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A week and 17 cards later

I am officially caught up with my deck of me! It was really fun, actually, I'd forgotten how much I like the small format and expressing a single thought quite specifically. And using lots of bits and pieces I like from around the place. Cool.

Still deep in photo editing - as in, it is on my to-do list ;) This last week we have had my cousin Bec and her hubby stay with us, involving shopping, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, lots of SingStar, xmas day pub lunch and movies with Kell as well, and not much photo editing at all, LOL. I did get some help with packing Q Tea kits though - yay! Speaking of which, here is a sneak, this kit is really fun. Check out the whole thing on the Q Tea blog.

Not much else happening, am working on some class kits for Kiti Q, but have run out of ink to print photos. I did a layout today, as Celine has a scraplift challenge on her blog. It was really fun, will try and photograph it tomorrow to show!

Funky Candlelit


These two layouts are made from the newest Candlelit kit, a funky smaller kit than usual with KI Memories pop culture, lace cardstock, some American Crafts thickers (love this font!) and felt die-cuts, among other things. The best absolute must-have bit of the kit, though, is the Inque Boutique frame stamp - it is so funky! I used it as a photo corner, and as frames, and just used the inner part as a journaling spot - I just love the doodled, almost joker-like design. So fun :)


I did this last layout last Saturday night as well, which was for the Scrap Boutique cybercrop. I rarely do cybercrops, but was lacking my own motivation (but felt like scrapping), and the challenge was quite fun - a sketch, plus use 3 patterned papers and one had to be an older paper from your stash. Maybe there was another criteria, I don't remember anymore. Anyway, there was also a 2 hour time limit! So it was throwing stuff on, mixing up colours and sticking it down, which is always fun. I have to say these last two layouts don't thrill me, as much as I love the products used. I feel like getting a bit more arty with it, maybe with a mini album or something. You never know.

Highlights so far from my editing rampage

Except blogger is being weird and the images are overlapping, so click on each one to see it bigger :)











A winner and more SC layouts

OK, thanks to a random number generator, number 1 comment won the native herbs, so that means... Sylvia! I'll post you some Sea Parsley and Wattleseed soon.

Still have a bunch of photos to work through from Saturday's wedding but here is one of my faves so far -



I picked up a copy of Scrapbook Creations yesterday, here are the other ones of mine that are in that feature, there are another couple in Quick Grabs also but I posted them here when I made them ;) Also check out Viv's awesome feature on metal, including the gorgeous piece she made for me :) :) :) and she also used a photo I took of her and Em Falconbridge at Kiwiscraps in April, which is cool. One of Viv's techniques in this article is also the one that Celine demonstrated in Sydney in November - must get me some of that adhesive aluminium tape!

There is also a preview of a calendar I made which is 6 x 12 inches (not 6x8 as is printed in the notes!) which will be in the next issue, as part of my feature 'Room to Move'

SC 49

I hear the new Scrapbook Creations mag is out. I have a 'technique feature' in this one, sponsored by Aussie Scrap Source, on the collage technique. It is basically step by step instructions for a few layouts using the technique - I had done 5 but it was cut to 3 for the feature due to space constraints, and I'm not actually sure which layouts are in it, except for this one of Rosie's Girls. I love this photo of my friend Rosie's two daughters and requested that this one stay in, but Kim - the editor - chose the other two. Will have to grab a copy and find out what she picked!

Working through photos at the moment, but nothing to share yet. Will pick a few faves and show them at the end of the week. In the meantime, the new Candlelit Kit has just arrived on my doorstep, and it is very cool! KI Memories Pop Culture, American Crafts 'Platform' Thickers, a bunch of felt die-cuts and an extremely funky Inque Boutique journaling spot stamp! Must photograph, and then play :) Though I have the four kids today, so no promises, LOL. Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine this morning, as the kidlets are currently making the most of it outside :)

Oh and a huge thank you to my sweet friend Viv, I received your parcel and it so made me smile, in that teary kind of way that smiles have when accompanied by surprise, laughter and deep movement of the heart. You know why.

A photo and a tv show

This photo is from a session I did the other week with my friends Teresa and Nathan, who are expecting their first baby. I haven't gone through many of them yet, but I love this one! I also have some cool ones of Reeze with all our kids (Kell's and mine) that I took on Wednesday - they are very cute too, will post a couple when I'm done with them.

It was exciting to see Ben's dad and step-mum on TV again yesterday - the ABC's 'Landline' had a 20 minute segment featuring Mike and Gayle and the Outback Pride project! You can check it out here (pick a video type on the right, and it will open the video segment to watch), and I believe it repeats today (Monday) at noon - Edited to add: Actually I think it's at 11am Monday, sorry!

I photographed a wedding, with most of the photography happening at St Kilda beach, on Saturday. So it's all about photography at the moment! I have lots of editing to do :)

A layout, a new blog and a RAK

I did this layout yesterday for Kiti Q - how cool are these Love, Elsie Zoe papers?! There is also a Hambly rub-on, Doodlebug polka dot blossoms, American Crafts Vinyl Thickers, and a KI Memories Pop Culture chipboard journal spot.

Another side project I've started is a recipe blog - Season with Saltbush. You may or may not have known that my in-laws Mike and Gayle Quarmby are the brains, brawn, creativity and general hard work behind the Outback Pride project. Part of the project is helping set up bush food plots on remote indigenous communities, and later providing the opportunity for the communities to sell the bush food they grown and harvest. In any case, Outback Pride produce an awesome selection of native Australian bush food and make it available in sauces, jams, relishes, as dried herbs, etc. They also supply The Outback Cafe with their re-branded items (anyone seen the series? It's on the Lifestyle Channel on Foxtel).

Anyway anyway, the point is that we have most of the items they produce, and I also photograph them for the website. So we have lots of tasty native herbs for me to cook with, and the sauces and salad dressings etc to eat :) The kids love the jams, and 'nan and pop sauce', kutjera sauce. Ben has a caterers bottle of Quandong and Chilli Sauce, since he loves it so much! And I like cooking, so I mix up our meals with native herbs on a regular basis.

So I decided awhile back to start a new blog with the aim of sharing recipes, ideas and generally inspiring people to seek out and use these native herbs and products. I added the first recipe today and hope to add a new one each Friday.

Leave a comment telling me what you think, suggest, would like to see on the recipe blog, and I will draw a random comment to send some native herbs. If you just want to leave a scrapbooking comment, feel free, I won't add you to the draw unless you mention it ;)

Check it out :)

Two New

I did these two yesterday afternoon. 'Now You Are 4' is for Kiti Q, using a bunch of Sassafras Lass 'Owl Pals' die cuts and paper, and three different types of KI Memories Lace Cardstock - love that stuff!


Visual review

Sienna is a freestyling scrapper in the making - she hand-cut this flower out of paper without even drawing it first, and I was so impressed! Then she coloured it in and posed for me to photograph it, hilarious.

Last week I made a massive Thomas the Tank Engine out of cardboard for a skit / comedy night put on by friends of ours. The Thomas act was for all the kids, and this version of the happy blue engine went to a friend who is, um, 7 years old or so, and has loved Thomas for AGES, so he was very happy.









A couple of weeks ago, when Hayley and Caden were here for the weekend, we did this family photo shoot in the backyard. I set up the tripod with the composition and settings I wanted, and we used the remote control to actually take the shots. Couldn't show anyone straight away, as one was for my parent's 30th anniversary last week, we had a pic of the 5 grandkids printed on canvas for them. More of the shoot is on Kell's blog.


Last night I made this little canvas 'Island', which is about 4 inches square on a 1.5 inch deep canvas. This afternoon I made 'Listen', which features a line from a short story my friend Rosie wrote when we were 16 or something. Really like this painting.



My 'Feel Good File' article was published in Scrapbook Creations 48, and I have put it in my Scrap In Style portfolio and in my flickr, so you can check it out if you like!















Where to start

Actually too many things to mention it all. Let's keep things simple today (and visual!). I'll start with a layout I did last week for Kiti Q, highlighting HEAPS of their fab range, including new Sassafras Lass Owl Pals, Love, Elsie rub-ons, chipboard buttons, etc, Hambly rub-ons, and these American Crafts felt thickers are arriving in store at Kiti Q today (among lots of other thickers!).

The new Q Tea kit is up for December - If It Ain't Baroque. It includes a couple of elements sent to me from my friend Sylvia in Germany - very cool!
I finally completed Jo's Sydney session - sorry about the wait Jo! They are on their way to you today. Here are some of my personal faves. I have to say, Jo's parents are SO CUTE. And they hadn't had photos taken together in years, I was amazed how natural they were in front of the camera. And all affectionate. Adorable :)

Luscious, lovely, loopy, likeable and, well, just gorgeous really

KI Memories lace cardstock, that is ;)

Kell showed me the brand new delivery for Kiti Q yesterday afternoon and I picked out a selection (hard to choose!). Then when I couldn't handle being on the computer anymore last night, I scrapped this layout, using three different lace cardstocks. It was so fun. This is the fabulous Celine Navarro at Papercrafts, with the gorgeous mixed media painting I bought from her. Which I just hung on my blue foyer wall a few minutes ago, and it looks brilliant. Love it.

What is with 'time'?!

It keeps running away from me. Makes me crabby. Actually it wasn't making me crabby until last week, I was just rushing around and doing one thing and then the next, until I got sick last week. I don't even know what is wrong, but think it is possibly just stress and exhaustion? Or some kind of inner-ear thingy.

Anyhow, it makes computer work hard to cope with, my eyes spazz out and I feel dizzy and sick. Also when I do other things, but often when on the computer. Makes processing my photo shoots very difficult, as you can imagine, so that has slowed down this weekend. Will plod on, though, just try and be gentle with me :) Or is that what I should be saying to myself?

In any case, it did feel wonderful to put the computer away entirely yesterday afternoon and scrap at the kitchen table. Sienna scrapped too, though she talks a lot while she does it, and keeps stealing my supplies, so it can get annoying. But she did a couple of very cute, and funny, layouts. Will try and remember to photograph them later.

I finished two layouts I began in Sydney, one in my hotel room and one in Celine's class. I LOVED Celine's classes, the projects themselves were fantastic of course, but really it was such an eye-opener about how classes can be conducted, especially the layout class. Instead of teaching a specific layout and just telling you to make it your own (which, admirably, many teachers do encourage you to do), Celine demonstrated the techniques she used to make the layout, throwing together an entirely different and new layout as she demonstrated her techniques. Then you were given a collection of Rouge de Garance papers and a few embellishments in a pack and given the freedom to use them as you wish! Awesome. Anyhow, I started this green one in that class, though I photographed it at night and inside, so the colours aren't quite right. The papers are from the 'Picoti Picota' range, which is coming to Kiti Q in December - yay!


The other one I finished from Sydney is for Sketches Oz and will be up at the end of this week I believe, inspired by Clair Bremner's sketch. The last layout I did completely yesterday afternoon when the others were finished is 'Sweet Lollipop Dreams' and uses two of the new Lilou papers from Rouge de Garance, which I am very grateful to Celine for giving me in Sydney! They are very sweet and pastel, (i.e. not my colours!) but the designs are beautiful so I still wanted to play with them. This photo is of my friend's daughter Indiana. Embellishments are mostly Love, Elsie. Colours aren't quite right on this photo either, but never mind.

I also just realised I didn't post my Paper Pesto' layouts here yet! Well, don't want to make this ridiculously long, so will just post my fave. I did a little photo shoot of Kell's neighbour Jude and her two boys Oskar and Kasper, as the kit was pirate-themed and I didn't really have many photos from my own stash. This one is of Kasper. Check out my other layout and mini-book in the Paper Pesto gallery.

And having finished processing Kathy's photo shoot from Sydney, I just have to share another favourite or two. I have loads of photos to look through after I finish editing the Sydney shoots, so will be sharing a bunch over the next couple of weeks.