The Delightful Insanity {Of My Life}

some random stuff to share

Ok....so who did not bawl thier eye's out for Mondays'S B&S episode?

Tissue , anyone?

So, ages ago now i got some stuff from LoveElsie...but only just decided to upload the pic now. Not half as exciting as when it first arrived....but anyway!

feeling a bit guilty about now yet using any of it. Feeling even more guilty now that Elsies announcing her new ranges Lola & Riley. Ok, so how seriously slack am i ? Shes already onto her next range and i still haven't even used her first!!! Anyway pop on by HERE to check out a sneak peak of her new stuff.

Also got my kit from Kristina yesterday.

Love the products she put together and i can't wait to get creating!

So i've been busy working on my DT stuff for the  Finding You workshop held by Connie. This workshop is pretty amazing and if you don't know what i'm talking about, then check it out HERE. I think there still may some places left. Some of the artists involved in this project are ,Amber Ulmer,Kristina Contes,Shimelle Laine, Jo-Anne ter Raa, Cheryl manz and Caroline Ikeji 

The other day mum and I took the kids down to the beach for a scooter ride/walk. The kids loved riding around, and it was good to get out and get some fresh air. I went to get a take-away coffee but they only had small cups left, so i got 2. Mum had a bit of a chuckle at the fact that i was walking along the beach with 2 coffees in my hand. Anyway, watching the kids on their scooters that i bought them about 3 years ago made me realise i seriously need to update. So i'm thinking new bikes for the whole family. Might have to go bike shopping this weekend and layby some bikes (after the garage sale i'm planning to have that i've been putting off for weeks now).

Ooops....and look at that! Theres my photo for the day ;) Not the best i know....but it'll have to do.

And , hold onto your panties...cause i have a layout or 2 to share! LOL.

and this one, shot in bad lighting and crooked...but you get the idea.

Thats all for me for now!

xo

Z :)

i'm baaAAaack....

Finally getting over my *whatever it is i had* thingy. But i wans't completely wasting my time being sick, lol. I did spend a few hours updating my blog. Have you checked out my sidebar lately? I've added some new things to check out as well as categorising my posts. I haven't done them all, but i am making my way through old posts. I have also been setting up a private blog for my online classes, as well as a private blog showcasing the classes i am available to teach this year. (The latter is for businesses only. i'll post more on that later). Some other things have been happening whilst i've been MIA. Danielle had her baby. A gorgeous little boy, seriously cute...really you should check him out here.   Ive also been moving furniture around the house , and collecting a massive pile of junk to give away (non-scrapping stuff). Might just hold a big garage sale.

Ngai emailed me about this the other day. She was moved by a great Dove add...i'm sure you've seen it on TV by now. She wrote a post about her thoughts...definitely worth reading. I love the new Dove and Special K adds. Dove has been focussing on appreciating REAL BEAUTY, and special K has been about appreciating WOMANHOOD. Both are things i really need to do more appreciating of!

And just some pics to share with you....

heres a cute pic of my little man. He loves the Cars movie cars and ever since playing with Baylor in NZ (who had them all i think) he has wanted them all as well. So we have been on the hunt for all the Cars characters. They are super hard to find...so we've ended up having to bid on Ebay for some of his faves. This set came in the mail the other day and i cannot tell you how excited Kods was to get it...the camera just didn't quite capture his zeal!

And this makes me sooo happy......

Other things that are making me happy....

Travel Coffee mug from Starbucks at Burliegh Heads (stockland shopping centre) decorated by my kids. If you pick one up from there tell Matt hello from me :)

A pressie from my daughter from last year...one of my faves :) It's me and her at the beach.

A beautiful gift from my beautiful friend Bec. I just LOVE this statue...she sits perfectly on my bookshelf watching over everyone.

Some new drinking glasses ....look Rozzie, we match! LOL.

Some fun art books i bought on amazon.com

And last but noe least....

A layout  for this months  BOXX of SCRAPS from the Scrapboxx using my own design 'love you' stamp (which is a smaller version of the one you can buy)

Well...thats all for me for now! Oh...and just to let you know, i left my "when i loved myself enough" book at mums...so when i get it back, i'll start posting quotes again.

Z :)

 

 

TGIF

So it's Friday and i am just about to head out with my girlfriends to see the opening of a new gallery in Burliegh, followed by a Mexican fix at Montezumas (yummmmmmmmmmmy)

But before i go i just thought i'd share with you todays page of love:

"When i loved myself enough i felt compelled to slow down, WAY down.

And that has made all the difference."

Dont we all need to do a bit of that!

I have also been playing with my CRAFT ROBO a making some fun creations.

I love that i can use my own designs or handwriting, or that i can copy any design  i like and then use it over and over again.

Heres some Lo's i've come up with....

These are words in my own handwriting. Once i copied them into the program, i could then print them out any size i wanted, and cut them out in any colour cardstock i wanted. I have already used these words in a few different projects, and will hopefully have more lo's to share using them again soon.

These are some letters i cut out in sticky-backed vinyl to create my own sticker words. Totally impressed with that!

It can cut very finely too which is pretty cool. Much finer than even the border i used on this layout. I'm beginning to realise this machine might just save me a fortune in letter stickers and rub-ons ;)

And i have to give a big shout out to Fred from Skat Katz who has been ever so wonderful in helping me figure it all out (how to use it). Thanks Fred!

Anyway....thats it for me for now...i have art to see and mexican to eat :)

Gotta go!

Z

Oh....PS! Check THIS out....MUST be getting one of these. I love this girls work .

i should be in bed right now ;)

But I just learned how to use BlogLines , and am very happy about that. So i have been spending some time saving some blogs i like. What a great and easy system! If your into blogs and you dont use it, it is definitely a must do. Saves you so much time and makes keeping up with your friends/family's blogs so much easier!

I am still working on those online classes, but have lost my camera charger (in NZ i think). So until my new one comes i am unable to take any pictures which means i haven't been able to write up any instructions. So instead i've been cleaning out my hidden things. You know, stuff like your under the bed boxes, deep in the back of your linen cupboards, all the things that you've hidden and stored for years , most that you probably forgot you even had. But when i clean out these things i always actually end up making up more of a mess. I guess because i'm pulling it all out, so it's no longer hidden. Now it's just a visible mess all over my house. I have decided i keep to many things. I want to cleanse myself of all this junk. I've been putiing it all in this massive pile by my bed. It started in storage boxes , but then they overflowed and now it's just a mountain of junk beside my bed. Its so big, in fact, that i can no longer walk around that side of my bed. And if thats not bad enough, i have another pile growing in my lounge room. It consists of furniture peices we are getting rid of, but it too just keeps growing. And last night we picked up my dads TV (he bought a new one, and we got his old one....(which is BIG). Adam set it up on the stand that was dad 's old TV stand too, which has NO storage in it. Which means we now also have piles of old videos and DVDs on our lounge room floor. Plus the old TV stand, which was big and bulky, in pieces, right in the middle of my loungeroom floor (thanks for that hubby).

And just in case that wasn't enough....our couch broke. The supporting beam snapped in half. To stop the kids from climbing all over it we turned it upside down. It's really a shame i dont have a camera that works right now because i could take a picture of my loungeroom for you and post it. It could be my mothers day gift to you all, becuase trust me,  after seeing a picture of my  disaster of a loungeroom right now, you'd all of a sudden feel much MUCH better about your house , lol.

However, the good news is that i can finally get some new couches now! I am sooooooo excited about this as i was really over my old ones anyway. So i guess it was kind of a blessing in disguise...my couches breaking. I have been pouring over the IKEA catalouge trying to decide what i want, except that i keep getting carried away picking all this other furniture i really dont need and cant afford!

I thought i'd share some lo's as i haven't in awhile.

Heres a layout i did for Veronica (as seen in the Boxx Newsletter)

and heres 2 layouts i did imn Emilys class in NZ

I will also be picking my class winners tomorrow (oops, today actually, but at a more decent hour, lol)

But i will just leave you with this for now...todays page of love...

"When i loved myself enough, i came to know my own greatness."

Z

Happy Easter everybody!

Our Easter was fairly relaxed this year as we are going away soon and didn't want to do to much. So we didn't have the yearly Easter brunch at our house, and kept the Easter Egg hunt for our kids only (normally we do it with all the kids in our family all at once).

Seeing as Easter is a holiday fairly focused around sweets (namely chocolate), Adam and i reaLLY WANTED TO THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE TO  (oops, sorry bout the caps) do rather than stuff the kids with lollies every year. So we came up with a few ideas to cut out all those choices. WE decided that instead of having a basket full of sweets to wake up to, we would have the Bunny leave one small Easter treat, along with a note sending them on a hunt for their Easter treats. This idea originated from Adam who had a step-father who did something the same, but then grew after Rozzie told me about a friend of hers who also did the same thing.  I was also inspired by Elsie's idea of making felt bunnies. I saw this and liked it so much that Adam and i decided to start a new family tradition. Every year we thought we'd make them a new felt bunny each. Then when they out grew Easter, we could extend on that tradition by all making our own easter dolls together, as a family. So thank Els, for the cool idea! I also loved Rozzies idea of giving our kids a book every Easter....might steal that one too, thanks Rozzie ;)

Anyway....heres our first attempts at Easter Bunnies for the kids. I haven't made Zalis yet, as i still have till Wednesday to make hers. But i made one for Tatiana and Kody (kody's is a super-bunny with a mask and cape and all) and one for my nephew Beau. Adam made Entonis (the pirate bunny). he was going to do kodys as well, but it took longer than he thought. I am quite proud of our little Eater bunnies and had so much fun making them.....Can't wait to make more! (oh NO....not another hobby! lol)

On Thursday before school was out, the kids had their first ever Easter Bonnet Parade along with crazy hair and socks day. So we made some Easter hats the night before, stitched up some make-shift socks the morning of (forgot until 10 minutes before school!), spray painted Entonis hair blue and styled Tatianas hair with a whole bunch of crazy bows. You can't actually notice their hair in any of the pics, lol. Tatiana didn't see me for the first half of the parade , even though i was screaming our "go Tatiana....I love you!" at the top of my lungs eveytime she walked past. She looked so sad, looking for me in the crown , thinking i wasn't there. But then she finally saw me and couldn't stop smiling after that. Entoni found me straight away so he was all good. It was so cute seeing all the kids parade around so proudly in their little Easter hats. Things like that always get me all emotional too....yep, I'm a real sop. get that from my mum....and i used to laugh at her for being like that! LOL.

ETA OK...so my blog has a mind of it's own today and is posting my photos where ever IT wants to, not where I want it to! But easter parade pics are at the top of this post :P

And heres some pics of the kids after their Easter Egg Hunt.

So how do you celebrate Easter? I would love to know what traditions you have or what you do on easter. It's always so fun to hear how other people celebrate their holidays!

The week before eater was the twins Birthday. Again, we kept the celebrations small this year, with a picnic in the park with family. Tatiana got a pair of roller skates and Entoni got a skate board. They gave them a go in the back yard...so funny to watch! Entoni decided it was much easier to just lay on his stomach and push with his arms, and Tatiana kept falling on her but...lol, needed some bottom pads i think!

.

aND ON THE SCRAPPING FRONT... (oops, done the caps thing again) heres the layout i did for the Aussie dares site awhile back. Although i just noticed my S has fallen off! It's supposed to say, "My Peeps"

Oh....and last but not least.....the WINNER for the Freestyle Class in New Zealand is.......

(drum roll please!)

Kelly R!!!!!! Congrats Kelly. I'll email you with the details:)

Thats all for me for now. Enjoy your easter weekend!

PS I have updated all my Class Pics for this year (see side bar albums) so if you have taken one of my classes you should check it out...you might just be in there!

xoxox

Z 

it's been awhile...

i know.

thought i'd finally share some stuff with you.

heres last years Stitch-a-Doodle class from the Paper Crafts in Sydney.

And this was a mini album class....

Some Every Day Moments layouts for FK mag....

ok...thats all for me.

Happy Scrapping!

Z :)

OMG...only 2 more sleeps!

And thats if you count tonight. ..which is really now tomorrow already.

Are you ready yet??????

Cause i am NOT!

LOL

I've been making some frames for my neighbor as Chrissy pressies for his wife and brother in law. They lost their father this year. I kept the layouts for this one  simple. the frames were huge! 24" x 24".

I took some pics, but they all came out really bad. Still haven't had time to work out my new camera :(

This is it out of the frame.

 

And these are some pics the kids made for their teachers (as seen in the Scrapboxx newsletter)... 

My layout for Everyday moments (for keeps)

This is my Gorgeous little nephew, Beau....

me, Beau and mummy :)

Heres Kody with my iPodShuffle (too cute)...

{ignore the mess on my kitchen table}

And heres what someone did to the stop sign near my dads house...

Love that!

Hope you are way more organized for Chrissy than i am, lol.

Z :)

stuff to share

My families all be sick. Some sort of stomach bug.

Ugh...poor things. I've had it up to my head in poo and vomit.

fun fun fun :)

But on a brighter note, i have some stuff to share. Most of it's actually all old stuff that i just never got around to posting.

Heres this months Boxx of Scraps lo for the Scrapboxx. And check out the ScrapBoxx Newsletter for this month out now. There are some amazing lo's and Maria's having a HUGE pre-xmas sale. Also we say goodbye to 2 of our DT members Lou and Sarah :(

Here is my Colour LO for the newsletter..

And this was an on line class i taught on the Boxx. We did the 2 layouts with one kit.

This is my Everyday Moments layout for For keeps magazine.

And these are just some random layouts....

And i have finished my Class Projects for Seriously Scrapbooks and i just can't wait to teach them! They are going to be such super FUN classes (if i do say so myself, he he). But they really are! Seriously scrapbooks is celebrating their first birthday this month. It's been one year since they opened in Broadbeach on the gold Coast. And Christies been planning some great stuff all month to celebrate. I'll be teaching two projects, a poppet style canvas and a mini album, on Saturday the 25th for a full day of  socializing, lunch ( and yummy treats...i saw what they had at Ericas classes...mmmmm!) and lots of creative fun....so look HERE for more details. Seats are limited , so book soon to reserve a place. Both projects are fun and make great Christmas gift ideas for friends and family.

Heres a sneak peak at one of the projects....

Well, i hope to see you there!

Z :)

ScrapBoxx Newsletter Now Out!

This months Scrapboxx Updates Newsletter is just jammed packed with scrappy goodness! And if you haven't yet been...you must check out the gorgeous new stock Maria's loading in as we speak.

This month i put together a mini-album called "She Loves...." which captures just some of the things my daughter loves at the age of 5. I really enjoyed doing this album, which surprised me as i normally do not like the idea of mini-albums. They've always just seemed like a waste of time to me. but now, i have to admit, I've been converted. Perhaps it had something to do with attending Ali Edwards gorgeous mini album classes at Kiwi Scraps (all of which, i might add, are still lying uncompleted on my desk somewhere, lol). Not only have  i changed my mind about how i feel about them, but i am now also doing some awsome mini album classes HERE, HERE, and HERE!

Anyway...heres a look at the "She Loves...." take 20 album.

And heres a layout i did featuring picture stamps. you'll find some great tips and tricks for using stamps on your layout in the Update Newsletter.... (the sequins look a bit black in this picture, but they are really a nice soft lavender colour).

OK, well thats all for me!

Thanks for looking.

Z :)

*** EDITED TO ADD

Guess i can tell you the good news!!!!

Autumn Leaves is releasing another Freetsyle book with the (obvouis) name of Freestyle 2 {hee hee}!

They will be advertising it at Memory Trends, but i don't think it will start shipping till early next year, so keep an eye out for this one. There will be some new and totally awe-inspiring talent included in this book such as the amazing Elsie Flannigan, Michelle Wood , Maria Grace Abuzman, Wilna Furstenberg, Hanni Baumgardner, Ruth Akers, Amber Clark, Jennifer Jonah, Keisha Campbell, Rhonna Farrer, and Marilyn Healy! And thats just ON TOP of the first Freestyle artists! (i really hope i haven't left anyone out). The works in this book are just amazing, really, truly amazingly inspiring!

{ those highlighted in pink can be found in my side-bar under "Eye-spy with my little eye"}

Oh and i will try and do the draw for the Freestyle book tonight or tomorrow. All those who purchased kits, not just classes,  are also included in the draw.

chow!

Z :)

catching up on things....

This time of the year always scares me and excites me all at the same time. It's when i realise that we only have 2 months till Xmas, and i haven't even started my shopping yet! We also have Thanksgiving (i'm American, remember), halloween, 4 family birthdays, and Christmas. Yes...we actually celebrate all these holidays at my house. Why? Because with all our family put together we usually have around 35 people all together, and no one eles in our family is insane enough to attempt entertaining that many people, lol ! So you can imagine that from now till next year is just crazy in our house.

The last 2 weeks have been pretty hectic as well. Tatiana is doing much better. I took her out to the beach yesterday to get her out of the house , which she loved.

Her and Kody had a great time running away from the waters edge and collecting shells, while Entoni was off fishing with dad.

Tatiana lost her first tooth the other day. It all happened pretty quickly really. One day she told us she had a wiggly tooth and by night the next day, it was out! Just like that! Thank goodness..because i just had these images of me having to finally pull the tooth out myself if it wouldn't come out on it's own (ahem....Alison ;)

So we told her all about the toothfairy and how it all works when you loose a tooth. She was very excited! I even pulled out the letters my toothfairy left me when i was a little girl to show her! (yes, my toothfairy wrote me little letters, and i still have them. I even have some of my tooth fairy money still!)

 

Just look at that cute toothless grin!

Did i mention that Kody is a Cars Movie Nut? Well, he is. When i went to London i bought him a cars movie PJ set and rubber boots. Needless to say...he loves them. So much so that once they are on he won't take them off. Being the responsible parent that i am {ahem} i let him wear the outfit for 3 days and nights without taking it off. Not really by choice...i did try to get it off. But it was kina cute, so i guess i didn't try that hard. But when it finally came time to get it off, i had to get Tatiana to sit on him and pin him down so i could pull it all off as quickly as possible while he screamed the house down. Then i would wash it straight away so as to get it back to him as quickly as possible again....and so it goes again, lol. My husband was mortified when he found out i was going out letting my son wear him pj's and rainboots in public! I just thought it was cute.

Still haven't figured how to unlock my pictures from London, but as soon as i do i'll be posting more! When i was in London i bought thses YUMMY chili stuffed olives at the markets. OMG they were so good! I thought i bought enough for the next few days but ended up eating them all by the evening! So i was very excited when i found some here on the Gold Coast. Definitely no comparison to the ones from London, but still delicious!

Anyway, i'll finish off by sharing a layout that i did for Aussie Scrap Source on Doodling.

And a layout that i actually made last year , but haven't shared with anyone until now. The pics are of my gorgeous friend Fadwa while she was pregnant. The journalling is all her own.

And heres some fairy soup the kids made for the tooth fairy just in case she comes back for a visit....

Hope everyone is enjoying there weekend!

Z :)