Oh my god!

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday, we have been concentrating on
getting schoolwork done today and my fingers have been itching to get into
it. Wow how exciting.

And you wouldn't believe what else came in the mail yesterday.

Some more embossing dies for my Cuttlebug.

I'm in heaven!

Blog Candy

Come on everyone only 3 more days to the blog candy draw.
Go down a few days for all the info.

Cowboy Up!

Another card for the cowboy week. Stampin Up Bronc Buster. American Craft paper and plain card.
A smaller shot. They are very hard to get photos that show them at their best.

I've been AWOL...

I'm back.....

Been out at Hodgson for the last couple of days hellping work cattle through the yards, 783 head in total, so that will be the last lot for the year. Lancen had a go at doing the NLIS wand this time and I got on the slide gate (duh, just realised why my arm and shoulder are aching today)!

Some of the Girls.

Phillip cross-branding the cows.

When we finished we had to turn the cattle out into the paddock, which was a fair walk away, especially with baby calves. So the men were on horses and I followed in the Toyota with the horsefloat on the back. Guess what my job was?

Kristy's day-care. I had to follow behind and pick up the little calves as they tired.

Aren't they cute. Jay hasn't ridden for almost 2 years, but got a chance to help turn out yesterday on Joe one of our horses. I think his legs are feeling it today. It was a very hot day.

THE END!

Update on Jay.

Here is a photo of Jay and his most favourite thing in the whole world.
The photo was taken yesterday afternoon. He is a bit red in the face as
he and John had just been kicking a football around to each other, Oh and
by the way I'm not up for a new bike, as suspected would happen he
decided it was all to much trouble to get it all done. Needless to say this
will make longer days of schoolwork next week.
Oh well it was worth a try. LOL.

Gift from Japan.

These goodies arrived in the mail yesterday from one of my best friends Fiona.
This is a belated birthday present of goodies Fiona picked up for me on her
holiday to Japan. Fiona and her husband Paul have just spent 3 weeks in
Japan (lucky buggers). Fiona is fluent in Japanese and spent some time as
an exchange student there while she was younger and then went on to
become an interpreter at some of the big hotels in Australia.

The card shown here is one of Fiona's beautiful photos. Fiona takes the most
beautiful landscape images and also does professional wedding shots. Fiona's
photo's can be bought as cards and also on canvases or if you would like she
can also arrange to have them framed for you. I have one of her canvases on
the wall in the lounge and I get a comments on it every time someone new
comes to visit!

Here is a photo of it. I'm afraid my picture taking does not do it justice.

Here's a close-up of a section of it. I'll have to get a site address off her, so if anyone is interested at looking at her

work, or purchasing some work you can.

Come on girls, where are the cowboys?

I missed a couple of days, as we were in town most of Friday, and then
had John home Friday night and Saturday, so everything goes out of wack.


Where are the cowboys girls, mmmmmm can't you taste that blog candy?
Here is a couple to get the ball rolling, even though I can't win any :-(

These are a very basic Male Birthday cards for a couple of friends, I want

to find the time to have a bit more of a play with this stamp and try and

Jazz it up a bit.

This is one of my favourites. Card is made from corrugated card.

The stamp is a Lucy's stamp.

I have put string around the outside like rope.

I'll put a close-up of this card on later in the week.

So that's a start girls. I have 3 others in process.

I am heading out to Hodgson today as we have about 700 head

of heifers arriving late this arv and I have to read them off the

truck (NLIS). So won't be on again till probably Tuesday,

hopefully there will be a couple of cowby/western cards

to see from some other people.

Last of the dog cards.

Last of the dog cards. Penny Black Stamps with a cuttlebug birthday Background. Balloon stamps are Stampendous. Coloured with Tombow pens. Stickles added.

I think taking a photo looks a lot crisper. I took a photo of the whole lot together.

Now onto the western/cowboy cards. How is everyone's going?
It has just started drizzling rain here. I don't think there is much in it though.

Who wants a little Candy................!

Blog candy that is! I can't believe I had 300 hits in a week. Thanks guys I hope you are all enjoying it. This week I am going to make some western/cowboy themed cards, as I have a few stamps that I need to get in and use a bit more. I challenge you ladies out there to make a cowboy/western themed card of your own. Load it onto your own blog, then place a comment in my blog, so everyone can go into your blog for a look! Names will be put in a hat and one will be picked out at random. Use any products you wish. This will finish Friday night the 2nd Nov and I will announce the winner in my blog sometime on Saturday the 3rd. So here's your chance to get a card done that maybe you wouldn't normally do and a chance to win a bit of (mystery) blog candy........ Just have to finish my last dog one. LOL. sometime this century.

Officially a Stampin' Up Demonstrator!

I officially became a Stampin' Up demonstrator today, and have already placed an order this afternoon. LOL. Can't wait to get my starter pack.

Have been flat out with work today and helping Jay with schoolwork. Have extended his days to Sunday to finish those maths books, as he has IDL tommorrow and a full day at the school on Friday, so we realised he loses a fair bit of time.

I made 5 cards tonight for the Splitcoast Double Dog Dare Challenge.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292758

I have one more to make tommorrow than that will be a card for all of my dog stamps.

The card is made using a Penny Black Stamp and Penny Black Paper.

This card is made using Penny Black Stamps. The cat is raised and you can't see it in this picture but the dog has glitter on his hat. This card is actually Fluro Green but it has lost colour when I scanned it.

This is a card using the same stamp. It is quite pretty in real life. The dog is raised and he has glitter on his hat.

This is a close up of the cuttlebug star on the card. I'll load the rest in the morning as it is 1am and I'm stuffed and am making to many mistakes! Zzzzzzzzz

As promised here is the card. Penny Black stamps and Kmart paper. Cuttlebug stars.

This was my favourite for the night. The stamps are Penny Black and I can't remember who the paper is, it was A4 paper I bought about 6 years ago! The little paw print disc was made using the cuttlebug and joined with a split ring. The wording was done on the computer and then I cut a bone shape out around it. I put a little bone button in the left hand corner.

Here is a close up of the tag.

Now I need to get the last card done and loaded and that will

be all off my "dog" stamps except for about 3 really little ones.

I'm going to try and take a photo of these and see if it makes

a difference in the look of the cards as I'm not very happy

with the scanned images as it seems to bleach a lot of the

colour away. I might do a group shot.

Oh the pressure!

Have had quite a few comments from family and friends today on the blog.
The comment was made that they'd go on tongiht to check it again. So the
pressure is on.

Had root canal treatment on a tooth today and was in there for nearly 2 hrs.
The needle has worn off and is really starting to ache. Neurofen here I come!

Jay has been flat out doing school work. He's pretty good with it all, but it still
is a battle to keep his mind on it. So today, I know I know terrible I Know!
I BRIBED HIM.

Yes, I told him that if he gets the maths book he's on now and another one done by
Friday afternoon I will buy him a BMX bike (I didn't tell him it will be a cheap
one). This amount of work would normally take him nearly 2 weeks, so if he
does it it will be well worth it. He has had his heart set on one for some time
and I figured it will kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak! Firstly it will get
a lot of work done in a short amount of time without me having to nag to get
it done and secondly he is slightly pudgy at the moment (don't tell him I told
you that)! and I think he will exercise a lot more, doing jumps etc. Plus I'll be
able to fit it in the back of the wagon and he can take it to Hodgson.
So that's the plan, it will be interesting to see if he's up to the challenge.
He has been working like a demon all afternoon. LOL

Jay was on "Sunrise" in August when Monique did the weather from Katherine

School of the Air. Here's a photo of them looking at his assignment.

Anyway I'm off to take some more drugs and heading to bed. My head is starting

to pound with this tooth!

It's a small world!

Here is one I did on the weekend. I don't know why but Christmas
Cards always seem like a chore to me which is a bit silly, but that' s
how I always feel. I know every one loves getthing them so will
have to get into action. The right hand side of this card is pink, but
has faded in the scan shot. I love snowman stamps, as they
have a lot of charachter, but it feels weird doing them.
SNOW! WHAT"S SNOW

The Snowman is an Uptown Rubber Stamp.

Here is a copy of a card I made on the weekend for a friends birthday.

I don't mind it, but I feel like there is something missing. Any suggestions.

The hen is from SU. The paper is wrapping paper.....

I was going to get in and try and do a series of cowboy cards as have quite

a few different types. Got one made last night, but got an email from hollylogic

at SCS inviting me to join in in the Double Dog Dare Challenge. So might have to spend

a couple of days on "DOG" cards instead. Anyway........this isn't getting tea cooked, or cards made (I wish) or clothes hung out.

I got a lovely Welcome to Stampin' Up email from Jean Mc Kenzie today.
It was funny because, I am originally from Jean's area in CQ , and after a few emails
backwards and forwards, Jean knows my parents and my twin brother and I am sure we have met at some stage in the past. She also used to work
with my Aunty Maxine. Thanks for the welcome Jean it was lovely.I had a look at Jeans site and she makes the most beutiful cards, she isa very talented lady and her site is well worth a look. I have added a link to Jeans Blog so go and have a look, I'm sure you will enjoy them as much as I did.

A couple of cards as promised.

I have only used this stamp once before and didn't really

like it. So I thought I would give it another go with bright

colours. Now I love it. I know of a couple of girlfriends who

will be getting this down the road.

Scanning the card tends to change the colour a bit. This card

is actually quite fluro.

The chook is inky antics as is the word stamp. Coffee cup

unknown. The printed paper is from American Crafts.

Here is another Inky Antics Chook. I cased this card

off SCS, I'll have to look it up again. It stuck in my memory

and also bought back some memories........

As I said it doesnt scan true to colour. The green card behind

the chicken/words is actually fluro green. The martini glasses I

drew by hand, and the verse was typed on the computer.

The Happy Birthday stamp is from a hero arts

set. The purple is not part of the card, just paper behind it while scanning.

Are there crocs in the waterholes?

Yvonne Bauer and her girls (Brunchilly Station) were asking if there were any crocs in the waterholes. Yes! There is. We swim in the waterholes that are in the rocks, they are like big swimming pools. The water is fairly clear and you can see to the bottom. We swim in a couple of bigger waterholes that the locals sometimes swim in, that we know no crocs are in, we're always looking around though. LOL

Here is one of the smaller holes.

Todd Bull Catching............

This one is a lot better, very rough as you can see....we see a lot of Todd's legs, but it shows the bull catcher at work. (didn't realise but these video's take about 1/2 hr to load!) Below is a photo of the bullcatcher. On the front you can see a steel arm. You race along beside the bull, nudge up against him, with him on your right side and close the mechanical arm down over his neck. This holds him till you walk him to a tree, then you tie him to a tree until you can bring the truck and load him and take him back to the yards. Takes a lot of skill.

Buffalo Hunting/Contract mustering.

We have had the contract musterer's out there the last couple of months getting rid of the feral cattle before we put our cattle in. Have been pretty surprised at how many they have been getting. Todd went in the bull catcher with one of them and took some video, I am going to post it below, so will be interesting how it turns out. It's pretty rough as they go so fast and it's so rough. Todd didn't know whether to take video or hang on! (I can't remember there may be a little bit of feral language in there from the musterer, but I don't think it was too bad!) The top one is mainly showing the chopper etc. The next one shows where they actually catch it! Ill start a new post for the next one in case something happens.

Another one.

I'm doing this in segments so if I accidentally delete it I don't have to do the lot again. The TO's (traditional owners) were having their initiation ceremonies on the weekend and invited us to watch. It was pretty interesting. We only saw the beginning as ladies had to leave after a certain time. What it is is when the boys that are about 11, 12 are turned into men. (in other words circumcise them!) The boys are wrapped in sheets and laid on the ground in a row. They are danced and sung around all night then in the morning the deed is done. No drugs to help or anything. (bugger that) had John crossing his legs thinking of the pain. Apparently later on the doctor comes down and checks them. One old fella who was doing the cutting had glasses about 3 inches thick and when you handed him a cup of coffee his hands shook like you wouldn't believe! STUFF THAT! LOL! Here is a photo of some of the dances, they are not great as the camera seemed to have been playing up with night shots.

I am not sure if I explained before, but John and I work for the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC for short). They have leased Hodgson Downs off the Traditional Owners (TO's) the Alawa People. They have employed us to get the station up and running from scratch, part of the lease agreement is employing and training the local people. So we have a big job ahead of us. It is unreal what John has got done in 6 months, with new fences, over 2500 head of cattle already, dams and the list goes on. Everytime I go out there I am amazed at what has been done since we were last there.

Here is a photo of some onlookers, mainly woman as most of the men were involved in the ceremonies.

Missed a day!

This is the third time I have tried to do this post. Every time I add the picture it deletes the writing. Last time.

I didn't blog yesterday as John came home Friday night and as we don't see him much anymore we thought we'd have a family day. All we did was watch movies, but with John being so buggered and the weather so hot, in the air-conditioning doing this was the place to be, I think it was just what he needed. He went back just after lunch today, so I thought I'd get on and do a post. I didn't post any new cards yesterday as explained and now John has taken the camera. I have 8 new ones to put on, so will try scanning some tonight and see how I go.

My last blog had a big gap at the bottom so if anyone knows how I can get rid of this that would be great!

I thought I would post a photo I took from the air the other day which shows the homestead site at the moment (not a lot), but gives you a bit of an idea what is there. There is 3 cabins, one is Johns, one is the Assistant Managers and one is the office, then the long building is the ablution block, which has a bathroom, laundry and store room. We have built an extra bathroom onto the back of it. Since the photo was taken another 5 bedroom men's quarters has been put in. The shed will go on the far right hopefully next month, and the house will go in somewhere on the top right, hopefully if it doesn't rain in the first week of December! Fingers crossed!!! and toes!!! As you can see there is lots of red dirt at the moment, so we are hoping to topsoil that and put grass seed in after the first lot of rain, and before the wet so it can get a go on.

Thank You for Kim!

Well my photo taking needs a bit of practice. This is a thankyou card that I did for Kim Gavarra (see link). Kim has been kind enough to send me a catalogue and idea book and answer my endless questions. Go and have a look at her site she has some great cards on there.
This card was made using Modern Posy by Stamp It. The card is unknown. The background and flower are using my cuttlebug. The thanks a bunch was from the Stampin' Up Lots of Cluck, chook stamps.

I enjoyed making the card as haven't made any for awhile, so it got me into

the swing again, I'm going to try and make at least one card a day, so I have a stash for Christmas presents this year.
This is a photo of the accordian album

I made. I was asked to do something

crafty for Inschool week for Katherine

School of the Air. And I said I would

do this album. I had about 15 for the

class with no one really knowing what

they were going to be doing. After they

saw this one that I had made the night before to use as an example they were

really excited. They all turned out great, the ones who didn't do it were then

asking to give it a go.







Like I said my photo taking needs a lot of practise! The photo's don't do it justice.

Have to get in and make some for Xmas presents.

I made a few cards last weekend, I'll upload them tommorrow.

John had the chopper out on Saturday to GPS some damsites and a

couple of other jobs.

All they had available was the 44 so we packed a lunch and went with him.

Here are some photos of were we stopped for lunch!

Not Bad eh!

Wondering if I put another

photo in here that it

will fill the big gap up that

won't go away or

whether it just makes

a bigger gap?

Jay and I were taking

photos of the dogs

for an assignment he

was doing. This is

what Daisy thought

of the whole

thing..........

The gap stayed don't know how to get rid of it!

My first blog!

This is a photo of the boys in one of the waterholes at Hodgson Downs on the September school holidays.

Well my profile pretty well tells it all already. My husband and I manage a cattle station in the Northern Territory called Hodgson Downs Station. The station is over a million acres. My husband is the manager and I am employed as the Administration Officer.

We have been happily married for 16 years and have 2 great kids. My eldest is Todd who boards with his grandparents in Rockhampton in Qld and is doing year 9. My youngest is doing Year 5 with Katherine School of the Air and I home tutor him.

When I have time my favourite thing is crafts. I try my hand at many, but at the moment my love is scrapbooking and card making and I am in the process at the moment of becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator.

The idea of this blog is to keep family and friends up to date with what we are up to, but also to put some of my craft projects online for my crafty friends. I hope to keep this site up to date as much as possible and try and upload photos of cards etc as I make them, but also photos of our day to day.

We are in the process of getting a house out there at the moment, so I am living in Katherine and John is living in a cabin at Hodgson. We do a lot of driving between the 2 places. (Just under 3 hours). So that is the gist of it all, I hope I don't bore you to tears. Please don't hesitate to comment or contact me at any time, it will be great to hear from you!