Proud to be Australian

Well the last few weeks has been on a bit of a sad note. It certainly has made our family feel grateful for what we do have, especially each other. Two immediate family members of mine have recently lost jobs thanks to the low nickel price and economic downturn. Both of these people are skilled and trained people so it makes us all a little scared that the economy is having this impact. But with all of this, it is nothing compared to the fact that even though we are a little scared for the family, we all realise after the awful bush fires that at least we all still have each other and we still have a house over our heads.

This feeling of just being grateful for having each other has been strengthened by a recent fatality of a lifetime friend of both of my brothers. This happened all in the same time as the announcement of the awful fires in Victoria. It is very sad how quickly life can be taken away from us and certainly makes us appreciate our own health and life.

My heart goes out to all of those people that have been affected by the bush fires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland, NSW and now WA. Although I have felt very sad watching these events it has also made me feel extremely proud to be Australian to see the bravery and courage of the people affected and the heroic efforts of police, ambulance officers, firefighters, volunteers and ordinary citizens alike, to put their lives on the line to help each other. When things get tough in Australia, our strong Aussie battler spirit certainly shines through.

Here is a recent layout I have completed. I found a picture of my husband and I in 2005 and it reminded me of how I feel so treasured to have such a wonderful husband. I have added the words of our wedding song "All My Life" by KC and JoJo to the page because depicts how I feel about Darryl. I used the Bittersweet range from basic grey and Hambly Screen Prints on this page. I also used my Cricut for the trees (My Community) which made it lots of fun.

Getting the family involved in the 365 Challenge

I am having so much fun with the 365 Challenge. I love how my husband has also started thinking of photos I can take. I questioned what I could take a photo of one day last week aloud and my husband replied - how about your mess of chipboard in your box! I know he was having a dig but I though - what a great idea! So I took a photo of my organised chaos of a chipboard box - Mostly Collections chipboard of course! That night I sat down to watch a ripper of a semi final between Verdasco and Nadal and emptied my chipboard box on the floor. I then placed all the items into like bags so I could find my chipboard much easier. Remember - what you don't see you don't use! The next day I took photo of my new lovely box of very organised chipboard.

Not only did I get two pictures for my 365 challenge but I also got a very organised chipboard box. When I went to fond an owl the other day it took me 5 seconds to find rather than half an hour of searching and my chipboard spread all over the floor just to find its wings!

I am looking forward to what other ideas my family comes up with. Some other photos I have taken this week is my Vicks Vapouriser Unit (Cheekah and I have been sick this week) and a redback (right before I squashed it and her four mates!)

There are a few girls catching up this week at RTlicious to pool our ideas for the 365 challenge. If you would like to join us or just like to know some of our ideas please fell free to drop us an email at rtlicious@bigpond.com

I just wanted to share some projects from this week. Here is a wedding guest book i finished for my friend Mel. She wanted this as a gift for her sister and law's wedding guest book. I hope she likes it.

The layout was completed using the Bittersweet range from Basic Grey and Collections Chipboard. Check it out at RTlicious.

I had to share this pic - this is my bug grown up kindy girl. She just started her first day at Kindy on Monday. They grow up way too fast.

What a fabulous weekend!

We all had such a wonderful time on the weekend at the second RTlicious Weekend Retreat. We were very lucky to have the lovely Julie van Oosten of Collections come and teach us for two days with Rhonda and I giving some other challenges and classes over the weekend also.

The girls did such an amazing job of their projects. We all were very inspired by Julie and I must say.. they have all gone Collections mad! We have a tile frenzy going on. Some of the ladies said they went to bed thinking of tile designs... I must admit, so did I.

Thanks so much to Julie for your wonderful inspiration over the weekend and to all the participants for your humour, company and patience over the weekend. (Check out Julie's pics on her blog at http://www.nirvanaelemetns.blogspot.com/) We also would have to say thanks to Mia Mia, especially to Charmaine, Dustine and the chefs at Mia Mia for hosting a wonderful venue and once again providing scrumptious food.

On a personal level i have now well and truly gotten into my 365 day challenge. We have quite a lot of girls now completing this task at RTlicious. it is going to be so much fun during the year to see what interesting photos we all take.

I have chosen to complete my challenge in a traditional scrap album using digital templates. I am adding a touch of hybrid to my pages by adding a touch of dimension here and there with bling, button, thread etc. I am very proud to say that i am up to date and completing my pages week by week - but it is only January... hopefully I can keep this up. here is a sample of my layout for Week 4 2009.

Today I took a picture of my clothesline - I hung my washing out this morning and noticed that I had nothing but bright pink hanging across my line... product of having two young girls I guess. No doubt though i am sure it will be a picture that I will one day treasure when i look back on their little tops and Cheekah's bibs hanging on the line.

I wanted to use these papers for my eldest daughter playing Snakes and Ladders with my Mum. I used Stampit, Jenny Bowlin and Crate papers; Kaiser flowers; Collecrtions transparency, letters and chipboard; Heidi Swapp letters and Carolees Creations letters.

I had a bit of fun putting this layour below together. I used KI Memoires, Basic Grey papers; Kaiser wood; My Minds Eye diecut; Lisa Bearnson stamps; KI Memories and various other buttons. Was lots of fun playing with doodling, stamps and a bit of paint. And best of all I used my scraps!

Take the Challenge

After reading a recent edition of Creating Keepsakes (January 2009), the team at Rtlicious thought it would be fun for any willing customers to take part in 365 day photo challenge. We thought this would be a great opportunity to support each other with ideas in how we could take a picture a day and scrap it at the end of the year. The best part of this is at the end of the year we will have so much documented.

When Rhonda and I were talking about it we initially discussed that it might be hard for someone without kids. But then we started thinking about the possibilities and the things that we often don't photograph but could be really important in the future. What about things like the view down your street, your backyard, what you cook, where you exercise, your work, friends, your favourite drink - they are so many opportunities out there.

To make it Nice and simple too we are going to encourage everyone to keep their documented year as simple as scrap booking can be - therefore when it comes to putting it together it will not be so overwhelming. I am opting to do the pages as I go so I am up to date each month and scrap a week to a double page.

What did I take a photo of yesterday - the TV! Yesterday they had an inauguration of Obama as the first black US president and I thought this was an important part of history - so I took a photo of it!

If you would like to take part ion the RTlicious challenge and have any ideas of what you think is important to photograph email us at rtlicious@bigpond.com. We would love to hear your views.

Now for another challenge I have decided to partake in...

I saw this challenge on Loretta's (http://scrap.paisleyblues.com/blog) blog and thought it would be a great way of getting my pages done and having a bit of fun at the same. Follow the link below if you want to see the challenge for yourself.

Dawny’s Sketch #6
PaperTake Weekly

Here is my challenge layout. I used papers from Basic Grey, stickers Basic Grey & Creative Imaginations, Letters from Collections, Green Tara Flowers, Red Glimmer Mist, Kaiser bling, ribbon.

4 sleeps to Retreat!

Wow. We are getting excited now. Only 4 more sleeps to our annual weekend retreat. Make sure you check out Julie's blog (http://nirvanaelements.blogspot.com/) for a sneak peak of what we will be doing. She is so clever!

I am about 18 months behind in my photos at the moment so I am trying to get as much done as possible right now why I can. Here are some layouts I have completed this week:This layout was completed using Scenic Route papers and gives you an idea of what you can do with papers that are full of strips. I have also used some buttons, Heidi Swapp clear flowers, kaiser bling flowers and a Making Memories Journalling card. Letters are by Carolee's Creations.

Using different chipboard elements and My Minds Eye and Basic Grey papers.

Using Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations papers. This was really fun. Chipboard Basic Grey, Rubons Hambly.Papers - Flirtini and My Minds Eye, plain chipboard letters painted white, dry brushed with teal paint and then glittered. Kaiser bling, K & Co 3d stickers, Kaiser rubons and stitching (of course).

Papers Junkitz and Bazzil, Kaiser rubons, KI Memories journakl sticker, sewing, Carolee's Creations letters and larger letters are a mixture of different leftover letters. The latest edition of Creating Keepsakes (January 2009) lists mixed multicoloured letters as a trend for 2009 so don't throw away your bits of ABC leftovers - use them in a layout. To save on space, I have kept a small shoebox and placed individual letters in a small Glad seal bag so I have individual leftovers ABC's together. Then when i want a bit of a mix of ABC's they are easy to find. You cant use what you cant find so I try and make it easy to use when I want them.

I had to share this with everyone - it is so cute, This is my baby girl Cheekah with her older sister's cowboy hat on whilst riding on her rocking horse. Love it.

Retreat - only 13 more sleeps!!!

Rhonda, Julie and I have been very busy planning for the RTlicious retreat. We are all so excited. It is now less than two weeks away. There are so many special things planned. If you have not registered yet make sure you do - closing date for registration is the 16th January. Check out the RTlicious web for more details.

The Boys layout was completed with items I found raiding my husbands shed. It was so much fun completing the background. I used items such as cable ties, sand paper and an old garden glove. I sprayed them with Sapphire glimmer mist and also used a radiant rain dauber to bring out the colours I want. See what you can find in your garden shed. Guarantee you will have loads of fun.

I completed the following layout and cards using the latest RTlicious kit.

I completed this clock for my friend Megan using a Kaiser Craft clock, Creative Imaginations paper, a Basic Grey chipboard die, Kaiser flowers and letters and numbers cutout on the Cricut.

I completed this layout using Kaiser paper, Collections chipboard, Kaiser rubons, Kaiser pearls, glimmer mist, Distressed Ink (Faded Jeans), German Scrap, stamps and Basic Grey diecut.

Christmas Already

First layout of our new little princess - Cheekah May. Using KI Memories and Crate Paper.

My husband and I - Gladstone June 07. Using Basic Grey, K & Co and Pink Pailsee.

Our family in June 07 - Using SEI Papers


I can not believe that is already Christmas time. We have my family visiting this year - I am so excited. They have never been to Newman before so I cant wait. Neither can Seekara - she tells me everyday that Nanna is coming for Christmas.

A lot has happened since my last blog entry. In November, RTlicious won the Newman chamber of Commerce Small Business Awards. Very exciting! Just this week, Rhonda and I also went down to Perth and had a really enjoyable few days doing trade classes with Printblocks Michelle Hartjes and K & Co Team Designer Lynette Carol. We had so much fun making projects and meeting other store owners.

Well lots to do. Make sure you check out the RTlicious website for information regarding our 2009 January retreat. We have Julie van Oosten coming as a special guest teacher.

Merry Christmas to you all
T

xox