair.

The view of the Harbiur Bridge and the Opera House from near Mrs MacQuaries Chair.

A self portrait.

SWV January CyberCrop

Planes, trains, automobiles and more!!!

We have travelled on planes, trains, automobiles, mono-rails, ferries, buses and sky rails during our stay in Sydney!!! I din't think it leaves anything left???

We had a great day at Taronga Zoo today. Started out cool and overcast but soon cleared up and became comfortably warm. We saw lots of great exhibits, and enjoyed it all immensely. There is a bit of construction going on, so didn't see a couple of animals. I had my photo taken with a giraffe, and at the last minute Megan jumped in the photo with me! There are lots of different animals there.

We took the train from the city, and then caught the ferry to the Zoo. It is a great way to go.

We went to the Chinatown Night Markets last night.

Megan and Ben on the ferry enroute to the Zoo.

Ben posing with his koala friend.

The view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Sydney Tower from the Zoo.

Megan getting to know a turtle.

A Komoda Dragon.

Megan and Ben at the Zoo with the awesome skyline.

A squirrel (these little guts are tiny and very quick. He held still for a split second for me)

A peahen posing for me while we waited for the Gorilla Talk.

A big silver back gorilla (32 yrs old)

A baby and mummy gorilla.

A Fishing Cat.

A Sumatran Tiger (I am proud of this photo).

A happy little Zoo visitor.

Megan pretending to be a Fennec Fox. Don't you love this big ears?

A Star Tortoise.

A chameleon.

A cute young giraffe.

Ben took this photo of Megan and I having our photo taken with a giraffe.

A giraffe.

A penquin busily swimming.

Megan with her toy meerkat from the Zoo on the sky rail going back down to the ferry.