Carley's Digi Scraps

Heaps of freebies + another chance to WIN

2012-02-10T18:37:00.004+10:00

Earlier this week we finally got over Ella being sick, so yesterday she went back to daycare and she got sick again! Not happy! So she couldn't go today as she was vomiting this morning. I'm seriously re-considering the whole daycare option for her. Technically she doesn't have to go as I'm at home and I'm not sure that putting her through more sickness just to gain some social interaction will be worth it. She has been sick almost everyday of her entire life, she needs a break. Everyone keeps telling me "it builds their imune system"... seriously if one more person says it I'm going to explode! If your kid had been sick constantly for 2 years (out of our control without daycare), why would I make her constantly sick when I can control it by not putting her in that environment.

We see our doctor on Monday for a follow up and I'm going to get his opinion on the situation and see if he feels giving her more time to build up her immunity ourselves before sending her back. I'm no medical person but my gut tells me that her defenses are so low that she will get everything and anything. If we can spend a few months getting good probiotics and healthy stuff into her we might have a chance when she does come in contact with something. But like I said, I'm no doctor, so will ask the professional on monday!

Anyway, enough rambling from me... Valentines Day is just around the corner, hope you all get lovely treats and surprises from your loved ones. My treat to you is 4 (yes 4!) freebies! Here on my blog you'll find a cute double heart frame and over on my facebook page is a set of 3 heart related freebies (wordart, overlay & photo mask) to enjoy!

Plus I'm feeling generous again so there is another chance to win my new kit "Sweet Delights". Simply leave a comment either here or on my facebook page and I'll draw one lucky winner on Sunday night to get this wonderfully delicious kit. Good Luck!

Download frame here.

Head over to facebook for the extra (triple bonus) freebie!

Overlay & Cluster freebies

2012-02-03T15:30:00.004+10:00

What a week! Ella has been sick most of the week, so she only got to daycare for half a day out of the 2 allocated days. Poor little thing, when will she ever catch a break healthwise!

I managed to finish off my new kit this week. "Sweet Delights". It was so much fun making it. I hope you like it too. For a chance to win this delicious kit, simply leave a comment either here or on my facebook page and I'll draw a random winner on Sunday night. Bonus entry if you 'share' the post on your facebook page. Good luck!

Today's freebies are a cool page overlay that I used in my new kit and over on my facebook page is a cluster made from my last kit "Summer Fun".

Just a reminder that all my kits are still on sale for 99c in my facebook shop (including this new one!)

Also I'm still on the look out for some CT members if you are interested please drop me an email.

Download overlay here.

Head over to facebook for this extra freebie.

Wordart & Overlay freebies

2012-01-27T11:41:00.005+10:00

Sorry I'm a bit late this week, I've been a bit sidetracked getting Ella ready for her first day at daycare today. As I expected there were a lot of tears - from me! Ella was fine, she was having heaps of fun. I called mid morning to check on her and she was still going great - just refused to morning tea. Which I also expected as she not a big eater, hopefully she be hungry by lunchtime. It's been a very hard morning for me, trying to do stuff to keep my mind occupied. I know Ella will be fine, but I think when its quiet/nap time she will then realise we aren't there and maybe get a bit nervous herself.

We've had some flooding in the area again this past week and we are hoping that the roads don't get cut off again today like they did earlier in the week, as we want to be able to get back to collect her later on! That would just be too much to bear!

Anyway just quickly today's freebies are a wordart in honour of Ella's first day as a big kid without Mummy or Daddy. Then over on my facebook page is a cool overlay. Enjoy!

I'll probably be doing freebies at the end of the week from now on as Ella doing 2 days as of next week and easier for me to do it all when she isn't here.

Have a great week everyone!

Download wordart here.

Head over to my facebook page for this extra freebie.

Wordart & Paper Mask freebies

2012-01-18T19:54:00.004+10:00

We were so happy to find out this week that we got the daycare placement that we wanted! So starting at the end of the month she will be doing 2 days a week (thurs & fri). We are getting used to the idea of her going but that first couple days will be hard!

Well so far so good for my new years resolution to lose some weight. I've been very very good with my eating (no more yummy homemade baked treats) and doing regular exercise and so far I've lost 6kg in 2.5weeks! I was so excited when I stood on the scales. I even weighed myself on 2 different scales (normal ones and Wii Fit) just to double check as I couldn't believe it. So now I'm even more motivated to keep going as I can see results! Hope your resolutions are going well if you started one.

Anyway just a quick stop by today with a couple of freebies. Firstly a super cute wordart and then over on my facebook page is a groovy paper mask. Hope you enjoy using them!

Download wordart here.

Head over to my facebook page for this extra freebie.

Photo Mask & Overlay freebies

2012-01-11T18:58:00.004+10:00

We are having a bit of a heat wave here this week. And WOW it is HOT!!!! Our poor air con has been running overtime (even at night, which for us is unusual). It's definitely summer in Australia!

Well this week we decided to take the leap and look into some daycare for Ella. She is getting bored at home doing the same thing and we figured now she is better we can at least consider it. We visited a couple of places and both seem really good. We have our eyes on one of them and find out friday if Ella can get in at start of new school term in a couple of weeks. The other one, our second choice, has availability so if all else fails we at least have a spot there. We figured 2 days a week is a good start. I think Ella will love it, its going to be us that will have trouble letting her go! There will be a lot of tears that day I'm sure (from me!).

Anyway onto today's freebies. I haven't had a chance to do much this week so I looked at my trusty list and I found a funky photo mask and a page overlay for you to enjoy. Speaking of freebies, I can't believe no one has taken up the chance to get my new kit for free. All you have to do is be the first person to post a picture on my facebook page of something you've made (layout or card etc) using at least 1 of my freebies and you'll get my new kit "Summer Fun" for free. Simple!

Download photo mask here.

Head over to my facebook page for the extra freebie.

2 new freebies + winner

2012-01-04T04:36:00.004+10:00

I hope everyone has had a good start to the new year. As usual for a new year, I've started my new health kick (hopefully this time I can keep it going). Just made friends with a neighbour recently and we have started a walking programing together, fingers crossed with our combined motivations we can get to our goals together!

Ella has been sick this week and Doctor not sure what it is as her ears and throat are all clear (which is a bonus considering her previous history). They think she might have stomach acid problems, causing bad reflux. The tablets seem to be helping and we get xray and ultrasound of her belly done tomorrow which might show up some more details for them. She's still, as usual, in high spirits and having fun all the time. Her speach is slowing improving and each day we can see progress. Thank you everyone for your well wishes of the past couple of years, I know your positive energies has helped!

I'm still on the lookout for some people to do some CT work. If you are interested please drop me a email and we can discuss details. I'd really like a few more layouts done with my kits so all my previous kits you can get for free (as well as new ones as they are done) if you decide to join me.

Onto today's freebies. Today I've got a template and over on my facebook page a funky journal stamp for you. Enjoy!

Download template here.

Head over to facebook for this extra freebie.

I really enjoyed making my newest kit "Summer Fun". Thanks to everyone who entered to win the kit. As there were only a couple of you who entered and I'm feeling generous - all 4 ladies win the kit! Congrats Eileen, Sue, Terri & Gay, I'll be in contact soon with the download details.

While on the subject of kits, I'm having a 99c sale in my shop. Full kits are all reduced for facebook fans - pop over now to grab a bargain!

Paper Mask & Frame freebies

2011-12-28T20:10:00.005+10:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was very quiet, spent with wonderful friends. Ella was spoiled heaps so I think another cull of old toys is in order now... We didn't over eat this year, but still had lots of good food. We still have heaps of leftovers - our freezer is full to the brim of yummy stuff!

Just a quick stop by with a couple new freebies. Today's blog freebie is a different take on a recent paper mask and over on my facebook page is a cute frame. Hope you like them!

Also a quick reminder that my January newsletter will be out in the next day or so and it has a bonus freebie for subscribers. It will also have a look at my new kit that is coming out (hopefully this week) and details of how you could win the kit - so sign up now so you don't miss out!

Download paper mask here.

I've extended my CT Call due to the holiday season, so you still have time to get in and apply if you are looking for great way to get free kits! (Disregard the apply by date, offer open until right people are found).

Don't forget to head over to my facebook page for this extra freebie.

Frame & Wordart freebies

2011-12-22T15:23:00.003+10:00

It's been a great week. Ella is doing really well and is happier than we've seen her in a long time. Which is great timing for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I've pretty much got it all sussed. All the shopping done, just need to wrap the pressies on christmas eve and do some baking. We learned that you can't put out the presents early anymore as Ella figured out how to open them up! So Christmas morning is going to be fun this year, we can't wait!

Anyway, just a quick stop by before I go and wake her up (a late nap today) with some new freebies. Today's freebies are a cute little frame and some even cuter wordart over on my facebook page. Hope you like them both. Enjoy!

Download frame here.

Head over to my facebook page for this extra freebie.

Overlay & Paper Mask freebies

2011-12-16T07:55:00.000+10:00

With just over a week until Christmas we've been busy doing last minute Christmas shopping. Ella is almost completely recovered from surgery and is getting better at being out at the shops which has helped trying to get errands done. It's hard on the days when she doesn't enjoy being out in public. But slowly she is getting better and more tolerant each day. We taking her to get her Santa photo on Monday. A friend of ours is a photographer at one of the centres so hopefully that will help to get a good photo. (Ella not normally the best with cameras).

Ella is so happy most days (she still has her moments!). But it's good to hear her laugh again, and really laugh. She been to the park a couple of times and to see her enjoying herself is so good. It's been too long since she was this healthy & happy. Fingers crossed it stays this way for a long time. She has well and truly had her share of illnesses.

On to today's freebies. I have for you today a cool textured border overlay and over on my facebook page is a paper mask. Great for paper layering and giving your pages a bit of spice without all the hard work! Enjoy!

Download overlay here.

Head over to facebook for this extra freebie.

Frame & Photo Mask freebies

2011-12-07T05:43:00.007+10:00

It's been a strange week here. Since the 1st (first day of summer) the weather has cooled down! I even wore my jumper & jeans out the last 2 nights that I popped out of the house... very weird for this time of year. Woke up this morning and its grey and cloudy and raining... seriously did no one give Mother Nature the Memo about Summer! LOL

I hope those that subscribed to the newsletter are enjoying their 12 Days of Christmas giveaway so far. Hopefully I haven't missed anyone that signed up late - if you missed any days just let me know and I'll get them to you.

Ella is doing much better now. The doctor saw her Monday afternoon and said she not quite healed, there still some scabbing on both sides of her throat and its a bit red on one side, but that its looking much better than last week. Least we know she is on the mend. Thanks again everyone who sent us there well wishes, we are truly gratefull for all the positive energy sent her way.

I'm truly loving the Pinterest site. I made myself a deal this week. If I can spend time searching through pages finding great ideas than I need to spend time making some of them! So this week I have. This week I've managed to do up DIY frozen smoothie bags, pizza calzones, bacon & egg toast cups, sorted linen sets to store in their pillowcases and a heap of gifts in a jar. The gifts in jar are awesome! I did one up for a friends birthday present and it turned out great so I did up heaps for Christmas gifts (just made my own Christmas labels). Check out the pics below to see my final products! Can't wait to make some more (once I get more jars!). I even tested out the recipe and WOW, they are soooooo yummy!

Anyway onto today's freebies. A sweet little frame which can be coloured easily to suit your pages and over on my facebook page is a cute photo mask (which hopefully I can finally use to do a page of Ella looking completely engrossed in a book). Enjoy!

Download frame here.

Head over to facebook for the extra freebie.

Here are my gifts in a jar. Thanks to Bakerella for the awesome idea (and great recipe)

my christmas version...

got so excited that I made a double batch in this cute jar I found for a close friend & her family

Bonus mid week freebies

2011-12-01T06:25:00.001+10:00

Happy 1st of December! Wow December already... My 12 Days of Christmas giveaway is about to start (first email going out in next couple of hours) but don't fret, you can still sign up and I'll make sure you get any that you missed. Click on the 'sign up to our email' tab on the left side (or on my facebook page).

For stopping by today here is a bonus mid-week wordart. A cute little wordart that you can personalise with any number! Also check out the new facebook exclusive freebie... It matches the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Head over to facebook for this new exclusive freebie.

Wordart & Overlay freebies

2011-11-28T07:34:00.004+10:00

Firstly, thanks to everyone for your best wishes for Ella. After a long week and another trip to hospital (things got very close to tragic at one stage), but I'm happy to report that Ella is on the mend finally and is almost completely recovered. We have a doctors appointment this afternoon to check the healing progress but since she started eating a bit more and sleeping through the night again we are sure its going well now.

I'm slowly getting addicted to Pinterest. It's seriously a great sight for so many ideas and inspiration. I had a weekend of next to no internet access (which was hard!) but I decided to work on a project I'd found on Pinterest last week. Check out below my version of the DIY Personalised Christmas Advent Calendar. The trick is going to be getting Ella to only open 1 day at a time! LOL.

Also with no internet access I managed to get a few more freebies made up. If the stupid net had of been working yesterday you would have these ones already! But why its working now (of course cause its Monday morning and I was going to call them when they open but now its working obviously something was broken until they started work again for the week, typical!), anyway, here are your new freebies. A cool wordart and a textured border overlay over on my facebook page.

There still a couple of days to sign up for my newsletter as the 1st of December is approaching fast. All newsletter subscribers will get a special 12 days of Christmas gift (12 freebies!). You wont wan to miss out because once its over these freebies wont be available as they will be up in my shop for sale (hint: its a new mini kit).

Download wordart here.

Grab this extra freebie over on my facebook page.

My DIY Personalised Christmas Advent Calendar (which after christmas goes back to being a muffin tray!)

Frame & Template freebies

2011-11-21T13:21:00.000+10:00

What a horribly draining couple of days! Ella's surgery went well but the recovery is very hard. She is in heaps of pain and wont eat anything. Getting any type of pain relief into her is extremely hard but slowly each day is getting a little bit easier. So far today seems better than yesterday so fingers crossed we are looking at the home straight. We see the doctor this afternoon for a quick check up to see how she is healing. Poor little thing, it breaks my heart to see her in such pain.

While I have a few minutes spare, I thought I'd drop by with a couple of quick freebies. The first is a cute little frame and over on my facebook page is another cool template. Hope you like and enjoy using them!

Before you leave, why not sign up to receive my newsletter as the first one comes out in a couple of days. It has great newsletter only freebies and coming up on 1st December I'm doing a cool 12 Days of Christmas giveaway - for email subscribers only. You wont want to miss out on it so sign up now as more details are in the newsletter.

Download frame here.

Grab this extra freebie over on my facebook page.

Hope you all grabbed a copy of the November Papers & Pixel magazine. If you did I hope you liked the free stacked paper I did for you and of course all the other great freebies in it. I'm happy to wear this badge with pride and hope that I can do more with the magazine next year!

Special request photo mask

2011-11-15T18:51:00.003+10:00

I got a lovely email the other from Sonja who found my blog and loved my freebies and ask for a special request. I love requests so I was more than happy to help out. Her daughters love horses and she wanted a horse related photo mask. Hopefully what I've come up with suits her needs and of course the needs of any other horse lovers! Thanks Sonja for your beautiful email and I hope this helps you out.

I was going to post it up tomorrow but I think I'm going to run out of time to get everything done before Ella's surgery which is early on Thursday morning.

Sorry I haven't had a chance to make a new facebook freebie but hopefully by early next week you'll have a new one!

Wish us luck for Ella's surgery. You all have been a wonderful support over the past year or so sending us plenty of love and prayers - and we appreciate it (keep it coming!).

Download photo mask here.

Photo Mask & Cluster freebie

2011-11-12T04:39:00.005+10:00

Less than a week to go until Ella's surgery. Getting very nervous and excited. At zumba the other night I ran into a lady who's 2 year old went through the same thing 6weeks ago. She said its really hard in those first 2 weeks but once the pain has healed he was like a new kid. Better eating, sleeping and much better behaviour. So fingers crossed we get the same results!

Tuesday was a low key day for us even though it was Ella's actual birthday (her party was a big day and took us a few days to get over it!). So Tuesday we took her for a swim to the water park and spent the day going through all the new presents she got. She was very spoiled with heaps of new toys and clothes.

By Thursday we realised how much stuff she has now so we did a sweep of the house and collected up all the really 'baby' toys she no longer needs and pulled out all the clothes that no longer fit her and decided to do a garage sale. Which is about to start! Weather looks like it will be nice today so hopefully we sell most of the stuff.

Oh and before I forget, last month I was asked to be a spotlight in the wonderful online magazine Papers and Pixels. I'm really excited, the edition with me comes out on the 15th November. If you haven't seen this magazine you are missing out. Its great, its got heaps of things for all types of crafty people and it comes with HEAPS of FREEBIES! If you register with their website you can even get all the first 12 months of back issues for free and subscribe for a very low price for all future issues. Well worth it. You can even buy a subscription as a gift (which I think I'm going to do for my Mum's christmas present). Don't forget to grab your copy to see me and the wonderful freebie I made only for Paper and Pixels subscribers (I'll give you a hint, its a pretty stacked paper made with one of my new kits!).

Anyway onto today's freebies before I head out to my garage sale. Today we have a groovy photo mask and a cute little cluster made with another new kit over on my facebook page. Don't forget to check out my kits on sale in my facebook shop while you are over there. Enjoy!

Download photo mask here.

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

Cluster & Template freebies

2011-11-03T18:50:00.003+10:00

We're on the count down til Ella's birthday next week. Can't believe she going to be 2! Seriously where does the time go. She has a little birthday party on Sunday which we have been working to get ready for this week. I've pretty much got everything ready and have my list of things to do which is mostly make the cake and prepare the food on the day. Hopefully she feeling better by then.

She got sick last weekend with a major ear infection and tonsilitis again! We couldn't believe it as she was already on a maintenance dose of anti-biotics and she still got sick. Can't wait til her surgery in a couple of weeks so she can start feeling better (once she all healed). The few people we've met recently that kids have had their tonsils out said it was worth it as they are like new kids, happy, painfree and back to eating properly! So we can't wait, although we not looking forward to putting her through surgery and the healing pain but we have to look at whats best for her in the long run.

Onto today's freebies. First one is a cute little cluster frame made with my new kit "Painted" and over on my facebook page is a new cool template. While you over at my facebook page, don't forget to check out my new shop and grab a bargain on my new kits while they are 50% off!

Download cluster frame here.

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

NEW STORE & wordart freebie

2011-10-28T16:24:00.003+10:00

I'm so excited... After making my first kit I got a bit addicted and I've been working hard to improve on each one. I've learned some great techniques and feel that I've made some great stuff! I've done 4 new kits and decided to start selling them. So I have opened up my own little store on my facebook page.

Grand opening special - 50% off for facebook fans! Head over to the shop and check them out now and grab a bargain.

For being a great supporter here is a quick little wordart freebie just for stopping by. Don't forget about the bonus exclusive facebook freebie that I posted the other day (sorry haven't had a chance to do a new one but I will update it again next week).

Download wordart here.

Frame & Wordart freebies

2011-10-26T05:48:00.004+10:00

I been up since 3.30am with Ella and once she finally went back to sleep, I was wide awake... so I decided to do some scrapping.... except now I'm too tired to concentrate. So I read all my friends updates on facebook, had my go at my Words/Scrabble games and thinking what can I do now that doesn't make noise to wake the family up....

So here I am.... Decided to get you some new freebies early this week! I'm having fun making frames at the moment so here is another one. And over on my facebook page is a fun set of wordart. Enjoy!

Well I'm off to see what I can watch on TV that I may have taped that needs catching up on.

Download frame here.

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

Friday Frames Freebies

2011-10-21T12:51:00.004+10:00

Here on the sunny Gold Coast we have 4 big theme parks. 3 of which you can buy a yearly pass for unlimited entry into, all in the one pass, so you get a great variety of things to do all year. We took Ella to Seaworld on Sunday. She had so much fun. She had her first ride on a carousel and absolutely loved the sesame street dance show. The look on her face when a giant Elmo and Bert & Ernie came out was priceless!

Today we took her to the water park, Wet n Wild. The kids section there is so well done. She had a ball going down the mini water slide over and over again and splashing us with water. She even managed to stay still for the whole ride around Calypso Beach (its like a big steady whirlpool on tubes). After 2 hours playing in the water, Ella was fast asleep during the car ride home. Each time we take her its only for a couple of hours as she wears out so fast. Plus it gives us something to look forward to as we see a bit more each time.

Now onto todays new freebies. It's Frame Friday! I messed up a bit last week and put up Frame #12 before you had Frame #11! I'm blaming the fact that I couldn't see out of 1 eye properly. So before I forget to go back and miss it altogether here it is. Plus there is a bonus cluster frame over on my facebook page.

Download frame here

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

Border & Frame freebies

2011-10-14T19:38:00.004+10:00

We had success at the ENT's this week. Ella is finally booked in to get her tonsils out in the middle of next month. Although I'm nervous putting her through it, she needs it and in the long run it will be worth it.

I've been working hard this week on some new projects... Stay tuned hopefully I'll have some news on them next week...

I'm not feeling too good today. I woke up with a pretty bad eye infection (in my left eye). It's so sore and hard to focus on much so its just a quick stop by with some new freebies. The first one is a cute little sparkle border so you can add some bling to your pages! And over on my facebook page is a cute little frame. I hope you like them and as always, ENJOY!

Download sparkle border here.

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

Wordart & Cluster freebie

2011-10-06T17:04:00.004+10:00

Ella still isn't quite over being sick so this week she stayed home from both swimming & gymnastics. She is going a bit stir crazy being stuck inside but I'm sure she'll make up for it when she is 100% again.

We see the ENT again next week. Mangaed to get a cancellation appointment as our Doctor feels she needs to get her tonsils out so we need to discuss it with the ENT as she not quite 15kilos (ENT min weight range). She so close and our Dr feels she is an extreme case so he wrote a special letter to take with us. Not that I want her to go through it but in the long run we agree with the Dr as she refuses to eat, in turn she wont sleep as she wakes up hungry. Plus her talking is very limited and we want to get on top of it before it stunts too much of her develeopment. So fingers crossed we get somewhere next tuesday with the ENT.

Thought I'd stop by today with a couple new freebies. A cute little wordart and over on my facebook page is a cluster frame made with the wonderful new kit "Halloween Treats" by Rieka Rafita. Don't forget to check out her sale while its on! 50% off sale!

And check out my CT layouts I did with the Halloween Treats kit below.

Download wordart here.

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

Cluster & Paper Mask freebies

2011-10-02T13:32:00.005+10:00

Its been a horrible week here. Ella has been sick again and the lack of sleep we've all had has made for a very testing week. Today is the first day I've managed to even look at the computer since the middle of the week. I just haven't had any energy to do anything as I got part of what Ella had. Sick & sleep deprived - not a good combination!

Just a quick stop by today with a couple new freebies. First one is a cluster frame made with my first kit "Dream Big" and the other one is a cool paper mask over on my facebook page. Enjoy!

While you are out and about blog hopping, jump over to Rieka Rafita and grab a bargain at her Halloween Sale - 50% off! I'm off now to get some CT layouts down with Rieka's new Halloween kit... very exciting...

Download cluster here.

Head over to facebook and grab this extra freebie.

Wordart & Overlay freebies

2011-09-25T10:19:00.004+10:00

I been busy this week working on my next kit. I haven't been able to do much else as I had a mole cut off my face (at top of my nose between my eyes) and the stitches have made it hard to function. I couldn't even smile let alone laugh or talk properly for the first couple of days. Going out in the sun was out of the question as my glasses hurt to wear!

Other than that it has been a quiet week for me. Hope you have all had a good week!

Congrats to the winners of the riddle and hope you enjoyed the kit. I'm holding onto it for a moment as I might have other plans to do with it before it becomes a normal freebie. Stay tuned.

Today's new freebies are a cute wordart and a new border overlay for my facebook fans. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Head over to facebook to grab this freebie.

Sneak Peek & chance to get it early

2011-09-19T12:17:00.003+10:00

I was so happy to get Kit #1 done that I got on a roll and managed to do Kit #2 in 1 weekend!

Here is a sneak peek...

Did that entice you? Want to get it before anyone else? The first 5 people to answer the riddle correctly will get the kit early!

Riddle
I have forests but no trees.
I have roads but no cars.
I have lakes but no water.
What am I?

Send answers to my email (not in comments please, make it fair to other players)

Pearls & Paper

2011-09-16T18:45:00.005+10:00

Another week has almost blurred past again. I know I keep saying it, but where is this year going! It's really starting to warm up here and we are only 2 weeks into Spring! Its going to be a very HOT summer I think.

Just a quick stop by tonight with some new freebies and to show off some layouts from Rieka Rafita's new kit "Autumn Days". It was another fabulous kit to work with. Grab it from her store while its on sale!

Also I got a chance to use my first kit and do a quick layout too. I've already started on the next kit and its looking good so far!

Today's freebies are a cool set of pearl flourishes (with and without shadows) and the stacked paper for my facebook famiily that I used to create one of my layouts for Rieka. Enjoy!

Download pearl flourishes here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

"Autum Days"

"Dream Big"

My first kit

2011-09-11T20:03:00.005+10:00

I've been wanting to do it for ages, and now I've finally done it... I made my first kit! I'm trying to learn new things and this has been something I've wanted to do for awhile. Its only a small kit, nothing overly fancy but its a start. I was so excited to finish it off I haven't even had a chance to do any layouts with it myself! I'll work on some for a preview this week (but if you do any that you want to show off let me know as I'd love to see them!)

Anyway I've been busy this week making sure I have some other new freebies for you and I hope I wont disappoint. Todays new freebies are a cool overlay and of course my first kit for my facebook family. I hope you like what I did and that you enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Download overlay here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Happy Fathers Day

2011-09-04T12:43:00.004+10:00

A big Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there. Hope you are all being spoiled and having a good day. We are having a nice quiet day here.

We've had another busy week but nothing much to report on. I just wanted to stop by for a quick hello and some new freebies. I'm loving making templates at the moment so this week is another one. Plus for all my facebookers there is a extra special set for fathers day which includes a photo mask and a wordart. Enjoy!

Download template here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Here is my take on the template.

Kit Credit:
Schoolbag in Hand {Collab Kit} by Sunflower Designs & NBK Designs
found at Pickleberry Pop

Stacked Paper & Template freebies

2011-08-28T19:18:00.006+10:00

Ok seriously where are all the weeks going! It's just insane that August is almost over... Before you know it I'm going to be planning a 2 year old birthday party...! Suppose its time to at least start thinking about it and deciding on theme and some details.

The weeks are rolling into each other and like most weeks, this week was the same old stuff (swimming, gymnastics, work), nothing really exciting to report. We did manage to get to 2 baby markets and get a few bargains for Ella (clothes and books). Its getting harder to find stuff at them though as she getting too big as they have mostly little baby stuff. Least we got something. Wish they had toddler markets!

I'm sorry I haven't done much this week for my blog so I'm going to give away a freebie that has previously been a facebook exclusive. This was my first attempt at a stacked paper and I loved it so here it is for all my non-facebook fans. It was made with the wonderful kit "Spring Mini" by Delicious Scraps. Not forgetting my facebook followers I do have something extra for you, a new template. Enjoy!

Download stacked paper here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

and here is my layout with this template

Kit Credit:
Flying in my dreams by Sunflower Designs

Template & overlay freebies

2011-08-20T07:22:00.005+10:00

We've had a big week here. Ella graduated to the toddlers swimming class - we are so excited and so proud! But we have to use up the left over baby classes so she is doing 2 classes a weeks to use them up. She is doing so well, belly flopping into the water (her diving) and kicking under the water for 6 seconds. Its so good to watch!

Then we had the Ekka on Tuesday. The Ekka is our annual show (carnival/fair). It's huge and we absolutely love it. We haven't been for 2 years and we really wanted to go this year. Ella was so good. She even walked around most of the day by herself, she didn't want to be in her pram until she was so tired that she needed a sleep. We saw so much and got heaps of freebies. We did so much free taste testing that we didn't actually buy any food until dinner and then it was only a dagwood dog and a cob of corn! Ella even managed to stay awake until after the fireworks. It was the first time she had seen the fireworks and she loved them. We were pretty tired the next day but it was worth it.

We've also had heaps of visitors this week. Which has been great. Catching up with old friends and some family we haven't seen for a while. I'm also helping out our cousin do a school project and scrapped 10 pages in 2 days for her! She came over last night to help put the finishing touches on the pages. They are all but done now. It's been like my own mini scrap-a-thon! I've never scraped for anyone else before and it was heaps of fun. I think I make my own layouts take longer than they need to! Now I've got heaps of new pages to create templates from for you guys!

Anyway before I bore you too much with my busy week, I thought I'd stop by with some new freebies for you before we head out for some saturday morning errands. One freebie is a template and the facebook one this week is a funky overlay that I made using same sort of concept as the last photo mask. I thought it was pretty groovy! Enjoy!

Download template here.

here is my layout with it that I've previously done.

Kit Credit: Digi Deborah's Designs - Princess

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Photo Mask & Cluster freebie

2011-08-13T15:49:00.005+10:00

Where has the last week or so gone! I feel like I've been chasing my tail all week. Ella has been getting up every night and after 2 weeks of broken sleep I'm totally exhausted. Last night she slept through so I managed to get through today without a nap. It also allowed me to get here and give away some more freebies. Although I'm getting tired now (prob should have gone for a nap!).

I have two new freebies today. One is a groovy photo mask and the facebook one is cluster frame set that I created with the wonderful new kit "Pink Dreams" by Rieka Rafita. I just loved working with this kit. I managed to do 3 layouts with it as it was such a beautiful kit to work with.

It's starting to warm up here and you can tell Spring is just around the corner! Yay! Some nice weather means we can get out and about enjoying the sunshine (before it gets too hot to handle!). Hope everyone is keeping well in their part of the world. Enjoy your freebies!

Download photo mask here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Here are my layouts with the Pink Dreams kit.

Double freebies

2011-08-03T18:54:00.003+10:00

I've been kind of slack on the blog front this past week. Have been busy with work and to top it off I got sick! Any spare time I've had to myself I've been over at Pickleberry Pop doing some of their amazing birthday challenges. It's been fun. Scored myself a prize too!

But I'm here now and I come bearing gifts! 2 new freebies. The first one is a cool frame set I made and the facebook exclusive is a double wordart pack. I made the wordarts to honour my new addiction of Zumba! Having heaps of fun doing it, even planning on getting the Zumba for Wii so I can do it at home too.

Anyway just a quick stop by to give you some freebies before I head off to do the night time routine. I'll try not leave it too far inbetween next time! Enjoy!!!!!!

Download frame here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Photo Mask & Frame freebies

2011-07-26T20:21:00.003+10:00

Firstly sorry that I didn't drop by with my usual weekend freebies. I had a friends engagement party to attend on Saturday night (felt strange being out at night as normally we are in bed early - not really night goers). Hubby bought Ella home early and I stayed out til quiet early Sunday morning. Needless to say I wasn't feeling very well on Sunday. I hadn't had a drink (at all) for over 3 years and I think I'll wait another 3 years before I do it again. I had heaps of fun but the next day was very hard. Lucky I have the best husband who shipped me back off to bed to sleep most of the day. Thankfully I felt better by that afternoon - not sure how we used to do it when we were younger, but definitely can't anymore!

Its a shame a made myself feel so bad on the weekend as I was feeling great on Friday. I went to my first Zumba class. I was a bit hesitant as I didn't want to stand out as the 'fat chick who couldn't keep up'. But I worried for nothing. I did really well. I ran out of breath heaps but managed to keep pace during most of the class. The teacher even told me afterwards that I did really well (and I believed her as she didn't say that to any of the other new ones). I felt so great that I'm going back again this week. Plus a friend is taking me to her Zumba class on Thursday night. I can't wait, I loved it, it was so much fun plus its good for me! Look out world, I'm Zumba addicted!

Anyway I thought I'd drop by tonight with a couple new freebies. One is a groovy photo mask and a facebook exclusive frame freebie. Hope you like them and get some use out of them. Remember if you want any past facebook freebies that you may have missed, just drop me an email and I'll send you the links.

Download photo mask here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Mid week freebies

2011-07-20T18:43:00.004+10:00

We've had a few playdates (which Ella has loved) this week so I've done a bit of baking. I love making yummy treats (not good for the waistline but oh well!). I've never been much good a scones but found a good recipe that I changed slightly and now I'm queen of the scones! Plus I've done a couple big dishes in the slow cooker and now my freezer is full of beef and chicken casseroles. It's been great as I don't always feel like cooking at night (I love cooking but am too tired and lazy at night!).

So I thought I'd do a wordart set of cooking/food, as it seemed only appropriate after my week in the kitchen. I've also done a new page mask for my facebook fans. This one will make for some funky looking paper designs.

Couple of days ago I asked the question through facebook what freebies people prefer and so far the votes are for frames/clusters/stacked papers and templates. I'll make a mental note to get moving on making more of these so I can bring you more of what you like. In the meantime can you let me know your favourite types of freebies here if you prefer as it will help me focus on those types for you.

Enjoy these freebies (until I can make some of what you prefer!)

Download wordart here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

July Challenge

2011-07-16T20:22:00.001+10:00

After thinking more about my earlier post, I decided to start a challenge straight away. (I have no patience to wait til August! lol)

The rules are very simple:

Entries can be digi, paper or hybrid layouts, cards, beyond the page or anything crafty!
Can use ANY products (paid or freebies) except someone else's pre-designed QP's.
No limit to the number of entries you can submit.
Entries to be in by 5pm on the last day of the month (Australian time).
Picture of entries to be either uploaded to my facebook page or emailed directly to me.
HAVE FUN!

Now to the challenge... Thought I'd start with a simple one for July - since the month has already half passed.

Black & White.... be it either the use of a black & white photo or black & white colour theme - the choice is yours. You are limited only by your imagination.

Prize....

1 x Custom made photo mask using either your name or a name of your choice

Here is my example using a black and white photo. I did this layout last month but there isn't anything in the rules to say you have to do the layout now! If you have a layout you've previously done and it fits the requirements - use it if you want to!!!!!

I hope I've made it simple & fun enough for you to join in!

Do you like challenges? + freebies

2011-07-16T18:38:00.004+10:00

Are you like me and find most of your scrapping needs through freebies? I turned to digital scrapbooking for a couple of reasons, one being the cost saving by not buying heaps of products. In almost 2 years I've only spent about $10 (ex printing etc) as I am able to adapt what I need by using mostly freebies. I love the fact that there are heaps of people out there willing to give away their products for us to use and I hope that I've been able to add value to that group (in a small way).

What I do miss from traditional scrapping is the challenges. Our local scrapbooking shop used to have scrap challenges that varied each month and it was simple & fun. I miss that. I've recently joined a couple of websites with galleries & forums but finding it hard to find a standard challenge without having to purchase a designers products. Don't get me wrong its a great way to encourage sales of their products, but for those of you like me who just want to be challenged without having to outlay heaps of money there isn't anything (that I can find) available. I'm not particuarlly fussed about the prizes I just like a challenge and to be involved in the fun of the game!

So I thought I'd put it to you all. Who is up for some monthly challenges. Obviously I'm not a high end designer so I can't offer much in the way of prizes other than a personalised freebie (eg: photo mask with your name, or something like that), but I'm hoping that you'll like to participate for the fun of it (and to be challenged!). I'll set up a challenge for August and see what sort of response I get. Stay tuned as I'll work on the details and post it soon....

Now onto todays freebies. I've been so slack this week that I haven't put anything new together but luckily there are a still pre-made freebies I have on my list (which is almost empty so I'll have to get onto making some more for next week!). Your freebies today are a wordart and the bonus facebook freebie is a page overlay. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

2 new freebies

2011-07-11T17:52:00.007+10:00

Not much to report here since Wednesday. I got sick and have been struggling to get anything above the standard routine done. I started feeling better yesterday so Hubby took us out for a yummy sunday buffet breakie. It was so nice (even though it was a bit chilly outside).

It was good to start feeling better as I had 2 new kits from Rieka Rafita to play with and do some CT Layouts. They were so much fun to use. Nice and colourful, just what I needed to brighten my day after feeling so horrible (I hate being sick!).

2 new freebies again today. First one is a set of page borders. Great to jazz up your pages. The second one is a quickpage from one of Rieka's new kits "Cupcake-Licious". I had so much fun making this one so I picked it as your freebie. Enjoy!

Don't forget if you just joined me on facebook and want any previous facebook exclusives, drop me a line and I'll email you the links. Don't want anyone missing out on them!

Download page borders here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

My CT Layouts using Be Happy & Cupcake-Licious kits by Rieka Rafita

More freebies

2011-07-06T19:28:00.001+10:00

It's football night here tonight. Game 3 of our State of Origin. Final game for the title (Go Qld!) and although I don't actually watch it, I still want my state to win! For my USA fans its kind of like our mini superbowl (only between 2 states). People get very passionate about our State of Origin games here in Aussie land. Me I don't love it or hate it, I just don't watch it. I use the time wisely and come and visit you here!!!!!

Ella had swimming this morning. She is going so well. It's super cute to watch her as she claps herself after every part. It cracks the class up. She has sinus again (or still as it probably the same one that never went away). She had an xray today to see what her sinus cavities are like. Not sure if they will find anything wrong as they don't think they will find much while she still developing. I can't bear seeing her in heaps of pain (she keeps headbutting us or the floor to try and relieve pain - not the smartest thing to do as it wouldn't be helping!). Of course between that and her tonsils she still isn't eating or sleeping properly so we are all very tired here from a lot of midnight wake ups.

Not much else has happened in the last couple of days so I'll move onto the fun stuff, freebies!!!!! I haven't had a chance to make many new freebies this week as I been a bit slack, but there were a few left on the list so I thought I'd be nice and give you 2 more new ones this week.

The first one is a cluster frame that I made with the set of Spring Mini kits from Delicious Scraps. I made a stacked paper for my facebook fans a couple weeks back and this is the matching frame that I used on my layout. The second freebie for all my facebook fans is a wordart set. As always - Enjoy!

p.s. If you missed any of the previous facebook freebies and would like them, drop me a line and I can send you the links (I'm kind pretty easy going and happy to oblige!)

Download cluster frame here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

Photo Mask & Stacked Paper Freebies

2011-07-02T20:20:00.005+10:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've been slowly clearing out stuff we no longer need or use and today I had a garage sale. Another successful garage sale. We made nearly $700! Not everything sold but all the big things did so that was a bonus. I love clearing out clutter and refreshing the energy in the house. Plus the money helps! LOL...

Ella has been very tempremental this week. Wont eat anything (and not sleeping properly because of it). Normally once the medication for her tonsils kicked in she comes good but not this time. So we were back at the doctors last night and turns out she has mouth ulcers! No wonder she doesn't want to eat. Poor little mite so easily picks up whatever is going around. We got some teething gel on them and today she was a different person. Hopefully tognight she sleeps through as she ate heaps (compared to the last few days).

Anyway it was another early morning with a midnight wake up last night so I'm off to bed soon but before I go here are couple new freebies. The photo mask is in honour of Ella's new pastime - chalk drawing. She gets her chalk and squiggles on everything (lucky it wipes off easily). She even draws all over her trampoline (we call it the giant chalkboard) and the sidewalk when we go for afternoon walks (she has to take her chalk with her or she cracks it).

The other freebie is another stacked paper/QP for all my facebook fans. It is from one of the CT layouts I did for Rieka Rafita's kit At The Beach. Such a great kit to work with and very nice of Rieka to let me give you one of them as a freebie. Head on over to her site to get the full kit it has so many wonderful elements that you could make heaps of great layouts with.

Enjoy!

Download photo mask here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

p.s. I apologise for previous stacked papers for such a huge download, I saved them as PNG files accidentally. This time its a JPEG so the download isn't as big!

Mid week freebies

2011-06-29T19:16:00.004+10:00

Half way through another week and thought I'd drop by and say hi! Ella had swimming this morning and she is doing really well. She is kicking heaps and even going under to pick up sinkers! So proud of her. She doing so well even though she is sick again - tonsils of course. We have another ENT apt for mid July to discuss getting her tonsils taken out. Our doctor was trying to hold off until she was a bit older but he feels it needs to be done ASAP as its just getting out of hand (constantly sick and now not eating properly). The new medication has kicked in and she has been happier the last 2 days than she has for ages. Hate it when she isn't well.

Ella woke up at 3.30am today so I used the time wisely while she happily watched cartoons and I did some more CT Layouts for Rieka Rafita using her wonderful new kit At The Beach. I didn't plan it but I ended up doing 3 layouts! It was such a great kit to work with. Absolutely beautiful designs and it was super easy to pump out 3 pages.

Anyway onto the fun stuff... freebies! Two more new ones. A double wordart set and a photo mask for the facebook fans. Enjoy!

Download wordart set here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

"At The Beach" by Rieka Rafita"

Overlay & Stacked Paper freebies

2011-06-25T16:18:00.004+10:00

I've had a good week here. Got heaps of work done, crossing off 2 more tasks off the list. Love when things get accomplished!

Then to make my day, Wednesday afternoon I got a lovely email asking to do some CT layouts. I've never done any CT work before so I was chuffed to be approached. Rieka Rafita are expanding into full size kits and asked if I'd do layouts for them. I said yes of course! Below is my first layout for them made with their beautifully bright and colourful kit Dear Dad. I was super tired when I did the layout but I still like how it turned out. Can't wait to try out the next one.

Ella is almost over her sinus infection. She even started attempting to feed herself this week. Her first attempt was quite good, but now she wont do it again. It was fun when it was a new thing, but attempt #2 wasn't as successful... We will just keep trying LOL...

2 new freebies today. A very useful overlay and another stacked paper. Last weeks stacked paper was a big hit so I thought I'd give another one for the facebook exclusive. This stacked paper is made with the lovely mini add on Recollection kit by LouCee Creations. It was heaps of fun to work with.

Enjoy your freebies!

Download overlay here.

Head over to facebook to grab this extra freebie.

my layout with the stacked paper

This is me at approx age 2... A long time ago LOL!

My first CT layout for Rieka Rafita using Dear Dad kit

New Facebook exclusive

2011-06-20T18:20:00.007+10:00

Just a quick stop by to let you know there is a new facebook exclusive freebie.

I am getting addicted to using stacked papers so I thought I'd have a go at making some myself. This is my first one. I used the wonderful set of mini kits "Spring Mini" by Delicious Scraps. They were so much fun to use.

Head over to facebook to grab the freebie.

and here is my layout (the frame cluster will be coming soon as a freebie too!)

more Fathers Day freebies

2011-06-19T12:12:00.003+10:00

I love getting feedback and requests and so after getting a comment from Judy asking for a boy version of yesterdays freebie, I was happy to oblige... and I was feeling motivated, so I made 2 new ones!

One is a slight variation for a boy from the previous freebie and the other is same frame parts with a quote for both boys & girls! Hope this works for everyone! Enjoy!

Thanks Judy for asking as you never know if you don't ask.

Download wordart frames here (I've put both in the one zip file for easy downloading). See previous post for the princess version.

Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-18T21:38:00.003+10:00

For all my overseas followers I hear tomorrow is fathers day and to help celebrate here is a little freebie for you. Our fathers day here in Australia isn't until September, but of course we love our Dad's so much everyday should be celebrated! So if tomorrow is fathers day in your area (or even if it isn't) - Enjoy!

I hope you like what I've done. I've combined a frame with some wordart (with and without shadow). And because I was a bit bored tonight I even managed to do a layout using it myself.

Anyway just a quick stop by with your freebie before I go to bed.

Layout Credit
Stacked Paper - Impressions of a Man by Artgal Style

Download wordart/frame here.

Another double up of freebies

2011-06-15T18:31:00.006+10:00

Another week has almost gone, serioulsy where is the year going! I don't feel like I've achieved much this week, well nothing much worth blogging about! Ella got back to swimming lessons after a 3 week break from us all being sick. She had a ball. Happy squealing and lots of splashing! Other than that and work, nothing much else to report, so its just a quick stop by with 2 new freebies for you.

The first one is a template. Like my last template I did this one after I did the layout! I must be a backwards person... Oh well.... and the other freebie is for my facebook fans is another cluster. This one was made with the super cute Froggy Princess kit by Dylabel Designs. Whether you get one or both the freebies - enjoy!

Download template here.

Here is my layout for the template.

Layout Credits
Kit - MyMum by SAS Designs
Wordart - by me

Facebook freebie. Click picture to go to facebook page.

Twice the freebies!

2011-06-11T18:05:00.006+10:00

It was another cold day here today. We had the heater on for most of the day. I did a bit of scrapping of my own today and got to finish some layouts I'd been putting off. I found a few great little kits so I thought I'd get around to it while Ella had nearly a 3hour sleep!

I even had a go at making a paper stack cluster. I think it turned out quite well and fingers crossed you'll get it as a freebie soon (just waiting on confirmation from the designer).

Ella decided to be stubborn tonight and not eat her dinner. She spat out the 2 mouthfuls that we managed to get in. I thought it was quite nice. I made a yummy chicken and leek caserole but she wasn't' interested. There was no ingredients she hadn't eaten before so not sure whats up with her but I think she just pushing the limits as much as she can.

Anyway today I'm feeling generous so I've got twice the freebies... One is here and a new one on my facebook page. I hope you like them. Overlays are always handy for changing up papers and getting mutiple uses from same paper. The facebook freebie is a great quote from Oprah on her last show. Enjoy!

Download overlay here.

Facebook freebie. Click picture to go to facebook page.

Paper Mask freebie

2011-06-10T06:49:00.003+10:00

Well its definitely starting to get cold here. We even put the heater on last night as we were frozen! The sky is clear today but its still like an icicle outside. I hung some washing out earlier and felt like I was going to frost over if I stood still too long. I don't know how people live in snow and extreme colds. For us this is cold, for others this is not. I suppose its what you get used to!

Don't feel like going out today, but have errands to run and Hubby has pulled his rota muscle so we are off to get it xray & ultrasound on it. Then to the doctor this afternoon to go over results. I feel for him as he is in heaps of pain and Ella just wants to play and have cuddles which hurts to do, but he is such a great Dad that he just sucks up the pain for her.

Anyway before we head out into the cold, thought I'd stop by with a freebie for you. Today it's a paper mask. Hope you like it. While you here, why not head over to my facebook page and get your exclusive freebie if you like my page.

Download paper mask here.

Facebook Exclusive

2011-06-08T07:38:00.005+10:00

Thank you to everyone who has started to follow me on facebook. The response has blown me away. I did get one negative comment as they thought going to facebook was a big inconvenience. I'm sorry if anyone feels this way, but like so many other blogs out there I wanted to thank the people who follow me with an extra special little freebie. I also did it as I personally found it easier for me to follow blogs via facebook than directly through blogger so I thought why not encourage others to do the same.

I'm sorry if the person who left the message was put out. It wasn't my intention to annoy anyone by making them go to another site. The message was left anonymously so I couldn't even respond directly to advise and apologise. In the meantime, I removed the comment as I felt it was too much negative energy and I want to promote a happy, positive blog. If you feel strongly about the facebook exclusive, please feel free to email me directly (I'm pretty approachable).

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know there is a new exclusive freebie on facebook. Hop on over to grab it (if you want). I made the cluster using the wonderful kit called "Sprintime" by Saphira's Scrapdesigns. Thanks for the use of such a beautiful kit.

PS. If you just joined me on facebook and want the previous exclusives, email me or comment on facebook and I can send you the previous links.

Wordart freebie

2011-06-06T18:45:00.003+10:00

I'm still feeling pretty sick. Ella was up at 3am this morning and refused to go back to sleep so we were up in the dark (freezing cold) trying to play quietly so not to wake Daddy up. By 7.30am we were both asleep again for a well needed nap.

I did managed to do a few hours work today but still didn't have my head straight for too much. While I was feeling slightly energetic I figured I'd stop by with a freebie for you. A cute little word art.

Plus don't forget to stop by my facebook page as I have exclusive freebies on there for you if you 'like' my page. Just look for the Exclusive Freebies tab and follow the directions.

Download wordart here.
I

Facebook Exclusive

2011-06-05T16:51:00.004+10:00

Want exclusive freebies??? Simply like my facebook page and on the exclusive tab find you will find some "facebook" only freebies... Easy as 1,2,3!

Enjoy!

This week's freebie is a set of 3 wordart flourishes... some beautiful quotes in some groovy shapes... Head on over to my facebook site now to grab it.

Photo Mask freebie

2011-06-03T21:13:00.004+10:00

Well I jinxed us... but luckily its not Ella that got sick... it was me! I feel horrible. I tried to do a bit of work yesterday & today but only managed to check emails and send some replies. I gave in and had a sleep today which helped heaps. I was freezing when I fell asleep but when I woke up the sun had broken through and was shining on me (I was on the lounge) warming me up nicely.

Anyway, I thought I'd stop by while I wait for my night time drowsy tablet to kick in, and give you a freebie. Today its a photo mask that I made the other day while just playing around. Hope you like it.

Download photo mask here.

Wordart freebie

2011-05-30T17:03:00.004+10:00

Today I'm not mentioning that Ella is feeling better. Or that Ella slept through the night last night. Everytime I do it jinx's us! LOL...!

We scored another bargain this weekend. A cheap trampoline (in great condition) for Ella and she loves it. She loves bouncing now so we figured if we could get a cheap one we would get her one. We sold one of her outdoor playgyms (she had 2) so now she has a variety of outdoor play toys.

We got exciting news yesterday. My boss had her baby boy. We are going visiting tomorrow after Ella's gymnastics class. He is about 3 weeks premmie but both are doing well (which is great cause she had a problematic pregnancy). It's ironic as at her baby shower a month ago we had to guess the date she'd have the baby. I guessed Sunday the 29th May @ 8am. I couldn't have gotten any closer as it was the right date but at 10.30am!

Before I sign off, today's freebie is cute little wordart. I made this one so it can be used for so many different layouts as its not limited to one theme. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Overlay freebie

2011-05-28T19:09:00.004+10:00

Thankfully Ella is feeling much better now. She is almost finished her antibiotics and is back to normal. She even started sleeping back through the night (well until last night!). She decided to get up at 2.30am and not go back to sleep til 4.45am... She feel back asleep in our bed and I was tired and too scared to move her and wake her up.

Not sure what sort of energy she was working from today as she didn't have a nap at all. Not even a 10min power nap in the car. She was super tired tonight and fell asleep to her bottle (which she hasn't done in a long time). So by 6.45pm she was well and truly out. Hopefully it doesn't mean we will be up again tonight.

So now I'm super exhausted. I'm normally ok without a nap during the day even after a bad night, but when I don't get any 'down time' during her nap time its hard. I think I'm in for an early night tonight!

But before I pass out I thought I'd stop by with a freebie. Today is an overlay to add to your stash. I hope you like it.

Download overlay here.

Border Punches freebie

2011-05-24T18:48:00.003+10:00

Today was supposed to be my day in the office, but due to a sick baby and now a sick hubby, I worked from home. I still managed to get almost everything done, which is good. I'm very lucky that my duties can be done from home or the office and that I have an awesome boss who lets me work from home.

I'm pretty tired tonight now though and am looking forward to putting my feet up and watching some funny shows (Raising Hope especially) to help wind down. But first I thought I'd stop by with a freebie for you.

Today is a set of border punches. The last ones I made I called them Border Lines but I don't like that wording so from now on they will be called Border Punches as they work in the same way as the physical punches, actually in the digital world as with many things, you can do so much more with them. So however you use them - enjoy!

Download border punches here.

Wordart freebie

2011-05-22T09:23:00.003+10:00

I had almost a full nights sleep last night and now I'm feeling pretty good. So I decided to be generous and give you another freebie! A cute little wordart to start the day (or end it depending on where you are in this wonderful world!).

Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Paper Mask freebie

2011-05-21T19:08:00.003+10:00

Man what a week... I've had a major task to do for work so I've done heaps of work at home (almost 40hours in 3 days!). Plus Ella is sick with tonsilitis and was awake for the most part of those same 3 nights so I was running on little (very little) sleep (about 2-3hours each night). Needless to say I am exhausted!

I looked at my inbox today and there was 65 emails! I couldn't believe it. A couple of days out of my normal routine and I feel like I've missed so much. How did we get along all those years without emails and facebook to keep in contact with people??? Lucky we have it now!

Anyway, I wanted to stop by with a quick freebie. I haven't had a chance to make any new ones this week so I delved into my freebie stash and found a cute paper mask to help jazz up some groovy layouts. Great thing about these paper masks is you can use the same papers on different layouts and they wont look the same. Hope you like it! Well I'm off to relax, wind down and hopefully get to bed early tonight.

Download paper mask here.

Wordart freebie

2011-05-16T18:56:00.002+10:00

Just a quick stop by today with a cute little wordart that will hopefully come in handy on some lovely pages. Nothing beats a smile.... so here it is.... Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Cluster Freebie

2011-05-15T13:17:00.005+10:00

It wasn't as cold this morning, thankfully, as we got up early and made our way down to the farmers markets and picked up a heap of yummy fresh fruit & vegies. Of course, at bargain prices! I love the smell of farm fresh fruit & veg, they smell so much nicer than when they come from the supermarket.

So I spent the morning in the kitchen doing some cooking. So far I've made a large batch of vegie mash for Ella's dinners, 2 dozen chicken meatballs also for Ella, an apple pie and I'm about to put on a Roast Pork for dinner. We have a friend coming over for dinner, which will be nice as I love cooking and I always make more than enough food.

Just before I head back to the kitchen, I thought I'd drop by with another freebie. Another cluster frame. I really do have heaps of fun making these and am so grateful to the wonderful designers who not only make beautiful kits but allow them to be used for S4H/S4O uses. Today's cluster was made with a stunning kit by Sugar Pie Scraps called "Blessed". This kit was chosen as the Fresh Face Designer in the March issue of DSA's Enabler and after seeing the kit, I can see why. It was a fabulous kit to work with - so thanks to Sugar Pie Scraps (and congrats on the awesome recognition).

and here is my layout using the cluster.

Download cluster frame here.

Photo Mask freebie

2011-05-11T03:48:00.003+10:00

I feel so slack. I can't believe its been nearly 2 weeks since my last post. Sorry about that! It hasn't been anymore hectic than normal I just keep getting side-tracked and not getting here.

It's getting colder each day here. Still, we are lucky we don't get the extreme colds (eg: snow etc) but for us its still colder than we are used to. It's so hard keeping a blanket on Ella as she moves around so much and then she wakes up more often on cooler nights. She's in a big girls bed now and loving it. Apart from the last two nights, she has slept through (which was great). Of course that didn't last! So here I am wide awake while she happily went back to sleep in her warm comfy bed!

You will be all happy to hear my test results came back all clear. Thank you to everyone for their warm wishes. I haven't had anymore episodes, so doc is putting it down to being tired etc.

I had a lovely quiet mothers day. Nothing exciting, just a nice peaceful relaxing day. I had a yummy cooked brunch and then we went out for dinner. It was exactly what I wanted, no stress & no cooking! I hope everyone had a good day and was spoilt the way they wanted.

I love getting your comments and cherish each one as I know how precious time is, so thank you to everyone who spends a couple of minutes leaving me feedback. I love doing this blog and creating freebies but I have been a little dishearten lately when I see my freebies out there on layouts without any credit sent back to me. I try my hardest to always make sure I credit where I received any (free or paid) elements from, but it seems not everyone does the same. It's such a shame as that little bit of thanks goes a long way. Thank you to everyone who does the courteous thing and hopefully one day everyone will do the same.

Today's freebie is photo mask. Another one I made while playing with dual brushes. Again I used Clouds by Obsidian Dawn and also Stars by Obsidian Dawn. I love their brushes! I hope you like the mask. As usual I'd love to see your layouts etc, feel free to upload them on my facebook page or email me as I really would love to see them.

Download photo mask here.

Wordart freebie

2011-04-30T08:29:00.004+10:00

Ella had her first gymnastics lesson this week. She loved it. She climbed almost to the top of the wall ladder and swung off the trapez (obviously with a bit of help). The teacher said she did really well considering her age. It was a trial class to see if she'd like it and if we want to join up. Seeing she did so well, we signed up for it. So now she has swimming and gymnastics! Busy little girl!!!!

She hurt herself a couple of times this week. Monday she fell off the second last step on some playground equipment at the park and cut her nose. Wednesday she got her fingers caught in the back of the glass sliding door and when they came out, she ripped off the skin on 2 fingers really badly. Thursday she stood up underneath my desk and hit her head pretty hard and just now while I type this she fell over and hit her shoulder on her little chair. I'm hoping its just a 'exploring' type of thing as she gets older she getting more active (= more accidents!) and not that she is going to be a 'clutz'.

We had our friend visit yesterday with her new baby. I took some pics of him earlier this week with my new camera so she popped over so I can give her the CD. They looked amazing! Babies always photograph well and he is so cute which helps! We had a great evening of chatting and laughing while her other older son and Ella happily played themselves completely out!

So today's freebie is some baby wordart. I've made 2 versions. One with the little writing in white over the top and one with the little writing cut out so the background papers show through. I hope you enjoy using it!

Download wordart here.

Alpha numbers freebie

2011-04-26T07:30:00.004+10:00

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter. It was nice and relaxing here. Up until today the weather has been really nice so we've been to parks and the beach and lots of little outdoor things to wear Ella out - which has worked so far as she slept through the lat 2 nights (hopefully we can keep it going). I got heaps of photos (I mean heaps!) so many that to back up my April photos took 4 dvd's!!!!! and April is not even over yet!!!!

Great indoor weather today so we are off to catch up with friends and their new baby.

But before I head out I realised I never gave you the matching numbers set for the flag alphas... silly me! So here it is today. Enjoy!

Download numbers set here.

Easter cluster freebie

2011-04-23T20:28:00.005+10:00

Thanks everyone for all your well wishes for my test. I get the results back after the Easter break so its just a waiting game at the moment. I'm pretty sure it will be all fine as they feel its just a precaution to run the tests.

I've had a great couple of days. Hubby bought me a Easter present, Mothers Day present, Birthday present & Christmas present all in one - a new digital SLR camera. It was a big splurge for us so I've used up all my gifts for the year to get it. Which is fine by me as I've been wanting one of these for years.

We popped out today to get some snaps while the weather was good. In approx 1 hour I took 728 photos! I couldn't believe it. Our main problem with out little camera was it doesn't take photos quick enough to capture Ella's split second smiles etc... well I don't think I'll have the same problem with this one. It has so many option and the pictures are exquisit. I can't wait to get in and scrap some of the pics from today.

We are all set for the Easter Bunny's arrival tomorrow... a cute little basket and a heap of eggs ready to do a easter hunt with Ella in the morning. We will try anyway, not sure how focused she will be, she still not quite sure what the fuss is about with the easter eggs etc.

Now onto todays freebie. While freebie surfing the other day I came across a blog train called "Bunny Hop" and found the cutest little kit from Aimee Harrison Design Studio. I started to put together a easter layout (just waiting for the day to add my photos) and thought I might use part of the layout for a cluster freebie. I hope you all like it and thanks heaps to Aimee Harrison Design Studio for a wonderful kit. Head on over to her site and check out all her other beautiful designs.

Download cluster here.

P.S. Here are some of the great pics I got today with the new camera.

Photo Mask freebie

2011-04-20T04:11:00.004+10:00

It's currently 4am and I'm still awake... I've got a special test tomorrow morning (ops this morning). I had a small black out the other day in the car so they are running tests to see if I have, or rule out if I don't have, epilepsy. My mum has it and has suffered pretty extremely from it for the last 10years. So to do this test I have to be sleep and food deprived for 12 hours. I thought it would be hard to stay awake as I didn't get much sleep last night and by 8pm (my start time) I was almost alseep. But then I got started on some work for a deadline and now I'm running on a second wind.

Only 4hours til my test... 5-6hours before I'll get a nap.... Once I'm done here, hopefully I'll get some of my scrapping done before Ella wakes up and the morning routine starts! But before all that I have a freebie for you...!

Today it's a photo mask. I've been experimenting with the dual brush option in photoshop and came up with a few masks that I thought were pretty cool. Here is the first of them. In it I used butterfly brushes by aV3nG3d and also Clouds by Obsidian Dawn, both found at deviantART. Thanks guys for use of wonderful brushes! And to you guys, I hope you enjoy using it!

Download photo mask here.

Alpha freebie

2011-04-17T18:00:00.004+10:00

I had so much fun today making some new alphas that I had to stop by and give them to you straight away! All the letters of the alphabet included (in capitals). Plus I've included the little line thingy that they can 'hang' off...

I hope you guys enjoy using it! I have done a matching numbers set too so keep an eye out as its coming soon!

Anyway I'm off to organise nightly routine... clean up after dinner, showers, Ella's bottle ready for the new season of America's Next Top Model - yay!!!... see you all soon...

Download alpha set here.

Doodle Lines freebies

2011-04-16T15:49:00.005+10:00

We got to swimming lessons this morning which made up for not going on Wednesday. Ella did really well. A true water baby! Its also a great way to wear her out so she sleeps well. She slept for nearly 2hours today! I got a chance to do some things while she slept, which was great.

I was very excited yesterday as we got to watch Harry Potter 7 part 1 that came out on DVD. I saw it at the movies but Hubby didn't. So we watched it yesterday and he loved it too. I think we'll have to watch it a couple of times to catch everything as Ella is like a little pocket rocket and its hard to 100% concentrate on the screen when chasing after her! But thats ok as I love HP so I'll watch it heaps either way!!!!

Anyway, today's freebie is some groovy doodle lines. These are great to add to the stash as they can be used on so many pages. Set has 5 different shapes. Hope you like them!

Download doddle lines here.

Wordart freebie

2011-04-14T18:52:00.003+10:00

A very quick stop in tonight to give you a cute double wordart freebie. I used one of them on the layout I did with the cluster I put up the other day. Hopefully they will come in handy. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Cluster Freebie

2011-04-13T09:00:00.003+10:00

It's very exciting here today as we get to meet one of our closest friends new little baby boy. He was born in the middle of the night last night after a very long wait at the hospital. He is 2 weeks early but she had a few problems so they did an emergency c-section, finally, late last night. So this afternoon we are going in to visit them and get baby cuddles - we can't wait!

I did my first full day at the office yesterday. I forgot how exhausting it can be, mentally. I feel like a bit of a zombie this morning! Ella had a bit of a tummy upset so we postponed today's swimming lesson - which was great for me as I was in no condition to getting up early and driving to swimming. She did a make up lesson on Monday so at least she has done one lesson this week if we don't get there later in the week it doesn't matter too much.

Ella is trying so hard to talk, when she wants to that is. Most of the time she just uses hand gestures or head shakes and if she wants something she puts it in your hand, but just this week she started making more and more attempts to talk. Which is great as I was getting worried that she was never going to talk. She has always been a 'baby gabble' chatter box but other than mumma or dadda no distinct words. I know once she starts she'll never stop but its so hard to communicate without words that I'll take the never stop talking happily!

Today's freebie is another cluster I made from a great little kit called "Escape" by Jayedid Designs. I'm loving making these clusters and I already have a few more ready to give away so hopefully you are liking them too as there are more to come soon! I've posted my layout using this cluster to my facebook album, head on over and check it out.

Speaking of layouts, I'd really like to see any work you have and make an album on my facebook fan page of all your wonderful layouts or cards using any of my freebies. My direct email link is at the top of the page so you can email me anything you have as I'd love to post it to the album, or you can upload it directly once you have 'liked' my fan page.

Download cluster here.

Wordart freebie

2011-04-09T18:42:00.003+10:00

I'm feeling generous today so I thought I'd stop by quickly and give you another freebie! Two days in a row - you guys are lucky... I havne't been that organised in ages. Hopefully I can try and keep it up to at least 2-3 freebies a week. Fingers crossed.

Anyway here it is... And its a double within itself - a double wordart pack. I had fun making these ones so I couldn't wait to give them away!

Enjoy!

I'm off to pack the car for the baby markets in the morning. Wish me luck - hopefully I sell everything.

Download wordart here.

Paper Mask freebie

2011-04-08T14:16:00.003+10:00

Another great week here. Ella had her first 'parent free time'. She has never been into daycare and we've never left her with anyone - EVER! So to leave her in the child minding at the gym on Monday morning was hard for me. However, it wasn't hard for Ella. While all the other kids are trying to hang on to mum's leg and crying hysterically, Ella was off without a backwards glance. The only time she did cry was when I came to pick her up to go home! It's great that she is independent but a little tear to see me off would have been nice... lol!

So we did the gym thing twice this week. Plus Ella had her last day at kindyroo, a swimming lesson and of course I did my first day back in the office (well half a day). That was weird going back in, but good weird. It was easy to get back into the swing of it and my boss was excited to have me back. All in all a great week.

This weekend is another baby market and I have gone through a lot of Ella's things and after packing up 5-6 boxes of stuff she no longer needs, decided that its time to do a market stall myself. So I'm going with a friend and we are going to part with a few things and hopefully make some nice little pocket money! Fingers crossed I can get rid of most of it as I don't want to be storing it all. I've got bargain prices on my things as I don't see the point of over-charging, the whole point is to get a bargain.

Now onto the freebie side of things... and today its a paper mask. Great to spice up your papers and give the same papers a different look for different layouts. Enjoy!

Download paper mask here.

Wordart freebie

2011-04-03T14:24:00.004+10:00

We had a productive weekend here. Ella did a make up lesson at swimming and then slept for nearly 3 hours, so I got some scrapping done! I picked up heap of bargains at the baby markets and we even managed to clean out the garage and get rid of heaps of stuff that was just piling up and wasting space. I love clearing out clutter.

The scrapping I did was in my scrapbook journal. I went through and cleared out a heap of magazines and stuck layout ideas and quotes and a heap of my idea doodles down in one place. So now I have a scrapbook 'scrapbook' full of idea, hits, tips and tricks.

I love going through old magazines (not just scrap mags), there are ideas everywhere! The scrap ones are definitely the best, it reminds me how many creative people there are that bring such joy into our lives with their beautiful designs. I don't think I'll have a problem with scrappers block for awhile now with my new scrapbook!

It also makes me grateful to have this blog and glad that I can be a small part of such a wonderful community. I hope that my little elements come in handy to help make many more of those beautiful layouts that are shared around the world.

Today freebie is a cute little wordart. I love this quote - its so true. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

My first cluster freebie

2011-03-31T12:23:00.004+10:00

I'm happy to report that Ella is back on track again (lets see for how long this time!). Luckily she was better before her swimming class yesterday. Its the one things she really loves doing so its hard when she misses out on it.

Her term at Kindyroo finishes next week and we are not re-enrolling her for next term. Although she loves the climbing equipment, she just doesn't like the designated 'mat time'. I think its great in theory, however for her age, its hard to keep them still or follow directions unless there is something fast and fun (like music) to keep them on track. Unfortunately the ladies running it are a bit on the slow side and the kids tend to lose concentration really quickly (& thankfully its not just Ella).

I'm currently doing some enquires into the local baby gymnastics club as that might suit her better seeing she is so active and wants to be moving around.

I'm back in the office for 1 day a week starting next Tuesday afternoon. It will be very strange going back as I'm used to working from home (no hair done, no make up, in PJ's if I choose!) but it will be fine I'm sure. My boss is super excited I finally said yes to coming back in. Its a nice feeling to know she wants me back.

Anyway, today's freebie is my first go at doing a cluster frame. I have used the wonderful kit from Jen over at Chaos Lounge as I absolutely loved the kit (especially the colours). So I figured why not give it a go (plus of course Jen was kind enough to say I could!). Thanks Jen and I hope you all like my first cluster - hopefully I can do some more!

I've posted my layout using the kit/cluster over on my facebook gallery. Head on over and check it out.

Download cluster here.

Template freebie

2011-03-28T16:48:00.006+10:00

Typical, I jinxed Ella by saying in my last post that she was well. And it didn't take long either. That night she woke up with a fever and screaming in pain. We had the after hours doctor come out and of course her tonsils are all swollen again! She wasn't eating and spent the majority of the time just laying around and sleeping. She isn't 100% yet but at least she ate some food today. Hopefully we have a better night tonight (last night she was up every half hour screaming and high temps).

Today, while Ella slept, I finished off a template based on a layout I did a couple of weeks ago. I had so much fun doing the layout I decided to do the template. The wrong way around I know but oh well, I've never been one to do things in the right order! So I decided to pop in quickly and give you the template as today's freebie. Enjoy!

And using the wonderful kit "Reflections" by Jayedid Designs, here is my layout.

Download template here.

Photo Mask freebie

2011-03-26T19:08:00.004+10:00

We've had a pretty normal week here. Ella has been really good health wise. A bit grumpy though as she is getting her pre-molars (ouch)! We managed to have a playdate this week with her little friend. It's been ages as either Ella has been sick or Layla has been sick - it was so good to see them playing together again now they are both well.

It was a bargain week. We picked up an outdoor play gym for a great price (almost half the price that they are going for on ebay). Its been a hot week, but late in the afternoon we take her outside and she loves it. It has steps and slides etc and she even goes down the slide on her belly now. We also picked up a plastic cubby house for inside as she loves hiding in little nooks (like inside my desk!). Now she has her own little house with windows and a swing door. She loves it.

I was on facebook today and see that SAS Designs are doing a CT Call. I've never been a CT member for anyone and been thinking I'd like to give it a go, so I put my name in. Fingers crossed as I love their designs. In honour of sending in my name, I did a few layouts today from their designs, one from a free QP and one from a free mini kit. I've uploaded them to my facebook gallery if you want to pop over and check them out.

In the meantime here is today's freebie.... another photo mask. I got a kick out of making the last one so I did a similar style again for you. Hope you all like this one too. It too comes with a separate border (with and without shadow). Enjoy!

Download photo mask here.

Wordart freebie

2011-03-19T10:58:00.005+10:00

Life here is a yo-yo.... Ella's sick, Ella's better, Ella's sick, Ella's better.... so far we are back to Ella's better - for how long is anyones guess! But its good to have her smiling & laughing again. Although she found a new sound to make to make us come running.... Her new cry/scream/squeal when she was in pain while she was sick made us run as that was the sign she was about to vomit - and the smart little thing has remembered and now does it to make us run and then just stops, smiles and keeps playing. At first it was funny, now its frustrating! Hopefully it wont last, hopefully....

I didn't get much done in the way of scrapping or freebies this week. Work had a big task they needed done before next week so I put my head down and got most of it done for them. It was tedious but not rocket science so was easy enough for me to knock over in couple of days.

Its great sleeping weather here today, raining. So of course Ella decided to wake up at 4am and wouldn't go back to sleep. Of course by 8am she was a cranky pants and wanted her nap. She finally went to sleep at 10.30am and so Daddy is having a nap too as he still not 100% yet. I past that tired stage so I figured I'd jump on here and send out a freebie seeing I'm on a roll. I've already baked up a storm here this morning. I made 2 batches of cupcakes. The first batch was gluten free and well lets just say gluten free = taste free.... so I made another batch and they are sooooo good. I made some normal sized ones with chocolate ganache icing topped with coconut and some mini ones with chocolate butter cream topping with crushed maltesers. We have a couple of friends moving into a unit couple doors down from us so I made them as a "welcome to the neighbourhood" gesture. Hubby has already swiped a few of the good ones. I'll keep some for him, but he can get the gluten free ones, seeing he is supposed to be on gluten free anyway!

Anyway enough about me, back to your freebie... I've done up a couple of wordarts that I hope you will like and that will come in handy. Enjoy and leave some love if you like it!

Download wordarts here.

Mask with a twist

2011-03-14T19:18:00.009+10:00

I had to pop over to Kmart this morning to return something that broke but we only made it as far as the car park where Ella decided to vomit everywhere! I was on my own with Ella and that made it super hard cause I was trying to stop her running off in the carpark while undressing her and wiping up the vomit with the baby wipes. I was a bit disappointed that no one stopped to offer a hand. Heaps of women walked past and looked but not even a "are you ok, do you want a hand". Just sad as I'd be the first to help a lady on her own in that situation. Suppose it goes to show the times we live in now. I got her cleaned up and back in the car to head home for another bath... poor thing cried the whole way home - which was very disturbing for me trying to drive and console her at the same time.

We got her back to the doctors this afternoon and he looked her over and feels its probably still part of the gastro left over as part of her test results came back positive for Adenovirus infection. He said they lab was going to do a follow up report, but he hasn't received it yet. The doctor over the weekend found both Ella's ears where infected and also her throat, so she put her on a course of antibiotics, which seems to have done the trick for the ears and throat as our doctor said its pretty clear in those areas now. He said to finish off the medication course and to dilute her dairy intake so she not having full strength bottles etc as that wouldn't help with the vomiting.

Thankfully she had a big sleep today, as the last couple of days she only had 1 power nap and I think that hasn't been helping her to heal. Today she slept for just over 2 hours and went down tonight easily too. Hopefully we get a full night sleep tonight so her body gets time to rest & heal properly.

Anyway while Ella slept today I managed to get a few freebies made. Very proud of myself, got half a dozen made! Now to decide which one to give away first.... I made another photo mask in a similar style to the last one but I've decided to go with something different first. I did a layout the other day and really loved an effect I did with ones of papers, so I've decided to start making Paper Masks... Works in the same way a photo mask does, but on the size scale of the layout page and works well for creating unique paper effects/stacks. Anyway, head on over to my facebook page and check out the layout I did with the cute cluster frame Daydream by Eva Kipler Designs and my paper mask. And while you're there I'd love a few more fans to 'like' my page!

The paper mask comes with and without a shadow effect. Enjoy!

Download paper mask here.

Photo Mask freebie

2011-03-12T11:33:00.004+10:00

Well we thought Ella had come good this week but she seems to be going back downhill again.... She has been up the last couple of nights crying a lot and then last night the vomiting started again. With more earlier today. We have the after hours doctor booked to come out this afternoon, hopefully he can figure out whats going on.

Not sure if its the same problem that never really went away or another problem started up. Of course it could be anything. This week Ella was back at Kindyroo, Swimming Lessons and also got a trip to the shops and swimming at Wiggle Bay. Everywhere we go she is always eating/licking something she shouldn't (like the shopping trolley handles and drinking the water at Wiggle Bay)... its very frustrating as no matter how many times we stop her she just keeps doing it. I'm starting to wish she liked a dummy as least then it wouldn't be free to wouldn't put anything else in her mouth! If only she happily ate actual food as much as she does dirt! If anyone has any tips on stopping her how to eat things she shouldn't, they would be greatly accepted!!!!!

To top it all off, Hubby is still sick and I've pinched something in my neck...

Anyway, today's freebie is a photo mask. I've also included a border (separate file) so your mask can be jazzed up a bit. Hope you enjoy using it!

Download photo mask here.

A Blog Award

2011-03-10T09:29:00.003+10:00

This morning I was greeted with a wonderful honour... Sue over at Crafting with Sue has given me an award for my blog.

I was blown away... I created this blog purely to help give back what little I can do, to the digital scrapbooking world, as I have enjoyed so much that it has offered. I am more than a little chuffed that not only do people seem to like my blog, but that I was chosen by Sue to receive this award. Thanks Sue!

I did a quick 'google' on this award and from what I can see, part of receiving it is to pass it along and award others that I feel deserve it plus post 8 things about myself that perhaps not everyone would already know. So here goes:

8 things about me:

I fall asleep listening to audiobooks (mostly the Twilight saga & the Harry Potter series) It helps my mind switch off. Needless to say I've heard them all about 100 times each!
I have an OCD compulsion to always wipe water drops up off any sink area - I don't care so much if the rest is messy, just as long as there is no water there!
I am useless at adding up in my head - product of the calculator generation (just plain lazy).
I'm addicted to scrabble on facebook. I hardly ever win but I love it anyway!
I hate mindless window shopping, unless its at a craft or stationery shop.
I have 2 tattoos and contemplating a third one (either a new one or a cover up of my first one)
Although I'm a chatterbox, I hate talking on the phone... text, IM chat, skype - anything except the phone! Years of working in call centres has turned me off the telephone!
I'd really love to write a book... one day!

8 blogs I'd like to pass this award onto (in no particular order):

Creative Busy Hands - for providing us with a great blog to find all the wonderful freebies
Elegant Wordart
Scrapz by Angie
The Ettes
Create with TLC
Irene Alexeeva Designs
Indigo Designs
Rasberry Road Designs

For all the wonderful freebies and great designs from the above blogs - this award goes to you!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new freebie for you all.

Thanks again for stopping by my blog and hopefully while you are here you will find something that comes in handy!

March Calendar freebie

2011-03-04T07:43:00.004+10:00

Well, the family that plays together.... gets sick together! We've had a rough week here. Ella has been sick since last friday. Poor thing got a gastro bug. She couldn't keep anything in (either end) and was crying cause she didn't understand what was happening. It was so hard to see her like that.

We had her to the doctors and were giving her the hydrolite iceblocks to help keep her hydrated but it just wasn't staying in long enough to work. Our doctor felt she needed to go to hospital to get a drip to re-hydrate her faster. Well that was a waste of time. The stupid hospital just gave her a hydralite iceblock like we were doing at home! We were so annoyed. They even took a No 1 & No 2 sample to get tested and then a new doctor came on (that I think was on some sort of power trip) and canceled the tests as "we can't do it for everyone".... WHAT!!!! The hospital discharged Ella couple hours later and by the time we got home she was vomiting again.

So we went back to our doctors and to say he was annoyed is an understatement. He couldn't belive that they sent her home and canceled the tests. In the hospital her blood sugar level was 2.5 and the doc retested it and it was still only 2.8. She was massively dydrated but nothing we did helped. The doctor gave her this wafer thing that helped stop her vomitting allowing us to hydrate her successfully. Thankfully she is on the mend now and getting better each day. Only problem is when one gets sick, we all get sick... so yep, I got the gastro bug too and hubby got a mixture of the gastro plus sinus, plus a chest infection! He is really bad, it looks like he might end up in hospital himself. If that is the case we wont be going back to the same one, I'll drive an extra 10mins and take him somewhere else! He has been so good looking after me & Ella all week (I dropped the bundle when I got sick as I couldn't move, so hubby did everything) now he is worse than all of us!

Anyway so needless to say I haven't had a chance to do anything! I've quickly finished off the March Mini Calendar, but haven't done mine yet. Thought I'd stop in quickly and upload it inbetween my turn looking after sick baby and sick husband.

Download Calendar here.

p.s. sorry for the error in naming the last 2 calendars 2010 instead of 2011!

Hot Hot Hot

2011-02-20T17:51:00.004+10:00

In my last post I mentioned how hot it was here in Queensland... well of course this week it decided that it could get hotter!!!! OMG its has been a scorcher. We've gone swimming a couple of times but always end up back in the air con because nothing else works to stay cool.

We had another 1st birthday party this weekend. It was originally going to be at the park but it rained that morning so it was shifted back to the house. Thankfully, as it was so hot that it would have been pretty unbearable in the sun. The kids ducked out of the air con for a short dip in the splash pool but were back in the cool house soon after. Ella missed her nap (she didn't want to give in and take chance of missing out on anything!) and by the end of the party was crying hysterically... she was asleep before we even got 2 streets away!

We also had a family portrait day this week. I got a cheap photo sitting (online special) and figured we only have 2-3 nice family shots of us all together so I thought why not. Ella has never been very photogenic... normally she sees the camera and stops smiling or starts pulling weird faces... the family photo shoot wasn't much different, she hardly smiled and spent most of the time with her hand in her mouth! We left feeling a bit disappointed but when we viewed the pics the next day there were surprisingly some good ones there - the photographer was great. I get the disc of photos tomorrow (hopefully) and can't wait to get started on some new scrap layouts. Plus its my mums birthday next weeks so I thought I'd make something with our new family portrait on it for her.

Speaking of scrapping, I've also been trying to get in and do some of my own layouts as I've been very lazy on that front. Most of the ones I've done this week are from quickpages. I figured with all the amazing QP's available its a great way to get onto the pile of scrapping that I want to get through! Jump on over to my facebook page to check some of the new ones out. As always, I'd love to see some of yours while you're there...

Anyway, enough about me... today's freebie is a couple of wordarts. Can never have too many friend wordarts - well I think so anyway! Enjoy...

Download wordart set here.

Buttons freebie

2011-02-14T10:09:00.004+10:00

Another hot week here in sunny Queensland. We spent most of the time in the air con as going swimming just didn't cool us down - even the water was hot!

We had Ella's first day of Kindyroo last week. She loved it, but I think it will take a few weeks for her to get the hang of play time v's mat time... she just didn't want to sit still at all! I ran around after her most of the time but it was her first week and she was excited to be in a new place - hopefully this week is easier on me!!!!

One of Ella's friends turned 1 this week and we celebrated it down at the rock pools so the kids could splash around in the water for a bit. Ella loved it. I have a white glowing 'office tan' - so after only 10mins, of course I was sunburnt (even with hat and sunscreen on)... It was good to see the kids devouring the yummy food and having a splash together in the water. Just a shame it was so hot. We have another 1st birthday this weekend in a park so hopefully its not as hot!

We had a garage sale on the weekend. It was very slow considering how well the last couple were. I think it was just too hot for people to be out and about. We still sold a few things to help clear out stuff we no longer using. Of course then I went to the baby markets on Sunday and got a heap of bargains for Ella. Mainly clothes as she is growing so fast she needed the next size up again! I got her one toy, a xylophone and although its very noisy, she loves it so doesn't matter to us. We just put it away when we want a break!

I've also been busy updating my facebook page with some recent layouts that I've done and would love to see some of your work, especially ones with some of my elements. Feel free to upload to the facebook site and share your wonderful work. Don't forget to 'like' me on facebook while you are there to get notified of new blog posts!

Anyway, today's freebie is a set of buttons I made in a variety of colours, with some matching stitching. Hopefully they will come in handy for all sorts of pages!

Download button set here.

February Calendar freebie

2011-02-05T15:03:00.004+10:00

Back at the doctors yesterday and still no closer to any answers. Now I'm just waiting on a call from doctor surgery with details for another test (once they find out where I go for it), hopefully this coming week, as I'm getting anxious now not knowing whats going on.

Not much happening here at the moment. It's very hot and steamy so trying to stay cool either inside in the air con or going for a swim. Ella loves the swim part, only problem is we are all hot again as soon as we get out of the water! Between work and making freebies, I've even managed to catch up on some of my own scrapbooking as I've been a bit lazy on that front lately. Its good to finally get some done.

Anyway, I thought I'd drop by and give you the February mini calendar before too much of the month has gone by! I also included a bonus grunge heart photo mask - 2 freebies in 1 - it must be your lucky weekend! This month I made mine with a cute little kit called Princess Dreams, however I'm unsure where I found it as there were no TOU's or identifying names in the folders... so I'm sorry I can't post credit to the owner but am thankful to them anyway! Well thats enough from me for now... enjoy your calendar and photo mask!

Download Calendar & Photo Mask here.

Cyclone season

2011-02-03T19:13:00.004+10:00

Another week here in 'normally' beautiful Queensland and another devastating strike from Mother Nature. It's what we call 'cyclone season' here and this week saw 2 cyclones hit our beautiful state. The first wasn't too bad, the second that passed over the coast line late last night was catastrophic. It destroyed parts of a few northern townships, most of which are only just recovering from a cyclone that ripped them apart a few years ago.

I was on tender hooks as my mum lives up north and the original predicted path would have hit my home town but it moved north and although mum lost power and had rain and strong winds, they luckily avoided any major devastation. Unfortunately so many weren't as lucky. My heart breaks when I see the news on the TV. It's hard to comprehend the loss people have endured when you aren't affected directly, but my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was affected but knowing the Queenslanders spirit, together the towns will get through it again.

On the health front, I still have no results or no idea of whats actually wrong but on the upside I'm at least feeling a bit better! I had more blood tests yesterday and get the results tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully some good news.... fingers crossed....

Anyway thought I'd pop by and give you the matching numbers & symbols for the dotty letters from last week. I hope they have come in handy and you get heaps of use out of them!

Download number set here.

Calendar freebie

2011-01-29T21:04:00.003+10:00

Just a brief stop in today. Now I know I said that my next post will have the matching numbers for the alpha set but I decided to do this one first but the next one will be the numbers - I promise! I know January is almost over but better late than never....

Here is the first of my 2010 mini calendar templates. If you are like me and want a small personalised calendar but don't have room for anything too big, you'll love this. Its designed as 22cm x 11cm with half being the calendar and half to decorate however you'd like. These simple calendars can be printed and stuck to your desk without taking up much room, or even in your handbag as a brief overview of your month ahead! Or of course in any way you choose! Either way I hope you like it...

For my first one, I designed it with the fabulous kit called "Miss Priss" by Joanne Bain Designs. Such a lovely kit I've used many times and each time a new and inspired way to showcase their wonderful work.

Anyway I'm off to bed after a long day (more doctors appointment and more needles and more referrals for blood test...). Enjoy!

Download calendar template here.

Alpha set freebie

2011-01-27T19:34:00.004+10:00

It’s been an emotional week here. I’ve had some strange stuff in recent blood tests so the doctor sent me for more tests, some of which came back different again so I’m booked in for some exploratory tests in early march. I immediately went into panic mode and started ‘goggling’ some stuff and freaked myself out even more. Hubby keeps telling me to stop worrying and wait for the rest of the tests before we get ahead of ourselves…. Easier said than done! So instead I’m trying to keep my mind occupied with other things but its not easy…

So far this week I’ve managed to get a fair bit of work done, plus make a heap of freebies… but haven’t had much internet so haven’t been able to get on to give them away! But least I have some already made for the weeks that I can’t get around to making any.

Other than health issues, nothing much else going on. Ella is loving going swimming and we try to go 3-4 times a week. We even put the small pool up again at home yesterday when we knew we couldn’t get over to the water park. It was pretty hot again today so all 3 of us were in this mini pool full of multi-coloured balls. Not much room for Ella to run around in but we all cooled down and had fun and that was the main part.

Anyway, enough about me for now… Today’s freebies are some Alphas (all 26 letters)… I had fun making these and hopefully they will come in handy. Unlike last time, these Alpha’s are saved as individual letters – much easier for you to use! Stay tuned for the matching numbers & symbols in my next post.

Download the Alpha Set here.

Flood crisis

2011-01-15T20:23:00.004+10:00

Since my last post when I mentioned the flooding up north, well its gotten much much worse. Almost half the state has been flooded and a massive state-wide path of destruction has been left over. It started in Central Queensland and has made it way down south and ended up flooding our capital city. So many towns have been flooded, so much destruction and unfortunately the loss of lives. It's completely heartbreaking to watch the news and see the devastation left behind.

Here on the Gold Coast we have been so very lucky. It was not flooded out like many parts of the state. Although we got heaps of rain (and not far from the last part of the flooding), we were spared. We were ready & prepared though with our emergency bag, just incase. At one stage the destruction didn't seem to have an end in sight so we were just waiting for us to be next.

The rain seems to have stopped for now and most of the SE Qld area has had a few days of sunshine. Now however the clean up begins. Its a massive job that will no doubt take months perhaps even years for everyone affected to get back to normal. They say the clean up will cost in the billions and so far they have raised $55 million to aid in the rebuild etc. Aussies all over have been helping the flood victims, either by way of donation or helping with the rescue / clean up. It's good to see the Aussie Spirit alive and well and that complete strangers are helping each other out during this difficult time.

Today's freebie is in honour of these wonderful Aussies, who no matter what, are always there to help each other out.

If you would like to donate to the flood victims, please visit this site for more details Qld Premiers Flood Appeal

Download wordart here.

Happy New Year

2011-01-06T19:37:00.004+10:00

I know its a couple days late but Happy New Year everyone! It's been a great silly season, very relaxing - no fuss, no stress (the way it should be). We didn't do much, mostly caught up with friends and chillin out around the house. I haven't really set many new year resolutions this year. Mostly I'd be happy to lose some weight (but wouldn't most people!) and be healthy.

We've had heaps of rain, so much so that I have to remind myself that it is actually summer at the moment. When the rain stops its super hot so we have taken Ella swimming. She loves the water and since her surgery she hasn't had a chance to go much. We took her to the newly finished rock pools for a splash around (it was super busy and she was a bit little, perhaps when school is back in we'll go back there then) and once to a friends place for a swim in their pool and then we decided to buy ourselves a half yearly pass for Dreamworld (for those that aren't local its a huge theme park) and there is a big water park section. So now any day we are bored we can pop on over (its only 5mins from us) and take Ella swimming. She loved it when we went the other day as there is a little kids section called Wiggle Bay with only little kids in it so she wasn't knocked over (as much) as at the rock pools. All the little kids were having a ball.

Other than that we've pretty much just been hanging around the house on the rainy days. We also been keeping an eye on the major flooding that is happening north of us. A large part of our states country areas are under water, completely flooded and cut off. We have a few friends up there that are in the middle of it and we been praying for them and everyone that its affecting. Mother nature in all her beauty and wonder can be cruel sometimes. From what we see on the news, its now a waiting game for the water levels to drop and the major clean up to start. It's heartbreaking to see the devastation. I almost cry everytime I watch the news now and thats without being there to fully understand what they must be going through.

Well before I sign off and head to bed, here is todays freebie. Its a set of border lines. These can be used for various different things so hopefully they come in handy for you. Enjoy!

Download border lines here.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T07:16:00.004+10:00

Hi Everyone, I hope you have all woken up to a great Christmas morning and that Santa was good to you all...

Ella loves her presents. She wasn't sure about the unwrapping part and we had to remove the paper from the room as she was more interested in that at first! Typical!!!! She is a bit unsure about her new bike (push trike thing), but she'll get there one day. We got given a play kitchen last week from a friend who's daughter no longer needed it and for Christmas Ella got heaps of play food and tea set things to go with it, so thats good.

We are all set ready for breakfast and the roast lunch is in the oven. Just waiting for our guests to arrive and we'll be ready for a full on day of fun and heaps of food! Hope whatever you all do its everything you want and more...!

Thought I'd pop in now while I had 5mins free as not sure if I'll get here later today. Here is your freebie.... its a surprise... a present you have to unwrap (well download)... Enjoy! Well I'm off Merry Christmas everyone!

Download Christmas present here.

It's nearly time...

2010-12-23T19:23:00.004+10:00

Only a couple more sleeps til the fat man arrives! Ella is getting impatient. Although she doesn't know exactly whats happening she knows that all the brightly wrapped presents underneath the big pretty tree are for her. She knows something is up and keeps trying to get to her presents (I've baricaded them in behind her toy box so she stopping pulling them out). Can't wait til she gets to open them - I feel more excited than her (and I know whats in them!)

Tomorrow is preparation day for me. We have friends coming over for Christmas (we are doing a breakfast and lunch). I've taken the roast out of the freezer and will prep all the rest of the food tomorrow. I did the last of the shopping today - no way was I going to tackle the shops tomorrow. People go into 'crazy' mode and act like the world is ending. I went early this morning and it wasn't too bad. There were a few whingy dads - not sure why they didn't just stay at home with the kids and make Mum's job easier (like mine did!).

I hope everyone is getting excited for whatever they have planned for christmas day. I'm working on a christmas freebie for you all, but haven't finished it yet but hopefully it will be done by christmas day... It will be my christmas present to you all - so pop back sometime christmas day for a present! In the meantime, here is a frame I made. I started with a great vintage book by Formazon and then used some cool burnt paper brushes by chain. Both these found on DevianART of course! Thanks guys for use of your wonderful work. I hope you all enjoy my vintage frame!

Download frame here.

Photo Mask Freebie

2010-12-15T21:08:00.005+10:00

Can you believe there is only 10 days til christmas! I can't! It's truly amazing how fast time flies.
Yesterday I spent the day doing a lot cooking. I made a batch of yummy shortbread biscuits (christmas shapes for little gifts), 9 shepherd pies for my mother-in-law and a heap of vegie mash for Ella. It was great, I hadn't done much cooking lately and I miss it. Although its good not to have heaps of bad food in the house so we not eating it (I love baking yummy sugary things more than anything), cooking is kind of relaxing for me.

Today we had a friend and her daughter over for a playdate with Ella. Ella was asleep when they got here and Layla (who is 10mths old) didn't want to wait for Ella to wake up so she crawled over to Ella and sat there gently trying to wake her up. Eventually it worked and Ella woke up. She was so happy to see her little friend that she didn't even seem to mind being woken up (she had been asleep for 2 hours anyway). The girls played together for a couple of hours and us Mummies even managed to get in a few games on the Wii. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

Just a quick stop by as I wanted to give you another freebie as I've been a bit slack on them lately, so today's freebie is a photo mask that I made using some more of the awesome brushes by Mutsie. I hope you like using it. Enjoy!

Download photo mask here.

The Power of Facebook

2010-12-13T16:41:00.004+10:00

Well Ella had her surgery on Thursday morning and everything went well. There was still fluid in her ear so they drained it out when doing the op. She was a bit hysterical when she woke up in recovery but after some food (she was starving from having to fast) and a good sleep on Mummy's chest she felt heaps better and they discharged us just after lunch. Everyone in the hospital were great and very friendly and helpful. She recovered fast. By that afternoon she was up and running around like normal. She has a bit of a blocked nose at the moment but hopefully the antibiotics from the surgery will help heal that up soon. Hardest part is keeping her ears dry, especially at bath times! She likes to pull the ear plugs out of her ear half way through her bath!

We did a bit of christmas shopping today and now I'm exhasusted! I'm not much of a shopper at the best of times and to spend a day doing it - well lets just say I wont do it again in a hurry. We already done all Ella's christmas shopping but just needed a couple more things for friends, thankfully we got most if done today. The rest I am doing online. I'd rather pay for postage than tackle the shops again during the 'silly season'...

I also decided to get my facebook fan page back up. I personally hadn't been on facebook for a few years and only recently got back to it and caught up with old friends. I didn't think it would be very useful except today the power of facebook worked well... Our friends Dad had his car stolen on the weekend and she posted it on facebook to get everyone she knew to keep an eye out for it... Well today on the way to the shops we passed the place it had been stolen from and I saw a car in the middle of the car park on its own. I said to hubby 'wouldn't it be funny if that was the car' so we did a double back and went and had a look and yep you guessed it, it was the stolen car! We couldn't believe it. It was taken for a joy ride (approx 50klms) and parked in a different part of the car park it was stolen from 2 days earlier. No damage thankfully. Our friends were very happy that we found it. I was buzzed all morning. I felt like a super hero! LOL.... It was really nice feeling to be so helpful... Anyway so I guess I feel facebook can be useful so I got my fan page back up - would love it if I can get some fans now! So come on.... be my fan! (pretty please)...

Anyway, today's freebie is a another set of wordarts. Hopefully they come in handy for some wonderful pages or cards! Enjoy..!

Download wordart here.

On the countdown

2010-12-07T20:13:00.004+10:00

We are on the countdown now... Its only 2 sleeps til Ella's surgery and we've been staying home as much as possible this week so she doesn't get sick before hand. Plus its done nothing but rain for the most of the week so not much you can do anyway. Not sure whats going on with the weather. It was the first day of summer here last week and its done nothing but rain (heavy rain) since! Come on Mother Nature, lets get that beautiful Queensland sunshine back!

We did get out on the weekend to get Ella's santa photo. We ended up going to 2 different places. The first one was a let down. Local computer shop advertised free santa photo. I should have known, nothing good generally comes for free. The lady taking the photos didn't even try to get Ella's attention and she took one photo, while Ella's hand was half in front of her face. Then they said it takes 3 days to get it printed out. I was a bit shocked about that. Its one of the largest computer and printer shops here on the coast and with a store full of printers I don't understand how it takes 3 days to print a 6x4 photo from a digital camera... strange... anyway so we headed to the shopping centre and got a great group of ladies that got Ella to smile and had the set of photos we bought printed out in less than 2mins! Second time lucky I suppose... So christmas cards are done and sent - another thing off my list of things to do.

There was also a baby market on the weekend. Hubby stayed at home with Ella as it was raining pretty hard and was easier for me to go on my own. I left the house early and stopped in for a gym session on the way. Then at the baby markets I managed picked up a whole new wardrobe full of clothes for Ella for under $40 and on way home I got a heap of bargains at the fruit markets. So sunday was pretty productive for me. I got home and hubby & Ella were sleeping! So I watched Eclipse on DVD (again). Only had the movie for less than a week and already watched it a few times!

I also started working again last week. Not back in the office, I'm not ready to leave my little angel just yet. But they set me up so I can work from home and do a few hours whenever Ella is sleeping etc. It was strange to get back into it but good as that section of my brain needed kick starting again.

Today I got around to making a couple of freebies for you. Here is a set of wordart quotes that hopefully will come in handy. Ella is really getting into music lately and she loves to dance (well bob up and down) and its so cute to watch, so I thought I'd do some wordart relating to music and dancing. Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Photo mask freebie

2010-11-27T20:47:00.004+10:00

We've had a much better last few days here. Ella is on the mend & so am I (its only Hubby now that is still sick). Ella had a check up at the doctor yesterday afternoon and he is happy with how the new antibiotics have mostly cleared her ear up. He is keeping her on antibiotics til her surgery just so it doesn't come back again so fast (cause if it does and she too sick they wont do the surgery).

We put our Christmas tree up today. I know its a couple of days early but I figured we better check make sure it works (fibre optic) otherwise we'd have to take it back. Ella loved all the pretty colours the tree made. It looks better at night (of course) but not sure if I'll put too much decorations on it as Ella will just pull them off if they put down too low anyway. I can't believe its only a month til Christmas! Seriously where did this year go.

I was up super early this morning. Ella decided she wanted her morning bottle at 4am (which hasn't happened in a while) and by time she went back down I was wide awake so I figured I'd get up. Normally doesn't matter if she had a 4am bottle, she is still awake by 5.30am, so I thought better not fall back asleep or I'll be twice as tired only getting another half hour... boy was I wrong today... Ella decided she'd sleep in til 8am! I couldn't believe it. The one morning I could have slept in... oh well, I used the time wisely. I caught up on some missed TV (watched Glee & Hellcats online) and made today's freebie.

I was watching something on TV the other day (sesame street I think) and I saw a hopscotch drawing and thought mmmm what can I do with that... so here it is... a hopscotch photo mask. I've done a couple of examples, one with multiple photos of Ella and one with a whole pic of my nieces and nephew. I've also included on a separate file, a border for around the mask. I figured it would be easier to use the mask without the border then add it afterwards. Anyway, I hope you enjoy using it.

Download photo mask here.

I'm Back....

2010-11-25T10:09:00.004+10:00

Well where to start... firstly sorry I haven't been around. We've all been sick and only just starting to see some normality here. Ella has had 2 ear infections since her ENT appointment 2 and a half weeks ago and they are getting worse. The one she has at the moment was so severe that the Dr had to put her on stronger antibiotics. For 4 days she was vomitting and screaming in pain (all day and all night) even though she was already on some antibiotic - they just weren't enough. She seems to have taken to the new antibiotics quiet well as we've had 2 nights of sleep with just a few cries when the blanket falls off her. Touch wood we might be on top of it now.

Hubby has had sinus infection and I've had tonsillitis. Its so hard when everyone is sick as stuff still has to get done but none of us wanted to do anything except sleep. I'm well and truly on the mend and by end of the weekend should be 100% better. Hubby is a harder case - major allergy issues means sinus infections are almost a weekly thing for him.

I ordered a Family Health Organiser online the other day so we can keep an accurate record of Ella's medical history. It looks really good as you can keep up to 3 kids and 2 adults history in it. Can't wait to get it in the mail.

My apologies as I haven't done much in the way of freebies lately as any spare time we've used to catch on up lost sleep. But I do have a wordart freebie to keep you going til I can get some more made. Enjoy! I'll try and get back sooner next time!

Download wordart here.

Happy Birthday Ella!

2010-11-08T19:01:00.005+10:00

It's Ella birthday today - I can't believe she is 1! I had weird dreams last night. I kept half waking up feeling contraction pains and then when we got up I realised it was only a memory. It felt so real, like I was re-living the same night 12months ago! Weird I know... We had Ella's party yesterday, it was great fun. All her friends came around and played heaps then they all had a dip in the little mini splash pool. I even made a pass the parcel for the kids (which the parents did as they all too small!) and made sure each one got a little gift. I think everyone enjoyed themselves - I know we did, especially Ella.

Today we went to Ella's Ear Nose & Throat specialist appointment. He looked over Ella and her file and said that Ella is a definite candidate for grommets and also to get her adenoids taken out. So she is booked in for day surgery on 9 December. Not looking forward to putting her through the surgery but he is pretty confident that it will fix the constant ear infection problem and thats got to be better than her constant suffering and antibiotics.

After such a big day yesterday we didn't do much today except stop on the way home to pick up a new christmas tree that was on sale. We got a fibre optic one as we wanted the christmas lights without having the tangle of lights for Ella to touch & play with.

Tomorrow Ella has another swimming lesson and then she gets her 12month needles. She hates needles so we aren't looking forward to that. Hopefully she goes ok. I hate when she looks at me with those "why are you doing this to me" look. I cry nearly everytime she gets needles. Its Daddy's job to hold her as Mummy is a big sook.

Anyway todays freebie is another birthday one. This one is for all those special first birthdays! Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

Happy Birthday to me....

2010-11-06T14:06:00.002+10:00

This coming Monday is Ella's birthday and her party is tomorrow. We are looking forward to it. We have been getting organised all week for it. Baking and cleaning and making keepsakes. I did a double scrapbook page with just a title and a photo of when Ella was born and also a photo from this week so we can see how much she has grown this year. The rest is completely blank so at her party all the guests can write a message on it for her. I bought a nice leather scrapbook and will do a page like this for every birthday then when she is grown up she has a Birthday Scrapbook with heaps of special messages from everyone.

I have been so caught up in getting ready for Ella's big day that someone reminded me the other day that today is my birthday! I'm not to worried as for me, Ella is all that matters now (after 30 don't need to count birthdays anymore!). Hubby got me some lovely perfume and a card from Ella and spending money from him so I can buy myself something. I got a few vouchers and money, so I'll use the money towards new clothes once I lose some weight. Oh Hubby also got me a gym membership! That was one thing I really wanted. I just can't seem to get motivated at home. I been to the gym 4 times this week, which is a lot seeing I haven't exercised properly in over 18months! I'm already feeling better about myself and lost nearly 3kilos in the last couple of weeks.

Anyway just a quick stop in to give you a freebie before I head off to finish making party stuff for tomorrow. I thought it was only fitting for a birthday freebie today - enjoy this nifty photo mask!

Download photo mask here.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T19:23:00.004+10:00

Ok so I know Halloween isn't until tomorrow, but I can't guarantee I'll get here tomorrow to post this.... its Halloween eve... Besides some people have been trick or treating here tonight as obviously their parents don't want them out on a Sunday night.

Anyway its been a busy week here. Against my better judgement I took Ella to playgroup and yep you guessed it, she got sick! I was so angry as I sat beside one mum who proceeded to tell me her son (who at the time was playing with Ella) had been at the hospital 2 days earlier with a bad rash. She showed me some horrific photos on her phone and it looked terrible - it was all over the kids body. She said it was a viral infection. I didn't want to cause a scene so we left playgroup early with the excuse that Ella was tired. I couldn't believe that a mother would take a sick kid to playgroup at the risk of passing it around. I sent an email to the playgroup people and advised them that I wont be going back and that other mothers should be reminded not to take contagious kids as a courtesy to the other children (like you should have to be told!). Everytime Ella has been sick I have kept her away as I wouldn't want any other mother going through what I have to when Ella is unwell (or another child). I just couldn't believe it.

Luckily we got straight in at the doctors at the first sign that something was not right and he got her on medication which seems to have kicked in straight away - thankfully! Its her birthday in a week and I don't want her sick for her party next weekend.

We've been starting to get things organised for her little party. Its just going to be a basic sausage sizzle with some close friends and other mums & bubs. Even though she wont understand whats going on, we want it to be special so we can get photos etc to add to her scrapbook so she look back on it one day. I found some super cheap kids books & dvds and going to do pass the parcel and some other games so the kids have something to take home. I'm really looking forward to it. I just can't believe how fast this year has gone and she is going to be 1! This time last year I was overdue and just patiently waiting for her to arrive! Man how time flies....

Anyway, todays freebie is some wordart. Hope it comes in handy for some cool Halloween pages. Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

Download wordart here.

Learning to swim

2010-10-22T20:21:00.006+10:00

Its been a much better week here. I'm so glad Ella is feeling better now. We had a visit from one of our playgroup mums on Wednesday and Ella got to play with her little friend (which she really missed doing as her eyes just lit up when they got here). She enjoys being a social lite so hopefully now she is better we can get out and about more.

We went to Ella's first swimming lesson today. Ella had such a ball. She loves the water and seemed to start picking up the little tricks fast. We've booked in for 2 lessons a week for 5 weeks and then when our 10 free lessons are up we'll re-evaluate it from there. The teacher feels she'll catch up fast with 2 lessons a week and can most likely go to 1 lesson a week after that. Apparently most babies start their swimming lessons by 6months, so Ella is a bit behind the others. With Ella being so sick the past couple of months we couldn't have taken her to swimming before now anyway, but hopefully we are on the right path now.

Tomorrow I'm off to find a new outfit for Ella & I as we have a wedding on Tuesday next week and I realised I've got nothing to wear! Nothing like leaving it to the last minute.... I have to find something tomorrow as Sunday we are off for a drive to the Sunshine Coast and meeting some visiting family at Australia Zoo. We are looking forward to that as Ella seems to love animals. It will be good to see how she likes the big ones (as she only ever seen the baby animals at a petting zoo).

Anyway today's freebie is a wordart. I used some wonderfully created water drops from A tilazz on devianART. Thanks Atilazz, your water drops came in handy for me to give my wordart a bit of pizazz! Enjoy!

Download wordart here.

No longer contagious

2010-10-19T19:30:00.002+10:00

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. We really appreciate you all thinking of us during this time. There is nothing worse than having a sick baby when you can't do much to help them. I hated seeing Ella suffer. We were back at the doctors today and Ella got the all clear! She is no longer contagious and we can get out of the house again - thankfully. We are all starting to go a bit stir crazy having no outside contact. Its playgroup day tomorrow, but I'm not going as I want to see if keeping Ella away from there helps her not getting sick again. I was talking to another mum today that isn't going either so we might be having a coffee catch up here at our place instead. Which will be good, especially for Ella as she loves seeing other people and the other kids.

I called the local pool this morning to discuss Ella's swimming lessons and hopefully we will go on Friday or early next week for the first one. Hubby won 10 free lessons - which is great as its not really swimming lessons its more just getting babies used to water etc and they can work out quite expensive if you go a few times. I'm looking forward to it as the weather is getting nicer and Ella loves the water.

Anyway just a quick stop by before I hit the sack early. Today's freebie is a simple photo mask that I hope comes in handy for some funky layouts. Enjoy!

Download photo mask here.

Frame freebie

2010-10-13T19:40:00.004+10:00

Hiya everyone! Sorry I haven't been in for the last couple of weeks... It's been a bit hectic around here. Last week was pretty busy for us. We were in and out more than normal and now this week, yep you guessed it.... Ella is sick again. It started out with the same symptoms however the diagnosis was different. This time she has tonsillitis and Hand, Foot & Mouth (a form of Chicken Pox). The poor little thing can't eat due to swollen tonsils plus blisters inside her mouth, can't sleep cause she is in heaps of pain and she can't seem to stop crying at the moment. Which for Ella is strange as she has never been much of a crier, even with her ear infections she doesn't cry like this.

The past couple of nights we haven't had much sleep at all. The short burst of sleep we've had only happen when one of us slept cuddling Ella as she didn't want to be alone. Luckily we've managed to get some naps in during the day to make sure we can still function. We are house bound for up to 10days until the pox clear up and she is no longer contagious.

We can't be certain where she got it from, but we went to Playgroup last week for the first time in a while, and every time we go there Ella gets sick. I don't think they clean their toys properly (if at all!). I think once we are out of quarantine I might re-think going to the playgroup and just stick with meeting up with the other mums outside the pre-organised playgroup. At least for a while to give Ella a break from being sick. The few weeks when we all just met up at each others houses etc Ella was fine (apart from an ear infection - which she can't catch as she still might need to get grommets).

Anyway, I've been going to bed super early lately so I can catch some zzzzz's before Ella wakes up so I haven't been alert enough to make much in the way of freebies (and my list of pre-made ones is all but gone).... but tonight I decided to do a quick freebie before I hit the sack. Hope you like this cluster frame and it comes in handy for your layouts.

Download frame here.

Photo mask freebie

2010-10-01T05:52:00.004+10:00

It was an early start for me today 2.45am!!! Ella decided she was going to wake up early, which is starting to be a common occurrence once again. By the time I got her back to sleep it was after 4am and I was wide awake so I decided to stay up and work on some freebies (something I've been a bit lazy on these past couple weeks).

It doesn't help that Ella is sick again. Another ear infection. Had her back at the doctors on Wednesday and he got her back on antibiotics. He said if it keeps coming back good chance she might have to get grommets. He checking her out again next week to keep on top of it. So she has gone off her food again and waking in the middle of the night because she is hungry. The only good part is that she is not contagious which means she doesn't have to miss out on playgroup.

It still school holidays so we had playgroup at one of the other mums place this week. Ella fell asleep in the car on the way and slept most of the time we were there. Which was handy as I got to relax for a bit. The other mums have younger bubs that aren't moving around yet so the place this week hadn't been baby-proofed yet. Of course when Ella woke up she was tried her luck at getting into everything! At home, we been baby proofing more and more as she gets into everything now. She is getting so tall that she can almost reach the TV set, so we made a half playpen with a few wooden safety barriers and attached it to the TV cabinet. Now she can't access the TV cabinet at all.

Plus I finally got around to doing up her toy box that I bought last month - which is beside the TV cabinet so she can't access the cords. It looks really good. The old paint and stick-on ornaments were a bit worse for wear. Now its a lovely pale lavender colour with bright coloured animals all over it. Not a bad job if I do say so myself! I just wish I had remembered to take a before photo!

Anyway todays freebie is a photo mask that I made with some groovy brushes from Mutsie on deviantART. I used a selection of brushes from #13 & #14 Wallpaper Sized brushes. They are awesome! Thanks Mutsie...! I'm definitely going to try out some more from her range.

Download photo mask here.

Another successful garage sale

2010-09-25T13:54:00.003+10:00

We just finished another successful garage sale. Although we didn't sell everything, most of it went, and trust me, there was a lot of stuff! We made $100 and my sister-in-law made $650!!! Plus there are a couple of big things we've just put on ebay that didn't sell - so hopefully there is another couple of hundred there when thats done. We didn't have much to sell as we had a big one ourselves not long ago. But we are glad that most of her stuff sold and she managed to make some money.

We took a load of stuff to the local op shop of little things we didn't want anymore that didn't sell. They were very happy as it stock for their shelves.

I'm pretty tired now though. Ella decided to get up at 4am today. I didn't get a nap cause she decided to sleep through the garage sale and wake just now as we were eating lunch. Hopefully she is happy to play in lounge area this afternoon as I'm not up for much now - I think its going to be a movie afternoon!

Todays freebie is the matching halftone number set. Enjoy!

Download number set here.