anita meade - simple.creative.life

The making of a family.

    Thought this was an interesting idea for a layout (inspired by Erika Martin as part of our Journaling 101 course - thanks Erika). It was a look at related photos from different periods in time. I chose to scrapbook the making of our family (ie. the Cartwright side - Cartwright was my maiden name).

    I started with a photo of Mum & Dad and my sister Jodie and I when we were teenagers, still living at home. The next photo is of us with our two fiances added. The third photo was when all the kids had been born and the last photo is of us today (Christmas 2008 actually). It would be great to do a follow up layout in the years to come.....ie. in 5 years, 10 years, 15 years etc. I wonder how long it will take before any more family members are added? Hopefully quite a long time!! About 20 years would suit me just fine.....unless of course my sister decides she wants to go back and try for a girl?!!? How about it Jodie?? :)

    The background cardstock looks a little blue/grey but it is actually white. It's just how the colour came out in the photo. And they are actually nice and straight and square in real life too....

    The patterned paper and cardstock is Stampin' Up! as are the stamps. The letter stickers are, of course, Thickers by "American Crafts" .

 

 

   On Easter Sunday we took the boys to Melbourne Zoo. We had a fantastic day. The weather was perfect and I took lots of great photos. I'd like to get some of them scrapped before I share them though, so you will just have to wait. Tonight I need to clean up my scrap desk if I have any hope of creating anything any time soon.  Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visits and comments. What do you think of the new blog header? I thought I'd go for something a little more home-crafted looking. I think it's "me". We'll stick with it for a while I reckon. See you again soon. Love Anita. xxx

Journaling 101 - come and join me!

    I'd like to invite you on a journey.....a journey that will make you a better writer, journalist, and storyteller.......a journey that will make your scrapbook pages really mean something to people who read them. Come and join me for this fantastic course, by Erika Martin - Stampin' Mama.

 

    I'm honoured to have been asked by Erika to be on the design team for this course. As you may know, I was a member of the design team for her online course "The Soulology Project" last year. As a result of that course I now have an album full of layouts that tell my story....layouts that I would not have without Erika's guidance. This new course "Journaling 101" will help you to develop your skills and confidence in journaling on your scrapbook pages. After all, that is the part of scrapbooking that I am most passionate about....the stories. I have said before that scrapbooking is not just about decorating photos. It is about using words and photos to tell the stories of your life. Not sure where to start? Then Journaling 101 is definitely for you. So come along and join me - class starts next Monday 26th January, so there is still time to register. Make sure you tell Erika I sent you when you register. I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you.    

    Here's one of my layouts from the Soulogy Project course.

 

    Thanks for looking! Come and visit again soon.

                            Love    xxx

Hi everyone....I'm back in action!

    Well hello there world! I'm back in action. We arrived back home last night from a wonderful week of camping at Echuca. Had a lovely, lazy time just hanging out with the kids; playing football and cricket and tennis, riding our bikes along the Murray River, even had a swim in the pool (a bit chilly for me!) It was great just to stop, relax, and spend some quality time together.  I know we see our family members every day, but it is so refreshing to just sit and quietly chat, or play a card game, or explore a new place together. I really feel a greater connection to my family than before, having shared this time together. There is also something special about a camping holiday. It is a "no-frills", back to basics experience that gets you outside, enjoing the sunshine, and the breeze, the early morning and the stillness of the evening. The kids just loved being able to roam wild from dawn till dusk, laughing and playing and running and riding.....heaven for little boys!

     We decided to pack up and head home a day earlier than planned as we heard there was rain coming. We copped a few sprinkles while we were packing up the camper-trailer but not too much. While it was raining over night last night we were glad to be safe and sound tucked up in our warm, dry beds at home. Here are a couple of photos from our week away:

 

 

       

Don't you love Corey's face in that photo above! He had just fallen off his bike face first into the dust. It completely covered him - especially to his face which had just been sunscreened. All this before 9 am! Great start to the day:) The boys were filthy by the end of every day.....and they loved it. They made a great little friend named Thomas and the three of them enjoyed playing together all day long! Waving "Hi" to Thomas and his Mum and Dad, Karen and Warwick. It was great to share our holiday at Echuca with such great people. It was lovely to meet you :)

 

    While we were away I took some time out to read and throw around some ideas for my Design Team contributions to "The Soulology Project" online course. This is such a valuable journey of self discovery. I am thoroughly enjoying working through the course material and I am excited to be sharing my thoughts and ideas with course participants. There is still time to sign up for this fantastic course.  Pop over to Erika Martin's Stampin' Mama blog to see my Design Team Member profile and find out how you can come along for the ride! (Don't forget to mention "Anita sent me" in the comments section when you sign up!). It will be so worth the investment of your time and effort to join me on this journey.

    Today we have been to a BBQ at the park with a group of friends and family of my friend Olivia. Yesterday would have been her 36th birthday, so we gathered today to remember and have a drink for her. Some of her other nurse friends organised a big bunch of pink helium balloons which we all released together into a beautiful sunny sky. I hope Liv was looking down over us, and knows how much we love and miss her. That girl loved a party and would have gone to the opening of an envelope! lol! She would have been glad that we all got together for her birthday, even though a sadness still lingered over the group. It is five weeks today since she passed away. Happy Birthday to you Liv, my friend.

    I am planning on doing some scrapbooking tonight or tomorrow so please visit again soon and see what I've been up to. Thanks for stopping by....

                                            Love  xxx

Soulology Project Online Course

    Three posts in one day! This is a record for me. I have some exciting news to share with you. I've been asked to be on the Design Team for a fantastic online scrapbooking course called "The Soulology Project". You can find the link to the course description over on the right sidebar.

    This course is run by talented American stamper and scrapbooker Erika Martin. There are a limited number of places in the course so if you'd like to register, you'd better get in quick! Make sure you mention that you found the course here on my blog when you register. I'll be contributing layouts over the 10 weeks of the course and I'd love for you to join me on the journey.  Go and check out the Erika's blog to learn more about her and her passion for telling your story through scrapbooking.

    Thanks for dropping in to visit - call in again soon for more exciting scrapbooking, stamping and papercrafting adventures! :)

    Love Anita. xx