… there was great excitement in our house this morning!! bunny tracks, full baskets & more eggs hidden around the house!! the kids have enough chocolate to last at least a couple of weeks – i think! i ended up using the video camera to capture most of the indoor action!! this is one of the few stills i captured.

last year we started a designing with calendar challenge at blue bazaar & i’m pleased to say its still going strong this year! its a wonderful calendar full of ideas & inspiration. one of my favourite layouts from april was one by nia reddy (april 22/23) where she created a background with flowers! totally loved the idea & had the perfect flowers & photo for it! thanks nia!!

supplies: doodlebug bazzil (pajama), doodlebug cardstock tags & brads, heidi swapp decorative tape (girlie), bumble bee flowers (gerberas)

we woke this morning to the sound of rain! decent rain this time! the type that sets in & fills dams. the type that puts a smile on everyone’s face!

its been a frustrating couple of weeks – with not enough rain to be useful, but enough to disrupt shearing. we had hoped to be finished by easter but the team only managed 2 & a half days over the last 2 weeks.

but today was a day to celebrate! to plough thru the mud to the house dam & watch the water run in … to watch the kids puddle jumping … to tune into a BPS chat with donna downey – such fun!! … & to play in my studio … life is good!

coby posted an embossing challenge at blue bazaar – to use dry or heat embossing to create something. it was the perfect opportunity to use some opals! i used a lovely red shade (rosevears) & heat embossed onto a heart shape. then used a flower stamp while it was still wet & enhanced the design with gold metallic rubons when it cooled. this is the oversized tag i made with it – loving these rich reds ATM!

materials: MM cranberry paper, ribbon & tiny tag, foofala paper, 7gypsies paper, distress ink (fired brick & antique paper), opals (rosevears), metallic rubons (gold)

this week, the girls at BB were also talking about overlockers & whether anyone had tried using one for scrapbooking. mine has been sitting on the shelf – unused since my sewing days – so i decided to give it a go! i attached the denim to a manilla tag & overlocked the edges. the design was inspired by one of madi’s hats – its denim with rows of white stitching & sequin flowers. *love* how this one worked out!

materials: MM (spring) & AMM (herbenella) rubons, Queen & Co Fab flowers & sprinkles (kissy fit), may arts ribbon.

just a quickie. i’m posting claire’s gorgeous CJ tomorrow – her theme is your goals for 2006. this year i’m striving to live with intention rather than just letting life happen. here’s my entry:

supplies: CBX chocolate d/s walls & stripe, heidi swapp she chipboard letters, K&co words to go, MM tiny alpha, MM heidi rubons, 7gypsies sticker, distress ink

i’ve had the idea for a numbers LO in my head for ages – but seeing the awesome portal at blue bazaar this week inspired me to work on it … it’s one of those LO’s that didn’t quite come together as i envisioned … i tried several different things that didn’t feel right … got frustrated … in the end, i had to let go of my perfectionism & let it flow … it was fun to finally scrap these numbers & to use things out of my stash – like the art warehouse transparency, the KI alphabet soup & heidi alpha & i love the new lil davis flowers!! i also discovered something interesting about the pink/silver gel pens – you can remove the silver shadow by carefully using a white eraser!! very cool!

supplies: bazzil (db white & pajama), KI alphabet soup, art warehouse transparency, Lil davis silk gerebera, heidi swapp schizophrenic alpha, heidi swapp paint (betty), db rubons, k&co scrap mat, MM tiny alpha, MM rubons, quickutz katie numbers, white signo, pink/silver gel pen.

i’m back!!

in time for studio friday! my studio is actually a little alcove off our living area. it has windows on two sides & is a great spot for natural light portraits! my worktable looks out over a paved area & pool where the kids had a blast this summer. near the tree is a funny looking wibbly-wobbly they both adore! but at the moment, the most important thing about the view is that its rather grey & wet – its been raining since tuesday nite!!!

now … if it weren’t for the fact that we only managed 2 days of shearing this week & probably won’t get it finished before easter … we could sit back & really enjoy this unusually cool wet weather!