lanne

Day 2!

Nice short drive ahead of us today. We only have 300km or so to drive today.. taking it easy.. hanging out and chilling...

I am keen to see newcastle bath area and I have a shoot planned for this afternoon.

I am heading to the baths.. SO many in and around newcastle..

I am particularly keen to do my session here...

and if all goes well.. lochie will jump in between the 4 and 5 for me ;)

Photos to come!

EXPRESSions

I love Emily... lol no secret there... she is fabulous. I really am lucky to have found such a kindred spirit. I really enjoy doing one+one with her.. and ... when this collab idea came up.. it was super fun to work together. So... without further ado.... here is our collab -

EXPRESSions... the FAST and cool way to say it.. ;) You can find it at {we are} storytellers - it should launch sometime today.... but here is a sneak peek!

You can check out some fab layouts using EXPRESSions here and here and here. :)

We are go

Leaving Brisbane and heading south into New South Wales ..

We found it hard to get accommodation in Coffs Harbour and so we are travelling on towards Newcastle for the night.. This is will be a reasonable days driving. :) about 500km or so.. It is one of our bigger days but a pretty easy drive...

But boy is the coast line beautiful. We pass through the Gold Coast (sticking the the highway! LOL).. head into Ballina, and hopig to stop in Grafton for morning tea. There is a lil cafe there called Georgie's which one the best cafe in Australia (voting thing... but peoples vote) .. it looks great .. we were hoping to stop there on the way down but have decided to save it for lunch on the way home :) looking forward to testing it out tho!

I will post images as I can..

but you can see some of the places we are going... by checking out these links..

VisitNSW.com - there is a lil map of the state - we are covering all of 3 today.. click and check it out.

We should pass through here by morning tea....

http://www.visitnsw.com/area/Ballina_Byron_and_Surrounds.aspx

here for lunch

http://www.visitnsw.com/area/Grafton_and_Surrounds.aspx

and we are here for the night..

http://www.visitnsw.com/area/Port_Macquarie_Kempsey_Taree_and_Surrounds.aspx

We booked a two bedroom spa villa... in a holiday park. We are testing this out.LOL I am not a big holiday park fan... but we looked into them to price taking a motorhome and found they had some awesome accomodation... and great kid features..like pools, parks and playgrounds.. and they are CHEAP... So we decided to go the BETTER accomodation in them - and where possible I have booked something with a spa to soak away the days driving... beats a tiny motel suite and his blow up bed and on the floor..LOL

and for those of you thinking... boy.. am I ever dumb for posting online that we are roadtripping..LOL not so much..we have housesitting and a large dog ;)

and we begin...

I am super behind on blogging..

a great big busy week.. WST is now open... YAY.... all smooth sailing for the most part thank you d and patrick. Hope everyone is enjoying the mega fabulous stuff on offer there... I KNOW everyone says it of every team.. (and occasionally they mean it..LOL) but I REALLY do like the girls at wst.. sooooooo talented... and so sincere.. it is great. I Loooooooove the Shabby Princess team too.. so I am just thinking myself pretty lucky right now!

I have a very fun collab coming out tomorrow... so be sure and check back for a prev!

I am going.. really... we are going!

I have a couple of hours to pack the camera gear (had to leave it out to do my PAD challenge.. hehe) and tidy the studio. Then we are picking up the hire car, making sure the house is TIDY for our house guests and then scooting...... Goodbye everyday easy living where everything is at your finger tips...hello space bags, the highway and my two gorgeous boys all to myself :)

I was SO super organised and made lil maps using goggle maps and added a pic of my car hehe to the top of the map and drew in our daily travels.....

but wouldn't you know it.. we hired a car...lol.. so... I am just going to leave some details about our travels.. and well... you can LOOK at the map and work it out.. LOL..

Thankfully I have worked out the Ipod at last... it wasn't working and i thought maybe i was a simpleton.. but no... it just doesn't seem to be working on my macbook (which i dont use often enough to be familiar with and it is still on the old OS blah blah).. but it works great on my imac so i am all play listed... and ready to go.

I have bored games..LOL - including bug bingo, and travel versions of guess who and ludo and ropes and rockets... (snakes and ladders from Toy Story).. I have zip lock bags of different toys so hopefully with activities, ipods, endless games of I SPY'd a tree... (he constantly says... i spy something green....).. 4 guesses in... NOOOOO it was a tree..LOL.. We should be OK with our smallest travel companion.
If the big one loses it.... he can drive..LOL.

We have a Mobile broadband card... but it is costing 10c per mb.. lol so I dont seem me surfing the net much... we will blog as much as possible tho :)

Come join us on the great aussie road adventure....

vroommmmmm

and then...

we have been looking forward to taking a big trip together for years.. then Lochie came along.. we figured it would be a family holiday.. and then things kept getting in the way..

we finally said..IT IS NOW.. and .. i booked clients.. and it is going to be SO GOOD.

Despite the laughter at Toyota and from several other peanut galleries..We decided to take my car. It is pretty much brand new (has like 6000km on it).. it has a HUGE boot. It is a small car but it is comfy enough and there is only the 3 of us.

Last week.. my foot started hurting.. BADLY. I have been in some pretty bad pain with it.. We figured it was actually broken and I spent lots of V day going around getting docs, and x rays.. apparently NOT broken.. although even the doc is suprised by that one...

It might as well be broken. It HURTS... i can barely walk at time.. I cant put any pressure on it and .. well .. driving is a killer... i drove mum to the airport OK yesterday.. it was hurting on the way home but for the most part it was fine... today I drove lochie to school and wondered how i would get home..LOL

OH how it hurts. I am doing the majority of the driving and we are GOING on that trip (so if you a client reading this dont panic)... I did have to postpone last week's session but i am def doing one this weekend :) Hey K! So excited to meet you and the family)..

So...what to do... pack pain killers? LOL

Isnt it always the way!

It occured to me today.. what about cruise control. I phoned.. they dont do it for the mighty Yaris... so I got a quote on an after market one... blah.... $1000!!!

So instead Andrew wants to hire a car WITH cruise control and be done with it. Something bigger.. but not too big..and something which we can both drive (at least on highways etc..he doesnt want to drive in the main cities down south.. particularly Melbourne).. Whilst I think this is sensible it pains me to pay for a hire car all for my foot. BUT I also understand his argument that I wouldnt be much of a photographer if i do long term damage to it..

NO idea what is wrong with the foot.. but it is bad.

on another note. I found the source of the ants. (regular blog readers will know i had a funky ant problem recently). I opened the storage area in the studio and OUT they came.... ack.. and then.. i found them on the packing table (domino black table.. lil black ants... SO hard to spot.. but spot them I did! and then I killed them all! Ugh.. it took over an hour to clean it all up and the lil **** bit me! OFTEN! but I got it all cleaned. DEF need to add some stuff to the cupboard before going away!

WST - an update

Oh SO SO SO SO SO CLOSE!

I have to share some WST news...

from 2/21-2/25 midnight est, {we are} storytellers will be having a GRAND OPENING sale. take 20% OFF all purchases over $10. the sale excludes gift cards, custom and commercial products.

also, make sure to sign up for our {storytelling} newsletter for a chance to win TWO $25 wst gift cards.

And.. I HAVE been SO good and not shared prevs of some of the yummmmy product coming to the store.. but... Can't wait any longer it must be done!

LOL

This has got to be one of my favorite kits ever.... it rocks...

and this is just soooooo cool. Amy has designed a planner - which you can print and use - sure to keep you organised AND smiling all year long.. I love this project!

I am also super impressed with these monotone papers.. which can be SO dull but not these...
from Emily Merritt.

AND... This kit is sure to be on many many shopping lists... i LOVE it... arty..cool and fun!
A collab from Em P and Marcie Reckinger

OK enough sneak peeks from me for now.. but really... YES you can get the coolest newest latest greatest and trendiest stuff in digi there.. but.. the community is wonderful... we are all really bouncing off one another and inspiring one another and generally enjoying it... so do come and join in the fun wont you!

twitter

I just made a twitter help page request.

How funny! I love modern companies..

Q1. This is what i did

Q2. this is what I expected to happen

Q3. this is what actually happened

Q4. this is how i feel about it in 140 characters or less.

haha - I LOVE this... it is super cool. it is easy. It is real. It is simple and I bet they get to the problem quickly.
Lets hope they solve them fast too!

Still doing it...

I am .. I promise. I am still taking a photo every day.

I have set myself a challenge for each month. January - the challenge was to take a landscape photo each day. 95% or better *not a random stat but one from bridge* of my images is portrait. .. so i really wanted to try for more portrait.

This month it has been all about love.

Next month.. It is about documenting our trip..haha..hey I am on holidays! give me a break! No seriously it is about the concept of home is where the heart is... and so i will be aiming to snap something that says home each day... given we will be away from home.

I have just uploaded 18 new PAD images.. I am doing it daily but with the hours spent on WST as well as packing and prepping to go away I just haven't made the time to upload them.. hey I could lose ANOTHER 15 mins sleep.. but really.. that isnt going to happen ...

You can see my PAD here..

And.... if your enjoying ONE + ONE - leave us a comment :)

NOT ON HOLIDAYS!!!

Gah if only!

We will not have net access whilst I am away - so .. in the interest of sharing my trip.. I have prewritten a couple of blog posts.. and .. added a lil map with my car on it so you can all join us and see where we are going.

I figure i can fill in images as we go!

DESPITE.. me saying .. post on blah date.. it did so immeadiatly.. gee thanks Mr Typepad.. and now i am getting HEAPS of emails asking if i am on holidays.. ummm no.

Laughing.. Gotta love that.

we leave on the 28th.. I will keep you posted.

Thanks everyone for laughing along with me!

site update

well what a busy couple of days it has been..

the we are storytellers blog has the following update for you all...

{site update & a handful of sweet iNSPiRATiON}

let's talk...what we know: site not open, service provider xxxx (fill in the x's, i won't go there because children might be reading over your shoulder), everyone on both sides of the screens are very excited and you all have been INCREDIBLY UNDERSTANDING (which we cannot thank you enough for your comments and emails--MWAH!)

we've made a decision to move to a new service provider. we just don't want to spend anymore time on what may, in the end, still not having the site up and running at the level that you all deserve. moving means it's going to take a lot of work and time. the last thing that we want is the excitement that you all have for our site to turn into frustration by not knowing when we are going to open. i totally get that feeling to 'check in' and 'refresh' in hopes that something you've been waiting for changes. we so don't want that to continue any longer.

we've decided the best thing to do for all of us, mostly you, is to set a new launch date for the site and move forward from there. we'll launch the site on february 21, 2008 (hey, that's just one little week later, right!?!) in the meantime, we're going to keep designing new products, creating inspirational layouts and POSTING to the blog. so, keep coming by daily and we'll be here. also, make sure that you've signed up for our newsletter. it will be a great way to stay up-to-date, and most importantly, keep telling your story by scrapping your own layouts.

again, we cannot thank you enough for your words of kindness, support and encouragement. what a wonderful community!

On a personal note thank you to everyone for the support and patience..the new products ROCK .. and we are so excited to share them with you.. .another week of creating ahead for me and some BRAND NEW concept products coming to the store for the 21st!!

Look forward to seeing you all then!