Happy New Year :D!!!

Hi everyone,

How are you all going? I hope the "Silly Season" wasn't too traumatic for you all. So far so good here ;). To be honest once Christmas day has finished that's it for us. Doug usually works every New Year's Eve & this year is no exception, except that he thinks he should be home early (maybe before midnight even) as they don't have a lot of bread being sent up from Brisbane.

I want to wish you all a very Happy & Safe New Year. Are you going to have New Year Resolutions this year? I don't normally do any as I tend to be unrealistic in what I think I can do. So this year I am trying to keeping it simple.

My goals for this year are:

1. Get organised - with my Birthday cards for family & friends!
2. Keep on using up all my scraps! Every time I turn around there seem to more & more of them.
3. Do more sewing - I miss it & I really want to make Lilly at least one quilt from me.
4. Go to some classes at two of my LSS.
5. Slow down & breathe - sounds stupid I know. I tend to rush every thing & get worked up, when I really shouldn't.
6. Enter at least one competition a month & make one Christmas card a month.
7. Start walking at least once a week.
8. Blog at least once a week, make comments on the Hero Arts flickr group, as well as on all your lovely blogs.
9. Do at least one blog candy give away this year.
10. Lastly clean up our downstairs area & make it baby friendly as Lilly is getting to the stage where she's on the move. I'm thinking of investing in a play pen to keep her safe.

I just had to rescue Smudge the cat from Lilly - Lil'bug had poor Smudge's tail in her mouth! Yup the play pen sounds like a great idea. Silly cat wont go where Lilly can't get to her, I think Smudge secretly likes the attention. Lilly is finally mastering the art of crawling & the Sunday before Christmas grew two teeth (on the bottom). So now she's into mischief but that's ok with me.

Em is spending tonight at Papa & Mama's place. I think that is wonderful for her to spend some time away from her sister & get some attention all to herself. I know it certainly gives me a rest (the house is so quiet without her).

Well I've bored you all enough for one post so till the next one - TTFN & Happy New Year!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Merry Christmas & a Happy & Safe New Year

Hi all,

Just thought I'd pop in & wish you all a very Merry Christmas & a Happy & Safe New Year. I hope that "Santa" brings you all that you wish for. Plus a few quiet moments as well - I soooooooo need some of them ;).

I haven't even had a chance to make any Christmas cards this year so to those that have given me cards I apologise for not being organised (or well enough) earlier this year to make them. I am hoping to be able to get some done after the rush of Christmas & New Year.

Huge Hugs to you

Paula, Em & Lilly"bug"

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I love Basic Grey!

Hi every one,

I have been rather "naughty" yet again I brought some papers from Basic Greys newest collection Curio. I adore Basic Grey & it was so hard to limit myself to three of the papers. Luckily for me they are all double sided. So I have been making the most of them.
This card I made after completing the two following LOs. All I did was ink the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink & stamp the butterflies & message from Stamp-it. I also based the card on the same sketch I used for Doug's LO. Which made for a really easy card to do.

I really like the simple look of this LO. Which is strange since I am usually piling stuff on my cards. I guess because there is a photo involved I want to keep the focus on that instead of everything else. I have been challenging myself to include stamping on my LOs. All the stamps are from Hero Arts except the numbers which are from Kaisercraft.

This last LO is going to be a present for Doug's mum Eileen. I made this up as I went along & I surprised myself with how good it turned out. Would you believe this page only uses four different papers if you include the mat for the photo & the bazzil background. I lifted certain parts of the roses with pop dots & used double sided tape for the rest of it. I also did the same with the butterfly. I also found some lace to put underneath the photo to match the printed paper ribbon on the top. I then went through my stash & found some letter rub-ons for the title.

Well I hope that you have enjoyed today's post. I have made a heap of cards & I even remembered to photograph them so will show them in a future post. TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Deborah's CCC for October

Hi every one,

Below are the cards that I did for Sheila for Deborah's latest CCC. This first card went slightly awry when I was colouring her. Some of the black ink ran so I had to give her an eye patch to fix it up. Next time I think I will just replace her head. I tried to turn her into a Halloween card, I don't think I pulled it off at all.

This next card I made using up my scraps again. I swear that scrap pile is never getting any smaller! My card bases, c/s for stamping, etc are all disappearing faster than I want but not the leftovers.
This last card was made with some of the flowers & gems that I recieved in an earlier CCC. So thought it would be good to put them to use on this card.

Thanks for stopping by & TTFN

Oh nooooooo not more LO's ;)

Hi everyone,

Well as you will see I've been a proud mumma again. (ok this is going to be one of those posts I can tell already - Lilly is crying so will brb) Ok all is well in Lilly's world now, so fingers crossed I can keep going.

I decided to have ago at my own LOs. I have been basing some of these on sketches that I have seen either online or in Scrapbooking mags. As per usual I tend not to follow the sketches too closely or the LOs shown. I can't seem to bring myself to do exact copies of them.


I am really pleased with this first LO. I adore the photo of Em being a "Doctor" with Lilly. Plus I got to use up some more of my scraps so this turned out to be a really cheap page for me. I already had the kraft paper, chipboard letters, sticker letters, gems & the papers where left overs from other projects that I have done. The flowers where given to me by a very good friend (who also gave me an album for Lilly).

Again for this LO I was using up heaps of leftovers, from other projects that I have done. I got the basic idea for this from looking through some mags that I borrowed from our local library. This LO will be winging it's way to the otherside of Australia as part of my Mum's birthday present. Thanks to my dh for the wonderfull idea (to give this to my mum), my sister is going to buy a shadow box frame to put this in.


These last two LOs are a double page (imagine them side by side). The first page I'm really happy with, the second one not so much. I think I should have stopped at the one page.

Thanks for stopping by - TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Some Layouts & a Card Swap

Hello every one
How are you all going? I have been busy lately with a creative burst (no complaints here I can tell you!). I have completed a few scrapbooking LO's with a little help from both the 'net & some mags' that I borrowed from the library. Also I have re-used some LO's that I have done before from classes or kits, but as usual I have put my own spin on them.

This first LO I have done before but with the Basic Grey Lemonade papers in a kit I got from a LSS. I used the last LO as a template for this one & honestly I have changed it by turning the template on it's side & of course used completely different papers & embelishments. I am not sure if you have seen this LO before so appologise if I have posted about already.

This next LO I have done I used a template from a Papercraft Planet group Scrappy Sunday. I did have great intentions of doing at least three of the four sketches & entering the challenge. Unfortunately time is against me & I need to be more organised with the sizes of my photos.

I did however manage to do two more pages which I hope to share later in the week with you all.

These next five cards are my contribution to a card swap I am involved in. My dear lovely friend Helen, her sister Elisabeth & Belinda (Elisabeth's friend) have been swapping cards for a few months now. The rules are very simple you make five cards for each person in the group (plus a set for yourself if you want). The five cards are the same for each member of the group. I have been meaning to share some of my cards that I had made for the group swap but unfortunately I keep forgeting to take pictures

These first two cards where made from the same papers (that I just "had" to buy). I really thought this sweet girl looked right at home on these papers. I got her as a freebie from the Tiddly Inks Digitals group over on the Papercraft Planet site.

This cute whale also came from the Tiddly Inks group. I have been hoping to play along with their challenges as well, but as usual time seems to get the better of me. The card is based on a sketch that was part of this Caardvark challenge a little while ago as well. I don't know why but when I saw the sketch I imediately thought of this cute whale. Looking at the card now I think if I was to do it again I'd swap the red circle for blue & make the fish red. Not that it really matters I guess.
This Owl card I made because Helen gave me some chipboard moons. I was orginally going to have the owl sitting on his branch off to one side but thought that he looked more interesting on the moon. Then I added the cat since the ribbon looks sort of like a fence to me (it's the same ribbon I used on Linda's cards here scroll down to see the pictures).
This last card is one of my favourites & really is a fluke! I used versamark ink & one of my Hero Arts BG cling stamps Antique Brocade, then stamped over it with Versafine Black Onyx & a Darkroom Door deer image & saying. Because I did this on Bazzil the deer was a bit blotchy so I went over him with my black Copic marker. Unfortunately you can't see it here but the brocade stamp shows through the deer & looks really pretty.
Well I guess I have bored you all enough for one post. Thanks for stopping by & have a great week.

Some easel cards

Hi every one,

How have you all been? I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. My life seems to have settled down since my bad "country & western" week (It sounded like a really bad country & western song - had an op, the 'puter crashed & then the cat died). But at least now I can look back & smile.

Smudge is a different cat now without Tom, she's got a voice & is now naughtier than ever - grrrrrrrrrr! But we still love the rotten critter. Em keeps wanting to know when are we going to get a puppy. Em told her dad the other day that she wanted a black labrador girl puppy that she could call Sam.

Below are some cards that I have made in the last few days. This first one is for a really good friend of mine who's b'day was on the 5th October. Unfortunately I have yet to give her this card. Luckily for me Esther is ok with this & knows that she will get it eventually! I am also going to make her some cards as a gift. Hopefully today will be a good day for that.




As you can see I'm slightly addicted to easel cards at the moment as well as this paper pad from Kaisercraft.

Well folks I have to go, Lilly has just woken up. I am hoping to be back really soon to share some wonderful photo's that Helen has taken of LillyBug.

Thanks for visiting & hugs to you all xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Goodbye my three legged mate :( you will be missed

Hi every one,

I am very sad today as I had my dear old Tom cat put down.

I know I had just finished saying how he was ok & everything in the last post. I think I must have jinxed him or something. I should know better by now!

When Doug came home early this morning he found Tom couldn't move & was having trouble breathing. I found out when I got up to feed Lilly at 5am. So I decided to stay with my little mate after I had finished up with Lilly & then at 7.30 I got him to our vet. Kim is an awesome vet & he was really understanding when I brought Tom in to him. I could have taken Tom to an afterhours clinic about half an hour away, but I knew that it was Tom's time to go & didn't feel like taking him somewhere where no one knew him or his history. Kim was really nice & made me feel a whole lot better about what I had to do, even though I pretty well knew it had to be done. I got to stay with Tom right to the end & Kim didn't rush me out the door even though he had patients waiting.

So now we are a one pet family - poor Smudge, I guess she's going to feel a little lonely for a bit. Em wants to get a puppy now, specifically a Labrador (she's been hanging around me too long!) I have to keep explaining that we need a fenced yard first. So I guess we'll have an interesting week or two ahead of us.

Take care everyone & give your pets an extra pat from me xoxoxoxoxoxo

Oh what a week!

Hi there,

I know it's been absolutely ages since I last did any blogging! I miss it terribly. A lot has happened since I last posted & some of that has been craft related (Yay!).

This week has been an interesting time in our household. Firstly on Sunday Tom (the three legged, one eyed Tom cat without his boy bits) started to bleed everytime he went to the toilet. Which had me rather upset as you can guess. He hasn't been in the best of health for some time now. (We resorted to putting his "bucket" back on a while ago, as he keeps licking himself raw on his underside .) The worst part was we couldn't get him to the vet until Tuesday. Luckily for Tom the vet thinks he had a cyst burst in his bladder & it should get better now he's on meds. I am so thankful that Doug was okay about going to the vets as I usually have to sneak around behind his back when it comes to vets.


On Monday I had "Day Procedure" surgery. I got my Tubes tied, or as I told the nurse I was in to be neuted, when she asked why was I there. After a fit of giggles the nurse suggested that I shouldn't say that when they asked me that same question again down in the theatre, but guess what I did it anyway. It was good for a laugh! I'm sure that they didn't mind & I got a giggle out of it. Mind you I've been sore & sorry ever since though! Oh well that's the joys of these things I guess.

Then on Tuesday after taking Tom to the vets, I thought I'd do a spot of blogging only to discover the computer packed it in! Apparently cat hair isn't good for a computer. When we got it back today the lady that fixed it said we should get our computer serviced twice a year like a car. The vents, fans & some part I can't even remember where clogged up with cat hair. It's the first time I think it's ever been in to a computer store & we've had it longer than Em has been around so that's at least 5 years.

This card I did as part of a swap group I am in. I like the way it turned out as this is another one of my "Scrappy" cards. I also used my Copics to colour the ribbon to match. I made this card for Belinda to thank her for sending me a catalogue. So I will share the five cards I made for the swap once they are at their final destination ;D.

These next four cards I did just because..............I'm addicted to my Copics & The Greeting Farm stamps. I originally was going to use one of these images for Deborah's latest CCC. But because I got carried away again! I decided to send these four cards to Linda aka Oz along with the last card.

As you can see I kept the sketch the same but mixed up the colours on the images & used up what ever scraps fit the best. I altered the ribbon with Copics, just to see what it would look like.

I also altered the gems as well. I don't normally do Halloween cards, as we don't celebrate Halloween that much here in Australia. So I am not 100% sure these cards would be classed as Halloween cards. I think it's more the colours of Purple, Orange & green that make them Halloween"ish" to me.

I also decided to give this last card to Linda as well. Now I'm just hoping that they get to her in time.


Thanks for putting up with such a long blog post. I hope you all are having a great week & finding time for crafting.
Hugs to you all & TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

September's CCC

Hi every one,

I know it's been forever since I last did anything on this poor neglected blog! In fact it's been forever since I've done anyting on the 'net. I am hoping to start blogging regularly now that Lilly is settled & in some sort of routine & I'm getting a lot more things done.

Like this card that I made for Deborah's latest CCC challenge. I sent this card (& a pirate card that Helen made) to Barb. I used scraps on this card. Plus an image from the Greeting Farm that my wonderful friend Helen stamped for me. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to remember to take a photo of Helen's card so if you click here & scroll down to the fifth card you will be able to see what it looks like. Thank you so much Helen for letting me gift your wonderful card on :D.

Well I'm off to create cards for another challenge & open my mail from Linda Wetterlin (I love the postie!!!) so I can ooh & ahh over her fabulous card.

TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Our day at Australia Zoo

Hi all,

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged. Things seem to be getting away from me lately. But as you can see from the following photos we have been to Australia Zoo. If you go to Australia Zoo in August you can get a pass for the rest of the year. All it costs you is your entry. So for Em & myself it cost us $91. But now we can go as often as we want for the rest of the year. Pretty good deal I think. So our Mothers' group has decided that we'd try for at least once a month at the zoo. That way we get lots of value for our money ;).

Em had a wonderful time riding this pony, her friend Emily rode a littler grey pony while Em was on this one.

I just love the tigers, they would be one of my favourite animals. I think they are such a beautiful creature, Em thought they where pretty good as well.

Em just had to go to the Kangaroos!!!! She drove me insane until we got there ;). All the kangaroos are fairly placid, as long as you are calm. So we got to pat some. I made sure that Em understood that you can't pat the wild ones that roam around her Pa Pa's place though.

This poor wombat was being picked on by the other wombats, which is why she's wearing a "Dryasabone" dog coat. So her bald spots heal & she doesn't get too cold.

I tried to convince Em to sit in this croc's mouth but she wouldn't be in it. Instead she was happy to sit on his head. We had to be quick as there where heaps of people wanting to get their photo with this croc.

Thank you all for stopping by & I hope you all have a great weekend ahead :D TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Thank you from my "little Dear" :D

Thank you from my "little Dear" :D
Originally uploaded by pajalu (Paula)

Hi all,

I am sorry I haven't been online that much of late :(. I have been staying away on purpose. I tend to want to check out lots of different things & of course that all takes time. So I've been staying away so I can get more organised with Lilly & the family.

This picture is for everyone that took part in the blog hop for me :D. Thank you so much ladies!!! It was such a wonderful surprise & so unexpected. This is the only way I can think of to thank everyone straight away. I was going to upload all the cards I have recieved but unfortunately that takes a lot of time that gets spent looking after kids (husbands & cats). Mainly because I would then want to add links to each person that sent me a card.

At the moment half of my craft room is upstairs around our kitchen table (we very rarely use it for eating at). I wanted to be able to craft with in ear shot of Lilly, plus it's a lot warmer upstairs at this time of year. So as you have probably guessed Lilly is on the kitchen table ;) posing with the card.

Sorry if I am not making a lot of sense at the moment - sleep depravation is not good for the brain cells lol.

Em & Lilly are both doing ok. Last week they got their immunisation needles - Lilly's 8 week needles & Em's 4 yr needles. Poor babies, they where so brave. Em didn't cry at all, I guess the promise of a Freddo frog & Macca's (McDonalds) afterwards was a good reward. I also didn't cry (this time) as I was trying to not put my fear of needles onto Em. Lilly was a little unsettled but did really well.

Poor Em is in the wars, not only did she get her needles but she is also teething again. Had I known this last week I would have put off her needles till after her b'day. Em is at home at the moment as her school called as she was feeling poorly today. So after a quick trip to the chemist on the way home she should be right to go to school tomorrow I am hoping.

Well I had better be going as I'm making a cassarole for tea & it is going to take a couple of hours to cook.

Have a wonderful week everyone & happy crafting xoxoxoxoxo TTFN

New stamps :D

Hi all,

Well I finally have gotten my inky hands on some Greeting Farm stamps. Oh boy all I can say is WOW!!!! These stamps are fantastic! I am so going to be getting me some more of these fantastic creations. I have gotten three sets of these & my dear friend Helen has gotten some as well. My LSS even rang me as soon as they came in so I was one of the very first to get my hands on them, gotta love that :D. I have some more cards here on my flickr stream.

I am finally putting my limited supply of Copics to good use. I am having a blast putting these cards together. I used a few of the challenge sketches from some of my favourite blogs as a starting point. I am going to give these cards to my LSS for them to display if they want. So with that in mind I brought a few of the newest pattern papers they have in stock. On the Amellia cards I have used Basic Grey (love that company!) Koshi range & for the Oliver cards I am using the Transportation Range by Best Creation Inc. Which is sooo cute especially for little boys.

On non crafty stuff - Lilly & Em are doing really well. I can't believe that Lilly is now five weeks (& one day) old already! Where does the time fly? Em is relishing her roll as a big sister & tries to be as helpful as a four year old can be. Doug has started back at work this week & things seem to be running smoothly.

Helen came over for a visit today & we had a wonderful time together disscussing this, that & everything in between. We shared some wonderful home cooking & reciepes. Em was so happy to see Helen that she got over excited & played up (a lot). Even after Helen went home she was naughty & ended up crying herself to sleep, poor thing. Lilly went out in sympathy & was very unsettled as well. So our house was rather noisy for a while tonight. They joys of kids :D, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Well Doug has just pulled up in the drive (it's his early night) so will go now. Have a great weekend & happy crafting every one xoxoxoxo TTFN

A LO of Em & Lilly

Hi all,

I know it's been a while since I last blogged :(. I have been busy trying to keep up with the every day stuff of having a new baby & juggling Lilly around all the things that I do with Em. I have been lucky that my dh has taken a month off to help me. Unfortunately that is fast comming to an end, as Doug starts work on Wednesday night. In a way I am looking forward to things getting back to "normal", men have a way of getting under foot don't they ;D.

I thought I would post a small LO I have just done this afternoon. It's a 6"x6" LO that I put into a bound Scrapbook that I made ages ago. As you can see I used one of my most favourite photos' for this LO. I just love the way Em is holding Lilly & is so happy about that.

I used another LO as my template. I have done a larger version of this page with another photo of Lilly & was using up some of the left overs for this page. I am really starting to enjoy scrapping again, plus I have managed to include some stamping & copic colouring on this LO as well.

I thought I would share a photo of Missy Em (with her sheep), Lilly & the very lovely Dawn :D.


Dawn & her dh had a holiday here on the Sunshine Coast a few weeks ago & was nice enough to visit us. Em was so excited (me too!) to meet Dawn. Em especially loves her sheep that Dawn gave to her. So much so that the sheep had to go to pre-prep the very next day so Em could show it off. I was lucky enough to get some chocolates (I still have one or two left ;D) & Lilly got some bibs, which fit her perfectly.

Materials used in LO:
Hawthorn & Bramble stamps,
Copic Ciaos - YR23, YG67, E50, BV02, BV04, BV08
Snugglebug papers by Little Yellow Bycycle
Snugglebug stickers by Little Yellow Bycycle
Prima flower
Assorted ribbons

Have a great week ahead every one & happy crafting TTFN