Create...

Yep. I had a little time to play. But..... I can't share in full. Sorry.

So here is a little sneak peek! Something a little vintage (well... my take on vintage! LOL!!)

Also wishing everyone a very Happy Australia Day!! Hope you throw a shrimp on the barbie, chase the dog off the tucker box and don't forget to slip, slop, slap.....especially if you are wearing thongs! Hee!!! Have a fabulous Aussie day!!
Stay tuned....x

*sob* Another one at school...

...hee! Sorry. I've been a bad blogger but my little man started Prep this week. So, I'm sure you'll forgive me - since I've had the wind knocked out of my sails! LOL! (Especially when he still asks me if I'll miss him!).

Okay...So this is not the first time I've done the whole "my baby is starting school! When did he find the time to grow up!" routine! In fact it's not even the second time I've gone through it. LOL! No seriously.... It wasn't that bad.... this time! hee! I am very glad to report he was very comfortable going to school.

He has never had kindy or day care - so it was all very new for him. And I guess that's exactly where all my concerns lie.

But I'm back on track now and I have even had the motivation to scrap! Yay! As for Ethan... Well... There were mixed feelings on his first day. He was ever so brave and a little bit nervous too!

But most of all, he was "super" excited!!

In the back of his mind, he knew he had his big brother and big sister close by for support... Even though older school students aren't allowed near the Prep area during school hours.

And once he found his name badge and got inside his classroom...

All was "cool" with a big thumbs up! No tears. From Ethan or from me! And the best part of the day for him, was his teacher. Especially since she knows how to tie shoe laces! Hmmm... Too cute!

What's with the face?...

LOL!

I'm sure he thought he was the "bee's knees" when he was sitting up at the top of the slide. Well, why not?! hee! He was at the top of the world!

And loving every minute of it!

I mean...... What's a boy to do, but to take advantage of the dare devil time, Mum reluctantly gives out and wriggle your toes a bit!

But just how far is she going to let you get away with your antics???????
hee!

All I know is.......my parenting sure has changed, between when the eldest first tried to break free and climb the slide un-assisted and when the youngest just charges in and gives it a "go"!

Happy Wednesday...x

Create...

Inspired Blueprints has released Sketch #64.

I loved this layout sketch! Lots of fun and detail here. The Design Team has done an outstanding job, once again!! Check them out...

Here's what I came up with...

{Have Bike will Travel}

Thanks for visiting...x

Create...

Today I wanted share another layout I created for Storyboard Kits (Giselle - sold out). This was actually the first one I made from the kit and it has many....ummm, many layers! LOL!

{Bubbles}

journaling: Who would have thought that such a small bottle of party bubbles could be so much fun!!!

If you would like to know more details, head on over here for my step by step. Have a great day.

Create...

Today as promised... :) I want to share my first layouts created with the Giselle Kit (sold out) from Storyboard Kits!

These kits have so much gorgeous detail and versatile papers included that you can create just about any layout you desire! LOL!

{Cats}

In this LO I have used the reverse side of the Basic Grey laser cut doily, so it stands out against the background paper. I have also added paint and ink to the edges of page and the peek-a-boo grid at the top, to complete the look I wanted.

The dress maker's pattern paper was perfect for adding texture and replicating the flowers on the background patterned paper.

{Home for Xmas}

I love trying to create a LO out out of non-traditional products and this is what I have done here (hopefully - to some degree of success! LOL!). And yes... there's more layering here too... :)

{Prep}

The October Afternoon "Chalkboard" papers were perfect for this LO I wanted to create about Ethan. This was the day he found out which class he will in this year. He also got to meet his new teacher - Mrs Thompson. He was so excited to find his name up on the board!!

Again there are a few layers on this LO too! hee! But I think I love the bakers twine most of all!

Thanks for visiting and letting me share these LOs. I absolutely love these kits but I have a feeling, since the roads are damaged and still cut in some places by flood waters, that my next kit may take some time in arriving! *sigh* Gotta love Mother Nature for getting in the way of some serious scrapping time!! LOL! Keep smiling...x

Create = Therapy...

Does it feel weird to be moving on with things when there is so much devastation on my doorstep? To me, yes. It is so hard to comprehend. Honestly. I know some people are starting to become desensitized to the sight of a raging river, but it still makes my heart hurt. And my head hurt, just trying to understand this disaster.

But Queenslanders are stoic people. We will bounce back. And bounce back strong. Because we have a wonderful spirit as Australians and it amazes me how something such as craft, paper or otherwise, is being used to help others in need.

This wonderful lady, Sharryn Thomson, has started a blog called "The Rising Waters Flood Appeal for Crafters". There's a call out to all crafters to donate their time and talents to creating projects for the people who have lost everything in this chaos.

Kaisercraft has donated a $100 voucher to be awarded as a ticket draw prize, to a person who gets involved in the appeal. Their challenge is "For every item contributed to the appeal, we'll issue a ticket in the draw for a $100 Kaisercraft gift voucher. However to be eligible for the draw we ask that you use mostly Kaisercraft products."

The Toowoomba Kaisercraft outlet was affected by the flash flooding and they are getting involved too. So please check out this appeal and if you can help, I'm sure it will be most gratefully accepted.

It is my blogging week at Kaisercraft and I wanted to share my projects with you here because as my blog title suggests, creating = therapy. (Thanks for that one LJ!)

These projects are created using the gorgeous new "Love Notes" collection.

{Mini Rock Eisteddfods}

{Love} album

To see more, head on over to Kaisercraft. Thanks for visiting....x

ps - I will post my Storyboard Kits layouts tomorrow! LOL!

*We are safe*...

Hello everyone. I just wanted to respond and say thank-you to all the numerous e-mails, sms texts, facebook comments and phone calls we received yesterday regarding our situation here with the floods in Caboolture. I know our family and friends overseas and in the northern parts of Queensland, were very concerned. But thankfully, we are safe.

Because I want to record these moments in our lives I will try to document what happened with "Our Little Family" as events unfolded yesterday. After all, that's what I do here! LOL!! Words and photos right!

Late Monday night we went to bed with shocking and horrifying images of the Toowoomba images fresh in our minds. I was so worried and concerned for my friends up there with the devastating flash floods up on the hill. Yes. On the hill. By now everyone knows about what happen. It is world wide news.

Unimaginable.

Just let me clarify, that we were never and currently are not in danger to that magnitude. Even though we received the National Emergency text.

"Immediate Flash Flood Warning from SES for Caboolture, Burpengary Areas. Very high water levels in Rivers and Creeks. Seek higher ground NOW."

Frightening? Most definitely when you have four children aged 10 and under in the house.

We woke yesterday morning to the crack of lightning and the boom of thunder. Massive thunder. Water was already streaming down our street.

We are in a situation here that because we live on a bend in the road, this time with the heavy rain the gutters are not able to cope with the downpour. The road yesterday, became a river and it was headed straight to our front door.

I didn't want Mark to go to work. He works for the Brisbane City Council right on the Brisbane River. At this point even if it were urgent for him to get to work, he couldn't. The minor roads around us were cut by rising waters.

Fortunately it didn't get any higher than our front door. But the water was rising in our backyard.

The overflow drain pipe beside our property was gushing. It could no longer direct the flow of water let alone hold it. The debris along our fence line seem to act as a small barrier and dam it for a while. But breaks in it allowed waterfalls to pour freely into our backyard.

We went back to the television to see what was happening and saw even more destructive images of Toowoomba, Helidon, Grantham and surrounding areas.

I called my friend Leanne, very concerned for her welfare and her young family's safety. I also suspected she would know the situations of other online friends. Thankfully she was safe.

The next little while was a blur. I was glued to the tv, watching images of everything happening and frantically wondering about the constant heavy rainfall here.

We were in front of the tv when a brief "breaking news" story hit the airways about Caboolture. All I heard was "Caboolture needs to be evacuated NOW. Do not hesitate to leave. Get out now. " And then the power went out.................. Just like that. Seriously.

Mark went out to check on our neighbours and to see if they had heard more about the situation. I started to back some bags to go along with the emergency kit I'd already put together. During this moment of panic, Leanne sent me a text to see how I was holding out. Little did I know when I spoke to her earlier what was coming for us.

Our neighbours had one of their boys at Summer School. They had gone for a drive to see what was happening out and about. They took their camera with them and took some amazing photos. At this point they were also concerned about getting their son home and went to collect him early, managing only just, to get home. They were all with us when the emergency text came through.

By the time we got this message though, we had no where to go.

Towards Elimbah...

These guys risked it. I wasn't about to take my children through fast flowing water. Many got caught and had to be towed out by one of our neighbours who owns a semi-trailer. He had to go through water up to the truck's headlights! Even 4x4's got caught.

So we waited it out. On our own little island on high-ish ground. The power came back on after a few hours. Thankfully Cam slept through most of it. The rain eased in the afternoon and by 10pm last night, the waters had started to recede.

This morning amazingly, we have no rain. It's not clear skies but at least the roads have been opened. We were able to stock up on a few groceries, as did everyone else in the shire!!! LOL!

So thank-you again to all those who sent messages of concern. I'm absolutely certain that my story is insignificant to the thousands of others who have lost lives, property, family members and even pets. My heart goes out to them. The devastation is wide spread. I can only hope and pray more survivors are found and the destruction is not as tremendous as is predicted by the experts. Please keep the victims in your thoughts and prayers. We will need all the help we can get in the coming months.....x

Rainy days = create...

Lately we have been doing a lot of this...

...just waiting for the rain to pass...and watching the water build up and up around our house...

See this water above ^ ? Well it backs up here, in our backyard before going through the trees....

...and comes out here.

A fair amount of water fell yesterday! AND we are up on a bit of a hill! But we are lucky. The amount of devastation in Queensland at the moment is phenomenal. And we are hopefully, fingers crossed, not going to be affected. Flood waters are coming our way though...just because they have no where else to go. The local rivers have cut the roads and swamped bridges.

So we are back and forth to the window at the moment, wondering when the rain is going to pass. With one eye on the rain and the other on the water levels, forgive us if we go a bit cross-eyed!

The good news? I've been scrapping! YAY!! A week's worth for Kaisercraft and played lot with the new Giselle kit for Storyboard (now sold out).... those layouts (4) I can share tomorrow. Today I can share this layout for Kaisercraft, created using the fabulous new line "Love Notes".

{Family}

It's rare that we have a photo altogether as a family, (thx Cindy!!) because I am usually the one behind the camera. As mentioned previously, I do want more of these photos! And I am still trying to get at least one shot for this month! LOL!!