Monday, January 29, 2007

Off to school we go.........




Well it's back to school time for the Heard kiddle's - well two out of three anyway. Maddy is in year two this year and today was Nick's very first day of primary ever - year one. They were both so excited to be going - I think Maddy was up at like 6.30 this morning - dressed herself and then came and woke me up for breakfast - 'coz breaky is very important to have before school' - yeah yeah child, but i'm sure it could of waited just a little longer LOL.



Aren't they just the cutest ever in their new uniforms - heaps better looking than the colours Maddy had to wear at her last school.






Okie onto some layouts now - still can't seem to upload the last two ones i tried last time, so will just give up on them lol.

This layout is for the latest elsie challenge at Embellished - work those words. Pic is of Nick and his pal Dylan on their last playdate before we moved. Little over the top, but i don't mind it.This layout is also for an Elsie challenge - posted two this week to keep everyone busy lol. Had to create a fun photo mat. Papers used were from the January kit at Embellished - which just so happened to totally sell out - Awesome job Ali. So if your interested in the Feb kit, be quick....this one is sure to go even faster.

One for Ali - i started it over two weeks ago and only just got round to finishing it. Bit slack aren't I? Oh well, its finished now....how cute is little Lukesta!!

And last but not least is a layout for Scrapgenie. Made using the Petal Poetry Collection by Prima. Have used it before and didn't think i liked the papers and such, but when i pulled it out this time, i really really loved the papers - weird huh?? Really happy with the way this one turned out.

Well thats about it for today - just wanted to share some school pix.

thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon.

Julie xx

Friday, January 26, 2007

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - Oi,Oi,Oi

Well a happy Australia Day to everyone out there in this Awesome country of ours. I hope your all having (or had) a fantastic day, spent relaxing and just enjoying what our lovely 'home' has to offer. They say we are the lucky country........I truly, truly believe this!!!! I swear no other country is as laidback and carefree as ours - fear is not part of our daily lives like so many other countries and for this i am thankful. I am grateful too that my children are able to grow up having a childhood and a life - not just an existance. So Happy Australia Day to all........and the biggest thankyou i can give to the service men and women of Australia - they play an important part in keeping our country's lifestyle the way it is.
Okie so now onto the news of the last week. Sorry if it turns into a mammoth post, i have been so flat out.....the trick now is to remember it all LOL.
First up , Maddison's birthday was last Saturday - my little Bella girl turned 7!!! We took her out to dinner and invited along Ali, Glenn and little lukesta. She had such a great time - smile on her face the wole time. Here are some pix - taken by the lovely miss Ali (since this naughtly mummy forgot her camera). Thanks Al - you got some gorgeous and pretty funny shots on the night. Here are some of my favs:

Doesn't she looks soooo happy!!! And i just love this one of the two of us together.

A great night with some great company!!!

The other news is that my poor little man has had nearly all his hair cut off. Look at these pix of him - it makes him look a whole lot more chubba LOL.

I once said i would never shave any of my boys heads.....well i guess i fibbed. Not that i would of done this if i could of helped it but the poor Heard kiddo's have had their first dose of Headlice - dirty varmits....the headlice that is, not the Heard children LOL. So i spent most of Wednesday washing heads, bedding, covers, cushions - you name it i probably washed it. But i've had some great tips from friends so at least now i feel i can maybe have a fighting chance of keeping them out of the house - lol that probably sounds really niave but we'll see how we go.

Now onto the scrapping front.......have been kept very busy here. Been playing with the Feb kit for Embellished and it is just beautiful. Here's a sneek at it: (okie bloggers playing up so will just have to put a link in for it, but check it out, you will not be dissapointed. )

Febuary's Sneak peek

I also had a few layouts to share, but can only get the one to upload. This one was for the latest Elsie challenge - Find inspiration from Fashion. Had a play around and made up my own transparancy embie - design was based on a print on Maddy's skirt.

Well thats about it for now, thanks for popping by and will catch up again soon.

take care......

Friday, January 19, 2007

Great company, great fun!!!

Well last nights get together was a heap of fun. Its always great to have a little company and whilst i might not have got a whole heap scrapped, i did have an awesome time chatting away with Ali, Jo and Ange - they are a blast of fun and I'm already looking forward to another meet up soon hopefully. Rylan did wake up just before everyone left - he scratched a mozzie bite and then was crying that he had a 'booboo', it was at least another hour before he was settled asleep again so am feeling a little tired today. But definetly a fun, fun night - THANKS GUYS!!
This is the layout i put together round at Ali's house the other day. Simple, but fun - suits Nick to a tee. And he really likes it as well.....actually i think his first words when he saw it were -'I'm such a dag aren't i mum?'...... no arguements here kiddo LOL.This layout is my example for challenge 10 of the Elsie challenges at Embellished - to use a large photo taking up most of the background. And i just LOVE this pic of Rylan.....he is soooo adorable.
This layout is another Elsie challenge example - to group four photos. Its very, very simple but i found that anything i added just wouldn't sit right so i left it as is.

Now speaking of retreats.....its only another couple of months till Embellished's very first retreat is held, and i cannot wait - its going to be the best fun ever!!! Ali is doing a fantastic job getting company's to come on board with sponsorship - so to the ladies who've already booked and paid be prepared with some YUMMY goodies and the class line up is awesome - with most of the DT coming and teaching a class. Now don't be upset if you haven't booked yet, there are a couple more spots left yet to be filled - but be quick coz once they're filled that 'll be it. Check it out here for a little more details.

Well gonna have to run now - i can hear some argueing going on in the lounge room, so i think its time to go and knock heads together lol - bring on the start of school!!!!

take care guys and chat again soon
Julie xx

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Scrappin up a storm......

Well we have been in Rocky for over a week now and seriously ......it already feels like home to us. We've slowly been sussing out the location of the town and i already know where to find most of the important places.
The house is nearly unpacked - i think we only have about half a dozen boxes to go and then totally done thank goodness. Unfortunatly it lacks alot of the little homely touches that it needs. There was a whole lot of stuff that had to be left behind and these little extra touches just didn't make the list. Oh well, gives me an excuse to 'touch up' in a bit of a new style.
Have been scrapping up a storm most nights - have managed ten layouts now with in the last week. Unfortunatly i can't share a whole lot - one is for an online class, a couple are for Feb's kit at Embellished (totally YUMMO!!), a couple more are for Elsie challenges and one that i did tonight at a scrap date with the fanastic miss Ali so haven't taken a pic of it yet. Can share these ones though.

This is just a super quick Design Team layout for Scrapgenie using Gin X papers and coasters. Little man Nick lost his first tooth this past week, very exciting moment for him - shame we never got to see the tooth though. Lucky the tooth fairy is very forgiving lol.

Love the light, fresh colours of this layout. My baby is not a baby anymore.....is very sad. So very independent now, and tackling the big kids swing at the park seems to be a good way to prove it. Really wanna try and incorporate multiple pix on layouts from now one, happy with the way this one sits.

This one is for my lovely hubby Steven, took this pic of him just sitting on the steps of our new house, love the way the pic came up. Another simple layout, but again happy with the way it come up. My aim is to scrap alot more of steven this year - whether he likes it or not LOL.And last but not least is this little 9x9 i did of Rylan (yes i have scrapped layouts on Maddy, just can't share them yet lol - poor neglected child lol). Lovin this size - super quick and easy to whip together, and i love the fact that a standard 6x4 photo sits perfectly. Again with the light and fresh colour combo, its just really appealing to me at the mo.

Well thats about it for now, havin a scrap get together here thursday night - CAN'T WAIT - should be awesome fun, so i better head off and do a little tidy.

Till next time,

take care and chat soon,

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Up and running !!!!!

Well i'm finally back online. The move went really well - we arrived up here in Rocky Saturday night. With all the furniture still in the truck though we ended up crashing at Ali and Glenn's home - thanks heaps chicky, was a big help.
So have spent the last few days setting up home. Was rather daunting moving up here to a home that i hadn't seen - was a bit of a leap for me, but man did it pay off. Steven did an awesome job choosing our home for us ......it is HUGE!! Heaps of fans throughout it, and its an old QLD'er style, with those glass shutter doors on the inside - just gorgeous. Best of all - i now have a designated scrapping room, and again - its HUGE!! No more knocking elbows for me LOL.
Slowly starting to get the feel of Rocky, i know where most of the 'big' stores are for anything i need. I can just 'feel' that i'm gonna love it here and that we will all settle in quite easily. Beautiful, beautiful town.
So 'new year, new beginnings' as they say. Am so excited for this year, can't wait to get into everything that I have floating round in my head. Totally a new start for us all, definetly made easier by having met some awesome friends up here.
Some new beginnings for my scrapping as well. Though i have taught classes before, and will be continuing that up here in Rocky for Embellished Scrapbook Shoppe, i will also be taking part in some online classes for Embellished as well - TOO EXCITING!!! Have so many ideas running through my head (really need to start putting them down onto paper), seriously I'm like a kid in a candy shop i'm that excited about it. So if any one is interested then keep an eye out for announcements and such throught the Embellished Forum.
Well thats all for now, bout to head out and do a little more exploring of the Rocky area - well of Stocklands actually......really do need to know what all the little shops are in this centre ;)

Take care and chat soon,

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

So it ends..........

Well the time has come......this will be the last post i make from down here in Victoria. The phone lines get cut off tomorrow and we make the BIG move in a little more than 3 days.
I would be lying if i didn't say that i was afraid. This is truly a big step for us. We leave behind not only all our family but also all the friends we have ever made. This has become very obvious in the last week with all the calls we have been getting for final meet ups and such. Today i had my last 'girls lunch' with the two chicky's that i tend to think of as sisters more so than just friends. They've always been there to lend an ear if i ever needed to chat or vice verca. It was hard to walk away after only being able to spend a couple of hours with them. It was a good thing we were all wearing our sunnies......it hid the tears well from those around us. My Father also dropped by the restaurant to say goodbye. He had to return to work in NSW a little earlier than planned- it was not the place that i really wanted to say goodbye to him at. It made me realise just how much he will miss out on with the kiddo's. This last year has been a big step up for him being a part of his grandchildrens live's. Rylan adores him and will constantly walk around calling out 'nonno, nonno'and looking for him when he's around.
I can't even think about the rest of the goodbyes we have to go still. I think with each one we have to say, our hearts break a little more. But though it's hard, I still stand behind Steven's decision that this is what is best for our family at this moment of time. So this is my little PVM post..... here i leave all the sadness i have, all the fears i have and any other negativity about this move. My next post will be at the other end of our trip, where we will have started the settling in process. Where we will be starting the next stage of our lives. And yes i am sad.....and yes i am scared.....but also I am excited....i am looking forward to the changes we will make and catching up with the awesome friends we already have up there and the new ones we have yet to meet.


So this is it. Time to log off and continue the packing. Thank you for dropping by, please send us some happy traveling vibes to keep us all safe and the next time you hear from me it will be from the other end and the beginning of our new stage.
Take care, stay safe and will chat again soon.....