Christmas catch up and some LO...

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day :o)

We spent the morning with my family - opening presents, had a Xmas breakfast and my Gran came over from the nursing home. We got lots of lovely presents - including money to put towards an air-con for our room. DH spoilt me with a variety of DVD's and book 4 of the "Twilight" series :o) I'm also getting a digital photo frame, once I make up my mind about which one I want :o)

Cohan & my Gran

We had dinner with DH's family. We finally got to meet and have a cuddle of our new nephew Ryley. LOL He's only a month old and already 11 lbs! What a little chubster! LOL


We didn't do anything exciting over the 4 days off - mainly just relaxing, watching DVD's, playing the PS2 and spending time with family. DH & I were silly enough to go shopping on Saturday morning - it was totally crazy!! I did manage to buy Bec & Dale's baby present though - woo hoo! The crowds were too insane for me - so we went out to lunch instead, then home again :o) I did get to Spotlight too (it was just as crazy as the shopping centres) and picked up 3x Basic Grey packs, a 12x12 scrap calender and some very cute material. After making our costumes and seeing what Kylie has been making - I have been inspired to do some sewing on a little project of my own :o)

Cohan has learnt a new word - Aunty! I've got to admit, it melts my heart when he points at me and say it :o) Mum's not too impressed - she was hoping Grandma would be the next new word! LOL

Now for some scrap-related pics :o)

My Black Magic RED swap goodies. My BLACK swap goodies should arrive at the end of January.


Scrap the Girls December entry. This is the first time I have entered a challenge on this blog. Having 3 neices to scrap - I think I will be entering more challenges :o)

White with One December entry.

Christmas Eve...

Presents wrapped and under the tree-check! Food and drinks all organised-check! Camera batteries are charged-check! Well I think everything is all organised and ready for tomorrow.

The management team had a small party today and swapped our Secret Santa gifts. DH & my Secret Santas were really pleased with their pressies :o) DH got a massive alarm clock with his footy team logo on it - let's see him ignore that alarm!! LOL I got a beautiful, gold dolphin pendant - which I absolutely love!!

I managed to finish book 2 of the Twilight series. Hopefully over the next 4 days off I will start book 3! I also got a heap of recent pics printed and picked up a few Christmas themed papers and embellishments - I am feeling very motivated to get some scrapping done too :o)

With this being the silly season and all - I'm certain I won't get a chance to blog tomorrow, so wishing you and your families.....a


Christmas countdown...1 sleep!

Happy birthday Brodie!

Hope you have a fantastic 3rd birthday!

My White with 1 RED swap arrived today. There are some creative embellishments - I will take a photo of them tomorrow. There are a few Christmas themed embellishments that will come in handy :o)

I found this blog - Cake Wrecks - ages ago and thought I would share it with you all. It has got to be one of the most funny (and horrifying) blogs ever!!

Christmas countdown...3 sleeps!

Lots of fun...

Friday night Kylie and I went to a Midnight Crop at Creative Artz and had a great time chatting and scrapping. Unfortunately I wasn't as organised as last time, so I didn't get much done :o( I did manage to start working on a couple of LO that I am hoping to finish during my 4 days off next week.

Saturday morning we went to our niece Brodie's 3rd birthday. Here's the birthday girl...

I have some great shots of her with birthday cake all over her face, but I will save them for her 21st birthday ;o)

The work party was excellent! There were lots of great, original costumes. There was even another Minnie Mouse - so we made jokes about seeing double :o) LOL I took pics of everyone, had a few drinks (work put on a basic bar tab, but I didn't feel like drinking), ate some delicious nibblies and spent most of the night socialising with everyone. The live band was fantastic (one of the girls from work is the lead singer) - I got up and had a few dances. I had borrowed a pair of mum's shoes and quickly got huge blisters on both feet :o( I soon kicked my shoes off though- what a feral?!? LOL Four of our friends went as the characters from "The Flintstones" and even made the vehicle - how cool is that?!?!





Today has just been a nice, relaxing day. I managed to download a heap of new songs onto my iPod and had read half of the 2nd book in the Twilight series. I've even downloaded all the pics off my camera! My friend -Evan- was up for the weekend and came over to show off his new car - very nice! :o)

Christmas countdown...4 sleeps!

Dinner with the girls...

Was fabulous! We went to an Indian & Thai restaurant - opened presents, chatted non-stop, shared a delicious meal and drank champagne. We then decided to go McDonalds for a coffee and more chatting. We have made the decision to have a girls night out at least once a month :o) Thanks for a fantastic night out Cathie & Kylie!

Congratulations to Kylie on the first sale of one of your aprons!! How exciting!! I can't wait to see the new totes that you have created.

I made 15 of these dragonflies on Tuesday night for the Black Magic Sketches - BLACK embellishment swap.
Unfortunately the beautiful iridescent sheen on the beads didn't show up in the photos - so I will try taking some more pics in better lighting. I was considering doing a tutorial showing how to make them...if any blog lurkers are interested - leave a comment and I'll arrange it :o) I'm waiting on the RED embellishment swap parcel to arrive - I can't wait to see what everyone has made!

I forgot to mention this last month, but I was lucky enough to receive a random prize (a $10 voucher at Scrappybitz) from the Puzzle Sketch blog. I've had a look around the online shop and will put in an order next month.

I got up this morning and wrapped up the Christmas presents and one birthday present. I just need to buy some more wrapping paper today to wrap 2 more presents and that's another Christmas job done :o)

Tonight I am going to start working on our costumes for the party this weekend - I have it all worked out in theory, but the practical side might be more difficult!! LOL I will definitely be putting pics up on the blog to show everyone :o)

Christmas countdown...7 sleeps

Christmas party costumes...

I've been busy organising our fancy-dress costumes ready for our work Christmas party this weekend. Nothing like leaving everything to the last minute to add to the holiday stress! LOL It's a "Storybook Character theme" - so after lots of brainstorming and searching the Net - I finally came up with ideas! I'm going as Minnie Mouse and DH is going as Woody from Toy Story! I was lucky enough to pick up my "ears" and white gloves yesterday (very cheaply) at the first costume shop I went to. This morning I picked up some material to make DH vest and finish off my costume.

We are nearly finished the Christmas shopping - WOO HOO! Just need to pick a Secret Santa present (bottle of Rum) and we're done!! I had to buy some more wrapping paper this morning - so now I just need to wrap all the presents sometime over the weekend.

Tonight I'm off to dinner with Kylie and Cathie - bit of a girly catch up before Cathie heads off on holidays.

Christmas countdown...8 sleeps!

Our weekend in Rocky...

Was fabulous - I'm glad that everywhere we went had air-conditioning though!! Becca loved her baby shower - lots of lovely presents, girly / baby talk and yummy food. A HUGE thanks to her sister Kerry for organising the games and prizes! There was one game that Kerry wrote down quotes from Bec as she was opening the baby presents, then everyone had to read a quote. The funny part was that Kerry told them all that it was what Bec said on the first night her and Dale were together!! Use your imagination to what some of the quotes may have been....PSML

Bec's baby belly is soooo cute - I got to feel the baby kick - definitely a soccer player in there!! LOL I got some pics of Bec's belly, but promised to let her check them out before I posted them here - so hopefully I should be able to put some up in a couple of days :o)

We also got a chance to catch up with my friend Chris. Due to being in the Army and usually posted overseas, we don't get to catch up that regularly, so I love it when we get a chance to see him! He's got a month's leave currently, so he is going to come down for the weekend next month -I can't wait!

Yesterday we went over to see my SIL Kirsty and niece's to drop off some Christmas presents. We weren't even inside the door before Cody was ripping the wrapping paper off! LOL The girls loved their presents - especially the keyboard my mum gave them. Check it out - the next Australian Idols..... LOL


Kirsty gave us a HUGE basket of homemade goodies and presents for each of us (DH & I, mum & Mike, Katie & James)! I LOVE her Mars Bar slice & individually wrapped sticky date puddings!! YUM!! We were all too busy checking out what Kirsty had made, that I forgot to take pics! LOL

I managed to get some scrapping finished yesterday...

Black Magic December sketch #1

I can finally share this OTP now that I have given it to Bec...


It's a 12x12 canvas to go on the maroon feature wall in the main bedroom.

Christmas countdown... 10 sleeps!

Look honey...I baked!

I knew there was a "Domestic Goddess" somewhere inside of me, but I didn't like the fact that I got up at 6.30am this morning to prove it! LOL DH used to be a chef, and he does the majority of our cooking - so I'm pretty spoilt. Don't get me wrong -I can cook, quiet well actually, it's just I'm happy to admit DH is better at it than me. The cupcakes look a little "messy" in this pic - but I'm going to tidy them up tomorrow.


These are for Bec's baby shower tomorrow. I can't wait to head to Rocky to catch up with everyone, but I'm dreading the heat :o( I don't know I I survived there for 7years and DIDN'T have an air-conditioner!?!? Drama queen - I know!! LOL I plan on taking lots of pics of Bec's baby belly and my friend Chris is home for the holidays - so going to catch up with him and get some more pics too.

Katie and James finished packing up the moving truck on Monday. Katie & Cohan are currently staying with us while they sort out the housing situation in Rocky. Look at this spunky monkey - riding his tractor that we gave him for his birthday. He zooms around the place in his walker - the poor dogs are nervous wrecks with him chasing them around! LOL He is also is crawling every where - we can't take our eyes off him for a second!! LOL

Nearly all the Christmas shopping is done - will get the last few bits & pieces next week. I mailed the Xmas cards today - usually I have them written and posted on the 1st December - just not my usual organised self ATM.

Christmas countdown...13 sleeps!

Kylie M Designs

I wanted to share some super EXCITING news! Kylie has started designing a range of original aprons and 12x12 totes in a variety of funky designs and colours. These products are only available at Creative Artz Cottage - so if you're in Bundaberg drop in and check them out! She has also set up a blog with all the news and some pics so if you would like to see the latest aprons - pop over here to check it out! Who knows what she might start making next....

Christmas countdown...15 sleeps!

Weekend catch up...

Happy 1st birthday on Saturday Cohan!! Glad to hear you had a great and noisy (thanks for the xylophone Grandma) day!! Can't wait to see you guys in a couple of days - very exciting!!

We had a great weekend...Saturday DH worked, so I cleaned the house and watched "Mamma Mia" (it's a fabulous movie!!) and "St Trinians". Then mum had a Xmas party for her work mates - so I set up Singstar and we sang the night away. Mum had arranged prizes for the night and everyone had to have a fake tattoo. After ruining two, mum managed to put one on, but the words were backwards!! LOL We had homemade pizza, chicken and potato bake, then yummy desserts! Kylie made the most delicious chocolate truffles - I will have to get the recipe off her and share it!

Yesterday my brother came down from Gracemere and brought my niece Cody to see us for the day. We got to spend the morning with her before my mum took her to the pool. We're going to see them again this weekend when we head up there for Bec's baby shower. In the afternoon DH had arranged for his team to have a BBQ at work (he made this decision on Tuesday - talk about short notice!!). We had it at work because it has a bigger entertainment area and it's air-conditioned. We brought some meat + a heap of pre-made salads and once again we got the Singstar out for a lovely, relaxing afternoon! DH even got up and sang twice - very unusual for him to sing in public without having a few drinks for courage ;o) I haven't had a chance to go through all the photos yet, but hopefully I will post some soon.

I finally got the chance / motivation to start reading "Twilight" last night! OMG - I couldn't put it down!! I can see the other 3 books in the series going onto my Christmas list!! LOL

The very talented Kylie has been VERY busy ! I was lucky enough to get an early Xmas present from her...how cute is this?!?!?


A HUGE congrats to my friend Chris for his recent house purchase!!

Christmas countdown...17 sleeps!

Decorations

I was trying to download a picture of the new baby - Ryley - but the computer programs won't read it. It was sent to me by mobile text then downloaded by email. No matter what I try, I just can't load it up :o( I'm not defeated yet...I have a few more ideas.

I will share some pics of our Christmas decorations though - since everywhere I look everyone seems to be in the Christmas spirit!




We even had carols playing on the PA system at work today - they were a bit sad and dreary, so we have put in a request for boppier ones. I spent part of the morning decorating around the building.

We are having a Xmas party at home this weekend and are having Singstar competitions. I feel sorry for our neighbours LOL Next weekend is Bec's baby shower and I'm still getting RSVP coming through. The following weekend is our work party with a "Children's Storybook" theme - so we are still trying to decide on what character we are going as and then organise costumes for that....Welcome to our crazy life!! LOL

This & That scrapbook shop have officially opened up across the road from work :o) Sue-Ellen (the owner) and Janene took me through the shop last week (while they were still setting up and moving things in) and told me all the exciting changes they are going to make! Poor DH nightmare has come true! ROFLMAO

Christmas countdown...21 sleeps!

Five LO and a long post....

We had another busy weekend :o) Friday night Kylie & I went to Creative Artz for the midnight crop - we had an absolute blast! I have been saying all year that I want to be more organised for a crop- have pics, papers, sketches, etc all sorted in individual mini kits - instead of just throwing everything that "looks good" into my bag and hoping I have all that I need. I got up early Friday morning and made up 6 kits - and actually managed to work on all the LO I planned. Admittedly I didn't get them finished - but all I had to do when I got home was add some embellishments, title, etc. I have finished 5, and am still working on one more.

The lovely Donna from Creative Artz gave me some new stock to play with - so I created these 2 LO. Pop into her store if you would like to have a better look.


This one is my favourite - I love the gorgeous chocolate & cream flocked paper- very elegant!

This one has some more of Petrina's fun chippies! I brought some different ones - so keep an eye out for them.

This is the Black Magic November sketch #2 - it doesn't meet the colour guidelines, but I did this one just for fun.

Stuck! Sketch #66

White with 1 November challenge. While I was at the crop - I brought an aqua brush (I think that's what it's called) and some more Twinkling H2O. I used them on the journal block (also from Creative Artz) - the green I had was way too bright, so I just rubbed some white paint over the top with my finger - love that shabby chic look! LOL Because I didn't finish this LO until tonight - it was pretty bad lighting to take a picture. I actually took 12 different pics with a variety of lighting and in a variety of locations - so this isn't the best quality pic - but the best I could come up with :o)

Saturday night we went to a BBQ with all the management staff from work. It was a nice relaxing night - they brought a TV out into the shed where the party was and set up Singstar. DH got up and had a sing, which is unusual for him! He said he was just practicing ready for the Singstar party we are having at home next weekend! PMSL

This morning we did some spring cleaning and set up the Christmas tree. Will put a pic up here soon...

BTW Pop over to Kylie's blog and check out the amazing tutorials she has made - there is one on how to make your own foam stamps. I love the giraffe - too cute!!

Christmas countdown...25 sleeps!

Thursday ramblings....

I finished this LO last night. Yep - it's using the same Stuck! sketch as the "Prep" LO in the previous post :o) It's much brighter IRL, unfortunately I'm still trying to work out how to best photograph my LO.


My stamps from Ebay arrived yesterday... more tickets!! LOL They are sooo cute and I couldn't help it - good thing I got them pretty cheap!


I mailed my "red" embellishments for the White with 1 swap - hopefully I should get my parcel next week. I can't wait to see what everyone has made!

Christmas countdown...28 sleeps!

Happy 1st birthday Brody...

Hope you had a wonderful day and got spoilt rotten with lots of presents!

I finished this LO of Cody's prep photo this morning. This is the 3rd attempt at scrapping this pic and I'm happy with the finished result.

Stuck! Sketch #57

BTW I uploaded a better pic of my Halloween LO from yesterday's post.

I LOVE Christmas - presents, spending time with family & friends, presents, Christmas lights, presents, decorating the tree, presents, yummy food, presents, parties, presents, Santa photos...oh and did I mention presents? LOL I'm really just a big kid at heart - I'm already trying to talk DH into letting me set up the Christmas tree!! So...today I will begin the Christmas countdown..

Christmas countdown...30 sleeps!

Another card....

Even though we are on the late shift at work I have been getting up early and just watching TV ...okay, I admit it, I'm watching "Murder She Wrote" - how sad am I?!? LOL Since I was still feeling very scrap-inspired I thought I would make a card for a friend and work a bit more on a half-finished LO.

This is today's creation...


I'm on Facebook - and I'm warning you now...it's completely addictive!! LOL I am enjoying catching up with friends from high school, uni and workmates!! Still learning to navigate my way round though.

Erin & Walter have returned home from their honeymoon and I gave them the disk of their wedding photos today. Erin sent me a text tonight saying they were "ecstatic" about the photos - so that's a big relief! :o)

My "Lizard" LO is up on Petrina's blog showing off her new range of chippies - very exciting! She also has a few interesting tutorials - pop over there and have a look.

Another scrappy Sunday...

Petrina's class yesterday was fantastic - it really made me scrap outside of my comfort zone and try some new techniques. We did 2 different LO - I finished one today and I am still working on the 2nd LO. BTW - notice the buckle? It's one of Petrina's new chippy releases that I won off her blog.


I also made my embellishments for the White with 1 - "red" swap....tickets - I love them!! I made them with half love words & half Christmas words so there was a bit of choice. How cute are those I "heart" Santa ones?!?!



Petrina sent me a link for different free download templates - check them out here.

I also scrapped last year's Halloween photos - now I just need to do this year's!! LOL


I have a few other LO I'm still working on tonight.

Another November baby....

We have another nephew!! DH's brother Luke and his partner Lorrinda welcomed Riley Traye (will have to confirm spelling) into the world this morning!! Baby and mum are doing well. We are hoping to get some pics soon :o)

My ebay stuff arrived over the last 2 days - I can't wait till the weekend when I will have a chance to play with it all!!
Yep another alphabet die....I admit I have an addiction!!


I'm really excited about going to Petrina's class at Creative Artz tomorrow! I'm still undecided about what pics I will take to scrap. It will be nice just to take my tool tote and not have to worry about dragging all my other scrap stuff!! I'm hoping to stay scrap motivated - I want to make a card and work on some challenge LO over the weekend.

A funny story....before DH & I went on holidays we were walking past the shops across the road from our workplace. I said to DH that it would be perfect if a scrapbook shop opened up in one of the empty shops - DH said it would be his worst nightmare (drama queen!!!) .... Well, one of my LSS - This 'n' That- has decided to move to a new location, and yep, it's just across the road in that empty shop!!! PMSL You should have seen the look on DH face when I told him!!!!

Happy birthday Lacey!

Hope you have a wonderful day and get lots of presents!!

Yep, DH & I have been off sick - BLAH!! I'm starting to feel better and have dragged myself out of bed. Usually I'm pretty lucky and don't get any of the dreaded bugs that go around work, but I wasn't so lucky this time....

Now for the exciting news....I won a fabulous Mymini from Karen!!And I know exactly what I'm going to use it for....our holiday photos!!! I'm always saying to Cathie & Kylie that I want to have a go at making a mini album - this is just the "push" I needed!!

I managed to add the finishing touches to 2 LO on Monday night

Stuck!Sketch #63

Collage is definitely not my usual style, but I was inspired by the Sassafras papers to try something a little different. I LOVE the way this turned out!!

I still have 2 OTP I'm working on (I hope to be finished them by the weekend) and I want to make 2 more cards.

Sunday catch up....

I had such a big weekend that I was too tired (and a little too lazy) to post yesterday...so get ready for lots of pics!!!

We went to Cooper's first birthday party in the morning. It was a teddy bears picnic, and yes, I took my teddy :o) I can't believe how big he has gotten! Here's a picture of the birthday boy...


Then I went off to the ISTIA Christmas break up. Here's all the ladies...


Petrina and Cassie have been very busy making us all a lovely thank-you gift!


They also arranged for a Stampin' Up demonstrator to come in and show us a few great ideas - gift bags made out of envelopes, a popsicle card and how to decorate a candle. Cassie & Petrina brought us all a candle - so we had a go at decorating them. I added the ribbon and bling last night.

In amongst all the demonstrations and fun I did manage to work on a few LO - once I add the finishing touches I will post them.

Also I was very lucky to win some of Petrina's new chipboard designs off her blog giveaway!! Pop over here and check out the other new releases.

Garage sales and a productive day....

My mum LOVES going to garage sales - she gets up super early on a Saturday morning to go to them - I like my sleep too much to haul my butt out of bed that early. LOL She has picked up some amazing bargains and always picks up little things for me. Today she got me a pair of brand new sandals (still in the box) for $3 and this beautiful glass cake stand for $1..


After she come home with one lot of stuff, Mum wanted to check out some more garage sales - so I decided to go along and check it out. I picked up a a heap of soft toys for Indy (since it only took him one night to rip apart the new, expensive toy we brought him Thursday). He thought he was in doggy heaven....


And this for $10 - marked down from $20 - bargain!!.....

I've always loved these! Now I just need to work out where to put it and how to explain it to DH....LOL

So apart from bargain hunting, I had a go at making these tickets. I downloaded the template from this blog (I've posted about this blog before - she has fabulous (free) journalling templates. Then last night I changed all the words into English and particular sayings or themes to suit future LO and printed up an A4 size piece of card stock. On the blog it has a basic tutorial about how to create the ticket shape - very simple. So I spent today finishing them - I am REALLY pleased with how these turned out!! :o)


I then made all of the invites for Bec's baby shower (not the best quality pic) - I just need to confirm where she has a gift registry so I can print up the vellum for the inside.


Just going to do a bit more housework, then relax ready for singstar at Elena's tonight - can't wait!!