Reflections

Season End For Go Karts!

Today was James' last day of Go Kart racing for 2008 and he really did have a mixed day of results. The weather was so much cooler than his last Club Day and the engine needed a little 'tweaking' after the 'carbi' session to gain a bit more speed before the races got underway.

He ended up finishing in 5th for the first race, 2nd in the second, 4th in the third and unfortunately, a DNF (Did Not Finish) in the final race because another Midget driver knocked both James and another kart off into the stones. As you can imagine James was so VERY disappointed, especially since the driver that caused the trouble ended up continuing on to finish the race! Once again the chance of winning a trophy for the day was taken away by someone elses actions. Oh well - I guess that's motor racing for you!

Next weekend will see us heading off to the Club's Presentation Night - the boys are really looking forward to it too - not because James necessarily has a chance of winning a trophy like he did last year - but because they remember what a fun time they had!

Until next time,

December Scrappitpack - 'A Little Birdie Told Me'

Monday will see the release of the all *new* December Scrappitpacks so I thought I would share how I used the Little Birdie Told Me pack! I just loved this pack the moment I saw it and new it would be perfect to make another of my handcrafted Christmas gifts!

The main project was a 2009 Desk Calendar that measures 17cm x 11cm - you might remember one that I made and featured in the 'November ScrappIt Now' Newsletter a couple of weeks ago and that I also mentioned here on my blog too!

Here's one of the pages from inside

Then - with the leftover pattern paper and a couple of extra blossoms and brads, I made a cute little greeting card as well!

The pattern paper is by 'My Little Shoe Box' and features 'A Little Birdie Told Me - Papers 1 and 2'. They are just so cute aren't they?

Until next time,

 

Dimensional Christmas Tree Cards

At my Longford Scrappers day on Thursday we had another fun-filled day working on our own projects AND playing around with my Cuttlebug. I also showed the girls how to make these very clever Dimensional Christmas Trees that I'd spotted on Shirley's blog - thanks so much for sharing the idea Shirley - I told you I couldn't resist having a play with one myself!

I've made my two out of cardstock and have found that whilst they are a little on the bulky side and don't sit quite as flat as Shirley's, they still look quite effective.

On this first one, I've left the edges straight cut and have applied glitter to all the edges as well.

On the next one, I chose to use a thinner cardstock AND once I'd cut and folded each square I then pinked all the edges with my decorative scissors to give each layer a ruffled edge, and then re-folded each one before assembling my tree.

I've actually started making another out of just pattern paper and I have to say that I really like the results of this too - the tree sits that much flatter AND the folded centre line pieces actually sit closer together too! When I've finished off that card I'll be sure to share so that you can see what I mean!

I also managed to get another Christmas card complete on Thursday - both the blue card above and the one below, use Alison Ellis Designs pattern paper - funky aren't they?

Until next time,

 

Sky Watch - Approaching Rain!

Here's my contribution for Sky Watch this week - these photos were taken at the boys cricket match last Friday night as a cool change was approaching!

Thankfully the boys managed to get their whole game in - they lost incidentally - but boy was it cold! Who would think that we are nearly in Summer with the weather we have been having of late! We ended up getting 56mm - a little over 2 inches of rain last weekend - just delightful - and more is tipped for tomorrow night and Saturday too! The garden - and more importantly - our water tank - have just been loving it!

Back to Sky Watch -  it was amazing to look up at the change in the cloud patterns as the cold front moved across the sky infront of us! Of course, I couldn't resist capturing some of those cloud formations to share with you here on my blog! Here's just some of them!

Until next time,

    

*Sneak Peaks* - Pages & Mini Album

Here's some more *sneak peaks* for that feature I've been working on - 3 scrapbooking pages and a mini album!

Here's the pages!

This one is the cover of the cute little mini album!

Until next time,

 

*Sneak Peaks* - Greeting Cards

Today I thought I would share some *sneak peaks* of a few of the Greeting Cards that I've made and mentioned in this post - unfortunately I can't tell you anymore about what I'm doing them for at this point in time though!

Until next time,

 

Things I've Done

I found this 'game' over on Janet's blog and thought I'd play along too!

I just needed to copy this list of 99 random things and then cross off all the things that I've done. Like Janet had mentioned - just about all of these would have a story associated with them and therefore would make for a really interesting mini-album too! Mmm - just another idea to add to my 'To Do' list - *grin*

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt in person
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Phew! What a list - as you can see, there are a great number of things that I haven't done and some I'd certainly like to do as well! It would be good to look back on this in say another 5 or 10 years and see how many 'other' items I can mark off!

Until next time,

 

Darkroom Door Blog mention!

Remember my 'Robot Mini Album' that I shared last week and that was made with Darkroom Door pattern papers and film strips? Well - it's been featured on the Darkroom Door Blog!

What an honour! Thanks so much Rachel for your lovely comments too!

In other creative news, I've been busy working on some mystery projects that I can't share too much information about at the moment - but I promise to share a few *sneak peaks* of them all with you soon!

Until next time,

'Kreativ Blogger' Award and a Thank-you!

What a lovely surprise it was to read my emails this morning and discover that the very 'Kreativ' Tina has awarded me the 'Kreativ Blogger' Award!

Thank-you so much Tina! I am always inspired by your 'Kreativ' projects too and I love reading about the things that both your and your family, on the other side of the world, are up to!

I see that a number of 'regular' blogs I visit have already received this award from others, so I'm going to  pass it on to some that I don't think have!

Mandy - She never ceases to amaze me with her beautiful photography, gorgeous 'kreativ' projects and wonderful links to blogs I had yet to discover!

Peet - A recently new blog that I've discovered but I just love her attention to detail in each and every 'kreativ' project she shares - and the fact that she does lots of hand stitching too probably makes her work very appealing to me!

Sarah - I'm always inspired by her blog and her outlook on life - make sure you check out her 'puzzle' photos for a photography challenge that she has joined in - so very clever! I just love that analogy she's used - I've kind of been feeling a lot like that recently too!

Shanna - Lots of wonderfully inspiring 'kreativ' projects regularly featured here and always an honest outlook on life as well!

Sharon - Fellow Scrappit Design Team member and very 'Kreativ' Mixed Media artist - I just love the techniques that Sharon incorporates into her papercrafting projects!

Before I sign off for today, I also want to pass on my thanks to a dear online friend - Paula - who sent me a 'Hello Friend' card in the mail for 'World Hello Day' which was apparently yesterday! I've known Paula for a number of years, via the scrapping community and have always been inspired by her wonderful 'kreativ' projects, her outlook on life and her passion for being and supporting everything Australian! What a lovely thoughtful gesture - thank-you for your friendship too Paula!

Until next time,

Technique - Candle Soot & Stamping

Here's what I've shared as Design Team Inspiration over on the Scrappit Blog today!

It's a Christmas card that features Candle Soot and Stamping - have you ever heard of it? I discovered it on the web some time back, had a little play and finally had a chance to finish the project off and write up a bit of a 'how to' as well!

Click here to find out how to do this technique yourself - it certainly was an interesting one and of course you can use any stamp too, so the possibilities really are endless!

Until next time,