Going Fishing...

These are my shots for Sky Watch Friday. I actually took it yesterday... The house on the hill is actually where Smuggler will be spending his holidays. The wonderful Rach is going to bird-sit for us while we are away. Silly me didn't take my camera with me when I dropped him out there. The view is 360 of amazing views. A storm was rolling in on one side and perfect the other.


The other image was taken just for fun... I loved the colour of the sky through the trees. Both images are untouched. I did sharpen the landscape for the net. Sad how the internet can dull an image... or is it just my computer? :)

We are going on holidays until early in the new year. First stop is fishing.... No electricity, telephone or mod cons... I am really looking forward to getting away. I will miss my computer... but that may be a good thing :)
After fishing we are off to Grafton to see in the new year with my dearest friend in the whole world. From there who knows where we may end up!
See you all in 2009! Cheers, Julie :)

Tonights the night

Well the cookies and milk are under the tree and the carrots are in the driveway.

Wishing you all the magic of Christmas. x

Cristmas Candy Container

I got the idea for these containers from the wonderful Mrs Rach. The container cost $2 from the local cheepie shop. It is a fishing tackle box. I used one sheet of Basic Grey double sided paper to cover the lid. Some stickers, Kindy Glitz and Dimensional Magic. Then comes the good stuff... lollies. The majority of these came from a local speciality shop where you can by each variety by the scoop. It is not an economical way to fill the container, but you can find candy that you normally wouldn't find at a supermarket and it makes for a more fun surprise! I am just waiting on the Mod Podge to dry on one I am making as part of a 21st gift. You can pretty much fill these with anything! I think they make a unique gift. They would be no good for me... one TV show and they would be all gone! LOL

I missed a day with my ornament posting sorry.
This one is Matt's. He is a Steeler fan. He follows them by all types of Internet browsing since we don't get the games on TV. I believe they are having a pretty good season.
Matt's arm is good. No more visits to the doctor, just salt baths. Hopefully it will heal soon. I work this morning and he took Shawn and Liberty Christmas shopping...
Tomorrow I am taking a family photo for some friends at the park. After that we are off to Matt's parents for Christmas. So a big day tomorrow.

New Friends.

This is Combi (Dalmatian) and Smuggler (Budgie). Combi will wait at the door as if waiting for Smuggler to come out and play. Can you see the dog slobber on the glass door? She gets a little excited our Combi... Today we let Smuggler out for a wonder about and she went straight over to the glass door and to Combi. I must have taken over 30 photos. I like this one as Combi looks to be smiling :)

Skywatch Friday

I quickly took this image of the moon at 10am this morning. I was putting the washing out and was surprised to see it. It is a very windy day and the clouds have started to blow in.
For other Skywatch Friday images from around the world click HERE

A few posts ago I was tagged by the talented Lisa. So here it goes...
The Rules are:1. Add a link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. List 6 random things about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog

So six random things about me:

1. I want to do a photoshop course next year 2.I love Croc shoes 3.I wanted to be a fashion designer 4. I looove Honey soy chicken Red Rock Deli chips 5. I was a silver person, now I am a gold person 6. I was born in the Mojave Desert... If you are still reading and would like to play along...Tag your it! :)

Christmas Spider.

This is our handmade beaded Christmas Spider. The story behind the Christmas Spider is lovely if you are interested read HERE.

Liberty had another great nights sleep. Just what she needs to get better. Matt's arm is not so sore anymore, but still icky. They are both off to the doctor tomorrow...

This morning was Shawn's class Christmas party. I took my apple slinky over and the kids got to each turn the handle and peel and cut their apple. They thought it was pretty neat! While I did that Liberty made a clay ornament with the class. It will come home tomorrow so I will share a photo then.
This afternoon we went and had Santa photos taken in Armidale. Liberty did pretty good. Then we picked up 6 pizzas and headed back to the Baldwins for an early Christmas. I just then finished making some cards and now I think I will have a quick game of Facebook poker before bed. Night x

Mickey Ears.

I found out this morning that this page won me $35 to spend at Unique Scrapbooking. The challenge was to interpret a sketch and use Christmas pics. I had a great time spending my winnings. Such a great range of brads and ribbons, just what I need to replenish the stocks! :) Leading up to Christmas they are having some giveaways on their blog....
Night x

This time next week...

Today I cried happy tears! My Dad's cousin in America, Connie sent us these beautiful gifts. The angel and snowman are Hallmark. They are the 3rd in their series and we are so blessed that Connie has sent us the full set, so far. A few posts down and you can see the previous ones.
Tonight I went up and did a pretty big grocery shop. Mostly snack things to take away. It was great no lines, plenty of parks. This time next week it will be a different story!

9 Sleeps!

This shoe I picked up at Erina Westfield on the Central Coast. We were on our way to Andy & Casseys wedding in Canberra and stopped for a retail break. I just thought it was cute! :)

Today.... has been a long day.
Liberty now has a dreadful ear infection and is on 2 antibiotics for that. She was up all night crying in pain. So when Matt went to the doctor we took her. Family discount!
The good news is that they both don't have to go back until Friday.
Mum came and stayed with Liberty while she napped. I had to go and play Santa for 200 wonderful Primary school kids. Each child got an icy pole. I think my scissors will be sticky forever :)
Tonight, because Liberty had a huge nap, we went and looked at Christmas lights... It is beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Last week of school for 2008!

Hello!

This is Shawn's last week of year 2 at school. I am pretty sure this week is party week. Today he watched 2 DVDs, Tomorrow is a party at the pool and a visit from Santa. I get to play Santa's helper and hand out Zooper Dooper icy poles to the kids. Thursday is his class party and I think Friday is another rewards party... Life is good when you are 8!

Matt had his visit to the doc this morning and is now on another type of antibiotic for infection.... He will go back again in the morning. Life is not so good when you are 32 :)

This blurry photo is of a tin. 'Santa' left me this one year by the fire place. It contained 3 pieces of black soap. I have had the tin ever since. At a guess I was 8. Do you remember Mum, sorry I mean Santa? x

Some scrapping.

It has been awhile since I posted some scrapping. This is my last entry for the 8 weeks of Christmas challenge at Scrapbooking Top 50. I have enjoyed all 8 weeks, they have been great challenges. This week the criteria was to make a present and a Christmas tree.

Thanks to everyone who has shown concern for Matt. He had a much better day today. The doctor is very happy with the progress and doesn't think the abcess has made it to the bone, which is great news! Matt will go and see him again tomorrow.

This is Combi's Christmas ornament. Mum found it in Myers and I just added her name, perfect!

Rain, Rain...

Hello! Hope you are having a great weekend!

Matt isn't. He went to the doctor this morning about his arm. The abscess had to be drained. My Matt is a tough guy and can handle his share of pain. So he must have been in a lot of pain when the receptionist commented that she could hear the pain in his sounds from where she was down the hall... It is all wrapped now and he will have to go back again in the morning for another painful session. He is so pale, you can see the pain on his face. Between him and Liberty being sick with a cold and cough, no one is getting any sleep...except Shawn, maybe he can be on medical duty tonight :)

Maybe I will just stay up all night and scrap... or not...

Sky Watch Friday

This may be the best I can get tonight. The rain is picking back up.

To view more images from Sky Watch Friday click HERE

Watch This Space

Tonight is meant to be the biggest moon we will see this year. 12% larger than the smallest time...
Unfortunately we have had a wet and cloudy day. It seems to be clearing so hopefully I may get a chance! Watch this space! :)

This photo of Liberty was taken tonight. She loves her new felt ornament that her Great Grandmother made for her this Christmas. Liberty asked for blue and white and that is what she got!

Hershey

This is Shawn's ornament from Hershey PA. We got this in 2002 when he was 2. We also have one that has 'Grandpa' on it.
Today has been busy, busy! Pam, Molly and Rach stopped in this morning. Liberty and I went up to the swimming pool to see how Shawn was doing. The school has been running swimming lessons for the past 2 weeks. His teacher is very happy with him, so that makes me happy!
Liberty decided that she didn't need a nap today and was full of energy. So in between tending to her beck and call I did some P&C paperwork. We are trying to get some shade shelters put up at the school. I am hoping that the local council may hand out some $$$$$ so I am putting together a nice little package of info for their next meeting.
Matt was away last night for work. Today he called and asked me to make him a doctors appointment... I have only been asking since Monday for him to go. He has an abscess on his arm.... just to gross you out it looks like bugs will start crawling out of it any minute now! But what a good idea of HIS to go to the doctor........
Well I am off to school presentation tonight so I better get these children of mine ready for the evening!

Happy Birthday Mum!

These are Shawn's Hallmark ornaments. If you pull the strings they move. Very cute!
Today is my Mum's birthday. After Shawn was home for school we went up for birthday cake. Birthday cake always tastes so yummy!
Now I am working my way through piles of laundry that needs to be put away... such a fun job!

Tuesday... this time in two weeks...

These are Liberty's lovely Hallmark ladies. My Dads cousin, Connie has sent them to her for the past 2 years. I think it is so lovely of her to do so. They are part of a series. Shawn also has some that I will post another time.

Today has been quiet busy, running around and actually getting things done for a change! I am off to Armidale this afternoon. Hopefully I will be able to say my Christmas shopping is done! (hopefully) I have a list and as long as I remember to check it twice I should be OK. :)

Happiness is...

This is the sweetest little book. It has hung on the Christmas tree a Mum's and now here. I must ask Mum where it came from.... Don't tell Matt that I don't know.... lol

I did this LO last night as my week 7 entry at Scrapbooking top 50. The criteria was to only use Green, Red and White colours. It was actually a tricky challenge not to let any gold or silver sneak in. I really had to hold back from doodling a black border around the scallops! lol

Today has been a bit of a non-day. Good weather for that kind of thing. This afternoon I met some friends down at the park to take some family photos. After my blogging adventures I will have a look and see how we went!

Matt has just gone to bed. He has been fighting a cold. Add to that the sore nose he has from basketball last week and the lack of sleep that comes with it...he is run down.

opps missed a day!

Sorry I missed yesterdays ornament, my computer was on go slow mode and I didn't have the patients to deal with it late last night..
This is my Christmas Stocking. My mother made this for me for my 2nd Christmas... that makes this stocking 30 years young! It is all made of felt with some embroidery, sequins and beads. You can see the love in all of her work.
Well Matt is making a cooked breakfast so I better go and see what I can do to help. Have a great day!

Skywatch Friday... sort of...

On my blog surfing trips, I often come across bloggers who post a 'Skywatch Friday' post... I thought I would look into it a bit more and then decided why not have a go myself!
Thou I must admit tonight I am cheating... I took this image a few nights ago. Everyone was all excited that the moon and two planets made a lovely smiling face. Sorry I don't remember all of the info about this event.
I took this image approx 8.45pm from my front stairs. I did eventually get out the tripod and played around with some different settings, but I do like this simple one the best. I have made no adjustments except to sharpen for the Internet!
This is the link to the site, from there you can access links to other blogs around the world. I recommend The Fishing Guy He lives near my family in America and I really enjoy the images he puts on his blog, remnds me of another home :) night x

20 more sleeps!

This ornament came from the wonderful city of New York. We were their about 4 Christmas' ago. On our 2nd day Shawn became quite sick with a bug. Matt and I would take turns in staying with him in the hotel room. Macy's was a 5 minute walk from our room so I would go and shop! :) This ornament came from Macy's and 34 Street is the subway station that we used most to get around.

A *big* dream of mine is to {one day} live in NYC... even if it is only a few months, just to be local and hang out. So much to see in this amazing Place.

When I was 7...

I made this ornament when I was 7, 1984. I spent this birthday and Christmas in America with my family.

I have about 6 of these left. I made them with my Great Grandmother, GJ. I can remember the day quite well. They are made from dough, mostly full of salt to preserve them. Each year I wrap them in foil and the next Christmas they are exactly the same as the one before. Not the prettiest of decorations, but some of the most treasured ones.

Introducing....

Smuggler... This photo was taken yesterday when he was very quiet in his new home. Today he is a different bird! He sings and moves around. Lets all of us touch him. He is delightful! Hopefully tomorrow we will get his wings clipped so we can let him out. If you are at all curious about the name and haven't figured it out click HERE. Yes, we have an odd sense of humor ;)

Another great day!

Today was another day closer to Christmas. It was a good day, nothing extra ordinary, just a good day... After school today Shawn received his Christmas gift from his girlfriend. A bird. A Budgie.

I knew he was getting it today, but he didn't. He is so happy! Liberty is a little unsure of 'that bird'. Once its wings are clipped and we can handle it more, she will never put it down! I am told he (think it is a he) is just out of the nest. I will load some pics tomorrow.

The Giraffe ornament actually came from Kmart last year. November last year, for my birthday we went to Taronga Zoo and fed the Giraffes, that is why we have him!

Well it is late. We are not long home from the park. It was Carols by Candlelight tonight. Shawn was a Wise man...or as I affectionately called him, a wiseguy. I actually saw a highschool friend of mine a carols, who only lives 20 minutes away, but I rarely see. I love catching up with him. He is one of my favourite people.

Well I think i will be naughty and get some chocolate icecream and go to bed and watch some telly. x

A winner...

I discovered this morning that this scrap page won me $30 to spend at Scrap With V. It was a sketch on Aussie Roadmaps. This is another page I did at camp.
Anyway just thought I would share my excitement... Have a great day!

Never a dull moment

This is my favourite page that I did at camp. I think the papers are Bella! Very nice to play with!

Well quite a lot has happened in our house the last two days... For anyone who is interested this is the quick run down...

Shawn's girlfriend wants to give him a Budgie for Christmas...

Shawn is going to be pageboy for his Godmothers wedding, he is most excited...

I am going to be the photographer at the wedding...

Matt had an elbow delivered to his nose at basketball...

We have all had haircuts... (about time I say!)

I am going out to dinner...

That is all that is coming to mind for now... I thought there was more...oh well!

This ornament was for our first dog as a couple 'Dini' a beautiful German Shepherd. This ornament came from a craft market over in Pennsylvania.

First day of Summer.... at last!

I thought up until December 25th I would post some of my treasured Christmas ornaments. This particular one is a cable car from San Francisco. Matt and I purchased this one about 6 years ago. We always "discuss" where we think it was from. I am certain it came from a shop upstairs at Ghiradelli Square... Matt's story changes each year! It really does make us smile. Each ornament on our tree has a special meaning to one of us. Putting the tree together usually makes me cry... mostly happy tears.

A lot has happened today, but I have a stack of things to be doing so I will report tomorrow and post some scrapbooking creations from the weekend!

Bye...

Well I am off to scrap camp this weekend. I am not going to far away it is a local one. I will sleep at home and go for the days, thou I do work tomorrow morning... So I am sort of going to scrap camp...

Have a great weekend everyone. x

Budget day!

This morning bright and early Matt had a meeting with one of the head honchos at our place......... Every year the reps get the 'budget talks'.

So Shawn, Liberty and I headed out just after 8am. We walked up to Grandmas where Liberty stayed for the morning. Shawn and I headed over to the school. I displayed some photos of "Jungle" in the foyer. It is quite a fun display. While there I got asked to take some more photos today of a dance group that was to perform at the assembly. So I had a lovely morning over at the school.

This photo is of a 'Christmas Conversation Starter' that I made awhile back. It was made using some Kaiser products that was sent to me in a kit from Julie's Scrapping Jewels. Julie has actually closed the shop until the new year. She is busy with her new bundle of joy. I took this box to dinner for my work Christmas party. It is filled with little questions about how you spend your Christmas. Thinks like 'What is your favourite Christmas food?' ' Favourite Christmas Song' things like that. Anyway it made for great conversation, better than talking about work stuff all night!

One month away...

Today marks one month until Christmas. On the weekend our tree went up and tonight I started wrapping.

This morning Liberty and I did some stuff around the house then we went to play at Pam's.

While Liberty had her nap I sorted through some scrapping stuff. This weekend is scrap camp in Uralla.

After school Shawn and I headed off to the pool to join in celebrating Nash's birthday. Not very good pool weather, but kids don't really mind...

That is pretty much how my day went, hope you had a good one too. x

Hello! This a a page I did yesterday for a Scrapbooking Top 50 comp. The challenge was to stamp. Isn't he a cutie?
Over the weekend we had some wild weather, perfect indoor weekend. So Matt climbed into the roof and dragged down the Christmas boxes. Saturday evening we spent 3 hours putting the tree together. Sunday we spent the morning decorating the rest of the house. I must say I really enjoyed decorating this year. Both Shawn and Liberty are a lovely Christmas ages.
Today Liberty and I spent the morning in Armidale. I needed to get some photos printed, the rest of the time we just wondered around, stopped for a donut. We had a lovely girly time.
This afternoon we planted the veggie garden. Beans, Tomato varieties, Spinach, Strawberries and some herbs. Still a few gaps to fill. Shawn's girlfriend also helped... it was a lovely bonding session for us all :)

Jungle

Uralla Central School has been working on the play "Jungle". This pic is Shawn and his mate Nash. According to Shawn they are animals...he means to say cannibals... This is the boys with there wild hair. (They LOVE it!)

Sorry it is not a great pic. I always try and keep away from posting photos of children that are not mine. Nash isn't mine.... but his mother loves me :)

So, anyway today was a matinee performance and I went over and set up the video camera and then took 287 snaps. I must say I was impressed with my little D60... about time!

Tomorrow night is the last performance. It will be a sold out production. Shawn will have 8 supporters cheering for him! He loves it up on the stage... My little George Clooney...