Cricut Dealer...

I recently decided to become a Cricut Dealer although it's a little late considering how many of my clients have already purchased one elseware. I finally bit the bullet though and thought if the best I do is keep everyone in accessories and replacement parts then thats enough. As some of you may know there has been a Cricut promotion running for some time for specials on the Cricut so I have each of the below units on sale until they are sold. Technically the promotion ends today but I have one Cricut Expression (large unit) and a Cuttlebug and Cuttlekids all at the low price. The savings are huge so it you've been thinking of buying one then dont miss this opportunity.


I'll post later with a layout etc...

Back on track...

Well I'm finally home again and feel like my feet haven't touched the ground for the last month, until now. I've spent the last 2 days unpacking and getting my house in order.

Not long after my last post I left for a 3 day trip to 2 neighbouring towns, Ravensthorpe and Jerramungup where I taught classes and took the shop. It turned out to be the best thing for me - a welcome distraction to all the dramas of late, and good for business. I had such a great time meeting new girls and catching up with old friends...good for the soul. So after 400km's and 2 towns, I was back at home again for a great day with local scrappers then off the following day to Newdegate for another great day...have I mentioned before how much I love my job? well I do. I have made such good friends.

Speaking of friends, Sally from Jerramungup had the opening of her 'Happy Scrappy Monday' scrapbooking group while I was at her place. She turned her garage into a scrapbook room with all the trims and whistles. Her passion is infectious so she attracted a lot of girls and many laughs were had. Here's a photo of her homemade sign inside the scrapbook room and some photos on me and Sal and my good friend Ann.

Back to reality now and its not so bad. Jett got croup before I left so we have been sleep deprived for the last week but he's on the mend now. My brother, Dean is now on the mend as well after being in hospital for 4 weeks with infections. He is still in hospital but if all goes well he should be out soon for a well deserved break before the bone marrow transplant. I am so relieved that he is doing better as it has been so worrying. I feel so helpless at times and that I cant do enough.

Well it's nearly the end of the financial year and my annual album sale has been a success. I have sold sooo many and could have sold more had I been able to get more of the popular ones which are in short supply, due to their popularity. I do have more on order so stocks will be back to normal soon. I have been sorting through what seems like ship loads of stock and reducing prices on a lot of items to make way for the ever increasing new ranges that are constantly been released - it's such a fashion industry!

I started 2 layouts while on my travels but have not had a chance to finish them...maybe today! I hope to find time to scrap now, after a little more sorting and cleaning. I forgot to show the other projects I did in Brisbane so will do so in the next day or 2, however one project is not complete because I'm waiting on supplies to arrive.

Thanks for visiting and for your patience if you've been visiting often and not seeing anything new!

Layouts to share...

I have put the finishing touches on the layouts from the Making Memories trade class in Brisbane. I didn't think I'd be able to find the right photos for these layouts which were done before the photos were added, but I did find some and I'm happy with the results. As I mentioned before I'm not blown away by these layouts but I did learn more about some of the Making Memories tools. I used a ribbon curler for the first time and won one in a spot prize and I used one of the paper ranges called 'Fifth Avenue' - the red/black and pink one.

The first layout is the Easter egg hunt with the 'Garden Party' range of papers...

This layout is also using the Garden Party range. Phoebe had this kitten called Spotty who she almost killed with love and fortunately the kitten rolled with the punches and did as she was told.

The last layout is the Fifth Avenue one. The photo is of my Mum and Dad with their Mothers on their wedding day. The papers (surprisingly) went really well.

I have more to show in the next few days. I have a very busy week ahead. I have Tuesday scrappers coming tomorrow (which I'm excited about) and then classes in Ravensthorpe on Saturday, followed by 2 days in Jerramungup at my friend Sally's house, who is launching her Monday Madness scrapbookers group, home Tuesday for the locals then off to Newdegate on Wednesday. Phew! I'd better get creative and get planning!

On a personal note, we celebrated Asher's birthday (our nephew) on Saturday morning with a huge 'Thomas the Tank Engine' party followed by one in the afternoon for Jett (our baby) who turned 2. Jett absolutely loved the party, although I'm not convinced he knew it was for him, and he especially loved the 'Thomas' cake that my Mum made for him and all the 'boy toys' he received. I cant wait to scrap the photos.

Also, Dean is still struggling to get well but we are all behind him all the way and are thankful for all the support we have and are receiving. Thanks again for your kind comments.

Bittersweet...

I've returned from a week away and have very mixed feelings about how it went. I don't even know where to start.

Originally the purpose of our trip to the east coast was to attend my cousins wedding in Sydney on the long weekend on behalf of my family who could not go. We then tied the trip in with a trade day in Brisbane at Printblocks and a to visit some farmers in Toowoomba. We left on Sunday to go to Perth and on arriving in Perth I visited my brother Dean in RPH. He had been battling a temperature for 4 days and it was not coming down. Later that night (12:30am Monday) he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with trouble breathing. When we went to see him on Monday morning, the severity of the situation hit me and I fell in a bit of a heap (to put it lightly). We were supposed to fly out at lunch time on Monday but Matt and I felt we couldn't considering the situation. When I saw Dean later on that day he was very disappointed that we had not continued on with our trip but he understood. He then said he would like us to go and that he would be OK. It was the most difficult decision to make but we respected his wishes and left on Tuesday evening which as you can imagine was not easy. The rest of the week was a bit messed up but we did achieve the things we went for. Dean remained in intensive care until after we arrived back in Perth on Monday night. On Tuesday as we were going to see him he was being moved back to the ward and he had improved immensely. Since then he has had a few more troubles and everyday it changes so he is not out of the woods entirely but hopefully he will get better and stronger everyday. My purpose for going into detail is that so many of you have emailed me to see how my trip went and how Dean is going so I thought this would be the easiest way to let you all know. I have a very heavy heart at times and I'm feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted so I'm laying low but as Dean said to me this morning, being anxious wont achieve anything so I'm trying to stay hopeful.

On a lighter note, I attended the trade day at Printblocks last Thursday and it was a very welcome distraction and a great day. I got to shop in the warehouse and see products I had never laid eyes on as well as items i had seen on the Internet that looked much better in real life. I shopped up and have boxes of goodies arriving in the coming weeks. I also pre-ordered some new things that will arrive later in the year. The tutors who taught the trade classes were designers and representatives from the big brands in the USA like Making Memories, K and Co, Imaginisce and Karen Foster Designs. They were fantastic from a business perspective and although I wasn't completely taken by the layouts we did, I was impressed with the products and ideas on how to use them more effectively. I came away with my head buzzing with ideas and inspiration which I cant wait to implement and pass on. I am planning to share all my ideas in the coming months. I just need a couple of days to recover! I didn't get to attend the 3 day convention in Brisbane as we had to go to Sydney but I feel like I've got enough inspiration to go on with anyway. I will show the projects I did over the next week as I finish them.

We met some lovely farmers from Toowoomba while in Queensland and had a drive through the country to check out the farming land etc. This was a great day and we have made some new friends who we hope to get to know better.

Sydney was a madhouse! I cant believe people are game enough to live there! Its all relative though I guess - they would probably never want to live here (Varley) either. We got to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Phoebe and Jett got to see Nemo in the aquarium and ride on the monorail which fulfilled their dreams.

Before I went away I started a layout of Jett's facial expressions and I finished it yesterday. I used Sassafras Lass and Pink Paisley papers and a few other bits and pieces. Simple design and the memory is recorded.

Got lots more to show and tell so stay tuned. Thanks for your patience and for visiting.

Crop checking and scrapping with friends...

Matt, the kids and I got out on Monday to check our crops - or Matt's garden as he sometimes refers to it. He's a good gardener on a broad acre scale. These are his little babies...canola...




...and barley...




...and here are my babies checking his babies...




On Tuesday the studio was packed out with a full house of scrappers. It was so good to have the room buzzing with friends who lave to scrap.



Then Wednesday in Newdegate was even more of a full house. It was a great day and most of the girls took advantage of the album sale and almost cleaned me out! There are still more albums coming though and the sale still runs till the end of June.



Other than that I've been cleaning up (it never ends) and packing. We are off to Brisbane on Monday for a break and for me to attend some trade classes at Printblocks which I hope to gain great inspiration from. The thing I love most about this is I will get to see lots of new products with my own eyes so I can order products knowing what I am getting. I also love rubbing shoulders with inspirational people who share the passion. I hope to come home with some great ideas to pass on to all my fellow scrappers and of course with a whole heap of new photos to scrap and implement those ideas.

Thanks for looking! I'll be back.

Glorious rain and layouts to share...

Yes, we had an inch of rain over the weekend which was more than we expected but we are very grateful and we finally have water in our dams that have been empty for 6 months. It feels so good and we are so blessed. There are still alot of people in need of rain and we are mindful of them. We dont realise how much we depend on it until its not there.

We had a weekend away in Esperance catching up with friends and family and of course some retail therapy and a few doses of cafes and coffee. Then it was home again last night to get back to reality. It feels good to come home and not have any seeding to do although there's still plenty of other stuff to do. I've been preparing for classes at Newdegate on Wednesday and I finished the 2 layouts I had started late last week. A fresh look gave me the motivation to complete them although I may add a few more touches.

The first is of Phoebe with her homemade crown. It reminded me of a pair of pajamas that I bought her a while ago that had a funny and fitting saying on it. I used the new Sassafras Lass papers and journalling card, and a piece of die cut Pink Paisley paper - all yummy.

The second layout I did of a little girl and her Grandma's dog. Can you guess who she is? She has a cheeky little 4 year old girl of her own now. I used Basic Grey Mellow papers. Its a bit busy but I think I'm ok with that.

I also unpacked more new stock today. More albums for my album sale (20% OFF until end of June) and lots of other goodies. I'm stocking up for the Condy retreat in July - its creeping up fast!

I havent forgotten about the Perth retreat for July next year. I'm still working on finding the right venue so bare with me for a while - it has to be perfect!

Thanks for looking!

GRRRRR...

I did 2 layouts yesterday and couldn't come up with a title for one and the title for the other one took hours, literally, and it still didn't look right so I'm starting it again for the fourth time. I'm having trouble with the Cricut cutting letters that are small enough for a long title - it wont do it so I've reverted back to letter stickers but don't quite have enough. I ended up with such a headache that I gave up in frustration in the end and decided to leave it for another day. I do take it all a bit seriously don't I? But you know when you can picture something in your mind but then cannot reproduce the idea? Well that's how it is for these 2 layouts. So when I've got over the hurdle and completed them I'll show and tell.

I mentioned earlier that we have finished seeding which is a wonderful thing, but my dream of never seeing a container again has been smashed. Throughout the last few weeks I've been sending out packed lunches in Chinese takeaway containers and when they ran out I was sending Tupperware out and then there were none left and although it was frustrating having none left, I didn't really mind....but alas...now they are all coming back..and their breeding...I have so many to wash that I've run out of dish washing liquid! They have been stashed in vehicles and machinery all over the property and they bred and now they are returning...thank the Lord for dishwashers! Sorry...I'm being a drama queen aren't I?!

I'm off to Newdegate again next Wednesday, the 28th of May for classes...cant wait to see the girls over there.

Also, I'm going to some trade classes in Brisbane in a few weeks which I'm very excited about and cant wait to see some new products and ideas, and see whats happening in the wide wide world of scrapbooking, outside my own small nook. We are going as a family and are looking forward to the break.

Thanks for all the comments on my last post - its so good to hear from visitors.

Layouts to share...

I managed to finish 2 layouts today that I had started on and hit a brick wall. Funny how walking away and coming back later can give you a fresh view. I chose the Deja Views - Sharon Ann Timeless Collection papers and embellies to scrap some sepia photos I have - both old and new. I intend to do about 6 layouts and frame them all and display them on the wall in my hall way which I am painting a colour called 'warm neutral' - a taupe colour (when my husband can lend me a hand - this could be anything from a week to 2 years HA!). I am hoping that the collection of framed layouts will look good grouped together in Rosewood frames, bringing together 4 generations of family photos. I have been working on the first 2 and got them completed to the stage that they only need journaling. I will only put names and dates though, not the stories. The first one is of Matt's Nanna and Poppa and 3 of their 5 children. I have another one to do with the whole family of seven.




The next one is a professional photo taken by Miller studios, on Canning Hwy in Perth, of Phoebe when she was 5 and half months old. She has a big dribble on her chin, which we love - makes us chuckle. I must admit that I have wrestled with these papers and the layouts but I am hoping that what I visualise in my mind will look good when it all comes together.

I also started and finished a quick layout of Phoebe and her cousin Asher using Sassafras Lass papers and journaling cards, and an old metal sign for the title, which 'says it all'.

In personal news, My Brother, Dean, and his wife Cassi, their kids and my parents all came for the weekend and we celebrated a late Mothers Day together as a family. This time spent was priceless..very special. Dean started chemo again on Monday and we were warned this one will be brutal but we are hoping that the end will result will be remission. Dean and Cassi are amazing. They have incredible attitudes that will get them though the really tough times - I feel pretty weak in comparison but I guess you can rise to the occasion when you are in these situations if you make up you mind to. I hope to.

Also, some good news...we have finished seeding...WOOHOO! I couldn't care less if I saw another container ever again. The washing up I will not miss!

Thanks for looking...and don't be afraid to leave a comment to let me know who is visiting!

New products...

I recently received some new stock I had been waiting for with great anticipation. I've been wanting to carry Technique Tuesday products for a year or so and finally have some. I'll build the range up but here's some stamps and chipboard to get started. I'm yet to have a play but hopefully will soon.





2 new Sassafrass Lass paper ranges have arrived, Robotics and Sunshine. They are very bold busy and FUN! I love the scalloped and pinked edges on the patterned papers. Cant wait to have a play...got lots of playing to do...







And then there's the new Pink Paisley range of papers also with scalloped edges...more playing...




...and some new felt ribbon from Queen and Co. Love the trains and cars! I'm currently playing with the brown vine felt on a heritage layout...having a little trouble with the layout but I'm sure I'll finish it soon..I hope!

Announcing...

Scrappin’ Outback

Presents

Condingup Scrapbooking Retreat

25th – 27th July 2008

Come and join in on a relaxing and friendly weekend of scrapbooking in Condingup. This is an opportunity to dust off your supplies and equipment and be inspired.

Contact Karen Smith on
98751021 or 0427977672
for booking, details and prices.