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!!WARNING!! very long post ahead

Looks like this blog thing is going to be monthly at the moment. Or at least that's how it's working out now.

Believe it or not I have actually scrapbooked in the last month. Wendy and I have been getting together to complete our monthly snippet classes designed by the very talented Kim Archer and her Support team girls. Snippets is designed as a year in review album but the layouts could be used for anything.

I have really enjoyed getting back into it and scrapping with Wendy. When we got together a few weeks ago at my place it was actually the first time we had scrapped together outside of Paperdoll boutique. We have another session planned for this Sunday to get another month completed.

Go and check out Kim's at home site if you can there are lots fabulous classes to take and they are always fantastic value. While you're there check out the great retreat Kim has planned for November, sounds like it is going to be a fun fun place to be. I would love to go but as I will be unemployed in a couple of weeks I don't think I can justify it to the family really.

So here is what I've done so far starting with January of course. Each month it's one double layout and one single.

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As you know I am a huge fan of Kim's and love her style so I've really enjoyed doing these and check out Wendy's versions over at her blog here. Her work is amazing, she is such a talented artist.

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O.K. now for a quick catch up


The end of July saw my eldest brother Geoff turn 60 we had a great family night out at the International hotel in Frankston. My other brother Michael came down from Queensland to help celebrate the big event.

I've had a few dinners out with girlfriends which has been great, it's so hard to keep in touch sometimes when your working and you really have to make the effort to catch up sometimes.

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Having said that it won't be so hard in the not to distant future, unfortunately we found out a few weeks ago that we won't have jobs by mid September. CHOICE have decided to move the whole operation up to Sydney, so it is very sad around the office. We had been looking forward to the future in a new office and new fitout etc with new products coming on line soon, so it came as a bit of shock to find out our expectations weren't going to be met. I know we all thought our jobs would be the one we retired in but alas that's not going to happen now. Oh well onwards and upwards everything happens for a reason so I'm sure something will come up.
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Madeleine' s big school production took place earlier this month as well. They had been rehearsing since January so they had all put alot of time and work into it. It was 4 performances at the Drum Street Theatre in Dandenong. It turned out it was a great show and they were all fantastic.

Makeup and hair Rehearsal































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Last weekend we went up to Bright and headed off to Mt Hotham for a day at the snow which was very very cold (as you would expect) but so much fun. The weather wasn't great on Friday while we were there but that was ok we spent the day playing cards with the girls. It's so nice to sit and spend so much time together. Lots of fun.

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Well that's it again gone on way to long.


cheers


Leeanne xxx

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PS: Just wanted to share one last photo. This is how I found Jasper and Hunter (the neighbours cat) last Monday. Is it just me or do they look like they've been caught out. They really love each other. Maybe a little too much me thinkst.

Where do I Start????????????

Wow!!! not really expecting anyone to actually see this as it's been so long since I've updated. I have to confess I've been more than a little addicted to Facebook for the past few months and so have sadly negelected my BLOG & scrapbooking.

In fact even Neil has noticed the lack of scrapbooking, which really doesn't thrill him. Mainly because of the amount of stuff I have that is not being used. I assured him I hadn't gone off it just that my creativity was on hiatus.
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Obviously I can't really put down all that we have been doing for the past few months it would take to long. Both Madeleine and I have had birthdays. Maddie has now turned 14 is still loving school, netball, friends and Youth Group.



















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Work is going well, aside from my good friend Wendy working with me, I now have my long time friend Judy there as well, of course we were very very young when we started working together originaly. Anyhoo we have remained firm friends through out the years and I happened to know she wasn't entirely happy where she was and asked her to come and work for us at CHOICE Switch. Lucky for us she said yes. It's so good to be working with her again we haven't actually worked together for 24years.
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Jasper the kitten is still very very cute and growing up fast. He has become good buddies with Hunter from next door and they seem to spend most days together. In fact Hunter has been having sleep overs at our house off and on. Holly is tolerating them but only just sometimes.

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Neil, myself, Maddie and Alex went up to Queensland in the school holidays to vist baby Charlie. Charlie is now two and very very cute. We had a lovely time visiting Shaun and Amanda and my brother Michael. We only see them once or twice a year so it's always good. This year the girls decided their them park of choice would be wet and wild. So we dropped them off at 11am and picked them up at 4pm. They had a blast and were thoroughly exhausted that night thats for sure.

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During the holidays Madeleine and I saw the proposal (very good) and I took her to see Wicked the musical. Wow what a fantastic show worth every penny I spent on the tickets. I would love to see it again. I was pleasantly surprised as I had not really been desperate to see it, but Maddie wanted to go, so off we went.


We had a couple of parties over the past couple of months. My buddy Lynne's hubby Dave turned 50 in May. I've known Dave since the night Lynne meet him at a party when we were about 16, boy oh boy thats a long time. The theme for the night was 70's or 80's they had a great band playing which Dave enjoyed hogging the microphone with, a mechanical bull for those game enough and great food. It was a great night and it was fun to watch the slide show of all the photos from by gone era's of Dave and his twin brother Johnny as they grew up.




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Our family friends the Browns daughter Stacey turned 18 in July and had a small gathering to celebrate the occassion. It still blows my mind that baby Stacey is already 18. She has grown into a great young lady with everything going for her and the world at her feet.

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Last Saturday night we headed off to our first How to Host a Murder Dinner Party what a hoot that was. I haven't laughed so much in a long time.



Madeleine's school production is Grease as is playing at the Drum Street thearte in August. Maddie is in the chorus but has also just won a spot in the Beauty School Dropout section of the show so she's really excited now.


Well I'm going to leave it that for now. Till next time whenever that may be.


Cheers


Leeannexxxx

Finally!!!! some scrapbooking............

I can't believe another month has passed and I haven't updated. Well actually I can I just haven't been creative so hadn't felt like updating. But over the last week I have completed 5 layouts and one card. Woo Hoo!!! it feels good to get back into it.

As many of you know I am a huge Kim Archer fan and I have participated in a number of Kim's online classes and always love them. Well I have been still buying classes over the past few months but just haven't been doing them. So 4 of the layouts are from over at Kim's at home site and they have all been designed by the fabulous Mardi Winen. Kim and all her support team girls are also talented and always inspiring.

Mardi's class was called cooking with Mardi and she shared her tips about how she gets organized to scrap by creating her own Kits at home. Just gathering bits and pieces like you would get in a kit you purchased except of course you're using your own stash. Fantastic idea Mardi and I love it. In all the layouts I have only used scraps of paper that I have had lying around for yonks. It was so nice to use some of them up like this, and I'm certain I will using this tecqnique in the future.

Yesterday (Good Friday) my friend Sue came over for a scrapping day. We didn't get much scrapping done one layout each I believe. But we certainly ate alot and then watched a movie to end the day. All very relaxed and civilized.

1. Bike Ride : Neil completed his first around the bay in a day bike ride last October. 210 Kilometers and 10 hours. What a marathon.

2. Cutie Pie: Still using up photos of the last time i saw Charlie back in July when we went to QLD.

3. Fancy Dress: Love these photos of the girls taken just before Alex's villian party started back in November.

4: These photos are from back in the School Holidays in January. Neil and Rick and the girls went on a hike around the Maroondah Dam. Not all the girls thought it was fun as the temperature was around 33 degrees that day.

5. This layout I did for my friend Sheree who became a grandmother back in November. In Thailand they call grannies Yi, so that is what Bailey will be calling her when she can (of course).

The photos got a bit of glare on it because of the glass in the frame so the colours are not really accurate..sorry about that.

6. Lastly a simple little birthday card I did to go along with it.

So much has gone on in the last month we had to have our dear old cat Lulu put down in March.

Old age had got the better of her unfortunately. What a sad day that was 16 1/2 years she had been part of our family and Maddie just adored her, so it was very hard to say goodbye.

A few weeks before hand, when Neil and gone on his weekend away to the Port Fairy Music Festival, Madeleine and I headed down to Frankston to buy shampoo and conditioner, we entered the shopping centre and the first thing we spotted was a cute little kitten in the pet shop. It was the only one left and he was so cute. Long haired tabby with white socks and bib and tummy. So so cute....well you guessed it we couldn't leave him there, he is now well and truly entrenched in the family. Madeleine named him Jasper after one of the vampires from Twilight.

Holly (the dog) has also taken to him and while the kitten chases her, jumps on her from heights (like a ninja) she takes it all in her stride and is really enjoying the company. Here's a couple of photos his now 14 weeks old.

How cute its that, he'll know what to do in a robbery...

Well I better get going this post is long enough already and I have to get ready to go out.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter.

Love Leeanne xxx

Just for Georgie..................

Yes I am still in the land of the living Georgie, I've just been really slack with the whole blogging thing. Mainly because I've had nothing to share,as I also haven't really done any scrapbooking.

The only scrapbooking I've done is for Kim Archers round robin, so I've actually scrapbooked for 3 others so far with 2 more to come. It's been fun putting my additions to the other girls layouts and also a little daunting as well.

My other confession is that I've become a little addicted to Facebook. Not really putting much up myself but checking what everyone else is up to. It's certainly not the same as blogging but addictive none the less.

Work is also keeping me busy and Madeleine I joined contours Gym about a month a go. So far we are both really enjoying it, and I love it because having her come with me is keeping me motivated to go. We have been going at least 4 - 5 times a week.

This long weekend Neil is off to the Port Fairy Music Festival and Madeleine and I are planning our girlie weekend. That usually involves Gold Class, breakfast out, hanging around in our jammies watching dvd's and basically doing what we want to whenever the mood takes us. Gotta luv that.

Ok short and sweet as I still don't have anything to share. So I will be back when that scrapbooking bug kicks back in. Hopefully that's sooner than later.

cheers

Leeanne xxx

Still not back in the swing of things

I'm hoping when Madeleine goes back to school on the 3rd February I'll get back to some kind of routine.

Still can't seem to get really motivated for scrapping. I did sign up for Kim Archer's seven layouts in seven days, and managed to get 3 of them done. All seven layouts (plus one bonus layout) are terrific.

Here's two out the 3 completed.

1. Seriously Cute GIRL- I really love this one, there's a bit of stamping (on calico (title)) I got to pull out my little davis alpha stamps which haven't seen the light of day for quite some time. There's also machine stitching, hand sewing. Good old fashioned brown paper thrown into the mix, an old piece of dressmaking tissue and lastly some very cute frilled gingham trim. Kim's layout used the green version and I just had to go out and get me some of that, It is so cute.

























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2. Obsession - This one's all about Madeleine and her Twilight obsession. Yes I know I'm obsessed too, but I thought it might be a bit sad if I was seen kissing a poster of Robert Pattinson. (hehe). Another great design of Kim's this one is the 8x8 format and she encouraged you to use some sort of packing on this one. I used the top of packing from my MM alpha. Now I'm looking at my stash to see if there is some other pieces I can use instead of throwing out when I open a packet of something.


























I haven't taken a photo of the third layout yet, so I'll share that next time.
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Now for a quick catch up on other events that have happened over the last couple of weeks.

The 14th was my sister Julie's and brother Michael's birthdays. Michael lives up on the Gold Coast so I gave him a call and sang a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday to him. We caught up with Julie for dinner and went to our fav Thai restaurant in Patterson Lakes.
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The next day Madeleine headed off with Neil's sister to Ballarat. They stayed over night at the Motel at Sovereign Hill to see Blood on the Southern Cross.

It's a sound-and-light show like about the story of the Eureka Rebellion, a dramatic battle between gold miners and Government forces at Ballarat on 3 December, 1854, is retold nightly at Blood on the Southern Cross, Sovereign Hill's acclaimed sound-and-light spectacular.
Set under the night skies at Sovereign Hill, Blood on the Southern Cross involves no actors – just voices, dazzling sound and light effects and a stunning open-air set.

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Then on Saturday Madeleine and I, along with other friends went off to see a local production of Grease at the Frankston Arts Centre. It was brilliant, the company is the Peninsula Light Opera Society (PLOS) and they usually put on around two shows a year, and all are absolutely fantastic.
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Sunday Neil, Madeleine and I headed off to the McClelland Gallery for lunch and a walk around the sculpture park. The food is simple and delicious and some of the exhibits are amazing.


















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Other than that it's been a fairly quite week. Oh except for poor Neil who ended up with a severe bout of Gastro Monday night. Not good, I don't think I've ever seen him so sick. Luckily it seemed to be one of those 24hr things and he was back to work by Wednesday.

Madeleine went off to Camp with Youth Group on Thursday morning, so it's been even more quite around here. I got a brief text message this morning telling me camp was awesome!!!
They get back at 1pm tomorrow afternoon so I'll get the low down after that and hopefully she'll have lots of pictures to share.

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Last night we had an impromptu invite out for dinner around 6pm. Luckily I hadn't started dinner so I quickly said yes. We had a beautiful Indian feast.... I so love it when I don't have to cook. Anyhoo then we went and sat out on their decking and it ended up being one of those easy nights where you sit around chatting and laughing and before you know it you've drunk way too much. Needless to say I have been a little weary today.
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Well that's it for me

Have a fantastic week

Cheers

leeanne xxx

Out of Practice

Re keeping my BLOG up to date.

I've come in to start this so many times and it just felt like I'd left it so long I didn't know where to start again.

So decision made here it is. I'm not going to go into the crazy CRAZY month that was December, except to say we had a wonderful Christmas day with family. Two roast dinners in one day, I don't know how we do it but we somehow manage it.

Boxing day as usual we spent with our wonderful friends and their families (25 in total). The day starts for me at around 8am, shopping, preparing, setting up etc Then the gang starts showing up around 2pm and we finished up around 12:30am. I love boxing day. Seems to me though, that it's taking me longer each year to get over both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

New Years Eve we spent with friends who live walking distance from home and had a lovely evening. Earlier in the day my not quite one month old Laptop decided to completely stop working, and as it turned out I lost everything on it when it was decided it was the Hard Drive that was the problem. To say not Happy Jan would be an understatement.

I had time off work from the 23rd December to 5th January which was fantastic. This week back though has been a little crazy. I've been working 8 - 8 1/2 hours days. Me thinkst having time off is not always a good thing. Neil is still on leave though so he has been home for Madeleine which has been great.

Last Sunday we had our annual Sunday Lunch out for Julie and Sue's birthdays and this year Lynne and her husband joined in as well which was lovely. Lynne and Sue both celebrate (or commiserate) their birthdays on the same day, this year is was another winery down on the Peninsula. The winery is in Merricks North and is called Willow Grove and the restaurant is called Salix. The food was magnificent and presented so beautifully. I only got photos of the desserts but they give you an idea.

So far Madeleine has seen Twilight 6 times and me I've seen it 3. Robert Pattinson is now officially her number one pinup boy and future husband apparently. We went to see it in Gold Class a couple of weeks ago which was very nice. I took a few photos of Madeleine before we left in one of the new dresses she got for Christmas and I also got to take a couple in Gold Class but had to sit down when I was apparently embarrassing her.

We've also been to see Yes Man which I laughed and laughed and then laughed some more in. Bedtime Stories which was a nice film nothing really special.

Madeleine has also been to see Marley and Me we apparently is very sad and you need to take a couple of boxes of tissues along with you. Think I might wait to see that one on DVD.

This week I've also been out to dinner with another couple of girlfriends. One of whose birthday was on the 2nd January. We went up to Vincents in Beaumaris another lovely evening.

Nothing much planned for this weekend although Neil and I may go and see Slumdog Millionaire at the movies which is supposed to be fantastic.

I managed one layout during December (no photo taken yet). Another one of Charlie when we visited the Gold Coast back in July.

I'm going to try and get back into being creative this weekend. I've signed up for another Kim Archer workshop called Seven. Seven layouts in seven days to help get you kick started for 2009.

I've also signed up for Kim's roundrobin layout swap which start this week. There are about 4 or 5 groups participating in this. My group has six girls in it, so I've sent my layout off to the first person on the list and I'm just waiting to receive one. Can't wait to see how my layout turns out after it's visited the other girls so they can add their touches to it.

If you haven't seen this months Tarisota Kit you really should do yourself a favour. The kit is full of absolutely gorgeous goodies. This month the guest DT member is my talented friend Helen Karinfilovski. Go check out the Tarisota Gallery to see her fabulous work along with all the other Beautiful work done by the DT, it's simply stunning.

Ok Ok that's it for now,

Happy Belated New Year to everyone

Cheers

Leeanne xxx