Little Bits Of Me

January 123 Challenge

2012-01-13T21:01:00.003+10:00

Aaaahhhh... Where has the last month gone?? I seem to be saying that a lot lately! I'll be back tomorrow with a catch up post... this is just a quick post to let you all know about this month's fantastic 123 Challenge. This month you can win a prize from me! A 15x15cm commisioned canvas, that way you get to choose whatever you would like on your very own piece of art!

So the criteria this month is:

COLOUR: SILVER

WORD: JOY

TECHNIQUE: SPLATS {PAINT, INK, MISTS}

I was so surprised with how quickly my page came together... it started with the idea of punching hearts out of brown paper and sewing them together like a garland. And here is the final result:

Don't forget, you're entry can be anything your little heart desires.... an art journal page, scrapbook page, art quilt, canvas... it just has to have the 3 criteria on there somewhere. So what are you waiting for?? Go.... create! :)

I'm having a sale!

2011-12-05T22:13:00.002+10:00

I'm having a sale over on my Facebook page - original canvases, prints and even washi tape are all 20% off! But only until 8am this Wednesday.

Make sure you check it out by following this link:

Angela Churchill - Little Bits Of Me

It's December!

2011-12-01T13:05:00.005+10:00

Today is the 1st of December, which is the day you are "supposed" to put up your Christmas tree (done a few weeks ago here) and it's the first day of Summer! I swear it came a bit early this year though as the last week here has been a scorcher.

And with the 1st of December comes a new challenge for the 123 Challenge. This month the criteria are:

Colour: Marigold
Word: "Make"
Technique: "Make your own"

Here is my sample. :)

I had to search for the colour "marigold" on Pinterest to see exactly what I was aiming for.... LOL. Luckily, it had lots of inspiration for me! I ended up making my own paint mixing Matisse's Yellow Mid and Australian Sienna. I also made my own tag for some hidden journaling.... I bought some shipping tags from the local newsagent, which are SO cheap. I tore off 3 and folded them over and then ran my favourite "Stampin Up" roller stamp over the top. I then stuck it onto my page using Washi tape and also reinforced the joins with a bit more to act as hinges. Did I mention I know sell Washi tape over on my Facebook page?? I wanted my writing to be really messy and almost illegible so I left no gaps in between words and made it all quite loopy. :)

Looking back over the last month of post (of which there are almost none), I realised I didn't even share my page for November... Ooops. The criteria for November was:

Word: Please
Colour: Grey
Technique: Unusual Stamping

For my "unusual stamping", I started with an old thong... that's the SHOE kind, and the unused shoe kind at that. LOL I applied paint to the bottom of the thong and that is what created all the little dots on the page. I then stamped over with a damask stamp in silver and then another stamp on the top of that as well. I like layering stamps to create a textured effect. :)

That's about it for the minute.... If you haven't already "liked" my Facebook page you really should pop over for a look... I'm going to have a big sale once I reach 400 likers! I think there's about 12 more to go! :) You can find it here.

My poor neglected blog. :(

2011-11-16T20:01:00.006+10:00

Oh my gosh... how time flies! It seems the silly season has started early for me this year and time has completely started getting away from me.... I've been so busy the last few weeks keeping up with everything and still trying to find some time to relax in between. I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged... eeek.

So what has been happening?? Well, Jenna has since had her 3rd birthday... we had a party for her at a local park and she had an absolute ball! She even went all shy when everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to her - which is an absolute first! We bought her a pretty party dress especially for the occasion... we decided that we didn't care if she completely trashed it by the end of the day, the most important thing was that she had fun. :) Here's a pic of her pretty much demolishing her Dorothy the Dinosaur birthday cake... she'd been bugging me for months for it so I was so happy that she liked it (I didn't make it either).

Amani also had her first birthday (although that happened about a week before my last post). I keep thinking of her as my little baby so sometimes I don't seem to recognise that she' growing up. We can now tell her to do something and she understands what we've said - most of the time anyway. I took photos during the day of what we did... here's the girls at the supermarket, doing what they normally do when we go there - EAT! LOL

I've done another art journal class and am about to do my third in about a weeks time. I have so much fun at these, it's fantastic seeing all the different things everyone comes up with. :) I get to have a break next month and then back into it again in January. I've got some class ideas written down already and I can't wait to get started on them.

I've also been trying to get as many canvases done as possible... I've got 2 more markets to go to this year and I want to make sure I have enough to take with me. Here's a few that I've done over the last month or so.... I might share over a couple of days as there's so many! LOL

Well, I must go... will be back sooner this time I promise! :)

Yippee!

2011-09-26T10:51:00.003+10:00

I made the paper! I mentioned in my last post that I had an interview and it was published in today's Morning Bulletin.

You can check out the interview here:
http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2011/09/26/art-journal-diary-craft-scrapbooking-class/

And here's a few paintings that I've managed to do lately...

Oh, and my first ever art journal class was fantastic on Saturday... We went from thinking there was nobody coming to having 9 in the class. It was a great morning and I met some fabulous people. :)

A bit of excitment for today! What are you up to this fine day?

What a week!

2011-09-17T10:24:00.006+10:00

My head is absolutely spinning after the week I've had this week! It started with going to the markets last Sunday.... now, it was a struggle to get to those markets.... I'd just played in the netball grand final the night before so the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed at 5am! But I'm so glad I did. :)

I met the most fabulous lady who had the stall next to me... Her name is Lina and she quit her day job and travels around Australia in her caravan with her little dog taking photos and making art. She takes the photo, adds some paint and then prints the final art piece onto handbags and other assorted items. I just love that she can tell you the story behind the picture on each bag and each one is totally unique, so no one else will ever have the same handbag as you. Make sure you check out her website, Travelling Lina... She also has a blog so you can follow her travels around the country.

(I stole this picture from her website, I'm sure she won't mind!)

I left the markets with a few sales and had the chance to meet lots of my customers who I'd only known by name alone before. Although, the owner of a local homewares store, My Sister's House saw me at the markets and told me to come and see her about selling my paintings through her shop... I was super excited as I absolutely LOVE that store! By Wednesday they were up in the store and looking fabulous! I'm so excited to see what this new opportunity brings... my head is spinning with possibilities.

The last bit of exciting news is that I have an interview with the local newspaper tomorrow morning! The reporter saw a link to my art journal class on the Facebook page of someone she knew and thought it looked interesting. I just hope I don't get my words coming out all wrong like I have been lately. :)

Last of all, here is a quick share of some paintings that I've done lately...

Now I really need to get cracking and get more done now after selling about 15 in the last week!

Thanks for stopping by!

123 Challenge Blog Hop!

2011-09-14T12:54:00.006+10:00

If you have arrived here it’s because you have jumped on the 123 Challenge blog-train!!!

First of all, Charmane has asked us to answer a couple of questions to let you all know a bit MORE about us Creative Team Members. So here we go…

A bit about me.. I currently live in Gracemere in Central Queensland with my husband of 10 years and our 2 gorgeous daughters.. Jenna, who is almost 3, and Amani, who turns 1 next week! I am a (mostly) stay at home Mum who when I'm not creating can be found chasing my girls around and playing or coaching netball.

What’s your blog addy? http://angc-littlebitsofme.blogspot.com You can also find me on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LittleBitsOfMe.

Are you on any Website Design Teams? Which ones? The 123 Challenge is the only design team I am on - I'm not very good with deadlines and I just love how it gives you the freedom to do any kind of project that you like, whether it be a scrap page, art journal page or even art quilt.

What else are you involved in creatively and how/where/when did you get involved? I started scrapbooking about 6 years ago when I moved to Rockhampton as something to do and to get out and meet new people... I then started going into art journaling... I love the creative freedom of being able to throw anything on a page. My early journals incorporated lots of photos but they started becoming more of a rarity as my journals became more of a diary of how I was feeling at a certain point in time. I'll be starting teaching art journaling classes at a local store in Rockhampton, Out and About Craft.

I also create mixed media art that I sell on my facebook page Angela Churchill - Little Bits Of Me. I have been selling them for the past 6 months and have been absolutely loving it! I'm always flattered by the wonderful comments I get from people and my customers are the absolute best!

What are you working on at the moment? My paintings have recently been picked up for sale in a local homewares store My Sister's House so I'm working on some things specifically for them, as well as a few other ordered pieces.

So there’s a little about ME, now its time for the 123 Challenge details!
We have LOTS of prizes to giveaway – you will see as you check out everyone’s blogs what we have in store! Im donating a 8x10 print of one of my paintings as seen below!

For your chance to win, leave a comment and collect the words from each blog. Once you have finished, email the list of words to challenge_123@hotmail.com along with your name by midnight Wednesday 21st September.

And, here is the full list just in case you get lost...
Charmane Koch - http://ourbrightstarsandus.typepad.com/charmscreations/
Angela Churchill - http://angc-littlebitsofme.blogspot.com/
Nicolee Cable - http://nixnac.blogspot.com/
Louise Nelson - http://louise-justloolabelle.blogspot.com/
Kerry Murray - http://kerry-scrapskerry.blogspot.com/
Giovanna Scott - http://giovannascott.com/blog-2/
Mandy Dodd - http://www.teacupofscrapisms.blogspot.com/

So, your next stop on the hop is Nicolee Cable - http://nixnac.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to write down your word, before you go – Little Bits of Me

September 123 Challenge

2011-09-09T13:15:00.003+10:00

September has already rolled around so it's time for a new challenge on the 123 Challenge blog. This months challenge is to create something with the following criteria:

Colour: White
Word: On
Technique: White space

Here's my art journal page example...

Stop by here to check out the other Creative Team members creations. Remember, your entry can be a scrapbooking page, art journal page, canvas, quilt... anything you like, so have fun with it!

I did it!

2011-08-25T13:22:00.001+10:00

Well, I did it... I ran (well, jogged) 4km! My time was 32min and 35 seconds - not too bad me thinks. :)

Have you seen this girl??

2011-08-24T09:03:00.004+10:00

Have you seen this girl at a gym near you??

I'm posting this completely unflattering picture of myself because I need your help. This is what I look like when I go to the gym... although, don't let the glasses fool you - sometimes I wear contacts. :)

Over 2 years ago, I started on a quest to be able to run 4km in 30 minutes... I got very close... less than a minute off before I found out I was pregnant with Amani. I started back up again and have managed to get it down to just over 32 minutes but now I'm stuck. My head is trying to psyche me out.... the last couple of months have been hard with the girls and myself being sick... it feels like I've barely gotten a chance to get to the gym.

And that's what my head is focusing on at the moment..... "You can't do it", "You're not as fit as you used to be" etc etc. I started jogging again about 3 weeks ago but haven't yet tackled the 4km because part of me says I can't do it. But you know what? That stupid part of my brain is wrong! The other day I managed to run at 10km/hr for a minute and a half - the longest I've been able to do in ages! I also thought "I can't do 4km so I'll just do 1km and see how fast I can do it.".... I ran it faster than I did a few months ago! And then I did it again yesterday and smashed my time again.

So if you see me at the gym and I'm not running, tell me to RUN! And if I am running, tell me to RUN FASTER! Tomorrow I AM going to do 4km and we'll see what my time is. :)

And on another note, here are some pretties that I've managed to finish over the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

August 123 Challenge

2011-08-10T13:54:00.003+10:00

I'm a little bit late blogging about this... you'll have to forgive me this one time. :) We've all had a cold/flu in this house over the last few weeks so I've fallen a bit behind on some things. Our computer also died so I've had to try and do everything with the laptop.... When they plugged in our PC to see what was wrong with it the motherboard actually caught on fire! Not good....

Anyway, this months 123 Challenge is:

Word: "What"
Colour: Black
Technique: Multiple photos.

I had to actually dig and find some photos for this one... it's actually been ages since I used any. So here's my sample for this months challenge:

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more paintings I've been working on as well as details for art journal classes that I'll be teaching in Rockhampton. :)

Bye for now!

Feeling grateful right about now

2011-07-31T19:06:00.004+10:00

I got to thinking the other night... it has now almost been 3 months since I started selling my paintings.... not even 3 months! The time has flown so quickly. I've been so caught up lately in future plans, markets I want to go to, new products I want to create, how I want to advertise that I kind of lost sight of what I have actually ACHIEVED.

In the past 3 months I have sold 35 paintings and I have orders for at least 4 more... I can't believe it sometimes. That is so much more than I would have ever thought! I debated with myself for weeks/months about whether to start selling or not... I was afraid of what people would think, that they would look at my art and think "I can't believe she's trying to sell that". I just hoped that people wouldn't laugh when they saw what I was selling - and they didn't! Well, not that I heard anyway... LOL.

There is SO much more that I want to do, I have more plans than time. I've learned to just stay focused on what I am doing and what direction it is that I want to take.... not to worry about what others are doing. I am a big believer in karma and that if you put the right energy out, you will get the right energy back. I have a group of friends around me who are fantastic arty inspiration - I like to believe that I may have inspired them in some way to take their own leaps of faith into the hand-made business world. :)

So stay tuned for lots more exciting things happening over the next 3 months.... I look forward to the day that I can give up my 4hr/week job because I am earning enough from my arty business venture. I think I'm about half way there - and in such a short time!! I just know that I will achieve it, it and probably many other fantastic things that I've only dared to dream about.

So I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you - my blog readers, facebook fans, customers and whoever else you may be. Without you all none of this would have been possible.

And speaking of arty friends... Check out these fabulous dolls that my friend Naomi makes...

They have been customised for my girls... each one has her own doll made in their own likeness (hair/eye colour) and they're clothes and shoes are all removable so you can change their clothes and dress them in all kinds of cute outfits. Naomi is going to be starting up a facebook page soon selling these gorgeous dolls. My girls are currently doing quality control on these cuties, and trust me, Jenna is taking hers EVERYWHERE with her so it's getting plenty of testing. LOL I tried to get a picture with Amani in it but she wouldn't stay still, she kept crawling straight over to the slide so she could crawl up it... but that's a whole other story. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I had the best intentions...

2011-07-30T15:11:00.004+10:00

I had the best of intentions of sharing a meaningful post with you all... but my sinuses are not liking me at the moment - I've had a cold the last few days. So for now, I'm just going to share all of my latest paintings that I haven't shared here yet. Some are commissioned paintings, others have already sold, and some are still available for sale. To see which is which, you'll have to check out my facebook page.

But I will be back soon... I've been feeling pretty happy the last few days and I wanted to share. :)

Birthday Celebration announcement

2011-07-20T09:56:00.004+10:00

On Friday, 29th July I will be auctioning this painting off for charity on my Facebook page. ALL proceeds will go to Heartkids Qld.

The auction will begin at 7.30pm Qld time and continue until bids close at 7.30pm Saturday the 30th July. You will need to be a "liker" of my page to be able to comment on the photo and bid. If you are unsure, please contact me and I will help you.

I will also be donating the postage to Australian postcodes, international will be actual postage minus $5.

Please share this with all your friends and help raise some money for this worthy charity. :)

Birthday Celebration... and YOU get the gifts!

2011-07-15T18:53:00.002+10:00

In exactly 2 weeks it will be my birthday and I've decided to celebrate it with a bit of a sale/giveaway. :)

I've got a few ideas spinning around in my head....

First up: I'll be giving away a painting to one of my mailing list subscribers, so if you haven't already signed up now's your chance. (You can sign up to the right of this page) Postage will also be included for free... although if you are not in Australia you will have to pay actual postage minus $5. Stay tuned for details on which painting is up for grabs.

Second: I'll be auctioning off a painting for charity on my facebook page. So make sure you head on over and click on the "like" button to keep up to date with that.

Third: I'll be having some kind of discount on all items for sale on the 29th July. Not quite sure how much at this stage... but my generosity may go up in relation to the number of likers I have on my facebook page. :) So make sure to share my page with your friends!

There'll also be a few more things, so stay tuned here and on my facebook page to keep up with all the announcements!

Markets and a quick share

2011-07-15T08:45:00.005+10:00

I'm heading off to Gladstone for the Mumma's Fair markets so I'm trying to get all those last minute things done today.

So here is where you are going to be able to find me the next two weekends...

And here are some paintings that I have finished off recently.

Thanks for stopping by... I'll be announcing something big soon!

Two things I'm loving right now

2011-07-10T19:46:00.003+10:00

I'm loving these right now..

Giant sauce bottle filled with modpodge - I like to be able to squirt the modpodge onto my canvases and spread it around with my hands better than using a brush, but I couldn't really do that with the huge tub that I had. So instead of constant refilling my smaller bottle, I came up with this idea. Loving it!

Paper Garlands - So easy to make... I think I may have to decorate for Jenna's birthday party with these.

And guess who I just happened to see as I was taking that pic...

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Playing with tissue paper

2011-07-06T13:55:00.004+10:00

Lately I have been in love with tissue paper... I just love how it adds texture to the background of a canvas. When I discovered tissue paper with images on it, such as these from 7Gypsies, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. But sometimes I don't like images to be all over the canvas - then I found this technique in Art Journaling magazine.

It was so simple I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before.... take just normal, plain old tissue paper and stamp your own images onto it. LOVE it! So here is what I did:

And here is what it ended up looking like:

I just love how it turned out and I can see me doing it a lot more. In fact, at my last crafty get together with some friends, I borrowed all their stamps and went crazy on the tissue paper I had. :)

This canvas is for sale on my facebook page. If you aren't on Facebook, just leave me a comment on this post and I can get back to you.

Thanks for stopping by! If you do have a go at using this technique, link me up with a pic of the finished product. :)

Sometimes the words pick you.

2011-07-05T13:25:00.004+10:00

Oops... I didn't get to share that awesome technique with you yesterday... let's just say children were being "needy", however I will share it with you tomorrow. First up, I wanted to share the story of this canvas with you.

I'd gotten to the stage where it was pretty much finished and just needed some words, but I just couldn't think of anything that suited her. Most of the sayings on my canvases just come out of my head - half the time they are messages to myself. :) Anyway, I couldn't think of anything so I put a post on my facebook page asking for suggestions (and I got some great ones).

Now that I had some choices for words, I pulled out my trusty old letter stickers and set to work... but do you think I could make them work?? No. They either didn't go with the canvas or I was missing letters that I needed (anyone got any spare e's floating around??). The only letters that I liked on there for the main word was my old Heidi Swapp letters. But with no a, e or r that ruled out most words that I could think of. So at about 11pm, I wrote down all the letters I DID have and went to sit in bed and try and figure out a word. On the way, I grabbed an old notebook I have with quotes in it for when I get stuck like this.

The first quote in that book - "A loving heart is the truest wisdom." Yippee... I had those letters! So here she is all finished... it seems she ended up picking her OWN words. :)

Thanks for stopping by! And cool technique coming tomorrow....

July 123 Challenge

2011-07-04T07:54:00.004+10:00

If you haven't done a 123 Challenge before, this is definitely the month to do it! I absolutely loved this challenge... it even got me out of my art journal funk temporarily.

July's challenge is:
Colour: Aqua/teal
Word: "Thing" - could be anything, everything, something etc...
Technique: Create a scene

Now your scene doesn't have to be a picture of sorts, just some kind of layering, texture & decorative background. The creative team have come up with some absolutely fabulous work and the guest designer Gina Rodgers has done a layout with some stunning layering.

Here's my sample:

I did this page really quickly - the background was already done so I just added the flowers, words and a few finishing touches. I even loved it so much that I've done a canvas based on it (will share later today). I also used a new technique on the canvas which I saw in Art Journaling magazine... one of those things were you slap yourself in the head for not thinking of it yourself!

Be back later!

Just sharing...

2011-06-28T09:20:00.002+10:00

Just quickly sharing some more canvases I've completed lately. They are available for sale on my Facebook page or just leave a comment on this post and I will get back to you. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Lost my art journal mojo

2011-06-27T13:13:00.004+10:00

I don't know whether it's because I'm using a larger journal now or what, but I feel like I've totally lost my art journal mojo at the moment. I've completed 2 pages the last few days and I'm just not happy with them.... they just don't feel like me. I've been starting off lots of backgrounds in my book but when it comes to finishing them off, it's just not happening. I just sit there, flipping through the pages and nothing is jumping out and inspiring me. *sigh*

Here are the before mentioned pages:

But hopefully, help is on the way because I received this in the mail today...

I was SO excited when I opened it, it's a much bigger mag than I thought it would be and I was trying to quickly flip through it while getting lunch for the girls but that didn't work. Can't wait for a quiet moment to really get into it!

Have you got any advice or inspiration for a mojo-less girl?? I need help! LOL

Busy, busy, busy....

2011-06-17T18:57:00.007+10:00

When you're on holidays, aren't you meant to spend time relaxing, getting things done that you've wanted to for ages and spending time with your family?? Around here it seems to be busy all the time and then the holidays are over and you're left wondering what exactly it is that you've achieved.

The last two weeks just seem to have flown by! I've been working a lot more than normal this week - taking advantage while Noel is still at home to watch the girls. I need to work to pay off my weekend in Brisbane last week... two nights in the city, going to the Papercrafts festival and meeting some new fabulous people.

I discovered some new favourite shops too... Typo (I absolutely LOVE the pen I got from there), Breadtop (yummy yummy), and Max Brenner (chocolate heaven). I also bought a bubble bar from the forever gorgeous Lush that I intend on using very soon. I can't believe I've been living in this house for over a year and haven't had a bath yet!

I've been busy working on some new canvases as well and trying to do something in my art journal everyday.... so far I just have lots of backgrounds and no completed pages, although I know these will come in time. Sometimes I feel like my "to do" list is just so long and I don't get enough time in the day to do it all. I just need to keep reminding myself to be patient and good things come in time.

To finish off, I'll share my four newest canvases with you... they are little cuties being 5"x5" (12x12cm) and are double thick canvases. I love the extra thick canvases... they just seem to have a bit more substance to them than the regular thickness. They are all available for sale on my Facebook fanpage, or if you aren't on Facebook, just leave me a comment on this post.

Thanks for stopping by! Here's hoping for a few extra hours appearing in the next few days! :)
And if you do happen to find some extra time, stop by Today's Creative Blog for some inspiration.

I'm a winner!!

2011-06-07T19:09:00.005+10:00

Hi there!

I've mentioned before that we've just been on holidays for about 2 weeks... We went down to Toowoomba for my nephew's first birthday party and to visit family. Then down to the Gold Coast for three nights where we watched my Dad drive a V8 Supercar and went to Dreamworld.

We had an absolute blast! Wiggles World at Dreamworld was definitely the highlight.... Jenna was in pure heaven and would have been happy to just run and dance around there all day.

We had the most fantastic view from the apartment we were staying in...

We went down to the beach quickly even though it was quite cold and windy. The first time Jenna got dumped by her first wave! We weren't swimming, just standing on the sand but a bigger than expected wave came along and she lost her footing. She didn't want to go anywhere near the water after that!

Today we went to the Rockhampton Show... it was the first time we'd been since we've been living here. I had an entry in the "Castaway Art" category of the show - you had to use materials that would have normally gone to landfill in your artwork. Well, I got FIRST PLACE for the category I was in!! So exciting... Jenna kept telling everyone "That's my Mummy's painting" and pointing to it. I will put up a pic when I get it back.

Yay for me! :)

June 123 Challenge

2011-06-05T08:00:00.003+10:00

Well, another month has flown by and it's time for a new 123 Challenge.... This month Charm asked me to come up with the criteria....

Colour: Brown
Word: Create
Technique: Using tape... eg: decorative/masking

And here is my journal page:

I've used Tim Holtz tissue tape in the background.... I absolutely LOVE it... I started off thinking that you would never use up the whole roll, but now I know I would quite easily. It's just so easy to add it to everything you do!

Make sure to stop by the blog and check out their wonderful creations... I particularly love Nicolee's page this month!

And have you noticed that over on the right side of this page you can sign up for my newsletter?? I can't wait to get started with these.... they'll include updates on what I'm doing, where you can find me at markets, discounts on my original canvases as well as a whole heap of other fun stuff.

Holiday photos are still on their way too! :)

Making a commitment (again)

2011-06-03T08:34:00.003+10:00

Hi all!

I've just arrived home from 2 weeks holiday and I have SO much stuff to catch up on! One of those things is this...

I started off strong at the beginning of the year and have tapered off over the last few months as I have been busy creating canvases. But now I'm making the commitment to get back to it and do something in my new journals.... so get ready to see a HEAP of pages over the next month. My darling husband has another few weeks of holidays from work so I'm going to make the most of it!

I'll be back later with some holiday pics and this months 123 Challenge. This month I came up with the challenge so make sure you check it out! :)

Step back in time

2011-05-21T17:51:00.005+10:00

I had to find an old page of mine for a project I was doing so I pulled out my very first art journal and walked down memory lane looking through the pages. I thought I'd share a few of my favourites as a lot of you weren't following my blog way back then. :) These were all done about 4 years ago....

This was the very FIRST art journal page I ever did.... I had so much fun playing with chalk pastels and Gel medium that I was hooked!

I think I did this next page with oil pastels?? I can't remember it was so long ago now... lots of stamping and I love that masking tape.

Played with embossing and oil pastels... I think this was the page that I discovered that if you have oil pastels down and then take a heat tool to it, it bubbles. So much fun!

Before Jenna was born, I was not a "pink" person at all.... and I didn't really use brown either so this was a different colour scheme for me.... I loved how it turned out though.

When I started art journaling I always used photos on the pages... I guess it was because I came from scrapbooking and that is what I was used to. I think I'll have to start using a photo here and there again... it's a good way to use those "imperfect" photos.

Well, thanks for coming on this walk down memory lane with me. Tomorrow is my 10 year wedding anniversary so we are leaving the kids with Grandma and going out for a nice, long, leasurely lunch. Can't wait....

My art... in a store near you!

2011-05-21T10:32:00.005+10:00

Are you in the Rockhampton area??

The lovely Teneil from TT's Scrap Shak has allowed me to have my canvases on display over the next few weeks. I was in there yesterday afternoon setting up my display and having a chat and a bit of a play.

TT's Scrap Shak can be found on Kent Street, near the corner of William - just across the road from the Masonic hall. I think it's kind of funny, secret men's business on one side of the road and secret women's business on the other! LOL

Here's a few pics....

One of the canvases has already sold - so you may have to get in quick! It's the perfect opportunity to have a close up look at them and see all the layers - I love that you can notice something different each time you have a look.

While I was there I picked up these "to die for" papers.... I can't wait to stick them on a canvas and cover them with ink. :)

The pics are of the same 3 papers... just the front and back. I'm such a sucker for text and ledger patterns!

Thanks for stopping by!

Journal page

2011-05-15T13:01:00.003+10:00

Yay! I finally did a journal page after going crazy with canvases over the last few weeks. I bought this journal ages ago for a class I was doing at the time and had done a few doodles in it so I thought... why not make it my next art journal?? It is double the size of what I have worked in before so it will be a great challenge. :)

I have another smaller journal that I want to work in as well.... sometimes I feel like I have no idea what colour looks good with what so I'm going to make this one a "colour" journal. I want to just try out different colour combos and write down what they are so I can use it as a kind of reference if I'm feeling stuck.

I'm SO looking forward to get started in these journals and have a play!

Gotta love Bookfest!

2011-05-14T12:16:00.005+10:00

Today is a day that I look forward to every year - Lifeline's Bookfest! Although the local one in Rockhampton doesn't have the big selection like they do in other towns, I must say this is the cheapest I have ever been to. I got all the books below for just $11! Such a bargain... I only got a few as I was on a time limit so I could get home as Noel had planned to go out for the day.

I also got a Wiggles book for Jenna but I couldn't get it off her to photograph it with the others... LOL.
Now I'm just waiting for the girls to go to sleep so I can have some quiet (and hopefully creative) time!

How could I forget??

2011-05-10T18:55:00.004+10:00

With all my canvas catch ups I forgot the "big one".... It's the biggest canvas I've done so far at 45x45cm! It's also triple thickness so it's nice and chunky.

I must go rug up now... it's starting to get a bit chilly here! I really don't like winter....

Last of the canvas catch-up

2011-05-09T09:30:00.004+10:00

What a weekend! I attended my first ever markets selling my paintings and it was a great success!! I managed to sell quite a few paintings and a lot of interest in custom orders... I also received such great positive feedback - a great present for Mothers Day I must say.

So now to catch up on my last 2 canvases I have created - they are both 15x15cm in size - I did the first background and wasn't really liking it so I went over it with some white paint to tone down the colours. The ink ended up coming through but I liked it a lot better. :)

I love the background to this one - I had been using a white paper bag to protect the table I was working on and ended up ripping off a bit of it and using it on the canvas underneath the patterned paper. I love how it kinds of melts into the background so you can barely see it.

These two girls didn't sell on the weekend, so I have listed prices for them and my other canvases on my Facebook page. If you would like to buy a painting just put "SOLD" in the comments section, or if you aren't on Facebook, leave me a comment on here and I will get back to you.

Now for some time to chill and play with my girls. :) Oh, and if you are bored and looking for something to do... make sure you check out Today's Creative Blog!

Canvas catch up - Part 2

2011-05-07T11:34:00.003+10:00

Still sharing some more canvases....

I love this first one... I saw the paper I used for her skirt and just had to buy it, so this one was done all around her skirt.

I had the background for this pink one done for at least a year now and it was just sitting there looking at me. Glad it's finally got something more on it and is finished. I had a few issues with her clothes - I didn't like the first set so I went over it with something different. That's what I love about mixed media - if you don't like something you can just cover it up and keep going.

This one is a 10cm x 30cm canvas... another background that I've had done for a while and just had to finish off.

And last, but not least is a 15cm x 15cm canvas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Canvas catch up - Part 1

2011-05-06T08:53:00.004+10:00

The last 2 weeks I have been busy, busy, busy doing lots of canvases and haven't had a chance to show them on here yet. So I thought rather than hit you with them all at once, I'd ease into it and do a couple at a time. (Although, if you really can't wait you can see them all on my Facebook page... make sure to like me.)

I was feeling a bit brave when I put the words on this one.... I had done something that I'd wanted to do for a long time and it felt good to have finally done something about it.

I wasn't so sure about this next one when I started it... it just seemed like too much blue. But once I added the flowers and splashed some ink around I liked it a lot more.

Thanks for stopping by... only two more days before I go to the markets and sell my art for the very first time... wish me luck!

May 123 Challenge

2011-05-04T13:38:00.004+10:00

Have you checked out this months 123 Challenge yet?? It's a doozy I tell you!

The challenge is.. the colour "fire engine red", the word "fun" and a stitched title. Now I must admit, the stitched title one had me stressing... I can't do any fancy hand stitching, my sewing machine and I are "just friends" so I had no idea what I was going to do. Let's just call my sample "how to do a hand stitched title without actually stitching the title". ha ha

I ended up stitching lines around my title with the sewing machine and then hand stitched the tag onto the layout. Make sure you stop by the 123 Challenge blog to see the rest of the Creative teams creations where you will see actual stitched words.

Be back later with a stack more canvases that I've been creating. :)

Getting out of my comfort zone.

2011-04-26T14:25:00.003+10:00

I've been trying to push myself a bit lately and do some canvases that are bigger than I have done before and I must say I'm happy with the results so far!

This first is 30x40cm... I LOVED working with this size and I just love how it turned out. I think I'll be doing lots more of these.

This one is still a work in progress, but it's a biggy... 45x45cm to be exact. Can't wait to see how it ends up! I had so much fun playing with my new Prima masks and spray inks.

Make sure you check out Today's Creative Blog for lots more eye candy!

Mini Canvases Galore!

2011-04-20T08:50:00.004+10:00

I've been busy making these little cuties.... 8x10cm mini canvases. :)

Must go and do more painting!

Now on Facebook!

2011-04-19T10:59:00.003+10:00

Hi all!

I've taken the plunge and decided to set up my own page on Facebook! You can find the "like" button over on my sidebar.... so make sure you stop by and say "Hi".
And if you suggest me to your friends I'll love you forever! LOL

Oh, and have you checked out Today's Creative Blog lately?? Lots of cool stuff and eye candy over there!

Be back with more later!

Postcard winner

2011-04-12T13:16:00.004+10:00

Well, as promised I am back to announce the winner of my little old postcard, even if it is a little late.... but first I'll show you some canvases that I've managed to complete over the last week or so.

I wanted to have a go at doing a house and I just happened to find this big photo corner which I thought would be great as a roof...

The last week has just completely disappeared and I don't know what I did! Definitely one of those "blink and you've missed it" weeks. We've had a great weekend though - the first one in ages where there has been nothing we've "had" to do so we've just been having some family time and went to the park to have lunch.

And now for the winner of my little postcard, it's.....

Lenna Young Andrews!

Thankyou so much for all of your comments... Lenna, I've emailed you through your blog to get your addy to send the card to.

Will blog again soon!

Postcard swap

2011-04-06T11:14:00.003+10:00

I signed up to do a postcard swap on iHanna's blog a while back. I've finally finished my 10 postcards and now just have to get them in the mail.... my postcards are going to go as far as the USA, Netherlands, Canada and England, as well as one to Western Australia.

The backgrounds are done with watercolour crayons, some tissue tape, stamping and masking as well as a few rubons.

I also made an extra one to giveaway... if you would like it, just leave a comment and I will pick a random winner early next week! :)

At the moment I've been debating whether to sell my canvases at the local markets.... I'm starting to accumulate quite a collection and am running out of room to put them! The next market is on Mother's Day which gives me some time to prepare but I have doubts running through my head... "Do I really want to spend my Mother's Day morning sitting around at the markets?", "Are they even good enough to sell?". Eeek... I really think too much! LOL

See you all later!

Just hanging on....

2011-04-02T20:32:00.005+10:00

I swear that's been my motto for this week... I've just been hanging on for the weekend because it's been a rough one.

Let's start with Amani - She had her 6 month needles on Monday and didn't react well to them so she was super clingy for the next few days - if I put her down she'd start crying so spent a lot of the time holding her or just being in the same room. This kept going on for longer than I expected so off we went to the doctor - she now has a throat infection. So we are just hanging on for the antibiotics to kick in. She has not been sleeping well at night and it's been almost like having a newborn again, sleep deprivation is starting to take it's toll. She also hates taking antibiotics/panadol/anything that needs to go in her mouth (including bottles) so that's adding to the stress as well.

Jenna - She had a bout of gastro on the weekend (as well as her father) but bounced back pretty quickly. Now she's realised that if she cries, she gets attention so she's been using that to her advantage. I've lost count of the number of times I've had Amani crying in one spot and Jenna crying in another.... it's enough to do my head in.

Me - My back has been playing up for a little while now but it came to a head on Thursday - I was in agony at work on Thursday night, I could barely move my neck and had hayfever as well just to top it all off. I tried to get into my chiropractor on Friday but couldn't so off I went today.... my neck cracked so much I could have sworn he'd broken it! It feels so much better now but the muscles are all still sore - hopefully a good sleep tonight will fix it.

Well, that's my vent... LOL. Here's hoping that next week is a LOT better. To keep what is left of my sanity I went out shopping by myself today and actually bought myself some new clothes. Two tops and a pair of jeans for $45!! It was so good to walk into a clothes store and find something that I liked... I can't wait to lose some more weight so I can buy even more!! :)

I did manage to find a little bit of time to finish off one of my canvases this week.... take a look!

And the new 123 Challenge is up for this month... the criteria are to use lime green, fabric and the word "really". Here's what I came up with....

Thanks for stopping by!

Not a lot to say...

2011-03-22T13:38:00.002+10:00

I'm actually feeling rather uninspired to type anything today so I'm just going to leave you with my latest creations... I can't sit here thinking what to blog about - both kids are asleep and I need to milk every second! LOL

Art journal page:

15x30cm canvas:
Thanks for stopping by!

Art Piaskownica

2011-03-19T17:27:00.004+10:00

I found the Art Piaskownica challenge site through some people on Flickr... and thought I'd play along. I've decided that Polish scrappers ROCK! I love how they use their colours and incorporate inks and stuff on their pages. They also have photography challenges... and their pics are gorgeous! You should definitely check out the eye candy on their blog. Here's my take on their page to scraplift:

And for those playing along at home - today's effort on the treadmill...

4km in 33min20sec!! In the past month I have taken 5min 40sec off my time so I should easily be at my 30 minute goal in one more month... Yay!

Scrap the Girls

2011-03-16T16:24:00.002+10:00

I just had to do the Scrap the Girls challenge for this month. The challenge was to use one of the "She" sayings for the title and inspiration for the layout... since I'd been doing the "She Art" Class over the last few weeks it kind of came easily.

You can check out all the other entries here.

You should do it! Seriously...

2011-03-14T12:26:00.003+10:00

I'm a bit sad that this week is the last week of this class....

It's an absolutely fantastic class and I have LOVED doing it! Christy is holding this class again starting April 11th and I highly recommend that you do it (and if you do sign up, say that I sent you so that I can get some love too). :)

I have nothing more to share today.... the last week or so has been pretty hard with Amani deciding that she wants to start having a feed again in the middle of the night. So sleep has been a higher priority than doing much creating lately.... but I have started a few things so hopefully I'll get to finish them soon.

Catch you later!

Some more Canvases

2011-03-09T18:40:00.003+10:00

Jenna was at daycare today so I managed to finish 2 of the 3 canvases that I had sitting on my desk... progress up until today had been very slow as I stole a minute or two to work on them while I could. I remember reading somewhere that a tiny step in the right direction is still a step in the right direction.... I've kind of been repeating that to myself over the last few days. :)

Here they are:

This first one is a 10x30cm canvas... I was wondering what to do with it since it was so long and skinny and came up with this...

Next up is a 15x15cm canvas.

That's it for now... Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoying today.

2011-03-07T12:52:00.003+10:00

I don't know what it is about today but I feel like I am just cruising along and getting heaps done... gotta love days like this. Even the weather is co-operating so far. :) I've done lots of washing, vacuuming and playing with the girls - I even managed to get them to go for a nap at the same time!

As promised here is my first She Art girl for the class I've been doing with Christy Tomlinson.

I must say I am COMPLETELY loving this class... and the 3 more canvases I've almost finished are proving it. I've never been this productive doing a class before! I've even still been managing to do some in my art journal (although not every day... but most).

Thanks for stopping by!

March 123 Challenge

2011-03-03T22:39:00.005+10:00

Well another month has flown by and we are now into the third month of the year - can you believe it?? I had so much fun creating the page for this months 123 Challenge! This month you had to create a project using the word to/too/two, doilies and light/medium blue. Here's what I came up with....

And just to prove that art journaling doesn't have to be rocket science I created another background at the same time using a lot of the same things, but it looks completely different.

I'll be back later with my first creation from Christy Tomlinson's fantastic class!

Some randomness

2011-02-27T09:13:00.004+10:00

Hi! Just thought I'd share a bit of what's been going on around here lately.

My girls are doing great - they are really starting to form a great bond between them, sometimes they just sit there laughing at each other... it's so cute!

Amani is 5 months old now.... She's still teething up a storm but none have come through yet. She's trying to crawl but isn't quite able to yet, although she can move around the room by rolling over a few times. She absolutely loves splashing around in the bath and water goes everwhere!

Jenna is almost 2 and a half... She is still loving going to daycare once a week and we haven't had a teary day yet. She's going through a stage at the moment where she "cries" when she doesn't get what she wants... it was quite funny to find her standing at the bathroom mirror watching herself "cry". It was like she was practicing... LOL.

I'm still going to the gym and doing all the usual things... I gained some weight over the holidays between Christmas (I blame the trifle) and being stuck at home during the floods (stupid bakery was almost the only shop left with food). It messed with my head for a while but now that weight is gone and more with it. Noel is on holidays this week so I'm planning on going to the gym heaps. Today I managed to go 4km on the treadmill in 34min 42sec so I'm getting close to my 30 minute goal. Yay!

This is one of the books I'm reading at the moment...

I've loved Ajay Rochester after reading "Confessions Of A Reformed Dieter" a few years ago (back before she started hosting The Biggest Loser). It was exactly what I was going through at the time and I could really relate to it. I'm loving this book too... it's not the kind of book you read from start to finish, you can just flip to a page and read that for the day. It's definitely helping to keep me motivated at the moment.

Well I've gotta go now... I had a bit of "me" time out shopping this morning and I have to leave in less than 2 hours to get to netball, so I better go and spend some time with the family.

Bye!

Scrap the Girls

2011-02-22T10:48:00.005+10:00

I actually did a scrapbooking layout! *gasp* I feel like I haven't done one in ages so it was good to give one a go. This is for the February challenge over at Scrap the Girls. I've been meaning for ages to do a page of Amani as I have only done 1 of her so far - but I did this on the first day that Jenna went to daycare - maybe I was missing her just a little. :)

And just to balance it out, another art journal page.

I'm stealing some computer time while I can today.... in the last few weeks, both girls have had colds and school sores. Amani has had her 4 month needles and has been teething something shocking, and now to top it all off, Jenna has school sores again and threw up all over the lounge room this morning after not reacting well to her antibiotics. Aarrgghh! I keep reminding myself just to breathe in and out and take each day as it comes, hopefully things will pick up again soon.

Bye for now!

Some art journal pages...

2011-02-16T14:43:00.005+10:00

The last few weeks have been pretty eventful but I've still been managing to do some art journaling every day. Sometimes it's only for ten minutes, sometimes longer. Here are my latest pages.

As you can probably see, I've been trying to toilet train Jenna the last week. She's only done one pee on the toilet so far but we've decided to just take it slowly and see how she goes. It started getting too stressful for a while there... Amani has started teething and it seems to be hurting her a lot more than it did Jenna. Some days even Bonjela and Panadol won't settle her and she cries until she falls asleep - and then she doesn't sleep for very long at all. So this did not help while trying to take the time to put Jenna on the toilet. Oh well, we're not in any huge hurry so I guess it will happen when it happens.

I also have a layout to share but it will just have to wait for another day... I'm off to go pick my little girl up from "school"!

I love ink.

2011-02-14T14:08:00.004+10:00

Remember that page I hated. Well, I took to it with lots of ink and it's barely recognisable now....

I tried to lighten the area where the sun rub-on was so you could still see it, but it didn't really work. I must say I like this page now.... this is what I love about art journals - if you don't like something, you can just keep adding layers until you do!

It's a bit quiet around here....

2011-02-08T21:16:00.007+10:00

Today is the first day of daycare for Jenna and the day is going SO slowly! We decided to put her in one day a week so she can socialise with some other kids and do lots of fun things - she loves to paint and draw, which can sometimes get too messy at home. It also gives me a bit of a break and I can get some stuff done during the day, and also spend a bit more quality time with Amani.

I didn't anticipate how slowly today would go though... I guess it's because I'm not chasing her around and hearing "Mummy, Mummy, Mummy" all the time. It is giving me some time to do some scrapping and art journaling though.... housework will just have to wait for next week. :)

So here is some of the stuff I have been creating over the last week.

This first one is totally inspired by Christy Tomlinson (did I mention I'm taking her class at the end of the month??).
Jenna loves balloons and is always pointing to birds in the sky which is why I used those two things - I know she loves them. Jenna also means "small bird" in Arabic ( although it can also mean paradise/heaven, but I think then it needs to be spelled Jennah). So you'll probably notice birds on a few of the things that I do for her.

This next one started out as a rough drawing in a notebook and I thought "Why not?" stick it in my art journal. That's why she has lines across her face. It's my first attempt at doing a girlie drawing so she's not perfect - her eyes are a bit freaky and I'm not sure about her nose.... but that's what an art journal is for - trying new things.

The background started out as some paper towel that I had used to blot various inks while I was working with them. This page is SO heavy because of that and the gel medium, mod podge and paper.

Well, I'm off to go and make the most of my time before I go and pick Jenna up!

The secret's out!

2011-02-01T07:32:00.006+10:00

I'm excited to say that I am now part of the Creative team over at the 123 Challenge blog! YAY!!

The great thing about the 123 Challenge is that it doesn't have to be a 12x12 scrapbooking page for you to enter - you can do an art journal page, canvas, off-the-page - as long as the criteria are covered you can create to your hearts content!!

Here's my sample for the February Challenge... The criteria are the colour cream, the word "about" and upcycling. To see some more terrific examples, check out the 123 Challenge blog, including a great fabric creation from Giovanna Scott.

Thanks for stopping by!

10 things you might not know about me...

2011-01-27T14:29:00.004+10:00

I was reading Christy Tomlinson's blog and she had a post with 10 things about her and I thought I'd play along. I'm going to be taking Christy's "She Art Workshop" at the end of February - make sure you check it out!

1. I have never broken a bone in my life. I did dislocate my big toe once and that hurt enough! I also fell off a trampoline when I was about 10 years old - I landed on my chest and my feet where still up on the tramp - my first thought was that I'd broken my back and my life (although short) flashed before my little eyes. I ended up just being winded really bad and my friend's parents let us eat the easter eggs we'd just made. :) Just thinking about it, I never went to the hospital or anything....

2. I'm not having any more kids! Two is enough for me... anymore and they start to outnumber us... LOL. But seriously, I want to be able to provide as best as I can for the girls I have... if we had another we'd need a bigger car and I rather like my little one that is all paid for. :)

3. I never went to Uni... well, I did (by correspondance) but dropped out. Going to Uni was never a question for me growing up - I was always going to go. Oops.. that didn't work out.

4. I lived in Saudi Arabia for 3 years when I was a teenager. It was the BEST experience ever and would love to do something similar with my girls if I ever have the chance. It exposed me to so many different cultures and people (there were over 60 different nationalities at my school) and now I hate people who are ignorant and bag other cultures. So many people like to complain about "people who move to this country and can't even speak English". Well, that was me - I never learned to speak Arabic while I was over there!

5. I've lived in a lot of different houses over the years.... 20 to be exact. I think I got that from my Great Grandparents - they always moved around.

6. I love crappy reality shows.... The Bachelor, Wife Swap, The Block - can't get enough of them!

7. My long term goal is to have a little studio somewhere with a nice view where I can create art and sell it, maybe teach some classes. And it will be quiet!! No kids crying because they can't take the lid off their pen! (That just happened)

8. I wear my wedding rings on the middle finger of my right hand - no real reason, it's just where they fit the best. I've lost a fair bit of weight since we were married and I need to get them resized.... I just need to lose this baby weight first!

9. I like to make lists of things I need to do - I find it motivates me and I get more done when I do.

10. I love The Simpsons.... I've been watching it ever since I was in high school... although I don't get much time to watch it nowadays. I even have a collection of Simpson trading cards!

So what are 10 things that I don't know about you?? If you do your own list, make sure you let me know so I can have a sticky beak! :)

I'm loving this!

2011-01-25T13:22:00.005+10:00

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I do not sew. My in-laws gave me a sewing machine one year for Christmas and it took me almost a year to use it. Even then, it was on a scrapbooking layout.

Well, yesterday I used my sewing machine for fabric and fabric only! I'd been thinking about making a fabric cover for my art journal as the front cover is plastic and I wasn't sure how everything would stick to it. So I bought a remnant of a something that looked like calico to me, but the label said "linen", for about a dollar. And from that came this....

I absolutely loved how it turned out!

Now, if you DO sew, and you looked close, you would probably have a heart attack - it's a bit wonky, when I pinned the pieces together I used decorative pins meant for scrapping, and the pieces weren't cut entirely straight. I didn't measure anything, just held it against my journal and guessed. When sewing it together, I thought for sure that it wouldn't fit and would be too small. But I love all the imperfections.... it gives it character (or so I tell myself)!

I even love how it looks from the side, all the texture and colours from the pages.

Once I'd sewn it together, I dyed the fabric using Adirondack Colour Wash, waited for it to dry and then put some gesso over the top. Then I used my FW Acrylic Artists Ink to stamp and draw over the top and added some lacey stuff and a butterfly.

I think I'm going to have to make some more of these! Now I just need to start a new journal so I have something to cover! LOL

I'm excited!

2011-01-22T20:14:00.004+10:00

I'm super excited because I finally got these in the mail....

They were a bit late arriving because of the floods but I can't wait to give them a go! The new colours are so gorgeous! I got these beauties from Kazmos Kreations - THE place to get them in Australia as far as I'm concerned! This is my second order from Karen and her service has been great both times.

I decided to try and get a half decent photo of myself out in the backyard today - I thought the grass would look cool as a backdrop so I was lying down... Here are some outtakes! LOL

Love these imperfect photos... we had so much fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

What are you reading??

2011-01-17T07:37:00.005+10:00

I saw this book quiz on the Daisy Yellow blog and thought I'd give it a go...

What is on your reading list for 2011? Room by Emma Donoghue and I'd love to pick up a few mixed media books.
What was the best fiction book you read in 2010? Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - not the kind of book I would normally pick up but it was probably the best book I've ever read.
What book was the biggest let down in 2010? Pride and Prejudice - I really wanted to read a classic so I was determined to read the whole thing, otherwise I would have stopped reading it a lot earlier.
Do you remember the first short story you wrote as a kid? What was it about? I wrote a book in year 1 about a dog that fell asleep in the basket of a hot air balloon and ended up going up into the sky with it. We made it into a proper little book.... I think I still have it somewhere.
Do you keep track of the books you read? nope
How many books are on your TO READ list? I don't have an actual list, but I am a member of a book club (it's just a title really, we don't talk about the books much, more of an excuse to go out to dinner!) so I'm sure I'll end up with a heap to read. My Dad just gave me a copy of "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett, so I will be reading that next!
Where is your favorite reading spot? I always read in bed before I go to sleep at night... sometimes it's the only way to get my brain to stop thinking so I can fall asleep.
How many books (fiction + non-fiction) did you read in 2010? I didn't actually count but I'm going to take a guess at about 15.
Do you read more than one book at once? Not usually, but sometimes if I really want to read one I might start it before I've finished another.
Do you read more fiction or non-fiction? Fiction

I also have some exciting news but can't share just yet.... Let's see if you can guess what it is! LOL

Angela

My poor art journal

2011-01-16T16:50:00.008+10:00

My poor art journal has been a bit neglected over the last few days. But I still have been creating - just playing with ATC's, I've made a couple already and am having so much fun with them. I've also been busy changing my blog around as you can see and I am happy with the results so far. A little bit more to go and I'll be done.. for a while at least. :)

I just wanted to give you some details about my new blog header:

*The background is a close up of Jenna's very first journal page. (As seen in this post.)
*The little toy house is actually one of my favourite toys from when I was a kid - When closed it was a telephone and when you opened it up it had little furniture and a doll as well as some other accessories. I found it in the garage a while back and cleaned it up for Jenna to play with.
*I've just realised that all the photos except for my toy house were taken by my brother (his camera is a lot better than mine). Although I DID take that photo with his camera. LOL

Here are the two journal pages that I have completed over the last few days:

This first one is very simple, just black pen, watercolour crayons and some foam lettering.

This next one has been in my journal unfinished for a while now... I really like the splatter patterns of the ink and wasn't quite sure what else to do to it. So I did nothing but add the arrow and some words. :)

And now for my ATC's! I somehow found some flickr groups where they put up pictures of their ATC's to trade with other people and I thought I'd join in. Problem is, once I made them I liked them so much that now I'm not sure I want to part with them!

The good news is that the flood in Rocky is nearing it's end. We're no longer cut off and people are returning to their homes. The water is still up higher than normal though...

Thanks for stopping by!

I was going to do a proper post....

2011-01-15T23:33:00.004+10:00

I had all intentions of doing a big post with my latest creations and (possibly) some future plans, but I got distracted changing the look of my blog.

I'm very happy with the result!

My blog header had been bugging me for ages... it was created years ago and desperately needed changing. I finally found an easy way of doing it. I saw in Today's Creative Blog Forum a link to this page which has a tutorial of creating blog headers using Picasa.

And voila!

But now I'm tired and going to bed... so my proper post will just have to wait until tomorrow.

Night night!

Edited to add: I just realised my header is a bit too big.... oh well, I'll fix it tomorrow. :)

The good and the bad.

2011-01-11T20:12:00.006+10:00

I'll start with the bad so I can end on a happy note. The floods in SE Queensland are still going on with water meant to hit Brisbane tomorrow. They are expecting it to be worse than the floods in 1974 - my Mum was there for that one - she worked in the State Library along the riverbank... she still has a mug of hers that she recovered after the flood. There are currently 78 people missing.... It must be absolutely horrible to be waiting to hear news about family members.

Now for the good stuff.....

By far the best thing that happened this week is that my baby girl Amani rolled over onto her stomach by herself for the first time today. She is now 16 weeks old.... I can't wait until she starts crawling around the place. Here she is after the historic event... I think she looks pretty pleased with herself!

Oh look, there's a toy under the couch!

Another good thing is that I found out that I was featured on a Russian blog along with some other talented Aussies... you can see it here. You'll need Google translate for that one!

I've still been managing to do at least 10 minutes of art journaling every day. I've been enjoying it so much I haven't done any scrap pages to put in the girls albums. I figure that the girl's albums is where they get to see themselves and my art journals are where they get to see me.

The first page is for the January 123 Challenge. I had to borrow the heart punch from my MIL as I don't have any. The background is watercolour crayons with some ink drizzled over the top.

This next was done after seeing a prompt on Traci Bautista's blog to use circles. I used Matisse heavy body acrylics for the big circles and watercolour crayons for the rest of the background.

And last up, have you checked out Today's Creative Blog?? Every week they have "Get your craft on" where you can share your crafty creations. LOTS of eye candy there!!

Bye for now!

Water, water everywhere....

2011-01-10T13:18:00.004+10:00

I was going to post some pics of my latest journal pages but I think I'm going to leave that until tomorrow.

For now I'm going to ask everyone that their thoughts/prayers/whatever it is you do goes out to the people of Queensland. It seems our whole state at the moment is having some sort of flooding crisis. The river here at Rockhampton peaked at 9.2m last Wednesday and is now sitting at about 9.1m. That is a drop of only about 10cm in almost a week. Friends and family have left their homes and are waiting for the water to recede.... it looks like we might still be cut off from Rocky until the end of the week.

Luckily, we have still been able to get to towns further south which up until a few days ago had not been affected by flood and were fully stocked. Now the South East of our state has been lashed by rain and is on flood alert. The highway north from Brisbane is cut in multiple places which means that trucks can not get through. Our local store here in Gracemere can no longer get supplies and are limiting milk to one bottle per customer.

Toowoomba, the town where I lived for 10 years has been hit by flash flooding - I've seen footage of cars being washed down streets, even a shipping container being moved by the force of the water. Two people are dead and more are missing. People are being told to evacuate everywhere it seems, some of these places have just had one flood and are now bracing for another.

If you are a Queenslander and are on Facebook, I recommend you "like" the Queensland Police Service as they are always giving updates on what is happening. If you are not from here you can look just to see the magnitude of what is happening. Hopefully the rain eases over the next few days so things can have a chance to get back to some normality.

Happier post tomorrow I promise! :)

What comes first?

2011-01-06T21:37:00.005+10:00

More pages to share... This first one was inspired by a picture I saw here. I had a bit of a chicken/egg dilemma with it... What comes first, the black outline or the white gesso. Answer is white gesso. :)

I've been thinking a bit lately about what kind of direction I want my life to take, how I can earn some money doing something I love while still being at home for the girls. Usually when I decide that I want something, I want it to happen now! So I'm trying to be a bit more patient and not in a huge rush - I don't want anything too time consuming until both the girls are in school anyway as they are my first priority.

This next one was very quick to do, I already had the silhouette on the page - when I did an earlier page I used the ink that was on my stencil on here - I can't waste any ink now can I? It was getting later in the night and I wanted to do create something but my brain just wasn't connecting...

And last up, I covered up this page with a thin layer of gesso... for some reason the orange circles magically turned to white... not sure how that works. I've also learned that if you paint gesso over Adirondack Colour Wash, the colour slowly bleeds through so that the gesso isn't white anymore. That might come in handy some time.

Still don't like the page though. LOL

A Challenge

2011-01-04T21:38:00.006+10:00

I have to say I hate this page:

It started out bad and just got worse so now I'm going to challenge myself to turn it into something I like... I don't care what it takes.... even if I have to cover it in gesso and start again!
FYI - the circles were created by the bottom of the ink bottle after I had tried to get my pen nib out - see previous post.

Inspiration Overload!

2011-01-04T20:30:00.005+10:00

Today I started my own flickr account to play along with this. (You can find me here) You know how sometimes you can go from one thing to another to another and then you forget how you even got there in the first place? Well that was me today.

Here's a few of the things I found:

* Love this blog! Could spend hours having a look around.

* This art journal group.... can't wait until my membership is approved!
* I'm also going to play along with the prompts here.

And finally the page I finished last night.... I'm so proud of myself, I have actually completed a page each day so far this year... hopefully I can keep it up once Noel goes back to work.

I coloured in my doodled border with Matisse Liquid Pencil.... my friend Michelle gave me a sample a while back and I think I need to get me some more!

Last of all, if you know of any art journaling people or groups based in Australia can you post a link?? Would love to find something a bit more local.... I have a hankering for an ATC swap or something similar.

Thanks for stopping by!

Disasters in Art Journaling

2011-01-02T13:40:00.005+10:00

Being that yesterday was the 1st of January and I am joining in with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's art journal everyday journey, I sat down at my desk last night to spend some time playing in my art journal. I've been wanting to play with silhouettes for a while so decided to do that... and it was all going great until I started using my fountain pen with orange ink. Well.... the nib fell in the bottle didn't it.... I tried to get it out with my finger but that didn't work (except for giving me an orange finger and getting ink all over the place!), then I tried using a paddle pop stick... no luck there either. Then I stuck my scissors in there which was able to locate the nib, (you can't see anything through orange ink) but couldn't grab it properly to pull it out.

Aha.... Tweezers! I ran and grabbed a pair but do you think I could get it to work... they weren't quite long enough to reach in properly and I couldn't get it. So then I thought "I'll pour some of the ink out and I'll be able to see better". On the way to the kitchen (which is only about 8 steps away) I asked my husband for some help as I was getting a small container to tip ink in. No sooner was I about to go back in my scrap room did my husband emerge and say

"I got it out for you".

Thanks honey, but you could have made it seem just a little bit harder since I had spent the last 10 minutes trying to do it myself!! No surprise, I decided to call it a night.

But here is what I finished this morning.....

I really wanted a white pen to do the journaling but mine decided to die and it's not like I can go into Rocky to get a new one as we are now cut off for probably the next week. I do like the effect of the black pen in the second page though... it's kind of like hidden journaling in plain view as you have to hold it in the right light to be able to read what it says.

Well, that's it for now... I'm going to try and do some scrapping (hopefully disaster free!). If you are participating in Julie's challenge, please leave me a comment and I will have a look at what you've been creating. I've been trying to get through the list and check out all the blogs but there are just so many!

A Compulsory Holiday

2010-12-31T19:19:00.006+10:00

If you have been reading my blog since the beginning you might remember this post from almost 2 years ago..... Well, Rocky is flooding again and this time it is bigger and better than ever!

A few flood facts...

* The last flood didn't even get to 8 metres
* This one is predicted to hit 9.4m by Wednesday with further rises possible
* The highest ever recorded flood was 10.11m back in 1918.

Unfortunately I won't have any pics of this flood as we are now living out of town and due to be cut off from Rockhampton tomorrow sometime - they are expecting us to be cut off for up to 10 days. So we are stocked up on food and Noel has organised to be away from work for the next week or so. The good news is that we should still be able to go on roads south so if we are in dire need we can drive to Gladstone which is an hour away.

On a lighter note.... I have been able to get a bit of time to do some scrapping... and I should have even more time over the next week or so! Here's my entry for the Scrap the Girls challenge this month - I used the colours blue and orange.

And a couple of art journal pages...

I absolutely love this first one... I used watercolour crayons and Prismacolour pencils over the stamped background - that script stamp is my absolute favourite but I don't even own it... Thanks Jo for letting me use it!

Also used my watercolour crayons on this next one to colour in the stars and hearts... and also the chipboard letter for "relax".

Hope you all have a great New Years! We're not doing anything special... I don't think I'll even stay up till midnight. I'm such a party pooper!

See you all next year!!

Christmas at our place

2010-12-24T11:31:00.007+10:00

For some reason, it just doesn't feel like Christmas this year. Last year we were lucky enough to be able to have all of both sides of the family together whereas this year we seem to be scattered. None of my family will be here for Christmas - my brother has been and gone, my Dad is coming up after Christmas and my Mum is working over Chrissy so we don't get to see her at all. But we do get to spend time with Noel's parents and his youngest brother. The thing I'm most looking forward to is seeing Jenna's face in the morning when she sees her presents... including the new swing set which will (hopefully) be up in the backyard. It might be a late night for Santa and his helpers... LOL.

Here's a few pics of what we have been up to:

For the first time we put up a wreath on the front door this year.... got a plain one and then decorated it ourselves.

I was inspired by this very talented lady to make some gingerbread cookies this year... they just look so cute...

Mine turned out very different....

Really must get a bit more practice and maybe some better tools.... my piping bag was a freezer bag with the corner cut off... not very precise. The main thing is that we had fun making them... and Jenna had fun eating the icing!

Trifle is a big Christmas tradition in my family.... it's just not Christmas without it! However my in-laws really don't eat it and it's not possible to make a a small one so we decided to make it while my brother was here so he could help eat it.

It never looks all that good but gee it tastes great!

And last up, we tried to get a quick family photo but it really didn't turn out well.... and this was one of the better pics! I just love the look on Amani's face.

Hope you all have a great Christmas!!

What do you do?

2010-12-23T22:38:00.004+10:00

What do you do when you get a skirt for Christmas that's two sizes to big for you?? Wear it as a poncho of course!!

So cute!

Want to play along?

2010-12-21T12:42:00.003+10:00

I'm going to do this next year....

How about you??

On a roll....

2010-12-15T15:12:00.006+10:00

Today I actually managed to get some time to scrap and finish two things... the backgrounds were already done so I just had to add some extra bits and Voila! Jenna was in there scrapping with me... she likes to pile stuff on top of each other.

The first is for this month's 123 Challenge.... The challenge was to use pink, tissue paper and the word "Oh".

This next one was started at a Hen's night I went to a while ago... there's so much on there I don't even know if I can remember what I used..... watercolour crayons, ink, chalk pastel, gesso and various other things.

Thanks for stopping by!

4 weeks in...

2010-12-14T10:25:00.007+10:00

I've now been back at the gym for 4 weeks and I'm starting to feel so much better again.... I've managed to lose about 2.5 kilos and I'm definitely getting fitter - today I was on the treadmill for 30 minutes and managed to go 3.28km! Yay... getting closer to my goal of 4km in 30 minutes.

Another exciting thing is that Amani is now 12 weeks old.... She's getting so much bigger and is now reaching for things and looks at her hands with amazement because she can control them. She's on the move already too... when she's lying on her back she can scoot herself along with her feet... not that she goes all that far but it's a start!

Here's the only layout that I've managed to complete lately...

And here's a few art journal pages for you!

And last up, a picture of my girls.... I still can't get over how much they look alike!

Nothing like last minute!

2010-11-30T17:48:00.004+10:00

I was having a look at some blogs the other day and came across this month's Kraft It Up challenge and thought I'd give it at go. This months challenge was to use decorative edges...

Pretty much everything on this layout I got from Anna's Craft Cupboard.... they were delivered last week but I didn't get a chance to play with them until now! I love that little birdie button, I've had it in my stash for ages and not used it... I think this is a good home for it.

On the gym front I jogged 3km today in 29 minutes... getting closer to my goal of 4km's in under half an hour! Yay!

Second week...

2010-11-24T12:30:00.003+10:00

Second week back at the gym this week and so far it has been a little bit easier...
This week I was:

On the treadmill for 27 minutes
Went 2.71km.

I have my first personal training session tomorrow morning so I'm sure I'll be hurting on Friday morning!

We went to Naomi's wedding on Saturday night which was great fun... managed to get a bit of a family photo while we were there as Ali had a photo booth set up there. It's only a "bit of" a family photo as Amani wasn't there... she was asleep before we left so she stayed home with Grandma. Ali did a wonderful job with the photos, you can see more at her website for Live, Laugh, Love Photography.

Back to it!

2010-11-16T19:16:00.005+10:00

Today was the day I've been looking forward to for ages..... my first day back at the gym after having Amani! I had a new program done up for me - I must say I have absolutely no abdominal strength at the moment!! Then I had a bit of time left so I jumped on the treadmill, which I have been dying to do for ages. OMG, I don't remember it being that hard. So here's the stats:

I was on there for 17 minutes and went 1.68km.
I jogged at 8km/hr for 1minute, twice...

and I was stuffed... that was nothing compared to what I used to do. So now I'm on a mission to get back to where I was and even better!

On the weekend I went to Naomi Thorn's place for her scrapping Hen's night. Had a bit of a play with everyone else's stamps, punches and masks so it was great fun! I have nothing completed to show from it but am hoping to hop to it in the next couple of days. The last 2 days I have worked and I haven't got a chance to do any scrapping... hopefully tomorrow is the day to get something done!

Here is something that I have done:

Jenna absolutely loves these teddies and they both have a story behind them so I wanted to write it down for her to read when she is older. When Jenna saw this layout she kissed the big photo.... and then licked the little one - not quite sure what that was about?

Getting Excited!

2010-11-09T19:45:00.006+10:00

Life has been the same old, same old here the last week or so, still getting used to my new routine with the 2 girls. I've even managed to go grocery shopping the last couple of weeks with both of them without a major incidence.... gotta love the toddler/newborn trolleys at Coles!

I am getting excited though because next week Amani turns 8 weeks old which means that I can go back to the gym (she has to be 8wks to go to the childminding there). I've already got my spots booked and I'll be there bright and early on Tuesday morning! For about the last 4 weeks I've been just craving getting on the treadmill and running... pre-pregnancy I could go 4kms in just under 31 minutes - my goal was to get under 30 minutes. Now I know I'm going to be NOWHERE even close to that now but it's still my goal to do it.... and shed this baby weight along the way! Bring on next week!!

It's funny that now I have 2 kids and busier than ever, I am actually scrapping more... I find myself doing something every day now, even if it is just for 10 minutes. I just love it when I get a good day and both girls are asleep at the same time, I find myself going into my scrap room to get some uninterrupted time. Jenna has been loving a show on tv called Mister Maker, so whenever she comes in with me she plays with a heap of stuff and constantly saying "maker". She also now knows how to say "sticky tape" and "scissors" because of him. LOL

So here are my latest creations:

For this first one I was playing with some inks and paint.

Another page in my art journal... I journalled on the page and then went over it with gesso and watersoluble oil pastels (love them!). I'm also loving that grid stamp at the moment!

This was for a Scrap the Girls challenge but I didn't get it done on time because something happened to the sewing machine halfway and I had to get my Mother-in-law to fix it for me. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm sewing machine challenged.... It's also my first ever layout of Amani.

Was trying to use up some of my stash in this next one...

If someone knows some sites with free blog stuff on it, can you please let me know.... I really want to do something different with the look of my blog!

Bye!

Hello there!

2010-10-22T21:13:00.008+10:00

Wow... The last month has just flown by! I can't believe that Christmas isn't all that far away again. Things have been good here... apart from everyone taking their turn at being sick with various illnesses but hopefully we are seeing the tail end of it now. Amani is still doing well and Jenna is loving being a big sister... sometimes a bit too much - we have to stop her from going in and saying "Hey" to Amani while she is sleeping.

Have managed to do a bit of scrapping in between everything - mainly in 10 minute bursts but at least I am getting something done.

I apologise if some of my photos lately are a bit dodgy looking, but here is photographic proof of why:

I have to try and take my photos quick now so that a certain little person isn't in the way. I can't complain too much though... after not scrapping a lot for ages, Jenna has been my main motivation for making sure I get time to do some scrapping. She just loves looking through my albums and pointing at everything (and trying to pull some of it apart), so I do it for her (and Amani) so they have something to look back on in the future.

That's it for now.... I am feeling there will be a lot more layouts over the next couple of weeks as I went and printed some more recent photos for me to work with! YAY!

Introducing...... Amani Claire

2010-09-25T20:20:00.004+10:00

Just a quick post to let you know that our second darling daughter has arrived.... yes, my gut feeling about it being a boy was completely WRONG. :)

Amani was born on the 20th September at 5.13pm, weighing 8pd2oz and 50cm long. I was scheduled to go in to hospital on Monday morning to have my waters broken so of course I started going into labour on Sunday night. After a couple of highs and lows she eventually came out the natural way - no c-section required this time... YAY! My widwife and the doctor there were absolutely incredible and were determined that I wouldn't need to go to theatre. And while I didn't have the easiest of births it has still been so much easier to recover this time.

Despite looking just like her big sister, Amani is completely different to Jenna - we barely hear a peep out of her unless she's hungry and she is sleeping really well.... I keep waiting for the bubble to burst and for things to take a turn for the worst, but so far, so good.

Well, that's it for now, I hear bub crying - must be time for a feed. :)

Works in progress

2010-09-05T13:59:00.012+10:00

I've got so many things on the go at the moment that I thought I'd share a few....

This is one of the canvases that I've started....

It's waiting for this girl to go on it, I just need to give her a bit more colour. Still making my way slowly through the Suzi Blu class I signed up for.....

Another couple of canvases that I've started on... I have no idea what I am doing with the bigger one, the smaller one needs a quote or something on it.

And lastly, a couple of journal pages that are in various stages of completion.

.

Have I mentioned how much I love Adirondack Color Wash?? The last double page was done with them - once I had dripped water at the top of the page on the right, I used the brush on the left page. It got just a hint of the colour.

Still waiting for baby... only 3 days until I am officially due, and the pressure is on as my family is up to visit from this weekend. We have been trying to get Jenna to sleep in her big bed for a while now and it hasn't worked, so we decided to leave it until all the visitors are gone because then there will be not as much motivation for her to get out of her bed. I swear she knows something is going on because she just climbed out of her cot for the first time... sneaky little thing! Hasn't tried it again (yet) so hopefully she'll stay there this time!

That's it for now!

Happy Fathers Day!!

2010-09-05T07:19:00.005+10:00

Well, today is Fathers Day and we've had a great day so far.... Jenna and I let Noel have a sleep in and we made him a card, then it was off to Sizzler for breakfast! Last Fathers Day Jenna started walking so I'm trying to top that this year by actually having a baby but nothing is happening so far. LOL

I have managed to complete 2 pages in my journal - they came together really quickly, the backgrounds were already done so it was just a matter of adding the rest. I love working on things this way - sometimes you can look at a background and have no idea what to do with it and then another time it all just falls in to place.

You can probably see I'm still working my way through using my stash - most of the stuff I've used is a few years old except for the MME bracket stickers. Only one more thing out of my stash to completely use up and I can get my $100 of new stuff! YAY.... although I already spent it online yesterday so I better hurry up and use something before it arrives. :) Can't wait to get these!

And this is Jenna's first ever journal page, she did it all by herself! She's so clever.... done with watercolour paints and pencil.

It's a nice rainy day here today so I am going to try and make the most of it and spend some time with my feet up on the couch. My energy levels have gone completely south lately and I can't seem to make it through the day without a nap.... only 6 days until I am officially "due". I'm hoping something happens before then though!

Bye for now!

Quick share....

2010-08-20T11:10:00.005+10:00

Just thought I'd quickly share a page that I did with my inks.... have been really inspired by Dina Wakley lately. This page only took me about 15 minutes but I love it, and that cranberry colour is just gorgeous!

And a quick belly shot - 37 weeks now!

Will have some more creations to share in the next few days... did one last night but the weather is too bad to take a photo today. Now I must go as I have an antenatal appointment and then off to work. :)

A relaxing day!

2010-08-18T15:26:00.006+10:00

Today I have had a wonderful relaxing day... Noel had the day off work and we took Jenna up to her Oma and Poppy's to visit so we could have the day to ourselves. It will probably be our last day like this for a long time with bub almost here. I've been sick the last few days so I took the opportunity to sleep and watch a movie... just chill and not do anything in particular. Although I did do this.....

The last of the baby washing, mainly nappies. These are all the cloth nappies that I own - being sick I fell a bit behind in the washing and Jenna is in disposables today. I must say I love my nappies! I do use disposables sometimes if it's been raining or if we are going out but it's great to have the mix of the 2 so I don't have to stress if I'm low on one or the other. I must say that out of all the types I have my favourites are the Mini La La. They are gorgeous - one sized and fit Jenna fantastically, we'll just have to see how they go on a newborn as well!

I also got some happy mail the other day!

I haven't used them yet except for a quick spray since I have been feeling so yuck, but I am looking forward to getting an hour or so to play this afternoon. I thought while I was there I'd take a pic of part of my scrap space (the clean part... LOL).

It's so great to be in our own place again and not a rental so I can put things up on the walls. And I managed to fluke the shelf at just the right height to squish in my foam board with all the stuff I need to use on it. I made a deal with Noel that if I use up 5 things I can spend $100 on new supplies. I actually came up with the idea - I don't want to just keep buying stuff, end up with a huge stash and not use any of it. The colour wash wasn't part of the deal - it was a birthday present.... aha.... loophole! LOL

Well, that's it for today... I'm off to pack the baby's bag ready for hospital and then I'm going to have a play with my inks. Bye!

What do you do on a rainy day??

2010-08-11T10:54:00.005+10:00

Why, paint of course!

Followed by a nice warm, long shower to clean up!

Busy, busy, busy....

2010-08-02T15:45:00.008+10:00

Gee, time is flying by.... just less than 6 weeks left until bub is due and I finally feel like I'm starting to get things organised. The clothes are washed, got an appointment to get car seats installed and have been stocking up on essentials like bibs, wipes, bottles etc. I've also realised that I haven't taken one belly photo so far so here it is...

I feel huge... I keep hitting my belly against things and if I eat a big meal it feels like my lungs have no room to breathe. Aahh... the joys. I am feeling a lot better this pregnancy though... I think a lot of it because I've kept going to the gym this time around. I don't get as much sciatic pain or leg cramps and the insomnia hasn't been as frequent. This baby does kick a lot more though - every single day my belly's moving like something is trying to push it's way out. I've also craved different foods this time around... with Jenna it was salt and pre-mix Coke with lots of ice (or watered down bottled stuff). Not together though! This time I've craved Drumstick/Cornetto ice-creams and really cold soft drink in a can. And it HAS to be in a can!

On Sunday Rocky had it's first ever (I think) Mumma's Fair... it was great! So many cute things to see and buy! I got Jenna a cute hairclip and the baby a gorgeous little outfit. They also had some really yummy looking cupcakes but I had run out of money... damn it. There's going to be another one in October so I can't wait to go again!

Scrapping has been a bit slow the last few weeks but I have managed to have a bit of a play. Got the idea from Donna Downey to use my watersoluble oil pastels for backgrounds and have loved playing with them again.

The page on the left is a work still in progress... I think I need to find some good quotes that I can use....

I got this little canvas from work really cheap and love the size of it... I have a few more so may have to use them for something similar.

And on a totally different note.... is anyone else watching this season of The Bachelorette? I am finding myself totally addicted to it... I can't believe that Justin was such a dirtbag!!

See you later!

Another post!

2010-07-13T21:28:00.005+10:00

Gee, the last week has flown... and I'm proud to say I managed to do another layout! The last few days have seen me with a complete energy lull, on the weekend all I wanted to do was lay on the couch and sleep (which I did do a bit). Don't know whether it was because I worked more than usual or just hormones or a combination of everything. But I figure I'll try and enjoy my time at home while I've got it because netball starts up again next week, we've had the last 3 weeks off because of school holidays and it has been nice to not have to go out almost every weeknight. I've so missed playing this year and sometimes all I want to do is jump on the court and play but it can wait until next year, so I just have to be satisfied with coaching this season. It's the 2nd year I have been coaching my minis team and I have totally enjoyed watching them improve... I can't believe there is only a few weeks of games left for the year!

So now on to some scrapping....

I did this layout for the July challenge over at Scrap the Girls, this month was a sketch challenge...

Now I just have to pick another scrapping challenge for myself for the week.... and I better get cracking since it's already Tuesday - and I can use all the time I can get! Especially because I still need to clean up my desk from last week! It's not just my mess I have to clean up either - Jenna loves to get in there and play and cover the floor with stuff!

And lastly, just because I can, another photo of me and my girl...

I have been trying to take more photos the last few weeks as I haven't taken a lot lately because the flash on my camera is broken. I really should get it fixed....

Thanks for stopping by!

And the award for worst blogger goes to.....

2010-07-04T19:05:00.010+10:00

I guess that would be me.... I know it's been a while since I've updated. But guess what, it's my blog and I can do what I like! LOL

So much has been going on in the last 6 months it's not funny! We finally moved into our new house and we are absolutely loving it here. It was strange just how much more relaxed and peaceful the 3 of us seemed here - being all one level, Jenna can run around the house and get to wherever she wants and it is so great to have a back yard. Jenna loves playing out there and it gives me a bit more sanity to be able to just let her burn off some energy out there.

The biggest news though is that the 4th member of our family will be arriving in about 10 weeks time.... that's right, I'm preggers again. We weren't planning on it happening quite so soon, but that's just how these things go. Bubba no.2 will be here about a month before Jenna turns 2 so it will be a nice age gap between them. Sometimes I wonder how I'm going to cope with 2 and "What the hell am I doing??", but most of the time I'm really looking forward to it. At least this time round I know a bit more about what I'm doing!

Jenna is doing fabulously well... she's such a cute, adorable and generally well behaved little girl. She is starting to say so many more words now - I can't wait for her to be able to let me know what it is she's thinking sometimes!

On the scrapping front, I have been doing some but not a lot. I've seem to have got the bug again lately though so have been trying to find the best way to do it without Jenna having to be asleep. I've got a big box of scraps which she loves to go through and sometimes she'll sit and colour in next to me. Although today she saw me using my inks and decided they looked like more fun. So I gave her some paint and let her go for it - it ended up in us both having a shower because it was the easiest way to get us both clean. LOL

So here are some layouts for you, sorry about the not so great photos - I was out the backyard taking the photos this afternoon and was trying to get it done quickly before Jenna got to them! I figured I was also on a roll after doing 2 layouts in 2 days so I thought I should keep going and update my blog. :)

While doing the 3rd layout (the bright pink one), I discovered clear gesso... I absolutely love it and need to get me some! I've decided that I'm stuck in a bit of a scrapping rut and need to get some new ideas - I guess I'm out of practice a bit.... LOL. So I'm giving myself a challenge - to do a layout a week using inspiration from some blog or another... whether it be a sketch, a challenge or just a general idea. I see so many things that I want to try so this might get me doing it. So hopefully it won't be so long before I update again!

Bye!

Looking forward, Looking back....

2010-01-15T07:33:00.003+10:00

I know that's the name to a Slim Dusty song (yuck!), but I thought it would be a good title for this post. I've been checking out Retro Girl's blog and she did this so I thought I'd give it a go...

In 20 words - Recap 2009

In 10 words - Write about your hopes for 2010

2009 - Life settling into routine, Lost weight, New friends, Priorities, Happiness, Joy, Finding myself again, So many firsts, Lots of smiles.

2010 - Family, Good health, New house, More creativity, Learning, Peace, Love.

Oops, gotta go - Jenna has found the baking paper and is rolling it out on the floor! LOL

Some pics from Christmas.

2010-01-13T21:01:00.006+10:00

I thought I'd share some of my favourite pics from Christmas.... We had so much fun down in Toowoomba - Jenna and I went down a week before Noel - he arrived late on Christmas Eve. We were so looking forward to seeing her reaction to waking up and seeing Daddy there..... didn't realise it would be so early though... Mum's smoke alarm went off at 5.30am for no reason and woke us all up... nice.

Jenna seems to have a fascination with blocks, she is always playing with them at child-minding when I go to the gym so we thought we should buy her some...

and some more just to be sure...

This pic is a bit blurry but I just love the attitude in her walk! :)

She LOVES her talking Elmo!

My gorgeous little fairy (and yes, quite a bit of the gravel was eaten. LOL).

Jenna with her Uncle Andrew, who she hadn't seen since she was a few weeks old. They had so much fun chasing each other around the house!
As well as a lot of family time, a lot of shopping was done. I fluked finding someone in Toowoomba who sells Golden paint products which are REALLY hard to find here in Australia even though everyone in America raves about how good they are. I've had a quick play with the gesso which is awesome! You can find it here if you are after some. There may have also been a few trips to Myer.... I SO wish we had one here.

Well, that's about it for now... BYE!

A Few Layouts....

2010-01-04T10:24:00.005+10:00

I have actually been scrapping!! Ok, ok, so there's not a LOT to share because I am usually quite slow although I seem to be getting a bit quicker the last few weeks. I think I've just given up on thinking about what I'm doing so much and actually just doing it. It's odd though, sometimes I feel so motivated to do something and have all these ideas in my head so I'll do heaps for about a week or so and then I won't touch anything for weeks after that... guess I'll just go with the flow! :)

So here are my latest layouts that I've done....

Jenna sat at the park for ages just playing with these sticks, changing them from hand to hand, adding a few more...

This one is from when Jenna was just starting to pull herself up on things.. she kept climbing up and down on the futon mattress.... at least it wasn't far for her to fall since it was on the floor. When I did this background I absolutely hated it - pink and green oil pastels all mashed together - but then I just put some gesso over most of it and tada! It's now one of my favourite layouts.... gotta love gesso!

Our first trip to the beach with Jenna - she absolutely loved it and not too much sand was eaten. LOL

It's amazing just how much pink I use now!! Before Jenna was born I didn't even own one pink paint because I hated pink and now it's everywhere! But just to be different here is one that is not totally pink...

I had fun with the background of this one... I covered some cardstock thickly with gesso and then ran a stamp through it to give it some texture.

Well, that's about it for now - I should really go and do some housework while Jenna is asleep... maybe.

Hello...... Is there anybody out there??

2010-01-01T19:53:00.003+10:00

Hi All!

I know, I know, it has been a VERY long time since I have paid any attention to this poor little blog and I'd pretty much left it for dead, but over the last few weeks I have been toying with the idea of blogging again. Now looking at it I realise it is in DESPERATE need of a makeover so I'm going to get cracking with that over the next few days - no better time than a new year, right?

Quick update though - Jenna is 15 months old tomorrow and doing fabulously well. She is just absolutely adorable in every way. We didn't end up moving to Brisbane - we are still in Rockhampton at the moment but planning to move out to Gracemere (which is about 15 minutes away) soon as we are building a house there.

Well, that's it for now and I promise to share some more soon. If you are actually reading this please leave me a comment so I know that at least one person is! LOL

Hope you all have a great New Year!!

It's all happening!!

2008-12-19T08:43:00.005+10:00

Hi! I know, I know, it's been a long time between blog posts. I have done absolutely no scrapping in the last few months.... I did make a card for Ali's birthday but that is it! And not much will be done for the next month or so either as it is going to be a very busy end to the year for me. Noel and I are moving back to Brisbane!! He was offered a job a couple of days ago and yesterday was the day that we had to let them know of our decision. We have no family in Brissy... although my parents and Noel's brothers are less than 2 hours away so Mum has said that she'll come down and babysit once in a while. We are hoping to be down there before the end of January so my head is spinning at the moment with all that needs to be done. Moving is going to be so much harder with a 4 month old (well, she will be at the time).

Speaking of Jenna, all is going well. We've had a few feeding issues which are now sorting themselves out but everything else is fantastic. She suffered terribly from wind pains for the first couple of weeks, but a few trips to the chiropracter have sorted it out - it's amazing what a difference it has made! At the moment she is having great fun discovering what her hands can do.... she started out just lifting her arm and staring at it but has now progressed to touching and hitting things and sucking on her fingers. Every day she is discovering something new and it is just wonderful seeing her grow and discover things.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year!!

Introducing....Jenna Louise Churchill!

2008-10-07T06:48:00.004+10:00

Isn't she just the most adorable girl ever??!! I could be slightly biased.....

(Photo is borrowed from Ali as I couldn't be bothered going through all my photos at the moment...lol)

Jenna was born at 2.58am on 2nd October, weighing 3325 grams and measuring 52cm long. I finally escaped the hospital yesterday afternoon after having a c-section. Jenna is a perfect angel, sleeping most of the time, except at night when nothing we do can seem to settle her. Looks like I'm going to be nocturnal for a while.

I will post more details and pics later... I can't believe how much she changes every day. A big thankyou to everyone who sent us their wishes!! I think I hear my bed calling my name.... zzzzzzzzzzz.

Still waiting....

2008-09-23T14:44:00.004+10:00

No birth news yet.... bubs hasn't yet decided to make it's entry into the world and seems quite content where it is for now. My due date is this week so hopefully something will start to happen soon. I finally have everything organised... we've done all the washing, packed the hospital bags and even have about 2 weeks worth of meals stored in the freezer! Now we just need someone else to hurry up!!

Finally, I've got some new layouts to share! Ok, so there may only be 3 but that's a start... I have a couple more lying around which are in various stages of completion (so unlike me... LOL) so will share them too when they are done. Hopefully, that won't be for a while though as I'm praying this kid decides to make an appearance soon. Wish me luck!!!

Only 4 weeks to go!!

2008-08-26T18:18:00.005+10:00

And how I wish they would hurry up, or bubs could come early too - that would be great! I feel so unfit at the moment - whenever I walk up the stairs I feel out of breath - I know it's just because my lungs have been squashed up to somewhere near my throat but it's still not good. Here's a piccy of what I'm looking like at the moment....

The last couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic.... everything in our house seems to have decided to break on us... the vacuum cleaner, the computer, Noel's car, even one of my bras (which I was wearing at the time)! I've got my fingers crossed that that's the end of it now. Nesting also seems to have kicked in, which is good for the house - I finally have unpacked the boxes from when we moved here over 3 years ago and the bathroom has never been cleaner.

I have a few layouts to share as well but they are somewhere under here...

We had to rearrange our garage and change the table that all my scrapping stuff was on so it's all just in a big pile at the moment.... Guess what my job is tomorrow??

A Little Bit of Silly....

2008-08-03T20:33:00.004+10:00

No sleep and hayfever make Angela go something... something....
(Sorry.... Simpsons reference :) )

Have felt like crap today after having hardly any sleep the last couple of nights and then sneezing all day with hayfever. So found a couple of things on YouTube to make me smile.....

Love this video with Christopher Walken... he is usually so serious...

And Sesame Street in the 70's..... before cookies were a "sometimes" food. My brother and I had this song on a mixed tape when we were kids and we absolutely loved it. I was stoked to see that there is a "film clip" to go with it!

Ok, off to bed for me now.

Why are holidays so tiring??

2008-08-01T15:00:00.008+10:00

I am so glad to be home!! You never realise just how comfy your own bed is until you go away, I think it was the thing I missed most while we were away. I can't believe how fast the time went - it felt like we had to come home just as we got there.

Our first day was spent helping Mum move into her new house - she had been living in the shed while it was being built and could finally move everything in. I couldn't do any heavy lifting so I got out of that, but I did end up washing all her kitchen stuff as it was unpacked - Can anyone say "dishpan hands"?? I was definitely over it after spending about two or three hours washing up! The view from her house is fantastic though - even better once the turf gets laid!

I even came back from holidays a year older as Tuesday was my birthday - got a few pressies and a heap of messages from friends and family - Thanks everyone! We went to Montezuma's for lunch with Mum and Dad - I have been craving their guacamole for weeks now and we don't have one here in Rocky. It was so yummy!! Also went to Myer (another thing I miss up here) and bought two little outfits for bubs to wear home from hospital - one is pink and one is blue so we have all our bases covered. I just can't wait to see which colour it will be wearing!

Finally here is a layout that I've finally finished - have probably been working on it for the last month or so! LOL It seems that I have lost all my scrapping mojo at the moment - am just too focused on other things.

Will be taking another belly pic soon as it seems to have expanded greatly over the last week or so. Will it ever stop?? I guess in about 8 weeks it will! LOL

And I'm Off.....

2008-07-24T10:39:00.004+10:00

Has it been a week already?? Time is just flying at the moment! It's also really cold, it's been raining and windy for the last couple of days - perfect weather to stay inside! Have done a little bit of scrapping but it's really bad weather so you'll just have to wait and see.... We are off to Toowoomba tomorrow for our last trip away before bubs gets here. Haven't got anything exciting planned but I will get to spend my birthday with my parents which will be good, and I will get to see my Mum's new house which has just been built.

I braved my first toy sale today at Target - I just wanted to get a nappy bag ($25 - BARGAIN!) but I thought I'd get down there early to see just how crazy it would get.... there was so many people lined up out the front, one lady even had 3 trolleys with her! The staff were handing out store maps, catalogues and huge plastic bags before they opened which I thought was a good idea, and when the doors finally opened, people started running inside. RUNNING! I hope I'm never that desperate to get toys!

Well, I don't have any pics to share because of the crappy weather, but here is one of my preggo belly that I took 2 weeks ago. My brother reckons I look cranky in this photo - I didn't mean to - I was probably just wondering what Noel was doing with the camera! LOL

I had a bit of a photo shoot with Ali and her sister last weekend too, so I can't wait to see how they turned out! See you all in about a week!!

Oh My Freakin Gawd!!

2008-07-17T08:49:00.002+10:00

The American version of So You Think You Can Dance started last night, and there was THE MOST AMAZING guy on there!! The things he can do with his body is just unbelievable - you have to see it to believe it!

And keep watching, cause about four and a half minutes in, he does the most freaky, crazy backbend ever!

I forget.....

2008-07-15T13:57:00.002+10:00

The last couple of days I have been thinking... "Ooh, I need to put that on my blog" when certain things have happened. Do you think I can remember any of those things now - NO .... gotta love that baby brain! LOL

Oh, that's right... Nic presented me with my first ever blog award, so I guess I should pass it on.

Who gets the “Brilliante Webblog Award“?

Websites and blogs of your choice for their designs that are especially noteworthy.

Here are the Award Rules:

1. The winner can take the logo

2. Place a link to the person that send you the award

3. Give the Award to at least 7 other Scrapbooking-Blogs, which by its currency,the issues of choice and for their designs are especially noteworthy

4. Put a link to these sites on your Blog.

5. Write a comment on their Blogs that they’ve won an Award

So I am passing this award on to:

Ali What can I say about this girl - my best friend and an AMAZING scrapper.... When I first met her I was just so glad to find someone in Rocky about my age who scrapped like I wanted to scrap - had no idea what the next 2 years would bring!

Jo Her scrapping has changed so much over the time I've known her - another amazing person!

Irene Just always surprises me with what she does - she's never afraid to try something new. She even started up her own blog at 60 years of age!

Kirsty and Dee The messyhappyfun girls. Their ecclectic style is just fantastic - nobody scraps quite like them.

Maz Her work is always bright and funky.... I love it!!

Kelly Another fantastic girl and a great scrapper!

Retro Girl Love her funky style!

Embellished Idol has started again, and although I haven't entered this year, my darling hubby has! Here is his layout for the first round...

Can't wait to see what he comes up with for this weeks challenge!

I was going to post the most recent pic of my ever expanding belly, but blogger seems to playing up today so I will leave it for later. You'll just have to wait...

BYE!!

Back to Reality

2008-07-01T16:03:00.005+10:00

What an exhausting last couple of days! Brisbane was fantastic and have since been catching up on all the washing and grocery shopping as you usually do when you get back from being away. After my antenatal appointment yesterday and all the shopping as well as a few other bits and pieces my feet were starting to swell... they still haven't got over all the walking I did down in Brissy. The news from my appointment is that everything is good with bubs - all my blood tests are good, so was my glucose test (even though I almost passed out as she was taking the blood!), I even got a nice jab in my arm!

I didn't take as many photos as I had planned while we were away... I didn't want to lug my camera everywhere but here are a couple. I mentioned the pancake place after my last trip away and we were back there again this time. You can tell that it was an old church in this photo - the inside is just gorgeous!

Noel trying to steal my pancakes....

Just in case you weren't already hungry, get a load of these blueberry pancakes.... YUM!

The hotel where we stayed is built on the former site of Festival Hall - I love how they have this memorial to it in the front lobby. They even have old tickets from concerts and floorboards with the seating numbers on! I remember going to see Alanis Morissette there about 12 years ago - I got the worst flu in my life after that concert! The whole of SE Queensland was flooding at the time and it took about 6 hours to get to Brisbane instead of the normal one and a half. It was pouring rain and after coming from the boiling heat inside and standing in the cold rain outside I got so sick! Was a good concert though....

At the moment, just seeing this is making me happy....

Since coming back from Brissy I have started organising all the baby stuff that we had all over the house and putting it somewhere a bit more permanent. It's starting to make it a bit more real now and I am realising that it's not too much longer now until an actual baby will be here (as opposed to a big lump in my stomach... LOL). The baby expo was great - I have never seen so many prams all in the one place before! I managed to buy myself some nappies - some Itti Bitti's and BumGenius - I just can't wait till the baby gets here and I can actually use them. Until then I will have to be content just to play with them and muck around with the inserts. I also got some great book bargains from QBD - it is by far my favourite book shop as you can always find something cheap, only problem is we don't have one here in Rocky! But anyway, I managed to get over $70 worth of kids books for only $22! They are so cute - some have different textures and furry bits through the books so they will be fun for a little one to play with. This kid is going to have so many books it isn't funny!

That's about it for now - must go and finish reading a book!