Lesson One - paving our way to pastures new

Well the course Blogging for scrapbookers, a course I am doing on line, is well and truly running YAY!!!
SO here's my entry.
This course is to try and 'bridge' the gap and use a blog to record our lives - not just using 12 x 12 cardstock etc. I must admit sometimes I do get 'bogged' down by the scrapbooking (which I love don't get me wrong) and the fact I just don't get the time to record it all. I have all these ideas in my head and yet why oh why do they disappear when I sit in front of photos, cardstock and pretty paper??? So I hope that by blogging (as well as showing my family in the UK our lives that we lead here and that's why we are so far away from them) that it frees up my mind so I don't feel like I have to create a layout for every memory but just record the special ones.
I hope that makes sense - it does to me.

Another Layout

This got missed off yesterday as the piccies weren't clear enough especially to read the story behind the piccies.

Some layouts

I have just started a course on blogging and having lots of visitors - Haere mai (welcome) to my class mates from Shimelle's blogging for scrapbookers!! So I hope that my blog will be even better (all singing and dancing LOL) and I am looking forward to this class. Thank you for you kind comments too.

Anyway thought I'd post some piccies of some layouts (scrapbooking) I have done recently. Most of them are of the wedding we went back the UK for last year. It was my cousins wedding (kia ora Liz and Chris) and Lou was a bridesmaids and Key a usher and they both looked gorgeous. The other is about our ex batt hens.

Hope you like them.

Thelma and Louise does Orewa!!

Well I booked into a scrap retreat with Angie, who I have turned to the dark side!! It was held at Orewa which is further up then Auckland. So I have never driven that far before. 2 1/2 hours later we arrived. I had called it our "Thelma and Louise trip" (from the film which Ange hadn't seen so didn't get it), it was our get away from the family, a well earn rest.
The retreat didn't start till the Sat morning, so the Friday night we went and had a curry (it was yum) and a glass of wine (or two) in the hotel room, and a good gab and laugh.
The retreat was in the hotel, so we popped around with all my stuff, minus my tote - I can't believe that I left my tote with all my tools etc behind!! (Stevie said that there was no way he was going to bring up, when I told him I'd left it behind on the Friday night - spoilt sport!!). There was a class on the Saturday which was designed by Melissa (the organiser) herself. She cut out the scallop frame using her machine, which is like my silhouette but it takes 12" paper (no I do not need one, especially as I don't use my silhouette as much as I should - need to find out how too), she was having probs with it for some of us and mine was all torn. Melissa felt terrible but I saw it as a challenge to work with. The design took me out of my comfort zone, so well done on that one Melissa, and went so well with the piccies from Liz's wedding. I really enjoyed doing it. I took a long time so didn't get too much done in the evening especially as we got kicked out of the room at 10.00pm!!
Next morning, after a shower (or should I say a hose down....you had to be there!!) we started again, another class which was equally fabby and went great with a piccy of me and mum at the wedding. I changed it a bit, well you have to don't you?!? and was so pleased with the result. I managed to start a couple of layouts to finish at home when I have all my stuff (and I don't just mean my tote!!) to hand.
Then after goodbyes and some piccies it was a trip back down to sleepy Cambridge and the families. Seems they missed us both and that last all of 5 mins hey Ange!!
But the retreat was really good and we really enjoyed it. They were a good group of girls and we had a laugh and I good time. I love crops and miss them soooo much.
Oh did I tell you that I forgot my tote!!

The hotel we stayed in

The girls busy working - see we did get stuff done as well as chatting!


The Sunday class




The Saturday Class - Melissa's



See Thelma and Louise (you'll have to wait till the layout)

Scrap Sunday

Feel really pleased with myself, as the kids went out and about today and the weather was crook.
I did some scrapbooking.
I have felt that it was becoming an issue with scrapbooking and I had really lost it. Couldn't see the point, wasn't any good etc etc. In saying all this, the last couple of weeks I have had to look back on certain layouts for different reason, e.g. the trainees were talking about jiu jitsu and I told them about Key and Lou being black belts. I got the scrapbook out and took it in to show them. But I read it myself, it gave me the info I had forgot (how old they were) but it gave my feelings on it and reading it brought it right back to me. So I felt the importance of it.
So today I bite the bullet and did 3 Los. Yes don't faint.
I will upload the piccies when it's day light and put them on here.
But I feel good about it and that's the point too.