It's a different generation ...

Dropped Rachel over to her boyfriends house this afternoon - she drove (but that's another story we can leave for later - lol).  We pull up, she gets out and immediately whips out her mobile phone and within seconds she's saying "I'm here".

"Hmmm" I say, "What about just going to the front door and ringing the doorbell?".

"Mum" she says looking aghast, "I don't do it THAT way".

No I guess not!

Getting touchy ...

John is peering at the screen on his laptop computer in front of him - it his but Christopher uses it more frequently.  It is covered in finger prints, smudges and assorted marks and scratches - there could even be a bit of last nights dinner on there.

Shaking head sadly, "Anyone would think this is a touch screen".

"Ahhh" I say, nodding in agreement,  "but it's just a touch kid".

Teddies ...

I'm on a roll this week - it's amazing what can happen when you get a little bit of 'me' time.  This layout was one for the How much is too much? Challenge #135.

  1999 - 1 title, 9 squares, 9 brads and 9 pieces of patterned paper.  Think I covered all bases. 

For the love of yellow ...

Another challenge layout - this time for Scrap Doctor who has issued a "yellow" challenge for June.  Couldn't resist doing a duckling layout.  Too cute !

Ch, Ch, Chai ...

Ok it's official - I just love a good chai latte!  This is my standard Tuesday afternoon fix while waiting for CJ at gym - there's nothing better!!

For those poor uninitiated souls - a chai latte is a spiced tea mixed with milk that’s steamed from an espresso machine.  The spices vary from recipe to recipe, but usually consist of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper and ginger. The best part is the smooth foamy texture the steamed milk adds to the chai. You can make these yourself at home with packet mixes or with an expresso machine if you are lucky enough to own one but the best way to enjoy them is in a good coffee shop where you can sit back and relax and have someone else prepare this little glass of wonder for you.

Being krafty ...

I've been busy doing a few challenges this week.  I've been in a challenging sort of mood - lol!!  This one was done for Kraft It Up!.  They asked for a minimalist layout on kraft.

From this to this ...

One day I was taking a photo of her doing this

and the next I turn around and she's doing

this

and I don't know where all those years have gone.  As she takes bigger and more confident steps up the mountain of life, I slip and slide faster down the other side.  I'm so proud of her and thrilled that she has such a wonderful life ahead of her, yet on the other hand I'm forever mindful of the rapid passing of these days and months and years and those precious sands slowly draining through my life's hourglass.

Please time - slow down a bit ... I have SO much more living to do.

It's delightful ...

This is the layout I did for the challenge on HMITM #134. The challenge was to use six patterned papers and six stickers.  It was a great way of using up some of the smaller pieces of scrap paper I have in a large box and I always welcome reducing that pile of stickers I have lurking in my stash.

 Rachel likes taking self-portraits.  I think it's a "teen" thing - she appears to delight in the process!

It's official ...

men are idiots !!


Hubby decided to weed our side yard this morning - lots of weeds coming through under the fence from the neighbours yard and growing up through the gravel we have along there. Great, I think, one job I don't have to do next week.

Come dinner time and I'm making a white sauce for the corned beef I've had in the slow cooker all day. Head outside to grab a few sprigs of parsley to add to it and - you know were this is going don't you? - yep you guessed it - my lovely healthy patch of parsley - gone! They'd been "weeded".

Some days I just seriously wonder !!

12 months of community ...

The  first lesson of  my yearly class called "The Street Where You Live" has been posted on the home page over on Get It Scrapped! 

It is the first of 12 lessons in a year-long class filled with scrapbook page ideas and prompts, sketches, templates and more for scrapbooking your home, your neighborhood, and your community. These lessons have been posted in the Get It Scrapped! forums (on the 25th of each month!) since January. And now they’re on our home page for easy access.

Come check them out if you haven't already.

Christmas' past

I have an envelope of Christmas photographs tucked away in my 'to scrap' pile that span quite a few years - and naughty me, I tend to hop backwards and forwards through the years when I do eventually scrap them.  Last night I pulled out some from over 12 years ago - gosh nearly vintage!!  These were from BC (Before Christopher) but I'm happy with the page - clean and simple; my style really.

Adding them in ...

Every so often I like to do a layout or two for one of my more obscure scrapbooking albums. "Obscure" because I don't get to work on producing for these as much as I do for the normal kids and family albums I have as ongoing. My 'Honeymoon' album is one of these - I started it some years ago as a companion to the daily written journal we kept of our six months around the world. In that pre digital camera era John made the decision to take mainly slides as the preferred and cheaper photography option and we came home with over 500 of them which, I guess, was fairly impressive for the period. I'm certainly not trying to cover 500 photographs in this album - more a highlight series of our trip, devoting one or two double pages (or 4 singles) to each major location. It is a slow process and not done in any particular order but one I enjoy. Last night I managed to add in a page on Venice (Italy) and one for Holland.

Spending big ...

This is what happens when you let the receipts stock pile (for months and months) - it becomes a monumental job sorting them out.  Better you than me baby!!

Petal Power ...

This layout is one of a bunch I did for the May edition of my year long free class 'The Street Where You Live' over on Get It Scrapped!.  There's a sketch and psd template download of each of the layouts I did as well.  It's been a fun class - check it out if you haven't already.

Golden days ...

It may be the 1st of June and officially the first day of winter but there is still some magnificent autumn colour out there. How spectacular is this tree?