First time ever!!!

Guess what? I've never entered the "Scrap The Girls" competition before, so this is my first ever layout for them. This months challenge was to scrap the girl/s in my life. So here they are - my sugar and spice. (-: The layout is titled: What are my little girls made of? (the journalling reads - sugar and spice, and more spice). More to share tomorrow...

Good news...

Here's my layout for the White With 1 Challenge. This month's challenge was to use white, neutrals (from creams through to browns) and a vintage embellishment. I have used vintage style brads and beading. My layout is titled: It's In His Kiss. And the good news is...White With 1 has found some sponsorship support, so they will be continuing for at least another four months. I'm very happy to hear that, as it's a great challenge site, and would be greatly missed by many if it had to cease operating.

Give me a P-R-I-M-A!!!...plus extra photos...

Here we all are at the Papercraft Retreat - left to right - Phillipa Newsham, Lindy Gillepsie, Jodi Dolbel, and myself. I think, as the tallest, I must insist on standing at the back next time. (-:

I just LOVE this photo of Jodi and I (I usually dom't like photos of myself, but this one is different). This one was taken on Saturday night at the retreat for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Jodi is a balloon wizz and made wonderful balloon hats for us to wear.

And now for my absolute favorite product ever - PRIMA! Yay!!! Ok, I should probably be a sales rep for this company (if only they could see my stash). (-: They have a competition on at the moment, and you can win a whole lot of Prima goodies (I think I'm in heaven!!!) Here's the link: Prima Product Pick Challenge!

One to share...

Here's the layout I created with the Challenge Pack we were given at the Country Papercrafts retreat over the weekend. I just LOVE all the bright Sassafrass papers. Beautiful to work with. This one is titled: Soar And Never Look Back.

Sports Day Carnival fun...

OK. I'm officially exhausted. Since Thursday I have driven 1500km (including 750km on Sunday afternoon/evening), attended a 3 day scrap retreat, unpacked all my scrapbooking supplies from the retreat (and anyone who knows me knows that I have a LOT of supplies), done a Personal Training session, and attended a sports day carnival in 30 plus degrees heat. Enough is enough! I refuse to go ANYWHERE for the next three days. Please, please, please let that be possible? Here's some photos from my daughter's first ever sports carnival that I attended today. This photo is of Keana running her sprint race. She came in second for her heat. It was such a long, hot day, and all the children did really well to last that long and keep it together. Although Keana did loose the plot this afternoon several times. I didn't even attempt to take them to Ballet and Jazz lessons today - it just wasn't going to happen. (-:

Here's Malayla running in her heat for the sprint race. She came in fourth. Both girls did such a wonderful effort today with all their sports activities. I was so proud of them for trying so hard. Keana walked away with four ribbons, and Malayla with two, so both girls were happy. They are handing out the last of the ribbons and trophies tomorrow morning at school because it was just too hot today, and we ran out of time.

Here's Keana doing her long jump. Look at the height that she got on her. Not bad for her first attempt. Those long legs are definitely an (unfair)

advantage. (-:

Here's Malayla as she was laning on her long jump attempt. She did a lovely jump but started her jump too soon (she hadn't even reached the white mat before she started her jump). But today was a great learning experience for them - they also did shot put, hurdles, and relays. So at this point, my girls are exhausted and sound asleep. And I'm not far behind them.

Layouts to share...

Here's my first layout to share with you. It's titled "Sun Kissed Angel" and was created over the weekend at the retreat. This layout was done as part of the sketch challenge for the retreat, and I was lucky enough to receive third place for my efforts. I won a lovely 3 ring album from Printblocks, so now I have something to put all my lumpy-bumpy layouts into. This is good, as I seem to be doing more and more of that style of layout.

Here's my layout for the Prima August Build-A-Page competition. It's titled "Little Bunny". I will have several more layouts to share by the end of the month. I have several on my desk waiting for finishing touches, and several more to complete for my deadlines.

Hit the Road Jack!!!

For all my neglected followers - I'm back! The scrapbooking retreat is over, and I have returned. I drove down to Gunnedah on Thursday, and spent the night with Jodi Dolbel (whose family was wonderful enough to feed me and share their bathroom with me - thank-you Emelia and Josh!!!). (-: Here's a photo from the end of Jodi's driveway. This is what she gets to look at every day. Isn't it beautiful? It's so quiet and peaceful down there. I'm so envious, that I might just have to pack up and go and join her. Well, at least it gives me something to think about.

Meet my new friend - Pancakes. He's SOOOOOOOO beautiful. I fell in love with him straight away, and if I could have stuffed him in my scrapping bag and brought him home with me, I would have. He spent quite a bit of time enjoying my pats - he was so patient. (-: And did I mention soft and cuddly?

Look at those big brown eyes. How can you resist that? He has a buddy called "black rabbit" but he is not friendly like Pancakes. So I just had to lavish all my affection on poor little Pancakes. Somehow, I don't think he minded one little bit. (-:

For some bizarre reason, my photos have uploaded in the wrong order, and I have no idea of how to swap them around. This photo was taken today, just down the road from my house, at about 5:30pm. This little koala was sound asleep, and absolutely refused to cooperate, and raise her head for a photo. Even begging didn't work. (-: She seems to be in fairly good condition, and I don't think she was injured (although she was down quite low in the tree). I will check the trees in the area tomorrow to see if she is still there or has moved on.

Now, back to Lake Keepit at Gunnedah. These photos are various shots from around the camp grounds. this is the upstairs dining hall (and the place where all the scrapbooking classes were held). So I got to walk up and down those stairs quite a bit. (But I just kept reminding myself it was good exercise). Bahahahaha!!! No, I don't feel gulity one bit for not going to the gym all week, when I have wonderful stairs to help keep me in shape.

Here's a small portion of the lake. It was huge, and beautiful, and quiet, and serene. There were kangaroos hopping around int he evenings, and beautiful native parrots feeding on the lawns. And it was one of the best scrapbooking retreats I have ever been to. It was immaculately clean, freshly painted, and the food was amazing (and endless). The group of ladies were wonderful, and we had some great challenges and prizes. I will definitely go back next year if possible. It was so worth the 1500km round trip that I drove.

Here's the pool, overlooking the lake.

The view looking out at the end of the pool and the hall where we were scrapping.That's it for now. I will upload photos of all my layouts (and some of the classes I took with the wonderful and amazing Jill Geraghty-Groves and Ngaire Bartlam), in the next couple of days.

I'm out of here!

Our cat Pandora has a fetish for hair ties, preferably the snagless ones that are bouncy and stretchy. So I decided to take photos to prove just how crazy this cat really is. Here she is going through my handbag to find a hair tie.

Still searching. I know it's here somewhere???

Voila! And here it is, found safe and sound! Crazy, insane animal!!!

Now, back to normality. Here's two layouts I have created for Blossie's using Gails monthly sketches. I have put these up two days early as I am out of here tomorrow morning. I'm on my way to Gunnedah to join Jodi Dolbel (and also Lindy Gillepsie and Phillipa Newsham) at a scrapping retreat. Plus I am doing two classes with Jill Geraghty-Groves, and two with Ngaire Bartlam. So I should come back well and truly inspired. (-: Anyway, back to the layouts. This first one is titled: You Leave Me Breathless.

The second layout is titled: Crazy Critters. But I'm still not sure if the title is aimed at the crocodile or my daughters!!! (Hee! Hee! Hee!) Anyway, for all my fellow bloggers and followers, have a safe and happy week, and I should be back online around the 24th August.

Published layout...

Scrapbook Creations have been good to me and have published another of my layouts. This one, titled "Crash and Burn", can be found on page 122 of issue 69. This layout is about 2 years old, and is of Keana throwing the biggest tantrum she's ever thrown in her life. It was so funny. She was howling, kicking and screaming on the floor, and every time I tried to take a picture she rolled away onto her other side, or put her head down so I couldn't see her. (-:

Finished at last!

That's it, I'm done! This is my last layout for the August Cyber Crop at Scrap With V. There were a couple more challenges, but I am out of time. Plus I have to start preparing for the retreat that I am going away for next week. This layout is titled: Blue Eyed Baby (it's a photo of me). The challenge set by Jodi was to create a girly themed vintage glam layout. And you had to use at least one vintage embellishment. So I had a lot of fun with this one. (-:

One more down...

Here's the beautiful sketch that Ness provided for the August Cyber Crop sketch challenge, over at Scrap With V.

And here's my take on it. Titled: "Love U2 Forever". And if you are wondering why there is no pink on it (so unlike me!), it's because part of the challenge was NOT to use ANY PINK at all on the layout. So I made up for it with BLING!!! (-: Did I mention that this is one of my absolute favourite photos of my girls? Just LOVE it!

Scrap With V Cyber Crop challenges.

I decided I had better get my act together and try to complete some of the challenges set for the August Cyber Crop over at Scrap With V. All entries have to be uploaded by midnight 15th August, so if I am lucky, I might still get another two challenges completed before the deadline. But I did get this layout completed for Challenge 1, set by KylieJ. Titled: "If Only I Knew Then What I Know Now". I was only allowed to use cardstock, pens, Alphas, small rhinestones/pearls, and the colours - white, cream and gold. Plus a picture of me at any age. Stay tuned for more...

Our Little Angel...

Yay! I actually got a layout completed. I just feel like I've gotten nothing done recently with hubby being home and all these public holidays. But I completed this layout (titled: Our Little Angel) for Crafty Sketches. It's my interpretation of Jodi Dolbel's 15th July sketch. Thank-you Jodi for such a wonderful sketch to play with!

Look at all this blog candy!

Look at this generous stash of blog candy. Isn't it just amazing. But you've got to be in it, to win it. So here's the link: Bev's Blog Candy Give-away! And she has links to lots more blog candy. Make sure you go and check it out.

Big achievements!!!

They did it! On Sunday, my two girls went for their first ever karate grading, and they both passed. So now they are very happy and proud of themselves. It was a big achievement for both of them, and they are just thrilled to bits at achieving their next belt and level (and so is their mummy and daddy). Tony is a little stressed because he will be the next one to grade and it will be his first grading (probably around December). The first grading is always the worst because you don't know what to expect. But he will survive and pass (I did!)

Today we went to Seaworld (it's partly a bribe for not taking the girls to the EKKA). The risk of Keana (who suffers from asthma) catching the Swine flu is too great. It's just not worth it. Here's a photo of Tony and Malayla sharing kisses.

Here's some photos of today's biggest thrill (EVER!!!!). The girls were chosen from out of the crowd to go on stage and join the Sesame Street characters in a Limbo dance. I have never seen my two so excited. It was just gorgeous to watch.

Don't you just love Malayla's t-shirt? It reads: Vampires Rock.

Tony and the girls went for a ride on the Flume (several times to be exact). (-: Tony not impressed. Girls thrilled to bits. (Hee! Hee! Hee!). Tony mentioned something about the girls being too much like me - bizarre, stubborn, adrenaline loving junkies!! Who me? Never!!! (-:

I gave up trying to get a nice pose of my daughter on the carousel because I kept getting pictures like this instead. Very non-traditional carousel ride poses (too funny!).

Here's one more Limbo shot - this one is Malayla. And two more achievements that I nearly forgot to mention. Firstly, both my daughters passed their Jazz Ballet exams (Level 1). Keana undertook the exam at "Participation" level, but the examiner was so happy with her work that she upgraded her to a pass. So that was a bonus. (-: Secondly, I pushed 180kgs on the leg press at the gym on Friday, with my new Personal Trainer. I'm only 40kgs off my goal. (-: I'm glad I changed gyms. the new trainer is working out so well (and he pushes me a lot harder).

Not to be...

Unfortunately, I was not successful with my Bo-Bunny Design Team application. Never mind, I will try again next year. But here are the layouts and card that I created for my submission. The first layout is titled "Sunkissed Girl".

The second layout is titled "Perfect To Me In Every Way".

And here's the Bo-Bunny card I created for my youngest daughter's 6th birthday which is about 1 month away.

And this last layout was created for Blossie's blog. This layout was inspired by Kellie Cavenett's "Friends" layout (over on the 1,2,3, blog site). I had a play with my Slice machine, and tried out a little tip I was given - use vellum spray as the paper adhesive instead of the glue. It works really well. (-:

Bo-Bunny sketch...

I had some old Bo-Bunny papers that I have been wanting to use for a while. And what better way to use them, then to create a layout using a Bo-Bunny sketch. Here's the current August sketch, by Shanna Vineyard, over on the Bo-Bunny blog.

And here is my take on the sketch. The layout is titled "Beautiful", and reads "She is so beautiful, inside and out..."

My Party Animals...

We went to a friends 7th Birthday Party on Saturday, and it was a themed party. The theme was "farm animals", so my two dressed as a rabbit and a cat/tiger. (-: Here's the rear view of the pink bunny! Isn't she cute?

What's with the faces??? Sometimes I wonder about my two. One sad cat and one grumpy bunny...or maybe they are just over the photos? (Hee! Hee! Hee!)

They had baby farm animals at the party - lots of chickens, lambs and goats - EVERYWHERE! And I learnt that baby goats and lambs like biting toes. So not funny!!! They actually nip at them when you are least prepared. Of course my girls thought that was hysterical. Typical!!! (-: