Life is a blur...time is just whizzing by.

Today I taught 2 one-on-one scrap booking classes, the first for 3 hours this morning and then a 2 hour one this afternoon. A good day.

I made a couple of cards the other day ready for my lady that likes to make cards in my Saturday class at Camelot. This is her second lesson and I think she is enjoying it.

I have been looking around for some ideas for another mini album over the last few days, still haven't made up my mind what to make.

I am still going to Yogalaties twice a week and still enjoying it. I have not done any walking this week though.

I am going to Whyalla with Cindy and Charli on friday. Hoping to take them both out on my sisters boat to see the dolphins. I took these photos last time I was there.

This is me feeding the dolphin. Hopefully Charli and Cindy will get the opportunity to do that this trip.

Just beautiful.

A few thoughts to share

outside my window...it is quite cool and it has been raining off and on today. We definitely needed the rain and I am enjoying the break from the hot weather.

i am thinking...about yogalaties tomorrow, a new craft project, doing some of my on-line art course....so many things to do and so little time

i am thankful for...not having to go to work and loose most of my day.

i am wearing...jeans, T-shirt, cardigan and ugg boots

i am going to...enjoy the next week

i am reading...Dead Simple by James Patterson

i am pondering...my next craft project

i am hoping...the drive to Whyalla goes well. It will be the first long distance (4 - 4.5 hours) car trip for Charli.

i am creating...hoping to start a mini-book within the next week. Just trying to decide what format it will take.

on my mind...Weekend in Whyalla

from the kitchen...diet Ginger Beer

around the house...we had a ceiling fan fitted in our bedroom this week. Very timely, we have used it just about every night since it went in.

one of my favourite things...soft serve ice-cream

a few plans for the rest of the week...reading, packing, shopping and cooking and hopefully a lot of crafting

one picture to share...a strangler vine in the rainforest on Lifou. This photo was taken on a day trip while we were on a cruise of the pacific in 2006.

Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

It has been a pretty uneventful week here.

On Monday night we went to the cinema in Rundle Street and saw Life of Pi in 3D. God I love 3D, so life-like. A very deep thought provoking movie, I am still thinking about it from time to time. After the movie we sat in Rundle street and had a drink thinking that it would be a hive of industry seeing as how the fringe is on but it was very quiet. We only had one drink and Ray had something to eat and then we came home.

Tuesday we were going to go to the Adelaide Rock and Roll Club but Ray was in a foul mood and I could not be bothered putting up with it so we stayed home and I did the ironing!!!!

Today I went to Yogalaties, I have been going each monday and thursday for a few weeks now, it is a mix of yoga and pilates. I am really enjoying it.

Early this afternoon I went to Glenelg to Casual Image and spent half of the voucher my friends gave me for my birthday present. I bought this black light-weight jacket. I am pretty pleased with it. I tried to buy one a couple of months ago and they did not have my size but today when I went in, there it was.

I am making slow progress with my layout but have not have the interest to do much to it this week. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I will finish it off. I have got the basic layout finished it is just the embellishing that I need to do now. Every time I think about it my mind goes into overload as there are so many things I want to incorporate, die cuts, chipboard, flowers, film strip, ornamental pins and so it goes on.

Anyway enough of my babbling
Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

What a day... it is over 40 degrees celsius here today so a good day for staying inside with the air-conditioner on.

Poor Ray is working in this heat, driving scooters around AMI stadium with helmet and jacket on.

I have been sitting in my craft room for 3 hours looking at some papers and trying to get some idea of how I am going to construct a layout I want to do. My mind will not click into gear for me today. Having a melt down from the heat Ha Ha Ha.

I am working on a page that shows my journey to 60 years of age. These are the photos I will be using. I have printed all of these photos sized down to about 3" x 2" and assembled them as a collection. They will be on the first page.

These last two photos were taken at my 60th birthday party and they will be on page 2 of the layout

Now all I have to do is come up with a design for the layout. Will have a look for some ideas on the internet in a minute.

We went into the City on Friday night for the fringe. It was opening night but we went in fairly late and only stayed for a couple of hours. It was quite warm but pleasant enough. Very entertaining watching the world walk past you as you sip on a nice cold glass of champagne.

Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

A great day today. I have spent the better part of the day up-dating the card, layout, off the page and art journal pages on this blog. If you want to have a look at the new additions just click on the name to the right of this post. I still have more off the page projects to add but have to get busy with the camera before I can do that.

Later this afternoon we went down to Port Adelaide to listen to the band "The Lincolns" at the First Commercial Hotel. They were great as usual and we had a very relaxing and pleasant couple of hours. Good music, a few drinks and a few dances. What more could a girl ask for.

I have just finished the washing and am about to go and veg out and watch a few of the programs I have recorded through the week.

Before I do here are a few thoughts.

outside my window....  it is dark but the weather is still very pleasant. I have been out there pegging the clothes out.

I am thinking.... I have had a great day

I am thankful for.... my good life, family and friends

I am wearing....black 3/4 pants and a khaki t-shirt, no shoes

I am going to.... enjoy relaxing in front of the telly very soon

I am currently reading... nothing at the moment but I am getting very close to starting a new book. I like to read while I am on the treadmill and I keep promising myself I will start tomorrow....

I am pondering...my jobs for tomorrow

I am hoping.... that I get a bit more energetic this week and do more exercise

I am creating.... a few more cards and start a new layout. I may even get around to doing the next lesson in the art journalling on-line class I am doing at the moment

on my mind...two of my sisters

from the kitchen.... Bundaberg Ginger Beer...just love it

around the house... all is pretty quiet. I would like to get a ceiling fan in our bedroom before the next heat wave so should get started on that.

one of my favourite things...good rock and roll music

a few plans for the week... Monday and Thursday I am going to Yogalaties, Wednesday I am going to Chi Ball, pick Charli up from school on Tuesday and take her to her piano lesson, hopefully get on the treadmill

a picture to share... a Singapore Sling at Raffles in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Beautiful.

Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

A few cards I made yesterday showing that the paper and size of the card changes its look. All of these cards are made with the same basic layout.

Had a good class at Camelot this afternoon. Tonight we are going to the Adelaide Rock n Roll Club's Valentines Dance. Looking forward to it.

Till next tome
Thanks for dropping by
Cheers
Julie

Today I finished the layout I have been working on for over a week.

For the background I started with 2 sheets of white cardstock. I stamped and embossed with clear the small flowers. Using Pan Pastels I added the background colours of orange, yellow and purple. I then sprayed it with hairspray to seal the Pan Pastels before spraying the large flowers using a Kaisercraft stencil and Glimmermist in turquoise, purple, orange and yellow. I then randomly stamped the Kaisercraft chicken wire clear stamp with black ink lightly here and there.

The photo on the left of this page pulls out to show 3 photos in total and on the back of the pull out is the card that came with the flowers. The photo on the right lifts up to reveal the card that came with the flowers also.

The photo on the right of this page also opens out to show another photo and the card that came with the flowers.

This is my first attempt at creating my own backgrounds and I am reasonably happy with it.

Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

This post I am going to share with you an album I made to hold the photos from Mum's 80th birthday party. Mum and I made one each when she was here staying just after her party. Mum's is in different colours.

I bought the instructions for this album from Cathy Orta on the internet.

I am really happy with it. It holds heaps of photos, in fact more photos than I had to put in it.

This is the outside. It is about 12.5" wide and 10.25" tall. The doily under the Prima flowers is cut using a Cheery Lyn Italian Flourish Doily Die. The chipboard under the catch is cut using a Tim Holtz On the Edge Die called Ornate. I have painted it with black acrylic paint then stamped with gold ink and Kaisercraft Chicken Wire Clear stamp then a bit of doodling with a gold pen.

The two top covers open out to reveal a 8" x 5" flap on the outer edge and 3 double sided pockets on each side of the centre section. Each of the 3 double pockets has space on the back and front for a photo and holds a tag that has a photo on each side

When you open the flaps on each side of the album you are presented with space of a large photo and 3 pockets in which to slide tags with photos on both sides.

Then the 6 double sided pockets in the middle of the album open out to reveal a large 10.25 x 8.5" photo mat. A photo can be placed on the front and back of this flap.

When the flap is lifted up there are 3 large pockets for more photos or you could put birthday cards or christmas cards or other memorabilia from whatever the occasion is that you are scrapping. i had run out of photos by this stage so mine are empty

This photo show the tag coming out of one of the centre double photo pockets

So as I said, I am pretty happy with this album and I hope Mum likes her's too.

Ray has sold his ute to my nephew and it goes tomorrow. I think he will be quite sad to see it go. It has been a part of his life for 10 or so years now and I think it will leave a bit of a void for a while. Still having said that he it already thinking about buying another motorbike so hopefully that might fill the gap.

I tried a new exercise class today call Chi Ball. It has a bit of Tai Chi a bit of pilates and a bit of yoga in it. I quite enjoyed it and am waiting to see how I feel in the morning with regard to stiffness. I plan on going to Yogalates tomorrow to see what that is about. It is supposed to be part Yoga and part Pilates. I am looking forward to trying it. I should just have a nice walk along the Torrens each day but for some reason I just cant seem to get off my lazy arse and do it.

I seem to have fallen into a bit of a hole as far as scrapbooking is concerned. I started a double layout about 10 days ago and have not finished it yet. Just don't seem to be able to get excited about it.

Anyway that's about it for this post
Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie

Just a quick post today

One of my sisters came over to visit for a couple of days so I had fun shopping and catching up with her.

Charli started school on Thursday. The end of an era for Ray and I, no more Charli Tuesdays. We will still be picking her up from school on a Tuesday and taking her to her piano lessons so will still get to see her during the week for a couple of hours.

She looked so cute in her school uniform. Here she is sitting at her table in her classroom. At the moment when you say smile she pulls this face, can't wait till she gets out of that habit.

She enjoyed her first day and I think she will settle in well. She just loves doing and learning things.

Friday night we had friends around to look at our photos from our Cambodia/Vietnam holiday. We had all taken so many photos that we had to cull them to 100 photos per couple. It was a great evening, reliving the holiday, and the friends that did not come on the holiday seemed to enjoy the photos as well.

I taught my scrapbooking class at Camelot on Saturday and both Ray and I were so tired in the evening that we decided to stay home.

This afternoon we are going to Port Adelaide to listen to a band and have a few drinks and a bit of dancing. Should be nice as the weather here is just perfect.

My tomato plant is progressing beautifully. Lots of tomatoes on it, can't wait for them to ripen.

I went to Camelot this morning and spent the voucher that my sister gave me for my birthday. Got some new stencils, pan pastels, cutting dies for my Big Shot and all sorts of other things. Very enjoyable.

That's it for this post
Thanks for dropping by
Till next time
Cheers
Julie