Sweet Nothings

I Have Moved...

2010-03-23T00:07:00.002+10:00

Come visit my new blog!

Hello, My Name Is Zoe

Want A Free Kit?

2010-02-12T21:57:00.002+10:00

Hey everyone!

Would you like to get this kit absolutely FREE?

Well, just subscribe to my newsletter and you shall get it!

I usually try and avoid "business" type posts in here, but I thought I'd share this as I've busted my butt doing my website redesign this week and I'm a bit excited that it's all come together - LOL! And it's always nice to get a free kit along the way too ;)

Hope you have a great weekend! :)

Hello Stranger...

2010-01-17T21:39:00.002+10:00

I know, I know, at it again with the bad blogging, but I always say you can't teach an old dog new tricks and I am no exception!

But I have a good reason, and something that kept me busy enough before Christmas to make me need quite a few weeks off AFTER Christmas - LOL! And the cat's out of the bag now, so do you wanna see??

(you can click HERE to see more detail)

I collaborated with a good friend of mine (and my old boss from MME), Jen Allyson, and this has to be one of my favourite lines EVER!! It's such a cute line, and I can't wait to see it up close and personal!!

Which, in other news, I WILL be... next week to be exact!! Yup, I'm taking the plunge and flying out to America for CHA!! I'll finally get to meet all my friends at MME in person, hang out with Jen & my BFF Christy Lyle, do some crazy shopping and spend my commission cheque before I earn it LOL... ahhh it will be so much fun!! (So excited, but sooo nervous about leaving Joshy for the week - ack!!). So, if you're gonna be there at CHA, please drop in to the MME booth and say hi - you will make me feel very special indeed - LOL! And, I'm sure you'll be entertained no end by my Australian accent too.

Okay, I know it's just a quick one, but I've got sooo much to fit in before I go so I've gotta run... Happy Sunday! :)

Random Bit of Cute...

2009-11-08T00:18:00.002+10:00

Totally random, but wanted to post this as I'm sitting here thinking about it and it made me smile. I'm sure it will make me smile in 20 years too :)

Today Josh came out after having his midday nap. He's so cute when he first wakes up, he toddles down the hall and stands behind me (usually resulting in me screaming because he scares the living daylights out of me LOL), until I see him and give him a cuddle. He was still pretty sleepy today, so I got him a juice and he went and lied down on the couch and I kept cleaning the kitchen.

After I'd finished I thought he'd been quiet for too long, so I went into the loungeroom to see what he was up to (I swear this kid will be a cat burglar one day - his foot steps don't make a sound, hence all the screaming on my part - LOL). No Joshy. Oh no! The bathroom and toilet door are open, he'll be in there for sure. (Cue mad dash to the toilet to try and salvage as much toilet paper as possible). Still no Josh.

So I continue up the hallway, and here he is lying in the middle of my bed under the fan. So I lied down with him and we had a little chat like we usually do (mostly consisting of lots of "yep"s on my part because of his toddler babbling LOL). We were having a bit of a tickle and then he realised he still has his drink with him.

"Ooh. Nice cold juice. And it's orange!" (or "Ooh. Niss coold juice. An e ooange!").

Lately he has this new "trick" (that drives me nuts) of swishing his drinks around his mouth, like when you swish your mouth out after cleaning your teeth. Usually it results in a lot of spills, and water marks all over the furniture (hence the driving nuts). So he's on our bed, on my pristine white bed spread, with juice (ack!!!) and he starts with the swishing.

He would look me dead in the eye with a mouthful of juice. Almost like challenging me to make him laugh. It was a look of "I'll do it, I'll do it". The mouth was flickering at the sides, trying not to laugh. I'd wait until I could tell he was just about to swallow, and raise my eyebrows which would send him into hysterics. Still at this stage, bedspread is still in tact, no juice spilt.

But, I couldn't resist. I thought, bugger the white bedspread (hell, it only cost just over $100 :-/). He had a mouthful. He looked me in the eye with that look again. And I pulled a monkey face. Well, it was so cute. He's cracked up and trying to keep the juice in with his hands. So funny. He's giggling his little heart out, and I just love the sound of his giggle, it's the best sound in the world to me.

So, he's cracking up, and then out of nowhere he's completely serious again. And he goes "yum" in the cookie monster voice. Well, that had us both going. It was so funny. Maybe you had to be there... and I was, thankfully LOL :)

I guess I could just see a glimpse of my boy down the track. I saw a bit of his emerging sense of humour and I love it. My handsome, funny, cheeky, giggly toddler will one day be a handsome, funny, cheeky, giggly (or laughy??) man. And for once I didn't feel scared of that. I'm actually looking forward to it.

So, here's to juice on white bedspreads in exchange for giggles. Well worth it. :)

Happy Digital Scrapbooking Day! :)

Have You Seen...

2009-10-24T13:31:00.002+10:00

Yup, you heard right... I'm doing another set of classes, but this time of the online variety!! I'll be using my newest release, Ooh La La from MME to make four fantastic projects (one Layout and one Mini Album per set)... The classes are FREE, and run over 4 nights, and the classes will be left up for a little while in case you miss them. You can also purchase the class kits (if you're in Australia LOL), but otherwise I'm sure you'd be able to just use some goodies from your stash...

Chelsea and the girls at ScrapBoutique are fabulous, and I'm sure it will be heaps of fun, so make sure you drop in to say hi! Also, those times are AEST (Qld Time), so if you're one of the lucky ones who has daylight savings time, it'll be 8pm ;) Classes will be held HERE .

See you there (hopefully - LOL)!

The Problem Is...

2009-09-26T00:38:00.005+10:00

... I spend way too much time reading other people's blogs to update my own - LOL! I mean to almost every day, I swear, but then I get sidetracked, and well... Then I have just way too much to say so I don't bother. I will get better at it one of these days!! Although, I've been saying that for four years now, so don't hold your breath - LOL!

I think I need a blog makeover - what do you think? I just want something WHITE and simple and fresh... I feel like this one is too cluttered. Like my house. I like to have a lot of pretty things, but I have too many pretty things and then it annoys me. Like this blog - LOL!

So, what's been happening... Not too much really! I FINALLY got my fabric samples from My Mind's Eye the other day, and I was so excited!! It's so different to see my stuff as fabric!! Although I have NO idea what to do with it all, and seriously there are like 100 fat quarters... Hmmm... I might have to make the world's biggest patchwork quilt. (I think not!) :P

AND, I got a couple more copies of Ooh La La sent my way too, so that brings me up to like 5 spare sets of each now! So, I will be cleaning out my stash (new and old... I mean old - LOL) and will be doing some giveaways soon to make more room in my studio :)

My poor sweet little guy has been sick today :( I woke up this morning to him crying and his side of the bed was covered in vomit, and so was I - YUK!! (he's been coming into our bed LOTS lately, which secretly I love - LOL - but not this morning). He's been such a sweetie lately though... Lots of talking, like a parrot! He spits out everything I say at him verbatim, but the one thing he will NEVER say is "I Love You". And it is probably the thing I say MOST to him! He even says "come on ya turkey!" when we are in the car (that's my toned down road rage - LOL). Anyway, so today he's been so sweet and cuddly... and he FINALLY said it tonight!! I even got a kiss and a hug which are as rare as hen's teeth. I was so excited... I love it when he does something that completely surprises me :)

He discovered the hose last week, and here are some pics. So funny :) He gets more and more handsome every day, my boy...

In other earth-shattering news, LOL, Joshy will be moving to a big boy bed this weekend :( We think his cot is the reason he keeps waking up and coming into our bed because he's getting a bit big for it and knocks himself around a bit during the night. But, I'm going to be so sad, even if it does mean more sleep for me! It just seems that all the "baby" things are becoming few and far between, every milestone that happens is one step closer to him being all grown up, and truth is I miss him being my baby... *sigh*

Well, that's all I can think of to procrastinate with tonight, so I'll love you and leave you :) Goodnight and have a great weekend! :)

When I Grow Up...

2009-08-25T22:59:00.011+10:00

... I want to be Helen Dardik!! LOL! I'm sitting here with the most massive headache, feeling like crap, but one trip to her blog always makes me happy... I think she's a total creative genius! Her artwork is amazing, and so free and innocent... just pure creativity. It always makes me happy on the inside.

Ahhhhhh. I hope to be like that one day!! And I love how she draws little things on her photos to bring them to life - so cute!! If you haven't seen her work before, you should really check it out - it will brighten your day :)

And, did I mention we are having a heatwave at the moment?? It's crazy hot. And it's meant to be WINTER!! Whoever is out there controlling the weather - Summer's not meant to be here for another 3 months - duh!! THIS is how hot it was today:

Yes, it's WINTER!! And I have my son out in the yard in nothing but a singlet and a nappy for modesty - LOL! And, if it weren't for the risk of sending my neighbours blind, I might just have gone out there and joined him in my knickers - LMAO! Luckily for the neighbours, I decided against it. There could have been some serious money made by psychiatrists in the greater Brisbane area :P

We got up to 33 degrees today and it is SO humid, it's disgusting... I'm not looking forward to summer at all now - LOL! Well, I am, but just not a stinking hot one.

Ooh, and speaking of fun things... I'm looking forward to finally getting my hands on my new line with My Mind's Eye, Ooh La La (for my digi peeps, that's "Some Like It Hot" and "C'est La Vie") I've been waiting for what seems like FOREVER and I've been told I have a parcel on it's way to me (including my FABRIC - so excited about that!!)... So I saw the TNT van pull up outside my house today, I got all excited and ran outside... just as he pulled away :( Why choose MY house to make a stop outside of - don't you know I'm waiting on important things like my scrapbooking goodies?? LOL!

Okay, my headache is not getting any better with sitting here procrastinating, so I'm going to bed like I was meant to over two hours ago.

Night night! :)

One Happy Day...

2009-08-22T22:38:00.010+10:00

Today was such a beautiful day... It felt like Christmas morning. One of those days where you feel like anything is possible. Perfect weather, 31 degrees (celcius - that's HOT) in the middle of winter, blue skies, absolute bliss! I've been enjoying taking some time back for myself, so my weekends have been really relaxing lately. And I've been having a lot more family time. It's a good thing...

So, I finally had a chance to make some finishing touches to the mini-album that I made with my pics from last weekend, so I thought I'd share! It's totally inspired by Elizabeth Kartchner's mini book that was featured in the August issue of Creating Keepsakes, even down to the font she used (and it is an awesome font, one of my faves now - LOL). The layout of her mini was perfect for my photos and the story I wanted to tell, so I thought why not... a little bit of scrap-lifting never hurt anyone - LOL! Plus the test-shot I took of the grass worked perfectly for a cover...

You can click each image to make it larger if you can't see the journaling! :)

Chipboard Album: Bella; Papers: Sassafras Lass, Pink Paislee, Basic Grey; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts, Creative, Craft Supply (wood letters), Carolee's Creations, Making Memories; Journal Spots: Collage Press, My Mind's Eye; Cardstock: American Crafts; Chipboard Bracket: Maya Road; Stamps: Maya Road; Making Memories; Hero Arts; Ink: Tsukineko; Lace & Trim: Prima, Craft Supply; Flower: Green Tara; Fonts: Pee Pants Script, AL Uncle Charles.

Phew - now that is what I call a supply list - LOL!! I had fun making it!

Hopefully you are having a wonderful weekend wherever you are too! I'm off to watch some TV, and enjoy the rest of my night!

Til next time...

xx Zoe

Finally!

2009-08-19T23:23:00.009+10:00

So, I've been subscribing to Creating Keepsakes for many years... Each issue I manically flip through the pages trying to find layouts using my stuff. And I never do :( So, I basically gave up on the flicking through thing, cos I figured it was never going to happen anyway. Anyway, so I got my August issue on Friday (we get them way after everyone else over here in the land of Oz) and was reading through...

And finally it happened:

Woohoo!! Thanks Sheri!! What an awesome page, and I'm so excited!! I think this is the first page I've seen that has actually featured heaps of stuff from a kit and I could recognise it as mine! Well, truth be told, I didn't at first. I was staring at it for ages confused because at first I thought it was my Bloom & Grow set with My Mind's Eye, but I was like... it's the wrong colours?? And then it struck!! So that's how good this layout is peoples, I didn't even know it was digi ;)

Onto other news... There is none - LOL! We celebrated Joshy's second birthday a couple of weeks ago and that was fun (and a little scary - LOL!) I've been sick with the flu (for you Americans that is what us Australians call a cold-flu, not a stomach flu in case you are thinking I'm pregnant) for what seems like FOREVER! I finally got over it last week, and then it came back to me on Saturday and I am SO OVER BEING SICK!!!!! We've all got it, so I dragged the whole family up to the Doctor's office yesterday afternoon, and we are all on the same anti-biotics, except Joshy's is liquified of course - yum!! Poor Marty has been so sick that he's lost 5kg in just under a week. I wish I had the exact strain that he has cos I ain't lost a thing - LOL! So, yeah I've just been taking it easy for a little while trying to shake it...

And now I'm going to overload you with photos - yay!! It all started last Thursday. We've been having the most beautiful, sunny, HOT days over here even though it's supposedly "winter". Winter is a very loose term over here in Queensland, believe me - LOL! We've been getting up to 31 degrees (celcius) this last week, and it's been great! Though, I don't want summer if this is a taste of it... 50 degrees, here we come!!

Anyway, sorry got sidetracked by the weather. So, as I was saying it all started last Thursday when I decided that I wanted some photos of me and Josh in the green grass, and my new favourite photo spot in our yard is by our timber fence. I didn't get any ones of Josh on Thursday... He did come and press the button on the remote for a couple of these, and they actually turned out some of my favourites!

And then on Saturday, we had another glorious day, so Marty and I had a fun time with the camera, Josh and the tripod... These are seriously my favourite photos ever, I love all the green grass - LOL! I've tried to just pick a few and it was hard. Sorry there are so many!!

Oh yes, and Prima flowers also make for lovely hair-pins - LOL!! I just stuck a bobby pin through the back of one. Did I mention that I really love that watermelon, hurt-your-eyes-to-look-at pink/orange in my last post? The colour of that flower is what I'm talkin about.

You can tell Marty's right into this can't you??

And I have decided that 3/4 leggings under a denim skirt are not a good look for a short-arse like myself - LOL! Apparently I thought I looked alright when I got dressed, but the camera doesn't lie - unfortunately!! I am joining the gym this week.

My little two year old dude... How much has he grown?!? He's such a big boy now, it breaks my heart to look at these photos :(

Now for a quick costume change... No, I'm not that vain - LOL! I just had a heap of itchy grass stuck in my shirt from cavorting in the grass...

Josh hates having his photo taken at the moment and makes a bee-line for the door as soon as he sees the camera - LOL! So I have to resort to holding him down and tickling him to get a photo with him (probably to the point where he pees his pants - oh wait, he's still in nappies thank goodness) . Well worth it, even if his little face is a little smooshed!!

What a fun day (and lots of new pics to scrap!!) I've already made an album of these photos - I couldn't wait... I will show you when I have time to take photos, etc. Also have a stack of pages to share, but again just depends on when I get time to scan them in!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far... I hope you are all having a great week :)

Bring On Summer! Or not...

2009-07-26T23:18:00.013+10:00

First up, after thinking about it for a while, I decided to remove my last post... Apparently I thought it was a good idea to post about it at the time, but I've been in a totally weird headspace the last few weeks (if you haven't noticed - LOL). I usually don't feel inclined to share such personal things about myself, but for some reason at the time it felt quite cathartic to get it out... But, it's my own personal nightmare that nobody really needs to know about. I'm sure if you've ever lost someone you love, you want to share how that feels with the world but at the same time keep it inside too. So, yup, I've gone with the latter just so I don't have that reminder here whenever I come to my own blog. Anyway, to everyone who commented, thank you - it meant a lot :)

So, what's been happening the last week?? On Tuesday my completely reliable and faithful Mac completely broke my heart and went and crashed on me... I was working away and all of a sudden the screen went to grey and told me that I must restart. So I restart, and all it would do was beep beep beep away at me with a blank screen. AAAACK!!! I think I've lost everything, but thankfully it was just some faulty RAM and all was good. Took me a while to get the type of memory I needed, but she now works like a charm again and is faster than before - woohoo! :) Still need to archive though... damn it!

Then on Tuesday night I had an asthma attack for the first time since I can remember and all of a sudden I was sick with the flu. Like, seriously, I went from being 100% fine to sick as a dog in the space of an hour. So, I spent most of the week sick and miserable and coughing like a seal pretty much 24/7. So it was kind of good timing that my computer had a meltdown when it did because it gave me an excuse to just have a few days off and try and get better. Here's to spending all day in bed!!

It's birthdays all round this time of year! Wednesday was my Sister's birthday, and I was meant to be having a milkshake party with my darling little niece Mali while Kell & Clayt went out for dinner... But Marty had to go up instead because I was sick and didn't want to make my poor little poppet ill so I stayed home instead. Hopefully we will have that milk party soon. Aunty Zoe might hit the hard stuff though, like Milo or Quik, maybe even add some malt or something, just to liven things up a bit ;)

Friday was my Step-Mum Leanne's birthday so on Saturday we all trooped over to my Dad's place for the family BBQ, which was great as always... I hardly get to catch up with that side of the family, but it's fun when we do. It's always nice to catch up with my stepbrother Nat and his wife Renee and their kids, even though catch ups are few and far between... So, Marty was designated driver seeing as it was my family thing. I had a couple of Rums which is always nice, but then I ran out so started drinking my Dad's home brewed ginger beer. Which is lovely going down. But not so nice coming back up at 2:30am. Thanks Dad! :)

This coming weekend will be Joshy's second birthday (OMG!!!!!). So, in preparation for the shindig we will have to celebrate, today we went out and bought... a new outdoor setting!!! Which I'm so excited about because the one we have is seriously falling apart. It is still standing, which is strange seeing as it is standing on just three legs - LOL! But time to say goodbye to the old and in with the new fancy schmancy one. It's made of beautiful timber, and has the bench seats which I wasn't too keen on at first because I wanted the nice chairs, but then we figured that we don't have the space for the table with all the chairs and went with the bench seats. Our outdoor area is just our verandah, so we're kind of limited by the beams that run up the house and have to fit everything in around that. Still nice though! Better than the old thing anyway - LOL!

AND we got a new mattress which I'm even MORE excited about! (Sad times when you are excited about a new mattress, I know, but I take my fun where I can get it - LOL). Seriously, we never treat ourselves to anything, and we both wake up with sore necks and backs each day from the mattress we have now which I have had FOREVER! We've been wanting to get a new one for ages, and today I just said lets just do it. All the sides have given way on our one so it's more of a round mattress than a rectangle these days - LMAO! So, as I said we rarely treat ourselves to anything, and generally we would go for the cheapest one we could find. Not this time baby... We got the full top of the range (well, top of the cheapest range anyway - LOL), with a pillow top and O M G!!! I can't wait to get the thing. It's soft and snuggly and you just want to sink into it, but it's still nice and firm. So so sad that I'm actually blogging about my new mattress. But there we are ;)

Also bought some tea towels today. Am also excited about them, but I won't bore you with that ;) (they are very pretty, I won't say any more)

So, that brings me onto BRING ON SUMMER!!!!!!!!! We are in the middle of Winter over here, but in Brisbane that doesn't really mean winter. It's still pretty warm most of the year. Anyways, we've been having some really beautiful days lately, so I'm starting to wish that summer was here. Well, not summer because our summers are EXCRUCIATING, but maybe spring. You know when you get those beautiful days but still the cool nights? Love that time of year. Anyway, so we were at the shops (and of course they are all bringing out their summer ranges) and I spotted this GORGEOUS little singlet in my favourite colour at the moment (that watermelon/coral/orangey pink that almost hurts your eyes to look at it), and also yellow (which I do not wear well but would probably buy anyway) LOL. They had ruffled eyelet trim and were just cute (yeah, I know it sounds gross, but they were totally cute).

I got all excited about THAT too.

And then...

I realised...

I AM TOO FAT TO WEAR ANY CUTE FRILLY SINGLETS THIS SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crap. And there goes my summer dream of me wearing a cute watermelon/coral/orangey pink frilly singlet frolicking on the beach (with my imaginary perfect figure and all).

Hence the "Or Not" at the end of this post's title.

Seriously need to do something about this spare tyre I've got going on. And the bingo wings. And the three + chins. Or I could start wearing a cravat for that at least. I just don't DO exercise, never have, never will. The only thing I do now is sit on my ever-expanding arse all day in front of a computer and have no physical activity at all. I used to be able to stay in shape by walking up a few flights of stairs at work each day. And age is not on my side anymore either. Looks like I might have to go and see Amazon woman at the local gym and feign interest in their programs yet again. I hope she doesn't recognise me from this time last year - LMAO!!

So, there we are. Sunday night ramblings done. Time for bed! Stay tuned for more riveting updates next week ;)

Some Pages...

2009-07-10T23:17:00.022+10:00

I've been meaning to post these for ages, but I've never really thought of myself as a "paper scrapper" so I felt a bit silly - LOL! But here I am bored on a Friday night (again - LOL), so I thought I'd share some of my traditional pages...

Most of you probably know me as a digital scrapper, but leading up to the show I rediscovered my love of paper crafting and went on a scrapping binge (and I have the bank statements to prove it!!) I really love paper scrapping and hope I have some more time to get into it and do some more pages again soon! It's really therapeutic for me, and as much as I love digital scrapping, there's nothing like getting off the computer to do something creative... So here you go - a peek at me from the other side :)

You can click the images to see them bigger if you want... I've tried "stitching" them together the best I can, but some of them are a bit bodgy... You will also see that I have an unhealthy addiction to Basic Grey - LOL!

Papers & Chipboard Stickers: Bittersweet by Basic Grey; Flowers: Prima, Kaisercraft, Green Tara, Sam & Lucy; Gems & Pearls: Kaisercraft; Letter Stickers: American Crafts; Stamps: Making Memories

Papers, Chipboard Stickers & Rub-Ons: Urban Prairie by Basic Grey; Flowers: Green Tara, Petaloo; Buttons: My Mind's Eye; Gems: Kaisercraft; Chipboard Leaf: Maya Road; Letter Stickers: Doodlebug Stamps: Making Memories; Ink: Stuart Superior

Papers, Leaves, Journal Card, Bracket: Bloom & Grow (by yours truly ;) ) by My Mind's Eye; Kraft Paper Flowers: Green Tara; Buttons: My Mind's Eye; Gems & Gem Flourish: Kaisercraft; Lace: Prima; Letter Stickers: American Crafts (blue), Basic Grey (orange), Making Memories (white). Other: Stitched ribbon & white lace - craft supply.

Papers: Bloom & Grow (by yours truly ;) ) by My Mind's Eye; Flowers: Green Tara, Kaisercraft; Buttons: My Mind's Eye; Gems & Pearls: Kaisercraft; RicRac: American Crafts; Chipboard Title: Basic Grey; Other: Lace - craft supply

Papers: Stella Ruby by Basic Grey; Flowers & Brads: Sam & Lucy; Buttons: My Mind's Eye; Letter Stickers: American Crafts (brown), Dymo labeller (white); Chipboard Bracket: Maya Road; Other: Lace - craft supply.

Papers, Chipboard Stickers: Offbeat by Basic Grey; Kraft Paper; Border Stamps: Sassafras; Letter Stickers: American Crafts; Stamps: Making Memories, Hero Arts; Ink: Making Memories; Digital Elements: Sun shape from "Show No Fear" by Zoe Pearn & Eva Kipler - Sweet Shoppe Designs.

And this is one of the ones I did for my classes with my Bloom & Grow line with MME - it's my favourite page EVER! :)

Papers, Paper Flower & Leaf Embellishments: Bloom & Grow (by yours truly ;) ) by My Mind's Eye; Flowers: Prima; Buttons: My Mind's Eye; Crystal Swirls: Prima; Chipboard Flowers & Leaf: Maya Road; Title: My Mind's Eye; Lace: Prima; RicRac: Maya Road; Ribbon: Piggy Tales; Glitter: Stuart Superior

Okay, boredom relieved! That's brought me up to bedtime now... G'night! :)

There's Nothing Quite Like...

2009-07-03T10:43:00.002+10:00

... THIS to bring back the mojo and remind you that life is good. :)

Also reminds you that you love your job... happy days!

Taking Back The Reins...

2009-06-29T23:49:00.003+10:00

First of all, thank you to those of you that commented on my last post for your well wishes and advice... It really does mean so much!

It's been hard for me not to go and delete my last post, simply because I would never post such personal thoughts in a public arena, but I've decided not to. Even though I like to take a back seat sometimes and try and show only the Zoe that I know people like, I don't feel like I should have to censor myself and my thoughts... I am only human after all, and I think we all have moments like I was having the other night. Maybe it will ease the burden to stay "happy" all the time if people know that in reality I'm not always the happy and smiling Zoe you see around the place, I do have my darker days as we all do. But, anyway... just had to get that out :)

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the weekend, mainly about how I can go about trying to change things, and also trying to figure out why I'm feeling like this at the moment. I think part of it is totally obvious, I don't get out enough to do things that I enjoy and see people... See, I am the type of person who hates "wasting time", and I feel as though if I do things for enjoyment, and not for work, it is a waste of time. So, after I wrote my blog post the other night, I went to bed and wrote myself a list (yes, I am a list maniac - LOL) to try and reverse that way of thinking:

* It is not a waste of time to do things that I enjoy
* It is not a waste of time to spend time with people you love
* It is not a waste of time to do the housework (well, come on, any excuse will do - LOL)
* It is not a waste of time to take care of yourself
* It is not a waste of time to have regular time off
* It is not a waste of time to read a book
* It is not a waste of time to sit down and just do nothing for a change
* It is not a waste of time to go to bed at a reasonable hour

And I also wrote a few things to try and remind myself that I am human...

* You can only do what you can do

* You are only one person

* Only work as much as you NEED to

* Try to find a balance so you can get back to enjoying being creative, so that it doesn't feel like a chore

* Take your life back. Make it a good one.

* Take time to reflect on the GOOD things in your life.

* Remember, you are LUCKY. You get to do what you love for a living and not many people get to do that.

* Even if it gets you down, accept that there will be times when your mojo disappears... It is trying to tell you something... It needs a break and will come back after a rest. Accept it and move on, don't analyse it so much.

* You only have one life. And it has a long way to go. Don't screw it up - you can never get it back.

I think when you rely on your creativity for a living, it can be really depressing and stressful when you can't seem to come up with anything... I think I over-analyse that way too much, and get myself into a state of "I'm not good enough to do this anymore", and then it just snowballs into other areas of my life... Silly, and probably very obvious, but I think I just need to accept it as a natural thing and part of this type of work. See, prior to this, I was in Admin Management, and that made sense to me because my work was quantifiable, and I felt like if I got my certain number of jobs done I had achieved something. Designing for a living is a completely different kettle of fish, and sometimes I find it frustrating because my work ISN'T quantifiable. Anyway, at least I guess I am seeing this now, even though it's probably pretty obvious to most - LOL!

Another big thing on a more personal level that I think has been getting at me and making me feel under a lot of stress, is that everyone keeps telling me it's time to have another baby. While I would seriously love to give Josh a little brother or sister, I'm just not quite ready yet. I think I felt so under pressure because we had planned to start trying again in the next couple of months, and I feel like I have so much that I want to do... Like get the house in a better condition, lose weight, get my working schedule a bit better, give up smoking, etc, before I have another baby. And I felt that I would have only a limited amount of time to get it all achieved, like only a couple of weeks, maybe a month, on top of all my other commitments and it was doing my head in. Plus the fact that the next baby will most likely be my last, I feel really sad about that and want to really enjoy my pregnancy next time around. I had such a stressful time with my last pregnancy, with my work at the time and other things, that I don't want it to be like that again. I finally spoke to my husband tonight about it all, and it is such a weight off my shoulders. I think I can finally dig myself out of this hole.

Anyways, thanks for listening again... I just thought I'd post so you don't think that I'm just sitting here like a demented mad woman, and that I have kind of sorted myself out and gotten my head back together to some degree... I really needed someone playing the violins in the background last time didn't I? LOL! Having the weekend off to just hang with the family really helped I think... So, keep your fingers crossed for me that I take my own advice for once and don't end up in the same mess in two weeks - LOL!

G'night! :)

xx Zoe

And Life Moves Along...

2009-06-27T00:23:00.008+10:00

Okay, I'm having a super down day today so bear with me... I usually don't like to post much, but who do you talk to at 12:30am and everyone's asleep and you're balling your eyes out? Your blog of course :)

So, I've been having these weird epiphanies I guess you'd call them over the last few weeks... I've worked so hard over the last four years, building my business and spending every spare moment working. I've never felt in that time that I've been missing out on anything by doing that, I just figured I'm doing the best I can for my family and that's the main thing, right? But I'm starting to get the feeling that's not true, I have been missing out on SO much. The most frustrating part, I can't do anything to change that. I can't change how hard I work, and I can't make up for lost time, so what do I do?

I guess it was the classes I did the other week that really opened my eyes to that. I haven't worked outside of the home since I had Josh, almost two years ago. Which means I haven't had social contact with human beings apart from my husband, family and a couple of friends, for almost two years. I've been too busy to miss having a lot of friends and social things. And now I'm kind of mourning that, you know? Like I've never even thought of it as something that's missing from my life, and now I have this big, empty, gaping hole that is completely consuming me. Again, I don't have time now with all of my commitments to change that either.

So, I guess I'm angry. Really angry at myself. For letting THIS become my life. This thing that I am sitting in front of right now. It is my BFF, and that is freaking sad. I hate it, but I don't feel like I can change it. But on the flip side, I can't keep living like this either. Because it is not living. Don't get me wrong, I do love my job and what I do, more than anything, I couldn't live without it either. I get to do some really cool things with my work. The thing is that I have BECOME my work, and that is not healthy. I need to find some sort of BALANCE. And I don't know how to do that.

I've just been thinking of all the times I have missed out on, precious times, because I've been too "busy". How I will carry the guilt around with me for the rest of my life that I missed out on seeing my Nana a few times before she passed away because I had so much work to do. At the time, I didn't think that was wrong, we all have to work after all. But, had I known it would be my last chance to see her, I would have done anything, even thrown my computer out the window. And will all this be worth it, if my Dad dies and I haven't seen him for six months? He lives half an hour away... and I rarely see him, it's awful! My work will never fill that hole.

But I've made my bed and I must lie in it.

I think the thing that has really hit home tonight for me is I feel like life has moved along without me. I was just looking at my best friend, who lives overseas now, on Facebook... She has photos of her with all of her gazillions of friends, looking healthy, happy, enjoying life. SHE IS ENJOYING LIFE. She has moved on, and is happy, without me. I'm not even a blip on the radar anymore. And it's all my fault. That is what set me off. I used to enjoy hanging out on the weekends with my friends, going out, shopping, just SPENDING TIME, breathing easy. I don't do time off now, I can't. My mind is always going 100 miles an hour and I can barely sleep sometimes because I just can't stop THINKING. Thinking of all the things I have to do. First thing every single morning, I stumble down the hall and the first thing I do, without fail, is switch on the computer. And on the rare occasions that I force myself not to switch it on, I can't concentrate, I get all fidgety and panicky. Like I can't live without it. Sad, very sad.

Anyway, I just needed to put what's inside my head into words... Sometimes it just gets too much and I feel like I'm going to implode if I don't get it out somehow. And fortunately for Marty he is asleep now so he missed out on my musings for tonight - LOL! Thanks for listening to my random thoughts, and I promise I will post on a more happy note next time... And in the meantime I might try and figure out how to change this little old life of mine.

xx Zoe

Awwwwwww!!

2009-06-15T21:58:00.004+10:00

My sister just sent through the cutest photos of my little niece Mali... Isn't she just the cutest little thing?!? Makes me clucky again - LOL! She's two months old already... time just flies way too quickly!!

xx Zoe

The BEST Weekend EVER!!

2009-06-08T22:37:00.004+10:00

Hey strangers! :)

Yup, I'm back on the blog slacker train, but it's been for a couple of good reasons... Firstly, I've been working like mad on my new line with MME which will be released at CHA in the next couple of weeks... Might be something familiar (and VERY pretty!) - I will definitely post some previews for you when I can, but I'm sooo excited about this one!

Secondly, earlier this year I was asked to do a series of traditional scrapping classes at this weekend's Scrapbooking and Craft expo at the Brisbane convention centre... I honestly had no idea what this whole thing would be about, seeing as I'm usually on the OTHER side of the whole thing! But, it was absolutely AMAZING!! I had an absolute ball, and now I'm convinced my calling in life is to be a scrapping tutor - LOL! Those of you who know me will know that while I do scrapbook, I wouldn't consider myself to be an expert, and this was in last week's newspaper - LOL! I was so worried that there would be serious misconceptions happening after this was written about me!! And UGH - that photo!! (Girls who attended my classes, now you know WHY I wore that stupid hat all weekend - LMAO!)

Anyway, after many nerves and sleepless nights, this weekend finally arrived, and now it's all over and done with... And I am SO sad! I absolutely loved every minute of it, and feel like I'm made 200 new friends. Seriously, everyone who attended my classes were all wonderful, and I had an absolute ball! If you were there, and happened to get some pics with me, please do send me some - I'd love to see! (You will have my email address on your instruction booklets). I was so overwhelmed by the support I received this weekend... So many of my girls would do one class and then book in for all three because they enjoyed them so much, and I tell you as someone who is as critical of their work as me, that really does mean the world to me!! And, I have to give a BIG shout out to my girls Kareena & Peta, my very staunchest supporters all the way from WA, Lee my very favourite kiwi who came all the way from NEW ZEALAND (!!!!!), all of my new friends at Memories To Remember, and I simply cannot forget the wonderful Teneale Williams who calmed my nerves from the very beginning! And of course Luisa & Angella at Addicted To Craft who gave me this wonderful opportunity to start with! To all of you, and EVERYONE else who I got the chance to meet over the weekend (I simply cannot name everyone, but believe me, I will remember you always!), thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! :) I hope to see you again sometime! :)

Okay, I've really got to have an early night, but I thought I'd post about that before it goes into the time warp that is my brain - LOL! Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a fantastic week! :)

xx Zoe

Victorian Bushfire Appeal Donation

2009-04-04T00:10:00.013+10:00

Hey everyone! :D

First of all, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who bought the Close To My Heart bundle to make this fundraising effort such a huge success! It did better than I ever hoped that it could, and it makes me so happy that so many people from around the community have pulled together to help this special cause... So, onto the nitty gritty! :)

Close to my heart sold a whopping 283 copies! WHOA! So that makes the final figures 283 x $10 = $2830. Minus the 10% store commission = $2830 - $283 = $2547!! This is absolutely amazing - thank you SO much! The best thing is, because the Aussie Dollar is worth so little at the moment (not that that's a good thing, but just trying to look on the bright side) it converts to an amazing $3487 AUD! Woohoo!!

Also, I just wanted to give a special mention to my fabulous Creative Team girls - without your help, this just wouldn't have been possible! :D And to Robin @ SSD - thank you for letting me do this, and being kind enough to only take a base commission to cover fees so that more of the money could be donated to charity. Thank you!!

All the images below should be clickable if you want to have a closer look for any reason :)

Here is a screenshot of the downloaded report from X-Cart showing the final tally for the sales from February 28th - March 31st. The red box in the bottom left hand corner shows the tally and the overall sales. It was the only way I could think of to show this part :)

Here is the Paypal conversion:

Here is the Red Cross Donation process screenshots (I have obscured the credit card payment section for obvious reasons):

And, last but not least is the official receipt I received from Red Cross via Email. Again, personal details omitted :)

A Very Special Bundle... For a Very Special Cause!

2009-03-01T11:50:00.003+10:00

So a couple of posts back I talked about the Victorian Bushfires and the devastation caused by them... It took a couple of weeks to co-ordinate, but I'm so excited that this weekend I have an awesome bundle hitting the store, of which all proceeds (less 10% store/processing fees) will be donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

For my Aussie customers, please note that the price is in USD due to the fact that I sell in an American store :) Still a great deal though and you will be helping a very special cause! :D

So here's what you get for your 10 buckaroonies:

You can pick up the bundle right HERE. All of these products are only available in the package... All proceeds from sales between Feb 28th and March 31st 2009 will be donated to the Red Cross. The kit will still be available after these dates, but it will no longer be for fundraising, and the bonus goodies will be retired after these dates. So pick them up now before they're gone for good!!

So here's the deal. After the 31st March, I will tally all the sales from Close To My Heart and convert the USD amount through PayPal into AUD. I will post screenshots of the conversion, the donation, and the sales report on here sometime in the week after the 31st March (as we are paid a couple of days after the last day of the month, then it will take a couple more days for the funds to clear to my bank account so I can make the donation). The Red Cross is advising that there is a 3-4 week delay in issuing receipts for donations due to the huge response they've received, but as soon as I receive my official receipt, I will post it on here as well :)

I've already been so overwhelmed by the response to this package!! It really warms my heart that so many people want to help this worthy cause, even though we are on the other side of the world! And, I can't thank my wonderful CT members enough for donating their time and talent to the cause as well - without them, there is NO WAY I would have been able to make the package so huge and beautiful! Thanks guys!! And thank you from the bottom of my heart to anyone who buys or has already bought this product... I'm sure the amount raised will be beyond my wildest dreams (LOL - it is already and it's only been one day!!), and you can be sure that your purchase will go towards helping these people rebuild their lives...

Okay, I'm off to do something with my Sunday... Not too sure what at this point - LOL! I went to my girlfriend Emma's house yesterday afternoon and what was meant to be a "couple of drinks" turned into quite a few - LOL! I don't drink much these days, so I tell you it's taking a lot longer for me to recover today than it did 5 years ago - LOL! Plus I was only one day out of having a really bad stomach bug, LOL, so that hasn't helped either... Ugh! I had a really great time though, and it really helped cheer me up after the couple of weeks I've had... so yeah. Gonna go and try to relax for the next couple of hours while Joshy has his sleep :)

Have a great weekend!!

Quick Quiz

2009-02-18T11:11:00.002+10:00

I just thought I'd post this here cos I thought it was cute! :) La posted it in our team forum, and I really enjoyed reading everyone's responses, so if you happen to take the quiz, leave me a link to your blog in the comments...

Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
Of course

What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Waiting in my car for the stupid Moggill Ferry to get it's act together (where we live, the only way to cross the river is by car ferry - very frustrating sometimes)

Last restaurant you went to?
Avanti's (Italian) on Saturday

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
My friend Emma

What's your favorite colour?
Do I have to pick? LOL - right now it's olive green.

Have you ever crawled through a window?
Not that I can remember... though I think I have tried in a drunken state but ended up passing out on my parent's back stairs instead

What do you spend most of your money on?
Aside from the mortgage?? Cigarettes.

Are you wearing a necklace?
Nope. They make me claustrophobic

Are you a cuddler?
Kind of... I can only take human contact in very small doses, apart from when it's from Joshy of course.

What do you want right now?
To get some kind of schedule happening so I don't sit here staring at my screen and stressing out - LOL!

Have you ever gone nude/streaked in public?
Ahhhh... again, maybe in a drunken state - LOL! No, I haven't.

Who was the last person to come to your house?
Marty's old friend Mark and his girlfriend (three weeks ago - we are hermits)

Look behind you, what do you see?
A toy box.

What would you name your future daughter?
Lola (It was going to be Mia, but my stepbrother called his daughter that, so...)

Who and where was the last concert you went to?
De La Soul @ The Arena (Brisbane)

What did you eat for lunch today?
It's not lunchtime yet.

If you had to eat 1 thing for the rest of your life, what?
Watermelon.

Do you eat junk food everyday?
I try not to (I don't buy junk food when I'm grocery shopping otherwise that's all I'd eat - LOL!)

How often do you drive?
Probably every second day.

How late did you stay up last night and why?
I went to bed around 11:00 pm trying to have an early night but lied in bed stressing about some crap until 1:30 am anyway... If in doubt, always stay on the computer until 1:30 am - it's better than lying in bed unable to sleep

What I'm Loving Today...

2009-02-14T10:58:00.004+10:00

Hiya :)

Well, it's V'Day over here already and my DH is out taking Mookie to his grandma's so we can spend the day painting our house - I tell ya, romance is NOT dead in our house - LMAO! :)

I thought I'd just share this music video that I just LOVE at the moment... Have I ever told you that I've always had a secret desire to direct music videos? Like, every time a hear an awesome tune, I can picture the film clip that should go with it - LOL! I also wanted to be a turn-tablist, but that's another story :P Anyways, this video clip would have to be THE most awesome, clever and fresh idea I've seen in sooo long! I didn't get it at first, cos I came in halfway through and I missed the beginning, but take a look... it'll give you a smile :) And it's fitting for Valentine's day... and the boys are nerdy cute (English lads which is always a plus), and the girls are hawt ;) The dude with the curly hair cracks me up whenever he gets hit with the ball. And I love how it's got the wrong words half-way through, you know how when you sing along the wrong words to a song?? And, and, and...Anyways... just take a look :P

And I think it's so cute cos Josh runs around singing "Mummy... Mummy" to it in his squeaky little voice... Well, that's actually what I thought it said before I watched the video - LMAO! :) (My version of Single Ladies is "If you like it then you shoulda put a finger on it haha so I shouldn't be surprised really)

Well, I guess being Friday over there I can give you a sneaky peek of my new kit coming out tomorrow :)

Make sure you keep a look out over the next couple of weeks, because I've got something really special in the works which will help out our fire victims. You won't want to miss it, believe me! :)

Okay, I'm going to go and do some... washing! Happy Valentine's Day to all! Think of me while I lovingly paint my house... ugh!

A Very Sad Day For Australia...

2009-02-09T23:19:00.004+10:00

Photos courtesy of Channel Nine News Australia (www.ninemsn.com.au)

Our country is burning... literally. In the country's southern state of Victoria, hundreds of people have died, thousands of homes have been destroyed, even entire communities have been wiped off the map. And you know what? The fires were started by an arsonist. What kind of stupid [insert expletive here] would do this? Victoria had been experiencing temperatures of close to 50 C which is like hell on earth anyway, but why would you light a fire in those conditions. And they're probably watching the devastation on TV with a smile on their face, bragging to their mates that they did that. Apparently if they catch the person, they will be charged with mass murder. And so they should.

My heart is absolutely breaking for these people. They have lost everything, even listened on the phone while their loved ones couldn't escape the fire. Apparently the fires came through so fast without warning that people didn't have time to get away. Bodies have been found in cars, obviously trying to escape, in fields, in their homes trying to save them. That last photo breaks my heart... farmers already do it so tough, and then this happens... It's such a tragedy. 131 people are confirmed dead. There are expected to be hundreds more. The number dead so far is already double that of Ash Wednesday. I'm just in shock. I cannot believe the devastation that is unfolding. And to hear the stories of the people who it has affected... Man, it makes you feel like the luckiest person on earth by comparison. My heart goes out to my fellow Australians during this awful time. I'm not usually patriotic, but right now I just wish I could help in some way. And the way that people have been trying to help makes me feel proud to be an Australian. In a disaster like this, people from around the country will pull together to help those in need. Apparently you can't even get onto the disaster relief website and phone line because they are completely over-run with people trying to help.

So, yeah. I feel so sad about this. I just needed to post about it for some reason. I'm planning to try and do my bit to help these people, however small. Probably a kit that I'll donate the proceeds to or something. I don't know. Human beings constantly surprise me with their capacity to do harm, and on the flip side, their capacity to help those in need.

ETA: If my post today has moved you to want to help these people, the website is: http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm

Howdy :)

2009-01-28T23:20:00.003+10:00

Well, it's only been a bit over a month this time... I'm doing well! LOL!

So, from where I left off... We had a great Christmas and New Year! I had my first holiday in I don't know how long and had nearly a month off! We stayed at a lovely resort up at the Sunshine Coast for a couple of weeks just after Christmas, and it was awesome... And then, since we returned, we've been spending every spare minute we have painting the house - yay (not)! In a strange way it's been kinda good, even though it's hard work, as Marty and I have really enjoyed spending the time together and working towards a goal. Sounds kinda gay, but it's true! We're nearly there, we've finished the first coat on the last wall and just have the gapping, second coat and final coat to go, and then we're done - yippee!! It's nice to not live in a little log cabin anymore - LOL! So, apart from that I don't really have anything new to report, just wasting time, as per usual! I swear it's been hard to get back into work mode after being on holidays for so long - LOL! I have just finished my first solo kit of the year though, so it looks like the mojo might have returned...

Speaking of mojo, I've been really inspired by the Project 365 thing that everyone seems to be doing this year, and so far I've stuck to it (which is a MAJOR achievement for me not to forget about something after a couple of weeks - LOL!) It's funny how you get used to taking your camera everywhere so you don't miss a photo opportunity, even after only a couple of weeks. I've decided I'm gonna get myself a nice little happy snapper though, so I can take it easily in my back instead of lugging the SLR around with me... I updated my Project 365 Blog the other day with some photos, so if you're interested and want to take a peek at my life away from the computer, you can check it out HERE!

My favourite pic so far:

Onto some business stuff, I'm so excited that I've had another dual paper line with MME debut at CHA this past weekend - yay!!

For those of you who follow my digital side of things, you'll notice that one of them is a completely new set of designs in the colours of my Bloom and Grow kit; and the other is the same designs that are in my Bloom & Grow kit, but in Persimmon colours - LOL! Very confusing! See, I had originally designed the papers for MME before I released the Bloom & Grow kit, and I wanted to use the colours again, so yeah! There you go, a tidbit of news for the week :)

Well, I'm gonna go and hit the sack before the clock strikes midnight so I can have some form of an early night... Hopefully I'll be around again soon!

Don't Die Of Shock...

2008-12-16T08:06:00.012+10:00

No, you are not dreaming - LOL! Yes, I know it has been OVER A YEAR since I blogged - how terrible is that?!? I've been meaning to, I really have, but I just never have anything interesting enough to write about so it gets pushed to the side - LOL! That and I'm always too busy... but today I'm not! It's my Birthday, and I have the day off - yay! No designing, no accounts, no work, but where am I?? On the computer. It's a disease I swear - LOL! My Mum has taken Josh for the day & night so I can go and get my haircut, and then Marty's taking me out to dinner, so all in all it should be a great day! :D (I do feel a bit lost without him here, but I should make hay while the sun shines).

So, wow... a whole year to catch up on! I honestly don't know if I can remember everything! I'll try and wrap it up in a nutshell (although judging by my previous posts, that is an impossible task - LOL)

Josh is obviously much more massive than the last time you saw him... He's now 16 months old can you believe? Time just flies when you're having fun... He's such a big boy and all grown up, running around, breaking things, throwing missiles at me, but totally adorable. I think he's the main reason I don't have a lot of time to do anything anymore - it seems the older he gets, the harder it is to keep him entertained, so I spend most of my days playing with him and only working during the day if I have to... Here are some pics, you'll see how much he's changed over the last year!

Secondly, around the time I stopped posting, I signed on as a designer for My Mind's Eye... I now have a number of traditional paper lines with them, and that's been keeping me super busy as well! Some of them you'd recognise from my digital kits, and a couple of them are new as well.

I've been so overwhelmed by how lucky I've been this year with my work, and it's taken me in directions I never thought possible! I am looking forward to taking a break for the rest of the year though, as it's been such a crazy time around here!

And, I think that's all I have time for! I just looked at the time, and I need to get my butt into gear if I'm going to make this hairdresser's appointment! I will try and update more regularly, I promise... I might even try and think of some more stuff and update today... I'm in one of those moods lately where I want to tick things off my list, and I'm sure if I don't, I'll be frustrated - LOL! Although it's not like i have much exciting stuff going on, but I will if and when anything blog-worthy happens...

Hope you all have a merry Christmas, and a safe and Happy New Year! Thank you for all your support over the last year - it truly means the world to me!

Okay...

2007-11-18T15:18:00.001+10:00

... I'm about to flood you with so many photos - sorry!! I've had a bit of a lightbulb moment and worked out that I can change the ISO speed on my DSLR (duh!), AND the light meter! So, I've worked out how to take a half decent photo - LOL! Well, they're not the best in the world, but I was getting so frustrated because I'm still used to my film SLR, and I couldn't work out why sometimes the DSLR would take awesome photos, and others were complete crap... yup, it helps to read the instruction booklet sometimes - LOL!!

So, I had a little photo shoot with Joshy this morning, and OMG isn't he just the sweetest little thing?? He's just started to push himself up while he's having tummy time - so cute! Oh man, my heart just about breaks every time I look at him... love him soooooooo much!!

And, check it out... his very first pair of Vans thanks to his Aunty Kell & Uncle Clayt! Look at the soles on them... priceless! I love baby shoes.. I think it's cos they're completely useless, but that just makes them even cuter :D

Well, that's pretty much it on the personal front :) Yeah, I know I'm boring... I need to get some sort of life happening so I have more to talk about than my baby - LOL!! Ah well...

Can you believe it's almost Christmas?? It's so crazy how fast time is flying this year! I seem to have gone from pregnant to being a mum to a newborn, to a mum to a 3.5 month old all in the space of about 1 minute! I can't wait for Christmas this year - I know Josh won't know any different, but it'll be our first Chrissy as a proper family... And Marty will be home for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!! YAY!!! ADULT CONVERSATION - WOOHOO!! Can you tell I'm excited? Plus, I just love that feeling that seems to be in the air at Christmas time... and the fact that it's my birthday the week before, not that that's too exciting anymore - LOL!!

In other exciting Zoe-Land news (not - LOL), I've finally bought my own domain, and plan to open my own little shoppe early in the New Year... I already have my own site, but at the time I got the domain name, I had planned to sell paper scrap products as well as my own digi stuff... but that all went out the window. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking, but I hate the name of the site, so I'm starting fresh - yay!

And, I don't know how or when it happened, but I seem to have become a bit of an absentee in the community... and it makes me feel really bad. I don't know, it's kinda like when you haven't spoken to a friend in a long time, and the longer you leave it, the harder it gets to pick up the phone... Does that make sense? So, I just have to get more involved... and scrap! That's something I haven't done enough of either...

Okay, onto the business side of things :) Lauren Grier and I did a cute little 2Scoops for this weekend... Pretty much all of the Sweet Shoppe girls teamed up to do a whole lot of awesome collab kits, and they're just rockin'! Here's ours, it's bright and summery and so not wintery, but oh well... If it makes any difference, it's coming into summer over here in the land of Oz!

And, my latest love in designing seems to be glitter for some reason... I think I'm about 2 years behind the craze, but I just love it! I think cos it's shiny and pretty and so girly... Anyway, I've done these two packs of glitter backgrounds:

You can click on the images above to go to the store :)

I have so many things in my idea book at the moment, I just don't seem to have the time to do them!! So, I've got a bit of a backlog happening... I think I'll get onto the Christmas kits in February the way I'm going - LOL!

Well, that pretty much wraps it up for this week :) Thanks for reading and I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Zoe

I'm Back for an Update :)

2007-11-07T19:59:00.000+10:00

Hello!

Yup, I've pretty much dropped off the face of the planet huh? LOL... having a baby is a lot more work than I thought it would be (how naiive was I??). So lately I've just been using the time I've got on the computer to design and that's pretty much it. Except if I'm procrastinating, which is what I'm doing now!

Wow, so Josh was only a couple of weeks old when I last posted! So much has happened in that time, it's gonna take a bit of catching up, so I apologise in advance for the mega long post if it turns out that way - LOL!

My sister got married on the 1st September over at Stradbroke Island, and it was just lovely. Travelling with Josh was not the nightmare I thought it would be, and the place we stayed at was just awesome! I kept saying to Marty the whole time that it would be nice if we were still just a couple cos it would have been a good romantic getaway type thingy. Except for the 4 week old baby... heehee! She made a gorgeous bride and the day went off without a hitch. They'd asked everyone to wear white to the wedding, and at first everyone couldn't see the point, but when we got to the beach and everyone was standing there in white, against the sand, sea and perfect blue sky, it looked so lovely! Because I was pregnant when they were planning the wedding it was a bit hard for me cos I'd always wanted to be her bridesmaid, but because they had the wedding when they did it was pretty much impossible. I was really sad about that, and it made me feel really bad that they knew I was pregnant when they chose the date. But, in the end they made me a part of the ceremony, and it was lovely, except for the fact that I only knew about it 5 minutes beforehand - LOL! So, I looked like such a third wheel standing there in my post-natal outfit, and them looking so glam... anyways it all turned out great, and they had a wonderful day, so all is good :) Here's some pics of the beautiful couple:

So, the weekend after the wedding Josh started to have some troubles. It all kinda started when I couldn't breastfeed. Not that I didn't want to, but he wouldn't latch on, I didn't get the support I needed, and I was a nervous wreck... we tried until he was around 4 weeks old, and I was expressing for him, but it just wasn't happening so he went to formula. I was upset, but the whole situation was just stressing everyone, including Josh, out so much it just wasn't worth it anymore.

Just after he went wholly to formula, he started to get a bit constipated, which is pretty common, and we did go into the hospital one night when it was particularly bad and they told us it would all clear itself up in good time, and not to worry too much. On the advice of a health nurse a couple of weeks later we switched to another formula, and it was great for a couple of days. He wasn't having any more troubles, and we thought it had all sorted itself out. Then one night, a week after the wedding, he started to poo pure blood. It was terrifying. You see, Marty had been giving me the day off and was looking after him, but he's colour-blind. So he hadn't noticed the blood - he just thought it was brown. Anyways, we raced him into the hospital and he had to be cannulated and put on a drip. It was the most awful feeling - they asked us to leave the room while they inserted the cannula, and I felt so helpless! It was all quiet and then he started screaming in the next room, and there was nothing I could do but cry and hope they weren't hurting him too bad...

Turns out he was allergic to the cow's milk protein in the formula, which apparently is very common and they usually outgrow it after 12 months. So they put him on a prescription formula, and initially it was a hassle because he hated it, but it seemed to be going fine... Then we went back to the specialist the following week for a check up and he'd started to lose weight. They said it could just be an adjustment phase, and they'd check him the following week. And for the next 2 weeks he lost weight :( It was awful, he lost 600g total, and they had no idea why. Each time he went in, they'd give him blood tests and on one occasion his neutrophils (?sp) had dropped dangerously low and we had to keep him "in quarantine" because his body wouldn't have been able to fight any bacteria it came into contact with.. OMG what an awful time that was. I've never been more frightened or my nerves so shot in all my life!

Thankfully, after about 6 weeks it all settled down and he finally started to gain weight - yippee!! Now he's healthy and a little chubber and so damn cute - I just love him to bits! The best bit is, he's been sleeping through the night since he was 6 weeks old, so that was a huge turning point for us as well. Makes life so much easier when you can have more than a couple of hours' sleep at a time! And, of course, now he's smiling and cooing and doing all that stuff that just makes my heart melt... Man, I've never been so fiercely in love with anything in my life! He's a good baby too - only really cries when he's hungry. Although, I think his teeth are starting to move around cos he's getting a bit grizzly, but I can't complain cos he's been so great until now!

Here's some more recent pics that I think are the cutest... please excuse me and my tuckshop lady chins/arms/body, but I've let myself go - LOL! I guess there's plenty of time to get my figure back :) Not that I had that great a one to start with... ah well :) And the quality of a few of them isn't the best because I was just holding the camera and blind-shooting, but the expression on his face is just priceless and they're some of my faves...

Isn't he a cutie?? Yeah, I'm biassed, but I could just eat him up... love him so much!

And then, some more sad news... My wonderful sweet Nana passed away on the 19th October... I've actually handled it a lot better than I thought I ever would. Nana dying was always one of my biggest fears and I always thought I'd fall apart when it happened, but for some reason I'm okay. I think it probably happened at a time in my life when I can accept it. I really feel like she's at peace, and it makes me feel good for her. I have my moments, and I don't know if I'm just putting off the inevitable by keeping myself busy, but so far so good. I loved her with all my heart, and I know that she knew that. I'm just thankful for the 26 years I had her in my life. She was a wonderful, strong and loving woman who did everything for us, and I will always remember that... I don't think I can go into it any more because no amount of words I can say will sum up how I felt for her :)

So, that pretty much brings me up to date. I had a few new products in the store over the last few weeks, including a kit dedicated to my lovely Nana...

some buttons:

and some alphas:

Yay!! Blog post done! :) Whew... I'll try to do it more regularly so I don't have to chew your ear off so much next time - LOL!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you are all well :)

Zoe

Finally!!

2007-08-20T16:16:00.000+10:00

I know I have been MIA forever, but I have a good excuse...
HE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Finally *LOL*)
My little man, Joshua Martin Pearn, arrived a week early on Wednesday 1st August 07 at 10:58 am... He weighed 7 lb 7 oz, and is just the cutest, sweetest, handsomest (is that a word??) little guy in the world. But I'm biassed of course!! Here's a couple of snaps:

I so wasn't prepared to be going into labour when I did! Because he was posterior in the last weeks of my pregnancy, every midwife I saw said that there was no way he'd come on his own, and it was most likely that I'd have to be induced... So, I was originally booked for an induction on the 17th August, and I thought I had heaps more time being a lady of leisure *LOL* But I woke up at around 4:15 am on the morning on the 1st August just feeling like I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but nothing would happen. Then it clicked that these pains were coming every 5 minutes and were getting worse... It took me forever to work up the courage to wake Marty up at that time of the morning, especially because I was convinced it was a false alarm.

I stayed at home until around 7am thinking that I'd have HOURS to kill, and I rang Mum and told her I was off to the hospital, but not to get here hopes up because I was sure it was either a false alarm or that I'd have hours and hours to go, and they'd send me home!

So, off we go to the hospital in peak hour traffic... Me with a severe case of Tourette's Syndrome on the way there *LOL*, and Marty trying to keep calm for both of us. It was so funny now that I look back on it - I was petrified all the way there that I'd have a contraction as we were pulled up next to a bus stop or something, and I'd be going off my tree like a lunatic, and everyone would think I was mad!

We got to the hospital around 8am and wen't straight to the labour ward, where they had to examine me first, and I was still convinced it was a false alarm... I said to the lady "How can I tell if I'm really in labour?", and she was like "Honey, you're in labour"... I was freaking out so bad! So not even 4 hours after contractions started, I was 6cm dilated!! I kept saying to them "I'm not ready!" I think I went into denial at that point *LOL*

Straight off to the birth suite I go and I had the most awful midwife! Man, she was nasty! I was begging for drugs by that point and she'd only give me gas (which does bugger all) until I told her (very firmly) to get me some f**ing pain relief, and I got some morphine (which also didn't do too much!). Anyways, I said to her, "how long will this take?" and she told me that it'd most likely be another 6 hours or so at least... and continued to ignore me because she had to "write up her notes". It was so funny, every time she'd leave the room, I'd flip her the bird - I hated her!

About an hour later I had this really bad feeling that I wanted to push, so I told the midwife. She's like, "you just push love - it won't be a real one, you're only 6 cm dilated". So I go, "no, I am about to SPLIT IN HALF!" Her: "But I have to write up my notes, we'll give you an internal in another hour or so". Me: "NO! SOMETHING"S HAPPENING HERE". Her: "Okay, (cranky and snippy) I'll give you an internal examination now then". Me: "Thank You".

So, lucky she allowed me to have an internal exam then, because baby was about 1 cm away from crowning! Her: "Oh, baby nearly here!" Me (under my breath) "No shit Sherlock". Who's the midwife here? Man, I swear I wanted to rip her eyes out!

So then it was a mad panic to get me pushing properly, and by that stage the Morphine had only just kicked in, so I was in lala land and didn't want to push anymore - actually it was more that I was freaking out about having to push a baby out - like when you know something really bad is going to happen and you put it off as long as you can... But once he crowned, all the pain went away and I had this little baby in my arms (who was about as high as his mother at that stage because of the Morphine). You know, I didn't believe all the people who say that you forget the pain, but you really and truly do - it was amazing! And for all you girls out there who've heard horror stories about labour, don't listen. It really isn't that terrible - I was actually disappointed because I thought I'd get to yell and scream at the bitchy midwife, but I was saving it until the pain got really bad, but it never got that bad.. Should've went off at her anyway! Damn...

We were in hospital for 2 nights, and came home late on the Friday night... It was funny, I was so desperate to get out of hospital, and as soon as I got home I wanted to go straight back there! I was absolutely petrified of being responsible for this little guy!

The first week and a half was pretty bad - I was an emotional wreck, Marty lost his job not even a week after we had Josh, I haven't officially lost my job, but in not so many words they told me that they won't be renewing my contract past my maternity leave, and I was having so many problems breast feeding. It was really scary - I thought it was always going to be like that, but luckily Marty got a new job earlier this week - we were so lucky! Since then, I've just been relieved, and thanking my lucky stars that we're okay again...

Anyways, the little dude is crying for his dinner, so I'd better go - sorry it's such a saga! Lots to catch up on... Hopefully all of you are well and happy! Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll get some spare time soon to do another update!

Zoe

I suck...

2007-06-29T22:41:00.000+10:00

... at blogging! Okay I'll admit it, although anyone who's been reading my blog for a while won't be surprised - LOL! I'm one of those people who likes to save up all my news and have long conversations instead of regular instalments, so maybe I'm the same with my blog...

Well, if I could describe the last six weeks in one word it would be atrocious. If I could add one more, it would be crazy... I feel like there's so much to do in so little time, and it's all just flying by in one big fat blur. Then to top it off, all these lovely little things keep popping up to make it that little bit more annoying, and there you go!

So, I'll start where I left off. The last Friday in May was looking to be a great day. I had the day off, my Mum was coming for dinner, and I was really looking forward to having a nice night with her, catching up, etc. So just after I put the food in the oven, she calls and she can't make it. Fine. Whatever... I'm a bit cranky, but I'll live. Long story short, we have a massive fight, she comes over, we make up, all is good and dandy! So, she's just about to leave at around 11:00 that night, and we get a phone call from the hospital where my Nana was admitted earlier in the week. They say Mum needs to go to the hospital now - Nana's having trouble breathing, and they don't think she'll make the night...

Mum takes off. I'm in shock. So, the decision - do I go to the hospital and possibly face seeing my Nana, who I am terrified of losing, die? I swore to myself years ago after my brother died, that I would never ever see another dead body in all my life, no matter who they were. But then, would it give Nana comfort to see the people she loved in her last moments? Then I have to ring my sister to share the great news with her - fair enough if I don't want to go, but it's not fair for me to make that choice for her. So, we end up deciding to go to the hospital and I pick her up and we prepare ourselves for the worst...

Nana was in a bad way when we got there, but thankfully she was stabilised at that point, on a breathing machine, really tired, but doing okay. It was such a relief, but at the same time I was pissed off at myself because I see people in that condition every day as part of my job, and it doesn't phase me... maybe I'm just a heartless bitch. I think I have a switch on my emotions that I flick most of the time... I don't know.

So it turned out that Nana had had a heart attack, and she was doing great again the next day, so all is good there. She's now out of hospital and back to her old self, so that's all good news!

So on the Sunday of the same weekend, I wake up feeling like absolute crap. And it doesn't get any better either as the day goes on. Turns out I had a chest infection - great!! So, I have to miss work for a couple of days, and my popularity at work drops a few more notches (as if that was possible). I worked from home for the rest of the week while I got better, so that was good, but I was going out of my brain with boredom by the end of it!

Then, the following weekend, it's a long weekend, so I was really looking forward to spending a nice, relaxing weekend with Marty, just hanging out, maybe see a movie or something... Nope! Not to be - LOL! On the Saturday, Marty was stomping around the house, goofing around (he was paying out on me, so what happens next is a bit of karma coming back to bite him in the arse - LOL). Marty has a bad knee. Goofing around and a bad knee that are well overdue for a reconstruction do not make a good combination. Next thing I know, his knee has dislocated while he's stomping past me in the kitchen... And I copped 80kg at full force straight to the baby belly. At this point I don't have much sympathy for Marty - kind of reminds me of when I first started posting in forums and I thought that DH stood for "Dick Head".

So, we got to spend all day Saturday at the hospital. I dropped him off at the Emergency Department so he could get something done to his knee, while I sat in the Maternity Department being monitored to make sure the baby was okay! And the best thing about the whole situation was that the nurses all thought I was a domestic violence victim or something!! I may as well have told them I fell down the stairs... gees!!

Everything was good with bub, but Marty's knee was still jiggered, so on the Sunday we spent most of the day trying to find a physiotherapist that was open who'd pop it back in for him. And paid $150 for the pleasure - yay! :)

The next couple of weeks went by nice and smoothly - had a couple of baby showers - one of them the girls at work threw for Emma & I, which was so lovely of them! It was really nice to have that in the midst of all this other crap going on... They put on a lovely day for us, beautiful food, and we both got a hamper with heaps of baby stuff in it - yay!! We were spoilt!

Nothing too eventful the following week, apart from another couple of run ins with the boss at work. Nothing unusual there! Thank goodness there's only a couple of weeks to go there - not that I'm counting of course!

So this pretty much brings us up to the beginning of last week, which turned out to be flipping fantastic as well - yeah right! On Wednesday, we had accreditation (where they licence your medical facility), so it was all pretty hectic and stressful. So I choose that day to spill not one, but TWO boiling cups of coffee all over my chest and tummy. Ouch! Luckily I work with good nurses, so they all got me under control with cold compresses and stuff, but it hurt like hell! So I had to leave early again... down a few more notches in the popularity stakes - yay!!

So, then last night to top it all off (you thought that'd be it, didn't you), I slipped while I was getting out of the shower, and did the splits to stop myself from falling. Not a good move when you're 34 weeks pregnant. It feels like I've broken my pubic bone - I swear! And the fact that bub's dropped and is sitting right there makes for a really nice feeling! So, now I can barely walk, I'm tired, I'm cranky (if you can't tell from my tone - LOL), and I JUST WANT TO STOP HURTING MYSELF!!!!! Do you think I should maybe wrap myself up in cotton wool for the next six weeks to make sure I don't fall off a cliff or something?

I swear, if I didn't laugh about it all, I'd cry! Well, I've been doing a bit of that too, but hey, I can blame it all on hormones - heehee!! So that brings you up to date on my very messy and frustrating life... If I don't write again in the next few weeks, be concerned - I might have chopped my arms off or something, you never know! :D

Whoa! How long was that?!? Sorry if I sound pessimistic, but I feel pretty pessimistic at the moment, so I can't help it... All of this, on top of the usual terrified feelings I'm sure all new Mums get at this late stage of pregnancy, just gets a little bit overwhelming so... I'll try and be a bit more upbeat next time - LOL! I'd delete the post, but it's taken me half an hour, and I can't bring myself to waste it!

Anyways, I'm gonna leave it at that for now... I hope you are all having a great day, not injuring yourself constantly, and are not as hormonal as yours truly :D

Seeya!

Zoe

I'm Back...

2007-05-14T20:26:00.000+10:00

... after a crazy couple of weeks of internet connection hell, getting ready for NSD, recovering from NSD, and just being pregnant and tired on my part - LOL!

I'm starting to get to that yucky hormonal stage of being pregnant that is no fun at all, I swear! I was just starting to think how great it all was, how nice it is to have a bump and wear pregnant clothes, etc, etc... then the hormones kicked in - LOL! I swear if I look at another piece of maternity clothing in black, black, black, I'm going to scream! Not to mention the fact that I burst into tears at the drop of a hat... I think it's just getting to the point where the initial excitement has, I don't know, not worn off, but isn't the main thing anymore. And now the reality has set in... it's really going to happen, only 12 weeks away (yikes), no work, living on a really tight budget, no experience of having a baby, and it's just starting to freak me out. Just a tad. Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited still, and I just can't wait to meet this little person and hold them and love them... but the other part of me is absolutely terrified of being a mother, of having a huge responsibility. I won't be able to just pick up and go out when I feel like it because I'll have this little person who relies solely on me for every need, and I guess I'm scared of change. I'm not good with change... What if I don't know how to look after a baby? How will I cope with no sleep? And what if my work doesn't want me back after my maternity leave? I don't know, I think I'm probably thinking too much into everything, and freaking out about things that I really don't need to be, but I'm just so emotional at the moment, and it's driving me batty!

Ahhhhh... that's better! Excuse my rant - I just needed to get it off my chest - whew!!

So... I got my first ever Mother's Day present yesterday!! I felt a bit silly cos I'm not really a Mum yet, but I thought it was so sweet of Marty to get me a special gift... of course it had me in tears (over the pancakes that he cooked me for breakfast - LOL)!! From Marty and the little one, I got a lovely little gold pendant - a free-hanging heart with a little heart inside which is meant to be me with the baby inside - isn't he cute?? I love my husband, I'm a lucky girl... go on, make me well up again!!

Anyways, as for the bump, I actually did another page for the Emily Powers Spin-A-Lift challenge on the SSD blog (no, this is not a joke), so this is what I'm pretty much looking like at the moment:

That was when I was in a better spirit about things - LOL!

Ummm... I have some other things in the works, but I just can't spill the beans just yet. But so exciting for me personally, and creatively I guess too! I'll keep you posted as news comes to hand...

In product news, on NSD I released a few little goodies:

One of my fantastic CT members, Kresta, put this little album together with My Sunshine, and I think it is just the cutest!

And, there was this sweet little kit that I put together as I'm on a cutesy floral kick at the moment - LOL!

... and then the Chalky Swirls, just a little embellie/brush pack:

I know, three products in one week!! It was a busy week, and my internet connection chose the absolute best time in the world to go crazy on me... never mind!

And then, this week I've got this funky kit in store:

I'm just loving the colours in this one, and it's so summery and whimsy!

Anyways, that's pretty much it for me this week... I've had a whinge so I feel a bit better now! Thanks for reading if you got this far, and I hope you are all having a wonderful day!

:) Zoe

Yay! It's Saturday!! :)

2007-04-21T16:15:00.000+10:00

Wow! Thank you so much to everyone for your lovely comments!! I'm so glad you liked the little freebie... I don't think I've ever had so many comments or views in one week EVER! LOL...

Nothing much is new this week... I don't have anything new to release this week cos I thought I'd give myself the week off from designing, and just chill out... and this weekend I'm scrapping - can you believe it? LOL! It's been so long since I've done any pages, and it's been so much fun! I picked up the Love Sprung Kit by Dani Mogstad & Traci Reed and I L O V E it!!! I think I'm gonna have to do a whole album with this baby... might take a year, but anyway. It's so cute and springy and just makes me feel happy to look at. Here's 2 of the LO's I've done with it this weekend:

These photos are so long overdue to be scrapped - they are from the day we found out we were having a baby! Like back in November - LOL! I got the template from the Cookie Decorating 101 Challenge at Sweet Shoppe from March 28th. If you want to see the full credits, you can check it out here.

and these are some photos that DH took with our new DSLR last weekend, of me and my number one little fur-baby, Bonnie... LO was inspired by Jamie Waters' "This Floppy Hat" LO in the March issue of Creating Keepsakes. Full credits here.

Apart from that, nothing much new to share... I decided to dye my hair last night cos I was looking through photos from my Hens Night when my hair was a little bit darker. So, I went and got a hair dye from the shop, "Natural Light Golden Brown" was the name. So, I'm thinking that it sounds perfect, won't be too dark, just a nice change from blonde... well...

... turns out me & Clairol have very different ideas on what "Light Natural Golden Brown" actually is - LOL! That'll teach me to colour from a box... Ah well, a change is as good as a holiday, and it's growing on me... slowly - LOL! I keep getting a shock every time I look in the mirror...

Anyways, that's it for me this week. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Zoe

A New Home!

2007-04-15T13:38:00.000+10:00

Well, I thought it was time for a bit of a change, so I've moved my blog! Yay!! I absolutely hated my last blog - it'd take me a good hour to post anything because it'd freak out if I had too many pictures, etc, and it just wasn't functional for me... hence why I never posted - LOL! So, hopefully this one will be a lot easier to keep updated, and I'll be able to fulfil one of my New Years Resolutions (to blog more) - LOL!

So... first up I'd better get the business end of things sorted. I have a new kit in store this week, and I have to say I'm so excited about this one! It just seemed to come together so nicely, and I'm really happy with how it turned out:

You can check out My Sunshine HERE

... and because I just couldn't stop on this one, and kind of to celebrate my new blog, I've created a little goodie for you guys! This little kit will co-ordinate perfectly with the My Sunshine Kit, but is pretty cute on it's own too!

You can grab the My Little Sunshine Freebie HERE

Now, onto other things... Those of you who know me already know that my DH and I are expecting our first baby in August - yay! I seriously can't wait, and to make things even better, it turns out that according to my size, etc, my due date has actually been moved forward 2 weeks!! So, it's looking like Christmas might come even earlier for us this year! I just can't wait to meet this little person... it's funny, I get all teary thinking about giving them a cuddle, changing nappies, etc - LOL! I'm sure that'll wear off after a couple of weeks of actually changing nappies - LOL! I think it's just hit me that we will actually have a real baby soon... I think because I'm starting to show now so it all seems a bit more real. And, can I say what a relief to finally look pregnant instead of just fat?!?

After months of saving my designing money, and procrastination on my part, and then finally deciding that I earnt it, so I can spend it - LOL - I finally bought myself a Digital SLR!! Woohoo!! I'm absolutely terrified of the thing, but it is so nice to use!! I'm still used to my old film SLR, and macro lenses, so this one's taking a bit of getting used to. I think I'm so used to not wanting to "waste" film, that I've been holding off on taking a lot of photos... but hey, I can take hundreds now and delete what I want! Marty isn't so afraid of it and took some really nice photos last weekend. I think he's a better photographer than me, although I won't tell him that - LOL! I'll share some next time when I've downloaded them off the camera :)

Anyhow, that pretty much brings me up to date for the last little while... it's a bit sad huh? I really need to get myself a life - LOL!

Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!