A Fantastic Weekend

Wow, what a trip. Short but super sweet :) And not too long to be away from the kids - they didn't seemed at all worried by it at least.

KiwiScraps was just awesome, so much fun and so inspiring. The classes were fantastic, but even more inspiring was meeting all these lovely, amazing and talented women! So cool. My favourite class was probably Emily's Wall Art class, followed by Rhonna Farrer's Pocket Full of Surprises. I heard that Tia's class 'Sew This One Thing' was brilliant, especially because she taught her class needle felting, which I SO wanted to learn. Ngaire was so sweet, she showed me and Kell how the felting worked, since we didn't get to do that class ourselves. I am TOTALLY going to play with felting now, among many other techniques from the classes!

All these pictures - and there are some from Sunday that I haven't loaded, and also I haven't photographed any of the projects yet. I've kind of loaded them in random order, as I sit here in my pj's in the kitchen...

First shot is Lusi, how CUTE is she? She had just the biggest beautiful smile, it was lovely to meet her, this was Saturday afternoon. Here is a shot of Kell and Emily just after we did Em's 'Shiny Happy People' class (tie-dying napkins - was so fun). Yes, and one photo of me, Viv took this one on our walk with Nic.

I love this fun shot of Viv and Lee, this was on Friday night in the hotel bar. There is also a really nice one of Lee (SO great to meet you in person!), a cute black and white of Nic, and a couple of funny ones - Nic and Jaimie doing the paparazzi thing, and Janine and Jaimie just being funny. It was hilarious.

I like this cute one of Kell on Saturday morning, cos you can see how she talks with her hands (just like mum) :)

On Sunday midday I had a great walk with Viv and Nic, and we did a little photo shoot kind of thing, here are my faves of each of them. Nic was so adorable, she is all little and sweet, and embarassed to be in front of the camera! Really lovely too. I think Viv and I spent most of the walk saying how cute she was ;)

And last but definitely not least (to employ a very un-original cliche), our roomie Viv. She was just awesome, we had lots of great conversation and she is just a beautiful person. Gorgeous.

More photos later!

Tag you're it!

I have been tagged by Charm, so here are 7 random things about me. Actually haven't thought of what they are yet, so will think while I upload a few photos...

We had a morning out yesterday, with a long play in the park (where the kids REFUSED to play in the autumn leaves for me to photograph them) and breakfast in a cafe. Ash was so tired out from the whole thing that he fell asleep for 2 hours as soon as we got home. Cool, hey.

OK 7 random things....

1. Because I skipped year 10 in high school, I graduated high school when I was 16 but I had no work experience AT ALL (not even the standard couple of weeks you do as part of year 10, since I'd missed it). So I did 'work experience' when I was 17 with the help of an employment agency, and later got a job at the antiquarian bookshop where I did the work experience. That was my first real job. I loved the books but was terrible at talking to people. Really, really quiet.

2. I play video games. Sometimes, anyway, I don't have time for it at the moment. And not anywhere near as much as my hubby Ben plays them ;) But my favourite is a fun rpg called 'Skies of Arcadia' which I played on the Dreamcast and then got the extended version for the Gamecube. I played Kingdom Hearts on PS2 when I was pregnant with Sienna.

3. My best friend and I - when we were kids, about 7 - used to tell each other which fairies we could see in our garden when we were talking to each other on the phone. Lying, really, but pretending we believed ourselves.

4. I don't like beef. Much. I mean I don't hate it, but I rarely eat it.

5. I haemorrhaged when Sienna was born, almost 2 and a half litres apparently, though noone ever worked out why. In any case, 6 weeks later my iron levels were fine, and 1 single steak my mum had made me was the only red meat I ate in that time. I took supplements, too, of course, but that is still pretty cool how well the body can heal itself and get what it needs.

6. It may come as a surprise to my family, but I actually really like shoes. It's just too much bother getting them to fit. And they are too expensive. So I tend to only buy practical ones. So my money is saved by the size of my feet, in a way. Though it also means I don't often get sale shoes, since I have to buy them at the beginning of the season before they sell out of 11s.

7. I write the way I think, and can be quite chatty and conversational. But I can't speak in this way, somehow. My thoughts get in the way.

Yes, some of them were quite random. And long, but I found reading other people's random facts, I liked the long ones. They are very interesting. Check out Danielle Thompson's, for instance. She is a very cool lady. Ooh, almost forgot tagging. Um, lots of blogs I read have already done this one. I tag Sylvia, my cousin Bec, Viv, Kell, Vita and two people without blogs yet - maybe you can email them to me? I love reading this stuff ;) - Leanne R and Rosie!

Flying to Sydney tomorrow, wow! I made up some 'grab bags' to giveaway to friends new and slightly older (online). I only made 10 but as I said earlier, in real life I am not very outgoing. So it seemed enough. LOL. We shall see. If anyone out there wants one, you'll just have to ask ;) I wasn't going to make ATCs or anything, but I have all this random vintage fabric and bits and pieces, so that gave me the idea. Fun stuff!

Deck of Me, Sneak Peeks and Sydney

My deck of me card for week 15, prompt: your parents. My parents are way cool, and this photo is from a camping holiday we went on in the Grampians when I was pregnant with Sienna. Very cute.

On a Kiti Q note, here are sneak peeks for a new class kit I created. Called 'Always Be Curious', there will be a couple of kits available to begin with as soon as the materials arrive.

Guess what - it is Tuesday evening. Yep. And on Friday morning I am FLYING TO SYDNEY for KiwiScraps - Freestyle Downunder! Am way excited. And kinda nervous. I mean, people. Lots of people. Hmm. LOL.

I am looking forward to meeting lots of wonderful scrapping ladies, learning fun new techniques and getting all messy with it in Emily's classes! Will be cool. And I'll come back with plenty of photos!

Film buff or glamour girl?

A very nice package arrived for me this morning from Amazon - I'd placed an order a week or two ago, and it had arrived, yay! Three new films, two of which I'd wanted to see in the cinema and had missed, one which is only just coming out in Australia in May I think, or next week or something.

Stranger Than Fiction

Marie Antoinette

The Science of Sleep - really looking forward to watching this one!

So I will have some nice movie-filled evenings with Ben before flying to Sydney and Kiwiscraps (!!!) on Friday :) Of course it would be better if we weren't both sick and feeling rubbish - especially in the mornings and evenings. But at least that means I'll be well for the long weekend in Sydney.

Also very cool is the announcement of Ruby St Designs 'Guest Glamour Girls' (don't you just LOVE that title?!). I'll be a Guest Glamour Girl for September and I can't wait to see what sort of vintage-y goodies I will be creating with!

Poor little guy...

This is my layout for this week's Finding You project. A wee bit chirpier and more positive than the last two :)

Everyone seems sick today, except Sienna. Ben stayed home feeling unwell, and Ash has been unwell for a few days. Yesterday he was grizzly and tired from being sick, and then fell over on the verandah. You can see here the results, tho his lip actually looks purple today - this photo was taken yesterday. He had a blood nose and a split lip. He is only 20 months or something and this is at least his third split lip - he manages to fall over or hurt himself doing the most normal things. Due, in part, to his tendency to do everything at double speed, even if he is not physically capable of it yet!

Here is a cute pic of Kell and her little boy-o Jude. My cute nephew. He is all sweet and soft, and Ash who is just 6 weeks younger, is all tough and physical. A cute contrast :)