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Working on being here this year. :-)

Life is too short

Was blogging today and found this. It makes me happy when I find stuff like this. The best part is that I am surrounded by people today that I love and that make me happy, my family. My husband is not at work today and school hasn't started yet, so we spent the morning at the pool, got wok in a box for lunch (which was very yum by the way) and now we are kicking back and relaxing.
And now I am going to get some stuff packed for Tomorrow's memories 12 hour scrap. Yahoo. Can't wait. Its not very often I get to go as a customer so I am really hanging out to scrap, chat and laugh out loud. All the ladies going tomorrow are a wicked bunch and so much fun. The verse at the top definately reminds me of them. They always make me feel happy, good and glad to be a scrapper. 12 hours just isn't long enough with these ladies.
Lets scrap :-)

Heaps to share

I have a bunch of stuff to share today, all of them creative. I can say that I am actually getting into the swing of not having a scrap room (although I will be damn excited to get it back). Done a heap of stuff last night and the best bit is that I am learning to clean up my mess as I go along. OMG!!! can you believe that. Here's hoping it stays around when my scrap room comes back.Anyway my first project up is January's ribbon club. Yes I know its nearly February but its just been so busy and well not having my scrap space threw me off target a bit. I have used heaps of buttons which is a bit unusual for me, however I am liking the idea.

Don't look to closely at the stitching now will you...

This is a page I ripped out of Creating Keepsakes magazine awhile back and as usual I stash things like this away and thats where they stay. But as I have been trying to sort stuff out and reorganise I thought I would use some of this stuff that I rip out.

So this is my take on the LO above. It was actually kind of cool to scraplift for a change. And its a photo I wanted to get done before it got away from me. Its a photo of my Dad coming back from his Harley tour that the family got him for christmas. He couldn't get the smile off his face. Last year we got him a helicopter ride over Perth, god knows what he'll want next christmas... but it certainly beats giving a bottle of wine every year.

Here is my take of 52Q by Emily Falconbridge. If you check out her blog you will get all the info about the challenge. Play along its fun and it makes you think.

As you all know I have been cleaning up stuff (due to having to move out of my room, have I mentioned that) and when I came across these christmas decs (that I made for the shop to decorate candles) I was going to through them out... then I thought what about turning them into christmas cards. I know what you are saying, who is thinking about christmas, but the cool thing is now I have 6 christmas cards made already. gotta love that.

I will probably add some stuff or words later but I am just so tickled that I have already started my chrissy cards... especially as seeing I didn't even send any last christmas. Bad girl I know.

And just a quick layout that I did after finding some very cute photos of my son when he was about 3. The story was really important to me and I am so glad that its now been recorded. The LO itself as pretty simple but it was the story I was more interested in. But I loved how it all turned out.

I will share some photo's tomorrow of our holiday in Busselton. But we had a great time and yes the detox is starting again. Ha ha ha :-)

have a great day.

My little girl turns 11

Can't believe my baby is 11. (well 11 goingon 25 actually). Gotta just love that attitude thing, don't you. But besides that she is 11 and growing just way too fast for me. Alex will be in year 6 this year, her last year of primary school. Where did all tha time go. I swear I just go birth just the other day.
For her Birthday Alex wanted a craft party and what better place to have than at Tomorrow's Memories (sorry though, they don't generally do parties but as I work there it was okay. There has to be some priviledges to working at a scrap store). They made very funky "keep out" bedroom door hangers. The girls loved them and had great time. A very big thankyou to the very lovely Sonya for taking the class. She was amazing.

This photo is for you Vicki. My go at cupcakes. I was actually quite proud of myself considering I don't cook. The girls liked them so thats all that counts.

Happy Birthday sweetheart. :-)

a bunch of stuff to share

I have a bunch of stuff to share today, mostly creative which is a nice change. I was going to show some photo's of my room being made over but I might share them later.

Check this out. Scrapping on the floor again. I was doing some homework for a organisational course that I am doing and well, I got distracted as you do. This time I was a little more organised and made sure I had my tools with me so that I could do something just incase I got inspired (which has been lacking lately). This scrapping on the floor thing aint good for my knees but it seems to be doing something for me inspiration wise. Here's hoping it continues.

One of the BIG disadvantages of not having my own space is that I have to clean up after every project (which I am so not used to... ever). The upside is, I hope, that I will continue to be in this habit when I am back in my own little space. But the floor looks good hey! This is what I got distracted on while doing some stuff for my course. One of the things I had to do was check out some blogs etc for inspiration. One of the was Rebecca Sower. I used to follow her blog all the time but somehow stopped. Well I check it out and couldn't wait to get on the floor and start creating.

This is probably one of my favourite quotes and when I saw these buttons and black felt ribbon I just knew I had to put them all together.

This is probably my favourite because its so simple but has a powerful message.

and this one is just so cute. I bought a bunch of buttons the other day (very unusual for me to buy buttons but they were really cute) and they go with these little notes cards to well.

This one is a scraplift of Rebecca Sower's. This was actually the first one I did and it just inspired the rest. They were really fun. They made me happy.

I know we are all over christmas but I just had to share this LO. Actually I think its only the second christmas LO that I have done this year. But I just had to tell the story of my Son who had to dress up as an angel for his school christmas concert. He was most upset because according to him only girls are angels. My son is such a character and I will never get enough of scrapping just the everyday things he does. Because believe me he is very entertaining...

I actually started this LO before christmas but with moving out of my room and everything it just got pushed aside. I will never ever get enough of Pink Paislee. Never. I promise.

Thanks for listening to me rattle off. But I think my creative side might be back.

Have a great week everyone and enjoy the last two weeks of the school hols. :-)

farewell Pam

Sadly this week I got the news that one of our (tomorrow's memories) dearest customers and indeed one of my dearest and adored customers, Pam Portman lost her fight against lung cancer on Wednesday. Pam was an amazing lady who had an amazing life. Pam experienced many things in her lifetime, and not all of them good, but she still managed to keep an open mind and a positive outlook. Pam always had such wonderful stories to tell, even the sad stories seemed to be not so sad, but rather a lesson of life. Pam loved to be creative and was always popping into the shop and doing classes. We were very lucky that Pam chose to go on her creative journey with us and we are very thankful for all the stories and parts of her life that she shared with us. We will miss you terribly and not one day will go past that you don't appear in our thoughts. God Bless you Pam.
The sad news of Pam's passing made me think...
When I embarked on this scrapbooking journey some 8 or so years ago I knew that I would get to experience lovely paper, cute embellishments and spend a fortune on photo's and scrapbooking stuff that I just had to have. Although I dreamed about working in the scrapbooking industry I never imagined that not only would I work in the industry but that I would teach and be published. But my biggest surprise was the wonderful people that I have met and the wonderful relationships that I have formed. Everyday someone shares a piece of their soul with me, wether it be by sharing a story, sharing photo's or just simply needing a cuppa and a chat... and there aren't many jobs where you get that privilage. I am touched everyday but the storys and pieces of their lives that they are willing to share with me. Sometimes people share very intimate parts of their lives and sometimes it might be what their kids had for dinner. It doesn't matter to me what they share I am just so grateful that they feel comfortable enough to share it with me. So thankyou everyone for enriching my life everyday. :-)

quick update

Hi everyone, this is just a quick post to let you know that not only am I homeless now (no scrap room due to renovations) but I have now been disconnected from the outside world. Yep no computer now. Its out of the room now so that my wonderful husband can lay the floor boards, so no more posting from now until probably Monday, but I am hoping for Sunday.
Have a great weekend everyone, be creative and try, try to keep cool. These 40 degree days suck.
:-)

what have I been up to?

One of the downfalls of not having my own scrap space (because it has moved into our bedroom for awhile) is that when my husband goes to bed I can't get any supplies out. So unless I am really organised I can't do anything, which is really frustrating because most of my creative urges comes late at night.
In saying that though I have discovered something. With minimal supplies I can focus more on the story and less on the supplies. It has kind of freed me up so to speak. And of course scrapping on the floor is a new thing for me, but I am remaining positive.

This is my first layout for 2009 and while its definately not my best it does scrap 6 photos on one page and it tells the story I want to tell which in the end is way more important.

Although I have lots of class pieces to be doing I am still feeling a little weird creatively, not having a room and all but I seem to have no problem in doing little things. And I do mean little. If you check out Emily Falconbridge's blog you will see her blog challenge for 2009. Its called 52Q (52 questions) and every week Emily will post a question to ask yourself. She has decided to do small shipping tags as her base and as thats all I had available the other night I have decided to do the same.

The first question is "what do I wish for this year to bring"? Here is the front and back of my tag for the first question.

question 2 is "am I afraid of change?" I thought this question quite fitting as this is my "one little word" for 2009.

This is the front and back of my tag.

seriously though, if you are after a bit of a challenge check out her blog and play along. I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Well thats it from me today, hope your day has been good to you and enjoy what is left of it. Remember to keep cool over the next week, we are back to scorchers again.

:-)

Cool blog

You need to check out this very cool blog, Homegrown Hospitality. She does these very cool doodles and has a very cute etsy shop.

Love her little bit of quirky too, she makes me smile.

Happy Birthday Dad

Its my Daddy's birthday tomorrow but we got together today for brunch at Mum& Dads to celebrate. We chose today because my brother (along with his family) and I (along with my family) gave Dad a Voucher for a Harley Davidson Bike Tour for Christmas and he decided that he would like to do it for his birthday. So we waved him off at 9am this morning and then we had a cuppa while we waited for his return. I have never seen my dad smile so much as he did when he returned from his ride. He loved every minute of it and his huge smile certainly showed that he had the best time. Happy Birthday Dad, we love you heaps. He is turning the big 70 next year so I guess we need to start thinking about it now.


Last night we invited friends over (very last minute) at about 6pm for a cocktail and catch up because they too went on a New Years Cruise from singapore. Well as spare of the moment things usually turn out the best we didn't stop at just one cocktail... we had several along with a few wines and the odd vodka. It was such a fun night with the kids getting in and out of the spa then playing on the Wii while we enjoyed our drinks. They ended up staying for a BBQ dinner and they didn't leave till about midnight. Don't you just love those last minute things. I do.
Ah yes hung over again.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend (we are about to get in the spa) and have a great week. I am so looking forward to some cooler days, it will be a nice break.

I'm officially out

I started at 6am this morning and its now 1.39pm and I am finished. Accept for the last few pieces I need to find a home for. Yep its official I am out of my scrap room. Most of my stuff is in our room, some in my daughters room and some in the family room. Its going to be a long 6 weeks but I am trying to stay positive and using it as a time to purge some stuff. No seriously I have way toooooooo much stuff. Its actually criminal how much stuff I have so over the next few weeks and I chucking stuff out. Yep out. Well thats the plan anyway.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, don't mind me I am just going to sit and have a little cry. boo hoo :-0

moving out no so sure

Just an update. I started moving out of my scrap room today. I started at 9.30am and now at 5.11pm all I have done is the bookshelf. Holy crap. I definately have way too much crap. Sorry about that but really I have way too much its criminal.
Yep its taken me all day and all I have done is the bookshelf. I did manage to dump some stuff from the bookshelf, but the strange thing, even though I have dumped some stuff it all doesn't fit back on. What the ....!
Just goes to show how much struff I managed to stick on there. How am I ever going to be out of here by sunday????????
I found about 15 unfinished projects stashed away in the bookshelf. 15, can you imagine. What was I thinking. Really I should finish one project before starting another. Well thats easier said than done you people. And stop laughing, do you here me laughing.
On a brighter note (or not) I did manage to find some fun stuff that I had forgotton I had, now I have to find room for them too now. does is ever end.
Going now to have a cuppa.
Yeh I know, my word, CHANGE, is a good thing. I keep reminding myself of that. :0

Moving out.

Today is the day that I start moving out of my craft room. Oh No I hear you saying. Yep its finally come around and I have to move out. I am out of this room until somewhere mid March. I just want to scream. How will I ever cope. I will be reduced to scrapping out of a box and onto the dining table where I will have to clean up after every scrap session. Its totally unfair and no one in my family seems to get it. Where's the drugs, there must be something I can take for this...
No my husband hasn't thrown me out (ha ha ha), we are having family from Holland stay with us for 6 weeks and they need somewhere to stay. When we went to Holland in 2007 we stayed with their parents who were wonderful to us so now we can repay the favour. We are also using the time to pull up the carpet and lay floor boards down. Floor boards will make cleaning up much easier because carpet isn't really that friendly when it comes to paper, paint etc.
As you can tell by the photo I have way too much stuff for the size of my room so I also have to PURGE some stuff. That will be interesting to say the least. However I feel it will be a good thing once I get over the shock and horror of it all and get into designing my room the way I want it too look. So over the next few months I will keep you posted, thats if I survive the whole thing.
Have a great day :-) I am off now to start removing stuff from the book shelf. Give me strength.
Change... its a good thing, right.

Change quote

I made this little photo clip yesterday to display quotes and other things that remind me about my "one little word". I have decorated both sides of the clip so I can change it around if I like. I found this quote on Two Peas in a Bucket and straight away it clicked with me. So I typed it up and put it on my clip to remind me everyday. When I add something new to my clip I will put this one in my journal. The other cool thing is I made it all out of scraps. Gotta love that.

Have a great Tuesday everyone. I am off to the movies with my kids and then maybe to the pool. :-)

My Word for 2009

Anyone who know Ali Edards will know all about "my word". Its where you choose a word that you will live by. Its a chance for you to think about how you want to live you life for the next year and beyond. You may think how can one little word have any affects on my life. Well let me tell you it does. Last year my word was "vitality" because I needed something to help me focus on things such as low energy and health issues. I made a layout that I displayed in my craft room for me to look at everyday. For me it helped and it made me get some answers to health and energy issues. I am not in perfect health but I am way better than last year and I will keep working on it.

... My word to 2009 is "change".
change the way I think
change the way I act
change the way I see
change the way I speak
change the way I do
& change the way I live

I intend to do some things to help me live by my word. I will do a LO over the next few weeks but one thing I have started doing is I have started a journal. Not a journal of any particular kind but just one that I can write in, sketch in and stick things in. Every time I write the word change I circle it in my journal. Its just another way to remind myself everyday some of my goals.

If any one comes accross something with the word change or a quote please let me know about it so that I can see it or read it and maybe put it in my journal.

Have a great Sunday :-)

Thinking about life differently

On this cruise I had the amazing opportunity to meet a few fabulous people. This particular lady has changed my outlook on life completely. I won't give away her name and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this photo with you all but I just had to introduce her. She is 63, has 6 children and is a widow. But her outlook on life is nothing short of powerful. Did you know that she actually outpartied us on new years eve. In fact she never actually went to bed.
You may think that she looks a little weird in the photo but this lovely lady was with a group that travelled together. Their group was made up of 7 women and 1 man. The man (we will call him the rugby player because thats what we called him - He is actually 70 and still plays rugby) is married to one of the women and they travel together causing mayhem and laughter where ever they go. They are all over 60 and let me tell you they know how to party. But on New Years Eve the dress was formal but they chose to go formal in the style of harem girls. They made a huge entrance into the dining room and changed the atmosphere for the entire night. They had a whole restaurant laughing and lining up to have their face painted with Kindy glitz (yes me included). They live by the philosophy that it could all be over tomorrow so if you want to do something, say something, go somewhere then you should just do it. As long as it doesn't offend anyone and hurt anyone, go right ahead. They certainly made me stop and think about alot of things and lets just say that a few changes are going to take place in my life over the next year.
We also met another couple who were both over 70 and they out danced Amanda & I in the disco at 12.30am on the first night of the cruise to retro music, can you believe that. I got a chance to talk to these lovely people as well and they live by the same believe. don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Beside that fact that the cruise was so much fun it has also made me stand back and things about things a little differently. I realise that I am completely blessed to have the life I have, the family I have, the friends I have and the experiences I have. To say that I am grateful is an understatement.
So for me 2009 is going to be a ripper of a year. Yep thats what i have decided and thats that.
I have been thinking about my word for the year (Ali Edwards) which I chose several months ago but wanted some time to think about it. But after this cruise its confirmed that my word was correct...
My word... I will let you know tomorrow. Have a great day :-)
... I am breathing so its the best day ever.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. Hope you had a wonderful time.

Well I have just arrived home from our New Years Eve Cruise and this is just a short message to say hi, Happy New Year and to show off a few happy snaps before I start my detox and drying out period. Ah yes, no more cocktails for me for a while, no seriously, I need to dry out. But boy did I have a great time...

Again happy new year. I will share more about my amazing cruise over the next few days but I need to sleep, dry out and detox. Oh and pick out our next cruise Yahoooooooooo!!!