Procrastination Thursday

Okay......last week was so busy and hectic with work, camp, visitors from Townsville etc etc that I was swamped and overwhelmed...but I was also organised and motivated as I had to be. This week the pressure is off. Hardly any work hours, school kids in Church vacation care, Connor being a doll...and I am so unmotivated! What is that about? Must be the come down after the big rush. Never mind...I am sure it will pass.
I have challenged the girls at LSBS to update their blogs to give me something to read so I thought it best to do mine too LOL. I am going to do a blog list too which I always meant to do but never got around to. Looking forward to seeing some updated blogs :)
Rich is going to Sydney in the mornig for 4 days so I will have a whole weekend to play :) My MIL returns from the US on Sunday so I will pick her up from the airport before I go to lunch with the Brissie LSBS girls and the gorgeous Celeste! My MIL is bringing me a lovely big parcel of goodies I ordered from 2 peas in a bucket with lots of lovely scrap goodies. I also ordered Photoshop Elements 5 online and a new 50mm 1.8 lens for my camera...very excited about that. Both items were less than half the retail price here and I was able to get all my parcels sent to my SIL's house for my MIL to bring back.
No scrapping to show today as i have been to busy procrastinating to scrap hehe. Maybe tomorrow.
*Small vent* - MY subbed copy of Scrapbooking memories magazine didn't show up this month. I waited for a couple of weeks and then called to tell them it was missing. The lovely girl responded and said she would resend it for me. A whole week later it showed up (today) and it is missing the 2 extra magazines and the chipboard words that come as a freebie this month! Not happy :( I feel doubly ripped off LOL.

An LOL

Back to the land of the living :) .......

......somewhat LOL. Firstly I have been tagged a while back by Celeste Vermeend -gorgeous co-DT member from LSBS, mega-published, super talented and amazing For Keeps mag Creative team member. Love, love, love her work and am so excited to say I will get the chance to meet her on Sunday. A few of the Brissie LSBS girls will be meeting for lunch at the Brisbane Paper and Crafts festival...so cool! Celeste is on a Brissie holiday and is going to meet us there. Can't wait. Oooops almost forgot the actual tag...LOL...

Thanks Celeste...you rock too Chicky :)

So I posted a little about camp yesterday...very little hehe. It was Mikaela's first official Ranger Camp. I went along as Rich had to stay behind and do the 2 Kid's church services on Sunday. I had to pretty much make sure our groups behaved and were being well mothered :) I camped with another age group but spent a great deal of time with Miss M. She had a blast despite the incredible storm we got around 10:30 pm on Saturday night. It was unreal! All the more spectacular under a canvas roof that's for sure. Some of the kids got a little wet and had to be moved up to the buildings, but most were fine and weathered it beautifully. I was about 500 metres away from Mikaela's campsite in my little dome tent when the storm struck. I was dry and warm in my little canvas abode when the biggest claps of thunder rocked the campsite! Lightening flashed and the rain poured like it was being tipped from a bucket! I sat there contemplating whether or not to dash to Mikaela's campsite and check on her. I had visions of my poor little DD shivering and sobbing in fear and just knew I wouldn't get to sleep not knowing if she was OK. The leaders and Mums camping in her group are all awesome, but I still worried...... So I made a plan -

* I bundled up some dry clothes into a plastic bag and zipped it under my jacket

* Took of my sneakers and socks and put on my water shoes

* Waited until the next big lightning and thunder went off

* Unzipped my tent, stepped out and zipped it up again

* Dashed through the torrential rain...over rocks, through trenches, water up to my ankles....pitch black!

* Made it to Mikaela's campsite - out of breath and soaked.......to find her fast asleep !!! How dare she not even need me after all I did to get to her. I was there to calm and soothe her...I almost woke her up to make her need me ;) I made the mad dash back to my tent, changed out of my soggy clothes and snatched a few hours sleep. Truthfully I was thrilled she was OK and was glad I checked LOL. The camp was a heap of fun and the days were clear and gorgeous.

A few photos from the weeekend -

My Connor - really like this photo...a bit of a fluke really but very cute. Love his overgrown hair and lashes -

Lethal Ethan in a contemplative mood...looks like a little old man here -

Ethan again - wonder what he is looking at?
The bushland near where we camped -

Miss Mikaela in her patrol's spotty bandana and her fave camo hat :) She is making a balloon hacky sack. Kids are on school holidays and attending vacation care at church. Ther are at the movies today and having a little swim at Southbank. Hopefully they will be wrecked by 5:00pm and will be ready for an early night. Jarred is still at camp as his age group camp for 4 days. Rich is away for the night up there too so I can look forward to some scrapping time. I have a few deadlines to meet and some pics ready to play with....lovely!

Incoherent.........

Been camping

Tired

Big storm

Mud everywhere

Lightning and thunder

Wet clothes...shoes..tents..everything

Stacks and stacks of fun :)

Back later for details......................

bloopers and blunders

Apologies for the blunders with my slideshow popping up all over the blog...no idea what that was all about! I added a few new layouts and it just cloned itself :0

Tuesday already

What an awesome start to the day! Richard came home briefly loaded down with the biggest pizza box I have ever seen. I must admit to having a number of pizza boxes delivered before, but this one was a surprise and enormous! When I had a look at it I saw it was shipped from the US and was addressed from Cocoa Daisy kits. It is the amazing prize pack from my win over at Aussie Dares Blog a couple of months ago. How exciting! It has papers from basic Grey, Autumn Leaves, Sassafrass Lass, Sei, Scenic Route (yum!), a stack of bazzill to co-ordinate, scalloped bazzill, clear stamps by Sassafrass Lass (so cute!), Maya Road Accordian album, 7Gypsies rubons, Autumn Leaves journaling panels, Scenic Route chip circles, Autumn Leaves buttons, American Crafts flowers, MME embossed chipboard , Butterfly shaped box and a bunch of ribbons from Queen and co, Maya Arts and Midori...just gorgeous! Big thanks to Aussie Dares and Cocoa Daisy for this fab prize.
Little peek -

Below are some photos from our Sunday drive. We took off for a drive after church on Sunday intending to just drive to the Gold Coast and have a little stroll on the beach. Instead we just kept driving and ended up in Ballina NSW :) These photos are from the lookout at Lennox Heads on the clearest and most gorgeous of days. We had huge icecreams at a gorgeous little icecream shop in town and managed 2 doubles and 4 single cones for $20...baragain for such divine icecream. It was so lovely to just relax, drive and enjoy time as a family. The kids had the DVD player going in the car every now and then to pass time so there were next to no fights or issues which made things a whole lot easier LOL. Great day!

Slothful Saturday

Today was a truly slothful day. I wore my PJ's for almost a whole day and just pottered around playing with the kids, scrapping and chatting at LSBS for the Cybercrop and not a whole lot more :) I so rarely get to have a day like that so I feel very blessed and refreshed today. It is great to just take time out and relax...no pressures, deadlines, committments or appointments (or work!). Here is my Design team layout for the Cybercrop...lots of Scenic Route products here...some of my favourites. I have used so much black, white and red lately. Such a classic, striking combo. I love it.

It's Cybercrop time

Well it's the LSBS Cybercrop tonight (and through to Monday). There is a special prize draw for new members over there so if you want to join in and register for the cybercrop, pop your name onto the list and tell Cath that Kerryn sent you. Great vouchers for prizes this month and the challenges are so good. The theme is 'the great cover-up'. Challenges include lots of hidden elements and surprise features. Check it out here . Below is my take on Lisa Pate's digital challenge. It was a challenge to create a digital layout that looked like a magazine cover. I chose a funny pic of Jarred that makes me laugh and did a boyish, fun mag. He thinks it is pretty cool LOL. Anyone with a tweenage boy will get this one -


This layout is my example for the sketch challenge. Cath has created a great sketch again and I have given the example layout this month. Here are some awesome sketches if you are stuck for inspiration. The layout photo was taken at night so I needed to use the flash...excuse the glare.

Ooops just realised I forgot to add the ribbon to the tag...it was such a rush tonight! I worked last night catering for a dinner for 30. It isn't big numbers but the kitchen was in a separate building to the dinner itself....therefore we needed to lug everything back and forth between buildings. I was exhausted! Then today was an afternoon tea wedding reception for.....wait for it....400 people! Madness...it was beautifully done and the wedding was awesome but it was a huge day. We were just falling over by the end but it went off with barely a hitch...well besides the one between the Bride and Groom :) Looking forward to a sleep-in tomorrow and maybe a nice drive.

Hey Hey it's Wednesday

Another hectic day today. I swear I am ready to fall in a heap and just sleep for a week. I amworking for the next 2 nights so I really can't afford to curl up in a heap...but I sure do feel like it. I had a lovely brekkie with my sisters and Mum today which was great fun and a big treat. Connor was a bit anti-social but really not too bad considering all the girly chat he had to endure. It was our annual Christmas meeting where we nut out Christmas...venue, food, gifts etc. Just an excuse to meet up really, but we did get a bit organised.

This afternoon after school I took the kids to the park for a play and then to McDonalds for dinner....well! What a disaster (this is where the 'fall in a heap' bit comes in). I decided to let the kids eat in and have a play in the playground...(cause an hour and a half at the park wasn't enough!) I waited in line for food while the kids played....for nearly 30 minutes!! I was so mad. I bit my tongue, said thank-you and finally fed the kids, but I was so past it by the time I was finally served. I could have cooked a meal in the time I waited for my 'fast food'. Drive Through is so under-rated LOL. We so rarely have take-away with our big family that this was a major let down. Never mind. Miss Mikaela has her first school camp tomorrow....very exciting. It is just a school sleep-over with an excursion to Underwater World the next day but a big deal nonetheless.

Pics from today - Feeling more confident with more of the manual modes on my camera. I am looking forward to my Photoshop arriving and having a real play with the post processing.

Promised Pics

I have had a lovely day today. After church I took off to the shops to buy a baby gift for a friend who had a baby shower today. I had forgotten all about the present yesterday and managed to get a gorgeous little octopus - musical - sensory - toy thingy from The Early Learning Center. Love that shop. The baby shower was a heap of fun despite the cold, windy, sprinkly conditions. It was held at the park near her house with a lake and ducks nearby. She set up little gazebo tents for a lovely afternoon tea, games and pressies...all the regular baby shower stuff. It was nice to catch up with a few girlfriends and have a natter.
Here are a couple of layouts I did last night. First is my DS Jarred (12) at the park on Father's day. The photo is a little dark (shadows) but I scrapped it because I like it anyway. He isn't always happy to pose these days so you take what you can get.


This is my niece Jenna on the swing. Love the angle on this one. Rich tells me it is ridiculous as you can hardly see her face but I think it is fun. What does he know anyway. The pic of the layout is a bit wonky though LOL....just tilt your head to the right a little :)

OK...here are the photos of my scrap nook that I promised (thanks for the reminder Pinkie LOL). I have sorted things out a little and given away a few (OK quite a few) bits and pieces to a deserving home. Mikaela scored anything remotely girly of course. This is the outdoor storage cupboard which houses my scrap nook. It is in the outdoor carport area out the back of our house. The carport is partly enclosed and is used as a sort of al-fresco playroom. The cupboard is well sheltered from the elements and, while cosy, fits all my stash nicely and gives me a space to work...walk away...and shut the doors.

A closer look at my desk (trestle table) and stash.

An Ikea hanging sweater storage thingy that is the perfect size for papers. I would ideally like some paper racks, but haven't quite been able to justify the cost yet LOL. It makes my paper stash look tiny...hehe. The home made clip-it-up system. One of the brilliant girls over at Essential Baby scrapping forum came up with this awesome idea a while back. (*Edited to add that it was Donna, ie. Silvercat...thanks so much! ) As a result a whole bunch of girls have rushed out to make one of these. It is a curtain rail system that sells at Ikea for less than $20 all up...clips and all. With a clip-it-up being about $100, this is a great little alternative for the $ conscious. While I imagine the clip-it-up is fantastic (*little disclaimer before I get messages telling me how much better it is*) this is a good little system for a good little price.

Close up of the clips and some of my stash :)

The Weekender

What a busy week. I have been entrenched in domestic drudgery trying to get this hovel back into shape. A couple of trips to Ikea sure helped to sort out some storage problems that had recently surfaced....well the storage was always a problem, it was the STUFF that really surfaced :) A bit of a cull and some reorganising and things are a little better. Best thing about the trip to Ikea was the little clip and rail system some of the girls over at EB have made for their scrap storage. Absolutely fab idea! I'll finish sorting my stash and take some piccies tomorrow to share. I have been eyeing off the clip-it-up system for a while but balked at the $100 price tag. This little system does the job for under $20...awesome.

Here's a cute layout using some Scenic Route papers I love. The pic is Connor and a friend's son waiting for the kid's to come out of class. They are so cute together.





Hoping to get some more scrapping done tomorrow. Might go for a drive if the weather is nice....decisions, decisions :)

Wednesday Layouts

I used the 'Fat Lip' photo from yesterday to create this Design Team layout for LSBS using the Reminisce range of papers and journaling stickers. The papers have a shimmer to them which is really lovely to work with and looks great.
This next layout is one using the debut kit from Q Tea - the kit company created by fab scrapper/artist Danielle Quarmby. I am a huge fan of her work and love these funky vintage inspired kits she is putting out. They stretch a straight line, matchy scrapper like me to try and step outside the square. Looking forward to the September kit that should be out soon.

It sure feels good to scrap again after a few weeks of lost mojo. I think the fact that it has been cold and my little scrap nook is a bit exposed to the elements didn't help things. I also have new photos to play with which has helped things along.

Fat Lip

Check out the fat lip on Connor. Poor little mite ran into the back of the lounge last night (I have no idea how!) and this is the result. He has taken a layer of skin off the inside of his gum too, poor chook. I cleaned up the mass of blood and gore, gave him a bath and then made him pose for a photo...anyone say 'Scrapbooking Mother'? LOL My sister told me that Connor looked like Franklin the Turtle when he was born. What do you think? See the resemblance? How mean is that! Funny though!




This is a macro shot of Connor's favourite Taxi car that we bought him in New York last year. He loves it and takes it everywhere.

This dodgy pic below is the only one I could manage today without freaking my poor daughter out. Mikaela was a finalist in the school public speaking competition in the poetry section. She was selected in year one as a finalist and froze on the day of the finals. She just went solid! I tried to gently cajole her and coax her into doing it because I thought she would regret it, but nothing would budge her. By some miraculous chance her reputation must not have followed her as she was also picked last year for year 2 and did manage to get through her poem. By this year she was a pro but I didn't want to get too close or use a flash to put her off. She did brilliantly. She didn't make the final 2, but she was happy with her performance. That's her teacher, Miss Scott there taking piccies. I must get a copy LOL.
And this one is just because I like it. I find Connor incredibly hard to photograph as he hates the camera but he leaned right into this shot and showed his gorgeous eyes and lashes...all wet from his bath. Funny little guy.

First photos and Father's day

I had to work on Father's day this year....such is the life of a caterer. Everyone else wants to be catered for on days like this LOL......go figure! It was a great job though - Dad's Fest at Springfield Lakes. 300 hotdogs later I headed home to get the kids ready for a picnic at the park. My family (parents, sisters, BIL's, nices, friends etc) all assembled at a local park for a great big picnic and play. It was a heap of fun and a great opportunity to have a little play with my camera. My sisters and I bought my Dad a new stereo with a tape deck. He was terribly happy as was able to sit back and listen to the footy at the park LOL.
You wouldn't believe my husband;s reaction to his Darryl Lea Dad's bag....he told his entire children's church class that the only reason we bought him that was because it had lots of things that I liked in it! Well.....yes....true.....but he didn't have to publicly announce it! Ingrate. I am thinking it may be sour grapes due to him not receiving the unicycle he asked for :(

Poppy and Piper (my Dad and my niece)



My eldest son Jarred on the swing -
My niece Jenna swinging -

The Divine Miss Mikaela -

I have only had a little play with the camera software as I am yet to invest in Photshop. I have had some good advice about which one to get for what I want to do so now it's just a matter of saving some dollars :( I am finding my way around the manual settings and refamiliarising myself with many of the SLR features. It has been a while since I've used an SLR camera and it is a heap of fun. My MIL has asked me if there is anything I want for my birthday from the US as she is leaving for LA tomorrow. I am thinking of ordering a new lens online and having it sent to my SIL's place in LA for her to bring home for me. They are almost half the price of ours here in Australia so I could afford something a little more flash. Still researching and thinking LOL. Feel free to send me some recommendations for a good, affordable portrait lens :)