When the Reindeer Dust Settles.....

Yep, Santa came and went as promised...

So, with 4 expectant kiddies waiting patiently...

(I seriously don't have a single photo of Lachlan not pulling a face!)

We opened pressies...

Ate chocolate before breakfast!! ...

And jumped in the car, camper all hitched up and ready to go to one of our favourite local camping spots for a couple of nights....

So, I relaxed on the bank and watched my special people have a play in the water....

Camera in one hand, my Christmas Corona in the other   :) .....

(well, I've worked hard and I enjoyed a small indulgence! lol)

The kids checked the yabby pots..... every half hour! ...

While Troy worked on Christmas dinner....

And I made sure a little Christmas magic came camping with us...

Complete with fairy and icicle lights...

We finished off Christmas with a family movie night... HP and the Deathly Hallows Part II, all huddled around the laptop!  :)  Not glamourous, a little bit grubby, too many insects and a dose of sunburn for mum (oops).... wouldn't change it for anything though!

Merry Christmas from the Winks's.

Wherever you were and however you celebrated your holiday, I hope it found you spending some magical time with your special people.... 

 

I had a much better self-timed photo to share, only to discover little Master 3 had a finger almost completed embedded up one nostril!!  This one will have to do... :)

Cheers for now...

Jules

x

The Greatest Gift...

Well, that's the title of this little layout for the Colour Room this week....

Umm, I know I said I was moving on from this colour scheme, but it wasn't entirely my fault.  The lovely Lydell used my Advent Calendar as inspo for the new palette this week, so I was obligated to participate in this one!  hehee.  The DT really have done a beautiful job with the palette this week.  Have a little lookie here.

I know we are all super busy at the moment, but it would be great if you could schedule this one in.

Short and sweet today (unusual for me I know) ... so much to do!!  :)

Cheers for now,

Jules

x

Everyday Happenings... and a Share

Phew.... very thankful that the last week of school cylcone of activity is over!

My baby girl, Claire Bear, graduated Year 7...

... eeek, that's 2 in highschool!   We were very proud to see her receive both the Sportsgirl of the Year award and the Diligence Award.  It was a very teary week for her though, as her 'Best-Friend-In-The-World' is leaving... :(

We made huge gift baskets for the teachers... (which I fogot to photograph!)

We got ready for the end of year gala concert.... which was cancelled at the last minute due to storm activity.... only to find it was postponed until two days later, which I then missed altogether because I got the times mixed up!!  *big sigh*  ...  I was having one of those days!!!

We received the school reports in the mail.  I have never been more proud.  3 reports.  20 A's in the achievement column ....  4 B's.  I think this calls for a little spoiling.  :) 

There were also the obligatory break up parties and friends staying over on the weekend.  Maddi actually finished 3 weeks ago, and has been working more hours at her part-time job and earning plenty of Christmas money, which I'm sure is burning a hole in her pocket!  She has also been able to provide me with a little bit of baby-sitting, which has helped me with a few 'Santa jobs'!  Another trip to the big smoke this week, for movies and an ortho visit will probably see an end to said 'Santa jobs' too!  Here's hoping.  :)

Plenty of creative jobs are buliding up too, which I really need to make time for this week.... somehow!!

For now, I'll leave you with some Christmas tags I made recently.  I really LOVE doing tags.  They are quick and simple and so fun to do.  Hmmm - there's that colour scheme again!  Can't say much about what I made them for though... it's a bit of a secret.  ;)

Hope the busy festive season is being kind to you all.  For now, I really need to put my head down and create for a bit.  :)

See you soon.

Jules
x

Christmas Traditions with KIU

Back again!  :)

Ooooh, i love Christmas projects.... can ya tell?  :)

Over at KIU this month, the challenge is to do a layout about your Christmas Traditions.  You can pick your favourite, or depict several... it is totally up to you. We need you to have a photo of your tradition and your creation must be on Kraft Cardstock or Kraft Patterned Paper.  Due to the small delay this month the challenge will run up until 7th January. 

My tradition this month is my Christmas decor...  I just love the sparkle and the magic of beautiful decorations at Christmas time.

{christmas decor}

Yep I know... my new favourite colour scheme!  lol   I trialed my advent calendar colour scheme on this layout first.... then i did some Christmas tags.... then another two layouts!  :)  Think I might move on now... lol

And I'd also like to say a big thank you for all the wonderfully supportive comments on my 'Transforming Me' post.  It means so much and I'm truely appreciative of every one of them.  :)

Christmas concerts and baking today for teachers gift baskets!  Did I mention how much I love Christmas projects?  :)   I better get a wriggle on.....

Hugs for now,

Jules
x

My Advent Calendar.... a little tutorial.

Hello Lovely Friends,

Well, I finally did it!  I managed to get this long overdue advent calendar done this year!  At The Colour Room this month, in addition to the weekly palettes, oodles of Christmas projects are being featured also.  The Design Team are sharing all of their festive projects for December, in order to really help you get into the creative Christmas spirit!!  Just check in every couple of days for an update.

I hope you enjoy my little tutorial:

I used the fantastic little Kaisercraft advent calendar with the ‘treasure drawers’ around the outside and this awesome panel in the centre, just begging for embellishment! I decided on a non-traditional colour scheme for this project and it is one that I have trialed a couple of times now on a couple of layouts and some Christmas tags.... and I just love it!  Blue, white, kraft and gold.

Step 1 | Assemble the calendar and spray paint white. This is so much quicker and easier than painting by brush. I think this step literally took me 30 minutes... too easy.

Step 2 |  I decided to cover my little treasure boxes with pattered paper. I have used Bo Bunny Et Cetera papers and My Minds Eye Lost & Found ‘Breeze’ papers. Select your papers and cut squares to size. Punch a semi circles in the front panel squares.

Step 3 |  Glue your papers to the flattened boxes and then glue them all into shape, using a strong adhesive. When dry, ink the edges of your boxes with gold ink.