WOOOHOOO

ok I have been bursting at the seams to share my awesome news ..... and now I can !!!!



I am a 2008 Design Team Member for One Stop Scrapping!!!! I have had a permanent smile on my face since I received the email from Tracey LOL

It's going to be great to work with current DT members Jaki and Ali along with incoming members Bec and Mel (huge congrats to you too ;) )

Days 2 - 5

What a wonderful Christmas ... despite my brothers not being able to make it over here for Christmas it has been fantastic. Mum and Dad were here for Christmas this year and we have really enjoyed not having to travel this year. I think the kids have been spoilt a little more this year due to that fact.
It has been so relaxing and happy. We had a hot turkey breast roast and Christmas pudding for lunch and cold ham, turkey and salads for dinner. Yum!!! I also tried out my Christmas pressie from Kerryn and Peter and made some Lemon Gelato and it is truly delicious and I now know that I won't have the problem of too many lemons this year LOL.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones.

Day 2/10 Delicious

Day 3/10 Baking

Day 4/10 Preparation

Day 5/10 Happy

A Photo a Day for the last 10 days of the Year

Trini has challenged us to do a photo a day for the last 10 days of the year and using 1 word titles, combining and using techniques that we have used during the year in her challenges. Here is a couple I took yesterday (I couldn't narrow it down to 1)
titled Relief

Guest DT

Awhile back I entered the competition on Scrap n Crazy to become a DT member.... I didn't get through, however Chelle did ask if I would do a Guest DT spot. So this month I received a kit to do Christmas themed LO's or OTP's with from Chelle and this is what I came up with. :-D

10 years

"An Angel in the book of life wrote down our babies birth, and whispered as she close the book....."Too beautiful for earth."



Dylan James 29/11/1997

It is 10 years tomorrow that I lost my little boy and I feel a little sadness at what should have been, but I think of him now with a smile and know he is looking after us. I have made so much progress this year, thanks to the help of friends and I am proud of that. Time to move forward. :D

Cool Change

is almost here!!! I can't believe how hot these last 2 days have been here in Melbourne and it's not even summer yet. I think it was 37 yesterday and they were reporting the same today. I am not sure what it got to, but I know it wasn't pleasant (for me anyway LOL)

But I have kept myself cool and it so happens that the only room with airconditioning is the scrap/computer room. :-D So I have been making the most of that as well. I have a few things done that I needed to, which is good, there are still a few things on the list, but I still have a little while before their deadlines.

Tracey over at OSS is looking for DT members too if anyone would like to apply. It's a fantastic forum with a very supportive community atmosphere and inspiration galore :-D

I am off to my kinder meeting tonight where I take over as treasurer *shock* I am sure I will be fine and the outgoing treasurer has said she will help me out as much as I need so that is a relief :) I think I might even enjoy it once I get over the nerves and the overwhelmed feeling I have right at the moment :) HaHa

A big Happy Birthday to my youngest brother for Sunday. :D I am waiting to hear about bubs that is due any day too. Due between Duane's and Sereah's bithday's I believe and I am sure with this heat Sereah will be looking forward to the pending arrival more than anyone :D

Christmas is approaching fast and I am really looking forward to it this year. Our first EVER at home, the kids can wake up in their own beds :D Mum and dad will be here which is fantastic, it's a shame my brothers can't make it though.

I hope you are all fit and well and looking forward to Christmas too :D

Take Care

Camping in the Grampians

warning Long Post ahead :D

We set off on friday afternoon after picking up Brad's school uniform for next year *shock* not thinking about that LOL
anyway.... we have spent the long weekend camping near Halls Gap with my best friend, her DH and 2 children as well as her MIL and FIL. Despite the weather on Days 1 & 2 it was great!!

OK so the guys left with our DD's mid afternoon to go and set up camp and Kerryn and I and the boys set off about 430, we arrived at camp about 9ish and got the kids settled into bed and sat and chatted for a couple hours before hitting the hay ourselves.
We woke up Saturday morning to light drizzle that soon became a rather heavy downpour and as the day wore on we realised that it wasn't going to get much better. We let the kids have a play when the rain eased off to a drizzle and then it was back under the tarp when it got heavy again. They got soaked none the less and went through a couple changes of clothes which started to be a problem as I didn't take alot of changes :( It eased off during the evening and someone mentioned the calm before the storm ... well they were right, the rain was so heavy and the thunder and lightening started and it was rather close to us I believe.... now me who used to be terrified of storms actually fell asleep and slept through some of it, only waking to the really loud bangs overhead. I don't think Gareth got alot of sleep though and I know that after the storm had died down and the rain had stopped I got up to the kids to find a few puddles inside the tent and more wet clothes :(
(A wet day for our 6th anniversary!! But a tripod from Gareth was a wonderful surprise :D )




Sunday morning it was up for brekkie and not alot of rain about at this stage, but mr wind decided to make and appearance and it was a bit lucky we didn't get blown away. The decision was made to not hang around the camp today and we headed to Stawell to find a laundromat to wash and dry some of the clothes in case we needed them due to more rain. After there we headed to Peter's Auntie's place to have our packed lunch as it was somewhere dry and warm and out of the wind :D After lunch we headed to the Giant Koala in Dadswell Bridge and that was ok,

I found this sign and I love it!!


I will have to get one for Gareth I think LOL we headed back to camp from here and discovered that the rain that was being kept away by the wind decided to come back about 5 minutes after we got to camp grrr.... back in the cars and into Halls Gap to visit the tourist centre (Brambuk)


back to camp and the rain had stopped YAY! The guys decided a fire was on the cards and that too was lovely :D I decided to try out my tripod with photos of the fire and Pete gave me some pointers which really helped :)



Monday no rain and only a mild wind (until we got up the mountain anyway LOL )
We headed off in the direction of McKenzie Falls and stopped off at some lookouts on the way there and back again. First stop was Boroka Lookout, very windy, but what a gorgeous view :D

We then went to Reed's Lookout but it was too busy so we went straight on to McKenzie Falls and all I can say is WOW the walk down and up was about 1km but it was really steep with alot of steps and my upper leg muscles are letting me know they are not happy!! The tripod and camera got another workout here as did some of the tips from Peter. I have decided I am going to get at least one of these blown up and framed.








It was then onto Lake Wartook for lunch and some kite flying by the guys.

Back to Reed's lookout and it was amazing to look out and realise how much of what we could see was new growth after the fires that ripped through there last year.




We then headed back through Halls Gap and stopped for some ice cream and to let the kids play on the playground for awhile, before heading back to camp for dinner.

Tuesday morning (Happy Anniversary to Pete and Kez 7years :D ) we got up to see this little lady near camp with her little one again, they were about nearly every morning and it was a lovely site. Then it was pack up camp time and relax with some lunch before it was time to head back to the hustle and bustle






I really enjoyed the weekend, even with the longdrop toilets and no showers I would love to go again sometime down the track

Home again

and I am so glad that I went!! The most gorgeous group of ladies. I had a wonderful time, I really am glad I made the trip to Brisbane and it's one that I plan on making again (and again lol)
I met most of the people that I chat to over at OSS and they are just as wonderful IRL as they are online. There were stories being told that made me laugh harder than I have in a long time and some that made me cry. The food was abundant and delicious and I didn't eat on Tuesday night as I think I was still way too full from the weekend LOL
I was inspired by the make and takes, challenged by the challenges and enjoyed being able to just scrap .. although I was a little slow on getting started ... I did get 3 LO's a canvas and some cards made. Which isn't too bad for me.
I also learned how to make really cool flowers some from silk and chipboard and others from punched PP/CS, .... I missed out on the french knots though ;) next time J :D (thanks to the DT for all the M&T's)

On the Sunday night we went out to dinner with some lovely ladies that didn't make it to the retreat and it was great :-D I am just embarrassed that I yawned so much during the meal though :( sorry ladies.
Monday was a wind down and relax day with a few of the girls and I know that the friendships formed will be ones that I will treasure forever.

Excited??

I am heading off at lunchtime tomorrow for the OSS retreat and to meet a heap of ladies that I have been chatting to in the forum for the last 2+ years
I am so excited and so nervous all at the same time LOL

I have started packing my suitcase with my scrapping stuff and I am up to 17kg without clothes ... I am thinking I may have to cull a little more yet. :( or take it in my carry on (stuff that won't be confiscated by the airline)

I am a little worried how Sian is going to go over the weekend as she is already getting upset when I mention it :( Brad is fine and given me a picture so that I don't miss them all too much. Little angel he is (sometimes!) Gareth is a little worried too I think, but they will cope, he is a great dad :-D (I can see him looking forward to work Tuesday though LOL )

Back to it ... Have a great weekend :-D

Happy Birthday's - Visits and Stuff in General

First a big Happy Birthday to Mum for the 19th September and Dad for October 1st


We headed over to SA for a visit at the end of September. It was fantastic to catch up with the whole family again :-D I miss my Little (big) brothers and SIL's and nieces and nephews as well as Mum & Dad. It was great to see all the kids getting along so well too. We had promised to take Brad to the aboriginal museum at Murray Bridge while we were there, however it was closed, Brad was so upset, so I promised to take him to the World in Miniature at Stawell on the way home instead.


He liked that until we got to the pyramid he was ok, until I went inside and then he freaked out *shock* thanks to Scooby Doo and his mummies ... Poor Brad was petrified!

I have felt a little more like scrapping again just of late thankfully. I finished a LO for a swap that I am in and have almost finished another LO. I think I want to try and put some packs together ready to take to Brissie in 10 SLEEPS!!!

I am off to Queensland on the 12th of October for the OSS retreat and to meet so many of the girls I have been chatting with for the last couple of years :-D I am so excited, but a little nervous too.... how funny is it going to look though, when my huge suitcase opens to reveal all my scrapping stuff and my hand held luggage my clothes!! Oh well, I have to get my supplies there some how ;)
We have to take along a photo of ourselves ... I took this one in the garden this morning, not sure if I will use it yet or not, it's me double chin, wonky eye and all LOL but I don't mind it and thats not a common thing with photos of myself.

I have taken a load of photos over the last few weeks, Here are just a couple of my favourites :-D

I've been so slack......

and thanks to a friend this morning I realised how slack I have been at updating my blog... I really don't know why I didn't share this earlier as it was a HUGE highlight for me ...... I had some really EXCITING news last month when I was contacted by Tracey from over at One Stop Scrapping (almost my 2nd home HaHa) and asked if I would like to be a guest designer for September!!! I was a little stunned (in a good way) and then a little omgoodness what am I going to create with this pack, oh hope it's good enough etc etc BUT I sat down and created 3 LO's, in the end I just tried to put all that aside and stick with my style and I was pretty happy with what I came up with :-D



A HUGE thanks to Tracey for the opportunity :-D

The DT girls are running a Home and Away challenge, with 2 members on the home team being from Brissie and 2 Away members being a little further north (hope thats right P and A ;) So if you are looking for inspiration why not pop into OSS and look at what the DT have created :) They were all given the identical kits in different colours and it is amazing how different they have all turned out.


will do another update soon ;) But sending good wishes to our friends Andy and Pat who are expecting their 3rd little boy any day now... Will be waiting for news :D

Charm's Blog Challenge

Over at Bon's Scraps..... DT member Charm has issued us all with a weekly 'What is your...' blog challenge which sounds like loads of fun to me, so here is my last weeks entry and this weeks as well

Last week it was What is your last non scrapping purchase

Mine was these 4 pairs of jeans which I scored (brand new from Kmart) for the massive amount of $16.50 ... yes you read that right LOL I got the first pair which said $39,99 on the label, but had a mark down tag to $23 and I thought I will go and scan it to make sure that is right..... they scanned as $7 I went OMGoodness!!!
anyway a couple days later I was back at Kmart and thought I would look again see if there were more... well there was, so I once again thought I would check to see if they were going to scan cheap.... This time 2 pairs scanned as $3 each and the other pair for $3.50, So sometimes you can be lucky ;)



This week is what is your bag and what is in it?

My $5 Italian leather handbag from the op shop :) and in it my phone, my diary, a pen, my keys, my purse along with old receipts and the odd lolly, a pocketsized perfume, tissues and loads of other little not so useful things (need to clean it out more often I think!!)