Scrapping & more Birthdays!

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

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





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



More details HERE

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

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

The Birthday Boy


What an awesome cake!


Nicholas with Blake


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

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

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

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


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


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


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

Time gets away ...

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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



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

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Keep smiling :O)

IT'S HERE !

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



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

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

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

Keep Smiling :O)

A little bit of scrappin'

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

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

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

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



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



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

Hope you are having a great week.

Keep Smiling :O)

TODAY ...

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

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





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

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

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

Enjoy the rest of your week :O)

Lots of Scrapbooking

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

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










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



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

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

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



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

Keep smiling :O)

An Award & A Workshop

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

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

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

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

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



All the details are HERE

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

Keep smiling :O)

SUMMER DAYS

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

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

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






Hope everyone is managing to stay cool.

SnB DT CALLOUT 2009

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

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

Good Luck !

REWIND ......

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

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

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

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

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






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



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


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



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

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


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

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


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


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


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

Here is a photo of their last day:


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


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

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

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


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


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

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




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

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

Have a great week, keep smiling :O)

Half way through another month ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Keep Smiling :O)
JULIE x

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY !

Happy Birthday to my Dad on his 60th Birthday!



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

Have a great week!

LIVING THE DREAM !!

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

today that dream came true .....

What a magical place!





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

The street parade was so enchanting





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



Keep smiling :O)