Back with more to show and tell...

Warning...this could be a long post as there is lots to report...

Recently we began beginners classes at Scrappin' Outback as there are loads of girls wishing to start out. Gayle Smith designed one of our beginner layouts with 2 versions (boy and girl) for our class and her layouts were gorgeous. I've had a few girls who have been scrapbooking for a while ask if they can have a kit so I thought I'd mention it if any of you would like one too. I have done the layout myself and I'm pleased with the results. Let me know at scrappinoutback@bigpond.com if you would like to order a kit. Here are Gayle's layouts...

and here is mine...

We have some new stock in store. K and Company have released new ranges and as usual they are to die for. I love Madeline which is very girl and romantic looking and also Que Serra Serra which is very collage arty farty style and absolutely gorgeous. I have a fair bit in stock and cant wait to use it myself.
We also have new Collage Press ranges 'Knave of Hearts' and 'Sweet Shoppe' that are stunning. Gayle is working on a layout using Sweet Shoppe which I'm sure will be awesome...sorry Gayle.. no pressure intended! Here are samples...

Then we now have the ultimate cutting mat by We R Memory Keepers. It is 14" x 18" and is magnetic (much like the Basic Grey magnetic cutting mat only bigger) and comes with a very large magnetic ruler. I love these cutting mats because i get less slippage when cutting with a ruler and knife, and also because I can hold down elements on my layout when I am assembling it. I can then hold it up to see if it looks good. These are pricey but worth the outlay. They retail for $69.95 and if you want magnetic posts to anchor things a set of posts (sold separately) is $10.95. They Basic Grey mats are a great alternative (@ $54.95) but have sold out, however will be back in stock soon. We R have also released a magnetic circle cutter to go with the mat which cuts circles from 4" to 12". It is quite good and I have these. They are $44.95. Tools have been very popular here of late and we have loads in stock.

I have a layout to share that I did a few weeks ago. I used Pink Paislee papers and border strips, the Cricut font called Stamped (my favourite) for the title and heart and a new Cricut cartridge called Home Decor for the birdie which is cute as. I have this new cartridge in stock...here it is.

That's all for today folks. Back ith more soon. I'm currently working on a few layouts.

Life is good...

Hard sometimes...but good. Things have finally settled down a bit for me. I am now enjoying a routine and I'm happy. I'm so grateful for all the good things in my life at the moment. I live in a beautiful town, have a beautiful family and now a scrapbook shop that is up and running too. I feel so fulfilled.

National Scrapbooking day was not a big event as sport is on Saturdays so it clashed but I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to get together and scrap with the girls. I had my first class today - a beginners class. It was fun to introduce some new girls to scrapbooking and see their anguish over putting their layouts together, then their excitement when their layouts were finished. I warned them that they would go home and either not sleep tonight or dream about scrapbooking all night. Do you remember doing that? It happens to me occasionally if I've had a big scrapbooking day. Amy,my assistant, wasn't a scrapbooker until now..now it wont be long before she is addicted like the rest of us. You should see the excitement on her face! (and by the way... she is so good at her job). It's so satisfying for me to see people enjoy the craft.

I have managed to get my creative juices going again and have done a few layouts which I will photograph soon to show. I have loads of photos printed out and papers chosen for new layouts so I'll put my head down and tail up while Matt is off busy at work. Seeding is about to start (praying for rain) so there will be plenty of nights alone for me scrap.

Some new goodies are in at the shop. Basic Grey's new line 'Lime Rickey' is in stock and is very bright and funky...

New 'Orbit', 'Lillian' and 'Little Sprout' by Crate Paper...

New 'Baby Safari" boy and girls ranges by Little Yellow Bicycle...

Most new paper ranges are coming out with die cut papers that are to die for...very intricate and very cool. Also there is lots of glitter and clear embellishments. Owls, trees and birds in multitudes...still! It's all eye candy.

That's all for today. Be back soon with more stuff to show. Ta ta.

The new shop...and National Scrapbooking Day

Well I'm overdue for an update so here it is...

Firstly, the most exciting thing that as happened to me is realising my dream of opening my own scrapbook shop. It is finally a reality and all up and running. It took Amy (my new assistant) and I a couple of weeks to get it all set up - I had far more stock than I realised! - and now most of my stock is on display and looking good. The response from people who walk in, which is all good, has made it all worth while and is very encouraging. Its great to see so many people excited about this wonderful craft. I have loads of girls who want to start scrapbooking and loads who just appreciate now having a shop in close proximity. I must say Hyden is a fantastic place to have a shop - I'm loving it here. So here are some pics to show it off although you have to see it for yourself. I'm really pleased with how it looks.

Then there's National Scrapbooking Day this Saturday the 2nd of May. To celebrate I am having an opening day and all day crop in the new shop to christen it and to toast to many happy scrapping times ahead. I cant wait to have a room full of excited scrappers busily scrapping away and enjoying each others company.

Lastly, for today, my brother Dean has made it through a very severe dose of chemo and a series of infections. He is now out of hospital and has a month to build strength, put on weight and recover. Miraculously he is in remission which originally they though he wasn't so in the short term things are looking up - for which we have our God to thank. In the long term things are still not looking good but as always we remain hopeful for miracles. It has been difficult to say the least but we are so grateful that he is well at the moment. My sister-in-law needs a medal by the way for her devotion and love to Dean. Cant be thankful enough.

That's all for today. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more things to report on. I have been working on a layout (speaking of miracles!) and I have some new stock to show once I have photos. Bye for now.

Time to check in...and my BIG news...

Checking in from a very long break from the blog. The last few weeks have been difficult to say the least but I'm back with an update.

The retreat was a huge success. I thought I would have to leave at one stage because my brother was so unwell but I ended up being there for it all. The tutors blew us away again with great classes. It is so frustrating that photos of layouts do not do them justice but the results of the classes were amazing with some awesome versions of the samples and most girls frantically doing more than one layout from each class. I am so glad it all went well and that all the girls - new and old comers - enjoyed it. We did miss a few regulars, however Bernadette - one of our regular entertainers who was away - featured in a story from Sally - the other regular entertainer - that had us nearly wetting our pants. Ann and Donna were checking in by text and phone to see how things were going. We missed you all girls, and Margaret who is far far away in NZ (lucky thang!). Kim started a trend a few years ago when she brang her leather office chair and although she was not there (miss you) her trend was carried through by others who were there with their office chairs - this is serious stuff after all and a girls gotta be comfortable! (Sorry to mention names but some of you have become notorious!)

So my news is (and lots of you already know)...is that I am opening a shop in Hyden! I have dreamed of this for so long and it has now become a reality - a scrapbook shop of my own. I have enjoyed the lifestyle of being a mobile scrapbook shop for the last 4 and a half years but now it is time to put in all on display. I have an amazing shop that has heaps of character and most importantly - space! I have been unpacking new furniture and shop fittings over the last few days and I'm so excited I dream about it in my sleep. It has been a welcome distraction to a difficult time. I'm still pinching myself at my fortune though to be living in such a great town with so many lovely people and now a SCRAPBBOOK SHOP. In my haste to assemble furniture today I forgot to take some 'before' photos of the shop but I did capture this photo the other day of my new cash register when it arrived. Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted a cash register of my own (this may sound strange, I know) and now I have one that prints out my business name etc. and it is so satisfying. Small pleasures. I will keep you updated on progress of the shop as I go. I open on Tuesday the 14th of April and will have an official opening after the school holidays with a bottle of bubbly. Yeehah!

On a personal note....Dean is doing better this week, finally, but it is a long road ahead and although the outlook is not good we remain hopeful. I spent 3 amazing days with him last week and some very special moments in that time with our older brother Paul - too personal to speak of - but very special indeed.

So I'll leave you with this message, that life is short and too short to not say what needs to be said or done, even if it's hard to do or say. Love to you all.

7 Days to go...

I cant believe there is only 7 days left until the retreat! It has snuck up on me again, however, I have been busily preparing class kits and ordering goodies. The front entrance to our new house (which is quite large) is littered with boxes and boxes of stock which I am sorting, pricing and repacking into kits. It is great fun...just like Christmas when boxes arrive. They are even delivered to my front door now! Hows that?

I'm loving town life by the way. Yeah, I know there are draw backs but at the moment I am loving the close proximity to everything. Sometimes it takes me an hour to walk to school and back (which is a five minute walk each way) because I stop to chat to people along the way. I will reveal another reason why moving to Hyden made so much sense. My Aunt and Uncle who are our very good friends and mentors share a common interest in our farming enterprise. We were discussing their involvement in farming and my Auntie expressed that the reason why she could never live on a farm was because although she likes her own company and personal space, she also loves people and to be around them. She hit the nail on the head. This is how I have felt for the last 7 years and have not been able to put it into words (in such a short way!). It really feels like home here too, to Matt, the kids and myself.

I should have done this a while ago but I have sneak peaks to show you of the classes we will be doing at the retreat. If you are not attending and would like a kit you are most welcome to enquire at scrappinoutback@bigpond.com for availability and prices.

Lis Cassey's classes...

...one of Gayle Smith's classes

I'll show more when I can locate them! Numbers are looking good. We will have about 40 of us girls all together including some of our BIG personalities that keep us wetting our pants with their funny stories. I'm looking forward to some laughs and great memories with my good friends. I hope to find time to scrap too as I haven't done anything for so long.

Also on a personal note..my brother Dean has started chemo...again...and is feeling the effects as they are hitting him with a pretty hard dose. It has to be done unfortunately. Life can be cruel, that is why we need faith, our family and our friends so much...and never to take life for granted. I am really stopping to count my blessings at the moment rather than focusing on the c__p in life. Food for thought.

Thanks for looking. Be back soon!

Sorry...

It seems as though I keep repeating myself - always saying sorry for not blogging often enough...and i truly am sorry, but this time its for a very good reason. On February 27th - my 10th wedding anniversary - I lost my Auntie Pat who has been fighting cancer for almost 16 years. Despite the length of the fight I was stunned. And there were other private problems to deal with at the same time...just to add to the mix. Then on Friday the 6th of March we discovered that my brother, Dean, who had a bone marrow transplant in September 2008 has relapsed and the leukaemia is back. Now begins the journey to fighting back, but before that processing all that has happened. I was doing quite well but it has all caught up on me in the last day or 2.
The good news is that the retreat is going ahead and I have committed girls supporting me who are willing to help make it happen. So i shall be back with more news soon - hopefully good, and some more information regarding the retreat. Thank you for your patience. Love, Karen.

My News...

Well folks, I can now share some of my news with you finally! Phew! We have moved. Matt, the kids and I moved to Hyden to live yesterday. For many personal and business reasons we made the decision to relocate our family. It's only 100kms up the road (closer to Perth) and it has a school and shops and of course our beautiful new house....

I have mixed feelings. I'm a little sad to leave the farm and the Lake King Primary School - which is second to none - but I am also excited at the same time. Yesterday was a very emotional day for me...a few tears with the ending of one chapter and the beginning of a new one.

If you are a friend of mine and you are finding out this way I do apologise. In the chaos of making the decision less than a week ago and then moving in I have not been able to contact everyone I know and love. Once I am settled and have a new phone number and address etc. I will let everyone know. At the moment I need some sleep! Needless to say I have not had time to scrap and need to set up a whole new scrapbooking area in our home so it may take me a while to get going. I also have loads of stuff going on with the upcoming retreat which I am looking forward to immensely. Applications are rolling in fast.

I'm off to Newdegate tomorrow for a class. The girls over there have been eagerly anticipating their first class for the year so I hope to inspire them.

I'll be back!

You make it all worth while...

Those of you who visit my blog make is so worth while keeping up with I am stoked to hear comments that you read and are interested in this blog and knowing that keeps me going...so thank you.

I've not been scrapping as much as I'd like to in the last couple of days but have a few things to show that might be of interest to you.

Firstly, on a scrapbooking note, I have this new shoulder bag for my Cricut Expression - the larger of the Cricut machines - and I love it. I sell them for about $100 and I have been test driving mine and I'm very happy with the results. It is a tight fit though to get the machine into the bag but I don't think this is a bag thing. It has room for the machine and power chord only, not the mat and cartridges etc. but still a good buy.

I have been growing roses for about 4 years here at Varley and I'm very proud to share this bunch I picked the other day...and they smell amazing whenever I walk past them. I love gardening and I'm fortunate enough to have a large garden that is doing quite well at the moment.

On a bigger gardening scale, our sunflower crop are doing very well and has been flowering in the last week. Here's what they look like now. Very novel to have them growing on this scale!

I'm bursting at the seams at the moment with some very exciting news which I cannot share yet, but this year is going to be really exciting for me with some great changes. I cant wait to share them but have to zip it until I have more confirmation on details...aaahhh! this is so hard!

I have a layout screaming at me to finish it so when I have school stuff ready I'll go and get to it. Be back soon!

Still here...

I am still here...just insanely busy. I am so sorry for being gone for so long - I've probably lost you all and I'll be talking to myself but it's worth a go anyway. This post will be a long one as there is lots to catch up on.

I totally didn't realise how much school Mums have to do. I cant believe how organised you have to be with children at school full-time. Maybe this will help me with time management!

I had my first class for the year with the girls at Ravensthorpe including the Condy girls who travelled over, on Saturday the 7th of February. Times are tough for the Ravy community with the mine shutting down and the 2008 cropping season being a bit of a fizzer, but I cant get over how positive these people are and resilient too. It shows how strong people can be when faced with adversity. I love spending time with these girls and I'm so inspired by their enthusiasm. They certainly haven't lost their love for scrapbooking!

Brochures and applications are out for the March retreat being held on the 27th - 29th of March at Hyden. I am overwhelmed with the response so far - so many keen to come again and some new girls too - it's going to be a goody. If you haven't received a brochure from me and you'd like one just pop me an email to scrappinoutback@bigpond.com and I'll forward the relevant information to you. We have the lovely Gayle Smith, Sharon Manning and Lis Cassey back with us again to teach and they are busily planning classes. I already have one sneak peak from Sharon - a drop dead gorgeous off the page project that is going to get you addicted! Here it is...

Earlier on this year - after Christmas and early January - I began working on classes for the up coming months and I have been back working on more in the last week. I have shown this layout before and I have a couple more versions of the layout with different papers etc. to demonstrate the versatility of the layout and techniques. I am currently working on a 4th layout as well! Getting some mileage! Here are the first 3...

Also, I have been working on more heritage layouts with my family photos. I have found this project the most difficult because I have not been able to find a lot of heritage layouts to gain inspiration and ideas from. So I've stepped out and done it completely with my own ideas and creativity. Although I am happy with the results so far it is scary because I want this historical record to be so special. I am slowly getting through it and trying not to rush the process so I don't have to go back and redo pages later on. Here are a couple I finished recently (well almost finished - I may add a detail or two if I find the right ones)...

I did a layout a while back of Jett with lackeys in his hair titled "too cute for words" and i decided recently to use the layout sketch to scrap some of my childhood photos. The layout includes 4 - 8 small square photos (3" x 3") and I got to thinking, I have loads of small square photos of my childhood because that was how they were processed in the 70's. I must admit I have already scrapped these photos twice before and not been happy with the layouts, but now I am because I have used papers etc. that are more suited to the era. I am stunned at how many K & Co papers and embellishments I have found that suit old and new photos. I am stoked with the results I get from this brand - I am addicted to their stuff at the moment. Here is the layout...

New stock is trickling in for the retreat including items for class kits - it's all eye candy and there are far too many 'must haves'. I'll show some ranges in future posts.

I have made a decision to start having giveaways on this blog as I see the hit counter rising all the time but I don't know who is visiting. So I thought if i can get you to leave comments and reward you with prizes I will know that you have dropped by. Bribery in the 1st degree I know!

Well that's all for today folks. I promise to be back soon. Thanks for looking!

Update...

Hi there friends! I'm on holidays at the moment and pleased to say I have been scrapping with my buddies in Esperance. I have also been planning classes for this year and I'm very excited about it all. I'll show some layouts I've been working on when they are finished. I have some new stock in too. The new valentines range by Basic Grey "Bittersweet" is gorgeous and could be used for plenty of themes other than valentines day. The range includes the usual papers, stickers etc. but there are also gorgeous card packs that include all you need with instructions to make 12 stunning cards. I'm hoping to start working on some samples soon to inspire you with Valentines layouts.

No other exciting news yet except that I have begun preparation for the Hyden retreat that is on the 27th - 29th of March 2009 so stay tuned for more details. Back soon.