Jillibean Soup | Christmas Wreath...

Happy December Friends! Are you looking for a quick and easy project to help kick start your Christmas décor? Then look no further than the Jillibean Soup blog.  All this month we have lots of inspirational ideas to share.

"Paper Christmas Wreath"

products used: cs - American Crafts; pp - Jillibean Soup; embellishments - Jillibean Soup red pom pom garland; red ribbon, 5" wire hoop.

Keep an eye out for my Christmas wreath tutorial found here. Thanks for visiting..x

So this happened...

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With going back to full time work after ten something years, I made the very difficult decision to sadly finish up with Pebbles Inc. At the time it meant that I wasn't designing for anyone except for me. And I was kind of happy with that. Kind of. But also sad. Because I love every single company I have worked for. And there have been a few.

But you know the saying, "when one door closes.." yeah that. 

I could not say no when the lovely Stephanie from Bella Blvd contacted me and asked if I'd like to come back. So here I am! Back on the creative team with so many amazing designers. And I am excited for 2019. But mostly blessed..x

JOT Magazine + One Little Word | Encourage...

Hello Friends! Welcome to 2016!! I'm very excited to back and playing with paper once again! I don't know about you but sometimes during the school holidays, I get completely lost away from paper crafting and spend the time focusing on my family. Our Summer holidays are no exception. And while I enjoy having a mini break from scrapbooking commitments, I really do relish getting back into documenting our family stories.

Today I want to share my One Little Word for 2016.  It has been on my heart for a few weeks now.

Encourage.

I truly want to embrace this concept for 2016.  It is such a powerful word and so very good for the soul.  It is my sincere hope that I can offer encouragement to others, no matter the circumstances; no matter the environment. I want to be able to encourage my family, friends and even strangers. I'm not entirely sure how I will do this yet. But it will come to me.

And I want to be able to encourage myself to step out of my everyday box and brave new endeavours. I've got new adventures in the wind.

But for today I want to encourage my readers to come and play with the Jot Girls and our  fabulous Jot Magazine January mood board.

I pulled a few things from my stash including an alphabet stamp set from Scraptastic Club (sorry not shown in the pic).

And after playing and shuffling, I created this:

Don't forget to head on over to Jot Magazine and check out all the amazing features including the free EMagazines.

Thanks for continuing to visit me here...x

Three days of craziness! (and then some..)

OMGosh!  I'm not even sure I know where to begin!  What a truly amazing and exhilarating long weekend!  And then I get home and it all crashes around me.  LOL!  If you have never been to the Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo before, then you are missing out!  Just meeting many of my beautiful online friends in real life was one of my many, many highlights!  Meeting and making new friends was a little bit of the icing on the top! But the danger of being around sooooo many people during flu season is easy to work out.  :)  I started this post on Tuesday.  Today is Thursday.  I have spent the last two days in bed.  Bleh!  But if that's the price I pay for having a terrific time, I'll take it gladly!

Of course being in attendance as a 2012 Scrapbooking Memories Master and talking to people about my layouts was an "out of this world" experience.  I am so glad I did it.  Nerves and all!  LOL! And I am hoping I inspired a few people to look differently at the items they put on their layouts.  :)  Thanks to both Cassie and Vanessa for all their support!

Because I was talking at the expo, I got to sneak in early (before the crowds) and managed to have a photo taken with Tim Holtz!  And lucky too because there were five to six people deep around him at all times.  He was really lovely and extremely willing to sign autographs and have photos taken with random strangers (!) when he probably was supposed to be setting up his work area for the day.  :)

Without a doubt though, one of the best parts of the week-end was catching up with some of the 2012 Scrapbooking Memories Masters! 

from L to R: Sophie Sim Lawrence, me, Kim Jeffress, Cassie Bellemore (SM editor), Louise Nelson, Renee Iveson.

Another bonus (and there were so many!) was catching up with the Australian contingent (minus one person) of the 2010-11 Kaisercraft contributing team.  Sorry Ladies, if any of you have a non-blurry photo, please pass it along! LOL!

from L to R: Nerrida Mitchell, Trudi Harrison, Kerryn Lawson, Karen Shady & me.

And even though I am still coughing up a lung right now, I am already looking forward to next year.  Thank-you to every one who came to my little chats, stopped me to say hello, admired my work in the gallery and then told me as much (blush), and to Kim, Gail and Kerryn from Greatest View.  Best. Weekend. Ever.