Project 365; Collage 9

Hi y'all!
Happy Saturday! I hope you've got some fun plans for this weekend! Today is my nephew Cooper's 4th Birthday Party, which I'm looking forward to! It's the child in me, looking forward to kids parties! {sucking on lollypop and swinging legs on the chair}!
Here is Collage 9 for Project 365:33: I got this awesome "Edible Blooms" giftbox with chocolate flowers, a bottle of champagne and a sweet monkey softie from my Primary School Best Friend. I can't believe she remembered my birthday and got this delivered! I love it!
34: Willy setting up for my Hawaii 3-0 Party. NOOOOOO RAIN!! Go away! We did have some marquees and tarps for the ground, but it was still very soggy underfoot!
35: Go To Hawaii!! Hawaii! Straight to Hawaii! Yep, my Hawaii 3-0 Birthday Party! It was great! And the rain held off which was so good! Jaimeson's little Hawaiian shirt I actually bought for Cooper in Hawaii in 2008, just after he was born. And now it's handed down to Jaimeson! So cute!
36: Willy playing with Xander when they came over to help us pack up and pick up all of Caprice Party Hire's equipment. I totally wouldn't be able to hold a party without the help of my family! {hugs everyone!!} From setting up, styling, crafting, decor, cooking, serving and packing up... they make it so much easier!!
:) C

Minding Xander!

Here we are, hanging out together! It's still a bit early for me, I would normally still be asleep but Xander is having fun!
:) C


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Hawaii Pages

Hello!
It's been a pretty good week on the crafting front for me. Mr Mojo has stayed all week, I hope he's moved in for good! I am highly motivated by my New Year's Resolution to decrease my PP supply by 20%, it makes me want to scrap and start using through some of my supplies! I still find I want to buy more and more but I've come up with a theoretical shopping technique that works really well. And in fact, Alicia mentioned the same sort of theoretical shopping technique to me yesterday in regards to clothes shopping, and I thought I was the only one who used it! Ok, this is it: Go online to your fave shopping site e.g. 2Peas, cruise around the site with a cuppa in one hand and a yummy biscuit, fill up your shopping cart with all the beautiful things you see and must have, get hugely inspired by all the products and ideas and once your cuppa is done, close your cart without buying it all, head off to your craft room and use all the similar products you no doubt have in your stash and have forgotten about or weren't inspired to use, and voila! You've saved money and used up your own stash! Trust me, it works. I constantly fill up my 2peas cart, shuffle stuff around, add and remove items and only buy when they have a totally awesome sale. I recommend it!
So I've been getting stuck in to my Hawaii pics in scrappin this week. Sorry the pics are so crap, I took them at night under my lamp and they didn't turn out so well! I hope you can still get the gist of it. We had such a super awesome holiday in Hawaii and I want to reflect just how relaxing and fun it was through my pages! I hope you get an idea of how much we enjoyed ourselves {grins}. I would go back every year if I could!
These pages use up some old papers I had in my stash for ages! YAY! The funky flower one on the top page is a Kangaroo and Joey paper I've had for over 7 years I'd say! So nice to use up that one ;) And the brushed blue BG on the second page is probably at least that old! The parrot rub-on I bought especially for Hawaii pages, its so cool!
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! It's time for me to have some lunch and get back to my scrappin I think!
:) C

Our Christmas 2010

Hi y'all!
We hope you had a fun, fantastic, frolicking, family and friend-filled Christmas! Will and I enjoyed our 3 days of relaxing at Mum and Dad's, I was stuffed every day from the endless cups of tea and cakes (mini Christmas Puddings, shortbread biscuits, rocky road etc). On Christmas Day Alicia, David and Xander came down to Wollongong for Christmas lunch and present opening. They didn't arrive until about 11:00am so we had to hold off opening presents until then (so hard! Obviously I am still a child at heart {wink}). Once they arrived though, we had a frenzy of present opening! There is always so much excitement, paper all over the loungeroom floor and ooohing and ahhing! (See Will posing under Mum's amazing Christmas bauble chandelier? LOL) After all the present opening it was on to our traditional Christmas lunch! Dad cooked the Christmas roasts in the BBQ outside (which means the house doesn't get stinking hot and we relax inside with the A/C on! And every time you open the back door you get the delicious wafting smell of baking Pork and Chicken! YUM! {licking lips}. Mum set a beautiful Christmas table in a red and white theme (Marie would have been so proud Mum!) and we even had red star-shaped coasters with each of our pictures on it (maybe in case we had to much Christmas champagne and forgot what we looked like {giggles}). And Mum made her yummy Cauliflour in cheese sauce and traditional steamed Christmas Pudding. So good!! In the afternoon we layed out on the smooth mown park-like lawn under the shade reading magazines and having a snooze! It was soooooo lovely!
Did you see the pic at the top of Xander opening our Christmas present? He was so taken by the ribbon, it was so cute! Then later on as he lounged in his pram he was enthralled by what was inside his gift- Fisher Price spinning balls- where the inside patterned piece spins inside a clear acrylic ball. He stared hard at that spinning bit! And Will tried to get Xander to crack his Christmas Bon Bon with him! It's funny to think next year OUR baby will be almost as big as Xander at Christmas! Sounds so weird!
Well, I hope you had as fun a Christmas as we did, thanks Mum and Dad for having us and letting us relax, sleep, and beat you at Carcasson!! We're off on a coupon date tonight to Mexican and then to the movies, double YAY!
:) C

Xander's Christening

Hi Y'all!
Well, I've been a little slack on the posting again, so here is a catch up for you!
Last Sunday was Xander's Christening. Oh he is just the sweetest, cutest little golden child (everyone tells me babies aren't usually as happy, well behaved, easy to feed and a good sleeper as Xander is! But I'm not believing them, cos I'd like one just like him!) He was so well behaved during the Christening service, he didn't cry when he got doused, but then he loves his swimming lessons so water is nothing new for him!
Alicia has decorated his nursery in Black and White and so what better cake to have than a black and white iced red-velvet cake. Oh it was SO GOOD! Really moist and heavy inside with the delicious chocolatey taste. Co-incidently the cake maker was Xander's midwife, and also the same lady who made Will and my wedding cake! Nothing like keeping it in the family :) Isn't it a cool cake! The big X on the top is a silver decor letter he has in his bedroom (not edible! {giggles}) cos Alicia didn't want sugared booties or a baby on top! She's such a modern gal {wink!} I didn't get to try the cake on the day cos I had filled up on some delicious Italian treats David bought, like Chocolate Canoli and Lemon tarts! Oh they were sooooo good. And David had made his famous Lamb cutlets (with their secret marinade) which were delish. (Wow, lots of food talk, maybe it's time for a snack here at home!)
Isn't Xander so cute in his "little man" button-up shirt! He has grown so much in the month since we've been back from Hawaii too, his legs seemed to have doubled in length! And he looks so much like David, except for his blue eyes which he got from Mummy! His hair is getting so long that it doesn't sit in his cupie curl so much anymore :( He's growing so fast! But he's such a good little guy. Congratulations Alicia and David and Happy Christening Xander!
:) C

Attention Mr Mojo, please return to Brownville!

Do I have the right to feel neglected? Mr Mojo has been with me for this entire year, which, as far as I can remember, is the longest time he's stayed around probably ever! He left when we went to Canberra, cos he was gone when we got back. He didn't even leave a parting note! I would have liked something like "Hello Charlotte, sorry I had to leave but there are others in this world who have been striving for some scrapbooking inspiration and must attend to their needs now. It's been fun, it's been real, it's been fun real, but I'm leaving and I'm not sure when I'll be back again. Have a great time at Yvette's, cos it's the last time you'll feel inspired for a while, soak it up! Catch ya never, Mr Mojo".
Dude. I miss you already.
Lucky I haven't posted a couple of pages I did before Canberra, or you'd only be getting baking posts for a while (luckily Betty Beaters and I have still been cooking up a storm).
I love this little pic of Xander, it's such a "Xander Face", it really really looks like him. He's so inquisitive, always wants to have a look at who's holding him and will lean back and look right up into your face! What a cutie.
Hope you have a great weekend!
P.S. If you see Mr Mojo, tell him he's a jerk. But I forgive him so he can come back now.
:) C

Happy Birthday Alicia!!

It's Alicia's Birthday today {crowd singing salutations in the background} and our family headed off to the St Malo Bakery at Crows Nest for brunch. This bakery is pretty new I think and they make the most amazing artisan breads and french style pastries and tarts. OMG the food was amazing! Not just to eat, but to look at, and the breads were so fresh and rustic homestyle too. So beautiful! I bought a Date and Walnut Light Rye Sourdough loaf to bring home ($6.50- but totally worth it) and I just ate a piece and it is soooo delicious! It's quite heavy but so substantial and oh so good. The outside is crusty while the inner sourdough is springy and moist. So good! The cafe has a cool french flair with iron chandeliers and filigree wallpaper (a cool filigree, not grandma filigree) with wood panelling and wooden tables & chairs. I didn't get any snaps of the showcases of food so I borrowed this pic from someone else's blog (thank you!) I had (well, Mum, Alicia and I all had- cos it sounded so good) Brioche French Toast with maple syrup & banana. And it was really yummy! Doesn't it just look sooooo good? It was. Dad had the King's breakfast which was a big breakfast with the lot- and lived up to it's name! I love that they give you a tiny puff pastry star dusted with cinnamon sugar on the side of your coffee saucer! I love little touches like that :) they make eating out so special! We spent almost 2hrs at the cafe! Then we shopped around Crows Nest shops a bit more before stopping for another coffee (not as good as at St Malo- in fact so not as good that I didn't bother to remember that cafe's name!) and heading home. It was such a fun day and I really recommend St Malo Bakery! They were soooo good. Also you can shop around Thomas Dux at Crows Nest afterwards for some fun gourmet stuff to cook at home! It was a great day out and I hope you had a fun day Alicia!
I'll leave you with a pic of Granny with Xander having a little play, oh he loves his Granny! She was making him smile so big! He doesn't giggle yet, but you could so see it in his face :) Xander was making the rest of us giggle at him though, he's such a cutie! I can't believe he is already 13 weeks old, he's getting to be a big guy already!
Happy Saturday! We've got the City2Surf tomorrow, wish us luck! Luckily Will's Dad just called to take us out to dinner, I expect a big feed of rice will sustain us through the 14kms!
:) C

Some Xander Pages!

I finally got my act together and have scrapped some pics of gorgeous little Xander! He was born 6 1/2 weeks early so had to spend 2 weeks under observation in the Special Care Nursery at hospital and we weren't able to visit. It was odd to visit Alicia at home during that time, see that she wasn't pregnant anymore, but there not be the baby around either! It was such a joyous occasion when he was allowed to come home and we could have our first cuddles with him! He was born while Will and I were on our Honeymoon- we were shopping at some factory outlets on the drive between Vegas and LA when I turned on my phone and got this message.. "Well who would have thought a June baby would be an April baby. Yes, you guys have a new nephew! Sorry he couldn't wait until your return but in typical D + A style he has kept us on our toes. He is in special care and will be named shortly. xo" I was gobsmacked! Well, we went straight off to all the baby shops in the outlet centre (Gymboree, Baby Gap, The Children's Place etc) and got him some special little clothes. Cos he was sooooo small cos he was early he's only just grown into one of them! I wanted to do a typical little baby boy page (above) but also wanted to do a more modern page cos Xander is a very modern baby. After all, Alicia is his Mum! I realised I don't have many black and white pages in my stash though (Xander's nursery colours), but I did find this SEI coloured spot on black. It pays to look at the back of double sided papers too, cos it might have what you're looking for! Maybe I should turn all the double sided papers in my stash around to their other side for a while, so I get a fresh look at them!
When David (baby daddy) saw this pic of Xander, he called the pose "Stylin" so I knew that would be a fun title for this page! Isn't the X man just the sweetest little baby!
Hope you've had a good weekend!
:) C

Happy Baby Shower Xander!

Can you believe Xander is 6 weeks old now.. and he's still not even due yet?! And as we missed our chance to have a Baby Shower for Alicia before he was born we had one today, and it was so much fun! The X Man is such a cutie and behaved so well, being handed from visitor to visitor, all the loud lady chatting and poking and patting... he took it all in his stride! I made a paper bunting name banner for him which turned out really well! I attached it to some ribbon from our Myer Gift Registry gifts! (Recycling... YAY!) The ribbon is so thick and luxurious, I shudder to think of all those uncrafty people who receive the gifts and throw out all the yards and yards of free ribbon! {throwing hands up in astonishment!} I also made some fun little "eat me" tags for the tiered cake stands and the candy jars (2 from our Wedding Candy Bar- hooray, second use!!)

In true Kingman tradition we've all spent the last couple of days baking. Alicia made gorgeous cupcakes with X's on top and bananca cupcakes, Mum made her super moorish spinach triangles and mini quiches, Felicity made delicious gooey carrot cake and anzac biscuits and I made mini cupcakes and my ever-popular White Chocolate Chunk & Macadamia brownies. Plus we were supplemented by some Choc caramel slice and Marshmallow log from Alicia's MIL. Don't you wish you came? LOL! I know you do. There was so much food and I happily came home with a container of treats! The food table got a lot fuller than the top pic once all the food arrived, it looked just like a Mad Hatter's Tea Party!Alicia is super sleek and fashionable so she had a black and white Alice in Wonderland theme for the party. Her bestie from work made all the awesome AIW inspired cardboard cutouts which must have taken her FOREVER! They were so fantastic! She made doorways with a pic from AIW stuck behind, running top hats, teapots with hearts cut out, playing cards etc! It was the coolest wall art! I was so happy cos Alicia said the Baby Shower was just what she wanted and everything looked so fabulous! YAY!! Success!

I seem to be rather pooped now though, and just fell asleep on the lounge and woke up with a tiny stream of drool populating the cushion I was leaning on. Hmmm... hope I'm not getting sick! It may have been Will's decebel 10 snooring coming from the bedroom that woke me though! Apparently I'm not the only tired one around here.

Anyway, it must be bed time so here's a pic of Proud Daddy (who chose not to stick around for the day but managed to come back in time for the present opening and to finish off a whole bunch of sweet treats for us! LOL!) And of course Beautiful Mummy who doesn’t have a tummy at all again! What a stunner! And such a proud Mummy too! Congratulations Alicia and David, Xander is such a joy and we can't wait to see him grow into a gorgeous little man!

:) C