holidays and such...

Things have been very busy around here! The day before Ben left to go back to work for 5 weeks he did this....The new kitchen is mostly in now...but plumbing still not finished, some cupboards need painting, it needs kick boards and then I need to paint and Ben will tile the rest when he comes home and chip up the old slate and put down new flooring...so it is lots better but renovating is not fun! I will be glad when it is finished! Here is a sneak peak...it is VERY red! We have an alley kitchen so it is hard to photograph it!It is school holidays here for two weeks...Evangeline has had lots of fun playing with friends and so on already...She went to the park for lunch with friends on Sunday and had a sleep over at mum's, Alli and family came yesterday and today we went to the Strawberry Farm...it was too wet to pick but there is a great cafe there - very child friendly...with a kids room and lots of outdoor play space under trees...we shall definitely be going again (on Wanneroo Rd in Neerabup, north of Joondalup Dve)Tomorrow we are venturing to the Perth Royal Show with my sister and family...and lots more things planned for the rest of the holidays too. Morganne is very keen on grated cheese and shovels big handfuls in! I am dying to do some more scrapping but have to prepare my class notes for the Wave Rock Retreat first as that is only two weeks away. And that is it for now - Lissy

a few mouthfuls...

This morning Morganne had a few mouthfuls of cereal...yay!! Not that exciting perhaps but a change as for the last 8 days she has not eaten any solids..she has had a cold and has been teething...and refused anything...a couple of times she has had a couple of tastes of grated cheese but that was it...so I am glad she is feeling better and although it wasn't a lot of cereal it wasn't completely refused!

She has been so clingy and grizzly this week..not at all like her and I even had to sit up a couple of nights with her sleeping on my chest...anyway teething seems to be over again for now! I had her weighed and measured the other day too...so at nine months old Morganne is 9.6kg and 73 cm so doing really well...
We have had a busy week...I went out for a meal with most of my mum's group on Wednesday night...three of whom (two here in pic) are expecting babies...one very soon...and I caught up with Alli for lunch yesterday as it is her birthday today - Happy Birthday Alli

I have been busy scrap booking too...I have done a total of 3 double and one single layouts of our trip (mum, dad, Ben and I) down the Gibb River Road in 2002...for the Scrappin' Outback retreat class Out & About...all using the same Basic Gray Ambrosia paper range...I have also done two bonus layouts using that paper range...and I am now doing bonus layouts using the Eva and Offbeat ranges too!

Ben arrived back home on Wednesday afternoon after being away at work for 7 days...just in time for me to go out...he has been busy doing bits and pieces as he is off on his usual five week swing very early Tuesday morning. And we have our new kitchen in the car port so he says he can get that in over this weekend...yay! So
I have to clear out all the old cupboards today!!!

Evangeline has been busy at school and playing! She has been trying to catch butterflies! The annual Montessori picnic was cancelled due to very bad weather and we didn't go horse riding either...wet and windy...yuk!

Mum stayed with us last weekend until Tuesday which was a wonderful help as I was so tired after all the nights up with Morganne...and as usual she did lots of gardening which was wonderful....I think she misses her garden so is happy to get stuck into it (this is her garden with lots of wonderful roses as we live in my old family home)
So that is it here...A little friend is coming over this afternoon to play with E while her mum and dad are out...and that is it! Hope you have a good weekend! Lissy

more sneak peeks...

I have done another version of the travel layout for the retreat class Out & About...with photos of a trip down the Gibb River Road in the Kimberleys and using Basic Grey Ambrosia...a great range of papers with red, oranges, blues and blacks...

Again a double layout but this time with 9 photos...and obviously not so girlie! I have used the photos I already had printed from my pre digi camera days...I did scan and re print the panoramic size pics smaller so they were only 6" wide (I was really into panoramic pics back then!) but other than that I used the 6x4 photos I already had, trimming them to make them fit...

I am not getting any better at taking these sneak peek photos sorry...


Stay tuned for some more layouts soon - Lissy

how to get a free bag...and 9 months old....

It is easy these days to get a free bag...you just have to rip open your leg on an iron mirror in the shop...lol...then the bag you were admiring but deciding you could not afford is yours! The assistant wanted to know if I wanted a band aid (plaster)to stick on to stop blood getting on my pants...I said it was a bit late to worry about the state of my pants! I think I will have quite a scar...it is a 2" gash!Other things...mum is home...E loved going to meet her at the airport and she stayed with us for the night too...She had lots of presents as always...here is E in some Hungarian things...I got great things too but cannot share until my sister gets hers! Evangeline rode solo at her lesson yesterday...she managed to steer the pony fairly well...she was very excited!
I had lunch and a good chat with Sharon yesterday and she took some great pics for me again...this time near mum's in East Perth...Morganne is now 9 months old!I had to share the photos...




She is crawling...she only has four teeth but grinds them...yuk!She has learnt to drop things from the high chair. She makes clicking sounds, and claps her hands and laughs! She can use a drink cup and not get too wet! Her main words are bub bub and mum mum....no dad dad yet! She loves to sit on the grass outside...her hair is getting lighter and her eyes are now definitely brown! And she is a happy and gorgeous bub!




Ben went off to do some extra work yesterday for 5 days...And the air con has been fixed and doesn't have to be replaced yet - YAY! And that is it from me - hope you have a nice weekend! Lissy

sneak peeks...

OK - here are some sneak peeks of the layouts I am teaching at the retreat next month...

Scrappin’ Outback Wave Rock Scrapbooking Retreat
17th – 19th October 2008

Sharon Manning and Gayle Smith are the other fabulous tutors

And there is a shop onsite where I always stock up as Karen has a huge range of goodies!

Contact Karen Smith on
98751021 or 0427977672
Or email scrappinoutback@bigpond.com
for booking, details and prices.

I am not good at taking sneak peek photos but it will give you some idea...

First is the Schools In class...since each year we get more school portraits we need a new layout! This is a one page layout with pockets for certificates and one for a class list...there will be other colour combinations offered to suit various school uniforms!

And the next class is Out & About, a double layout for travel or holiday photos...it is focusing on using 8 - 10 regular 6x4 photos...this one is in girlie colours but I will be doing other samples using photos from the Kimberley region and so such to give you more colour ideas and options using different papers...And of course you could adapt this to birthday photos or anything really!


I am using 3 new Basic Grey paper ranges - Ambrosia, Offbeat and Eva...all gorgeous and so I am going to be doing some bonus layouts for each range (and instructions to go with them) using each kit to give you some more ideas...
So hopefully a good range of boy & girl orientated layouts for you...stay tuned for more sneak peeks as I finish the other layouts! Lissy

father's day...

We had a nice day...gardening this morning...and then we went to lunch in the Valley at Milsten Gardens which is only a few minutes down the road for us...we were with with my sister and family...

They have a fabulous fully enclosed garden for the kids to play in...well fabulous until E went missing for 20 or so minutes...I was really starting to panic... and the staff were looking too...then she appeared...she was just hiding really really well for hide and seek she said!
Later in the afternoon my sister in law and the girls came over for a coffee...so E had more cousins to play with!

And also it is my mum's birthday which she is celebrating in Budapest! She gets back home Wednesday!

And this weekend out friend Frank Alban won the seat of Swan Hills in our State elections...he will be a great MP...well done Frank! He is a great guy and very community focused. Here are the campaign photos I took for him...
I have completed the layout for one of my classes...so shall share that soon!
I hope you have had a great day - Lissy

fairy dust...

Last night for some reason there was a lot of glitter in Evangeline's bed...she mus have been playing in there with her wings and wand or something... Anyway I said the fairies must have been visiting...and she was so excited saying it was fairy dust and maybe it is Twinkle the Tooth Fairy! We have been brushing our teeth well to look after them for Twinkle...E is very keen to loose a tooth...anyway I said the fairies must have some to help her go to sleep...she is not a good sleeper and wakes a lot and it can be hard to get her to go to sleep...so last night she went to sleep like a dream! And did not wake all night!

And speaking of tooth fairies...I am thinking of getting E a charm bracket ready for when she does start loosing teeth in a year or so...and giving her a charm each time she looses on (from the tooth fairy of course because she has taken such extra good care of her teeth!) I looked at the Pandora bracelets today and they seem like the go as we can easily get a bigger bracelet as she grows...

E has decided she does not want to go to dance anymore...that is fine by me as I am happy for her to try other things...I actually think she might like gymnastics...so I will see what is available locally...she does swimming each week as I feel this is very important since we have a pool...and we have started horse riding so it is not as if she is deprived of things to do!

And big news for Morganne...she is off and CRAWLING! Slowly but she is off! Ben gets home tonight at about 10pm...but he leaves again Monday...shall have to get him to put the child gates up! This house is very open plan so I want some areas where I know she is safe to play...And she has learnt to throw things over the highchair and look for them and squawk at me to pick them up! oh joy! Oh and she grinds her teeth..all four of them...!
So we are all good...even though the girls both have another ear infection this week! I hope to get into some scrapping for the Retreat Classes tomorrow as I have the photos printed! Hope you are having a good week! Lissy

if you have time today...

Have a read of the Children of the Forest newsletter...makes you appreciate your life ..here is the link to the newletter....It is the first day of spring here...doesn't look like it out side!...Lissy