A Happy New Year

If there was ever a time that makes me sad - it always happens on New Years Eve. I think its because NYE marks the end of the year and to me it feels like leaving behind all the things that the year contained, packing them up and putting them away, knowing you'll never again see them. Some of the things are good, some of them are not so good. I know I should focus on the new beginning the new year promises. But I still can't get past the sadness that leaving some of those events behind represents to me.

2011 was such a mixed year. I lost some things that were important to me, including Shane's mum, scrapbooking, some special doggies, and some ongoing health issues for both Shane and I, but I also gained some things as well. Valuable insight into certain friendships (both positive and negative), greater understanding of people's motivations, a wonderful new member of the family in our beloved dog Kitty and the final realisation of a more than 10 year dream to have a Halloween party and scare the pants off a group of friends.

I'm very happy to have left behind a part of my life that involved some very nasty people. When something is supposed to be supportive, encouraging and caring but is actually more ego motivated than anything else - it ceases to be supportive, encouraging and caring unless you are into ego stroking. I'm not into popularity contests and the sort of school yard antics that went on were so childish. I like to sleep at night and I don't go around bagging people who I call friends. I certainly don't use other people to get where I want to be and I don't use my friends to cover up any weaknesses I have or mistakes I may make to save my own ass. I call you my friend because I like you and because I care about you - not because of what you can do for me, or for how important your friendship makes me feel, or because it makes me more accepted by others. If you don't feel the same way about me - then don't call yourself my friend because friendship works both ways.

And so to 2012 - I know there will be highs and lows, but life is good and I have love, happiness and balance. There are lots of projects already on the planning board and I'm going to revel in the excitement to come.

Happy New Year.

Cotton Wool

Yes I think that's what I've been wrapped in the past 6 weeks. I think sadly I'm still reeling from recent events but it occurred to me tonight that the impact is too great and the person isn't worthy of the disarray they have caused to my life. After so many years of supporting and encouraging someone - finding you have been virtually cut out of the picture because obviously you aren't part of the "in" crowd is somewhat cutting. Loyalty clearly isn't worth a cracker these days which came as a bit of a surprise to old fashioned me.

So I need to put it all into perspective, understand that clearly my loyalty and support and friendship was extremely misguided and move on. It's been 6 weeks since I've ventured into my scrapbooking room. I'm in there tonight and I have to tell you it feels weird and I had absolutely no scrapbooking incentive, I haven't created a card, I didn't enter this year's Royal Melbourne Show and to be frank I would struggle even to work on Lakeisha's 21st invitations at this point.

I'd really like to thank the instigator of this. I mean in 35 years of showing dogs amongst some of the bitchiest people I've ever had the misfortune of spending time with - nothing quite came up to the disappointment of this and yet I find myself shaking my head as to why I've allowed it to affect me as much as it has. Even right now as I type this I wonder if its worth the 5 minutes of my life to type it. But it did happen and I AM hurt and acknowledgement of the fact seems only right given I've blogged about all the other ugly things in my life.

But in the meantime I've celebrated my 50th birthday, I still have the most adorable daughter in the world and the most enviable partner. We do live with the worlds most annoying dog - but we still love her. And if nothing else over the past 24 hours - I have realised that friendship is only as good as the friendship returned and at the end of the day if the loyalty and support returned counts for ZIP then you haven't really lost a whole bunch in the end anyway.....

The latest creations......

and without further delay..........

One of the most exciting additions has been ........... Kitty!

Meet Kitty - hopefully aka Merriyank Katharine Hepbark - pending VCA confirmation. Kitty may end up being a showdog, but for the moment she is commanding the attention of all those around her and winning hearts. Primarily she is Shane's dog but I think this special little puppy is going to spread joy wherever she goes. I'm looking forward to sharing more photos with you as she grows.

And then there was scrapbooking............

My very first Challenge Masters Book of Me challenge layout.....

My entry into week 4 of the Chopped Challenges at Challenge Masters.

"She Blooms"

"Not Quite"

A difficult week

Last Friday we lost a dear friend who meant a lot to me. I've known Ken all my life through our shared interest of dog showing. I can recall so many memories of Ken both as a dog judge and exhibitor. He has always been a gentleman and someone who I respected both personally and as a member of the dog showing fraternity. I think he's one of those "old school" dog people who shared my love and joy of showing dogs for all the right and good reasons. But sadly Ken lost his battle with cancer last week and all I can say is the world is poorer for his passing. And so as we look towards the sadness of his funeral tomorrow, I am trying to focus on the positive and happy moments I remember, of all the wonderful things he has contributed as a husband, father, an exhibitor, judge and breeder of dogs and the warmth I know he must have shared with the people he met throughout his life.

RIP Ken. You will never be forgotten by those who cared deeply.

Kaisercraft Design Team Call

I was very excited to see this DT Call come up as I've always loved Kaisercraft products and what a bonus that they are very reasonably priced coupled with high quality which for me makes them excellent value. Living just an hour away from the Geelong store means I've had the opportunity to wander through taking in all the amazing products on display many times. You truly don't get a real sense of how immense the range is until you see it all on its own in one store.

I've had the opportunity to contribute to a few DT's before, but nothing like the calibre of this one. I have always loved the challenge to push myself beyond my comfort zone, trying new things and also sharing tips and techniques with others. I believe I have the ability and the dedication to contribute and so the opportunity to be on the Kaisercraft team is something I would love to be part of.

The items I am submitting below are all works which I have completed over approximately the past year, mostly endeavouring to select items which display my use of Kaisercraft products. Anyway - here are my entries and all I can do is hope they are worthy enough of consideration.

My first project is a layout of my daughter when she was just 5 months of age. Entitled "Bloomin' Gorgeous", this layout came about as my entry in the October 2010 Kaisercraft Mix It Up challenge and was the eventual winner of the competition. I used the gorgeous "Candy Lane" collection in this LO.

My second project is another layout entitled "You Me Us". The photo is of my daughter and her dog Bundy who is an Australian Champion Fox Terrier. I've used papers from the "Offshore" collection together with Rhinestones, and some handmade flowers from scraps of paper. I've also used a Prima bird and made the faux gemstones using a fabulous tutorial by Gabrielle Pollacco. This layout won a 1st Prize at the 2010 Royal Melbourne Show.

My third project is an OTP number created for Bec Miller's Altered Challenge at Challenge Masters. The challenge was to take some thing from the kitchen/dining room and alter it. I've had this cookie jar sitting around doing nothing so I thought it was perfect. I've used Kaisercraft English Rose Collection papers, journaling tag, pearls, pearl flourish, wood heart, mini alphas, rhinestones and rhinestone words. I sponged "Pretty Pink" KC paint both inside and out to give it a more dimensional feel and finished off with some hand made bead stems, handmade blooms from the leftover papers, a Prima flower and butterfly, some Stickles and ribbons from my stash. I recycled the material inside the jar which was actually wrapped around some beautiful Gerberas that my gorgeous partner Shane bought me.

My fourth project is another OTP - a mini bookcase. I made this one last year to enter in the Royal Melbourne Show OTP Section where it was awarded 1st prize by judge Lyn Dwyer from Fiskars. There are 6 books, each have a few of my favourite photos of various subjects including holidays, my daughter, my partner Shane, Shane's son, Shane and myself and finally one of me. I've used the "Shaken Not Stirred" range with a few other bits thrown in to make up the albums and a Wood Flourish on the top, as well as some flowers and gems from my stash.

My fifth project is a card using some scraps of the Shaken Not Stirred range.

I love making these suit cards. Here are a couple of photos of others I have made in the past as well.

My sixth project is also a card. Just for something different I made my daughter's boyfriend (who is a bit of a laptop fan) a birthday card with a play on the Hewlett Packard logo. On the inside I altered a photo of him from a trip to Queensland by adding a few computer icons and also printed off a picture of a laptop keyboard adding the personal message to the keys. It was all matted and mounted on a thick sheet of transparency and I added a few brads and a bit of creative pen work to finish it off.

My seventh project is another layout using "Esther's Guest List" paper and lots of cutting & layering. I embossed a Kaisercraft stamp from the "Pina Colada" collection, used Rhinestones and Mini Alphas and included some rubbish bag twist ties as part of the floral cluster as well as some miscellaneous flowers from my stash.

My eighth project is another layout entitled "Flower Girl". Although the papers used in this one are Cosmo Cricket, I have also used a Kaisercraft corner flourish.

And finally I would also like to display a some of my other projects for consideration.

A shabby style layout featuring a Kaisercraft text stamp, "Miss 4" took out BEST IN SHOW at the Royal Melbourne Show (Scrapbooking Section) at in 2010.

This frame is one of a pair created from the actual wedding invitation to Shane's son's wedding held in India. The pair of frames went BEST IN SHOW at the Royal Melbourne Show (Scrapbooking Section) in 2009.

Below are a few of my other favourite creations from the past year.

Thank you for taking the time to look through all of these photos. I'm sure like many many other hopefully scrapbookers around the world, I will be eagerly awaiting the news of the finalists for the Kaisercraft Design Team.

cheers

Maree