ONE DAY,,,

this is my BOM (Book of Me) LO for the october EMMies.
we had to scrap somewhere that we would like to travel.
not as adventurous as some people but it's my dream.

i hope that the week so far has been good to you
remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

shazz xo

HAPPY THOUGHT FOR TODAY
i had a visit from my dear old dad and my step-mum today.
and despite dad and i having a little tiff over something really trivial, it is so good to have them near to us and able to visit.
i love you daddy....with all my heart xxoo

ISN'T SHE JUST....

...a picture of poise and elegance.

this is a LO i did of kait competing at the Surfers Paradise Interclub for physie early in august this year.
(i used the floral challenge pack from EMM)

this was the last comp that she would compete as a novice because at the zone comp last weekend she finalled (they compete twice and then the top 16 girls are chosen to compete in the final before the top 5 girls are chosen to move onto sydney in november)
and even though she didn't win a place, it was her goal (and my fervent hope) that she would final and she did !!!!!
i was so very very proud of her and cried like a baby when she marched out with the other 15 little girls that finaled as well.

and when you consider the fact that she has spent every day since, with her head in a bucket with this dreaded gastro bug, well i am just so very very proud of her acheivements.

hope that everyone is having a really wonderful weekend so far.
remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

shazz xo

HAPPY THOUGHT FOR TODAY
no one in our family currently has their head in a bucket.
a pretty gross thing to be happy about but after almost 2 weeks of this awful gastro bug making us all so ill, i am just grateful for a spew/poo free day
ROTFL !!!!!

STRUGGLING - AGAIN !!!!

again i am struggling with the whole scrapping "thing"
i feel like i am on the verge of really getting comfortable with the way i scrap - a bit like standing on the edge of a really high cliff and i know that if i step off i will be able to soar but it's just taking that first step that is holding me back.
what am i scared of...???
i honestly don't know.

i gave up years ago scrapping to please others - magazines never seemed to want to publish my work and the two times i have been on DT teams have probably been my two flashes of brilliant scrapping.

i have so many LOs of other people bookmarked; ideas of how i would like to scrap stuck in an ideas book; computer book marks of inspirational sites - so why can't i just get in and scrap and get my "groove thang" happening.

but when i think about why i scrap - to tell the story of my family for them and for future generations - i know that i am achieving this goal.
kait LOVES to sit and look through the albums. she laughs and giggles at the pictures and the journalling.
mark, matt and jakey are rather non-plussed about the whole scrapping thing i think.
"nice page" is probably the most encouraging comment any of them have ever given me.

so why do i scrap besides the archiving of our family's history and preserving the memories and the moments...???
well for one, i can't imagine NOT scrapping.
i like the whole process of telling the story behind the photo.
i love the creative process of scrapping.

but still i feel like i am holding back from scrapping in the way i want.
and i don't know how to allow that creativity to flow and develop.

please don't think i am fishing for compliments about my scrapping - i know it's not brilliant.
but if you can give me any suggestions about how to release the scrapping goddess within, feel free to do so.

sorry if this has been a bit rambly. i just needed to get my thoughts down and i hoped they would make some sort of sense once they were out of my head - well THAT didn't happen now did it...????
i am exhausted after a week of the dreaded gastro bug laying me low and now both kait and matt have it and i am averaging only a few hours sleep a night while i empty buckets, mop fevered brows, dole out flat lemonade and sit and worry about them.
i guess mark and jakey will be lining up for their turn in the next few days.
it is a nasty bug.

i also love the concept behind "blogging without obligation" hence i have placed a blinkie (is that what they are called..???) in my sidebar.
thanks to the lovely megan who inadvertantly lead me to this wonderful guilt-free way of blogging.

remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

shazz xo

HAPPY THOUGHT FOR TODAY
there is rain on the way - YAY !!!!!
&
jakey topped the WHOLE of year 10 in his trial school certificate maths paper.
we are SO proud of our beautiful son.

~*~ FOREVER YOUNG ~*~

COREY - PAUL
MITCH - BRYCE
*OUR BOYS*
~ forever young ~

it's been 12 months today since we lost our boys.
12 long months of sorrow and tears and anger and unimaginable grief.
12 long months of questioning "why them?"; "why our community?"; "what went wrong?"
so many questions we will never know the answers to.

my thoughts today have turned to the parents of these four young men - some of them known personally to mark and i.
i think of the siblings of the boys - still struggling to live each day without their brothers.
it has been a difficult day at the school where the boys attended (the school our boys attend(ed) - their mates are sitting their HSC exams today; the staff are still helping some students cope with the first taste of real grief they have known on their short lives - counsellors still attend the school when needed.
i have watched my boys for any signs of "not coping" - boys are a lot more reserved about what they are feeling than girls. they have coped by being with mates and remembering the boys through music.
and today i have thought of the young driver who survived the accident - a friend of our boys - a gentle young man who will carry the burden of that tragic night with him for the rst of his days.
a young man who still has so much more of this journey to travel before being able to make some kind of life for himself, and i pray that he can.

today, more than any other day, is a day to remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

shazz xo

SCRAPPING TO SHARE

i have LOTS of news to share but not a lot of time to write the post so instead i will share some scrapping instead.

this was the last of my EMMie challenges for september.

i LOVE ths pic of my fabbo friend marie - it is so her !!!!! lots and lots and LOTS of cutting up a piece of PP to frame the pic and lots of using up little letter stickers.
i think it looks great though.

rondelle from EMM did me the honour of asking me to be the guest designer for october and she sent me the "Top Up Box" to work with. what a beautifully gorgeous set of papers to work with. she has the top up boxes available in the shoppe.

my challenges revolve around the different ways you can add journalling to a LO.
so far i challenged the girls to use a quote or song lyrics on a LO.

this is my LO for that challenge.

and the second challenge was to interview someone for a LO.

here is my LO using that technique.

i have a few more challenges to set as well as lots of other ideas of how to add journalling to your pages.
and just a little secret too (look at the titles in my two guest DT challenges)
how nice do they look....cut out so nicely.
it's amazing how well a craft robo cuts a title
(mark bought me a craft robo at the PCF...!!!! but more about that in my next "newsy" post)

i am off to visit my friend kirsten today so she can help the blonde in me to put my stampin' up stamps together....just don't feel confident in making that first cut myself.....silly i know !!!!

have a wonderful tuesday and i promise to be back soon with a newsy post and hopefully more scrapping to share.
remember to look for the things in your life that make you smile
~~ and let those you love, know that you do ~~

shazz xo

HAPPY THOUGHT FOR TODAY
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!!!!
love that lack of routine and rushing and hanging out with the kids, playing games and doing crafts and just taking time to relax and enjoy being a mum.

RJR DT PROJECTS

a quick share of my RJR DT work for this past month.

jenny has an amazing array of products at really great prices so head on over and have a look at what she has to offer. and no.....not just ribbons, although they are gorgeous too.
you should see what goodies she will be sending the DT in time for some christmas scrapping - yummy yum yum.

also check out the gorgeous work that the other DT girls have done too.
i am definitely the rookie of the group.

here are my projects for last month

love this pic of kait warming up before her last physie comp. i used some of the grogeous hand marbled papers made by auntie joanie.
isn't it just GORGEOUS...???

another warm up pic. used some of the kaiser bling that jenny has for sale to create the heart.
probably wouldn't use so many rub ons so late at night again - some of them rub on really well and others of them defy the title of "rub on"

a birthday card for my gorgeous gal-pal tam.
she hasn't received it yet so if you are reading this tam, just pretend you didn't see this part.
used some of the hand marbled paper made by joanie again. she has always been so generous in giving it to me and i love using it.

a quick and simple card using ribbon stiff on the ribbon to allow me to cut out the petals.
and some hand stitching of course.

will post again today or tomorrow with lots more news - both personal and scrapping.

enjoy your sunday and...

GO FORD !!!!!!
(it's bathurst weekend for those of you who don't know)

shazz xo