Ah, to be four again!

I think he was happy with the present :)

Gotta love him.

A great compliment

Thanks for your wonderful comments on my cards in yesterday's post. Yes, some of my close friends who will appreciate homemade cards will be getting those this year :)

And a comment by Erica (thanks so much Erica!) reminded me of my husband's response to those cards. Those of you who know us, will know that my husband is quietly proud that his wife receives recognition for her hobby, but he's not really interested in it. I rarely show him my projects and he rarely asks. I suspect that it might be that way in a lot of households?

Anyway, these little cards were sitting up on top of our meat-safe, while the glitter was drying. And Phil came home from work and spied them. "Wow", he exclaimed. "Who sent the Christmas cards?" "No-one", I said "I made them". "You made them?" he said with raised eyebrows. "Oh, I thought they were fancy store bought ones. They look just like it. They're nice."

Isn't that a huge compliment? I was quite chuffed :D

Jamie has been sick again. Phil and I have been up with him the last two nights. I'm hopeful that tonight we might get a decent night's sleep. At the moment, the dog's fretting because we're in a for a storm. You should see the lightening at the moment. Spectacular! It's bringing a cool change with it, and I'm thankful for that. I'm quite tired of this 40 degree heat that we've been having. Yay to spring weather I say.

Kathie

Christmas cards

The Aussie Scrap Source blog will be sharing Christmas projects with you every day for the next few weeks. So if you are in need of some Christmas inspiration, go and have a look.

I have some cards up there today, featuring the BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses line:

The chipboard pieces that are part of the range make hand-made Christmas cards a cinch! I loved the little eskimo children, houses, and Christmas trees :).

I've used white cardstock and patterned paper to create cute little backgrounds, then added heaps of glitter, some rhinestones and hand-sketched detailing.




It's going to be 43 degrees here tomorrow. Again! This hot weather is baking us all very very slowly. We've had two weeks of it now, with only a couple of days under 35 degrees for respite. What are we in for when Summer finally arrives, I wonder!

Kathie

Happy fourth birthday!

Four years ago I was lying on a nasty hard bed in a labour ward, wondering if I would get any sleep that night. I lay there, wondering what the morning would bring. I was to give birth to my baby boy. Our little miracle, who I loved more than I believed possible. Already. I had not even laid eyes on him. Fifteen hours later he was born.





Happy birthday Rabbit!!

I love you more than all the leaves... on all the trees... in the biggest, biggest forest.... where? well, I don't know where..., in Brazil...., what? a bear? yes, maybe the forest will have a bear...., what? will it chase us? no, we'll make lots of noise and take sticks to knock the bushes with so that the bear doesn't chase us......, and yes?, ok, then we'll run home to our house where we are all safe!

(Somehow the story has grown with the telling over the last four years... )

Road trips, pirates and icecreams

I had three layouts in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 11 No 8, which I can now share. The first is one of my favourite layouts, even still:

Snap!
Journaling: This is what happens when I take your photo. I barely have time to squeeze the shutter button before you're there in front of me, demanding to see.


Driving Companion
You sit facing forward in the car now. You look so cute, hand on one knee, the other hand resting on the arm-rest, like you're in an easychair. You've been discovering more of the world as we drive around town. I feel like I have a driving companion now because you talk to me from the backseat. "Err" "Err". When I turn to look at you, you're looking at me with a big smile on your face. "Oooh!" you say, and your arm reaches out, your hand pointing to the big truck in the lane next to us. Or the bus - yes, buses seem to be your favourite. For now.

This layout is an old one, and considering that when the papers turned up in my letterbox (yes, stuffed in my letterbox) they were almost too crumpled and damaged to do anything with, I am quite pleased with how it turned out!

He Loves Icecream
Photo taken on our holiday to the Gold Coast last year.

The last layout was the Masters' Challenge for this issue of the magazine. We were each given a punch to work with, and some patterned papers and embellishments. The punch I was given was this little ice-cream punch.

The background to the layout was created in several layers: 1. torn strips of the patterned papers; 2. coat of acrylic paint; 3. embellishments, epoxy border strips, torn strips of paper, transparent overlay strips; 4. lace and fabric.

I've backed the punched out shapes onto chipboard, and topped them with some of the epoxy spots that just happened to come with the product we were supplied. Just like sprinkles!

Ah, I could do with an ice-cream right about now! See ya!
Kathie

Award

Julie, Michelle and Amie have given me a blog award. Thanks chickies!!

The rules for this award are:
1. Answer these questions...you can only use ONE word!!!
2. Pass this along to 5 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. HAVE FUN!!!



1. Where is your cell phone? dunno
2. Your hair? messy
3. Your mother? supportive
4. Your father? jovial
5. Your fave food? thai
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your fave drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? children
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? numerous
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? dunno
13. Where you were last night? here
14. Something that you aren't? loud
15. Muffins? no
16. Wish List Item? camera
17. Where did you grow up? adelaide
18. Last thing you did? email
19. What are you wearing? shorts
20. Your TV? on
21. Your Pets? dog
22. Friends? special
23. Your Life? good
24. Your Mood? wistful
25. Missing Someone? something
26. Vehicle? airconditioned :)
27. Something your not wearing? shoes
28. Your fave store? myer
29. Your fave colour? green
30. Last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? shelley
33. One place that I go to over and over? work
34. One person who emails regularly? shelley
35. Fave place to eat? restaurant

Whew, that was tough! One word answers are challenging! That last one is revealing - five years ago I would have been able to give you a name. These days, with a four year old on the scene, I'm grateful to go anywhere that doesn't involve me doing the cooking ;). Sad, huh.

OK, now I'm passing on the award to my three southaussie mates who are also on the Aussie Scrap Source design team, and two of my fellow masters:

Janine (mama to five, including a newborn and the most organised woman I know)
Steph (check out her tutorial on her blog)
Louise (quirky, arty fun)
Lynette (love the way this girl writes - she cracks me up with every post)
Celeste (for a dose of gorgeous warm girly fun)


Have a great weekend. I'm taking Jamie swimming tomorrow and then we're hibernating inside by the airconditioner for the rest of the weekend :)
Kathie

Top and Tail

Back in January I wrote that we were having the hottest stretch of weather in over a century. Well, we started the year with a bang, and it looks like we're finishing it in the same way. This is from today's AdelaideNow (edited to add Fahrenheit temps):

IT'S now official - Adelaide has registered its first-ever November heatwave.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the heatwave was confirmed this morning when the temperature topped 35C (95F) for the fifth day in a row.

The temperature is forecast to reach 39C (102.2F) later in the day, with similar temperatures tipped until Sunday.

Adelaide has never before had five days or more above 35C (95F) - the technical definition of a heatwave - in November.

Before now, the longest hot streak for the month was four days in 1894.


The first ever heatwave in November. Ever!!!! We are slowly boiling down here. And it's set to continue with the mercury predicted to be above 100F through until Sunday. It's not even Summer yet.

Anyway, today I am at work. With stockings on, and a jacket. ;) It's always like a fridge in here. Jamie has hives all over his body, poor chook - an allergic reaction to something. I've told childcare to keep him inside today as going out in the heat is going to turn him into Mr Spotty and Mr Scratchy, and possibly Mr Grumpy.

I hope you are cool. For all my overseas visitors who are heading into Winter, I have one question... can we come visit?

Love
Kathie