The challenge is on !!!!!

Hi my friends,

Firstly, I want to thank you all for the everwhelming response I have gotten from posting my weight loss story. I have recieved messages and emails from all over the world. Its been amazing. So thankyou to everyone of you who took the time to leave me a message, and for the wonderful compliments :)) ... I especially want to thank those of you who had the courage to tell me about your own weight loss struggles.... I hope more than anything that this challenge will help all of us to reach our goals....

As promised, the wonderful Nerrida , and I have sorted out the final bits and pieces, and now have our blog up and running....

heres the link to our new blog 5 kilo scrappers challenge Come and join the challenge, what have you go to lose, other than some unwanted weight :)))

So if you think you can benefit from losing 5 kg's join us

A bit 'shabby'

Hi....

Firstly I wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming replies you left on my last post, about my weight loss.... I was blown away by all the commetns... The fact that people called me 'an inspiration' ... WOW !!!! I was so hesitant to post these, and if it wasnt for Nerrida, I would never have done it :) But, now, I am so happy that I did....

Nerrida and I are in the final stages of organising our weight loss challenge, and we should have it up and ready to go in the next few days... We have some great prizes on offer, so I urge anyone who would like to loose a few kilos to register your interest, here, or on Nerridas blog...

Ok, now for a little share. This is a LO I did for Kaisercraft... Using the 'Love notes' collection...Its a photo of my daughter, on her 18th birthday. I decided to use the more muted colours in the range and create a bit of a 'shabby chic' layout. I hope Ive pulled it off LOL ? Ive also used their new chipbaord words, and given that a bit of a shabby makeover too, I simply painted the chipboard with Kaisercrafts 'antique white' paint, then just rubbed some pewter coloured metalic rub on randomly around the edges.




Thanks again for calling in, and for the awesome comments... Check back in a day or 2 for details of our weight loss challenge :)

My proudest achievement .......

Hi my friends,

I have decided to post this story with some gentle persuasion from my friend Nerrida. ( well, she dared me to post it actually LOL ) so here goes Nerrida :)

I have been overweight my entire life, Ive lost and regained so many kilos it would have to be into the hundreds by now. Ive been on every diet known to man, some successful, others a dismal failure, Ive tried soup diets, shakes, weight watchers, Jenny Craig, diet tablets, garlic diets, cabbage diets (not a good idea that one) you name it, I would have been on it.

But something changed early on in 2010..... I decided at 42, I needed to loose weight or I was going to start developing some really nasty weight related illnesses. Im a nurse, and know the score, and up until then I was in denial. I have 5 children, 2 of them still babies, and I started to think "If I dont do something, Im not going to be around to see them grow up" So I decided once and for all that I was going to take control over my weight... Before that, it controlled me, it controlled every thing I did, and everything I felt :( .... I was miserable, and had hardly any self confidence.... My weight made me feel like a failure.... I had a BMI of 40, which put me into the 'morbidly obese' category... I didnt want to be classed as morbidly obese...

My weight loss journey started in April of 2010. And for the past 9 months I have eaten about a quarter the amount I used to eat a day, and have completely changed the foods I eat. I eat very healthily now, very low fat proteins such as fish, eggs, yoghurt and cottage cheese, no carbs much at all, a few fruits and lots of veggies....

Here I am now, 9 months later, and I have lost a total of 48 kg !!! My BMI has gone from 40 down to 23 ( which is NORMAL) and I feel like a completely different person.

This first photo was me, taken in April last year 2010. Not a very good photo but you get the idea.



And this is me now, taken 2 days ago by my son.......


I have a little way to go.... I still want to loose another 5 or so kilos, and Nerrida and I have decided to make it a bit of a challenge, we both want to loose 5 kg, and plan to organise some sort of challenge. So stay tuned cos we will be posting the details on our blogs...

Sharing some cards.....

Hi everyone,

How you liking my new blog ? I LOVE it.... A HUGE thankyou to Kristine Davidson for this amazing makeover.
Today i have a couple of cards to show you which I created for Kaisercraft over the last few weeks. I never was a big card making fan , they seemed to take me as long a s alayout would, and I always seemed to try to put too much on then, but recently i seem to have gotten the knack of it a bit, and am actually enjoying making them.

This first card is a tutorial that Monika Martinson and I did for Kaisercraft. Monikas tutorial is here if you want to learn how to make these cards, and check out Monikas gorgeous card :) .



This next card is a valentines card I made using Kaisercrafts latest collection 'love notes'. I made a cute little 3D heart by simply cutting 2 of the same hearts from the ‘dedicate’ paper. I scored them both down the centre, and attatched them together along the score line with a thin bead of glue.



Thanks for calling in, and dont forget to leave a comment. Have a lovely weekend

Websters goodness

Dont you just love Websters papers. I was lucky enough as a GTD member at 'The imagination factory' to get the new 'Wonderfall' collection to play with.

This is the second of the layouts I did using this gorgeous range.
( the first one is 2 posts down) This is my chubby cheeked youngest baby Harry.....


Thanks for calling in, please leave me a comment so i can visit you :)

FLOOD - from bad to worse :(

Thanks so much for all the messages of support over the floods in our little town....

The floods peaked today, and it was worse than anyone thought. most of the shops along the main street have 1.5 metres of water inside them, and many have lost their homes. The water peaked today. These photos I took were after the water had receeded a small amount, but you can see how deep it is by how high up the shops the water goes. There is alot of destruction, and the clean up will be huge, but no one was seriously hurt or worse, and in the light of whats happened in Queensland, thats all that matters really.


My thought and prayers go out to all those who have been effected by the floods

Floods again

They said that when our little town flooded in September last year that it was a 1 in a hundred year event..... Well someone didnt tell that to the 'powers that be', because, our town has flooded again for the second time in 4 months.... Our friends have lost their homes, and their businesses, and the peak of the flood wont even hit till tomorrow. They are predicting that it will hit its peak by tomorrow afternoon ( Saturday) These photos were taken this morning ( Friday) .



This is the main street, all the shops have about a meter of water inside them.....


and the main street again


a view from the other end of the street


the little foot bridge has been washed away, and the big bridge now has water over it !!!! This is devastating for our town, but, as hard as it is, it is nothing compared to what is happening in Queensland at the moment.

We are isolated here at the moment, all the roads are cut off.... But we are safe, we are on a big hill, and are in no danger at all.

Thanks for calling in, and take care those of you who are battling floods yourselves....

Hugs

Karen

Some exciting news :)

Hi there. Im so sorry for my lack of blogging lately. Life just gets in the way of my scrapping, unfortunately :) .. I do have a bit of exciting news though.... I am a guest designer for my favorite scrapbook store !!!! The Imagination Factory . Its a brilliant store in Ballarat, the girls are gorgeous, so if you are ever in Ballarat, make sure to call in. I got some gorgeous Websters papers called 'Wonderfall' to play with, and have come up with one layout so far, but have lots of ideas floating round for more, so stay tuned :)

This layout is one of my Husband and son walking in the bush at Halls Gap.



Thanks so much for calling in, and please leave me a comment so Ive know you have been, and I can visit you too :)

TTFN

Karen x