Winter Brrrrrrr

Winter is well and truly with us in Melbourne that is for sure!!!
Good scrapping and cardmaking weather i say!!!
Just under a month since my last post so I am improving ... and there was room for improvement!!!
What has happened in the month since the last post .. not a lot really
Busy at school/work .. my school team won the District Cross Country. Here are a couple of photos - after the win and of our shield



Year 6 round robin days have also been played - teams play - soccer, football, tee ball, tag rugby and netball against 5 other local schools. As the District Secretary
I organise those days - booking venues and refs etc.
Report writing has also been on the agenda - oh joy
Now I am proof reading other teacher's reports before the final print - more fun

Thank goodness for scrapping, it helps keep me sane!!
A friend from my early crafting days - she used to run a small home based stamping/craft business- think i was her best customer !!!- took over a fairly established Scrap business near me and I did some demos for her on her opening day and some card samples. Hope to take some classes for her too.

I am the 'Calendar girl' over at Scrap Book Capital for June and have set the sketch and will be setting a few challenges for the cybercrop this month.
I miss my time at scrapcap as a design team member so it will be great to set some card and scrap challenges.

I was very lucky ( by 1 solitary point!!!)to win the Postcards comp at Scrap Boutique
It was an awesome competition and i loved all the challenges. We visited a different destination over 6 weeks and had to draw our inspiration form the postcard we were 'sent' each week. It really was such a different competition to any I have been involved in before - a big challenge too!! Some of my LOs for the comp are below.
These 4 LOs were inspired by Postcards from Italy, France, India and Japan. we also visited USA and Greenland - might include those LOs next time



Think that is enough from me for now

keep warm - Melbourne girls!!!

LOOOOOOONG TIME NO POST

Well yes it has been a mighty long time since i posted... no excuse really, apart from being very busy at work etc etc.

I have been scrapping a bit, not as much as I would like but ..... doubt i ever will ... maybe when i retire he he!!

All the little fam are good - DH, and the 4 felines . Grace is an absolute charmer and so lovable but also rather naughty!!

Am in the process of culling my scrap supplies so i have more room for new goodies which simply do not fit in the storage space I have ... it is a work in progress ya might say

Was tempted to go to the papercraft Show on this weekend but resisted the temptation - dont really need more ....... by enough online!!!!

I have uploaded a few LOs and a card i completed over the last few months
Will put up some more - for the Postcards Comp at Scrapboutique shortly - well at least that is the plan!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY NEW YEAR , AUSTRALIA DAY..........

Above are some of my recent - well since my last post- creations - for Cybercrops ,challenges, gifts, a comp i actually won - yay!! and some just because creations.
Long time no post huh??? But i have been having a sensationally relaxing 5 week holiday so that probably excuses me. Have been doing a fair bit of blog hopping too and am just amazed at the talent around ... must add some of my faves to my blog list here so if you dont already visit them you can have a look too.
Our Christmas was good - low key and cruisy . Craig worked Christmas night, but he was going to work Christmas Day and Boxing day on day shifts so when they asked him to swap to the one night shift he did. It meant he could come and have lunch with my family and didnt have to head off until about 4:20 for his shift in Wonthaggi. I left Mum's at about 7 after a lovely day, celebrating, eating, drinking ( but only a glass or 2 as i was driving) and catching up with the family.
New Year was just spent at home, usually, at least for the past 3 years, we have had a dinner out with my sister and her family and sometimes my Mum. But this year they have the dog and wanted to see how he went with the fireworks and predicted storm, so they stayed home. We had a nice seafood salad and a big jug of Sangria and saw in the new year together - great views from the our house - fireworks over most of Melbourne can be seen!!
Since then i have had just the best holiday i can remember having in a long time.
Have slept in heaps, relaxed and read magazines, scrapping books, and read a whole novel - unheard of for me in such a short space of time . Really want to get back into fiction reading as i had forgotten how lost you can become in a good storyline. I usually just read professional publications( boring), magazines and non fiction during the working term as that way i dont lose track of what the story/plot was about when i dont pick up the book for a while !!!
Read a Mary Higgins Clark book - I'll Be Seeing You- really really good. Ordered a few more, by her, online today at Borders - free delivery and 20% off !!!

During the hols since Jan 1 I have also
- scrapped 10 LOs, 1 card and an OTP item
- culled my scrap mag collection
- gardened
- enjoyed lots of lovely lunches out and about
- visited Healsville Sanctuary
- had all the medical check ups i was due to have
- had the car serviced
- organised ( well nearly) bags of new scrap stash that were piling up at the door
- met up with girls i taught with about 20 years ago - we catch up 2 or 3 times a year
-enjoyed a few days with my neice when she stayed over - beading, Wii-ing, walking, talking, shes a great kid!!
- cleaned out the linen closet - donated towels, pillowcases and sheets to a cat rescue place
- did a miniscule amount of work for school- only what i had to
- chatted on some great scrap sites, joined a Cybercrop, some challenges etc
- spent lots of time with my 4 beautiful felines - ahh!!
- relaxed, relaxed, relaxed.

And it all ends tomorrow when i head back to work - sigh
We have 3 pupil free days and then the kiddos start back on the 1st of Feb.
Might post at the end of next week about how the first week has gone


I know i have said it before but i am gonna try to post at least every month and i have only missed December recently - i just cant find the time to post weekly or fortnightly as some lovelies do.

Bye for now

SNEAK PEEKS

Some sneak peeks of my LO entry for Week 3 in Arty Pants' Scrap Your Pants Off comp. This week you needed to have a shaped Lo, a then and now theme, and use 3 colours(shades of) next to each other on the colour wheel - a big challenge



If you would like to vote for my LO , you can vote here http://artypants.com.au/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=541



Once per day as an unregistered member until midnight Wed 11th-tonight- thanks if you do!

Also join Arty Pants for the Cybercrop this Friday night

If you upload a creation for one of their challenges I will be soooooo grateful ;)
They are awesome scrappers on the site and really nice girls so drop in ove rthe weekend for a look
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Ah Report time

Above are a few of the LOs and and cards i have created recently
The last card is for week 2 of THE BUILD IT UP COMPETITION over at SCRAPBOOK CAPITAL. The1st and 2nd cards were for the Scrap Cap October Cybercrop - halloween colours, use a halloween creature on a card or LO. The first 2 LOs are my entries in week 1 and 2 of Scrap Your Pants Off - ARTY PANTS. The 3rd LO is was for the Scrap Cap CC also - scrapping about your fears.

I am well and truly in the midst of the crazy, maddening time of year for teachers - known as report writing. Even as a PE teacher I have over 400 kids' reports to write - 300 characters - so that is about 12,000 characters to type - aaaah. Have nearly finished the Y1s and so then on to 4, 5 and 6s. Three more weeks to get them done so i am on track. But have a super busy week with 3 nights of meetings early in week. After nest w'end i will have 2 busy weekends too.
Hopefully i will stay on track as it can be really stressful if you get behind and have to sit up till all hours doing them. I dont work particularly well under pressure.

Grace , our new puss, contiunues to settle in well and be a real doll!!! Will post some more photos soon.

Scrap Retreat was soooooo much fun!!!

Over the weekend I had an awesome time at the annual Scrapbook Capital Retreat. Arrived on Friday afternoon and from then until Sunday afternoon the time just flew. I met some great girls - Maria for the first time IRL and Tracy for the 2nd time ( yay that she is coming to Vic to live again in December). The theme was Halloween as the photos show and we had a great dress up night on Saturday. Who is that scary looking witch in the red hat????

Amidst all the chatting, i did mange to - have a wonderful massage - thanks Lorrie, scrap a book about my boy Nitro, run a few scrap games - Scrapaggories, ScrapHead ( like Celeb Head) and a Trivia quiz, eat lots and lots and LOTS of very yummy meals , have a few drinks, dress up as a scary witch, laugh, take part in the raffle and auctions, make a great Xmas card - ta for the class Lyynne-make new friends and generally have a blast!!! Roll on next year I say.

Layouts finished lately

Some LOs and cards I have created recently - top 2 were for the last rounds of the SYTYCS? comp at Scrapbook Capital.

Inspiration - for a mini challenge Sammi set one weekend

Last two are the LO and card examples for the NEW round of the Build It Up Competition I am running at Scrap Cap. The first weeks requirement is ric rac - so you need to create a card, layout or both with ric rac on them somewhere. Come in be in it to win a neat prize, go to http://www.scrapbookcapital.com.au/ and check out the competition section of the forum!!