Happy mail and a long post :o)

Yesterday I received 2 parcels in the mail. One was from the very talented Karen Day - a Mymini album that was a giveaway from her blog. I'm looking forward to using it - I have actually never made a mini album before. This one has chipboard, MDF & acrylic pages + rings - there is enough there to make 2-3 albums.

Karen also gave me a heap of chippies - I love the mushrooms and the little boy with the spiky hair (I think he looks like Cohan LOL).


My embellishments from the White with 1 BLACK swap arrived too :o) How cute is that bird with the feather tail?!?!


I'm hoping my regular visitors have noticed all the changes to my blog lately - I've gotten very adventurous :o) I've added a new blog list, a slide show, pics & even a blinkie!! Anyone who knows me IRL would understand that's a big deal for "computer illiterate" little me :o)

A HUGE congrats to Kylie - she is now teaching scrapbook techniques at Creative Artz. Pop over to her blog and check out her fabulous LO! I can't wait to see what you teach Kylie!! :o)

My new scrap bag is all packed up & ready for the Midnight Crop at Creative Artz tonight. I thought it was time I upgraded to a bigger one - I was taking a bag, tool caddy, folder & box! Everyone used to joke that I looked like I was running away from home :o) Now I am all downsized to one bag & tool caddy :o) I even managed to do up a number of kits - so I'm hoping I get a lot of scrapping done tonight!

I can't wait to check out the new stuff Donna has gotten in :o)


Bec & Dale's baby count down... 15 days!

My kit LO..

As promised in the previous post...my kit LO!

This is from a class that Loretta Grayson did at Creative Artz. I really enjoyed scrapping this LO - it gave me a chance to try a few new techniques and I love the finished result!

Creative Artz is having a new products launch this Friday night before the Midnight Crop. I'm looking forward to checking out all the new stock-not sure my bank balance will be too happy though :o) After a not so productive day Sunday - I have decided to go back to packing mini-kits for crops. I have the attention span of a goldfish and when I pack anything and everything I tend to get a bit overwhelmed & distracted - nothing gets done.

Bec & Dale's baby countdown...17 days!

Australia Day...

I spent the morning doing house work, then the rest of the day relaxing in the air-con and doing a bit of scrapping. A pretty non-eventful weekend actually :o) Saturday DH & I went out to lunch, did a bit of shopping, then spent the rest of the day relaxing. Sunday morning I did a few jobs, then spent the rest of the afternoon scrapping with Kylie & Donna.

I worked on a few partly-finished LO, which I'm ashamed to admit are still partly-finished LOL However, I did manage to get this done with the new Amy Butler lace paper from Creative Artz. Donna has this LO on display there if you would like a closer look.

I brought a LO kit which I did today, but unfortunately my camera batteries need to be recharged :o( Hopefully I will post again tomorrow night and upload the pic then.

I got tagged & awards from Petrina which made me smile! Thanks P :o)

The "Proximity Award"

"This is called The Proximity Award. "These blogs believe and invest 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 awards".

Tagged
Here's how it works:
1. Go to the section of your computer where you store all of your photos.
2. Select the 6th folder.
3. Select the 6th photo from that folder.
4. Post and explain about that picture.
5. Tag 6 other people.

This pic is of my niece Lacey opening her Xmas presents. When I saw this doll I thought it looked just like Lacey when she was a baby and had to buy it for her :o)

And the "Creative Funky Friend" award - totally loving the idea of being called "funky"! LOL


I'm going to be follow P's lead (and wording) and I will award the proximity award to the following people, who can consider themselves tagged with the above tags/awards as well ;-)

Cassie
Donna
Suzie
Lorelle
Donna - Creative Artz
Susan
Helen

I had a chat with Bec the other night - all is going well with the pregnancy and they are counting down the days till bub arrives :o) Bec admits she is still avoiding thinking about the impending labour LOL

Bec & Dale's baby countdown...19 days!

Way to go Cassie!

I knew I had 2 things I wanted to chat about last post, but didn't remember the 2nd thing until after I turned the computer off!!

A HUGE congratulations to Cassie for her first published LO in Scrapbooking Memories magazine! Plus even more exciting she is also featured as the "Newbie of the Month" - WOW!!!

Bec & Dale's baby countdown...23 days!

Happy birthday Katie B!

Hope you have a fantastic day!!

DH decided to fly his remote control helicopter out in the backyard this arvo - he was feeling brave enough to try flying in open spaces LOL We thought we would sit out in the nice cool breeze and watch - Cohan loved it. DH was doing well until the wind caught the chopper and smashed it into the next door neighbour's roof! LOL Oh well, it was a good excuse to meet the new neighbours :o)

I took a few pics of DH & the chopper, and while we were playing on the grass I took a few pics of Cohan. These are a few of my favourites straight from the camera...




For anyone living in Bundaberg - there will be a Scrapbook section in the Arts & Crafts competition of this year's regional show. There are 3 sections - Novice (No larger than 8"x8"), Open (No larger than 8"x8") and any item other than page (aka OTP) - all items must include photo, journalling, embellishment and technique. I thought 8"x8" was a typo, but when i checked they advised it was due to space restrictions in the display cabinets. I picked my schedule up from Arts, Beads & Crafts on Targo St or you can email for more info.

Bec & Dale's baby countdown...25 days!

Woo Hoo! I'm back....

A HUGE thanks to Kylie for taking the time to work out my Blogger problem and get me back into cyberspace!! I really appreciate that she wanted to fix my problem - so researched and found the solution :o)

Okay - I have a few bits & pieces to share. I am also still working on a couple of LO that I'm hoping to have finished in the next couple of days.

Kylie's birthday card


The next 2 LO are using the same sketch from Page Maps. My friend Kym and her son Cooper - at his 1st birthday party. Pics a bit dodgy - will try to get a better one :o)

Cohan's "Bad Santa" photo :o)

The journalling reads..."Oops! Everything was going well until Cohan tried to pull Santa's beard. Santa said "No" - so Cohan dropped his bottom lip and threw a wobbly! (James' work party Dec 2008)".

These are my embellishments for the PINK swap at White With 1. The crowns have black glitter on them, but they didn't show up very well in the pics.


I had a nice, relaxing weekend. Saturday was a "girls" day - Kylie, Elena and I went to Cathie's for a swim in the pool and a catch up! I got to try out my new underwater digital camera- just haven't had a chance to look at the pics yet! LOL Today I just scrapped and spent time playing with Cohan.

Bec & Dale's baby countdown...26 days!

Slack blogger..

I'm still having problems with trying to upload pics on to my blog - so haven't been motivated to update. I'm not computer literate at all, so if anyone has any suggestions - I'm all ears!!

Saturday night we had a girl's night out for Kylie's birthday - a yummy meal, cocktails, a few games of pool and lots of gossiping & giggling!! I didn't have as many drinks as the birthday girl - so I pulled up well on Sunday morning! LOL Kylie gave me a disk with photos today - so I will go through them tonight.

Sunday was the first get together for Simply Crafty scrap club - 4 fabulous hours of scrapping and catching up with everyone! I got 4 LO started - just need to find the time to add the finishing touches.

I forgot to mention that mum managed to pick us up an air-conditioner at a garage sale - $80 what a bargain! We hadn't even gotten around to checking out new ones at the shops! LOL It's the perfect size for our bedroom and works like a dream. Craig and James (BIL) finished installing it on Sunday arvo - so I have been hibernating in the nice, cool bedroom :o)

Monday night Kylie, her mum and I went to see "Twilight" - it was brilliant!! I can't wait for the next movie to be released!! I loved the soundtrack and I have been listening to "Flightless bird, American Mouth" over & over!!

Bec & Dale's little bundle of joy is due on the 14th February and being the excited "aunty" I am - I will start the baby countdown today!!

Bec & Dale's baby countdown...4 weeks!

TGIF!

I'm looking forward to the weekend :o) I've had a few sleepless / restless nights lately. I didn't realise how restless till I fell out of bed last night! How crazy is that?!?! ROFLMAO I've never done that before, even as a kid - probably a good thing, considering I used to sleep on the top bunk :o)

I finished another LO this morning :o) This is my mum and her partner Mike at my little sister's wedding last year. I scrap-lifted the idea of stamping on the birds from Kylie - I loved the idea. The PP is very busy, so I decided to keep the design simple.



Kylie & I are off to see "Twilight" at the movies on Monday night! We've both read all the books in the series and are now eagerly waiting for the movies :o)

An award...

The lovely Suzie gave me this award! My very first blog award - how exciting!! Thank you :o)


Now I'm passing it on to
Kylie
Stephanie
Petrina
Yvette
So go spread the love :o)

I also noticed I had reached the 1000 visitor mark - WOW!! Thank you to everyone who pops by / leaves a comment :o)

I finished this LO the other day - but was having blogger issues and couldn't upload it till now.


I'm still working on another LO - had to pick up some bits & pieces - so hoping to finish it tonight. I don't know where all this mojo has come from - but I'm not complaining :o)

I have another busy weekend planned - Saturday night we are having a girl's night out to celebrate Kylie's birthday - dinner & drinks! Sunday is the first get-together for Simply Crafty. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone :o)

Happy Birthday Kylie!

Hope you have a fantastic day! Can't wait to celebrate this weekend! :o)

We picked up DH Xmas present on Friday (we had to order it in)- a remote control helicopter! He's such a big kid! LOL It has a 20 mins flying time, then 3 hour recharge - so he plays with it, then impatiently waits for it to recharge, then plays with it again. LOL Jedi absolutely hates it - she barks at it and tries to attack it - crazy dog!! Because the chopper is 4 channels (which means it goes up/down, forwards/backwards & left/right - yep, you learn something new everyday LOL) it's taking a bit of practice to get the hang of it. It's been very windy outside, so DH has been learning to fly it inside. There have been lots of crashes, but luckily nothing has been broken...yet. DH is pretty funny - he came and asked me to watch him fly chopper, then when it crashed he said it was because he was trying to show off to me and got distracted! ROFLMAO!

I finished reading book 4 of the Twilight series - WOW!! I can't wait to see the movie, which should hopefully be in the next couple of weeks!! I've found out the there is a fifth book currently being written - I will be buying that once it hits the stores! LOL

Sunday arvo we went to a pub at Bucca (about 30 mins outside of town) - Paul was doing a trial gig and asked me to go along and sing a few songs. I haven't heard how he went - so I'm not sure if this will be a regular gig or not.

I managed to sit down and scrap this LO last night. I did start a second LO, but needed more pics printed today- so I might finish it tonight.

LO - as promised...

The weather is still pretty overcast and dreary, but I thought I'd take pics of the LO I did the other day.

This one is of my gorgeous bestie-Bec-and her super gorgeous baby bump :o) I started working on this LO at the Midnight Crop at Creative Artz last month.


This is my nephew Andrew- the theme was "dress up as something starting with the same letter of your first name". I got the packet of funky chipboard robots from Lorna Blue. There were heaps in the packet and they were all different - so I have lots left over for other LO!


Cohan's Santa photo - I love that spiky hair do! :o) I have another photo taken at a work Xmas party where Cohan is sitting on Santa's lap screaming his head off!! LOL I've got it printed and ready to scrap! Yeah, I know - bad aunty!! LOL


How cute is Brodie?!? What a little Fashionista!! LOL


I noticed I have had a large number of visitors lately - both national and international - very exciting! Thank you to everyone that left comments :o) As requested by Lelli - I will try to do a tutorial tomorrow about how to make the bead & wire dragonflies.

Happy New Year!

DH & I didn't even see the new year in - we were crashed out in bed by 10pm! How sad are we?!? LOL I hope everyone had a great time seeing the new year in! Any resolutions / goals? I have a few goals -
* Travelling - we're heading to Tasmania this year
* Getting out and doing more activities with DH (eg snorkeling, footy games, going to the beach, camping, fishing, etc)
* Going to more scrapbook classes / crops / events
* Taking time to learn the manual functions on my camera
* Going to the Brisbane Papercraft Expo again and going to a class
* Finishing any incomplete LO gathering dust and getting up 2 date with my scrapping
* Getting published in a scrap magazine
* Learn how to add Widgets, etc to my blog
And probably a heap more, but that will do for now :o)

Kylie & I spent yesterday scrapping - BLISS! I Finished 1 LO, scrapped another 3 LO, and started a 4th LO! It's raining /stormy ATM so hopefully I will take pics over the weekend. All the new online challenges should be up over the next couple of days - can't wait to see what they are!

I was sad to see Petrina & Cassie step down from running ISTIA, but glad to see Linda & Dilys step up to the challenge of running the club :o) There has been a name change and a new blog . It starts back up next weekend (11th January) and I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone :o)

Due to the build up of the storm (which we only got approx 5 mins of heavy downpour, now it's just drizzling) it's been unbelievably hot for the last 4 days. I guess I really shouldn't complain - I'm lucky enough to work in an air-conditioned office. After 2 restless nights from the heat, we dragged the mattress downstairs last night to sleep in the air-conditioned lounge room. It's definitely encouraged us to spend this weekend looking at air-cons for the bedroom!! LOL It's actually so hot here that the bananas & apples in the fruit bowl started to turn into liquid - yep, it's as disgusting as it sounds!! EEEWWWWW!