Busy Busy Busy

Well, here we all are again at the beginning of a new week!!  Racing every closer to Christmas .... again!  Where has this year gone?  I'm jsut starting to get my head around the resolutions from last NYE ... lol! 

First things first:

I was featured in TCR this week!!  YAY!

Always a fantastic way to start the weekend.  I came home from a hairdressers visit on Friday

to find the news awaiting in my inbox!! 

It really is a thrill and an honour - there is some awesome international and local talent over there

and it just amazes me that they find my work worthy of a mention.

I had a really productive scrappy weekend.... and i can't show any of it yet!!  : (

Troy took Cooper for an overnight camp trip with our neighbour and his son,

Maddi went on a swim camp with friends, Claire had a play date,

and Lachy kept me company... as usual!

Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing... which is okay.

I'm really pleased that Troy got to spend some one on one time with Cooper.

They also went out to the archery club on Sunday.  Cooper was sooooo excited

when they got home, he was falling over himself to get in the door and tell me all about it!

Anyway, one thing i can share is a thank-you card i did on the weekend for our

wonderful friends in Yepoon, for having us for a week over the hols.

It takes really special friends to accommodate another 6 people in their home for a few days.

I've been going crazy scrapping all of our holiday pics over the weekend!

Oh.. and finally.

Just wanted to mention the Girls Night In.

I'll be sharing my Friday night this week with some wonderful ladies

in order to raise money for breast cancer.

I'm sure it is going to be crazy fun.... good laughs, good friends and good wine!

I'm really looking forward to some 'girl time' ... :))

If you have the opportunity to participate... please consider it.

As we all know, it is such a worthy cause.

Thanks for stopping by...

promise to do a couple of layouts that i can share this week.  : ))

jules

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Struggling!

Totally struggling to get back into the swing of things this week... the 'routine' seems to have totally flown out the window over the last couple of weeks - and it doesn't want to fly back!!  :))
Never mind... the kids are dressed (in clean uniforms), and i have managed to finish two layouts today....
so all is not lost!!  I think it's because Troy only went back to work today (Wednesday),
so i still felt like i was on holiday too!  :).

I think i left my mojo down south too.  Getting these finished was something akin to pulling teeth.
I fiddled forever!!!  Well, i hope it was enough to blow the cobwebs out!

Anyway, the first layout..... well, you know the ones that sit around on your desk incomplete
for a little while, sitting patiently, ocassionally coughing politely just to let you know they are still there...
well he's one of those!  hehe.  Poor little fella.  He started off as a STB challenge that
i ran out of time to finish... the challenge deadline came and went... we went on holidays... etc etc.
All he was was a whitewashed bg, some punched circles scattered across the page and clock hands.
Please give him some love.... he's been neglected for so long..... hehehe.

Where has the Time Gone

The second one is TCR Palette .... 26 i think...  love this colour combo, so had to give it a go.
I think it also demonstrates the fact that there's no rule that says you have to scrap
a photo only once too ... if you have a favourite, then scrap it all you like!!! 

Here's the palette:

and my take: 

Stop It

thanks for visiting...

hope the second half of my week runs a little smoother

than the first!

hugs

jules

x

Back on Deck

We're back!!!

Made it home yesterday afternoon after a fabulous week in Yepoon with friends.

Camping kinda got postponed due to the wet... even if the rain had of stopped (which it didn't),

it still would have been far too boggy to camp in all the spots we had planned.

The first week of the hols was consequently spent on day trips here and there and a couple

of days in Mackay to take the kids to the movies and do a bit of shopping etc etc.

The second week saw us in Yepoon with friends .... we finally made it down to them to

check out their new house they have just built, with spectacular views of the ocean.

Such a glorious week... the hightlight of which was the day trip out to Great Keppel on their boat,

and the private whale watching show that we were treated to!!!!

We also did a bit of a reconnaissance for a good camping spot for our next visit,

which involved a picnic lunch, a bit of beach 4WDing to quite a remote little spot,

and plenty of amazing views ... finished off with a dip in a big rockpool,

complete with a rope swing ... just beautiful!

Here's a bit of a pictorial summary:

boys on board

 cruising

 drifting

 sand dune diving - Great Keppel

 Great Keppel

the snorkler

tubing

 watching the show

 the show goes on

swinging in the rock pool

the view from the top - 5 rocks

Anyway ... back home and back to reality.  The washing machine awaits....

and the 'getting ready for school grocery shop'!!

The phone call from our bank when we got home to report of suspicious activity on my credit card i could have done without, but never mind ... all sorted now!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday...

i'll be back at the scrap table in a couple of days!

thanks for stopping by

jules

x

Procrastinate

Yep ... i'm supposed to be packing for a big school holiday camping trip,

but instead i snuck in a couple of quick layouts  :)) .... 

the first one is for the fortnightly challenge over at the boxx  {{spring}}  and what it means to you ...

to me it's about the September school holidays... camping trips and enjoying time in the outdoors

together before the weather becomes too oppressive and revolting.

i'm not a big fan of camping in the horribly hot part of the Central Queensland summer....

hence our plans to camp around Tassy for Christmas 2011!

The second layout was just a really quick one i put together in less than an hour!  All this talk about camping made me remember the maiden voyage of our new camper last year and all the photos i took in anticipation of doing a layout .... and never did it!  This one was really fun and basic .. i love doing that every now and then - makes you focus on the photos.

Now i really must be off and start organising a camping trip for this family of 6!!

Over half of the trip will be completely without services and amenities,

so i literally have to pack everything PLUS the kitchen sink!! 

Have a fabulous couple of weeks everyone... safe holidaying to all Queenslanders!

cheers

jules

x

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday my beautiful boy ... i love you!

wow.... didn't you turn one just a couple of months ago??

xx

Green Blue and Orange

Yum!  Love these colours together!  Didn't think i would have time for tcr palette this week, but i love these colours so much, i couldn't resist .... funny what you can manage when you want to...  :))

We have a sweet little birthday boy here today, so i better run.  I have so much to do!

Here's the palette and a quick one that i put together yesterday:

i had so many shots out of focus (from kids running away when they see the camera),

that i decided they needed their time in the spotlight too!  :)

after all - they all have a story to tell.

it's not always about the perfect shot, right?

thanks for stopping by...

jules

x

Ahhh Sunday

Gotta love it!  Big relax weekend this weekend.... a few jobs in the mornings - followed by long lazy afternoons!  Nothing better.  While dh 'read the paper' {wink} in my hammock, the girls and i watched New Moon .... again, Lachy slept and Cooper watched a video on the laptop....  ahh, so nice!

With school hols starting next week and a big camping trip planned, a little R & R this weekend

was much needed i think.

Just had to share my new favourite photo ... i took it of Maddison on Saturday for a layout i have planned

- i just LOVE it!

thanks for visiting .. will be back later in the week for another share!

jules

x

OK.... here goes!

So ... i decided to give it a go!!  i already spend so much time there, it seemed like perfect sense really.

i'm putting my hat in the ring for the new dt member at the boxx!  what am i sooo nervous about??  ...

they are all so lovely and talented and supportive and wonderful...

win or lose i'll still hang out there all the time anyway! 

So this is my two layouts.. a new one and an existing one.  If nothing else, i'm so pleased this process bought about this first lo... i've had it on my mind for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.

So here goes:

Then there's the otp component ... which really had me worried!  But i sat and thought about something that i would really love to have... something that i could build on year to year and pass on to my kids when i'm gone, that would really mean something to them.  Believe it or not girls, but the festive season is just around the corner... so after a couple of sleepness nights of tossing and turning with ideas flooding through my head.... this is what i came up with!

The concept of an altered book has always appealed to me.... so..... i thought i would do one, but incorporate it into to Christmas theme and design a book that would document all those gorgeous little wish lists that the kids lovingly prepare every year in the hope that santa brings them their hearts' desire.  This 'book of wishes' would include the wish list, a photo of the hopeful scribe penning the list, all of those cuttings from magazines and toy catalogues that are subtly left laying around the house in the leadup to Christmas and.... to take it just that little bit further,  a photo of Christmas day and the unwrapping of the coveted gift and a little story about it.  I don't want this to be a focus on the materialistic aspects of commercial Christmas, rather a celebration of the hope of Christmas and the joy of the innocence of our children.

I included in this project a mock up of a two page spread that i would anticipate being part of

my little book of wishes...

My only regret is that i didn't think of this years ago..... so, here it is:

the front...

the two page mock up....

the back....

the index tab for each of the kids...

Well.... i hope you like it!

it's all stamped and misted and stitched, with platted leather/beaded and medalion bookmarks,

painted and aged content pages that i have kept fairly plain so that it can be consistent through the years, regardless of product supplies and availability...

just a bit of masking tape and simple notepaper and printed embellishments.

Thanks for visiting and good luck to all of our fabulous boxx ladies!!

jules

x

What a Weekend

Well, Saturday was just a blur... and Sunday saw us needing crutches and sports tape!

Here's just a few images that tell the story fairly well:

 

a 250km round trip for haircuts

Soccer presentations! a cache of 3 balls and 5 trophies

Father's Day ... Happy Father's Day Darling!

...and, during her final 'exhibition match' for the season....

crutches!!  thankfully just a bad sprain!

i still managed a little me time {remarkably}, but just a sneak for now

... and this morning - a gorgeous RAK from the lovely Kylie F.  Lovely way to start the week!

thanks for visiting... will be back real soon!

jules

x

Seeking Inspiration

Feeling a little bit stuck lately i've been on a mission to find me some inspiration!  I've been looking really closely at adds in magazines and television, as well as some online sites i usually don't take the time to investigate.... just trying to get an idea of what really catches my eye.  Whilst this can be totally different for different people, i found myself always looking twice at the same type of thing..... minimalism!  It has always appealed to me.... i just hadn't realised before that i was immediately drawn to these design types.... every single time!  And nobody does minimalism better (in my opinion) than digital scrappers. Some of these ladies are super talented and have this whole minimalism thing down pat.  I don't think i will ever be a full time digi scrapper.... i just love the whole 3D experience too much - playing with paint and getting my hands all dirty and covered in glue.... sounds so therapeutic doesn't it?  lol... however, i can see myself experimenting with hybrid scrapping at some point... i will get around to buying PS, although it has been on my 'to do' list for some time now!  I hate to admit it, but i have spent several hours this week browsing through online digi scrap sites!!  {naughty puter addict} ... oh well - i keep telling myself it's for a good cause.... right?

This is something i then went and had a play with...

ooohh, i just realised i was featured in TCR this week!  woohoo...

thanks for the visit... hope i've prompted you to go find some inspiration!!

jules

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