Merry Christmas!

and all that jazz....

Yes I know it's been a while, but I have been so busy it's not funny.
With work and christmas and the lead up to christmas I haven't had any time to do any scrapping....

Well I've managed 1 layout... now isn't that sad!

This simple one using Websters Pages bloomers which I've finally managed to get my hot little hands on!



Ok... I have to be truthful... I've managed a couple of others, but they are in my childhood album and I haven't taken any photos yet of any of the pages. I might just have to take a pic or 2 of a couple of the pages just to give you a teaser of what it looks like. Could be I might just be working on it for a while, though I've sketched all the pages out.... we'll see....

I hope Santa was good to you and you had a wonderful Christmas... I know he brought me what I wanted... a Kobo e-book reader (hmm... will have to share the cover I made for it... when I think about it I HAVE done some scrapping...lol)
and some funny little gnome's from the kids.... will take some pics of them... you will get a laugh!

Anyway... my christmas pudding and custard is getting cold, so it's time for me to go....

Busy busy....

I've spent all weekend scrapping... for work and not for me... but it's fun playing with stuff even if it's for work!
So what have I done...

well... the display stand at work required a sign... (well something that covered the old brand name on it)... and this is what I came up with...

the wording has been cut out on my klic-n-kut... I guess it's about time I pulled it out and used it. Just because it took me all day to get it to talk to my laptop is beside the point. But now it's done, so I'm going to use it more often.
Actually I've decided I will spend one day setting up and cutting out flourishes on vinyl and cardstock so I've got them when I want them.

I also did up some new layouts for the shop as well... using the offcuts of papers from the sign (Websters Seaside Retreat)

this one called dream

and some detail...

yes I've finally taught myself to make fabric flowers using the fabric ribbon from Websters...

and this one using off cuts too...


And then we needed some christmas layouts using Bo Bunny...


This christmas photo is not mine... there are advantages to working in the advertising industry... lol

and a detail shot...


I think Gryfn thought I was doing too much scrapping so he decided to give me a break! lol

He's getting to be a big boy, and he's only 10 months old. Still a lot of growing to do....

And because I was a bad girl last weekend and didn't update here are the layouts I did for the blind scrapping at S4L...



and another layout for challenges at Chookscraps...


I've also been doing some of the layouts for my childhood album... not sure whether to take pics and share as I go or take them all at the end... will have to think about it!
Have a great weekend....

Childhood memories

I've been working on a little project this week... my childhood album!
I kept changing my mind on what I wanted to do... a tin and digital which I started but they really didn't appeal to me as I wanted something to display properly.

So now I've made my own album up this week to hold 8x8 layouts. The paper has been chosen... basic grey bittersweet. I've had a 6x6 pad sitting here for ages so it's time I used it! I will also be using a little porcelain and urban prairie too...

But the cover of the album is now done. I've made it from scratch using chipboard and a d-ring centre I got from a file that was broken.
The binding is chipboard that I curved by dampening it and rolling it around a rolling pin... who said a rolling pin is only for cooking!!!

and I made the charms for the spine today ... the first time I've made them.

Here is the front cover..


And the detail pics....









The inside, minus pages (which i haven't done yet! all in good time.. lol)


So tell me what you think... I would love to know!

Proud of my boys!

The boys did well at the show with their photos.
DS1 got a first and 2 seconds and he also picked up overall third out of all the photos in his age group. Very proud of him.
And DS3 got a first with one of his photos.
Although DS2 never got any placings I'm still proud of him of having a go.

I ended up with a first and a second for my roses, which I'm really happy about. Especially considering a storm came in 4am of the day I was going to pick the roses for the show.
And again I did well with my scrapping... 4 firsts, 6 seconds and 3 thirds and Most Points. Really happy with it.

So here are the layouts I promised last week that I did for the 8x8 mini album. The album got a first in it's section.









And this weekend was also a cybercrop over at Chookscraps.
I've managed to get 3 of the challenges done, but only taken pics of 2 of them as it's now too dark.
Here are the layouts for challenges 1 and 2.



If you have time got check out the challenges... great for keeping you on your toes!

It's been a busy busy week...

Mum and Dad have been down so it's been absolutely great catching up with them.
Work has been work and with 1 away it's been full on with our biggest features of course!
The Esperance show is this coming Friday and Saturday so I've been working out my entries and getting the entry form in. Now I just have to pick up the tickets and get them organised. And of course the kids decided Friday they wanted to enter some things, so it was getting photos taken, and they want to do some cooking so it's gingerbread tomorrow night and muffins tuesday night made with supervision...
I'm also doing some more layouts for a mini album I'm entering, though it doesn't really matter if I get them done or not. It's a constant work in progress.

So today with mum and dad heading home I decided on some well earned scrapping time.
I managed to get 3 layouts done for some challenges at chookscraps...




and also managed some layouts for said mini album but I haven't taken any photos of them yet. You will have to wait till next week.

But tonight I took DS1 out to take some night photos.
We took some pics of the jetty and the port. Here is one of the nicest ones I took of the jetty and the lights. It was a beautiful night, so still.... but you can keep the mozzies!

Just the normal... work and housework!
I've managed to finish sorting out my scrap stuff and labelled everything so really there's no excuse not to scrap... well except for the online books I've been reading. I have discovered an eReader I want from Kobo... just have to wait until the wireless version is available in Australia and convince dh how much I need one! lol... hopefully for Christmas.

But today I got some scrapping done...

Worked on a "to do" book to write scrapping challenges in and decided to redo the pencil holder to match.

The bird on there is one I made when I was playing with some texture paste. I spread it on acrylic so i could remove it when dry, then sprayed it with Tattered Leather Gllimmermist and Adirondack colourwash (cranberry. Loving the way the colours came out!
I've just been waiting to use it on something and this was perfect!

I've also rejoined Chook Scraps so today I decided to do one of their sketch challenges.


I think I need some encouragement to get started scrapping layouts and challenges seem to be the thing I need to get started.

Don't forget to check out the post below and let me know what you think about the photos... I'm really not sure, but will have to decide in the next couple of weeks!

Advice needed...

I'm going to do a photo wall.
I've got the frames all done and the layout sorted, but what I need to know is...

Should I have black and white photos only, or colour and black and white????

I need to decide before I get pics printed...

Here is what it will look like...


I might put the family thing at the bottom and move the frames in the middle up to the top... still deciding.
Each photo will have a white border too within the frame.

So what do you think???

The garden!

Finally I'm getting around to sharing some pics of the work we've done over the last couple of months in the backyard....

First here's the fish pond and fernery... dh finally reticulated it all, so I got the ferns finally planted and I got the little fence painted.

We still have room for more ferns, but I want some colour so if you have any ideas on plants let me know.
DH still has some work to do on the fish pond... mainly clean out the sand from the kids~!... put the stone edging on it and set up the fountain. I want the terracotta fish to in the middle with the fountain coming out of it but I have to wait on dh to do it. It will probably be done around 2020.... shhh don't tell dh I said that! lol

Onto the side of the house, where we shifted 1.7 tonne of blue metal for the path... ok let's get this right where ME MYSELF AND I shifted it!!!! But it looks so neat and tidy now...

And this is the garden part that was originally made for the kids but as per normal they've lost interest so it's back to mum's care. In the tyres I have potatoes planted (love new potatoes) and we also have the compost bin and the worm farm (which is meant to be the kids responsibility .... yeh ha ha ha!)


And the door at the end that leads into this little space....


This is the cat run, which I spent yesterday cleaning and rearranging to make it more entertaining for the cats.

And now the finale... my vegie garden....

I'm really happy with the way it's turned out. We put a lot of work into it and I'm looking forward to harvesting lots of fruit and vegies from it.
I've put a lemon and mandarin in one of the barrels, and in the other I've put 2 apple trees. And the poor plum tree in the middle which we've had since we built the house got a hair cut, but it's already in flower. I don't expect much fruit this year, but it's a very prolific tree so there's hope for the future.
And even though the apple trees were planted yesterday the flowers on the Sundowner opened today... the other one is a granny smith, so hopefully there will be no problems with pollination...

Doesn't this just scream spring to you???

One of my proudest moments!

I'm a very proud mum at the moment....

as my son


was part of this team....


That today won the men's hockey grand final and topped off a wonderful year of hockey for him!
And at only 14 he's got a lot of wonderful years of hockey ahead of him!!!!

It's been a quiet week, but today I got stuck into the challenges for the cybercrop over at Scrapbooking 4 Less.
Here are my 3 layouts...



There's still time to get your entries in if you want to check out the challenge... challenges close tomorrow night. Shelley always gives great prizes so it's worth your while to check them out!!!!

I also got 2 more digital pages done for my childhood album.



Next week DS1 is playing in the senior hockey grand final so we'll be off to watch him. Fingers crossed they win....