Project Life: Week 28 and SENZ!

Hi everyone :)

Yes it’s a later than usual post tonight because I’ve been at SENZ all weekend… and it was FANTASTIC!!  Before I tell you all about it here’s a look at my week:

On Monday Krystal came home for an overnight visit and we decided that it was definitely time to clean out her old room!  Toby was super happy to see his big sister and she got lots of cuddles and licks!!

While Krystal has been away her old room has become a ‘dumping ground’ for all manner of things… mostly my stuff unfortunately!  We de-cluttered, chucked out and cleaned all afternoon and by dinner time we could see some real progress.  We also bought some lovely new sheets, duvet and an electric blanket for the bed and Krystal had somewhere nice and warm to sleep for the night :)

Here’s a better look at the start of my week:

On Tuesday we took a huge load of rubbish to the dump and then we called into the local habitat store where we spotted a great sofa set for just $85!  The three seater has a fold out double bed inside it and the two seater has a slighter narrower bed as well so now I’ve got heaps of space for visitors… it will definitely be great for when  family comes to stay.

I carried on cleaning and de-cluttering for another day and it was amazing how much stuff I was able to get sorted out!  Then I caught up with all the school work I needed to do… went to school and did the photocopying and had a lovely day with my boy!

Here’s a look at the second half of my week:

On Thursday night I got packed and ready for SENZ and then the next morning Nina and I were off to Hamilton!

Before we even got a chance to go into SENZ we caught up with Brenda and Elaine and had a great chat!  It was so good to see them in ‘real life’ again instead of just via the internet!

I’d wanted to see the Project Life stall at SENZ and would you believe it was right by the entrance… obviously meant to be!  As soon as I arrived I got to catch up with Shiree and Loreen which was fab!

Before I show you the rest of the SENZ photos I’d better show you my ‘creativity’ for this weeks pages.  I decided to use my SENZ ticket and just add the dates… super easy!

I’ve done a new style of insert for this weeks pages using one of the cool page protectors I bought at SENZ… this one is ‘Design G’.

The front of the layout is all about our accommodation and some of the people I was able to catch up with… as well as a few little pieces of inspiration:

I’ve kept the back of the insert for my classes… and my shopping goodies:

I haven’t actually printed these photos off yet but at least you can see what it will look like :)

I’d have to say that this has been my favourite SENZ to date.  I’ve caught up with some lovely ladies that I haven’t seen in a long time… met some new scrapbooking friends… and come home extremely tired but also really inspired to get back into the scrap room!

It’s back to school for me tomorrow so I’ve decided to pull out the bed from the sofa and curl up with my boy (who was VERY HAPPY to have Mumma home again!), watch some TV and just blob for the night in front of the fire.

Wishing you all a fabulous week xx

Project Life: Week 17

Hi everyone :)

Unbelievably we are almost at the end of April… how did that happen so quickly??

It’s been another eventful week in our household.  I went back to school on Monday and Toby has decided that HE DOESN’T LIKE IT!!!  He’s really kicked up a stink about being left at home this week but we’ve had some funny moments to go along with it!

Here’s an overview of my week:

When I got home on Monday there was a courier envelope on the door for me.  I couldn’t think what was in it because I hadn’t remembered what I’d ordered but it was tickets to SENZ for me and Nina.  It’s during the next school holidays and we’re super looking forward to it.  I’ve been to the last two in Auckland but didn’t bother to do any classes but this year I’ve bought a three-day pass so I’m looking forward to seeing what classes are on offer.

On Monday Toby decided that he was going to eat the sandals that I wore to school in Term 1… I think it was his attempt to keep me at home! LOL

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

On Tuesday Toby decided that he was going to eat through the bags of potting mix by the back door… talk about having a mess everywhere!

Of course it was ANZAC Day on Wednesday and I read a really wonderful book to my class called ‘Present from the Past’ by Jennifer Becks… it’s a powerful and moving story that I highly recommend.

I spent part of my day off reading a book by Lesley Pearse.  I’d never read any of her books until just the week before and in less that I week I’ve read over 1000 pages!!  I love it when you find an author you really like.

Here’s the second half of the week:

I was on a teacher course on Thursday and it was brilliant!  It’s the kind of course that is down to earth and practical which is a refreshing change.

Toby has continued to make mess after mess around the house.  I don’t know how long this ‘puppy’ stage lasts but I’m definitely over the mess!!

Mikayla had her hair cut on Friday and ended up paying $50 for it which I thought was a bit weird since it’s more than I pay at the same hairdresser.  I popped in on Saturday to enquire about the pricing and it turns out they thought she was older than she was and didn’t realise she was a student so she got a refund… that’s GOT to have earned me some ‘good Mum’ points!! LOL

I’ve had a great day today!  Loreen came over to catch up and do some scrapping.  She was busy working on her layout and said to me that her paper wasn’t sticking to her layout… turns out she’d forgotten to put on any adhesive!!! LOL

We decided to recharge our batteries over lunch and we went to Relish cafe…. we both HIGHLY recommend it!!  Fabulous food, great service and a wonderful atmosphere!  If you’re ever in Rotorua it’s worth trying out!

Here’s my creative piece for the week:

ANZAC Day felt really important to me this year so I dedicated my creative piece to the men and women who served our country during the war…  LEST WE FORGET

‘Uncle Keith’ came over this afternoon to pick up ‘Auntie Loreen’ and Toby was super excited!  He tried to get him to play with him but Uncle Keith wasn’t interested in playing the game so Toby tried giving him ‘kisses’ without much success. 

When ‘Auntie Loreen’ got into her motorbike gear Toby was quite interested and then he rushed outside to say goodbye to them. 

So that’s been my week… lots of reading, lots of ‘Toby times’ and time spent with friends.

I hope you all have a great week xx

SENZ - Part 2!

Well tomorrow has finally come LOL To be honest, I've just been so busy processing and sending orders, catching up on sleep, getting back into our routines and starting the 4th term that this is the first time I've had a chance to sit and get myself organised.

Friday morning I had my first class... and I was totally blown away by Lusi! She really is the sweetest, most positive person and she's got such a lot of talent! We began the class by getting the very very latest news... Lusi is pregnant with her 4th child!!! Looking forward to seeing updates on her blog! And trust me... Lusi doesn't let pregancy slow her down... she got us all around her table and shows us about 10 different techniques in less than 10 minutes... truely makes your head explode with all the fab new ideas!

Here's a photo of our 'classroom' (from Lusi's blog)... and it's also the classroom I did Nic Howard's class in :)

Out came the kits and it was straight into it! This was the "Memories from Abroad" class where we covered a mini photo album and were supposed to do all the tabs etc to decorate... but we did a lot of laughing and heaps of talking so I was quite pleased that I even managed to finish my outside cover LOL Here's us all hard at work (photo from Lusi's blog)

Yep that's me in the centre (back) of the classroom :) Not sure what I'm up to... either inking or sanding by the look of it! Here's the inside cover of my album with one of Lusi's techniques... ink on bubble wrap... very cool! I've seen it done with paint before but not ink.... and I'm definitely going to be doing it again!Here's a close up of my album... really liking it now that I've gotten over the 'pinkness' LOL Not a colour I usually use but it 'fits' this album :)You can see I've sanded my photo... that's a first for me and I quite like the effect. I also sanded and inked the sticker... thanks Lusi for the ideas!And here's a view from the top:Since it's got 3 sections and I've got 2 sisters I'm going to use each section for some of my favourite photos of my girls and my nieces and nephews! Will be nice to have a mini album of photos that I love and I think it will be travelling with me whenever I'm away from home :)

At the end of the class Lusi got us all to share our albums and it was really amazing to see just how different everyone's albums turned out (Photo from Lusi's blog)

And here's a photo of all of our class with Lusi :) Yep I 'pinched' this photo from her blog too! I'm on the far left wearing the black jacket and Lusi is the very cool chick in the middle wearing the blue apron :)

When I got home I photographed the 'left overs' from the class... I'm definitely going to be able to get this album finished!!A big thank you to Craft House for the incredibly awesome class kit!!!

On Saturday morning I had my second class... I learnt some very cool techniques using one of my favourite products... Ranger distress inks! Anyone that knows me, knows I LOVE to ink!! In fact I find it incredibly difficult not to ink at least one thing on everything I do LOL The class was taught by Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door and I love Rachel's style of just getting in and 'playing'. In the class we made cards using some of her brand new stamps and I definitely learnt some great new techniques that I'll be using a lot!

Here's my first card:

And here's my second one:Cool stamps, cool techniques, great tutor and lots and lots of ink... what more could a girl ask for?

Thanks Rachel for sharing your talent with us!! Loved hearing about your time with Tim Holtz (totally cool!!)

After lunch on Saturday it was time for my final class... Prima Paintables with Nic Howard :) I'm so pleased I did this one... lots of new techniques and messy messy messy! I had such a lot of fun! Nic showed us some great techniques using Glimmer Mist and I have to admit that I'm becoming a huge fan of this stuff... it adds just a touch of glimmer to your projects (hard to show in a photo but totally fabulous in real life!) The layout I did in the class has become one of my all time favourites and I'm seriously thinking it needs to go on a canvas in my studio!!!This is a photo of my gorgeous nephew! As soon as I saw this photo I knew it needed a really special layout and Nic's class was just perfect for it! Nic also provided us with a second project but I wasn't too thrilled with how mine started out so I made this instead:Yes it's the same photo! I just love it :) I'm still not sure if I'm going to make this into the front of a card or put it on a small canvas... I just know that I love it!

Nic's class was another Craft House one and they provided a generous class pack once again! In spite of how much product I used I've still got all this left over:

I'm definitely going to be creating some more with Glimmer Mists and the gorgeous Prima Paintables!!! In fact I've got a wee mini album project in mind for this stuff :)

Nic is lovely and she's got a great style... thanks for a fab afternoon :) and thanks for signing my copy of "That's Life"! I bought Nic's book at SENZ last year and I took it with me this time so Nic could sign it.... lucky me!

Now you're all probably thinking that I didn't get a chance to shop... ha ha ha... yeah right! Actually I thought I was fairly restrained this year (at least compared to last year!) but I did get some lovely new things!

After taking Rachel's class on making Christmas cards I thought I NEEDED these stamps:

And Krystal did a make in take that required a purchase so she could make more LOL Here's the cute card that Krystal made:

And here's the stamps I HAD to buy her... along with the ones I didn't HAVE to have but they were just too awesome to leave behind:

And after taking Nic's class of course I NEEDED some Glimmer Mist:

They're really gorgeous colours (Vanilla Breeze, Wild Currant & Cinnamon)

And my final purchase was some lovely acrylic stamps and some paint dabbers:

Here's a photo of some of the gorgeous swap pins I received:

And finally here is a card made for me by Esther (from the Scrapbook Dreams forum). We met for hot chocolates in a lovely little chocolate shop I found (how did THAT happen??? LOL) and she gave me this card she'd made for me:

Thank you so much Esther! It was lovely to meet you and spend some time chatting. I'm looking forward to our next catch up (in a chocolate shop of course!)

And on that note I'm going to sign off :) There is one more SENZ installment to come... Krystal's classes... but she's not quite ready to share just yet!

SENZ - Part 1

Hard to believe that it's already Tuesday!! The tiredness from the big weekend has definitely kicked in! We headed down to Wellington on Thursday and had a really great trip :) Had a few stops along the way which was really nice too. The CD player in the car decided to have a hissy fit before we even got to Taupo so for most of the trip we all had our own MP3 players plugged into our ears and we all had different songs playing... and yep we were all singing along to our own music LOL

I wasn't sure where to start with this post but I promised all the girls on the forum... and Mum... that's I'd take photos of the stalls and Mikayla was very obliging on Friday and took over 200 photos while Krystal and I were doing classes! By the time I weeded out all the 'duds' we got down to 80 and then I just did a small selection so here's an overview of the shopping opportunities at SENZ 2008!

And the final photo is a look at this years show bag:

That's all for tonight... but I'll be back tomorrow to share the projects from the classes I did :)