Could it be ....

yes it is ... another layout finished - that is 12 so far. I think I'm on track. I'm loving that I can just scrap what I want. I can't say that enough. It's such a great feeling :)

This layout is all about Cam ... my eldest son. He played in the semi-finals with his pennant team on Saturday but unfortunately, on overall games, they didn't win. He won his singles and doubles - in fact, he hasn't lost a game all season. So I guess he will be graded accordingly for winter pennant.

Onto my layout. I am extremely proud of Cam - he was 5-2 down in his singles, and came back and played on to win 6-5. I've never watched someone so young (ok maybe I'm biased) play with such good spirit, determination and without any sign of showing disappointment or anger - he just knew what he wanted to achieve. And for that - I have never felt so proud of him.



I've used MME Rhonna Farrer papers mixed with some Echo Park sentiments, a few pieces of Kaiser, some Thickers Alphas and the small alphas from Prima. Even did a bit of stitching. I'm pleased with the end result. It conveys exactly what I want it to. And I know my photos don't match perfectly - but I really, really wanted to use these papers.

Til next time ... thanks for visiting and have a great week xo

Beautiful Heart

It's been a big week since I last posted. Birthday cakes, gifts, parties, late nights ... I've loved it all :)

We've had my youngest son's 12th birthday ... and he was very spoiled - as every good child should be.

A few months ago Bai left a beautiful note at his door one night after he had gone to bed. I won't post it word for word, but the words he used in to express his love to me amazed me. How a boy of 11 could express that he "loved me with all of his heart" and that "I mean the world to him" affirms to me that we have shown and instilled wonderful family values in our son. The note bought tears to my eyes, and I wanted to create a layout that conveyed how beautiful his heart is.

I've used some Prima paper as the background and layered Echo Park paper over it. I used the sticker sheets and chipboard. I used the large paper strips cut into a ribbon to compliment the three chipboard words and follow a theme, together with the middle journalling strip. Bailey's note is tucked in at the top of the layout for him to have as a keepsake.



Hope everyone has had a great week. Catch you next week with another layout. Til then, take care of yourselves x

On a mission - layout no. 10

Hope everyone has had a lovely week, and enjoys the long weekend (if you are Victorian that is)!

I had my hubby away for 4 days, he came home and we've enjoyed a day of shopping for our youngest son Bai who is turning 12 next week. He had a few things he was wanting - but we've decided and he doesn't know yet what we are getting for him. But he will have the BIGGEST SMILE EVER on Thursday morning - I know that for certain :) That makes me happy :)

I have completed another layout ... gee that's three this week is it? Or is it last week as well? I might be cheating a little hehe

This photo was taken for Craig's Mum for her birthday - she's 70 in April. It's a good one and we love it (all of us!) Craig's Mum asked for us to do this, so it was a pleasure. It's taken down at Torquay near the surf club - how amazing is the rock we are leaning against? It was incredibly windy - we were pretty lucky to get the photos we did.

So that's it ... it was a mission to get a family photograph. It's officially done and scrapped.



Have a great weekend everyone. And thank you so much to you lovely ladies who visit and leave me messages. It really inspires me to keep on scrapping xo

A little catch up ... LO No 9

Wow, two posts in two days ... that's a lot! As I said in my previous post, I had another layout almost together, and today I finished it.

I had two phone calls - and they were both almost an hour long but I still managed to get it done, amidst some ants coming into the kitchen (3 lots)!!! It is something that always happens in the summer months, and this year we took a prevention about a week ago and had them exterminated before they became a huge problem as they normally would. Within the first two weeks after extermination, they are prone to scurrying around and looking to find ways to come inside so I just have to beat them for another week. If they are still around, time to ring the ant man again. It's so frustrating and I do fling around quite a few profanities as I've been dealing with this problem for over 10 years now.

So back to my layout hehe. The gorgeous girl in this photo with me is Jules - my hubby's sister. Not only was I blessed to meet Craig, and marry this man - but having Jules as my SIL and my best friend is the bonus I got and I have only good things to say about Jules. She's just the BEST! And bad luck everyone - she's my SIL hehe.

This photo was taken at Jules and Ian's home back in mid-January when we were celebrating our Christmas and Craig's birthday. Unfortunately both Craig and I were sick on Christmas Day and didn't get to see Craig's family ... gastro is a terrible thing!

The paper is Kaisercraft, K&Co., Heidi Swapp clear stamp, Zva Pearl Flourish, Bella scallop tag, Kaisercraft pearls, Thickers Letters, Creative Imaginations adhesive lace, small mini alphas, Tim Holtz dies and punches.

A bit late ... without Layout 8

Gee where has the time gone? Thanks for the move along Michelle (aka Mrs Frizz) LOL! That was really funny when I read your comment on my last post. The last month has been very busy. I've been doing a lot of work around our home, catching up with girlfriends, running the boys around to their activities, enrolling back in football, organising mouthguards, organising my birthday - and that took some time! Plus cooking, baking and cleaning ... that hasn't left much time for scrapping.

I did this layout one afternoon - I had lots of mojo problems getting this paper to work, I shuffled and moved papers for ages. Finally it came together. I am also working on another layout and it's not far off being complete as I know, in my mind, what I want to do.

This is a friendship layout with a friend of mine Chez - she's a lovely lady, a great confidante, loads of laughs and there's none of that knowing what sort of mood she will be in - she says straight up how she is and we are good to go. We just get along together really well. It's nice to find a friend like that, and feel that comfort thing early on in a friendship. I could sit and chat with her all day.

This layout is in the new Kaisercraft "Tigerlilly" collection. I do like it ... but I don't want to use it again lol. It was time consuming but I like the end result. I think I am only about one week behind now ... but the next layout will be done in the next few days. My hubby is away for 4 days this week which means I can bludge a little hehe.

First Day of High School Layout

Last week wasn't a week I really want to remember - it passed by in a blur and I feel as though I lost a week. I sat around most of the week and didn't do much. A bit of tv, a movie and this layout. Hopefully things improve soon. Last week is one I would definitely like to erase, and there is NO LIFE LESSON from this for me to be learnt. All the while I realise that life can be hard for everyone, not just me ... sometimes I wish I could open up more but sometimes it is just too hard. And sometimes people are just too busy to listen, or don't listen and want to get their own thoughts out and make a comparison. I like to listen to my friends so they know they are heard and acknowledged.

That said, I've done this layout of Bailey for his memory of his first day of going to High School. He is only 11, and beginning high school is probably challenging enough for most, but at his age I worry just a little more. He will turn 12 mid March - that can't come around quickly enough for me.

I've used some old My Little Shoebox Papers. The scallop circle is one of their papers as well - I just cut the centre out. That is a yuck job. There should be circle cutters that do this, well there's probably is - I just don't own it lol.
I used some yellow spot paper from Stampin Up which I thought co-ordinated really well with it. Finished off with a few embellishments and a title and it was done.

Hope you all had a great week! See you soon x

Embrace ... your children

I'm back again with another layout ... why limit myself to 52 when I can just scrap away at my leisure. It's been good in the heat, as there hasn't been a lot else to do other than housework, washing or ironing. And when that's done - it's time to scrap as the boys have had friends over most of the holidays.

Today's layout is almost entirely Heidi Swapp products. I originally printed my photos in colour but didn't have any papers that I felt matched properly (I'm obviously too fussy as I have a million sheets of paper but NOT ONE was right hehe). So I edited them and printed them up in B&W and decided after sorting through all of my papers I really wanted to scrap in pink, which is very rare for me as I have boys.

These are quite old papers but I still really love them. Heidi's papers are almost a done page before you even start so I didn't have to do a lot except mount my photos, add a few flowers and some rubons, and again hidden journalling behind my large photograph.

I wanted my layout to represent (for want of a better word!) how I just adore my boys. Nothing is put on, it's not a chore for them to offer a hug, a kiss or an "I love you". It's something we say to each other daily and more often than not, more than once.

PRODUCTS USED: Heidi Swapp Cardstock, Bo Bunny Cardstock, Black Bazzill, Thickers Letters, Heidi Swapp Embellishments, Delish Rubons, Prima & Kaisercraft Flowers, Kaisercraft Pearls & Foam Mounting Tape and a beautiful pink pin.

Hope you are all having a lovely week. See you soon with another layout.

Thank you all for your lovely comments you have been leaving me. It's so thoughtful and kind of you x

Layout 5 .... Through The Lens ....

It's been a little while since I last blogged, but here I am.

This layout has a few special meanings behind it. I took these photographs when I first got my Canon 600D in December - and I just snapped away and got some beautiful photographs of Craig and Cameron. These two have a really special relationship - I love that they do. They are SO ALIKE!

I added some hidden journalling at the top of the teal paper where the flower is with the brad. I like to tell the story of the photograph for the boys to look back on later on.

Materials used: Madame Boutique Collection, Prima Flowers, Thickers Letters, Martha Stewart Punches, Tim Holtz Die Cut Punch, Thickers, Mini Alphas.

SHOUT OUT for Scraphappy Kat and Prima!!!

I just read on Scraphappy Kat's Blog about this wonderful prize! You know how it goes ... "you gotta be in it, to win it". Make sure you pop on over to Scraphappy Kat to enter in this fabulous prize pack!

Anybody up for a prize???
.........a nice product pack and 3 gorgeous Prima flowers packs??? Repost this on your blog and leave a comment with your blog address to be in the running to win an extra 4 PRIMA flowers packs for yourself....now that is a great prize!! Make sure that you put a link back to our blog here so that everybody can find us!!! Prima prima prima......yeah!!!!!
Kathie
xoxo

Layout No 4 ... already

Morning out there,

It's 7.12am here in Victoria, AUS ... I've been up a few hours as there was a notification that came through on the iPad that woke me and the volume was on. Never mind ... I've watched Ep 11 of Desperate Housewives and I'm so looking forward to the next Ep ... Season 8 has been excellent. I'm hoping *desperately* that this will not be their last season.

The weather here for the past two days has been extremely hot hovering around 34C ... ouch! I haven't had any problems sleeping through the night even though weather reports say it has been extremely hot. And I haven't left the air conditioner on either :)

Anyway, I've finished another layout of my son Bailey for his "First Day Last Day" at school in 2011.
Products used: Kraft Cardstock, Kasiercraft Class of 87, Thickers and a few other random bits 'n pieces.

Week 3 Layout ... 2012

Hello blog readers,

I know ... I know I'm early. Pretty good huh? Well I'm pleased.
At this rate, I'm thinking I am going to easily get 52 layouts done. The thing is I did say it was a 52 week challenge to myself. But I can't stop scrapping because I am loving it so much!

So I decided to scrap the boys school photos. I always take a photo of their first day and last day of school each year. It's always good to see the comparison of how much they have grown and changed. But this year, I've scrapped it up!

I've used some Craft Cardstock and Kaiser's "Class of 87" plus a few extra bits 'n pieces. I'm thinking I may even add some twine along the bottom of it to really finish it off, but for the moment I like how it is.

Week 2 Layout for 2012

I'm early and I'm pleased to say I've completed another layout.

So how has everyone's week been? We've been quite relaxed but we've done a few things as a family. It's also been Craig's birthday this week ... number 47 to be exact. A little bit scary thinking we are getting closer to 50. But after all, it's just a number right?

When I first decided to print these photos for scrapping, I thought "what paper will I use" ... I did remember Kaiser had recently released their range Hummingbird, but to be honest I wasn't that fussed on it. Anyway, elements of it suited my layout so I went with it. The background page is a piece of Bella that I've had from a few years ago. I knew when I bought it I would use it one day hehe (isn't that what every scrapper says?)

These two are some serious sweeties. My son Cam is about 5 months younger than Amelia. Our friends Stew and Teesh had two girls, and we had the two boys. Their other daughter Issy is about 5 months older than Bai. So all the kids have grown up together, and they are pretty solid, good little friends. No romance ever I have told my boys - I value my friendship!!!

These photos were taken on the 23rd December at Stew & Teesh's place for our yearly Christmas catch up. I absolutely love the photos ... the kids were great for my new camera and got some of the most adorable, gorgeous photos ever. I certainly had a hard time choosing which ones to scrap.

Melissa K loaned me some of her Spellbinders while she is away so I used the circle scallop die cut ... they're so pretty. You can't really see the embossing - but it is there. Such a great product, and so easy to use are Spellbinders dies.

When I was fussy cutting the yellow leaves, it bought back a flood of memories of when I would sit at Kaiser when I was on the DT, and cut out stacks of stuff. I don't enjoy it as much as I used to, and am avoiding it. My cutting is definitely not as neat and precise as it used to be hehe.

I'll be back next week with a new layout. Hope you all have a great week planned ahead. My hubby is back off to work - and I'm truly going to miss him a great deal. We've had some good fun together. Take care of yourselves.

2012 : 52 Week Layout Challenge & My Word is FOCUS

Hi there and Happy New Year to all my blog readers,

Hope you all had a fun, fabulous and safe new year. Did you all see it until midnight? Not me I was asleep around 10pm. I just don't have the staying-up power when I'm at home with hubby and the kids watching a movie - my eyelids get so heavy :)

I have decided to kick start my new year by setting myself some "achievable" goals if I really focus. After all 1 layout a week shouldn't be too hard? I have done my first layout - and would love to keep on being motivated to scrap, scrap, scrap. I really enjoyed scrapping and didn't find it "hard" like I have in the past. There was no pressure, no deadlines, it was just scrapping how I want to. No rules - I love no rules :) Would anyone like to join me on the challenge? I'd love to have some company.

Also decided again this year to have one little word (Ali Edwards) ... so this year my word is FOCUS. I have been umming and aaahing between focus and devoted. I love both words. The only way I could really make my decision (and it was only a few minutes ago) was to realise that I am already a very devoted person anyway. I am devoted to my hubby, my children, my family and friends. I am thinking that the word FOCUS will be better for keeping myself in check - which personally, I need to do. I am not going to sit my life away at the computer on facebook anymore. I love reading blogs and leaving little messages for the girls out there in the scrap world that inspire me. I have a few favourites at the moment that I regularly visit. If you read this post Marelize, I think you will realise that you are very inspiring. I love your style - I love how you can scrap shabby, clean lines, clusters - and your layouts ALWAYS look beautiful!

I hope some of you will accompany me on my journey here. I have asked my good friend Melissa K to come up with a word ... gosh we had a very funny conversation over her word. I still don't think she has decided - but I'll let her off the hook until she returns from her cruise :)
If you do decided to do the 52 week layout challenge - I'd love it if you put a link to your blog on my weekly upload, and I would love to see your creation.

So it's only day 3 and I have already finished my first layout using some old Kaisercraft "Offshore" paper - I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. This is my youngest son Bai (Bailey) and he had just come out of the water after body surfing and I snapped a few quick photos - I couldn't believe what is hanging from his nose when I viewed my photos of my computer at home ... I laughed a lot. I also showed his bestie Ty, and he thought it would hilarious BUT disgusting hehe.

Wonder what you think ???

Hi there everyone ... I sound like Dr Nick from the Simpsons lol

I left a lovely message on someone's facebook page recently, only to be ignored. To say the very least, I was quite hurt. When I see something that inspires me, or that I truly find lovely - I like to say - that's not a hard thing to do. I'm finding it more difficult and harder to open myself up to saying so to acquaintances/online friendships lately when facebook messages are left unanswered and the "like" box isn't even ticked. Am I being silly? Am I expecting too much? I don't think I am - that was just the way my parents raised me. "Treat others as you wish to be treated". If someone ignored a really thoughtful message you left on their facebook page, how would it make you feel?

I often love to leave comments on ladies blogs because I truly know how they are feeling, or feel inspired to create by their work. I would really love to know how many of you out there who are reading this post on my blog have felt the same way? This is not meant to be a negative post, but I just wondered with all this technology how we are supposed to bond with people if all we do is email / facebook / sms etc? How do we form friendships? Please if you have a minute, share your feelings with me ... sometimes I feel as though I am the only person out there in the big wide cyberworld who feels this way LOL!

On a more positive note ... I am very much looking forward to Christmas. I LOVE spending my time with my hubby and boys, my family, my sister in law Jules, and all the other friends that surround me and spend time catching up over Christmas. It's a beautiful time of the year to watch everyone opening their gifts that you have carefully chosen for them with much love - I love to receive, but I LOVE to give more ... it's such a warm fuzzy feeling.

I've scrapped a little bit for Christmas as well. We had our Fab 5 get together last night, and what a blast it was. These girls are truly amazing - and I am sure, and I say this over and over, that they are lifelong friends.

So what are your plans for Christmas? Do you go away? Do you spend your time at your own home? Do you travel to your family? What are your traditions?

I'll leave it there. I'll pop a few photos in of the cards I created for the Fab 5 girls, and their little gifts I did. Also a few photos of the night - to always cherish and remember.

Take care Al x

Here's my favourite group shot ... oh who am I kidding, I love all of our group photos:




I just did an alpha for the girls on a scallop circle for their gifts. Simple and kinda sweet:



I loved making these cards for the girls, and I'm pleased how they turned out. I hope they liked them too:

DIY Mod Podge!

Hi there bloggers,

I know I haven't updated in FOREVER ... well that's how it seems. I could have, I have done some work but haven't photographed it. I've been busy with a few things, and in the last week or so we've been doing some renovations here at home, so it's pretty much chaos :) Good chaos though, because it is done now, and time to move back into our rooms that we had the floorboards polished in. Have to say, they look sensational and can't wait to complete the building in the rooms that needs to be done.

I am loving PINTEREST at the moment - I'm not there a great deal, but have bursts of looking around. Something that caught my eye was a post about Mod Podge, so I thought I would share.

DIY: Mod Podge

Here's a great way to save some money on your craft addictions; make you own Mod Podge! And it really works plus it's easy to do.

You need....

A jar
Elmers Glue (here's the link to the product: http://www.elmers.com.au/ )
Water

Empty the glue into a jar. My jar is just an old Salsa Bottle.

Add Water. You need it to be 50% glue and 50% water.

Shake shake shake

And you are done!!
The lady that I did a C&P from has used this, and with success. Thought I would pop her link on here: http://doityourselfdivas.blogspot.com/2011/09/diy-mod-podge.html

Don't you guys love Pinterest? That's where I found this idea.

If you would like it to be sparkly, I would think adding glitter would work.

Hope you are all enjoying the school holidays (that's all Aussies) and hope everything is well with your families, friends and loves ones!

Velvet Ensemble and Pink Gelato

Hi there everyone, hope you are having a good week. I'm just out of the shower - I know it seems ridiculous, but I was doing a whole heap of Ebay listings, and thought I would wait until I finish those and then hop in.

I wanted to share some work from Kaiser that is for the month of June. They have two new releases ... my favourite is Pink Gelato (designed by Jess).

Friday afternoon update

Hi everyone out there in blogville :)

I thought I would update as it has now been three weeks since I finished working. This week has been my first "official" week off, as I have helped Melissa organise the Unmasked Retreat, so that took a little of my time over the first fortnight after I finished.

I wanted to share a few layouts that I don't think I've posted before. This first layout is an old one I did ages ago but really like it!

This is a layout that I did to teach at the Unmasked Retreat. It was inspired by a graphic 45 layout - I absolutely loved the inked doilies! Putting Chanteuse from Kaisercraft worked well for that vintage feel!



I had some cool photos that were taken on my last day at Kaiser, so thought I would do a quick layout to remember! It was a great day, quite tearful and sad - but the girls and I still had loads of laughs.



Last layout for today is one that I did at the Retreat last weekend. I shuffled paper around a lot, and didn't have any embellishments with me. It is Fancy Pants paper "It's the Little Things" ... cute paper! Lots of different colours, I just used the plainer colours as I felt it suited my photo of the boys. Lots of other little bits 'n pieces! Even used my Cricut machine to cut out the word "friends"! Lots of inking as well. I'm really loving using ink lately!



Anyway bloggers, have a wonderful weekend. Wish my boys luck for their tennis and footy! xo

One door closes .........

I haven't blogged in forever, not because I haven't wanted to, but because I haven't done anything I could post here unfortunately.

These days my scrapping is all about my job at Kaiser :) ... and I've started to feel burnt out and wanting to get back into my own scrapbooking. I decided I would create a Vision Board for the year 2011 which outlines all my thoughts and plans for my future 12 months - including a layout once a week, and hopefully by the end of 2011 I would have 52 completed layouts. Hmmm this isn't going as planned so far hehe.

Unfortunately, when you scrap for someone else - or should I say when your hobby becomes your job - it loses its appeal at home :( I've absolutely LOVED working at Kaiser, the opportunities, the things I have learnt - and the people I work with, without a doubt - have been the most beautiful, thoughtful, fun-loving people ... no that's not right - they are actually my friends. Not just ordinary friends - I have made lifelong friends. I know a lot of people in the workforce wouldn't have experienced what I have - to work in this fantastic environment with great people, it doesn't happen very often.

Working during the school holidays has been hard too. Sitting at home listening to my boys having fun while I am trying to focus on work has become another sting in my side. I said to my boys last week "be quiet, I am trying to work" ... ???? What the? This is THEIR home and I am asking them to be quiet while I scrap? Seriously something wrong there ............

So it is with a fair amount of sadness that I decided to resign from the Design Team last week. I am burnt out and need a change ....... not sure what yet lies ahead of me :)

I just want to say a few things about some of the special friends and work colleagues that I have met along the way.

Everyone knows that I was friends with Melissa Kennedy before I started working at Kaiser. Almost 3.5 years ago, Lis asked me to come in and help her with a Spotlight Catalogue for a week - which ended up being 3 weeks. I really did love it. It was pretty great being back in the workforce and earning some extra $$$. Then about a month away and being a SAHM again, Lis called me back in, and I've been there ever since. I've seen our monthly workshop become a glossy quarterly magazine! Then back, by popular demand, to free monthly workshops again. I can't thank Mel enough - you'll notice I say Mel and Lis - I like to alternate between them both. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Thanks heaps for believing in me Lis ... you've helped me become a much more confident person, I do believe in myself a lot more, and I have (not willingly) taught scrapbooking classes. Along the way, we have had stacks of laughs and giggles and fun - yes I can honestly say that working for Kaiser with Mel has been a lot of FUN. There's really too much to say thank you for Lis .... and you know I've tried to say it all along the way - but I really do appreciate you having all the faith in me that you have. Thank you for your never-ending friendship x

Onto Richelle - otherwise known as Shelbs or Poppet. Thanks for all the love and support you have given me ... you've always been sweet and a pleasure to work with. Lots and lots of giggles, have loved seeing all the new products that you source - you are amazing! I will miss you very much xo

There are other special girls on the Design Team that you would really be very blessed to meet and know. I adore Clare Miller and Jess Milinkovic - these girls are awesome, great for a good giggle, extremely talented designers and most of all - they are a pleasure to work with. I'm going to miss you girls xo

Ali W .... gee I'm glad I met you! Thanks for all the laughs and for your caring sweet nature. I wish you all the very best at Natio, they are going to love having you on board, and it won't take them long to realise how awesome you are in marketing. They are so very lucky to have you coming on board.

Not forgetting the warehouse crew - gee they are an incredible team out there. Hey Lizzie, I know you said you were mad at me the other day because I was leaving, but gee I smile when I realise how I have gotten to really love my chats with you, how you always stop in the mornings, and how you lovingly show me pics of your kids .... and all the other warehouse girls too, specially Norms x

Hey tell Kev I'll miss him heaps and his nortiness!

Onto Melinda and Jilly - thanks Melinda ... gee I've loved our chats, your stories, our laughs, my compliments to you that bring you to tears - you're one in a million. Hey Jilly - keep on growing my gallstone buddy - miss you!

Not forgetting Kylie ... what a pleasure it is to have worked with you - some of those ugly laughs we've exchanged - they are for no one else to EVER know about hehe. I remember that day we "lost our shit" over that Lullaby Train - memories to treasure and keep. I don't know how Mel concentrated at the computer the way we were carrying on LOL!!!!!!!!!! Miss you x

To the Kaisers - Steve and Carolyn. Thank you both for having me on board - it was a fabulous ride, but I'm hanging up my craft knife at Kaiser. I still love those cookies, but man I really try hard to resist. Keep cookin' em Carol x

I've had a very bumpy few years while I have been working at Kaiser. I have lost both of my parents and my brother. But all the while they gave me as much time off as I needed and supported me 110% with love, compassion, kindness and friendship. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else because no one would have looked after me the way they did. And I thank them all from the bottom of my heart. You all know who you are that took special care of me xo

I know that my last day is going to be very teary, even if I am in my mid-40's ... it doesn't stop you loving people you work with, and feeling very sad about not seeing them 3 days a week. Thanks for the wonderful memories Kaiser - I'll miss you! So off with the apron and seeya with some of my own scrapping soon. xo

"The essence of life is not being perfect, impressing people, or succeeding at everything. The essence of life is simply making mistakes and learning from them, surrounding yourself with people that love you when you're being yourself, and getting through the failures so you can continue succeeding" ........... love this quote!!!!!!!

We're coming to see the Queenslanders ....... hope to meet you!

The Thelma and Louise road trip coming to an outlet near you!!

Mel Kennedy and myself are finalising getting around to checking out and visiting the Kaisercraft outlets and the ETC store in Queensland. We will be taking a workshop at each one whilst we are there so if anyone near one of the following stores would like, you can book in to do this two page English Rose layout class – we would love to catch up and meet you whilst we are there. We couldn’t make it up for the flood appeal, but better late than never.

We will be in the following stores of these dates – contact the stores for more details

Monday 21st March
Browns Plains
18 Commerce Drive,
Browns Plains QLD
Ph : 07 380 92242

Tuesday 22nd March
Ground Level
Gardentown Shopping Centre
Cnr Victoria and Margaret Sts,
Toowoomba QLD
Ph: 07 4638 8868




Wednesday 23rd March
Robina
Shop RC08, Robina Town Centre Drive,
Robina QLD
Ph: 07 5580 9939

Week 3 Layout ...

Ok I know, I'm a bit behind. But that's ok by ME! I know I want to create a layout each week, but I got a bit busy on the home front / children / weekend away and I just didn't get there. So now I am 2 layouts behind.

This layout I've done is of Cam and Craig when we were in Thailand last year. I LOVE the expression on Cam's face ... I just look at the photo and it makes me smile - hugely and warmly. These two are like "two peas in a pod" ... they are so alike - there's none of my genes in Cam at all hehe.

I've used some of our new papers that have been given a sneak peek on the Kaiser blog, plus the grey papers are Heidi Swapp, a pretty paper loveheart doilie, some flowers, ribbons and the flag is a Jenni Bowlin design!

Thanks for the lovely messages you leave too ... I appreciate it a lot.

LIFE IS GOOD ... LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST ... I intend to :) xo

Introducing a friend of mine ...

A friend of ours who we have do work in the Kaiser Magazine is Dani Krivan. I'd love it if you popped over and welcomed her into the World of Blogging! She's a very talented scrapbooker - very diverse, creative and inspiring.

This is Dani's blog address:
http://daniellekrivan.blogspot.com/2011/01/miracles-do-happen.html

So Dani - it's great to have you on board in the world of blogging, and I really hope you get lots of scrapping done this year! Look forward to seeing your amazing work x

Layout Week 2

Back with another post and another layout for my second week. Came together pretty easy ... wanted to try something different with the butterflies - haven't used them in mass before - but I like them I think :)
These photos of my sister and I were taken by Bailey a few weeks ago after we had been strawberry picking ... he held his finger on the camera button and it took about 20 photos in short bursts hehe. I like them all - just a bit of fun.
I created a paper pile collage in picasa and cut around the pics - really easy stuff.

Now I'm also going to apologise for the poor photography. I think I've got used to getting the girls at work to take my pics and edit them all the time that I've forgotten. I really need a refresher on how to do it! Plus I'm feeling a little bit tired and lazy.



We're off to Gold Class to see Unstoppable shortly - my nephew and his fiancee gave us 4 movie tickets for Christmas. Should be a fun afternoon. Hope you all have a great weekend xo

Sneak Peek of 1st Layout

Well I've got myself back here again ... I'm going to post a pic of my first layout. The papers are on the Kaisercraft Blog and I have only used a snippet of them with some kraft paper. The Kaiser papers used are from our March release called "Nans Favourites".



Week 2 LAYOUT

Unfortunately due to working this week, I was a little scrapped out. I'm working on my week 2 layout at the moment. It's coming together!

I also have this layout I did for work just before Christmas. It's of my son Cameron - I really love these photos of Cam - it shows how much he is growing up!



Thank you for all the lovely messages you've been leaving here on my blog regarding my first post this year - it means a lot to have support from you !
I'll be back a little later with a photo of my completed layout x

.... first layout completed

I'm so thrilled I have finished my first layout this year! Thrilled might not even be a good enough describing word ... I'm ecstatic !!!!!!!!! And look at the time ... well within my 7 days - even 6.5 hours early!

There's just one problem. I can't put it up unfortunately. It is Kaiser's March release paper. Of course the magazine is done and finished with now. I couldn't believe how well the papers matched - they were perfect. I might even add some hidden journalling - I've got 6 hours left!

I'm going to come back and upload it as soon as I am allowed though!

I am also intent on scrapping once a week for myself. My layout came together so easily, and I really enjoyed it :)

Two posts in one day ..... incredible really! Thanks for reading :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR - feeling refreshed !!!!

Hi there everyone in the world of blogging who visits me,

I know I've been absent for a very long time. To be honest I did a lot of scrapping at work, and not much at home last year due to lots of different things. Quite a few of my readers would know that I lost my brother and my Mum within two months of each other. It has been an emotional roller coaster that I thought I would be on for the rest of my life - but I have CHOSEN to turn my life around and bring some positive back into it. And I am feeling GREAT about my choice. It doesn't change the pain or the loss I've been through - and I miss my Dad, Mum and my brother with all of my heart and being. You get to a point that if you don't pull yourself out of it, you just stay there. I was very unhappy and felt very alone. The walls here were very tight and my family suffered and watched me in a lot of pain. But I am ok now :)

Late last year when Oprah came to Australia she visited one of my school friends, Megan Castran. I've been friends with Megan for a few years now - we reconnected about 7 years ago through a kinder friend. Anyway - Megan has always been a big fan of Oprah, and has followed her path and been to a few of The Oprah Winfrey Shows when she holidays over in the US. When Oprah came here, Megan was LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY to have Oprah call in to her home in Toorak - what a thrill huh! :) :) Megan is a very positive woman - she's always happy, thinking positively and generates a lot of good vibes. She also had a Vision Board last year and lots of great things from her vision board came true. I remember quite some time back also that Oprah read a book and promoted "The Secret" ... I thought hmmm wonder what this is all about, so I popped it in my Christmas goodies for Craig and the boys to give me.

I decided that once the calendar date January 1 arrived - it was time to make some changes. I created a Vision Board (see photo below) and I have started reading The Secret. I'm NOT a reader - except for Scrap Magazines hehe, but I am loving the book. It could be a life changing thing. I'll see how I go. But I have to say, and I know Lis is feeling a little sceptical about it - but there's some merit to the power of positive thinking. Don't everyone go thinking I've turned into a kook please LOL ... I haven't. I just don't want to be thinking negative all the time. I am smiling and I feel happy inside - and I haven't felt that for a very long time.

So I plan to share more Kaiser work and my personal work as this year unfolds. I'm looking forward to it. I have set myself lots of challenges. I have today, and today only to complete a layout. That was one thing on my list. To create one layout a week at home. I know what I am going to do, and I am going TO DO IT!

Thanks to all of you who have supported me unconditionally, and especially to my amazing sister Glenda - she has been my backbone and strength through all of this - I could not love her anymore than I do right now. And to Craig and my boys - you have been an incredible support, and I know that I need to show you all how much I love you - I know has hard it has been for you.
Everyone at Kaiser - you know who you are - thank you from the bottom of my heart. To those that took a few moments here and there with just a back rub, or a "how are you doing Al" ... I know what it all meant - and that means the world to me.
Lis and Shelby - you've never ending friendship has helped me get through the toughest time of my life. I love you both dearly - you're my special lifelong friends x
Also to Teesh and Stew - thank you for being there for me. I will plant my beautiful "Mothers Love" rose in a very special place. Every phone call you made, every tear you cried for me - I know how much you missed my Mum too x