Sunday morning musings ...

It's very quiet at the ranch this morning ... I am in my pjs, coffee in hand, kids are feeding themselves breakfast, hubby is off triathloning, cat is contendedly washing his face and whiskers at the backdoor, and budgie is singing in a relieved fashion because Tash has finally remembered to feed him (she forgot yesterday!)

And I've just remembered that I have two new layouts that I can post ... these are using Suzy's new kits, that are for sale at The Digi Shoppe. Check it out ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Sugartime by Suzy Nunes, at The Digi Shoppe. Font: Century Gothic.)

Aren't these the most delicious soft colours ... of course, it helps that I have a photo of Miss Marnie being norty, lol. There was a birthday book and pen on a little table that the party guests were signing, and she knew that it wasn't for her. However, every opportunity she got, she was up on that chair, pen in hand ... hence the guilty look, lol!

(Layout credits - Kit: Elegant Evening, by Suzy Nunes at The Digi Shoppe. Font: Century Gothic, Apple Garamond Light.)

This is a new kit that Suzy has just put into the Shoppe, called Elegant Evening. Make her day, wander over, have a look, and leave with something fun from her kits! Have a great Sunday everyone ... well, it's Sunday here, lol! More next time ...

Busy little bee, that's me!

(Layout credits - Frame on photo from Shmootzy Frames 1, at ScrapArtist. Scroll from Chick Pea, by Rhonna Penner. Font: Avante. Children by me!)

I am determined to catch up on the ScrapArtist Simply You challenge this weekend. I have last weeks to do (What do you do for FUN? Good grief, I scrap, that's my fun time, but how do you do a riviting page on that? Hmmm ... maybe I should make up a secret life waaaaaaaaay more interesting than mine!) The layout above is this week's challenge ... what is the best gift you have ever given? ... sorta easy once I got going, and an online buddy did a brainstorm with me. And by the way, I'm still ready to give them away to the first good offer ...

(Layout credits - Paper Flowers 1 by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals (centres recoloured). Kraft paper by me. Mask by Jessica Sprague. Stitching by Shannon at SBB. Swirl from Chick Pea by Rhonna Farrer. Font: Worstveld Sling Extra.)

Don't you love these sorts of photos with kids, all unaware of what is happening around them? She is totally zoned out, but it all adds up to a great photo, taken by my friend Maxine, edited by me. I received a cd the other day from her, with 500 mbs of photos on it, a digiscrapper's dream come true, huh? Looking forward to working with them.

(Layou credits - Paper Flowers 2, by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Mask on photo by Jessica Sprague. Font: Avante, Susie's Hand. Photoswap with Andibean.)

This gorgeous girl, of course, isn't mine, lol. Meet Delaney, and I have been lucky enough to scrap this photo, straight out of the camera, edit-free which is really fun for me. Worked a little bit of editing magic on it, adjusted the levels, took some black out of the image, played with curves, sharpened it, then used a filter called Vivid Color from PhotoBlast. I totally love the filters from this site ... highly recommend them, as they don't soften the images too badly.

Guess I should starting thinking up my imaginary fun life ... keep tuned to this station, lol. More next time!

I'm standing in the corner ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Spring Into Easter, by Laura Peyton. Messy White Stitching by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Font: Avante. (Scraplift of Big Baby Boy by Coop at 2Peas.)

Oh yes, I've been very bad. I totally mixed up time zones and forgot a creative team deadline, but all is forgiven, I've done my layout, posted it in a vault, been forgiven (I have, haven't I, Teresa?), and now I'm off to bed. It's been a creative, stressful evening and fortunately I had a spare layout lying around that I could share with you. Soooooooo ... have a good weekend, relax, enjoy the break ... we have another long weekend, so I'm in a scrappin' mood ... more next time!

Cross-country Run ...

(Layout credits - bit sad, really ... just Font: Myriad Pro! Oh yes, the photo was taken by the school photographer, as I was too busy dancing up and down and screaming!)

She's a winner, our girl! Click on the photo to read the journaling, if you wish. More next time ...

Blogging on the way to bed ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Book Bag Essentials, by Gina Cabrera, at DDE. Messy White Stitching by Katie Perteit, at DesignerDigitals. Font: Bennington.)

I haven't had much play time today ... we leave home EARLY on Wednesday mornings, and this afternoon, I got home at five, turned around and went out the door again to do a first aid course, which lasted for nearly three hours. Then once home again, there was washing and cleaning up and general house stuff like that, and for some reason I am tired and on the way to bed. But before my head hits the pillow ...

My clever and talented friend Miss Megan has created a beautiful piece of wordart that she is sharing, and I found myself half-way through a layout before I realized what was happening, lol. So if you would like the wordart you can see in the above layout, click here to find it. Pretty, pretty ...

And yesterday, I did the layout below using a very pretty freebie Lanne put me on to. Click here to visit Miss Mint's website, Peppermint Creative.

(Layout credits - Kit: Spring Jellybean by Miss Mint, at Peppermint Creative. Messy Cream Stitching by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Font: Sloppy Ink.)

So I'm off to bed now ... more next time.

Just to make you smile ...

(Layout credits - Staples from Adeline kit, papers from chat freebie, by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Fonts: Avante, Calvin and Hobbes.)

I had the day off work today (public holiday) and was all ready to attend a DesignerDigitals scrap, which I normally can't do, and guess what? I totally missed it, waaaaa! Problem with the time difference ... so I scrapped ... by myself, lol. Loved Katie's papers, and loved this little chicken my dad took a photo of ... perfect match, lol! Hope this makes you smile ...

Loving a challenge ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Bears 'n Blossoms 'n Beads', by Christy Lyle and Robin Carlton, at The Sweet Shoppe. Messy Cream Stitching from DesignerDigitals. Fonts: Avante, Calvin and Hobbes. Scraplift of Gail Zeak aka JuBean's Spring )

You know how it is ... you are quietly blog-hopping when something catches your eye, you stop to read a little further and SNAP! ... you're caught, and there is nothing else you can do but stop and create a layout, lol. Well that happened to me this morning ... I was quietly perusing blogdom when I came across Robin's blog, where she talked about a SweetNSassy Team Scraplift Challenge, and invited readers to join in. I love Ju Bean's layouts, so I promptly stopped reading and started scrapping. And the above is my layout ... enjoy!

Revisiting yesterday ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Jellyfish Fun Pack, by Tracy Ann, at Scrapbook-bytes. Font: Avante.)

Blogger was misbehaving last night ... I had two more layouts and a little bit to say, and all that posted was the one photo, so here is some more! Tracy Ann has a fabulous new kit, such a great name, Jellyfish Fun Pack. It just wants you to want to open the folder, just to see what it is there, with a name like that, doesn't it? One of the really great things about being on a design team (or two!) is that it's like Christmas on a regular basis, with little zipped packages appearing regularly in my mailbox, full of beautiful schtuff. I just love checking out the new kits ... This is what's in Tracy Ann's kit, available at SBB ...

I need to share another layout today. Suzy has just started selling her kits at The Digi Shoppe, so make sure you visit and check out what she has created. This is a layout using 'Sugar Coated Dreams' ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Candy Coated Dreams, by Suzy Nunes, at The Digi Shoppe. Messy Cream Stitching from DesignerDigitals. Font: Century Gothic.)

Anyway, it is a public holiday for us today, so no school. Kids are playing on the computer and PS2 (nicely!), DH has just gone to work to get some study stuff he forgot to bring home, coffee is hot ... all is well with the world. Have a great one, everyone, and more possibly tonight, lol!

Quick blog ...

More next time ...

Just before I go do the ironing ...

(Layout credits - Fonts: Apple Garamond, Avante.)

I guess you can tell what we have been doing today ... Tashy has been triathloning ... and I have been scrapping. And I think I've been sitting here at the computer waaaay too long today, so I will leave three layouts with you, and bid you goodnight as I go tackle that big basket of folding and ironing.

(Layout credits - Kit: Playful by Mindy Terasawa, at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Zigzag stitching from SSD. Straight stitching by Shannon at SBB. Font: Avante. Inspiration from a layout called 'Trouble' by Coop.)

(Layout credits - Kit: Adeline kit, Messy White Stitching by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Font: Avante.)

More next time ...

How DID we meet?

(Layout credits - Fonts: Impact, Avante, KR Heartalicious.)

Now, how to hide the Simply You album from my children ... they certainly don't need to know this much information about their parents' romance, do you think? I had fun doing this layout ... I think the best thing about doing the ScrapArtist challenge is the freedom I have to do whatever I want, WITH whatever I want, and if I don't want to use paper, then I won't. Such fun! I see people getting started on the new SBB challenge that is starting up, but I seriously think I need to stick to one challenge, and not be distracted by other ones, though some of the questions do sound fun.

So this was this morning's layout, photo taken this morning with my trusty remote control, and layout created this afternoon ... some subtle 'doctoring' of DH's face, where he cut himself shaving ... THREE times. And of course, I removed the wart off the end of my nose, fixed my severe squint, removed two of my three chins, shaved 15 years off my age, coloured my grey hairs, and straightened my crooked teeth, but apart from that, I didn't do a thing to the photo. (And if you believe all that, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you ...)

We enjoyed lunch at my parents, and I 'stole' some photos of my gorgeous nieces from my dad's camera. I like it when they visit up north and come home with fresh photos ... so of course this next layout was first off the rank tonight!

(Layout credits - Paper and wordart from Hopeful kit by Jackie Eckles at DesignerDigitals. Font - Avante. Photo by my dad, editing by me.)

Isn't she gorgous? There are three girls in this family, each one very different, and each one very beautiful. Ahhh ... don't you love gorgeous relations, lol? Lots of photos = lots of layouts.

I need to finish off by wishing Amy a very happy birthday ... it was yesterday, but hey, we had server maintenance going on at DesignerDigitals yesterday ... that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it, lol. Happy (belated!) birthday, Amy aka alb52.

More next time ...

Springing to the challenge ...

(Layout credits - Papers from Web Challenge Freebie Paper Pack by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Ribbon by Ronna Penner. Font: Avante, Arial.)

I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful free stuff that comes with the great triple challenge (web, quote and ad) each week at DesignerDigitals. I love these pretty spring papers, and even though we are partly through autumn in our part of the world, I've used them to create a spring layout. If you like an inspirational prod at the beginning of the week, to get your creative juices churning, check out these challenges ... and of course, all the fun new goodies that magically appear in the shoppe after the weekend. I am not a designer, I probably never will be ... I am in awe at artists that keep coming up with new, creative, fun stuff every day, every week. How do they do it???

I had a nice day today ... very low-key and restful. Most of the day I was at home pottering round, cleaning out a cupboard or two. You know how it goes? You are putting something away, and you think, 'I'll just straighten this up a bit!' and before you know it, a full-scale cleaning-cupboard affair is on, lol. I even bought some cheap plastic containers to do the storage thing with one of the cupboards, and it looks heaps better. I had visions of doing lots more of the cleaning thing, but the day disappeared very quickly and I had to pick the kidlets up from school. Then it was pick up dvds for weekend viewing, just check your mail quickly Sharon, and before I knew it, the rest of the afternoon had gone past in a blur!

So ... that's it for Friday ... tomorrow, lunch with my parents, then a triathlon for Tash and Doug on Sunday, and that's the weekend gone! Have a good one, and more next time!

Eggs-cellent ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Flutterby by Tracy Ann Designs, at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Messy White Stitching by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Alpha from Hello Chickee kit by Gina Cabrera at DDE.)

Very tired and uninspired today ... think I should just go to bed. It's the end of the working week for me, so tomorrow is going to be a good one. I'll leave you with a couple more shots of easter schtuff ...

And a chockie nest ... doesn't it look delicious? All these goodies are made by Megan, for an easter breakfast for her class at school. I am shocked to report though, that she ATE the above eggs for lunch! So glad I immortalized them first.

Not sure who these easter bunnies are tho ...

More next time, huh?

Happy camper ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Designit Jostle Basics and Dots, staples from Olde World by Tracy Ann, at SBB. Font: Avante.)

Hey, I really like this dotty paper ... it is funky, and it matches Michael's shirt, lol! This is a photo I grabbed on the weekend, after one of our walks, when we were relaxing on our (in)expensive chairs on the grass in front of our tent. I love this camping quote too ... so true, about the 'dirt' factor. I have a pile of old scrapping mags that I am going to toss soon, but first I have to go through them and collect any good quotes I can find. I love a little free program called AZZ Cardfile, that I use to keep track of my quotes, and I am always adding to it. I just love a good quote.

I had fun at work today ... finally got our budget sorted out, and bought heaps and heaps of new books. I overwhelmed the book rep ... she was so pleased to see me adding by the second to the big pile of books I wanted. I figured that since I hadn't purchased in term 1, I had to make up for it in Term 2. And now I have the bit I really enjoy ... cataloguing all the lovely new books. I would be as happy as a pig in mud if I could be in my office cataloguing books all day, but unfortunately a lot of my job is in a classroom teaching. And you never know what you are going to find as you catalogue that you can scan, and use in some very useful way ... *wink wink*

Must trot off to bed ... I think the washing is still in the machine, so better deal with that first, then chase DH away from his study books ... more next time!

First day back ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Brushed Petals kit by Katie Pertiet, at DesignerDigitals. Fonts - Avante and Haettenschweiler. Scraplift of Angelic by Sarah Klemish, April CK.)

This layout came out of an excellent article by Ali Edwards in the April CK, where she encourages us to scrapbook our lives right now, to concentrate on the smaller things that happen in our lives right now, rather than the big events. It is a major achievement for my boy to go off by himself out of his protective mother's sight, and cope with the frustrations life puts in his way. Anyone with a special needs' kid will understand where I am coming from here, lol. And I recommend you read the article ... it is full of good schtuff! Actually, the whole CK is a good 'un this month ... well worth the read, and full of inspiration. And who doesn't need a little inspiration every now and then, to get the creative juices churning ...

Today was a good way to start back at work ... I helped with catering for our pupil free day ... lots of cutting up of salad stuff, making drinkings, putting slices on plates, that sort of thing. Sweet ... considering that the rest of my friends/staff mates were busy being bored witless in irrelevant meetings. Tomorrow, the rubber meets the road, back into the classroom ... but hey, only 10 weeks till the next lot of holidays, lol.

Some more camping snippets ... 7 kms into our long hike, Michael informs me that his sports shoes are too small, and that he needs a new pair. Thanks, son ... we are only 8 hours from a shopping centre (well, our home shopping centre!) and it is a public holiday! He does this all the time to me ... discovers that his shoes are waaaaay too small at the most inappropriate time!

Must away ... the ironing is calling! More next time ...

Survival of the sneakiest ...

(Layout credits - Brushes from Random Brushes One, by Tracy Ann Designs, at SBB. Font: Avante.)

Technically not a good photo, I guess, but we loved the colours in the water and the backlit frond, so a couple of filters later, and a good hard lashing with Smart Sharpen in PSCS2, and we have a fun photo and layout. Yes, we are back, and yes, I did survive, lol! During the hours as I lay awake, waiting for the excited neighbours who were living mere inches away from my tent wall to shut up and go to sleep, I thought of several creative and snappy blog entries, but of course, I left my blog entries at the camp site. Can't remember a thing ... but perhaps they will come back to me as I type, lol.

I could just randomly share some of the fun stuff ... like the metre long tree python that lives just above the door to the ladies toilet ... I can tell you, a snake down the back of the neck just as you are walking in to have a shower is not high on my list of things I want to do.

We arrived to find that our powered site was NOT a powered site ... there was a mix-up in the bookings. We had planned our menu using power, so I was a bit peeved, but just as we started to lay the tent out, someone ran over from the office, with another site for us. Such a good site too! Tent went up without a drama, much to the disgruntlement of our onlookers, who were hoping for some cheap entertainment. Did you know we have skylights in our tent? Just as we got the tent up, there was a light shower ... so cool!

I must confess to the sort of person who only sleeps well with the light out, quiet reigning, in my own comfy bed, so you can imagine how well I sleep in a tent, with neighbours, AND a full moon, lol! I eventually went to sleep, then woke at exactly midnight. I could read my watch so clearly in the moonlight. Wander over to the toilets. Wander back. Zip in, zip out. The noise is deafening now. Then at 2 am, Michael is up. 'What time is it? I need to go to the loo!' Zips up and down again. Then he starts coughing! Eventually it is dawn. *sigh*

I need to tell you that my helpful children pumped my lilo (airbed) up, but didn't bother making sure it was sealed. I woke up on the ground. Twice. Oh, were we supposed to screw that valve shut? Funny how THEY didn't end up on the ground each night! Hmmm ... gotta love camping. Would you trust THIS kid???

Or perhaps you'd trust THIS kid? Hmmm ... seems to me they both look like the sort of kid that would sabotaughe their poor old mum's only visible means of support keeping her off the ground!

Saturday we walked our legs off ... literally. It was a 14 km hike, and well worth the effort, though Michael and I weren't so sure about it towards the end of the day. Click here to see my Carnarvon Gallery at pbase, with photos from the hike. Or click here to visit my photoblog.

Michael and I cowardly decided to recover at camp on Sunday, and lounged around all day with me reading, and Mike on his laptop. Very peaceful ... while the energetic side of the family walked 22 kms to the end of the gorge. Hmmm ... I'm pretty sure it looked much the same as the beginning of the gorge, and both of them were worn out, but they tell me it was worth it. Tash just walked her legs off, and Doug pulled a muscle behind his knee on one of the 44 river crossings they made on their hike. He's hobbling today.

Of course we did the usual thing Sunday night ... we looked at each other and said, 'Let's just go home ... let's not worry about another night of camping!' So we did ... we dismantled the tent, threw the children in the car, and drove home, getting in just after 1 am this morning. I really needed a day of washing and packing to get it all under control before work tomorrow, so it was the best idea, though both of us shared the driving and were very tired. Now, my washing is done, waiting to be folded, the car is washed, wiped out, vacuumed, air-freshened, de-bugged (lots of dead bugs all over the car!), bags are unpacked, my photos are edited, I have my first layout under my belt, and all is right with the world! More next time ...

Oh yes ... the survival of the sneakiest??? Well, our tent was next to the shop ... nuff said???

Happy campers ...

(Layout credits - Paper from April Showers Paper Pack, label from Coded Labels, white overlay from Grunge Overlays 2, all by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals, coming to the Shoppe on Sunday. Font: Courier New.)

*cough, cough* ... well, some of us are happy campers, lol. But I must admit to a twinge of excitement as we head off for our last sleep before the real fun begins. I am always amazed at how much my DH packs into the 4WD. I was so sure he wouldn't fit half of the stuff in, but it seems that we have elastic sides on our car! Both kids were in bed early tonight, almost beside themselves with excitement and we are hitting the road just after 4 am tomorrow morning. Sad to say, the days are gone where they would go back to sleep for a few hours after getting in the car. Now their mother can get back to sleep, but they will sit there with shining eyes, already to camp!!!

I'll be away till Monday night, possibly Tuesday, depending how tired I am. It is straight back to work, a pupil-free day, on Tuesday, so holidays are well and truly over! *sigh* ... I really truly wish I could stay home playing all day, but the economics of it all suggest that bringing in an income is probably better than starving to death! Anyway, enough of the rambling ... off to bed, so be good, don't do anything too exciting while I'm gone, and have a wonderful Easter break! Hope the Easter bunny brings you lots of good stuff ... till then, adieu!

Happy Birthday, Megan!

It's my blog, and I'll sing if I want to ... so it's a good thing that I don't want to sing happy birthday to Megan! But I am wishing you, my special friend, the very bestest and happiest birthday today ... and I'm so pleased you are one year older and closer to me!!!

The other fun thing about having a blog, is that you get to say nice things about people and THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT! *sinister laugh* Megan is one of the most creative and talented people I know, and one of the cleverest things I ever did was bully her into 'trying' digital scrapping, cos I knew once she tried it, she would willingly prance over into the dark side of the scrapping world, lol.

We have known each for coming up to eight years, and have been Friday coffee buddies for many years, as we have the good fortune to have Fridays off together. Our families just assume that we will spend Fridays together, and more often than not ... we do just that. We coffee, we shop, we scrap, we do all sorts of relaxing and fun things together. Makes the week bearable, when you have a fun day at the end of it.

The other wonderful part of our friendship is that I bounce ideas off Megan, and ask and get valuable cc on layouts that sometimes are missing something or feel unfinished. It is invaluable, to have someone who will tell you exactly what is wrong, and then how to fix it, lol.

So thank you Megan.

Thank you for being my friend, for sharing my vices like shopping and coffee and bling, for introducing me to new vices, where you help me expand my vocab with lots of new, interesting words, and helping me add to my music cd collection, for suggesting that yes, I do need ANOTHER new pair of earrings, for encouraging me when I am down and almost out, and for being a totally trustworthy and just plain nice person! Here's to another heap of years as best friends and Friday coffee mates ...

PS. Layout credits - Kit: Lazy Daisy by Kim Crothers, at Creative Snaps. Inked Edges by Atomic Cupcake. Fonts: Avante and Typist.

A little laughter ...

(Layout credits - Papers from Artlines Marling Road and Bridge Road, and wand from Random Stars, all from Tracy Ann Designs at SBB. Font: Typist.)

It's fun to be a silly mum sometimes ... love this photo of Tashy, taken by Megan today in her very photographic garden. I'll admit to tickling her just a trifle, but I love how relaxed and happy we look. I do have another child who was supposed to be in this 'family' photo ... dad missed out, being at work ... but he (the boy) wasn't feeling well, and we scored two out-of-focus shots before he took off, lol. So my tried and trusted favourite model sat next to her mother and smiled on cue!

I used another photo from this shoot today to scrap this month's Scrap With the Sugarbabes layout. Talk about pressure ... fifty great scrappers who are competing for the position of nineth sugarbabe at Sweet Shoppe Designs are all scrapping with this prompt ... 'choose one very important thing you'd like to share with the future'. So there will be in total 58 layouts on this prompt ... the gallery at SDD will be spectacular, and the Sugarbabe layouts will be posted April 15! If you want to check out how the competition is going, click here!

Camping is looming ... Tashy is really getting into the spirit of it all, and has slept on her lilo (blow-up mattress) for the last three nights in her sleeping bag, lol. I really should photograph her ... very cute! The boy is not well at the moment, he has a cough and feels very tired and worn out. I have a feeling he and I might be spending some time in the tent while the other two hike! *sigh* ... He will not be happy as he has been really looking forward to the camping trip. The days are hot, summer weather, the nights are cold, winter weather ... this means two lots of clothing! The scenery better be good, that's all I can say. If you are interested in where we are going, check out this link. I'm off to bed ...

Seriously peeved ...

(Layout credits - Kit: In the Garden by Sara Carling, staple and stitching from Sweet Shoppe Designs. Cream ribbon from Simply Spring Mini by Michelle Coleman, at ScrapArtist.Inked edge from Atomic Cupcake. Fonts: Facelift, Arial.)

... I've been trying for ages to load my blog ... and FINALLY here I am. And now I'm off to bed ... more next time!

Seriously, folks ...

I'm not sure how long I can stand on my head in the banner - don't fret, it won't be there for too long, lol! Last night I played around in the html on my blog, made a few small but important changes. I widened the blog, changed the colours and cases of a few fonts, worked on the header to get it the right size ... stuff like that. I know very VERY little about html, but I experiment, preview, and then if nothing earth-shattering happens, like my blog disappears into cyberspace in a puff of green smoke, then I save the edit and republish the blog. Kind of fun, but kind of scary too. So the banner is just an experiment, and will probably disappear before too long.

It's layout time ... I have almost caught up with my Simply You challenge at ScrapArtist. Week #13 was ... what are three wishes for your future? And here is my answer to that ...

(Layout credits - Flower stamp from Sugar Doodle by Sweet Mindy at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Fonts: Century Gothic, Impact.)

Week #14 was a tricky one ... what are your best and worst traits? I started off journaling about my worst trait, procrastination, then thought half-way through the layout that it was probably one of my best too, cos it is something I am very very good at, lol.

(Layout credits - Fonts: Avante and Impact.)

So there you go ... today's little scrapping exercises. Now I have to work on my SWTSB layout ... and that requires more brainpower ... choose one very important thing you'd like to share with the future! It is very hard to pick ONE thing ... and then how to scrap it! Sigh! I have to have it done early, before we go ... shhhhh ... camping ... this weekend! Pressure, pressure, pressure ... off to think deep and meaningful thoughts. More next time ...

I'm baaaaack!

Yes, I'm back! I had a very restful, relaxing time ... should be more of it, lol! Lots of lying around and chatting, good food, a little walking along the beach, more chatting ... and no dishes, no getting meals, no washing, no responsibilities, I even threw my clothes at the bottom of the bed, onto the floor, rather than putting them away, lol.

I thought I might share some photos with you, of the weekend, rather than doing it in too many words, so enjoy ...

This is one view of where we stayed, lol! We were on about the 7th floor, so we weren't too far off the ground.

This is next door, from the balcony ... I loved the crisp white against the blue sky.

This is the sunrise this morning ... yup, I was up to see the sunrise, lol. And on the balcony a little bit later ...

It was good ... it was all good! More next time ...

PS. There are more photos here ...

Missing in action ...

... for the next couple of days! I am skipping down south to the beach for a couple of days ... ON MY OWN! One of my soul mates (I am lucky enough to have three!) is flying up from the deep south for a mini holiday, and I am meeting her, and we are staying here. It will be a happy and a sad holiday ... happy because we have a very fun and relaxing time when we get together, which is usually only once a year, and sad because she has just found out that her dad has a brain tumour and only has a few weeks left. She is very close to her family, and I know it is a dreadful time for her at the moment. We will talk, then we will relax, read, walk along the beach, catch a movie ... looking forward to the downtime.

So I'm without the Internet for a couple of days, so won't be blogging. But I'll be back Sunday night, hopefully with photos. So till then, have a great weekend, more next time!

Extra, extra ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Frivolity, from Tracy Ann Designs, at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Font: Century Gothic.)

Shhhh ... I'm sneaking an extra post in tonight. (Doin' a Peta, lol!) This lovely, funky new kit arrived in my mailbox today, and I've used a scan of an old photo a friend gave me of her daughter. The photo and resulting scan are not crash hot, but I kinda like the photo with these papers ... isn't the flower gorgeous? Pretty, pretty ...

Fairy dust ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Flower Fairies by Katie Pertiet, from DesignerDigitals. Inked Edges from Atomic Cupcake. Fairy dust brush by Seishido. Font: Apple Garamond.)

Just a pretty little girl and a pretty kit ... and lots of white space! What more could a scrapper ask for? I can't take credit for this photo, it is another of Maxine's photos, but I did edit it, and Lanne helped make the eyes sparkle, and found the brush for me. A team effort! Even the layout design started from another layout, but it is so far moved down the track away from its inspiration that I didn't give credit. I often scrap that way ... I need a starting point to jump off from, then the layout moves in the direction it wants all by itself.

I'm experimenting a little with my blog at the moment, but not too much, lol. I know what happens when you play in the html ... your entire blog disappears into cyberspace, and you have to start all over again. I know several people who have been reduced to sobbing quietly into their keyboards when it all disappears ... I've hit the 200+ blog entries this week, which is kind of nice, and I don't want to lose it all. I do have a backup copy on my 'puter at home, if the worst happens.

However, holidays encourage tinkering, I think, so I've redone the header with a photo of the girl I took this week, and started a little photoblog (the link is under my galleries) so feel free to visit it if you want. It is pretty much empty at the moment, but I hope to fill it up with some photos soon. What I ideally would like is a cute simple slide show like some photography sites have, but I fear I would need to learn Flash first, or have some very clever person do it for me. Not gonna happen this week ... so I cleverly deleted most of the Blogger links off the page. I want a clean white background for the photos, but I don't at this stage know how to get rid of the second 'invisible' column that used to hold all the links. Note to Sharon ... learn more about html. Always experimenting, always learning.

'Nuff waffle for today ... hope yours was a good day. I had friends over for most of the day ... kiddies entertained themselves, we played in Photoshop. Best sort of day. More next time ...

A warm christmas ...

(Layout credits - Kit: Artlines Canterbury Rd, from Tracy Ann Designs at ScrapBook-Bytes. Ribbon from Simply Spring Mini by Michelle Coleman, at ScrapArtist. Messy Cream Stitching by Katie Pertiet, from DesignerDigitals. Font: Century Gothic.)

We have warm to VERY hot christmas days where we live ... mostly our kids and relations spend it in the pool. Maxine, a photographer friend who has very kindly shared some of her photos with me, took this of one of her little friends last christmas. The colours in the photo work so well with Tracy Ann's new offering ...

Canterbury Avenue is available at the SBB store ... go spend some money, girlies! More next time ...

Early blog today ...

(Layout credits - Butterfly and ribbon from Blue Blush by Andrea Victoria, at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Font: Two Century MT.)

We are going swimming this afternoon, and I have a haircut booked for tonight, so I'm blogging now, while I have the time. I also have two new layouts to share! It's the girl's day to be photographed ... and she's much more obliging than the other one, lol.

I'm going to do a quick ad for the Sweet Shoppe here ... amazing value in the Quarterly Assortment 2. I seriously can't believe what value you get for US$2.49. Aren't the little butterflies above gorgeous? Here is what you get in the kit ...

My second layout is probably my favourite, tho I love the 1st one above too ... that's my rule of thumb, I just don't post if I don't love the layout. Helps to keep me under control, and quality control at its premium. Love black backgrounds, they always make the photos pop.

(Layout credits - Flowers from 'Artlines 1' by Tracy Ann Designs, at Scrapbook-bytes. Fonts: Loosie Script, Times New Roman.)

We had a lot of fun using a big fan (till her eyes got sore, lol!), natural light, a piece of black fleece, and the floor of her bedroom! Photography doesn't have to be sophisticated to work ... all of my shoots are very, very
basic, and very relaxed. Must away, have another layout to create, kids to take swimming, dinner to get, haircut to undergo ... you know, the usual stuff! More next time ...