girl talk

... and another month gone .....

2010-07-26T23:04:00.002+10:00

Good blimey ..... and another month bites the dust!

It's just crazy how quickly this month is flying by.

Gave my blog a bit of a makeover today ....

Will be back soon to share some pics or our latest happenings & LO's from scrap camp on the weekend.

Stay tuned ....

cheers,
Julie :O)

Before another month is gone .....

2010-06-28T19:51:00.011+10:00

A quick post before another month comes to an end.

Normality is returning to our house with Mark back at work and the leg is going well ..... Dad is making progress each week, allbeit tiny steps but going in the right direction which is all that counts ..... is makes me smile to see him winning the battle and a little glimpse of his old self returning.

I am also happy that i have found some time to scrap and have some creations to share ...

Blake's 12th Birthday Laser Skirmish Party at Maitland Goal (i have another large group photo so i think i will do another page to create a double LO for this one).

Some old photos (pre owning a digital camera) from camping at Christmas in 2002

Love these photos of Blake .... taken earlier this year at the Maratime Museum, Darling Harbour.

a typical summer's day living at the lake

My nephew Jacob and his gorgeous blue eyes

The LO above & below are done with the gorgeous new Core Impressions Cardstock which Karen has in stock at SCRAPBOOK'n'BiTS .... a little sanding creates an awesome effect ... i am totally addicted to this stuff!

My niece Jessica .... this LO was accepted for Publicatin with SM but i didn't get around to sending it .... not to worry .... just as happy to share it with my blog friends!

I have also just realised that i haven't taken photos and/or shared the project from my workshop at the SnB Retreat in May ..... will do for next time.

Hope everyone is staying warm as the weather heads into Winter ....

Keep smiling,
JULIE :o)

THIRTEEN YEARS ....

2010-06-07T19:42:00.004+10:00

Today is our Wedding Anniversary .... 13 Years !

We were married on the June long weekend 1997 and we eloped .... well sort of .... Mum & Dad came to the ceremony with us .... then we headed off for a few days honeymooning and told all of our relative & friends etc when we got home that the wedding we had planned was off ..... cause we were already married !!

Mark wasn't rostered to work today, i took the day off and we had a lovely day out together .... some more shopping for the house, then out to lunch on the harbour at Newcastle ... we went to Scratchley's (which is actually where we had our little wedding meal/celebration before heading off on our honeymoon travels).

It was lovely to spend a day together ... just us .... remembering, laughing and enjoying our special day ..... hopefully many more to come !!

The end of another week .....

2010-06-04T08:22:00.002+10:00

I know we keep saying it but here's another week gone which mean another year rushing by ...

We are back to our normal busy selves .... Mark went back to work this week. His leg is going well. He is still doing hydrotherapy and lots of physio excercises .... basically it is now about continuing this to re-strengthen & stretch etc to get things working as normal.

Blake is finished his half yearly exams and starting to get his results back in drips & drabs .... all very good so far ... very proud of him!

I have been in major "clean out & de-clutter mode" ... we have gotten rid of soooo much stuff that has been shuffled from one nook & cranny in the house to the other ..... sent about 9 garbage bags of clothes to St Vinnies, 3 bags of shoes, shredded and got rid of 3 bags of old paperwork ..... i am about to start on the linen press & then our study/spare room! It is a great feeling and definately makes for a different feel in the house. We have also been doing some re-decorating (which is probably what inspired the clean out) ... our family room is all but finished, we have a new dining setting & now want to start on the front loungeroom ... i love playing and changing things in the house!

Haven't done any scrapping since returning from the retreat but hoping that will start again now that life is a little more normal!
But that doesn't mean i haven't been shopping .... Karen has lots of new yummy things arrived & arriving over at SnB and i'm particularly impressed with the new LeChateau range from Kaiser ... the papers are lovely and little bird cages and embellies are gorgeous .... take a peek HERE

Looks like we are in for a stint of wet weather .... have a great weekend everyone!

Julie x

Getting back on track ....

2010-05-18T21:12:00.003+10:00

It would be an understatement to say that things have been a little hectic of late .... but finally it feels like things are starting to "pan out" a little.

Mark had his plaster off last week (after 6 weeks) and is now flat out with physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and lots of daily excercises etc. etc. to get him "up & going" again. He is walking/hobbling around ok and as of today is only using 1 crutch. Just having him somewhat mobile is great for all of us!

Dad is improving allbeit very slowly and any improvement is a real blessing. Hoping the next week or two will make a big difference and a little bit of normality return for him and mum.

Mother's Day was pretty low key .... i had a lovely morning out & lunch with Blake & Mark then we caught up with my Mum later in the night with a cake for supper ..... along with her Birthday celebrations, we'll put things on hold until Dad is well and all celebrate together.

Last weekend was a welcomed break from the chaos and a wonderful time with a great bunch of ladies at the Scrabook'n'Bits retreat ..... 3 whole days .... bliss!

I did actually get a few LO's done and hosted 2 workshops ... i haven't taken photos yet but will share soon.

Well ... it's beginning to feel a lot like Winter .... love the cold weather!

Have a great week everyone.

Keep smiling .....
Julie x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

2010-05-02T23:30:00.004+10:00

This wonderful amazing caring woman aka my Mum had a birthday this weekend

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM !!

We had a very low key birthday cake afternoon tea and plan to have a celebration soon when Dad is well enough to join in .... then it will be even more reason to celebrate !

Busy time ...

2010-04-15T20:34:00.007+10:00

The school hols are nearly over and to us they have past in a blur .... we have done nothing but been sooo busy IYKWIM.

Basically i have run between work, home & doctors/specialists.

Today Mark had his stitches out
(Warning: picture below may a little stomach turning)

This means a small amount of progress as now he can shower without having to wrap his leg in a plastic bag and leave it hanging out the door.

and he can rest it for periods without the plaster on.

Another 2.5 week and the plaster comes off for good, the the physio etc starts .... hopefully walking again in approx 6 weeks!

On the scrapping front ..... i can share a peek at the project i have completed for the workshop at the upcoming SnB Retreat

Had lots of fun with this little creation .... including some papertowel mache .... can't say anymore ....

Have a great weekend,

Julie :O)

Hospital Easter

2010-04-05T21:35:00.002+10:00

We had a very busy Easter ... but not doing normal fun Easter things like camping, etc .... we spent it at the hospital!

Mark ruptured his Archilles Tendon ... Surgery was done Saturday night and now approx 8 weeks laid up and then the road to recovery !!

Other than our trip to New Zealand, i just can't believe the dramas and bad luck that have plagued us since the beginning of 2010 ..... i truly hope things turn around from here .... just about ready to tear my hair out [sigh] !!

NEW ZEALAND - Part 2

2010-03-26T21:29:00.028+11:00

So where was i .....

After spending a few night in Queenstown we headed across to the east cost to Dunedin where we had booked in to do a tour of the Cadbury Factory.

Sadly, I don't have any pics cause we weren't allowed to take cameras in ... but i can tell you that we had lots of fun, it was all very interesting and we collected lots of treats and did lots of taste testing along the way ... not to mention the shopping spree in the chocolate shop at the end !!

The we headed up the coast and along the way stopped at the Maeraki Boulders ....
it was blowing a gale but down on the beach was very pleasant and all quite interesting. The large boulders have basically eroded over the years into giant stone balls .... the almost look as though someone has just dropped them along the beach !

We spent a night at Oamaru which was simply a stopover making our way back to Christchurch.

The next day on the way to Christchurch we made another treat stop ...

We arrived at Christchurch and settled in at our beautiful accommodation ... this was the only accommodation we had pre-booked from home and were looking forward to our stay. The new Novotel on Cathedral Square which only opened 2 months ago is just beautiful and the view out of our window was awesome ...

In the night we had a bit of a wonder around and took some pics ... the Cathedral of a night is just beautiful (and that is our accommodation you can see standing tall to the left - our room was the end room on the right, second floor from the top).

Then when we got back to our room, the night view was pretty awesome too ...

The following day we jumped on a tram and did a bit of a loop of sightseeing around the city, went to some crafty markets and visited the Cathedral. Everything inside was just beauty on a grand scale ...

Blake wrote a prayer request for the next mass for Pop (my dad who is not well at the moment) and lit a candle.

After a rest in the afternoon we headed out on an evening bus trip to Willow Bank Nature Reserve & KoTane Maori Village.

Our tour guide was walking us through the Maori Village and telling the Maori myth of how their land was formed and about the culture etc when all of a sudden (without knowing) we were part of a Maori re-inactment and a supposed foreign tribe threatening their village and out of bushes came Maori warriors with their weapons and Maori chants .... needless to say it scared the sh** out of us !!

Then they gathered around and out come their Chief (i think that's what he is called ... no disrespect to any NZ'ers if i've got it wrong)

After a bit if a ritual, laying a leaf and touching foreheads/noses it was determined that we came in peace and were invited into their little village for some Haaka entertainment etc.

Before performing their Haaka, Blake was one of the males chosen to learn/perform a Haaka with them ...

Then it was time for the real deal ...

They are so passionate when peforming their Haaka .... and although it was a friendly welcoming thing .... i was almost certain at times they were swearing at us !! LOL !!

It was all well put together and very enjoyable.

After the show we done a twilight guided tour of the nature reserve including a Kiwi Encounter (this was the highlight of Blake's holiday). They really are unusually cute little things. We don't have any photos to share as you are not allowed to use flash photography and whilst i tried without the flash, it was just too dark to get a photo.

The next morning we were up bright and early and on the bus for our 'Grand Tour' of Christchurch.

We visited beautiful parks/gardens

There are lots of beautiful parks/gardens around Christchurch ... in fact, we found along all of our travels their towns, parks etc. are very well maintained and beautifully presented. Hagley Park & Botannic Gardens in Christchurch is huge (apparently the 3rd largest park in the world!)

We enjoyed very relaxing punting along the Avon River ...

We visited lookouts, Lyttelton Harbour,went up in the Gondola and stopped by the seaside at Sumner for lunch.

This photo was taken in front of Cave Rock which was formed from volcano lava.

The following day (the last day of our holiday) we visited the International Antartic Centre.

Along with lots of educational information there was fun things to experience about the Antartic ... including the indoor snow & ice polar room. Every half hour is a simulated antartic storm where the wind reaches peak condition and the chill factor goes to -18 degrees celsius.

As a treat, we arranged a personal behind the scenes tour/encounter with the Little Blue Penguins (basically the same as our Fairy Penguins).

All 25 of these cute little characters have been rescued and have some sort of permanent injury/disablity caused by predators, boat propellers etc. Ranging from missing limbs, broken beaks, paralised flippers and even one special little Penguin named 'Elvis' who is blind.

The next morning we were up at 3am, at the airport for 4am and on the plane at 6am flying home.

We had a great holiday and plan to go back next year and do the North Island as well .... but as the say ..... "there's no place like home" !!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,
Julie :O)

NEW ZEALAND

2010-03-21T20:31:00.025+11:00

We're home from our holiday and madly trying to get unpacked, organised etc. before returning to "real life" of work, school etc.

So whilst i have time and all is still fresh in my brain, i'll share lots (and i mean LOTS) of pics ....

This holiday was originally booked for our family for DH's 40th Birthday ... he changed jobs last year and therefore wasn't able to arrange leave, so, my sister Karen (with my niece & nephew) made arrangements to join us for what was to become our little New Zealand adventure!

So we were up very early on Tues morning and travelled to Sydney to catch the plane. Our flight was brought forward so going through all the airport criteria was rush, rush, rush and then straight onto the plane ...

The flight was good and before we knew it we had landed in Christchurch. Went through all the airport stuff once again then off to pick up our hire car.

Within an hour or so we were on the road .... first stop Lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo is just stunning .... picture perfect like a postcard!

The next day we travelled to Mount Cook. Along the way was Lake Phukaki .... once again, just stunning.

We stopped at the little airport on the way out to Mt Cook as this is where we did our scenic helicopter flight from.

Our flight took us up onto Mt Cook where we landed in snow ...

On the way back we had the most gorgeous aerial view of Lake Phukaki ...

At the base of Mount Cook we visited the Edmund Hillary Centre which had lots of museum articles and a 3d theatre, plus a great opportunity for some photos and fun with the kids ...

From Mt Cook we had planned to travel to Wanaka and stay the night; however, our road trip bordered on disaster when we found ourselves stranded in almost the middle of nowhere with the fuel light on and the gauge reading "E" at a little town with one shop that was the local store, post office and everything else including a petrol bowser at the front ..... but they didn't actually have petrol .... [SCREEECH] ... We opted for the shortest distance to the next town which was 32km and rang Roadside Assistance to inform them of our dilemna and arranged that we would continue to drive as far as the car would take us and phone them when we came to a stop. We literally rolled down the hills and watched every km tick over .... and much to our amazement .... i don't know how but yes, we made it .... what a relief. We filled the petrol tank to the brim and worked out that there was possibly 1 litre of fuel left in the tank!! Needless to say, the tank was never below half for the rest of the holiday LOL !

Anyways .... after our little adventure we decided to push on to Queenstown and were all very weary and ready for some R&R upon arrival. Our accommodation (at Rydges) was beautiful and knowing we were staying in one place for a few days was a nice feeling.

We had a lovely outlook from our room ...

Queenstown is a really pretty & happening place .... we checked out lots of the local attractions and activities, and done our fair share of shopping.

We went up on the gondola ...

where you had panoramic views over Queenstown ...

Blake's favourite part was The Luge (he said this was like a cross between riding a bike & taboggan) ...

We all visited the 'Minus 5' bar ....

i had seen this on Getaway a few years ago .... everything is made of ice, the bar, the seats, all ice sculptures around the bar and even the glasses you drink out of (which you smash in a bucket on the way out). The kids thought it was such a treat drinking mocktails (only cocktails for the adults) in an ice bar .... it really was COOL in every sense of the word LOL!

OK .... i'm running out of typing stamina (and you're probably on overload by now) .... so i'll be back in the next day or so to continue with more pics and holiday adventures!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Julie :O)

A TEENAGER

2010-03-03T09:09:00.004+11:00

I can't believe it .... today my baby turns 13 .... a teenager.

Happy Birthday !

I will pop back in and do some more updating, pics etc .... Only 6 more sleeps 'til we go to New Zealand !

Back to School ...

2010-01-29T16:14:00.008+11:00

Today was back to school for Blake .... he was looking forward to his first day in Year 8.

Before heading off to school for the first day of the school year we always stop for a quick visit and photo with Nan & Pop ....

this year was quite a buzz with my niece (Jessica) starting high school (yesterday)

and nephew (Jacob) off to Kindergarten for his first day today.

So here we go for another school year ...

Now for a busy weekend covering books etc !

Me & My Boy ....

2010-01-28T21:58:00.003+11:00

We have a tradition of an outing of Blake's choice on the last day of school hols ... today it was just him and I cause DH was sleeping (shiftwork).

It was just a simple outing ... a bite to eat and the movies to see this

Not a bad movie ... the storyline is pretty basic with a few humerous parts & some catchy tunes.

It fills my heart to spend time with my 'soon to be 13 year old' boy, always my baby but growing up so fast. Don't know how much longer he'll be happy to hang out with his mum but for now i'll cherish whatever comes my way :O)

Need some retail therapy ???

2010-01-28T08:40:00.004+11:00

Here's a peak at some yummy things to tickle your taste buds ....

Lots of cute MAYA ROAD

Spunky GENERATION Z from LYB

and the always gorgeous PRIMA

Nothing like some new product to get the creative juices flowing!

Well, today is the last day of school holidays in our house. We are off to do our traditional 'last day before school' outing .... then back to routine tommorrow!

Keep smiling :O)

... so where was i ....

2010-01-20T12:25:00.014+11:00

Oh yes, more pics and chat about our school holiday activities.

Following our fab day at Nelson Bay, the next morning we were up bright and early (well actually, i'm not so sure about the bright, but we were up early LOL!) and headed off to Sydney (for the 2nd Sunday in a row).

Every year my sister (Karen) and i ponder over what to give each other's kids for Christmas ... which usually results in just exchanging money in cards .... this year we decided instead of presents/cash we would organise a day out together.

So off we went on our little day trip ..... we caught the train, then the ferry to Darling Harbour.

The weather was quite warm but certainly not complaining about a gorgeous sunny day on Sydney Harbour!

We visited the Maratime Museum and seen their current special exhibition of Mythical Creatures ...

and then walked through the rest of the musuem which has lots of interesting things

We had lunch and a bit of a wonder around (always so much to see with just the general 'goings on') and a bit photo play at the pier under the bridge (gotta take the opportunity whilst the kids are being co-operative)...

We spent the afternoon at Wildlife World. I love the butterfly enclosure there .... twice butterflies landed on the kids but i wasn't quick enough with the camer :O(

But the taking this photo in the spider section was a bit of fun !

What a great day ..... i love visiting Sydney!!

Needless to say after a big day/weekend and long train ride home we fell into bed and slept like logs!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their school hols ... can't believe we only have a little over 1 week left [eeeek]! All the school shopping (uniforms, shoes, stationery etc etc etc is all done ..... now just to squeeze the last bit of holiday mode out of the next few days before the routine starts again for another year!

Keep smiling :O)

Julie x

SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN !

2010-01-12T09:13:00.006+11:00

We have been busily enjoying the school holidays and lots of day trip activities.

Saturday with other friends/families we headed up to Nelson Bay. Firstly in the morning the kids and a few dads had a session of Battlezone Playlive laser skirmish. We have done this before (including Blake's birthday party last year) as they hold sessions at Maitland Gaol ... the kids (and big kids) love it !

Here is a pic of the group "hoo haaing" their chant before they set of into the bush for battle !

and the troups are off ...

Ready for action ...

After a couple of hours in the bush we then ventured into the bay and where a lovely shaded table beside the bbq was waiting for us and we spent the day (& early evening) by the waterfront. Lots of eating, drinking, swimming & relaxation ... perfect!!

The kids spent the whole day doing this ...

Sunday we were up bright and early and out for another full day of fun and adventure .... will be back soon to share some more pics!

Cheers,
Julie :O)

GOTTA LOVE A BARGAIN

2010-01-07T13:18:00.002+11:00

.... nothing like some bargain shopping to kickstart your scrapbooking in 2010 ... 40% OFF ... take a look HERE

GETTING ORGANISED ....

2010-01-06T22:43:00.005+11:00

Today Blake and i spent the day out shopping for 'back to school' .... all done and ready to return for Year 8.

We had planned to have brekkie at one of the cafes by the lake but left home a little later than originally planned so we done brunch instead ..... i love little outings like this with my boy. Have to make to most of it .... i know that the time will come when he busy hanging out with young girls not his dear old mum !! LOL!

I have done no scrapping over my Xmas/New Year break .... i really want to but just seemed to be busy doing nothing in particular and just didn't get into it.

Here are a couple of simple layouts i done before Christmas (sorry 'bout the poor photography) ...

Hopefully i'll get motivated and have more to share soon (or find some others in my stash that i haven't shared yet) he he !!

Enjoy the rest of your week !!

Julie :O)

A Day trip to Sydney ...

2010-01-03T20:58:00.005+11:00

Happy New Year to everyone ....

We had a very quite New Year's this year .... just a bbq tea with Mum & Dad and watching the clock 'til midnight to welcome 2010 before climbing into bed .... very uneventful but quite enjoyed it that way!!

Today we were up nice and early, on the train and down to Sydney/Darling Harbour for the day.

The weather was very ordinary but the rain pretty well held off and certainly didn't spoil our day; however, i didn't really get the chance to play with my new toy (camera) as much as i would have liked :O(

We went to the Imax Theatre and seen this in 3D:

AVATAR .... this is actually the 2nd time we have seen it but Blake was quite enthralled and given the amazing special effects & cinematography we figured seeing it at the Imax would be a real hit! We went with other family friends .... the boys just loved it. Blake advised on the way home he would like to go and see it again ..... i think twice is suffice but will definately get the DVD for him when it is released.

Back to Work tommorrow [sigh] ... back to reality.

Never mind, it has to happen 'sooner or later' .... although i will be having a few days off "here & there" over the school holidays and hoping the have the last week off.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Keep smiling :O)

Julie x

Better update before next year ....

2009-12-27T21:06:00.005+11:00

I can't believe how quickly the time passes ..... i'm always popping in to read everyone elses blog but rarely sit and take the time to update my own ... i really hope to improve this for 2010.

Although .... i did try and update back in Nov and blogger wouldn't co-operate, so in the end i just gave up.

I'll catch up in point form.

* Went to a concert in the vineyards with friends, atmasphere and company was fab but the main act (band) was very ordinary. At least the weather was kind and wasn't too hot.
* Had a wonderful weekend away with the girls at the Scrapbook'n'bits Retreat. Here is a pic of the layouts we created in my workshop.

* We attended a few parties in Dec for a 50th Wedding Anniversary & a 40th .... at both we caught up with old friends we haven't seen for quite a few years. Always great to catch up! 2010 will see lots of 40th birthday parties amongst our friends (but not me .... i have a little longer to go he he ) .... that will mean seeing lots of old friends and reminiscing!

* DH started a new job .... we are really happy with him being fortunate to get this opportunity .... now just to re-adjust to new rosters etc. It's all good!

* Blake finished his first year of high school .... hard to believe [sigh]. We attended his end of year awards ceremony and were very thrilled that he received 4 awards (3 being subject scholastic awards for being in top 5% of his year) ... very proud!

* Lots of Christmas Cheer and parties throughout December .... although i whinge about being so rediculously busy etc .... i really do love Christmas.

.... and then it was CHRISTMAS ....

We were all very spoilt and had a lovely day. Just hard to believe it is all over in the blink of an eye and another year rolls on.

I will share some photos soon (taken with my new Xmas present camera [wink]) ...

Well, here's hoping this post will upload (not like the last one).

Last but not least ..... to my beautiful niece (in the top LO above) .... sending birthday wishes for yesterday (26th Dec) ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! xx

Have a great new year's everyone. I hope 2010 brings you a year of happiness, good health and all your dreams come true :O)

Julie xx

Time for some Summer scrapp'n !!

2009-10-30T01:17:00.003+11:00

The weather is heating up and we're in the mood for some

SUMMER SCRAPP'N ...
COME & JOIN US !

Runnin' up that hill ....

2009-10-24T22:32:00.011+11:00

We are back into the school routine for the last term ... wow, Blake's first year of high school is almost over .... he'll be borrowing the keys to the car before we know it!! [screech] Now, that's a scary thought !!

The two weeks of school holidays were a lovely break from routine; however, my work schedule was more hectic than ever and my grand plan of having the first week off (DH had a week off also) so we could duck away in the van for a week sadly never came to fruitition [sigh] ... in fact i barely spent time at home and my days stretched out to near 12 hour days.

Not to worry .... i did manage 2 days off in the 2nd week and we spent time up at Nelson Bay. Such a gorgeous place ... only an hour from home but always feels like another world away!

Whilst there we went to the new 'Shark & Stingray Centre' ... what an awesome place. You can feed the sharks & stingrays from the side of the large pool or you can get in with them!! Yep, right in the thick of it all .... which is exactly what my guys did!!

You have a choice of wearing waders or a wet suit .... my guys chose to wear the waders over their clothes .... very attractive LOL!

Then it was into the water ..... (i probably should have mentioned that the stingrays are "de-barbed" so no danger apparently) ...

oh, and the sticks you can see in the photos are to feed them .... not to fend them off !! LOL !!

Then there was this rather large lady ... the photos really don't justify her size .... she was huge ... but harmless apparently ....

and i just had to include this next photo he he cause if you didn't know any better, you'd think Blake was about to be eaten !!!

It truly was a great experience ... my guys just loved it but next time plan to wear a wet suit so they can get a little more "up close & personal" ..... i think i'll volunteer for camera duty again LOL!

The weather has really started to warm up this week and whilst i am not a fan of hot weather i do love long pleasant afternoons.

On Thursday afternoon we headed to the waterfront and enjoyed some fish & chips for tea.

The boys kicked the ball around the park for a while and as the sun went down it was time for home.

We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place!

and before i go ... just a quick reminisce .... this weekend 12 months ago we arrived home from our holiday in America .... wow, there's that 'time flying by' thing again!!

This weekend is very laid back with no plans & nowhere we need to be ... hope you are enjoying your weekend too!!

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

... and 3 months later

2009-09-30T21:09:00.012+10:00

WOW .... i can't believe it has been almost 3 months since i updated. Where has the time gone? Why does it feel like it is getting faster? Why do i feel like each week is geting busier? Actually .... crazy busy??!

I've even had to grab my diary so i can recap ...

Rewind to July ...

Just after my last post we jumped on a plane (my sister & I and the kids) and flew up to QLD to meet up with Mum & Dad (who had been away travelling for some months) and we all spent a week together at Bribie Island. What a lovely place. Our units were fab and great position ... at the end of the main street and opposite the pier/waterfront ... Gorgeous!

We had a few days enjoying Bribie and a few days of outings. One outing was to Eumundi Markets and the Ginger Factory at Buderim (which now also incorporates the Super Bee). It was very interesting finding out about all sorts of things to do with ginger, the bee information session and the honey tasting. They also have an attraction called "Overboard" which is a boat ride through an animated 'Gingerbread Man' adventure ... too cute!

Upon returning home we 'hit the ground running' as August flew by with work, school excursions, hosting a trivia night for the local pre-school, and organising for our annual snow trip.

Our week in the snow was once again a fantastic time with 10 other families ... yep 40 of us !

Our first day on the snow was a bit of a shock to the system with almost "white-out" conditions ....

This certainly didn't stop everyone having a great time and the kids were super enthusiastic and energetic as usual. Blake learnt to snowboard this year and joined in on the action with DH!

After the first day the weather turned glorious .... beautiful clear skies, perfect snow weather (minus the snow IYKWIM .... LOL!!).

We came home from the snow and barely had time catch-up on everything, unpacked, washed and re-packed and headed off to Gloucester for a 3 day weekend. DH competed in an adventure race thing whilst i spent a few days relaxing. Although it was hectic going away again in such a short time, it was lovely to get away in our van as we hadn't used it for 18 months .... that's that 'time flying by' thing that i mentioned earlier!! I took my camera away but took not one photo [shock horror] ... i simply couldn't be bothered!

Since then we have had one other night away, i have hosted another Trivia Night, work has been busy busy, and everything else has been the usual hectic routine ..... i am soooo looking forward the the upcoming long weekend. We are not going away ... it will be lovely to have a few consecutive days at home ... !

School holidays start from this weekend too .... yipeeee !!

Oh ... and better not forget to mention that hideous dust storm we had last week ... how bizzaar ...

These pics are straight from the camera .... no tweaking (except for blanking the number plate on DH's car).
I took these pics at about 7.30am .... thank goodness it lifted as the day went on but what a mess was left behind. Then of course, just after we started to make headway with cleaning everything .... a repeat on Saturday (luckily no where near as heavy) .... grrrr .... my thoughts go out to anyone that lives in areas where this is a common occurrence .... it would drive me 'round the twist!!

Well that pretty much brings me back up to date again (a very condensed version anyway ... LOL).

Just before i go ..... a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH to the lovely Miss Jane !!

Promise i will try and be back before another 3 months passes he he ...

Keep smiling :O)

3 Weeks Worth!

2009-07-17T21:09:00.006+10:00

Gosh, i'm sure it gets faster every month .... the days fly, before you know it it is the end or start of another week, then a new month rolls around .... crazy!

It seems like forever since i've updated but feels like i just haven't had the chance to sit for half an hour and think about what i've been doing for the past 3 weeks and put it into words.

Two weekends ago my sister (Karen) and i went on a road trip to Tamworth and joined a fab bunch of ladies for a scrapbooking retreat. Met lots of new scrapbooking friends, had lots of laughs, experienced some good ole' fresh (or should i say freezing) country air, got a bit of scrapbooking done and generally had a great time.

Here are two of the LO's i completed:

This one was using items from my stash ... always good to find goodies that you forgot you even owned.

I love this new Cosmo Cricket Early Bird range ... particularly because it can be utilized for boy or girl LO's.

After a weekend away the "back to reality" swings into effect real fast .... we were all hanging out for the school hols and a break from exams, routines etc. This last term has seemed very long. But it all seemed wothwhile when Blake's school report arrived on Monday great results and pleasing comments. We are very proud of his achievements for his first (half) year at high school.

Next week we (my sister, myself and the kids) are flying up to Brisbane to meet up with Mum & Dad whom have been travelling for a few months .... will be great to see them and they are so looking forward to seeing the kids.

The following weekend is the BIG Scrapbook'n'Bits CYBER RETREAT WEEKEND .... check this out:

all the details are HERE

I will be hosting a workshop to create this little bit of cuteness ...

Have a great weekend ....

Keep smiling ....

JULIE x

Join us for Some Fun!

2009-06-24T22:30:00.003+10:00

All the details HERE

Hope you can join us for some fun!

But wait there's more .....

Something else is coming ....

Looks interesting heh ...... stay posted !!

SATURDAY

2009-06-13T13:17:00.003+10:00

I love Saturdays .... for me it signifies the end of another busy week and love waking up on Saturday morning knowing it is a day off (well if you disregard sport, washing, house cleaning and some Saturdays that i work), i love that is day one of a two day break and there is still another day to go .... i'm probably sounding a bit random so i'll leave it at that !! LOL!

But, yes i do love weekends and especially this weekend cause on Sunday this is where i'm spending my day ...

If you live in the Newcastle area and are looking for a scrapp'n day out .... come and join us.

On a different note, the lovely Ceci has tagged me to participate in this little bit of fun .... so here goes ...

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. Weekends
2. Holidays
3. Family Time
4. Lunching with friends
5. Scrapbooking
6. Pay Day
7. Spare time to myself
8. Visiting the hairdressers

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Drove Blake to School
2. Went to Work
3. Drove to Newcastle
4. Gained some new clients
5. Went to a tupperware party
6. Drank lots of coffee
7. Had a blood test
8. Went to bed waaaay to late

8 Things I wish I could Do

1. Stick to a diet
2. Have an endless suppy of money
3. More Holidays
4. Buy a BMW
5. More time for scrapping
6. More Holidays
7. More hours in a day
8. More Holidays

8 Things Or Shows I've Watched Lately

1. Cold Case
2. Underbelly
3. The news
4. Today show
5. RPA
6. A Current Affair
7. Blogs
8. Emails

8 beautiful Blogs I am tagging....

Niq
Jolene
Cherie
Kell F
Kell C
Ness
Nat
Felicity

Have a great weekend everyone!

JULIE x

We Went Bush ...

2009-06-09T08:37:00.009+10:00

We're home from a fantastic weekend away with friends.

We travelled up past Eccleston to Tristania Tops and stayed in a farm cottage tucked away beside the Alwyn River ... aaaaah, nothing like good ol' fresh country air!

We all had a great time and especially the kids .... a whole weekend without television, playstations etc. .... just lots of bike riding, mud, boardgames, mud, a cool dip in the river (to wash off all the mud), lots of toasting marshmellows around the campfire, spotlighting, eating .... and .... throw in a bit more mud for good measure!! LOL!

Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend ....

Cheers,
JULIE x

I blinked and ....

2009-05-30T22:07:00.008+10:00

before you know it we are at the end of another month! Crazy!!

Other than trying to juggle the laundry in this very wet weather, i have been busy scrapping with lots of the yummy new Collage Press range recently arrived at SnB ... this range is just devine and i have looooved playing with it.

I can't reveal my projects yet, but will share a few sneak peeks with you (just promise you won't tell the boss! LOL!)

Tonight we had some friends pop over for a quick catch up and pizza for tea ... they got a bit of surprise when they were met at the front door by a nasty little critter .... a funnel web spider eeeek! We have popped it in a container and will take into the ambulance station in the morning (i've been tole this is what we should do??). Have never seen one of them around here before (actually i have only ever seen them at reptile parks etc in display cabinets) so i just hope he has lost his way and is just a stray ..... hope the rest of the family aren't hiding anywhere closeby !!

A few months ago i signed up to be part of a Round Robin Layout Swap organised by Kim Archer. The swap has been lots of fun with the layouts 'coming and going' and all of us adding our bits & pieces along the way. This week, my completed layout came home ...

Janelle, Jenny, Kerry & Mardi .... a BIG thankyou for my completed LO (i love it)! and also a BIG thanks to Kim for her organising ... it was great !

Hope you are all having a relaxing weekend ....

Cheers,
JULIE x

a few layouts ...

2009-05-20T18:19:00.005+10:00

Just a quick post tonight.

As mentioned, i did actually get a few layouts scrapped whilst away for the weekend and thought i would share .....

Counting down 'til the weekend ... a quite restful weekend!

One weary little scrapper ....

2009-05-18T23:00:00.010+10:00

Yes, i am one weary little scrapper !

I've just spent a wonderful 3 days/3nights full of scrapping, chatting and fun, fun, fun at the SnB Retreat with this wonderful bunch of ladies (well this is most of them - there a few missing) ...

Amongst the chatting & eating we did do lots of scrapping ...

did i mention we had a little bit of fun ...

i taught a workshop or two ...

We created this 'Moments in Time' album ...
(these are a few of the pages in the album)

and this quick layout ...

I also created some other layouts but haven't taken photos of them yet .... and .... you guess it ... i'm too weary to do tonight!! Will share tommorrow.

I got home from the Retreat yesterday afternoon and was in bed at 6.45pm (i think this may have been the result of way too many late nights not in bed before 1am and throw a 4.30am in there = 1 tired little scrapper!! LOL!) ....

Hope you all had a great weekend ...

Keep Smiling :O)

JULIE x

Holiday Planning ...

2009-05-11T16:57:00.002+10:00

We've been tossing up some holiday ideas for the past few weeks and there are some great deals going around at the moment.

Today we made up our mind ....

Guess where we're going ????

I say you've got to have something to work hard for ... the mortgage doesn't excite me that much!!

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day yesterday .... enjoy the rest of your week.

Keep smiling :O)

Julie x

T.G.I.F

2009-05-08T22:17:00.003+10:00

The end of another week and a much welcomed weekend begins!

Have been desperately fighting off a cold for the past few days .... scratchy throat, watery eyes etc. The old Betadine Throat Gargle is keeping things at bay (i swear by that stuff ... grosse and all as it is). I definately do not have time to get sick !

I have done sooo much scrapping in the last week or so but unfortunately can't share anything at this stage.

But, i do have to tell you that the most devine range arrived at SnB today ... it looks scrumptious on the site but is totally gorgeous in real life ... i think this is my favourite at the moment (he he ... until the next new shipment arrives !!)

If you want to see more ..... go HERE

I am planning a very relaxing weekend including of course our special day on Sunday ... Mother's Day. Hope you all have a lovely day and get to spend it with someone special!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE xx

WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN .....??

2009-05-02T09:27:00.002+10:00

If you'are looking for some Scrapbooking Fun to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day this weekend .... take a peek HERE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MUM !

2009-05-01T17:34:00.002+10:00

Today, the 1st of May is my Mum's birthday...

Unfortunately we don't get to spend her birthday with her 'cause her & Dad are off merrily travelling around the country side (lucky buggers LOL!) and are currently up in Queensland.

We are hoping to fly up and meet with them for a few days in Cairns (if the timing is right) ... so will have to delay the birthday celebrations for a few months.

Anyway ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM !!

TWIDDLEYBITZ GIVEAWAY

2009-05-01T08:30:00.004+10:00

Cool give away on the TWIDDLEYBITZ DT blog
Check it out, one person will win a whole box of goodies and 10 runners up will win one product each... go HERE for your chance to win!

A whole range of Twiddleybitz has just arrived at SRAPBOOKnBITS including the gorgeous new shimmer colour sprays. Check out some of them HERE

BACK TO SCHOOL

2009-04-28T20:52:00.004+10:00

Well, this morning brought about the end of lazy days without school routines, uniforms, lunches etc ..... it was the start of Term 2!
Tonight Blake was straight back into routine with homework, organising books for tomorrow etc .... here we go for another 10-11 weeks!

Now that daylight savings has finished the afternoons are getting shorter, the nights & mornings are getting cooler, my seasonal coffee drinking officially started yesterday (yes .... i only drink coffee in Winter/cool weather). Whilst i don't like the end of daylight savings .... i loooove the cooler weather. I love Winter fashion accessories - in particular scarves! I brought a gorgeous new scarf from a lovely little boutique whilst we were away at Easter .... mmm, will have to take a pic & share!

I have been 'scrapping my little fingers to the bone" ... ok, well maybe not quite that drastic LOL but certainly been busy.

Here are some sneek peeks of 2 projects i created which are now available through SCRAPBOOKnBITS. These are our new ... DIY KITS/CLASSES . The concept is to offer "budget conscious kits" with instructions to complete an example layout at your own leisure.

APRIL BOY KIT ... details HERE

APRIL GIRL KIT ... details HERE

Hope you have all had a good start to the week ... be back with some more shares soon.

Keep smiling :O)
JULIE x

EYE CANDY

2009-04-25T11:27:00.007+10:00

If you're making a wishlist for Mother's Day ... you gotta take a peek at these ...

Yummy scrummy gorgeous stuff has arrived at SnB over the past week.

CRATE PAPER range at the best prices ...

FANCY PANTS which is just devine ...

and remember the very cute shadow box i "show & telled" a few posts ago ...

Karen has put together some great kit options for Mother's Day ... all the details HERE

Have a great weekend everyone and remember to be very proud of all those men & women that fought to make our Country what it is today ... LEST WE FORGET!

MUM'S THE WORD

2009-04-23T14:44:00.003+10:00

Mother's Day is just around the corner .... the nights are getting cooler ... perfect opportunity to join us for some scrapbooking fun ....

Click HERE for all the details

A lovely getaway ....

2009-04-18T22:01:00.023+10:00

We're home from a lovely week away at South West Rocks.

Here is a photo overload of our activities.

The weather was very kind .... only 1 day of wet weather which wasn't a bother as a lazy day indoors was quite welcomed.

We had some lovely walks along the breakwall ...

Blake loved fishing ... The boys went out on a few fishing expeditions but mostly Blake loved fishing in the river/creek for Potty Mullet.

One of his catches was this tiny little Bream (how cute!)

and yes, of course it went back into the water!

We walked up to Smoky Cape Lighthouse ...
(wow, what a climb that was ... at least one week's worth of exercise i'd say LOL!)

We spent time at the beach ...

Ate ice-cream and watched the sun set over the headland ...

Mark went out sea fishing on a Charter Boat ...

We visited Trial Bay Jail ...

and here are some other random pics ...

all in all it was a full week but very relaxing (even snuck in some scrapbooking with a little kit i packed to play with whilst the boys were out fishing) ... the batteries are re-charged and i'm ready for back to reality on Monday (well as ready as i'll ever be LOL!!)

Hope the Easter Bunny was good to everyone and you enjoyed your Easter break.

Talk soon .... Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

Seeing double ....

2009-04-08T21:12:00.004+10:00

Bit of a random share ....

last night we had homemade hamburgers for tea and when i cracked the first egg into the pan it was a double yoker. Now i hadn't seen one of those for years ... i called Blake and showed him - he basically asked if it was faulty and could we still eat it !! LOL!
Well you wouldn't believe, i cracked the next egg and it too was a double yoker ... how uncanny!!
We went for a 'hat trick' with the third egg but it was a single ...
none the less it made cooking tea a little more interesting!

On the scrapping front i am still working my way through projects that i can't share yet but did manage to sneak in a "just cause i felt like it" LO .... i'm soooo in love with this Cosmo Cricket L'il Man range i wish it would never run out!

I also just love the photo of Blake ... one of those pics i could scrap over & over again (although this is the first time i have scrapped it) ...
he was 3 in this pic {sigh} .... that's 9 years ago ....
he's growing up waaay to fast!

Is everyone looking forward to the Easter break?
I certainly am .... lots of rest & scrapping i hope ..... oh,
and chocolate !! he he !!

Enjoy the rest of your week,
Keep Smiling :O)

Julie x

Another Weekend Gone!

2009-04-05T22:33:00.005+10:00

What a busy weekend! They go waaaay to quick ... but then again, maybe that is because we try and cram so much into 2 days [sigh].

Saturday i spent the day in Sydney with a few of the SnB girls ... up nice & early we hit the Freeway at 7.30am to attend a TwiddleyBitz workshop in Sydney.

We met the lovely Sherry, Nicole & Andrew and had some product play to create a shadow box. With inspiration from Sherry (thank you Sherry!!), the gorgeous kit & combining some yummy SnB products i designed by own creation as a gift for mum! Here 'tis:

Keep an eye out at SnB for lots of yummy TwiddleyBitz products on their way!

After getting home late yesterday afternoon i hit the ground running ... a quick freshen up & change of clothes then off to a friends place for tea.

This morning was a small sleep in .... changing back from Daylight Savings always mixes up the body clock a bit, then we spent the day boating out on the lake. Blake is so into the kneeboarding and just loving it .... i must take my camera out and get some pics (but a bit worried about it getting wet!)

Tonight i'm feeling a bit weary to say the least and i can hear my bed calling me.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Keep smiling :O)

APRIL

2009-04-02T08:39:00.004+11:00

Everyone is saying the same thing ... "how did we get to April so fast". Can you believe we are in the 4th Month .... i'm sure it gets quicker each year.

Last Sunday was the SnB Mega Crop Day. Was a fab day with a great bunch of women ... lots of creativity flowed and so did lots of chatting he he ... the free workshop was a real hit and it was great to see some of our new scrappers diving in at the deep end to create lovely layouts. I took my camera to take photos and at the end of the night when we were packing up it dawned on me that i hadn't even gotten the camera out of my bag ! Never mind .... there's always next time!!

Here is the LO we created at the free workshop

and with some of the leftovers (plus some fabric & lace .... one of my favourites at the moment) i created this layout

I'm really looking forward to the school hols .... we tend to drag the chain a little towards the end of school term and can't wait for a break from the routine.

Last week i attended a morning a Blake's school for 'Parents in the Classroom'. This was lots of fun and great to have an insight into High School Life. I attend Blake's first two lessons with him ... Music & Art. Didn't take any pics unfortunately as it gets a bit tricky with privacy and other kids in the photos etc.

Loving the cool change in the weather and looking forward to Winter (i think)!

Off to Sydney this weekend to attend an Embellishment Manufacturer's workshop ... hope to return with some nifty scrapping ideas.

Next event is the SCRAPBOOK'n'BITS RETREAT ... looking forward to my 3 days of uninterrupted scrapping bliss. Here is a sneak peak for the "Moments in Time" workshop i am hosting.

Hope you are all having a great week.

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

Just so you don't forget ...

2009-03-27T22:22:00.001+11:00

One last reminder ...

On the scrapbooking front ...

2009-03-19T22:39:00.006+11:00

I am working my way through lots of exciting projects to meet looming deadlines ... but here's a few i can now share.

Last week was the Bumper Summer Worskhop at SnB ... this was a lovely bright kit and included the gorgeous Prima stamp set. Lots of fun to play with and we completed 3 layouts ...

Only 10 more sleeps 'til this ...

This will be a great scrap day with a bunch of fun ladies. More details HERE

As mentioned ... there is an optional FREE WORKSHOP being held on the day. Here is a sneak peek of what we'll be creating:

You will be able to create the LO using items from your own stash, or budget kit will be available for purchase on the day (for approx $10). All details will be posted on the SnB forum in the next few days so you know what you'll need to bring!

That's all i can share for now ... hope everyone is having a great week!

I'm loving the weather at the moment .... sunny days and cool nights ... can't get much better than that!

Keep smiling :O)
JULIE x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK !

2009-03-16T23:20:00.009+11:00

The last birthday in our family this year ... and his last year in his 30's (much to his horror LOL!)

Yesterday we had a great boating day out with friends at the water

Even these little guys came to join in on the occasion!

Unfortunately one of those crazy storms whipped up and we had to pack up in an instant & cut our afternoon short .... not to worry, we'd had a great day anyway.

Even more crazy is that by the time we got home (about 2 mins down the road) it was all over and back to lovely weather again .... what the ??!

Mark & Blake continued their own fun at home .... what was meant to be washing down the boat & equipment turned into washing down Blake ...

which turned into throwing the sponge & soap suds at Dad ...

which turned into a good hose soaking ...

which turned into a full blown water fight ...

which turned into me taking refuge indoors !!! LOL!!! .... and no more photos!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Have got some LO's to share from the Bumper Summer Workshop over at SnB last week ... will share next post!

Keep smiling :O)

Julie x

Do you like ....

2009-03-12T20:57:00.005+11:00

blossoms & lace and all the pretty trimmings ??

well you'll love this .... take a peek HERE

MONDAY

2009-03-09T08:32:00.005+11:00

Another weekend past, the start of another week ... Monday again!

We had a fairly non-eventful weekend but was busy just the same. The usual things, grocery shopping, washing & ironing, cooking .... but it's not all bad, a Friday night crop was thrown in amongst the mix.

I have all but finished an album i seemed to have been working on forever [sigh] of our South Coast/Great Ocean Rd/Victoria/Broken Hill holiday from back in 2006 .... yes you read that correctly 2006! I am dying to start an album for our USA holiday but am determined to finish the other first. Will share some peaks when complete ... which will hopefully be this week.

If anyone is looking for a bit of motivation to complete a quick LO, i am currently hosting this month's EYE SPY CHALLENGE at SCRAPBOOKnBITS

Here is the LO Example i created (this is my Niece & Nephew and the LO will be donated to my sister for her album; hence, the title!).

More happenings on the scrapping front ..... if anyone is looking for a "scrapping" day out with a bunch of friendly like minded people, mark your calendar for the last Sunday of the month ...

More details HERE

Whatever you have on your agenda for this week, have fun doin' it!!

Keep smiling :O)

Julie x

TWELVE !

2009-03-03T14:56:00.012+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE !!

My baby is 12! eeeek!

Where has the time gone .....

from this

to this

On Sunday he had a laser skirmish birthday party at Maitland Gaol!

Him & his mates had an awesome time ...

even DH joined the fun (the biggest kid of all! LOL!!)

Afterwards we went across to the old courthouse park for some pizza & birthday cake to finish off a great afternoon!

... another Birthday celebration in 2 weeks for Mark's birthday, then our family is all done for another year!

Hope you're having a great week .... keep smiling :O)

Scrapping & more Birthdays!

2009-02-22T22:37:00.013+11:00

This weekend has been full of birthdays & scrapbooking .... certainly can't complain about that.

The 'Groovin in the Love Shack' CC at SnB has been buzzing with lots of fun over the weekend and the gallery is filling with lots of gorgeous creations from the challenges. Here is the sketch challenge i set and my example LO.

Yesterday i spent a whole un-interrupted lazy day at home scrapbooking .... geez it felt good!
Can't reveal all .... but can share this with you ...

More details HERE

Today we spent the morning furniture shopping ... more to the point, bedroom shopping for Blake's room. We are wanting to transform his room into more of a teenager's room and incorporate a desk for computer etc but have limited room space. Seen a few things that were 'food for thought' but will keep doing some groundwork on this one!

This afternoon we had a lovely time at our little Godson's 4th Birthday Pirate Party! How cute!

The Birthday Boy

What an awesome cake!

Nicholas with Blake

Happy Birthday Nick (for tommorrow, 23rd Feb) .... our little big 4 year old!!

Tommorrow is also one of my best girlfriend's birthdays ... her birthday has a 4 in it too !! LOL! More birthday celebrations tommorrow night!

Next weekend is Blake's Birthday Party .... he's counting down the days .... can't believe my baby will be 12!! eeek!

Last but not least .... can't help myself but share these yummy scrummy new CHA products arrived at SnB ...

Loooove this new My Minds Eye Range ... so funky & fresh!

As usual, lots of groovy little Maya Road items ... even better when it's part of the summer sale promo for this week!

Hope you have a great week ... as they say,
Be good and whatever you're doing, be good at it!!
Keep Smiling!
Julie :O)

Time gets away ...

2009-02-19T17:59:00.005+11:00

I had intended to return and post about my birthday, but as usual, got sidetracked and it's taken me a week to get back here (besides playing last night and changing the design).

Well .... i had a lovely day ...

The day started with happy birthday hugs & kisses from my boys (DH & DS) and receiving my present (which is the first time in i don't know how long that it wasn't a present that i had arranged or given specific instruction for - cause i'm so fussy according to DH - and as much as i hate to admit it he just might be right LOL!).

When i unwrapped it i was a little suprised (and worried) to find a box from the jewellers .... suprised that i was getting a jewellry gift, suprised 'cause i didn't think they'd go out on a limb to choose jewellry for me' ..... worried at what might be in the box ?? LOL!! Don't get me wrong .... i don't want to sound ungrateful ... but ... you know what i mean??!

Anyway .... much to my absolute suprise and i think my response was "WOW" ... wow that i loved it and wow that they had such good taste to choose something that i like so much .... this is what was in the box ...

The pendant is an egyptian stone with a gold swirly casing around the outside (that about my best effort of describing it!! LOL!) .... anyway, i really love it !

Furthermore, i went out to lunch with DH, then out to tea with about 20 friends. I received lots of beautiful gifts .... chocolates, beautiful bath products, books, beads, Kikki K stationery, pewter & bling angel book mark/clip with matching key ring, scratchies, a large raffia urn pot thingy (from Mum & Dad) that i had been wanting, and a few other bits & pieces. I felt very spoilt.

Two weeks to go and there will be another birthday in our house ... Blake is turning 12!
Then two weeks after that is Mark's birthday ... he is turning ??? (better not share that one !! LOL!).

On the scrapping front i have been very busy but nohting i can share yet.

If you are looking for some scrapping fun, tommorrow night you can join us for this:

GROVVIN' IN THE LOVE SHACK CYBERCOP
hosted by SnB DT Member JOLENE PIENAAR
for all the details, click HERE

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Keep smiling :O)

IT'S HERE !

2009-02-11T15:09:00.003+11:00

The first arrival from CHA 09' .... here is some of the gorgeous Cosmo Cricket that arrived at SCRAPBOOKnBITS yesterday

Yummo ... there's nothing like new products to get the scrapp'n motivation happening !! LOL!

Lots of scrapping happening here at the moment ... but can't share yet.

Oh yeah ... and today is my birthday ... will be back later to post about the lovely day i've had so far !!

Keep Smiling :O)

A little bit of scrappin'

2009-02-04T08:12:00.005+11:00

Well, we are settling into the high school routine nicely ... in fact, Blake is absolutely loving it.

He also loves catching the bus everyday, i guess that is another step towards independence ... we did have a small hitch on Monday morning when DH did his first 'bus run' and upon returning home realised that he may have put Blake on the wrong bus ... eeeeek !
To cut a long story short .... DH tried to find the bus at further bus stops but with no luck drove to the high school that he thought Blake was incorrectly being delivered to and i made phone calls to the bus company and schools .... yes, we found him .... yes he got to school safe & sound !! Just another funny story to add to the 'stories of life' !!

Whilst things seem as busy as ever, i have managed to do some scrapping ...

This LO i created for the lovely NESS ... a fun photo swap challenge over at SnB

Last night i hosted the Prima Panda Workshop ... here is the LO we created:

That's about all i can share at this stage .... the rest is secret squirrel stuff!

Hope you are having a great week.

Keep Smiling :O)

TODAY ...

2009-01-28T22:25:00.004+11:00

my baby started high school ..... eeeek!

Where did the last 6 years go .... it seems like yesterday we were out the front of the house taking those 1st day at school photos ...
Today it was 1st day at High School photos!

There were no nerves, he was very happy, keen & excited to be going ... i just hope his enthusiasm lasts for the next 6 years !! LOL!

He had a great day and is keen for tommorrow .... that's got to be a positive, RIGHT!

I hope everyone has settled into the start of the new school year.

Enjoy the rest of your week :O)

Lots of Scrapbooking

2009-01-25T23:28:00.012+11:00

First things first .... i have to mention from my last post that i had been chosen for the Proximity Award by the gorgeous NIQ too .... i hadn't realised this when i done the last post ... Thanks Niq, you're very kind !

Now to scrapping (this is a bit of a catch up) ... i had mentioned a few posts ago that instead of sending Xmas cards to our closest friends, i had intended to do them a calendar. This took a little bit of organising as i had to arrange photos from everyone and some were a little later than other coming through (but that's ok). Generally i got most of them done in time and i finished off the other few last week (better late than never!). Anyhow, the idea was to keep them simple (hence, time efficient) but as usaual some "fell into place" easier than others! Here's a share:

On the Layout scene ... i completed this LO for the 'scrap whispers' activity we had happening at SnB ...

Activities and challenges are always lots of fun, they're a great bunch of gals !

We've also had a photo swap happening .... i sent my LO back to NESS last Friday but won't share until she gets to peak first !!

and last but not least ... something i feel like i haven't done for such a long time .... a LO just for the fun of it:

Hope everyone has a fab day for Australia Day (and hope the weather is kind ... not too hot!!).

Keep smiling :O)

An Award & A Workshop

2009-01-21T10:45:00.004+11:00

I have chosen by the lovely JANE to receive this award:

This is called The Proximity Award."These blogs believe and invest in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their awards".

Thank you Jane !
I have lots of lovely blogging friends that are worthy of this award and so in fact that they have already been awarded ...
Therefore, to all who travel in the circle of blogging world friends .... comsider yourself awarded ! xx

I have enjoyed some spare time for scrapping over the past week and have mainly used the time to 'catch up' on photo swaps, challenges etc that i had committed to .... will share soon.

Furthermore i created my next workshop for SCRAPBOOKnBITS using scrumptious products from the PRIMA range.

All the details are HERE

Not long now and the school routine starts for another year ... hope the next week doesn't go too fast !

Keep smiling :O)

SUMMER DAYS

2009-01-15T22:38:00.004+11:00

Well the past few days has well & truly felt like Summer!

Blake has spent a few days with friends and yesterday afternoon i went to pick him up and spent the afternoon at the waterfront, fish & chips for tea and watching the kids squeeze in every last inch of fun as the sun was fading.

Looking forward to some Summer LO's with these pics:

Hope everyone is managing to stay cool.

SnB DT CALLOUT 2009

2009-01-14T09:27:00.003+11:00

If you'd like to be a DT Member and join a fab bunch of scrapbookers SCRAPBOOKnBITS have announced a position available on the Design Team.

Great incentives, Great products and Great fun!! Read all about it HERE

Good Luck !

REWIND ......

2009-01-05T21:06:00.017+11:00

Oh Boy, i have slipped so far behind ... and will now attempt a major catch-up from the end of 2008 so i can hopefully start afresh and more up-to-date with 2009.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas ... we certainly did, and a great New Year's too!

Sooo ... rewind to where i left off .... Nov 08':

The SCRAPBOOK'n'BITS retreat was a fantastic weekend ... lots of fun, great to catch up with friends (including some new ones). There was lots of scrapping and lots more talking and way too much eating thrown in amongst the mix! LOL!

I hosted a 'Make & Bake' workshop whereby be handmade buttons & embellishments and baked them. These were then used on the Journal book we made and little cupcake album. Here are some pics of my example projects:

The day after the retreat Blake left for his Yr6 Canberra Excursion ... there was a lot of anticipation and excitement for this excursion ... this is the grand finale of excursions that everyone looks forward to at the end of their primary school life [apparently] !!
We were at school at 6.15am ... bright & early, the kids were buzzing with excitement ready & raring to go!

Blake had a great time and even come home with all of his belongings i sent him with ... amazing!!

The excursions was followed by the end of year school Christmas Concert:

The funny things on their arms was part of the character for "7 Emus running" in an Aussie version of 'on the 12th Day of Xmas!

For me the concert wasn't just about the event on the night, it was a huge reflection on how quickly Blake's infant & primary years have flown with this being his last Concert and how it seemed like only yesterday he was one of the tiny Kindy kids doing their cute little act!

Our next event was getting down to the serious end of business ... the Year 6 Graduation & Farewell mass.

What a beautiful night (also a little sad and lots of reflecting once again). Blake was presented with his Graduation Certificate (a terrible pic i know but the lighting in the church just didn't agree with my camera) ...

and we as a family were presented with a commemorative candle (as this was our last year as a whole family with St Joseph's) which is a symbol of keeping our light burning brightly for the next phase of our journey .... a lovely touch!

Then there was "the last day"!
This is a very social day for the Yr6 kids and at the end of the day the whole school forms a circular guard of honour and the have a "clap out" ... everyone claps and cheers as the Yr6 kids make there way through and leave primary school for the very last time ...

Of course it was only appropriate to take a photo of Blake & one of his best mates, Matty!
This pair went to pre-school together, were the only two went from their pre-school to St Joseph's together and now they are off to high school together.

Here is a photo of their last day:

In comparison to their first day (photo a little hazy cause i cropped it from a LO photo).

and that was the end of the school events .... my little boy (who is now my big boy ... but will always be my baby) is now off to high school [sigh] !

With all the school events and Christmas parties, social events etc our poor old Christmas Tree only went up one week before Christmas [ooops] ... but at least we got to do our traditional little family night and we videod the ritual which i will add to my collect from previous years (we have done this every year since Blake was born and have a dvd going through the years of erecting & decorating the Christmas tree) ... mmm, there's that reflection thing again!!).

This year our new special decoration was all the way from Disneyland ... a 2008 Christmas Ball ... a token to remember our holiday!

As per tradition, Blake added the final touches which included our personalised Christmas balls that i handmade/handpainted way back on our first Christmas!

As i mentioned before, we had a great Chrissy, New Year's was lots of fun (with about 20+ friends coming to our house for lots of drink, food & Singstar fun!!)

In between all the madness, i did get some scrapping done ... i made calendars for our friends this year in place of sending them Christmas Cards ... here are a few pics:

So here we are at 2009 ... can you believe it!

If you are still reading this post, let along still visiting this sadly neglected blog .... thanks for popping by!

Have a great week, keep smiling :O)

Half way through another month ...

2008-11-19T23:06:00.003+11:00

I can't believe it has been nearly 3 weeks since my last post.

I don't mean to let it go so long ... it just happens!

I do visit blog land ... but often not long enough to sit and update my blog ... just busy reading everyone elses IYKWIM !

Still i haven't posted our holiday pics ... in fact we haven't had a chance to sit and have a look at them since we've been home. We seem to have 'hit the ground running' with work, orientation days for high school (boy oh boy that 'high school' word really doesn't seem real yet), sport, end of year/Christmas functions start this weekend ... and so on!!

I really will make an effort to get our trip & photos posted on here ... will be great to share; but also good to record.

I have also been very busy scrapping since we've been home ... but certainly not complaining about that !! Unfortunately .... i can't share yet.

One of the projects i have been working on is for the SCRAPBOOK'n'BITS retreat next weekend ... i love these weekends away .... 3 nights & 3 days of uninterrupted scrapping ... now that's something to look forward to!!

I am hosting a 'Make & Bake' Workshop ... No, it's not a cooking class; it truly is scrapbooking but there is a little baking involved ??? Can't tell you anymore - but i can share the sneak peak promo with you ...

This weekend we are off to the Vineyards for a function with DH's work .... should be lovely, especially if the weather is kind.

Blake is off to High School tommorrow ..... just for the day - another Orientation Day. He is sooooo eager and looking forward to High School ... i hope his enthusiasm lasts for the next 6 years!!

Well ... i think i have rambled enough and redeemed myself a little with leaving a post.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Keep Smiling :O)
JULIE x

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY !

2008-10-26T22:47:00.002+11:00

Happy Birthday to my Dad on his 60th Birthday!

on a different note ... yes we are home. I hope to start posting about our trip in the next few days and will share lots of pics.

Have a great week!

LIVING THE DREAM !!

2008-10-10T17:49:00.009+11:00

For as long as i can remember i have wanted to go to Disneyland ...

today that dream came true .....

What a magical place!

We were there from 9am to 10.30pm ..... a huge day!

The street parade was so enchanting

Unfortunately the fireworks had to be cancelled due to it getting to windy ... never mind, that famous castle looked gorgeous anyway!

Keep smiling :O)

G'DAY from USA

2008-10-07T18:14:00.019+11:00

We are having a fab time .... our days are very busy & very full; but fitting in every little bit possible whilst we are here!

Here's what we have been up to since leaving San Francisco.

Picked up our hire car and drove to Monterey

Went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

one of the highlights at the Aquarium was these little guys ... the Otters ... really cute and loads of personality !

Visited the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course

Travelled 'The Big Sur' along the USA west coast (sort of like our Great Ocean Road)

Stopped at Vista Point at San Simeon ... behind Blake you can see the colonies of Elephant Seals along the beach. An amazing sight up close in their natural environment.

Visited Hearst Castle at San Simeon ... what an amazing place!

Saturday we arrived in Las Vegas ... what can i say ... awesome!!

We've been to M&M World (4 storeys of everything M&M imaginable!!)

Today we went to The Grand Canyon

... visited the Halupai Indian Village

and went to Hoover Dam.

I think i have taken about a thousand photos and will share lots more when we get home.

Here in Las Vegas for another day then off the DisneyLand!

Talk soon,
JULIE :O)

Hello from San Francisco

2008-10-01T13:37:00.010+10:00

We're here .... was a good flight but the last leg felt very loooong. I now have a full understanding of the word jet-lag !!

But not to worry, we recovered very quickly with no time to waste enjoying the highlights of San Francisco ....

The Golden Gate Bridge

riding Cable Cars

shopping

Alcatraz

Pier 39

Next we are off to Yosemite ...

be back soon

JULIE :O)

THE DAY HAS COME ....

2008-09-27T01:42:00.003+10:00

This holiday has been about 30 years in the making ....

Today we leave for America !

We're all packed, all organised but it seems things are never without some sort of dilemna ....

Tonight whilst Blake was packing his (hand luggage) backpack it came to his attention that 'Raggy Bear' is missing !

Raggy Bear arrived in the family the same day as Blake; and whilst Blake is getting older now and Raggy spends most of his days sitting on the bed or chair in his room he has been on every single holiday we've ever had ... Sadly, he won't be visiting the USA with us, he is nowhere to be found.

Tonight i had one very upset little man; but the word has been spread far and wide backtracking all the places we think Raggy has been in the last month or so and the search is on!!

I know it may sound trivial, but for Blake it is a big deal ... keep you fingers crossed for him that Raggy is returned safe & sound !

On a more positive note, if you're looking for a fun scrapping challenge ...

i have set this month's
SCRAP YOUR STASH over at SnB ... would love to see your layout/s in the gallery!

Enjoy the school hols everyone ... See you all in 3 weeks!!

JULIE x

6 MORE SLEEPS !

2008-09-21T23:00:00.010+10:00

It is hard to believe it is almost here .... today i started to feel very excited, today it started to feel real ...

This time next week we'll be in America!

Now to catch up on some random stuff that i hadn't got around to posting ... bascially pics from events over the past few weeks but in no particular order!

Blake has being "dying" to get a mobile phone!
He is only 11 and up until now i had maintained that it wasn't necessary until he went to high school ... but .... DH and i reconsidered before we went to the snow cause the kids are becoming quite advanced with their skiing and are "all over the mountain" (as a figure of speech) and whilst their is always an adult from our groups within close proximity, it made me feel at ease that he could contact us and vice versa ... so here it is ... one smitten little man and his 1st mobile phone!

The week before we went to the snow, i went to one of my girlfriend's 40th birthday parties ... a Hollywood Murder Mystery night!

I went with another of my girlfriends and i went as Laurel & Hardy whilst DH stayed home to be cheif babysitter for all the kids !!

The night was fun ... i have to say i lost the plot with the whole murder mystery thing about 5 mins in .... but we bumbled along, and had lots of fun & laughs along the way!

So here's the birthday girl .... (and check out the awesome cake) !

Here are the movie stars ... Laurel & Hardy (you'll get a laugh to know that i made my moustache out of felt from my scrap stash and stuck it on with double sided tape ... he he !!)

and .... of course .....

we won a Hollywood Award (not sure what that was for ... maybe they felt sorry for us ... LOL !!

and somewhere in between these events ... Blake had his Bookweek Day at school (his very last primary school BookWeek [sigh] ...

a photo of Blake aka Indiana Jones

Blake & one of his best friends (a very serious Joker)

and the group ...

Well i've had a big day getting organised for our holiday, we're about 75% packed (not too bad for someone that is usually up 'til wee hours of the morning the night before we leave for holidays trying to iron pack & organise all at once) ... time for some beauty sleep!!!

Have a great week ... Keep Smiling !!

JULIE x

OVERDUE UPDATE ...

2008-09-10T20:06:00.013+10:00

The weeks are getting away so quickly .... here's what i've/we've been up to in the last few weeks.

I hosted a flocking workshop at SnB ... just loooooved playing with this stuff ... here is the LO we created:

I am currently working on a few projects using gorgeous new products from Bella, Pink Paislee, DreamStreet & Maya Road ... will share some sneek peaks soon!

Last week was our annual trip to the snow ... 26 of us! As usual, we had a great time ;however, unfortunately there was also a downside to this year's trip with 2 of our families having to pack up and leave early when news came through that their father's had passed away ... one of them a day after we arrived, the other in the middle of the week ... it was quite unbelievable that such sad new could strike twice in one week with 2 seperate familes within our group and just prior to Father's Day.

Here are a few of the many hundred pics taken:

It wouldn't be the snow if the kids didn't get to build one of these!

You know it's cold when the railings around the resort deck look like this!

A real wintery wonderland feeling!

The scenery leaving the snowfields on our last day!

Our little 3yr old godson Nicholas at Milo SkiSchool!

Blake & Nicholas.

Some of the kids.

Snowfight action shot!

Blake

After our wonderful week in the snow we are back to reality ... back to work, school and day to day routine; but, we are on the countdown to our big holiday ... we're all feeling a little excited ...

ONLY 2.5 WEEKS TO GO!!

Hope you are having a great week.

Keep Smiling :O)
JULIE x

HEY DUDE !!

2008-08-20T21:50:00.006+10:00

Last night i hosted the DUDE WORKSHOP at SnB.

The ladies were a bundle of fun (as usual) and it is great to see their creations and variations of the workshop.

Here are the LO's i created for the workshop (using the scrumptious Prima Dude Range)

... i have to say, i looooved working with this range and in particular, looooove the patterned tapes.

On a different note, today we met with the travel agent and collected our travel docs, tickets, full itinery etc for our holiday. Only 5.5 weeks to go ... it's starting to feel real now!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Keep smiling,
JULIE x

Lakeside Pics

2008-08-17T22:10:00.011+10:00

I wanted some fresh photos for a secret squirrel project i am doing at the moment and decided to get the kids together for an hour this afternoon take some happy snaps.

I don't have a fancy camera ... just a "point & shoot" but not a bad result.

These pics were taken along the waterfront near where we live .... it really is just beautiful .... just one of the many reasons we love living here !!

On a different note ... as the weekend comes around this marks the weekly countdown for our holidays .... 2 weeks 'til we go to the snow & 7 weeks 'til America .... wow, starting to feel a little excited !!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

Running late as usual ....

2008-08-07T15:34:00.005+10:00

I feel like i am running up a BIG hill at the moment and when i get to about half way and think i'm getting somewhere i slide back to the bottom again .....

Firstly ..... thanks to all that popped in say "hi" ... it is always nice find comments !!

I was going to take a pic of drawing the winner but i figured that would be another 'to do' on my list adding more steps on that big hill !! LOL!! So this will have to do .....

The winner of my RAK is ....

LEANNE O'C

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! can you please email me with your address so i can send your parcel :O)

Sadly, i have had no time to scrap over the past week and a bit ... but on Sunday we took the opporunity of none of us having to be anywhere, lovely sunny weather and headed out for some Family time!

We went for a drive into Newcastle, grabbed some fish & chips and found a nice little spot above King Edward Park watching over the ocean, ships and hang gliders that were soaring overhead .... it was very relaxing and enjoyable.
Being a true scrapbooker and never missing the opportunity for a quick photo, i set up the camera on auto on the bonnet of the car (which you can see in the photo ... oops!) ... here are a few pics ...

Very busy week at work this week as i am flying solo ..... counting the days 'til our holidays .... about 3 weeks 'til the snow .... and about 8 weeks 'til America .... getting very excited !!

.... hope to be back soon to share some scrapbooking creations (incuding the LO's from the DUDE WORKSHOP i am hosting on Tues night over at SnB)

Hope you are all having a good week.

Keep Smiling,
JULIE x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB

2008-07-28T10:47:00.006+10:00

Happy Birthday to my little nephew Jacob .... a big 4 year old!

On Saturday, we had a birthday brekkie with yummy pancakes followed by birthday cake.

Gosh time flies, it only seems like yesterday that he was born

(Jessica and Blake look so young too!)

Blake went back to school last week, although it was only a 3 day week ... Monday was a holiday for World Youth Day and Friday was an inservice day. Blake's opinion was "what's the point of going back for 3 days, why don't they just give us another week off"!

Anyway .... we're back into the school routine and this term we are eagerly counting away until the next school hols 'cause we leave for our USA trip .... just 10 weeks to go! We are also off to the snow at the end of August .... this is our annual group trip which is always a blast but is a bit overshadowed this year by the excitement of our big holiday!!

After the birthday brekkie on Saturday, we headed off for soccer and then a quite weekend for the rest. Sunday was a house day .... one of those "stay in your pj's til lunchtime kinda day" ... i did some constructive housekeeping - washing, cleaned a few windows, dusting and some cooking.

I have done lots of scrapping over the past few days too ... but nothing i can share yet ... however, one of the projects i completed is an upcoming workshop at SnB using flocking ... i luuurved using this stuff.

Well .... enjoying a day at home again today (back to work tommorrow) and off to make a big pot of homemade chicken & vegie soup.

Don't forget my RAK giveway (last post) which is running 'til 31st July .... all you have to do is leave a comment ... don't be shy, come and say hello!

Have a great week, try and stay warm, keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

I'M BACK ... WITH A RAK

2008-07-20T20:12:00.006+10:00

Hi everyone in the land of blogging ... i'm finally taking some time to update !

Gosh, the school hols is usually a time to 'chill out' & 'kick back'; but not for us i'm afraid, thing have just been so busy .... not necessarily any one thing in particular ... just BUSY !

One of the good busy things i have been doing is scrapbooking ...

This month at SnB is Christmas in July ... so, lots of activities, giveaways, challenges etc.

This month's SCRAP YOUR STASH is a 'blast from the past' creating embellishments with 'paper piecing' ... here is my example LO

Last night was the CC with lots of fun challenges & games ... here was my LO for the free sketch workshop

a shameless plug here ...

coming up on 19th August i am hosting a 3 layout "DUDE WORKSHOP" ... the products in this kit are totally scrumptious to create with ...

check it out HERE

On a different note ... the weather has been getting quite cool here and even better, very cold down south which means plenty of snow .... in 6 weeks we set off for our annual snow trip with a group of 26 .... we always look forward to this, we are lucky to have such a great group of friends and sooo much fun every year(which seems to come around soooo quickly). This year whilst we count down to our snow trip that means also counting down to our USA trip .... just 10 weeks to go ... i am feeling slightly excited !!!

Last but not least .... all this Christmas in July activiy this month has prompted a RAK ... yep, i'm in the mood to send someone a present .... don't know about you, but i loooove pressies he he !! Just leave me a comment (cause it's nice to know you still visit even though i've been a really bad blogger!!) by midnight July 31.

Hope you've had a great weekend, have a great week,

Keep Smiling :O)

JULIE x

BE BACK SOON ....

2008-07-04T22:08:00.002+10:00

Busy, Busy, Busy ....

Hope to visit again over the weekend and do a decent post of the past few crazy busy weeks ...

in the mean time ....

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN $100

Check THIS out !!

Be back soon ....

JULIE :O)

CC @ SnB TONIGHT

2008-06-14T14:19:00.002+10:00

Howdy,
if you're looking for some indoor fun to fill a few hours tonight, join us over at SCRAPBOOKnBITS for the June CyberCrop.
This month the theme is babies (to celebrate with a few 'expectant mums' from the SnB Forum).
Fun, games, challenges, scrapping & chatting is surely a good way to spend a cold Saturday evening !!

See you there:O)

REWIND 1.5 WEEKS ...

2008-06-10T20:52:00.012+10:00

WARNING .... LONG POST AHEAD !!

Lots happening/happened over the last week or so, lots of scrapbooking and finally a chance to update my blog !

THE SCRAPBOOKnBITS RETREAT

A fantastic 3 days of un-interrupted scrapbooking bliss .... great to catch up with old friends, meet forum friends IRL and meet new friends ... all in all, a great bunch and a fab weekend.

Here are some pics of the projects from the 2 workshops that i hosted:

FAMILY CANVAS ALBUM... a hinged double canvas display with an internal display and fold out mini album.

FAVOURITE PICS DISPLAY STAND ... some favourite pics featured on a little 'flip over' craftwood display stand

Last week was pretty much the same as every other week ... busy, busy with home, school work etc but certainly felt a whole lot better knowing a long weekend was to follow!

The lead up to the long weekend was a little shaky with bad weather and threats of a repeat of last years floods ... but ... thank goodness there were no major weather dramas! The weather was a little ordinary (although the sun did peak through a few times in short bursts) but poor weather makes for great lazy time at home and scrapbooking ... and ... celebrating our Wedding Anniversary.

To the day/date ... Saturday was our 11th Wedding Anniversary (and exactly 12 months since our cruise - gosh time flies) ... after a big sleep-in we had a yummy bacon & egg brekkie (which was more like brunch really LOL!) and true to form i received a red rose for each year we have been married ... and ... our bottle of Moet wasn't bad either!!

Sunday was another wet day which was perfect for scrapbooking ... got together with some friends and had a very creative day doing these:

SPEED
a no patterned paper LO ... just paint, stamping & scrummy grungeboard!

LIVE
using the gorgeous new Chatterbox range ... if you haven't already seen this new range you gotta have a peak HERE

FLY
a LO of my Dad doing his Tigermoth Joyflight earlier this year.

A DAY AT THE BEACH
using the KI Memories Lace/Word Cardstock i painted words that were relevant to make them 'stand-out' as a feature!

... told you this was a long post ...

the SCRAP YOUR STASH challenge for June is underway ... this month is Stamps, Strips & Stitches.

This is a fun challenge to use items and products from your stash that haven't seen daylight for a while ... and the opportunity to win SnB $$ to purchase more items for your stash!!! Come & join us !!

Yesterday was a very lazy day other than a brief outing to look at some camcorders/video cameras (or whatever they call them these days) ... mmm ... i think this one requires a little more homework than we anticipated. We have an older style video camera but it is a little bulky in today's standard, and we would like a little 'palm size' compact thing to take to America with us .... but then there's the dilemna of SD Card or HDD, memory space, filming time, optical zooms etc etc .... any suggestions, tips or information would be greatly welcomed!!

Back to work today [sigh] ....

Tommorrow night we are attending the Confirmation service at our school church with friends of ours whereby i have been asked to be the sponsor ... such a lovely occasion/celebration for the children (but i bet there will be a few Dads anxious about missing the State of Origin !! LOL!!)

Well i think i have rambled for long enough ... thanks for visiting ...

Have a great week ... keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

3 DAYS OF SCRAPBOOKING

2008-05-28T23:45:00.002+10:00

Yep ... 3 whole days.

This weekend (commencing Thursday night) i am off to the SCRAPBOOKnBITS RETREAT !

Hoping to get lots done (but will probably get lots of chatting done as usual) LOL!

Will be back to share next week.

Have a great weekend :O)

JULIE x

I REALLY MUST

2008-05-25T20:45:00.004+10:00

try and update this thing a little more regularly.

The weeks just go way to fast ... i think i'm doing ok then realise that it has been over a week !

We've been busy (as usual) but not doing anything terribly exciting ...

Last Sunday i took Blake shopping for his Winter wardrobe. Once upon a time i looooved a day out shopping ... these days i treasure my time at home and shopping is a bit of a chore. But we did have a lovely afternoon together and came home with all that we set out for. Our shopping trip wasn't without drama though .... we had a hellraising experience with the new pay/ticket parking system at the shopping centre and almost had our car locked in .... but that is a whole other story that i won't go into !!

My hand is coming along well ... still has limits and lets me know if i'm "overdoing it" but on the whole i'm very happy with the progress.

Friday night i took Blake and two of his friends to the movies ... we were to go and see 'Indiana Jones' but at the last minute they decided they wanted to see 'Ironman' instead ... i was a little apprehensive thinking i would have to sit through one of them movies that would be so not me ... but ... i have to say that it was actually quite a good movie and i did enjoy it.

This weekend we have had a whole weekend of soccer. Yesterday was their normal game (2 all draw) and then the boys had to back-up today to play a 'washed out' game from a few weeks ago (nil all draw) ... so much for weekend plans!

We are starting to get very excited about our holiday to America .... we have received the final intinary and details from the travel agent and have spent lots of time on the internet looking at our accommodation/s, all the theme parks and other attractions we will be visiting, reading up on their "tipping system" (this is something that has got me a little worried cause i want to make sure we do the right thing), etc etc. All of this has stirred up lots of excitement and taken over the general topic of conversation in our house !! Bring on September !!

On the countdown for this week too .... this weekend is the Scrapbook'n'Bits Weekend Retreat .... Yipppee (Thursday to Sunday) ... three days of uninterrupted scrapping, chatting etc.

I'm all ready for the workshop i am hosting ... here are a few more sneak peaks...

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend ...
Have a great week.

JULIE x

THIS WEEK .....

2008-05-16T20:54:00.003+10:00

I can't believe how quickly the end of week keeps rolling around .... here we are at Friday again.

Wednesday i went back to the specialist and all the bandages came off and stitches came out .... [sigh] what a great feeling!
My hand is going really well .... lots of exercises now to get things back to full working capacity. It is amazing what a difference just two days has made ... as of today i can touch my thumb to my little finger ... only just, but pretty happy about that! Hoping to do a little 'scrapbooking therapy' this weekend he he !!
I go back in 4 weeks for my next check-up, so hoping all is in order by then!

Just 2 weeks 'til the SnB Retreat .... really looking forward to this! A '3 nighter' this time .... hope to get lots done.
I am also hosting a 'Family Canvas Album' workshop ....
here is a sneak peak ...

If you want to join in on a little fun this weekend ... i am running a fun competition over at SnB .... it is really easy .... have a look HERE

Talk soon,
JULIE x

a MOTHERS DAY outing

2008-05-11T19:08:00.008+10:00

Just a short post & few pics 'cause i'm "one handed" at the moment ...

Had a wonderful day starting with a yummy breakfast and lots of gorgeous presents; a mixture of shopping and gifts from the school Mother's Day Stall (so cute) but the most special being a hand stitched placemat with "i love u mum" done in needlework/embroidery (a school project) .... just melts your heart !!

Then we set off for a driving day (along with my mum & dad) up & around 'Barrington Tops'.

Mum + Blake

Us ... (i worked out how to use the timer) !

We stopped at a lovely little park at Stroud and enjoyed a homebaked morning tea; and once up in the National Park had a BBQ sausage sizzle with yummy damper!

The drive through Barrington Tops was beautiful .... a long journey but beautiful ... all the way through to the other side to Scone!!

One of the things i love is seeing wildlife in their natural enviroment.

some of these ...

and these (a bit blurry but i'm sure you can see it's a kookabura LOL !!)

and you know your in the country when you have to stop for these gorgeous things ...

Feeling good after breathing in all that fresh country air :O) ... off for a shower, pj's and an early night.

Hope all you super women (aka - mothers) had a wonderful day.

JULIE x

In the past two weeks ....

2008-05-04T16:07:00.013+10:00

i have obviously been very sidetracked and haven't blogged!

May the truth be known ... i have been around ... just hadn't gotten to updating.

Since my last post:

* The sun has come out .... yeah!! I am sure i absorb lots of happy energy from the sun ... i know we need rain but it makes me irritable and agitated.

* My Mum & Dad have come home ... Mum is on the improve but in the midst of organising lots of tests etc to find out what is going on. Thinking positive that nothing is majorly wrong and they'll be able to set off again real soon to continue holidaying.

* We celebrated Mum's birthday - 1st May (nice to have her home for this) ... Happy Birthday Mum! (sorry about the blurry photo)

* Blake is back at school ... that means we are back into the routine of uniforms, lunches, homework etc etc.

* I have done a truckload of scrapping ...

These LO's just for the fun of it

This is my niece Jessica and these gorgeous papers are the DreamStreet Birdie Bits range from S'n'B. I have used one of the long journalling diecuts to create a lift flap and this is the underneath.

Using the scrummy new fancy Pants range ... this is a LO of Blake when he was about 4. He used to love answering the phone but would always pick it up and not even say 'hello' ... just "Who Is It?".

Last week was the 3 night 'Mega All Boyz Workshop' for SnB .... here are the 6 layouts and OTP projects ...

Joined in on the fun at the SnB National Scrapbook Day CyberCrop last night ... what a great bunch of ladies ... lots of madness & laughter (and a little bit of scrapbooking) as well as the hilarious 'Sexy Slippers' competition (which i 'didn't win ... i think it was poor attempt of photo editing to make my
legs un-hairy he he !!)

... and if your wondering why i'm wearing odd slippers, that's becuase i couldn't decided which ones i liked best !! LOL

I am currently finishing off a few projects for my committments during May 'cause on Tuesday i have surgery on my hand and will be out of action for a few weeks (hopefully i'll still pop and and say 'hi' and test out my one handed typing skills LOL!)

Hope you've all had a great weekend.

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY ....

2008-04-23T23:19:00.004+10:00

... I CAN NOT STAND ANOTHER DAY !!

If you are reading this and live in an area where rain is desperately needed i apologise in advance for sounding ungrateful ... but .... this rain is driving me insane !?@#*!!

Two weeks of continuous (sometimes torrential) wet weather has taken it's toll ... i feel irritable, agitated and generally crabby .... i need some sunshine!

On a different note .... after my last post about the S'n'B site being compromised but 'up & running' again, that night it was hacked again with irrepairable damage. Poor Karen, it was a nightmare ... but ... GREAT NEWS ... all is back to normal, all re-built, new Web host, all good .... and ...

Whilst the site was down lots more yummy scrummy products arrived including the new Teresa Collins, Pink Paislee, Crate Paper, Making Memories etc ... this stuff is gorgeous ... you gotta take a peak HERE

The 2nd week of the school hols has been pretty uneventful ... the weather makes activities a little impossible but Blake has had a great time anyway, between sleepovers, movies, playstations and pancakes for breakfast, he's happy!

My Mum & Dad are only 2 months into their 12 month travelling holiday but sadly for them they are on their way home ... basically everything imaginable has gone wrong for them but the main thing being that Mum has been very sick and spent several weeks in a few different hospitals in WA. Mum is hoping and trying to last the trip home in order to accompany Dad so he won't have to do the drive on his own; however, they will be across the Nullabor tomorrow and then re-assess whether to keep going or fly Mum home.

I have done a few LO's over the past week (at least one positive thing about wet weather is that it is a good opportunity to scrap LOL) ... but i haven't taken any pics ... will share in my next post.

Hope you are all well and enjoying the last few days of the school hols (for those in NSW).

Keep Smiling :O)
JULIE x

GOOD & BAD

2008-04-16T18:45:00.003+10:00

GOOD - School holidays have started and even though we have 'hit the ground' running with activities, i soooo looooove school holidays ( i know i keep saying this but it is totally true!!)

GOOD - Blake attended a soccer coaching clinic the last three days (9am to 12pm) with lots of his school/soccer mates and totally loved it.

BAD - Us mums observing for the 3 days nearly 'froze to death' ... but all part of the love for our kids eh!

GOOD - This afternoon we went to the movies with approx 10 Blake's little mates and some of their mums to see 'The Waterhorse'. This was a pretty good show (some parts a little unrealistic but i guess acceptable to create some fantasy in a kids movie) .. certainly enjoyed it all the same and the kids were very impressed!

BAD - Fell down a driveway at work the other day ... i'm quite fine ... just a sore rump and plenty of bark off my elbow :O(

GOOD - Found some time to do some more scrapbooking ... can't share just yet but here's a little sneak peak of my upcoming class kit (over at S'n'B)for a Mother's Day Gift idea ...

GOOD & BAD - Went back to the specialist this week and confirmed details regarding my hand. Surgery should happen early to mid May ... whilst i'm not looking forward to surgery or the recovery, i am so looking forward to my 'day to day' struggle and living on anti-inflammetries to be over. My few weeks of recovery will be a bit of a killer - no activities or scrapbooking [sigh] ...

GOOD - The cooler weather is well and truly upon us ... i love winter ... bring it on!!

GOOD - This week i have spent some lazy time on the net looking at differenct places and activities in America we will be experiencing .... it still feels like we have such a long time to wait but it is very exciting.

VERY BAD - Karen at S'n'B has had a hell time for the last week recovery from the site being maliciously compromised. Apparantly there has been a spait (sp?) of scrapbooking websites hacked in the past week or two. This is like the electronic version of vandalism .... there are some real low-life dispicable people out there.
The site has been down for a week but as of today, is 'up & running' with just a few more small adjustments to be made to the forum. Hang in there chicken ... it'll all be fine :O)

Hope everyone has had a good week.

Chat soon,
JULIE x

GOSH .... i blinked and ...

2008-04-08T20:58:00.011+10:00

IT'S APRIL !!

We seemed to have 'hit the ground running' since Easter.

Just the usual routines of work, school & home.

Soccer season is underway for another year. Last weekend Blake had 2 trial games (won one, lost one) and the season officially starts on Anzac Weekend.

I have been very busy scrapping to finish some upcoming workshops etc for SCRAPBOOKnBITS ...

Over 3 nights ALL BOYZ workshop is taking place - 6 layouts and 1 OTP

The kit is 'jam packed' with products (including loads of new CHA stuff - Cosmo Cricket, Fancy Pants, Cherry Arte, Thickers, Fancy Pants BigBoard etc etc) ... i loved working with these products ... totally scrumptious!! More sneak peaks HERE !

You may recall my previous post/s mentioning the monthly SCRAP YOUR STASH challenge over at SnB.

A challenge is set each month with an example layout focusing on different product/s and encouraging you to delve into your stash.
It costs nothing to participate and at the end of each month all participants that display their creations in the gallery go in the draw to WIN a $10 S'n'B VOUCHER to buy more yummy products for their stash !!

Last month we focused on using left over chipboard letters & frames ... this was my example LO:

This month's SCRAP YOUR STASH focus is on ribbons & eyelets.

Here is a sneak peak of this month's example LO ...

Click HERE for all the details.

More scrapbooking ... a quick share of the 2 layouts completed in last months free workshop ... the theme was 'Rustic'!

Looking forward the school holidays starting at the end of this week ... i loooove school holidays. Really looking forward to a break from uniforms, homework, lunches, assignments etc etc.

So much for the quick post i planned to do tonight ... he he ...

Hope your all having a good week :O)
Chat soon,
JULIE x

EASTER CATCH-UP !!

2008-03-26T21:33:00.013+11:00

I know it's been nearly a week since the Easter break but i'm still catching up ...

We had a lovely time ... took the van down to the Central Coast (well DH took the van down, he had to work for the weekend; so he set up for Blake & I and then came back and collected us on Monday afternoon).

... and YES the Easter Bunny finds you even when you are away caravanning (much to Blake's relief !!).

We had the weekend with friends ... lots of fun and very relaxing but not long enough!

The kids had a great time ... Blake spent the weekend with his little shadow (our little godson)!
Nic just adores Blake and vice versa!!

Whilst the weather was a little overcast and cool on Friday & Saturday, there was still heaps to do as the park we stayed at had planned activities all weekend ... craft, movies, Easter egg hunts, plaster painting [and the list goes on] ....
The kids on our little strip also entertained themselves for hours with a bucket of chalk displaying their talents on the pavement (as it rained each night, this cleaned the canvas for new creations everyday !!).

Sunday started with a 'chocolate smorgasbord' for breakfast and the sun came out which meant lots of fun in the pool!
The weather was also lovely on Monday which allowed for more water fun!

This little guy (our godson) is such a cutie ... he has just turned 3 and is very entertaining (maybe his parents don't think so at times but we found him quite funny). You forget the funny little things they say and do ... it's been a while since we had a little person in our house but it does jolt the memory !!

One of the things that entertained us all weekend was his infatuation with being Superman (he did have a day as Spiderman but Superman is his preferred identity) he he !!

This little caped crusader was in action all weekend.

My Blake was never into superhero's or dressing up; but this little guy assured us all weekend "i'm Superman" ... how cute!!
My girlfriend advised (that much to her dismay) the costume has to be coaxed off him and he usually only co-operates to change into Superman PJ's at night!!!

Isn't it funny how their little minds work ??!! ... but that's ok cause he is certainly our little Superman !!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

2008-03-17T10:49:00.005+11:00

The last of the Birthdays for our little family this year ....
yesterday was DH's birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK !

We had a fab day on the lake ... lots of friends, boats, bbqing, & fun.

The weather was magic and the water was beautiful!

We got back to the boat ramp just before dark ... to finish off a huge day this is how a few of the kids insisted on returning home ... all the way across Lake Macquarie being towed behind the boat to the boat ramp ... i'd love just half their energy !! LOL!

Hope you all had a great weekend too :O)

Lots to share ....

2008-03-13T17:51:00.009+11:00

Wow time goes fast ... Middle of March already!

All the celebrations settled after Blake's birthday and now we get to do it all again this weekend for DH ... although ... he won't be quite as spoilt as Blake was ... it will be a little more 'low key'!!

Leading up to last weekend i vowed that i was going nowhere and i had planned to spend the weekend scrapbooking ... and that's exactly what i done (along with a little bit of housework but that's ok)!

I have to put in a shameless plug here and say that loads and loads of gorgeous, yummy WINTER CHA 2008 stuff has arrived and continues to arrive at SCRAPBOOKnBITS ... all the new DREAMSTREET, CHERRYARTE, PINK PAISLEE, COSMO CRICKET, all the yummy new THICKERS and the list goes on ... and have you heard about the new CORE'DINATIONS ... this stuff is awesome. Basically it is cardstock (but heaps cheaper than Bazzill) and each coloured cardstock has an inner core that is a slight varied shade of the main colour, which means if you sand it, scrunch it, distress it, etc, the core colour comes through! .... you've got to go and look, who could resist the temptation ... can you tell i'm a little bit excited!

So back to last weekend, here are some of my creations using some of my yummy new products:

This is my neice Jessica playing amongst flowers & pretending they were snow.

This is my nephew Jacob ... such a funny little guy!
The journalling reads: When Jessica and her friend decided to give each other a facial you wanted in on the action and asked for some face cream and cuFumber too!!

Karen & myself with Mum!

and a simple, quick LO of Blake and some friends when they were little playing on the fire engine that the next door neighbour bought home from work one weekend!

And for a bit of fun .... JOLENE (S'n'B DT Member) has a fun competition going on the Forum at the moment GUESS THE SNIPPETS ... pop in and have some fun with us ... you could win a S'n'B Ribbon Pack !!

I have a couple of other projects on the go but can't share cause they are for a workshop and one is for the S'n'B RETREAT in May (3 whole days/nights of un-interrupted scrapping ... wooohoo !!)

Last but not least ...

Each month i host a FREE ONLINE CROP over at SnB ... anyone can join in, it costs nothing and you can use your own stash -OR- if you want to use the exact same product as i have used and create the exact same project/s, an optional kit is available.

Next Wednesday we are creating 2 Rustic LO's ... all the details HERE

I do have some other interesting news to share ... but won't make this post any longer than it already is (aaaahh ... i love suspense) ....

Will chat again soon .... keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

WHERE DID 11 YEARS GO ??!!

2008-03-04T21:48:00.004+11:00

Yesterday my baby turned 11 !

Whilst i am typing this Blake is over my shoulder protesting "Muuuum, i'm not a baby anymore" !!

This weekend was busy with celebrating Blake's birthday ... Sunday, he had a party at Timezone (at Tuggerah) .. what a fab place for a boy party.

13 boys madly hyped & excited playing video games etc for 1.5 hours, half hour in the party room for food, drink, presents & birthday cake ... and all over!! Really easy ... the perfect birthday party!! LOL !!

Yesterday i got up nice and early and baked a choc birthday cake to share with his classmates; and Mark & I attended morning assembly to watch him receive his last primary school birthday certificate (a sad thought). As a treat he only had a half day at school then we went out for tea last night and more birthday cake!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE !!

NEWCASTLE JETS ARE THE CHAMPIONS !!!

2008-02-25T00:20:00.002+11:00

GO THE JETS ... they won the Grandfinal !!

We have just arrived home from the soccer grandfinal ... what a great afternoon/night, fantastic atmosphere and THE JETS WON ( 1 - Nil ) !!!!

We left the stadium and travelled through Sydney at a "snail pace" with hundred of cars and buses filled with estatic jets fans waving flags out the windows and chanting for their champion team ... awesome!

Well done guys!

SCRAPPED & TAGGED !

2008-02-22T21:55:00.005+11:00

Yes ... i've scrapped again ... and ... i've been tagged again !

Here is a share of the recent projects completed recently over at Scrapbook'n'Bits ...

This is the Bella Chipboard Clipboard transformed into a cute little noteboard. Had a bit of fun being creative with the painted background ... this was done with dragging a fork (yep, a simple piece of cutlery) through wet paint !!

Our first 'Scrap your Stash' challenge was completed last Sunday. Here is the LO i completed with items from my stash (with the main focus on using vellum & brads)

The next challenge has been set ... this time we delve into our stash and find a use for all those leftover chipboard letters & letter frames. We'd love you to join us ... click HERE

onto the next subject ...

I'VE BEEN TAGGED:-

I've been tagged by my blogger friend Leeanne.

You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

My middle name is Maree ... here goes:

MARRIED ... Happily married (most of the time LOL!) to my Husband Mark.
ATROCIOUS ... at keeping the ironing up to date!
READING ... is something i do for "me-time" when i am not scrapbooking.
ENJOYS ... friends, food and the occasional glass of white wine!
EAGERLY ... awaiting September 27th to fly to America for our dream holiday !

I tag;- Karen, Jane, Kelley, Michelle & Lexie.

We're off to Sydney on Sunday to watch the soccer grandfinal ... GO THE JETS !!

Have a great weekend everyone !!

JULIE x

WE NEED YOUR HELP !!

2008-02-17T09:12:00.003+11:00

Doin' it for the kids !!

Over at SCRAPBOOK'n'BITS we have joined forces to help Julie Stone accomplish the mammoth task of providing approx 1600 (6x6) album pages for groups of very special children attending vacation camps organised through Southern Cross Kids Camps.

Srapbook'n'Bits has set a challenge for us scrapbookers to help this wonderful cause.

Contribute 10 (6x6) pages and go in the draw to win a $20 SnB Voucher (this could really come in handy to spend on all those yummy CHA products that are on the way!!!)

Read all about it HERE

Whilst this is a great cause and it is great to think that a craft we love can bring so much joy to lots of kids, I had lots of fun raiding my stash and using up lots of cut-offs and bits and pieces that have layed dorment for quite some time.

Hope you can join us and take up the challenge !!

Another Year Older ...

2008-02-12T22:54:00.000+11:00

Yep .. yesterday (11th February) i celebrated another birthday!

You guessed it ... i was 21 again !!!

Had a lovely day & evening ... although it's pretty much like another day except all the lovely presents i received.
I'd dropped a few hints that i'd like Terri Irwin's book to be thrown in with my birthday presents this year ... I've had lunch and dinner out for the past 3 days and been very spoilt ...

but very special was this very cute little "Funky Cow Beanie Kid Bear" specially thoughtout and chosen by my little man ... just priceless!!

On a different note, my mum & dad set off tommorrow for their 12 month holiday ... yep, 12 whole months travelling NT, WA, SA & VIC ... sooo ...
'cause i know that they'll miss the grandkids like crazy (and us too but especially the grandkids) i have been very busy working on this 'little box of grandkids' to take with them on their travels ...

You may recall a few posts ago i mentioned our afternoon in Newcastle at the Beach taking pics of the kids ... this was for this special little project!

(warning: long picture post ahead)

This is the inside cover of the box ... the biege imprint behind my journalling/poem is actually Blake's handprint.

This is the front page of the album (photo a little blurry/reflective through the transparancy) ... the kids drew in the sand "we {heart} nan & pop"

My mum just loved it and i'm sure it will put a smile on her face to open this litte box whenever she is missing the kids !!

Enjoy the rest of your week ... keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

Already February ...

2008-02-09T23:18:00.000+11:00

Gosh, how did that happen?? February already!

The last few weeks have been busy as usual ... we have mainly been pre-occupied with back to school and organising to get our 4wd back from Port Macquarie!

Blake has settled into another school year (a few dramas to begin with but all sorted now) ... Year 6 this year {sigh} ... i so hope the year slows down 'cause i'm can't get my head around the thought of him going to highschool next year!!

Last weekend we re-visited Port Macquarie to collect our repaired 4wd and to finish off the weekend away we never got to enjoy 2 weeks ago !!

Blake brought one of his best little mates along again ... we stayed at Rydges Port Macquarie (highly recommend to anyone looking for a lovely weekend away ... situated on the waterfront, beautiful facilities and walk across the road to CBD). Even though the weather was very ordinary, we still had a lovely time.

On Saturday afternoon the rain held off enough for us to go for a walk along the breakwall ... love this walk, looking at all the painted rocks is quite entertaining!

On Sunday we were determined not to let the weather spoil our plans to visit TimberTown (hadn't been there since i was a kid)!

We purchased 4 cheap umbrellas from GoLo and off we went ...

The upside to visiting places like this on a wet day is that you don't have to share with many other people ... no crowds or waiting !

The boys were quite fascinated by the replicated olden day lifestyle (they are at a good age to comprehend the vast difference compared to today's way of life) ...

Love this pic of Blake at the water pump

and this is one of my favourites too (is a little hazy as it was quite dark in the stable and i didn't want to use a flash in case i frightened 'stewart' (the horse) so i had to try and enhance the photo as best i could with my photo software)

Lousy weather again today ... had to work for a few hours but spent the rest of the day indoors scrapping ... will be back to share soon!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

JULIE x

BUSY, BUSY and LOTS TO SHARE!

2008-01-28T20:14:00.000+11:00

We have had a busy, busy weekend and all very enjoyable.

Following on from my last post ... our Sunday event was very exciting - especially for my Dad!

My sister gave him a voucher for his birthday (in October) for a joy flight (around the Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie & Newcastle) in a TigerMoth Plane! He has booked the flight so many times, but due to the very unpredictable weather we have had over the past few months, on each occastion the flight has had to be cancelled ... but ... yesterday was the perfect day.

My dad has quite an infatuation with flying and no doubt he was in his 'element of glory'!!

Today we spent the afternoon out with a few friends and took the kids to the Mingarra Aquatic Centre (on the Central Coast) ... wow, what a great centre!!
The kids had a great time, then we all enjoyed a delicious meal before heading home!
I love relaxing afternoons with great company such as this one!!

For the rest of the weekend i have pretty much been scrapping, scrapping, scrapping ... love it!

I have made a start on Mum & Dad's little album but won't share until it is complete.

The other projects have all been for workshops with SCRAPBOOKnBITS ...

FREE ONLINE LAYOUT WORKSHOP (with optional kit) for Valentine's Day ...

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this LO ... beautiful flowers, hearts & bling!! (I'm a boy theme scrapbooker and don't usually get to play with such pretty products!)

Next on the Agenda ....

CRAFTY CLIPBOARD WORKSHOP ... very cute (even if i do say so myself)!!

and last but not least ...

the SCRAP YOUR STASH monthly challenge has now been set for February.

Lots of fun & inspiration to delve into your stash creating a layout with products you forgot you even owned !! Join in and you can win a S'n'B Voucher to spend!

Last day of the school holidays tommorrow ... we have a little tradition that we have a special family day out whereby Blake gets to choose an outing/activity and meal out ... i think we are off to Hog's Breath for lunch and then the movies (and somewhere in between to update our mobile phones hopefully)!!

Phew ... a long post tonight ... thanks for visiting ...

Have a great week :O)

JULIE x

Beach Afternoon

2008-01-27T07:22:00.000+11:00

Well, this week has unfolded much better (i am whispering this so as not to jinx myself) after last weekend's fiasco!

Happy Australia Day to all ... and what a gorgeous day it was!

I love this photo of the kids (my niece Jessica, my nephew Jacob & my Blake)

As Mum & Dad are preparing to set out travelling for 12 months (to WA & back), this will be the longest our family has ever been apart. We all live within 5 minutes of each other and see each other or talk on the phone on a daily basis. Now this might sound a little "too close for comfort" for some people, but we are just a very close family that enjoy each other's company ... just like friends really! The 12 months apart will be a huge adjustment for Mum & Dad not seeing the grandkids (and vice versa); so, i have been thinking of a little project to send along with them on their journey.

Yesterday afternoon Karen and I bundled up the kids and spent a couple of hours at Newcastle Beach taking some pics for "the project" ...

Here are some of my favourites:

Off to another exciting family adventure today ... will be back to share some more pics!

Have a great weekend :O)

JULIE x

Things can only get better ...

2008-01-23T21:18:00.000+11:00

cause they couldn't get any worse !!

I'm sure last Friday was "Friday the 13th" ... if it wasn't it should have been !!

We were meant to leave early on Friday to go to Port Macquarie for a few days with friends ... but ... due to dramas with flooding through the roof of a house and internal ceilings collapsing (not my house), waiting for the SES and re-arranging occupants we didn't get away until after 5pm ... a very stressful day ...

We travelled to Bulladelah and stopped for tea and then set out again for Port Macquarie ... well ... 9klms out of Bulladelah our 4wd broke down (with the van on the back)! Oh Joy! The temp gauge was on H and steam was pouring from under the bonnet and making the sound of a whistling kettle ... eek ! Not to mention one husband blowing steam but his words didn't sound like a whistling kettle they sounded more like something that rhymes with 'truck' !?#@!!

We phoned and arranged help, including our friends (who were already at Port Macquarie) and come back to take our van ...

What a scary experience ... stuck on the side of the Pacific Highway with very little space between you and the cars, trucks and otherwise flying by and nowhere to go ... then when night came and so did the expanding truck population, this doubled the fear factor. Everything seems to shake as they thunder past ... the word "sitting duck" comes to mind ... it was awful.

Well after nearly 5 hours and the amazing effort of 'mechanics by torchlight' (my DH, Dad and our friends), we were up & going but only running at half mast!

The consensis was that we could make it to Port Mac ok and get the 4wd looked at on Sat morning cause at this stage it was thought to be a faulty thermostat (which had now been removed) ... learnt something new - cars can run without a thermostat!

However, it wasn't to be that simple ... the car overheated again at Kew but a couple of litres of water later we got to our destination. A trip that would normally take 3 hours took approx 8! Oh boy ... it was a long night!

Saturday we took the car to a local mechanic to find out that there was a lot more wrong than first anticipated .... The head was cracked on the motor ... double eeek !

Well the long & the short of it is that our 4wd has stayed on Port Mac to be fixed, we left our van behind to be towed by our friends when they come home and we hired a car to bring us home cause DH had to be back at work ...

We will go back up next weekend to pick up our fixed vehicle and will be about $4000 poorer on return [sigh] ... oh well ... as they say "sh*t happens" !!

On to a better topic ... scrapbooking :O)

Last night was my "For the Boys" online workshop over at SCRAPBOOKnBITS. The girls were a great bunch and here are the 2 LO's we created.

Well, this weekend DH is working and i am hoping to have a quite weekend at home getting my next SnB project ready for my new monthly 'Scrap your Stash' challenge (commencing in February) ... hope you can pop in & join us!!

Keep Smiling :O)
JULIE x

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN !

2008-01-13T20:23:00.000+11:00

Happy Birthday to my sister Karen!
(this is a pic of her with her two little munchkins)

On Friday night i took her out to dinner and then to the movies to see 27 DRESSES .... great chic flick! We had a great night.

... i made her this gift ....

An album (Piggy Tales Hide & Seek Album) i scrapped with Jacob's baby photos.
Jacob is three and a half and Karen still hasn't had a chance to do a baby album for him so i thought this would be a great gift. And the 'hide & seek' album was perfect with its' little hidden flap sections etc ... here are some of the other pages.

I also got to do a quick LO with my new scrummy LOVE ELSIE ...

I love this photo of Blake taken recently at Wildlife World (Darling Harbour) in the butterfly enclosure.

And whilst i am sharing ... this is a LO i done in October last year which was accepted to be published ... but ... i got cold feet and never sent it in :O(
(won't dare tell Blake i never sent it cause he was quite excited about having his pic in a mag) ... never mind, maybe next time.

The theme behind this LO was Blake thinking he was soooo cool at the snow and had become so confident with his snow skiing that he was reluctant to attend the lessons we had booked for him cause "Mum, i can ski ..."!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Talk soon,
JULIE x

IT'S LIKE A DRUG ...

2008-01-10T09:12:00.000+11:00

VERY ADDICTIVE ... GOT TO HAVE IT ... CAN'T DO WITHOUT IT ....

the new LOVE ELSIE & TIM HOLTZ GRUNGEBOARD that has arrived at SCRAPBOOKnBITS !!
Just gorgeous, so addictive ... BEWARE ... you can't stop at one!!!

Yep ... this is what i'll be doing this weekend

I have been very busy over the past few days madly scrapping & creating for my new workshop at the end of January FOR THE BOYS.

There are sooo many beautiful girl projects with pretty flowers, bling & butterflies etc ... this one is 'FOR THE BOYS' !! We will be creating 2 LO's with the MME range - yummy papers, titles & quote cards. The kit also includes chipboard letters & rub-ons. The SnB kit & class is $15 - GREAT VALUE!!
Click HERE to eyespy ... Hope you can join us!!

On the homefront ... things are just back to the normal daily routine; however, i am sooo enjoying the school holidays. I love school holidays. No routines, no lunches, no uniforms, no homework etc etc ... just have to organise myself! I have managed to have a few hours here and there at home and will be taking a few days off over the next few weeks ... to do some extra family/school hol activities with Blake.

Last weekend we had a lovely time out boating. Blake is learning to kneeboard and loves it ... BUT ... Sunday he was hammered by SeaLice and come Sunday night his whole torso was covered in large red itchy welts ... oh boy, they were everywhere. They were particularly bad on all of his scar areas (Blake had a series of operations approx 18mths ago and has many large & small scars over his tummy). Because the scars are very tissuey (sp?) and soft the SeaLice seemed to have attacked these areas more which has caused a lot of inflammation and itchy, itchy, ITCHY!!!
It brings back memories of the Chicken Pox ... many soothing baths, lots of creams & potions and he has been taking antihystamines (sp?) and as of yesterday they have really settled down and starting to diminish .... Oh the Joys!!!

On a different note ... my last post i was tagged to do the '7 Random Things' about me with a thanks to Michelle for tagging me, i have since realised that i was also tagged by Lexie and just wanted to say 'Thanks' for including me too!

Won't ramble on anymore ...

Talk soon ... Keep Smiling :O)

JULIE x

I've Been Tagged :O)

2008-01-03T12:01:00.000+11:00

Thanks Michelle!

Haven't done the 'tagged' thing for a while ... here's a bit of fun!

The rules of the game:
• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Ok, here goes...7 Random facts about me!

1) Growing up i maintained that i was never getting married and never having children ... have done both once ... it's all good - still happily married and love my guys to bits (DH - Mark & Blake - 10 yrs old)!!
2) My husband always teases that i drive too slow ... but ... i have never been booked for speeding (touch wood!!) and that is more that i can say for him !! LOL!
3) I have had 3 major goals in life (1 childhood dream & 2 adult life goals) ... childhood dream is to go to Disneyland/America - we are booked to fly out for 3 weeks on 27th Sept ... adult goals to own my own business - that became effected in Oct 2007 ... the other is to buy a brand new 3 series BMW - will have to keep working towards this one!
4) I am absolutely, totally, extremely mousephoebic sp?. Not real fond of frogs either but totally don't do mice!!! arghhh!!
5) I have never had any broken bones ... have had a few close calls ... but no breaks to date!
6) I have been skydiving (tandem) ... rather scary landing (this was one of those close calls mentioned in No. 6) ... other than the landing he he! it was an awesome amazing unreal experience and the biggest adrenalin rush i have ever had in my whole life. I would recommend to anyone to at least try it once!
7) Thinking, Thinking, Thinking of one last piece of trivial information .... my favourite number is 8 (pinched this one off Michelle LOL!)

I tag:

1) Karen G
2) Jane
3) Leeanne
4) Kelley
5) Cherie
6) Megan
7) Karen D

Happy Holidays!
JULIE x

Here's Cheers for a Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T22:56:00.000+11:00

Well ... here we are ... 2008 !!
I was mentioning to friends last night that it only seems like 2 - 3 years ago when we were all gearing up for the big year 2000 with the mad hype of the Y2K bug, and the threat of computers crashing, planes falling from the sky etc. etc. How time flies !!
We had a lovely New Years Eve with many friends coming to our house for the annual "Nigel No Friends New Years Eve Party" ... this being an invitation for all those with no where else to go ... but we've all come to the conclusion that considering there are so many of us friends that gathered to celebrate New Years ... we musn't be "Nigel's" after all ... he he !!
Hope you had lots of fun and celebrations; and 2008 brings you wonderful things along with all you have planned for the coming year!!
JULIE x