Category Archives: Uncategorized

Incognito

I forgot to post my SUAS alter ego. One fun, unexpected part of the contest was to create a fun avatar. Since we were all in diguise then obviously we couldn’t include our own photo.

Here was mine – I was actually very proud of it, not for the quality of the image but for the concept. 🙂

Oh, and I received no points at all during the contest. Zero. Nada. I’m not upset about it – just realize that the judges were not looking for LOs with my style. I give myself top points for completion. 🙂
Nicole

The Big Reveal

All six LOs from the Stand Up and Scrap Competition. Not thrilled with all of them but they do look better as a package. I think week two was my favourite. Vibrant and fun and something I will put in Thomas’ album. I like week five too – just because he’s so cute!


I will upload them all in my MSA gallery with credits etc. over the next couple of days. For now you can view them in my Sweet Shoppe and Little Dreamer Galleries (I am 16148A).

Until next time
Nicole

Validation

Sometimes you need to know you’re getting through. When Thomas decided to put his duck in time out (for a very good reason – refusing to put his shoes away) we knew that on some level he understood.

When he left the duck in time out for over 6 hours, well, that may be cause for concern. 🙂

On a scrapbooking related note… Stand up and Scrap is now over. No surprises that I didn’t win – or even once make the top ten. When I look at the winner galleries it seems they were looking for more works of art/collage-type layouts and that’s not why I scrap. So no real surprises – although making the top ten for one week would have been nice.

I’ll post my LOs here over the next few days – even the ones I’m not very proud of. 😉

Have a great day
Nicole

Spooktacular!

Halloween has come and gone for another year. But this time it had a different spin thanks to the fact that we nw have a child who will Trick or Treat – AND it was actually the very first time I have been trick or treating. OK, the treats are more likely to end up in our bellys than Thomas’ but the act of trick of treating can only be done by an adorable 2 year old in a dinosaur costume.

Kei stayed home to hand out the treats (including toothbrushes for the daycare group) while Thomas and I joined a group of kids from the street (and his daycare) to knock on doors. We pretty much know everyone in our street now so we were definitely trick or treating the safe way. Our street was buzzing! So many kids walking around – definitely more than last year. The weather was good this year and not too cold so I’m sure that had something to do with it.

And here’s my little contribution to the evening. Two perfectly carved pumpkins. Kei said they received a lot of compliments as people were walking up the path. I did use a stencil but I think it’s a pretty good effort.

Oh, and I scrapped this week (yippee!)- Well actually last week but I can post this week. Another fabulous Dani kit. Seriously, she blows me away with every creation. This one is called Winter Thrill and will be available from the Sweet Shoppe this weekend along with a whole buch of Xmas goodies.

A lot of fun stuff happening this weekend in digiland thanks to Digital Scrapbooking Day on Saturday. I have a busy weekend but hope to stop by a few stores – The Lilypad, Jen Wilson Designs, OScraps, Sweet Shoppe and of course Tara’s brand new store which opens tomorrow. Should be fun!
Have a great weekend
Nicole

Berocca is the Aussie cure-all

Reuters did a fun piece last week based on some stats from Google on which countries search which term most often. Apparently the Egyptians, Indians and Turkish searched most for “sex.” But the most surprising thing for me is that Aussies are not listed next to the term hangover. I guess we already have our cure-all in Berocca so no need for a search. (NB: Berocca is a jolt of vitamin B in a plesant fizzy drink form – and the first thing you reach for after a big night of drinking).

Other findings based on three years of tracking were;

“Hangover” – Ireland, United Kingdom, United States

“Burrito” – United States, Argentina, Canada

“Jihad” – Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan

“Terrorism” – Pakistan, Philippines, Australia

“Iraq” – United States, Australia, Canada

“Taliban” – Pakistan, Australia, Canada

“Tom Cruise” – Canada, United States, Australia

“Britney Spears” – Mexico, Venezuela, Canada

“Homosexual” – Philippines, Chile, Venezuela

“Love” – Philippines, Australia, United States

“Botox” – Australia, United States, United Kingdom

“Viagra” – Italy, United Kingdom, Germany

“David Beckham” – Venezuela, United Kingdom, Mexico

“Kate Moss” – Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden

“Car bomb” – Australia, United States, Canada

“Marijuana” – Canada, United States, Australia

Hmmm – seems the Aussies ARE a little obsessed with terrorism. What’s that all about? And Botox? I thought we were above that. And I’m sorry to my neighbouring Americans but Burrito’s? Seriously? There’s a Taco Bell on every corner where I live.

One announcement before I go. As you probably are aware, My Digital Muse is closing its doors from Thursday. This is the last chance to use up those GCs if you have any. Some designers are retiring, others are moving and selling at different stores. You can stop by the forums to find out where people are going.

I am on Tara Sroka’s personal CT and she is moving to her own store! I am so excited for her and I know she plans to keep up some of the challenges etc that were so poular over at MDM – including her fabulous card template challenge. She is also planning some fun stuff for digi scrapping day this weekend so make sure you pay her a visit at www.tarasrokadesigns.com. Here are some more details.

Thanks for stopping by

Nicole

A Little Pumpkin Picking

We finally had some nice Autumn weather in Portland over the weekend – and we made the most of it with our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch with some friends. Pumpkin picking is a relatively new tradition for me. Not a lot of pumkins in Australia in October and the whole Fall/Halloween frenzy is a little different here is the States – OK, a LOT different. I have really come to enjoy this annual tradition though and each year Thomas is able to appreciate it a little more. And, let’s face it – plenty of great photo opps.

We are a little late in the season for pumpkins this year The best ones have already been picked and we found ourselves walking through a sad graveyard of decaying pumpkin flesh and dead vines. The good news is that the weather was great and we got to see some farm animals and take a trip on a hay ride. I think we’ll be aiming to take the pumpkin trip earlier in the season next year though.

Here are some favourite pics from the day (unedited and please ignore the runny nose – we were short on tissues, ugh!)


And a couple more favs from the park. We definitely made the most of the sunshine this weekend.


Oh, and I finished my final LO for Stand up and Scrap. What a relief! I really like my final LO but to be honest I don’t really feel like I got a lot out of the contest. I didn’t feel like I could really scrap about the things I love to scrap – everyday life. I felt I had to delve much deeper to create something truly “memorable”, well in the judges eyes anyway. It just felt a little forced. This is the first big contest I have entered and I did learn a lot about why I scrap for myself. Not sure how many of my LOs will actually end up in an album…

I have been feeling a little creativity coming back though so that’s the good news. I think the great weather has helped and I only have 1.5 weeks until I am in my second trimester when everything is supposed to magically change. Right? 🙂

Well, best get some work done. TTFN (Ta ta for now).
Nicole

I Scrapped!

Wow – can you believe it?

And I used a girly kit to scrap this pic of my baby. Everything from Lauren Reid’s Nelly kit available now at Oscraps. Frame is from KSharonK at Pickleberry Pop.

I even scrapped again last night with a new Dani kit but can’t show you that one quite yet.

I’ll be working on my Mojo over the weekend to finish up the final Stand Up and Scrap layout. This contest really could not have come at a worse time for me. The little peanut has really sapped my creativity but the second trimester is just around the corner and my energy and creativity is supposed to return with force then, right? Right? Anyway, I have been a little disappointed that not one of my LOs has been picked as top ten. I think I just scrap a little differently than what the judges are looking for. I have a more simple style and really don’t enjoy doing fancy things like extractions. It’s all about preserving my memories in the best way for me so that’s the trade off. I wil post all my LOs here once I’m done. There are one or two that I really like but the others are just OK.

On the home front, things are going really well. I have not had any morning sickness or any other nasty preggo symptom apart from a little indigestion. Oh, and looking like I’m five months pregnant when I am not even three! People at work have started looking at me like they’re trying to work out whether I am pregnant or not but I’m still at that stage where it’s dangerous to ask. I hate the flabby belly stage. Can’t wait until I have the nice round hard belly.

I actually loved being pregnant last time around – everything up until the emergency C-Section was just perfect. And this time I am pregnant in WINTER – so less chance of those huge elephant ankles. 🙂

Apologies for the LOOOOONG post. 🙂 I should just post more often so that I can say everything that’s on my mind.

Thanks for stopping by

Nicole

The Reason…

…I have been moody

…I have been tired

…I have been going to bed at 9pm every night

…I have been slacking on my blog posts

…I have been almost absent from my CT boards

…I have not been scrapping

…I have NOT been wanting to pick up my computer outside of work (actually not even AT work)

…My pants are too tight

…I can concentrate on less than one thing at a time

All because of this…

Who would have thought something so small could have such a big impact and (gasp!) stop me from wanting to scrap!

Yes, Baby number two is on his or her way on or around May 23rd of next year. The plan was to start trying in Agust. Seems when I plan something I REALLY like to stick with my plan. 🙂

So there’s my excuse – and I have a full seven months left to use it so be prepared.

Nicole

I should just read other blogs

I really need a lift this week and I think I found it thanks to others in the digi world.

Jodie’s post about being a mother made me cry – in a good way.

And it seems Jessica Sprague is going through her own scrapping crisis. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that you need balance. I could have easily written the following sentence, I just didn’t realize it what the problem was.

“Lately I’ve been feeling a little kind of scraped-out. Like there isn’t that much left of me to give. I don’t know if this feeling is exhaustion or burnout or just a mood-swing, or one of the ebbs and flows of life and creativity. One thing I do see clearly now, that I need to do better, is to take time for important things. I see now that part of this murky sort of “something’s wrong” feeling is that I’m unbalanced in the way I’ve been living.”

This weekend I am getting back on track – with my life, with scrapping, with everyothing. I have a Lauren Reid raklift to do which is very important to me, a ew LO for Stand up and Scrap and a new Nancy LO. I need some scrapping therapy. 🙂

And here’s a pic – just ’cause. Why do I need a reason? 🙂 – I mean, it’s not even edited, eeeck!

Have a great day

Nicole

Just not feeling it

I don’t what it is lately but I just don’t feel like scrapping. I feel like my mojo has abandoned me and sitting on a computer to scrap just doesn’t interest me at all right now. I hate this feeling.

Maybe it’s because I have so much else on my mind. Can’t share right now but but there is some big stuff happening that is taking up a lot of my brain power. You may be able to guess what it is if you read the next edition of Lauren’s newsletter. LOL!

I have been scrapping for the Stand Up and Scrap competition. I was really happy with last week’s LO (all about paper) but didn’t end up in the top 10. Have to keep reminding myself that I’m doing it for myself, not to win. I guess that’s a little difficult to focus on when I really don’t feel like scrapping at the moment.

This change may also be because we went driectly from Summer to winter here in Oregon. What happened to the crisp autumn days I am used to? Why is it constantly raining already? I mean I expect it at some point but just not this early. I want to go outside and take some fun autumn pics. You know the ones where Thomas can jump in piles of leaves and frolic in the sunshine. Sigh!

Wow – this post has been a downer huh? Promise I will return with some good news soon… and maybe even a new LO. Now wouldn’t that be nice?

Nicole