Scrappy Kea

Check out the scrap retreat blog for details on the above workshop , Janines ' steeped in beautea ' workshop and registration details (they close this Friday!!!) p.s. Mrs Frizz - sorry there hasn't been any updates...nice to know you visit still though!

The challenge was our national colours...I know we have the all blacks etc...but I do wonder if our national colours are red, blue and white - as in the flag? Pleased that wasn't the case for this comp though because that would have been hard!

And check out all the other entries!

There's a new comp at the SBO forum - all about Kiwiana. But you have to register to be a part of it...Three Making Memory Slices are up as the prizes as well as some product later on for all with 100 points, it must be big because the build up to it on the forum has been intense!

I was looking for some suitable 'boy' fabric for a gift that I planned to sew tonight...and found a tea towel that I could use. Got me thinking...what else can I do with tea-towels? Last year I made one into an apron - just sewed some ribbon along one of the long edges of the tea-towel with some hanging out each side to tie it up. I put this with a bowl, wooden spoon and some cookie cutters as a baking gift. Tonights project was a art folio - slot for an A5 book and the other side segmented for pens/pencils with ribbons to tie it together - will share photographically in daylight. on further searching: tea towel skirt bag from tea towel tea towel apron with pocket tea towel tote I had found a tea towel brush or crayon roll a while ago...but can't seem to find it now. Do something other than drying the dishes with your tea towels! Smiles.

Menu was fantastic thanks Jase :-) Enjoyed everyones company - thank you for coming through. Thanks for the game Sally - & thanks mum for joining in eventually...."moccassin"!

Little tastes pre dinner toasted Christmas cake with blue cheese cheese platter For starters beetroot soup with creme fraiche The main event roast pork loin with kumara, fennel and stuffed apple green salads and roast vegetables Sweet stuff steamed pudding with fruit soaked in pinot and brandied cream eton mess sorbet (df) fruit salad OK, to finish the decluttering, await the arrival of some Winter papers from Scrapbook Outlet then get the cricut working on some decorations! I also need to revisit notes of taking night photographs with candlelight.

Two weeks off...We decided we needed to get the house decluttered & cleaned up so it's easier to keep on top of as we head into the second half of 2010. Not a spring clean but rather a winter one - much nicer to stay inside cleaning in winter than in spring don't you think? Martha Stewart has a very thorough cleaning list and I got this list from Simple Mom blog: We aren't doing the garage sale thing. Decided it would be much easier to just deliver it to the Salvation Army Store then it's done and hopefully others can benefit from our stuff through the work that they do in our communities. I still like f lylady and dh would love her to come back to her house...I have been keeping the sink cleared but that's about it! Oh, and I want some tupperware to organise our pantry, small pantry, dh is a chef and the stuff just doesn't fit in there very well! But this will be a long term goal as it costs lots. The smell of gingerbread is wafting through our l...

We are hosting a mid winter Christmas dinner this weekend. It's nice actually having the time to think about the evening without thinking about travel, presents and all the other things that seem to go hand in hand with December 25th. I'm not sure why this type is underlined and purple...but the info is there so bear with me :-) Have you ever been to or hosted a mid winter Christmas dinner? What do you remember most?

Cool link for 'better photography in 3 easy steps' - here Term break. Girls have final netball tournament today. J is judging (the chef work) at the salon culinaire. Lots to catch up on at home after a 11 week term! Feeling creative though...

Enjoyed the company of a few lovely ladies and once again enjoyed access to exciting products from SBO - thanks Andrea :-) Lots of cosmo de lovely featuring in my pages as well as some yummy fancy pants ribbon. I am in need of some more 8 x 8 paper pads from October Afternoon so hope they produce another one soon! the 6 x 6 from Cosmo & Basic Grey are good but 8 x 8 is better. I found that using the 8 x 8 papers this weekend produces way less scraps! Would like more manufacturers to consider the 8 x 8 pads in their ranges.

At harvest festival time my sister and mum were visiting and we happened to run out of laundry powder. She had picked up some washing soda from bin inn on the way through and we had some sunlight soap sitting in the cupboard....so my sister set to work making me some laundry liquid...it's not really liquid, more a kind of gloop. But it works. Yesterday I made another batch armed with all the ingredients that Wendyl suggests in her recipe. Borax was the only thing I didn't really have on hand but the pharmacy supplied some. My sister doesn't use the borax in hers and it works but mum does and hers works too...for now I'll just follow the recipe. I have just made up some multipurpose spray using baking soda, lavendar oil and a little dish liquid. I am trying to sort out a place to keep the base ingredients handy for replenishing when I run out. So easy, so inexpensive and better for our family in relation to the chemicals found in the bought ones! Right back to...

Super simple, continuing with my current pleasure in white cardstock and OA 8x8 paper. Love the die cut journaling tags too. Make layouts so easy to put together. I created this while sitting beside Mrs Frizz at the Dunedin Scrap Retreat and her delicicious layering and prima delights. In comparison my pages were rather flat, but I decided I like it that way for everyday layouts. For something special - e.g. one of my sisters family and one of my family on mums birthday recently, I'm happy to add some more in the way of depth in my creativity but other than that I'll stick with simple.

And quite a few cards too. Really enjoyed using white cardstock as a base and love the October Afternoon 8 x 8 pads from Scrapbook Outlet . Such a convenient and less-waste size!

Only the 3rd layout of the 12 and I forget to post it up on time :-) I took this photo of 'March' a few weeks ago and when uploading it to my computer I ralised that I didn't have the layout set up right on the music stand....but I still haven't got around to taking another so this will have to do. Anyway, Can almost get on with Aprils layout...at the Dunedin Scrap Retreat next weekend, yay! I do have a growing list of things I want to get done at the retreat though so whether I actually do any layouts might be a whole other thing. Smiles.

Some cards. I'm moving back to the 'get rid of scraps by using them for cards' mode because all my scrapbooking stuff has to fit into my trolley and mm tote bag (except for tools like cricut, cuttlebug & slice of course)! I created these layouts on our last few 'sticking pretty bits of paper to other pretty bits of paper' nights in Queenstown. Am now considering what I want to get on with at Dunedin Scrap Retreat - album of my teenage years, a couple of recent photos - Ethan's birthday, Easter camp, Swimming 4 peaks day, Harvest Festival and lots of cards to see me through the year not to mention a few gifts that I need to make. The sewing machine is out and I'd better finish using it so I can have the table clear for dinner time!

Just back :-). Spent lots of time learning based in 'Romans' and enjoying the company of others! The following was one of the 'transition' movies as we started our evening programme. so was this one:

But since so many people were doing C25K , I thought I really should give it a try. I still am but at week 7, running (well not sure if it actually looks like I'm running...) 25 mins with only 2 weeks of the programme to go, maybe, just maybe I can do this running thing. At least with running I don't need to wear togs!

Didn't use the sketch this month...just didn't work with my photos relating to this Feb. Pleased another month is recorded.

Project 12 January Layout Was fun to just play and used the sketch a little...I had way more photos for January than the sketch indicated so as per usual I improvised! Smiles.