Masters pics finally!

I thought I'd share my Masters stuff so you can see what didn't cut it!!! lol I know there are a lot of us sharing that sentiment right now but maybe next year as the saying goes. I've seen the mag already (thanks to Lex and the fab girls at her crop last weekend!) and had a quick look at my mini album I got a HM for along with everyone else's work. The stand outs for me were definitely Maxine's work and Julie Heard's stuff. Honestly if anyone had told us from the beginning that Maxine was entering we'd have known there were really only 9 Masters places left!!! lol I'm sure she thinks people are joking when they say that but really we're not. It's a well deserved title for her and I absolutely love her work.

This is my double and I'm pretty sure I disqualified myself on the basis that it went a helluvalot further than a straight double layout - to give you an idea of size, the middle two panels are two 12x12 pages - the rest is all add on stuff so it's a huge circle when put together. If I fold it up I can get it down to the size of a double!!! lol So even though Cass warned me that I was probably outside the boundaries of a double, once I started I had to keep going as I wasn't sure I could pull it off and then enjoyed making it so much I just kept going. Eventually I'm going to get a professional framer to make a huge circular frame for it and maybe it will hang in my hallway or something. It's pretty big and I had to use an upturned outdoor table to get the rough shape and size right. The whole thing is made of plain chipboard sheets covered in Basic Grey paper. The story is about my adoption with lots of info included like how many people are in my extended, all over the place family, details of the actual adoption itself including ephemera like the original letter my parents received from the adoption agency, etc, and journalling about my personal thoughts on the whole being adopted thing. I really really love it, probably my fave piece out of all four entries.

This is my single layout and the thing I liked the least. I just couldn't come up with the wow factor when I was doing it so I had to just push on and finish the thing. It was getting to the stage where I just wanted it finished and just did what I could rather than what I would have done if I'd left myself more time. The big flowers are Heidi Swapp and the wings are Hambly rub ons over transparency and then cut out. I printed the photos on canvas paper for texture. Looking at it now I can see that I've got no eye contact photos on the layout and it probably would have been more appealing if I'd included one but I didn't have any good ones so had to just use what I did have.

My storage solution is exactly the same as Mel Moor's box she got a HM for - great minds think alike!!! lol I was originally going to do something pretty and arty with it but I buggered up the pain job and things all went to hell in a handbasket from there so I had to devote the rest of my time to making something shiny and brand new look old and grungy instead! lol I really really love this box and was sad to have to send it away for three month - wow was I glad to have it back! I use it for all my tools, adhesives, pens, files and misc bits and pieces that I want to keep for garbage layouts. I still love this one as much as when I did it.

This is the mini album that got an HM and I'll let you in on not something that hasn't been much of a secret so far - I threw that thing together the NIGHT BEFORE I had to send it. I just had the painted framework sitting there, took a bunch of pictures the day before and then sat down that evening and put a pile of embellies on the table that I thought would go and started chucking it all together. It was the one project I put the least effort or time into and it feels weird to me that it's the one that got the HM but there you go - who's to know what the mag is looking for? Sorry the picture's a bit blurry - I tried to enlarge the shot from the SM home page but didn't work. I can't find where on earth I've saved the pics of the mini album so I'll have to take another one when I get a chance. There's better pics in the mag if you've already got it.

So overall Masters was a lot of waiting for not a lot of excitement in the end and anyone who entered - and especially those who got shortlisted - will know it was a lot of waiting and anticipation and wondering why on earth I'm making such a big deal out of it?!?!? It was almost more emotional investment than it was worth in the end and I'll definitely plan better next year if I do it again. Yep I've already started wondering about what the challenges will be for next year and we'll cross that one when we come to it.

Christmas was nice and quiet here, we went to Pandanus Beach at Wynnum with my birth mother, her husband and my half sister plus Doug and I and all the kids and his mum. The kids had a great time, playing in their fab playground and then playing in the shallows at the beach behind the playground. It was a nice way to spend the day and next year we've all decided to hire a house near the beach somewhere for a week so we don't have to travel on Christmas Day - that's sounds awesome to me! The kids got a Wii and a Tony Hawks game and the Ben 10 game for the Wii that James desperately wanted. Mum and her husband got the kids a trampoline and we're still waiting for the rain to stop so we can put it up. I got a new camera from Doug - 10 megapixels and 6 x optical zoom so I'm a very happy camper. I'm still learning to use it though but I'm loving it so far.

We're off to the shops today so I can go to Diva and get my fix of junk jewellery in the post-xmas sale. I've got a week off and then it's back to work for a week and a half of cardiology typing at a hospital to cover Doug's week without pay as he didn't have enough holidays for the whole five weeks he has to be at home. I don't mind - straight typing is an easy job in my books so it doesn't feel like too much hard work.

I hope you had a great Chrissy and hope you have a fab New Year. I don't think we'll be doing much which is fine with me! I feel like I need the rest anyway! lol I should be doing lots of scrapping - product challenges, layouts and articles all waiting to be done and the motivation is there but by the time I get my stuff out and the kids are all running around I just don't end up bothering because I'll spend the whole time telling them not to touch stuff, to get off my lap, to leave me alone so I can work - all the stuff that makes me not enjoy my kids or my scrapping so I haven't even tried at home yet. Cass and I are going to go to the shop tomorrow and get some work done. The shop is closed for two weeks so it will just be us and the paper for a whole day which sounds fantastic.

Quick hellos to Miss Lusi Goosi and big kisses to your gorgeous fam, a happy healing hello to Jilly and hope you're feeling better - let me know when you want that company girl!!! Hi to Alana - love what you emailed down and yes we'll definitely get Garbage up and going again soon with a Christmas theme, a big thanks to Lexie from Cyberscraps forum for welcoming us into your home - we had the best time!

I'll catch up again soon. Much love, Lu