Such a cool dude!

Another page finished for Liam's album - deliberated heaps over this one!!!

Helping Jane

A friend of mine recently asked me if I could help her put her wedding photos together. Jane had never scrapbooked before. The album turned out really lovely and she is giving it to her husband for his birthday this weekend. We kept things very simplistic but they looked great. I took a couple of pictures to share. There were some other really great pages. It has inspired me to do mine - however I need to finish Liam's 21st album first and foremost. We have been married 11 years this year so whats another one without the photos in an album! Live happily everyone.

Scraphappy in Rotorua

I had a fantastic day today with my friend and amazing scrapbooking tutor in Rotorua so I thought I would share some of my layouts. We found time to go and enjoy a nice lunch together also!

Rodger & Liam under the Blackberry Bushes in 1993 - Part of Liams 21st album I'm working on.

Me at Cape Reinga

The layout on the left we did at Scrap Camp last year, I chose to make it into a double layout and include my Mum as well as my dear Dad.

A new baby

Well it has been far too long since I blogged - as I keep getting told by certain people :). And yes Veronicah you are correct. As I am racing off out to my stitching evening I thought I would just quickly share a couple of pictures. Friends of ours welcomed a beautiful new baby boy into their lives last Wednesday and I finally got the parcel ready to send off. I made my very first card - although I am a scrap booker I have never made cards. What do you think?

The Elephant has been Consumed!

Well I am happy to say that not before time I finally managed to hang my Xmas quilt at about 4.30pm yesterday. When I first started this I suddenly was overwhelmed by the amount of work in it. Upon phoning my dearest friend Veronicah to discuss this dilema she simply said to me "What have I told you before - How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!" So with these words of wisdom in tow some months ago I set out on this journey. I am pleased with the result - although of course I can see many things wrong with it - as my darling husband says - no one else but you will notice it! He is quite right and once I had hung it on the wall I realised that all those little things I had agonised over aren't even visible to the human eye when standing and looking at it. Anyway it certainly has created some "spirit of Xmas in the house". I will also post some pictures of our Xmas stuff - not to mention of course the catastrophe last weekend when the real tree we brought decided to fall over and throw water everywhere - not to mention breaking a couple of decorations along the way. Thankfully although precious they were ones I had purchased myself. I am looking forward to a lovely Xmas evening with my family - I am even cooking turkey this year - a first for me. We are going to have a nice relaxed evening together. Historically we have usually done lunch but dinner means that Rodger and Vicki can do their normal breakfast rounds and then be ready to eat again by tea time :) My darling husband is in the wars again - rolled his ankle last night that he did all the damage to earlier in the year and was in the most excruciating pain. We went today and had it looked to and they have plastered it as a precaution until he can see the orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday. I feel so terribly sorry for him - he is not normally a man who shows a lot of emotion but the pain was so bad last night that it took his breath away and he couldn't speak. We will keep our fingers crossed for a positive result on Thursday.
The weather here is particularly bleak at the moment as it is around the country. I guess the farmers will be pleased.
I was so saddened today to have Mum tell me that a neighbours Huntaway was mauled by two pitbulls and had to be put down. I can't even begin to imagine that happening to our boy. It is something that is always in my mind when I take him walking. I really don't know why those vicious animals aren't outlawed. I do realise that some of them are probably fine but the majority are fierce predators. I just don't see how owning a dog like that can bring you happiness.
We went on a dog walk yesterday in the rain with Onyx with one of the local vets and donated toys which they will deliver to children in hospital on Xmas day.
I wish you and your families a blessed Xmas and a safe and happy New Year.
Take care my dear friends and live happily.

BOO

Well I managed to get my small wallhanging finished and am pleased to say it is up in the entrance way of our house. This is it:

I also checked with my lovely friend Veronicah and she was ok with me posting a picture of her Anzac banner that she is doing for symposium - here tis:

That's my little man helping in the corner!

This weekend I hope to get my 12th and final block finished for my Night Before Xmas quilt. Next weekend I am off to Auckland for Calico Xmas I am so excited I can't wait! Have a great weekend everyone. Live Happily.

HALLOWEEN APPROACHES

I have had a lovely long weekend. We had our dear friend Veronicah visit for a couple of nights which is always great. Didn't get a lot of quilting done but there were important things like Christmas shopping (good grief it is only two months away) and Halloween to get ready for. Before she left today we got my things out and decorated the house for Halloween, I hope I get some trick or treaters this year - last year we didn't get any. I am just about finished another little Halloween wall hanging so hopefully it will be done in time too! Only the binding left to go so I really should get my act together instead of contemplating an afternoon siesta. My final block for my Xmas quilt has arrived so I am looking forward to getting on with that. My friend Veronicah was working on an Anzac banner for symposium which I think is just gorgeous. If you want to see it in progress you can check out her blog: http://intuitivetextilejourneys.blogspot.com/

Here are some pictures of my Halloween stuff. Enjoy.

My Colour swap parcel

I heard from my partner that she received her colour swap. Her colour was "colours of the rainbow". One of our items had to be handmade so I made a Christmas ball - it took a lot of work, you sewed all the circles and gathered them by hand - I lost count of how many I had to make. I also sent an olive dish, some coloured piping, some coloured Xmas balls, two fat quarters of NZ icon fabric that were vibrant colours & some sequins and glass beads. She said she liked it but I noticed she didn't include it in her blog. Oh well it was a bit of fun anyway. Here is what I sent:

I have a million things I want to try and achieve this weekend so I should get on to them. I want to finish my 11th block for my quilt and a couple of Halloween wallhangings as that is fast approaching again. I also need to find a couple of birthday presents for dear friends & clean out my "junk" draw in the kitchen. Not to mention there is a 21st scrap book album I want to make a start on! I guess sitting here at the computer won't achieve much so I will away and get started. Happy weekend everyone.

More Blocks

Well I have finally gotten around to photographing the three blocks I have finished towards my quilt. I have block 11 here but haven't started it yet. Block 12 was supposed to have arrived at the beginning of the month but Cottage Flair are waiting on the sashing fabric - just as well or I would be really having to get in to gear. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have to work full time! I went to my quilting group yesterday and had lots of fun. Here are the photos of Blocks 8, 9 & 10. Happy Quilting.

Oops I am having trouble - my pictures keep loading upside down etc - ahhhhh I give up!!!

COLOUR SWAP

I recently signed up to take part in a Colour swap. For this I had to say what my favourite colour was and then I was partnered up with someone. The idea of the swap was to send 6 items as there are six letters in the word Colour. One of these items had to be handmade. You could choose to send an item representing each letter if you wanted to. Creatively this is what my partner did. My partner lives in Australia and her name is Clare. I received her parcel yesterday and this is what I got. I will look forward to using all my goodies. Thank you Clare.

Lost for Words

Well it has been a while since I last blogged - I keep meaning to sit down and get on with it but don't get around to it. I took the photos a couple of weeks ago so am sitting here at work having a cuppa and thought I would get my act together.

On the 28th of July I had a fantastic day out with a local quilt shop. (See the picture of my stash I picked up along the way) There were 33 of us that went by bus. We started in TePuna at Village Fabrics where we had breakfast. Next stop was Cushla's in Waihi - wow well worth a visit - I could certainly do some damage there. Next we went through to Waihi to Patches & Cream, lovely ladies and we even got a pressie - a fat quarter each as we left. We then hopped over to Hamilton for lunch and a visit to Donna's quilt studio which was lovely. However I think we spent too much time there as it left us with only a half hour stop at our last two venues - Cambridge - great shop & last but not least Tirau Quilt Cottage. My day wouldn't have been complete without my lovely new friend Joan - quilting has brought us together and she is a real treasure. We happily sat and chatted away for hours on the bus inbetween stops. I have been busy quilting and am now eagerly awaiting arrival of block 11 for my xmas quilt. I have joined my local quilting group - Papamoa Patchers and hope to get along to one meeting a month with them - they meet during the day on a Monday so I have to work it in around work. I have also taken on the challenge and am part of a "Colour Swap" - I send 6 presents to someone - my partner is in Australia - and they send me 6 things. One of them has to be hand made - shold be fun - that Veronicah she gets me in to all sorts of things!

I spent the weekend just gone at a Scrap booking retreat in Otumoetai which was fun as my SB has been neglected of late. I got quite a lot done and really love this page of my beautiful man Nitro who we lost nearly 12 months ago. I haven't quite found the right words to add yet so have decided to post the picture anyway.

take care and live happily. XOX

Presents from Veronicah

Block 7

Block 6

Cuddles with Mum

Morning Time

The Cafe Scene

Well it has been 7 weeks since I blogged and I have been getting a hurry up about it so thought I better get my act together and do something! Keith goes back to work tomorrow after having 7 weeks off. I think he is more than ready for it. We had a lovely visit from our friend Veronicah while he was off which helped give him a change of face to chat to - and drink bourbon with :) . Veronicah made us some gorgeous Halloween / Christmas runners & coasters which I will post a picture of. I haven't done a lot of work on my Xmas quilt - I have the words to finish on block 8 -which I will be doing tonight, then I have blocks 9 & 10 waiting here for me. I was so excited yesterday to be phoned and asked by the Papamoa Patchers to exhibit my bugs quilt in their exhibition next weekend - what a boost to my confidence that was. I have also booked to go and do a girls road trip with one of the local quilting shops later in July. We are starting here with breakfast and then heading off to do a loop through Waihi, Paeora, Te Aroha, Hamilton & Cambridge. I am sure it will be a lot of fun. An absolute highlight for us has been the addition of Onyx to our family. We went and picked him up three weeks ago today and he is just so special - we feel so blessed to have him. He is just the most amazing boy you will ever meet. He loves cuddles and as you will see by the pictures is just spoilt rotten. He certainly is a delight to have around. This weekend him and I have started walking down to one of the local cafe's and getting Keith to meet us there for coffee. It is so much fun - takes a while getting to and from though with all the people he acquaints himself with along the way. He is so good he doesn't even need to be put on the lead - I take it for just in case! I am sure he will find tomorrow a little strange being in his kennel for so long but we will make up for it when we get home - it is great for me as it means I get the exercise I need now as I can't let him down. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Introducing Onyx

I thought you might like to see some pictures of our new "baby". We are so looking forward to the 11th of June when we go and pick him up. These piccies are of him when he was a lot younger - but are just so cute I had to share them. He will be three in July.