Me and the Little Rascals

EXCITING NEWS!!

2012-01-27T00:58:00.004+10:00

Would you like to win a $50 to spend in the NEW PURPLE PUMPKIN ONLINE STORE?

There are two $50 vouchers up for grabs, and two ways you can win. If you are on facebook, go HERE and follow the instructions.

For another chance to win, simply go and REGISTER at the new store HERE. Stock will be added on Friday night for the limited release SALE!!

There is FREE POSTAGE WORLDWIDE for the January sale only, so make sure you don't miss out!

Back to School

2012-01-23T22:31:00.000+10:00

It was the kids first day back at school today, and boy oh boy, did I enjoy those peaceful hours between 9 and 3! They actually ended up being very excited to start back at school, partly because we had some special little pressies for the kids to give their new teachers. We decorated some empty coffee jars with some Imaginisce Geek is Chic papers and die cuts, and then filled them with things like notebooks, pens, paperclips, 'good work' stamps and stickers (that hopefully will sometimes grace the kids homework books!), and some lollies and choccies.

This is Em's little note that she wrote for her teacher. She's such a sweetie :) I didn't get a chance to take a pic of the note Jack wrote for his teacher, but it said something like he was looking forward to working hard in grade 6. The kids were pretty excited to give them to their teachers, and the teachers seemed pretty happy to receive them. I guess they don't get first day pressies from students all that often!

Em was up quite early (around 7am), and wanted me to do her hair before anything else. Then she was more than happy to pose for a few photos.

Dunno what's going on with her standing like that with her hands behind her back. I think she was trying to look smart or something!

And I got a shot of the new school shoes, which will be scuffed and gross by the end of the week, I'm sure...

My big grade 6 boy wasn't too keen on having his photo taken. In fact, he didn't even have his shoes on here. He was running late as usual and had to put them on in the car!

But they got to school on time, and they were both so happy when I picked them up this afternoon, so it was a great day for them. And those 6 hours of peace and quiet? I'm looking forward to some more of that tomorrow :) :)

Giveaway on Becci's Blog!

2012-01-20T17:20:00.004+10:00

Check out this gorgeous giveaway!!

You can find all the details HERE.

It's Almost Over...

2012-01-18T20:13:00.000+10:00

On the last school day of the year, it always feels like there is so much holiday time ahead of us. Nearly two months of doing whatever the heck we want, without the horrible morning rush, and daily homework dramas. And every year, the summer holidays seem to race by in the blink of an eye, and before you know it, there are only 5 days before the new school year starts.

I wish we could go back to that last day of school and start all over again. I don't want it to end!

But on the other hand, I am looking forward to some peace and quiet during the day, so I guess there are some good points to the kids heading back to school :) I am looking forward to not hearing Em watching a dvd, while Jack is playing the Wii. During school terms, the tv doesn't get switched on at all during the week, so that will be nice!

At the moment, Jack is hooked on this game...

If you recognise this little critter, then I'm guessing there's a Skylanders junkie at your house too! Jack is desperate for more of these characters, but they seem to be sold out everywhere. It seems like you need to buy a heap of different characters in order to complete it, which is a pretty clever idea of whoever made the game!

Em has been enjoying lots of pj days. She LOVES days when we don't have to go anywhere, so she can stay in her pjs all day. She got loads of art supplies for Christmas, and has been drawing non stop.

And playing with her barbies...

We've had lots of trips to the beach too, and had friends come to stay. And I think we've seen every kids movie at the cinema these holidays too!

I have to admit, the kids have been really well behaved these holidays, with hardly any fighting, although they do have their moments.

I guess that's why I don't want it to end! Of course, the kids don't either. But they are a bit excited I think. They keep nagging me to cover their school books with the new contact they chose, so they can pack their bags! I've been following Becci's Domestic Bliss, which is full of lots of back to school organisation ideas, and I have to admit that I'm a bit excited to get everything super organised for the kids for this year too.

And I am definately looking forward to finding a bit more time for scrapping!! I think I might have to spend one of my child free days doing that next week :)

Goodbye 2011

2011-12-31T22:43:00.001+10:00

2011 has been a great year for us, and I guess I'd have to say that I've loved pretty much every crazy busy minute of it! Sure, there have been some ups and downs. We had a heartbreaking death in the family, and a bit of a health scare and hospital stay for me, but on the up side, Jack is the healthiest he's ever been, with hardly any asthma at all this year, and just a few of his nasty migraines. The kids are both happy and healthy, and doing really well at school, and that's pretty much all it takes to make me happy :)

One thing that did kind of suck this year, was not having much time for scrapping. Although, I did do around 80 layouts, so I guess that's not too bad. Here's ten of my faves, in no particular order...

Ahh...I've missed scrapping these last few months...most of these pages were done in the first half of the year! Most of my spare time this year has gone into Purple Pumpkin, and scrapping has had to take a back seat. Hopefully I'll be a bit more organised with my time in 2012 to make time to scrap!

With only a couple of hours left of 2011, it's been so nice to look back at some of my photos from the year. Here are some of the highlights of our 2011...

LOVE this pic of the kids with their cousin, when they were flower girl and page boy at my brothers wedding :)

Jack turned 10 this year!

And Emmy turned 8...

Love my mum and dad! Family time is always the best :)

We got 4 beautiful new family members :)

Jack is famous! So excited to have my layout on the cover of SBM.

We had a holiday in Sydney. SO MUCH FUN!

Waiting for New Years fireworks on the beach tonight...

And of course, no NYE is complete without sparklers :)

Happy New Year! Hope your 2012 is wonderful xx

Our Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T15:35:00.000+10:00

As it always does, Christmas day seemed to come up way too fast. There were so many things that I had planned to do in the lead up to the big day that never happend, but in the end, it didn't really matter. We had a great day!

On Christmas Eve, the kids dad came up to stay the night, along with his little puppy who peed all around the house. But he was so cute that we all forgave him. The kids were in bed by 10, but not before they left out a special snack for Santa!

I was pretty impressed by the earlier than ususal xmas eve bedtime this year, but Em was up at 4am, ready to open presents! She dragged me out of bed to show me all the pressies under the tree, and off to the side there was a desk and 'spinny chair' with her name on, with a cute little fish in a pink topped tank, just for her. (oops, forgot to get a piccie of those!)

After she showed me the stocking hanging on her door, stuffed full of goodies, I managed to convince her to lay down for a little while longer, and not to wake Jack up just yet. So I staggered back to bed for a little while, but before long, both kids were up, and ready for Christmas morning to begin!

Hmmm...I tried to get my usual Christmas morning photo of the kids in front of the tree, but they were too busy singing and swaying in time, for me to get a decent pic, so this is it!

Then it was time to rip into those pressies! Jack was thrilled to finally get a Wii, the look on his face says it all :)

And Em was so excited to get the Powerwing that she had wanted sooo badly :)

And that's where I put my camera down this year, for Christmas morning at least. I just wanted to enjoy the kids opening their pressies, instead of watching it all through the camera lens. And it was awesome, and over so fast. Jack of course was pretty happy with his Wii, and he got 5 games for it as well, including the Skylander game that he REALLY wanted. He got a couple of big legos too, and some DS games, some board games, ds accesories, touch screen MP3 thingy, water pistol, and some other stuff that I can't remember. And that was just from mummy and Santa.

Em was thrilled to bits with her desk, her little fighting fish, which has been named Santa Fish (the kids are not sure how Santa transported him from the North Pole, but they were pretty impressed), her powerwing of course, a TONNE of art and craft supplies, DS game, a couple of Barbies (she got 5 new Barbies all up this xmas, they are taking over the house!!) Hmmm...what else was under the tree...a touchscreen MP3 thing, board games, hula hoop, pin board for her 'art'. I should really have taken a photo of it all like I usually do!

A bit later on, Em had to try out her new scooter...

And then it was time for the kids to open their pressies from Poppy and Gek.

Portable Dvd players and DS games for both of them, as well as more Barbie stuff for Em, and clothes and shoes and I can't remember what else. Lots of stuff!

And lookie what I got from my gorgeous mum and dad...

OMG, I have never been so excited in my life!!! My first DSLR camera! I think I nearly died of shock when they gave it to me. Best present EVER!!

So in the afternoon, my little brother and his family came over, and there were MORE presents, and lots of time to just hang out together :)

Mum saved this pressie for all the grandkids for last. 3 monkeys for the 3 little monkeys...

The kids were so happy to have their cousin sleep over for 2 nights, and on Christmas night, the girls didn't go to sleep until 1am! It was such a great Christmas, the kids say it was the best Christmas EVER (they say that every year though), I think I have to agree though, I loved every second of it, but at the same time, I'm glad it's over for another year :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too :) I am looking forward to getting my house back to normal now, and seeing as the kids have gone to spend a couple of days with their dad, I'm hoping to get some scrapping done too!

Today...

2011-12-22T19:06:00.002+10:00

Only 3 days to go, and it's feeling a lot like Christmas!!

We didn't end up going to the zoo the other day like we'd planned, but we did today! I even took a Santa hat with us, in the hopes of getting a Christmassy photo of the kids. But someone else was feeling a bit festive, and was more than happy to pose for a Santa hat photo :)

Hehe, actually, I thought he'd hop away once we popped the Santa hat on his head, but he couldn't care less, lol!

We only stayed at the zoo for a couple of hours. We've been too many times this year, and the kids are a bit bored of it all. The highlight for the kids today, was the little 3 week old piglets! Omg, I could have popped one in my bag and taken it home, they were SO cute! They were all running around like puppies, with their little tails wagging, and when we'd pat one, it would just freeze. With this one, Em scratched his scratchy spot on his back (just like a dog!), and his little legs buckled, and he just laid on the ground enjoying a scratch. As soon as she stopped, he was up and running again.

The best part of taking the kids to the zoo for me, was that I actually got a half decent photo of the kids!! The older Jack gets, the harder it is to get any photos of him, so even though he's not really looking at the camera, and looks like he doesn't want to be there, I'm pretty happy about this one.

After the zoo, we went to see Arthur Christmas!

It was actually pretty good, and I didn't mind sitting through it at all :)

And lastly, another Christmas layout...

Em was so tiny there!! I've used all Imaginisce on this page, including some coloured foam tape! I sure am going to miss getting all those parcels from Imaginisce, but I'm soooo looking forward to no more scrapping deadlines for a while :)

Hope your day was a good one!

Christmas Cooking

2011-12-21T14:33:00.001+10:00

It's one of the things that the kids look forward to most in the lead up to Christmas...making all the yummy treats! So today we made a start on it, and first up on our Christmas cooking list is this marshmallow shortbread...

Next to Caramel Truffles, this is Emma's absolute fave, and it's soooo easy to make. I got the recipe from friend ages ago, and can't remember exact quantities, but basically this is how it goes...

1 pack of Arnotts Scotch Finger biscuits (crushed in food processor)
1/2 pack of Pascalls Marshmallows (chopped) - you could also use mini marshmallows
3/4 tin of condensed milk
60g melted butter
Dessicated coconut

Place crushed biscuits and chopped marshmallows into a bowl, and add melted butter and condensed milk. Stir until combined, then roll about half of the mixture into a log shape. Place it on baking paper that is covered in coconut and roll up and put into the fridge (repeat with the other half of the mixture too)When it has firmed up, cut it into slices...yum!

You could also just press it into a tin and sprinkle coconut on the top, then cut out some shapes with cookie cutters, like we've done here...

So far today we've also made some fruit and nut truffles, and at the moment Jack is making peanut butter cookies. They're not really part of our Christmas cooking, but they're Jack's fave, and the kitchen was messy anyway, so I just let him go for it. He's just put them in the oven, and they smell sooo good!

We're also planning to make rum and raison truffles, rocky road, caramel slice, shortbread, and a few other bits and pieces. Oh and of course, the gingerbread house! Probably save that for Christmas Eve. The kids are looking soooo forward to decorating it. I can't believe we didn't do our first gingerbread house until last year. Here's a page (one of the doubles I did for Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine) about last years gingerbread house...

Oh, I hate how double pagers come up so teeny tiny on the blog!!

And just because the oven just dinged, and I had to get Jack's cookies out (he never likes to get them out himself!), here is a pic of them...

He was so impatient to try one, that by the time I'd turned around to grab my camera and take a photo, the little greedy guts had cracked off a corner of one of them! Still, it's nice that he is able to cook things on his own these days, so I guess he is entitled to do that :)

Well, I guess it might be time for me to go and cover the truffles in chocolate. (mmmm...melted chocolate!). Hope you're having a fun day!

She's got the Christmas Spirit

2011-12-19T08:49:00.000+10:00

Well, so much for my plan to wake the kids up early. It's heading towards 9 o'clock, and they are still asleep. It's just so nice and peaceful this morning, that I couldn't bring myself to wake them! We are heading to the zoo later on, so hopefully that should tire them out for tonight, lol.

So I have another double pager to share today, using the very cute Imaginisce Santa's Little Helper range...

I really do love this range, the little die cuts are just the cutest! I've used a Purple Pumpkin flower on here too...

Em is just as obsessed with all things Christmas again this year. She keeps accusing Jack of not having 'Christmas Spirit', because he gets tired of listening to Christmas carols all day long! Every night when I tuck her in we have to discuss all aspects of what things might be like at the North Pole, and whether I'll let Em sleep in the lounge room this year, so she can ask Santa for a ride in his sleigh (that's all she wants for Christmas!) She would also like to make Jesus a birthday cake. This girl has enough Christmas spirit for all of us!

1 Week To Go!

2011-12-18T18:49:00.001+10:00

Well, here we are, just 1 week away from Christmas!!! I am looking forward to a week of doing nothing much but hanging out with the kidlets, doing lots of craft, making loads of scrummy treats, and watching Christmas movies. I love Christmas week!!

My plan for this week, is to get the kids up early each day, so they start going to sleep a bit earlier. I want them TIRED for Christmas eve. Last year they were too hyped up to go to sleep, and I was terrified i would fall asleep before they did. Omg, imagine that!! So the plan is to get them out of bed at 7am, instead of letting them sleep until 9. Let's see if I can stick to it, lol.

I'm hoping to squeeze in a little bit of scrapping this week too. I've kind of lost momentum with my December Daily album. Really need to get back into that. Em is doing one too :) And I really want to do some real scrapping, but I feel like I've forgotten how! Here's a layout I did a little while back though, for Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine. I had to do 3 double page layouts with a Christmas theme, and this is one of them...

Click the photo for a closer look!

I find double layouts a bit of a challenge at the best of times, so to have to do 3 of them was pretty full on! I'll pop the other ones on here another day :)

And before I go, here are a few pics of what the kids have been up to...

Jack has claimed all of the Christmas crafts that require sewing. He really enjoys it, and is even in the Needles and Threads club at school!

And I managed to convince Em to pose with a bit of tinsel so I could put the pic in my December Daily. Jack wouldn't do it because it's too itchy, lol. Don't blame him either!

Hope you have a fun Christmas week!

What the?...It's December already?

2011-12-13T23:45:00.000+10:00

Hmmm...this year sure is flying by! I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! The kids finished school on the 1st of December, and it has been so nice to just slow down a bit. I LOVE school holidays!! I might have changed my mind about that in a few weeks time though, once they start fighting, but at the moment they are both in the Christmas mood, and are trying to be very good, in the hope that Santa is feeling generous this year.

We've been busy crafting and cooking pretty much every day, and I've been trying to sort out my scrap room, and really organise everything. I got so busy with Purple Pumpkin this year, that scrapping really took a back seat, and I'm a bit bummed about that. Not that I'm complaining. I mean, what started out as a fun little hobby for mum and I to do together, basically turned into a full time job for both of us. I absolutely love it, but...I miss scrapping. The only scrapping I seem to do these days is for dt commitments, so I decided to finish my term on the Imaginisce design team at the end of this year, and just scrap for me for a while. Which is why I've been sorting my scrap stuff. I found so much stuff that I forgot I had!! I don't think I'll need to buy anything for at least 5 years. (although I'm sure I will, lol)

I've missed blogging too. When I started this blog, I used to write heaps about what the kids were up to, and things that I wanted to remember. Really need to get back to that. If I don't write it down, I'll definately forget it! Think I might have to go back through my photos for the last 6 months and get all those memories down!

Oh, and I promised a winner for the Get Picky thing from a few months back!! For a PP embellishment prize pack. And the winner is...

Eek! Sorry for taking so long!! Just email me your addy so I can get your prize out to you :)

Well, I do have a lot of layouts to share, that I haven't had a chance to put on the blog lately, as well as my December Daily (yay! my first one!), but I think I'll leave that for another day. The kids are asleep so it's time for some secret Santa business ;)

Get Picky 1st Birthday Blog Hop!

2011-10-15T09:47:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the Get Picky 1st Birthday Blog Hop!

We are celebrating our first year with a very exciting reveal as we unveil our 13th Sketch with you today and share the beautiful creations of both present and past designers from our first year! Some of the team members will be offering prizes so you will want to visit all of the blogs to increase your chances of winning a prize. We are also offering a major prize along with the chance at a Guest Designer spot for the month of November if you visit and leave a comment at all of the blogs in our blog hop and participate in Sketch Challenge #13. The Blog Hop starts today and will remain open until midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on October 28th so this will give you all plenty of time to visit everyone’s blogs and create a layout for the sketch challenge.

And here is my layout

And some close up! Buttons and flowers are from Purple Pumpkin...

As we mentioned, there are lots of great birthday pressies up for grabs along our hop today. Some of our designers will be offering a RAK of their own and of course there is the chance to become our Guest Designer for November....but what's a celebration without that very special gift.

We are so very excited to also announce that Imaginisce have been kind enough to sponsor us with an awesome prize for our very special birthday celebration.

Included in the prize is....... the two latest collections with embellishments and stamps from both Geek is Chic and Bon Voyage plus an i-bond cordless glue gun with glitter glue sticks, a d-stress tool and a box of fabric flowers.

I am also offering a prize of a mystery pack of Purple Pumpkin goodies, but you have to comment on this post to be in the running! Once the hop is over, I will choose one random winner.

Get Picky is the first stop of our birthday journey where you will find the complete list of all blogs in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play, just follow along the blog path in order so you don’t miss anyone.

Remember, if you want to be considered for the Guest Designer spot in November, once you have visited all the blogs and uploaded your entry for Sketch Challenge #13, please make sure that you go back to the Get Picky Blog and leave a comment on the challenge post.

The blog hop begins here: Get Picky Blog

Your next stop is here: Taj White

Thank you so much for joining us for this very special birthday celebration and for your continued support!

Geek Is Chic

2011-08-23T17:01:00.000+10:00

I absolutely LOVE the name of the new paper range from Imaginisce - Geek Is Chic. How cute is that? And the papers are just so gorgeous and bright!! As soon as I got my hands on them, I was determined to scrap all those Kindergarten and Prep photos that I've got piled up in a box. But instead, I scrapped more recent photos, so it's really not just a little kids range.

Oh dear, I keep taking wonky layout photos. I just can't seem to help it lately! I fired up my Cricut to cut all the little circles on this page, and for the arrow on the next page...

I have to say, I LOVE the Core-dinations cardstock I used on this page!!! It's the first time I used the embossed stuff, and I absolutely love it!!

So, after doing a couple of layouts, I thought I'd make a little homework pencil box for the kids to keep all their bits and pieces in. Pencils constantly go missing around here, and pencil cases do too, so I'm hoping this little box sticks around for a while :)

I thought I'd better keep it really simple, so there's less chance of bits falling off of it (knowing the way my kidlets handle things!)

Want to see some more Geek Is Chic projects? Then head over to the Imaginisce Blog, you might even win the Geek Is Chic collection for yourself :)

Scrapping Whispers!

2011-08-22T19:00:00.002+10:00

So, waaaaaaay back near the start of the year, I created a layout for a scrapping blog whisper, started by Bridgette. It feels like forever since I did this layout...

Hmmmm....the rules were to use no more than 3 flowers. I must have forgot that part! We had to use a non scrapping item too, so I used book paper from an old childrens book...

So there you have it, my blog whisper layout finally revealed! The person I sent my layout to was Kim Arnold, but if you want to check out the whisper layouts from the beginning, go to Bridgettes blog for the full list :)

SUYS Layout

2011-08-09T10:34:00.000+10:00

So, another nice quiet day at home for me :) Hopefully it will be a good scrappy day, there is so much I want to get done! I really want to do some challenges this month!!!

I have done the Show Us Your Stuff challenge though, but it doesn't really count, seeing as I'm on the dt, lol. Here's the criteria...

1. Paint
2. Include the colour red
3. Handmade flower
4. Include some fussy cutting
5. Use a decorative strip!

And here's my layout...

And a few close ups...

Pretty fun challenge, huh? If you give it a go too, you could win a fab prize, so head over to Show Us Your Stuff to check it out :)

Layout For Get Picky

2011-08-08T10:14:00.000+10:00

Hear that? ...........Silence......I love how quiet the house is on a Monday morning after noisy weekends with the kidlets :) I'm actually hoping I might get some scrapping done today, after I tackle the housework!

Here's the layout I did for my Guest DT spot over at Get Picky...

My girl is such a little poser in front of the camera sometimes! This is the inspiration I had to use for this layout...

And here are a few little close ups...

LOVE these new Purple Pumpkin Mushroom Buttons! Soooo cute! And the crochet flower is from Lime Tree Creations.

And I'm kind of loving the little Snail Button too...

You've got around 5 days left to enter your layout over at Get Picky, so make sure you head over there and check out all the details :)

And now for some serious cuteness!!

Yes, it's the Piggies again :) All 4 cuties in a row, waiting to go outside for the day. They are still totally adored by the kids, and spend a lot of time being cuddled on someones lap. Jack is unfortunately totally allergic to them, but that doesn't stop him being head over heels in love with his girl Sooty. I did tell him that maybe he shouldn't hold them, but he says he'd rather be sneezy, than not be able to hold little Soot. So long as he doesnt put her near his face, it isn't too bad. And really, who could resist her cute little face? (she's the cheeky looking one on the right)

Well, my peaceful day is ticking away, so I'm off to clean my floors, and hopefully, do some scrapping! Hope you have a great week!

Scrapping!

2011-08-04T20:57:00.000+10:00

I've been shocking lately, haven't I? I have hardly blogged at all, just that thing called LIFE gettting in the way :) I have been meaning to share a heap of layouts, but just haven't had a chance...until now!

Have you seen the latest Christmas range Santa's Little Helper from Imaginisce? It is sooo cute! I have so many plans for this range, but here's what I've created so far...

The good old Christmas morning photo, taken at the crack of dawn :) Makes all the busyness, and stress (because the kids won't go to sleep and I'm scared I will!) and saving, saving, saving to buy all those pressies worth it. It's definately my favourite time of the year :)

The die-cuts in this collection are the cutest ever. This sleigh was probably my fave, and just had to go on this page. And I couldn't resist blinging it up a bit with my I-rock!

Aww...look at this little face :) This girl is Christmas crazy, just like her mama...

She is already asking me how many days until Christmas! She loves everything about it, the cooking, the carols, the stories, the giving to others, and of course the presents. I've used another cute little die-cut on this page...

And a sweet little sticker, with a few added I-rock gems...

And this next page....? Hmmmm......

Well, I was kind of going for an "aged" look, so I altered the bright and fun papers by mod podging some dress patterns to them, and dulled them down a bit. You can still see the cute patterns, but they are a bit more subtle now. So...not really sure about this page, but I think I'll try that technique again and see how I go. I do love that photo of my little man though. Wasn't he just so cute!! He was a couple of months off being two there. The photo was just a freebie in the shops, and the print was so small that I scanned it and made it bigger...but it's so grainy. Still...it's better than nothing! I wonder how much longer the kids will want to have their photo sitting on Santa's knee? Another few years I hope!

Get Picky Sketch Layout

2011-07-15T07:28:00.000+10:00

Today I can show you my first layout for Get Picky! I kind of ummed and ahhed over this page for AGES, couldn't figure out quite what I wanted to do...until I flipped the sketch!

I used the gorgeous new Imaginisce Happy Harvest range for this layout, and I just love how it came together. I've had these photos of the kids with their grandparents and cousins for ages, so it was so nice to finally get them scrapped! Typical though, no matter how many photos I took, I could never get one with everyone looking good! So these will have to do! Here's a few little close ups...

I just love hessian! (or burlap as my overseas friends call it!). Perfect for that rustic look. I still love to use a bit of corrugated cardboard too :)

And of course, a few handmade embellishments...

Remember my GIVEAWAY? I've got a set of the yummy papers from the range I've used here to giveaway as well as matching embellishments. There are hardly any entries so far, so make sure you put your name in the draw, the odds are pretty good!

And after you've done that, make sure you head over to Get Picky, to check out the sketch. You never know...you might just win the prize, sponsored by Purple Pumpkin!

Back to Basics - Handmade Flowers

2011-07-13T20:48:00.001+10:00

A little while back, I was asked by Scrapbooking Memories Magazine to do some layouts for a Back to Basics feature, featuring handmade paper embellishments. Well, of course, I jumped at the chance to do that. I'm sure you know how much I love to make embellies, lol! The hardest part was doing the basic layout. I just kept wanting to add more to it, but I was good, and just kept it as basic as possible, with a few paper lollipop flowers, and a few strips of ruffled paper...

I had to use the same photo and products for the second layout, but could use some more advanced techniques. So....I added some Rolled Flowers, Twisty Flowers, and Paper Bead Butterflies (click on each one for the tutorial), as well as some more ruffled/pleated paper and lollipop flowers. I think this layout is definately more "me"...

Here are a few close ups...

And here's how it looks in the mag...

I love that Em thinks she's famous, when she sees herself in the magazines. It's so cute! She's been scrapping up a storm lately, and wants me to send her layouts in to get published. I love it that she loves to scrap, but she drives me nuts when she pinches all my stuff, especially all the bling! I'll have to pop some of her layouts on here soon, some of them are actully pretty good!

Well, I have lots of scrapping to do tonight, and a few episodes of Dexter to watch, but I'll be back soon, hopefully with lots of layouts to share :)

Hope you are having a great week!

Guest Designer at...

2011-07-12T09:18:00.005+10:00

A little while ago I was asked to be the July Guest Designer over at Get Picky! Here's a little sneak of one of my layouts...

I hope you'll give the Get Picky challenges a go this month, because Purple Pumpkin will be sponsoring a prize!! You can check out the Get Picky blog HERE.

More Imaginisce Happy Harvest...

2011-07-04T13:33:00.000+10:00

I've got another couple of layouts here, using the gorgeous Imaginisce Happy Harvest line...

I LOVE the die cuts that Imaginisce bring out with all their ranges. It just makes everything so easy! I've still got a nice big stash of Imaginisce flowers too, and these brown and cream ones were perfect for this next page.

The flower centres are brads I made using the I-top, and I used another little glass pebble embellishment from Handmade Halo, that little owl was just so cute that I had to use it on here! And see that little tree stump next to it? That's one of the cute canvas stickers from the Happy Harvest range...

Make sure you check out the Imaginisce Blog for loads more projects using this cute range! I'm going to be giving away some goodies from this range in the next day or two, so keep your eyes out for that :)

And before I go...I just thought I'd share a couple of pics of our beautiful little guinea girls. They are so much a part of our family now, I just couldn't imagine life without them :)

This is one of my favourite guinea pig photos...little Nibbles. She is our most shy girl, but really is a sweetheart, once you get to know her...

And little Sooty...

The kids and I are in love with Sooty! She's the one both kids always want to hold. She's such a beautiful, friendly little soul, who loves to be cuddled, and will stretch out and fall asleep in your lap. Totally adorable :)

Well, suppose I should go do something productive. Unfortunately that washing isn't going to hang itself out!

Imaginisce Happy Harvest!

2011-07-03T10:20:00.000+10:00

Good morning! I've got a page to share today, using the NEW Imaginisce Happy Harvest line. I absolutely LOVED the colours in these papers, they are just so nice and boyish, so of course I had to scrap a page about my beautiful boy...

Of course, Fall ranges always have references to Thanksgiving, which we don't celebrate here, but it's pretty easy to incorporate the "thankful" theme into regular scrapping. I just really wanted to use that Thankful title!

I used the I-top to make some co-ordinating brads to go in the centre of some flowers, and how cute is that little canvas owl?! And see that cute little resin owl? It's from a new facebook shop called Handmade Halo, which sells lots of super cute scrapping embellishments...

The little glass pebble clock is from Handmade Halo too, and the big Owl Button is from Purple Pumpkin...

I have another couple of layouts using this range on the Imaginisce Blog, which I'll post on here tomorrow. But make sure you swing by the Imaginisce Blog to check out all the other design team layouts, those girls are seriously talented!

It's Been a While...

2011-06-26T17:08:00.001+10:00

I've been sick, and haven't gone near my scrapping stuff, or the computer for a while. Gosh, it's been nearly 3 weeks since I last blogged! That must be some sort of record for me. I have got back into the swing of things in the last few days though, and have got a bit of scrapping done. And I'm planning to do a whole lot more :) Most of the layouts I've done so far, I can't share just yet, but here is one I did today, for the Lime Tree Creations June Challenge...

Just a simple page, about Em in her new jacket last year.

I've used some gorgeous Lime Tree Creations crochet flowers on here, of course. And a couple of cute bottlecaps from D-Lish. The large doily if from Purple Pumpkin.

Well, the kids dinner is nearly ready, so I should go and sort that out. I'm still feeling too sick to really eat, but unfortunately that doesn't mean I get off cooking! Hopefully I'll be back soon with lots more to share :)

Imaginisce Tags Blog Hop

2011-06-08T21:00:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us on the Imaginisce Tags Blog Hop! I really struggle making anything small, like tags or cards. I'm much more in my comfort zone with 12x12, but these little baby tags I made were so much fun!

I've used a bit of a combination of Imaginisce, Echo Park, and Spellbinders on these tags. I've combined some Echo Park Dots and Stripes paper with Imaginisce Little Cutie here, and the two ranges go so well together.

I was given the Spellbinders Shapeabilities "New Arrival" dies to play with, and I just had to use the cute little teddy bear die!

It went so perfectly with the Imaginisce Little Cutie range too, almost like it was made to go together :)

Are you ready to see some more tags? Your next stop on the hop is Keely's Blog. Make sure you end up at the Imaginisce Blog at the end of the hop...they'll be giving away a selection of Imaginisce Happy Camper Papers, A Selection of Echo Park Papers and a set of Spellbinders Nestabilities!

SUYS Layout

2011-06-01T14:55:00.001+10:00

June already? Really? Geez, it will be Christmas before we know it!! Well, it's crazy busy around here, with the Purple Pumpkin Sale on Friday, so I'm just popping in quickly to share this layout I did for SUYS...

Awww..Em looks so little there! I've had this photo printed out for AGES, but I was so bummed that there was a hair going across Emma's face that I didn't really feel like scrapping it. But...the challenge for this month, as well as the sketch, was to create a winter themed layout. And these were the only wintery photos I had, so I was finally forced to scrap them! (And looking at it now, that hair across her face can harldy be seen, unlesss you look really closely. Don't know why I let it bother me!)

Here's a couple of close ups...

Of course, with SUYS you have to use some handmade embellies on your layout, and these are all from...you guessed it...Purple Pumpkin!

If you want to get your hands on some of these handmade goodies, keep your eye out for the Purple Pumpkin Sale on Friday night. And you can check out the layouts the other SUYS dt girls came up with HERE.

Ok, better go and pick those rascals of mine up from school! Hope you are having a great day :)

Kraft it Up and Get Picky Layouts!

2011-05-30T12:15:00.001+10:00

Monday again? NOT my favourite day of the week, that's for sure! We had a busy weekend, so it flew by even quicker than usual. I didn't even get to scrap, but I did get to photograph my layouts for a couple of challenges. This one is for Kraft it Up...

This was a tough one...no patterned paper!!! I almost didn't attempt it, but I'm glad I did, it was fun :) I just used a scrap torn from an envelope, some journal tags, some stamped images, a bit of book paper, and LOTS of embellishments!!

Some PURPLE PUMPKIN buttons, a doily, a spotty denim...

Some more Purple Pumpkin buttons, (so glad I got to use the PIRATE BUTTON!!), and a cute bottle cap from D-Lish...

This next layout is using a Get Picky sketch. I'm too late to link it to the Get Picky blog, but here it is anyway...

Now that sketch really got me out of my comfort zone!! I loved it though. I used Fancy Pants "It's the little things" papers, and that little flower there is from D-lish. There's another bottle cap from D-lish on here too...I just love them!

And a PURPLE PUMPKIN clay button...

And a cute little Purple Pumpkin house button...

The kids had their school fair on Saturday, and they were so excited about it! They had their arm bands for unlimited rides, and I let them step off their diet for the day. Within the first half hour, Jack had this...

I don't even want to think about what's in that stuff! The diet I've got the kidlets on is all about getting rid of artifical colours, flavours, preservatives, as well as natural food chemicals too. It's really quite limiting, but the results are amazing, but I just couldn't let them watch all their friends eating that stuff while they had an arrowroot biscuit. Sure did have a cranky boy the next day though!

Em was too busy to eat, and didn't have a thing all day! I had to force her to stop and have a drink. She was too busy going on the rides, and the Sizzler was her favourite (because it was the fastest!)

I was rostered on the Hamburger and Chips stall, but luckily I was just doing the money, so it wasn't too bad :) The highlight of the day was definately seeing Em do her dances up on stage. She did so well and I was so proud of her!

Well, that's all from me for now. Suppose I should get some housework done, and then get stuck into making some more goodies for the PURPLE PUMPKIN SALE!

Happy Camper!!

2011-05-27T18:00:00.001+10:00

When I got my last DT box from Imaginisce, I was so excited to see the CUTE Happy Camper range! It was love at first sight, a really cute BOYISH range, and I couldn't wait to get stuck in to it. Here's what I came up with...

I have SO MANY photos of the kids fishing with my dad, but this one has got to be one of my favourites. I just love the expressions on my dad's and Emmy's faces. We always throw the fish back in, and Em always gives them a pat to send them off while dad is holding them, so cute! Jack, of course, refuses to touch either the fish or the bait, and I don't think anything could make him give one a pat!

Here's a little close of of the clouds. These are actually from a pack of die cuts that go with the range...

And now for some very boyish pages! I was lucky enough to be sent a Cricut Expression a little while back (I'm spoilt, I know!) and I got to give it a good work out on these pages...

The lettering for "happy camper" was cut on the Cricut, using the Plantin SchoolBook cartridge, and the "Great Outdoors" title was from the die cut pack.

I cut the little stick with circle thingys at the side of the photo using the Accent Essentials cartridge, and then layered over it some Hessian Lollipops from Purple Pumpkin...

And I hadn't made rolled flowers for a while, so I popped one of those on top of my embellie cluster too, and added some little cardstock circles, popped up on a bit of foam tape, to the circle stick thing to give it some extra oomph...

And, another Jack layout...as soon as I saw the "Tree Hugger" die cut, I just knew I had the perfect photo to go with it...

Lol, how perfect is that?! I've been hanging onto that photo for ages, so I'm glad I finally got to scrap it :) I used the sketch from the Purple Pumpkin May Challenge for this layout. I just love that sketch so much, I just want to keep using it! And the Cricut had another workout on this page too, for the little deer in the right bottom corner, and for all the leaves...

Used some more Purple Pumpkin Hessian Lollipops on this layout, they just go so perfectly with this range! And, isn't that little Bear Canvas Sticker just adorable? I have a bad habit of saving the cutest embellies for "just the right page", and then never end up using them, so I'm just making myself use things straight away now!

So...want to see some more creations using the Happy Camper range? Then head straight over to the Imaginisce Blog for loads of inspiration, and even a giveaway or two :)

Scrapbooking Memories Cover Layout!!

2011-05-26T10:11:00.000+10:00

I've been so excited about this...my very first COVER!!! I almost couldn't believe it when I got an email from Scrapbooking Memories, saying that my layout would be on the cover, and I had to keep going back and reading it to make sure I didn't imagine it. But it's really real! Jack was quite excited about it too, but not excited enough to let me get a good photo of him with it, lol. Typical boy!

And here is the actual page...

It's one of my faves of Jack, but I had never submitted it, so I was excited when it was actually chosen from my blog. And then to have it go on the front cover just really topped it off :)

So, what else have we been up to? Well, I went to a scrappy retreat on the weekend, with Scrapping on the Avenue. It was so much fun!! I have lots of layouts to share from then, so I'll have to get photographing.

We have a very sick little guinea pig. Gizmo is not at all well, and has been having round the clock care, with lots of visits to the vet, syringe feeding, lots of medicine...

We all love her so much. I just hope she starts to get better soon.

Em has been busy practising for her dance performance at the school fair on Saturday. Can't wait to see it!

And Jack has been torturing us all with his clarinet practice...

Lol, I shouldn't say that, he's actually getting pretty good :) Just gets a bit ear piercing and squeaky when he hits the wrong note sometimes.

Well, that's all from me for now. I have lots of layouts to photograph, and they'll all be up on my blog in the next few days.

Oh, and make sure you check out the Imaginisce Blog...the Happy Camper release party is on all week, and you will not believe how cute it is!!!!

PP Challenge Layout

2011-05-15T21:20:00.001+10:00

And...another weekend bites the dust! I wish it was school holidays again, I really don't enjoy getting up early on these cold mornings! I has been good snuggling weather though, and perfect weather for scrapping. I actually had a chance to scrap over the weekend, and of course the first thing on my list was the Purple Pumpkin Challenge...

The very talented Anne Patterson created a wonderful sketch that I just LOVED working with...thanks Anne!

And of course, here are some close ups...

I used some My Minds Eye Hattie papers that I got from Handmade By Suzanne a little while ago. It was supposed to be a Jack page, but somehow I ended up using a pic of Em.

Of course, a Purple Pumpkin Challenge layout needs to have some Purple Pumpkin embellishments on it, and I've used a NEW Little Girl button, a Hessian Lollipop and a Butterfly button.

And just 'cos I love it so much, here's another little close up of the Little Girl button. Pretty cute, huh?

There are a couple of great prizes up for grabs so make sure you check out the Purple Pumpkin May Challenge for all the details :)

And just because they're so cute, I thought I'd share some pics I've taken of some of the smallest members of our family...

Daisy at the dog park...usually she doesn't sit still long enough for me to get a photo, but there was a big doggie following her around and sniffing her butt, so she decided she wanted to sit on the seat next to me instead of playing, lol!

And little Milkshake...

One of our 4 piggies (yes, we have 4 now!!). She has the prettiest long hair, and Em just loves to sit and brush it with one of her Barbie brushes. Milkshake puts up with it...so long as she gets something yummy to eat at the same time :)

Well, the kidlets are sound asleep, so I am going to do a bit more scrapping. Hope you have a great week!

Two Layouts - Imaginisce Roly Rosies

2011-05-11T09:44:00.002+10:00

You know me, I just LOVE using flowers on my layouts :) So you can imagine how excited I was to get some new Roly Rosies from Imaginisce to play with...!

I'm really loving the Little Cutie range, especially the girly papers from the range. So perfectly cute for little girls, not just babies. I've used a couple of Roly Rosies on this one. This close up is of a paper one...

I ablsolutely LOVE the fabric ones though!!! Here's a bit of a look at the new Fabric Roly Rosies, aren't they just DIVINE?!

I just HAD to use those denim ones on a boy layout, and after digging through my photo stash, I found this pic of Jack as a toddler. He was so cute and cheeky :)

Here's a little close up of the Denim Roly Rosies that I used...

Want to see some more ideas for using the new Roly Rosies? Then check out the Imaginisce Blog, the design team have been busy! You can even win a prize just for commenting, and there is a whole collection of Roly Rosies to be won :)

Thanks for stopping by...hope you have a great day :)

Imaginisce May Challenge

2011-05-05T12:24:00.002+10:00

I loved the May Challenge at Imaginisce this month...create a masculine themed layout/card/project, and use one of the Snag'Em Stamps from any Imaginisce collection.

I love the Little Cutie range, so had to make this page using one of the last unscrapped baby photos of Jack (wasn't he a cutie?)...

I kind of based this layout on the A2Z May Sketch, and I used this cute little tiger stamp, it's an older one from Imaginisce...

And some gorgeous new I-rock bling, using one of the new templates too...

For your chance to win some AWESOME prizes, make sure you check out THIS POST on the Imaginisce Blog. There are two ways you can win!!

Kaisercraft Chanteuse Layout for SUYS

2011-05-02T09:33:00.001+10:00

Good morning!! It's a public holiday here today, so even though it's Monday, it still feels like the weekend. Love it! I really feel like scrapping too, but I've promised the kids a day at the beach, so we'll see...maybe tonight if I get a chance. I do have a layout to share though, this one is for the May Challenge at Show Us Your Stuff...

The challenge was to use ribbon, lace, trims etc, and we were also sponsored by Bibby's One of a Kind. Here's a little close up of the flower I was given...

And some more close ups. The papers I used are Kaisercraft Chanteuse, they're just gorgeous...

Make sure you pop over to SUYS and have a go at this challenge...there are some fabulous prizes up for grabs!

Now I suppose I should start getting ready for the beach. We actually went yesterday afternoon too, but the water was a bit flat and the kiddo's like waves! The little rascals actually ended up having extended Easter holidays, because they were both a little sick last week (possibly from too much chocolate!), but they are back to normal now. Here they are at Easter...

We actually had a very peaceful school holidays with NO fighting!! I've put the kids on a Failsafe diet, and OMG...what a difference!!! Within 24 hours the fighting stopped! Jack is often eaisly irritated by Em, but not anymore. They've been spending so much time together, drawing, playing boardgames, snuggling together on the couch with their guinea pigs, and not a single argument. Jack has even been been helping me tuck Em into bed at night and giving her a kiss goodnight. I don't know who is more shocked about it, me or Em! It's just amazing the effect food can have on kids.

Because it was Easter, we used chocolate as our first food challenge, and discovered it was a definate no-no. Mr Cranky Pants came back. We're trying vegies this week. Em doesn't seem to be food sensitive at all, although since starting the diet she has become obsessed with times tables, (which she hasn't even started learning at school yet) and her drawings have become much more detailed, so maybe it's making her concentrate more. It will be a bit hard to tell, because she generally gets all A's on her report card, but last time Jack got B's and C's, so I'm hoping to see some A's this time!

Ok, enough rambling from me! The kids are in their swimmers already, so I'd better go get ready for the beach. Hope you have a fabulous day!!

Imaginisce I-rock - New Bling!!

2011-04-27T21:28:00.001+10:00

If you've been checking out the Imaginisce Blog this week, you'll know all about the NEW BLING for the I-rock...gorgeous new coloured gems, and cute new templates too. For my project, I decided to bling out an altered tin and mini album, using the new green, red and blue Hotrocks...

The I-rock is perfect for adhering the Hot Rocks to ribbon...

I had so much fun making this little tin and mini album, all about our many visits to Australia Zoo. The Kangaroo die cut from the Animal Crackers range was PERFECT for this!!

Phew...! That was a lot of photos, and that only shows a few pages of the mini album! It's amazing how much you can fit into just a small space. I added some finishing touches to most of the pages with the I-rock...it really gives it that extra little something :) I still need to add a bit of journalling, but I'm waiting until the kids are in the mood so I can get them to write down some of their memories. Really have to catch them at the right time for that though! If you'd like to check out some more I-rock projects, then make sure you head over to the Imaginisce Blog.

Now, I know I have been a little bit slack on my blog lately...just so much going on at the moment! I have missed catching up on everyone's blogs, but I'll be visiting soon, I promise!! Hope you all had a fabulous Easter break....I'll be back soon, with lots of photos and scrappy shares.

Hope you are having a great week!!

Imaginisce Little Cutie Layout

2011-04-13T22:05:00.003+10:00

Oh my gosh, how quickly are the weeks just flying by? The kids went on school holidays last Friday, so it has been so nice not to have to do the school run in the mornings. I love having the kids at home, the only thing is, I can never get anything done!! I'm in the process of moving my scrap room into the garage, and the kids play room into the scrap room, so I've hardly had time to scrap, but when I got my box of Imaginisce goodies delivered the other day, I just had to have a play...

These papers are from the Little Cutie range, which is aimed at babies, but is really quite versatile, and perfect for scrapping big girls too. I'm so looking forward to having my new scrap room set up so I can have more of a play!! Now, how would you like a chance to win some Little Cutie goodies? Make sure you head over to the Imaginisce Blog, to find out how!!

Imaginisce - Little Cutie

2011-04-12T07:17:00.003+10:00

You just have to go and check out the adorable new release from Imaginisce - Little Cutie. Make sure you swing by the Imaginisce Blog for loads of inspiration using this cute range!

SUYS Layout - My Minds Eye

2011-04-06T06:38:00.004+10:00

Good morning! It's so nice and quiet here at the moment, the kids are still asleep, hopefully for at least another half an hour. As much as I'm NOT a morning person, it is definately worth setting my alarm to wake up a bit earlier, so I can have a cup of tea in peace, before the little rascals wake up. Ugghh...I hate school mornings.

Anyway...I have a layout here that I meant to put up on the 1st, for Show Us Your Stuff...

This layout is based on a sketch, which you can see on the SUYS Blog, and we had to use only pink, yellow and blue on our layouts. I just had to use some of my new My Minds Eye stash for this page. This month we were sponsored by Wicked Princess, which is that blue, yellow and pink flower...

The yellow chenille flower is from Purple Pumpkin, and the pink organza one is one that I bought at a crop day. I just love handmade stuff!!!

And speaking of handmade stuff, did you know that Purple Pumpkin is having a sale this Friday 8th of April? Lots of cute buttons, flowers, kits, and TWINE...

You can see all the sneak peeks on the Purple Pumpkin Blog.

Well, I suppose I should go and make some lunches. I tell you what, I am SOOO looking forward to the school holidays...3 days to go...I can't wait!!

We Have Piggies!!

2011-04-03T15:38:00.002+10:00

Yes, it's very exciting...we have two new family members! Meet Nibbles...

And Gizmo...

These little sweethearts came home with us yesterday, and they are completely adored already. They seem to love sitting on the couch with the kids, watching tv!

These little girls were actually part of Emily's b-day present. She has been wanting guinea pigs for quite a while now, so for her birthday I got her this guinea pig house...

It's such a cute little house. Well, it's really quite spacious, with a big grassy run underneath, and a ramp going to the upper level, with is nice and cozy and protected. Em is in love with her babies, (and I have to admit, I've fallen for them too. They are just so adorable :)) Em had a pretty quiet birthday this year. For her party, she just wanted a sleep over with her two favourite girls, Jessica and Natasha, and for me to take them to Australia Zoo, which we did a couple of weekends ago. Unfortunately it rained all weekend, so it was pretty dismal at the zoo...

But the girls still had fun, so that's all that matters! Luckily mum came along with us, so I wasn't walking around wet and miserable all by myself! We only stayed for a few hours, but that was definately enough for me! After we got home, and dried off, it was off to Macca's for dinner! Originally Em wanted to go to Sizzler, but then changed her mind to McDonalds, so they could play on the playground. I didn't really care where we went, so long as it was dry! The girls had fun of course, and played for AGES!

Then it was home again, where we baked some cupcakes, and then watched a movie.

The girls all slept out in the lounge room, and were up giggling until around 11.30. Then the next morning we had pancakes for brekkie, and then it was time to ice the cupcakes...

Did you notice their matching t-shirts? We blinged them up with the Imaginisce I-rock. So fun, and the girls loved it :)

Then a bit of craft...decorating their party bags...

Em had a great time at her little sleepover, and I think I got off soooo easy with the party this year. I hardly had to do anything, not even make the cake!! We had a family party on the night of her actual birthday, but I hardly got any decent photos. Em was being very uncooperative :( Here's the few I did get... This is the crazy looking doll that mum made for Emma...which Em has called "Buttons". She loves it!

More presents...she certainly did pretty well (as usual!), and got heaps of Barbie stuff, a hammock swing thing for her playground, clothes, crafty stuff, a book...and $140. She was pretty happy :)

Here's the b'day cake shot, of the "chocolatey cake with chocolate on top"...

And this is the only family shot I got...Em with her grandpa and poppy...

And then yesterday, Em got her Sizzlers lunch, (where she only eats the potato skins and icecream), and a day out shopping to spend her birthday money...she bought MORE Barbie stuff, craft things, a necklace, a Lego(for Jack), and a basketball.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes left for Em on my blog on Friday. I showed them all to her and she was thrilled :) :)

And We Have A Winner.....!!!!!

2011-04-02T19:24:00.003+10:00

Sorry, just so busy with Em's b'day yesterday, and then shopping with her today that I didn't get to announce the winner of my giveaway! Thanks so much for entering everyone, 160 entries...wow!!! But there can only be one winner.... Congratulations!!!! Please email your address to samjackem@yahoo.com.au and I'll get that prize out to you on Monday :) :)

Sorry if you weren't lucky this time, but stay tuned...I'm getting some goodies together for a new giveaway real soon! Hope you are having a great weekend!!

April Fool!

2011-04-01T08:08:00.000+10:00

Here she is...my little April Fool :) She was actually due on the 27th of March, but I'm sure she was just waiting til April Fools Day! I remember laying awake just after midnight on the 1st of April 2003, thinking...I bet this baby chooses today to come out. And sure enough she did! All of a sudden...whammo..she was ready, and after a speedy ambulance ride in the early hours of the morning she was here...and now she's EIGHT!!! Happy Birthday Emily!

Bling'n the Mini - Crown Album

2011-03-22T16:01:00.007+10:00

On the Imaginisce blog this week, it's all about the bling!! We are all crazy about the I-rock tool, and are having mini blog hops all week, to show you all the fun things you can do with it.

Today we are showing off some mini albums, that we've jazzed up with lots of bling! Here's what I made...

As soon as I got the Enchanted range, I just knew I had to use it on this crown album. Could it be more perfect for it?

Now, I didn't bling up every page in this album. I found it better to use the I-rock on only one page for every double page 'layout' in the album, so the crystals wouldn't be banging up against eachother, and also so the album didn't get too bulky.

On this page, I kind of used bling to add interest to the background, instead of covering it with patterned paper...

And how could I not put a gorgeous big I-rock crystal into the circles at the top of the page...

And the images on one of the patterned papers, were PERFECT for cutting out to go on these ones...

I've also added some cardstock journalling pages, inbetween the crown pages, to record all of Em's favourite things, but I won't post them on here, or this post will just go on forever!

Are you ready to go check out some more blinged up minis? Rhonda's Blog is your next stop on our mini hop, so go and check out what she has created. Don't forget - make sure you are a follower of all of our blogs, and leave a comment at each one, then finish up the hop back at the Imaginisce Blog, for your chance to win your own bundle of I-rock goodies from Imaginisce!

The Boss - Double Page Layout

2011-03-10T11:15:00.000+10:00

Yes, I have actually done a double page layout. Something I haven't done for quite a while!

This is for a class I'll be teaching at Scrapping on the Avenue, and I've used some cute 3 Bugs in a Rug papers. As soon as I saw the tool papers, I knew I'd have to do a page about Jack 'helping' to build the playgym. He was such a bossy boots about it, and kept ordering my dad around, lol!

I used some A2Z Scraplets chipboard on here too.

And of course a couple of Purple Pumpkin buttons...

The black mesh stuff I've used is gutter guard! Love using that on my layouts.

Now, before I go and do some boring housework, just a quick little reminder about Harrison's Charity Scrapbook Day. There are still some spots available for the day for $25 each including a yummy lunch. For all the info go HERE.

Ok, off to rush through my housework, and then...scrapping time! Hope you are having a great day!

More 'Magic Happens' Layouts...

2011-03-09T20:15:00.001+10:00

So here's a couple more layouts that I got finished last weekend. These ones are pretty simple compared to that extreme flowery one that I posted on here the other day, but I guess some photos only call for a simple layout, right?

I have had this photo sitting in my photo stash for AGES, and I've always wanted to scrap it, but wasn't sure how to go about it. Well, these papers seemed to go perfectly with the colours of the crab claws (gross), so I've finally been able to get this page done! Emily loves to collect bits and pieces at the beach, especially crab claws. She also gets very excited every time we find a dead fish, and she was over the moon the time we found a turtle shell, and bits of bone. Weird kid, huh? Who needs pretty shells when you can pick up bits of dead animals?! She sure is quirky. Here's a little close up of the A2Z Scraplets starfish, and some more of those yummy Kaisercraft flowers...

And here's my next layout, for Em's school album...

And a little close up...

The handmade embellies, and the crochet trim are from Purple Pumpkin, of course :)

I have finished another layout using this range, but I can only show you a sneak for now...

And just 'cause I haven't for a while, here are some pics of my little rascals...

I took these the other day, after we got home from swimming lessons, so Em was looking extra scruffy (and adorable:)) Every afternoon the kids hang out on their playgym. I'm sooo glad I decided to get them that for Christmas, just wish I'd got it when we first moved in. At least the novelty of it hasn't worn off yet! I love this photo I got of Emma, she's such a good little poser for me :) Jack, on the other hand, had to be bribed with a sip of my pepsi-max before letting me get a photo of him. Grrrr....drives me nuts that he hates having his photo taken. And I have no idea what that hand thing is that he's doing! What the?

Well, I s'pose I should go, and think about getting those kids into bed. They are sitting at their table at the moment making books. Jack is making another joke book, and Em is making a recipe book. So cute! I love listening to their conversations too, when they think I can't hear. I just heard Jack tell Em that he is going to look up the word "fart" in the dictionary tomorrow. Nice!

Ok, I'm really going this time. Hope you had a great day! Thanks for stopping by :)

Is This My BIGGEST Giveaway Ever?

2011-03-08T12:44:00.004+10:00

I think this might be my biggest giveaway so far. It's definately up there, anyway. This is the result of my recent scrap room clear out. I found a heap of yummy things to give away, including...

Fancy Pants Papers
Kaisercraft Papers (including some of the new Magic Happens that I used in the layout in the below post)
A heap of embellishments and lettering, including Kaisercraft, Autumn Leaves, Petaloo, Imaginisce, 7 Gypsies, Fancy Pants, DCWV and more.

Here's a few close ups...

So how would you like to add that lot to your stash? If you'd like to go into the draw, here's what you'll need to do...

1 - Be a Follower of this blog.
2 - Post about this giveaway on your blog (with a link back to here).
3 - Leave me a comment after this post.

I'll leave this giveaway open until the 31st of March, and announce the winner on the 1st of April.

Good luck!

Kaisercraft 'Magic Happens' Layout

2011-03-07T17:05:00.000+10:00

Well, it's Monday again! Even though I'm still sick and fluey, I had a pretty good weekend. We had some friends over, so the kids had a great time catching up with their buddies, and I had a chance to do lots of scrapping with my good friend Carla, who I hadn't seen in ages. Love weekends like that! And I just scrapped for me, not any design team stuff, which was fun for a change :)

I got some of the new Kaisercraft Magic Happens papers the other day, as well as some of the new Kaisercraft flowers, and have done 4 layouts with it so far. Here's one of them...

Umm....yes, I went a teensy bit crazy with the flowers! I think I used nearly 2 packs of Kaisercraft flowers and 1 pack of Prima flowers on here. But it was fun! I finally used an A2Z Scraplets frame that I've had laying around too. Here are a few little close ups...

I always find it so hard to scrap with purple, but I found this range really easy for some reason. I'll put the other 3 layouts I've done with this range on here some time this week. Maybe tomorrow, if I can take some decent photos of them.

Oh, and I haven't forgotten about that giveaway that I promised. I've finally (almost) finished my scrap room overhaul, and I have one awesome looking stash of goodies to give away. Look out for it tomorrow (I promise!)

Hope you're having a great day! Thanks for stopping by :)

Imaginisce Berrylicious Cards

2011-03-04T06:45:00.005+10:00

Good morning! Well, it isn't really for me...I've woken up feeling like I've been hit by a bus! I haven't been sick for ages though, so I guess I was due for a dose of the flu.

Anyway, I have a couple of cards to share today. I made these cards for two lovely ladies at Imaginisce, using the Imaginisce Berrylicious range...

Now, as you know, I'm not much of a card maker, but these were really fun to make. I love that range! So cute and happy :) And if you haven't already, make sure you check out the Imaginisce Blog today for another "Click it with Cricut" feature. There are some pretty fabulous projects on there!

Well, I'm off to pop some cold and flu tablets. Thank goodness for medicine!

4 Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate Layouts...

2011-03-02T09:39:00.000+10:00

A little while ago I was asked to teach a class at Harrisons Charity Scrapbook Day. I had originally planned to teach 2 layouts, but the kit I got to work with was HUGE, so I ended up getting 4 layouts out of it. Here's what I came up with...

And the best part about it is, that the class is ONLY $25!! That's right, you will complete all 4 layouts in the class, with ALL PRODUCTS PROVIDED for just $25!! The kit itself is valued at around $35 so it is awesome value. It's full of Fancy Pants papers, Prima Flowers, Maya Road Rose Ribbon, A2Z Scraplets Chipboard and more! If you are in Brisbane on the 12th of March, I would love to see you at this class. There is also a crop day on for Harrison's Charity, so if you want to make it an all day thing you could book into that too. Or if you've only got a couple of hours to spare, you can just book into the class. Email Mel at harrisonslittlewingcharity@yahoo.com.au to book your spot, or click HERE for more details.

Hope to see you there!

I Can't Live Without...

2011-03-01T15:29:00.001+10:00

The challenge at Show Us Your Stuff this month was to scrap about something you can't live without. I was originally going to scrap a layout about the kids, because I certainly can't live without them, but then I thought I'd do something a little different...

So I scrapped about my {not so secret} addiction - CHOCOLATE!! And of course I had to use some handmade embellishments on my page, so I've got a chopped up doily and some buttons from Purple Pumpkin...

And if you saw this page over at Show Us Your Stuff, you might spot my spelling mistake in the title!! After I photographed this page I noticed it (duh, that's what happens when I scrap too late, I go a bit brain dead, lol!), so I fixed it, but ended up sending the wrong photo!! So typical of me though, I do tend to be off with the fairies quite a bit :)

So anyway, make sure you head over to Show Us Your Stuff, and check out the other DT layouts, and make sure you give the challenge a go!! Because this month Purple Pumpkin is sponsoring a prize, and it's a really yummy one!

Well, I suppose I should go. I have a tonne of orders to pack and lots of scrapping to do. Hope you're having a great day!

Dinosaurs, Cupcakes, Owls and More!!

2011-02-25T09:50:00.002+10:00

All these and HEAPS more will be on sale tonight. Check out all the sneak peeks at the Purple Pumpkin Blog!

More Imaginisce Berrylicious Layouts

2011-02-24T18:30:00.000+10:00

Have you been checking out the Imaginisce Blog this week? There is so much Berrylicious inspiration on there, as well as chances to win some pretty awesome prizes! Here's a few more layouts that I've created with this range...

Berry Sweet Cousins - ok, so this one still feels a little unfinished to me. Not sure whether to add to it or leave it alone! I try to do the whole "white space" thing, but I'm just not very good at it! Here's a little close up, of a little Imaginisce Roly Rosie, and one of my Purple Pumpkin handmade buttons...

And another handmade button, a rolled felt flower, and some cute Berrylicious die cuts and chipboard stickers...

This next layout is sporting some ancient photos of Jack, playing in the sandpit with his digger...

The kids loved that sandpit, in our old backyard and miss it heaps. But we have the beach down the road now, so it's not like they never get to dig. And even though we don't have a sandpit anymore, I still feel like I'm constantly sweeping sand out of the house!

And lastly for today, is this layout, that I'm not too happy with either...

I did have fun using my I-Top though...

I have a couple of cards that I've made with this range too, but I'll share those on another day. For some great card ideas, you should go and have a look at the Imaginisce Blog. The cards the Design Team have created with this range are incredible!!

Hope you are having a great day! Thanks for stopping by :)

A "BERRYLICIOUS" Layout

2011-02-21T18:06:00.002+10:00

Check out this gorgeous new range by Imaginisce - Berrylicious!! There are so many cute little characters in this range, but I just loved the cute little bees! I mean, how can you resist this guy....?

And here's the first layout I've created with this range...

I gave my I-Rock a work out on this page, and used one of the templates to create the flourishes on the sides of the page. I adore the bright, fun papers in this range, but the backs of the papers are awesome too. Like this yummy brown spot that I've used for my background here. I just LOVE spotty papers!! And I couldn't resist making a brad with my I-Top, from one of the papers, to capture another cute little bee...

The rolled flowers are the Roly Rosies from Imaginisce. I've folded down the edges on this one before I rolled it, to make it a bit flatter and more distressed looking. I'm right back into doing scallops again too, although my black pens keep going missing. I usually know where to start looking for them though...on Emily's desk! Along with my scissors and double sided tape! She's into doing these pop up scenes for her toys to play on, and uses about half a roll of my tape every time! So cute though, and it keeps her busy for hours :)

Now, because it's the Berrylicious Release Party, that means that there are HEAPS of projects up on the Imaginisce Blog all week, along with the chance to win some fabulous prizes. Make sure you go and check it out!!

Guess What?

2011-02-18T09:25:00.003+10:00

Did you know that Imaginisce has a fabulous newsletter? It is packed full of projects, products, tips and techniques and of course contests! Trust me, you won't want to miss out on this! You can sign up HERE.

A2Z Layout

2011-02-17T14:17:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone! Thursday already, nearly the weekend - Yay!! I have a layout to share today, using a new release A2Z Scraplet...

I love that photo of Em! It's kind of blurry, and the colours look weird, but for some reason I love it. I used lots of handmade goodies on this page. That Owl Button is a new one for Purple Pumpkin. Isn't it cute?

I loved this Scraplet too. It actually comes with a branch and the leaves, but I used them separately...

And this is one of my favourite buttons, a Little Deer...

Well, I'd better race off. The kids have swimming lessons after school today, and I need to find their swimmers! Be back soon with some more layouts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Imaginisce February Challenge!

2011-02-14T16:32:00.000+10:00

You might have already seen the February Challenge on the Imaginisce Blog at the start of the month, but we are back with another round of inspiration and a mid month blog hop! You should have come here from Liz Qualman's blog, but don't worry if you didn't - just go to the Imaginisce Blog to start the hop :)

So, here's the challenge for this month. It's an inspiration/colour challenge. Doesn't it look yummy?!!

And here's my take - a photo frame of my sweet girl...

Hope you are enjoying the blog hop so far! Your next stop is Marielle Leblanc. Now, don't forget to leave a comment on each blog, as well as on the Imaginisce Blog, and for another chance to win a great prize, make sure you give the challenge a go yourself!

TEN!

2011-02-14T12:00:00.003+10:00

Yes, I am now the mother of a 10 YEAR OLD!! Jack turned 10 on Saturday, and instead of a party, he wanted a fun day out with his best friend, and then to have him sleep over so they could stay up late and play the playstation. Done!! I have to admit, I was kind of sad that he wasn't having a party, because he usually has one every year, but it's his birthday, so he gets to choose :)

So anyway, we decided to go to Aussie World, which is a little theme park on the Sunshine Coast, and the kids had an absolute ball....

First up we went on the Octopus, which was really scary. Now, Jack will NEVER go on scary rides. The first ride he wanted to go on was a baby ride, and he was told he was too big, because it was a ride for kids 1-5. A daredevil he is NOT, so I made him go on The Octopus ride even though he didn't want to. You can see how impressed he was about this...

Now it was a pretty scary ride. I think I screamed the entire time. Poor Em must have been deaf by the end of it, lol. But when Jack got off, he was like a new boy! A brave one!!! Check out the smile...!

So then he wanted to go on the rollercoaster (!!), but when we got there, it turns out it was a single person car, so I thought he might chicken out. I was prepared to have to tell them to let him out just before it took off...

I was so worried that he might be freaking out on it, because he is scared of heights and any fast ride...

But OMG!!! He was on top of the world when he got off it, and lined up again and again for more turns!!

There was lots more to do too. A super fast dark ride, that I though Jack wouldn't want to go on because he's not too keen on the dark. Admittedly, he did want to sit with me on that one, while Em sat with Jack's friend Dylan, but he ended up loving that one too, and went on again without me! We played mini golf too, and I got this photo before Jack had a melt down because he wasn't winning...

And the kids fave ride of the day - Mozzie Musta - which I only went on once cause it made me feel sick!

He said he had the "best day ever" and I was sure he'd be exhausted by the time we got home. I know I was!

But we went out to dinner with Poppy and Gek, because that was his choice too, and he was super happy when it was announced to everyone in the restaurant that it was his birthday, and everyone clapped :)

After we got home again, the kids still had plenty of energy to play tiggy outside(in the dark!), where of course, I was "it". Then the boys loaded themselves up with snacks, (which I actually let Jack take into his room!)and played video games til about 1 in the morning...

What a day! They would have stayed up later too, if I'd let them! And that wasn't Jack's only birthday celebration. The night before we had his Dad, with his girlfriend Chelsea and her daughter Briannen, over for dinner. Jack was totally spoilt by Chelsea, who got him lots of pressies, and he got $100 from his Dad...

Jack wanted pizza for dinner, and then an ice cream cake. He wont eat cake, and didn't want me to make him a cake this year, so I feel like I hardly had to do anything! I stuck 10 candles in the icecream cake though, so at least I got this photo...

And then we thought we try to get a photo of everyone, using the timer...

Hehehe...someone always has to do the bunny ears, so we thought we'd all do it this time...!

Jack had a really great night! Now, things haven't been so great between the kids and their dad in the past. It used to make me sad that they didn't really have much of a dad, who hardly ever saw them, but things are starting to change. All because of one amazing girl named Chelsea, who has given him the kick up the butt he needed :) So nice to see the kids having happy times with their Dad now!

So, as well as the money Jack got from his Dad, he got money from me and his Nanny (great grandmother) too, so after his friend went home on Sunday, we headed to the shops...

Here's Mr Moneybags, who ended up having $240 to spend...he ended up buying himself 2 big Lego's, a computer game, and a present for Emily - a zhuzhu pet with pink hair :)

And another birthday treat - lunch at Sizzler, Jack's favourite place, even though all he ever has is nuggets and chips and lots of ice cream!

Of course Gek was there too. Jack loved having me and mum to himself for the day. No fighting with Emily for all the attention because she was at home with Poppy!

And here's Jack's last and best birthday present this year, the DSI-XL from Poppy and Gek, that he has been longing for...

Emily was not impressed that it has a bigger screen than her one...!

And because I seem to have pictures of everything else, I'd better include a photo of Jack and his Granny, who came to stay the night on Thursday, and gave Jack an awesome remote control dinosaur for his birthday. And that pink box Jack is holding is full of lolly bags for his class. He told me he didn't want me to bring a cake into school, but still wanted everyone to sing "Happy Birthday", so lolly bags it was :)

Whew! I think that might be the longest post I've ever written on here! But it was good to record all Jack's birthday memories. Might help me with journalling when I go to scrap his birthday photos too!

Hope you are having a great day! I have LOTS of scrapping to share this week, so stay tuned :)

A2Z Scraplets Blog Hop

2011-02-11T19:00:00.002+10:00

Welcome to my blog and A2Z Scraplets first ever Blog Hop!

All the Designers have come together to celebrate everything in the Summertime.
We are happy that you can join us for this fun filled event.

You should have arrived to my blog from Annette Gearside. If that is not where you arrived from, then please join us at the A2 Scraplets Blog to start the hop from the beginning so you don't miss a thing!

All the Designers will showcase their "in the summertime" take on the blog hop sketch.

A few things to remember to join in and be eligible for prizes.

You must be a follower of A2Z Scraplets, "Like" the A2Z Scraplets Facebook page HERE, visit all the blogs on the list and comment on every blog at least once through the week and do the following Sketch with the theme "In the Summertime" and attach it by Mr Linky on aht A 2 Z Scraplets Blog in order to be entered to win the fantastic Grand Prize!

You have until Satruday night 19th February to leave all your comments and be entered to win the Grand Prize. We will draw the winners of the prizes and they will be announced by Julie.

Here's the sketch...

This is my take on the sketch...

And this is where you're off to next on the blog hop - Karen Jarman

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

3 Layouts To Share!

2011-02-09T09:58:00.001+10:00

Good morning!! It is so nice to walk back into an empty house after dropping the kidlets off at school. I love them to bits, but on school mornings I feel a bit like a drill seargent, snapping out orders left, right and centre. Funnily enough though, I always can't wait for 3 o'clock to roll around, so I can go and get them again.

So anyway, before I soak up the peace and quiet and get stuck into some scrapping, I have a few layouts to share...

A couple of layouts that were published recently in Scrapbooking Memories.

And this next one is the last layout I got out of my kit from Handmade By Suzanne...

Just a simple layout out of some scraps. Love the chipboard banner and the glittery paper and alphas. Make sure you check the Handmade By Suzanne, that shop has the best prices I have ever seen!

Well, I think I'll head off to do some scrapping. I have a very special class coming up for Harrison's Little Wings Charity, and I can't wait to get stuck into the class kit. It is full of lots of yummy Fancy Pants, Prima and Maya Road...I love it! If you're in the Brisbane area, I'd love it if you could come and support this great cause. My class will be $25, with all proceeds going to the charity, and it will be AWESOME VALUE with the kit itself being worth at least $25. I'm planning to do a double page layout, a single page, and possibly another page as well. The class will be on the 12th of March, and you can find all the details HERE.

Well, I think it must be coffee and scrap time :) Hope you have a fabulous day!!

Scrapbooking Embellishments For Sale!

2011-02-05T09:32:00.003+10:00

Want to get your hands on some of my handmade embellishments? Then go to Purple Pumpkin where you'll see all these, plus lots more!

Purple Pumpkin Embellishment Giveaway!

2011-02-03T21:26:00.002+10:00

Want to win this? Go HERE to enter!

A2Z and Show Us Your Stuff Challenges!

2011-02-01T21:16:00.002+10:00

Ahhh...don't you love the start of the month, when all the new challenges are listed? I just wish I had time to do more of them! Here are a couple though, that I hope you will try. This first layout here is for Show Us Your Stuff, and the challenge was to make a layout with a love theme, and to use a handmade heart on the page...

I actually kinda like this layout! I love all those photos of Em, she is such a little character :) And here's my handmade heart...

To see what the rest of the design team did for this challenge, and to enter your layout, go HERE. There are some fabulous handmade prizes up for grabs, including a prize for the first person to get their entries in for both February challenges!

And if you're looking to do a sketch challenge this month, check out this one at A2Z Scraplets...

And here's my layout...

Love this photo of Jack, taken at my brother's wedding last month. Jeez, he is growing up so fast, he's really starting to look like a young man, and not so much a little boy any more :( I used Imaginisce Garden Party papers for this layout. It's actually a really girly range, but with more boyish colours on the back. (oh, and make sure you check out the Imaginisce Blog today for the Feb challenge. Mine will be up later in the month!)

Now, A2Z are doing their sketch challenges a little differently now, and you can link your layouts up with the Mr Linky thingo. Which is awesome, I think, because that means new blogs to check out :) :)

The A2Z blog also now has a Followers thingy, so you can follow it with your blogger blog, so make sure you become a Follower over there, so you don't miss anything!!!

And lastly, guess what....

A2Z are having their very first blog hop on the 11th February!! So exciting! Make sure you keep your eye out for that one, there will be some fabbo prizes on offer (another reason to hit the Followers button over on the A2Z blog!)

Ok, I'd best get off of this computer and finish a few layouts I've got sitting on my desk.

Thanks for stopping by!

Imaginisce Garden Party Layout

2011-01-30T21:11:00.002+10:00

Is the weekend finished already? I feel like I blinked and it was all over! I think the kids are feeling a bit like that too, they both asked me tonight if they could be homeschooled, so they didn't have to get up early tomorrow. LOL! With the way that pair fight, they'd never learn anything! It's weird though, they fight like cat and dog at home, but they hang out together at school. Jack and his bestie, and Emily and her bestie always hang out together and play tiggy and "spys" at lunchtime. You'd think they'd want a break from eachother!

So anyway, this weekend I didn't reach my target of 10 layouts, but I got 8 done, which I was pretty happy about. But I can't share any of them just yet! They are all design team layouts, so I won't be able to share them for a week or two. I can share this one though, which is one of my January dt layouts for A2Z, using a new Scraplet...Beach Beauty. My stash of beachy photos is getting kind of low, but I found this photo of Em from a few years ago that went well with that title. Not that she's looking too beautiful there, more like a scruffy ratbag, but she was at the beach, so I guess it half fits, lol!

The papers and embellies I've used are Imaginisce Garden Party, and I just love them! The colours are so happy and fun for girly layouts...

Well, I'm tossing up whether to go to bed, or squeeze in a couple more hours scrapping before I crash. Might go have a coffee and think about it.

Hope you've had a fabulous weekend!!

Oh, and PS - make sure you check out my GIVEAWAY!!

Another Jack Layout...

2011-01-28T19:00:00.000+10:00

I seem to be scrapping my boy a lot lately! I always feel like I do so many more pages about Emma, so it's nice to get into boy mode, and do a few about him...

I've been digging into my stash again. So nice to feel like I'm actually using it, instead of just hoarding it!

I love this A2Z Scraplets title. So perfect for a layout about Jack being a little ratbag...

And here's another little close up...

Well, the kids and I are having a movie night tonight, and hopefully a big scrapping night for me once they go to bed. I've got about 10 layouts I'd like to get done in the next few days, so I'd better get off this computer. Hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Happy Australia Day!

2011-01-26T12:43:00.000+10:00

Is this good timing to share this layout or what?! The chipboard title I used here is from A2Z Scraplets, and is one of my dt projects for this month. As soon as I saw it, I knew I just had to scrap this photo of Jack, looking cute in his Aussie hat. I'm trying to make a point of using up my stash lately, so I've just used scraps, and bits and pieces to put this layout together. I think I've had that background paper for years!

And I had this little surprise this morning...

I've never had the featured project at Two Peas before so I thought that was pretty cool :)

Well, I have a nice peaceful house at the moment. The kids have been very naughty, screaming and fighting with each other, so they are both spending some alone time in their rooms. Hopefully when the kitchen timer goes off, and they come out, they will be back to being sweethearts! We are heading off to the beach this afternoon, and then to watch some fireworks tonight, so hopefully that will wear them out.

Hope you are having a great Australia Day!

More Bella Blvd Midterm...

2011-01-25T17:58:00.001+10:00

Whew! What a busy few days! The kids went back to school yesterday, after a super busy weekend, so it's nice to have a bit of time to myself! I have so many scrappy things to share, too many for one post, so here's the first of lots of things I've finished off in the last week or two...

For this little mini about my beautiful boy, I've used some more of my Guest DT kit from Handmade By Suzanne. I love the colours of these papers against the corrugated cardboard! Here's some inside pages...

I've been trying my hand at making some different types of buttons, which is so much fun! I'll be selling some of these at Purple Pumpkin soon...

Here's another inside page (wish the double page pics didn't come up so teeny tiny!)

And another handmade button...

If you like the Bella Blvd Midterm papers I used on this, you can check them out at Handmade By Suzanne HERE!

Now, if you're wondering what kept us so busy for the last few days, it was the building of this...!

Finally! This is one of the kids Christmas presents, that we picked up on Christmas Eve, but haven't been able to put up until just a few days ago, because of all the rain we've had. They were sooooo excited to be helping my Dad to assemble it, although I think all their "helping" probably made it take heaps longer!

Of course, they both had to have equal turns of the drill!

More helping...

Jack was seriously driving my Dad nuts, because Jack kept arguing that Dad was doing it all wrong. I'm sure Dad really loved being bossed around by a 9 year old, lol!

Time to play!

The kids are so happy now, they really needed this. Our back yard is the size of a postage stamp, and even though we have the beach and parks nearby, they really needed something more than the trampoline. They've already dragged a heap of toys into the cubby part of it, and didn't come inside after school yesterday until it was time for dinner. And speaking of school, here are a couple of first day photos...

They were SO EXCITED to be going back to school! They were both up early and in their uniforms, with no nagging from me. I hope it lasts!

Wow, that was a long post, wasn't it! I'll be back tomorrow with some layouts. Thanks for stopping by!

10 Things About Me

2011-01-23T04:59:00.004+10:00

On the Imaginisce blog today, is a post with 10 things about me, so I thought I'd pop some of my favourite Imaginisce projects on here...

Of course, there are heaps more Imaginisce projects that I love, but I can't put them all on here! I feel so lucky to be a part of the 2011 Design Team. The papers, and tools, and well, everything Imaginisce come out with is just awesome, I love it all! And you should see some of the new goodies that will be coming out soon, I guarantee you will LOVE them!!

If you've read my "10 Things" post, make sure you leave a comment here, as well as on the Imaginisce blog, for your chance to win a prize :)

Imaginisce Animal Crackers Layout & Card

2011-01-20T16:10:00.003+10:00

Ok, so I know I always say this, but the latest Imaginisce range really is my favourite so far! I love the orange, red, green and blue colours in the range, but most of all the CUTE animals it features, including a koala and a kangaroo!! How awesome is that for us Aussie scrappers? Of course I had to dig through all the photos I had of the kids with koalas and kangaroos, and the one I just had to scrap first was this pic of Jack at Dreamworld, when he was about 4, I think...

Check out his funny little face, I think he was too freaked out to smile properly! And did you see the cute lil' koala on the sticker stacker there...

And here is a little card I made using this range too. I've always loved the Imaginisce Snag 'Em stamps, and this elephant one was no exception...

I stamped the image quite a few times, onto different coloured cardstock, and then cut them all up and layered them with foam tape to make it all nice and dimensional. My I-rock got a workout too, with all those little silver studs around the border.

I've been working on a little off the page project with this range too, featuring the cutest little kangaroo die cut. I can't wait to finish it and put it on here! And if you haven't already, make sure you go and have a look at the Imaginisce Blog, there are so many amazingly awesome projects using Animal Crackers on there, as well as a chance to win some fabulous prizes!!

Well, I am child free at the moment, because Mum has taken the kids to the movies, so I'm going to put on my Vampire Diaries DVD and scrap in front of the tv for a few hours :)

Hope you're having a great day!!

Animal Crackers!!

2011-01-18T09:41:00.003+10:00

Imaginisce have released the cutest range ever - Animal Crackers!! Make sure you head on over to the Imaginisce Blog for the release party, where you'll find loads of inspiration, and of course, fabulous prizes!!

Going Crazy Here...

2011-01-16T16:51:00.007+10:00

Ok, the kids are seriously driving each other nuts, and I'm starting to feel like running away from home. Arrgh!!! I'm planning to keep them super busy this week with trips to the beach, movies and the zoo so they'll be too tired out to kill each other. That's the plan anyway :)

So this afternoon I have been hiding in my scrap room, finishing a few things off. I really need to start tidying it as I go, because it's looking like a cyclone ripped through there again! Anyway, here's another layout I've done from my Guest DT Kit from Handmade By Suzanne...

I love this pic of the little rascals (on a non fighting day!). They thought they were so cool in their sunnies! Here's a little close up of the cute little red pearls that were in my kit...

I love how bright and funky these Bella Blvd Midterm papers are! Make sure you you head over to Handmade By Suzanne, as the end of year sale is still on and there are lots of bargains to be had!

Before I go, I thought I'd share this fabulous blog I found, about how scrapbookers can help those affected by the floods (click on the picture to check it out) As well as donating what I can, I will definately contributing to this cause...

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you had a great weekend!!

Bella Blvd Midterm Layout

2011-01-12T21:48:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone. I thought I'd pull myself away from the flood reports on tv for a while to update my blog. I still can't believe that Queensland is such a disaster zone, and the worst of it hasn't even hit yet. I'm so grateful that the we live out of the way of that whole area, so we haven't been too affected, apart from having some roads cut off. My poor Mum and Dad though, are stuck in their house with no power, and have just been told that their water will be cut off. Still, it's nothing compared to the thousands of people whose homes have gone under water, and those people who have lost their lives :(

So being stuck inside because of the constant rain over the last week has given me plenty of time to scrap. And I have got so much done! Not a whole heap I can share just yet, but I can show you this one...

I created this layout using the Guest Design Team Kit from Handmade By Suzanne. I have to say, the kit was awesome, with some very yummy Bella Blvd Midterm papers and lots of fab embellies, and a very awesome sheet of glittery red AC cardstock. In my kit were some cute little packs of gems, some of which I've added to the pizza sticker here (with some of that glittery card underneath...

The sticker sheet I got was awesome, with different types of alphas and words, and borders and more...

One of the papers was so cute, and had all these little speech bubbles, and words that I cut out...

Of course I had to add some Purple Pumpkin buttons and embellishments on there too...

I love these Purple Pumpkin owl buttons, and it just went so well on this page...

Now, you wouldn't believe the incredible bargains to be found in the Handmade By Suzanne store, so make sure you check it out! Click HERE to go straight to these papers and stickers I've used and see for yourself!!

Oh, and this layout came from this sketch...

If you decide to give it a go (and I would LOVE it if you did!!!) you can load it in the Handmade By Suzanne gallery HERE, for your chance to win a prize :)

Well, I think I'll go and watch some more about the floods, and do a bit more scrapping. I hope all my fellow Queenslanders are staying safe and dry. Thanks for stopping by :)

My Top 10 For 2010

2011-01-06T09:36:00.008+10:00

Ok, so this was a lot harder than I thought it would be, because most of my faves are out for publication, so here are my top 10 faves of 2010, out of what's left...

Oopsie - there's 12 there, not 10! I love all of these layouts for one reason or another - either the photo, or how much fun it was to do, or how it looks overall. One thing I'm aiming to do with my scrapping this year though is to journal more on my layouts. (Didn't I say that last year too?) I went through some of my old layouts when I sorted my scrap room the other day, and although they look like crap, I love them because I used to journal a lot more. I really need to get back to that!

And I haven't forgotten that little giveaway I had the other day. Here is the winner...

Congrats Becci! Email me your address and I'll get that out to you asap :)

And if you're looking for another giveaway, have a look at this one...

Go to Mel's Blog to enter!

Well, that's all from me for now. I'm off to the hospital this afternoon to find out the results from all Jack's tests (finally!) I'm guessing if there was anything bad they would have asked me in sooner, right? Fingers crossed anyway!

Hope you have a great day!!

Design Team News!

2011-01-03T15:23:00.004+10:00

A little while ago the lovely Suzanne, from Handmade by Suzanne, asked if I'd like to be a Guest Designer for January. Of course I said yes!!! She has the most AWESOME online store, filled to the brim with all the latest and greatest scrapbooking goodies. And even better, at the moment Handmade by Suzanne is having a SALE, with most items in the store 30% OFF!! What a fabulous way to start the new year, by stocking up on loads of scrappy bargains! Make sure you check it out!!

Now, as Guest DT, I was invited to create a sketch to go on the HBS Blog. Well, anyone who knows me, knows I am not computer savvy at all, and although I have tried, I just haven't mastered doing sketches on the computer. So a hand drawn sketch it is...

Now, I would LOVE some of my blogging buddies to have a go at this sketch!! If you do give it a go, you can enter it in the HBS Gallery, and you could even win a prize!! And I am offering a prize too, of some yummy Purple Pumpkin spotty buttons :) :)

Well, I am in the midst of cleaning my scrap room (again), so I'm going to have to detach myself from the computer and get back to it. I will be back soon though, with my Top 10. See you soon!!

Imaginisce and SUYS Challenges!!

2011-01-03T10:11:00.005+10:00

So...I've been away for a few days, for my brothers wedding, and came home to find my scheduled posts didn't go up!!! Grrr...computers just don't like me! So before I share some of the photos I took at the wedding (where Jack and Em were page boy and flower girl!!) I'll play a bit of catch up...

First up is the Imaginisce January Challenge!! Instead of a sketch this month, the challenge is to alter somthing that you've got laying around the house. I thought this was an awesome challenge, and here's what I came up with...

First, I found this old Prima flower container, and I knew straight away that I wanted to turn it into a pencil holder for Emily...

Pretty cute, huh? I used the Enchanted collection for this, and have finally used the little dragon chipboard that I was hoarding...

I blinged the top and bottom strips with the I-rock, and for the top of the pencil holder I punched the patterned piece with an I-top punch, and then added and I-top brad for the centre...and finished it off with a touch of bling from the I-rock...

Now, for your chance to win an AMAZING Imaginisce prize, make sure you head over to the Imaginisce blog right now, and check out all the other dt creations!! You can also take part in the challenge, for another chance at winning a fabulous prize!!

And also for the 1st of the month, Show Us Your Stuff has a new challenge up. Here's the sketch...

And here's my layout...

This month we were given some gorgeous Pretty Petals to play with - the yellow felt flower (so yummy and dimensional) and the blue tissue paper flower. Of course I just had to add a Purple Pumpkin spotty button to the centre of it!

And there's another Purple Pumpkin button on here too, that cute lil mushroom!

I just love the photos of Emily on this layout. It was her birthday, the last day of school before the Easter hols, and she had an Easter bonnet parade. She was so happy!!

Well, I think I'll leave it there for now!! I could just go on forever, I have so many cute photos of the kids to share, and my 10 fave layouts for 2010, but I will be back with all that tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a fabulous day!

My Last Project of the Year!!

2010-12-31T16:05:00.008+10:00

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas. I'm still recovering...I ate waaaaaay too much, and now I'm actually looking forward to getting all the junk food out of the house. The diet starts tomorrow!! (and I say that every year, lol) I can't believe that 2010 is almost over, it just went in a blur, and I didn't do half of what I was going to. It has been a great year for us though, and we are totally loving our "sea change", although we have hardly been to the beach at all lately because of all this rain.

Well, I'd better not ramble on too much today, I have a million things to do, and not enough time to do it in, so I'll just share with you my last project for the year...

I'm so glad I got this finished! It's an album of Jack's 9th birthday, and he turns 10 in about 6 weeks time, so I'll have a new lot of birthday photos to scrap very soon. Here's a few pics of the inside of the album...

If you like to see some more pics and close ups, then go check out the Imaginisce Blog, as I've just posted this project on there :)

And...well, you know how much I love a giveaway, so here is my last giveaway for 2010. It's just a little one...

If you read my post over at Imaginisce, you'll know why I love these things!! And, if you'd like to win them, all you need to do is be a follower on both my blog and the Imaginisce blog, and then leave me a comment here. Too easy! I'll announce a winner on the 2nd of January.

Well, I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year!! See you in 2011!!

Exciting News!!

2010-12-24T00:29:00.002+10:00

Wow, can you believe that it's Christmas Eve?!! (only just though, I will have to go to bed soon!) How quickly did that creep up! Surprisingly though, for once I feel like I'm ready for it. All the pressies have been wrapped, I've nearly finished making all my Christmas goodies, so now I can just enjoy this last day of waiting with the kids. They are sooooo incredibly excited!

And I am incredibly excited about something too...

I'm on the 2011 Imaginisce Design Team!!!!! (you can check out the announcement on the blog HERE) I was feeling a bit sad about my 2010 design team position coming to an end, the year just seemed to fly by, so I am absolutely over the moon that I get to stay on for another year. Yeah!!

And somehow, I've managed to squeeze in a bit of scrapping time, so here's a layout I did using a gorgeous photo of my neice, and the beautiful Imaginisce Enchanted collection...

And I'm totally addicted to the Imaginisce Roly Rosies, so quick and easy!!!

And here's another Imaginisce layout that I don't think I've shared yet, using the Cottage Christmas range...

How cute is this little snowflake embellie!

Well, thanks so much for sharing my excitement. Hope you have a fun and happy Christmas!!

Scrapbooking Crop Day

2010-12-20T07:39:00.003+10:00

Good morning!!! Remember a little while ago I mentioned on my blog that my good friend Melanie lost her beautiful little boy Harrison? Well, she has started a charity in his name called Harrisons Little Wings. The aim of the charity is to make up 6x6 albums to donate to other families who have suffered this terrible loss.

Mel is having a Scrapbooking Crop Day on the 12th of March 2011, to raise funds and awareness, or if you don't live nearby, you could help by creating a couple of pages for one of these very special albums. I've almost finished one little album, it just needs a few finishing touches, and then I'll share it on here.

If you like to find out more details on how you can help, please click HERE.

Garden Party!

2010-12-18T08:43:00.003+10:00

Guess what? Imaginisce have a gorgeous new collection - Garden Party!!

Aren't these the most gorgeous spring colours? I absolutely can't wait to get my hands on some of this range!!

Now, Imaginisce is having a release party on the Imaginisce Blog, and will be giving away an entire collection of Garden Party EVERY DAY!!! There's also lots of inspiration from the design team using this gorgeous range, so make sure you head over there today!

My Favourite Photo RIGHT NOW

2010-12-17T10:41:00.003+10:00

Hi all! I've been away for a few days, visiting friends and family, and I told myself that I wouldn't get on the computer til I've got everything washed and sorted, but.....well, here I am. I know, I'm terrible, I just can't keep off this thing! Anyway, I still need to photograph some scrappy stuff to put on here, but I just wanted to share my favourite photo that I took the other day....

Ok, so it's a bit blurry, and the kids are filthy, but I love it!!! I took this one late on Monday afternoon, after we had our walk on the beach. I did tell them that we were just going for a walk, and not to go in the water or get muddy, but the beach was all foamy and gross, and the kids thought it was great, and had foamball fights, and then rolled in the sand for a while, with Daisy yapping around them. So when we got back to the car, this is what they looked like. Filthy but happy! Such a nice change from the normal posed/fake smile photos I get, even if it is a bit blurry. I can't wait to scrap this one!!!

Imaginisce Christmas Cottage Layout...

2010-12-14T08:59:00.003+10:00

Ok, so I was thinking I might have more time for scrapping, with the kids being on holidays, but I've hardly done any at all!! Well, nothing I can show just yet, anyway. But here is a Christmassy layout that I can share...

On Christmas day we usually go to my mum and dads for Christmas lunch, and the kids spend the entire time in the pool. They love it! I used Imaginisce Cottage Christmas papers and embellies for this. And the silver circle is from the top of a milo tin. I just put it through the cuttlebug to emboss it, and then popped a few gems on with my I-rock.

The kids are still talking about Christmas non stop. Oh, to be a child again, lol! I love that they still both firmly believe, even though my big boy is nearly 10. I'll be sad when the magic is gone, so hopefully it'll be around for a few years yet.

I put the pressies for the kids that are from me under the tree yesterday. They used to always question why they got presents from Santa, and from all the rellies, but not from me! So now, I have put a few presents under the tree for them, so they don't think I didn't get them anything. Anyway, they are very excited that these presents are sitting under the tree...

Of course there was a mad rush to see which was theirs, even though they can't open them til Christmas day. They've been shaking them, and trying to guess, lol.

And Em has been good about the presents being there, but Jack, hmmmm....Well, he worked out that his big one was lego, but he just couldn't stand not knowing, so he ripped a bit of the paper and had a peek inside. What a ratbag!!!!!! Luckily he didn't get a good enough look, and he thinks it's something that it isn't but still...! So now his presents have been removed from under the tree, and won't go back til Christmas eve.

Anyhoo, the rascals are awake now, I can here them attacking their advent calendars, so I'd better go and get some brekky happening for them. Hope you have a great day!!

Another Christmas Layout...

2010-12-08T07:04:00.001+10:00

Only 17 days to go!! Excitement levels are running very high in our house, and the kids almost can't stand all this waiting. I've been trying to keep them busy during the day, but with the rainy weather we've been having, there's only so much you can do! At night though, we pull out our collection of Christmas books and talk about nothing but Christmas.

Now, I have to tell you about this one particular book, which I think is THE most awesome Christmas book, especially as kids get that bit older...

Santa Claus! It's not actually a story, it's written more like a non-fiction book, with lots of details that explain all those questions that kids ask, like how Santa gets around the world in one night, and so many more. I think I'd be a bit lost without this book sometimes!

It's definately well worth looking out for if you haven't got it.

And here's another Christmas layout, this one is in the latest DoCrafts magazine, along with all the instructions...

That photo is from last Christmas, when I got like 2 hours sleep on Christmas Eve because the kids wouldn't go to sleep, and then woke up super early. How mean am I, making them pose for photos before they rip into their pressies? They must think I'm so annoying! Here's a little close up, I made some of those rolled flowers out of vellum...

Well, that's all from me for now. I'm think I'm going to brave the shops with the kids today. Wish me luck!

A Christmas Layout - Kaisercraft Devonshire

2010-12-07T09:43:00.001+10:00

Well, it's another day closer to Christmas! I'm sure the kids will chew my ear off with a million questions about Santa and the North Pole again. Oh my gosh, it never stops! And it's so funny at the moment too. Normally, Jack and Emily fight constantly, about everything, but lately they've been getting along beautifully. Usually they fight when they sit on the couch, about who has the best seat, and god forbid if one of them "crosses the line". But yesterday, Jack sat on there to watch a dvd, and asked Em to sit with him. But that's not the amazing part....she sat down, and then he patted the spot right next to him, and said "sit here, closer to me" Um...I almost fell over with shock! But it doesn't end there...they've been getting drinks for each other, helping each other to tidy up their rooms, and get this...When we went for a walk on the beach, I was a bit ahead of them, because I was throwing the ball for Daisy, but when I looked back, they were walking along holding hands!!!!

I was thinking they must just have some good holiday spirit going on, but when I commented to Em on how nice it was to see her and Jack getting along so nicely, she let me in on what was going on...apparently Santa really keeps a watch out, to see which children are behaving, and those ones get the best (and most) presents, so they are trying for the best pressies in the world. LOL!! Figures...they are so cheeky! Well, let's see how long it lasts. I happen to know that Santa has got some pretty awesome presents in store for them already, but it would be nice to see them get along for the next few weeks. Especially seeing as school holidays started last Friday!

So I haven't scrapped as much as I would have liked, the last few days, but I have started sorting my scrap room (again), so hopefully that will make scrapping,(and finding things!) a bit easier. I just have to keep the kids out of there, as it seems to have become craft central in there for them lately! I do have a layout to share though, this one was in the last Scrapbooking Memories magazine...

I didn't even use anything Christmassy on this one, even though it's a layout of Em on Christmas morning! SO not like me!

Ok, so don't look too closely at these flowers. They were my very first (and only) attempt at the Tim Holtz flowers, lol...

And the papers I've used are Kaisercraft Devonshire. Aren't they gorgeous! It's one of my all time favourite Kaisercraft ranges.

Well, I suppose I should go, I've rambled on enough for one day! Hope you have a great one :)

Counting Down The Days...

2010-12-05T22:25:00.001+10:00

So far these holidays, the kids have decorated, and redecorated the tree about 3 times. The lights on our tree are the musical ones, and yes...the kids like them on all day long! They are loving their advent calendars too, especially this one that I made for the Imaginisce 12 Days of Christmas...

It took me longer than I thought it would, and I only got this completely finished today, but the kids have been watching me every step of the way. I love how it turned out!

I've been waiting to make up this Kaisercraft Advent Calendar, and I was so excited when I got the Imaginisce Cottage Christmas range. I knew it would be perfect for it! I love how the papers are the traditional red and green, but with touches of blue, orange and pink too. It's one of my favourite Christmas ranges ever!!

I had originally planned to have those 3 accordian flower "decorations" hanging from the top, but they wouldn't sit right, so I just stuck them down. Probably less likely to break from too much kid handling that way anyway!

See the brads I made with the I-top, for the "decoration" centres? I love that Rudolph one...

For the other two, I used my I-Rock to bling it up a little bit...

**Now, how would you like to win a great prize?? How does the ENTIRE Imaginisce Christmas Cottage collection sound? If you think that sounds pretty great, then make sure you pop over to the Imaginisce Blog, to find out how YOU could win! **

Hope you have a great week!

Winners!!!!!

2010-12-03T10:56:00.004+10:00

First of all I just want to say THANK YOU to all those fabulous people who entered MY BIGGEST GIVEAWAY EVER. I wish you could all win a prize! Unfortunately there can only be a few winners, and here they are....

First up, there are two Friday mini prize winners...

A mini prize goes to comment no.3 left by Rach

Another mini prize goes to comment no. 121 left by Nikki

AND NOW FOR THE WINNER OF MY BIGGEST GIVEAWAY EVER .................!!!

Comment no.1 was left by Tracie

Congrats to all the winners!! Email me your addresses asap, so I can get these out to you soon.

Imaginisce December Sketch

2010-12-01T22:36:00.004+10:00

It's that time again...time for another Imaginisce Sketch!! Now, how awesome is this sketch, created by Liz Qualman? I just love those mittens along the top! Well, I didn't do mittens on my layout, (because Aussie Christmases are usually stinking HOT!), but I thought a couple of strings of "decorations" might do the trick...

I used the gorgeous Cottage Christmas range, of course. I love everything about it!

Now, for your chance to win some FABULOUS Imaginisce prizes, make sure you head on over to the Imaginisce Blog, and leave a comment there, as well as on all the other dt blogs. You'll find loads of inspiration too, of course!

And remember that HUGE IMAGINISCE PRIZE I had on offer? Well, I'm annoucing the winner tomorrow morning, so if you enter HERE now, you'll still have a chance to win :)

Finally...a Layout to Share!

2010-12-01T07:02:00.004+10:00

Hi everyone. Thanks so much to you all for your kind comments and messages about Jack. He's doing really well at the moment. We still haven't got to the bottom of it, but fingers crossed it doesnt happen again.

Now, I haven't had much of a chance to get on my blog lately, but I have got loads to share, so I'm planning to pop something on here every day. And I have HEAPS of Christmassy projects! Here's a layout I created for Show Us Your Stuff...

I love these photos of the kids all excited on Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas morning. I love Christmas!!! The papers I've used are Imaginisce Christmas Cottage.

The challenge for December is to create a layout using a sketch and handmade flowers. Because it's all about using handmade embellishments, it's perfect for me!! Gives me a chance to use all those embellies I make for Purple Pumpkin :) Make sure you head over to Show Us Your Stuff, and give it a go!! There are some great prizes to be won :)

I'll be back tomorrow with my layout for the Imaginisce Sketch. It's a Christmassy one too! Hope you have a fabulous day!!

Scary Stuff...

2010-11-19T10:36:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone. As many of you know, I've been M.I.A. due to Jack being unwell. On Tuesday, I had a call from school, saying he was in the sick bay with a pain in his head. By the time I got him to the doctors, he was unable to speak, although he was trying to, and had gone all floppy. The doctors called an ambulance, and he was rushed to hospital, as it was suspected he was having a stroke. (since when do 9 year olds have strokes??) After some time he was kind of able to speak again, but couldn't answer simple questions, and didn't know who I was. We had a very scary hospital stay, (where I had to sleep on the most uncomfortable fold out bed!) but luckily tests and an MRI ruled out stroke, or any other nasties in his brain. The doctors are not quite sure what happened, but think it might be some form of migraine that has neurological symptoms, or maybe some type of seizure. He is home again now, can talk and seems fine, although his memory of the whole thing is quite hazy. He is having more tests next week, but I'm hoping this was just one of those weird, one off things that will never happen again. It was without doubt, one of the most frightening things I have ever been through, and I'm just so grateful my little man is back to his usual self.

Well, I have a tonne of things to catch up on today. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend :)

Imaginisce Enchanted Layout...

2010-11-16T08:49:00.008+10:00

Have you seen the new Enchanted range from Imaginisce? It is absolutely adorable, one of my very favourites from them EVER!! At the moment Imaginisce is having a Launch Party all week long, and the Imaginisce Blog will be full of loads of ideas for using this range, as well as heaps of giveaways!!!

Now, the papers are sooo cute, that I couldn't decide what to use on this layout...so I just used them all!!

The border around the page is made from little bits of old book paper glued onto strips of chipboard. And for the title I used the "Magic" chipboard word from A2Z Scraplets.

Well, I'm off to soak up the peace and do a bit of scrapping while the kidlets are at school. I can't believe there are only 2 weeks and 2 days left until they finish for the year!!!

Oops...

2010-11-15T10:38:00.002+10:00

Ok, so it's Monday, and I'm just drawing the Friday Mini Prize winner now. Better late than never!

Congrats to Darlene S, who left comment no. 92!! Just email me your address so I can get your prize out to you Darlene :)

If you havent entered yet, you've still got time! Go HERE for all the details :)

Show Us Your Stuff

2010-11-14T09:19:00.003+10:00

A few weeks ago I was invited to be on the design team for a new challenge blog called Show Us Your Stuff. It's all about using handmade embellishments on your layouts, so of course I said YES!!! The first challenge will be up in December, so make sure you head on over there and check it out :)

Do You Like Handmade Embellishments?

2010-11-12T22:51:00.004+10:00

Then make sure you head on over to PURPLE PUMPKIN to check these out!!! There will be a design team call over there soon, so if you like using handmade embellies on your layouts, keep your eye out for it!

Want to Win Some Chipboard???

2010-11-11T21:20:00.002+10:00

Then make sure you have a go at the A2Z Scraplets November Sketch!!!

You could win one of 3 fabulous chipboard prize packs, just by giving it a go. So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the A2Z Scraplets Blog for all the details :)

Imaginisce Does It AGAIN!!!

2010-11-09T18:09:00.003+10:00

Imaginisce has brought out another 2 tools for scrapbooking that you will just have to have!!

First up is the I-bond cordless glue gun, which is perfect for putting together the Roly Rosies...

And next is my fave, the d-stress creative paper edger!! It's a hand held, battery operated sanding tool!!!!

To hear more about these fabulous new tools, and better still, for your chance to WIN ONE, head on over to the Imaginisce Blog :)

A Big Catch Up...

2010-11-08T16:17:00.002+10:00

Well, helloooo there!! I've been M.I.A. for a while because my computer decided to play up, but it's now back to being its good old self again. Yay! Gosh, it's amazing how much I miss it when it doesn't work!! My house sure is clean at the moment though, so I guess it wasn't such a bad thing, lol. I have sooo many of your blogs to catch up on, so I'm planning on having a big blog surf tonight once the kids go to bed. Got a tonne of emails to read too!

So, what else have I been up to in the last week or so, other than cleaning my house? Well, we went to the Jacaranda Festival...

Em loves her scary rides, so she was in heaven...

Then lots of fun trick or treating...

Poor Jack, he dove into the shallow end of the pool and came up screaming. Omg, my heart stopped when it happened, but it could have been a lot worse. There go those photos I was planning to get done before Christmas though...

He cheered up when I let him make caramel truffles for a school project...

We have been going here every day after school...

And of course, I hear about Christmas constantly. Emily is planning to cover the tree with toilet roll decorations. Nice.

And here is last Friday's mini prize winner, picked by random...

Congrats to Sandy Davis, lucky comment number 35!! Email me your address and I'll get your mini prize out to you!

Dont forget, if you haven't entered my giveaway yet, you still have time. Go HERE to enter :)

Be back tomorrow with some scrappy shares. See you then!!

Echo Park and Imaginisce

2010-11-02T21:54:00.003+10:00

These two brands go together sooo well! Echo Park has only been around for a little while, but already it's one of my favourites. Team it with some fabulous Imaginisce tools, and you've got a match made in heaven! And you could win an Imaginisce I-Rock, I-Top and some yummy Echo Park products, just by heading over to the Imaginisce Blog to see what the design team have created by combining these two awesome brands. Here's my layout...

I used the Life Is Good range to scrap this cute photo of my niece Natasha. The I-Top brads made perfect flower centres. I just love that tool!

And did you notice that I used the I-Rock to bling up the centre of this flower...?

And some more I-Top goodness. I covered the brads with some glossy accents to give them a nice "finished off" look...

Now don't forget to pop on over to the Imaginisce Blog to see how you can win some awesome Imaginisce and Echo Park goodies. Good Luck!

Imaginisce November Sketch

2010-11-01T18:14:00.006+10:00

Oh my goodness. I just scraped in with this one! I was planning to be back from our weekend away last night, but I didn't end up coming home until a couple of hours ago. Just enough time to finish this layout for the Imaginisce November sketch (by Melinda Spinks!)

I just had to use the new Enchanted range, it is soooo cute. I have lots more projects on the go at the moment, using this range, so keep your eye out for those soon :)

Make sure you head over to the Imaginisce Blog, where you'll find links to the other dt girls layouts, and don't forget that if you give the sketch a go, and link it up to the Imaginisce blog, you could win a fabulous prize.

And speaking of prizes...

Have you got your entry in yet for MY BIGGEST GIVEAWAY EVER??? Go HERE for more details on how you can win a huge stash of Imaginisce goodies :)

Friday Prize Winner!!

2010-10-29T11:48:00.003+10:00

Okay, the winner of mini prize number 2 is comment number 16...

Sue said...
I too, am already a follower of both blogs, so have just posted on my blog. AWESOME prize Sam, thanks so much for the chance to win! XXX

http://soupie75.blogspot.com/2010/10/sams-massive-giveaway.html

Congrats Sue!! Just email me your address and I'll get your prize out to you :)

There are still 4 more mini prizes up for grabs, as well as the major prize of a huge paper and embellishment pack, so if you haven't already, make sure you get your entry in HERE!

Get Picky Challenge Layout

2010-10-28T12:33:00.006+10:00

Well, I just remembered this morning that there was a challenge that I really wanted to do this month, so I quickly whipped out some photos, and some new Imaginisce Enchanted goodies, and came up with this...

I used the new Roly Rosies and Pop up Posies, to make some super quick and easy flowers...

I'm sure a lot of you can guess what challenge this was for. Yep...it is the first Get Picky challenge. Here's the sketch I used...

Well, hopefully I wont leave it til the last minute next time!! Well, that's all from me for now. I have sooo much to do before I pick up the kids from school. Where does the time go?

Oh and before I do go, make sure you've got your entries in for My Biggest Giveaway Ever, as I will be drawing prize number 2 tomorrow :) Go HERE to enter.

Layouts and a Card!

2010-10-25T09:28:00.001+10:00

Good mooooorning! Monday again! I just got home from the school run, so I have a nice, quiet house for the next 6 or so hours :) :) I've got quite a few shares for today, first up are these layouts using some new release A2Z Scraplets...

This was the ONLY photo I had of one of the kids near a campfire!! I have scrapped every other campfire photo, so this one had to do, lol. Here are a few close ups (yes, these were the sneaks from a couple of weeks ago :))...

This next one was a "no frills" super quicky...

And this next one here...well...I was trying a different look, with no patterned paper, and just a splatter of paint. Very minimalist for me, but it was fun to try something different...

And now a card! A while back my favourite scrapping mag Scrapbooking Memories asked me to do some cards for their latest issue. Of course I said yes, but I was thinking "YIKES!" The theme for that I had to use for these cards was "chin up"/"stay strong" as it was for the "Pink" issue. I really struggle with making cards, but here's one of the cards (the one I liked better) that is featured in the mag. (If you want to see the other one...well you'll just have to check out SBM!)

Well, I'd better get my butt off this computer, and get started on everything I have to do today. Hope you have a great week!

I'm Excited!!

2010-10-23T13:49:00.003+10:00

Why? Because I've finally worked out how to get the random number thingy to show on my blog!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, so I'm probably the last person in the world to work that out, but I'm not very computer savvy, so that's a big achievement for me, lol.

So anyway, here is the first winner of MY BIGGEST GIVEAWAY EVER!!

And comment number 44 was left by TR! Congrats TR, just email me your address and I'll get your mini prize pack out to you asap :)

Now, there are still 5 more mini prize packs to be won, as well as the major prize of a huge stash of Imaginisce papers and embellies, so make sure you have your entry in HERE to be in the running.

Hope you're having a great weekend!!