My Time

Project Life: Week 4 plus some changes

2012-01-29T13:30:00.001+13:00

I got quite a shock when I put this weeks page together… and so did Mikayla! We had no idea that we’d done so much during the week… that’s another good thing about this project :)

Here’s my full spread for the week:

If you’d seen the lounge and dining room last Sunday you would have been SHOCKED!! I know Mum was! With daughters moving in and moving out again… things left behind and some of my own school stuff here the place had turned into a real TIP!! On Monday morning I asked Mikayla to help me clean up and bribed her with dinner out somewhere.

We both got REALLY motivated and did so much including Mikayla getting under the house to move the aerial cord for the TV… I did it last time. After taking a VERY full car to the landfill the place looked amazingly different…. and then we were too tired to go out for dinner so we had KFC for dinner instead :)

Here’s a look at the start of our week:

Mr Toby is a real poser for the camera! All he has to hear is the familiar little sound it makes when it turns on and he comes running. But on Tuesday I’m absolutely positive that he WINKED at me!! Here’s a close up so you can see for yourself:

On Tuesday my friend Sheree came over from Katikati and we did some digital scrapbooking stuff but I forgot to get the camera out… NEXT time Sheree!!! LOL

The second half of the week has been just as busy… Mr Toby has totally DESTROYED one of my books… thank goodness it wasn’t a library book! We’ve been to Holden’s Bay for a play and then on Thursday the brand new (and quite expensive) ‘Toby House’ arrived. Mr Toby has made it quite clear that HE’S not going in it!!

On Friday I had my Teacher Only day and Mikayla was working so we put Toby outside much to his disgust. It started POURING with rain after lunch and when I got home was he in the Toby House??? Ah… NO!!! He was sitting on the back door step (about 1 metre away from the Toby House) absolutely DRENCHED!!! Silly Boy!

For now Toby is having his breakfast and dinner in the Toby House and he really stretches his body to reach his food without having to go in. The photos of him IN the house we’re done on ‘sports mode’ which was lucky because he only stayed in there about 15 seconds!!

All is not lost though because Miss Brandy has decided that it’s the PURR-FECT place for her to sleep and best of all she knows that Toby isn’t going to bother her there!

For my ‘creative’ piece this week I used some Tim Holtz Kraft Resist and inked it up before layering it with some cardstock. Then I added the date and some foam brackets and the number 4:

And now for some changes… I’ve been teaching myself how to use Photoshop Elements… and I’m making good progress… so I’ve made 5 little changes to my Project Life album. I bought Becky Higgins small journaling cards and I really do like them… but every time I flicked back on my pages ‘something’ was bothering me… and it was the rounded corners on the cards. PLUS although I quite like my handwriting it just didn’t seem to be ‘right’ for my album so I’ve changed the 3 x 4 cards that I did using the journaling cards.

Here’s the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots:

And he’s my favourite one… LOVE the little stick figure!

So that’s been my week… lots of different things happening. We’ve got Auckland Anniversary holidays this weekend so we don’t start school until Tuesday… but for now I’m off to school to do some final organisation for next week.

I hope you all have a great weekend xx

Log Your Memory: Week 4

2012-01-25T08:26:00.001+13:00

This week at Log your Memory the theme was all about books. I really love reading and I have definite authors that I look for when I go to the library.

For this prompt I decided to focus on the books that I actually own and I was surprised at the variety of books I have… although they fall into very definite categories.

Here’s my layout for the week:Click image to enlarge

I love watching CSI, Criminal Intent and other crime shows so it’s no surprise that my collection of books includes some ‘who dunnit’ books. I really like Sue Grafton’s ‘alphabet’ mysteries. I started collecting them several years ago and I often go back and re-read them.

Nicholas Evans is another favourite author. He wrote the Horse Whisperer and funnily enough that is his only book that I don’t own. I first read his book ‘The Smoke Jumper’ and there is one part of the book that literally has me crying like a baby every time I read it. His books really tell an emotional story mixed with some interesting information. If you like Nicholas Sparks (love his books but don’t own any) then you’ll probably like Nicholas Evans as well.

Richard Carlson has written the very popular ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’ which I got a lot out of. Since then I’ve added several of his titles to my collection. His wife has also collaborated on some of the books with him and she offers a good ‘female perspective’.

Of course I’ve got some lovely cooking books. Most are kept in my kitchen but I like to keep my new ones on the bookshelf for a while so that I read them a bit more.

And then there’s my scrapping inspiration books… Nic Howard, Ali Edwards, Vinnie Pearce and Claudine Hellmuth. I’ve also got Tim Holtz’s book but that’s in use right now LOL

For the last few years I’ve been getting into ‘Chick Lit’ books… you know the ones that are like a Chick Flick but in a book. Marian Keyes, Sheila O’Flanagan and I’m currently reading Carole Matthews. Every night I read a chapter… sometimes two… and it’s a real wind down from the day. I find them fairly predictable… but that’s part of the attraction… it’s a way for my brain to wind down and switch off at the end of a busy day.

I’d love to hear what you like to read!

Have a great week xx

Project Life: Week 3

2012-01-22T16:31:00.002+13:00

I really didn’t think that much had happened this week until I started putting together my pages and then I realised that there have been lots of things… I think that’s one of the beauties about this project… it’s a great way to capture the ordinary, everyday things that you don’t want to scrapbook but you don’t want to forget.

Here’s my spread for Week 3:

If you’ve seen my previous post then you’ll know that I’ve been painting my kitchen… and I have to say that I really, really love how it’s turned out! One thing I’ve learnt is that you’ve got to ask LOTS of questions before you start. Since painting the window surrounds and the pantry door with ‘flat’ paint I’ve learnt that it marks REALLY easily so today I went back to Bunnings and I’ve bought some ‘Low Sheen’ paint to go on those areas… now I’ll have the look I want with the benefits of being a lot more ‘wipeable’.

Here’s a closer look at the left side:

After doing the kitchen I felt a bit ‘low energy’ for a couple of days but there were still things happening. I had an appointment with the bank about my mortgage, Mikayla’s Christmas present for me finally arrived in the shop… and I found a ‘snapped’ photo that Mikayla took!

Here’s a better look at the right side:

Yesterday my sister Katie had planned on coming over to see me with my gorgeous wee nieces. We decided that a picnic at Holden’s Bay would be a good idea… and we had a fantastic time!

About 5 minutes after we arrived a water plane landed on the lake. Miss Jessie was SUPER excited about it! Better still, the plane actually came right up to the shore beside us… the girls were really thrilled!

As you can see from the photos Miss Sammie is now walking! It was so cute to see her toddling around… and she’s developing some awesome expressions!

It was a day of surprises because just before we arrived at our picnic I got a text from Mum saying: “We’re at your house, where are you?” Mum’s husband, Richard, had decided to take Mum for a drive and they ended up over here… so neat because Mum was able to have some all important ‘Grandma’ time with the girls too!

Here’s my little piece of creativity for this weeks page:

I used some My Minds Eye paper along with some foam letters, a printed quote left over from another project and then I die cut the ‘3’ and the bird using stiff felt… love how that turned out!

So that’s my week… lots of little things happening and still loving playing with all the digital stuff… plus lots of photos to scrapbook! I took 50 photos at our picnic yesterday which I thought was pretty good until I saw how many Mum had…. Miss ‘snap happy’ had taken 97!!!

I hope you’re having a lovely weekend xx

Log Your Memory: Week 3

2012-01-19T18:41:00.001+13:00

One of this weeks prompts on Log Your Memory is Before and After projects. Those of you who know me know that I’m a bit of a D.I.Y. girl… and although I had other projects that I could have used I decided that it was time for a kitchen makeover!

Before I show you my page for Week 3 I want to share with you a few photos. When I bought my house five years ago one of the first things I was going to do was to get rid of the hideous paint colour! Although it doesn’t look so bad in the photos the reality was much, much worse! Think Karitane yellow… or for the farmers out there… ‘calf muck yellow’! SERIOUSLY!

It really was FAR more hideous in real life than the photos would have you believe!

So on Monday I went to one of my favourite places… Bunnings! I bought paint, sugar soap, polyfilla, rollers, brushes etc and then the work began. Here’s a couple of ‘in progress’ photos:

And what was Mr Toby doing during all of this???

Yes he was waiting for the paint to dry! Every night just before 7pm Toby ‘reminds’ me that it’s his dinner time… and clearly I wasn’t paying enough attention on Tuesday night while I was up the ladder because I turned around to see him LICKING the fridge! Wish I’d gotten a photo of that!

So before I bore you with too many ‘after’ photos… can you tell how proud I am of my kitchen yet?… I’ll share with you my page for Week 3:

Click photo to enlarge

You might be wondering where the title for this one came from… Mum gets to take the credit for that! I was trying to explain what the paint colour looked like (it’s actually Dulux Willow Flat) and in the end I sent her a photo and she said… “Oh, it’s like Duck Egg Blue except that it’s Green!” Mum was absolutely right and I thought it made a great title.

Here’s a few ‘after’ photos…. so pleased with how it’s turned out!

So there you have it!

I hope you’re all having a fantastic week and thanks so much for visiting. xx

Project Life: Week 2

2012-01-15T15:27:00.002+13:00

Here’s the third (and final) post for the day :)

I’m absolutely loving all the digital things I’m learning to do… and my Project Life album is the perfect place to practice my skills!

Here’s my Week 2 spread:

This week Toby and I have been out and about quite a bit… and Mikayla has been spending lots of time with us too which has been super cool!

Here’s a closer look at the left side:

I was inspired by Vicki to do some writing in the sand… not so easy with an enthusiastic puppy by your side! Mikayla and I also went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie on Tuesday night. Mikayla really loved it… and although I really liked the ending (super cool!!!) I found it a bit too much like Sherlock Holmes meets Rambo meets the Matrix for me.

Here’s a close up of the right side: Mikayla, Toby and I all walked around the Blue Lake the other day… followed by having a picnic at Holden’s Bay… it was a perfect day :)

I’ve also done two layouts this week… love it when the mojo flows.

Oh yes… I got a speeding ticket in the mail last week OOPS! :( I wasn’t going to tell Mum but then I thought I’d better get in before she saw it on the blog! I know several other people around Rotorua that all got snapped so it looks like the speed cameras are all working well here LOL

I HAD to include this wee sign too:

Toby and I went down to pick up Mikayla from work yesterday and this sign was on the campervan parked right next to us… absolutely laughed over it and was so pleased I had my ‘little’ camera in my bag with me!

Here’s my creative entry for this weeks spread:

I used some more of the Tim Holtz tissue wrap… really liking it on the kraft cardstock! The Sherlock Holmes picture was one I found online so I printed it out and cut a shadow layer with my cricut… I found out how to do that with a photo file!

I kept looking at the card and knew it ‘needed’ something but couldn’t think what… and then I realised it was smoke coming from his pipe. Mr Toby has a BIG stuffed toy lion that he ‘loves’ (at least he ‘loved’ it BEFORE his wee operation… IYKWIM). Lion is currently almost un-stuffed and the evidence is all over the lounge floor so I used a little bit for my card. It’s kind of nice to think that at least a small part of him will live on LOL

So that’s been my week… lots happening but it feels great to have something tangible to remember it all by.

I hope you all enjoy what’s left of the weekend and have a good start to the week xxx

Layout class–12th February 2011

2012-01-15T13:05:00.002+13:00

Hello again everyone :) This is our second of three postings today. This time it’s all about our first layout class for 2012 and it’s going to be a fab class!

For this class we’ll be doing two layouts using some wonderful papers from My Minds Eye Funday paper range along with custom cut ric rac, titles, crystals, flowers and a whole lot more.

Here’s the photos for our first layout titled Picnic Time:You’ll need two photos… mine are 5 x 3 inches

In this class we’ll be making the most of layering while still keeping it pretty clean. There will be a custom title made for each person… you get to choose your own title!

Our second class features gorgeous crystals along with custom made cardstock ric rac and heart. We’ll be distressing and inking and there’s some great techniques involved too!You’ll need one large photo for this class or alternatively you could use two 6 x 4 photos… my photo is 6 x 8 inches.

To get more details or to make a booking click HERE

Happy scrapping xx

2nd January Challenge for Scrapbook Dreams

2012-01-15T09:49:00.002+13:00

Hi everyone :)

I’ve got LOTS to share with you today so this is the first of three blog posts.

The mid-month sketch challenge at Scrapbook Dreams is up and it’s a double layout… which means double the reward points if you enter your layout into our January gallery! If you’re not into doing double layouts then there’s options for doing either the left or right side as well:)

Here’s the sketch:

I had so many photos from Toby’s first Christmas so this sketch was perfect for it! Here’s the full layout:

And here’s some close ups of the left and right side:

On the left side I included a letter from Toby about his first Christmas. It was actually lots of fun to write. Here’s ‘his’ view of his first Christmas:

How was your Christmas? I had a GREAT time!! On Christmas Eve Mumma hung my stocking the door and in the morning it was FULL of treats for me! That guy Santa must have lots of treats at his house because he left me 5 different sorts. The only problem was Mumma wouldn’t let me eat them all at once because she said I might make myself sick... sometimes she takes all my fun away!!

After I got TWO treats we went over to my Auntie Tracey and Uncle Hau’s house at Waihi Beach. Auntie Katey and Uncle Simon were there too and so were all the kids. I got to play with all my cousins and look at their toys. Mumma made a whole heap of decorated biscuits for my cousins so that I could give them a present... pretty cool aye!

Then we had to wait for Grandma to arrive... and she was taking a LONG time!! So, we went for a walk to the beach.... just me, Mumma, Aidan and Leila. I’d never been to the beach before and it was a bit scary for me. Did you know that the water comes in waves??? and that waves move in and out??? I like being NEAR the water but I’m not too confident about getting IN the water so it was all very confusing.

Then we went home and Grandma and Poppa arrived and we all got presents! I got some toys and some more treats!! I even unwrapped most of my parcels myself!!

Next we had some lunch... Auntie Tracey kept sneaking me little treats while Mumma wasn’t looking... and so did Uncle Hau.... and so did Grandma.... and so did the kids... and do you know what? That night I was SICK as a DOG!!! Poor Mumma was a bit worried about me but I was feeling fine after I’d been sick!

Anyway... back to lunch! There was ham... and chicken... and sausages... and sausage rolls... and bacon... and all sorts of other things! Everyone had their lunch and then Uncle Simon and Mumma took all the kids to the beach for a BIG walk. They had to be careful to make sure they brought all the right kids home and didn’t leave anyone behind but they did a good job.

When we got back from our walk Auntie Tracey had our pudding ready. I watched all the other kids getting ice cream and jelly and sprinkles and I thought that maybe she’d forgotten about me.... but then she gave me an ice cream in an ice cream cone!!! I was so hot and the ice cream was so cold... it was REALLY nice!

Then we all played some more before we got back in the car. Mumma had to drive all the way back home but I got to snore on the back seat!! I snored so loud that Mumma had to turn up the CD so that she could hear it properly because I was REALLY tired.

So that’s my layout for the challenge… Toby and I would love to see what you guys come up with!

Happy scrapping xx

Log Your Memory: Week 2

2012-01-11T09:23:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone :)

This week on Log Your Memory one of the prompts was about setting and achieving goals. There were other prompts too like ‘bucket lists, checklists and things like that.

I’ve been a goal setter from way back… even at school I used to set goals to achieve things each week so this prompt worked for me.

While I was doing this weeks layout I realised that although I set lots of goals… and work hard to achieve them… I’ve NEVER set goals in my personal life. Somehow it’s always seemed to ‘clinical’ to me but now I’m re-thinking that because this method clearly hasn’t worked for me.

Here’s my layout for Week 2:Click photo to enlarge

It’s FINALLY stopped raining here and we’ve got gorgeous blue skies and and sun is actually shining so I’m off to get washing on the line… and maybe even a little gardening done :)

Wishing you all a great week xx

Project Life: Week 1

2012-01-08T18:40:00.003+13:00

Hi everyone :)

I’ve had a huge amount of fun this week doing my Project Life pages. I’ve been using Photoshop HEAPS and learning what I can do with photo overlays. It’s added up to several hours on the computer but I’m feeling WAY more confident with it.

Here’s my spread for the week:

As you can see Mr Toby has featured quite a bit! I’m sure that will continue through the year. Here’s a better look at the left side:

On Tuesday my sister, Katie, and my three little nieces came over to visit Auntie. We went out for lunch and the girls were absolutely fantastic. It was a great time to get some really relaxed photos while they weren’t so aware of the camera.

High on our list this week was Krystal’s move to her first flat over in Hamilton. Toby got used to sitting in the back with all the furniture surrounding him. They ‘payoff’ was that I took him to the Hamilton dog park. Toby REALLY doesn’t like getting in the water… unless it’s a warm bath… but Mikayla was determined that he was having a swim!

Here’s the right side:

One of my PRIORITIES this week was to get the lawns done as soon as it stopped raining. Luckily I stuck to that because we’ve really only had one good day this week! That was the same day that Mr Toby dug his first HOLE! Was Mumma impressed?? Well… actually… I kind of was LOL Grandma was sure that Toby wasn’t to blame and sent him a quick email which promptly got added to a journaling card! Toby says “Thanks Grandma” xx

I added some more photos of Toby at the dog park… did a small journaling card about buying handmade cassis chocolates at the night market and also one about my PL page protectors arriving.

Just before Christmas my Dad put some money into my account so that I could get myself something. He’s done this for the last few years and I’ve been slowly buying things for the kitchen. This week I popped into Briscoes and scored a GREAT bargain on a new frying pan. Thanks Dad xx

I want to keep adding little bits of creativity to my PL album this year. Here’s this weeks piece:

The background is Tim Holtz tissue wrap which I mod-podged onto white cardstock before going around the edges with black paint. The letters were white foam ones that quickly got the paint treatment too and I added a red die cut star that was sitting on my table. I made the date strip using Photoshop which I printed out and stuck down with the tiny attacher… yep still loving my latest gadget!

So that is Week 1 done… I’m really happy with it!

And now to announce the winner of the giveaway!

It’s hard to believe, but there’s been 57 views on the blog since I put up the giveaway and just three comments so here’s what I’m doing. I rolled a dice… which Toby loved and tried to run away with!!!… and it landed on a 1 which means that the giveaway goes to Vicki :)

Since there were just three comments, I wanted to say thank you to Loreen and Esther too so I’m going to make both of you a ‘Life Love Joy’ card as well.

Let me know what colour scheme you’d all like for your cards ladies and Vicki could you also let me know which paper pad you’d like :)

Wishing everyone a good start to their week xx

Endings, Beginnings and a Giveaway!

2012-01-06T16:01:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone :)

Let’s start with the ENDING… the completion of my December Daily album! I’ve been trying to work out how I wanted to bind it together. I’d originally thought that using rings would work but they just seemed too big… SO I bought some more tartan ribbon and created my own criss cross binding. It’s probably been done many times before but this is my first time using it and I really like it.

I tied a couple of bells left over from my Santa Banner project onto the ends of the ribbon and now the book ‘tinkles’ when you pick it up… love that!

Here’s what it looks like from the front:

And here’s a top view with all the pages… see what I mean about how FAT this December Daily got!

The neat thing is that when you open the pages you can see lovely tartan ribbon… I’m liking that too!

I updated the calendar in the front of the album so that every date has it’s own topic… perfect for when I want to find a specific thing:

On the back of the 31st I had a blank page which wasn’t really what I wanted so I added a ‘Best Bits’ page… love how that turned out!

So that’s it… it’s finished… completed… done…and I’m DEFINITELY going to do this project again in 2012!

Now, onto a BEGINNING!

Some of you already know that I planned on doing the Project Life project… and I’m super happy today because the courier arrived with my page protectors and journaling cards. I have to say that they’re REALLY good quality and super easy to slide everything into!

I decided that I was going to do a double page spread for each week to give me lots of room which of course meant that I’d need some sort of title page. I’ve been playing around with lots of bits and pieces that I wanted to include but it’s done now! Here’s a look at my cover page:

I’m loving the style of this project and how you can make it be anything you want. I’ve decided that since I’m learning to use more digital elements I’d do this project in a hybrid style… that way I can still include all the lovely things I enjoy like Tim Holtz embellishments, patterned papers, inking, stitching, embossing etc

Here’s a close up of part of the page… I made the ‘Life Love Joy’ insert using cardstock and Tim Holtz die cut letters and then I added a muse token… so pleased with how it turned out. PLUS I’ve been using my Tim Holtz tiny attacher HEAPS!!! For those that know me you’ll know that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don’t like staples… but the tiny attacher is super cute… and I love using it! They just don’t SEEM like staples to me LOL

I really like the red/black/white/kraft combo so I’ll probably use it lots through this project!

And now for the GIVEAWAY!

When I was planning this blog post I did a quick count up of how many posts I’ve done since I started this blog… and that’s when I realised that this is the 200th post!!!

So in honour of that I’m giving away either this:

Or this:

That’s right… you get to choose! PLUS I’ll make you your own ‘Life Love Joy’ card in a colour scheme of your choice! If you’re doing the Project Life project it will slip right into one of the pockets :)

So how do you go about winning??? Just leave me a comment on THIS POST before 4pm on Sunday 8th January (NZ Time). I’ll post the winner on Sunday night along with my Project Life Week 1 pages… so make sure you come back on Sunday to see if YOU won the giveaway!

Happy scrapping everyone xx

Log your memory: Set up and Week 1

2012-01-04T09:09:00.001+13:00

The Log Your Memory: Time Capsule project has started for 2012. This week they’re offering everyone a FREE look at the project and how it works!

I’m VERY new to digital scrapbooking but as I looked around various template the ones that really caught my eye were the ones that allowed me plenty of space to journal. I loved the graphic ‘magazine’ feel of the ‘My Story’ templates from Kristin’s Scrap Design so I bought one set… tried it out and loved it!

Here’s my front cover:Click photo to enlarge

Because this is a ‘Time Capsule’ project… and to give me some more practice with the whole digital thing… I decided to do a page called ‘My Life Right Now’. That way when the project is finished, at the end of the year, I can look back and see what’s changed. Here’s my page:Click photo to enlarge

Week 1: Teacher or Learner?

Each week you get themes to work with and LOTS of ideas to springboard from. One of the questions they asked was whether you like to teach or be taught… or neither and that one really resonated with me so that became the focus for my page: Click photo to enlarge

I’m using the 12 x 12 templates to create my pages but I can’t get those printed as photos locally so I’m having them printed as 8x8. It’s a really good size actually… and just perfect for a ‘coffee table’ book so I got busy and made myself a book to keep all my pages in!

Here’s my cover with the spiral binding: Click photo to enlarge

I’ve made enough pages to cover all 52 prompts for the year but I know I’m going to need to put bigger spiral bindings on before the year is out!

Click photo to enlarge

So that’s one of my projects for the year off to a good start! My aim is to upload each weeks pages for this project on Wednesday’s so stay tuned for the next page.

Happy scrapping xx

One Little Word for 2012

2012-01-02T21:05:00.001+13:00

Ali Edwards really hit on something when she developed ‘One Little Word’ several years ago.

I thought about it last year… for all of about 1/2 a day… but it didn’t really fit for me so I left it alone. However this year I have a word that not only resonates with me but is ringing big bells too!

So what’s my word for 2012?

So why this word you might ask… well it’s simple:

· because sometimes I do everything I can to make everyone around me happy and forget about what I want out of life.

· because sometimes I go to bed at night and realise that the thing I REALLY wanted to do hasn’t even been looked at.

· because sometimes I seem to get further and further behind due to procrastination

· because sometimes my THOUGHTS and my ACTIONS don’t seem to match up.

It’s not about making better checklists... or hurting & ignoring others... or making it all about ME. It’s about doing the things that are a PRIORITY on THAT day... in THAT moment... or at THAT time so that I know that I’ve done the best I can with what I had available at that time. It’s about keeping it real... not taking on too much... and learning not to feel guilty when I can’t do it all.

I’m going to be incorporating my One Little Word into my Project Life album which I’m doing for the first time this year… and I can already tell you that my One Little Word is having a positive effect on my life!

If you’ve joined this project this year I’d love to hear what your word is!

Have a great week xx

Scrapbook Dreams January Challenge

2012-01-01T12:30:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone and welcome to the first challenge for 2012!

We're going to start the year off with an awesome challenge for you... Through the eyes of a child!

For this challenge all you have to do is create a layout that is child focussed... get down on their level and see what the world looks like!

On Christmas day one of my nephews was really keen to try out his new digital camera but we couldn't quite figure it out so I loaned him my 'everyday' camera when we went for a walk to the beach.

After a few tips he was on his way and when we got home he had some really amazing shots!

I really loved so many of the photos my nephew took so I tried to include as many of them as I could in this layout... along with the story of the experience. Here's what I came up with:

So now it's YOUR turn! Loan your kids your digital camera... or take photos from their point of view... or take the photos they ask you to take... and then create your layout and upload it into our January 2012 gallery.

I'd love to see your layouts this month! If you win the January challenge you'll get the opportunity to be our Guest Designer in March 2012 PLUS we're starting a 'rewards' system this month... check THIS post on the forum for more details!

December 31st

2011-12-31T20:21:00.001+13:00

Mum rang this morning to say that the last ATC for our December swap had arrived. It was STILL pouring with rain so Nina and I decided that we’d go over to Tauranga and collect them. What a gorgeous set of artwork!

Then it was time for lunch and a bit of scrapbooking retail therapy! Mr Toby waited very patiently in the car… ok, he was sound asleep!

I came home with some fab Jenni Bowlin cardstock and a new sanding block plus some ‘CANDI’ that I know I’ll be using in my Project Life album. I couldn’t resist getting some Tim Holtz tissue either… I know which project that’s going on!

What a great way to end the year!

It wasn’t all sitting in the car for Toby… when we had finished our lunch we got him an ice cream from McDonalds which he absolutely LOVED!

The rain also stopped for about 15 minutes while we were at the Mount so he was able to have a bit of a run around which he thought was fabulous!

So… plans for New Years Eve… hmm well I’m not going out in this rain so I’m thinking it might be the perfect time to do the back covers of my December Daily album so that it’s completely finished before the beginning of 2012!

To everyone that has been following my blog and leaving me comments… plus all of the people lurking in the background LOL … I hope you have a wonderful 2012 filled with love, joy and happiness!

Happy New Year xx

December 30th

2011-12-31T19:39:00.001+13:00

This afternoon Toby and I ventured out in terrible rain to visit Grandma!

Mum had been saying for ages that she wanted a ‘top loading’ printer and when I saw one in Harvey Normans marked down from $129.99 to $39.99 it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!

We loaded the car with the printer and quite a few projects and set off. The rain was awful and there were lots of little floods but we got there safely.

Richard cooked us a yummy dinner… and he even did some mashed veges and gravy for Toby! Toby thought it was Christmas again!

After dinner we set up the printer… meanwhile a bored wee puppy got hold of Grandma’s garden shoes and chewed them into lots of pieces! Oops!!!

To be fair to Toby, Grandma DID see him with them earlier on and said that it was fine for him to chew them… I just don’t think she realised how MUCH he would demolish them!

Having said that she did remove a doll ornament as well as the welcome mat from his tender loving care. Unfortunately he was quicker than her when it came to her stack of collected business cards which he managed to ‘borrow’ when she wasn’t looking!!

Maybe next time he will have to bring his toy basket with him to keep him entertained!

Happy scrapping xx

December 29th

2011-12-30T13:05:00.001+13:00

We’d planned on going to the Taupo Rodeo today and catching up with Fearnley… but it RAINED! This has got to be the worst summer weather.

Instead we went to town and did some jobs. Mikayla needed to go to the bank and get some new walking shoes and we both needed to go to the library.

By this stage I was thinking ‘comfort food’ so we picked up some supplies and headed home.

Thanks to Krystal I pulled out my Nigella DVD’s and found the recipe for lamb tagine. By 6pm the tagine was ready so I ‘whipped up’ some cous cous, made an onion, capsicum and pomegranate salsa and we were good to go!

I’ve actually never had a pomegranate before… but I’ll definitely be having them again! I love how Nigella describes them as little ‘jewels’ and that’s pretty much what they look like. They certainly brightened up not just the colour but also the flavour of the tagine.

Happy cooking xx

December 28th

2011-12-29T14:41:00.002+13:00

I got a call from Mum on her cell phone today… that NEVER happens! She usually texts me and then I call her.

Mum was SUPER excited. She’d bought a copy of NZ Paper Chase on her way to work but hadn’t had a chance to look at it until 4.30 pm.

At afternoon tea time she opened it up and started reading the ‘Letters to the Editor’ and that’s when she realised it was HER letter!

Months ago she’d scrap lifted an idea from a layout Gwen Kirman had done. Mum did hers using fabric for an album cover. It looked really good so bossy thing that I am I told her to send it into the magazine.

Not only did they publish Mum’s letter… they put her album cover in too!

Here’s a better shot of ‘The Letter’:

Mum has been a crafter all her life… she made just about all our clothes when we were little. She sewed, knitted, did crochet, covered boxes with fabric, embroidery, cross stitched, folk art painting… and now she does scrapbooking as well.

She quite often blends several of her hobbies into one project like she did for this album:

Congratulations Mum!!! I know it was a huge thrill to see your name in print!

Happy scrapping everyone xx

December 27th and a sneak peek!

2011-12-28T14:15:00.001+13:00

I’ve been really enjoying this December Daily project. It’s made me realise how rich and full my life is.

Over the past few days I’ve been looking around online and seen the ‘One Little Word’ as well as the ‘Project Life’ things.

I’ve mulled it over and decided that I’d really like to do them both.

My page protectors are on their way and I’m almost finished my intro page. I’m going to be using both digital and traditional styles so it will be my first real hybrid project.

I’ve chosen my word for 2012… and it is really sitting well with me. It’s going to make a real difference to how I approach the coming year.

Plus I’ve done a layout! My mojo is in fine form!!!

When Mum reads this I know she’ll be thinking… “Oh Lord she’s taken on another project!!” Yes Mum I know I have lots of things going on but this is going to be really cool!!

I can’t actually show you my full layout yet because it’s for the January challenge over at Scrapbook Dreams so I’ll have to keep it under wraps until the 1st… but I can show you the sneak peek!

And NO Mum…. I’m not going to email it to you!!

Happy scrapping xxx

December 26th

2011-12-27T21:09:00.001+13:00

If I had to describe today in just one word it would be… TIRED!

Toby and I stayed home today… he didn’t want to go for a W.A.L.K. and I didn’t feel like taking him. Instead we lazed about in the lounge and then Toby played with some of his new toys.

In the afternoon I decided to go and read my new book… Sue Grafton is such a good writer! Mr Toby joined me and was snoring in seconds.

We both dozed off and I woke up to the familiar ‘click’ of the camera. Miss Mikayla decided we looked so ‘cute’ she had to get a photo!

We did make it back out to the lounge… but it was only to watch T.V. Hopefully all this rest today will help me get my mojo kick started… I’ve got projects to do!

I was really surprised that Toby didn’t want to go for a W.A.L.K. (and YES I do spell out that word when I’m talking LOL). He usually loves going for walks… I guess all the excitement of Santa, presents, wrapping paper and treats must have worn him out!

He’s such a Mumma’s boy… everywhere I go he wants to go too. It’s actually really lovely although I know he’s going to be very upset when I have to go back to school after the summer holidays… and just quietly I think I’ll be missing him terribly as well!

Happy Holidays xx

December 25th

2011-12-26T12:25:00.001+13:00

Today was absolutely awesome! We had great weather, fab food and family all together… with the exception of Krystal who we all really missed! But we did get to talk to her on the phone.

We had such a relaxing day. Tracey had decorated her home with balloons and streamers and there was a really festive mood in the air.

The kids played happily… Katey and Simon were like big kids… everyone was happy!

Every year Mum tries to get a ‘sister’ shot… and this year it’s not too bad.

Toby loved his first Christmas!

It’s really neat when all the family gets together for something fun… and Christmas day was a LOT of fun!

Auntie and Uncle kept spoiling Toby with little treats from the table… he now LOVES chicken and ham! Plus Auntie made him his own ice cream in a cone for pudding :)

Katey and Simon were acting like big kids all day… they had us all laughing!

Mum was super ‘snap happy’ and managed to take a grand 199 photos! There’s lots of great shots so I’ll be scrapbooking some of them soon :)

All in all it was a pretty fabulous day!

Merry Christmas everyone xx

December 24th

2011-12-25T21:15:00.001+13:00

Today has been all about baking! Last night I made another set of gingerbread house pieces and they came out beautifully.

It smells like a lollie shop here… between the cookie dough, icing, sprinkles, and lollies there’s a fog of sugar!

I made all the kids their own set of cookies as a present from Toby. Motorbikes for Aidan, Watering cans for Leila, Cars for Reece, Ice cream cones for Sammy, Handprints for Jessy and Houses for Kody.

Then it was onto the house! Lollies galore and plenty of icing. I even used one of my new icing tips to make grass for a more ‘kiwi’ house!

Toby has discovered that he REALLY likes uncooked gingerbread dough! The other day Krystal accidently dropped some dough on the floor and old ‘gannet guts’ grabbed it and devoured it in seconds!

While I was making my gingerbread house Toby was constantly at my feet hoping for a wee treat!

Happy Holidays xxx

December 23rd

2011-12-24T22:52:00.001+13:00

In late November I asked both the girls if we could all put the tree up together this year. I’d already bought a few new ‘vintage’ ornaments for the tree and I had grand visions of us threading popcorn and singing carols together.

But now the weeks have flown by. Krystal won’t be home until New Years Eve and Mikayla is working until 11pm most nights. So now there won’t be a tree for 2011.

Never mind, I made an ‘ornament tree’ on the coffee table this morning. Maybe next year Toby and I can do the tree together!

I love vintage things… my coffee table was originally a dining room table so it’s really BIG and solid wood. Over the years I’ve slowly bought vintage bits and pieces and now it’s time for the Christmas tree to get the vintage makeover… except that it’s going to have to wait until 2012.

Toby isn’t sure what’s going on… but he has picked up on the excitement of Christmas. He knows that Mumma is home everyday… and he LOVES that!

Happy scrapping xx

December 22nd

2011-12-24T07:08:00.001+13:00

Today we went to Hamilton to help Krystal find a unit for her and Chris to live in next year. We travelled all over the place looking at one unit after another… and it’s amazing how much rent people want for a dingy, damp little place!

Finally after much looking we came across one place that Krystal liked… and it was really nice.

Meanwhile Toby had been very patiently putting up with us getting in and out all day so we went to the dog park.

He LOVED it! All the new smells, doggy friends, and space to run around. He played for ages and even went in the water on his own for the first time! He wore himself out! He’s one happy boy!

Toby really likes going in the car… and he’d actually prefer being ‘stuck’ in the car for a long time than being left at home by himself.

We’ve been to the Hamilton dog park a couple of times and each time he’s loved it. We’ve seen up to 25 unleashed dogs there at a time and there’s never been any fights or problems. It’s like going to a school where all the kids play nicely :)

Happy scrapping xx

December 21st

2011-12-23T12:48:00.001+13:00

After buying all the sweets for our gingerbread houses we decided that today was the day.

Krystal baked her house pieces early and then headed off to see Chris. I noticed that all her pieces stayed soft so I tried a different recipe.

Yippee! Mine worked! Nice crisp pieces of gingerbread and the house smelt divine.

When Krystal got home she tried again and this time hers all burnt! She was in a panic because she’s off to Auckland tomorrow.

In the end I ‘gave’ her my house which she decorated beautifully! She was so pleased with it and it looked great. The only thing is that now I have to start from scratch again!

I hope my generosity got me lots of “good mother” points!

Today just wasn’t Krystal’s day for baking! Her first house set stayed soft… the second house set burnt… and then she tried making her Dad some chocolate and chilli truffles. She measured everything out and said she followed the recipe but…. they just didn’t set!

We left the mixture in the fridge overnight and nope… they’re still runny! The mix tastes good though so maybe we could use it for ice cream sundae sauce?

Happy baking xx

December 20th

2011-12-22T06:37:00.001+13:00

After days and days of rain we finally got to see the sun today.

Krystal and I went into town to get all our goodies for making gingerbread houses and then by the time we got home we didn’t feel in the mood to bake.

Meanwhile I managed to get some washing done and hung out on the line. Thank goodness for the sunshine!

Toby was enjoying the sunshine too! He wanted to play in the back yard but all this rain has made the grass grow. After going to get petrol for the mower I got started on the lawns. My goodness… they were really long!

With lots of washing done and most of the lawns cut it’s been a pretty good day.

It was so nice to be outside in the sunshine after all the rain we’ve been having here. Hopefully we’ll have a lot more sunshine from now on!

Happy scrapping xx

19th December

2011-12-21T12:00:00.001+13:00

Today it’s been raining… AGAIN!

I decided to try and get a head start on a project I’m doing in 2012. The project is from “Log Your Memory” and it’s a time capsule project with weekly challenges and prompts.

I’ve decided to do the project using digital scrapbooking. I really want to learn how to do something new and since I’ve already got Photoshop it makes sense.

The hardest part of every project for me is decided how to put the project together. There is nobody local who can print 12 x 12 digital layouts so I’ve decided to print the layouts 8 x 8 size.

After a few trial and errors I finally came up with a layout that I really liked. It’s going to be a steep learning curve but I’m really looking forward to it!

I think I’m going to really like doing this project. I’ve had a bit of a look through the layout ideas already and I can see some of them being done twice… digitally for this project and traditionally as a full layout.

It’s really different doing things digitally… and there’s heaps to learn… but for me nothing beats cutting out and sticking down the traditional way :)

Happy scrapping xx

December 18th

2011-12-20T08:45:00.001+13:00

Today Toby and I drove to Tauranga because ‘Animates’ had a Santa set up especially for fur babies!

I’m so pleased that Toby likes going in the car because it means he can come with me out of town!

Toby loved seeing Santa and he was so good in the shop. The little dogs got to sit on Santa’s knee but at 22kg Toby was a bit big for that! He sat up so proudly for his photo and then Santa gave him a treat!

We also visited Uncle Keith, Auntie Loreen, Onyx and Indie. Then we went to see Grandma and Poppa. Toby was one happy boy.

The last time we visited Uncle Keith and Auntie Loreen a couple of ago Toby was just a little guy. He was really interested in Onyx and Indie but didn’t really know what they were:

This time Toby was almost as big as them and he had a GREAT time playing with Onyx. We put the two boys outside because they were being really boisterous and they played happily together… jumping up at each other… doing the butt sniffing thing… and running around. Meanwhile Indie stayed inside with me and Loreen. At one stage she looked at the boys outside and then looked at me as if to say… “Boys!”

Happy scrapping xxx

December 17 plus extras!

2011-12-18T20:29:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone :)

I’ve been having a great time in my craft room so I’ve got a couple of projects as well as my December Daily!

Today feels more like winter than summer! It’s been cold and it’s been raining all day!

The perfect thing to do today was be inside with some Christmas scrapping!

I decided to make the Christmas banner I’ve been planning… and I’m so pleased I did! There was HEAPS of cutting… lots of adhering… and a TONNE of bling!

Once I had all the pieces made I had heaps of fun decorating… stickles, flowers, ribbons and bells!

I’m totally thrilled with how it turned out! The mantle looks so pretty now and it’s feeling more like Christmas!

I really did have a great time making my Christmas banner so I thought I’d share a bit more of it with you :)

I purchased a FANTASTIC digital graphics package from Moonlight Journey. Lynne sells the most amazing graphics… the hardest part is choosing which ones you want! I took them down to my local photo place and printed them out and then the fun began!

I adhered all the trimmed images to white cardstock (leaving a border all around)… then onto chipboard… and finally onto dark green cardstock for the backing.

I got the idea for the bling around the edges from this post on Linda Duke’s blog… she has some amazing projects on her blog!

Then I added large eyelets and some flowers. When it came to putting it all together I made bows using tartan ribbon… added some thin satin ribbon with the bells and some gorgeous red berry stems to embellish.

I love how much it sparkles… especially with the candles all lit up! Here’s a couple of close up photos:

Thanks so much Lynne and Linda… love both of your work and the inspiration to create my project!

My final project for the day is the cover page for my December Daily. It’s taken quite a while to come together but I’m thrilled with how it turned out.

On the inside cover I’ve put a December calendar which I’m using to jot down the theme for the day… hopefully it will help me find what I’m looking for:

The final inspiration for the actual front cover came to me while I was working on the Christmas banner… I love it when that happens!

I’ve used one of the Santa images from the digital graphic set along with some of the tartan ribbon and bling from making the banner. The title and reindeer are all cut using Tim Holtz dies. Since this is a ‘journal’ … I added a pen nib that Esther gave me… thanks HEAPS Esther!

I took a couple of close up shots to show the various elements of the cover:

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today… I’d love to hear what you think of my projects!

Happy scrapping xxx

December 16th

2011-12-17T16:49:00.001+13:00

Today was a ‘big’ day for Toby! For weeks we’ve been whispering about him having his ‘little op’ on the 16th.

This morning he wasn’t allowed any breakfast… he kept trying to remind me about his biscuits!

By 8.30am we were on our way to the vets. He got weighed (22.1 kg) and then had to go into a CAGE! You would have thought it was the end of the world.

When I filled out his form it had CASTRATION written in big letters. I mentioned that this word didn’t sound very nice and she (the vet nurse) jokingly asked if “nuts removal” was better!

Poor Toby had to wear a cone but he hated it so much that by dinner time it was OFF!

I’m happy to say that Toby is much happier now! He was quite wound up and couldn’t seem to get comfortable although he was happy to jump up onto the sofa like usual. He’s an even bigger ‘Mummas Boy’ than normal but I’m sure he’ll be fine :)

Happy scrapping everyone xx

December 15th

2011-12-17T06:54:00.001+13:00

School is DONE! After all the stress of the past few weeks, school is actually finished for the year! Now I’ll be able to get into some projects… spend more time with Mr Toby… and just generally relax.

Today I got busy making my Christmas cards and I’m pretty thrilled with them! For me they’re not just cards… they’re an example of my latest learning on Photoshop as well.

I’m also having fun writing messages because all the cards are being sent from Toby :) It’s a bit like sending a card from your kids really!

There’s still lots of festive things to do around here, but for the first time today it really started to feel like Christmas is coming!

I’m so looking forward to these holidays now… we’ve got a BIG event tomorrow and then hopefully I’ll start making my way through my ‘festive list’ of things I’d like to do before Christmas :)

Happy scrapping xx

December 14th

2011-12-15T18:38:00.001+13:00

Today was our last WHOLE day at school. We’ve still got a half day tomorrow… but we thought we’d celebrate early.

Krystal took me to a Turkish Kebab place and she did all the ordering… then the food arrived!

She’d ordered lamb for me… VERY tasty… and chicken for herself. Then 10 minutes later another plate of food arrived! It was a HUGE ‘tasting platter’ to share.

Although I did my best there was just no way I was even going to make a dent in it so we got a MASSIVE doggie bag to take home.

It was so nice to have a quiet meal together and share our ideas, thoughts and opinions. Thanks Krystal for a GREAT time out.

Ever since Krystal started working she’s enjoyed taking me out for little treats… and I love it too! We often go shares when we go out but every now and then one of us decides to treat the other.

She’s got some MAJOR things happening in her life at the moment (and early next year)… good things… but still quite a lot to take in. It was really nice to be able to sit and talk about her hopes for next year and get a feel for how she’s doing.

Happy scrapping xx

December 13th

2011-12-14T20:51:00.001+13:00

As much as I’ve been looking forward to the end of the school year I haven’t been looking forward to packing up my classroom!

Once all the kids artwork came down off the walls it started to feel bare and “unloved”.

Now the kids have taken all their books home, their desks have been scrubbed and cleaned and their portfolios of work have all gone home.

The desks and chairs are all stacked and we’re “living” on the mat area!

Of course all the routines have flown out the window and the kids are a bit ‘loose’.

On the flip side… it’s the first time for a few years when I’m not moving classrooms as well!

For the past few years I’ve had to move classrooms so on top of all the ‘regular’ stuff I’ve also had to physically move all my stuff as well. This year it all feels so much easier somehow :)

Happy scrapping xx

December 12th

2011-12-13T21:03:00.001+13:00

Last week Ashley gave me an UGLY table that he didn’t want in his classroom.

On the weekend I got to thinking about how to make it ‘pretty’ but nothing really came to mind.

Today I had three boys with too much energy so I gave them all sanding blocks and set them to work.

When they were busy I found a large set of chess pieces and that’s when inspiration struck/

We planned and measured out a chess board and got painting! The boys attention to detail wasn’t that great so Matua Norm and I carried on with it. Now we’ve got a pretty table that’s functional as well!

Photo page: Take one UGLY table… add some paint and creativity and it’s better than new!

Ashley has been watching what we’ve been doing with the table and I pretty much knew what was coming next… he thinks the table would look GREAT back in his classroom! Unfortunately for Ashley that just isn’t going to happen :)

p.s. Matua is a bit like ‘uncle’… Matua Norm is the teacher aide in my classroom and a large reason why I’m still relatively sane at the end of the school year!

p.p.s. It was Pirate Day at school… hence the hat, long hair and earring LOL

Wishing you lots of creativity xxx

December 11th

2011-12-12T22:11:00.001+13:00

After all the excitement of yesterday Toby and I were both worn out today.

We had a really quiet day at home and I decided that it was about time I learned how to use Photoshop a bit more.

After watching and reading some online tutorials I was ready to start!

I had two good photos of Toby and his Santa hat that Grandma took yesterday… so I followed the steps, took out the colour… put the colour back into Toby’s hat… added a digital stamp… added a quote… and voila!

Then I practised making another photo strip… I think I might just have created my 2011 Christmas Card!

Today’s scan isn’t so great because the Santa hat embellishment was a bit too 3D… but it was too good to leave off the page… although there is a wee message for Grandma about it!

Dear Grandma… Mummy said that I wasn’t allowed to keep the Santa hat embellishment because it was perfect for HER album… but I did try to nick it off her! Next time you should just give it to me and NOT TELL Mummy about it!!! Love from “Tobles” xxx

December 10th

2011-12-11T21:02:00.001+13:00

Today was great!

We had our Rotorua Scrapbook Crop and it was a day filled with friends, creativity, food, chatter and plenty of laughs.

I took a couple of things to work on and as usual got very little done… but I came home feeling really good about my day!

We made sure we got a group photo with Toby! He was so excited to see all his “Aunties” again… and he was REALLY excited to see Grandma!

Donna and Deborah asked if they could borrow a trolley to bring their stuff in… I thought they were joking! These two had their whole room with them!!! By comparison Mum was travelling REALLY light!

We really did have a great day! I got Day 9 finished in my December Daily… which is the ONLY thing I completed! But I did get quite a lot done on my big canvas I’m working on… there was paint and ink all over the place :)

Happy scrapping xxx

December 9th

2011-12-11T10:20:00.001+13:00

After a busy and eventful week it was really lovely to go and get my hair done.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day so I decided to get my hair washed, blow waved and straightened.

Jazz is lovely! She always does such a great job with my hair… she also does the most AMAZING head massages! I’m sure I’ve caught myself just in time to stop snoring a few times.

After my wash Jazz brought me a wonderful cup of hot chocolate… creamy, “chocolatey” and divine.

By the time Jazz had finished I was ready to face the world again!

Dear Santa, Can I please have more “pretty hair” days?

It always feels like such a treat to get my hair done. I’ve been going every six weeks for my trims… and until recently I hadn’t even thought of just going as a treat for myself… but now I love doing that! It’s an instant pick-me-up after a busy week!

Happy scrapping xx

December 8th

2011-12-09T20:36:00.001+13:00

Today we had the Year 6 Leavers Ceremony. The kids were well practised and ready for the event, the music was all in place and the microphones had been checked several times. The work paid off because it all ran smoothly.

Most of my Year 6’s are really ready for Intermediate and I know they will all be fine.

After having most of these kids in my class for two years it’s going to be bittersweet to see them actually leave next week.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t cry this year… in fact I promised the kids I’d make cupcakes if I DID cry!

I was fine until Tangiroimata started to cry during her speech… all of a sudden my eyes were LEAKING!!!

Now I have to make cupcakes!

I managed to get most of the kids together after the ceremony and get a photo… of course they all wanted a ‘silly’ one as well!

We’ve only got 3 1/2 more days of school this year and we’re definitely in ‘wind down’ mode. There work sample books and reports went home today and the kids took all their personal stuff home as well.

Next week we’ll be cleaning up… de-cluttering… sorting and packing stuff away for the summer holidays.

I’m looking forward to it!!

Happy scrapping xxx

December 7th

2011-12-08T17:03:00.001+13:00

Tonight was Tony’s special farewell with our school community. There had been loads of preparation for this event and everything ran really smoothly.

There were lots of “old” faces at the gathering and I was really happy to see Renee had travelled down for the event! It was so good to see her again! We laughed and talked just like old times!

Tony’s speech was fantastic and so funny that I had tears running down my face.

He’s going to be hard to replace! We’ve all known he was leaving next week but tonight it actually felt real.

Tony has been at our school for 24 years and for the past 21 years he’s been the Principal. It was Tony who gave me a chance to be a full-time teacher again after a serious illness 11 years ago. I wasn’t sure if I could handle full-time work but Tony took a chance on me and it paid off.

Selwyn won’t be the same without his leadership but I’m sure there will still be many exciting things ahead for both him and us.

I was really pleased with Tony’s reaction to his ‘This is Your Life’ album… it certainly made all the hard work worthwhile!

Happy scrapping xxx

December 6th

2011-12-07T20:05:00.001+13:00

Last night when Krystal arrived home from Auckland she said she had a gift for me. Not a Christmas gift… more of a thank you gift. She had me intrigued but it NEVER occurred to me that it would be a complete set of Nigella DVD’s!

I LOVE to cook… I just don’t like the “every day” cooking. Dinner parties, treats, gifts etc are all fine… it’s the HAVING to put “a meal on the table” type of cooking that I don’t like.

Nigella is one cook that I admire! Her food is amazing… she makes no apologies for her likes and dislikes… she’s just herself.

I love snuggling up on the sofa in winter… especially on a rainy day… and watching Nigella cook while eating yummy snack food. With 7 DVD’s I’m set for a LONG time.

Thank you Krystal xxx

Now just in case you are wondering… I don’t just WATCH the videos… I actually DO use some of Nigella’s recipes. Earlier this year I found a fantastic tagine on sale and I made one for dinner that night… spiced lamb with couscous… and thanks to Nigella’s tips it was pretty darn good!

Actually it was from watching one of Nigella’s DVD’s (I’d hired it) that I developed a love for making cupcakes. I’m sure that I’ll get lots of pleasure out of this very thoughtful gift!

Happy scrapping xxx

December 5th

2011-12-07T16:44:00.001+13:00

Last week Krystal saw a really good deal for a new laptop which she really wanted so while we were buying it I got myself a new ‘everyday’ camera!

I’ve had lots of moments that I’d have liked to capture but my BIG camera was at home. All I really wanted was a small camera so that I wouldn’t miss out on those moments.

This wee Fuji Film camera really is perfect! It’s small, takes a great photo and has everything I need.

With no ‘significant other’ it felt totally cool to shout myself an early Christmas present! PLUS I know that it’s going to be really handy.

I’m sure it’s going to get loads of use this summer… and especially while I’m doing my December Daily project!

Today in my classroom we were making Christmas Rocky Road and I wanted to take some photos. I grabbed my classroom camera and after taking the first one the batteries DIED!!! NO PROBLEM! I simply grabbed my new little camera out of my bag and now I’ve got the photos I wanted :)

Happy ‘snapping’ everyone

December 4th

2011-12-05T21:01:00.001+13:00

“Poor” Toby spent most of today sitting in my craft room waiting for me to take him out but I just HAD to get the album finished!

By 2.30pm we’d both had enough so we jumped in the car and headed out to the Redwoods. What BLISS!

Toby was in 7th heaven! He ran up and down the paths smelling EVERYTHING.

Then we got a snow cone and headed to Hannah’s Bay. He was one very happy boy.

We need to do this again SOON!

I often get asked what breed Toby is… and the answer is that he’s a real mixture. His mother is a Shar Pei -Labrador cross and his father is a Border Collie.

Toby (who’s full name is Toblerone – just like the chocolate) is a very gentle puppy who thinks he’s a ‘people’! He’s a real “mumma’s boy” and loves following me around everywhere… and the welcome I get each day when I get home from work is worth more than gold!

Happy scrapping xx

December 3rd

2011-12-04T07:54:00.001+13:00

Today was all about working on the “This is Your Life” album for Tony.

It’s taken ages to gather the photos, work out the format and get it going but today I made HUGE progress.

Nina came over and helped me to tape the back on all the photos. By the time she’d spent two HOURS sticking tape to photos she was over it!

Mr Toby wasn’t impressed to have me in the craft room all day but his snoring did keep me company!

Tomorrow he might NEED an ice cream!

Tony is the Principal of the school where I teach and he’s taking early retirement this year. We’re having a bit presentation evening for him on Wednesday so this album HAS to be finished this weekend!!

And for those of you who don’t know… Mr Toby is my very handsome puppy (he’s 5 months old now and growing so fast!! Last weekend he weighed 20.5 kilograms!!!)

Happy scrapping xxx

December 2nd

2011-12-03T16:14:00.001+13:00

On Wednesday I realised that my supply of contact lenses was REALLY low – in other words I had 4 left!

The only problem was that Wednesday came and went and I forgot to ring the suppliers! I finally remembered about 4pm on Thursday!

Thankfully they were awesome and they got my order on the courier straight away! I got home to find my order waiting for me.

While I don’t MIND wearing my glasses at home I NEVER leave the house wearing them. For me it’s not a vanity thing… it’s all about CONFIDENCE! I always feel an instant lift as soon as I put in my contacts.

I’m really pleased about keeping up with it… I know it’s only just started but I did wonder if I’d keep up to date… so far so good :)

Happy scrapping xx

December Daily Project

2011-12-03T09:54:00.001+13:00

After watching Ali Edwards’ December Daily project for the past few years and always thinking “I’d like to do that!” I decided that this year I would actually join in. I’ve made all the pages for the project but still have the covers to do… I know what I want to do I just need to make some time to do it!!

For this project I decided to use the Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas collection… and I totally LOVE it!

Here’s my introduction page:

The journaling reads:

November 2011

For the past few years I’ve been watching Ali Edwards’ December Daily project online and looking at what everyone else has done… and every year I promise myself that ‘next’ year I’ll join in.

I’ve decided that this year I WILL do the December Daily… I WILL make time for journaling the day’s events… I WILL take my camera with me… and I WILL take more notice of what goes on each day.

But mostly, I WILL take the time to spend with the people – including those with ‘four legs’ – who really matter to me… and I WILL spend time doing things that I enjoy.

Shell Honig

December 1st

December began with the usual chorus of “a pinch and a punch for the first of the month” at school… followed closely by “Whaea Shelley that punch was a thump!”

This week it’s “Technology Week” at school and my whole class is making paper bag albums. It’s CRAZY in the classroom with everyone wanting my attention but thanks to Norm and Sue we’re making good progress!

Tonight we had our annual Night Class dinner and this time we decided on Thai food. Pork and prawn toasts, shrimp green curry and then deep fried bananas. YUM!

For those not in New Zealand “Whaea” is a bit like “Auntie” so instead of the kids calling me Ms Honig they call me Whaea Shelley.

Happy scrapping xx

Time for a catch up!

2011-10-11T09:22:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone

There has been so much happening over the past few weeks and although I’ve had great intentions of updating my blog, it just hasn’t happened until now LOL

First up I’ve been busy with the Rugby World Cup! I’ve never been much of a rugby follower but this term at school it was our theme and I got caught up in the excitement of it as well… and actually I’ve learnt quite a lot along the way.

On the Scrapbook Dreams forum we organised a tag swap for the Rugby World Cup and I was blown away by the response. 20 ladies chose a country and each created 20 tags about their country. Then they sent them in to me and we organised them all before sending them back out. Here’s what 420 tags (including covers) looked like on my lounge floor:

I did 20 cover tags:

And then I created 20 New Zealand tags:

The finished tag book looks pretty impressive! Mum took part in the swap as well and she created the Ireland tags… if you knew my mum you’d know that she’s more Irish than the Irish LOL

Here’s Mum’s tag:

And here’s a photo she sent me of all her tags arranged very artistically!

At school we were lucky enough to have three of the Irish team come for a visit so we made a huge effort and had a classroom window competition. Here’s the entry for my class:

We used a shamrock template and the kids coloured in HEAPS of them… green ones for the ‘grass’ and colourful ones for our rainbow. We also had a pot of gold at each end of the rainbow along with dancing leprechauns!!

It was a bit hard to photograph with the sunlight but you kind of get the idea. In the centre area we had a string of flags and big letters spelling out Ireland that the kids did:

On the day that the Irish players visited we had a massive fashion parade which was fantastic… so much GREEN everywhere! Here’s a couple photos of my kids all dressed up:

Just imagine over 500 people all dressed in GREEN!

In the middle block we had Gaelic games and I was helping out with the Gumboot tossing… lots of fun but I lost a lot of my voice shouting out “1... 2… 3… TOSS!”

At lunchtime there was a mini food festival with all sorts of Irish goodies and Mum came over for the afternoon as well. After lunch we all went to the hall where our kids performed some kapahaka and really blew the Irish players out of the water by singing the ‘Irish Call’… it was pretty impressive stuff!

The Irish players were presented with a carved paddle which they were pretty thrilled about:

Afterwards they went around shaking hands and handing out a few goodies like key rings. Mum and I were a bit slow off the mark but one of my boys managed to get a key ring for Mum and she was pretty thrilled about it:

So that was Irish Day! I’ve been watching quite a few of the games and actually enjoying them LOL

I think that’s enough for now but I’ve got a very special little boy to introduce to you in the next update so keep watching :)

A little bit of baking madness!

2011-08-01T07:18:00.001+12:00

In amongst all the other things happening this weekend I decided to try and make some decorated cookies. I’m NOT over the cupcakes yet… just wanted to try some different icing techniques!

It took a couple of goes to get the biscuits right… my oven seems to be going into hyper drive at the moment… I might need to get the thermostat looked at!

Anyway, I made some cookies using my new teapot cutter and finally got a few that I was happy with… and Tautu got quite a few that I was not so happy with… which meant he was pretty happy too LOL

Last night I made some glaze icing and had a go at decorating… and I’m pretty pleased with the results considering it was my first time doing this. Here’s a look at all of them together:

I started off with some black outlining which I let dry for about 30 minutes. Then I made up some hot pink icing and started ‘flooding’ the shapes. After a while I was tired of all the pink so I made up some teal icing and kept going.

Tautu decided to ‘help’ me with the sprinkles… and he has decided that maybe I need a new ‘interior decorator’!!

He may be right because I prefer the ones without the sprinkles! The glaze icing is really cool though and you can get some awesome effects with it.

By the time we iced these little babies we were completely over icing and everything sweet! We decided to have curried kumara soup for dinner so I set Tautu to task peeling the kumara for me… and managed to catch him at work without him realising it!

Unfortunately his ‘helpfulness’ didn’t extend to the dishes last night… but the cookies still look awesome this morning!

Now it’s time to get myself organised and get to work for the start of the new term.

Have a great week everyone

Finally some layouts!

2011-07-22T09:26:00.001+12:00

I’m totally loving the school holidays! So far I’ve managed to have a ‘pyjama day’ where I brought my mattress out to the lounge and lay in front of the fire for an entire day reading my book… utter BLISS!

On Monday I met Esther in Tirau and we headed into Hamilton for a look at the scrapbook stores, art supply places and we also took Krystal out for lunch. We found a great little pub for lunch and all ended up ordering steak sandwiches… it was a really lovely day so we sat outside while we ate, laughed and generally caught up on all the happenings in our lives.

After lunch we headed off for some more shopping before taking Krystal home… she is so proud of her little unit and it looked great! Plus she’s had her grades in for the first semester and she’s doing REALLY well… so proud of her!

On Tuesday it was time to get scrapping… and we actually achieved quite a lot in between the talking! Mikayla came for a visit as well and she’d just been to the big food event up in Auckland. She’s loving doing her chef’s training and even considering opening her own restaurant one day. So proud of her following her dreams!

So now it’s time to show you a couple of the layouts I’ve been doing.

First up is a layout I did a couple of weeks ago for the Scrapbook Dreams July challenge. The theme is Gratitude and I did a layout about ‘Paying it Forward’:

The second challenge over at Scrapbook Dreams is a sketch challenge… I quite like working with sketches and here’s what I came up with:

This was a photo taken at Miss Samantha’s birthday party. Last year Sammy was born on my 40th birthday so I’ve nicknamed us the ‘Birthday Buddies’… I’m not sure that she’ll like that when she grows up but for now she’s too little to complain!! LOL

So that’s it for now… got more projects coming soon!

Happy Scrapping, Shell xxx

Birthday Girls

2011-07-04T07:38:00.001+12:00

Last Monday Miss Sammy and I had our birthdays… Sammy’s 1st and my 21st (again!!!) LOL

Yesterday we had Sammy’s birthday party and there was a real feel of celebration in the air. Mum asked me if she could get a few photos of the birthday girls together (and when I say a ‘few’ she means about 20!)

Here’s my favourite photo taken yesterday… it was a ‘good hair’ day!

And I love how Sammy appears to be talking to me in this one:

In the past few weeks I’ve discovered the joy of baking again and I’ve been making quite a few cupcakes. My nieces in particular love them so I thought I’d try something different for Sammy’s birthday and here are the results:

The best part was when my niece Kody said to me: ‘Auntie, you are the best cupcake maker EVER! Talk about making me feel special :)

Just before I left she asked me if next time I could make her some ‘ballerina’ cupcakes and could I make Jessy some ‘monster’ ones… looks like I’m going to be making cupcakes for a while!

We have a new niece :)

2011-05-26T07:34:00.001+12:00

Tautu and I had a pretty exciting time on the weekend as we became 'Aunt and Uncle' to a new little bundle of loveliness!

Tautu's sister has 3 boys and on Friday night her new little baby girl arrived :) Her youngest is 9 so it's a bit of a shock going back to nappies and sleepless nights but Miss Sarah is making it all worth while!

Tautu and I went for a cuddle on Saturday morning... and then Uncle snuck back for some more cuddles during the weekend without Auntie!!!

Here's baby Sarah with Uncle Tautu… he’s completely smitten with her!

I had a huge amount of fun making a pink baby card:

And on Friday night I went to the Baby Factory and found these gorgeous pink goodies!!

Tautu has always been very protective of his little sister… and this photo says it all really:

As someone wise once said... Babies are such a nice way to start people!

More Layouts!

2011-05-01T19:07:00.001+12:00

As promised I have some more layouts to share :)

These next two were created using Adirondack Colour Wash sprays… I’m really loving them!

Miss Kody has fallen in love with the guitar… in fact we got her a mini guitar of her own for her birthday :)

This second layout is REALLY different for me… it’s grown on me though LOL

Sammy is growing up so quickly and she’s got some GREAT expressions but this time it was the look on Mikayla’s face that was so funny!

The last layout for today was created for the retreat. It features some gorgeous papers from Graphic 45 and I really love how it turned out:

Thanks for visiting my blog and looking at my layouts :)

Hope you have a great week… Shell xx

Time for a catch up!!

2011-04-26T13:17:00.001+12:00

Ok… well… it’s way past time to catch up!!

Since getting engaged time has seemed to by even quicker… plus we’ve had several birthdays over the past couple of months so there’s been lots happening.

Now that the first term is done I’ve finally managed to catch up on some things and I’ve got lots to share :)

During Term 1 the senior school did a big focus on ‘Courage, Sacrifice and Comradeship’ which the kids really got into. As part of the topic we did a trip to Waiouru Army Museum and one of the activities was to ride in one of the M548 vehicles…. it was bumpy, dusty, bone shaking and FUN!! I took my camera with me to capture all our activities and then did this layout:

Tautu and I have a favourite little spot in Rotorua… Okere Falls. It’s absolutely stunning and special… in fact we’ve decided that we’d quite like to have our wedding ceremony there. I took my camera with me (of course) and got lots of shots and here’s the resulting layout:

Stepping back in time a bit now… I’ve done several layouts for retreats and classes that I haven’t shared yet so I’ll show you the first few now :)

This layout involves a bit of maths to work out the background but it’s SOOOO worth it! Each piece of white cardstock has been put through a different embossing folder to create lots of interest and it really is stunning in real life:

Next up is a layout featuring a photo of my youngest sister with two of her gorgeous girls (the third daughter is the baby in the bucket LOL)… I had lots of fun creating this one:

And the last layout for today features Miss Mikayla at the beach. Even though she’s 16 there are moments when she transports me back to when she was just a small girl… and this is one of those times!!

I’ve still got loads more layouts to share so stay tuned :)

Happy scrapping everyone xxx

It’s official!

2011-02-17T18:38:00.001+13:00

For some of you this will be ‘old news’ now since it’s been on Facebook and the Forum but I thought I’d put it on my blog as well!

On February 1st Tautu and I got engaged! Yes I kept it pretty quiet that I was seeing someone… but now it’s all official!

Here’s a photo of the ring… which I think is pretty spectacular :)

The weekend after we got engaged we went over to visit Mum and we had a bit of a photo shoot… and got some really lovely photos :) We both like this one:

And this one is lovely too:

And of course there is always a few ‘bloopers’ but this one is still a fav with me!

Tautu is colour blind and he was pretending that he couldn’t see the purple flowers on the tree… until I remembered that it was red on green that he couldn’t see!

So that’s our news… we’re planning on getting married January 2012 so we’ve got heaps of time to get it all done (although, ask me later in the year, and I’ll probably say we’re running out of time lol)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-14T13:58:00.001+13:00

I know it’s a bit late considering we’re almost half way through January but… Happy New Year!

Mikayla and I spent New Years with my Dad up in Whangarei and we had a really great time catching up with friends and family. It also gave us to attend the Waipu Highland Games which we haven’t done for 10 years.

Once we got back home I got busy with the Scrapbook Dreams January Kit…. and it really inspired some creativity! Out of just one kit I created a double layout and four single layouts :)

First of all I started with a double layout all about New Years Day at the Waipu Games. I’d taken lots of photos and didn’t want to miss any of the highlights of the main ceremony so a double layout was the only way to capture it all!

The Basic Grey ‘Tartan Plaid’ was perfect for this layout… and using it across a double layout meant that I could use LOTS of photos!

The second layout features Mikayla and my Dad. While we were at the games lots of people came up to Dad and wished him a Happy New Year… and of course quite a few of them remembered me from when I was a little girl. At one point my Dad was talking to one of his friends and said “and this is my little granddaughter Mikayla'”… at which point Mikayla stood up (she’s now 5’ 6”) and said “and this is my little grandad”… I was sure she was going to get in trouble for that one but Dad just laughed! So here’s my layout dedicated to them:

Since a lot of the paper in this kit comes from the Basic Grey ‘Jovial’ collection I thought I’d better actually do something to do with Christmas. We celebrated Christmas early this year since both my sisters were going to be with their in-laws and Mum got the obligatory family photo! I love all the little squares of colour on this one :)

Layout #3 is doing double duty this month! As well as being made from papers in the kit, it’s also my take on the Scrapbook Dreams January Challenge.

On Boxing Day I got busy pulling out our ‘vege’ garden… it was completely over grown and looking terrible! Once it was all back to being bare I put down polythene matting and covered it in bark (a LOT of bark actually!) and then I planted up some pots and sat them on top. It’s practically maintenance free and I’m loving it!

For my final layout I had some gorgeous photos of my little niece Sammy… she’s already 6 months old! She went camping with her family and when bath time came she got put into a bucket :) There were some really fantastic facial expressions in the photos!

So that’s my efforts with the January kit… I love how different each layout has turned out… and I love the creative start to 2011!

I hope you are all having an equally good start to the New Year. Shell xx

It’s all about…. Alice :)

2010-12-04T07:30:00.001+13:00

Alice in Wonderland that is! WARNING… this is a long post with LOTS of photos!!

A few months ago Lynne and I came up with the idea to create each other a mini to swap. There were just a couple of guidelines we decided on:

6 pages of chipboard bases 5x5 size
Zutter binding
Something with little quotes – in other words a finished mini that we didn’t have to add photos to

After having several ideas that I discarded a ‘light bulb’ went off when I saw how much Lynne loved this 8x8 paper pad:

I’ve never really worked with Graphic 45 paper before… but after doing these projects I can honestly say I LOVE IT!!! It’s seriously good value and the paper is so ‘cuttable’ :)

I had so much fun making the mini for Lynne… but it was also REALLY hard to give it away! So… before I show you the mini I made for Lynne I wanted to show you the Alice in Wonderland canvas I made for myself using the left over bits and pieces.

Here’s the full canvas (click on the pics to see them in more detail) :

I actually used several of the ideas I’d put into Lynne’s mini – mostly so that I could remember what I’d done LOL

This canvas has LOTS of little details and different layers so here’s another shot to give you an idea:

The little scroll is made from some of the paper in the pad… and I loved the little bottle which I found and have had in my stash for ages!!

And now… onto Lynne’s mini!! Here’s the front cover:

I used LOTS of Dimensional Magic on this mini along with rhinestones to give it all a bit of sparkle and shine!

Pages 1 & 2:

And YES I do know that the clock is upside down… that’s one of the neat things about working on an ‘Alice’ album… anything goes!!

Pages 3 &4:

There’s a little story to this one… I am ALWAYS late when I go to Lynne’s and she always texts to ask where I am. As soon as I arrived she normally says something along the lines of “I wondered if you’d ever arrive” so the quote from the Alice paper worked in perfectly!

Pages 5 & 6:

The clock surround on page 5 is actually a chipboard embellishment I’ve had for AGES! So pleased it was right for this project.

Pages 7 & 8:

I had a HUGE amount of fun doing the hand on page 8!!

Pages 9 & 10:LOTS of cutting on this page!!

Back cover:

Of course the key hole should be on the back!! LOL

When I’d finished doing all the pages the book was really FAT!! I actually wondered if I’d be able to bind it…

Luckily it did fit in the binder!! Then I just added some silver ribbons which I raided from Mum’s stash (thanks Mum!)

I had so much fun making this mini for Lynne and I know that she loved it… in fact she actually made a You Tube video of it (was very excited to see my project!!)

Here’s Lynne’s video

And before I go I just wanted to share a few of my favourite embellishments:

The hand reaching out to grab the pebble:

The scroll:

The Mad Hatter square embedded with watch parts:

The fancy clock:

and the Tim Holtz type charm:

Thanks for coming to visit today… would love to hear what you thought of this project so please leave me a comment!

Mikayla’s had some brilliant news!!

2010-11-23T06:09:00.001+13:00

There was quite a bit of excitement in our house last week!

On Wednesday a package arrived for Mikayla and when she opened it she found a wonderful letter from the NZ Pork board regarding the competition she entered earlier this year. They sent her a NZ Pork board book which is really glossy and includes all the different pork cuts and what you can do with them followed by lots of recipes.

They also sent her some gorgeous ceramic salt and pepper shakers shaped as little pigs… very cute! But the most exciting part... they have asked if they can publish her recipe that she designed for the competition on their official website!!! How exciting is that??

The week got even better though because when we got home on Thursday there was a letter from Waiariki Polytech... and she has been ACCEPTED to do a two year diploma in Culinary Arts!!!

Although she TRIED to do the very cool, calm and collected thing when she opened her letter it didn't work because within seconds she was squealing with delight and jumping up and down saying I GOT IN!!!

It was really neat to see her so excited about it… and knowing that it’s what she really wants to do makes it even more so!

The only strange thing for me is that I’m going from having two kids at school to having none… it all came around a bit quicker than I was planning! 2011 is shaping up to be a year of BIG changes!!

More layouts

2010-11-21T20:16:00.001+13:00

You know what it’s like when you get challenged to do something and you just have to… well that’s been the case with these layouts!

First up there was a ‘photo swap’ layout challenge. Esther, Rangi and myself all swapped photos and then the challenge was to make a layout for each other.

Rangi made a gorgeous double layout for Esther featuring some photos of her son Liam:

Esther received one of my photos (taken on Alphabet Day earlier this year) and she’s created this fab layout for me! Love the grungy look of this one :)

Rangi sent me a photo of Luke when he was just a wee boy and here’s the layout I came up with:

We all agreed that it was a bit of a challenge scrapping for someone else… the results speak for themselves!

And while we’re talking about layouts… it was the Friday
Fun Night at Scrapbook Dreams and we had a fantastic challenge… select a favourite designer/scrapper and then create a layout in their style.

I chose Renee Dowling as it’s a style I admire but haven’t tried before.

When I looked at Renee Dowling’s blog I spotted this layout:

And this is the layout I created by scraplifting her style:

I’m really pleased with the layout… especially since the photos have been waiting for 3 YEARS to make it onto a layout!!

Rangi also set us a TWIST challenge… to create a flower without using scrapbooking paper… heck! But with a little creativity I came up with this:

It’s a flower made from skeleton leaves mixed with a denim die cut flower and the centre is a Prima pebble.

Thanks again for another awesome challenge Rangi… my album is getting much fatter now :)

Senior Prize Giving 2010

2010-11-11T06:44:00.001+13:00

Yesterday marked the end of an era… it was Krystal’s last high school prize giving. As she said… “My next ‘prize giving’ will be when I graduate from university”!

There were a LOT of speeches and it seemed to go on forever… in fact the prize giving started at 1pm but they didn’t actually get to the awards part until 3pm! It was worth it in the end though… Miss Krystal walked away with two awards and she’s absolutely thrilled.

She got 1st place in Year 13 Accounting:

and Excellence in Year 13 Visual Arts Design:

This year they also gave all the Year 13 award winners a Whitcoulls voucher which Krystal was thrilled with:

After school we had to take her Visual Art folio board down to the courier along with her workbook as she’s hoping to get a scholarship toward uni – she won’t find out till January if she gets it but as they say “You’ve got to be in it to win it!”

Krystal has certainly put a lot of effort into her studies this year so it was great to see her so happy with the awards. She has her first exam this Saturday, YES she has two exams on Saturdays this year! The final exam is in late November so although the prize giving is over and she doesn’t actually HAVE to go to school (apart from exams) she’ll still be spending the next couple of weeks in uniform.

Congrats Krystal… I’m really proud of you!

Awesome…. I got another layout done!

2010-11-07T18:43:00.001+13:00

On Friday Rangi hosted the ‘Friday Night Fun’ at Scrapbook Dreams… and it was a fantastic challenge :)

Step 1 (8pm): Choose a paper range and scrap with it.
The challenge being the majority of the layout must be in the range including embellishments (you may have to be creative if you don't have any pre-made ones in your range).

I decided to work with the ‘Happy Together’ range from Fancy Pants.

Step 2: Once you have your range an photo/s sorted, lay them out and take a photo:

Step 3: Create your layout and take a photo of it all completed and post it up in the gallery (by midnight).

Note:You may add additional bits and bobs to your layouts like buttons,rub-ons etc... but keep in mind the challenge is to use a majority of the range you have chosen. Be creative!

Then it was time to go and get creating! We all know that chocolate helps the creativity… but on Friday night I think it was the strawberries that did it for me!! LOL

Mikayla made us a bit of a treat… extremely yummy!

And while we were all creating Rangi gave us a twist!! With the range you are using- Create a gift tag!
It must include: To & From

Hmm… that one had me thinking! I actually did get both my layout and gift tag done and photographed by midnight… but as we all know it’s really hard to photograph layouts etc and get the colours right with artificial light so I’ve re-photographed them over the weekend.

Here’s my layout:

I used some photos taken of my sister (Katey) and Miss Krystal a few years ago. Krystal was born the day before Katey’s 17th birthday and they’ve always been really close.

I used the patterned paper to make my title along with a bit of a Prima flower branch:

I made the heart by covering some chipboard with patterned paper and then die cutting it:

A couple of pearls and some more flowers and it was all done!

The tag came together really easily… must try making tags etc again after completing a layout:

I used some of the patterned paper and Prima flowers and then I covered some more chipboard with patterned paper and die cut the wings. A few alpha stickers on the wings gave me the ‘To’ and ‘From’ and then I just added some cool fibres.

I enjoyed working with this paper range so much I made a card as well…. always good when the creativity flows!

And here’s all my projects together… not bad for a couple of hours in the craft room:

Thanks Rangi for a brilliant night!!

If you like the idea of the ‘Friday Night Fun’ why not join us at 8pm on Friday 19th November for the next one!!

I’ve done another layout!

2010-11-02T21:54:00.001+13:00

Don’t you just love it when the mojo flows???

This months challenge at Scrapbook Dreams is to use die cuts in a creative way… so I got out my new Tim Holtz leaves die and got busy. I started off die cutting the leaves out of plan manila card and then I used LOTS of ink… some stamping… a bit of embossing and then some dimensional magic on them. This is how I used them on my layout:

The photos on the layout are actually from a trip the girls and I did to Kerikeri back in 2006… and although the leaves look like autumn ones the photos were actually taken in early summer LOL

Have to say I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out!

If you’d like to take part in the challenge then click HERE for all the details… and be in with a chance to win some Tim Holtz die cuts!!

Thanks for looking and feel free to leave me a comment

Shell xx

It’s been eventful here!

2010-10-31T19:54:00.001+13:00

On Wednesday it was the Rotorua ‘Pink Walk’ so Mikayla and I decided that we’d join in. We’d already registered so then it was just a case of coming out with outfits to wear… and for those of you who have done the walk before you’ll know that some of the outfits are pretty outrageous!!

Here’s what Mikayla and I came up with:

Mikayla found the ‘perfect’ wig and she adorned it with a Canteen bandana (another cause we both support)… she also added these ‘cool’ pink tights! As for me… I borrowed Mum’s ‘lucky’ petticoat, a hot pink shirt, feather boa, pink fluffy hair ties and this very cool jesters hat!

We met up with Nina from the Scrapbook Dreams night classes:

And quite a few of the teachers from school:

There was some Zumba to get us all warmed up:

Then we were off:

Over 1800 people took part in the walk and it was loads of fun! Just as we were getting to the end of the walk one of the organisers came up to us and handed us these:

Two tickets to the Four Nations test – Kiwis vs Papua New Guinea! We’ve never been to a league game before (or even watched one of TV) so it was pretty exciting!

Last night Mikayla and I headed off to the league… and we had a GREAT introduction to the game! It was fast… exciting… and just a brilliant night! We sang the National Anthem with the crowds... cheered for both teams... had fantastic burgers... and took 138 photos!

So after LOTS of these:

And quite a few of these:

We ended up with this:

It took us ages to warm up last night but it was SO worth it!! This morning I got quite a few photos printed off and created a double layout… haven’t done one of those in a LONG time!

Here’s the left side:

And here’s the right:

And here’s what it looks like all together:

Once I worked out HOW to put it all together it was lots of fun… and YES I’m pretty thrilled with it!

Hope you have all had a good weekend too! Shell xx

Giving back has it’s own rewards :)

2010-10-28T07:00:00.001+13:00

Mikayla is really big on 'giving back' at the moment. A few days before her 16th birthday last week she said that she wanted to 'give back' and she'd decided she wanted to be a blood donor. She rang up and found out when she could donate - we have a temporary set up here in Rotorua.

Last Thursday I took her down after school and she filled in all the forms and read all the pamphlets and decided that she really wanted to do it!

They had a bit of trouble getting the veins working right... apparently she hadn't drunk enough water during the day. She was amazingly calm as the poked and prodded at her and when they got it all working right she had a HUGE grin on her face... sorry I forgot the camera!!

Unfortunately she bruised really badly over the next couple of days (which isn't normal):

After she was done we went to the Rotorua night market and bought her these:

She's all recovered now and the bruises are quickly disappearing... and she's all set to donate again in late January... except this time she's going to go with Grandma and they'll be donating together!! Well done Mikayla... I'm really proud of you!

Finally a layout!!

2010-10-19T17:09:00.001+13:00

Well I’ve finally managed to get a layout done!! This one is for the ‘faceless’ challenge at Scrapbook Dreams this month. You can find all the details for the challenge HERE!

I used a great photo of my niece taken after jumping on the trampoline:

Such a cool photo and so much fun to scrap it finally!

In other news… Miss Mikayla is celebrating her 16th birthday today :) She’s had a great day at school… got some nice cards and presents… and then tonight we’re having KFC for dinner.

I hope you’re all having a great week!

Tags and Layouts :)

2010-10-05T12:03:00.001+13:00

Hi there :)

On the weekend I spent some time with one of my scrapping friends Lynne and we did a tag class. It was so neat to learn lots of new techniques… and refresh on some old ones.

We made 4 tags during the afternoon involving inking, using metals, hammers, Tim Holtz embellishments, texture plates, embossing etc… talk about FUN!

So far I’ve finished off two of the tags so I thought I’d share them:The ‘Time’ tag was created using a Tim Holtz embossing folder and LOTS of inking so I loved it! The clock, time words and hour glass were all made from metal which we ran through a Ten Studios embossing plate and then banged with a texture hammer to distress. Next I added some metal chain, brads and mini flower along with a heart charm and larger flower that I distressed with paint.

Here’s a closer look at the Time tag: I finished off the second tag this morning. I got quite a bit done in class… inking and stamping with paint (quite like the effect of that!) and then I did the grungeboard bird… but it ‘needed something’. So this morning I inked and embossed some flowers, layered them up and added a hitch fastener along with jump rings to add the wee bird… really happy with it now!Following on from emails received about the Bugs & Butterflies retreat I thought I’d better share the layouts I did for the classes.

In the first class we created two layouts from My Minds Eye paper… really liked this one because it was so lovely to work with. In the first layout we added photos to a film strip that I cut on the cricut. The paper is double sided so it was easy to make sure it all coordinated. We also worked with some mesh ribbon (great for inking!), Prima flowers, Tim Holtz journaling tags and sealing wax. I did a layout about one of my nieces and love that the paper worked so well with colour photos :)

The second layout had a different feel to it… but still using the same paper: This time we did some cutting, distressing and layering plus we created brads with the i-top brad maker so they match perfectly with the paper. My niece loves flowers and these photos were perfect for the layout :)

In the other layout class we went for a very different look using some new Bo Bunny paper (Learning Curve Collection): We cut a large circle and then layered various pp strips to create a bit of depth to the layout. We also used Tim Holtz ruler ribbon, mini paper clips, buttons and brads. I did my layout using a photo of me when I started school and one taken earlier this year… yes I’m still at Primary School (must be a SLOW learner LOL)

Hope you enjoyed looking at all the creativity :)

Have a great week… Shell xx

Another Magnolia Card

2010-10-03T11:55:00.001+13:00

On Thursday Mikayla and I went to the Pig & Whistle for a friends engagement party. It was pretty informal and no gifts etc but I wanted to make her a nice card so I grabbed out my Magnolia Bride stamp and inked it up for the first time!

I have to say that it’s a really gorgeous stamp to work with… and here’s my card":

I decided to go with a semi vintage look… lots of flowers, pretty lace and a bit of distressing. The background paper is from My Minds Eye and it worked really well.

I coloured the image using Distress Inks and added lots of kindy glitz to the brides dress which really sparkled.

The best part is that I actually did give the card away!!

Meanwhile I’ve been stamping and colouring lots of other images so I’ll share them once they’ve actually been made into cards :)

Hope you’re all having a great weekend… we’re off to enjoy the sunshine :)

Magnolia Down Under challenge

2010-09-30T14:27:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone :)

I’m totally loving having a few days break at the moment and luckily enough the creativity levels are pretty good!

As I was looking through the blogs I like I came across the Magnolia Down Under challenge #65 and it really inspired me. The theme is flowers and lace so I got out my Magnolia stamps and had a very happy time stamping, colouring and using sparkles so I had a few to choose from… and this is what I made:

I know it’s quite early to be making Christmas cards… but I absolutely loved this image called ‘Santa’s Little Helper’ which I masked and stamped with the ‘Fireplace with Stockings’ stamp.

On the inside I used some more patterned paper along with another of the Prima Poinsettia flowers:

I wasn’t sure who the card was going to be for… either Mum or Dad… but since Mum reads my blog I’d better give it to Dad and make Mum another ‘secret’ one LOL

Now all I have to remember to do is actually give the card away which so far has been very difficult to do :)

Thanks for the challenge ladies… I really enjoyed this one!

Still clean :)

2010-09-06T07:29:00.001+12:00

Two weeks ago Mikayla and I spent 7 HOURS cleaning, scrubbing, de-cluttering and tidying… and the house looked awesome!

Usually after two weeks we’d be right back to square one again… but not this time! We decided that after all the effort we’d put in we had to do something different so we introduced a FINE system!

Basically how it works is that if ANYONE leaves ANYTHING in the ‘communal living areas’ (kitchen, lounge, bathroom etc) overnight then they have to pay a $3 fine. We thought it would work… we hoped it would work… and after two weeks we can report that IT WORKS!!!

The lounge still looks like this:

It’s been so nice to come home to a clean and tidy house every day! And as for the ‘fine’ system… so far there’s $6 in the jar and both lots are from Krystal LOL

p.s. Krystal thinks it’s all a bit ‘over the top’ but it’s definitely made a HUGE difference :)

First sneak peeks!

2010-08-31T19:37:00.001+12:00

Hi everyone :)

The weeks are zooming by and it’s only 25 days until the Bugs & Butterflies Scrap Retreat!

Today I’ve got the first sneak peeks of one of the layout classes. I had such a blast creating them and I’m dying to show you the full layouts but I’ll just have to wait until after the retreat!

The layouts were created with My Mind’s Eye paper from the Lost & Found collection and there will also be Prima flowers, Tim Holtz journaling tags, mesh ribbon and sealing wax!

It’s going to be a GREAT class!

We’ve been cleaning!!

2010-08-28T09:25:00.001+12:00

I bet lots of you were surprised by this title…. you must know me too well! I’ve always had a fairly loose relationship with housework… I go through DAYS of being tidy but it is usually followed by WEEKS/MONTHS of being untidy… but I think I’ve finally cracked it now :)

Last weekend Mikayla and I got stuck in and started to clean… not just tidy up but REALLY clean! We vacuumed, dusted, polished, wiped, scrubbed and de-cluttered for 7 hours! By the end of the day we felt ‘cleaned out’ but it was SO worth it!

Here’s the toilet… and yes I know it’s just like any other toilet LOL But this has been scrubbed from top to bottom (including the door) and the wall paper that Miss Leila picked has been re-glued: Then we moved onto the hall and then the lounge… how cool is this:We emptied the fire place of most of the ashes, dusted, vacuumed, did the window sills and skirting boards! Both of the sofas had their cushions removed and vacuumed, the table was polished to within an inch of its life and the bookshelf and corner table both got dusted! Next we got into the TV cabinet and sorted it out and then we moved the stereo off the kitchen bench and put it in a more useable place :)

We also cleaned up the dining room which is now my office…. it’s too cold to be in the craft room… especially when there’s a roaring fire in the lounge! There’s still things to sort out there but the majority of it is done… and working well :)

The next job was the KITCHEN! We have finally done away with the ‘stuff’ that was cluttering up the benches!!! If you’ve ever been to my house you’ll remember that we used to have very little bench space because most of it was covered with piles of things… junk basically…. but no more!

This bench looks so much better with no stereo on it! And no stereo means no clutter surrounding the stereo LOL I just love this photo with my new ‘best friend’ Jif! I’d forgotten just how amazing this stuff is… it certainly took a lot of the effort out of the cleaning!

And finally the fridge door: Even the magnets have been cleaned and scrubbed!

We’ve been living in our newly cleaned house for a week now… and I’m very happy to report that those photos could have easily been taken today because it’s still SPOTLESS!!

So now I’m off to do some ‘fun things’ since the housework has all been done :) Hope you all have a fab weekend xx

Alphabet Day at School :)

2010-08-09T22:08:00.002+12:00

On Friday it was alphabet day at school and every class was assigned a letter. Room 3 got the letter ‘D’ and so we came up with some ideas of things we could dress up as… and we’re currently learning about Dinosaurs so it was a great letter for us!

Here’s a photo of some of the kids in my class who dressed up for the day: We had a couple of girls who dressed up as Daniel Carter, a Digger Driver, a DJ, a Devil, a few Dancers and some Drag Queens LOL

And if you’re wondering about my outfit… I was a Dancing Dictionary:

Let me just say that Kleensaks really don’t do anything for the figure!!

Here are some of my ‘Drag Queens’… they each got themselves several stars on their charts for having the guts to go through with it! After morning tea my team (4 classes) all got together and had a mini fashion parade: And while I was looking at the photos on the school server I came across a photo of myself that I didn’t know had been taken… It’s not often that I like a photo of me but this one doesn’t bother me too much… which is just as well because my class have been making photo mosaics and this photo has been used a lot!

On a side note… we were talking about winning Lotto in our class today and the kids asked me if I would still be there teacher if I won Lotto… I replied that I would probably not be…. and one of my ‘darlings’ said…. Well in that case it’s a good job that you didn’t win!!! You gotta love kids sometimes!

Hope you all have a great week :)

What a busy weekend!

2010-08-02T19:46:00.001+12:00

Well this weekend turned out to be even busier than I had expected! Friday night and most of Saturday was taken up with Miss Krystal getting ready for the school ball… and it was totally worth it because she looked absolutely amazing!!!

When she went down to the hairdressers in the afternoon she was met with a wee present from me… her corsage and the buttonhole for Chris:I was really impressed because the red was absolutely perfect!

Here’s Krystal’s hair… although they don’t really show up she actually had lots of pearls pinned in as well as some really fine black glitter was which very sparkly :)Chris turned up looking very grown up with the tie to match Krystal’s dress: Chris and his Mum found time for a quick laugh while they were waiting for Krystal: And here’s Miss Krystal:She made her own dress and jewellery as well as the wrap so she did a fantastic job!

Chris looked pretty proud of her too: There was a pre-ball event including ‘mocktails’ and all the parents were invited… it was also a great opportunity to see what the other girls were wearing: Krystal and Chris had a brilliant night and were very tired but happy on Sunday!

I spent Sunday over at Waihi Beach teaching a scrapbooking class for the Young Artists group. I was expecting around 8 children…. but 17 turned up!

We made easel cards and the kids had a wonderful time stamping, punching, tearing, inking, gluing and designing!

Here’s most of their cards:

The kids were all thrilled with their creativity and of course as the tutor that’s what we all like to hear!

I hope you all have a great week… Shell xx

Another Magnolia card :)

2010-07-21T17:49:00.001+12:00

I had a really fun day on Saturday… spent some time in my craft room pottering around with various bits and pieces and then spent the evening with some scrapping friends!

I also managed to make another Pirate Tilda card… quite different from my last one which you can view HERE.

This time I wanted to do something not so pink LOL… here’s the front of my card:This time I stamped the Pirate Tilda and then masked her and used part of the Castle Window stamp so that it looks more like a brick wall. I coloured the stamped image with Distress Inks… the red of her shirt and hat is actually Aged Mahogany and I loved how it turned out!

The ‘starry’ paper and ruler ribbon were part of the July Scraptastic paper kit which is still available at Scrapbook Dreams.

I kept the inside of the card fairly simple:And here is the card standing up: The flower is a Prima one from my stash and I inked the Adage Ticket using my new favourite Distress Ink… Tea Dye!

I’ve got a few more Magnolia cards in the partly done stage so hopefully I’ll get some time to finish them off over the next few days…

And if you like stamping you might just like to win this:The very generous Kellie has 30+ stamps up for grabs and all you have to do is visit her blog and follow 3 REALLY simple instructions!

That really would be a prize worth winning!!

Happy crafting… Shell xx

The July Scraptastic was GREAT!

2010-07-13T09:28:00.001+12:00

I’ve finally gathered some energy after the Scraptastic weekend. What a fun time… so much inspiration and so many new ideas!

Firstly a BIG thank you to everyone who supported this event and helped out in lots of different ways… we couldn’t have done it without you :)

We had some really good demonstrations including one from Lynne who showed us 4 different ways to make our own flowers… so simple but sooo effective! Later on in the day Mikayla got this photo… where was everyone?? At another demo… this one was done by Tracey and she was demonstrating the Tim Holtz sizzix dies and embossing folders… VERY cool! While everyone was busy doing that Mikayla managed to get a couple of photos of our scrapping stalls… here’s some of what Creative Bugs had in stock: And here’s some of Scrapbook Dreams: By this stage lots of people had started on the challenge pack and here’s the results:

There were so many wonderful layouts created with the challenge pack but here is the winning layout created by Lynne:

If you’d like to grab your own challenge pack we’ve got some available at Scrapbook Dreams :)

Some of the ladies spent the afternoon doing the Grungeboard Album class… and their albums were stunning!!! Sorry we were so busy that I forgot to get any photos. However Rangi made it over for the class with little Isaac and ‘Auntie Tracey’ was in baby heaven: At only 6 weeks he was extremely content to be carried and cuddled while Mum did some inking LOL

There were LOTS of prizes handed out during the day… here’s a peek at the prize table: Each one of those little envelopes on the ribbon represents another prize!

Along with the challenge pack competition and Scrapbookers bingo we also had the Bossy Scrapper challenge… it was the quietest time of the whole day while everyone was concentrating! Jane won the Bossy Scrapper but unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the winning layout so if you could email me one that would be GREAT!

By the end of the night there was only one prize left to go… and it was a good one (valued at over $200)… the Queen of the Crop! And the winner was Lynne from Tauranga: Congratulations Lynne! We really hope you enjoy all your scrapping goodies :)

July Scraptastic is almost here!

2010-07-08T09:46:00.001+12:00

This week is really zooming by… and the courier must almost have my address on auto-pilot now LOL

I’ve got a long list of things to finish before the Scraptastic on Saturday and more and more of it is getting marked off!

Last night we got all the challenge packs finished… and they are so COOL! Plus the little goodie bags are done! Prize envelopes done!

The courier was here four times yesterday with parcels of goodies… and there’s some cool stuff!!!

Auntie Daphne is arriving later today from Whangarei and she’s going to give me a hand on Friday… SO lucky!!!

If you haven’t got your ticket yet there’s still a few more available in the online shop:

And keep your eyes peeled after the weekend because we’ve got some VERY exciting news to announce!

I got a ‘baby’ for my birthday!

2010-07-05T14:23:00.001+12:00

When my sister (Katey) announced that she was expecting her third baby in July I was quite excited… and since she’d gone into labour early with both of her previous girls I thought that it was feasible that this one might go early too so I told her that I wanted a baby for my birthday!

All through her pregnancy I’ve been teasing her about having the baby on my birthday… and she kept saying that it was never going to happen.

Anyway… last Sunday I had my 40th birthday (which was fantastic!) and Katey rang me in the morning. When I asked her how she was she said that there were NO niggles of any kind and I wasn’t getting a baby for my birthday… and then I got a call from her in the evening!

She wanted to know ‘how’ I’d done it because at 5.22pm she had her baby!!! I now have a lovely new niece called Samantha :)

After I finished work on Monday the girls and I went over to the hospital to visit and I couldn’t resist getting this photo: Krystal certainly found something funny to share with Samantha: And Mikayla was amazed by how ‘soft’ she wasIt was a great visit… and then this weekend I actually found some time to make Samantha’s birth card.I used a new stamp set from CC Designs which I coloured using Distress Inks. The design is one I saw on the internet and adjusted for what I wanted.As you can see, it’s a little gatefold card. It’s really cute in size… the closed card measures 4 x 4 inches… and on the inside is another little monkey :) I’m really happy with how it turned out… and the kindy glitz on the flowers adds just a little bit of sparkle.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to have cuddles with Miss Samantha and her big sister very soon!! Welcome to the family Samantha! Love Auntie Shell xx

Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #31

2010-07-03T10:27:00.001+12:00

I’m really enjoying some of the challenges on different blogs lately and as soon as I saw the sketch for the Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #31 I knew exactly which image I wanted to use!

Here’s the sketch: And here’s the card I made featuring Pirate Edwin… he’s just so utterly adorable! I coloured Captain Edwin using Tim Holtz Distress Inks… I love that you can layer colours to create real depth on your image!

The stripe paper is from Imaginisce which I layered with black cardstock… and for the first time EVER I actually got out my sewing machine and stitched the paper together! I can’t believe that it’s taken me so long to do that because I absolutely love the effect! I also added some pirate ribbon that I got from Spotlight along with the glitzy cardstock… it’s super sparkly!! Then I finished it all off with some alpha stickers and black pearls from my stash along with some Tim Holtz embellishments.

As you can see from the photo above I did a little decorating on the inside too.I think it’s nice to have a little something special inside :)

So I’ve had a wonderfully creative start to my weekend!

Magnolia Down Under Challenge

2010-06-26T14:56:00.001+12:00

This morning I actually managed to complete a card for the Magnolia Down Under Challenge blog.

I’ve never entered before but I thought I might as well give it a go :) This is for challenge #51 and the theme is embossing! You were allowed to use either dry or heat embossing and since I haven’t done any dry embossing for a while I grabbed out my embossing folders and came up with this:

I’ve used the Pirate Tilda stamp which I stamped onto watercolour paper before colouring with Distress Inks. The anchor stamp is from Imaginisce which I also stamped and coloured using Distress Inks.

The paper is some Lily Kate by Basic Grey that I’ve had in my stash for ages!! The pirate ribbon is from Spotlight and the charcoal cardstock was embossing with the Divine Swirl pattern.

I’m really loving this Tilda stamp so I’m sure you’ll see more of her in the future!

As for me… I’m off to make lots of delicious goodies for my friends who are coming for a pyjama party tonight!

June challenge

2010-06-24T06:48:00.001+12:00

The theme for this months challenge at Scrapbook Dreams is ‘Stars in Your Eyes’ so you need to create a layout either using stars or eyes (or both if you like)!

I absolutely loved the new Pink Paislee ‘Starlight’ papers when then arrived so I teamed them up with some fun photos I took of one of my nephews recently and came up with this:

The journaling reads: Reece LOVES his sunglasses! He doesn’t even need the sun to be out! He puts them on… Takes them off… Wears them on his hair… And then just enjoys looking at them!

The photos were taken after spending the night at my sisters’ place. We were all hanging out in the kids play area just chatting and then Mr Reece decided to be the centre of attention… as you do when you’re 2!

These photos are extra special because usually Reece with go all shy when he sees a camera but on this morning he just carried on like it didn’t matter… what a great morning!

Card Patterns Challenge

2010-06-20T16:07:00.001+12:00

I’m feeling quite creative today… which is just as well considering how cold, windy, rainy and miserable it is outside!

I got my Star Sign ATC’s finished for the Scrapbook Dreams June swap first thing this morning and then I got an email about Card Patterns latest sketch.

For whatever reason this sketch really inspired me to get into my craft room! So out came the scrapping supplies… Magnolia stamps (Princess Tilda & Dragonflies), Distress Inks, Swiss Dot cardstock, some patterned paper from Kaiser along with flowers, punches etc and here’s what I came up with:

I’m really thrilled with how it turned out :) When I started I thought I’d just make a square card but then I decided to turn it into an easel card. Here’s the inside:

I have no idea who’s going to receive this card yet… but at least I’m ready for an unexpected birthday now :)

The gorgeous little Dragonflies really finished off the ‘Happy Birthday’ stamp perfectly:

And here’s the card standing open – which is the best feature of an easel card (in my opinion) :)

So thanks Card Patterns for inspiring me to do something creative with this cold winter day!

Thanks for looking… Shell xx

Scrapbook Dreams is having it’s 2nd Birthday!

2010-06-12T11:11:00.001+12:00

It’s hard to believe but my ‘baby’ is celebrating it’s 2nd birthday this weekend! We’ve got some fun challenges happening over the weekend and of course with this cold, wet and windy weather what could be better than scrapbooking??

Plus!! Tracey is coming over this weekend to help me finish off my craft room makeover… it’s so exciting seeing the room take shape. We started last weekend and didn’t get as much done as we thought we would so today is the day to finish it off… so exciting!!!

I’ll definitely take photos once we’re all done so you can see just how awesome it looks but in the meantime why not pop over to Scrapbook Dreams and join in on the birthday celebrations!

Have a great weekend

Shell xx

All in a day’s work

2010-06-05T18:01:00.001+12:00

Well I’m definitely tired tonight! It’s been a big day… lots done though :)

First thing this morning we got a phone call to say that our firewood was on its way… yeehaa!!! It’s just too darn cold in Rotorua to not have a fire going. We bought 3 metres of wood… a combination of Douglas, boxwood & Gum.

The delivery was EASY!! Just back up the truck, click a button and there it all was. Then we had to stack it all away… but with three of us working on it the job was actually done in 35 minutes :)

Then we got stuck into some housework!! The lounge looks really beautiful again :) Just as we finished the lounge the phone went again and it was the mechanic saying my new air filter for the car had arrived so we shot down and got that done.

After that we went to town and dropped Mikayla off at the hairdressers for a trim… she looks really cute with her new haircut :)

Miss Krystal and I ticked off all the jobs on my list (thank goodness for that list!!!) and then we went shopping for her birthday present. She really wanted a nice coat/jacket and some boots for winter… and that’s where the day just went WRONG!!!

Poor Krystal has a really hard time buying shoes because not only is she a size 11 she also has quite wide feet (her fathers’ fault!!) there were simply no boots to fit her today! And as for the jacket… ‘no I don’t like that one’, ‘that’s alright but I don’t like the colour’, ‘they don’t have this in my size’… etc etc after several tedious and frustrating hours we called it quits!!

So tonight we have a fire going with the new wood… I’m resting my very sore feet (size 9 in case you were wondering LOL) and Miss Krystal has gone to see her boyfriend for dinner.

The best part is… tomorrow my sister and her daughter (Miss L) are coming over and they’re staying the night!!! Miss L is SOOO excited about having a ‘girls only’ time at Auntie’s :) Auntie’s pretty excited too!!

Miss Krystal is 18!

2010-05-30T11:25:00.001+12:00

Well the years have flown by and now my first ‘baby’ is a fully fledged adult. It’s hard to believe really… we were watching a video of her as a two year old on Friday night (just for old times sake) and it really doesn’t seem like that long ago!

She has had quite a family time this weekend… Friday (her actual birthday) was fairly uneventful although she and Chris did manage to find time to go to a late afternoon movie :)

On Friday night Grandma and Poppa came over for dinner… curried kumara soup with English muffins… YUM!! We sat around a blazing fire eating and chatting and then for dessert we had a chocolate mud cake that Grandma brought over! Not such a great photo because my camera frosted up with the heat of the fire LOL That’s Chris smiling away… her boyfriend of 9 months. He’s doing a LOT of smiling at the moment because he got his braces off on Monday :)

Here’s the card I made for Krystal using one of my FABULOUS Magnolia Tilda stamps! I’m really enjoying making easel cards at the moment :)

Here’s what the front looks like:Krystal’s not really a ‘pastel’ girl but I did manage to keep the softness. The stamped image is coloured with Distress Inks… such a cool technique!

Here’s the inside of the card (I took the photo before I wrote the message… a girl’s got to keep some things private LOL The beauty of easel cards is that when you stand them up they don’t fall over and nobody can read the message: Happy birthday Krystal… and as the card says I wish you ‘happiness always’

Love Mum xxx

Another giveaway

2010-05-18T20:41:00.001+12:00

While I’ve been looking around Magnolia blogs… seeing what others have done with the stamps… it seems that there’s quite a few giveaways at the moment :)

This one comes from Mindy: I’m totally loving Mindy’s oval border around the Magnolia stamp!! It reminds me of a neat pleated circle Mum did on a layout last week.

If you want to have a go at winning too then just visit Mindy’s blog HERE and see what you have to do.

Happy Scrapping… Shell xx

Magnolia Stamps Giveaway!

2010-05-17T19:02:00.003+12:00

Just lately I've been looking at some gorgeous new stamps... and I actually bought myself some from America last week (they're going to be my birthday present to myself LOL). Anyway, along the Magnolia journey I've discovered some wonderful blogs and one of my favourites is Jodie from Oz!

I was already liking Magnolia Stamps a LOT but after seeing what Jodie has done with them I really fell in love with them! After getting home from work tonight I see that Jodie is doing a blog giveaway and here's what's up for grabs:

Magnolia Stamps

Wild Orchid Flowers

Spellbinders embossing folders

So how could I resist entering??? This would be such a cool prize to win :)

p.s. Jodie... thanks for a fantastic blog!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2010-05-16T13:24:00.002+12:00

THE BAD/UGLY: It’s been an unbelievable few weeks in our household! Almost 4 weeks ago we got burgled… in broad daylight!! I nipped home from work at lunchtime because I was expecting a courier parcel to find the said parcel tampered with on the front door step.

Then I unlocked the front door and found ICE CUBES all over the kitchen floor and both the fridge and freezer doors wide open… to be honest I muttered something about “blinken girls not closing the freezer properly” and proceeded to pick up all the ice cubes (which were only a little bit melted).

Then I opened up the courier parcel on the dining room table and checked to see what was missing. By this stage I’d already been inside for about 5 minutes and still hadn’t realised what had happened.

Then I came around the corner into the lounge and saw the backdoor swinging in the wind…. realisation hit FAST!!! I rushed into my craft room and sure enough my laptop was GONE!!

Next it was down to Krystal’s room and her laptop was GONE!! I rang my sister and told her and while I was doing that I realised that there was a LOT of stuff gone!!!

Anyone who has been through this will not be surprised that the next minute I was crying my eyes out…. it’s amazing how emotional you get about things like this. I remember crying because whoever had been inside my home had walked all over my VERY clean kitchen floor that I’d scrubbed on hands and knees the night before!

Over the next 24 hours we realised the extent of the burglary… apart from the laptops there was also all the other techno gadgets that a typical home with teenagers has… cameras, playstations, MP3 players etc and along with that clothing (only mine so does that mean I have ‘cooler’ clothes than the girls??), food (yes they took ALL our meat, bread, milk and chocolate yoghurts… they did leave us the fruit ones!) plus all my family jewellery… and all of this happened between 9.30 and midday!

Almost 4 weeks later we’re finally getting things sorted… which means we can finally get back to doing the things we enjoy like blogging :)

One thing I’ve learnt from this experience is that I’m VERY blessed to have so many good friends and my Scrapbook Dreams family! Thank you all so much for everything you’ve done… the calls, visits, texts, and emails have been amazing! And to all the girls on the forum a HUGE thank you for being there every step of the way! You’re all amazing in my opinion!!

And now for something GOOD :)

I’ve been busy this morning creating my first easel card… and they’re ridiculously easy to make! In fact I had so much fun with it that it’s going to be our Mid Month Motivation on the Scrapbook Dreams forum :)

The finished card measures 4 1/4 inches square and I really love it. Here’s the front:The bird is made from Grungepaper which I inked and stamped :) If you look in the lower right hand corner you will see a wax seal I added too.

This is the inside of the card:I used one of my new stamps (from Stampin Up) for the sentiment and I layered that on a piece I tore from an old book. Quite by accident the text from the book reads: I sat there feeling at peace with all the world while I waited and it was grand not having to talk for a bit.

Here’s what the card looks like when it’s sitting ‘open’: I really love how it all turned out! You might be wondering about the ‘easel’ part of the card… maybe this will explain: After making just one of these I’ve totally gotten into them so I’m sure you’ll be seeing lots more of this style of card from me in the future :)

Now if you REALLY like it here’s a couple of options for you!!

You could make your own using the tutorial I’m putting on Scrapbook Dreams.
You could WIN this particular card by becoming a follower and leaving a comment on the Scrapbook Dreams blog!!

I hope you’ll have a go at making you’re own :)

Happy Scrapping from me xxx

Paper crafting FUN!!!

2010-03-21T14:16:00.004+13:00

I had originally thought to title this post ‘Afternoon Delight’… until my brain realised that my mother would probably really growl at me LOL

Yesterday afternoon I met up with Tricia and we attended a Stampin Up afternoon which consisted of 5 mini classes… so it was SUPER BUSY!!

Hats off to the organisers who did a FANTASTIC job! It was great to see Jacqueline again as well as Emma who is not only a Stampin Up demonstrator but also an award winning Body Art Artist!! We were really impressed with the quality of the classes and how much attention to detail each class had :)

Our first class was making this cute little backpack… the whole thing stands 4 inches high:

The second class was making a very cool treat box… complete with a foiled Easter egg… although I suspect that it won’t last too much longer :)

Our third class was done using stamps and cutting techniques to create a lovely card for a ‘Good Friend’… great ideas in this one!

Then it was time for afternoon tea which included lots of yummy homebaking... thanks ladies :)

Our fourth class involved making gorgeous little note cards that fitted perfectly inside the wee backpacks we had already made:

And our final class was a stampers dream filled with LOADS of techniques!! A gorgeous ‘reflection card’:

Tricia and I had a brilliant time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves :)

I’ve been published!!

2010-03-09T07:21:00.001+13:00

It’s been really exciting around here lately and I have finally achieved one of the goals on my ‘Before 40 Bucket List’!

If you have a copy of the latest Up2Scrap (February/April issue), turn to page 31 and you’ll find my very first published project!!

This is a tin I made in September last year and decided that I’d try to get it published. Luckily there were so many other things happening which meant that I forgot to blog this project… and just as well because I got an email in December asking if it was still unpublished!

It’s been a pretty exciting journey to see it in print… and my actual tin arrived back late last week all safe and sound :)

Thanks to everyone who has emailed, phoned, and sent texts… you girls are the greatest!!

Love Shell xxx

Scrapbooking classes @ Bookem

2010-01-26T23:09:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone :)

Last Saturday I taught my first classes at Bookem (Tauranga). It was a really full-on day too!! Luckily I remembered to take my camera and got some great ‘working’ photos :)

The first class was creating two boys layouts involving a bit of doodling! The ladies all seemed to enjoy learning some new techniques and were very pleased with their finished layouts.

Here’s a few photos from the morning session:

View Full Album

And here’s my layouts so you can see what they were creating – the first one is called ‘On a Mission’Lots of stamping on this one plus a little bit of doodling to get the idea. Then we moved into the doodled layout called ‘moment’ The doodling was super easy to create with the use of Crafters Workshop templates!

After lunch we held a second class doing a little project called ‘More than just a card – Vintage Valentine’… and let’s just say that it was WAY MORE than just a card and took a lot longer than we expected!!

Here’s some of the photos taken during the class:

View Full Album

And here’s a few shots of my sample:As you can see there’s a bit of stamping and embossing in this project. And what would a vintage project be without some lace, flowers and a hat pin? And don’t forget about ribbon! We also used lots of gorgeous graphic images :) Here’s my personal favourite… the front cover:We created a gorgeous flower out of sewing patterns along with a really groovy microscope slide!

A HUGE thank you to all the ladies who attended… the classes were pretty full! I hope you all really enjoyed your projects and thanks for the lovely warm welcome… I really appreciate it!

Shell xx

I’ve been a BAD blogger!!

2010-01-21T11:28:00.001+13:00

It feels a bit like I should say: Hi my name is Shell and I’m a bad blogger… it’s been 3 months since my last post!

In all reality life has simply been busy and blogging just didn’t get done… but I’ve found this fantastic little program called Windows Live Writer that I’m trying out and so far I really like it… hopefully I’ll be blogging more regularly now :)

The school year ended really well… I actually got my butt into gear this year and made presents for all my kids! Check out these little treats: Chocolate chippie cookies and rocky road… somehow I just knew the kids would love it! Mikayla helped me bake all the chocolate chippies too so it was quite cool working on this project together.

Then I set to work and made individual name tags for all the kids (54 in total): Here’s a close up: By the time they were all done I felt a bit like Little Red Riding Hood with my basket of goodies! Then all of a sudden school was over and it was time for Christmas. This year our family actually had ‘Christmas Day’ on the 5th of December because we couldn’t all get together on the 25th so I decided to make things a bit special for my girls.

In the week before Christmas I found this fantastic Christmas train.

Here’s a close up of the front of the train… really love it!

So I wrapped each little present individually and used the carriages to hold the presents: p.s. One of my nephews thought Santa’s train was pretty cool too… in fact he didn’t want anyone else to even play with it!

Then it was onto Scrapfest 2010… what a blast! I had a fabulous time catching up with everyone and teaching the classes. I really love that Scrapbooking is all about trying out new things and sharing ideas!

Here’s a couple of photos from Scrapfest… first ‘Miss Barbie’ aka Brenda who arrived off the plane dressed like this:This one is of some of our forum girls: (L to R) Shell, Tricia, Rangi, Esther & Brenda.Here’s Makuini… such a wonderful lady and very, very funny!

Here’s a ‘sneaky’ one taken during my layout class… it’s amazing what you find on cameras after the event!

My sister was there with all her Cricut stuff too!

And this is what happens when you’ve got friends with too much time on their hands!!!

It certainly gave the guy at the petrol station a good laugh!!

In between all of this I’ve actually done a few layouts too! This one was for the January sketch challenge at Scrapbook Dreams:

Miss Krystal went off to a Venturer camp in Wellington on New Years Day and she was so busy organising herself that she didn’t really think about the fact I ‘might’ actually scrap it! I was ‘kind of’ forgiven when she got home :)

And this one was for the Scrapbook Dreams January mid-month motivation… the theme is ‘Friends’:

And here’s two layouts for a class that I’m teaching at Bookem in Tauranga:

The double layout class will be from 10 – 12 Cost: $25

And then in the afternoon there will be another class called ‘More than a Card – Vintage Valentine’

It’s going to be a 3 hour class packed with hints, tips and LOADS of techniques! Time 1-4pm Cost $30

If you’d like to attend either class please phone Carol on 07 5790576

So that’s it from me today… I’ll be back!