Cupcakes, easter baskets and a whole lotta scrappin'

Easter is one of my fave holidays....relaxed and laid back, time spent with family, the kid's excitement, not to mention the yummy food (seafood feast on Good Friday and traditional roast on Sunday)....all the good stuff without the stress that Christmas brings. Love love love it! We made these sweet little chicky cupcakes... ...had the mandatory Egg Hunt (check the funky squishy lime green baskets this year!)... ....and partook in the wonderfully fun and inspiring Easter cybercrop at Scrapwitch! One of the best ever. Why? It went for a whole week. Lots of spare time to fiddle around with each layout. I had my Mum and best friend Linda here to scrap with me. Seven cool challenges from seven different lovely forum members. LOTS of very nice layouts produced by everyone. I managed six. The only challenge I didn't complete was my own! Scrap An Item You Love: Scraplift a Karen McLauchlan layout: Make Your Own Pizza....every "topping" corresponded to a different page element: Race Horse Name as a Title - who would have thought there'd be so much scrapping inspiration in a form guide???: Digital/Hybrid Challenge....my first ever wholly digital page....sorry Amy, but give me the "real" thing any day!!!: E.A.S.T.E.R. Challenge....use elements beginning with the letters in the word EASTER: Then my challenge was to create a LO using a list of steps or instructions as the basis for journaling, with a title of "How To" or "So-and-so's Guide To". This had hilarious results! Must try it myself some day.... That was my Easter! Hope yours was just as wonderful!

Seriously Gorgeous

These new paper ranges make my heart sing........... Gotta get me some Fancy Pants Designs! How about you? What scrummy goodies are at the top of your wish list??

DON'T MISS YOUR APRIL CLASS-IN-A-BOX!

For just $15 plus $5 postage (Aust.), you can create this (or something like it)..... .....using (among other things) this cool paper.....perfect for those summer holiday photos sitting there waiting to be lovingly scrapped! Your Class-in-a-Box contains PLENTY of pp (3 sheets in fact) from the groovy Snorkel range by Cosmo Cricket, one and a half sheets of Bazzill cardstock, journalling tags, colour-matched embroidery thread and full step by step instructions for my layout idea. Grab yours now by emailing me or leaving a comment. Enjoying your Saturday afternoon? We are having one of those lazy leisurely days enjoying each other's company.....window shopped in town this morning.....laid on my bed and read a trashy mag from cover to cover.....sang 80's karaoke with the girls and achieved "Totally Sing Star" status with Material Girl (woo hoo!!!!).....judged a dress-up-box fashion parade.....and cooked home made sausage rolls and quiche. Enjoying the last of the afternoon sun now........I sure will miss the end of daylight savings. It always spells the beginning of Winter for me (sniff...) Thanks for stopping by, and DON'T FORGET TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK BEFORE YOU GO TO BED TONIGHT (NSW and VIC)!!!

Workshop 3

Katrina & Deb

Di

Rosalee & Gloria

Rhonda

Meleah

There were a few people away this week and this is what you missed.... LOTS of techniques like hand-stitching, hand-scallops, hand-cutting and a cool trick for edge-distressing, not to mention creating with the totally funky Snorkel range by Cosmo Cricket!

Mamma Mia

Boy, did I have fun with these! And because I bought 2 sheets of each design I reckon I could make another couple of single pages easily. The journaling says "The way you mother your dollies is so beautiful to watch!" On the days when it's just Mia and I at home, she gets so engrossed in being mummy to Lillian-Bo (pictured) and the other babies in her huge family. It really is adorable to see.

You gotta try these!

These are our ginormous choc chip cookies (pronounced jye-NOOOOOORRRR-muss by the kids) and they are so easy, so yummy and so great I had to share. This recipe makes a ginormous batch and a ginormous amount of cookie dough, so you need a ginormous bowl to mix it all up in. We use a big old salad bowl - see Mia below! GI-NOOOORRR-MOUS CHOC CHIP COOKIES 500g butter, chopped (at room temp) 1 1/4 cups brown suger, firmly packed 395g tin of condensed milk 2 cups self raising flour 3 cups plain flour 2 x 250g packets dark choc chips Beat butter, sugar and condensed milk until light and fluffy. Stir in combined sifted flours & choc bits. Roll into balls (however ginormous you want them!), place on oven trays, press down slightly. Bake 180 degree oven 15 mins or until very lightly browned. Cool on racks. You can freeze these for up to 2 months - but I can tell you, they won't last! Look what arrived in my mail box today from Shop and Crop... How darling are they? They're the new Mumma Bushka papers from Kaisercraft - and I cannot WAIT to create! Stay tuned...

I won something!

Just by leaving a comment on Pip's Blog, my name was randomly selected to win this.... ....water threading punch by Fiskars. You can imagine how excited this scallop-freak was to get this in the mail!!! Lots of fun being had at Scrapwitch with the SBS (Step by Step) challenges being taken over by the awesomely talented and gorgeously lovely Mistra. Here's my creation with Mistra's steps from last week's challenge: My youngest, Mimi, just before her Tiny Tots ballet class last year. Awwwww.... Courtesy of Josie, this blog has become a fave source of inspiration. Brenda's My Scrapbooking Layouts is chock full of scrap-alicious designs. Very Pip-ish in her style, which is probably why I love her pages so much. "So Terribly Cute" is a lift from Brenda's "Big Hat Little Girl" lo. Wanna see my favourite layout I've done lately? Hope you're enjoying this gorgeous Autumn weather...Autumn yippee!!! My fave season! See you next time xxx