TableTop - A layout

I have had these photos sitting around for ages and have not done anything with them - actually I have lots and lots but we don't need to go there...haha!  We love to explore this great backyard we have in The Pilbara and after a bit of a drive we came to our destination - TableTop Mountain (sounds better than Hill) and the next course of action was to actually find the way to get to the top of it.  When we eventually reached the top it was worth every bit of stress I had on the way up in the car!  The view was spectacular and it just got better and better as the sun was coming down.  As most people know that is my favourite time of the day here - if I could I would sit and watch the sun set everyday!

My apologies about the photos but we have had the worst wind here so it is hard to get some good photos with the natural light and we have horrible light indoors.  You will see what I mean in the next few posts also as I did them all at once!

I hope that you enjoyed this layout and sharing in our little trip to Tabletop Mountain!

Hugs to All
Rach

Loving templates and my little man

Good Evening All - Whilst I have had every intention of keeping up with the blogging it appears life decided to come in and remind me that it remains in charge!  It is not as if I have not had anything to post but then something like the usb cord to connect the camera to the computer goes walkabout! Or when you go to take some photos the camera is out in the car with your husband or when you do have said camera the batteries go flat and the last person to change them over didn't charge them! haha!

So onto the layout - I decided a great way to put together all my favourite photos of Eli was to do a collage of them and do one for every couple of months.  To do this I have used Kerri Bradford's storyboards. I discovered these great timesavers through Laura Vegas and fell in love.  Also here is a link to Kerri's blog. The storyboards are so easy to use and you do not have to put photos in each section either if you don't want to - instead block it out or write something in there. This is Eli 2 to 4 months which actually covered quite a lot including his first plane flight (and his second and third for that matter) when I had a work conference on that was close enough (read 5 hours drive) to extend the stay and go on to visit his Great Grandparents.  The green patterned paper and border sticker is from the Bo Bunny On The Go collection - couldn't go past it.  The journalling looks really dark in the photo but it isn't in person - sorry about that.  I did cut the photo into 3 so that it broke it down a little and show off a bit more of the paper.

For most of us Aussies winter is upon us and the snow is falling in the Alpine regions - wishing I was over there especially in Rutherglen, Victoria because it is Winery Walkabout weekend!  Always a fun time visiting all the wineries and markets.  It holds a special place in my heart too because that is where my husband proposed 5 years ago.  So if you are in the area and have never been - it is a great day out! 

Have a great weekend everyone - whatever it may be that you have planned!

What have I been up to...Part 3

Hello once again! I left off last time after announcing that I had been made redundant (did I mention how much I dispise of that word) and so much has happened since then so I will get started!

Every two years Damo's family have a camping trip on the Murray River but this time around we organised to go a little upmarket and treat ourselves to some luxury...we hired out a HUGE houseboat which is the one in the photo above. I had been waiting for 1.5 years for this and it was well worth it! 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 10 person hot tub, deck chairs for all, kitchen upstairs and downstairs! Magnificent! The weather was spectacular too - sun out no rain for the 7 days! Apart from this wonderful holiday there were other things that needed to be accomplished whilst we were over East.....organising Our Wedding! In a week we managed to find his ring, my dress (ordered), my bridesmaid's dresses, our venue, our photographer, hair and makeup...Keep thinking I have missed something but either way thats alot don't you think?!

Before heading home we had a few nights in the beautiful Melbourne so shopping and lots of eating and drinking followed!! Then it was home and back to reality....what about a job!

Whilst this had been going on I had already been contacted by several people in the industry to see if I was looking to do work for them etc but as tempting as that was the offers were not taking a step forward but back and I wanted forward! One call stood out from all of them but it was both a scary and exciting proposition....it was to start my own business! It was as if it all happened for a reason but I knew not to rush I had to weigh everything up and after lots of meetings, stressing, doing the numbers etc I have decided to do it! Damo has been wonderful throughout the process and continues to support my crazy ways!

So that is why I was away for the past two weeks it was induction to the dealer group I am going through for my license and right now I am in my office (working from home) and my business is Think Future Financial Management! See happy endings are always the best - but you can also see why I havent really been around very much in blogland or been able to do anything creative! I hope to make more time now!

I will be back tonight or tomorrow morning with my post for Makeesha's Inkspiration Challenge!

Hugs to all!

What have I been up to....Part 1

Hello again everyone!

Late last year I was offered by my employer to attend the Annual Conference this year in Feb with them and when I heard where it was being held I automatically went YES (and so did Damo)! Why you ask...because it was going to be held in Auckland, New Zealand. 1 - I have always wanted to go to NZ, 2 - Tracey my best friend had just moved there with her husband and young daughter Emily (my neice who turned 1 in Feb and I hadn't met her yet), 3 - Damo could come and this would be his first trip outside of Australia. So it was decided we were going to NZ - the only problem was we only had 6 days after the conference to see the South Island. I could have spent 6 months there!

We were wined and dined whilst in Auckland which was lovely and good to be able to get dressed up and meet all the people I speak to generally only by phone. Damo went and did a few of the "couples" itinerary. They are mostly women so he was in his element being all charming as he is! Either way it was lots of late nights and early mornings (ie lack of sleep) but fun!

I got to meet Emily and catch up with Tracey which was great - I miss her so much.

After the conference we flew to Christchurch and hired a little van to drive around in. We visited Akaroa first which was beautiful and had these very cute little cottages, then onto Lake Tekapo, went to the Visitors Centre for Mount Cook, on to Te Anau before visiting Milford Sound, back to Queenstown (sensational) and then to Fox Glacier where we took a helicopter flight up to the top of the glacier and we got to get out on to the ice...OMG that was the most spectacular experience of my life and I recommend to anyone that has the opportunity - yes it is expensive but worth every cent! After there we went on to a small little place called Jackson. We stayed at this wonderful motorhome park and there is a local tavern where we ate and drank with the locals (Aust V NZ in the cricket was also playing so that added to the entertainment!) We were offered by a local dairy farmer to go to his place the next morning to help milk the cows and see how it is all done. It was great even with the early start! After that we went back to Christchurch before heading back home via a night in Perth because we couldnt get home all in one day.

We met lots of great people on our little adventure but it was all over way to fast and we both want to go back as soon as we can!

Here is a scrapbook page of our trip to Milford Sound!

The Journalling reads "Words can not describe this magical place...you hear about it but nothing prepares for its beauty, peacefullness and vastness. The colours, the sounds, the water, the eeriness even draws you in. We almost missed our chance but we made it - the drive alone to get to this place was worth every minute. Another inspiring moment and place in NZ. THs trip was Damo's first outside of Australia and not I believe he has THE BUG"

So I hope that you have enjoyed part 1 - I will show more of this wonderful trip in scrapbook pages to come but this is just a brief run down - part 2 of what I have been up to will come up tomorrow hopefully!

Heaps of Hugs

A Long Awaited Return

Hello everyone and I hope that you are all having a great start to 2010! It has been a while since I have been on here and updated you all with what has been happening - to tell you the truth I have had quite a bit on and haven't really gotten back into the swing of things in creative terms! Since my last post we went to Coral Bay for a couple of days over the Christmas break - it was absolutley beautiful as I expected. It was great to get away and just relax, go snorkelling, walks along the beach and we also went on a sunset Quad Bike tour (so much fun). Here is a picture of the boat ramp area of Coral Bay...yes the water is that colour! More on this once the scrapbook pages are finished!

I then had to go away for work in January - only for a week though but any travel from here takes a while so it seems like it is forever - the best part was I could shop for some crafting goodies to bring back with me. Then it was catch up until February came along work wise! The begining of February though is my parents wedding anniversary and this year they celebrated 30 years. I made a card for them and I am very happy with this one as it was one of the first I had made in a while! Here it is:

I have been trying to get back into the swing of challenges and I try to get some done and then miss the cut off or something else comes up so once I get back from my next trip away I will endevour to do just that! Another trip I here you say...yes this week Damo and I leave for New Zealand for 2 weeks. For 5 of those days it is my works conference so that is not all that exciting but it will be once the conference is over. I am looking forward so much for cooler weather...trust me you do miss it after 12 months of heat and no rain!

So there are lots of plans and plenty to do - 2010 is going to be very busy for us and I cant wait - but I will make sure that I keep everyone up to date! Here is one last card I have done lately...not overly happy with it but I will share anyway!

Thanks for stopping by and Hugs to all of you!

Hello November...but where did October go?

Hi everyone, well it's November and also Melbourne Cup Day so good luck to those of you that have backed "a winner"! It is bad though when I think what happened to October...what did I achieve ...definitly not much in the craft department...haha!

We have been spending alot of time on our house and especially our pool area since that is where we will be spending the majority of the time from now on! We have hit the 40+ degree weather now but Kimani our Aussie Bulldog doesn't mind all that much because that means she gets to spend the afternoons inside in the air conditioning!

I have been working on a few things though and one is our trip north and I have done a scrapbook page on our stop over in Exmouth. Exmouth is a beautiful place on the coast of Western Australia - beautiful marine life with the Ningaloo Reef which is famous for the Whale Sharks. Now we were there at the end of January which is actually their off season. The town was pretty much deserted and therefore limiting in terms of where to stay, eat etc. This however did prove also to be an advantage because we had an entire beach to ourselves as you can see in the photos and Kimani had so much fun in the water. BUT this night was also the worst of the trip because in our whole trip this is the one place that didn't allow us to have a cabin because we had Kimani (even with her staying outside) so we had to tent it in 40+ degree weather and 30 degree's overnight...no sleep was had and we left as soon as we could the next morning! But I do want to go back because it is great there and not overly far from where we are living now. We will be going in peak time though which is winter so we can go swimming with the whale sharks !!

I love the centre photo as it reminds me of one of those photos you see in tropical oasis tourism shots and you think the water could never be so blue or clear or so calm (or so deserted) but it actually can...haha! And to add to how special the day was...this is a dog that doesnt normally like the water!

Ingredient List:

Stampin Up: Seaside & Eastern Blooms stamp set, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion and Real Red ink, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White Cardstock. The yellow paper is from a bulk pack and non stampin up.

My Country

When I was younger (not that Im old now - I mean my teens and early twenty's) all I dreamt about was travel to countries far from where I lived. I wanted to experience all they had to offer - their culture, their way of life, their landscape that was different from mine, the old, the new all mixed together. Australia is a relatively new country to the world and others my age just had no interest in exploring it. We wanted to do exchange years in the US or Europe, we wanted to do a year of Nannying or just backpacking - because overseas everyone loves Aussies!

But what about our own country...is it not spectacular, does it not offer diversity, can you not get lost in its beauty - better yet you can feel like you are the only one there in certain parts - like you are the only ones who know of its existence! I had never really stepped outside of New South Wales (NSW) (east of the Great Dividing Range) before I met Damo, he had moved around all of his life to different towns large and small, coastal and rural because of his parents job. He showed me that there is more to Australia than I might think. We moved to Central West NSW for a few years and then we made the trek to Western Australia (for those of you overseas that is 5000km's - google it). A fantastic drive that I cant wait to do again - we are now North West WA (another 1500kms north from the capital) and seeing an entirely different side to Australia - this place is just magical and where you can go to a beach (that doesnt have waves which I am still tying to get used too) and be the only one there! Five minutes inland and you are in the ranges!

I still have many scrapbook pages to complete about that drive and also what we have been up to in between so they will be coming soon!

So yes I still want to explore the world but first I must explore my own backyard which came to my decision to create this scrapbook page! The pictures are all from my 2009 Australia calendar from Lonley Planet. I also have a France and Italty one. The writing (is Stampin Up markers) is small but it reads as follows:

"Although I wish to see the world...first I would like to discover and appreciate the beauty of my own backyard. Born and raised on the East Coast I moved to the country and then made the journey to the West Coast. What a spectacular trip - one I will never forget. This countrry has everything from the ocean, to the desert, the majestic rivers, the mountains, the rainforest, the bush...Yet so many of us do not venture to witness its beauty - its history and culture. I admit I was one of them wanting to only explore other countries - not now I met Damo - now I'm wanting to visit all of these places and everything in between"

I have also used the Making Memories defined sticker from Journey - that is the discover sticker. The Australia is some old chipboard letters I have in my stash and the rest stamped using the Stampin Up Defining Alphabet in Really Rust.

Hope that you enjoy and inpires you to travel and explore your country (if you are from Australia) or a new country (if you do not live in Australia)!