The life of us

As time goes by....

2011-03-20T21:54:00.003+11:00

This year is slipping by so quickly I sometimes feel like I'm losing my grip on time. We're nearing the end of the first school term and the kids' footy and netball seasons are about to start and I'm feeling a little tired...I think I need a holiday!...or a good dose of multivitamins lol!

I've been doing a bit of scrapping lately...so I've got a few layouts to share.

This first one is the new class at Kim Archer workshops@Home - Alphabet It...it's a great way to use up old, odd, leftover chipboard alphas.

And this next one is a "just because" layout documenting Kiara's newly pierced ears...

And the last one is for the March sketch challenge over at Challenge Heaven...

Ok, I'm off to have a quick cuppa before bed...back to work tomorrow after a relaxing but rainy weekend!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

New month?...new Challenges...

2011-03-01T23:13:00.001+11:00

March has arrived and that means new challenges over at Challenge Heaven. Shell creates some fantastic challenges so if you're feeling a little mojo-depleted head on over and check them out!

I just squeezed in this LO for one of the February challenges...the Theme challenge: Transport and use ink....

The kids have settled into school nicely and we're back into the usual routine. The boys' have returned to footy training with trial games starting this weekend and Kiara starts netball training this week...this will be her team's first year of competition so she's looking forward to playing "for points!..just like the boys do!" she said lol!

Ethan is off to his Year 7 camp tomorrow, which he's been hanging out for. He's really loving high school so far which his dad and I are so pleased about...he even seems so much older! My "little chat" with him during the holidays about growing up and being a little bit more mature and responsible must have hit the spot! lol!

That's it for now.

Thanks for dropping by!

Julie xx

16?!?!?...already??

2011-02-18T20:27:00.000+11:00

This young man turned 16 yesterday!!!

A 16th birthday party is on the agenda sometime in the next few weeks.

Happy Birthday Jord!!!! We love you, gorgeous boy!!

Kraft it Up!!!...

2011-02-12T18:45:00.002+11:00

While I'm in a Krafting mood, thought I'd give Kraft it Up's February challenge a go...

The pics are of Kiara at the Athletics Zone Championships. We were so proud of her...she jumped a Personal Best distance!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie xx

It's Thursday!.....

2011-02-10T12:35:00.001+11:00

I'm at home today so thought I'd share a couple of layouts. Both of them are for a couple of challenges over at Challenge Heaven...one from last month, the Number challenge...

and one for this month, the Sketch challenge...

I should say that they're both on Kraft cardstock even though they don't look it because Kraft isn't scanning too well at the moment for some reason..grrr!!

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Well school has gone back, during the hottest week we've had for years, which wasn't much fun for the kids but they survived ok. Not sure I did though...it was very tiring!

Jordan has gone into Year 11, he's now a senior, Ethan has started high school which he is loving so far and Kiara is now in Year 4...seems like yesterday she was a cute kindy kid! And Tabatha, our kitty, is enjoying her kid-free days again! lol!!!

We are trying get ourselves back into some kind of routine which is proving somewhat difficult!...especially in the mornings lol!!..which is why I don't have any "First Day of school" pics...and I'm now regretting it!

Footy training has started for the boys, netball will start soon for Kiara plus we've still got Little A's on Friday nights. On top of all that Jordan has also returned to Oztag and Kiara wants to do dancing this year!!...I need more hours in the day at the moment!!

Ok, off to fold some clean clothes..yuck!!...but it must be done!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

Wanna win a prize??!.....

2011-01-29T11:55:00.000+11:00

...then head on over to Purple Pumpkin to find out how to be in the running to win these gorgeous goodies!

Ciao!!

Julie xx

Happy Birthday!!!.....

2011-01-25T19:08:00.002+11:00

.....to our gorgeous kitty cat Tabatha!! She's a big 2 year old girl now and we can't remember what life was like without her...we love her to bits!!!

Kiara made her a "cake" out of Tabbie's cat food and biscuits. Two candles were added and we sang "Happy Birthday". I'm sure she was thrilled! lol!!!

I've got one layout to share...yes!...I've scrapped!!...not entirely sure I like it though lol!!

It's for the sketch challenge over at Challenge Heaven. December's challenges have been extended to the end of January, so you've still got time to enter a few to be in the running for some prizes!!

The photo was taken at Kiara's 1st Communion last November. Boy, they look so grown-up! *sigh*

We're off to an extended family BBQ tomorrow to celebrate Australia Day. After all the devastation and tragedy of the floods around the country, I get the feeling most Aussies are really looking forward to celebrating this great country of ours and what it means to be an Australian!!

Happy Australia Day to all Aussies wherever you maybe...I hope you get to spend it with those you love.

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

I bought this yesterday!....

2011-01-08T12:23:00.001+11:00

Kiara and I trotted off to Ikea in Sydney to grab one of these. Kiara and I even put the thing together ourselves! The plan is to store some of my scrapping stash here instead of taking up the large cupboard in the office which I'm supposed to be sharing with John...yeah right!..it's currently an 80/20 split my way!..lol!!

Now I just have to sort through and re-organise the stash which I'm going to start this arvo!

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If you love fabric covered buttons head over here and leave a comment for a chance to win a bundle of them. Sue makes these gorgeous buttons, complete with a sticky foam backing, perfect for scrapping!

Ok off to fill those lovely shelves!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Julie xx

OMG! it's 2011!!!.......

2011-01-04T19:06:00.000+11:00

Christmas 2010 is done and dusted and the new year has arrived!!...it snuck up behind without me realising it! lol! 2011 brings a whole new round of work, school, kids' sport, school activities, grocery shopping, cooking, scrapping and the list goes on...and on...and on! lol! But first it's holiday time and we're going to enjoy some chill-out time before life gets busy again!

Here are a few quick pics:

Last October Jordan was selected in the train-on squad for the 2011 Central Coast Centurions U/16's (rugby league). This photo was taken at their first trial game at Tamworth in December...

Kiara and Jordan participated in the Little Athletics Zone Carnival in December. Kiara jumped a Personal Best distance in the long jump. Jordan came 2nd 110m hurdles and 3rd 200m...he's off to the Regional Championships in February...

On the last day of school Ethan attended the Yr 6 Disco at the local RSL club which was organised by a couple of parents. He had a great time with his mates!...they're all off to high school together this year!

Our beautiful girl Kiara turned 9 yrs old on 19 December...we took her and a couple of her friends to see Narnia and then a bite to eat afterwards with a cake and a play at home afterwards.

We had a lovely Xmas with family at our place...lots of eating, drinking and laughing!

And Santa left Kiara this beautiful new bike!

And the boys got some good stuff too!

I've almost finished putting together my December Daily album...just need to take a few pics of the pages so I can post them here.

Wishing you all a very happy, safe and prosperous 2011!!!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

december daily share.....

2010-12-02T15:06:00.000+11:00

Ok, so I have started my December Daily journal....the trick is to keep taking photos everyday...hopefully I'll be able to manage that!! lol!!

This kit from What is Old is New makes putting the journal together so easy...the pages are already in the album. All you have to do is cover the chipboard front and back covers and any other chipboard pages inside, add the dates, a few journal spots and a few simple embellies and it's all ready for photos! Couldn't be easier, hey??!!

I'll be sharing photos of the pages with photos as the days go by...hopefully! lol!

Here are the first few....

The idea is to not get over-complicated with the embellishing...keep it simple and imperfect so it's easier to update every couple of days without getting bogged down in making it perfect. I've covered the front and back with some leftover scraps I had sitting in my scraps box and embellished using the WIOIN kit and another Christmas kit I bought last year and hadn't used.

See??...simple!!

What are you doing to record your Christmas memories this year?

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Last night we attended Ethan's Year 6 Graduation Mass & Supper. The Mass was beautiful and Ethan had a fab time celebrating with all his friends!! Afterwards his comment to us was..."That was awesome!!!"

Here are a couple of pics.....

*sigh*....he's growing up way too fast!!

Ok, that's it for now.

Thanks for dropping by!!

Life is so busy....

2010-11-25T17:04:00.001+11:00

....especially this time of the year!! On top of school, work, and any after-school activities, there's the Yr 10 and Yr 6 graduations, end of year school concert, Xmas parties, Xmas shopping, Xmas cardmaking and Xmas decorating!....Xmas, Xmas, Xmas!!!!...it's enough to make my head spin and it isn't even December yet!!!!

I've got a couple of scrappy shares for you:

I did this LO quite a while ago but hadn't shared. It documents our night at the AC/DC concert in Sydney early this year. And what a concert it was!! I think Jordan was suitably impressed!! lol! The pics were taken on my phone so they're not perfect but, hey, it's about the memories, right??!!

And this one is for this month's Song challenge over at Challenge Heaven. I haven't done one of their challenges for ages so it was good to finally have some time to complete one. We had to use an 80's song title and glimmer mist/paint. I chose "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns n' Roses. Although, I tell ya, Kiara is not always sweet!! lol!!

This year I have decided to do a December Daily journal. Ali Edwards has been doing them for a couple of years now and has been sharing tips and instructions on her blog. I have always thought they were a great idea so I'm going to have a go this year. I found this great December Daily kit at What is Old is New.....

...and now just need to get started on putting the album together ready for photos starting 1st December.

OK that's it for now....see, I told you I'd be back! lol!!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

hello?? hello?? anyone there?!?!?.....

2010-11-18T22:14:00.000+11:00

I know, I know..I've been missing in action for quite a while! Working 5 days a week plus all the other extra curricular family activities left virtually no time to blog or scrap!! But...I've now cut my working days back to 3 days a week which should give me some time now and again to post here on this poor, neglected blog!!

This will be just a short post tonight to touch base with everyone...although I'm sure I'm not getting many visitors at the moment!! lol!!...I will come back in a day or two to post a few layouts, but tonight I just want to post a few photos, mainly for my family to see but also because they fall into the "proud mum" category!!

First up...some pics from the kids' sport presentation days...

Next, Kiara's 1st Communion last week...

And lastly, the Yr 10 Formal last night, at which Jordan partnered his friend Ange.....

They look so gorgeous and grown up...makes me tear up a little!

Ok, I'll share one layout from a few months ago. It was for a Chinese whispers challenge over at Challenge Heaven several months ago.

I'm off now to have a cuppa and head to bed...but I'll be back soon...promise!! lol!

Julie xx

It's June already?!?!?.....

2010-06-05T15:03:00.000+10:00

A new month means a new challenge over at Scrap the Girls.

Here's the challenge as posted by Kate....

JUNE is a big month for birthdays in our family, so I would like you to scrap those un-scrapped girly birthday pics you have! Please make your pages bright and fun!
Extra Criteria – Mixed alpha title (at least 3 different alphas).

Here's my sample layout....except I forgot about the mixed alphas! oops!!

There are 5 fab vouchers up for grabs so get your entries in by midnight 30 June 2010!

Kate also has a call out for a new STG Creative Team...if you're interested, head to the blog for all the details.

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Now that I've returned to work, I really haven't had much time to update this blog or scrap for that matter...and when I do have time, my kids are hogging the computer lol!!

Think I might have to get myself my own laptop! ;)

Since my last post I have been to the Shop and Crop Escape with my lovely friend Ali. We had a great time together scrapping, chatting, laughing, eating and drinking! It was great to catch up with super scrapper Kylie too!

Here's a pic of Ali and I taken by the cheeky Kylie...

And these are a few layouts I did while there....

And this one was from Jen Hall's class...love the papers and colour combo....sorry it's not a good pic....

I've also got a canvas album from Peg Hewitt's class but haven't had time to finish it yet.

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This gorgeous boy turned 12 on the 23 May. Instead of a cake, I made choc chip muffins, piled them up on a plate and drizzled Choc Ice Magic all over them...yummm!!!

Didn't get a great pic sad to say...had to photoshop this one the best I could....

Ethan's growing up way too fast....he's off to high school next year and he can't wait!!!

Ok, that's it for me today. Off to collect Kiara from a playdate.

Thanks for dropping by!

Julie xx

A layout or two....

2010-04-26T21:11:00.001+10:00

I've got a few layouts to share for some April challenges over at Challenge Heaven.

The first one is for the Number challenge...

This was for the Blind Scrap during the Cyber Crop at Challenge Heaven last weekend....

This was for the colour challenge (chocolate brown and pink), also for the CC....

And finally another one for the CC, a puzzle challenge....

And after 3 months of fruitless job hunting, I was finally offered a job late last week. I start tomorrow!! It's going to be a bit weird at first, going to work everyday but I guess I'll soon get used to it lol!!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend, and to all our diggers, both past and present...

Lest we Forget.

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

Ouch!!!!

2010-04-15T12:39:00.000+10:00

This is Ethan after a slight footy training accident last Thursday night..........

And this is the next morning......

What a shiner, hey?!!

We're almost at the end of the holidays and I'm feeling a little weary. Soon the kids will be back at school and the house will be a little quieter. We've been just hanging out at home, plus the kids had a few visits to friends and a movie here and there.

The kitchen is just about finished, just waiting on the glass splashback to be installed next week sometime.

I've got quick layout share before I go....

A layout to celebrate our gorgeous Jordan's 15th birthday....can't believe he's 15 already...I'm starting to feel a bit old! lol!!

It's just a quick post today....enjoy the rest of the school holidays and thanks for visiting!!

Julie xx

A new Scrap the Girls challenge.....

2010-04-01T23:57:00.002+11:00

It's 1st April and the new Scrap the Girls challenge has been posted.....

The April Scrap the Girls challenge is a 5,4,3,2,1 challenge!

Use 5 x buttons, 4 x patterned papers, 3 x flowers, 2 x photos, 1 x alpha

Other products are allowed to be included, but the numbers of the listed products must remain the same.

For April we also have FIVE wonderful sponsors!

Please email your entries to scrapthegirls@bigpond.com

Entries close midnight (Australian eastern standard time) 30th April 2010.

Here is my layout....

Check out the blog for all the other wonderful CT layouts!!

And get your entries in...'cause as they say, ya gotta be in it to win it!

Julie xx

What the heck happened to March??!!!....

2010-03-30T12:39:00.000+11:00

I don't know where the days are going, but they're going there way too quickly!! lol! We're two days from April and that means it's almost time for another Scrap the Girls challenge...so I'll give you a sneaky peak at my sample layout for April but you'll have to wait til Thursday for the full reveal!.....

This next LO is another one featuring a couple more pics from our recent Gold Coast holiday, using some Scenic Route pp and a cute, little chippie owl.....

And now a photo share....took this pic of Ethan back in February...I'm really happy with how it turned out, both the B&W and colour versions....

Well, the kitchen renos are about 3/4 finished and the new flooring is down...just have a few more bits to finish and we'll be all done, thank goodness! Then I'll be able to put the house back the way it should be lol!

Looking forward to the Easter break and hols...we've been so busy with the renos and the boys' footy trials for the last month, it'll be nice to have a bit of a break. Looking forward to a bit of choccie too lol!!

That's it for now...thanks for dropping by!

Hope your Easter is peaceful and relaxing with a good dollop of chocolate thrown in!!

Julie xx

It's K day!!!!.....

2010-03-15T10:44:00.000+11:00

....kitchen day, that is!!! Our brand, spanking new kitchen is going in today!!!...yayyyy!!! It's been a long, slow process...deciding what we want, getting quotes, choosing a kitchen mob and waiting for it to be constructed and ready for installation. On top of that, we pulled up the floor tiles in preparation for a timber floating floor...we did that in mid-January and have been living on bare concrete floors in the kitchen/family room since then. Once the kitchen is finished, we'll be able to lay the floor. Can't wait for it all to be finished...the house has been topsy-turvy for 2 months and it's really starting to get to me! I know it'll be worth the wait though!!

I'll post some before and after pics when it's all done!

A quick scrappy share before I go....it's for one of the March challenges over at Challenge Heaven....use the sketch designed by Shell Turner.......

Pics were taken in the rooftop pool where we stayed on the Gold Coast last January...it was a fantastic view looking north up to Surfer's Paradise!

Since I can't do much while the kitchen guy is here, I'm going to scrap this afternoon!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

A pinch & a punch.....

2010-03-01T13:05:00.000+11:00

....it's the first of the month!

It's the 1st of March and that means a new challenge for this month over at Scrap the Girls!!

And the challenge is...

As March is the month of the Oscars, please use the following picture as inspiration for your LO – it could be the colours, the fashion, the women in your life etc.......
Extra criteria – use the word friend, friendship or friends in your title

When you email your LO please explain how you have drawn inspiration from this picture.

Also please remember - Girls only! No boys allowed ;)

And here is my take on the challenge...I was inspired by the colours, the friendship aspect and the pleats on Kim Cattrall's suit jacket. So I scrapped this pic of me and Ali, my lovely scrapping buddy!

There are five prizes up for grabs again this month, so come on people, get scrapping! You've got to be in it to win it, as the saying goes!

Check out all the lovely inspiration from the other CT girls and the details of the challenge HERE!

Entries are due midnight, 31 March 2010.

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I've also done another couple of layouts for the February challenges over at Challenge Heaven

This is for the Number challenge...1 bow, 2 fonts in the title, 3 photos and also use chipboard........

And this one's for the Ebony & Ivory challenge....black and red with two other colours....I've used pink and cream. Also use distressing and a flourish. These are Kiara's new favourite shoes!....

Ok, I'm off to have some lunch and a coffee.

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

I've scrapped!!....

2010-02-24T09:25:00.002+11:00

Just a quick post to share a couple of layouts I've done for the February challenges at Challenge Heaven.

This one is for the colour challenge...use cream, green, red and blue plus buttons and ribbon and no flowers. I've used some paper scraps and I found an old bulldog clip embellishment in my stash. This layout was inspired by a layout in the current Creating Keepsakes mag......

And this is for the sketch challenge based on a PageMaps sketch...again I've used up a few paper scraps and a bit of fabric for the lollipop flowers. The leaf ribbon is from Craft Queen.

It's much cooler weather here today so I might do a little scrapping.

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

fifteen....

2010-02-20T20:07:00.000+11:00

This beautiful boy turned fifteen last Wednesday!!

He is turning into a young man so very quickly it's making my head spin!

As part of his birthday present John and I took him to see AC/DC at Anz Stadium in Sydney last Thursday night...and what a concert it was! It really was more than a concert, it was an EVENT!!

It was Jordan's very first concert and it was great that he got to see one of Australia's legendary bands!!

It was an amazing night, one that I hope he will remember for a very long time!

Here's a couple of pics I took on my phone.....

No luck on the job front yet....I'll just have to keep plugging away. Hopefully someone will take pity on me and give me a job! lol!

I don't have any scrappy shares tonight...hopefully I'll have some to post in the next day or so.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

And so it starts.....

2010-02-07T17:40:00.003+11:00

....another year of school, Saturday sports, after-school activities and hopefully some part-time work for me!

Yes, I'm looking to go back to work this year. It's mainly at John's instigation but really, if I'm honest with myself, I've realised that getting some part-time work will be good for me as well as our finances. I've been a stay-at-home Mum for 15 years now, an important job which I've loved despite the usual dramas here and there with the kids that most families have...and I know that I'm very lucky that our painting business has been successful enough for me to stay at home with the kids for all these years. But the kids are growing up and are not quite so dependant on me being here for them every minute of the day so it's time for me to find some independence while contributing to the family finances.

I'm sooo not looking forward to the process of finding a job though...it's a little daunting after so long out of the workforce so wish me luck!!!!

The kids are back at school...Jordan to Yr10 (what the??!!), Ethan to Yr6 and Kiara to Yr3...they were glad to get back I think, they were starting to miss their friends and I was glad for them to go back, they were starting to drive me nuts!! lol!!

The boys have been registered for footy and Kiara has been registered for Netball and so Saturday winter sport and after-school training has started for the new season....and just as well as the kids couldn't wait any longer to get stuck in!! Not sure if I'm looking forward to early Saturday mornings though lol!!!

Our new kitchen goes in on 15-16 March and the new flooring straight after that...can't wait!!...the house is a mess and I just want to straighten it all out again!!

I've got some scrappy news which I've been meaning to post here for the last week.....I know, I'm a bit slow 'cause the team was announced on the 31st January lol!!!!....

I'm a member of the new Creative Team for the Scrap the Girls challenge blog!!!!!!!!!

There's a bunch of talented ladies on this team and I'm looking forward to working with them for the next 6 months!!!
Check out their blogs to see their fab work..links are in my sidebar --->>>

The February challenge is:

Use this quote for inspiration........

"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth." — Mark Twain

Extra criteria - Add hearts

And here's my sample layout.....

This month there are FIVE SPONSORS!! which means five fabulous vouchers to win.....so if you want to be in the running for a great prize email your layouts to scrapthegirls@bigpond.com by midnight 28th February 2010.

Hope you've had a great weekend!

Thanks for visiting!

Julie xx

Holidays.....

2010-01-24T20:01:00.000+11:00

...are drawing to a close and I admit I am counting down the days til school starts again! I do love the summer holidays...lazing around, going to bed when we want, getting up when we want and just generally chilling out. But I have to say by the time it gets to this stage of the hols I've had enough of the kids' fighting and bickering and their regular announcements that they are bored! To be fair though, the very hot weather probably adds to the fractious kids (and parents! lol!)...thank goodness for air-conditioning I say!!

It's been a few weeks since I last blogged so I'll do a quick run down of what's been happening...in point form....

* We enjoyed a quiet but relaxing Christmas with my parents and John's sister joining us for a few days.

* We didn't do much for New Year's Eve...we toyed with the idea of going to Sydney for the fireworks but in the end couldn't be bothered making the trek and decided to stay home, enjoy some champers and watched the fireworks on TV.

* On 3 January we headed up to the Gold Coast for a week of theme-parking. Stayed in a lovely apartment with THREE pools which the kids loved! Spent one day at Movieworld and 2 days at Dreamworld/White Water world and were exhausted each night! We also caught up with some long-time friends in Brisbane, took a drive up to Mt Tambourine and did a spot of shopping. It was a loooong drive home and we were all glad to stumble in our front door after a 9 hour drive...there's nothing like your own bed is there??

Here's a collage of a few photos we took....

* Since getting back from the GC, we have begun some small renovation work in our kitchen/family room. A brand new kitchen will be going in sometime mid-late February and we decided to re-do the floor. We have had ceramic tiles since we built the house in 1994, so we have had to rip them up in preparation for a floating, timber floor.

* Currently the house is topsy-turvy with furniture and stuff all piled into the lounge room up the front and we are living on a bare concrete floor in the back section of the house...I don't know what posessed us to start renos while the kids are home on hols!!!..what fun it's been with them running in and out while we've been pulling the floor up!...NOT!! lol!

So after all that, I am sooo looking forward to some peace and quiet when the kids go back to school...even though the house will be a mess for a few weeks yet!

Before I go, I've got a couple of scrapping shares...

This one was for a Blind scrap held over at Challenge Heaven last Thursday night...

And this one I did today...a simple LO...

Colours aren't good, I find black is very difficult to scan without making the other colours go weird!

OK I'm done...off to have a cuppa.

Thanks for dropping in.

Julie xx

2009 is almost over!....

2009-12-31T14:40:00.002+11:00

Christmas is done and dusted, this year is just about over, and another almost begun....2009 was pretty uneventful for us and even though nothing too exciting happened I am grateful that we got through the year mostly happy and healthy.

The kids have grown so much this year....Jordan is almost 15yrs and changing right before our eyes into a young man...Ethan is rapidly heading toward his teenage years and high school and I'm not sure whether I'm ready for that yet! lol!....and Miss Kiara has just turned 8yrs, she is growing up and is quickly losing her "little girl-ness"!!

And John and I??....well nothing much has changed for us, except maybe our waistlines! lol! Watching our kids grow and develop makes us realise more and more how quickly the years pass and that we need to appreciate every minute we spend together.

We've had some worries the last few years so I'm hoping that in 2010 we can finally move forward and try to do the things we want to do and not worry so much about things that we can't change.

So, to everyone who stops by my little blog, I really hope your 2010 is happy, peaceful and prosperous!!!

Before I go, a quick layout share....done for one of the December challenges over at Challenge Heaven...use chocolate brown and teal...

Happy New Year!!!

And whatever you're doing tonight, have a great one!

Julie xx

It's Christmas Eve....

2009-12-24T23:16:00.000+11:00

I'm just quickly jumping on to wish everyone a Very Merry, Safe

and Peaceful Christmas!!!!

I hope you all get to spend some time relaxing with family and friends....and if you're driving somewhere to spend Christmas please, please drive safely!

Julie xx

A quick scrappy post...

2009-12-19T18:08:00.001+11:00

This is just a quick post to share a couple of layouts I've done this week.

The first one is for the December challenge at Scrap the Girls.....use Christmas carol lyrics as your title and the following criteria:

J-jewels (bling)

O-orange patterned paper or cardstock

Y-yellow embellishment.

I was a bit stumped with this one at first as orange and yellow wouldn't normally be my Christmas colours of choice...but I think it turned out OK in the end. I've used mostly scraps for this one. With the yellow star, I trimmed a Heidi Swapp yellow chipboard flower into the star shape as I didn't really have any suitable yellow embellishments in my stash.....

And this one is a "just because" layout...I love this photo of Jordan and Kiara and have used some more of the cute Kaisercraft Christmas Carnival collection...love the colours in this range....

Ok, off to organise dinner and then later watch the Carols in the Domain (Sydney) on TV.

Thanks for stopping by....

Julie x

It's getting closer....

2009-12-14T17:02:00.003+11:00

...to the day the jolly, fat man in the red suit touches down to leave a load of goodies!!!...but I have to say it's been hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I don't exactly know why....maybe because it seems like December arrived way before I was ready for it! lol! Looks like I'll be madly shopping this week and probably next week too!

Despite limited Christmas spirit I have managed to take a few photos and do a few cards. Here's a pic of some of the cards I did this year...there were others but I forgot to take a pic before I mailed them off .....D'oh!! silly me lol!

With these ones I've used some of the yummy Kaisercraft Carnival range.

Our tree is up then I had a little helper to decorate it...Miss Kiara!

A funny story with the tree...when the tree went up, our cat Tabatha kept diving into it to attack the lower baubles so I had to lock the tree in the study when we went to bed each night for the first week for fear that she would topple it over during the night! lol! The novelty of it is slowly wearing off as I've been spraying her with water every time she goes near it!

One afternoon I tried to take some photos of the kids...I managed to get this nice one of Jordan and Kiara but Ethan wasn't co-operating lol! I'll have to try again this week!

This past week I've been busy making last minute preparations for Kiara's birthday party which we had last weekend. She wanted to have her party at the Treetop Adventure Park so we got together a group of her friends plus her two cousins and headed up there on Saturday for a fun session of monkeying around in the trees, party food and birthday cake! A great time was had by all!!

These were the treat bags...brown paper bags purchased at Base Warehouse decorated with strips of fabric, ricrac, buttons and flowers for the girls and chippie stars for the boys....their names were stamped on the bottom.

Last Thursday night Ethan and Kiara had their school concert. I didn't bother taking the camera to the concert but took a few photos of them at home before we left.....

The theme for the concert was Music by deceased Artists.....so, Ethan's Yr 5 did 3 songs from Elvis (he's dressed as a prisoner for Jailhouse Rock) and Kiara's Yr 2 did 4 songs by Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and the Comets and The Chordettes. The kids had a lot of fun doing the dances and it was great to watch.

I haven't done any scrapping the last couple of weeks so I don't have any scrappy shares...I'm hoping to get a couple of challenge layouts done this week so I'll share them when they're done.

Ok, better go...Ethan is waiting patiently to get on the computer and I need to go and sort something out for dinner.

Thanks for dropping by.

Bye....

Julie x

hot, hot Friday!!

2009-11-27T08:58:00.003+11:00

Today is going to be another hot one!!......I love hot weather but I wasn't expecting 35+ degree days in mid to late November!!

I'm just popping up a quick post with some scrappy shares before I have to leave the computer with the computer doctor for a couple of days...hate being without it even though I know it's good to have a break from it every so often lol!

This first layout is for the November challenge at Scrap the Girls....it was a colour challenge: use sky blue, strawberry red, white and orange...kept this one pretty simple using some scraps of Basic Grey Marrakech and a cute little ceramic flower from Crafty Matters....

This next one is for Aussie Scrapjack....I jacked Belinda Venable's fab layout.

Kiara was given permission by her teacher to bring Harley, the class mascot, on our trip to Selwyn last August. She spent the whole weekend skiing with him tucked in the front of her jacket lol!...she did get a few odd looks from some people, but she didn't care...and I love that!

I used some Xmas papers from We R Memory Keepers from last year...they were "snow" themed

and while they don't suit an Aussie hot Xmas they were perfect for a snow holiday!

And this last one is for Challenge Heaven....the Ebony & Ivory challenge was to use white or ivory with brown and NO FLOWERS!...that bit was hard as I use flowers on lots of layouts lol!

These are photos taken during our trip to Melbourne last January...we spent a fun day at the fabulous Sovereign Hill at Ballarat.

I'm not really all that happy with how the layout turned out...it's definitely not one of my better ones but it's done now, time to move on to the next one.

Ok, gotta run...need to get this computer off to the doctor this morning.

Thanks for dropping in and keep cool peoples!!

Julie xx

A sunny Saturday.......

2009-11-14T19:41:00.002+11:00

Kiara and I had a crafty afternoon on this gorgeous, sunny Saturday. Here's what we made......

I bought a packet of these cute, little people earlier this year and every now and then Kiara likes to decorated some. I found them in an art and craft shop and they come blank, ready for decorating however you like. This is what she came up with today, after rummaging in my patterned paper scraps, ribbon and adding a bit of wool for hair...aren't they cute?!?!?

I was inspired to make some fabric lollipop flowers after a comment by Shell on Challenge Heaven this morning. I've used a few scraps of fabric, a bit of tulle and a few buttons.

I've got a few scrappy shares....they are all for the November challenges over at Challenge Heaven.

This was the colour challenge....use red, black and white...perfect for this photo of Ethan taken during the Grand Final this year. I've used mostly scraps of patterned paper and made the felt star plus I found an old football brad in my stash.

This one was for the Quote challenge...use the quote "your laugh is music to my ears", 6 buttons and strip journalling. The photo was taken last year...the kids were doing pyramids in the front yard, it collapsed and they all fell in a heap cacking themselves with laughter lol!!

Used some Scenic Route paper and buttons, a Making Memories journal sheet, a Grace Taylor branch stamp and covered a Collections owl with paper scraps.

And this was for the Scrap Yourself challenge......scrap a photo of yourself with someone other than your own kids...also use lace and handwritten journalling. I chose a spare copy I had of one of our wedding photos that I really love. We soooo wish we still looked that young and slim lol!!!

Used some of the gorgeous Websters Pages paper, flowers and alphas, some broderie anglaise lace, a stamped journal spot and a cute felt birdie.

All my boys are out tonight...Jordan is at a sleepover at one of his mate's place, while John and Ethan have gone to the movies together....so it's just me and Kiara for awhile tonight....and for dinner I'm eating chicken nuggets and a glass of wine lol!!!!...very sophisticated!! lol!!

Be back soon....enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Julie x

An award...

2009-11-09T12:56:00.004+11:00

There's a new award doing the rounds....and I've been given one by the talented Kylie...thanks Kylie!!

Now there are a few rules....

1. Answer these questions...you can only use ONE word!!!
2. Pass this along to 5 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. HAVE FUN!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? bench
2. Your hair? straight
3. Your mother? Margaret
4. Your father? Bill
5. Your fave food? chocolate
6. Your dream last night? weird
7. Your fave drink? wine
8. Your dream/goal? happy
9. What room are you in? study
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? snakes
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? beachhouse
13. Where you were last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? loud
15. Muffins? yes
16. Wish List Item? pool
17. Where did you grow up? Newcastle
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? on
21. Your Pets? cat
22. Friends? good
23. Your Life? uneventful
24. Your Mood? good
25. Missing Someone? friend
26. Vehicle? 4WD
27. Something your not wearing? jacket
28. Your fave store? scrap
29. Your fave colour? pink
30. Last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? John
33. One place that I go to over and over? Coles
34. One person who emails regularly? Mel
35. Fave place to eat? Iguana's

And I'm passing on the award to:

Ali
Amie
Ann-Marie
Deb
Kathie

Love the stuff all these girls do!

I've got one layout to share....

One weekend in June, Kiara brought home her class mascot, Harley, for a visit.

This was for a challenge over at Shop and Crop.
*2 patterned papers
*stamping
*dimensional title

Well, it's my birthday today....I'm now officially 48!!! eeek!! what the....!!!...I've decided I'm now going to ignore birthdays from now on!...unless of course, I get lots and lots of pressies! lol!!
I'm being taken out for dinner tonight so I am looking forward to that!

Ok, I've got to go and vacuum the floor so it looks like I've actually done something today lol!

C'ya!...thanks for dropping by.

Julie x

a layout or two.....

2009-10-29T15:21:00.006+11:00

I've got a couple of scrappy shares today.....

Lime tart have put up their new Tuesday challenge:

* use rub-ons
* stitching
* buttons

Here's my effort......

I've used the beautiful Crate Paper Lillian collection - papers and glitter diecuts....and a cute, little ceramic "love" heart from Crafty Matters.

While going through my photo folder on the computer the other day, I realised that I hadn't scrapped the photo I took of Jordan on his birthday in February....so this is it....

Here I've used We R Memory Keepers papers, a bit of string and hession and some older Heidi Swapp chipboard letters.

We bought a new BBQ today...a big, beautiful, stainless steel one...just in time for the warmer weather. John spent this afternoon putting it together, surprisingly enough without any swearing! lol!
We like to BBQ and eat outside a lot in summer and our old one fell apart a few months ago...so it was time to get a new one. Looking forward to lots of yummy BBQ meals...cooked with great skill by John!! lol!!...can't get him to cook in the kitchen very much but he's happy to cook on the BBQ, with beer in hand of course!!

OK, off to organise dinner.
Thanks for dropping in!

Julie x

Lazy days skirt....

2009-10-24T11:55:00.006+11:00

I've been sewing!....I haven't done much sewing since I started scrapbooking...well clothes anyway...most of my sewing these days is on layouts!

But last week I saw this very easy-to-make "Lazy days skirt" on Mel Goodsell's blog so I thought I'd make a couple for Kiara......she loves them 'cause she's skirt-y/dress-y kind of girl!! LOL!

There is no pattern as such...just follow the simple instructions which you can download HERE.

It's super easy to make...and very inexpensive!!

We are doing a massive clean-out of Kiara's room today....she asked me the other day if we could change her room around and I agreed. I think she wants more floor space to play in which she doesn't have at the moment with the furniture arranged as it is. So it's a good opportunity to clear out the old, unused stuff and chuck out rubbish and bits of broken toys etc.
She also wants her feature wall re-painted hot pink....luckily Daddy has some paint we can use, in the shed!! LOL!

I also bought a white wicker chair for Kiara's room yesterday...I'm going to make a cushion for it from some of the leftover fabric from her quilt cover and pillow cover I made earlier this year.

No scrappy shares today....didn't really get to do any scrapping this week...maybe this arvo.

Time for a sandwich and then get back to the clean-up!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend peoples!

Julie x

Ahhhh...peace and quiet...

2009-10-20T08:41:00.008+11:00

The kids have returned to school and it's lovely and quiet! LOL!...and of course the weather is beautiful now that school has gone back..grrr!

On Sunday our footy club got together for Presentation Day 2009. Both the boys received participation trophies plus commemorative jackets for reaching their respective Grand Finals and Ethan was awarded the Players' Player trophy for his team...we're just so chuffed for both of them for the great season they had this year, particularly as they and their teams did it with such great sportsmanship!

I took this photo of the boys when we got home....
ETA: I think they both need a haircut!! LOL!!

Later in the afternoon we also headed off to Kiara's Presentation Day...she was very proud to recieve her very first sporting trophy. She had a great first year playing netball (called Netta for kids under 9yrs)...and she told her lovely coach she would be back next year.

A couple of scrappy shares before I go:

A layout of Tabatha for the Word challenge at Challenge Heaven....use the word "Adorable" in the title, ribbon, inking and stamping somewhere on the layout....

And this was for the Blind Scrap at Challenge Heaven last Friday night...it was the first time I had done one of these and it was great fun!

This is me and Ali at the Shop and Crop retreat earlier this year...Ali sent me this photo which was taken on her camera...thanks Ali!

It's a gorgeous spring day here today...hope the weather's great wherever you are.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Julie x

the mojo's back!!!....I think!!!...

2009-10-15T17:59:00.004+11:00

I think my mojo has decided to return from its little holiday!! LOL!...thank goodness too, because I was starting to worry! I really think it's been the challenges over at Challenge Heaven that have kick-started the scrapping mojo...scrapping without thinking too much may have done the trick!

Here's one I did today....it was inspired by a layout by Julie Dudley....I used a bit more of the September 09 Crop kit from Shop and Crop which uses Cosmo Cricket Earth Love range....

The holidays are almost over...only a few days to go. I love my kids but I have to say I'll be glad when they are back at school...is that bad??! LOL!

The last few days have been busy...

*spent all day Monday in Sydney taking Ethan to the set of the pilot TV show he has a small role in...hopefully it will be screened next year some time.

*Tuesday, drove back to Sydney, the Sutherland area, to visit my friend Sandy and her family whom we haven't seen for a while ...and slept over there.

*Wednesday, spent the morning with Sandy, took the kids to the local pool for a swim and then headed home in the afternoon.

So, after all that driving over the previous 3 days, we had a quiet day at home...the kids played outside all day with neighbourhood kids while I blog surfed and scrapped.

Now, it's time for a glass of wine while I organise dinner.

Thanks for dropping in!

Julie x

A new blinkie!!...

2009-10-14T21:35:00.003+11:00

Lime Tart now have Tuesday Challenge going on their blog...fortnightly challenges to get your creative juices flowing!!...plus all entries are in the running for a random prize draw....that's gotta be worth having a go, right??!!?...click on the blinkie in my sidebar for all the details---->>>>>

See ya!!

I've been scrapping!!...

2009-10-10T16:30:00.010+11:00

The weather has been awful for the first week of the school hols....but it was perfect for getting some scrapping done!!

My mojo has been a bit AWOL lately so I joined up at this brand new challenge site...Challenge Heaven...thought some challenges might help me get re-started!

I've done three of the challenges so far.....all the photos were taken on our trip to Melbourne last January....

This was the Ebony & Ivory challenge...I had to use white (ivory), pink and green, brads or pearls, and butterflies....used a few pp scraps: Ki Memories and We R Memory Keepers...the butterfly was created from a paper flower, just cut out one of the petals and add some pearls for the body......

this was the Colour challenge...use shades of blue and brown.......pp scraps used here too: Basic Grey and Scenic Route...added a Love Elsie red sticker for some contrast.....

and this was for the Sketch challenge....Basic Grey Marrakesh pp and I found the little red car clipart on the 'net......

Shell at Challenge Heaven will put up 8 different challenges each month...you need to complete at least 4 of them to be in the running for a couple of prizes so if you're looking for a place with a variety of challenges, go and check it out!!

Scrap the Boys has put up their October challenge....use this ad for inspiration....

and this is my take on it......I used the colours and the basic layout design.....Basic Grey Marrakesh pp again plus I tried to make a dent in my brad stash LOL!

Well, we were planning on going to the movies as a family today but there is NOTHING on!!!....well nothing that an 11.5yr old and a 14.5 yr old want to see or that John and I want to see for that matter!...what happened to decent kids movies being released during school holidays!!...and I don't just mean Disney/Pixar movies aimed at the 4-8yr olds, as good as they might be. It's got to the stage where we have to split the family when we go to the movies....John will take the boys to see something that suits them and I take Kiara to see something she likes!... A trip to the movies all together is not as easy as it once was!

I'm having a nice glass of wine as I type this and I'm going to do a little more scrapping...I think I'm on a roll!! LOL!

Thanks for dropping in!

Julie x

PS: Oh, and I've just booked into the Shop and Crop 2010 Retreat!!!....it's at a new venue next year and looks very swish...I'm going to be rooming with my fave online scrapping buddy, Ali who has kindly agreed to go too!!! Yayyyy!!!!

So, school holidays have begun....

2009-10-05T12:35:00.004+11:00

School holidays have now begun here in NSW with pretty ordinary weather I might add...good weather makes the holidays much more enjoyable, for both me and the kids LOL! Hope it warms up again very soon!

We don't have too much planned other than a couple of the kids' friends over, here and there, and maybe a movie or two....oh, and Ethan has got a role in another short film which will be shot next weekend....this time it's a paying job which he's very happy about LOL! (last time it was a non-paying role).

Did a little sewing on the weekend....made this cushion for Kiara's bed. I've had the fabric sitting on top of the cupboard for weeks! I've finally got around to sewing it up! Love the colour!..it really brightens up her room!

Watched the Melbourne Storm win, yet again, another NRL Grand Final yesterday. Although I'm a diehard Newcastle Knights fan, I was gunning for the Eels to win, for a number of reasons really.....I wanted the Trophy to stay in NSW....I wanted Parramatta player Nathan Hindmarsh to add a premiership to his career CV and really I think Melbourne have had more than their fair share of playing in Grand Finals lately!! LOL!

Before I go, a quick layout share.....Ethan turned 11yrs in May and I've only just now scrapped the photos...oops! LOL! It's based on a CISters Stylish Sketch.....

Oh, and I forgot to mention in the last post that I've got a layout in the current Scrapbooking Memories....teen gallery. It's nice to have it published as it's one of my faves of Jordan....can't show it here for a couple of months though.

Ok, the kids are occupied for the moment so I'm off to scrap!

Enjoy the week peoples!

Back soon!

Julie xx

It's Wednesday......

2009-09-30T13:19:00.005+10:00

....and it's a beautiful and warm sunny day! It seems that summer is definitely on it's way...thank goodness too as I'm rather sick of the cold weather!

Well, since it's spring, I have spring-cleaned the blog and did a bit of tidying up down the side bar -->>....took off some old stuff and changed the photo. Love the designs at Shabby Blogs which is where the new background comes from.

It's a quick post today but before I go, a couple of scrapping shares.......

Love this photo of Kiara..so much so, I enlarged it!
I used the sweet Cosmo Cricket Earth Love range...

This layout of Kiara and her cousin Imogen uses the gorgeous Basic Grey June Bug collection....

Ok, that's it!

Back soon!

Julie x

Meanwhile, 3 months later!!!!.....

2009-09-14T13:56:00.012+10:00

....I'm finally putting up a post!!! It's scary how fast this year is flying by!......I've been meaning for weeks to update this blog, but everytime I think about doing it, I find something else that needs to be done or I just plain don't feel like it!!! Oh and it's not like we've been doing anything too exciting...it's just day-to-day stuff that takes up all our time! LOL!

* Tabbie our kitten is growing bigger everyday...and she's such a sweetie! She sits on top of the lounge looking out the window each morning, waiting for me to come back from taking the kids to the bus stop....she's waiting for her brekky of course!...too cute!

*We spent an extra long weekend at Selwyn Snowfields in late August....the snow was disappearing but we still had great fun....and no cooking or cleaning up for me...now that's what I like in a holiday!!

*Kiara finished netball (Netta) in mid-August....she and her team improved so much over the season and finished up with a great 8-2 goals win!!

*Both the boys' footy teams finished 2nd on their respective ladders and therefore made the semi-finals!! Both teams then made it through to their Grand Finals which were played last weekend....Ethan's team won their game and Jordan's team played extremely well but were unfortunately defeated in a close game. We are so proud of both of them...making it to a Grand Final, whatever the result, is not an easy thing to do so it was a great achievement for both of them!!!

I haven't done too much scrapping lately...in between all the above stuff, I've been sick with the flu a couple of times so my mojo has disappeared somewhat....but I'll show the few layouts I've done over the last few months....

This one is of Kiara at the Treetops Adventure Park a few months ago...she had a ball!

this one uses the gorgeous Websters Pages for a glamour portrait I had taken 10 years ago...Photography by Portrait Place....

A layout of Tabatha, our kitty....

A layout using some pics from the Shop and Crop retreat earlier in the year....

And another one of Tabbie with Ethan, using a Hambly transparency as the base.....

Oh and here are a couple of the boys during their Grand Final games last weekend...these are straight off the camera...no photoshop tweaking yet......

Jordan.....

Ethan.....

Ok, that's it for now....I'll try and update a little more regularly from now on!! LOL!

If anyone is still reading this blog, thanks for dropping by.

cheers
Julie xx

Today....

2009-06-11T12:48:00.011+10:00

....I've managed to get on the computer!! LOL!!........hubby has not had much work on the last month or so due to the economic downturn so he's been at home hogging the computer!!...I've barely been able to get a look in! LOL!!!

So while I've got a chance, I'll upload some layouts and a couple of cards that I've done for Craft Queen using the June Ribbon Club pack...gorgeous colours!

I'll also be doing some stuff for Craft Queen in July so stay tuned!

Oh, and I've also got a layout coming up in Scrapbooking Memories in a few months too!

On the family front....

*with all the wet weather, the boys and Kiara have had their footy and netball washed out for the last 3 weeks and they weren't happy!....hopefully this week's sunshine and wind has dried the grounds out and sport will be on this weekend!!

*Tabatha, our kitten is growing very quickly...she's now almost 4.5months!!...here's a couple of cute photos...

* with the way the economy is at the moment, John decided we needed a website for our business, so he's been busy getting that up and running. If you live in Sydney, Central Coast or Newcastle and need some painting done, check out our website...Brushright Painters...ok, enough of the shameless plugging! LOL!!!!

It's been absolutely freezing here yesterday and today!....my hands are ice-cold as I type this, so I'm off to have a coffee!

Stay warm!!...and thanks for dropping by!

Julie xx

some photos and scrapping shares......

2009-05-09T16:58:00.016+10:00

I'm back with some scrapping and photos to share.....

Firstly, some pics from the Shop and Crop Escape last month...

Me, Kylie and Ali...
Not too sure what's going on here!! LOL!!...Kathie, me, Deb, Evana, Alison and Jen....

A group shot of the online girls....

Now these pics are from Kiara's first netball game last week....even though her team lost, she had such a great time playing the game, afterwards she said she couldn't wait to play again...and that's what kids sport is all about, isn't it?.....

Some scrapping shares....these are some of the class layouts from the Shop and Crop Escape...

First two are from Kathie Link's class...

And this one is from Alison Shearer's class...

I haven't really done any other scrapping lately...too much going on plus I think my mojo is on "go slow" at the moment! LOL!!
But...Nicole from Craft Queen has offered me a 2 month guest designer spot for June and July so stay tuned for those shares later!

That's it for now....pizza has just arrived...Yummm!!!

See ya!!

Oh and Happy Mother's Day for tomorrow!!!!!

Julie xx

Oh dear!!!!......

2009-04-16T14:45:00.004+10:00

It's now the middle of April and I have not blogged for weeks!!..so slack! LOL!

The days go by so quickly it's hard sometimes to find the time to post!

Anyway, shall do a *dot form* catchup.....

*the boys have had several "trial games" for footy over the last few weeks with a couple more to play before the season starts proper on 2 May.

*we have signed Kiara up to play netball this year (Nettas - for the U7's)...but she had to give up Scallywaggs gymnastics...just couldn't stretch to doing both as she also still does swimming.

*Kiara broke her ankle 2.5 weeks ago...rolled it on the neighbour's trampoline...of course there were 3 kids on it at the same time and she was double bounced...now she knows why we say "only one at a time please!"....the x-ray showed she had cracked the fibula right at the very bottom of her leg on the actual growth plate which is softer tissue than fully formed bone so it should heal within 3-4 weeks without a full plaster cast! She is actually walking around very well on it now!!

*we have a new addition to the household....Tabatha, a beautiful 10 week old tortoiseshell kitten whom we adopted from Hunter Animal Rescue...she is such a gorgeous, placid little thing and is happy to be smothered with love by the kids LOL!! HAR do such a wonderful job caring for rescued animals so if you are thinking of adding to your family and you live in the Hunter/Central Coast NSW area, check out the HAR website...they have lots of kittens, puppies, adult cats and dogs looking for forever homes.

*had a fantastic weekend at the Shop and Crop Creative Escape on the 3-5 April. Loved catching up with the online girls and meeting some of the new ones and loved the workshops. Sasha, Suz, Bec and the DT girls did an amazing job organising and running the retreat. I have some photos and layouts from the weekend to share but will have to do that later as blogger is not co-operating!

Hope everyone had a lovely and relaxing Easter with lots of choccies to munch on!

Be back soon with some scrapping shares.

Julie xx

A few scrapping shares.......

2009-03-08T10:29:00.008+11:00

It's March already????....where did January and February go??

I've been doing a bit of scrapping over the last few weeks so I've got a few layouts to share....

I did these first three layouts as part of my application for the White with 1 challenge blog Creative Team. I wasn't successful but had fun doing these pages...

This one was for a challenge over at Shop and Crop using the January 2009 crop kit....

I took this photo on Australia Day this year....these beautiful birds were very happy to take pieces of bread from Kiara's (and her cousin Imogen's) hand.....

And finally, I am the featured scrapper this month over at Scrap the boys blog and this is the layout I did for it. The theme was to use any combination of "U R/You are" in the title and journal a minimum of 50 words...........

Not much family news to share....we're just plodding along in the same old routine. Oztag has finished and the boys' footy starts again soon with training already started. Kiara is thinking she'd like to play netball this year so we're looking into that plus she is continuing her swimming lessons.

We've booked another long weekend at Selwyn Snowfields for late August...looking forward to that. We were hoping to go to Japan next January for skiing, but after my sister-in-law Sue did some research on the costs etc, we've decided to put that on hold for now....with the crash of the Aussie dollar it was pushing up the costs quite considerably. We are also thinking of moving house later this year so we thought we would be better to save our money for the purchase of a new house.

Anyway that's it for now.

Thanks for dropping by....enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Julie xx

It's his birthday today!!!

2009-02-17T11:45:00.003+11:00

It's Jordan's birthday today!!!....my big, baby boy is now 14!!!!!!

Wow, where did those years go....I can still remember the day of his birth as if it was yesterday, but I guess all mums remember the births of their children so clearly.

In the last 12months he has physically grown so much and he's now taller than his mum!!! :o

We're taking him out to dinner tonight and then a few of his school mates are coming over for an afternoon/evening of playstation, Wii and pizza on Saturday.

He is becoming a lovely young man...so sweet and caring.

Happy Birthday gorgeous boy!!!....Dad and I love you and are very proud of you!!!

Julie xx

Lovely Blog Award........

2009-02-16T14:51:00.005+11:00

I've been very slack....the very talented Kathie Link gave me this award a couple of weeks ago and I'm only just now posting it!!......Thanks so much Kathie!!.......

I'm supposed to pass it onto another 7 recipients, and although it's lovely to be recognised by other bloggers, there are so many of these blog awards going around that it's getting difficult to award it to people that haven't already been given....can only think of a few...

OK it's just a quick post today!

Thanks for dropping by!

Julie xx

Do you want to help the Victorian bushfire families???....

2009-02-11T17:27:00.003+11:00

The very talented Sarah Gladman is organising collections of scrapbooking pages to create memory books for all those families affected by the Victorian bushfire.....it's so sad to think that they have lost all their precious photos and memories and this is a way that we scrappers can help....

Head over to Sarah's blog to find out more and if you would like to contribute, leave Sarah a comment and she will email you with her address.

I'll be contributing some pages...hope you can too!

Julie xx

A raging inferno....

2009-02-11T11:22:00.003+11:00

That's what struck parts of Victoria on Saturday....a hell on earth.

I've been watching the TV footage everyday with tears in my eyes, like most people I imagine.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been so terribly affected by this bushfire tragedy....lives and property gone in a few minutes...complete devastation.

But the firies and all the emergency workers and volunteers are doing a magnificent job!!...the wonderful Aussie spirit comes to the fore once again!

I needed to put some words down on paper so I did this simple layout yesterday...I just felt that I had to record something about that awful February Saturday in 2009 while the thoughts were still fresh in my mind............

photo taken from the ninemsn website.

To all the victims and their families & friends and all the volunteer workers,

God Bless!

Julie xx

A bit of remodelling.....

2009-01-23T15:57:00.002+11:00

....a bit of blog remodelling that is!!
Felt like jazzing it up a little and have redone the banner...although it doesn't fit exactly, but I couldn't be bothered fiddling around with getting the size right anymore...meh, I'm happy with it!

I'd love for you to leave a comment and tell me what you think of the changes!

Thanks!!

Julie xx

Melbourne photos...

2009-01-14T17:21:00.005+11:00

This is just a quick post to upload a few of our photos from Melbourne.

We took around 220 pics so I've just picked a few that I liked.

I decided to do a bit of a collage...much easier and quicker to upload with Blogger! LOL!

Really love the Luna Park photo...will definitely be doing a layout on that one!!

Ummm...I've seen on other blogs, line frames around photos but I don't know how to do it...if someone out there knows, could you please let me know...I just think it looks better....thanks!!

Ok that's it!...told you it was a short post! LOL!!

Cya!!

Julie xx

A few layouts to share....

2009-01-13T23:26:00.007+11:00

I've been doing Kim Archer's new Seven workshop these last couple of days so I thought I'd share my first two layouts from the workshop....

And this layout is for Scrap the Boys January Challenge...we had to use their blog banner as inspiration.....

The photos on all these layouts were taken at Cockatoo Island last November...after a bit of tweaking in photoshop I love how they've turned out!

Yesterday I managed to get all the 220 odd photos that we took in Melbourne off the camera and onto the computer....they need a bit of work in photoshop though, so I'll post a few when they're ready.

Today I took Ethan and Kiara to the movies to see "Bolt"....they wanted to see it while we were in Melbourne but John and Jordan weren't too keen to see it so I promised to take them this week. We enjoyed it, it's a great little film...he is a very cute puppy!!

So it's midnight now and I can hear my pillow calling so I'm off to bed!

Thanks for stopping by....g'night!!!

Julie xx

Hello 2009!!!

2009-01-11T12:52:00.004+11:00

Well 2009 is here and is chugging along just as quickly as 2008 did!!

There's another blog award doing the rounds and the lovely Kylie has given it to me...thanks so much Kylie!!!

The Proximity Award!!!!

This is called The Proximity Award."These blogs invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I'm sure most of my fave blogs have already been given the award so I'll just leave it at that!

We've just returned from a short holiday to Melbourne...it was a spur of the moment trip so we could only manage 5 days away but managed to fit a fair bit into those 5 days!! LOL!!....

1 Adventure Water Park near Geelong on Monday.
2 Sovereign Hill at Ballarat on Tuesday.
3 Shopping and sightseeing in the city on Wednesday, including riding the new Southern Cross Wheel.
4 Dandenong ranges riding the Puffing Billy steam train, going to the movies to see Madagascar 2 on Thursday.
5 Scienceworks in the morning before flying home Friday afternoon.

I've taken plenty of photos but they're still on the camera so I'll post some of those later.

John and Jordan headed off on a trip to the Gold Coast today with Jordan's football team which they've been looking forward to...I'm sure they'll have some great father/son time at all the theme parks!!...I'm expecting two very tired boys to come home next Saturday!!! LOL!

No scrapping shares today but I'm going to get off this computer right now and get stuck into some scrapping this afternoon! I just signed up today for Kim Archer's new SEVEN workshop which I'm itching to get started on!

Thanks for dropping by......
Julie xx

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-31T16:49:00.007+11:00

Well this is it!....the last day of 2008!!!...where did those last 12 months go???

For our family, 2008 was only a so-so year, definitely not one of our best so I'm really looking forward to casting off 2008 and welcoming in 2009 with the eternal hope that things will be much more positive for us.

We have no special plans for tonight....after going into Sydney to watch the fireworks each NYE for the last few years, we've decided to have a quiet one at home this time, watch the fireworks on TV and have a glass of champers to see in the new year.

Whatever you may be doing tonight I hope you have a good one and please, if you're driving, stay safe on the roads!

Before I go I'll just share a few photos of the kids from Xmas morning.........

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julie xxx

Christmas has come and gone..........

2008-12-28T22:53:00.002+11:00

Well Christmas is over and 2008 is almost gone!!!!

We spent a lovely and relaxing Xmas Day and Boxing Day in Sydney at my brother Sean and his family's place...the kids and their cousins had a ball spending two days together!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families and friends!!!!!!

This is just a short post to wish everyone......

A very happy and safe New Year and may 2009 bring
all that you wish for!!!!!!!!

cheers,

Julie xx

Eeeeekkk!!!...14 days to go!!

2008-12-11T22:14:00.002+11:00

My goodness!!..where are these weeks flying off to so quickly??!! Every year I get older and every year Christmas comes around quicker! LOL!!

It's been a frenzy of shopping and decorating these last couple of weeks but I think I'm just about done...it's just as well, as it's getting more and more difficult to find a parking spot at the shopping centres now. I practically have to stalk someone for their car spot LOL!!

Jordan finished school for the year yesterday and is now chilling out with the playstation as I type! (although I have threatened to send him off to work with his dad for the next week!...and he laughed at me LOL!!) He had a good year school-wise, receiving a certificate and medallion for"consistent effort" at the Award night a few weeks ago and another certificate yesterday for reaching Level 1 for good behaviour!...level 1 gives them privileges like a fun day out twice a year and being allowed to go up to the local shops at lunchtime once a week...great idea I think, gives the boys' great incentives to be well-behaved etc.

Ethan and Kiara have their school concert tonight and then will finish up next Thursday. They've both had a pretty good year too, receiving Merit awards through the year and then reaching Gold and Principal awards for good behaviour and consistent effort.
The kids are weary and so am I after a long school year and we're all looking forward to relaxing and chilling out for several weeks.

We don't have any holidays booked as yet but we are thinking we might head down to visit Melbourne for a few days in January. Jordan and John are also heading off to the Gold Coast for a week with Jordan's football team. Every year the U/13 team has a trip away at the end of the year to cement team friendships and bonds for their last 3 years in the junior division.

I'll finish up now with some layout shares....

This is me at Selwyn during our snow holiday last August...

This is one on Jordan using a chipboard buckle designed by Petrina Mcdonald....

Some cards I did using Petrina's chipboard arty trees, sequins and Kaiser jewels....

and some decorations for the Christmas Homemade challenge at Shop & Crop....

Ok that's it for now.

Enjoy the rest of the festive season and thanks for dropping by.

Julie xx

Calling all scrappers!!!....can you help????

2008-11-28T16:52:00.008+11:00

Julie Stone is asking for help from the scrapbooking community to complete 6300 pages for the Southern Cross Kids Camps which will be on again from next January. They need donations of simple 6x6 pages to make up memory books for all the kids that take part in these camps. These abused and "at risk" kids have a wonderful time at camp and their memory books help them to hang on to the wonderful memories long after the camp is over...it's a wonderful cause and a practical way that we can all help someone less fortunate than ourselves. For more information just head to Julie's blog.

This is just a short post but before I go I've got a couple of layout shares:

I recently bought some fab new chipboard shapes designed by Petrina Mcdonald and this layout uses the funky criss-cross...just perfect for masculine layouts.

I was going to post another layout from our trip to Selwyn but have just realised I haven't scanned it yet!...ooops!! LOL!..I'll post it another day.

We're starting to get in the Christmas spirit...only 27 sleeps to go!!!!!!
I've made a few cards and decorated a Kaisercraft advent tree all ready for 1st December! I'll be sorting out the Christmas tree, decorations and lights this weekend....can't believe how fast this year has flown!!!!

It's Friday night and time for a glass of wine....see ya!!!

Julie xx

Slack blogger!

2008-11-11T14:51:00.010+11:00

I know...it's been awhile since I blogged but I just haven't felt like it!

So I'll do a bit of a catch up in dot form and then share a couple of layouts.

* Sep/Oct school holidays have been and gone....we hung out at home, the boys had a couple of sleepovers and we hit the movies.

* Jordan has had braces put on....he's handled it pretty well so far considering he had to have 4 teeth taken out to accommodate the braces!!! OUCH!!!!

*Oztag has re-started for this summer each Thursday afternoon. Ethan wanted to play this year so he has joined Jordan's team. He's actually playing up 2 years in the U/13's but as Oztag is non-contact we thought he'd be OK. He held his own and played very well in the first game last week!!

* John took Ethan on a Bridgeclimb (Sydney) in Oct....it was actually his birthday present from us when he turned 10 last May...it just took us awhile to get around to doing it LOL!! He absolutely loved it!!...no fear of heights for that boy!!

* I've had another birthday, last Sunday in fact. We headed off to Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour for the day with my brother and his family and also my parents. Caught a ferry over, went on a guided tour, learnt about the history of the island, had lunch at the cafe on the island and finished of with a yummy profiterole cake!!! We had a great day with lots of photos taken...here are a few....

and one of Jordan...love the texture of the rusted machinery behind him...

* my 6 month term with Stuck?! Sketches has now finished and I've decided not to continue....here are my last couple of Stuck?! layouts....

This layout uses the gorgeous Basic Grey Offbeat papers....

Ok, that's it for now...time for a cuppa!

Thanks for dropping by.

Can you see the counter above?????

2008-09-11T11:10:00.006+10:00

Can you believe it??...106 days til Christmas!!!!!!....boy it sounds awfully close when you count the days instead of months! LOL!

I guess it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents and making cards...mind you, I'm only thinking about it, not actually doing it yet! LOL! That's why I've put the counter up, so hopefully everytime I update the blog, it motivates me to get in Christmas mode...well that's the plan!!

A couple of layout shares coming up.........

Two Stuck?! layouts...

And a layout just for fun....Kiara loves going to Scallywaggs gym each week. She actually had her last birthday party there in December last year and these photos were taken then.

I'm now wishing for warmer weather...I'm sick of wearing winter woollies. It's time to break out the shorts and t-shirts, don't you think????

Have a great weekend and thanks for dropping by.

A quick update...

2008-08-27T09:14:00.008+10:00

Well our ski trip to Selwyn has been and gone and what a great weekend we had...tons of snow and no cooking or cleaning!!! The only problem was, I came home sick with the flu and have spent the last 2 weeks getting over it!!..I think Kiara kindly passed it on to me LOL! since she was already a little sick with it before we left home!

Here are a few photos...we took almost 400!!!

And now we've been to the snow, I'm ready for some warmer weather!!!...I'm over these cold days and nights we've had this winter LOL!....bring on those 30 degree days!!

Haven't done much scrapping lately, only my Stuck?! layouts.

Here are a couple.....

Oh and before I go, the lovely Kylie has given me this award.....

Thanks Kylie!!!...I'm honoured!!

I'm supposed to name 7 other blogs for this award but since I've already done that for another award several weeks ago, I'll just leave it at that.

Have a great day!!!!

It's Friday night....

2008-08-01T22:44:00.002+10:00

......it's very cold and the wind is howling outside...and here I am in front of the computer. John left today to work in Armidale for a few days, so it's just me and the kids for the weekend...he should be back Monday night.

It's been a pretty quiet week, just the usual routine. Has anyone else noticed how quickly the weeks are passing by???...It's August already, soon we'll be in Christmas countdown mode!!! LOL!!!

Next weekend is our trip to Selwyn for skiing...woohoo!!!...just looking forward to getting away, no cooking, no cleaning up for five days and hopefully some great weather for skiing!!..yayyyyy!!!

I've just heard a crash on the deck outside!!!!..better go check.........just a palm frond that has fallen down thank goodness!!!...the wind is blowing something fierce tonight, hope it eases off tomorrow!

Well just one layout share tonight...need to get to bed, got an early start tomorrow...Ethan plays footy at 8am, need to be there 7am and it's a half-hour drive away!!!...thank goodness only 3 games left for the year then we can sleep in on Saturdays!!!! LOL!!!

This layout is the current Stuck?! sketch for this week..............

I'm off to bed....have a great weekend!!!!!

Julie xx

I've been given......

2008-07-22T12:32:00.005+10:00

an award!!!!!!!!....it was given to me by the very lovely Jaimie and boy, was I shocked to see my name on her list of awardees when I visited her blog this morning!!!!....thanks Jaimie!! :)

Who gets the “Brilliante Weblog Award“?

Websites and blogs of your choice for their designs that are especially noteworthy.

Here are the Award Rules:

1. The winner can take the logo

2. Place a link to the person that send you the award

3. Give the Award to at least 7 other Scrapbooking-Blogs, which by its currency,the issues of choice and for their designs are especially noteworthy

4. Put a link to these sites on your Blog.

5. Write a comment on their Blogs that they’ve won an Award.

So, without further ado, I present the award to.............

Deb Godley

Janine Kaye

Janine King

Kathie Link

Jen Hall

Julie Dudley

Love all these girls' work...they are just so creative and are happy to share with and inspire others with their wonderful creations!!!

While I'm here I'll post my layout for this week's Stuck?! sketch which is now up on the site....

These are some old pics of Kiara...too cute!!!

Well the school holidays are over...Jordan has gone back today and Ethan & Kiara head back tomorrow....I love my kids but I'll be glad to have a peaceful house again tomorrow!!! LOL!!!

John is away working this week so I guess it's back to the usual routine of the morning rush, school, housework, errands/shopping and after-school activities!!

Our ski trip to Selwyn is now only a couple of weeks away and they've had some good falls of snow down there, so we're all looking forward to some snow fun!!!

Time for some lunch....thanks for dropping in!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Julie xx

I've been tagged!......

2008-07-18T10:33:00.004+10:00

OK, I've been tagged by the lovely Kylie!!

This is how it works.....

You answer questions about yourself, then at the end of your post, tag 4 other people, leaving a message on their blog to say they've been tagged. And also let the person who tagged you know that you've answered their questions.

So here's the questions:

Q1: Ten years ago...........was married 6 years and mum of one to Jordan aged 3 yrs.

Q2: Five things on today's to-do list....

*tidy the house

*do some washing

*pick up DS Jordan from a sleepover

*scrap

*scrap some more LOL

Q3: Snacks I enjoy............Choc peanuts, pate & crackers

Q4: Things I would do if I was a millionaire......take the family to Europe for a holiday, pay off any outstanding debts, set up a nest-egg bank account for each of my kids, buy a bigger house so I can have my own scrap room plus a pool for the kids.

Q5: Places I have lived..........Newcastle, Sydney and Central Coast NSW.

Now I tag Deb, Shelley, Kim...and anyone else who wants to join in!!

Oh and before I go, here is my layout for the latest Stuck?! sketch......

A couple of older photos of Jordan and Kiara...love them!

And a layout celebrating Ethan's 10th birthday a couple of months ago.......

Ok, that's it for now...

C'ya

Julie xx

sorry, it's been a while.....

2008-07-08T12:08:00.006+10:00

...since I last blogged...just haven't felt like it as we've been dealing with some bad news we received recently.

For those of you who may not be aware, we have had a court case pending for several years as a result of John's fall back in 1999. The initial judgement was given in our favour back in early 2007 but our opposition filed an appeal against the ruling and unfortunately they won.

The decision was handed down a couple of weeks ago and needless to say we were disappointed, shocked, angry and upset...we have now been left with a very large legal bill after 9 years on a rollercoaster of worry and hope....we have decided to apply to have our case heard in the High Court in Canberra and are now waiting to hear if our application has been successful...apparently only 1 in 10 cases are accepted to be heard by the High Court...so fingers crossed!

Ok, enough doom and gloom....life goes on right?!?!

School hols have started and at the moment the kids and I are just enjoying some down time at home...no rushing around in the mornings and no after school activities, yayyyy!!!...well at least for this first week LOL!!

We've got a long weekend skiing down at Selwyn snowfields booked for early August which we're all looking forward to...especially as some decent snow has fallen down there in the last week or so...hope it lasts til we get there!!LOL

Nothing much else is happening so I'll share a couple of layouts.........

These first two are for Stuck?! sketches...

I love this shot of Kiara in this next one....

Ok, time for some lunch and then some scrapping!

Bye for now

Julie xx

Today is Tuesday....

2008-06-10T12:34:00.007+10:00

...which means there's a new Stuck?! sketch up today!

Here's my layout for sketch #42.....

and this was a double layout for sketch #41...

and this one I did for me, using a photo I took on Mother's Day...Kiara and my mum...really love this photo of the two of them....

I've done a couple of other layouts but I haven't scanned them yet, so they'll have to wait for another post.

Nothing much happening on the home front...we're just doing the usual stuff!!!...we lead a very exciting life don't we?? LOL!!

I've got nothing else to report so I'll be off for now.

See ya!!

Julie xx

Stuck?! sketch & a couple of layouts....

2008-05-27T08:51:00.007+10:00

Stuck?! sketch #40 goes up on the site today...go check it out!!

Here's my layout for it....

This one was based on Stuck?! sketch #38...

And this next one I did several weeks ago...

the Shotover Jetboat in NZ...

And a Mother's day LO....

On to family news.....last Friday was Ethan's birthday and he turned TEN!!!!...I just can't believe he's now into double figures!!

It wasn't his turn for a party this year but he was allowed to have one friend come over for a sleepover....we also took them to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, then out for dinner and chocolate birthday cake on Sunday.

My baby boy is growing up way too fast!!!

That's all I've got for now...

C'ya

Julie xx

It's Tuesday!!!.....

2008-05-13T22:26:00.008+10:00

...and I thought it was time for an update.

Well Mother's Day has been and gone for 2008!!...I was woken nice and early by Ethan and Kiara who wanted to give me the presents they'd bought at the mother's day stall at school, together with their handmade cards that they'd made for me...beautiful!!

We then headed up to Newcastle to have a yummy, leisurely lunch with my mum and dad at the Brewery, on the Newcastle foreshore...here are a few pics we took.....

Mum and I....

the kids and I...

A few weeks ago I went to Janine Kaye's photography and photoshop workshop at Shop & Crop where Janine was kind enough to share her secrets in photography and how she gets her photos to look so good. I've been practising on Kiara and here are a couple of the results which I love....

We've just booked a 4 day weekend in August down at Providence Lodge, near Adaminaby to go skiing at Selwyn Snowfields...we're all looking forward to that...Selwyn is great for families, we have been there twice before, in 2005 and 2006 and had a ball...and the lodge is great for mums, a hot cooked breakfast and 3 course dinner are provided each day and a gorgeous log fire to relax in front of...no cooking or cleaning up required, ahhhh heaven LOL!!...here's hoping they get lots of snow this year!!

Ok before I go, a couple of layouts to share....

Oh and while you're blog surfing, go and check out Stuck?! sketches...a new sketch just went up yesterday!!

Ok that's it for tonight.

Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your week!!!

Julie xx

Some scrapping news!!!!

2008-04-10T13:04:00.006+10:00

Just a quick post to announce the news I've been holding on to.......

I'm now a member of the new Creative Team for Stuck?! Sketches!!!!...how cool is that??? My term starts on 6 May and each week the CT will be given a sketch to do a layout, which will then be uploaded to the blog as inspiration for other scrappers...the sketches and layouts are great for anyone who is suffering from scrapper's block LOL or just looking for some new ideas...I'm really looking forward to being a part of it!! Go check out the blog to see who are the other CT members!

This layout uses the current sketch at Stuck?!....

and these next two are the layouts I submitted to Stuck?! sketches as part of my application for the Creative Team....

and this one I did during free time on the Saturday night at the Shop & Crop Escape...

That's it for now...got stuff to do!

Stay safe,

Julie xx

OK time for an update......

2008-04-02T13:47:00.008+11:00

Since I got a gentle nudge from the lovely Jaimie and because it's a few weeks since my last post, thought I'd better do an update today!!

Well, first things first, I've just had the most fantastic weekend away at the Shop & Crop Creative Escape up at beautiful Salamander Bay!!!! Great classes, great food, great shopping, great company and all round great fun!!!...what more could a scrapper want?!?!? LOL...and it was all beautifully organised by Sasha and Suzette! Finally getting to meet the online girls and most of the Design Team was a major highlight for me and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with these gorgeous girls, we had lots of fun!!!...bring on CE 2009!!!!!

Here are a couple of my layouts from the weekend...still need to finish a few others.

this one is from Jen Hall's class:

this one is from Jaimie Emmerton's class:

And a photo of the online girls....

This next layout uses one of our NZ photos and the other one celebrates Jordan's 13th birthday...

Oh and I've got some exciting news, scrapping-wise, but can't share til next week!!! LOL

On the home front nothing much is happening...we're just plodding along with the usual stuff. Still haven't heard anymore about our court case...hope it's soon 'cause the waiting is very difficult.

The boys are about to start their footy season this Saturday which they're looking forward to...this will be Ethan's first year of competition, he will be playing half-back and can't wait to get started....we're hoping they both have a good season.

Ok that's it til next time...stay safe.

Julie xx

My first tag ever LOL!!!.....

2008-03-09T13:29:00.004+11:00

Ok I've been tagged by the lovely Kylie, my very first one ever!! lol! Here's the link to her blog:

http://kylie-kyliesplace.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the RULES on your blog.

3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.

4. Tag 7 people and link to them.

5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

OK, here goes.....
1. I love Yellowtail chardonnay...it's my fave wine

2. I'm definitely a chocoholic..especially chocolate peanuts

3. I'm not an exercise lover....have to force myself to do it and that's not very often lol!

4. Didn't get my driver's licence until I was 32 and got it first attempt!

5. I'm not a very good cook

6. I'm a huuuge footy fan...rugby league that is

7. Would looove to live right next to the beach

and I tag:

Janine...http://www.janinekaye.typepad.com/

Julie D... http://jacsplace2.blogspot.com/

Jaimie...http://jaimie.typepad.com/

Fiona....http://www.fionaleehane.typepad.com/

Shelley...http://foozel.blogspot.com/

Janine King...http://janineking.blogspot.com/

I've only tagged six...can't think of any more LOL!

While I'm here, I'll post a couple more layouts.....

This one was for a recent sketch challenge over at Shop & Crop:

This one I did using the January 08 crop kit at Shop & Crop:

Bye for now!

Stay safe!

Julie

A teenager in the house!!...

2008-02-28T12:24:00.013+11:00

We now have a teenager living in our house!!!..Jordan turned 13years old on 17 February!!! He celebrated his birthday with six of his friends from school and footy...we took them to Zone 3 in Gosford for a few games of LaserTag and then we all headed off to dinner at Spur Steak Ranch at Erina where they had a great time laughing, telling stories and egging each other on to try eating whole chillies! LOL!

Jordan is now entering a new chapter in his life, one that I have mixed feelings about...I mean it's wonderful to watch him grow into a gorgeous young man but I'm also a little apprehensive about what the next few years may bring, both for him and us as a family. We've all heard stories about some teenagers going off the rails, getting into drugs and alcohol and generally making life difficult for their families...it's a little scary!! I guess all we can do is be there for him whenever he needs us, keep the lines of communication open and have faith that the values his Dad and I have tried to teach him will keep him safe.

I took this photo of him on his birthday...

Jordan spent last Monday working as an extra working on "Home & Away". John took few photos of the day...here are a couple of them....

With "Rick"....

In his "Summer Bay" nippers costume....

I haven't felt like blogging much lately....the appeal hearing in John's court case was held a few weeks ago and it didn't go as well as we'd hoped. We're now very worried the court's decision will go against us and then we would have to pay a HUGE legal bill. The decision probably won't be handed down for a couple of months and the waiting is sooo difficult. I'm trying not to think about it too much, or at least think positive thoughts, and just get on with life, but it's proving to be quite a burden and is really affecting my mood and John's mood.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of scrapbooking shares:

This one I did for a photo swap with Tania Davey over at Shop & Crop......

These photos of the boys was taken at Watson's Bay in January.

I scrapped this layout to showcase Ethan's wonderful drawing of the Sydney Opera House which he did at school last year. He freehand drew it from a picture his teacher gave him then coloured it with oil pastels...it's now hanging proudly on our family room wall in a black frame!

That's it for now!
Thanks for dropping by.
Stay safe!!

Julie

A special request....

2008-02-14T22:27:00.003+11:00

The lovely Julie Stone is asking for the scrapping community's help. Last year she was involved in a Abused & at Risk Children's camp held in Helensburgh in April 2007. The camp, Southern Cross Kids Camp, had 35 sadly neglected, often abused and at risk children. Her job was to help the children's Buddies create memory books that focused on their holiday week. These books are incredible memory anchors for these sad little children, most count down the days until the next years camp, for many of these children the photos we take and scrap at camp are sometimes their only childhood pictures.

Last year with the incredible generosity of many scrappers they were able to create the best ever memory books, the kids were delighted....It was an enormous task and a huge ask of the 30 odd buddies who were definitely out of their comfort zone when confronted with a table full of scrapbooking supplies........this year their task is even greater, with the demands of so many abused children, the co-ordinators have decided to run two camps this year, back to back, with 40 odd children at each weeks camp...thats an amazing 80 books with 20 pages each..Sooo.. I hoped that perhaps as the amazingly compassionate and caring community that Scrappers have formed, we could all contribute to these needy little children by scrapping at home or getting together at one or two Friday Crops and creating the simplest, most basic 6" x 6" (Photo size is 5" x 3.5") background layouts for the buddies to add the kids pictures too, embellish and present to their children at the end of the week. The buddies have very limited time to spend on their books as they are with the children 24/7....being such an amazingly important emotional anchor, your assistance would help to ensure each and every child has a memory book worthy of their memories. Julie's blog has some examples of the very simple layouts required.

If you can see it in your heart to help individually or organize your scrapping friends to assist, we would all be incredibly grateful and you would be an integral part in the Miracle of Southern Cross Kids Camp......you really would make a difference. Simply post a comment on Julie's blog if your keen for more info or email her direct at juliest35@optusnet.com.au

Even if you can only make a few layouts...it will make an enormous difference to these kids lives.

Thank you

Julie xx

Welcome to 2008!!!

2008-01-08T22:33:00.000+11:00

2008 has arrived and the days are already slipping by so quickly!! Whichever way you saw in the New Year, hope you enjoyed it!

How did we spend New Year's Eve???...at my brother Sean's place in Sydney together with my parents and some of Sean's friends...the night went something like this: BBQ dinner, walk down to the Gladesville Bridge and found a possie to watch the 9pm fireworks, back home to put all the kids to bed, enjoyed a couple of glasses of champers while watching the midnight fireworks on the telly and then stayed up to 2.30am playing golf and ten pin bowling on the Wii!!!....totally relaxing and enjoyable!

John is still at home on hols and is taking the opportunity to re-paint the inside of the house...and the cubby house lol!! We're looking to sell it as the kids don't really use it anymore. It's raised off the ground with a rope ladder and slide. It is in very good condition and freshly painted. If anyone is interested in buying it, email me or leave a comment and we'll talk! lol!

Here's a pic....

We're loving the hols at the moment...going to bed late, getting up late, staying in pj's til late, pottering around at home, de-cluttering cupboards, going to the beach and going out for lunch or dinner...and for me, a bit of scrapping!!

Here's a couple of scrapping shares:

Ok that's it for now...it's late and bed is calling!

Enjoy the rest of your holidays and stay safe!

Thanks for dropping by!

Julie

2007 is almost over....

2007-12-30T15:00:00.000+11:00

Just a short post with a few photos......

Well Christmas is over and done with and the year is almost over!!!

We had a lovely Xmas and Boxing day spent with my parents and brother Sean and his family at their place in Sydney....great food and drinks, great pressies and an all round great time!!

Here are a few pics of the festive season......

***xmas photo shoot with the kids...

***Carols in the Domain...the kids and aunty Paula....

***Christmas Day....

Now it's on to New Year's Eve!!!...we're heading back down to Sydney to catch the fabulous Sydney Harbour Fireworks!....they seem to get bigger and better every year and the kids love to go and watch them!

This week between Xmas and New Year is the perfect opportunity to just chill out and relax, which is what we've been doing in between some repainting of the house and a couple of visits to the beach while the weather's good.

Ok that's it for now....hope your 2008 is happy, prosperous and peaceful!!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!!!!!

Stay safe and thanks for dropping by.

Julie

One more sleep.....

2007-12-24T23:13:00.000+11:00

....until Santa arrives!!!!!!

Just want to wish everyone.....

A very happy, safe and relaxing Christmas with your loved ones and hoping 2008 brings you all good things!!!

Ho Ho Ho!!!!!!

Julie

11 more sleeps....

2007-12-14T16:59:00.000+11:00

....until the big man in the jolly red suits pays a visit!!!! John and I have been madly shopping this week and we're all done!!...and it's wrapped!..can you believe it??..I can't!! lol!! The kids are being a little spoilt this year but they've all been pretty good most of the year so I think they deserve it! We don't tend to buy toys and games etc throughout the year and I think that helps to make Christmas and their birthdays more special for them.

I love Christmas, despite the hassles of shopping...decorating the tree and the house, xmas lights, giving and receiving presents and remembering the story of Christmas....it's a really special time of year for us to spend time with our extended family and friends and to relax and hang out at home together with no routines to follow...we can go to bed when we want (within reason for the kids lol!!), get up when we want and eat when we want! It's a great way to unwind and forget all the stresses of the past year!

We've got a busy week coming up....Kiara's 6th birthday party tomorrow, lunch at my mum's with my grandmother on Sunday, a school xmas party on Monday afternoon, end of year Mass at school on Tuesday, school breaks up on Friday and Christmas Carols in the Domain on Saturday night!!...it's going to be hectic but I wouldn't have it any other way!!

OK, now for a couple of layout shares for Christmas!

OK I'm off to get dinner ready...hope you are all enjoying the festive season and not stressing too much! lol!!

Thanks for dropping by!

Julie

The festive season is here!

2007-12-05T11:25:00.000+11:00

Wow! So December has arrived...already!! Christmas is coming towards us super fast and I've done nothing...for some reason it's taking me awhile to get into the Christmas groove this year...we've got the tree up and as well as the lights outside but I've hardly done any shopping, probably 'cause I don't want to face the crowds plus I'm having difficulty deciding what to give the kids!!!...I really need to stop procrastinating and as Nike says "just do it!!"...lol!!

School's almost over and I think we're all looking forward to that...especially Kiara. The first year of "big school" has been a big leap for her and I think she's mentally tired...she's whingy and cranky and for the last few weeks has been throwing a few little tanties and won't do anything for herself. She has had a great first year and really likes going to school but I think she'll be glad to have a break...and hopefully her behaviour will revert to normal programming!! lol!!

I've got a few layout shares:

These two were for a couple of the recent Shop & Crop cyber crop challenges...really happy with how they turned out.

This one was for the "yellow" challenge at S&C.

And lastly, this one of Kiara...love these "Love, Elsie" papers..so bright, colourful and fun!

Oh and I got a couple more Scrapbooking Memories acceptances last week...wooohooo!!

That's it for now...it's been bucketing down raining all morning, think I'll do some scrapping!!..even though I should really be doing housework! yuck! lol!!

Thanks for dropping by...enjoy the rest of your week!

Julie

A birthday....

2007-11-12T08:39:00.000+11:00

Well I've just had another birthday on Friday....and I'm another year older. It seems the older I get the quicker the years fly past. I'm not sure how I feel about being on the other side of 45...on one hand, I don't feel as old as I am and so usually my birthday doesn't cause too much worry...on the other hand, I sometimes feel that the years are slipping by so quickly that all I want to do is slow time down or even stop it so I can catch my breath! I hope this next year doesn't fly by so quickly but somehow I don't think I'll get my wish! lol!!

With my birthday falling on a weekday, John and the kids were at work and school, so I spent a relaxing, quiet day at home on my own. Friday night was spent dropping Ethan and Kiara at their school disco and then having a bite to eat out with John and Jordan and then enjoying a couple of glasses of wine when we got home. Then the kids and John took me out to dinner in Newcastle at a mexican restaurant called Muchos. My parents also joined us. John and I used to go to this particular restaurant before we had the kids so we hadn't been there for several years. Even after all this time, it was just as we remembered it...great food and a great atmosphere!

We're on a countdown to Christmas now...only 6 weeks to go!!!...and I haven't even started shopping yet. Every year I tell myself to start early but I never do! lol! Jordan has already been given an early present...a new BMX bike. He had definitely outgrown his old bike which has now been given to Ethan. He had a search on the internet for a bike that he liked, and found one, a Mirraco Icon. He knows that the bike is basically his main Christmas present and that he probably will only get a couple of small ones to open on Christmas morning. Now to decide what to give Ethan and Kiara...I tell you, it's getting harder and harder every year!!

I'm posting a couple of recent photos which I just love. The first one was taken in NZ by the Remarkables roving photographers. It was a virtually a blizzard that day and the photo was taken just before we left the mountain. I think it's a great family photo!! The second photo is one I took of Kiara a couple of weeks ago. She was outside singing to herself and the afternoon light was gorgeous so I tried to capture a few shots. I love this one because her personality just shines through.

The last photo was taken at my brother's 40th birthday lunch last weekend. A group of family and friends had lunch at the Armory Cafe in Sydney Olympic Park. It was a great spot for a get-together and all the kids had a ball splashing through the fountain and riding cardboard down the grassy slope.

OK, lastly, a couple of layout shares: the first one was done using a recent Shop and Crop kit and the second one I did is using a spare print of one of our wedding photos, because John and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in October.

OK, that's it for now...have a happy week!

Stay safe!

Julie

We're back.........

2007-10-30T09:29:00.001+11:00

...from NZ!!!!!.....and wow what a great trip we had! We flew into Christchurch, had a great drive down to Qeenstown and stayed there for a week. Did the Skyline Gondola and Luge, Shotover river jetboat, visited the beautiful little town of Arrowtown, spent a few days skiing at the Remarkables and had lots of yummy meals. Then it was a drive up the west coast for 3 days....stopped at Wanaka to visit Puzzling World (kids enjoyed that!), spent a day at Fox and Franz Josef glaciers (amazing!!), continued on up to Greymouth, checked out Pancake Rocks then drove back across to Christchurch. We had a fantastic time, NZ is gorgeous, just loved being surrounded by all those breathtaking mountains. I got so used to seeing them everyday, I was a little sad to leave them behind when we left! We were all very tired when we got home...I think it took us a few days to recover and for me to catch up on all the washing!! lol!!

Here a few of the 300 photos we took during the trip!

Now we're back into the swing of school and work....sometimes it feels like we never went away!!

Summer sports are just about to start....oztag for Jordan and nippers for Jordan and Kiara although Ethan has now said that he's thinking of giving nippers a go, which I'm glad about as I think he'd really enjoy the competitive side of it plus I think it's important for all the kids to learn about surf safety....living where we do means we spend a bit of time at the beach during summer and I want them to be comfortable and as safe as possible while swimming in the surf.

OK, a couple of layout shares:

<---This was for the October sketch challenge over at Shop and Crop.

This one of Kiara is a "just because" layout...I really love how it turned out.

OK that's it for now....not sure if anyone actually reads this stuff, but if you do thanks for dropping by!!

Stay safe!

Julie

The countdown is on...

2007-09-26T08:30:00.000+10:00

Well here we are, just 3 days out from flying off to New Zealand!!! We are all so excited! It'll be 11 days of driving around, sightseeing and a little skiing...can't wait! lol! I've had a few last minute things to organise this week and tomorrow and Friday will be spent packing the suitcases.

The kids are hanging out for the end of the last week of school....it seems like it's been a long term and I think they're a little tired and looking forward to a break!

John has had to go back to finish some work down in Canberra this week...this is his third trip down there and I think he may have to go back after we get back from hols.

Ok I've got a few layout shares:

This one was done as part of a scrapbooking whispers challenge over at Shop and Crop. Photo was taken on Father's Day in the Hunter Valley.

A Father's day layout using the collage of photos from the previous post.

And finally this one is my first published layout. It's in the current Scrapbooking Memories mag. It's very exciting when your first one appears!! I've got a few more coming up in the next few months.

OK that's it for now...thanks for dropping by.
Stay safe.

Julie

A photo update.....

2007-09-18T09:10:00.000+10:00

This is just a quick update with some photos I took on Father's Day with the new camera.

That's it for now...just a quickie! lol!!
Take care!
Julie

PS: only 11 sleeps til we fly out to NZ!!!

The weeks are flying by...

2007-09-07T13:21:00.000+10:00

This year really needs to slowwww downnnn!!! It's going way too fast for my liking lol!

What have we been doing since my last post?.....I think I'll list in point form:

*the boys have finished footy for the year, now we're waiting for Oztag and nippers to start. Kiara wants to start nippers this year...she wanted to do it last year but she was too young.

*the kids have had quite a few birthday parties to go to.

*Jordan went to the Broken Bay Diocese Secondary Schools athletics carnival (whew what a mouthful lol!) on Aug 27. He only competed in one event, the 12yr boys 200m in which he came fifth which we think is a fantastic effort!..and his school came 2nd overall!

*John has had to go to Canberra for work a couple of times and has been pretty busy workwise, which is a good thing when you're self employed.

*I got a nice big tax refund so went out and bought myself one of these...a Canon 30d digital SLR camera..and I just love it!

Our NZ ski trip is only 3 weeks away now!!!...and we are so looking forward to it ( the kids can't wait for the plane trip lol!! especially Kiara as she has never been on one!) John and I decided to extend our trip another 3 days so we can do a bit more sightseeing after we finish skiing.

A little sad news...after thinking long and hard, we decided to find a new family for Jessie, our dog. We now realise that we're not really "dog people" if you know what I mean and we felt quite guilty that she wasn't getting the attention she needed and deserved. It may sound awful to some people but we didn't really have the desire to walk her everyday and spend the time giving her the training she needed which wasn't fair on Jessie. So we found her a lovely new family with four kids. They already have a male labrador about the same age as Jessie so she will have a playmate. We think she'll be much happier.

Father's Day was spent as a family day...we went up to the Hunter Valley vineyards, had a yummy lunch at the Potters' Brewery and then took the kids up to the HV Gardens Village where they had a play in the playground and we had an ice cream. Took the new camera but do you think the kids were interested in getting some nice photos taken??..nooooo of course not! lol!...I took some but they're not all that great.

A couple of scrapbooking layout shares:

These photos were taken on the Easter weekend this year down at Shoalhaven Heads.

This one was for Jordan's 12th birthday. He didn't have a party this year but had his friend Jake sleepover. They went to the movies and then had birthday cake at home.

OK that's it for now. Thanks for dropping by.

Take care!

Julie

A quick update...

2007-07-29T16:56:00.000+10:00

This is just a quick update...Ethan and Kiara had their school athletics carnival last week and they both had a great day, despite the weather being pretty cold! Ethan collected a few ribbons, 1st for 200m, 2nd for 100m, 2nd for both shot put and long jump. Kiara finished 2nd in her 100m race. That's the only race the Kindys do. The rest of the day for them was spent doing novelty races.

Jordan is in his school's athletic squad to go to the Broken Bay (diocese) Secondary Schools Athletics Carnival, which we think is fantastic!

The boys are both still busy with footy. Last weekend they played both Saturday and Sunday as we had a washed out round to make up. Jordan has also been backing up for the U13/2's as they are short of players. There are only 3 more games to go for the year and it's all over for the season.

It's only 2 months til our ski trip to New Zealand...woooohoooo!!!! I can't believe how quickly it is coming up...this year is just speeding by!! lol

OK that's it for now...thanks for dropping by...stay safe!

Julie

Where have I been?!?!?!?!.....

2007-07-05T16:05:00.000+10:00

OMG I have been such a bad blogger. The year is just flying by and I can't believe it's been a few months since I've posted!!...I think I just plain forgot I had a blog lol!!...how silly is that!lol

Nothing much has been happening in the last few months, we've just been plodding along doing the usual stuff...school and sports for the kids, work for John, and housework, helping out in Kiara's classroom and scrapping for me.

We survived the recent storms on the June long weekend OK, all we got was a waterlogged backyard and a small leak in the roof which John was able to plug quite easily. It was a little scary when the second storm was bearing down on us the following week as John was working in Canberra and it was just me and the kids. Media reports were saying cyclonic winds were on the way so there I was about 9pm out on the deck moving chairs and stuff so they wouldn't get blown away or worse, crash into the windows!!...thankfully the storm wasn't as bad as expected.

We've been told that John's court case will continue for a bit longer as the other side have now lodged an appeal...they are disputing some of the decisions the judge made in John's favour....so some more waiting, waiting!

We're on school holidays at the moment and while John is working, the kids and I are just veging out at home...they're on the playstation and playing outside and I'm doing a little scrapping. I love having a bit of a sleep in and not have to rush around in the morning getting the kids off to school!

Some layout shares....I created these for the Sketch challenge over at Shop & Crop....these are for June and July.

This one I did a few weeks ago...Kiara got this pink wig in one of her Easter show bags and

was dancing around in it after we got home from the show.

Ethan had his 9th birthday during May...this photo was taken on the actual day and then a couple of weeks later he had a party at the Central Coast Youth Centre where the kids spent an hour and a half playing indoor soccer and hockey, wheelchair basketball, jumping into the foam pit and on the trampolines with party food and cake afterwards. Ethan and his mates (including a few girls) had a ball. He declared it was the best birthday party ever!! lol

Well that's it for this post...it was a bit long and if you're still reading, thanks for sticking with it!

Hopefully I'll post a bit more regularly! lol

Thanks for dropping by

Julie xx

P.S. I forgot to mention I've also had two layouts accepted to Scrapbooking Memories magazine...yayyyyyy!!! my first ones ever!...but can't show those yet until they've been published.

A catch-up post...

2007-03-28T21:13:00.000+10:00

I've only just started this blog and I'm already getting slack at posting lol!!...It's been a hectic few weeks with school stuff, after school stuff and running errands etc so I haven't had a chance to post. With the kids getting back into swimming and footy training twice a week I've only got Monday afternoons free!. I'm soooo glad when Friday night comes around and I can have a glass of wine and relax!!

We're still waiting to hear if there has been an appeal in John's court case which the other side had to lodge by Tuesday 27 March...as of today there's been no news...does that mean good news??...we hope so.

I'm so looking forward to the Easter weekend this year...we're going away with my brother Sean and SIL Sue and my niece and nephew and also my parents. We'll be camping/cabin-ing down at Shoalhaven Heads and hopefully it'll be a nice relaxing weekend with good weather.

Over at Shop and Crop there are some great challenges going on. We're currently in the middle of the Survivor challenge...go and check out the fantastic layouts in the gallery! Here are my layouts for week 2 and 3 .

I've been lucky enough to be voted through to week 3 and I'd like to thank those members of the forum who voted for me. Votes are sent between 12pm Saturday and 5pm Sunday with that weeks survivors announced on Monday morning. It's been a lot of fun so far and there have been some fantastic layouts posted each week.
I've also had a layout accepted by Basic Grey for their gallery on their website....you can check it out here.
Well that's it for now...hubby has just made me a cuppa tea which I'm off to enjoy before heading off to bed.
Stay safe and thanks for dropping by.
Julie :)

Some good news...

2007-03-11T11:35:00.000+11:00

Well earlier this week we received some good news regarding John's court case. For those of you that don't know the story I'll give you a brief rundown.....Eight years ago John fell 3 stories off an unsafe roof of a retirement home in Sydney and completely shattered his right elbow and wrist. He was up there to measure and quote the roof for painting (he's a painter/decorator..we run our own business).

He now has permanent damage to that arm which will in the near future affect his ability to continue as a painter. I will say though, that we are extremely lucky that the injuries to his arm were all he suffered in the fall and that he is still in fact with us...when he fell, he landed on a smaller roof lower down but could have so easily missed that and fallen another storey onto concrete. Anyway, he decided to sue for damages and after 8 long years the Supreme Court found in John's favour last Tuesday!...although we still have to wait to see if the other side will appeal, it is a huuuge relief to have this thing almost over...we feel like we have been living in limbo during this time and it will be great to finally move on and live our lives without worrying about our finances or wondering if John is being watched by surveillance! (yes there's been plenty of that during the case, the other side has tried to catch John out regarding his abilities with his arm, but were unsuccessful as John has never said that he couldn't use his arm to do certain things)

Anyway, it's not over quite yet but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Sorry, this post was a bit long winded..lol..but it was good to get my thoughts down in writing.

I'm writing this post while John has taken the kids to Sydney today for auditions to join Brent Street talent agency which specialises in providing agency services for acting and modelling for kids...so while I've got the house to myself for a little while..lol, I'm going to try and get some scrapping done!

So thanks for dropping by...take care
Julie

a birthday...

2007-03-10T21:45:00.000+11:00

Our son Jordan had his 12th birthday on the 17th Feb...wow where did all those years go!!! We're finding it more difficult to know what to give him as far as presents go, he's too old for most toys and too young for the older, teenage stuff..very tricky. But luckily a few weeks before his birthday he mentioned he'd be interested in a Sydney Harbour bridge climb...and since he was old enough (minimum age is 10yrs), that's what he got. So on Sat 3rd March he and his dad, John, headed into Sydney to do the climb. As exciting as doing the climb was, it was also a great opportunity for Jordan and his dad to have some father/son time. By all accounts Jordan had a great time and no doubt it will be a special memory for him.

On to some scrapbooking stuff...I'm a member of the Shop & Crop community and they currently have some great challenges going- a sketch challenge and a hybrid scrapbooking challenge...here are my 2 LO's for these challenges. If you haven't visited Shop & Crop before, I'd encourage you to go take a look, it's a very friendly, positive community and the Design Team is fantastic, they do some fabulous work and are very encouraging on the forum....well that's it for now...thanks for dropping by.

Take care

my first post

2007-03-05T14:33:00.000+11:00

Well, here I am, my first post!!!...after spending a bit of time blog surfing, I've decided to set this blog for me and my family. It's a place where I can record our comings and goings...a sort of journal for us to look back on later, and for our extended family and friends to catch up on any news. I'll also post any scrapbooking layouts that I think are worth sharing. This blog probably won't be all that exciting...lol...but if anyone does drop by from time to time, thanks a bunch!!
PS: please feel free to leave any comments! :)