Lazy Post

I haven't felt like being on the computer much in the past day or so. Too much going on. I'm only on today to say I received my BG ribbons and I love them! I haven't taken them out of their packets yet, but I'll be doing that tonight when the kids have gone to bed.

I'm off to do some housework.

xx S.

Tagged!

Bad blogger to compulsive blogger? Nope, just been tagged so I thought I'd better do the tag before I forget!!

I AM: about to go to bed
I WANT: time to catch up on scrapping
I HATE: nothing, but dislike many things
I MISS: having spare time
I FEAR: clowns, balloons & spiders (for starters)
I HEAR: Ben Lee's Awake Is The New Sleep & John ironing in the other room (!!)
I WONDER: if my old friend I left a message for on Friday will call me back
I REGRET: nothing
I AM NOT: up to date with many of the tasks on my list
I DANCE: like there is no tomorrow
I SING: constantly
I CRY: at the drop of a hat
I AM NOT ALWAYS: happy and cheerful
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: whatever my hands feel like creating
I WRITE: honestly and thoughtfully
I CONFUSE: my children's names when I'm cranky with them
I NEED: more time!!
I SHOULD: really get to bed!
I START: things and don't finish them in a timely fashion
I FINISH: most things late

I TAG: Amanda, Leish (because she didn't do it when Willisa tagged her) & Jill

xx S.

Family Snapshots

We went to the baptism, today, of Claudia Allam, the daughter of my good friends Will & Kristina. I won't share the baby photos, as I don't have their permission, but I managed to take a few family snaps.... and I actually made it into a few photos today too.

How nice is that photo of John with all three children (except for the thumb in the mouth)? Can't wait to scrap it!

xx S.

Yaaawwnnn....

What a late night last night!! The council came to fix the burst water main under our driveway. Three trucks, a ute and another truck with a backhoe on it filled our little cul-de-sac from 11pm. I have no idea what time they finished, as I went to bed at 12:30am, when they brought out the jackhammer to break the broken water pipe! I know the plumber was there around 3am fixing part of it.

They dug a 7' x 4' hole that was about 5' deep. It kept filling with water, so we had our own little dirty brown swimming pool for a while there. Now it's all fixed, except our driveway (which they come back and fix once it's settled) and we look like we've been burying a body in our driveway in the middle of the night!!

The kids (and John) slept through the lot, while I watched from the front window, sitting on Christopher's bed, or stood in the yard talking to my shift-working neighbour who was excited by all the fuss in the middle of the night. Would you believe I took no photos? I videoed a bit of the 'digger' to show Chris in the morning, but that was it.

At least it is fixed and I can (hopefully) get an early night.

xx S.

Burst Water Main

LOL, guess what is happening in my street? We have a burst water main. Guess where? In our driveway!! The grass between the two tyre tracks is swelling like a big boil! When we stand on it (if we are game - ie. not me!), it is like standing on a water bed. The council have been out and are sending a backhoe to dig our drive up with! Now I'm even more pleased that Chris & Nick's bedroom is at the front of the house *insert sarcasm here*. I wonder if the noise will wake them up.

It has been an exciting night so far. We've had a chat with the neighbours on the footpath at 8pm, while the kids, already excited to still be out of bed, begged to walk down the street to see where all the water's going. They've jumped in puddles, much to my disbelief, and managed to get very cold and wet. They're now in bed and the boys are fast asleep.

Someone is having a party down the road and Amelia's favourite song has come on (Catch My Disease - Ben Lee). Amelia must have supersonic hearing because she has just bound in here telling me her song is playing! So much for being asleep.

The trucks are arriving to destroy our drive, so I'd better go. John wants to try to save the pavers so he can put them back in. Have a great Saturday night!!

xx S.

OMGosh RIBBON!!??!!

So I'm a sucker for ribbon. I admit it. It's like a disease!! I have so much and I want more. Bearing that in mind... you absolutely HAVE to look at these new ribbons from Basic Grey.

There are five sets and I NEED them all!!

These are my favourite two sets, just to give you an idea of how absolutely gorgeous these ribbons are. Okay.... so my non-scrapping friends are probably scratching their heads in wonder right now, but let me tell you that ribbon is VERY important in life - LOL!!

(I have to credit that I borrow these pictures from Scrapbooks and More who have the entire range here.)

xx S.

Yeah, Okay.... I'm Tall.

So much for trying to blog a bit each day! It's been nearly a week since I shared anything with you. I have bearly scrapped in that time, but I was lucky enough to drop in to ISC (Inspiration Scrapbook Convention - for my non-scrappy friends) last Sunday morning.

Alicia and I took a class with Alannah Jurgensmeyer, the owner and creator of Artic Frog. Artic Frog has a variety of bright papers, stickers, ribbons and rub ons. The class was a 5"x5" mini album about Christopher. The papers are something I wouldn't normally have chosen, but I was really happy with the finished product. (I haven't photographed it yet.)

Leish and I also managed to catch up with numerous friends and acquaintances, including the lovely Kerrin, who was a key person in organising the entire event. From our short visit, plus the great things others have said, I'd say it was a major success - well done K!!

I also caught up with Cheryl (from one of my suppliers - Aussie Scrap Source) and Marni T. It is becoming more and more obvious to me that, yes, I'm tall..... but I think that, on a whole, I am finding that most scrapbookers tend to be non-tall!! I was stoked, standing next to Kerrin for the middle photo, to find that we are basically the same height. K mentioned that I'm tall, so I guess she's noticed the general scrapbooker's height thing too!

(Note to the people who have recently said I am photogenic: These photos are proof that, unless I control the situation, I some how end up with the most ridiculous "photo-grin" ever seen!!)

xx S.

Strange Things Afoot @ my blog!

Is it just me, or is the first post of my blog doing funny things? Whenever I have a photo in the first post, the title or some words go missing. Weird....

Tripping Down Memory Lane

I'm going to share some older photos today. I was having a look for a particular photo on my computer yesterday and came across a few photos I had forgotten about, but really like. They aren't the best photos, technically, by any shot, but they have a bit of meaning for me.

This first photo was taken during my last week of school (ever) on a day trip to Noosa. The thing I love about this photo is that after nearly fourteen years, three of my closest friends today are in it. One of the girls has moved on, with her high opinion, but the rest of us are still the same girls in the photo. From the left, there is Alice, Vonn, Kat, that other girl and Sara.

When I was younger, skinnier and less reserved, I spent about four years in a small theatre group. We had lots of fun performing various shows and reviews, my favourite being Chicago. This would have to be my favourite photo from those years - backstage on tour before we all went on to perform "Age of Aquarius" (from Hair, the musical). Obviously there were another fortyish (?) cast members, but I was sitting on the stairs chatting with one of the boys when I was suddenly surrounded by those whom you see here.... and someone clicked the photo. (Look how skinny I look! I can't believe I thought I was fat! ....and how high is that split?)


The other thing about this photo is the boys in it. One of them was persuing me - we ended up dating for nearly two years - one had a crush on me, I had a crush on another and two were just really good friends. I'm not saying who's who, though!

How's that for a bit of a laugh?

xx S.

Layout Gallery

I am still in the process of uploading layouts to my private gallery (as requested by DT), but am sad that I have now made my SAM Album private, so no-one can see it. I have so many beautiful comments on my layouts, that I'm not ready to delete any more from the site. I have already deleted about 30 images that I haven't had time to update to my new gallery, but I'll get there.

Thanks to everyone who has left wonderful comments on my layouts. You are all very supportive and lovely!!

xx S.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mum's reading this!! It's been a lovely, but busy, day so far. I am hoping to get a little scrapping done at some stage, but not looking good. John and all three kids are sick, so I am playing nurse-maid. I'm not feeling all that much better myself, but family comes first.

Even though they are sick, I still was given breakfast in bed and lots of lovely gifts. Amelia made and bought me the most lovely things. I'll take a pic and upload later!!

xx S.

Ho Hum...

Okay, so the For Keeps/Aussie Scrap Source A-Z Album Competition has already been finalized!! How fast was that? Congratulations to the four lucky winners! I'm looking forward to seeing them in print in the future. They must have been spectacular to have won over the albums I was lucky enough to see!

xx S.

It's All About Me!!

My "Me" layout for the SAM cyber crop:

I'm not overly talkative today, so just a short post. I'm off soon to go to Scrapbook City's first birthday sale/celebration. Just a good reason for me to get over there for a browse, really!! If I'm lucky, I'll get over to a few other scrap shops as well. We'll see what time brings.

Happy Saturday!!

xx S.

Kim's Growing Up Class

I took Kim Archer's Growing Up class last night. I really love her classes. It is a great way to create a layout without too much effort (for me) and I really enjoyed not thinking about it as I did it. I love seeing everyone's interpretation of the layout at the end, too. They are great classes. Kim is so easy going and explains things really well. She answers questions and is very patient, so if you don't know what you are doing, or didn't understand something, she helps you through.

Well, here is my interpretation. It is another page for my All About Me album - only the third layout for it, actually!

It's funny, really. I don't usually do layouts about me. It is easier to do them about someone else. I am facing the ME layouts & projects this weekend, though. Kim's class last night - ME. SAM's Cyber Crop theme - ME. Scrapapple DT project - ME. Just when I don't want to be looking at me, even with Mother's Day on Sunday.

Speaking of Mother's Day... I have the whole day planned! I am going to sleep and scrap!! We will visit John's mum on the Saturday - when she has eight kids to visit her, we tend to spread it out over the weekend. I will see my mum either on the Saturday or during next week. I just need some time for me. I know that sounds selfish, but I've found (yesterday and today) that I am far more emotional about things than I thought I was.

Long story short? I just can't wait to get in and scrap to my heart's content, really. I have so many things I am trying to finish. I hope to get a few things done at least!

xx S.

Housework? What Housework?

Tee hee.... after my post yesterday saying I was going to do all those houseworky things before I scrapped, I decided to just scrap instead!! I did wash a lot of clothes and towels, which are now back inside waiting to be put away, but other than that, I had a break.

I've nearly finished my DT project and am loving it. I am a bit shy about sending it off to Scrapapple, but I'm sure (when I'm completely finished) I will be happier with it.

Now I really do have a lot of work to do! Have a great day!!

xx S.

Personal Happenings

This is a bit of a personal post for my friends who have been concerned, but if I wasn't okay with the results I wouldn't post them here. I'm not after sympathy by any means.

Okay. The pregnancy thing? Well, yes, I was pregnant. See? Women know their bodies better than little test kits. Unfortunately, what I mistook for a strange very late heavy period was actually a very early miscarriage. We are a little sad, but these things happen for a reason and we'll just have to wait to see what the future brings us.

I'm okay. Still not really well, but not overly sick. I've just been told to take it easy and John has been fantastic with helping the kids and I out (as usual). It has been a couple of highly emotional weeks with huge highs and lows.

So, in the spirit of a mum of three kids who has been told to take it easy, I'm off to do my second load of washing today, then mop the floors, tidy the bedrooms, clean the kitchen (again), then, if luck turns my way, I'll have a few minutes to play with my DT kit from Scrapapple this afternoon!!

Take care.
xx S.

Why in Shock? I Made the Cover of SC!!!

Well, the news is out so I couldn't wait to blog it...

I simply can't believe I made the cover of Scrapbook Creations (#30)!! How exciting! I'm also Artist in Spotlight on pages 98 & 99! I'm really stoked with the whole issue, actually!

I certainly didn't see that one coming!! It was a BIG surprise and not what I was talking about a few posts ago when I said to watch the mags!!

xx S.

I'm In Shock!

I just received my new Scrapbook Creations in the mail. I've heard that it isn't due at the newsagents for a couple of weeks, though, so I won't spoil it. Let's just say that I love love love it and am in absolute shock!

xx S.

So Much Excitement!

There are so many amazing and great things happening for me in the scrapbooking world. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am. Keep an eye on the mags - I have a bit coming out. I haven't really said too much before, but I am so happy with the things I have coming up in them. Can't say too much more.... just keep an eye out!! *giggles*

I spoke to Scrapapple this morning and am looking forward to receiving my first DT kit from them. They will drop it off tomorrow and I can't wait to paw through it!! My first project will be a fun one and something a little different for me - can't wait!!

Oopps!! Did I forget to mention that I'm now part of the Scrapapple Design Team? So excited about that too! The girls on the team are so talented and I can't wait to work with them!

I am trying to get my gallery up and running. I'm not sure if I'm overly happy with it still. I might end up moving to typepad yet! I really like blogger, though.... oh, what to do, what to do.

More congratulations I haven't mentioned until now.... Congratulations to the lovely Willisa Hogarth on the birth of her gorgeous little Charlotte!! Great to see you are both well and Will is straight back into scrapping!! I was in Kim's class with her last week.

Here is a little layout I finally finished from the crop over a week ago....


Christopher is such a cry baby. He turns it on at least twenty times a day! There are usually no tears, just noise and tantrums that don't get him anywhere. I wonder how much longer it will be before he realises that it just isn't worth the effort because we all ignore him when he does it! I love the photo, though, with those big, long eyelashes.
xx S.

You Have to Have a Peak!!

Just a quick note.... you have to have a peak at this lady's layouts - Fran (lynx) . She is absolutely inspirational and someone to watch out for.

xx S.

My Budding Scrapbookers

Amelia, Christopher and I had so much fun last night scrapping together. They stayed up until 9pm!! Chris really loved it and involved me in every bit. Amelia worked a lot on her own and just checked in every now and then. So here they are....


By my three year old, Christopher. His two favourite bears.

Love My Toys by Amelia (four years old). They both wanted the same title and had so much fun raiding my stash for bits and pieces.

xx S.

What a Contrast of a Day!

Today has been the best day!! It is such a contrast to my hilariously bad day Thursday! We had lots of fun this morning and the kids are looking forward to scrapping with me tonight - how cute!

Christopher asked me to photograph his favourite toy, his 'Baby'. Amelia asked for a photo with two of her toys. They are going to sit with me tonight and scrap them. Amelia has been trying to think of a good title all day. She's really getting into it! It should be really cute tonight. I think Amelia will love it and Christopher might get cranky when he has trouble. I'll post their layouts here when they're finished.

I'm picking up some enlargements (photos) after work. I can't wait to see them. If they turn out okay, they will be my entry for the RNA photo comp. I didn't enter last year and missed it, so I thought I'd pop a couple of entries in this year.

Such a happy day!

xx S.

Another Class with Kim

I did another one of Kim Archer's classes last night. They are so easy and fun - I really like sitting down to them!

I love flowers on boyish layouts. Don't ask me why!

xx S.

Song Title - Bad Day

This weekend's challenge is to complete a layout with one of seven song titles. I wasn't sure which one I could use.... until today happened! I've chosen 'Bad Day'. My layout will be mainly journaling, which is different for me and I've been wanting to try it for a while. My journaling will be the following passage, which I have added to my blog, because my day was so bad it was funny! Beware, this is a long post!!

Bad Day (but it’s not over yet)

I don’t know what it is, but as soon as things start going wrong, they generally just tend to keep snow-balling for me. It started with Christopher having an accident in bed. Lucky for me, John cleaned it up and had all three children in the bath when I woke up. I wasn’t feeling very well and have had tiredness and nausea for five days. I’m ‘late’ and have had time to get a little excited over maybe being pregnant again. Test says ‘no’. Ho hum, not to worry…. John said to make sure I get outside today and get some fresh air to help. We are desperate for fruit and vegetables, so I assured him I would get them today.

I was getting dressed for the day and heard a strange noise. I had a bit of a funny feeling, so checked on the noise…. Nicholas is in the lounge room with the box of Rice Bubbles, transferring all the cereal from the box to the couch in little fist fulls. Rice Bubbles are crunching everywhere! I vacuumed that up, put the breakfast things away and lock the pantry.

I had a little lie down mid-morning as I was still tired and a bit off. I had that funny feeling again, then I heard the microwave being closed and the buttons being pressed. When I came into the kitchen, not only is Christopher trying to microwave a bowl of ‘ingredients’ with a metal tea spoon still in it, but Nicholas is elbow deep in a half-empty brand new bag of flour - the kitchen was covered in flour and Nicholas (also flour-covered) has no pants or nappy on and has blue biro from his ankles to his genitals! Apparently they can now reach the pens as well as UNlock the pantry!! Nicholas had another bath, then bed while I vacuumed the mess.

I had to get out of the house, so we all went to Carindale to get the fruit and vege and some photos printed. The photo machine is broken – no photos. Tried on some clothes for Mother’s Day, seeing as the children were being good. In the change room, Christopher changed his mind and screamed and yelled and opened the curtain when I was only in my bra and undies! At the counter, Christopher BIT me! I was so shocked I gave him a little whack, but unfortunately got his face as he ducked! I could have cried and people looked!! I wished the ground would open up and swallow me!

Nicholas filled his nappy in the worst possible way, which, upon discovering it, is when I had the visual memory of walking past his nappy bag on the way out and not picking it up. Back to the car where I took Nicholas’ shirt off and tied it around his waist so the mess that had spilt out the back of his nappy wouldn’t get on the car seat. I’ll just have to get him home to change him. We got home okay and the kids are all clean, feed and happy watching television. I’m calming down and looking forward to John coming home and….. oh, no!!! I’ve forgotten to buy the fruit and vegetables!!! What’s for dinner??

xx S.

Jumping to Conclusions!!

Thanks for the Comments and Emails from all my friends who were jumping to conclusions!! Okay, yes, the baby news you have been waiting for is coming.....

It's not all that exciting (well the first part isn't, but I personally think the second part is)... I am NOT pregnant (I think). After over a week of tiredness, morning sickness-type symptons and the fact that I am 'late', the little stick points to negative. It appears I'm NOT pregnant. This is the second time in the past year I've suspected I might be and I'm not. Oh well, it would be nice either way.

Sorry to cause so much suspence!

Secondly and most fantastically, my sister-in-law, who has been trying almost since she was married, is EXPECTING!! (A couple of you already know, but I think this is totally blog-worthy!) Her pregnancy was confirmed FIVE YEARS (to the day) from when they decided to start trying!!! How exciting is THAT for her?? There have been heaps of tears of joy in the family for her and now my children won't be the youngest grandchildren!!

My sister-in-law is in her late thirties, so I guess the obsticles are higher as you get older. It's still early days, but we are all here for her and enjoying the news. This bub will be the first in our family since losing my nephew in 2004, so I think we are in for a bit of emotion along the way, too.

Not what you were expecting, but still great news, huh?

xx S.

Babies - I Love 'Em!

My friend Toni has just had a baby girl! *sings* It's a baby, it's a baby, a lovely baby!!

I am going to visit her and little Baby Faith this afternoon and I can't wait!! I am so proud of Toni. This is Toni & I last year. (Yep, I know the title is grammatically incorrect, but I like it!)

Can't WAIT to meet Faith and give Toni all the goodies I've been putting away for her over the past months!!

....and, who knows.... there may be more baby news on the way too!!

xx S.