ATC's

I'm currently involved in a couple of ATC swaps (artist trading cards). One is a vintage theme and the other is "girlie". Here's my vintage one. The front of the card is on the right.

I'm supposed to be getting ready for a crop tomorrow night but am not feeling particularly inspired tonight. May end up just taking my ATC's and getting them done. Although I do need to do a couple of LO's this weekend to work towards my 20 total for the No Shopping Challenge!!!

Blog Surfing

Well instead of having the early night I promised myself - I've been blog surfing!!! I couple of interesting blogs for you to check out.

First - the How Dare You challenge - just started by some aussie scrappers to match similar challenges on o/s blogs. Might give this some thought to help me get my 20 LO's completed!

For some uplifting inspiration and 'happiness' - visit Ali Edward's Daily Happiness blog.

I just love linking through all these awesome scrap blogs - some very talented and artistic scrappers around!

Did you know ....

the Beatles arrived in Brisbane on this day (29th June) in 1964???? Well they did and there was a young police officer ensuring their safety at the Brisbane Airport while his wife of just over 12 months was giving birth to their first child - a beautiful, red headed, girl.....Amanda Elizabeth! Yes, that's me....welcomed into the world 42 years ago to the sounds of the Beatles!

I don't like to make too much of a fuss about my birthday - but have enjoyed emails, txt, online forum messages, calls etc from friends and family. Had a yummy dinner at Mum & Dad's last night. Had to work today but only until 2pm. We had morning tea and they gave me a scrap voucher to spend at Scrapbook City - woo hoo!!! - going there Saturday night for a crop and I'm sure a gift voucher doesn't count in my "NO SHOPPING CHALLENGE"!!! Pam made me a gorgeous bracelet in my autumn colours. Debra made a lovely card and scrap voucher. Megan also gave me a scrap voucher and a very funky card she made (see below). I got a lovely bottle of red wine, chocs & flowers from Sandy. Cath Black gave me champagne. Thanks so much ladies. My beautiful girls bought me soap. I feel very spoilt.

Peter, Tara & I went out for dinner tonight and then looked at microwaves (to replace my 20 year old faithful one that is on its last legs)! Danah is over at Straddie Is (Tara and I went for a ferry ride over there this afternoon to make sure she arrived safely) so she missed out on dinner out.

No bad as far as birthdays go!

Exciting News for Sara

Sara's exciting news is now "out"!!! She's one of the four winners of the A-Z album competition that For Keeps Creative Scrapbooking magazine has been running. Big congrats to Sara - a very deserving winner! Your work is AMAZING!

What a beautiful day!

The girls and I spent a few hours today down at the Wynnum foreshore with Sara, Leisha and their beautiful children.

The weather was perfect, we took lots of pics and the children all enjoyed themselves (although there were some tired little people by the time we left). We snacked on my freshly made (from scratch as highlighted by my two!) choc-banana muffins (thanks Dad for the reasonably priced bananas from nthern NSW) and had fish 'n' chips. The playgrounds were great for the variety of ages and my two enjoyed "mothering" the younger children.

Sara took some photo's of the girls and I together which will hopefully look okay as we have so few "good" photos of us together. Did get a nice one off my camera but won't upload it as I'm keen to scrap it first!

Something about being near the sea to really make you feel like you're on holidays (even if I'm only on 2 days holiday!!!).

The week that was!

With the weekend over I can finally sit down and tell you about the shocking week I've had.

Monday I flew to Rockhampton for one night to do a couple of training sessions on Tuesday. I spoke to home, rang Peter's Mum in Mt Morgan and discouraged her from driving down (25 min) to see me as I was looking forward to vegging out with thai take-away and Desperate Housewives (DHW) and the start of the new session of Gray's Anatomy.

I was fine up until about the start of DHW when I began to feel unwell and by the time I went to bed I was hot 'n' cold, shivering, shaking and did not sleep well at all. Great - nothing like being sick away from home when you have to "perform" the next day. With the help of "drugs" I did just survive my two sessions which didn't go nearly as badly as I thought they might but I won't bore you with work details here! At the airport I must have looked like a drunk as I could bearly keep my eyes open (codeine will do that) and I was as cold as anything. The bloke beside me on the plane must have been concerned as I literally shivered all the way back to Brisbane.

My guess is that my recurrent kidney infection had returned so Wednesday after struggling to get the girls to school I had my antibiotic script filled and went back to bed. Something different this time - lots of nausea and headaches - wonderful!!! Thursday I did go to the Dr. to make sure it wasn't anything else and at last by Friday lunch time (after one of Dad's super coffees) I felt almost human again.

Just in time for the Craft Attic shop crop which I did leave early but at least I made it. It was great having Sara there (pity Alicia couldn't make it) who was full of lots of VERY interesting scrap news. I'll blog on that when I can! Didn't get a lot done but that doesn't matter - the company was lovely. I've got another crop next weekend to look forward to at Scrapbook City @ Indooroopilly with the ladies from Scrapbooking Memories Online Forum so that should be a hoot as well.

Mum & Dad haven't had too good a week either. Dad called on Wednesday (when I was on my sick bed) and said his car had broken down on the freeway - in the pouring rain - while Mum and the caravan were still down at Kingscliffe. His plan was to go back and get them later in the day. His car had to be towed to his place and then he borrowed my car (which I took over to him - throwing up on the way - yuk!!!) to go back and get Mum. Looks like he's blown a head gasket (serious apparently) and they'll be without a vehicle for sometime. We'll 'share' the camry when they need so shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The other bad news this week was Peter & I decided we just couldn't afford to get ROBBIE tickets (sob! sob!). After Robbie went to all the trouble to put a second concert on for me and all - it just wasn't going to happen :( After tax time, things should look a little brighter and I may still be able to get tickets but it's unlikely. Pam did get her tickets so I'll just have to live the excitement through her!

Other scrap 'stuff' - I've completed four of my 20 layouts in my no more shopping challenge! I've also got another two almost complete. Not bad for a weekend! At this rate I should be able to shop again in about a month or so. Not a good time to take up this silly 'no shopping challenge' as all the shops have stocktake sales etc on for end of the financial year. On the other hand, maybe this is a GOOD time to do this challenge.

Had a call tonight from a girlfriend home from Canberra with her two girls - Sonya and Jilly - and made plans to catch up on Wednesday morning - here (hope our house is childproof enough??). Also going out to dinner tomorrow night (yummy Thai) with Jo, Bob, Cathy & Peter - which should be great. Peter usually stays home with the girls while I go out with just the girls but as Bob is coming along so can Peter. Mum & Dad will stay with the girls this time while we go out (even though Danah seems to think she's already old enough to NOT need looking after - yeah right!!!).

Bob is Jo's new partner who I'll actually meet earlier in the day through work!!! He's a fire fighter and I'm doing some more recruit interviews and Bob's the chair of the panel!! Small world. They are both down from Mt Isa on holidays but he must have to interview people down here for Mt Isa positions.

The girls are off to vacation care tomorrow then I'm having Tuesday & Wednesday off. Had planned to have Thursday off too but think they'll have to spend the day with Mum & Dad while I go to work after losing three days last week. I'll take another day at the very end of their holidays. Peter's taking the following two weeks off with them so only limited vacation care these holidays thank goodness. The girls like it but our wallets don't - it's soooo expensive.

Blogger's not letting me upload photo's at the moment so I'll upload pics of my weekend LO's tomorrow. If you've survived this far into this very boring post - congrats!!!

Been out of action

Well, it's been a week I think since I've blogged :( I've missed it!

Been ill during the week and now I'm frantically trying to finish LO's for the Craft Attic cyber crop this weekend (also - the sooner I do my 20 LO's the sooner I can go shopping again!!)....so I'm not going to do a full post tonight but will do a long one tomorrow night (Sunday).

Here's one LO I've done for the cyber crop before I go.

Poppets

Well I mentioned the SAM challenge this weekend in a previous post and have done some more investigating - here's an article on ScrapJazz that's not bad at describing what they are http://www.scrapjazz.com/topics/Products/866.php. Apparently, poppets have their origins in witchcraft (the voodoo doll). But they can have positive spells attached to them not just painful negative ones????

I've been out today and purchased a few basics (bazzill etc) to tide me over BECAUSE I've just started a 20 Layout challenge with some of the ladies on the Craft Attic - NOT to buy any more supplies until I've completed 20 LO's. Now, to those non-scrappers reading this mightn't sound like much of a challenge but for a seriously addicted scrapper - who loves the shopping part as much as the crafting part - it's a VERY scary thing!!! I'm already feeling a little sick in the tummy at the thought of it.

The biggest challenge will be at any crops I go to during this time ... as I always tend to buy a few little goodies when cropping in a shop. I'm hoping to go to the Craft Attic next Friday and then Scrapbook City on the following Saturday. Be strong Amanda, be strong!!!! I wonder how quickly I can get 20 LO's completed!!!

Thanks Robbie

Thanks to everyone who txt, emailed, called or blogged me about Robbie's 2nd Brisbane concert. There's also another Perth concert although don't think I'll make that one!!!!

Pam and I are planning our next attempt to secure tickets that go sale next Wednesday morning!

Boss, I'll be in late on Wednesday!!!

New Phone

Well I've been neglecting my blog a bit this week and I really should be in bed now (it's cold!!!) but thought I'd jot down a quick entry to wrap up my week and get ready for the weekend.

Had a fun day on Thursday - interviewing potential fire fighters!!! It's a tough job....but someone's got to do it!!! I've been doing these for a while (as the token female and external person on the panel) but this was the first 'lot' that actually had a potential "beef cake calendar" entry!!! No, they're not all like that :( All way too young for me to be interested in but no harm in looking !!! {I do taKE this role very RespONsibly} As we only interviewed four people I managed to get home in time to pick the girls up from school (after stopping to visit Ms Debra @ the Craft Attic on the way!!). So nice to get the girls from school - wish I could do it everyday!

Optus rang me the other day to say my contact had expired and if I wanted to sign up with them again I could get a new phone. Now my current phone is A-ok but Peter could do with a new one, so, being the loving, generous wife that I am - I went got a new one and gave HIM my old one!!! Well, it is "new" to him!!!!

Danah's mouth ulcers have FINALLy cleared up (had solids for breakfast today) BUT now Tara's coming down with something!! Went to bed tonight with aches & pains, fever etc. HOpefully she'll feel a bit better after a good nights sleep.

Had my hair cut on Thursday afternoon. My usual hairdresser has rudely LEFT the salon so I had to try one of the other girls. Wasn't very happy with the result and I must say I didn't feel very confident with her. She kept asking me "is this right??" I'm used to just sitting back and relaxing and relying on my hairdresser to "know" what to do to get my usual style. Suppose I shouldn't be too harsh on her - but her techinque didn't sit well with me. There are a number of other excellent cutters at this salon so might have to make a point of asking for one of the more experienced staff next time.

Hoping to have a picnic/bike ride with Megan, Tony & Madeline on Sunday down at Capalaba. Although the weather people are predicting rain so we've got a contingency plan to go to the movies if it's raining. Hopefull it won't be as Peter's hardly had an opportunity to use his new bike since we gave it to him for his birthday in May.

We, so much for a quick entry, I've been ranting for ages and still haven't mentioned any scrap talk. I have a CJ entry to complete this weekend and maybe a monthly competition entry. I'm not entering the SAM weekly crop this round - too big a committment - but they do have an interesting challenge for this weekend doing a LO with "poppets". Must google that to see what it comes up with!!! It's using photograph heads (or other 'parts'???) used with paper piercing. Don't think I've described that too well. If I find a good link I'll add it later.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Last Load in the Machine

That's it....the last load of washing from our weekend away is finally in the machine!

The mail produced a copy of the latest edition of Scrapbook Creations today - with my "celebrate Family" LO in it! A bit disappointed in the quality/colour of the photo they've taken :( This is my last LO up for publication - better start submitting some more - maybe???

Had a big day today @ work - had to do a presentation to the funding body who gave the $$ for the project I've been working on for the past 2 years. I was a little apprehensive about it (not sure who or how many would be attending). It all worked out well though - only about 20+ people and no media (always good!). The funding body seemed quite happy with my presentation - that always good too :)

Sara commented on my latest LO, of Danah (Fresh), about how old she's looking. Almost every day I see changes in her - both physically and emotionally. I love walking beside her and being able to look eye-to-eye with her (almost). Must get someone to take some decent pics of us together to document this!

She's now got mouth ulcers (the poor thing) - went to the doc today to confirm this. She has to put this disgusting tasting gel on before bed. Why do they make stuff that''s got to go into your mouth like that taste soooo horrid. She did have me laughing so much I was crying when she was trying to talk with this 'stuff' in her mouth - couldn't make sense of anything she was saying. Think this lightened the moment for her - and she relaxed a bit! Hopefully they'll clear up real fast.

Here's another photo from our weekend away from Tara's camera - looking up to the loft area where the girls slept (although Tara ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor downstairs with us for two of the three nights).

Weekend Away

Our full on weekend away at Kingscliffe (visiting Mum & Dad) was good fun - here's the short review of our 3 days away:-

• Skipped work on Friday to prepare for weekend away (washing)
• Received my Cyber Crop prize from Cath @ Little Scrapbook Shop - a Xyron 250 - woo hoo!!!
• Couldn't wait ANY longer - bought a copy of this months "For Keeps" - my Family LO looks excellent!
• Peter home from work @ lunch time & I picked up the girls from school @ lunch time too
• Packed and on our way by 2pm
• Traffic not too bad (considering) and arrived at Kingscliffe @ 3.30ish
• Little cabin (cabana) very quaint (read tiny) but will be fine for a couple of days. Girls excited about the loft where their double bunk beds are situated.
• And the rain starts
• Peter & Danah head off to Brisbane Saturday morning for netball - which gets cancelled due to the rain (but they had to feed the pets anyway)
• Tara & I head to the markets with Mum & Dad - but stop first to buy cheap umberellas - rain stops by the time we get back to the markets!!!
• Go for a drive down the coast - stopping at Cabarita Beach for the coastal walk along the headlands - see pic!
• Watched the footy with Mum & Dad in their van (Lions lost :( ) - Peter and girls watch a movie.
• Danah comes down with fever, headache, sore throat, etc later that evening.
• BBQ breakfast (without Danah who stays in bed)
• Toilet blockage in unit!!! Time to go for a drive!
• After medication - Danah well enough to come for a drive with us to Cyrstal Castle (near Byron Bay) - girls loved it.
• Fish 'n' chips - but not for Peter who's also now feeling unwell too or Danah.
• Bucket besides Tara too at bed time (not needed thank goodness!)
• All feeling a bit better by this morning - quick visit to Tropical Fruit World before heading home!
• WASHING
• Quick cyber crop challenges completed - see one of them below.
• WASHING
• Chuffed to have found out I won the Monthly competition @ the Craft Attic for my "the Stannards" LO (see slide show). Woo hoo! A little extra to shop with @ Debra's later in the week.

Robbie Disaster!

Well despite my best-laid plans and preparation - I missed out on "Robbie" tickets today :( The plan was to buy 6 tickets (the max allowed) for Peter & I, Pam & Mark, Cathy & Jennifer - but even though I managed to get online @ 9am I still couldn't get 6 tickets together and by the time I went back through the system to order them in smaller lots I missed out :( All we can do now is hope a second concert goes on sale in Brisbane! Guess I should think of the positives - that's $300 more in our pocket instead of Robbie's!!!

Another OMG moment!

I've found out this weekend that Danah has started shaving her legs!!! OMG!!! First those high high heels and now this! She's been showering in our shower this last week and helped herself to my razor. Oh well - it had to come I suppose. So today I bought her her own razors (different colour to mine) so we don't 'share'.

Had yet another OMG moment at the school carnival on Saturday. She was wondering around with a number of different girlfriends PLUS boys!!!! Now, in fairness to Danah, they were the 'boyfriends' of her friends but since when do ten/eleven year old girls have boyfriends???? Hang on......now that I think about it I was about 11 when I had my first proper "boyfriend". Oh well - here we go!

Speaking of the carnival - what a great day! The girls both had a blast - we were there from 10.30am until the fireworks @ 6pm. Peter worked on the BBQ stall for a few hours and I spent most of my time keeping an eye on Tara and her little friend as they went from one ride to another. Love this shot of Tara on top of the jumping castle slide with all the friends in the background ready to follow her down! Had a chance to use my "fireworks" setting on my camera with reasonable results.



Did two LO's this weekend for the Top50 cyber crop - the first "Reflect" was a challenge to use a masking effect (the title) and also a quote. This is a photo I took in Canada - really pleased with the reflection in the photo. The second LO, "Shine", I had to use fabric, sewing and a tag in the layout. Tara's love of face glitter/bronzer prior to a recent school disco is evident in this photo!

That was close...

Just been showing Peter the joys of bidding on eBay and we very nearly bought a new digital piano!!! We need to get one for Tara as she's outgrown the keyboard we have and thought I'd check out eBay to see what prices were like etc. An auction was just about to finish so I put a bid in to show Peter how others bid over it as the auction draws to a close. Well, we all got very excited as the auction counted down in the last minute (me thinking how we'd have to live on tinned tuna for a week + so I could pay for it) when someone came in $5 over us in the last 30 seconds!!!!! My demonstration was complete! However, I think we were all a little disappointed we'd missed out on the digital piano - so now we've bid on another :)

Sara and Alicia (and Zane + others) are off on the Scrapbook City retreat this weekend - so my blog comments will be light on this weekend. Sara always checks out my blog and leaves me lovely comments :) Hope they have a fantastic weekend - do lots of scrapping and have lots of laughs. Also hope they took lots of warm clothes - the weather in Brisbane has been very chilly and it's just the start of winter :(

School carnival tomorrow and the girls are all excited. Tara is so excited she can't sleep (and it's after 10pm!!) She's asked if she can go around the carnival on her own (with her friend Jessica) and armed with the map from the school newsletter this arvo has been planning what they are going to do. Will see what Jess's parents think - maybe we can tail them while they think they are on their own! Looking forward to hearing both their choirs perform + the school orchestra's and a 2 hour play by the senior drama students. Poor Peter got roped into helping with the BBQ stall which is always popular. They are also having fireworks this year for the first time. Better go and charge my camera battery up so it's ready for action!

#50

My participation in Cyber crops, competitions etc has increased my scrapping output this year...I've already reached 50 traditional layouts - see # 50 below. This is for the SAM weekly challenge - do a LO based a list of 10 things. I can't believe Sandy and I will have been friends for THIRTY years next year!!! How is that possible???

Last year I aimed for 52 LO's for the year and managed to just reach that. So can I make 100 this year??? Check back in December!!!

Am I Too Soft?

Maybe I'm a soft touch but I'm home today with BOTH the girls - too 'sick' to go to school. Now I know I shouldn't doubt them and Danah has been fighting off this flu since last weekend but I just don't know. I let Danah stay home yesterday as well although she had to come into work with me for 1/2 the day (things I just couldn't postpone).

I've told them both there'll be NO TV or computer today - they are to get better - in bed - not have fun!!! Danah's missing pizza at lunch time so she mustn't be feeling well. Tara's got a sore ear - should I take her to the doctor??? and she's missing choir photo's today which I know she wanted to be in.

So....I shouldn't doubt them, should I????