BUSY BUSY BUSY

I cant believe how busy I have been, there is so much happening and so little time to do anything!
I have been working everyday and every time I think it will be my day off something happens and they call ME in... ARGGG! Tomorrow was going to be my day off and I booked my car in to get a wheel alignment before we go away on holidays but again I am not having my day off..... It is so hard to make appointments or organise to do anything as my plans never pan out!
I went to SBC on Friday after work as I finished early and bought some goodies from the "Creative Cafe" they have awesome felt, chipboard, buttons, brads etc... I loved all the new stuff and did buy up big for my secret Santa gift and for some friends for Chrissy.Now I just need to find time to put them in the post... I also bought stuff to make gifts for my bosses for Christmas but just dont seem to have the time to make them so I think this year there will be no handmade gifts :(
Friday night I have my work's Christmas night out on a Party Boat, hopefully that should be a good night!
Have almost finished my Christmas shopping, I have only one more present to buy and the item is on special Thursday so hopefully I will be able to pick it up after work, that's if they have not sold out!!!
Saturday night is our family Christmas party as we are all going away this year so we wont be having the usual Family get together!
I don't think I have mentioned that we have booked a townhouse for one week at Noosa for over the Christmas week...... What an awesome place it is, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a pool, right near the river and walking distance to the beach... It was way more expensive than we were willing to pay but there was just nothing else available..... I suppose that is the price you have to pay for a great time away at Christmas and we are all looking forward to this..... I cant wait to have 1 whole week off work!
Ok I am off to get some sleep....

Christmas Gift Bags

I made these gorgeous little bags to give to my Scrapping CJ Buddies, they were so easy to make and I definitely had fun decorating them. I filled up little bags of Lindt choc, Ferreo's, Raphaello's and Roses Chocolates to put in the little bags.

These are individual photos of the bags...







MY favourite was the BG little froggy paper and I also cut the little fly out and added my own little wings with wire. Will go and put a close up of it to show the detail.


These photos were taken with my new CAMERA!!! Yes it is for christmas but I was allowed to have a little play :)

Scrapbook Creations No 48

In April I finally decided to try and submit a layout for publishing in Scrapbooking Creations and they accepted my "Little Mischief Maker" for the pets gallery.
YAH and this month finally it is in the mag and I even have a whole page to myself!
This is the layout!

I have not received it back yet and was so worried that they did not even receive it! Thanks Trudi for letting me know it was in there, so I went out and bought myself a copy....

SBC Awards Night

Well I was unable to make the SBC Awards night as I have been ill, but it sounds like everyone had such a great time....I so wish I could have gone.
I did win the award for Most Compelling Journaling, if you scroll down the page alittle you will see the layout 'Life's Journey' and the journaling is there too. I did receive this cute little trophy and there were awesome prizes to the value of $150 for every winner...... and my prize was a large rolling tote. It is in lime green and it has great compartments, but I have a set of MM leather totes and bag. So I think I might try and sell it. This is the photo I took of my bag... You can see it on the website at http://www.scrappack.com/ if you click on the retail link you will find it under butterfly...Just let me know if you are interested :)We are going away next year to the retreat so I am sure someone might like a new funky tote at a great price :)

I am still not 100% and really sick of being unwell lately, and really think I should start taking vitamins or something! I HATE being sick!

Layouts to share!

Yes thats right girls these are a couple of layouts I have been working on this weekend, and the one of ME....well it has been a layout in progress. I seem to have so much trouble putting together a girly layout.... I just cant seem to get the flowers right or I am just not happy with something! And also I am loving using my new sewing machine, it is so much fun sewing on a layout and I love the look too. I do have another layout I am working on but need to change the photo. I got some photos developed yesterday in sepia but I just hate the tone.... I also had some done a while ago at HN and I hated those too, so not so sure anymore about sepia...

the new Me right here right now today!

This one I am not happy with the large acetate clock, but I didn't have a smaller one. I need another packet of HS acetate clocks, so does anyone know where I can get a packet or two from????

gimme a hug.

This is a photo of Bailey around his 1st Birthday... As he has become older and getting around he is not too keen on giving out any hugs. This is what he did when I asked him for a hug.... and than when I tried to take photos he quickly turned his back and crossed his arms. As to say NO way NO photos today! It was so cute.... but I have not been able to get many new photos of him lately....

These eyes melt my heart...

This is my layout for SBC Cyber Crop they had this weekend... Thanks girls for great challenges but unfortunately was unable to complete them all.....The one I did was a sketch challenge from Angela O'Neale.... so I at least did manage to get 1 challenge completed, but would of liked to have done more but I just never had the right PP's as I did give most of them away to Jamie's school...
Will have more layouts to share shortly..

Happy Birthday Charlene!

Its my daughters 19th Birthday today..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLENE.
She spent the day out with her friends at Bribie Island, swimming and fishing. I am glad she had a great day. Than Andrew and I took Stephen and Charlene out to dinner at 'Ashmores Steak and Seafood' down the coast. It was a great night and we even had a lovely birthday cake....

Life's Journey

This is a layout I have been working on for sometime and made a few minor changes last night and finished off the journaling... I have entered it into the SBC Awards Night for 'Most Compelling Journaling Layout'...

A portion of the journaling is on the front of the layout and the rest was too long so I have it hidden behind the photo! Which READS...

When a child is placed into your arms at birth you automatically become overwhelmed with emotions and dream of this perfect little world for your child. But this time it was different my life was going to change in such a big way, one I was not so certain I would be able to manage. But everyday as you fought for your life and struggled to breathe, my heart ached for my little boy to survive. And I made a promise to myself that if you did fight back that I would love you forever and to be by your side every step of the way, and to ensure that you would be able to live a happy normal life. It was like you heard my prayers and you had that will to survive and determination that you were going to come home with ME.

The first few weeks were just a blur with so many thoughts whirling through my head trying to come terms with the life that was dealt to you. I still don’t know how I managed those ever so difficult months of hospital visits, operations and plenty of sleepless nights. But I realised I had to cope because you needed me and I knew that I was so lucky to have been given the most precious gift anyone could receive and that was a beautiful special little boy YOU.

Over the years you and I have shared so many special moments together, and you never stopped smiling and giving your love to everyone that you meet. I have been there for all those special moments that mothers dream about all did come true maybe not at the same time as other children but they did happen.

So from that day that we made our special pact, I have kept my promise to you. Therefore always remember that I will always be beside you to encourage and help you through your life. Even though sometimes I might not be there to hold your hand, just listen for my footsteps and know that I am there right beside you guiding you through your journey of life.

Thanks for looking...
Off to the hairdressers now...

Sewing Machine!

YAH I bought my self a cheap sewing machine for my scrapbooking....I have been putting it off and off every time I see a cheap one. When I hurt my back Spotlight had a sale on a Brother sewing machine for half the price but I just could not get to the shops let alone lift it into a trolley... DAMN I missed out on a good sale.
But this one came on sale at Kmart for only $90 and I still hummed and ahhhed about getting it....But finally Andrew said just get it and he was there to lift it into the trolley for ME :)
So I have set it up and worked out the best tension and stitch I like... And have even sewed on a layout... I am so excited... it looks great!
Most of you know I love hand stitching and would stitch on every layout but now I do love the messy sewing look too so this is going to be fun.
Went to Scrapbooks Etc today to visit Lyndal :) and I could not resist the new Fancy Pants papers, well they were not so new now but that is how long it has been since I have bought any paper let alone scrapbooking supplies!
So tonight I have been working on a layout and just started sticking it down, I cant believe I was doing it! I think I was anxious to sew on it LOL and I did. Now just have to embellish it and it is done! I love how it is at the moment so I hope it turns out even better!
Well this is my entry for this weeks Challenge and hopefully I will be back in a few days with a layout to share!!
Have a good week everyone.....Brenda

I am going to the Retreat!

OK finally today I organised with the girls to book our spots for the retreat! Thank goodness I decided today to do something about it as they only had 4 spots left! So we have finally made our mind up and we are going! I am going to the shop tomorrow to pay my deposit, yah I am excited and it is months away. It will actually be the weekend of my birthday and DH was not too happy about that but I said we can celebrate my birthday the weekend before with our wedding anniversary. Not sure if I can take 2 weekends off in a row but I can try..
I am actually enjoying my new job and my back has been good but I have to be so careful in the way I bend and move etc. I have to go back to the doctors to still find a medication that I can stay on all the time that will help.
Still have not been in my scraproom in awhile but will get in there I promise by the end of the month and get a few layouts loaded on this computer to enter in the SBC awards night!

We are in October

WOW I cant believe how this year has flown. Have been checking out the new catalogues today for Christmas presents, at least I have a few ideas for Jamie this year for Christmas.
Been to work a few days this week and at least my back has held up, but when I get home I am sure paying for it later. But a good soak in the bath and lying flat on my back brings so much relief.
I have completed my CJ entry for this weekends change over, unfortunately I have to work this Saturday and will miss getting together with all the girls. Hopefully we will definitely meet next time. Not long to go now I think about 3 more to do and I am getting excited to actually finally see my CJ. I have really enjoyed doing this and all the ladies are lovely and definitely talented, so glad to be involved with this entire group :)
I have been so worried about my brother lately as he has not been well and will go in for a major operation on the 16th of October. Just hope he can stay well in the mean time so they can definitely operate as this is very important. Will give more details after the operation once we know exactly what we are up against....
Jamie went to his Nanna's in Brunswick Heads last week for one week of the school holidays. He loves going there and it gives me a good break too, and I don't have to worry about finding someone to look after him while I am at work.
My poor mum dropped something real heavy on her big toe yesterday, that women thinks she is superwoman or something. She is always out doing something she should not be! It happened at 9.30 am but she did not fax me until 3pm to ask me to come and see her. I was so shocked at the state of it and cant believe it is not broken, and she had applied NO ice to it when it happened. I got some ice organised for her in bags and told her that she had to put ice on it and should have straight away, which would have helped with the swelling! I feel so bad and really worry about her when I am unable to check on her everyday. She gets out in that yard and cuts down trees, prunes the bushes and pulls weeds out, and if you did not know my mum is blind and totally deaf as well... So you can imagine how I feel when she thinks she can do all this kind of stuff on her own, but she loves it and it makes her feel independent too.
Pop has been a great help with Jamie this week while I have had to go to work and can be my life saver too.
Ok I am off to lie on the lounge and watch some TV so till next time take care.....

Back to Work

OK, I have been up and about the last 2 days and hopefully can get back to work tomorrow. I am not 100% but I just want to get back to work. Just have to find the right medication that I am able to take everyday. I forgot to mention my scary trip to the hospital in an ambulance....
On Monday when I hurt my back I was given a needle and medication and sent home to stay in bed for 3 days and not move unless having to go to the toilet. That night I slept like a baby and was horrified that I had not stirred all night. Andrew woke me to check on me, but I had such blurry vision that my eyes felt like they were going back and forth. I said NO to the pain killers as I thought this might be causing the dizziness. Away he gave me the other tablets and off to work he went, the phone rang in the morning and it woke me up. I had to hang up the phone cause I got up out of bed and headed to the toilet when all of a sudden, I totally became so dizzy, the room was blurry, I started to sweat and I felt like I was going to be sick. I sat straight on the ground but it just did not stop and I started to feel like I could not breathe. I got up and headed to the fridge, I felt like I needed water, I was dying of thirst. I made it to the fridge but by the time I got there I could not see anything in front of ME at all. It was totally scary, I remember thinking what is wrong with me. The next I remember waking up on the floor face down thinking how cold and good the floor felt and I was going to die here and nobody knows I am just here!! IT was absolutely terrifying! I could not yell out, the phone had been in my hand when I fell but I could not see anything to find where it was. I must have dosed off again and than I heard Stephen trying to wake me and Charlene screaming. I could hardly breathe, talk or even move but they had rang an ambulance straight away.
They came and took me to hospital, which I don't remember much. But I had an allergic reaction to the medication and it made my heart rate drop and my blood pressure drop very low. Very Scary... My first ride in an ambulance, which involves ME being the patient! My DH said the doctors and nurses were so great with me and I was the not so perfect patient LOL....
I am scared in a way to go back to work but I really want to go back, I just hope my back will be good for ME! Might not be able to do a full day but see how long I can last...

Thanks everyone for dropping by my blog and hopefully I will be able to keep up the work of up dating regularly.. I do have photos and layouts to share but once I can scan them I will.... I will get to your blogs and soon and check you all out also....
Take Care...

On the Scrapping Front

Well now on the scrapping front, unfortunately not much has been going on there! I did have a big burst of scrapping for a couple of weeks but now that I have started working finding the time to scrap is much harder. Before I could scrap any time of the day or night and had NO excuse but now I am so exhausted after work I just manage a bit of house work than dinner and some TV and I am heading to bed very early.
I did enter 5 layouts into the FK awards and I have not heard anything back from them so I suppose they were no good. I hope I get them back soon as I forgot to scan a couple of them before I sent them away.
I have managed to get my CJ pages done every month and just need to finalise the one I am working on now. Will have to wait until next week when I can actually sit on a chair and be comfortable!
I do have one layout, I can share with you. I did a total of 8 layouts for the FK awards and had to pick 5 of the better ones. So this is one of the ones I chose not to send.

It is of Bailey at Christmas time opening his present. I absolutely love this photo and the journaling reads.
Capturing the surprised look on your face as you opened your Christmas present was priceless. The sweet joy of discovery was clearly reflected in your expressive eyes as you touched, explored and played with each part of your new toy.
I have not scanned the others but will try and do something next week and show you them!...

My Hair

Well I went to the hairdressers last week and got my hair coloured, I have been opting now to have my hair done every 4 weeks professionally as I have had a bad reaction from some hair products. This time they spent an hour straightening my hair afterwards, and I was a bit shocked at first but it did grow on me and I loved it by the end of the night. Andrew totally fell in love with me all over again LOL and wants me to get my hair straightened permanently... Not sure might find out a bit more about it next time I am at the hair dressers.
I am still trying to be good with my health kick and have only put on 1 kg in the last 3 or 4 months. I really want to lose about another 10 kgs and with working so hard now hopefully it will happen quickly.


This is the latest photo of ME with my hair straight, now be honest do you like it this way or do you prefer the curly ME...

A new JOB

Well I have been busy the last 6 weeks with my new job..... I am working at a newly built Motel on Johnson Road doing house keeping. It is a hard job and YES this is how I hurt my back, I have been off for the week but am hoping to be back on Monday. I really like it, the people I work for are great. It is hard work and you have to be quick and get everything perfect and remember so much in such a short time. But I love meeting new people and the satisfaction of the room looking great when I am finished. Sounds weird hey but its a job and its great to be back in the work force during the day while Jamie is at school. The hours are perfect for me 8.30 - 2.30 which is really hard to find.
So if you need somewhere to stay when you come to Brisbane I am sure you would love to stay at this new Motel. The website will be up and running soon and you should see me in a few of the photos LOL

Charlene and Stephen get engaged

My daughter Charlene and her boyfriend celebrated 5 years of being together at the end of August. So Stephen organised a romantic weekend away to the Sunshine coast and proposed. It was all very romantic but Charlene says very embarrassing. He proposed to her in the middle of the restaurant down on one knee while all staff and customers looked with anticipation! She has a beautiful 1 carat diamond ring... yeh thats right everyones dream ring.... bigger than mine!
The wedding wont be for a few years yet as she is still at uni studying...

I will get back with a photo of the ring..... and the happy couple.

Andrew's 40th Birthday

Andrew turned 40 on the 25th of August..... and we had a party at home. It was not a big party but everyone that did turn up had a great time. He was totally spoilt as usual and I made all the nibblies and had a stress free night and a few drinks too.

A photo of Andrew and I on the night!

Need to update

OMG look at what month we are in and I have TOTALLY forgotten about my blog. So much has gone on that I really don't know where to begin!
Well to tell you the truth, I went on SBC site today and found a post by Terri about everyone's blogs and this did make me realise HEY I do still have a blog also...

Last time I had the flu well now I have hurt my back and have been laid up in bed for nearly a week. I am sitting here on the laptop, which had not crossed my mind to do so. I just knew that I could not sit in a chair at the moment and have not even turned on my computer all week...

Well not sure if anyone even comes to visit no more as I have been totally slack! I am so sorry, so much has gone on and it just seems to mean less time on the computer these days!

I will do a new heading for all the big news that has gone on in the last couple of months..... and I will try and get some photos too as I have been really slack with taking that with me too these days and have missed out on some great photo opportunities.

WOW now it is July

OMG well I have been slack haven't I...... Where did June go? I was sick with the flu at the beginning of the month.
We have been waiting since April for Mum to get into the eye specialist, unfortunately it was on her birthday and afterwards we had planned to take her out for lunch and dinner that night. But the specialist was so concerned with my mum's eye that he sent us straight away to the hospital and she was admitted for a few days on drops and medication to reduce the pressure around her eye..... The doctors could not believe the size of the cataract that she had, it was so huge and the pressure was so high at nearly 80%. They could not believe she had been putting up with this pain for so long..... I felt so bad because she is blind already and I never thought that would of been the problem....
So on Thursday the operated and removed the cataract and lens, not to give her sight but to bring the pressure down.... She is home and feeling so much more comfortable, just means I am down her house every couple of hours giving eye drops. We are back at the specialist on Friday and will find out how everything is going and hope she does not have to have another operation.
Jamie went to his nanna's the first week of the school holidays and now we have the week together. We took him to see Transformers last night and it was an awesome movie he really loved it...
Ok on the weight loss front there has been none :( but will weigh in on Friday and hopefully we will have a result, at least I have put nothing back on though.... I had to buy some new clothes and even got to buy SIZE 10 Jeans..... oh I was so excited and only size 14 jumpers, so I have gone down 3 dress sizes...which is awesome and I am so happy still...

June Already!

WOW where has the time gone. I can't believe I have not been on here for over a month. Sorry girls... Thanks to everyone that had emailed me asking me to update...
I have been so sick the last week with the flu and just can't seem to shake the little bugger! Jamie came home sick with it on the Friday after school and over the weekend got worse, so Monday it was off to the doctors with him. He is on antibiotics and by Tuesday he was so much better. By Monday afternoon I started to feel the affects of it myself. I could hardly move out of bed everyday and when I was feeling a little better I would do some dishes or try and help with dinner. Andrew has been working 6 days a week and I do feel guilty if I have to leave anything for him to do. But he was so good and while I lied in bed most of the time he attended to Jamie.... Thank goodness I had him.....

OK well the diet is still going strong and wow do you believe that it has been nearly 4 months and I have stuck to it. Normally by around 3 months I am tired of healthy food and want to go back to my bad eating habits. But I am determined to get to my goal weight and try and maintain it there and not put it all back on.... I have lost a total of 16 kg's and am only 3kg's away from my goal weight that I wanted to set myself. But the chemist say that I still have about 10 kg's to lose after that! OMG I don't know how they work that out as I have not been in the 50kg mark since I was a teenager 20 years ago. So I cant see me getting that far down in weight.

Well in the scrapping front, SORRY nothing has happened there! I have not scrapped since before my birthday. I have done 1 sketch class with Lyndal but OMG what a nightmare that was, nothing was going right for ME at all....

I did go to the BIGGEST MORNING TEA and yes I sat there and looked at magazines. Roamed the shop spending plenty of money and chatting my little heart out. BUT yet again not one bit of scrapping. I just cant seem to get my MOJO back and really not sure if I actually want it back!!

In the latest FK my layout of Bailey has been published. This is definitely a favourite of mine and glad it was the one to be picked to be published.\


I don't think there is nothing much else to say, nothing exciting has happened in my life at the moment. But will promise to get around to some people's blogs also and check on what you all have been up to...... I have not forgot about you..........
TAKE CARE.......

Birthday, weight loss and Tagged

It was my birthday yesterday and I had a brilliant day spent with my gorgeous friends who took me to the movies, coffee and then lunch.... I got some wonderful pressies and plenty of scrapping supplies. Thank you everyone for all your birthday wishes it was nice to know that people still think of YOU.... Thanks also to Lynette who sent me a beautiful frame and friend sentiment in the mail..... it is special and holds a nice place in my cabinet.... Katrina thank you for my AMM tote, it is cool and have put all my supplies in there and it will definitely come in handy...

Andrew cooked dinner and even though I was only able to have salad, it was still good to not have to cook or clean up after them. I was good and still ate healthy and I am so determined to get to my goal weight, so it gets easier every day.. I have been losing about a kg a week and lost some before I started my strict weightloss plan. So since late last year I have lost a total of nearly 13kgs... and my DH is constantly complementing me and making me feel good and lots of people have noticed which can make it all worth while and keep you going... So for my birthday DH said I could go and buy a treadmill or spin bike, not sure which one I really want so will keep my eye out for a really good one that I wont want to ditch after a week....

Ok so I have been tagged from Tammy and Michelle....
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!
1.I chew my finger nails...

2.I have always lived in Queensland...

3.I have never traveled overseas....

4.My washing has to pegged up on the line a certain way....

5.Love bubble baths and miss them due to water restrictions....

6.I have never smoked a cigarette in my life!

7.My friends play a very special roll in my life and treasure every relationship that I have with every single one of them...

I tag.... not sure yet who will check out other blogs to see who hasn't got this!!

Reflect on Reality Scrap

Its a long one girls.....

I am so proud of how I did in the competition, and glad I made it to the end. I got there without winning any immunity challenges... I was so hopeless at friday night games!!!!
I have created 15 wonderful layouts and a OTP items....and am so happy with everything I created...... I create my layouts in my own style...which I dont really know what it is but do create everything from the heart and it does show in my journaling...
Unfortunately I did not WIN....and did not even get a guest spot either! But their could only be one winner... Trudi and Annette won a guest spot and glad for them. But I have decided to take a break from scrapping now and do some stuff for me. But still might look around at a few other sites that might want guest design team members....because I feel I so much to offer to some team...
Thank you girls for all my PM's and emails, I apprecitate all your kind words and support.... thank you.....
I must say that my tags were my favourite of everything I created they are gorgeous and I am so happy with how they turned out...

My most challenging would have been the "Freestyle" challenge set by Sara, as I had NO idea what that meant. Once I started searching I realised "ok that style". But am very happy with how it turned out...


My most favourite layout would have to be "she" and I might add it was definitely the quickest! Imagine if I scrapped like this all the time, I would have so many layouts to share. I love the simple clean but also has the WOW factor feel to this layout. The simple things just highlight the photo...


Also would be my week 10 challenge, even though it was a sketch, I made it my own and this is more my style. I loved my topic because this is one thing that means the most to me.Most of you can ask your kids at the littlest of age a question about what they might be thinking or even give them a question and they will answer you. Think of that and how lucky you are because I never have that response back that I would so love to hear.....
So I will start from the beginning and put them all up....
The Qualifying Challenge


Week 1


Week 2

Week 3 is being published...
Week 4 was my "freestyle challenge" up above
Week 5

Week 6




















This was to try and win hidden immunity

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Reality Scrap Challenge 10 (3)

Yes if you are reading the heading then this means I made it through to the final 3... I still can't believe it..... It has definitely been a hard competition as the competitiveness and talent was HUGE!

Tomorrow it will be revealed through the day sometime as there is a whole day full of fun so come and check it out at Scrapbook City....

This is my final layout.... the requirements were...

- Song Lyrics - song of your choice but must be visible.
- Altered CD somewhere on the page.
- at least three photos - any size, any color, any subject.
- at least two colors of cardstock. NO BLACK AND WHITE ALLOWED!
- Must use three different PP manufacturers.
- must use INK

Ok so I haven't done a wedding layout for any of my Reality challenges and thought this would be the perfect meaningful song.... I chose "From this Moment" by Shania.
My PP Manufactures are Rusty Pickle - True love and Princess Buttercup
Fancy Pants - Sweet Nothings
Prima - Affection..
I used a red and mustard cardstock.. cant remember the names now.
I have used a 5 x7 photo as my focal photo of me putting the ring on Andrew's finger, and a little one to the side of a close up of the hands.... And of course the important moment of us kissing when they pronounce us husband and wife!!! The lyrics to my song are printed in white on my large photo.... something I also have not done before!
I have used ink a few ways on my layout firstly by using ink and stamping flourishes using the Technique Tuesday stamps. I also used a smaller flourish on my journaling cards and I inked around the edges of my CD and PP's...
I altered a CD and made a pocket under to enclose my hidden journaling. I thought it would be perfect to put down why I chose the song and the events of the day of course.
My Journaling reads for the events of the day....
The moment I heard the song begin to play, it suddenly hit me I was about to walk down the aisle and marry the man that I loved and adored - and my life would never be the same again. My fragile emotions overwhelmed me and with great difficulty. I attempted to stay focused on the music and resisted making eye contact with my family and friends who were happily waiting for me to proceed down the aisle. I made the decision to finally just focus on Andrew – his presence instantly filled my heart and mind - and without knowing why, I hesitated, stopped and turned around to try
and collect myself. I absolutely shocked everyone as they immediately assumed I was about to become the Runaway Bride. (Not Likely!)Of course I did eventually make it to the end of the aisle, although the song had to be played over three times before I finally got to Andrew's side!

This is why I chose my song.....

'From This Moment' was a song that touched my innermost desires way before I had even met Andrew. As a single woman I used to lay in bed at night, dreaming of the idea that I could have that special moment in my life. I had to believe that I
would fall in love and eventually marry the one man who was worthy of my love - although there were times I wondered if he would ever come!
So when Andrew and I started to consider wedding songs, without question, 'From this Moment' was our first choice. The meaningful lyrics seem like they were written especially for us, the words are a true reflection of our feelings for one
another. To finally have my dreams realised after nearly 33 years of waiting to make the greatest promise between a man and a woman - to become husband and wife - is a blessing I will forever be thankful for.

SO this is my final layout for REALITY SCRAP and have enjoyed every moment and glad to be here till the end... Thanks for following my journey with me girls..

Reality Scrap Week 10 Challenge (3)

Well today we were given two more challenges to complete the competition! Unfortunately though two of us will be voted off tomorrow, so wish me luck....
I completed challenge 3 today as it was a quick simple layout.
The requirements were
* one only photograph, any size
* one only piece of pp, sized 6"x8"
* one only length of ribbon, at least 6" long
* one only embellishment (whether it is premade as is, or an embellishment you create by adhering smaller embellishments together, coherently - ie. NOT a cluster, but one piece)
* LOTS of 'white space'

WOW hey, it is to be clean simple but stunning. Did think about it awhile and once I found that perfect photo and I knew straight away I wanted to use the new Fancy Pants PP. It came together quite simple thank goodness because challenge 2 is a biggy...
This is what I created....

This beautiful photo of Sophia, and just a simple title using mini bling letters 'she'. It just sets the whole layout off. I love it..... one of my favourites definitely... So it meets the requirement of SIMPLE CLEAN and Plenty of WHITE SPACE........

These are a few close up photos.... do you notice how the pink flower brings out the pink in her lips.... I think this looks so sweet....

Now make sure you go check the site's gallery, there has been some outstanding work produced this week....

Wedding Anniversary

It was my wedding anniversary yesterday, we have been married 3 years. It has been a great 3 years and we are both still so in love and happy in our marriage. And that is a good thing, we haven't been together as long as most of our friends but I sometimes see our relationship as though we have known each other a life time!
We have been together exactly 8 years from our wedding day..... and you know what my husband did to me yesterday...... he trimmed his goatee down to nearly nothing! I took one look at him and I could not stop smiling....wow people look so different when they do something like this. Even though it is NOT all the way off it is trimmed and HE looks totally different. I have not seen him any other way but with his goatee. He trimmed it down to get sun on it so when he goes out in the sun, he wants to get a tan there so when he does shave this off completely it is not white! That is the only reason he did not shave it off completely. I know he will look totally different when he does and it will be a shock to me, but I think it definitely made him look younger!
Anyway he totally forgot our wedding anniversary!!!! Which is not like him but he only remembered when he seen his card on the table in the morning before work. He came in and said HAPPY ANNIVERSARY and straight away I said you forgot didn't YOU! He admitted it, but he came home from work with a lovely bunch of flowers and a great card with heaps of his own words in it, which he wrote....so sweet so he is forgiven!

Reality Scrap Week 10 Challenge (1)

Ok this week we are going to have 3 challenges, so the first one is due on Wednesday night. That's alright early as there will be two people eliminated on Thursday then 2 other challenges to complete by Saturday night. OOOOHHH all sounds so exciting and can't believe I have made it as far as I have.... it has been a blast!
The first challenge is a SKETCH challenge by Erica Hildebrand... Erica is a guest judge from Canada...Check out her sketch it is awesome!


So this is my interpretation of the sketch.....


The requirements were to choose only 2 colours, so I chose Blue and Green for a calm and relaxing feel.
The photo was to be in Black and White...
We had to have a 3D embellishment. Which I have a cluster of them in the bottom right hand corner. Using Hugz, brads and collections chipboard.

My journaling reads:
You love time by yourself to just sit.
I always wonder and would love to know....
What you are thinking? What do you See?
How are you feeling? What goes through your mind?

I could have wrote so much more but had to simplify it to fit in the journaling strips. I used 'Hero Arts' stamps to create my journaling, something a little different to handwritten and computer journaling...
The title is using American Craft Thickers.
I chose the circle PP's to give the feel of round and round to express the thoughts going round and round Jamie's head.

Another WEEK!!!!

Yah I made it through another round of Reality Scrap, OMG I am so shocked! This is it ladies the final week so it means spectacular things have to come from ME...Sadly we said good-bye to Leone and Chilli once again....

Biggest Loser, I was sad to see Damien eliminated but than so glad he won a chance to come back in the game. He was always going to struggle to get the biggest percentage as he needs to lose double the weight that those guys do! Marty won a chance back into the game and now Patti and Kim fell below the yellow line. I cant believe Chris, he pulled off another 7 kg's this week. But I was saying to Andrew that he looks awful, he looks like he has definitely lost too much weight too fast!

We went for a drive to Brunswick Heads today to pick up Jamie, he went to visit his Nanna for a few days. It has been very quiet at home with just Andrew and I. Quickly came home to get started on my challenge and get photos printed...

Friday night I took Maria to visit SBC she has never been there before and wanted to meet all the girls she has been chatting to lately. They had a special crop on because Alicia was home from America for a couple of weeks. She is as lovely IRL as I imagined and I was glad I made the time to go and meet her..... I also got to meet Tam, Trish, Linda, Leone, Peta and Chelle.... It was great to look around at the new stuff from CHA and as usual HS was a big hit for ME. I also loved all the new clear stamps, I dont own any of these and always have wanted them. But on Friday night Maria was so generous and bought me a set of the new gel-a-tins flowers, they are just so gorgeous! I have had a real bad bad week and she knew and wanted to cheer me UP... So thank you Maria you definitely did that!

I went to the movies on Saturday night with a couple of friends to see 'Stomp the Yard' and had a great time. The movie was good, the food and defintely the company. Cant wait to do it again next month!

Sunday was a day at home relaxing and doing nothing at all! I did mangage to scrap and sort out everyones ribbons that I have collected for the ribbon swap. So once it all arrives by hopefully tomorrow it will all be back in the post to you girls...

Reality Scrap Week 9 Challenge (2)

This challenge was to make a set of tags, any size but all co-ordinating. I love OTP stuff but it does take more time and so fiddly. Originally we would have had to complete these within 3 days. Lucky for us it was Easter and we got an extension cause I spent hours and hours creating these.
I decided to make a tag booklet for Alisha for "Mothers Day"... I wanted to give her something special to let her know I appreciate her visits with Bailey and have enjoyed watching him grow. So I collected my favourite photo from each visit and made a co-ordinating set of tags....
Each of he tags are made with extra pockets and pull out tags or fold out fronts, I needed to put a bit more into them instead of just a tag with a mini layout. As I had already done this with my magnets a couple of weeks ago....It is all joined together with a ring and I added a large Maya Road B and I made a transparency mini tag with a card for Alisha inside
It looks so much better IRL and I know Alisha will absolutely love this as she wants to give scrapbooking ago and wants me to teach her...
So this is what I created.....



Thank you again Katie for helping ME with my collages, I appreciate what you did for ME:)
**** I cannot post these into the gallery because it keepts telling me I have exceeded my daily LIMIT ******* so I put them here instead!

Reality Scrap Week 9 Challenge (1)

Well I know it has been awhile since I have put up a entry for Reality Scrap but we had an extention this time because of the easter break. Thank goodness too because the challenge 2 actually took me about 5 to 6 days to finally complete my set of tags and be happy with them....

Challenge one was to do a double page layout using all our scraps from the previous weeks. OMG you know me, cutting and chopping away at my PP's so I really had NO large pieces left. So I decided to cut them into squares and sanded and inked a few too. The 3 bugs in a Rug PP did not match any of my others so I used some 3 Bugs in a Rug Rub-ons instead and placed them in empty squares then sewed around them to highlight them.

We had to choose one requirement from a list of different things to do from each other previous week. I chose to make a embellishment cluster using more than 3 manufactures. I have random stitching on my layout only handstitching as I dont own a sewing machine. And I also 3D my middle photo and matted it in the scolloped Bazzil to bring that into play too...

These photos were taken just over a week ago of me and Bailey, he is so adorable and is now pulling him self up on everything. I had him standing on a chair and he was playing peek a boo with his mum...

So this is what I created!

HAPPY EASTER

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy EASTER... It has been hectic the last few days in our house but will catch up later with all the details...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKKI

I just had to do a special post for my special friend Nikki it is her birthday today...
Happy Birthday to YOU
Happy Birthday to YOU
Happy Birthday
Dear Nikki!
Happy Birthday to YOU!
We have a big day planned with catching up with friends for movies and lunch and of course to hand over pressies:) This year Maria and I went halves in something special as this is a big milestone. SO sorry NIKKI no scrapping stuff this time, and I am sure there is nothing you really need anyway!
I hope you have a great day that we have planned and then a great night with your family!
And of course the BIG party on Saturday night, so looking forward to that too!!!
{{{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}}}} to you for your BIRTHDAY!!!

Big Week At Reality Scrap

OK I made it through another round of Reality Scrap, and we are nearly at the finish line. Unfortunately we had to say a very sad goodbye to 2 very talented ladies Trudi and Joanne, they both do outstanding work and I was so shocked to see them both go!

Somebody too still has HIDDEN IMMUNITY... so anything can happen next week....

This week we were given 2 challenges.... one yesterday and we will be given another one later in the week... Which is great, have been working on my challenge and it is coming together nicely. Was uncertain how I was going to get all those 8 different Manufactures on one page!

We have to use our scraps from every week so far, and anyone that knows how I scrap would know that my PP is in 100 pieces. I normally cut and cut until I am happy with what I have produced. So there was hardly any large pieces of PP to use!!! There were a few other requirements that we have also but still deciding on whether to add more to them.

Alicia bought Bailey over yesterday, perfect timing as I was going though all my photos trying to find 'girly' photos since my PP's were all nearly pink, orange and green! So all the boy photos of Bailey I have I have not been able to use for any of these challenges so far. SO guess what, I got in front of the camera with Bailey and got some shots of US! They turned out alright apart from my hair, I never checked it before hand so it is a crazy and wild! So I change the photos to Black and White and they are just perfect!!! So very happy with them!

Have you checked out the new blog in town which is quite interesting "SCRAPJACKED". Had never heard of this before but it is suppose to be the same as the American Scrapjacked. But now a bunch of Aussie girls got together to bring us our own one right here in Australia with our own talented Aussie girls. Go check it out our first Jackee is ERICA GLOVER! You know I love her work and would really love to try and get this done! I have never ever scraplifted any one's layouts before only ever done this sort of thing in a copy cat class and I normally change something that gives it the Brenda 'touch' LOL. So really would love to put my take on these layouts! Need to make a pact with my self this month to do one of these challenges and a 123 challenge. I have always wanted to but never get round to actually commiting, and I really need to produce some more layouts.

Will add this to my side link bar under interesting places to visit:)

Talking of layouts I do have a few that I have been working on lately and have completed so might scan them later this week and showcase a few. Because I do get more layouts done than just the ones for Reality Scrap!!

Yipee Damien made it through another week of Biggest Loser, how sad was it that they put on weight. It would be so hard to deal with but I know he can get back on track and start pulling some big numbers again!!!!

On it's JOURNEY...

Yep that's right my very first Circle Journal is on its way around a great bunch of scrapping friends. It was great to finally hand them over and get to see every one's journal that they either made or bought! All of them are beautiful and there is definitely a different bunch of styles out there, which is great! Am looking forward to every month creating something special for these ladies, I will definitely not be holding back on supplies on any of them. I have plenty and am only too happy to share my stuff amongst these albums.
It was so great to see some of these ladies that I have NOT seen for ages, we had plenty of laughs a couple of champagnes and beautiful healthy food. I enjoyed the nibblies and ate too much than could not eat my dinner. THANK YOU so much Maria for hosting our first get together! Glad the fridge had not blown up LOL....
Before I handed over my album, I did remember to take photos. I could not let my little baby leave my hands without remembering what she did look like!
So here are a few photos of mine, I created mine by using a Maya Road Chipboard Binder album. But I removed the binder and punched holes in to add rings, because I knew I would need heaps more room! I had to add a few extra pages but that was easy with my large corner rounder.
Here is a peak.....

This is my front cover, I have used the BG range -Phoebe- just love it. And yes have stitched around the flowers....

This is my back cover and I stitched around the flowers also, I have also got a quote I want to add across the back where it is blank.


These are my welcome pages and a little explanation about my topic "Defining Moment"

This is my sign in page and I have sewn pockets to put them in. Each tag has a chipboard initial on the person's tag. I did try to remember what would there favourite colour would be! There is a couple missing as I took this photo before I completed the last 2 blue ones!

This is just a side on view of the little album, I hope you like what you see:)