Create-A-Weekend

What a MAMMOTH weekend i just had!! I went along to the Scrapbooks etc. 'create-a-weekend'. How great is it having so many scrapbook shops around!!! There's pretty much something on every weekend :) The 'create-a-weekend' was kinda like a retreat, but it was based at the shop. We scrapped 6pm-midnight on Friday night, then 10am-midnight Saturday!! I was exhausted by the end of it!!

And then on Sunday, we went along to my second cousin's birthday party. It's so nice to have family around so close that we can join in celebrations of each others lives. I am also teaching Olivia and her sister Grace to play the piano. It's nice to be able to give back to family like that!! Here are some photos from Olivia's birthday party:

All the kids enjoying a 'floor picnic'

Calvin enjoying his first lollypop - there was green drool EVERYWHERE!!!

Olivia blowing out the candles on her cake. This wasn't her 'real' cake - she had a butterfly cake the day before with her friends. This was a yummy home made carrot cake - Denise did a GREAT job with it! Such a sweet girl to pick a carrot cake so that her mummy could eat it - Denise can't each chocolate (poor thing!!)

Grace looked just adorable with her little fluffy pig tales!!

I managed to create 5 single LOs, 2 double LOs, 1 mini-album and 10 Christmas cards on the weekend!! Here's a few of my favourites:

This one was the last page of the weekend, create when i was VERY tired, but i really love it!! I've just used a couple of Fancy Pants transparencies, along with a Fancy Pants journal block and some yummy hand stitching. A lovely bright, simple page. I think i'll submit this one for publishing because it's got such nice clean lines :)

Another page i'm going to submit for publishing is this one. I've used some yummy new Bo Bunny papers - it's actually their Christmas range!! I was a bit obsessed with flowers this weekend too - keeping Prima in business!!! This is a page about how different my sister and I are. I purposefully didn't do any journaling because i wanted to keep my thoughts to myself :)

Although these photos aren't very good (they were taken on my iphone), i just HAD to scrap them. These were photos from Friday morning - Jeremy had been away for 4 days, and Calvin just missed him so much. As i said, terrible photos, but the message is so clear.

There were lots of mini challenges throughout the weekend. This page was created from a 'pantry' challenge - we were given 15 minutes to purchase 3 different PP from 3 different ranges, along with 3 embellishments. Then only an hour to finish the LO. It's amazing what you can get done in such a short time when the pressure is on!! This is Leah and I in a lolly shop in Mallaney last weekend:

I did a double LO about this weekend too. It's using some of the yummy October Afternoon Thrift Shop range. I told you i was crazy about flowers this weekend. I think almost every layout had them on them!!

Last share for this post - this LO was for a PageMaps competition, but i never managed to submit it in time. Shame, because i'm really happy with this one! I've used a Kraft background and some MME PP's. Forget what the range is, but it's last years with dinosaurs all over it.

Scrap The Boys

Friday night i went along to the Fancy That weekly crop. That's the scrapbook shop just down the road from me :) It was a very quiet crop - only about 5 other ladies scrapbooking there. I managed to get 2 challenges from the Scrap the Boys blog completed.

The first challenge was "Trick or Treat" - to scrap either a trick that your boy plays or something that's a treat for them. I chose "Treat" and created a page about Calvin's first licking of a beater - for his first birthday cake! I've used some yummy papers and embellies from the Basic Grey 'Origins' range along with some Heidi Swapp and Thickers alphas :)

The second challenge was to use fabric on a page and an optional sketch was provided. I loosely followed the sketch, using some of the new Kaiser "Homemade" range. My fabric element was some Making Memories canvas flowers - i was at the crop and didn't take any fabric with me, so i had to make do with what was for sale there!! Add some Petaloo flowers and Fancy pants alphas and this is what i got:

$20 Kmart Challenge

OK, i've just joined Aussie Mummy Bloggers and they have a challenge at the moment to win a $20 Kmart voucher! The challenge is to look through the latest Kmart catalogue and find items for the family for under $20! So, after a bit of flicking and clicking, here's what i came up with:

Firstly i'd have to get Calvin one of the A-Z racing rascals for $5. Being a 1 year old boy, anything with wheels gives a big smile and entertains for hours! He got one of these for his birthday and he just loves it, so it would be nice for him to have a couple. I love watching him move it around him making little 'brumm' noises - amazing how they know what noise a car makes at such a young age, isn't it!!

Whenever i want to get a treat for my lovely husband, it's always socks. Basic i know, but they way to his heart is through a new pair of socks. None in this catalogue, but i reckon i could get at least 1 pair for $5. That should keep the man of the house happy!!

And for me, i can't go past getting some photos printed! I am an avid scrapbooker, so i can never have too many printed photos. At 15c each, i could get 133 printed for $20!!! But i'm not spending the whole lot on myself, so maybe just 20 photos for $3.

I've still got $7 left and everyone is happy. Something we all enjoy doing is a late Saturday afternoon DVD at home. Last week we watched Shrek, so it might be Shrek 2 this weekend!! Better spend the last $7 on some microwave popcorn, lollies and chocolate. Chocolate bars are only $1, so that's $2 for my husband and i to have one each (bubs is too young - only 1!!) I'll have a flake and my husband will have a cherry ripe. $2 will get us a pack of natural confectionary company snakes - we can all enjoy them, since there are no colourings in them!! And the remaining $3 will get us a pack of microwave popcorn.

What a bargain!! A toy, socks, photos, chocolate bars, lollies AND microwave popcorn all for $20. I think i'd better head to Kmart...

A night at Scrapbooks etc

Well since last Wednesday afternoon we've had the house all to ourselves! It's been so lovely!! The place is finally looking spotless again and running much more smoothly. I've actually had dinner cooked before Jeremy has gotten home (at 4:30!!) 3 times in the last week!!

I am starting to feel like i've finally gotten the hang of this 'mother' business. I'm sure i'm just having a 'good time' at the moment, and reality will hit again soon. I have just been feeling that since Calvin turned 1, everything has been so much easier though. It's probably because we're all feeling so much more settled in our new house.

It's been quite wet ever since about last Thursday. Our backyard was starting to look a bit like a pond yesterday!! It has started to clear up today though so i hope there's not too much more. It would be nice to be able to get some washing on the line and give our backyard a chance to dry up a bit!!

Our weekend with just our little family was lovely. We went to IKEA on Saturday and Bunnings on Sunday. I found a hall table for our foyer, but it's not coming in until November. Not to worry. It's a good price and it fits the bill perfectly! Just have to be patient. Jeremy put our TV up on the wall in our living room on Sunday and it looks fantastic! Now we just have to fix up all of the cords and maybe put some pot plants around to hide the powerpoints at the base.

Today i had a Tupperware party with was really nice. It wasn't a big deal - just Denise and Belinda. Belinda brought around one of her paintings for me. It's just gorgeous and matches our lounge room perfectly. I fell in love with this painting the first time i saw it and i'm so happy to have it in my lounge room now! You can check out more of Belinda's art at the BKM11 facebook page. But here's mine:

Last Friday night i went to the moolighting crop at Scrapbooks etc in Underwood. I managed to get 3 pages done and a couple of cards. It wasn't what i was planning on scrapping when i left the house though - i had just gotten a bunch of photos from Calvin's birthday printed but i left them at home!!! Nevermind, i had a pack of old photos in my pack so i scrapped them instead. It actually made me do a page about myself for the first time since i've had Calvin!!!!

I did 2 pages for ScrapBoutique October challenges. The first is a page that i LOVE!!!! The challenge was to do a page about what i'm proud of about myself - not what i've done but who i am. It was a bit tough, but i managed it OK. This is one of my favourite photos of me, so i'm glad that i had a chance to scrap it.

I just love the flowers (Prima) and the gorgeous glitter on the papers!

The second page i did for a Scrapboutique challenge i'm not so sure i like. Every now and then i do a page that i don't really like, but i think that's all part of learning and growing as a scrapper. I'm never 'ashamed' of my scrapping, but i do try to learn from my mistakes. I think i have used too much PP on this one (i'm always very heavy on with the PP, but this is overboard i think!!) and i just didn't know where to stop with the embellishments - way too much going on on this page. It kinda reflects what the page is about though - Calvin is a busy boy, and it's a busy page!!!

Such a cute chipboard giraffe:

The final page i did on Friday night was based on a sketch by Peta McBeth of Scrapbooking From Scratch and i LOVE this one too!! These photos are from Calvin's 6 month old photo shoot at Pixiphotos. I just love these photos of Calvin with this gorgeous bear that's as big as him. So cute!!

I'm heading to my local shop this Friday night for the first time. It's called Fancy That Scrapbooking and it's in walking distance to our new house!!! I can't believe how much i love this new place :) They are actually having a blog giveaway at the moment, so check out their blog if you would like to win a pack of christmas papers and embellies!! It will be great to meet some new happy scrappy ladies a bit closer to home!!

Back to Scrapping (at long last!!!)

At long last i am FINALLY back to scrapping!!! We are in our own home now - a lovely big 4 bedroom house in Springfield - about halfway between Brisbane and Ipswich. So this means that i have my scrap room back all to myself. Even better than Cringila - i don't have to share it with our spare room, though i've had to share it with visitors of late (on a blow-up mattress).

Here's a few pages i've done recently (all of Calvin of course!!!):

I've used some of the Fancy Pants "Sprout" range on this one. I've made this page from a Scrapbooking From Scratch blind challenge. Such a cute page of Calvin with a golf stick that my dad had a photo taken with at the same age. I've really got to find that photo!!

Another page from a blind crop, using October Afternoon "On the Farm" mostly. Cute photo of Calvin with Jeremy's dad and Jeremy's dad's hat on his head!! THis day we were out picking olives around Broke. Such a cutie!!

This page i made for a ScrapBoutique challenge last month. What a cutie, all snuggled up to me this day - i'd got him out of the car and carried him in and he was still fast asleep on me :) I've used some Bo Bunny for this one.

Last share for this post, and a personal favourite. This was made off a Scrapbooking From Scratch sketch, using some Making Memories papers and some yummy prima pearls :)

I'm off to a crop night this coming Friday night, so that will be good!! I'm going to Scrapbooks etc. in Springwood with a few girlfriends i met at a Birkdale a couple of months ago. Can't wait!! I'll share more pages next week after that :)