What HAVE I been CREATING

OMG I cant believe I have NOT shared my layouts here so I will put a few of my favourites up that I have been creating over the last month or so....Will upload more tomorrow hopefully!!!







Good NIGHT!

Whats been happening

So much has been happening... so might put it down in point form or this could be an extremely BIG post!!!

* I have been busy creating creating I don't think a day goes by without scrapping at the moment!!! I must admit that at this time I am actually LOVING every bit of my Design Team Journey at the "SHELF" and love working with a talented bunch of ladies!!
* The NEW Pink Paislee Products are in the 'SHELF' store and you definitely need to get your hands on them!!! I LOVE Pink Paislee and cannot wait to get creating with these gorgeous NEW lines. I think Pink Paislee has topped the number 1 list of my fav products.... sorry Fancy Pants you have been up the top for soooo long now you are number 2.....!
* Family news... ok my daughter has done a 360 in her life... dramas dramas have been going on here for a few weeks NOW! She broke off her relationship with her fiance of 6 years! They were high school sweethearts and they both have been living with us for over a year! So it has been a major major change and LOTS to deal with!
* Slice of Life is on it final week and the girls are creating some awesome MINI ALBUMS.... you really have to go check the gallery out and see what they are doing!
* Its my darling hubby's birthday on MONDAY..... So next weekend we are going away for his birthday... we have not been away for a nice weekend just US for soooo long, its going to be GREAT!
* My gorgeous nephew Mitch had his 18th Bday last weekend.... and I did not take my camera!!!! ARRRGH I was sooo angry!!!
* I have finally finished Jamie's bedroom..... he has had a total MAKEOVER! I am so impressed with his room.... I LOVE it!!! Cant wait to share the photos but you will have to wait now for a layout.... I am going to create of this!
* I also had a make-over in my bedroom too.... could not allow Jamie to just have all the good stuff! I got wood blinds and OMG how awesome are they, I cant believe I waited so long to buy them! The room is so dark and its such a bonus when you don't wake up to sunlight!!!!
* SYTYCD.... OMG this is the first time I have watched the USA version.... I am so loving them!!! There were at least 18 awesome dances in the TOP 20.... My favourite would have to be Katee.... she is such a beautiful dancer.... LOVE her and hope she wins! I LOVE the boys too and not too sure out of Will, Joshua, Twitch and Gev who is my favourite!!! Will probably has the best body..... Joshua is probably the best dancer.... Gev has the best personality..... and WOW those tricks and moves he does are AWESOME!!!!! Twitch is just so cool......
* On another TV note..... Australian IDOL starts this Sunday YAH cannot wait....
* The Olympics have been awesome and Go the Aussies..... Brilliant!
* OK MY BIGGEST NEWS to date...... are you ready...... I am going on a holiday!!!! YAH YAH YAH I am so excited..... my first ever overseas trip!!!! We are going to Bali...... and with FRIENDS!!! We are going to have the most awesome time...I SO cannot wait!
Till Next Time
Brenda XX

SOL Challenge 5

Celebrate the everyday... this is all about reflecting on the little things in our lives....
The Criteria was to create a mini album 4 or 5 pages or create a double layout documenting the everyday routine in your house hold.... I have been wanting to do this for so long..... Everyday photos are amazing and are brilliant keepsakes!!!

SO I created a mini album....I took 6-10 different shots everyday... took them to HN and got them printed after work... came home and created a double layout with my fav photos.... It was so much fun and Jamie really enjoyed watching ME create my little album and wanted to know what photos we were going to take next.... HE so wants this album but I am going to do one for him.... Just all the photos on him and his day.... The hard work is done for me as I have already the pile of photos!!!

I created a 5 x 7 album and all my photos are 4 x 3..... This is a few of the pages I did create more and I am planning to add a few others too....








Till next time Take CARE!
Brenda xx

Slice of Life Competition

OMG another month has passed and I have NOT blogged.... I am so bad!!! But I have been busy creating layouts for the "Scrapbook Shelf". For the month of August we have NO challenges as the SOL comp is still running. Do you believe it is our 4th week..... And I have not even shared my layouts for this..... I know slack!!

Challenge One:
Was step out of your comfort zone and scrap in a different size...
Criteria

For this challenge, Choose one of the following

1. Scrap in any other size except for the traditional 12x12

2. Scrap a photo no smaller than 5" x 7"

3. Combine both

So this is the first 8.5 x 11 layout I created and chose to use this one....






















Challenge 2
This challenge was to focus on just journalling!!!
Criteria

1. Create a layout with No Pictures

2. Title must be One Word or Two Words only. If using two words create emphasis on one of the words

3. Journalling must be in a List Format

This layout I created for my "LOVE" album of Andrew and I and this is my cover!





















Challenge 3
Now this was about "How do you define Creative?"

Criteria

We want you to define the word "creative" in anyway you like, whether it be words, pictures or another source.

- You must use the title "I am Creative" or "I am an Artist" on your layout!

I struggled with this one.... I dont have confidence in myself to believe that I am creative or I am an artist so I took a different angle on this....


Challenge 4
Embrace Imperfection

Life is too short and too amazing to spend time worrying about perfection. How many of you get frustrated on layering papers, cutting out embellishments, and stressing that your layout is not quite right. Embrace your imperfections and Keep it Simple.

Criteria

Create a 12 x 12 Layout With

- One Imperfect Photo

- Stamping (add an imperfect feel as some images have blobs of
ink or not enough ink)

- Use 3 Pattern Papers and NO Cardstock

- Keep Journalling to a minimum

This is what I created this week, made plenty of mistakes and just used PP to cover them and thought what the hell... this sort of thing would have really annoyed me but it made me look at scrapbooking in a whole new light.... Ali Edwards book "Life Artist" is an amazing book and I have been so inspired by it.....



Head over to the "Srapbook Shelf" gallery and check out what the participants are scrapping... the layouts are amazing.... so much talent out there!!!

I promise I will update again soon I have plenty to share on family LIFE.... I am telling you BIG changes have happened and lots to talk about and talking about it might help ME.... I am having a hard time dealing with this!!!
Till next time..
Brenda xx

July Challenges

WOW July is already here and we have some wonderful challenges over at Scrapbook Shelf.....
Sketch Challenge is done by ME.... I have created a sketch getting inspiration from one of Becky Higgins Sketches.
This is my sketch:


Stamping Challenge
Every month Lisa is in charge of the Stamping Challenges.... YOU know me I am just not a stamper, never owned any stamps.... really I just did not know how to use them.... But after seeing Lisa's beautiful work and seeing what you can do with stamps.... I think she has ME hooked!!! So go check out Lisa's Stamping Challenge Here
This is what I created for the stamping Challenge!

Card Challenge
Kristine our Card Extraordinaire has a card challenge every month.... Her cards are gorgeous and she has some wonderful IDEAS and challenges... To check out this months Card Challenge click Here
This is my card I created for Kristine's Card Challenge....

Digital Challenge
Next we have the amazing Jaimee.... who is magnificent with the technical side with her amazing computer skills.... She has some wonderful tutorials and amazing challenges you can do in either 100% digital or hybrid.... So for all you girls who want to know more about the digital side of scrapping you have to go check out Jaimee's challenge here....
This is what I created for Jaimee's Challenge!

I am having so much FUN being part of the DT at Scrapbook Shelf..... I am working with a bunch of talented girls..... I am still nervous as this is my first time but everyone has been so encouraging it has made things so much easier. I have really enjoyed creating layouts with products that I have not picked out myself. As I am use to going to a my LSS and picking papers to match my photos...... I have created so many new layouts so if you would like to have a look at what I have been creating just click here..... Otherwise you will have to wait awhile until I get round to uploading..... Got NO time now got to go watch Hells Kitchen...
Good Night!
Brenda xx

Slice of Life Comp

OK GIRLS you need to get your butt over to Scrapbook Shelf and check out this amazing comp that runs for 7 weeks..... you must register before it starts....



Kicking off on the 14th of July 2008 will be a seven week competition. Our challenges will be inspired from the fabulous celebrity scrapbook artist Ali Edwards book 'Life Artist' as we embark on discovering the 'life artist' in all of us.


HOW THE COMPETITION WORKS
A challenge will be announced in the forum on the Monday of each new week. Challenge layouts/projects will need to be uploaded by Midnight Sunday of the same week For example First challenge will be announced on Monday the 14th of July 2008 and will need to be uploaded by Midnight Sunday 20th July 2008 There will be five challenges in total. Competition closes Midnight Monday 25th August and winners will be announced during Friday Night Frenzy on Friday 29th August 2008

RULES OF COMPETITION
Competition is open to Australian residents, with the exception of the Scrapbook Shelf Design Team Participants must be registered forum members with 20 posts and have uploaded to the gallery (this is more so we know that you can do it) before the commencement of the competition All work submitted has to be original; that is, created specifically for the competition and must be your work It may be 12 x 12 or 8.5 x 11 size unless otherwise specified You are free to display work images on personal blogs, reference to our competition as source of inspiration for your work would be appreciated. Please do not display work in other galleries whilst the competition is running You are welcome to submit work for publication after the competition has finished This is a paper crafting competition; that is, all work submitted must be 'paper' scrapping orientation unless otherwise specified All challenges must be completed and uploaded by the specified time to be elligble for winning major prizes

HOW WINNERS ARE DETERMINED
There will be a progressive point system in place. The individual who receives the most points at the end of the competition will be awarded First Place. There will also be Second Place and Third Place awarded. Design Team will award points for First, Second and Third each week. There will also be the chance of 'BONUS' points each week which will be announced during the competition. Everyone who submits a challenge layout is elligible for participation points There will be a public vote on layouts which also contributes to the point score. It would be appreciated if you don't vote for yourself when the public vote is 'open'. Public Votes carry a point weighting and will also be added to the progressive scores. Only registered forum members are elligible for voting

PRIZES FIRST PRIZE
Individual who achieves the highest number of points at the end of the competition wins this MAKING MEMORIES SLICE MACHINE STARTER KIT and ONE MONTH GUEST DESIGN TEAM POSITION ** Please not that this machine is still currently on 'preorder' with the supplier. A machine has been preordered specifically for the competition but may not be available until September as advised by the supplier


SECOND PRIZE
Individual who achieves the second highest point score at the end of the competition wins this AMM Teal and Black Shoulder Bag PLUS a $50 STORE VOUCHER


THIRD PRIZE
Individual who achieves the third highest point score at the end of the competition wins this AMM Tote-Ally Cool Tote Teal and Black PLUS a $25 STORE VOUCHER


Registration is open for the competition and closes at Midnight Friday 11th of July 2008 - please register here

Introducing

It's a girl..... Welcome little Annalise..... she is only 5lb and absolutely adorable.... Not too well and has spent her first 48 hours in the Special Care Nursery. But tonight they let her out with mum, so we were able to hold her. She is so tiny and adorable like a little doll.

Annalise is a very close friends daughters baby..... Which I remember Jayde's Mum bringing her home from hospital 22 years ago..... she is just like her mum.... so tiny and petite!

You will find me HERE!!!

The gorgeous Trudi has asked me to join her design team over at Scrapbook Shelf.....

Scrapbook Shelf

Do you want somewhere else to chat, shop and play.... well you must go and check out Scrapbook Shelf. The gorgeous Trudi has spent months on getting her wonderful site up and running and now she even has a forum.... YAH and there are already a lovely bunch of ladies who have joined. So if you do want to make new friends get heaps of inspiration and join in on challenges than come and join up today....
Trudi is expecting heaps of new products in the store so I am sure you will find a bargain and friendly fast service :) I have not been shopping in ages but looking forward to getting my hands on some new products to play with. I am even going to purchase my first book..... I do not own one book but think that definitely has to change!!!
So come say HI.... I am sure you will find me there as you know I love to chat :)

And as promised I will get round to sharing photos and layouts from the retreat!!!

Where do I start!

I cant believe it has been almost 2 months since my last post, I wonder why you have all been asking for an update! Well where do I start???

Happy Birthday to Nikki
Yes she did have a birthday in the beginning of April.... Had such a great day out shopping and spending the day with my friends :) Glad you had a great day too!

My Wedding Anniversary
Been married 4 years and definitely still happy! Received a beautiful white gold and diamond heart pendant.... its beautiful and I will treasure it for ever!!!

My Birthday
Had a great night out for dinner with my family and was even more surprised to see my friends :) That made my night! I received some awesome gifts.... I was really spoilt this year!

Scrapbook City Retreat
This was the greatest Birthday present..... spending 3 days with friends scrapping.... eating.... scrapping.... and more scrapping..... and ate way too much, but the food was great! Had an awesome time.... got to meet Carole Janson and do one of her amazing workshops..... She is such a beautiful person, she is everything I expected and more :) I finally got to meet Kerryn and Trudi IRL too..... great to hang out with you girls and get to know you better :) You are both talented scrappers and it was great to see your work IRL..... online does NO justice!!! Kerry and Leisa always put on such a wonderful retreat..... their generous workshops and products are amazing! Worth every single cent that I spent! Cant wait to go again next year! I think I have finally recovered.... caught up on sleep! Going to bed every night.... well you could not say night as it was 3am every morning and up at 6.30 LOL!
I did manage to get a little scrapping done.... I completed every workshop.... completed my whole BO Bunny album and did extra pages.... was was very happy to complete this! Will scan photos later to share.
Also had a Fancy Dress.... OMG I dont even know if I want to share these photos!
But thankyou for such a great weekend... cant wait to do it again!!!

My MUM
My Mum has had a shit start to 2008 and finally we are in the fifth month and everything is getting sorted out. I cant believe how long it takes to get into specialist even when you go through the private sector!!!
Mum will go into hospital on Tuesday to have her ovaries removed as they found a large tumor and they have decided to remove everything while they have her under. Wont find out until the day whether it is benign or cancerous! Fingers Crossed xx everything goes well for her.
She has had bowel problems too and finally had a colonoscopy on Thursday... OMG the preperation for those things are AWFUL!!! I hope I never have to have one!! They found polyps, she has had them removed and also sent away for testing. The doctor was very positive though :)

Happy Birthday Maria
We went to dinner at Maria's to celebrate her birthday... it was a great night with wonderful friends and gorgeous food! Thanks Maria for you wonderful hospitality!

My Circle Journal
One year on my Circle Journal is finally in my hands..... The year went by so fast! I absolutely LOVE my album.... the girls have put so much effort into their pages! We got to look through each others album and see what everyone created.... they were all gorgeous!
I so cant wait to start another one and am looking for some friends to join in another one with me.
Once I have photos of my pages I created for the other girls I will share them with you!

Ok I am tired and cant think of anything else... I promise I will share some layouts with you all soon. Good Night!

March Sketch Challenge

This is my Interpretation of March's Sketch Challenge at SBC

These are the photos of our girls day out.... and have enjoyed scrapping them.

Mother Daughter Day

On Saturday my work had a social function at 'Doomben Races'..... unfortunately Andrew got sick and was unable to come..... But Charlene was dying to go so she was my partner for the day.... We had such an awesome day!
Its the first time I have ever been to the races, we had our own tent which was not far from the finish line.... We both betted on every race and had a couple of real good wins but Charlene could not just decide on one horse but would at least pick 3!!! But we had a lovely lunch a few drinks and spent with a great bunch of people. After every race you would put your losing ticket's in a barrel and prizes were able to be won after every race.... I won 2 movie tickets and Charlene won a $100 gift voucher. So we decided we would go to the movies together than go shopping and go halves in the voucher...
I would have loved to have spent the day out with my husband but I am glad Charlene and I got to have this day together.... We both enjoyed the whole day as Mother and Daughters should...
These are a few photos to share... which aren't good as the glare was on our faces.... typical what you get asking a man to take them LOL

"When I was a little girl I couldn't wait to grow up so I could......

This is week 3's blog challenge.....

I have been sitting on this for sometime and was not going to answer... but thought I would try and explain my reasons..... My childhood is all pretty much a blank.....and I really did not want to think about it actually. It saddens me when I try to remember things and its like I have no memory of anything..... Things are so limited in what I remember.....
A little while I go I had to try and remember parts of my childhood and when I received the forms and read all the questions I was like OMG..... I became totally overwhelmed with saddness..... what was I going to write..... how can we block so much of our lives out..... It totally sent me for a six and I had nightmares and could not sleep for days.... I would go to bed at night and cry myself to sleep thinking about how unfair everything was and WHY this happened.....the system had failed MY family.
So if I probably did think about this as a little girl... I would probably say ..... I couldn't wait to grow up so I could have a family of my own ..... to have some to love ME and to be loved back.... To give my children everything that I didn't have as a child and MORE...
Thanks for Reading.... this was defintely hard for me to write.... Thanks again Terri for a great challenge :) Its probably things I would not share with anyone but my closest friends....
Have a good day everyone!

Check these out

I am so very proud of my photography today.... I have been dying to use my camera outside and to get some great photos... I was starting to get a bit worried that I was not using my camera to its full potential and want to try different settings instead of just auto all the time.... And today my favourite subject came for a visit... it was a lovely sunny late afternoon.... perfect for photos and this is the results.....






Now I did end up taking 200 photos and got so many printed yesterday... so get ready as layouts are already underway :)

What makes ME laugh

I do love a good laugh and sometimes once I get going it just wont stop, you know when everyone else has finished laughing and you are still uncontrollably laughing you cant stop!
I also love Funniest Home Video's.... whats with it laughing at people hurting themselves!!! My all time favourite was a pelican that had came up to a little kid and next minute he had him in his mouth except for his little legs kicking fiercely and the parents were hysterical trying to pull him out.... Now if that was your child would you be laughing!!!!
Another is an ad on TV.... its an old one... but everytime I see it I always crack up laughing..... RACQ...... Charter boat, what charter boat.... I am sure you all know which one I am talking about!
Just hanging out with my friends having a good laugh until my cheeks hurt so much....

Thats all I can think of right now.... Thanks Terri for the challenge.

Creative Calendar Challenge

Carole over at SBC has a monthly challenge, where you create a calendar for every month of the year.... So I had catching up to do... these are the layouts I created

A few of my Favourite Things

Terri has set a blog challenge at SBC and the first topic is "A few of your favourite things"... the weather has not been good and I found it hard to try and photograph stuff so I had to take it outside...

My first thing of course is my newest toy.... my 400D I just love it and really want to learn how to use it properly.





I went shopping today and I decided to buy a Cappuccino which I have become addicted too... I have never been a coffee drinker but now love to have my daily fix...it is 1/4 strength, decaf, skinny with equal...its a mouthful to tell the girls that everytime!



So my favourite food would have to be roast lamb and roast potatoes, this is what is cooking in my oven now..... unfortunately NO potatoes for ME :(



Bubble Baths..... I love them and really miss having them on a regular basis due to the water restrictions!








My most valuable possession is my bracelet, it is the first piece of jewellery Andrew bought me when we were first going out.... it means the world to ME...





Most of you who know me also know I love yellow roses and reality TV.... I am the biggest fan of this sort of TV..... and of course Greys Anatomy.... I LOVE LOVE that show....Well I could just rave on and on about all my favourite things but Terri did say a FEW!
Went alright today with my food and just managed to have my 2 shakes, a banana, grapes and my coffee:) So doing well for my first day....

Back on track

Well today I have decided to get back on track with my diet... I have been so slack since Christmas and have gone back to bad habits of eating junk.... I cant seem to get enough of it!!!!
I have been lucky since starting Tony Ferguson last year that I did manage to lose something like 18kgs.... and have managed to keep it off.... lucky for all the physical work I do at work or I think I would have put it all back on the way I have been eating.
I do want to lose another 10kgs and maybe get back into a little exercise to tone up.... I cant stand my tuckshop arms!!!
So I am going to keep an update on here on how I am going and if I stray anytime this week as the first couple of weeks are SO hard..... The thing I will miss the most will be my bread.... I just LOVE bread and don't know how I am going to go without it. I will probably be having withdrawls by the end of the day..... But I have done it before and I am determined to do it again...
Will be back later with my "Blog Challenge"
Have a great day.

Cyber Crop

SBC had a Cyber Crop this weekend and I have been so busy working 7 days straight and thought I would not be able to get round to completing any.... but I did manage to complete 2 and a Challenge from Tam also...
Firstly was Carole's Challenge, which was to use red as the core colour and a touch of another colour.... I chose teal. I did get my inspiration from Lyndal... when I saw the papers she used I knew straight away that I had to have them. I have had a thing with teal for awhile and the red just looked awesome together...

This is a photo of Charlene and my 2 nieces having a great time at the Engagement party....
The next was Ang's Sketch Challenge.... always love a sketch as you have the majority of the work done for you. So here is my take on the sketch...

School photos I find so hard to do.... but using these BG Recess papers made it so much easier..
Now this Challenge was from Tam.... She created a layout and we had to create a layout taking elements from her layout... Others had done doodling like Tam's layout so stupid me thought.... what about sewing!!!! OMG what was I thinking!!! Anyway the layout is growning on me.... would like to change a few things especially the coloured photo to black and white instead but this is all I had at home and all I had to work with. I did think the challenge had to be done by tonight but they are fortnightly challenges... oh well its done now.

So what do you think????? Defintiely very different for ME I know... I did take her doodling and changed to to sewing and the title I used from a song.... as her layout is based on a CD....

Sorry Michelle I did not get round to completing your Challenge maybe next time I wont be working so much and will have more time. I think I did great to complete 3 layouts in 24 hours...
Hope you all had a great weekend...
Till next time.

Weekly Update

Well as I promised the other day, I would upload a couple of layouts I have been working on.... Well I managed to finish another double layout for Tamara's album. I want to at least complete one a week, but I just feel they are all looking the same! I am not comfortable with double layouts but double 8.5 x 11 is even harder as the photo size is getting to me. I only have 4 x 6 photos and you can only do so much with this size!!!
My other layout on ME, well that is just coming along at all..... I just cant seem to make up my mind with the title... so you will have to wait for that one.
Too many new shows to watch at the moment and not enough time to scrap!!! As most of you know I am a reality TV fan and am hooked on "Biggest Loser" and "So you think you can dance"..... But Greys Anatomy is back which I LOVE! I have started to watch 'Brothers and Sisters' 'Underbelly' 'Womans Murder Club' ' Sarah Conner Cronicles' ' Burn Notice' and tonight is 'Cashmere Mafia'.....So you see TV is playing a big role in my life right NOW!!! But I still make time to scrap....
SO I will leave you with this layout of my Mum and her grandchildren...
Goodnight....