Long time no speak

So it seems a really really long time has gone by without a blog post. Where to start?
I was going to come and blog in mid 2012 when I was lucky enough to meet Tim Holtz and do one of his classes here in Australia. I had so much fun and it's something I often look back and smile about. Somehow I never found the time to blog (actually my stupid blogger program stopped working and I HATE using the site to blog).

I posted many a meal here that I ate while doing the CSIRO diet, I ended up going off that, and putting back on most of my weight. Over the last 2 years I've done a mixture of diets/eating styles and am currently doing my own thing, but enjoying recipes from Symply Too Good To Be True (Annette Sym) and also 12WBT, I also get inspiration from Skinny Taste and Slender Kitchen. I am down 56kgs.

Along with the losing weight I've also been getting healthier. I go to the gym most days and even participate in the local Parkrun. I really love the event and I recommend it to everyone! It's a free 5km timed event, and best of all you don't have to run! You can walk, crawl or run :) The kids can be involved and even your dogs!

I haven't been that active in the garden in the last 6-12 months, I had a poor result with my spring plantings last year (due to going away for several weeks at a time in Aug, Sept and Nov), so I ended up with bought seedlings, but then I had friends come and stay for a 'couple of weeks' which turned into 5 months, and somehow routine and things got turned around and I didn't head out to the garden much.

Craft also suffered having people stay, as we only have a small house, I had to pack away my craft table so for about 5 months I didn't get anything done, unless I went away. I'm back on crafting though, and I've been having a lot of fun with that lately. I recently did a "Supplies on Hand" course with May, which I learnt some new things and can't wait to try out.

In January next year I'm heading off with my mother and one of my bestest friends for a craft cruise! We're going on the Voyager of the Seas with Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door! I am so excited I can't wait!!

OK that's enough blathering for me! I will be back soon and post some of what I've been up to. I promise not to be a stranger :D

Time Flies?

WOW.. March is the last time I blogged.. that’s ages ago lol. Hmm a lot has happened and at the same time, not much haha. Haven’t dieted in a while. Really enjoyed the CSIRO diet, didn’t lose heaps of weight, though I wasn’t exercising etc, so I guess it’s to be expected. It was pretty easy to stick to and I will go back ‘on’ it. Really it is more of a lifestyle change than a real diet.
Went up to Qld for a couple of weeks. Had an alright time. I went up to Bundy for one of my best and oldest friends 30th, unfortunately her father in law passed away and she ended up having to go to Brissy so we only saw each other once.

Haven’t scrapped lots this year. Have been rather slack on the swaps too.. Hopefully 2012 will be a better scrappy year :)

The garden has been going along really well. Have got all of our spring/summer stuff on the go atm. My favourite time of the year- food wise :)

Have crop for a cause this weekend. Lots of stuff to make and chatting to do. Tim Holtz has his 12 tags of Christmas again this year so am planning to join in.  - which is why I ventured over to my blog LOL!

Handmade Paper Flowers!!

Mum and I made some awesome handmade paper flowers today. We watched a tutorial on Youtube and decided to make some. They are just lovely! You can watch my very first vid on them if you like.

Make sure you go and watch the demo by MyScrapWorld if you want to make them.
Click to check them out in full sized glory ;)

Christmas Presents…

I made some button fairies for presents. I made one to go in Helen’s Secret Santa pack, I made one for Shannon and one for Stacey as a ‘tide you over’ Christmas present (I haven’t finished their actual presents.. LOL) Here are the button fairies..

Busy Creating!!

First off I would like to wish everyone a very belated Merry Christmas!!! Also a Happy New Year! Anyone got any good resolutions? I plan to keep dieting this year. 2008 Saw me start dieting in the August/September mark and in 2009 I continued until just after June/July when L&E kept mucking up orders, so at the hefty price they were charging I gave them the flick. I went back (tail between legs? lol) in late September to loose a few KG’s before my O/s trip.. but since then I haven’t dieted at all. I have put on about 4-5 kgs.. For Christmas Michael bought me a Wii and the Wii Fit and Balance Board (at my requst). I have been doing it every day and have been enjoying it! The last 2 days have been extremely hot (40 degrees Celsius) and I did 1 hour plus and then 30 mins yesterday. I can feel my muscles.. Little bit of pain, but not too bad. I wouldn’t call it a resolution, but getting healthier is still on my things to do ;)
OK now to crafting!!!! I followed Tim Holtz’s 12 tags of Christmas this year. I loved going everyday and seeing something new to inspire me! I decided to join in their competition. Here are my 12 tags. I hope that you like them!!

  

I have a bunch of new stuff to post and get organised. I hope you’ll check back often! Leave a comment too if you feel so inclined, love to see someone’s out there hahah!

Play time

Well I got to meet Linda and Robyn today. Had a great day! Did lots of playing with new products and experimenting. I definately need (NEED!! Not just want!) lots of new powders and pastes :) Hopefully when I come back from O/s I can still afford some.
Here are photos of us all scrapping/creating and the things we made. Unfortuately I am using this online blog editior and it is rather crap, so I apologise that all the pics are in crazy mode, it won't go any better!!!
Talk to you all from Thailand :)

Girl Inchies

Here are my lovely girl inchies for YSB, I made seven of the same, and seven that are almost the same, just with a different girl. 6 is all that was needed for the swap, but I make an extra for my mother :D
Thanks for looking!

Addiction?

   
I think maybe I am really an addict LOL I have finally finished sorting all my ATC’s I have something like 600 of the little suckers. Not bad considering I only started making them last April, that’s about 18 months ago.. Which means I make something like 30 ATC’s a month ahahah!
If you click on the picture you can see a much larger version, so you can see some close up.
Ok here is a recent ATC I made for a flickr swap..


A layout I did for YSB last month as part of the monthly challenges. This month there are some great challenges up, but with going away I am not going to be able to play :( I am also going to miss the second cyber crop.. So head along and have some fun for me :)

Last but not least is Michael’s Mothers birthday card. I made it a week or two back. Her birthday isn’t until mid Nov, but I will be away so I did it early.. I hope he remembers to post it haha!!

Crop Lo’s

I’ve been attending a crop at a local girls house. Last time was my 3rd time to her place. It’s been awesome getting to know the ladies. I don’t really know any locals other than a few people I’ve met through Michael’s work. I am loving going to these crops. I don’t achieve much, but then I am happy with that lol. This boy LO I started and finished at the last crop. Very simple, grungy and just what I wanted :)

This Lo I started at the last crop. Matted the photo (it is so crooked..omg!), painted the grungeboard in crackle paint. Stuck that all down. Got the flower ready and that was about it. This week I stuck the little extra bit of grungeboard down, added the flower, lots of pearls, the little bling at the top and added that lovely rubon, which btw took a lot to get down lol.

I have another Lo that I worked on last time, and this time and hopefully will be finished at the next crop whenever that is :) I also did a card for Michael’s sister (she’s turning 18) and finished off my Angel ATC’s. I will post a pic of those later.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bird Swap

I made these cute Bird Motifs thanks to the great video supplied by the Crafts Beautiful Channel. Check it out. They are easy to make and you just use up scraps. I’ve made the atc’s for the first ever swap at Young Scrap Birds.

ANSD and P!NK

Wow I can’t believe how fast the days are flying by. Last month at Allcraftz was NSD/W here are all the things I made for the challenges. Mostly the sketch challenges were all I achieved. I didn’t win anything though, I don’t even know who did win LOL. I did 4 cards, 6 ATC’s and one Lo. Not bad for a weekends work. You could do the challenges over a week, but I find that too long and drawn out. I was thinking of
doing another Challenge but I ended up going off to Brisbane for the P!NK concert.
Pink was so AWESOME! I had the most fun. It was so hot and tiring too, we had to stand for ages, and sit on the ground lots too. Was definitely worth it though. When she came out the pain disappeared lol. She talked to us all, gave lots of eye contact and the stunts she did were AMAZING!! I would go again!

    

I hate choosing titles!!

First things first.. Why does everything need a title? LO’s, Blog posts gah, I hate trying to think of a creative title..
OK over that.
Now I got my GREAT, AWESOME, FANTASTIC prize from ChelleBB, I so should have taken a photo, but well I was a little too excited. I ended up winning for my 10 cards as well as winning for doing all 4 challenges(I am super proud of my effort too) She gave me one of the SU sets I have wanted for like forever, the cool pick up truck set. It is just as awesome as it looks.
I have made my first card using it. It is for Avie for a Wishing Well over at Allcraftz. The second stamp set I got was the Basic Phrases Stamp Set which you can view HERE I haven’t used it yet. I have been busy catching up on swaps from when Michael’s family was here. Chelle also sent me a cardstock pack and matching ribbons, and the new SU catalogue. WHOOT! Big thanks to Chelle and to Purplescraps for another great Cyber Crop!

Over at Allcraftz Ruby is hosting an ATC Circle. This is my first atc it is for my set, the theme is Time/Vintage. The next two have already arrived, Marnie’s and Ruby’s. I have to get cracking. Will post what I do as soon as I have done them.
Thanks for stopping by!

Cyber Challenge Finished

Well here is my top secret project I got it finished yesterday for Purplescraps and it took me AGES to get the collating of pictures done. This is the whole lot, but if you’d like to see the indiviual pictures go here and click on them to see each one larger. If you click the picture below you can see it larger too.

I had lots of fun making this album, it is something I have wanted to do for ages, but never gotten around to it. Thanks again to Chelle for the inspiration and making me want to scrap. The size of my album.. ATC :D See A – ATC Addict!!

Thanks again to Chelle for the inspiration and making me want to scrap. The size of my album.. ATC :D See A – ATC Addict!!

In other news, mum and I both won another little RAK from Marnie at bootcamp. Come on people enter!! It is easy, and I would hate to take an almost clean sweep!! Congratulations to last weeks winner!! Above is my card that I made using this weeks sketch.
Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully next post won’t be too far away and will be featuring the last of my AC4Y prizes.

Purple Scraps Cyber Crop

Well it is ages since I attended a Cyber Crop. Got my newsletter for Purple Scraps and thought I might attend this one. I haven’t done much scrapping or card making lately so I thought “why not”. I am so glad I went too. I did 2 Lo’s and 10 cards as part of 3 challenges. I am just starting the 4th challenge an A to Z of me. Luckily though we have until the 6th(ish) of April to get that done. The cards aren’t due til Monday the 16th, but I already did them :). I am so happy with them too. Lots of fun to make them as well. The conditions were that they were versatile, in that they didn’t have “happy birthday” or whatever on the front, so when you have an occasion you can just pull it out and go with it :) You also had to do, 2 masculine, 2 feminine and 2 kids cards. The other 4 were up to us to decide what we wanted.
The Lo’s were fun to make too. So long since I last did one. I am surprised I wasn’t rusty :D One had to follow a sketch (our house) and the other (family) had to be something that gave you a ‘pick me up’. As I said on the forum. Michael and Mum give me a pick me up.. Unless I am ready to kill em :D

If I have done this right…. Click on the cards and you can have a look at a bigger image :)