April 30 - Photo A Day - Freshly Cut Fringe

Took the big girl to have a haircut yesterday 'cos her fringe was hanging in her eyes (not that it bothered her in the least... it bothered me much more than it bothered her!). I'm liking her new look... :)

Simple Woman's Daybook

Here's my Simple Woman's Daybook entry for today -

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... it's unpredictable... one moment it looks like it is spring instead of autumn... blue skies, beautiful sun... picture perfect... then next minute it's grey, with a sprinkling of rain!
I am thinking... about some photography concepts... trying to channel some creativity.
I am thankful for... "me-time"... Phan looked after the girls this morning while I went and had a massage... love my husband so much!
From the kitchen... we are having heo quay (roast pork) for dinner... yum!
I am wearing... a pink girly dress... something I bought on a whim from Target last spring.... apparently it's not flattering 'cos Elizabeth poked me in the stomach and said to me "You have a fat tummy!"... Gee... Thanks!
I am creating... a little slideshow of photos of Catherine's first year.
I am going... to play some weird game with Elizabeth that involves throwing up a bunch of ribbons and catching them... completely her idea!
I am reading... lots of various blogs for first birthday party inspiration.
I am hoping... Catherine sleeps better tonight... last night was a bit up and down.
I am hearing... Catch On by Brenda Russell (playing on Vocal Smooth Jazz Sky.FM internet radio)
Around the house... things are looking tidy for a change... let's see how long it lasts!
One of my favorite things... are modern vintage dresses... I am loving this site Shabby Apple... when I get down to my ideal weight and size, I plan on getting something from this site!
From my camera - I just adore this shot 'cos Catherine looks like she's so attached to that cob of corn!

Photo A Day - April 29 - Party Planning

Well, the plans are starting to come together for Catherine's 1st Birthday which is in 3 weeks time... I've been scouring the net for inspiration and I've found some cute little ideas which I think will make for a lovely girly birthday party for Miss Catherine... :) I love planning kiddie birthday parties... :)

Today, I picked up a couple of these gorgeous vintage-looking cake stands from (of all places) Kmart for a bargain price of $12 each... I'm a sucker for cake stands... I have always, always had a soft spot for them and there's nothing more fun than going to high tea with the girls. I love this cake stand and I can see so many uses for them for morning teas and as a photoshoot prop... :) The little mini bunting was a bit of a test run of a little idea I had and I'm happy with how it turned out so I'm going to be implementing the real thing this week. :)

Photo A Day - April 28 - I Am Not Impressed

We were playing in Elizabeth's room this afternoon and I thought it would be fun to put Catherine on the pink chair... Let's just say she didn't really like being perched on that chair by herself...

Photo A Day - April 27 - H is for Happy

Back into the daily grind... Elizabeth is back at kindy today after our school holiday break... Catherine was missing her big sister (she has followed her around constantly during these school holidays), so I took Catherine onto the bed and played tickling games with her to take her mind off it ... we had fun... apparently too much fun she proceeded to have a 2 hr nap this afternoon, which is unheard of! Either that or she was bored without Elizabeth at home!

Can you see that little tooth of hers poking through too? :)

Photo A Day - April 26 - Playing Dollhouse

***warning, this video is on the big side and may take a little while to load***

Well, one of the latest things that appears to be taking off in the world of photography is "fusion photography" which is, as the name suggests, a compilation of video and stills put together... (preferably in a bit of an artsy, creative way)... it's something that's kind of come about because so many of DSLRs are coming out with excellent video capturing capability.

I thought I would give it try today and utilise that awesome HD video the 5D Mk II apparently has (I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the video on my camera in the 2 years I've had it!) and so I did this little capture of what was pretty much an ordinary day ... Not bad for a first attempt (esp since I also had to learn how to use the software to put this together!) so I actually have plans of doing this again, but in a much more creative way, with way better photos... (I know, today's photos are really, really quite bland and ordinary...)

Photo A Day - April 25 - Kindy Construction

I did a massive cull today of the art, craft and constructions that Elizabeth has been bringing home from kindy... it was getting out of control and we need space for the new stuff she's going to making and bringing home next term! I took photos of her constructions and let her pick 2 to keep in her room, took photos of the rest and then tossed them. I did the same with her artwork and collage... kept a few, photographed a few, tossed the rest. It's a big task, 'cos (a) she's been an art and craft machine! (b) I'm a sentimental sap and I love seeing how her artistic ability has developed (c) I'm a hoarder by nature... but realistically, we can't keep everything, or we'd be living under a pile of paper and craft! Plus we've got a few more years of this from both Elizabeth and Catherine!!!!

Photo A Day - April 24 - Easter Morning

Messy bedhair.
Ecletic pajamas.
Mismatching boots.
Homemade easter basket.
Early morning easter egg hunt.
Beautiful light.

(Post to follow later tonight with some happy snaps of our morning)

Happy Easter Everyone...

Christ has risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Photo A Day - April 23 - Spotty Dotty Shorts

I got these shorts by "Rock Your Baby" for a bargain $10.50 in a recent sale at Ozsale.com.au... they really are the cutest little shorts ever... and it's a bonus that they are in my ever favourite red polka dot pattern ... :)

We went to the park this morning and let Elizabeth run around and play with Dady whilst Catherine and I perched ourselves on a little platform on the play equipment... from this vantage view I managed to get some cute shots of Elizabeth on the suspension bridge... The above shot taken on my 85mm @ ISO 100, f/2.0/, 1/800.

Photo A Day - April 22 - Behold the Cross

Behold the cross on which was hung
Life’s very Lord, God’s only Son;
Mary’s own babe, so cold and so still,
Helpless before her on Calvary hill.

Nails in his hands, nails in his feet,
A traitor kiss upon his cheek;
And his pierced heart, now broken in two,
Love crucified for me and for you.

Eyes that won’t see, ears that won’t hear,
Lips that deny the friend once so dear;
Slowly he turns and captures your eye,
Then passes on to Calvary to die.

Behold the cross of Christ in our midst:
All those who bear his wounds in their flesh.
Suffering for crimes of mercy and peace,
Signs of the kingdom on Calvary street.

Behold the cross on which was hung
Life’s very Lord, God’s only Son;
Mary’s own babe, so cold and so still,
Helpless before her on Calvary hill.

(Lyrics from Behold the Cross - Bob Hurd)



I love this Easter song, it always brings a tear to my eye... it sums up Good Friday perfectly for me.

Photo A Day - April 21 - 1 Month 'Til She's 1

She's 11 months today and the countdown 'til Catherine is 1 is starting now! It's not long to go at all, and I have a heap of birthday planning and organising to do! It's going to be so much fun... Elizabeth is already excited... :)

And I wanted to share this shot too, 'cos I got sunflare... :) Catherine looks like she's appreciating the gorgeous light too... :)





(Outfit courtesy of Ong Ba, but Elizabeth actually picked it out when she went shopping with them in Adelaide).

Photo A Day - April 20 - Hidden World

We caught up with our kindy friends again today at a new playground we have never been to before called "Hidden World"... it's an awesome park and playground and despite a few bumps and scratches, the kids on the whole had a great time.

The playground is really well structured and so colourful... makes me want to be a kid again... :)

Photo A Day - April 19 - I Dig Dinos

We spent a day at the museum today going to the "I Dig Dinos" exhibition/activities that are currently on during the school holidays... we caught up with some friends and the kids had a great time.

Photos all taken on the iphone, as I can't cope lugging around the DSLR when I have two kids in tow...

These shots taken when we first got to the museum. The first activity Elizabeth did was to do a crayon rubbing of a dinosaur and then she made a dinosaur out of plasticine and put it on display on the shelves with lots of other dinosaurs that other kids had made. Hers was called a "Sauruscrum/Crumstegasaurus" and it eats "trees, fish, dolphins and seeds"!





Those top photos are of this person dressed up as a very realistic dinosaur that made pretty damn scary dinosaur roaring noises... this is so something that I think Ty would have enjoyed seeing... (and for some reason, I can totally see Ty dressing up as this dinosaur). Quite a few of the smaller kids freaked out... and Elizabeth was a little nervous at first, but then she figured out it was just a person inside it when she saw the legs... smart cookie. The bottom photos are the girls dressed up as archeologists (but they look a lot like council workers if you ask me!) and they got to dig/fossick for dinosaur bones in this great big pit...





More fun... puzzles, looking at various things at the museum... and Catherine fell asleep all by herself in the stroller for the first time ever! :)





Dinosaur masks, dinosaur tails... and that was about as much activity as our munchkins could handle. Both girls fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Photo A Day - April 18 - Apple Munching Ragamuffin

She's eating apple.
She's got a scratch on her nose.
She's not sleeping well at night.
She's cranky and irritable during the day .
She doesn't like eating food off a spoon.
A day in the life of Catherine... I'm putting it down to teething, but it could be anything really... she's starting to drive me a little crazy!

Photo A Day - April 17 - Toy Bus

Last weekend Phan took Elizabeth out shopping one afternoon... he took her into Toys'R'Us and asked her if she wanted to pick out a new toy for herself... After a lot of pondering, Elizabeth picked out this toy bus and said she wanted to get it for Catherine.... *awwwww*... Truth be told, Elizabeth quite likes playing with it too, but it is definitely Catherine's toy because she will always let Catherine play with it... She picked well, 'cos her little sister loves it!

Photo A Day - April 16 - Birthday

Lots of photos today to illustrate our day spent celebrating Daddy's birthday...

What Elizabeth made for Daddy... Several pictures and a brown paper bag that she decorated and is his "going out bag". The decorated box is what the following was in -





Yes, it's a mug with a jumper... :) Elizabeth picked it out all by herself... Which was definitely the better option 'cos she initally wanted to buy Phan a woman's checked jacket from Target (????!!!!) and then when we were looking at coffee mugs she was tossing up between this one and a pastel pink one with BFF on it and "best friends forever" written on the inside of it... She picked well in the end... :)




The family (and Chi and Mitch) chipped in together and contributed towards this for Phan's birthday... Bilstein suspension and new wheels/tyres for his car... Apparently they are awesome and an absolute bargain... They arrived yesterday and are getting fitted on Monday... Phan's happy... :)





We went out to the local pub and had steak for lunch... Possibly the fastest steak meal we've ever had, we had ordered it and eaten it in 45 minutes! So we went to our favourite little french cafe afterwards for afternoon tea as well...




And what's a birthday without cake! We made Phan a Nutella Cake today... it doesn't have any flour or any sugar in it... however it does contain an entire 400g jar of nutella! Indulgent? Yes! Delicious? Absolutely! The chocolate icing is oozing off the sides because Elizabeth insisted on helping to spread it... so it's not attractive, but it's made with love! Elizabeth also decided she wanted to decorate the cake with a minimalist scattering of hearts... (She didn't want to put any more than that little sprinkling!)

Photo A Day - April 15 - My Big Sister Thinks This Is Funny

This morning I had just quickly hopped in the shower and when I came out, Elizabeth was in her room changing out of pjs and Catherine was sitting in the open area of the house all on her lonesome with a random toy lemon on her head! (It's half of a toy lemon with velcro in the middle (so it can be cut in half)... so the velcro was making it stick to her hair really well!)... I burst out laughing when I saw her and I called out to Elizabeth and asked her "What did you do to Catherine?" and she goes "I put a lemon on her head... *insert giggle and general cheeky sniggering*... I think it's funny!" While Elizabeth and I found it amusing, I think Catherine begs to differ!

Photo A Day - April 14 - Shhhh, I've Got A Secret...

We went shopping the other day for a little something for Phan's birthday and I told Elizabeth that it was a secret and we couldn't tell Daddy about it yet...

However, the minute he got home.. she ran up to him and started whispering... "It's a secret.. shhhh... we bought you a present..."... And then she loudly proclaimed, "We looked for a shirt for you but we couldn't find *anything*... we walked alot and it took a long time!"... *insert eye roll from me*... So he knows he's not getting a shirt! Then all evening over dinner she kept telling us off when Phan and I were talking at a normal decibel... She would keep going "You're making too much noise! Ssshhhhh, it's a secret... 4 more sleeps"... There is no way we were going to be whispering for the next 4 days! And then at one point she caved and started telling Phan what we got him, but in her whispering voice and with the cutest most excited expression on her face... I think she figured if she kept whispering it was still a secret... LOL... Lucky, Phan couldn't make out what she was saying when she was whispering... so it's still a surprise! She's just bursting at the seams to tell him ... Not long to go...

(This shot taken with the macro.)

Photo A Day - April 13 - Basketball Groupies

Today we went to the skate park and caught up with some kindy friends... The four kidlets had an awesome time riding their scooters around and then playing some weird game where they rolled scooters down a ramp! After a while, they took a break and started watching this guy shooting some hoops by himself. They cheered and clapped (exuberantly I might add!) everytime he got a shot in... I don't know what the guy was thinking, but all of us mums thought it was pretty cute and hilarious!

My Photography Journey (a post for Hollie)

Hollie, who is one my blog readers from the States, commented on a blog post of mine about a month ago asking if I had taken a photography course or if I'm self taught. (Hi Hollie... *waves* - thanks for asking the question!) I think at the time I was in Adelaide for Ty and Bao's wedding so I couldn't write a reply, but I've only just got around to writing something about it and thought I would write a blog post detailing my photography journey so far...

Just before Elizabeth was born at the end of 2006, Phan decided to buy our first DSLR... a Canon 400D... Before he bought it, I told him straight out that I would probably not use it because it was so big (oh how I laugh at that now!), and because I wouldn't have the time or energy to learn how to use it with a new baby in our lives... He bought the camera anyway, telling me he would learn to use it and take all the photos... Little did I know, that he never ever really had any intention of learning how to use it... he was just going to use it in auto... but he just knew there would come a day when I would want to learn how to use a DSLR and take better photographs... LOL... how well does he know me?! And as it turned out, I well and truly proved him right and I am ever thankful that he did decide to buy that first DSLR.

My desire to take better photographs stemmed from me getting into digital scrapbooking about 4 months after Elizabeth was born... I came across an Australian photographer/digital scrapbooker named Melinda Alexander... her photographs were amazing and her LOs which featured these amazing photographs were something I decided to aspire towards. (Funnily enough, I don't think she digital scrapbooks anymore and she has her own photography business.) And so my photography journey started some 9 months after Elizabeth was born in August 2007.

I am mostly self taught in photography... all the technical aspects of photography I learnt through the internet and from reading various photography forums... I also bought the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson which I think is an excellent book for those starting out in photography and trying to grasp an understanding of the triangle of exposure (ISO, aperture and shutter speed). During this time I also started to learn about post-processing my images... I started out using actions from Itty Bitty Actions and some Lily Blue presets when I was starting out... but my style has completely changed and I don't ever use them now.

And then at the end of 2009, Sheye Rosemeyer (someone who I have loved and admired both as a person and as a photographer) started to offer some online workshops. I figured this was as close as I was going to ever be able to get to doing some kind of a photography course. With Elizabeth being young (and clingy!) plus Phan working variable hours, it was going to be a long time if I was to wait and do a course that involved actual commited contact hours. So I signed up for Sheye's Evolve course... which was really more about taking the next step, taking those technical aspects and turning it into something more creative. I learnt so much in those 6 weeks about the thought process involved in photography and how to challenge myself... it was one of the best things I've ever done.

And that is it... the rest has just been lots and lots of practise... (I'm lucky I have cute subjects to practise on!) I use Photoshop CS5 for my processing and I'm a huge fan of Eye Candy Actions (I run at least something from this action set on most of my images) and recently I've discovered My Four Hens Actions. I'm also beginning to develop my own set for actions that I go to when I want something basic. I'm still quite torn about what my processing style is because I do love a natural pop of colour but at the same time I also am drawn towards the arty vintage tones too... I do a mix of both at the moment, but I'm hoping at some point I'll figure out "who i am" and I'll have a consistent style of processing.

It's now been almost 4 years since I decided to become a "photography enthusiast"... I've moved on from the 400D and now I shoot with a Canon 5D Mk II with a 24-70mm f2.8 L most of the time. Also in my toolkit I have a 100mm f2.8 IS L, 85mm f1.8, 580EX speedlite and reflector. On my wishlist... a 16-35mm 2.8 for if we ever go travelling overseas... and after our photoshoot with Sheye, I'm now lusting over a tilt-shift (although I need to see how I would cope with manual focusing first before I commit to any such decision!)...

Three tips I thought I might share that might help those of you who are starting out.

1. Light
Learn to read the light - you can't fix bad light. Look at where it's coming from, look at it's intensity, look at the shadows, check if it's even. Avoid taking photos in dappled light, nothing worse than uneven dappled light. If shooting with lots of light, try backlighting your subject.

2. Make it Sharp and Keep it in Focus
I love a good sharp, in focus photo image. If taking a portrait, you must have sharp eyes, as that is the first thing that draws your eye to the image. Small people are notoriously hard to take sharp images of because they move so fast, so I personally tend to up my shutter speed and change my ISO and Av to compensate to make sure I can get a sharp image. I'm willing to accept a slightly noisy image if it means I get a sharp shot. Like light, you can't fix an out of focus image.

3. Composition
Follow the rule of thirds when composing your photos. Look at different angles. Consider capturing the surrounding environment to give your photos context. Shoot at different f stops to capture different details.

And I thought I'd finish this post off with a couple of before and afters -

Notice how in the photo of Elizabeth, I also cloned out her foot... I didn't like the way it looked like it was growing out of her head! I'm normally pretty crap at cloning, but I was happy with how that turned out... :)

Okay, if you've read all that, I'm impressed! :) You either must (1) be family (2) be bored or (3) really like me. But thanks for reading the ramble... I plan on sharing a few more of my insights on what I've learnt even though really I just feel like I'm at the beginning of my photography journey...

Photo A Day - April 12 - Party Animal

The little one was crazy last night and decided to party it up and not sleep for about 2 hours of the night... and then wanted to start the day at 4:30am until I made her lie down and she finally fell asleep and then decided to have a massive lie in until 7:15am!

I know this photo is not particularly spectacular until I tell you it was shot it near darkness at ISO 25600, f/2.8, 1/125 using manual focus...

Photo A Day - April 11 - Fave T-Shirt

I loved putting Elizabeth in this t-shirt when she was little... it would always make me smile seeing that cute little saying on it... and now I love that Catherine is big enough to wear it :)... it's a little worn out, but it's still cute...

Photo A Day - April 10 - The Sunhat

So after seeing our oh-so-beautiful photos from Sheye this weekend, it's left me feeling rather pathetic and inferior in my photographic ability... I can only stand from afar and admire her amazing talent and awesomeness... but I'm now inspired to challenge myself more and reach a new level in my photography.

So, today I decided to try and take some photos in the afternoon light at the park, we took a famiy stroll down to the park... Elizabeth on her bike (she's still terrible at steering!) and Catherine for the first time ever was happy to sit in her stroller and be pushed to the park. Once we got there, Elizabeth ran a riot, making Phan chase after her and play hide and seek... and I setup Catherine as my obliging model... :) I made myself use my 85mm today (I was somewhat inspired to use my prime more after seeing Phong's latest photos with his 135mm)... and I made myself shoot wide open at f/1.8... And I have to say, I'm pretty happy with what I got today...

Although, Catherine was none too impressed with the hat, and promptly refused to wear it after the first 5 minutes...





And then she got a bit bored, so I gave her a biscuit to eat -





Which she then mostly got all over her face and dropped all over the picnic blanket...





And I just wanted to share this one 'cos her lashes look sooo sweet and dreamy here -

Scrapbooking Sunday

Fei Fei's Stuff has just released a really cool new template this weekend called Outlined No. 6

She is also guesting at Digital Crea for the month of April and she released this absolutey beautiful kit earlier this week called Marina Walk ... just gorgeous peaceful colours perfect for those beach photos from the summer -





And I've done my first double page LO with it -

Simple Woman's Daybook - Photo A Day - April 9

So here's my Simple Woman's Daybook entry for today -

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... It is slightly overcast... there is a gentle cool breeze... it's actually refreshing.
I am thinking... about how hard it's going to be to choose photos from our photoshoot with Sheye... they are all so beautiful.
I am thankful for... Phan being back home from the conference in Perth. How we've missed him and we are all so happy to have him home... esp Elizabeth. She missed him a lot!
From the kitchen... we are having Bun Thang for dinner tonight (it's a vietnamese noodle soup dish with rice vermicelli, chicken, finely sliced egg strips and vietnamese pork loaf)... it's one my favourite soup dishes that Mum used to make for me and I'm pleased to say Elizabeth loves it too.
I am wearing... trackpants and a faded orange tshirt.
I am creating... some beanies for my friend Thao to use in some baby photoshoots she has lined up soon... :)
I am going... to go looking for some afternoon light if the weather holds out...
I am reading... "The Crafty Kid" by Kelly Doust... I got it for Christmas from Vinnie and Ko... I love it... and I need some ideas to entertain Elizabeth next week since school holidays have started for us and she has no kindy for 2 weeks!
I am hoping... to have an afternoon nap.
I am hearing... the theme song music to Giggle and Hoot.
Around the house... I have just used our new Dyson to vacuum our carpets this morning... Our old Dyson is dying and the turbine head stopped working... so we got a new one with a fancy schmancy motorhead... sucks up so much more dirt than the old one... I vacuumed 3 days ago, but you'd think I hadn't vacummed in a month by the amount of dust in the vacuum barrel.
One of my favorite things... I love warm, balmy summer nights... I find them so peaceful and relaxing and the perfect time for contemplation.
A few plans for the rest of the week: a massage for me, catchup with some kindy mums, start planning Catherine's 1st birthday party.

And my photo-a-day entry today is related to the photoshoot we had done.

We got our online gallery of images from our family photoshoot with the amazing Sheye Rosemeyer last night. I absolutely love them and can't stop smiling about how they turned out... To say that there were everything that I wanted would be an understatement... The photos capture our little family perfectly at this moment in time. And now comes the impossible task of deciding which photos I want printed for our photo wall... I'm planning to have an entire wall in our house back in Adelaide featuring photos from the shoot... Just one of the many reasons I'm looking forward to moving back home... :)

Photo A Day - April 8 - That Says "Zoo"

Elizabeth, Catherine and I were hanging out in the loungeroom this morning when Elizabeth pointed at the pajamas Catherine was wearing and said to me matter-of-factly - "Mum, that word says 'Zoo'"... I was amazed that she had recognised it correctly! I asked her how she knew that and she said to me "'Cos it does... Z-O-O... it says 'Zoo'"... She is so keen to read!

Photo A Day - April 7 - My Easter Bunny

So the headband we have with bunny ears broke today (We've used it for the last 3 years and mostly pulled it out at Easter time) and Elizabeth was lamenting as she moped around the house "But what can I wear to be the Easter Bunny?"... Then she came up with the idea of making ears, all by herself. She picked out the paper, I cut out the ears and she helped stick it all together. She makes a pretty cute bunny... :)

I had actually had plans of taking photos outside today, but the weather decided to be wildly erratic and alternated between beautiful sunshine with blue skies to pelting wildly down with rain for 10 minutes before clearing up again. Crazy Brisbane weather... Maybe tomorrow will be better...

Photo A Day - April 6 - Catherine the Monster

(It's a happy snap today, but the story is too cute not to share...)

The following happened in our loungeroom this morning...

{Elizabeth is playing in her Elmo tent}

E: "Agh... there's a monster... a monster... look out it's monster Catherine!"

C: *insert baby babble here*...
{she tries to get into the tent}

E: {trying to stop Catherine from getting in the tent}
"No... No... Catherine... You can't come in... Go away... Go away Catherine... Go away!"

C: {starts giggling and laughing in the most irresistable way at Elizabeth}

E: {lets Catherine into the tent}
Look Mum, Catherine's in the tent... I let her in.

The moral of the story... if you're a cute giggling monster, you'll get your way... :)

Photo A Day - April 5 - It's Too Small

While in the process of going through Elizabeth's old clothes to find some things for Catherine to wear this winter, we found this knitted vest that Ba had knitted for her when she was about 6-12 months... She thought she would try it on for size again... LOL...

Photo A Day - April 3 & April 4

April 3 - The Crochet Hat
So I've been looking through Elizabeth's old clothes looking for clothes that will fit Catherine now that the weather is cooling down and I came across a whole bunch of hats and beanies... I was wanting to take a photo of both Catherine and Elizabeth wearing a variety of different hats, but Catherine is a bit sick at the moment (runny nose and a bit of a cough) and as result, didn't want to play along. So I had to settle with taking a couple of shots of Elizabeth. This crochet hat was sent to us when Elizabeth was born from my aunties and uncles in Vietnam... I have sentimental attachment to anything that is sent to us from Vietnam because I know how hard life is there and how little they have and yet they still manage to find a way to send us something...

April 4 - Tippy Toes
The little girl is loving pulling herself to a standing position and trying to grab anything within reach... She also often gets stuck in the standing position and needs help getting back down again.

Scrapbooking Sunday

First off at Owl Tree Studios, the new forums and gallery are open... and along with that there are some delightful new lovelies that have been released too -

Wild Blueberry Ink has released Felicity... It has such lovely bold bright happy colours that I can't help but smile at -

And this one also makes use of Joey Lynn's Fun Pack No. 4 Templates





Wild Blueberry Ink also release Hope last week and I used it with some of the elements in Felicity in these LOs -







There are also some new designers guesting at Owl Tree Studios for April... First is
Allison Pennington with this great collection Lulubelle







And Makita Studios is our other guest at Owl Tree Studios this month and has released this gorgeous kit Love In Bloom.







I've also been on a bit of a roll with the scrapping lately (I just worked out I did
38 LOs last month! That's a record for me!), so here's a couple more pages -

This one was for the March Copycat Challenge at Oscraps -





Oh and I learnt how to do clustering with a fabulous tutorial that Ona wrote as part of the March Techniques challenge at Oscraps... This is probably the first page I've ever really done proper clustering... and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, even if I did spend several hours on it!





This one I scrapped 'cos I was feeling nostalgic about Elizabeth growing up...




Thanks for tuning in this Sunday, have a great week everyone!