Random Thoughts of a Heard

MAKIN A MOVE!!

2007-10-31T14:20:00.000+11:00

Well as I've said before - all things come to an end. Couldn't work out how to add what I wanted here so have moved over to typepad where I could. Follow the linksie over and well ........I'll see you on the other side :D

FOLLOW ME OVER HERE!!

Busy, Busy!!

2007-10-23T22:31:00.000+10:00

WHAT A WEEK!!!!!!

It has been absolutely full on here. So many things on the go and for a little while there I was feeling just a little overwhelmed and thinking I might have overjuggled a bit. But I am slowly roping it all into order and getting on top of it to find balance again.
First up .....I said a little while ago that I was taking a little time out from my DT position at Embellished......I have decided to make the time out permanent and step down from the team. So many, many thanks to Ali and Ang for having me as part of the team - I have enjoyed my time there emensely! I have met some of the most fantastic ladies in my two years there and it has just been a blast.
But all things come to an end and it's just time for a little change I think.
Have been having fun just scrapping for no reason in particular. Have had an offer for guest designer so that will be fun. Is just for a layout or two - no hassles/limits or anything so that will be cool. So keep an eye out for them in the near future.

Now for my BIG news. Remember last post I said I was looking into a course for study. Well the course was Certificate III in Children's Services. Spoke to the Director at Ry's daycare about options and she pointed me in the right direction for info and with an offer every now and then of relief work whilst doing my course. Hmmmm, every now and then hey?? LOL - She asked me to come in last Wednesday for relief work and I have been there every week day since. This week alone I have like 30 hours. This is brilliant as if I do at least 12 hours a week for three months then my course is subsidised and is less than half price - BONUS!! So from an idea to almost full time hours in a matter of days ......how lucky is that. And I have been just loving it there. LOL - ok a room full of 2 to 3 year olds can be a little full on at times but seriously it has been just fantastic. Plus even when I'm at work I get to spend time with little man Ry - though to be honest he does ditch me to go hang out with the other people lol. Has been tiring though adjusting to 8.5 hour days - has been quite a while since I've worked days as long as these.

Saturday I headed an hour down the highway to Gladstone to meet up with Lauren, Nicole, Anne and Carole. Must admit was a little nervous - meeting new people is not something I do easily lol. But they were just a awesome group of ladies and I really did have a brilliant time there. I did a lot more chatting than scrapping - in fact I didn't even finish one complete layout LOL. But I have finished it now, will put it up further down the post. I did have to leave a little earlier than the others as I had the hour trip back home - but am definetly looking forward to catching up with the ladies again soon. Thanks for a great time guys ...BIG THANKS to Lauren for being a superb host .....the roast she cooked up for dinner was just DELISH!!
Sunday we lounged around for half a day doing nothing, got bored so decided to head out on a mini road trip after lunch. LOL - we are so not organised at times. We decided to go and check out Port Alma - bout half hour down the highway. Unfortunatly after a really long drive down a winding road we were meet with locked gates. Apparantly its a restricted area - so nothing to see there lol. Though we did get a mini lesson in on the way - the road runs along side salt fields, was really interesting to see actaully. So back to the highway where we decided to head back down to Gladstone and then on to Tannum Sands which is such a pretty place with the cutest little playground. Kiddo's had a ball on the flying fox, even little Ry got in on the action. Got home pretty late though - but was a great day. Here are some pix from our day:

These are just some pix I grabbed of the kiddo's the other day - love them!! Totally gorgeous!!
Okie onto layouts from the last week. My days may have been flat out but the nights are still my own. Managed to get my hands on some of the new My Minds Eye papers - both the Bohemia and Kaliedoscope ranges - absolutely delish can I say!! The first two layouts were done using these papers. The second layout is for Aussie Scrapjack - this is my jack of Megan Stephensons layout.

This next layout was done for the Everyday Garbage challenge blog. Was to use items from your handbag. Have really enjoyed the challenge blogs this week - kinda gets you motivated to get back into it.

LOL - just realised how buggered I look in this pic - not that flattering at all really lol. Oh well, such is life.

This is the layout that I didn't quite get finished Saturday. I came home and added the journalling and bits to the right of the photo. This is my 'poor' little man Rylan in time out after yet another episode of pushing buttons. He knows the rules - he just likes to see how far he can push them. And then seems totally mystified after getting called on it. LOL - he'll be the child to give me grey hairs I bet.

The next four layouts are Scrapgenie layouts.

Love the Daisy D's range and had a total ball coming up with these two layouts. My fav's I think.These two were made using Pebbles Inc - My Girl range.

Love this pic of Maddy - she is just adorable. The big butterfly came from Gloria Jeans coffee shop. I picked them up a little while ago - they were using them for fundraising - you just made a donation and you got to keep a butterfly - they are huge!!Well that's all for today - no doubt I've forgotten half of what I wanted to share but that will do for today I think. It's late and I really need to get to bed. Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon.

take care

Julie xx

Gettin closer...........

2007-10-16T10:19:00.000+10:00

Another week down .....and another week closer to Christmas. It's rushing up like a speeding train isn't it?? Cannot wait for our roadtrip back home to visit everyone and to meet the new bubs. We've met Brylie - my sisters bub - but there is still Damon (Steven's sister's bub) to meet and little Montana (Sarah's little one). They will all be close to nine months by Christmas.
We've had a bit of a busy week here. Kiddo's settled back into school really well.
Maddy had a haircut ....lol, should say a hairhack. she lost a heap of hair. She used to be able to reach it behind her on her back, now it barely skims her shoulders. But I think it looks awesome and she's really happy with it - best part though ..... no more arguing in the morning over finding hair ties or brushing knots out. Certainly has destressed school mornings.
Rylan copped a black eye at daycare. Had the carer ring me to say that there'd been a tussle over a toy and that Ry had a little mark near his eye. By the time I came to pick him up in the arvo it had swelled to a full black eye. The worst thing though is that if people do comment on it it is usually to say - 'oh well, boys will be boys' - really pees me off actually. I don't expect my boys to be rough just because they are boys and I most definetly do not think they should be 'proud' to wear battle wounds like this. It's healing slowly - is at that yellow-y stage at the moment.
On Sunday we headed to the Botanic Gardens for the Arts in the Park day they were having. Was total fun. There was all these free activities for the children to participate in and keep them busy. All three kiddo's got to screen print their own t-shirts with the logo for the day - they are too cute!! There was also a couple of camels there for rides if you wanted. Now Ry has never seen camels before so he was quite taken with them. LOL, everytime they went off to take people for rides he'd stand there crying for the 'mamels'. So I thought ok then, we'll put him on with his Daddy for a ride - he'll like that if he's so interested...........NOT!!! The kiddo screamed blue murder when we picked him up to put him on, so no camel ride for him lol.
We also did a little duck feeding whilst at the gardens before heading home for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Have also spent the last week really thinking about what it is that I want to do once the kiddo's are all at school and I think I've made my decision on the path I want to take. It's not concrete just yet but the more I think about it the more excited I get so I'm heading up the the local uni/tafe here on Wednesday for some more info on courses and such. Will let you know how I go with it all next post - lol, don't wanna jinx myself just yet.

Now onto some scrapping. Have had a busy week with my scrapping. Most nights you'd find me in my scraproom hunched over my desk. Is good to have the interest for it back again.

This is a big canvas that I did for the Everyday Garbage challenge blog. The canvas measures 60 x 40 cms. The challenge was to use items found in your bathroom. Used a hairspray tin and a cologne bottle lid to stamp onto the background. Used an old toothbrush to flick paint across background and to swipe edges. The green flowers are made from makeup removal pads that I painted and cut into their shapes and the green flower centre is made from cotton wool buds. Was a fun challenge and I really did enjoy adapting everyday items to my work. Love the way the way the canvas turned out and think I might get a frame made up for it.
This next layout was done for a photo swap. Photo was sent to me from Maz - is a pic of one of her friends. I find it hard sometimes to scrap other people's photos as you don't know the details behind the pic - so went with a general theme for this layout. Was really happy with how it turned out. Hope you liked it Maz.These next few layouts are just some layouts from the past week. Love the photo on the 'teach them how' layouts. Maddy is really getting her own sense of personality now and you never know what she's gonna pull out when you point the camera in her direction lol.

This last layout was done for a sketch challenge. The sketch is a Becky Fleck sketch I think and when I first saw it I must admit that I thought it would be easy enough to follow and alter a bit along the way......was a bit harder than I thought lol. So whilst there is a little bit of a difference it does still resemble the sketch quite a bit, but it's done now and I'm happy with the end result.

That's all for this week guys. Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon.

take care
Julie xx

Back to school they go........

2007-10-09T11:49:00.000+10:00

School holidays are finished and the kiddo's went back to school yesterday. Maddy was quite excited to be going back - she's been missing her school buddies. We weren't as flat out the second week of the hols as we were the first. I really wanted to tackle the potty training with Rylan and figured would be heaps easier if we just stuck round the house and focused on it. He's really picking it up good. He'll sit there no probs..... will sit there for ages actually lol ....... the tricky part we're having is in actually getting him to tell us that he needs to go - at the moment we're just sitting him on it every hour or so. There is a pic or two of him in the photo collage below sitting on his potty - man does he dwarf the thing lol, his chubby little butt hangs over either side ... he's just too cute!!
Maddy decided she'd like to learn to cook this past week. Fair enough I thought, we've all got to learn at some point. So I figured a cake mix would be a good place for her to start on her own. She was quite serious about it lol - if one of the boys came in and started talking to her she tell them 'out of the kitchen please, I'm concentrating'. She did a great job with her cake .....was quite delish!! And she even passed the mixer over to the boys to lick after finishing ..... thought she was being kind till she said she'd just have the bowl to lick instead, lol - she's not a silly child.
This has been the best ever school holidays for us. We normally all end up cranky by the end of the two weeks - not this time. I really, really enjoyed the kiddo's in the last two weeks. I know we're always supposed to enjoy our children lol, but normally school hols will push me to my limits. Not this time!! We spent heaps of time together, plus I got to spend heaps of time one on one with them as well - which is not easy to do sometimes. The house is so much quieter with the older two back at school, which is not a bad thing but it is a little sad and Rylan is missing them both already.I woke up Sunday with a sore throat and seriously I just sat in bed and nearly cried. I thought that I was getting Toncilitis back yet again, and I just couldn't deal with it for a fourth time. But the throat didn't get any worse throughout the day, just a little sore - plus I had runny nose and sneezing - so was just a little Spring cold I caught. Still made me tired but no where near as bad as the tonsils cause. Feeling heaps better today so have shaken it I think. This has just been the worst ever winter for me - never have I been sick as much as this. But it does make me look at my lifestyle a bit and see what could be causing me to be rundown enough to catch the bugs, so am making some changes that will result in a more relaxed and healthier environment.... have also rediscovered my love for oranges lol ....YUMMO!!
Have been scrapping a little - have scrapped six layouts in the last week. Can only share three of them though as two are for class and the other one is a layout that SM asked me to do for their Aussie gallery coming up.

Well that's all for this week, thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon.
take care,

Julie xx

Having a blast!!

2007-10-02T11:34:00.000+10:00

The first week of school holidays have just flown past for us. Normally we go a little crazy and get a little agro with each other but I have kept the kiddo's really busy this time and it has worked like a charm - I think we've had the best holidays ever so far!!

I think I mentioned in my last post that they'd both made a list of all the things they'd like to do over the hols - lol, they lost their list within a day of writing it. We still did the doughnuts and milkshakes for lunch one day though - though we swapped the milkshakes for kiddie capps. We've been to the beach a couple of times, been to the Botanic gardens a few times, visited the Rock Pool water park once (going again this wednesday), hung out at the local shopping centre for a couple of hours of shopping and people watching, spent a morning at the local library.

This past sunday we were invited along on a bbq with some of Steven's workmates and families. We drove up to Byfield state forest to a little place called Upper Stony Creek - and it is just BEAUTIFUL. It made me feel like I was back home in the Vic mountain area of Bright, not the town, but the area surrounding it. The creek flows down to an area thats been set up for swimming, and the water is so clear. There is a pretty area set up for bbq's under these really tall pine trees - was just so relaxing. There is also a camping spot there with these cute little sites all fenced individually - gonna have to try them out I think, have really missed our camping weekends.

Gonna share a funny little story - was NOT funny at the time believe me lol. Ry was standing at the edge of the river, wasn't deep where he was but a few steps in the rocks slope down to a fairly deep part - well for him anyway, and they are really slippery. So he stood up to come back to the side and started to slip on the slopped rock towards the middle. I didn't panic just strode over pretty quick to grab him .......... and slid all the way into the middle myself lol - I did manage to keep Ry's head above the water though. So there's me in soaked jean shorts and t-shirt for an hour car trip home - very uncomfortable! Though the guys did tell me at least it was a pretty graceful entry sliding in the way I did = not much concilation believe me. Here are some pix I took, doesn't that river just look gorgeous!! Now being the start of another month that means that it's new kit time at Embellished. Here are some layouts that I've made up using the kit.As you can see, it's pretty versatile between boy/girl layouts. This will also be the last kit I work on for a little while, am having a bit of a hiatus from my DT spot - takin a little time out to just do nothing I guess. I've had my spot for well over a year now and I feel like I've grown a little stale if that makes sense - so hopefully with some time off I'll feel a little more fresh.

These next two layouts were done just before I fell sick - just never got the chance to share them. Nearly broke my sewing machine on the first one - not sure if you can see it on the pic, but i hit one of the little brads with the needle and it got stuck - lol, it definetly did not like that!!

These next two are ones that I've done in the last week - haven't really felt like scrapping much. Have been reading heaps at night - will often look up and realise it's like one or two in the morning. Have also done a couple of Scrapgenie layouts, will share them next post.

Well, that's all for now. Am planning on a much quieter week this week so I can tackle a little potty training with Ry. He had his first day in those trainer pants yesterday - think I'm gonna need to buy quite a few more pairs. He soaked the three I had in less than half a day. Ended up putting him in Nick's jocks after that, couldn't believe that they fit his chubba butt so well!! So day one didn't go so well. But he did use his potty today - unfortunatly I was in the shower so once he did it he then proceeded to tip his wee onto the rug!! Little turdskie!! Am hoping that by the end of school hols he's got the drift - fingers crosssed.

thanks for dropping by, will catch up again soon

Julie XX

Feeling better.

2007-09-24T17:49:00.000+10:00

Well it's been a little while between drinks hasn't it?? Would love to say that I've been flat out with something really cool and exciting or even that I've just been to busy with life to take a chance to update, but I haven't unfortunatly. I have spent the last week really crook with Toncilitis yet again. Besides the one night I spent up at the hospital for some antibiotics to be given through an I.V most of my time has been spent huddled up on the couch sleeping.
But am getting over it now, starting to feel better - still a little dizzyness at times but I think that's just because I've been laying down so much - and have been up and about quite a bit today. Well I had to really, today is the first day of school holidays up here, so had to try and keep the kiddo's busy somehow. I did end up cheating this arvo though and took them down to the local video shop to hire some movies, figured if I could get one more quiet day in then I should be feeling fit as a fiddle. The kiddo's have made up a list of fun things that they'd

like to do over the holidays so I'm aiming to get most if not all of the items done. It's such a cool little list - doens't have heaps of big ticket stuff on it - more places they'd like to go and play at for a while or go and see - lol, one of them was to go have a milkshake and a donut for lunch one day .... sounds ok to me as a one off.
So that's about it for now - nothing to share, this is the first time I've been online in over a week - kinda cool actually - and I doubt I'll be on a heap over the school hols either. There is one cool thing I can share today actually - look at the pressie I got in the mail today:
It's from Cathy at Scrapgenie and they are just gorgeous - An AMM handbag and a matching AMM

purse - how cool are these!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH CATH

Y!!! THEY ARE JUST BEAUTIFUL!! I couldn't believe it when I opened up the parcel and saw these - thank you, thank you, thank you.

Okie, well that's all for today then, time for me to serve up dinner, another thing I haven't done in ages lol, take care and will chat soon
Julie xx

SC layouts............

2007-09-12T12:12:00.000+10:00

Two posts within days - lol, I must be feeling motivated. But the reason I wanted to blog today was because I finally got my hands on the latest copy of Scrapbook Creations, have been hanging out for aaaaaages for this issue. I had quite a bit of work in it - five layouts for a paint feature, three for a Spring journalling feature and two just in the quick grabs galleries. So I was all excited to get it home and have a read through. Open it up, flicking through, flicking through and then saw my first feature ...... was so disappointed. The printing colours were totally skewiff!! It's like they went overboard on the orange ink. So just wanted to share all the layouts in their original colours, believe me, the kiddo's did not need extra bronzer added to their skin lol. So here they are:

The paint feature -

The Spring journalling feature - The two layouts in the Quick Grabs section - This layout wasn't in the mag - it was done for the Colour challenge competition they had not long ago. Had to chuckle when I got it back, normally I like my layouts bottom heavy yet this one sits up near the top - must of been having my own skewiff day that day lol. But I like it still - love the colours and the pic is one of my fav's.Okie, well that's all for today - just wanted to share.

take care and will catch up again soon

Julie xx

Out and about.

2007-09-10T13:57:00.000+10:00

What a great week it's been - busy and full on - but oh so fun!!
Will start with my birthday last Wednesday - was just a great day all round. So many birthday wishes from friends - both reallife and online. Steven took the kiddo's out shopping and they bought me a new Dean Kootnz novel, a mudcake and little Nicholas bought me a snickers bar ....lol, the kiddo knows me well. My Rocky friends - Ang,Ali and Jo - bought me bottle of perfume, Still by JLo - has such a gorgeous scent to it. The phone was ringing late into the night from friends back in Victoria - was such a great chance to catch up with everyone back home and find out how they've all been doing and all the going ons. Really am looking forward to catching up with them when we head back just after xmas - have been missing them all so much.
Steven has been home for the last four days whilst they make some changes at his workplace - lol, think he's going a little crazy from not having anything to do. Has been great having him home though. Normally he gets home late in the arvo from work and the house is chaotic with the afterschool madness that hits. So has been really good to just chill together, go out for coffee on our own and take the opportunity to just connect and chat.
He went out fishing with workmates on Sunday, so thought I'd get the kiddo's out of the house and go exploring the coastline a little. Was just a brilliant day, the kiddo's were so happy to be running along the water edge and exploring rock pools that we found. I enjoyed sitting back and watching them have fun. The only rule I had for the day, was that they were not to get wet, feet were ok, but not to get their clothes wet. Uh-huh - check out the second pic in the second row of the photo collage ......little man Rylan went charging through the waves and took a nose dive LOL. But it was a great day and he dried off in no time. So all up, we visited three seperate beaches between Yeppoon and Emu park. Figured the kiddo's would be buggered afterwards, but no it's just not that easy some days. Ry wanted to see the 'mamals' as he calls them. So we headed back to Rocky and went for a visit up to the Zoo and gardens. We got there at a good time as they were just about to do all the arvo feeding times. Kiddo's loved seeing the chimps being fed. After a romp in the park and afternoon tea at the garden's kiosk we headed home for some down time. Steven didn't catch any fish - sad for him, but I didn't mind, not sure I could handle cleaning fish.
Today has been a quiet catchup day. After a busy weekend the house needed a good clean up and organising. It's done and it feels good to sit back and know that we're ready for another week.
Have been doing some scrapping in the evenings the last few days. Had a bit of a spell from it at the start of last week, got back into reading at night. Love sitting in bed at night, snuggled under the doona and getting lost in a good book. Tackled quite a few books and now am finding myself wanting to switch and get back to scrappin in the evenings.
Well thats about all for now - Ry's waking from his nap and it's nearly time to go and get the kiddo's.
So will leave you with these layotus I've done recently.
Take care and will chat again soon.

Julie H xx

Happy Father's Day!!!

2007-09-03T11:38:00.000+10:00

Not a whole lot to share this week, has been pretty quiet round here. Just the general house cleaning, kiddo watching and some scrapping going on.
Steven had a great Father's Day yesterday. He scored a sleep-in whilst the kiddo's and I cooked him up a huge hot breaky. Then they all went bounding in to wake him up, wish him happy Father's Day and give him his pressie plus some sloppy kisses and heaps of cuddles. He did score a few pressie's earlier on in the week as they each made him something at school/daycare. LOL - Ry made him some cute choccies, then proceeded to eat them himself once he gave them to him. After lunch we all headed up to the Botanical gardens for a wonder round the zoo and a run round in the park. Got some gorgeous pix of Steven and the kiddo's, and was just a fantastic afternoon. Didn't finish off Father's Day so brilliantly though. Put Ry down to bed at seven like always. Within the hour he was awake again and just full on screaming. Could do nothing to settle him down, went to give him a dose of Nurofen to help with the pain - he was tugging on his ears something cronic so figured that was where the pain was - but as usual, when you really need something it's not there .........had run out of Nurofen after the last two weeks of flu in the house. Tried putting him in bed with me to see if that would help settle him, but he'd dose off and then start screaming again, so at 9.30 Ry and I drove up to the hospital to get him checked out. They really are good up there with the little ones, they get them in as quick as they can. So they get him in to check all his stats and the poor kiddo starts screaming all over again - he just doesn't like other people to touch him I guess. They gave him a dose of Nurofen and a dose of Panadol together to help with pain and the temperature that came on whilst we waited for a doctor. Turns out he has ear infections in both ears the poor kiddo - probably due to some blockage from his flu a couple weeks back. Also got some antibiotics to help clear it up.
So have stocked up again on both Nurofen and Panadol so as not to be caught out again next time and Ry's doing a little better today. He did flake it on the couch this morning after dropping the other two kiddo's off at school and he's still asleep there at the moment - lol, I know better than to try and moving a sleeping child.
Thank goodness Spring is here, am totally over Winter and all the bugs it brings.
Not much other news I'm afraid, life's a little quiet at the moment - just the way I like it lol. It's my birthday Wednesday - actually I was reminded by Maddison about it yesterday, knew it was coming up but wasn't really paying attention to the dates to be honest. So her and her daddy must of been talking about it, wonder what they've got planned. What I'd love most is just a nice quiet family dinner at home, laidback and peaceful, prepared by someone else would be even better lol.
Onto some scrapping. Start of another month so that means new kit time at Embellished. This months kit is just gorgeous!!! Had a blast working with it. Here are some of the layouts I've made using it - have kept a couple aside for upcoming challenges and such.
This next layout was a sample for round 5 of Embellished Idol. Challenge was to create a layout using no traditional adhesives. Was such a fantastic challenge - really got the mind thinking. Used staples, brads, paperclips and masking tape to hold it all together.
This last layout is a just for me layout, using some of the new Basic Grey paper. Really happy with the way it turned out.

So that's all I've got to share this week. Might head into the lounge room and curl up beside chubb for a nap. Speaking of Chubb, he was weighed last night and he is 19kgs!!! So I feel justified in the nickname Chubb LOL.

Will chat again soon, till then,

take care

Julie H xx

All is well.........

2007-08-27T17:26:00.000+10:00

Well we are all fit and healthy again - YAY!! Thank you all so much for the well wishes you sent last entry, really meant alot ....so thank you!!

Has been a busy week trying to catch up on all the things that go undone when your busy tending to other things. The housework was a huge job after being left for a few days, but it's all sparkly here again and you can just feel Spring coming. Love sitting in the scraproom in the evening and feeling the breeze that floats through - so very refreshing.

Saturday was a big clean up day whilst Steven was at work. Is sooooo frustrating trying to clean with all three kiddo's home. For the most part they were helpful - Ry was particularly helpful in pulling things out after being put away and saying 'this Mummy?' Yes Ry, that has to go away sweetie lol, that's all he did - pull things out to ask if he should put it away. But on the bright side, at least it kept him occupied.

Saturday night Steven went round to the Russells to have a little game time on their new playstation 3 he'd recently bought, so being unable to head down to the shoppe to scrap with the chickies they came here instead. They are just the cooliest aren't they? So glad to have friends like these ladies - they make living up here in Rocky so very easy.

Sunday morning was a little more cleaning and then in the arvo we all headed over to the Russells for a little fun in the sun. Stuck the sprinkler out on their huge lawn and let the kiddo's run amok - they all had a total blast. Was just a beautiful day for it. Here's some pix of the kiddo's at play.

not sure why the first two pix are repeated at the end of the collage - but oh well, they're cute anyway lol.

Have added a post to the Designers at Embellished blog today, just sharing a little technique that I'm loving at the moment. Am also running a little comp there for this as well - SO GO CHECK IT OUT - is a cool little prize. Here's the link for it - BUBBLEWRAP

So have a go at this fun technique and leave me a link in the comments section so I can check out your work. Comp finishes Monday 3rd Sept.

Am loving being able to get back into my scraproom at nights. After feeling so 'blah' about my scrapping recently/plus not being well, have really been getting back into it and having fun. Well that's all for now, time to go feed the starving kiddo's here - mind you afternoon tea was only about an hour ago lol - but will leave you with some layouts that I've done over the last few nights:

take care and will chat soon

Julie xx

GOOD,BAD AND THE OH SO TIRED......

2007-08-20T15:52:00.000+10:00

Well my mind is just moosh at the moment, so hopefully if I go with the title categories above then I'll be able to make some sense this week lol.
First off the good from the last week.
Maddy aced her spelling test - she was so excited and proud of herself. Should of grabbed the camera out to capture the smile on her face as she showed me her test ...but just wasn't thinking at the time.
Steven has heard word at work about a change in work schedules - should this go ahead then he would be one of the first forkies in line to choose his days, thus elimenating Saturday shift - yayyyyy!!!! Fingers crossed that this evolves into more than just talk.
Both the boys - Nick and Rylan - are back to full health and sleeping through the night again. lol - this will also feature in the 'BAD' category.
And finally - the big 'GOOD' news for myself is ........ last Tuesday I recieved a call saying that I had made the shortlist for the Masters comp!!! WOOHOO!!!!Was so excited and for a second there just dumbfounded and couldn't speak. Now apparantly it will take a little while before the next stages - so will have to keep myself busy and not think about it. It is the first time I've entered the Master's comp though, so that may prove a little difficult lol.

Now for the bad this week.
First Nick came down with Fevers at night. Was fine through the day, but come evenings he just went down hill fast. Five nights of little sleep for him and the scary part was that every night he would go through a stage of what I guess are delusions. He'd be crying out and trying to 'get away' from whatever it was he was seeing - really scary stuff. He went to the Doctor but they put it down to a viral infection and his body trying to fight the bug off. Lasted five nights and then he was fine.
Then Ry caught it. So again, another five nights of no sleep - think I saw 3am most nights before I could finally get him to settle and in a good sleep. Nurofen was a great help with the temps and such, but it's hard to sit there and see a child freaking out about something that you can't see - he too was seeing/talking something when the temps were at their peaks. One particular night after giving him a dose of nurofen his temp spiked even higher - got to the stage where I was putting shoes on for a hospital trip and then when I came back to get him he had finally fallen into a good sleep. Was still quite warm but he had settled for the night, so I decided it should be fine and then just crashed into bed myself.
And now finally, me. Seems I too have got what the boys have had. Last night was just crappola for me. Temps, headache, couldnt' sleep - don't think I was doing any of the delusion side of it though - well hopefully any way. So that is night one down for me, just another four to get through. It really was like clockwork with the boys - five hard nights and then nothing, so hopefully should do the same for me.
And so that leads into the 'oh so tired' category. After so many sleepless nights with the boys - they overlapped for a couple nights there, which helps i guess - and now not being well myself, I am about as buggered as they come. Wish I could sleep through the day to make up for it, but with Ry home it's just about impossible - and besides, am thinking it should help me to sleep better at night if I'm tired.
So that's my week in a nutshell. Really am excited to make the shortlist ....... lol, at this moment though I think I could 'almost' trade it if they promised me a week of non stop sleeping.
Here are some layouts to share.
A couple are older layouts that I never got round to sharing - think they were 'maybes' for the FK ET call up ('sweet perfection' and 'Never doubt'). A couple were done at the end of last week. The only one I have done in the last day or so is the 'doughnut' layout - and that's pretty basic and simple. It's my sample for the latest Elsie challenge I've put up in the forum at Embellished.
So not alot happening round here scrapwise. But thats ok, cause my mind is moosh and it really couldn't be bothered LoL.

take care and will chat again soon
Julie xx

Bit of a share coming up..........

2007-08-13T10:42:00.000+10:00

Monday morning - worst part of the week for me at the moment I think. Usually Steven lets me sleep in Sunday mornings so I tend to be up late Sunday nights before I'm feeling tired. So come Monday mornings, the alarm goes off, hit snooze, alarm goes off, push the snooze limit one more time and then, well alarm goes off and I'm running round like the proverbial headless chook yelling -"we're late, we're late - let's get to it". So its a hectic morning, kids are rushed, I'm running round kitchen fixing breakfast then lunches, finding Nick's shoes (cause he NEVER remembers where he put them), doing kids hair and then bustling them out the door - only to pull up in front of the school just as the bell's going ...... mind you the bonus to running late is that I can always find a carpark right out front near the school crossing. But I hate the late and rushed feeling of the morning, makes me grumpy and I don't feel like I've given the kiddo's a really good send off for school if that makes sense. Really need to work on fixing this up and getting some proper sleep the night before - sadly it seems I must give up Sunday morning sleep ins - Steven will love this I'm sure, he'll be the one to get the sleep in then lol.
Not much else has happened here in the past few days since we've been home. Taught a class Thursday night and then again Friday morning, Saturday was ........well a normal Saturday lol, full on and hectic and then yesterday we headed up to the Botanical gardens with the kiddo's to meet up with Ali, Glenn and little lukesta - kids had a total ball running round and letting all their energy out. Didn't take my camera up with me though - do I dare say it?? ....... but I really just couldn't be bothered to worry about taking photo's ..... shocking isn't it LOL. Just wanted to sit back and enjoy some peace whilst the kiddo's ran rampant instead of trying to keep up with them to snap some pix ....was great for a change.
With the get away last week - I hadn't scrapped for about a week, so since we've been home I've been feeling the need to get into my room and make a dent in all the holiday pix taken. Last time we went away to the Gold Coast -2005- I had planned on making up an album just for the trip layouts ..... never happened. Think I did like three, maybe four and that was it. Really want to get it done this time and have a whole album for this latest trip. So it gave me the perfect excuse to get in and scrap at nights and here's what I've come up with.
This first one is the counter part of the layout I did a little while ago about being too scared to get up on the ferris wheel. Well I did it at Seaworld - YAYYYY!! Man was this one high, went up like 60 metres in the air, scary stuff lol. But I did it and here is the layout for it.

This is just a super quick and simple one. Only had to add the pix, tittle and journalling strips, everything else is the background paper.
Now I absolutely love this layout - the pix are just beautiful. Showed Steven when I had finished it but he said he didn't really like it, was too plain. That's ok though, I love it and am really happy with it - yes is simple, but I felt it needed to be.
Just another simple one, love the photo of Ry and just wanted that to be the focus of the page.

Okie, this one did not turn out like the image in my head lol, don't you just hate when that happens. Love the cherryArte paper, and knew it would be perfect for the starter page of the album, but just couldn't get it to quite gel, oh well maybe nextime lol.
Looove the photo in this one, took it whilst waiting to get onto the giant ferris wheel. It's right up close and personal, you can see the difference of texture to their skin - Ry, soft and smooth and steven all rough and sharp - really do love it.
This layout totally cracks me up, just makes me smile or laugh everytime I see it. As soon as I saw this little fish in the aquarium the first thing I said was -"Oh my gosh, it's ry as a fish" lol.

Just the round, soft chubby look to it made me think that - so hence this layout. Totally love it!!

Now I mentioned last post about Ry loving to hug all the characters and not too worried about his mummy taking 'nice, posed' photos - well this is the layout for that lol. He is just the cutest sometimes isn't he?
This next layout is a Scrapgenie layout using the Office Supplied range by Imagination Project. The soft, earthy colours to this range are just gorgeous, and there is a large assortment of ledger styled papers and embellishments.

Layout is just about how since our move up here away from family and friends I've had to really rely on myself and the need to make routines up and stick to them, about finding my balance. Man it's been hard to do so, but i've gotten there finally i think.

Now these next lot of layouts were going towards my For Keeps Elite Team entry, started them back at the start of July. But I have made the decision to not carry on and complete my entry. I just don't think my mind is totally into it and I know that I wouldn't be able to give it all i have to produce my best. The other thing to it as well is that I don't like the whole worrying and thinking about it once I have entered, happens to me everytime I've entered - this would of been the third year - so decided to just not put myself through it.

I did enter Masters, but to be honest I haven't really thought about it since I sent my entry off. Maybe because I'm not holding out any real hope for it, not sure really - just am not worrying about it.

Well thats all for today then. Time to go put Ry down for his nap and then finish off the laundry, did the housework this morning so this is all I have to go, yayyy!! - lol, the smallest things make me happy ;)

Just popping back in to add some tags that I have forgotten to add to my last couple of posts

Thanks to Karen, Cat and Carole for tagging me as a 'rockin' girl blogger'. I am so happy to read that you ladies think my blog 'rocks'. The idea originated from Roberta Ferguson and now I have to tag 5 girls that are rockin'!!!! I'd love to tag Lisa, Lusi, Maz, Mardi and Kelly S. I always love checking out these ladie's blogs, they all produce some awesome work and love to read the stories they share - I think your blogs 'rock' guys!!!

take care and will chat again soon

Julie xx

BUGGERED!!

2007-08-08T15:31:00.000+10:00

Well, after five action packed days we are home. Very tired from the long drive and all the walking around that we did but still on a high from all the sounds and fun from our get-away.
We spent Friday arvo and most of the evening in the car on the 8 hour drive down to the coast - chuck in quite a few toilet breaks as well lol. I think we arrived at our unit at about 10.30 that night. The place we stayed was just gorgeous!!! We got really lucky on a last minute deal and it cost us less than a $100 a night - BARGAIN!! They were double story Mediteranean (sp?) style self contained units set on a mini island - so we had gorgeous views of the lake from all our windows - was a very relaxing place to come back to after a full on day to just chill and prepare for the next day.
Saturday - we decided to head to SeaWorld to check it out -we've never been before, and it was just awesome!! LOOOOOVED the dolphin show - they are truly magical creatures aren't they? They are a whole lot bigger than I thought they would be - so very graceful.
Ry loved the Polar bear - I think he could of stayed at the window watching him for hours.
Nick loved Shark Bay ..... he was in awe as to the size of the sharks they had swimming around in the tanks. He was quite impressed that he could easily fit inside the belly of them LOL.
I finally tackled a ride that I am forever putting off - the giant ferris wheel. This one goes up 60 metres into the air but all the booths are closed in with glass, so I didn't think it seemed too scary .....WRONG!! Seriously, I was crapping myself - there is no elegant way to phrase that LOL.I think the only reason I managed to contain myself was because there was another lady and her son in the carriage with us - couldn't let her think i was a loony LOL.
A GREAT, GREAT day though: On Sunday we decided to head to Movieworld - this is one of our fav places on the Gold Coast. Don't think I could ever get tired of visiting it. It's always exciting to bump into the characters as you walk around the park. Rylan was a little scared when he meet his first one for the day - Daffy Duck - but he got used to them after a while, and everytime we bumped into one he would run up and give them cuddles .....he is just the cutest. There are not too many pix of him face on with the characters - he would run up and give them a big hug, say goodbye and then just walk off LOL. He was hanging out to see Batman, but unfortunately we never got round to seeing him on the day ....... missed him by a couple of minutes at one time bugger it.
Steven tackled the Superman ride - guy's nutso I reckon lol. I stood beneath this ride and man is it huge! At one point it just drops straight down ....you'd never in a million years get me on a ride like that. I did tackle the kiddy's Roadrunner coaster thought - that was scary enough for me.

Monday - the last themepark on our list was Dreamworld. This place is huge, but we managed to cover the areas we really wanted to see in the one day. Walked through the Big Brother House - that was really cool. It is sooooo much smaller in real life that what you see on telly - they must use wide angle cameras for shooting I think. It was hard to imagine that sixteen adults lived together in such a little place - I would go bonkers within the day or two. By day three we discovered that Maddy is a little adrenelin junkie - she tackles all the big rides and there wasn't much that she walked past. I went on one of the little coasters at DW with her and my gost I think i was deaf by the time I got off - her screams are just ear peircing lol - but as soon as you get off she's wanting to go around again.

Nick is a little more sedate - quite happy to stick to the slow little kiddy rides in the Cartoon network area. The Wiggles farmyard was a big hit with the kiddo's as well. You can handfeed the animals there, even Ry was ok with the little animals eating from his hand - too cute.

Tuesday - we were going to do another half day at Dreamworld to fill sometime before coming home, but decided to head to Pacific Fair shopping centre to walk round and check out. Steven took the older two kiddo's to see the Simpsons movie at the Cinema and Ry and I just walked round looking at all the shops they have there - shame I didn't have a little more time here, so many gorgeous shops to look through.

So there is our getaway in a nutshell. TOTALLY AWESOME time away for us all. Drive home seem to take forever - we were all a little tired and a little grumpy - but give us a day or two and we'll be back in the swing of things - hopefully LOL.

Oooh, photo tally from the trip was just over a 1000 photos, so hopefully I'll have enough pix to keep me busy for a little while. Was able to pick up a 2G memory card at Movie world for only $70 - which is really a reasonable price i thought - also saved me the stress of trying to find somewhere to burn photos to disk to clear up room on my other cards.

Will leave you with this layout that I did up for a sample of the sketch challenge for Embellished's CC the past weekend.

Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon

till then, take care

Julie xx

New Month ........

2007-07-31T12:22:00.000+10:00

Well it's almost the start of yet another month, so that means New Kit time at Embellished. And this months kit is a doozy - a great excuse to get a heap of layouts done for that special man/boy in your life. But will get to that in a sec.
Some exciting news to share ......the Heard family is hitting the road again!! Yep, we are travelling down to the Gold Coast this Friday for five days of action and fun at all the theme parks - man am I looking forward to it .........well we all are really LOL. I love our family getaways - a chance for us all to spend a heap of time together in a fun place. Yes, we're always buggered by the time we get home, but those days away together are just heaven - and I know we really just need some time together as a family - so stay tuned, I'm sure my next update is gonna be full of pix lol - what kind of scrapper would i be if it wasn't??
Have been out today with Ali and Luke for some play time at Crazy Jokers - an indoor playcentre here in Rocky - was a totally blast. Ry was so tired when we got home and he's crashed in his room for a nap at the moment. Thanks Al and Luke for a fantastic morning.
Other news .........today is the last day to register for IDOL at Embellished. This was a blast last year and the layouts were just amazing!!! So if you are thinking about it, or think it sounds like a great excuse to scrap then SIGN UP!! You have till midnight tonight and the comp kicks off tomorrow - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? GO .....SIGN UP NOW .......IT WILL BE A BLAST - and there is a fantastic prize up for grabs. I'll even put a link to the sign up thread to help save you time LOL - SIGN UP HERE. There are already 64 sign ups for it - is going to be a blast for sure!!!!
Okie onto some layouts now:
So have had a play with this coming months kit, it was the perfect excuse to scrap up a storm for my little man Nicholas. I noticed a little while ago that sometimes Nick tends to be overlooked - hopefully I have now helped balance things out a little for him. The first layout was a bit of a girly spin to show that though it may seem really boyish, the kit can still be tweaked to be used for girl layouts.

looooove this layout - yes its pretty simple, but it's a little message to nicksta about the special place he has in our family as the middle child ........it's a pretty important spot to have don't ya think??

finally got round to scrapping the pix of Nick's first buzz cut - my gosh I nearly cried when I had to shave his head - I will never, I repeat ....NEVER..... attempt to cut his hair again.

So there are the Kit layouts - hope you like. I managed to do six layouts and there are still enough papers left over for me to do easily another three or four layouts - so definetly papers galore in this one.

The next couple of layouts are my samples for the Elsie challenges i run in the forum. First layout is for the 'ribbon cluster' challenge and the other is for the 'scrap your fav. food' challenge. How yummo do those scones look?? MMMMMMM.........scones.....

And this last layout was just a muck around/play layout. It started out totally different to how it ended up lol - but isn't that always the way? It was mainly a green and white background but then I suffered from a major case of the 'overdoits' and well, it ended up like this = still like it though, and am glad I finished it - was gonna pull the photo off and redo it at the start.
And this is just a super quick double I did the other night when Steven booted me off the computer for a game he wanted to play - the cheek of him LOL. Figured if we are heading to the coast again then I better scrap some of the pix from our last trip there at the end of 2005.

Well that's all for me this week. There's a stack of clothes to be organised and put away that is calling my name ....... where are some earmuffs when you need them? Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon.

till then, take care

Julie xx

Little sports action.......

2007-07-25T22:38:00.000+10:00

Well another week has come and gone - they are just whistling by arn't they?? I'm happy to share that this has been a great week for us here - definetly a turn around from last week for sure. Same as always though - have been flat out I know but now that I'm sitting here and trying to rethink the week I really can't seem to recall what exactly it is that I've been doing, lol I have such a terrible memory.

Have been working on next months kit for Embellished - so that was keeping me busy most nights. Have also almost done my projects for my first all day workshop next month - will share them as we get closer to the date.

The kiddo's had their first sports day yesterday. Nicholas was sooooo excited to take part in it. He is so full on into his sports and it's hard sometimes to reign him in a little and explain that sometimes its fun to just enjoy the games and not get so competitive over them .....lol, I don't think I'm exactly the best role model for him on this topic - I too tend to have a little bit of a competitve streak at times, but am working on it slowly. Maddy too was looking forward to the day - it's not so much the competition for her but more the perfect excuse to go flat out and burn some energy off. Both kiddo's were totally exhausted that evening - slept well for sure. Here are some pix from the day (HUGE THANKS to Ali for the lend of her camera ...much, much appreciated chicky!!!!)

Here's a couple of Nicholas - he won third place for his sprint race. Unfortunately I missed both the kiddo's sprint races as I didn't get there till about 10.30 with Ry, would of loved to have seen them run.

Don't you just love Nick's sprinkled little face. A little while back I was havin a chat with him, and as we finished I said 'love you kiddo', he turned around and asked me 'even if i have freckles mum??' All I could say was 'even more so because you have them kiddo'. He is just the most beautiful soul this little man of mine.

Here's a couple of pix of Maddy from the day. She was soooo intent on the game, her eyes were on that ball the whole game lol. But she had a ball and thoroughly enjoyed it. She too won third place for her sprints - having those long legs of hers has got to be an advantage. You can see just how tall she is compared to the other kids in her grade - she is easily a head height above most and she is still growing!!

And here's a cheeky little grin from my little man Rylan - isn't he just adorable ...... grubby face and all LOL. He loved going down to the school and watching the kids - was quite content to sit back in his pram and watch all the games going on. I gave him a hair cut about a week or so ago - a cute little mohawk - just trimmed the sides a little shorter than the strip along top and back ...... couldn't quite do the bald side look lol. It suits him to a tee - he really is such a little personality at the moment and I'm loving it.
Have some layouts to share - these first two are just some fun/for me layouts. First one is using some new KI papers - they are actually from their petshop range but you wouldn't know .....they are so cute!!! Second layout is using the new Basic Grey papers. Love both these layouts.
Here are my latest DT layouts for Scrapgenie. They were made using the Blue Cardigan Designs - Yesterdays - range of product. Can I just say that this range of papers and accessories is just GORGEOUS!!! Beautiful colours, very soft and aged, if your LSS doesn't have them in ask for them - yummy, yummy stuff and so very easy to use.

Since I loved them so much I used some of my favourite photos with them - really really happy with how these layouts turned out.

Okie well that's it for today, it's late and I need to hit the sack. Oooh forgot to mention ..........GOT MY CAMERA BACK TODAY!!! YAYYYYYYY!!! LOL, does feel good though to have it back in my eager hands.

take care and will chat soon

Julie xx

Start the week over please......

2007-07-17T12:35:00.000+10:00

Ever had one of those days when you wished you had of just stayed in bed and let the rest of the world go on around you? Yesterday was that day for me - seriously....I kind of wished I could of just buried myself under a tonne of doonas and not made an appearance at all.

Ry had a really crappy nights sleep so was pretty whiney all day, even when we just sat and played cars together he'd just walk off whining - really not sure what was up with him. He had his day nap - was a short one for him though, so I guess I'll just put it down to lack of sleep.

Then when I picked the other two kiddo's up from school I had to go to the supermarket, from the time we walked in all three were just mucking up, whining, crying, asking for things - whining again when told no, they rarely act like this and certainly not all three at once. So needless to say by the time I got home I was cranky and had a headache, only to deal with Harvey Norman and Cannon about my camera. Not going into this one a second time - seriously I could of headbutted someone for this. Then to round up with wanting to cook dinner and do something nice - so go to pull out the potatoes only to find two little itty-bitty ones in the tub - LOL not a big deal normally but after the day I'd had it was just the icing on the cake ..... no way was I heading back to the supermarket with the kiddo's again - I am not that much of a glutton for punishment LOL.

But that was yesterday and today is today - so far so good LOL .......pleeeease keep fingers crossed for me that it continues well. I guess we all need to experience a bad day now and then to really help us to appreciate the good days - okay, based on this theory I should have enough to fuel quite a good few days then lol.

Other than that it has been pretty quiet and uneventful here - dare I say a little boring?? Kiddo's are back into the swing of school again. Maddy though is pretty tired after school each day and her emotions are swing pretty widely at the moment, beginning to feel a little panicked about her teenage years - anyone else have a 7/8 year old child that seems hormonal at the moment?? really high highs and really low lows - within the space of minutes?? Please tell me you do, it might make it seem a little more normal.

Have been working on next months kit for Embellished - can't share just yet but am five layouts into it at the moment and there is still quite a bit of paper to go through. But I can share these layouts with you. These three were just for fun/me layouts - really like them

This layout was my sample for the latest Elsie challenge in the forum - to fill a background. Was fun to break out of my little 'white space' zone for a while, and was definetly challenging to fill the entire layout. But these circles are fun to draw up, still looked a little plain so jazzed some of the circles up with bits and pieces. Don't you just love the face my little man is pulling here - it's his 'cheese' face. He has a bit of an annoying, but cute, habit at the moment of jsut saying cheese everytime the camera is pointed in his direction. It is cute and kinda funny, but after a couple dozen of these kind of pics you kinda wish he'd change it up a bit .........maybe I'll teach him to say Coon LOL.This layout is for this months Colour Therapy challenge in the forum - the DT were given a triple colour combo this month - red, blue and white. These are my two sisters - Anne-marie and Lousie (younger one) - pic was taken up at the botanical gardens here in Rocky ....my fav place to hang out. You can check out the full article here:

Well thats about all for today, sorry its a bit of a misery post to start with - I have had a great week otherwise but i guess its easier to complain than smile sometimes, will work on fixing that sometime lol

take care and will chat again soon

Julie xx

Here comes Routine.....

2007-07-09T12:19:00.000+10:00

Well it's the last day of school holidays today. Kiddo's are excited to be heading back to school tomorrow, and I ....well I must admit I'm really looking forward to getting our routine back. It's been a month since we've had a normal routine in the house and I think we're all a little tired from not doing things the way we would normally do them. I know that Ry's sleep patterns are just all over the place at the moment, so that will be the biggest bonus of getting back on track.

I think he's also going through some sort of growth stage at the moment. He normally only has the one bottle of milk when he goes down for his sleep at night, but lately he'll finish the first and ask for another one ...... lol, or as he'll say - "More, more?" And then he'll usually wake at about midnight and ask for another bottle - so three all up in a four hour period - seems a bit excessive for me but it's not like I can so No, you don't really need it. From memory they do have a growth spurt around 2 years old, so hopefully it's just that.

Well there's not alot else that's been happening in the Heard household. We've enjoyed the last week of school holidays. We've hit the parks enough to keep the kiddo's busy through the days. Maddy has been scrapping with me quite a bit as well, and her album is looking pretty full at the moment - might have to invest in another one for her. Can't get her into the bad habit of just storing layouts in pizza boxes like her mummy does lol, makes it too hard to catch up once you do finally invest in some albums. Anyone else like me or are you all organised as you scrap each layout? Seriously, I have like eight full pizza boxes at the moment just waiting to be sorted - thats a whole lotta albums I think. I think I'm done with the post bound albums, they don't really hold a whole heap extra and when you do put a couple of packs of inserts into them they don't hold together so well anymore. Ali had gotten some ringbound albums into shop and they look really great, seems like they would hold quite a few layouts and the price for them is just fantastic. LOL, they were so great they sold out in like TWO DAYS - gonna have to move quickly when the next load of them comes in i think.

So like I said, nothing really interesting happening round here, so will just share a few layouts I've done in the last week.This first layout was for one of my classes I recently taught up here. Love this pic of Mad and I.

This layout was for last week's Elsie challenge sample in the forum. This was me getting to meet my gorgeous little niece Brylie - really like the colour combo in this layout.This is just a quick layout I did the other night at our Cyber crop get together at the Shoppe Saturday night. Love that spotted Crate paper I've used for the background, is a gorgeous colour.And this was for this week's Elsie challenge sample - to create a mini album in a tin. I didn't so much go with the mini album idea, but included more a letter of things that I wanted to share with Maddison.Well thats all for today guys, thanks for dropping by and I'll catch up again soon.

take care,

Julie xx

Catch up time ..........

2007-07-03T13:04:00.000+10:00

What a flat out couple of weeks it has been here. So much has been going on and now for the life of me I don't know what it is LOL.
First up, all our guests flew out Sunday week ago. It was absolutely fantastic to be able to catch up with everyone from back home. The house is heaps quieter for sure but I'm kinda missing all the company we had. Meeting and cuddling Brylie was definetly a highlight of the visit from my mother and sister. LOL, just wanted to add from my last entry that yes the first week had me feeling clucky, after two weeks though I'll just say that I'm very happy to be a mummy to slightly older kiddo's and am definetly comfortable in our decision of no more bubba's - you kinda forget over time just how much time little one's need, ours are a little more self sufficient now a days which is kinda great in a way.
So the guest flew home and school holidays begun. so whilst the house was a little quiter there was still the mayhem that comes with three young kiddo's in a house day after day. It has been great having them home though - the key is to definetly keep them busy!!! We've been out and about a bit and that is helping in all of us keeping our sanity LOL. They are back to school this coming Monday, and to be honest, I think Maddy and Nick are really looking forward to it. LOL - I think, they think, that I'm a little boring.
Other news - My Cannon suffered a mishap and has now been sent to Sydney for repairs that could take up to FIVE WEEKS!!! Not happy Jan!!! From what we could gather Maddison tried to stick the memory card in backwards and ended up bending some of the prongs that slide into the card. I could of attempted to straighten them myself, but better to be safe than sorry I thought, so off it was sent. Did not realise just how important my camera was to me. Not just for photos and such, but also in getting pix of work to share for DT posi's and such. The super sweet Ali lent me her little point and shoot though, so am starting to catch up on all the things I needed to do. So prepare for a bumper layout share LOL.
The July kit at Embellished is about to be released ......and it is GORGEOUS as always!!! The papers are just beautiful and the extra's the girls have included in this one are just awesome. Seriously, you have got to check it out. I think I managed eight layouts and a fairly large OTP plus there is still some bits of papers left over if I wanted to get a couple more out - so definetly some value for money there. Here are some of my layouts for the kit:
This is the OTP item that I made up using a sheet of the Jenni Bowlin shaped paper. Originally when I folded it in half it look like a file so was gonna go with that but then somehow I ended up with this photo holder. There is about a two inch gap from the back and front piece to sit the photos I want to scrap in there. I thought it was pretty cool, just need to add an extra sheet of chipboard to the back to brace the back a bit better and then its down to the shoppe to display there for a little while.
Finally got my hands on the new love, Elsie papers - well the Roxie range anyway. Total fun playing with these. But can be easily overdone if your not careful, the patterns are so bold and full and quickly make a page seem full. Really LOVE the embossed cardstocks in the range. Here are two of the three that I've done with them - keeping the last one back just for now.This last layout was a just for fun layout. Headed down to the shoppe Sunday night for a scrap session with the girls - Ang, Jo and Al. Had been a little while since we'd gotten together so was really just a great night - full of chatting and scrapping with great friends........what more could a gal need!!!
Was tagged by Lali so will do that this entry as well - sorry it's a little late Lali.

Four of my favourite jobs -

1 - Scrapbook teacher (easily number one fav I think)
2- Nightfill for a supermarket (no-one to disturb me, do my job and go home ...great pay as well ;) )
3- Manager of a dine-in resturaunt ( ok this was stressful at times, but I like being my own boss to an extent LOL)
4- Macca's chick as a teenager - learnt a lot about the real world from this job

Four of my favourite local places

1 - Botanical gardens here in Rocky - heaven on earth seriously
2- Beach at Emu Park - very close second to the gardens
3- Stocklands shopping centre - great place to just sit back with a coffee and people watch
4- My scraproom ...... my own little retreat for sure

Four of my favourite foods

1- Lasagne - definetly has to be homestyle
2- Cheesy vege pasta - my own little recipe that I just adore
3- PIZZA!! great chill out food
4- snickers - another great chill out food LOL.

Four of my favourite places in Australia

1- Bright VIC - gorgeous little town set in the VIC alpine region
2- Apollo Bay VIC - another gorgeous little town in VIC - has both mountains and ocean, my two favs
3- Gold Coast - love the fast pace action there
4-Blue Mountains - absolutely stunning there.

Now for who I tag:
Hmm, might tag the Embellished DT girls for this one

Sares
Mickey
Melissa and
Tammy

Have fun girls,
and with that I'm bowing out for a shower. LOL, late morning here is all I'll say.
take care and will chat soon

Julie xx

Getting out and about.......

2007-06-19T11:34:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update for today, somehow I've gotten lucky and am sitting here on my own. Mum and Louise have gone for a walk to the shopping centre, Steven's sister Julie and her partner have also gone for a walk somewhere, Anne-marie and bubs are down for a sleep and Rylan is also down for his nap. So is really quiet here at the moment, after a week of noise and everything being hectic it seems a little odd to be honest LOL.

It has been awesome catching up with everyone from back home, and it has been absolutely fantastic watching the kiddo's meet their little cousing Brylie and spending time with the family. I have gotten to cuddle my little niece (TONNES!!) and will be taking her out shopping in the next day or so for a spoiling session - she is just sooooo little, you really do forget how little they are and just how quickly they grow before your eyes. By the time i see her again at christmas she will be nine months old - she will not be this tiny again, so am making the most of it whilst i can. Spending time with Brylie has definetly been a highlight of Mum and Co coming up to visit, but it is also making me so very clucky and wishful. I know decisions have been made and I am happy with that, but when i hold her I can't help but long that I was holding my own little bub. The little baby smells she has, the little sounds she makes, the GORGEOUS little smiles and laughs she gives me just make my heart both swell and ache at the same time. I gave her a bottle this morning and she chucked a little on my shoulder when i burped her - i did clean it up but sitting here i can still smell the little milk smell on my jacket, even that makes me stop for a sec to just ......not sure of the word.....saviour maybe ??....... sounds wierd doesn't it - sitting here enjoying the smell of chuck LOL, oh well, guess I'm just a wierd person.

Man, you should see little Rylan with her - he is just absolutley adorable. He is quite taken with her and gets little things to put beside her : her dummy, a toy, a blanket - whatever he thinks that she might need lol. Or he'll just lay beside her on the bed, on his side watching her ..... it really is a beautiful sight. He is just so gentle with her, never tries to pick her up, is just happy to be beside her. Maddy is like mother hen, she's the one always wanting to pick her up and hold her - and Nick ..... well I don't think he's too fussed about her LOL. He did say she was pretty, but thats been about it, goes about his business like normal.

No layouts to share this time, have done a few but they are for next months kit at Embellished so can't share till it's released. But will say that Ali's paper choice this month is just BEAUUUUUTIFUL!!! So keep an eye out for it at the start of July.

Will share some of my favourite pix taken over the last week.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE this pic of Rylan and Brylie -- arn't they both just gorgeous!!

Here she is giving me cheek already :)

Taken on a trip to the Botanical gardens - don't you just love the little bald patch she has happening LOL.

And this is how Rylan has spent part of his week LOL. Most of the time when Mum or Anne-marie talk to him, he gets all shy and will drop to the ground and hide his face. This kiddo is as stubborn as they come, he could stay like this for ages.

Okie, gonna run and enjoy the rest of my quiet time. Thanks for dropping by and I'll catch up again soon hopefully.

take care

Julie H xx

Birthday wishes and chaos descends ;)

2007-06-11T13:32:00.000+10:00

First up I have to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AWESOME HUBBY STEVEN!!
Yep today is his 32nd birthday.......... and the poor bugger had to work it. But the kiddo's and I are planning on a super yummo dinner for him. We picked him up some funky black and white canvie shoes for his present - love them!! and I know he will too. He's been getting text messages all day on his phone from friends back home, so I know that will cheer him up heaps when he gets home this arvo. Back home we would of had a big barbie with friends, so it is a little sad that it will be such a low key event - but will try and make it special for him none the less, the kiddo's are working hard on some cards for him, and we're about to head out and try and track somewhere down to get a cake from. Totally forgot that nothing would be open today being a public holiday so wish us luck in our hunt for cake LOL.
Well it seems that the Heard household is in for a very busy, very hectic time. We have family decsending for a visit - how long this visit will be who knows. Tomorrow night my mother, two sisters and little Brylie will arrive for an extended stay - there is no departure date at this stage. But I am looking forward to seeing them after nearly six months of being away, and YAY will finally get to meet my little niece - be prepared for a barrage of pix of the cutie LOL. On the 16th Steven's sister and her partner will also be visiting for a few days - so yes, we're gonna have a full house for a while. But I don't think i would have it any other way. I'm from a huge family so have grown up with a very full home and the chaos that comes with it at times.
Okie well better get going if I have any hope of finding somewhere that has a cake - a yummo Mud cake would be just perfect wouldn't it.
Will leave you with these layouts - all of them have been done using paints and inks to make the backgrounds for them - TOTAL FUN and oh so messy!!! have done a few more layouts but have been a bit slack and not taken any pix of them yet - so will have to share them next time.
thanks for dropping by and will chat again soon,
take care
Julie xx

June already??

2007-06-03T23:28:00.000+10:00

Well it's the start of June already ........ how did the time fly past so, so quickly. We are almost half way through the year, which means that we have now been up here in Rockhampton for five months!! Man, it really is going by so quickly isn't it?? And we are all still totally loving it up here. Back home we'd be rugged up in coats with heater going already, but up here, we're lucky to have had to wear long sleeves maybe once. This is definetly our life style up here. We will be having an influx of rellies over the next month. In two weeks Steven's sister and her partner will be coming up for a visit and then about two weeks after that My Mother, sisters plus others will be visiting for about two weeks. Am dying to meet my little niece Brylie!!!

Well being start of the month, that means that a new Embellished kit has been released, and I stand by my convictions that this is BEST KIT to date!!! Totally YUMMY range of papers and all the little bits and pieces in it are awesome. Here are three of the five layouts I've done so far with it - the other two layouts are on display in store and I forgot to get pix before I took them in unfortunantly. Have had a total blast playing with this kit. Here's a link to get your own piece of OHH LA LA!! Be quick ......... the kits have been selling fantastically!!!!

Come 8pm each night, the kiddo's toddle off to bed and then the rest of the night is mine. It is my own little quiet time to get into my scraproom and create till my hearts content. I do occasionally get a little scrapping done through the day while Rylans down for his nap, but it's not a whole lot really so I look forward to my nightly scrapping. I usually try and aim to switch off and head to bed at about 11.30pm, so that is three and a half hours of uninterupted scrapping time ............. and I'm loving it!!! And since the 'Big Tidy Up', everything has it's own place and it really has helped with keeping the mojo flowing, just have to make a big effort to tidy up after each scrap session LOL.This is what my desk looked like after today's session .......OOPSIES!! Can I convince anyone by chance to maybe tidy for me LOL, it really is the sucky part of scrapping isn't it?

So the next few layouts are just for me/havin a play layouts. The photos on these layouts are some of my absolute favourites lately and that certainly helps make scrapping them heaps easier.

Well that's all for now ladies, it's late and I need to get myself off to sleep but thanks for dropping by and having a looksie and will catch up for a share again soon.

till then, take care

Julie xx

Up and at em'.

2007-05-28T15:10:00.000+10:00

Well I am back. Where have I gone I hear you ask .......... well I would love to say that I was off exploring somewhere, or on a mini vacation but alas I was doing none of this. I have been camping out on my lounge room couch sick with Toncilitis - terrible, terrible thing to have. It completly knocked me out for over five days, and my throat was just terrible. Couldn't eat or drink for a while there and ended up going up to the hospital to get put on a drip for fluids and some pain medication. But all is well now - have healed up and am feeling great. Did lose a few kilos, though have been told it will be back again once fluids are up fully - Bugger!! LOL.

Other than that, not a whole lot happening since I last updated. Have finished all my projects and such for the mags - YAYYY, got a little overwhelming there for a little while, but they are done and have been posted. Have been having a play with the June kit for Embellished - AWESOME, AWESOME KIT!! Keep an eye out for it, will be realeased at the start of the month and you do not want to miss this one.

So now its back to 'scrapping for me' for a little while - have missed it actually, being able to just throw things together on a page and if it doesn't work then so be it, it's not the end of the world. Classes have started back up in the new Embellished shoppe here in Rocky, am teaching two classes a week and am TOTALLY loving it can I add. We are getting a heap of new ladies coming in interested to do the classes on offer by Ali, Ang and myself. Really is heaps fun and the new class area is great to teach in ......... the whole shoppe is just FABBO and is doing absolutely fantastic.

I am happy to update on my little man Rylan .......... he is back to being his totally ADORABLE little self. He goes down no probs for his nightly sleep now and is back to sleeping through - thank goodness, don't know how much more lack of sleep I could of taken. His molars are still bothering him a little but nowhere near as much as they were before.

After being cooped up in the house a bit lately we decided to head up to the Botanical gardens for a little while Sunday arvo - Ali and Luke came along for a play as well. Here are some pix from our afternoon, the kiddo's always love heading up there to play in the playground. This time there was some Rainbow Lorikeets there and they let the boys get right up close to them before they would hop just out of reach. The boys (Rylan and Luke) spent a bit of time with them, following them round and trying to get right up to them.

Finally have a layout to share, it's not much unfortunatly, very simple but I love it just the same. REALLY love the photo of Steven and I. Is my sample for the latest Elsie challenge I have posted up in the Embellished forum.

Well thats all for now. Better run and fix afternoon tea for the kiddo's. Is it just my kiddo's that are always so starving in the afternoon, or is this normal?? I swear I pack them each enough lunch to feed three kids and yet they are always sooooooo hungry after school finishes. Whooops, can hear them getting into the kitchen, better run.

take care and will chat again soon,

Julie xx

some scraproom pix

2007-05-15T18:14:00.000+10:00

Well what a flat out week it has been here. I have spent a few days helping out with some work to get the new shop ready for opening day .......and it is looking absolutely awesome!!! Opening day is tomorrow with a opening special weekend this sat and sun, so if your in the Rocky area over the weekend pop in and check out the new store .....very, very classy.

Scrapping wise I've still been working on all the projects/features I've got due by the end of this month, am mostly done just one more feature for three layouts to go so am not too stressed over that now. I'd love to share them so i could get some feedback but can't unfortunately so will just have to share some pix of my newly rearranged scraproom. I have a huge area to work with so most things have a home, just a few little fiddly things to find places for and then all will be right. Have started painting the cupboards and such in a nice fresh white so that definetly helps brighten up the room. You'll have to excuse the not-so-funky floor covering, there are plans to sand back and stain the floors to match the rest of the house but am still waiting for said plans to get into action - at least the not-so-funky floor matches the not-so-funky curtains lol. But I am really lovin the organisation at the moment, really helps with getting in and getting what i need done, trick will be to keep it looking so neat and tidy.

Not a whole lot else been happening here really. Rylan is still being very trying especially at night time when he goes down to sleep. He has always been really good to go to sleep, just a matter of putting him down in his cot and he'd be asleep with 10-15 minutes. But now you put him down and he'll quite easily scream for as long as you leave him there, this is really not the child I am used to. I sprung steven the other night, he's apparently been getting rylan back out of bed when he's screaming.Nearly sat on rylan when i was getting into bed the other night, had been out and had gotten home pretty late that night, went to get into bed and nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt Ry there, then little turdskie had the cheek to say - Hi mumma, I didn't quite have the humour he was expecting i think. Then again last night. Ry was mucking up again and steven and I were taking it in turns to go in and settle him again. Finally there was quiet so here i was thinking awesome,Ry's finally gone to sleep. Walk into my scraproom and here's Steven on the comp with Ry on his lap ........... not happy Jan. So now not only do i have to get Ry back into routine of going to sleep on his own, but also 'retrain' Steven to not take the easy option LOL. Ahhhh life with a toddler, awesome isn't it??

But you know what, if this is the worst we have in our life at the moment then I should be both happy and grateful. We have each other and we have our health and everything else is going great for us, so i guess in the grand scheme of life a little sleep deprivation really ain't so bad now is it?

Okie, well i better run - is bathtime here, which is not long followed by bedtime - any one got some spare earplugs by chance LOL.

take care and will chat again soon.

Julie xx

ANYONE WANT .....................

2007-05-08T12:10:00.000+10:00

............a Two year old Demon child. LOL, okie I joke, I joke. I wouldn't actually give him away, tempting though it may be, but demon child he is none the less. My little man Rylan has undergone a complete and utter turnabout in his personality. This last week and a half has just been so full on with him. Gone is the quiet, content and happy kiddo - instead he is now a sooky, clingy and non sleeping child. In his defence he has been a little sick with a flu or some such, but even when not well before he has never acted like this. Last week he was waking an easy five or six times through the night, something he has never done - not even as a newborn. The last couple of nights have been better and he is pretty much sleeping through again but the days are not much better unfortunately. He is just so short tempered at the moment, the slightest little thing wrong will set him off and he'll just cry, cry, cry. Occasionally he'll throw himself on the ground and cry whilst kicking his chubby little legs, if it wasn't so tiring at the moment it would really be quite funny in a way. So I'm sticking this pic of Rylan up to remind me that he's still my beautiful little bubba and that this is only a stage ...............only a stage!!!!

Other than my possessed little man, there's not a lot else been happening round here. Have done a move around in the scrap room, maybe a new look will produce some new ideas - hopefully. Will try and take some pix once it's all set up nice (and neat) and share them in my next post. Well thats about it for now, here are some layouts that i can share:

till next time

take care and chat soon

Julie xx

Anyone giving out some spare time by chance???

2007-05-02T15:10:00.000+10:00

Well it seems that I have gone AWOL again over the last couple of weeks. I always have good intentions of keeping up to date with things but sometimes it seems that no matter how hard I try I just tend to fall behind with it all. But I am here to update now ......... finally LOL.
Wow, now to remember all that has happened over the last couple of weeks.
First up the biggest thing - Embellished's first ever retreat has come and gone this past weekend ...........and what a truly awesome weekend it was. The company was the best you will ever find hands down!! It was great to be able to get away from home for the weekend - not that i didn't miss my kiddo's, but it was great to get a little break from it all. It was just a blast and so FULL ON!!! Seriously, I don't think I have ever felt as tired as I did Sunday evening, could easily have flaked for a week i reckon. BUT MOST FUN I HAVE HAD IN A LONG TIME FOR SURE. So thank you to all the ladies that attended and a HUGE thank you to both Ali and Ang for all the hard work that you guys put into it. Unfortunatly i don't have any pix (gasp!!) but you can see the ones Ali has uploaded to her blog here!! I don't think i have laughed so much in a long time.
Second big bit of news from the last week is - that Embellished will be opening up a shopfront right here in Rockhampton in the next couple of weeks, it has been so exciting to watch this develop over the last couple of months. I wish both Ali and Ang all the good fortune they can handle ........... I know that this store will do awesome, I have seen a little of their plans and a little of their stock range and all i can say is : ROCKY BE PREPARED!! This will definetly be one shop with the lot.
This will also give me the opportunity to continue teaching at the new shop, with plans to teach two classes a week - am totally looking forward to it. So I have been busy busy getting to work on about six weeks worth of classes so that all will be ready on opening day to book straight into the classes that will be run - both Ali and Ang will also be teaching ............Inspiration will abound from this store!!!! So if your planning on visiting Rockhampton you must stop in and see the new store - will be opening 16th May. More details will come after or closer to opening day.
So have been busy with the class layouts, am also working on a few projects for a couple of the mags. So scraping has kept me busy lately. But my general home life has also been busy around here. Maddison's school work has stepped up a couple of notches and so am trying to help keep her on track with out overly frustrating her ...........trying LOL. Rylan seems to be going through a growth spurt i think, always hungry and crying at night because his legs are bothering him, am thinking he might be getting some growing pains in his legs - actually that reminds me that i need to pop out and get him some panadol for tonight. He has been so restless through the nights these last few days - we are both in need of a decent sleep i think.
Well thats about all i can remember at the moment, still working on catching up on sleep from the weekend. Can't leave you with any recent layouts unfortunatly but here are some I did a couple of weeks back. First is just a double to take care of all our Easter pix and the next two are both layouts for the BTB journey at Embellished. If ever you are in the need for inspiration then just check out the Beyond the Blue gallery at Embellished - some serious, serious talent and inspiration happening in there.
Till next time (not too long hopefully), take care
Julie xx

Don't ever give me.............

2007-04-16T11:55:00.000+10:00

......a pair of scissors with the expectation of being able to cut hair effeciently. Seriously......I totally suck at cutting hair. I thought i'd be able to trim the top of Nick's hair as it has gotten a little shaggy over the last few weeks. Really didn't think it would be that hard - WRONG!!!!! I ended up have to shave the poor kiddo's head, and let me tell you that poor boy does not have the right type of head for a shaved look. It has just made his little stickout ears look even more stick out!! Lucky he's at an age where it doesn't matter to him, he just told me he looks like that boy from nieghbours - lol, he was talking about 'Boyd' I think, so i just went with that and said yes i was making him look spunky like the boys on tv LOL.

Even little man Rylan didn't escape the wrath of the scissors. I was unsure of what setting i normally run the clippers over his hair, for some reason i really thought it was a number two so went with that. NOPE, i do not use a number two, i actually use a number four. So poor boy has hair so short you can see the whiteness of his scalp through his hair. My poor, poor boys. Not sure if i am game enough to take a pic to share, will see if i can manage it by the next time i blog. LOL, Maddy said she needed her fringe trimmed, this is something i normally do for her, but after the fiasco with the boys I told her she was probably better off waiting for another day - can you imagine poor Midskie with a shaved head..............not a good look for a little girl LOL.

Well the older two are back to school tomorrow - YAY!! Not that i haven't enjoyed spending extra time with them for the Easter break, its just that its been soooo much extra time LOL. Did manage to get them out of the house a few times in the last week and they ended up being pretty peaceful days for all of us. The one big think i noticed on their time off though is that they LOVE to annoy the crap out of each other. Seriously, why do kids get so much enjoyment out of peeing each other off? Nearly sent me bonkers........ well more bonkers anyway. So am looking forward to school tomorrow. The house is in dire need of an thorough tidy up, and to be honest i just need a little extra peace and quiet i think.Hmmm hope that doesn't make me sound bad LOL - but as a mum i really value quiet.

On the scrapping front have been kinda busy and kinda in a couldn't be bothered mood, really weird actually. One night i got like three layouts done and then i didn't feel like scrapping again for days, just bludged around at night. But is good to take a mini break every now and then - well thats what i told myself anyway. Here are some of the layouts I've done:

Okie better leave it there, little man has just woken from his nap and better get lunch happening. Take care and will chat again soon - hopefully i am game enough to share a pic of the boys next time LOL.

Julie xx

Exciting news......

2007-04-09T11:35:00.000+10:00

It has been a flat out week and a bit here in the Heard household. First up a HAPPY EASTER to everybody, hope the bunny has brought a heap of choccie to your house - hope also that unlike me, you have not yet made yourself crook from it all LOL.

Okie onto the biggest new of last week - well two bits of news that were very exciting. On monday my sister gave birth to her first child, a daughter that she and and her partner have named Brylie. She wieghed in at eight and a half pounds. My sister went over her due date and ended up having to be induced. Was so very exciting following it all between Sunday and when Brylie was finally born Monday arvo. So i am now an Auntie and my kiddo's have a cousin - YAYYYYY!!!!!Here is a pic of Brylie - and the layout that i have already scrapped for her LOL.

Then out of the blue on Friday morning we get a phone call from Steven's dad saying that his sister has had her first child that morning. A beautiful little boy they have named Damon - he was two weeks early but still weighed in at eight pound five ounces. Soo exciting isn't it. Sad to though that we can't be there to visit and to hold the bubs. By the time we get to meet them at christmas they will both be about nine months old - no longer babies.Here is a pic of little Damon:
We ended up spending half of yesterday with friends down at the beach at Emu Park. Was a really great day and was happy to be able to spend it with the fantastic people that we have meet up here in Rocky. Was a really fun day for all, and the kiddo's all loved the egg hunt Ang organised for them. Some pix of our day:

Arn't they just the cutest.We've never done a beach egg hunt before and the kiddo's had a total ball.

Thanks Ali, Jo, Ang and families for a really special day.

The new April kit for Embellished has been released and is TOTALL YUMMY!!! Check it out, this is one kit you don't want ot miss - is awesome!!!!! Here are some of my layouts using the kit.

Here is my layout for the BTB journey at Embellished this week. The topic was to scrap your mentor/support person. Steven is this person for me, is always there with the support when i need it most. there is a letter hidden in the music file for him
And these layouts are just for me layouts.

Thats about it for now i think. There are a heap of layouts i've done over the Easter weekend but well, I've been too lazy to take pix to upload LOL. Have a feeling i'm not going to be geoutting a whole heap done over the Easter break with the kiddo's home but that is good i think. Will be great to have a break from it and get out and about with the kiddo's, staying cooped up in the house with them all is the quickest way to become insane LOL.

So till next time, take care and will chat agian soon.

Julie xx

Still here.........

2007-03-29T10:57:00.000+10:00

Yeah its been a while since i've checked in, but I'm still floating around doing the same old, same old. Up early in the mornings to get the older kiddo's off to school, Ry and i spending the day together and me trying to scrap in the evenings - like i said, same old,same old.

I would like to thank you ladies for the kind words you left for my last post, it was uplifting to read them and i thank you for that. The problem has been resolved and unfortunatly the decision has not gone my way. Steven led a very convincing arguement, and whilst i knew from the beginning in my mind that he was right about this, it just took a little longer to convince my heart it was right. I'd be lying if i said there wasn't pain and sadness but I have had two weeks to sort through it and i have now come to the place where it is ok - still a little sadness to it but I know its the best path for us. So i can now say with only the tiniest tinge of sadness that there will be no more babies for the Heard family ....we have been blessed three times and i have much to be happy for, it is now time for us to look to our future and make it into what we want. We have many plans of where we want our path to go and the time has come to work towards that.

Kinda feels good to get it out in the open, makes it that little more final and I kinda feel that its over, dealt with and all wrapped up neatly if that makes sense ....feels like i can now focus on being me again instead of being all mopey and down as i have been the last couple of weeks. Also gives me the opportunity of thinking where i want my own personal path to lead to. I plan on looking for part time employment for now but once little man is in school i want to take a more focused direction .......I want to work in a specific area, one that i wake up each morning glad to be going to if that makes sense. I have some time up my sleeve so if need be then i can do any necessary study for it now whilst Ry is still little and at home. Its all kinda exciting really .....they say the possibilities are endless ..........I believe they are right.

So that is where i am at right now. I've come out of my sadness and am feeling bright. This is starting to flow over into other areas of my life as well now.The last few days have been just fantastic for us.

Love being mummy to older kiddo's, they are at awesome ages and so fun to be around and the games are just the funniest - how do kiddo's think these things up LOL.

Steven and I are back to being comfortable around each other again, no avoiding each other so we could avoid the issue .....has been great.

Am excited to be scrapping again - last week I thought it was all rather boring and was wondering if i really had much longer in it, now ....am all excited with it, new ideas running through my head and eager to clean out my area and get back into it. I have scrapped a little over the last couple of weeks, but i really think they are flat if that makes sense, looking at them now though and i think i don't mind them at all.

So theres my last couple of weeks, feels great to have caught up again, its all out there and dealt with and life is feeling really fresh at the moment.

Thanks for dropping by and will not leave it so long again for another chat - oh by the way, if you'd like to leave a little note on what you do for work, i would LOVE to read about it - tell me what is great about it.

take care

Julie xx

What a week

2007-03-14T13:09:00.000+11:00

Well what a week and a bit i have had here. Some of it has been awesome with some exciting news and other days i have been so down i just can't seem to shake it.

Would you believe it all started with a layout i made up one night. At first it made me sad, then it made me really angry ..........i can't really explain it too well, its just how i feel about this issue. Why do some decisions have to be so black and white. Here i am on my side of the fence determined not to budge and there is steven over on the other side, equally determined not to budge - and worst of all, there can be no comprimise this time..... it either is or it isn't.

I have told him how i feel, exactly how i feel ....laid it all out for him and he has done likewise and told me his point of view. The sad part is we can each see where the other is coming from but we can't seem to find the way to fix it. It has seriously gotten me so down this week that i can't sleep at night and my moods are just so whacked through the day..........How do you find the way to meet in the middle when there is no middle to be found??? It is starting to put a strain on us, just when we were doing so well. The move has been an awesome thing for us relationship wise, we no longer have the arguements that we used to, we no longer feel like just two people living in the same home - we feel more 'together' than we ever had for years. It scares me that we maybe heading back to the point we were once at. Yet i still can't seem to let it go or give in. This is something that is sitting very solid in me, and even though i know it is starting to cause probs i still cannot let it go. I don't believe one party has the right to call final judgement on something that is permanent - and that goes for either of us.......hence our problem. Maybe time will be the trick to it, maybe after a little more time for one of us to get over the emotion behind it then maybe a decision can be made. Here's hoping anyway.

So that has been the biggest thing for me this week, its kinda good to get a bit of it out.

As for scrapping, well i have done a little so will share some layouts - but some of them are older ones that i never got round to uploading.

This is my layout in the current SC for their 20:40:60 challenge - colours were a little bit bright in the mag - a lot more subdued and distressed in real life. Was a great kit they sent out and i had heaps of fun playing with it.

These two layouts are from a crop i attended over the weekend. The first one was for an impromptu one hour challenge we held and the other was for a 30 min photo swap. The pic of my three kiddo's was scrapped by the talented Ali Russell - LOVE IT!!
And these two are just ones that i've done a little while ago but never got round to uploading. Just some quick and simple ones for no particular reason.

Well thats it for today - sorry for the downer post, but i think i really needed to get a little of it out and its helped a bit i think.

thanks for stopping by, take care

Julie xx

editing to add - well maybe there is hope for middle ground after all. I have had a chat with an awesome friend and being that she is not emotionally involved with the matter she was able to chuck some extra thought my way and i think she may have given me another tactic to approach with. Thanks heaps Ali chick, really appreciate (and needed) this arvo's chat ...... you really are the voice of reason at times ;) Feeling heaps better now and hoping for a more positive outcome when i chat about it to steven later.......wish me luck!!!

BIIIIIG LAYOUT SHARE........

2007-03-05T12:20:00.000+11:00

Okie well I can finally share all the work from the last couple of weeks that i was unable to before. The start of the new month is always a busy time scrapping wise. So many new things being released. Will start with the new march kit for Embellished 'Palette of Autumn'

Loved the richness of colours in this kit....beautiful,beautiful papers from We R Memory Keepers. Here are my sample layouts for it - if you'd like to pick up a kit then check it out in the Embellished Shoppe. The shoppe has been revamped and is looking awesome, plus there a heap of specials so check it out.

The new product feature is now up in the forum. The DT was issued the challenge of having a play with Heidi Swapp's plastic letter range, here are my samples for it.

here are some Scrapgenie DT layouts, using the Bobunny Shabby princess range of pp's:

Here is my latest Elsie challenge sample layout - to use decorative edged scissors

These are just some 'for me' layouts, having a play with some different things.

And finally some playing cards. Melissa is running the Emily card challenge in the Embellished forum. Here are my cards so far:

Well that brings me all up to date with my scrapping and such. Other than that life here has been pretty good. My most exciting news though has got to be the special words my little man has just learnt to say. Was putting him to bed last night and told him 'love you' like i always do....well he pulled out his dummy and said 'wuv you' back to me.......it made me sooooooo happy to hear him say these words. He is just picking up new words like a sponge, he can now also say his own name - he is too cute!!!!

Okie well that is about everything i think, sorry for the mammoth post but i like to keep them all here on my blog. Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon.

take care,

Julie xx

2007-02-27T10:58:00.000+11:00

Well this seems to have turned into a weekly blog - i never seem to have anything really interesting to share, just layouts from throughout my week...and that must get a little boring after a while.

I have been busy, i know that i have been short of time the whole week - i'm just not sure what it is that i've been doing LOL.....must be losing my mind i think. Maybe i'll just do some highlights of our week

- Maddy was awarded an achievement award during assembly last week = she was sooo proud of herself....and i was equally proud. Her teacher had given me a heads up so i was able to have my camera there to capture the moment for her - she's such an awesome teacher. Wonder if maddy's told her i'm a scrapper hence the need for photos LOL.

- still going for my walks through the botanical gardens every now and then. I love it - its so quiet and peaceful. Even Rylan must think so, he rarely speaks throughout these walks, just happy to sit back in his pram for the hour we walk. Sometimes he gets a bit excited by the birds and ducks we might see and will give a squeal out ...which will scare the ducks away lol.

- taught my first class up here last night. WHAT A GREAT NIGHT WITH SOME AWESOME COMPANY!! It went really smoothly and I really enjoyed it. Have another class wednesday night. Love seeing the way each lady makes the layout their 'own', just by making slight changes or adding something a little different.

- Rylan took another spill the other night, so has a scrapped nose at the moment. This poor kiddo is seriously having a bad run since we've been up here. But the nose is healing nicely and its not bothering him. I guess it just comes with the age - being clumsy and that. He's fast approaching his second birthday - 18th march - and is such a character at the moment .....he is always cracking us up with some silly thing he does.

- Have been scrapping up a storm lately, think i have done like nine layouts. Man it must seem like i don't have a life lol. But i will usually get one done through the day when rylan goes down for his nap and then will usually get another done at night once the kiddo's have gone to bed. So no, I am not glued to my scrap desk and i do manage to get everything else I need to do round the house done. The kiddo's and I have also been getting out and about in the afternoons for a little exploring around town - trying to suss out our favourite spots here in Rocky.

Unfortunatly out of the nine or so layouts i am only able to share two at this stage. Most were done for the March kit - soon to be released at Embellished, keep an eye out for it, is AWESOME!! But i'll be able to share these layouts next post. a couple were for challenges coming up, but again will be able to share them next post. So will share these two:

This layout was a 'just for fun, just for me' layout that i put together at a scrap night round at Ali's (now that was a fun night!!). I love this pic of maddy, she has the most awesome natural laugh, though it is hard to get it out of her, when you do it is just like magic - i love this girl sooo much. So hopefully this layout was able to capture a little of that with in it.

This one is my sample layout for the latest Elsie challenge at Embellished - to tell a story. Rylan has a thing for my oversized sunnies, just these ones - he pays no attention to any others left laying around. No matter where i put them he will track them down and walk around with them , usually around his neck lol. This kiddo definetly has FUNK!!!!

Okie, well i've just put little man down for his nap in Nick's bed - gonna see how he goes in a bed during the day instead of his cot, just to get him used to it. so far so good, lol but then its only been five minutes.

Better run, got a few things to do while he's down for his nap. Take care and will catch up again soon.

Julie xx

little this, little that

2007-02-20T11:46:00.000+11:00

Well it seems that if i blink a week flies by, might have to try pegging my eyelids back for a while hey? Have been so busy around here - not just scrapping but with life in general. Have fallen into my old patterns of being up late to try and get things done and then wondering why I'm so cranky and tired in the mornings - not a bright spark at times am i LOL. So this week i will be aiming to be in bed by 11 pm at the latest. Will see how it goes - i know that i enjoy this time when everyone else is in bed and its just me to do what i like.

Have scrapped a few layouts in the last week but can't share bout half of them as they are for things like the 'beyond the blue' comp for embellished and for class kits for scrapgenie. But i can share these ones :

This was the layout for the first online class Embellished held last thursday night - a nice and simple one to kick things off. It was a great night and i hope the ladies all enjoyed themselves heaps, it was the first time i have taught online and i think it went really well. This is my fav layout at the moment - its neat, simple, little whimsy and has my three gorgeous kiddo's on it - not biased much huh?? LOL.

This is the example for the latest elsie challenge at Embellished. Little man is really into his books at the moment - the other two, maddy and nick, love their books as well so its great to see rylan getting into it as well. The challenge was to go mega - make your title huge, mine kinda is i guess - it just wraps round the pic is all. Its a bit of a bitsa page, but i like how it turned out.

I was checking out the Dares blog last week and saw that their latest challenge was about what legacy you would like to leave behind. It really got me thinking about it over the next couple of days so i thought i would have a go at the challenge. This is what i have come up with. I'm a BIG reader and I'm all about education being a top priority in this country, but its not just about eductating our children, it's getting them to love learning, to be interested and excited by it. I never try and force it onto my kiddo's, but at times when they say 'mum, i'm bored' I'll usually say how about grabbing a book and we'll read together - they LOVE it!! So i am a little excited that rylan seems to be picking up the same enthusiasm - if you can tell by the fact that i've scrapped two layouts of him with a book this week LOL. So that is the legacy that i want to leave behind for my children and their children - A thirst for knowledge.

Well thats about all for now guys, thanks for dropping by, leave me a hello and i'll catch up for a chat again soon.
take care

Julie xx

Take the journey BEYOND THE BLUE........

2007-02-12T17:16:00.000+11:00

Another busy week here at the Heard housedhold - so just gonna start with what i can remember and go from there LOL.

- BEYOND THE BLUE has been launched at Embellished and can i just say how EXCITED I am about this. Ali has put together an awesome, awesome compition but one with a difference. She has a cause and i love her determination to support it - this comp is a reflection of that. So check out all the deatils HERE, please think about taking part in this - this is a journey that will take you DEEP within yourself and i'm looking forward to being able to share the experience with other scrappers. It is also awesome in the fact that there will be no eliminations as each week progresses - yes there are prizes up for grabs (cool, fantastic prizes may i add ) and there will be voting each week, but the tally will be held of till the end before being shared - this is so that each member that chooses to partake is able to complete the whole journey and reap all the benifits to be had. I'm really putting myself behind this one as i feel there is just so much to be gained from it.

I have also started a Journal note swap on the Embellished forum - check it out, they are soooo cool. Sign ups for it will be for this week only.

Nick was home from school today and will be home till thursday - poor kiddo has had the sore on him mouth come back again, he first had it back in December. So while he is not ill or anything he does have to stay home as he is contagious. Oh the joys of it (insert eye roll ) But on the other hand if a kid in Nick's class still was sent to school with something like this then i know that i would be majorly peeved so best to be safe i guess.

Rylan's chin is healing really well, just a faint scratch now. Little kiddo's just bounce back so well don't they - must be all the energy they have to burn that helps them heal. If only I could bottle it to sell, reckon i'd make a fortune LOL.

Embellished will be running its first online class this Thursday night at 7pm - i will be teaching it , how cool!! and i absolutely love the layout I have made up for it, best of all its a free class, so if you've got thursday night spare then come along and have some fun with the rest of us (think we have like 12 or so so far). You will need to email Ali for registration to join - here are all the details HERE.

Have found a great balance to life at the moment. I have a set routine for nearly everyday that is allowing me to tackle most things i need to do - its awesome having a routine, really helps to get a heap done round here. You can imagine with three little kiddo's seven and under and running between schools and daycares and such it can get hectic at times. But after a couple of weeks back at school we've all settled in really well. It helps too knowing that i have set scrapping times, set cleaning times, set homework times (yes poor kiddo's have homework up here lol), set family time ...........it is just working so well and i've been able to slowly get on top of all the things that needed to be done. This bit is gonna sound really wierd to most people but i wanna share it anyway. Since the first week that we moved here i have been just SO HAPPY, its soppy i know but it is just so true. I have been in the best moods lately and theres not much that can 'get' to me anymore. I am 100% confident that moving here was the best thing we could've done, not just for me but for me, steven and our family. Steven too has a world of confidence about him and its just an awesome feeling knowing that for once we 'got it right'. So no more 'cranky' mornings, no more down days, no more un needed yelling, no more ridiculous fighting over nothing - AND I AM LOVING IT!!

Okie onto some layouts now.

This layout is my example for the latest Elsie challenge in the forum - to doodle on photos. Ver simple and basic, but very fun....and i love this pic of Rylan running through the sprinkler.

These two layouts I made using a kit i recieved from Cathy at Scrapgenie as a christmas gift. It was a modern romance kit by Daisy D's - they are just some gorgeous papers and i really love their style of journalling tags and such at the moment = awesome stuff!!These next two layouts were both for One hour challenges that i ran through the week. The first one you had to use polka dots and the other one was you had to use scraps of paper only (besides your base) - love both the pix on these layouts.And lastly is this layout - was just having a play around with some fabric and i love the way it turned out. It will also be the basis of the first class that i teach up here in Rockhampton - cannot wait!!

So i think that is about everything i can think of for the time being. Thanks for dropping by and i will catch up again soon for another chat.

take care

Julie xx

Almost a quiet weekend.

2007-02-06T11:41:00.000+11:00

Hiya guys - how was your weekend, hope you all had a relaxing time. I dont' have a whole heap to share, just mainly some layouts that i worked on over the weekend.
We did have to take little man Rylan up to the hospital Sunday evening - kiddo took a spill and split his chin. Why oh why do head wounds have to bleed soooo much!!! I was freaking, kiddo was screaming and no-one quite knew what they were doing. But within the hour all was calm again - they patched little man up ....well glued him up i should say and he was home getting heaps of cuddles.
Poor kiddo - he has had a rough run since we've moved to Rocky - first the headlice shaved head, then the viral rash that came out in blisters all over his body and now this. Hopefully this is the last of his bad luck run - keep fingers crossed.

Nothing else interesting to share - has just been a week of mundane things - like Nick losing his school hat already ....it didn't even make the first week!! Steven's been flat out at work and is currently working six days a week - poor bugger is just so tired at nights and is crashing pretty early. Makes it a bit boring round here for me, i have no -one to talk to in the evenings. It does however give me time to sit at my desk and scrap in peace once they're all in bed. But that does get kinda boring after a while as well.
Scrapping wise things are going great. Having fun with all the challenges and such for Embellished. Have gotten back into my Scrapgenie stash and am creating layouts for class kits and DT layouts. Had another layout picked up by Scrapbook Creations, so that brings my tally for the year to eight layouts now - all in all its going well. Finding time to have a play with new tricks and styles - sometimes it works, somtimes it doesn't lol.
Well i think thats about all i have to share for today - its pretty boring i know, but oh well, sometimes its good to just have a quiet period in life.
Will leave you with these layouts.
Take care and will catch up again soon.

Julie xx

February kit layouts........

2007-02-03T19:47:00.000+11:00

Well its been a week since i last popped in. I know I've been busy.....am SO TIRED....... but for the life of me I just cannot remember what it is that i've done.

- We've done school everyday of the week so thats been early mornings.

-I've taken up walking through the botanic gardens for an hour when its just Rylan and I - pushing his big pram up and down the hills there has surely got to be good excersise lol - and its nice and peacefull as well.

-The house is nice and clean after a HUGE clean up this morning. We've had a bit of rain and the gloomy light just seems to make everything look dirty and messy - so everything is in its proper place for a couple of days hopefully.

-Went out for coffee and lunch with Ali yesterday - was great to have some adult company with no kiddo's around. Very relaxing - did a bit of brain storming as well.

- Maddy had to have a tooth pulled on Thursday - the poor poor kiddo!! She had an old filling half fall out and well eventually got an abscess, so they decided it had to come out so up to the hospital we went. Man the thing was HUGE!! Little kiddo did awesome though, didn't take them long at all.

Well i can't really think of anything else to share - seems a little boring but it has just been a draining week. The new kit for Embellished has been released - 'LUSH AND LAVISH' ......is just a gorgeous kit. Here are the creations i've made with it so far and i still have some bits left over for a couple more i reckon. They're a little relaxed for me, a little more subdued i think - not so over the top as i can do them sometimes....but am really happy with all of them.

Well I'll leave you with the pix of the layouts then guys. Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon - hopefully i'll be a little more energetic then.

take care

Julie xx

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

2007-01-29T13:56:00.000+11:00

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

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie - Oi,Oi,Oi

2007-01-26T11:14:00.000+11:00

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......

Great company, great fun!!!

2007-01-19T11:07:00.000+11:00

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

Scrappin up a storm......

2007-01-16T00:43:00.000+11:00

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,

Up and running !!!!!

2007-01-11T13:46:00.000+11:00

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,

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

2007-01-02T16:13:00.000+11:00

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.....

Ate, Drunk and was Merry!!!!

2006-12-29T13:02:00.000+11:00

Well Christmas day has come and gone. It was a blur.....it contained chaos and mayhem, but also so much laughter, love and joy. I love christmas day, it truly is the one day of the year when all problems are pushed aside and we can all share in the love of our families. I have long given up on trying to get those 'perfect' christmas pix, instead i now just sit back and snap away madly, just happy to get the pix that really reflect our christmas'. LOL, its usually full of a happy madness, chaos and LOOOOTS of mess.....I would have it no other way. Here's a pic of the tree area christmas eve, all pretty and neat........so calm before the storm of three excited kiddo's is unleashed.

Well Steven is home now - the kiddo's were so excited when we drove down to the airport to pick him up Christmas Eve. Never has the two hour trip to melbourne felt sooooooo long. They asked the same questions over and over and over -'how far is melbourne?', 'what time does the plane get there?', ' will we get there in time?',and of course the ALLL TIME FAV - 'are we there yet???? We got there like nearly two hours early, but it was fun to walk round the airport and have a looksie in all the shops there.To top it off we then waited in the wrong area for steven to come out of - lol, we were waiting in the baggage retrieval area, so the kiddo's had to wait just a little longer to see their daddy.Oh well, we found him in the end - the kids were squealing soooo loud, people were staring lol. What an awesome moment for them - i think that moment was all the christmas present they wanted.
So now Steven is home, christmas is over and we are one week from the start of a new life for us......It is a very daunting prospect now that we are getting so close to it. The house is slowly getting packed, my scrap room has been taken apart and I'm actually feeling a little lost with it all packed away. There is still soooo much to be done but we'll get there eventually, well we better LOL.
Anyhoo thats all for now, better get back to it.

HOPE YOU ALL HAD AN AWESOME CHRISTMAS AND MAY THE NEW YEAR BRING ALL THAT YOU SEEK FROM IT!!!!!

Chat again soon guys,
take care........

Getting closer.......

2006-12-18T10:27:00.000+11:00

Well what a week....as usual it has just flown which has been good. But seem to have had a bit of good luck come my way as well. Nothing overly exciting, just a lot of little good things that have happened. So its kept me on a bit of a high for the last week.
The kids are like little walking count down machines at the moment - Nick especially. He's been walking around the last few days letting everyone know exactly how many days till christmas and how many days till daddy gets home. He's such a chatterbox and will just stop and chat to anyone, whenever he pleases.
Have done a few layouts at night once things have quietened down here. These first two were just some quick ones i did having a play around with paint

This one is my example layout for the new Elsie challenge posted up at Embellished - to scraplift a layout shape. And lastly, here are a couple more chrissie gifts i have made up. The flower boxes were for Nick's Kinder teachers.....they loooved them. The other pressie's are a quick and simple lollie jar and a couple of 'lolly trees' that are soooo easy and quick to make.

Well i still have a stack of packing to do, really haven't done anything the last fortnight....been too busy getting ready for xmas lol. So now i'm gonna have to knuckle down and really get into it. So since it seems that i only update here once a week at the moment (slack i know), I dare say this will be my last post before Christmas, so in that case.......

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE......I HOPE SANTA BRINGS YOU ALL THE GOODIES ON YOUR WISHLIST.

Take care guys and will chat again soon.

And the countdown begins........

2006-12-11T10:01:00.000+11:00

Well its only fourteen days till christmas - my gosh hasn't the time just flown. This also means that its only thirteen days until steven flies home - the kids are just sooooo excited, they are counting down the days till his home and it has really kept them distracted from christmas. They keep asking when he'll be home instead of all the things they want for christmas.
Am nearly done with all the chrissie shopping i need to do, just have to get a couple of little gifts for my sister and brothers and then i'm done - oops nearly forgot, still have to make up a couple of teacher gifts as well. Maddy has made up her gift for her teacher and was so excited that she took it in for her today. I remember seeing in SM last year a little ribbon tree made up by the talented Kim Archer - hopefully i'm right, appologies to the original creator if i'm not. So when i came across this little metal spiral tree i thought it would be perfect for Maddy to make up for her teacher. Had to help her a little to start with - she wasn't double knotting so they were falling off, but she eventually got the hang of it. Here's a pic of it:

Here's a layout i was gonna share last post but blogger decided not to upload so will share this time. Its for this months Design Team challenge at Embellished - to use hinges - and this was my example. Love this layout and its one of my current favs.Also recieved my SS gift at the end of last week - was run through the forum at Embellished. And its just gorgeous. Don't have either of these HS products so can't wait to get playing with it. There was also a tiny altered mint tin filled with smarties - no longer full now lol. My gift was from Cat, and though i thanked her on the forum i will also thank her here as well.

Thanks Cat, loved the pressie and i LOVED the little altered tin, its just gorgeous!!

Have also done a couple of handmade gifts this year. The first one is a lunch pail tin that i altered for Nicholas and i'm gonna fill it with matchbox cars for him. Will be good for him to have something specific to store his cars in when he's finished playing with them. First time i've altered one of these lunch pails and must admit i found the handle and clasp aread tricky to cover around. But am happy with the end result. The other item is a mini clipboard that i made up as part of my sisters gift. She's pretty forgetful so thought would be handy to have somewhere to put her notes or to do lists. Here's a pic of them both:

So i've been keeping busy with my scrapping, unfortunatly this means that i haven't been so productive packing wise, really gonna have to step it up this week. Nick's face is healing well, he's home today but the sore has almost cleared up so hopefully he'll be back at kinder either tomorrow or thursday.Well thats about everything for now, thanks for dropping by and will chat again soon.

Take care......................

Mayhem and madness...........

2006-12-06T11:12:00.000+11:00

Do you ever look forward to a certain time of day?? I know i do thats for sure - 8PM is such a lovely time for me, by then the kiddo's are in bed and fast asleep. There's not a sound in the house, no talking, no argueing.....nothing, and I have peace for the next three to four hours. Sometimes i get the urge to just talk to another adult but most times i must admit i am quite happy to sit and not say a word. I turn the radio on and if the mood strikes i sit at my desk and work on some layouts with the occasional net surf thrown in. Great way to relax after a hectic day. And i seem to have had my share of hectic days - I've had maddy home for three days with the flu, Nick caught some 24 hour bug friday and threw up in the supermarket, was not nice!! And then to top it off i've just spent nearly two hours waiting at the doctors office for them to fit me in to see Nick yet again.....he has now got - of all things - school sores - poor kiddo's mouth is a mess. But we now have some anitbiotics and some cream to treat it, so hopefully will clear up in a few days time. Only prob is its highly contagious so please keep fingers crossed that none of the other kiddo's catch it. Really feel it would be the last straw for me if they did. So crappy, crappy week here, lets hope things improve.
So as i said, come 8 pm i sit at my desk and i scrap, it helps to calm the nerves somewhat and has kept me busy. I have done a few layouts, but there not anything brilliant unfortunatly. I'm tired and run down and it shows, they are just scrapped layouts - no real depth behind them.
Will share though:
This first layout was done with a pic that i took of Nick at his birthday party - you can see the beginning of the sore near his mouth here, though at the time i had no idea what it was, wasn't till the second one showed up this morning that i thought "gee better get that looked at", bit slow aren't i??

This layout above was done for the newest Elsie challenge at Embellished - to add sparkle to your layouts. I used kindy glitz on colour the butterflies on the pp. Another pic i love that i manage to capture at Nick's birthday party. As for the title of this one, well thats what stuck in my head when i saw the pic lol, so just went with that.These two layouts above were for the current Product Feature at Embellished. DT were given the challenge of using the We R range of pp's with a masculine theme. These were my examples. I have decided to frame the one of my brother and give it to him as part of his xmas gift, he's been really sentimental lately and i think he will like it.These last three are my examples with the new December kit available now at Embellished. Was such a fun and funky kit, perfect for xmas pics but would work so well with other themes as well. Made a xmas wreath up by punching flowers from the papers and attaching to a cane wreath i found at a discount store, love the way it turned out.

Well thats about it from me today guys, think i'm gonna have a lay down while the boys are napping. Will try and catch up again soon.

Take care................

FLAT OUT!!!!!!!!

2006-11-29T12:29:00.000+11:00

WOW!! What a flat out week we have had here. Will start off with Maddy's play. What an awesome,awesome night. ALL the kiddo's did a brilliant job and some were just absolutely adorable. Couldn't decide which to take out of the camera or video camera, so i did the only thing i could think of in the interest of fairness.............I left Rylan with my mum and took both LOL. Probably was best to do it that way as the plays went for just over two hours and i seriously doubt he would of sat there quietly for that long. I did have to pass the vidie camera to Nick when maddy's class came out so i could get some pix, so hopefully he kept it pointed at the stage lol. Will see how it looks when i put it on to tape i guess. Maddy was a beautiful flower for the night - silly blogger won't let me upload the last pic of just her. Awesome night all round!

My little man Nicholas turned five yesterday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!!!!! Decided at the last minute to make up a cake for him to take to kinder yesterday. IT WAS BRIGHT!! Guess thats what i get for letting him choose his favourite colours lol. He was sooo proud of himself for turning five, every time I spoke to someone he would whisper (loudly) "mum tell them they have to say Happy Birthday to me, quick, tell them".The kiddo cracks me up sometimes lol. Here are some pix from his kinder........he will be having his proper party at Hungry Jacks this saturday.

Also got round to doing my Christmas photo shoot of the kiddo's. Seemed to be really lucky this year, was just so quick and easy and i got some of the most beautiful pix of them. Did have to bribe Rylan with a candy cane though - so most of his pix are of him sucking happily away on it lol - still very cute though.

The December kit for Embellished will released shortly - here are some sneak peeks for it. Awesome papers, awesome kit.................but you'll have to get in quick for it, numbers are limited for this one. Had a heap of fun playing around with this kit, once it has been released then i will upload the things i made up with it.
And lastly - I have put up the new Elsie challenge in the forum at Embellished

It was to convert a pic to black and white and make it the focus of the layout. This is my example of the challenge here. Really happy with the way it came up.

Okie, better scoot - Maddy's is home sick today, and from the sounds of it Nick must be down there annoying here - better get down there and put a stop to it before they wake Rylan ......oooooh the joys of Motherhood LOL - wouldn't swap it for the world would we. Thanks for dropping by and will catch up again soon

take care.......................

Bring on Christmas..........

2006-11-23T10:30:00.000+11:00

I LOVE Christmas.....every year i look forward to it so much, but never more than this year. Steven flies home christmas eve and though the days are flying past already, i wish they would go a little quicker. We really are missing him soooo much and him not being here has been extremely difficult for all of us. That saying ' You never really know what you had till its gone' is ringing very true in these ears thats for sure. Love ya Hun and missing you heaps!!
We got round to putting the chrissie tree up on Saturday, the kids love decorating it - lol they were trying to decorate it as i was putting it together, couldn't get Rylan into it though. He grasps the concept of taking the deco's off, just not how to put them on LOL, so the bottom of the tree is looking a little ragged already but oh well, is the season to be jolly as they say.
Have done some present shopping already - for the kiddo's of course - just need to take care of a few little extra gifts for family and to make up some cute thank you gifts for maddy and nick's teachers. Not too sure what to make up for them though, so hopefully i think of something soon.
Been keeping busy scrapping at nights. Got a couple of layouts to share with you. First one is for this fortnights product feature at Embellished - was to use the Gin X range with a Birthday theme ....... and as always the Design Team excelled. Check out the layouts here:
The second layout was for the latest Elsie challenge at Embellished, it was to make you own Patterned paper and this was my example for the challenge. Used a MM flower foam stamp (the circles) to stamp with Aqua paint over the strip of white cardstock, then just used an orange pen to doodle around some of the circles. Pic is of our melbourne meetup at Paperific - from left to right : Mel, Michelle, Lorrie and myself. Awesome day, Awesome ladies!!
Last layout is just one for me - havin a play with the new MME Bohemia papers - LOVE THEM!!
Maddy has her first school play on tonight - want to take the video camera so i can capture it all for her dad but will mean that i won't get any pix though......hmmmm tough decision......I know i could take both, but will have the boys with me and don't really want to be keeping tabs on them as well as both cameras....so gonna have to decide on one of them. Will see where my loyalties lay when i'm walking out the door i guess lol.
Well thats all for now, thanks for dropping by ladies and will chat again soon
take care..............

Sharing some pix...............

2006-11-17T15:19:00.000+11:00

Another week gone...........and another packing weekend comin up. Have Mum coming round to help out again, has been great havin her help out......she's one of those people that just get in there and do what needs to be done. Have also pulled the xmas tree out from the shed today so will put that up tomorrow - just need to head back into the shed and try and track down all the tree deco's.
Nicholas got his kinder photo's on Thursday so just wanna share some here so that his dad can have a looksie as well.
They are super cute Steven and he was just so chuffed with himself....... lol, actually his exact words were " yeah, i look spunky don't i mum?". Nick'll be soo happy that you get to see at least some of them, he's been showing them to everyone that drops by LOL.
Last night was the Junior school sleepover for Maddy, she has been so excited about this for weeks. Picked her up when school finished yesterday, came home and packed all her things up, had dinner and then took her back to school for the night. Sounds like they all had a great night, Maddy is pretty tired today though and is being a bit of a pain in the butt..........okie, maybe a lot LOL.
Have put the new Product Feature up in the gallery at Embellished. This time i chose the Gin X range of pp's with a birthday/age theme. The girls all did an awesome job with it and the layouts all look awesome . Gotta have a looksie, they did fantastic!!
Rylan's doin a lot better now - he did get a case of gastro as well - but is on the mend, so thanks for the well wishes ladies was much appreciated!
Haven't been scrapping much, done the couple of layouts for the product feature and some cards and thats about it, hoprfully will get the chance to do some this weekend.
Well thats about everything covered from the last few days, nothing terrible exciting sorry.
Take care and will chat again soon.............

Congratulations.................

2006-11-14T10:35:00.000+11:00

To the ladies that made the For Keeps Elite Team. Did a little blog surfing the other day to try and see if i could find a couple of them and have to say that after seeing some of their work, For Keeps mag should be looking good for the next year.
Recieved my layouts back Friday (how quick was that!!), well actually i recieved four of them back. When i finally stopped panicking about where it could be and actually read the letter they sent,I found out they are holding onto some for publication, so that is not too bad i guess. I won't upload them here as i already have a bit to share, but they are uploaded to my gallery at Embellished if you wanna have a looksie. They have FK in the title so you'll know which ones they are : here they are here
Haven't done anymore packing - been busy having a play with some Scrapgenie kits. Here are some of the layouts, first set was Bobunny's halloween range and i made two layouts and a set of cards with it. The other layout was made with Gin X papers - very bright and fun, layout a little simple though but i like.
Have posted the new Elsie challenge in the Embellished forum. It is to 'Play with paint'. This is my example layout here. Love this pic of Rylan and decided to do a layout about all the nick names the poor kiddo has. Really happy with the way it came together.

Poor kiddo is still fighting the flu he's got, been waking him through the night so we're all a bit tired and grumpy here at the moment. But he's sleeping ok through the day so he's getting the rest that he needs - shame i can't though LOL - oh well, all part and parcel of being a mum i guess.

Still playing around with the December kit for the Embellished kit site , is such a gorgeous and funky kit for christmas. Make sure to check it out next month. This months kit was awesome and i know Ali has a couple left if anyone's after one, be quick though, they'll soon be sold out.

Had a layout in this months Scrapbook Creations - a pirate one, "seek your riches" - but haven't had the layout or the contributors copy turn up yet. They normally are good and you'll get them before they actually hit the stores, so not sure whats happened. Anyone else had their contributors copy show up yet, hoping my layout hasn't gone AWOL.

Little man Nicholas will turn five in a couple of weeks, and me being the slack ass mummy at the moment totally forgot all about it. Normally am on the ball with kids birthday parties. Have decided to cheat this year and have his at Hungry Jacks. They can do all the prep and cleaning lol and at only 5.25 per child i thought it was a real bargain - that includes the party room, a themed setup, hellium balloons, kids meal, activity book and crayons, little gift bag with stickers and a hostess for an hour and a half for games. Can pay an extra 8.50 for an ice-cream cake if i want but not too sure on that, i have always made the kids their birthday cakes but i guess it will depend on how i'm going for time.

Well thats about everything for now, thanks for dropping by guys, thanks also for your comments - always love reading them.

take care and chat soon..............................

just editing to fix the link to my FK entries - should now go to the right place lol.

Nearly tree time..................

2006-11-10T21:54:00.000+11:00

Thank gosh its Friday, schools over for the week so no mad dash to get ready for another couple of days. On the other hand its another packing weekend, yay (shame you can't hear the sarcasm there), but at least i don't have to look presentable for that lol.
Rylan has caught a spring flu, the weather is just so ridiculous at the moment. So very hot through the day and then just drops at nights where you still need to have like three blankets on the bed. Or else it'll go from like 33c one day right down to 17c the next, no wonder the poor kiddo's not well. He's had a temp thats been waking him constantly the last couple of nights and the only thing i can do for him is to give him a little kids nurofen. He won't let me hold him, won't lay down in my bed, nothing......just wants to lay in his cot and just grizzle till he goes back asleep again. Lookin like another such night tonight. Maddy and Nick are still up - watching the hulk no less - so hopefully that means they might sleep in late in the morning, fingers crossed lol.
Will work on clearing Maddy's room tomorrow, wanna make room to put one of the couches in there so we can put the xmas tree up the following weekend.Yes a little early i know, but when i was pregnant with Nick he was due around start of December so we put it up a couple weeks early, just something we've done every year since. Sadly there will be no lights outside this year, this is really a dismal point for me. I LOOOOOVE my xmas lights and usually go all out with them but will only be the tree this year. Oh well, will save me all the muttering i normally do when its time to take all the buggers down lol.
Have scrapped another couple of layouts, just quick, simple ones - really like the 'Geared up' one, simple but cute.
Well thats about all for now ladies - hope you all have an awesome weekend and can't wait to hear what you all got up to.
take care....................................

LITTLE MORE PACKING..........

2006-11-06T11:43:00.000+11:00

Well another busy week here in the Heard household. Well i know i've been busy but for the life of me can't remember what it actually is that i've been doing lol.
The kiddo's all got their hair trimmed on Friday, Maddy and Nick are always eager to get theirs trimmed, Rylan on the other hand screamed the store down. But we'd been in and out for over a week and was determined to get it trimmed this time - he was lookin like a shaggy sheep dog with the fringe over his eyes. Twenty mins of torture thats for sure, not just for him or even me but for all the other people in getting their hair cut. Finally she finished and all three were looking nice and neat - here's a pic of the kiddo's - excuse the dirty faces lol they were raiding the strawberries in nana's garden.

Also did a little more packing on Saturday - managed to get another six boxes packed so that was good. Two boxes just for my albums, both scrap ones and normal photo ones - man are they heavy, Steven since i'm packing the boxes you can load the truck LOL. So is slowly starting to look a little barer round here. Planning on doing Maddy's room this weekend, well if i can find the allen keys needed to take her bed apart - Steven ??. She seems to have merged herself into my bed so i guess there's not point in leaving her room till last.

Have been scrapping again - YAY! A couple were for challenge examples and one for a product feature for Embellished. The product feature was the new lilykate range of papers and scrapped a pic of rylan when he was still in the hospital - really happy with the way this one turned out, one of my favs for sure i think. Here's the thread here if you wanna looksie, the DT did an awesome job with their layouts and we all have our different styles which is great.

Well thats about it for now, can't seem to remember much else of my week but the days are flying which is good.

take care and will chat again soon...............

MELBOURNE MEETUP.............

2006-10-30T09:54:00.000+11:00

Saturday's Melbourne meetup was a total blast. But before i get to that i would like to first thank you ladies for the comments you left me from my last post. I am really thankful for these words, it really has been a great help and put abit into perspective for me. I am no longer worried now that i may be over scrapping, it seems to be something that hits us all at some point, so i will do as you all recommended and take a mini break from it - its already been a week so hopefully if i put it out of my head the bug will bite hard again with in a couple of days.
I really love this blogging network, i love the way we all have a little space to just get what we need to off our chests. I love the way that there are ladies out there that are able to read a little about ourselves and then leave the inspiring comments that they do. The support network is truly just amazing. After the crappy stuff lately over silly things like competitions and such its a big boost to morale to blog hop and see the uplifting comments and praise that we all leave for each other. I know for a fact that the words left for me last post were definetly uplifting and it really did lift my day as well. So my aim now is to try a little harder each day to do the same. I have my favs that i visit regularly - they are in my links. I love nothing better than to pop over to each one and just read a little about someone else's day. So if your not in my link leave a little message for me and i'll do a link up (lol - that is of course if you'd like to link up - not the most sanest person). If leaving a comment for others has the same effect that me reading my comments does then i will be making a big effort to surf round a couple more. Okie will stop the rambling now - really just wanted to say THANK YOU!!
Okie now for the Melbourne meet. What an awesome, awesome time meeting Lorrie and Michelle was. Here's a pic - from left to right - Mel, Michelle,Lorrie and myself. They are a fantastic pair of chickies, there was not one moment of that awkwardness that you sometimes get meeting new people. And the Paperific show was a ball, sooooo much new stuff out there at the moment. So yes i ummmm bought a little bit lol. Steven if you read this then just think how much cheaper scrapping therapy is compared to 'real' thereapy. Fell in love with the Autumn Leaves stamps - the Rhonna Farrere range, but for the life of me i could not find the swirls range.....defentetly keeping an eye out for them though. So yes Saturday was a great day.
As for other news round here, well the kiddos were super good yesterday, really really helpful and just seemed on their best behaviour - so that made Sunday a great day. Rylan has started an extra day of daycare today. So he now goes two days a week. Poor kiddo was just sooo upset when i dropped him off this morning, he really worked himself up and it almost got to the point where i was gonna bring him home again. But the carers assured me that he settles right down within ten minutes and does normally have a great day, will see how it goes i guess. If it doesn't work for him then i will cut it back to one day, but really am needing this extra day especially now that i have to start hitting the packing hard. Thought i'd include some pix of him now and when he was first born - lol no layouts to share and can't have a totally boring blog.
The first pic was taken while we were still at the hospital, he seems so tiny now but he definetly was not a little baby - he was a real little chub at just over 9lb. Though he was the smallest of my three he was the quickest to put the weight on and has always been a little chubber. These other two pix i took the other day. He has just grown up so much, and at one and a half now he is no longer my little baby but his own little man with heaps of personality. He can be extremely stubborn at times (with me as his mother i would expect no less lol) and yet so so sweet, he loves his cuddles and kisses.
Well thats me done for now, will update again soon. Take care ladies and chat soon..............

zero motivation..........

2006-10-26T16:25:00.000+10:00

Well theres not a whole lot to share with you ladies, sorry but life really is boring round here at the moment, very busy - yet boring all the same. Haven't scrapped much, actually only a double of maddy's school sports and thats it - and even thats not really that great, it all just seems flat at the moment. Its like the motivation is gone, seriously, I just cannot seem to bring myself to sit down at my desk and scrap. Its not that the mojo is gone, seems worse than that really.The ideas are there but I don't seem to have the passion to go for it. It has me really worried to be truthful, scrapping is my outlet, its what i do to be me, so if i can't seem to do that then what do i have?? There's so much to be done, i have committments that have to be done and i just cannot do them. Anyone else ever felt like this?? What have you done to help overcome it?? Do you just make yourself sit there and do it or do you give yourself some time off? Have spent the last couple of nights reading, it used to be an old passion of mine, no book would ever go unread in this house, so that is what i turned back to. That has helped keep the mind occupied at nights, its just so quiet here once the kids are in bed. I don't speak after 7.30 at night, there's just no one to talk too and i'm sure it would look really wierd to sit here and talk to a computer screen.
I don't think this is just something that happened over night, its been a gradual buildup over the last few weeks. I can see that I'm not totally into it, my layouts no longer have the depth to them that they used to, quite frankly its been a while since i have done one that i just loved.
A friend and i are having a meet up with some of the melbourne girls from Embellished, we are spending the day at Paperific. Am seriously hoping that something there gives me back the 'need' to come home and scrap something. Maybe a mini shopping trip for new goodies could be what i need - I seriously, seriously hope so.
Well have been tagged by the lovely Micaela so will do that while i'm here as well,

1.Things that scare me:- Car accidents,

2.People who make me laugh:- my kiddos (they're so good they can make me laugh and cry at the same time lol), comedy shows such as 'thank god your here,and the national debate ones with different comedians

3. Things I hate the most:- people mean/cruel just for the sake of it,malicious gossiping, KFC - always (every single time) mucking up my order!!

4. Things I don't understand:- why children feel the need to ask the most obvious questions,

5. Things I'm doing right now:- updating blog and watching clock so am not late to pick up maddy - gonna be late if i don't wrap this up soon lol

6. Things I want to do before I die:- I want to have gone right round australia, to have toured europe, to have met my grandchildren, would love to write a book

7. Things I can do:- Scrapbook, draw/sketch, change a nappy with my eyes closed lol,

8. Ways to describe my personality:-honest,caring, stubborn (very lol)

9. Things I can't do:- can't put a book down midway through a chapter, can't seem to ever get through my 'to do' list, ever. Can't cook a roast to true perfection - always either just under or just over done.

10. Things I think you should listen to: that little inner voice of reason, your children - never fob them off for anything

11. Things you should never listen to:- dismal people - they only try to crush your happiness

12. Things I'd like to learn:- ummmm.... the 'right way' to raise a child lol - anyone got a manual, professional photography, extreme car driving - now that would be fun

13. Favorite foods:- anything savoury - am always game to try something new,

14. Beverages I drink regularly:- coffee or water

15. Shows I watched as a kid:- punky brewster, alf,

okie now to tag someone..............hmmmm -okie Jo and Peta (see if your total opposites like my sister and i lol)

Well it seems even blogger is being a pain in the butt and won't let me upload the only layout i've done - will share it next time.
Okie then - take care and will chat soon...........

Not a whole lot goin on...............

2006-10-24T14:40:00.000+10:00

Just a quickie today guys, haven't really done a whole heap so is not much to share really. Did a big clean up on Saturday, the shed has now been organised and a big skip bin full of junk has been carted away. Kids rooms have been minamalised and just waiting on some boxes to start the packing inside.................so not looking forward to it.
Have uploaded some layouts, the first is the one i tried to upload last time but blogger wouldn't let me. Was havin a down night so just sat there and scrapped and this is what came out, was good therapy really.
Second layout was one that has been laying around half finished for absolutely ages. Had bought the Heidi Swapp snowflake mask but hadn't been game to try it. Eventually just went for it and i'm kinda likin the way its turned out.
Third layout was for another One Hour challenge at Embellish sunday arvo. Is a little plain but i kinda like the way it turned out and might just leave it like that. There not the best pix i've ever taken but they were of Rylan shaking his groove think lol so they had to be scrapped.
Have done all my little make and takes for my final class at Hobbysew in Echuca. I have a class that i'm teaching there this Thursday, taking over as the owner has to go into hospital for a day procedure. Is a card class, not usually into cards so hopefully will go smoothly - and hopefully instructions aren't too difficult to understand.
Well i think thats about it for today, lol like i said haven't really been up to much - just trying to stay sane.
Till next time guys, take care and will chat soon..................

Some more pix.............

2006-10-20T14:27:00.000+10:00

Hiya guys, have been slack in keeping up to date I know. So this will probably end up a really long post, sorry guys.
First off Maddy had her junior school sports today and she did absolutely fantastic!! Those long legs of hers were a great help lol. She ended up winning most of her events.......she lacks a little co-ordination for the throwing events such as discus and shotput but definetly made up for it in the running, hurdles, three-legged race and the highjump, highjump by far her best event for the day. Was soooo proud of the kiddo, she put all she had into the day and was just so excited. Even nicholas got in on it - he was invited to take part in the three legged race as they were one short. He and his partner did fantastically the first stint but took a tumble second time round. Was just a great day and I'm sure we won't hear the end of it for a while from Maddy.
Have been keeping really busy through the week, just so much to do and seems like so little time to do it all. Was ask to take part in the 20:40:60 challenge for Scrapbook Creations and have done the layout for it now - was a really cool kit they sent out. Am also working on another challenge/feature for them so that has been fun as well. Cathy at Scrapgenie has decided to do class kits so have had some fun playing round with them, need to get my butt into gear though and do a couple more for her.
Have also started the Elsie Challenges at Embellished, have only just posted up the first challenge so take a looksie if your interested, the girls there are gonna make this a blast for sure.
So have done the first example layout for that as well.
So have definetly been keeping myself busy. Have ordered a skip bin for the week so will be making a start on the shed over the weekend....................so much to be done in there, but am just gonna be ruthless - if i don't need it and it can't be donated to the salvos or anything then in the bin it goes. We really need to cut this household's contents by half for the move in January and it'll not hurt to do so. We seem to have accumulated so much over the years and a lot of it is not needed - so out it goes (also see this as a good chance to get rid of the old stuff and replace it with much newer stuff when we get up there lol...............but shhhhhhh don't tell steven lol).
Both the boys have managed to take a couple of big spills in the last couple of days, Rylan has the biggest lump ever on his forehead and Nick has one as well on the side of his head.............I guess it's true what they say..........boys will be boys!! But they both got over it fairly quickly and are back to playing at top notch speed like they normally do.
Well thats the quick update for now, have to get going soon to pick up Maddy from school. So take care guys and will chat again soon...

OFF TO THE SHOW..................

2006-10-15T09:32:00.000+10:00

This weekend was the Annual Shepparton Agricultural Show and the kiddo's were really excited to be going. We headed out after lunch yesterday hoping the rain would hold off for a few more hours. Thought i'd share a few pix. Didn't get anywhere near enough, was hard to juggle Rylan in the pram, three over excited kiddos and keep a good grip on my camera - while watching my handbag lol.
But the kiddo's had a ball, they loved these two rides here - the teacups and the giant shark slide. We left to come home for some dinner and then hearded back there later that night to watch the fireworks. Was worried how Rylan would take it with all the loud nioses, but not a peep out of him, he sat there and watched the whole lot. So thats the show done for this year - had a major headache by the end of it but i can handle one day a year for the kiddo's to have some fun. STEVEN YOU OWE ME SOME MAJOR TIME OUT - I'M ADDING IT ALL UP.....BELIEVE ME LOL.
Did the layout Friday night, was in a crappy mood and just sat there and scrapped - this is how it ended up. Was good to do though, helps get it all out - especially when you have no-one to talk to. (okie, won't load for some reason....will share next time )
Better get goin guys, kiddo's are trashing bedrooms as i type.
Take Care and chat soon................

Keepin Busy.....

2006-10-11T10:56:00.000+10:00

Well has been a busy week for us here. We had a friends birthday party to go to on Saturday night. Was a costume party - kids were easy as they have some dress up stuff already. I finally decided on a costume - Charlie Chaplin, not very out there but it came together well. Was funny lookin by the time i did these big eyeliner eyebrows and moustache.........is actually a bit scary with how guyish i looked LOL. Managed to get someone to take a pic of the three of us together, not easy when kiddo's are running around like maniacs lol. But it was a great night, heaps of people and heaps of the funniest costumes as well. Clown was a hit with the kiddo's, actually i don't think the poor guy got a minutes rest from them all night - well until the kids crashed for the night anyway.

Nick also had an kinder friends birthday party to go to last thursday, it was his first 'school friend' party he had been to so he was heaps excited. They had it at the local hungry jacks, which is brilliant i reckon - all contained in a small area and then someone else cleans it all up.......definetly will have to look into it for when the kiddo's have their birthdays coming up.
Then Sunday afternoon was a friends son's birthday over at Kidstown playground. This is one awesome playground......think is supposed to be biggest in Australia once finished. Kiddo's were buggered by the time we got home, which was good for me as they all crashed pretty early that night.
Maddy has a school friends birthday to go to tonight - she is sooooo excited by it and has given me specific instructions to buy the 'best ever ' birthday present.....hmmmmm.....will see what i can pick up later on for her, hopefully its pretty cool.
So yes has been lots of birthdays this week.Its kept us all busy and made the week go a whole lot quicker. Managed to get some layouts done at nights. Love this pic of Rylan, not sure what the look is about but is just soo cute.....so looks like a 'busted' look lol. Was done for the new Orange challenge posted up at the Designing with Colour blog ( will add it to my blog links when i remember lol). Used the orange Heidi Swapp tape to frame the pic, seems to draw you straight to the pic.
Second layout was a quick one i did for Nick. Was looking through my gallery at Embellished and realised I hadn't done a layout for him in quite a while. Started out as a take on the round three Idol challenge - Minimalist theme - but kinda exploded lol, i like the result though - very Fun. Embellished Idol is still going strong, the ladies are just producing some stunning work and the round three layouts are just unbelievable, each and everyday I'm amazed at the standard of work uploaded to the gallery. WELL DONE LADIES - YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Last layout is another Scrapgenie one. Really likin this one, its the cutestpic of Rylan and Chevy (friends dog). He soooo fascinated by dogs at the moment and just chases after them whenever he see's one callin out 'DO DO' - sorry not sure how to spell it to sound the same, is supposed to sound like dog but with no G on the end - he's just the cutest. Love the papers have used for it, very funky and the colour scheme is sooo versatile.

Well thats about everything i think, sorry for the long ramble guys. Take care and will 'chat' again soon...........

Soooo bored.........

2006-10-06T10:59:00.000+10:00

okie haven't really been doin all that much besides getting kiddo's off to school, kinder or daycare - have lost the motivation to do any scrappin so will share a couple of maddy layouts that i haven't uploaded before. They are for this months DT challenge at Embellished - to use Vellum. Was fun to try and use an old item in a new way. I had a patterned vellum so just cut the butterfly's and flowers out. Did this for the second layout as well but added some kindyglitz to it for a little extra sparkle. Also used HS ghotst letters as a template to cut the title out of vellum. Seem to be really likin the scalloped edging at the moment, adds a little fun to the layouts i reckon, but could be getting a little overdone now so will ease up LOL.

The third layout is a Scrapgenie one, again using the ornamental papers - really do like this range, very soft and sweet. I did use the pic of steven and the kiddo's taken just before he left but am not quite likin it so will have to scrap it again at some point.
There's not much else to share - sorry guys has been really boring here. Kids and I have caught the flu, so we're all tired and grumpy. Okie, hopefully by the next chat i will have something interesting to share LOL. Thanks for dropping by guys, chat soon...........

Saying Goodbye.....

2006-10-03T11:17:00.000+10:00

Well Steven has left - he left yesterday morning just before i took the kiddo's to school. It was hard to say goodbye, the boys were okay with it, they gave their daddy heaps of cuddles. Us girls took it a litte harder.......maddy seems to understand it all a little more and was crying as she gave cuddles, me ......well i'll just say that i was a bit of a mess. They say that what ever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...........well i think that i'll be the strongest i've ever been by the time the four months are up. The last couple of days haven't been too bad, the kids are just being fantastic, they are trying to help out heaps and don't even seem to be argueing that much between themselves, what ever pep talk steven gave them before leaving seems to be working a treat........ mind you its only been two days, so we'll see how long it lasts. Managed to get a couple of quick shots of them all together with their dad before we did the mad dash to school, was a little late .....oopsies.

So have been keeping busy, house is as clean as its ever been............ but am sooooo over house work lol. Am working on a layout at the moment, its giving me a bit of grief - doesn't seem to be coming together to well, but will just keep going with it i guess. If i don't like it then will just stick it in the back of an album lol. Don't you love the times when it all comes together so easily, seem to have used up all those for the time being though. It's like the wells dried up, just cannot seem to get into it. And because am so stubborn i just keep scrapping and not really liking what i'm doing......bit silly huh?
I did scrap these two layouts for Scrapgenie.............there not too bad i guess, the surf one of Nick is a little plain. Saw the curls idea in a mag and really liked the look, so thought i would just convert the look to waves........so did not pull it off lol, but i'm eager to try it again on another layout and hopefully will work better next time round. Liked the way the flutterby layout was coming together but then it just kinda fell flat if that makes sense, it need something but just was nothing to add so its staying as is.
Round two of Idol over at Embellished is going fantastic, the layouts the ladies are coming up with are just AWESOME!! You have got to check them all out, each one that is uploaded is just brilliant and the spins that they each put on them to make it their own is just fantastic. Okie, won't be lazy, here's the Round Two Gallery to have a looksie. AWESOME JOB LADIES, bring on round three i reckon.......and won't that be an interesting theme!!! Cannot wait to see their interpretations of it.
Well i think thats about everything from the last few days, thanks for dropppin by and will chat again soon.
TAKE CARE!!!

I Love GetTogethers!!!!!

2006-09-30T09:58:00.000+10:00

Not too sure where to start so will just start rambling and see where i end up LOL. First off we have a Grand Final BBQ today, should be fun - even if it is about footy (sorry guys, am sooooo not a footy person). Is a fantastic chance to get together though with friends, and will be Steven's last opportunity to do so....so should be an AWESOME day today.
Maddy had her face painted while we were out yesterday, they did a pretty cool job with it and I of course had to take a pic of it when i got home. Had a play with the pic in photoshop and came up with this, thought it looked pretty funky and was the first photo that i scrapped at the crop i went to last night.
So have attended my could very well be my last midnight madness crop..........unless anyone wants to offer up babysitting services lol. And it was such a fantastic night. The ladies are just a laugh a minute and its not surprising that we never get much done......is just a shame that it got moved back to once a month instead of it being fornightly like it used to. But yeah, definetly a great time last night and i manage to get a couple of Scrapgenie layouts done that I liked. Just have to scan them so will share next time.
If anyone's got the new For Keeps mag then flip to page 20 i think it is, have a layout in the sports star gallery......Little Nicholas with his skateboard - he was pretty proud of himself lol. Oh and i also got a couple of emails this morning from Basic Grey. They accepted a couple of layouts into their gallery ........ thats probably not a big deal, but i was heaps excited lol.
Will be hosting the October DT challenge on the Embellished forum , all details will be posted up Sunday evening but here's a little teaser just to get you all interested lol. So come and have a looksie, there are always heaps of challenges and comps going on there. And HEAPS of great company, they are an awesome bunch of ladies and are always gasbagging lol - seriously, join in on one of our Cyber Crop nights and you'll see what i mean LOL. But I'm getting off topic - not a hard thing for me to do lol. So full details for the DT challenge will be posted up Sunday night, have a looksie, have a go at it and post in the gallery so i can then have a looksie.
Round one for Idol finished up at Embellished and the votes have been cast. Congrats to the ladies that got through to the next round.......your work was AWESOME!! So the next round topic was to scraplift a choice of the four given layouts. All four layouts were pretty awesome - here they are HERE if you wanna see the originals. Not only did you have to scraplift though you also had to go with a 'Ten things i am thankful for' theme, so this made it all very interesting then. I really wanted to have a go at this one and of course i chose the Elsie design, surprise surprise LOL. So i sat at my desk and just went for it, didn't let myself stop to think about it too much and this is what I came up with...... is very pink for me - but i like.

Well i think thats everything for now, better go and start getting ready to head out soon. Thanks for popping by guys, take it easy.................and hope you all have an AWESOME WEEKEND........even with the footy on LOL!!!

SOME HAPPY PIX

2006-09-27T22:55:00.000+10:00

JUST SOME PIX FROM TODAY THAT WERE CUTE AND I THOUGHT I'D SHARE!!!

Well school holidays are drawing to a close..................only four more days.............. YAYYYYYYY!!!!!! okie will try not to be too excited LOL - has been great spending some extra time with them but sometimes its possible to spend a little too much time together lol. And Maddy really has been missing school, she has read her reader that many times she knows each page by heart without opening the book.
With only four days left of school hols that also means only four days till Steven takes the Rocky plunge. He finished up at work today so we are planning on spending heaps of time together as a family before he leaves Monday. MAYBE we'll spend that much time together we'll be happy to have some time apart lol.........we'll see.
Today was also my little sister's birthday......... she turned 7...........so a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE!!!!! Yes i know that may seem a little wierd to some people, but i come from a large family (am oldest of 6) and there is a wide range of ages. Throw in the fact that my other sister is now expecting her first child (she's 18 months younger than myself) and it seems a whole lot weirder again LOL. But you get that with my family, seriously......as weird as they come.But its been a bit exciting with all the news at the moment.

Have scrapped a couple more layouts - they are uploaded to my gallery here at Embellished if you wanna have a looksie (have already uploaded a few pix so don't wanna overdo it ). Will share this one here though. Was for a challenge Ali set in the forum at Embellished ....... challenge was to start with a number. So my number was three - for my three kiddo's. Tried to take it a little further into the layout design.....almost got there. There's three pp's, three flowers, three photo corners, six chipboard items for title....or two lots of three, three journal strips, the only thing that let me down was that i switched a piece of the rikrak for some HS tape, so almost.

Well i think thats about everything covered for now, thanks for dropping by, leave a hello if you wanna and i'll chat again soon hopefully.

D DAY LOOMING.........

2006-09-24T17:33:00.000+10:00

The days are just racing by aren't they..................in about a week Steven will be off to Rocky and the kids and I will not see him for like nearly four months. I think its all starting to sink in now and i must admit i am scared to death of being on my own. We have never been apart for more than a couple of days and four months will be the biggest trial i have ever been through i think. The really sad bit is that he will miss Nicholas' fifth birthday in November and this has really upset Nick. He cried the other night when he's dad tucked him into bed, said he promised to save his daddy the biggest piece of cake for when he got back again. Its hard......so very very hard.........but i know this will be something that we won't regret and hopefully January won't take too long to roll up. The good thing is Steven finishes up at work this Wednesday so will be able to spend four full days with us before he heads off.
There's not much other news to share. There is a costume party for a friends birthday that we were invited to in a couple of weeks and even though steven won't be here i think i still might go. Be good to be with friends and it sounds like is gonna be a great night. Prob is though that i have no idea on what to 'dress up' as .................any ideas anyone??????? Have the kiddo's sorted out, Nick of course will be a pirate and Maddy is going as a fairy princess...............better get a move on to decide what i will be. Since Steven is missing it he has promised to dress up for her on Grand Final day - think he said he was gonna go as one of the american presidents......something to do with him and his mates dressing up as them years ago for school break up.....who knows!!
Well thats everything covered i reckon, weather has been really crappy here so that means scrappin time. Have managed to get three done in the last few days, will share my FAVOURITE one with you. I LOVE THIS LAYOUT!!!! Is not much to it really, but is such a gorgeous pic of Rylan and i just love the 'messy' look of the scraps.............and the new MM cheeky jigsaw letters are just sooooo funky - LOVE THEM!! The other two layouts are up in my gallery at Embellished, they are HERE if you wanna see them.
thanks for dropping by guys ................i have a feelin you all are gonna be my outlet for sanity in the next few months so thanks in advance. Take care and chat soon...........

A little layout sharin'

2006-09-20T12:37:00.000+10:00

Okie so here are the Scrapgenie layouts that i promised to share in last post. Am really pleased with how most of these ones turned out (couple still little plainish), am getting into the challenge of only being able to use certain products. My two favs would have to be the 'Rock Star Look' and Leaf Spinner' ones, they were the last two that i did and just seemed to come together so easily. So thats them finally scanned, emailed and uploaded LOL.

Not too much to update on round here, am on Day three of school holidays so the nerves are starting to get to that rattled stage - only eleven more days to go lol. Its not too bad really, its just i don't understand WHY kids get so much enjoyment out of annoying the crap out of each other and in turn annoying the crap out of me. Put them on their own and each are saints, put them together and its just one thing after another. Even little man Rylan gets in on the act sometimes.........he'll walk up to either Maddy or Nick and just take whatever they have right off them.........and instead of taking it back off him they stand there yelling out "MUUM, MUUUUUUM...HE WON'T GIVE IT BACK AAAAWOOOOO" (my attempt at typing crying LOL) Like i said only another eleven days to go, wish me luck that i don't go grey!!

Here's another two layouts - one's just a 'because' layout and the other is a challenge layout. Ali put up a challenge on the forum at Embellished (check it out, always heaps goin on there) to either use a full layout sized pic or scraplift a journalling style. Printer was low on red ink so prob wouldn't get a large pic printed properly so took the scraplift challenge. Decided to scraplift Elsie's style of journalling, she's always so over the top, carefree, bright, funky and FUN with her journalling so that is what i tried to capture on this layout.....not too bad an effort.

Well thats it for me today guys, thanks for dropping by and will catch up again real soon.

BUSY.....BUSY!!

2006-09-17T18:01:00.000+10:00

Well not too much to update from the last three days, have kinda been lost at my desk scrappin away when i could get the chance - kiddo's start school holidays this week so prob won't get a lot of time to sneak off to scrap. Have been quite productive this week i reckon, I've scrapped these three layouts plus four for Scrapgenie and the 'fathers son' one from last blog....so thats eight in not quite a week, not a bad effort at all.............used to take me days to get just one layout done lol. The 'such a poser' layout is only a 9x9 layout though, this is the first time that i have scrapped this size and must admit it was fun, could be quite easy for me to over do it though if i'm not careful, but definetly fun - think i'm gonna do a whole album this size with my favourite pix.

So the news that i was gonna post the other day..............is..........................that steven has given notice at work!! in roughly two weeks he will be heading back up to Rockhampton to find a job and save up to move us all up to rocky by January next year. BIG huh?? Couldn't believe it when he said he was gonna, he's not normally a decision maker,thats usually my department, but i don't think i could of decided on something this big and well i think he just took the choice out of my hands - am glad he did though. So am both excited and nervous, wish it could be a simple as snapping fingers and it would all be done. Lets just hope it all goes well and steven has no trouble finding a job up there. Is not too bad though, his boss has told him he'll keep his job open for him till the end of the year, so its good to have that security behind us.

So yes.........a little sudden isn't it? Must admit our friends and family have taken it well, we already have some self invites happening lol. We have always said that one day we would move to Queensland, never thought it would be that far north but i must admit, even though we were there just a short time, we all seem to have fallen for the place.

okie well thats about everything for today.......will share the scrapgenie layouts next post.

take care

MEH...............

2006-09-14T19:33:00.000+10:00

Man do i so wish i was still on holidays.............................I seem to have come home to crap!! And its the kind of crap that just doesn't make sense. All i know is that at the end of the day........ a GREAT friend of mine has been hurt - and this upsets me..... greatly. This is a person totally undeserving of the events occuring around her, a person that will offer you her trust wholeheartedly and stand beside you with help if ever needed. And whilst we may not of been friends for years, this is a person that i will be PROUD of to call my FRIEND for a long time to come. You know who you are missy....................... so CHIN UP, STAND PROUD and keep being the awesome person you are - know that you are surrounded by love and friendship! Things have a funny way of taking care of themselves and KARMA is a mysterious marvel!

And when all else fails - remember this, from the mouth of a wise red head " MEH.........."

But we go onwards and upwards..............we continue to live and to create..............and create i have. I have managed to get three layouts done in the time we've been home. Unfortunately i can only share one with you, haven't taken a pic of the second one and the third is my final entry for the For Keeps comp.
This layout here was made for a challenge posted up at EMBELLISHED had to use lyrics from an Australian artist. The pic is one of many taken while on hols and thought it fit perfectly with these shannon noll lyrics - love the WRMK papers.

Will have to get off my butt and get a pic of the other layout to share - have used the new BG gypsy papers for it and really like the way its come up, will try and share tomorrow guys.

Had my class over in Echuca again - i absolutely love teaching these ladies, they love learning new tricks and techniques and they just seem to absorb it all with no probs.......they are just the best group ever......always sooo willing. Today's class was based on Journalling - all the little tips and tricks I could give them on handwriting - my all time fav journal strips and the different styles of doing them - different styles you can apply to your writing - and of course had to include Doodling. So after having a muck around with all of this for a while we put it to use by creating a layout that incorporated all of these - made up a little pocket for the layout as well in case they still wanted to hide their handwriting - am plese to say that none felt the need to hide their handwriting!! GOOD ON YOU LADIES, YOU ARE FANTASTIC!!!!

Well thats it from me tonight guys, if you read it then thank you. i did have some other good news to share but i think i might hold off till a bit of a brighter day.

- ooooh nearly forgot - if you have the new copy of Scrapbook Creations turn to page 108 and you'll see my grumpy little man - this pic is such a crack up, he looks like a little frankenstien lol. Funny thing is though, he was actually in a good mood, so i have NO IDEA what he was going on about .....kids hey?

okie, thanks guys, will chat soon.

HOME ALREADY!!

2006-09-11T20:43:00.000+10:00

Well we are home....... what a week it has been! Am not sure where to start actually, it has been pretty jam packed.
Meeting up with Ali and her family was awesome, we had so much fun spending time together and it was just soooo easy to get along, to feel totally at ease. We spent heaps of time getting out and seeing all that Rocky and Yeppoon had to offer.It really is a beautiful place up there and it would be easy to get used to the lifestyle.
Both our little men - rylan and luke - got along together brilliantly - there is only nine days between them, and it was just tooo cute to see them playing together soo well.So overall it was an awesome getaway, great company, great place. These are some of my favourite pix from the week - was hard to choose just twelve from the nearly 700 i took, but these are the ones that appeal to me.
There's a few layouts to be uploaded as well but haven't as yet taken pix, hopefully by next post.
Well just a quick update for now, Steven and I spent all of yesterday and this morning driving home so am just totally buggered so might just have an early night.
Take care and chat again soon........

ON THE ROAD AGAIN.......

2006-08-31T22:31:00.000+10:00

I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON THE ROAD AGAIN.

LoL.......just be thankful you can't hear me singing, this song.....well these two lines have been going through my head for the last hour or so while i pack. Yes well try to pack anyway, just get so distracted and seem to go off on a tangent. But am getting there slowly, sort of packing and cleaning as i go....... i like to come home to a clean house when we go away, not chaos, just makes settling back in so much easier.

So in about twelve hours the Heard family will be hitting the road, on our mammoth 1700 kms (give or take a little) trip to Rockhampton...... bring it on i say!!! I love hitting the open road, i am totally in my element, just cruisin along - especially at night, then everyones asleep and its just me and my self, well till i get buggered and its time for a shift change and then everyone wakes
up lol. But am so excited to be going, I feel we all really need a getaway, well steven and i really, what could a 6,4 and 1 year old need to get away from lol, and it will be great to spend nearly two weeks together as a family - no hassles of work or school schedules, just us till we get sick of each other.
So Ali get the kettle ready - well Saturday Arvo anyway lol - coz garanteed i'm gonna need the biggest coffee you got by the time i get there LOL - soooooooo cannot wait to catch up Missy!

Well thats it guys, not much more to update you with. Here's three Scrapgenie layouts i did last week - i like the first, not so sure on other two, can be hard at times to stick to only their product.... but am getting the knack slowly i think - well getting inventive at least lol.

And if maybe you could just send some keep safe travelling vibes our way i would truly appreciate it. Thanks guys, will try and update while we're up there but if not then will do a HUGE update when we're home again. Take Care................

Playin Catchup

2006-08-27T19:42:00.000+10:00

Well its been nearly a week since i have updated and while i know i've been pretty flat out all week I can't actually recall anything that i've done that really stands out LOL.
I did FINALLY get around to booking our accomadation in Rocky for our trip up there - cannot believe its getting nearly time to go, this time next week we will be there - after one very, very long drive, gonna have to stock up on some panandol i reckon lol. The kids are just soooo excited to be going, they are sooo longing for the ocean - i over heard them the other day planning what they had to pack to take with them, the MOST IMPORTANT being their boogie boards and swimmers LOL. I would so love to live beside the ocean one day - i just know that we would love it sooo much but unfortunately its not something i see happening any time soon or for many many years for that matter - one day maybe . (i know Rocky's not on the ocean but its only halfhour to Yeppoon, which beats the four/five hours it takes us to get to the coast from here)
On the scrapping front i have managed to get a few layouts scrapped in the last week, i have uploaded three of them here. Out of the others - ones a DT layout for Embellished , three are DT layouts for Scrapgenie and the last one's a layout i did about rylan but am not sure if i wanna keep it for my Elite team Entry or not, its good and i love it but out of the three that i've almost finished two of them are already about Rylan so i really wanna mix the themes up a bit and at least get one done for each of my three children LOL. So i think i will hold off uploading it just in case i change my mind or run out of time at last minute ( can be slack at times lol). I will share the Scrapgenie ones when i get round to scanning them and once the September kit has been released at Embellished then i will share the two layouts i have created with it.
Well i think thats about it guys, not too much goin on round here really, did do a mini spring clean here today so is feelin a little less cluttered, well for the time being anyway. Actually speaking of spring cleaning i have started a CONTINOUS SWAP at Embellished. Its a great way to 'claim' something someone else has offered and then you just have to offer up something of your own for someone else to claim - thats the really simplified version lol, for full rules and explanations just check out the Swaps thread in the forum here.
okie guys thats about it i reckon, thanks for dropping by and will TRY and get another post in before we head North in like five days - BRING ON THE SUNSHINE!!

Glorious Weather!!

2006-08-21T16:59:00.000+10:00

Well what an awesome weekend it has been here. The suns been out and shining, the sky's been crystal clear and it even seems like the birds are extra chirpy lol. So now that we have already been away for our snowtrip I am well and truly ready for summer to come. Nothin beats a lazy summer day, and with the weather we have been havin the last few days I am sooo lookin forward to it and all the fun that summer brings - camping trips,mangos, river cruisin', bbq's with friends,mangos, lounging out the back after dinner in the evenings , and more mangos lol - SO CANNOT WAIT!! It was great to get outside and have a bit of a play with the kiddo's. Quick game of backyard cricket with Nicholas, pushin maddy on the swing (though she can swing herself, lazy little bugger lol) and Rylan, well he's a bit of a crazy kiddo and just loves to run around with the occasional squel thrown in LOL. And since i only had to work three hours on Saturday i feel like i've had a whole weekend to myself......and it was awesome!!!
Managed to get TWO layouts done on the saturday night - which is really good for me, and then got two more done yesterday - one of which was for a one hour challenge done last night over at Embellished (and since was done at night couldn't get a GOOD pic to share sorry)
First one i did Saturday night was this one of maddy goin down the snow run on her butt, lol i have no idea why she didn't have a board but she thought it was heaps fun and well.... i thought it was heaps funny to watch.
Second layout was the one of Rylan being rylan and running away from me when i get the camera out - he really does not like the cannon - must look scary pointed in his direction or something. But he's cute so will forgive him LOL.
The third layout was done quickly through the day yesterday, me playin at 'clean and simple' again - really liking it at the moment. Just about Nicholas and his sudden infatuation with the Playstation. And the last one is of my little man rylan again - this time with his face full of spaghetti lol. The title 'Mangiare' is Italian for 'eat'. The pix just reminded me of all the times i heard 'mugia, mungia' while eating spaghetti at my grandparents place, really good times with everyone gathered round the table (and i mean everybody, was always a crowded table), its something that i want for my kids to experience at my own table while they are growing - lol, maybe not sooo much the spaghetti, but definetly the good times. So yes, definetly a busy little weekend for me.
So thats about it from me, was a lovely lovely weekend, though it seems like the flu has decided to do one last round though before the finish of winter, both maddy and rylan were pretty crook with it last night - both struggling to get to sleep....and both crying. You just feel so helpless as a mother at times don't you? all i could do was give a little nurofen and a lot of cuddles - and i must admit at like two in the morning its a real struggle to give those cuddles. But oh well, its what we mums must do, and they are both lookin really good today,will see what tonight brings - only sleep hopefuly.

Thanks for stopping by guys, much appreciated and will chat again soon.

Finally some time to scrap..........

2006-08-19T00:25:00.000+10:00

Well what a week it has been here. Feels like i haven't had the time to just stop for a minute to catch my breath, RUSH..RUSH..RUSH. Worked MON,TUE and WED nights, had my class to teach for hobbysew yesterday so had to make up the class sample for next month to take over with me.....unfortunatly i forgot to take a pic of the layout to share, got that done during rylans morning nap tuesday, but that was pretty much the only scrappin i have got done in the last week, well till last night anyway LOL.

I had a bit of a play with my september DT kit from Embellished as well - fun, fun, fun. Got one layout and there's still heaps there for another as well, sorry can't share this layout either until the kit has been released - keep an eye out for it though at Embellished, is not too far off and is a fantastic collection to play with.

Love the pic in the first layout here, the one with Nicholas and the statue of the pigs butt - Nick loved it, he was laughin sooooo hard when he came across it in a little tourist store in Bright on the weekend, definetly was a scrappy moment LOL. Is another bright and cheery layout, am lovin usin the brights at the moment. The pp's here are from SweetWater collection i think, they were the leftovers from my canvas book/shadow box thingy i made for hobbysew a little while ago, really cute papers.

The other layout - one with Rylan and his first paddle pop - came together really quickly/easily this mornin while rylan was down for his nap. Love the Gin X papers , really reminded my of the rainbow swirl ice-cream he was eating. And boy did he enjoy it lol, the last pic of him crying was the result of us trying to take the finished stick off of him lol....he was not too happy, he probably would've tried eating the stick as well. Even got out my decorative edge scissors for a little play... well should say Maddy's scissors, gave them to her for when she has a scrap.....looks like little tiny bites out of the pp. And the buttons are just for a little fun deco, really love usin them at the moment.

Well thats all for now, is really late and have to work in the mornin so best go to bed.

thanks for dropping by and will chat again soon

take care

ANOTHER ROUND OF PIX TO SHARE!!

2006-08-15T23:23:00.000+10:00

just wanted to share some pix from our weekend away. We all had an absolutely awesome time. The weather was just amazing, I don't think i have ever seen the sky soooo blue before. The company was fantastic and am sure everybody had the best time. we ended up going up to Falls Creek this year, little further away than Mount Hotham but was good to go somewhere different . unfortunatly there wasn't a whole heap of snow like most years, apparantly one of the worst snowfalls since the late seventies we were told......but you know what......there was still plenty up there for us to have a great time. There was enought cover for the kids to get their boards flying down the hillside and there was a great grassy patch for us adults to sit back and take five on to watch the kiddo's.......who would of thought that sunbaking would be possible on a snowtrip LOL - even got a tad bit sunburnt, oopsies....to busy chasing the kiddo's with the sunscreen i forgot myself. But really.....an awesome, awesome time, I always love our getaways, and with such a great group of friends it probably doesn't matter where we go we'll always have fun. I did get a complete group shot this year - YAYYYY - just blogger wouldn't let me upload it the cheeky bugger, but am sure you'll see a layout of it soon LOL.
any hoo that s all for now
take care and chat soon.

Headin off.......

2006-08-11T11:20:00.000+10:00

Well the weekends finally here and i should be packing the last of our things for our mini getaway. Stevens planning on leaving around 1.30 - 2 ish, hmmmm not too sure on those times, most of its all organised just have to pack it up ready to go.At least the kiddo's are behaving which helps, little man rylans down for his nap, nick's on the playstation and maddy's just drawing picture after picture, so i'm just havin a coffee break and then i'll get to it.

The kids are just so excited now, they just looooove the snow and always look forward to going. Although judging from the weather reports i've been hearing theres not a whole lot of snow up there thisyear, apparantly one of the worst seasons in the last couple of decades, lets just hope there is enough snow to run a couple of toboggans down a hillside.Went out and bought an extra memory card for the camera this morning, so am planning on taking heaps of pix, not just of my family but of the other three families going as well - my goal this year is to get that elusive group shot that has everyone in it - we always seem to miss one or two people everyyear, will see how we go i guess.

anyway, nearly finished my coffee here so better go and finish packing, here's a couple of layouts i did the other day....really love the 'JOY' one. Its a pic of when Rylan was 6 weeks old but i have journalled it to include that age plus the age he is now, nearly one and a half. Am planning on going back and scrapping some of my favourite 'older' pics over time.

Anyhoo, that all for now,

take care and will chat soon,

MOJO COME HOME!!!

2006-08-08T22:21:00.000+10:00

Ever noticed the harder you try to do something the less likly you are to get it done. Well thats the trouble i seem to have had the last few days. Have these motivations to scrap, some great ideas in my head but try as i might i just can't seem to get it together. And it doesn't seem to be just scrapping related either - the house is looking shabby, theres a couple of piles of washing to be done and folded, the car seriously needs a good clean for this weekends getaway. And it all just sits there waiting for me LOL, seriously though if i was motivated enough i would of got it done. Just feelin a little mopey coz i can't seem to shake this really stubborn flu, has been a good week now and still it lingers.
And then guess where this weekends getaway is to? The snowfields here in Victoria, hmmmmm snow and flu...seems like a good combination LOL. The kids are all pumped to be going and it will be little man rylans first visit up the mountain. You should see him in his snowsuit....he is just the chubbiest little marshmallow ever..........and he hates it, he cannot seem to walk properly in it due to all the padding, will so have to share pix after the weekend. Bit nervous about taking my new camera up,not sure that i should or if maybe i should take my little kodak up. The Cannon will take some absolute awesome pics though, any ideas??.........should i take or not, can the cold wreck it in any way??
Okie so these are the layouts from the last few days, not DT ones, just for me layouts. The first one with all the flowers was for the challenge posted on the Freestyle blog - sillouette challenge. It was originally on a goldie coloured background but went a little too far with the doodling and wrecked it, so cut everything out and used this red pp from Daisy D's as the background - nto quite the same effect as the original but i still like, its a fun layout and not only do i like but so did maddy, she loved the idea of having wings i guess lol.
The second layout is using another one of maddy's 'dancing' pix - can you tell i really loved them. Again not quite going the way i wanted so just kept it simple and tried to let the colours be the focus - not too bad a result. The third layout was another really quick and simple layout, not much on here which is unusual for me, but really really like the way it ended up....is very clean and i'm not a clean scrapper,so i like...maybe should do something like this everynow and then to mix it up a bit. I find if Iscrap the same techniques over and over then I lose a bit of zest for it all, so am trying to mix it up a bit. Time will tell if this works.
Maybe when i'm feeling a little better my mojo might return - should anyone happen to have a little excess then please, feel free to share.
Well thats all from me tonight guys, is late and i'm tired. So till next time, take care and will chat soon..........

Sharing some more work

2006-08-05T14:09:00.000+10:00

Just wanted to share some layouts that i have done for Scrapgenie this week.
But first i just wanted to thank you LOVELY LOVELY ladies for the encouragement and congrats you all left for my last post...... it really did mean alot to me and put me in just the best mood, so again, THANK YOU - you ladies are swesome!!.

Okie so have started playing with some of the scrapgenie goodies sent out. The first layout with nick and rylan is using Scrapworks Riviera range - very fun, very bright and cheery....perfect for this pic of my two cuties.

This second layout with my gorgeous little miss was done with the Prima Petal Poetry Collection and the Prima Candies Tin - very soft and very whimsy..........but oh sooo pretty LOL.

And lucky last, using this cute pic of little man luke (ali's son), is done using the Sunwalls range from Chatterbox, with the transperancy letters(which i matted onto c/stock) and Journalling kit. Again very bright and cheery and really easy to use.

Well thats about it, not much happenin from last couple of days, am hoping to do some more catchup work over the weekend, both scrapping and house.....things are starting to look a little run down round here - too many quick tidy ups and no really good, old fashioned clean ups. And with this warmer sunnier weather it kinda puts you in a really motivating mood......feel like you can tackle all jobs at once...LOL, i'll just be happy to get the floors done and catchup on all the washing for today.
Off to tackle them now,
so take care,
and will chat soon......

sharin some work

2006-08-03T13:03:00.000+10:00

Well there's not a whole lot to update about from the last couple of days. Have done a layout for Scrapgenie, just have to take a pic and will share it next time, the range of papers are more me so am having heaps of fun with them.
Ali and I have been setting challenges for ourselves the last couple of nights. First night was a photo swap challenge, she scrapped maddy and i scrapped lukesta. Was heaps of fun and really liked what i came up with here:
Have used Urban Lilly papers and think the brown spotted one is a CBX paper, am really lovin the spots at them moment - they are everywhere!! Totally love the layout Ali did for Maddy, is just gorgeous!!

Last nights challenge, when i could finally think of one, not easy finding a topic/theme to scrap, was an OTP challenge. So i started on this shadow box thingy that i've had sitting round for a while now. Found it in the Reject shop and thought it would be pretty cool to alter, unfortunatly its just been sitting in the same spot for ages till last nights challenge. Have used the Chatterbox papers from my Embellished DT kit, i think they work nicely with the white background, well i hope so anyway. Was fun to do and i like how this has turned out as well, not as hard to do as i thought it would be. Is good to have something to keep for myself, most things like this that i alter are usually gifts, but am slowly building up a few nice things for myself.
So my news from the other day is that I'm going to be the 'Artist in the spotlight' for Scrapbook Creations in issue 37..am soo excited. LOL, i did say its probably not a big thing to some but i am excited by it and can't wait!!
Well that all for now
will chat again soon.......

TOO EXCITING!!

2006-08-01T11:15:00.000+10:00

OMGOSH was yesterday a great day for me...........and i sooo needed it lol. I had another layout accepted into SC - the sookie lala one about rylan, also had a layout accepted that wasn't mine LOL, but it was about my little man so thats ok - ali has the original so they forwarded the email onto her. I absolutely loved the layout when she first did it and i subbed it for some call up back then, hoping to surprise her when it got accepted, well never heard anything back and forgot about it till yesterdays email.
I then had another email from SC about another totally exciting offer...............but i won't share just yet till its confirmed LOL - but i thought it was really exciting and have been smiling since i read the email.
I also found time to scrap a layout yesterday - just a really quick one for Nicole's 'Black Pearl' challenge at Embellished. You had to google a name generator that would give you your Pirate name and then scrap your interpretation of it. Well my pirate name is "Pirate Prunella the Fashionalbly Late" -LOL ....almost suits to a tee. So this is the layout i scrapped for the challenge, i think it is fantastic and it was HEAPS of fun to do - little tongue in cheek humour never goes astray lol, and as i said when i uploaded it.....if i could of found a frumpier pirate wench then i would of used her, but i don't know......those legs kinda do look good on me LOL!!
The first layout (FINE!!) is the matching one to go with the other maddy layout i uploaded the other day, the first was the happy layout, nice cheery colours to emphasise it, this one is the grumpy layout with the black background so is not so cheery. Between the two, they show her extremitites really well and i'm happy with how they both turned out.
And the last good thing yesterday - before i had to leave for work, was that i had a box of goodies show up from Scrapgenie for some more DT layouts - AND MY GOODNESS WHAT A BOX LOL. I'd take some pix to show but won't for two reasons - 1 if i laid it all out for pix it would probably get trashed by little man and 2 I'm too lazy lol - it would take a few pix to get it all and i just can't be bothered doing it. Will start sharing my layouts for Scrapgenie here though from now on.therewere a couple of really awesome things Cathy included that i can't wait to use. The first was one of the new Prima kits, with gorgeous flowers, rikrak and jewels in a see through container - is BEAUTIFUL!! There was also some really funky AMM chipboard monograms and a new ribbon stack from Prima, plus a couple more packs of the spotted flowers from Doodlebug. Theres too much to mention but suffice to say there's enough there to keep me out of trouble for a while lol. So hopefully i get to be a busy beaver for a while.
So in the world of scrapping all is going really well and its all very exciting.
Home life on the other hand is not that crash hot - am really finding my self to be pretty grumpy last couple of days, i'm not too sure what its all about. The littlest thing seems to pee me off and it really is just piddly little stuff. Am wondering if it has something to do with starting the final stage of the quit patches - they are the tiniest little thing ever and you kinda doubt they are doing anything at all, on the other hand you don't really want them to be doing much coz the course is almost over, so who know - is prob me just being tempermental - it happens.
Two other 'family' things happened today. First is i had to take Nick to the dentist as he had a sore tooth, well news not good. He apparantly has a couple of other teeth that need fillings and the one they worked on today is pretty deep so they've put a temporary filling in for the time being - something to do with trying to build up tissue or somesuch. Here i was thinking i was doing the right thing by letting them brush their own teeth at night - the whole responsibility thing - and all along i was ruining their teeth. Have made another appointment for Maddison to have a checkup next week with Nick as well - Fingers crossed her teeth are ok.
The other thing for today is that my tax finally came back YAYYYYY!! Mind you though, they sent me a check instead of transferring electronically - i must of buggered up my account n's or something. Anyhoo so i have a pretty cool check sitting there but alas, i cannot spend it....I'm using it to clear up all our little crappy loans, like GE cards, credit cards and such. There's nothing i really need to buy so feel i should do the right thing with it instead of wasting. And by clearing all these little things up it clears the way to put extra money aside for our holiday to QLD next month.
Well thats about it then, if you read through all that, Thank you., once i start is hard to turn me off lol.
take care and chat soon......

ISN'T SHE JUST PRECIOUS??

2006-07-30T11:22:00.000+10:00

Well just a quickie update today, sitting here in jammies when i am supposed to be getting ready to go out for lunch - oopsies, lucky i'm not one to take ages to get ready lol.
Worked friday and yesterday - went well, had a blast with the others there (no young kids working you see lol), am glad it went the way it did.
Just have to share these pics I took of maddy just before i left for work yesterday. She was dressed in this black top and skirt, and she just looked sooooo grown up and i just HAD to grab the camera to take some pix of her. And so she span....... she looked like she was dancing in her own little world. Isn't it amazing how our children make us feel.........they can have us totally spellbound one minute and then completely frustrated and pulling our hair out the next........and yet i wouldn't change it for the world. She is all that she is and there is now way i could ever explain properly just how much i love this kiddo.
The layout is one i did friday night using Gin X papers from my Embellished DT kit, lovin these papers BIG time!! I also did another layout last night using them again, though on a black background this time, haven't taken a pic yet so will share next time. They are both about maddy, the first shows her at her happiest and the second shows her at her grumpiest, love them both - they show maddy at her extremes and i love it!!
Well might update more later, REALLY have to go and get ready - think steven's starting to get annoyed now lol..... so better go.

take care and chat soon.......

2006-07-28T12:33:00.000+10:00

Am feelin heaps better since last chatting - am over it so will not go into it again.
Bought the new For Keeps mag today, have a double in the babies gallery (bye bye baby)- am lovin the way each layout gets its own page, really gives you a chance to soak the whole layout in without being distracted by others on the page, and it just looks soooo much neater as well i reckon.
Have also decided in the last couple of days that i will enter the FK elite team comp, is nerve racking but if you never try then you never know. I was tempted by the SM masters one but just feel they put too many requirements on the entries - i suppose this is a way to weed out the truly determined - and i wasn't that fussed lol...one year maybe. I have enough to keep me busy at the moment anyway. Still have some paper lines to get through in the kit from Embellished, Cathy from Scrapgenie has posted me some more lines to play with as well and i have GOT to do a couple more class samples for Hobbysew - supposed to stay about two months in advance, plus the paper kit she gave me last time. Then lets not forget the little things as well...... i have two circle journals sitting here waiting to be done and posted, i have a few rolodex cards to be made up, swap items to be posted and still have yet to write up the instructions for the project layout going to SC - lucky its not due for another month yet lol. I did manage to remember to post out the layouts for SM and FK yesterday, so theres a couple off the list now. I either need heaps better organisation skills or i need a way better memory. Its not that i don't have time to do these things its more that something will pop up in my mind and i'll do that instead - like this FK comp, finished a layout for it last night and just love the way it come up, for once i am really happy with the way something turned out. So thats one down and four more still to go.... at least there's still plenty of time for this one.
Might make this weekend a catch up weekend, do all the little stuff thats waiting to be done and get it all posted out monday, over and done with then. Although am working most of the day saturday (at this stage anyway) so will have to be a catch up sunday.

Okie quick rundown on the layouts - first one was for a impromptu friends themed photoswap challenge on Embellished - heaps fun and really like the way it turned out - thanks for the pic lorrie, your a champ!!
Second layout was for another impromptu challenge between ali and i -had to use the sentence "friends are the 'embellished' part of life" as a title on a layout- is for the scrapping friends theme callup at FK, so hopefully one of us makes it in - fingers crossed here.
Third layout was for a photoswap at Embellished. Find it really nerve racking to scrap other peoples photo but am really happy with how this one turned out. And loooooove the Doodlebug silk flower i've used (from scrapgenie), they are just gorgeous.

almost forgot to mention - Ali, little miss sneeky lol - scrapped one of my pics i took the other dayand uploaded on here, it looks absolutely fantastic - LOVE IT!! so thank you ali.
here's the layout here if you wanna see:

http://www.embellished.com.au/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1718&limit=recent

Also got my layout back from Jodee for the photoswap - and she did a fantastic job with the pics of Rylan that i sent through, she included so many of the elements that i love -THANKS JODEE, LOVE IT!! will give a link when she has it uploaded to the Embellished gallery - speaking of which.........has been looking totally awesome lately, the work being uploaded is just brilliant and it has been great to see all the different styles of scrappers we have at embellished and how those styles are just constantly evolving. The DT entries are looking fabbo so far, cannot wait to see all them once the deadline hits - not long now ladies!!
Well thats about it from me today, am working tonight so most likely no scrapping till sunday then, oh well such is life and a break might get the creative juices flowing again lol - can only hope so.

take care
and chat soon

2006-07-26T18:05:00.000+10:00

Today's update probably won't make much sense, i can't make much sense of anything myself today so goodluck to me trying to explain it all.
Yesterday started of sooo good for me. I got Maddy off to school in time, i had an acceptance email from both SM and FK, the boys were really well behaved......and then i went to work!!!
DOWN
HILL
FROM
THERE!!!!

Most of the people i work with are just fantastic, really great people who do their best. Then there are a few young kids that think its not that necessary to do so much work, and feel free to roam round the store wherever they want. Well lately there has been some unrest so to say.....we have had to have a staff meeting to discuss the 'bitching' levels going on at work. Sure sure, fair enough. She feels the young kids are being picked on only for the fact that they are young, easily intimidated type of thing...LOAD OF CRAP!!! Wanna chat.....FINE......but you can still work and chat at the same time, not just stop and do nothing. WEll anyway....last nights group managed to include all three of these young kids (talking like 18 boys) so knew was not gonna be a productive night, didn't realise how bad it would be.
Suffice to say by the end of the night i was in a filthy mood, mumbling away to myself like some crazy woman. I just wanted to get out and go home......YEAH RIGHT!
ONE OF THESE YOUNG ***********KIDS HAS GONE IN TO HAVE A WORD TO MANAGEMENT ABOUT MYSELF AND ANOTHER LADY HAVIN A 'BITCH'. UNFRIGGEN BELIEVABLE!!! won't go into it, don't really know what got said, i know she rambled alot. I think i got her goat up though because i disagreed with her. "apparantly" one of these boys has had a 'vast' improvement, uhhh..... he was the worst of them last night - i swear this kid rules the roost at the moment, i dare to disagree and BANG warning issued and told this type of talk is shit stirring. WTH!! what did i just miss!! And its just played on my mind all day that she has this impression of me being a 'trouble makier' i guess. Any one who knows me, knows that thats not me. I'm just really really upset, not sure if i'm making a mountain out of a molehill or what, but just a little dumbstruck - guess i was last night too or i would of just kept my mouth shut.
So have just been alternating between being really really angry bout it and being really upset bout it. And then I'm angry at myself for letting it get to me, for letting it make me angry towards everyone else around me.
Does feel better now to have gotten it out, and besides this i have really been enjoying my job. Maybe i just needed a mopey day. Not working till friday, so hopefully by then i will have picked up some of my old enthusiasm for it, just have a feeling though that its gone now and i won't be able to get it back. Bit sad really, I really did enjoy it and i'd be hard pressed to find another job with such perfect hours (no need for a sitter as steven's home when i start) and at such a fantastic pay, nearly $20an hour. We'll see what happens friday i guess and whether i can get over it or not. Please tell me i'm not being a sook and you all would be pissed as well.
Anyhoo, thats that, I've gotten it off my chest and its helped heaps. Maybe i will try and scrap something tonight, i tried today but just couldn't get totally in to it, was a little challenge between ali and myself - to use the set sentence as a title on a layout with pics of some of the ladies from Embellished, just couldn't get it go the way i wanted, i do like the end result though.

......................well looks like will have to upload a pic next time, didn't think to do so at the start and well ....it won't let me now - GREAT DAY ISN'T IT?

take it easy till time,
chat then..........

PIC SHARIN' TIME!!

2006-07-24T19:18:00.000+10:00

Well not much really to update since my last one. Yesterday was a great day for me and today was another great one.
Took the the kids down to the local soccer field today after picking Maddy up from school. They had an absolute ball - and so did i - snap,snap, snapping away with the camera. This is one awesome camera!! Am having some serious fun, and still trying to learn heaps - still set on autofocus though lol. Here are some pix i took of them playing - 7 out of the 167 that i took LOL. Have soooo got to burn some pix onto disk, comp is filling up very quickly now.
Have decided to make another lifestyle change : am determined to budge this last ten kilos or so from having little man ryskie. He is now 16 months old, enough is enough - NO MORE EXCUSES!! So thats the new personal challenge i have set myself. I did it with smoking and have now gone eight weeks - have started the last stage of patches -so if i can kick a ten year habit (fingers crossed) then surely i can lose a little excess. We'll see how i go i guess.
Well just a quick and simple one today - scrapped another layout last night but will share a pic next blog.

till then
take care.....