Saturday, May 31, 2008
a shift with Sue and Amanda
1. she is a great nurse
2. very supportive
3. works hard and pitches in
4. she is a nice calming person to be around
5. she is a friend
6. SHE IS A SCRAPPER.
We do have very funny converstations and it isn't unusual for our shift to run something like this :
A: Sue can you come and help me turn Mrs X?
S : yep sure
(as we are doing it)
A: ooooooh i was in Leonies the other day and saw she had some new *insert exciting product*
(conversation that follows for the next 10 minutes is on new and exiting products)
S: Mr W needs some panadol Amanda.
A: Ok sure - am onto it..............oh hey did you see on the scraptac site they are having a massive sale?
(conversation follows on online sales and recent www purchases)
At coffee break
S: oooh i finished off my Rachael album!
A: omg did you? Where is it? Did you bring it in?
S: nope forgot to. (then promises to bring it next time)
A: well i bought some stuff to show off........(pulls out big bag overflowing with scrap stuff)
S: *eyes bulging* oh wowsers.
(next 20 minutes discussing bits and bobs in bag. Then analysing Sue's latest magazine she brought to flick through)
later on -
A: Can you do a set of obs on Mr P for me please?
S: yep sure.
A: *eyes glazed over* oh look at this graph paper (that we write obs on) ................ i can feel a page coming on
honestly i really love working with Sue. We have some fun times and i am certain that all the other nurses think we are totally nuts. Luv ya Sue *mwah*
batty on butterflies
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
:)Tiff's answer to Challenge 3
Amanda's page for challenge THREE
Hope all is well out there in blog land.
I have done a page on myself but didn't base it around the sketch - so kinda following the rules but kinda breaking them too (LOL typical!)
The main photo here is of Piper and the little one is of me.
also letting you know that i gave Maryanne and Sandra their prizes for challenge one tonight so hopefully we will see some amazing creations from their new bits!
Just adding here that i scraplifted this page from a girl called Tinkster whose page was awesome and inspiring!
get ready to laugh your butts off
No...I am not addicted to
alcohol or drugs or even sex (excuse me?)
but to the escape2create blog!
I know it's an addiction because I
HAVE to check it EVERY day!
To share - My little Patch
I just had to scrap it, and i used inspiration from a page that caught my eye in a creating Keepsakes - May 08. The colour of the duck egg blue and the red thickers got me in!!
Hope you like it too :)
Monday, May 26, 2008
a layout i thought might interest you all
i had to take a photo of it = the heart and pin really pop off the page so i cannot scan it properly without shadow and it looking crapola.
My inspiration came from a magazine's contents page - i just really liked how it was set out and thought that i could transfer that onto a page..... I changed a few things but really like the wide open spaces, even though there are three photos on here, journalling, a title and subtitle.
the journalling says -
45 scrappers
3 days
2 nights
5 scrap shops
1 venue
4 classes
1 photo talk
6 meals
44 new friends
7 pages done
3 hangovers
when can we do it again?
and before anyone asks - no i am not pregnant :) it was a freebie magazine from Kindy!
go scrap yourself
The prize pack is donated from Scrapworkz in Port Lincoln. Big thanks Leonie :D
Winner of Challenge 2
Well we did a random draw of all the people who entered our challenge and the winner is ...
I would like to thank my able assistant, Rohan for his help. The first photo shows him smiling ... terrific smile, not!! He did feel very important doing this job though!!
So Karen a prize will be winging its way to you soon. Congratulations!!
Now I know that Tiff has the next challenge ready to roll so without further adieu
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come on down Tiff!!
I hope that we can have more entries for challenge 3 - we were pleased with the number this time so keep on scrapping girls. Thank you too for the feedback about how much you are enjoying the challenges.
A little hint for the next challenge ... see Karen's entry into challenge 2!!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
val's fault
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Challenge 2 closing soon
This challenge will finish in one hour and then tomorrow we'll put the names in a hat and draw out a winner for our mystery prize!!
Stayed tuned for the winner!!
Then I think it is Tiff or Amanda or Sue's challenge time!! I have had a sneak chat with Tiff about her ideas and I reckon that they will be good to see!!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Paige's Page :)
which i took from the song affirmation by savage garden (thats written on the lil tag in the bottom right hand corner). I just picked out the ones that applied to me."
still banging out butterflies
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
still digging butterflies
The butterflies came from my daughter's scrunchie. Shh...Don't tell her, I think she had forgotten that she even had it. They have a mother of pearl lusture to them and I find them so perfect in so many LOs. I hand sewed one onto a bloom. I found these gorgeous hat pins in the Birch habadashery section at Spotlight in Whyalla. Who ever is there next, I know Amanda and Meredith want some of these.
Just thought I'd share it with ya.
:)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sandra's challenge creation
Sue's Page
On the page you will find, Cardstock, Patterned Paper, tag which has been stamped, labels, sticker - white lace & smile chip, rub-on- owl, heart brad and of course photo!
It is my first attempt of actually photographing a LO and sending it off - i cheated and sent to Amanda. Every little step is progress, they say!
Everyone's LO's are great!!
Sue
Challenge finish date
I think we will stop taking entries for the current challenge on Saturday 24th May 2008, at midnight.
Remember to e-mail them to the address at the top of the blog. Then Amanda can post them on the blog.
The prize ... yet to be decided!!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Challenge 2 layout
The journaling reads "After seeing the TV show you decided to dress up! Very scary! April 2008".
2 pieces of patterned paper , 1 tag, 1 label (from the Dymo label maker!!), 1 stamp, 1 sticker (my title letter stickers!), 1 rubon, 1 brad, 1 photo.
Keep those entries coming ... it's great to see all the interpretations!
Keep them coming!!
Well what a great early response!! The layouts are beautiful.
It makes the blog more attractive having something other than writing to look at too!! ;-)
I have yet to do my layout for this challenge so maybe today ... the pressure is on hey!
HINT:
If you are using a journaling stamp ... stamp it on a scrap piece of paper (more than once if you need to) and try out your journaling before stamping on the actual layout.
Another HINT coming:
I will take photos to demonstrate this one so will catch you with it later!!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
*challange 2 LO* and *butterfly kisses*
two more entries for challenge TWO
Next in is Maryanne's creative master peice! I love how she has used humour in the title (ewww at kissing that fish!!!) and again a great use of white space. That rubon that extends OVER the title looks amazing too - great effect! LOVING the non traditional size here too Maryanne (not 30 x 30 " ) Red pages just pop out at you and this great layout is no exception. Great eye candy :)
Thanks girls for your fantastic entries. I know Meredith will be stoked with your interest and support in keeping this blog alive. Tiff has also completed this challenge so stay tuned for hers to be uploaded.
Dont forget to comment and say hello!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
amanda's interpretation of challenge 2
Challenge number 2
Well as promised ... the next challenge!!
Now this one is a little different in that none of us (Tiff, Amanda, Sue or I) have done it ... so here we go!! Don't forget to e-mail your pages to Amanda so we can display them here.
There will be a prize ... just haven't worked that out yet!!
On about the 5th of May 2008 it was National Scrapbooking Day ... mainly celebrated in American and a bit in Australia. On an American website called 2Peas this was one of the challenges that they had!!
Grab the following:
1 sheet of cardstock
1 piece of patterned paper
1 tag
1 label
1 stamp
1 sticker
1 rubon
1 brad
(optional: 1 embellishment - chipboard, acrylic shape, flower etc)
1 photo
The idea is to try and work quickly!! Also try and think out of the box a bit to meet the criteria.
eg. 1 stamp could be a date stamp
1 tag could be a luggage tag or one you make from cardstock
1 patterned paper could be used as the background as per Amanda's tip in the previous post
I think we could even allow the 1 cardstock to be swapped to patterned paper if you want to try something different!!
We would like to see lots of entries for this and once we have worked out a prize and a finish date we will let you know!! Even if you are a digi scrapper this can work (I think!!). Obviously journaling is allowed too!!
Try to use only the things on the list ... remember the optional item!!
Start scrapping!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
[the end of challenge one]
Thankyou so much for being supportive and 'having a go' at our challenge.
Our aim here was to try and a) bring news to locals about the retreat but also more importantly b) keep scrapping motivation going. Challenges are a great way to think a little differently about scrapbooking our pages.......so stay tuned for our next one.
Tip from Amanda this week -
dont feel as if you HAVE to use bazzill or plain coloured cardstock as your background sheet on your layout. REMEMBER THERE ARE NO RULES IN SCRAPPING! Patterned paper looks brilliant - choose one without a bold print for a 'less busy' effect. I haven't used bazzill for so long now - using the brilliant packs from K&Co (Ally and Shabby Chic Shack stock these). I find these pads excellent as there are a range of colourways to suit every scrapper. I have recently bought 3 (yes three!) in quite antique-y type tones which i love! Added to this they are such good value for money, AND all the papers in the pack coordinate with each other. A fantastic product i think.
Here are two recent layouts that i will show as examples of my 'ditch the bazzil' campaign using those K&Co pads.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
[we have another entry!]
Monday, May 12, 2008
[a few more days]
Come on girls - please get behind us.
If we dont get any feedback there is little encouragement for us to continue the blog.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
[entry 1]
Hurry up
Well I hope we have a few takers for this challenge because I have another one ready for whenever this one is done!!
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Ha ha ha
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You will have to wait and see
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Please post an entry in this current No 1 challenge!!!!!
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The sooner the better for the next challenge to occur!! :-)
[a little bit of encouragement]
For those who like a little bonus here it is.
You could be in the chance to win a little prize if you....
1. use our tag challenge as inspiration - see how it inspires you. How can you interpret it and translate it onto YOUR page? Then show us via email!
2. Post a comment here on the blog.
The prize will be a noteworthy 30 page spiral notebook (which i accidently bought two of today. whoopsie for me - goodie for you!)
So get creating, email and commenting and we will draw the name out of a hat to win! Only one entry?? Well then you are the winner :)
We would love to show all entries off here but if you would prefer not to then we will honour your wishes and keep it private- but an email to us is still vital.
Dont be intimidated - we are not judging. The name will be drawn out of a hat - not a talent contest at all.
Please (on knees now) dont forget to comment if you visit. So easy to do - just click on the 'comment' button on the bottom of the post and write your bits making sure to leave your name and then have the 'anonymous' box ticked. That way you dont have to join blogger to comment but we know who you are!!!
Thanks to the girls who have commented already. It means so much to us that you have taken the time to say hello. Also thanks to those who have stopped me in the streets/chemist/supermarket (ahh gotta love living in a small country town) and have said that they love the blog!
So now it is up to you!!! Create and you could win a little prize!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
*tag challenge*
How fantastic that 1 idea produced 3 completely different layouts. Give it a go. Try to work on A4 size (11inches x 8.5inches) to keep dimensions. Email it to Amanda @ ga.hall@bigpond.com and she will upload it for you. Cant wait to see all the layouts come in.
Please drop a comment at the end of each post. It is fabo that someone else out there will take the trouble to have a look AND leave a comment
A challenge ... the first of many!!
On the Sunday night after everyone had left our retreat weekend Tiff, Amanda and I did a bit of scrapping.
I put a challenge to the girls to take inspiration from the following clothing tag and do a layout!!
So we left it for a week or two so that we could all complete the task at hand!! (Amanda had hers finished that night!)
Here is my layout:
As you can see (I hope!!) I tipped the tag upside down - masking tape at top of photo rather than the bottom, rubons at the bottom rather than the top.
Amanda and Tiff's layouts to come!!
If you do a layout based on this challenge send us a photo!
Edited by Amanda to sneakily add my layout :) I flipped the masking tape section over to the other side.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Changing letter stickers
My husband waltzed past and commented that I could paint over it ... not sure where he gets his ideas from(?!) but I had actually thought about that too!! ;-) So I thought what the heck I'll give it a go as I had read about it somewhere!
I dabbed the paint on with a sponge and while the paint was still wet removed the letter stickers off by lifting the edge and carefully peeling them off.
I thought it didn't look too bad!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
[scrapbooking wisdom according to Ali Edwards]
Recently i bought the new Creating Keepsakes magazine in which she features as a regular artist.
Now i have seen this mag in the newsagency before. I have flicked through it before and have been less than impressed. In the past i have felt that i much much prefer Aussie magazines which showcase AUSSIE scrappers.
Piper started kindy on Wednesday just gone, and in my loneliness after i dropped her off i decided to grab a magazine and a coffee at the bakery.
The only mag that caught my eye at the newsagency was the Creating Keepsakes. I bought it was was TOTALLY blown away by the stuff inside. I am not sure why but it seemed much fresher and up to date than the styles shown in Australian magazines i have bought in the past.
One thing i read while sipping my capacchino (and was nodding my head at as i was reading it) was Ali Edwards' article 'a letter to a new scrapbooker'
It included 'ten lessons every scrapbooker should know' and i will quote some of them here.
Remember this is her words NOT mine. (white writing is my comments)
"1. THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO SCRAPBOOK.
Regardless of anything else, there's no right or wrong way to approach scrapbooking. It's the creative expression of your memories - the personal documentation of you and your family's life experience. If you feel like scrapbooking only one photo on a page, go for it. If you want to include 12 photos on a page, go for it. If you want to make an entire book with no photos, go for it.
(here is the thing that struck me that i think everyone needs to hear)
Don't get caught up in comparisons with your friends and their pages. These are YOUR memories and YOU get to choose how to create with them.
2. PRINT YOUR PHOTOS
Digital photography has changed scrapbooking - and the way we take photos - forever. Rather than having rolls of film lying around, we have files on our computer just waiting to be printed.
3. DONT BUY EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.
you dont need to have all the latest and greatest products to record your memories. As you get going, take a bit of time to assess what you really need to make pages you'll love. Look around on your desk - what elements have you already purchased that you could use right now on a layout? As you scrapbook each page, use your supplies to emphasise the two most important aspects: WORDS + PHOTOS
(love that last sentance!!)
4. SCHEDULE TIME TO CREATE
Go to a crop at a local store, gather up a group of friends and literally make time to scrapbook. Get up a bit earlier or stay up a bit later if it's tough to find time during the day.
(Tiff, Meredith, Sue and myself know all about the 'staying up later' bit)
5. DONT THINK YOU HAVE TO SCRAPBOOK IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Record teh stories that inspire you thee most - this could be a story from yesterday or from 10 years ago. It could be in the order that events occured, or it could be random everyday moments. I hear people talk about being 'years behind'. Remember there will always be another story to tell, and that's awesome. Look at this aspect as a positive rather than a negative.
(i have never scrapped in chronological order, so this thought process is hard for me to understand, but i do know people really get caught up in it. Rather than making rules for yourself - break free from that. Who cares if you are 'out of order' - scrap what is inspiring you right this minute. There must be nothing worse than feeling like you HAVE to scrap a particular photo because it is next in line - set yourself free and just create because you want to)
6. USE YOUR HANDWRITING
(uh oh!)
It is part of you. Regardless of what you think of your handwriting, your family will LOVE that they have this little peice of you when you are gone. If you absolutely hate it, dont feel like you have to use it on everything you create, but make sure it's there somewhere. Your family will thank you.
(now i have handwritten on ONE layout in my life. I know i should do it more because i totally agree with Ali here. Mum has a cookbook which i really really want to inherit because in it she has handwritten all her recipies. That simple thing makes it so special. Sooooooooo in saying that i really should embrace my scrawl and use it more or at least one more time - eeek!)
7. DONT FORGET THE DATE.
In looking back on my work, i've noticed pages where the date is missing. What??? This totally defeats one of my main purposes in creative documentation : identifying when and event occured. Now I often use a simple office supply date stamp to make sure i can quickly add teh date to projects i create.
(Meredith dates EVERY page she creates and i love her for it. Probably something i didn't always do a lot of but she had definately inspired me to do it to most of my pages. In years to come that date, be it simply a year and month will be so valuable)
8. BECOME A TRANSLATOR
(Amanda starts cheering)
I love looking at the scrapbooking magazines and idea books for design ideas. A translator is someone who can look beyone the page theme and see the cool design or a cool accent and be able to adopt that for his or her own layouts. Can you look at a baby page and see elements you could adopt for a sports page? Dont just look at a great layout - rather take a look and then take a closer look. What pieces and ideas can you pull out and use in your scrapbooks?
(just taking it a bit further - what design ideas can you see in your everyday life? A T-shirt design? A magazine advert? Particular colour combinations? Look at how elements are placed and translate them over onto paper. Use paper and embellishments as well as your ever important photos and journalling to make that design work for scrapping)
9. LEARN BY DOING.
This magazine is here to inspire you, educate you and empower you to tell the stories of your family. Take our ideas and run with them! Translate them and make them your own.
(i have noticed many new scrappers scared to try different techniques - often i hear "ooh i am scared to tear/ink/scrunch/sand the paper" I am at the point of thinking WHY??? it's only paper!!!! HAVE A GO! learn by doing. The same goes with off the page projects. Those that have never done mini-books, or other exciting projects have no idea on the creativity and inspiration AND FUN that they are missing out on.....come on and have a go!!)
10. GET YOURSELF ON YOUR PAGES
(more cheering from Amanda)
hand your camera to your spouse, partner, friend or kids and make sure that you are present and represented in the story of your family.
(i must say that i underestimated the importance of this. Imagine you had in your hands your Great Grandmother's scrapbook album. How precious to look at a page with a photo of her and some journalling about HER feelings, HER hopes and dreams, HER fears. A little snapshot of what her life was like. Now imagine holding her album and finding it full of her family, but nothing - not one page on her. The person who created these beautiful pages was missing. How sad that the person that was the main storyteller never told one story, or took one photo of herself. Get your camera out, set the self timer and take some self portraits today!!!! The first 50 will feel silly, but after that you may take some of the most precious photos you have ever had )
so there. There it is! Well done Ali on a great article in which i cheered through most of your points with a cappachino moustache in a bakery full of people !
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
*my heart wrencher and inspiration*
Everytime I listen to this song it just rips my heart and I have a cry. It reminds me of my little girl and her Dad (dearly belovered). Its called Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle. As butterflies are so in atm I am inspired to create a LO on these lyrics. Its a work in progress but will post when done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgZftrobqlg&feature=related
FYI. link to this song clip on YouTube. get the tissues handy
[i lied]
[the idea]
1. to keep the local girls 'in the know' about upcoming Escape 2 Create retreats
2. as a source of inspiration
3. to share pages that local girls have done that have been inspired by this blog.
So as i said in my post below, there WILL be another retreat. We know the date, things are booked and it is all systems go. We can tell you (as i said before) that it wont happen in 2008............everything else is a secret. Bit by bit we will give you nibbles of info - so stay tuned.
I would really love Meredith, Tiff, Sue, Val and myself to post on here things that inspire us. It could be a quote, a photo, a LO sketch (need to put credits in here) or anything else that catches our eye. Today for example i found a fantastic article in the Creating Keepsakes magazine which i will post later - i thought that it was brilliant.
I also have taken photos at different times of things that inspire me to create. I can share those too and hopefully they will help to get your creative juices flowing as well. I was reading today (again that magazine) about creative translators. Being able to look at anything and translate it into a page or project. I know that men's shirts inspire me so much - the designs, colours and stitching just seem to 'do it' for me. :) Have a think about what YOU can translate onto a page today!
Last but not least i would love for the retreat girls to share projects with us. It might be something you are particularly proud of, something you did on our retreat (i would love to see some of your finished chip albums!) or even something that we have inspired you to create from our posts on here. If you would like to share something please email me ga.hall@bigpond.com and i can either post it on here or drool over it privately :)
I will be back later after netball training *groan*
Woohoo a blog
The reason I thought a blog would be a good idea was to be able to post pictures or sneak peeks of the class projects for the next retreat (not that we are definite about what the classes will be but we do have some ideas already!!) We'll keep you in suspenders!!
This is my first time of being a part of a blog so it will be fun.
Keep scrapping and snapping!
Logged by Meredith
I did it.
blogged by Tiff
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
[update]
The good news is.................there WILL be another retreat!!
The bad news is...........it wont be this year :(
Due to family, footy, netball, hunting, work and other commitments we have decided for the sake of our mental health to have a little time off before planning for a bigger and better ESCAPE 2 CREATE.
Never the less we have all had our little brains in action and a lot of hashing out, improving and re working has been taking place.
I for one have worked on a new colour scheme AND logo..............you will have to wait for that though.
Val will be on board again as caterer extraordinaire!!
Class registration will be different - much improved.
more gossip to follow.
blogged by amanda
[the rundown]
So we all had a most marvellous time on our ESCAPE 2 CREATE retreat at Nth Sheilds.
O.M.F.G is all i can say.
It was the best bloody weekend of my whole life. Excellent excellent excellent. I am still pumped if you hadn't noticed
ok i headed over to the venue at about 11am. Setup everything with M, S andT.
The retailers came not long after (we had 5 at the retreat) and they set up their huge stalls.
The first lot of scrappers arrived about 3.30pm (they couldn't wait til 4pm )
On arrival they recieved their passport, wine glass, t-shirt transfer and goodie bag. Showed them the accomodation, toilets, kitchen and also the big scrapping shed.
All arrived by 6.30. Had an intro/welcome speech - was very nervous as i had nominated myself to do it *doh*. but it was ok. Pizza tea.
Then i did my powerpoint talk on basic tips to improve photography - everyone said it was really great and very helpful. I was so pleased with how this went off.
After that we did our jointly taught mint tin album class. Only had about 8girls pop their name on the registration list but they loved it and it really enthused the others when they got back in the shed to think about the Sat classes (which were still in secret squirrel mode lol)After the mint tin class it was free scap time and most people stayed up til the wee hours - T, M, S and myself included until 3am
Sat was absolutely full on.Woke early 7am as people were up and keen ascustard to get scrapping. Breakfast and greeted the 'day trippers' who werearriving. We had advertised that 9am was registration time but at 8.45am thegirls were in a FREAKING LINE lining up to pop their name on the class regolists for the Sat workshops. Meredith's acryilic album class was totally booked out at 9.01am There were a couple of extras wanting to do my classes so i had 18 and 16 in my mini album and layout classes.
Tiff did her workshop first - everyone stoked with their creations. Then i did one at 11am, another at 1.30pm and i was all done by 3.30pm.We also did that grid bingo - lots of techniques to cross off as well as that other ummmmmmmm brand name bingo thing that Rach did at our scrappy awards. The second one was A BIG HIT lol. - you could have heard a pin drop in the shed while they were waiting for the names to be called out
Meredith had her class at 3.30pm.After that had finished we had free timeuntil we went to the pub for tea (short walk) and back to free scrap time into the wee hours (again) 2am for me and Tiff again, nearly 6am for Meredith (she is a bloody machine let me tell you )
Up early for bacon and eggs breaky on Sunday. Totally free day to shop and scrap - no classes. Packed up and all gone by 4pm.
T, M and I stayed there last night on our own just tidying up and packing stuff away. I have not long been home but i am all unpacked as well (lol running on adrenalin still!)
We had such fantastic feedback too. We did some forms up so people could tell us where we went wrong and how we can improve and they were all so positive!
To the point were on Sat night at the pub on of the scrapping guests (a paid retreat go-er) got up and made a speech, thanking us organizers infront of everyone and gave us an envelope of a 'whip around' token of their support and gratitude. It was for us all to go out for tea so we can plan the next retreat LOL - over $200 in that envelope that they gave us all Just amazed to think that paid guests would do that.......
Lots andlots of positive feedback - the one girl there who had been to lots of scrapping retreats (all others and ourselves were scrap retreat virgins) said it was, by far and away the best one she had ever attended. She used to live over in the eastern states and said that she had been to a fair few retreats in the past. Wow what a huge compliment!!
meet and greet table. Collect passport, wine, glass and bag before proceeding :)
wine glasses with the transparent tag thingos.
Tiff and Sue doing meet and greet
Meredith and my mess. Note half finished LO on table!
one side of the shed. Yep other side equally as packed.
one of my classes
our logo on the backs of shirts (meredith's here)
busy fingers :)
blogged by amanda