Monday, 26 April 2010

Up in the night

3.40am is no sensible time to be getting out of bed, but that's just what i did on Sunday morning! My first reason for doing so was to wake up Cody who had to be at work at 4am. He is doing a bit of relief milking on a near by dairy Farm. The second reason for getting up in the middle of the night was to get Camden to Oamaru to the dawn Anzac service.

I have never ever been to a dawn service before and have to say that really it was worth getting up for. I found the service very moving and my thoughts turned to those young men who fought in those horrid wars. We are so lucky not to have been a part of that.
The Band did them selves proud, they sounded, and looked rather regal in the darkness.

On the way home I snapped this photo from the van window...look, its still dark!
Camden was the lone piper at our little Anzac service here in Duntroon, so we attended this service as well and from there went to church. Our church in Duntroon has now closed its doors, Sunday was the final service. This is a little sad as our children have all been christened in the church, but it is a sign of changing times I guess.

Also , on this day I am sad to say my beautiful magpie friend Bruce was dead in the aviary this morning. He seemed under the weather yesterday and I was thinking I would go to the vet next week and see if he needed a tonic, or something, but I guess he needed more than that! I have no idea why he died, but do wonder if he ate some type of poison on a recent excursion?? I will miss Bruce, he was a wonderful, faithful friend who brought a little joy to our lives.

Saturday, 24 April 2010

Still time!

I must confess to still not having completed Paulines challenge over at Up2scrap, despite my good intentions. However I have hunted through my scrapbook albums from a few years ago and found a double page LO that almost fits in with Paulines sketch and subject matter.

Keep in mind PLEASE that these pages were from my early days of scrapping and they are not at all brilliant! I read somewhere that you should never go back and start re scrapping pages that you have already scrapped, but there sure is room for improvement here.
Check it out....
I have a little hidden photo, tucked under the large photo on side two, which is mounted onto card so it slides out very easily.
Now you still have until the end of this month to get your entries in for this challenge. Details are all HERE
And I still have time to redeem myself! Watch this space :-)

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Happiness Always

Here is the card I made last week for the Glamour girls swap. The theme was Arches, and our cards were supposed to have an autumn feel, but I didn't read the instructions correctly and my card is more summer than autumn. Sorry Robyn P!
I have used an arched gate, from Twiddly Bitz
...added tiny rose buds

... and a little padlock.


Do join up to Glamour girl Swaps, there is no pressure, just lots of talented ladies and plenty of inspiring ideas.

Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Its business as usual now that the school holidays have come to an end. Today I started back at work, which is no huge feat. Last term I started a tiny job, teacher aiding at our local school. Its a whole four hours a week, so still plenty of time for crafting.

Yesterday I worked on my page for next months Up2scrap challenge. I'm tiring to keep a step ahead of myself. Saying that, I still want to take part in this months Double the Fun challenge by Pauline McArdle, there is still time! Details can be found here And there is a great prize up for grabs, so don't miss out!


Yesterday I sent four more digital pages off to our lovely daughter, for her 'Outward Bound' album. All pages are of course created using the most gorgeous kits from Louise, I don't do her kits justice I'm afraid., I still have lots to learn on the subject of digi scrapping.
Aunaturale is the name of this delightful digi kit, it has many more delicious elements in it , I have used only some of them.
We have to dash off to town very soon, Camden has an extended bagpipe lesson tonight in preparation for the Anzac services coming up this weekend. So, for now I say goodnight.

Saturday, 17 April 2010

Thankful

Tonight I have been visiting a few of my favorite blogs, as you can see, by looking down the right hand side of this page I have many favorites! Leah, on her blog : paper blossoms says "don't forget to be thankful for something" I got to thinking about that and I must confess to taking things for granted all to often. On reflection of my day I just want to say that I am very thankful to the wonderful friends around me. All of my online friends who encourage and inspire me along the way, and my 'real life' best friend, who has been away on holiday , but has now returned home. It is wonderful to have her back. And today I am very thankful to friends who pitch in and help, without even being asked. This weekend Camden and I were going to be digging up our septic tank that has been having a major hissy fit, but when we arrived home from town tonight I spotted the top of someones head only just visible, a very special friend was down in the septic tank with a spade cleaning it out....now it takes a very generous friend to do that, the smell was horrid even from a distance, let alone being down there amongst it..... So I am feeling very very thankful in deed!!

My photo tonight is of one of the very first ATC cards I ever created. All going well I will have something new to pop on my blog soon.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend

Thursday, 15 April 2010

I did it

Firstly, I just wish to say a huge thank you to all of you who have sent me emails and messages of encouragement in regards to tring out for the Scrapbookoutlet design team Details are Here
I have given this a go and as a result my orderly serene craft space looks like a bomb shelter!

Next project is a big tidy up!
The down side to tring out for the SBO team means that I have nothing to post on my blog just now, so here are a couple of sneak peeks of my creations...
While I'm not feeling that confident that my work will be good enough for the DT I am able to say that I have had a wonderfully creative week.
Inbetween creating my 'portfolio' I have made my 'arch card ' for Glamourgirl Swaps and I have my thinking cap on for the next swap, which is an art doll created from bits and pieces. Sounds fun doesn't it, if your looking for a swap site without too much pressure check out Glamourgirl swaps HERE

Monday, 12 April 2010

A wee bit rude!


Okay, this page is a little rude... but felt I really had to include this photo in Aimee's Outward Bound album.... isn't that such a typical boy thing to do !
The paper and elements in this kit called : MSNC, are from Eidou...again!
I just love the little owl. Thought the owl was perfect for these 'night in the watch house' photos, the colours work well with my photos to.
Today I have been working on a 'project'. I am thinking about having a go at the Scrapbook Outlet NZ design team call...details HERE But not sure that my talents are up to that, so I'm still procrastinating. Time seems short enough as it is without committing to anything else...but I do like to keep busy and inspired.

Sunday, 11 April 2010

Fence photos

The highest fence line in NZ... as promised, exciting hu?...Well only if your keen on fences I guess. Camden was very excited to get to see this fence on his latest hunting venture.
this fence line boarders D.O.C land, high in the Dunstan Rangers and it is about 7000 ft above sea level!





A nasty bit of weather blowing in.

This is one of the three huts Camden stayed in this trip.
Too soon the holidays for Aimee have come to an end, sadly tomorrow we have to take her back to university. Aimee only had a weeks holiday, and she has worked all week at the cafe in Kurow, so we have seen very little of her. I have been busy working on her Outward Bound album as she is wanting to take it away with her. Here are a couple of pages I have completed today...
The digital kit I have used is from Eidou (my favorite digital site) the kit is Vintage Romance. If your after a digital kit be sure to check out Louise's wonderful creations Here
Camden has been away for the past three nights with a mate and his mates dads on a hunting trip, I am pleased to report they shot nothing! I hate hunting!! Camden was very excited about seeing the fence that is the highest (above sea level) in New Zealand. I will post photos of this fence tomorrow.
Cody is away for the night with Hannah. They are staying at a little hut somewhere in the back of beyond.
Time I was heading for bed, it will soon be time to get up again.
Sorry if you are posting comments and they are not showing on my blog..seems to be something funny going on there, I have received your comments via email though so thank you all very much.
Night night from me xx

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Zentangle

A little while ago my dear friend Robyn introducted me to Zentangling. Zentangles are repetitive doodle shapes and designs, they are meant to be relaxing. While I did enjoy zentangling I could not see any real point to doing them so I decide to incorporate the zentangle idea with my scrapping. This is the result.... As you can see I have coloured in small parts of my doodles, added a photo and a little bling. This is a great way to whip up a scrap page with out too much mess or fuss. I created my background zentangle while sitting in front of the tele!

Wednesday, 7 April 2010

Double the Fun

Today I wish to send a huge congratulations to Beverly who won last months blog challenge at Up2scrap with her gorgeous page titled 'Daydream' Check it out HERE.


This months challange has been set by the very talented Pauline : check out details under 'Double the Fun' This months prize is a delightful Designer Pad by K and Co, so...be in to WIN

Check out the Up2scrap BLOG and Website for the latests happenings.
Wishing you all a creative day :-)

Monday, 5 April 2010

Easter Weekend...Update. My updates are few and far between these days. Life just seems to be super busy of late.
Below is a snap of what my dad is up to at the moment...can you guess??? ..he is building a stone wall. Dad has built countless walls for other people, now at last he is building one of his own.
Have to say, its no small task though!

A couple of weeks ago I spotted this shelf at the Resource Recovery Park, its was only $2 so I smartly grabbed it! It looked to be the perfect display shelf for a few of my stamps
.... here it is with a fresh lick of paint and mounted onto my craft room wall...perfect!

Last Saturday Andrew, Aimee and I drove to Christchurch early in the morning so Aimee could attend the Duke of Ed, Hillary Awards ceremony
This was one of those rear moments when somehow I ended up on the wrong side of the camera lens! Scary!!
We got to meet and have a short chat with the Governor General himself. Aimee had formal photos taken of her with the General, they can be viewed here (check out numbers 5526, DSc7288 and DSc7311)
After the ceremony and a rather long chat with old friends we headed home to get ready for Sundays journey to Dunedin!
The week ahead saw me racing against time to get my Up2scrap assignment done. This really was a tough one for me, but I got there, and I learnt heaps in the process, and can't wait to do more of the same... Look out for the next magazine :-)
On the subject of Up2scrap have you checked out the gallery of entries received for last months blog challenge... its wonderful to see so many of you joining in... and I LOVE each and every page!
Check them out HERE. Good luck girls !!

My Favorite Musuc

Playlist


Download this mp3 from Beemp3.com

My Scrapping

Here is my finished latest painting

Here is my finished latest painting
This one is a hit with all the males who have seen it. I must say that I did not really enjoy painting a truck and it will be a one off for sure! Uncle David is now the owner of this one. Next project on thepainting scene is going to be a fisherman- for my Uncle Graeme who is wanting me to paint him something. Really need to get onto this one!

Finished at last- I think

Finished at last- I think
At last I think I have pretty much finished this painting for my uncle. Do hope he likes it.

My waterlillies

My waterlillies
one of my recent paintings

Naked Lady

Naked Lady
One of my last years paintings

Aimee and Bob

Aimee and Bob
A painting I did a while back for my daughter

Click on our house to see a little of where we live.

Thank you

Just want to say thankyou to those of you who have been kind enough to take the time to leave a comment or sign my guest book. Always get a buzz out of knowing people have been here for a wee look! THANK YOU!!

Check out my talented nephew Tony...he's the cool dude singing!