Halloween and classes

Not that I really expected it, but we had a couple of groups of kids around tonight. Pretty funny actually. All they get from me is Chuppa Chups, but they didn't seems to care.


The littler kids wanted to get in on the action, so Andrew took Harmon, Hannah and Mackinley at the last minute to a few houses in the street. Aren't they cute? Rainer enjoyed watching from the deck and actually ASKED to go to bed tonight!! Will miracles never cease with this boy???

My first class at Inkredible is this Saturday at 1.30pm. I'm really excited to have this opportunity but terribly nervous too. I didn't want to bamboozle everyone so the Texture Paste techniques are pretty easy. I might suggest an advanced class and get really messy on a canvas or mini book.....hmmmm, mind is ticking away already!!

The schedule is up on the website but here's some sneak peeks. You'll have to subscribe to the newsletter to see the whole catastrophe (heehee).


I wanted to do layouts with 4x6 photos because there's nothing worse than realising at 10am on a Saturday morning that you don't have an enlargement for a class that day!!

My GDT spot at FA finished today. Sonia's been a great support and I'll miss her guidance terribly (but she knows that). Very buoyed by the success of the online class, that I feel I can achieve anything at the moment.

Easy girl!!

Here's my layout for the FA CC challenge 3. Working off a sketch by the talented Louise.


Working on some stuff for Xmas with the Kaiser range. Nearly finished!!

BE STRONG.....

10 dAyS...caution LONG POST (grab a cuppa)

What a ride the last 10 days has been!
I thought it would all calm down after the buzz from Alex Perry, but life has just gotten better....and busier.

Firstly, Mackinley's play-date with Bridget went superbly!! When Mum came to collect, she reminded me that sometimes it's hard to find a group of Mums you can be yourself with, especially if you've moved interstate. From now on, I'm going to try to include those who feel out of place and welcome them with open arms. If they decide to accept my offer GREAT...if not, no harm done. Naturally another playdate has been set and Mum will be there too for a few champagnes.

LOVE MAKING NEW FRIENDS!!!

Nena and Simon's 40th was a hoot. Mum made the funniest pyjama pants for us girls. It was nice to see just about everyone in fancy dress and the late start (8pm) meant we could get the boys to bed before we left. I think I drank too much...not sure....very hazy the next day.

Michael's company turns 30 this year and so to celebrate we had a lovely cocktail party at City Hall. The company sponsors the Australian Chamber Orchestra (among other people/organisations) and so I was thrilled when Richard Tognetti came out with his very expensive violin, followed by Tim Freedman!! The most beautiful arrangements of "Blow up the Pokies" and "No Aphrodisiac" I have ever heard. I have pics but I look frightful (as does Tim) -- the hair flopped, the dress was twisted -- seriously, you'd think I got dressed with my eyes closed!!

THAT PROMPTED a spending spree at the Myer lingerie department.....and a stop-over in JacquiE (heh).

Met the lovely AngieB (Scrap Therapy). Thankfully she lives close to Rainer's school and she's so easy to chat to. There may be more scrapping than chatting next time.



I blew my knee!! You would think I'd be more careful. I can't believe it's now been the ankle, the ribs and now the knee. Thank God it's my bad knee (soccer injury circa 1989) so I only have one to repair down the track. Lots of ICE, COMPRESSION and ELEVATION saved the day. Now it's just tender and a little purple.

SING FOR KIDS on Friday night!! Awesome is one word to describe it. Turned up with hair that stayed up slightly better than last time, better fitting underwear and a new cocktail frock -- gotta love the frock -- was going to go red but realised just about every dress I own is red....so black it was.



Sang 3 songs on stage -- pretty funny actually. I think the trick is to hold the mic a little further out. Saves a heap of embarrassment....but soooo much fun. Ricki Lee Coulter was a trooper. I never got to thank her for being there and staying so late. These artists are really busy so I'm grateful when they spend time at fundraisers.
Re-acquainted myself with Ian Skippen and Peter Couples....such lovely people.

Finished the week with my online class at Forever Always. Thanks to Sonia, KylieB (first to upload...what a trooper), Belinda, PaulaP, Jazkit, Royaldaughter and Kye for registering. I was super-prepared but it paid off in the end. Forgot about Daylight Savings Time starting so everyone was hanging around for an hour before I got there....ooops!! See how much bother DLST is??? It seriously should be scrapped (heheeee).



Bittersweet really because now I have a regular teaching gig at Inkredible and on their Design Team. It means I'll be even busier - preparing for classes, articles, etc and not enough time for scrap-chatting (sniff). I've already told Natalie (Scrap Therapy), Sonia (Forever Always) and Bon (Bon's Scraps) how grateful I am to them for supporting me this year and helping me through some rough patches. The ladies on their sites are fantastic and encouraging scrappers.

THANKS LADIES. Glad to call you "friend".....(hmmm, there might be a layout in that!!)

First class is this Saturday at 1.30pm. Gettin' messy with Texture Paste!!!! Well, not too messy, don't want to scare them on the first day LOL.

BE STRONG....

Online Class at FA - postponed, Playdate

Quick update (and timely reminder from Belinda!! Thanks gorgeous) that my Online Class at Forever Always has been postponed because I fell behind with the instructions while my breathing was interrupted by my ribs!!!

I still can't believe how far behind I got being sore for a few days. Just brought to light just how much I do in a day!

Still time to register at FA. You need to be a registered member of Forever Always to look-see at the instructions, so ensure you do that too please.

Forever Always is having their CyberCrop on the 26th October which would have been excellent for the online class. BUT Sing for Kids is on that night (shucks). I don't think the Greek Club has cable access or I would have run the class between songs ... (now THAT would have been funny!!)

Mackinley is having a friend over to play this afternoon. It's a girl from his class and it's a really special moment because he's been in this "I don't like playing with girls" mode for over a year now. She's beautiful so I'm madly cleaning the house (it's truly embarrassing...and I don't say that often) so we can move without falling over (yes, it's THAT bad!)

I need to upload a trillion images so it may be "Image Overload" next week (ah, the visual stimulation is all I need and a good Red).

Be strong....

EIGHT DAYS TO GO

Just a quick post to remind me to remind everyone.....


Why am I reminding everyone?? Because it's not a government centre all fundraising goes directly to reducing our fees and make it more affordable for every family with an Autistic child to access FULL-TIME Early Intervention. Two or three days per week sometimes isn't enough for our babies to be SCHOOL-READY and ultimately become independent adults.

Always looking at the BIG PICTURE!!

BE STRONG....

p.s. the ribs are fine now. A little stiff but "normal" (LOL, what's that??)

Ribs, Nick and sweet FA

Well OUCH!!!

Went to the Chiro today but instead of having a normal adjustment it was hell on earth. It all began a few days ago when I was having trouble breathing and doing normal activities like looking over my shoulder, breathing, sitting and standing....you know, regular stuff.

It seems I have popped a couple of ribs and put my diaphram out. Nice one!! No wonder it was hurting when I breathed... in or out! When I got out of bed this morning, I thought I was dying. Never experienced such excruciating pain since childbirth. Will have to go to the GP if it doesn't get better by next week.....hate going to the GP. Always feel rushed.

Last night I went to the ABC Radio studios. I was invited to be a panel member for a discussion group on "Raising a Child with a Disability" hosted by the wonderfully charming author Nick Earles {HERE} and 2 other Mums who were equally inspiring! We spoke for one whole hour and it should be available on the ABC Radio website {HERE} as a podcast or something like that - don't quite get the hang of that technology....yet!

Funnily I didn't feel uneasy even though a couple of ribs were out of kilter. Maybe it was the nerves - who knows.

And so, because of the rib thingy that I had no idea about, I haven't been scrapping since Tuesday. I did manage to get this layout finished for Forever Always's Random Challenge. Mine criteria was
hand stitching
NO flowers (easy), buttons (double easy) or doodling (not so easy)
stars



Luckily I had this stuff left over from the Loretta Grayson class over a year ago that I never completed for one reason or another. The frame for the photo should have been made into an actual photo frame, and the star paper and spotty paper was alread stuck to the cardstock. Because I couldn't doodle I decided to use some rub-ons as a sub-title across the top and finish it with sequins. I hand stitched along the sequins but you can hardly see in the scan. Also used paint instead of doodling.

Great challenge!! So I decided to punish DebbieB who won my "Spread the Lovin'" comp to complete a single page layout with 7 photos and the other 2 criteria are to use ribbon in an unconventional way (hint=Scrap Creations) and at least 3 journaling spots!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE!!

More news to follow - the breathing is getting easier but sitting at this desk is hardly taxing LOL!!

Thanks for dropping by

BE STRONG...

Today

TODAY
the boys have returned to school....{jumps}

TODAY
I should have got home sooner from drop-off {had coffee with AEIOU parents instead}

TODAY
I should therefore be cleaning the house {on my backside blogging instead}

TODAY
I have thought of a name for the fundraiser {but can't confirm anything yet....doh!}

TODAY
had a really interesting telephone conversation and I'm excited {but can't reveal...yet...heehee}

TODAY
I finished my entry to Last Scrapper Standing at Forever Always.

{Meggy-Moo looks so adorable in her tu-tu hammering the nails in a stump}

My super-dooper technique was altering prima flowers with Opals. Glad to find out that not a lot of people have worked with them, so worthwile in the end. Was getting really disheartened that all my techniques were uploading in the forum before I could get started. :( But very happy with the overall result of the flowers and the layout too.


Thanks to Loretta Grayson for the template of the birdie and leaves. Was a left-over from her class about a year ago. Never actually finished anything from that session but all the bits and pieces have ended up somewhere in my work. Funny that!!



Here's another layout I did for the Forever Always October newsletter {HERE} based on a new Becky Fleck sketch. Didn't realise it was a mini map so did it on 12x12 after being very confused with the measurements for a long while!!



Trying to be a good blogging-gal-pal lately. Missing out on too much in forums because I'm spending too much time with the family and actually scrapping....fancy that!! I'm having so much fun lately, and Michele (naturopath) is a miracle-worker. I feel like a more confident woman and clear-headed and less anxious about the little things in life. Occasionally I'll spack right out but mostly it's been level-headed GiGi for a few weeks now....LOVIN' IT!!

Be strong (and thanks to the chikkies who still drop by and read!!)

Counting down....

Yep, it's nearly here. The END OF SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!!! (Yay, moment of relief)

A quick glance at the mess that becomes my house during these special weeks - empty pantry/fridge/freezer/2nd fridge/drawers of clean clothes - reminds me that although we're busy and things never get finished, each holiday gets easier and easier. The boys are more settled and conditioned to the concept of "school holidays" and their behaviour just encourages me to go out more, try different things and just RELAX!!

Today I took the boys to Moffat Beach ALONE and although it's un-patrolled the boys didn't venture too far in. It drops into a channel quite quickly but today it was good. Naturally Rainer freaked when we had to go inside at about 10.30am and today I was really aware of the stares from others. What are they thinking? Do I really care? Better still....do I have TIME to care what they think!!

We got to Mez and Sarah's by about 11.30am and had a ball! Nice coffee, nice lunch, nice water play (no water restrictions on the Sunshine Coast!) nice drive home, although Rainer did crack up again when he figured we drove PASSED the beach! He gets so much of what's around him but says soooo little. He's a bugger alright!!

And this is on soon - Sing for Kids - another event raising funds for AEIOU.
This year Ricky Lee Coulter is the "talent" while the rest of us just use this event as an Up-market Karaoke Night!! It's hilarious fun. Can't wait.

Also, (drum roll please)..........

My first online class EVER thanks to Sonia at Forever Always. As you can see from the sneak peeks, it's a fun layout but you can do a serious topic too. Promise I won't make you all look like a fool....as I do in these photos LOL. Should be in a couple of weeks, so make sure you're registered at FA.

The October newsletter is up with a mini-album feature by Kye. Here's a mini I did for the altered tin.



And another for the joint celebration for my Dad, Oskar and Rainer's birthdays in July this year.



Have also entered the Last Scrapper Standing competition. (yes, sucker for punishment!!) 6 month contract up for grabs and some guest spots too. Wish me luck!!

Finished up at Bon's with my Guest DT spot. Had a ball. Off to announce the winner of the Patterned Paper Challenge. Was waiting till the dust settled from Bon's brother's bike accident. Unbelievable really! There are just some things that shouldn't happen in life...but he's good now. Relief all-round.

Here's Bon's Paper of the Month for October. Urban Lily.


Such a cool bit of pp to work with and Bon threw in a pack of Deja View boy rub-ons for me so I went to town! Mackinley "helped" too. I went to answer the door and he decided to keep going. Ooops!! He was so apologetic, I couldn't get mad at him. I think he did an okay job for someone who doesn't like scrapbooking!! Won't tell Michael though PMSL.

Cyber Crop challenges are due this Sunday. Really want to finish a couple of these too.

I'm just wondering where I'll find the time??????

BE STRONG....
p.s. Didn't make it through to the last round of the Scrap Therapy DT competition but the ladies that did have done an awesome job with their final round entries. Good luck and thanks to Nat for an awesome competition. Well run and the girls on site are great supporters of EVERYONE'S work - newbies and regulars! Thanks to all.