Jodeez Organised Chaos

February Kraft It Up - I love mum & dad...

2012-02-02T21:29:00.000+11:00

This month is the month of LOVE, dont get scared and think this challenge is just about husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend love, it's LOVE in general.
HOWEVER there must be PINK on your layout somewhere and of course your layouts must be created on Kraft CS or Kraft PP...

Here's my sample...

This is one of my favourite photos, the content, not the composure of the photo itself, don't think I really did it justice but I really wanted to scrap it this month because it sums up LOVE in so many ways...
Was hard to scrap because of the angle and I also didn't want to overcrowd the layout and take away from the photo. Also not including a title is kinda bugging me.

Check outthe other CT samples here

Thanks for stopping by
:)

February 123 challenge - refreshing!

2012-02-02T21:20:00.000+11:00

The first of the month and this means a NEW 123 Challenge....

This month we have gone for F starting word/colour/technique....
the word/s are: FRESH or FREE
the colour: FUSCHIA
the technique: FRAYING or FRILLS

so if you are wondering what FUSCHIA is... check out the 123 blog, Angela C has compiled some colour pics for you...

Here's my sample...

Check out the other AMAZING work from the CT and some of the DTs from our sponsor sites

Thanks for stopping by
:)

so hard to get a smile

2012-01-06T21:09:00.000+11:00

I've worked back to back graveyards the last two nights so with nothing but relaxing planned today I got a chance to do a little more scrapping! Now that I have culled my stash, I'm finding it so much easier to get into scrapping and spending more time doing it than searching through products!

I got 2 done today.

I love this one...

Photo of Jeff that Cas took on my iPhone, as usual he not smiling and it's bloody frustrating!!

Not really a fan of this one, it looked amazing in my head but I didn't quite achieve what I set out for. It's a photo I've had in my stash for about 5 years now so at least it's scrapped and will be going in an album now...

Photo is Cassie when she was 3, she'd just come out of the bath and looked absolutely radiant, couldn't resist snapping a picture! Love her blue eyes, they are not quite as blue anymore but beautiful all the same. Had a go using the prima mistables alphas and scallop fabric. Amazed at how quickly it dried!

Thanks for looking!

So cute it's scary

2012-01-05T16:40:00.000+11:00

My first layout of 2012
I used the january sketch from Annas Craft Cupboard for inspiration (I flipped it)
Photo of Chelsie from Halloween last year.

Thanks for stopping by
:)

So much to enjoy - Jan 123 challenge

2012-01-01T16:45:00.000+11:00

This months 123 challenge is
Colour: Silver
Word: Joy
Technique: Ink, mists, paint splats

I've used some silver letters and cut the black and silver baubles off a Christmas Card. Just added a small amount of green mist to the background. Didn't want to do too much to the page because I just love my photo of the girls which is the official photo I gave to the grandparents this year. Because of computer hassles once again, all I could do was make it black and white but I love it. It is framed ready to go on our photo wall as we speak too :)

Thanks for stopping by
:)

Say Hello to my little friend - Jan Kraft It Up

2012-01-01T16:37:00.000+11:00

This months challenge at Kraft It Up is a summer colour challenge!
You need to use some or all of the colours in the swatch below plus kraft

and my sample...

I'm having a few computer issues ATM and can't load or edit pics from my camera or phone without continual crashes. Very frustrating, also means I don't have fabulous photos to work with. The photo in the layout is a little dark, I printed it black and white to hide the fact it had a lovely garbage bin in the background but I couldn't anymore to it :(

Still quite happy with how bright and funky it came out and I just love the look on Chels face!

Thanks for stopping by
:)

she...

2011-12-31T15:28:00.000+11:00

My final post for 2011!
Had quite a few unexpected setbacks and regrets this last year. Somethings I never thought I would have to go through and never want to go through again but luckily we survived and we're all happy and healthy so although I am quite relieved that tomorrow we start a new year and new beginnings, I can't say I wish 2011 never never happened... just some of it

Anyhoo, the reason I stopped by is to share one last layout for 2011.
I signed up and had a go at the Annas Craft Cupboard December sketch.
Here is my layout:

Pics are of Chel from one of the times she hijacked my phone

Thanks to everyone (anyone??) who's stopped by blog in 2011. Hope you continue to do so next year - and why not leave a comment so I know you've visited??

Enjoy your new years eve and spare a thought for the unfortunate hospitatilty workers (myself included - grrr) who have to serve all your drunken lot tonight.

:)

Excited

2011-12-20T21:38:00.000+11:00

I don't enter many of the challenges out there.
Not because I don't want to, I just never get around to doing them - or I usually start and don't finish!!
The good thing about being on 2 CTs is that I at least scrap 2 layouts every month!!
Last month on top of my 2 CT challenge layouts I also got another 3 done - that would have to be a record for me which is exciting on it's own but even more exciting is that I actually won a prize for 2 of them!!
My layouts for 'white with one' and 'Scrap the girls' both won scrappy vouchers.
YAY ME!!

Annual Chrissy pics - December Kraft It Up

2011-12-07T17:12:00.000+11:00

This month at Kraft It Up is all about Christmas Traditions (on Kraft)
Here is my example
Really basic but really cool (I Think!)
Our tradition is to put the kids in Christmas T-shirts and take some pics. These were last years pics (haven't taken any yet this year, got the t-shirts though!)

Check out the other CT examples here and while your at it, why not have at a go at applying for the Kraft It Up Creative Team? Who doesn't like working on Kraft?! Details are here

Thanks for stopping by
:)

You make me proud - December 123 challenge

2011-12-07T17:06:00.000+11:00

This month's 123 challenge is
Colour: Marigold
Word: Make
Technique: Make Your Own

Here's mine...

My Make Your Own is not that great, I've mentioned before that handmade is not really my thing, I've just cut and layered patterned paper. I planned on doing more but decided I liked the less is more approach.

Check out the other CT examples (and alot better Make Your Owns)

This layout makes me feel like crying - in a good way - I am SO PROUD of the truly amazing, mature daughter I have. She puts all her effort into doing her best at school which is not easy for her because she also happens to be dyslexic. Things are quite hard for her but she doesn't let it get her down, she just keeps on trying and is determined she will 'beat' dyslexia one day and I really believe she will.

Thanks for stopping by
:)

layout share

2011-11-27T21:11:00.000+11:00

These 2 layouts I did at a scrap night at Bec's house last week

As close to a family pic as we get! Taken in the snow last year. This layout actually looks good IRL but on here... meh

Just one of the wigs we have in our dressup collection. Got it from the op shop the day of a school assembly so Chelsie HAD to wear it!!

Have another 2 layouts done but they're both for CT work so they'll be shared next week

Thanks for stopping by
:)

Tooth Fairy - Beyond the door

2011-11-20T19:14:00.000+11:00

Had a go at another challenge this afternoon. 1st time I've attempted 'Beyond the Door' and I love the concept! You need to take inspiration from a room. This month's was a bathroom, I've taken inspiration from the white space and the blue counter with a little bit of green and red thrown in from the flowers in a vase.
Pic is of Cas when she lost her 1st tooth.
Thanks for stopping by
:)

crazy Faces - white with one

2011-11-20T16:26:00.000+11:00

The white with one challenge this month is to use white, flowers plus brights.
I've used bright pink and since I don't do flowers, I've hand drawn a few and used a flower as the dot on the i of Cassie.
The misunderstood tag in the top left corner is from some of Cas's clothing and I've once again used my spotty template as the background.
Pics are some self portraits Cas took with my iphone
Thanks for stopping by
:)

Retreat Layouts Part 2

2011-11-18T17:03:00.000+11:00

1st layout I did just to get me into the mood :) Pretty clean (for me) Pics are of Cas and her 2 best friends in Kinder, the top one is James who is still one of her best friends 4 years later and the bottom one is Lauren who sadly moved away at the start of grade prep

Yet another pic of Cas taken in the Bourke Street Grafitti Alley - these pics are never ending! Good thing I love scappin' them!

This one is Chelsie in a grafitti alley we came across in Frankston last year. Did it at the same time as the one of Cas hence the reason they look the same.

Chelsie as a witch for Halloween in 2009. I had to work so it was left up to Jeff to dress them up, not even going to show the pic of Cas!

Some pics I captured n my phone of Cas when the were getting the crowd excited for Miley Cyrus to come out - love the look on her face :)

Pics of Cas when she got her new glasses earlier this year. This was for a sketch challenge. Glad I chose these pics because they are not that great but the sketch was awesome so it made them look better :)

I also have a double layout (I counted that as 2 layouts to make my 20 lol) but I don't really like it and I just know my computer will play up trying to scan and stitch it together so I'm not going to share it.

So there you have all the layouts I did at the retreat

Thanks for stopping by
:)

Retreat layouts part 1

2011-11-12T17:55:00.000+11:00

I got a record (for me anyway) 20 layouts done at the retreat last weekend!
Some of them are pretty basic but it's 20 more photos scrapped so I'm happy...
Started scanning them today but my computer is really playing up at the moment so scanning isn't as quick as it usually is so this is just part one
The layout in my previous post for the Scrap The Girls challenge was also done at the weekend...

Crazy kids waiting for their swimming lessons

These pics have come along with me on the last few retreats I've been on. Glad I finally scrapped them... not that well but at least they are done. Not particulary great pics anyway!

From Halloween this year. I have some GREAT pics of the chicks, will share them sometime in the next few posts

Did this one at about 2.30 in the morning!!

Yes I know there is a spelling mistake! Didn't pick it up until I was scanning it though, oh well, I'm not that precious about my layouts, I'd rather keep it that way, then fix it up now, see how many people notice when they look through my albums lol!!

Evil Fairy and Vampire, Halloween 2011

This is the real colour of my pussy cats eyes, Ijust did a desaturated layer on top and erased it over the eyes so the blue came through (he was lying on a pink blanket - not very manly!!)

Cassie for bookweek this year. Pics were taken very early in the morning because Cas had before school care and it was also when I was really sick so I didn't put as much effort in as I usually do but she still looked adorable :)

Did this one really fast because I realised it was layout 19 and it was after lunch so really wanted to get another one done before packing up to go home he he! Kinda tell it was a rush job hey!?

Vampire and witch for Halloween 2010

That's it for now, be back again later today or tomorrow with the rest

Thanks for stopping by
:)

cheeky monkey - Scrap The Girls

2011-11-12T17:31:00.000+11:00

I have a thing for polka dots so really couldn't resist doing this months Scrap The Girls Challenge!

Did this layout while on a retreat last weekend.
Very simple but I'm really pleased with how it looks.
Photos are of my cheeky Chelsie at the zoo on her birthday last year. I've misted using the large crafters workshop circle stencil and then used a paint dabber with the small one. Love how it's turned out.

Thanks for stopping by
:)

November Kraft It Up

2011-11-07T19:26:00.000+11:00

Bit late sharing my November Kraft It Up Layout because I went away scrapping for the weekend :) :) :) :)

This month the challenge was journaling.

Photo is of me and Bell on 'Me and You' day.
I've mixed journaling on blocks, dymo labeling and making my heading part of it.

Check out the other CT's work here

Love to see you have a go!

Thanks for stopping by
More scrapping from the weekend coming soon

:)

November 123 challenge

2011-11-01T19:59:00.000+11:00

The November 123 challenge is up!
http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/123challenge

Word: Please
Colour: Grey
Technique: Stamping

Not 100% happy with my layout this month. I like it enough but I don't think I did the technique much justice which is a shame because I do love stamping and have plenty of them. The grey border sticker along the top is also covering a major stuff up which has something to do with the awful guitar bling on the side too that I decided I would just have to run with.

Ive stamped onto transparency (lips), patterned paper (pointer), felt (heart) and onto cardstock (the really dodgy 'you make me smile')

Check out the the CT's much more stunning examples here and have a go at the challenge. 123 is such a GREAT challenge!!

Thanks for stopping by
:)

I scrapped!!

2011-10-30T19:49:00.000+11:00

Actually did 2 layouts this month that weren't for 123 or Kraft It Up!
Only a few short years ago I was doing 4 plus layouts a week and I'm now struggling to do 2 a month! Really hope I can start doing more again soon. Stupid life keeps getting in the way!!

Anyhoo, they're not great layouts but just wanted to share them anyway because it's been a big accomplishment to do them lol!
Both these layouts were done when I went for a scrap at Suzi's house a few weeks ago...

Be back to share my November Kraft It Up and 123 challenge layouts once they are up on the blogs in a few days

Thanks for stopping by
:)

October Kraft It Up

2011-10-01T20:48:00.000+10:00

I'm back with my October Kraft It Up layout.
This month you have the choice between creating a monochromatic, minimalist or vintage layout.
I choose to be minimalistic.

Check out the rest of CTs examples and this months sponsors here

As I explained in my last post, I didn't get to send off my September layouts but I did get them finished.
This is what I did for September - after not looking at it for a month when I scanned it the other day I realised just how bad it was so I think it was for the best it didn't go up on the blog lol!
The criteria was to include fabric and stitching, I just stitched a fabric star to the page.

Blahhh! It was a little rushed and it shows!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!
:)

October 123 challenge

2011-10-01T17:15:00.000+10:00

Took a break from everything last month to deal with some personal stuff but I'm back to share my October 123 layout (and September)

Colour: Gold
Work: You
Technique: Leather or lace

Little tricky this month, don't think I've ever used gold on layout!

There's lots of gold on it but it doesn't really show up in the pic. I've glimmer misted the background, bookpaper, tag and lace and the mesh, staples, bling and journaling are also gold.

You have until the end of the month to get your entries in.

Check out the other CTs inspiring work and this months sponsors here :)

Due to computer and scanner issues and then being really sick all month, I couldn't get my September layout uploaded in time so it's not on the blog but here it is
Colour: White
Word: On
Technique: White Space

Be back to share my Kraft It Up layout once it's up on the blog

Thanks for stopping by
:)

August Kraft It Up

2011-08-02T21:35:00.000+10:00

Based on a sketch from pagemaps this month and another multi photo challenge :)

and using Kraft cardstock or paper as your base of course!

The sketch:

And my sample:

Pics of my gourgeous girls being gorgeous a few years back while waiting outside for santa to arrive on a firetruck in the annual 'Santa Run' to raise money for the local fire brigade.
I've realised why I have so much patterned paper... I hardly use any of it anymore! Since discovering glimmer mist and a new found love for stickers and paint, I don't need it lol!

Head on over to Kraft It Up to check out the other CT work. Very cool.

Love to see what you come up with :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

August 123 challenge

2011-08-02T21:27:00.000+10:00

Very cool challenge this month :)
Last month was maybe a little tricky for some people because there weren't too many entries, this month is easy so there should be heaps!!

WORD: What

COLOUR: Black

TECHNIQUE: Multi-photos

brought to you by Guest Designer Crystal Goulding who has also given a few tips if you're stuck with adding more than 1 photo to a page

Here is my sample:

So much fun! Glad I got the photos scrapped, I got to relieve how much I enjoyed doing it :D
Really simple page just using paint and glimmer mist but I love it

Check out the rest of the CT's unreal samples here

Love to see what you come up with

Thanks for stopping by :)

July 123 Challenge

2011-07-01T21:04:00.000+10:00

The July 123 challenge is:

COLOUR: AQUA/TEAL

WORD: "THING" - could be anything, everything, something etc...

TECHNIQUE: Create A Scene

Before you go WTF like I did when I read that, a scene can be as simple or as detailed as you would like, as long as there is some kind of layering, texture & decorative background.

After a few attempts at trying to create something fabulous, I decided to simply the challenge a bit and am pretty happy with the results

The photos are of Cassie painting and making a mess when she was 3 so I created my 'messy scene' by firstly misting using a small circle stencil, then painting the aqua dots using my new Crafter's Workshop circle template, then smearing red paint over the top, spraying with a bit white glimmermist to tone it down a bit and adding rubons and printed transparency on top, doodling around a few of the circles and adding a final layer with some chipboard pieces.
Not sure this was exactly what guest creative team member Gina Rodgers had in mind when she set the challenge but I like what I did and had a lot of fun!!

You have to check out the other CT's AWESOME examples too, especially Louise Nelson's and Mandy Dodd's, I LOVE THEM!
Wish I'd thought to do something like that he he!!

Still have my 12x12 layouts I did at the retreat to share, will get around to photography them sooner or later

Thanks for stopping by :)

Some exciting news...

2011-07-01T20:51:00.000+10:00

Last week I got a fantastic message from Mel from Kraft It Up asking me if I wanted to become a creative team member.
Of Course I said Yes!
I love Kraft It Up and am really looking forward to all the challenges over the next 6 months :)

The July challenge is a great one!
You need to take inspiration from this pic

and of course use Kraft as your base

This is my example

I took inspiration from the colours (pink and aqua) and the placement of the cupcakes (I've placed the chipboard ladies the same way and used 3 photos to also represent the cupcakes) Quite happy with outcome :)

Pics are of Cassie posing for me in what she wore just before we went and saw Miley Cyrus last week.
She is growing up way to fast.
A teenager in a seven year olds body!

Make sure you check out Kraft It Up to see the other new CT members and their examples for this month

TFL :)

8.5x11 layouts from retreat

2011-06-08T17:41:00.000+10:00

Scanned the rest of the 8.5x11 layouts I did at the weekend retreat. Still have a few 12x12 ones (yep, scrapped a few 12x12!!) that I need to photograph but the weather is really crapola.

First time with no training wheels! WTG Cas!!

This one was for Ebony's blind scrap challenge

Blahhh, crap layout to match a crap photo! Oh well, everything can't look as fantastic as it does in my head!!

Cut the edge of this one in the scan - doh! Not really my style or colours but I wanted it to be a little more washed out than I usually do to match the photo.

The photo of mum and I that appeared in the paper when we were business finalists for the leader newspaper. Thought I should scrap a pic about the hardest of my babies to raise and then let go - ArtyPants

Not the best scan. A simple layout of my bell bell on her 4th birthday at the zoo

My 21st birthday pressie from my parents. Up close with a tiger at dreamworld!! These pics have been in a really crappy frame for years stuck to some corrugated backing board with sticky tape and still survived, no acid wear at all so I included some of the board in there too :)

Love heart shaped potatoes on Valentines Day this year. My first and probably only ever Valenitines pressie from Jeff (we don't do Valentines presents). He got them from the local store, they were going to throw them out so they gave them to him!

Be back to share the 12x12 layouts when the weather improves

Thanks for stopping by
:)

Me & My Girls - White with one

2011-06-07T22:29:00.000+10:00

2 posts in one day!!

This is the layout I started at the retreat and have just finished off tonight. The scan is not the greatest. It's a bit 3 dimensional so casting lots of ugly shadows...

The White With One challenge for this month was white(duh!), red and polka dots. I couldn't resist a red challenge!!
I've used a Heidi Swapp invisible with spots on it that I've had forever. I roughly inked a heart onto it and then scribbled around the edges. As the ink soaked in, the spots started showing through :) Whether or not that's the 'right' way to use one of these, I have no idea but it worked for me :)
Pics are of me and the chicks when we went to the zoo for Chellie's birthday.

Thanks for stopping by
More layouts to come still but they can wait until tomorrow
:)

4 years of birthdays - Kraft It Up

2011-06-07T19:38:00.000+10:00

I went on a retreat at the weekend and had a FANTASTIC time!
1 got 12 layouts finished and 1 almost finished (and hopefully finishing it tonight if I can get motivated)
1 of the layouts I completed was for the June Kraft It Up Challenge which was to include at least 3 pictures in a timeline and journal each pic.

Quite happy with what I come up with, it's Chelsie on her birthday each year. My journalling is just the year on each pic. I want to do one of Cassie now too but I'll have to go through the pics of Cas taken pre-digital first

I'll scan and upload the other layouts I did on the weekend for another post in the next few days

Mr Strong... June 123 challenge

2011-06-01T18:36:00.000+10:00

The June 123 challenge is unreal!!!

Colour: Brown
Word: Create
Technique/Product: Masking Tape

Had alot of fun with this one :)

Pic is of Chelsie inside a box that she cut eyes and a mouth out of to make a 'Mr Strong' Not the best photo but an ACE memory

123 challenge is the best challenge blog out there, the challenges are always awesome
check it out!

The bouncy slide - Kraft It Up

2011-05-21T20:21:00.000+10:00

This month's Kraft It Up challenge - no patterned paper.
I've used Sassafras stickers, chipboard letters, glimmer mist, chipboard word embellie, dymno labels and that's it. Simple. Easy. I like it :)
That's all I've done this month so far, going away for a scrap weekend in 2 weeks so just been planning for that.
Thanks for stopping by
:)

Take me to your leader...

2011-05-02T21:25:00.000+10:00

I seem to have scrapped A LOT of pics my girls have taken of themselves using PhotoBooth over the last few years.
This one I have had printed forever but just didn't know how to scrap it
Had a scrap night out with the girls on Friday and came up with this

It's really REALLY simple but I like it :)
(It's about all I can manage to scrap when I don't stop talking to my scrap buds all night too!!)
Not really sure how she managed it but Cas looks so much like an alien in this pic. She must have been sitting in the dark for her face to be glowing like that

TFL :)

Nice One - May 123 challenge

2011-05-01T14:57:00.000+10:00

The May 123 challenge is up and it's a doozy this month!!

Colour: Fire Engine Red
Word: Fun
Technique: Stitched Title

Red is my favourite colour so I love getting the opportunity to scrap with it but when I first saw it was a stitched title I panicked
Stitched Title - WTF??
I'm really not a sewer in any form so had to think outside the box a little and decided to just stitch the letters to the page and am happy with the results.
Thanks to 123 guest creative team member Becci Sundberg for the challenge!

Photo is of Cassie at the Blind Bight Foreshore Christmas Carols a few years back

Thanks for stopping by :)

Scrap The Girls

2011-04-29T14:17:00.000+10:00

The Scrap the girls challenge this month was to take inspiration from this picture...

The layout I created, takes inspiration from the colours in the pic.
I wasn't going to share it for this challenge because I thought maybe that wasn't enough as I haven't included any other elements from the picture but then I decided that it's my layout and I didn't HAVE to take more inspiration from it lol!!

This picture still makes me laugh!!
The layout looks a little better IRL. The transparency is coming out at an angle on the side with nothing behind it so scanning it doesn't really do it justice.

Thanks for looking!!

Show Us Your Stuff #2

2011-04-29T13:24:00.000+10:00

Another layout for show us your stuff
This one is for the 2nd April Challenge which was to use buttons. I have one or two of them lying around so couldn't resist using them!
My handmade items are the frame around the smaller photo and the felt under 2 of the buttons to make 3d buttons - bit of a stretch hey but I don't do handmade that well. Need some practice!
Photos are of my cheeky little one eating a sandwhich, taken at the shop where she pretty much lived with me when she a baby
Thanks for looking
:)

Show Us Your Stuff

2011-04-12T15:05:00.002+10:00

I got another challenge done the other day!

This one was for show us your stuff

The criteria was to use a sketch as inspiration and use blue, yellow and pink (plus black white or kraft). You also have to include a handmade item (mine are the handcut felt arrows and the felt circles)

Decided to do a 12x12 layout for the first time in about 1 year! Photos are from our photoshoot in Graffiti Alley in the city a few years ago that were just sitting in the pile. Little bugger wasn't making it easy to get some good photos!

Sorry about the blurry photo of the layout. Took it using my iPhone - have to remember it's not manual focus so not get too close up!

Thanks for stopping by :)

White With One

2011-04-10T16:36:00.000+10:00

I'm on a roll at the moment! The most I've scrapped all year!
This one is for the White With One challenge blog
Challenge was white + Olive + Twine
Actually surprised I had Olive things in my stash, didn't think it was a colour I liked lol!
Not sure the layout is that great but I'm still happy I did another challenge
Pic is of Cas from a few years back looking like a true Warneet feral!

Thanks for stopping by :)

April 123 Challenge

2011-04-09T22:07:00.000+10:00

My take on the April 123 Challenge
Criteria: Lime Green, the word 'REALLY' and fabric
The layout is lime green, I promise! Hasn't really shown up that well in the scan, my fabric is the wood grain scallop border strips and the wood grain flowers. I used self adhesive fabric.
Pics are of the girls when we went to the zoo a few weeks back on Chel's birthday.

A layout I did today when Bec and Suzi came for a scrap at my place.
Pic is of Chel running about in a park

TFL :)

Kraft It Up...

2011-04-09T21:44:00.001+10:00

I actually managed to do start AND FINISH the Kraft It Up challenge this month!! YAY!

Photos are of Cassie dressed as "CJ the DJ' an Aussie cartoon character on ABC.
It was for her school Disco last year where they had to dress as something that started with the letter of their name. CJ is actually the first letter of Cassie's first and middle name and we use to call her CJ so it's pretty cool that an ACE character has the same name :) (Her hair is purple just like CJ's)

For the challenge you had to use...
1 Kraft Cardstock
2 photos smaller than 6x4
3 types of alphas (DCWV, American Krafts thickers and stickers)
4 patterned papers (Fancy Pants x2, Rose Moka and Love Elsie)
5 embellishments (Badge, Crafty Matters clay word, Smiggle sticker, Glitz rub ons and Staples)

The letters for CJ are actually Black and Silver and look pretty funky IRL but don't show up as well here. Oh Well.

Back soon with my 123 sample for this month - so slack that I haven't shared that yet AND ANOTHER LAYOUT I finished today - 2 in one day!! Maybe my mojo has decided to come back??!!

TFL :)

Arghhhh! A Zombie!!

2011-03-20T11:52:00.003+11:00

Cassie went to a spooky birthday party yesterday.
Being the morbid child she is, she decided to wanted to look like a 'real' zombie.
I was happy to accept the challenge (I'm a little morbid too) and am quite pleased with the results. Could have gone a little further but didn't want to freak the other kids out too much :)

Thanks for stopping by

March 123 challenge

2011-03-04T22:11:00.003+11:00

Colour: Light/medium blue
Word: To/Too/Two
Theme: Doilies

Looks much better IRL, a bit washed out here.
Pics of Cas on her first day of prep and then on her first day of grade 2
She's growing up way too fast and it's a little scary sometimes!

I used a blue paper doilie behind the pics, I smeared white paint on the background, stuck it on and then painted over it some more and added a bit of glimmer mist. Not really a user of doilies and my style doesn't really suit them so struggled a little this month.

Love to see some clever ways to use them so pop on over and have a go at the challenge before the end of month http://www.ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/123challenge

Seems all I'm sharing nowadays is my 123 challenges!!

Love to say I have heaps more to share but I don't.

Hope I find my mojo somewhere soon, I miss it :(

February 123 challenge

2011-02-14T13:16:00.003+11:00

Oops! Running a little late sharing the latest 123 challenge!!
The criteria this month is...
Colour: CREAM
Technique: UPCYCLING
Word: ABOUT

I upcycled some corrugated card that came with an online order and also a dressmaking pattern I picked up from op shop about a year ago.
Very simple layout but I like it :)

I had to do a MASSIVE cull of my supplies and throw out 3 FINISHED and 1 on the go layouts just before I created this.
My stupid cat decided to use my desk as a toilet and went RIGHT ON TOP of a big pile of scrap stuff, cassie's school work and a few other bits and pieces I hadn't put away yet. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement.
It took me ALL DAY to clean up the mess, I had cat piss through everything and it traveled to the side of my desk where I had 3 layouts waiting to be albumed sitting (including the last 2 123 challenges) and the current 123 layout which I had started.

I DID need to have a cleanout but I would have preferred to get rid of some of my old crap not the last Studio Calico kit, almost all my alphs, a big pile of paper and stack of chipboard and other embellies that sit in a container on my desk waiting to inspire me.

Be back soon, once I've done some scrapping to share
Thanks for stopping by :)

Another Post!

2011-01-10T01:02:00.003+11:00

Maybe this year I wont be suck a slack blogger (HA!!)

I've been scrapping again and thought I would scan and share it straight away in a hope of keeping up to date this year (again, HA!!)

A layout of my Chel showing off her vampire teeth
Started as a 12x12 but I cut it down, I think I'm done with 12x12 for now.
Had a good play with glimmer mist and inks

Thanks for stopping by
:)

January 123 challenge (plus 1 more)

2011-01-09T16:04:00.007+11:00

January 123 challenge is up!!

COLOUR: Purple
WORD: Beautiful
TECHNIQUE: Punching

Mine's not really a 'beautifu' layout since it's not really my style and didn't want to do something girly girl 2 months running lol!!

To be honest, not really sure I like it much, the folded edge is due to a really bad journalling error that needed covering up, pity, I liked where it was going before that... Oh Well!

Get your challenge done by the end of the month for the chance to win some great prizes from this month's sponsors. link link link

You also still have until the end of this month to apply for the creative team or a guest spot. Really should give it a go, it's by far, my fav challenge site, a great challenge (really has you thinking some months) and heaps of fun!!

All the details are here

I also did another layout on Friday (that's 3 layouts so far this year, more that I did in 3 months sometimes last year lol!)

Just a layout, nothing special

EDITED TO ADD: Someone liked it! Check out April's edition of http://scrapstreet.com/ss11/4apap/something.htm

Anyway, thanks for stopping by :)

NEW YEAR, NEW LAYOUTS

2011-01-07T00:17:00.003+11:00

It's now 2011.

Maybe I might be a better blogger this year or maybe not.

Didn't really have much to blog about last year as I hardly scrapped :(

This year will hopefully be better, I don't have any where near as much going on in my life so I may just be able to fit some me time in every now and again!

So I've done my 1st 2 layouts of the year.
They are pretty simple, just easing myself back into scrapping
They have been created using the Studio Calico 'Metropolitian' kit

Thanks for stopping by, I don't get many visitors anymore, whats the point when I hardly ever update lol!
Maybe that will change soon

See Ya!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-24T19:24:00.002+11:00

December 123 challenge

2010-12-04T00:32:00.001+11:00

Talk about steppin' out of my comfort zone this month!
Was a great challenge this month and I loved giving something new a try

Criteria:
Colour: Pink
Word: Oh
Technique: Tissue Paper

I scrunched, tore, stapled and glimmer misted over the tissue paper and I'm quite happy with the results
Quite a simple layout :)

Pic is of Chel dancing around in the courtyard. It's not really the best photo but she looks so grown up and sophisticated as I said in the journalling on the layout, it makes my heart ache

Have a go at this months challenge and check out the CT call (it's a great team to be on!)
http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/123challenge

Thanks for stopping by :)

November 123 challenge

2010-11-03T23:06:00.003+11:00

It was my turn this month to set the 123 challenge
The criteria is:
Word: Live
Colour: Blue
Technique: Doodling

I've done a little tutorial over on the blog too if you're a little scared to give doodling a try.

Here's my sample page...

Check out the rest of the CT's samples over on the blog and give the challenge a go!

Missed a couple of months!!!

2010-10-01T14:57:00.002+10:00

Been quite busy in the Armitage household. Wish it was on the scrapping front but unfortunately, life just keeps getting in the way!
Here's the last few 123 challenges...
August - colour: YELLOW, word: SUNSHINE and technique: MISTING

September - colour: ORANGE, word: BLOOM and technique: HAND MADE FLOWERS

October - colour: GREEN, word: GO, TECHNIQUE: HAND CUT TITLE
This just went up today so you have all month to give it a go

In other news...
ArtyPants is now closed. I had quite a bit of interest in the sale and then a genuine buyer who pulled out just 2 weeks ago (It was supposed to be changing hands today). It doesn't worry me that it didn't sell because I made more than enough $$ in the closing down sale but I'm pretty pissed that I kept the website up longer than I needed too to make it an easy transition for her and all the extra work I did organising the changeover that I didn't need to do. Oh Well, that's life. I've still got quite a bit of stock, shop fittings etc. that will be going up on ebay when I get a chance. Right now I'm enjoying NOT having to sell anything!!!
A few weeks ago Suzi and I went on a retreat. Had heaps of fun and have booked 2 next year. Didn't get as much scrapping done as I had planned because I left my mojo at home unfortunately.
Other than that, it's just work, spring cleaning, zumba, kids... you know, the usual. If you want to keep up with all that, send me a friend request on facebook because I update that more than I do here.

I'll scan some layouts to share soon.
Till then
TFL :)

July 123 challenge

2010-07-01T11:11:00.000+10:00

Word: Passion
Colour: Red
Technique: Grunge

Thanks for looking!!

ArtyPants is Closing Down!!!

2010-06-13T12:36:00.001+10:00

ArtyPants is CLOSING DOWN!
SALE ON NOW!!!
10-80% off ALL STOCK
plus FREE mystery pack worth $25.00 with orders over $100.00
While Stocks Last.
Last day trading 31st July 2010.

Bulk discounts available to store owners.
Shop fittings also available.
Contact me info@artypants.com.au for further details

HURRY! While stocks last!!
Tell your friends and GRAB A BARGAIN!!

www.artypants.com.au/shop

June 123 Layout

2010-06-02T20:48:00.003+10:00

OK, so maybe I might blog a little bit afterall :p

Here is my layout for the June 123 challenge

Dominant Colour: White
Word: NEW
Technique: Paint smeared background
It was a really fun challenge to get me back into scrapping!
ArtyPants is also sponsoring the challenge so give it a go for the chance to win a $20.00 voucher from us or 2 other great stores

123 is BACK!!!

2010-05-30T22:12:00.001+10:00

The 123 Challenge is BACK>>>> come and check out the 123 Challenge blog on the 1st of June for our COMEBACK!!!

The 123 Challenge for June will be based on:

1 ONE WORD
2 ONE DOMINANT COLOUR
3 ONE MYSTERY CRITERIA
A combination of the 3 Criterias will be announced on the 1st of JUNE. I have a few of the old Creative Team Members coming back - with the chosen criterias to be uploaded and inspire you on the 1st.

The Rules:
The WORD can be used in the title, in the journalling or ANYWHERE on the page/project as long as it's VISIBLE and a feature - we don't want it HIDDEN it has to be seen!
The Dominant Colour MUST be dominant - you must use it so that it is the MOST NOTICEABLE of the colours you use on your page!
The Mystery Criteria will be given by either one of the Creative Team, Myself or even maybe a Guest or Contributor - submit your ideas to challenge_123@hotmail.com
We have 3 Websites donating - so three chances to WIN! More details coming shortly!

Want to be on the Creative Team? I will be keeping an eye out for the next few months or so, to see who regularly contributes AND is inspirational and most creative! We will be limiting the number on the Creative Team as I am wanting to "keep it simple" this time around....

Sound good?
Interested?

Looking forward to seeing you ALL join in!!!

Advertise on your blogs/facebook for you chance to win an awesome set of alphas! Check out the 123 Challenge for details!
http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/123challenge/

IMPORTANT ARTYPANTS ANNOUNCEMENT

2010-04-12T20:28:00.001+10:00

No I'm not back blogging, just wanted to share a decision I've made...

here

M.I.A

2010-03-12T09:48:00.002+11:00

Yep it's been a while.
To be honest blogging just doesn't seem really important right now so I'm going to just stop feeling guilty and decide I'm not going to post anymore.
I might change my mind next week, next month, next year so I'm still going to keep it open for the just in case. Maybe I'll start blogging again when life settles down.

I'm on facebook, I've been sharing what little scrapping I do over at ArtyPants and
I'm still checking (stalking) everyone else's blogs

Thankyou to everyone who still visits.
:)

2009 Done And Dusted

2010-01-06T11:06:00.005+11:00

Couldn't have come quicker as far as I'm concerned!
I'm putting all the crap that happened last year behind me and determined to only think about the good stuff that happened. (Yes, there were a FEW good moments...)

I managed to do about 70 scrapping layouts in 2009 - not that good but at least I had time to do some!
Here's my favourites...

Next post I'm going to share my fav 2009 photos
TFL :)

Whoa!!!

2009-12-03T17:18:00.004+11:00

My last post was 'Do You Feel Lucky??'
Well I certainly do not!
Layout I did for one of the Supersticious Cybercrop challenges

On Friday 13th, Jeff had an accident at work which resulted in a trip to the emergency room, surgery 4 days later and him having to take 1 month off work!
The was the straw that broke the camels back as we've had a extremely bad run of luck for the last few months (actually all of 2009).
I've been working extra shifts to make up for the loss in income so haven't had much time to myself. Between work, ArtyPants, the kids, running Jeff about and trying to catch up on sleep when I can, life has been pretty full on!
Wish it would slow down a bit

So I haven't been scrapping all that much - no where near as much as I would like. I've managed to get a couple done though...
Don't really like this one

123 challenge for October - B/W & colour photo, tearing and 5 different papers.

On the 1st December, as Jeff was getting the Chrissy tree ready to put up, I took a few pics of the girls all dressed in Christmas tshirts and Santa hats. It was a spur of the moment thing so they aren't great. Hoping to take some more at a later stage.

Over at ArtyPants, Scrap your Pants off is now in it's final week and we've just started 12 days of Christmas which will end with a Christmas Cybercrop next weekend (which Ive rostered myself off for so will actually be able to do it!!)

Well That's it for now
Thanks for stopping by :)

Do You Feel LUCKY??

2009-11-11T11:06:00.001+11:00

Would it kill you to smile??

2009-09-29T14:24:00.002+10:00

My take on the September 123 challenge
The criteria was Bookpaper, Non-Scrap item and the word Smile.
My subjects were getting a little sick of a camera in their faces! lol!

Now onto a cheeky little thing that ALWAYS has a smile for me...

My Chel Bell is just ADORABLE

Thanks for stopping by
See Ya!

2009-09-19T20:51:00.005+10:00

Layouts I made during the ArtyPants Cybercrop Last weekend...

This was for Challenge 1: Suzi's Spring Themed challenge. You had to use the word spring and a handmade spring embellishment (I cut the grass)

Challenge 2: Kerry's challenge, Taking Inspiration from a Pumpkin Patch Ad. Also had to include something old from your stash and something with wings. My something old and wings was the MME butterfly rubon. The flower is also and old HS fabric flower. I love this pretty pic of Cas and a simple layout was all that was needed for it (I think)

This was my sample layout for Challenge 3. It was to Scrap a Quote which was 'If you choose to be happy, then be' I love this pic of me and the girls but not all together happy with the layout. Oh Well, it's done.

Challenge 4 was another of my challenges. A sketch. Totally IN LOVE with this layout!

And during the week, I also finished another layout. Started this one at Suzi's place a few weeks ago but didn't know what to do to get it finished. I decided to add a few rubons and now I'm kind of happy with it :) Chel's T-Shirt says 'The Camera Loves You'... Quite suiting actually :P

Now onto a few pics...

Jeff and I have been married for 10 YEARS!
10 YEARS!
We celebrated our wedding anniversary on Friday night by going out to dinner to Taco Bill and next Friday we are going to see the Salvador Dali exhibition at the Gallery (if we can get someone to look after the chicks that is)

Cas had a footy day at school last Wednesday. She loved going as a Collingwood supporter. Photos are really bad as I took them on auto not manual and accidently set them for landscape pics not portraits (hence the blurriness)

Cassie now also has to wear glasses for reading writing, TV etc.! How CUTE!

The girls caught a bit of static while playing on the trampoline last weekend. AREN'T THEY ADORABLE!

A pic from few weeks ago now. Taken at our cousin Kylie's 21st

The girls LOVE dressing up! Just wish they's stay CLEAN!

Just being cute, adorable, GRUBS!

I also got another job today!
I'm now working 2-3 shifts a week at the Lyndbrook Hotel as a gaming attendant.
I'm so excited, I've been wanting to get back into it for a while now and it will be nice to have a regular income (ArtyPants just being an online store can be unpredictable)

Not much more to share right now

Thanks for stopping by
:)

We're Cybercropping at ArtyPants this weekend!

2009-09-08T09:22:00.000+10:00

I drew the little birdie, it's a little dorky hey?!
Kinda think it's cute though :p

New Stuff

2009-08-31T09:43:00.002+10:00

My little Chelly girl after she was playing outside all day on Saturday. She was so stuffed she fell asleep laying on the orange I gave her as a snack! She's wearing a crocodile suit and was playing in the mud bear foot!

My take on the 2nd August sketch at Scrapability sketches

My take on the 1st August sketch at Scrapability sketches

That's it for now
Thanks for stopping by :)

Blog Changes...

2009-08-25T10:16:00.003+10:00

OK, this blog has been dying a slow painful death for a while now so instead of stressing myself out about never updating with news and pics of the kids, I have decided to keep it just for showing off my Scrapping and maybe the occasional pic or 2.
To catch up on what is actually going on in my life, add me as a friend on facebook as I'm updating that a few times a week and I also chat on the ArtyPants Forum. All the ArtyPants goss will now be shared on the ArtyPants Facebook Fan Page (hope that link works), forum and blog
Sorry for the people who do read here for updates but I'm struggling to find the time for anything nowadays so something had to go!

OK, now onto some scrapping shares...
Haven't really been scrapping much lately as I lost my mojo somewhere. I really want it back!
This time last year, I had already done over 100 layouts. To date, this year, I think I've done about 60 (if I'm lucky).
My interpretation of the August 123 challenge.
1. Blurry Photo
2. Metal Embellishment
3. At least 5 staples

There is still time to get your entry in. Email it here before 31st August for the chance to win some great prizes from this month's sponsors

This was my interpretation of Laura's July Scrap a Quote challenge on my website. I was a little late but I still really wanted to get it done. Quote 'I can sometimes avoid temptation, but never mischeif' Describes my Chelly girl to a T I think! Extra criteria was stitching and handmade buttons (I've stitched the buttons to the layout and the handmade one is the monkey (that came from one of Cassie's socks) that I've stitched on in the nose to look like a button :P Bit of a stretch hey!)
The pics in this layout are not very good as they were shot on a really high ISO with no flash so VERY grainy but they are of Chel covered in plaster!

A really CRAP layout! Started out as my August 123 layout but I decided it wasn't good enough and then it just kept getting even more worse (believe it or not, English is my first language!) as I added more to it. Urghhh, Just AWFUL!

On Friday night, I attended a ScrapWare Trade night. It was so much fun and I got 3 projects finished. This is one of them, the other 2 I haven't photographed yet) The pic is supposed to be landscape which is why it looks a little off but I'm still happy with the layout.

Well that's it for now
Be back when I have some more scrapping to share (which will hopefully be soon as I have some deadlines looming)
See Ya!

Do you like my hat??

2009-08-02T10:05:00.004+10:00

Ummm. No. I DO NOT like your hat!
Yep, this is what Cheslie asked me on Friday just after she had tipped a tub of yoghurt over her head!
It was a NICE smelling yoghurt - mango and banana lol!
but, the shampoo straight after this photo was taken smelled MUCH better!

A photo of the most important people in the whole world to me. I couldn't live without these dags!

Cassie has a little obsession with Babuska dolls at the moment which is fine with me as I love them too! She has 2 sets, I'm going to start buying a new set for her every year so she'll have a collection. Going to check ebay for some rare/unusual ones

Cassie also enjoys playing around with photobooth on Max. She loves trying out all the different effects and also makes little movies where she chats to Max about what's going on in her life right at that moment. Yep I've kept every one of them as thery're going to be fantastic to watch when she gets older.
The following 2 pics are just 2 of the recent ones she's taken...
This one is supposed to have a background in it (probably a rollercoster as she loves that one) which is why there are a few patches in the pic. For some reason the background didn't work

'Take me to your leader!' How she managed to make herself look so creepy, I don't know lol!

This is the ArtyPants August Kit which is on sale tomorrow. I did the sample layouts for it. I surprised myself by getting 7 layouts done!

Love it that Chelsie calls a trampolene (and anything else bouncy like the bed and couch) a 'Jump-o-lene'!

We've been laying low at bit lately. Trying to get back on our feet and only spending money on bare necessities and bits and pieces for our house renovation when we can afford it.

Last week we managed to get a new back door on ebay for just $10.50 (Just needs a coat of paint and a new handle) and yesterday we picked up a BRAND NEW bath for just $36.50! BARGAINS! I LOVE EBAY!

Jeff has already put the door on and it looks fabulous. It's 6 panel glass one so the hallway is much lighter. It still needs the repaint and the door handle but we wanted it up straight away so put the old door handle on it (doesn't quite fit but it works) and just cleaned it up. We'll paint it and lookout for some cool handles when we get a bit more money.

The bath was bought as a 'planning ahead' item. We desperatley need a new bathroom as it has been flooded by the girls one too many times and the floor tiles are lifting and probably rotting the boards underneath and due to bad air circulation in there, the ceiling is covered in mould - yuk. We don't have a bath only a shower with a large base that we can put a plug in so the girls can have small baths. Anyway, so it doesn't seem like the bathroom renovation is costing us a small fortune, we're buying bits and pieces as we can afford them and just keeping them aside for when we're ready to start fixing it up. I can't believe how lucky we were to find a bath so cheap! It's nice and deep and bigger than a standard bath too :) It still has the cardboard and plastic covering on it. The previous owners bought it and then decided on a different one. Bet they thought it would sell for a little more - but yay for us!

The office now doesn't have the washing machine and laundry trough in it. Woo Hoo! So much more space. Over the next few weeks, Jeff will be building in a new desk and putting a sliding door on it so there will be more room and then I'll be giving it a coat of paint to get rid of the yucky blue. I can't wait! It's going to be just 'my space' so I'm looking forward to decorating it to just my style.

The laundry is now outside on the back deck (not sure if I mentioned that before) We've put the washing machine inside a cupbaord Jeff built and just connected up a grey water hose to run into the garden that hardly gets any water and the grass in summer. The trough is now sitting by the tap down the side of the house and is Jeff's 'fish cleaning' sink. The dryer gave up the ghost a few months back and went out to hard rubbish. It's taken some adjusting but we decided not to replace it to keep the electricity bill down.

Other than that, we've been de-cluttering again. Hard rubbish was last week and we got rid of lots of stuff. I've been clearing out all the girls old stuff to ebay, hand down etc. We got rid of a full garbage bag of stuff from the kitchen (plates that had chips, containers missing lids, lids missing containers ect. and the office also had about 2 garbage bags worth of junk in it and a box of stuff to ebay.
All the ArtyPants stock is coming up to my place next weekend so we've had to make room for that (if I could offload the garage full of shop fittings, hubby would be alot happier about that :D)

OK, we'll there's a little(ish) update, sure we've been up to more but can't remember anything else.
Does anyone still read my blog anymore??

Till next time
Thanks for stopping by :)
See Ya!

Some recent layouts...

2009-07-28T13:35:00.003+10:00

The 2nd layout for the ArtyPants July Add On Kit ON SALE NOW! Pics are of Chelsie riding her new 3 wheeler she got from Santa... in the kitchen! This Sass Lass paper was perfect for the layout

My take on Kerry's 'Winter Woolies' June challenge. I was a little late getting this one done (about 2 weeks lol!) Pic was taken outside my house one really foggy morning. (The fog had actually cleared a little when this pic was taken as it was about 10am)

The following are the layouts I did for the ArtyPants July Cybercrop a few weeks ago...
My take on Lauras challenge which was to take inspiration from a party table photo. Not sure if I'm 100% happy with this one. Pity as I love the pic of chel doing her 'Super Cheese' pose

Bec's Pass the Parcel Challenge - lots of buttons, chipboard and mixed alpha title (actually given by Suzi). Pic of Chel and I at the park on Mother's Day inside a tyre.

Kerry's Sketch challenge - Pic of Chel from when she was 2 months old and trying to lift her head up - that really seems like a lifetime ago!

Megan's Lolly Bag challenge - brown, bright colours, ribbon and another embelishment. Love this pic of the chickies.

OK, that's all for now, I'll have more to share next week after the ArtyPants August Kit goes on sale

TFL :)
See Ya!

123 challenge...

2009-07-28T12:21:00.003+10:00

Check out 'who's in the spotlight'!

ArtyPants is also sponsoring this month's challenge. Check out the criteria below and get it done by the end of this month for the chance to win a $25.00 voucher plus FREE postage! Only a few days left!

the JULY 123 CHALLENGE IS:

1 altered photo - either digitally altered or
manually altered (eg, sanded, journalled on)
Kate Middleton

2 Use paint on a stamp (s) for your layout.
Mandy Dodd

3 polka dots
Karen Brierley

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Email your entries to challenge_123@hotmail.com by the last day of July!!!

JUNE WINNERS ARE UP - ALONG WITH THE BLOG PARTY WINNERS TOO!!!
http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/123challenge/

This is my take on this month's challenge...

Been doing a bit of other scrapping, be back to share soon - hopefully be back to normal blogging now, got myself and my life a bit more organised :D

See Ya!

I'm still here...

2009-07-21T15:46:00.002+10:00

I know I haven't been much of a blogger lately and I will try and make a better effort.

Just taking a time out to get my life back on track.
It's been turned upside down by some major issues I need to get my head around.

I've still been chatting over at the ArtyPants forum and on Facebook so sign up for ArtyPants or add me as a facebook friend if you want to keep tabs on me :P

I'll share some scrapping and maybe update on the chickies next post.

See YA!

Whoa I really need a kick up the butt!

2009-07-10T22:31:00.005+10:00

And then maybe I might blog a bit more regularly!

Heaps has been going on the last month but right now I can't think what!

So I'm just going to share some scraping on then go back to the ArtyPants Cybercrop (which is on right now - go and check it out)

This layout of Cassie was for the June quote challenge over at ArtyPants and also part of my entry for the Scrapware design Team call (wasn't successful)

A layout of my crazy Chel Bell and a sample for the ArtyPants July Add-On Kit and based on the 1st July sketch for Scrapability Sketches, Bec's new sketch site which I am now a creative team member for. Check out the site, it's gonna be GREAT! Some great scrappers also on the team (I'll link them up soonish) So happy to be doing regular sketches again :)

The following are the sample layouts for the ArtyPants July Kit ON SALE NOW!

Don't die, Yes I did a mini book! Lol! I made it from the chipboard left over cardstock and transparency from the kit and then bound it together using my bind-it-all machine
The shocks keep coming! Also did a card! Not really a great one though with my silly faces :P
Made a spelling mistake on this one DOH! It's an A4 layout, the white space is there because it's easier to load onto the shopping cart if it's square.
Also A4. You get the idea.

OK, I WILL post again soon with an update

Thanks for looking
See Ya!

A Tag...

2009-06-08T10:46:00.008+10:00

Haven't been tagged in a while so I was quite happy to see that Gayatri had...

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Starting Back at Weight Watchers Tomorrow
2. For our house to be snot free again
3. Getting the laundry and office finished
4. Getting rid of the termites
5. Buying CS4 with my tax return
6. Doing more graphic and web design work
7. Hot showers in the morning
8. Christmas (I know it's a long way off but I'm still looking forward to it!!)

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Drove Cassie to school
2. Visited my mum
3. A tiny Bit of scrapbooking
4. Looked after a snot monster
5. Took said snot monster to doctors to make sure it's nothing more than snot (it's not)
6. Checked out 2 local op shops
7. Had a physio appointment
8. Had dinner at my parents house

Wow what a THRILLING day lol!

8 Things I wish I could Do
1. Move to QLD or
2. Finish renovating this house
3. Travel to South Africa
4. Run without fearing I'll dislocate one of my knees
5. Get my pre-pregnancy body back
6. Make good financial decisions
7. Not care so much (won't get hurt again and again that way)
8. Spend more time just me and Jeff

8 Things Or Shows I've Watched Lately
1. Too many ABC kids shows
2. CSI
3. NCIS
4. Very Early Morning News (the American one - haven't been sleeping well)
5. Simpons, Simpons and more Simpsons (the kids love it)
6. Monster In Law (a stupid movie I had on in the background while I was working)
7. Scrubs (LOVE that show)
8. 30 Rock (Very Cool Too)

OK, Not going to Tag anyone in particular but if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged :P

Layout Share

2009-06-08T10:46:00.005+10:00

Layouts I created on the ArtyPants Retreat...
Photos are NOT GOOD! Was a bit hard to photograph them all on crutches!
I promise they are all straight IRL!

Yes it is straight IRL! This started as a 12x12 then I cut it down and then it became 12x12 again! (Thanx for the sugestion Laura, it looks finished now!) Nice scray pic of Chel Hey?!

Colour is Way off on this one. IRL you can actually read the stickers and the layout doesn't look greenish! It's been done on a KI sheer delight so it's kinda see through. This one was a Scraplift of Suzi Layout for one of the challenges. (Her Layout looks much better :P)Hated this layout when I first did it but by morning it was kinda growing on me!

Another Challenge Layout. Suzi challenges everyone to use only one colour plus black or white, cut a photo (the punching down the side) and use only handmade embelishments (the handcut shapes) Really simple but I like it. It's a pic Cassie took on my computer that I found one day when I was going through iphoto.

Did this layout MONTHS ago but never finished it. Just added the date and decided it didn't need anything else. Pic from our city trip last year

For the May sketch challenge on our website. Also started this one a while ago (at a crop at Andreas house) so just had to finish it off. The pics are not as dark IRL.

This is the layout I did at Crop 4 Kids. I used it as the sample for my 'Follow the leader' challenge at the retreat. (This layout actually looks pretty ACE IRL but looks crap in this photo) It's a pic of Cas with Moo and Glenn on Cas's third birthday which was also their 3 yr aniverasary as they got together the day Cas was born. I forgot to mention when I loaded this layout onto our website that it's a little bit scraplifted. I got the idea online somewhere (sorry can't remember where). It is different to the original but there are still some simularities.

Didn't do this one at the retreat, just hadn't shared it before. Started it at a crop at Jenny's place and finished it at Andreas a while back.

Hope everyone's having a great Queen's Birthday Holiday!
I'm planning on doing some scrapping a little later maybe, see how I go.
We also went to Phillip Island this weekend but it was a disaster. Already documented the weekend on the ArtyPants forum so check there is you want the details.
Off to play with my kiddies
Thanks for stopping by
See Ya!

The Good, The Bad, The VERY BAD...

2009-06-03T12:38:00.002+10:00

It doesn't seem like only a few weeks since I last blogged...
You would not believe how much stuff has been jammed packed into those weeks!
Not even going to try and blog everything that's happened, here's a quick update...

The Good...

*Picture to Page - was pretty good, we were busy most of the time. Didn't get much from any of the other stores though, not alot of good bargains or new stuff which is what I always look for

*ArtyPants Retreat - was FANTASTIC! Didn't get as much scrapped as I would of liked but I and everyone who attended all had a good time

*New ArtyPants Design Team - we did a call out and a comp which lasted a few weeks and now have 2 new members, Laura and Kerry! We also have 3 guest designers, Gayatri, Megan and Kerry. It was a great comp, it went so fast and was so hard to pick as all the work was ACE!

The Bad...

*Sickies - we've all been sick. In between P2P and the retreat (1 week) I got a MASSIVE cold and had trouble even standing up, then last week got gastro. Jeff also got the cold while I was away at the retreat, Cassie got gastro on P2P weekend and Chelsie has had gastro and a cold at the same time! It's been pretty exhasuting!

The VERY BAD!
Going to explain this one in more detail...

Just before Picture 2 Page...
When I say just, I mean JUST before leaving to set up a stall at Picture 2 page a VERY BAD thing happened...
I pulled into the driveway at mum and dads place after picking Cas up from school at about 4.30pm - half an hour before we needed to leave to set up P2P - and was just about to get out of the car when my KNEE DISLOCATED!
Cas was still in the car so I asked her to go and get mum, she kinda took her time getting out of the car as she didn't know how urgent I needed help so more urgently I said 'Cas, you NEED to get out of the car RIGHT AWAY and RUN inside and get Nannie, Yell to her I've hurt my knee!!' Then she was off, poor thing I scared her a little bit but by this time I was in ALOT of pain.
Mum wanted to call an ambulance but I said no as there was no time, we had to get to P2P. There was no way I could out of the car without putting it back in so with Jenny sitting next to me, I held my breath and straigtened my leg and it slowly went back in. I have NEVER done that before and nearly passed out doing it but I had no choice...
1/2 hour later with hired crutches, we're on our way to set up P2P. Mum wanted me to go to the docs but I didn't want to be sitting in casulty for hours and it was back in so I decided it could wait. I think I may have actually been in a bit of shock to have kept it so together under the circumstances.
I spent all weekend at P2P, hobbling around on the crutches, to say it was exhausting is an understatement!
Monday went to a VERY BAD doctor who without even looking at knee or asking what I was doing when it happened says I dislocated my knee because I'm overweight and it will happen again unless I lose weight. He then proceeded to tell that knee reconstruction do not fix dislocating knees, only loosing weight does. He took no notice when I said my knees use to dislocate all the time when I was younger (and was sooo overweight weighing in at about 45kgs!) and that my orthopedic surgeon reconstructed both of them and he is the expert after all. Until now, I had had no troubles since I was 17. And the BIGGEST INSULT was that he would not look at me when he was talking, he would only speak to Jeff! Stupid Jerk!!
I know I'm overweight and have to do something about it, especially if my knees are going to start playing up again but it was NOT the cause!
He did organise me to get xrays which came back fine (seems I can put my knee back in better than any of the doctors who use to do it as there were no broken bones this time!)
Tuesday, saw another doctor who agreed, it was not because I'm fat and even looked at my knee and organised for me to see a physio, who I was able to get into that afternoon. She checked out my knee and gave me exercises to do and wanted to see me again on the Friday (the morning of the retreat). I was hoping she would say I could start not using the crutches but she told me I had to stay on them at the retreat (which was very hard and I did once or twice hobble around without them or using just one! By Sunday night, my knee was killing me again so I should of listened!) During the week, I dropped down to just one crutch and saw her again last Friday. I'm now off the crutches unless I have to do alot of walking and just have to take it easy. My knee doesn't hurt most of the time anymore but if I do too much I have to put it up.
Still doing physio for a while and then hopefully I'll be able to start exercising at the gym again soon.

If there is such thing as perfect timing for a knee dislocation, the last few weeks were not it as there has been so much running around needing to be done for ArtyPants and I've been so busy and then throw in being sick too. Last Wednesday was the first time I was actually able to lie down with my leg elevated like I have been supposed to be doing since it happened! luckily it was my left knee so after a few days I was able to drive again. I still got mum to meet to me at Cas' school to take her in as I wasn't sure how I'd handle my 2 year old terror when I couldn't chase after her.
Luckily, it's healed faster than previous times, because I was able to put it back in straight away instead of laying in emergency for hours while the doctors decide what to do about it and in the meantime, tearing and stretching the ligiments and muscles. I was also sitting not standing when it happened so I didn't fall on it.
Just hope it doesn't happen again. Forgot how painful it was (worse than childbirth!)
The kids have been great! Cassie has been my little helper, getting me things and helping with Chelsie. Poor Chel Bell hasn't really understood what was going on and has been missing me being able to pick her up but last night she was cute. She went on got my bandage and tried to put it on my knee, it was adorable!

OK, got some layouts to share but going to do that next post as this one is now pretty long.

See Ya!

See You at From Picture To Page!

2009-05-14T20:52:00.000+10:00

IT'S THIS WEEKEND!

The details of the show are:

From Picture to Page Scrapbooking and Papercraft Show

There will be product demonstrations, FREE make & takes, FREE kids card making area, snacks, drinks, bar available and FREE PARKING!!

Saturday 16th of May 9.00am to 4.30pm

Sunday 17th of May 10.00am to 4.30pm

The Whitehorse Club
298-336 Burwood Hwy
East Burwood Reserve
East Burwood
Mel Ref: 62 C7

Entry $8.50 for adults, children under 12 FREE. No concessions.

Its a great show so if you're around Melbourne come along please be sure to stop by the ArtyPants stand and say Hi!!
We'll be located right by the front door (same place as last year)

We've got some FANTASTIC BARGAINS!

Up to 80% off our BARGAIN BOX products
(We've actually got about 3 bargain boxes but can't fit them in the stall so will be topping up the 1 box throughout the weekend)

SALE PAPERS just 50¢ each or 25 for $10.00!
Papers are valued at up to $3.50 each so that's a MASSIVE BARGAIN!

Hope to see you there!

NO WAY!

2009-05-08T13:22:00.006+10:00

It has NOT been nearly 2 months since I lasted posted.
NO WAY!

It's been a really busy last 2 months for me. Not really an excuse to not blog as I have had the time to do that, just haven't.
Until the last week or so, I didn't really think I had anything to blog about...

Hadn't been scrapping
Hadn't been taking photos
Hadn't been doing ANYTHING!

And then it all came back!
I have my mojo again and now ALL I WANNA DO IS SCRAP but don't have the time as now I'm EXTREMLEY BUSY! I'm living off 'to do lists' at the moment. If it's not on the list, then I'm not doing it! Last night I wrote my list for today and decided I HAD to find time to blog.

A quick run down of what I can remember has happened lately in no particular order...

* Cas had school holidays and is now back at school (thank goodness!)
* Cassie had school photos
* Cas decided she didn't want to do dancing anymore :(
* The 2 lovebirds we were given flew away :( (We are getting new ones)
* My stupid cat got stuck up a tree
* Easter and the accompaning busy-ness and chocolate
* Jeff's brother and family came to visit from Tassie
* Jeff's dad turned 60.
* Chelly burnt her arm on the fire (all OK now)
* I went to Crop 4 Kids (had a great time)
* Went to a few crop nights at some of the girls houses (going to Andreas tonight - YAY!)
* Redesigned the ArtyPants Website - still not quite finished but the forum and gallery are now both back - YAY!)
* Did a big stock update on the website
* Did a BIG cleanout at home - 7 garbage bags to the op shop, the same amount to hand down, a big box of stuff ebayed and to be ebayed and a massive pile to take to the tip AND WE ARE STILL NOT FINISHED! It feels great though.
* Sold a MASSIVE amount of shop fittings on EBay
* Bought quite a bit of stuff off ebay including some French Doors which we're picking up on Sunday
* Preparing stock for 'Picture 2 Page' next weekend
* Did the sample layouts for 2 monthly kits
* Started SCRAPBOOKING FOR ME again - doing things not challenge or kit related and it feels GREAT!
* Started taking photos again. Just have to find the time to edit them now so I can share them.
* Got way to addicted to 'Mafia Wars' on facebook so have taken a step back from facebook to manage my time better.
* Attended a business seminar which focused on TIME MANAGEMENT (very helpful with above obsession
* ArtyPants had it's first cyber crop for the year last weekend and I hosted it
* The ArtyPants Design Team Competition started

and I'm sure I did so much more - probably even more important or bloggable things than I've listed, just can't remember it all right now.

This next few weeks will be just as busy...
Going out to crop at Andreas tonight, tomorrow night is Lauras 30th birthday, Sunday we are picking up some doors from Preston and then taking the kids to the Aquarium and then all next week, I'll be working my butt off organising everything for 'Picture2Page' next weekend (pricing stock etc.) and the RETREAT the following weekend!
In the middle of that we have to pack and send off the next kit, I also have a stack of stuff listed on Ebay which I'll have to pack and post and we're doing a design team competition!

OK, onto the scrapping shares...

May Monthly Kit Layouts
(ON SALE NOW!)

MAY ADD ON KIT LAYOUT (Almost SOLD OUT so get in quick if you want one!)

I also did April's Monthly Kit. It was Double Page kit, quite a challenge for me but FUN! - It's SOLD OUT!

That's it for today. Hopefully will be back sooner this time
Thanks for stopping by
:)

ArtyPants Design Team Call...

2009-04-28T21:44:00.002+10:00

ArtyPants is on the lookout for another 1 - 2 designers to join the ArtyPants team.

We'll be running a 3 week competition with the chance to win not just a position on our team but guest positions and more great prizes.

Registration is NOW OPEN and the competition starts THIS FRIDAY, 1st May.

To register, email me (jodie@artypants.com.au) your name, a brief bio and any design team experience (this will have no effect on your application, we're just interested).
More information is available on the ArtyPants forum and blog.

HURRY REGISTRATION CLOSES THIS FRIDAY!

GOOD LUCK!

Have you checked out the ArtyPants website lately?? If not YOU SHOULD! I've been working my tail off redesinging it. It's not completely finished yet but I'd say 75% there
CHECK IT OUT!!
While you're there, sign up for the forum and gallery, lots of great stuff going on :)

Been a BAD BAD BAD blogger lately.
Haven't blogged in over a month and all I'm doing now is promoting my business!
Sorry for being so MIA. Been doing heaps but nothing really to show for it.
Will update soon
See Ya!

ArtyPants Now Has a Blog!!

2009-04-01T19:42:00.003+11:00

Go check it out:
http://blogginwithartypants.blogspot.com/

Sorry for not posting in a while, been really busy trying to get a few things working with the ArtyPants website. Major stuff up today, I've somehow deleted the forum! Eekkk!

Will do a real blog post soon, I'm off to keep trying to get the forum back

See Ya!

Woo Hoo! Guess who's TWO!

2009-03-13T21:21:00.004+11:00

That's right. My Chelsie is TWO today!!

Happy Birthday Gorgeous girl!!

Chelsie first thing this morning - complete with bed hair!

Chel was so overwhelmed that she cried when we sang 'Happy Birthday!' :(

Pulling faces at Taylor - that's our happy girl back, just needed to stuff her face with a big piece of chocolate cake obviously!

She started the day in a grumpy mood and unfortunately it never really left - not a good way to spend your birthday darlin'!
She did love the pressies we gave her though, a baby doll port-a-cot/cradle thingamajig from us and 'Abby Cadabbie' soft toy from Cassie plus a 'birthday outfit' (which is too big - doh!).

We haven't done much today, just hung around home. Mum, Dad, Mindy, Glenn, Andrew & Taylor all popped up to see her and ended up staying for dinner too. We just got Fish & Chips (One of Chel's fav foods). She LOVED her Macca Pacca Bath toy and Night Garden DVD from Moo & Glenn and Baby Doll highchair/swing from Nannie & Grandpa.

I guess I should also mention the big 'Balls Up' with her birthday cake...

I do not make cakes. Infact I do not bake full stop. Mainly because I tend to stuff them up each and every time. I decided to give it a go and today was no exception...

The cake was Mixing awayand I realised I hadn't put the milk in (just eggs and butter). Fixed that up, whacked it in the oven, 30 minutes later had a perfect cake :) Unfortunately it was completley STUCK in the cake pan! The pan was non stick so I only put a little oil in it. Obviously not enough (or maybe too much as I have now learnt). The cake would not budge no matter what I did. With all the prodding I was doing, it eventually fell apart.
So, Jeff made another cake which I decided to decorate it. I am also apparently not good at this! I was aiming for a flower but what I got... well, Chelsie could of done better so I just blended all the colours together and Chel ended up with a marble look cake instead!

------------------------------------------

In other Chelsie news, she's famous again (ish)!!
Her dirty mug is Scrapbook Creations Issue 64!
Here's a pic of the layout again...

I almost didn't submit it as I thought it might be a bit too dirty looking and torn to get picked up... lucky I did!!
Edited to add : The pic in this payout was taken the night of her first birthday party so this was Chel 1 YEAR AGO!

That's it for now,
Thanks for stopping by
See Ya!

Hey!

2009-03-10T11:07:00.003+11:00

So it's been a month since my last post. Did ya miss me??
I lost my mojo so felt no need to scrap or blog this last month.
Hopefully it comes back soon. I miss it!

The only scrapping I've done recently is my Stuck Sketches and they're not really that great. Tried to do something else at Lauras house the other week but it just wasn't working for me... Mojo where are you??

Don't even have any pics to share as I haven't even been taking photos - what is wrong with me, it's like I've fallen off the edge of the planet!

Not much going on, been enjoying taking a break from everything. I've been sick so I've been getting plenty of rest, doing lots of reading, playing with the kids and not much of anything else! (My house is the perfect example of how little I've been doing as it's a bomb!)

We finally got a really nice tax return a few weeks ago so Jeff used some of it as a deposit on a boat. We picked it up on Sunday and he spent all day yesterday cleaning it and doing whatever. Cassie calls it the pirate ship, she is the captain and we are her mates! She's a slave driver, I wouldn't have wanted her to be my captain if I were a pirate in real life, I stopped pretending to scrub the deck and she made me walk the plank!
We also got given 2 lovebirds. Cas named them Dora and Boots. So nice having birds tweeting away in the house and they go mental when I put them outside in the morning. We hang them just outside the office window and they watch me when I'm on Mac.

Chelsie turns 2 on Friday. Yep. She's 2 already. Where did that time go?? Jeffs birthday is next Monday. The boat is his pressie (for the next few years)

Gonna leave it there, off to work on the website, been neglecting it a bit lately and it now urgently needs an update. I really WANT to scrapbook so hopefully the mojo returns soon.
Be back with a real update soon :)

See Ya!

A sign of Hope...

2009-02-10T14:24:00.006+11:00

While blog surfing yesterday, I saw this pic - I'm not sure who's blog it was on now but it made me smile...

So much devastation caused by the Victorian bush fires. I can't even begin to imagine how hard and frightening it would of been to have been caught in it all. My biggest sympathy's to everyone affected by it and who have lost loved ones. To think that some people get joy out of such misery makes me sick.

Our old house in Hampton Park was on evacuation standby. Hampton Park is a built up suburb, I never would of thought there would be a fire risk there but the reserve at the end of our old street went up and 6 houses were destroyed. We always complained that the council never cut the grass. Maybe they will now!

We are about 1hr away from the closest bushfires so they are no danger to us. Where we live though, there is a risk of bush fire and after the horror weekend, we have had to re-evaluate our fire plan. The problem with Warneet is there is only one road in surrounded by bush reserves so if a fire broke, we would be trapped. This is a scary thought after seeing how fast towns were wiped out over the weekend (Only 15mins to evactuate) All the houses are on bottled gas not mains so staying to protect our home is not an option. We'll be heading straight for the beach.

***********************

Cassie has been at school for a week and half now - settling in well.
Jeff is away working in Heyfield until Friday - He got on the piss a bit too heavy last night apparently and was feeling pretty seedy today he he!!
Chelsie has been a little terror! - playing up because she knows, it's only me here, no big strong daddy voice!!
I haven't done too much without Jeff around... I'm working on some invitations at the moment, they'll be out of her tomorrow, reading Book 2 in the Twilight series (I know, jumped on that bandwagon rather late), took Cassie to see 'Bolt' at the movies (great movie) and getting some extra sleep - like having a whole bed to myself!

Gonna leave it now with my latest stuck layouts

and some pics Jeff took at the foreshore last Friday night - how good is he getting with my camera!

See Ya!

'Big School Girl'

2009-02-03T12:24:00.004+11:00

This is Cassie new name ATM. She started primary school yesterday and insisted we call her that all morning and all last night!
She was so excited when she woke up yesterday morning. For the 1st time in a long while we had no trouble getting her to eat breakfast and she dressed herself in 5 minutes flat! The morning routine normally drags on for so long but yesterday was great! We were ready 15 minutes early!
Jeff, me and chelly took her to school and Nannie (mum) surprised her by coming to see her off too.
There were no nerves or tears, when the bell went she just walked in, found her friend Lauren and they went off to play in the home corner. I went over to say goodbye and she didn't even look up! Just said 'Yeah, Bye Mum!'
We didn't see the point in hanging around so we went to grab a coffee. On the way back to the car, we walked past her classroom and saw her sitting listening to her new teacher. Awww So Cute :)
Picked her up in the afternoon and she said she had a good day - haven't been able to get anything else out of her, she says she doesn't remember!
She was buggered last night, I went into her room to get her school clothes about 2 minutes after she went to bed and she was out like a light!!
This morning she happily got up again but the morning ritual wasn't so great, I had to force her to eat breakfast and threaten she will never go to school again (she how long it takes for her to want me to follow through on that threat!). She still got herself dressed really quickly and off we drove to school. Waiting outside this morning she found a friend she made yesterday and they played tag and chased each other about.

Here's a few pics I took yesterday. Hardly took any pics compared to my usual standard but I wanted to live Cassie's important milestone, not just photograph it!
Standing out front of our house - the same place I took her 3 & 4yr old kinder photos. Last year our front garden wasn't dead so it looked a little better as a backdrop!

Walking to the car to go to school. Her backpack is almost as big as her! She makes it look so heavy but it really isn't - it only had her lunchbox and school jumper in it!

Waiting outside to go into her classroom

Busy... Oh My It's been a while

2009-01-29T00:02:00.007+11:00

Been so busy the last few weeks, blogging hasn't been up on the list of things I've had to get done! I've planned blog post after blog post in my head but never got a chance to get it down.

It's the start of 2009 (well sort of) and a I have a few resolutions...

1. Lose Weight - Yeah Yeah, same old, same old. I lost 10kgs last year. Great, but disapointing I didn't lose more and put some of that back on :(
Anyway, My goal this year is to lose a further 15kgs (I actually need to lose 20kgs but that seems like soooo much!!). I've joined a gym and we have a wii fit and tredmill so I just need to stay motivated and focused and I should do it.

2. Be a mum! Yep, I know I've been doing it for 5 years but I don't feel I've been a particulary great one. I've been too busy working and feel like I've missed alot of my kids lives so far. It makes me so sad to know I'll never get that back. The time I did have a home this last year I have to admit was not fun as I was too stressed about work and grumpy that I was missing so much to appreciate it. I am looking forward to spending time with Chelsie as I have worked every day since the day I came out of hospital with her. This year I will have no work stress as I am now officially a part time SAHM and only part time worker!
3. Get Organised. Now I am home more, I can finally unpack all the boxes from when we moved in 2 1/2 years ago! We also have a lot of stuff to donate, chuck out, ebay. Got to get it all done!
4. My Scrappy resolution...
I had a obsession with buttons a while back and ended up with quite a few. Lately I haven't been using them as much and I now have so much! This year, my goal is to use enough buttons that this jar will only be half full. This will be pretty tricky as I think I even have more somewhere in all my scrap stash!

That's It!
I'm trying not to plan too much this year as I always get disapointed when I don't get it done - although I must say I do have a few other goals in my head like finally renovating the kitchen, get some more freelance design work, get more of my work published etc. but I'm not willing to add them to my official list as they may not happen!

Things have been pretty good on the home front.

Cas is great. She's growing up so fast, I'm amazed by what she can accomplish now. She is slowly getting better with eating and she hasn't thrown up for at least a month. She's getting plenty of sleep and looks well. The gray under her eyes has all but disappeared and she's still skinny but put on a bit of weight.

Chelsie. Well. What can I say. She is going through the terrible twos at the moment and has been quite a handfull. There has been lots of screaming, biting, slapping, pinching, feet stamping, winging, testing, naughtiness and just general grumpiness (all from her!). She has also stopped eating. Arghhh! She does my head in some days! But, She is also sweet, loving, love cuddles and a chatterbox! She is talking so well and says a few sentences - 'Will you help me', 'It's a bit hot', 'I love you too' (my favourite) I know that bad bits will pass and our sweet Chel Bell will emerge, we just have to hang in there.

Jeff has been keeping himself busy. Apart from work, he's also been doing lots around the house. We currently have a hired 7mts scafolding around one of trees that really has to come down but we couldn't afford a tree lopper so Jeff is cutting it down himself. The tree in question is the same tree that fell through our neighbours roof last year. What was left was still too big to cut down (over 7mts) so we have been quite nervous about it ever since. It started developing a big spilt down the middle so really had to come down before it crashed through our neighbours house again or our bedroom window. It's a pretty big job but we have the scaffolding for a week so he should get it and a few other trees that need lopping done and we'll have heaps of firewood for winter!

I have been so busy it's not funny! Since closing the ArtyPants shop, Mum, I and Jenny have gone through all remaining stock and sorted what we're putting on the website, what's going in mystery packs, whats' going on ebay etc. That was a pretty big job. Then we started adding them to the shopping cart which was a big job for mum and Jenny. I continued designing the new site, sorting the nightmare shopping cart out and then finding product images and resizing them for our site. This has taken forever and a few very late nights and I'm still not finished but as promised, our shopping cart went live on Sunday 1st Feb! Still got a few things to do to it but it's open so check it out (www.artypants.com.au)

I also did the sample layouts for a February Kit...

Pretty different to my usual colours hey?? I love this kit, the colours are fantastic, so classy and romantic looking. It's available now on the website

Also been doing layouts for 'stuck?!'

All Christmas Layouts (but one) and the one going up on the site later today is also a Christmas one!

2 weeks ago, I went for a scrap night at Andreas. So much scrapping with friends with no ArtyPants pressure. We're planning on getting a group of us together every 2 weeks at different houses. This Friday, we're scrapping at Jenny's.
This is the layout I did at Andreas...

A few more pics taken during the last month...
Cassie got her ears pierced!! We know have to call them 'Princess Ears!' She was very brave but screamed after they were done. Luckily they 'double gunned' her - two operators so she only felt the bang once. She had stopped crying by the time we reached Kmart - a bit further down the arcade.

She So Beautiful. No I'm not just biased mum. I KNOW she really is beautiful!!!

The girls LOVE to dress up! I picked these 2 costumes up at the Frankston market for $2.00 each. Bargain! The Telly Tubby costume is a little big for Chel but we just rolled it up and she loves it.

The girls have done ALOT of jumping when it hasn't been too hot to go outside. Love the mid-jump shot of chel!

Haven't done much else lately that I can remember. We've been school shopping (shoes etc.), Bowling, ummm?? Been too hot to do much else!

It's a really lovely day in Melbourne today. Hot but not too hot, unlike last week. 3 days over 43 degrees was maddness! I LOVE hot weather but that is just Murder. When you walked outside (if you walked outside) it was like the gates of Hell had opened. My car has no air conditioning and it was awful driving. Usually a 40+ day ends in a thunderstorm but that never came until yesterday. It lasted only about 1/2 hour and hardly any rain to wet the poor dry dead garden and grass.

OK, also got Cassie starting school news but that's in the next post

Thanks for getting so far. Wont be so long between posts next time (Thanks Len for the nudge!)

See Ya!

Out with the old...

2009-01-12T20:14:00.006+11:00

Yay! I'm back online!!
Turned out the possums didn't eat the wires this time - the line connecting my phone to my modem was broken and I didn't notice - opps!! Luckily we realised BEFORE bigpond came and fixed it today as that would of been really embarrassing!

Anyway, this post I'm just sharing a BIG stack of layouts I made last year and hadn't shared yet - hence the blog post title - Out with the old 2008 layouts and next post I'll catch up and what's been happening so far this year, share my first layout for 2009 and document my new years resolutions.

Photos aren't too flash as it was rather bright outside today which doesn't make for great photos of layouts and too lazy to fix them up in photoshop as they're only photos of layouts afterall!

Did this one of my hubby at ArtyPants' final crop. The little man looks a little stange with his 2 beady black eyes, think I'll take them off...

Pics a little dark but you get the idea. Everyone who knows Chel will know this sums her up perfectly!

The next 5 are my awards for excellence entries. Was nice to get them back just before chrissy and I LOVE all of them still. Since seeing the awards winners, I now know they were no where near worthy of a prize but I love them all the same.Not the best shot of this one but if I shot it flat you couldn't see the writing as I scratched it into the paint.

This pic is bigger than chel's head IRL, LOL! Just love using a large pic on a page!

This next one is a really bad shot but I didn't really care 'cause I don't like the layout anymore! It was a secondary layout for a class I taught earlier this year. The actual layout was a double 8.5x11 LO and did this one same style just different papers and pics as a 12x12 to show how the LO could be adapted to 12x12 - don't worry I didn't actually teach THIS layout, the real one is MUCH better LOL!!!

This was a layout for our November $10.00 challenge - completley forgot about it until I packed up the shop. The pics are of cas doing her favourite pastime - swirling around in long dresses!

These next few are ones I have had sitting unfinished for months. On new years eve I decided they couldn't stay unfinished but couldn't really be borthered doing much to them so I wacked dates on them and declared them done and able to go on the 2008 layout tally! (Which was BTW was 171 layouts. No bad considering what a shit year time wise I had. My target was 200 so I was 29 short but I'm still happy with that amount)

I HATE this layout - not just because it's really crap but I started it the day my Nanna died so I could never finished it the way I wanted to

Another CRAPOLA layout but it's done and in the album, that's the main thing!

And finally, one last layout which I've shared before but HAD to show off again as it's in this months Scrapbook Creations - TWICE! Yep, It's in the 'Accents on Black and White' feature AND advertising it on the 'Quick Grabs' contents page! Well it was a goal of mine to be greedy and have 2 layouts appear in one magazine - do you think this counts??!!
My Chelly Girl's debut appearance in a magazine!! Wont be the last either :) I've got another coming out in another mag in about 2 months :)

That's it for this post. Everything is well since last post. The ArtyPants store front is no more, I'm rebuilding the website, kids are great, jeff's great - more on all that next post...

See Ya!

Arrrghhhh!

2009-01-09T17:42:00.002+11:00

I have no internet at home:(
Possums have eaten through the bloody wires again I think.
BigPond are fixing it on Monday.

Back Soon

Goodbye 2008!

2008-12-30T21:23:00.011+11:00

Can't say I'll be sad to see so of 2008 go but for the most part it's been OK...

I've been a really bad blogger of late...
There has been HEAPS on the last week or so, I'm gonna try and highlight the important bits but I'll most likely forget some it... I think I'll let my photos do most of the talking - so to speak! Some of them are B/W as they are the ones I've prepared for my Dec Daily album.

CHRISTMAS
Was Great!!
Yippee!! Santa's been!!

The look on the girls faces when they saw the Christmas tree loaded with pressies!!

The best pic of the day (memory not photo as that's pretty crap) - Chel giving Cas her Christmas pressie

Cassie with her 'BIG CRAYON' One of her favourite pressies from Santa - It had paper, textas and crayons inside. She also LOVED the rubbish bin for under her desk, that was 'just what I always wanted!'

The look on Chelsie's face when she saw what was under the wrapping...

A Baby Born of her very own!!

The girls were spoilt rotten by Santa. Cas was in her element, Chelsie was a little overwhelmed. We were also very spoilt as Santa left us all a Wii and Wii fit under the tree :) I LOVE it!
The highlight though would have to be the Trampoline Gran and Pop got Santa to leave for them - both girls climbed on straight away and haven't really got off much since.

In other household news,

My BIG GIRL turned FIVE

And finished kinder!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM DECEMBER DAILY
I WAS going to share all of my December pics but it's been so long since I blogged that I have to many pictures so I'm just sharing a few faves...
Chel asleep in the highchair while eating dinner - Awwwwww!

Cassie playing around with Photo Booth and the WebCam

One of the pics from a not so great great mini photo shoot. All the pictures had too much grain and my background sheet needed ironing and I don't own an iron (blush!)

Chelsie playing with a mask that lea gave the girls. I had to rip it off her to put her down for a nap!
Me and my Chelly girl :)

One of the last pics I took of my four year old... the next ones, she was five!!
My spunky monkey... Oh... and my sister!!

LAYOUT SHARE
Been keeping alot of my layouts to myself lately - no particular reason, just lazy!!
Got quite a few piling up on my desk to upload, save them for next post.
STUCK LAYOUTS
This month we only had sketches fortnightly, seems like so long ago I did the first layout, the 2nd I did just last night (don't really like it though)
This is a pic of Cas, I took the day she finished 3 year old kinder - only a year ago!

ARTYPANTS DECEMBER KIT LAYOUTS
6 layouts this month! I am continually amazed at how much I get out of each monthly kit. They're great to work with too. I work out all my photos and what I plan to use. Get them all done in record time and have NO LEFTOVERS! No crap to clutter my scrap desk

The december kit is available now. It's not on the website just yet but will be as soon as the silly season is over and I have some time!!

BIG ARTYPANTS NEWS
Well news sure travels fast so most of you reading this would probably already know by now...

Artypants Cranbourne is closing down!!

Everyone keeps saying they are sorry we're closing - Don't be, 'cause we're not!!
We are quite happy with our decision. It's something we've been thinking about for a while but didn't think we could get out of our lease. An opportunity came up so we decided to take it! Don't get me wrong, ArtyPants has been doing OK and I've loved being a shop owner but it's alot of work. With 2 small children, it's even harder and I've missed out on so much of their lives. I don't want to miss out on anymore.

The good news is that the online store will remain open and is getting a whole NEW LOOK! I'm busily redesigning it and am quite excited to take it to the next level, concentrate on our monthly kits and a few other things we've been trying to do but couldn't while the store was still open.

We've already started a MASSIVE closing down sale. It's on until Sunday 4th Jan but the way things are going, there wont be anything left before then! Saturday was unbelievable! ALL DAY the store was packed. Mum and I didn't leave the counter from 10.15 to about 2.45pm. Some people were waiting for 2 hours in the queue!

Well I'm going to leave it there, leave me a comment, just so I know you got this far!!

This will be my last 2008 post so everybody have a HAPPY NEW YEAR, stay safe and have FUN!!

See you in 2009!

:)

Happy Birthday to ME and Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:17:00.002+11:00

Yay! It's my 32nd birthday!!
I'm still such a little kid when it comes to my birthday.
Guess it's because I have to share it with everyone else!!!
I'm so lucky my fabulous hubby gave me a new car stereo and speakers and Cas and Chel gave me flowers - it was all Cas was insistent on getting me so I love them even more!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL my blog readers.
Hope you all have as great a day as we've had so far...

Got heaps of pics to share and of course the kids got HEAPS of pressies from Santa.
I'll be back after today to give a run down, just wanted to stop by and wish a merry christmas.

HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE!!

See Ya!

Thankx for stopping by,
Jodie :)

FABULOUS FIVE!!

2008-12-23T11:23:00.003+11:00

I can't believe Cassie is FIVE today!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!!

(Not really a great photo but just one to mark the event, I'm sure I'll take more later or decide I like one of the other ones I've already taken better)

Seems like only yesterday she was born, the last five years have just flown by.

I had one VERY excited girl run into my room when she woke up this morning. This is the first year she has fully understood the birthday thing and it's so much more exciting!!
I gave her a small pressie of some new pjs, a new outfit to wear today and some Russian Dolls (this is all she has been talking about for weeks and just LOVES them!). We have another pressie for her but I want to wait until Jeff comes home to give it to her as she is going to flip when she sees it!
Then Chelsie woke up so she gave her a pressie too - a new lamp for her room and a PlayDoh fridge (sounds weird but it's pretty cool!)
Today, we're not doing much, I have some design work I have to try and get finished and we're making truffles when Chel goes down for a nap.
Tonight we're taking Cas bowling.

I have so much to blog but I wanted Cas' birthday to have a post of it's own. I might be back later on tonight with an update, see if I get time - it is the silly season afterall! Got Cas' party, Kinder break up and some BIG ArtyPants news to share (if you're subscribed to our newsletter, you'll know that one!!)

Thanks for stopping by...
See Ya!

Can Nana make it rain sausages??

2008-12-08T22:14:00.008+11:00

This was a question Cas asked me today!

We were driving past a church this morning and she says,
C:'We go there',
J:'yep, we've been there a few times' (not that church exactly)
C:'That's where we went when Nana died'
J:'Yes we did'

Further along the road, we passed a cemetary
C:'That's where Nana's body is'
J:'Yep, it is' (Once again , not that particular cemetary)
C:'Nana's not really there though, she's in the clouds'
J:'Ummm yes she is'
C:'She makes the rain and sun doesn't she?'
J:'I guess so'
C:'So can Nana make it rain sausages??'
J:'Ummm???' What can you say to that!!

OK, this is going to be a very photo heavy post...

A Few Recent Photos...

2 pics of Cas sitting under the Christmas Tree

Cutie Andrew in the jolly jumper outside at Mindy's Garage Sale - not a great pic 'cause the sun was casting too many shadows but I like the look on his face! I'm also including this pic in my December Daily album - day 6 (in b&w of course)

Chelsie at the front door waiting for me to let here in. I think I need to cut her fringe AGAIN! Also going in Dec. albulm - day 5

Took these pics today in a Graffiti covered alley in Melbourne. They didn't come out as well as I would of liked as Cas wasn't in the mood - it had been a long day and she was over it!! These are just a couple of my favourites. One of them will be in my album too - Day 8

Latest Stuck Sketch Layout. LOVE this layout, not sure what it is that appeals to me but there's something!! The next sketch doesn't go up for another week as we're only doing sketches fortnightly this month due to Christmas busi-ness.

December Daily Photos Catch Up - been meaning to jump on here and update sooner so it wouldn't get so out of control but you know how it is in the lead up to Chrissy...

Day 1:
This is the last photo from Day 1 - Jeff flaked out on the couch.

Day 2:
Cassie just about to jump in the car on her way to kinder.

Day 3:

Putting up the Christmas Tree!! I'd love to describe some beautiful family moment here but I've got nothin'! The kids were pains in the arse!! Chel was throwing decorations everywhere and being a major winger and Cas was cracking it at her doing it. Jeff wanted to get the lights and tinsel on before any decorating got done and Cas kept on harping to start decorating which was stressing Jeff out. Once the tinsel was on, Jeff left us to go outside and have a cigarette and 2 minutes after these pics were taken, both girls were bored and went outside to play leaving me to decirate the bloddy tree all by myself!! I think mext year, I'll just put the tree up myself while no one else is home!! Cassie also got her school uniform today - big excitment in the Armitage household - she had to model it for daddy - everything on at once!! No pics of it though.

Day 4:
Only took one crappy pic today. It's Jeff, rumaging around in our back bungalow searching for Cassie's birth certificate (we need it for school next year) No luck, must of left it at kinder last year - doh! We tore the house apart looking for it. Our house is very small so there isn't many hiding spots.

Day 5:
I joined a gym! It's the one just up the road from ArtyPants and it had a really good deal - cheaper than weight watches and they'll monitor my weight too! I'm starting there on Tuesday night when I have my first assesment. I was going so well at weight watches, I lost 10kg and then fell off the wagon. I need to get back on and I also want to start getting rid of my wobbly bits so it's off to exercise I go! Once I get use to it and into the swing of things, I'll enjoy it I'm sure - I have to, for my health and to feel good about my appearance again.

Friday night was also crop night, my favourite day of the week! I call it work but it isn't really, it's fun, fun, fun! Although I really could of done with the night off as I'm still sick and staying out to past midnight is exhausting. No One else will do it though so I have no choice.

Day 6:
Very early start after the late night before. Mindy had a garage sale so I took some of our crap over to sell and also give her a hand. This is a pic of her cat Simba resting in the Chrissy decs were trying to sell!! Wasn't a bad day. I got sunburnt as I always do when I just think of going outside in the sun. I managed to get rid of a bit of crap and what was left is going to the op shop.

Day 7:

Had a slow day at home. Was feeling like I was getting sick all over again so had a nana nap on the couch in the arvo. Jeff continued work on our paving outside, cassie made mud pies and Chel had a super sleep and didn't wake up until after 5pm!

Day 8:
Today, we went to the city to get another birth certificate for Cassie. Only had to queue for about 40mins which I would have to say is a record there! Afterwards we went and saw Santa's Cave at David Jones and Jeff met up with us to Check out the Myer Christmas Windows (which were pretty crap) Then we went to see Santa's workshop in Myer and Cas had a train ride. In both places the queue was a mile long to see Santa so the girls missed out today. On the way back to the car, we found an alley covered in Graffiti so we took some pics of Cas - wanted to take some of Chel too but my memory card was full. Doh! Didn't empty it from the day before!! Went back to the car and had to pay $40.00 for parking!! RIP OFF!

And finally, a pic of my Album - minus the photos, I'm taking notes on what we did each day so I think it'll work better for me to put the whole thing together at the end of the month. The only thing new I bought for the album was the Jenni Bowlin papers. Everything else was scraps I had at home. The covers are chipboard, I cut out and covered in patterned paper and the inside pages are a mixture of Jenni Bowlin papers, Bazzill cardstock and Hambly overlays. Some of the pages I left rectangle, others I cut into the same shape as the cover or punched down the edges using my Fiskars scallop punch. The numbers are a mixture of Jenni Bowlin Papers and various number stickers.

OK, Thanks for sticking with it if you've got this far.
Won't be so long between posts next time - will update properly and share some more scrappin'

Gotta get to bed as I feel like I'm swallowing razor blades and Cas had orientation for school in the morning

Thanks for looking!
See Ya!

The Silly Season!

2008-12-01T22:39:00.003+11:00

Yay! 25 days until Christmas!
Love this time of year! Being busy and stressed out, seeing the kids eyes light up when they see santa, shopping for the perfect gifts for them, christmas parties, birthday parties... it's all good!
This is one of the pics I took last Christmas, haven't taken my Christmas photos for this year yet.

I've jumped on the Ali Edwards bandwagon and am doing a 'December Daily' Album for the days leading up to Christmas. I made the album last week so just have to add the photos and journalling as I go. Can't show the album yet as I took it to the store on Friday night and left it there so I'll share that next post
Here's the photos that will go in Day 1 of the album - also have a pic of Jeff flaked out on the couch but I haven't got that off the camera yet
Eating Yoghurt *Yum!*
Getting Stuck into an orange
my messy scrap desk

We didn't do much today as Cas is sick (again) and I'm still getting over it. It was raining on and off so it wasn't really outside weather either so this morning, the girls and I watched "George of the Jungle' on DVD then in the afternoon while Chel was down for a nap (or supposed to be down but banging on the walls instead), Cas did some drawing and painting and I scrapped. When Jeff got home he and Cas Nana napped in the lounge room, then we dropped Jeff off at Jays place to sit his boat license (he passed)and the girls and I went to Kmart, bought invites for Cassie's party (run out of time to make them as I was too sick last week) and then got Maccas for dinner. Came home, gave kids a bath and put them to bed. Cas then got up again and reminded me we had to write the invites, so we did that and she went back to bed. I then jumped on the computer and played around with a few photos, surfed the net etc. Jeff just got home from sitting for his boat license - pissed as a parrot!!
So pretty boring day but the album should get more exciting as we get closer to xmas.

We still have to put the tree up - since Jeff was out tonight, we couldn't unpack it as I'm too scared the box will be full of spiders! It will have to be put up Wednesday night as Cas is staying at my Nannie and Grandpas tomorrow night. - Just a few days later than tradition!

I still have pretty much ALL my Christmas to do. Getting a bit worried about how we're going to afford to get the kids pressies this year as most weeks lately, we don't even have the $$ to buy food as Jeff hasn't been working much. Hopefully we'll sort out something...

As promised last post, an update on Cassie...

First some pics, these were taken on Saturday afternoon. As I was editing them tonight, I noticed a BIG difference between shooting in Raw and shooting in jpeg. You probably can't tell here as the images are too small and compressed but the jpegs have so much more grain and lose alot of detail when you zoom in. I must of switched between auto and manual during the shoot - can't remember!

Love this pic except for the annoying long piece of hair over her eyes - Might photoshop it out when I get some time.

In this pic I asked Cas what she wanted for xmas - this is her thinking pose!

* Cassie will be 5 in 23 days
* She is still quite tiny for age - compared to the other girls in her class
* Her hair has got alot darker, it's a really dark blond now
* She loves to be outside and getting dirty - we call her the family feral - when she gets home from kinder, we empty the whole sandpit out of her shoes.
* She also loves to draw and will sit for ages doing pictures for us
* She has a really overactive imagination and comes out with the funniest sayings
* She wants to do everything herself and loves choosing her own clothes in the morning (we let her do this if we're not leaving the house - last Friday she chose a pair of shorts, long dress and a scarf)

Hmmm, can't think of anything else right now.

Another update with more December Daily pics and some layouts later in the week
See Ya!

2008-11-27T14:13:00.002+11:00

My latest layout for Stuck Sketches. Photos were from a month or 2 ago when Cas was really sick (one of the many times). She was perking up a bit so Jeff took her for a walk to the beach, when she got home she was so stuffed she fell asleep sitting up on the couch. Poor bubba.

OK, just updated facebook with some new pics so thought I'd share some of them here too...

No idea what Cas is doing here but I like the photo

Love the t-shirt Chel is wearing!

Chelsie is such a big girl now. On her way to childcare, carrying her bag and all (she has to do whatever Cassie does). I would of really loved pic if it wasn't for my stinky mop sitting in background! Didn't notice it until I downloaded the pics to iPhoto!

Chelsie doing her 'Super Chezzy' smile that she does whenever a camera is pointed at her at the moment.

I haven't updated on the girls for a while so here goes...

Chelsie at 20 months

*Has 4 bottom teeth, 2 top teeth and all her molars - we're still wondering where the rest of her teeth are, I hope she gets them soon as she looks really evil when she smiles sometimes!

*Her 2 birthmarks on her tummy are still there. The big one has faded a bit but the little one is still just as bright purple as ever.

*Her hair is growing FAST. I'm giving her fringe a cut every 2-3 weeks. The rest of hair is just long enough to put into a pony tail which looks adorable.

*She just started walking backwards the other day. She also goes 'beep, beep, beep' like a truck when she does! *cute*

*She talks ALL THE TIME! Not sure how many words but it's ALOT! Sometimes she a has a little lisp but we're not worried.

*She is a MAJOR climber, escape artist and into everthing! We can't leave her alone. Last week we found her across the street after she escaped through the front gate, then she climbed on top of a box that would have to be 4 times bigger than her! We have scribble all over the house - yesterday she was looking in the mirror and drawing on her face and then the other day she pulled a chair up to the kitchen bench, got out the chocolate topping, filled a glass with it, then dropped it over the floor. It wasn't until later that we realised the cutlery drawer was also filled with topping!! I tell you this kid is a heart attack waiting to happen.

*She LOVES cuddles and would have to be the most affectionate kid I have ever met.

*She is trying to get rid of her daytime nap but I'm trying just as hard for her to keep it.

*Just before her nap today she told me she had to do 'wees' so I put her on the toilet, she did nothing but then weed all over the floor. This is a big step - she knew she had to go!! We're going to start training her after Christmas.

I'll update on Cassie next post.

I'm STILL sick. Can't remember the last time I was so sick and for so long. I have to keep having nana naps throughout the day and it's driving me mad!
Chelsie came home from childcare today because she's sick too. Poor Bubby, I wasn't going to send her today but they were having photos and I didn't want her to miss out.
She's sleeping now and I'm contemplating doing the same! I SHOULD be working in the website and some design jobs I have but my eyes are starting to sting.

'Till next time
Thanks for stopping by
See Ya!

Busy

2008-11-24T17:46:00.005+11:00

Haven't blogged for a few weeks because I've been really busy.
Also haven't been well - got a cold I can't shake and have been really tired.

My heads a little cloudy right now so I'm not going to give you all a big speil of what I've been up too like I usually do, instead I'm just going to share a stack of scrapping I've done, and update along the way...

STUCK?!
Did I mention that I'm on the Stuck?! Creative Team for another 6 months??
I'm so happy to be on the team again, I love the weekly inspiration I'm getting from Sara's sketches and hopefully I'm helping inspire others to have a go to :)
This is last weeks sketch. I don't really think the image does the layout any justice as I was quite happy with it IRL but I don't like it much here.

I LOVE this layout. It also looks better IRL as it's a little brighter and you can see the detail but I'm really happy with it :)

Check out Stuck?! (link in my sidebar) to see the new Creative Team (Welcome Suzi - so happy to have you on the team with me :b) and have ago at any of the sketches for the chance to win a great prize from this month's sponsor.

I did this layout yesterday at our monthly Sunday crop. Had a great time too, quite a few newbies who were alot of fun.

These are the pics I took of Cas before our Halloween Mother's Group catch up. Wish Chelsie wasn't being a REAL little witch so I could of got pics of her dressed as a witch too - maybe next year. Cas is wearing one of my skirts as a dress! The material of it looked fantastic - like a real witch's costume - It's now in the kids dress up box. Cas insisted that witches have to carry bags so she found a matching black one in her toy box and really wanted to ride the mop (it looks more like a witch's broom) but I said no! She didn't want to go as a witch at first but then changed her mind and wants to be a 'baddie' at all dress up days now. I been instructed to buy green face paint next time I'm shopping so she can be the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz next time!

ARTYPANTS NOVEMBER KIT
This month I created the sample layouts for the kit. I had to get them done in 1 day as Scrapbooking Memories magazine was slow returning the stock to us and left me only one day to get them done before the kit went on sale. It's still not on the website yet as I haven't had time but it'll be up later in the week.
This month the colours are grey, orange, black, white and yellow. Such a different colour combination to work it but I love it!

Had to scrap about my favourite pastime - Checking out Garage sales!

I balled my eyes out as I made this layout. It has hidden journalling which says how much I wish I could to Nana just one more time.

How cute is my little Chel now?? She is 20 months old!!
Next post I want to do an update on her - what's she up to etc.

Gonna leave it there, I'll do more of an update next post - wont be as long between posts next time!

Thanks for stopping by
:)
C Ya

Monday Update... (Couldn't think of a better title)

2008-11-10T17:46:00.004+11:00

This is the layout I did at last Fridays crop. It looks a little brighter IRL. Just love it - I think it has more to do with the pic than what I did with it as it wasn't much!!

This layout was done with the ArtyPants October $10.00 challenge pack. I'd be lying if I said it WASN'T a challenge! Heritage style colours are not really my thing but I'm happy with the outcome. Been wanting to scrap this pic since I was pregnant. Still have 20 week US pics to do but they don't look that great so I'm not sure what to do with them yet ** should also scrap Cassie's U.S piccies at some stage too I guess! **

This was a quick layout I 'Whipped' up the other afternoon. I had about 1hour to spare before I had to pick Cassie and Chelsie up so spent my time scrapping. Do you like the pattern down the side of the paper?? It's prima patterned tape that I picked up at Paperific for about $5.00! It's on a pretty big roll so it will be appearing in lots more layouts yet!

Started this layout months ago and it was giving me the shits just sitting n my to do pile. Decided to just journal what was it was about and that was it - couldn't be bothered doing any more to it, just wanted to consider it finished!!

More spunky Andrew pics. He's starting to pop up in quite a few layouts I'm doing lately! Another quick layout. Didn't really turn out like the super layout that was planned in my head. Doh!

Also been doing a bit of scrapping today so will share that later in the week.

Had a really busy weekend...

Saturday morning, Jeff worked so I took the girls to a market. We were given a fisher price vintage butterfly pull toy - how cool is that! I asked how much and he said I could have it! (I'm a BIG fan of anything old or collectable) - When I showed Jeff, he wanted to put it away and not let Chel play with it but it was free so we let her have it.
In the afternoon, we went to SkateWorld in Dandenong for Micayla and Bailey's birthday party. Turns out Cas is not the great rollerskater I thought she would be. It was her first time so I was expecting too much of her to be able to do it straight away! She gave it a good go though and then opted for using a scooter instead and had a ball!
Later on, Jeff arrived to pick up Chelsie (BAD place for Chelsie to be, I spent all my time chasing after her instead of helping Cas skate, Jeff couldn't pick her up fast enough LOL!) so I got to have a go skating too...
Turns out I'M not a great rollerskater either anymore!!
I helped Cas to a bit a skating and then went around a few times on my own. I was too unsteady to pick up any pace and too scared of hurting my knees so I wasn't confident. Oh Well! I'll get my skating legs back after Chrissy as Cas is getting skates so we'll have to take her out practicing.
Saturday night we went out for dinner to celebrate Marni's birthday. Wasn't too bad a night. There was a face painter in the play room but the kids had to wait 1 1/2 to get painted! Cas ended up talking Marni into letting her stay over so we went home one child less.
Yesterday, I got up early and went to the Berwick market. Managed to score ANOTHER vintage Fisher Price toy for Chel! This time I got the pull along turtle for $3.00.
In the afternoon, Jeff and I started a MASSIVE clean out of the bungalow so we might actually be able to start using it soon! I finally unpacked heaps of boxes (only been in this house for over 2 years) and we got rid of HEAPS of rubbish/junk. We're going to have to get a skip in the next week or two for it all.

It's quite fun getting rid of junk!!

The kids have driven me CRAZY ALL DAY! They both got up with the birds and have been full on ever since!
Haven't been able to turn my back on Chel all day, she's been into everything! My ribbons have been streun all over the lounge, my scrap tools and tape are hidden all over the house, there's been texta drawn on the floor, she's got into a BIG bucket of Jeff's plaster cement (that was kinda funny), peanut butter from her sandwhich was smeared into the couch... and then there has been the biting, smacking, pulling hair, fighting and squealing (trying to get her to STOP al of this)... all from Chelsie! When I put her down for a nap, she even dragged her bedside table over to the door, climbed up on it and started flicking the light switch and tried to open the bedroom door.
Cas hasn't been an angel either, she been winging and whining 'I'm hungry' and 'Mu-uuum' and then 'Chelsie's doing this' and 'Chelsie's doing that' and then the tears when Chel hits/bites/smacks her.
And BOTH of them keep locking themselves in the toilet! I've threatened to take the toilet door off!
My throat is a little scratchy right now - I think from yelling so much today!!
Man I was happy when Jeff got home from work!

OK, gonna leave it there. Better go relieve Jeff now, it's been great having a break from the shits/little darlings, But I can hear him yelling at Chel now - saying Don't get in there?? Wonder what she's doing NOW???

See Ya!

just a layout share...

2008-11-04T10:27:00.002+11:00

Stuck Sketches Layout. Yeah it's not a great photo to scrap but it had a funny memory attached to it! Very simple layout for me but I really like it.

Oh My Gosh, I've done a really girlie layout! Not really my usual style but I LOVE it! I did this at Friday's crop. It was for our 'Think Pink' challenge. As the name suggests, we had to scrap a layout using only pink papers and embellishments as part of our Girls Night In fundraising. It's a layout I've had in my head for a while so I'm glad I've finally scrapped it. The pic of me is a self portrait I took in my bathroom last Thursday!

This layout has two different stories in it... The photos were actually taken back when Chel thought there was another baby in the mirror and she use to 'play' with her for ages - so cute. I also wanted to scrap how Chel likes to play peek-a-boo and says 'Where's Chelsie' (Aires Delsie - as she says it) so I thought these pics were perfect for that. (The pics look really dirty, it's the scanner screen NOT my mirrors - honest!)

This is the CRAPOLA layout I did at our Girls Night In crop - ABSOLUTE RUBBISH!! I really didn't do justice to such an ACE pic my hubby took. Sorry Babe!
Oh, BTW, has anybody ever heard of the embossed writing on Dymno labels disapearing?? It happened on this layout. I went to scan it last night and noticed the date in the bottom corner had gone! Yep, just black strips in it's place. Weird huh??! I'd gotten the month the pic was taken wrong so I had to re-do it anyway but weird....
(You can also see some of the smears from the scanner screen in this scan too, to prove that it was the scanner and not my mirrors that needed cleaning! he he!)

This layout is from 2 months ago now. It was for our $10.00 challenge at the store. It was our first challenge so I did the sample layout. Just realised my heading should have 'Your' at the start of it and it doesn't - WHAT AN IDIOT! It's been on display at the store for 2 months too!! The scallop bit at the bottom of the layout is a coverup... I got my Stapler stuck in the corner and had to cut it of the paper!

Had a Cup Eve crop at the store last night. I did NOTHING! Very dissapointed in myself but I just couldn't get it together. Instead I spent the night sorting through my papers and planning a few layouts. I was so excited about going last night too. Oh Well, maybe I'll do some scrapping later today.

Heading out to a Melbourne Cup BBQ soon so I'm off!

See Ya!
TFL!
Jodee :)

Twice in one week - Oh My!

2008-10-30T22:03:00.003+11:00

Trying to blog a bit more often so my posts aren't so long...
Well, we'll see how that goes as I can go on and on and on about alot of CRAP sometimes so it will probably end up as double the amount of super long posts!!

This littel bugger...

YES, This little bugger has been doing this alot lately...
Yep, that's scribble on the floorboards! I kind of found this cute when she first did it and when Jeff was mopping the floors later that day told him not to wash it off - what was I thinking! The novelty wore off though when I noticed the fridge also got attacked so now I don't find it so cute. She's loves to scribble. Even her 'bubby' isn't safe, one side of her face is now covered in red texta!

Cassie had her 2nd lot of school orientations this week. She did a PE class twice this week and has come home exhausted both days.
She's also been sick AGAIN! This time just a cold, but of course a cold for Cas also means high temps, coughs and spewing. She seems to be on the mend now, she says her sick is just a 'tinsy tiny bit there now'
So then Chel wants to join the fun and gets sick too. She missed childcare today as last night she was running really high temps, she wasn't eating or sleeping and being too quiet and clingy. This morning when she woke up, the poor bubba didn't have a voice - it's still a little croaky now. Tonight she seems a little better but she's still off her food.

This is my Stuck Layout for this week.

Not much else happening around here that I can think of.

Having a catch up with some old buddies tomorrow afternoon and we're going to dress the kids up for Halloween. I want to dress Cas and Chel as witches but Cas thinks it's too scary and wants to be a fairy. Hopefully I'll get my way, when she sees Chel dressed up and what I've got for her to wear she might change her mind... fingers crossed.

See Ya!

Girls Night In and school...

2008-10-25T22:22:00.005+11:00

Last night we hosted a 'Girls Night In' crop at the store to raise money for Breast Cancer.

It was a FABULOUS night!

We had 22 girls (including mum and I & Mitchell - our honorary girl for the night!)
We were a little squished in our crop room which comfortably holds about 18 people but it was a case of the more the merrier last night! Not sure just how much scrappin' everyone else did but I only got 1 super crap one done as I talked too much (what else is new)
Everybody wore some amount of pink - I, the organiser actually forgot to dress pink so I put a pink ribbon in my hair and classed the pink ribbon badge I was wearing as something pink too - and funnily, the other girls who forgot to wear pink were all wearing pink knickers! Sharon was the standout who arrived wearing pink pj's and dressing gown!
We organised lots of treats for everyone (all pink of course) and Lisa, Sharon and Gwenda all brought pink cupcakes. Pink Tims Tams were also a favourite of the night!
We organised 2 door prizes (pink scrap goodies) and raffles. Suzi put together a pink scrap pack. My sister made a chocolate gingerbread house using a mould by 'Chef's toolbox', I put together a little pink pack of products that donate to Breast Cancer (pink tim tams, water, dove soup, pink m&ms etc.) and the big raffle of the night, a $150.00 'Connie Hatch Photography' voucher donated by Connie! Sadly Connie was unable to make it last night because she really wasn't well.
Our Aim of the night was to raise $300.00 and we're happy to announce we raised about $330.00! (Still haven't finished counting all the money just yet)
We still hope to raise a little more before the end of the month with our 'Think Pink' challenge (scrap a layout using only pink papers and embellishments) and our guessing comp to guess the amount of pink lollies we have in a jar. Both of these comps finish next Friday night.
I stupidly forgot to take my camera but Jen, Sharon and Lisa didn't so we got a few group shots - mum had us all yelling out 'Boobies!' Wonder what the Indian Grocery store which was still open thought was going on in our back room!!

Before I go on, 1 layout to share to keep the interest...
This is my latest 'Stuck' layout. The photo was taken as were waiting for Chelsie's first swimming lesson.

Next weeks layout will be up Tuesday so I'll post the other layouts I have then too.
(I just realised I currently don't have a link to Stuck in my sidebar, I'll fix that up in the next few days - Lost all my links when I updated my blog template)

This actually happened almost 2 weeks ago now and I forgot about blogging it last post...

Cassie has had her first SCHOOL orientations!

Don't know 'bout you, but I think Cas looks FAR TOO LITTLE to be going to school but she's so ready.

She's had 2 sessions at school so far.
Wednesday her Kinder class walked over from the kindergarten and had a Art Class.
She was so excited but I think a little nervous too as she said to me on the way to kinder that morning 'I hope my lesson wont be too hard', I told it would be OK and she replied 'They do realize we're only little kids still?' Man she cracks me up sometimes!
Thursday was her day at Childcare. I had actually forgot that they were also doing a school orientation program so Cas and I were both surprised that when she got there she was on her way to school again! She did the same class as the day before but enjoyed it just as much.
This Wednesday and Thursday she has another 2 orientations.
It's only about 3 months until she starts school for real now! I miss her already!

Friday afternoon, after Kinder, we met up with one of her friends, Lauren and her mum at the Warneet Beach for a picnic. When we got there, it had just finished raining and was still a little cold so all girls were dressed in Winter clothes... by the time we left, it was stinken hot, I got sunburnt and all girls were starkers!
OK, let me explain that one...
They started out playing in 'beaches sandpit' as Cas called it so off came the shoes and socks. They the pants were rolled up so they could splash in puddles (the tide was going out). They got a little wet so next the pants came off, then the jumper and tshirt so we had 2 little girls running around in their nickers. Next thing we know the nickers are off too so they could sit in the puddles! They both had a ball, running in and out of the water, slashing in the puddles, playing in the mud and burring each other in the sand. They looked like creatures from a mud swamp!
So what was Chel doing while all this was going on?? She was playing quietly by herself digging in the mud, I knew she was getting dirty but didn't expect her to get completley drenched with water too - She'd dug down far enough in the mud to reach the water! Her nappy looked like it hanging around her ankles it was so full of water so she ended up being stripped off too and then took part in the sand burying and mud sliding!
I am so glad I had the car as there was no way I could of walked home with my 2 mud monsters! Luckily the beach was quiet, there was only one other family playing at the park and a couple of fishermen launching boats.

OK, very long post again. I really ramble on hey??

Back soon,
See Ya!
Jodee :)

layouts, pics and stuff

2008-10-20T19:00:00.010+11:00

LAYOUT SHARE...

A few layouts I've done recently but hadn't got around to sharing yet. Still have more but I accidently deleted the scans so they'll have to wait 'till I get a chance to do them again - DOH!

Seem to have a little fascination with Kraft Cardstock lately!!

Also have my Stuck Sketches Layout done but it wont be on the site until tomorrow so that will also be next post

OK, So I've been getting hassled lately that I haven't been sharing any photos.

Here's a few recent(ish) ones...

Chel at the park. It really not a great shot but I like it - think it will make a great scrappin photo

Bit blurry but a cutie close up of the monkey

My CRAZY family taken a week or two ago

The girls at the beach

Jeff took the girls to the beach on Friday night but the tide had gone a little too far out for a swim... Didn't faze Cas though, she went playing in the mud and had a ball! Jeff had to rescue her when she got stuck!!
Just a cutie of Chel playing around outside
I already shared some pics from this lot of photos of Cas I think but this one caught my eye when I was going through iPhoto.

On Sunday we went to Seymour for my new little cousin Imogen's Christening.
Here's a few pics from the day...
My little cousin Rowan acting the grump and about to chuck a tanty on the grass!

Cas outside the chuch
Chelsie waiting outside the church
CHelsie inside the church - she was such a monkey during the ceremony - running around and shaking doors trying to get out (don't blame her - LOL!) She always manages to do it cutely though so you don't get annoyed the little bugger - She kept running past and yelling 'Hi Mum!' then "Bye Bye' as she was on her way up and down the pews! I joked when Jeff took this pic that obviously the devil can walk into a church without getting struck down!! (Is that bad to say that??)
Andrew aka Spunky Monkey my new name for him!
Cas and Georgina playing on a toy car (Jarrod is also in the background)
Cas had a ball playing with all her cousins as we don't get to see much family often. After the Church service, we went back to Sonia's parents house for lunch. Chelsie went to sleep in her pram before lunch and we had to wake her at 3.30pm when we were getting ready to leave! Needless to say she was a roudy bugger the whole 2 1/2 hr trip home whereas Cas pretty much slept the whole way!

It's been a very busy few days...
Thursday night after work, my sis had a Tupperware party so I went along.
Friday, Suzi and I caught the train and tram into the city to visit Paperific. Was a pretty good day, bit disapointing on the food side as it all SOLD OUT before 1pm. Luckily Suzi had brought along a pizza roll for us both. Wasn't really alot of bargains or new stock so I didn't really buy much. There was only 1 stall I really liked (can't remember the store name).
I was reminded twice how bitchy the Scrapbooking World was on Friday too. 1st instance was a fellow store owner who totally lied to my face telling me she hadn't said things to customers about our store (and right in front of the customer who actually told me she said it!!) I would never have said anything to her about it 'cause that's business and I wouldn't stoop to her level hey, but she chose to say right in the middle of another Scrapbook store's stall at Paperfific!! Some people are just bitches!!
2nd intance was in the trade section. A certain brand wont deal with us because they have something personal against us (I think it has to do with another store that was close to us when our store was in Hampton Park). One of the workers at said trade stall came up to Suzi and I and started chatting and showing us the products. The bitchy owner called her away and whispered something to her about us (whatever her problem is) and the worker wasn't allowed to come back and chat to us. Tell you what, if I were a a BAD person, how I would love to run her and her stupid company's name through the dirt like she has done to us!!
OK winge and moan over. Enough said about all of that. I wont mention who the people are because I am not like that.

Friday night, we had our regular crop at the store (yes, we crop EVERY friday night! he he!) Didn't get much done but I managed to get our $10.00 challenge done. It's still at the store so I'll share it next post or two.

Saturday, Cas and I were out the door early to check out garage sales (the annual Warneet/Blind Bight Garage Sale). We checked out 10-15 of the 31 that were on. Only spent about $15.00 and came out with a popcorn maker, 2 games, magician set and a brand new/never worn pair of Colorado shoes in my size ($2.00 and the exact pair that I bought last year and broke) Also got a couple of other nic nacs/crap for the kids.
After that we headed down to Cranbourne Station only to find out the next train was half an hour away. We needed to be in the city by 1.00pm so decided it was cutting it too fine so drove.
We got to the Parents and Babies Expo just in time to see Dorothy the Dinosaur who Cas absolutely loves (almost as much as Dora!) After we'd seen her, we checked out the animal farm and then all the other stalls. All sounds like a great time but to be honest, Cas was a pain in the arse ALL DAY and I couldn't wait to get home!!
And then Sunday we went to Seymour.
Today I did a bit of Scrapping and the girls just hung around the house watching the TV - we were all too tired to do anything else.

OK almost finished!
Just one more thing to share, haven't taken a pic of it yet but our little Chels in not little anymore!
Yep, our BIG girl no longer sleeps in a cot!!

Well she does sort of, we've just taken the side of since she wouldn't stop climbing in and out, we decided it was safer.
She's been in it since Wednesday night and hasn't fallen out once yet. Until today, she never got out of bed either. Today, her afternoon nap was spent on the floor in the middle of all her toys after she realised no matter how much she knocked on the door, I wasn't coming in to get her until she's had a sleep!!
She loves her 'new' bed and keeps climbing in with her bubby when she's playing in her room!

OK, that's enough now!
Hope I haven't bored you all too much (please come back, I don't have much traffic nowadays!!)

See Ya!
:)

update - sort off

2008-10-14T13:18:00.005+11:00

Last weeks Stuck Layout. Not a very good pic of it - it looks so much better IRL! The heading is 'The Camera Loves You (& so do I) - it's a bit hard to read the bottom line in the photo.

My layout based on the current Stuck Sketch. This is also alot brighter IRL (and straighter!!) I just love this pic of Cas and Chel. I was taking pics outside last Saturday and right at the perfect moment, Cas leaned over and gave Chel a kiss - So Beatiful how much my girls love each other!!

Did this layout on Friday night at our crop (the only thing I did - shame, shame!) I cut the bottom off on the scan but you get the idea. Been hanging to scrap this pic I took December and decided it was such a great pic, it didn't really need much else so a very simple layout.

This is my favourite time of the year! The weather is getting warmer and that means...
GARAGE SALES!
Love a good bargain, and picking up things you wouldn't find in a store.
Saturday, I took Cas with me and checked out some garage sales in pearcedale, then headed to Cranbourne and finally Devon Meadows on the way home. Spent less than $20.00 and came home with: Barbie Car and this little shoe house for Cas, Car and boat toy thingy and some blocks for Chel, DVD for Jeff (Weekend at Bernies - sad I know, but we love watching the crappy old 80's movies) and a fit ball and 2 ACE desktop drawers and shelves for my Scraproom/Office.
This weekend is the annual Garage Sale organised by the Warneet Fire Brigade. About 25 houses in Warneet will all have Garage Sales on Saturday and I can't wait to check them all out!

Sunday, I worked at the store, closed up at 3pm and then rushed home so I could catch the end of Bathurst. Spewing I missed the start. Also spewing it was a FORD victory and only 9 Holdens actually finished the race! Murph did pretty well though so we're happy he came second.

This weekend will be flat out!
Friday I'm going to Paperific, then cropping at the store
Saturday, Cas and I will check out all the Garage Sales then head into the city for the Parents and Babies Expo (Dorothy the Dinosaur is performing so she can't wait to see her) We're catching the train like we did last year.
Sunday, We have a Christening to attend in Seymour so we'll have to get up at the crack of dawn pretty much to get there by 11am.

ROAD RAGE:
At the moment there are 3 SETS OF ROADWORKS on the way to taking Cas to Kinder.
Cas says to me the other day,
"If they make us wait too long today I'm gonna get out and punch 'em!"
I say "Oh My Gosh, Really?" (I was too surprised to say anything else)
Then she says, "They might try and punch me back"
I say "Oh No, That would be terrible!"
She says....
"They can TRY! I'm the strongest person in the world! I'll chase after them if they run away!
I didn't really know what to say to that!

Today on the way to kinder, she says,"I'll have to punch them in the dark so nobody sees - or else I'll go to jail"

Where is she getting all this??
I don't say anything like that.... Really..... Honest, I don't...

Last week Chel also had her 18mth check up. She's now in the 75% range with her height and weight so she's had a BIG growing spurt in 6mths! - At 12mths she was in the 50% still. Her head is still in the 97% range so she's got a bit of catching up before she grows into head LOL! Gotta take her for her Chicken Pox immunisation next week - Urghhh!

Anyway, that's a bit of an update,
Got some more stuff to share so I might be back later in the week

See Ya!
Leave me some love... pleasssssse!!!!!

Frustrated...

2008-10-06T09:30:00.004+11:00

Just have to record this super cute conversation I've been having with Cas over the last few days...

Cas: Mummy I'm frustrated.
Me: Really? Why are you frustrated?
Cas: Whats frustrated mean?
Me: Frustrated means your angry
Cas: Oh, I'm not angry then, just frustrated
Me: Why?
Cas: Hmmm. Let me think... because... (somethings not on TV, I haven't done something... or anything else she can think of at the time!!)

I've had this conversation with her about 3-4 times over the last few days!

Saturday in the car she asks again...

Cas: Mummy I'm frustrated.
Me: Really? Why are you frustrated?
Cas: Whats frustrated mean?
Me: Frustrated means your angry
Cas: Oh... What does Apologise mean?
Jeff:It means you say your sorry
Cas: Oh...
Jeff:If I dropped Mummy's camera I would have to apologise
(Insert really shocked look on my face)
Cas: And that would make you frustrated wouldn't it mum!!

What a crack up! She hasn't asked what frustrated means since so I think she finally understands. Don't know where she's getting all these long words from?!

Been a really big weekend...

Friday night:
Regular Friday night crop at ArtyPants. Did nothing but stuff around all night, tried to start 3 layouts but none worked - including my stuck layout due today!
Got home 1am, couldn't sleep so watched stupid late night movie until 2.30am.

Saturday:
All up at 7am so we could get to Cranbourne for Annual Moto GP run.
People everywhere! The streets right outside our store were jammed packed (with about 10,000 people) Cas really wanted her face painted so we stood in line for 1 hour! Everytime we suggested we come back later, she cracked it! Eventually it was her turn and the lady doing the faced did an ACE job - took her about 2 minutes!
Then we watched all the bikes leave... The Moto GP is in Phillip Island so every year, thousands of motorbikes head down to the island and make a stop off in Cranbourne first. They close off the streets so all the bikes can park and take part in the festivities and then at 10am, they all start and take off at once while everyone in the streets waves them off! The kids love it! Chelsie was fascinated!
Then we walked over to ArtyPants as were having a big SALE! The store was already jammed packed and Debbie and mum were run off their feet!
Hung around for about an hour and then we left to go and check out beds - It's time for Chelsie to go into a bed so we're getting new ones for both girls. Have to wait 'till mid Nov for the ones we want - DOH!
While we were at the Homemaker Centre, there was a reptile display. Both girls were fascinated but there was NO WAY they would touch them!!
Got home about lunchtime, put Chel down for a nap and we decided it was time cleaned out the back bungalow. Jeff pulled out all the boxes (stuff we still haven't unpacked since we moved her 2 years ago!) so I could start going through them (There were a few nasty spiders in the bungalow so I wasn't going in there!!) - we sorted out stuff to throw, stuff to send to the op shop, stuff to give to Mindy for Andrew and stuff to ebay, garage sale etc. Hardly any of it (so far) has come inside the house! Cas found the lego I bought second hand years ago and hasn't stopped playing with it since - so glad Santa is bringing her more!
At 5.30pm, we all started getting ready to go out again. Kung Fu Panda was playing at an outdoor theatre at Cranbourne Racecourse for just a gold coin donation! Great night - got a little cold though and Chel wouldn't sit still!!
Yesterday, day light savings started - YAY my favourite time of the year - I always have trouble adjusting when it first starts and yesterday was no exception. I had to work at the store and all day I felt light cotton wool was stuffed in my head!

After such a busy weekend, I slept so well last night and me and girls actually only just woke up about 1 hour ago (9am)

Just one layout to share
My Stuck Layout from last week - very simple but I like it - esp. the pic of little cutie Andrew!
Check out Stuck tomorrow to see this weeks sketch and CT examples (I still have to do mine today)

See Ya!

SALE!

2008-10-03T14:37:00.002+10:00

ArtyPants is having a
1 DAY SALE!
Tomorrow only (4th October)
10am-4pm
20% off Storewide!
Including items already on sale!
The kits available on the website are also included

Come and grab a bargain!
See you there!

OK, OK,

2008-09-29T21:07:00.003+10:00

That was a little longer than a day between blogs!
Been pretty busy and haven't really had alot of time for blogging... still been reading all my blogs in bloglines though!!

An update on the last post...
Cas has been pretty sick for a while - just a cold she couldn't shake and 2 Tuesday's ago she woke in the middle of the night totally freaking out and seeing things. We calmed her down and she goes back to sleep. Wednesday night, the same thing, only this time she's got a really high temp and her heart is going faster than ever before. We give her panadol, cool her down and she just collapses on me. Thursday she's really not well still so we take her for a check up. The doc can't find anything wrong with her but is worried about the halucinations (sp?), headaches and the fact that on Tuesday, before she went to bed she had a little fall and hit her head (since she had a fractured skull when she was a baby). He want sher checked out at emergency. She wasn't an emergency so we were expecting a bit of a wait. 4 hrs later they take her through but say, there isn't any beds so she'll have to sit in a cot. We wait and wait and wait. The other kids in the ward are brought food and drink - nothing for Cassie. The other kids are bought a TV and DVD player - nothing for Cassie. It's gets to 8.30pm. Cas is exhausted and they wont even give her a pillow to lie on. The nurse comes on sees us to say we'll be waiting for a lot longer yet because 'there are people here that are actually sick' !! I say a few choice words and we leave.
Arrive home and Cas throws up everywhere. She sleeps well that night and ALL DAY Friday and has since gone back to taking 2-3 naps during the day. Finally last week, a doctor actually suggests they do some blood tests to see whats wrong (We find out tomorrow). The last 2 days,she's picked up a bit so hopefully whatever she's had, it's passed...

On Saturday, we went to a Grand Final BBQ at Andrea's.
Sunday, my parents took Cas and Taylor to the Melb show (lucky them, I'm so glad it wasn't us!!)
On Saturday, my brother got burnt by the radiator water in his car and had to be taken to hospital. Luckily, it looks like he'll be OK. He's got burns to his face and stomach. One of the face burns was so bad that there was talk that he might have to be knocked out for a few days so he could breathe properly while it healed. Scary but luckily it didn't come to that. They were keeping him under observation but he checked himself out!! He has to see a plastics guy to acess the burns so here's hoping there will be no scarring. It was his birthday on Sunday too - so great pressie for him hey??

A few layouts of Chelsie... I still have to hook up my scanner, organise software etc. so the layouts and pics are pretty scarce ATM. Be back to normal programming soon!!
Been doing a bit of scrapping - would love to be doing a bit more but....
This layout was for a comp on the Buzz and Bloom blog. You had to scraplift a member of their DT. I chose a layout by Christy Haywood. That was a challenge, the layout ended up more full on than what I normally do but I sort of really like it!! (I think I love the photo and the layout is just OK!!)

A few Stuck Layouts I haven't shared lately (slack, slack, slack) Sara's on the lookout for some new creative team members. I think registration closes tonight so if you get in quick you can still register for the 4 week challenge - it should be a fun!!

This week's sketch will be up tomorrow so check it out!! (Link in my sidebar)

Oh, Belated Happy Wedding Anniversary to my DH!
The day we sent hours in emergency with Cas was our 9th wedding anniversary.
9 YEARS!

Think that's enough for this week!!
That's all folks!!

vent, Vent, VENT!!

2008-09-18T22:13:00.002+10:00

Arghhh! I hate the Emergency Department of Casey Hospital in Berwick!!

4 hours of waiting. FOR NOTHING!

Will blog about it tomorrow, way to frustrated, annoyed, confused, worried and did I say FRUSTRATED to do it now.

Need to get a good nights sleep (at least I hope it will be a good nights sleep tonight)

Highlights from a big week...

2008-09-15T20:59:00.005+10:00

• Fathers day. We had a BBQ at my parents house for lunch and went and saw Jeff's dad for dinner. The girls both made pressies for Jeff at kinder/childcare, Cas also decorated a travel mug and of course the I gave him the requisite Bunnings voucher.

• Enrolled Cassie into school (finally) - The lady at administration asks me if I'm nervous or sad - yes both!!

• Got a new computer! I gotta tell ya, it's fantastic! I am so in love! Only prob is all my software wont work as I've been upgrading for years so to install it on the new computer means re-installing the old software and then the updates. Well, the new Macs no longer support Mac OS9 which all the original software is from. DOH! I now have to fork out lots of $$ for the new full version of Creative Suite!! So for a while I now have to run both my desktop computers until I can afford the new software - a bit of a pain in the arse but so worth it to have my shinny new Mac sitting next to the old one and surfing the net, uploading pics from my camera etc are 100 times faster!

• Got BIG NEWS which I can't share yet - sorry! Wish I could as I hate secrets but I'm keeping this one to my chest until the time is right!!!

Watched 'Underbelly' last night - I think Jeff and I are the only ones in Victoria who have NOT seen it before. Great show - even if it was the edited version. Found out on the net tonight that we Vics only get to see 5 episodes! That sucks!

I'll have to continue this post later as I can't remember anything else I've done over the last week and a half!

Signing off with 2 layouts...

This one is last weeks Stuck sketch. The new one goes up tomorrow so check it out! I love this layout (which is straight and not so dark IRL)

And of course I HAD to scrap my new baby! Cas is sitting at 'Mac' watching 'Ratatouille'

Photos and more layouts next post (or the one after)

See Ya!

I Love Spring!!!

2008-09-05T12:39:00.003+10:00

Just love it when the weather starts getting a little warmer. Makes me feel so much more motivated to get things done. It's such a beautiful day outside today. I've got all my doors open in the hope the warmth might travel inside the house. The kids are loving it too. They're both really outdoorsy girls so any hint of sunshine and they're out running about.

Been going through all our pics on iphoto and I came across some pics of Warneet.
Jeff has been going on long morning walks lately in the swampy areas of Warneet and taking my camera - he's been coming back with some great pics...

Just love the mist!

Sunrise

This is a pic I took about 2 months back of Warneet beach just before sunset. I want to take some pics of the beach each week at the same time to document how changing our little tidal beach is over the month. It goes from extreme high tide (with occasional flooding) to extreme low tide each month

Any finally here's a pic of Cas from when she went along on one of Jeff's walks... Just love her 'Whatever' attitude in this pic!

Well that's it for today, wasn't much of an update but it's too finer day outside to spend it in front of the 'puter. Also gotta go get Chel down for a nap and help Cas clean her room before Taylor comes to stay tonight.

See Ya!