A wonderful Mother in-law that will live on in our hearts

Today I have some sad news to share.

My mother in-law who has been fighting her third bout of Cancer lost the fight last Friday morning. She had been staying with us for 3 and a half weeks prior to her last week spent in hospital. We are glad for this extra time we have had with her, but grateful for her not suffering with the illness for much longer, even though we will miss her greatly.

She was an amazing woman who tried to do so many things in life. This photo was from her recent trip to visit us in Perth. It is a great photo (which I have cropped) of her and my husband. I have been meaning to scrap it for ages, and have learnt a valuable lesson.... try not to put off the important things like these memories. I am thankful for the fact that this was only taken about 9 months ago, so at least those memories are still quite fresh in my mind.

Christmas Cards

I definitely ran out of time this year when it came to Christmas cards, so only got them done for our parents and brothers and sisters. I made them over Christmas eve and Christmas morning... I know - nothing like the last minute. I kept them pretty simple, but decided to give them something to keep from them by making a christmas ornament that could be taken off the card. Lets face it.... not everyone keeps the cards we make!! I thought at least this way they have something that would have from year to year.

My challenge to myself for next year is not only to get them made HEAPS early, but also to make them with the thought in mind to have something worth keeping off the card like the decoration I did this year... Lets see how I go with that and having a 6 month old baby around next Christmas!!

Tayla Card

I made this card to match the letters I gave to baby Taylor that was born just before Christmas. I really liked the idea of matching the card to the project I was giving as a present. It was also useful to us the journal cut-out that comes in the flutterby range of papers for the inside of the card's writting. It didn't give much room for writing a long message, but I loved that it matched the outside.

Baby Tayla arrives

Last week my Cousin and his wife had their precious baby girl arrive. I have already seen her and she is SOOOOO CUTE!! She was only 2.5 days old when I saw her, and I could not believe how cute she looked! I did these letters up for her room as a present as this is number 3 child in the family and they already have a girl, so I though they would have most things....

I got the idea of sticking the wooden letters together from a thing I was working on with one of the Design Team members at work. These Kaiser letters are SO cool, I stuck just two together and they stand up really well.

Merry Christmas Everyone & a new Layout

I don't know where I found the time but I got my tree put up, did all my christmas shopping and made 8 card between Monday and Christmas eve.... Here is the tree complete with presents....


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I know I did! Got spoilt and had some good experiences. Had lunch at my place with Andrew's Family, it was really nice. Then popped over mum and dad's to see them and also got to catch up with my brother and his family. They are back from China after spending 2 years over there. It was great to see them and especially catch up with the kids, they grow SO FAST!! My niece has gotten older - she is 8 now and I am blown away by how amazing a reader she is... also my nephew is still as cute as ever, and still loves you to play with with him. I had not seen him for over a year, so it was great to spend some time with him also.

Later that night back at our place, Andrew felt the baby kick for the first time. It was only a little kick, not one of the stronger ones, but he felt it non the less. This was a really nice presi for us from the bub. I have been feeling it kick for weeks, but it makes it all the more special when you both feel them I think. I also had another scan this week and all is going well, baby is growing well.

Well here is a layout I promised..... I did this one for work using the Sakura Park papers....

Tag Box

I made this a couple of weeks ago for one of the girls at work. She is on the road to loosing weight, and to help her along I came up with the idea of some of the girls at work decorating some tags for achievement along her way to success. I made the box and a couple of the tags. She has already achieved these two goals which is FANTASTIC.

There are a heap more tags, and hopefully I will remember to photograph them all as it has been a really nice joint effort!

Apologies........

Firstly, I apologise to all my blog visitors that I have not blogged much lately. However, to make it up I will be positing a great deal more as I am looking forward to doing some much overdue scrapping over the Christmas Break. I have been feeling better, but have had a heap going on. So much that I have not yet even got my Christmas Tree up!! And well for anyone that knows me, that is VERY UNUSUAL!! I have also not even written let alone made any christmas cards.....

One of the things impacting on me trying to find the time to scrap has been the travel to and from work, it has really taken its toll on me and even on my days not in the office I have just been too tired to think about doing any scrapping. I know that this will be changing in the future as I have made the VERY HARD decision to resign. I know that this would come as a surprise to some of my blog visitiors, but travelling over an hour each way to work (since the office moved to the other side of Geelong) is not something I am comfortable with - well in the short term anyway. I am sure if I was not pregnant things would be different, but I am, and I have to deal with that and the fact that I have a child on the way (which I am ecstatic about), and that I would like to be spending more time with my baby when it arrives.

I have absolutely LOVED working there and will miss the work I was doing as well as all the people (they are the loveliest bunch) and the Company as a whole. It is such a wonderful place to work, so if you ever get the chance, I would recommend them highly. We had our Christmas party last night which was an absolutely fantastic night, the best I have been too. Unfortunetly I couldn't stay too late as we needed to get home to relieve Andrew's brother from caring for their mother, and we had nearly an hour to travel. It made me relise even more (even though I knew it already) that I was going to miss this place VERY MUCH.

Well, enough on the sad note, I will post some new things now to share with everyone!!

xxbeck

My Christmas Playlist

Well I added this playlist today, it is just the coolest thing!! There is a reason I have chosen these songs at this wonderfully special time. I grew up listening to Bing Crosby songs while decorating the house for Christmas every year with my Mum. These times were some of thebest, and everytime I hear these songs, it just puts me in the Christmas Spirit.

I know I will be putting on my blog when setting up my Christmas tree this year or simply doing some Christmassy things... Just to hear this beautiful music.

Sorry Tracey for having some of the same songs, but I just couldn't have put a Christmas Playlist without this song especially!

Hope this helps you all to get into the Christmas Spirit if you are struggling though what seems to get a busier and busier lifestyle that we all lead these days.

I have been tagged

Last week I got tagged by the lovely Debbie. You have to check our her blog, there is a link to it 'Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much, Leave Memories.

The Rules are:
1. Add a link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. List 6 random things about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog

Ok so 6 random things about me:

1. I am married to my lovely husband Andrew of 3 years this month.

2. I have two Jack Russel dogs Molly and Kujo, and a cutie cat Smokey.

3. I have almost travelled all the way around Australia, just missing Tassie and North of Rockhampton in QLD, and would love to do it all again and again.

4. My favourite thing to do is go out for Breakfast on the weekend

5. One of my brothers and I were born 2 years, +2 months, +2 days apart + hours/minutes??

6. I used to play Women's Soccer in my late teens and early 20's.

I have decided to tag these lovely talented ladies. I love checking your blogs and love your work!

1. Sonya Thair
2. Tracey Holdyk
3. Kristen Sparkes
4. Susan Temple
5. Evana Willis
6. Tommorrow's Memories - yes Clori, Jo & Vicki you don't get out of this one either!

what you can do with Kaisercraft Fozz felt!

Well part of my job as the Product Development Manager at Kaisercraft involves playing with products to identify possible problems and uses for products. As part of this I was playing with some Fozz Felt yesterday, and when I was finished, I had a piece I needed to stick somewhere, and well I didn't have any paper, so it ended up on my Tape Dispenser!

Well, me being me couldn't just stop at the piece I had placed on there and had to finish it off. I thought it looked cool, and it FEELS GREAT!! But still needed more, so I added some pearls.



I just love how it came so I thought I would share it. I think it is a good idea to take your scrapbooking products and see how you can apply them to everyday items, for a more creative look!

Thanks Mikala for taking the photo for me!!

Enjoy!

More DT sneak peaks

Well, I finally got some more of my Design Team projects done for Tomorrow's Memories. I am really enjoying getting back into my scrapbooking now that I am feeling a HEAP better. Morning sickness seems to have subsided which is GREAT. I can re-claim a little more of my life back as it is so hard to do things when you feel so crap!

These pieces have been sent off to Tomorrow's Memories, so I will post the full pic's later in the week. If you would like to see them up close and personal..... pop into the store possibly next week when they would have definitely arrived!

I am missing being able to pop into the shop (especially seeing I would most days when I was living in Perth) but the TM blog is a fantastic way to keep up with all the happenings..... that I am missing :( .

If you have not yet checked it out click on the link under my links section and check it out. The girls have been great at keeping everyone up to date with all that is going on, and they have some awesome specials and giveaways going on at the moment.

Some VERY exciting news to share

Ok, so it has been killing me not to put this up on my blog straight away, but I thought that today would be a nice day to share my news. There has been a reason I have not done as much scrapping and blogging aside from everything else I have had going on. I have had a heap of morning sickness (but gee wish it was only mornings!) cause I AM PREGNANT


Andrew and I are really happy and can't wait for the bundle of joy to arrive. Today I had my first scan and it went really well. I thought I would share a photo from the ultrasound today. We couldn't believe how clear it was and how much the baby was moving around. A truly amazing experience to share for the first time.

Happy Birthday Ashleigh!

I did this card last week for a very special Birthday Girl. Ashleigh turned 3 last week, and so I thought I would make a cute and personal card for her. I used some of the Dancing Jewel Papers from KC. Gotta love this range... SOOOOO Pretty.


It is a little hard to see from the photo, but I used some stamped on acetate (gotta love stazon!)for an extra bit of dimension, and of course some bling pearls and an epoxy brad to match the paper.

DT Projects

Last weekend on my retreat I decided to utilise the time to get some much needed scrapping done... OF COURSE. I had my Design Team packs, so I thought what better time to get them done. Here is a sneak peak of 2 finished works.... I will post a full photo when they have made it to WA. Until then, here is a sneak peak!

I got some really beautiful papers to work with and I am hoping to get at least another layout done. As you will notice the first is a Christmas themed piece (yes I am already getting into the festive mood). I just thought that the Collections tiled frame (well that is what I have called it) really leant itself to a Christmas theme. Hopefully the girls like it.

The second one is using some really beautiful Dream Street papers and wood embellishments. I have also used a HEAP of Swarovski crystals on this one, I just COULDN'T RESIST!! They are just so dazzling.

I will let you all know when to pop into the shop to check them out.

An exciting package & Retreat

I had a package to pick up on Wednesday, that Andrew kindly went to get from the post office, as I don't get home from work in time to make it. I was so excited to get home that night and see what goodies Tomorrow's Memories had sent me. My design Team packs were really awesome as well as the other goodies that were in there!

Thanks girls, can't wait to get stuck into it.

I am off to my first Scrapbooking retreat tonight organised by Scrapbook Junction - Sunbury. Can't wait, hopefully I will have some new stuff to share with you all next week! That is if I can get more scrapping than chatter done!

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will!!

Best Friends Movie Time

I made this mini album recently to hold all the movies my mother and I used to watch together when I was young.

I have 3 brothers and every Sunday when my Dad took them to play soccer, my mum and I would sit down and watch a Shirley Temple movie followed by another old classic on the 'Golden Years of Hollywood'

I really looked forward to our Sundays, and I will always cherish these movies and the time we shared together.

Kaisercraft 100 to 1 scrap off event

Kaisercraft are holding a 100 to 1 Scrap Off competition – 8th November. This is something you won’t want to miss. Be apart of this and possibly see yourself on our planned DVD.

This event has strictly limited places.

If you are interested in taking part you will need to register and pay through the outlet shop. If you are interested visit the new outlet shop on the 11th October to pick up registrations forms etc. These will all have to be handed in from 18th October to receive kits.It does cost $30 to enter but believe me when I say the kit for the first rounds are well worth it.

You will then have two weeks to complete a project with what you are given.

ALL money raised will be going towards the Kaisercraft causes – orphanages, homes etc

Lorraine Bate from Scrapbook Creations Magazines will be down from Sydney and is sponsoring one of the rounds(prize is awesome), along with Fiskars sponsoring another round.Winner will receive a $300 Kaiser gift voucher to spend on their choice of products. There will be other door prizes (vouchers $150, $50, $25) and giveaways on the day.

Feeling that you all NEED to register….lol… are you feeling it yet???Come on out and support the kids again and have a fun day out.

If you are knocked out in one of the earlier rounds feel free to hang around and scrap…..Download information here.

If you need further info feel free to email me regarding this, otherwise see Chez at the outlet. Feel free to pass this onto any friends but please note – this is event is limited to the first 100 people only. It is being advertised through the outlet and on the Kaiser site - so don't leave it to late to register.Please note:The new outlet shop hours are 9 am – 5.30pm Monday – Saturday(not as in attached flyer) Hope to see you all there on the day….

My Birthday

While we were travelling, I celebrated my Birthday at a really small town that takes 400kms of 4WD road to get to. All there is there is a pub and caravan park. This being the case, there was no option for a birthday cake on my special day.

Having arrived in Melbourne 3 weeks ago, we have been so busy with heaps going on, that we still had had no chance of celebrating it.

On Monday however, when I got home from work my lovely husband Andrew was busy making me a birthday cake. It was a real surprise, and just when I least expected it. It was the most beautiful chocolate cake with chocolate bits through it. It was beautifully moist and cooked to perfection! He even decorated it after dinner, and well I just thought it was the best.

Thanks hubby for a lovely birthday surprise!

Just stuff....

Ok, so I have seriously neglected my blogging.... but I have good reason. I have just started my new job at Kaisercraft, and gee am I loving it. The people are SO nice and I get to be involved in an industry that I love SO MUCH!!

I have had a bit more sorting of the scrapping desk or should I say desks, as one of the plus' of moving is that I now have a bigger scrap area which consists of 3 desks. LOVING IT!! Just got to get some scrapping done now!

Work has given me a project to do, so I am pretty excited about that, just hope I do a good enough job of it now! It will be done with some of the new papers (not yet released) and they are just DEVINE!! If I am allowed I will put a sneak peak up here when it is done, and a full one when it is published.

I have also been asked about the aprons we made for Scrap it that I didn't have photos of.... but have now that I have my CD of the photos taken on the day. The 5 of us decorated these in the effort to win 'Best Dressed' which we were sucessful. You will have to check out my entry on this back in August for all the info of the day and a photo of the 5 of us. But here is the photo of my apron in a little more detail

The scrapping has begun!!

I am overdue with this card, so I couldnot wait to get into my scrapping. First one made in Melbourne. I love clusters of flowers, and thought I would try it on a card. It is amazing how you can take an idea from a layout and put it on a card or vice versa....... ahhhh papercrafting - so versatile!

Try this yourself. Take an idea from one of your layouts or cards and see if you can adapt it on the other, you may surprise yourself!

ME Layout

I created this Layout back in June. I really enjoyed doing this layout being my first double layout. I thought it would be a real challenge to ensure it flowed, and try to use an even bigger space for the one layout, but turned out easier than I thought.

I spent a great deal of time cutting out and layering the different papers with rub-ons and stamps. To keep the journaling a little more personal, I decided to do mainly hidden journaling, which you can see under the flaps.

A new Address!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I have not been able to blog much on our travels, but I have some great news and that is that we arrived late last week in Melboune. We have been busy unpacking and today offically I have a scrap room, and larger than the one I had in Perth, so I have no excuses now!

I am looking forward to posting some new work up on the blog real soon, but until then I will post some work that was completed prior to the move.

Hope you enjoy them, and yes I will be blogging often once again, as long as I can keep up with my scrapping!

travel, work and stuff

Well we are still on our way to Melbourne, and we are having a wonderful break. We have seen so much and have at least finished a circle around Australia, even if it is not the complete big one!

Just got some news about my new job at Kaisercraft that I will be starting when I get to Melbourne that I will be starting with a fellow scrapper Alison. Can't wait. Only 20 days to go until we start. Alison is in Marketing and I am in Product Development, so we will be working really closely together.

Well, not to long to go till we arrive now. I miss my dogs and the cat and can't wait to see them, but enjoying the trip an absolute heap!!

Not long till I can get back into some SERIOUS scrapping!

mini houses take 2

I posted this some time ago, but here is another look at it as everyone was asking me how small was it really. Hope this pic gives some more detail!

Packing has begun!

For those that are not yet aware, I am moving back to Melbourne after 2 wonderful years in Perth. We have absolutely loved living here and will be sad to leave. There are many things I will miss about Perth, but mostly the friends we have made while being here and the warmer weather!

OK so the packing has officially started for our move to Melbourne and as you can see I have packed most of the stuff in my scrapping desk.
There won't be many entries from me as we pack and prepare for our move. We will be enjoying a holiday along the way which will be a well earned break! We arrive in Melbourne late September, so you'll have to patient for some new stuff from me until shortly after then (I am sure I will be in MEGA withdrawal after agreeing not to take scrapping stuff with me on our move) so shouldn't take me long to get some new stuff happening!

I do have some things on my camera to share, so there may be the odd entry from me, but they will not be regular, so may be best to subscribe to my blog via the 'get e-mail updates'. This will mean that you get an e-mail from my blog when I update it. I don't get your e-mail address or anything (or know that you have subscribed), but I guess 'blogger' does it somehow.... Very handy to save checking the blog everyday for the possibility of 'something' being updated.

Engagement Album

I made this album the other week using the range of paper by Creative Imaginations 'Narratives' for Tomorrow's Memories to display in the shop. I knew it would go perfectly with my engagement photos which was about 3 years ago. So finally another album done.

I didn't want too many photos in there, so I used the index photos which captured some of our family and friends on the day. I have had this Kaiser scalloped album for a while, and wanted to use it on 'just the right project', and I think I found it. I also used a Hambley screen print I won a couple of months ago in a pack at a TM moonlight.

I pick up things and put them aside for one day when I might like to use them on a project. I love how this all came to together, with the combination of new and old!