woman child

My brief this month at Scrap Therapy was to work with My Mind's Eye - Indie Chic and Ranger Liquid Pearls Paints

Indie Chic is a lovely colour range with some unusual patterns on the papers. I chose the 'flip' side of most of the papers to go for a more 'cleaner' look. The Bunting flags are part of the embellies in the range.

I've used White Opal Liquid Pearls to dot around the embellie clusters to tie them into the orange dotty background paper.

olive grove

Did you spot the swallow flitting its way over the Olive Grove??

Taken just before the storm front moved in over Port Lincoln with big wind, hail, scary lightning and massive thunder claps that made your teeth wobble.

annie

I love it when I capture an unguarded moment. You can see right into the soul of a person when the shutters are open

She has a beautiful soul

Time lapse of whale watching at the Head of the Bight. 6 August 2012

I was lucky enough to photograph a set of images that could be used as a time lapse of a whale that was breaching one time after another at the Head of the Bight. The camera was on tripod but rotated and moved by hand while on the head, so while the time lapse is far from perfect, I am rapt to pull together what I did.

grey

Scrap Therapy's gallery has been buzzing with entries to this month's sketch challenge.

I've loved the sketch so much that I came up with 3 responses to it  (so far lol)

the sketch

You can grab the deets for the $50 Scrap Therapy Voucher here or here

brownie cakes

I can't cook a cake to save myself. I've tried umpteen sponge recipes, different ovens and different mixing techniques. With no luck. I have burnt, lumpy gremlin looking sponges. So I quit. I don't cook cakes at all.

Annie, on the other hand, loves to cook. Her speciality are Brownie Cakes. Most Sunday mornings see her whipping up another one for the school lunch boxes

men @ work

Wonderful to hear a hammer swinging and a nail gun belting away...... at long last.

profile of a farmer

Red Earth Scrapping is celebrating Year of the Farmer during the month of August.

Helen asked a small number of scrappers to create a LO depicting what being a farmer is all about, to help promote awareness to the 'city folk'.

This is my second LO for this month that has gone up in the gallery at Red Earth Scrapbooking.

(thanks Mel for the wheat stencil, it came to great use).

My first LO is here.

enough

Scrapped for Scrap Therapy's August Sketch Challenge. $50 bucks up for grabs if you enter. Deets here.

(I've taken a bit of creative liberty with the sketch)

:O)

Fowlers Bay and the Head of the Bight

I took the kids for a trip up to Fowlers Bay and the Head of the Bight with another family during the last few days.  Kym's been away shooting at the Zone shoot to qualify for the Zone Team to shoot at the State Titles next year, so it was just me at the wheel doing all the driving.

Fowler's Bay is about 6 hours from here, but the way I drive, with all my 'call of nature' loo stops and 'call of nature' photography stops, it took a bit longer. The kids were awesome during the trip and gave me not one spec of grief at all.

We arrived at Fowlers Bay and shifted our gear into the onsite caravan. The Modra crew arrived not long after and made camp with their Camper Trailer. Then we headed to the Sand dunes for a spot of Sand boarding and shutter action. Lots of squealing and fun to be had.

Every Saturday night the Owners of the Fowlers Bay Caravan Park host a big cook up and all we have to do is pull up a chair and pay a very nominal price for a yummy tea. Lush. And it meant one less meal I had to  prepare and pre shop/organise for.

Sunday saw us all at The Head of the Bight. We were treated to a wonderful spectacle of breaching and watched in wonder and delight the antics of a white Southern Right calf.

On the way up to the Head, we stopped on the side of the road for lunch and a few photos of iconic landmarks  (photos yet to be processed)

I need to refuel so I headed west to the Nullabour Roadhouse and was disgusted at the price of diesel at $1.94/litre. On the way back to Fowlers Bay I had a peek at the fuel price at Nundroo and Penong. They were around $1.50/litre. sigh.......

By the time we got back, showered and had our snitzels for tea, we were all just a bit pooped.

Monday. We woke to very misty/sea fog morning that lasted to about 10. Then it was a glorious day. We had organised a boat charter to visit the whales at sea level. The Southern Right Whales were not to be seen the day before, so Rod (Whale Watching on the Eyre) was a bit worried for us. Every day is a new day, and they were back in the Bay.

The Modra Men headed out on the first trip with an elderly couple (max of 5 a boat) while we headed out on the second trip of the day with K and one of the Modra men.

It was magic. So magic.

We spent just over 2 hours on the water with 7 juvenile Southern Right Whales. We didn't have an up close and personal experience with them, but that is entirely up to them. We stay back 100 metres and they can choose to come closer, not us to them.

Lots more sand boarding and squealing (me doing the squealing) in the Sand dunes before a well earnt shower to wash away the collected sand. Relaxing tea, a chilled glass of white wine, or two and a big sleep, ready to drive home next day.

On the way home, we all detoured to Cactus Beach to check out what all the rave is about in regard to surfing.  Nice place, hate to be dumped in those monster waves.  (photos yet to be processed).

I detoured at Elliston to look at the Sculptures on the cliffs before coming home to find a husband at the oven with an awesome roast tea all prepared. (He arrived home from his shoot the day before).

So all in all, it was a spectacular trip that we all have every intention to do again next year. There is usually more action with the whales when the males come in later in August each year.

:O)

merry christmas sneaky peeky

I've been commissioned to create a Christmas card for a Magazine. If you know me, I don't do cards. I struggle with them. I don't know why, after all, they are just mini scrap pages. But I still can't get my head round them.

So this indeed was a bit of a challenge.

my little fish

The Scrap Therapy August Sketch Challenge has just been released on the forum and on the blog.

$50 up for grabs for the winning entry.

These are my takes on it. I loved it so much I did two.  I'll show the other one in a couple of days....    ;O)

his gift for her.... sneaky peeky.....

I've been commissioned by a magazine to come up with a Christmas LO and card using their paper and alphas.

At first I was a bit stumped as I've nearly done all the 2009 Christmas LO's over the course of this year (for various other projects) until I found a story board of shots of Annie at our Footy and Netty Christmas Tree.

I can't show you all of the LO, but I can show these.....

Have a great weekend.

Red Earth Scrapbooking

About a month or so ago Helen of Red Earth Scrapbooking asked me and a number of other Scrapbookers to participate with The Year of the Farmer big promo in August. We were asked to produce a LO to celebrate and educate what being a Farmer is all about.

How could I say no?? I'm a country girl and I'm really flattered that I was even asked.

Sooooo, now that's its August the promo has started.

I've been introduced on Red Earth Scrapbooking's Blog, and on their Red Earth Scrapbooking Facebook Page.

Helen has also promoted my agricultural background with a number of my Landscape photos that depict being a Farmer.

So thank you Helen for asking me along for the month of August to Red Earth Scrapbooking, and thank you for promoting Year of the Farmer.

Also.......

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY RED EARTH SCRAPBOOKING !

farmer's statue

August is the big month for Year of the Farmer for 2012.

With this in mind, when I was in Wudinna for the WWWW weekend, I jumped at the chance to photograph the Farmer's Statue that's there.

Australian Farmer Statue at Wudinna.. Eyre Peninsula. South Australia
The Australian Farmer (also known as the Big Farmer) is a statue located in Wudinna, South Australia. Regarded as one of Australia's Big Things, the granite sculpture stands at 8 metres (26 ft) in height, and weighs in the vicinity of 70 tonnes. It took 17 years to produce from initial proposal to the final unveiling in 2009, and two years for the artist, Marijan Bekic (with the assistance of his son, David), to carve. The stylised work of a farmer represents the early settlers of the region, with carvings symbolising grain and sheep found within the sculpture - Wikipedia.

Front view with the South Australian Flower - the Sturt Desert Pea. (I've never seen the flower IRL so that was a big bonus for me)

I've a few fun shots of Gina, Amy, Denise and myself clowning around. I haven't asked permission to show them.

At night. The top one is the front view (wheat) and the bottom view is the back view and represents Barely.