Not to be ...

So the business venture I mentioned ...???... well, it's not happening. Lots of reasons but honestly it is totally ok and in some ways probably lucky we didn't go through with it. So I'll still be blogging and hanging around the forums and trying to do more scrapping.

Strangely enough though, we told the business owner this morning in person that we weren't going through with it and when I get home there's a message from my old work saying they want me for some casual days for a while. I'll probably take them up on the offer if the money's right because the extra cash will be handy.

So onto other matters ... what are you all up to this Australia Day weekend? Need an excuse to scrap? Well, dont waste a minute, get yourself over to SCRAPBOOK DIVAS for the first CyberCrop of the year - SUMMER is our theme and yours truly is the guest challenger for this month. Woohoo!!! I will be setting challenge #3 so come and check it out. As always, it's a heap of fun and there's great prizes on offer.

I'd best get back to my LO for this challenge so nighty night all.

Happy New Year ...

Late I know, and sorry I've been such a bad blogger. Life's just been too busy to indulge in something that is, in reality, not all that important. Sorry but you know how it is I'm sure.

So what's been keeping me so busy you ask? Here's the brief version since I last blogged ...

Girls weekend in the Hunter Valley for my bestie's 30th b'day celebrations - wine, fun, wine, chatting, wine, laughter, wine, eating, wine, sleeping ... WHEW!!! Lugged home 6 bottles on the plane not to mention other goodies and some shopping. LOL.

December seemed to pass in a blur of catching up with people here and there, Christmas parties/drinks and all that not to mention shopping just to make sure I had enough for the kids and hadn't missed anyone I needed to buy for. And I did a huge grocery shop too. I tell you, that's exhausting these days.

Oh, somewhere in there was a few days away at Murramarang Resort (near Batemans Bay) for a friend's wedding plus my 30th birthday came and went. The day wasn't very exciting but I had a lovely lunch with some girlfriends the day after which I really enjoyed. Got very spoilt with pressies from family and friends too.

Christmas day was spent opening pressies with the kids (and all the mayhem that goes with that, not to mention snap-happy Mum trying in vain to get a decent photo) followed by lunch with DH's family (lots of food - and if I may say so, a fair proportion of it done by yours truly) and a relaxing afternoon around the pool.

NYE turned into a party at our place - FIL's 60th b'day was just after Christmas and we'd planned a surprise party for him. DH's family also tried to make it a surprise party for me too but ended up spilling the beans to me saying I was asking too many questions or something. In the end it would have been really hard to keep it a secret and our place ended up being a better venue for the party anyway. FIL definitely got a real surprise and we had a fantastic night, heaps of fun, and no hang over!

And here we are nearing the end of January already. My parents and brother have just been here over the last week so it was a full house but great spending time with them. The kids love their grandparents and Grandma & Grandad dont half spoil them of course.

One of the most time consuming things though has been plenty of time spent in serious discussion and planning with my friend ... about a possible business venture. I can't say any more yet but WATCH THIS SPACE and keep your fingers crossed for us please.

I made quite a few cards for Christmas - for the Diva's swap and for family and friends. Here's some with the envelopes I made too. I kept all the cards very similar this year using 3 Bugs in a Rug pp's and bazzill. There was a light dusting of the trust kindy glitz too (love that stuff LOL).

Nothing much else on the scrapping front to show you because I really haven't done any and am getting serious withdrawals.

Last night I chatted on Divas til very late (great to catch up girls, thanks) then scrapped til nearly 1am - it was a cool night too so no noise from the air conditioner and gentle rain on the roof outside made it perfect for scrapping. I've been getting some things done today like cards and re-arranging some stuff in the scrapping storage unit - I had a Stampin Up party last Sunday and my goodies have arrived already. I got some great stuff - spent a fair amount of $ myself but with everyone else's sales I ended up getting $90 worth of free stuff PLUS 4 free stamp sets. How cool is that.

I have just started an OTP project this afternoon so when it's done I'll show you a pic here. DH very kindly took the kids for a drive so I'm enjoying some PEACE and QUIET and scrapping time - BLISS!!! I'm sure it wont be long before the silence is broken so I think I'll go and have a shower now.

Thanks for checking in ... dont forget to leave me a message!!!

Howdy ...

Wassup??? All I can tell you is that it's HOT here. The other week we were pulling jumpers out on a few chilly mornings and suddenly the heat has arrived with a vengance and slapped us in the face. We've been sweltering ...

Thankfully it's cooled off a little this afternoon with a few storms hanging around although we haven't got anything at our place (yet?).

Harvest is underway - the boys have stripped the canola and are into the oats now plus there's all they haymaking to do. Sounds crazy - yes - but it's the nature of the job.

Now, onto scrapping ... here's my first attempt at a canvas. It was so much easier than I thought (although why I thought it would be hard I dont know LOL). If I may say so, I'm quite pleased with it. And I enjoyed it so I've got more planned. Thanks for the great class Catherine!

Speaking of new things to try, I just did 2 half maps (6"x12" pages) during the week using only scraps of c/stock and pp. I dont mind these either ...

And I've done my tags for the Divas xmas tag swap ... here they are ...

All the Scrapbook Divas and Scrapboxx recipe swap cards are done and distributed/posted.

I've started the Divas Christmas card/mail art swap ... hmmm, what else???

Here's a sneek of a very exciting series of projects starting at Scrapbook Divas shortly called "The 12 Days of Christmas". I cant wait to get stuck into the projects Diva Rachael and Diva Vicky have been preparing for us ... I've been stocking up on Christmas pp and lots of bits and pieces.

So if you're reading this blog and you're NOT a Divas member ... JOIN NOW so you dont miss out on these fabulous FREE Christmas projects. The Divas forum is a fabulous place to hang out.

Published!!!

OMG, For Keeps have e-mailed me to say they want the Wyangala Dam LO for issue 64, "travel" theme. I'm just so stoked one of my LO's has been accepted. To me anyway, it's really quite a big thing to be published so I cant wait to share my excitement.


Now I need to get it posted off to them ASAP.

This year has been huge as far as scrapping is concerned for me. I have really got into it in a huge way - lots of LO's plus other projects, entering comps including Cybercrops AND being lucky enough to win with some of my LO's, plus all the online stuff I've been involved in. Making online friends has been such a blessing too and it's wonderful sharing our passion for creating.

Speaking of CC's, I got 2 of the 3 challenges done last w/end for Scrapbooking Top 50 CC. Here's my efforts ...





First LO is for challenge 2 (yes, you read correctly) which was a sketch challenge and the second LO is for challenge 1 (confused? me too) where the forum members set the criteria - 2 different sized photos, paint, ribbon (my idea ... hehehe).

Onto family stuff ... well, the kids had a blast on Monday. Playgroup went to Rascals play centre over at Parkes. My kids just ran straight on in and played hard all morning. DS (15 months) bowled on in with the bigger kids without any dramas, climbing up and down, launching himself down the slides, diving into the ball pits. You name it, he was in it.
I managed to poke a bit of food and drink in their mouths to keep them going and when we left, DS fell asleep in the stroller straight away but DD was happy to follow me around for a bit of shopping. I spoilt her though and let her choose a few things from The Warehouse including a $10 hobby horse - plush head complete with bridle and reigns PLUS if you press its ear, it does the whole clip clop, neigh and "hhmmpp" thing. Cute. It's been a real hit though so it's $10 well spent.

On Tuesday morning DS woke up grumpy and we discovered on changing his nappy that his poor little doodle was infected. Up the hospital we went because it was really distressing him. The Dr prescribed antibiotics but he got worse throughout the day (we were all out in Orange for lunch, organising new mobile phones, getting some fruit & veg etc) so I took him back to the Dr when we got home and he gave him a shot of different antibiotics. He finally perked up about 3:30am this morning (NOT the best time) and I took him back to the Dr again this morning for the second shot but he's on the mend now thank goodness. It looks so sore, poor little fellow.
So today we've just had a quiet day at home and I caught up on folding washing and managed a little scrapping too.

I hate daylight saving

Sorry, but I do. It's annoying. It puts the kids out, not to mention me and DH hates it too. Farmers and other such workers dont work to a clock, 5pm is not knock off time. They work from sun up to sun down (and in busy times from morning dark to night time dark LOL). Now I'm not silly enough to say that they work another hour because of daylight saving (you know like the faded curtains) but in some ways they actually do.
DH always complains that if he's got a break down on a machine in the paddock, and it's still broad daylight, he slips into town to get a part or whatever only to find when he gets there they're all shut cos it's 7:30pm or something. Ok, so he should look at the clock first but that's just not the way he works.
It also means that dinner and the whole evening routine is later because the kids are still playing at 6:30pm (eg. it's 6pm ATM and I haven't even started dinner and the kids are outside playing). Getting them to bed is a hassle cos it's light, and with DH not being home til later we dont get to eat as a family very often either.
Shall I go on ... nah, sorry to rant.

Ok, onto other matters.

You will all be pleased to know my toe is slowly getting better. Bruising is almost all gone although if I bump it the wrong way, oh boy, does it hurt. Must have broken a tiny bone somewhere inside where the toe joins the main part of the foot IYKWIM.

And some good news, I won again at the Divas CC the other w'end. It was for challenge 3 so I'm doing the happy dance with a $15 voucher to spend on MORE goodies.

And you must check out Michelle's shop over at Divas cos she's just added some very yummy new goodies. I've got my eye on some stamps and overlays.

No LO's to share this post although I've done some. Just haven't got myself organised to upload them yet. But I've also been cleaning and sorting out my scrapping stash and space over the last 2 days (hayfever has held up the process - I just couldn't continue with streaming nose and eyes and constant itching and sneezing). I'm hoping (???) to set things up in the office so we can actually use our dining table for its intended purpose. We'll see ...

Anyway, off to get dinner organised (and check the kids).

Think Pink ...

... for Breast Cancer Awareness. This campaign seems to have the biggest and best coverage this year more than before, so it seems to me anyway. Even "The Land" rural newspaper has gone pink.

Tupperware (did I mention I am a Tupperware demonstrator) supports the Breast Cancer Foundation through the sale of their pink enviro bags (just $2) and for the month of October the pink sports bottles ($26.95).

I am truly astounded by the statistics of how many women are diagnosed with BC and even more so how young so many are. It's really scary and I'm guilty of thinking it will never happen to me but on the more positive side, at least treatments are quite successful these days. I understand the vital importance of early detection, and yes, I do check my breasts regularly.

Now on to scrapping ... still with a PINK theme.

This month's Diva's Cybercrop was held earlier to coincide with Pink Ribbon day and all the challenges had a pink theme.

#1 - to use numbers (oh, I dont think we needed pink here) ...

#2 - to use at least 5 different pink things not including pink c/stock or pink pp and the title to be inspired by a song ...

#3 - journalling - lots of it in our own handwriting about something/someone or an event etc that has changed our lives, for better or for worse. Can include one 6x4 photo ...

Diva Vicky also set an extra challenge ... a pink bra challenge ... to create a poppet wearing a pink bra. There's some really awesome poppets in the Diva's gallery so far. I started mine and was going ok til I couldn't find a pic of my face/head that was suitable and then my black ink cartridge isn't working (empty) so I cant print anything either. The CC is running til midnight tomorrow though so I'll see if I can get one printed at my MIL's. I've never made one but always been intrigued by them. Funny, quirky little fun things.

In other news ... oh, I've injured my little toe on my left foot. Wanna see ...

Nice bruise 'eh. Hurt like buggery when I did it (kicked it on the highchair) and it's been aching a bit but I'll live. I think the bruising is already starting to fade (now about 30 hrs later) so that's good.

Well, there's washing to come off the line and dinner to prepare - duty calls so til next time ... THINK PINK!!!

Pay it forward

I saw this on Diva Vicky's and Diva Jode's blogs weeks ago (and they've read it on other people's blogs who've read it on other people's blogs ... you get the idea).

So to pay it forward the first 3 people who comment on my blog receive a lovely little RAK of scrapping goodies and they in turn post on their blog and offer a RAK to the first 3 who comment there etc etc etc.


Clear as mud? Good-oh!!! Leave me a comment and there'll be some goodies headed your way.

Now to share some piccies ...

Here is the GORGEOUS scrapping apron Diva Rach made just for me - she was my Secret Santa for the Divas Christmas in July swap we had. Isn't is just the most stunning creation, I am so lucky and I love wearing it, makes me feel like creating. Thank you my sweet friend. Love ya.




And here's my LO's from the last Divas Cybercrop (end of Sept).





The last LO of Ciaran asleep (head down, bum up - so cute) was done in an hour for our speed scrap sessions on Sunday afternoons with a sketch as a guide. It was meant to be for challenge 3 but I only had 1 transparency and it didn't suit but I like what I came up with anyway.



Ok, what else have I got to share??? More pics ...





For some reason I felt like taking pics of the kids rooms one day - my SIL commented recently how lovely they look and I guess when you see them every day you dont really notice.
They've both got Wall Buddies images (flowers and butterflies for DD and a red tractor - what else! - and some cars for DS). My Mum made Caitlin's curtains and matching cushions from fabric I had chosen, and Ciaran has the Pooh Bear curtains Mum also made for the nursery before Caitlin was born.

Anyway, dont forget to leave me a comment if you'd like a little scrapping RAK.