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Talk about slack when it comes to my own blog...have been so busy over the last few months updating the Creatively Inspired website for shopping and coming up with new ideas for this year that I have neglected this little beauty!

Christmas was unreal...caught up with my brother, his wife and the kids which was really nice and these hols have been all about chilling (don't you love that word...I pinched it from my 15 year old...she is always saying...I'm just chilling with my friends...can I go chill at the town centre...so now I am hooked on "chilling") with my kids!
Have tried to spend time away from my computer and read some books...so far have read 15 since Christmas...hehe that's almost 1 a day! I love to read and I am the local library's best customer!

Now though is time to get back into it...before Christmas Lozzie and Madi changed bedrooms so that meant I had to give up the largest room that I use as my craft room and move into the smallest room...am I a sucker or what?? Big time LOSER written on my forehead at the moment I can tell you!

Anyway the room is now all sorted and I must say quite cosy...just had to have my 3 x 1.8mtr shelves put up on the wall and I am in business so my hubby who I might add is sick with the flu at the moment put them up yesterday.Yay! I was so excited so started putting all my bits and bobs up on them and OMG!!! suddenly there was this squeak, squeak and the shelves popped out of the wall and the whole lot fell on me so now I can hardly walk and have bruises and scratches all over my arms and legs! Bummer! My hubby said..."maybe I shouldn't have put them up while I am sick"...oh you think???

So, because I am crawling at a snails pace and really can't do anything else I am back on the computer and back to work!! Hence this update of my blog at long last.

Here is the photo of the mess after they helped me out and took the shelves away...you can just see the holes in the purple wall behind the desk! Clean up starts next week!

Back soon...

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Busy busy busy...working on my art journal at the moment....hopefully will get a fair bit done .

The Wedding...

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My husband's step sister was married in a beautiful ceremony at Murray's Beach near Newcastle on the weekend.
The weather was fabulous for an 11am wedding, the couple looked beautiful along with their gorgeous 2 year old son and it all went smoothly..I was asked to take photos for them so I thought I would share some of my favourite pics from the day! These are the original photos as I have not had a chance to Photoshop them as yet.

Thanks Jasmine and Craig for such a lovely day!

Mother's Day Canvas...

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In a creating mood I whipped up this canvas using mixed media techniques...inspired by this quote by Brian Andreas

"I didn't listen to her because she was my mother and wouldn't know anything until I was much older"

and the fact is was Mother's Day I couldn't resist a dig at my teenage daughters who are beautiful but typical teens who don't listen to me as much as they should (well...that's my opinion of course!)

What to do...

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Early (about 5.20am) the other morning I was awoken by a noise downstairs...often I wake at night as I am a light sleeper and think that I hear someone downstairs only to find it is the house creaking away...this time was different!!

I just knew there was someone down there...I went to my bedroom door cracked it open and there...creeping up the stairs...was a tall hunched over figure with a bulky jacket on!!

What to do....

I stood there for a moment...not so much scared but more disbelief that there actually was someone creeping up our stairs...

What to do...

So I yelled at the top of my voice....HEY!

Looking back I'm not sure why I did this??? I guess I was hoping to scare the figure into turning around and running out of our house!

Anyway...HEY!! I called out.

My hubby, asleep until then, sat bolt upright in bed and sort of went..."wha??..wha???...what's going on??????"

BUT the figure jumped out of their skin and this little voice said "Mum...it's just me!"

Lauren...my 16yo...couldn't sleep decided to roam the house...in the dark...but God love her...she was creeping slowly because she didn't want the stairs to creak and wake us up!

The next night I almost slept with the light on....

Cruise...

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Time has gotten away from me and I apologise for not keeping up with my blog...

We went on our 10 night cruise to North Queensland at the end of November and had an awesome time...I didn't know what to expect with cruising but we all loved it and would definitely go again. Here we are on the deck for the Sailaway out of Sydney...and on Island Night!!




As I write this Queensland is cleaning up after the terrible flooding that has occured and as we have been watching the news we remark how it was only 6 weeks ago that the cruise ship sailed under the twin bridges and down the Brisbane River to the port in Brisbane.

We climbed aboard a FerryCat and went to see the city sights including the man made beach at South Bank which was shown the other day underwater on the news!!
The Great Barrier Reef is a highlight of the trip and we all snorkeled at the Knuckle Reef Pontoon which was a fabulous experience!

There were so many great experiences and so I have already started my travel album and am probably more than half way through - Go ME!! I have been scrapping every opportunity I get so that I can get if finished for the new monthly travel class that Creatively Inspired are having this year.

Of course, just after we returned from the cruise Christmas snuck up and bit us on the bum...we had Chrissy this year at my parents in the Hunter Valley!

Both my brothers made it and it is the first time in about 20 years that we have all been together..what made it especially special was that the five granddaughters (my parents granddaughters that is) were together for the first time ever!!

I managed to get the five girls in a photo together but completely forgot the family shot...oh well...what can I say...next time??

The thing I enjoyed most about this Christmas...the joy that it brought my parents to have their whole family with them!

Hunter Valley and extras...

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I wonder where the time has gone...it seems like not that long ago that Steve and I went to the Hunter Valley on our trip away.

We've been pretty busy with work etc and the kids seem to be getting more and more social the older they get...well alot more social than us!!

Madi got her braces on her top teeth (bottom teeth are still to come) and Lozzie has now got a learners drivers license - that's been a bit frightening especially when she first started to drive...





We have booked a trip away with friends on a cruise up to North Queensland and I am getting very excited about that. I have always wanted to go to Cairns and the Whitsundays and now it's only 3 months away...Yay!!

I have put myself on an exercise regime to get myself trim for the trip..,.the first week consisted of me telling myself that I should start exercising to get into shape for the trip - that week went really well. The second week I told my hubby about my excersice plans and he thought they sounded good and so I am on my way...

The third week which was last week both my kids have cooked yummy deserts on several occassions so I decided to take a break seeing my plan was on track!!

So far... I am doing quite well although I'm not sure how trim I am going to be when we set sail!!

A Matter of Memories...

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I am really excited cause I found this unreal blog called A Matter of Memories by Jill Paulson who shares her Creativity Prompts each month to get you inspired each month with your scrapping. I have added her button to my page...click on it to have a look...you can sign up for her newsletter also - Great blog Jill!!

Sweet 16 Party...

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The party has been had and everything went really well.

The backyard was lit up with tea lights everywhere including the milk container ones that all the lovely scrapbooking ladies helped with by donating their empties. We had the bamboo flame thingies (like in survivor) up one end of the yard and tea light lanterns hanging all around the pergola. All the electric lights were turned off, a gas heater under the pergola and a fire pit which the kids kept fired up all night meant we had a really pretty setting.

The kids were great - we had 24 turn up and they danced, melted marshmallows over the fire and generally had a good time.

Having a fire pit we wondered if they would be sensible with it - the worst that happened was a couple of them burnt a spring roll till it was black and then dared one of the boys to eat it and he did!!

I wasn't able to take as many photos as I have at past parties because being 16 they didn't want me hanging around too much and I respected the fact that they didn't need a flash in their faces (I know - it was really hard!!) but will post them as soon as I download them in the next day or so.

Organising the Sweet 16 Party...

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I'm organising a 16th birthday party for Lozza. Her birthday is in June and I asked her 2 months ago to let me know what she wanted to do so I could get started on the arrangements. A week ago she made up her mind...a party in our backyard brought forward to the 15th May because it might be too cold in June for outside. Just dancing and hanging around Mum that's all I want.

Well. Just dancing and hanging around still requires organisation and I am normally extremely organised but along with starting a new business, helping Steve with his and running a household I am feeling extremely unorganised about this party and the soundtrack in my head is starting to look something like this...

Buy marshmallows! How many packs do you buy for a 16th birthday party with 35 kids (yes, both girls and boys) where they will be dipping them into a chocolate fountain AND melting them over the fire pit - am I mad?? Yes, I think I might just be, why oh why did I say Yes to this party - oh, I hope the "no alcohol" written at the bottom of the invite worked -I just don't need under aged kids sneaking drinks in and throwing up everywhere. Mmmm do you think it will rain, do we need a marquee as well as the pergola? How much Pizza do 16 year olds eat - don't worry just order it from Domino's on the night. OK...Chips...10 packets enough...I have girls and I have no idea how much do boys eat? Lollies!! "A mirror ball Lozza? OK - I'll look into it". Oh good I can hire that along with the chairs...Thank goodness for Google and websites that display their prices...I need to scrap for classes...Balloons - check, Plastic Plates - check, OMG look at my floors - I need to vacuum!! Ok where was I... far out I've forgotten what I was thinking...mmmm...mmmm...oh yeah...serviettes - check, plastic cups - check, chocolate for chocolate fountain - "LAUREN Have you asked how much chocolate I need to buy for this chocolate fountain - not yet - well could you please ask?" OK on the list - chocolate - check. Alright, working Saturday will have to clean paving on Sunday - oh that's right it's Mother's Day - well this mother will be cleaning and organising the yard!! Headache!! No I haven't got time for a headache - you can just go away!! "Dinner Madi? I have no idea" I better look what we have for dinner tonight - GEE it's 6.19pm already - where did today go...OK ...I think the party is all sorted...well in my head anyway...OH NO CAKE!! I forgot to order the cake!! "What was that Lauren, can Nicole, Taihla, Hannah and Amanda all bring their boyfriends...(sigh) I guess so!!" Where was I? Oh yes CAKE!!

So if you ask me a question anytime in the next week and I stutter and then look at you blankly it's probably because the soundtrack volume seems to be getting louder and I just can't seem to find the knob to turn it down!!

I'll let you know how it goes...the party I mean...and I might even get around to posting some photos...ON NO CAMERA!!! I need to put that on the list!!

Tip...

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I saw these gorgeous cards today and a tip that said to try mixing Perfect Pearls, Distress Ink and water in a mini spray bottle and spray onto your cards or pages. It makes an unreal background.

I have Perfect Pearls somewhere, I'll go dig them out and then I think I will try it out...

Has anyone ever tried this before??

Oh...Memories...

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Wow, what a busy couple of weeks I've had.

Sharon and I are launching Creatively Inspired tonight and the first offical class goes ahead on 3rd May so we have been madly getting ourselves organised. I've got a sore neck from the amount of computer work I've done setting up the website, blog and emails but am about to hit the email SEND button and send out our first email blast, so now I can concentrate on the creative side!!

Steve, the girls and I have been travelling back and forth to Newcastle every other week to see my father-in-law who has been in and out of hospital after his heart attack. A couple of ops to put stents in and now a couple of medication adjustments and hopefully he is on the mend.

Wow, after losing my mother-in-law last year at age 66 and now this with my father-in-law, aged 65, it makes you realise how short life can be and how important it is to live it the best you can.

As I near my 43rd birthday in a couple of weeks I realise that my mid sixties are not that far away and it will probably fly faster than the last 20 odd years have.

Actually, talking about the last 20 odd years - I am back in touch with some old friends from school via Facebook. I'm not hooked but gee I've had fun catching up. I created a page for our Year 12 class and some of the photos that have been posted on it are hilarious especially as they are sooooooo 80's. I left school in 1984, smack bang in the middle of the 80's and we have had such fun reminiscing about the bands we would listen to, our fave teachers, what we used to get up to (actually alot of those memories are quite scary) and what we used to say back then and after looking back it is so different to my teenage daughters "talk" of today! They both think I am quite mad!!

Oh...Memories....

Recipe Album Idea...

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With the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry Collection I am planning a major scrapbooking project that I would like to share with you.

A few years ago my Dad gave me a recipe that he had found tucked away in one of his cookbooks. It was hand written on lined note paper by my Mum (who passed away when I was 16) and although I remember the recipe as one I didn't particularly like as a kid, the fact that it was written by my Mum brought back so many memories of her.

The paper is almost falling apart so I immediately put it into an acid free album to preserve it. then I got to thinking...I would like to scrapbook an album of my families favourite recipes - the ones they are known for Eg: my mother-in-law's caramel slice which everyone loves, Steve's Nonna's spaghetti which, forget seconds, we all go back for fifths!!

I have asked different family members to HAND write their recipe and then I have chosen a photo of them and I will scrapbook an album for each of my girls using BG's Nook and Pantry. I will then give the album as a gift to each of them when they leave home.

Some of the photos I have actually had the girls pose with the family member just to add a difference to the photos.

This idea has been simmering in me for years but I obviously was waiting for this beautiful paper range to come along to get it started.

Of course, there was one little dilemma, as I have been able to have each family member write their recipe out twice - one for each of my girls, I only have one of my Mums receipe - who gets the original??

Easy - I do!! I will photocopy it for the girls recipe album and keep the original myself. Just so i can hold on to my memories -Love you Mum xx.

Why don't you have a think about doing a family recipe album - it would make a great heirloom.

Now to get started....

Birthdays...

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My busy couple of weeks are now over - Dad's 70th birthday was fabulous and he was so surprised that my brother and his family had flown in from Noosa. We had a great sit down family dinner on the Saturday night and a picnic at Rouse Hill Regional Park on the Sunday which we all enjoyed.

I took Dad and his 4 granddaughters down to our local park for a "photo shoot" - it was quite difficult to get just the right photo with all the girls smiling etc (of course my Madi was in a "mood" but she eventually came good) and here is one that I took.

My brother-in-law's 18th went really well and he loved his cake. All his family and friends were there to help him celebrate. His Dad cooked a lamb on the spit and we had all the great salads, desserts etc that goes with an Aussie backyard celebration. It was great!!

I finished his 8x8 album and it was a hit - I did all matching paper throughout the entire album to make it easier and then I put the photos in chronological order. Steve and I then put little humourous notes etc throughout.

Of course, with all the running around all week I forgot to take a photo of it but I will next time I go to Newcastle and see them.

Then finally, last weekend Steve and I finally got away for our 20th wedding anniversary.

My parents came down on the Friday and looked after the kids and we had a lovely relaxing weekend at our van at Anna Bay.

On the Saturday we went for a drive to Morpeth and wandered along the old fashioned street - visited the teddy bear shop, the old lolly shop and the ginger beer store for tastings. We then drove into Nelsons Bay for fish and chips. YUM!!

A weekend without kids is recommended every so often to unwind and just be a couple for awhile. Although when we arrived home on the Sunday we were very quickly reminded what our life is like with one 15 year old girl and one almost (only 2 months off) 13 year old girl and all that goes with the attitudes of teenagers!! Yuck - but I love them and I missed them and I wouldn't swap them for the world (only sometimes!!).

Happy scrapping to you all and I hope the wind has now removed itself from Sydney and stays away for good.

Kylie xx

Bright idea when it comes to scrapping...

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I scrapbooked with my scrapping buddies on Friday night - did a couple of school pages in Lauren's school album. All is OK in the world!!

Then on Saturday night I had an idea - why not do an 8x8 album for my brother-in-law who is 18 on the 18th of this month - Yes - I did say "this month".

What a brainstorm of an idea!! Less than 2 weeks and I decide to do an album AND I have my parents and my brother and his family (from Noosa) staying next weekend to celebrate my dad's 70th - and no I am not doing an album for him as well as I did one for his 60th -thank goodness.

I probably could have done a sizeable chunk of this album on Friday night if I had of thought of it earlier.

So, last night after we did the Father's Day picnic thing I started - and gosh I am proud of myself - I knocked off 20 pages - just the backgrounds - cardstock and pattern - and I have scanned and printed most of the photos (about 100 of them) and (Yes, I know it just keeps going) I actually completed 2 pages.

Looks like I might get it all done after all.

We also superimposed my brother-in-laws head on a West Tigers players body to have put on his cake for his party....it's funny...want to see...here it is....he'll probably hate it...but we love it!!

Happy 18th Birthday Matt and Happy 70th to my absolutely, darling Dad!!

(Wonder what I can superimpose my dad's head onto for his cake?)

Scrapbooking Weekend Retreat....

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The weekend scrapbooking was fabulous!! It was so nice to just sit and scrap with no interruptions!! There was 9 ladies and we all had a great time - the food was good, the company even better and we all got lots of scrapping done. Here is some of our scrap area - the only time there wasn't bums on seats like this was when it was time to eat!!

I did 10 layouts which include a triple (it's supposed to be 4 pages in the flip out page protectors but I ran out of the colour cardstock that I was using so will have to finish page 4 at home - it just goes to show that no matter how much you overpack your scrap gear you can still be under prepared - lol), 3 doubles and the rest singles. Very pleased with myself!!

Here is one of my faves - Madi was standing looking out to sea on our Easter holiday down at Hutchisson last year and I was sitting back on the beach clicking away with my camera.

This is just one of those shots and I loved it!!

The page is just a simple one as I wanted the photo to shine. I was desperate to use my 2Crafty Chipboard Circles (from Papercraft Artistry) and so I covered them with patterned paper and they give a dimensional look to the page which I love. Add a title and some rubons and it's done. Too easy!!

Can't wait for weekend retreat...

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So many things going on...

I am getting organised for this weekend - My "once a month Friday night scrapping buddies" and I are going away for a whole weekend of scrapping!! And...we are all so excited!! The "I can't wait" sms messages have already started and I am busy packing my scrapping gear.

I have sorted my stuff so that I can pull out co-ordinated papers, cardstock and embellishments that I have already matched to photos - I am soooo organised. That way all I have to do is sit and SCRAP - oh and maybe chat a bit (wait - did I say chat "a bit" well you know me - I should have said chat "a lot") and eat lots of chocolate and lollies (bummer - I need to go and find sugar free lollies).

Hopefully, if all goes to plan I should have some pages to post here and on the website next week.

This is the first time in a few years that I am actually going on a scrapping weekend that I didn't have to run for my business and I am going to enjoy it.

SCRAP, SCRAP, SCRAP...

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank the customers who have emailed, rung or come in to wish me well in the sale of the shop "Memories in the Making" and for my future. As you can all imagine this has been a major decision for me.

It has been a very rewarding 5 years building this business to where it is now and I know that the next steps someone can take with it ie: expanding the website etc, would be a very exciting time.

In the meantime, I will set you a challenge - SCRAP, SCRAP, SCRAP. Get out your scraps and use them to create a gorgeous layout or layouts!! We all keep our scraps so why not use them!

Here's a tip for you...

Frosting Charms

Frosting adds a unique touch to all of your metal charms and is very easy to do. It creates a softened look suitable for baby and grandparent scrapbooks.

To create a frosted charm look, sprinkle embossing powder and glitter on the metal charms and heat using a heat gun. Repeat this process again, before the item has a chance to cool. Attach the charms to your scrapbook once they cool completely.

Try it out and let me know how you went, better still send us a copy of any layout that you'd like to show here in my blog.

Melbourne...

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It's been a couple of weeks since I have written and alot has been happening in that time...

Our family went to Melbourne over the long weekend to my sister-in-law's wedding.

It was the first time that both the girls have flown and we had enough frequent flyer points to fly down business class which was a real treat for us all.

Lozzy was extremely excited, not an ounce of nerves, she spent the entire trip hanging out the window taking photos. Madi on the other hand was very nervous, declaring on take off "I so don't like this!!". Once we were in the air the nerves lifted and she even sat next to the window for awhile.

We spent Friday and Saturday catching up with rels and driving a little around Melbourne. (I'm biased but I much prefer Sydney - and Melbourne drivers are absolutely crazy).

The wedding on the Sunday was a beautiful sunny day (apparently Melbourne hadn't had such a nice October day in many years) so Julie and Chris were able to be married on the deck of the restaurant which overlooked the water and was a stunning location.

My girls looked fabulous in their formal dresses with jewellery that they had both made themselves. I was an extremely proud mum of two girls who conducted themselves beautifully and had many comments on how lovely they looked.

On the Monday we took the kids including my 17 year old brother-in-law to the open range zoo at Werribee where we saw a variety of lions, giraffes, hippo's, rhino's, meerkats etc etc. As an avid scrapbooker, yes, I took a gazillion photos and have another project on my hands now.

Tuesday, we spent in the city. We caught the City Central tram and hit Lygon Street in Carlton (little Italy) which, with a name like Gatto and an Italian background we had to visit of course. We had a fabulous plate of Ravioli at a great restaurant named Brunetti's.

We then went to the Old Melbourne gaol including a tour of the watch house where a very strict, no nonsence Sargent showed us around. I don't know what it is about my family, even though the four of us were seperated in a line up he managed to pick on each one of us and no one else on the tour.
Madison he told off quite serverley for gigling around (that's our Madi - never sits or stands still!!) while being charged in the watch house. He had her face the wall and left her there when we went on to the next phase of the tour. When she followed us he told her off again and took her back to the wall and left her there.
I was the next to cop it - he called me out and asked me questions from a charge card he had given us earlier. My name was Tran Le and when he asked my age I couldn't tell him as it wasn't on the card. The guy had been so technical and literal all the way through the tour that I didn't realise he meant my real age and I was desperately trying to find or guess an age when he told me off.
Lauren was asked a question and got an ear full when she replied "I don't know" (but that is so Lozzy - she always answers I don't know to everything!!) and Steve was told to step forward out of the line up and had his hands checked for drugs (apparently criminals smuggled drugs in to jail, between their fingers). He then got told he was clean and had lovely hands - No telling off for him!!
Anyway, it was all in fun and after Madi was told to rejoin us we were all locked in a cell with the lights out - no fun if your claustrophobic!! We then toured the old gaol and saw where Ned Kelly and many others were hung. Not a nice place but steeped in history and once again a photographic paradise. Another project for me to do.

We flew back home on Tuesday night in the Qantas Airbus 330 which when you are flying business class was a very nice flight home. I wish we could all fly business class all the time, it would make flying that bit more enjoyable, especially if you were flying a long distance. We can only but dream!!

On the shop front... we spent a very enjoyable weekend at the Rocking Horse Renaissance open weekend. I saw a few of our regular customers out there enjoying the day.

The decision to put Memories in the Making on the market has been a very difficult one for me. This place is a very big part of my life and has been for the past 5 years. I have made some lovely friends along the way and have enjoyed all the joy that helping my customers has given me. I hope that there is someone out there who can take over the reins and stamp their personality on what is a great little shop in a fantastic industry. In the meantime, it is business as usual - all classes will continue with both Sharon and Vikki, Friday nights and Saturday marathons will still be on and of course we will be keeping up to date with new products for you. Next week I will have some tips and a you beaut challenge for you.

Until then... Happy Scrapping.

Challenge...

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How did you go with your challenge? Hopefully I inspired some of you to think about the layouts you do and try different ways to go about creating them.

I'm feeling really guilty right now as I have just stuffed myself stupid with hot chips and gravy -something that is a big NO NO for me and will certainly send my blood glucose levels totally out of whack...but it's a miserable day and I was hungry as I walked past the take away shop and I had eaten my lunch at 11.30 which was way too early, so I splurged and broke the ridged "eating right" rules.

I must say they were the best chips and gravy I've had for a long time (even though they are the only chips and gravy I've had for a long time).

Isn't it funny how guilty we find ourselves feeling when we go off track with something...and you know at the end of the day it's normal, actually part of life to go off track.

You know...I've just made a decision (yep, just now, right this minute) I'm not going to feel guilty anymore.

So what if I occasionally (and in my case this one needs to be occasional) eat something I'm not supposed to or I spend more than I should have (especially on scrapbook supplies) or I decide to have a life and leave the kids in my hubby's capable hands for an evening and go out with the girls (and not worry) or leave the washing up for someone else to do (I like this one) or I sleep in on a Sunday morning (I really like this one)...yeah so what!!

I am not going to feel GUILTY anymore for anything that I decide to do in my life. After all, at the end of the day, it is my life!!

Gee whiz I enjoyed those hot chips and I especially enjoyed that gravy...MMMM....