What have I been up to??

Well, what have I been up to lately? The other day I found my pizza box full of layouts with no "home" to speak of, so I sorted them and they have gone into the kids' albums or the annual albums. And guess what? I missed 2006 entirely!! No layouts, no album ... must have kind of passed me by. So I have started making up for it, and I have some more layouts to share with you.

This first layout is of Mr C on his 7th birthday (the frightening thing is, his 10th birthday is coming up next week - how time flies!) He got this cool LOTR outfit, and it was the first time he wore a neck chain - I think it suits him, and have encouraged him to wear one more often, but it annoys him when he is playing sports or jumping on the trampoline. I used the Basic Grey "Boxer" range, added rhinestones on the photo matt, and an MME rub-on which teamed with the Boxer letters for the title.

This second layout is Mr A up to his cheeks in pink icing from a cupcake at the local school fete. From memory, I'm not even sure he ate the cake, just kind of smeared the icing around till it covered his face! I spied this little chipboard cupcake in my stash from the latest Boxx kit, and of course it was just perfect for this layout. Had fun painting it then sprinkling glitter over it too. The papers are from Basic Grey's "Cupcake" range, and the letters for the title are Pink Paislee. I also managed to use an old K&Co frame I found in my stash.

The final 2006 layout for now is The Wombat Hat - in Mr C's final year of junior soccer, the coach had this fabulous hat with a stuffed toy wombat on it, which the player of the match got to keep and wear for the week until the next match. You wouldn't think 7-8 year olds would fall for this stuffed toy animal, would you? But they did - in a big way! This match, Mr C scored his first (and I think only) goal of his career - I can still remember how it happened too!! He took the shot and kind of mis-hit it so it really just dribbled up to the goalie, and the goalie missed it completely and the ball then dribbled into the goals. Maybe not stupendous, but well worth the wombat hat and the cheesecake he chose afterwards. Now he tells me he doesn't like cheesecake - go figure ... I used Bais Grey's Granola range for this one.

The final layout is an newer photo - from 2008. Mr C just smiling and being happy. I tried something a little different with the PP and the ribbon & buttons, the silhouetted photo and the border. I also used Tim Holtz's distress powder for the first time - not sure if it turned out how its supposed to (it didn't 'bubble' up the way embossing powder does to coat the inked image) but it looks ok, so I'm happy with it!


Thanks for dropping by to check out my latest.
PS - Katie had a beautiful baby girl at 1.35am the following day - and get this, I woke up hearing a baby's cry (no, not my Miss A), looked at the clock and it was 1.37am. I don't know whether its Dad's way of letting me know she was ok, but it worked. Little Estelle Marie is actually not so little - 4.2 kgs, and Kate is quite a small lass. They are back at home now, and Kate says she is gorgeous and sleeping well. Hope to see some pictures soon! And we may get to pop up for a visit as well.

Oh the anticipation ...

My niece is in labour, and has been since about 6.00am this morning with her first child. She is barely more than a child herself to us, but we are so excited about this latest addition to our family!! We heard late this afternoon that there was some meconium in her waters, so as a precaution she was being transferred to a larger hospital, but the bub was not in any distress. We have our fingers and toes crossed for you Katie!!

But in the meantime, I will share some more layouts I have completed over the past few days.

These are my 2 boys mucking around on the rope swing at Millfield last October. A different type of layout for me - I tried a few different techniques like sewing and distressing, not to mention persevering with the felt border to actually get it (almost) straight! I used the Love Elsie Forrest range - love the little word tiles which came together beautifully with the words & colours of the photos. They do look like they are having a ball, don't they??


This little beauty is Miss A on her 2nd birthday, doing a spot of gardening. The light at sunset was just gorgeous, she in her jewelled crown and all! I couldn't resist scrapping this photo. The border scrolls are hand-cut (about the closest I will ever get to fussy cutting!!) and I love the bling. I tried something different with the large flower as well, putting rhinestones on the petals of the largest flower - a girl can never have too much bling, right??

And finally "what a mess!" Miss A got into some nappy cream probably 12 months ago now - one of those priceless photos which no doubt will surface on her 21st birthday - I wasn't really happy with how this turned out because I couldn't get the paint to splotch the right way. I loaded up the paintbrush and jerked it at the cardstock, but the paint wouldn't budge. Stayed on the brush. Wouldn't splodge the way I wanted it to whatsoever! So I ended up dabbing the brush all over the cardstock - and its just not the same to me. But given my usual layouts, this is a step outside the square for me!

Hopefully I can bring some news of the latest member of the family tomorrow! TFL.

One Day ...

This layout is 100% scraplifted from SC 62, a superb layout by Tatum Woodroffe on page 16. I have previously scrapped this photo of my boys in Canberra in September 2007 - the usual "this is where we are and what we are doing ..." but when I saw Tatum's layout and particularly the journalling it dawned on me to use the photo as the basis for a completely different type of layout.
I love my boys dearly, but I find it very hard to accept their constant arguments and teasing and general putting down of each other. I wish they were nice to each other; they have a friend constantly at hand, if only they realised it. The journalling expresses my feelings on how I hope their relationship as brothers will grow.
This year's tally has grown to 4 layouts and 2 cards - they're not up here yet, but they have been finished. I dragged out the sewing machine for 2 of them, and I'm very pleased with the results!! But the download limit has been reached for this month, and uploading 3 photos will take about a week by my calculations ... so I'll wait another couple of days till the meter ticks over to a new download limit. TFL.

The Last of '08 and the First of '09!

These are the final few layouts from 2008 - this one is actually a photo from Christmas 2007. We took the kids for our annual Christmas lights tour - it was the first time Alannah had taken notice of all the pretty lights and displays, and she was absolutely enchanted with them. DH was pretty much just as enchanted with her and her delight in the lights. A very happy tradition we hope to continue for may more years ...

Our own Christmas display was sadly lacking this year - the kids seemed to be at school until right up to Christmas and we never got around to putting them up. How Scrooge!!


On to this year's Christmas photos - one of the at any rate. One night when both DH and myself were out, she dressed the kids in their Christmas gear and took them out the backyard for a photo shoot. The photos are gorgeous, impromptu and show so much if the kids' character - it's beautiful to see. I love this photo - especially big A sticking his head into everything!! The papers etc came from a free kit which I received from Scrap with V - just perfect for this time of year.


And the final layout from 2009 - another gorgeous Creative Imaginations collection from Scrap with V - this photo was taken of Miss A in January 2008, just after she had started walking in earnest. Waiting at the train station after a big day out, it shows her gorgeous blue eyes. Not quite mine; not quite her father's - just very striking blue blue eyes. I am very happy with how this layout turned out.


And now on to 2009 ...
This beautiful little card just kind of fell into place! I used a scrap piece of PP, a frame from MME which was cut to size and re-fitted, a few flowers, some ribbon, some bling a rub-on and a few staples. I must like it, because I'm having trouble thinking of someone to give it to. It might just have to stay in my collection for a while ...


This last one is Mr C's birthday card. He is 10 in 4 weeks time. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone, and how much our lives have changed since he arrived. I hope he has an absolutely wonderful birthday and a fabulous 2009 - he deserves it after having a rough 2008.

Annual tally: 0 layouts and 2 cards.

Still Catching Up from Last Year!

I still have LOs left to post from last year - eeekk!! Can't start with this year's batch (not that I have actually finished any off so far this year ...) until I have closed off 2008. This is another FK entry - Anthony after bath time. He is so loud & precocious, yet every now & then I take a photo of him which captures the little boy inside - a little shy and unsure of himself. And those photos take my breath away. This is one of them. I experimented with stamping the background cardstock, and swirls and circles of water.


Some time in the middle of the year, Miss A started playing tea sets with Nan. Not just any old pretend tea sets, mind you - she had her own little china cup and sat up at the table to drink tea while Nan had coffee. Then they progressed to cake. She is lovely to watch, but quite often I get shooed away, because there's only room for two at this tea party! For her birthday, Miss A received a second tea set which lives in the big house (not at Nan's place) so now I get invited for tea ecvery now and again, and she knows that I have milk with mine as well!


Also in the middle of the year one day on the train coming home from the city I mused over the fact that Mr C was half way to becoming an adult - a scary thought!! He is a little lost at times, trying to keep up with what he thinks everyone else wants him to be and do and say. But he is so special, such a caring boy - I don't think he realises that all he has to do is to be himself. I so wish he can become comfortable within his skin, and reach his potential; have goals that he can fulfill. Find his place within the world. And enjoy the journey to adulthood.

And finally, my favourite piece so far. I just adore this photo. I don't know who took it, but its at that precise moment when Mr C handed DH my wedding band. Just perfect. It was so important to me that both the boys took part in the ceremony - and we weren't just getting married, we were becoming a new family. In a way, this photo is a giving of my heart from Mr C to DH, so they can all share in my love and care. I like the way the LO turned out too!

I tried the Wii fit for the first time last night - surprise, surprise my BMI is in the overweight category, but with my goal of 10 kilos to lose, that places me comfortably in the "ideal" range. Now I just have to get there!!!