BULA

Bula !

I have not been around for awhile as I have been at the beautiful Navutu Stars Resort in Fiji and since getting home a week ago I have just been getting back into the normal routine ~ Work and catching up on everything and missing Navutu.

Can you blame me ?
We didn't really know what to expect, I found Navutu on Trip Advisor and when I went to book my travel agent had never heard of it , so we had to let her know what it was like.
We wanted a totally relaxing holiday where we didn't have to go anywhere or do anything if we didn't want to.

Well I did real good as Navutu is Paradise. It is only a small island and has a total of 10 Bures on the island 

It was lovely having our own Bure, not a apartment type accommodation like in a lot of Resorts and the other thing we liked it was NOT touristy at all. No TV, no shops, no cars, bikes, or crowds, it was great.
There is an activity board that has activities for the day if you choose, such as snorkeling, cave snorkeling  etc. We really enjoyed going to the village to visit the school, where the children sang to us and asked us questions.

We also love the entertainment nights

and there wasn't a shortage of Kava Ceremonies either

and singing and dancing

And the food was pretty scrumptious as well !

Not to metion the cocktails mmmmm

So you can see why it is taking me a bit to get back to life here, I am missing Navutu and its beautiful people and island. The people are what made it so special, and also because there are only 10 Bures the guests connected as well. We met  lovely French, Dutch, Swiss, Italians and another Aussie couple and I'm sure some of us will stay in contact.
It would be hard not to be happy when every single person greets you with a big happy "Bula" every time you see them. 
We met some beautiful people and I hope we get to go back one day.

The beautiful happy children love getting their photo's taken

Watti such an entertainer, thank you for making so many people happy 

Tofu the resident dog, just chilling 

in paradise 

I don't think I would ever tire of the view from my hammock

So Thank You for the beautiful Memories Navutu, we miss you all

PS Dolly and Victor are our nicknames

Vinaka
Mary 

PS Photo a day for today is path ~ some pretty nice paths in Navutu

and just because I love this photo

SHOULD BE PACKING, INSTEAD I'M SCRAPPING !

Yes that is me the great procrastinator, do anything but what I am suppose to be doing ! But it's all good , got stuck into the packing this afternoon and have it under control ...... I think :)


But last night instead of packing I was doing this layout for over at Once Upon A Sketch http://onceuponasketchblog.blogspot.com.au/ , the theme seasons. This is a layout of me and my brother, he is about to throw a big snowball at me !

The fence that I added crackle paint to is from http://twiddleybitz.ning.com/ , The little silver snow flakes are from Craftqueen http://www.craftqueen.com.au/

Also the new challenge is up over at Orange Paperie http://orangepaperieandco.blogspot.com.au/ . Kim has set a gorgeous colour challenge and there is a new guest designer for the month, so pop on over check out her the talented GD is and join in on the gorgeous colour challenge.
My layout is of a photo I took on the beautiful island of Patmos

I have added crackle paint to the key and lock


and also to the  flourish 

Stamped a Dark Room Door stamp onto transparency 

and added some teal satin seam binding from craftqueen

I used the salt and ink technique for the background effect.

So this is definitely the last from me until I get back, no more scrapping only packing

Wishing you all happy days

Mary x

MY THREE AUNTS

Morning !

Thought I would fit another layout and blog post in before I have a break for a couple of weeks :)

Yesterday I brought these gorgeous Kaiser flowers and JUST had to use them straight away, I just love the colours. So...... this is a layout of three aunts of mine. I just used teal paint swiped to create the frame of the photo & added a few bits and pieces. A bit different for me, I always have to tell myself to STOP as I keep adding and adding lol. The beautiful aqua Satin seam binding ribbon is from craftqueen, http://www.craftqueen.com.au/ I love it and Nicole has it in many gorgeous colours. The beautiful badge is from scrapfriends  http://scrapfriends.com.au/ I am loving them as well and have my eye on a few other products when I get back.

I wasn't going to journal on the layout , as I don't like my writing and I liked it as it was. But then in later years my kids are not going to know who they were. Maybe they would remember my Auntie Nanie as they knew her when she was alive, but not the other two aunts.

So I felt I had to say who they were and a little about them. My Auntie Al and Auntie Mary were sisters and lived next door to each other ( you would think they would live together) both never married, but then Auntie Mary was quite stern and set in her ways, so maybe she was to hard to live with. Auntie Al was engaged once but he cheated on her and that was that, she travelled a lot.

My Aunt Nanie ( whose real name was Philomena)  and also was called Tunny, is my Mum's sister. She gave the best hugs ever and I never ever heard her say a bad thing about anyone, I loved her to bits.

So that is the story of my three aunts, hope I haven't bored you to bits.

I will miss not having computer access, my hubby doesn't know how I am going to survive! but look forward to catching up with what you have all been up to when I get back.


My Photo's a day
Coin ~ Chinese Lucky Coins

Somewhere I sat ~ visiting my Mum at the nursing home

Wishing you all sunshine and smiles

Cia

Mary x

WHEN IN ROME

I was very honoured to do a layout for Scrapfriends http://blog.scrapfriends.com.au/ this month, it is a site with fabulous challenges and also has a shop that stocks scrumptious products

this is our second eldest, he was living overseas when we went over to Europe in 2008 and it was wonderful to spend four days in Rome with him whilst we were there and on the way home we got to spend another 3 days with him in London.
I have used the Teresa Collins range of PP 

The gorgeous destinations button is from the Scrapfriends shop. They have very generous prizes for the challenges. I got to spend $25.00 in the Scrapfriends shop and I got myself quite a few of the gorgeous buttons that they stock.


Wishing you a day filled with sunshine and smiles. It is sunny here atm, but started at minus 5 brrrrrr
Photo a Day for Today ~ One ~ One lonely car

Hugs
Mary

I Think My Mum wanted a girl with curls

Evening,

Popping back to share the double layout that I did for the masters, but as I stated in the previous post I have decided not to enter now.
This layout had to be a double of a childhood memory with journalling.

Some closies

The pic is of me in our front yard , Mum has roses up both sides of the path. The title " I think my Mum wanted a girl with curls" is because in a lot of childhood pics I have my hair in curlers. My brothers had curly hair, two of them I'm talking ringlets and me the only girl ~ straight. Now I have a curl in my hair and they don't have much hair left hehehe


The second layout is of me and my brother, once again I have my hair in curls and he has a very Elvis style hairdo , or did they call it the budgie look ?

and some closies

The brads from MME are gorgeous

And for Lizzy ~ this is the cow at work with Curls 

Isn't it adorable


and my Heidi Books 

And lastly I was really slack last month with a photo a day. This month I will be better
Photo a Day ~ outside

Full moon tonight. 
If you are still with me, you have done well.
Keep warm
Hugs
Mary

THE WINDS OF THE OLD DAYS

Hello lovely people,


I have some layouts to share. When I was MIA and said I was working on secret squirrel business, well I was working on these layouts for the Masters, but have decided not to enter, so here they are

I have modge podged a old dress making pattern and pattern onto the layout and http://scrapmatts.ning.com/ scrapmatts dress form to signify that Mum used to make beautiful clothes for my children. 
I was trying to think of a title for the layout and at while I was scrapping this I was listening to a Joan Baez vinyl and the song " The Wind of the Old Days" played and I had my title.

The old lace is lace from my going away top when I got married. The little bird tile from Tattered Inspirations http://tatteredinspirations.blogspot.com.au/
is because  Mum loves birds, the flowers and satin seam binding are from Craftqueen http://www.craftqueen.com.au/ except for the teeny ones that are Prima. Ninety Four is how old Mum is, actually she is closer to 95

Disregard my camera strap at the bottom of the dress form, gees and I had my glasses on !

So this layout has a lot of meaning for me. The photo was taken by my son.
This is going to be my entry for ScrapthatSong http://scrapthatsong.blogspot.com.au/ for the month of August 

Next is a layout that had to have 3 or 4 photo's and some memorabilia and journalling


So memorabilia made me think of our overseas trip in 2008

The front photo opens up to reveal the other photo's 

Our train tickets into Dublin are in the pocket 

and look ! we found our name in Ireland

I seemed to have used up my photo limit for this post will post the last layout tomorrow
Thanks for popping by and I love to receive your comments. Don't forget to click on the photo's for a clearer look. The weather has not been the best for photo taking here.


Wishing you Sunshine and Smiles 
Mary x