Living my dream

Something to look forward to.....

Have you seen this????

I can't wait!

Saturday sketch day.....and other stuff

Wow, where has this week gone? So much happening. First its sketch day so here's a bit of a share of what I've designed....

For SBO

For Fiskars

Also a new dare went up last night. My turn this fortnight - you'll just have to pop over to see what its about. But here's my LO. Wonder if it'll give you a clue?

I particularly love one of the shots on here so I'm gonna show it a bit bigger.....

I'd gone in to tuck them in and found this. Was definitely worth a photo. It amazes me how kids sleep. I wonder how she got in this position? I showed them in the morning and they all thought it was very funny, and Sarah piped up saying she was comfortable like that and I should have left her like it. What the? LOL!

Wow, I had so much to share, and now my mind has gone blank. Must be too early in the morning, with no sleep - Dan was up all night. Not sure whats wrong, but think I might take him to the doctors this morning just to be on the safe side. It meant he slept in our bed last night. Not the norm for us, granted. But when there is obviously something wrong like that, its not worth the hassle.

Actually talking of Dan. A couple of little things he's doing.....

• He now tells me when he's done poos.
• He's saying 2 or more words on a regular basis.
• One of his favourite games is to 'cut, cut' with all the right motions of course! I think he's been watching his Dad trim the hedges!
• He now climbs out of and into his cot without any issues. Never had this with the twins, so its a new one. It was particularly funny the other day when I'd put him in there for 'time out' and he climbed out, ran out, around the kitchen, right past me and back into his room and into his cot. He thought it was the biggest joke and I couldn't help but smile and giggle (once he was out of ear shot!). He really does push the boundaries!

Alrighty, off to change his dirty nappy. TMI? Yeah. The joys of a toddler still in nappies. Have a good one.

Ohhhhh, forgot to mention. Those 3 people who kindly left a comment two weeks ago on my sketch rak post, get in touch. Send me an email via the link in the sidebar at the top and I'll get the rak off to you! Thanks for joining in!

And I almost forgot this....I had a really good happy mail day the other day. A book arrived from the States. Blueprints 2. Its a sketch book and has a site where you can find all the new blueprints and take part by completing them and then you can submit them to their book. One of mine was accepted and it was so good to see it in print. It was a while ago (ie 30.4.07 is when I designed it!!!!) so its really good to finally have it here.

Later.

While the cats away the mice will play

Yep, I went off down to Hamilton with Donna today to visit Vicky and have a day cropping. It was wonderful. Blissful to get out of Auckland and just hang out, chat, crop and not worry about kids. Thanks so much for your wonderful company girls. Totally loved it.

And while I was away, yep, my little mice decided to play. Andy took the kids out on the boat with their cousins. They stopped off at Rangitoto, had lunch and a swim (what the?! LOL), isn't it still too cold? Not for these kidslets.

and then some fishing. And guess what Andy had for dinner tonight?

My niece Esther caught a squid and it was the catch of the day (in fact the only catch of the day. LOL). The kids couldn't believe it and there were squeals when it was dropped on the floor of the boat letting out ink everywhere. But I think they were more impressed than anything. And Andy more than anyone as he sat down to have dinner. Looks good huh?!

Matt looked mighty impressed with the fact he could actually fish. Ok, so he didn't get anything, but that didn't matter. He was giving it a go...

Everyone was exhausted tonight and the kids went straight to bed and asleep. They had a fabulous day.

I got a couple of pages done (well one finished and another started and nearly finished), so that was good. Will scan and show when I get a chance.

But in the meantime here are the sketches for this week:

A circle one for Fiskars to help you along with the monthly challenge which is...circles.

And one for SBO....

We're off to the zoo tomorrow for a bit of family time. Crossing fingers its another nice day so we can make the most of our passes.

C U.

More chicken adventures

Recently Andy took away a piece of wood from the fence, that we thought was redundant now that the chickens had grown. Previously it had been stopping them come out. Hmmmm, how wrong we were.

The last couple of days our wee Pinochio has been found feasting on our vege garden (but don't tell Andy).

And this morning when the kids went down to feed them, there was Pinochio sitting on the edge of the concrete preening herself and looking very happy with life.

Luckily they are very tame now and are easily caught. But we now need to find a way to plug up that gaping hole. LOL.

And we have a broody hen. Goldilocks doesn't seem to leave the nesting boxes unless there are no eggs. If one of the chooks goes in and lays, she follows straight behind and starts sitting on them. I've even been pecked when I try and retrieve said eggs. Huh?! I think Goldilocks and I might have to have a wee talk.

So life with the chooks carries on with interest and delight.

And I finished a LO today. Its for the latest dare at No 8 Wired. Donna set the dare this time round and its all about scale. Putting big with small. Making it work. So I found this huge photo and decided that could be my big. Or part of it. Then I started by putting large and small items together. Flowers, clocks, title. All have a combination of large and small.

And it worked so nicely with the lovely new range from Fiskars and Heidi Grace - "Only Time".

Now just to let you know that the prize for this one is a goodie. Steph at Up2Scrap is giving away a year subscription to the mag. Yep, I want to win that one! LOL. So make sure you put an entry in. Its a prize well worth winning.

And while you're at it, why not take a look at the Up2Scrap blog. They've got their call on for next years elite team. I was lucky enough to be part of the team last year and it was fantastic. I know you'll enjoy it too. So give it a go. What have you got to loose?

SENZ sneak peek

Well, thought I'd show you a sneak peek of my second class being taught in Wellington for SBO at SENZ in little less than a months time.

I've already shown you my first LO/Card class using beads (but here's another look).....

And my other class is about gift bags. We'll make three in the class, plus I'll teach you how to create your own templates so you can create more at home.

We're lucky to be using the gorgeous new Basic Grey Range - Ambrosia. I soooooo love the orange and grey. Take a look....

If you want to book in to these or any other of my classes, please contact Andrea at SBO. There are only a couple of spaces left in one class and one space in the other. Don't wait or you might be disappointed.

Car conversations

Today in the car we had some funny conversations. First the kids and Andy.....

Kids: We've got a new secret.

Andy: What?

Kids: (Later as they drive down a hill) Moooooooo Mooooo Mooooooooo Moo

(usually they sing out 'wheeeeeeeeee' down a hill. For whatever reason today it was changed to mooooo. The perfect cow sound. Hmmmm?

Next, me taking the kids to a party:

Matt: I hope it doesn't rain. Mum is it going to rain?

Sarah: Matt if it rains, it rains. They'll be doing a rain dance in Africa. Sigh.

I'm sitting there giggling my head off. I mean WHAT THE?! Where on earth did that come from? hehehe.

So anyway, here's a LO I did recently. For Fiskars. Just because.

Its a set of very old photos - from when the twins were much younger, and liked to copy things that happened to them. Here they are 'changing their teletubbies nappies'. LOL.

And a couple of close ups:

Have a good week.

Saturday Sketch Day

Hi. Two sketches today which are filled with layers. And more than one photo.

And this marks sketch number 70 for me. So I'm thinking I wanna do a giveaway.

If you complete any one of my sketches - new LO for this challenge (see the links in the sidebar) and post a link to it here in my comments, I'll send out a wee rak to the first 3. If there are more than 3 I'll do a draw for a 4th rak.

So here are the new ones.....

Fiskars

SBO

Finally, an answer

Well I got an answer on my illness today. I have a common, but nasty little bug which is very similar to glandular fever. It certainly explains why I'm so tired and in bed every night before 9.30pm (unheard of for me), plus still talking with a major croak in my throat, sore & swollen glands, throat, headaches, etc etc etc. You know how it goes. So I've got a homeopathic remedy to try and help it along its merry little way plus a heap of vitamins. Unfortunately that's all that will help it. Antibugs just don't work with this little blighter. And I need to be careful, it has the potential to lead to chronic fatigue syndrome which I sure as heck don't want camping here!

Anyway, onwards and upwards as they say. Just wanted to share a little something I was given recently by a very cool lady by the name of Jo. She and I hang out a bit and have a lot of fun (have you seen the LO's shes done for Tarisota this month?). Anyway, she recently made and gave me the coolest card.

I'm now the proud owner of a Jo Kneller original. I am one lucky girl!

Ok, and on that note, I'm gonna take off. I need to hit the sack. Have a good one.

Fiskars event WA - Be there or be square (always wanted to say that! Hehehe).

Cutting and pasting saves time.....CHECK OUT THE FISKARS BLOG FOR MORE UPDATES!

FISKARS WA EVENT!!!

It is all happening here in Perth! 

We are in the process of organising your Fiskars event and we'd love you to join us. 

Details are still subject to change however to the best of our knowledge this is what you can expect! 

We've had lots of enquiries about this already so if you are interested please act now!!

On Saturday 18th October

10am to 1pm

At: Just Scrapbooking

Shop 8B 233 Berrigan Drive, Jandakot

There are still details to be worked out but the fun is guaranteed!

Entry is free and you will get morning tea, make & takes, some freebies and giveaways, door prizes and more.

Places are limited so bookings are essential!

Please contact Kim on 0419197105 or by e-mail [email protected]

or Evana on 0406810551 or by e-mail [email protected]

Watch this space for more details and some sneak peeks as the date gets closer!

** Are you a Fiskateer yet?**

It is free to join up and is easy to do! You will be able to join the Fiskateers community and you get a really cool pressie just for joining up! If you bring along proof of your membership to our Perth Fiskars event you will get a bonus ticket for the door prize too. Just use the link in the sidebar

Catch up

Thanks for your well wishes. I'm trying to get back to normal now and telling my body that its ok (even if it thinks its not!). LOL. Got a doctors appt tomorrow so hopefully will be all sorted soon.

Even with this bug hanging around we seem to have been up to a bit. So here's a bit of a breakdown.

1. Dan started his second day at daycare yesterday. He was really excited. And by all accounts had a wonderful day. But what made my day yesterday was when he saw me and came running out saying 'Muuuuuum'. Giving me a big hug and saying 'miss'. Oh made me melt. He missed me. So cool.

2. We went down to Hamilton on Monday to visit with my friend Vicky Gibson. She's recently moved so we got to see their new place and have a wonderful lunch of home made buns. The kids all get on really well (mostly, LOL) and we had cars and trucks and all sorts all over the floor. Plus the kids created cards for their Dad's. Plus Vicky has a great suitcase they could fit in. Very cool.....

3. Around home we've been doing some 'tidying' with one hedge in particular getting a good 'haircut'. LOL. As part of that we found a teeny tiny little birds nest. Thankfully no eggs in it. Matt has claimed it as his and taken it everywhere to show people. Including down to Hamilton and across to daycare. I love that he gets so passionate about things.

4. The ducks down the bottom of our section seem to have started laying eggs on the grass. Well two anyway. We found the first one when Dan stood on it. Eeeeeek. The second one had been left in the middle of the grass, very cold when we found it, so we brought it up to the house and Andy promptly decided it would be his for fathers day breakfast.....

What we found really amazing was how blue the egg shell was. You hear talk about duck egg blue. Well we now know exactly what is meant.

5. The little chickens have now gone to their 'real' home. The kids were very sad when they left. With Sarah having a wee cry. It was a wonderful thing to have them here, for the kids to learn how to handle them, feed them and finally to let them go. But we do miss them. In the weekend we took them outside for a forrage around in the grass. They loved it. Lots of little bugs to find and eat (one of the girls was particularly lucky finding a small spider sack of baby spiders! UGH!).

Ok, more to share, but right now I think that's all you and I can deal with. LOL! Have more photos to share another time.

Have a great day!

T

Sick again

I'm sick again. Feel like I have been for weeks. Not a happy chappy. Keeping very much to myself. So if I owe you an email/phone call or anything else. I will get to it soon! Promise.

Quick note though....if you're after the Fiskars Threading Water punch, go to your LSS now and buy one. If they don't have it, ask them to order it. Our NZ warehouse now has it in stock. So its little more than a day away! Go check it out.

YAY!

Cute little teeny kits

Everyone loves bargains. And pretty much every scrapper loves kits. So what better idea than to put out teeny tiny kits that you can buy cheap? Clever huh?!

I found out about it by clicking on a link in Lara's blog.

Then I just had to come and tell you guys about it. Tooooooo cool.

They have cute little things in them like vintage stickers, and little bits of ric rac and random stuff.

Wanna see? Click here.

And a couple of cool kiwi chicks behind it too. I bet you'll know who when you check it out. Go you good things!

PS: Have you seen this? Its an ad from the States, but quite funny. Anyone else relate to this lady? Hmmmmmm, yeah I see you all nodding. LOL!

Ad

China here we come.....

We finally sat down and worked out when we are going to China. We worked out where we want to go, then how we could get to each place and then culled it a bit, or a lot, LOL! The country is just so big its not funny. But for the sake of the kids and us, we've kept to a few places, not everywhere we want to go.

We are trying to have as many things as possible in our itinerary that the kids can enjoy and love.

One of the highlights I'm looking forward to is Disneyland in Hong Kong. I know the kids are young, I know they're not going to remember anything, but by golly its going to be great. They so loved the Gold Coast and those theme parks that I just know they are going to love Disneyland.

But we're also going on a dolphin tour to hopefully see 'pink' dolphins. I know sounds weird. But apparently true. The only pink dolphins in the world?! I can't wait to see!

We're also going to see how the Chinese fishermen use Cormorants to fish with. Wow. That will be cool too.

And see some giant pandas. We were going to try and go to a wildlife reserve, but with the earthquake devastating that part of China, we're probably just seeing them in the zoo. And that is so ok.

And for this scrapbooky Mum who loves new photos to work with, well you get the picture right?!

Ok, off to dream some more of wonderful new sights and sounds. Memories to be made.

Happy 2nd of September to us

Today 7 years ago Andy and I got married. It was a Sunday. It was Fathers Day. It was the most fun day I've ever had. It was casual, but oh so formal. It was a fairytale. It made us a family and was the dream we both wanted.

Today we lead a very different life. Its still the fairytale, but we now we have 3 little munchkins, a fat ginger cat, 6 chooks and approx 1000 worms as part of our family.

Instead of getting up each morning and going for an hour long run up the steepest hill in Auckland (well it sure felt like it then! HEHEHE), working hard, and coming home to go for a kayak or walk on the beach, or out for dinner and drinks, we now get up early to attend to children. We work harder than ever before and still it feels like nothing is achieved at the end of the day and at night we sit and blob in front of the telly because we're too tired to do anything else. Ok, ok, so the telly bit is an exageration, I scrapbook too! LOL. But you know what. We wouldn't want it any other way.

This morning we watched our children playing with cars in the shower in their snugglys (pj's with feet in them) and laughed at how much fun they were having even though I'd just finished in the shower and it was wet, meaning they were soaked. We watched them race up the hall laughing and giggling flinging themselves onto their beds shouting with joy at it being sunny meaning they could run around without their clothes on cause its getting warmer.

We enjoyed a proud parent moment watching as they exclaimed to Andy (as he opened his anniversary present) that they 'helped choose it' with grins as wide as the house cause they were so proud of being a part of this special day.

We love that we took a chance on each other. That we had a dream and we made it come true and that we are continuing to make each others dreams come true every day.

So to my wonderful husband on this memorable day. I thank you. For choosing me. For being the man I dreamed of. For letting me be me. For making me laugh when I'm angry and for hugging me when I'm sad. For being there for me in times of agony and times of joy. For putting up with my moods and insecurities. For still loving me even though I weigh a heck of a lot more now than then (eeeek!). For encouraging me to be the best I can be. And for an unconditional love that I hope and dream of for our children. As I said in a post over the weekend 'You Rock!'. Happy anniversary.

 

Doing the folding

Today when the folding was getting done (thanks Abby!), Dan was sitting there 'helping'. Thats his big thing at the moment. 'Help Mummy, help'. Anything I'm doing, or anything he has helped with before he wants to do again. I guess I shouldn't complain, cause in a few years he won't want to do anything. LOL.

But anyway, his way of helping with the folding was to tell Abby whose clothes were who's. She would pick something up (or he would give her something), and as she was folding it, Dan would stand there and say 'Mum', 'Ra', 'Matt' etc etc. It was so cute!

He also came and helped me with the kindling tonight. Scary! But under control, fine. He would hand me a piece of wood, then 'stand back', then I'd chop and then he'd collect the little bits, put them in a pile and pass me the next piece of wood.

Honestly, this 'helping' means things take twice as long (if not longer), but its so good for him, and so delightful to see his face light up, that I figure I just have to allow extra time. Grin.

Ok, as I type this 'Extreme Makeover' is on the telly. I just love this programme. Yeah, ok so its really typically 'American' but by golly these guys (and gals) change lives! I cry just about every time I watch it. One of those silly little secrets that you probably don't need to know. LOL. But there you go. And as such I'm gonna make like a leaf and leave. LOL!

Big day for us older McClunes tomorrow, tell ya then.