Layouts

~ WOO HOO ~
Well, as always, we had a blast at work for Cup Day! There is an advantage when you are working and people think you aren’t! Everyone assumes that all banks are closed on Cup Day, but regional branches aren’t. So that usually means a pretty quiet day for us. We always put on a lovely Chicken and Champagne lunch (thanks Ruthy, Shez, Nicole and Helen). It’s a great spread and we put in a measley $8 and the bank puts in a bit too. So by lunch things were pretty happy. We had a few different syndicates going and lots of bets on every race as well as 4 Sweeps. Even though I am no longer a teller the tellers included me in their own little syndicate (I love it that they still include me even though I don’t technically work with them now, but they say they miss me which is lovely). In the tellers syndicate we all put in $5 each and had various bets in the cup, a couple of Quinellas, Trifectas and Each Way bets and also a couple of Mystery Each Ways and Mystery Trifectas. Anyway WE WON!!!! On one of the mystery trifectas all our horses came in! WOOOOHOOOOO!

The Trifecta paid $1100, although we only had half a unit on so that made it $550!!!! We were so excited! I don’t mind losing on the Cup, it’s a great day either way, but to win AND have a great day is, well, just great!!! LOL

~ MAC CONFERENCE ~
2 more sleeps!!! YAY. Nuff said ;)

~ YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE ~
Another layout done last week end. My cousin always says Bronte reminds her of Gretal (I think?) from the Sound of Music. I’ve never seen it so I don’t know, but when I do her hair like this, I think she looks like a Gretal. LOL

Anyway, background by me and the brushes are from the fabulous Jason Gaynor.

~ WORK ~
Oh man it is so busy at the moment, getting ready for a few special things we have coming up. I really really love my job and am so happy that I made the move, and even though it’s busy, I never wish I was somewhere else. Even though I only work with my boss, there are several other great people that work around me and it’s always a laugh and a good place to be! How good is that?

~ LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE ~
Well I have seen two fabulous movies in the last few weeks, I didn’t think the first one could be topped, The Departed, although these movies are poles apart in their stories. Little Miss Sunshine is basically about a dysfunctional family that go on a road trip. Many many cringe worthy moments, with family that we either know or know of. Priceless really. I saw this movie twice in two days, and while I am sure that it won’t be the same with everyone that sees it. I laughed so hard I cried, especially in the first half of the movie. The final scene of the movie had me laughing AND sobbing at the same time. At the end of the movie, I walked out, both times, smiling and just generally feeling great. If you are tempted to see it, the part I laughed at the most, was the car horn and starting the car, if you see it you’ll know what I mean. Every character was fabulous and brought something unique to the story…. just loved it.

Edited to add
I read this a little while ago in a series of books I am re-reading by Diana Gabaldon. This passage is from the first book and has stuck in my head for some reason….

“But just then, for that fraction of time, it seems as though all things are possible. You can look across the limitations of your own life and see that they are really nothing. In that moment, when time stops, it is as though you know that you could undertake any venture, complete it and come back to yourself to find the world unchanged, and everything just as you left it a moment before, and it’s as though…” he hesitated for a moment, carefully choosing his words.
“As though, knowing that everything is possible, suddenly nothing is necessary.”

Have a great night everyone! :)

~ PARTY ~

At last, I finally got a layout done! In fact I got 4 done over the weekend, when I was having Internet issues. Only gonna post one now, so I have something for the rest of the week. LOL ;)

The pic is one I took of Quinn a few months back at a home photo shoot.

The background is by me, the decorative font is called Silhouette, the script font is Porcelain. The gorgeous frame brush is from Scrap Artist – Flourish Frames (below) by Michelle Coleman.

~ DECK NEWS ~

:::Photo Shoot:::

Here are a couple of the pics taken yesterday from the photo shoot we did here yesterday of Shez’s kids and her little neice Karla.

As you can see all three are very photogenic and were very good models.

I think Shez was happy with the pics and so was I, a good many turned out great, a lot more than I expected LOL

Anyway it was great fun and then the kids all played together like they’d known each other all their lives! Click on the pics for a larger view.

:::PJ Day:::

Another lovely day today, we had our PJ day and justbummed around, the girls made puppets with some old felt I found and then they sewed beads on too. They aren’t quite finished, but it kept them amused for hours. We also had a game of scrabble and then Quinn and I had a game of 500.

Love these days, so special, I’ve said it before, I’m a lucky girl.

Managed to catch up on all my banking and bill paying, not a job I should put off *groan*. But it’s done now. There have been a lot of bills lately with all the extra bits and peices we have done around here. And while there is still lots more to be done, the rest can wait while our bank account recovers!

:::Get Well Wishes:::

Sending good healing vibes to Mr Supreme Being, otherwise known as Mr Sharon or Mad Mick. He had an op on his hand today and is recovery, so get well soon, Michael and I hope that hand doesn’t keep you out of action for too long, for your sake and Sharon’s :)

Also happy hugs go to my other friend, you know who you are, you are coping really well, and you are always in my thoughts, my friend.

:::Days of Miracle and Wonder:::

The layout at the bottom, has had a few incarnations and this is what I settled on.

Brushes are by Denise Docherty (big surprise) LOL and me.

Journaling Reads :

You know how to enjoy yourself more than anyone else I know. You are always so consistent in your out look and your approach to life. You seem to savour every moment, and you just exude contentment and it’s obvious you know how to relax and also how to entertain yourself. These photos were taken at Seaspray after an impromptu game of soccer with the rest of our group. I can tell you love these times we spend with friends and family, you love the constant company and the bustle that several families create when ‘living’ together. You laugh so hard and run so fast, you put your all into everything you do. You delight in the company of others and revel in the opportunity to try new things, play with lots of different people and just interacting with people. In fact in short you are the life of the party.Mar ‘06

Anyway, that’s all for me, have a great day/night and happy scrapping :)

Another busy day!

Movies today with the girls, we went to see Monster House with some friends. It was great and the kids really enjoyed it and then we went out for lunch afterwards, enjoyed a lovely meal and great conversation. Mandy, her partner Dave and their two girls Odette and Mallory are also part of our camping crew. I ended up bring Mandy’s girls home with me while Mandy went to work for a little while.

Got home just in time to meet Shez who brought her lovely kids over and we had a little photo shoot, which was lots of fun and very productive. Got a few great shots and then Shez and I settled in for a nice chat while all the kids had a play together.

Mandy came to get the kids around four but brought a lovely bottle of wine, so we settled in and we ended up calling Dave and they stayed for a lovely dinner of Tanzanian Chicken, Spiced Wedges and Salad and a few more bottles of wine :) (Have yet to investigate whether this can be made in a Crockpot ;) LOL. Before dinner we took the kids for a walk along the creek (just across the road) and a kick of the footy.

What a lovely day, we had, but are also pretty excited to get a PJ day in tomorrow too.

Oh and here are a couple more layouts done recently, as you can see I’ve gone back to my boring style of old ;)

Top one uses brushes form here http://www.designfruit.com/jasongaylor/blog/ a lovely selection of both free and pay brushes. The quote is “A kiss without a hug is like a flower without a fragrance”. The bottom one, is of course, Seaspray, can’t wait to enjoy it again :)

Have a lovely day, happy scrapping ;)

::: {{{{{BIG BEAR HUGS}}}}} :::
Hugs to my friend who is having a rough time of things at the moment. You’re always in my thoughts, and if good thoughts count, you should feel better soon :)

:::SOMETHING DIFFERENT:::
These two layouts are extremely different from what I usually do, but I had great fun doing them. I made all the grids and gradients myself but used a star brush from Anna Aspens to create the interest around Quinn and Bronte and the words.

Click for a larger view.

Of course the girls love them, I think they think they look like super heroes LOL.

:::KARAOKE:::
I remembered that I had videotaped some of the very bad karaoke the other night, I just need to get them off my phone and uploaded somewhere and then I will put them on here. Trust me, they are NOT easy listening. LOL

:::THANKS AND FYI:::
Thanks to Annette for the heads up on Denise Docherty’s new kit, it’s gorgeous, and I can’t wait to get it, but sadly I can’t get into the site, I’ve had this trouble before, but it’s not consistent, sometimes I can get to that site and other times I can’t, at the moment I can’t! :( Anyway, if you’re interested, check out the lovely Denise’s Blog NOW YOU KNOW. Also you should check out Spaceraven.net for amazing inspiration, tutorials and gorgeous brushes, which use in almost all my grunge style layouts.

Also, in my travels, I found this site here Just AD Inspiration. It has a great array of ads to use as inspiration. Although I sometimes find it hard to do, I can see how looking at these could inspire creativity, a very useful tool for lots of people. Let me know what you think.

:::SCHOOL HOLIDAYS:::
Bronte has gone to play at friends today and Quinn has a friend here at the moment. We ducked out this morning and bought Bronte’s birthday present (ssshhhhh ;) ) and now Quinn and Maggie are making finger puppets with some old felt that I found.

It is hot hot hot here today and very very windy, there has been warnings issued for the wind so I expect it to get worse, I hope it blows itself out so there is no wind next week when we are camping. Don’t mind if it’s cold but wind is blah!

Enjoy your day :)

Well, we have had a big few days.

Saturday we spent doing a few things around the house, mostly to get ready for a mini party that we had on Saturday night. We had friends from Brian’s work come for a viewing of Ian and Mary’s (Brian’s bosses) son Daniel Jones’ documentary following the Tour de France. The film was called Detour De France and was following a tour run by an Australian ex cyclist John Trevorrow, which follows the Tour de France. It was an excellent film and I learned quite a few things I didn’t know, for example, the course changes every year and countries and towns bid for the start and finish of stages and also that the riders wear ear pieces when they ride and support crews feed them information via these. The film was at times very funny and at times poignant and sad, when it covered some tragedies that happened on the tour and during the tour. You can check out more details of the film here http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/2006_Festival/film.php?film_id=6846

Brian bought home a data projector from work and we set up a mini theatre. We had lots of lollies (courtesy of Mary), salads, pizza’s and dessert (courtesy of Tennille). Gemma’s fiancé Glenn, brought a karaoke machine for the kids, complete with flashing lights, which kept them amused. Sadly the night deteriorated rapidly when John and Brian decided to have a “sing” (I use that term VERY loosely). It was not a pretty site, nor a pretty sound!

On Sunday, despite the fact it was a gorgeous day, we spent it nursing slightly sore heads. We got up and had a little dip at the karaoke machine; my turn certainly cemented my option to never do that in public! Sadly, Brian thinks he sounds OK, and no doubt will abuse our ears again at some point, as will John. :(

We also took advantage of the data projector still being set up and watched a couple of movies, cuddling on the couches with the girls. Blissful.

I managed to get a layout done, again, for our challenge at MAC digiscrap. The photograph was taken by Karen, our resident photographic guru. The pic is of her gorgeous grand son Matt. Not sure I could do the pic justice, but I ploughed ahead anyway. I once again used brushes by Denise Docherty and Anna Aspens. The quote is from a song “The first time ever I saw your face, I thought the sun rose in your eyes and the stars were the gifts you gave.”

I’m now on holidays along with the girls and am happy to be spending time with them. I am looking after a friends girls while she is at work today, we have been roller blading, bike riding and kicking the footy, I took the camera so hopefully got a few good pics, which I’ll download later!

I managed to do another layout of the girls which I will post soon.

Have a great day :)