Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!!!

Thank you to all who follow my blog and all my wonderful clients and friends. I would like to wish you a very SAFE holiday season...have fun spending time with your families and be sure to relax and get some chill time.

I certainly am feeling quite relaxed even after such a busy lead up to Christmas. We arrived in Esperance at 10pm on Christmas eve to spend Christmas with both mine and Matt's family. By Christmas morning I was finally feeling like it was Christmas and it was a great day.

Opening presents is always fun with kids, I can remember thinking (7 years ago) "gee Christmas is not as exciting as when I was a kid myself" and the anticipation would be killing me, so having the kids say to me a hundred times "can we open the presents yet?" was all too easy to agree to - once everyone was dressed for Christmas photos of course! - and they had so much fun, and so did we watching them.

I still think of those who could not be with us this Christmas. My brother, Dean and his wife Cassi and the boys are all in California for Christmas with Cassi's family. This is a well deserved opportunity for them and I'm sure they are having a ball. Matt's sister, Kimberly and our nephew Miles are having a white Christmas in Montana where they live. I am looking forward to a white Christmas with them one day...it would be strange to not be swealtering in the heat and eating seafood and salad though...

We are still harvesting this week so we are back to work until its done so we can finish up the season in the office and then go on a holiday. At the moment I have been moving things around a bit in the shop for a fresh new look. We have new stock in for the new year and I am looking forward to playing with it when I get the BAS done.

We have new Basic Grey in stock, the classy 'Origins' range...

and the delicious 'Sugar Rush' range...

We also have October Afternoon new releases, 'Report Card'...

and 'Farm Fresh'...

These are all a very big bit yummy!

Thanks Linda and Lissa for your comments on my last post. It is always good to hear from you and know I'm not alone. Cheers everyone and have a happy New Year celebration!

The silly season...

That's what they call it! and now I know why! Everything is a bit silly at the moment...my brain, the kids, the harvest and everything that is going on. I am taking stock at the moment...of life. I have really struggled to get into the spirit of Christmas this year...struggled with the schedule of things to do, places to be, and responsibilities. I get the feeling I'm not the only one. I envy blogger's who are counting down the days with craft projects, taking photos every day, Christmas cooking and all the 'holiday frills' but I am not one of those and I think I am in the majority, not the minority. So how can this be avoided?...i'll tell you next year if I figure it out between now and then.

I lost a friend last week, a guy I've known for nearly 20 years. And the worst thing is that it is now... at Christmas time. And its so much worse for his family...so I've been a bit stunned to say the least.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I realised that my 'lack of Christmas spirit' was not fair on the kids so we got some decorations together and got our nativity ornaments out and did a little decorating on Sunday. I finally got to dress the kids in red and take our annual Christmas photo (which was not that easy as it took quite a bit of coaxing to get the kids to smile at the same time and not pull silly faces!). So hear they are...Phoeb's is till missing her front 2 teeth...there is a hint of a new one!


Despite the dramas I have faced, life has still gone on and stocking the shop for Christmas has been busy but fun. I have loads of new gift ware in...

and new scrapbooking ranges in as well like K & Co Evergreen - the Christmas line which is vintage this year...


...and Greenhouse which is a fun new Eco range that I am dying to do something with... projects are forming in my mind to work on in the new year.

Speaking of the New Year, my mind is buzzing with loads of ideas for next year (its the sleepless nights when I think this stuff up!) so I'll try to keep you informed in January of new ideas and plans for 2010. That's all for today...be back soon.

Some layouts to share...

I have been preparing for classes and have a few completed layouts and more on the go. Here are the ones that are complete. I have a obsession with self adhesive border strips at the moment and I'm having fun using them...

I am trying to get into Christmas preparation mode at the moment. I have an idea for my Christmas cards that I will atempt to make later this week, and I still have loads of photos from last Christmas that I havent scrapped so I'm going to get on to those to. I have plenty of Christmas papers to choose from so I cant wait.

The new furniture...

As promised i have some photos to show of the new furniture we have in the shop...

I also had some wooden ormamental pieces arrive and these signs...i think they are are pretty funny...



I'll be back soon with some layouts to share...about time!!

New products...

Well its been a busy couple of weeks around here. On the 30th of October my assistant, Amy, got married to her sweet heart, Garth. It was a great wedding and she was a stunning bride. Take a look for yourself...


So at the wedding I had a little accident...i slipped on some water on the dance floor whilst kicking my heels up (literally!) and rolled my ankle. I was disappointed that I couldn't dance anymore as I was having so much fun...but probably just as well I didn't try. While Amy has been on her honeymoon I've been hobbling around at the shop but I have managed to do a layout or 2 while I've had my foot up. I thought I had lost my creativity at first but I ended up getting back into it again and have completed 4 layouts and almost finished a few more...only trouble is I keep forgetting to photograph them so I can show and tell! This is the only one I managed to get a photo of. It has a photo of my sisters-in-law and I at my Brother-in-laws wedding in August. I used K &Company 'Que Serra' paper, border strip and die cut. This was a really quick warm up layout...

In this photo there is a new cookbook I have in stock by The Pioneer Woman, my favourite blogger, called 'The Pioneer Woman Cooks'. I read about it on her blog and had to have a copy because i like her recipes so much, and got a few extra copies to sell as well. She is one amazing woman who I admire. You'll love her too. Check out her website... thepioneerwoman.com

I also have new scrapbooking stock in store. The Basic Grey 'Nook and Pantry' range is gorgeous in real life. I have packs, woolies, stitched brads and doilies in stock. Check them out...

I am expanding (again) at the shop and have a new organic range of cleaning products in store from Murchison-Hume. This is revolutionary stuff so if you would like more info on it then drop me a line.

Also, the most exciting news for me is that I am now going into furniture sales as well...yes thats right, I have filled my shop space quite well for someone who wasnt going to try to fill the shop space I had! I just cant help myself. So I have a sea container of Indonesian furniture arriving in tomorrow morning...cant wait. Here's a pic...

So that's what I have been up to lately, exciting stuff. Also my husband and his team are busily getting ready for the 2009 harvest and its going to be interesting one thats for sure. So the next couple of months are going to be crazy but I'm beginning to think thats the norm for us...oh well, life is good anyway. Be back soon!

I'm back...

Sorry for the lapse in time, once again since the last post. It has been a very busy few weeks to say the least. The 9th Wave Rock Scrapbooking Retreat is now over and today we packed away the last of the stock and equipment from the retreat. It was monumental this time...60 ladies, 3 days, warm weather, lots of laughs and happy tears and many more friendships made...truly a fantastic time - in my opinion and in all who I have spoken to since. I am so pleased and although tired beyond description, I am very happy. I am so pleased to have met some new girls who love to scrap - one of the things we have in common that brings us together, stoked to have caught up with old friends and I am still cracking up when I think about our celebrities 'Kath and Kim' who graced us with their company on Saturday night. Thank you to all of you who came to make it as memorable as it was and especially to out tutors and helpers who made it so good. I must also mention my husband who committed himself to making it better than ever - I am indebted to him.
Unfortunately I do not have photos to show but you will find more interesting bits about the retreat from the tutors blogs (in the side bar) and also I don't have any layouts to show...but I am about to print some photos of my own to do the class layouts. Now that all the hard work is done and the fun is over I may find some time to scrap as well...well here's hoping! Amy, my assistant is off for a few weeks to get married! so I will be working full time and intend to get creative and messy again...cant wait!
That's all for now...be back when I have some news.

Slice Promotion...

Some of you may be familiar with the Making Memories Slice, an electronic die-cutting machine. In the past I have focused on the Provo Craft Cricut, that is until I came across this promotion that Making Memories are running with Printblocks. The new 'PINK' Slice has now been released and I have them in stock as of today. A portion of sales goes to breast cancer research which is something that is of great importance to alot of us. The Pink Slice is a portable die-cutting machine that is compact and cute. The best thing is that it is only $379 which is great value, so those of you who cant quite cough up $700 for the Cricut Expression, this is a fantastic alternative. The cartridges are cheaper and the designs are gorgeous. The new Pink Slice comes with 2 cartridges and basic tools.

Also, Provo Craft are running a similar promotion. They also have a Pink promotion on the Cricut Expression and it's only $700 so if you've been uming and ahring about getting one this would be a great time to do so. So let me know if I can help with ordering any of these great deals for you.

Amy and I are madly putting kits together for the retreat and orders are rolling in. If you haven't got an order form or haven't yet ordered your kits please contacts me at scrappinoutback@bigpond.com

That's all for today. Bye for now.

Final sneak peeks...

All the classes for the retreat are now ready and I have the last of the previews to show. The tutors have worked really hard to come up with inspiring and challenging workshops and I am very excited about presenting them all.

Gayle Smith has completed her last class, a single layout using some ranges that are a little different and they have turned out real good. The 'Those Things We Do' preview is now up on Gayle's blog but you can see it here as well...

Also, we are throwing in a bonus workshop for Friday night at the retreat - a 'Photoshop Tutorial' on enhancing photos with digital elements and text. This is an area I have not dabbled in yet so I am looking forward to this one. Here's a plug...

And LAST but definitely not LEAST is the very exciting travel mini album by Sharon Manning. She has come up with an awesome travel journal that you can either take on holidays and record your travels as they happen, or just simply add you photos to a trip you've already done. This album is a custom size and is perfect for 6" x 4" photos, memorabilia and of course...they story. Love it!

That's all the previews now so I am madly putting together the finishing touches to the class requirements and they will be out by email to applicants by the weekend. Bye for now.

Another sneak peek...

Well this is going to be a goody...Gayle's Power Scrapping Workshop is fantastic! She designed 4 layouts to complete in less than 2 hours and came up with a bonus 5th layout. This workshop would be excellent if you had a theme that would take up 4 or 5 pages like part of a holiday. Using just one set of letters, one set of stickers, some paper, cardstock and basic tools for all 5 layouts. Here's a look...

Thats all for now..back with more soon.

Another sneak peek...

I have one of Gayle's sneak peeks. Her first class is a single page layout with handmade paper embellishments. This is Friday afternoons class (new class time slot!)...

As promised I want to show a few samples from my inking techniques class. The first layout is of Matt's Mum (far right) as a child with her parents and siblings. I love how this layout turned out with the inking and then the Tim Holtz metal embellishments - which have been flying out the shop door - and so have these frames which we have tonnes of in store (email scrappinoutback@bigpond.com if you would like one). The second layout is one of my Mums school photos. I am doing my Mum and Dads album in A4 format...love this format.

I have another layout to share soon. Back soon!

Preview...

The October retreat is now only 4 weeks away so I am busily getting things organised for the much awaited event. The tutors have been creating away and have come up with some awesome classes that will inspire all who come, especially those who have lost their mojo and are wishing to get it back.

I can reveal Lis's two classes...'Celebrate' and 'Be Merry'....so here are the sneak peaks - perfect for events where you have tonnes of photos to use....

I can also reveal Sharon's first class - a mixed media class that is so fascinating and full of technique. You cant miss this one even if you're not an 'off the page' kinda gal!

Sharon is also working on a mini travel album/journal that is going to be great. Looking forward to doing this one to document our recent family holiday.

I'll have more sneak peeks to share soon and in the mean time I am preparing class requirements to get out to applicants by the end of this week. If you haven't already sent in your application be sure to do so, so you don't miss out on the requirements. We still have places available.

Be back soon!

I'm Back!

Well overdue for an update so here goes...

I had alot going on in early August with classes and such then on the 10th we flew to the Sunshine Coast in QLD for a wedding and a holiday. It was Matt's brothers wedding, Corban, who married the very beautiful Jaimee. Here's a photo of the bride and groom, and the flower girls of which Phoebe was one of them...she was missing her 2 front teeth...

The wedding was beautiful of course and the first week of our holiday was spent on the lead up to the wedding with Matt's family. Then we celebrated Matt's 30th birthday with his family at the Ettamogah Pub which was loads of fun. Here's the birthday boy.

We spent another 5 days in QLD with amazing sunny weather which was very relaxing. Then it was back to Hyden to catch up with work as well as preparation for Matt's second 30th birthday party. We celebrated it at the Hyden Hotel with 50 friends and had a really special time.

Only a day or 2 later we were off to the Newdegate Field Days where I have a stall each year and we did pretty well, but were exhausted by the time it was over. A day at home then it was Phoebes 6th Birthday so we celebrated that and Fathers Day as a family. Now we are head down and tail up catching up on work again. I'm not complaining about now busy we have been - its great that life is good and we don't have time to get into trouble or slack off!

Since I've been back i have been on to organising the 9th Wave Rock Scrapbooking Retreat which is proving to be popular judging by the amount of applicants we have already. If you have not received a brochure and application form contact me at scrappinoutback@bigpond.com as we have had a few glitches with the group email I sent out a couple of weeks ago.

We have had loads of new stock in recently, especially products for classes at the retreat. It is so yummy! There is too much to show it all but Basic Grey have just released Indian Summer and Eskimo Kisses and we have these ranges in stock. Here are the picks...

I am currently working on classes for next week - a comprehensive look at inking, masks and other techniques. I'll upload photos late next week hopefully of the final layouts. This class series is something I have been wanting to do for a while and I am really long forward to sharing it.

We have quite a bit of new gift ware in store now so if you're ever close by you should pop in and check it out...if you can pry yourself away from the scrapbooking stuff!