Last Stack

So we've been a NO NAPPY FAMILY (DIAPER for my American friends), for about a month now and I had to create a layout about the last stack of nappies that remained in the house - it's a strange feeling to know that those days are behind us.

I loved using so many products from my stash as well as this cute new Patterned paper that I recently bought. The cute little butterfly is from a great pack that's available from Scrap 'n' Craft with T - it's actually in my newest kit that I've created and should be available for sale pretty soon here !

A close up of that cute little butterfly.

Mostly I create my layouts as I go along and work with my embellishments or photos but this time I had seen a sketch challenge on Anna's Scrapbook Cupboard and I guess subconsciously after I created the layout I could see quite a few elements that tied in with the sketch. So, I posted it on her site and had my first official play - I think I like this way of scrapping :)

A Wedding!

Don't you just love weddings?

Last Saturday my first cousin got married - it was a great wedding with lots and lots of family!

There were 300 guests ... yes that's right!

But that's not too unusual when you have Greek heritage.

Here are a couple of photos of Manuel and I all dressed up for the big day!

Oh and I don't normally look like this ... in case you think you see me walking down the street

- lots of hair and makeup going on here for the special day - LOL!

Hope your Mother's Day was lovely!

Lovelier!

Aren't these even lovelier than when I received them 5 days ago!

They really brighten the house.

Looking forward to completing a layout today while Joshua naps - fingers crossed that I can share it here before the weekend.

The truth!

I actually forgot that I had a giveaway on my blog - and I had full intentions of taking a photo of Ethan or Joshua pulling the name out of a bowl, but since they're both in bed now I've had to do it myself ... no photo sorry.


Congratulations go to,

LYNDALL - Love this LO Leanne. The photos you have taken of your niece's birthday are great.


I'd love to send you out that packet of diecut flowers - they are so cute. Can you leave me your email address so I can contact you ?
Thank you to everyone who had a play along.


Oh and thanks also to everyone that checked out the Studio Calico blog and tried to win the 6 month subscription - sadly we didn't win but you'll find some great inspiration there and be tempted to start subscribing to those gorgeous kits.

And I know how boring it is when I don't upload a layout with a post so here is a recent one that was in SCRAPBOOKING MEMORIES magazine. It was part of a XYRON CHALLENGE - I'm almost embarrased to admit that this was the first time I had ever used a XYRON before. I don't know how I ever lived without one.



Hopefully I'm off to create a new layout tonight - with all that paper, I have no excuses, right?

NSD - National Scrapbooking Day

I seem to be in a rush these last couple of days when I go to post on my blog. I have good reason tonight. I'm off to dinner with Manuel to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary - I can hardly believe where the time has gone. And yesterday when I came upstairs, this is what i found on the dining table ...



I wasn't expecting anything at all since our anniversary is actually on Tuesday 5 May next week. On top of that, he organised my sister to come and babysit the boys while we go out for dinner. I'm so looking forward to that.

Yesterday, after swimming lessons, I had great fun at Scrapbooks Etc buying some new product. I had been given a $50 gift voucher for Christmas from my secret santa and it was time to use it. This is what I got - nice!

And because it was National Scrapbook Day on May 2, I took part in a challenge that the talented Tina Cockburn suggested over at Studio Calico. It was all about using white space - she's a big fan and as you know, I am too :)

This is my layout for the challenge - CONSTRUCTION!



Well, I better go and spruce myself up - I have 1 hour before I relax and enjoy a lovely night out.

A cool chance!

I'm running out the door for swimming lessons today for Ethan and Joshua but I had to post this great chacne to win a 6 month subscription to STUDIO CALICO kits. They are more than amazing and I know I would love to win this prize.

The best part is that if you win the prize, then I win one too - how cool is that?
And it's all because today - May 2nd - we are celebrating National Scrapbooking Day.

All you need to do, is to go here and log in and say you're new, with YOUR NAME, and also MY NAME. Then we both have a chance. And if you let your blog friends know to do the same thing then you'll have more chances. Have a browse around this site and you'll see some pretty cool inspiration - let me know what you think OK?

Off to swimming lessons and to buy a whole heap of new scrapping goodies - woohoo!
Happy weekend!

It's a layout - woohoo!

Yes I have a layout that I can finally share - that has not been submitted for publication anywhere yet and I can safely post it here for SHOW AND TELL!

This layout was fun to do - using my favourite AMerican Crafts Kennedy jnr alphas and also Heidi Swapp Centre of Attention outline alphas. The best part was that I got to use this super cute laser cut flower from FIVE KIDS AND A DOG. I've been wanting to use it for ages. In fact, I have an extra packet of them and I'd love to give them to someone to enjoy. So, leave me a comment and I'll draw the lucky person on Sunday morning (Australian time).

some photos to share!

So, I'm going to be quick tonight and share a recent collage from the DISCO PARTY that my 6 year old niece had for her birthday party. I need to be quick because I'm hoping scrap this collage tonight - I have the paper and the embellishments all chosen, I just need to begin.

I love how it turned out - crazy photos of some of us in the photo booth I set up - I had props like fake moustaches, tiaras, feather boas and crazy sunglasses - the kids and adults had a ball. Fingers crossed I do the layout justice.

Then there's this photo that I took while on holidays at the Gold Coast at Easter time. It's of my sister in law and her son - a gift to her husband on their 10th wedding anniversary, celebrated a couple of days ago. I'm really pleased with how it turned out considering the fading afternoon light we had that day. Special thanks to Rachel for being my second processor (kind of like a second shooter but even better!) LOL!

With models like this, who needs to be a good photographer, right? ;)

SImple News!

A couple of days ago I received in the mail a copy of the final issue of SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS USA. It's certainly sad when a magazine that was all about the Simple Philosophy stops production. I was excited to see my layout in there in the Reader Gallery. Some time ago the magazine had a call for layouts about friendships and I couldn't go pass submiting this layout about my friendship with Severine (Switzerland). I also couldn't go pass secretly submitting her layout as well - we had both done one about our online friendhip. To my surprise I received an email from Simple Scrapbooks Magazine asking for not ONE but BOTH layouts - I was so excited and couldn't wait to share the news with Severine. We are both featured on the same page together in the magazine with a story about our friendship.

In other news, I have been scrapping but can't share my pages yet - they are for publication in up and coming issues. I did take this sneak peak shot though.

Off for a walk and to feed the ducks with the children and friends today - might have to take my camera for a walk too - Hope your weekend is relaxing!

Precious Beau

25th April, 2009 - Beau has left us. RIP precious baby boy



I’m Praying for Beau - Photo Project

Click HERE to view the photos. And please don't hesitate to add your own "I'm praying for Beau" photo as well - I'm sure the family would appreciate the support.

BEAU!

There has been a great response to the "I'm Praying For Beau" photo request that I mentioned in the last post. So far, over 50 photos have been uploaded to facebook and they are all so very special. Beau's family is quite overwhelmed at the support. It's never too late to be part of this - you can follow the link in my previous post and show your support - this is International too!

Here is my photo taken this afternoon after Ethan arrived home from school - notice how dirty he is! And since I'm a bit of a collage girl, that's how I submitted my photos.

Thank you for helping!

Edited to Add

Just some information that was asked about the last post - DISCO ALBUM.

Tiff, I had this album made through PICPRESS - they are a wholesaler that deal with photographers and do a great job. In the past, I have used OFFICEWORKS with great success and they are extremely affordable. You download the program from their online site and you can send the album that you create directly to them once it has been created - online I mean.

Deanne, the fabric on that cushion on my couch is from IKEA - they have a whole lot that co-ordinate with it - I love it too! Oh, and don't be shy to stop by and say hello - leave a comment or 2 and maybe even become a FOLLOWER (on the right side of my blog) - heheh!

Heidi, thanks for leaving me a message on my blog - it was lovely to visit your blog and read about your exciting publication news. I found your address to your blog because it showed up that you had visited my blog and I was curious to see who it was - hope that's OK! Please come and visit any time - it means alot to me!


Oh, and there's something very special going on over HERE - if you can help, that would mean so much! Just a quick snapshot is all you need, nothing elaborate, really!


And it's never exciting to have a post without a layout or photo, right?
So, here's one I did using some great product from Bella. You can buy the kit over HERE if you love it! :)

Disco Album

A couple of weeks ago my niece celebrated her 6th birthday with a DISCO PARTY. I was official photographer (LOL) and captured some funny pics. As our gift to her, I created an 8x8 coffee table book - it arrived last night and I couldn't wait to give it to her this afternoon. She was pretty excited to say the least!

The Easter Bunny!

I have just returned home from 10 days at Broadbeach, Gold Coast for the Easter Vacation.
It was so lovely to have lots of family spending their holidays in the same area as we were. The boys had a great time on the beach, playing tennis, in the park, swimming in the pool ... the list goes on! And in true Queensland style, the weather was simply amazing!

I'm even sporting a bit of a tan - woohoo!

We celebrated Easter at the Gold Coast with a traditional egg hunt first thing in the morning with as many cousins and friends as we could text. We knew the Easter Bunny would be coming as the kids had found a carrot in the garden a couple of days earlier and then it was half eaten the following day. They were even more excited when they found the entire carrot missing from the garden just 20 minutes after they had gone swimming in the pool - UNBELIEVABLE!

Joshua was screaming with excitement when he found a pair of Thomas The Tank Pyjamas left by the Easter Bunny for him !

And they couldn't run fast enough to fill their baskets!

Their baskets were exploding.

So, now to get back into some serious scrapping - I have heaps to catch up on.

Hope your Easter was relaxing too!

3 new kits !

If you take a peak over at Scrap 'n' Craft with T, you'll see I have created 3 new kits for Tanyah - I had such alot of fun with these gorgeous Bella papers. The best part was using such feminine girly papers - something I don't often get a chance to play with.



There is also a Challenge over on Tanyah's blog this month - set by me - go take a look, the prize is worth it.



Hope your Easter was wonderful,

Leanne

New banner!

Oh, and I have finally changed my banner - hooray!

Thank you to Rachel who captured some photos of us all a few weeks back - it's so important to me to be in the photos 'with my family' instead of always behind the camera. Love this photo alot!

Happy Easter !

Hooray for Easter - I'm so looking forward to the Easter break.

Ethan and I made these for his school teachers for Easter this year - filled with a handful of chocolate eggs. So simple to make too - I'm sure they'll come in handy for Lolly bags some time.



I've been scrapping a bit but can't share I'm sorry but I have created a couple of cards that I can share.

This is for my 6 year old niece, Genevieve!



And this will be for a friend who's almost 40 ... and yes, I made it upside down - oops!



Have a wonderful Easter and take care!

Collage from Moreton Island

I get quite a few friends asking me about how I create my photo collages.
It's becoming a bit of a trademark for me lately - I really love layouts that have lots of pics because they help to tell a story and to me, that's why I scrapbook.

So, here are 2 collages I made about our trip to Moreton Island. I'm about to head off now to have them printed. Normally at KMart on satin paper and I make them fit the nearest enlargement size - like a 5x7 or 6x8. I'm going to print these both and create a double layout for Scrapbook Creations - my next keeping It Simple Article is almost due.

I open a new A4 sized document in photoshop and then crop all my pics to 2inches by 2 inches. Then I copy and paste them into the A4 document, placing them in the position I want them to be with just a couple of spaces in between each image. Once I'm happy, I crop the final image and save it. Easy! Yell out if I didn't explain it clearly.





Hope your weekend has been fun!

Easter Ideas

It feels as though we just celebrated Christmas and now Easter is creeping up on us. I keep thinking that any day now, Ethan will come home from school and give me 24 hrs notice to make him an Easter bonnet ... so, just in case, I'm on the lookout for some cool BOY ideas or some sites that might inspire me ... just in case!
I'd love to hear from you if you have any ideas at all - really!

I did some scrapping today - a layout that's heading off to Scrapbooking Memories.
And hopefully, I'll complete another tomorrow using a drawing that I need Joshua to create for me - I love looking back on Ethan's drawings as a 3 year old so I really need one for Joshua too.

Apart from that, the rain has been heavy ... but I like it!

Enjoy the weekend and since I can't share what I created today, I've uploaded some layouts that I created quite a while ago.

4 days!

I've just returned home from 4 days away with my family and 5 other families - it was terrific and Ethan and Joshua had a ball - who wouldn't, with a total of 13 little boys and just 1 girl!

We travelled to Moreton Island which is so picturesque and not at all commercial or high rise - it's a beautiful place to visit if you ever come to Brisbane - just 1.5 hrs by barge across from the mainland.

It was an action packed 4 days - sand castles, swimming in the ocean, canoe rides, jet skiing to see the ship wrecks, frisbee, beach cricket, boogie boarding, totem tennis ... and this was all before lunchtime ... then beach soccer, sliding down the sand dunes on boogie boards, fishing at dusk on the beachfront, watching the dolphins being hand fed in the ocean ... all before dinner time ...followed by a fun filled 'moon walk' - walking with glow sticks and torches in search of any night time animals like possums.

This is the jetty the kids fished off last night at around 5pm.



This is the view of Moreton Island beach.



And these are the little houses we stayed in that are situated on the beach.
We had 3 houses in total with 2 families sharing each one - it was so much fun.
There are at least 40 of these little blue houses all in a row on the beach front.



So, I have a heap of washing and ironing to do and I'm sure this jammed pack holiday will catch up on me in the next couple of days, but it was worth it.

Oh, and in breaking news .... Ethan's first tooth finally fell out on our second morning at Moreton Island - just needed an apple to nudge it out! Luckily the tooth fairy knew her way to where we were staying and left him some coins for his treasure. For those of you who saw my layout about Ethan's TOOTH FAIRY CONSTRUCTION (it has since been removed for publication), well Ethan HAD constructed an amazing house for the Tooth Fairy to visit in Brisbane (out of clean pizza boxes) and since we were away and he couldn't write a letter to her because none of us had a pen with us, he chose a more modern approach and asked one of the Dad's to text the tooth fairy a message to come visit us when we returned to Brisbane as well! Kindly enough, the Tooth Fairy replied and should be coming some time this week to check out the construction that Ethan made for her!