Check these out.

Yesterday I was given these gorgeous roses by my lovely neighbour.


Their perfume is intoxicating and has spread through every room in the house.

I have been making Christmas bunting to sell at our cultural association's Gallery Day next weekend and the Christmas Twilight Markets in early December.

Unfortunately this photo doesn't do it justice. They are 3 metres long and made from a variety of Christmas fabrics, with each Christmas tree being double sided.

Here are some close ups:



What do you think?

Retreat

Last weekend I attended the Scrapbooking Premiere retreat in Mackay with my sisters Lea and Wendy, lovely friend Shaz and 32 other keen scrapbookers. We had a wonderful weekend, with so much fun and laughter...not forgetting learning new techniques.

Not a bad loooking lot are we?


Michelle taught us how to make our own embellishments from clay doing both free hand and using moulds. She even showed us how to make our own moulds! It is soooo easy and sooo much fun. We used white clay which was baked, then painted and dusted with Perfect Pearls. Don't you just love the overall effect? The little handmade roses were a challenge but we soon got the hang of them. The leaves and lockets were made with the help of a mould.

Here is my finished layout...a photo of my sisters and I taken about 2 years ago.


Our OTP challenge was this tissue box. We glued tissue paper roughly on the top, creating lots of texture. The side of the box were painted with gesso and then stamped.

The flower is cut from canvas paper, then stamped and painted.


Thea had a card class using paper serviettes.

As you can see, we did some 3D layering on our cards and added a flower bouquet.

There was a double layout challenge, which unfortunately I didn't get finished. We could only use what was in the challenge pack as well as embellishments that were in our freebie pack. The challenge packs were in pink and brown or apricot and brown. My original photos didn't suit the papers so I was on the phone to Craig and Kathryn to scan some pics for me....I knew exactly which photos I wanted.

Sandra did a quilling class. While I completed the quilling, I haven't put the layout together as it's very girly...and I have a houseful of boys!

At dinner on the Saturday night, there was a crazy glasses competition. One of the staff from the resort was the impartial judge.

Here we are in our crazy glasses.

Lea was declared the lucky winner.

Thanks for Sandra, Thea, Michelle and Kristy for such a fantastic week.

Christmas Baubles

This afternoon I finished off the Christmas baubles I have made....and thanks to the hot glue, a couple of my fingers are rather tender!
As you can see I have quite an array of colours (this is not all of them) and every bauble has either gold or silver,4 short strings of pearl like beads, and a gold or silver cord with which to hang the ornaments.





As well as the 75mm round baubles, I have also covered bell shapes and oval shapes. They will make a gorgeous addition to your Christmas ornament collection.

The round baubles sell for $10 ea and the bell and oval for $7.50 (with postage extra).

If you are interested in these and would like to know more and see all the colours, please feel free to contact me.

This afternoon I got a call on the 2way..." Put your camera in a plastic bag and I'll be there in a few minutes to pick you up!" As I headed out the back gate, I heard Nathan call "Better buckle up Mum 'cos I'm driving!" Nah.....didn't need my seatbelt but I know why the camera needed to be in a plastic bag...mud was sent flying in all directions!


First we headed to the house dam

and its backwater.

On the way we noticed the creek channel down the back was runnning very well....it's usually dry.


What a start for the summer!

Wet, wet, wet!

Would you believe we've had more rain?? We measured just over 2 inches this morning....add that on to the 3 inches we had last week! It's wet like you wouldn't believe! Nathan is having a wonderful time playing in the mud.

What an incredible year it has been....the rain that began in January has hardly let up! Our annual average is 19 1/2 inches (500mm). We are already up to 30 1/2 inches (775mm) to date and that includes one dry month and another with only 50pts!

I scrapped on Wednesday and Thursday...my first layout since July and I had so much fun with it. The photo is from a swap for a retreat.

World Teachers Day

Did you know it's World Teachers Day on October 29? Nathan was asked to make a card for his teacher on behalf of all of his classmates. While at it, we made some more for other staff members who play a vital in our school and Nathan's education.

Flooded River

These photos are of our flooded Barcoo River yesterday. In the first photo you can see where the bridge is situated and how close the waters got to the main street.

This view is from a little further downstream

The golf course.
This morning the water level was 1.37m over the bridge and still rising.

A lovely lady by the name of Helen took these photos.