the midnight scrapper

better late than never.

So I finally managed to upload some of my work from kiwiscraps, before the next one rolls around LOL.

I became instantly hooked on felting after Tia's class and actually stopped at Lindcraft on the way home for some supplies to keep me going! I decided that my birdy could not be limited to one word (somewhat like its owner!!) so my birdie has a wise old sentence to whisper to Byron.

The next photo is of my art class with Emily. Talk about nearly having a nervous breakdown...what with all that paint and bleach and wild creative abandon. Even though I was swathed in an all protecting apron (OK, it was my sons school D&T apron LOL) I could just not relax and allow the juices to flow while my all black outfit and bleach were within inches of each other. Ha!

My sister & I packed in 5 classes in 1.5 days, and also attended the Kiwiscraps cinema for a screening of "Scrapped, The Movie" which we thoroughly enjoyed. I was also able to catch up with online friends that I only get to see at these events. I have not been as good finishing other classes and some I just took apart and used the kits for other (simpler) projects!

done, done...and done!

Caught up with Emily's art challenge:

Week 18: nature

Week 19: surprise

Week 20: change

As you can see, I can't manage to remember to keep the text away from the area I have to punch out, so you just have to guess at those missing words LOL.

Now the trick is to stay on track. We will see. 

bestest mama in the whole wide world!

If you have pokemon loving kids then you would surely know that the very long awaited, much anticipated Diamond & Pearl games will finally be released in Australia on 21 June (what! you didn't know that???) Oh yes, we have counted down for the last 3 months and Byron has hovered about 1 degree from hysteria just thinking about owning these little beauties. He has saved up the cash and was prepared to camp out at EB games on the 20th!!

But this mama had organised for Byron's uncle to bring it back from the USA where he has been for work and yesterday my cunning plan came to fruition!

Swap shifts with work mate so I could leave at 12 noon instead of 2.00pm

Drive 3.5 hour round trip to Sydney to collect games - which had been left in a "secret location" in sisters letterbox as she would not be home (nothing was going to stop me, I tell you).

Arrive home and plant the games on his bed, tell him to go put something away in his room (I am soooo clever)  and wait for the mayhem to begin.

Byron puts item away and does not see games! WHAAAAAAAAAT !!!!!!!

Pretend to be mad and tell Byron to go make his bed "properly" (I am so good at this stuff LOL). Of course he moans and groans and says it looks fine and I am a mean mama and life is not fair...

Byron walks into bedroom....MAYHEM!

Mission accomplished.

And that's how you get the title of "bestest mama in the whole wide world" along with as many slobbery Byron kisses as you can handle!

The photo is of Byron in bed this morning (that accounts for the bed hair!) with his games - he probably played in his sleep LOL.

em's art journal challenge...

So I decided to take the challenge because it seemed so doable, and truely, I just wanted to see if I could actually commit to doing one little challenge a week for 52 weeks. I am currently 3 weeks behind, but Saturday night is just one sleep away, the fridge is stocked with icy coke zeros and I have the first 3 seasons of "The Shield" to keep me going (scrapbooking, caffeine & vic mackey - how good does that sound?)

Here are cards 1 - 9 - fronts  (yes, I have taken the lazy way out and scanned them as a group. I will do better next time!)

Here are cards 1 - 9 backs:

Here are cards 10 - 17 fronts:

and if you are still with me...cards 10 - 17 backs:

The challenges so far:

1. something you are proud of
2. what is powerful to you
3. i am
4. a symbol that you love
5. ephemera
6. love love love
7. shoes: there is always a story to tell
8. who (or what) do you miss
9. inspiration found
10. note to self
11. your initial
12. i believe
13. what's on your mind
14. birds
15. your parents
16. get someone else to contribute
17. your bedroom

So I will be back with more real soon!

we gon' party like it's yo birthday...

 

A story about friendship, in honour of this special day...

Way back in 2005 I decided that I needed to attend an ISC (Inspiration Scrapbook Convention) at Penrith in order to make my scrapping life complete. Trouble was, I had no one to go with as everyone was booked up or had other plans. I knew "bundy babe" online and she urged me to come along as it would be heaps of fun and I would be fine.

So I went alone, and I will admit that I was a little freaked out being by myself with the worry that no one would talk to me LOL or sit with me LOL or eat dinner with me LOL. You see where my head was at.

So the big weekend comes and I rock up to Penrith Panthers, with my heart in my mouth, and my scrappin supplies at my side. And like a pink whirlwind , Lee makes a bee line for me, greets me like a long lost friend and drags me off to meet everyone.

That whole weekend long she made sure that I felt included in everything; made me feel like we had been friends for years. I have never forgotten that.

I see her now at Kiwiscraps events and it is the same thing...a streak of bright pink, a high pitched squeal and I know I have 3 seconds before Lee has me in a bear hug LOL.

What's not to love about that!

So happy birthday friend, may your day be filled with pressies, reece's peanut butter cups and a big dose of scrappin mojo!!!!!!

catching up on my AYTR projects

Late last year I signed up for Heidi's BPS class...A Year to Remember. I started off really good and stayed caught up, worked at my goal, I even managed to write in the journal that we had all started.

Then the kids soccer season started and it all went to hell! So I have had to refocus and get back into the groove. This layout was done for April and represents some of the things we did at Easter. We are presented with an art challenge each month, where we try a new technique or style that Heidi has detailed for us. Let me tell you...it has taken this simple scrapper waaaaaaaay out of her comfort zone, but the point of doing the class was to loosen up just a little LOL.

As you can see from the photos, Aussie Easter is not the sunlit, pastel, green meadows and new clothes that you see in CK. For us, Easter Sunday is usually cold and wet, the kids all have serious bed hair, they drag around in their flannelette PJ's and uggies, shivering as they grab eggs which they will eat before breakfast. Ahhh, good times (but not so magazine worthy LOL).

And yes, those bunnies are "Elsie inspired felt bunnies". Saw them on her blog, drew a pattern, and made 7 (what was I thinking??). It was not till I went to Kiwiscraps that I realised I had been using the wrong needle, which is why my fingers were so sore!

Now I need to make a start on my May layout, as the month is nearly up.

working it all out s.l.o.w.l.y.

Getting the blog up was the easy part, now I have to learn how to do all those wild and crazy things like:

1. a banner
2. photos
3. links
4. albums

If you want to take pity on me, drop me a handy hint. If not, be patient, I am working through all the "help" notes (not really helping mind you).

I will also take this moment to explore the process I went through to find a name for this blog. The first half a dozen names I thought were wildly creative and original, I found by googling them. Damn!

I then thought I would ask the family (1 x husband, 2 x boy children 14 & 11) and was underwhelmed with their choice of "Mrs Ploppy's Blog" although they thought this Blackadder reference was hysterically funny and proceeded to say it for the rest of the night.They are still saying it, but I have now tuned them out.

And then it came to me...the midnight scrapper. This is when my creative juices begin to flow, and fuelled by coke zero and DVD's, I can suddenly find it's 4.00am, and then I run to bed. I am always telling people never to underestimate the hours between midnight and 3.00am!

So there it is, and now I am going to see if I can insert an image...

See Lee, I finally did it!

I keep getting asked:

"do you have a blog?"

"why don't you blog?"

"where can I see your work?"

"haven't you got a blog YET???"

Now don't get me wrong, I love reading blogs and I probably know way to much about people I don't know IRL...but then, that's the fun bit. I have gone back and forth on the subject for a while now, always finding a reason not to:

       1. I am a terrible speller (but I just saw the spell check thingy and I feel a little better - although I   have been known to baffle even the best spell check system with my creative spelling)

       2. I am not much of a tech geek, and managing a blog scared me (I read message boards people, I know all about blogs that send their owners insane with their eratic ways!!!)

On the other hand, I would love somewhere to park my work, to capture bits and pieces of my life right now (on line journal, as opposed to the journal I try to keep and never write in), and to be honest...Lee made me do it!

So now I can officially say...I BLOG.