Deck of Me 8

Emily's prompt this week - What do you miss? I thought of a few things (I have this photo of me in a bikini top and sarong at age 16 - I definitely miss having that flat stomach!) but the first thing, and most real, is just hanging out with my family. I miss Bec a lot - my cousin and best friend - but also would love to be able to just hang out with my sister Hayley, and mum and dad. They all live in the Adelaide Hills (8 hour drive or so from Dandenong Ranges/Melbourne).

I used KI Memories rubons and paper, a doodlebug paper frill and some more accents from my current fave BAM POP! For you Aussies out there, you can shop here for your Bam Pop fix :)

Just to clarify my last week's card (for those with size 10 feet) - I wouldn't have a problem with having size 10 feet - it's the "and a half, A" which makes life difficult. It means size 10 shoes are too small! And usually too wide as well (the "A" means narrow feet). I didn't want anyone with size 10 feet getting offended! LOL.

Have fun creating!

Not painting, scrapping.

A collection of layouts today - one of Kell and Roh for Scrapbook Divas monthly challenge (word love and heart/s). A couple of details - love the funky zebra print in the KI Memories Wild Thing 'Elements'. These little cross-stitches in the flowers are pretty cute I think :)

These other two are for the 123 cybercrop
challenges 1 and 3. I love this photo of Sienna at 8 weeks old, and have wanted to put it with this Tagore poem I love for awhile. The challenge was buttons, bling (there is a bling photo corner, and collections of tiny star sequins all through) and chipboard (title). I started this last night at 9pm and finished it this morning. Check out the detail of the little dragonfly - my sister Kelly gave me three of these little dragonfly brads as a gift, knowing how I love dragonflies. Cool, hey!

This last layout, which was actually the second one I did, was for challenge 3 in the Cybercrop. The sketch was part of the criteria, and I don't like using sketches usually, but took the chance to use a lot of Kiti Q product - including the funky new Bampop stuff! Also a couple of Basic Grey Pheobe papers. OK the second criteria was to take inspiration from outside your front door - living in the hills I took my colour combo from the all trees and sky I see as soon as I go outside. The third criteria was paint.

On Saturday morning Ben, the kids and I went to South Yarra to go to Porters Paints - I wanted to pick up some paint for my foyer / work area / scrap area. Yes, when you walk inside my front door you see my scrap desk! So it needed organising :) First thing - bought the paint. Woohoo! I have it sitting here next to my desk in it's nice paper bag. Need to pick up my brushes from helping Kell paint her kitchen.

Afterwards we went to IKEA and picked up some stuff for the kids room, a few bits for the kitchen and some storage things for my scrap area. The kids were really good and we were all completely exhausted by the time we got home. I spent the rest of the day sorting my desk and supplies - boy do I have too much stuff. Anyhow, it is nice and tidy now, I will take some photos soon to post. In the meantime a couple of photos from Porters Paints - I love this place. Such great colours and I love the feel of the paint on the wall. Check out the gorgeous cabinet full of tiny colour pots! Way funky.

Deck of Me and Bam Popping Away

Here is my latest card for Emily's Deck of Me challenge - the prompt this week was 'Shoes'. At first I thought I could print out those funky shoes I love that I bought a few weeks ago, but as cool as they would look it doesn't say much about me.

I have had "big feet" for a long time and it has defined me to an extent. I have never been a shoe person, but out of circumstance more than choice. Mind you, maybe I would never have been a shoe person! Now it is easier because they make shoes to size 11 a lot of the time.

CHECK THIS OUT! I was soooo excited yesterday when Kell smsd me saying that Bam Pop and Basic Grey Phoebe had arrived. And then it was made even more exciting when she got home to find all the new Urban Lily ranges had also arrived!! That was it - after dinner I packed a few supplies and headed over to play :)

Lucky Kell worked away adding everything to Kiti Q while I scrapped away on the floor and watched 'House'. Ah the joys of being a designer instead of a business owner ;) Here is the layout I created which is for Kiti Q's fortnightly newsletter later today.

On Tuesday night I did a layout for the 123 challenge for February - the criteria were to use green, no patterned paper and stamping somewhere. I stamped my Poppy Ink bird stamp on a bit of cardstock and added it to the collection of bits and pieces. The patterns are SEI tabs and frames, which are actually cardstock stickers. It turned out ok I think, though I'm not in love with it. I'm a patterned paper addict ;) Actually I think next time a challenge comes up I will dare everyone to use NO CARDSTOCK. LOL. I did it quite by accident just the other day.

Man I'm chirpy this morning. Must be all this scrapping :)

True Harvest

“The true harvest of my life is intangible - a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched” Henry David Thoreau

Found that quote today when looking for something to put on my layout. It wasn't the one I used but I do really like it! Very pleased with my page, after looking at it for too long, not knowing if it was rubbish or brilliant, going away, coming back, adding things, taking things away, sticking it all down and not caring, etc. It is done now and I like it :) Can't show it unfortunately as it is pre-booked, so to speak. But since I just finished it ten minutes ago it is part of my current state of mind...

Which is fairly random I must admit. I think I had a good day, in that it wasn't really bad. Actually, Ash fell over (as he does on a regular basis, going a mile a minute with no thought for the consequences), and he actually split his lower lip. He has done this before, also, but it was quite nasty. Still, he only took about two minutes to recover and smile happily at Toy Story, which I had quickly put on to distract him. So the day itself wasn't a shining happy one or anything, but I didn't feel very bad. Also Ash is fine, he always seems to be after these dramatic injuries or near-death experiences.

What was I going to say? I can't remember. I could also delete that, but feel kind of random in thought this evening so it is quite an accurate reflection of my mood. To forget and not remember again.

I must remember some things I have to do. There are a few things, letters to write, funds to organise for various purposes, project/s to put together.

So I will leave you with a photo which I edited today, which is a cute one of Sienna just over 3 weeks ago. Yes, she is wearing a winter hat. It was cold! We were at Reedy Creek (the grandparents) in south-east SA, and it was a strangely chilly day. Very cute pic I thought!

Ooh before I forget - am very excited this week to be getting new products to play with! Woohoo Kiti Q! LOL that sounds so weird. Anyhow, Basic Grey 'Phoebe' range and also all the new release from Urban Lily are coming in to Kiti Q and I will be shopping up a storm! Kell also got the COOLEST things in that are just perfect for me because they are DRAGONFLIES!! Love the dragonflies. Check them out here - just waiting for a project I can put them on. Fun stuff.

Shadows

I did two paintings today, both acrylics. Kind of a theme. The first one, with the red flowers, is called Shadows. It is about 50x60cm. The other one is Untitled and is 12x12cm.

Haven't been blogging much, feeling like if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. Not that I wanted to be nasty about anyone else. But let's just say I needed to do something like painting.

These two took about 50 minutes total. It's weird how I can be quick if I don't have a preconceived concept of what I am aiming for, but there is also a 50% chance of producing a wasted canvas instead of art. This is why I stopped at 2 - it was far more likely to deteriorate from there! Did I spell that right? Am feeling a bit numb, can't think properly. Anyhow, hope everyone has a great weekend and keeps cool inside. It's going to be around 40 at a lot of places tomorrow.

Red

The Look blog had a challenge, to use a colour both as the subject of your page and the theme. I was thinking about it and was reminded of the quote from Breakfast at Tiffany's. The whole quote (only a bit is on the layout) goes like this:

"
Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!
"

Anyhow, this is my layout about the mean reds. I have been having red sort of days this week, so it seemed appropriate.

I guess creating is like my Tiffany's.

Squizzle

Lots of squizzling children climbing all over me. Well, two. When they are grizzly grumpy and attacking you, two is more than enough!

OK, I will stop Ash sucking on the mayo bottle as soon as I post these new cards, for Emily's Deck of Me project. Am caught up now! This is weeks 4, 5 and 6.

My favourite symbol was a question mark, though I had trouble choosing for that one. But I thought a question mark suits my personality quite well, as I am always analysing and challenging things, even if only internally.

The ephemera for week 5's card was from the remittance advice / cheque from Scrapbook Creations that I received last week. It is the first cheque from SC, though not my first time published. But since I have since had a bunch of layouts and a few articles accepted for SC, it seems more of the beginning of something. I had really aspired to writing articles and SC has enabled me to do this.

This week's prompt was 'love' and I used my card to celebrate my relationship with my hubby. The photo was leftover from a layout I finished this morning anyhow, so that was handy ;) The journalling explains how we've been married for nearly 8 years, together for 10 and best friends for 11 years as of 2007.

Whinge

Am feeling a bit miserable today - came home yesterday evening from painting Kell's kitchen with her all day (is looking very cool - will post before and after pics when done). I didn't notice or feel it until I was driving home, but the glands in my throat were totally swollen and aching. This morning my whole throat, and my left ear, are aching and miserable, so I thought I'd have a whinge ;)

I met this couple the other night - I am photographing their wedding in May, they are a really fun couple so it should be good.

I've been getting loads of ideas for scrapbooking but no time to do anything about it at the moment. I am hoping this week will be better. Did you see Sylvia's blog? This amazing girl decided to join in on the deck of me card project, and completely caught up straight away! Awesome cards too :) I've still got two more to catch up on, and then I guess a new one is posted tonight? I am really liking the tiny format tho. Kell is also thinking about joining in, for the chance to create something small regularly, it is a very funky project idea.

....

I have to agree with Viv on this one (see blog listing in right column) - what is with titles? A pain in the butt. Sometimes I like them, but EVERY SINGLE POST? Too hard! Lol.

OK, so I have had a long day. Of course, cos it was a Tuesday. Four kids day. But I have to say, they were actually extremely tolerable today ;) Just kidding, they were good for me. Well behaved and I didn't even have to take them outside. It was actually a bit cold - hard to believe after yesterday. And why am I talking about the weather? Because I'm feeling pretty random on my second glass of wine.

So I decided to start doing Emily 's playing card mini album project thingy. Sorry I can't be bothered linking to her blog right now, Emily Falconbridge, very funky scrapping chica, easy to find ;) ANYHOW she has started this project where you decorate a single playing card each week, since 52 cards in a deck = 52 weeks. Pretty cool. And she posts a question or theme each week. Since I just got my cards the other day, I had to catch up, since the project started at the beginning of the year. So today I did the first three week's worth.

The first week was 'something you are proud of'. Since it is supposed to be a 'deck of me' kind of album I decided not to use my kids, my sisters, my cousin Bec or anything like that to be proud of. I had to think a lot actually. I decided to say that I am a smart person. The journalling on the back says 'Well, I don't know my IQ, but I know that I am a smart person, and it's ok to be proud of that'. Well - shouldn't it be? I am trying hard to acknowledge my strengths, as I am very well acquainted with my weaknesses! No need to dwell on those... at least not in public, LOL.

Man, this is turning into a long post. Anyhow, the second week was 'What is powerful to you?'. My card says 'Motherhood', and the journalling says 'To me, being a mother is a powerful thing, inspiring the sweetest and fiercest of loves'. When thinking about this, I want to remember that I desperately wanted to be a mother, when I was apparently infertile (at 21). I felt it was part of my makeup that I would be a mum, and now that I am of course it seems true. But I also want to be clear that not having actual physically present children does not mean you are not a mother. I know for a fact that mother's who miscarry - however early - often feel the same incredibly sweet tenderness for their tiny embryo / foetus, and the same fierce defensiveness when anyone implies there was anything wrong with it (as though that makes a miscarriage easier to accept). Even if they never give birth, these women are mothers too. Just because it is in their hearts and we can't see it, it doesn't mean it's not true.

Alright, if anyone is game enough to keep reading - I am very uninhibited with my posting this evening! Back to the topic - the third week of the project was to complete a sentence/ phrase beginning with 'I am'. I wrote 'I am an introvert, always'. I really feel like no one can understand me or even like me really without understanding that fact. It is so integral to my personality. Anyhow, the journalling actually says this: 'My personality type is INFJ, with very strong levels of 'introvert' and 'intuitive'. I need solitude regularly to recharge my emotional energies.'

On a lighter note, how cute is this couple? I am photographing their wedding in March, and just met them on Saturday. Kieran is so cute with her crinkly nose when she laughs. Luckily I seemed to make her laugh so it should be super fun to shoot their wedding day.

Also Jude was really cute today - he got a bit miserable after Ash hit him on the head with a cardboard block (Alannah tells me - I wasn't in the room). So I had this spare photo from a layout of Kell holding Jude and gave it to him. He was all gorgeous, showing the other kids the photo and saying 'mumma' with a cute little smile. Gotta love him.

Cybercropping away

It is strange cybercropping as I am not the chattiest person. At least, I can be very chatty online in msn, or by email - but forums are different. So I don't post a huge amount of comments. I love the challenges though - stretching creatively. Also because I have photos printed because I like them and they end up used in more interesting ways to fit the cybercrop challenge criteria.

This one - above - is the second challenge at Scrap Top 50's February cybercrop. That will be it, though, as I have other pages and projects I need to work on, and am also trying to get a few things done around the house. I have a bit of website editing to do for Outback Pride, and Ben has been working on my new Danielle Q Photography website, so I have to select some portfolios for those galleries.

Had some oysters last night - so yum. We were also watching Iron Chef at the time, so was feeling very 'foody' ish. A bit of a treat just cos I felt like it. And some red wine, helping me relax quite a lot actually, LOL. I'd had a full day! So by the time I did this scrap page I was feeling very uninhibited, and I think it had quite a good effect on my layout!

Um

Am feeling a bit... um.. weird? this evening. So here is just a couple of things I did last night for the Scrap Top 50 cybercrop. And some new shoes I bought on Wednesday. I think I'll just look at them, more than wear them. So funky!