A new month & new challenge at Scrap Jacked!

I have absolutely no idea where that last month went ... it very much passed in a blur of work & cyclone Yasi claims & I'm hoping that this month will be a lot easier!

So, the 5th means that our new Scrap Jacked challenge is revealed & this is mine ... I hope you like it!

It has been so wonderful to see all the gorgeous entries at Scrap Jacked.  For some reason, I have trouble leaving comments on some blogs so please don't think that I haven't visited if I haven't left you a comment.  I absolutely have & love checking out all the "jacks".  Can't wait to see what you all create again this month :).

Cyclone Yasi & a new challenge at Scrap Jacked

Where to begin?  It's been a HUGE week ...

This time last week we watched as Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi was making a beeline for Far North Queensland.  On Wednesday morning, my birthday, we woke to the news that Yasi was now a Category 5 with warnings of huge risk to lives & property.  Needless to say, we quickly made the decision to pack the kids & the cat into our car & drive away.  It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make ... leaving behind our loved ones & our home.  I was so incredibly relieved to get a phone call from my Dad to say that they were all safe & sound.

We left our car behind & managed to catch a plane on Friday getting home after midnight.  Whilst my town has suffered damage, it is the towns only 40kms south of us that have been truly devastated.

As I type this, we have our power back on & the phones are working again.  My daughter's school reopened today, even though they have no power, tarps on the roof & water damaged classrooms ... but it feels good to be home.  Thank you to everyone for your messages & prayers ... let's just hope that Queensland & the rest of Australia gets a break for a long time!

On a much happier note, our February challenge is now up at Scrap Jacked.  We had such an amazing response to the first challenge & a huge congratulations to all the winners.  I can't tell you how hard it was to pick the winners!

Here's my February layout

Why not pop on over & check out our creations ... we would love to have you play along with us!

Scrap the Girls!

I've been a long time stalker of all the creative girls over at Scrap the Girls but this is the first time I've actually entered a challenge.  The January challenge is Summer Loving & all you have to do is scrap your favourite summer photos.  Here's mine ...  

The girls at Scrap Therapy have been keeping us busy using up our stash to make way for the goodies that Lee-Anne & Danny are sure to bring back from CHA.  We are into week two of four weeks of challenges so still plenty of time left to join in.  Why not check it out here!  This layout I did for Allie's week one sketch challenge.

Don't forget that there's only a few days left to enter our first challenge at Scrap Jacked.  We've had the most amazing response so far ... will we hit the 50 entries :)?

While the cat's away ...

the mice are playing over at Scrap Therapy!  Lee-Anne & Danny are away at CHA so the girls thought it would be a good idea to create some challenges to keep us busy & make some room in our stash for the yummy new products that they are sure to bring home.  Check it all out here!

Here's my card based on Helen's sketch ...

This week High Hopes is celebrating their 100th challenge with the theme "anything goes" ...

so I decided to make a card using my favourite baby stamp "Cuddle Cloud Baby" & Card Patterns sketch 98.  I was so excited to win the last High Hope's challenge "Party Animal" & I've already started stalking the Post Office for my three new stamps :)!

Lastly, here's one for CPS-Card Sketches' current sketch 201 ...

Don't forget that you still have a few days left to enter the January challenge over at Scrap Jacked!  Lots of yummy prizes up for grabs.

Stampin' Stuff!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile then you know how hugely addicted I am to High Hopes stamps ... well my "enabler" is the wonderful Amy from Stampin' Stuff & now she's released her very own limited edition  Stampin' Stuff collection called "Very Punny".  There are six to choose from & they are just gorgeous ... check them out here.  Amy's also released five background stamps ... these stamps are huge ... perfect for cards!

So would you like a chance to win some of these stamps?  Duh, silly question LOL!!!  Head to Stampin' Stuff's blog to find out how.

So have you ...

played along with Scrap Jacked yet?  We've all been so excited with the response so far & it's only been five days since our first challenge went up :).

It's so easy to be in the running to win a fabulous prize ... simply find some inspiration in one of the DT's creations & scraplift it in the form of a card/layout/OTP ... easy peasy, right?  Just check out the fabulous jack Deb did of my card ...

Deb's used the basis of my card as a sketch for her layout & was inspired by the sentiment "may your day be filled with sparkles & sunshine".  Check out the challenge comments for the links to all the other amazing entries.  Beautiful work girls!

Housework ... what housework?!!

I've been making the most of these last few weeks without routine, before I go back to work & my princess starts school.  We've been having tonnes of fun taking photos for my photo a day project ... you've got to check out ShutterCal!  It's not too late to start :).

So here's what I've been doing with my time ...

The current challenge at High Hopes is "party animal" so I made a card using "Gift Givin' Gavin" ... he look like he's off to a birthday party with his pile of presents :).

The excitement is building ... this Tuesday High Hopes are celebrating the release of their 100th challenge with a blog hop, mega prizes & guest Divas.  I've posted the link in my side bar ... just click on it to check it all out!

I've also been finding inspiration over at Challenge Masters ...

This challenge was all about altering a "container" using fabric & ribbon.

I've altered a recipe box ... the top has been covered with fabric & the rest of it is patterned paper that I've had in my stash forever.  I've also altered the dividers inside so that I can write down the details of challenges ... now I'll never be stuck for ideas again.

The Scrap that Tune challenge was to use any of the lyrics of "Fame" as your title so here's what I came up with ...

There's been lots of chatter at Scrap Therapy recently about our "word" for the new year.  I've never had a word before, but as soon as Kristy said that her's was CONNECT, I just got it!!!  Sometimes it feels like PND has stolen parts of the last two years so this word is exactly what I want out of this year ... to connect with my family & friends, my life & work, with all the everyday moments!  So here it is ... a canvas that now holds pride of place where I can see it all the time.  Thanks Kristy for inspiring me xx

So if you made it to the very end, congratulations LOL!  See what I mean about housework, what housework?!!