Journal of a Stamping Scrapper

Pink Weekend

2011-10-22T21:36:00.003+11:00

....happening @ Red Earth Scrapping until the 24th October.

Join in & support fundraising for the Cancer Council's Pink Ribbon Day by either buying some Pink Ribbon merchandise or some tickets in a fantastic raffle, tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5.

There are fun, games, challenges & chatting in the forum & on the Red Earth Scraping Facebook page, plus a 20% off sale in the shop.

My challenge for the weekend is an OTP, a photo fridge magnet. Check it out here.

Have a great weekend, it'll be mostly a beach day for us. Let's hope the wonderful sunny days continue for a bit longer!

Some cuteness....

2011-10-11T22:22:00.005+11:00

I took on a little challenge posted on FB the other day from Kristi @ My Scrap Chick to create a little project using a digi paper piecing pattern from the Kawaii Kid Snacks set. I got the little Ice Cream Sugar Cone to play with & made this little card also using some scraps from my CT pack from Red Earth Scrapping (don't forget to pop in there & have a go at the monthly challenges, have a chat in the friendly forum & maybe pick up a bargain or two from the shop)

& just a couple of piccies of the girls.

Firstly introducing their hermit crabs, names still being tossed around (thankfully because Mackenzie was calling her 2 Fluffy & Pillow......Pillow being the really big one!) & then Mackenzie had her soccer presentation over the weekend & now has another medal to add to her little collection & is very proud of her very first trophy. A cool one it is too, because the soccer ball flashes different colours!

Bye for now.

My October Challenge @ RES

2011-10-04T22:19:00.006+11:00

Check out the details in the forum.

October is PINK MONTH @ Red Earth Scrapping & once again this year Helen is supporting Pink Ribbon Day (supporting those affected by Breast Cancer) by selling merchandise & fund raising.

Why not stop by the shop & support this great cause.

Buy some tickets in the raffle & you could win this fantastic prize!

& our mini Masterchef has been let loose in the kitchen this week & let me tell you it was YUMMY!

& I ended up adding a little flag to my page from the previous post, it was feeling a little empty. Much happier with it now.

Hope you are all having a great week & thanks for stopping by.

Finally some scrapping

2011-10-03T00:51:00.008+11:00

....with me being at TAFE full time now & juggling everything else (with lots of help from my wonderful hubby, Craig, & a few great friends), my lovely little hobby of scrapping certainly has taken a back seat, actually probably back seat of a bus lately!

But with a week of holidays to go I'm hoping to create some more & with photos like these, I surely am not lacking in inspirational material.

Don't you just love Mackenzie's new smile! She persisted in pulling that tooth out on Friday night after we got home from our trip to Lismore, blood & all. She was so funny about it too, she said to Craig "I was in pain but I did it!" & she asked me "to sit & watch her smile"......LOL!

She's growing up so fast now, even though she's still tiny in size, in every other way she is very much a big girl!

Lily had her netball presentation recently too & did very, very well. She was nominated for Club Rookie of the Year as well as taking out the "Best & Fairest" award for her team. She was so thrilled & we are just so proud of her.

Now with winter sports over it's onwards once again to a summer of Nippers, hopefully without too many rainy Sundays like today, especially next week being the first official morning of the Nippers season & Mackenzie's soccer fun day (fingers crossed). Lily already joined in with board training a few weeks ago where she paddled all the way over to Lobster Beach from Ettalong boat ramp!

I was also lucky enough the other week to jump on an XPT & spend the day in Canberra with Gail & her hubby, David. We went to Floriade, up the Telstra Tower & to Parliament House, where embarrassingly I had to take off my boots to pass security to get in, as they set of the alarms!

My bed is definitely calling me....more catch ups & hopefully some more scrapping really soon.

Spring Sale at Red Earth Scrapping

2011-09-10T13:30:00.004+10:00

A message from Helen.......

Help! Spring fever has got me! I'm going crazy ...

crazy enough to have a SPRING SALE at Red Earth Scrapping. Yes, a SALE ...

20% off absolutely EVERYTHING in store!!!

Told you I was crazy, I do mean EVERYTHING ... but only until I get home from my retreat on Sunday night. Be quick and grab yourself a bargain while I'm away :) No code required, just go shopping and enjoy!

May the 4th be with you

2011-05-04T21:43:00.012+10:00

.....bad Star Wars joke, but it comes around but once a year!

Just a couple of new creations to share from my April CT from RES. Have really, really loved the Pink Paislee/ House of Three Daily Junque papers.

& don't forget to pop on over to Red Earth Scrapping & join in the comp that will have us scrapping all over the countryside.

There's going to be tons of fun & lots of prizes up for grabs along the way as well as 12 fantastic challenges. Keep checking the forum for more clues in the lead up as it all begins officially on June 1st!

Pink Paislee/ House of Three {Daily Junque}

2011-04-29T23:25:00.005+10:00

Just posting some of my April CT creations after an evening spent enjoying the pomp & ceremony of the Royal Wedding.

Loved the fantastic patterns, images & colours of these papers. Just so perfect for creating cards & L/Os for any occasion. You can buy them as a pack in the Red Earth Scrapping shop here.

On the home front, the girls went back to school yesterday so normal programming has resumed including of course making lunches, uniforms, violin lessons & sports (hopefully if the rain stays away long enough....lol!)

I've also got myself another job interview lined up for next week, after missing out on a canteen job at a local school a couple of weeks back. Not too sure about this upcoming one though, it definitely has it's perks but on the downside the limitations could potentially outweigh the small financial gain. For now I'm going to make the most of the interviewing experience that I will gain regardless of the outcome.

Thanks for stopping by & wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Some RES creating

2011-04-19T21:34:00.010+10:00

In March I was sent some of the Little Yellow Bicycle "Twig" range of papers & embellishments to use. Honestly at first I kind of freaked. I've definitely always been one of those "blue & green should not be seen, unless there's a colour in between" people, not to mention having 2 girls my normal colour choices lean much more towards pinks & reds than a large amount of green.

So I shuffled the papers about for a few days & it was when I found the "perfect photo" that everything just came together & I have to say I really love the result. I loved in particular having lots of leaves & birdies to cut up & use. Thanks so much Helen, for yet another wonderful CT kit & for getting me out of my creative comfort zone.

Here's a couple of close ups too.

Then I went on to make a couple of little gift cards & decorate a brown paper bag for Easter as well.

You can find papers & embellishments from the LYB "Twig" range in the Red Earth Scrapping Shop where coincidently there's going to be a 20% off Easter sale from Friday 22nd - Tuesday 26th April!

School holidays are flying by, Lily & Mackenzie are having a great time. Today they went for a big day out at Niagara Park, participating in an Indoor Multi-Sports day and had a blast. Lily loved the wheel chair basketball most & Mackenzie, well her favourite activity is which ever one she's telling us about at the time...lol!

I'm headed out to a card class tomorrow night in Penrith with Jenny. The kids & I will get to enjoy a couple of nice autumn days in the Mountains. Hopefully I'll get lots of scrapping done & am really looking forward to catching up with a few other Mountains friends that I haven't seen for a few years since we've been up here. Really looking forward to creating in the company of others too, it's really been a while!

Looking forward to the 5 day weekend too, lots of fun things planned & lots of family time for the 4 of us....life is good!

I'll finish of with a bit of a riddle for you "What do you get if you cross Red Earth Scrapping with a Road Map?"..........check out the forum to find out.

Wishing you all a fabulous Easter in advance (just in case I don't get a chance for another post) & thanks for stopping by. Take care xx

We were here.......

2011-04-13T22:54:00.006+10:00

@ Avoca Beach to witness the Ex HMAS Adelaide being scuttled. After a 90 min delay due to a large pod of dolphins frolicking in the exclusion zone, the whole event took less than 1 minute. There were a few bangs, some fireworks, a big puff of smoke & then it was quite surreal to see this huge ship disappear into the ocean.

Monthly Challenge Time.

2011-04-04T14:38:00.004+10:00

With the theme for the month of April at Red Earth Scrapping being paints, inks & mists, I decided to make mine a technique challenge & chose "Emboss Resist". It's such a simple but effective technique, perfect for card making.

Check out my instructions & the challenge criteria here

& here are my samples. The background on this first card is entirely "emboss resisted" & then decorated.

The second one only has "emboss resisting" done for the word "Love". The rest of the background was made by misting using a piece of lace paper as a mask.

Bye for now.

Red Earth Cybercrop is underway

2011-03-20T20:38:00.005+11:00

this weekend right up til midnight on Wednesday the 23rd March, so why not stop by & join in the fun!

This month's theme is "Inspiring Women" so if you have that special someone you look up to, have learnt from or just plain thankful to have in your life these are the challenges for you & with some fabulous prizes up for grabs, what could be better?

Here's my sample page & card for my 2 part challenge

& this is my photo for the 2nd photography challenge, frangipanis in our back garden.

Really happy with how soft & pretty it came out, straight out of the camera, no editing & using all manual camera settings.

Helen's got a whole bunch of new stock arriving including lots of gorgeous Prima, G45, Echo Park, Bo Bunny, Little Yellow Bicycle, Webster's Pages & Basic Grey.

Check out her fantastic Red Earth Scrapping Shop for all your scrapping needs.

Thanks for stopping by.

What we've been up to.......

2011-03-20T17:15:00.006+11:00

We had a little break away the other week when we headed up to Kingscliff for the 2011 NSW Nippers State Titles. Lily competed really well in all her events & we are so proud of her for getting in & having a go. The waves were certainly a fair size larger & alot more rough than the normal surf we experience around here & she managed to get out & around the cans & back in successfully in both the swim & board races, massive rips & all!

After a night in Coffs Harbour, we spent the morning having the most fantastic time interacting with the animals at Pet Porpoise Pool. Afterwards we continued on to Hastings Point where we set up camp for the week. It was really a mixed bag of weather for the week with lots of rain, which made staying in a tent that bit more fun....LOL (not)....but still a bit of sunshine during the day to dry ourselves out.

We caught up with some of Craig's mates as well which was great & I managed to win a fantastic meat tray in a raffle at Seagulls Leagues Club when we went out for dinner one night with Brad (an old school mate of Craig's) & his mum. The kids also got in a swim at Broadbeach on the way to Tracey & David's up on the Gold Coast. It was fantastic to catch up with them again & to visit them in their beautiful new home.

The nippers competition was on over the weekend from Friday to Sunday & Lily competed in a few events each day including flags, the swim, the board, sprints & then finishing off on Sunday with the March Past.

On the way home we stopped at Coffs Harbour again, this time it was sunny, so the kids got to have a nice swim in the beautiful harbour whilst I took some photos. Can't believe in all the years of travelling up & down the coast I'd never actually seen more of Coffs than The Big Banana!

Thought I might pop in a couple of pages from a few weeks ago for a comp that was running at Scrapz. I didn't have the time to get right into the swing of the whole thing but I was happy to get the 2 pages done, after all any scrapping is good scrapping!

Some scrapping & random happenings

2011-02-16T13:44:00.008+11:00

This 1st one is for Linda's sketch challenge for February using a "Stuck Sketch"

We're focusing on different journaling tips & ideas in February, so I've tried to be a little bit different on each page, even got out a stamp set which I really love but I'm sure hasn't seen daylight in a very long time for my 1st page to stamp the words above the row of photos.

This one is my sample page for my challenge this month, to use the lyrics of a song for inspiration but change the words to suit the theme of the page. I went with the all time classic "Singin' in the Rain" I got to use lots of the lovely October Afternoon Seaside range this month, which you can buy here

& this page is using some more of my CT kit, this time with the Prima Fairy Flora Collection, which can be found here

I added some simple journaling detail in alpha stickers. I really didn't want to clutter the page with an extra journaling but I really wanted to show off the beautiful journaling cards on my page, so I've used them as co-ordinating embellishments.

I've also had a bit of luck on the 2 challenge sites I entered last month which I'm really stoked about.

This is how we will be spending our winter Saturday mornings.

Mackenzie got her 1st Merit Certificate for the year last week. What a great start for her!
Hope you are all having a great week & thanks so much for stopping by.

1st Day of School for 2011

2011-01-31T21:12:00.002+11:00

Out in the backyard with Buster before school.

I met an online friend.......

2011-01-30T22:40:00.007+11:00

in person for the very 1st time today!

Craig, the girls & I drove out to the Huntley Berry Farm out near Orange to meet Helen (from Red Earth Scrapping) & her gorgeous kiddies. Then we went to the Adventure Playground for a picnic lunch. That really is the most amazing park, built by the local community. It was such a fun day & it really was great to meet Helen & have an actual "untyped" conversation with her!

Here's a collage of some of the photos I took on the day.

In the morning we stopped off at Chapel Hill (where Craig & I were married 11yrs ago) to show the kids, snuck in for a bit of a peek & some photos. Of course we had to detour through Bathurst & complete a few laps of the V8s circuit @ Mt Panorama on the way home as well.

And Mackenzie was in true beach babe spirited fine form as well....after a full day of heat & sunshine she asks that if we find a beach can we stop for a swim!

Happy Australia Day

2011-01-26T10:45:00.002+11:00

Wishing everyone a fantastic day to celebrate our wonderful nation's special day! Hope you have good one, however you celebrate.

We're off to BBQ & party with friends on different ends of the coast & I'm thinking sometime in the day we'll be needing to stop off at a beach somewhere for the kids to cool down because it's a stinker, hot & humid....YUCK!

So from our family to yours' Happy Australia Day!

A bit a creating & some chicken pox

2011-01-17T23:57:00.009+11:00

These are my creations for the first two missions for the Scrapz "Biggest Loser", it's all a bit of fun to use up some stash & have a bit of a tidy up at the same time. Pretty happy with my creations as they were made up of scraps.

& not really what you want in school holidays but somehow the girls have managed to have a holiday reminiscent of 2 years ago & come down with another infectious illness.....yes, chicken pox, this time! Mind you, neither of these girls had a single full day off school last year Poor little monkeys have been so itchy but they are both well on the road to recovery & non contagiousness.

Here's a photo of each of them with their spots already healing up & suitable for blog viewing...lol!

Thanks to everyone for all the get well wishes for them too, we really appreciate them xx

Hope you all have a great week!

RED EARTH SCRAPPING CT COMP NEWS

2011-01-17T23:44:00.005+11:00

The search for a new CT member for 2011 has started with Helen posting the first of the 2 challenges:

Your challenge is ... to create any papercrafting project of your choice using the RED EARTH SCRAPPING banner logo as your inspiration. You can take a little, or a whole lot of inspiration from it and interpret it any way you chose. Let your creative genius shine through.

Upload photos of your entry in the designated gallery by midnight 21st January - entries after this time will not be considered.

Check out the forum for the rest of the criteria & have a go. It's a great, friendly place to hang out with a fabulous, well stocked shop, awesome service, lots of great conversation & inspiration a plenty!

Scrap the girls challenge

2011-01-10T00:23:00.003+11:00

The 1st one I've done in quite a while, I keep forgetting & with 2 girls of course I could never run short of girly ideas!

The theme is:

Summer Loving - Scrap your favourite summer memories or moments (girls only!)

& here's my entry, pictures of Mackenzie with snow cones & her face painted, two of her favourite summer things & of course favourites of mine to photograph!

Thanks for stopping by & hope you all had a great weekend.

2nd L/O for 2011

2011-01-05T21:47:00.011+11:00

Not doing too badly for 5 days into the New Year!

Lily was really lucky to get to meet her favourite author, Andy Griffiths, last year @ Berowra Library. He had all the kids in stitches (& the adults too) reading from his latest book "The Very Bad Book" & just generally chatting to the kids about writing. She also got her own copy of the book autographed.

So anyway, whilst blog hopping (specifically from one of my faves scrappers Kim Jeffress' blog) I came across the "Show Us Your Stuff " challenge blog & saw the latest sketch challenge, which I thought was perfect to scrap a couple of Andy Griffiths photos. The clouds are my handmade element, they are Papertrey die cuts.

Here's my L/O, with a sheer base it was definitely a little tricky to get a good photo. Might also be a little hard to tell but the big cloud is glittery, I cut it from "jak" paper & sprinkled some SU! Dazzling Diamonds on top. The smaller cloud is cut out of felt.

Also if you're after some big savings, fun challenges & even a chance at a Creative Team position, go check out Red Earth Scrapping ....there's definitely heaps going on over there to kick start a very, happy, scrappy 2011!

1st layout of the year

2011-01-04T00:59:00.004+11:00

& some scrapping from Lily.

She made herself a momento of her 9th birthday party @ Avoca Lake using the cute little Kid's Accordian Album kit Helen is selling at Red Earth Scrapping, which she got for her birthday.

This my page for Challenge 1 in the "Happy Scrappy New Year" competition currently on at Red Earth.

1st day of a new decade

2011-01-01T23:48:00.004+11:00

A couple of photos we took from our fantastic Mc Mahons Point waterfront vantage point. It was the first time Lily & Mackenzie had seen the New Years fireworks live in Sydney.

Happy New Year to all my online friends.

Our christmas card photo

2010-12-25T23:10:00.004+11:00

Some random December happenings

2010-12-25T22:28:00.006+11:00

Lily performed with the Mini Strings Ensemble at the end of year Strings Dept concert for the Conservatorium they day after we went to the V8 Supercars (no sleep in either as that Sunday was also a Nippers pointscore day!)
Here's a collage of snaps from the V8s & Guns n Roses. Wasn't selective with whose cars were left in out of Holden or Ford. We volunteered to collect donations for Surf Lifesaving Australia.....gold coin for a hat. That's how we got in on the day & why I was wearing those patrol clothes

The following weekend was the opening of the Peninsula Precinct Recreation area, where Lily was lucky enough to perform with the school choir as part of the official celebrations on the day. Everyone had lots of fun. Later on that evening we went back down to the oval for the Carols by Candlelight. What a fantastic asset this place is to our area. We've definitely been spending lots of time there since.

Some photos from U2, which we were lucky to have it to, after snapping the timing belt in my car on the way (another long & expensive story, culminating in getting home at 3.15am)

& some photos from Bon Jovi, great concert & a fun night out with Lily. What a week!

School's out for summer!

2010-12-15T23:57:00.006+11:00

Both girls got fantastic reports & both also received awards for their efforts & achievements throughout the year @ their Presentation Days

Lily received the award for "Consistent Effort" for her class & also a "Premier's Reading Challenge Gold Award" (for completing the challenge for 4 consecutive years......funny thing is that there has been a different Premier for each year of the challenge she has undertaken!)

Lily also performed with both the recorder group & the choir as well. We're very proud of her & all she achieved & learned this year. She's had the most wonderful school year with Mr Jackson as her teacher. I'm sure she'll miss him, as eager as she is to find out who her teacher will be in 2011.

Unfortunately we never did get around to taking a photo of her banner on the day because she received it with her name spelled incorrectly. It has taken pride of place in the TV unit in the lounge room now though.

Mackenzie received the Citizenship Award for her class, which really is outstanding as she is one of the youngest & also the smallest in her class. She has a very caring & compassionate nature which doesn't take long at all for people to see. It was definitely a very beautiful & proud moment seeing her up on stage having that recognised so publicly. Mackenzie also received an award for completing Kindergarten & her first Premier's Reading Challenge. The Kindy kids put on a fantastic Christmas performance also.

And so ends the Kindergarten stage for our family..... forever! Mrs Charles was a wonderful first teacher for both the girls, hopefully somewhere in the next few years, they get the opportunity to be taught by her again sometime.

Onwards now to Year 4 for Lily & Year 1 for Mackenzie in 2011.

9 years ago today

2010-11-18T22:18:00.005+11:00

Lily was born. She is growing into such an amazing & talented girl of who, we are so very proud. Happy 9th Birthday beautiful girl.

These photos are from her special day, she managed to even fit in a game of touch footy. I love how she's still sleeping with her very favourite soft toy, Funshine, her Care Bear.

& this is her using her "big" present, her very own foam Nippers board @ Copacabana (what a brave girl she was too, the waves & swell were massive at this carnival)

This lot of photos was taken @ Aqua Fun at Avoca Lake where we celebrated her birthday with some of her friends. It was such a fun party!

Last photo as an 8 year old

2010-11-17T23:17:00.005+11:00

Tomorrow our big turns 9!

Hard to believe that time has gone by so fast. I had to take one last photo of her before her big day & a lovely one it is at that.

WOO HOO Premiers for 2010 !!!!

2010-10-03T21:30:00.009+11:00

The mighty Dragons have finally, finally done it!

31yrs since their last competition win (as the St George Dragons) & 11yrs since they made the Grand Final as a joint venture, where Craig & I sat amongst the capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium, eventually seeing them lose to the Melbourne Storm (that was shattering....lol!).

Today's game was a ripper, after a close 1st half, the Dragons stepped up a notch which the Roosters could not match or keep up with & ran away convincing winners with a 32-8 scoreline.

Awesome skill, discipline & patience shown under very wet & miserable conditions with such a fantastic result for a champion team!

I LOVE MY TEAM!!!

*Photos from SMH website

Where to begin when your memory is blah........(lol!)

2010-09-20T21:57:00.010+10:00

It's been a while between updates & I've kind of forgotten most of the goings on of late. Really looking forward to next week when we can all wind down for a bit over the school holidays. Can't believe Mackenzie's year of Kindy is 3/4 over already!

One thing I can't possibly forget is that Lily did awesomely well in all aspects of the NAPLAN tests & we are so proud of her.

& look what arrived for me the other day, courtesy of a giveaway from Steph @ My Little Bit of Whimsy. How lucky was I!!! Thanks so much Steph. I love them all, they are just so gorgeous.

The cute little purple birdie has already found a new home on one of my pages from the weekend's cyber cropping @ Red Earth Scrapping.

These are the last of my creations using the September Mini Kit.

The next few piccies are for Red Earth's 1st Cybercrop held over the weekend. Challenges need to be posted by Wednesday midnight to be in the running for some great prizes, so why not stop by & have a go!

This photo was for Helen's photography challenge & the cards below are my samples for my challenge, Challenge 1. Love those Echo Park papers.

I created this one for Mistra's challenge

then this one is for Helen's sketch challenge using one of Stuck's sketches which Red Earth Scrapping is sponsoring this month too & is where the cute little purple birdie now lives.

& last but not least, is my Round 6 entry for Scrap that Ad @ Scrapz. Thoroughly enjoyed that competition & hanging out to see who the winners will be, after Heike experienced some unexpected technical hitches with the site last week.

Take care & wishing you all a very lovely week.

Looking for some scrapping fun & challenges......

2010-09-09T22:20:00.003+10:00

Mark your calendar to join us for 6 days of wonderful challenges, plenty of chat and of course loads of PRIZES up for grabs too, including shop vouchers!!!

Bring a friend ... or 3 and let's celebrate SPRING and our love of all things papercrafting together.

Keep checking the forum HERE for all the hints and updates.

Red Earth Scrapping Creations

2010-09-08T23:40:00.004+10:00

......for September.

Firstly using some of the very lovely My Mind's Eye "Pretty" range

& then the Mini Kit, a massive bargain for just $9. I've made 2 L/Os & some cards (which I'll share another day) & still have some usable scraps left over!

Thanks for stopping by & leaving such lovely comments too. I really appreciate them & they do brighten my day!

Hope you are all having a great week.

It was a Happy Father's Day

2010-09-05T22:26:00.008+10:00

.......for Craig & the girls which is the main thing (not so much weather-wise & I unfortunately had a tummy bug)

Lily & Mackenzie spoilt their Daddy with the special pressies from the stall at school & their own handmade creations. It was mainly an indoor day with very strong winds blowing a gale. A fallen tree took out the power lines in the next street which luckily didn't affect us.

They also took Craig out for a lovely chinese dinner, which they all loved & brought me home some fried rice for lunch on Monday. It was yummy, seems the local may have either had a change of management of at least a new chef. In the 4 years we've been here I pretty much have avoided chinese because none of the local restaurants were as good as the ones we used to go to in Sydney. We still drop in at our favourite on the way back up to the Central Coast occasionally after visiting friends or family in Sydney.

Anyway I digress, here's a piccie of the three most important people in my life, enjoying each others company & a hug on the lounge after a great day together.

Here's Mackenzie with her awards for her excellent public speaking. She has just blossomed so much since starting school this year.

On Friday night Lily & headed out to Berowra Library to meet Andy Griffiths, she absolutely loves his books. A bit too much poo, wee & other gross stuff for me but so funny just the same. He certainly has a fantastic personality, his talk was quite entertaining for everyone. Even though our girl is quite a girly girl, she does have that "just one of the boys" side to her as well which probably makes her quite well rounded but honestly I never thought having 2 girls that we'd be reading books called "The Day My Bum Went Pyscho", "Just Stupid" & of course his new one (which she had autographed) "The Very Bad Book".....lol!

& here is my Round 5 entry for Scrap that Ad @ Scrapz, a bit of a challenge to scrap myself again. This round was based on the very famous Dove ad from a few years ago.

I'll be publishing this post several days after Father's Day but I did want to record everything around Father's Day, time just has not been on my side & in the meantime poor Craig picked up my bug. He's on the mend now & hopefully we've gotten it out of the house!

Creating, creating, creating......

2010-08-29T16:44:00.010+10:00

This is my page for Helen's weekly challenge from a couple of weeks ago. It was a sketch challenge, but the tricky part was to scrap yourself, can't say I've ever done terribly much of that!

Pretty happy with how it turned out. The photo is actually a photo of a newspaper article I had in the local paper, some 16yrs or so ago, when I was an apprentice painter/ decorator & was nominated in the NSW Training Awards.

How good does this next piccie look?

Well it's the Red Earth Scrapping September Mini Kit, which is going on sale in a couple of days for just $9! Perfect if you've got autumn photos that need scrapping. There's also plenty of little bits & pieces to make some great cards too. I'll be sharing my creations in a few days.

The next couple of pages I created for the Red Earth Scrapping Election Scrap-a-thon last weekend.

And these last 3 pages are my entries for Rounds 2-4 of Scrap that Ad @ Scrapz.biz. I'm having so much fun with these challenges at the moment. The next one is due to be posted in the forum tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing which ad Heike has chosen this time!

These photos were taken last weekend when we visited the Australian Reptile Park @ Somersby. We were lucky enough to have been given a family pass by some friends & it made for a fantastic impromptu family day out!

In other "kid news", both Lily & Mackenzie presented their "If I were....." speeches to their class this week & both went over quite well which is very pleasing. So proud of them both for getting up & having a go.

Lily chose to pretend she was a photographer & planned a trip around the world with various destinations of sites she'd love to see & things she'd love to do, including visiting the pyramids in Egypt, an animal safari in Africa & climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Mackenzie chose to be a "Masterchef" & described how to make ladybird cupcakes!

Lily also received a merit card for "producing quality work at all times" on Friday which we're off course very proud of too.

I also a little stroke of luck (after a stroke of very bad luck.....lost a very expensive & sentimental earring earlier in the week), my name was drawn out at the My Little Bit of Whimsy giveaway. How cool is that! Thanks so much Steph.

Thanks for stopping by & for checking out this monster post. I'm off to have some lovely brushcetta for dinner.

Get ready to scrap @ Red Earth Scrapping

2010-08-19T23:28:00.007+10:00

This is what Helen has got going on over the weekend @ Red Earth Scrapping, so pop on over & join in the fun with us............plus there's a sale! (& who doesn't love a bargain)

Sick of hearing about the up coming federal election? Sick of the media hype and constant polls and debates?

I know I am ... so on Saturday, once you've played your part in Australia's political history by casting your vote, you can forget ALL ABOUT the election ... and think about SCRAPPING!!!

If just scrapping isn't incentive enough, how about some goodies and vouchers to help get the mojo flowing this weekend?

Here's what's on offer ...

MME Combo Pack of your choice - these are the new release CHA ranges and have arrived in store TODAY

Prima Flowers

Green Tara Flowers

And the big one ... an election day only SALE!!! Stay tuned for details about this one

How do you win these goodies?

1. Scrap up a storm this weekend - Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd August. Upload all your layouts or cards or off-the-page creations to the gallery by midnight (your local time) Sunday.

You will receive 1 entry in the draw for each layout etc you upload.

Please ensure your layouts/cards/projects are created this weekend only (see the competition guidelines).

2. Place an order any time between Friday 20th - Monday 23rd and for each dollar spent you will receive 2 entries in the draw.

Keep your eyes peeled for details of the SALE

3. Introduce a friend to Red Earth Scrapping - your friend needs to register as a member any time between Friday 20th - Monday 23rd and you will receive 1 entry in the draw for each friend who registers.

Please e-mail me with the names of your friends you invite so when I approve their registration I can be sure to put your entry in the draw. Your friends will also receive an entry in the draw, and they can earn more entries by participating in the above activities.

So are you READY TO SCRAP?

It is sure to be waaaaay more exciting than an election, surely!

*** Helen ***

My Blog "Musings & Memories" www.countryscrapper.blogspot

Spaghetti bolognocchi.......

2010-08-10T17:36:00.010+10:00

that's what Mackenzie named our dinner last night, it's made me giggle all day!

Craig's not a fan of gnocchi so he had the spaghetti with meatballs version of bolognase thus causing the conflict with what our's was actually called...lol.

The things she comes out with are so funny & cute sometimes & generally I forget to write them down.

Actually whilst I'm talking about Mackenzie, I should mention that today she had some of her artwork displayed in the school newsletter. Another piece of Kindy memorabilia to keep for her!

(she's not actually a child prodigy artist by the way, she did however draw the emu's neck under it's head, which was drawn by a teacher I'm assuming & then she painted the whole picture, which is kind of hard to tell from the B&W copy shown)

This is another thing that made me smile yesterday, our first daffodil of the season. Spring can't be far away, although today's weather definitely has been the polar opposite to the last few days, so who can tell! Funny how some bug has beaten me to see it too, seems you have to quick around here.

Helen has put up some very enticing sneak peeks of some upcoming classes at Red Earth Scrapping. Mistra's class will be in October & she'll be using this divine prettiness to work her magic.

& Penny Hackney will be using this lovely & bright collection for her class in November. I can't wait!

& last of all, this is my entry for Round 1 of the Scrap that Ad competition currently running at Scrapz. Go & check it out, as with all of Heike's competitions you can join in at any time. The criteria she chooses & challenges she sets are always so fun.

Reposting this for a fantastic giveaway at My Little Bit of Whimsy. Thought I might try my luck, you just never know & everything there is just so cute.

Vacation Alert! & Super Duper Whimsy Giveaway

Hi Whimsy Folks!!!
Vacation officially begins today and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it! I will be away from the shop between August 8th-15th and any orders placed during this time will be shipped out August 16th :) The shop is up to date, so feel free to place your orders while we are enjoying the foot-loose and fancy free week ahead! hehe
I thought it would be appropriate to have another Whimsy Giveaway while we are away, with many chances to win! See below:

- Be a follower of this blog (= 1 entry)
- Post this on your blog with a link back to here. (= 2 entries)
- Be a "Fan" on Facebook (= 1 entry)
- Send out a Facebook referral to the Whimsy Fan page to your friends (= 2 entries)
*So if you do all 4 of these, you have 6 chances to win! Yay!
Leave a link on this post with your entry details and I will draw a name when we return from vacation!
I've been spring cleaning in the shop, so this giveaway will be a doozy!!!
Have a wonderful week :)
Steph
xo

My turn for a weekly challenge @ RES

2010-08-09T13:54:00.009+10:00

Go & check it out here

A nice & easy one to start off, but a way to get some downwards movement in the "stash department" just the same.

The criteria for this challenge is to: Using only scraps, create a shaped card, include a handmade embellishment & to use an oval shape.

Here's the certificate I received last week at the 2010 Central Coast Public Education Awards. Got to say I am most thrilled with it, there's been an abundance of volunteer hours that have contributed to the honour of receiving that award.

Wishing you all a lovely week & as always thanks so much for stopping by!

School Open Day

2010-08-03T23:06:00.008+10:00

Some of Lily's work

& in Mackenzie's classroom

Also the shoes Mackenzie & I made for the Book Week display in the school library. Here's a link to the template we used.

"Red Earth Day"

2010-08-01T17:11:00.010+10:00

Today Helen officially opens the "cyber doors" of Red Earth Scrapping for trading! Go & check it out, there's a grand opening SALE on for today only plus lots of other games & things going on in the forum to mark the occasion.

Above are the cards & L/Os, I've made using the Fancy Pants "Like Father, Like Son" range for my first CT creations @ Red Earth Scrapping.

Lily & Mackenzie got their school photos back last week too, so here they are in a little collage. It's hard to believe Mackenzie is already 1/2 way through Kindergarten & I'm sure Lily would love Year 3 to go on indefinitely as she absolutely has loved having Mr Jackson as her teacher this year.

Can't finish off with out wishing all horses everywhere a collective "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" & I hope lots of people everywhere went out & planted trees today too!

A couple of sneaky peeks

2010-07-28T11:35:00.013+10:00

of what I've created with my first Red Earth Scrapping kit.

some cards
& some L/Os

If you're thinking about making your own Father's Day cards or just want to scrap some masculine pages the Fancy Pants "Like Father, Like Son" range may be just what you need.......& Helen's going to have it in her shop!

Actually, here's the message from Helen currently on the home page of Red Earth Scrapping

Welcome to Red Earth Scrapping!
Join us this Sunday, 1st August, to celebrate the opening of our site and shop. Apart from freebies, fun and games there will be a SALE ... but you will need to know the code to put in during check out. Check out the site on the weekend to get the code - make sure you let all your scrappy friends know about our exciting day and of course, the SALE.

The grand opening competition is also in its last days so you still have time to get your entries in for your chance to win a $30 shop voucher and other prizes - there is lots happening already in our gallery so please share your papercrafting with us too.

Can't wait to see you all some time during Sunday as we officially launch Red Earth Scrapping!!! I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you all.

Back to me again, I got a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday. Actually two surprises! No bills either so it was a great mail day!!!!

Firstly, I received a RAK from the lovely Tiff Sawyer for being the Twiddleybitz Ning site's 300th member. Lots of lovely chippie bits, thanks so much Tiff & Twiddleybitz!

And then on a more personal level (away from scrapping....lol), I received a letter that I'll be receiving a Central Coast Public Education Award next week for my contributions to the ongoing support of students at the school. Got to say I'm pretty chuffed with that. Craig & the kids think it's pretty cool too!

Thanks for dropping in & I hope you are having a great week.

Get ready........August 1st is only a few days away

2010-07-27T13:56:00.017+10:00

& marks the official opening of the lovely, Helen Kinsela's own scrapbooking store & forum,
RED EARTH SCRAPPING (your online home for all things papercrafting).
I'm still so chuffed to have been asked to join her CT & to have helped her a little along the way to getting Red Earth Scrapping up & running.

Come on & join in the fun & chatting.

Helen has planned some great competitions, weekly challenges & giveaways to get the "party" started.

Mistra & I have also been creating our first creative team projects which will also be revealed on August 1st.

I've been using the fantastic Fancy Pants "Like Father, Like Son" range to create some Father's Day cards & masculine themed L/Os & it's been so much fun & so very different to the mostly girly coloured & themed pages I usually scrap!

I'm sure Helen must be so very excited to have her dream so close to coming to fruition & I'm very excited for her & for what is to come.

Definitely do drop by & check it all out

Last of the school holiday fun

2010-07-19T21:53:00.004+10:00

When the sun finally did come out to play we went out & made the most of it.

These photos were taken along our walk from Patonga to home via Pearl & Umina Beaches.

Once we climbed up just over 1km of steps, we were greeted with some breathtaking views which were even more spectacular at the Warrah Trig lookout a bit further along the trail.

Lily & Mackenzie did so well to walk the whole way!

A few more photos

2010-07-13T21:42:00.004+10:00

I thought whilst the World Cup was still fresh in my mind I'd post some recent photos of Mackenzie in her little German outfit my dad brought back for her on one of his trips to his homeland. Very cute even though she's a little Aussie through & through!

I made a card for a birthday party Lily & Mackenzie went to today at the local pools. They had a great time swimming, playing around & catching up with lots of school friends. I used Kerryn's criteria for this week's Noteworthy challenge at Scrapz.

It's raining again, hopefully just over night so we can go for a walk to the beach or something tomorrow. Looking forward to a visit from Nat & her kids in the morning.

Some holiday fun

2010-07-12T22:51:00.006+10:00

Yesterday, being Sunday, we took advantage of the Family Funday fares on public transport & spent the day in the city.

We had a lovely lunch in China Town, visited Paddy's Markets, looked around the FIFA World Cup Fan Fest site at Darling Harbour, where the kids met the very cute mascot, Zakumi.

We watched a few of the activities going on including a pretty cool drumming display, an mini soccer match on a floating pitch & also checked out Sony 3D TVs for the first time. Can't say it was all that impressive for watching the soccer on but when it was hooked up to a Play Station, that really was awesome.

We wandered around to King Pin & spent some time with Troy & Lachlan,(Craig's cousins) who gave us a bit of behind the scenes tour. After that we had a lovely ferry ride around the harbour, under lights which is just so beautiful, to Circular Quay from where we caught the train back home. All in all, a great, fun family day out.

Lily, Mackenzie & I got up at 4am this morning to watch the final between Spain & The Netherlands live. I must say I do believe the best team won, even if they did leave it til 4 mins to go in extra time to score the only goal of the match!

Definitely won't be having a night anywhere as late today.

A bit of a photo catch up

2010-07-10T21:36:00.022+10:00

There's been lots of things going on lately on the with the kids at school.

Lily got her 9th "Super Soarer" award at the end of June, then they both finished the term with awesome report cards. They both received a special letter commending them on their fantastic behaviour & attitude, Lily also received Principal's Award & Mackenzie topped it all off by being awarded the July "Aussie of the Month" for her class.

Lily's class & the other Stage 2 kids bid a final farewell to the demountable classrooms & the new building is ready for them to start classes in Term 3. Lucky kids now have classrooms with ocean views!

We're well & truly in holiday mode & it seems Mother Nature may be too, the weather hasn't been crash hot for doing much outdoorsy stuff with all the rain we've been having....now if only it would land in the catchment areas.

Lily & her "Super Soarer" banner

Mackenzie being presented her "Aussie of the Month" award by special guest (& former Principal) Mr John Blair, with Mr Andrews (current Principal) looking on.

Mackenzie & her certificate

The new Stage 2 building, thanks to Kevin Rudd & his "Education Revolution"

What $2 buys two thrifty little shoppers @ the Lion's Car Boot markets in Woy Woy!

Mackenzie & one of her hermit crabs.....so cute & fun to watch

Lily's Aboriginal face painting from her excursion to the Walkabout Wildlife Park (which Year 3 finally got to go on after being postponed several times to due rainy weather)

Lily & Mackenzie cooked bacon & mushroom pasta for us for dinner earlier this week, it was yummy!

......& I've done a little scrapping

(the 1st one was from a sketch at Scrapz which I've changed a little since posting there, still not completely happy with it, but you get that sometimes don't you? The 2nd was for a minimalist challenge which I missed the deadline for)

3 Angels Scrapping have now officially closed & Red Earth Scrapping's forum & gallery has been launched prior to the shop opening on 1st August. There's a competition currently running with a fantastic first prize $30 voucher up for grabs. Why not head on over here & give it a go! I'm very excited to have been asked by Helen to be a part of her inaugural Creative Team with the ultra talented Mistra Hoolahan. I've received my first kit & will be creating some Father's Day & male themed cards for my first assignment.

Also, before I go, I'd like to send a special shout out to a couple of very talented ladies, Kim Jeffress who's been chosen on the Hambly Screen Prints & Scrapware DTs & Sandra Wallace who's the guest DTer for this month @ Twiddleybitz. Congrats to you both & enjoy!

For those with kids, I hope you are enjoying the school holidays too & as always thanks for stopping by & leaving such lovely comments too!

{un} Splashathon day

2010-06-18T21:50:00.012+10:00

Our school P&C's big fundraiser was on today, lots of fun for everyone (couldn't resist having a go on the big inflatable slide myself...lol)!

Mackenzie also made a card for on of her friend's birthdays a little while ago, it's really cute!

Birthday party fun continues this weekend too, Lily will be going ice skating tomorrow afternoon for the very first time (wrist guards a must after her fracture a couple of months back) & then on Sunday we're all of for a BBQ party at Patonga.

Other than that, hopefully some scrapping time as it's been a while again.

If you're after a bit of a bargain don't forget to check out the 3 Angels Scrapping 60% off closing down sale before the end of June, when the wonderful Jo & Rosy finish up their business. It's quite a sad time as I've made so many wonderful friends I'd probably never have met through participating in the forum over the past few years. I also really wish to thank them whole heartedly for the opportunity I've had to be on the design team & for their friendship. Jo & Rosy, wishing you all the very best with whatever life has instore for you both next!

It's almost 12 months since I was fortunate enough to meet some of the long distance members at the retreat & I've also made some fantastic local Central Coast & Sydney friends with whom I'll hopefully continue my scrapping journey with at a brand new place opening up very soon by the lovely Helen Kinsela called Red Earth Scrapping

Today is the day....Opera House day!

2010-05-31T12:18:00.005+10:00

This was Lily this morning before heading out to catch the train.

I'm off shortly to meet up with her for dinner after the rehearsal has finished & then the concert tonight.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some good photos, being in the 3rd row I'm hoping to have a good view & be able to pick Lily out from the crowd!

A collage of the day:

Only one sleep away......

2010-05-30T18:11:00.008+10:00

& we'll be at the Opera House to watch the "Festival of Instrumental Music" concert where Lily will be performing with her school recorder group alongside hundreds of other primary school students!

Can't wait & neither can she!

We ended up having a lovely, sunny day here today, contrary to weather forecasts, so we took Buster & the kids down to the beach for a much needed run around in the fresh air.

I've also managed to scrap two more pages, actually made the job a little easier by using the same design for both. I was inspired to create these by Deb's "Documenting with Deb's" Sequence week.

I've previously created a few different pages using photo sequences (even had one of those published a while ago) & just happen to have taken photos in quite a few suitable situations to go down that path again.

The second L/O does have a sequential flow where as the first really is just a collage.

I was actually stuck for a bit with not having the right coloured alphas, inks or paints for this L/O (Ange & Nat, I'll bet neither of you ever have that issue!!!) You see I was actually aiming to use The Colour Room's #6 palette. So anyway after much mucking about I ended up sticking some Heidi Swapp Ghost alphas to some patterned paper & viola!

Anyway, must be off to get the kids sorted for an early night, tomorrow will be a big day!

Thanks for stopping by & for the lovely comments too.

A couple of new pages

2010-05-29T12:50:00.003+10:00

It's been quite creative week for me & I have to say I definitely am feeling a new sense of enjoyment for scrapping. Sometimes it really does feel like I spend far too much time looking at scrapping & chatting about scrapping online as opposed to any actual form of creating.

I guess it's a matter of keeping everything in moderation!

It's cold & wet here today as is the forecast for the next few days, it's sending the kids a bit crazy but it's all good.....LOL.

Hope you are enjoying a fantastic weekend, rain or shine.

Both of these pages have been created for the sketch challenges at Scrapz

Today I made this....

2010-05-24T21:46:00.004+10:00

Took the morning off helping out in Kindy groups so that I could get this baby album finished. It's made for some ladies at Craig's work to give to another co worker as a baby shower gift. I hope they all like it.

The blank spaces are for the proud parents to add the details & photos of their baby's first year.

It actually felt really good to have taken the time to create again, even if it wasn't for me as such.

Mackenzie was also very excited today & was beaming from ear to ear when I got to school for reading, she had gone up a level. Of course we are completely thrilled for her too. She has had such a fabulous start to school, I'm so glad we didn't hold her back because of her age. She is the smallest in size & one of the youngest but our girl is holding her own very well & we couldn't be prouder of her & her efforts.

This time next week Lily & her school's recorder group will have performed at the Opera House. It seemed so far away at the beginning of the year but now it's less than a week off & all those early morning practice sessions will have paid off. I'm so looking forward to the experience as much for Lily as myself!

I hope you are allowed to take photos inside the concert hall....what are the chances?

Thanks to everyone who's popping in & also to those who are leaving me some messages. I do love reading them & I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Today Lily.......

2010-05-22T20:22:00.003+10:00

performed a solo piece at the CC Conservatorium & did amazingly well, only took the one photo because I didn't want to put her off.

Mackenzie's pony party

2010-05-15T21:40:00.008+10:00

We had the most fantastic day today at Glenworth Valley. The kids had turns riding two ponies. Fantastic weather, fantastic company, lots of presents......not much more a 5 year old could want! (or her family for that matter) Thank you to Mackenzie's friends for making her day such a special & memorable one.

5 yrs ago today

2010-05-13T20:41:00.002+10:00

....Mackenzie came into the world. Happy 5th Birthday to our sweet girl.

Happy Mummy's Day

2010-05-09T19:52:00.002+10:00

I've had a great one & hope you all have too.

Lest we forget........

2010-04-25T23:10:00.005+10:00

....thinking of & remembering all those who have sacrificed their lives, lost loved ones, past & present in honour of our wonderful country & way of life.

Hoping everyone had a lovely ANZAC Day 2010.

We took this photo the day after ANZAC Day, as it was raining on the actual day when we were at the Memorial, after the march was cancelled.

Have to post this too, Nat is back! After a few months away from blogging, she's got a new scrappy blog going. She is a very dear friend, who's creations I just adore. Go & check out her amazing work here.

Lil's done it again........

2010-04-24T15:23:00.004+10:00

in a good way....lol!

She's Aussie of the Month for her class. We went to the assembly where she was presented her certificate by Mr Farrugia yesterday afternoon.

Well done & congratulations Lil, an awesome start to Term 2!

Got to just love these proud parent moments don't you?

Then last night we headed out to O'Donoghue's Irish Pub at Emu Plains for our friend Shane's 18th Birthday party. Such a fabulous night & it was great to catch up with our old but very special neighbours again. It's been a few years since we'd seen their older kids who are all parents now themselves, of course they were amazed at how much Lily & Mackenzie had grown up & we got to see quite a few cute baby photos as well. After an absolutely lovely meal (great place to eat, we used to go for their cooked breakfast on a Sunday morning when we lived out there), some music, speeches & birthday cake we left around 11.30pm or so as the function room had to be cleared, which unfortunately did cut the night short for us as of course the kids couldn't stay on the licensed premises at that hour of the night.

I'm sure most of the others remaining would have gone on for a really, really big night!

Happy 18th Shane, glad we could be there to help celebrate!

Well the holidays are officially over

2010-04-20T22:22:00.003+10:00

& there's the proof.....all dressed in winter uniform & ready to go on the first day of Term 2.

Mackenzie was also armed with her little pile of birthday invitations to hand out to her friends & Lily is still sporting her lovely wrist brace for at least the next week or so.

This looks like some cool, scrappy fun

2010-04-09T21:07:00.003+10:00

The first colour palette for The Color Room, a new challenge site set up by Lydell Quinn. Their DT is just so full of awesome & amazing scrapping talent from Australia & from around the world.

Our Easter Sunday

2010-04-05T22:32:00.009+10:00

A nice & early start to the day (thank goodness for the extra hour of sleep we got with daylight savings ending!). Up at 6.15am for Lily & Mackenzie to find the wonderful delights left for them by the Easter Bunny & Tooth Fairy, then of course chocolate & hot crossed buns for breakfast.

We then got ready & went to the 7.45am Easter Sunday Mass, where Lily made her First Holy Communion. Such a proud moment for her & of course for us as her parents too.

I just have to make a note of this too......the dress that Mackenzie is wearing was actually the dress I wore when I made my First Holy Communion. Apparently it was made by my Aunt in Germany for her daughter (my cousin who I've never actually gotten the opportunity to know due to my parents migrating over here before I was born, I have travelled to Germany as an adult but didn't get to do the rounds of all of the relatives at the time) The dress is so beautiful & so tiny, on me it was a mini that I wore with long socks & sandals (yes very stylish...lol!) There was no chance it would have fit Lily so we let Mackenzie wear it in case it didn't fit her when her time comes around a few years.

After Mass we caught up with some friends who's kids were making the First Holy Communions too during the 9.15am Mass. After coming home & getting changed we went to have some coffee & cake to celebrate the kids' Holy Communion with our friends before our family headed out to Cowan for a 5km return bushwalk to Jerusalem Bay, which is a very small part of the Great North Walk.

The girls had a swim & played with some schools of little fish, we had a picnic, did a bit of exploring, took some photos & generally just enjoyed the beautiful scenery whilst walking along the track, which at times was quite rocky & steep but of course provided more thrill & excitement for Mackenzie who never seems to get enough of being a little dare devil. She did the whole walk on her own, trying to lead at every opportunity.

All in all it was a fantastic & memorable Easter Sunday.

Hope the Easter Bunny was kind to you all as well & thanks for stopping by.

Waiting ........

2010-04-03T22:56:00.003+11:00

for the Easter Bunny & Tooth Fairy to visit on the same night!

Yep that's right......Lily pulled out the fourth tooth in 2 weeks (actually the first of the 4 to actually become loose a few months back & the one we had concerns about months ago as the adult tooth had grown up behind it a while ago.....having nightmare visions of braces etc, etc but of course the dentist assured us this is very common & all is good!)

So tomorrow will be an extra special & big day with an egg hunt, a little cash bonus & Lily making her First Holy Communion to boot!

Craig's told the girls to hope that the Tooth Fairy comes before the Easter Bunny so that she doesn't eat any of their eggs.....too funny!

Wishing you all a very safe, happy & enjoyable Easter.

Casey has come to stay......

2010-03-19T21:35:00.004+11:00

Casey is a fluffy toy caterpillar (thank goodness, the other creatures Mackenzie brings inside to visit are normally still very much alive) & she is Mackenzie's class' pet.

She gets to go on lots of adventures with the kids & their families. She is here for tonight with us & tomorrow she'll be off to the Treetop Adventure Park with us & some of our friends where she'll meet up with Dylan & spend the rest of the weekend with him & his family.

What a lucky caterpillar, she's already had some scones for afternoon tea, been to the beach, eaten her favourite food for dinner (lettuce......apparently......lol!) & watched a movie with Mackenzie. Now it's almost bedtime for this cute little critter.

Thanks so much for stopping by & leaving the lovely comments too. It is nice to know that my "cyberfriends" are out there thinking about us.

Lily's wrist is doing OK, still pretty sore & the weight of the cast isn't helping but it's only on til Wednesday when she has her check up at the fracture clinic. Apparently the full cast she'll get on there will be much lighter, that'd be even better if she can get a fibreglass one...... which would make the school holidays much better for her, poor thing had to endure an afternoon of watching Mackenzie swimming at the beach.

Have a fantastic & safe weekend. I'll be back with some photos soon. These photo free updates are pretty boring to look at.

Casey also had some running repairs done during her stay, she had a acquired a few bumps & bruises during her travels so far this year & of course the "crafty" Mum got the job.

Does plaster count as a fashion accessory???

2010-03-18T21:15:00.006+11:00

....I guess time will answer this question & many others....lol!

Lily came off second best with a fall of the monkey bars at school today. She's in a 1/2 cast for now with some more follow up checks to come & most probably a full cast for 4 or so weeks after that.

No photos so far, she isn't feeling particularly jovial so I didn't push the issue.

A bit of "excitement" on the day she is 8yrs & 4mths old!

A few days on (it's now Saturday) & lots of sympathy later & our little princess is quite proud of her bandaged arm, it's funny how much of a talking point it is! No problem at all getting photos anymore....LOL!

Lily thought it was time for a new smile.......

2010-03-13T22:59:00.003+11:00

so tonight she pulled out one of her 4 wobbly teeth.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

A pinch & punch for the 1st of the month & a new season

2010-03-01T21:32:00.003+11:00

Summer 2009-10 has officially gone & so has the current season of Nippers for Lily. Don't like thinking about being on the downhill slide to the colder months but on the upside we can all sleep in again on Sunday mornings for a while.

Photos from our day at the State Nippers Championships at Blacksmiths Beach where Lily competed in the wade race & afterwards mucking around at Caves Beach. Such a beautiful spot to visit.

Hope life is good for you all xx

The day Mackenzie got her 1st ever Merit Card

2010-02-18T23:26:00.002+11:00

Hopefully the first of many to come. Very proud of you gorgeous girl, keep up the great work!

3 Angels Scrapping Cybercrop

2010-02-15T10:21:00.006+11:00

The weekend starting the 5th March we are having a cyber crop...with a green theme (could be some twists on the theme too)

So pop it into your diaries ladies, the schedule for the challenges will be posted soon with a sign up thread in the forum.

It is going to be a bumper weekend with loads of challenges and fun over the Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Join us for 7 layout challenges and 2 mini challenges over the weekend…some fabulous Aussie Scrap Source Kits and store vouchers up for grabs.

It's going to be a fun, jam packed weekend, hope you can make it!

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T22:19:00.001+11:00

We had a lovely relaxed day at home today after an early start for Nippers, which incidently is the last for the season. After next weekend we'll be free to have Sunday morning sleep ins once more, until next season anyway....lol!

I've got quite a bit of creating to come back & share, my February 3 Angels Scrapping DT projects & also the challenges I've managed to get completed for Scrapz.Armour @ Scrapz.biz but for now I'm off to watch a bit of the Winter Olympics before bed.

Hope you all had a lovely Valentines & thanks for stopping by

Lily's 1st Swimming Carnival

2010-02-12T20:57:00.003+11:00

Lily had a great day at the School's Annual Swimming Carnival. She got in & had a go in the 50m freestyle, backstroke & breaststroke. Whilst she didn't achieve any placings she tried her heart out & finished each race, even managing to beat a few others along the way. We are so proud of how hard she tried & that she did got in amongst some very well trained swimmers & gave it her all. I had lots of fun cheering her along too. Well done Lily!

A decade ago today

2010-02-05T21:24:00.002+11:00

was a hot & sticky 42C in the Upper Blue Mountains & it was the day I married my best friend. Together we have enjoyed, experienced & achieved so much in this past 10 years. Of course our biggest joys & proudest moments now include our beautiful girls as well. Looking forward to the next 10. Love you always Craig xxx

Mackenzie's FIRST DAY of school........

2010-01-29T21:50:00.005+11:00

............today marks the beginning of her journey of formal education & it was an "AWESOME" one to quote her directly!

She'll be having the same wonderful teacher Lily had in Kindergarten which is fantastic.

Both her & I trouble sleeping last night, she finally fell asleep in our bed around 10.45pm after having gone to bed hours & hours earlier when Lily went to bed & actually zonked out within 2 minutes of her head hitting the pillow. Mackenzie was just so full of questions & very cuddly which was very sweet but then of course my mind was racing overtime & I tossed & turned pretty well through the whole night, a bit nervous but mostly excited for Mackenzie.

She started at 9.30am & was the 2nd child to actually get to the classroom & promptly sat down at a table & began a tracing activity & writing her name. Not a tear in sight, she was just so grown up & immediately comfortable in her new surroundings. She looked so grown up but also so small in her seriously oversized size 4 uniform.

Lily of course is the very proud & protective big sister who played with Mackenzie at lunch time & also bought her an ice block from the canteen.

After walking Buster home & having a snack I took them both down to the beach where they had a great time boogie boarding in the choppy surf with our good friends Russell, Charlotte & Alex.

............a special day with lots of special memories for our family.

Lily's first day of Yr 3

2010-01-28T23:50:00.004+11:00

After a little sadness of not being in the same class as some of her friends, Lily is most excited to have her very first male teacher. She has spent time with the odd male casual & the RFF/ computer teacher for the past couple of years has been a male but all her class teachers to this point have been ladies, so it's all very new & exciting. Being such a big school classes won't be finalised for a week or so & then they still have to be placed into their respective classes for Numeracy & Literacy which of course also means getting to know 2 more teachers! I am thrilled at the prospect of her having a male teacher as I have such fond memories of both Yrs 3 & 4 when I was taught by male teachers, my Yr 4 teacher Mr Costello being the one who really stands out in my mind as having made the most wonderful & profound contribution to my education.

Australians all let us rejoice

2010-01-26T17:29:00.005+11:00

Wishing all Aussies out there a fantastic Australia Day today!

Some snapshots from our day.

Overall it was a pretty good day filled with awesome weather & some great company too. We went to the Woy Woy foreshore for the fireworks & what a fabulous display that was. Many thanks must go to Gosford Council for such a fabulous event, even if it really isn't the best way to spend rate payer $$$......lol!

Unfortunately a good few hours were spent with a second Telstra tech to-ing & fro-ing between our place & the phone exchange trying to sort out our phone line & internet issues caused by damage from a lightning strike outside our place on Saturday. Thankfully all issues have been resolved & everything is pretty well back to normal other than the fact that I can no longer walk around the house & chat, which is definitely going to make for much shorter conversations for the time being. We were extremely lucky to have gotten away with only having the phone line, modem & phone blown. One of our neighbours fared much worse in the appliance stakes.

The countdown is definitely on now for the return of school for Lily & Mackenzie's first day a day later. I really wish we had an extra couple of weeks, it all just seems to have gone all too fast this last few weeks.

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back in a couple of days with some first day of school photos.

Good luck to anyone with littlies starting for the first time too & also for all the slightly bigger ones going back.

Mini Strings Summer School

2010-01-22T18:16:00.005+11:00

Lily has just completed 4 days at the Conservatorim this week, culminating in a little concert performance by each of the groups taking part in the program. Lily's group played 2 pieces which were just lovely to listen to. What a clever bunch of little kids. She had a great week & was particularly happy to have had her wonderful teacher Alexandra as their conductor/tutor for the 4 days.

I must also thank the wonderful Nat & her 2 lovely kiddies for entertaining Mackenzie & I for a few hours 4 days this week in the interim which saved us many mindless hours wandering around the shops & petrol costs by letting us hang out with them.

It's been an absolute scorcher here today, I took the girls as promised to the pools for a quick dip during Lily's lunch break so they could cool down & have play on the inflatable slide. Lots of fun & very refreshing.

When we got back in the car to head home after the concert the ambient temperature was reading 45.5!! Granted the car had been sitting in the full sun & therefore was reading a few degrees higher than the actual true temperature but even so, there really aren't that many days here on the coast where it really is that stifling. Hopefully we'll get a sea breeze to cool us down a little before bed & give the A/C a rest.

Craig has also fixed up the pool today whilst we were out & honestly he could not have picked a better day!

What a fantastic way to end the final full week of school holidays after we had so many days of rain early on.

In memory of Michael Hutchence

2010-01-22T17:51:00.003+11:00

who would have celebrated his 50th birthday today.........

Your talent & music will never be forgotten. Still very sadly missed.

1st ever sunset surf

2010-01-22T00:08:00.004+11:00

Lily & Mackenzie are now the proud owners of their very first surfboard, a pink (of course) 6 foot 2 inch softboard. We picked it up on Thursday & we waited for Daddy to come home from work to give it a test run. Lily rode a few waves, she'll get the hang of it all much quicker now that she'll be able to practice.

Check out Mackenzie's lovely writing in the sand, with her first day of school only a week away she is madly obsessed with writing her name & learning her letters.

It's only Wednesday & I am exhausted!

2010-01-20T20:01:00.005+11:00

What a day, so full of running around but got plenty done which definitely is a good thing. Lily is enjoying her week at Summer School at the Conservatorium so far & learning some lovely new musical pieces. It's meant a drive into Gosford every day this week & I've been lucky enough to have the wonderful Nat & her gorgeous kids to hang around with in the interim, other than today when we operated the Uniform Shop at school for the 2nd & final time this holidays. Gosh that was so busy but thankfully I am so lucky to have the help of some very lovely ladies with whom it really is a pleasure to spend the time volunteering with.

Lily also had a check up at the dentist today & Buster got his yearly heartworm injection whilst Mackenzie went off on her first real play date on her own. She went with beach with her little friend & his family but unfortunately the beach was actually closed due to very rough surf conditions, so they didn't get to have a swim, she did get a lovely ice cold slushie bought for her though & she had lots of fun..

I've been doing quite a lot of scrapping (for me...lol!) using my stash to coincide with the challenge currently going at 3 Angels Scrapping. Nat has taken over organising & posting challenges for "Use Your Stash" this year, the first challenge on the 3AS calendar which was actually started over there a few years back by former DT member Alison.

Jo has also set a fun challenge to scrap an Australia Day L/O, check out the criteria here. Come over to 3AS & join in the fun!

The fantastic 70% off all products sale is coming to an end as well, so be quick & grab an awesome bargain or two before the sale finishes at midnight on Friday 22nd January. Jo & Rosy are still loading stock into the shop & yes, it's all on sale too!

Our surfer girl

2010-01-12T13:33:00.005+11:00

Lily's just had her first 2 lessons ever to surfing, she's getting the hang of it & having fun which is the main thing.

Here's a video from this morning's session. Her last lesson is tomorrow morning so hopefully the waves will be a little bigger but the water still nice & calm like today. I'll add some photos later on tonight as we are off school shoe shopping shortly.

Also had a bit of a celebrity "run in" today almost literally. Whilst in the queue to purchase some Icy Poles at the Sea Lion Cafe, I turned around to see where the girls were & right behind me was the one & only Steve Waugh, ex- Australian Cricket captain, who was grabbing a bite to eat with his kids. As a huge fan I'd have loved a photo seeing as I had my camera & all but he's entitled to his private time too, so I got my excitement out by ringing Craig & telling him......LOL!

Check this out........AWESOME!

2010-01-11T15:20:00.007+11:00

3 Angels Scrapping Massive 70% off sale

2010-01-07T23:17:00.002+11:00

Go check it out here.......lots of fantastic bargains at prices you really can't beat! Thanks Jo & Rosy.

70% off every product, storewide starting right now!!!

**Conditions:
No free postage during the sale
No coupons/other discounts apply
$25 minimum spend

Remembering Dakota

2010-01-06T16:23:00.003+11:00

It's been 2 years today since we lost our beloved Husky. His memory is still very much alive in our hearts & minds. He is very sadly missed & hopefully is running amuck up in Doggie Beach Heaven.

01-01-10

2010-01-01T21:49:00.001+11:00

We had Stef & Yoshimi join us on New Years Eve for a Teppanyaki BBQ, complete with some authentic Japanese cuisine....yummo!

We then had a lazy evening & ended up watching the Gosford fireworks from the waterfront at Point Clare, then went for a stroll along Umina Beach before coming home to watch the Sydney Midnight fireworks on TV.

On New Years Day we took some time out from a very stressful morning due to some very unnecessary family drama for the kids to ride their scooters on the path around the oval & then cool down in the surf. There were hermit crabs aplenty there that day & they certainly kept lots of kids amused including Lily & Mackenzie......not to mention ME!

Then there was the most beautiful sunset to end the day but by the time I realised the only good shots I could get were above the neighbours houses across the street which was a bit of a shame but amazing just the same.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-01T00:28:00.001+11:00

Welcome 2010 & lots of new possibilities & experiences!

Happy Birthday to me

2009-12-25T20:54:00.001+11:00

I am now officially 37....where does the time go? Craig & the girls spoiled me with a new mobile phone & the loveliest chocolate tart topped with mixed berries. What a lucky girl I am!

Christmas Day 2009........Perry style

2009-12-25T18:42:00.002+11:00

A collage of photos from our day. The weather wasn't great so we didn't head to the beach, which in the end turned out to be a good thing as there were sharks sightings at our local & the water evacuated! Definitely not an experience for someone with a morbid fear of sharks....LOL!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T18:41:00.002+11:00

from our family to yours xx.

Lily & Mackenzie with Santa, very happy with this photo & I'll be sure to scrap it very soon.

'Twas the night before Christmas

2009-12-24T21:03:00.001+11:00

Santa, please stop here!

December's Projects

2009-12-24T21:02:00.003+11:00

I was lucky enough to get so many pretty things to work with along with the
Teresa Collins Friendship series of papers this month. I really enjoyed using those papers, still very pretty & girlish but not pink, which makes a great change for me.

Pink never really has been a favourite colour of mine but since we've had the 2 girls it has grown on me & now I even have gone so far as owning a few pink items of clothing of my own & I find myself more & more drawn to the ranges of papers that are predominantly pink

On the 6th day of Christmas

2009-12-06T19:30:00.001+11:00

we made gift voucher holders

V8s, Cold Chisel & Mini Strings concert

2009-12-06T19:20:00.001+11:00

An amazing but tiring weekend comes to an end.....photos & hopefully a bit of video footage from Lily's performance to follow

12 Days of Christmas- day 2

2009-12-02T11:21:00.002+11:00

On the 2nd day of Christmas we made some soap pretty!

12 Days of Christmas- day 1

2009-12-01T15:49:00.002+11:00

Looking for some fun challenges & great gift ideas leading up to Christmas.......

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hope to see you there & thanks for stopping by.

A couple of swaps

2009-11-23T14:24:00.004+11:00

A few weeks back I took part in a Christmas card front swap at Scrapz & these are the gorgeous creations I received. Starting at the top left hand side & moving clockwise we have Liz Weber's contribution (most excited to have a piece of her work, I'm a big fan of her cardmaking), Melleny Ams, Danielle, Rach Merrick & last but not least Deb Mullins.

I think you'll agree that they are all fantastic & I'd like to thank each of the ladies for taking part & Melleny for hosting the swap.

Close up

I made these flowers for the yellow embellishment swap Susan Longman is hosting at 3AS, hopefully everyone likes them & I'm looking forward also to seeing what everyone else has come up with.

They're on the "orangier" side of yellow mainly due to the fact that I purchased the C/S online & it really didn't turn out to be the shade of yellow I was expecting but in saying that the SU! So Saffron ink was the perfect match to highlight the crumpled C/S circles. The button centres are yellower than they appear in the photo too as today really isn't the best day for photography but there's no way I'm complaining......it's an overcast & mild 23 degrees with showers here & there......complete bliss after the weekend scorcher!

Heatwave Sunday

2009-11-22T22:16:00.003+11:00

Gosh, it's been so hot today, above 40 degree temps......thank goodness for the beach & air conditioning!

This week at 3AS the DT's task was OTPs. After I saw this tutorial I knew I just had to make one of these little watering cans. I then made my own flowers using ovals punched by a 4.5mm oval punch, some skewers, buttons & hot glue. I also used my new Martha Stewart 3 in 1 Butterfly punch & to finish off added a few candy canes & clear cellophane.

I've really loved using the October Afternoon Good Cheer range of papers this month, thanks so much Jo & Rosy.

Don't forget to go & check out the other fantastic DT creations in the gallery!

I'm just about ready for bed although I can't imagine getting too much sleep in this heat, unfortunately our air conditioner doesn't quite reach up to the bedrooms, might need to sleep with the annoying whirring sound of the fan for a few hours until the cool change comes through....they're predicting a top of 22 tomorrow, how crazy is that!

A special thanks to Nat for a fantastic afternoon yesterday, we all had a fantastic time & hope your lawn recovered! I'll bet your kiddies gave that slip & slide a good work out again today!

Happy 8th Birthday Lily

2009-11-18T19:30:00.003+11:00

Wishing our gorgeous big girl the very best for today, her birthday & for always.

We love you so much Lily & are so proud of you & proud to be your parents.

Happy Birthday Beautiful xxxx

Mackenzie's latest comeback...........

2009-11-14T14:46:00.007+11:00

is a doozy!

She is such a fast witted girl, you can't help but laugh (maybe in a 15 or so years she may actually be right & be able to live up to the threat) .

Whenever she doesn't get her own way......& that is quite alot, particularly at the moment where she really is testing all sorts of boundaries, she comes out with "I'm not going to cook anything for you when I'm a chef!" & you cop the "baddest" look she can muster up to boot.

Team that up with the fact that she still isn't even 1m tall yet & has a slight lisp & it's hysterical.

She's always loved any cooking shows on TV, she browses through cookbooks & chooses things that she's love to make & eat & she's very, very hard to keep out of the kitchen & always, always asking questions about food & not even the ordinary kind of things you'd expect 4 year olds to ask, so maybe we do have a future chef in the making.......I guess time will tell & then I'd better be on her good side...LOL!

Last Wednesday Mackenzie graduated from the Early Birds program (getting ready for school next year). She went along dressed up in her uniform minus school shoes, we'll have to look around for those early in the new year. She just looks so adorable all dressed up & very much enjoyed playing up to the camera for me so Daddy could see the photos when he got home from work. How cute does she look & that dress is a size 4!!! She's so "short" little but SO ready for school. It is actually a bit surreal thinking about the fact that after the Christmas holidays I'll be dropping both girls off at school & then I'll be here on my own........they're just growing up way to fast.

Speaking of which it's also hard to believe there are only a mere 4 days left until Lily turns 8 & 41 days til Christmas!!!!

Here's a photo I took of Lil the other day, for my Round 4 entry into Scrapz.biz's TSOOZ comp (didn't actually get to do the page yet unfortunately but without going into all the detailed requirements, the L/O was about favourite shoes & Rabens are the "in" thing. So many kids have them in all sorts of weird & wonderful colours & designs. Lily picked these out & she'll be getting them for her birthday next week.

Lily also had a fantastic week at school obtaining her 8th Super Soarer & also receiving a Merit Award, for writing a great factual description, at assembly. Well done Lil, so proud of your outstanding efforts!

As well as the excitement of her birthday on Wednesday to look forward to, Stage 1 are off to the Aquarium & Imax at Darling Harbour on Friday.....hopefully this beautiful weather continues for them.

In other far less interesting but still news none the less, I have officially resigned from my Stampin' Up! demonstratorship, with everything being finalised at the close of business yesterday, being the 10th business day of the month.

Funnily enough it was Friday the 13th which I guess I really can't have too many superstitions about as Mackenzie was born on a Friday the 13th but last night I had quite good luck at Renee's Girl's Night in winning 3 prizes in the raffle.......actually "bizarrest" of all I had 5 tickets in the draw & all 5 did get drawn but I opted for a couple of redraws, was so seriously feeling like a prize pig...lol!

Anyway I'm out of hear to finish making my cards set for this weeks 3AS DT challenge. Still working with the gorgeous October Afternoon Good Cheer range.

3AS November DT pages

2009-11-08T22:41:00.005+11:00

The first page is for the Sketch Challenge, using a Page Maps sketch as chosen by Nat

And this one is for the Monthly Challenge I set, to scrap a photo from a Christmas past using a photo from your own childhood, include the year in the title & also some information about that year (either from memory or "googled") in the journaling. Go & check it out, there's some great prizes to be won!

I was lucky enough to be given the most fantastic kit full of October Afternoon Good Cheer papers........I just love October Afternoon, thanks so much Jo & Rosy.

Most of my products are yet to be loaded into the shop.....but do keep an eye out as it really is a fantastic range & very easy to work with.

I'd also like to CONGRATULATE Mistra Hoolahan & Susan Longman for being chosen to join the 3AS Design Team, looking forward to getting to know you both lots more & learn from you both too!

How hot was it today?

2009-11-03T23:34:00.001+11:00

well at least 39 degrees in our backyard!

Happy, happy, joy, joy

2009-11-02T17:22:00.004+11:00

Got to love shopping for scrap supplies direct from the USA with the $AUD doing so well. Received my package from Two Peas & am now armed with & ready to use several Martha Stewart punches, lots of sticker alphas, some very cute clear stamps & a few other bits & bobs. WOO HOO!

And a double WOO HOO for the awesome kit I received last Friday from Jo & Rosy at 3 Angels Scrapping. I have been planning how to best use the fabulous Christmas themed kit (mostly October Afternoon with lots of other gorgeous stuff thrown in) before I start actually cutting. It's also my turn to set the monthly challenge for November which I will probably post later on tonight, although I haven't had a chance to do my L/O yet.

Must be off to make a start on dinner, we're having home made fish cakes & then get back to my mountain of washing to fold & put away before an evening of creating......hopefully!

A couple of new pages

2009-10-29T23:25:00.007+11:00

.......a good week so far for me scrapping-wise with 2 pages completed. Got to love a challenge to inspire some inspiration.

The first one is for Nat's Melbourne Cup challenge at 3AS. It was an "ingredients" challenge, to use scallops, buttons & no patterned paper. I've laid the KI Memories sheer onto white C/S for the photo, it's not actually part of the L/O. I really love using the sheers, I'll be sad when I've used them all out of my stash, hopefully they'll be "in" again in the scrapbooking market (wishful thinking I guess).

The photo is of Craig holding Buster on his very first trip to the beach.

This next one is my Round 2 entry for Scrapz.biz's TSOOZ comp, again the black C/S is just there for the photo. Can you tell I love shaped L/Os....lol!

I'll come back tomorrow & add in all the links but do go & check out 3AS in particular, it's really starting to get buzzing again after all the server troubles Jo & Rosy experienced & had to relaunch the entire site.

Should really be heading off to bed, big day at school tomorrow.

I'll be running the Uniform Shop to coincide with Kindy Orientation Day as well as keeping my ear out for info as Mackenzie is starting next year. Lily is going to be one of our Uniform models & then there is going to be a large entourage of politicians & media visiting the school to officially mark the beginning of construction procedings for our new 6 classroom, 2 storey brick building courtesy of the Government's Economic Stimulus spending. They'll also be touring the school checking out some of the other works currently going on within the school & stopping in to address the Kindy Parents.

Quite exciting times really for our wonderful school!

Thanks for stopping by.

Our gorgeous girls

2009-10-24T21:38:00.001+11:00

Had this portrait done at Portrait Place early in the school holidays, picked it up today & couldn't be happier. What a stunning little duo!