Packed!

The kids and I are packed ready for our trip to NZ. Michael reckons he is packing today!!! We got our full itinerary on the week end, so helped to know what to pack for the glacier walk and swim with dolphins. This time next week we'll be out on the harbour cruise and getting ready to swim with dolphins. Hope the water isn't too cold!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

On behalf of my family and I, I would love to wish you all a very merry and safe Christmas full of laughter, love and happiness! I hope Santa finds you! May love and kindness fill your days in 2011! Merry Christmas and best of wishes always!

My Children

My children's school recently held a musical. Each class performed several dances to music/songs from different movies. Megan's Yr 5 class performed to Shrek, and as you can see in the photos Megan had the role of Princess Fiona. Ben's Yr 3 class performed to Cat in the Hat, and Ben was Thing 2. Both children performed extremely well. We were so proud of them. A number of people have commented to me about how Megan really shines on stage. And, it is true! She just has the moves and rhythm and loves being on stage. Music/dancing/drama/performing are her thing! Did I tell you that she earned First Class Honours in her piano exam earlier this year???
Ben (Thing 2) worked so well with his mate (Thing 1) they had so much fun on stage! They loved it, and earned an award from their teacher for their motivation and participation.

Megan is a blondie so we put an 8 wash red dye through her hair for the Fiona part as we couldn't find a wig she was happy with. Most of the colour is out but there is some persistent red in the sun bleached front bits! Luckily for Ben we found a blue curly wig!!!!!

Latest Challenge

I loved the sketch for December at Crafty Sketches. Here is my layout for this great sketch:
Love Your Sparkle

I rarely use orange on my layouts (no reason really), but as Megan is wearing an orange glittery hat and black shirt (looks blue in the photo), I decided to go with a black/orange colour combo. I love the result.

I am currently designing the January sketch for Crafty Sketches. Why not head over to Crafty Sketches and check out the great challenges and the beautiful range of entries.

Crafty Sketches

Head on over to Crafty Sketches to check out the new sketch for November. All of the CT have done quite different and beautiful layouts. Here is my layout for Kylie's gorgeous sketch. The photo is of one of my granddaughters playing happily in the sand pit. I love the photo, because the sand is so white it looks like she is playing in the snow.

This time in 4 weeks my children will be finished school for the year. We have a very busy few weeks left with a trivia night this coming Friday (to raise money for the Yr6/7 study trip to Canberra next year), the school musical the following week ( Ben is Thing 2 as his class is doing Cat in the Hat, and Megan is Fiona as Yr 5 are doing Shrek), and the following week is the school swimming carnival. Also in there somewhere is a trip to Brisbane with Lea to celebrate the 40th birthday of a school friend, and a staff social at the races.

Oh!!!!! Our big news!!!! We have been invited to a wedding in Greymouth, South Is, New Zealand in early January. So, after much humming and hahing, we have decided to make it into the family holiday for the year. We are staying in NZ for 10 days, and doing a swimming with dolphins tour, the Trans Alpine train trip and a tour of Franz Joseph glacier. We are in the process of applying for passports. We are all really looking forward to it!!!!!!!

Crafty Sketches

The new sketch by Kylie will be up at Crafty Sketches in a few days time. There are a couple of days left to get your layout in for this month's sketch challenge.

I loved doing my CT layout for November's sketch, can't wait to show you next week. Millie is doing a great job managing Crafty Sketches! Well done Millie!!!

Scrap With V are now on their blog, and closing down the forum shortly. Head on over there and check out all the action! All the best Ness and ladies! Will see you at the blog when I can!

I'm Back!

Well, it is drawing near the end of the semester so I have a smidge more free time!

Last week end I went to a retreat in Mackay. My sisters came along too, and I met lots of new people. There were 36 people at the retreat, so it was busy. Michelle, Sandra and Thea all ran great classes on making clay embies, OTP item and quilling. It was great to learn new skills, I especially enjoyed the clay class. Very inspiring! Thanks ladies!

Only about 4 and a half weeks until the kids finish school for the year! This year has raced past soooooo quickly! Megan will be in Yr 6 and Ben in Yr 4 next year. It is hard to comprehend how fast they grow up sometimes! Ben is loving swimming at the moment! Megan is enjoying it, but is looking forward to hopefully doing dancing lessons next year. We'll have to see about that yet, as it is over in Emerald.

I am still here.........

......... despite not doing much blogging lately! I apologise for not being in blog land much recently. The work load associated with my uni studies and prac placements is huge, and keeping me away from much scrapping or blogging, but I promise I'll check in here and post whenever I can.

I hope everyone is well and happy!

Birthday Boy

My son Ben turned 8 this month. Eight years ago his expected date of birth was 17 August, but he decided to be here a few days sooner on 14 August. We haven't been able to slow him down ever since!!!!! He was born at 1.20pm in Longreach Hospital weighing 7lb15ozs.

We had to go over to Moranbah on his birthday, so he had the choice of lunch! Of course he chose Red Rooster! Ben is a strapping young lad, fit and healthy!

He wanted a Cup of Popcorn cake for his birthday this year. It turned out to be pretty easy to make, and the kids loved the coloured popcorn that was on it.

My baby is growing up!

Nearly the end of the Month

It is nearly the end of August, which means in a couple of days the new sketch will be up at Crafty Sketches. It is a beautiful sketch! Looking forward to seeing your beautiful entries!

A New Month for Inspiration

Hi ladies. Well, it is now August (Wow!! Where is the year going?) so that means a new sketch challenge is up at Crafty Sketches.

I designed this month's sketch, and aimed to keep it versatile to cater for everyone's individual styles. We would love to see your beautiful entries. So, why not check out Crafty Sketches for the new sketch and also to find out the new way of entering the monthly sketch challenges.

Here is the sketch:

and here is my Creative Team inspirational layout:

Go to Crafty Sketches and check out all of the Creative Team's beautiful layouts! We would love to see yours!

My Last DT Kit for Scrap With V

After 12 months on the wonderful design team for Scrap With V, I have decided not to continue on my DT committments due to study committments. So 31 July will be my last day on the team!!!! It will be a very sad day for me, but I will definitely be hanging around in the forum and participating in the cybercrops. Ness and all of the ladies there are very special friends!! Thank you so much Ness, other DT girls and forum members for your support and team work over the last 12 months! I feel very honoured to be part of Scrap With V.

Here are some sneak peeks for my last DT kit which will be available in the shop from Sunday 1 August. I loved working with the products in the kit, and was able to create 3 layouts - great value for money.

What a great Cybercrop!!!

Wow!!! I loved the July Cybercrop for Scrap with V!!!! Great challenges!!! I managed to do all of the challenges except for one (Taryn's mystery class but I am definitely going to do it!!!), and Megan and Ben completed the awesome kids challenges.

This is Megan's layout and card:

Ben's layout and card:

My layout for the sketch challenge I set:

My layout for the DT only challenge:

My layout for Lindy's challenge:

My layout for Tarrah's inspiration challenge:

My card for the card challenge set by Debbie:

Belinda set an ATC challenge, so this is my first ever ATC:

It was a great Cybercrop, it is always wonderful to get the inspiration from everyone else's gorgeous work!

Silly Me!!!!

Yesterday at work, a collection was started to buy presents for a work friend who just married, and another who has just become engaged. I don't know why I did it, but I volunteered to make the cards to go with the presents!!!!! Why oh why would I do such a thing??!!!! I always find cards really difficult! A bit of a mind over matter thing! Anyway, I sat up until 11.30 last night (with the heater working overtime), and these are the two cards I created. I am actually quite happy with them. I decided to use the black and white colour scheme, because I figure they are safe colours that won't clash with whatever colours the bride had in her wedding, and the bride to be has in her upcoming wedding.

This is the Wedding card:

and this is the Engagement card:

I haven't used my Cuttlebug in ages, so pulled it out last night to use on the cards.

Anyway, my father is staying tonight, so I had better go and catch up on the housely duties!! Man, it is cold today! It was 4 degrees on our patio this morning at 6.30 but the official temperature at the airport was 0.5 degree!!! Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Who Is Cybercropping This Weekend????

The Scrap With V cybercrop is on this weekend, starting tomorrow night!!!! Ness has great prizes on offer as well as an AMAZING lucky door prize!!! Come along and join in the fun.

SWV DT Kits Available

Head on over to Scrap With V and check out the beautiful Design Team kits available for July. The ladies have been very busy! All of the kits are GORGEOUS and a good mix of feminine and masculine kits! They are great value, so go shopping!!!!!

Here is the kit I designed for July, which has already sold out.

Crafty Sketches New Challenge

Hi! The new sketch challenge for July is up at Crafty Sketches. Here is the lovely sketch designed by Ness.

And here is my CT layout:

It is a great sketch to work with and allows for much versatility. Head on over to Crafty Sketches to check out the other CT members layouts - they are all so different but still based on this gorgeous sketch. There is a great voucher to be won each month from Scrap With V!!!

Wow!

I have just joined in the Zva Creative Blog Hop! Wow!! All beautiful blogs to visit and be inspired by! Very talented people around the World!! Fingers crossed I mught be lucky enough to win something! Would have to be very lucky though! Over 100 people have joined in the blog hop!

Keep Your Eyes Peeled for the July's Sketch at Crafty Sketches

On the 1 July, the next gorgeous sketch from Crafty Sketches will be posted. It is a beautiful sketch too, and designed by Ness! Be sure to check into Crafty Sketches on the 1st to check it out!!

Upcoming Cybercrop at Scrap With V

Come along and join in all the scrapping challenges and entertainment at the Scrap With V Cybercrop!!!

Layouts from the SWV retreat

At the recent Scrap With V retreat, I scrapped up a storm! I have finally gotten around to photographing some of them.

Crafty Sketches June sketch:
And, just because:

I have been doing a bit of baking over the last day or so. Megan made a chocolate cake from scratch and iced it with coffee icing - Yummo!! I made a Scrmptious Slice (yes, that is the name of it and believe me it is aptly named!) and a date loaf, I think I will make a tuna quiche for dinner tonight.

School Holidays!!!!!

Yay!!!!!! 2 weeks of school holidays!!! I am so looking forward to a break in routine from early mornings, homework supervision, kids sports etc!!

I am hoping to actually getting some scrapping done over the break!

Julie from A2Z Scraplets asked me to be a guest DT for this month's new release vinyl stickers and chipboard. I came up with 4 layouts. I truly love using A2Z Scraplets gorgeous products! They are so versatile and easy to use!

Here are my layouts:

I would love to meet Julie one day. She is a very talented lady with her creations, and an asset to the scrapbooking world!

Great Retreat

I had an awesome time last week end at the Scrap With V retreat, held at Shearwater Apartments, Kings Beach, Caloundra. It was so lovely to catch up with all the lovely ladies again. Boy, we laughed all week end!!!! There was definitely serious scrapping happening, frequently interspersed with riotous laughter! It was all gorgeous!
The owner/managers at Shearwater are very nice, and very helpful. The food was amazing! I ate more over the week end than I normally would in a week!
It was so good to see all of the beautiful products Vanessa brought up for us to buy. I love the Webster papers!!!!
Thank you Ness and Millie for all of your hard work!!! You are treasures!
On her return to Mooloolooba, Jessica Watson even sailed into Kings Beach for us! Wasn't that nice of her?! Her "Pink Lady" looks so tiny!!!

Here are a couple of photos of Jess:
And the beautiful Kings Beach:

I'm Back

Sorry for not being around for sooooo long. I have been so busy with uni stuff and with my role as the pavilion steward for the Clermont Show.

The Show was held last week, and was a resounding success with a record number of people through the gates. Tuesday was wet and miserable, but didn't stop the people, and Wednesday was a gorgeous sunny clear day which really tempted a lot of people to come to the Show. Our family did well with scrapping, photographs, birds and plants. The setting up is a BIG job, with 5 full on days on 12 -15 hrs a day on concrete and climbing up ladders etc. But it was all worth it - the pavilion looked fantastic! A lot of the sections had a big increase in entries. There was great teamwork amongst the lovely and dedicated helpers. However, I was utterly exhausted by the end of it all, and am happy it is over for another year.

When I work out how to download my photos off my phone onto the computer, I'll upload some photos of the pavilion.

As part of my uni studies I also had to help to organise the Under 8's Day for the School. It was held on Friday 28 May and was very successful. All of the kids and parents had a great time, with activities including goop, play dough, painting, face painting, bubble blowing, dancing, listening to a book, obstacle course and phyisical activities as well as a visit by the ambulance.
Lots of fun stuff to do.

A Little Bundle.....

....came into our family and home on Tuesday afternoon.

Isn't he gorgeous??

He is a miniature dachshund, and we have named him Denver. He is the biggest sook going, and is so adorable!!! Except at 2am!!!! He is 10 weeks old, and is from a breeder near Mackay. The kids love him. Ben refers to him as the cutest pup in the world! So cute!

Thanks. xx

Tagged by Lovely Taryn!

The lovely Taryn has tagged me for this game. Check over at her blog to see see this lovely and amazing lady's creativeness!!!!

I have to list 10 things that make me happy, 5 pieces of trivia about myself, and then pass this award along to 5 other bloggers I love...so here goes:

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY...

1 The smiles on my childrens faces
2 Having a husband who cares and loves me
3 The sounds of kookaburras and butcher birds singing first thing in the morning
4 Watching the smile on the kids faces when they achieve something special
5 The smell of rain
6 Visiting and chatting to family
7 Catching up with friends
8 Having a dog to adore me and want lots of pats from me
9 Feeling my children slipping their hand into mine when walking along
10 Achieving something I have been working towards

TRIVIA YOU MAY NOT KNOW...
1 I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
2 I have been married for almost 11 years
3 I learnt piano as an adult for 2 years
4 I stutter (especially when nervous -but getting better with it)
5 I love sleeping in my own bed, but can usually sleep anywhere!

Now, I want to tag these 5 gorgeous ladies:

KylieJ, Shaz, Lea, Karen and Debbie

More......

Here is another I completed tonight. It is for the Scrap With V April Scraplift Challenge that Belinda set. Great challenge Belinda.

A Scrapping Easter

Well, about 2.30 this afternoon, I decided to get scrapping.

I created this layout for the Born2Create April challenge sponsored by Scrap With V. The photo is of my gorgeous sister and equally gorgeous niece.

This layout is for the Scrap With V monthly sketch challenge.

And this layout is for the A2Z Scraplets April challenge. I love A2Z Scraplets chippies, and isn't that Webster paper gorgeous too!

A New Month means New Kits at SWV

Ness at Scrap With V has a load of new kits in the shop for the start of the month!!! The kits are all so gorgeous and varied! You are sure to find a kit (or 2 or 3 or 4) that you love!!!

This is the layout I created with my kit of beautiful products:

Also, the new monthly sketch is up at Crafty Sketches. The lovely Kylie Howland has created a beautiful sketch this month. I really enjoyed creating my CT layout based on her sketch.

Head on over to Crafty Sketches to check out the new sketch challenge, to create your own gorgeous layout. The prize is pretty awesome too!!!!