Merry Christmas To All.....

The excitement is building here in our house as tomorrow is the big day.
The stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped & there are lots of yummy smells lingering in the air.
Yesterday Molly & I had fun with our annual tradition of making gingerbread. This year we made these cute little reindeer.

We had to do a quality control test of course & I can tell you they are scrumptious.
I think these two cheeky fur balls are trying to look sweet & innocent in the hopes of getting to taste a gingerbread too.

Well we are off to go look at all the Christmas lights so I'd better get moving.
I sincerely hope everyone has a happy & magical Christmas. Eat, drink & be merry & please drive safely if you are on the roads.

Christmas At My House.....

Yay!!!! It's Holiday Time.....

I'm so happy to be on holidays. It's been such a busy year & I'm really looking forward to recovering & recharging my batteries.
It was delicious to have a sleep in on Friday morning. No alarm clock going off, no morning rush, just sweet sleep, aaahhhhh!!!!
Thursday night was Molly's end of year concert at school. All the classes performed wonderful musical items & it was a great night.
We also had a very proud moment when Molly received the "Book Award" for her class. It was quite a surprise considering she's only been at the school for half a year. Her smile was a mile wide when she went up to receive her award.

She's dressed a little odd because it was her costume for her class item which was several songs from Mary Poppins.

She had tandem teachers this year & they were both the sweetest, kindest women & made Molly's transition so much easier.
These are the gifts that I put together for them. I found the cute little buckets in a shop which I added some embellishments to & then filled them with yummy Lindor balls.

I am getting so excited about Christmas & enjoying these few days before the big day with wrapping last minute presents & watching lots of soppy Christmas movies. Molly & I will be making our gingerbread soon, it's a tradition that we love doing together. This year we are going to make reindeer shaped gingerbread.

I hope you are enjoying the lead up to Christmas & possibly getting a sleep in or two as well :)

Tomorrow's Memories Exciting News.....

DATES TO MARK IN YOUR DIARY:

Sunday 19^th December 9am – 2pm

Twiddleybitz Day

*See details below

Tuesday 28^th December 9am – 4.30pm

Dusty Attic Day

Demos and Make ‘n’ Takes

20% OFF Dusty Attic products

$10 OFF Voucher

Wednesday 29^th December 9am – 4.30pm

TM’s Super Special Day

Massive ‘In store’ discounts

$10 OFF Voucher

…Don’t forget our Dusty Attic competition, and all you need to do is spend $20 before Tuesday 21^st December to receive a ticket in the draw for the following amazing prize. “What would be your ultimate Scrapbooking “Dream Date”? The two lucky winners will receive a place along with 4 friends to attend the “DUSTY ATTIC DREAM DATE” on Tuesday 28^th December 2010!!!!

The first lucky winner is Mabel Stacey!! Congratulation Mabel we look forward to seeing you and your 4 lucky friends on Wednesday 28^th December.

Twiddleybitz Day

Sunday 19^th December 9am-2.30pm

Join us on Sunday with Anne-Marie (TM and Twiddleybitz DT Member) to celebrate the Twiddleybitz new release and take some time out to learn new techniques and make some gorgeous Christmas decorations.

Get 20% OFF all Twiddleybitz products and be in to win a fabulous “Twiddleybitz” Prize Pack when you purchase any Twiddleybitz item.

What a Dream Date.....

Introducing... "The Dusty Attic Dream Date"

We are running a competition from Saturday 4th December to
Tuesday 21st December and all you need to do to be involved is
"spend $20 to receive a ticket in the draw"
to be in the running for the following amazing prize!!!

What would be your ultimate Scrapbooking "Dream Date"?

Well the two lucky winners of this competition will receive a place for you and four friends to attend the "Dusty Attic Dream Date" on Tuesday 28th December 2010!!!

You and four friends will receive an exclusive class at
Tomorrow's Memories on Tuesday 28th December.

The class will be designed by the fabulous Dusty Attic Design Team Member Mistra Hoolahan and will be designed exclusively for the two prize winning groups. The class will feature fabulous Dusty Attic chipboard and some of the stunning techniques that Mistra is best known for!!




Your "Dusty Attic Dream Date" will include your fabulous class, (including the class kit) and a wonderful morning tea. Plus you will be presented with an amazing
"goody bag" from not only the owner of one of the State's leading chipboard manufacturers but also three Dusty Attic Design Team Members!!
Does that sound like your Scrapbooking Dream Date!!??

The draw for the 1st winner will take place at the Christmas Moonlight on
Friday 10th December and the 2nd draw will be on Wednesday 22nd December
so the earlier you come in, the more chances you have to win!!
Remember, for every $20 you spend you get a ticket in the draw!!

Stay tuned for more exciting details about the Dusty Attic Day at
Tomorrow's Memories and go to our facebook page
to read about more ways to win some other great prizes!!

Is this an opportunity too good to pass up or what!!!!
Come on all you Perth girls, it could be you & your besties enjoying this awesome day.

Christmas Cards for My Cuties....

Hi again :)
I wanted to make a card for each of the little cuties in my life. I was in The Reject Shop the other day (I heard what you just said Chloe, LOL ) & I saw this cute sheet of Christmas stickers with little animals & Santas etc. I thought they'd be perfect for kids cards & they were only $2.50.
Today I sat down & made some cards with them.

This one is for Miss Molly





This is for Tilly, my grand daughter.





And this is for little Ollie, my grandson.





I've used all sorts of bits & pieces on these cards. I cut 3" circles on my Cricut, Labels 3 Nestabilities & assorted papers.

The sheet of stickers had a large & small size of each different sticker so I decided to decorate the inside of the cards too using the smaller sticker.





I hope you have fun making some Christmas cards for the special little people in your life.
Bye for now :)

Getting Into The Swing.....

of Christmas. That's what I've been doing this week.
I didn't think I was going to get time to make any Christmas cards this year but several nights of not being able to sleep due to my annoying Restless Legs Syndrome gave me the opportunity to.
So for most of this week I've been sitting at my desk in the wee hours while everyone has been sleeping. Does anyone else suffer with this incredibly frustrating condition & have you found anything that helps? I'd love to hear from you!!!!

Anyway, these were the first batch I made. It seems like I've made so many cards with this range from Making Memories but I loved it soooo much I kept buying more, lol.
I made about 11 of these, all slightly different.







Last year I bought some gift cards that I really loved & then on Christmas Day I found myself taking them off all the discarded wrapping paper & I popped them away. They were too pretty to throw away.
This is what they looked like. It's hard to tell in the photo but they are very glittered.







These gift cards were recycled for my second batch of cards.
I just adore red & white together.
They were quick & easy to put together. I cut the snowflakes on my Cricut.







Tonight I sat down & wrote all my cards & addressed them, just need to buy some stamps & post them off now.
How are your cards coming along? Are you making any this year?
There's a few more fun projects that I'd like to get done for Christmas but I'll have to see how time goes.

I have decided that tomorrow is going to be the day that we put our Christmas tree up. December 1st isn't til Wednesday & I know it's not going to happen during a week day & I don't want to wait until next weekend, so tomorrow it is!!!

Thanks for stopping by today, take care & have fun :)

Christmas Is Coming.....

Boy, has Christmas snuck up quickly or what? I can't believe it's getting so close. I was thinking yesterday that there's less than 5 weeks left of school!!!!! It's all a bit scary really.
Thankfully I've had a head start on present buying & it's nearly all finished. Strangely enough I don't really feel all that flustered by it this year, it feels pretty easy.
It will be our first Christmas in our new home too.

I am teaching my second class at Tomorrow's Memories this Friday, which just so happens to be a Christmas class. I love making Christmas cards, it really gets me in the festive mood.
Would you like a little sneak peek? OK here it is....







Are you going to be making Christmas cards this year?
If so how many do you make? Last year I ended up making about 45 I think, LOL.
Well that's it for me today, it's time to go pick up Molly from school, she'll be buzzing today as her class went on an excursion to Scitech & King's Park.
Take care :)

Happy Halloween.....

Hi there!!!!
I know Halloween isn't very popular in Australia but I'm up for anything that is a bit of fun so we've always celebrated it in our own weird little way each year.
This year I was super, duper excited because it was the first time we've had proper orange pumpkins available to buy in the supermarkets. I nearly kissed my pumpkin in Coles when I found it....yes I do know I'm a grown woman who shouldn't get excited about a pumpkin but hey I do, lol.
Today Molly & I had the best time carving our Jack O Lantern. She was happy to do all the icky bit of pulling it's guts out & I did the dangerously death defying carving part.
I am actually very, very proud of my first effort of carving a pumpkin & was thrilled with how "Jack" turned out.

Here is Molly pulling guts out.....






And here is "Jack"





And "Jack" lit up outside tonight






This is my super, scary little witch. She had a ball dressing up too.






I had the hugest bowl of lollies waiting for the Trick or Treaters to visit but sadly as usual we didn't get a single one :(
Maybe next year.

My first class at Tomorrow's Memories was last week & it went really well. The ladies are all wonderful which made it so pleasurable.

Well that's it for now. I hope you all enjoyed Halloween.

It's Warming Up....

The weather has been glorious lately. I'm loving the warmer temperatures though it did get me thinking about our pool. You see we've never had a pool before & had NO idea what we needed to do to look after it. Life has been busy with other things & I had been meaning to ring a pool man to come over & educate us but it just never happened. Anyway the pool suddenly turned green & I mean green. I thought that perhaps there was some gross swamp monster living in there by now.
Yesterday the lovely pool guy came by & ran us through everything & bombed the pool with chlorine. This morning I woke up to a pool that is now blue again. I can't wait to get it 100% & start swimming.

I have a couple of projects to show today.

Firstly is this hot air balloon card.






And this is a name plaque that I made for a friend's new granddaughter.







This gorgeous weather will be perfect for a visit to the Old Perth Rd Markets which are on again this Sunday from 9am - 2.30pm.
While you're there be sure to pop into Tomorrow's Memories which will be open from 9am - 2pm.

School holidays start on Friday & I am so looking forward to 2 blissful weeks of sleep ins & lazy days.
Hope you get to enjoy some too :)

Hi, I haven't posted anything lately as everything I've made has either been for classes or publication.
My second class samples are all finished & I am really looking forward to teaching my first class next month.
I was asked to make a canvas of me to be hung on the wall with the other DT members at Tomorrow's Memories. I thought I would share it here too.
So here it is....







I can't wait for the school holidays to start in 3 weeks time. I'm in real need of some sleep ins & lazy days. Every morning I feel like throwing my mobile against the wall when the alarm goes off. It's so chilly in the mornings but so, so cozy in bed, I just want to stay there snuggled up next to Bella the Cat. Mind you she doesn't budge until about 2 hours later. Maybe I will be lucky enough to be reincarnated as a cat in my next life, LOL.

How did Father's Day go at your house? Did Dad get given the royal treatment. Hubby enjoyed a relaxing day with all the kids & received some very nice pressies.
I guess it wasn't a very happy day for all the poor people suffering Mother Nature's fury at the moment. My heart goes out to everyone in the Eastern States enduring the terrible floods & of course our neighbours in New Zealand who are trying to come to grips with the devastating results of the earthquake.
Take care everyone
Bye until next time.

Sunday Funday.....

If you're looking for something fun to do this Sunday, why not pop along to the first ever "Old Perth Road Markets" in Bassendean. They will be held on the last Sunday of every month & there will be loads of fresh produce, lots of gorgeous handmade goodies & live entertainment. The markets will be open 9am to 2.30pm.





While you are there you'll be able to visit Tomorrow's Memories too & take advantage of their amazing SUPER SPECIALS. The store will be open between 9am & 2pm.

Woo.....Hoo.....

I received an email from the editor of Scrapbook Trends "CARDS" magazine in America.
One of my cards is going to be published in the January 2011 issue!!!!
I tell you I very nearly fell off my chair reading it, hahaha. I'm very chuffed to have had a card accepted by them & can't wait to see it in print.

Onto other news, I have finished making up my first class samples & am busily creating #2.
I'm really enjoying it & it's given me a much needed boost to get back into making cards again. This year's issues have taken up so much of my time & I was really missing my creative outlet.
Chloe came over on the weekend & we sat down together at the table & it was wonderful to spend that time with each other again.

I have one card to show today.





I just adore My Minds Eye, their stuff is so easy to work with & I love all their ranges.

Well that's it for now.
I hope you are all well & happy. Thanks for stopping by :)

Oooohhhh I'm So Excited.....

I have some super, duper exciting news to share!!!!

On Monday I met with the gorgeous owners of Tomorrow's Memories & they have asked me to teach a card making class in their beautiful shop. The class is called Cardmaker's Tea Party & I'll be teaching a lovely group of ladies once a month. The class includes a Devonshire Tea where the ladies have scones with jam & cream & tea, of course, all served with a pretty tea set. Doesn't that sound just too gorgeous!!!

I'll be honest & say that I'm slightly terrified, hahaha, that's an understatement.
I got to meet most of the other gals on the DT last night at a staff meeting. Geez, they are amazingly talented girls & as friendly as can be.
The shop itself is to die for gorgeous. I walked in & just melted. You really need to pop in a have a look for yourself, I promise you won't regret it. It's situated in the old post office building & every nook & cranny is brimming with yumminess.

My first class will be in October & I have some really sweet products to work with. It's going to be so much fun putting it all together.

Here is a pic of part of the inside of the shop





and this is the outside.





Isn't it gorgeous!!!!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it.
Oh & I just want to say a huge thanks to the lovely Tina for recommending me. Mwaaahhh.
Have a great week :)

I'm A Covergirl.....

WOW!!!! What an awesome surprise I got to see one of my cards on the cover of the latest issue of Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft Magazine. It is one of 10 cards that are featured in the 10 Quick Cards section on pages 40 & 41.

This is the cover & mine is the one in the top right.






I'm hoping to spend some time playing with paper over the weekend so hopefully I will have something to share soon.
I did make a card for my darling grand daughter's birthday but forgot to take a photo.

Have a wonderful weekend :)

Christmas in July.....

Hi there everyone.
We are almost fully settled in to the new house. There have been some hiccups along the way which have prevented me from getting it all done quicker but we are slowly getting there. Thank goodness we've had the school holidays to make things easier. It is back to school for Miss Molly tomorrow & she is very excited. Her new uniforms are ready & her bag is packed.

My son had a pretty momentus event happen today. He got his DRIVER'S LICENCE!!!
He is very proud & can't wait to get his first car.

Rosie the dog & Bella the cat have both settled in well. Rosie has grown heaps & her legs are so long. She's rather naughty though at times & suffers terrible separation anxiety when we go out.
Hopefully she will outgrow it, fingers crossed.

I decided that I needed a bit of a push to get back into making cards. Luckily Ideal Papercraft were just starting their Christmas in July Card Challenge.
Each week a new challenge is set & you have a week to upload your card.

The first week's challenge was to have a collection of at least 3 similar items on your card.
This is my card







I used all Making Memories products on this.

The second week's criteria was to feature a star or something to do with stars.
The card I made uses Scenic Route papers, a MME journalling card & a Cosmo cricket chip star.







It's good to have the ol' creative juices flowing again & a bonus to be getting some Christmas cards tucked away because the way this year is flying by it's going to be that time of the year before I know it.

Thanks for popping by to catch up.
Hopefully I will be blogging a bit more regularly now :)

Just Some Garden Variety Cards.....

Remember the great Mother's Day pressie that Chloe gave me.
Well here are some cards that I made with the "Garden Variety" pack.
I love the colours & patterns of these papers, they're so bright & happy.



















I've been meaning to post these for ages but just keep forgetting.
Too much to remember these days, I guess.

Rosie is settling in very well. She's found all the warm, comfy spots in the house & is a bit of a lounge lizard. She's doing really well with some early training...little bits of BBQ chicken really gets her attention, LOL.

Have a great week everyone :)

Meet Our New Baby.....

Wednesday night we welcomed a new fur baby into our family.
This is our baby girl "Rosie". She is a Whippet & came to us on a plane from NSW from a lovely breeder over there who has made my Molly's greatest dream come true. She has wanted a dog for so long but it wasn't possible where we live now so with the big move came her chance to finally get her puppy.
Rosie is mainly living indoors at the moment & we only have 3 weeks left until moving day.
Bella the cat isn't too sure about this strange new creature but is getting braver every day. They even got nose to nose today which is a huge step for Bella.
Rosie has settled in really well & loves nothing more than to snuggle up with one of us on the lounge at night. She gets tired out pretty quickly & also loves having a snooze in her comfy bed when she gets exhausted.
Here are a few photos of our gorgeous girl...



.



Rosie's when she first arrived home.






The proud new Mummy with her baby.







Rosie's favourite place to go play with her toys is under the dining table.







When it all gets too much for her, she crashes in her bed.

Thanks for stopping by today.
I'm still rather busy with the packing etc but do have a few things to share soon.
I will need to pack my craft room up soon so I might use it as a good opportunity to have a cull
of my stash too.

Blog Candy.....

Head over to Melissa's blog for some amazing inspiration & a truly awesome giveaway!!!!

Cleaning Away The Cobwebs.....

And the dust..... gosh this poor little blog was in a terrible state after being neglected for so long.
Life has been busy, we've been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride these past few months but I am hopeful that everything will be sorted out very soon on the housing front.
The first buyers we had for our house didn't get their finance approved so it was back to square one. Thankfully we received another offer within days & we are now just waiting on their finance to go through. Please keep your fingers crossed for me, I don't think I could do it again.

I've not had the time for creating either but my beautiful girl, Chloe, gave me an irrestible Mother's Day gift which has inspired me to get back into it. The sweetheart gave me not 1 but 2 awesome Cosmo Cricket paper packs, Garden Variety & Joyride!!! In case you didn't know already I'm a Cosmo junkie, I love everything they release.

Clo & I had our first girls scrapping day in ages over the weekend. It was wonderful & even though I felt incredibly rusty, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here is a card that I made with "Joyride".







These are such cute papers & I love the colours.

I have a few more that just need some finishing touches so I'll share those soon.
I really hope you are all well & happy & thank you for stopping by today :)

WOW!!! I Made A Card....

It's seems like an eternity since I made a card. My poor craft room is gathering dust from lack of use. I made a point of sitting down & having some chill time to make this card for the February card challenge at Scrap Pile.
This is what I came up with







I've used October Afternoon papers, I could never get bored of their gorgeous designs. They make me happy just looking at them.

On the home front, everything is going well, we're chugging through all the work & are just about there now.
I really can't wait to get my life back again, though I may need some help finding it, LOL.

I hope all is wonderful in your world & thanks for stopping by :)

Caardvarks Challenge.....

Well lookie here....I actually made a card!!!!!
I downed my paintbrush for awhile today to indulge in some creative therapy & it felt GOOD.
Caardvarks provided my inspiration with a fantastic challenge they have going at the moment with Scrapbook Trends CARDS Magazine as their sponsor.
The challenge is to create a wedding card & the winning entry will be published in the July 2010 issue. After having just finished 40 wedding invitations it seemed perfectly natural to make a wedding card, LOL.
Anyways, here's my card that I came up with.







I've used pretty MME papers.

I guess you may have noticed that I've been changing things on my blog again. Gosh I get bored with things easily, it must be the hyperactive part of me, LOL.
A change is as good as a holiday or so I've heard.
Hope you will all give the Caardvarks challenge a go for yourselves as I'd love to see your wedding cards too.
Enjoy the rest of your week :)

OMG Life Is Crazy.....

Well mine is, that's for sure!!!!
The past month has passed in a blur of paint fumes, cleaning, lots of noise & commotion.
You see, we have made a life changing decision & it is requiring an awful lot of work in order to make it happen. For the past 20 years we have run our own patio business but it has come time to start lessening the physical load on my dear hubby so we have decided to close the business. This in turn saw hubby apply for a fantastic job, which he was successful in gaining, which just happens to be about an hour away from where we currently live. Another decision was made, a heart wrenching one at that, to put our house on the market & move somewhere closer to the new job.
We started building this house 13 years ago with our own little hands & even though it's been incredibly tough at times, we're pretty darn proud of the achievement. It's not going to be easy to walk away but on the other hand we are looking forward to a life that is simpler.
There are loads of bits & pieces that we need to finish off on the house, hence the flurry of activity lately.
This month also saw our son turn 18. A big milestone birthday for my little boy who has grown into a gorgeous young man. He had a party at home with some of his friends which went really well.
He has also done himself very proud by receiving an awesome TER score of 95.45 & to top it off, he was awarded an impressive university scholarship. So he's off to uni next month to start his Commerce degree.
This is the card I made for his birthday. It ties in with his gift from us which is a trip to his holy grail, the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix.







I've also been very busy making the wedding invitations for a long time friend. I was thrilled to be asked to make them for her & here they are all finished.








School started back this week & Miss Molly adores her new year 3 teacher. This will probably be her last term at the school which is sad. I've had children attending this school for the past 20 years so it's going to be hard saying goodbye to everyone. I've been spending hours on the computer lately researching new schools & getting to know which areas would be better to move to.

I don't know how often I will be able to update this poor blog of mine in the near future, not that I get much time to create anything anyway.
I hope you are all well & happy & until next time, take care & I'll keep you posted on the madness that is my life :)