Photos today

How was your Sunday? Mine was wonderful. I spent a lot of today at church. I am so going to miss our church when we eventually move. :-(

When I got home this evening there was the cutest little frog on the garage door. I just had to rush to get my camera and take his picture. And I am part of a 52 week photo challenge at Scrapchat and had fallen behind in it, so I caught up on two weeks of pics tonight.

One of the challenges was to do a 'reflection' shot, and the next week they asked for 'circles'. I counted the frog's shadow as a reflection. Then I got a shot of the shadow cast by my hand. Then I went to the kitchen and found some more reflections and circles.

Hope you enjoy some of these attempts!

Circle Journal Swap for Scrapchat

It's late but I love the night. It means I can scrap. I needed to finish the double page layout for my Circle Journal being prepared for Scrapchat, and that's what I did. I set the topic "What Matters Most?" and had to answer it myself first before sending my journal on its journey. This journal will go to another 9 people who will all scrap double page layouts to tell me what matters most to them. I'm looking forward to it! My journalling has been placed inside the little pair of doors on the left of the layout. Here's what it reads:

"When I first set this challenge, I was interested in finding out what people would say were the most important things to them. (I still am interested in what you are going to say!) I didn’t think about how hard it would be for me to put my own thoughts down on paper! What does matter most? What are my priorities? Do I live them?

After much thinking, I discovered I do have a list of priorities in my head and heart:

1. My Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, my faith and trust in Him to keep me through eternity
2. My family, especially my DH and my children, my mother, sister, brothers, nieces, nephews, in-laws and out-laws
3. My friends who stick by me through all the joy and sorrow
4. Being able to do something worthwhile, something creative and challenging but not too hard and frustrating"

I think you can read the rest :-)

I included two different exposures of the layout as the darker one shows up the little crystal jigsaw pieces on it but the lighter one shows truer coloours - I tried to get a shadow effect going by propping the journal up and angling it a bit, but don't think it worked too well.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day in Australia and I have had a pretty nice day! DH took me out to coffee and then on to the shops to find some special things for my Circle Journal. We went out to lunch with friends and are going out to dinner with more friends - woo hoo! Forget about the waistline today! May your Valentine's Day be as much fun as mine has been!

Here are some pages I finished scrapping last night. I made the gumnut babies following a pattern from my friend. These pages 'fill a hole' in my family album that I have been wanting to get done for ages. And the ones with my DD will be scrapped too. I wanted to show you the pretty hearts window I made as well. Don't know if you can see it in the photo, but under each of the hearst there is a sticker and in real life they show up subtly and pleasingly. Other people used colours instead of the black to make theirs and they turned out pretty as well. My friend Vanessa runs good scrap booking workshops - these were all her ideas!

Scrap book morning

I spent this morning scrapping at a friends. The afternoon was taken up with people, house showings (no contract yet), and then making dinner for company before going out to church. I just took some pics of the two pages I completed and the makings for a third. Have also managed to string my Circle Journal together tonight, though I still need to complete a couple of pages in it before I can send it off to the other people in the swap. I need a pensive pic of me - any volunteer photographers out there?

Will post pics tomorrow as I just realised the photo download cable is in a cupboard right next to sleeping DH...! Can't wake him for that.

Hmmm. DH. Must get that Valentine's Day card out for him before I go to :yawn: sleep.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone :-D

Scrapchat's Feb Card Sketch Challenge and Lee's Bling! Challenge for Monday

I figured it out - I have all my stamping essentials in one bag. At night, when all good real estate agents and house hunters are in their own homes, watching TV and eating dinner and sleeping, I CAN STAMP!! I just need to be AWAKE!! LoL!

I decided to try combining some challenges tonight. Scrapchat set a card sketch challenge for February using the sketch pictured from Scrapmaps. And Lee said to use some BLING this week. So I did both! Materials are all from StampinUp! - white glossy, black, old olive and more mustard cardstock, Versamark, rose red, certainly celery and ballet blue ink, gold embossing powder, vintage brads. Stamp set is Happy Harmony.

House selling is a real craft dampener...

First the good news - people are interested in our house! they are coming along pretty regularly to see it. We're 'House of the Week' in the local (free!) newspaper which is very pleasing. At least we have a chance of selling, though the loan interest rate is climbing and that may put some people off...we'll just have to wait and see if anything comes of this activity. I guess people wouldn't go out looking if they didn;t think they could handle a mortgage.

The bad news is I cannot get out my craft gear. I want to finish some scrap book pages and make a few cards, but the amount of time it takes to set up then be able to quickly put everything away at a few minute's notice is stopping me somehow.

More good news - I'm going to a scrap booking workshop tomorrow morning at a friend's place. I can't work on my pages thee but that's OK - we're learning some new techniques! I'll post something up if it turns out OK...

What have I been doing instead of crafting, I hear you ask? Well, all I can say is thank goodness for Ancestry.com!! I've been adding a few details to my family tree, inviting family members to join it, and adding a few photos. It's a fun way to keep a record of your family lines, stories, photos etc, and so far it is all free...

Pay It Forward

Nardi at Card By Nard offered some Pay It Forward blog candy for the first three bloggers to leave a comment and I just happened to be one of them.

In return, I am to Pay It Forward (PIF) on my own blog. Hence here I am...

If you want to join in the fun:
1. You need to have your own blog so that you can then PIF.
2. Then be one of the first to comment on this blog post and I will send you some blog candy.
3. Just remember to PIF on your blog and send out a little something to the first 3 people who comment on your blog.
And the cycle of PIF will continue to bless and brighten one another's day. It is that simple!

Oh - and please email me your address if you are one of the first to post. My email address is hurleylukeATstevens.net.au Of course, substitute the real 'AT' symbol in my email address where I wrote 'AT'! It fools the spybots a bit to do an email address that way....kinda disguises the address....I hope :-)

I'm back!

Just got back from Brisbane and can see I am going ot have to spend some time catching up on everyone's blogs! Thanks so much for the messages you all posted for me - I didn't get to use the computer much while I was away this time so couldn't thank you properly then :-)

We have a house in Bris but have not sold the one up here after all. The contract fell through :( So it's back on the market, and we have a bit longer to wait before all the changes take place. Will keep you posted!

And hopefully I will get some scrapping or card making done in the next week!!

No craft today

Well, there was no crafting done over here today. First I had a wonderful time at church. In the afternoon, DD and her boyfriend came over and they took some of DDs things back home with them - we were storing a lot of DDs 'stuff' and she will need it now we're moving so far away :-(

DH and I also spent some time looking at houses for sale on the 'Net. With the interest rate rise happening we are going to shoot a little lower than we had planned. We want to be able to afford to stay in a house once we commit to a mortgage.

I'm flying to Brisbane tomorrow to look for our new home - DH cannot get time off work to come with me so do think of me as I do this important task. I'll have the able help of a wonderful girlfriend though :-) and will post a pic of the new place as soon as I can!

I will be gone until late Saturday night so I may not get a chance to post in the next week. You will all be on my mind and I will look forward so much to seeing your posts when I come back! Take care!

Challenges rom Pearl and Bety

I was too restless to sleep right away tonight so decided to complete Bety's challenge to make a card using some or all of the following elements:

Make a card containing some of my favorite things:at least 1 Heart,ribbon,chipboard, at least one flower,glitter,buttons.

31 questions

I think I saw these questions answered first on Suzanne's blog, then on Lee's, and decided to have a crack at them myself :-) Feel free to answer these too and let me know if you did so I can come and get to know you a bit better.

1. If your doctor told you TODAY that you were pregnant, what would you say? I'd be stunned but joyful. And probably laugh a lot.

2. When was the last time you flew in a plane? Last month. We flew back from Brisbane after visiting dear feinds and family.

3. What did the last text message you sent say? We sold our house today!

4. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex? Kindness, humour, ability to listen and not always automatically give advice

5. What is a goal you would like to accomplish in the near future? To be financially independant and resettled in a comfortable home

6. Shoe size? 6 - 7, depending ont he width of the shoe

7. Been to Mexico? No

8. When is the last time you had a massage? Last year when my neck and shoulders refused to relax

9. What was the last TV show you watched? Ummm, I think it was...Home and Away?

10. What are your plans for the weekend? Visit friends, shop, go to church

11. If your significant other asked you to marry them TODAY what would you say? What, again?

12. What is in the back seat of your car right now? A large umbrella, a neck pillow, street maps, a water bottle

13. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Trying to get ready to drive to Cairns for a shopping/visiting friends trip

14. If you could marry any celebrity today who would it be? I don't have any celebrity fantasies, sorry

15. Have you ever been to a strip club? NO

16. What is the best ice cream flavor? Maple walnut or macadamia

17. What is the last sporting event you watched? It might have been my daughter's cross country race over four years ago

18. Ever go camping? Yes! A long, long time ago, when we had our three kids living with us

19. Last phone call? to my mother telling her we sold the house

20. Are you allergic to anything? Yes

21. What is one thing you have learned about life recently? That I am not invincible and I do have limits, and I had better learn what they are or may be checking out of life too soon

22. What do you do at work? I work hard

23. What is your mom's name? Louise

24. Ever cried for no reason? Yes

25. Can you do the Crank Dat dance? Never heard of it, so NO

26. What is your favorite color to wear? So far this year it's apple green. My preference varies...

27. What is the longest plane ride you have ever been on? 18hours from Sydney to Sanfransico

28. What is the longest road trip you have ever taken? In North America, from Fresno to Pine Point NWT. In Australia, from Cairns to Hobart.

29. What are your turn-offs? Crudity, filth, swearing, nastiness, bullying

30. What was your last alcoholic beverage? Umm, about four years ago I had ....ummmm...I forget.

31. What are you craving right now? A good night's sleep

Our house is sold :shock:

While I was out today, someone came to view the house. They have now put in an offer that we have verbally accepted, so our house is, for all intents and purposes, SOLD.

I am still in shock, and am pleased, and am sad, all at once!

We will have about a month from Monday (contract signing day) to move out. That means I have to start all the sorting and packing etc that goes with a major move. And then we need to find a new home to move in to, 1265kms (786 miles) away from here....

My craft work is bound to be a bit patchy over the next month or two, but I will do my best to post and let you know what is happening, and to get back to regularly crafting ASAP!!

I wonder how to keep track of all my craft gear in this phase of my life? Lol!

More later :-)

Scrapchat Circle Journal

Over at Scrapchat there's a Circle Journal (CJ) swap about to start. Everyone chooses a theme for a little (no bigger than A5 or half a sheet of A4 paper) album to send round in turn to a number of people in the swap. I've chosen "Dimensions of Life - What Matters Most". I completed the title page, instruction page and sign in page tonight and thought I'd show you what it's like here. I need to finish a double page layout on what matters most to ME before I send it on to others. And I still don't know how I'm going to bind it, given that others may choose thicker than paper items to do their layouts. Any suggestions? I thought of a nice round shoe lace and punched holes....

All the papers, inks, ribbons and stamps are from Stampin' Up! and the brads are from lots of other sources - mainly lovely blogging friends! The large 'W' on the title page is from Creative Memories.

My Paper World Challenge Sketch #3

After the sad news that my blog apparently isn't worth anything, I was so cheered to receive some comments from people who assured me they valued it! Thank you so much! It means a lot!

I was cheered enough to sneak out some craft materials to make Nicola's challenge card Sketch #3! I was thinking of you all who said such nice things when I made it, so it's really a Valentine's card for all of you :-)

Thanks again!

Oh - and I think this card also qualifies for Pearl's challenge to make a card with some hearts on it too :-)

CORRECTION: Since I first posted this, I have been advised by Pearl that the heart card challenge was not really hers in the first place, but that now the idea has been suggested, she will be posting challenges in future herself! Hooray!

My blog isn't worth anything :-(

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

I am not sure why, but apparently my blog isn't worth anything :-( Has anyone else tried this test? What makes a blog worth something? If you know, please post me a comment! It would cheer me up! Lee, so glad to know your blog is worth a LOT!

Tagged again!

This time by Andrea. As I have been tagged twice in a short time, I am not going to tag anybody this time. I will, however, follow the other instructions fro you, Andrea :-) Here are the instructions (feel free to consider yourself tagged if you would like to be, by the way!)

1. You must post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.
3. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers.
4. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

OK - here is my answer: I

Like to go birdwatching
Yearn for chocolate
Never want to go swimming in public
Never want to go bungy jumping
Eat too much
Take a long time to get ready in the morning
Try to leave people smiling, and
Enjoy blogging!

Hey - that's not a bad tag to do! Thanks for thinking of me, Andrea.

Repetition...

Scrapchat has issued a photo challenge for the week called 'Repetition'. The only thing that immediately came to my mind was the infinity picture you can do with two mirrors - endless reflections can be seen when two mirrors face each other at the right angles. Then I started noticing that there is repetition all around us - and this was reinforced by some of the early entries for this challenge. Other challengers took photos of brick walls, stone pathways, people dressed the same and standing in a line, rows of palm trees and street lights - so I just looked around my desk and voila - there was my repetition shot! Hope you like it.

7 more random facts for Lisa

I visited Lisa's blog today and got tagged to list seven random fatcs about myself. If you haven't been tagged before, try it! It's a way to get to know people a little better :-) I have played tag a few times and always learn new things about other blogging friends.

Here's seven random facts about me for today:

1. My three kids have all grown up and left home
2. I'm going to become a grandmother in a few months
3. I have a foxie-chihuahua cross dog who is 14 years old
4. I love quiet and peaceful surroundings and enjoy being out of doors a lot
5. I have two tabby cats, aged 16 and 12
6. Strangers often start talking to me without any invitation and tell me their troubles
7. I am often mistaken for other people (maybe that's why complete strangers tell me their troubles???)

Dolls

Did you know that if you put a 50+ year old doll in warm water and bleach, she might crack and splinter to pieces? That's what I found out today. As I cannot get my craft supplies out because I need to keep the house presentable for potential buyers, I am going to use my camera more for the next little while and post some pictures of things that happen in my life. Suzane inspired me to think about taking more photos as she is completing a 365 day photo challenge where she takes a photo of something and posts it EVERY DAY. Today I had a great opportunity to photograph something different as I enjoyed restoring some of my old dolls to a bit of their former glory (well, some got resotred and three were beyond saving or cracked when water touched them). I did not get up this morning thinking that I would be washing dolls, doll's clothes and doing their hair, and being a source of amusement to DH in the process, mind you! Here's how it happened: DH and I decided to clear out the room at the back of the garage. We spent most of today tossing old papers, sorting books, finding photos (!!they should not have been in the garage!!) and one box we found held my sorry little dolls. I brought them all into the house where the laundry tub is and started to scrub. I should have taken a 'before' picture. But I didn't.

Rooster Attack!!

I used to like chickens. When I was a kid, I even had some as pets. Today I revised my fond childhood memories of sweet chickens allowing you to pick them up and cuddle them as you whipped away their still-warm eggs. There I was in my friend's yard, camera slung round my neck but sadly out of battery power, feeding the chooks for my friend. There were only 8 chickens and all of them were supposed to be locked up in a pen, but four had escaped into the fenced yard, including the protecitve Mr Rooster. Well, I casually walked up to said Rooster and hens with the full feed pan and flash! Crash! Scratch! I was ....ATTACKED!! :shock: Mr Rooster scratched me on my bare legs and knocked the feed pan out of my hand. It took me a moment to realise I had been attacked, mind you, as I just did not expect it. I stood there, staring the rooster down, and he did eventually walk away first.

His retreat didn't make me trust him or stop me grabbing a handy piece of timber leaning on the fence to make sure I had a way of warding him off 'just in case'. Just as well I grabbed that timber - he tried to attack several more times before I got him penned! Each time I approached him, board first, he thought the board was a threat and scratched it instead of me, so my ruse worked.

Mr Rooster's back claws were short and not too sharp, so he didn't break my skin, but my old legs would have been better off without the new decorations he left behind.

And I didn't get one photo of the villain to show you....so here's a platypus instead. They have sharp claws, too. And no, I have never been attacked by one! Lol!

Serenity

Do you like photography? I'm part of a 52 week photo challenge over at Scrapchat. Since I know very little about my lovely new camera, I thought this would be one a good way for me to learn something. I'm not sure it's working (the 'learn about photography by doing challenges part), but I did take a picture of the moon the other night to submit for the 'Serenity' theme. I think the moon looked much more serene in real life. I obviously don't know how to adjust the camera to show a nice moon shot. Any suggestions will be gratefully received! Oh - this was shot taken from my back door so is technically a 'What's In My Back Yard' shot as well.

'Technical' details. I have a digital SLR camera. I put the camera on a night time setting. I didn't have a tripod (my daughter has borrowed it) so held my breath while the camera did it's thing, slowly. The I put the photo through a photo enhancing program where I adjusted the contrast and shadow components. The picture still doesn't look like the moon I saw, though it's better this way than it was in the original version. And it was windy which is part of the reason for the fuzzy shrubbery. The other reason for the fuzz is because even holding my breath and leaning on a wall, I know I move more than a tripod would!

Praise the Lord!

Just had word that little Rachel's platelet count has suddenly jumped from 2 to 67!! Thank you, anyone who prayed for the healing of the little girl I mentioned in my last post. She is coming home! She will no doubt need some extra care and testing for a while but things are looking so much brighter for her and her family.

Thank you again. And praise the Lord!

Thinking of Robyn

Friends have their youngest (about 7) in hospital with an undiagnosed and serious condition. I wanted to make them all smile, if even for a minute, and so did a 'portrait' of their family with the SU! 'All in the Family' and 'Simple sketches' stamps. I used SU! cs - Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Lavendar Lace, Pixie Pink, and ran a felt pen round the edge of the main image. I punched the flowers with a CM punch and decorated them (and the image) with silver gel pen. I made tags with a ribbon I received from a friend so am not sure of its origin. I used SU! Stampin' Pastels with a blender pen to colour the main images and then chalked everyone's cheeks. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig a LOT with this card - for every placement of each little person - am not sure how I managed to give the littlest one such a long neck, but she is special.

Oh - and this card is also for Fiona's sketch challenge to use an SU! stamp set beginning with 'A' this fortnight. Oh - Fiona says to come and join the Alphabet Challenge!

I'm back!

We arrived home late last night from our trip away! We had a marvelous time away from home and it is also good to return. I spent today catching up on the things you normally have to do when you've been on a trip - the washing, sorting, cleaning etc - but I also needed to make a birthday card for my DDs boyfriend to have afternoon tea with, and here it is!



I used my SU! 'Lovely as a Tree' stampset for the main image and a retired SU! sentiment. The cs is also SU! - Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy and Whisper White. I embossed the sentiment with gold, blender-penned the tree, and used a cute tree brad sent to me by a Secret Santa friend this Christmas. I CASEd the idea from Chrissie - thanks, Chrissie!

It was so good to have an excuse to make a card as soon as I got home!

You Made My Day Award

I was delighted and amazed to receive this award from Suzanne - what a wonderful thing to do for someone!! Thank you, Suzanne, for being a great blogging buddy and crafter, and for being so generous as to take time to write something so lovely about me (blush!) I look forward to reading your comments on my blog and do you know what? I think you were my first blogging friend too!

It made me feel so good to receive this award, I have to pass it on to others. Today I choose

Andrea at Andrea's Card Creations and Events who has made my day many times with her lovely comments and friendliness

Andrea at Andrea's World who has the most lovely cards on her blog and who pops in to encourage and support

Lee who has been so wonderful leaving comments on my blog that are so warm and who inspires me with her own blog and crafting skills.

Nicola who has made me think about different ways of making cards with her great sketch challenges and who has also left comments that make my day

All of you are so wonderful and it is hard to stop here! I appreciate everyone who stops by here and leaves comments. Have a great day, everyone!

Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I was looking at Gypsyangel's blog this evening (yep - jumped on the computer again for a few minutes after everyone else went to bed!) and she said the following: "As most of you would know that I have been tracing my family tree, well I just found out that I am someone of importance. My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Royal Highness Gypsyangel the Innocent of Walk upon Water"

Well, I couldn't resist finding out what my own title would be, of course, and maybe you would also like one of your own. Here's what I found out:

My own Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Exalted Highness Duchess Susan the Superficial of Greater Sodbury Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Thanks for your warm wishes!

I got a chance to check out the comments on my last post tonight and was so touched by everyone's good wishes! Thanks so much for taking the time to say what you did!

I will be back home again this Friday night (LATE) and will be getting back to crafting some new things soon, I trust, so will have something to show you all before too long :-)

Sure hope you are all well and I will look forward to checking out everyone's blogs ASAP when I get home - I don't want to tie up my friend's computer too long while I am away as three of us are vying for time on it....!!!

Take care, all you lovely people.

Am off for a week or so....

....travelling interstate with DH, so will not be able to craft at all (oh no!) or check email/internet (oh double no!) as regularly for awhile. See you all when I get back. Stay safe, happy crafting!

Thinking of Manda

I made another card today for Manda, a forum friend who is going through a tough time. The card was CASEd from Michelle Goodrich at SCS . I stamped the SU! Stipple Rose stamp and added in some flourishes from SU! Peaceful Wishes on Whisper White cs. I coloured it in with a blender pen and some Stampin' Pastels. I used a whale punch on the corners of the SU! Old Olive cs and mounted it on Gable Green cs. The little saying is stamped in Close to Cocoa and comes from the SU! Greetings galore set. Hope it cheers Manda and her family up, even just a little.

Get Well Soon

A friend I know from some of the forums I belong to is in the hospital. I coincidentally found a card on SCS made by Jill Jacobsen and decided it might cheer Lexie up. Here it is - the flower is made from scrapbook paper from Big W, I couloured the bg of the reverse side with SU! Lavendar Lace and stamped with an SU! Seeing Spots stamp in Ballet Blue. Cardstock is from SU! - Pixie Pink, Yo Yo Yellow, Lovely Lilac and Bashful Blue. I used a gold brad I found in the LSL and a deep pink one I got from my Secret Santa from Kim's forum I also used some gingham ribbon, a white gel pen, Paper Piercing tool & matte plus slit punch, all from SU! Get better soon, Lexie.

DCM Challenge to make a 'New' Card

I found time ot make a New Year's card as a RAK today and it fit into the DCM challenge too! Here's my example - I used a young friend's unknown origin tulip stamp (thank you, Elisabeth) that I embossed with black then coloured and blended, using Stampin' pastels and blender pen, and the odd felt pen. That's SU! Gable Green, black and Whisper white sc. The gold stickers I received from a Canadian friend (thanks, Carla!) so it's an international card as well :-)

Happy 80th, MIL!

Today I followed a sketch challenge from Scrapchat to make this card for my MIL. I used Time Well Spent SU! stampset, SU! Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive cs, SU! grosgrain ribbon, gold embossing powder, Stazon, Versamark, CM number stickers, gold stickers and a bee from a Big W set (I drew on the gold wing veins with a gel pen).

Liz Laughs

I followed the Powercrop challenge at Scrapchat today and created a LO of my DD as a baby. I love these pictures and it was great to use them today. I used SU! Gable Green cs to hand cut the word 'Laugh', and stamped on it with a flower from SU! Time Well Spent. Then I layered the page with SU! cs in Apricot appeal, Bashful blue, Cameo Coral and Pixie Pink. There are a couple of primas and a cricut flower (thank you, Andrea!) and a gold brad, and I edged the word 'laugh' in black ink.

Peggy's Mystery Challenge

Peggy from Scrapchat set us a mystery challenge to do some LOs on photos of her daughter's 5th birthday party. I just finished mine tonight so thought I'd post it up here. I used Creative Memories papers and punches, SU! ribbons and stamps, prima floweres, some of those flowers you gave me, Pearl, assorted brads and gel pens, and a purple fine tipped pen from CM. This was a totally new experience for me as I have not ever used 3D things on my scrap booking pages. I htink soem of the effects are too subtle for the camera to pick up, too - it looks better IRL.

Oh, and Suzanne? I'm doing some card challenges next, OK? He he he!

Our Missionaries

You know how at the beginning of a new year you look around and think things need a freshre look? Well, that's what I did tonight with my missionary postcards. I had them stuck any old how up on a kitchen wall. I thought tonight they deserved to eb displayed better, so I scrapped them onto four pages, then mounted them on cardboard and replaced them on the wall. I was pretty happy with the result.

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a great New Year's and that things are 'Great in 2008'! DH & I spent the evening with Austrian friends. We watched DVDs of old movies and ate 'traditiona;' food - a wonderful beef and vegetable soup at 10pm and at midnight, a potato and herring salad! Now I had never tried pickled herring (rollmops?) before but now know they are delicious.

We could see the fireworks on Cairn's Esplanade from a distance at midnight, and just enjoyed the night talking and reminiscing about the year. It was very pleasant. My friends are wonderful Christian friends who I appreciate very much. They insisted we stay overnight rather than returning home (96kms away) and this morning they fed us fresh fruit salad and croissants before we departed. I need to work on eating more moderately from now on!!

Following Suzanne's example, I am starting this year with a few changes to my blog. I've added a free counter (see bottom of page). I'm going to work on a new avatar image, too. Maybe that will get posted today.

I trust I will see all who come here lots more in 2008. Thank you to everyone who has left comments and become friends in 2007. It has been fun getting to know you and learning about blogging with you all.

All the very best!

Tagged!

Chrissie tagged me! Here are the rules:

"You've been tagged:
The rules of the game:
• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog".

Here are my seven random and/or weird facts about me:

1. I have moved around most of my life, rarely spending more than a few years in each location.
2. I met my husband later in life through a mutual friend who was secretly acting as a match maker - who knew she would be so right? We've been married 11 years now. Sadly, my friend has passed away. RIP, Ruth.
3. I like winter better than summer, regardless of how cold it gets.
4. I lived in Far Northern Canada, a VERY cold place, for 3 years when I was a kid.
5. Two of the towns I used to live in are now ghost towns.
6. Now I live in Far North Queensland, a VERY hot place. Guess I like contrasts.
7. I love blues, purples, pinks - all winter or cool colours.

Now here are the people I've tagged - hope you all enjoy the challenge and Happy New Year!

1. Paula
2. Pearl
3. Andrea
4. Suzanne
5. Ness
6. Chelle
7. Amanda

Do pop by their blogs to see what interesting facts they come up with! And Happy New Year to all!

New camera + Nature = pics!

I had a chance to take some pics of birds and butterflies long-range this last few weeks. I've been pleased with the results, though I htink the camera would do better in more experienced hands! Oh well - I'm going to make sure I keep experimenting. Here are a couple of photos (I went to the Birds in Backyards and this site [thank you, Dr Don Herbison-Evans, for helping me identify this moth!] to find out what the scientific names were):

Aprosmictus erythropterus, King Parrot

Alcides Metaurus (Zodiac Moth)

Another King Parrot

Christmas cards!

I have been making cards for Christmas but didn't want to post them till they had been received by everyone I sent them to. I think they have been in the mail long enough, so here goes. All stamped images are from SU! and Hanna Stamps. All cardstock is from SU!. Embellishments came from lots of places. I used mostly the Rennaisance Angel stamps this year, only colouring them differently with various glitter/gel pens. I've given you a sample here of cards I made 'in bulk'.

Display Board!

I just got a new Display Board from CM! They come in distressed white and black and i love mine :-) The board is magnetic so I can change the display when I want to, and put the old display in an album when I do!

I had to try it out last night. The photos didn't come out very well as they were from my old camera, but I will use my new camera more in 2008 so the quality should be better.

Contact Tag!

I just broke my mojo block! Yay! I spent the last couple of days making 20 contact tags for a Scrapchat forum swap. It was something I had never tried before and I think it might be close to what Gillian calls an ATC swap? Anyway, here's the front of the tag - I used manilla 11cm x 5.5cm tags from a newsagent's, all dressed up. I used matte photos printed out at home, CM punches & pens, SU! ribbon & ink (Rose Red), and MM brads. What do you think?

Scrapchat & Stamp With Kim and the INKcredibles

I have been a member of Stamp With Kim and the INKcredibles's forum for some time now and I love to go there every day. This week I decided to add to my forum membership (and therefore the joy!) by joining a new scrap book and crafting forum called Scrapchat. If you would like to check it out and see if you would also like to join, do go ahead!

I find forums like these inspiring and good for keeping up with what is new. You also make some great new friends!

It's December!

It's December and I put up our Christmas Tree today. I still need to decorate it. It was a new tree, bought by my dear DD to cheer me, as my old tree was bought by my Dad in 1970 and was looking much worse for the years of wear! I had fun trying to make my new tree look 'authentic' since it has bendy branches and you can make it look as though the branches are reaching towards the sun. Neat!

To get further into the Christmas spirit, I then read a blog (Hanna Stamps!) and followed a link from there to find out what my Elf Name is. Here it is - see if you get a better name than mine! Lol!

***Susan's Elf Name Is...***



Floppy Snowballer


What's Your Elf Name?

Picfolio Pages

I started a new album - a Milestones Picfolio! It seems to go together so quickly and easily, I did 5 pages after dinner last night :-) I had a pack of mats and embellishments that fit so all I had to do was make the picture fit and go in logical order. I think it took me longer to think of what words to say than it did to order the shots. The only problem is 'flash glare' when I take their pictures fro you to see. See what you think, anyway: