On the move...

So this is me.........

....but you knew that already huh?! I am in the midst of that last minute packing and cleaning that goes with moving to a new house. We will take a few days to move seeing as Christmas is almost here but nearly everything is packed.
The kids have culled their posessions and are ready to embrace a whole new stash of plastic for Christmas. Actually it will be a pretty plastic-free Christmas with the kids gettting older. We really have very few toys now that we are out of the baby/toddler stage.

Lots of bikes, scooters, skateboards and outdoor toys however ;)

Our preparation to move has seen us visit this place twice in a week to purchase some new storage systems like book cases and shelving units.

The bonus of visiting Ikea with four kiddies is being able to buy lunch for a family of six for just $12! Hot dogs and soft drinks all round...woohoo! Less money on lunch means more flat pack furniture for Mummy. You have to love that.

Well I better get back to the leaning tower of cardboard and pack the rest of our wordly goods. With internet connections etc being a little slow over Christmas I may be offline for a bit. I'll see you on the other side!............

Until next time..........

...and 2 more

More layouts. The second one I started at the crop on Saturday and finished last night. The first one I did while I was supposed to be sorting my stash for packing. Hmmm yes...well I did sort some.

Better get back to actually packing and sorting. The joys.

So I scrapped....

...and this might just be one of my favourite layouts ever. Every now and then you just love a photo and wait for the right papers to scrap it. I love this Basic grey Wassail range and am amzed how well it matched the golden tones in this photo. Even though it is technically a Christmas range it works well for this layout.

Little milk drunk Kody...awwww...

My Lethal Ethan, swim star of the season. Ethan has taken extra curricular swimming lessons at school this term and has come so far. He was terrified of the water early on mainly due to some trauma associated with an illness and treatments when he was a toddler. We only enrolled him in swimming lessons this term due to the fear and trauma he has displayed for a few years.

This term saw him go from screaming in fear to diving into the deep end in less than 10 weeks. How amazing is that?! We are so proud of him.

I scrapped a layout using the Elf pictures of Coonnor at the Scrapbook Princess crop yesterday and Debi nabbed it to diplay in the store LOL. I'll share it another time. I used the new Sass Lass Christmas papers which matched the photos perfectly. You'll just have to take my word for it I guess ;) ....or pop into Scrapbook Princess for a look! You know you want to..................

'Tis the season to be Elfish

Don't forget to pop into Little Scrapbook Shop for the Cybercrop running right now. I am hosting the digi challenge this month and have made the layout below using a yummy template from Weeds and Wildflowers. Here is my challenge if you want to play along.

Tonight we had Connor's kindy graduation and Christmas concert. It was a sweltering 34 degrees inside the room where we had the graduation but the kids were so cute. Connor was less than impressed with my attempt to take his photo before we left so the results are mixed.
I think I may scrap these with some of the new Sassafrass lass Christmas papers......mmmmm.

Christmas Cybercrop Tonight!

Join us tonight for the December Cybercrop. There are great challenges, bingo and chat. We love having new participants each month so don't hesitate to sign up for some fun :)
Little Scrapbook Shop

My Masters Entries

Here are the Masters entries I can show. The double layout is in the mag for an honourable mention so I can not share that one just yet. I really enjoyed the criteria this year and really like my projects so it was well worth the effort.

Click on any of the images to see a bigger version...

Single layout - unusual shape...



2009 Calendar -

Keepsake -

..............and that's it ;)

Teacher gifts

In the midst of Schoolies madness, packing and the Christmas rush I made these fabric covered notebooks for my kid's teachers. I had a couple of others too but did not photograph them. All teachers like notebooks don't they? They were well received last year so I did them again.
I love this Basic Grey Offbeat range for cards. So many cute patterns to mix and match.

Only one more day of school for the year...yay! I love school holidays and am looking forward to relaxing mornings, play dates and pyjama days....bliss!

Figgy Pudding Revisited

Today I had a little time to scrapbook...because this little guy...

...is in training to become a progressive modern man. Any progressive modern man is seen frequently with a dish brush in his hand, so when Connor asked if he could do the dishes this morning, what else would I say but "Absolutely"! They ended up all right way up and filled with dishwater puddles but he did a great job all the same.

LSBS sent me some Basic Grey Figgy Pudding this month to be 'revisited'. I love this range so was very happy to play. The photos are a little blurry, I apologise, but you get the idea. I took these before coffee you see.

A big thanks to everyone who has passed on their congratulations to me for my Honourable Mention in the Scrapbooking Memories Magazine Masters Competition. I am very happy with my HM and was totally blown away by even being in the top 50.

Big Congratulations to the top 10...may you have a great year and I look forward to seeing your work. Special congrats to Celeste...well deserved my talented friend.

I'm back!

Schoolies is finally over for another year and I am home. I am slowly catching up and getting back into things but am still very tired and a bit fuzzy LOL.
In a somewhat impulsive and speedy fashion, we also decided it is time to move on from this little house and find a bigger, better space to dwell....so we are on the move! We have found a great new house not too far from here which is ours....as of the 23rd of December! What an adventure hey ;) I have picked up a stack of moving boxes from Jill yesterday and am looking forward to getting stuck into sorting, purging and packing. We will wake up on Christmas day in a bit of a jumble but it will be a bit exciting i think ;)

I started this layout while away working at Schoolies but just didn't have my mojo with me. Here it is finished. I love this pic of my gorgeous nieces!



Miss Mikaela had her dance concert on the 1st of December and she was quite the star! She had quite a big solo piece this year and she did an awesome job. She has come so far in the last year and is a great performer. I spent hours curling, spraying, applying make-up (eeeek, horror!) and glitter for the big night and she looked so cute for her big solo moment.
She will be 10 next month which just blows me away. She is beautiful, funny, confident and generous in nature. My only girl is growing up before my eyes *sob*.



*Disclaimer*....she does not wear makeup like this...ever! Well, just once a year *wink*.

Miss M wants a camp-out party for her 1oth next month and I am in charge of sending out invites this week before school finishes...better get onto it!

*BIG SHOUT OUT to our friend Katie who is 13 today! Happy Birthday gorgeous girl!! *

Just a tad.......

.........exhausted. This is week two of Schoolies and I am feeling the burn. The hour long commute is the biggest killer at the end of a long day. The nights I am staying down the coast are much easier to deal with. Unfortunately there are loads of school/kindy/church/dancing/music events to travel back and forth for.

Only 4 more sleeps to go!!!

It's that time of year already...........

.......that's right, it's Schoolies!

For those who do not know, the catering business I work for (Hi Jillian!!) caters for the Chaplains and volunteers every year at Schoolies on the Gold Coast. It is 2 solid weeks of work feeding 600 people a night. It is exhausting and full-on but a whole lot of fun too ;)

Tomorrow is day one.......which means there will be lots of this.........

.........which is why we need to feed these guys.................
I'll be quiet for a couple of weeks as we battle the Gold Coast as Moolies.....that Mums at Schoolies for those uneducated in Schoolies speak.

One more thing..........this little bucket of loveliness is heading someone's way this Tuesday for our advent swap. I hope she likes it :)

Countdown Gingy

If you are looking for a cute little project or gift for the little ones in yoour life, these little Gingerbread Men whiteboards might fit the bill
I have made them with a little acetate tummy to countdown the days until Christmas. Just write on with a whiteboard marker and wipe clean each day.

I plan to hang a little whiteboard marker from the hand with piece of ribbon. Let me know if you make one. More information here.

SUPER excited

...to receive this costume from Daddy on his return from Thailand. He has worn it for 3 days straight, taking it off only to bathe. What on earth will I do when it needs a wash? I'll have to wait for a kindy day I guess.
Thankfully the heat has abated a little the last two days for him to wear it, even though it is still way too warm in my mind!
Is it considered child negligence if your kid needs to go to the emergency room for heat stroke on account of wearing a polyester Spidey suit in the middle of summer?
I'll let you know ;)