the winner is ...

melanie brewin .... yay for you.
email me with your address at chanelstuck@hotmail.com

hello again .... (and a giveaway)

i am sure i don't need to tell you that i have been a bad blogger lately! I guess i feel a little "time poor" which is really just a bad excuse! Everyone has the same amount of time each week ...

i think that when i am creative it excites me to share ... and because i haven't had much time for creativity ... i have lost my blogging drive.

So being Sunday night, i am planning on some creativity this week ...

we have had a BIG weekend .. and a slow day today, after getting to bed at 3am this morning after being out at the BMW ball last night. It was a fabulous night, seriously so fun.

My sister did my hair and makeup ... thanks Sheri, you are awesome. I did not take my camera, but will get some photos from the night from my friends ... they had fire dancing, and other entertainment. We danced the night away ... it was a blast.

Friday i went on the Farm Excursion with Gianna, its my third time to the farm ... and its a great day and super fun. It makes me want to scrapbook after seeing these cute photos ... i may even make mini albums for each other them ... i was exhausted at the end of the day, how looking at animals all day can be so tiring i will never know! loL!

we are still renovating Katya's room ... i didn't get much done this weekend ... but this week we are going to finish it off. Gary has some good ideas for the next room ...

I am still going to give a necklace away ... one week from today i will draw a name. This is to celebrate the new Enjoy Jewellery website. Go and check out the new website and let me know your feedback www.enjoyjewellery.com.au if you blog about this competiton and link to this post you will recieve 5 entries. I will be giving away a new crystal pearl coloured necklace ... looking forward to hearing your feedback. Enjoy Jewellery has a facebook page ... so make sure you add us!

First Communion ...

Yesterday Em made her First Communion. They have been doing their classes all year on Wedndesday nights in preparation and learning all about the sacrement. Mary who organises it does a fabulous job ... she really made it a wonderful ceremony the way she prepared the children. It was a lovely service, we were so proud of her. She wore the little veil i wore on my First Communion and the medal my mother wore on her First Communion ... so special!

(I got some gorgeous photos of her ... i am excited to make a little mini album for her. Now i feel inspired again ... after such a busy few weeks, i am ready to get creative again! so tomorrow ... i am into it!)

They had a cake for them afterwards of course they loved ... we would usually have a celebration at home afterwards, however the girl had their school carnival yesterday also, so we had to race off up there. They danced with their classes and also their dance school did a performance. It was a fun day, a busy fun day ... i was exhausted last night!

So much so ... i let the girls stay home today! (gasp .... ) i just really needed to have a cup of tea in bed, read a magazine ... have a relaxing start to the day .. clean the house ... (which they were inlisted to help with ... that was part of the deal! lol) so i am so happy, i love a clean house ... and i loved that i had a day with them ... i feel like we have not had alot of quality time together lately! I have had a REALLY productive day actually ... i even planted some more seedlings in my vege garden! So now i am having to patrol ... due to the scrub turkey situation! We are getting the gate fixed as i think i need Daisy's help around the back there ... as a deterant!!!!!

I had a big chat with one of my dearest friends today ... it just totally made my day, and filled me up! i miss her so much ... it was great to connect. makes me realise how much energy my best friends give me!

We are celebrating Emra's First Communion tomorrow night, so i am looking forward to that (so is she!) Mum and Dad sent a gorgeous photo frame which arrived today, so i will get some photos printed tomorrow to fill it for her!

This is our entry for the cake box decorating competition for the school carnival, we got a runners up prize of lollies ...

So excited about the new ENJOY JEWELLERY website that is up now (we still have a few things to tweek on it) but my s-i-l Lisa has done an amazing job - thanks Lisa! you Rock! I am going to give away another necklace in celebration of the new website, go have a look and leave me a comment to be in to win! I will draw it next Monday!

ok ... i want to get up for a run in the morning ... i was battling sickness last week, so haven't done anything in a while, makes it even harder getting up!

Promise i will post again soon ... i feel like i can breath again! yay!

Phew ....




i am realing ... the past couple of weeks have been super busy! i cannot even know where to start ... i think i will just bullet point a few of the things that has happened! (this is my Uncle with K standing on his new door mat we gave him for his house warming party! - so fun!)




more dancing eisteedfords (thurs, fri and saturday .... the girls did really well, and it was vey exciting - i do love watching them dance - their team won one of their sections, came 3rd in the Jazz and recieved many other places ... so proud of them)

making a new jewellery website (thanks to my very clever sister in law - you rock Lisa)

• extra dance practises




• Uncle's house warming party on saturday night




• jewellery order arrived friday




• major rainfall during the week ... causing major flooding throughout Brisbane




• cleaning spree going strong, finished our bedroom, bathroom, Gianna's room ...




• decided to give K & E's rooms a complete reno ... moved katya into emra's room so we can completely renovate K's room




• took before photo (shown)



• new red jewellery arrived (very exciting)



• planted seedlings in vege garden (battling scrub turkeys now who were so helpful in pulling them out again! AHHHHHHH! )

so on the to-do this week ....

• research for k's room reno - get cool ideas
• catch up with my cousin who is on holidays
• go to ikea (depending on budget)
• deal with turkeys
• deliver jewellery
• work on website
• do jewellery party
• food shopping
• plan meals
• caligraphy for certificates for Emra's First Communion group (before Fri)
• baking
• BEC work
• browse Martha book
• that is just a start .... i really need to be creative ... i just have not had any time!

i'm off to get some beauty sleep ....

Tangalooma ....

I feel like i have so much to say ... but i don't know where to start! Life is full at the moment ... i have accepted the fact that its going to be like this (busy) for some years to come - as its just a busy stage of life as the girls are getting older.

The big girls are in the middle of dance competitions, so they have commitments with that. Emra is making her First Communion soon, so she has classes and practises going on with that. The jewellery is going really well and keeping me on my toes! (its so fun ... i am loving it!) We are powering with the boat park ... on friday the concrete truck arrived and Lisa and I were out there bucketing concrete like any labourers you would find ... (ok so we had a few aches and pains the next day ... but we were going hard! lol) lucky it was such a gorgeous day!

I have my vege garden ready to plant again, i have prepared the soil really well and i have my compost going now .... i have had it going for a few weeks now, i was pretty excited about it (i meant to blog all about it when i started ... we are pretty green here now with our recycling, water tanks, compost .. and we are looking to go solar too!) i am all for saving the planet! So fresh veges are on the horizon too ... i will defnitely take photos as they get going! I find it so rewarding growing my own food! Ok so i am a bit of an earth child! lol!

We had a fabulous day over at Tangalooma yesterday with my extended family. My Aunty and Uncle have a boat too ... so we all went over for the day ... its a gorgeous part of the world, we are so lucky its so close.

They have these enormous sand dunes ... believe me you get some serious leg burn trying to get to the top (of course Em won the race) we were all in bed early last night ... its hard work!

I am still trying to stick to the Spring Clean plan ... i am a few days behind, but thats ok ... the program is here and i am up to day 5 (cleaning the kitchen) so i will get into that tomorrow ... i must say its so refreshing once you finish! Anyone needing motivation this website has fired me up ...

ok ... will catch up again soon - hopefully with some creative stuff to share! :-)

cousins ....

my brother, s-i-law and little nephew are staying from Melbourne. The girls are loving having their little cousin around ... they are so cute! Its amazing how quickly things change in just a few years ... lots of things have been moved out of the way ... the pot plant downstairs seems to be a bit of a magnet!

so cute having a little person around ....

time for dinner ... its a Bill Granger recipe tonight! YUM!

happy mothers day ...

i guess having a birthday so close to Mother's Day is cause for many highlights!

The girls and i spent Sat night at Caloundra as the big girls had dance competitions (again) so Mother's Day wasn't a relaxing start unfortunately! It is one of my favourite places to be tho, look at the gorgeous view from our unit! stunning!

The girls had bought their gifts up and first thing in the morning i was opening their cute gifts. I love hearing why they pick certain things ... gary had helped in the process (which we don't usually do ... we usually don't buy gifts for each other) however ... i was spoilt (yet again) with a waffle maker which i had secretly been wanting since i stayed at my brother's and tasted their yum ones! so i really appreciate having it now, also another mac lipgloss (my fav)

I did buy myself a little present (for myself) a week or so ago i ordered from amazon.com Martha Stewarts new book ... also two of Maria Shrivers books (she's one of my favourites too) they arrived today ... so i was excited about that!

On Friday night as Gary watched the footy, i decided to try one of Jessica Spragues free online classes. This is my take on it ... its was fun to learn how to make things using photoshop ... as its like learning another language. At the beginning of the year one of the things i wanted to do was learn about photoshop and get a bit more computer savvy ... so i guess this is the start of my journey!

I have been following this blog they are doing a spring clean in 10 days, i am a little behind, but i do love being organised ... and agree that when you are then you can concentrate on the things that really matter. So tomorrow i will get the lounge in order ... its not too bad ... although windows etc need doing!

check http://www.enjoyjewellery.blogspot.com/ for new jewellery ... more coming soon too!

points for mum ... and birthday re-cap!

firstly ... thank you to everyone who called, emailed, texted, skyped, left a blog comment or face booked me for my birthday .... i felt very special - thank you!

i had a wonderful day (as planned - wink!)

Firstly, we bribed the girls to sleep in (depending on how long they stayed in bed - relative to the size of birthday cake they would get!) it was a good idea and worked well, i woke up at 7.20am ... so nice!

The girls were so excited to give me presents, lip gloss and new alarm clock, note pad ... Gary is getting me some new running gear (which i asked for - so happy about that)

We did the cake early, so the girls could take some to school and Katya had dancing after school and i couldn't wait all day! lol! Lucky for me Gary took the girls to school ... so i could chillax and my lil sister made me eggs for breaky (they were really good) then i gave myself a pedicure, before heading off to High Tea with some of my dearest friends.

We went to High Societea ... and when Sheridan and I arrived we were quickly cornered by a photographer for the local paper, i had completely forgotten about a book launch that was on at the same time. Turns out two ladies from Melbourne had written a best seller for their first book called Gucci Mamas and were launching their second book also. It was great listening to them talk about how they work together and how their books came about. We decided to read Gucci Mamas for our bookclub, so i went and spoke to these girls ... they were so fun and down to earth. They signed my book ... it was just a great spin on an already great time.

I love doing High Tea ...its nice for a treat to play ladies! and the food is just ... superb! Thanks all you girls who came along and celebrated with me ... i loved it!

Gary surprised me with this .... so lucky! I love it!

So today i had to be in two places at once ...

The big girls had Cross Country ... and the littlest girl was hosting Mother's Day morning tea at kindy. So instead of cutting myself in half ... i managed to keep everyone happy ...

I saw Emra run, she got 5th - go girl! then raced off the kindy and did morning tea .. so cute! The kids had all painted a picture of their mums, and answered a questioneer ... the "what does your mum drink" question was answered by Gianna "my mum has a tablet-drink, she has a glass of water and puts a tablet in it" i laughed ... of course this is my barrocca!

So i left kindy, and luckily enough managed to see Katya run also ... she got 11th... i was so proud of them both. I

also felt very happy that i had managed to keep everyonen happy! That in itself is cause for celebration! So it was a good first day of being 36!

birthday eve ....
tomorrow is my birthday, the celebrations started today ... actually early, as i decided to plan my day out and be in control of having a geat day (not leave it up to someone else to organise - then i would be sure i would have fun) so after going for a run this morning ... i made myself a birthday cake (now i know i will get one! lol)
My Aunty took me for lunch with my nana and Gi, it was so nice ... we had such a great time, we've vowed to do it more often! yay!
Gary took the girls shopping ... so i had some quiet time so I made dinner for tomorrow night, Jamie Oliver's lamb shanks ... so that is all sorted. I have made the girls lunches already and have all my bits and pieces done (that needed to be done) ....
Gary and I have not long returned from going to my favourite desert restaurant Freestyle for desert (as i couldn't get a babysitter for tomorrow night, we went tonight instead) they have a new desert called Death by Lindt chocolate - but i resisted, and had the lemon and lime tart which was superb! - they never let me down!)
So i have decided ... us girls need to make sure we have a great birthday or even mother's day if that is your thing (i am not a big mothers day celebrant ... however, i may just have to pull something together for sunday ... will keep you posted! wink!)
I am looking forward to going for High Tea with some of my friends tomorrow for lunch .... that is always a treat!
Everything is ticked off the list now ... i can enjoy my day ..... don't worry i will have some cake for you too! lol!

Tuesday night ...

after a long weekend, i have felt thrown off all day! today feels like monday ... i have just finished a double page layout with some Easter photos (that have been sitting on my desk since Easter week) so thought i would blog quickly before heading to bed (in an attempt to get myself out of bed for a run in the morning ... i am finding it so hard to get out now its getting darker and colder - and its not even cold yet! sigh!)

This is the image i got on Friday morning, there was Em in the digger having a go (of course, after she told me she as going to have a turn! she is classic) once Gi saw the action she had to have a go too ..

We spent our long weekend up at Caloundra, as the girls had dancing competitions. We had a pretty cruizy time, it was nice to chillax a bit - seen as we are usually pretty full on! lol!

I did do my May calender on friday, and here is the finished April page with the photo! I am waiting for a birthday photo to put in there ... its birthday month for me! yay ..... that means CAKE!

Is anyone watching Master Chef? There is nothing exciting to watch so i am into this now!

thats all from me folks ... i am off to get some beauty sleep!

Welcome May ...

Seriously is tomorrow May?

This week has raced away ... this week my goal was to catch up, and i am going pretty good on my "to-do" list ... i guess that is why the week is flying by tho!

I did get out for a run today, i have been seriously tired over the past week ... i am not really sure why, maybe i have been fighting something? or maybe i was just recovering from Ange's disco party and some serious dancing all night long - lol! I ended up dressing in my running gear in preparation for having to go at some point of the day today ... so i decided to get it out of the way as soon as i dropped the girls off, it turned out to be hot ... so i have been skulling back glasses of water all afternoon trying to rehydrate! lol! i must say ... i am feeling pretty tired now! i just have to put the finishing touches on my Mothers Day project so i can post photos and send the class off to the ladies to see ... then i will crawl into bed! We are making a card and a cute quote wheel ... I am using quotes from the "she" book ... (so mum be prepared for my card and gift to be late ... wink! as i need to use them first! - i guess you are used to this now!)

Happy Birthday to my sweet friend Heidi who celebrates her birthday today! I wish we weren't so far away from each other! :-( I did go on a bit of a baking spree this afternoon (after being inspired by the latest Donna Hay magazine to back chocolate orange swirl cake) turns out its really delicious ... so i celebrated with cake too! wink! I also made choc chip biscuits and a slice to take for the teacher's morning tea tomorrow. Of course i had to sample everything to check it was all ok! lol!

You need to get over to the Create 08 Blog as Heidi and I are clearing out after Create 08, and have put together a couple of kits that are great value

I have to pass on the exciting news about Rebecca's gorgeous kits. She is giving away one for free here this is the kit ... its pretty cool. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

There are some new products up at Enjoy Jewellery ... go check them out! I love it when new orders arrive!

So today the digger arrived to start cutting out the garden for the boat park, my uncle is helping ... its so fun we get to see him now! he's awesome ...

Here is the birthday card i made for Emra

ok, so i have finished everything now ... so goodnight!

If you stop by, leave a comment i love hearing from you! :-)

8 years ago today ...

my sweet Emra was born. Actually in the middle of the night ...

how time flies.

We had a little get together with some friends from her class on friday afternoon, it was so cute ... a posh high tea! they had feather boas and i made flower head bands .... it was really cute. We had a make-up, nail polish studio ... so funny! Sheridan (my little sis) was on make up patrol ... then we played the toilet roll game, we broke into two groups and had a roll of toilet paper each, and had to design a dress ... it was so fun! we had ABBA pumping the whole time ... it was a blast!

My big girls have dance competitions coming up, so they had rehersals and costume checking both sat and sunday, then in between that one of my good friends had her 40th disco party on saturday night ... it was such a great night, everyone was in dress up ... looked like we had time warped right back to the 70's! it was classic. The guys had more hair than the girls ... it was hilarious. I thought my charlies angels flicks were pretty good until i saw some of the guys! lol! My clever friend made her own cake ... it was devine, and looked amazing!

we boogied on down all night to all the great disco hits ... i have blisters on my feet! lol!

so when its your birthday in our house you get to pick your favourite meal for dinner, Em has picked roast pork and chocolate mousse for desert ... so best i start getting organised!

I have a class here tomorrow, we are doing a album dedicated to motherhood, where you can keep your thoughts and memories.... very timely with one of my babies being born today, it always brings many feelings sweeping back!

OFF TO CAMP ....

after much preparation our oldest set off for camp today, she was so excited ... and being the classic first born child was very organised. Although Gary did comment that did she need so much stuff for only 3 days ... lol! I made her a little card she could read on the bus, i actually felt a little sad driving away ... that independance arriving already. We will miss her at dinner tonight, and saying prayers ... i know she'll have a blast! and can't wait to see her photos and hear the stories!

It was one of my dear friends birthdays today, she is 40 ... but she doesn't look anywhere near it ... she is gorgeous! We celebrated with lunch at the restaurant they own, it was delicious and great fun ... it went so so fast. She is having a disco party on saturday night, so i made this card with the "disco" theme in mind ... you can be sure i will have some cracking photos to post after the weekend! lol!

I also did this layout last night, i was inspired by a logo i saw when i was shopping yesterday, it didn't work out quite how i planned ... i will use different colours next time.

Monday was a pupil free day for the girls, so we went up to visit my grandmother (who has moved over from NZ) she lives at the beach, and the girls had a great time exploring and playing ... i took my camera and left the card in the computer, so no photos :-(

Well ... i have a disco outfit to get ready ... how fun!

i love weddings ....

really good friends of ours were married yesterday. It was a beautiful wedding, and quite emotional ... i found myself crying alot! She looked so gorgeous ... and the bridesmaids dresses were very cool - i would love one myself. It was a stunning wedding party (as you can sort of see)

The girls came to the church with us, and Gi gave a horse shoe ... so cute.

The reception was so fun, and the food was sensational - i really appreciate good food, and i was loving every bite. It was good to catch up with some old friends too ...

their first dance was so cool - they had a routine rehersed ... gary and i were blown away - gary was like "things have come a long way since we got married hon!"

so funny

The cake was gorgeous too, when we were growing up mum would bring us home cake if they went to a wedding ... i used to love it so much, that i have tried to continue the tradition with our girls. Of course they were so happy this morning to see cake! wink!

I made this card ... it was a little rushed, so not quite as good as i wanted ...

i caught this the other day ... so cute. Gi thought she was doing such a super job!