Calender

Here are a few peeks at the Calender I made for Karen

You can see the whole thing at Scrapbook Studio , but no peeking from you yet Karen, as it is still in the post!
My daughter liked it so much that she has put in an order for one to take back to the hostel with her on Sunday! So I will get to use my Zutter again- that will be the second time I have used it since I brought it (about a year ago). Go me!! I am on a roll.

Here are a few peeks at the calender I made on Sunday.

The Hay Family

Hi all, Just thought I would show you a photo I took in the weekend of the Hay Family who visit Kurow each year in December. Kurow is a small rural township about 15 minutes drive from here (Duntroon).

The 'Hay's' have been visiting Kurow for many years, as far back as I can remember. Mr and Mrs Hay used to be alone, but over the years they have acquired two little hays and a dog! Cute A!

Click on my photo to read a little bit more about Kurow.

A bright spot in my day

Thank you so much to Renate, way over there in Germany for this awesome Blog award. This was a much needed bright spot in my day!

The Lemonade Award is given by a previous winner to 5 people who have shown a great attitude or gratitude. It is a great way to show those people they are appreciated. Click on the lemonade award to pop to Germany to visit Renate's wonderful blog . Now I should add here that after stumbling upon Renate's blog and having a look at her beautiful cards I left her a comment saying I loved her work, and was sorry I was unable to read her posts- due of course to me not being able to read German (silly me!!) Anyway, Renate very very kindly got to and interpreted her posts for me! Now how kind was that! I am not sure about me, but Renate sure earned that award!

Okay, now I am passing this on to...

Robyn, who has not blogged for sometime, but that is because she is busy doing great deeds and has no time to spare just now. Hope you manage to get back soon Robyn, I miss your news!

Sandra, who is one brave lady and always seems to be doing something nice for someone else.

Lianne for inspiring me to get my walking shoes out and to go on the hunt for numbers! Love this cool idea, thanks Lianne.

Niella brightens my every day with splashes of colour and fun, visit her blog and you will see just what I mean!

Allie for being so generous and sharing all of her wonderful talent so freely with us all.

of course I thank everyone for their blogs and wonderful cyber company!!!

In memory of Lucy

Today was a bit of a sad day at our house. Cody went away pig shooting for the weekend, as he often does, and today his long time hunting companion, a lovely dog called Lucy (above) had some type of fit after pursuing a pig. Cody and his hunting mate Ryan managed to get Lucy to a vet who just happened to be at one of the High country farms. Alas, as the vet was tying up his horse Lucy very sadly took her last breath. Lucy was not our dog, but belongs to another pig hunter friend who kindly allows Cody to take her out hunting with him, that is even worse isn't it! Lucy has stayed many weekends with us over the past few years and won our hearts as she was a big tough dog with a heart of gold, and you just could not but help fall in love with her.

Bye bye Lucy.

Fabric ATC"S

This morning the postie delivered this super set of Fabric ATC's to my house. Kryhina's card is titled Bloom, and the name says it all doesn't it!

'Dance' is made by Lisa isn't it delightful. Just looking at this one makes me want to break out and boogie!

Love all of the little details in a 'Stitch in Time' by Carol

Strip Happy is the title of this lovely ATC by Lianne. That little flower is made up of 4 layers of fabric!

Ruth (alias Roo) made Fabric Dreams, love all of that hand sewing !

My ATC is titled Enchantment, the image is printed onto silk fabric.

Amanda made this little number. The bird is made from felt, and doesn't it look to be flying in paradise!

This bright little number has been made by Jane (alias Tilly). Awesome design Jane!

Thank you so much ladies, I am ever so proud of this fine collection!

There is another ATC swap just about to kick off, get your name down quick fast if you wish to take part as I have just checked out the forum and there are only three places left! The theme this round is cats. Go here to add your name and join in the fun.

Last month I got to have a go at creating the Project for Scrapbook Studio's monthly kit, here is the page I come up with.

Check out the awesome flower stamps that come in the December Kit

and the crochet flowers, and sparkly gems!

Well done Carol!

Whoops I almost forgot--- I wanted to say a huge congratulations to Carol for getting chosen to be on the Scrapbook Studio Design Team .
Carol does the most wonderful scrapbook pages and all sorts of very cool craft projects, check out the lovely altered box she made recently.


Now I know there are so many talented people out there- don't be shy! Check out Scrapbook Studio's announcement (below) as at the moment the lovely Lisa and Lianne are on the hunt for two talented people to join the team...

ANNOUNCEMENT!
We are looking for 2 new Design Team members with a difference!
Here's the catch - one must own a Cricut Expression and the other must be a Paper Crafter who is interested in Mixed Media. You will both be required to use these items each month to create projects with a unique flair. You must be prepared to experiment and come up with new and creative ideas to inspire us all.

Mixed Media Artist

Do you love to dabble in paint, fabric, embellishments, inks, textures, different mediums, stamping etc. We are looking for someone who is creative and original. They will receive a variety of product each month to create a unique project, to be shared in our online gallery and featured as our monthly spotlight in our store. This person will be expected to courier the project back to Scrapbook Studio at our cost to display in the shop. When we are finished with the example the project will be given back to the designer to keep.

Diecutting and Embossing Artist

We are looking for someone who likes to experiment with their Cricut Expression. Each month this person will have the loan of a Cricut cartridge and they will also be given a Cuttlebug machine to use for the 6 month period (to be returned at the end of the term) along with Cuttlebug folders and dies to use and sometimes keep (at Scrapbook Studios discretion).
The idea being to use the 2 (combined or on their own) to come up with 2-3 new and creative projects per month that can be shared in our online forum e.g. a Scrapbook layout, a card and an Off The Page item.

This designer will specialise with these creative tools!

Please email Lianne at mhtml:%7BA25701EB-1516-42EE-A2D0-2D79DD0CE67E%7Dmid://00000018/!x-usc:mailto:scrapbookstudio@xtra.co.nz for more details by this Friday 23rd Jan (deadline extended).

Hi ya. Tonight finds me in my craft room- close to the fan (it has been way too hot in Duntroon today!). I am busy tiring to complete my last three puzzle pieces, progress is slow but sure, with just one and a half to go.

I have received a lovely box of scrap goodies from Scrapbook Studio, so am going to be very busy completing my design team work before the end of the month!

I am making myself finish my puzzles before I get back to scrapping!

Now I have just been having a cruise through a few blogs belonging to clever card maker's who have done some wonderful things with the card sketch from Card Patterns. My chances of getting onto this Design team are not looking real good! Anyway thought I would show you my whole card (above).

I have two new faces in my Guest Book! Very cool. Ladies- who are you and do you have blogs that I can have a peek at???

Are you into card making?

I have been having a play with a sketch over at a new Card site called Card Patterns, check it out if you haven't already. This 'Chic' card is one of the cards I have made using their first sketch.

Card Patterns are looking for a design team, so why not 'hop' on over and check out the details.

Here are some peeks at the card I decided to submit.

Dragonfly's and frogs are always fun and are one of my many favorite subjects to use when creating crafty goodies. I have a whole draw full of frog and dragonfly stamps, but tend to use the same few favorites every time!

You may notice my blog has a new background, compliments of
Allie at http://alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com/ Allie is a very clever lady, if you haven't checked out her blog yet then do it now!!

I am also having a shuffle around and doing a bit of spring cleaning . New Year, fresh new look! Love having visitors, so do keep popping in and posting comments- love to hear from you all.
I will try to do lots of exciting things in the creating department and post pic's here so you have plenty to look at so...watch this space..... just don't hold your breath!!

Home from Holiday

These photos were taken from the balcony of our Hotel room. Our children were lucky enough to view this wonderful rainbow from the Hot pools.

Now, no holiday is ever complete without a round of mini golf!

Cody, tiring his best to combat the extreme heat!

Observatory cafe, and below Andrew and I outside the cafe, almost getting blown down the hill!!

Our holiday at Tekapo was wonderful. Laugh out loud at having our own space though! Our two youngest turned up each morning for a shower, used our nice fresh towels before we had a chance to, left their dirty clothes on the floor for me to gather up- just like at home!! After our day outings and tea (we ate out every night-BLISS!!) Aimee and Cam would come back to our hotel , Cam would full the huge bath with water and enjoy a soak while Aimee took full charge of the T.V remote!! Again, just like home. Cody was happy in his cabin at the motor camp, and enjoyed the time the other two were not squeezed in with him I think!

Now I wont bore anyone with details , check out our the snaps above.

Lucky me, I arrived home from our holiday at Tekapo to find this wonderful 'Lovely Blog ' award from Carol. Thank you so much Carol, I was chuffed!!

I now get to choose seven of my favorite blogs to pass this award onto. I have way more than seven favorite blogs so this is really tough for me...but here goes. I choose

Jenny ... is the reason for my blog looking so 'lovely'. She was so patient and helped me to put in the lovely background. I also am a frequent visitor to Jenny's blog , and do feel like I know her well- even though we have never met!

Vicki ... does the most wonderful scrapbook pages and projects, she is truly an inspiration to me, often sending words of encouragement. Thank you Vicky.

Sharon... another very talented lady! Sharon's scrapping and projects always look flawless. I have a beautiful page in my circle journal completed by Sharon, and its so awesome! Sharon's blog is always such a happy place to visit fulled with so much positive energy.

Amanda ... has such a lovely blog, its just gorgeous! Check out her beautiful photos. Once again, this girl has talent!

Lisa ...has the most delightful pet photos on her blog! I am an animal lover so often pop in to check out new additions to her busy house hold. Love Lisa's beautifully detailed scrap pages as well.

Liz... always enjoy reading the bubbly accounts of life in Liz's world. Liz is another very talented chick, her blog is alive with lovely family photos and although she is on holiday she is still managing to keep those of us at home up to date with her happenings.

Donna ... lives in Massachusetts and seems like such a wonderful person! It is lovely to pop onto her blog and be transported to a whole different country. Donna has some wonderful projects on the go. Love your 'blessings album' Donna, what a lovely idea.

Last, but by no means least I have to choose Roben Marie's blog for its sheer beauty. This blog has everything and all of it is simply stunning.

Oh I have so many more favorite lovely blogs that I want to choose but I have already exceed seven!

Away for a bit of R & R

Tomorrow we are taking a wee holiday in Tekapo. Will be lovely to get away for a few days. Andrew and I are staying in a lovely motel and the children are staying across the road at the motor camp!! Now that makes us sound really mean doesn't it. The thing is though that tiring to find wheelchair accommodation is not always easy at the best of times, and this holiday was a spur of the moment one (ours often are, no good planing too far ahead in our house cause you just never know what hurdles may crop up!!). Anyway the motel could do the wheelchair chair unit but were otherwise full- and the wheelchair units only ever seem to cater for two! The only other place's with wheelchair access were booked out. Anyway the children were keen on the camp at the lake edge, so to cut a long story short that is where they will be sleeping! Will be a funny kind of a family get away, but might be nice to all have our own bit of space.

Will be back Monday to let you know how it went!!

In the mean time check this out, This is where we plan (look at that- we do plan!!) to be Waitangi Weekend, my very very clever and very very busy cousins daughter has organised this event and it has turned into a huge one! Should be heaps of fun- even for us oldies!!
http://www.missioncontrolled.co.nz/area9/event.html

Puzzle Pieces

Puzzle pieces are still on the go on my desk! Yes I am really dragging the chain on this project! These are the pieces I have created so far.

Egyptian for Debbie

Bright Design Elements for Robyn

Anything that Inspires me-Black/white with blue/green for Lee

Kiwiana for Dallas

Big Cats for Rachel


My theme was Angles and so far I have received back 6 of the puzzle pieces I sent out to the ladies taking part in the swap. And I must say that my completed puzzle is going to look amazing! If any of you are keen to check out a new swap for the new year with lots of wonderfully creative ladies be sure and check out the forum- here for a summer swap (closes 20th of January and here for a calender swap, be quick for this one as sign up finishes at the end of this week.

Congratulations

I just want to say a big congrat's to Amanda and Lianne for the wonderful pages they did for my 2008 High Lights challenge over at Scrapbookstudios. The postie is headed your way girls with your well deserved prizes. Thanks for taking part!
Checkout their pages here.

Has anyone made any New Years resolutions ??
This year I intend to find a better balance in my life- thats no more staying up untill 2am scrapping every night!
I hope to make myself take time out to---gulp---- get some weeds out of my garden!
And of course--- cut down on my chocolate and sugar intake ( I know I can do it... well I think I can do it ???)
Almost last but by no means least I WILL spend more time with my hubby, I know he is there somewhere beyond the doors of my craft room, I just need to step out and have a look!
And very last I will stress less and laugh more and enjoy the little moments that I am often too busy to notice.
...Oh and very very last I am going to fit in heaps of scrapping and swaps and chatting time in the craft forums and have lots of coffees and maybe a few wines with my wonderful friend Robyn!! Hehe looking like being another busy year!!

A few of our Chrissy photos

Touch rugby happening on the lawn!

Ben in action!

Uncle David - giving it his best shot!

Cody and Tom shooting hoops

Andrew with his brothers and Margaret and I.

What a fine looking crew!!

Above are a few snaps of our Christmas day. Was lovely to get together with Andrews family and see all of our children (well, some are young adults now) getting on so well and having fun together.