Wow I'm slack/busy/tired... and this post will say the date with which this entry was started... now finally ...


helloooo everyone!

Well can I start at the beginning?.... Two Saturday's ago (LOL! Yes its been that long... I appologise to those of you who have turned up here to find me out - I've been considering whether I wanted to continue blogging - everyone goes through it Am I right?- its normal and Im back!) I drove to Jen's for her almighty mighty pj birthday party! After doing a bit of shopping first LOL! I arrived to find no one in their jimmy jams... hoh! There was Ange (congrats Ange!) & Kell & Janelle & Kelley & Sara & Regina & Carol! So we were all a bunch of excited -ready for a party- nellies... twittering around stuffing goodies into the very orifices with which we would later ohhhh and ahhh with! ...I mean scrapping royalty were coming to honour Mrs Hall for her birthday... Julie Love, (who's blog I read every day, (and who is also in the footy tipping comp) Vicki (in the footy tipping too I think) & Maryia, Kim Archer (who I have been in the same room as before though never met LOL) and Fiona Carter (GURU!) Now I know Jen really well and consider her a great mate... She is warm and kind and creative.. & so now I know her the awe factor has worn off in the sense of when Im around her she is 'Just Jen' (Of course when she's scrapping is a TOTALLY different story- I go back to being a wide eyed admirer) Im not sure what I expected from Julie, Kim & Fiona but I think I expected musical notes or bubbles or glitter to come spewing forth from their mouths when they spoke... these women are hard core scrappers.. they must have forgotten more than I may ever know about design/colour/placement etc etc So my expectations were higher than high... I almost wanted one of them to walk in and ask "Where's the damn bowl full of only red M & M's ?"...LOL! I guess I watch too much Entertainment Tonight! (Or maybe I had confused these ladies with Paris & Nicole LOL!)

anyway

Either way I was excited to meet these women (who Ive admired and read so much about) at Jen's birthday party... you know just to see for myself that ...they're just chicks... you know... they came in... got introduced to every one... sat down and chatted... coming into a room (Jen's studio) with all these other women, a whole studio stuffed to the rafters with goodies and albums and toys... well it must have been a little overwhelming... I didn't get any holy visions... no epiphanies... nothing... Mind you I didn't get to chat much... Im just saying that it was a party for Jen and so it was... No one tried to outdo anyone else (though I made a huge booboo and woke poor cutie-patootie Maryia up with my hooting and clapping while singing Happy Birthday to Jen (felt about 2 inches tall then) little chicken had just had a bottle and got off to sleep and clutzy me... woke her up... sorry kiddo... but she didn't cry... just carried on like the little champion she is...)

So then after we ate Fionas delicious cupcakes, had photos taken and cleaned up a bit and Jen cleaned the whole house so Will had nothing to whinge about when he got home (bloody Men!) and we went to bed... Admittedly it was early in the morning... so then up and at'em for a little more shopping then the Scrap Needs monthly crop day... a great weekend...

I have finished my projects for Singleton Crafts & Scrapbooking... the new owner Joanne takes over on July 1 and I've gone a bit mad with the next two classes... ladies better have your weetbix... we've gotta get through a fair bit!

The best little bit of news is this....

I came runner up in the Scrapbooking Memories Canon Advanced Simplicity challenge... So on Thursday afternoon, after work, I picked up my new Canon printer with a paper pack & an A620 7.1MP powershot camera... now this little baby makes the old 6.1MP Kodak look like a box brownie... the Canon has so many settings too... manual, my colours and the super fast start up and processor! Sound like an ad? You betcha! For those of you who like me cant really go spending the sort of moolah a Rebel ... I personally think this camera is the bomb... been mucking around with it and got some awesome shots... it really makes a difference, makes you a beter photographer when you have more control... and that makes sense! & I didnt even win! I was runner up ... so whoever won the big prize has themselves the top of the range powershot!... happy days!

The winners layouts will be in the August issue of SM...

Of course NOW I cant load any pics from the Canon on to here.. not sure why but I will get to the bottom of it!

What else to tell? If nothing else blogging has found me a great mate... I love that! You know who you are! ;-)

The Ladies went to separate Family Day Care houses yesterday... its just the way it has worked out. If I want day care... I have to work with what they can give me. SO it was amazing, dropped Charlotte off with the new (Mum) and as soon as she hit the ground, she was off... she ran for the half an hour I stood there making sure she would be ok... This new Mum Chris is unreal.. her backyard is 1 acre and specifically made for day care.. Huge shed, massive cubby, TV, big blackboard, my goodness its a kids paradise... Chris took Charlotte to playgroup with her during the day and they had a sausage sizzle (Charlotte doesn't mind a feed! & she smelt of sausages when I picked her up... Chris said she ate 3 LOL! That's my girl!).. the kid's got it made... so then back in the car to take Claire (Claire screamed and yelled at me as we drove away... she knew we'd forgotten Chuck LOL!) who has to have a blankie and is a little more reserved went to the usual Day Care Mum Shannon.. What a difference! When I went to pick up Claire, Shannon couldn't believe how different Claire was without Charlotte... Apparently she was so independent, clever, not whingy, put her own shoes on after nap time and really had a brilliant day without her sister... WIN WIN! Im so happy!

The homework for Crafting Connection is up on Kiwi Scraps... Im so excited about that event that I'll probably need oxygen while Im there... Cathy Zielske has a great post at her blog about rock- sand, well worth the quick read... That's my idea of scrapping, It aint about the product .. its about the trigger, the emotion left after reading that jounalling.. you know when youve hit the spot if after you read it back and you cannot stop the grin... or the tear...

Still cant get damn photos up! argghh! I think I have a cookie issue! Well I know I have a chockie chip cookie issue LOL! Ive uploaded about a million photos and they're going somewhere, just not to blogger LOL! Anyway Im back now after a long think about why Im blogging... hang on to you hats!

Everyone needs to read this post from Rachie! http://underlockandkey.id.au/

Now some revelations from me LOL! It seems to me that there are women in 'our' scrapping community who use blogs more like advertising space (And there's a plug for Robbie in December!) Im of the opinion (and Im not having a go - I do it too)... it just something Ive realised and want to say - a bit slow on the uptake aren't I?) that some blogs I read are more for advertising upcoming events and products (hey you've gotta be able to make a living too) than for an insight into creativity or the process of scrapping... through reading blogs I have made many observations and my 1st thought of 'a blog' was the deep an anonymous blurbing of people with interesting lives (like New york hookers or wry and amusing middle aged G.P.'s LOL!)... (Ive been reading blogs like that for yonks), but our scrapping blogs are more of a network to keep up with industry happenings... no real opinions are being expressed (which may hurt others - N.B. !!! this, I think after some consideration is the way it should be - there should be no lists of what wrong with women LOL! (Not having a go at Alison either! - just that the idea of making a list of what's wrong... is dwelling on the negative - and yeah you have to acknowledge before you can fix etc etc.. I could go on but I wont!) - there should however be a healthy supportive (without turning into a whingefest!!!) community of creative women with a common interest - where the wild and the pretty things can come together and be themselves and most of all be CREATIVE!) I haven't come across any open, frank and obvious bloggers (unless of course you read this from the U.S. http://2peasinmyazz.blogspot.com/ funny!) Im not asking for a blog to start up to critisise and upset people... Im just observing that occasionally when you meet someone you have such a lot of background info on them (from their blog) ... I guess thats the stuff of life.. and the best bit is that here in Australia we are such a good community to belong to...
but with a craft as broad as scrapping as a common interest.. there's always going to be a bit of mystery and something to chat with your buds about... cos we all do it.. we put on our blog faces and blog away.. then we 'chat' about things we heard, read etc (insert gossip there, hell you know what Im trying to say) we are made that way.. hard wired to disect and discuss... Most of what Ive just said is obvious and ultimately what Im saying is that my blog isnt for my deepest thoughts and feelings.. after all where would that STOP! you never reveal all of what youre thinking to anyone.. why should you here? Id like to think my blog is a little insight, a little humour and a little of the core of me... hey just like the way I scrap! What was I worried about?

Libby xxx

(back from outer (head) space)

ps Elsie's F's coming to Australia in November.. Im guessing its for ISC at Penrith... Hmmm save them pennies gals another bunch a classes!