Crop @ Ellenbrook

Last night I had the best fun at my first 'real' crop, as in one run by a bricks and mortar shop! It was somewhat overwhelming getting to know new people, but that's normal for me, can rabble on a hundred miles a minute to a total stranger on the net, but IRL is so different... at first!! I did have Cath and Kim there and I knew Jen {the manager}. And I also had a very delightful surprise in that Jules & Christine {members from Vicki's Venue} were there, such a small small world!!

Everyone was so nice and I felt right at home... I was a little surprised at some people saying go here to get this from there etc, while in another shop. Wonderfully helpful but I went in thinking of the crop as similar to a forum with a shop attached situation, maybe that's allowed? Will get to know the "crop politics" in due course I'm sure! Obviously a few of the ladies know I have my own store anyway, some are friends, some have been customers... it's a small world as I said! So anyways, I'm booked in to go next fortnight... woohoo!! And they do 12hour crops as well, so will HAVE to go do that one time to!

Oh and yep... I kinda finished 3 LO's... kinda as in I've done 3 but they need something 'more'. Will share them when I get them finished!!

Duo CC'ing this weekend!

Was a busy girl this weekend!!

Went to see the tax agent... AGAIN... and it's still wrong. Man I hate MYOB... even when you think it makes sense it doesn't!! And WTF I registered for GST is beyond me... no way am I going to turn over those kinds of $... thankfully the tax agent can unregister me for this tax year... woohooo bye bye BAS!!! Anyway... have another appointment this weekend and hopefully I'll have the #^%*$(# thing sorted out this time! It so shows that I am a scrapper and an estimator... I am by no means an accountant... !!

After that I had a most delightful afternoon with the girls, well the girls minus Kim... she was booked out and missed being able to come... which was a shame as it was a great day! We went for lunch at Oriels and had the most divine food... and then we went to see RESPECT! It was great!! Was such a great way to spend the day!

I got home before 6:00 to find that Darren had given our child away for the night... he went to his very first sleep over at a friends house and I wasn't there to hug him goodbye... I was devastated! And then to top it off... here we are, childless... payday... and I'd had a huge lunch and didn't want to go out for dinner... how Murphys is that!!

Anyway... the rest of the weekend I cyber cropped at ScrapWitch and Scrapping Around... yes... full on!! The paces at both are nice and easy going... but doing the 2 at the same time! Wow!!

So onto the creations...

This is for a horrible challenge Jill {ScrapWitch... and she showed just what a Witch she was} set us. Yeah... you knwo we still love you Jill, gluttons for punishment the lot of us!! It was an Alpha/Number Challenge... so we could only use things starting with the letters given... and only those many... so we had 5 C's, 4 S's, 3 R's, 2 I's and 1 J... my LO is honestly a tragedy... there's no saving it, shows the exhaustion set in as it's the last one I did all weekend!


This one I do like... nice and simple!! It was a sketch challenge and we had to use the word Light or Shine in the title... actually if you need some sketch inspiration Jill does pretty cool ones... there is always room for such individuality in them! This was done as an 8x8... I'm going to use the little 8x8 album I bought when with KarenM {she has one the same} as a little book of things that move me... and this is a perfect start for it!


OK... over to the Scrapping Around ones. I've been popping in over there as TassieKaren and Jac both DT there... and I like to catch up with them... although we do chatter on MSN... guess sometimes you need more outlets for chattering with those that care about you {and vica versa}. Monique {the owner} knows I have a store... but she's let me join in so I can chatter. I appreciate and respect her trust in me! People who know me know that I'm generally upfront and wouldn't go behind backs... it's just tacky... but for someone who doesn't know me to be so accepting... it's a great feeling!

Anyway... this one was an inspiration challenge... we had to use 3 colours from an image and include the number 1... so this is mine. It's a bit dark though... scanner didn't want to play the game and I took the photo inside at night. Pastels and I don't get on well... but we got there in the end!


This was a sketch challenge using one of Becky's PageMaps... Monique has been setting up the new shopping cart... forums... home page... so she's been a tad busy to create a new one of her own! I loved this one though... a round one, although I've backed it onto a 12x12. We also had to have pics showing a celebration... and I decided to do the usual weirdo and choose our day out with the girls... celebrating just being woman... yep... hear us roar!!


And this is half of Jac's step by step... the other half is pretty much the same... tell ya though... trained her well, she's a devil this one... I had to actually create an embellishment... like really now... we all know how lazy a scrapper I am... took me ages!! I so love that Strano bow on there though!!


So that's my weekend! Rock on the next one!!

Tinkering Ink

I adore the new Tinkering Ink papers... the saturated colours and bold "out there" patterns really appeal to me... how to use them though was another matter totally! Not quite sure if I've done them justice here, it's not quite what I imagined when I started with them yesterday... but I do love what I have created! This is my cute cute neice Lily {she's in there somewhere... honest}:


I've used: Tinkering Ink Perfectly Posh Pish Posh with Brown/Aqua Dot MMM Fabric and Jenni Bowlin Pink Diecut Label, Bazzill, Pressed Petals Alphas, Basic Grey Block Alphas, Digi Cut Letters {Arial Black}, TLC Flourish, Junkitz Laguna Paint, DM, heaps of ultra fine glitter and inspiration from Steph Devlin and Suz Doyle!

Alpha Challenge LO's

I did these layouts last weekend I think... forgot to share them with you!! Both were for the Alpha Challenges over at ScrapWitch... I'm about 10 weeks behind, but they are getting done!!

This one: "L" so I've done "Laughlines" and used Letters {duh}, Loveheart, Lined paper and Lace.


This one is "W" so I've used a W word in the title and wonky arrows... and words in the journalling... W was hard!!

LO Challenge by Vicki

After 3 attempts I finally managed a layout yesterday, fuelled by one of Vicki's Challenges over at Vicki's Venue. If you're looking for a bit of inspiration go check her site out, it's cute and has some fabulous challenges... Vicki is such a darling that you'll feel at home in minutes!

Anyways... I have an awesome 1/2 done masterpeice using Tinkering Ink, Jenni Bowlin & Scenic Route papers {inspired by the neverending talent of Steph Devlin and Suz Doyle}, but I simply couldn't get it to work with the photo! So changed it for some KMA Dirty Laundry, K&Co & Sassafras Lass papers I had left in my huge paper stash... and they were perfect because of their simplicity.

Seems simple and Mistra go hand in hand lately {yes, keep the smarty pants comments to yourselves... LOL} I like this photo too... cropped right into the pic and then changed the midtone contrast right up and the lighten shadows to max as well... love the effect!! And no brushes... been a while since I've not added a brush to the pic! But get a load of the pink and green... are we allowed to scrap in such "outdated" colours you ask... of course, it's scrapping, it's for fun... there's no rules... and it works!!

No matter what stage of this crazy scrapbooking game we play, whether you are at the beginning, the middle or the whole complete obsessed place it can be {hehehe that's me}... scrapping is for fun and for the memories you are recording {as well as making}... enjoy it... always!!

Just a quick update to let you all know that yes, I am alive!! I've kept to myself a lot these few weeks, mainly because work has still been so busy for me. I am winning though and am getting a 'groove' happening with the new {well temporarily new} job!

I have many projects to finish... but I think I'll be able to do them this weekend, especially since 3 of them were supposed to go out yesterday... oops, very naughty me!

Not a heck of a lot to share with you all though... it's simply been work work and work. We went out to the PICA's {Printing Industry Craftmanship Awards} on the 18th. The pic here is of myself and Sonia, one of the reps from work. Yep... my hair has been cut short and was straightened for the night. Got the hairdresser to match the roots and put some foils in... I love the result. It was great fun to get all dolled up though, put on the makeup and heels and go out on the town. Darren drove so I happily drank some very nice red all night, danced, talked and had a great night!

Last weekend Kellan's friend stayed for a sleepover... and I got to hog the TV!! Have had a couple of 'drinks' nights at Chelle's, that's been a great destressor... always so good to hang out with the girls and have a great laugh! An that's about it from me. If I actually scrap this weekend I'll update the blog with the creations... don't hold your breath though!!

Oh... before I forget... a big Happy Birthday for yesterday to Vicki... and Happy Anniversary today... have yourselves a beautiful day!!

Until later... take care of you!