Baby Xavier and a layout

Who says you can't use bling, flowers and ribbon for boys, not me that's for sure.

It reads, love laugh always on the flowers, it's a little hard to read on here. All the elements are raised on pop dots, including the photo mat.

Wowsers, I just noticed what a rotten job I did cropping this and the sun glare is not too nice on the photo either, you will just have to use your imagination

ETA. BTW this is Jackson when he was around four years old in his favourite jumper that my Mum knitted for him, he and Paddy had matching ones. they were gorgeous and so super soft and the colour reminded me of the ocean. Taken on Grifiths island, Port Fairy, on one of our many walks we used to do.
I must add some journaling somewhere on here, or maybe the back.

This week we have had Bren's sister Rachel, baby Xavier and his other sister's daughter Eloise
staying. No pictures of the others,lol, but had to put on pics of the baby, isn't he the cutest? Eight months is such a cute age, lots of giggles and fun.
Brendan and Seamus left the same day as Rach and Paddy is already down in Port Fairy. I drove Jackson, well he drove me, up to bordertown to visit Lucy and so it is only Joseph and I at home, a great excuse to stay up late and scrapbook, hence the layout above, and also catch up on some neglected blogging. Joseph does not think so and is missing all the activity that normaly goes on in our house, me on the other hand am loving the quiet.

And I'd like to thank...

Wow while I was away I received this award, not from one but three people. Big thanks goes out to Donna , Sandie and Em for thinking of me, it's really the coolest.
Now I have to narrow down my list of blogs I love to only 5, I think this will take some thinking.
tick tick tick tick
OK, thinking done, it's going back to the wonderful girls who sent me mine, I know you have already received them but a creative girl can never have too many awards now can she and you girls really do rock!
The other two I will send to the very talented and still only in her teens, Lucy and last but not least the heroartsblog, they will possibly never know that I have presented them this award but it is a truly inspiring website and I love that each week they have different designers all with different styles to keep the creative inspiration flowing. There are also so many other inspiring websites I visit on a regular basic (Google reader has 63 articles for me to catch up on) which all deserve an award, so maybe I can send this out to every person out there who has ever picked up scissors and paper or paint brush and paint or fabric or wool or whatever medium it is you happen to work in because the whole world of creating is such a wonderful one that every one who has ever created deserves to get an award .

Love those holidays

The boys were fascinated but a little creeped out by the Egyptian mummies, lucky they did not see the unbandaged ones under this display case

The boys being very dorky outside the Adelaide uni, this was the same face Paddy pulled in almost every photo.
Adelaide is known as the city of churches and this is just one of them, St Peter's, I think it was Anglican.
The Kiss, I actually was told off bythe security guard at the art gallery for taking this, apparently I missed the huge no photographs sign, the boys thought it was hysterical

One of around two hundred plus shots of giraffes, and that's after deleting some, how could you not love them and their beautiful eyelashesA lion cub
A tired rhino, the guide had just finished telling us how they can be dangerous and charge when the old fella plonked himself down for a rest.
Daddy lions. I love viewing the animals without small cages around them, we were able to drive the bus right past these two big boys, they had a large area to rome about.

We're back from a week exploring the city and loved every minute of it.

Every trip to Adelaide we have had has been a rushed trip for a work function for either Bren or I or sport related so we have never really had time to simply enjoy the city but this time we made up for it and could have easily spent another week there. We did the Monarto zoo(a large free range zoo just before Adelaide) the museum twice, the art gallery, aquatics centre, Marion , the movies, city strolling and people watching as well as just relaxing in our lovely apartment. we stayed at the sunset view apartments at West beach if anyone needs great accommodation in Adelaide. The owners were lovely the apartment really comfortable and for $130 per night for the six of us quite reasonable. we find it hard to get accommodation in a world were a family is considered to be 2 adults 2 kids, to me a family is however many children you have, whether it be one or 18 ( and yes I do know a family of 18, no twins,lol) It was a 15 minute drive into the hub of the city but we were right on the beach and able to enjoy the wonderful sound of the roaring ocean to settle us off to sleep. I could probably go on all night about how lovely the week was but Joseph and I have a dvd to watch so now I'm going to relax a little.

Off to the big smoke

See you in a week when I'm back.
Cheers,
Sue.

I'm back

Card using video tut on the hero arts site, a thank you to Paddy's basketball coach, I was rapt that he realised it was handmade and thanked me for making it, not something all males do, most would not even notice. A spinner card for Seamus' friends birthday, very simple but fun to play with, even for big kids,lol.
This layout and the so sweet one were done in a class, not something I often get to do. It was fun because we were given a basic sketch to follow and everything else was up to us, we were allowed to choose our own cardstock, papers and embellishments, much more up my alley than someone telling me what to put and where.
Not sure if I have put this up here before but I did a little finishing off, just added a couple of little bits here and there, I had never felt like it was fully finished.
Just a closer view of some of the elements on the page, all the shapes were stamped on and as I seem to be on a butterfly roll lately I had to add one of those. It was punched form transparency inked with alcohol inks and then ran through a cuttle bug embossing folder.

A card I did for a class, the base was made using instructions form someones blog (I can't remember whose but I think it was one of the pti girls, can try to find it if anyone really wants to know) I then decorated it using pattern papers and a flower from Kaiser and a butterfly cut and embossed with the cuttlebug machine, then again inked using alcohol inks and finished with a tag cut with the cuttlebug (love that little green machine) and stamped using a hero arts sentiment

I've had a bit of a break from blogging over the last few days, Bren is on holidays and so I'm not getting the usual time that I'm used to while he is at work and the boys are at school.

Jackson had his formal last Friday night and I will put a shot up soon even though I am totally disappointed in the few photos I took. I had envisioned gorgeous shots in different setting with a very cooperative son striking model like poses. Did I get that? Nothing even close. for starters by the time we did a few things down the street and arrived home, he showered and dressed and was ready to go it was already dark, wrong time of year to start with when it's dark at around 5.30ish, then we went down to the town hall where it was being held and I thought maybe a few cool pics under some of the store light, kind of a bit of urban grunge type thing, no way was he going to cooperate. All I ended up with was him standing stiff and awkward and me having to use the on board flash, yuk. There was a photographer there going around taking photos of the kids through out the night so hopefully he will have a few shots of him acting more naturally instead of the nervous wreck standing waiting for his date (friend Lucy not girl friend Lucy), who after having to catch a bus all the way from Adelaide and then drive the 70 km into town was a little late. He had a great night though so that was the main thing and he did look rather dashing in his suit.