And So That Was Christmas...

and it's over for another year. My parents and grandparents made it out here Christmas Eve. We had a lovely but wet Christmas day. The kids were actually able to play with their presents. Darcie got a little bike all of her own:


Santa bought Lachlan a Ripstik but Luke had to 'test' it out:


And he bought Michala a Barbie Scooter:

We did the usual - ate too much and drank too much. I forgot to take lots of photos though. :( The rain continued for Boxing Day and Monday but our visitors were able to make a mad dash for home yesterday.

I hope all of those affected by the floods are staying safe and that the damage is minimal. :(

And on a scrappy note, you still have a couple of days to get your entries in for this months challenges at Kraft It Up and Scrap The Girls. I can't believe 2010 is nearly gone!!

Merry Christmas!!

I just wanted to wish all my bloggy friends and their families a safe and very Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for your support and lovely comments you have left here over the past 12 months. I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment - I love reading them.

I'm not sure what our Christmas plans are going to be at this stage. We have had a fair bit of rain over the past week and there are roads cut off in all directions. My family are supposed to be travelling out here from Brisbane but we are not sure if they are going to be able to make it. :( But on the bright side, at least we will still be home at Christmas and that is what we wanted to do this year. (And I'm really glad I was organised with my present shopping - everyone will have something to open Christmas morning!).

Hope Santa spoils you all!! xx

Getting Into The Christmas Spirit

This is my layout for the first challenge over on the new Show Us Your Stuff blog. You needed to use this sketch, as well as flowers on your layout. You must include at least one handmade embellishment:

And this is my layout:

I took these photos of the kids a few weeks ago and haven't had a chance to edit many of them yet. These are a few of my faves. I have made the flowers and have also included a My Vintage Blossoms fabric button.

Thanks for stopping by...

Such A Poser

Every time I pull out the camera these days, Lachlan just has to pull silly poses. The other day I was taking some photos around the farm because the grass is so long and green with all the rain we've been having. Anyway, we were in the chook pen feeding the chooks and I started taking some shots of Lachlan - and then he started posing. *insert eye roll here* lol

This is my layout for sketch #3 on the Get Picky blog. This is the sketch:

And this is my layout, featuring my poser:

I've used lots of bright colours - Echo Park 'Little Boy', some red Thickers and I'm using up all those pesky little brads that have been in my stash for aaaaages!

Thanks for stopping by...

The Color Room #37

Every Friday, when the new color palette goes up at The Color Room, I always think I should play along. Then the week is gone before I've had a chance! So this week I am finally get in early! This is this weeks' palette:

Such gorgeous girly colours. And this is what I have come up with:

I cut the chipboard frame, then painted it with crackle paint. It didn't work very well for some reason but I still like the end result. These aren't colours I would usually work with but I am really enjoying using pastels at the moment.

Thanks for stopping by...

8 Years Ago Today...

this farmer found a wife! Yep that's right, 8 years ago today Luke and I were married in an intimate ceremony with family and friends in the backyard at Mum and Dad's place. It was that casual that I even wore thongs! This is the only photo from that day that I have scanned (no digital photos here! lol): It was such a lovely evening - I loved every minute of it. If I had my time over again, I wouldn't change a thing. And now 8 years and 3 beautiful children later we are still as happy and in love as we were in this photo.

Happy Anniversary Lucas xx...

Shadow Boxing

Every Sunday is our Family Day where we always do an activity together as a family. It can be something as mundane as housework or gardening or something a little more exciting like going on a picnic, bike ride or taking the kids for a ride on the horse. Whatever the activity, there must be at least 2 family members involved. It's a great chance to spend some quality time together. During one of our family days I took some photos of one of our walks, with one kid on the horse, one riding their bike and one strapped to me (Darcie was only a baby and I was the photographer) Luke is the bow-legged farmer in the middle! LOL

I have used said photo to create this Twiddleybitz 6 x 6 shadow box that was in my DT pack from LSBS:

The box has been painted with a metallic copper paint which I have then used crackle paint over the top of. The top coat is a cream colour. I love how it has turned out. I have sanded the alphas to give them a distressed look and then stuck them to a chicken wire transparency.

In this photo you can see the photo behind the transparency. It's hard to show the dimension in the photo but the sepia photo of my family is attached to the back of the shadow box and the transparency is attached at the front.

This little Twiddleybitz chipboard fence has been inked using Tim Holtz Distress Ink 'Faded Burlap'. I have then made a little banner using patterned paper and string.

It now has pride of place above my scrap table. :)

Speaking of LSBS, Cath is currently having a sale until next Sunday. There are some awesome bargains so why not shout yourself an early Christmas present! ;)

Thanks for stopping by...

Challenges, Challenges, Challenges...

I thought I'd get in early and complete some challenges for the month. I'm pretty sure the next few weeks are going to get reeeaaally hectic around here! This first layout is for the Inspiration challenge on the Get Picky blog. I drew inspiration from the overall 'girliness' of the quote and created this:

Lot of girly goodness on this - flowers, glitter, butterflies and lots of yummy Prima goodies. ;)

This next layout is for Scrap The Boys. You had to scrap a layout about whether your boy was a Dancer or Prancer. Usually Lachie is a dancer but in this photo he is very much a Prancer. I can't believe how much attitude he is showing here! And he looks so grown up too!

And finally a layout for this months White With 1 challenge - use white (of course), grey and masking as your technique. So I pulled out the trusty masking tape and created this:

Grey was such a hard colour for me to scrap with. I had a lot of trouble finding grey things in my stash - that's why it's a pretty simple layout! LOL

Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you may leave...

What Ya Doing This Weekend?

If you have some time, why not come and join us over at LSBS for the December Cybercrop! This is my first CC as a DT member and you can check out my challenge here. Mine is the sketch challenge with a little extra criteria. Here is the sketch (my first ever sketch so I kept it pretty simple):

And this is my layout using a photo taken by Kerryn Leworthy at this years LSBS retreat.

I'm still using up my Echo Park 'Everybody Loves Christmas' papers that I received in my DT pack a while ago. I love how you can create non-christmassy layouts with this as well as all your Christmas ones.

Check out the other challenges from the rest of the DT over in the forum too. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! :)

Thanks for stopping by...

Scrap The Girls CT Call

Scrap The Girls are looking for new Creative Team members. Here are all the details:

To Apply

1. You must complete the December STG challenge, and link or email it before the 31st of Dec. 2010
2. You MUST have your own blog
3. Email me with
- another of your favourite girly pages (no problem if it has been previously published or used for another challenge)
- Your blog address
- a few short lines on why you would like to be on the STG team.
Please email your applications to scrapthegirls@bigpond.com with "CT application" in the subject line.

What does a Creative Team member have to do?

You will be required to create a sample page of each month's challenge for inspiration, which must be emailed to me BEFORE the 1st of each month - you will receive approx a month to do each page.
You will be required to promote the STG challenge every month on your personal blog.
STG CT members also have to vote each month to determine the challenge winners.
STG CT members are not eligible to win monthly prizes whilst they are on the team.
Successful applicants will be notified by email on the 12th of January 2011, and will be required to complete their 1st layout as a CT member by the 31st January 2011.
The term starts 1st of Feb 2011 and runs for 6 months.
APPLICATIONS CLOSE 10TH JANUARY 2011

I have had such an awesome time being on the current CT with such wonderful scrappers. I can't wait to see who the new faces may be - are you going to apply?

Basic Grey Loving!!

I received some of the new Basic Grey range 'Marjolaine' in my pack of goodies from The Little Scrapbook Shop. This is what I have created so far:

Love the colours in this range. And how cute is that chippy wing from Twiddleybitz?!

I stuck the alpha stickers to some patterned paper and then cut them out. I tied a bow with some wide ribbon and attached that as well. I also created this:

I have mixed a little OA in with the BG. I wiped my blue ink pad over the background and used my Dymo labeller for some of the journalling.

This weekend is the December CyberCrop over at LSBS too - you can find all the details here. Hope to see you there. :)

Going Going Gone!

I wish I was saying that about the rain! Geez it's been wet here over the past few days. I'm looking forward to seeing the sun. But I guess rainy weather gives me a good excuse to scrap - and that's just what I have done. :) I received my order from LSBS on Friday and in it was these Echo Park 'Little Boy' papers! They are the cutest!


Lachlan has just learnt to ride his bike without training wheels. We live at the top of a hill and there are gravel roads in all directions so it has taken him a while to get the confidence for the training wheels to come off. He did a 'test run' on the lawn just in case he 'crashed' (as he called it!). I had to grab the camera. The first run wasn't so good, but now he has the hang of it and rides EVERYWHERE without a problem. Now I think he needs a bigger bike! LOL

Thanks for stopping by...

Scrap The Girls

Back again! This time with this months challenge at Scrap The Girls. You need to create a layout using only ONE set of your choice from the following sets of complementary colours:

red and green

blue and orange

yellow and violet

You may also use small amounts of neutral colours (eg. black, white, cream & kraft) remember girls only! I decided to go with blue and orange - a combination I don't use very often:

I hope you get to play along! Thanks for stopping by...

Kraft It Up

The December challenge is now up on the Kraft It Up blog. The challenge is to scrap a Christmas photo using non-traditional colours and you also need to incorporate KNOTS on your layout, whether it is with ribbon, fabric, twine, lace etc. So here is my example:

I have used the Echo Park 'Everybody Loves Christmas' range that I got in my DT kits from the Little Scrapbook Shop - love the colour scheme in this range.

Thanks for all your lovely comments about my AWESOME news! It means a lot.

Thanks for stopping by...

December Daily

You may have noticed that I have had the Ali Edwards December Daily badge in my sidebar for a few weeks now. Every year I oooh and aahh over other peoples journals so this year I decided to play along. I'm not sure I will document every day leading up to Christmas - let's face it, not much goes down in Monogorilby! LOL I have had the album done for about a week now and have only just remembered to photograph it! So here it is:


This is the front cover. I have used a Pink Paislee 6 x 6 canvas album.


This is a side view showing all the pages. I decided to cut some shaped pages to put in amongst the square ones. I staggered the widths of them too.

And these are a few of the pages:


Have you made one too? Thanks for stopping by...

So....

now that the cats out of the bag, I can FINALLY share my amazing news that I have been chosen as a SCRAPBOOKING MEMORIES MASTER for 2010!!!! I still can’t believe it – even though I have known for a few months now. It was pretty hard not being able to tell anyone but I guess it’s a good thing we live in the bush and don’t talk to too many people! LOL I also what to give a huge congratulations to my fellow LSBS DT member, Kerryn Leworthy. I'm so happy to be sharing this journey with her.

This was the first time I had entered the Masters Competition. I thought it would be a great challenge for me and I certainly didn’t have any expectations that I would win – a HM would have been more than enough for me!! The day I got ‘the call’ was actually Michala’s birthday so we had 2 reasons to celebrate! I don't think it has completely sunk in yet. I really can't wait to see the mag now. Congratulations to all the other ladies who have been chosen as well. I can't believe my name is on that list with such amazing and talented scrappers.

Saturday Scrapping

Wow! Two posts in one day! :) I've been trying to find my mojo today - still not sure if it's back yet but I have scrapped a few layouts to test it out! LOL This first layout is for Scrap The Boys - use altered chipboard on your layout. Here is mine:

To alter the chippy bracket, I painted it white and then pressed my red ink pad down on it to give a textured effect. The chippy heart has just been inked all over. I'm still using up my stash of BG Oliver on this one. :)

And this layout is a 'just because' one of my 3 crazy kiddies:

I'm lovin' these Pink Paislee papers and those glittery Thickers! :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Getting Picky

Well we are finally home! And how nice it is. :) There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

The second sketch challenge is up over on the Get Picky blog. I'm feeling a little mojo-less at the moment so decided to play along to try and get a kick start. Not too sure how it went. :? Anyway here is the sketch:

And this is my interpretation:

I had a play with my new postage stamp border punch and created a frame around a yummy Hambly chicken coop transparency. I've used MME Fine and Dandy on this layout - just loooove this range at the moment.

Thanks for stopping by...

Busy...

I have been a very slack blogger lately, haven't I?! We are away at the moment housesitting - spending some time in Brisbane while my Mum and Dad are away. I have been able to do ALL my Christmas shopping and am feeling very organised, for once! It's been great catching up with friends and family too. I think we are heading home tomorrow though, which will be nice. Give me country living anyday! LOL

I did bring some scrapping goodies with me though and have been getting creative after the kids have gone to bed. Most of it I can't show you just yet but here is one 'just because' layout that I can share:

I went a bit 'banner crazy' on this one! LOL Michala has a fascination with drawing and colouring in at the moment. I love it when pubs and restaurants have paper and pencils for the kids when we go out. It keeps them entertained the whole time!

While I think of it, have you got your entry in for this months challenges at Kraft It Up and Scrap The Girls? You still have a week to get them in...

Xmas Step x Step at LSBS

The lovely DT over at the Little Scrapbook Shop are running a series of Christmas Step x Steps and this week it was my turn. I saw these a few years ago when I was blog hopping and thought they would be great to share. I am always giving my parents gift cards - they are soooo hard to buy for! So this is what I made:

And if you would like to find out how to make one, go here. And while you are there why not check out the 'What's New' section in the shop. There is some yummy Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 and you can Pre-Order Echo Park 'Little Boy' which will be here really soon! And check out the awesome prices too! :)

Thanks for stopping by...

He's A Banana Boy

At the moment Lachie is missing his 2 front teeth on the bottom. It's quite amusing watching him eat things like corn and apples! He has really become a bit of a 'monkey' because bananas are one thing he can eat without too much trouble! So this is my layout for this months White With 1 challenge - so glad this challenge blog is back! The criteria are to use white with yellow and journal straight onto your layout (no journal strips or spots etc):



I really love using yellow and, when I sifted through my paper stash, I found it really hard to find anything yellow (I'd obviously used it all! LOL). So I used a bit of paint to fill in the background and used up the only strips of yellow pp I had.

Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you may leave. ;)

Live Laugh Love

For the last 2 months I have created layouts for 123 Challenge and hated them so never sent them in! I thought I would try third time lucky and enter this months challenge. The criteria are to use the word 'live', the colour blue and doodling. Here is my layout:

I added a few splashes of pink, yellow and black in there too. I do love a bit of doodling on a layout so didn't have too much trouble with that part! LOL

Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Mail!

A couple of months ago I took part in a Cybercrop over at Scrapping Outback. One of the challenges was to scrap about something uniquely Australian. The top 3 layouts were chosen to be published in Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine - and mine was one of those!! I wasn't sure which issue it was going to appear in, then today in the mail I got a copy of the latest issue with my layout in it!



Yay! Have a good weekend! ;)

Everybody Loves Christmas

I was lucky enough to also get some Echo Park 'Everybody Loves Christmas' goodies in my DT pack from LSBS. I still have a few Christmas photos from last year that I haven't scrapped yet so this range was perfect! :)

Love this photo of Lachie and Darcie - especially the way they are looking at each other. They have a pretty special bond these two. I love the colours in this range - not overly christmassy. There are lots of pinks so I was able to use them on this layout:

Lots of paint, a bit of machine stitching and a couple of little butterflies. I also used my Cuttlebug quilling dies for the flowers - I forgot I had them! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Kraft It Up November Challenge

This months challenge at Kraft It Up is to create a layout using Kraft and decorative edges. You can check out what the rest of the CT have done here. This is my layout:

I decided to do something a little different with this one and use pp as my base and Kraft cardstock over the top. I have given my border punches a pretty good workout on this one! LOL I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone does with this challenge. :)

Thanks for stopping by...

Scrap The Girls

This months challenge over at Scrap The Girls is a 'Bits and Pieces challenge'. Here are the details from the blog:

The rules are to use every piece of the puzzle ONCE ONLY! you can't add anything else to your page aside from the elements, they represent all the patterned papers, photos and embellishments - (exception to this rule is your base page does not count as a puzzle piece and you can add a title, ink, stitching, paint & glimmermist ;))
the stars can represent ANY embellishment, the heart must be used as a heart, the circles must be used as circles - it is up to you how big or small they are, or what they are!
The puzzle pieces are obviously not to scale, it is completely up to you what size you want to make them.
any questions, don't hesitate to email me (Kate), have fun with it :)

And this is what I came up with:

I substituted the butterflies for the stars and used the circles to create my flowers. I have used a bit more Echo Park on this one. And I just love that photo of my two girls. ;) I can't wait to see what you all do with this challenge!

Thanks for stopping by...

If You've Got Nothing Planned This Weekend...

why not get your entries in for this months challenges at Kraft It Up and Scrap The Girls. The entries received so far are just amazing! You have until Sunday night to get them done. So what are you waiting for?...

My First LSBS DT Projects

I was so excited when I received my first DT pack from the Little Scrapbook Shop. It was chock full of the yummy Crate Paper range 'School Spirit'. I jumped right in and created these two layouts. I have had Lachlan's school photo for a while just waiting for the right papers and embellies to scrap it. These were perfect!

I just love the layered chipboard and fabric brads:

And I added a little doodling to my Thickers:

Of course, the colours in this range make it great for boy layouts in general. I created this layout about my boy right now:

You can find all of these products in the LSBS shop here. And while you are there, why not check out Cath's pre-order for Tim Holtz Distress Inks and re-inkers. The prices are just amazing!

Thanks so much for stopping by and for any comments you may leave. :)