See ...

... told you I'd be back soon! hahaha

Just editing some pics I took in Central Otago over the weekend - love the crisp blue sky, the golden trees and soaking up the rays of the autumn sun ...

... so here are some of my favourites ...

Will be printing these off for some layouts I have planned ;)

Hello? Anyone there ...

Thanks Mrs F for the message ... yes I am here ... but my blog has been a tad neglected lately ... :(

So it has been a long time between long weekends - and so much has happened ... where to start ... a quick recap maybe ...

... a surprise valentines pressie ... a ticket to Lady Gaga in Auckland in June (heading along with a couple of cousins)

... also just booked tickets to Melbourne so get to go meet my new niece

... Mr Finn turned 9 on March 6th

... hubby away for a week in China for work (unfortunately missing Finn's birthday)

... celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss on March 11

... enjoyed a weekend with some of the Southern girls at Gore (Pukerau) scrap camp

... stunning long Easter weekend spent in beautiful Central Otago with fantastic weather

... a day enjoying the produce of Central Otago at the Clyde wine & food festival

So here we are in April - which just happens to be my birthday month - wahoo! The month started with the scrap camp in Gore, and funnily enough the last weekend of this month will be spent at the Dunedin scrap camp - what more could a crafty girl ask for?!

Oh yeah and the good spotter out there ;) ... yes that would be one of my layouts in the 'newbie' section of this months Australian Scrapbooking Memories! been a long time between being published ... actually think last and only time was about 4 or 5 years ago in Up2scrap!!

So as you can see I am alive and kicking
promise I won't leave it so long between posts next time ;)

A long weekend

We spent Waitangi weekend with friends at Riverton down on the southern coast ... it was great to spend some time at the beach with many of our breaks away being in Central surrounded by lakes not the ocean. The weather thankfully was warm, as you quite often strike cold windy days down this part of the country.

So with my new toy I took a few different pics with the hipstamatic app. I print these on my printer at home and they are just the perfect size for 6x6 layouts which I have found myself doing a lot of lately.

Below the kids at the Riverton Rocks ...
And back to my DSLR - this was the view on Colac Beach ... loving the stripy sand ...

And with the zoom lense on I snapped a few (quite a few) shots of a pod of 20+ dolphins that swam up the river entrance while we were sitting there fishing ...

They did flips etc out of the water on the other side of the bridge then swam back past us and back out to sea ...

Just stunning to be in the right place at the right time to see them.

Oh yes ... a post I have been meaning to do ... my little word for 2012. I have decided on the word 'balance' ... after making it through my first year of my new (busy) job I decided that I needed more balance. I was concentrating a bit too much on my work and getting it all done (as you do when you first start something), unfortunately alot of other things get pushed aside because of it - mainly my 'me' time. Whether this time is for reading, crafty stuff or just catching up with friends - it is important, just as important as anything else including work and I need it to feel fresh. So this year I will attempt to create a better 'balance' in my everyday life ...

And one last shot for today ... a pic of a stunning rock I found at Colac Bay (see the giant heart) ... very applicable with it being Valentines day on Tuesday ...

A few snaps

I've had a creative weekend, well I have at least managed to sneak away for an hour or two to do some scrapping. Since Friday night I have managed two 12x12 layouts, two 8x8 layouts, and have a couple of 6x6 layouts that need a few touches to and they will be complete. That is more than I have achieved in awhile! But I am really enjoying mixing up the layout sizes, using small pics printed at home, these have been taken on hubby's iphone. Sure the print quality isn't excellent but it all adds to the style of the layouts, and I am having fun which is the main thing!

I still haven't gotten round to getting to the shop to print off holiday pics ... maybe this week? But I have a wee play in picasa ... so here a few of my fav pics from our holiday ... with not a whole lot of editing actually ...

I took my camera out on my walk most nights, we had a 2.5km circuit we went round every night so the first two shots are from these walks ...

Love the colours in the one above, such a great time to take very cool pics!

This one was taken outside an interiors shop in Wanaka ...

And this was the power pole in the field beside our camp ...

... and yes we had blue cloudless skies like that pretty much every day of the two weeks ... sigh ... I want to go back!

Well that's enough for tonight, time to wind down and have an early night before another busy week starts.

A good read

Anyone else discovered this magazine yet?
Mollie Makes is a UK mag and I recently spotted it in my local bookstore. Not a scrappy mag but a crafty one ... but lots of inspiration, colours and design which inspire all things crafty.

Actually I spotted it on Ali Edwards blog ... looked up their website and was contemplating buying an online copy because it looked like a mag I would enjoy ... then the next day guess what I spied in the bookstore ... was a very happy camper indeed!

I think they publish 13 times a year, and this is only issue 7 so it hasn't been around for long.

So if you are looking for a new read, something that covers all the crafty bases, something new to spark that creative mojo, then head to your bookstore and check out if they stock it!

Happy reading :)

Welcome to 2012!

Yes I am still here ... two glorious hot, sunny, relaxing weeks at my fav holiday spot ... followed by two very busy weeks back at work ... January is just flying past already!

I hope you all had a great Christmas with your families/friends and have been able to enjoy a couple of days off over that time.
I have lots of photos to share from our time away, and also my hopes for the coming year ... will post some more over the next few days.
Meantime off to do some appliance shopping ... RIP my faithfully hardworking washing machine ;)

Snapshot Sunday ...

... almost there ... this time next week I will enjoying a fine sunny day (fingers crossed) with family and friends, and having a Merry old time ... can't wait!

Snapshot for the Sunday is ...

... a pic of the teachers presents I made for the kids teachers ...

Got the idea from chats on fb and from Debbie's Homemade and Heartfelt blog, also googled and found a few more jar recipes I might have to try in the new year.

Also created some basic Christmas cards on Friday ... so hope to get them in the mail tomorrow ... so they will all arrive before the weekend ... whew!

Sorry a quick post today, been a tad busy with a large family gathering followed by a Christmas trail organised by a few on our school PTA.

Hope this week isn't too hectic for you all ;)

Snapshot Sunday ...

... and it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

The past week has been very busy with all things festive - the school production, 2 Christmas functions, and this week is just as busy ... helping with annual candrive for Foodbank, end of year school things, and work fitted in there as well. But the end is in sight ... with just 12 days to go before I can enjoy 2 weeks of sunshine and fun with the family on our annual summer holiday. I have my camp chair and my jandals ready, a growing pile of novels and new magazines and a few beverages stocked up ... aahhhh bliss!

Snapshot for this Sunday was taken today at the annual Mosgiel Christmas markets ...

... with none other than the man himself ...

Took this snap just after the kids posted their letters to Santa at the post office. Emma piped up afterwards ... 'We should have just keep our letters and given them to Santa then, now he won't get them til tomorrow in his mailbox!' - ahhh so cute!

Hope you all get to spend some time with family and friends to enjoy the true spirit of Christmas.

Snapshot Sunday ...

... whew, well only 3 more Sundays of 2011, can't believe I managed to keep up this weekly blog post all year! And of course with the last Sunday of the year being the 25th I think I might give myself the day off - haha!
It has been a fun year, a busy year, a year that has passed all too quickly ... and even though I haven't had as many opportunities to scrap as I would have liked, at least I can look back at 52 Sundays worth of posts and scrap these moments when I do have the time.

So Snapshots for this Sunday ... are of my not so little girl. She was a 3rd Jan baby, and because we will be away on holiday then, as are her friends it makes it hard to organise a party around then. So for the past 4 years she has had a party a month early (around the 3rd Dec). This year she had one friend over (her bestie) ... I took them to the bead shop to make a necklace each, to McD's for a Sundae and then a walk along the beach. So here are some pics of my almost 7 year old ...

... finding 'treasure' ...

We will have a special day for her with family when we are away on her actual birthday. Also a couple of traditions then too - the day starts with ice cream for breakfast and lots of swimming in the pool!

So with the silly season almost upon us I thought I'd share some present wrapping tips with you. With lots of patterned paper, twine and dies lying around the place I thought I would put them to good use ...

... these presents above flew across the ditch yesterday and are now under the Christmas tree at my brothers house. Well actually with my almost 3 year old niece about they are probably hidden in a cupboard - hehehe!

Here is a different idea, I used for a baby pressie, but I am going to tweek it slightly for the festive season. I am now stocked up on those doilies so I am all set to wrap presents ... just have to go buy them now - opps!

Well must off, my eyes are half closed.

See you all next week :)

I scrapped ...

... I know, don't fall off your chair! LOL!

Hubby was away for a fishing weekend and I decided to get out my scrap stuff and do a few layouts ... I haven't had a lot of time to get creative lately, doesn't mean that I have stopped taking photos or looking at crafty sites on the net ... just the finding time to sit down and scrap has been a problem. This may be partly to the nice long evenings as I have been getting out and doing a lot of walking lately (all part of my health kick). But I love it when I can sneak a few minutes in playing with some funky papers ...

... so I completed a layout for a challenge over at Challenge me Happy ... the person in the photo inspired this layout ... using a pic of me in Qtown from the school holiday ...
... also you might note this is a 6x6 layout, something I have been creating a lot of recently ... they are quick and fun to do ...
... another 6x6 layout that also ties in with the challenge I think too ...

... and an 8x8 layout of morning tea treats in Queenstown ... a cold milk and hot cookie from the Cookie Time Shop - yummo! ...

Hope to have a play with some paper maybe tomorrow and Friday nights ... taking advantage of the calm before the storm of school events next week, and the pile of paper work I will be doing in the evenings for work ...

Night :)