Please visit me at my new blog It's been one of those days - Typepad - I'll be hanging out there from now on, please change your links!

nic

Moving

Wow. I didn't think the response would be quite as big. I'm thrilled though. It means you all will inspire me as well. It couldn't be more perfect!

I'll be back in a day or so with a post to set it in action.

For now though, can you please add this link to your favourites? I'm moving. After 3 years of blogging on blogger, I'm taking my toys out of the sandpit and moving them to a more comfortable one with places to put stuff. Like galleries to put images. It's a big change for me so I hope you'll follow.

You'll find me here from now on... including the first post for the kiddies album. And a gallery so you can access the images in a decent size to see detail.

Stop. I see you moving on without changing your links and adding the typepad to your favourites. Do it now. I'm afraid of change so you all have to do it with me....

I did it - I finished the Kindy book. It took me about 30 hours probably and it included around 70 pages. Most of them were not made by me, I merely collated the gorgeous artwork and little cards etc given to me by the children, but it's done. I did scrapbook around 25 pages, but they were so simple I didn't photograph them. I secretly dropped it off to one of the teachers today and quickly took these pics before I did. Thanks everyone that helped! It's been a long process, I started by standing at the Kindy gates about a month ago asking everyone for their contributions to the book - we couldn't let the teacher know so I had to do it in secret! It's been ongoing since then. It's felt good to give a little of my time to the Kindy, I'm not often one of the parents on school trips or cooking sausages at PTA fundraisers, but I do give what I can.





Today marks the start of the Stampin' Up! Project I've been planning. I mentioned in an earlier post that Stampin' Up! had been reading my blog and were pleased I used their products every now and again and they got in touch and said "hey.. why don't we do something.. we have some cool scrapbooking products we'd like to show people". I considered what project I could do for them and came up with something and thought why not.. So here we are.

And I was thinking.

Which is what I do inbetween scrapping.

The project I want to do is one I do for all my kids. When they turn 4 years old I make a book for them. I wait til they are 4 because at that point they start to try and write and recognise their name, they realise they have things that are truly theirs in the way of likes and dislikes etc. It's something made about a child, for a child... so simple and easy and so treasured. I have made Jacob and Braden each one of these books and they are one of their absolute loved items. They have read and re-read them and just lately Jacob asked me to do one for when he turned nine! but he's out of luck at the moment because I need to do one for Abby, lol.

(And just a note here - this was an idea I got from CKU Utah in 2001 - Lisa Bearnson did kits to make these albums as a fundraiser for underpriveledged kits - kind of like we have been doing! More on that in a few days - our fundraiser, I mean!)

So anyway, I was thinking....

Would anyone be interested in doing this album with me? It's not hard - I could give you the list of photos you'd need and questions to ask your kiddos to go in the album. Leave me a comment if you want me to do that, and I'll work through it with you over the next month or so! I don't know if anyone is keen, but I thought I'd put it out there!

Here is my inside cover page. The book itself doesn't have an embellished outside cover. It slips in and out of the bookcase and bed-side drawers so much it would get ruined. I want Abby to do whatever she wants with this book so it needs to be kiddy-proof! I've used an old provocraft album which is around 6 x 9" and has page protectors. You could use what you want.

For this inside cover page, you take a picture of your child telling their age by holding up the right amount of fingers! Wording should say something similar to what I have done. "All About Me" "A scrapbook made especially for me by my Mummy" and the date.




Just because I was feeling nostalgic, I crackled the background. The cardstock is a Stampin Up one called Buckeroo Blue, and most everything else is SU as well. I'll do a materials list below. I must start doing that with all my layouts because I get quite a few emails after I post them. One thing I want to point out about this page though, is the cardstock stickers. They are Stampin Up. I'm in a layering-pop-dotting-scallops and circles kinda craze and it was cool to see SU could help me out with that. I think. lol.

Materials list below. Let me know if you want to join me in this project - I'll help you out! Use any materials - use up your stash! It'd be fun!



Laters.

Cardstock: Buckeroo Blue, Old Olive.
Simply Scrappin' At Home cardstock stickers.
Mixed Bouquet Stamp Set.
It's a Date stamp set.
Spring Bouquet punch.
Buckeroo Blue ink, Basic Black ink.
All by Stampin' Up!

Rebecca Cameron. You are a genius. Thank you so much for taking the time to search out some ideas for me. This is the link you gave me and this is what I'm currently working on.



It's a total scraplift of 'Coverton' from the Simple Scrapbooks gallery. And I'm thrilled beyond words! The book is still a work in progress. It measures over 13 x 9 inches - so it is BIG and it is already full of stuff, as you can see - it'll be heading towards 100 pages when I'm finished. Many of them are drawings from the Kindy kids, and there are lots of letters wishing Anne well. I'm going to be so proud to have collated this. Thanks again Rebecca. Will update with final pics soon.

(And thanks everyone for sending ideas my way - Scrapbookers really are awesome people.)

laters

Shhhhhhhhhhhh it's that time of night when all good kiddos should be asleep. In our home Easter Sunday is greeted with squeals from the kids as the trails of little caramello eggs lead to the big one at the end. If the kids would go to sleep perhaps the adults could, well, you know.. make sure things would run smoothly in the morning.

Unfortunately one boy is so hyped up on Willard Price's Whale adventure all he can think of is catching a black sailing ship with white sails to some far away ocean. The other one has just got out of bed and come to tell me he is feeling a little CRaZy and he doesn't know what to do. Sleep might fix that I suggested, but he wasn't down with that suggestion, really.

Thank goodness for little girls that stayed up til 10pm last night playing spotlight. She fell asleep in her dinner so that was that sorted. Good plan.

I haven't shared this layout yet - it's another Tarisota one - it looks better IRL actually, it flows better. Another one that outlining one of Abby's days. It was simply a case of having a pic I loved and wanting to journal and not wanting to tell he how sweet and funny she is. Because quite often she is not sweet and funny, - hey just keeping it real here - so the journaling ended up being a summary of one of her days. And those are my favourite layouts to do anyway. You'll see a lot of them coming from me. They'll never be the same because the kids change so quickly.




My brother, Vaughan, is in Switzerland. I always thought I was the smart one in the family but this dude is clever. He lives in London but chose to go to Switzerland for Easter. I've tasted Swiss easter choccies. I know what's going on over there. Cleeeeeever. Love that boy.

I'm a little late to the party perhaps, but there is a whole lot of fun going on at the Fiskars blog this weekend.

Kindy - ok I need help here.
A teacher (well 2 of them actually) are leaving and I am in charge of collating a scrapbook for each. I have been given a pile of kids drawings and letters wishing them good luck, a pile of photos ranging from 10years old to recent, some other random stuff and I'm meant to be compiling! Argh! So anyway. I have some plastic stationery sleeves and I'm going to make chipboard front and back covers and hold it all together with book-rings.

Trouble is. HOW - WHAT do I make this cover look like? What do I call a book with all that kind of stuff in it? *Shrug* completly lost here. They aren't scrapbookers so I don't want to make them toooo scrapbookey, ya know? But I need to impress as well. We aim to make the teacher shed a few tears so - help! Anyone? Has anyone got images or links to images that might help me? Any ideas? Fire away - I'm all ears , I'd love some suggestions. It's almost as if the scrapbook needs sections - room for the kids drawings/memories - room for pics, room for other stuff. OK I'm lost and ready for help. Bring it on. Please? I have 2 days. lol

Wish me luck!

Happy Easter everyone.

laters

Busy days

I thought it would be calmer once summer started to come to a close but if it's not one thing it's another, and renovations on our home are taking over at the moment. Computer time has been cut dramatically as I spend a lot of time supervising the children while they watch things like concrete trucks and jackhammers etc. I haven't scrapped a page in nearly 2 weeks. I've done other stuff but scrapping, no.

I did go to the dentist the other day. I used to think people that were scared of needles needed to harden up. I thought it was all in their mind but I tell you, I lost the plot somewhere along the way and now it's me shying at the thought of a needle in my mouth. I've had plenty of spots cut out and stitches put in, and don't worry about those needles, but take one near my mouth and I'm a basketcase.

So I walk into the dentist. I nicely question her about the possibility of doing this without the numbing up bit. I must have had "complete wuss" written across my forehead because she kinda went..."mmmm...noooooo, I think we better give you the pain releif..." and she tried to go into conversation about the new type they have that doesn't numb the tongue and I responded by bursting into tears. I take back every single thought I ever thought about how silly it was for people to hate the dentist. Make room for me on that couch because, baby, I am there. I can be the president of that club, if you like, because I cried. Like a baby. Poor dentist - she was so nice. I did get the added bonus of a nurse to give me a head massage as the needles went in - that had to be worth it, right?

So anyway. I was at Ngaire's blog the other day, and she pointed me towards Mel's blog which in turn pointed me towards Fiona Carter's blog. No wonder I get no work done. and Fiona made these yummy looking cupcakes. And being the incredibly domestic person I am - my husband is laughing, why is he laughing - I decided to give these a go. So I made cupcakes. I dropped a little easter egg in the middle of them, you don't need to cover the chocolate up, it rises around it when it is cooking, and I cooked choc filled cupcakes!

So now I am the cupcake making president of the I-hate-the-dentist club.





I'll leave you with some images of a wall hanging I did. I made this for a book called "Show it Off" which is about to be released in the U.S.A. through Memory Makers Books. It's all about using scrapbooking in your decor. Showing it off, sharing it with the world. Which is something we should do more often. 700-800 layouts on a shelf isn't going to be any use to anyone really. Am I the only that has that issue? yes? oh. lol. OK so I did this wall hanging. I used cheap frames from the Warehouse and I hung it from some old meshy stuff that I found in the garage, I have no idea what it's really for, all I know is that Paul has never asked after it so it can't have been important.

Other supplies - from memory they were FancyPants Designs rub-ons and maybe some WeRMemory Keepers papers. Thanks for looking!







Laters.

Sunday Morning.

Being awoken by a smoke alarm going off at 5.40am on a Sunday is never fun. Physically I flew out of bed and was running down the hall before my mind caught up with what was going on. When I got to the living area the smoke alarm stopped and I quickly ascertained there was nothing on fire, or even remotely smokey even. I decided it was a cruel trick being played by Daddy-Long-Leg spiders crawling over the sensor, who were probably at that very minute trying to muffle their giggles behind one of their 8 hands and I went back to bed. I have no clue what set the alarm off but I fell back to sleep wondering why it happens on a Sunday morning and not any other morning when 5.40am is actually quite normal.

I told the kids this morning when they got up that it was probably just a Daddy-Long-Legs. I was quickly corrected by Abby who told me they are infact called "Deadly-Long-Legs". Jacob followed quickly after with stories about how Daddy-Long-Legs are infact one of the most venomous spiders in the world but they are harmless to us because they have no biting mechanism. Nice.
I love the Deadly-Long-Legs thing though. One of my other favourites of Abby's right now is "Oppsidently". As in "I oppsidently turned the TV on when I wasn't meant to". Aha. Right.

This week holds a lot in store for me including a dentist appointment, sending more SCKC layouts to Australia - we are hitting to supply ALL the camps with layouts now and it's not going to be hard thanks to ladies like Vanessa M & Rachel R who sent me half their scrap-room in the form of over 120 6x6 layouts! Also Heidi B and more from Christine C as well - thanks so much ladies!

This week I'll be starting on some Stampin' Up! stuff. I hinted at this a while back. Stampin' Up! has been in New Zealand around a year now (guessing!) and I've been in touch with the company since their introduction here. Just recently I was asked to join them with a promotion to show you all what they have to offer. Why not, I thought and I'll be starting to work on that this coming week. Each week I will post an ongoing project I'll be working on. It's a cute book for Abby, I make one for each of the kids as they turn 4. With each weekly post I'll hopefully introduce you to some of the Stampin'Up! products and perhaps a technnique or two. With each post I make there will be a Stampin Up giveaway. It's a win-win so keep an eye out for that in the coming week.
And I've just been to the SU site and they are retiring lots of their stamps! If you are a stamper or a scrapbooker that likes to stamp go check it out!

Ok, back to my Sunday. We are having Hot Cross Buns for lunch. It's been quite the culinary weekend, yesterday I made Lemonade Scones (you know the ones where all you need is self raising flour, a can of lemonade and cream?) - anyway, I didn't have lemonade and used L&P instead. Not quite the same. lol.

I'll leave you with another Tarisota creation. This is done with the "Life's a Hoot" collection. Which I think has one of the best galleries ever. I'm not big on the cliche type crowns etc, but I loved the crowns in this collection. Especially the one I used in this card, which is actually a brad by Delish Designs.
(Love quote transparency by Delish, Crown card by My Mind's Eye, papers by My Mind's Eye)




laters

I've got an extra voice around home this morning. Jacob is due to get his cast off today so he stayed home. Mainly because the rest of the senior school have gone to swimming sports. I'm looking forward to having that cast off as much as him. It's harbouring all sorts of dirt and grime - much more than the average mother likes to see. The trick now is to get to the nurse to request that she tells him he can't keep it - before he gets to her. It'll be a rush in the fracture clinic door. lol.

More Tarisota!





This layout talks of Jacob's nightly routine. His struggle to get to sleep and his amazing reading skills. Which in turn can really be blamed for his inability to get to sleep. What 9 year old boy lost in the african desert with Willard Price would be able to fall asleep easily.

I had a question about this layout in particular which featured on ScrapScene today (and wasn't that a pleasant surprise!)





I was asked about the dimension in my layouts - I admit I do like dimension. I've always been envious of those scrapbookers that can put together beautifully graphically balanced pages. Cardstock and photos. Shapes and design. I've never been able to do that. I think of myself as more of a paper-crafter type scrapbooker. I love to cut and scrunch, change and craft the papers. I'm not neccessarily successful all the time but I have fun trying :o) So dimension is my thing.
I was asked whether I use pop-dots or something similar. The answer is sometimes. Usually not. I use tombow green glue and it sticks everything. As in, everything, my laptop keys wish I was a little more careful. If I feel something needs popping off the page, or sometimes one side of an embellishment needs boosting because the other side is already boosted by another embellishment (getting confusing now?) I sometimes just cut a corner of scrap chipboard and glue it under there. We waste a lot of chipboard from around alphas and chipboard shapes. I guess I found a use.

Ok, time for that appointment - a quick note though that Tarisota has the new BasicGrey on it's way to them and they are due to ship the limited BasicGrey FourYou Take two as soon as it arrives. (Scroll down to see it - as you scroll you'll notice some gorgeous digital downloads that Jo Kneller has been creating - amazing stuff, we are lucky to have that girl on board!).

Gotta run
Laters!

Missing in action.

I've been missing in action. I had good reason though because despite the fact that after having our 3rd child we thought we'd never get any look at acting on a whim again - let's face it, a trip to the local park takes a finely tuned routine and a minimum 15 min organisation time, we packed up on Thursday and went to the beach. And it was not so hard to do so on a whim. With the blessings of both the boy's school teachers. To be with Vaughan for the final few days before he flew home. We had planned on just one night over on the Coromandel, but had such fun playing Scumbag over a few drinks late that night, that we decided to stay another. And again. It wasn't so hard. It felt good.

Vaughan left yesterday. That was hard. The night before he left we saw videos from his computer on the stuff he does overseas. Christmas in Bulgaria. Raves in London. I had been sure it was time for him to come home but after seeing those videos I realised he shouldn't come home yet. It's such a big world and he is having a ball. I had a mortgage by the time I was 21 and didn't travel. I kinda thought I'd travel later in life. In the meantime I lost the party attitude though.
So anyway. Vaughan went home. It was an emotional day and the funny thing was that it made me want to scrapbook. On our return home I needed to sit and write. And write. And write. And I wonder sometimes if it is the stories that makes me a scrapbooker, not the 'creating'. And sometimes I think I should just stop thinking about things so much and just scrap.

Thanks to Rachel Tucker and Kate Mills - beautiful pages for the SCKC arrived in my mailbox over the weekend. Thanks so much ladies! Don't forget to check in with Julie's blog - she has pics of what 1600 layouts look like - because we have reached our goal! BUT WAIT - we are supplying for other camps too, including one that is held in New Zealand every year. Don't stop creating! I've seen the corrospondence about how much difference these books make. So keep it up for just a little while yet!

And finally a layout to share. This was in this months Tarisota gallery. which just went up yesterday.

It's one of my fav layouts for a while. I think it's the pictures. Abby & I were at Kindy last December and Nannie & Grumpr arrived to see her at the Kindy Christmas concert. Abby was on the playground when they arrived. She rushed to them as soon as she saw them and this is the look on her face as she was telling Nannie all about kindy. If anyone wanted a definition of absolute glee, I think this would be close.



laters.

Hello Autumn, actually it's been Autumn since the middle of February we decided. We've given up all hope of showing Vaughan a true NZ summer, he's about to go home and that's the last of the fun summer things over for me. I have nothing but dental appointments that I had been putting off until after Vaughan left and winter to look forward to. That was sarcasm, I hate winter. Except I like to cook more in winter. I'm not sure if that is bad or good. lol

Tarisota time, I'm knee deep in blues and greens at the moment. Quite at home, no layout of mine is complete without blue at the moment. Usually I'm pairing it with red but I'm enjoying the relaxed tones of this collection. Here is the collection and here is a sneak peek of one of my layouts, gallery due up 8th March. One of my most favourite layouts in ages actually. I've been doing a lot of instructions and classes so it might be my only layout lately, actually lol.



I hate seeing the date 8th March on anything because it means I should have paid our last installment of provisional tax already. Which I haven't. I blame February for that, it always flies past far too soon.

Kids pages - still rolling in. Thanks so much to Ann Mclachlan, Naomi Carrell, Kate Anderson, Melissa Davis, and Leila Norton. This makes another 240 to send to Australia! This has really taken off for more than just the camp we originally started to make these pages for... it looks as if we will have enough for Melbourne and perhaps even the NZ camp as well... watch this space as Trina, Jules and I have been talking (far too much as usual!) and there are plans. Check Jules' blog for the tickers for both the SCKC and the Melbourne SCKC...


I see details for ScrapCamp are out, if you didn't get the email, here is the blog site with all the details - Rotorua in May with Lianne, Yolande and Kelly Rotherham.

Anyone else having problems with xtra? I know I'm not recieving or sending all of my emails. If you have emailed me and I didn't answer really when you thought I should, then please try until I do. I'm hoping it'll be over soon!

Alrighty. One last thing. A lot of you know that I have a friend, Shauna, in the U.S. that is very dear to me. I dedicated my book to her. It's time to ask for all your thoughts to go her way again. She's hit a bit of a tough road... her indicators aren't looking fantastic and it frustrates me and angers me really that she is having to go through this. Thanks for everyone that already stops by and drops her a quiet word of encouragement, even if you don't know her. She has some poetry on her blog at the moment (scroll down just a bit) that truly explains the fight she is fighting. It's incredibly touching so pop by if you can. The more positivity the better!

Laters