Another year gone...

Well nearly, and I've been busy so haven't posted anything on my blog for 2 months... yes I've neglected the poor thing.

So, thought I would try to a recap of 2012 before lots of new exciting things start for 2013!
These are not going to be in any particular order... just as I remember them.

So...

~In June I finished my time on the Design Team for Kaisercraft. A very exciting year it was and very full on! I've been enjoying the quiet time since and haven't done a lot of creating, but there's big things happening in 2013!

~ Nicholas and his team mates received the 2012 Sports Star Team of the Year Award, and the team won the State Championships in Perth again in October, with the sub-junior team also winning the State Championship, therefore Esperance were the top team!!! Well done boys.

~ Kristofer was elected Student Councillor for 2013. Very proud moment for us and such an achievement for him!

~ Jonathan worked very hard at school and received the class award at the end of the year. Well done.

~ I finally got my scrap room properly floored and am loving the set-up. It's my own little place where I can go for time out when I need to. Love sitting in there creating, or just reading.

~ We used the caravan for the first time with a holiday in Albany in October. Seems like only yesterday but really was 3 months ago!

~Nicholas had his first trip over the Nullabor to the Victorian Fire Brigade Championships. That's further than I've ever been!

~ Nicholas has been doing well in Year 11 and also got his Learner's Permit. That was a drama in itself... did you know you need more identification to get a learner's permit to drive than you need for either a passport OR to get a tax file number!

~ The Esperance Show was a success for all of us with a few wins and places, especially for the boys and their photographs.

~ We had a wedding and a new baby, with 2 more babies expected over the next couple of weeks! (and no definately not me, but dh's nieces!)

~ I started to get organised with the housework and this has free'd me up a bit more on the weekends so I'm looking forward to continuing in the new year and having it all fall into place!

I really only have 1 regret for the year... I didn't take enough photos so I'm looking at rectifying that in the new year!

So on that note, I hope everyone has a happy new year, and have few regrets as they look back on 2012.

Very Proud!

Of my boy that is...
He is part of the Esperance Junior Fire Brigade team that won the Sports Team of the Year for 2012 at the Esperance Sports Star Awards last night!

This is a photo of the members of the No1 4 man team that were tops.
They managed a State Championship, winning all of the zone championships, and getting 7th overall in a competition in Victoria.
Nicholas and one of the other boys got a State Record, as well as being second in the state in senior competition in the same event.
They put the work in and well deserve this win!
Congratulations boys....

Heritage mini album

This mini album has been on the cards for a long time now.
Several years ago while in Perth, I photographed an old journal that Mum and Dad have written by my grandmother when on a trip around Australia in 1965.
I had always planned on transcribing the journal and making it into a mini album and finally I found the mojo to actually do it.
And when I went through all of the old slides I had scanned, I managed to match up some of the photos to the journal.

Would you believe I couldn't get hold of a fence line so I had to create my own using chipboard. The title itself came from the one written by my grandmother at the start of the journal.

The inside pages have all been created using white bazzil, stained with a weak solution of coffee, then I used a stronger mix to create drips and cup rings. I love the effect that has been created and works so well with this album.
Once the pages had dried I then printed out the transcript of the journal on them, and added pieces from the journal (the photographed ones).

The journal was never finished, ending while they were in the Northern Territory. I printed out a map of Australia and traced the route they took on it, up to where the journal itself ends.

I'm just amazed that they travelled all that way on gravel roads in a Ford Customline, camping on the side of the road. Reading it, gave me an insight into all we take for granted these days.

Oh, and this album was Champion Exhibit at the show too...

Letter holder

I had created this Kaisercraft letter holder a little while ago now, but just haven't got around to sharing...

I've used Bo Bunny Little Miss collection. It's a very soft and pretty collection.
The sides of the letter holder are longer than 12" so it's takes some creative joining of papers to get the right look.

The little bird on the top is made from air-dry clay using one of the moulds from Mould's by Mel. Go have a look at them as she has some awesome moulds! I'm going to start trying some beeswax in them... just have to find a little glass jug first!

The letter holder wasn't the easiest thing to photograph well, but it does look good on the wall at any rate!

Little Princess

I had actually made this mini album a little while ago, but never had the photos for it.
So when I needed a mini album for the show, this was the perfect choice and I even had the photos for it after our niece's wedding in April.
I used the photos of Tara's little girl Natalia...

 There's a CD case on the front cover that opens up with a poem on the inside, but more photos can be added if I like.

It's a pretty little album with lots of little details.

Paper Shadowbox

This was my final project for the Show that I had to create.
I came across these Flowersoft frames in the shop the other day, and decided to have a play. They're fiddly to fold, especially if you cover it in paper, but it really was worth the effort.
I really do love the way this came out....

I've used a fair bit of chipboard, resins and wood embellishments to get the true 3 dimensional feel. Even though I've used flowers it's not really girly and I think it matches the photo beautifully!

I still have 2 of the frames left (there's 3 in a packet) so I look forward to having some more fun with them!

Lest We Forget

When I was trying to come up with some off-the-page projects for the show, I decided to make up one of the Kaisercraft frames...
I was going to use photos of the boys, but then I decided to work with a chipboard 'Rising Sun' I had picked up in Hyden in March, and decided to work with these photos in my Grandmother's collection taken in Albany on Anzac Day in about 1966. I'm sure my father will correct me when he see's it as it is for him for Christmas.

I painted the frame black, then used some Twiddlybitz Rusting Powder to get the worn look. And yes, I did get the rusting powder absolutely everywhere!!!

I used Bo Bunny Et-cetera papers for the background. The photos were all printed on white bazzil and the edges sanded.

I found it very hard to get the colours right on the 'Rising Sun' especially as the detail is so fine. Even though it is not a bronze colour I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Show layouts

Of course with the show last weekend I managed to get quite a few layouts done.
Yes I put the entry form in, then had to go and create most of the projects in 4 days!!! Don't say it...

So here we go....

Some of the singles...

and I have to say this one is a favourite....
It took me a full day to do, but it was well worth the effort!

 And the doubles...

 And this one would be my favourite though for some reason the photo of the layout doesn't come out very well....
It had been in the planning for quite a while before I actually got around to scrapping it. It's very simple, being mainly photos, but it's the full sequence of the photos that makes it work!

It's not bad when you consider most of these layouts were created last weekend. I think it was only 2 of the singles that I had created a couple of weeks ago...just goes to show what a tight deadline can do... lol!