Lots of Piccies

Sorry to the handful of lovely folk who do read my ramblings for not having posted for some time. You know how it is ... anyway, I've been doing a bit of scrapping here and there so here's some pics.

I've been doing Diva Rach's Tuesday Challenges (4/5 completed so far) - she's been giving us a Becky Fleck sketch each week and we're doing a mini album. The LO's are only 5.5" x 5.5" and this mega talented girl also did an online class on making a faux paper bag album for the LO's. I've yet to make mine though.

I've also been doing lots of mail art for a swap on Divas. Here's my creations ...

I've received some stunning mail art in return too (sorry, no pics at the moment). It really is happy mail. I wonder what the postman has thought ...

And speaking of happy mail I got the first round of recipe cards (June) back too from the great group of girls in the recipe card swap over at Scrapboxx. They're all lovely. Have been wanting to try some of the recipes out but so far the days have slipped away from me.

Need more pics yet ... here's a LO I completed a little while ago now but haven't posted on here. I made the ribbon flowers by hand. They look pretty good if I may say so myself. The next one was for a Diva's challenge using a monochromatic colour scheme. I dont mind this LO especially considering I'd never done something like that before. Lastly, there's a LO I just did on the w/end for the Diva's latest CC. I only got 1 of the 3 challenges done unfortunately, partly because I came down with the flu on Friday (and went to bed, missing the CC start and all the chat and bingo - as DH said, I must have been crook to miss scrapping), and partly because it was Ciaran's 1st b'day so there was things to prepare for the little party at home on Sunday.

And lastly in this post, as I mentioned it was our darling baby boy's first birthday (29th July). WOW where has the last year gone. I'm sure it's flown by even quicker than with Caitlin's first year. Ciaran is such a little boy, the baby disappeared so fast with him. He is just constantly on the go and is already climbing up on chairs, jumping on the trampoline, riding a little car (pushing with his feet) and loves getting in the sandpit and having a swing with his sister. He's also very quick to spy Daddy's or Pa's ute or tractor and is always upset if they leave without him. There's no doubting he's a farm boy. Anyway, here's some happy snaps from his little party on the w/end to finish with.

Tagged Again

I read this on Jode's blog so I guess I'm tagged ...


A-Z's of Me


A - Age: 29 (the big 3-0 this year)

B - Bed size: Queen,

C - Chore you hate: removing cobwebs, especially outside around the verandah

D - Dessert you love: sticky date pudding with butterscotch/caramel sauce

E - Eggs, favorite kind: scrambled

F - Favorite actor(S): I dont have a specific fav ...

G - Gold or Silver: gold

H - Height: 170cm

I - Instruments you play: piano and flute but dont touch them these days much to my family's and husband's disappointment (music and lessons was shoved down my throat a little too much when I was young unfortunately)

J - Job title: Stay at home mum but am also a Loss Adjuster (insurance assessor)

K - Kid(s): Caitlin (almost 3) and Ciaran (almost 1)

L - Living arrangements: with darling husband Marty and the aformentioned kidlets on a farm (cropping and grazing in central west NSW)

M - Mom's name: Christine

N -Nicknames: just plain ol' "H" or "hels bels"

O - Overnight hospital stay other than giving birth: DD tried to arrive at 27 weeks so I spent almost a week in hospital being monitored before being allowed home to bed rest for a few more weeks and then given the ok for the rest of the pregnancy. I also had bad gastro last November which needed a hospital stay.

P - Phobia: snakes

Q - Quotes: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

R - Right or left handed: Right handed

S - Siblings: Younger brother, Cameron (27)

T - Temper: Yep, absolutely (but not proud of it)

U - Unique habit: cant think of one just now ... sorry

V - Vegetable you hate: cant think of any that I actually hate, I think I'd eat them all

W - Worst habit: oh dear ... too many to mention!!!

X - rays you've had: ankle, back (spine)

Y - Yummy food you make: I ususally love to cook so most of my creations are yummy (well DH says it's like eating at a restaurant most nights so I think it must be all ok)

Z - Zodiac Sign: Saggitarius

So now, if you read this, consider yourself tagged. Comment to let me know about it, I would love to see your answers.

11 LO's for June

You might remember I set a little fun challenge for the Divas to see how many LO's they could do in June. I started my goal at 5 then doubled it to 10 ... and would you believe I did ELEVEN LO's for the month. What an achievement for me if I may say so myself.



Here's my 3 LO's from the Scrapbook Diva's CC on the w/end. I'm pretty happy with them.



This is Vicky's challenge - had to use huge black alphas and black doodling and make the page a tribute to someone/something etc.



I love this BG paper but unfortunately I dont think I've done it justice. Oh well, will have to try and get more of it to play with.










This next one is Rach's challenge - use a bright colour as the main colour on your page, B&W photo and journalling strips. The photo has to be someone/something that makes you happy and the journalling strips has to explain why. My journalling says "Ciaran, I love how the simplest things make you happy ... like hiding in the bathroom cupboard, playing peek-a-boo, and amusing yourself with almost anything. When you are happy it makes everyone happy, including me ... Mummy xoxoxo."










And this is Jode's challenge - had to use purple, bling, the word "Diva" and some silver plus a photo of yourself (uugghh). Would you believe I took this self portrait on Saturday afternoon just mucking around holding the camera in front of me. I took some absolute shockers that I immediately deleted but this one was kind of funny and cute so I worked up the courage to print it for my page.



I've used prima flowers and a dob of glitter paint for the centres, MM chipboard alphas painted black and covered with Kindy Glitz (why I didn't discover this stuff before I dont know ... it's so cool!!!), and the word "Diva" is a ScrapFX wordlet which I also painted black and then outlined with Kindy Glitz. There's some pretty pink shimmery butterflies and silver dragonfly eyelets and machine stitching around the edge. Oh, and some of the lovely HS bling flowers too. I copied and printed the Scrapbook Divas banner onto photo paper.








Now although none of these LO's were winners for the challenges, I did manage to win Rach's participation RAK so that's really made my day.



During June I also did Diva Vicky's mail art free online class - mail art is easy and beautiful and ... addictive. I've now joined a mail art swap (lol). Here's my efforts so far ... I like my first one the best actually (top pic).



July is going to be a busy scrapping month again by the looks of things already ... there's the Diva's Secret Santa swap, mail art swap, and I'm doing another recipe swap with the girls over at Scrapboxx. I also have some RAK's to make and send to some special scrapping friends ...

So I'd better move myself from the computer to my scrapping space and GET BUSY!!!

Motoring along for June in the scrapping department

I doubled my LO goal for June to 10 LO's since I seemed to be on such a roll. Here's the 6th and 7th ones and no. 8 is still sitting on the table awaiting the finishing touches. If I manage all 3 challenges this weekend for the Divas CC that will be 11/10 (yes, you read that right!). Not a bad effort for me if I may say so. I think I'd even say I was a serious scrapper now (hehehe). Ok, so here they are ...

I fiddled around with this one and am still not happy with the result but I asked the Diva girls for some help to finish it off, especially the chipboard (which I daubed with walnut ink then dry brushed with the green paint) so I've yet to try their helpful suggestions.

I do like the title though which is based on the Lee Kernagan song.

This LO on the right I scraplifted from one of the lovely gals over at Scrapboxx who goes by the name of "pinkscrapper" (I'm sorry I dont know your real name but I hope you dont mind that I've done this and mentioned you here). The original LO is very striking in green with a B&W photo but I dont think I've done too bad a job with this pink effort.

On a completely non-scrapping note, I seem to have fallen off the wagon in regards to PND or perhaps it's just depression in general although it all seems to stem from me trying to cope with the whole motherhood thing.
I'll spare you the boring details but knowing I had to do something about my state of mind I actually went to the Dr last week and despite NOT wanting to take "happy pills" he somehow had me walking out of there with a script for said pills AND an appointment with the psychologist in July which I am also not keen on. I actually went straight to the chemist then to get the script filled but when it came time to take that little tablet on Friday morning at breakfast do you think I could do it? Well I sat there frozen like an idiot for a good 20 minutes, trying not to cry in front of DD, before DH packed up the tablet and put it away to try again another day. I felt stupid all day long, for so many reasons, and if anything got more depressed about the whole state of things in my world.
So on Saturday morning I forced myself to take it. I still feel uncomfortable taking it but I have another appointment with the Dr this Friday so will discuss it more then.
I am contemplating investigating Naturopathy but one that's been recommended is a 200+km round trip away and heaven knows what the cost would be (consultations, herbs/potions etc).

I am hoping that by mentioning this whole "thing" (depression) to people that it will become easier for me to accept because right now I do not want the horrible label put upon me. I dont want sympathy or anything like that, I just want to be MYSELF but I really dont know who that is anymore. Since having the kids I seem to have lost my identity yet I couldn't really define my "identity" as such pre-kids. You see how confusing this all is? I need to be happy, comfortable and accepting within myself, be calmer and more content.
I'm not entirely convinced that taking a bunch of happy pills for a year will let me achieve that. Sure, it might alter the chemicals in my brain to supposedly "normal" levels again but ... hmmm, I'm getting worked up and confused right here actually so I think I'll go do some scrapping (or mail art actually - see Divas for all the detail on this addictive new slant on scrapping, its so cool).

If you haven't fallen asleep reading this far THANK YOU (and my apologies for such a long spiel).

Happy scrapping all ...

My second swap ...

Well, this is only a ric-rac swap on the Divas site, but hey, it still counts. I am seeing how swaps become addictive but I am going to be good and only do those I know I can manage.

Ok, so nothing exciting happening in my world but I have been scrapping away, doing a little each day if I can so here's a couple for your viewing pleasure.

I have been looking at my work lately and trying to figure out if I have a defined style or something that is obvious about my LO's. What do you think?
I cant really pick anything because I'm always trying to do something different for each page.

Well, I'm just finishing a cuppa now and then we'll be off to the Dr's - we're all snotty here so time to do something about all this sickness in our house me thinks!!!

My first swap ...

Yep, I've finally got involved in a swap having been curious for some time.
It's a recipe card swap with the lovely girls at Scrapboxx. Ayway, here's my efforts ...


Sorry it's blurry - the recipe theme is movie munchies and I went with drinks - Coffee Liqueur w/ vanilla & cinnamon cream ... doesn't that just sound DELICIOUS!!! I actually haven't tried it ... yet ... dont tell the girls (oops) but I know I've had something similar and it's yummy.

The stamp is a MM foam one done with Versamark and I printed the recipe title over the top. I used Walnut Ink around the edges too.


And I am soooo loving that "itty bitty bag" of prima flowers I got from Michelle (Scrapbook Divas) a while ago. I am finding them very handy because I'm not stuck with a heap of the same style/colour-range/size - they're all different. A few here ... a few there ... you get the idea I'm sure.

For anyone interested, I have a little challenge going for the month of June over at Scrapbook Divas - check out the forum - and I'll put all participants names in a hat and the lucky one drawn out will receive a little RAK. My challenge is simply to set yourself a goal for the number of LO's you want to complete in June and as an extra optional challenge do it just from stuff in your stash. My goal is 5 (you all know I'm a slow, procrastinator scrapper LOL) but I've already done 3 so I might need to review.

I am currently side tracked from LO's though having done the recipe swap (note to self, get them posted ASAP) and I've started a mini album for me about my 20's - I've got a cool Maya Road chipboard ring binder album from Divas and can do a double spread for each year 20-29 (I'm getting quite retrospective as my 30th approaches in December this year).

I am so loving the Divas site - it was the first scrapping site I got involved in and they embraced me with open arms. I have found confidence I didn't know existed when I comes to sharing LO's and all things scrapping. And by the way, they've just announced 2 new DT members whose work I have admired since I first got involved in the site - Jode and Rach. Congratulations (again) girls if you happen to read my uninspiring little blog here!!!

Anyway, thanks to anyone who happens to be reading this - I appreciate it. Bye for now ...

Quick Share

Here's my latest effort for your viewing pleasure. "Whipped" this one up yesterday morning while DS had a nice long sleep (DD is at day care on Wednesday's).
The tag says "4th June '07 How cute is this face! A lucky quick snap while snuggling on Mummy's lap. Gorgeous!".

I used BG pp, tag and rubon and HS bling, flower and ghost alphas. There's a bit of Kindy Glitz there too for good measure.

Am off to the hairdresser shortly (with both kids in tow - DD needs a hair cut badly, she's going wool blind!!!) and hopefully I'll get a bit of scrapping done this afternoon if the kids nap together. I caught up on all the washing and folding yesterday.