my hunny

I convinced Ray to come and have some photos taken while he was all dressed up after Church, so we walked across to the trees so he could pose for me. Only thing was, he took of his "good" shoes, and put on his grotty work boots, hence he has bare feet! LOL Still, he looks pretty good for an old fella! More pictures of my spunky hunny to scrapbook!

ants again

UGGHH!!!



Kate went to the shelf to get a box of stamps, she is crafting something for her Aunty Melissa's birthday next week, and found the craft boxes swarming with ants. I have never seen anything like it. An hour and a half later, we have moved everything off the shelves, spraying flyspray and wiping down the boxes, wiping down the craft books and scrapbooking magazines, and wiping down every page in four scrapbooks which were on the left of the shelves too. Josiah is finishing the vacuuming in the room now. The pile of dead ants on the carpet was half an inch deep! Truly icky!



update 8pm Okay this is seriously not good. It took me another hour to go through the three Creative Memories albums that were badly effected by the ants and get all those little boogers out, and far too many have left squish-ick behind on the pages. The side-loading page protectors let dozens of ants onto the photos and paper, and many of the pages in the three albums have marks on them. I am so upset. There are still ants coming out of somewhere, so I won't put stuff back on the shelves until they stop coming. I am going to have to get some shelves made in the study for the albums, as this area is obviously too attractive to pests (this is the same shelf where the dead mice have been.) I don't like ants today.

gotta stop

I gotta stop reading the messageboard at 2 Peas - seriously, it's too demoralising. I don't scrap to be published, I don't scrap to suit a magazine, or even the gallery browsers at Scrapbook-bytes. I damn well scrap for me and my family. So why do I feel so gutted that my layouts barely get 10 hits, and a comment or two? Why this constant need for affirmation from people I don't know, who don't know me? (and I'm really not looking for comments, and I really do appreciate my online friends who look at my pages and encourage me, really I do) I dunno, I'm a conundrum. Or just a dill.

So here is a layout that breaks all the "rules", and would get barely a look in any online gallery. It's simple. The photo is black and white. There is only one photo on the page. I hardly used any of the "kit". But I like it. And it gives me the chance to keep this photo of Kate and make it a memory, to keep her exactly as she was in this moment so that I can look back and remember her right at this instant. It is a simple extension of the primary reason why I take all these bloody photos anyway, to remember my kids as they are growing up, to keep the memory of them at all these different ages, so that when I am old and drooly, I can look at these photos and have happy thoughts.

Oh yeah, and this layout was made with the kit of Correen Silke's that I got the other day at the Scrapdish sale, Daisy for You. I'm so proud of me for using another kit within a week of buying it! LOL



So that's my little rant. I'm sure there will be more to come down the track. Just needed to give myself another little smack across the back of the head and put the joy back into scrapbooking. I seem to need to do that a lot lately. No more pea-boards for me.

emails about freebies are good!

I love getting emails about freebies! I logged on this morning to find an email from Carrie Stephens, and I see this fabulous preview, and wonder, how much is this and where can I buy it? Better and better, as I scroll down, it's her new freebie! Thanks Carrie.



Even better, she is having a sale at her store, so I headed over and bought a kit I've been eyeing for a while, and picked up the freebie too. Better still, I have actually used the kit I bought already - I'm so proud of myself! (I am not going to ever admit to the number of kits and cds that I have bought that I have never even used) Still lots more papers and goodies in this to use again, and I even managed to use the alpha! (I am severely alpha challenged). This layout is based on the Autumn Leaves DW calendar card for July 26 (a layout by Tracy Kyle). There are no children at my place at the moment, only monkeys in the trees out back! At least they are outside in the fresh air and cold winter sunshine for now, as there is more dirty weather due by the weekend.

scrappin' with Trish

Yep, the Monday night session with Trish. Lots of yackin' and a bit of scrappin'. Trish was on a roll, scrapping her sister's wedding album, she produced two double-page layouts and was working on the next when I quit just before midnight. She chose for us to scraplift a layout by Mellette Berezoski (page 138, A Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking, Ali Edwards). I find when I'm scraplifting at the moment, I can't really get beyond a direct copy most times, even colour choice tends to be close to the original. Still, saves me having to think too much about what I'm doing, and I come up with a good layout. These are some photos of my youngest, taken by my eldest daughter (she's 12) - I think most of the time the kids mess about with the camera more than I do. Nevertheless, I get photos of them, so that's good too. All bits from Trish's Eclectic Mix cd, font is dominican.



It is incredibly windy again today, the wind has been roaring around the house for the past few days, a little bit of rain, very cold. The kids tend to go a bit crazy in the wind, they've been chasing each other outside for hours, and come inside all blowsy and flushed. Caleb is almost over his cough, but Noah is still coughing a lot, and Kate has been feeling poorly since the weekend, and coughing too. My cough is still hanging on too. Sigh.

when in a scrapping slump

SCRAPLIFT!! I pulled out the Designing With calendar, and decided I could tackle this one. It really does help if I don't have to come up with all my own ideas, and I have to give myself permission to do this more often. I used Trish's My Friend papers, and bits and pieces from all over for all the fiddly bits (and a ton of fonts, don't even ask). I made the photos black and white to hide the lack of sharpness and poor colour in the photo of me, and to make them match a bit better. This layout is based on the calendar card for July 23/24, a layout by Tracy Kyle.

I went shopping and I bought a . . .

Remember that game? We used to play it at Youth Group, and Church camps LOL The idea was to make up the most unlikely and illogical items to try to confuse the players in line after you. My shopping over the weekend was quite subdued, and I managed a spot of bargain-basement shopping too - gotta love a sale!

First stop was the digiscrapfest booths, and over to ScrapDish with my coupon to pick up some sale items. First in the basket was one of Correen Silke's mini-kits, love the daisies! (can you see a pattern developing here?)



And also one of Rachel Dickson's colourful kits too, that I have been admiring for a few weeks.



Next stop was Play On Elements, where Tanya is closing out most of her kits and cds. I have most of them already but managed to pick up one that I had missed LOL. I really like the bold colours in this one.



Final stop is Scrapbook Bytes, my regular weekend shopping haunt. So wonderful to see more talented designers selling their kits here. I grabbed one of Michelle Underwood's colourful kits (on sale too), I think this will make wonderful birthday cards! I am just beginning to see the possiblities of digital scrapping "beyond the page", and cards are a great starting point.



And I had to get Trish's paper pack too, called My Friend. More wonderful colour combinations and patterns here, I am so pleased to be able to work with Trish and her brilliant kits.



Now to just get over this dreadful block, and actually scrap something. I can't even get inspired by browsing the online galleries, everything seems so blah! I have started and binned a half-dozen layouts in the past week. So I have been organising my digital photos, making contact sheets, and burning cds of downloaded goodies (when the cd burner or Nero Express will work properly, that is). If only I could scrap something!

so tired

Well, after finishing the tax accounts yesterday, a friend of Josiah's phoned to see if he could come visit. Jenny (his Mum) rode her bike with him out from town (it took them 45 minutes) and we had a lovely visit while the kids played. Instead of going home with his Mum, we had him stay overnight, and the kids had a marvellous time - took them ages to go to sleep, of course, they talked and giggled way too late. Then they were up and about at 5am! Serves Ray and I right for staying up too late watching the cricket, but the Aussies were doing so well, who could go to bed? Feeling pretty trashed this afternoon.

I managed to make it to Amy's "Virtual Vault" crop at SBB this morning. The idea was to rework a layout we didn't like, or finish one that was sitting around unfinished. Good idea, but the reason my unfinished layout was unfinished, was because I had run out of ideas for how to finish it. Some brainstorming and feedback would have been more helpful, but the crop was more about meeting deadlines and giving away prizes (which is always good for those who win them), but I did manage to "finish" the layout in the two hours of the crop, though it isn't very much different to the unfinished version. It started out as a simple layout, and I just couldn't manage to clutter it up at all LOL!



I think this even started out as a scraplift, but that was so long ago that I can't even find my notes about the layout, so can't give credit for this one. Time to take a Nanna Nap on the couch before I get a headache from tiredness.

tax time

Why did I ever say I would do the accounting for our farm? Being a complete accounting newbie (I never even did accounting at high school) there was some huge kind of learning curve to this when I started. Add to this the relatively new GST, and every quarter I have some serious stress. I am getting the hang of the program we are using, and the everyday, repeat entries are not a problem, but every time Ray buys something new, once-off, I have to jump through serious hoops to account for them. And most of the "principles" of accounting make absolutely no logical sense to me at all. Thanks to my Dad for being a phone call away every three months for his accounting-challenged daughter.

So, the quarterly accounts are entered, everything is reconciled (phew!) and the BAS is filled out, ready for me to pay on Monday and post to the tax office. Next job is to gather together all of our personal tax information and make an appointment with the accountant - no way am I going to think about tackling that job!

I think I need to go buy myself something!

gettin' there

I feel like the cough is slightly better, the spasmic coughing fits are fewer and less often. I have had two semi-decent night's sleep in a row, and that makes a lot of difference. Caleb and Noah are still coughing, but at least they last most of the night in their own beds. Kate is feeling down today, washed out, sore throat, she's asleep on the couch with "Pride and Prejudice" running on the TV (the BBC video version with Colin Firth, yummy)

I scrapped this afternoon, some photos of Josiah and Titch from the weekend, scraplifting the DW calendar card from July 19, used papers from Trish's Eclectic Mix cd. Gotta love a scraplift.

thought for the day

"life is not a path of coincidence, happenstance, and luck. but rather an unexplainable, meticulously charted course for one to touch the lives of others and make a difference in the world. you don't know what you get back until you give. live to the point of tears." (teesha moore)

Thanks Cathy Z for pointing me to Tara Whitney's blog for this, and thanks for your thoughts too.

Highly Annoyed at 2Peas

No, no, not me. LOL

Just following the thread (which has been pulled, by the way) at 2 Peas by Highly Annoyed (a poster with a brand new id)

I wonder why some people that post here don’t have to follow the rules? Is it because they are more popular than others? Is it because they really couldn’t care less about the rules? I see it daily here on this board and it annoys me to no end. Blatant Advertising for CD’s, Websites, Boosting Sales for particular designers. Chat announcements for other sites and links to websites in signatures. Not that most of the designers are doing this it seems there Fan clubs are. I know that Ronna works here at 2 peas so I assume she should be getting the praise not other designers who work at different sites. I also assume that these other designers have message boards at there sites. Go and praise them there. Seems Digital Scrapbooking has become nothing less than a popularity contest and it seems that some of you haven’t left high school and you will make sure you only talk about the most popular designers because it makes you feel good to be the IN CROWD. And that poor lady who got slammed about asking a simple question about a kit. Some of you were just mean to her and so was the designer. Yes designers have families, home, and other things but when they chose to create a business they also chose to follow business rules. Customers have the right to ask questions and tell when what they get is less than perfect. So People get off your high horse and get back to scrapping and leave the popularity contest to high school girls. I know this thread will be pulled. Because it speaks the truth. But I am sure that all of the threads with I love this designer and that designer or this designer has a new kit or cd out and Designers when you let people do this here you are as bad as them. Advertising is nice but not at the expense of the rules!! And no you don’t know who I am and I am posting under another name of course why would I want my name slammed all over the internet? Signed Customer

Somebody sure has a lot of angst to deal with! There are so many issues in this, it is difficult to know where to start.

The first issue is with people who are too gutless to post their opinions under their own username. This seems to happen at no other scrapbook site in the same way as at 2Peas. Maybe I haven't been to enough messageboards to know the truth of this, but it seems that there are a lot of people who like to be "Trolls" at 2Peas to stir things up, a reason I have never hung out there before the site went digital. While Highly Annoyed does have some valid points in her post, her manner of address is highly volatile, designed to inflame.

Another issue is with those who appoint themselves as internet police, net nannies, messageboard mommies, whose sole purpose is to patrol boards and point out violations of one sort or another. Truth be told, there are many many violations of the 2Peas TOU on all the boards, every day. If discussion was only limited to the products and events which 2Peas directly sponsors, there would not be a huge discussion board at 2Peas. People could not request help to find a specific font, if it is not a 2Peas font. We could not ooh and aah over the new products at CHA if 2Peas were not stocking them (and while 2Peas is big, it cannot possible carry every line of every manufacturer). We should not even discuss magazine calls, or DT calls, or toots because they are not directly sponsored by 2Peas, and are even in competition with 2Peas for consumer dollars. Several people who responded to Highly Annoyed pointed out that if he/she had reported the posts to 2Peas management, and 2Peas management had not deleted the reported posts, presumably 2Peas management were content to allow such discussion. While this calls into question the value of the TOU, it remains the sole responsibility of 2Peas management to police their own policies, not someone self-appointed.

I'm not sure where Highly Annoyed got the idea that most of the posts were "popularity contests" by Designers' fan clubs. I have always felt I have a legitimate entitlement to my own likes and dislikes, and will continue to praise (wherever I might be) those Designers that create beautiful and high quality product which appeals to my tastes. (Yay for blogs!) Yes, there are obviously some designers who have a large and loyal consumer base, and it must be frustrating sometimes for new designers to feel that they can ever break into that same kind of exalted circle. But as several people have pointed out from their experiences at CHA, the scrapbooking business is a competitive industry, it isn't "just a hobby" any longer.

Highly Annoyed's reference to this thread also contains some valid points. The OP in this thread made a request for a quality check from other people who had bought Jen Wilson's elements, as she was uncertain if the fault was with her software or with the elements.

I bought a couple of the Jen Wilson Worn Comfort elements packs because I just love the look of the papers (and after reading all the raves here ). But now that I am opening the ribbons and looking at them full size, mine seem to be really 'off'. It looks like the layers aren't lined up properly and patterns are running off the edges and stripes are extending above the edges of the ribbons, etc. Almost all the patterned ribbons are like this. In particular, the grass stained set. Is it just my computer or is this how they are? I can't imagine that they are supposed to be this crooked and choppy. I am viewing/using them in PSCS. If anyone else has this set (or any others) and can tell me if it's just my computer I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Poor girl got savaged by several posters. Maybe she was a newbie, and didn't know how else to address her problem. Maybe she was naive. From the tone of her post, it didn't seem to me that she had an axe to grind with Jen Wilson, and wanted to publicly embarrass a well-respected designer. She certainly didn't deserve a public dressing-down. This OP also made a good point in a later post, after some pointed criticisms of her post. I guess it's ok to post praise threads about her cd's and kits here but not okay to ask other people a simple question about the quality of the product? If we are only allowed to offer praise, and never seriously appraise and perhaps criticise the product, we are doing a disservice to both designer and consumer. Designers are selling a product, whether they are doing this as hobby or as a business, and consumers have every right to expect the goods to be high quality and without flaws. Any designer who doesn't want to hear negative feedback, only praises, should not expect consumers to continue to purchase their product. Yes, designers are people, they have family, and a life outside of designing, but if they choose to make designing their business, then they must hold as their mantra, "it's not personal, it's business" (yep, thanks to the Godfather and Tom Hanks LOL).

Finally, this post has made me ponder the possibility of there ever being a place where people can openly discuss any and all issues, names, kits, sites, etc. I haven't found a messageboard yet that isn't connected with a store or group of designers, or have sponsorship responsibilities that preclude discussion of outside products or designers. All the sites have rules about discussion of "competitors" and product. Maybe if there was a site that allowed any and every type of post with no limitations, it would just become a pissing contest, with the "fan club" element going overboard. In a commercial setting, having rules is understandable, as at 2Peas. I don't suppose a LSS would allow me to sit at the front door and tell people as they came in that the store across town had X or Y at a different price, or that the people there were nicer or more talented. The frustration comes in not being able to share openly and freely, and I have been guilty of posting at 2Peas in my excitement at discovering something new from one of my favourite designers, or throwing in my 2c worth about my favourites too. And no, they don't have goods at 2Peas, and are in direct competition with the 2Peas designers too. So I am in violation of the 2Peas TOU. My bad. Off to edit some posts.

scrappin' and coughin'

Yeah, I know, still coughing and hacking. But being a good girl, I've made an appointment to see the Doctor this afternoon, after being awake half the night coughing myself sick. I can't even go outside, the cold air makes me cough for an hour after.

Scrapped and yacked with Trish last night, we are gonna make it a regular Monday night thing. We both chose a layout to scraplift from Ali Edwards' Designers Eye book, and both managed to scrap two layouts each by midnight. Good scrapping night!

I chose for us to scraplift the layout on page 60, and had in mind a family goup photo from Mother's Day 2001. I thought about this through the afternoon, and was okay with scrapping this, our last photo all together with Mum before she died. But when I finally found the photo (note to self, organise and catalogue all your photos on disk soon, girl) and opened it, it was almost too much for me again. Funny that I could think about this all afternoon, but when it came down to it, the emotion almost got away from me again. Melissa took this photo, so she isn't in it, and she missed her plane home too, with long goodbyes to us all that day, but I'm so glad she did. I actually edited this, and composited a few of the little people from another photo, to get this so that everyone looks at the camera - it gets harder and harder as the family gets larger to get everyone looking decent in a group photo!



I used Trish's Eclectic CD for this - the family portrait kit (how appropriate LOL). The journalling says - Getting the whole family together was incredibly important to Mum, and she taught us to keep it important to all gather together as a family. Who could have known how important it was when we had this photo taken on what was to be our last Mother's Day with Mum. I'm so glad Melissa took this photo. May 2001

Trish chose for us to scraplift the layout on page 71, and I thought of a cute thing that Isaiah used to do for a time when he was two, he acted like those "sulking dolls" that I used to see at the Sunday craft markets! This is what I journalled about this photo - I always used to laugh when we saw those sulking dolls at the market, but you did it for real for quite some months when you were 2. Daddy wouldn't let you hose the tractor any more, so you showed your displeasure by making the "sulk" on the bullbar in the mud. Sept 04 I used Trish's cd again, the papers from the Ruff'n'Ready set, and elements from all over the cd!

woohoo!!

Bless you, Gina Cabrera! and thank you for listening to your overseas customers and fans! Gina has re-instated overseas shipment of her cds until the end of July, and I was more than willing to pay for a more secure method of postage, so long as I could get the cd. I even got it at the extra special pre-sale price, so more woohoos for me. Now the hard part - waiting till they are shipped on August 1st, and then waiting up to 2 more weeks for it to arrive here. I'll just have to drool over the previews until then. There are 12 sets on the cd, these look like being four of my favourites.



So, having spent all these dollars on a cd, I'd better make my "wish-list" a little longer with the newly released goodies from the weekend.

Marvellous to see Kay Miller arrive over at Designer Digitals with her first kit and the papers from the kit as a separate pack. It has been interesting to see Kay's development of a significantly different style in the past couple of months, and I love seeing the layouts she does with her own kits, totally blow me away! Her kits are not at all shown to the best in the small storefront previews, and her layouts give a better indication of the depth of pattern and beauty in her papers and elements. And I love the option of buying just the paper packs, my scrapping style doesn't run to a lot of embellishments, so I often don't use any doodads from some of the kits I buy, just the papers. I've come a long way from the paper scrapper who couldn't use patterned papers if her life depended on it!



And of course another lovely paper pack from Kellie Mize, I saw a layout on her blog using these, and hoped they would appear in the store real soon. Love the soft colours and patterns!

what happened to the weekend?

Still coughing, feeling miserable and sorry for myself. Should go to the doctor, but don't have the energy to haul me and six kids in to sit for an hour in the waiting room, to be told I have a chest infection, I should go home and rest - yeah, right! Spent most of the past two days on the couch in front of the fire, reading Tami Hoag.

Got my hands on the new cd from Dawn and Trish - it's HAWT!! I've had a play with a couple of the kits, love the colour sense of these two, and there is a wonderful array of yummy papers (you know I am a paper addict from way back in my paper-scrapping days too). I used one of the pink kits (of course) straight up for this photo of Kate. Simple, but the photo really didn't need much. Hard to believe it took nearly two hours! The title block gave me a bit of grief, but got it right finally (font is from Manfred Klein, called BodoblackSquaresInvers - way cool).

no fair

no fair #1
Still coughing, sick of coughing, chest hurts from coughing, headache from coughing, tired from not sleeping because of coughing - just had enough! At least my two boys are almost over the gastro they had, but they are both pretty wiped out still, and just not their usual energetic selves.

no fair #2
I am trying so hard not to develop a need for any more "must have" designers - I have quite a list of favourite designers to buy yummy kits from, and certainly don't need to find any more ways to part with Ray's hard-earned dollars! LOL So I am trying very hard to ignore my growing admiration for Carrie Stephens! She has her own website, Fishscraps, and is also now selling at Scrapbook-bytes Store. She is an incredible scrapbook artist, I love looking through her gallery of layouts, each layout is so full of incredible detail and amazing effects, and they are all so different! It would be difficult to label her "style", as she is so versatile in her designs. And her kits are just getting yummier and yummier. I don't know how I can resist. I must resist. I must resist. Just look at this, her newest kit called Soul Search, and feel my pain.



To quote the Borg, "Resistance is futile."
I'll let you know how I get on. But it's not fair that I should be tempted like this! LOL

no fair #3
Gina Cabrera is releasing her new cd very soon, and it looks wonderful, of course. Just not sure if she is selling to international scrappers on this one. It would be SO not fair if I couldn't get this one, as I have used her other two cds so much, and love her style. I have emailed her, asking if she will send this new cd to desparate Downunder digiscrappers, and hope to hear back in time to take advantage of her super-special price on Monday.

crappy day

My cough is burying itself deep in my chest, and I am sure I am gonna cough up a lung any minute now.

Two of my boys were running temps last night, Caleb vomited, and Noah was very feverish (he has a history of febrile convulsions, so I am super-paranoid about watching him) - they slept in the loungeroom, next to our room so I could hear them, and for comfort. Noah kept crying out all night from the fever, so I am zapped today. Noah threw up this morning, fortunately before Ray left for work, so he dealt with the clean-up. Caleb now has diarrhea - ick ick ick.

And how come most weeks go by with not a single phonecall, and on the day you least want to deal with it, the phone doesn't stop? My Aunt has phoned twice, cos she wanted ideas for xmas shopping at the kmart toy sale for our kids, but I could hardly talk to her in between coughing fits. I have had TWO charities phone looking for donations or selling raffle tickets, and just had someone on the phone trying to sell me another phone company, and I couldn't get through to him that I don't want to change anything, I had to tell his manager that I didn't want any more phone calls from their company!

SHEESH!!

But it can only get better from here, right? Noah is asleep on the couch, and Caleb says he is hungry, so hopefully it is only a 24 hour thing, so long as the others don't get it. Keeping my fingers crossed.

done diddly-un

I do enjoy doing themed albums, although this is my first true "mini" album. Why do I do these marathon scraps? Once I start a project like this, I get obsessed with running with it til it's done. The scrapping is done, I just need to print it, cut it up, and bind it. I am thinking of sewing this into a cover - I guess I should scrap a cover too, but not tonight. I'm exhausted for some reason. [grin] I have uploaded these to Scrapbook-bytes, if you need to know exactly what I used to make this, the materials and font lists are there.

more 5 things pages

It is getting colder and colder as the day goes on, the house just doesn't feel warm. So scrapping is definitely the order of the day. Crock-pot is simmering some comfort food for dinner (sausage hot pot - yum), kids are finishing their schoolwork or playing down the other end of the house, and I am scrapping.

Three more to go!

5 things

I have finally started a project I have had in mind for a couple of months now, prompted by a "why I hate Noah" list Grace wrote when she was mad at him one day - it near broke my heart. But it prompted me to quickly jot down "5 things I love about" each of my kids. The lists have been sitting in my organiser waiting to be scrapped when I decided how I wanted to do these. With Jen Wilson's cd of papers, I decided a mini-album would be the way to go. After two PSP crashes (who knows why) I made the file-folder template and got Josiah's page done. Only five more to go LOL.

finished something

I started this layout Saturday night, but got too tired to do justice to the journalling I had in my head. Still not sure it is exactly right, so it might get tweaked some before I print it out. Another scraplift from Ali Edwards' "Designer's Eye", the layout on page 30. I finally cracked open Jen Wilson's Worn Comfort cd for this one! I am really enjoying working through these scraplifts, I am getting much more out of the book and the principles Ali goes through by actually doing rather than just reading.



I'm so glad you chose me, and I chose you, almost 20 years ago. We are so very comfortable together, which is a good thing. Funny when you are newly married, the passion and the fire seem to be the most important thing. But down the road a bit, just being good friends, and being good to one another, and being good for each other - these things have become so much more the focus of us. We still play games, we have our long-standing jokes, and the years of shared experiences that make us, well, us. If you really think about it, we are quite an odd couple, but we have done alright so far. I just can't imagine a different life than what we have created, the us we have. You and me. Just us.

Tuesday mutterings

Still coughing, in fact, it seems to have gotten worse, more rumbly and congested in the past 24 hours. I have had this cough for a week, and it is making me cranky. I am just worn out with it. Crabby days.

Put dinner in the crockpot mid-morning - I sure love the crockpot. I actually only got mine a few months back, tho I had one from a friend, on loan, to try out. And I love it. When I can get organised and have dinner ready in advance, it sure reduces the stress at the butt-end of the day. I hate five o'clock meal decisions!

So tonight we are having chop suey - this is my Mum's recipe, and I'm sure there is nothing remotely culturally correct about this recipe, it is very much a product of my Mum's 50s and 60s culture. Hey, it has bean shoots and soy sauce, so that makes it Chinese cuisine! LOL Regardless, I love the combination of flavours in this, and I especially love the chance to use fresh ginger. And having it crock-potting all day makes the house smell yum-yummy.

Mum's Chop Suey
500g mince
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1 pack chicken noodle soup
1 green pepper, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 carrots, roughly cubed
1 cup bean shoots
¼ small cabbage, finely chopped
fresh ginger, grated
2 tbs soy sauce

For crock-potting, lightly brown the mince, then dump in all the ingredients except the bean shoots, and cook all day. A half-hour before dinner, add the beanshoots and stir them through, and cook some rice.

sighing again

Of course, Shabby Princess chooses today to release some new kits, when I have spent too much money already. So adding another to my wish-list.



I am a fan of word and alpha papers, and the colours with this kit are boyish but subtly shabby too. Gotta love the chipboard pieces and alpha too. Gonna be patient. Yes I am.

sigh

Well, I am being very good, even though I would dearly like to spend some more $$ on kits and bits - I think the font purchase has done enough damage to the credit card for this week. So I guess I am starting a wish-list for when I can part with some more money.

Of course, there is a gorgeous kit from Kellie Mize at Designer Digitals, in my favourite colour combination, blue and brown. Now I know these colours have been done before, but they are kinda classic, I love them, and go equally well for boy or girl pages. Wonderful patterns and textures, you just know these are class and quality!



And another kit in these colours, but definitely on my wish-list, from DaniB at SBB. This kit is just so chockers with yummy patterns and textures, and I still love the flowers, even though they are supposed to be "out". Dani has also included some nice lace ribbons, and a funky looking alpha too. I've already seen some layouts done with this kit, and they look fabulous. I'll just have to wait for one of those "nothing-much-new" weekends and buy this one then.



Of course, Katie Pertiet has lots of new goodies too, some fun "primitive" animal papers - farm and zoo - and a matching alpha that includes some disks with the same animals (the cow is too cute). She has even tried her hand at creating a complete kit, rather than just paper packs (but has released the paper pack separately also), and the colours and textures are to-die-for. This is what separates the truly talented digital designers from all the also-cans: taste, style and imagination! This one is on my wish-list too.



And one that is a bit out-of-the-box for me, I'm not sure that I could use the colours as they are (but isn't that the beauty of digital scrapping, the ability to recolour LOL) but I just love the daisy motif, and the wonderful daisy stamps Correen has included. Definitely tempted by this one!



Now I am going to be good, and not buy these today. If I keep telling myself that, maybe it will work!

font heaven

Hyperventilating at 7.30am is not recommended! Ronna Penner has released her beautiful Typadelic fonts at Scrapbook-Elements at very affordable prices! Last year, I bought the Alphadoodles cd - a collaboration between Ronna and Maya - pretty much just to get my hands on some of Ronna's fonts. And ever since, I have been drooling over them at MyFonts, trying to justify spending $25 for a single font. Now, for $5, I got one that I have been wanting forever.



And for another $30, I got a whole BUNCH of her delightful fonts! I also got collection #2, which had several more that I had been coveting. So no kits for me this week, I just blew the budget on fonts.

If I did have some more money to spend (LOL) I would love to get Ronna's new kit too, called Leather Chic - love the colours and textures in this one.

lazy Sunday

A nothing-much-doing day today, I missed Dianne's "studio" chat at SBB, and couldn't manage the inspiration at Kirstin's midnight crop, but I scrapped a layout of Ray using the RAKscraps June mega freebie kit while yacking on and off with Trish via msn, did a couple of loads of washing (but only hung half of it), and spent most of the afternoon cleaning up junk files on my pute. I found this, which is one of my all-time favourite pointless funny things. Check it out, and be sure to listen to the sounds, bearing in mind that this appeals to the warped sense of humour of a small-scale Aussie beef farmer.

I also re-discovered the "billboards" that were doing the email rounds way back. One of my personal favourites.



Still coughing, and back to homeschooling the kids tomorrow too. I do believe an early night is coming up.

another abc list

okay, this one is from Holly's Blog - these are adictive!
A - Act your age - that would be 40!
B - Bra size - gee, that's a bit personal! 20D (if you must know)
C - Chore you hate - cleaning toilets
D - Dad’s name - Richard
E - Essential make up item - mascara
F - Favorite singer - Norah Jones
G - Gold or silver - gold
H - Hometown - Yarram, Victoria
I - Ice Cream - chocolate
J - Job title - chief cook and bottle-washer
K - Kisses, what kind do you prefer - sloppy ones from my kids
L - Living arrangements - 3 bedroom house on a small farm in the country
M - Meats, fave - chicken breast
N - Number of children - seven
O - Overnight hospital stays - only 3 (tonsils and 2 kids born in hospital)
P - Packing habits - minimalist, last-minute
Q - Quote you like - Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it. (Ferris Bueller)
R - Religious affiliation - Christian
S - Siblings - 2 sisters
T - Time you wake up - usually about 7am
U - Underwear of choice - cotton
V - Vegetable you refuse to eat - brussell sprouts
W - Worst habit - swearing
X - X-Rays you’ve had - mainly dental, and my left leg (a horse fell on me)
Y - Yummy food you make - I make a mean lasagne
Z - Zodiac sign - gemini

a list

I am looking for ideas to do an ABC-type All About Me album (for a competition in Aussie "For Keeps" magazine) Google brought up lots of, um, well, interesting lists! I found this one here, and thought I would take a crack at it for fun

A - Ambition: to be the best me I can be
B - Birthday: June 7
C - Computer: some no-brand P4, running on XP
D - Dream: to be thinner
E - Exercise: not if I can help it
F - Favorite food: anything chocolate
G - Garden: barely surviving the prolonged drought, looking forward to trying again in the Spring to get the vegie patch productive
H - Hobby: scrapbooking
I - Idol: Mother Teresa
J - Job: full-time stay-at-home homeschooling Mum
K - Kids: 7
L - Location: Gippsland, Victoria
M - Movie: It's a Wonderful Life
N - Name or nickname: Deb (how original, huh)
O - Optimist or pessimist: wannabe optimist
P - Pets: border terrier x jack russell called Titch (that's what the breeder had called him, the name stuck)
Q - Quote: "Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." -Anais Nin, The Diaries of Anaïs Nin
R - Restaurant: anything Italian
S - School: yep, I went to school (and University)
T - Talents: I'm not a bad cook
U - Unfulfilled ambition: to meet someone famous and NOT be an embarrassment to myself
V - Vacation spot: what is a vacation? haven't been on an organised holiday for six years
W - Wish: world peace (no, seriously!)
X - X-tra fact about me: my big toe on my right foot is double-jointed
Y - Years online: 4
Z - Time Zone: GMT + 10

fun Saturday

Still coughing and very crabby today - I think being slightly unwell is just wearing me down.

Had a fun Friday evening trying to catch up with Trish to scrap via msn - we had just got started when her Dad arrived for a visit (with pizza - Dad won!). Trish chose a layout from Ali Edwards' book, and we both did a scraplifted layout - worked out really well, and fun to have someone to chat with while scrapping.



Then today Trish had a chat at RAKscraps to promote her cd, and it was a blast! There were 80 people in the room, and lots of new digi-scrappers who hadn't seen her stuff before. Trish did an awesome job, and made a great effort to answer all the questions people asked, which wasn't easy, with the chat moving so fast. She gave away a few kits, and there is a cd up for grabs for someone who posts a layout in the gallery using the minty papers she made for everyone who came to the crop. It was a hoot!

And I even got in a spot of shopping. Dawn Stockstill has all her stuff on sale, so I picked up an older kit of hers that I've had my eye on for a while, forget-me-not.



And her new paper pack, Sea Breeze (which she has renamed, due to another designer at SBB releasing a kit with the same name! I got mine before the name-change LOL)



And I just had to buy Trish's new kit, Infinity. These are awesome colours and the papers are just amazing. Lots of goodies here! Of course, Trish called me the most unmentionable names (she hates when I buy her stuff - go figure!). Love ya, babe!



Late this afternoon I got an email from one of the Aussie online stores, so popped over and ordered a paper pack and Designing With Stamping, at 25% off, who could resist? I sure hope there's a bit left in the kitty for shopping on Sunday night at Designer Digitals.

dismay

Once again, the miracle of modern television brings instant images of horror and suffering to our livingroom. Tony Blair looking bewildered. Police and rescue workers trying their best to do their jobs in the face of unknown dangers. Suffering and destruction. Fear and confusion. I am sorry that my children must see this, must know of the evil that men do.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

bummed

I think I might be coming down with something - chest is congested, niggly cough, headache, aching like the blazes in my neck and upper back. Power is out tomorrow for the electric company to replace a whole lot of power poles along our road, so no lights, computer, TV, kettle for most of the day. Hope it isn't too cold and miserable. blah.

overwhelmed

Ray's folks phoned Friday evening and said they would like to come visit for a few days, so our weekend disappeared pretty quickly. Ray's Dad likes to come do stuff around the farm - they are outside working on some fencing today, digging in new posts and replacing barbed wire. We had lunch with Dutchy and Kerry after church yesterday (Ray works for Dutchy) and our girls had a great time playing with their little girls. Feeling a little tired today.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed lately by the bombardment of new digital designers and stores coming through my inbox. I have actually unsubbed from a couple of Yahoo groups, simply to cut down on the (sorry to say) crap that was coming through. I delete most of the emails without even reading them, unless it is from a designer or store that I already know and respect. There is some truly awful stuff being flogged out there! And there has been an overload of July 4th kits and crops, so I'm feeling a little disenfranchised too. I'm probably a bit cranky because there wasn't anything new that tempted me to do damage to the credit card this weekend. Just my little rant.

treasures

Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, my Grandparents took several overseas trips, their one indulgence and escape from the family business. They made two trips to Japan, and two "world tours", for which I haven't yet determined the complete itinerary. At a time when the ship took six weeks to get from Australia to London, these trips were an amazing excursion for my grandparent's to take.

On Thursday, I brought home from Dad's a huge plastic crate containing perhaps two thousand colour slides, the record of their trips, and hopefully other "family" events also. The first few boxes yielded dozens of typical tourist snaps, all carefully labelled in my Grandmother's handwriting. And then this photo, of my beloved Grandmother (although looking much younger than I remember her) feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. I am totally stunned by the clarity of this almost 50 year old slide, scanned onto my computer, the detail captured, the colour, the crowd, my Grandmother's relaxed happiness.



I created this page with the Independent Collection kit, from today's joint crop with Nancie (Scrapartist) and Michelle (Second Mile Design). I will have to get in touch with my Aunty Betty for some details about the trip, and there might be a journalling page to go along with this one. But for now, I can't stop myself from sitting and staring at this amazing photograph.

Barbie bliss

Kate entered a contest run by Prime TV's Saturday Club (kids cartoons, stories, contests, etc). She emailed a "why I love Barbie", and waited impatiently for the announcement during the programme on Saturday morning, June 23rd. When her name appeared on the list, the roof nearly lifted off the house! So much excitement, she was almost hyperventilating. Then came the hard part, waiting for her prize to arrive. We had no other confirmation from PrimeTV, so we weren't certain how long it might take, but the box containing SIX Fashion Fever Barbies was waiting at the Post Office today. She is such a sweetheart, she had promised one to her sister, and one to her cousin, Rachel. Grace was delighted, the one she hoped for was in the box, and is now hers, and Kate has set one aside for her cousin, to be given to her on her birthday next month, so that Rachel's little sisters don't feel too badly about not having one too. Being the good scrapping Mummy that I am, we took photos, and have a copy of the email entry, all ready to scrap about. Could she look any more pleased with herself?

T.I.R.E.D.

I took the kids to stay at Grandpa's house, to catch up on some playtime with their cousins. It is a two-hour drive, which is why we stay overnight. Did I mention that I seriously don't like driving? I have to say it was lovely driving down on Wednesday morning, bright and sunny, one of those "great to be alive" days. The kids were excited to be visiting their cousins, and actually behaved quite well in the van for that long (a pleasant change). We met my sister at the huge playground in Pakenham and ate hot chips out of the paper together. My kids had a ball in the playground, there is nothing like this near to where we live. It was a bit windy, so as it got cold, we headed back to Jen's place to play some more. The girls hatched a plan to stay overnight with their cousins, so the boys were a bit put out, but were consoled with the promise that it will be there turn to stay over next time. I am going to try to make this trip every school holidays.

I took a heap of photos at the playground, but didn't seem to get many good ones. I am getting a bit frustrated with my photography skills at the moment, I am having trouble with the harsh winter light, and many of the photos weren't focused properly. A couple of my kids aren't very co-operative with the camera at the moment, but Noah still asks for me to take his photo, so there are a few nice ones of him in the batch.



Thursday morning I left the boys with Grandpa and went to Pakenham for a 50% off sale at the scrapbook shop there. I went as early as I could, got some MM foam stamps, rub-ons, a K&Co Christmas album I have been looking for on ebay for 6 months, four bottles of glue, and stacks of patterned papers. All at half price! Gotta love a bargain.

Jen brought the kids back for lunch, and my other sister joined us too. Packed the car mid-afternoon in the rain, and headed home just after 3pm. I really don't like crossing the mountain at dusk, the road is quite winding, and kangaroos tend to spring out of nowhere. However the weather got worse, it rained, then the Valley was full of fog, and it was dark by 4.30. So much for getting home before dusk. That drive across the mountain must have been one of the worst drives of my life. Light rain, slick winding road, darkness, and then cloud down when we reached the top, the kind of cloud that headlights reflect off and give near zero visibility. We crawled along at 40km/hour for at least 5km before we got down below the cloud. It was really good to get home last night! The dog went crazy on us all for at least 20 minutes, and Ray was glad to see us too. I slept well last night!