Christmas is coming!

Hi y'all!
Have you been to the shops lately? Have you seen that all the Christmas stuff is coming in already?! How lucky we are in Australia, to get to see all the beautiful Christmas things from September to December, rather than having to deal with those other pesky holidays they have in America, like Halloween and Thanksgiving. {giggles!} Just kidding, but I do love all the Christmas stuff around already!
So it got me in the mood to post about some Christmas pages I've done this year! I don't usually do Christmas pages, even though I have heaps of Christmas supplies. Why?? {scratching head}. I think I maybe get a bit overwhelmed by the number of pics I take at Christmas, and I don't know where to start! That's why it was good to do the small December Daily Christmas mini-album last year, with all the different shaped pages & Christmas themed embellishments. I've prepared this year's already! YAY!!
Oh, look how little Jaimeson looks! Such a little cutie {hearts rising from head!}
I love this little Elf outfit Aunty Alicia bought him. What a gorgeous boy!
Fun stuff: Love the MM glitter letter stickers; getting to use up some of my mountain of 3D stickers (I have over 100 packets, oops!); the bottle cap I have had for about 10 years! Honestly! {gasp!};the cool candy-print arrow. I love arrows, I use them a lot!
Then this second page, sorry about the poor quality, I obviously didn't notice my lens was really dirty!
Fun stuff: being able to "frame" the ridiculous Christmas chicken with the white chipboard frame (which I've had for 6 years. O.M.G. must stop hoarding!); using up more 3D Christmas stickers- the mittens and layered star; the felt holly sticker at the top of the page.
I'm happy to have partly-assembled my December Daily album already! I feel organised for Christmas! I hope it sticks around! LOL!
:) C

Some pages from Summer

Hi y'all!
I need some warming up, winter is really here in earnest now! I'm f-f-f-f-freezing! {chattering teeth}. I've had to buy my second pair of slippers for the season too, cos I've already almost worn one pair out! I do love my slippers {wink}. Sooo warm and comfy.

Anyway, I think some summery pages should warm you up!
This first one is from Christmas time at Granny and Papa's. Look how little Jaimeson is! And there's my fave fluffy hair again! What a gorgeous tiny rashie he has on too {smiles}.
 I had fun using up lots of little paper scraps to make the upside-down bunting along the top. I think it looks cool! I love the bright background papers too, nice and summery.

Then this second page is also from Christmas time, when all the Kingman cousins were together. I am so happy that Jaimeson has lots of cousins to enjoy time with and learn from, when we're all together! I'm sure they'll all be good friends growing up. And Tassy is such a good big-sister-cousin (there is almost 6 years between her and her nearest cousin on our side, then the next 4 babies were all born within 3 years!) There's all of my Top 5 on this page: PP's, stickers, journalling spots, tape and thickers! BINGO {jumping in the air, waving page!}
Have you got big plans for the weekend? Alicia just called me and we're going to meet up at the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. Should be fun! Gotta rug up though, I think top temp is about 15ºC! Brrrr....
:) C

Basket Boy & Fluffy Hair

Hi Y'all!

I haven't posted a scrap page in a little while! What a slacker! I have still been scrapping, and I'm on a pretty good groove with my New Year's Resolution to use up 20% of my PP stash {clapping from the background}, so I'm happy about that! Here are a couple of pages of Jaimeson, of course, I don't seem to scrap about anything else anymore. Well, I don't need to, when he's such a cute subject!

Hmmm... I see the colour on these pages is not the best. I wish it would be bright and sunny this winter! Where is that Sun?? These pages aren't that blue IRL.
Enough Whinging! Anyway....
What a little cutie Jaimeson was in the washing basket! Look how little he is!! And what a round head he has. LOL! Some fun stuff on this page: the round metal brad letters, which I've had for, oh, about 400 years. Yay to have used some (I like to hoard... in case you didn't know). I love the Children's Encyclopedia page in the BG, I got a couple of the Encyclopedia books when we were in Coffs Harbour last year. I love that they have pictures and really simple words. It goes well with scrapping Jaimeson!

And then, here is another page of Jaimeson from Christmas time at Granny and Papa's. I love his really "concentrated" look, and his fluffy, spikey baby hair! His hair is much coarser now, and wont spike up on it's own anymore {sob}. My baby has become a real little boy!
Fun stuff on this page: the collection of white vintage buttons! I had them sitting on my desk and so lined them up and stuck them on the LO! I love them! Their designs are so pretty, and all different! I love the cloud and the bird BG papers, so happy to have used them (tho they were pretty new to my stash), and yay for using the Heidi Swapp Ghost Letters I've had for Donkey's years too! {High five!}
I can see Washi and printed sticky tape on both these pages. It seems I can't do a page without it these days!
Hope you've had a great weekend so far!
:) C

Pinterest Christmas Garland

Lookie here, I made another thing off Pinterest! Hot Dang I'm on a Roll! {high five!} I made THIS Paint Chip Heart Garland, in Christmas colours. I love it {holding hands over heart}. It turned out perfectly from what's in my mind!I tried to make it a bit variegated, by using more of the darker colours on the left and fading off into the lighter colours on the right. There are some mixed up light and dark ones, but I'm SO impressed with how it turned out!I collected some green and red paint chips from Bunnings when Will made my Wrapping Station and I had this project in mind. Its actually kinda hard to find really red paint chips, I guess it's not a common wall colour! So thats why some of the hearts near the right hand end are a bit pink. I don't mind {shrugs shoulders lightly}.
Anway, it feels so good to have completed it! I punched the heart shapes out using my Emaginations Folk Heart Punch I bought about 8 years ago, which unfortunately I obliterated about 1/3 way through punching. Yep, apparently sitting idle in a drawer for 5 years doesn't do punches any good and the mountings disintergrate! See... obliterated!! That was once all one piece! Luckily it still works if you hold all the metal innards together (forget the plastic casing), so I was able to finish my garland. Then I laid them out in the order I wanted and sewed them all together on the machine! I let the machine do approx 4 "empty" stitches between each heart so they wouldn't be jammed up beside each other when they hung. I love it!
And then I sticky taped it to the wall. LOL! Classy! I'll find a better place for it next Christmas!

High Five for another Pinspired project completed!
:) C

Jaimeson's Christmas Decorations

It's not too late to still be posting about Christmas decorations is it? Well, I haven't put my tree away yet, so I'm thinking that's a no!
I have been incredibly inspired by Pinterest, and if you haven't gotten into it yet and you're a crafty person, you are seriously missing out! I was inspired by so many Christmas decorations on there and I knew I HAD to make this one while Jai was still small and he had the sweetest little handprint! I used some giant glass baubles I bought in the after-Christmas sale at Spotlight in 2010 and used white school glue on a chux wipe to smoosh Jai's hand into (the white glue is non-toxic, cos I thought his hand would migrate to his mouth faster than I could get a baby wipe onto it! I smooshed his hand in the glue-wipe and gently pressed it on the bauble, making sure his fingers were spread far enough apart (I made 4 baubles- the first one I did had his fingers too close together and it turned out as a big glitter blob in the approximate size of his hand!) I quickly sprinkled glitter on the hand print then let it dry. Once dry I used a soft paintbrush to brush off the excess glitter and voila! Glitter handprint ornament! I also wrote his name and year in the glue on the backside and glittered that too. It's hard to write in glue though! Would have been way easier if he had a short name like Max! I could have written Jai I guess, but I went for his full name, and it did turn out ok {smiles}
I also decided I would buy one "special" ornament for Jai every year, and when he is older he can choose his "special" ornamet. It doesn't have to be glass or sparkly (but that is my choice, LOL!), just something that he would like. This year I chose this most beautiful pale blue glass hummingbird with glitter inside it, that I found at Myer. I {heart} it! And it was 40% off, so I {heart} it even more {giggle}! I may be using Jai as an excuse to buy new ornaments, but hey... he's a good excuse! I was also on the look out for a nice "My First Christmas" ornament for Jai too, and it was really hard to find nice ones! I did buy these 2 el-cheapo ones from BigW which I personalised a little for him! The frame was cute but I wanted the year on it, so I just personalised it by writing 2011 and Jaimeson on it in Sharpie. I don't think it's too bad! And you are just drawn into the pic by that happy smiling face anyway! And I wasn't going to get the little booties except I was wearing Jaimeson in the baby bjorn and when I picked up the booties his arms and legs flailed around like crazy and he was going "ah ah ah ah ah" and reaching out for them. It was hilarious! So I had to get them. I also personalised them by writing Jaimeson's name and birth date on the soles. You know in Toy Story how all the toys have "Andy" written on the bottom of their shoe, that's how Woody gets Buzz to come back to the house, by reminding him that he's Andy's Toy. I love that scene {heart melting}, well, I love the whole movie anyway, but that scene always sticks with me. And writing Jaimeson's name on the soles of these booties reminded me of that!
They are a bit el-cheapo, but Mum bought Jai a beautiful silver Teddy Bear ornament with a 2011 hanging off the bottom too, so he has that more up-market looking one for the tree! I guess Jai has lots of "Special" ornaments this Christmas after all, well it was his First Christmas!! I look forward to getting him another special ornament next Christmas!
:) C

Happy New Year!

Hi Y'all!
Hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve! Will and I did what we usually do... nothing! Well, usually we're working til midnight so it's no surprise we do nothing. Will actually finished at 6:30pm last night but I was asleep by 10:30pm! That's what it's like with a baby I guess, I couldn't keep my eyes open {yawn!} Luckily we had already popped our bottle of Champagne at 7pm and had some with dinner cos we didn't make it til midnight.
Anywho... As is my little personal tradition (as a child we used to always lay out our presents on the bed and Dad would take a pic, I still do it!), here is a pic of what I got for Christmas..
As you can see I got TOTALLY spoilt! My family LOVE giving and receiving presents, and we always get cool stuff (not just a gift card or voucher, though they are useful too). I was sooo stoked to get some vintage homewares off Willy and Yvette! Yep, Willy snuck off to the Op-Shops without me knowing and got me a set of Orange Kelco cups and saucers that we saw in there together, and he also got me a set of 3 Pyrex casserole dishes with daisy lids, which I saw in there and described to him. He told me he was going to the bank one morning which, at Christmas, he confessed was actually a cover for nipping off to the Salvos at Chester Hill to pick them up! He said 2 ladies were looking at them and commenting on them, and when they walked away Will grabbed them and when they saw him with them they lamented that they hadn't gotten them after all! Sorry ladies, you snooze you lose! He also visited the North Ryde Vinnies and picked up some Pyrex ramikins for me, which he chose all on his own. So sweet!
Yvette also got me some awesome Pyrex for Christmas- the 2 big white casserole dishes. One is matches the Friendship pattern bowls I already have and one is a totally new pattern for me, but matches in with my colour scheme. Awesome! The Op Shops actually did really well out of our whole family this Christmas, cos I bought Will paintings, Yvette Pyrex, a doily and vintage sheets and Mum a pavlova plate and small dish all from the Op Shops; Will bought me stuff and Yvette bought Will a painting and me some pyrex and made all of us a gorgeous necklace out of a Typewriter Key! and I think maybe she got Mum something from the Op Shops too? It was a Charity Christmas!
Other awesome gifts you might be able to pick out from the pic were: the big Canvas photo from Willy, a gorgeous blue striped summer dress from Mum and Dad, 2 pairs of gold sandals from Mum (one pair by default, cos they didn't fit Yvette, but I love them!), a beautiful Hot Air Balloon necklace from Fliss, a cool tie-dye effect top with cut out sleeves and an awesome collection of jewellry from Alicia, the new Diana Gabaldon book {cheering!}, heaps of owl stuff like a notepad, pencil case, journal, mirror, some scrapbooking supplies and vintage trims off Yvette etc etc... Wow! Too Spoilt!
And cos he shouldn't be left out... here's what Jaimeson got! I'm totally keeping this tradition for him too. I look back on my previous years and think- "Oh wow, I've had that for so long!" or, "I wonder what happened to that?" LOL!
Jai got spoilt too! Yvette cross stitched him a gorgeous Christmas Stocking, so much time and effort Yvette, THANK YOU {hugs!} He got lots of cool books to read, some ones with sounds off Granny and Papa, a gorgeous book about a Fox and a homeless dog off Aunty Fliss and some board books off Will & I, a Fisher Price walker off Will and I, sweet Skip Hop backpack and lunch bag off Aunty Alicia (which I have been admiring in David Jones, YAY!!), a ride-on bike off Aunty Lil, a giant Teddy Bear off Uncle Vincent (you know Asians LOVE the giant bears, have you ever been to a Morning Glory shop? Oh man, they love them big! And it took Jaimeson 7 months to get one. That's a record! I thought someone would have bought him one by now, LOL!) Some toys including a fleecy Farm off Aunty Fliss, complete with extra Little Lamb for Our Little Lam!, a musical hammer which he loves already and a Dorothy the Dinosaur hand puppet. Some clothes off Alicia, Felicity and Mum and a bouncy cow off Will and I, the same one that he bounced on at the Teddy Bear's Picnic. I loved them!
What a Christmas!! I'm looking forward to using all my presents now!! Thank you Family!! xoxoxo {smoochies and hugs!}
:) C

Happy First Christmas Jaimeson!

Hi y'all!
Well we had a lovely Christmas at Mum and Dad's, and Jai had a fantastic First Christmas! What a happy little camper he is!
He enjoyed Swinging and blowing Raspberries with Papa...

... and relaxing and enjoying the sunshine with Granny.
He got lots of cuddles from Aunty Yvette...
..and ate some delicious present wrapping paper and ribbon with Daddy!
We ate an awesome baked lunch made by Granny and Papa (and eaten on the special plates with the special cutlery!) It was delicious!

We sat around the table having lovely conversation (and smiling fakely, thanks Willy!)
And we loved every minute of our first Family Christmas with Jaimeson! I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours was!!
:) C

Bloggy Advent Calendar DAY 25

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Love Charlotte, Willy & Jaimeson
{hugs!}
{chinking glasses- Cheers!}
{CRACK! That's a bon bon going off. No doubt I "won" whats inside, cos I seem to always be left with the majority of the cracker!}
{groan- patting tummy, too full after Christmas lunch!}

Thanks for sticking with me for the Bloggy Advent Calendar for 2011. Hope you have a great Christmas & get to celebrate it with your most loved Family & Friends!
And remember, Jesus was born today! Merry Christmas!

Christmas in the air...

So I was just thinking about Christmas and how much I love all the lead up festivites, the food & drink, the beautiful vistas of snow on old buildings... and how we just don't have that here in Australia! The only thing around at the moment to let you know it's Christmas is the rush at the shops and the Butterscotch Latte at Gloria Jeans (Good on 'ya GJ's, but it's no Pumpkin Pie Spice or Gingerbread Latte like at Starbucks! And where's my Christmas printed cup??!)
1. cinnabon-classic, 2. munich christmas market, 3. Disneyland christmas castle during the day, 4. munich christmas market, 5. Cocktail., 6. #322/365 - Gingerbread Latte, 7. [white Christmas], 8. 18/365, 9. Lighthouse
So I just did a quick trawl of Flickr and came up with this Christmas Mood Board to really lift my spirits!
1. Cinnabon- ooohh, the warm, sweet, delicious gooeyness of this Cinnamon scroll that really feels like you're eating Velvet. Oh how I wish we had Cinnabon in Australia!
2. Christmas Markets in Munich- I went on school exchage to Munich a few years ago now (eek!) and their Christmas Markets were just extraordinary. Not to mention, looked so beautiful under the backdrop of the Rathaus and with their fairy lights glowing in the frosty night air!
3. Disneyland all dressed up for Christmas- I've been twice to DL in the lead up to Christmas and it is just SO BEAUTIFUL! And they do go so over the top, it's awesome!
4.Gebranndte Mandeln- Sugar Coated almonds from the Munich Christmas markets. Hot, smell delicious and taste soooo sooo good!
5. Cocktail by the pool- Ok, this is probably our reality for Christmas at Mum and Dad's this year. And you know what, it doesn't brush up too bad beside all these other Christmassy things!
6. Starbucks Christmas printed cups- always beautiful and so festive! And look I found one that says Jaime!
7. Snow covered English village- oh so beautiful!
8.Pumpkin Pie- YUM YUM YUM. Thank you Costco for making this one a reality!
9.Connecticut at Christmas- such gorgeous scenery to take photos of. If only it snowed here at Christmas!!
What would be on your Christmas Mood Board?
: )C

December Daily Album

I just realised I'll be able to start scrapping in my December Daily album by this time next week, so I'd better get posting about it, hey!
For the last few years Yvette has scrapped a "December Daily" album, which is a page a day in December {duh, slapping hand on forehead} with a photo and some journalling. Not a full-on novel of journalling, or a whole wedding album full of pics, just a nice simple "one picture, with a few sentances" kinda thing. I have LOVED looking through her albums over the past few years, but seeing as my December life up until now hasn't been that interesting (read: work, put up tree, work, bake, work, etc etc) I haven't found it that inspiring to scrap about! Now I have Jaimeson I'd like that to change, and having the December Daily book to fill in will inspire me to get out and do more Christmassy things, and record them too! I never usually scrap Christmas pages, I have no idea why {looking confused} so this will be fun!
One thing I Love about Yvette's album is the collection of mis-matched pages that she uses. I think it looks really cool! And it encourages you to look through the whole album cos it isn't just more of the same. I'm totally working on that same idea with my book. I started with a black chipboard Basic Grey album I got on sale at Spotlight for $5. Not bad I thought, cos I loved the shape and it had about 6 or so pages. Then I went through my mountain of scrapbook supplies and pulled out all the Christmas theme items and have created a "kit" of them to reach for during December when I will be scrappin like crazy! I went through the kit and pulled out all the tags and papers that I thought were page-worthy and I punched holes and threaded them onto the rings that came with my Basic Grey album. I shuffled the pages around a bit til I was happy with the layout and voila! I am ready to embellish come next week! Well I couldn't help myself either, and I have already decorated the front of the album :)
My fave double spread ready to be embellished is this green sparkly Top Note cut-out (a Stampin Up die) and opposite it is a clear acetate square with a black frame. I chose those two pages to be for the December 14 layout cos that's Willy's birthday! I do love that giant red spot and the funky holly leaf papers too. Well, I love it all. I'm very excited for December to be coming so I can start my album!
:) C