Purple Pumpkin and Top 50 Challenges

Last weekend, I had a little play with the Purple Pumpkin sketch challenge, using some bits from their yellow and grey embellishment kit, not sure why it took me a week to post it here {oops}.

This weekend I had a little play with Sarah's April Fools challenge over at Top 50. Look here it is, posted on the same day I did it {that'll never happen again...}.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to face the week :)

Mojo booster

Over Top 50 Vicki decided to set a mojo boost challenge - she wanted to shift some of the supplies on her desk so she challenged herself and us to create a LO using only stuff that was lying around. I had a corner rounder, a Heidi Swapp distresser, a Charm's Creation star and a Purple Pumpkin car button. Here's what I came up with: Angus and his cousin out cruising the shops with Grandma.

 This one was for Ant's rectangle challenge - yep still loving this size - it's a rectangle!

And this one is the first April sketch at wp - sketch + stars

Now off you go and eat some chocolate :)

Easter cards

About six months ago I started in a new role within my organisation, I'm still not sure what my team think of me (they're a tough crowd) but every day this week I've gone to work to discover a new chocolate offering on my desk. So, either these people are really into Easter or they've finally accepted me as one of their own. Either way it's been a chocolate bonanza :)

This is some of what I found...

Yum! I decided to thank them with some cards (and some chick eggs). Here's what I came up with:

And some close ups.

I think they liked them :)

Have a wonderful Easter and do eat too much chocolate - I intend to!

Purple Pumpkin Giveaway

Ooh  would I would very much like to win this prize...

And I bet you would too, visit Purple Pumpkin's blog for more details.

Tough enough?

It's been a tough week for a variety or reasons, none of them big when faced alone but added up they threatened to topple me. I wibbled and I wobbled but just in the nick of time my sense of humour returned and I regained my balance and with it my ability to cope.

So this week if I was going to give any advice it would be - don't visit your issues upon someone else. If you're doing it tough don't start name calling and foot stamping in the hope that everyone else will feel as terrible as you, you risk becoming a bad person and it makes everyone else sad, it doesn't matter if you're 17, 31 or 50 the same rules apply.

I witnessed some truly awful behaviour this week from a variety of sources and it did make me sad. It also struck me as ironic that some of the nastiest, most vocal people then had the gall to suggest they had been wronged and that everyone is judging them. Hello pot, this is kettle calling!

Perhaps my other piece of advice would be grow up! The strangest part was that the behaviours were being mirrored in both my professional and personal life - further proof that being a manager and the mother of teenagers requires the same crisis management and negotiation skills oh, and a thick skin...

Ok, climbing down from my soapbox now. In amongst the chaos and the tears I spent some time scrapping. I entered a couple of the challenges for Top 50s' Shape Up cc and here they are:

This one was for Sue's cross training challenge - use the sketch provided and three different shaped embellies. This LO looks pretty simple, I used some new basic grey papers - lovely rich colours and a little Purple Pumpkin elephant button, but the story attached to its creation is what makes it special.

Zoe loves these elephant buttons and she went through all of my buttons to find one as she was sure it was just what my LO needed. Funny girl, but I think she was right! She and I spent ages trying to come up with a title and I think Cake Stars works just fine. These two girls are so good for Zoe, they remind her that life isn't all about homework! (Or least they did today when they produced a movie ticket for her and removed her from her computer - they are definitely not the girls I was referring to in my little diatribe.)

Oh and Angus decided to give a me cuddle while I was journalling so a couple words look a little odd but the cuddle was well worth it :)

This next one is Vicki's going in circles challenge - use circles and masking. When visiting Wendy Smith's blog I chanced upon a couple of LOs she'd done using circle punches to make a mask. I loved how it looked and was dying to give it a go. This challenge couldn't have been more perfect.

All the embellies on this LO are from A Lil' Somethin' - I'm loving their latest kits.

These photos appeared on my camera after I left it on the table. Probably not Rob's best angle but he really should have expected me to scrap it. The funniest part is there was also a photo of Zoe but she very sensibly refused to pull a silly face - not Angus - he takes after his father!

Thanks for stopping by, I love it when you leave a comment - makes my day and reassures me I'm not talking to myself. Be kind to yourself and those around you - good karma makes the world a happier place :)

Monday Sketch Day

I'm a bit weary today. I had a fabulous time at the Relay for Life, even the fact that it rained for 5 hours during the night, including while was walking, did not dampen my spirits. I walked about 75 laps so that's a grand total of 30kms. I thought that wasn't a bad effort but Angus thinks I should done more - next time he can come along and walk in the rain :) Zoe has no idea how far she walked but she assures me it was further than me...of course!

Now, onto the sketchy examples! I've used lots of different MVBs on each of them.

First of it all it would appear I didn't share the last February sketch so here it is.

Sketch + red

Now, onto March. Sketch + family (Zoe had a great time getting this pump working).

Sketch + paint (I remembered to use it this time).

Sketch + distressing (I'm really liking this size at the moment).

Sketch + green (A photo of Angus with his assignment that he got an A+ for, it was only last year but he's grown so much since then).

Here's another one in the same size that I did for Ant's challenge over at Top 50. The title is a bit hard to read but it says Adrenalin Junkies :)

And this last one was a blind scrap that Hannah ran over at WP. It's Zoe and Angus emerging from in the OGO ball after they'd rolled down the hill.

And that's it! Catch you next time :)

Relay for Life

Like many of you my life has been touched by cancer far too often. It's time we found a cure. So, in two weeks Zoe and I will join our friends in the Relay for Life. We'll remember my Dad and fallen friends but we will also walk in support of our friends who are navigating their cancer journey right now. If you'd like to support me in my quest, you can donate online via my fundraising page. A huge thank you in advance :)

I was lucky enough to attend Jules Shut Up and Scrap retreat recently. Oh what fun we had! My face is still sore from laughing so much :) I completed a dozen or LOs but sadly I don't have any to share as the weather has been truly foul since I got home. So foul in fact that my skylight sprang a leak and the bathroom ceiling caved in and to add insult to injury the backyard flooded too.

But I do have some pre-retreat LOs to share. This one was for Ant's cc challenge over at Scrapbooking Top 50 - used an altered book title and yellow. I chose The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants as the entire series is one of Zoe's favourites :)

This one was for Sarah's choose your own adventure challenge. My journalling is on the tag behind the photos and says: 'Angus and I love watching the player line up before the game. Each player pulls a ‘game face’ and then cracks up laughing. Angus has been practising his face for when he hits the big time. Watch out for this face on the big screen'.

And these are another couple of Challenge Heaven challenges.

My journalling is on the confidential card and it says: 'This is such a familiar sight, it's hard to remember what event caused this injury! Angus lives life fast and accidents happen...alot! Although you can't tell from this photo these backslabs are horrid. They're hot, they get incredibly dirty, the tape comes undone and you have to keep them dry. Oh, and the worst part? They STINK!'

And these were for SFS February challenges - some happy snaps from our NZ trip. Deb's colour challenge:

I think this one is probably my favourite, for Mal's colour challenge:

And that is probably far more LOs than you'd care to look at! Sorry if I've given you blog fatigue. I will try and post more frequently - not sure I'll actually achieve that goal though lol. Thanks for stopping by!