my own background

After a LOT of messing around last night (trying to find old tutorial) and then a lot more messing around in Photoshop and Photobucket (getting the background made was easy, it was the sizing that nearly drove me crazy -- but maybe that was cos I'd had a few glasses of red) I finally got my new background made and loaded.
And this morning I looked at it and .... I still LIKE it! So yay for me. And yay for Wilna and her awesome Bling the Blog class.

a Compendium of AWESOMENESS

Could this possibly be the best day of my whole life, all forty-fi... *cough* ... thirty-plus years of it??
Firstly, my team (the Fremantle Dockers) won their first AFL** game of the season last night, and did it handsomely -- playing in a totally devastating way that makes me hope they won't suck too badly this year. In fact, the commentators (who are mostly asses) were saying they seem to have made a quantum leap. Not too sure what a quantum is, but I hope they leap there next week too.
** AFL being Australian Football League

SECONDLY -- and just as importantly -- I got my long-awaited Compendium of Curiosities today!! For the uninitiated, this is a totally awesome book written by T!m Holtz with whom I am wildly in love (artistically of course) and LOOK!

he SIGNED IT.

With his own hand. (tones of hushed awe)

{{my husband refers to T!ms' work as 'scrap porn' because of the OOOH-ing and AAAH-ing when I read the blog or watch the YouTube videos.}}

Can life get any better than this?

PUNK RULES

This is my PUNK ROCK example for this weeks' MMT challenge at ART.




I used:
Kaiser papers from Shaken Not Stirred
paint
sewing machine !!!!!
tartan shirt from the op-shop
label from the tartan shirt
T!m Holtz trinket pin and game spinner
Carolees tiny black alphas
Scenic Route random Kraft alphas

and the photo is of my 8yo boy, Jack.

a random act of kindness..

OK so it's not really random .... this lady Tiff has a sick little girl Ivy, and they've spent a long long time in and out of hospital.
Tiff has amazed me by noting the needs of the hospital and nursing staff, and wants to raise money for some of those needs. These aren't huge things, like a new Cardio ward -- she thinks the nurses deserve a fridge to keep their food and drinks cold, and someplace comfortable for parents to sleep while they sit with their sick kids.
If you think you can help with a donation, visit her blog and follow the link.

facepainting

We took the kids to the local Playgroup Easter fete this morning, where they had their faces painted. Jack chose a vampire, of course... and Katie picked a fairy. Of course.
Don't they look so cute??

BAD GIRLS ...

SO I have scrapped a bra. It doesn't look finished to me, but I ran out of supplies way before I ran out of ideas ):
This was a challenge I ran at ART, as a friend there has just had a mammogram, and there are other friends who've been touched by breast cancer.
The girls have done an amazing job with their bras, take a look at Sharons' and Noriels'

meet Katies' new sister, Elizabeth.

The round pink thing is cut from a sheet of Kaisercraft Childs' Play -- and contains the journalling.

my comicbook hero

This week at ART we're doing an animation inspired challenge. I loved it so much, I did 2 examples this week, and this is the first of them.
I converted my photos to greyscale, then ran them through a free action to get this look. I then mounted them on black CS, and used the Kaiser PP sheet and cut-outs to complete the LO. There are also some 7Gypsies 97% Complete stickers on each of the smaller photos.
I did the title by hand, which shows how much my hand-lettering has deteriorated since I got a computer!

exciting news at ART!!

Recently, we discussed the possibility of extending to 6 DT members. So we advertised in a few places, and in the meantime we had the lovely Megan from NZ join up; she didnt apply for a position but we love her work so much we grabbed her anyway and to our delight she said YES.
And then Tabitha from the US applied, and we loved her work too! so we now have our 6.
We've also had some international girls join the forum, and their work is just stunning. So to give yourself a treat, check out my blog-list, or come on over to the forum and join us. There is certainly a lot of creation going on at the moment!

MMT comp week 3 -- rock and roll!

We're having SO MUCH FUN at ART right now, with our comp. Some fab LOs being submitted, and I'm really proud of our girls!
This week we're rocking and rolling, and here is my take on the challenge.


The lovely Terri sent me some sticky-backed plastic, which I was keen to try with my Cricut. I found a jpeg image on the net, downloaded it, then found a tutorial to turn the image into a shape using Photoshop.
I have a brilliant little software program called Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) which lets you cut many of the fonts from your computer, and dingbats etc, on the Cricut, BUT it uses a file extension called SVGs. So then I downloaded a free program called Inkscape, and converted my rocket shape to an SVG file.
After that, it took only a few seconds fiddling to get the size I wanted, and the rocket was done!
I'm keen to try some lovely damask shapes next.

mad mad giveaway

Tiff has a crazy giveaway going on her blog. Now maybe you're like me -- really unlucky and never win stuff -- doesn't matter, you should follow Tiffs' blog anyway. Her work is gorgeous, she is one talented lady and is a real sweetheart as well. So find her here
http://scraplee.blogspot.com

another new blog

Kerryn, a lovely lady who is one of the most amazing scrappers I've ever seen, and I are going to co-author a new blog, Angel Scraps.
Sadly, we have both lost precious children, and have both begun (but not finished) memory albums for Bethany and Levi.
We both know how hard it is to find inspiration for these kinds of albums, so we hope others may be able to find inspiration here, or maybe leave some for others.
We would appreciate it if you could help spread the word.

making some changes

I've finally decided to change my blog --- and I LOVE this background -- all except for the very white central block -- seeking expert advice on maybe toning it down a little.
shabbyblogs.com have some really gorgeous backgrounds, pop over and have a look!

March sketch challenge

My gorgeous little kids on their first day of school for this year (the big kid was 200 kms away and couldn't fit in the photo)
I took Kyms' sketch and moved it around a lot cos I wanted the BIG PURPLE BAG to be in the photo (it shows how little Katie is!) but it is so VERY purple... so I hoped that placing the leaves over it would tone the bag down a little.
Anyway, this is why I love sketches so much -- you can make them your own!

some recent LOs...

This photo makes me laugh every time I look at it. I found the kids wearing their new goggles in the bath one day. Who could resist such a photo opportunity?
I used a piece of CI paper (so old I bet they have forgotten they even made it) and some embellies by somebody. (maybe K&Co ?)


And this one is of my lovely little girl at her very first kindy assembly last year.
I used a Sassy Lass paper and assorted embellies and stuff from stash (using up all the old goodies to make way for some new ones (: )