Catching up

Gosh I can't believe it's been a week. I've been working like crazy. Mainly because I now have a bit of time off from work, which I have really looked forward to being that work has been, well "trying" in recent months, would be the apt word. So rest and relaxation for me, and trying to finish up some projects.

Miss B's quilt top did get finished and last Wednesday I had to go to Melbourne for some training so on the way back I dropped it in at the lady who quilts it for me. Yes that's my dirty nasty little secret, I don't do my own quilting. I just make the tops and bottoms. She said it will be ready the first week in October, so that's a weight off my shoulders, just have to put the border on and it's done.

I'm also on the home straight in another secret project I have going on. More later.

Then I decided that I needed to make calendars for Christmas gifts. Where the heck I got that notion from I'll never know, just what I need, more projects! But I'm gathering up the layouts I've done recently of my nieces and nephews and associated families to put on calendars for them. But then of course I realised I hadn't done as many pages of each respective family as I thought I had done. I thought I'd at least done 12 of each family but obviously not. So now I need to pop a few pages together to call both calendars done.

I knew I'd taken some family shots of my brother last Easter when they visited and we went for a picnic down at the lake. Perfect! Except they weren't quite as perfect as I remembered, when I looked back at them more closely. I think I should put you through the pain I went through trying to snap "the one"! It didn't help that Uncle Michael was making faces behind me as I snapped.

So how to get the perfect family photograph? CHEAT! That's how. Check out the last two photographs when looking at the below page. :-)

Credits here

And after all that, I realised I dated the page 2009 instead of 2010.

Arrrrgggghhh!

Aaaaarrrgggghhhhh!!!!

I'm on the home straight, a race against time, to get this quilt finished for Miss B for her birthday at the start of November. I had 2 more borders to sew on. The end was in sight.

I was screaming along.

Faster and faster.

Nothing could stop me- I was one with the sewing machine, okay that sounds a bit tragic, but you know what I mean.

Too fast.

Until ...

WHACK!

I hit a pin and snapped the needle clear in half.

I cursed and screamed and well yes, I nearly had a little cry when I realised I have no spare sewing machine needles.

Two more borders, that's all I had to go. So a trip out to Spotlight tomorrow is in order, which I wasn't planning to go out there considering it takes a huge chunk out of my lunch break since it moved out of town.

I am defeated.

So I went through my pretty pages, well I think they are pretty any way, to find one I haven't put on my blog. My stepdaughter and her Aunty (my sister-in-law, Mike's sister). This will be one I'll put away for Miss T's album for when she's 21. Oh I have the big birthday presents planned haven't I?

I loved this night, it was my sister-in-law's surprise 40th birthday party. So much fun. We'd been down for lunch and late afternoon we "left" except we didn't, we hung around town and came back for the surprise party with about 50 of her friends. Fantastic fun.

Made with the fabulous Smitten kit by creashens. Superb colours, go check it out.

So that's what has kept me so busy

This is what has kept me so busy this past week. I did the album in 5 days, surely a record for me at least. This is a book that my sister-in-law asked me to put together for her mum for Christmas.

I used Lynn Grieveson's My Windows Travel Album for the template throughout (having altered a few pages so that a certain number of photographs would fit), and decorated it with Vinnie Pearce's Journey Back collection. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Some of the photos were old and discoloured so I did a bit of touching up. I really hope Kim likes it.So one project finished, so many more to go!

Oh, and the special something I was going to last night, was my youngest stepson's surprise 16th birthday party. Considering his birthday was a week previous, it certainly was a big surprise for him. I got some great shots!! (to be scrapped, but of course).

Kims family book

Click here to view this photo book larger

I have scrapped my heart out

And now I've finished. Saturday afternoon till this morning, I've finished Kim's photobook. 31 pages. Done. I'm exhausted. I'm all scrapped out. The order went in this evening.

Now back to Miss B's quilt and a surprise I'm making for a certain someone, not to mention Mr. W's book and the calendars I was wanting to make for Christmas. Soooo many projects, so little time.

Had a busy time of it this week. There was a bit of this happening when my brother's family came last Saturday ...

Don't you love the cookies I made for the boys, jaffa noses, mini M&M eyes and red icing smiles (although just quietly they ate the ones Mike decorated first with fangs, hmmmph) ...

I've been well and truly spoilt this past week. I actually had no idea Mike had ordered a cake, to be honest my brother coming down was "just a visit", even though I was making a nice lunch for us all. The cookies were to be the dessert. When Mike and Wes disappeared straight after lunch saying they'll be back in a little while, I was hopping mad and boy did I give Mike "the eye" as he was pulling out of the driveway. I was about to bring out my special cookies. Only to have them reappear a few minutes later from the bakery in town with the cake. How big did I feel?

Did you happen to realise that last week was 8.9.10 for us Aussie's and some other parts of the world that don't say the date backwards. Of course the scrapper in me couldn't let the day go past, I even woke Lucky up from a snooze on the couch so Mike could capture a photograph on the day too (that's a yawn, not a smile!!)

I'm definitely not a busy pattern scrapper, but I kind of like this, way out of my comfort zone. Using the new Dwell kit by creashens, and how cool is that new font I found, Jellyka Cutty Cupcakes.

Credits here.

End of the week tomorrow, thank goodness. I have something special to do tomorrow night, will be back with the details after it has happened. How secret squirrel is that ?!?!

Another weekend come and gone

I hope you've had an enjoyable weekend as I have. My brother, sister-in-law and my two new nephews came down on Saturday for a visit. I wonder if I'll always call them my "new nephews", the phrase has just kind of stuck. I have to hand it to my sister-in-law, she certainly is getting my brother down here to visit.

As happens when people live a little way aways, it's nothing for me to travel a couple of hours to Geelong to see family, but oh, when the tables are turned, it's like ... what? you expect me to go all that way in a day? In the first say 6 years that I was with Mike from when we met, I could roughly say my brother had only visited here about 2 (at the most 3) times. But since Kim and the boys have been in his life for a year or two, he's been here double what he'd had before.

And it's so much fun, the boys love playing with Molly and Lucky. Well what's not to love, when Molly lays on her back for the obligatory tummy rub and young Matthew diligently sits there rubbing her tummy for 10 minutes non-stop! ha.

But there were tears too. Mike decided it would be fun for the boys to play with magnet, lets see what they can pick up, what they stick to, etc. Now these magnets he had were so strong that holding one under the dining room table it was attracting the other on the table surface. Boys will be boys and because Mike has an earring young David wanted to see what he would look like so Mike (who should have known better) puts one magnet on one side of his ear lobe and one on the other. Can you guess where I'm heading with this? The attraction was so strong that before he could do anything else SNAP! the magnets squished poor David's ear.

Well as a 12 year old he didn't want to be seen to be crying in front of us so he just put his head down and was silent. It wasn't until I saw him shaking and a river of tears literally dripping from his face onto the table that I realised just how much he was hurting. Frozen peas to the rescue. I had him laughing after that.

I will tell you this, the kids wear me out, there was a bit of a nap on the couch after they left.

Kim has asked me to put together a scrapbook album for her mum for Christmas. I don't know if Kim understands just how long it takes. Templates to the rescue! I'm using a terrific Lynn Grieveson template pack - My Windows Travel Album, really good for a coordinated look. I've teamed it up with a bit of a splurge with Vinnie Pearce's Journey Back collection. Absolutely delicious colour combinations.

So could I call this a scrap-a-thon this weekend? Kim only gave me the cd of photos when they were here and they left about 3.30 so I didn't scrap until after then (after the nap!! te he) and as of now I've just finished (prepare to be impressed) page number 21!!! Kim has made it easy, she's numbered all the photos, put down what should go on which page and what journalling, so all I'm doing is cleaning up some of the photos, plonking them on, a bit of decoration and wham, page done. Yep, in a situation like this templates rock!

Another AAM page to show you. This one was to document what you think you are good at. Gosh that was a hard one, it's hard to blow your own trumpet, so to speak. And of course being that one of my things is quilting, I wanted my page to look like a quilt :-)

All products Designer Digitals.

Time for bed, Molly is at my side here laying on the floor dreaming, probably about chasing cats, her paws are twitching like she's running, I ought to record it one day, she's so funny. G'night.

Weighty issues

Okay, I'm going on record. I'm currently doing Lite n Easy and absolutely loving it. Except I'm only getting dinners and lunches during the week. Apparently they don't do fresh to the country areas. No matter. I've been doing it for 2 weeks now and have enjoyed every meal I've had. Plus lost 1.5kg to boot. Can't complain at that.

What I have been complaining about is my scales. I had stupid scales, actually they were probably Mike's scales from way before he met me. And I swear the foot area is so small that your feet near on hang over the top and bottom. So they've probably been giving false readings all this time - yes your body weighs this, but your right toe isn't included in the weight.

So Harris Scarfe was having a sale and I bought some you beaut weight watcher digital scales, they not only give your weight, but your BMI, bone density, water something or other and other things as well. Plus you key in your details so you don't have to keep telling it how tall you are, your age, etc.

That stopped me in my tracks.

KEY IN MY DETAILS? I sweated at that thought.

I am a firm believer that there are some things in a marriage that must remain secret. Mike does not, I repeat NOT, need to know how much I weigh. It's kind of like the mysteries of the content of a handbag. He doesn't understand that either. Only when I read the instruction book further did I realise it only remembers that I'm female, that I am whatever I am tall, and I'm 40-something. Okay so I put my correct age in. The scales won't tell will they?

1.5 kg. Yay for me.

Onto the scrapping front, my friend Esther has in the past delved into facebook for some scrapping fodder. So I've done the same. A great photograph on my stepson's facebook will be perfect for the book I'm putting together for his 21st birthday. 21 ... sigh. How did that happen? He wasn't even a teenager when we first met.

Goodies all from Designer Digitals.

What a sad and sorry state

I would never usually discuss politics in a blog post, this blog is way too airy fairy for that, but tonight I must. What a sad and sorry state our nation is in tonight. That the election that, to coin a phrase, that "we the people" were to vote for a political leader, ended up being decided on by a handful of independents.

Now I'm not for one party or the other. To be honest I don't mind admitting I voted Indpendent this year. Independent I thought was just that. Independent. Neither wanting Labor or Liberal. This whole preference thing just sucks. And if we must have to go down the preference path, surely ... SURELY ... that each person standing should be made to make their preferences known before the election is held. And not be sold out to the highest bidder who will feather their own backyard or their own electoral nest more comfortably than the other party would.

That would then be the fairer way for the people to vote, so they knew exactly in which corner their vote was being cast.

And that's all I will say on the matter.

Onto a much more happy note, scrapping, ahhhhh. :-) I have mentioned once or twice or maybe about 50 times, that we've been doing a bit of renovating here. Slowly (very slowly) but surely. Earlier on this year we decided the chimney was not worth saving. It was cracking and on a lean and far too dangerous to leave standing, particularly as it was blocked and not being used, the fireplace in the bedroom being decoration now only.

So once the decision was made it came crumbling (and I mean crumbling) down. Take a look.

Although we now have half a chimney in its place. Mike thought it would make a great talking piece. Men! This chapter of the reno work has not finished, let me tell you.

Sharon of [ksharonkdesigns] fame has some great Simple Sets, when you want to get a page done quick, add a bit of journalling and embellishments and call it done. This page used Simple Set #72. Go check it out. I turned this one on its side for a different look.

Over and out.

Building an ark

We're just about at the stage of building an ark down this neck of the woods. The rain hasn't stopped and at times it's been torrential. Last night it was blowing a gale too and oh about 10pm we were watching telly and the power kept going out. Only for about 15 seconds or so and come back on. But I got sick of fixing the clocks every time! This happened randomly over the next half hour about 8 to 10 times. Then 10.30pm it went out completely.

So out came the candles, oh and Mike had his miners light on his head, very original! It's so strange looking out the front window and seeing the street in complete darkness. So we sat there a while and then decided we may as well go to bed. Making sure first that all the switches were off ... except we forgot one ... the bedroom. So just after midnight when the power came back on, whack! Bright light in the bedroom waking me up. Mike however would sleep through anything.

So this morning we're ready for our Sunday morning viewing of The Insiders. Strange but true, I like this Sunday morning breakfast ritual of ours. And no Channel 2. No SBS. No 7 or 10. We could only get 9. We've since found out that the repeater station has come down so we are now left with only one TV station. 60 minutes will score big in the country ratings in this town tonight! ha. Obviously channel 9 have their own repeater station and that was left okay by the storm.

My poor garden is being pummelled. Well it got pummelled earlier in the week when Molly decided to lay in it, squishing all my plants in that area. So Lucky decides to get in on the act and all the pretty coloured ranuncula's, he has deheaded. Little rascals. Okay so I said more than "little rascals" I will admit. They were banished to the backyard when Mike found their reign of terror. So once this rain stops one of these days, I will get back out there and refix my garden. Although with this rain all the stock flowers are just about laying flat.

Roadside Designs is guesting at Sugar Hill at the moment and she created this amongst other templates for that purpose. I just had to scrap this series of photos, young Matthew my nephew is such a character and loves hats. On a recent visit down here he decided to try on every hat we could find and of course be photographed (which he will live to regret when he's older I'm sure) particularly wearing my purple shower cap!!! Yes, I tell the truth, that *IS* my showercap. Fabulous isn't it? Given to me by a friend who obviously knows my personality perfectly. :-)

I've revisited the Reasons kit by creashens which has such great colours which I think look smashing with these B&W photographs.

Well the rain is still coming down so better go stoke up the fire and batten down the hatches.