Ok this is a little lesson in what not to do...this was my contribution for the latest NZ dare...to use two colours only....I chose blue and yellow...yay! love those colours...but I got carried away with my black pen to outline and you can't ok... only for the title and journalling can you use black or white...so if you want that gorgeous, yummy, Tarisota kit to be yours (yes thats the prize this round!) then put your black pen away I tell you rofl!! I'm going back to the drawing board...cause I couldn't bear to pull this one to bits...and I'm going to do another! Its going to be tough because I use black pen ALOT! on every layout I do would be closer to the truth heh, heh....but if the rest of the Dare girls can do it....so can I!! and you!! I DARE YA!!

So that was labour weekend!

Heres some pics of us today....*wavies to the grandparents and any whanau tuning in!!

Joseph and Patrick have been getting stuck into doing lots of chores around the house and garden this last week. They have decided they would like a scooter and a skateboard and I said they need to earn them. So they sat down at the table one afternoon and brainstormed a list of jobs they could do...so they have been very busy this weekend preparing the lamb milk and feeding Rosie and Poppy, washing Dads car, folding washing, emptying and filling the dish washer, tidying the lounge and their rooms, setting the table for meals to name a few....they write what they do on a piece of paper and at the end of the week I will price up their work sheets and pay them...so far so good....hope it lasts!!!

Samuel brooming his digger in the sun this morning...love it when he gets so absorbed he dosn't realise I'm there with the camera...love his fuzzle hair rofl!

Awwwww!! found them like this this afternoon while we were busy painting.

A big thank you to all those who have congratulated me on managing to score a place on the Scrapbook Studio Design Team for 6 months! I can't wait to get started and have some fun creating up a storm every month alongside Lisa,Lianne,Kelly, Heidi, Louise (you just have to check out her Santa mailbox dt entry in the gallery...cute!!!!) and Faye!

Thank you Lisa for giving me a go lol!

OK so if you havn't before....come on over and check out the wonderful shop, forum and gallery HERE!!!! Kelly and Heidi are currently hosting a cyber crop this weekend and there is still time to join in the challenges, create some gorgeous layouts and you might even win a prize too...bonus!

And while we are on the subject of scrapping don't forget to get those entries in NZ dare scrap a mood dare and there is one week to go (midnight this Friday) for you to get your Delys Jack in!! I am just about to go and post up a couple of faves...never get tired of seeing so much inspiration come from one persons layout....thanks to all who have joined in the Jacks so far...and good luck if you are in the draw this round....that Itchy Nail kit might just end up on your door step!

We have a lovely relaxed household, happy in the knowledge its a long weekend, the sun is shining (even if its a tad chilly...whats up with that!! lol!), we are woken in the mornings to the dulcet tones of the tui's and the persistant baa's of hungry lambs rofl!!! Jim has been heard to mutter under his breath they are not eating grass fast enough and was spotted mowing round the edge of their paddock, heh, heh, he just can't help himself, he announced it is their jogging circuit!

Shock, horror I have no photos to add this evening, maybe tomorrow I'll get trigger happy...so I'll leave you with this...

Our baalambs... Now officially named Rosie and Poppy...I put my foot down at Jims idea of calling them Briggs and Stratton (lawn mower engines) cause they were far too manly for my sweet girls! They have found sheep paradise at our house as they will only ever be pets and lawn mowers for the back paddock...Bert loves them (and thankfully not in the same way he 'loved' the chickens at Mum and Dads...to death!) and can be found at bottle time licking the drips of milk from their chins and is also eyeing up those tails that are still to drop off

lol!

Jim is currently tackling his biggest DIY challenge yet...renovating the bathroom himself and got off to a good start this weekend by replacing the existing window for a smaller one so we can fit a shower in....unfortunately the space is far too pokey to fit a bath in as well, the manky old shower over the bath trick set up that was there has been turfed! But all is not lost, the longterm plan is to fit a bath into the 2nd bathroom by the master bedroom which has acres of space to spare and only a shower, sink and loo...we can't quite figure what was going through the previous owners heads when they put the extension on the house because as we keep saying.....'we would have done it differently' lol!

Do miss the bath though....the best thing for grumpy tired kids before tea is to put them in a bath, chills them out no end just sitting there in the warm water splashing and playing.

The NZ dare this round is to scrap a mood....there is a ton of inspiration up on the No.8 wired blog with the new contributors (Donna Meuli, Vicky Gibson and Sharon Topliss) getting stuck in already with some wonderful layouts. I chose to scrap an older photo from Jims childhood, I was inspired by the warm summery mood of the photo....big skies, golden fields, sitting in the grass eating sandwiches....

This months Kiwi Jack still has a couple of weeks to go so if you are looking for more motivation and inspiration head over there and check out the layout by Delys Cram who was Jacked by our previous months winner Lara! There is also a fab prize this month sponsored by Tracey at The Itchy Nail....she puts together fanatastic monthly kits and one of them could be yours if you get your Jack on and enter!! This is my Delys Jack....

I bought some clear stamps from the Poppy ink stamp sale not long ago and love them (the bird in So Small is one...can't wait for the next sale...you have to be in quick though cause man they walk out the door fast!

Have you seen this site? Care2crop....if you have some scrapping time you can volunteer please drop Louise a line....a fantastic idea.

Some pics from our visit last week to 'The Farm'!

We got lucky with the weather, the boys loved being back with Nana and Grandad, Samuel was in his element with Grandad, hauling him off for rides on the tractor and the scooter and eating toast together in the morning...note the gumboots already on with his jarmies!

Joseph and P spent lots of time trying to catch the little spratty type fish (although they were convinced they were tadpoles! because there is a resident frog)in the pond,

Mum and I had a lovely girls day out shopping til we dropped and Jim and I were treated to a night out without the kids, a lovely dinner and a movie....hmmm I'm sure it was the fastpaced action flickering on the screen and not the large glasses of wine at dinner that made me feel woozy at the end rofl! Still a good night!

Not sure it was warm enough to be swimming, but the boys couldn't resist the clear sparkling water and in they went!

The cherry trees were in full spring glory and I took lots of pics one early morning to remember the place by as Mum and Dad are officially moving on to new things....it was a beautiful spot to have lived...a credit to mum and dad for all their hard work over the years and so wonderful the boys were able to have been part of it too...so many memories...the farm will always be with us.

Even my NZdare layout this round was about the farm...with this photo of Mums cat Marjorie in her favourite spot in the window...the sun streaming in, I love that!

Yay, I have something to skite about....!!!

seven weeks and seven layouts ago I entered Scrapbook Essentials Ultimate Champion competition, great challenges and great group of ladies to scrap along with, I love the layouts I created during those weeks, the challenges pushed me out of my lazy zone to try things like black and white pics, no pic layouts, I even dusted off my foam stamps and paints and got busy...which is usually far too messy for my liking lol! But anyway....by the skin of my teeth....one point....I won! Louise was seriously snapping at my heels with her gorgeous layouts every week, so it could have been either of us there at the end, but I managed to sneak in there to win the title!

Needless to say I'm chuffed! A great prize by Scrapbook Essentials, HUGE thank you to Meg and the DT who had to do all the hard work behind the scenes...

and so I couldn't resist this pic heh, heh, heh!!!!...need to work on the staunch look though rofl!!

I am truly honoured to wear the Scrapbookings Ultimate champion headscarf until I need to pass it on to the next winner!..

This was my final layout from week 7 to use a quote or words used by someone you know or a quote which relates to them....I am so pleased to have scrapped this little gem from Joseph...its one of his little funnies from toddlerdom which has stuck with me and I was lucky enough to find this photo which went perfectly with it!

and so for all those wondering what to do with themselves now the comp is over...don't forget to get those Ann Jacks in...you have until this Friday midnight...

and NZdares is all about using your favourite TV show as inspiration...there are some fantastic examples up by the kiwidare girls already....enter to win the prize draw and be a guest designer the following week.

I came across this site today... Sweet Spuds....so cute with a page that has cool music downloads for you to bop along to while you scrap....great looking kits too!

Also Rusty Pickle has a blog...and they are having a nine day giveaway to celebrate...so head on over and leave a comment...you gotta be in to win!

Looking forward to the holidays now...taking the boys down to Huntly for some fun on the farm with Nana and Grandad....heh, heh...we're cooooommminnnggg!!! (HI Mum!)

Remember that song by UB40 'theres a rat in my kitchen' well I've been humming it for the last couple of weeks after finding two of the darn things munching out on cornflakes in my pantry...eeewwwwww...Jim came to the rescue with large amounts of rat bait set out in traps all over the place.....the furry germs on legs even tore into the unopened boxes of bait in the garage and stole off with it...hopefully back to share with all their friends and family heh,heh!! So anyway this morning after not having seen one since setting the dogs on them the last time amid lots of screaming from me (yes I'm big girls blouse!) I sleepily opened the cupboard and reached in for the cereal (now housed in its new plastic rat proof container!!), having to push aside the bulk bag of flour and heard a very indignant squeeeaak as I squashed a poor ratty between the flour and a bag of oranges....he was definately suffering the effects of eating too much rat bait and could hardly move....Jim came and 'removed' him for good...hopefully his mates have already succumbed and I can start humming something else this week!!!

Another week just whizzed by then! Nearly school holiday time again...which means we will have been 'Norfies' for 10 weeks! And we are still having to pinch ourselves that we live here lol! Especially on days like today when we can just jump in the car with a few things and find a beach to run on without it being a full scale mission!

We stopped on the way to wander around this wonderful Kauri grove....still can't pronounce the name of the reserve properly rofl!...here you have a go!....

Then we carried on to Matauri Bay where we were lucky enough to get a nice break in the showery misty drizzle and the sun came out for a bit.

The big boys had a great old time playing in the waves, while I searched for pretty shells

and Samuel helped Dad with his sand sculpting....

then it was to the shop for an icecream and home for tea!

The competition at SE is hotting up for the grand finale this week!! I'm lucky enough to be in the top three so far....currently sweating out what i should do for this last one which is to use a word or phrase you use alot or a quote that you associate with someone?!!! Anyway good luck to all the girls at SE...its been very cool scrapping along with you all whatever the outcome!

Here is last weeks layout which was to show case a technique...I chose stamping and blew the dust off my MM foam stamps, busted out the paint and stamped the title, also tried the stamping with bubble wrap thing and used a clear Autumn leaves heart stamp to embellish! Love this layout of Jim and me, so nice to have one of us for a change!...I was inspired by the song by Muse which we were singing along to one morning....and for ages I've been wanting to do this feet shot totally inspired by the wonderful fun photography of Vicky Gibson.

Have a great weekend and week all...gardening tomorrow....hopefully we get another warm Spring day like some we've had this week...its been so warm by the middle of the day we are seeking the shade....

Rainy day today.

We had a bed pile-in this morning, and played connect four. Joseph was the champ and won most of the games....and then they played choose a dial tone on dads phone for a bit lol!

Decided it was suitable day for a 'proper' Sunday lunch *gasp* yes the first time I've ever cooked a hot Sunday lunch! The boys thought it was a right hoot having tea in the middle of the day....even I got a tad confused and called them to the table with the usual 'teatime guys' lol!!

So full of Roast pork, apple and crackle, Jim braved the weather and went off to plant his spuds...Samuel under the thumb of his dad actually had a nap without any of his usual 'getting up and down out of bed a thousand times driving his mum bananas' shenanigans...

...speaking of which my layout for the SE comp this week was all about this whole not wanting a nap anymore thing...! The theme was to scrap a double layout of something that challenges you.

The new Jack has been posted....for those who like to use circles on their pages you will love this one by Ann McLachlan...everybody is welcome to play come and check out the fab inspiration the girls have jacked you up with this week! This was my interpretation...

Have you tried Andrea's 1,2,3,4 recipe yet? Check out NZdares for the details....its a great kickstart to creating a layout quickly...heres mine, I kept it nice and simple...(the photo dosn't do the nice creamy bazzill and BG paper justice, but hey you get the picture!) I used 1 pattern paper, the flower cut from BG...2 rubons, the word 'ducks' and the tiny red star above the journaling...3 pieces of material...cut from different patterned quilting squares...and 4 embellishments, sequins.

The winner of the Christi Jack has been drawn at Jack Me Up...the lovely Lara will be our guest designer for the next Jack AND she will be choosing who to Jack for the following one!...so tune in this Saturday for the new one...

The Effer dares are running their last scrapper standing comp again this year...check out their website for details...

If like me you like scrappy challenge blogs then their are a few new ones up and running by SIStv girls...

Colour Your World

CreARTions

This is Me

and a new kiwi one by Neen The Music in Me

Happy Scrapping!!

Another birthday boy this week....

and the boys and I thoroughly enjoyed spoiling him with flash choccies from Makana in Kerikeri, Champagne and posh nosh cooked by little old moi for dinner....oh and of course a cake.... vanilla sponge with homemade lemon curd (Delias of course)...a little tasty memory of home as it was Jims mum (Hi Sue!)who taught me to whip up these wonderful sponges when she was training me up to be his wife 10 years or so ago heh, heh!!

The boys had much fun searching for the corks from their sparkling juice and our very scrummy champagne...who needs restaurants when you can dine out in the late afternoon sunshine in your own garden!

(Look out old man, I'm an expert at this candle blowing lark!)

Here is my entry for the 4th challenge for the SE comp... using black and white pics, with a White OR black background and one other colour accent....a real challenge for this colour loving scrapper I tell you but I quite like the toned down result for a change!