Surprise, Surprise!!!

Happy Birthday Lisa!!!! What a shame you had to work all day - but that's okay, because friends are for remembering regardless of what you are doing!!!

So.....I bought a little mini cake from Buddy across the road, stuffed as many candles I as I could in it, lit them and walked into Lisa's work singing "Happy Birthday"! Her workmate joined in and so did the customer!!!!

Hope you have had a great BD today.

Lots of love

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!!

Happy Birthday, my friend!!! Hope you had a lovely day. Really enjoyed morning tea at the Palais - yummiest banana caramel cream pie I have had in years (the only piece I have had in years - but that's beside the point!) Nice to spend some relaxing time with friends on your birthday, isn't it?

As luck would have it, Jo had been admiring Lisa & my little organiser bags when we all went to Scrapbooking Australia's Story Time launch. "Must get one" she said - boing!!!! my little bell went off....and off I went to buy one for her birthday! Ahhh - the subterfuge of talking Jo out of going to grab one for herself....and I had to give it to her a day early, as I knew she would zoom into the shops and grab one as they were on sale in the catalogue!!! I also knew she would come to class, see it and then want to use it straight away, so just did it up with the gerbera & ribbon - looked so cute on the table, and... everything went in!

Happy Birthday Jo - hugs - from Mandy

My Baby turns 7!

It doesn't seem that long ago....but 7 years have passed since Jennifer Rose came into the world!

All Jennifer wanted for her birthday was a pixel chic house, so I hunted high and low and managed to find the only one within my shopping areas... whew!!! She loved her other pressies as well, Daniel gave her 'The Emperor's New Groove 2' and the two of them have watched it every day since!

As the weather has been so great here in Adelaide, Jennifer opted for a pool party - and had an absolutely fabulous time. Jennifer, her little friends & I all hopped in the pool and for over an hour they jumped, splashed, floated and had a great wet time! They all wanted to stay in the water - as kids do, but I managed to get them out with the lure of birthday cake!

After the children had gone home, quick clean up and then rush to get ready for the family/friends BBQ.

Jennifer had a great day - we all did, it is nice to have lovely times and great memories on special days.

Happy Birthday my darling Jennifer Rosie, love you so much!

Forever Always Cybercrop

Lisa & I took part in the first Forever Always Cyber Crop, which happen to coincide with my monthly Scrap'n'Soup Night....so we downloaded the challenges and set about finding photos, papers, embellishments and everything else we needed!

Challenge number 1 was to find an ad in a magazine that appealed to you - by layout, colour, wording, etc...

So here is the ad I found that just screamed to me make me into a layout!! Just love the flowers on flowers in the corner!

Enter Meg, in a pot plant, in the nice warm dirt and sunshine..... How to Grow a Cat!

Love the new Scapbooking Australia Story time papers....mmmmm...... they worked so well for this layout - I was really pleased with how it all came together.

Challenge number 2 - back to school and the 3 r's. The layout had to contain the title of a book - either in the title or in the journaling. It also had to contain 1 ring, 2 ribbons & 3 rubons.

So I get on the web to find the cover of the last book I had read from Clive Cussler and out of interest thought how many books has he written and how many have I read? Well, out of the 32 published, I have read 31!! I got carried away and my whole layout is book titles - the ones I have read (actually not all of them - they wouldn't all fit!!! lol!) Popped my journaling onto a library card which I thought was appropriate as that is where I borrow them all from.

Just love the way the Basic Grey Black Tie range provided the perfect background for all the colourful book covers.

Challenge number 3!! Using a Page Maps sketch we had to create a page that was predominately pink and orange!!!

Here i used some Alison Ellis papers I had in my stash - and boy are they pink & orange!!!! Actually, it turned out quite nicely, even it is a lot brighter than I usually use!!

The last challenge - to make a card from your scraps before you pack up!!!

Jennifer's birthday was the next day and she had 'ordered' a pink birthday card. So using the leftover solid pink and a gorgeous orange Gerbera it all came together - and she loved it, which when it comes down to it, is all that matters to a (now) 7 year old!

Lisa & I had great fun! They are all in the gallery, so go and visit to see what everyone did - it is fun to see how everyone interprets written instructions in a different way! There are some fantastic layouts there - you never know, you might get some ideas!

Ciao for now & happy scrapping,

Mandy

Cleaning Up My Scrap Space!!

Finally, my scrap space is starting to look like a creative zone instead of a disaster zone!! I bought this piece of slatwall from a second hand shop fitting place and nagged hubby (only for 3 days!!) until he put it up. Just LOVE it!! Everything at my fingertips...

But I didn't stop there... I have sorted out all my containers into colours and amazingly halved the containers - it is amazing what happens when you streamline!
I have been making my friends sick - a small price to pay for a functional scrap space!!!!
Back to the housework now - why is it never finished???? Oh, that's right, I have children!!
Oh and PS - take a look in the gallery for the layouts for the upcoming classes.
Happy Scrapping (I know I am!)
Mandy

Class Schedules for February, March & April

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all refreshed now the children are back to school ... that means more time to scrap! With that in mind, I have packed some great classes for you into this quarter.
As always, if you have an idea for a class - just let me know and I will try to work it in the next round of classes.
Send me an email email to book into classes.
Look in the gallery gallery before classes to see what we are doing!!!
See you all soon & Happy Scrapping,
Mandy


CREATIVE CROP - EVERY OTHER WEEK

Bring your photos & tools then crop the time away. Great for finishing a layout from another workshop or making a dent in that ever growing pile of photos! Come along crop, chat & laugh. Class cost - $6



CREATIVE CROP CHALLENGE

MONDAY 5TH MAR 7-9PM; THURS 5TH APR 9.30-11.30AM

Creative crop & nothing to do? Well, I have a project for you - Three pages in 60 minutes! You have to get all your supplies ready first & then you’re off! Time saving techniques to help you create more pages in less time. Recycling design schemes is a simple strategy that will help you do just that. You will need 1- 5”x7” (portrait orientation) photo for each layout (3 photos). Class cost - $6 plus materials



IN THE ROUND

THURSDAY 8TH FEB 9.30-11.30AM; MONDAY 12TH FEB 7-9PM


One of the latest trends is circles - BIG circles! So, lets get out the dinner plates & start tracing… We will be using 1 large photo A4 & 3 - 6”x4” photos. (2 - 10x15cm in portrait orientation & 1 - 10x15cm in landscape orientation) Class cost - $16



ONE LAYOUT - 20 PHOTOS

THURSDAY 22ND FEB 9.30-11.30AM; MONDAY 26TH FEB 7-9PM


You read it correctly - 20 photos on the one layout!!!! Great for an event where there was heaps of photos taken & you want to use them all - of course! You will need 2 photos that can be cropped to 10x10cm & 18 photos that can be cropped to 4x4 cm's (or printed smaller) Class cost - $10



TECHNIQUES REVISITED - DISTRESSING & PAINTING

THURSDAY 8TH MAR 9.30-11.30AM; MONDAY 12TH MAR 7-9PM

Lisa & I came up with this idea whilst relaxing in the spa! We thought it would be good to go back to use techniques we have learnt and may not have used much since. This quarter we will be distressing our paper and using paints on a transparency. On this 1 page layout I have used 8 cropped photos, but you can use as few as 2 if you wish. You will need to bring brads. Class cost - $15.00


EASTER TIN

THURSDAY 22ND MAR 9.30-11.30AM; MONDAY 26TH MAR 7-9PM



Many of you have asked about decorating paint tins - so I thought we’d do one for Easter. If you prefer to do another theme - no probs, as you will be picking your own papers. You will need a heap of ribbon & fibre, at least a metre of at least 8 different ribbons & fibres, plus any embellishments you would like to use. See photo to get an idea of what I used (There's a larger one in the gallery). Class cost - $13




MY ESSENTIALS

THURSDAY 19TH APR 9.30-11.30AM; MONDAY 23RD APR 7-9PM

A great snapshot of you, featuring the things you can’t live without!!! You will need 8 - 5x5cm photos of 8 items you can’t live without & 1 panorama style photo of all of the items together. Yes, I am going to make you think! You will need to bring brads and any embellishments you may wish to use. Class cost - $13


SCRAP'N'SALAD NIGHTS

SATURDAY NIGHT 6PM - MIDNIGHT
24TH FEB; 24TH MAR; 21ST APR


Come along on a Saturday night for 6 hours of scrapping fun! Bring your photos & tools then crop the night away. Salad and meat platter to dine on. There will be some softies in the fridge & tea or coffee with chocolate biscuits - you might even get some scrapping done!! A great night of scrapping fun - strictly limited to 8 places, be quick to book. Cost $12 includes dinner!

SLACKER!!!!

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog since November!!! What a SLACKER!!! Lots has happened since then, but I won't bore you with all the details.

Firstly, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Here's Daniel at Goolwa Wharf - his eyes say it all!!! Been playing with the settings on my camera, was pleased with this photo. Had a great 8 days at Goolwa, relaxing, swimming, reading and doing generally not much - just like a holiday should be! Sebastian came with us, he was really good being on his lead the whole time. Had his first experience with a wave on the beach ..... would have thought it was 6 foot and had a shark in it the way he turned tail and ran for me!!! He looked so cute and he blended in with the sand!
















Hope you all had a great Christmas with family & friends. Mine was quiet but nice. Christmas Eve we had to sprinkle special reindeer food (oats and glitter) on the lawn so they knew where to land..... as well as the biscuits and water for Santa!

Well, updating my blog isn't the only area I've been slack in......can you believe that I haven't scrapped since I went over to Canberra to see mum for her back operation! Well, last night I broke the drought and began - a christmas layout. thought I should - as I need it for class on Thursday and next Monday.....lol!
Talk to you all soon,
Mandy