Friday, August 31, 2007

FRIDAY ALREADY ...

Another week gone .....

Well, my boys will be home from camp today and i am sad to say that i was hardly home whilst they were away and didn't even get a scrap of scrapbooking done {sigh}! Never mind ...

All my time seems to be taken up with work at the moment ... busy, busy, busy!

But, speaking of work, i had the loveliest surprise yesterday ...

I have a fairly involved job and unfortunately it is not always friendly; and, like a lot of things, people are very quick to complain or get irrate if they are not happy with something or things don't go their way ... but, every now and then, someone shows their appreciation for your assistance, service of whatever.

Yesterday morning, a courier arrived at the office with a big box addressed to me ... i was really puzzled and trying to rack my brain within a few short seconds whilst signing the receipt slip as to what it could be. Have I ordered anything lately? Scrapbooking supplies don't come in a box this big? It is not my birthday?????

This is what it was .....



A big basket filled to the brim with wine, cookies, chocolate, cashews, coffee, mints, merangues, chutney etc. etc. ... WOW!
This was sent to me by a someone i have assisted through work as a
'thank you' ... I was very humbled and flattered at the same time.

Busy weekend ahead .... off to Sydney tonight to see 'Priscilla', doing a Trivia Night tomorrow night for the local pre-school, Father's Day on Sunday ...

Have a great weekend everyone!!

JULIE x

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Looks Like Spring, Feels Like Spring .....

How gorgeous has the weather been over the past few days ... I wish it was like this all year ... it makes you feel lively and puts a "spring" in your step !!





To add some more cheer to the day, click HERE and join in on some guessing competition fun at SCRAPBOOKnBITS!

My boys (DH & DS)left for school camp this morning ...




Yes ... that is my son cheering through the bus window ... a tad excited you might say! LOL!!

No husband or child ... 3 days of silent bliss in my house = lots of scrapbooking & out with the girls tonight to see Chuck & Larry !!!

Keep smiling :O)

JULIE x

Saturday, August 25, 2007

LAZY SATURDAY

All this week i have sooo wanted to have a 'lay in' ... finally, Saturday came ... no sport, no work, pretend there's no housework ... we had a BIG sleep in!!

Spent the morning pottering around the house still in our pj's, did a little washing, had a shower and got dressed with just enough time to get to the butchers before close. Other than that, it has been a very lazy Saturday!

I did also do a teensy weensy bit of scrapping to finish off the LO i done with Jen Hall at the SnB retreat last weekend.

Here it is ...




Lots of dimension and loved using the watercolours ... always great to try something different ... thanks Jen!


Off to exert myself and cook something yummy for dinner ... and ... i think i can feel some more scrapping coming on !!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

JULIE x

Thursday, August 23, 2007

THURSDAY ALREADY ...

Gosh the week's go fast ...

Had the time to have a bit of a play on my blog tonight and changed the music clip (seems to take a while to setup. DH and i sat and watched a DVD last night (bit of a rare occasion lately)and it was just one of those 'easy to watch' lovely stories - 'Broken Bridges' featuring Toby Keith (country music singer), Kelly Preston (married to John Travolta) and Lindsey Haun (an unknown who sings this beautiful song i have uploaded on my blog).

Next week Blake goes on school camp for 3 days & 2 nights ... and ... Mark is going too (as a parent helper)! That means, i will be a bachelorette for 3 days which is sort of exciting but sort of a bit weird too. Our little family doesn't really split-up to do things very often, we are usually all together!
However, i am sure i will find something to occupy myself ... mmmm ... scrapbooking, movie with a girlfriend, out for coffee .... oh the list goes on !!!! LOL!

We are also counting down the days (3 weeks to go) 'til we leave for our annual snow holiday. There are 26 of us going down for the week ... should be lots of fun. We have been keeping updated with the snow report each night on TV ... it's looking great! Can't wait!!

Glad tommorrow is Friday and sooooo looking forward to a quiet weekend (maybe with a little scrapbooking thrown in!!!) LOL!

Be Good. Keep Smiling.

JULIE x

Sunday, August 19, 2007

HUGE weekend !!!!!


Home from 'SnB' Scrap Retreat .... Congrats & thanks to Karen for a great weekend filled with lots of goodies, games, giveaways, scrapbooking, classes, chatting, new friends etc. etc. etc.....

Mine was also a very busy weekend ...

I sacrificed Saturday morning at Scrap camp to be at Broadmeadow for soccer with Blake. His team had reached the semi-final and DH is the coach ... so, priorities prevailed and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

What a heart stopper ... their team was down 1 nil for nearly all the game and 15 seconds before full time (yes, exactly 15 seconds)we scored!!!
OMG !!!
Then they played and extra 10 mins each way ... still a draw!

Then .... the one thing i have always dreaded ... a PENALTY SHOOT OUT!

Both teams went through the five selected players to attempt at goal ... the result was 1 goal each ... still a draw .......

Then the deal is that they go 'kick for kick' until someone misses ....

we lost :(

Never mind ... someone has to be the winnner & someone the loser ... it just wasn't meant to be.

But i must say, our team are a wonder bunch of kids and their sportsmanship was supreme! and ... congrats to Cooks Hill for an equally deserved win!!
Furthermore, the parents from the opposing team were great people too ... when it came to the penalty shoot out, parents from both teams ended up being mingled together and the general consensis (sp?) was that we wished each other well and just felt sorry for the kids having to be put through such "nail biting" stuff!!

Good luck to Cooks Hill in next week's Final!!

I got back to the retreat at about 2.30pm and time for some serious scrapbooking!!

Unfortunately i missed 2 of my classes (1 with Jen & 1 with Kim), but not to worry 'cause i have my kits and can put the projects together in my own time.

Just have a few finishing touches to be completed on the LO i done with Jen Hall this morning and will share soon ... she's such a clever chicken and i lots of fun experimenting with the watercolours and doodling!

I did get a few LO's finished and have to say that i am pretty chuffed with the new Cherry Arte papers i used ... such lovely papers for boy LO's!




To all you wonderful new scrapbooking friends (and my awesome regular buddies) ... thanks for a fab weekend!

Will share more soon ... can hardly keep my eyes open!!!

JULIE x

Thursday, August 09, 2007

AS PROMISED !!

Here are pics of the Maya Road chipboard album i done for our cruise pics ...

a lot of different styles in one album ...
and just adore those 'Love Elsie' papers !!









Now ... onto other blogger business i haven't tended to ...

Thank you to Cherie for tagging me to be a



and ...

PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE

I was lucky enough to be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on Kellie's blog for the PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE!
I will receive a hand made gift from this very talented chicky......... how cool!

- it must keep going forward so ....
the first three people to comment here (who would like to be invovled in the Pay It Forward Challenge) will receive a handmade gift from me. All you have to do is keep the fun challenge going by agreeing to create three handmade gifts for three more people (with in the next 12 months)

What fun!

Keep smiling :O)
JULIE x

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

MEGA CATCH-UP

The past few weeks has been like a whirlwind ... between trivia night's, sickness, organising a new office ... add the normal daily & weekly routines of work, school, housework, sport etc ... phew!

This will be a mega catch-up post ... so here goes:




I have finally got my butt into gear and re-charged the camera batteries so i could download the photos i took whilst we were at Numbucca a few weeks ago.

Such a beautiful place ... I love the Nth Coast ... perhaps our grass roots stay with us; as we orginally came from Urunga (near Coffs Harbour).

I got up early to use the bathroom and peeked out the front door of our cabin to check on the weather outlook for the day ... and what was right out my front door ... this beautiful sunrise over the waterfront!

Must have looked a real sight in my PJ's out with the camera at the 'crack of dawn' but didn't want to miss a photo opportunity ... perhaps we need a sign "scrapbooker" to pop on our foreheads at times like these so people understand our bizarre behaviour when armed with a camera! LOL!

Later we had morning tea and i took these pics of my mum, dad & my boy (Blake).




On a different note ... our family has been sick, sick, sick with that rotten flu like virus that is spreading around at the moment. I was home sick a few days last week (felt like i could have easily stayed in bed for a week but too much happening at work to be away for a length of time). I think i slept more in three days than i had in the past three weeks. Feeling quite fine now but just have an annoying cough that won't seem to budge :(
Unfortunately my dad and my little man are now suffering the same fate . Blake has been home from school this week! Lots of love, attention & tissues and hopefully they'll be back on track in no time. I was talking to Blake's teacher yesterday and apparantly there are lots of children away from school at the moment ... every 2nd person i talk to is sick or has already had a turn.
To all those out there feeling under the weather ... Get Well Soon!

In amongst all the chaos over the last week or two i have found time to do a little scrapbooking ... have to find time for scrapbooking as it keeps me sane!!
I have almost finished an album (Maya Road chipboard album)for our cruise photos/memories and hope to share in the next day or so.

On an even better note ... just 10 more sleeps 'til the SCRAPBOOKnBITS weekend retreat. Really looking forward to a weekend away and lots of scrapbooking, doing some projects with Jen Hall & Kim Archer, and meeting some people IRL that chat on the forum.

I am also counting down the weeks 'til we go to the Snow! It should be a great year with the fantastic snow fall they have had to date. A few weeks ago i picked up my new ski boots ... yep, my very own custom moulded ski boots ... no more sore feet or ill-fitting hire boots!
There are 26 of us going this year ... fun, fun, fun!

Well, i've run out of steam ... this might do for now but i promise i will try really hard to come back and post in the next day or so!

Keep smiling,
JULIE x
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