Tag you're it!

I have been tagged by Charm, so here are 7 random things about me. Actually haven't thought of what they are yet, so will think while I upload a few photos...

We had a morning out yesterday, with a long play in the park (where the kids REFUSED to play in the autumn leaves for me to photograph them) and breakfast in a cafe. Ash was so tired out from the whole thing that he fell asleep for 2 hours as soon as we got home. Cool, hey.

OK 7 random things....

1. Because I skipped year 10 in high school, I graduated high school when I was 16 but I had no work experience AT ALL (not even the standard couple of weeks you do as part of year 10, since I'd missed it). So I did 'work experience' when I was 17 with the help of an employment agency, and later got a job at the antiquarian bookshop where I did the work experience. That was my first real job. I loved the books but was terrible at talking to people. Really, really quiet.

2. I play video games. Sometimes, anyway, I don't have time for it at the moment. And not anywhere near as much as my hubby Ben plays them ;) But my favourite is a fun rpg called 'Skies of Arcadia' which I played on the Dreamcast and then got the extended version for the Gamecube. I played Kingdom Hearts on PS2 when I was pregnant with Sienna.

3. My best friend and I - when we were kids, about 7 - used to tell each other which fairies we could see in our garden when we were talking to each other on the phone. Lying, really, but pretending we believed ourselves.

4. I don't like beef. Much. I mean I don't hate it, but I rarely eat it.

5. I haemorrhaged when Sienna was born, almost 2 and a half litres apparently, though noone ever worked out why. In any case, 6 weeks later my iron levels were fine, and 1 single steak my mum had made me was the only red meat I ate in that time. I took supplements, too, of course, but that is still pretty cool how well the body can heal itself and get what it needs.

6. It may come as a surprise to my family, but I actually really like shoes. It's just too much bother getting them to fit. And they are too expensive. So I tend to only buy practical ones. So my money is saved by the size of my feet, in a way. Though it also means I don't often get sale shoes, since I have to buy them at the beginning of the season before they sell out of 11s.

7. I write the way I think, and can be quite chatty and conversational. But I can't speak in this way, somehow. My thoughts get in the way.

Yes, some of them were quite random. And long, but I found reading other people's random facts, I liked the long ones. They are very interesting. Check out Danielle Thompson's, for instance. She is a very cool lady. Ooh, almost forgot tagging. Um, lots of blogs I read have already done this one. I tag Sylvia, my cousin Bec, Viv, Kell, Vita and two people without blogs yet - maybe you can email them to me? I love reading this stuff ;) - Leanne R and Rosie!

Flying to Sydney tomorrow, wow! I made up some 'grab bags' to giveaway to friends new and slightly older (online). I only made 10 but as I said earlier, in real life I am not very outgoing. So it seemed enough. LOL. We shall see. If anyone out there wants one, you'll just have to ask ;) I wasn't going to make ATCs or anything, but I have all this random vintage fabric and bits and pieces, so that gave me the idea. Fun stuff!

Deck of Me, Sneak Peeks and Sydney

My deck of me card for week 15, prompt: your parents. My parents are way cool, and this photo is from a camping holiday we went on in the Grampians when I was pregnant with Sienna. Very cute.

On a Kiti Q note, here are sneak peeks for a new class kit I created. Called 'Always Be Curious', there will be a couple of kits available to begin with as soon as the materials arrive.

Guess what - it is Tuesday evening. Yep. And on Friday morning I am FLYING TO SYDNEY for KiwiScraps - Freestyle Downunder! Am way excited. And kinda nervous. I mean, people. Lots of people. Hmm. LOL.

I am looking forward to meeting lots of wonderful scrapping ladies, learning fun new techniques and getting all messy with it in Emily's classes! Will be cool. And I'll come back with plenty of photos!

Film buff or glamour girl?

A very nice package arrived for me this morning from Amazon - I'd placed an order a week or two ago, and it had arrived, yay! Three new films, two of which I'd wanted to see in the cinema and had missed, one which is only just coming out in Australia in May I think, or next week or something.

Stranger Than Fiction

Marie Antoinette

The Science of Sleep - really looking forward to watching this one!

So I will have some nice movie-filled evenings with Ben before flying to Sydney and Kiwiscraps (!!!) on Friday :) Of course it would be better if we weren't both sick and feeling rubbish - especially in the mornings and evenings. But at least that means I'll be well for the long weekend in Sydney.

Also very cool is the announcement of Ruby St Designs 'Guest Glamour Girls' (don't you just LOVE that title?!). I'll be a Guest Glamour Girl for September and I can't wait to see what sort of vintage-y goodies I will be creating with!

Poor little guy...

This is my layout for this week's Finding You project. A wee bit chirpier and more positive than the last two :)

Everyone seems sick today, except Sienna. Ben stayed home feeling unwell, and Ash has been unwell for a few days. Yesterday he was grizzly and tired from being sick, and then fell over on the verandah. You can see here the results, tho his lip actually looks purple today - this photo was taken yesterday. He had a blood nose and a split lip. He is only 20 months or something and this is at least his third split lip - he manages to fall over or hurt himself doing the most normal things. Due, in part, to his tendency to do everything at double speed, even if he is not physically capable of it yet!

Here is a cute pic of Kell and her little boy-o Jude. My cute nephew. He is all sweet and soft, and Ash who is just 6 weeks younger, is all tough and physical. A cute contrast :)

Finding Me

Here is my layout for the Finding You workshop - week 2. There is journaling hidden under the photo. Yes, I am a bit behind, it being the middle of week 3, but have been very busy! I really want to get the next week done, and my Deck of Me card, by the weekend. I have something else I want to make on Saturday.

Always something to make!

This is my current favourite photo of Sienna, plus a few extras from Saturday's Scrap N Chat, of anyone who had the misfortune to pass by when I had my camera handy ;) Click on each one to see a bigger version...



Kiti Q have MASSES of new stock in this week, check it out! I SO LOVE the Magnolia transparencies, and the paper is just beautiful. Used it for the layout above, with one of the Rouge de Garance limited edition papers... There is also the funky Cosmic Energy range, designed by Corinne Delis for Cherry Arte. So cool, and fun for boy projects. A photo flip book / mini album kit coming up with these papers... just wait and see ;)

Scrap N Chat, Sketches and Class Kit

Yep, I've been a bit slack lately with blogging. Not that I always have something to say every couple of days, but actually lots has been going on - I've just been too tired to blog about it!

This mini album, as displayed at Kiti Q's stall at Crop For Kids, is now available as a full class kit in the store. You can check it out here - it comes with 11 pages of instructions, pictures of every page and diagrams / templates. It was a lot of work but is a really cute album and was fun to make too.

How CUTE are these kids? These pics are of Harmony and Chei, Charmane's gorgeous kids who came to Scrap n Chat on Saturday. Which was cool, by the way. Very chill out scrapping afternoon, a few snacks, a bit of music, no interruptions - fun and relaxing! Bon and Kell are planning on doing one every couple of months probably. Register on Kiti Q if you want to know when ;)

I have more photos from the day, but have only edited these few so far. Been busy busy.

Picked up the paint I need to finish painting the foyer (my scrap room / study, and our entranceway - all the same room!). It's such a nice blue and actually matches the Pthalo blue I love to use in my paintings. I also bought some very cool cushions for my red couch, two are crocheted turqoise, one is white with flocked turqoise pattern, and one is white with a flocked black damask pattern. I just need to make one more, out of a black vintage cheongsam I have (cut up), and the lounge cushions will be complete. Will take photos later, and post them tomorrow.

BIG NEWS - have you heard about the new Aussie blog coming up? It is Sketches Oz, has been created by Tatum Woodruffe and will launch on May 1st. I was invited to join the design team, which is very flattering, and it sounds like a fun challenge so I have accepted. A bunch of very talented ladies are already booked up as the fortnightly guest artists, so it sounds AWESOME!

Deck of Me

Here are my week 13 and 14 deck of me cards, which I did yesterday afternoon at my kitchen table. Rosie - who is an artist, but never a scrapbooker before - also started the project yesterday afternoon, having bought a deck of cards in the morning. Sienna was sitting and drawing / cutting / playing with modelling clay. It was quite peaceful and creative. I also did a canvas each for Rosie's two daughters, who didn't come over this trip, but I forgot to take photos. Oops!

The card prompts for these were "What's on your mind" and "Birds".


Here are Rosie's deck of me cards she did yesterday as well. Pretty awesome, I think she's a natural scrapbooker ;)

Rosie's visit - in pictures

Zari

A few pages to share, tho I am not in love with any of them. The big photo one of Sienna's hands was one of my submissions for Awards for Excellence and has been published in this month's FK in the photography section.

This layout 'Take Off' is in this month's Scrapbooking Memories but has been printed in strange colouring and looks like it's brown and green. It's actually on bright red cardstock, so am not sure why it looks brown in the mag. Never mind, it's a cool photo anyhow.

Here is a new creation that I mostly did on Saturday afternoon, using one of the new limited edition Rouge de Garance papers, this one is called Zari - so beautiful, these papers.

Cropping away

Well Crop For Kids was a big day yesterday, with Kell and I arriving at 8 or so to set up Kiti Q's shop. It was great fun meeting lots of new people, chatting away, scrapping away, shopping and selling (with Kiti Q). I believe the committee did really well and raised a substantial donation, but there is no final count just yet. Here is a pic of them all with their pink bunny ears! It's a bit small to be able to tell that tho.

This cute little miss is Phoebe Doyle - she was sitting at our table quietly painting, drawing, etc, and is just the cutest thing.

A shot here of Bon from Bon's Scraps, Kell from Kiti Q and Charmane Koch from the 123 blog, who are all joining together to host a Scrap N Chat next Saturday afternoon at Belgrave South. Should be a great chill-fest, listening to music, snacking, chatting, and you never know - maybe even scrapping ;) Anyone in the Melbourne area - esp. Eastern suburbs - why don't you join us? It'll be cool. Info on Kiti Q's site.

Here's Kell and I with our 'Kiti Q' coloured outfits. And Kell has the funkiest little cat necklace that we found out shopping on Thursday. Gorgeous.

Here is one of the two layouts I managed to complete at the crop yesterday. Yes, I managed to scrap. I even talked to people too. A bit. LOL. Are you shocked? I made a real effort to socialise and it paid off - I met so many great people. Anyhow, this layout is for the Corinne Delis 'Finding You' workshop I'm doing. I also got to meet Vita Thai at the crop day, she is completing the workshop as well. It's a bit of an intense layout, but what can you do, hey.

I was SO tired last night, I went to bed at 7:45pm. And slept. Sienna was in bed with us - can't remember why that came about - so it wasn't the most restful night ever, but I didn't have to get up until 8, which was quite amazing.

I gotta go the shops later today. Ash is already mostly in size 2, can you believe it, and just doesn't have any tops with long enough sleeves. He takes after my dad and I in that regard. So I have to pick some up. Also some ingredients for dinner, as Ben and I postponed our anniversary dinner til tonight, due to crazy busy-ness during the week. So we are making some special stuff and staying in, just for a change. For a change on our anniversary I mean, we do always stay in ;) But we'll have some yummy wine and seafood and stuff.

Almost forgot, here is the limited edition Rouge de Garance stuff Kiti Q just got in - I SO wanted to play with it yesterday, but it was on display. I'm sure Kell will let me have it today tho - won't you Kell ;) ;) She'll be adding it to the site this weekend I believe, and is going to sell the papers individually as well, how cool is that!

Have a great long weekend, everyone!