It's official !

My Canon 400D has been SOLD!

I made the decision to move to the next level of Canon cameras - the 40D or 50D - and I had a friend who wanted to buy the 400D. So tonight, I wrapped it up carefully in bubble wrap and handed it over to a lady that's eager to learn about photography.

Now I just need to head on over to the camera store this week and get myself a new model along with a 50mm f1.2 lens. I hope I have heaps of good photos to share with you once I make my purchase.

And because I like to post a layout, here's an older one from when Joshua was just a baby - hasn't he grown!

Halloween

Ethan and Joshua had a great time on Friday for Halloween. Their cousin, Genevieve, joined them for her first Halloween and the 3 of them loved it. After visiting a couple of neighbours, they returned home to greet over 70 'trick or treaters' and offer them a lolly. They even asked them if they had a trick to share. Their favorite visitor was a small white fluffy dog who came with white feather angel wings and a mini pumpkin basket for his treats - how cute! Can't wait to scrap these and heaps more photos from the day.

3 more layouts to share

I wish I could share what I've been creating but I can't due to magazine rules, so I've dug up some old layouts that some of you may have seen and others may not have.
I'm looking forward to scrapping something soon that I can show you. Have a good weekend!

Old layouts

Just sharing some old layouts since I can't share any of my new ones just yet.
Thanks always for dropping by!

A layout

I really have been creating layouts in between photo shoots but unfortunately I can't share them at this point due to magazine restrictions, so I dug through my layouts to see if there was something I could post.
I don't think this one has been on my blog before and while the photo is less than perfect technically, I really wanted to use it. Oh, and the journalling runs vertically down that strip.



And if anyone knows why I can't post bigger images anymore, I'd love to hear from you. I think if you click on the layout it will enlarge slightly.

Photo Shoot No.2 - Graffiti walls and more

I had a fun day with a group of photographers and a handful of gorgeous guys and girls at location that was really grungy - it was cool. Here are a couple of shots.

16hrs and 58mins

If you're an Aussie
and you'd like to support Pink Ribbon month for Cancer in women,
and you'd like to donate some money to them
and get a layout created by me in return,

then head on over to www.scrapchat.net where you can bid
- there is only 16hrs and 58mins remaining
- 100% of the proceeds go to this worthwhile cause.

Oh, and I hope you don't mind me sharing this family's photo - they were so much fun.
You can't have a post without a photo or layout right?

Sunday Photo Shoot - Brisbane City

Here are a few quick images from the Photo Shoot on Sunday in Brisbane City - I had a great time and feel I learn so much at these events. These 2 boys are brothers - aren't they the cutest! And they were so enthusiastic about showing me their skateboard moves. I'd love to share more but I need an early night tonight - my bones are aching, I have a sore throat and one knee keeps cracking each time I walk - I think it's a cross between the flu and being unfit and bending so much at the photo shoot. I've yet to finish looking at all the images taken that day, so I'm sure to have heaps more to share. Thanks for dropping by, Leanne.

Exciting week ahead

Not so long ago, maybe a couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of joining some talented photographers on some photo shoots around Brisbane. Andrea Joki (http://www.ajatonjoki.com/wordpress/), from Finland, was flown out to Brisbane and shared her knowledge with us all. It was a great learning experience and my blog was flooded with images from the shoots.

Well, once again, Ainslie (Wild Spirit Photography)(http://www.wildspirit.typepad.com/), has organised another talented photographer to come to Brisbane for some more photo shoots. Leah Profancik (http://www.leahprofancik.com/blog/), from USA, will arrive tomorrow and stay for 2 weeks. I can't wait to learn some more, not only from Leah but also the very talented group of girls that will come along.
So get ready for hepas of images coming to the blog this week - I can't wait to share what I've learnt.

I completed a layout last night for a Scrap Art at Capalaba.
I loved using the Narratives range of paper - it's so pretty - and also a favourite photo of Ethan and Joshua.

Have a fun weekend and hopefully after this weekend I'll have a few photos to share!

LEGO LAYOUT and CARD

I really enjoyed creating this double layout and card about Ethan's LEGO creations. I thought I'd have a go at one of Becky Higgin's sketches and try to submit it to Creating Keepsakes - no luck with an acceptance so I can safely share it. Thank you to Severine for the gorgeous American crafts LOVE badge - a special surprise that came in a recent parcel from her - don't you just love that badge!

October is my new favourite month!

It wasn't that long ago that I was feeling a little uninspired and didn't have much on my plate to get my scrapbooking mojo flowing.
Talk about a complete turn around over these last few days!
I'm so excited with the amount of work that has come my way and some really exciting stuff to say the least.

Scrapbooking Memories emailed me and asked for a layout then a few days later I was offered by them to be part of a challenge using a range of products I've never heard of - I can't wait to get my parcel in the mail.

Scrapbook Creations wants one of my mini albums with a step by step on it which is great and also I have my Keeping It Simple article to write for this month too.

I have some new pretty papers from Scrap Art who asked if I could create a new layout for them. On top of that, Pam wanted to know if I may like to teach a class some time - wow!

I received my assignment from my Canadian photography mentor just the other day also and I have to complete that over the next couple of weeks. I need to go with my 'model' to a new location and do a shoot. It's designed to make me think of my location and look for opportunities and places that are suitable to shoot.

Then yesterday, while I was at work I opened my emails and nearly fainted!!!
I read it and re read it and then read it again. Then I printed it out, highlighted the title of the email and ran to my nearest scrapbooking work buddy waving the email in my hand.
It read :
CONGRATULATIONS! SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS REQUESTS YOUR LAYOUT
So after my heart rate returned to normal I was able to talk again. I'm pretty excited about this. I'm always excited about any scrapbook acceptance to be honest but I had been trying for a long time to get into Simple Scrapbooks USA.

I have two other scrapbooking related things that I'm not sure I can speak about yet but they're pretty cool and I can't wait to share as soon as I can.

So, October is my new favourite month - the planets must definately be aligned for me right now! Thanks always for your encouragement and for dropping by and leaving me a message - it's lovely!

Fun weekend

I returned home from a fun weekend away. Manuel and I flew to Sydney to celebrate the wedding of one of his cousins. It was a great night with dancing and laughing and heaps of ridiculous jokes. The 2 children stayed in Brisbane so we took full advantage of our 'quiet time' with our feet up on the bed in the hotel, eating sushi, sipping diet coke and watching RAVE. Occasionally Manuel flicked the channel over to Hannah Montana but that was an old habit he couldn't break (or so he told me).



Anyway, these photo booth pics were taken at the wedding. The bride and groom had organised a photo booth for all the guest to get their photo taken with 2 copies supplied - I for you to keep and the other to be stuck into a dry mount album which was supplied and you simply added your message.
Being the shy couple that we are (wink, wink), we only managed 4 visits to the photo booth that evening.
After we had collected all our photo strips, Manuel turned to me and with a worried 'too late' look on his face said "You're going to scrap these aren't you!"

heheheh - silly question!

A special quote.

I don't often create a layout that simply uses a quote. I much prefer to journal with a story or include my feelings or even use a question/answer style .... but I've had this quote for ages, maybe years now in my little special book and it's one that I really wanted to use one day. It felt right for this layout.

Quote reads:
To the outside world we all grow old.
But not to brothers and sisters.
We know each other as we always were.
We know each other's hearts.
We share private family jokes.
We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.
We live outside the touch of time.
by Clara Ortega.

Paper is from Autumn Leaves and so is that cute flower embellishment.
Birdie is from American Crafts.
Alpha stickers are Making Memories.

Holiday layout

I had so many photos from our visit to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary that I created a mosaic of photos. I resized them to 2x2 inches each and then had the mosaic printed.
I was so glad that the new Basic Grey paper - offbeat (with the birds) - was a good match. It's so cute.

I've been doing so many multi photo layouts lately and I'm finding it a bit tricky to still have enough white space on the layout when I scrap 8.5x11. I have been thinking about going back to 12x12 to see if that gives me some more room to play with - should I or shouldn't I ? I'm such a huge fan of 8.5x11.

Pink Ribbon Day

Next month there are quite a few events going on to help raise money and awareness for Cancer in Women - Pink Ribbon Day is designed to do just that.
Scrapchat is holding a fundraising event in Brisbane on the 4th October with heaps of prizes and fun as well as a great opportunity to scrap with friends all afternoon and into the night. Scrapchat is auctioning off a custom made layout created by myself with all the money going to Pink Ribbon Day. So, if you live in Australia and you'd like to donate to a most worthwhile cause and get a layout from me as a little thankyou (using your favourite photo/s), then head on over to the SCRAPCHAT site and make a bid. There are heaps of other items available to bid for too.

On another note, I have a recent layout to share - YOUR ADDICTION.
This is about Joshua and his dummy (pacifier for all of the US visitors).
Fun photos and a simple layout ... but it tells the story and that's what I like to.

I love a challenge!

I have 10 stories planned to tell on 10 of my up and coming layouts.
I have some brand new beautiful pieces of paper and cardstock.
I have some gorgeous embellishments and rubons - even some that haven't hit the stores here yet that were a gift from my dear friend, Severine
... but what was lacking was the inspiration.

So, I remembered seeing a gorgeous layout by the talented Amanda Hall. And I recalled Nicole Southworth from the Remember When Blog saying to scrap your childhood memories. I even had Severine Di Giacomo challenge me last night to use the following on a layout - circles, chipboard and 2 pieces of patterned paper. It all fell into place today and I love the result. Thank you so much girls for the much needed inspiration - what do you think?

Inspiration ???

I'm not sure that I've ever shared this layout on my blog before. It's from Valentine's Day early this year and I was inspired by my friend, Karla Dudley and her amazing work. Somehow, I don't think it has the 'freedom' that Karla's layouts ooze. I have her link in the side of my blog - Creat Something Today - go check her out if you haven't already. Which blogs do you like to visit for inpsiration? I'd love some new links.
Have a great weekend.

Home Sweet Home

The best part about ending a holiday is the thought of coming home to your own bed and pillow - for me, nothing beats that!
We have just returned from six days at the Gold Coast, and although we had Ethan with both high and low temperatures from a virus of some sort, we managed to get to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on our last day. We had a great time feeding the kangaroos, cuddling the koalas, seeing the crocodiles, emus, echidnae, lizards, snakes, eagles and heaps of other animals.





Thanks for all the comments on my previous post - it's really great to read them.

Looking forward to scrapping some photos - have bought some new paper and alphas and can't wait. I visited the new store on the Gold Coast - Sunbird Scrapbooking at Burleigh Heads and loved the huge range of stock they had. Hope to have something to show you soon.

Hooray !!!

It's official and it really has happened this time. I have a layout featured in the current (October) issue of SCRAPBOOKS ETC. magazine - which is a great US scrapbooking magazine.
The reason I say 'really happened', is that the last time I had a layout accepted by a US magazine, I packaged it up and mailed it, they photographed it and then in the month that it was due to be printed, the magazine (Scrapbook Answers USA) was sold to another company who ceased its publication - it never happened!
But this time, I have waited patiently since April to hear that it IS IN PRINT - I can't wait to see it myself.
It's featured in the MAKING IT YOURS section which is where I was given a photo of someone elses layout and needed to create my layout using theirs as the inspiration - I loved it. Here is what I sent them.



Did I say how excited I am ?
Woohoo !

The super talented Karla nominated me for this award and I'm so excited to be posting it here on my blog. If you haven't seen her blog before, you must check it out - her layouts are gorgeous but her hand made journals are simply amazing. She even has some digi brushes about to be released for sale - this is one clever girl.
http://karlastudio5.typepad.com/



The Rules:
1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girl's you nominated.

So ,now I need to nominate some blogs.

Wendy Bretz - http://wendybretzdesigns.typepad.com/wendy_bretz_designs/
I've loved looking at Wendy's layouts for a long time now.
Mega graphic - if that's a word - she oozes design.

Melanie Louette - http://melanie-notesfromhome.blogspot.com/
This girl has a superb style. Clean, modern and gorgeous pics with a story behind them. Take a peak!

Genmanou - http://leblogdegenmanou.blogspot.com/
My newest addition to my favourites list but certainly not a new friend of mine when it comes to scrapping. This girl has a distictly FRENCH style - go check it out - I love her layouts.

I'm going to break the rules a bit and only nominate 3 blogs because I'm hopeless at trying to link them as you can see and I'm sure you'll all be frustrated at me for not doing this better - sorry - need to learn how to do this - I find it really tricky!