Stamp and Scrapbook Madness is on the Move

Good Morning Bloggers!
For those of you in the know and have read your Stamp and Scrapbook Madness/ Papertrenz weekly newsletter you will know by now that the Hawthorne shop is moving very shortly to be merged into the one at Wynnum.

Big news.  I know that there will be a lot of Customers that will be upset by this news.  But I say to them that we have to focus on the positives.  The store will still be open, just 15 minutes down the road.  The hours it will be open will be massively increased (63 hours a week!!).  The stock will all be in one place, the classroom is exponentially bigger, and hey, I'll be there! ;)
Yes it is a bit sad. (Remember, I just live 3 blocks from the shop at Hawthorne ;) but at least it isn't closing! With so many Scrapbook stores having closed down over the last couple of years we are becoming a dying breed, so we have to do what is most sensible to keep going.
 I hope that everyone that shops at Hawthorne will continue to support the store as it moves, and for those that it will just become too far for - the SSM website is in the middle of a major overhaul (well overdue) and will soon be accurate (gasp) and cheaper than in-store, with instant postage calculation and everything!
Now that's flash ;)
So I say, don't be sad.  Rejoice that the store has been given the chance to still stay open, to still be here, and remember, I will still be there, ready to give hugs where they are needed, advice where it is wanted, and incessant nattering where it is tolerated ;)
B

Weekend Overload

Hey there Bloggers!
You will be pleased to know that I managed to survive the enormously full-on week I just had.
 I have played with Tim, become a  certified Copic Designer, demo-ed for 3 full days at the Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo and generally run around like a head-less chicken.
  It was all good fun though.
I caught up with friends that I hadn't seen for ages and got to make some new ones (like the beautiful La La Land Princesses ;)  I did manage to wrangle today off  (those boxes from the show aren't going anywhere ;) and spend an inordinately long time organizing my ribbons. (What can I say - storage soothes the soul).

So, I'm going to love you and leave you all with a few pics, while I try to sneak off and have a well earned nap.
B

The Papertrenz Stand

Lois - cute as a button with her stash

The man himself (Kerrie came for moral support)

He's such a cracker

The long suffering Mario

The stunning La La Land Girls

Nat and I with the Queen 

They want me to do WHAT with the Copic Markers?!

My very first attempt at colouring people with Copic Markers

Technique Overload

Hi there bloggers.
I know that it has been an absolute age since I have posted.  But I'm back in the saddle (so to speak)  I just thought that I would share a few pics of the fantastic class I did today with the great man himself Tim Holtz!!
Yes, that's right, Rachel and I had the honour today to have an all day class with him (along with around 30-40 other ladies).  We had an awesome time and learned an enormous amount.  So exciting!!

Our goodies waiting for us on the tables

What was in the box

I had to take a photo of the huffing demo ;)

Horrendous photo of me (as usual) just wait until you see the hilarious one taken with
Rachel's phone ;)

So, I have another HUGE 5 days ahead - full day of Copic Certification tomorrow, then setting up of the show stand straight after.  3 enormous crazy days of the show and then Copic Intermediate Certification on Tuesday.  Eeek. Then an 8am Parent/Teacher interview at school on Wednesday. And then crawl into bed ;)

Wish me luck!
B

Much Ado About Nothing

Hey there Bloggers,
Just thought I'd do a quick post to reassure my invisible friends that I am still alive and kicking.  I have had an interesting few weeks - Fiona went off to CHA and back, I had a birthday, as did quite a few of my friends and family and I had a few days off work (gasp!) and am back to the grind again.  I apologise for the lack of regular witticisms but to be honest I haven't had the energy.  I don't normally approve of getting real on Blogs - to me it's like an alternative reality where everything is all bright and beautiful and the sun is always shining and the birds are always singing and everything is always perfectly photographed.
Basically an edited version of life - with all the bad bits cut out. 
Unfortunately, I have come to the conclusion that if I kept applying that rule to my blog at the moment I wouldn't be able to post again.  Also, it started to remind me of that scary crazy song from the 70's by Dr Demento  - you know the one -
'...They're coming to take me away, Ha-ha
They're coming to take me away, Ho-ho
Hee-hee-haa-haa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see those
Nice young men in their clean white coats and
They're coming to take me away, ha-ha!

To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket-weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes..."
You get the idea.
Nonetheless I can't bring myself to go the whole hog. As cathartic as the whole process may be.
  So, a compromise. 
Let's just say that it's getting harder to fake the happy smiles.  But I'm trying really hard.  And I hope that you can all bear with me, because I know that the more you fake the smiles eventually more and more of them become real ones.
B

Wednesday's Word of the Week

Hey there bloggers!
As part of my plan to keep up my blogging momentum I thought I'd try out a (hopefully) fun concept.  I'm sure you've heard of the 'Wordless Wednesday' blog posts, well mine is going to be a 'Word of the Week' Wednesday.  Now, I'm not the most erudite of people but I do like to read an awful lot and English was one of my favourite subjects in High School (Theatre and Art being the others - yes, yes, very surprising ;) Anyhoo, part of my obsession with the english language is a complete despisement of incorrect spelling (drives me INSANE - especially deliberate shortenings such as nite, aaarrrghh, and don't get me started with texting - I use complete words - yes, I am one of those ;) and also secretly wanting to re-expand the repertoire of words that we all use day-to-day.  We need to stop dumbing ourselves down and instead smarten ourselves up!  So, I thought that each Wednesday I could post my favourite word that week, complete with definition, example of use and visual interpretation....ie make a card or layout or just find a pic that I think depicts it.  So, bear with me as I embark on this mad mission!
So, without further ado, this weeks word is:

dir·i·gi·ble

[dir-i-juh-buhl, dih-rij-uh-] 

noun

1. an airship.

adjective

2. designed for or capable of being directed, controlled, or steered.

Example of use:  

' "What ho!" said Boots.  "Can I be of any assistance, Lady Maccon?"  The basket-shaped gondola of Lord Akeldama's private dirigible came down out of the sky like some kind of fat and benevolent savior.' - Heartless, Gail Carriger.

'Auto-gyro's rush in where dirigibles fear to tread.' - Dion Shepherd.

Here are a couple of images I found on the web: 

I particularly like the addition of the chicken on top of this one ;)

 

And here is my card offering:

So, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to work the word dirigible into a  conversation this week - let me know how you use it!

Thanks for stopping by!
B

First Day of School

Hey there bloggers!
Well, it was the first day of school for alot of kids today, my boys included.  It's going to be an interesting year this year as Hamish has now started Prep and Connor is now in Grade 7!  Eek! It was like a beautiful back to school miracle today - I woke up and Connor had awoken early, got himself AND HAMISH dressed to shoes AND gotten them both breakfast!!! Now, normally it's a nightmare to get Connor to dress himself on time but it was so wonderful to wake up and he had gotten himself and his brother ready - I nearly cried!
Hamish was so ready to go to school - he told me that he was 'so ascited!' to be going to school.
Dion's mum came this morning to see him and Connor off - she was the only one with separation anxiety, we literally had to drag her away from Hamish's classroom.
Check out the cutie:

No, he's not going to school in the jungle, that's our lawn that desperately needs mowing ;)

Connor - too cool for school?

Mimi not wanting to leave

 Anyway, I'm off to get the scones out of the oven for my starving boys, I hope that if you have kids that went to school today that they enjoyed their first day back!
B

Fun Stuff Friday

So, I've staggered over to the computer (I'm battling a massive headache - I think we've reached an impasse;) because I kept having the idea of 'Fun Stuff Friday'.  I thought I would share any amusing craft-related (mostly) stuff from the week.
This weeks winner, hands down, is the freakin' HILARIOUS book my gal pal Rachel gave me this week.  It's called 'Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People' by Amy Sedaris.  It is a side-splitting tongue-in-cheek book about crafting. It's full of amusing pictures, poems and articles such as crafts for the 'handicraftable' (which includes CUI: Crafting Under the Influence) but I think Rachel's and my favourite chapter so far is the 'Safety Meeting'

Here is a short excerpt:
"The best protection from crafting injuries is to avoid other crafters.  This is not a general dismissal of crafting clubs or a negative judgement about those who choose to craft in pairs, including same-sex crafting or even mulitple-partner crafting known as 'decoupage a trois'.  This just means that when crafting with others, take sensible precautions.  Don't share buttons.  Divvy up felt scraps before crafting.  Never go dutch on the dry flowers."

 The Drug and Alcohol bit (above) is funny if you can read it ;)

There are actually a couple of recipes in the 'Confectioneries' chapter that sound tempting - such as Rich Cocoa Fudge and Ooey Gooey Bars, but considering that a few chapters on it suggests that dried bean pods make wonderful exotic instruments in the bedroom....maybe it's safer if I give the recipes a miss ;)

Meanwhile, I shall leave you with another image from the Safety Meeting chapter - about the importance of Stretching Before Crafting ;)
Happy Friday Bloggers!
B ;)