Luck of the Irish!

Ok, I'm not Irish but I am lucky!!! I checked out the American Crafts blog this morning as I do every day and guess what was posted there? This!!! Yep, lucky ol' me has won another giveaway of more AC goodness! I am totally digging everything American Crafts right now, so I am absolutely stoked to win this prize. Not sure what I'll be getting get, but I'll share as soon as it arrives! Woohoo!!!

Even more exciting is that my nephew Lawson is here visiting with his Mummy and Daddy this week! I already managed to sneak in a cuddle yesterday! I was given a birth announcement and thankyou note by Kat. Gee... whoever made them did such a great job!!! LOL! Here's a pic;














Thanks for popping by my blog! xxx

6 Months Already!!!

Yesterday my sweet baby boy turned 6 months old! Isn't it incredible how fast time flies past?! As I always here people say, "They grow up so fast"! And although I am not sad to see Ollie growing bigger and more clever every day, I do wish he could stay my baby forever because I so love having a baby in the house and he is such an angel.

To celebrate his special day, I made Oliver a chocolate Thomas the Tank Engine cupcake. Nothing special, just a packet mix, but I don't think he minded in the least. What do you think?!!










































I also did a bit of a photo shoot to mark the milestone. These are my favourites;


















































In terms of scrappy news, I have been participating in the newest comp to hit Scrapz, Scrapz.Chickadees, but I've been a bit busy and have had a bit too much going on at home (read: DD issues!) to complete much as yet. So far all I've managed is this, a cute Easter basket using Cosmo's Garden Variety line;














I have been working on a few layouts for Jordie at Just Scrapbooking and some others just cos, but none of them are actually finished yet so you'll have to wait a bit longer for those!

Have a wonderful week and I shall be back to share more soon.

Leave a comment here for a chance to win this gorgeous prize;

Dear Lawson!

I have scrapped my first layout using my Dear Lizzy finery! I decided to scrap this sweet photo of my nephew Lawson that I took on our way back to the car after I did their family photo shoot. He was just kicking back in his Mummy's arms, soaking in the sun. I love his expression!!! He just looks so blissful and 100% content... and uber cute of course! LOL!


















Just Kickin' Back Layout
Patterned paper - American Crafts, Alphas - American Crafts, Sticker - American Crafts, Adhesive badge - American Crafts, Punch - Fiskars, Brown machine thread - craft supply.

Next up I think I'll scrap our first photo together. I converted it to black and white so it will go with the pp just fine. After that I'll have to hunt for some pretty pink photos of Tilly. This range is so perfect for girls.

The kids have been feral today! I think it is because it is so hot here. It got up to 39 degrees and its still hovering around 33 at the moment. Yuk!!! To give you a bit of an idea, when I was scrapping today, the adhesive on my Thickers had melted and were sliding about the page so I had to use Glossy Accents to stick them down!!! Bring on winter I say!

Well, I best be off. Dinner to make, kids to bathe, etc etc. Have a great weekend!

Busy Busy Busy!!!

Life feels a little hectic at the moment. DH is working lots so it's me doing all the childcare and housework for now. Plus I have a few impending scrappy deadlines. Gladly, I was able to tick off one item from the list yesterday! Yay!!! I was invited to participate in Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercrafts' Stamper's Challenge. I had to make two cards using a stamp I wouldn't normally choose. It was a bit tricky at first, but once I came up with a couple of ideas I was happy with it was smooth sailing. I can't wait to see my cards in print!!!

I have also been scrapping! I started on this layout a couple of weeks back, and have only just got around to finishing it off. It is a pretty simple design, but the hand-stitching took me forever... each hole is 2-3mm apart!!! Feels good to scrap some fairly recent photos - these are almost a month old, taken when Ollie started solids at 5 months.


















Starting Solids Layout
Cardstock - Bazzill, Patterned paper - October Afternoon, Alphas - American Crafts, Pink Paislee, Die-cut - Jillibean Soup, Journalling spot sticker - October Afternoon, Embroidery thread - DMC, Pen - Sanford.

Oh and guess what?! It looks like Ollie is just about ready to crawl. He moved about a metre this morning doing a baby caterpillar commando crawl! Very cute and so exciting!!! Here's a pic;
















Well that's it for now. I am hoping to scrap a bit today using my Dear Lizzy stash! Fun fun!!!

I hope you have a good day!!!

Dear Lizzy!!!

I have finally built up the courage to snip into my first piece of the gorgeous Dear Lizzy line! It was hard!!! I think I may need to buy an extra sheet of every pp and store it away somewhere safe... just to look at! I know it goes against the philosophy of most ie. use what you have and don't hang onto stuff just cos, but this line is too pretty to be all used up!!! I hope Lizzy doesn't release any more collections cos it'll break the bank! I have already purchased stuff from about 4 different places, in an attemp to collect as much of it as possible! I am a sad sad papercrafter!!! LOL!

Anyway, to the point of this post... I have made a card using my Dear Lizzy stash;


















Sweet Sixteen Card
Cardstock - Bazzill, PP - American Crafts, Alpha stickers - American Crafts, Rub-on - American Crafts, Buttons - unknown, Embroidery thread - DMC, white machine thread - craft supply, Punch - EK Success.

This card is my entry for this week's Postmarked Challenge over at the Studio blog.

I have no idea who I'll give this card to as I know no-one who is turning 16 anytime in the near future! LOL! I just needed a sentiment that I could use the word 'sweet' within, and I thought this was kinda novel given all else I could think of was UR sweet or sweet baby girl.

I also finished my nephews birth announcement cards and thankyou notes. Only prob is I forgot to photograoh them!!! I sent them off to Kalgoorlie today, so I'll get my SIL to snap a piccie of them for me when they arrive. I am really happy with how they turned out. They are simple but that's a good thing cos they are photo cards so it allows the gorgeous lil man on the front to remain the focus!!! I must admit that I have developed a bit of a sore, cracked callous from pushing 108 brads through the cards and notes! Ouch!!! Seemed a good idea at the time!

Well, I best head off now and make a start on dinner. Will be working on a couple of cards tonight that are due Monday for Cardmaking, Stamping, and Papercraft magazine's Stamper's Challenge. The stamp I was given has had me a bit stumped but I think I might finally be making some progress! Phew!!!

Til next time, happy scrapping!!!

Awesome Lawson!

I'm back! Ollie and I arrived home from Kalgoorlie Wednesday afternoon, but life has been hectic since then with now being my first chance to post re meeting my adorable nephew, Lawson, for the first time.

We flew to Kal. A 50 minute plane trip vs a 6-7 hour drive was a pretty easy decision to make! Ollie was really good. He only screamed for a few minutes before falling asleep just before landing. And prior to that he played with his toys and sucked on a dried apricot very contentedly. His first plane trip was a success!!!














We arrived in Kal on Sunday morning. My Brother-in-Law picked us up from the airport and took us straight back to their place. Little Lawson was just finishing up a feed, and was being burped by his Mummy, my Sister-in-Law. Without hesitation, Kat passed her little bundle over to me for my first cuddle. OMG! What a cutie!!! And SOOOOO tiny!!! He was 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth and 49cm long. At 4 weeks he must've grown, but to me he was the smallest baby I'd ever held! He is seriously perfect! And my heart absolutely melt into a puddle the first time I saw him open his gorgeous blue eyes! I may have even had a tear or 2 in my eyes!!!

Here's our first piccie together;














And Ollie's first playtime with his new cousin;


























Ollie was so gentle and played very nicely. The funniest thing was that he really REALLY wanted Lawson's dummy! He tried several times to pull it from his cousin's mouth!!! I hadn't realised how much Ollie had grown and how big he now is until these little guys lay side by side! Ollie is not a little baby anymore!

I set up a quick photo shoot of Lawson one morning so that we could get a nice photo for his birth announcements (which I am making as part of my gift to his parents). Kat and Jarren chose this as their favourite;














I also really liked these;


























And on my last evening, I took a heap of family photos for Kat and Jarren at a local park. This has to be be absolute fave... they look so happy and totally in love;














These ones are also nice;
















































We didn't do much other than hang out at home, eat, and go for a few walks, but I had the very best time. Just being there and spending time with Lawson and Kat and Jarren was all I had wanted. It was perfect! I loved every second!!! I feel so lucky to have been able to visit Lawson in his first weeks of life, and to have been there to support my beloved SIL and BIL. They are doing so well. I am so proud of them both!

They will be visiting us here in Perth in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!!!

I hope you enjoyed the update. I'm sure you'll agree that Lawson is awesome!

Oh and just cos, here's a cute photo I took of Ollie while we were away;


















And a little taste of Kalgoorlie;


















Thanks for stopping by!