Online Inspiration!

A trip to the recent Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo in Brisbane had me feeling that my scrapbook pages of late were a little lacking.  Off to the internet for inspiration and I was thrilled to find an online class with my favourite instructor - Nic Howard via True Scrap.  Here is the end result of the class - I love it and feel inspired to start scrapping again - thanks Nic~!

Layout is my beautiful girl with one of her besties all dressed up a couple of years ago for dance eisteddfod - how quickly they grow up!

A year in the making

I'm not one to normally have unfinished projects in my scrapbook room - I start and usually finish the layout I'm working on, even if it takes me a few days to do so.  However, this particular layout was one I started whilst away on retreat in May 2011 and have finally this week finished it.  It is the story of my childhood home - a place of many happy memories and some tough times too.   Yes, it did require a lot of journalling - after all it is the place I grew up in and spent 15 years of my life and many many milestones but I think perhaps it was the thought of tackling that journalling that took sooooo long for this layout to come to completion.  All of the journalling is hidden behind the photo blocks on both pages and the journal block which slides out is printed on both sides - so yes, plenty of memories locked away there.

However, it is a layout I'm thrilled to have now in my album about me.  It has reminded me of all the reasons I called this place home and the trials, tribulations and celebrations that took place here.  I'm happy I've recorded it for myself to revisit and also for my children to realise in future years why this place holds such a special part of me.

 

The remainder of this week has disappeared into the world of dance - again my little girl is dancing at the local eisteddfod - this week is solos.  So, it is back to costume adjustments, making sure the tights are all in one piece, the dance shoes are all clean and the hair accessories are all packed.  Tomorrow she will step out on stage and make all the hard work of lessons, taxi service to and from and the costume preparations all worth while.  So, back to the needle and thread for me.

I hope the year's shortest day today is a good one for you!

Australian Scrapbook & Papercraft Convention & Expo

It is with great excitement that I have booked my class schedule for the Australian Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo this weekend here in Brisbane at the Southbank Convention Centre.

I purchased a Pazzles die cutting machine back in 2008 and I confess, have hardly touched it.  The thought of pulling out the 131 page manual and working my way through it was always daunting and other than the occasional title or swirl here and there it has sat looking pretty on the end of my computer desk in the scrap room :(  So, when I saw that Addicted to Craft were bring Klo Oxford - the master of all things Pazzle to Brisbane for the expo I just had to jump online and book my spot in her 2 classes.  I will kick off with the beginners class in the morning - because let's face it that's where my current level of expertise is, despite having owned this machine for 4 years.  I'm then hoping that I have enough know how to go onto the afternoon advanced class (yipes) and learn how to really make the most of this machine.

So, here's hoping that the next few posts to my blog will include some projects and layouts created using my Pazzles!!!

I'm also excited to check out all the wonderful stalls at this year's expo.  I know of many of our friends from the retail stores around S.E Queensland whom we visit on our scrapbooking tours who are going to be there and I'm looking forward to catching up on all the scrap chatter with them.  I'm also looking forward to meeting in person Sue Smyth, the editor of Australian Scrapbook Ideas magazine and perhaps some of the other design team members for the mag at their stall.

To top off what I'm sure is going to be a very full and eventful day I'm blessed to have an old friend and work colleague from my past life (you know the one before kids) coming up from Victoria for the Expo.  She too is a scrapbooker these days and it has been an awfully long time since we last were in the same state let alone room together.  So, after we have learnt all we can for the day we are heading out to dinner and a long overdue dinner and catch up!

So, computer software for the Pazzles is all updated, laptop will be charged and ready to go, leave pass from hubby for the day and evening has been obtained and I'm ready to rock!

Hope to see a few others at the show.  I'll be wearing my Scrap of Difference jumper so if you see the logo - stop me and say Hi!

Memories - from Grandparents to Tea Parties.

One of the wonderful things about scrapbooking is that some of those little daily occurances or funny things that happen, which would normally be forgotten, are recorded and therefore become our memories.  Certainly big events like birthdays, graduations, weddings and the like are recorded and remembered but the ability to record those other stories which would normally be forgotten are there for not only our memory but for future generations.

I'm rather excited to have had my first layout accepted and published in the Australian edition of Creating Keepsakes magazine.  It is a layout of my son and his Grandma entitled Memories and is featured in the Reader's Gallery.  It tells the story of how my Mum worried that she would not have a close relationship with my kids as she lives in another state 1200 kms away but that as they have grown older and she has always come to visit or talk to them on the phone regularly that has never been a reality.  They love their grandparents and enjoy spending special time with them whenever they are able to.  I like that my kids will understand when they get older, how important it was to their Grandma to she have a close relationship with them and how hard she worked to make that a reality.

Here is the cover and it's on the shelves at your local newsagent now

Today I took my son to his under 7's soccer game at the local park.  My 9 year old daughter came along to support her brother and watch as always and set up camp on a rug beside the field playing with one of the boy's younger sisters whilst the game was in motion.  I turned at one stage from the play to check on the girls to find them having their own little play tea party.  On closer inspection, to my horror, I noticed that not only were they using the boy's water bottles as their tea pots but had my fresh packet of tampons open on the rug beside them and were dangling and jiggling a tampon in and out of the water bottle as their tea bag!!!  It was one of those situations were you jump quickly to remove the embarrassment and the poor little ones had no real idea of why I reacted the way I did.  However, on reflection I haven't been able to wipe the smile off my face all afternoon.  This is one of those stories I will record on a scrapbook page so that I can continue to remember and smile about their innocence for many years to come.  I look forward to pulling all these sorts of stories out at her 21st!