Well im back from my holiday and i have sooo much to catch up on in blogger land..

I will get and visit all the blogs on my list and drop in and say hi, see what you have all been up too.

I have some photos to share of our lights, which we only got up in time this year for xmas..

Our christmas started on christmas eve, with a party with friends at our house, so nice to be home this year. My elderly mother stayed for christmas with us this year also.

A few games of backyard cricket, volleyball , food, drinks and just catching up on the years..fantastic..

You know your getting old when, your teenagers drink more alcohol than you do and wake up chirpy and excited, and you wake up feeling terrible..lol..

Actually christmas morning didnt start till around 8pm, which was incredibly late for us. Yes we are all getting older..lol

The kids enjoyed their presents, and i was spoilt with my fav purfume, opium, a lovely handbag, and new nike joggers, for the gym..

And can you beleive i forgot to take photos!!!!! arghhhhh, bad scrapper i am..lol

Craig and i werent that hungry so the kids chowed down to christmas lunch with nanny and the rest of the day was help yourself..

As for scrapping, havnt done much at all, only this one for the EMM monthly sketch..

scary i know..lol

Well im off to scrap, and check out blogs, hope you all had a wonderful xmas!!!!

Well have been busy scrapping over the weekend, and it felt good too as i really have enjoyed it.

Craig took Jack out for a couple of hours to

his daughters birthday party.

With strict instructions to take photos with my

new camera and not to leave it behind..lol

Well he didnt leave it behind,

he certainly didnt frget to bring it home,

he just forgot to take photos..lol..

Definately not a scrapper..lol as i would never forget to take photos!!!

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Cyber cropping.

CHOOKSCRAPS had their cyber crop on this weekend

.Great challenges too Lorraine

This first layout was a challenge that asked you to create a layout using a photo of someone special, a tag and some ribbon:

This is my lovely sister and my darling Jack. Taken last xmas day 2005,

yes and its taken this long to scrap it..lol..

and now i look at it and the title is crooked...bummer..

oh well you get that..lol

This second challenge was a sketch challenge..

loved the sketch.

The gorgeous pp i used was from one of my secret santas

and still dont know who it is...lol

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Now i cant officially win any prizes at chookscraps,

being on the design team and all,

so i entered this layout over at

THE SCRAPPERS STASH weekend cyber crop.

Jackson feeding his bottle to his bear.

Also the newsletter is out over at chookscraps,

with lots of yummy things to look at.

And so now i can share with you my OTP using the

Novemeber pack which consisted of Reminisce halloween papers.

I made this cute little book from a maya road accordian book. love how it turned out..

More photos of it in my DT folder.

And i also completed another page for my pregnancy journal..which i will share when i have a few pages.

So im off to check out some blogs..

Oh and just to let you know i stumbled across a most

gorgeous scrappers blog. Mel Nunn,

over on my side bar of scrappers who inspire me.

Ive added her blog as her work is gorgeous, so check it out!

cheers

Well so much for my big scrappin plans this weekend..lol..

I did manage a couple of layouts but not as much as i had hoped for..

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I received my gorgeous CHOOK SCRAPS DT pack

on Friday and i just love the papers.
Thanx Lorriane!!!

So much so: im inspired to do an OTP project

with the gorgeous Reminisce Halloween papers.

Ive been in a scrapping mood all afternoon,

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I also had to take some more photos last night, yes i know more!!!
so i could complete an example layout for the competition.
Chookscraps Survivor competition.

Its getting very exciting on chook island.

We brought back six elliminated chooks:

to compete in a special elimination challenge.

From these six contestants two will be voted back

onto the island to compete once again in

CHOOKSCRAPS SURVIVOR ISLAND:

go check it out!

Here is my eaxample for the challenge

using a xmas layout

visible journalling of over 100 words

colour sheme predominately blue and silver.

I also managed to do a layout for Crafting in style with Jolene,
who sadly is leaving the chookscraps DT this month.
As she now has her own store crafting in style.
She will be replaced by the very talented Susan, better known as Jibbibear.
See her blog in my sidebar.

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Here is my layout for a challenge using the photo that

lifts to show journalling and another photo.
Also over at the scrap pile i finished a layout that showed journalling..
Love this one and did a double layout as

already i have many xmas photos and its not even xmas yet..lol

So ill just leave you with my favourite xmas photo so far.

It was a quick one as Jack wouldnt stand still. But i love how it turned out!

So cheers all, till next time!

Ok here are the last of my Embellished Idol layouts.

Before i start some serious cyber cropping over at

The little scrap book shop and

Crafting in style,,

And i will even have a peek at whats happening at

The scrap Pile!

ooohhh busy night i know!!

This was challenge five:
We had to use beading and the word dream..

I really love how this one turned out,,very soft and dreamy.

Challenge six:

Was to make up a layout using a photo sent to us by Ali..

Unseen until we received it, We

had a choice of three and i chose her gorgeous son to scrap.

challenge seven:

was a sketch challenge..

Used this beautiful photo of Stephanie from our halloween party..

Alas this was as far as i got in the competition..

didnt make the final three,

but i was very honoured to have gotten as far as i did..

Ok now off to the cyber crops..

cheers

well thought i would share my layouts from embellishes idol competition..

I had so much fun over there!!

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congrats to the final three Anthea, Amanda and to

Melissa who won overall as emebellished idol!!!

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challenge one: vintage

loved this one..not a big vintage person but took me out of my comfort zone.

challenge two:

scraplift..

wasnt very happy with this one..really not my style at all...but i got through..

challenge three:

3 or more photos..

I love these photos of Steph and Jack from last xmas..

also put in some bling, which i dont usually go for but these Heidi swapp bling are gorgeous.

challenge four:

minimilistic,

and this is my fav,,very minimal,

which was very hard for me to manage, kept wanting to put more on the page..

but i love how it turned out.

Ok blogger wont let me upload my final three layouts so might try later today..

Well had a great weekend..And once again before you know it its over..

to start :

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Friday night cyber cropping with Embellished. Always have a laugh and lots of fun to be had. Managed to complete two challenges, and am hoping to sneak in the third tonight..will see.

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My first is challenge one: a xmas photo using red on the layout.

These photos were from the earlier photo shoot with the kids.And dont you just love the basic grey christmas papers. I have used this weekend both papers from the dasher range and the fruit cake range..

The second layout is a sketch challenge .

Saturday morning saw me up bright and early to get Mike to a meeting at his work by 8am.

9am get Alex to army cadets and Happy birthday Alex. He turned 13 on sat 2nd December.

Get home and try and do some scrapping.

Pick Alex up at 2pm.

Get to shops to get his party stuff.

He is having a sleepover with some mates tonight..

Pick Mike up from work, put out treasure hunt.

Boys start arriving.

Pick up pizzas for dinner, try and scrap a bit more.

Sunday morning up bright and early to pack for the EMM christmas crop.

Oh yes, 10am till 5pm..And i had a ball meeting lots of new faces and chatting with old friends.

Also a wonderful thunderstorm to end the day..

Very nice and much wanted.

Get home, everyone had behaved themselves whilst i was away.

Dinner was cooked, roast beef and vegies.

Thanx Babe!

So that was my weekend..

Now back to the grindstone for another week.

Its Saturday night here, and ive decided that i should finish an album that i meant to start when i was pregnant with Jack. Yes a pregnancy journal. Now i went and brought papers and embellishments and a 6x6 album and......yes thats as far as i got,,

So today i finished two pages for it,, So i thought i might up load them onto here as i go.. But i need to do the first page first, As ive started in the middle..lol..does anyone else do silly things like that.. I did two pages of ultrasounds..lol..i still have to do the front page, the finsding out, and other pages before the ultrasound photos. So ill start at the beginning and post as i go..

Ill put it in my SCRAPCATS DESIGN LAYOUTS section in the side bar,,

I have in there my DT layouts at the moment.

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Now ive been busy with CHOOKSCRAPS this weekend. Its voting time on chookscraps survivor island!!!! After this weekends voting we will be down to five survivors. So go on over and take a look at the talent..its amazing.

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Also been busy at EMM, with their CYBER CROP.. Now i have just finished my three layouts for this weekend,,yay!!

This first layout was to use a bad photo and some handcutting on the page.. Well i think the whole photography bit on this photo was wrong,,Too many shadows, off sentre, not looking at the camera and one child missing in the background..Hand cut flowers.

This layout had to have circles on it..so i made my circles into baubles,, for a xmas theme,.
My third layout is part of my pregnancy journal which ill share later..

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I also did a xmas photo shoot with the kids this week and boy wasnt that fun..i wanted a nice peace shot..well yeah...here they are..

PEACE

I THINK NOT!!!!!

Our little christmas bauble..bit like ole Rudolph..

Well thats all for sharing for now..

Thanx for all the lovely comments about my blog and my work.

Much appreciated..

cheers

Hi aLL. iTS Monday morning here and i thought id get in early before Jack wakes up and do a post.. Not a lot to talk about.

Only my eldest son Michael,who turns 19 in December and is at uni, decided to go down to schoolies on Friday night. For those of you not in the know, schoolies is a large two week party on the gold coast for all school leavers, majority being year 12...Now of course with mobs of teenagers comes alcohol, drugs and of course sex. Now those young little innocent girls and boys can all look at the camera and say oh not me,no drugs, no alcohol and im still a virgin, Yes this last quip from a young girl on TV news last night..im wondering how many drinks she had had..lol..Any ways i tell my kids i was young once...dont tell me how careful you are,,because in the end its not always about you ..Now Michael went down this year as i wouldnt let him go last year. I told him i wanted his first drunken party to be in a safer environment, a small friends party perhaps, or at home. If its going to happen i dont want him far away on a beach, in a gutter and with complete starngers..lol..He ub=nderstood so no dramas last year..But this year off he and his mates went.with my blessing and many messages of be careful, ring me if anything happens, all the mum lines i could think of. He came home with a hang over as they spent the night at one of the night clubs.. Good for him!!Now 17 year old daughter who finished year 12 this year, new how i felt so hasnt even asked.. She just got herself a full time holiday job at Dreamworld. So im very proud of her. 15 year old son asks whether he can go when the time comes. And so begins the long speech about, drunken teenagers, men who prey on young kids, drug pushers and the sex which when drunk usually is not safe..Then there was the young kids killed on the sunshine coast, over the weekend,driving a V8. of course!!! No wonder these young kids are having accidents, they can barely drive, just given their p plates and they are put behind the wheel of a car with sooo much power..I had a V8 when i was 36 and i wanted to drive it fast too, cause i could, and how easy is it to loose control when you know what your doing. So needless to say second son will not be going to schoolies...This is where i as a parent put my foot down..And guess what it didnt hurt my first son and he turned out fine for not going...Its very hard being a parent to teenagers today..

Ok over my major ramblings some work to share..

Wasnt all that motivated this weekend..

This first layout is for my EDM, which i am totally way behind with, This was using the Michael Millar fabric in for keeps mag. I punched it into flowers.

This second Layout was for the CHOOKSCRAPS CC . It was to have remember in the title.Its of my dad way back in the 50s on stradbroke island, Not a lot on the island back then, and sooo cheap to buy land. But my dad thought who would live here?....lol.. Now try and buy land or housing there..lol. Oh and there is a journalling block there for i want to ask my mum about the photo and about the day and put it in in her words.

This third layout i had this photo of Jack having a very bad hair day....Was from a sketch over at chookscraps.

Well you think i could have done some more, but i spent too much time on this computer doing other stuff..lol.

Cheers all!!

.At chookscraps we are having a CC tonight and one of the clues was remembrance.. In honour of remebrance day just gone. So i thought i would share this layout of my dad i did some time last year. Its of my dad who served in the RAN and who died of cancer in 2004. A very proud man who fought for his country in Korea and Malaya. This layout contains letters he wrote to my mum whilst at sea during times of conflict. My dad was one of those men that didnt show affection as much as my mum would have loved, but these letters tell of a young man deeply in love with his wife.

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So in honour of all the men who have fought for our contry and continue to join the forces to protect our beautiful country, i would hope that those who read my blog give a minutes thought to them..As i just want to say thankyou

Oh ive been tagged...thanx Lorraine..lol
1. NAME: Francine
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes my grandfather on my fathers side was Frank. He died before i was born.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Everytime i watch a movie...sad i know..and not cause the movie is bad as Craig always says..lol
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Nope
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? strassburg
6. KIDS? Yes 5..son 19: daughter 17: son 15: son 13: son 1 and two step daughters: 10 and 8. oh so that would make 7,,,,lol
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes i think so..i go out of my way to please, im not confrontational, and i rarely have a bad word to say about anyone,
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Just this blog..
No9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? nope
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yes one day when im so old i dont care if i die...lol
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?special K
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? nope, usually its my running/walking shoes and when i finally reach home im too damn tired to do much at all!
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY? Physically, not so much. but mentally yes i am now..i never used to be, but ive been through a very abusive first marriage and i finally got meself some balls!!!!!
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Hmmm home icecream, macadamia nut..
16. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Thier teeth,,lol..just i had an accident when i was young and am very self conscious about my teeth so look at others all the time..
17.RED OR PINK? red
18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my fat stores...lol
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad...
20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? no..once is enough...lol
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? maroon track pants no shoes.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? red
23. FAVORITE SMELL? Hmmm thats a toughie,,vanilla or cocomut with a whiff of new baby powder smell thrown in..lol
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Craig,
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes, i dont know Lorraine that well, not in person anyways. So from what i know of her she is a lovely person
l26.FAVORITE DRINK? pepsi max
27. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Rugby league..
28. HAIR COLOR?today, dark brown with splashes of grey,,yime for a dye job!
29. EYE COLOR? blue
30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No
31. FAVORITE FOOD? Italian and greek, love baklava and my MIL cooking she is greek, those women know how to cook..shame i dont..lol
32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? scray movies!!!
33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? skeleton Key
34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? black
.35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? hmmmm..not a dessert person so would say, pavalova?
38. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No idea
39. MOST LIKELY NOT TO RESPOND? No idea here either
40. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Kathy Reichs : Cross bones,,and for a long time now cause im always on this bloody computer...lol
41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? dont have one..
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST ON TV LAST NIGHT? missing persons unit
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Rain on the roof while you are in bed
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? fiji
46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Ive been told i sing really well.
47. WHEN WERE YOU BORN? April
48.WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Waverly war memorial hospital Sydney
49. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? Travel to Egypt, not on the cards right now due to all the terrorism, but i will get there..Perhaps another baby? id love to study some more in counselling, i want to join the SES, and yes i would love to inherite a large ampount of money..so my kids can have fun and not think about working all their lives...
I tag..Ali and Kelly..cheers girls

Hi Everyone and welcome to my new look blog!!!

I havnt got any thing to share as ive been doing DT work and some secret santa stuff...shhhhhhhh

But have a few cyber crops this weekend...

There is one on at chookscraps and scrappers stash....

Yay!!!

So stay tuned..

well ive been a busy scrapper this weekend..

I have heaps to share but...

First things first..

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CHOOKSCRAPS survivor is down to the last ten survivors.aND ARNT THEY LOOKING TRIM TAUGHT AND TERRIFIC IN THEIR BIKINIS AND SARONGS ON OUR OWN CHOOK ISLAND ...

Congrats to all who have competed in this gruelling challenge,,Every fortnight being made to enter a layout that has been thought up by the DT at chookscraps..And what a mad bunch we are and the challenges have really seen the bar being lifted in way of outstanding scrapping..

Here is my sample layout for this weeks challenge:

Now this was a very quick layout using a prebrought: pre made page.. I just added a few things to make it my own and in under 15 minutes a page..I am slowly scrapping througfh last years xmas photos in readiness for this years photo festival..lol

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Next: Embellished Idol

Well i didnt get into the final three but im soooo very proud of myself to have gotten into the final 9. Is this being vain?? Oh who really cares if im vain, im proud to have gotten this far..lol

This week six were voted off and i was one of them.. But the competition was sooooo much fun and i have some gorgeous layouts to add to my albums..So thanx embellished for heaps of fun!!!

Cant wait to see who is the idol??

Better than the idol on channel ten..lol

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Now i also visited LSBS this weekend and managed a layout for them:

This was a sketch challenge that i really enjoyed..

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This layout was for scrapworld:

They were having a scrap and the city comp..But i didnt get any further than round three..

This one i did for a sketch at EMM..

And finally i spent some time at CRAFTING IN STYLE"S first cyber crop..

Its a brand new online shop and forum. So pop in and say hi to Jolene.

I completed two layouts that i am very happy with.

This first one was for a sketch challenge.

This second layout was to use four or more photos and it had to be related to something about firsts.Hence my first kiss caught on camera!

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And last but not least i did enter one challenge over at SCRAP PILE cyber crop.

Now perhaps you can see a common thread running through some of my layouts??

I brought some of the basic grey paper in the Romani line.

Now i thought it was gorgeous but had no idea what i was going to do with it as i first thought it was very girly, But i used it for Jacks layouts and i really loved it,, So used it all up on the weekend..lol

I dont think it looks too girly on his layouts,, Do you??

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Now all the scrap sites are over on the side bar if you want to go and check them out.

Im off to bed..

Night

Well what a busy week!!!
I worked four days, had a halloween party Tuesday night, out to dinner thursday night, picked up son from weeks camp and scrapping all weekend yay!!.

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Also got through to round seven on Embellish Idol..wow!!!! that was very exciting as i really didnt think i would get through. Now its a sketch challenge and im not feeling too motivated or insppired. Maybe im trying to hard? Here is my round six challenge layout..

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Also joined in the cyber crop at Embellished this weekend..
Only managed two layouts though,,wasnt too well Friday night and went to bed early,,so here they are..
This first layout was a double page sketch layout which i really enjoyed!!

This second layout was a b/w challenge with one other colour,,Loved these photos i had..and for those who have asked me,, Yes the picture above my bed is of a very sexy males body holding a little kitty cat,, And yes my partner had a problem with it: but ... i had that picture before my I had Craig, so it stays above our bed!!! If Craig doesnt like it he can sleep on the lounge...lol

I also have some great photos of our halloween pasrty but you will have to wait till i scrap them...lol..Gee that could be a while as i still have last years to scrap...lol..was thinking though might scrasp a photo of Stephanie for Embellished idol, in her angel costume,,she looks gorgeous..

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well thats it for now...have a great week all!!!

bad blogger bad blogger bad blogger............
oH HI THERE EVERYONE..
Ive been told by a good omnline friend that i havnt been a very good blogger lately...
hmmm well that is soooo true!!
so here i am to blog...

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I have been busy working and boy it sure does get in the way of scrapping...lol...pffftttttt
So just a quick blog today..

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I have a couple of layouts i can share....
Had fun at the cc over at EMM last weekend

The challenge for this layout had too have photos older than ten years..These are photos of my dad and my mums sister and my nan on stradbroke island 1955.Also one of the grafton floods and one of their car..

tHIS LAYOUT WAS FOR a challenge to cut out embellishments from pattern paper. ie the flowers.
This layout is of my eldest son Michael playing in the backyard.

Well i also forgot to mention that over at CHOOKSCRAPS the survivor competition is starting to hot up.

Challenge three was too take inspiration from a picture, i made up my layout using the colours in the picture.These were taken from our trip love the byron bay lighhthouse.

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Also i cant beleive im still inEmbellished idol.....This is my layout for round four Embellished Idol. and my layout for round five Embellished idol. We are now up to round six and im so proud to have made it this far. This round is very scary..lol..scrapping someone elses photo..cant wait to see everyones layouts tommorrow..

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Well till next time..cheers and happy scrapping!!!!