Snapshot Sunday ...

And another week whizzes by ...

Loving homemade fresh fruit smoothies after a long walk ...

Little madam butterfly ... facepainted at Relay for Life ...



Spent a few hours at Relay for Life yesterday, walked over 10,000 steps (had my ipod pedometer on) just in my evening session. An amazing event raising money for a good cause, also a great place to catch up with friends, having a chat while walking laps of the track.

And this week a few scrap layouts (finally you say! LOL!).

Finn asked if I could do a few layouts for him, obviously I have been doing a few too many girl layouts lately - opps. So here we go ...

{Layout removed for publication}

Papers used are Bella Blvd - one of my favs.

Have a great week!

Snapshot Sunday and spreading the love ...

Just a few hours late (ooppps), but here is my snapshot of the week that has been ...

Going with the valentine/love theme here ... this being a snap of my three most favorite people in the whole world ...

And carrying on with the valentine/love theme these are some scrappy projects I created for SBO this month using the Bo Bunny Crush Collection ...

I found this gorgeous frame last week and knew the perfect way to use some of these beautiful papers. I used a cuttlebug heart die, and put them in a grid pattern on white cardstock ...

A loved themed layout with a difference ... the journalling reads 'The first glimpse of our wee girl Emma Kate and it was definitely was ... Love at first sight' ...

And a treat for my valentine ...


Later :)

SnapShot Sunday ...

Highlights of this week ...

Tuesday 1st Feb was back to school day! Finn starting in Year 4 and Emma in Year 2 - both have great teachers and were very happy to get back to see all their friends ...

Second half of the cricket season started ... unfortunately a loss but some great bowling and batting from my boy ...

My other girl ...

Our 3rd trip to the airport this week (Marty was away in Oz for work and got home on Thursday). But today's visit was to see the new Air NZ 'All Black' plane ...

So what have you been up to?

Snapshot Sunday ...

Welcome to 2011, well it's almost a month old now but have been a tad busy so my blog has been a bit neglected recently.
So I thought of something different I want to try this year, as a prompt to hopefully keep me blogging on a regular basis (fingers crossed LOL!)

So welcome to my first 'Snapshot Sunday'

I'm not doing Project Life or 365 photos as such but I've decided to do a weekly photo update on my blog - a photo or couple of photos that represent what is going on in my life over the past week. I may or may not end up printing these pics and compiling in a separate album, or I may just keep in online and concentrate on my other layouts I want to achieve this year. No pressure really just a bit of fun.

So as this is my first 'Snapshot Sunday' for the year, here a few pictures which sum up the main highlights ...

Two glorious weeks spent relaxing with family and friends at this school camp we hire in Bannockburn, Central Otago ...



A New Years day spent at Bannockburn Inlet with family/friends, having fun out on the boat and jetski ...


Cousins spending fun times together (this is my wee niece from Melbourne) ...


My personal goal achieved ... going solo on the jetski ...

My little lady turning 6 ...

Lots of fun memories from our time away. We had a mini family reunion on New Yars Day ... well not so mini there were 43 odd family members on my Mum's side there at some point or another - which isn't that hard really when my Mum is the oldest of 8! I'm the oldest of 17 grandchildren (of which 12 were there) - and there were 11 great grandchildren there too!!!

Needless to say I have a pile of photos sitting here to scrap! Although am being more organised this year and printed photos are going straight into normal albums, and I will then take the them out as I scrap them ... gotta be better than photo boxes full of a mix of photos and never being able to find them when you want them!

Well that is me for tonight ... one more day off for the kids then they are back to school on Tuesday. I have been back at work since the 10th of Jan, though am looking forward to having a less hectic and normal routine for a while.

On the eve of the big day ...

... I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you have a fantastic 2011.


This is my 'Christmas card' shot this year - but don't worry the jetski wasn't going and they aren't allowed to drive it - just a staged photo! ;) hehehe!

We are looking forward to a day celebrating Christmas at home, my brother, his wife and my niece have just flown in from Melbourne. This will be a big surprise for my parents when they arrive in a couple of hours as they think they are flying in on Boxing Day! Whew has been a bit hard keeping this a secret for the last 7 weeks or so! LOL!

Enjoy the day, and time together with family and friends. I look forward to seeing/'chatting' with you in the New Year.
m :)

The countdown begins ...

... with a little 'Echo Park' advent calendar ...


Lots of festive creative inspiration going on here at SBO

3 1/2 days of school left for the kids, almost all the presents bought, landscaping finished, menu sorted for Christmas Day and just a few more crazy days at work to get out of the way before the fun of the season can start.

Hope all your preparations are coming along well.

Hello .....

... yes I am still here, not sure if anyone else is though!? ;)

Has been a busy month in this house! The usual after school activities, sports, ballet end of year concerts, fishing weekend for hubby, scrapping weekend in Qtown for me ... and a new job for me! My word for the year ... 'new' ... is turning out to be pretty spot on. Lots of changes this year, new challenges and opportunities. I am now the new Accountant for Acquisitions, the really funky gift stores. There are 11 stores round the country with the first being in Dunedin which is where the (small) head office is still based.

But in amongst all the busy stuff I have still found the odd pocket of time to sneak away and do some creating.
Today I wanted to share a reverse canvas I made for myself using the Cosmo Cricket Material Girl range of papers and chipboard elements. Something fun to hang above my scrap desk ...

Hope you all are going to be checking into the SBO forum regularly! Starting tomorrow the DT are going to be revealing 24 days of festive inspiration for you ... showcasing some gorgeous Christmas ranges that are available in the SBO shop ... be sure to check in!

A long weekend ...

... and some gorgeous weather to go with it! We headed away to Alexandra for Labour Weekend to stay with my in laws. This weekend has, for the past 3 years, been the vege garden planting weekend. The kids love heading out to buy the seeds/plants then back to Gran & Grandads to dig over the dirt, mark the rows then plant and water the garden. They take a real interest in how the plants are growing and love getting the fresh veges out at Christmas time/New Year - although they still don't like eating much of them! ;)

Went for a bit of a hike with Finn, up the trail to the clock that is built into the hill that overlooks Alex. He loved his 'adventure'!

I took the kids back to an orchard where I took some autumn photos of them last year. I missed the blossom this year, but the trees still make a gorgeous backdrop for some new photos of them ... still want to do some editing of the pics but am thinking I may get a couple of them printed on canvas ...

Also picked up this little Bee costume at the Big Red Shed - doesn't she look gorgeous in amongst all the dandelions! ;)

Have spent the last week getting last minute bits done for the kids school fair which is tomorrow. The weather is forecast to play nice so that is great! Now while I have a couple of hours spare I am going to sit at my scrap desk and have a play with some yummy Websters Pages ... be sure to keep an eye on the reveal next week!

A fab weekend and some Bella Blvd goodness ...

I ventured south this past weekend to spend a day with some great ladies including these two - Rachel & Trina. The cause being a crop to raise funds for the Mayoral Earthquake fund for those affected by the September quake in Canterbury.
A fun day was had by all - 12 hours of scrapping/classes/demos/lollies/laughter - just the usual really when you mix this lot of gorgeous ladies together! Thank you to everyone who made the day a huge success, and to Andrea for once again bringing along all those shop goodies that were so hard to resist!

My layouts from the classes taken by firstly Trina ...

then by Rachel ...

A few Websters Pages in there ... stay tuned for next month as I have a pack of these lovely paper to play with for my DT work at SBO. Now thanks to Trina and Rachel I have some ideas how to actually use them! ;)

Here is some of my work for this month with SBO. I was very fortunate to be sent an array of papers from the 4 new collections of Bella Blvd - one of my very fave manufacturers!

An art folder for Emma ... this is a 8x8 cover and back that I have decorated and inside it holds some 6x6 page protectors.

A fun picture frame for Finn ...

Donut Love ...

You got Tunes ...

I also issued the mini challenge last Thursday over on SBO. The challenge was to 'record this moment'. I had done this a couple of years ago for the kids but wanted to do updated pages. Here is my example that I have completed for Emma ...

The nasty winter weather has arrived back again, I thought after the fabulous warm days last week that we had seen the last of it ... but it appears not! I think I will put the fire on and make myself something yummy and warm for lunch ... then some more scrapping! ;)

Did you miss me?

... we're back from our first ever proper family holiday ... and it was fantastic! The kids travelled well, and coped with all the walking ... and most of all they had heaps of fun!

First stop was Melbourne to catch up with my brother and his family ... time was spent travelling on trains and trams, visiting Melbourne Zoo, Sunday markets at SouthBank and soaking up the atmosphere and festivies surrounding the AFL Grand Final which was played the weekend we were there. Well so much for the Grand Final, after those 4 forty minute quarters the game was a draw ... so rather than play extra time they had to play the whole game again the following weekend! How bizarre!

Kids opposite Flinders Station ...

Emma and artwork on the walls of an alleyway ...

Next stop was Surfers on the Gold Coast, we got a great little apartment right opposite the beach and spent a few days hanging out at DreamWorld/WhiteWaterWorld, shopping at HarbourTown, eating icecream, walking along the beach and soaking up the warmth! The weather wasn't super hot and there were a couple of good storms pass through while we were there - one major downpour hit when we were at the WaterWorld so didn't matter coz we were already wet!

And 'who lives in a pineapple under the sea' ... yes that would be SpongeBob Squarepants and his mate Patrick! The kids had fun meeting the characters and doing the rides at the park ... although Emma didn't enjoy a couple of the rides we bribed her on, but she loved the icecream afterwards!

The beach opposite our apartment ...

Now back to reality, another few days before the kids head back to school and then the crazy buildup to Christmas.

Will be back soon with some peeks at some layouts from the gorgeous Bella Blvd range of papers as part of my design work at SBO for this month.

Also a sketch challenge coming up on Friday from me ... best I sort that out tonight! ;)