Hello, I'm back!!

It seems to be a monthly occurrence that I have some sort of problem with my Internet, and it is really starting to test my patience!! This time I have been without access for nearly a week, so for the few people that follow my blog, sorry!

Life has been fairly busy, Bryce also got the chicken pox and has been home for the last week. I have enjoyed having him at home, and it was much easier nursing him than Jamie. His scabs are starting to fall off and he is back to school tomorrow, for the final week. I can't believe the December holidays are a week away, can't wait!!

The card I am posting it one I created just for fun, and really enjoyed doing. It is simple, but I was quite happy with the way it turned out. The stamps I used are by Hero Arts, and the pp is from a pad of K & Company paper that I have had for ages, and use all the time, I am going to be really sad when it's finished!

Enjoy the week ahead, it is going to be a full one for us, gala on Monday, I have a birthday brunch on Tuesday, Prize-giving on Wednesday, class parties on Thursday and then Break-up day on Friday. Hope you all have a good one.

Speak to you soon (hopefully!) LOL

My Boys!

Just wanted to post a quick photo today. I took this a few days ago, and was so pleased with the way it came out. I love my boys SO much, they complete me in every way.

I will try & post something stamping related in the next few days.

Hugs,

Rene'

Yippee!

Good morning, lovely Monday morning here in Dundee!

The Yippee! title has a double meaning today, it's the sentiment on the card I am posting, as well as the fact that Jamie seems to be on the mend. I am so relieved! It has been a long week, and it is so good to see him smiling and happy again. He still isn't eating or drinking as well as I would like, but hopefully that will improve soon.

The card I am posting today is the one I made for the November RSA birthday ladies. It is a bit different to the type of card I usually make, no cutesy image on it, but I really enjoyed creating it(them, I made 4!). The stamps I used are by Hero Arts, and it's also a colour I don't use very often, purple!! The dotted circle around the stamped "flower" is by Heidi Swapp.

Hope you all have a great week. In the car on the way to school this morning, the boys and I were counting the days until their holiday starts, and it's 20. They were very excited, as am I!!

Oh No!! Chicken Pox

Hi All

Just a quick post. Wanted to let you know why I haven't posted in a while. My sweet baby boy has the chicken pox, he also has tonsillitis and both his ears are red & inflamed. He hasn't been sick in an age, and I guess we are making up for it now! He has been so miserable, but also so good with it. He really is my little angel. Here is a photo I took of him today. Isn't he too precious!

I am also posting the card I made using the scraps from the "My Heart" layout. I think it's a great idea to make a quick card from the leftovers from a page. I am going to try and do it more often from now on.

Hope you are all keeping well!

My Heart!

Hello my crafty friends!

Another gorgeous day here in Dundee. Jamie & I spent quite a lot of time out in the back garden this morning after I got back from my gym session. He just loves being outside and would happily be out and about all day if he could! The sun is really blazing hot though.

Today I am going to post a layout that I created a month or 2 ago, just a simple one in which I document how Jamie holds my heart in his little hands. The photos aren't the best but they are 2 of the few that I have of the two of us together. I need to sit down with my hubby soon so he can try and take some photos of me with my 3 boys. We are off to the coast to visit my family this weekend, so really looking forward to that. We are going to take the boys to the beach, so can't wait for that, Jamie hasn't been to the beach yet, and I am going to take lots of photos. I need to sit down and scan some more lo's to post, I have albums full!

Hope you are all keeping well!

Hero Arts Owl Card

Hi All.

It's a gorgeously miserable day here in Dundee today. We have had quite a lot of rain, so that is a real blessing. Hope we get more though, the farmers in the area really need it!

Just a quick post today, it's a card I created using Hero Arts stamps. Can you tell I am a real fan!

This is the cute little owl that is part of one of their animal sets, isn't he/she too cute. Love the fact that you can shape the words.



Enjoy the rest of your week. Can't believe it's Friday already.

Oh, and by the way. A big shout out to my friend Angella. It's her birthday tomorrow, the 24th. I hope she has a fantastic day. Thanks for your friendship Angella!

Hugs,
Rene'

My Scraproom / Area!

I have been wanting to post these photos of my scraproom for quite some time now, and have finally gotten round to it. Hope you enjoy the tour of my favourite place in the house, well it's one of the places I spend the most time anyway!! Why don't you grab a cup of tea or coffee before we get started, this is going to be quite a long post!

This is the view taken from the doorway between our formal and family lounge. My scrap area is in the family lounge, and it is the room we are all always in. We have a t.v. in there, as well as the boys Playstation, and my husbands computer stand is on the opposite wall to my scrap desk, so we all have our little space. The boys also have a desk in the one corner where they sit and do their homework and colour in etc. There is Jamie lying on the couch having his bottle of tea watching Barney!

This is a photo of my scrap desk. I had it specifically made when we moved into the house. I made the desk quite high, because I stand and scrapbook, would probably explain the sore back I have at the moment!! The top two drawers on either side are a bit thinner than the others. Everything that I need is right at hand, I love this set up and it works perfectly for me!

This the right hand side of my desk. I like to have some things out in the open so I can see them, so I remember to use them. I have my p.p. scraps right on my desk, cause I try and use them often, especially when cardmaking. I also sew of my pages all the time, and there is my favourite gadget, my Cuttlebug. Don't forget the very important cup of tea!!

These 2 bookshelves stand on the right hand side of my desk, and also house lots of stuff!! All my magazines are on the one bookshelf, my CK mags are read constantly. I also keep lots of small goodies in the 3 caddies on one shelf, and my pp and other A4 sized paper in on the other shelf. Jamie also has one shelf for all his books!

The things I use less often are stored in these drawers. I keep my material scraps, chipboard pieces that I use as templates, and my MM tag maker and label maker in them. I bought them from road side vendor, and they have come in very handy!

I like to display my scrapbook pages for a few days before I put them in albums!

My wood mounted stamps are kept in my top left drawer. I am going to run out of space in this drawer soon!

My Hero Arts stamps, foam stamps and Nestabilities are kept in the next drawer. Also running out of space here!


All my chipboard, and Jamie's cute little fingers!! You will see in the next couple of photos that I use the blue mushroom containers a lot. They have solved a lot of my storage problems, and are free with my mushrooms, which is a bonus!

My flower drawer, top right hand drawer. I use flowers all the time, so definitely need to buy more flowers!


My "bling" drawer. I always look in here when making cards!


Lots of different stuff in this drawer. And as you can see it is the perfect height for Jamie. Bit of a nightmare keeping him out of my drawers. Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon. LOL!!


And my final photo, my ribbon & cotton drawer. Don't know if you can tell, but my blue ribbon is overflowing it's container, and not too much in the others. Quite the indication that I have 3 sons & 1 husband. Nearly no pink ribbon!!!

Hope you have enjoyed the tour of my scrap area. Would appreciate any comments or suggestions on my space?!?

Hugs, Rene'

Bryce's Birthday Card!!

Hi, just a quick post this morning. I am due to take Jamie to swimming at 9:15am so just wanted to do this before I left. It's rather chilly again this morning, so not really looking forward to it. Wish the weather would just make up it's mind!!

This is the card I made for Bryce's birthday, he really liked it. I think these Hero Arts Animal Stamps are perfect for kids cards. I also used my scallop edged scissors, which I haven't used in years, and I was really pleased with the effect they added to the card, I will definitely be using them on a more regular basis now.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy what's left of the week.

I am back on-line and FINALLY 1000 hits!!!

One doesn't realise how much you are addicted to the Internet until you don't have it!! We have been having problems connecting to the Internet for more than a week now and it has driven me absolutely mad!! I need to be able to visit all the amazing blogs out there to gain inspiration, and have missed it so, now I need to catch up on all my favourites, at least that is going to be fun, lots of new stuff to look at!

It was a really busy but fun weekend. On Friday afternoon we had Bryce's birthday party. I went to school and fetched him and a whole lot of his friends, wow it was a noisy trip home, I couldn't hear myself think!! The party was a huge success and everyone had a ball. I will try and load some pics of the party during the week. Saturday was his actual birthday, so of course we had an early start to open his pressies. He was over the moon with what we got him and spent a wonderful day playing with all his new things. His best friend came over in the afternoon for a sleepover, we got KFC for supper and then had a marathon game of Monopoly. Yesterday we left all the kiddies with Ray's folks for the first time and went to church on our own. We had an outside minister preaching and it was awesome, there are some amazing things happening in our church, and it is so wonderful to see God's works happening right before your eyes!

Today I am going to post a scrapbook page I did a while ago. This is the first page I created where I incorporated my new stamping hobby, it was so much fun to put together. I used the Hero Arts little animal stamps, and I think they add such a cute element to the page. I find I am using stamping on all the pages that I create now, and it just finishes the pages off so nicely.
Please note, the little beanie Jamie is wearing was knitted by yours truly. Another of my hobbies I try to find time for!

Thanks for looking and hope you have a great week. It is going to be a stinker here today. Jamie has his first swimming lesson today, I have to get in the pool with him, so that is going to be fun!

A Happy Hello

A Happy Hello to you all this fine Monday morning! It's a gorgeous day here in Dundee, slightly windy but otherwise the weather is lovely. The boys are home for the holidays, so it's always nice not to have to get up early and rush around. I went for a run at about 8am and it was such a nice way to start the day.

So how was your weekend? Mine was so nice, really relaxing and lots of nice time spent together as a family at home. I did spend a good portion of time busy with my RSA Christmas Gift Exchange, I didn't realise the deadline was quite so soon, so I was busy making 29 gift packets, won't tell you what my gift, cause some of the RSA ladies read my blog, but it is taking me ages!!! I need to do some more when I am finished here.

The card I am posting today was so much fun to make. I seem to be making card in batches of about 5 at a time, at the moment, and this was just a single card I made for fun. It was quick and easy to do!! Hope you like it.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

I finally own a Cupcake Stamp!!

From the day I started stamping, I wanted a cupcake stamp, and finally recently I got me some. I had ordered these stamps from Niki Zipp from Paperchain in Joburg ages ago, and they finally arrived. To say I was over the moon is an understatement! I had ordered 4 sets of Hero Arts stamps and am so happy with them. The quality of Hero Arts stamps are excellent, and I have been extra happy with each stamp I have bought.

So here is just a quick post of my first cupcake card. I had so much fun colouring it and putting this card together, I can't wait to use all the other stamps in the set.

Hope you are having a nice weekend. It has been freezing here, we had so much rain yesterday. I am so happy, we have needed it desperately, so hopefully now my garden will come to life and I will be able to see all the plants that are hiding away, and my grass can turn green. I am so enjoying my new garden and now that the rains have come I can start planting some flowers for colour. What has the weather been like where you are?

Another week gone!

So much for me posting more this week! It's been another hectic and full week. I am looking forward to next week, the boys have only got 3 days of school, and those 3 days they are finishing early. I love it when the boys are on school holidays, it means a lot less running around and just quiet quality time at home!!

Today I am going to post some photos for a change. You will not have seen any pics of my other boys, and I just wanted to show you what handsome boys I have! Hope that didn't sound too boastful. LOL.

These photos were taken at the boys athletics day which was held on Monday this week. The first one is Caide, he is my oldest and is 9. He is my more sensitive and serious child, but has the biggest heart. He has been my special soul since the day he was born. He is so helpful with Jamie, and adores his baby brother. He is very sporty.

This is Bryce. My middle child. He is totally different to Caide. Not very serious, he is totally innocent and happy. He is very carefree and affectionate and also loves Jamie to bits. He is always trying to kiss Jamie, which drives Jamie mad. He is also sporty, but not as competitive as Caide. He is the blond boy on the left, with the huge grin. He doesn't mind his mom taking photos of him!

These photos were taken over the weekend. I just adore Jamie's naked little body, I want to eat him up!

I am also going to post another of Jamie's scrapbook pages. I will try and scan some of the other boys pages over the weekend. They will love to see their pages on my site. This page is of his 9 month milestones. I LOVE the expressions I captured for this page. Don't you think his blinky blinky face is gorgeous!

Hope you all have a nice weekend. I believe it is going to be cold this weekend. The weather we are having at the moment is crazy!! Freezing cold one day, and then hot as heck the next. Hope the weather treats you well where ever you are!