Not much scrappin' going on around here...

It's true, I'm sad to say, but even though harvest is over and I'm not cooking for 7 anymore I have less time to scrap. I also find it difficult to update my blog as the kids play up when I sit down to the computer. And then there's the fact that I'd love to show a layout every time I post but I cant because the commissioned family heritage layout I was working on is finished and delivered and you know what? I forgot to take photos of the whole project! So unfortunately I cannot show you what I've done and that was my first heritage project and I was quite happy with it. Sorry!

The next project I'm working on is an album of my brothers life to give to him for Christmas. This is no small job but I discovered a whole lot of photos of him at my Mums and decided it would make a great present as he's one of those people who's hard to buy for. So far I've done about 10 pages and probably got 30 to go, but I'm just going to do as much as I can before Christmas and add to the album later on - might even get some input from him once I give it to him. Journaling is the biggest challenge when doing an album about someone else. With the heritage album I had a family history booklet to work with so it was easy - I just journaled paragraphs straight from the book and added little journal blocks to photos with name, date, place. My brothers album is a bit more challenging. I know him well but can I remember what year it was when he started racing motocross? No and neither can Mum. So I'll ask him afterwards and add the dates later - no harm. It's a reminder to me with my own photos to write information on the back of the photo or write it on a piece of paper and store with the photo or even better still - scrap the photos straight away while the memory is fresh in my mind!

Lately the kids have been a bit stir-crazy - too much time without their father around and a busy mum. When Matt was home on a rare occasion and he was minding the kids, he came and got me and said "Come see this but don't get mad!" I walked around the corner of the house and discovered this...

...how could I get mad? They were squealing and laughing... so I ran and got the camera. Thank God for summer showers that make puddles and happy kids. So precious.

A little more stock has trickled in. This Making Memories desktop organiser is a ripper...think I might have to have one for myself to organise the desktop pig-sty I get when I'm consumed in a project.

I've been checking out some other blog spots lately for inspiration and I found one by Janelle Wind. She's a design team member for Scrapboxx and I've always liked her layouts but lately I'm loving them. She has a knack with mixing random papers and products - clever girl, and she can sew!

Well, today I have to pack for Christmas so hopefully somewhere in there I'll find time to scrap and I think I'm safe to show you layouts from my brothers album - just don't tell him if you know him! So I'll take some photos to show and tell.

Later.