Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and if you have to travel anywhere this holiday season, please stay safe!
Christmas was FABULOUS!!! Ben woke up at about 6.15am, so we woke everyone else up to see if Santa had been. First we checked the reindeer food - the water was all gone and so was most of the food. Then we checked the milk and cookies- all gone except for a few crumbs. And then we checked the tree and there were lots of presents!!! The boys went into a present frenzy - Ben's favorite present was a Starwars Lightsabre, while Christopher's was Fourarms from Ben10. Rachel's favorite was a vacuum cleaner - I know that sounds like a sexist toy - but she is obsessed when I vacuum, she walks along behind me pushing the hose to 'help' me! And she loves her little one - it lights up and spins glitter! Wish mine did that LOL!!!!
Laban and my favourite toy is the Wii - it is fantastic! I'm already a MarioKart champion, Laban is the resident tennis champ and Christopher bowls like you wouldn't believe! Ben just likes playing and Rachel is not at all fussed yet. The WiiFit is awesome too - I have sore muscles from 30 mins of different excercises! It graphs your progress and time spent training unlocks more excercises. Very clever technology!!!
We stayed home all day - Laban's mum and sister came out in the morning, my mum came for lunch and it was relaxed and peaceful and the kids got to play with their toys all day. It was fantastic!
Yesterday, we did pretty much the same - stayed home and relaxed and played with the Wii. Today we're off to Ballarat to see Laban's dad. Meant to be a warm one, so we'll go early to beat the heat.
On another note - the December Cybercrop has had to be postponed until next week due to technical difficulties at the site. If you've been over there, you'll see that the site look OK, but everything is locked out while the information is swapped to a new server. As we're not sure how long it will take, the easiest thig is to postpone until next weekend. So sorry about the disappointment, but stay tuned for next week! Bye for now :-)

Ah, Christmas Eve.....

The excitement in our house has reached fever pitch! We made shortbread yesterday for Santa and have the reindeer food ready to put out tonight. Ben is seriously wriggling with excitement and he has the whole rest of the day to get through yet LOL!!!
A couple of things to note - ***SNAP AND SCRAP IS DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE*** - not sure for how long but I'II keep you posted.
And then:

Due to the holidays, we're running Crop Bingo and the Progressive Blog Challenge, and as an extra bonus, it'll be running until New Years Eve to give you some extra time! So check back here on Friday the 26th for my part of the Progressive Blog Challenge!
I'm not sure that I'll be back here again today or tomorrow, so in case I'm not - Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy and safe New Year. May there be many magical moments and lots of love and laughter shared with family and friends! Take care and be safe xoxoxo

The silly season has struck!

Wow, what a busy few days it's been! On Saturday we had a picnic at Brimbank Park with my husband's family. His mother, her four kids and her six grandkids, plus the partners - quite a crowd! Here's a photo of the group (I'm not in it, I was taking the photo!)
Saturday night we had a few of our neighbours over for christmas drinks. I left them to it at about 10.30pm and went to bed! From what Laban can remember, they had a good night LOL!
On Sunday morning, we went to Geelong to Louise's parents place for morning tea. Louise is my best friend, a one in a million person who I'm lucky to have in my life. Her parents are the most amazing people; 6 kids of their own, another they have adopted and numerous foster children! Lou's eldest sister was there with her hubby - their second baby is due at the end of feb. Their first child was there but slept through our entire visit!
On Sunday night, we had our dear friends The Stones over for tea and a drive around to look at the Christmas lights once it got dark. The lights weren't as good as in previous years, but we found some nice houses to look at.
The kids are so excited - only 3 sleeps till Santa comes! Tomorrow we are going to make some shortbread for the grandparents and Santa. Nighty night for now :-)

6 sleeps till christmas!!!

What I love most about Christmas these days is the excitement of my kids! It's so contagious and wonderful and really makes christmas magical again. Christopher and Ben had a funny conversation the other day about Santa; we saw Santa at the shops and Ben was all excited when Christopher says "That's not the real Santa". I was about to intervene when Christopher says with all the arrogance of a 5 year old "That's not the real Santa because the real Santa came to my kinder and now he's getting ready to bring us presents. He's too busy to be at the shops as well." So real Santa has time to visit Christopher at kinder, but no one else! Love it!
My other exciting news is that Sharon and I registered today to join the AMAZING DIGI SCRAPPING RACE season 4! Our team name is "The Aussie Gumnuts" and you can see our blog here (it's a work in progress, so be kind!) If you don't know about ADSR4 - check out the ADSR4 forum at Natural Designs in Scrapbooking. I'm so excited to be part of it! It starts on the 4th of January and you have until the 26th of December to register. Sounds like a blast!

I made a blinkie!

I googled 'how to make a blinkie using Photoshop Elements 6.0' and found this easy tutorial on ScrapWhat.
So I had a play around and came up with the following. This is for my hubby, who now has a forum for his World of Warcraft Guild called We Are Furions. I made a header for it a couple of weeks ago, and matched the blinkie with it.

Then I made one for my blog using the beautiful Enchanted Forest by Vicki of A Work in Progress and the Add On by Sara of Sweet Blossom Designs.

I'm pretty please with how it turned out. My next challenge is to try my hand at making my own blogwear!

I'm married to the new Assistant Principal at The Grange P-12 College!

Woo Hoo! After about 20 applications and 10 interviews, Laban got an Assisitant Principal position at The Grange P-12 College in Tarneit (near Hoppers Crossing). He had the interview on Monday and came home thinking he wasn't what they wanted and as school finishes on Friday, it is unlikely any more jobs would come up this year. When they called Tuesday, he thought he'd get another knock back, so when they offered him the position, he nearly dropped the phone! We're so proud of you honey!
It makes me think that things do happen for a reason - the school is about 25 mins away from here; if we'd moved it would have been about 40 mins. So perhaps we were meant to stay in Melton!
This morning I've tried to get some pictures of the kids in Santa hats - notice I say tried? This is what I've got so far LOL.


I'll keep trying...

The end of an era and a new beginning...

Ahhhhhh, it's been a busy few days. On Sunday, Mum looked after the kids while Laban and I went and finished our Christmas shopping. We came home and I wrapped it all, so apart from a few little bits and pieces to pick up through the week, we're all prepared! Monday was the last swimming lesson for the year for Ben and for a while for Christopher. I haven't enrolled him to continue next year, we'll see how school and little athletics goes before taking it up again. At 5, he doesn't need too much on his schedule! Ben is enrolled and Rachel is on the waiting list, both for 10.30am on Tuesdays next year.
Monday was also the last playgroup for Christopher - sad in a way as most of the members of our playgroup were our original mother's group when our babies were pretty new! 5 years down the track, most have had at least one more and Narelle is the only one to have a third like me. There's not many coming back next year, so it's sad that we'll inevitably lose touch with some as life moves on. There's a few I know I'II be able to keep in touch with, and a few coming back next year.
But all these endings make way for a new beginning - SCHOOL!!
We've also decided to take our house off the market. There are 8 houses in our court, 3 of which are now for sale! Ours has been up for about 2 months, several inspections in that time, but no offers. The house on the corner was bought by a couple about 18 months ago who gutted it and renovated it all and are now selling to move onto their next project. The other house was bought about 10 months ago by a lady who moved down from Queensland. Her daughter has just been diagnosed with cancer and she needs to sell to get back up there to support her. So it's not a good look to see our lovely court with all these houses for sale and as we're not in a rush to sell, we've decided to take it off the market and stay her for a couple more years. I feel really good about it, it would have been nice to get back to Sunbury, but at the same time, we love our house and we can now plan things for next year as we know where we'll be. And so much less stress not having to keep it tidy all the time with 3 kids!
To finish off my HUGE post today, here is a LO I did of Rachel looking too cute in her fairy wings she got from the Kris Kringle at Playgroup yeasterday. I've used the Enchanted Forest kit by Vicki of A Work in Progress and the add on by Sara of Sweet Blossom Designs. I've also used the tri-frame template by Jaydid Designs.

So today, I'm catching up with some washing and I'm going to pull out the beanbags and watch a couple of DVDs with the kids. Kung Fu Panda, here we come! Have a great day :-)

Twilight - no spoilers I promise!

All I can say is OMG - go see it - AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED it and am hoping to get the kids looked after so I can see it again on thursday with Yvonne and Gabbie! It was pretty close to the book, but obviously they can't put the whole book in the movie, so they did a good job I thought. And Edward - SWOON!!!!!!!!!!! Just as perfect as in the book, and when he looks at Bella, I so wish I was her LOL!!! Made me melt *sigh*. So in summary, all good, loved it and hope to see it again soon!

Rain, muses and a LO - we got it all!

I love the rain; the fresh,clean smell, the sound on the roof while snuggled in bed, and the feel of it on my face (only because we haven't had any for a while and it feels good! I'm sure the novelty will wear off once I have to unload all three kids in it!) It's rained here most of yesterday, most of the night and is meant to continue today. We need it, so keep it coming!
Yesterday was Christopher's last ever day of Kinder. My first born is going to school next year! I have mixed feelings about it, as I'm sure every parent has! His excitement is contagious, so I'm sharing his joy. I worry about bullies - he's a sweet natured kid who wears his heart on his sleeve and he wears glasses - will that make him a target? It's an adjustment for me that my baby is growing up and might not need me so much any more. And I'm excited at the prospect of just having the two little ones at home - I think it will be good for Ben to do his own thing as he follows Christopher most of the time when they play, and Christopher is quick to tell him he's doing it wrong (which means he's not doing it Christopher's way!) And it'll mean more time for Rachel too with more time to do stuff at her level. I booked tickets for the Playgroup Concert in March next year - something Ben and Rachel will enjoy. I will have to try very hard to not cry when I leave him in his class room the first day, but it'll be a mix of pride and sadness and excitement as he enters this next stage of his life. I'm honoured to be a part of it and I look forward to watching him grow and learn and see more of the man he'll become. Big times ahead!
I'm off to Twilight this afternoon - lunch beforehand and Goldclass tickets - how spoilt am I! My sister in law saw it yesterday and was a little disappointed; but I'm going there with an open mind. I'II give you my review later!
Here's a LO I did of the kids yearly photo with Santa. Rachel leaned in for a cuddle, but she wouldn't smile! And check out the boys - trying to get on Santa's good side by sitting up straight with hands in their laps and 'butter wouldn't melt in our mouths' smiles!!!! Very cute though!

I have used Candied Christmas by Brianna Cox of Scrap'it designs, available at the Snap and Scrap Shoppe.

The Toose Family Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thank you Kevin Rudd!

Just a quick post before I go to bed. I'm typing this on the laptop in the lounge room while Laban is playing WoW in the study thanks to our new wireless router! Also got a new portable hard drive - 1 terabyte of memory to back everything up after our last one was unstable and we thought we'd lost everything (lucky a techie mate was able to get most of it back). Just doing our bit to help the economy - thanks again Mr Rudd!

Snap and Scrap December Newsletter and other stuff

Back again! The Snap and Scrap December Newsletter is out! Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox. Otherwise, check out the link here.
My hybrid Christmas tote bag and card are featured in the newsletter - my first publication! And two of my LO's are in there as well! My head is swelling by the second, I'm very pleased with myself!
Other exciting news is that I'm doing my bit to help stimulate the economy by spending Kevin Rudd's bonus! I've ordered my pandora bracelet and a charm (I did it through Gillets and got a free charm valued at $30). Can't wait for it to arrive! And mum is looking after the kids on the weekend so Laban and I can finish the christmas shopping and might even catch "Australia" at the movies!
And on saturday I'm seeing TWILIGHT goldclass! So excited! Here's a LO I did a while back in honour of Twilight.
If you haven't read this series by Stephanie Meyers, you don't know what you're missing! There's even talk of a roadtrip to Queensland next year for the Twilght Convention amongst the stamping girls.....

Freebies!

Check out these awesome freebies by Kristie, one of the Sugarplum Girls. She is new to designing and has released three, that's right, three digi kits for FREE! Check out her blog here.

Back later with some more exciting news...

Challenge #8 on the Snap and Scrap Christmas Countdown

My turn for another Christmas Challenge at Snap and Scrap today and this is what I came up with :

I made the frames from thick cardboard - outside measurements are 8cm tall by 6.5cm wide. The inside measurements are 5cm tall by 3.5cms wide. I covered them with the patterned paper printed from Bree's Candied Christmas kit and sanded the edges for a neater look. The letters were Basic Grey undressed chipboard monograms - but any large alpha will do. Again, I covered these with patterned paper and sanded the edges. I added the star charm to the J with some wrapped around metallic string. The holly on the O was printed from Bree's kit . I've joined the frames together on the back with ribbon stuck down with double sided tape.
These photos are the first christmas' for each of my three children - scary when the baby in the first photo had his orientation day at school today! He had a ball, he's in a class with a few of his friends from Kinder and his teacher seems really nice. The kids are all 'big kids' now, ready for school, but I nearly cried when Christopher walked off with his teacher to see his classroom and he was holding hands with one of his kinder friends! Big kids, but still a little unsure...
Anyway, here is another frame I made a while ago for Rachel, just so you can see the variety with this idea:

And the other good news is that it is raining here and has been all afternoon! Send her down, we need all we can get! Bye for now :-)

Snap and Scrap Newsletter on the way!

Thanks for everyone's concern over my clumsiness! My bruises are a lovely spectrum of colours, but I'm not as sore today LOL!
Keep your eyes open for this in the next few days:

Chock full of great info and freebies - plus my first contribution on the Hybrid Creative Team!
Off to swimming, playgroup and a kinder picnic in the park for lunch, so I'd better get the kids ready. Have a great day :-)

Falling down and a couple of Layouts.

It's been a busy couple of days! Last night, we had Laban's work Christmas party at the Hobsons Bay Hotel in Willimastown. A lovely night out on the balcony with delicious food and no kids - they all a holiday at my Mum's for the night. We were on the second floor, and coming down the wooden stairs, I fell down! I've scrapped the skin off my left elbow, bruised my right arm - it's gonna be a ripper! I had such a huge lump on my arm that Laban was concerned I'd broken it and the lump was bone! I've also done my right leg a beauty too - more bruises! And the worst part was I only had one alcoholic beverage all night! If I was drunk I'd probably have navigated the stairs much better! I'm quite stiff and sore today :-(
This morning Laban went to the working bee at his school and I picked up the kids and mum and went to the Sunbury market. I stocked up on Gabbie's fabulous candles (check them out on her website, but you can only buy them at the markets now. The boys got face painted - spiderman for Christopher, Ben 10 for Ben.
Tonight I'm off to Yvonne's for a Christmas Extravangza - making all sorts of goodies which I'II post about tomorrow. Yvonne is incredibly talented - check out her blog here (but just so you know, she's offline at the moment while waiting for computer repairs).
But before I go, I just wanted to show you a couple of LO's I've made yesterday and today using a couple of Bree's gorgeous kits.
I made this LO for the Terrific Template Challenge at Snap and Scrap using one of Mitzie's beautiful templates (grab it form the blog here) and Bree's Cool Change kit (grab it in the shoppe here)

This LO was made using Bree's kit Zoolander (grab it here)

Better go - picking up Gabbie on the way to Yvonne's! Back tomorrow :-)

The news that has made my whole month!

I am absolutely delighed to be joining the Creative Team of the amazingly talented Brianna Cox of Scrap'it Designs. We've got to know each other over the last couple of months primarily at Snap and Scrap, and I have always admired Bree's work. So when she asked if I would like to join her team, I jumped up and did the happy dance around the room, then composed myself and said a big resounding YES!!!!!
Here's a couple of LO's I've done with Bree's kits.
Using "Pretty Grungy".
Using "I love U beary much."
So thanks for having me Bree and I look forward to working with your designs!

And the universe smiles...

Last night Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon appeared together to make a smiley face in the night sky. It was an awe-inspiring thing to see, and gave me hope that things are going to be OK. I tried to take a few photos, but obviously need to work on my night photgraphy skills! This was the sight from my driveway at about 9pm.

I googled it this morning, and the event won't happen again for 5 years. Europe and Africa will miss it all together and for US readers, by the time you see it, the moon will be inverted and it will appear as a frown. Another example of the universe's sense of humour? LOL...

*****UPDATE*****
And how could I not scrap it?

Supplies - I wish I was the Moon by Amy Riley and sparkles from Ferntree Fairies by Brianna Cox (both available at Snap and Scrap).

*******Snap and Scrap off line*******

Snap and Scrap is currently experiencing some issues while moving to a new server. Hopefully it won't be down for too long, so please bear with us!

What a great weekend!

What a great weekend of Cybercropping goodness! An amazing amount of visits to my blog and downloads of the wondeful elements Bree was kind enough to share with me. I might try my hand at making quickpages so I can make one for the next Cybercrop!
And we got a lot of traffic on the gallery and forum at Snap and Scrap, so thanks to everyone who got involved in the challenges! Check out the Cybercrop Gallery!
Speaking of the challenges, here are my LO's for the weekend.

This is my take on Sharon's Scraplift Challenge. I've used Shabby Little Christmas and Mistletoe Magic available at the Snap and Scrap shoppe. Gold swirls are from Marcee Fairchild's Rhumba Kit.

This was my LO for the Progressive Blog Challenge. I love how varied each and every LO is considering we all started with the same kit! Some very creative people out there!

This was my take on Sarah's List It Challenge. This challenge was like a speed scrap - you get a list of instructions, but we had the weekend to complete the LO, not an hour like a speed scrap. Again - the varied LO's that were made with the same instructions is awesome! Supplies for this were Bohemian Summer Kit by Michelle Coleman and that gorgeous alpha was Bree's from the PBC.
Melissa was the lucky winner of Crop Bingo - I came close,I had two words to go! So did a few others, so the last few words were highly anticipated!! Congratulations Melissa!
So I think my first Cybercrop as part of the team at Snap and Scrap was heaps of fun and a huge success! Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave some love for the downloads, and thanks to everyone who particiapted. And a big hug and thanks to Bree (Brianna Cox) for all her hard work in getting the ball rolling and organising it. I can't wait till the next one!

Welcome to stop #6 on the Snap and Scrap Progressive Blog Challenge!

Welcome to the Snap and Scrap Cybercrop Progressive Blog Challenge!! You've just arrived at stop #6. If you're just jumping aboard, here's the story.
Basically, the PBC is a blogtrain that you follow along to pick up all the freebies and then use them to create a layout. Upload to the Snap and Scrap Cyber Crop Gallery and post a link to the finished product in the Cybercrop forum before 9am Monday 1st Dec. It's heaps of fun and you get all of these freebies along the way:

PLUS this fabulous co-ordinating participation prize!!!


Here's your PBC freebie, courtesy of the lovely Bree. Remember, you MUST use at least 1 thing from this download on your layout!!

Download here


Once you've finished downloading, head on over to stop #7, it's the fabulous Bree! Click here to go to Bree's blog.

As we are co-ordinating this across quite a few different time zones, please be patient if all of the stops are not yet posted.

In case you've lost your way, or need to skip ahead, here are all of the stops on the train:-
Stop 1 - Katie
Stop 2 - Szilvia
Stop 3 - Gillian
Stop 4 - Charlie
Stop 5 - Christina
Stop 6 - Pene --------> You are Here
Stop 7 - Bree
Stop 8 - Sharon

Make sure you check out the other fun Cyber Crop Challenges!! and the fabulous Participation Prizes!!

Scrap Lift Participation Prize



Scrap Bingo Prize


List It Participation Prize



AND if that wasn't enough, if you stop by the shoppe and spend $10 or more, you get our AWESOME monthly team kit ABSOLUTELY FREE!!

Who says it's a merry christmas?

This photo was taken in 2006 at the Bulla Railway Park where we went for our playgroup Christmas party. Ben wouldn't have a bar of Santa - and who is the mean mummy who left him there long enough to get a few photos?! LMAO! We're going there again this sunday, also for the playgroup party - wonder if I can get a shot like this of Rachel...
All supplies from the Shabby Little Christmas team kit available from the Snap and Scrap Shoppe!

Woo hoo - nearly time! The exciting news is that I'm stop #6 on the Progressive Blog Challenge! Stop here tomorrow to get my part of the freebie, courtesy of the lovely Bree of Scrap'it Designs. So much going on for the Cybercrop - check it out here!!

Homer, please stay well!!!

Today I drove to Oakleigh with Mum to pick up Homer. Homer is my new car (not brand new, but new to our family). He is a beautiful white 1999 Honda Odyessey 7 seater mummy car that we bought about 2 months ago. We had him checked out by our mechanic and he seemed to be pretty sound. Within a month of having him, he was sick and $520later for a radiator top, thermostat and the brakes machined, he was running well again. Last week, he suddenly started making a really bad grinding noise, I mean really, really bad. Our friend and mechanic came and had a look and as soon as we started the car he raised his eyebrows and said 'oh'. That 'oh' was because it sounded to him like the transmission. He rang a couple of his contacts for us, while we rang some of the local guys, and we got prices from $1500 to $4000. Needless to say that once I stood up from having fallen down in shock, I cried!!! So he chased a few more contacts and got us in touch with a place in Oakleigh that does repairs for Honda dealers. They said it was a pretty common problem in Honda's and they suggested a reconditioned transmission with a 12 month warrantee on parts and labour fully fitted for $1850. Plus because I would never have driven it so far with that grinding going on, they arranged a tow truck to pick it up for $100. I'd priced a tow truck with RACV - it would have cost just over $220. So they picked him up on wednesday and he was ready to come home today.
Mum had the morning off work and was able to take me over, but she had to get back to work by 11.30. We went to the car place where I left the car seats and then she dropped me off at Oakleigh Central shopping centre. Two and a half hours later, with three kids who were almost as bored as I was of the little shopping centre (just speciality shops, no KMart, Big W, Target - we'd even browsed the aisles at Coles and Safeway!) he finally called to say it was ready! By the time I walked there - no pram, I hadn't realised that Rachel had put on all the weight she lost when she was sick and then some - the boys who were niggling at each other and the heat, I just needed to be out of there!
Ben and Rachel were asleep within minutes, and we drove home with no problems. Homer is running well and touching all the wood near me, I hope he stays that way for a while now!
Thanks for letting me vent all that - I feel much better now! I think a shower and an early night are in order and tomorrow is a new day! Bye for now :-)

Mmmmmmmmmm.....

I have just made the most incredible 'Tea and Fruit Loaf' from a Weightwatchers recipe. It has apricots, dates, figs, prunes, orange zest, cinnamon - smells absolutely divine! And don't think I won't share with you...


And that bit I cut off to show you inside - gone!!! Yum :-)

I have just made this LO for the Template Challenge at Snap and Scrap. The template is by the fabulous Mitzie of Made by Mitzie and I have used the Paper Princess Kit by the incredibly talented Sharlene of Charlie's Digiscraps - both items available at Snap and Scrap. I've also used the Adventure Frame Brush by LivEdesigns, which was a freebie from Designer Digitals.

I'm not sure if Rachel does make more mess than the boys or if it's because I have the boys trained to tidy up after themselves (well, that sounds good in theory, but the practice is somewhat different LOL!!) But I can always tell where Rachel has been by the trail of stuff she leaves in her wake! And how cheeky is she in these photos? She thought she was very clever to have emptied the toys out of the tub so she could sit in it! I think she was waiting for Christopher to come and give her a ride on the tiles in it. I love her cheeky face - she is so beautiful!

Cyber Crop at Snap and Scrap - a weekend of cyber-scrappin' goodness!

Yes, it's time for another Cyber Crop weekend at Snap and Scrap! Make sure you check back here over the week for another exciting announcement!

Christmas Countdown Challenge #4 at Snap and Scrap

With a lot of excitment and an equal amount of nervousness, I have posted my first challenge as a member of the Hybrid Team at Snap and Scrap. Here is the link if you want to check it out: http://www.snapandscrap.tv/forum/showthread.php?t=2439
I made a christmas photo cube:

Hope it gets some good feedback - my confidence needs a little help!

I wrote in yesterday's post that my mojo was gone. I'm not sure where or why, but it's been difficult for me create LO's for the last couple of weeks. The idea is in my mind, but I can't get it out and it is VERY frustrating! I can't seem to decide which kit to use, which colours, which elements etc, so I start a LO, delete it, start again and again until I throw my hands up in disgust and turn Photoshop off! So I'm trying not to stress about it, and I've made a few pencil sketches of my ideas and hope it all comes together some time soon.
Having said all that, I made this LO today (Ben's at childcare, Christopher is at kinder and Rachel had a sleep) which took me ages to do! Changed this and that, changed kits, colour schemes, word art, basically everything about 10 times. But I am happy with how it turned out EVENTUALLY!!!!!

I used the Kindness Returns mini by Scrapping with Katie (Snap and Scrap participation prize for last month's cyber crop). The frame and the Vintage Text paper (which I turned into an overlay) are by Katie Perteit of Designer Digitals.
I'll keep working on the mojo issue...

Ben's birthday has been AWESOME!! We have all had a great day - even Christopher, despite a few teary periods because there were no presents for him! I understood his frustration and desperation to play with the new toys and Ben was pretty good about sharing most of them, but not the new OMNITRIX!!! It hasn't left his wrist all day LOL!
I just did a LO with the photos of today. There will be more photos as we catch up with other family members over the weekend, so no doubt a few more LO's to be made. I haven't done a LO for about a week (a LONG time for me) but my mojo has gone on holiday. I used a template for this by Anna Aspnes, a freebie from Designer Digitals to help the juices flow. The kit I've used is Live Out Loud by Amy Riley, available from Snap and Scrap. I love the bright colours in the kit.

And here is a photo of Ben when he was minutes old!

My, so much has happened in three years...

Exciting times here today - my little boy Ben is 3 today! He is such a cool little boy, kind and generous and sweet, but he can throw a tanty with the best of them when required LOL!! He got a Bumblebee that talks and has about 2 steps to transform (finally a transformer I can work out how to change!!!!), a new Omnitrix that lights up and makes noises, Ben 10 figurines, undies and T-shirt - can you tell he's a Ben 10 fan? Christopher is being really good about it, but probably because there are enough things to share. So happy birthday to my darling boy Ben - have an awesome day!

Not much to report today. Rachel was up at 5.30am :-( so I'm a bit tired! We have an inspection tomorrow, so I spent the day cutting grass, sweeping the driveway, weeding, dusting, vacumming and general tidy up. Think of all the Weight Watchers bonus points I earned with all that activity! We haven't had an inspection for about 2 weeks, I was starting to think we must have dropped off the map...
Christopher is being a little 'challenging' these days. I've been told about the terrible twos and frustrating fours, but no one said anything about Feral Fives ( good name hey?)!! Perhaps he saved it up till now because he's been pretty good most of the time LOL. And with Ben's third birthday on Thursday, it'll probably get worse! Ben is into Ben 10 in a BIG way, so his birthday pressies include a lot of Ben 10 toys. Christopher likes Ben 10 too, so there should be tears here at about 7am! But Ben is such a sweet kid, I bet he shares everything with Christopher. If the shoe was on the other foot, I couldn't say that Christopher would do the same!
We got all the school orientation handouts today for Christopher. It's a little hard to know what to do at this point. We have decided if we don't sell by the middle of January, we are going to take the house off the market and stay here until I finish Uni - approx 2 years. That's providing I get into Uni of course! Anyway, what will be will be!
I finished my photo cube for Snap and Scrap, but I'm not going to post it here until next week so I don't spoil the surprise. I must say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
I think I'll head to bed now - sweet dreams :-)

As part of the hybrid team at Snap and Scrap, I'm going to be doing three challenges - a photo cube, a door knob hanger and a special frame. Tonight I'm working on the photo cube, I might give you a sneak peak as it's not my turn on the challenge until next week and I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!
As many of you would know, my hubby is a gamer. For those of you who don't know, I had a group in Facebook called 'Widows of Guild Wars and WoW' (that's World of Warcraft for those who aren't in the know)!!! I put out a challenge that if I got 50 members Laban would have to give up the computer for a week! Took a while but we got there in the end and I got my week on the computer! Anyway, the newest expansion pack is out for WoW called "Wrath of the Lich King", so my time on the computer will be limited in the evenings! We are actually thinking of investing in a router or wireless or something that would allow us to use the internet at the same time! Anyway, I can here Labe's fingers taping as he waits in anticipation to use the computer LOL! Bye for now :-)

Christmas Countdown at Snap and Scrap

It's only 5 weeks until Christmas - OMG how scary, another year almost gone...
Stuck for ideas for Christmas presents? Well check this out!


Last night I finished a canvas for Sharon's first challenge:

Close up:


Supplies:
Digital products - Papers, tag and moth from the Pretty Grungy kit by Brianna Cox (available at Snap and Scrap).

Physical products - 6x6 canvas, Kaiser acrylic paints (white, green, violet deep and metallic silver), hatpin, pearls, beads and flower from the Stampin' Up Pretties Kit, Tim Holtz distress ink (Brushed Corduroy), Stampin' Up grosgrain ribbon (Elegant Eggplant), Adorn it Tiny Sunshine alpha stickers, 3D foam tape and double sided tape.

This was really easy to make, I got a 4 pack of canvases for $8 from Go-Lo. Because they're small (15cm x15cm), they are a great way to use all the little bits and pieces from your stash.

Thanks for the idea Sharon!

My hubby is the best

After a frustrating couple of hours trying to display my slideshow and reading numerous and confusing tutorials on how to do so, my husband came to the rescue and worked out how to get the slideshow exactly where I wanted it! On ya Labe - you're my hero!! So now all my LO's are up to have a look at! The credits for my LO's can be found on my Facebook profile, or if there is one in particular you want to know about, please leave a comment and I'II get back to you with the details.
I'm going to have a bit more of a play and see what else I can display - fav blogs and sites, blinkies and the like. Then I might see if I can find some free blog bling!
Back later xo

Yawwwnnn...

I have been on a shopping trip today as a fundraiser for our playgroup. I left home at 6.45am and got home at 7.30pm - 14 shops, a big lunch and lots of money spent! As a group we spent just under $10,000!!!! I got about 2/3 of my christmas shopping done. But I am exhausted!! Time for a cuppa and a relax. Back tomorrow to figure out how to load my slideshow!

Good Morning! What a beautiful sound to hear last night - RAIN!!!! Puddles on the ground this morning and that beautiful clean smell in the air.
Some exciting news to share - I am a Hybrid Elf on the Creative Team at Scrap and Snap! Very happy to be part of the team. As some of you may know from Facebook, I applied to the Digital Creative Team last month but didn't get through. So I'm happy to be doing hybrid with them. Hybrid is using a mix of digital kits and your normal scrapbooking stash - printing papers and elements. We're doing an amazing Christmas Countdown, so check out all the fun at the forum.
Tonight, Labe's mum is looking after the kiddies while Labe and I go out to dinner! Just like a real date! We're quite excited about it, going to a fancy restaurant with not a playroom in sight! It's been a while...
I'm still playing around with the blog, and have managed to add a slideshow! Credits for all the LO's can be found on my Facebook Albums - I'II get the link up as that is easier than having to go through all the slides and caption them. They add up when you look at them all!
Hope you have a great day and bring on some more rain :-)

Now I'm going to try and upload a LO that I did tonight for my very dear friend Lisa of her son Billy with his daddy Steve when he was just two weeks old! You forget how small and precious they are!

I have used the amazing "Boy's Club" kit by one of my favorite designers, Sara of Sweet Blossom Designs. Check out her blog - she is incredibly talented and generous, as her wonderful kits are free! http://sweetblossomdesigns.blogspot.com/. The date stamp is from Date Stamped vol 2 by Britt-ish Designs available from Scrap Matters.