a few layouts

Seeing as I'm poking around several different sites at the moment, I'm gonna end up with a few layouts here and there all over the place. I have always hesitated to make multiple gallery postings, particularly where a layout was site-specific, in terms of a challenge or kit used. But I can post them here with the links to wherever I want without offending anyone or violating site terms-of-use.

I did this layout during ScrapArtist's all-day crop the other day - scraplift someone from the creative team (did I mention that I love to scraplift?), so I chose Dani's layout and used her Simplicity freebie that I mentioned a couple of entries ago LOL



When I checked into the SBB gallery this morning I found a great sketch from the afternoon sketch crop (which is 2.30 in the morning for me, no way I will ever make it to that crop), and managed to finish off this layout this afternoon, using Trish's Style papers again.



And I decided today to tackle the scraplift at digiscrapdivas, lifting this wonderful layout by Kathy Moore, using Kay Miller's wonderful Wilson's Cottage kit.



I'm really pleased with all of these layouts!

stormy night

Well, the fierce winds are still with us, but the rain seems to have cleared, and it is sunny at least. We had nearly an inch of rain overnight, which is very much needed. After 2 very dry years, the ground is very dry, and we still need a lot of rain to recharge the groundwater levels, or we will have another bad summer ahead of us. Although the paddocks look green, and there is good growth at the moment, it is a very early Spring break, and I have to admit to feeling nervous about the season ahead. We have a good supply of hay from last year, we didn't use nearly as much once we sold those big animals in April, and we will make some more in November - it will feel good to be a little ahead for fodder. We are almost lightly stocked, so will not put too much demand on the pastures, hopefully.

A slow homeschool day ahead of us. Caleb was coughing badly and was very restless on the couch through the night, and Grace and Isaiah also have come on with headcolds again. We have had a really bad run this winter, but I think that is also pretty widespread this year - seems everyone you talk to has had the same experience this winter.

And I got an email this morning from a wonderful FORW to let us know that her Mum had passed away. She had travelled to Victoria to be with her this past week, and had just returned home to receive the news a few hours later, so is heading back to Victoria again today. Knowing just how awful an experience this is, I've been in tears for her all morning. Sending lots of hugs and prayers your way, dear Kate.

end of day

tired tired tired

I always get like this when we go over the mountain. Shopping with six kids is exhausting at the best of times, let alone with two hours of driving across the mountain as well. Anyway, we had a great visit with James and Steph - James threw some snags on the barbie, followed by a box of icecreams. James showed me over his computer, he finally has it up and running, and I helped them to set up the iPod that Steph won - how cool is that! These are their two dogs, Kaiser (a Staffordshire Terrier, quite insane, but a sweet pussycat who just loved the kids) and Meg (a Queensland Cattledog/Blue Heeler, very sweet but not very well-mannered). They had to be tied up while we had the bbq going, or they would have been jumping all over us and the food LOL.



I can feel an early night coming up, or at least a curl up in bed with my electric blanket on and finishing my Scarpetta novel, while the wind continues to howl around the house. And saying a prayer or two for those in the path of Hurricane Katrina.

just a quickie

See, I got to scrap last night with Trish - well, more chatting than scrapping, but I got a double layout done, and I used one of the new Gina kits too. The boys have been having so much fun on the tyre swing.



We're heading off to visit James today and do some shopping. It's terribly windy, there is actually a weather warning out for farmers, so I hope we travel safely (I hate driving at the best of times)

I take it all back

I gave in with absolutely no struggle at all to Gina's accouncement of her new kits - with a two for one offer for today and tomorrow, who could resist? Now to be patient while they download . . .

digital scrapping stuff

I know some of you will find this difficult to believe, but I haven't bought any kits this weekend (insert shocked or disbelieving expression as appropropriate). I'm still unable to shake off this scrapping lethargy, though I have managed to do a few layouts this past week, mostly scraplifts. There have been some lovely new bits and pieces released too (nothing new at Designer Digitals, I have checked about a dozen times in the past 24 hours, how sad is that?)

Julie Mead released a glorious new kit, Carole's Sunflower Celebration, in rich earth tones and textures, and lots of wonderful elements - she really creates class and quality! Look at these beautiful papers (and there are elements to match too)



Ali Folendore has created a set of co-ordinating papers and elements with and Asian theme, just love the patterns and colours in this one, Willow Haiku.



And seems that Ronna Penner is developing in a new direction, very fun, lots of cute elements and vibrant colours. Sorely tempted by Ronna's Pixel Play, but not sure I want to attempt the large download from this store, and cd service is not offered for those on dial-up outside of the US.



On the other hand, who needs to spend money when there seem to be so many generous freebies on offer? ScrapArtist hosted an all-day crop event, with kit pieces given at each crop with no passwords required, and links posted for a few hours in the forums too - a definite improvement on the debacle of last week at another site. Hopefully more of the designers and sites will follow suit, and be as generous and un-demanding of their customers. While I couldn't make it to all of the crops - starting at 10am in the US was when I was heading to bed, and I'm not even going to consider setting the alarm for 3am to get a freebie, no matter how good it is - I have to show off the amazing "Art Inspired" kit created by Dianne, Nancie and Michelle (what an amazing team they are proving to be).



And *dani* made her first freebie kit at ScrapArtist (she is also on Trish's DT, I'm such a name-dropper). Check out her gallery for her Simplicity kit, she's done such an awesome job and included some great wordart too, and be sure to browse her layouts for some inspiration. I love her clean and simple style and beautiful photographs.

lazy Sunday

I did the Sunday School lesson this morning - I googled for puzzles and colouring pics and lesson ideas (gotta love the 'net!) and we made Father's Day cards too (for next Sunday) with lots of scrapping bits and bobs. We brought Michael home to play for the afternoon, and had pancakes for lunch (some with jam and cream, some with lemon and sugar, yummy). I sat in the sun on the deck and finished reading my PD James book, Death in Holy Orders, and started the next Scarpetta novel, Cause of Death (Ray picked it up from the library for me on Friday, being able to request books online is so kewl). Ray and I walked up to look at the hazelnuts, after he re-bagged the whips in sawdust and put them in a cool, shady place until he can get them in the ground in a couple of weeks - he drove down and collected them on Saturday.



We growled at the kangaroos in the top paddock, and told them to stop eating our grass LOL. The sunshine is wonderful, everything just says SPRING. The afternoon was so still and sleepy. I really am enjoying the natural silence of this place - the silence that is so full of only the sounds of nature. It was so still, I could hear the ducks splashing on the small dam in the paddock by our house. Ah, the serenity!



And I had to get a photo of the ducks.



After I took Michael home, I picked up some milk and stuff at the IGA, chatted with my two sisters on the phone, made dinner, fed the kids, washed the dishes. Hoping to get some scrapping in too, after the kids go to bed (real soon). Pretty good day, huh?

as good as it gets

Such a beautiful day - a totally do-nothing kind of Saturday. Sitting with Isaiah on the deck in the warm Spring sunshine, watching the wrens hopping about the yard, listening to birds squabbling in the trees, eating oranges. This is what it's all about. And the pure intensity of this moment that will never come again hit me with such gut-twisting force that I almost cried out. So I grabbed the camera and just snapped as we sat there, nothing posed, just the extraodinarily ordinary everyday moments that I want to hold onto forever.

making memories. just living and loving. this really is as good as it gets.

reading aloud

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

I've started reading Pride and Prejudice to Kate. She has watched the BBC videos (starring Colin Firth) a couple of times this past year, and really enjoyed it. I guess I would have rather had her read the book herself before she saw the movie adaptation, but I'm glad that she wants to hear the book nevertheless. My biggest problem is avoiding doing the voice of Mrs Bennett as it is in the movie. Oh, Mr Bennett!! Here's to the nurture of another Jane Austen fan!

immediacy

Don't you just love the instant gratification of digital scrapbooking? I decided to scrap yesterday's "photo of the day" already, cos I just love it so much - Caleb has been going through a "don't take my photo" stage for so long now, over a year! So his co-operation yesterday was an opportunity not to be wasted, and the two photos I got of him are good ones too, which is a good thing, as who knows when he will agree to a photo again. A simple layout, even though it took two hours, cos I kept changing around the papers and re-doing the round-corners cos I wasn't happy with them (and the edges really are straight - compression for the web really bites!) Papers are from Gina's cd (again), alpha for his name is from Dawn and Trish's cd (the beached kit) and the button and thread are from Cheryl Barber's Sew Simple buttons set (what a useful utility kit for digital scrappers this set is). And not original at all, it's a scraplift from the chatterbox advertisement in the latest Aussie For Keeps magazine (Issue 34, page51).

another new site

I have been aware of Kathy Moore for a few weeks now, probably since she moved from SBE to her own site. She has now made the move to Digiscrap Divas (she had a sale - yep, I checked it out). Last night she sent an email through P4D to announce the weekly scraplift challenge and the freebie she created for the challenge too. Being a sucker for a good scraplift (and a good freebie, of course), I toddled over, and lifted the fabulous layout by DebiH, and I even used some more bits from Gina's Virtual Ink cd again too. I realised when I took that photo of Caleb yesterday (for the fotoblog) that he often smiles like this, with his lips clenched - this photo is from almost 2 years ago LOL.

not really M.I.A.

I have a couple of posts sitting as drafts, not sure if I want to stick my neck out that far LOL!

AND I got kicked off the computer last night when I was ready to blog - by Ray! Since he got a program to generate network maps for his work in the Valley, I have to share the pute with him when he gets his jobs by email on the nights before he works over there. Sheesh!

So, I managed to make it to a crop yesterday at diggiscrappin biz, for their guest designer crop with Ashley Olsen, part of my desire to explore other digi-scrapping sites apart from my regular haunts. What a great bunch of peeps! Michelle (site owner and host) had a task for croppers (a scraplift - own choice, from her gallery), Ashley had prepared a freebie, and also gave out some prizes of some of her kits: no posting deadline, no pressure, no password, just a relaxed chat (and no bunched panties). And I even managed to finish my layout (you know I love a scraplift!) Here is the layout I scraplifted, I used papers from Gina's Virtual Ink cd, and the overlay at the bottom is from Trish's Little Things kit.

freebies and passwords

The whole issue of crop freebies with passwords makes my ass twitch. The system is designed to create maximum anxiety for both scrapper and host. I don't know what the solution is, but the present method really doesn't seem to work very well. And as more people join the online scrapping community, the sheer numbers at these crops is only going to become more unworkable. Designers offer freebies to attract people to their sites and their crops, so cannot complain when too many arrive to collect the freebie!

I am not a 'chatter'. If I go to an online 'chat' I prefer to collect the 'goodie' or instructions or challenge, and go create something. It just seems like a more constructive use of an hour. I don't often feel like "chatting" with people I don't know, unless it is a 'meet the designer' type event, where I feel like I can actually learn something about someone, and get a sense that I 'know' them. I guess that's why I like the Talking with Tanya radio broadcasts, informative, with no meaningless and inane chatter, or 5 dozen requests for freebie links or passwords or "pick me" when prizes are announced. I guess that's why I enjoyed Laurie's Morning Show crops, where I was getting to know a few other scrappers who attended regularly (yeah, I'd like to get back to them, but I'd miss House!!).

full-on Sunday

A meeting after Church, then Dutchy's girls came home with us to play for the afternoon. We made pizzas for lunch (took about 2 hours LOL), played some, then I took some photos of them so they could make some mini accordian albums to take home. We made two, each of my girls (who have scrapped before) working with our two visitors, and they did an awesome job. The girls were so pleased to take them home to show their Mum - and I forgot to take a photo of the finished product!! (I remembered when we were half-way on the drive to take them home.) Oh dear - bad scrapper Mummy.

Toasted sandwiches and soup for tea, watched Australian Idol, and put all the kids to bed. Some net time for me, and I popped over to Digital Scrapbook Previews, and spotted Cheryl Barber's fabulous new kit, Cosmo (lime). Apparently there are more colour combinations to come too. I bought the paper pack, gotta have my papers.



Feeling very tempted by the SBB elements team kit, Circle of Friends. Just happens to have been created by some wonderfully talented favourite designers - Jeri Ingalls, Dawn (hunibuni) Stocstill, Lauren Bird, Zee Helmick and Lyndsay Riches (what an awesome group that is!) They really should stop doing this to me! I will resist. I will resist. I will resist. I will resist. I will resist.



My internet connection has been a bit slow these past few days, I have had to reset the ISDN modem three times this week, so not sure what is going on. It is incredibly stormy outside, strong winds and heavy rain, so probably not a good day ahead, we may lose power too. Just as well the boys had so much time outside today - they rediscovered the tyre swing. It's funny how kids go through their activities (and toys) in cycles of interest. Big kids too. Nite.

thanks and a layout

Warm thanks to those lovelies who left encouraging comments these past few days. I guess I will continue to struggle with my true scrapping style for some time yet, but I'll try not to compare myself to others so much Trish! And thanks also to those who drop by and read my mutterings. I have been surprised (in a nice way) to see my blog link appearing on other people's blogs as I wander around the scrap-blogging community, but it's nice to think I am sharing a bit with the online community in this way, when I was so uncertain about even having a blog in the first place, let alone making it public!

So back to scrapping: I have made a page tonight for Kate, no deep and meaningful journaling, just a layout cos I love her and wanted to scrap this gorgeous photo of her. I used Trish's 'Style' papers again too (I do love these!)

just wandering about the place

I hadn't been to Melissa Baxter's online store, Font Boutique, for a few weeks, she has released two new fonts, and has some of her digital sets for half-price! Melissa's trademark seems to be papers with words all over, using some of her very famous fonts, I picked up her Sweet Baby Girl set and a couple other goodies too. Worth a browse.



And lovely to see Lilach Oren at digiscrappin-dot-biz. She is such a sweetie (we used to catch up at the SBB early bird chats, but not in a while), a gifted scrapper and stunning photographer too (she takes the most amazing photos of her gorgeous children - check out her gallery for some inspiration). And her kits are on sale too! Good timing, eh? I really like the colouring in her Paisley Fashion kit.



Lots of new goodies at SBB store too! Ali Folendore has released a couple of beautiful paper packs, wonderful colour combinations, subtle textures, and a little bit of distressing too. My fave must be the Sweet Pea paperstack.



And in between packing up her house to move Katie Pertiet managed to create a unique and beautiful paper pack too, called Saybrook.



Trish finished five new kits this week - she was on some kind of creative blitz! Style is the paper pack I used to make the simple layout of Grace the other day, and I'm looking forward to using these papers again too. Her website went live too, and she has a great freebie there too.

still downloading

Download is about half way done (again) - still almost an hour to go. This is what I bought - TracyAnn Robinson's Wash and Wear Kids, available on sale at SBB store this week.



So while its downloading, I was scrapping with another of TracyAnn's kits, Discover (awesome everything, I just love this kit) This scrapping session reinforced for me the beauty of digital scrapping, I just kept changing bits, replacing, moving, resizing, until I was happy with it - I even shrunk some of the papers to fit the background, something you just cannot do with paper scrapping! Another layout of Isaiah, there seem to be a lot of him lately (grin). And I even managed to use some elements! (I'm so proud of me)



Off to get dinner ready and wash up some dishes while my download finishes (hopefully).

don't you hate it

when you're half-way though downloading a 100 mb file on dial-up and your internet connection goes belly-up

trying to find something

I've been in this scrapping funk for too long now, I'm desperate to get back into my groove, find my style, recapture my inspiration, whatever it is that I've lost. I did another layout this afternoon, very simple, but it took me over an hour!! Simple is good too, right? I just feel that I need to do more, particularly when I have on my CTM hat, to do a good job for Trish. But I just can not clutter up my layouts, and I just don't think I do a good job at using the elements that I buy. Papers are great, but I fail miserably at Embellishments 101. I'll keep at it (like the little engine that could) and try not to compare my layouts to the amazing (and often complex, multi-layered) creations of the other gals on the team.



So for now I am giving myself permission to be a simple scrapper. again. sigh.

unleashing the artist

I always love it when my kids start to draw with deliberation, going from fisted scribbles to figures and shapes. Isaiah has started to create the cutest little people, monsters (you can tell they are monsters by the teeth) and spiders with lots of legs and eyes. So I had to scan one of his line drawings to scrap! I started this yesterday, had trouble with the layout, so came back to finish it today (I used Trish Jones' Coveralls papers)

confessions

. . . of a closet Australian Idol junkie

Yeah, I know, it's contrived, it's cruel, it's a cynical marketing tool, and it doesn't always work out for the winners, but I love watching these incredibly talented young people from week to week.

And yay! the extra Wiggle is in the Final 12!! Go Chris!!

homeschool and housework

that's all for today, and this in an email from a FORW (thanks Ceri)

more woohoos

Gina's cd, Virtual Ink, arrived in the mail today!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
(borrowed from Mr Lewis Carroll)

woohoo! I scrapped!

Chatted for ages with Trish last night, and actually managed to create a page too. It's actually a scraplift of a layout in the Bazzill advert in the new Simple Scrapbooks magazine (page 23, if you're interested), and I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. It was a lot of work, using bits and pieces from all over (bits from Trish, Gina, Dawn and Lyndsay - details in my SBB gallery if you really need to know LOL), and creating my own textured cardstock and cut-outs too, much more time-consuming than using just one kit to create a page for sure. Thank goodness for digi-designers!



Trish made a double-page layout, finished a kit, and made a paper pack! She was on some kinda creative roll, for sure! I got to see some previews, and can't wait to see these in the store too!

word of the day

toothsome a. pleasant to eat

ok, well, I didn't know LOL
this was in one of Kate's reading exercises today

and did you know that George Washington supposedly soaked his dentures overnight in a glass of port wine to make them more acceptable?

if you learn one useless thing every day, in a year you will learn 365 useless things.

something to think about, eh?

nuttin' much

• haven't made a decision yet on which cd to buy (will probably end up with neither)
• not inspired to buy much this weekend, for which I'm sure my cc is thankful
• sad to hear that Kristin Cronin-Barrow is 'retiring' from the business of designing, but wishing her all the best for what lies ahead
• raining and cold, kids a bit stir-crazy today, we need to go down the beach for a RUN!!
• really pleasantly surprised and grateful to all those who read my blog and leave a comment - thanks everyone!
• still struggling to scrap, scraplifts are all I can manage at the moment, and barely that
• enjoying re-runs of Murder She Wrote at noon each day, today Captain Janeway did it! (Trek geeks will know)
• another calf was born at the weekend
• waiting with bated breath for the DigiChick boutique to open, sure to be lots of interesting new stuff to look at, and drool over
• making an effort to go to at least one gallery each day and leave ten comments
• spent hours today trying to organise my kits and burn cds to get some stuff off the hard-drive, but the burner and/or cds were giving dodgy results half the time
• still haven't got the Gina CD yet, not sure when I should contact her, how long it should take (not feeling very patient)
• got three scrapping mags in the post today - why do they all have to come on the same day? would be much better if they were spread over a week or so, something to look forward to in my sad little life (LOL)
• feeling under pressure to produce 'meaningful' layouts, not just one photo and a title, but I'm also feeling a bit journalled out (sometimes there just isn't a story to tell, I just like the photo)
• need to get some more books from the library, just not getting into the Tami Hoag book I've got at the moment (and it's so stinking big, it's difficult to snuggle in bed with)
• spent some time today browsing some different digi-stores and forums, there is so much out there!
• not motivated yet to attempt the tag from Trish (sorry, hun) and I don't know five others online who blog to pass it to neither (can you see the big "L" on my forehead?)

just to prove I can still scrap

. . . here are a couple of layouts I did in the past few days.

I was really disappointed when I got this photo of Grace onto the computer - it looked crisp and clear on the camera viewer! But with a bit of filtering (gotta love Virtual Photographer) it kinda looks okay. Very easy layout, using a freebie PrestoPage from Clara Wallace (it is gorgeous, a little shabby, with inked edges and stitching, my favourites). But at least I scrapped!



And I worked on a simple layout using Trish's new kit, Out and About - love love love the colours in this!! She has gorgeous textures on the papers too, which compression and web-viewing just don't show well. This is a photo of toddler Josiah for his album, asleep on the floor with his unfinished cookie still in his mouth, one of my favourite photos of him.

oh dear whatever shall I do?

Two awesome new cds were released on Friday! Jen Wilson has a new cd full of her wonderful trademark papers, called Layers. And Dawn (aka Hunibuni) also has a cd of papers too, Curiosity! Dawn has the most amazing colour sense, and makes me want to step outside my comfort zone in the most delightful ways. I really and truly can NOT buy both! How ever am I gonna make a decision between these two? (picture foot stomping and pouting)

birthday boy

Today was Josiah's birthday - he's eleven!. I did not have a good camera day LOL. He had a great day. We gave him a Gameboy Advance SP to replace his old gameboy that Isaiah broke in an accidental fall a few weeks ago (normally we don't spend so much money on their birthdays, but felt it only right to replace his special toy that one of the others had broken.) So that was a great surprise to him, when we could finally get his Dad to regain concsiousness and wake up for gift-giving, that is!



We had to visit the accountant to prepare our taxes at 10am, but bought some goodies for special birthday lunch treats - he chose to have nachos for lunch, and a bottle of Pepsi Max. The afternoon was spent preparing his birthday cake and making a huge lasagne for dinner when Grandpa and Aunty Ros came. So he had a pretty good day!



And he's pointing to the candle I missed lighting on his cake! LOL

can I say it's COLD!!

Now, this is something extraordinary for us. Most of Victoria has been hit by an unusually cold weather pattern, and places that never see snow, are seeing snow. Ray phoned this morning after he got over to the Valley to let us know that it was snowing across the mountain. What an ideal opportunity to take the kids for a play in the snow just 20 minutes away, rather than the day trip it would normally be. Isaiah has never seen snow, and Noah wouldn't remember it, as he was barely one when we made the last trip to the snow. So after our basic homeschool tasks, we grabbed coats and boots, and headed up the mountain.



Amazing!! I had never been in falling snow, and it was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. Silently, softly, huge flakes drifting down around us, I was mesmerised. Truth be told, I was more excited than the kids! We stopped at the "lookout" at Willung South, though there was nothing to be seen due to the fall of snow around us, and the kids hopped out for a brief play in the snow, throw a few snowballs, taste some snow on their tongues, and jump back in the van. I don't think they were prepared for just how cold it would be!



But the snow started falling more thickly, so we headed home. I made several stops on the way, to take photos, and this dead tree with its fragile covering of snow is one of my favourites.



When we got back to town, we could see large areas of snow in the hills all around, so we plan to drive out and find some more tomorrow, maybe even closer to home! Off to check that brass monkey!

making an effort

Well, I felt badly for being such a crank, so went back to my favourite online stores to find some goodies. Here are a few kits that caught my eye, but just didn't compel me to buy in my current scrapping funk.

Of course, Kay Miller had a gorgeous kit (or just the papers separately) at Designer Digitals. I love this blended artsy style she is developing, while still creating kits with a more "traditional" feel for ScrapbookElements.



Kellie Mize also has a new kit (and the papers are available separately too) which would be great for Josiah's chicken photos. I love the bold rustic colours and patterns!



Ali Folendore has a fabulous paper pack at ScrapbookBytes, strong colours and elegant designs, would be perfect for formal or wedding photos.



Ronnie McCray has a full and detailed kit at ScrapbookBytes this weekend too. So many patterns and details, with this wonderful colour combination. There is a matching chipboard alphabet for purchase separately. This is very tempting



Michelle Underwood has another colourful and cute kit too, called Adore. This includes a multi-coloured chipboard alpha, and five of Michelle's trademark papers, bright and playful. Another one that is tempting me!



And finally, the first team kit for August at SBB, the Snapshot Mega kit. Looks like a great kit, plenty of papers and elements, very versatile colours too. I haven't bought one of these, as the price is a bit beyond what I like to pay for kits, but this one is tempting me to give one of these a tryout.

not a completely lost week

I "discovered" a designer late last week, when 3 Scrapateers returned from their hardware failure with a storewide 50% off sale (who could resist?). Melany Violette posts quite a bit at 2Peas, but I had not browsed the store at 3S for some time, and had missed seeing her stuff. So the sale prompted me to pick up a couple of her kits to try out, and they are great! Quality execution (she has often commented at 2Peas about her hatred of jaggies!) and unique designs too. Another designer I will be watching out for (as if I needed more LOL). I love this whimsical doodled kit!



I also picked up a few impressive freebies from new designers coming to the new and improved DigiChick shortly. Holly has bought a new domain and has opened her site up to create a more welcoming community: you can now post layouts made with kits from any designer, and chat about anything and everything in the forums. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

There is such a proliferation of new sites, new designers, consignment stores, and mega sites, along with designers switching sites, or selling different kits at more than one site, that it is getting harder to keep up with everything. I tend to not go "browsing" very much, just sticking to half a dozen stores/sites where my favourite tried and true designers hang out. Truth be told, my eyes tend to glaze over when my inbox fills up with ads, and I have even blocked some designers' emails, because they feel too much like crappy spam.

more blahs

Ray has flu, kids coughing all over the place, tired from the weekend away. I didn't take any photos at all, didn't even get the camera out of the suitcase!

When we got home, Ray discovered an injured ring-tail possum in the woodshed - poor little critter had dragged itself in for shelter, its back legs weren't working at all, and it was terribly cold. I put it in a box, wrapped in a towel, with a hot-water-bottle, and called the animal rescue number (gotta love google!) A lady came to collect him, but he didn't look so good, and didn't put up any fight at being handled. I sure hope he's gonna be okay.

Still no scrapping, and shock! horror! I wasn't even inspired to buy any digi-scrapping supplies at all this weekend. That is some kinda slump! Hope it passes real soon.

blah blah blog

Yeah, nothing much.

Kate's still coughing, Grace is coughing too now, and hurting from coughing, Ray is getting flu (it's about his turn), and we're going to visit my family at the weekend to catch up on some birthday celebrations.

We've finally had 2 calves born, over 2 months past when they were expected. Another cow looks to be getting close too, but the others don't look pregnant at all. What on earth was that bull doing (or not doing?) A heifer calf and a bull calf so far - they are so small and sweet!



Just to prove I truly am biscrapual, I've been churning out some paper layouts this week, while I'm in the mood. I tend to attack the paper scrapping in fits and starts, then won't do anything for weeks or even months (the last paper scrapping I did was my wedding album in June).

This is one of James' 21st photos from late last year, basic grey papers really suited this (and I even pulled out the sewing machine to zig-zag it, tho it doesn't really show with the compression to post to the web).



Hoping to get a ton of family photos over the weekend, and some photos of the kids with their cousins having fun, so long as they aren't all feeling too crook with the cough, that is.

later