tummy

ok, so here it is! i was always so determined to take regular belly shots (to scrapbook of course), but haven't been at all inspired to actually do it. i think i'm just going through that stage where i feel really frumpy and unattractive! i'm still squeezing into my normal clothes - my lowest hipsters still fit, and long tops. i'm going to have to make the switch to some maternity stuff soon, but it's all so dreadful! i'm going to go to myer this afternoon to try to find some ordinary long tops. anyway... i digress...


it's funny, i don't feel as big as i look in those photos. it terrifies me when i see very pregnant people - i just can't believe my tummy will ever stretch that far! i'm hoping i have my mum's good genes - she never got any stretch marks through either pregnancy.

had to pack all my scrapping stuff away on saturday as rog had a heap of friends over for a bbq. told myself i would leave it all packed away until i got back from sydney, but now i really feel like scrapping. grrrr. maybe i can just make a little mess and pack it up right away...

i discovered that scrapabout australia in sydney is having it's 1st birthday sale while i'm up there. wonder if i can convince my non-scrapping friends to drop in there on saturday?! i don't know that we'll have time, but i don't know that i can resist 20% off! anyone know if it will be worth the detour?

better go and put my groceries away - i don't mind grocery shopping, but i hate the putting away bit at the other end!

holidays!

yay! i'm on holidays. and it seems that in the past couple of posts i have forgotten how to use capital letters. LOL. oh, there's some!!

i have all next week off, and i so need it! we didn't have any time off over christmas, and i think i kind of underestimated the importance of annual leave! luckily i have some up my sleeve, and have a few weeks planned here and there. i'm looking forward to a nice few days at home; catching up, cleaning, scrapping. then on wednesday i head up to sydney for four days. haven't been to sydney since i was 12, so looking forward to it.

spent tonight at the shops with rog. nice to wander around, eat food court dinner, more pancakes for dessert. and home by 8.30. that's my kind of night! i must be getting old. hoping to do a bit of scrapping tonight. now that my contract with for keeps is up, i'm looking forward to subbing stuff to other mags and doing some more for myself. all fun.

going to head into the city tomorrow night to check it out while the games are still on. apparently there's lots to see at the moment - the fish lit up on the yarra, live entertainment. i do love the city. i loved going to uni right in melbourne. queen vic market just down the road, all the shops, the trams, the cafes, the huge buildings. i remember coming home from london and wandering around melbourne really appreciating it. love where i live.

oh, before you go, check out my last post, cos blogger finally let me upload pics from last sunday's meet up.

quick rundown

wow... have i really not blogged in that long? naughty me. little to tell... struggling through work days, counting down the weeks of work left (17 to go, minus 3 weeks of annual leave), watching my tummy grow, enjoying the very occasional little kick, being very, very tired, scrapping what i have to...

thinking about entering the chatterbox make it meaningful contest. might as well. just need to think of something meaningful. not easy when the baby has stolen my brain.

one week until i head off to sydney with a couple of girlfriends. looking forward to that, but more looking forward to the week off. almost wishing i could just stay at home and sleep!

met up with some of the scrapboxx girls at chadstone on sunday. was in honour of Zina who was visiting some friends in melbourne and suggested a meet up. i was a little reluctant - i'm generally not good meeting a whole lot of people i don't know in one hit! but then brooke said she was going, then nic... and how could i not go when meeting these two girls was on the cards!

brooke and i had agreed to meet separately so we could face the masses together, but she ended up picking zina up and running a little late, so i bravely approached the cafe alone. thankfully the girls already had their albums spread out on the table, so i was pretty sure i was in right place! brooke arrived a couple of minutes later with lou and zina, and nic turned up shortly after. by this stage we had outgrown the cafe and moved down to the pancake parlour (omg, the bacon, eggs and pancakes were *the best*).

both zina and brooke were sleep-deprived and maybe a little hung over, poor chickens, but managed to keep up with the chatting. albums were passed around, and it was so good to see them irl. i only really have one scrapping friend, so don't often get to talk scrapping with people who *get it*.

***blogger seems to be having a tanty and won't upload pics, so i'll have to add them later***
edited to add photos once blogger started behaving itself again...


this is all of us! back row: nic, jane, sarah, kim, brooke, me. front row: ros, zina, charmaine, lou



i obviously don't have Rach'sknack of this kind of pic because this is not at all flattering to my or brooke's chin. brooke is a gorgeous girl, and i'm so glad we met at last! her album is amazing - she has such a great knack of doing 8.5x11 doubles (hope it rubbed off) and her pages are so well composed. perfect! i heard a rumour that she might be teaching some classes at one of my local scrap shops, too...



and this is the lovely nic and i. nic may or may not have been pinching my ass at the time. if she wants me to come and visit her in Moe (LOL, i mean, Warrigal...) she had better start being nicer to me ;o) loved looking through nic's album too - i wanna handstitch like nic! brilliant stuff.

after lots of pancakes and chatting, people started leaving. i was absolutely exhausted! headed to borders with nic to pick up creating keepsakes and have a bit more of a chat. i've gotta say, nic, that i was on my best behaviour, and will most definitely be more cheeky the next time we meet ;o) i also got to meet amber, lovely boss girl at scrap to the max, who had come for the ride with nic. hopefully will be able to head over to moe for a crop soon!! love to sit and chat with those girls more! we hit smiggle, but were unusually good and didn't buy anything.

despite being completely inspired by people's albums, i was so exhausted when i got home that all i could manage was popping out for some pizzas and lying on the couch reading.

i now have 3 hours before i have to leave for work... i could a) do the vacuuming and some other random housework, or b) go sit at my scrap desk (lol, i mean my dining room table) and wait for inspiration to strike...

laters :o)

Labour Day

I love public holidays. The only problem now is that I don't work Mondays anymore, so I'm not getting paid for not working like I usually do. Bugger, hey?

Been lazing around this morning. Reading. Drinking tea. Got a new video from my friends in the states of their gorgeous twins. Now six months old after being born at 27 weeks. It was touch and go for a long time. Sunny is still on oxygen and lots of medication. They think she is totally deaf. Jaz is a precious, tiny, perfect six month old. I sobbed watching it. So gorgeous. So much love.

Yesterday, I scrapped. No pressure, just decided to go simple. Inspired by Roz and Nic to tone it down and get some of my fave pics scrapped. And stitching inspired by Keisha Campbell. Love what some simple stitching can do to a page. And white space is so freeing. LOL.



Need to do some cleaning today. And some grocery shopping. Not feeling up to it, but will feel better once it's done! Happy Labour Day (what is that about, anyway??!!)

Return of the tag

Wow. Seems a while since I had a tag, but the precious Rach got me (AGAIN!) and it was probably a good thing too, cos I haven't blogged in AGES! Still love the blog (and still love reading everyone else's), just find I haven't had the time to put a decent effort in. Anyways, here's the tag:

What scrapbook lines/products, etc. do you dislike?
Ooh. This is really hard. I like most things in moderation. To be broad, I struggle with heritage style products, I suppose.

What is the hardest thing you have ever had to scrap?
I avoid hard things.

What technique do you use more than anything else?
Mmmm... Same as most - inking and machine sewing since I got my beautiful Janome :o)

What is the smallest scrap of paper you save?
At least 2 inches square. I'm over scraps.

Have you ever had any scrapbook related injuries?
Stiff neck. Eye strain. Cutters finger (just made up that injury...)

Finish this sentence, “If I wasn’t a scrapbooker/stamper, I would
spend my money on…”
Clothes, stuff for the house, going out for dinner... I miss those things.

Give us your best storage or organizational idea.
Snap lock bags. Love em.

You just won a week long scrapbooking cruise for 5. Who is going with
you?
I'm with Rach - five just wouldn't be enough. Would have to be my best scrapping buddy Mel, and some of my on-line scrapping friends who I would love to meet IRL (i.e. Rach, Roz, Nicole, Nat and... dammit, run out of spots). Hard question.

When you received your first publication notification, who did you
tell? And if you are not yet pubbed, who will be the first person you
share the news with?
Think I told Rog first, then messaged Mel. Probably told my mum too.

Haven't done any scrapping this week. Been busy. Got about 30 layouts back from FK, but can't show any until they've been published. So funny to get them all back. Makes me think I really need to buy some albums so I don't just have piles of layouts. Want some three-ringed binders. So over post-bound. LOL.

On the preggers front, not much action. Little tummy but nothing to speak of. No kicks. 17 weeks on Monday. Time still going very slowly! Still struggling with insomnia. And heartburn. But feeling much better.

Have heaps to do so better get cracking! Another hot day in Melbourne - making me sleepy!

Antsy

Long time no post, AGAIN! Wish I could blog from work... Anyways.

Have been feeling a little anxious lately. Just mildly. I'm thinking that's pretty normal during pregnancy - especially the first time round. Just keep thinking that something's wrong with the baby. I suppose I'm in that stage where I don't feel pregnant at all. The nausea has mostly gone, I've not got a baby belly (much), and apart from my wonderful cleavage (LOL), I feel very normal. So it was a big relief to go to my midwife appointment yesterday and have her tell me everything is fine! Although, I still have a hard time believing it. She wasn't going to try the doppler for a heartbeat, but I convinced her that the doctor had found it at 11 weeks. So she gave it a shot, and found a nice strong, fast heartbeat within ten seconds. Lovely. Felt for the uterus and found the top of it up near my belly button which suprised me. It's getting big! Apparently bubs is about 6 inches from head to toe now. I checked out my 12 week ultrasound report, and it said I had an anterior placenta, which will cushion bub's movements, so I might not feel definite movements for another couple of weeks. I sometimes get the sensation of something going on in there, but nothing definite yet. Can't wait.

Change of subject... all of this amazing new scrapbooking product arriving is making me very inspired! I just want to shop and create. Seem to have been very busy lately and not had time to do much, but looking forward to having a big night of scrapping tomorrow night with Mel, and maybe Caitlin. Got my new package from Bumblebee this week, and am about halfway through my three projects. The patterned paper was more my style this time, and it's lots easier to work with. Because they advertise in a stamping mag too, one of our projects needs to involve stamping. Although I started out with stamping (a LONG time ago!!) I really struggle with it. I just can't seem to get creative with it. Have to have a good think this weekend!

Better go and do something constructive with the rest of my morning off. Only five hours of work this afternoon, and my weekend begins! Yay! Happy Friday :o)