Happy Queen's Birthday Weekend!!

I hope you are all having a lovely long Queen's Birthday weekend. I have my Design Team kit at the mo, so am busy creating, which is a nice way to spend the weekend. There is a lot happening over at Scrappin' Patch, so if you have some time this weekend, come on over and check it out.

First up today, I have some layouts I created using a gorgeous flocked 7 Gypsies paper - Jai from the shop.

Now, as you may have noticed, this is quite an unusual page for me, but I really wanted the focus on the journalling rather than the photo. I used a strip of the paper as a piece of ribbon. Oh, and the cute butterfly is from an Amy Butler sheet of die-cut butterflies available in the shop, along with some Graphite Glimmermist.

On the page above, I used a photo I love of my sisters and all our kids, and another piece of the Jai flocked paper, out of which I handcut the flourish/flowers. I also used the following products from the shop: Basic Grey Urban Prairie Paper: Kettle, Making Memories Tiny Alphas: White on Black (sold out, but other colours available), Kaisercraft Bling: black, and Tattered Angels Glimmermist: Graphite.

Click here to see what Heidi and Annelie did with their different flocked papers. Very cool!

Also at the Scrappin' Patch forum, we are having inspiration and challenges all weekend relating to the Queen's Birthday. Heidi's challenge is to create a layout about your little Prince or Princess - here is my take on the challenge:

Very pink!! I love the new Prima Vines, and the papers - Collage Press Sweet Shoppe - Chocoholic (backside), Basic Grey Bittersweet - Essence and Truffle, Websters Storytellers letter stickers - Magical, Fiskars Border Punch - Apron Lace, and Melissa Francis crown are all available in the shop. So come join in the fun.

Ok, so it's getting late now and I still have more DT stuff to work on. Keep your eye out for my next projects using some of the Prima papers in the shop...

Yes, it's me again...

and I know it's been a while, but I have a good excuse; I am having major computer problems. First of all, we had no phone line for 2 days, but some internet, although it was down for a whole night - shock, horror, how did I cope??!! - and now, although we have it back now, uploading and downloading often takes an absolute age - hence, there won't be too many pics in this post, lol! That is also why I haven't commented on your blog for a while... yes, I'm talking to you! But I did want to share the following couple of layouts that I have just posted over at Scrappin' Patch for a Scrap Tech Tuesday on machine stitching.


I'm really liking this page, but I'm also thinking I really need to get a new sketch or something... I can't seem to do anything but this page layout lately! The journalling on this layout is particularly funny to me; it reads: You are such a clever girl. Your Daddy was trying to explain something to you, but your reply was "Well, I know somebody who knows better... my Mummy." That girl really is smart!




And then there's this one, which I also really like, and is just a reminder to Aurelia that I do love her - sometimes, you get caught up in the day-to-day routines, and the time-outs and telling offs, and you forget the most important things. I don't ever want her to forget how much I love her.

The lovely product on these layouts is mostly available over at the Scrappin' Patch shop; I am loving all their new stuff, especially the Prima vines and felt gates. Oh, and those Melissa Francis and Websters papers... I could go on...


But it's late, so I won't.


So much to do this week; our bathroom needs painting, and I received my Scrappin' Patch Design Team kit today, so look out for my work from that - very pretty product, so hopefully some nice projects should come out of that.


Oh, and Scrappin' Patch is also having some stuff happening over the Queen's Birthday weekend; some inspiration and challenges, so drop on by and join in the fun.


I must go; layouts and cards to make, and a lovely warm bed awaiting me too... have a great week, and a lovely long weekend, all.

Hope You Had A Happy Mothers' Day...

whether you are a mother or a daughter. We had a nice lunch out with Robin's Mum, and I did a bit of scrapping in the afternoon. In honour of Mothers Day, I made this layout below about my Mum, who passed away 5 years ago. It's the first layout I've done about her, and so it was really important to me to make it really special... it's not quite as awesome as I pictured in my head (they never are, lol!) but I think it's quite pretty. I ended up not journalling quite how I wanted, so will probably scrap this photo again, maybe next time in sepia or something, with more journalling that's a bit more... I don't know, heartfelt. I really wanted to express how I feel, but it wasn't easy. Anyway, here it is:

As you can tell, I'm still loving the Prima, Melissa Francis and Websters, all available in the Scrappin' Patch shop!! Now, if you want to do a Mothers Day layout, shabby chic style, visit the Scrappin' Patch forum here, to get the details on Annelie's Monday challenge, for which I entered this page as an example.

In other news, we finally picked a name for our new little darlings... drumroll please... Felix and Lucy. We had the hardest time deciding, but we liked these names the best. I don't think any of you suggested these names, but I need to go have another look at the comments...

Oh, and had a really nice, quiet day at Trace's crop on Saturday, too. It was so nice to meet Jane and Angela, people I had seen online but not IRL. Good to catch up with everyone else too. And yes, as usual, I got next to nothing done, but that's ok; I'm beginning to accept it now, lol!

Nothing much else to report at the mo, so have a good week.

Another Post...

I'm on fire! Yes, another post! I have had a bit of a crappy weekend, just because I've managed to completely block one of my ears, and I have had a headache since Saturday morning. All my own fault though; I just can't resist sticking those cotton buds in my ears... I'm gonna have to visit the Dr, I think. I've also had this blimen' cold for about 3 weeks now; it's not too bad but still not 100% well. So, all in all, I am pretty pleased I managed to get this layout done:


It's for a Product Challenge over at Scrappin' Patch; the challenge is to use 'bling' on your layout. Come on, everyone loves bling, so come over and play! Here is the link to the details in the forum.

Here are some close-ups:















Now, I have to say, I am a little disappointed in how the photos turned out; I'm really happy with it IRL. And such different colours for me, but I really like the pp, from 7 Gypsies. I also really wanted to use one of the Prima felt gates, so I Glimmermisted it with Graphite to make it darker, and it turned out so cool. I actually used heaps of my new stuff from the shop. And cute photos too - actually taken 2 years ago; time is just going by so fast.

Oh, and I wanted to thank you all for your comments and name suggestions for our darling kitties; we still haven't decided but will let you know as soon as we do. Actually, in regards to your comments, I am pretty sure that sometime soon I am going to move my blog over to Wordpress; I would love to be able to reply to your comments, which I can't do on blogger. So that will be exciting! Well, for me, anyway...

I'm off to Trace's farewell crop this coming weekend, which means I really must put a kit or two together - who am I kidding, I probably won't get anything done, as usual, lol. Am going with my good friend, Liz, so should be lots of fun. Lucky Trace, moving back to my home town of Christchurch - although, I'm not sure I could cope with the cold winters anymore! Best of luck, Trace!

Ok, you've probably had enough for today, so have a great week!

(Inter)National Scrapbooking Day...

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Scrappin' Patch's (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day!

Adrienne and Pauline have organised a challenge for this weekend to celebrate Scrapbooking Day, and that is to create a layout based on a 'recipe'. That is, a list of items you need to have on your layout. The twist is, to get the list, you need to visit the Scrappin' Patch blog, and also the blogs of the rest of the SP Design Team and Guest DT. You need to read the first post on each blog to get a clue, which will lead you to one 'item' that needs to be on your layout. The item will be highlighted with a lightbulb, just in case you don't quite figure out the clue! You will end up with 7 items that need to be included on your layout.

OK, so my clue is: Kiss Kiss. And another clue, it might not necessarily be on the first page, so you may need to click on 'older posts' at the bottom of the page. Look for the lightbulb for the next item to go on the layout list.

Once you have my item, you need to visit the other DT and SP blogs; all the links are just over on the right-hand sidebar, under Scrappin' Patch DT Blog List. Then you create your layout, and post it in the gallery by Monday 4 May by 9am. And be sure to read the Scrappin' Patch blog post well, as there are other ways you could win a RAK too...

Have fun creating your layout; I can't wait to see all your awesome pages. Happy Scrapping Day!!

NEW ADDITIONS...

to our little family. Meet... well, we actually don't have names yet. And you are going to have to be patient; I couldn't pick less than 5 photos!!

Aren't they just the two cutest little kittens ever??!! I didn't mention it on my blog, 'cos we were pretty devastated at the time, but our beloved Bengal cat, Charlie, passed away a couple of months ago. He was only 7 years old, and died of renal failure. We decided it was time we got some new kittens, to keep us occupied. Charlie was a pure breed Bengal, which we got because I am usually quite allergic to cats, but Bengals have a special coat, apparently, and I wasn't allergic to him. This time, we decided not to go that route; much as we loved Charlie and his quirky Bengal personality, we think that pure breds might be more prone to illness and disease. Much as we would have liked to get a cat from the SPCA, with my allergies, it was pretty much not a go. So, we decided to get a mixed Bengal and see how we go. These kittens' mother is half-Bengal, so I am hoping like hell that is enough to keep me from being allergic!! So far so good; when we first visited, I rubbed my face all in their fur, and no problems, although our vet says an allergy can develop over a couple of days. I don't know what we will do if that happens... although for once I am being positive and have decided that it is all going to be fine (or is that called 'denial'??!!). They are so sweet; the one at the top left is a wee girl, and on the right, her little brother. He is so sweet and snuggly, and loves to follow us round and 'talk' to us, but he is also very boisterous and bossy! She is very quiet and independent, but very sweet. They love to climb all over us, and at the moment, they are both fast asleep on my DH! He is having great difficulty not disturbing them as he works on his laptop, lol!

Anyway, we are having huge problems deciding on names, and I thought you guys out there could possibly help us. So, we are asking for suggestions. Please no more than 4 suggestions per person, and if we do use any of the names you have mentioned, you will receive a very nice RAK from me - and if you are not a scrapbooker, I will make it a non-scrapbooking RAK!! Can't wait to hear all your ideas!

I have another photo for you; one I promised a wee while ago, from the Sketchbook Retreat:

And yes, don't we look ridiculous. After procrastinating and leaving things until the last minute, we threw together some outfits for the theme "what you want to be when you grow up"; I decided to be a SAHM. Hence the baby and frypan of food. Lol. The others, for those of you who don't know them, from left to right, are: Liz (scrapdizzy), me, Danice, KimA, and Amanda. We had a great time, and some of the outfits were absolutely fantastic! Actually, you can see more photos here. As usual, I got hardly any scrapping done, but that was partly due to feeling decidedly unwell for the Friday night/Sat morn, big bummer. It made me quite grumpy, and I spent a lot of the time sitting and whining whilst holding Kim's hot water bottle to my tummy!! But I still had a fantastic time, lol!

And last, but not least, make sure you check back here on Saturday, or visit the Scrappin' Patch blog, as we are celebrating America's National Scrapbooking Day, which we have decided to change to (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day. Something fun is being organised as we speak... and anyway, it's going to be crappy weather all weekend, so what else are you going to do??!!

I'm A Style Star...

I totally forgot to blog about this, but a couple of weeks ago, I won a competition!! Yes, me! And an International competition, no less! I was so excited I nearly wet myself. It was a one-layout comp over at Scrap In Style, a 'Style Star' search, and the theme was 'Spring Green', to interpret as desired. The winning layouts were picked by Creating Keepsakes magazine too, which is so super exciting; to think that the people who publish CK picked my layout (along with 2 others) from hundreds of entries!!! Here is my winning layout:

I really love this layout; those photos of Aurelia are just gorgeous and show her personality - and I love that green dress! And those Websters papers.... just LURVE Websters... and Prima. You can read the announcement here. I won some cool stuff too, including a couple of CK books, and some other stuff from Scrap in Style, but I don't know what yet. Too cool!! Can you tell I'm excited? The funny thing is, I originally intended the page to be for a Scrap Tech Tuesday for Scrappin' Patch, showing paint lines for journalling, and I only entered the layout in the comp at the very last minute, on a whim, never dreaming it would get me anywhere. So there you go, a lesson for you all that you need to submit your pages, 'cos you never know what might happen.

I am currently in Tauranga, visiting my sister and her family, but heading home today. Unfortunately, I seem to have picked up a bit of a cold, so feeling a bit miserable, but I guess I'll live. Looking forward to my own bed and not being woken in the night by a crying baby and naughty toddler, but otherwise I am very sad to be going home. I always miss my sisters. Oh well, not long until the next lot of school holidays when we can visit again. We have had mostly lovely weather here, until the last 2 days, but now it seems winter has finally arrived. I'm sitting here in quite a few long-sleeved jumpers...

Oh, and I know I promised a photo from the Retreat, but you are going to have to wait until I am home again, sorry! Will blog again soon, I promise! I am looking forward to doing some scrapbooking; I never scrap at my sister's place; too many children running round and not enough space or time, but it's a good break anyway, and hopefully I am inspired to get stuck in when I get home again. Although I have a list as long as my arm of stuff I have to do, like paint our bathroom, backup photos and home movies, and move all my photos to my new external drive, as our computer is running out of memory... what? Doesn't everyone have 10,000 photos of their 4-year-old sitting on their computer??

Talk soon!