oh dear!

i just got an email saying its not gonna be announced till thursday. sorry bout that!!! so now u have to wait till then :)

but just cos people are here today i thought i would pass on a tip!!!! i love to sometimes use non-mainstream brands/designers cos its so much fun to try something new!!! and for this reason i love etsy.

i have found my #1 favourite etsy girl - Nicole Lombardo. ive purchased heaps of diecuts off this girl and ive used a few already in projects I am yet to share. Her postage is SO cheap!!!! ive paid less to get her product sent from overseas then its cost me to get Aussie stuff!!!!! its like $2 for the first item and then 10c for every other item.

Nicole's diecuts are so unique and beautiful.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5211621

Ive used some of her diecuts for the KDD Minialbum class next weekend. So if you have a kit for that then you will get to try her out :)

here is my fav of hers i have purchased so far: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15276277 I got it in black and its fabbo!!

So there is the tip - is that a good enough replacement to the other news?!?!?? its the best i can do! :)

But the giveaway is still scheduled for Saturday - so every comment before then counts :)

Giveaway!

its been so long since ive given something away on this blog i thought i may as well do one this week :) ive got lots of announcements and stuff to share at the moment and I think there will be something new each day. so why not couple this with some goodies?!?

tomorrow i will have something super-duper exciting!!! I have been given an amazing opportunity to be a part of something for a short while and Im not allowed to share till tomorrow. ive been sitting on this one for awhile now :) and I cant announce the prize until u know whats going on!

so the prize will be announced tomorrow.

but the opportunity to join in starts now :D every comment made on each post made from today till saturday will go in the draw to win some FAB goodies from an awesome company :D Entries close Saturday night 8pm AEST.

Cyas tomorrow!!! :D

I guess you could say ive been in better moods!

I got home today from my wedding trip and i came home to housework and a grumpy hubby. ive been gone for 2 nights and the only thing he did while i was away was one load of dishes yesterday. i make such an effort every single day to make sure the house is SPOTLESS at 4.30pm when he comes home from work. i vacuum every afternoon without fail, i put away all the toys even if i know the kids will get them back out, dinner is started most of the time, and the kids are always bathed. i just want troy to walk into a clean house, even if 30 mins later its got toys everywhere again.

i had a very busy weekend away on my own which i NEVER do .... and i come home to housework. the kitchen bin was full to the brim, the laundry basket was overflowing, todays dishes were still there to be washed, liams toys were out, he hadnt even opened half the windows to the house today. and the first thing he said to me when i walked in the door was a complaint about how i had come back into town in the afternoon and now we couldnt spend time together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i had stayed in mackay for an extra 2 hours so that i could spend time with my uncles and aunties who i never ever see. and i mean never! this was the second time i EVER remember seeing them in my whole life!!!! so i think that is sooo important. im never get to see any of my extended family and always felt that i missed out.

and then after making me feel bad for spending time with family he notices i bought a new belt (you know those wide ones that you wear high on your waiste) and this is how he tells me hes noticed it ... "what is that around your waiste?!??" with a screwed up face. how rude!

anyways, id better stop whinging before i get carried away! haha.

it just kinda wasnt the night i thought it would be.

But onto better topics!! here is a layout i did recently for me :) I love this pic of my little angel.




And how cool is this!!! my first magazine article!!!! :D wooohooo!! Check out this month's Scrapbook Creations if you havent already and you will find an article about embellishing boys layouts written by me. It was trippy reading the words "Karen Day reports ...". If you have the mag and read the article, I hope u liked it!!! It was alot of fun to do. Kinda felt like i was at school again writing an essay! Here are the layouts I did for it.


(when i photographed this i didnt realise the "L" had fallen off)




Thanks for looking!!!! Check back tomorrow for something exciting :D

Scrapboxx newsletter update

hey all!

sorry ive been MIA. i was in mackay mending for 10 days - then when i came back to moranbah i was here for literally a few days then was back in mackay for my sister's hens night. i cant believe my little sis is getting hitched. here i am on the left, with my sis Kat who is getting married in the centre and my other sister Jen on the right.


I organised the night, which was hard work!! there was 30-something ladies there and we booked out a function room for the event. ever tried organising games for 30 people?!? just as well they behaved themselves. it made it easier :)



Scrapboxx Newsletter

In other news, I have something to share with you. The latest Boxx newsletter came out while I was away and I had some projects in there. Check out the whole newsletter here - it was such a great newsletter!!!! It always takes me so long to read them because there is always so much to see.

I made these wooden letters for two of the kids friends. Getting in early for Christmas! yay!




And I also made this minialbum for Fathers Day. Its got quotes and convos with Brianna about how she feels about Troy. She says the funniest things sometimes!! love it! So I packaged it all up in this Scrapware minialbum. Its a fun album cos all the pages are different shapes (heart, star, scalloped semicircle) and also different textiles. I also used some of my latest KDD on the front cover.










Well - thats all for today. Im off for a nap cos Liam has TWO middle ear infections and an inflamed throat. so I was up heaps lastnight looking after him. I had about three hours sleep. so i need my nanna-nap :)

ive been scrapping and will have some more shares tomorrow - I just have to photograph it so its ready to upload. So check back tomorrow for that!

i know ive been slack lately, so hopefully u girls are still checking back here :D

Oral surgery

hey - im rushing off to hospital to get my wisdom teeth out now!

wish me luck!!! the surgery is in 25 mins :D


mwah mwah!

*sob*sob*

something very exciting arrived in my mailbox today and i cant share the news with you ... sob sob!!!

it makes it not as much fun when u cant share your good news with friends - i have to wait till mid-september! boooo!


;)

Shares = YaY! :)

see - i wasnt fibbing! I have some stuff to share :) This is proof ive been doing stuff! haha

Here are a couple of sneaks into two projects Im not quite allowed to share yet: ;)



so check back latas if you wanna see what that is all about!


And here is something I am allowed to share:

Some super-duper quick cards I whipped up ...



And a layout about Liam. I love the way his fingers are all over the keys in this pic. Its so him. He adores visiting grandad so he can play on his piano. My dad is an amazing classical pianist. I love to hear him play church music when he decides to grace me with a 'performance' :)


I took the distressing a step further than normal for me and i distressed the photo with the point of my scissors. Here is a closeup of the technique if anyone wants to try it out.

Im planning a scrappy night tomorrow which will be fun :) then Im off to Mackay for all of next week for my dental surgery - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk. soooooo scarey!!!!

booooo i hate dentists .... so i wonder if a 'surgeon' will be much better??!?!???? dont think so!

anyone have any NICE stories about getting wisdom teeth out??!? if its scarey stories filled with pain i dont wanna hear them haha.

i promise ...

that i will get back to blogging more.

ive been feeling a bit busy lately with non-scrapping stuff and ive been missing my 'therapy'. ive been doing some scrapping and have three things to share - including a minialbum. im rushing out the door now but i promise i will be back at around lunchtime with something. :)

i feel so happy tonight ...

im not sure why ... but i just do!

i love friday nights cos they always are followed with saturday morning. i love saturday morning even more than friday nights cos troy is home and we always take the kids for a walk through town square for some morning tea. then we go to the park or library for some family time.

i love it so much! plus i am SO in need of a chai latte - im gonna get the biggest one EVER tomorrow. bliss.

yesterday i took some piccies of my beautiful friend talia. she is 8 months preggers and ive edited a couple of the photos. this was my fav one:

if u wanna see all of them ull have to go to the photography blog. she is so gorgeous!!!!



a couple of shares:

a layout i did for the boxx a few weeks ago :) using my new KDD.





and a layout that is in the latest SC. i love this pic of MissB! :)

i am so bad!

ive been sooo not scrapping which is totally unlike me! but i am planning a scrapfest tonight so hopefully i will have shares for tomorrow :)

in other news ive been busy planning my next KDD class which will be online as well as offline this time (yay!), taking photos of local real estate for sale, booking in and organising family and maternity photoshoots (in two weeks ive gone from just starting a business to being booked up till NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!), planning my sister's hens night, getting ready to be her matron of honor, designing invites for my baby neice's 1st birthday, designing new Scrapware, designing for Scrapboxx, stressing over my teeth surgery taking place at end of August .... and looking after sick kids!!!!!!!!!!!

wow im exhausted just writing that list!!! never mind living it! haha

i promise ill have shares soon. scrapbooking is my de-stresser and i love it. my heart always wants it when Im feeling like im lacking in "time off".

luv yas always - even if i neglect you!!!

kristy's photoshoot

so excited! i got to photograph kristy's wonderful family over the weekend at a cute little cattle station. it was a PERFECT location and was so beautiful and peaceful!

so far im not even halfway through editing and ive got 25 gorgeous photos done. so it looks like u will have 50+ photos from this shoot kristy! :D

check the photo blog for a few sneak peaks :)

http://karendayphotography.blogspot.com/

my first digi scrapping attempt!!!

i saw on the aussie pub calls blog the other day a competition for digiscrapping and thought i would give it a go cos of the awesome prize!!!

here is my entry with more info about the credits and etc: click here

i wanted to do a layout made completely from non-digiscrap-kit-stuff. i found a great site called Urban Dirty and ive used one of their textures and turned it into a page background with alot of cropping and editing to make it more urban and grungy. this is the one i used:


and then i used some cool fonts that i found for free at 1001freefonts.com and some urban brushes ive had for awhile.

i tell ya what - talk about using alot of layers!!!!! i ended up having 20-something layers with this file. but it was so much fun. im definitely gonna stick to paper-scrapping. but this was a nice way to waste a couple of hours on the computer :) it was some nice 'down time' for me.

wish me luck in the comp!!!! the entries close midnight 31st july Tokyo time.

it looks a bit gammin small, so click on it to see all the details if u wanna.

This is the prize on offer: Bamboo Fun Tablet - Medium

sweet!!!!!!! i doubt ill win cos there are some pretty amazing layouts on there! and this is my first try at it. but oh well. doesnt hurt to try!!!!


************************

in other scrappy news a french scrapper friend of mine - Sophie - has started off a free scrapbooking online magazine with monthly editions. this month is the first month avail in ENGLISH as well!! and it has an exclusive interview with THE tim holtz. so if u wanna go check it out here is the link to download. u will see the english version is the last link on the page:

http://www.scrapea.com/Zine/download.php

this is the site for the free e-zine .... but its all in french so i have no idea what it says haha

http://www.scrapea.com/

was a fun read :D congrats sophie!!!! i havent heard of this before :)

getting ready for tonight!!!

got any blogs u can recommend? send them to me via email - karen (at) tkday (dot) net - as Im going through to find the most inspirational, fun and creative blogs out there in aussie and international cyberspace :)

and i am STUCK on the playlists for tonight!!! So if you have a song/band you like listening to head on over let me know! :)

KDD BlogParty - Starting at 8PM tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

still sick .... so still scrappin

I know - two posts in one day! its a miracle! but im still sick so ive been scrapping while troy runs around after the kids. a couple of weeks ago brianna and i built a little herb garden in pots. its raining today so the photo of the layout isnt the best. but i think the herb garden must have gotten washed away because it hasnt stopped raining in three whole days. not one bit of sunshine. so ill find out over the next few days if it is still next to the cubby house or not! i hope it is!


I included a list of the herbs we planted (and yes i know rocket isnt a herb but that plant was on special so we grabbed it). :)


All this scrapping is making me feel better!

Playing with new stuff ...

Im sick today. So ive been shut in the bedroom with strict orders to stay here!

Here is a layout i did lastnight for the KDD blog using the new stuff:




Don't forget to come along to the BlogParty on Friday night :)

Something interesting happened to me. I used to submit to SM all the time. like - ALL the time. but they never ever once accepted a layout. so i stopped subbing to them over a year ago. then i decided the other day that i may as well try again - so subbed 4 layouts. got acceptances for 3. but SC already snapped up one so I am only sending into SM 2 of the layouts.

whats the moral of the story??? dont give up subbing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all u girls who sub and dont get acceptances dont do what i did and stop!

i was shocked to say the least :) yay my first SM acceptances!