Work, Birthdays & Comments...

Hello Everyone!
~ Just a quick post ~
Well, I've been back at work since thursday! Its been nice and busy which is good, time flies when its busy!!!
It was my Dad's birthday on Saturday.. we all worked, but tomorrow night we are going out to dinner to the Casino to celebrate his and my birthday (mine is tomorrow). It was also Ruby's (MY CAT!!!) birthday today he is 5 human years old!! lol. Tomorrow will also be the last night that my Grandparnets will be in Australia. They have been staying with my parents for the last 3 months for a holiday. Its gone so fast and its already time for them to fly home to Switzerland, its going to be sad, they are such a big part of our lives when they are in Australia with us.
Thank you to everyone who leaves comments on my blog!! It makes me so happy to read them all!!!
Nothing really exciting to report! I've already got an early birthday pressie from Matty...a dvd - the devil wears prada! Goodie a chick flick!!!
Hope to post up some photos...asap!!
Love to all....
Xx Jess

Cyber Crop - Week Three...

This weeks challenge from the Scrapbooks Paper and Things website was a tough one!!!

The Challenge:
- “Action!”
You must include:
* 3 or more ACTION shots (any size) on your page i.e.: the subject/s in your photographs must be DOING something: riding a bike, singing, jumping, etc
* Also need to have an INTERACTIVE (viewer involved) element on your page. Examples to get you thinking: a hinged panel that the reader must flip, a slider where an element on your page moves, a pop up, a cd/dvd they can take off the page and listen to/view, etc

As soon as I read the challenge I knew I was going to do one of Matty's sporting races! The Coast to Coast, NZ I thought was a perfect race to scrap.

So, here's what i came up with...
Let me know what you think!! Thanks :)

Flap Closed:


Flap Open:


Close Ups:

Queen Mary 2

Yesterday, the Queen Mary 2 sailed into Sydney Harbour! Its so big.. it doesnt fit under the Sydney Habour Bridge!! It is three times larger than the Titanic. It has an Art gallery on board, HEAPS of swimming pools, theatre and so much more! Pretty impressive! I'd love to have been able to go and visit it on board!!
We did the next best thing... in the morning, Matty and I drove down to Cremorne Point (we wern't the only ones with that idea - busy) to have a look at the worlds biggest ship!
This is the angle we saw it at tho...
So as you can see, i dont think we could really apreciate how big it actually is!! Pretty impressive tho!!

This is a photo from a news paper website.. just to show you how big it looked coming into the harbour very early in the morning!! (i was probably still in be when it was taken! lol)

We also took some happy snaps of our beautiful Sydney seeing as we were there...

In the evening... as usual, on tuesdays Bec and I always go climbing.. so we finished a little early, ordered Pizza (takeaway) and Bec, Kato & i drove back down to Cremorne Point (Matty couldnt finish work early enough to come). The traffic was CrAzY!!! We went down to the Swimming pool down there and kato brought a rug for us to sit on! We sat and had pizza and enjoyed the view...

And then the *firewroks* started... So pretty!!

Xx Jess

Art Journal Challenge - Week Seven...

I was excited with this weeks card art journal by Emily Falconbridge.


The Prompt for this week: "shoes - there is always a story to tell"


As a typical Aussie girl... (im not really a shoe person) ... i live in my thongs throughout all the warm weather!! I do have one pair of high heels which i really like... but, i cant walk in!!! hehe!


Then it came to me! At least once a week i go indoor climbing. I couldn't climb without my trusty "Pearl" Rock Pillars, i love them!

Front:




Back:

HaPpY BIrThDAy MaRiE!!!

Happy Birthday Marie!!!
I hope you have a *great* day!!

Xx Jess

The Weekend!

I *love* having weekends off (especially in summer)!!

This saturday I didn't have anything planned... I just went into Warringah Mall and did a spot of shopping! Then came back to Narrabeen and dropped into Pro Kayaks to visit Matty. It was such a nice day I took the Epic V10 Sport out for a test paddle! I really enjoyed the paddle & I felt like i was going so fast, but thats cos on thursday I took a big heavy plastic boat out onto the water!

That evening we had our good friends over for a BBQ! It was great there were eight of us and it was a good evening! We ended up watching a dvd on Primal Quest UTAH... Adventure Race which Matt and Matty.A (who was at the bbq) competed in!! Its good to watch it with them in the room cos you get all the inside goss about the race etc!

Today i met up with Laura for a walk through the Narrabeen Markets! I bought this cute plant... its part of the cactus family (aparently)...

I just thought it was sooooo *cute*!! I also bought a nice top at the bargan price of $20!!! And Laura bought some nice jewlery also at a baragan!!
Meanwhile....
It was Steve's Bucks Outing today!! (Eva's hens was last weekend) and.... they went to Action Paint Ball... just wanted to share some photos of the aftermath...

Hope you all had a *great* weekend too!!!??

Xx Jess

Matt & Jess Day!

Its not often matty and i get the entire day together! So i was real excited when he took the day off work so we could have a Matt & Jess day!!!
We had a *great* day!!!
We got up early and packed a picnic and drove up to Palm Beach!! When we got there, we kinda just drove around to explore and look at all the fancy houses! Then we parked over on the non-beach side and did the nice walk up to the light house.. Such a pretty view up there!! The light house seems like its further than it is, i thought it was going to take us hours to walk up there but the round trip took 1 & 1/2 hours!!
We then had our picnic after working up a big appetite. After that we were going to swim on the beach side of Palm Beach but there was too much sea weed so we drove down to Whale Beach. There was the Blue Bottle caution sine on the beach.. i thought sh*t!! I already got stung just a few days ago.. but i was so hot, we went in anyways (no stings!!! phew!) The water was perfect!!! Loved it!
Then we came home to relax, and Matty went and did a paddle race in Manly! We then went to dinner at DeeWhy RSL and then we went to the late movies...and saw "Dream Girls". Good movie, but there were a few long bits where we wouldnt of minded to press fast forward!
We got home at midnight!
Such a great time!!

Xx Jess

*news*

Card from Matty:

Hello Everyone!!

So much *news*!!! Firstly.. yesterday i got a beautiful Valentines Day card from Matty, he's not into V day at all, so the card was a real special thought! (and i also got the gym pants - a week early!!!). We didnt see eachother until 8:30pm so we just went out to dinner at DeeWhy RSL! We go there all the time.. i always have the roast - yummo!!

I also got a gift from my friend.. (she doesnt know it yet..) But it made my day to find out my friend is HAVING a BABY!!! Cant give details as its early days!! But you know who you are... CONGRATULATIONS!!! Im so happy for you both!!!

Today i met up with my old school friend Eddie!! We went down to Pro Kayaks, Narrabeen for a kayak!! It was good fun!! We especially had fun swimming around down where the lake meets the sea!! Matty was wroking when we were there so it was nice for Matty to meet Eddie!

Tonight, nothing planned as tomorrow Matty & I are spending the whole day together!!! But i am excited to watch "Saving Babies" on Channel 10, 8pm!!!

oh, also... the photo of the cockatoos.... that on my balcony this morning!!! I couldnt believe there were four of them!!! The one on the far right, was really shy, he must be a young one!! Couldnt resist taking a photo of them!!

Also, a *big* thank you to Lee Woodside who taught me how to put borders onto my photos!!!!

Have a GREAT day!!

Xx Jess

FOUR

I found this on Rachel's blog when i was looking at her art journal challenge card.. so i've copied it and changed the answers to suit me...

FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE :
1. Waitress @ Swiss Cottage Restaurant - Katoomba
2. Waitress @ Xenos Restaurant - Crows Nest
3. Bar Maid & Waitress at Montreux Palace - Switzerland
4. BACK to Waitress @ Swiss Cottage Restaurant!! lol

FOUR MOVIES I HAVE WATCHED OVER AND OVER
1. How to lose a guy in 10 days
2. Erin Brocovich
3. Dirty Dancing
4. Center Stage

FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Katoomba
2. Narrabeen
3. Annandale
4. Berowra

FOUR TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH:
1. Home & Away
2. House
3. All Saints
4. Saving Babies (i know, it hasnt actually started yet but i know i'll love it)


FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Fiji
2. Cannes, France
3. Zermatt, Switzerland
4. China

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Chocolate
2. Tacos
3. Spag Bol
4. Raclette

FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. With Matty
2. ON a tropical island
3. Out to dinner (im hungry!!)
4. im pretty contente where i am, if i cant have the 1st three right now...

Well, that was fun!!!!
I tag everyone!!! Leave me your blog/typepad addresses so i can see what you came up with!!

Xx Jess

Cyber Crop - Week Two...

Well, its already week two at the Scrapbooks, Paper & Things web site!!

This week Lusi has given us a nice challenge!! I didnt have to buy anything *new* for it! It was like i did my spring cleaning - lol!!

The Challenge:

“Lots of Patterns, Lots of Paper!”

Use 20 different patterned papers to scrap on a single layout

You must include:

* 20 DIFFERENT PATTERNED PAPERS

* 1 (or more) photos

My layout didnt take long!! I wanted to scrap a photo of Connor as i scrapped one of his brother last week!!

Here is the final product (the LO is actually a lot brighter but i took the photo as the sun was already setting, but at least you get to see it)

Art Journal Challenge - Week Six...

Well with Valentines Day just days away i wasnt surprised when I looked at Emily Falconbridge's blog!!

The prompt for this week is: "LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!"

And I quote Emily here: "pretty simple really", YES!!! I thought the same thing!! I can only think of Matty on the special day ahead!!

Front:

Back:

Just a little post..

Yesterday I went and visited my friend and her beautiful baby... I've been meaning to bring my camera over for months now. And i finally did! She is such a cutie!!

This morning Matty went and picked up his suit for the wedding in a few weeks and then we went climbing!! I did a few red climbs and the yellow overhang so i am very happy!!

This is just a short post as i want to post up my deck of me card for this week too!!

Xx Jess

Great Weekend!!

I just *love* having weekends off to be with friends!! It happens SO rarely, thanks to working in hospitality!!!
On friday night we went out to celebrate Kato's birthday in Manly!! It was good fun! There was a great turn out. Here are a few pics of the night...

this is the birthday boy with his new *toy*

Bec & Eva

Matty, Q & Mikey (don't they all look tall??!! hehe)

Matty & I before going out


On Saturday night I went out to Eva's HENS night!!! We all met up at her place then drove into the city for a *pole dancing* class!!! It was good fun! We all mucked about on the poles.. and here's a little inside goss... the poles SPIN!!! I did not know that!! And my god, the girls that work there, wow! They can do some pretty impressive stuff! You cant believe how hard it is to to!! We all had a great time! I dont think i'd do it again unless it was another hens night or something (im so NOT sexy!!! hehehe).

Here is all of us doing our *sexy* poses!! Eva (the hen) is lying at the front!

We then went out for dinner at the Blackbird Cafe in Cockle Bay and then we tricked Eva... Bec said she "forgot" her camera back at the pole dancing place, so we walked back there and when we got there... Eva was surprised by a stripper!! It was hilarious!! Poor thing, i think she handled it pretty well. I would have been so embarassed.

It was a great fun night out!!!

Xx Jess

stuffonmycat.com

Just for *fun* visit stuffonmycat.com it has some funny pics and some very cute ones, like this one!!! Some cats let their owners do anything to them!!!!

Xx Jess

before & after...

It was time for a change!!!
I decided i wanted to do something with my hair... but i like the length of it... so i went for a drastic colour change...!! Im not sure what to think yet.. ofcourse at the moment im loving that its STRAIGHT! But i'll have to wait till i wash it to see what i think about the colour!

before:

After:

Scrapping Mood!

I've been in such a scrapping mood lately!!! I really need to get out there and take some more photos!! Matty & I are planing a day outing to Palm Beach - yep, its only 20km away but we never get up there so we thought instead of going on a looooong drive to get to a beautiful destination for an outing... we'd go a short distance and spend more time having fun!! I'll definately take my camera so i'll have some *fresh* photos to scrap!!

Yesterday was fun with Katie! Unfortunately by the time she actually came over the weather went from sunny and warm to just plain stormy!!! Here's a photo i took from the balcony at about 8pm last night (the photo doesnt do it justice! It literally looked like the sky was *glowing*)



Today I did another layout, its of Cameron who is Matt's youngest nephew, as as you can see from his face, very cute and very cheeky!!!



I recieved an exciting email from the editor of Scrapbooking Memories this week... they are interested in another one of my layouts for the "funk and funky" gallery!!! Im SO excited!!! This is my second consideration!! I hope once i post it off they like it 'in real life'.

I've been enjoying listening to "Sneaky Sound System" while i scrap!! Its got a great beat and keeps me in the mood!! Love it! I find, once i find a CD i like i listen to it for months and months till i discover something else!!!

A big thank you to Lusi for your kind words on your blog!!!

Thats all the news i've got at the moment... stay tuned!

Xx Jess

Holiday Update

Well, i thought i'd put up a little update of my holidays (from work) so far!!
I came down from work on sunday night and Bec and Kato, Matty and I went to DeeWhy RSL for dinner! It was a good night! We always have fun going out to dinner with them!! WE all seem to *laugh* alot!! Love that!!!

On monday, I went to the dietician with bad news that i may have coeliac disease - but more tests need to be done to confirm, so im just ignoring this at the moment as there is nothing i can do about it at the moment.
Then, in the afternoon Matty came and picked me up and we drove down to Chatswood Chase to go suit shopping for Matty to have a suit to wear to Steve & Eva's wedding (he's the best man). We went to Oxford and got a great suit for 50% off that looks almost the same as Steves!!!
Here's a little sneak peak... but he still has a t-shirt on underneath.. i just got so excited to see Matty in a suit (!!) that i got out my mobile and took a quick snap.

After the suit shopping (which surprisingly didnt take long) Matty bought me my valentines day pressie!!! He thought it would be better to get something i like and need! SO he bought me these pants that i can wear for indoor climbing!! At the moment, i've been wearing board shorts two sizes too big (with safety pins) so i was in need of some new pants!! I love them!! Thanks Matty!!!

Then on monday night we went to Steve & Eva's for dinner! Eva made a GREAT dinner and for dessert.. chocolate fondue! yuuummmmmm! It was great to see their new kitchen, looks fantastic!!!

On Tuesday I went climbing with Bec (as usual) and we are finally starting to improve since we've started again!! We did a few hard climbs that we completed and one.. that is still a work in progress!! Love climbing!!! And afterwards, Bec, Kato, Ryan, Matty and I went out to dinner to a pub down the road with really yummy food & a great music selection!!!

Today im just waiting for Katie to come over... she's a little late (no surprise there lol) and i was hoping we'd go for a walk along the beach but the weather is changing nooooooooO!!!!!

Okies.. thats about it!! Lots planned for the weekend!!! And im going to the hairdresser on friday!! I hate going to the hairdresser... but i havent been in over ONE year!!! So time to do something!!!

Well, thats about all from me!! Just got a phone call from my friend Michelle!! We are planning to meet up this or next week, which will be nice!!! Love being able to see her and her beautiful baby Jade!!

I've just realised how many exclamation points i've used!! Shows im having a good time!!!

Xx Jess

Cyber Crop!

Well the Scrapbooks Paper and Things Cyber Crop round TWO has started!!!
I really enjoyed round one!!

Lusi Austin posts up the challenge each tuesday and we have till midnight sunday to post up our final product!!

This week the task is to chose a date from our past and scrap it!
Our page must include:
* 1 PHOTO (any size)

* The DATE you are scrapping about

* RIBBON

* 2 different STAMPS

Here is my final product! I will also post it in to the gallery later on in the week!
im not 100% happy with the final product (i'll have to stop looking at it and see what i think tomorrow) but i've been wanting to scrap this photo of my brother and I for ages now (so cute)!!

On this day (17th january 1984) i met my brother for the 1st time

Art Journal Challenge - Week Five...

Well, this week with Emily's Art Journal Challenge.. i learnt a *new* word!! lol!

The prompt for this week: "use some ephemera from your week"

Hmmmm, first thing to do... find out... WHAT IS 'ephemera'?
Easy! Dictionary meaning: Ephemera refers to written and printed matter published with a short intended lifetime.

So, i thought about doing parking tickets from a shopping center! I have lots of those! Then i thought doctors bills cos i've been to the doctors a lot but then B-I-N-G-O!!! I got it!! A sheet of paper from the docket/order pad at work!!

I work for my parents as a waitress in their beautiful restaurant! We go through hundreds of docket books! We couldn't take orders without them! So i've stuck one of those to the card and also added a photo of some biscuits dad makes in the restaurant and also our business card!

I Love this challenge!! Emily comes up with the most original prompts each week!!

Front:




Back:

bit early to post...

Well, im getting ahead of myself here!!! In three days we are all going on our Annual holidays from work!! (Sian and john got an 'early mark' lucky them). We are closing for two weeks!
Mum thinks a photo is a good way to attract customers to the sign that says we are closed... so all the staff got dressed up in silly things to pose for funny photos to put up on the door to announce that we will be closed for the 2 weeks. So here are a couple...

I dont have much planned for the holidays! Just spending lots of time with Matty and at home, do lots of scrapbooking!! The Cyber Crop at Scrapbooks, Paper & Things starts again next week, so that'll be fun!!! Love the Cyber Crop! Great inspirational ideas!!

And i've also got my friend Eva's Hens Night on next weekend!! We are going *pole dancing* now, im the last person that should attempt this... so not sexy!!! But it should be a good laugh!! i'll try not to forget to take my camera!!! The boys are doing *paint ball* for Steve's Bucks!! They'll have a great time too!! Looking forward to the wedding in March!!

And there is lots more happening!! Including doctors which is boring but i've got to concentrate on feeling better & putting on a bit of weight, which is so hard to do!!!

Well, im off to get ready for work - yay!!! umm, not!!! But its the last week!! YAY!!!!!

Xx Jess

What The?!?!?

Well i was just sitting on the computer and behind me i could hear noise but i didnt really take any notice. After a while i thought 'what is that noise?' and turned around to find this...

Yep, the cockatoo has decided that this is his home and he can waltz on in whenever he feels!!! He was very cute until he tried to start nibbling on my scrapbooking trolley!!!! SO i shooed him out and realised.. he had company..

So thats my excitement for the morning of the 1st of February!! lol

**pinch and a punch for the 1st day of the month!!**

Xx jess!