… is the theme at blue bazaar & i must admit to being a huge chatterbox fan! i love their interior decorating approach & all the different rooms & my stash reveals a file full of their papers! this is one of the photos i had professionally printed recently – i was so happy with the way they turned out! love love love her expression & the colour is awesome! it was taken the day before madi’s teeth started wobbling – she’s since lost 2 of her bottom teeth. yep! my baby is growing up!

materials: bazzil, CBX paper, letter stickers, transparent lettering, photo corners, basic grey arrow

thanks for stopping by!

6 more sleeps til kiwiscraps!!

i’ve heard that over 300 people will be there – its going to be huge!! & even tho there are a lot of things on my to do list – i decided to make swap pins. now i’ve never made swap pins before – but they need a pin – right? so hopefully these will be OK! it seems like lots of the NZ gals are making them – are the aussies too?? hope so!

soon after i started scrapping, i purchased an epson printer (1290) & have been printing my photos at home. the results were great & things were good … until a gecko fried the printer when i was in the middle of a photography article for for keeps – now that was a major drama!! fortunately a friend loaned me a printer & helped me out of a tight spot. but it motivated me to find a back-up printer so i wouldn’t get stuck again (a 2000P for less than $300 on ebay!! gotta love a bargain!). & yes several more geckos have been fried since! they’re expensive little critters! i’m still happy with the results from my machine’s – but i’ve heard some great reviews of the R1800 (or its baby brother the R800) & the R2400. the colour these machines produce is really punchy … i would love to get one of those babies sometime soon!

anyway, i sent away my 1st order of photos for professional printing last week & can’t wait to see how they look! i use PSE3 – which doesn’t have some calibrating tools that PS has – so i’m really *hoping* my colours will be OK.

thanks for stopping by!

… are the feature at bluebazaar this week & you should see what the DT have created!! i kept the tin quite simple because the circular wave design was perfect for my seaside album idea. i’ve always loved beach holidays & dream of living somewhere by the sea one day. when i was young, my family used to spend 3 weeks over xmas/new year at the beach & it was always such a happy time! its a tradition we want to continue with our kids. the pages are stamped with when, where & memories (so journalling can easily be added) & the idea is to add new pages after each holiday. i used old & new KI papers & lots of blue bits & pieces from my stash.

materials: KI: blue trendy tin, blue alphablox, blue sashes, blue bandwidth, blue urban linen, (plus papers from the water range) alphabet soup, blue rubons, mod chain.
cardstock: bazzil

that carol wingert is doing an online class at Blue Bazaar ??? check out her sneak peek: here! carol is an amazing artist & a wonderful person! i was lucky enough to do both of her classes at the gold coast ISC in 2004. it was my 1st convention & the 1st scrapping classes i’d ever taken & carol was brilliant! her instructions were easy to follow & she had a laid-back manner that made her classes a joy! i can’t wait to do her online class!

the countdown is on – in less than 2 weeks i’ll be in sydney doing classes with donna, ali & cathy!! my friend suzannah (hi suzannah!!) was wondering if i was excited – you bet!! big kev- type excited!! not only are these ladies 3 of my all-time favourite scrappers, but i’ll also get to catch up with lots of scrapping friends!! & i can’t wait!!

we had to do homework for some of the classes – like finding your 5 favouite photos from 2005. it motivated me to go thru the thousands of images on my computers hard-drive – a time-consuming but fun exercise! it was hard to keep to 5 – but these are the images i’ve chosen so far:

one of the 1st photos i took with my new canon 20D, this image still takes my breath away!madi was only 4 & a half at the time – but she looks so much older. its a tiny peek at what she’ll look like when she’s grows up.

i’ve already scrapped this one – but its still a favourite! i love the colour & the strong diagonals & the way they draw your eye to his sweet smile!

a favourite from last year’s egg hunt – i just love the sweet look on bear’s face!

last xmas i captured this rare family photo & i love it! i used the original on our xmas cards – then recently i was playing in PSE & discovered this cool handtinted effect – i like it even better than the original!!

that’s it for now! have a great weekend!

so … i was tagged by the lovely donna wild (thanks donna!)

1. How old are you? in the over 35 category

2. How many kids do you have if any? 2 – madison & bear

3. Are you married, single, divorced, widow? Married to michael for 9 years

4. What is your occupation? CEO of household affairs & jill-of-all trades!! currently i’m a homeschooling mum, photographer, scrapbooker, small business owner

5. What are your passions? my family & friends, photography, scrappping, travel

6. Are you a dreamer or a dream seeker? probably a bit of both! i’ve achieved some of my dreams, others i’m taking baby steps towards. my DH says i’m a top-shelf kind of girl!

7. Are you happy with the way you life has turned out? apart from a few health issues – yes! you know, my sister had a clear idea of the type of person she wanted to marry – but i never imagined i’d fall in love with a man who lived on the land. now we have 2 healthy children who i adore & its a wonderful place to raise a family. i can’t imagine living anywhere else.

8. Are you a scrapper and if so how many hours a week do you scrap? it varies – depending on how busy i am with homeschooling & if projects are due. i still try to do something scrapping related every day – even if its flicking thru a mag or proofing photos. with so many other demands on my time, i really crave the creative pleasure i get from scrapping!

9. What do you want to do before you die? travel overseas again; buy a home with great views near the sea; become more active with my photography – chase that book idea!

10. What is your favorite food? chocolate, macadamias, mangoes (man i could live on them!), mango & macadamia weis bars, my mince, pizza, fish & chips by the sea!

11. What is the food you hate the most? beans – years of having overcooked beans for sunday dinner with my grandmother ruined them for me.

12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you? getting a nasal steam burn was the most embarrassing & almost the most painful thing that’s ever happened. yep! you read correctly – a nasal steam burn! HOW? let’s just say it involved friends cooking a stew, a VERY hot pot & a silly person deciding to sniff said hot pot whilst saying how great it smelt – trust me – don’t try this one at home! to say it was painful was an extreme understatement! the scene at the hospital was quite hilarious as they tried to treat it – they handed me a 1m long icepack wrapped in a starched hospital sheet & said to mould it to my nose … RIGHT!

13. What is the happiest day of your life thus far? its a tie between the day we were married & when the kids were born. that amazing, unconditional love between everyone in our family is priceless!

14. Are you a neat freak? Or a dirty house cleaner? i have neat tendencies- unfortunately the rest of the family deposit mess wherever they go! so there are regular house-buffing episodes when i can’t stand it anymore! i’m trying to get the kids to take more responsibility for their stuff … yep all three of them!

***edited*** now i’d like to tag kimA & sam!

… is the theme at blue bazaar & the portal this week features LO’s from the whole DT!! i always enjoy seeing how everyone interprets the theme – make sure you check it out!

i was going to do a LO about my obsession with books & mags – but that would be more like a mini-album!! so when i captured madi sporting a new gappy smile – i just had to scrap it! yep! i’m still having a love affair with colour images!

materials: all BG urban couture.

journalling reads: we call you princess because you love wearing a crown. so it was no surprise to learn that your current favourite book is about the adventures of the jewel princesses!