I have been busy

Yay! It rained! The kids had a friend over & were very well behaved, so look at what I got done!!! I am on a roll, LOL. I used my cricut software to join the letters together on 'Our Vows" & to make them fit on the page. This is the first time I have used a full page transperancy, I like it. I used my cricut software to do the "BOY" on Daniels LO, combined 2 cartridges, very cool.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Yes, I know I'm a bit late, but it's been a busy week! We spent Christmas evening at the Thomsons new house in Waiukau & Christmas Day at Uncle Andrews in Helensville. Lots of food was eaten & full tummies all around, that's what Christmas is about! LOL! Mum & Dad arrived at 7am Christmas morning to watch the kids open their pressies, shocking I know! (I told them to arrive then, but didn't actally think they would make it!!!!!) Of'course the kids are never happy & still waned money to spend in the boxing day sales!!!! I bought a copy of Design Studio software for my Cricut& am very excited by what it can do, I don't know how I survived for so long with out it! Scott & I bought a few other things in the sales too, finally found some nice new shoes, yay. I can finally post the pics for the pressies I made for My & Scotts parents.....


The 1 on the left was for my parents. It started at the Sketchbook Camp with the class from Faye Gregory. However I din't like some bits of it, so I changed it. I am very happy with my result & mum & dad liked it. It's amazing how much has happened this year when you think about it.

The one on the right was for Scotts parents. It is a Kaiser wooden book with Kaiser Bohemian paper (I love this paper & have heaps of it!)

They are both quite different & were fun tomake for a change, but was glad to get back to normal scraping!!!

2 pages done this week

I went to a product preview at NZScrapbook for the new kaiser range. We made this LO & I won the whole range of owl paper (which I am giving to mum cos she loves owls)

I started on this LO of Nicola's ballet recital weeks go as part of a challenge on the Sketchbook website. The challenge was to use Christmas paper in a non- Christmas LO. I did complete 1 on time, see previous posts, but didn't really like it. This 1 uses paper from the same Heidi Grace Jolly & Bright pack, aswell as pink bling & lime bazzil. Don't u LOVE the duck? (from NZScrapbook). The ballet dancers are just from the $2 shop!

Silent Night

Believe it or not the presents have remained untouched under the tree. The kids have been checking every morning to see if there are any new arrivals, but no touching! It was a very interesting idea that Scott made up to keep the kids away - Each present has a silent alarm in it & mummmy & daddy will no if they have been touched & they will be taken away & given to more deserving children! It's worked! The funniest thing was when friends came over & their toddler tried to touch them, our kids were going crazy! yelling at her & her parents so that they didn't loose their pressies cos of this other kid. It was so funny! So there u go, silent alarms it is. Of'course mum & dad have to deactivate them all tonight so they can open them tomorrow........

owwwwwwwwwwwwww!

I got stung by a wasp yesterday afternoon :-( I was doing the gardening when I accidentally found a nest. Luckily when I yelled, Nicola ran & they went after me, not her. I only got stung once, but wow! My hand was on fire!!! I asked Scott to amputate it, but he wouldn't. LOL! Lots of ice & an overdose of anti-histamine later, I had a nap.........luckily I did wake up. It really annoys me that you can't see anything, so much pain, but not a mark on my hand. Maybe I made it all up?

Kylie was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought it was a great concert. She did 6 costume changes & had about 10 dances & a full band. Her voice sounded fantastic. I was in awe of what she has been thru lately with her breast cancer & breaking up with what's-his-name & there she was singing & dancing her heart out!!!! Very inspiring!!!! I was a bit confused by the fact I didn't know all the songs, I have her new album??? & she sang 'Coco cabana' which was weird, she has enuff of her own hits, she doesn't need to do covers. Unfortunately she had to reduce the size of her show cos it didn't fit on the Vector Arena stage, but I still thought it was fantastic!!!!!! I danced & sang heaps! She finished the night with a request from the auidence - "I should be so lucky"!!!!! She didn't have an opening act, which was great cos usually they are a waste of time. I got a t-shirt & souvenir book. I bought my t-shirt as soon as we arrived in town, & it's just as well cos I think they sold out, another audience member asked where I got it!!! It's not nice going out late on a Monday night tho, makes the rest of the week seem reallllllllllyyyyy long!

I did the Friday night challenge on Sketchbook last week, but was to pre-occupied with Kylie to post it. It was to use Christmas patterned paper for a non- Christmas LO. I used polka dot paper & chipboard heart from Hedei Grace Jolly & Bright pack. The vines are felt from Arty Farty, very cool.

WOW! Kylie is tonight!

Yay!!!! It's tonight!!! I can't wait! I am taking the ferry into town after work & meeting Scott. I shall be buying all the mechandise I can..... Visit Kylie's offical myspace site here.

Finally...

I have finished the 2 mini books for Christmas pressies, now I just need to do my cards & 1 canvas.

I finally finished my Sketchbook Camp challenge page, LOL!

It's ok, & another page done for my BOM. This was my 5th birthday.

There are rats in the fridge!

This is the message I got from Scott via Mr 8 this morning. It had both Daniel & I confused. He thought it meant there were real rats in the fridge!!!! ewwwwww!!!! I thought it was code for something, but what I could not work out. (Scott & I have been talking in code about kids Christmas presents). Finally I worked out it was WRAPS not RATS! Scott made his lunch but forgot to take it to work, so was telling me I could have it. Well that made a lot more sense than rats.......

On the first day of December.....

Well, we held the kids back from putting up the Christmas tree as long as we could, but today was THE day. I was not really in the mood, so basically the kids did it all themselves. I plugged the lights in & put Angel on the top, but they did everything else. Daniel even got a chair to do the top half. We even have the glasses baubles on this year, ekkk! Daniel even put bows on the windows & the Christmas table cloth on the dining room table. Of'course now the hard part starts, waiting..... only 24 sleeps to go!

First SWIM of the season!!

Woohoo!!!!! Summer is here! All the 'medicine' Scott put in the pool has made the water blue again & the new cleaner seems to be doing a great job (& so it should considering how expensive it was!!) So the kids have bascially spent the whole weekend in the pool. YAY!

Rubber Ducky

Nicola was a yellow duck in her Ballet Production in the weekend, so I keep singing "Rubber Ducky" I thought I should find the video for her cos she has no idea what I'm talking about & I can't remember all the words. This was filmed before I was born!!!!!!! This is her & her best friend Bronte. Aren't they cute. They even had eyeliner & mascara on! It was so tiring dress rehursal on fri, performances on sat & Sun afternoons. I was exhausted! LOL!

First sunburn of the season

woohooo! roll on summer! I don't even care that I got burnt, the sun was so lovely, altho it's a bit sore today. We had a busy weekend with 2 birthday parties & kids sport. And the kids & I have just got back from dropping daddy at the airport, he's so excited to be going to Invercargil for a few days, hopefully he doesn't get snowed on!

I know it was already 2 weeks ago, but here is my LO from Nic's class at camp. It's a bit different, but I like it. Nicola says her crown isn't big enuff! LOL! My mini book is going well, almost finished, but u wont get to see it until after Xmas as it is a pressie; it's a bit different to the original from Faye's class too.

I got a cool Dymo embossing label maker & have been labeling everything in site, hehe. The labels look just like the old ones, but the machine thingy is much easier to use.

We had Daniel's appointment at the Super Clinic to see how his speech therapy is going today. She was happy with his pronunciations now, but still concerned about the nasal quality of his speech so we are having a special x-ray of inside his mouth & nose while he is talking. This should happen sometime before he is 4! LOL!

Sketchbook Retreat

I had a fantastic time at camp! It was awesome. I din't get alot of LO's done, but I did get well on the way to completing my mini book for a christmas pressie, shhhh, don't tell anyone. As usual the completed LO & book from the classes were nothing like the orignal, but I am very happy with them, I will upload them to the sketchbook gallery when I get a minute.

The Halloween Party was heaps of fun. I was the only angel, which surprised me as so many people said they weren't doing scarey on the forum. I had a glowing halo too, but it only lasted about 5 mins. :-( The winner of the compition was Melissa aka Wizardswife & I'm sure you will agree she deserved it. & those shoes.... I must have some.

P!nk

Awesome!!!! P!nk's new CD is ...... AWESOME!!!!! i have been happlily singing along for 3 days now. Everyone go & buy it, it rocks!
Anyway....... off to Sketchbook camp this evening. It should be heaps of fun, I can't wait. I have my costume organised for the Halloween party, I am an angel. I even have a glowing halo. LOL!
Bye see you all on sunday.......

First Holiday LO done

I know these photos are a bit blurry, etc, but they capture the moment. Daniel bought a Nerf gun with his pocket money, but had to fight with Scott to play with it. LOL. Isn't it amazing what fun you can come up with when you don't have a computer or PS3 but do have sunshine!

Pocket Money Clipboards

I started making these on hoilday, finally finished them. I wasnted clipboards to alter, but couldn't find any so these are 1/2 a wooden placemat each with a bulldog clip, hopefully they will work. They are to try & keep track of the kids pocket money as we work on a fines system, $1 for lying for example. Daniel is upset they only had girl names in the bling, funnily enough they didn't have mine either. I think they came out nicely. I just need to put a photo of Daniel in his frame. The ribbon on Nicola's photo is so I can take it out & change it. Comments anyone?

Greg Murphy Rules!

I know I'm a few days late, but I just wanted to say I LOVE Greg Murphy. The family enjoyed watching Bathurst on Sunday. It's really funny cos Scott & I are Holden & Murphy fans & Daniel is a Ford & Winterbottom fan; so there was some yelling & arguing in the house on Sunday. LOL I recon if Murph had another lap he could've caught Wincup, if he didn't run out of petrol first! Second was awesome tho! You totally rule Muph!

Shameless self promotion....

It's my birthday! Happy birthday to me , I am 33!

Our poor baby is sick

Well we got home on thurs night, spent friday doing washing, unpacking, etc. Then the kids went to Nana & Popas for the night & most of the day on Saturday. It was so nice after having a week with no computer, playstation, dvd, daycare, etc, to have some quiet time without the kids. We went to town to get some new shoes for Scott (the kids would have loved that, NOT!) Anyway when we picked the kids up they were really happy, but by the time we got home Nicola said she wasn't feeling good. I undid her seatbelt & got her out of the car and she threw up in the garage. Poor wee thing. This went on all night, we felt so sorry for her. On Sunday she seemed ok, she wasn't throwing up anymore, just a little dopy & clingy. Monday she was back to normal, yay!!! So off she went to daycare. Monday night Scott started being sick, can't have been anything Nicola ate then. Tuesday Scott was at home dying, Nicola was at daycare back to her usual self. Then on Tuesday night she started again!!!!! So here I am at home with a sick child, while Scott is at work (he's still not good, but they NEED him), with a pile of washing, & other cleaning that needs to be done. I am just hoping that Daniel & I don't catch it too. It's my birthday tomorrow & we were going out on Saturday night, but we will have to see how everyone is.......................................

Napier Holiday

Well we finally went back to the Bay for a visit; our first holiday & visit since leaving 3 years ago. The trip didn't start well with a cycling race on the Napier/Taupo road on the first day of the school holidays!!!!!! and the kids were so excited they kept asking how much further it was.......we were hoping they would go back to sleep which is why we left early in the morning, but it didn't work.

The weather was beautiful (as usual) but a bit cold & windy. Scott & Daniel went fishing off the wharf one day, Daniel loved it & told everybody else how good he was cos he caught the biggest sprat. Nicola & I went to the shops instead. It's fun looking at other scrapbooking shops, they have different stock. Loved Hastings Rubber Stamps & Scrapbook Corner. Got heaps of paper & a few other little things. I haven't been scrapbooking shopping for a awhile so it was fun. Found some stuff they had sold out of here.
The kids were really good, playing nicely together; they even made friends with the kids in the flat next door. They painted their doorhangers I bought for them to do if it rained. They got tired of waiting for the rain LOL!!!
We went up Te Mata Peak for dinner one night (see Scotts blog for pics from there). Went to the Aquarium which is still better than Kelly Tarltons & half the price! We drove around & looked at our houses, Daniel's kindy, my work,etc. This is our Clive house we built, the new owners have done alot of gardening.

We also visited Paul, Renee, Maddy, & Liam who live in Havelock North. They moved to the Bay at the same time as us. They were in the same ante-natal class as us. (Maddy & Daniel are the same age), so it was good to catch up with them, but we couldn't find any of our other friends down there.
Daniel wrote in the guest book:
Well we decided to come home a bit earlier than planned. The kids made huts in the back of the car on the way home, so the journey home was far more pleasant.
Artist at work

Olympics are finished!

Phew! That was a long 6 weeks. Heaps of fun & challenging, but also very time consuming. Got a pile of pics that have been neglected over the past 6 weeks & the holiday shots will need to be done.

Week six was archery, we have to use 3 consentric circles (bull's eye) & an arrow. These are the only 2 photos I have of me playing softball for Howick when I was 9 (hubby didn't even know I did). The big arrow points to the ball. Journalling reads "When I was 9 I played Softball for Howick. It would have helped me a great deal if there was a giant arrow pointing to the ball, but unfortunately not. I could hardly see the ball to either catch or hit it. I only got my glasses part way through the season and I was so paranoid about breaking them that I hardly wore them."

Week 5 - Track & Field - Camping, Thomson Style

So this Layout is supposed to be about an outdoor adventure. Scott saw Nicola watching TV in the lounge & said that that woud be perfect for the challenge, how right he was. This is just our family, LOL. Why would you want to venture outside when you can sit inside with carpet under your bum & no rain on you & watch TV from the comfort of your tent? I really like how this one came out, my favourite to date. However it was also VERY expensive!!!! I didn't have the right piece of paper so went to Spotlight to see what I could find & I went a little crazy! I got woden dooor hangers for the kids to paint on holiday next week & a clipboard for me to make; paper; & heaps of bling! The bird & butterflies we cut out of flocked paper that I have had for ages, but didn't know what to do with. There are 10 tiny ladybug stickers for you to find on the LO. I am so glad it wasn't the decatholon tho cos I have counted over 40 elements!

Week 4 Swimming

This was a ticky one for me as I don't really get the whole transperancy trend at the moment. I have been known to use it for journalling sometimes & that is what I was planning to do on this LO. However it printed in the wrong place so I but it back thru the printer & nothing came out!!!!! Opps!!!!! Scott had to pull appart the whole thing & cut the transperancy from the roller thingy that it had melted around, now all our printing has a line on it. So lesson for the week, don't put a warm transperancy thru your laser printer, it wont come out again! Journalling reads: "We'll all be planning that route; We're gonna take real soon; We're waxing down our surfboards; We can't wait for noon; We'll all be gone for the summer; We're on surfari to stay; Tell mummy we're surfing; Surfin' all day." (sing to Surfin' U.S.A. by Beach Boys tune)

I have the best husband in the whole world!!!!!!

I'm so excited!!!!! Scott got us Kylie tickets!!!! & it has already sold out (they have announced another concert). Woohooo!!!! Kylie is sooooo cool.

Week three, decathalon, done. We were only allowed 10 elements. Mine were: red cardstock, blue paint, bling hearts, photo, pigs (because he is giving her a 'piggy-back'), word strip, quote, black ink, journalling, chipboard. Journalling reads: "Nicola loves being carried around, but she is getting really heavy. Scott carries her on his shoulders, but I usually give her a piggy-back. One day I didn't feel like carrying her so I told her to ask daniel. I was only joking! "Look Mum" "Don't drop her!" Can you imagine the look on my face? My boy is getting so strong. "


Right off to find all my Kylie CD's.......

Happy Birthday to me!!!

It's only a month early, what's your point? I wanted a small point & shoot camera that fits in my handbag for when we are out & about. Like the other day the kids were being really cute at the dentist & well I don't carry the SLR with me all the time. So a tiny camera would be good. Harvey Norman had them on special and I wanted it before we go on holiday to Napier. Of'course I HAD to have a pink one!!!! Got a cute little pink bag for it too. Just waiting for the battery to charge now.........

Week two of Olympics done. It was Gymnastics = ribbons & swirls/florishes, etc. Not as happy with this one as last weeks, but still I got another wedding layout done.

Week 3 is Decathalon. Maximum of 10 elements. Daniel complained that the first two entries weren't of him so this one is the kids, can't say anything else until the big reveal on Tuesday, except that I like this one.

I'm lonely......................

(sigh) All alone at work this week (sigh)
Boss is in Fiji (sigh)
Anyone out there?............... (sigh)
Oh well, can go home & work on my next 'Olympic' layout in a few hours, yay!!!

Love this Flashback!!!

Week 1 Complete

Week 1 of Sketchbook Olympics completed! This weeks event was Cycling. It had to include circle/dot paper & have a wheel, circle theme. I did the photos of Scott & I. I used a sheet from my paper pesto win for the background, the teal is vellum & bazzil. Main title : "Our Cycling Phase 94" Journalling: "Looks like even we though it was a bit of a joke." "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride it where I like." "The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories to gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of 3000 miles per gallon."

Now we are just waiting for the announcement of the next event.....

Spring Cleaning

Yes I know I'm a bit early, but don't stop me once I get going!
Anyway the kids have been driving us nuts using the computer on my scrap desk, so all 4 of us are in one room & I can't really get to my desk anymore. So I spent the last 2 days organising & throwing out heaps of my old sewing stuff. I had heaps of fabric that I will never use & boxes that have just moved from house to house without being opened. So now there is room for another computer! yay! & I filled my boot with recycling! I couldn't wait till Monday to empty my boot either, had to go for a special trip to the recycling bins. I feel so much better & can't believe how much I threw away! Now I just have to research the use of fabric in scrapbooking pages for all those lovely patchworking scraps I couldn't part with. LOL

Paper Pesto Prize

I won the friday freebie on the Paper Pesto site last friday. My prize arrived today!!!! yay!!! 16 sheets of paper from Crate, Urban Lily, Sassafras, Fancy Pants - Botanical & Free Spirit range! I am gonna be a busy girl!!

Happy Anniversary to us

Well its been 12 long years :-) & they have been great! We went out for dinner with some friends last night to the Mexican Cafe in town, then to another friends for desert. It was a really nice evening just cahtting with friends. Hmmmm shall I upload a wedding LO? Started on wedding album this year, yes I know what you are thinking, but we do have a proffessional album.

I was so excited about Nicola's ballet photos I have already scrapped them!!!! I used that nice new Kaiser black & pink paper & heaps of bling!!!!

I was feeling un-inspired so I have been working on redoing some of my 8 1/2 x 11 pages. Did 5 today!!! Not that they are that difficult. Here is the most interesting, of a ski trip Scott & I went on before we were married, 94 I think.

Ballet Lessons & visit from Tooth fairy

It's been a busy day! This morning was Nicola's second ballet lesson. They all look so cute running around behind the teacher. She has even been practising at home during the week & wants to wear her clothes & shoes all the time. She cried for about a hour when I took them off her this afternoon (she had split chocolate on them so I wanted to wash it out!)

Last night during dinner Daniels left front tooth came out & today his right one did. So now I am calling him "the tooth-less wonder" & he is whistling thru the gap, LOL.

Scott also started to fix the wall in the kitchen which we had to move to make our fridge fit (we have a beautiful double door fridge). It looks so nice, even only with the bare gib up.

Album Covers

So for some reason I decided I should make new covers for my albums instead of paying good money for something I could do myself. So far I have made 2 for Daniel & 2 for Nicola, & I think I may have created a rod for my own back!!!! LOL!! I have been using by left over sewing supplies as well as scrapping stuff. The fabric is mod podge glued onto the covers. Some fabrics worked better than others. For some reason I quilted one of Nicola's with beads & sequins, it's really cool, but it took me about a week! I want to get back to scrapping!!!! This all started cos Scott suggested I should put my pages in chronological order, which was a great idea as they are all over the place at the moment. It's really interesting looking back at how much the kids have grown & how much my style has changed.

Smurf-tastic

"If you go into the woods today you're sure of a big surprise....." (Yes, I know it's the teddy bears picnic song, but it works with this pic) When I was a kid i used to think the smurfs lived in the reserve near our house, so look what Scott did for me! I want more!

The kids got their faces painted at Harvey Norman today. Don't they look cute! I was really impressed with the face painting & balloon people & it was free!

Nicola's 4!

Yes I know it was a couple of months ago, but I just did the layout. Personally I'm proud I did it before she turned 5! Used my $2 shop felt flowers & the paper I used to make her goodie bags out of.

This is what Scott & the kids got up to when I was at Scrap Camp. They went to the zoo! This page has had me stumped for awhile, I really like the photo, so wanted it to be special. I used the TLC rub-on toppings that I got at camp. Not overly impressed with the foil, glitter is cool & I haven't tried the flock yet. I also dry embossed the papers with scales (I wish I had a cuttlebug!), very time consuming & hard on my RSI.