Last Painting for the Year

Every Monday I look forward to my Art Class. I have been painting for some 8 years now and enjoy the creative outlet as much as the social side. Gillian Cornish is a wonderful teacher and her talents span anything from silk painting, water colour, oils, acrylics and anything in between. The class is very informal with the students working on individual pieces of their choice.

At the end of each year, we are given a small challenge and our efforts are displayed at our Christmas Break-up. This year we were asked to do a painting from Arthur Streeton works and the medium was Water Colour. Now if anyone knows me, water colour is not my strongest point - I would sooner do Ice Sculpting LOL. So after some extensive whining by "the one who shall not be named", the medium was changed to include acrylics. And this is what I ended up painting.



Thanks for stopping by,
Irene

DDA Day 1

Here is my page for Dec 1st for the December Daily Album. I am still working on the covers (front and back) of the album. I am covering it in fabric and as soon as it is finished, I will post a piccie of it. I am amazed at my self, I have all 25+ pages all ready to go.




Cheers, Irene

Back in the Pool

Woooo Hoooo, I have just come back from my first session in the pool. My hair is still wet and my smile has not faded yet. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed swimming. We used to live on a hill overlooking our little village and the swimming pool so it was no surprise that I was drawn to the pool. In 2001 I took my first swimming class (I was 53 but don't tell anyone). From that day I felt at home in the water and the day I completed 200 laps, I think all of Emu Park heard me.

We moved in 2002 - down the road and round the corner, sort of, and since we live almost on the beach , I took to walking in the early mornings with my friend. At the moment I have an issue with my foot and it is taking some time to get better which means walking is out of the question (and I really need to do some exercise) and since I don't like the feel of sweat, swimming is the PERFECT option.

At last I can Share

Hi all, At last I can share with you, a mini album I made for my daughter. Sometime ago Cathie mentioned that she didn't have many photos of when she was little. Back in the old days (I can't believe that I would ever admit to this) when we didn't have the freedom of digital cameras, photos were not high on my list of priorities.

I did however over time take photos but they were mostly in the form of colour slides. The earliest photo I have of Cathie was at 10 weeks. That would NEVER do in today's world and even more so for a scrapper. Well it took a while of hunting through shoe boxes and cases of slides, but I finally found enough photos that would document her early years.

I found a mini album which the very talented Ruth had made - you can find her tutorial HERE. She had put it up as a give away and since I didn't win it, I decided to have a go and make one myself. Ruth's album gave me so much inspiration and even though in the end my album was nothing like what I had imagined, I was very happy with the way it turned out.

































I wrote a personal message on a little card and slipped it into the inside front cover. I also covered a little box in matching paper to keep the mini album safe when it was not on display.

Thank you for stopping by.....

Irene xxx

Back in Action

Here in Australia, we do not celebrate Halloween with the passion of America but it is slowly catching on (with a big push from the retail sector). Now I don't care for Halloween myself but I understand that the children have a lot of fun dressing up and ending the night with loads of sweets and I don't have the heart to send children away from my door with nothing. Last year I had about 10 children knocking on my door, so this year I made up a few bags of goodies (chocolates, lollies, balloons and mini games ) and baked some cupcakes .

I even brought out my black widow cloak from storage and waited, and waited, and waited. No one came to the door. They were around but not in our street. I even put balloons on the letter box......but nothing !!! Sometimes you just can't win. Oh well, maybe next year.






I even used and American recipe - Red Velvet Cake. I liked the idea of a red cake mix which looked like blood (YUCK) and what better accomplishment but spiders.

This all happened the night before I left to play with my Sydney grandchildren. I have played, fed, changed, bathed, babysat, cuddled and done a little craft with them as well as completing a mini album for Isla for her 7th Birthday. Let me tell you, I am EXHAUSTED. I have to admit that I am no longer as young as I would like to be. I almost fell asleep on the flight home yesterday.

I have loads of photos to share with you but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Cheers for now,
Irene

A Huge Giveaway

It's time again for another huge giveaway at The Crop Spot!!! This giveaway consists of the products that I've used in my next month's mini album tutorials. Packed with loads of new Graphic 45 line, Prima, Robin's Nest, Clear Scraps, Creative Imaginations, Hambly and more!!!
One very lucky winner will win all these products and get it in time to follow along my tutorials next month. So, are you all ready for an early Christmas? Check out the details on this giveaway here!

Happy Birthday Deb

Today is my daughter's birthday and I am sending her all my love and hope you have a fun filled day.



Debbie sent me a photo of the cake she made for herself. She said that it was a little rough around the edges.............what do you think. This is her second attempt at this type of cake. I think she did an amazing job. Pity I don't live closer to her, I really would have loved a slice. Oh, did I mention that it was a white chocolate cake.




Cheers, Irene

A Mini Album for Ted

Can't believe that I am posting twice in one day. Gosh I'm good...hehehehehe
This is a little mini album I made earlier in the year during my first on-line class. It has sat in a draw just waiting for that special moment.

Our best friend turned 50 a couple of months ago. He and his gorgeous wife Kay were too busy with guests and food preparations to even think of taking any photos. So I quietly clicked away all afternoon and into the night. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I took a stack of photos, in fact, I didn't have enough pages in the mini album to accommodate them all, so I had to choose carefully.

It took a while before I completed the album then it was a while before Ted and Kay paid a visit. Finally I gave Ted the little album and he loved it. He had forgotten some of what went on and really enjoyed the photos.













If you would like to see a larger image, then just click on the photo but be warned !!!!! the files are huge. I forgot to reduce the size before uploading.

Cheers, Irene

Great Night Out

Our local amateur theater group, Yeppoon Little Theater, have been putting on plays over the past few years and their latest production Allo Allo was a sell out. Not having been before, we were not sure what to expect. We live in a small coastal community but if the show was anything to go by, we are oozing in talent. I have never laughed so much. The actors were brilliant, funny and multi skilled. At interval, they were the waiters who served the audience with a light French Supper while keeping in character.

Our local Postmaster Kerry played the main role of Rene. It was a huge part and he was definitely up to the job. When ever I go to post a letter or parcel, I will never see him in the same light again. Wish you could have been there too.


If you haven't seen Allo Allo HERE is the link which will explain it better.

Cheers, Irene

Am I the Only One Who is Messy?

I have been working on my eldest grand daughter's birthday present and yesterday in the middle of my "creativeness " I became aware of how messy I had gotten my work space. So of cause I had to take a photo of it all. There were bits of paper and glue everywhere. And I got to wondering if anyone out there gets into the same situation?

In this image I was working on the singles on the castle and I had hundreds of tiny bits of paper everywhere. As you can see I am running low on the glue and I find that storing in up side down is a great time saver........(mental note to self - buy more glue).



The singles were very time consuming. Each piece had to be cut to size, inked, curled and adhered, 39 pieces in total. I must admit that I am having a great time putting this album together for Isla. There will be a story line included but I haven't got that far yet LOL.




Yesterday's Breakfast

Normally I have a bowl of cereal with a few blueberries and yogurt and a cup of tea. But the previous day at Mah Jong the ladies were talking about breakfasts and most of them had eggs, bacon, sausages etc to keep them going until lunch. Normally I only have this kind of breakfast on a Sunday but I thought I would give it a try and this is what I had.........

They say that fresh is best and I am lucky enough to get eggs from happy hens. These hens live under 2 minutes away and it is quite common to get eggs that were laid that morning. So when I cracked an egg for breakfast, I was pleasantly surprised to find a double yolker.





Being a scrapper, my camera is never far away so I snapped this photo. Now I must say in my defense that I never cook with butter - usually its just a light spray of non-stick spray and NO, I didn't have any butter on my toast.

TFL Irene xx

Do You Believe in Fairies?

This is a little mini album/story book that I made for my little granddaughter Mia for her 3rd Birthday. During one of my visits, I spent a couple of hours at a gorgeous little park with Isla and Mia and of cause my camera. The girls were having a lovely time exploring the little dry creek bed and playing around the vegetation and I got some lovely natural shots.

When I had the photos developed, I thought it would make a great mini album to document the fun time we had at the park. Then I realized that I could turn the whole thing into a cute story with Mia as the main character.

Now I am by no means a writer but each day I jotted down a few ideas......some were good...some not so good. And I finally came up with this story.

Thanks for looking,

Irene x

Great Way To Start The Week

I came across this video and I know it will put a smile on your face.

Latest Layout

Well I have finally had the chance to use an embellishment that I have kept for some years. My granddaughter was only a baby when I covered a wing chair for her nursery. I had kept scraps of the fabric and made a miniature version for the chair with the intention of doing a layout about the event.

This month, Paperclipping gave me the ideal opportunity to use this embellishment. I had quite a few photos that I wanted to use so I chose to do a double page.












Thanks for stopping by

Cheers, Irene

WOW, Blog Candy of Your Choice

I have to admit that this is a first for me. Where have you ever seen Blog Candy to the value of $150 and YOU get to choose where you would like to spend it? If you are looking for inspiration and a chance of winning this amazing candy than head on over to Stephanie's blog.
Congratulations Stephanie on your 25,000 blog visits. You must be doing something right.

Cheers, Irene

"Friends" Mini Tag Book

This is a little mini tag book that I made recently. I had a pile of tags that were hiding deep in one of my draws and I decided that it was time to do something with them..........anything. I matched up 5 pairs of similar shapes and after embossing them with my Cuttlebug and inking and stamping each tag, I then glued them together which have them a little more strength. I printed out some little sayings (I like to use Microsoft Office PowerPoint) adhered them to the tags added a few embellishments and threaded them onto a ball chain. I was quite happy with the result and my friend loved it.

Front Cover

Reverse

Cheers, Irene

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cookies

This morning I was baking a cake for DH and since the oven was still hot, I thought a batch of freshly baked cookies would be perfect with a nice hot cup of tea. I found this recipe on a Vegan site when my daughter came to visit. They proved such a hit with everyone that I kept the recipe. Today , however, I have modified the recipe as it called for real butter, eggs flour etc.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cookies

Ingredients:
2/3 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups of Self Raising Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons lemon zest finely grated

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add egg and beat until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix to a soft dough. Place rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased tray - I prefer to use baking paper - and bake at 170 c (my oven is fan forced) for about 12 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden.

When cool, store in a air tight container. They are delicious as is and will probably last only two or three days if you are lucky. For an extra zing, drizzle the cookies with a little icing. Add enough lemon juice to 1/2 cup of Pure Icing Sugar so that the mixture is a little runny. I found that pouring the icing into a zip lock bag and snipping off the corner works really well. Makes 2 dozen.

Made the Front Page of Creating Keepsakes

Well, technically I made the page from a free download at Creating Keepsakes. There are some very cool free downloads on this site and I couldn't resist having a play and getting "Published". LOL

Ross and I are celebrating out 41st Wedding Anniversary today and I thought "what a fun way to document this special day". We went to our favorite restaurant in Emu Park and had a lovely meal and a good bottle of wine. Ross went off to bed and I started playing around with this fun digital kit.



Cheers, Irene