Sunday, December 28, 2008

Annas Dec Sketch

Yes, I'm a bit behind with the sketch this month - but there's still time to enter if you have a whole bunch of new scrapping supplies sitting there that you may have got for christmas!
This, however, is NOT my take on the sketch......thats down the bottom of the post - LOL.
This is a banner (hope I haven't uploaded this before) that I made using those Collections chipboard clipboards - I LOVE them so made this banner and clipped photos underneath taken throughout the year - and then I will change them every year.

HERE'S the sketch! Another great one from Becky Fleck PageMaps.
And this is my take on it - and EVERYTHING on this LO is from Anna's. (it's kind of like a 'mini' take on the sketch in case you're wondering too.........)




And don't these photos look familiar?LOL. Well, not to you as the photo is probably too small but these are the photos I took off my banner now that I've taken it down so figured I'd scrap them very simply using the new Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes paper from Anna's. Love this yellow as a background paper.


So grab some photos and enter that sketch challenge - awesome prize of a $35 voucher including free postage.
Oh - and I've already scrapped heaps of my Cocos photos so will share that in a bit too. I did one page as a project that FK (Creative Papercraft - still can't get used to the new name!LOL) asked me to do and I love it but now I can't share it.:(.lol
Oh - and YAY - apparently I won an Award for Excellence in FK's comp! Don't know which LO it's for but figure the mag will make it's way out here to the outback soon enough! Congrats to friends that also got awards - Jolene Pienaar, Tatum Woodroffe and Christine Rumley! Sorry if I missed someone but I don't actually know who got all the awards yet.
And of course - huge congrats to Mel Nunn who made the Elite team.
Rambled long enough? I think so......................



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

We're back - and Merry Christmas!!

Just a really quick post before I go to bed and Santa arrives!! SO exciting!!
We are back from Cocos and had an amazing time!
Here's some pics.
This is the beach in front of my sisters house..... Some of the 15 trillion coconut trees on the islands!

Down at the south end of West Island


My sisters outdoor setting - look where we had coffee every morning! What a view


Oh - the kids LOVED these - they came out in the hundreds every night to eat of the cat bowl and stuff!!LOL. So funny - so many of them!


Anyway - I'm off to bed so wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS for tomorrow.
Night xx



Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Masters stuff

How did I manage to upload these all around the wrong way?LOL. So start at the bottom and work your way up!
The masters mag is out apparently - although I haven;t seen it and I was told I got 2 honourable mentions for my double (blah - I didn't like it that much) and my single.
Here's my keepsake which I loved - I've been meaning to do it for ages and it's a disc with all "our songs" on it - songs that we travelled around America too, songs I listened to when I was pregnant with each child and so on............
And this is my calendar which can be perpetual - so you just move all the blocks around - and each person has their 'face' on their birthday.










Congrats to the girls who got Masters - some awesome names in that list!!


Monday, December 8, 2008

Christmas photo shoot

Seeing as I had uploaded last years christmas card photo shoot LO, thought I'd better prove I'm NOT THAT far behind in my photos - LOL!. This is this years............

...

OK - just another quick share - this one I did for a sketch last month over at Scrapbook Shelf. And this is my Puzzle sketches attempt this month.
And just sharing some other ones that I didn't know if I had or not due to being published. This one was for a challenge SM gave me to scrap a wedding LO without using white.


And these 2 were in SC - this sunset one is nearly 14 months old!LOL







Not long now til we go to Cocos - have pretty much packed and hopefully am all organised - PLENTY of stuff for the kids to do on the plane - hope they cope okay with it!(And hope I do too!LOL).



Friday, November 28, 2008

An Award

The lovely Melanie awarded me this - thanks so much - and here goes..........

Here are the rules:
1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Provide links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Sheree McGee - not only an awesome scrapper but such a gorgeous person and friend.
Amanda Hall - LOVE this girls style - and wish I lived in SA so I could go to that retreat!!
Pip Prosser - I know Pip has such a different style to me, but I just LOVE seeing what she does with the mixes of papers she uses - it's just awesome! (and she won't know me from a bar of soap!!LOL)
Belinda Venables - LOVE her simple style
Tam Milborn - absolutely LOVE her simple but quirky style

Ok - thats done!
ANd here's what I've been doing - have done all my christmas cards - don't they look cool all piled here??


And here's a present I made for a friend.



Oh this was done a while ago - a VERY multi-photo LO of pretty much all the photos I took on one day in Sydney


And this is my entry for the puzzle sketches blog this month - my boys!

Not long now til we're off to Cocos - can't wait.
Spoke to Mum 2 days - spare a thought for those southwest WA farmers who were having a bumper season this year, only to have nearly 3 weeks of straight rain (which means you can't harvest and it also ruins the grain - it lowers the value of it) so now they'll be lucky if it goes 'feed' - they are getting to the point where they are worried that CBH wont' accept it at all.
Up here we just finished harvest yesterday!! YAY (LOL - as we don't have a big cropping program at all - being on the station with the whole 'pastoral lease' thing, you can't actually sell it - you can only use it for livestock feed/hay etc.
But my FIL has been harvesting for a few weeks for the neighbours and had an absolute dream run with the weather - but somehow I thought I'd better NOT mention this to Mum!
Anyway - off now - catch you later!




Friday, November 21, 2008

Aaaannndd some more - lol

Ok - here's some more......
This one was done with a boy kit from Bon's a few months ago
And I think I did this one for chinese whispers?

And this is my recipe book and THE best recipes in the world (and notice I couldn't give it away!LOL). This was done for KSK and I'm pretty sure you can get nearly all the stuff still from there.










Thanks for looking!
Fran xx

Just a share

I've just realised that there's heaps of stuff I've done over the past few months which I haven't uploaded so here's some.
This is just one of those Kaisercraft wood words - so quick and easy. Claire trying to look like "Ro" off The Island Princess barbie movie. How cute!

Darcy turns 3 - a very "Ali Edwards" looking LO - LOL.

A felt needle holder I made for myself - generous aren;t I??lol



And this is done using the Pink Paislee Vintage Moon Collection.



tfl
Fran xx


Thursday, November 6, 2008

OK - lo's are here........

Look - I'm blogging again ALREADY!!LOL. Thought I'd better share some of my retreat creations.
This one was done using the Urban Prairie range from Basic Grey which we did in Nic Anderson's class. LOVE that we stitched around in really thick cotton - called topstitch apparently - next time I get to Spotlight I'm going 'topstitch' hunting! This one was really cute I thought - and suited my station photos better than I thought it would as the description was bright and funky. I love it (also done in Nic's class).

This one was done in Mardi Winen's class using the new Sass Lass stuff - love the colour combo on this one.

Another one done in Mardi's class - we actually did another LO and a mini-album in this class but I put them away in the right albums when I got home so now I have to dig them out to photograph them (I know, I know - organisation??what WAS I thinking?? Only leads to confusion!) These are colours I normally wouldn't have put together myself but I really love these pages.



Oh - and throughout the weekend we were given 5 challenge packs with which you had to make a LO using all the stuff included - you could add but couldn't take away. This is my take on the first challenge and I won it - YAY!!

*SORRY - OUT TO BE PUBLISHED IN SM*

I was a scrapping geek - and finished all my LO's for the classes and 4 of the 5 challenges - it actually made a nice change from when I normally get home and have a bunch of unfinished stuff which I think I will get straight onto when I get home - but then I don't!
Oh - and check this out from Anna's - wish I could enter - these prizes are fabulous - and there's SO many of them!!
Christmas is fast approaching and this month everyone is in with a chance to win six fabulous prizes! All you have to do is purchase $40 of product (before post) to receive 1 raffle ticket into the prize draw on 1 December. Purchase $80 and receive two tickets and so on. Often we miss out at Christmas time - the kids are too excited and hubbys/partners often need reminding so now is your chance to win a specially wrapped Christmas present from Anna's Craft Cupboard to be placed under your tree especially for you! Orders placed from 1 November to 30 November 2008 that meet the requirements are eligble for this draw. Pictures of the prizes are on the blog.
First prize - $100 gift voucher (you get to choose your own supplies and this will be wrapped and pos ted to you in time for Christmas)
Second Prize - AMM T2 Tote in Black and White valued at $65.95
Third Prize - Basic Grey Magnetic Mat valued at $55.00
Fourth Prize - WRMK Nonsense Collection pack valued at $39.95
Fifth Prize - Basic Grey Urban Prairie Collection pack valued at $35.95
Sixth Prize - Cropper Hopper Deluxe Supply Case 8.5 x 11 inch valued at $31.95
Over $325 worth of prizes!
Good luck!!
And keep an eye out on Anna's blog soon as there will be some christmas creations coming up - from yours truly. Just in case you're in need of some inspiration!! For your own needs (cards and tags) or presents for other people.



Monday, November 3, 2008

Bad blogger........

I know I am - but you know, I'm not really THAT cut up about it!LOL.
Lots has happened since I last blogged so I'll just start typing and see where I get too........oh, thats' enough.......BYE. Just kidding - I have a bit more staying power than that (maybe only a little though - LOL)
Oh ok, yep - I'll stop crapping on about nothing............
STUFF (in point form):
I got bitten by a centipede - doesn't sound too bad?? OMG are you kidding me???? Talk about PAIN! Don't EVER get bittem by a centipede and kill any that you see. I've been bitten by bees, wasps, scorpions but NOTHING compares to a centipede.
It happened in my house as I was going to bed at 10.30pm and it leapt out and got me - I swear this happened - the aggressive little bugger - and even my sister agrees that they actually 'go' for you, they don't just react because you stood on them.
Anyway - it looked like a snake bite - the fangs went right in so there were deep purple marks on my foot (with blood too). It looked so much like a snake bite, that if you didn't actually see the centipede - thats what you'd think it was.
Good thing I knew exactly what but me - and he died a violent death for his troubles.
And the pain - did I mention that before?? It didn't stop hurting until about 7am - omg - I was exhausted - I didn't sleep and just spend the night crying and wondering what the cleanest way would be to chop my foot off. For future reference - the only thing that remotely relieves the pain is putting your foot in as hot water as you can stand - and that is BY NO MEANS a miracle cure but it does help a little.
Putting cold on it just increases the pain.
So then - the next day the kids had the day off school as I couldn't drive them to the bus and I limped around for a few days with elephantitis of the foot - it looked hilarious. Then the swelling went down but came back a day later with a vengeance and the itchiness made me want to scratch my skin off - even though I'm an adult and every piece of common sense told me scratching it wouldn't help but it was so intense I just scratched and scratched SO much - I wanted the skin to bleed so it might relieve it. But anyway - it all went away and I'm fine except for my 2 beautiful puncture marks on my foot and a new found inclination to leapt in the air every time something touches my foot now.
But I have to thank god that it wasn't the kids and I woudln't have possibly known how painful it would be - so if they ever did get bitten I would take them straight to hospital - I can't imagine how they would get through that (or me for that matter, having to watch them deal with it).
Anyway - lesson on little buggers free-loading in my house is over..............LOL.

Another thing I did that resulted in loss of sleep, but was a hell of a lot more fun was my trip down to the Scrapboxx retreat in Margaret River this time - this is the first time I've been to the October one (as opposed to the March one) and I loved it!! Definitely going again.
It was so much more relaxed as you didn't have to pack your gear up to go to classes and you got to know everyone really well as there were way less people and you all stayed together all the time. I got so much scrapping done - about 12 Lo's I think - as well as a card, and 2 mini-albums - and our tag album which was awesome.
Nic Anderson and Mardi Winen took the classes and they were fabbo - we used new paper ranges which I honestly probably wouldn't have picked for myself but I loved what we did with them. Got so many new ideas.
I loved catching up with all the girls I already know - Sheree, Kel, Leeann, Janine, Maria, Denise, Kareena, Nikki, Karen (sorry if I missed someone - it's past my bedtime nearly!LOL).......and seeing Nic and Mardi again - and meeting new people like my roomie, Kathleen who looks just like her avatar pic which is VERY handy!!
Oh, and we got to use the Zutter Bind-it-all which is the coolest machine and actually a lot cheaper that I thought it would be so by Sun morning I'd succumbed to peer pressure and decided to buy one. Maria was raffling one (which I'd bought tickets in) but not trusting that I'd win (seeing as I NEVER win) I bought myself one - only to win the raffle to get ALL your shopping for free - so I won one anyway!!!YAY!!! I was so STOKED!! I won over $200 worth of stuff as I'd also put binding wires in my shopping and everything!!
SO EXCITED!! I told Bradley "aren't you happy I got all that shopping for free?" and he said "I would never have known how much you spent anyway!" LOL - and that is so true - he wouldn't as I do all that side of stuff.
Anyway..............anything else? It was really just the centipede and the retreat that was so exciting. I have lots of scrapping to share but I can't remember what I already have shared and what I haven't so I just have to check and then I'll upload some stuff.

What else? Ummm got some stuff coming up in the new few Scrapbook Creations - oh and I got a mini-album accepted for Creative Paper - which is the old For Keeps which was kind of amazing as they've cut back on the scrapping stuff so I didn't think they'd accept much stuff anymore. (which is actually why I subbed the mini-album - for something diff than a LO).

I have been working on some stuff for Anna - and have some cool christmas crafts on the boil so will share when I'm done.

I'm so hanging out to spiral-bind something with my new machine - I even thought about my children, but Sheree tells me they won't fit - she's tried!!LOL

ANyway - big post for me so gonna go lay down for a bit............LOL.

I will post again later about our bbq we had for Bradley's birthday on Sat night - nice night to catch up with friends and then by the end we had blood, broken glass and someone in hospital! Made for interesting conversation the next day!! (And by the way, the person in hospital wasn't the same one that was bleeding - LOL - the plots thickens..........)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Love love love this!!

I adore this new range of papers by Webster's - isn't it just beautiful??? Can't wait til it gets to Oz!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

KSK Cybercrop

Just a couple of LO's done recently ...........
And info on the Karen's Scrappin Kupboard cybercrop this weekend
Come and join us this Friday night!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Bon's CC is on tonight!

Check it out - along with my news.........
HERE

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Flying pigs........

2 posts in one night - oh my golly goshness!! LOL
Just wanted to overload on Lo's seeing as I have so many to share and don't get around to updating all that often.
Here's another 6x12" for Darcy's album - love this size for something different every now and then. If you want to try this size, you can get the 6x12" page protectors from Karen's Scrappin Kupboard here. And these are some pages done with the Daisy Bucket 'In the Meadow' papers which are just awesome colours - I love this green and blue together - so versatile.




And I booked to go on retreat at the end of October!! YAY. Cannot wait - Nic Anderson and Mardi Winen are going to be the teachers and I can't wait to catch up with Miss Sheree!!

Scrappy stuff

I've been scrapping! As I wrote in the last post, I got my new Heidi Swapp alphabet stamps from Anna's and I love them every bit as much as I thought I would.I have been using them 0n EVERYTHING!! (well, not my children............lol - but everything I've been scrapping)
Here's a few things - I've scrapped these photos a few times as I wanted a LO of Ben in each of the kids albums so they remember him when they get older.
I really love that October Afternoon pp too - the black dotty one. Pretty much all the products on these pages can be bought from Anna's store. And here's the October AFternoon paper again..........lol
Don't you just love the stamps!!
Using October Afternoon pp

I had a visitor on Monday which was just lovely! Steph Mitchell from Bon's forum called in for a cuppa on her way home from visiting her hubby at Yalgoo. It's absolutely amazing, I find, that someone I met online can be the one person that just HAPPENS to drive past my front gate. I mean, NO ONE ever does that. We have lots of visitors, but they are ones that travel to see us - but Steph just happens to drive past my front gate.
It was so nice to catch up with her again and to meet her (very patient!!) daughter!
Anyway - will post again soon as I have more scrapping to share.
And it's getting on to the end of the month now - want another challenge to enter? Kims' sketch over at KSK is a great one - and so easy. And at the moment there's not many entries so your chances of winning are WAY up there!! If you want to check it out - look here.