Pride & Joy ...

Caught up with Jean again in July and managed to get one layout finished. This layout is of my Opa's garden when I visited in 2007 ... amazing what changes in 5 years.  He loved his garden and I loved the beautiful flowers and my favourite meal was always his home grown boerenkool ... met worst ... of course.

"If wrinkles must be written upon our brow, let them not be written upon the heart; the spirit should never grow old."

~James A. Garfield~

A weekend in Queensland

Ferg and I travelled up to Queensland for the Queens Birthday long weekend just gone.  It always amazes me how much my niece Alexis and nephew Harry grow up in between visits. The photo's below are when I went to the school to pick Alexis up ... she was very excited to see Aunty Di.  Also lovely (and very rare) family shot of my sister Sylvia, Dave, Alexis & Harry.

I also managed to go to the Scrapbook and Papercraft Convention on Saturday and did a few classes with my friend Pam Prosser.  The classes we did were with the delightful Louise Nelson and Michelle Hartjes ... both very talented scrapbookers and very different.  Of course, I didn't finish my layouts in the class, so it'll probably take me a few years to get them completed (ha, ha).

 

I was a bit star struck when I saw Tim Holtz ... I just stood behind him ... ha ha.

One family member was sorely missed on this trip.  My sister's dog Max was put down since our last visit to Queensland .  His last day was 21st April and he was 17 years of age so had a good innings for a dog.  Nevertheless, he's been a part of the family for a very long time and it was sad that he isn't going to be around anymore.

Enjoy,

Di

On fire!

I caught up with my friend Jean on Sunday last week and we got a bit of scrapping done. It's so nice to craft with others ... bounce ideas off each other and catch up ... perfect!

I completed another 3 layouts - the first one is of my beautiful niece on the day she was born ... she turns 6 in August, so it's taken a little while to finish that one (ha, ha). I did this one from scratch not in a class, the text is on a transparency.

The next one is in London when I visited by dear friend Michelle in 2007.  This layout was done in a Copy Cat class in March 2009 designed by Susan Couzens.

The last layout is of our beautiful dog Beau when he was only 17 months old.  This layout was done in a December 2009 Sketched class with the delightful Lyndal Grant.

Only 48 layouts to go ...

"Champions keep playing until they get it right."

~Billie Jean King first female athlete to earn $100,000 in one year~

Some more scrapping ...

A couple more layouts completed, slowly bringing down the pile of unfinished scrapping. The first layout I believe was designed by Susan Couzens in a Copy Cat class at Scrapbooks Etc, the other designed by Lyndal Grant in a January 2010 Sketched Class.

I used to put so much pressure on myself to make my layouts perfect ... which meant they never seemed to get finished.  I am finding the art of scrapbooking again quite therapeutic by using the stash of supplies I have available, my own handwriting and not overthinking it ... ease and grace!

Enjoy.

"The standard of success in life isn't the things. It isn't the money or the stuff -- it is absolutely the amount of joy you feel."

~ The teachings of Abraham ~

Creative groove ...

I'm doing a little bit of creativity here and there ... 5 or 10 minutes a day ends up with a finished scrapbook layout. Another 2 completed: (1) My nephew Harry on a layout started in a Dimensional Pop class with Lynette van Barello, (2) photos from the wedding Ferg and I attended in Ireland in 2007 on a layout started in a Copy Cat class with Susan Couzens back in August 2009.

Only 53 more layouts to finish off ... I'm on a roll.

Ciao for now!

More layouts completed

When I lived in Queensland, my favourite scrapbook shop was Scrapbooks Etc. The store is closed now but the teachers were the most creative I have ever come across.

Here are a couple of layouts I did in classes at the store in 2009 ... which I finally finished today. 1. Dimensional Pop with Lynette van Barrelo and 2. Copy Cat with Susan Couzens. The subject in both layouts is my niece Alexis ... when she was around 8 months old and 2 years.

"Having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don't have the top for."

~Jerry Seinfeld~

Getting back back into it ...

Since moving house in December, I re-discovered all my unfinished creative projects.  The past few weekends I have gone through everything and by far my scrapbooking is what has fallen the most behind ... I have:

• 45 layouts I've done in classes that have photos but need to be completed.
• 7 layouts done in classes without photos
• 6 scrapbook kits not even started yet

Pretty unbelievable!

Anyway, since last weekend, I managed to finish one layout ... only 57 to go!

A bit of a boring layout, but I'm happy just to be doing something creative and getting through all the unfinished projects ... one by one!

"Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing."

~ John Donne ~

Spring has sprung down under ...

We have had the most beautiful weather this weekend ... the first weekend of Spring 2011 in Australia.  The Jasmine is growing and smells beautiful and today is also Father's Day here ... so congratulations to all those dad's out there all over the world.

My dad ... love you!

I started my crafting life with scrapbooking many years ago and still love looking at beautifully created scrapbook albums. When my sister Sylvia was pregnant with her first child, we'd taken a photo of her belly every month so we could keep an eye on progress.  I put together a little mini album covering the pregnancy, which I presented to her when my niece Alexis was born.

We did the same thing when she fell pregnant with her second child ... took photos of that ever growing belly.  My nephew is now 2.5 years old and this weekend I finally finished the album to send to my sister in time for her birthday ... how slack am I!!!

Anyway, here's what I created ... now there are a few pics of when my nephew was just born as I was lucky enough to be at the birth, so if you're a bit squeamish do not go any further.

I have not done anything creative since July and feel fantastic that I finally made time to finish one of the many unfinished projects lying around in my craft room.

Enjoy!

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.
~Author Unknown~

Crafting in Queensland

 On the June long weekend, we drove up to Queensland to visit the family. The Papercraft Show also happens every June long weekend, so Pam and I organised to do 3 classes on the Monday from 9.30am - 4.30pm and little bits of shopping in between classes ... big day

CLASS 1 - MY WISH ...
Double layout with a difference taught by the talented Louise Nelson.
 

My unfinished layout. I really like this style of art ... scrapping with a difference.

CLASS 2 - BOTANICAL CARDS

Using the Prima Botanical papers and flowers, we created 6 cards in this class. Pam and I got an extra gift because we were the only 2 to finish all 6 cards in the allocated time over the whole weekend!

   

  

CLASS 3 - ZENTANLE
Zentangle class run by Kass Hall. I really enjoyed learning how to create different patterns with doodling ... very therapeutic.

And some pics of my niece & nephew ... so cheeky, so cute!

Ideas shape the course of history.
~John Maynard Keynes, 1883-1946, English Economist~