I'm baaaaack

Yay I finally remembered my password so I can start blogging again. Stay tuned for regular updates, photos and sketches I've used for cardmaking and scrapbooking.

Our Creative Corner blog

Here's a card I made for this challenge:

Shaving Cream technique for making cards

I just came across this technique on youtube. The effect is similar to tie-dying by using shaving cream. It's a great effect. There are some very imaginative people out there!

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xldePbRuS0k

Another card making technique

Here's another video from Dawn, one of my fav SU consultants.

January 24 Matty's birthday party

Matty's birthday party was at McDonalds. About a dozen kids came and they all had a great time.

January 23 Final Victory game of the season

The last game of the season was against Wellington Phoenix. There was a really good crowd for the last game. Plenty of people here to say goodbye to the season. We won the game and finished on top of the ladder but had to wait to make sure Adelaide didn't win their game to make sure we stayed there. Luckily for the Victory, Adelaide drew their game so we won the Premiership Plate.

I got to the game really early because I love to watch the players warm up. Our reserved seats are at the back of Level 1 and under cover about 20 rows back so we get a really good view but sometimes I like to be right at ground level. You really feel the atmosphere down there. I was able to take some really good action shots of my favourite players warming up.

January 22 Matty's 8th Birthday

Matty's birthday was on the second of three 40 degree plus days in a row. Melbourne was on it's way to a record-breaking heatwave. Originally Bryan and Gayle were going to do something outdoors but instead they took Matty and DJ to Scienceworks. They continually change their displays and have special exhibitions so it was the perfect place to go on a boiling hot day.

When they got home my Mum and I went to Bryan and Gayle's house to sing happy birthday and have some cake - ice cream cake. It was bound to melt quickly so we couldn't leave it out too long.

When we got there we found Bryan and Gayle cleaning up glass in the boy's bedroom. The pole from the external blind came away from the wall and smashed through the window. Luckily they weren't there when it happened but it took ages to clean up all the glass.

January 19 Matty starts soccer again

Matty's soccer started up after the Christmas/School holiday break.

It was a really hot day so they made the pitch quite small so the kids didn't have to do a lot of running around. They were all encouraged to drink lots of water and not run too much.

It was also the first day of my holidays. I was really looking forward to the week off.

January 18: A sign of the times

Mum came to my house to sort some photos and do some scrapbooking and plan our holiday for later in the year.

As a sign of the times we both had our laptop computers out and were working side by side. It's so funny these days to go to CM workshops and see all of these consultants and customers working on their Storybook albums.

Post it note and pen holder

I love making little things like this for presents:

Do you have problems making bows??

I know I do. So I found this video on youtube. The result is gorgeous.

My favourite song at the moment....

Is "Gives You Hell" by the All American Rejects.

It's a clever, fun video as well. Have a look. I can't get this song out of my head and am going to download it as the ring tone on my mobile. The song has been out for a while now and I love it.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=H-XPHfbFcv4

January 8

I have two flower boxes outside my front door. In the centre of each is a flower carpet rose, one is red and the other white (surprise surprise). I try to have red annuals with the white rose and white annuals with the red rose. This year my mixed-coloured pansies are doing so well I haven't planted my usual red and white annuals.

This photo is of the red rose although it looks a little pink in the photo due to the light. I love this photo. The flowers look quite big but they are small. I have this as my screen save on my work computer and a lot of people have commented on it.

January 7 - Pauline's funeral

Pauline's funeral was held in Chelsea Heights followed by afternoon tea at the Chapel and the Wake at Gayle's house.

Gayle arranged the funeral by herself. She'd spent so much time in the hospital with her Mum during the treatment and they had discussed what Pauline wanted her funeral to be like. Gayle did a brilliant job of organising it. Pauline would be very proud.

The flowers in this photo are all from Pauline's garden. She loved her garden and was very proud of it. She had transformed it since moving there. Gayle and Bryan went to Pauline's house (about 3.5 hours drive) a few days before the funeral to select the flowers to be picked by Kevin (Pauline's hubby & Gayle's step-father) to bring to Melbourne for the funeral. The idea was that the family would sit down together to make bouquets to put on the coffin but it wasn't working out. Then the doorbell rang. It was a lady from the CFA (Country Fire Authority which my brother Bryan is a volunteer fire fighter) Auxillary delivering flowers on behalf of the CFA. She could see that Gayle was having trouble with the flowers and offered to help. She then said she was a florist which was such a relief for Gayle. The lady did a great job. It was so nice to see Pauline's own flowers presented so beautifully and professionally.

As I mentioned above the Wake was at Gayle's. It was also the last day of the 3rd Cricket test against South Africa. In our very Aussie way, we ate sausage rolls and mini quiches (and other food), drank beer and wine and watched the exciting end to the cricket. By the way, Australia won the game but lost the series 2-1.

January 6

Tonight it was back to the Telstra Dome to watch Melbourne Victory take on Adelaide United. These are the top two teams so far this season. The game was a make-up game because it was postponed earlier in the year due to Adelaide's committments in the Asian Champions League. It's also one of the teams we have a big rivalry in the A League. I went to this game by myself as Bryan and Gayle had to get organised for Pauline's funeral the next day.

January 4

Mum, Dad and I went to the Australian Gardens at the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens. The gardens have featured on travel and gardening shows for a few years and we've always wanted to go.

These are natural botanical gardens featuring a lot of desert plants. It reminded me of Alice Springs because it was a beautiful, warm day. There is a big focus on water-saving and low water usage plants.


You can also do some nice bushwalks around the gardens.

January 2

Mum and I went to Telstra Dome to watch Melbourne Victory taken on Queensland Roar, a team we lost to last time we played them at home. We won this game 2-1.

Bryan and Gayle weren't able to go because they were arranging Pauline's funeral so Mum came with me. We caught the train from Gardiner station to Southern Cross station which is only about a 20 minute trip. It's much better than travelling for 1 hour from Ferntree Gully station even though it's nearer to my home.

It was my Mum's first game and she enjoyed it. It was very exciting. We led 2-0 but Qld got a goal and nearly got a leveller but didn't.

January 1

I've joined a challenge on scrapshare called 52/265. The idea is to take a photo every day and scrap a page of the previous week every week so that's how you get 52/365.

My first photo is of my messy computer desk. I have two desks in my office and both are a bit messy at the moment. It's a matter of throwing things out and putting things away.

Pink Ribbon Breakfast 2008 - 25th October

Gayle organised a Pink Ribbon Breakfast which was going to be held at her house until the CFA offered the use of their meeting room. This enabled her to invite many more people and raise much more money that she originally wanted to.

I offered to make cupcakes and decided on 5 dozen (don't ask me where I plucked that figure from) and will never make that many again LOL. They needed to be made at the last minute to be fresh so I stayed up late the night before (luckily it was a Friday) to make and decorate them. I found a really nice recipe on my fav cooking website www.taste.com.au and bought some things to decorate such as hundreds & thousands and marshmallows.

More than 50 people came and Gayle raised over $1100. She initially wanted to make $200.

Next year she wants to make it bigger and better. I only hope she doesn't ask me to make cupcakes LOL.

bookmark card

Here's something else I want to make. The bookmark slips into the card so the recipient gets to reuse it.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=JxBBwK8iRhA

How to make a gift card holder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8PWp5B1Z7U

I just watched this video on you tube about how to make a gift card holder for a present. She makes this with 2 slots, 1 for the card and the other for a tag. This is definitely something I'm going to make in future.

Cupcake Flower Arrangement

Since I made all those cupcakes last year for the Pink Ribbon Breakfast organised by my sister-in-law, (which I've yet to post about) she and I have had a bit of a running joke about cupcakes. I just found this gorgeous cupcake flower arrangement on this blog www.inspiredideasmag.blogspot.com and just had to post it. I'm going to make one for my SIL too. She'll love it and will cheer her up a bit.

I'll post a pic when I do it. I need to buy some oasis but why not have a go yourself and post the result on your blog. Let me know if you do. I'd love to have a look.

http://inspiredideasmag.blogspot.com/2008/12/cupcake-flower-arrangement-this-tiny.html

Christmas Day

Christmas was a quiet affair this year. Due to Gayle's Mum not being well, they decided not to go there for Christmas lunch. They thought Mum, Dad and I were going to a restaurant but we changed our minds and decided to have it at Mum and Dads. So we decided to go and see them after lunch. I wanted to try some new recipes so I cooked this chicken. I stuffed it with fresh thyme and lemon quarters. It was so juicy and yummy. I'll definitely use that recipe again. We had pudding and sat around talking for a while then headed over to my brother's house. Santa brought them a Wii so we all had fun playing that for hours. Time flies when you're having fun!!

This Christmas tree is in the City Square in Melbourne.

The lights were in the Bourke St Mall and really jazzed up the Mall. This is where Myer has their famous windows every year.

Photos of Southbank in Melbourne at dusk

more photos from December 6

Photo 1 - looking out west from the Eureka Observation Deck

Photo 2 - looking across to Port Philip Bay (you can see Albert Park Lake where the Formula 1 Grand Prix is held each year)

Photo 3 - looking straight down to the ground from the Deck

Photo 4 - Port Medallions on a potato pancake and salad

Photo 5 - Salmon on risotto base

Christmas - part 1

I say part one because I haven't got my photos from my sister in law yet and I'm not going to push for them because her Mum died of stomach cancer on Tuesday 30th December.

On December 6, my friend Mel and I went to into the City of Melbourne to sample the Christmas feeling.

After a day of scrapbooking at my house we drove to the city and parked in the carpark in the Eureka Tower which is Melbourne's tallest building. We walked to nearby Crown Casino, taking photos of the sculptures along the Crown Promenade along the way. Once inside the casino we headed to the Palm court where they always have this great tree, all lit up. It's pretty spectacular. Then we walked back to Southgate to a cafe called 'La Camera' and had a beautiful meal. We started with one of the nicest Bruschettas I've ever had. Main course was salmon on a risotto base and pork medallions on a potato pancake with a side salad. We decided to share the meal so gave half to each other. We decided to leave dessert for later in the night.

After leaving La Camera we went to the 89th floor of the Eureka Tower to the observation deck. I'll post those photos separately. Near the bottom of the building is a sculpture of bees clinging to the side and inside a box attached.

After leaving the observation deck we walked across the Yarra (stopping to take photos along the way of course) to Federation Square where they have a gigantic advent calendar on the side of the wall of one of the buildings. At 9pm each night of December they hold a circus-like performance which ends half an hour later with the unveiling of the current date. The performance goes on for 20 mins too long for my taste. It's no wonder children were restless watching it; even I got bored. We decided to walk across the road to buy a spanish donut which Mel said I had to have. I didn't like it but Mel said it wasn't authentic so I might try one again one day.

After that we walked up to City Square to take a photo of their Christmas tree then to the Bourke St Mall to see the Myer Windows. The queue was too long so we decided to have a detailed look but you could see the windows through gaps in the queue. It looked very lively and colourful and the kids seemed to love it.

We ended the day by walking back across the Yarra to find a restaurant at Southgate for dessert. To our suprise, many were closed. We found a French restaurant and had a yummy lemon tart served by an equally yummy French waiter. He was very cute and very easy to understand which isn't always the case.

So that was my night out.

kids v parents at soccer

At the end of the 'season' for a lot of kids sports clinics, it is traditional for kids to take on their parents. Here are some photos of my brother (Bryan) and older nephew (DJ) taking on my younger nephew (Matty). I was asked to join in to but decided not to.

The top photo shows Matty's reaction after missing a goal - something he really hates. He is a genuine striker and is said by his coaches to have a lot of potential if he sticks to it.

The second photo is of DJ (wearing the plain red shirt) kicking one of his many goals playing and the third one is of Bryan (wearing the red shirt with the number 8 on the back) playing.

Overall it was great to watch; lots of fun seeing the kids take on their families. They are always very determined to beat them.

Stormy skies over Melbourne

On November 21st there were late afternoon storms approaching so I grabbed my camera (actually it was my new mobile phone) and went outside to take some photos.

When the storm hit, it was ferocious. The winds were really strong. Unfortunately it hit just as I was leaving to go to the city for a Melbourne Victory game but it passed quite quickly, luckily.

Litabells: Embracing Imperfection: Angel Eyes

Litabells: Embracing Imperfection: Angel Eyes

You have to check out this page created by Lita. It's gorgeous and looks like she spent ages on it.

Spoiler for Aussie card swap - non-religious

I know you will all find this hard to believe but the design that inspired this card was all in red but I changed it to green. Only because I didn't think I would have enough red paper though. It's ok, I still love red. LOL

Thanks for looking. I loved making them.

Spoiler for Aussie card swap - non-traditional

I love the cheerful colours used on this card. I love the way they work together. I didn't realise how nice it would look until I finished it.

Spoiler for Aussie card swap - traditional

What shape are you???

No this doesn't relate to your body shape. It's a personality test.

Here's the link: http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/451405/what-shape-are-you-a-triangle-a-circle-a-rectangle-a-square-or-a-squiggle

And here's my result:

You are a triangle.

• The triangle is rooted in thousands of years of history.
• The symbol itself focuses upward to the sun, to the deity. It is the pyramids. In current times it is the hierarchy in management. Triangles are the ultimate symbol of leadership.
• Triangles are strong, decisive people. Triangles are the power shape. Triangles love to tell other shapes what to do. The triangle is a strategic thinker with long-term plan. Male triangles are delegators; female triangles still do everything themselves.
• The triangle is a left brain linear thinker; however, the triangle processes information very quickly. Triangles do everything faster because they wish to get to the point.
• Triangles are the snap decision makers.
• Triangles are generally smart people. On the Downside, they tend to be egotistical, into status symbols, and highly opinionated. (ouch)
• They are focused and smart.
• Triangles are the classic leadership type and most likely to be found in the boardroom; however, they are not broad thinkers and tend to be self-oriented instead of open. Motto of the triangle is I did it my way
• Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are Triangles.

I can vouch that this is quite accurate which is very scary.

Birthday card for my niece

It's my niece's 17th birthday this week so I made this card for her today. I used teal and salmon cardstock from my lss. The flower is white, almost transaparent so looks like it's a light pink colour when put on the salmon. I've used crystalina kindyglitz on the flower stems which looks very pretty.

more flower photos

These pansies were taken in my garden, and I just had to share them with you. As you can tell I love flowers. Now that the warmer weather is here gardens are blooming.

Todays card-making adventures

I went to a SU workshop hosted by my SU demonstrator, Christine. We had a great afternoon and made 10 cards from two of the Simply Sent kits - Sending Happy Thoughts and Simple Delights (pages 13-14 of the Aussie SU 2008 catalogue).

Here are some of the cards we made today. Christine designed these cards using different coloured cardstock to show the versatility of the sets. Some of the cards are made using Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava from the In Colour range.

Just had to share these photos with you

I took these photos at my house and my Mum & Dad's house a few weeks ago and they have stayed on my camera since. They looked nice on the camera screen but today I got them printed. My first thought on seeing them when printed was "WOW". I was playing with the macro function on the camera as it's something I've not done much in the past.

The third photo is my favourite. It's one of Mum's camelias

Tag ideas

I made these tag ideas for my workshop next weekend. The first one shows how you can use tags for matting photos and the second is putting embellishments on your tags. Both ideas belong to Kerrianne Hobbs.

Oh No!! I've been tagged....

Thanks Lita (no really, I'm not being sarcastic, lol).

Ok here goes.....

First of all - the rules:

Link the person who tagged you.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I'm fanatical about red

2. I love going to display homes and Open House Inspections when someone's selling their house

3. I take no notice of the colour of the pegs I use when hanging washing out (much to my Mum's frustration)

4. My tins are never straight in my pantry

5. I love travelling

6. I like going out for dinner with friends

Now I'm tagging:

RhondaCM (not sure if you have changed your screen name yet)
VeronicaAus
Joanne6523
MichelleK_CM
Hapscrapgrl
** Will add more names when I think of them **

card making video...quick and easy Christmas card

I found this on youtube. She shows you how to make a quick and easy Christmas card.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NynTWZZiiTs

Lita's Card Challenge # 6

I haven't made this one for anything specific. I just wanted to join in this challenge.

I've purposely left off a sentiment or any word stickers so I can use it when I quickly need a card in future.

I've used crystalina kindyglitz (which I've now fallen in love with and have to make sure I don't use it on everything - even non card stuff lol) and the paper is all from Creative Memories' Cottage Power Palette.

Lita's Card Challenge # 1

This is version 3 of this card and since I took this photo thought of something else I could do to it but have to draw the line somewhere so I'm now sharing it with you.

Card: Thinking of You

I made this card for my Sister-in-law's Mum who is back in hospital.

Got some pages done yesterday....at last!

Each month I crop with a friend. We take it in turns going to each other's house. Yesterday it was at her house. We have worked out workshop schedules for this year and a few months into next year and try to use our own pages to show the different techniques and stickers/paper packs brought out by CM.

For the next few months we are working on tags using the new CM Tag Maker and different styles of borders. Borders have become a little unfashionable since CM released the power palettes so we want to show how you case use them to create borders.

Yesterday I completed 4 pages for my 2008 album using the Tag Maker. The pictures are below, the first double page layout (DPL) is finished but I I'm not sure if I'm going to use the tags for stickers or journalling in the second DPL but wanted to share it anyway. The colours are not what I would normally use. They are quite subdued, especially the accommodation one but they suit the Gold Coast.

SS Blog Challenge # 31....if you couldn't live in current times, which past era would you like to have been born into?

If I could choose what period of time I was born I would choose Australia when it was being settled.

I'm an Australian history fanatic as well as a scrapbooking and card-making fanatic.

My favourite period of our history is from 1788-1828 which is the first 30 years of our beautiful country.

Times were very tough, mostly n0-gooders were sent here from England. Many of them had no idea how to farm, build, survive so turned to theft and prostitution which is why some of them were sent here in the first place. They weren't given much in the way of tools and equipment or seeds and animals to provide food as well.

I'd still love to live in that time though. There were new things happening everyday and it would have been great to have been a part of it.

Cooking magazine subscription

I love to cook. If I had a nice modern kitchen I would be cooking all the time. But I don't. (sigh)

Anyway I subscribe to one cooking magazine (Super Food Ideas) which I consider to be the worlds best cooking mag. It's not a fancy mag, just has everyday-type meals and tips. Last week Gayle told me there was an offer if we renewed. We would get a cake tin. I thought that sounded good and extended by subscription. Well it arrived today and it's huge.

And deep. Would be perfect for making thick, long cakes. Mmmm I can picture a nice mud cake being made in this tin.

My other favourite cooking mag is Recipes+.

Cards made at Lita's Stampin Up workshop

Pic of something red

this is to go with my post from yesterday. Thanks to Lita for showing me where to find pics.

My favourite colour - Red

I'm posting this as part of a blog challenge on Scrapshare.

Red is my favourite colour. I love colour - all different colours - but I am fanatical about red. It all started when I was around 10 or 11 years old and I started going for the Sydney Swans Before they moved to Sydney they were the South Melbourne Swans.

When I buy anything, if there is a choice I'll go for red. If I'm in a shop I won't notice other colours in a range, just the red one. Last weekend I bought an external hard drive. It was only available in red but no one believes me. They are so used to me buying clothes, furnishings etc in red.

When I moved into my house, my niece unpacked all my clothes and hung them in the walk in wardrobe. My sister-in-law walked in and said "look at the all the red clothes", my reply was "there isn't that much". I still think there's not a lot of red clothes but no one agrees with me.

To me red is a vibrant, passionate colour and full of life. It's bold and bright.

Busy weekend

I had a very busy weekend last weekend.

On Friday night I went to the A-League soccer with my brother and his family. We have all just become members. I'm now officially hooked on soccer (football to some). I've been following it for a few years now because my Dad is from England but since getting foxtel at home I can't get enough of it.

For the same price as a general admission membership we got allocated seating behind the goals. Which sounded great at the time until we were told by the club that it is a standing area so you don't have to sit down. Apparently sitting is optional. Not too bad we thought. Until we got to the stadium and found our seats are at the back of the stand, behind EVERYONE. Now apart from my sister-in-law, we aren't the tallest people in the world. We had a great view of the ground and the players warming up but as soon as the game started, EVERYONE stood up. There goes our view. Luckily we were able to move to empty seats but that may not happen every time.

The game itself was brilliant. It always is when your team (Melbourne Victory) wins 5-0 especially against last year's champions, Newcastle.

I have some photos I'll post here later but I left my camera at home and I'm at work right now.

Scrapshare Blog Challenge #28

"I read recently that our sense of smell is much stronger than we realize. For many people a specific scent can trigger nostalgic memories from years and years ago. For others, a whiff of a specific scent or odor for that matter can bring back awful memories. Is there a scent that does this for you? Talk to me about smells that you remember, from childhood, your teenage years, or even more recently, and be sure to tell of what these scents mean to you when they resurface in your life now."

Recently I came across a product that took me right back to my grandma's house. It really hit home to me. You see my grandma died in 1980 when I was 7 so I don't have a lot of memories of her. However she used to use puff powder which smelt really nice. The product that reminded me is the Stampin Up stamp cleaner - the spray. It's a very strange product to smell like powder but as I said it took me right back.

new look for my blog

I didn't like the look of the basic layouts available here so looked up Pyzam (www.pyzam.com) which was recommended by Lita and found some wonderful options. After one false start I found this one that works. Some of you will be surprised it's not red but I couldn't find any nice red ones. Never mind. Even I can choose a different colour now and then, lol.

A BIG BIG thank you to Lita for helping to put this together. To give Lita full credit she actually put it all together after I chose what I wanted to go on here. This is something else she is good at. Now I just have to link it to scrapshare.

Welcome to my blog

I decided it's time I entered the world of blogs. Well this isn't actually my first blog but it's been months since I posted in my old one and there were only a few posts anyway.

I'm going to ask for help making it cool because it's as boring as hell and I've seen some brilliant ones that belong to some of my friends.