Just for Fun

I decided to change up the look of my blog. You like? I was never happy with the all white design. I need color!

A few things going on this weekend. First of all, many many great sales at My Digital Muse. Do yourself a favor and check them out. Tara is taking 35% off everything!

Also, Jen Wilson is taking votes for her attire/accessorize challenge. It'simply a matter of looking through the runway challenge gallery, choosing one winner for each week's challenge (there are seven total) and sending them to Jen via email. CT layouts are not eligible so I may have 1/2 a chance. (hahahaha). Votes have to be in by midnight Saturday.

And one more thing just for fun. Not my normal style of LO - a little messy and funky - but then what really is my style?? Click on the image for credits.

Journaling:As soon as I say we're going to stop for a coffee, you yell "muffin!". I suppose I buy you one pretty much any time we stop for coffee. And the one thing I've discovered - you really really really like muffins!August, 2007

Thanks for stopping by

Nicole

Post and Run

Not a lot of time to post today but I did want to stop by quickly to say "Hi" and share a couple of fun things with you.

I picked up this little number online today. No, it's not a new accessory for a night on the town with the girls - but a rather cute little accessory for a certain soon to be two year old's Blues Clues themed party. How cute is this! There is definitely a photo shoot planned...

I also simpsonized myself many weeks ago but forgot to post. I'm not sure it really resembles me at all but you be the judge. Here's the link if you want to Simpsonize yourself.

And finally, another layout to share. This one is for the challenge on Nancy's blog this week where we were asked to use her horizontal or vertical frames in a creative way. Not sure this is creative enough so I may give it another shot, but I love the LO. I used some of Lauren Reid's gorgeous products as well as a glitter swirl from Kylie Clark that I have been wanting to use for a long time. Click on the image for credits and a clearer view of the journaling.

Anyway have to run. I need to call someone in Hong Kong for work and then I have to get home. Kei is spending the week at home with Thomas and I have to make sure I get home early enough so that I am still my baby's favourite person. ; ) Well I guess that goes for both of them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nicole

A Scrapping Frenzy

I have been scrapping up a storm thanks to some contest deadlines. Jen Wilson decided to make it especially difficult for me by posting not one, but the final four challenges for her attire/accessorize line while I was away. Deadline was today and I was determined to get as many done as possible. I ran out of time for the final challenge but I did manage to get three done in the past couple of days. Click on images for full credits.

I also completed two challenges for Nancy Comelab. The first one is a week late but still counts towards the 20 challenges I am determined to complete. This one is a scraplift of Peta, one of Nancy's CT team members and a fellow Aussie.

This Nancy challenge is due tomorrow and was all all about monochromatic layouts while I find extremely difficult. I do love a little bit of accent colour but I think I pulled it off. :)

Anyway, that's it for now. Next up: CT layouts for Tara, MDM, Dani and an article for Lauren's newsletter. Phew!

Thanks for stopping by.

Nicole

Home again

As much as I miss my family (and Aussie winters that are more like spring) it feels so great to be home. Thomas and I survived the marathon 30 hour trek and arrived home late on Wednesday night.

The flight home is always more difficult, thanks to unecessary plane transfers in Sydney and a six hour layover in San Francisco. It's just painful to be so close to home, yet still so far. In addition to the agony of sitting in an airport trying to keep an (almost) two year old occupied after only 4 hours of sleep, Qantas mnaged to lose my stroller. If you have ever tried to carry two items of hand luggage, pay for food AND keep an (almost) two year old from heading to the nearest boarding plane all at the same time then you will understand my pain. All I can say is thank heavens for portable DVD players and movie length episodes of Blues Clues.

But we are home... (insert big deep breath here). So great to see my husband and my house and my own bed. Not so great to have to return to work while still jetlagged but I am now officially in negative digits with my personal leave time.

I have so much to catch up with. I hear Dani has released a couple of new kits (man she's been busy!) and I have layouts to do for Tara and MDM. In addition I was not able to announce something before I left... drum roll please... I am on the newsletter team for Lauren Reid. I love her designs and I am just so excited. Need to get working on something ASAP as her first newsletter is due soon. Make sure you sign up to receive it on her blog.

Before I get back to the 1500 work emails requiring my attention (and no, that is not an exaggeration!), thought I'd leave you with some more favourite pics from my trip.

"Helping" Grandpa

This is a fave

Having fun with Uncle Ben. Thomas' favourite phrase right now is "Right There!" with two pointing fingers. As in "Where's Mummy?" "Right There!"

Uncle Ben

The horses on the property behind my Mum and Dad's house were a daily attraction.

Watching Blues Clues with Uncle Ben.

Uncle Jono (a little blurry, I know but it's the best shot I was able to get. Jono is not very cooperative when it comes to taking phtos.

Thanks for stopping by

Ta Ta for Now

Nicole

Live from Oz

We made it safely to Melbourne with only a minor meltdown as we passed through customs (Thomas, not me). Thomas was so great on the plane. He slept for eight hours, watched DVDs for two and happily played for the rest. It was only in the last couple of hours that he put on his backpack, grabbed his blanket and proceeded towards the exit doors. I don't blame him though. I was ready to disembark 12 hours into the flight as well.

I will never fly with a US airline again - at least not to Australia. We came over with United last time (two years ago) and this trip with Qantas was like night and day. They are just so much more thoughtful and understanding, which is what you want when you are traveling alone with a toddler. They also provide you with a menu that outlines exactly what AND when you will be eating. I will overlook the fact that the on-demand video system wasn't working. But a minor hiccup in the scheme of things.

So now that my Qantas commercial is over, I am able to share some photos. For the first few days we spent a lot of time catching up with friends and family in Melbourne, but then we traveled up to Yarrawonga where my parents live to really relax. Thomas is loving the wide open spaces - including the opportunity to get up close and personal with some Aussie animals courtesy of a local animal park. I was born and raised an Aussie and even I have not had the opportunity to experience feeding a joey before. Simply amazing.

I don't have much time to post tonight because... well it's freezing in my Dad's study (seriously - turn on the heat Dad!) and the connection is sooooo slow. I'll be back to post some more soon and can't wait to get home to muy husband and back to scrapping.

More soon.

Nicole

I Lied..

I said I wouldn't take a new CT position, but an opportunity came along that was just too good to pass up. I will share the details soon... so exciting.

My travels begin tomorrow. I have to head to Seattle for a couple of days before I fly to Australia on Wednesday. I am starting to get very stressed out with all the work I have to do before them - both for my real job and at home. I think I'm going to have to reduce my scrap time for a couple days - unless the new Nancy Comelab and Jen Wilson challenges post of course.

I am not taking my computer to Australia. I just don't the distraction would be good given that I'm seeing some people for the first time in two years - brothers included. I think it may just kill me if the 24 hour solo flight with a two year old doesn't do me in first.

Anyway, here's a quick LO I made with Sasha Jane Products at MDM. Good reminder that I CANNOT forget the DVD player. :)

Credits

Have a great Monday

Nicole

My morning so far..

Enough said... Happy Friday everyone

Nicole

Me Me Me!

The challenge on Nancy's blog this week was to scrap a page with many different photos of myself. Unfortunately this meant that I had to TAKE some photos of myself - something I hate. I am much more comfortable behind the camera.

So I set up a little makeshift studio in our back room. It's the best room in the house for lighting so that I could avoid flash. I hung a red blanket over a drying rack for a makeshift backdrop, put Blue's Clues on the TV to keep Thomas occupied and proceeded to take about 100 photos. About a quarter of them were subject to the delete key, but a few made it into my layout.

And here is the result - a page with nothing but me me me. Probably the toughest page I have ever pulled together.

Credits

Thanks for stopping by

Nicole

Scrapapalooza!

It's a scrapping frenzy! The start of the month means a new Muse Journal, which also means I can now share a whole bunch of LOs that I have been working on. Oh, and make sure you pick up the Journal. It has a some really interesting articles from the team and a free kit from Tara that rocks!

This one is for the Muse of the Month scraplift. I had the pleasure of lifting one of Dani's layouts - no easy task but a lot of fun.

Credits

This one is for Tiff's Multi-Photo template challenge which starts today. Fabulous template!

Credits

And last, but not least, a LO using Tara's free kit. She also has a lot of new products in the store that coordinate with the kit so make sure you check those out too.

Credits

Note: Credits today are all linked to the MDM store. It's DST's 1st birthday and the site is painfully slow today.

Oh, and I did some shopping late last night - if you are not aware, Jen Wilson is selling almost a;; of her element packs for $1 each! I picked up about 12. :) And Little Dreamer has a grab bag that combines products from all of the designers. The contents definitely did not disappoint. :)

Next on the list of things to do

• Finalize September Muse article
• LO for Tara's CT
• MDM CT Layouts
• Photo for MDM photo challenge (I am not hosting this month due to travel plans but I will contribute a pic)
• Nancy Comelab blog challenge
• LDD Blog Challenge with Grab bag items
• JWD Attire Challenge #4 (not posted yet but I am eagerly awaiting)

And all of this during a crazy week at work and right before I head to Australia - in just one week! Eeeeck!

Have a great day.

Nicole