through my eyes

getting ready

to go to sydney tomorrow to teach at the papercrafts festival. Very excited to surround myself with like minded people..people who get the passion for paper and glue! I am teaching 2 classes each day over the 3 days. One is a journaling one with a fun mini album and the other is a gift idea concept using scraps and a cute canvas! I am so excited about finally meeting Kelly and Nikala form the ET and catching up with friends from near and far.So if you see me wandering around, please come and say hello..I would love to meet you!! I will be the borderline chubby girl (i really need to exercise more..the american food killed my diet!!) with thongs on and a camera in hand! LOL!
I really should go to bed as I have an early start but I thought I should share my latest layouts for shop and crop..The theme was 6 photos and I got the mme totally boy kit which has beautiful soft neutral papers..great for anything. I decided to scrap my kids and one of my new orleans photography workshop experiences..shooting models..lots of fun!!)

I am yawning. I should go to bed. I still have some spots available for my mini sessions in Melbourne on Sunday 14th december. If anyone is interested, email me. Laters...

life

do you ever wonder if you are speeding through your life too quickly..not paying enough attention to the details? Well today I got a whack across the face with a little reminder of how fast time flies. My little mischief with legs finally decided to use the toilet today and wore undies all day and managed to take himself off to the toilet several times. All of a sudden he seemed SO much bigger...still cheeky, just bigger..
S to top that off, my little girl told me tonight that she would "read" a story to me at bedtime instead of the other way around. She told me how great it will be to read and write when she learns next year. She wants to read stories to Jack and me all the time. I am excited for her..excited about her discovering the joy of books and the freedom of reading. I also feel sad that my baby will be off without me, exploring and learning without me being able to watch. maybe i could install a camera in her school bag?? LOL!
I did some final preparations on my classes for papercrafts this weekend. So excited to be teaching and sharing the weekend with Nikala and Kelly (so good to meet 2 of the other et members ..even though our term is over now!)
I have had a busy weekend proofing photos and shot a fabulous session at the beach at the perfect time of the afternoon..I loved the images I made a cool slideshow which you can see over here but heres 2 of my favourites..

I might go to bed and read..and maybe reminisce about when my babies were babies ..sniff sniff...

oh dear

i am a bad blogger. Lots happening here just very little time to document it. I have been busy with photoshoots. Lots of sneak peeks over here if you are interested..Heres a couple of my favourites..



I am getting busier with the lead up to christmas and I LOVE IT> So happy to be on this path..having a blast. I have found my joy!
I am going to melbourne with my gorgeous friend brigettefor Heidi Swapps create08 in december and my family have asked me to do some mini sessions for their friends on Sunday 14th December. I am happy to oblige and will have some free timeslots if anyone is interested. They will be 1/2 hourly both in the morning and afternoon. I am looking at a central location, maybe the Fitzroy gardens. The cost is $150 and that includes a 25 minute session, an online gallery, a cd of all images (25-30) and an 8x10 pro quality print. Contact me for more details if you are interested...
Scrapping wie, I have also played with some product this week for shop and crop and I loved it. I put together a couple of cards for the homemade card challenge as well as a few pages for the newsletter, using the MME girl kit, Cosmo crickets lemongrass papers and some BG wassill.

I am so excited about teaching at papercrafts next weekend. Please come and say hello if you see me wandering aimlessly!
I should get back to my to-do list...although i am more interested in climbing into bed and watching Harry Potter! I am such a big kid! see you soon....

waving not drowning

man i am a busy little beaver. Lots of things to do on my list. So much so that sometimes I get stuck because I don't know where to start..LOL! I have had lots of photosessions in the last few days (3 minis and 2 full) and I have another one this afternoon. Yesterday was my spunky husbands birthday!! We went out last night to a pizza place which was fun..we even had a chocolate pizza for dessert (it sounds gross but it was a sweeter base with what seemed like nutella spread over it..bit of vanilla icecream melting on top...sensational!) We are having a joint birthday dinner tonight with grandma and grandpa as Grandpas birthday is tomorrow.
What else is news...i have been scrapping. Finally finished my samples for the papercrafts festival on the 31oct-1st nov. I am teaching 2 classes several times throughout the weekend. The first one is about journaling and we are making a cute little mini album to celebrate ourselves and our lives. The second one is a fun 8x8 canvas that would be a perfect christmas gift. I will share the pictures once I get the ok.
I got myself a new lens while I was away..and I am in LOVE! such amazing bokeh ( the blurry background bit..LOL!)..i have been using it for my sessions but heres one I took aof my kiddos while i was playing with it/breaking it in/getting used to it! LOL!
makes me happy (both the image and the lens..LOL!)
I don't have alot else to report. Class samples are coming along and I will be announcing the dates/times soon. Thanks to everyone who messaged me/emailed etc..you will get first priority.! I have more proofing to do before i head out with my camera. see you later alligators...

finally I scrapped

admittedly it was for my dt theme at shop and crop, but it was fun and I wanted to do more. I missed it! the theme this week was to scraplift Kathie Link..which was a challenge for me as her layouts always have these gorgeous touches of whimsy that I just cannot seem to replicate. I took her basics and tried..heres my efforts..

I am also looking at craeting today for a new classes I will be teaching in my home now that my local scrapbook store is closed. I have found some great kits to use and there will be 4-5 classes using the kits and other where you bring your own stash. So if you are local (wollongong) and are interested in coming along, email me. The kit classes will be limited to 6. I will share some samples/times etc soon.

changes

tonight my little girl lost (?) her first tooth. My husband would argue the lost part as I kinda helped it out. it has been loose for over a week and after only 24 hours of watching it wiggle as she spoke and it jutting out 45 degrees from its normal position, i couldn't help myself and gave it a little tug. It is now safely in her tooth fairy jar awaiting the arrival of the magical girl who truly struggled to decide what amount a first tooth goes for these days...

She seems older already. It frightens me that a 4 and 1/2 year old can loose a tooth already. So many changes taking place all too quickly for my liking. Today we dropped off her enrolment form for school, then she rode her bike without training wheels this afternoon, and now a tooth...lordy..next she'll be engaged! Its been a big day for this jetlagged girl so I am heading to bed..just after I work my magic and sprinkle some glitter.....shhhh......

home.

there is no sweeter feeling than than calm that immersed me as I ran into brads arms from the plane yesterday. it feels so good to be home. It was a LONG trip home..3 flights, too many hours to count, but it was worth it. new appreciation for the wonderful things and people in my life, and new enthusiasm for my business. Unfortunately i am also greeted by the old mess on my desk and until I declutter my surrounds I feel a but lost on where to start decluttering my life. so cleaning day for me..followed by some scrapping. Man i missed it. see you soon...

going home

going home tomorrow. cannot wait. miss my hubby. miss my kids. miss my normal (?) life. pity about the 26 hours of light time to get there......

fun day.

i went on the swamp tour today which was lots of fun, very interesting and we saw 6 or 7 alligators up close. . we saw alot of the devastation of katrina and gustav. there is lots of rebuilding going on but there is still lots more to do.
heres a little pictorial sample of some of the things i did/people i saw and met/things i saw in new orleans..

i have decided to have a night in..i am so weary from everything i have been doing and learning. I did some more proofing on some of my workshop images this afternoon so I thought i'd share some more (thanks for the lovely comments on he last ones too!!)





think i might go get a slice of pizza (love that you can buy it by the slice!!) and settle in to some tv watching! see you when i get home ....

so much fun

I am having the best time here in New Orleans. I have learnt SO much, met some amazing people and got some sensational ideas about how to make my business grow while still being true to me. Very excited to get home and implement some changes, both in my life and business! I spent the last 3 days with some amazing photographers, listening to their words of inspiration and guidance as well as shooting models in wedding gowns on the streets of New Orleans. It was so much fun wandering around the streets, an array of backdrops, colours and textures to utilise. It was also great fun having a model to shoot who was not only comfortable in front of the camera but also wearing a borrowed gown so she was willing to sit, lie, stand anywhere! heres a couple of my shots from yesterday. Looking forward to playing with some more once I finish proofing my wedding files.




We had an amazing event last night..i think its called a line..we had a brass band and a lady on stills walk us as a big parade several blocks to our dinner destination. We ate and drank (and gee they make the drinks strong here!) laughed and chatted, then headed off to a bar in Bourbon Street. They are a little more confronting with their "underground" activity here than I am used to I must admit. I spent a large part of the night giggling at the things I saw and trying to make the bar girl understand what drink I was ordering (she had a heap of difficulty with my accent).
It was the last day today and I have said goodbye to lots of new friends. I have done a little bit of exploring this afternoon and have booked into a swamp tour tomorrow and a city tour on friday. I had my palm read and my tarot done..it was kinda spooky with some of the things she said..and others just made me giggle! They are blocking off the street in front of my hotel tomorrow for "filming" and someone saw Brad Pitt the other day ride past on a bike so I will be intrigued to see what they are making! I should get ready to go out for dinner. see you later alligator (hehee..will be seeing one of them tomorrow!)