Week from hell...

Not the week just gone, but the one before that! That was the week that I was called by the school to collect Erin because she had hurt herself at athletics day, to turn up and find out she couldn't walk, to then take her to the hospital to find out she had a fracture in her tibia bone! A few hours later and we are home with a full leg cast and all the fun that encompasses!

The good news is (one MRI and visit to an Orthopedic Surgeon later), the cast should come off in just a few weeks, and the fracture should heal ok. The bad news is, the fracture went near to the growth plate and we don't know if it has been affected. Worst case scenario is growth plate in that area won't grow and her leg may start to grow crooked, but we are hoping for best case, which is that it hasn't been effected at all!

A sad and sorry Erin, just after they put the cast on. Actually I think the look is more for the fact that Mum is taking a photo of the whole ordeal!

So the past 10 days have revolved around hospitals, doctors, and many trips between school to drop off different children at different times and then the same at the end of the day! The one thing keeping me going is Andrew and my upcoming trip to Melbourne! We are off on a long weekend next weekend by ourselves and I can't wait!

In the meantime, I have had a little time to sit at my desk and pull something together. I have been continuing to have fun with my Inked class over at Studio Calico. The great thing with this is I can sit for 10 minutes and just play with a new technique and then move on to something else. An excellent way to chill for a bit during the craziness that is my life at the moment.

I did finish a page for the White with One challenge, which is: White + Navy + Arrows

Played around with one of my newly created masks and some distress ink and texture past and the new Mr Huey's navy mist. A fairly clean and simple page, but I like it! Not to mention I have finally scrapped this family photo (only 2 years later...).

Well, that is about it from me for now. Catch you later.

Katie x

Last Minute November Post!

Well, I thought I had better pull my finger out and get a couple of challenges that I did get done for this month up onto my blog and linked! In truth they have been sitting on my desk done for at least a couple of weeks waiting, and waiting and being ignored!

I have managed to do the White with One and Kraft it Up challenges for November, yay me! First of all here is the White with One - White + Greens + Chevron Pattern:

I had fun playing with my new Spellbinders hexagons in this one, and I even pulled out my Slice and cut the cute little car and title. I didn't realise how much green I had until I started looking!

This next one is the Kraft It Up challenge of Kraft + Minimalist/White Space:

A simple layout about DD1 academic achievement in her first year at high school. I got to use one of the cute little Purple Pumpkin badges that I own too!

Now this page was supposed to be for the October Scrap the Boys challenge of scrapping your boys favourite book/s. I, as usual at the moment, didn't get it up in time. I am not even sure if it was finished in time either! But, never the less, a page I still love!

On a proud parent note, we have DD1 who achieved academic honours for year 8 (at least 5 "A's" across her subjects), DD2 who has been elected Strings Captain for next year and DS who was accepted into the schools enhancement program as well as to do violin! Can't ask for much more than that from your kids can you??!!

On that note, thanks for dropping by!

Katie

School Holidays

Well, schools over for another term, and we are all glad of a little relaxation. Well, how about just not having to go anywhere in a hurry in the mornings! The term finished with a bang with Niamh finishing off her ancient civilisations studies with a much anticipated "medieval feast". I was not able to be there for the feast, but I helped by creating some "oil painting" artwork of the teachers for the castle and also helped with the decorating. It was looking fantastic too, and from all reports was a wonderful event. I adapted Niamh's Greek Goddess dress to be a medieval dame with some sleeves and change of hairstyle, and it didn't look too bad even if I say so myself! The kids all did well on their report cards and there was especially high praise for both the girls on their instrument work. Now we can relax and take a breather before hitting the downhill run to the fete next term, along with birthdays and new babies! I can't remember if I mentioned before but I am going to be a aunty to two new babies this year! I am so excited! The first is my sister due in August and then my brother and his wife due in November. The kids are really excited too. We all love babies to play with! I am gearing up for some great classes at the shop too and my photography is doing well too. Busy on all fronts there. We are now on the look out for a new car (a second car to boot! the first time in over 10 year we will be a two car family). I am a little excited about this as the new car will primarily be my run about for photo shoots. I am leaning towards something cool like a Toyota Yarris or Mazda 2 or something similar. I have been scrapping too. I am still having so much fun playing with my new found passion of inks and stamping. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of some Dark Room Door stamps into the shop too, can't wait to play with those! So here are a couple of pages, trying to scrap some older photos and use up some of the many patterned papers and embellishments that I seem to own! I have just recently seen a great video tutorial on making some flowers that I can't wait to try so keep a look out for that. But for now, so long and thanks for stopping by. Katie

Phew....

That is about all I can say to sum up how I am feeling at the moment! Finally I can have a breather after a week of busy, busy, busy! Last week saw me helping Scrapbook City prepare for the Scrapbook Convention held over the long weekend just passed. It was pretty intense. Getting samples done, sorting out demo stuff and then helping set up the stand. It is pretty interesting to see just how empty and bare the convention centre looks with stands half created and filled and one big wall open to the air outside. But come opening day it all looked fantastic. It was such a busy first day. I had the pleasure of demonstrating all things to do with Distress Inks and Alcohol Inks, and I don't think I was able to lift my head up or move from my table for the first few hours of being there. I was constantly talking and showing, it was my tummy grumbling that informed me I needed to stop for a break. But it was all great fun. I just love sharing my enjoyment and knowledge with others so they too can share in the fun of these products. I must have been doing all right too because most of my products sold out or close to it! I know that Leisa and Kerri are pretty pleased with how it all went! So now that is all over I can take a moment to stop and remember who my family is and get back into normal routines. But not for too long! I am now working every Tuesday at the shop with the idea of doing more demos and also basic classes on all these techniques. And on top of that I now work for a photography studio! So that will keep me busy too. I guess that means I am not really a stay at home mum any more. Sad in a way, it happened a lot quicker than I was expecting, but I am working in areas that I love so I have no complaints. I have some work to share too. Some samples I have done for Scrapbook City to demonstrate the Tim Holtz products and a page for the June Out of the Hat challenge. These first three are layouts using the great new Basics range from Basic Grey. They are perfect to use with Distress Inks and the border stickers and rub-on's are great, and whats even better are the prices! So I did one girly kind of page so you can see that all things Distress don't have to be grungy! And I played with the Tim Holtz masks, alterations dies and stamps, and now that we have the distress embossing folders in I will be playing with those too! Happy Happy Joy Joy!! LOL! This next page is the Out of the Hat June challenge. The criteria for this month are:

1. More than three photos 2. Mixed alpha title 3. Doodling and staples

I just love the way my page turned out, and yes I managed to incorporate inks and stamps into this too. Just a little obsessed, I know! Over the long weekend while I was slaving away...I mean doing demos, and Andrew was busy, Mum took the kids on a long train trip to visit my brother. Now I would like to point out that obsession runs in the family. With me it is inks and stamps (all pretty harmless I think), but for my brother it is Land Rovers! He has about four (I think). Anyway, he got out the old series one and let the kids all have a drive!! Hilarious, they all had so much fun and couldn't stop talking about it! So here is Erin having a drive. I added a filter to give the "old world" effect that goes with the vintage of the car! I will definitely be scrapping these photos soon. And last of all, a card. I have been doing cards a little more lately. Especially since discovering the Hero Arts stamps, Copic Markers and Jennifer McGuire's blog! It is all so much fun, and all I can say is lucky I work for a scrapbook shop, I think most of what I earn ends up back in their pockets! This card was coloured using copic markers, and I resisted them as long as I could, but in the end it was futile. And now both the girls want pens too! Ok, that is probably enough for now. Lets hope I have a little more time on my hands over the next few weeks. Thanks for stopping by. Katie