Escape2Create Friday night LO's

My first LO for the weekend on the Friday afty. I had not scrapped for about a month, so felt quite 'rusty'

It's really about how I'm sad I don't have a dedicated scrap desk anymore... so sad! lol!

Amanda's Class, love her style!! Was really looking forward to this class. Although I can't follow directions, the 5 was meant to be blue.. I just went and inked all the chipboard in red. It is a typical thing for me to do!

Lexi and her Poppy, (my Dad) he just has a twinkle for this little girl! 

More to come!

x

Escape 2 Create March 2010

Well I have returned home yesterday from a whirlwind time in the home town. We started renovations on our home there, which took up a lot of time but the main reason I was there was for the Escape2Create Scrapbooking retreat. There really are no words to say about how outstanding the retreat was. I could rant and rave forever.. I feel so good after being there. Re-energised. Creatively and also just in myself... Time for me worked wonders!! Thanks to Amanda, Meredith, Sue and the other girls... I would pay twice the amount to come next year. In fact I'll book in and pay tommorow, ok!! I loved it THAT MUCH! There was not one thing that could of been improved except for maybe Meredith's Christmas music, but that was a source of many laughs too! I was told by Lou that she thought I was quiet, glad that she knows me a tiny bit better now! Also, I would have thought the same about Meredith (quiet) but what a total funny girl she is! Love all the girls senses of humour. A weekend of laughs, a few drinkies, yummy nibbles, and lots of scrapping! I finished 10 almost 11 LO's which is roughly half of what I achieved the whole of last year! I really felt I 'achieved'.

I was blessed to be able to go with Tatum and Lauren and even managed to sit between them! I was amazed to watch them scrap and see how their LO's came together... Truly magical to watch. Can't wait til Lauren comes up for a visit as I'm going to turn myself inside out to be able to go and scrap with them!! I truly can't wait!

I was also lucky enough to sit across from a lady who has watched me grow up all my life and was a neighbour and is still friends with my parents to this day. And lovely Bev. It was nice to meet you and share it with you ladies aswell.  

I was feeling quite emotional to say goodbye on Sunday when it was over. I really felt very sad! LOL! I am a bit like that anyway (sooky lala), but what a wonderful weekend. I'm starting my positive thinking already that I can 'get into' the retreat next year.. It will be even more popular next year, I want my spot!! lol!!.

Now for some photos!

The scene... We will just call it Scrapper's Heaven!

Tatum at the table, maybe I caught her by surprise! 

Tiff and Lou. So lovely to meet them. I loved being able to see their work in the 'flesh' What a treat! 

I also met Lisa Parsons who I have known on-line for a long time now, which was lovely, but I didn't take a photo of us.. Silly me.

The view of Tiff and Lou's table.

Tatum and I. 

So blessed to have met this girl. She has inspired me in so many ways. xox.

Lauren, Tatum and I.

What beautiful girls..I love them to bits.

Tatum's creativity. The yellow cardstock with the blue paint on it turned into a delicious LO in no time! 

Back home admiring my E2C mug... so lovely. If anyone ever breaks it, I'll break them!! lol!!

And much to my utter disbelief I won this tote. We all had numbers on our E2C lanyards, mine was eighteen. On the Sat night there was a raffle drawn. You can see all the prizes lined up against the wall on the table in the rear of the photo of Lou and Tiff's table. AWESOME prizes were on that table including a Cuttlebug, an amazing camera bag and my K&co Tote... Tatum and I went and looked at the prizes.. drool, drool.... so many gorgeous prizes. Enough for everyone that was there to pick one. Anyway to cut a long story short, I wanted that tote so badly I thought about it right up until the draw. Lisa's number was pulled out first, she picked the cuttlebug,then Tatum's, she picked the camera bag, then mine!! I was so beside myself. I had a little bit of a dance!! I just could not believe that I had my number picked out and was able to pick the bag. The deal was was that you could pick the prize you wanted.. I still can't believe it really... 

What a wonderful 2 days of scrapping I did have! A credit to Amanda, Meredith, Sue and all involved. I will be reliving it with great pleasure for a long time to come!! 

 For a 'proper' rundown on the weekend, click on E2C at the top and bang, you will be there! 
xoxo

(pics of LO's to come soon... in a few days) 

This little girl at the park last week. 

Brenton has been doing lots of nightshifts lately so we have gone to the park a few times in the afternoon... Mia and I went together last Sunday.

I am doing the 365 challenge at the moment, love it, although I had forgotten one day this week. I knew I should take a photo, but just could not be bothered.... All in all though, it is something I enjoy and I have always enjoyed taking different sorts of pics of my life so now I'm taking it that bit further... I would love to buy I think it might be Becky Higgins, project life for this year while I am doing this... it's not out of the question. Maybe later.... ANYWAY, I digress... photo of Mia's school uniform the other evening ready for her to hop into the next morning. 

 A new fave photo of this little cherub. I said her name, she turned and snap. I just love it!

 And this little bum, it's just cute. 

 Ok, so I have a thing for bath photos. Two cute girls, check. Lots of bubbles, check. and I love the lighting... I just love bathtime photos.

Family photo at the park. It has been good for us to go to the park all together... 

While I am ok today, Brenton being on nightshift has messed with me a bit these last few days. I won't go into it, but the other night I was going to give Lexi some of Brenton's leftover Tuna Mornay and I just sat on the floor as it was easy to feed her there, and she came and went as she wanted and ate a fair bit... lol...

Fresh fruit that Mia and I shared this afternoon, Lexi squished a bit of rockmelon, kiwifruit and nana in her hands then tried to feed me. Ewww bubba, no thanks!

No scrapping, I don't have any excuse. I am a time waster. I spend too much time on the net, browsing and on facebook being nosey!! lol! I have a half finished LO sitting here, I have been looking at home decorating mags, I have been going to organise my stash for the retreat for nights now... I just waste time... Brenton is doing his 11th nightshift in a row tonight so I have had lots of time to myself... I am an up and down scrapper, things are a bit up and down in the house at the moment.. so I'm not feeling like my usual self.. (it's ok, just nightshift) I am out of whack, and feeling like i have to get out of my own house every day. Today I stayed put, went to Mia's room and cleaned out her two crafty boxes we call them, which involved lots of glue on eyes and sequins at the bottoms of the boxes... I stayed at home the whole day which was good. Mia and I made a box for her out of coloured paddle pop sticks. Mia is into patterns in things so we made it with colour patterns.  Thank God for Pritt. Will take a photo and upload soon...

Ok, in other news, I'm going to make my blog private in a day or two. I just don't want to share with the world anymore, and I'm not entirely sure that too many people come here. I don't mind who visits and who doesn't. I just have too much personal drivel and I want to keep it up and not feel uncomfortable about it being public.. So, if you want the password when i set it, contact me on facebook maybe or send me an email if you have my email...

Seeyou! xxx

Eggy Breakfast. 

Thanks Jamie for the inspiration, this breakfast was deluxe. I cooked it to celebrate Brenton being home last Sunday....

 

Brenton & I flew to Adelaide Tues morning, our friends picked us up, straight to Harbourtown for a looksee then back to Mum and Dad's unit for a change of clothes.... then down to the Alma on Magill Rd for this magnificent snitty!!

 

It was yum too!! Those chips were delicious...

Then off to the Cathedral pub in Nth Adelaide for more drinks and to wait to go to AC DC. It was a bit too close to the WCH for my liking... I won't go into details but it felt very strange to be across from the Hospital drinking and being relaxed...

Anyway I just had to get the ACDC horns once there. Brenton tried to tell me I didn't need them, but believe me, I did!! And they flashed too!! 

Fireworks at the end of the show. It was very loud, and we were right back on the hill at Adelaide Oval. I ended up with a horrific headache that made me sick... but worth it... yep totally worth it!! 

A photo of Mia I took on the Kodak point and shoot before we left Tues morn, so I could look at her whilst we were gone! 

 Banana bread I made on Thursday, two loaf tins. They were different sized tins so were different colours but both very very yummy.

And just because she is cute!

 Fruit party. Mum and Dad came to look after the kids for a day and a half while we went to ROCK ON and started the fruit party after school... hope I can be bothered to keep it up... Sometimes a bag of popped popcorn is easier... Bit lazy, don't you think?

 Lexi likes to put the leg up while in the high chair... very cute and just a photo of it to remind me... 

 Went to the local Op Shop about 30kms out of town today. It rained alot on the weekend... so much so that they were boogie boarding in the main street according to the local paper... We stopped and took photos near the town! 

 Mum and I in the Op Shop. It can get pretty packed at times, and hard to move but it's a lot of fun... We got a lot of treasure today for $16. Am thinking it needs to be a weekly jaunt to see what's new out there.

A siamese zuchini we bought in Woolies today, it got chopped for a pot of soup I made... Mmmm, chicken and vegies... feeling a lil bit over weight at the moment, so want to have it in the freezer for easy access when I'm hungry! 

Very Happy to have scrapped at last!!! It has been over two weeks, not good for my soul after having such a fantastic start to the year... It's for a sketch challenge on E2C. I will email Amanda tommorow with it!! Oh and they had a cool photo challenge, which I have done too, so will send that to her tommorow too!! 

This LO is about how I thought that Justine was way to cool for little ol me!!! She is a very cool chick, but I don't think there is anyone who she wouldn't talk to and befriend!! xxx

 Be Funky, it's a lot of fun!!! This is me at Brenton's 40th!! 

TFL, see you again soon!

I think I have had my worst week in a long time. Down and out!! lol! I'm having a laugh at the moment but haven't laughed much at all this week. Do you ever have those weeks???

Things that have pi**ed me off this week (in no particular order)

the heat

the humdity

me being unwell

Lexi being unwell including a temp of 40 and a over protective mother (me) taking her to the hospital, just to get checked out at midnight... i don't care, I'm a Mum and that's what I do. Lucky my favourite nurses were on! It was 'hi ali' when I walked in!! lol!

Brenton leaving home before 6am and returning back home just before 7pm, EVERYDAY for the last 13 days including today. Really sick of doing feeding, bathing, stories, toy clean up... just the whole damn show on my own. Tea and clean up not being over until after 8.30 or 9, then we are ready to go to sleep half and hour later!!! 

No scrapbooking because of above.... Which is really getting to me, as it has been making me feel good.... really good! 

Uuuum, what else has gotten to me??

I think I will just leave it there.... could go on and on. Really. I could.

Oh dear, what a sad sack I am!! It's all good now! My parents are coming for a visit tomorrow and I think I am going to try to get out of EVERY school drop off and pick up this week. Let you know at the end of it how I went! I am getting out of it Tues/Wed anyway, Brenton and I are off to Adelaide to AC/DC and a some us time. Should be good. Would rather be going to a B&B with a spa, and going to wineries and eating lots of yummy winery type food!! 

I wonder if I've complained enough yet?? LOL!!! Sorry!! 

Anyway some pics of our week. Pooey that I don't have a scrap of scrappiness to show.... anyway.

My girls being bucket heads in the bath.. Mia loves this kind of stuff...

Bit of sisterly love!! 

Tuesday night, in bed watching MKR, and of course Mia VERY jealous as she wants a tv in her room, complaining about anything, just to hop in with me! so she manages to get us to let her watch it with me.. Big mistake. She. just. can't. keep. still.

(photo in black and white to try and help me (this pic looks REALLY bad in true colour!!) Really feeling bad to be in bed before 8)

And then, look at this angel face.... *sigh* so precious!! 

And little angel drinking her milk. Loves it. So cute. 

Uuum, a photo of my delicious breakfast I think on Friday morning..... 

Tommorow it's eggy crumpets, and crispy crispy bacon... Mmmm

Oh baby, this face sums it all up.... I love you!

New half clam around here. The local newsagent was having a 50% off toys to make way for a new shop fit so thought it was a good time to snap one up. But alas when I went to pay I was charged full price. Too timid or wussy to ask for the discount... I guess I buy enough stuff online, I am happy to give the locals some $$$ too sometimes. The newsagent has good service which is rare in this town....

This special little girl received an award at her school assembly on Friday, the photo is very pixellated as I have cropped alot of kids out and then re-sized the photo! She was very proud of herself and I was too. Her award was for helping her peers and being a good team member!! YAY for Mia!!! Maybe you do listen to your Mumma, hey? We work pretty well as a team don't we sweet....

Stormy skies. I wish it would have amounted to more than it did. I would hazard a guess and say the whole town would have loved more of a show AND a lot more rain... So many insects flying around at the moment. Flying ants.... I think that's what they are! 

And finally, went to the local op shop (30kms away) today, it has re-opened after a Summer break... It was an exciting day in the area, so many people there.... Picked up these top notch books for the kids... brand new condition. I'll be going back at the end of the week... it was a bit mayhem-ish today...

Thanks for visiting... 


Just came back to add that I have no idea why or how I got the white behind the text... bloody blogger. And it's hard to remove and I really can't be bothered right now.... sorry.

Mia let me take this photo of her and her 'castle' this morning. She is bizarrely really right into playing with them at the moment. She makes all sorts of things... 

 Bubba in her pj's watching me make a coffee this morning. 

Lexi eating her lunch of sausage roll from the Bakery. We now have 2 bakeries. I bought a donut from the new one today (and then went to the first one for bread, rolls, etc...) but am thinking I will stick with the first bakery. It's a bit cheeky to open a bakery in opposition to your previous employer, don't you think. This is a pretty small town! Lexi loved her first try of sausage roll!! 

Mia of course hiding her face from me when I tried to snap her eating lunch!

Ingredients out for cupcakes.

Cooked cupcakes. They are Red Velvet ones. I don't know where my baking/cooking would be with out Tatum!! She put me onto a fab cookbook with these in them! 

Decorated Cupcakes. This evening Brenton and I ate 2 each. Deluxe is all I can say. So different, but just delicious. Thanks Tatum AND Lauren for the best tasting cupcake Brenton said he thinks he has ever had! lol! 

Little Miss is just getting on her knees to crawl instead of commando style. Soooo cute!! 

And then!

Oops, over she goes!! 

But it didn't bother her much... Love this face!! 

Mia with the best bit! Licking the icing off of the thingies! (i have a mental blank!!! ) 

With the paper flowers we made,which involved a trip to the newsagent as I didn't have red tissue paper and it caused tears!! And yes, we got white and dark blue too! Have to have as many colours as we can now!

Cheeky monkey, as soon as she sees a cupboard open, she is straight there!! 

Right now I'm listening to the rain and I'm just really enjoying it. When we first moved here, I could not care less that it didn't rain much but today, I was hoping hoping hoping madly that it would. And it is. Wonderful. 

Could have taken so many more photos... 

just a snapshot of us today.

(oh and Mia is a willing poser for my photos again... I told her if she didn't let me take photos of her I could only scrap Lexi... Next time I pointed the camera her way, it was 'Are you going to scrap that MUM?' Yes, Mia I will!!! xxx)