More progress with my Mini Book today. I completed another page.

This side of the page is fairly flat in comparison to the others I have made, otherwise the book will never close.

I have sprayed the paper doily with Starfish & Cherub Pink Glimmer Mist and got a beautiful gold glimmer, painted the Imaginarium Design chipboard with Gold acrylic paint and then sprayed with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist. I have then added a transparency, Prima flowers, stick pins and a jewel to the flower.

This page has a little booklet attached. The front of the booklet has a pocket with a tag for a photo and journalling on the back

When you open the first page the left hand side has a transparency in the corner and 2 handmade squares I made in a class with Jane Tregenza. The right hand page has a ribbon tied around it so a photo can be inserted behind it.

The last page has two tags for photos and journalling on the left and an area for a large photo on the right

Tomorrow I plan on attacking the front and back covers.

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

Last night I actually made some progress with my mini album. I have completed the front and back of one page. I have decided to go with a different theme for each double open page. The page I have started with has hearts on one side and butterflies on the other.

This is the heart page closed up, as it would appear when you turn the page to first see it. The hearts are stamped on and then heat embossed with gold

When you untie the ribbon and open the folded card you get this. Room for 5 photos, journalling etc

These panels are pretty simple just boarder punched with one of the Martha Stewart punches, and inked.

The back of the page has the butterfly theme. A diagonal pocket holds three tags for photos, journalling etc

A look at the tags

and the backs

The pink tags have just been stamped with the butterfly stamp using the Clear Versamak ink. The gold butterflies are heat embossed and the black butterfly was cut out of the pink tag using the Big Shot and then backed with black card.

The main butterfly is double layered, all three were cut out with the Big Shot and then embossed.
And look at those beautiful holes put there by my Cinch. I must admit I had to do the page twice because when I punched the holes in the original page I forgot to pull the correct peg out and got half a hole at the top of the page. I was tempted to leave it but I knew it would annoy me every time I saw it so I did it again.

Love to hear any comments you would like to leave
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

The great weather is still holding up here in Adelaide. Today I went for a walk along the beach at West Beach with a friend and then had lunch at the West Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.

This afternoon I gave Daisy a bath and a haircut and groom. She looks so cute.

Tonight I am working on my mini album. I must admit I have not made much progress with it as I seem to get side-tracked every time I come in my craft-room to scrap. Yesterday I spent so much time taking photos of the layouts in my Tasmania album and then sorting them out and getting them ready to post on here.

This is the first page of the album.

and this is the next page. At the top of the page I have threaded a strip of paper through holes punched with a Fiskars punch.

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

We arrived home today.  Missed the traffic jam at Port Wakefield by about 5 minutes and got home at 1pm.

Have unpacked, done the washing and Ray has gone to work.

I am sitting in my scrap-room thinking about what I will do next. I am working on a 6" x 6" album because I want to try my new Cinch machine. I have got the basic pages cut out and have created a starburst page for one page, a waterfall page and a pull tag revolving page for another. These are not the correct names but I can't remember their proper names so I have improvised with naming.

I have got a 6 x 6 paper pad in pinks and cream that I am going to use for the decorating and the album is made of black card-stock with chipboard covers that I have painted black and will decorate with paper from the pad.

I must admit that I was never a big fan of mini albums until I did one in a class with Heather Jacob. I really enjoyed it and made another one for a friend for her 50th birthday. I do not have a specific use for the one I am making at the moment which makes it a bit hard to decide on colours and embellishments but I will stick to neutral embellishments so it can be used for any occasion.

The pictures below are a double page layout I did for my album of our holiday to Tasmania in April 2007. We arrived at Davenport at 8am on Good Friday (April 6th)

These photos are of Wineglass Bay, a beautiful spot, and were taken on the 13th April

A close up of the tags cut on my Cricut...

Love to hear from you if you have time to leave me a comment

Till next time

Cheers

Julie

What fantastic weather we have had for Easter. Ray and I have spent the holiday period in Whyalla, visiting my Mother, 2 x Sisters and Brother. A surprise visit by my Sister from Roxby Downs was a highlight.

I have spent the 5 days doing nothing much except relaxing, eating and drinking. I will certainly have to get on that treadmill with a vengance to make up for all the extra calories.

Ray & I went to one of the local hotels for the Whyalla Musician's Reunion, many of the bands that played in Whyalla between the mid 60's through to the mid 90's were there playing the songs they played when they were in their prime. It was very interesting and we saw quite a few people we knew from back then. Even had a couple of dances.

One thing though, I am looking forward to doing some scrapbooking, so will be doing some of that very soon.

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

When we were kids we used to hate it when we came home from school and Mum said "I've been thinking..." She always did this while she was doing the ironing and it generally meant we were in trouble for something we thought we had got away with. Today I did the ironing and "I've been thinking.." A friend of some 20 years is in hospital battling with the final stages of cancer. She has not had an easy life but she has always grabbed opportunities with both hands and run with it, she has a zest for life that is hard to equal. I don't know if you have ever known anyone who always seems to get the "muddy" end of the stick but this friend has.

This got me thinking about my life. I have had the "ideal" life with only one major hiccup, that of loosing my father way too soon. My memories of my childhood are pleasant and as an adult my life has been happy and healthy. My husband, daughter, son-in-law, grand-daughter and all of my siblings and their families are healthy with no major life problems. Ray & I worked and saved hard for the first 20 years of our marriage and were lucky enough to be able to retire at 42. Since then we have been pursuing our hobbies and doing the things we have wanted to do. A dream life.

But today I was thinking what do I really want to do with the rest of my life? I know it is probably a question that we all ponder from time to time and we all have friends or relatives that pass on and make us take stock of our lives. Today is one of those days for me and I am sad to say I could not come up with an answer. We build a life and we surround ourselves with so many "things/people" that it becomes just about impossible for us to do exactly what we want. We have to consider our immediate family and do not want to leave our extended family and friends behind to set off in a new direction, and of course the ever present thought that we need to ensure we are "set-up" for our old age, makes us a bit hesitant to burn our bridges. But who knows if we will have an old age? Should life be for living in the moment with little regard for the future. Let the future take care of itself? I guess it is how we answer these questions that makes us who we are.

Ahh well I will keep thinking about things and by doing that I find that things generally change slowly and a new plan forms.

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

When I got up today I had nothing planned except to do the washing and go to a scrapbooking class tonight to do a page for my Book Of Me.

The washing was handled no problem and then I thought what now??

I walked into my craft room and saw 4 tops I had pulled out of the cupboard when I had a clean out a few days ago. They needed altering so I thought now is as good a time as any, so that is what I did. I now have 4 extra tops I can wear. While I was at it I let Ray's suit pants out ready to wear to the Rock n Roll Ball in July.

I worked on a page for my BOM tonight but it is not finished as I have not taken the photos for the page or done the heading and journalling. I will get to that over the next few days.

This is the last completed page of my album so from now on they will only appear as I complete them. I have only got 2 double (including the one I started tonight) and on single layout to do to complete the book. These pages are about things I want to do more of in 2011

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

What a great weekend.

Friday night we went to Legends Rock n Roll Club. They had "The Lincolns" playing there. We had not heard them before, they were a bit too fast for Ray and I, more Rockerbilly than Rock n Roll, but it was good to sit and listen. There were heaps of people there. Lots of people we had not seen for a long time so all in all a good night.

Saturday afternoon of course I had my scrapbooking class at Camelot, Judy and I had a pleasant afternoon creating one and a half layouts for her grandchildren's albums . If anyone is interested in doing a class with me on a Saturday afternoon from 1:30 to 3:30 at Camelot, 159 Marion Road, Richmond just email me and I will give you all the details


Saturday night we went to a show at the Top of the Ark (Arkaba Hotel) as part of the "20 years of Rock n Roll Rendezvous" celebrations. The band was the Highlights and Ray was the DJ. What a great night. I have never been there before and the venue was great. The band was fantastic and Ray played great music as usual, the whole night was one of the best I have had is quite some time.


Today we went up to Birdwood to the Rock n Roll Rendezvous. The weather was perfect. Caught up with a lot of out of town friends and spent quite some time on the dance floor. Unfortunately Ray had to leave at 1pm to come back to work but I stayed on and came home with Wendy and Lindsay (Thanks again) when the show had finished. 


On the scrapbooking front:

Here is the next page in my album. This page is on things about me that people may not know

and this page is about what you will find in my handbag on any given day.

Tomorrow is Monday and I need to catch up on some of the household jobs that have not been done over the last few days. Don't mind really, it will be good to feel a little organised again

Love to hear a comment from you if you have the time

Till next time

Cheers

Julie

Today is Ray's birthday. It has been a pretty normal day for him but that is the way he wants it he says. I got him some tools he wanted for his bikes but he has had them for about a month now so today I went and bought him a mobile broadband connection so that when we go away he will be able to take my notebook and connect to the internet to keep in touch with all of his internet forums etc that he likes to browse. He seems to be pretty pleased with that.

It is also my sister Anne's birthday. Happy birthday Anne.

Last night we went to the Anzano Club to see the Party Cats. They are there the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month. Last night was the first time we have gone and I must say I did enjoy it. There were only about 30 people there, the band played great music and there was plenty of room on the floor. What more could a girl ask for. Champagne of course and there was plenty of that there as well.

I have basically wasted today, just couldn't get motivated to do anything although I did do the washing and the shopping and a half hour on the treadmill so not a complete waste I 'spose

This is the next page in my album. It's about some of the places I have been and covers my trip to Switzerland and Paris in 2009.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be a bit more productive and I will be more energetic.

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

It is Ray's birthday on Wednesday so tonight we went to the Wheatsheaf Hotel for beer and pizza's with Cindy & Dave to celebrate. There is no kitchen at the hotel so you just order pizza to be delivered from the local pizza shop, The hotel itself is a micro brewery so they have heaps of different beers. Something of a novelty if you are a beer connoisseur. Any way the champagne was nice and the company was pleasant and the pizza was great so all in all a good experience.

Here is the next page from my album. It is about my dancing friends. These are the people who I spend a great deal of my entertainment time with. We have known each other for a minimum of 5 years now and all get on extremely well together.

A busy day tomorrow so till next time
Cheers
Julie

A great lazy day for me today. Started with a sleep-in then a lazy breakfast while looking at a scrapbooking magazine, 30 minutes on the treadmill then a leisurely shower. Caught up on my paperwork and finalised all our bookings for Coolly Rocks On. Cooked lunch for Ray before he headed off to work and then spent an hour on the phone to Mum.

I am going to finish the day off with some revision of my Photoshop course, and some scrappin' if I can fit it in.

Friday I went over to Glenelg and bought 2 tops and a tunic at Casual Image. I always find something I like at that shop. Then on the way home I bought 2 pairs of Leggings, a cardigan and a necklace making a very successful shopping day.

Friday night we went to Legends and heard Angelo Zotti entertain, he is a very good singer and I enjoyed his brackets. When he was not singing he played CD's which were a bit fast for my liking but he has to cater to all tastes. Ray and I did have a few dances though so that always make for a more enjoyable time.

Saturday morning we had brunch with Cindy, Dave & Charli after Charli had finished her Fairy Ballet. Very enjoyable. Later we went out to Rob & Jacqui's to celebrate Rob's 60th Birthday.

Here is the next page of my Book Of Me. Ray & I retired 16 years ago (although from time to time I get a job just to keep me in touch with what is happening in the "everyday" world, as was the case at the time this page was created) and people always ask me what I do with myself all day. I never know what to say to that as the days go by so quickly and I never seem to have enough time to do all the things I want to. This next layout is about one week of my life in July last year.

I would love to hear from some of you, so please leave me a comment on your way through
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

Here is my WW1 challenge layout. The challenge was to use White, Olive Green and twine. I have strung my banner on the twine.

The Vine chipboard has been painted with acrylic paint and then stamped and heat embossed, as has the butterfly

The flowers are made with net, I cut circles from the fabric and then singed the edge with a match, they are quite puffy. Each flower has 6 circles.

Hope you have time to leave me a comment
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

I have just about finished my WW1 layout, just waiting for the Dimensional Glaze on the alphas to dry properly, then stick them on and it is done.

Have had a pretty quiet week. Spent the day with Charli on Tuesday, yesterday I went over to the opticians and bought a pair of reading glasses. My current glasses are multi-focal and with my new 27" computer screen I get a stiff neck because I have to tip my head back on a ridiculous angle to be able to see out of the bottom section of my glasses that has the part for reading. I just have to wait a week now for them to be ready and then hopefully my problems with stiff necks will be over.

Today my nephew came and picked up a set of kids play table and chairs my sister bought for her grandchildren. He just got back from Bali and looked pretty relaxed and cheerful.

I went to TAFE today, next week is the last week of this term, that 10 weeks went so quickly!!!!

This is the next page in my album. It is about things I learned from my parents. The journaling for these pages is printed on transparency and does not photograph too well. It discolours the paper behind the transparency. I don't know how to fix that, so if anyone reading this knows how to, please leave me a comment with instructions on how it is done.

Mum is still with us, she is 78 now and still very healthy and living on her own. Dad passed away 23 years ago at only 54.

Till next time
Cheers
Julie

Once again I am reminded of what good friends I have. Thanks again to Wendy & Lindsay for taking me to a fro to Frank's birthday celebrations on Sunday afternoon. The weather was fantastic, the food was laid on and the company was great. A fantastic recipe for Frank's 70th birthday celebration held in Jan's backyard.

Saturday night we went to the Fun Dancers 3rd birthday celebration (seems to be the weekend for birthday's). It was held at the Deborah Kaye Centre in Salisbury East. The venue was very pretty and the video clips that were running all night were exceptional. They were of all the artists of the 50's singing their hit songs of the era. There was partner dancing and rock n roll on the dance floor throughout the evening, so there was something for everyone. I must congratulate Russell on the excellent job of putting the clips together.

I have spent the day today doing housework, not something I generally put a lot of time into but Ray has been working a lot of shifts on the scooters so I thought I would do a bit around the house so he can have a bit of spare time.

I am going to start on my White With One challenge tonight as I did not do any scrapping over the weekend.

Here is the next page from my Book Of Me album, it is a page about my favourite things.

Also this is the card I made for Frank. As I said before it is a copy of one I did in a class with Heather Jacob.
This is the front

This is the back

and this is the inside

That is quite a long post so till next time
Leave me a comment if you have time
Cheers
Julie

Friday night at home!!! That would be the first time for many years. We could not find anything that we wanted to go to and were too lazy to go out just for the sake of it.

This morning I went over to Officeworks and got some photos printed ready to do a layout or two over the next week. I am going to have a go at the challenge over at White With One. You have to create a layout using White, Olive Green & Twine. I am going to use a photo of our house.  I am looking forward to doing it.

This afternoon I spent 2 hours with Judy at Camelot and we created 2 pages for her grand-children's albums. It is very relaxing.

This is the next page from my album. It is about our go-to recipe, the one you make when someone wants you to bring something along or you have to make something at short notice. Mine is a cheesecake that Mum used to make and sell in her Cafe which was called The Grapevine. I usually add extra lemon juice as I love it very tangy.

So if you invite me to your place this is what you can expect me to turn up with.

Time to go and get dinner, and there won't be any cheesecake tonight.
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

I have been busy doing a layout but as yet have not taken any photos, so will post that when I get around to the photography bit.

I went to TAFE yesterday and this morning I had a scan on my legs for varicose vein treatment, apart from that life has been pretty quiet.

Ray has been working on the advertising scooters all week so I haven't even had him around the place.

I was talking to a friend the other night and she suggested that I try a few scrapbooking challenges from the various challenge sites, there are quite a few of them around. I have decide I will give it a go so will post the layouts here as I go.

Here is the next page in my Book Of Me album. It is about our beautiful Daisy.

We have got a pretty busy weekend ahead but I will post again soon

Till next time
Cheers
Julie