Me and Alexis ...

Here's a layout I completed last night with a recent photo of me and Alexis taken on my birthday in March. Alexis is now 20 months old and says loads of words ... only yesterday she copied a word I said - it wasn't a very good word (S-H-I-T) - and I've learnt how careful I need to be in what I say ... it was pretty funny, although I had to walk away to have a laugh. Until next time ...

"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others,
but to get ahead of ourselves to break our own records,
to outstrip our yesterday by our today."

~ Stewart B Johnson ~

Some Layouts Completed ...

I know you're probably really surprised (I know I am) that I actually completed a couple of layouts recently. The double page layout was a "Sketched" class I did at Scrapbooks Etc with photos from December 2005 and I finally finished it off with embellishments and journalling. The single page was a quick layout I did on a Scrapping Wednesday because I wasn't storing my photos very well and this picture from 1990 was starting to get crushed. All-in-all I'm pretty happy that in between my ATCs I managed to get a couple of layouts completed.

"Art Washes from the Soul the Dust of Everyday Life."
~ Picasso ~

ATCs from the UK

I was so happy to wake up this morning with an email in my inbox from Kate in the UK stating that she'd received my ATCs - I was so glad they had arrived safe and sound. My happiness then turned to sheer elation when I checked the mail and had also received Kate's envelope containing 3 phenomenal ATCs and here they are - aren't they just amazing:

"It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.

It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."

Mother Teresa

Zentangles

I spent the last couple of nights creating Zentangle Inchies and have turned them into 4 ATCs to swap with the girls. It was so much fun ... I loved doodling in the television ad breaks and am pretty pleased with how they turned out. Hope you like them.

Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional
acceptance of life and what it brings.

Arthur Rubinstein, 1887-1982, Polish-born Pianist

Ferg's ATCs

I must be crazy, I've joined another ATC swap through Addicted to Scrap in Southport on the Gold Coast. This makes a total of 4 live ATC swaps and I'm a member of 2 ATC groups online through Yahoo of which I have joined 1 swap. I uploaded some pictures of my ATCs onto the ATC_World Yahoo Group site and have had interest from 2 people overseas. Today I sent off 2 ATCs to Sue in Oklahoma USA and 3 ATCs to Kate in North Yorkshire UK - I am so looking forward to receiving their cards from overseas.

I counted the cards in my collection today and now have 106 ATCs made by me and others. It's incredible how quickly my collection has grown, since I only started creating these miniature artworks since January 2008.

The Scrapbook Cupboard put out a challenge for our husbands to get involved in the creation of ATCs and make 10 cards. At first Ferg was adamant he was not getting involved, but then last night as I was creating "Zentangles" and watching TV, he got out our little fold up table and had a go. I don't know about him making 10 cards, but here are the 3 cards he created last night ... I'm pretty impressed:

"It is what we make of what we have, not what we are given,

that separates one person from another."

Nelson Mandela

ATCs May 2008

I had a very productive rainy Saturday and managed to get nearly all of my ATCs done for the May swaps (what ... and it's only April 20th!!):

• "Vintage" Group 2 Scrapbook Cupboard
• "Carousel" Paint & Transparency technique for Live Swap Meet at Scrapbook Cupboard
• One Colour "Pretty in Pink" Group 1 Scrapbook Cupboard
• "Black & White" Stamper's Hut

I still have one more swap I'm involved in for May, which is the PaperArts Yahoo Group with the theme "Mermaids" and I will complete the card for this swap soon. Now that I'm all organised with my ATCs, I might be able to get some scrapbooking layouts done in the next month.

If you have knowledge,

let others light their candles with it.

Margaret Fuller, 1810-1850, American Journalist

ATCs April 2008

Here are my April ATCs:

• "Money" Group 2 Scrapbook Cupboard
• "Country" Group 1 Scrapbook Cupboard
• "Autumn" Stamper's Hut
• "Butterfly" Live Swap Meet at Scrapbook Cupboard

I am still involved in 3 swaps, but this month The Scrapbook Cupboard decided to hold a Live Swap Meet. A group of us descended on the Cupboard on Saturday, 12th April 2008. The swap started with a frantic scrambling of wanting to swap with other people's cards and was somewhat overwhelming - probably because we were advised to only make 5 cards and there were 9 cards to swap with. That being said, I hung around chatting for a couple of hours (Sonya even turned up to say hello after work) and I then spent the rest of the day with Kyla & Kerri at The Stampers Hut having a great time and buying much more than I probably needed. Thanks Tanya for organising the event, it was fantastic to meet some of the ladies in the group I hadn't met before and I really enjoyed catching up with everyone.

By the way, I found this great site on the weekend where you can buy loads of bits and pieces perfect for ATCs - the shop's called Scraptivate and they sell a huge range of Collections Chipboard (more than I've seen in any other store) and a range by German Scrap that I just loved.

I've joined an online swap through a Yahoo Group called Paperarts. I'll be completing my first ATC with this group in May and the theme is Mermaids ... the girls in this group seem very talented and I am so looking forward to receiving their cards. I also completed some cards for a swap in Canada (see below) and am looking forward to receiving cards from there as well - all very exciting.

Until next time, I'll leave you with another quote:

"We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense
desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents."
Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983, Author of The True Believer