Some more photos

Well, I am starting to get excited now! I am officially on a waiting list (and deposit paid!) for the new Canon 5D Mark II!!! I am so excited I can barely contain myself. They were hopeful that I would have it before Christmas so now I anxiously wait for it to come in!! But to go with it I also have a new lens!! Lucky, lucky me!! I am now the proud owner of a 24-70mm f2.8L series lens. Yes I now own two "L" series lenses!! Yay me!!! So I guess if the camera does not make it in time at least I have a lens to keep me busy! Ok, enough blabbing on about new toys! Since the beginning of December I have been doing some Christmas photos for my family and I thought I would share a couple of my favourites. This first one is my absolute favourite and is of my niece Rachel. I think my reason for loving this one is Rachel seems to have summed up how I have been feeling about Christmas for the last couple of weeks.....Well and truly over it all!! Things have picked up a little now, but this is still a classic! This one is my gorgeous little niece Jasmine. I just love this photo, she is just so sweet and look at those big blue eyes! I just have to laugh about this one. This is the only photo I managed to get of Rachel and Daniel together! On the day neither of them were too interested in co-operating. Ahh kids!!! And lastly, Rachel in her beautiful Christmas Fairy outfit. Funny thing though is I don't think I really got any with her smiling!! But she still looks very cute, and very much like her cousin (my DD1) with that scowl!! Thanks for stopping by! Sending Seasons Greetings your way!

Class Photos

I have been lucky enough to do up a Basic Grey calendar kit for a class that I am teaching tonight. It is a really easy calendar to put together as you get everything you need in the kit, and the pages are half done for you. The only problem that I found was the American themed months. So I had to improvise and turn American themed months into something suitable for me, here in Australia. Anyway some ladies have bought a kit to take home and have asked to see what I did with those months. So I thought I would post them here so you can see them all. If you want to get yourself a kit you can order one from Scrapbook City for only $40 a kit! Thanks for stopping by!

Smile from Heaven

So who saw the smile from heaven last night? Pretty amazing isn't it? Maybe this is a sign that things are going to be just right?!

Rest of Challenges and Big Night Out

Well, I have finished my take on the Scrapbook City challenges and thought I should post them. I had a great time playing with the Slice for these two. This was for Tammie's challenge using My Minds Eye papers you had to create a sketch for your layout and use flowers and stitching/doodling and journalling, also from the same sketch create a card. I cut the title "cuddle" using the Slice, pretty cool huh?! And this it the corresponding card from the same sketch. I mirror flipped along the vertical axis to get my card layout in case you were wondering! This is the final layout and was for the challenge that I set. The manufacturer was Paper Loft and the papers lent themselves to being perfect for the heritage style layout so I based my challenge with this in mind. The criteria was: 3 black & white or sepia photos, "I Remember" or "Remember When" in the title and one of ribbon, lace or bling. For me the challenge was picking the photos to suit! I used the Slice to cut the journalling spot, the title, the 3 red flowers and the tag with the handprints and the scalloped circle behind this. So as you can see most of my "extras" for this page were done using the Slice. I can see that this will be a well used tool and I think my raving might just sell a few more out there too!! The cards that I used were Animal Crackers and Noteworthy. But I think I need more cards!! Lucky my birthday is just around the corner! So they are challenges complete! On Saturday (in the sweltering humidity) we had the Scrapbook City Christmas Party and Awards night. Well to say it was huge was an understatement!! There were so many ladies there that night it was fantastic and everyone was powering away with classes, make and takes or just shopping. I took just a couple of photos on the night (way too busy with my make and take station to wander and take more!) to give you a feel for the night! This first one is a snapshot of some of the ladies doing the matchbook mini album (designed by Tammie). This is the make and take station that I took over when Tammie had to leave for the evening. And this is a general view into the hall during the lovely Carole Janson's class. You can see the lovely Lauren there wandering ready to help anyone with questions! I was sad I didn't get much time to socialise and catch up with Carole, but I was lucky enough to spend a few hours Sunday with Lauren and Ang and we had a good catch up then. So that was Saturday night! Feedback was good so I guess we may need to start planning next years event!! Sunday morning I dragged the kids down the park (after dressing them how I wanted them to be!!) for Christmas card photos! I tell you there is always one who makes the process like pulling teeth! Well actually it is the same one each time usually. Our Miss Erin, middle child and stubborn beyond belief sometimes! I won't put up the "good" photos until cards have gone out, but here are a couple of the not so good ones! In the top one Erin had the hide to tell me that she was in fact smiling! Or at least that she was trying too. In the second photo you can tell it was just all too much trouble! Anyway, despite this frustration I did end up with a really nice shot and a backup shot!! So keep posted to see the ones that made the cut! That is it for now. Catch you later.

I have a new toy!

Hello! Another week gone and life is the usual fast pace for this time of year. We are now gearing up for end of year activities at school and kindy! I just have to remember to put them on the calendar so I don't miss something I may later get into trouble for! Niamh has now completed her first year learning the cello and is doing pretty well, and next year Erin will be adding tones from the violin to the mix! Yes two string instruments in our house. Liam at this stage is adamant that he will play the trumpet, but as this is still many years away who knows! Oh I do have some video footage of Niamh's end of year concert, just need to work out how to upload it from the tape to the pc...will get there! I was catching up on my blog reading and found this interesting link on Tammie's blog: http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourhomesayaboutyouquiz/ So curious, I thought I had better take the quizz! Here are my results. You come across as very intellectual. People take your wisdom seriously. Your hygiene is passable, but you may be hiding some dirty secrets. You are a very domestic person. You enjoy decorating, cooking, and making things homey. You are a very nurturing person. You find meaning in taking care of others. You don't feel settled in your life yet. You are scrambling to figure things out. You are a very self sufficient person. You can get along well without much help. Your friends see you as courageous, dynamic, and bright. Hmm, I think there is something in that for all of us!! Also I have been nominated by the lovely Lauren for a Blog Award! Don't I just feel special!! With receiving this award I have to pass it on with these Rules: 1. The winner may put the logo on their blog. 2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award. 3. Nominate 5 blogs. 4. Put links to their blogs. 5. Leave a message for your nominees. Now, my problem is that Tammie beat me to the punchline for two of my nominated blogs!! I also was going to nominate Beth and Nikala so who to choose now??!! Well I am going to pick some Scrapbook City buddies to encourage some more blogging! 1. Michelle - I always enjoying catching up with your goings on 2. Niss - Love your artistic flare 3. Terri - Love your sewing skills 4. Annette - Love to see how your little girl is growing 5. Sue - Just love to see what your up to OK girls I will head off and leave you a comment to pass the award on! Oh, I nearly forgot to mention my new toy! I am now the proud owner of a Slice! So far so cool! It is a great little device and I am loving it! So are the kids! Will post some more soon with some sample work! Catch you soon.

Challenge Scrapping

Well, those of you who know about the Scrapbook City Awards evening know that there were five challenges set for this competition. Well, those on the forum put out the challenge to the DT to have a go at the challenges and you know me, happy to oblige! Firstly I headed off to the shop to try and scrounge a left over kit, of which there was one so first task accomplished, then to move onto to actually scrapping!! Anyhow I have managed to complete three out of the five challenges and I thought I would load them up to share with you too! This is for Challenge #2: Use four 6x4 photos or smaller Use Patterned Paper as your background Scrap in a minimalist style Use up to 5 Embellishments only (including title and journaling...these are not compulsory, but will be counted as one item each.) May also use extra cardstock and PP as desired embellishments may be elements cut from patterned paper or handmade to suit the page Your Manufacturer is Scenic Route I really love how this one turned out. And this pattern was perfect for a Kindy themed page! This is for Challenge #3: Use a punch/edger to shape all the patterned papers, include 4 Patterned Papers, 3 Corners need to be punched, 2 Photos, 1 Title Your Manufacturer is Little Yellow Bicycle Another fun one to do, and I loved using these older photos of Niamh! And this is Challenge #4: This Layout must be about friends, and included one 5x7 photo plus 2 smaller photos, the layout must have a whimsical Style - must have a bird/s or tree/s, and stamping. Your manufacturer is Fancy Pants This was definitely a challenge, I don't think Whimsical is really my style, but I do love how it turned out! So there you go, three out of five done. All the entries that have been handed in are great! This will be one tough competition! I am glad I am not judging!! And not long now until the Christmas party where the winners will be announced. That is it for now! Thanks for stopping by and catch you soon.

More Scrapping Things

I was putting some of my completed pages into their albums the other day and realised that I had quite a few done that haven't been photographed or uploaded! And here I was thinking I wasn't getting much done lately!! Anyway I thought I would show you a couple of my favourites plus a mini coaster album from Maya Road that I have just completed for Scrapbook City. This is the little mini album from Maya Road. I have included photos of the cover and a couple of pages inside. I also used a great stamp set from Maya Road which had the cupcake (in bits so you can layer), candles, sprinkles, a cherry and some swirls. The stamps were fantastic to use and given the theme they will be great for birthday cards too! Have I said lately how much I love stamps??!! This page came about after finding some older photos of Erin. She is definitely one to show when she is not enjoying herself!! Such a character our Miss Erin! And this is a recent photo of our Niamh. Look how grown up she has become! We are on a very slippery slope to "double figures" now. Something I am still trying to come to terms with. I mean I can't have a child who is 10, that is just silly...I only had my first baby a little while ago! And I will leave you with one of my absolute favourites at the moment. This is my page for the challenge on Out of the Hat in my guest DT role. It hasn't gone up over there yet but I am sure it will be on its way there soon! This challenge called for 20 brads (a challenge in itself!), title with the letter "z" in it and ribbon flowers. So there you have it! Catch you soon.

Been Scrapping...

Well, I don't get to do alot of it these days, but I have been trying to participate in an on-line challenge or two each month to keep me motivated! For October I ended up getting two challenges done, one for the White With 1 blog and one for Out of the Hat blog and I was really pleased with my pages. Here are the two pages: This is the one for "White With 1" and the criteria was White with Orange and Stamping. I really had fun with the stamping aspect on this one. I stamped the flourishes onto acetate, painted the back of them (roughly inside the lines!) and then cut them out and stuck them on! It is fun to play sometimes! This was the result for "Out of the Hat", the criteria here was Black and White photo, Paint and Hand drawn doodles. I decided to experiment a little here and used some felt ribbon as a mask, watered down some gold paint and put into a spray bottle to create the border on my page, lots of fun and a pleasing result! Anyway, lo and behold I found out today that I won the Design Team choice for the Out of the Hat challenge!!! I get to be the "Guest Designer" for November!! Way cool!! Especially as I enter these challenges to actually get me doing some of my own scrapping!! Anyway, thought I should update some of the other scrapping things I have been up to..... This one came about after the lovely Ang passed on some great Cloud 9 Rain Dots in a cat theme. They are really cool to play with and totally worth buying a packet if you see them! And this one, with the gorgeous self portrait(lol!!) was me taking my own challenge that I set over at Scrapbook City! This was a fun one to do, another one for Scrapbook City using some cool papers from 3 Bugs in a Rug, and boy does my boy love Star Wars!! Just like his daddy did so many years before! Again this was for Scrapbook City. This went in the newsletter talking about Hybrid scrapping. All the elements except for the title came from a digi kit! It was great fun to do. I printed out patterned papers on matte photo paper, and the hearts and overlay frame on transparency. The frame was built up with several images to create my own "just right" frame. I can thoroughly recommend trying this out. Imagine all those papers at your finger tips waiting to be printed, over and over again! I am still a hands on scrapper for the most part, but love what you can do with the digi side of things! Anyway that is enough to bombard you with for now. I am off to catch up on Heroes, love this show!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Been busy taking (and editing!) photos...

Well, time is flying...again...I wish it would stop doing that! Anyway I have been busy taking photos for Christmas cards with the help of some friends and their children. I thought my first official business venture should be photo Christmas cards and I was lucky to have some volunteers to help me! So anyway, here are some of the cards..... These next ones are some of the other photos taken at the same time but not used on cards. So, if you are interested in having some cards done for Christmas, drop me a line in the comments and I will fill you in on the details! Thanks for stopping by.