Scrapping birthdays + a new layout!

Hi Kim here. Today I am excited to share a page using the fabulous May Hip kits. The citrus colors are so fresh & funky. I really enjoyed the paper & embellishment combinations!!

Happy Birthday to Me by Kim Watson 

I love using patterned paper as a background for most of my layouts which means I end up mixing a few designs on one page.  The coordinating patterned papers from the Hip Kits May Main Kit make doing that so easy. I was particularly drawn to the vibrant striped paper & ended up using it to determine my over color palette. 

I have some rather grainy photos from my surprise birthday lunch that I really wanted to scrap…so chose this layout that uses x4 smaller sized photos. Making them black & white with high contrast, crisped them up nicely.
The wood veneer embellishments from Shop Evalicious are so cute…but I needed a color accent in this top corner. Paint did the trick..a little dauber from the May Hip Color Kit did the trick. I love how it turned out.
Then came the extra fun part…the cluster on the left of the photos. I mean really, how does one choose which of the cute embellishments to use, the main kit & the embellishment add-on kit are bursting with options. I settled on items from the amazing Pink Paislee pack & Evalcious stickers which always rock my world. I mean…check out the vibrant colors?!

Then came the journaling… easy-peasy when you have a pile of cards from the Hip Kits May Project Life Kit by the ever talented Evalicious & a typewriter. I love the quality & finish of them….they give the page such a classy feel.

I hope this page has been inspiring. Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend fun!

We had a great weekend....even tho' the weather was more than weird! It was so hot & humid, it made everything damp & sticky. The endless rain made matters 1oo times worse too. Not the sort of weather we are used to here in the Cape but it didn't put a dampener on things {haha!}. We woke up at sparrows on Saturday morning & went to watch Scott {Jo's son} play a water polo match at his new school.....Scott you looked like a pro out there & made the other guys look like they could hardly swim! Max thoroughly enjoyed himself & told anyone who'd listen :

' There's my friend Scott in the pool!!!'

....we spent loads of time in our pool at home too, in an attempt to get away from the hideous creeping heat. The kids had a ball especially as they couldn't believe it when we gave them permission to swim in the rain. That then gave us a little more time to do some tiding & rearranging in the house. The lounge/dining room area are looking spotless...just the way we like it. How long it will stay like this I have no idea :o)

Cas had her friend Taylor over to swim.....Cas was so full of mischief tho' & was always looking for opportunities to dunk Taylor under....this is Cas's reaction after having 'caught' her unawares again! I happened to have the camera out & caught her in the act!

They are 2 grades apart age wise but are the greatest of friends!

The balls in the cozzie thing, was obviously Cas's idea...Taylor played along reluctantly. My camera pointing in their direction didn't make things any easier for poor Taylor either. Cas on the other hand is never fazed, she is a complete act & loves the camera. Her most fav thing to do, is have me photograph her striking a super model pose.

Cas has a school oral about her family tomorrow & needed a family portrait shot to show her class. So we dressed up {well sort of} & had such fun horsing in front the camera {even Max which is quite something}....I was finally able to get a half decent shot of all of us, where we are looking at the camera & smiling. For the couple of shots I got, it was so worth the heat & eyeliner.

Cas & I posed for this Mama & daughter shot, which turned out quite nicely...I must wear make-up more often I think.........NOT! hahaha!

Anyways have a great Monday everyone....XXXX

P.S Stef, I think you are a STAR for making the Journaling Junkie DT!

Good weekend!

Had a fab! weekend. We filled each day with friends that we haven't hung with properly since we left on vacation last year. Drove out to Tableview in the howling south-easter that was topping about 50 knots....I kid you not! The wind this summer is CRAZY! We had a really relaxing time with the Russel's. Little Callan is getting so big & cuter everyday.....but Maxi was a right pain with her, he wanted to cuddle, kiss, stroke & love her so much that I thought she would protest. Surprisingly Callan didn't, the little thing was compliantly good & endured the harassment patiently.

Sunday was laid back too, hanging with the Rasmussen family. Max was in his element with two doting playmates, Scott & Erin, to rope into playing cars with him. Thanks guys it was good catching up!!!

I even managed to get some scrapping done in snippets this weekend. I managed to finish x2 single page L.O's......yay! I feel like my MOJO is returning. So my collection of new L.O's is growing nicely, soon I will have enough great ammo available for when I start applying for DT positions. Oh, I LOVE scrapping!!!
Jeanie, I know you are rolling your eyes @ me right about now hahahaha! If you would just try it, you would understand why we are all so crazy about it.

Now on a stash note~ I am desperately looking for one of these. It is a note book from M.M Noteworthy range...anyone out there have any idea where I can buy one??

[NB: This note is mostly for the SA girls, because to buy it from overseas is too expensive with shipping.]

Well girls I better stop yakking & get something useful done before Maxi gets home from school.
Have a super day.
XXX

Thanksgiving!

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in SA, with an official day, but I have friends & family over the seas who do & I wanted to say:

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

All of you have blessed my life in small & special ways, through gifts,
emails, sweet messages. It is through you that our Lord whispers His words of encouragement, support, love & laughter to me. I have enjoyed so very much being allowed to share your lives, through your blogs.
You are all VERY special people & I am glad we 'met'.

Be Blessed & feel *HUGGED* all the way from down-south...........waaaay down south.

Lots of love
Kim

This photo is so funny, I took it
holding the camera & ended up
looking a bit Siamese.

XXXX

Lazy days!

This is a wonderful gift I received in the mail from my blog buddy, Martha, who lives in Ohio, USA. She very thoughtfully chose and sent me this wonderful Pampered chef recipe book. The recipes are really simple BUT incredibly interesting. I can't wait to experiment.

Thank~you so much my friend. I LOVE it! (I can't believe how fast it got to me ;o)

This weekend was certainly full of those.....we did nothing really except potter around the house & the garden, doing stuff you never really get around to ordinarily.

Tersh washed the cars.......a momentous occasion in our household!!!! The car wash down the road normally does the job in about three minutes flat & you leave wondering if the car actually ever gets clean. So to get the personal touch from T, is indeed a great thing ;o) We have a cul-de-sac @ the garage side of our house & T had set himself up with the hose (attached to the well point), bucket, soap, brush etc. & Maxi was zooting around on his motor bike just enjoying 'being with' his Dad. At one point T looked up & noticed Max was not with him any longer, only to see him emerge from the garage with his large leather gardening gloves on each hand, buck naked, screaming :"Watch me DAD! I'm a racing driver!!" as he scooted into the road.



The rest of the weekend was spent lazing @ home or walking around our neighborhood or visiting our local play park. It was SUPER relaxing & fun to spend time with my boys.

I love our home here in Cape town & on those rare gem's of a day, when the wind doesn't blow, it is truly a slice of heaven. We have a natural river that runs through the public land that is at the end of our road & even now that it is so unkempt due to lack of council resources, it is still beautiful. Overlooking the mountain behind our home makes for unbelievable sunsets....... & we get to see them now because the sun only sets at about 7.30pm. Yaaay! for summer!. More scrapping amo for the Mammaratzzi! not that I need any more amo at the moment. I am on a scrapping serious roll!!! I took some advice from my good friend Mel.....she said that I should maybe try and do some spontaneous L.O's for a change, instead of every L.O being a planned work of art. I did just that and managed to finish x3 L.O's in one day. Yeeehah! that is a MAJOR feat for moi! I haven't scanned them yet, but as soon as I do I will post them.




Anyhow folks.....I hope you all have a blessed week & thanks again to all those who take the time to leave me a message I LOVE seeing who have popped in for a visit.

KJ
XX X