A lovely birthday party!

Ethan celebrated his SIXTH birthday today.

I can hardly believe where the time has gone.

He woke early this morning and couldn't wait to open his presents.

I love his expression here.



Some Bakugans (did I say that right?)

Then the family all enjoyed morning tea at a gorgeous park with the most amazing winter day.

Yes, that's right - this in winter where we live!

My six year old!

Happy Birthday to you!

My food colouring didn't turn out red like I was hoping, but no-one seemed to mind.

Joshua happily blew bubbles until they ran out.


And we all had a lovely day!
:)

Scrapbook Creations Layouts

I scrapped a layout yesterday and I love it - unfortunately I can't share it because it's part of an article that I'm writing for Scrapbook Creations in an up and coming issue. So, I thought I'd upload some layouts that were recently featured in the magazine instead

- no fun having a post without a layout, right?

188 - this is the height that Joshua might be when he's an adult.

I remember reading somewhere that if you double the height of a child at age 2years

then that will be their height when they are fully grown - I have a few years to wait and see.

BREAKING THE HABIT - this was the layout I created for KEEPING IT SIMPLE article

that I write with Helen Karanfilovski and Belinda Venables. The theme was LARGE PHOTOS.

There is heaps to look at in Issue 65 - I'm always amazed at how differently everyone scraps

and I love reading the journalling behind the layouts.

What do you like most about looking at layouts?

Is the design, photo or journalling or are you are product junky?

:)

Family photo shoot

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of taking photos of this lovely family.

It was a gift to Nancy who was turning 60 from her family - what a great idea!

Amanda, Tracey, Jason and Scott - her 4 children.

The entire family including 6 grandchildren.

I love this photo of Nancy and Mike - they are such a lovely couple.

Seth had the most gorgeous eyes.

Zac and Ella - seasoned models

and Miss Ella

Thank you for a lovely day!

UPDATE PART 2

I'm overwhelmed with the number of good wishes left by friends about the floading here in Brisbane.

We are all well and safe and apart from some major inconvenience everything should sort itself out with time. Fortunately the insurance company came yesterday and were pretty good - now I need to get quotes for everything that needs replacing.

I've spent this morning running to IKEA and other stores getting quotes for all the stuff that was damaged. The carpets have been ripped up (only 2 rooms affected - my study being one of them) and will be replaced brand new - I'm happy with that since they were starting to smell Musty yesterday afternoon. We have an industrial blower currently trying to dry out the concrete in the 2 rooms.

Good news is, nothing sentimental was lost - that means alot to me.
My albums are safe - I can't imagine how that would feel if they weren't.

So, I'm in the library using internet again and hopefully over the weekend, I'll set up a temporary area for my computer and maybe even get some internet connection as well.

I hope all the rest of my Australian friends are not affected by this heavy rain. It seems to be pretty OK today and things may be on the improve.

Thank you again for your kind thoughts.

The Update

As some of you may know, Queensland has had some major rainfall.
In fact, ONE THIRD of the year's rainfall fell in just one night.
Many roads have floaded and properties are under water.

We are fortunate to be on a high piece of land but the combination of water and strong winds caused lots of water to enter the lower level of our home and damage wooden toys, bookcases and carpets. My study was one of those rooms and I have had to disconnect the computer and remove all furniture from the room while the water is being extracted from the carpet. It's no fun at all.

So I'm at the library using the computer to log in and update my blog and check my emails. Hopefully I'll be up and running soon even though the carpet man told me that apparently more rain is on it's way - 'the worst is yet to come' is what he said.

Hope everyone else is ok!
I'll check in again soon.

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