chaos and mayhem

Walking on sunshine

2012-01-29T20:03:00.000+11:00

It has been the most gorgeous sunshiny day here today, finally feels a bit like Summer :) Maybe the weather inspired me to choose yellow for my LO for Sue's white with one challenge at Scrapbooking Top 50, then again it could have been Zoe's very yellow outfit (and she had the audacity to accuse my LO of being too yellow lol).

Even though I only used one piece of patterned paper on this LO I loaded it up with lots of other goodies - some washi tape from Sawyer's Place, a Burdie's zipper flower, a Handmade Halo cabochon, a Lovelybugs button and some fabbo flowers that Jules sent me :) Wow that list makes me want to sing "...a few of my favourite things...".

I spent some time today going through my paper stash and ended up with a big pile to donate to the local pre school. I seem to spend a lot of time tossing stuff out of my stash, I really can't think why it never gets any smaller... (yeah right who am I kidding?!).

It's going to rain tomorrow and I'm going to scrap - maybe my chosen colour will be grey to match the weather - somehow I doubt it ;)

Coasting along

2012-01-28T16:28:00.002+11:00

January is whizzing by and that means that the school holidays will soon be over, we've had a busy time but now we have one last week to kick back and relax before the tyranny of the school routine consumes our lives once more. I'm going to savour every moment!

My decision not to plan seems to be going well, my family is organising me left, right and centre - turns out they are good planners too :)

So amongst the jet-setting and gadding about I've found a few moments to scrap. I've had a lot of fun with the basic grey kissing booth range - lovely pinks and browns with some green thrown in.

This LO is the result of Barb's blind scrap over at WP. I love Barb's style, so I was very keen to give this challenge a go. Another page for my Hong Kong album :)

This one, of my Dr Who obsessed daughter, is for Kel's sketch over SFS. I added some prima packaging and a Charm's heart as well as the cute little buttons that the ever-fabulous Jules sent me. Oh and see that little strip of star ribbon? That was sent to me by the lovely Helen of Red Earth Scrapping. She and I share a mutual fb friend who put together a sweet little swap (thanks Kate!!). It made my heart happy to get a parcel of goodies from a total stranger just because she could! Truly a random act of kindness!

Seems like I've been in the pink of late. Here's a little bit of New Zealand cousin fun - Angus and Meg enjoying the pool on a rare sunny day. This one is for Sue's sketch over at Scrapbooking Top 50.

After losing all my photos last year I decided to print a big batch of photos from Christmas and New Zealand - I only printed 200 to start with as I thought I'd pace myself lol. Truth is, it turns out that many photos can be a bit daunting, it took me a few days of admiring them to get my scrap on. But don't worry I've tripled backed up all my photos and those back ups are hidden where no burglar will ever find them!

Time to go - thanks for stopping by and I hope your January is treating you well.

The last LO

2011-12-30T18:47:00.002+11:00

Tomorrow we hop on a plane and zip over to New Zealand for two weeks. It's going to be great, shame the weather is both arctic and wet but what can you do? It's the land of the long white cloud after all.

I thought I'd pop in and share my final LO for 2011. I used the Get Picky sketch but missed the deadline to submit it - loved the sketch though :)

For some reason, of which none of us are very clear about, my Mum decided to give Angus a can of cream. Guess she thought he'd like it and he did! He had a fabulous time squirting it straight into his mouth :)

It's at this time of year that everyone starts talking about goals and resolutions. I'm not big on resolutions at any time but I am a planner and I do like to have an idea in my head where my days, weeks and months are headed. But I've decided that given the truly random nature of 2011, 2012 will be the Year Without a Plan.

That's right I'm going to see where the tide of life takes me and hope that it washes me up on the shores of happiness and contentment and that I weather the storms it brings with patience and common sense. And that in 12 months time I can look back and say I made it through another year, older, perhaps wiser but most importantly happy and healthy.

We all live such busy lives, our everyday is spent thinking about and planning for the future, so much so that sometimes we forget to live in here and now. Enjoy the moment - squirt cream from a can straight into your mouth, it will make you smile. Then pause and acknowledge all the good things you have, hug your kids and pets, kiss your partner and then do it all again.

Happy New Year - I hope that 2012 is kind to you. xxx

Christmas past

2011-12-29T10:42:00.001+11:00

Well Christmas was loud, fast and fun! Here's little pictorial summary :)

This year was the first year my side of the family had all been together since my Dad died seven years ago so, it was all about the cousins. All the boys bunked down in the lounge room and thought the fish was the place to hang their stockings - it's over the fireplace after all.

The girls (slightly outnumbered) and sleeping in the study found their own artwork for their stockings.

Then it was time for a bit of cousin chaos, with Granma thrown into the mix.

Christmas day saw the new slip and slide put to use - Rory insisted on using it as a bubbler much to everyone's disgust!

Here is the table(s) laid with care :)

Boxing Day saw three cousins meet one of their life saving heroes. That's Deano folks. The small Sydney cousin refused to be part of this photo, he couldn't understand the star attraction, Bondi is his local beach. And the biggest cousin had gone to work (as a lifesaver).

And that's it - bright colours, happy smiles and home again to the peace and quiet.

Hope you all had a fabulous festive day too.

LOs galore!

2011-12-17T23:01:00.001+11:00

I had to check which LOs I'd shared and what I had in the wings. Seems I had a whole cast in the wings - oops.

Since I have no idea where to begin, I'll share the LOs I did for the Scrapbooking Top 50 cc back in November.

Thanks for stopping by - I'm sure I'll get my head back in the game at some stage...

And then it hit me...

2011-12-09T12:55:00.001+11:00

It seems the law of averages is not my family's friend. With the number of friends that have died prematurely in recent times we should be secure in the knowledge that all those we hold dear will continue to walk safely amongst us. Sadly, cancer plays no heed to maths or rules of any kind and another friend, with everything to live for, has been given a death sentence. He has a rare form of inoperable lung cancer and, no, he has never been a smoker. He is a father of four, a loving husband and a cheery, entertaining and steadfast friend. He is 48 and he is dying. A week ago we were bemoaning that fact that he and his family were packing up and moving to Darwin, and planning trips to visit them, now that move may never happen and the only trips are those to the hospital.

And so we look into the face of a woman about to become a widow, into the eyes of children about to lose a father and try to avoid looking into the faces of friends who are as lost as we are. Grief is a strange beast, today as I stepped out the shower, I burst into tears, and even though I was thinking of mundane things clearly thoughts of our friend were swirling just below the surface.

Last night I found myself having a conversation with his wife who told me she was worried about Rob. How was he coping with the news? How strong she is to put her grief aside and worry about how her friends are dealing with the news. She is a doctor so she knows only too well what horrors await her husband in the coming days and weeks. She asked how my children were coping and sympathised with how it hard it must have been for them to hear the news that more of their young friends are struggling with the new reality of a sick and dying parent. Yet her kindness and her warmth didn't hide the raw quality of her voice, nor did her black humour convince me that she was ok. We joked about averages, macabre really as in the back of our minds we were both thinking about a mutual friend no longer with us. And then we spoke about stuff that really doesn't matter because sometimes that is what you need - normality in a world that has ceased to be normal.

Rob has been away at camp this week and so when the news broke I was alone. I decided not to tell him until he returned today, it seemed cruel to send an email or sms to break such terrible news. I was relying on the fact that his contact with the outside world was limited and that references on facebook were oblique. I felt that his knowing would make getting through camp so much harder. But life is not simple or controllable and one of the other teachers broke the news to him as she had received an email. And so Rob was left to process his thoughts and manage his grief while caring for a group of kids who were oblivious to his pain.

I guess we all process things differently. I've noticed that when someone speaks of having a friend or relative diagnosed with cancer the natural reaction of the group is to tell their cancer story. Sometimes I wish people would just stop and listen and offer sympathy without advice, or wise counsel without personifying the event. But they rarely do and I'm as guilty as the next person. So that's why I've created this post... to process my thoughts free of the impediments that go with social interaction, to be free to express sadness and sorrow and then slip back to reality still with a heavy heart but a clearer head.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hard lessons

2011-12-05T20:50:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I spent quite a long time explaining to Zoe that her friends were not irresponsible, unreliable and lazy. My black and white girl was inconsolable because the other kids in the charity band were mucking around between songs and not following the set list. The band comprises eight 15 year olds who have got together in the hopes of raising $12000 to give a small boy from a poor village in Chile the gift of music. He was born deaf and his family can't afford to buy him a cochlear implant. A huge goal!

Zoe and her friend Nicole are the driving force behind the project but the other kids are committed too. I tried to explain that their behaviour was ok and understandable but that only made her think I was siding with them. Sometimes I wonder how my beautiful, sensitive, intense and (more than a tad) bossy daughter will cope with the disappointments of life but she seems happy enough today. The band raised a total of $2300 on the weekend - that might have helped!

Anyway I wanted to scrap a LO to show her I'm her number one fan and that I'd really love to squish those other kids like a bug every time they disappoint her ;-) This is what I came up with, I used the sketch I created for this week's wp sketch challenge. Zoe took this photo of herself on the bus on the way to Yr 9 band tour - it seemed fitting :)

I hope your week is smooth sailing and if not you're weathering the highs and lows with a wry smile and the knowledge that this too will pass!

Remember me?

2011-12-04T21:42:00.001+11:00

Sorry folks, it's been awhile. Life has been a bit crazy (isn't everyone's?) but I have been scrapping so let's skip to that :)

This is the LO that I showed a sneak of in my last post (way back in November lol). It was for the last wp sketch of the month. I've been dying to use that bit of Jenni Bowlin packaging!

I've also completed classes 5 and 6 at Wicked Scrap School.

Class 5 - make your own paper flowers. Scrapping the story of my Mum's Birthday candles :)

Class 6 - border punches (I used three). Zoe was sitting on the floor using her laptop and try as she might Xena just couldn't squeeze onto Zoe's lap too so, she took up residence on Zoe's calves and even when she sank through to the floor she refused to move - too funny!

And since it's December (how did that happen, I must be getting old and losing my marbles...) here's my LO using the first wp sketch for the month. It was designed by the fabulous Sara Belgrove.

I used the wp Honey Pie kit to make all three LOs, love how versatile it is!

I have more scrappy shares but I think five is enough for this time on a Sunday so I shall be back at some stage - who can tell when - to share some more. Hope you're having a fabulous start to the festive season!

Don't forget!

2011-11-20T21:34:00.001+11:00

Krissy, my fellow Blossoms Princesses and I would love to see a few more people entering the first ever Blossoms Blog Challenge.

This is the sketch:

And don't forget to use a couple of MVBs - how easy is that? The hardest bit will be choosing which of your MVB stash to use.

I've completed Classes 3 and 4 of WP Scrap School this week and my LO for Class #3 features a MVB rose and a gorgeous little blue and cream pansy.

This is my MIL at 4 - the class assignment was to create a shabby chic LO - how did I do?

My journalling is on that blue tab to the left of the pics - it's all about what this little girl grew up to be :)

Class #4 asked for acetate. I used a little overlay over my journalling. This Buddha baby is my little nephew Flynn, he's the last of our babies so this is the last of the beautiful jumpers my Mum will knit. She only likes to do little jumpers these days as the bigger ones are too hot and heavy on her lap and she despises sewing them up. Zoe wants me to get a photo of all nine grandkids in their jumpers for a LO. I promised to give it a go. Not sure if my 25 year old nephew will cough up a photo though... He's the one who first spelt Granma without the 'd' in the first card he wrote to her all those years ago and Mum has continued his spelling ever since :)

Before I go here's a little sneak of some other MVBs I used today. A small red cog and teeny fundamentals doily.

Have a great week. Feel free to pop back tomorrow if you'd like to see how the rest of that LO looks ;)

Too good to miss!

2011-11-16T16:33:00.001+11:00

The huge Purple Pumpkin giveaway really is too good to miss. Check out these beauties:

The layered chenille buttons are my favourites :) Anyway there are only two days left to get your entry in. So, go here to find out more :) Winners will be announced just before the PP sale, on the 18th of November - fingers crossed it's me!

Back to school

2011-11-13T14:24:00.001+11:00

Wicked scrap school that is! Wicked Princesses is running a comp that's all about using techniques. Here are my LOs:

Class 1: distressing. I've had this piece of cardboard from the flap of a box hanging around for ages - after I peeled and tore it I glammed it up with some black and orange glimmermist. I double distressed my photo by sanding and scraping it with my new super fab and groovy scraping tool. I took this photo while we were in Port Macquarie, there was a fabulous art show on the breakwater. The artists created their sculptures using only recycled materials. Can you see me in the photo too?

Class 2: journalling. I kept this one simple because I had a lot to say (bahaha). Not sure if you can read the strips but they say - I felt my heart twang when Zoe said she was too old for Trick or Treating, especially since the neighbourhood was buzzing with excited kids. But she happily drew a spider on her face and announced she would hand out the lollies to the kids who came to the door. In reality she disappeared to her room to chat online and I gave out the lollies. Guess I have to accept that my girl is growing up whether I'm ready or not!

I'd been feeling a bit overwhelmed by all my scrapbooking supplies of late. Everytime I sat down to scrap there semmed to be too much to choose from - crazy I know - especially since I'm the one who bought all that stuff! But I just couldn't seem to choose something and start. So, on Friday I tried a different tack. I made a card. What do you think? I'm not a regular card maker but I was happy with this one, I used A Lil Somethin' birdie and bookprint doily. it's for our friends who just got married, not a traditional wedding card but it suits the bride and groom.

Here it is with the wedding present. I love wrapping parcels!

Anyway long story short, the card was enough to lift me out of my funk and I've scrapped three LOs since then.

In other news Angus has a broken wrist - again... He's currently in a blackslab and we're back to the doctor and for xrays on Tuesday. Fingers crossed they take the cast off and that is that (one can dream lol).

And now I'm going to be a little sneaky and share my LO using the latest WP sketch. Shhh, the sketch will be up tomorrow and it can be our little secret for now ok? It was Angus who was desperate to go on the Ferris Wheel at Floriade so here he is looking very happy :) Rob found those sunglasses at a Brumbies' game - they're brown with pink highlights and Angus loves them. All his friends want them. Such a dude!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week :)

It's almost time...

2011-11-10T17:39:00.001+11:00

...for the next MVB release over at the Blossom's Blog - I'm not exaggerating when I say Krissy has outdone herself - so many beautiful things - you won't want to miss out! the fun starts at 6.30pm Qld time tonight.

Here are a couple of LOs I created using the latest WP sketches. This is my sister's dog - he was determined to sit on Zoe's knee even though both of them were uncomfortable. I think his secret plan was to get her to move to the lounge for a proper snuggle!

We don't do Halloween! But we live in an area with many international families and they delight in Halloween so, this year they put on an amazing event for the kids and boy did Angus love it! He didn't love trying to remove all that red lipstick though...

And this LO was for the October kit challenge at WP. That's my younger sister and me on the Ferris Wheel at Floriade. I used the Sweetly Spring kit and some more of the incredibly awesome Mr Huey's Mist.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Technical difficulties

2011-11-02T17:33:00.001+11:00

So, yesterday was meant to be a big day. The day I gleefully announced that I'm officially a Princess, a Blossoms Princess that is! Yup, so very chuffed that Krissy asked me to join her My Vintage Blossoms Design Team :) But my Internet died so, yesterday passed without a peep from me. Sigh... Never mind... Because I can still announce it today and share my very first LO with you - woohoo :) I think my official title is Princess Partner in Crime - cool hey?!

And some close ups of the MVBs for good measure :)

Also on the DT are the very talented Princess Liz and Princess Leah - you can check out their beautiful creations on their blogs or better still you can hop over to the Blossoms Blog and check out the very first challenge as well as reading all about Leah and Liz - I'd love to see your creations :)

Rainy day news

2011-10-29T11:56:00.002+11:00

It's a dreary old day here, we seem to get one day of glorious Spring weather and then we slide straight back into Winter the next - so dull! But on the upside it's perfect scrapping weather :)

Here's my take on the fourth WP sketch, using the WP Boys in Blue Kit. Angus is addicted to reality TV. It drives Rob crazy but I like to focus on the positives, Angus is a great cook (thank you Masterchef) and he now knows how to clean up builders rubble (thank you Renovators). The funniest part of Angus' addiction would have to be the fact that he has an outfit for everything. If you're going to do a job it's important to look the part...watch out Australia's Top Model ;)

This next LO was for the DT challenge (also at WP) - use a photo of yourself, add some paint and some hand journalling. I had a bad week last week, two people replied to my emails and both of them spelt my name wrong - what the? It was right there in front of them!! Yes, it happens all the time, I'm used to it but to have it in front of you and still get it wrong is just rude! So, I went for a little walk to my favourite gate at Glebe Park and took a photo of me with my name spelt correctly. Terrible photo but you get my point. Then I scrapped this LO and felt better :)

Lots of lovely handmade goodies on this one - an MVB, Charm's Creations and A Lil Something.

Thanks for stopping by. I was a bit excited to see I have a new follower, taking my total to 50 - woohoo, that's a milestone :) I think I should celebrate and share the love - leave me a comment and I'll send you a little treat.

A wp sketchie update

2011-10-24T20:10:00.000+11:00

Just popping in to load my last two wicked princesses sketch creations :)

When my sister came to stay we took her and Granma to Floriade and Zoe had a wonderful time taking happy snaps of the flowers (so I made them pose for a photo so I could scrap about it).

Grandpa sent Angus a gift voucher for his Birthday so he could buy a new Brumbies jersey. After we'd been to get it, Angus couldn't wait to play rugby on the playstation dressed in his team colours - he did eventually pause long enough for me to cut the tag off.

Thanks for stopping by - plenty of time for you to play along with the sketches - just go here

Sunny Sunday doings

2011-10-16T16:33:00.000+11:00

Today marked the start of the cricket season. Grr, cricket is not one of my favourite sports! But Angus was team captain and very excited! So, being a dedicated mummy I got up ridiculously early to watch him play. It was a 20/20 game, such a relief - more action, less time! He had a great game, taking two wickets in an over and stumping another batsman with a dead eye throw that curved around the umpire and lifted the bales to delighted roars from his team mates and parents. I'm sure his form was directly related to the fact his father is a soft touch and bought the long coveted cricket shoes. Stay tuned for a LO about those soon :)

Yesterday marked the end of the SFS sketchaday comp. I think I ran out of steam towards the end but I got my last two LOs in the nick of time!

As you know I'm a wee bit addicted to handmade embellishments (sadly not by my own fair hand) and for this LO I think I used something from three of my crafty favs - an MVB, A Lil Something and Purple Pumpkin :)

And here's a close up of the sweet China Girl button I used as this is another of my Hong Kong LOs.

And this is the LO - my sisters in the Temple Street Temporary Rest Garden. We were all really puzzled the first time we came across one of these signs as the park looked quite old and well used, it was only later that we realised it was the rest that was temporary, not the garden - lost in translation lol. Oh and this is sketch 11 - it got lost too! I used some Mr Huey's mist on this one and I'm sold - great stuff!

Sorry about the quality of the pics for the next two LOs - the weather was dreary and they ended up looking a tad washed out.

Sketch 24 - A silly LO of the kids trying to convince our dog and my sister's dog to pose for a photo - the dogs were far more focused on pushing each other off Zoe's lap.

And lucky last Sketch 29 - another doggy number. I kept this one simple as I was a bit overwhelmed by the glitter paper and it was almost impossible to get anything to stick to the silly stuff. I had to Pritt my photos down :0

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

Today....

2011-10-06T15:47:00.001+11:00

I'm not sure if Rob is trying to kill me or avoid telling me that he thinks I'm porky. Either way his training regime is a tad too serious for me. I figure by the end of the holidays I will either be super fit or in a full body cast. Run, ride, swim - repeat - yawn! And you know all of that would be fine if I hadn't been attacked by a mad swooping bird while running around the lake. It smacked me in the side of the head and scratched my arm (and hip I discovered later) and scared me horribly. At least there is no wildlife in an indoor pool ;)

Anyway while the fitness freak is sleeping off the effects his latest activities (to me that is a sure sign of too much output, if you have sleep the afternoon away that's a waste), I'm back with some more SFS sketches and some more of Mel's Summer Collection.

I found these photos tucked away and my heart leapt for joy as I thought I had lost them along with all the other photos. This is SFS Sketch 22 and it features a few of Mel's favourite things. The title reads Afternoon Tea with Jane Austen.

Close up time - a green Raffia Daisy and a candy Ribbon Rosette.

And this is a super special Rosette with a sweet filigree base.

Like what you see? Hop over to Zinga's Zoo for a closer look :)

Now back to SFS sketching. I wanted to post these two LOs together are they were taken before Angus went to each of the Rugby World Cup games - can you guess who he was supporting? Grandma really got into the spirit of the Cup providing wigs, hats, face paint and tattoos. Angus had the best time and even though Scotland lost, the Wallabies won - one out of two isn't bad! That's his Uncle and Aunty in the Scottish get up :)

Sketch 26

Sketch 30 - extra criteria of three or more pp, two photos, border punch or handcut scallops (I went for handcut zigzags) and a multi-alpha title. Nobody wanted to dress up with Angus for this game - hehe - but Grandad Bill happily went along with Angus (who knows maybe he was quietly barracking for USA?!).

And that's it from me. I think I might go and wake Rob up and ask if he fancies a walk in the rain - bahahaha! My legs hurt... but at least my rear doesn't! (I have a new bike seat and it is THE best).

ZZ Shop

2011-10-06T08:52:00.000+11:00

Imagine my surprise and pleasure when the gorgeously mad Mel of Zinga's Zoo asked me to have a play with some of her new Summer Collection (that's a fancy name for her latest embellishments folks). I couldn't wait to have a play and, when my goodies arrived one leapt straight onto a LO I had in progress.

Now I know I showed you this LO in my last post but Mel was wasn't ready for me to wax lyrical about her stuff so I had to stay stum. But now all can be revealed!! Can you see that smart little raffia daisy front and centre in the cluster?

How about a closeup?

And another (because I took two shots)...

Mel has lots of great little bits and bobs to add that special something to your LO, so why wait? Pop over to her blog and have a little poke around - don't forget to feed her hamster while you're there :)

Happy scrapping!

Cybercropping is Wicked

2011-10-05T19:56:00.000+11:00

Wicked Princesses was kind enough to hold their cybercrop during the school holidays so I managed to get all four challenges done.

Holly's challenge was a lucky dip and I scored distressing, chipboard and brads. How cool is my new mask? You can find it and some other cool masks in the Wicked store. I also used a Charm's Creations lollypop and a MVB cog. I thought it was timely to scrap this pic of Rob even though his mighty Pies didn't quite cover themselves in glory...

Krissy's challenge was a blind scrap. I used up the last of an old wp kit and some new MVBs.

Barb's challenged us to create a LO with white space. I love this sweet pic of Rob and his Grandpa Waddell. The journalling reads: May 1974, Rob and his Grandpa, a time before Rob discovered he hated gardening!

Hannah's challenge included a sketch and the extra criteria of using a photo you'd had lying around for a while. Again these photos of Rob and his younger brother in their Collingwood and Geelong jerseys respectively seemed like an apt choice. Rob is the same age as Angus is now in these photos (way back in 1984), funny how they look nothing alike!

And because this is a Wicked post, here's my take on the first October sketch using the wp Toybox kit, another fab mask and a little fishy button by Purple Pumpkin. This is Angus with his cousins the day he arrived in New Zealand. He had a wonderful time being the cool older cousin - a little hero worship is good for the soul ;)

Ok enough blogging about scrapping, I'm off to scrap :) Thanks for stopping by.

Two more...

2011-10-05T19:25:00.000+11:00

So, September has come to an end but I have until the 15th of October to finish all of my SFS sketches. Here are two more:

LO 27 - use 4 patterned paper. Zoe went shopping for clothes with a friend and came home with these fabulous genie pants, upcycled from an old sari. She was very pleased with herself and posed for this photo so she could blog about her purchase :) Can you see a Charm's Creations lollypop on my LO - love that colour!

LO 28 - no extra criteria. You've probably all seen this photo way to many times but I promise this is the first time I've scrapped it. Rob snapped it one Saturday morning on his phone. I'd only just got out of bed but it's one of my favourite photos, me with a coffee and my computer - my two morning friends lol. The LO is straight, my photography isn't! I've added a Purple Pumpkin doily and A Lil Somethin' button to this one.

Thanks for stopping by but before you go you may be interested to know that I received a refund from Pretty Paper Petals yesterday and my two prizes. So, this whole sad episode has come to an end. Oh and for the record the flowers I received are gorgeous and so beautifully made!

More sfs sketchaday entries

2011-09-25T17:01:00.000+10:00

If I blogged more often I wouldn't have to post so many LOs at once - sorry for being such a bad blogger...

So, what I have been doing is forging ahead with my sfs sketchaday comp entires. I'm still three behind but I've finished and uploaded today's little number!

Ok, get ready cos here comes a week's worth:

LO 12 - I forgot about the extra criteria on this - oops!

LO 17 - three different pp

LO 19 - spots

LO 20 - no extra criteria

LO 21 - must use two photos

LO 23 - use time in the title

LO 25 - black cardstock and a negative alpha

Thanks for looking at all of those LOs - good on you for lasting the marathon distance! So I still have 11, 22 and 24 to go... I think 22 in 25 days is a pretty good effort especially considering I've completed other non-sfs related LOs as well - no wonder I need a wee Nanna nap :)

Today...

2011-09-19T22:20:00.000+10:00

At uni I learnt how to use a special excel program to analyse themes in Twitter posts. Now while that might not sound very exciting, I love it when I learn something new that it not only super fab and groovy but useful too - let's call it an epiphany and leave it at that!

And now some sfs scrappy shares. Although we're up to day 19 there's still plenty of time to play along - why not check out the sketches for this week?

Sketch 13 - extra criteria use 3pps. Xena will sit on anything that is put on the floor, on this day it was Zoe's maths assignment - cheeky cat :) I used the fabulous Upcycle Kit from wp to create this LO - I was lucky enough to win this kit - thanks Krissy!

Sketch 18 - This one is the latest Stuck?! Sketch. Crazy children posing cos they can! Using up some odds and ends from my stash.

Have a fantastic week - tomorrow it's back to work and reality for me - but first thing I'm going to wow everyone with my new found analysis knowledge ;-)

chicken wire mask

2011-09-17T22:18:00.001+10:00

A while ago I got a 12" sheet of Dusty Attic's chippy chicken wire. I used little bits of it here and there but then I decided to do this with it.

I popped it over my LO and misted it in orange and then lifted the wire off. When it was dry I re-added the wire slightly offset.

Then I added this little cluster of MVB goodness, a doodaa, a cog and a topper.

And the end result was this, my take on WP September sketch #3.

In other scrappy news I"ve fallen hopelessly behind in my LOs for the SFS Sketchaday comp - blast you work for intruding on my world ;) I'm four sketches short of the week.

But, here are the three that I have done...

Sketch 14 - this is also the second September sketch over at Sassy Lil Sketches. Extra criteria was two photos, no pink and something handmade. Rob thought my little corner bunting looked like a row of bras - hmmm....

Sketch 15 - extra criteria use paint on your background and paint (not quite the effect I was expecting with my new mask!).

Sketch 16

I used a new WP September Toybox kit for sketches 15&16 - love how versatile it is.

Thanks for stopping by - hope your weekend has been stellar so far :)

More LOs for SFS

2011-09-11T12:14:00.001+10:00

I had a great time at the CAPA crop day yesterday and I completed a whopping six LOs.

Here's my take on this week's sfs sketches.

Sketch 6 - extra criteria - chipboard, a heart and something handmade (I used an MVB fluffy). I didn't use paper on this one, the red houndstooth is fabric.

Sketch 7 - this one is a Sassy sketch and can be entered over at Sassy for bonus points. Rob and I always go for coffee and banana bread at Portobello Caffe at Circular Quay when we're in Sydney.

Sketch 8 - use green. Zoe showing her jumping style at the beach at Tuross head. She climbed and jumped for hours ;)

Sketch 10 - a Scrapbook Savvy sketch - bonus points for entering it at Savvy :) This is my sisters and me in Macau - we'd just had a rickshaw ride from the ferry terminal into the town centre - a great way to see all the amazing casinos!

So, it's day 11 of the SFS September Sketchaday Comp and I've completed 10 of the sketches. I plan on doing number 11 tonight. I'm really enjoying the comp as the sketches are in lots of different styles. If you like the look of the comp there is still plenty of time to join in. Although there is a sketch a day for all of September the closing date of the comp is 15th October - so plenty of time to catch up.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my LOs - you know I love it when you visit!

Feel good Friday

2011-09-09T16:24:00.000+10:00

I love Friday! It's the day I meet my friends for coffee and then go home and scrap. Sometimes I even blog :)

Here's my take on second wp sketch for the month. I used some Basic Grey that has been hanging around for awhile.

And this is my take on Day 9 of the SFS Sketch comp. I'm going to a crop day tomorrow so I plan on catching up on days 6-8.

Oh and just in case you're interested (and I'm sure you will be) Krissy has launched a new Blossoms Blog to sell her MVBs - she has a design call on too :)

It's raining LOs :)

2011-09-07T21:19:00.000+10:00

I've been continuing my scrappy ways - getting into the groove again - it's great! Two days another two LOs...

So, first up I have my day 5 LO from SFS - another Honkers share.

And Hannah's challenge for the wp cc - choose a country's flag and scrap a LO using the flag's colours. I chose Bolivia. I used a couple of Pinky Pinky buttons (I misted the cool one made from an old phone book) and a Lovely Bugs denim button :)

Hope you're having a wonderful week :)

Wicked ways

2011-09-04T21:11:00.001+10:00

Just a quick post to share some LOs I've been doing at Wicked Princesses. This one is the first September sketch and features A Lil' Somethin' doily and button (first time I've ordered from these girls - excellent service and super speedy delivery - yay!). I also used a Lime Tree Creations crocheted circle.

There's a cc on at wp too. This is my take on Holly's challenge - a sketch with three pp. I used an MVB fundamentals tiny doily and a chocolate doodaa flower. That's me and sisters atop of the lookout on Mt Victoria in Hong Kong.

This my take on Barb's challenge - multi photos and lots of colour. Can you see a fab Purple Pumpkin button as well as that gorgeous orange MVB? You probably can't see the photos very clearly but they feature hundreds of bags containing goldfish. These little guys are very popular in Hong Kong - prefect for adjusting Feng Shui.

There's another two cc challenges I'd like to have a go at - mighty be a scrappy week :)

Some sketchy details

2011-09-04T14:20:00.000+10:00

Have any of you ever ordered and paid for a product only for it never to arrive? Sadly, I have. I decided to tell my fellow scrappers about this poor behaviour because at the end of the day, what that person did was steal from me. I paid for the goods back in April, I followed up again and again and each time I got excuses and promises but no product. I also won two prizes as part of her blog hop - these were never sent either. Last week I posted on facebook the name of the business and wrote a comment on her fan page and sent her a pm - the response - a big fat silence. The worst part is the number of other people who replied that they'd been ripped off too. I hope you haven't had the same experience with Pretty Paper Petals :(

But I don't want to dwell on the negative when there are so many honest crafters out there who make beautiful things and deliver every time. So, what I'm going to do is tell you about all of the wonderful people I've bought things from :) Don't worry I'm not going to lecture you - just highlight the handmade bits on my LOs!

Up until last week I hadn't done a lot of scrapping, guess I just lacked some motivation. So when SFS announced a cool September sketch comp I signed up. I've completed four LOs in four days and I'm having a ball so far.

Sketch one - Zoe and her Hogwarts cape :) Although you can't see it very clearly, the black flower is one of Krissy's awesome zipper MVBs and the yellow flower is one of Mel's Zinga Zoo creations.

Sketch 2 could also be used as a Scrap the Girls entry (as long as it featured a clip). The colours are bit off (who knows why...) but the pink button is a gorgeous little hot pink corduroy number from Lovelybugs Bits n Bobs and the cute bird and lazy daisy are more of Krissy's MVBs.

Sketch 3 - for this one I used the gorgeous kit I won from SFS. When I played along with Peta's 100th Blind Scrap I was lucky to win this fabulous prize - woo hoo! And it arrived in just two days, thanks Peta - you rock :) it was based on a Stuck?! sketch and can be entered there too! That cute little bunting is from A Lil' Somethin'.

Sketch 4 - this one also features a gorgeous MVB (yup I never get tired of those little beauties). And no I haven't scrapped a photo of a drain (thank you Zoe), look at the ducks on the poles :)

Not sure I'll be able to keep up the pace as I have to squeeze work in somewhere but I'm sure there are going to be lots more SFS sketches to inspire me.

Thanks for stopping by!

A new challenge - SFS 'sketchaday' comp

2011-08-31T22:34:00.000+10:00

So I've signed up for this - why don't you join me?

SFS ‘Sketchaday” comp

Starts Sept 1^st 2011

Come on over and check it out in the forum

Have you lost your mojo?

Need a hand getting those photos onto layouts?

Well what are you waiting for - this comp

is designed for you :)

Each day a new sketch will be added for you to

play along with.

Daily, weekly and MAJOR prizes will be given – lots of random draws for everyone to have a chance to be a winner.

Major Prize is a 6 month Subscription

to the SFS Designer Kit Subs

[3 kits valued @ $135]

Albums, kits, shop vouchers and more will be given away.

Including an eBook from a sketch blog

[announced later in the week]

Come on over and join in the fun

– Forum chatting isn’t a must but you will have to join to be able to load your pages.

Just saying...

2011-08-30T20:39:00.002+10:00

you should play along :)

Friday thoughts

2011-08-26T21:03:00.000+10:00

I mentioned in my last post that I was taking part in Scrapbooking Top 50's cc. Well I managed to squeeze in another challenge before the weekend ended. It was a bingo challenge and what I created was a bit different to my usual style but I scrapped the first of my Hong Kong photos and included a little envelope that I got at the jade markets. All in all I was pretty pleased with it and happily added it to the gallery. A week later it's still sitting there without a single comment - guess I was the only one who liked it! Never mind I still like it and that's what counts :)

On Monday I played along with Scrapping from Scratch's 100th Blind Scrap. It was my first one but hopefully there will be many more - here's what I created:

Not much else to report - it's a been a long day and my brain has put itself to bed ;)

Scrappy shares

2011-08-21T14:38:00.000+10:00

Life has been rolling on, busy but quite nice! I celebrated my Birthday last week and the kids made me cake - yum! They popped cocktail umbrellas on it for that festive air and while I haven't scrapped any photos of the cake yet - here's us having some fun with the umbrellas.

I've been taking part in the cc over at Scrapbooking Top 50. This is my take on Vicki's challenge:

And this one is for Marelize's challenge:

There's also a cc over at Challenge Heaven. It's all about animals so I just had to join in! Zoe has been helping to raise two calves at school - their names are Ultima and Kylie (classic huh?!) and Zoe fell in love with them. So much so that she would get up and ride her bike to school on the weekend to prepare their morning bottle. She's very sad that these beautiful girls have moved on - they could only stay at school for three weeks as after that they would grow too big for the enclosure. They've gone off to become dairy cows and Zoe will miss and probably they'll miss her for awhile too. I love that she posed for selfies with both of them!

This is my take on Simone's challenge. The white tab with the pink flower slides out to tell the story of a girl and two calves :)

Look Sue! Can you see a little Lovelybugs white chenille button? Oh and did you spot the dark denim one on my first LO? Has everyone seen Sue's fabulous bits n bobs? She's got a sale on till Midnight - snag yourself a bargain - you'll love her stuff - I guarantee it!

I'm Jule's Guest Designer again in September (woo hoo!) so I'm busy creating with a wonderful kit that Krissy put together especially for Jules, using the WRMK Zoology range. These papers are rich earthy shades with a bit of a grungy feel to them. Not necessarily my usual style but I'm having a lot of fun even if I can't reveal my LOs just yet :)

Before I go, here's my take on the first wicked princesses' August sketch. I shared this photo a few posts ago but forgot to share the LO:

Thanks for stopping by :) I'm off to have a little peek at what you've all been up to now.

Bonkers for Honkers

2011-08-06T22:34:00.000+10:00

Well I'm home again from my little trip - it was amazing! So much to see, so much to do, so much to eat, so much to laugh about :)

I plan to do a post for each of the five days I was away as each day was completely different. But for the moment here's a little taste of Hong Kong - a few of my favourite things! I still have a few hundred photos to sort through...

This is me on the Peak (Mt Victoria) - it was a tad windy - check out my hair! The view was unbelievable, even though it got very hazy while we were there.

Here we are enjoying a refreshing drink in the Peak Cafe. This cafe was in danger of being shut down back in 1947 but it was saved by being moved from the Peak down into Soho - an area of bars and restaurants on the side of the city centre.

On Saturday we took the ferry to Macau - it's very different to Hong Kong, its roots are Portuguese but today it is an amazing blend of cultures and features both modern casinos and narrow cobbled lanes filled with traditional shops bursting with both Portuguese and Chinese treasures. We were lucky enough to see a troop of teenage lion dancers performing in the square.

On Sunday we visited Lantau, one of the New Territories and visited the giant Buddha - this view of Buddha is from the cable car.

And this one was taken from the village below Buddha (once we got off the cable car).

The Buddha himself was amazing but I'll leave that for another day. This last shot is of the traditional pole house village called Tai O, also located on Lantau - we had a fabulous seafood lunch in the traditional market!

That's it for now, hope you enjoyed them :)

What, 15 Zoe?! Ridiculous!!

2011-07-26T17:53:00.000+10:00

My girl turns 15 today - she still has a few hours of being 14 to go as she wasn't born until 11.26pm ;-)
So, here she is about to open her loot. She was very excited and made us get up at 6.30am.

Here she is checking out one of her presents.

And here is what she was looking at - the ultimate HP collector figures.

Zoe is my child of the deep. She thinks and feels deeply. She views the world through serious eyes and often wonders what everyone is laughing about. That said as she grows older is learning about the value of fun and can be incredibly funny. Her friends, teachers and family love her probably because she's loyal to a fault. She's smart and works incredibly hard, she says she wants to be a vet and I believe she will be! She'll go far in life, my girl who knows far too much about Harry Potter!

Like her brother before her, Zoe's been having a rolling celebration. She chose to go to the midnight premiere with her friends instead of having a party (here she is having cake with them), then Granma came over on Friday night and we had a Birthday dinner, another friend treated to a second viewing of HP and tonight we'll have cake again. Turning15 has never been so good!

I'm off to Hong Kong for a few days with my sisters tomorrow. So, I'll catch you all when I get back. Thanks for stopping by :)

Barb's sketch

2011-07-23T15:45:00.000+10:00

As part of her DT contribution at wp Barb created a sketch - just for fun - so I had a little play.

This is a rare pic of Zoe, not dressed up, posing or looking pained, so I was keen to do something a bit special with it. I've had that hounds tooth tissue paper for ages (almost two years, actually...) and I finally decided to use it. I dragged out the sewing machine and got sewing - shame I used black thread and you can't see it - but it was fun to sew :) Then I stamped on the tissue before blinging it up. I had a lot fun and Zoe approved! Thanks Barb :)

And now just to prove my point about photos of Zoe, here she is dressed in her 'silver' outfit for band tour. She took me shopping this morning and we got a silver cap, silver and black shoes, silver bracelet and silver necklace for the sum total of $21 - got to love a bargain or four! And then we went to the dreaded (by me) Valley Girl and she got this dress. When we got home she modelled her outfit and we were dazzled lol. Angus, our resident fashionista approved and Zoe pointed out a similar outfit in Dolly before disappearing to her friend's house still wearing said outfit - who said being (and having) a teenage girl wasn't fun?!

Angus, meanwhile, has been practising his Tour posing - here he is on his time trial bike - wearing yellow of course! Over the course of the Tour, he and his friend go out each day and time each other riding the circuit they've mapped out. This is the fifth year they've been doing it :)

And now I'm off to enjoy th sunshine - can life can any better?

Happy Monday :)

2011-07-18T20:44:00.000+10:00

So, we're into the second week of school holidays here and today is the first time the kids have been home together. Angus spent the first week snowboarding in stellar conditions - the best season in 20 odd years (sadly I have no photos to share). Zoe stayed at home and went to the Midnight Screening of Harry Potter with friends - a fine way to celebrate turning 15. Here are the girls dressed up ready to go.

I think the funniest part of Zoe's outfit is that her braces match - she got black and yellow - Hufflepuff colours - especially for the premiere.

And this is how they looked at midday after the big event - hehe, they finally got up at about 2.45pm :)

Then when Angus returned home, taller with a croaky voice and full of stories, Zoe went to the coast with a friend's family. She came home again today, also with a croaky voice and full of stories, but not notably taller lol. It's nice to have them both back again, the house is empty without them and the dog and their Father pine for them ;-)

As it's Monday, it's time for a new wp sketch. Here's my take on sketch #4. This is Zoe running her heart out at the ACT cross country. We were so very proud when she qualified and even prouder when ran over the finish line with a smile despite developing a badly swollen knee. She has tenacity and drive in spades!

And this is the first wp sketch of the month - somehow I forgot to post it. Zoe and Angus were waiting for Rob to get home to surprise him with his Birthday cake - Angus was pretending to eat the cake and Zoe was pretending to be outraged. This photo shows their personalities to a tee. They were making me laugh so much I had trouble holding the camera still to take the photo of them :)

And now another Monday is coming to a close - have a happy Tuesday folks!

Sew easy action

2011-07-17T17:14:00.000+10:00

Last night I spent several hours (nope not kidding) sewing the border on this LO - thank goodness I decided it only needed to be on three sides - happy with the result though. A just because LO, using some new Basic Grey, of my boy on his Birthday.

And this one is my take on Barb's follow the leader come step by step. Shame I like her LO better than mine lol - her layered paper strips look awesome - you'll have to pop over to Wicked Princesses to check them out though :) I used a wp kit - love those Bo Bunny papers. I used two rub ons that I think came off the ark. Ah! Stash diving - a perfect weekend activity :)

Hope your weekend has been a good one.

The countdown is over

2011-07-14T20:26:00.000+10:00

I've finished my last two LOs for Jules' class and during the process my kit went from looking like this:

To this:

Yep, I pretty much used it all up, just a couple of scraps of paper, some bits of ribbon and a few stickers left over. Not bad considering I got six LOs from the kit!

And here are those last two LOs. No close ups as it was starting to snow and we all know that snowflakes and papercraft don't mix :)

The second one was heavily influenced by Jasmine's don't judge them LO :) Thanks for the inspiration Jas (and I hope you don't mind!).

Some of you might know that I'm a huge Indiana Jones, check out this link - I've downloaded my paper Indy and will share pics once I've constructed him. Maybe you'd like an Indy too?

Thanks for stopping by :)

Starting the week on a wicked note

2011-07-11T23:03:00.000+10:00

Here's my take on wp sketch.

Same boy, different dog - he just can't help himself - he claims he is the dog whisperer and dogs seem to agree ;)

Blast off!

2011-07-08T18:15:00.000+10:00

I mentioned a couple of posts back that Jules asked me to design some class LOs for her using the Blast Off kit from wp - here's a peak at the kit:

Now while I can't reveal all the LOs yet - I can share the first one and some sneaks as well :)

It's a really fun kit to work with and even though my two are past rocket ships and aliens, I've found the pps to be really versatile, their bright colours make me happy :)

Have a great weekend!

Just one...

2011-07-04T20:34:00.000+10:00

Not much to say today! Here is my take on the WP June Sketch #2.

Just another day in the life of a dog and his boy ;-)

Stuff

2011-06-28T18:05:00.000+10:00

Like sand through an hour glass so too are the days of our lives – ha! I have no idea what I’ve been doing or where the time has gone but it seems the first thing to drop off my priority list is this poor little blog.

Oh well, I’m back again now and as per usual I have a super-size post to publish.

So, what’s been happening? Um...

Krissy from wp is this month’s guest designer for Get Picky. So, the last wp sketch of the month is also the Get Picky sketch – two chances to win a wicked voucher – nice!

Here’s my take on the sketch. I used Basic Grey Lauderdale and it's bright!

I also decided to share some close-ups to further dazzle you...and to show the rolled corners that I added some flowers to.

Challenge Heaven had a cybercrop recently and this is the blind scrap I did with Becci.

This is my take on Jess’ number challenge. I lots of fun misting, stitching and painting. I really wanted to used the little MVB cloud but it was broken so I glued it back together and then painted - I think it turned out ok :)

A close up so you can see my clouds and just a hint of stitching.

There's a wp cc on right now. There are some great challenges - one for each season. This is my take on Krissy's Spring challenge.

And that's it for me - life is almost back to normal here, we're only waiting on the insurance company to replace a few more items and our new door is being installed on Thursday. Sadly I've just discovered the house on the next corner has been broken into - their door was smashed in exactly like ours :(

Sketch time

2011-06-13T20:34:00.000+10:00

Hey ho - let's go! It's Monday again already. I've had a few weeks off from my wp sketchie duties due to my lack of technology so, this is my first June sketch but it's actually the third sketch of the month.

Pictured are Rob's Granny and his Aunty Mo, both of whom are Scots. But during WW2 Rob's Grandpa was stationed in Ireland and their daughter (Mo) was born there. Granny decided to give her an Irish name and called her Maureen. Granny often also called her 'little Irish girl' - could this piece of October Afternoon paper be any more perfect? It made Rob giggle!

Here are few more retreat LOs. This one is based on the blind scrap created by Karen. Thanks Leah for suggesting semi circle bunting :)

Back in July last year I was lucky enough to have a coffee with Kate while I was in Newcastle. Kate brought this photo of us for me to scrap at the retreat.

This is an old photo of Angus and his Grandpa - I wish I knew what Grandpa was saying to have Angus so entranced!

Have a wonderful week!

Me again

2011-06-12T14:46:00.000+10:00

Can you tell I'm a wee bit excited about being back in blogland?

After the Wicked Princesses Retreat, I spent a couple days with my sister in Brissie before heading to Sydney for work. I had a blast and in being in Sydney for the Vivid light festival was amazing but somewhere along the way I picked up a very nasty bug. It knocked me out for over a week. Today, ten days on I'm just beginning to feel like myself again.

For the first four or five days I did absolutely nothing - so weird! But once I started to feel a little better I did some creating. The Purple Pumpkin sketch challenge took my fancy so I had a play - other than spilling a third of a bottle of glimmer mist over my LO I think I did ok! More pics taken by Zoe at the Sydney Aquarium. I think the gm adds to the water theme lol. The PP items are the doily and button.

The next day I dragged out my beautiful bigshot and made four cards before retiring to the lounge for a nap. I forgot to photograph the cards - oh so vague of late!

The day after that I decided to do some more scrapping, the fact my hands were still Key Lime was enough to convince me not to use glimmer mist. This one is for the wp kit challenge, I used Owl Soup. Looks pretty simple huh? Getting that printed journalling in the right spot took ages with my addled brain.

After another little nap I decided to start the wp DT challenge - stamping and distressing. Here's how it turned out. Since the photo was poor quality I decided to grunge it up. I had fun pulling out my old letter stamps too. The design of this one is based on an old Inspired Blueprints sketch - always a great place to visit for some inspiration.

In shocking and startling news the ever-fabulous Kate decided to step down from the wp dt. So, that left Krissy to appoint three new princesses - sadly I'm not one of them but a big congrats to Hannah, Barb and Holly - I'm sure you will inspire princesses everywhere. Also best of luck Kate, it's good to see your mojo has returned and I will being dogging your blog to see your latest and greatest creations cos you know I dig you!

In exciting news my wonderful buddy Jules has asked me to be her guest designer next month. I'm so chuffed :)

Right, I think I might have satisfied my blogging desires for today. See you again really soon.

Welcome back blogger

2011-06-12T14:07:00.000+10:00

It's four weeks since our stuff was stolen and I finally have a new laptop so I'm back in the bloggy business :) It has been an amazingly complex and frustrating process negotiating our insurance claim. Apart from the two laptops that were delivered on Friday, we still don't have a delivery date on anything else and only the vaguest notion of when our new door will arrive (in the next three weeks - perhaps).

In the meantime I was lucky enough to attend the first ever Wicked Princesses Retreat. What a fantastic weekend! It was so cool meeting and hanging out with all of my cyberbuddies!

I won't subject you to all my LOs in one go but here are few. Krissy gave each of us a folder full of challenges and sketches to work with, such a cool idea! I decided not to take papers with me but to buy and use the kits Krissy had on offer. I then got her post my purchases home :)

So, this is Zoe at Sydney Aquarium. Using the Vicki B kit.

This is a scraplift of one of Kate's LOs - I used a cool Hambly brick overlay. The big flower was made by Kate but I made the orange flower out of a ribbon and gluber - thanks Jules for the gluber, the centre, oh and, the idea :)

By the way glubers are really cool and I recommend you all get some - check them out here. Apparently you can also make your own - splitcoast stampers have a tutorial on the hows and whys - I'm yet to check it out.

This one uses the Splash kit, I love the bright colours and that little flag. I've added some hidden journalling as I wanted to record Angus' scary experience of being caught in a rip and having to be rescued my his mum and a surf life saver without it being the focus of the LO and embarrassing him.

This last one is based on one of Krissy's sketches and also uses the Vicki B kit - love the colours but the LO seems to be a bit flat - think I might have to add a little something to this one (maybe a flourish would do it). The photos are of Janina and I at our mini retreat back in March.

Ah! It's good to be back :) Thanks for remembering to stop by!

Of breaking glass and flutes

2011-05-20T11:53:00.000+10:00

On Monday afternoon our secure little world was shattered when someone smashed our door down and stole a mired of electrical goods. We can replace the TV, the lap tops and the Ipods. Sure we can even replace the external hard drives but what we can't replace is the all of the digital photos dating back to 1999. To protect against computer failure we regularly and carefully backed all of our images and documents up on a hard drive called Harold. It never occurred to us that Harold would be stolen.

So, we are now without any photos, our children don't feel secure in their own home and our little dog is traumatised - his very hoarse bark is evidence of his attempt to ward off the intruders :(

The builder who quoted to install the new door said it could take up to four weeks for our insurer to approve the work so for now we have a plywood board between us and the great outdoors. It's anybody's guess on how long it will take for our goods to be replaced. So, I could be gone for some time as I am without a computer and mail blogger is refusing to add images - I was going to share with you my shattered door and its plywood replacement but you'll just have to imagine them for yourself.

But as we all know life goes on, even if the speed is a little intense sometimes... Last night I was incredibly proud to watch Zoe's jazz band earn a gold medal in the Jazz Eisteddfod :) They not only put on a great performance they had a huge amount of fun and that is really what life is all about.

Please excuse my absence and failure to comment on your blogs for awhile - but I will return! Take care, my friends, hug your loved ones tight (including your furry friends) and rejoice in all that is good in your life. This too will pass!

Wicked Design Team

2011-05-15T17:46:00.001+10:00

Design Team calls produce interesting results and the wp call has been no different. I sometimes wonder if there are scrappers out there whose sole aim in life is to be on as many DTs as possible regardless of whether they've visited a forum or used the product the site sells.

Suddenly the forum has been abuzz with new members - the cynic in me wonders if they'll still be around come the 1st April - post DT announcement. The realist in me knows the answer and doesn't care. The funny thing is wp is already populated by an incredibly talented bunch of women who've helped create an online forum with a heart and without even a hint of nasty clique mentality. The newcomers have some stiff competition ;-)

There has been much speculation on the forum about who will apply and who will ultimately win the big prize. Many people have fessed up to throwing their hat in the ring. I have my favourites and you'd be right if you guessed my money is on a real princess, not an impostor or a fly-by-night. As for me I've um-ed and ah-ed quietly to myself. I've steered clear of that conversation thread...

I often create using wp kits, I visit the forum daily and I'm on the sketch team - so what do I have to lose? Nothing really, I guess but I just wasn't sure about putting myself out there. So, over the past month I've created my LOs but today - as the deadline loomed I was still prevaricating. I chose the Splish Splash Kit but strangely I had a lot of trouble creating with it, maybe it was the pastel colours but more realistically it was the thought of submitting them that weighed me down.

I finally pressed the send button this afternoon and immediately experienced scrappers regret. Oh well! Here's a look at my LOs:

Other than creating the LOs using a kit you had to come up with a cc challenge and create a LO based on it. Here's mine:

So, now I've shown my hand I have to wait just like all the other applicants - may the best princess win.

Help! I have a question...

2011-05-07T18:20:00.002+10:00

I hope you've been enjoying some scrappy time on National Scrapbooking Day and maybe you bagged a bargain or two - there are some fab sales on today!

Last weekend was the Wicked Princess cybercrop. I only managed to get one challenge done. The theme was movies and for this challenge you had to choose a movie genre and title and use that as the basis of your LO. I chose thriller because it suited this slightly disturbing self-portrait of Angus. The title Memento is from a film that came out in 2000 staring Guy Pearce.

I've also completed the first two wp sketches for this month.

How cool is that flower? I got it from Mad About Scrappin as part of the prize I won at Challenge Heaven. Thanks Leanne and Shell :)

Now I have a serious question. Why don't the she art images have facial features? My lovely cyberbuddy Jasmine created a gorgeous canvas using this style and I fear I may have offended her by asking this exact question (please forgive me if I did Jas). But I really want to know. I've consulted Dr Google and it seems that faceless chicks are the norm. But why? I love the she quotes and I love the style of she art but I really love faces too. And when I checked in with Urban Dictionary the definition of sheart was less than appealing: a friend who is nice to your face but then talks about you badly behind your back. Luckily I realised that this definition applied to the way you said the word (think biarch ) rather than the craft of she art!! Anyway if you can explain to me the reason for being faceless I'd be forever grateful.

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

Pretty Paper Petals

2011-05-02T18:10:00.001+10:00

After taking part in the Pretty Paper Petals blog hop and ordering some gorgeous flowery goodies, I completed the blog hop challenge. Here's my take on Nadia's sketch featuring (of course) some ppps ;)

I really wanted to try some misting on this swiss dot cardstock. I fancied using some gold but do you think I could find it? I'm left wondering if I only dreamed I owned gold mist... Anyway, not to be thwarted I sprayed on some tattered rose - the effect left me totally underwhelmed so I added some sea glass but this wasn't quite what I was looking for either. I then decided to give Snow Queen a go and voila - I had the fine gold sheen I was looking for :)

Other than that I inked the edges in pink and smeared a bit over the LO and myself for good measure and painstakingly cut out the bunting which I then mostly covered over - all good fun!

Our house has always been visited by the Easter Bilby - so much more Australian and environmentally sustainable than the rabbit :) For reasons I no longer remember this Australian icon has always given the kids books and pyjamas as well as the obligatory chocolate.The kids have accepted this tradition without fuss - we've been reading the story of the Easter Bilby since they were old enough to pay attention. I think the fact that I can choose my own Easter traditions is further proof we live in a very tolerant corner of the world. So, here is a little bilby magic for you. Who could resist one of these little guys making a delivery?!

And that explains my LO nicely!

Lazy days

2011-04-26T17:48:00.000+10:00

It's been a quiet Easter (did my gazillion blog posts give me away?). Poor Rob hurt his back moving stuff in the garage on Wednesday so our plans changed. That's ok, I've spent the last few days scrapping, running, walking and entertaining Angus - Zoe has deserted us for a week of camping with friends - and Angus is taking full advantage of his only child status.

Perhaps the most action has been the latest escape of the naughtiest dog in the world. Angus opened the front door just a little too wide for a moment too long and Sparky saw the space and went for it. Ollie, Angus' friend, who was on the outside of the door took off in hot pursuit - barely keeping pace even on his scooter. Angus was left trailing behind, trying to put his shoes on as he ran. Sparky headed straight for the ponds and the ducks scattered. Amid much shouting (and a bit of cursing) the boys chased him from the main pond to the small pond and tackled him in the mud - all three reappeared plastered in black stinky mud and identical silly grins. How that dog survives is beyond me.

Once the drama was over and Collingwood had won their ANZAC Day game I got down to some scrappy business. This one is for KIU - 1 piece of kraft, 2 pics smaller than 6x4, 3 different alphas, 4pps and 5 embellies.

And these are a couple of just because LOs :) I think my new paper love might just be the MME Stella range, shame the photo doesn't do justice to the rich colours and the weighty texture of these pps.

This one is using the wp little monsters kit - how cool is that fimo monster, handmade by Krissy?!

Today I escaped for a morning out with Janina. A pedicure and coffee - so very civilised! Then this afternoon Angus felt the need to hit the shops armed with his Birthday money and vouchers. I have to give credit where credit is due - that boy knows how to shop - it was exhausting but oh so entertaining. He came home with a jumper, two nerf guns, a Bear Grylls book, a kicking tee and a lighter but not empty wallet. I fear that wallet means I will be spending some more time at the shops all too soon...

Thanks for stopping by you know I love it ;)

Update overload

2011-04-24T18:41:00.000+10:00

Just when you thought it was safe to come back to my blog I posted for a fourth time in one day - crazy stuff! But please stay awhile, this is a scrappy post, no more pics of the family, I promise :)

So, this is what I've been up to. A Simon Says challenge from Kate the Great. Angus and his friend Bill striking a pose at their Yr 6 Farewell.

This one is is for the theme challenge at Challenge Heaven - a candid pic and twine. My kids were so excited when their school book packs arrived, they examined each and every item, but then who doesn't love a parcel and stationary items??

This one is my take on the sketch challenge at Once Upon A...Sketch. You had to journal about why the pics were important. Mine feature my scrappy buddy Janina and me. I wanted to record how important her friendship is to me without being overly sentimental or soppy because she always makes me laugh :)

Thanks for stopping by I hope you're having a fabulous Easter break.

Birthdays and Parties Part 3

2011-04-24T12:09:00.000+10:00

And now it's time for the final chapter. Angus didn't really have one special day - he had a week of celebrations - the Festival of Angus. He finally wound up the celebrations the day after his Birthday after a trip to the movies with his buddy to see Diary of Wimpy Kid 2.

His big day started with the traditional present opening.

A hug from his big sister:

and trying on his new gear:

Before heading out for a haircut (yes he requested it) and brunch at his favourite cafe. Then it was home again for lunch with Granma and his buddy who came to stay the night to prolong the celebrations :)
This is a child who knows how to celebrate! But wait there's more...

Turning 13 is a big deal especially when you have mean parents who made you wait until you were legally allowed to have a facebook account, even when all your friends were fudging their ages to get on. Happy fb buddy!

And so my child of the light is growing up. He and I like to take long walks and discuss the state of the world. We pump each other for information - he confirms his knowledge of politics, drugs and sex (and sometimes rock and roll) and I check what he and his friends are up to (no sex or drugs but lots of music, emerging political views and even more sport). He reminds me that now is an exciting time to be alive and I love him for it. On our walk the day after his Birthday he confessed that facebook is pretty boring - less than 24 hours after accessing the holy grail! His honesty is another reason I love him :)

Birthdays and Parties Part 2

2011-04-24T11:44:00.000+10:00

Rob is not a party animal. So, when the big four oh rolled around having a party was not on the agenda. But that doesn't mean his day wasn't special or that we didn't celebrate - oh no!!
Something else you may not know about Rob is that he is a Star Wars geek - an original fan dating back to a galaxy far, far away :) And what do all Star Wars fans need on their big day? Why, an R2D2 cake of course!

He loved it!

And here he is modelling his presents - that thing on his head is a mini camera for cycling (what does he look like?! lol)

And here is one of all of us celebrating the poor old man's big day ;)

Happy Birthday Rob - you rock our world!

Birthdays and Parties Part 1

2011-04-24T10:50:00.000+10:00

April is a busy month with both Rob and Angus celebrating their Birthdays. But this April was even bigger because Rob greeted 40 and Angus turned 13 - wow!

So we started the celebrations with Angus' party at the skate park - a week early because his Birthday fell smack bang in the middle of the holidays and Easter. So, the weather was freezing, the wind blew a gale but the nine boys and one girl didn't let it phase them. Got to admit it's one of the easiest parties we've ever done - two and a half hours of skate boarding, scootering and biking, interspersed with pizza and cake eating, a few tears and lots of grazes and dripping blood... all superficial of course!!

Angus got a new skateboard, a banana board to be exact - fully sick! Rob thought he'd look good on it too!

It was a hopeless task trying to get a good group shot but they all sang Happy Birthday - even if it was too windy to light the candles. We even tried a group huddle to block out the wind but it was no good.

Angus declared the party a success and so it was :)

The time has come!

2011-04-23T08:43:00.000+10:00

Right then, I have so many updates that there is no way I can fit them into one post and besides who'd be silly enough to read it? So, where shall I start? Hmm, how about a scrapping share and then I can move on to Birthdays and 12 hours of photos and then maybe some more scrapping shares - you with me so far?

Here is my take on the final wp sketch of the month. It was a double but I shrank it to a single. I used some really ancient basic grey as the base, felt good to get even one geriatric out of the stash :)

And this is another LO I forgot to share. It's using an older wp kit - yep more stash! These photos came home from camp so I got Zoe to journal about them - abseiling and rock climbing - my girl's heart's desire.

OK, that's it for now. But before I go I want to say thank you for all your lovely comments of late and an even bigger thank you to my new followers - you girls rock :)

And also a big shout out to Sue Plumb! Sue switched me onto Handmade By Suzanne - a fabulous shop, full of fabulous goodies! Sue is constantly creating truly awesome LOs using supplies from Suzanne and one day all my mouth watering and drooling got too much and I had to have a little shop! But then HBS had a fb and badge competition (you can see it over there on the right) and I was lucky enough to win a voucher - woo hoo going to take myself shopping today - thanks Suzanne and thanks Sue :)

Catch you all later - hope the bunny hops by your place!

Winner chicken dinner

2011-04-14T18:32:00.000+10:00

How exciting - I was checking out some bloggy updates and discovered that I'd won the spot prize on Kerry's blog during the Pretty Paper Petals blog hop - neato! It was my first ever blog hop :)

Now I'm waiting and desperately hoping that the flowers I ordered during the hop will arrive tomorrow so I can take part in the sketch challenge. Fingers crossed...

Meanwhile these are what I've been up to. First we have this week's wp sketch:

And this my effort for the blind scrap Hannah ran over at wp:

Those paint splatters caused me no end of grief. My paint was too thick and trying to get it to fly off the paintbrush in an artistic way was no mean feat and then the blobs were so thick an industrial blow torch wouldn't have dried them in time for me to complete the LO. So, remembering a technique often and ably demonstrated by Jasmine, I grabbed a straw and blew through it. I huffed and I puffed and almost turned myself inside out but finally those paint blobs oozed themselves flat! Got so say I'm pretty happy with the result, now that I've recovered from almost blacking out lol.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Some more retreat LOs

2011-04-09T13:31:00.000+10:00

As I was popping some LOs into albums I remembered that I had a few left to share but, fear not, I won't overload you with them all at once :)

My children are very good at humouring me when it comes to taking photos. I think they enjoy the attention! Anyway, posing for these photos on the first day of school was their idea. Check out that height difference!

And this one makes me smile :)

And now for my take on the wp sketch #2. The photos are of the kids exploring the boulders that once formed the base for the satellite dish and telescope at the Honeysuckle Tracking Station. The landscape is raw, ancient and awe-inspiring - to the kids it was as familiar as being on the moon.

Wow! That's three LOs without glimmermist...my next post is bound to very misty lol.

Thanks for stopping by :)

April Already?

2011-04-02T22:27:00.000+11:00

Like so many scrappers I love the anticipation that comes with the start of each month! What I don't like is the realisation at the end of the month that I've completed so few of the tantalising challenges on offer... So, on Friday I began the month as I want to continue it, scrapping! I completed the Challenge Heaven number challenge - three photos, three colours, three alphas and a paper clip. My paper clip is a duck-shaped one from Typo.

And this LO is based on the first wp sketch of the month.

Thanks for stopping by and a really big thank you for taking time to leave a comment - I really appreciate it and love reading them :)

High Tea

2011-03-31T22:34:00.000+11:00

... to celebrate Janina's Birthday. Funny how we were all colour coordinated :)

I've been saving that handbag paper for just the right LO (or maybe just saving it). Anyway, I was aiming for simple elegance with this one - just like the scrap girls pictured!

They say...

2011-03-29T19:35:00.000+11:00

... it never rains, it pours! And this time they're right! First Australian Scrapbook Ideas liked something I sent them and now Scrapbooking Memories has accepted one of my LOs :) Got to be happy with that kind of atmospheric pressure!

Here's my LO for the wp cc - Kate's challenge - use a shamrock and your favourite colour or number:

Thanks for stopping by :)

I've got the power

2011-03-27T08:42:00.000+11:00

Before Christmas, Angus was desperate to get his hands on a Powerband. All his sporting heroes were wearing them and they came in a rainbow of colours. He refused to believe that they were a gimmick and we refused to pay $50 for one!

This is didn't stop Angus' campaign to become the owner of a hot pink Powerband. It appeared on his Christmas list and every magazine ad was thrust before our faces. That's when eBay came to the rescue. $9.95 delivered from Hong Kong equals one happy boy on Christmas Day.

The other present of a subscription to Inside Sport finally proved to Angus that the Powerband held no power but that didn't stop him wearing it until it broke and ended up here:

I used some really old scenic route papers and diecuts, a couple of sass strips, some very cool MVBs and, of course, the pink Powerband.

Have a great weekend :)

A new challenge site

2011-03-23T20:10:00.000+11:00

Hey people check out this new challenge site set up by Nadia Cannizzo. Sketches and journalling - fab combo! And to celebrate the site's launch, you could win this:

Nice prize! Can't wait for the first challenge next month.

I have news!

2011-03-21T19:26:00.004+11:00

I'm a bit excited! Australian Scrapbook Ideas has accepted one of my LOs for publication :)

A couple of weekends ago I was meant to be at a scrapbook retreat. Unfortunately there was a problem with the booking and the retreat was postponed until June. Not to be defeated three friends and I booked a cabin at a holiday park up the road from my house (I had to drive for a whole seven minutes to get there lol) and had ourselves a mini retreat.

We even took a trip to a scrapbooking store, posed for a group photo and did a group challenge using the same key elements. These were the group photo, the birdy pp, a little chippy bird and a prima flower. Here's my take:

And yes, we're all wearing the same shirt lol. We had such a fun weekend - I laughed so much my jaw hurt!

TFSB :)

Blind scrap

2011-03-20T19:29:00.005+11:00

Shop and Crop - the first online forum I ever visited - now has a Basic Grey kit of the month club. Fabbo! My first two kits arrived on Friday and I used one of them to complete the wp blind scrap. Pretty happy with how this one turned out :)

While I was trying to take a pic of some completed LOs a tennis ball suddenly appeared in shot, smack bang in the middle of my LO. I moved it, it reappeared. Here's why:

But then when I agreed to play. Sparky decided I couldn't have the ball:

Contrary dog! Oh how I love him :)

Not even a little bit Martha

2011-03-20T17:23:00.005+11:00

In the past 12 months four people I know have died. I'm not talking about elderly people who have lived a full life, three of them were in their 40s and the fourth was newly retired and in the prime of her life. Three left behind children the same age or younger than mine. Attending the funeral of a 42 year old and seeing the grief in the eyes of her three sons and husband is beyond description. Hearing the eulogy of a person with so many things left to do affected me profoundly.

And then just as my sadness began to lift I watched Q&A - now this is not an earth-shattering event, I watch it often - but this particular episode made me boil with rage. The debate was about the representation of women on boards and the age-old argument about pay parity. It was a farce with none of the panel raising any points of note or even acknowledging the fact that woman have children and take time out of the workforce to care for them - such a simple fact, a no-brainer really - but a point never raised.

I'm not a stay at home Mum, I have a career, not a job, I'm not even a little bit Martha - hell I hadn't even heard of her until she started making punches - but I really resent the fact that society no longer acknowledges child rearing as an important and legitimate occupation.

But does this rant have a point? Yes, first I was too sad and then I was too angry and suddenly blogging was the furthest thing from my mind. For me blogging is about joy, light and laughter. It's about taking the everyday drudgery and spinning it into a story that makes people smile or if I'm really lucky laugh out loud. So, today I gave myself a strong talking to and breathed life back into my blog. I know I haven't shared a funny story but sometimes the stories that need to be told are serious if only to remind us that laughter is wonderful cure for almost all that ails us.

And now some scrappy shares, three LOs based on wp sketches.

Thanks for stopping by - normal transmission will now resume ;-)

March KIU

2011-03-20T08:05:00.003+11:00

Just a quick post before I run out the door to the second half of Angus' cricket grand final - four hours yesterday and another four today and I wonder where my time goes lol.

Anyway here is my LO for the KIU challenge :)

I used two shades of green glimmermist and some Stampin Up papers :)

Hopefully I'll be back to later to share some of the 20 or so LOs I've done during my blogging hiatus.

Sketches and cybercropping

2011-03-01T21:44:00.007+11:00

It's been awhile so I'll be brief but before I skip straight to the LOs here is the latest pic of my troublesome son - sans cast - hurrah! He's off to school camp tomorrow so who knows what mischief he'll get up to!

And now for the LOs - I have a few to share...

This my take on wp final February sketch. Looking at it now I think that flourish is trying to wrap itself around Rob's neck lol.

And this is my take on the first March sketch - created by the fabulous Kate :) I used some Echo Park Little Boy (shh don't tell Angus) and some bits and bobs from my handmade goody stash.

The journaling is on the yellow tag. When Angus was two we were feeding the ducks and then in flew a pelican, it zoomed straight up to Angus and grabbed the bread out of his little hand - slicing his finger open at the same time. Since that day Angus has been afraid of pelicans, posing with a painted one is as close as he'll come to the real thing.

I guess this LO is further evidence that stuff just happens to Angus. Some day I'll share the story of the boxing kangaroo...

WP had a cc on the weekend and I completed all three challenges. This one was for the speed scrap, based on another fabulous sketch by Kate.

These photos were taken of Zoë with my parents way back in 1998. It was my Mum's Birthday but Zoe was in charge of the cake and the candle. These shots are really precious as this was the year before my Dad got sick and if you look closely you can see the pure delight on both his and Mum's faces as they watch Zoë.

This is my LO for Krissy's number challenge. Angus and his friends posing at the Australia Day Fireworks :) I was inspired by one of Olivia Angel's LOs - I'm loving her creations.

And this was Kerry's challenge - scrap two photos of different birthdays, using circles and a party symbol. In the blink of an eye my red cheeked baby grew into a leggy teen.

Just in case you can't see the little cupcake here's a closeup. It was made by Mel and looks good enough to eat!

Ok, I'm done! Thanks for stopping by :)

Just LOs

2011-02-19T16:29:00.004+11:00

I managed to sneak in some scrapping time this morning and I had a go at Lisa's colour challenge over at Make Yourself at Home. Zoë loved the title!

And here are a couple of LOs I did at the crop day last weekend. This one is for the CH theme challenge of transport. I snapped this pic of the kids deeply involved in a board game in the back seat of the car on a recent trip to Sydney.

And this one is for the word challenge - happy. My solitary girl enjoying herself on a deserted beach :)

Hope you're having a good weekend. We're off to the Brumbies in the rain tonight - it always rains the first home game of the season - *sigh*. I love my rugby but I do prefer it dry!

The never ending story

2011-02-14T21:46:00.003+11:00

Just when you thought it was safe to come back to my blog, Angus strikes again...

Perhaps you recall he had a broken elbow encased in a purple fibreglass cast? Mm, last week his arm got itchy so he shoved a pen complete with lid in there for a bit of a scratch. The pen came out and the lid stayed put. I tried to retrieve it, first with tweezers and then with a chopstick, but to no avail.

Luckily for the silly child we were due back for a review with the specialist the following day. So, the xrays showed the bone was healing nicely - the new bone growth looks like an aero bar :) The specialist informed us that another two weeks in the cast would be all that was required and tried to send us on our way. BUT instead of leaving we had to 'fess up to the lid lodged inside. The doctor fell about laughing and said the cast would have to come off and a new one would have to go straight back on. We caused the nurses no end of amusement as well. I tell you living with Angus is as dull as a three-ring circus!

Angus now has a red cast and the pen has its lid back.

This LO, created for a Kim Archer sketch challenge, featuring a PinkiePinkie button, a Purple Pumpkin button and a MVB mini doily, chronicles this latest adventure.

In more scrapping news I created this LO for last week's Design Dollies challenge but forgot to upload it (I wonder why I was distracted lol). It was a colour challenge - purple, green and ivory. This is the gorgeous Zoe before she finally agreed to get her fringe cut. Such a bubblehead!

Today is also sketch day at wp. Further proof that I was a tad distracted during the week, I scrapped my LO for sketch 4 - even though we are only up to number 3. Luckily I went to a crop day yesterday and thought I'd be really clever and scrap next week's sketch early for once. Hmm, at least I had it on hand today :)

So, this is another Zoe LO:

I found that piece of really old Bo Bunny when I was going through my stash for donations for the crafters flood relief appeal. I had no idea I owned it, so glad I found it! Don't worry I found loads of other stuff which I actually donated ;-)

And now, since I've done next week's sketch LO, here's a sneak:

There are ten days left till Angus has his cast removed, I shudder to think of what will befall him and, by default, me in that period of time. Apart from crossing my fingers and toes - which makes doing anything very awkward - I am spending a lot of time visualising calm blue oceans! I fear it won't make any difference but hey at least it provides a distraction! Until next time my friends, I wish you a peaceful and Angus-free life :)

New beginnings

2011-02-07T17:27:00.004+11:00

Today I saw the future. It was a sea of blue and maroon, topped with a mixture of excited and/or anxious faces. This was one of the excited maroon ones :)

Yes today, Angus started high school, along with 272 classmates - he had a wonderful day and hasn't stopped talking about it yet - got to be happy with that!

Today is also wp sketch day. Here's my offering:

And would you believe I used some more rubons? Look here:

I'm on a rub and roll!! Ok, I apologise immediately for that terrible attempt at humour - made me laugh...

Thanks for stopping by :)

Rub it on

2011-02-06T08:08:00.004+11:00

I almost always start off the Challenge Heaven challenges by doing the sketch - this month was no different. It was a funky sketch by Heather Waldron and by some quirk of fate I already had the right number and size of photos printed.

While I was looking for the perfect embellishment (I never did find the one was after) I realised I had no less than one million packets of rubons in my stash. So, I decided to blow the dust off them (literally) and put them to work. I used some from three different packets so now I have 999 997 (is that right?!) packets left - if you'd like some rubons please let me know I'll happily send you a handful or three. I love how the Jenny Bowlin ones just slide right on and hate how the Kaiser one resist all attempts to be adhered.

Anyway, here it is, a rubbed on sketch LO:

And now I need your help! As you all know my skinny boy has a plaster that goes from one end of his arm to the other and it adds about a third again to his body weight - it's big lol. BUT the top of it is digging into his ribs and we can't come up with a suitable solution. We're not allowed to attach anything to the cast and short of strapping foam squares to his chest we're at a loss. He spends a lot of time with a cushion tucked under it (as the in the pic below) but that isn't going to cut it when he starts school tomorrow - I fear carrying a cushion around is tantamount to social suicide!

So, can you help? I'm looking for an innovative solution and any suggestions are welcome. I'd love to send you a RAK (maybe some dust-free rubons) to say thanks if you can help us out, my sanity is at stake :)

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for all your comments - you make me smile!

Show us your stuff

2011-02-04T09:04:00.003+11:00

Late last year Kerry started up a challenge blog called Show us your stuff. I've had all the best intentions about completing one of her challenges since then and now finally I have! Since Kerry is also on the DT over at wp, it's the monthly challenge there too. So, you can check it out in either place if you want to play along.

Anyway enough rambling, here's what I came up with. The criteria was the LO must be about love and feature a handmade heart. I also made the little green flower at the top of the pic using some twill. I've been using a lot of mist lately and without it this LO looked kind of empty but I forced myself to resist - sometimes too much mist is just that - too much!

I have no dramas to share with you today but I'm about to take Zoe to the dentist so that may all change...

Enjoy!

Of disasters and sketches

2011-02-02T19:05:00.009+11:00

What a week it's been! On Saturday evening Angus' friend lost his temper and whacked Angus on the elbow with a tennis racquet. He hit him hard enough to dislodge a fragment of bone and to fracture the humerus.

Angus has made two comments about this:
1. It's not funny to break your funny bone, and
2. Well, that's the end of that friendship.

I couldn't agree more! Poor kid has been in a backslab for a few days but today he got a fibreglass cast - hurrah he can shower again :) Here he is waiting for the cast to dry and then sporting his sling. Both of which are super hot (perfect for the stinking weather we're having) but still more comfortable than the backslab.

But wait! It's non-stop action in this house. Not to be outdone, on Monday the dog developed kennel cough and on Tuesday Zoe was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. This means the dog can't bark and Zoe can and does. Antibiotics for both of them, tea and sympathy for me - Rob is back at work this week and has been lucky to miss most of the drama.

Though to be fair it was Rob who took Angus to the hospital on Saturday night. While I waited at home I created this:

It's my take on the 1st February sketch over at Wicked Princesses. Look not a piece of patterned paper to be seen! And I finally managed to add a piece of knotted fabric without it looking ridiculous (or so I think lol).

Ok, that's enough whinging and moaning from me, onwards and upwards but please think a peaceful thought for me - it might just send a little bit of peace my way ;-)

But before I go I have to tell you about Kate's PinkiePinkie button sale. It's on at her blog this Friday night, 4th Feb. I love her buttons but have used all of my stash (check out my post - not dead just holidaying - if you want to see some in situ). I can't wait to buy up big on Friday night - you might want to be early if you want some too! Enjoy :)

mojo blast

2011-01-28T09:58:00.006+11:00

Over at wp some of the girls have misplaced their mojo. In attempt to get it home Krissy offered up a mojo starter challenge. It was a number challenge with a colour combo twist. Here's mine - a bedraggled beach babe lol.

And now a few Australia Day photos. Angus and his friend Bill dressed themselves in the best free gear the newspaper could offer and then got Zoe to draw on Merv Hughes moustaches using green and gold war paint. They of course had to do their bad boy pose for the photo!

Zoe decided to take the low-key option on patriotism this year and added a couple of stars to her arm - oh to be 14 and oh-so-cool lol.

I decided not to take yet more photos of the fireworks but I did snap these two pics while we waited for the big bang.

Enjoy!

New goodies

2011-01-26T16:04:00.003+11:00

Janina came over to scrap last night. She brought with her my Stampin' Up order (that I'd forgotten all about) and the latest Scarlet Lime kit - got love new scrapping goodies to get those creative juices flowing :) But since we hadn't caught up since before Christmas, scrapping was a bit thin on the ground. I finished one LO and she did one and a half!

Anyway, here's that LO - it's for Kerry's challenge for the wp cc. You had scrap about your goals for 2011 and include some green, a cloud, distressing and mixed alphas. My journalling is on the tag behind the pic, it says: It's ok to have dreams, plans are good too. But sometimes you have to stop dreaming and planning and just DO. 2011 is going to be my Nike moment (just do it).

I scrapped the third and final challenge for the wp cc today. Krissy challenged us to create a LO, based on her sketch, featuring our word for 2011. I had no idea what one word would sum up the direction my year is going to take but I really wanted to use this photo. Rob took it while we were at the coast so, I came up with the word enjoy. I figure that these kids will have grown up and flown the coop before I next blink so I'd better enjoy them while I can.

I had a lot of fun with this LO. I used my new Glimmer Mist sand and surf kit, some new Pink Paisley paper and some fab misting tips from Peg Hewitt to create the background. There are three different colours of mist on there (and on me and the dog).

I hope all you Aussies are enjoying your Australia Day - we're off to the fireworks later - fingers crossed the forecast thunderstorms don't roll in till after 9.30pm.

Catch you!

P.S. I have no idea why the words on my blog header look they way they do - I tried to fix them but failed...so, now I've decided to ignore them in the hope they revert to how I want them to look - stamping my foot didn't work either!

Not dead, just holidaying!

2011-01-24T20:42:00.004+11:00

Hello! It's been a while since my last post. Forgive me...

I've been sunning myself at the coast, actually the weather was mostly grey but, we had a blast. I'll be back to share pics and stories of our adventures another day, in the meantime here are two LOs as a sign of life :)

This one I did before I flitted off but failed to upload due to foul weather and holiday plans. For the DT challenge at WP - a LO using spots and stripes.

And for Kate's WP cc challenge.

Thanks for stopping by, I can confirm I have a pulse.

Not so hot...

2011-01-02T17:08:00.003+11:00

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, it doesn't matter what you do, a LO is destined for failure. I think this one of them. It was for the number challenge over at Challenge Heaven. My first mistake was deciding that the 4pps were in fact 4 photos - hmm, oh well I could work with that. Then I decided to use Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas and forgot that the adhesive doesn't stick so the title fell off again - ok so I fixed that with Pritt.

But then on reflection it looked kind of unbalanced so I decided to use the stitching template I bought a million years ago and have never used. Sounds simple right? Well, one of disadvantages of having a militant feminist for a mother (apart from the obvious of not being allowed to own a barbie doll) was that when I showed neither the aptitude or inclination to learn to sew as a child she didn't berate me but concentrated on my brothers acquiring that particular skill instead lol. The point of this story? Those swirly things were really hard to do!! And the LO still looked dodgy!

Hmm, if at first you don't succeed, add something else - how about some glimmer mist? Sure! Uh oh, the spray jammed and misfired to the side, resulting in me and one of the photos wearing the pink mist and then, to add insult to injury, the silly thing dripped all over the page.

So, here it is, my first LO of 2011 - I really hope the next one turns out better!

Happy New Year!

Another one

2010-12-29T11:47:00.004+11:00

My sister arrives today so that means a break in scrapping for a few days. But I squeezed in a LO this morning while Rob was out riding and the kids were out on their scooters (shh, don't tell them I enjoyed having the house to myself again).

It's for the Challenge Heaven sketch challenge. The photo I wanted to use wasn't of a very high quality so I upcycled one of Angus' Christmas cards to use as the main element of the sketch. I also used my Big Shot to emboss some Kraft scraps and then sprayed them with glimmer mist before punching some circles - I like the result :)

Thanks for stopping by - stay merry!

So, you think you're a Big Shot?

2010-12-28T14:40:00.009+11:00

So, Christmas has been and gone for another year. We had fun - hope you did too :) I'm now the proud owner of a Big Shot - fun, fun, fun! Not sure where it's going to live though, Rob says we have to get a new house to fit it in... Nice idea in theory but not terribly practical!

Things are pretty quite around here so I had a little play with my new toy and did a couple of LOs too. This one is for the DT challenge at Wicked Princesses - this month you had to scrap lift one of the DT Princesses so I chose a LO by Kate. You can see her original here. And this is my take. One of my NZ nephews - cheeky Finn.

And this one is for the Challenge Heaven word challenge - 'sunshine' and 4 patterned papers:

And here are a couple of happy snaps to celebrate the season :) First up the kids putting out food for Santa and the reindeer - beats me which one of them still believes, guess they were just humouring their parents!

The obligatory shots in front of the tree - complete with the animals - the cat doesn't look too pleased but that dog is having a ball (check out his Santa collar lol).

And of all the presents they received this $9 mini hair straightener was the one they used immediately!

Enjoy the rest of the festive season!

Presentations and Graduations

2010-12-16T16:49:00.006+11:00

The end of the year is rolling on. This week we've attended Zoe's Presentation Night and Angus' Year 6 Dinner Disco and Farewell Assembly. It's been a week of highlights and come tomorrow afternoon our long association with the primary school will be over - funny to think we won't be going back again...

So, some photos :)

At Presentation Night Zoe received awards for Excellence in Physical Education, Straight A Grades and, the big one that none of us saw coming (they don't cite the names in the program) was the Award for the Most Outstanding Student in Year 8. Here she is with her shield:

And with her very proud Grandma. Zoe got to bring the shield home overnight and she has a small trophy and a pile of certificates to keep.

It was wonderful to see all of her hard work being recognised - Rob and I are incredibly proud of her -I had a teary moment hearing her name and seeing her go out to collect her award.

Last night was Angus' Dinner Disco. He took me shopping for an outfit about a month ago - we went straight to Overboard this time! Here he is with more hair product than all the other boys put together!

Hanging with his posse before Dinner:

And posing with Bill:

He had a great night - the highlight of which was winning the air guitar competition!

Today we attended his final Assembly. This is the two year 6 classes - Angus is in the middle to the right of the very tall boy.

Getting his certificate:

And a photo opportunity with his fans :)

And that is the school year done and dusted!

Another Monday

2010-12-06T19:55:00.004+11:00

Monday seems to have swung around quickly!

So, what's new? Well, it's official I'm married to an Ironman. Yup, Rob romped it in - 13 hours and 37 minutes. Ok so maybe it wasn't a romp but an Ironman he is! WTG sweetpea :) Here he is with his race towel! It's only a little pic as he is WA and I'm here and his phone is ancient! But you can see he's still standing and smiling so, that's got to be a good thing.

So, what else happens on Mondays? Wp sketches that's what! Here's my take for this week:

To be honest I really don't like this photo. It makes me look like I have tuckshop arms :-O But it was taken on our 17th wedding Anniversary and that is worth celebrating and scrapping so, I did, fat arms and all!

Catch ya!

It's December

2010-12-03T18:32:00.004+11:00

And that means there is a new wp sketch. Here's my take:

You know how sometimes a LO makes you feel really happy? Well, I'm happy, cos this is one of them :) Shame the weather is so terrible - the photo is a bit dull - you'll have to imagine it brighter!

Have a wonderful weekend!

PinkiePinkie

2010-12-01T14:53:00.006+11:00

In just a few hours time my fabulous friend Kate will be launching her new venture. PinkiePinkie specialises in handmade buttons and I was lucky to receive some to play with pre-launch. Thanks Kate!

So far I’ve made two LOs using the buttons – they’re super cute and super versatile.

Check it out Mel, I used some more of your flowers too! Can you believe it’s almost a decade since my girl went to Preschool?

I did this LO for Challenge Heaven’s theme challenge about nicknames. Angus would love us to call him the King of Cool but we have to draw the line somewhere lol.

Don’t forget that PinkiePinkie’s launch is at 7.30pm tonight (ESDT). It’s going to be fun :)

Bad Sketchy Princess

2010-11-22T19:15:00.003+11:00

Gosh I have been slack - we're up to number four of this month's fabulous Wicked Princesses' sketches and I've only shared my first LO with you!

Remember to visit wp to check out each of the weekly sketches. I'd love to see one of your creations in the sketch gallery this month - don't forget there is a store voucher up for grabs :)

So here we go. Week two:

Week three:

Week four:

Check out that gorgeous little cupcake - you want one too? Then run to Mel's blog and check them and all of her other fab creations out - my prediction is she will be selling out fast but if you hurry she might just have some left...

Kraft It Up!

2010-11-21T09:35:00.003+11:00

This month the KIU challenge was decorative edges so I decided to have a go - what do you think? The super-cheesy expression on Angus' face cracks me up - he and that dog equal trouble!

Here's another LO I did at the retreat. It started out being for a challenge (I've forgotten which one) but it look on a life of it's own so now it's a 'just because' LO. I read an article ages ago about Stay-cations - hence the title. I'm sure I've mentioned how I love that Americans have to have a name for everything and if one doesn't exist they'll make it up. Well, stay-cation is one of those words... I enjoy a good stay-cation!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Just because

2010-11-11T22:32:00.005+11:00

Here are some more LOs that I did on the retreat. These ones are because I could - no theme, no comp - just for the sheer pleasure of scrapping :)

So that's everyone at the retreat. You can't really see it but in the top photo we're all wearing CAPA t-shirts with owls and motto 'who gives a hoot' :) That little owl was on my name tag - cute huh?!
Zoe makes the best mint choc-chip cupcakes!

Such a good looking dog - not sure he really likes his coat though...

Angus posing because I asked him too lol.

Now, if I told you I had still more retreat LOs to share would you believe me? Guess you'll just have to come back again to check ;)

Stuck

2010-11-10T22:40:00.003+11:00

After seeing all of Jasmine's fabulous creations using Stuck?! Sketches! I decided to play along too. Since this month's sketch was a 8.5x11 I made a LO for my Birthday album at this rate I might finish it before I hit the next five-year milestone. Anyway, I flipped the sketch as it worked better with this photo of Craig and I karaoke-ing our way through Summer Loving from Grease.

But wait! I still have oodles more LOs from the retreat to share with you! So please pop by again soon(ish) :)

Next!

2010-11-09T22:18:00.003+11:00

Okies these ones are for Challenge Heaven.

Word Challenge - 'remember' (and use distressing):

Sketch Challenge:

Number Challenge - use a number in your title and more than one pic:

A big thanks to Moi for the feather, flower and button!

Song Challenge - use the title of an 80s song and paint or glimmermist (oops forgot that bit - better go back and add some!!):

Stay tuned for my next exciting update lol ;)

My retreat pick

2010-11-08T21:36:00.004+11:00

I had the most fantastic time at the CAPA Retreat on the weekend and I got heaps of LOs done - 17 if I counted correctly! But for now I'm just going to share one. It's my take on the Get Picky inspiration challenge. I took my inspiration from the colours and circles.

How cool is that mega scallop punch? Thanks for letting me hog it all weekend Toni! Oh and just in case you fancy the bits and pieces I used here - it's the wp Hello Sunshine kit - I think this one is my all -time fav Krissy ;-)

I'll be back soon with some more LOs to share - thanks for stopping by :)

Monday sliding into Tuesday

2010-11-02T17:20:00.003+11:00

Ok, so I know that Tuesday is almost over too but never let the truth get in the way of a good story! And now, without further ado, here is my take on this week's wicked sketch:

No scrapping to be had this week as I'm off to a retreat on the weekend and I need to get my stuff organised. But that means this time next week I should be offering up an enormous show and tell ;-) In the meantime, have a good one!

Sketchie Monday

2010-10-25T19:25:00.004+11:00

Here's my offering for this week's wp sketch :)

Zoe and her friend Sarah, having fun after their Jazz band performed at the Parliament House Open Day.

And another Zoe LO - to even the balance as I've done a few Angus LOs of late :) This one is for the DT Challenge set by Kate at wp - scrap a LO using pink and neutrals to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This didn't turn out quite as I'd pictured and I really wish I hadn't outlined the alphas but the photos make me smile - it was funny when they appeared during a photo download :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Woo Hoo! Finally...

2010-10-22T16:35:00.003+11:00

Way back in June I posted this sneak of my LO for Bridge's blogging scrappy whispers:

And now at long last - the LO has been whispered to everyone and we're ready for the big blog reveal :) So, Elise whispered to me and I created this:

And then I whispered to Kathleen, so why not hop over to her blog and see what she created from my LO? I know I can't wait to see everyone's creations! So, if you want to start at the beginning you need to visit Bridge first. Happy hopping :)

Another wicked sketch

2010-10-21T19:57:00.004+11:00

Here's my take on Krissy's latest sketch:

Angus walked in the door after a bike ride and announced he'd fallen off in a puddle - Rob and I fell about laughing - must have been some puddle! (my journalling is on the tag).

If you'd like to have a go at the sketch too - pop over to Wicked Princesses :)

My other LO share is for this month's number challenge at Challenge Heaven - you had to use one of everything - I thought it would be a tough one until I saw a LO by the very talented Karen Grose, I was instantly inspired and this LO just fell into place - thanks Kazz!

I used the wp Sunshine kit with a gorgeous Purple Pumpkin felt flower button.

The Last Inspiration

2010-10-17T11:06:00.004+11:00

So, after six weeks the wp Inspiring Interiors comp has come to a close. Each week has offered something different and I've had a ball creating and seeing what the others have created. Kerry offered us the final inspiration in the form of this room:

I decided not to go with the bunting but to focus on the colours and simple lines of the room. Here's what I came up with:

There were two mini challenges during the comp too. One was to photograph either buttons or flowers in something around the house you wouldn't normally use to hold either of them. I popped some MVB in my Fijian carver bowl.

The other challenge was to choose an interior in your house and use it as inspiration to make a card. So, I chose my bedroom and made this card:

The only other thing I've scrapped during the past week is this LO using the second wp sketch for October. My MIL is the little girl on the right :)

Have a great week - happy scrapping!

Interior 5

2010-10-06T19:50:00.003+11:00

So here's the inspiration for week 5 of the wp Inspiring Interior comp:

The extra criteria was to use fabric. Here's what I came up with:

I did this after I'd had an argument with Zoe so even though this interior was lovely and calm, I was feeling anything but! So, I chose a calm photo and scrapped an important message for her to consider - you might have to click on the image so you can read it :)

Only one week left of this comp - might have to pull out all the stops for my last entry!

Doubling up

2010-10-04T14:47:00.009+11:00

It's been a busy few days. The 1st of the month heralded new challenges and a wp sketch :)

This is my take on it:

It's also school holidays here so, on Friday we took a drive out to the Cotter to view the construction work on the dam that supplies Canberra's water. It's being expanded from huge to truly enormous!

This pic shows the current dam wall and the monster trucks at work.

And this one shows the height of the new dam wall on the right - mind-boggling!

After morning tea at the beautiful Casuarina Sands we headed back into town to go to the movies.
While the rest of us were prepared to admire the icy water from a safe distance Angus had to get up close and personal. It was pure luck and the promise of the movie that kept him dry.

On Saturday I headed out to a charity craft day to raise money for kids with cancer. I had a great day. I let my hair down and scrapped a few 'just because' LOs. I even completed two double LOs something I haven't done for at least a thousand years. Photographing them was tricky but here you go. The first one is of my scrappy bus trip to Sydney:

This one is of Zoe and Angus picking up dog poo - something they love to do! Yeah right!! The expressions on their faces are priceless...

I also did this one about my favourite Spring thing to do - coffee at the Lake :)

And this is my favourite. Zoe dressed up for Book Week as a Cherub agent (child spy) from the series by Robert Muchamore.

I had to leave the craft day early to get to a surprise 40th Birthday Party. It was a fun night and the Birthday boy had no idea - it was fantastic seeing his face as he walked into the restaurant and saw everyone there, decked out in the colours of his football team (red and white for the Sydney Swans).

Sunday saw us entertaining two lots of out of town friends before I headed out to a scrappy Girls Night In. It was a fun night even if I only completed one LO while I was there. This one is for the theme challenge at Challenge Heaven - Birthdays, featuring a photo of a cake. This creation was my Birthday cake (also featured in my wp sketch LO above). Pandan cake - chosen and decorated by the kids.

Today we've been out for brunch and soon we're heading out to a barbecue - to be honest I need a rest, so I can only imagine how Rob feels as in between all of those activities he's ridden a total of 255 km!

But right now I off to walk the dog. The photos of me at the Cotter are particularly unflattering (which is why I haven't shared any). Those extra kilos I collected while recovering from my knee surgery are very obvious in Summer clothing - yuk! But with grit and determination they will soon be gone... and then you might see some pics of me lol. Ah vanity!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sweet Grunge

2010-09-28T13:54:00.004+10:00

I've completed another two LOs for Challenge Heaven for this month. This one is for the song challenge - Hush little baby - you also had to include pearls. I've wanted to scrap this photo for ages and this seemed like the perfect challenge :) Although the photo was a bit of a joke, Zoe's constant crying wasn't! The library card behind the pic holds the tale of her crying, our combined pain and the final diagnosis of severe reflux. I wanted the LO to be grungy to play on the earmuffs but not too rough as it was essentially a baby LO. When Jasmine saw this she coined the phrase 'sweet grunge'. I thought it was a perfect description and exactly the look I was hoping for - thanks Jas!

This next one was for the colour challenge – use purple and teal – and a decorative edge. Us in NZ back in March 2004.

And now for my wp Interior 4. Check out the inspiration Kirsty provided:

Cool huh?! And here is my take on it:

That little face belongs to my friend's gorgeous new son Ole Benjamin. He's wearing the designer beanie I gave him :)

Oh and in exciting news before I finish - I won a little prize for having the Purple Pumpkin button here on my blog! Thanks so much Sam - mwah!!

Catch you on the flipside ;-)

My latest interior

2010-09-21T17:22:00.011+10:00

I've fallen behind in my scrappy blogging - too busy babbling about other stuff lol.

So, the image for week two of the wp inspiring interiors comp was this gorgeous number:

The extra criteria was to use a photo featuring water. Here's my LO:

Week three saw me taking inspiration from this room:

Plus we had to use paint and stationary items. Here's my take:

Oh and in case you're wondering if Angus has taken up cross dressing, fear not, he developed a love of mascara whilst rehearsing for Wakakirri but I haven't noticed him wearing it post performance night ;)

Now for a wp sketchy update.

This is my offering for sketch number 3. I used the fabulous wp Beautiful Morgan kit for it:

And sketch number 4:

The title is game on and the journalling says: When we thought Angus' wouldn't be able to play rugby in 2010, we signed him up fora a referees' course. As it turned out he could play but, he still sat his test and became a junior ref. His first job was for the U9s and the coaches of both teams said he was tough but fair. Angus loved being a ref - particularly since he earned $20 per game.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Living in blogland

2010-09-21T08:50:00.003+10:00

The world of blogging is an interesting place. I started my blog quietly and many members of my extended family are still blissfully unaware of its existence. I've never linked it to my facebook page or even talked about it generally. Sure people visit – and leave wonderful blog love and my MIL is a regular and popular visitor, but I just never felt the need to ‘put it out there’.

I should have been more attuned to the butterfly effect of the worldwide web. My secret is out, one of my colleagues, whilst searching for a photograph of himself stumbled across my blog. This led to a conversation, overheard by others and suddenly news of blog was out.

I have always had great plans of writing witty or insightful commentary but usually I just end up posting my creations. On the weekend I suggested a friend start a blog instead of posting her every conscious thought as a status update on fb. To my surprise she started blogging the very next day! And, damn it, it her first post was indeed both thought-provoking and relevant. Serves me right really...

So, Andrew, I hope you've enjoyed this brief glimpse through the window into my life. Make sure you leave a comment :)

Citizenship Day

2010-09-17T13:14:00.005+10:00

Today is Australian Citizenship Day. I had no idea that such a day existed... But today I attended my very first Citizenship Ceremony. The Mpaso family invited me to come along and share their joy at becoming Australians. So, on this special day, I watched 17 special people from 9 different countries become Australians. I watched their joy and delight and felt very proud to be part of a country and a city that welcomed them to join those of us lucky enough to have been born here. There were smiles and tears - it was very moving experience.

So, here are my friends with Senator Kate Lundy:

And because no one can resist smiling, happy children, these guys were in hot demand with the media. One of the cameramen got the kids to hold an Australian flag while he photographed them and Ule (Aulee) discovered it had velcro and attached it around her neck. Sometimes there are occasions when draping yourself in the flag is just right!

The Mpasos came to Canberra, from Malawi, as part of the skilled migration program and little Kaboni was born here, I wonder if he'll be cross when he's older and discovers he didn't get a certificate today? But as his Dad says Boni is already true blue and has an even more important certificate to prove it :)

After the certificates were presented we all took part in a Citizenship Affirmation Ceremony. Another new experience for me. We pledged:

As an Australian citizen,
I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people,
Whose democratic beliefs I share,
Whose rights and liberties I respect, and
Whose laws I will uphold and obey.

These words hold no legal value, but they are important because sometimes it's good to stop and think about the rights we so often take for granted. Today I am proud to be Australian!