And the winner is ...

... Donna aka Deebee. I have your address on the back of the cj parcel you posted so I'll get a little something off to you in the next few days.

SALT
Yet another challenge blog that I follow. I won't say 'keep up with' cause I don't do very well at keeping up with any of them - what's that saying about the deadline whooshing past? Anyway - I have managed to do my first SALT challenge. The topic was creation, and from the moment I read it I had this song floating around in my head:

I am a new creation
No more in condemnation
Here in the grace of God I stand
My heart is overflowing
My love just keeps on growing
Here in the grace of God I stand

And I will praise You Lord
Yes, I will praise You Lord
And I will sing of all that You have done

A joy that knows no limit
A lightness in my spirit
Here in the grace of God I stand

©1983 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Words and Music by Dave Bilgrough

So this is what I came up with. Both not very flattering photos of me but I guess they get the point across. I've decided to make a faith book in the 12x 6 size - it's fun doing something a little different from the normal 12x 12 square.

This layout is also based on one of the Becky Fleck sketches from the latest Basic Grey newsletter. So it came together nice and quickly for me.

October Kit Gallery
The kit layouts by the design team at SE have gone up in the gallery this week. So I can share those too.

OK so I would share the rest but blogger is not playing nicely. But you can go here and see more. And that way you also get to see what the other DT members have done too.

Feeling a little tired.

While I wanted to be away at SENZ this weekend, it wasn't to be and instead I was at Rally camp. Rally is similar to Guides/Scouts and I've been a somewhat reluctant leader this year (due to lack of time mostly). Despite my disorganised state we managed to take 18 kids from our Rally and joined with others from the district - about 100 kids in total. We had a fantastic time. Junk food, lots of mud and talking till late at night.

I guess the best thing for me was the realisation that I could keep up with the kids. We took them on a long walk up a hill and down the other side and back along the Hutt river. I was the leader at the front - keeping up with the kids running ahead. Keeping up! This is big - in the past I would have been the leader at the back, puffing and red faced and struggling to keep up. O.K - so I was still puffing and red faced at times but only cause I ran. And I played a game of basketball - and kept up - even with ugg boots on! It's amazing what a difference 60kgs less can make ... and lots of cups of coffee, coke zero and the occasional panadol tablet.

On the scrapping front... I have been working hard with the October SE kit. (Layouts to be seen soon.) And I did my first 6 x 12 layout for Scrap of Faith's birthday competition.
Might just have to do some more this size to match.

Oh and it was my first 'blogiversary' last week. Can't believe I've been doing this for a whole year. I'm feeling kinda generous right now, so how about everyone leaves me a comment on this post and I will draw a name sometime later in the week and send out a little rakking goodness. (This is the time for all you lurkers to come out of hiding and let me know you're reading - please.)

More Inspiration

I've been trying out a few different techniques in my work recently. So I thought I'd share a few links to places where my inspiration has come from.

The first is Melissa Goodsell. I absolutely love her stuff - she's into more than just scrapbooking. Lots of stitching and check out those yummy little teacups she just whipped up. So, inspired by Melissa, I've had my sewing machine out lately - infact I left it out most of the weekend!

I've used it on layouts but also sewed up these book covers - if I owe you a P.I.F gift then you might just get to see one of these in real life sometime soon. ;o)


The next is another aussie Stephi Kemp. I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled across her blog but I love the artiness of her stuff. The collage stuff caught my eye and I also love the painted/stamped backgrounds which she actually describes how to do - very helpful for someone who wants to give it a go too. Must buy some twinkling h2o's cause I really, really like that look.

And some more arty inspiration comes from Marieke. I was rather taken with a fairy layout she did for Scrapgal called believe. It looks deliciously messy with paint and masking.

I was working on a layout over the weekend and thought I might try this masking game with the paint that comes with this months add on kit at Scrapbook Essentials. I was looking around for something to use as a mask and eventually decided to try using a wide piece of lace. Love how it turned out - just gotta master that 'simple' look cause by the time I'd finished the layout I'd covered most of it up! LOL

Anyway, on Marieke's blog she has put up a challenge for World Card Making Day. She said to use accetate and paint. And cause I had those things out for the layout I'd just finished - how could I not have a go!

So, for the first card I used the same lace as a mask and used the teal paint first, then moved it and used white paint. I've smeared kindy glitz and dimensional magic on the other side of the accetate which gives it a sparkle. Then added the bits of Scenic Route paper and the rubons. Trying very hard to keep it simple and not cover up all the paint!


It kinda looks messy it the pic - it's really hard to take a photo of an acetate card, (specially when you have a 3yr old helper) but it does look better in real life - honest! The paint has a lacey texture to it which looks kinda cool and there's way more sparkle too.

And cause I had a bit of acetate left - thought I might as well make another one. This time I painted in teal and then stamped the words in white. Added the circles and rubons and then discovered I could scrape the paint off again which is what I did around the top circle.



That's another two cards to add to my stash, so thanks for the challenge Marieke. :o)

Eye Candy

I just found the most coolest shop ever!

It's a combination of all my favourite Etsy shops all grouped together and in real life! For those in Wellington it's in the Marsden Village shops in Karori and it's called Inky Pinky Inc.

I so wish I had my camera with me, cause the inspiration was amazing. They had an awesome display with the coolest cake plate in the middle - I mentioned to Alexander that he might want to show Daddy this shop sometime before my birthday!

There was handmade jewelry and acrylic letters (like wooden ones but see through and just asking to be altered) and felt stuff - oh the felt stuff! So much inspiration!


I found these very cool felt butterflies and some felt ribbon - which I just had to buy. I took note of some very neat felt brooches and cute felt bags.

Definitely worth another trip to Karori in the near future I think.

The cards in the pic above are some of last nights creations. I suddenly had a need for a few cards so had to visit the daring cardmakers to get some inspiration. Very simple - I pulled out some Tinkering Ink paper, some wiggly scissors and black rubons. One had to have a frame on it and the other a postage stamp.

Really pleased with the postage stamp idea. Grandma had given me these stamps some time ago - she's 93 and still saves all her stamps. I hadn't even thought of using them for creating with! So thanks for the idea daring cardmakers.

Happy birthday to Nan Jules in the deep south. Hope you are having a fab day. Expect some mail in a couple of days - just posted today from Karori!

Rats!

Today I swapped my two girls for a couple of boys from church and took them and Alexander to see Ratatouille at the movies.

Not a smart move for someone scared of rodents!

Mostly they were furry and fake looking but when there was lots of them all running together ... and they had tails ... and they moved like real rats ... uuggghh.


Should've watched the superhero doggy one!

Oh and Mrs Frizz: Those hearts in the last layout were just cut by hand. Nothing fancy, just my trusty scissors and a craft knife for the insides. :o)

Daylight Savings

Mostly I don't like daylight savings. I don't like change I guess. I resist changing the clocks until the Monday after, sometimes Sunday but never the night before!

So daylight savings is here - it's almost 7pm and still light outside. My problem with this is that the kids want to go to bed a little later - which means my 'scrapping' time starts a little later, and goes a little later. And then it's hard to get up a little earlier in the morning! I was having a hard enough time getting up in the mornings as it was.

But I just discovered a good thing about daylight saving that I hadn't considered before. More daylight in the evening means more opportunity to photograph layouts in the daylight. So - given the extended opportunity I was able to photograph my 'pink' layout from yesterday:


I spent yesterday at Kiwiscraps for scrap pink. It was fun - a little squishy but fun. (Thanks for squashing over for me Kirsty.) I worked on this one layout most of the day - too much fluffing about and talking I suppose. See the little birdie:

That was a technique that Kirsty showed us how to do. Using that thick melty, embossing powder type stuff - opals maybe? You put lots of layers on though and then stamp into it while it's still warm to give it that cool texture. Just had to make a bird to use on my layout.

The flowers, by the way, were made with some felt which I wet felted. I demonstrated this technique yesterday and had ladies making a good soapy mess - and some pretty coloured felt squares too. Not everyone's 'cup of tea' some found it a little too slimey! (Thanks for being enthusiastic Kelly!)

It was a fun day, anyway - thanks for the ride home Ali! Oooh and speaking of Ali - she won the page of the day comp. with a very cool 'bugaloo' page - apparently you gotta be old enough to know what that means. Anyway it was a very cool page and it was neat being able to watch her create.

I'm in sympathy with Mrs Frizz right now. I have a cold and my nose and eyes are running, my head feels stuffed up and just icky. Might just have to go off to bed early...

School Holidays

Has anyone noticed it's school holiday time? That means my kids are not at school all day - they are at home.

This means two things to me:

1. We are not so rushed in the mornings. I can sleep in a little. The kids can watch t.v. in their p.j's without me constantly reminding them to get dressed.
2. They need a little attention throughout the day to keep them from trashing my house and ripping each other's limbs off.

So here's how week one went:

Monday - I had a few scrapping projects to work on. The kids created too - mostly a mess but it kept them happy and occupied.

Tuesday - I worked at Kiwiscraps. Teaching First Steps to Scrapbooking for kids and teens. My kids went to Nana Hardings for the day and I got to play with paper and glue with a bunch of other peoples kids.

Wednesday - We had good, clean, messy fun at home. First we did some wet felting with soap and water. Then we made slime.

Lux soap flakes, warm water and green food colouring. Kept them busy for a while and I now have a very clean roasting dish and table.

Thursday- I was back at Kiwiscraps. Nana Harding took the kids out for the day. My kids made crafty things at Capital E. And I made a mini book with lots of different crafty techniques - while helping a bunch of other people's kids make their own book.

And that brings us to Friday. Today the sun is shining. Rebekah is counting down the minutes till 11am when she has arranged to go to a friends house. I have a circle journal to drop off down the road. A layout to post to Scrapbooking Memories (yes!). And Jessi has a ballet lesson at 3pm.

Better go get some of those things done.

Kiwi Jack Me Up

I finally managed to get this one finished.

Had this little guy sitting around for a while now. It was about time I used him. With the beads on top like that it makes it a pretty lumpy bumpy layout - but that's o.k cause I'll probably glue it to a board and call it wall art. It will make a good present for Charlize's mum.

The details: The lovely jackee was Ann and her layout can be found here. Thanks for allowing us to jack you Ann. Such a beautiful layout and lots of fun to Jack.



I've used the Basic Grey Periphery papers on this one. Beautiful papers for a beautiful little girl. I took this photo of Charlize at the zoo last time we went. Just through that window is a lion eating a leg of horse or cow or something!

Some Cool News

Up2Scrap have announced their new Elite Design Team. And no, I didn't make it - but I did get a highly commended mention and my stuff will be in the November Issue!

Big Congratulations to my fellow Scrapbook Essentials DT member Megan - who made the team. And to the others too.

And also to Louise who got a highly commended mention too. Now there's one scrapper to keep an eye on. Louise made second place in the SE Ultimate Scrapbooker competition with some pretty amazing layouts!

Gotta admit I spent a fair amount of time planning and completing my entry - I tried really hard! (Well, as hard as I could while balancing a rather hectic lifestyle - including a trip to the snow. ) I even have another 'almost complete' off the page project here which I'd started but decided it really didn't have the 'wow' factor I was after - so I ditched it ... must finish it off sometime.

And 'cos all good blog posts need a picture - this is a layout for SE done with this months kit. More can be found here.

I'm still working with the kit - just got kinda distracted with a circle journal that's due to be posted on Monday. And a kiwi jack me up layout which is lying half finished on my table.

I've been saving up this quote for ages. Just knew it would be perfect for a layout on my 'real boy.'

A Bunch of Random Stuff.

Has anyone seen my square hole punch? It's gone missing and I want it! I wanted it so bad I even tidied my desk - but I didn't find it, so I've used a round one instead.
I've been busy working with the September Scrapbook Essentials Kit. Basic Grey Recess papers and other bits Meg put in - she's so good at putting the kits together.

Check out today at my place:

Loving that spring weather. Should've gone for a walk this afternoon while Jessi was at kindy - only I'm so tired, not sure what my problem is but I'm all sleepy so I curled up in the sun and had a Nana nap instead.

Speaking of Nana's - actually Grandma. She wasn't too well this week so I've had a couple of trips up to the hospital to see her. She's doing pretty well for 93 - just a little confused.

Right - I need to go, Alexander has gone to get the washing in off the line - only I know he can't reach the pegs so I'm not sure just how those towels will be coming down. And then I've got a very important game of super hero memory to play before cooking dinner.

Feeling Good

I can ski!

It seems that skiing is much like riding a bike - 15 years later and I could still do it. OK so I sat down a couple of times - but it was so fun.

The kids, on the other hand, hated it. The snow was cold and wet and they were tired and grumpy. I spent most of the morning trying to beat the grizzles and keep them happy. Fortunately there were a few big youth group kids that helped entertain them.

They had moments of 'this is fun' ... and now, three days later they seem to be remembering the fun times and not the grizzles.


Weightwatchers News:
I finally reached the magic 10% loss - that would be 10% of my joining weight. But add that to my own efforts before I officially joined ww and I have now officially lost 60kgs!!!!!!!

PIF:
Kris and Karen please p.m me on one of the forums with your addresses and I will send you something. Janine - I know where you live!

Going to the Snow

In a moment of weakness - I seem to have agreed to take our three kids on the Youth Group Snow Camp.

It didn't seem like such a bad idea when I thought of the photos I could take - fun in the snow stuff. Next time there is a scrapbooking winter challenge - I'll be prepared!

But packing stuff for a weekend away at the snow is a bit more than I'd first anticipated. They need warm clothes, waterproof clothes, hats, jackets, sun screen and gloves ...

Why is it, that I've spent all winter finding random gloves lying around the house and putting them away and yet - when it comes to pack their bags I can only find one of each glove.

I have 1 pink one with snow flakes.
1 red one with numbers on the fingers.
1 spider man looking one.

But not two the same! O.K so kids - either you need to lose a hand each or build your snowman with one hand in your pocket!

I'm hoping that going with the youth group will mean lots of teenage babysitters for the kids and I can have a go at skiing - it's been something like 15 years since I last went up the mountain.

Gotta go get those bags packed.

Paying it Forward

Yep, it's the latest 'thing' to do. But it's a really neat idea and I'm all for spreading a little love around.

The lovely Jasmine, whom I know from Scrap of Faith will be sending me a little something and I'm out to Pay it Forward. Leave a comment on this post and I'll pay it forward by sending you a handmade 'something.' You in return will pay it forward by giving a little something to somebody else. You don't need your own blog to do this - just pay it forward to someone in your life who needs a little cheering up.

Now I'm not planning on making loads of gifts ... given that lots of you have already played this game I'm not expecting lots of comments ... but should it be necessary I will do the 'pick some names out of the box' thing.

So then, I'll leave it till the end of the week for you to express your interest and we'll go from there.

And finally she scraps!

My poor scrap desk has been lonely lately - I even found dust on it! So I organised myself and found time to scrap.

And cause it wasn't much time the latest Kiwi Jack was the perfect thing - I didn't have to come up with an original idea, just borrow one from the amazing Christi.
And it was such a gorgeous layout to jack from. There's lots I've copied straight from her layout - including the title. I'd bought this gorgeous piece of Cherry Arte flower paper and the Urban Lily rubons a few weeks ago. It was one of those - "I have no reason to buy these but they are really cool and I want them" moments. So it's cool I actually did use them!

The photo is of Gracie in her English backyard. Obviously English grass grows as fast as Kiwi grass and my brother hasn't gotten any better at mowing it!

And then last night I went to put away the scraps from that layout and thought - 'scraps' that would be the NZ Dare for the fortnight. So I came up with this:




All scraps that I hadn't actually put away yet. I couldn't get the rubon's back in their packet anyway so it was kinda convenient to use them all up! LOL

In other news:

Rebekah now knows what a blood test feels like. I couldn't believe how calm she was when she sat in the seat and waited - then I realised that I hadn't actually explained to her that they were about to put a needle in her arm and it would hurt! She was brave though and now we wait for the results - to see if there's a medical reason for why she's tired and can't concentrate.

Alexander did his six year net test at school. (A test all kiwi six year olds do to assess reading and writing.) He jumped up a whole 12 reading levels! I knew he was really catching on to this whole reading business - he keeps knowing stuff he could only know if he had read it. Unfortunately his first year teacher hadn't kept up with his enthusiasm and had him reading books that were way to easy.

OK - Jessi is playing at Charlize's house and it's a beautiful, fine day ... I'm off for a walk.

Kelly's entry in my CJ ...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Maryanne Williamson, used by Nelson Mandela in his '94 inaugural speech.

I so needed to read that - in fact the same message has been coming at me from other sources too. You'd think I'd have 'got' it by now, yet still I find myself hiding that light, keeping it all to myself. I'll work on it ...


And cause all good blog posts need pics to look at:
I've been playing with old photos a bit lately. I scanned a few of Grandma's pics. Check out those cute kids! Especially the blond one that kinda looks like Jessi.



And here's Grandma with a different generation of cousins 30 years later - ie. 2 weeks ago!

The Quotes CJ

Here it is - I think I worked out how to make a slide show!

I'm so pleased with it, each and every page is awesome. And such a neat keepsake created by my friends at Scrapbook Essentials ... and useful too - the quotes are great. So thanks everyone who completed a page - you are fantastic.

Another lot of candles puffed out.

Well, I now have a six year old boy in the house.

Happy Birthday Alexander.

Not the best 'scrapworthy' shot of him but hey ... this is real, this is how it happened and this is how it will be remembered. Atleast I mananged to get him to change his shirt before the party. I hadn't planned on face painting being offered and the cake looks a bit weird - but it was what he wanted and he thought it was just perfect. (It's an omnitrix from Ben 10 - in case you didn't know!)

Thanks for all your comments about my kit work. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that other people might like my stuff. So often I look at it and see all the imperfections and 'should'ves' and if only's ... and then you lot say nice stuff and I think maybe it's o.k after all. I enjoy creating and if it looks good to others then that's great too. I should just relax and be more positive.

Kelly (memoryfairy) wrote the best quote for me in my circle journal. Will copy it out here when I next get a chance and you can all benefit from it's wisdom. Must take photos of it too ....

I need more hours in the day!

Beautiful Day

The sun is shining here in Wellington and with the zoo offering $2 entry we've just spent the day at the zoo.


Kit Work
Our work is up at Scrapbook Essentials using the August kit. Lots of black and white and red. Out of one kit I've got four completely different looks, such a fun kit to work with.

A nice cheesy photo of Alexander and Me. Journaling is about how big he's getting. Angela sent me the glitter letters from Singapore last year - they've been waiting for this layout.

I really enjoyed using the tulle ribbon stuff - had to buy more actually. Here I've tied bits through some lace and then added lots of other shiny bits from the kit to make a border.


This is Angela and Grace at Pemberley - straight out of the pages of Pride and Prejudice - well, actually off the movie! Wish I was there too.


I haven't really done a lot of heritage type layouts, but the papers in the kit were just perfect for this. The photo is of my Grandma and her sister and friend. I love how in captures so much of who she was in just one single shot. The black script paper is Scenic Route I think.


This one was in the kit with instructions. I had to hide my journaling cause I didn't want it cluttering up the clean layout.


I loved these Jenni Bowlin frames but didn't quite get them on a layout, so I made them into frames which I can stand on my desk. Photos of my Nana and Grandad are very hard to come by, this one was taken at my parents wedding - they look a lot older now!


Alexander's party invites. These were a bit of a compromise really - I wanted to make something - he wanted to use the McD's fill in the gaps invite and also give his friends a picture he'd printed out. So I made these envelope thingys, wrapped the print out around the McD's invite and popped them in. He was happy, I was happy - done!

The week two layouts from the Ultimate Scrapbooker Comp are also up in the gallery. Some very amazing work there. I've just spent ages trying to pick out my favs - wish Meg would let me pick 52! The next challenge is to use no photo - should be interesting.

Broken

I got an e-mail from my sister this week - "What's up with your blog? It doesn't seem to have been updated recently..." Ah yes, it must be broken!

Just like the dishwasher broke, and the washing machine broke and so did the overlocker. Isn't it weird how everything likes to break at the same time? Only my blog isn't really broken - just neglected. I've been busy - doing stuff. (And reading Harry Potter - I've finished it now though)

And life is busy but not exciting busy and I had no pics to show so it didn't seem like I had anything worth updating my blog with.

But then it occured to me that even though I can't show you the layouts I've just completed, I can put up sneak peeks. So these are a couple of little parts of what's been keeping me busy. And no, these are not sneak peeks of my August Kit work - they are still to come ... I'd better go get busy!

Are you Scrapbookings Ultimate Champion?

There's a new comp up at Scrapbook Essentials. Fancy seeing yourself as an ultimate champion? Read up on the prizes/rules and other essential info here and then sign up here. There's already quite a list of names so it's shaping up to be an exciting competition.

Wish I could enter too - only I guess that wouldn't be fair seeing as I'm part of the judging team. :o) On that note all bribes of jellybeans will be accepted here! LOL

In other news ... did you notice how it was a beautiful blue sky, sun shiny day? Gotta love the sun, it makes life so much more enjoyable. For the first time in ages I managed to hang out a load of washing and it dried all by itself without needing the dryer at all! And I went for a big long walk in the sun while Jessi was at kindy.

It's been a good day.

Finally

...after saving up my hard earned coins, I took home from the shop my very own copy of Nic Howard's book.

This was a momentous moment in my life yesterday. I took that baby home and planned to read it all -cover to cover- right away. I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat for maybe 15mins trying to take it all in and fend off the kids who wanted my attention, while instructing Michael on the proceedings for preparing dinner.

Then reality took over and I realised that if we wanted to eat dinner at a reasonable hour I'd better get in the kitchen and do something about it. So I cooked dinner, did the dishes - our dishwasher broke, pulled the curtains ... you know - did what had to be done.

Then I walk into the lounge and find this:

I think he was studying the dishwasher 101 layout, or maybe he was impressed with the size of Nic's letterbox - whatever it was, the book is obviously just as amazing as I knew it would be.

Now let me get a cup of coffee and enjoy it!

Just wanted to say ...

...thanks - for all the comments left about the princess layout. :o)

And to share some photos from today.

All three of them looking at the camera at the same time!





It doesn't happen very often that the light is good and the kids are good too! Ok so Jessi was having a little grump there but she got over it.

This is a loaded layout.

Lets see if I can remember everything:

Firstly this is my kiwi jack layout. A lift off the lovely Roo.



I had to use the crown thing, I cut round my photo and even scrounged up some note paper from the kids stuff - couldn't do much about the words at the top of the note paper - except choose the pink or the blue words ... just as well they both matched the layout!

Secondly I also did this layout because Tam over at Scrap of Faith issued a Sunday challenge to do a layout using three of her favourite things - the colour teal, a bird and hand stitching. The deadline was Monday evening - so it's thanks to that challenge that I got this completed so quickly. And hence the reason why the bird replaces the flower in the whole 'jack' scheme of things.

And thirdly this layout - being a layout of myself - is a rather late attempt at the whole 'scrap a layout of yourself with the word beautiful in the title' thing. Ann kindly cut the beautiful word for me using her cricut. I've had it sitting on my desk for ages - waiting for 'this' layout.

And the topic - the princess thing - it's a God thing. It's kind of a popular Christian topic at the moment. You can buy t-shirts that say 'I am a princess - my father's the King' Not sure if you can read the journaling - but it say's that I don't always feel like a princess - in fact right now I feel (and look) rather like a frumpy mummy but it's about knowing that I am because God says so.

Oh and a couple of other things - note the flowers on the pink background - lifted from one of Neens dt layouts, using the heidi swapp mask and the white ink. And I also borrowed an idea from Jo - inking the embossed Elsie paper so that the patterns stand out more.

When I took a photo of this layout on Monday to post in the scrap of faith gallery it looked slightly different. I decided after I'd taken the photo that I wasn't quite finished and it needed a bit more! So this is a slightly different version. There is one other little detail that I'd like to add - but I'll have to buy one first - and that is to add a tiny little crown to the 'e' in princess. Maybe a metal one like Meg had in one of the previous SE kits - or maybe a bling one ... I don't know ...

So there you have it - one very loaded layout!

Spare a thought for Reef

You may have heard on the news over the weekend about this train crash. As it happens, the little girl who lost her parents was in Alexanders class at school.

Reef is such a sweet little girl and it's so sad to think she lost both her parents in such a horrible way. I didn't know them well. But I stood outside that classroom alongside her mother each day. We spoke briefly about the weather and stuff and shared the same look of motherly concern when our children were kept on the mat a little longer ... because they'd been talking too much.

It's another reminder that in an instant something could happen that will change life forever. Another reminder that life does not go on forever. The big plans we make now for our future may never happen. The small concerns of day to day living don't mean a lot when looked at from the big picture.

What will Reef remember of her parents? I hope she has lots of memories of quality time spent with them doing stuff that made her feel loved and accepted in this world.

What would my kids remember if I was to suddenly be taken from them? Would they remember the constant nagging to hurry up and get ready for school? Would they remember that I was too busy folding washing to play hide and seek today? Would they remember that I cooked a nutritionally balanced meal for dinner?

It kinda makes you question what is important in life. What good memories are my kids building about life? Where are my priorities? What do I spend the most time doing?

Just a few things I've been thinking about. As for Reef - I'm sure she could use a few kind thoughts and prayers right now.

Thanks also for all your kind comments about my recent layouts. It is really nice to receive positive comments. I still haven't taken a good picture of the kiwijack layout - it's a rather grey and dismal day in Wellington today. Right - gotta go do pilates before going back to kindy.

Design Team Stuff

Well, 'A Sassy Lass Called Elsie' was an awesome kit to work with. I loved the combination of Sassafrasslass papers with Elsie papers. Check out all the other dt girls work here.

My favourite layout for the moment would be this one:


It's refreshing to have all that space around the edges. When I took photos of Dad in the hospital Mum said they better not end up on the internet or in a magazine or something. But I think this one would be o.k. For those of you who don't know ... Dad came off his motorbike on the farm and had serious head injuries. He spent two months in hospital but is now at home - still recovering but very much alive.



This one I started scrapping with the big photo and then remembered that I had some photos of a younger Jessi in exactly the same spot. The frame around the smaller photo is a Zina Wright stamp which I doodled onto acetate.



Just playing with the lined paper in this one.



And the torso. This is actually a Wendy Redshaw-Bruhns design from Freestyle 07. The girls at Rebekah's birthday party did a very simple version and all the time they were doing it I was thinking - 'that paint colour would go so well with the sassfrasslass paper from the kit.' So I took one home to dress up in Sassa style.

And I'm still going with the kit. I've just finished my take on the new Kiwi Jack - lifting a layout by Ruth Cahill. But I'll wait till tomorrow to take a pic of it and put it up here.

Wow at how fast Hannah was on that Jack. Hers looks awesome and I loved how she explained all the thinking and reasoning behind the layout. I should do more of that ...

Right, off to bed - in hope that I can then get up at a suitable time for getting the kids up and dressed and fed and ready for school - before 9am!

It's the 14th already.

I'm honestly not quite sure how it got to be the 14th already. Time flies when you're having fun - or busy or something I guess.

I only have a couple of sneaky peeks before my design team work goes up at Scrapbook Essentials. To be honest that's all I've done - two things. I have another layout sitting on my desk half finished and loads of ideas floating around in my head for more. It's incredibly frustrating to have such a lovely box of goodies to play with and yet not enough time to play.

I think I'm ready for school to go back and my nice little routines to return.