Been camping!

Well it's been a while since we camped but this past weekend we took off with some friends for a few days break. Took us a bit over 4 hours to drive 180 kms to the campsite! Yep, lots of bumpy roads..but lots of fun. Rocked the kids to sleep fairly quickly on the way home!
It was too windy to do much fishing but otherwise pleasant enough. Even some historical sites to see while we were there..and I got to play a bit with my new camera. The kids were quite good at helping me try a few things..the rest I snuck in!

Just a sample of the hundred or so photos I snapped over the weekend!

Before I left a friend asked me to make a wedding guest book for friends of hers who were getting married on the weekend. I'd never met them but I had fun creating  aguest book which hopefully they loved. I loved it and it earnt me a huge box of maltesers for camping and some cash from the naughty friend who insisted on paying me for having fun in my craft room!

And I also did this fun layout for a Cyber Crop at Country papercraftt to raise funds for the Queensland Flood Appeal.

 That's all for now. Spent today getting a few things ready for school. Hoping to finish tomorrow so I don't have to think about it until school actually starts next Wednesday! One to deliver back to boarding school, one starting high school this year, 2 still in Primary School....bet I WILL have to think about it before then!

Almost forgot!

In the midst of all the happenings between Boxing Day and the Funeral, I did manage to find an excuse to scrap (like I said....it's Therapy!!)
I wanted to make a book to have at the wake for everyone to write funny stories and memories for Lish's hubby and kids to look back on and remember her like we do.
So this is what I came up with.....(with no plan, just to make it pink, purple and red the colours Lish wanted for her wedding in March)

And then my niece asked if I could make a Xmas prezzie for her best friend who had been away for Xmas (luckily, buying me extra time!) I had so much fun making Lish's I made T's in the same style. I just had blank white c/s pages in it so she could write, doodle, stick photos but apparently she thinks it's too pretty to put anything in so she's just going to look at it! LOL...see how long that lasts!

Another month DID go by!!!

I've been putting off updating because I knew this was one update I didn't want to do, but I've decided to get it out of the way so I can get back to scrapbooking.

On Boxing Day, I lost my beautiful big sister after 4 long hard years fighting cancer.
She fought hard right until the very end, never admitting defeat and always with a smile and positive word ready for anyone who felt sorry for her. Typically, she let us get Christmas out of the way (even though it wasn't our usual celebration, it was good for the kids that it was fairly normal, as we've known for a couple of months that time was limited.)

We had a beautiful service, bright colours only. We had hot pink flags, everyone wore the brightest colours they could find, the coffin was pink and a friend and I snuck in and "blinged it up" to make sure it was fitting for "The Dancing Queen". We told funny stories, a friend sang, we laughed and cried but overall we made it a celebration of life rather than a sad occasion.

I made a slideshow for the funeral which was quite therapeutic. (Luckily my boys had asked me to make a slideshow of their skating antics, complete with musical backing the week before, otherwise I would have had no idea where to start!) I think I did quite well, though it was time consuming scanning all th old photos as I had to stop and laugh and cry at lots of them!

And this week I made a canvas which was going to hang on my wall, but might just grace my mum's instead. I'll probably do another for myself, Lish's mother-in-law and best friend, as it definitely is therapy!!

Just before Xmas we went to a friend's 50th, where wigs were essential! As the night wore on, we decided to swap wigs with every song change, with hilarious results. I've scrapped some of my wigs but some of the others were really quite funny. It's amazing what a difference hair makes to some people.

 

 This one is using the January kit from Country Papercraft My youngest DS and my BF from Primary School's eldest DD in Bali. We just spent the weekend together and let's just say these 2 are following in their mother's footsteps and are destined for a love-hate relationship for a few years yet!

I have got quite a few new photos to work through, though not as many as usual since I lost my camera on the way home from Bali in November and had to resort to a point and shoot of my dad's. Certainly not as inspiring and way more frustrating than my DSLR! So last week in Perth I picked up my new Canon DSLR (same as previous one...though I soooo wanted to upgrade...just not a good time of year to be doing that!) And DH bought me a photography course for my birthday. So soon as I get rhough that I can officially call myself a photographer! People always ask me to take family portraits and weddings and things but I don't take their money since I'm not "qualified"...but that will all change soon! Wish me luck!!

Off to my scrap room now to get ready for a Cyber Crop happening at CPC - Country Papercraft this weekend. Marg is hosting an actual Crop in the Shop to raise money for the Flood appeal, so the rest of us are going to play along at home. Please feel free to join us. :)