Happy Australia Day!
For those of you who are not Australians...today we celebrate our wonderful country! Lots of BBQs, Aussie flags, a few beers and a long weekend.

We have been lucky enough to be away for the last few days. Last night we had dinner on the foreshore.....a gorgeous night it was.

We have spent plenty of time in the pool....it has been hot! And heaps of time relaxing! Just what we needed...

Today I am here to share with you two projects that I have worked on in the last little bit.

Firstly, over at Sketches in Thyme we have launched part 2 of the Sketch #100. A double page sketch. As I said in one of my earlier posts...I have made it my goal to work really hard on my sons baby album using Sketches in Thyme as my inspiration. Here is sketch # 100.

And here is my take on the sketch....

These photos were taken of Brayden and his Aunty and Uncle a short time after he was born.
I have used Kaisercard, Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer Patterned Paper Collection, some Kaiser wooden flourishes and some Thickers. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the letters for 'Oh, how we adore you.'
Do you like my cute little flowers? I cut circles with a decorative edge and then folded them. I placed them around in a circle to create the flower and then held them together with a brad. 
Why not pop on over to Sketches in Thyme by clicking here and check the other layouts from the DT Mavens? There is some awesome inspiration!

My second project to share today is a layout that I have done of our Thailand holiday. Liz (a friend of mine) had a challenge at Soul Scrappers for a layout with a holiday theme. I thought I would jump in and participate.....here is my layout.

The challenge was to complete a double layout with a holiday theme using 5 or more photos. It also had to include 2 or more pieces of chipboard.
I have made a little pocket behind the photos to hold the brochure and my journalling.
I used the Kaisercraft Pack Your Bags collection and embellies that I purchased quite a while ago. The Thailand chipboard is by Scrap FX and the little chipboard tickets are by Simple Collections (I think.....) which I stamped with 
Another layout for our holiday complete - yay!

Hope you all have a wonderful Australia Day!

We have taken some time out this week - spur of the minute decision. The boys have headed out in our neighbours boat ( so we are obviously not too far from home) fishing today. Meanwhile I am testing out the new van for Scrapbooking quality.....LOL! Working for me so far!
Here is a card I have just whipped up for a family friend who is unwell at the moment. I hope she likes it.

This post was supposed to be published live last Friday 11th January when the Sketches in Thyme post was released! 
Unfortunately I have been unable to post as my Father in Law passed away last Friday morning. 
We have lost a very special Dad, Father in Law and Pop. He will be greatly missed but we know he is in a better place. 
All of our wonderful memories of him will live on in our hearts forever. 

Well, what a start to the 2013 year!
I hope that yours has been a little less frantic than mine and you have had some "Me Time" in your day.

Sketches in Thyme has started off the year with a bang! Sketch #98 went up last week and wow! What talented ladies we have on the team!

Today Sketch #99 goes live on the blog....and it is my turn. Big shoes to fill that is for sure!

I really loved working with this sketch and I stuck closely to it. Not a lot of change from the sketch to my layout.
Here is the great sketch that I got to create with...

One of my goals this year is to work hard at pulling together a more completed version of my son's baby album. He is nearly 8 so I thought it was time!!!!!!
So, most of my layouts for Sketches in Thyme will have something to do with the baby album.

I loved working with this sketch so much that I decide to do two very similar layouts using this sketch....one as per the above sketch and the other I flipped the sketch over.
Here is the first one....

And here is the second one...

For both of the layouts I have used the Echo Park 'Little Boy' collection. I just love the bright, happy colours...great for such an exciting celebration!

A story goes along with 'Meeting Nan and Pop Stroud' which is detailed in the journalling...hence the large amount of journalling.
Here is a close up of the story...

And here is a close up of a little part of the bunting.

Make sure you head over to Sketches in Thyme (if you haven't already) and check out the rest of the Mavens beautiful work.
Remember to pop by their blogs and leave them some love too!
Hope you have a great day!

Happy New Year Everyone!
I hope that this post finds you well and resting after the festive season. I hope that you were able to spend time with your family and friends over the Christmas and New Year period and that this time was a very special time for you all.

2012 saw a mixed year for us.....lots of different things happened..some good, some not so but we have entered 2013 with positivity and hope for a wonderful year.

2012 saw a huge year of scrapbooking for me! 
I have completed a large number (too many to count) of layouts, OTP projects and a few cards here and there!

I have been very fortunate to be the Design Team Leader for Scrapbookit and work alongside some beautiful and very talented ladies.. Jo Caird, Rebecca Morris, Janene Selzer and Kerry Pace...who have inspired me no end.

I was also successful in my application for the Sketches in Thyme Design Team and have become one of their Mavens. Again I have worked alongside some lovely, inspiring and very talented ladies.

I have also been lucky enough to have another layout published as well as another accepted and ready to be published.
All in all a wonderfully scrappy year!

Well, I thought I would start off the 2013 year with a quick review of the 2012 year!
I have selected 12 of my favourite layouts to share with you...

I will begin with my family a layout I did for the Sketches in Thyme Design Team application process..

A layout of Victoria....the first time we met!

And Charlotte, Victoria's big sister,when she was younger.

My two handsome boys...

Our elephant ride in Thailand...

My sister's first cuddle of Brayden when he was born...

My little travel bug at Singapore airport...

The only layout I have done (so far) of our wedding day...

An extremely treasured layout...Brayden with our beautiful Aunty Liz who passed away in 2012 aged 60. xx

Our very first cuddles of our new baby boy, Brayden, back in 2005.

Harrison's first birthday - a layout that I created and taught at the Scrapbookit Retreat.

A gorgeous piece of scenery on our trip to Thailand...

I hope you have enjoyed looking back over the year with me. This was by no means easy to pick 12 layouts. There were others that have been removed for publication and others that the photos of the layouts were not great! 
Anyway, I hope that the New Year is among many things but most importantly filled with love, happiness, friendship and good health.