Scrapbook Layouts Done at Camp

These are all the layouts that I did while at camp. The sixth one down is the layout we did at the Friday night class. Well I was asleep by 9.30pm last night and slept until 7am, then I got up and cooked breakie for myself and the boys, took them to school, did some tidying, put on the washing, unpacked all my scrapbooking stuff and now I'm about to have a shower and then I have to go down to Kylie's and pick her up and take her to the doctor. She is really sick and sounds like she has the flu or something. I'm really worried about her, I wish I could just bring her here and look after her but I know she'd rather be in her own bed at home. I probably won't be home until after I pick up the boys from school. I'm feeling very tired today, but it's better if I don't have a nana nap so that I can sleep tonight. I've still got to read 200+ emails and 540 blog posts in my google reader, I'll obviously be deleting most because it's to hard to catch up.

Scrapbook Camp

Sheree and I are off to scrapbook camp tomorrow at Daisy Chain scrapbook shop. This scrapbook camp is different from most in that we spend the weekend scrapbooking at the shop and we go to the motel to sleep, the little of it we do. The food is delicious, the shop is full of lots of gorgeous products to buy and use, the company is fantastic and the laughs are non stop. This weekend away, that we have a couple of times a year rejuvenates us in a way that nothing else does.

It takes a lot of work to get organised to go on camp. I have to pack my scrapbook stuff, get photos printed, pack clothes, load up IPod with audio books, clean the house, do the grocery shopping and make sure there are uniforms washing for the beginning of next week. Sometimes getting ready for camp is like running up hill, but by the time we arrive and relax and soon the laughter starts and it's all worthwhile!

So whatever you're doing this weekend I hope you laugh as much we are going to. Come back next week so you can see my layouts.

A Pile of Washing!

I am usually very good at staying on top of the washing, because if I get behind in the washing that means I soon have a pile of folding and then a heap of ironing to do. But with our vow renewal, honeymoon, Easter and the school holidays I let it get the better of me. So today, while working my way through that pile in the photo I made the cards below. I love combining the mundane with the enjoyable!I made this card for my daughter's 21st next Monday. I used a new range of Bella that I found this morning at Photo Continental. I made 4 cards from 2 sheets of patterned paper, so that's not to bad. This is another Vow Renewal layout and the photos is when Ian was saying the vows he'd written to me. You probably can't tell in this photos that Annie and I were really crying. It was so beautiful. The paper is one of my favourites, Vita Bella, and underneath the photo is a pocket that I've put the vows we made to each other.
This is a family shot taken on the day. The paper is Yellow Bicycle that I've had in my stash for a while and I have so much I am going to do another page to go with this so it will be a double. Well all in all I fairly productive day, now I just have to fold that pile of clean clothes! Hope everyone's enjoying the school holidays!

I Do

I did this page yesterday afternoon but there wasn't enough natural light to photograph it. It's another of our vow renewal photos and me getting my eternity ring. Journalling says, "I waited 24 years for my eternity ring. It was definitely worth the wait." The paper is Wild Asparagus and has been in my stash for a very long time, the chipboard words are from an Ebay seller.

After I finished this we all sat around, ate fish and chips for dinner and then watched Twilight on DVD. It was a lovely relaxing evening. Today whilst the boys go down the coast for more Futsal I'm going to do some more scrapbooking whilst listening to my audio book and then I'm going to do some more reading of Dark Gold, the third book in a series I'm totally hooked on. Oh yeah, I should do some washing, my wonderful husband has been doing all the housework, making me cups of tea and doing all the cooking and meal preparation. No wonder I feel so relaxed! Hope you all have a lovely Easter Sunday eating your chocolate. Got to love a holiday that encourages eating as much chocolate as you can stomach!

Happy Easter

We are having a lovely relaxing weekend. Yesterday I sat around on the new lounge all day and read my book while Ian watched TV, boys played Xbox and Annie read her book and surfed the net, it was wonderful to just relax with everyone in the same room. This morning Annie and I hit the shops and then came home and cleaned out her book case and we both counted up all our unread books. I have 178, actually after shopping 179 unread books on 3 book cases. I have 264 fiction books and I only keep books I really love and think there is some chance I will read again one day.

With regards to this revelation I have come up with a few rules:

• No buying books from through away tables at book stores.
• Only buy new release books for the authors I know and love.
• Only buy new release books if they are highly recommended.
• No buying more books in a week than I read i.e. read 2 - buy 2, read 0 - buy 0.
• I have read 40 books this year so far, I have purchased 71. Shame on me!!!

This afternoon I have scrapped my first anniversary page and have been listening to a great audio book.

I love this photo of us, I have never seen my husband look more genuinely happy in a photo. It is Basic Grey Two Scoops, Bazzill flowers and a few other bits and pieces all from my stash.

Scrapped in my new space

It's been a couple of weeks since I scrapped but I finally got in there yesterday and scrapped this page. The new area is nice to work in although trying to remember where I put stuff took some time. The journaling says 'Rory had his first style cut and colour. He had it done for Kylie's Wedding but he liked it so much he kept it that way'.

New Scrap Space

A space for two that faces the TV that is connected to Foxtel. So now TV is an option whilst scrapping, which means I can watch all my favourites i.e. Pride and Prejudice and Mama Mia (watched both while setting up)
Now my sewing machine is set up, along with my Cricut and Sizzix machine. This is great because I'm much more likely to use them now. I can't tell you the last time I used my Cricut machine, it was just to much hassle to set it up. On the wall I have some of my recent scrapbook pages. I just change them as I do more.

This is my scrapbooking wall, and yes I know I have a lot of stuff but what you can't see is the cupboard upstairs that is full. The great thing about this, is that now all my albums are on the shelves so that might get me motivated to start getting those baby albums done.

So why the move around? I needed to set up a room for my Mum to stay in when she visits. Currently one of the kids vacated their bed for her and she hated imposing. She has found life very hard since Dad died 19 months ago and I just want to make things a little easier. At least she'll have her own room to stay in now. Also, most of her friends are up here as she lived here for 35 years until her and Dad moved to a Granny flat at my sister's house (an hour away) before Dad was due to retire. He died eight months after they moved. It will be a surprise as I'd told her we would do it but she said no she didn't want to put anyone out. But I did it anyway. I went and bought her a King Single bed, I thought sleeping in a single bed would be easier and wouldn't feel like someone was missing so much. Silly me though, I bought and washed King Size sheets, not King Single (so I can't take them back and I wondered why they were so expensive, I was sure they weren't that expensive on the shelf LOL). But I got a pretty doona cover and a woolen doona because she's lost so much weight since Dad died that she really feels the cold. We've put some family photos on the bookcase and I've put books in there she might like to read. Tomorrow Annie and I will go and buy a lamp and bedside table and of course another set of sheets. Hopefully, she will like it!

Busy Week

I actually scrapped a page of myself, I've only ever done one other that I remember. I do try and do pages with me in them but don't do them just of me. This year I want to do a page for everyone for their birthday. I used an older range of Kelly Panacci paper.

This week will be busy, my son-in-law is going into hospital for surgery on his nose (he broke it a lot when younger and now has trouble breathing). He'll be in hospital overnight and since Kylie (his wife) doesn't have her licence they need me to do the running around for them. Kylie wants to spend the night here, when Troy's in hospital so she's not by herself. So lots of running around!

I want to get all the housework and washing done tomorrow and make sure I'm organised for the week. Kenzie has soccer training 2 nights and Rory and he have Indoor soccer on Thursday night and then next weekend Kenzie has a game on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, I've also promised Kenzie I'll go watch him play school soccer on Thursday, so it will be a busy week. Would be nice to have time to scrap another page as well. No promises though!

Scenic Route

This was a really quick layout I did this morning in about 45 minutes. This was scraplift, unfortunately I have no idea where I found it. Scrap lifting is a great way to get back into scrapping if you haven't done it for a while. The paper is my favourite Scenic Route range and look Jenny, I cut out all the hearts! The layout is of my beautiful daugher and her new husband.

Moment in Time

This is the page I did last night when Ian and I got home from our little trip and he was cooking dinner. It is scraplifted from one of my favourite Australian Scrapbookers Ali Russell. I used a couple of things from my stash including the Daisy D paper, 7 Gypsies gaffer tape, Inque stickers and my Heidi Swap clock stamp set. The border scroll was one I bought from EBay and the butterfly is new punch.. Even though you can't really see it I did do some sewing on it as well.

Well today I've got a few loads of washing to do and then we'll see, maybe some reading or I am in the mood to watch Pride and Prejudice again after spending quite a bit of time reading this blog this morning.

Blog Award

Thanks so much to Rebecca from Scrapers Delight for this blog award. I haven't done any scrapbooking this year yet because it is very hot and I have had lots of other things going on. However that will all change when I go to Scrapbook Camp in 2 weeks, it always gets me in the mood for scrapping. Anyway after receiving this award I get to nominate 5 of my favourite blogs that haven't already received this award. Please go and check out their blogs and then go vote for your favourite at Scrapers Delight. So here they are:

http://kadeemorrisondesigns.blogspot.com/
http://leslieashe.blogspot.com/
http://www.nickitidbold.com/
http://sketchesbytamara.blogspot.com/
http://www.makeeshabyl.com.au/

What is your favorite die / Cricut Cartridge?
Whilst I do like my Cricut Machine I think my favourite is still the Sizzix machine, I have about 30 dies and I like that I can use it to make my own chipboard shapes.

What type of die cutter do you find your self using the most?
My Sizzix machine.

How do you make embossing and what brand is it if you us a machine?
Yes I know I'm behind the times but I haven't really done much embossing. Although on my list of wants this year is a Cuttlebug machine. I have a Fiskars embosser but I will admit that I haven't really used it.

What are your favorite techniques you use the most?
After discovering the fun of stamping with Stampin Up I'd have to say that is probably one of my favourite techniques.

What do you have the most of?
Hmm, well I have lots and lots of paper, flowers, buttons and embellishments. I have a room full to the brim of scrapbooking stuff. I am going to have to have another clean out if I'm to purchase anything this year.

New Kaiser Rhinestone Flourish

This is a double page layout for Kylie and Troy's Wedding album. I've used Basic Grey Scarlett Letter. I've also used the new Kaiser Flourish, but be warned a great deal of patience is required to put these on. They are very sticky but when you lift them from the transparency they don't keep their shape. It took me a good 10 minutes to get this onto my page but I do love the final result.

Still Scrapping

I love this photo of the girls that Sheree took at Kylie's wedding. I really wanted to do something special with it, which is why I've waited to scrap it. Well I finally got game enough to do it yesterday and I love it. I have even used up some paper from my stash, Cherry Arte, that I've had since early last year.
From the very first moment I saw these photos I loved them. They look almost magical to me, Sheree took these as well! This was a really easy layout and I used the new Bella Love Me range and accessories.
Well this will probably be it for this week, I've done 9 layouts. Now I have to turn my attention to my son's 13th birthday on Sunday and then I get to have a day out with my friends on Monday for my birthday. Now that I know Sheree is ok I actually feel like celebrating. We are going to see and movie and go to my favourite Thai restaurant for lunch! All I have to do now is pick the movie.

Friendship

Sheree and I have an amazing friendship, unlike any I've ever had. Sometimes I think she is like the other half of me that broke away at birth because we are so similar. She is more like my sister than anything, we have such a deep understanding of each other that so often doesn't require words. Over this past year because of the tragedy we have both gone through with the loss of precious parents we have become even closer.

So today as she waited for results after having three moles removed yesterday I waited with her. Both of us terrified, all we could do was distract ourselves and try our best not to think about it. There are no words to explain how frightened I was or how close to tears all day at the thought of what the news might be. Fortunately the news was good and the moles where benign and I am so grateful.

Something Different

This page is unlike anything I've ever done before. I saw a pure white page while surfing the net one day and thought it would be a great way to do a wedding page. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Another Wedding Layout

This is a scraplift from Renee Dowling. I love some of Reneee's layouts and plan on scraplifting some more in the future. Anyway Troy and Kylie loved this page. The paper is Basic Grey, the black letters are Bella and the white are Doodlebug, I also used 7 Gypsies Gaffer Tape, Kaiser black jewels and some flowers.

Fantastic Weekend

Sheree and I had a great weekend scrapping at her place. We each did six layouts, which wasn't a lot but we did get a lot more sleep than we usually do. Because we are such good friends and our families are so close we often find that we are either scrapping the same photos or plan to do similar layouts i.e. Mother's Day, Kylie's Wedding etc. We also have very similar taste in the layouts, so a couple of camps ago we started scrapping layouts together. This weekend we did two layouts together, unfortunately one of them took us all day Saturday to complete. Don't know why, I think it was the paper we used. It is the least favourite of my layouts but Sheree loved it, so occasionally we don't like the same thing. I don't know why I don't like it. I also did a pure white layout for Kylie's wedding album, that means that all the paper and embellishments are white and I've used a black and white photo. It is unlike anything I've ever done before, I saw a layout done all in white somewhere on the net and thought it was a great idea for a wedding page.
This layout is of our gorgeous poodle, Buddy, it is a scraplift from Scrap This. I will photograph the rest of the layouts tomorrow.
While Sheree and I spent the weekend at her place scraping, our husbands took the boys camping at the beach for the weekend. They had a fantastic time and are planning their next trip with us so I can't wait.

Gift for the Newlyweds

This is one of those shadow box frames that allows you to use bulky embellishments when scrapping. I made this for Kylie and Troy to put on the wall of their house when they move. I used Heidi Grace paper, basic grey rub ons, and of course some bling. I wanted to use very understated paper so that the photo was the focus of the page. Anyway, they loved it! It is their favourite wedding photo. It is also a scraplift from one of my favourite scrapbookers Nancy.

Boys in Black

This is my take on the Sketch 104 at Pencil Lines. This will probably be a double layout as I have many more photos to do of the boys at the wedding. This layout is of my 'four' boys, two I gave birth to and the other two came into my life and are like my 'other' sons.

The paper is Yellow Bicycle's Vita Bella Collection and the letters are K & Co.

Basic Grey Eva

Here is one of the 3 layouts I did last night. Look here to see the other two. I used the new Basic Grey Eva and I love it, which of course I would considering it uses my two favourite colours, pink and purple. The other layouts I did using Basic Grey Ambrosia and I really like it as well, fantastic colours for boys. I'm listening to an audio book while I've been scrapping and I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. It's a great book by Susan Wiggs called Winter Lodge. Well, we are off to the beach so don't know if I'll get any scrapping done today and then tonight 'Dancing with the Stars and 'The Grey's Anatomy' spin off show which I love (but can't remember the name right now LOL) is on, so that's what I'll be doing. Oh I almost forgot, this page is a scrap lift from one of my favourite scrappers - Nancy. I love circles so that's why I love Nancy's work so much and regularly scrap lift her style!