Somebody find me an exorcist!!!!

I got up like a good girl yesterday morning and decided to go to the gym for an hour but Caeligh and James were being a bit of a handful and I thought I'd suggest to Dougie that he take them to the local indoor playcentre which is - conveniently - right next to my gym. So he went off to read his paper and let the kids play while I did my thing - 25 minutes on the Crosstrainer of Death!!!! Plus I learned the last few exercises in my weights routine (the leg press is a killer and so is the shoulder press - I'm guessing I don't use the muscles needed for them very much!!!). So I finished up but James was whinging that he didn't want to leave the play centre and Caeligh was just gearing up for hissy fit mode. In a brave move we decided to take them across to the shops at Forest Lake to have a quick look around and pick up some fruit and veg. The second the pram came out of the car Caeligh started screaming. She is one of these kids that hates being restrained though thankfully now she's old enough to reason with and we usually make a deal that if she will sit in the pram then we won't strap her in. It always ends in her making an escape but we at least have to try!!! The reason she needs to still be in a pram at age 3 is that she is one of these kids who gets into the shops and just goes bug crazy....she starts running around touching stuff, picking up breakables (and her history with breakables isn't very good), bolting from place to place and hiding under clothes racks for fun. Basically she's a pain because she will not walk and hold anyone's hand, she will not even just walk beside you. She has to dash from place to place with nobody controlling her in order for her to enjoy a visit to the shops. Naturally that doesn't quite work for us so we at least try to get her to sit in the pram for the better part of the trip if we can. The straps are a bit pointless anyway. She has a Houdini streak that lets her contort her way out of any kind of harness. We've never owned a pram (and honestly we've had about seven now!!!) that she couldn't get herself out of!!!! So she climbs out within 5 minutes of arriving at the shops while Daddy stops to look at something and she's off. She tells us she'll walk like a good girl and then starts pulling down toys and playing with them, picking up delicate vases from a low shelf (who was the genius who thought to put them there???), and basically wants to run about like a lunatic doing whatever she wants. So Daddy has no patience for this and we chalk it up to yet another failed attempt at taking her to the shops and having her behave for us. She knows the consequences of running about like an idiot are that she will end up right back in the pram and this time Daddy does strap her in but not before she starts screaming like we're axe murdering her in the aisle of the shop, that real choking, gagging, foaming at the mouth carry on from a true professional as Daddy and I both try to wrestle her into her pram again and get straps on her. THEN in what she thought would be a clever and attention getting move she starts screaming that we're hurting her!!!!! Honestly I wish I could have crawled under a clothes rack myself by that time!!!!!! She's not hurt, she's just damned angry that she's going back in her pram. So basically she screams her head off for the rest of the now shortened trip and Doug and I just look at each other and wonder what on earth we're going to do with her. Oh yeah, and the Forest Lake perfect mummies are giving us the hairy eyeball by now too - yep ladies keep on lookin', she's a 100% genuine ratbag and you guys probably couldn't handle her for an hour let alone full time!!!!! James though was pretty good and wanted a new zip up jacket for winter (little clothes horse he's becoming!) and it took me ten minute to talk him out of the $60 Billabong one he saw in the surf shop and convince him that the $12 one in Best and Less was in fact seriously way cooler than the other one as it matched his new trackpants.

We get them home and Caeligh, while probably tired by now, is undefeated and she sets about showing us exactly what happens when we piss her off at the shops. She makes up for it in spades at home! I was trying to get some typing done and Daddy was downstairs putting on washing so she decided to fill the mop bucket and mop the bathroom, nice except that there were still clothes on the floor and I always like to sweep or vacuum first cos you know how the floor has gross stuff like hair and dirt etc that only gets spread around if you mop first??? So I ended up having to clean the bathroom anyway as she mopped the toilet and the bathub as well.......She went on to break a kitchen chair, break a decorative candle she found ON TOP of the entertainment unit AGAIN, found another screwdriver and had a go at Daddy's computer monitor and as soon as I got her off the chair she found a second screwdriver and started gouging the timber coffee table (I have so given up on having a nice coffee table until she's moved out of home!), she climbed on the timber shifter arm for Daddy's racing wheel and tried to snap it off, she climbed on top of my bedroom wardrobe, fed the fish again with the whole jar of food (and I can't remember how many times I've told Lachie not to leave it within her reach!), she pulled down the curtains in her room, tried to pull down the curtains in the loungeroom, threw the Saturday paper ALL OVER the loungeroom floor, made three separate bowls of breakfast and proceeded to spill at least some of each on the floor and the table, spilled the sugar all over the table whilst getting said breakfast, went into the fridge and opened the vegetable crisper where she proceeded to snap in half every zucchini in the bag and break up the mushrooms which she then said she was actually trying to peel and to cap it all off she had a poo accident in her pants and tried to clean up herself. The end result was poo on the toilet, the floor, the bathroom sink as she tried to use three separate cleaning cloths, two clean towels and a roll of kitchen paper to clean up. It also ended up smeared on the floor and the vanity cupboard, the door and her almost entire lower half. I walked in and just wanted to cry......Doug stood in the doorway and laughed his ass off!!!!!!! I told him if he thought it was so funny he could clean it so he did! All these dramas happen in about little 30 second gaps when you think she doesn't have enough time to get up to such mischief. Normal kids you worry about after five minutes or so - not her, thirty seconds to disaster!!!!!! She's doing my head in but I love her so much - it's really hard!

So that was my Saturday! Went to the gym again this morning and now I'm going to sit down to an omlette for lunch courtesy again of the wonderful Dougie. The kids went to Grans for a sleepover last night - kind of forced them to go actually - and they'll be back soon so I'll read the paper in peace for a few minutes before they come home and we see what other disasters we will end up dealing with!

Love to ya girls!!!!

Slowly Conquering the Crosstrainer of Death!

I'm a bit keen on the whole gym thing and I figure if I'm paying for it then I may as well get my worth out of it. So I went yesterday morning after I dropped Caeligh at kindy yesterday and did 20 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the bike, shifted a total of 300kg on the chest press (and oh yeah baby I'm feeling it this morning!!!! lol) and then I did TEN WHOLE MINUTES on the Crosstrainer of Death!!!! I was so impressed. I only did six minutes a couple of days ago and was hoping to just better it - even by a minute - but I felt okay so just put my head down and kept going until I got to the ten minute mark. I can say though that the last minute and a half were hard!!!!

Went in again last night and figured I'd try a different approach so I hit the Crosstrainer of Death as soon as I arrived. I figured I'm already tired by the time I get to it after doing the treadmill and bike first so I wanted to see how far I could go so I jumped on and did 15 MINUTE plus a 3 minute cool down. I was so impressed with myself cos I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do much more than 10 minutes.

I'll let you in on a secret though - the Crosstrainer of Death actually burns about 50% more calories than either the treadmill or the bike and I figure if I can get more results with less time then maybe the Crosstrainer of Death is going to become my favourite machine!!!!

Fun Wednesday

Cass and I went into the shop on Wednesday, more to get stuff done for ourselves than anything else. Goodness knows it's a lot quieter in the shop on a public holiday that it ever is at our homes (unless menfolk are at work and all kidlets are at school/kinder!). We both got three layouts done.

Last night I went for a 40 minute walk (poor Lachie came along thinking we were just walking to the shop and back - all of 500 metres away from our house!) but I ended up being hit with a burst of motivation and went on a big round the block kind of voyage with Caeligh in the pram and Lachie trotting along beside me! He just kept saying if he'd known we were going to walk so far he would have stayed home and cleaned the bathroom for me instead!!! lol

This morning I went to the gym and did 25 on the treadmill, 20 on the bike and 10 minutes on The Crosstrainer Of Death. Cass even said she might join too so it would be nice to have someone to go with. I don't mind going to the gym alone as I'm not there for the socialisation but on days when I feel like I'd rather sit on the couch and watch TV, it's good to have someone there to say "c'mon let's go". It will be even more important as it gets colder. I'm one of those people who feels the cold and winter just makes me want to curl up on the couch under a blanket. I was probably one of those animals that hibernated through winter in a past life!!!!

So today I've got typing to do and then back to the gym this evening while Blayd is at karate. Let's not mention the house could use a tidy up as well!!! I sent a pile of subs off to FK for their Boys Pages call and it would be really nice to see some of them picked up as I'm pretty sure they're not all crap but I am realistic enough to know that there may be only one or two that will be what they're looking for in terms of style etc and even then, I may be one of hundreds who have something they could use so we'll wait and see. I do wish they'd give responses like SM do. That's probably why I sub to SM first usually, because I get a yes or no within a week usually and I'm not left wondering. Oh well we'll see how that pans out!

Have a great day! Cya, Lu

I share only because I know it will make other mummas feel better about their kids!

Anybody who reads my blog regularly will know that my 3 year old daughter is a total ratbag. She's quite a few other things but some shred of good manners means I don't say them out loud! I had her at home today while trying to get work done for a new client (yippee!!!!) and she just spent the day delivering her worst. I promise I didn't even dare her, she just knew today was button pushing day and went for it. Things like cutting a mobile phone charger cable in half with a pair of scissors (while it was plugged in), scissors she found while climbing ON TOP of the 6 foot tall entertainment unit, the entertainment unit that houses the television which she attacked again today with a FORK!!!! she got from the cutlery drawer after taking out the drawer insert and throwing all the cutlery on the floor of the kitchen where she also spilled her lemonade and left it for me to almost slip over on......she also attacked Daddy's computer monitor with TWO SCREWDRIVERS!!!!!! I'm far more concerned about how quickly she goes from pretty little girl to vicious homocidal maniac armed with two screwdrivers to even care at this point where she found them (Daddy is going to need to have a talking to though.....) and left an ice cream cone to melt on top of Daddy's Xbox (also on the Entertainment Unit of Fun).

My eldest had a crappola day at school and I'm sure his diet needs tweaking. Lots of little things are starting to have a cumulative effect on him so he's going to have to go right back to the basic elimination diet for a few weeks now to get his behaviour back on track. I love how suddenly when his butt is in a sling it's not "huh?" or "what?" or "sorry Mum I wasn't listening" but today it's "Yes Mummy I'll do it right now". Dontcha love how the crawler comes out when they just know they're in it up to their eyeballs!!!! lol It's also a little bit entertaining to watch the almost 12 year old macho I-don't-have-to-do-what-anybody-tells-me-to big man reduced to being allocated housework chores as punishment for bad behaviour at school - not the doing the chores but putting in the fine detail work like emptying the dishwasher and using the tea towel to try to "shine" the wine glasses and the pans etc!!! lol Far out I had no idea such attention to detail was really the product of lots and lots of attrition chores as children!!!!

Do You Need A Good Laugh?????

Oh honestly I laughed until I almost wet myself!!!! Cass rang me last night when she got home from football training (her eldest son plays rugby league) to tell me she had come mighty close to having a knock-down, drag-out ding dong with a Creative Memories scrapper!!!! The whole story is here but oh dear I just cried and cried with laughter while Cass was retelling this story to me last night. I'm possibly even more surprised that the very conservative and snooty looking CM scrapper had the big ones to take on a 6ft tall amazon of a woman with bright pink hair!!!! It seems CM scrappers are equally as passionate about their art as we are!!!!!

I don't know how Cass ends up in these types of things but trouble just seems to find her!!!! lol

NEW Fancy Pants Chic Alpha Stamp RAK!

Okay guys I know these are really popular right now but I also know that for some of us the price is a little unpopular, esp. if you add postage as well right? I'll just add that over at Cyberscraps we're a bit cheaper than most at the moment for these stamps if you do want to buy them but if they're out of your financial reach at the moment then I'm giving away a set of the Fancy Pants Chic Alphabet Stamps as my RAK this week. I chose these ones because you get the cool flourish stamp as well as the complete set of alphas so pretty and purposeful as well!

So if you'd love to own a set of these drop dead gorgeous new stamps then just leave a comment here or on any post this week and you're in with a chance.

I'll draw the winner of the stamps on Sunday afternoon so best of luck and thanks for stopping by to say hi!

Aussie Dares - Add a bit of sparkle

I'll admit that I got partway through this one, made a couple of whopper mistakes with colour and was literally about to throw the whole thing in the bin!!!! Then I fixed the colour mistake by stamping over the top with black instead which looked really interesting and was enough to redeem the layout so I wouldn't scrunch it up and start all over again! I wanted to use the Marah Johnson LoveStruck as we've got that in stock right now and Cyberscraps is sponsoring this fortnight's dare with a big Marah Johnson pack so gotta keep in theme right? Then I got carried away and also used the new Fancy Pants stamps (bottom left, top right and around the photo), some Fancy Pants flowers and went crackers with two packs of Magistical Memories chipboard hearts with wings - so cute!!!! The colour is a little wobbly as our scanner is playing up but overall I'm pretty bloody happy with it considering it almost made it into the bin!!!!!

RAK winners for last week

Hey guys, the winners of last week's RAKs are kissmevodka for the bling RAK and Nicole (also of the thong tanned feet!) wins the Cyberscraps new products RAK!

If you guys can email me ASAP I will put your pretties in the mail for you!

Rain, rain, don't go away!!!

Well it's storming outside for the first time in I don't know how long and I've just taken all four kids outside to get soaking wet!!! We've chased each other in the bucketing rain (I can't remember how long it's been since we've had such heavy rain!!!) and watched the lightning and listened to the thunder. The kids have all gone a little crazy at a time of night when really they should have all been in bed but hey - I'm in one of those life-is-worth-celebrating moods so everybody ran outside to enjoy the cool rain for a few minutes!

Now everyone is getting changed out of wet clothes and into pjamas and the kids are happier than I have seen them in days. See? Craziness is sometimes good for your kids!!!!!!!

Tagged again!!!!

Thank you to Jilly for tagging me in the interests of science and the well being of society - weird facts about me? I'm not weird.....am I??? (hey stop yelling at the screen you guys - that makes YOU weird!!!!). So it goes like this.....

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I love to sing (like you Sue!!!) and will sing loudly, proudly, anywhere and everywhere. I even get antsy if I don't know the words to popular songs and will look them up on the internet if I have to, just to be sure I'm singing the right words.

2. I have a thing about fruit and cream/milk not going together so no fruit and ice cream in the same dish and I don't like iceblocks like Splices with fruit on the outside and ice cream in the middle - pavlova is my only exception (oh and the thing at the end of Number 5!)

3. When I yawn my saliva glands squirt - yep I've even accidentally "spat" on someone sitting too close when I didn't put my hand over my mouth when I yawned!!! (yep I know - so gross)

4. I have always admired Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With The Wind and it turned out that my natural mother's family are a long line of O'Hara women descended from Ireland! (that so rocks!!!! - hi Mum, hi Sis!!!)

5. I eat in "phases" which means that for anywhere from a few days up to a few weeks I really badly crave certain foods - usually only one thing at a time - like really bad pregnancy cravings. I normally will eat that food at least once a day until my body must get sick of it and decides on something else. It's usually stuff like heavily salted Smiths Crisps (thin not crinkle), Woolworths brand Orange Delight biscuits, Ice Magic topping, Fillet-O-Fish burgers from Maccas, Neenish tarts or my current love which is the huge cherry danishes from the bakery a couple of doors down from Cyberscraps. They are huge and really generous with the custard and cherry so they're pretty bloody good - and I don't even like fruit and creamy things together!!!!

6. I have ADHD and have had it since I was a kid. I'm totally forgetful, disorganised, never on time, messy, always losing things and scatterbrained hence the blogger nickname. I'm awaiting an appointment with a psychiatrist who can prescribe medication for me as I am really struggling at the moment to keep it all together - I'm happy enough- just painfully disorganised so if I haven't done something I said I was going to, it isn't because I didn't want to - I probably wrote it down on my "mental to do list" and then lost that as well!!!

7.I loathe ironing to the point that the only thing I have ever used my iron for is my son's karate dogi (black belts can't have wrinkled gear - apparently.....lol) and some Heidi Swapp iron on transfer words. Lucky for me I don't own anything that needs ironing, my hubby wears jeans and tshirts to work because anything good would get ruined (he runs a high school chem lab) and my kids' uniforms are all wash and wear. I don't even buy Caeligh stuff that will require ironing each time. I bought a pair of 3/4 linen pants over the summer and I've only worn them once because I don't love them enough to iron them.

8. I was raised an only child but in fact I have two step sisters, one step brother, two half sisters and three half brothers. I don't have a family tree - I have a whole frickin jungle!!!!!!

9. Scottish accents have always been my weakness and I'm lucky enough to now spend every day listening to it from my darling Douglas.

10. I talk in my sleep and apparently you can have a whole conversation with me and I'll wake the next day with no memory of it (can you tell that I never got away with much as a teenager cos all my mum had to do was come in after I was asleep and ask me stuff and I'd tell her!)

That's quite enough weirdness for now I think! SO I tag Cass, Lisa, Kat, Louise, Alana, Lynn and Janet and I'm sure I'll get around to all of you to deliver the news ASAP!

Pic tag catch up

Okay here are the last two parts of my pic tag - a person from three different views and something of my own choice (that being a pic of me and my fake tatt fetish until I can decide which Marah Johnson creation to permanently ink myself with and I can find the kind of money to have it done!!! lol).

Now I get to tag!!!! So I'm going to tag Cass, Lusi, Lisa and Ali (which is kinda cheating cos she'll kick all our butts at this photo stuff!!!). Ladies consider yourselves TAGGED!!!!!! The original pic tag post and instructions are here - can't wait to see what you all get up to!

Layout share

Quick layout share for you. Went to Cass's place last night to work on our Fancy Pants mini album kits (mine's only half done and I'll work on it in the shop again tomorrow I think - customers seem to like to watch you actually doing layouts etc while they are there). So this one is a layout I did last week but it went straight into the shop window before I could scan it so I've only just gotten this one scanned and saved.

Layout with Fancy Pants Pollen Dust stamps

I did this one at the shop yesterday with the new stamps. I love the stamps but as you can see, I'm not a stamper and seriously need some more practice with placement and how much ink to use etc!

Don't know what to say about this really.... :(

I've been rambling to everyone for the last week that my putting on 6kg in the last two months has played havoc with my hormones and that I really must go join the gym (which I did just this morning actually). I had a bit of a "scare" a little while back when I ran out of the Pill and didn't have a repeat prescription so had to wait for three weeks before I could find time for a doctor's appointment to get more. I take mine continually because basically "that time of the month" is a pain in the ass and I can't be bothered with it anymore. I also have chronic anaemia for apparently no specific reason so my Dr said skipping 3 out of 4 periods would help with that. Anyhoo the "scare" was that even after I stopped taking the Pill my period didn't show up for over a week and when it did it was much lighter than usual. I was just grateful and thought nothing more of it. I've got my tribe of 4 and don't have the money or mental strength to have more kids. Mr Costello should be proud of me - I've replaced Doug and myself in the population statistics plus TWO more for the good of the nation!

So I got my prescription and went back to taking my pill continuously and that was weeks ago now but a couple of days ago I got what I thought was a period even though I was still taking the Pill non-stop every day. I cussed and swore and put it down to the extra weight causing problems and blamed the same thing when I spent yesterday in pain all day from horrible cramps that I hadn't had in years. I still blamed it last night as I spent all night waking up off and on from cramps so bad I couldn't sleep on my stomach (like I usually do) or even on my side. In the middle of the night I started to have those strange thoughts like "maybe I've got an ovarian cyst that's going to rupture" or something along those lines. I was still sore when I got up this morning and took some panadol and just got on with it because when you've got kids and housework and everything else that's just what you do isn't it?!?!? Apologies now if you're squeamish because it's turned out that I must have had a blighted ovum (which is an embryo that begins developing and for some reason, usual hormonal or chromosomal, it stops and is reabsorbed back into the placenta but the placenta continues to support itself and grow for up to twelve weeks until the body naturally miscarries it or you have a D&C done). I'm going to assume it was complete and I'm not rushing off to the doctor or anything because I feel fine now. More than anything I think I feel a little sad that my life was so busy, so stressed and involved that I had no idea. I didn't really have any symptoms and I kept doing the things I usually do like a glass of wine at night and I'll admit to more stress and worry than is healthy over the past couple of months but life is just like that sometimes. It's not like I'd like to be pregnant again either, but I certainly would have accepted it and found a way to cope somehow if I had known. It obviously was destined to happen that way anyway and I know I can't have stopped it or even caused it, it is just something that happened but I guess I feel sad for the little life that was there however briefly and I didn't even know. That's probably what's upsetting me right now more than anything. I'm going to take a wild guess and say it might have been a hormonal problem as I didn't even have morning sickness although I was tired but hell - I've got four kids, a husband and two jobs - mothers are always tired! Cass as always was wonderful when I phoned to tell her. She always knows just what to say to make me feel better and while this may not have been meant to be, it is certainly a wake up call that I need to be more proactive about the whole situation considering Doug and I aren't intentionally planning any more kids. He's walking about now like a man with something to fear - I've told him that I would rather not have to go through this kind of thing again so he's going to the doctor this week to organise a vasectomy. Off to the vet for him!!!!

So while I will admit to a little bit of guilt over being relieved that I'm not pregnant, I'm surprisingly shocked and sad at the loss nonetheless. Weird really isn't it - how we react to these things? I've only ever lost one pregnancy before and it was very early. This was a lot further along so I think that's why I feel a bit thrown for six about it. I'm doing my best not to beat myself up over the question of how long the baby existed for before things went pear shaped because often it's only a few weeks but it was a life nonetheless that isn't here now. Loss of life, however brief, should be acknowledged and mourned. It's what makes us real and what makes us human. I know that there will be a layout in this somewhere - maybe not now because it's a bit raw - but at some point there will be and that will be my acknowledgement and my mourning and my closure for something I never knew existed until it was gone.

Ooooh Aah Fancy Pants, I Said Ooh Aah Fancy Pants!!!!

Okay sorry I couldn't announce this last night but I didn't have any prices for you then! We've got our new Fancy Pants stamps and while we want more, at the moment we have available the large 12x12 Pollen Dust stamps for $67.10 and 6x6 Chic Alphabet and Journals A La Mode for $26.84 each. They will be up online at Cyberscraps this morning for the very keen and if they prove popular then we will do our utmost to get more in and other designs as well - scrappers honour!!!!

We also got the boy and girl chipboard book kits and the new jars of flowers and the rub-ons. We've also got in a great range of Luxe Designs rub-ons, gorgeous and really well priced so if you are a rub-on fan be sure to check those out.

New Marah Johnson Intentions and Bliss are in as well along with the matching embellies and they're already up on line for your drooling pleasure.

I know it's a blatant advertising post this morning but a huge amount of our patterned papers (like almost all of them!) are permanently reduced by 20% and our BAZZILL IS ALWAYS 70 CENTS A SHEET!!!

We've really tried hard to make sure we have great prices so we can move more stock and thus concentrate on shiny new things - preferably as quickly as possible so you don't need to put your creativity on hold while you wait for things to ship to your local LSS from the wholesaler. We're doing our best to get stuff direct from the manufacturers themselves so it's in your hot little hands as fast as possible!!!

Thanks for listening to the spiel but I do love to share a bargain because the more you save on your scrapping supplies the further your buck goes and right now I know the importance of that!

I've got a new job on the horizon with a transcription company which will hopefully stop Doug sweating bulletts about the money issue but it's going to have to fit in around the shop hours at Cyberscraps now because that I do for love (and maybe some product!!! lol) but not money and the typing is a totally mercenary activity so we can afford to eat!

I'll let you know how the day progresses. We've got a crop at this shop this morning and if I can get five minutes without a customer I may even get a layout done!!!!

Pic tag update

Okay sorry for being late - I really suck at keeping on top of things like this!!!! I'm still so grateful Alana picked me to join in so we will get there in the end girls!!!!! lol This pic tag is my street where I live and we were allowed to use as many pics as we liked.

Busy busy busy day!

I love it when I get in the mood and get more than one layout done at a time! Usually it is only a lack of time that means I have to keep it to single layouts but today at Cass's place I felt like I could power on so I finished one I started in the shop the other day with the new My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie range (Wild @ Heart) and then went on and did another Tres Jolie called 6 (Almost) about James and then did a brutally honest Basic Grey layout about the experience of having three sons before I got my daughter. The journalling is just about how I had somehow always thought I would have girls, really wanted girls and was so disappointed each time I found out I was having a boy. I will admit it - now I have my girl and she is a complete ratbag and she has taught me that having a girl has just confirmed that I love them all equally. I was a bit worried I would love her more - I don't know why but I was just nervous that it would turn out that way. But it hasn't so I needn't have worried but I wanted to document it anyway - it was a big thing for me every time I was pregnant and the pressure was really bad when I was pregnant the fourth time as I know my mental health wouldn't let me go through another pregnancy (I get very bad pre-natal depression and go a little crackers from about 25 weeks and it just gets worse until the baby arrives and then I'm completely okay again) so it was my last chance to have a daughter. I can tell you now girls - be careful what you wish for!!!! lol She's the roughest, toughest, brattiest girl on the planet!!!!

Sorry, side tracked as usual!!! So got three layouts done and v.happy about that! I wanted to have playtime at the shop tomorrow but I'll announce something about that later tonight.

If you've won a RAK from my blog in the last week or so DO NOT FEAR!!!!! I have boxed everything up and they are ready to be sent tomorrow morning (I will be a little embarrassed here but admit that since I haven't been working I haven't had the money to actually post the RAK's but I've done a bit of casual typing this week and will get paid tomorrow so I can finally send everyone's stuff - sorry it's taken a little while).

Talk to you later chickies!!!

Shining example of manhood!!!!!

Well I haven't uploaded my pic tag for yesterday and today (photos taken but can't actually bring myself to devote time to reducing etc right now......hic......) BUT I did have to share that while at work today my darling Dougie was given the gift of some ridiculous but apparently fabulous scone recipe - YES SCONE!!!!! Laugh as you wish, I know I certainly did.....! but he waited until the doco about his beloved Scotland and it's political relationship with England was over and then literally dragged me into the kitchen to watch him whip up a batch of scones!!!!!!!

Trust me when I say he has only ever baked once before in his entire life - cooking dinner is no sweat but the baking he usually leaves to me because I kinda know what I'm doing and I enjoy it - but only moments ago he was up to his elbows in flour and dough, busily kneading (after I showed him what that actually involved lol!!!!!) his scone mix. I even taught him the upturned drinking glass cutter technique as he was just going to pull lumps of dough out and slam them down on the metal plate (aka baking tray in girly terms!!! rotflmao!!!!!!).

So now we have a batch of lordy-only-knows-what-goodness in the oven and he assures me the temperature is right too and I'm not allowed to go to bed until they are done and out and I've tried one. It's a terribly pity that I absolutely detest scones - I don't know why, my mother swore by them and apparently made legendary scones - maybe it was scone overload for me as a child and it left me bakery scarred........fyi I even have Lady Flo's pumpkin scone recipe here somewhere that she wrote out for me when I was all of 8 years old (dad was into politics - don't even ask......) but I've never made them cos I HATE SCONES!!!!

All that being said, in about 15 minutes' time I will pace intrepidly back to the kitchen and get a big spoonful of strawberry jam to disguise the taste and I'll have a go at them because my beautiful Douglas stayed up until 10 o'clock at night trying out a scone recipe someone at work gave him!!! I guarantee it will only be his scientific mind motivating him as the recipe is this really weird concoction of three cups of SR flour, one cup of cream and one cup of lemonade - don't bloody well laugh (I made that mistake and hurt his feelings momentarily!) apparently it works and I'll promise to let you know - from the A&E ward if that's what happens!!!!!

All hail the mighty scone - and the daring domestic god of a husband who had to give it a go!!!!!

PS The shining jewel in the crown of his scone achievement was that he's even cleaning up after himself!!!!!!!

Marvy Marvy Monday!

Cass and I were only in the shop for half an hour today before two boxes arrived from the States - the new Marah Johnson Intentions and Bliss lines!!!!! Plus other stuff but of course that was the most exciting!!!!

As far as I know Cyberscraps is the only place in Oz to have these new lines so far so if you are a Marah fan or if you haven't seen her range before come on over to here to have a lookie. All the new stuff you can see in the pics is up online and ready to be sent to loving homes!!! lol (like mine..... :)



Well because Cass and I were so excited at all the new stuff that we carried on like a pair of screeching pork chops we've decided to share the lurve with ANOTHER RAK for this week. So as per usual chickies, if you visit my blog any day this week up til Sunday afternoon and leave a comment on this or any other post, or in my Cbox (we don't discriminate against comments here!~ lol) then I'll draw out a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW (BSN) RAK of brand spankin' new products chosen from the above new lines at Cyberscraps. If you'd like TWO chances to win a BSN RAK then head over to Cass's blog and leave a comment for her as she's also giving away a selection of the above v.spesh products!

So this week's a brand new and blingy RAK week with one and maybe two bling RAKs and a BSN RAK. Look forward to hearing from ya girls and have a cracker of a week (hooray for school!!!!!) lol

Cya, Lu

CHIPBOARD RAK winner and a blingy back to school week RAK!

Hiyall, thanks for everyone's comments who stopped by this week to catch up with me. It's so cool to "see" everyone iykwim!!!

You'll have to take my word for this as my camera battery went flat as I was about to take the pic of the little bit of paper (busy day with the camera at a bday party!) so the winner of last week's chipboard RAK is Miss Muffet (aka Megan). Megan I know where to find you but if you read this first drop me an email or a PM at CS and let me know your postal address. I'll be packaging up your chippie board delights as soon as I know where to send them to!

New business on the agenda is this week's RAK. Now back to school in my house is a cause for celebration - not for the kids, just for me and Dougie!!!!! lol - so in keeping with celebratory vibes I'm having a bling RAK this week of gems, crystal brads and lots of glittery goodness. If you'd like to be in the running for the shiny fun stuff just drop in and leave me a comment on this or, like always, anything else during the next week that takes your interest and you can always use the Cbox as well for a quick hi on the fly!

I'm off to get dinner sorted out (i.e. make sure it's not burning to a cremated husk in the oven) and after that it might be time to get a layout done. TV is kinda calling me on a Sunday night lately though with Rove back (didn't really watch him before but it's sandwiched in between The Biggest Loser (where for a few moments I can admire my own state of chubbiness and go "well I'm not there yet" and in the next breath mutter "Bugger! Really really must get to that gym this week!!!!!") and the so ridiculous it's got me interested Pussycat Dolls reality TV show. I can't even tell you why I watch that - it's kind of like the train wreck theory - it's too ghastly to look at but I can't take my eyes away from it!!!!! lol

I hope y'all had a good weekend, productive or at least relaxing - sometimes it can even be both! - I did the sleeping in thing on Saturday, the shops thing Sat afternoon out at Springfield (nice new shopping centre too Jilly - we should catch up for coffee at Toscani's!), had a sleep over at Cass's place last night with James and Caeligh while Daddy went to a LAN with his mates and I did get that hair colour done (thanks to the talented and fearless hands of my darling Cass) but I'll have to wait until the camera battery recharges before I can take any photos but I'll warn you that it's FIVE DIFFERENT COLOURS ALL OVER!!!! I absolutely love it and boring it is not!

I'll talk to you later chickies!!!!! Love, Lu

Pic tag catch up

Yesterday's pic tag was to photograph a flower, tree or plant in three different ways so I've got the first shot which is looking at my neighbour's lovely poinciana tree as it overhangs our front yard, the second shot is looking up at the sky through the branches and leaves and the third shot is a close up of the leaves. No flowers right now unfortunately but when it does flower it is covered in masses of little red

flowers.

Today's pic tag challenge was to photograph six things of the same colour. Now for me that's easy as my favourite colour is PINK and it's all over my house! So I've done up a montage of pink things and as usual I wasn't able to restrain myself and ended up taking more than the required number of shots. Far out I wish I could get blogger to put stuff where I want it to go!!!! The pink shots from left to right and top to bottom are: my pink kitchen scales, my summer long faithful pink thongs, assorted plasticware from the kitchen, my deodorant and favourite soap, fairy wings, two chenille ribbed cushion covers I bought at the flea market, my hot pink handbag, a throw rug my mother crocheted me when I was 8, my stapler and one of my fav t-shirts.

I'll be back later to post the winner of this week's chipboard RAK. See ya then girls!!!!

Pic Tag #2 - something special in my family

Okay this is going to sound reeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallly soppy but the most special thing in my family is my Dougie!!! I knew as soon as I met him that he was a special man - gentle, strong, kind, patient, loyal and passionate. He not only loved me but my two sons, who were not his, and continues to be their main father role to this day, some nine years on. We now have two babies together as well and I've watched him grow as a father, as a man and as my best friend on this earth. I call him my planet alignment specialist in my blog profile because the moment I first laid eyes on him it was as if the planets really did align and something within me became whole for the first time in my entire life. It was as if I had known him forever. He is special because he fathers our children, he takes care of our house
inside and out, he works hard at his job even though he doesn't love it, everyone else's needs come before his without complaint EVER, and he is one of those rare genuine people on this earth that anyone would be proud to call their friend. I'm lucky enough to call him my everything. Love ya babe - you're it and a bit!!!
(far out I wish blogger would just put things where they're meant to go!!!! grrrrrrr!!!!)

HUUUUUUUUUUGE shout out to my girl Lusi!!! Plus a nice new arrival at Cyberscraps

Well anyone who's seen the latest Scrapbooking Creations will know that it's been a bumper issue for one of my loveliest friends, Lusi Austin!!! Yay for ya girl!!!! Lusi has something like five layouts and a technique feature this issue and I'm so happy for her that her art and her beautiful soul are being shared with so many people. If you haven't got SC yet then start harassing your newsagent because it arrived at our newsagent only this morning. Some people closer to the publishing locale may have gotten it sooner. Huge congrats to Lusi for scoring so many cool layouts in one issue!

Spent the day at the shop today, rearranging stock, changing the layouts in the window and unpacking - my favourite part!!! lol Today we got in - direct from the States - the very shiny and new and gorgeous My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie collection of papers, die cut titles, journalling blocks, frames and transparencies, HUGE die cut alphas and the very delicious chipboard alphas and "Bliss" shapes. We also got some new Magistical Memories (thanks for the inspiration Jilly!) chipboard shapes in as well in funky things like musical notes, cute little birdies, locks and keys and a can't-wait-to-make heart shaped mini album. If you want to see the pictures then have a quick click here and see for yourself. Very beautiful stuff and I'm pretty sure Cyberscraps is one of the only stores in the country to have the Tres Jolie collection as yet as we got it straight from the States because we're impatient little scrappers here!!!!! There's plenty of stock (thanks to bosslady Cath who doesn't like us to run out) in the store and in the online shop so hop over to the link and have a squiz or stop by the store if you are the touchy-feely kind. The Tres Jolie papers all have a really nice parchment texture which means they take ink beautifully and the papers are all double sided so the plains are just as nice as the printed side.

Tonight I'm going to TRY (try being the operative word here....) to finish a layout I started today with the new MME Tres Jolie stuff. I started it at the shop and became quite the cranky camper when I realised I didn't have the pen I needed or the rub-ons I wanted to use either. And now I've gotten home from the shop I've bloody well forgotten to go to the newsagent and get the pen I need.......bugger, bugger, bugger!!!!! The rub-ons are easy, I've got those in my stash but the pen is something I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED and nothing else will do. I don't even know which pen I need, I just know it has to be brown and reasonably fine-tipped and I'll basically take whatever brand I can find at this point because it was one of those layouts where I got the butterflies while putting it together. Come on now, don't laught at me!!! You know that feeling you get when you think "oh I'm onto something here!!!!" and now I want nothing more than to get the stupid pen so I can find out what the layout will look like when it's finished. No I don't actually know what it will look like, I'll have to wait and see what else the layout tells me to do. Yep back in weirdo "talkin to the layout" territory again girls, as I always am! I started out wanting to use one colour of paper and the photo I wanted to use said "no", I even gave the photo the option of two different shades of that colour and it still said "no" so I had to abandon the idea I had in my head and keep putting the photo onto different patterns and colours until the layout screamed "yes, yes, YES" like the scene out of When Harry Met Sally. Well it is exciting when the layout talks to me! So then because it was a pattern and a different colour I had to abandon the big die cut alphas I wanted to use and go with some chipboard instead. It's hard to be a slave to the paper but what can you do? So I'll be sure to share once I get it finished. I dont' like to leave the layout to wait too long because I end up with the best results while that initial excitement is still there so I'll be sure to get to it tomorrow.

Contemplating doing something drastic with my hair again, red with purple and blue foils (which I wanted last time but didn't end up with) and I'm even stocked up with products and prepared to do it myself. But tonight I think I'll have a couple of glasses of wine, some nice hot Thai green curry and the last of my Easter chocolate because quite frankly my bum is getting waaaaaay to big and I need to say "no more!" and remove all the chocolate from the house - and of course the best way (and most practical way so as not to waste any of course!) is to eat the rest! lol I wonder if the wine isn't exactly helping my ever-widening bum problem either......hmmmmmm...no surely not, good for the heart they say so we'll ignore that part of the kilojoule equation and focus on the chocolate instead.......oh but the Thai is really bad too isn't it?.....I must stop asking myself about these things..........I'll just do a Scarlett O'Hara and remember that tomorrow is another day!

Blogga blogga later chickies!!!!! Love, Lu

Pic Tag Day 1 - A Piece Of Me

Well here we go - I've developed a bit of a love affair with thongs (or flip-flops depending on where in the world you are!). I buy a new pair at the start of each spring and this year they were hot pink pearly looking ones and I know it's hard to see by the pic, but I know I've had a fun summer because I now have TAN LINES on my feet from the straps of my thongs!!! lol That's so cool!!!!!! Trust me, they are easier to see IRL than on this pic and yes I know my feet are hideous - even Dougie says so but he had a foot aversion, kinda the opposite of a foot fetish - and I can accept that with good grace so long as you get the idea. I do have tan lines on my feet and the sad thing is that they will disappear so soon as I've started putting socks on to wander about the house (timber floors you see) over the last week which is for me, sadly, the end of summer and the beginning of winter. I don't know if I am a candidate for Seasonal Affective Disorder (trust me it's a genuine depressive illness where some people get seriously bummed over winter) or whether I just hate being cold - maybe it's both but Dougie swears I wouldn't last a day back home in his wintry Scotland which is a titty freezing temperature even on the warmest of their summer days! So that's my piece of me - my soon to be white but currently a little tanned with thong marked feet!!!! I don't like my feet - just the testimonial to a wonderful summer of fun this year!!! For dedicated daily readers I PROMISE the pic will be better and far more entertaining tomorrow!!!! lol Love ya babes, Lu

Cass and Lu's Swaperoo!!!

Okay here's a fun idea because basically Cass and I are a pair of pork chops who like to have a bit of fun!!!! - we're issuing a challenge to all you scrappers out there for a different kind of swap. Now some of you may have tried this before or not but we tried it today for the first time and we're very happy with the end result!

I started with the ARGH layout which was basically the layout above with only the picture, the decorated monogram "L", the rub-on title and some of the flowers. I then gave the layout to Cass to complete and although you didn't get to see how blah it was when I handed it over, you can see how amazing it now looks. I personally credit Cass with being a frickin genius but how cool would it have been to have liked my first half of the layout and then given Cass the page to finish?!?!!?

So our challenge - for anyone interested - is to complete HALF of a layout - something like get as far as the photo down, the title done and any journalling you want but leave the rest of the embellishment to a scrap buddy to finish. You can get your scrap buddy to do the same thing and then give, mail or Star Trek transporter beam your layouts to each other. Once the layouts are completed return them and you have a very different twist on your original work.

If you are going to give it a go let me or Cass know and we'll post a list of Swaperoos on our side bar with links to your blog so you can scan or photograph your half of the layout and then the finished result when it comes back to you. That way people will get to see how the layouts have all turned out. Maybe I've had too much Wizz Fizz today but I'm a bit excited about it all so please jump on in if you want to do something different. We can't wait to see who gets involved and I know it's going to be fun.

Here's the finished product of our Swaperoo.......

We also think it's kinda cute that one each of our children are also in the photo so we even shared the subject matter!!!! lol

Layouts for today

Hi chickies! Well I scanned my Africa inspired layout and also did one at Cass's place about her. Hope you like!

I haven't included the ARGH layout here because basically I did a half-arsed job of it and gave up (which I rarely do!) and took it to the supremely talented Cass who would know what to do with it (which she did) so if we sub it and it gets accepted it will have to have joint names under it because I started it and she finished it. I did say she could claim it if it gets pubbed because nobody would have accepted it as I left it and it's so very much her now - as soon as she finishes it I'll share it so you can see. It is already ten times more gorgeous than when I finished my part of it.

Urgh awful layout

It's funny how there are just some days where no matter how hard I try whatever I touch turns to crap! Today is that day.......

I did my Africa inspired layout a couple of days ago which was clean and uncluttered for me and now I've done one of that photo of James and Lily sharing a kiss but I've completely buggered it up. It's more like Cass's style with lots of flowers, beads and bling but I can't do her style so even though I didn't start out wanting it to look like her style, it does and does a pretty poor job of it at that!!!! lol Oh well I'll just find another photo and try something else methinks.

I've got the luxury today of Doug doing most of the housework so I don't have to do anything else but scrap which is nice. I should however probably be looking for another job but between me and you chickies - I don't want to find another job!!! I feel a bit bad really, I'm enjoying my three days in the scrap shop and having more time to spend with Caeligh as she's the only one not at school now but the loss of an entire income each week is putting far more of a strain on Doug than it is on me. I'm having a great time actually!!! But because I know he'll worry I'll have to find even a few odd lots of typing to do here and there so there's at least some more coming in each week. We can manage on what we have if we're very careful but having to live very carefully every single day is hard and I know some of you know just how that feels. So in the interests of our bank account which currently looks pretty shabby, and in the interests of Dougie's mental health, I'll pull out the Saturday papers this weekend and see what I can find. I know that if I wait longer then I'll probably have to settle for picking up temp work or work away from home and in an office somewhere and I'd rather not if I can help it because I've got everything set up to work from here.

Well I'm going to wander over to Cass's now and scan the Africa layout and the buggered one. I'll upload them for your viewing pleasure when I get back! I'm also secretly going because the two little ones are driving Daddy crackers today and all he wants to do is sit down and watch some sci-fi which he can't do if they're here. I figure he's supposed to be on holidays and as he's done more housework than me this week, the least he should get to do is relax for a few hours and have some peace and quiet!! Cass's house is, like mine, always a circus anyway so a couple more kids as her place won't matter but a couple less here makes a world of difference!

Have a cool Thurs girls, whatever you're up to and I'll blogga blogga later, love Lu

A quick favour

Hiya gals, I know not all of you will be the religious type but if you are then could you please offer a quick prayer for a person very close to me who is right now going through about as crapola a time as is possible for a person who doesn't deserve it? I know that you won't need to know who this person is to offer a gift of prayer so if you could spare a moment or add this person into your evening chat with the Big Guy then it would truly be appreciated. I know God never gives us more than we can carry but it is still hard to watch someone who means so much to me shouldering such a heavy load. Any words you could offer to the Lord for this person would mean so much to me and I know they would mean alot to the person in question as well.

Thanks for your help. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful group of cyber-buddies I can call on if I need to.

Vice versa, ladeez, if there's ever anything I can do, you know "all you gotta do is call - cos you got a friend" as the song goes!

Thanks again, Lu

Pic Tagged!!!

How cool is this? I've been pic tagged by the super lovely Alana so each day for a week I have to take the following photos. Which reminds me that I really should make sure the numbers stand for Day 1 etc and I don't have to take all of the pics each day or that's going to take some time!!! lol

Each day you need to take a photo/photos following this criteria………
1. A PIECE OF YOU.
2. SOMETHING SPECIAL IN YOUR FAMILY.
3. ONE PLANT OR TREE OR FLOWER, IN THREE DIFFERENT VIEWS.
4. FIND SIX THINGS IN ONE COLOUR.
5. WHERE DO YOU LIVE….WHAT STREET….WHO’ ELSE IS IN THE STREET….SHOW US IN AS MANY WAYS AS DESIRED.
6. ONE PERSON IN SEVERAL WAYS.
7. YOUR CHOICE…

I've never been tagged before so I'm really excited and the best part is that after I'm done I get to tag someone else!!!!

I'll let you know how I'm going and post my pics as I go!

Ooohhhh a layout just for a pub call!!!

I feel like I should be doing other things but last night I did a layout JUST for a pub call, an obscure one at that! Krys from SM is looking for pages inspired by Africa.....now considering I've never even been to Africa and don't have any appropriately themed photos in my collection I took the even more radical step of finding a royalty free stock photo online which only required me to leave a message for the photographer to say what I was using the photo for, which I did. So I had a great photo (which, yes, does feel a bit like cheating!!!!) and did my layout which I'm really happy with. It's very "clean" for me and not my usual style but maybe that will improve my chances of having it picked up by someone. I haven't done a layout strictly for a pub call in probably months now!!!! With so much to do for the shop and doing product showcase layouts for the online gallery there just hasn't been any time to "play" iykwim? So I was happy to get that one done last night. I'll post it as soon as I get it scanned in.

I'm off to the shop today. I've got an advanced Easter class this afternoon based on the For Keeps Easter layout in this month's issue but I'm pretty sure I'll have spare time as the class timetable only went up at the end of last week and people haven't really had a chance to see what's available and book in yet. The class timetable is online too at Cyberscraps if anyone is interested.

We've just done some quick renovations to the shop to give us a bit more room (which given the way we get so much new stuff in all the time is always necessary!!!!) so there's more room at the back of the shop for classes and another whole slatwall for product.

We've also got a cute new little display called "The Sweet Shop" which is lots and lots of glass jars full of delicious little embellies like brads, eyelets, gems, fem flowers, etc, perfect for when you want to indulge just a little bit!!!

These level 5 water restrictions we've got in Brisbane as of now are going to be a horrible wake up call for some people. I've been trying to cut back for ages and considering I can kill almost any living plant with virtually no effort on my part I gave up on trying to have a garden years ago! So we don't use any water outside the house at all except for filling the dogs' water bowls. I don't even know where our hose is! As for inside, showers are now run with military type precision, with a quick two minute in/out for the boys (I figure they are so reluctant to clean themselves that it doesn't really matter if they spend 2 minutes or 20 minutes in there - they are good at avoiding the washing part anyway) and we make sure we don't run the dishwasher or washing machine unless they are full. The usual things like turning off taps we've always sort of done and the icky part which actually saves heaps of water is the cute (kind of) little ditty of "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down". I know that sounds so gross but honestly when I'm at home alone during the day why do I need to flush the toilet every time I have a wee???? That's just unnecessary so we've been doing that for a while now too. I'd like to think that we're going to be under the 140 litre per day per person limit for the six of us and hopefully a good deal less but it would be interesting to see just how much we do use. Here's hoping God provides some rain soon, not that I think it should change the kind of water restrictions we have because we're still living in one of the driest countries on earth, but it would be nice to have a bit more of a backstop by having a bit more in the dams. It makes me steam when I see people still watering their gardens and makes me want to yell "You could be drinking that water!!!!". It's funny how people are so grossed out by the concept of recycled water and yet so many (probably the very same) people want to be able to still use as much water as they want for whatever they want. I don't care about recycled water at all - if it comes down to that or being thirsty well I'll take the recycled water!

I'm off to have a lightning quick shower and get dressed for work but I'll be back in later to let you know of the antics of the day. Caeligh is going to kindy (huge sigh of relief!!!!!) and Doug is at home with the boys and maybe Cass's older two as well if they've got nothing else to do. Xbox all round methinks!

Have a fab Wednesday chickies!!!! Love, Lu

RAK winners for this week and a CHIPBOARD RAK for next week!!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter break and how nice to be a kid? - cos it's not over yet for them! I'm sort of back to work tomorrow. I have a class to teach tomorrow afternoon at the shop and then back on Wednesday and Friday to help out in the store. This Friday is our first crop morning and anyone local (or not so local if you don't mind the travel!) is welcome to lob on into the store when we open at 9.30am for a morning of scrapping, chatting, coffee, tea and more! I always love crop mornings - there's nothing like having a whole shop at your disposal if you need anything in the middle of a page and it's always fun to be able to walk around and find THE perfect paper or embellishment cos they're right at your fingertips!

NOW down to serious business girls! The winners of my RAK for last week are........



So Simmibear, Annette L and Kayla if you could all drop me an email and let me know your postal addresses I can put your packs in the mail this week and you'll have your goodies in your hot little hands before you know it. Also, if you have any colour likes/ dislikes and fav embelly types then please include that so I can try to make sure you don't end up with something you won't use.

Thanks to Her Royal Highness for being barrel girl for me this afternoon!


I like the whole theory of give if you can so I'll be running another RAK this week and we'll just work it the same as last week - stop in any day this week and leave a comment on either this post or anything else during the week that takes your fancy and on Sunday next weekend I'll draw another winner. Methinks this week we'll have a chipboard RAK because well who doesn't love chipboard?!?!?!?! So be sure to stop in again this week if you'd like to be in it and feel free to pass it on to anyone else you think would like to have a nice pack of chipboard turn up in their mailbox.

In other news today - my daughter is a complete little monster!!!!!!!! She has spent the whole weekend racking up a rap sheet of misdemeanors a mile long. This weekend it has been a whole tube of fuschia acrylic paint on my timber bedroom floor, stabbed her brother with a colouring pencil, overturned a basket of clean laundry, smashed a pile of her Easter eggs into a BILLION crumbs all over the loungeroom floor, threw books at people, fired staples around the room with my stapler, pulled the sheets of my newly made bed, hurt herself by doing silly things more times than I can count, used the remote control to hammer the TV screen, sat in the bathroom under the guise of having a wee and used EVERYONE'S TOOTHBRUSHES, spat on one of her brothers when he wouldn't move for her, slammed the front door and trapped one of our cats between the timber door and the screen door (lucky she's a skinny cat and there's a good 3 inch gap between the two doors!), turned off Daddy's computer in the middle of burning discs when he wouldn't change the TV channel for her, used her doll pram as a battering ram against siblings, helped herself to breakfast by upending a whole box of cornflakes over her bowl and to cap it off she has decided that the best way to show she is upset if she gets in trouble or gets told off is to immediately pee her pants - regardless of where she is or what she's wearing. Patience wearing very thin this weekend and I haven't asked God for as much help as I should have although I have used His name a few times when dealing with her!!!!!!!!

Oh what would a weekend be without a roundup of Caeligh's achievements? The big boys will be back from their dad's place tonight. They went over yesterday at lunchtime to see his family and he brought his new girlfriend over when he picked up the kids. I'm going to give myself a little pat on the back for being able to look at the two of them and hope that things work out for them both. She seems nice enough, three girls of her own, her youngest the same age as Caeligh. Apparently they are taking things slowly, not surprising as my ex hasn't been in a serious relationship since we split up nine years ago. The boys were talking about her last week and I hadn't realised that she was anything more than a friend until they mentioned an embarrassing kissing incident (embarrassing for all the kids to watch apparently!). So I sat them both down and said that things with their dad shouldn't change because he has a girlfriend and that as long as she's nice to them and treats them kindly then that's all they'll ever hear about it from me. I'm actually glad, she's a mother herself so hopefully she will help him with some of his parenting style that I'm not so hot about. And having so many more girls in my sons' lives can only be a good lesson on how to treat them!

I'll go now cos I've bored the jammie pants off you all for a little while now but don't forget this week's RAK if you are a chipboard fan and spread the word if you know someone who could do with a nice surprise or a cheer up.

Have a fab week chickies and those of you with kids - please don't go crazy if you can help it!!!

Love, Lu

Why do we do it to ourselves?????

First of all if you are a person of faith then many blessings to you on this wonderful day, wonderful because Jesus gave his life for us this day in history and I'm happy to say I call myself one of God's children!

In what can only be called a brave move Cass and I took ALL EIGHT of our children and my VERY understanding and patient Dougie with us to the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens for a photo shoot. We haven't had a "proper" photo shoot in ages and today seemed like a good time, or more accurately we had a rash idea and decided to plough ahead with it before we'd had a chance to see the flaws in it! lol So with everyone in brand new jeans and white t-shirts (because I'm sure childrens' white tees are only designed to ever be worn once - maybe that's a reflection of my poor ability in the laundry department????) we all headed off on what can be described as a frickin' safari through the botanical gardens in search of a view with inspiration. What we got was a helluvalotta greenery and lots of slightly annoyed couples that we unwittingly disturbed with our travelling circus! Overall though we still did okay. Caeligh had to be escorted from the tranquil Japanese gardens by Dougie because she was throwing a screaming fit and trying to get into the no longer tranquil pond for a splash around and Blayd and Scotto explored their tough side in a couple of fake leather jackets although they displayed 100% genuine love of being photographed! lol What a pair - look out for our layouts titled "Rebel Without A Clue" coming very soon! Cass's little girl decided long ago (even though she's only just turned 3) that she and my son Jamie (at the ripe old age of 5) should get married and today she decided that it needed to happen immediatley. She heard us talk about "wedding lawns" that are dotted around the gardens and she seized upon it like a starving kid on a Happy Meal and there was no convincing her of anything else. She had a white cotton dress on anyway for photos and she grabbed poor bewildered looking James and gave him some line about looking at the waterfall and we followed along while she hauled him away to a wooden bridge where we watched as she kissed him and declared the two of the married. Poor James did have the look of so many newly married men - "what the hell have I done here???" but took it in his stride, kissed her upon request and then buggered off to play with lightsabres in the park! Lily on the other hand spent the rest of the morning happily married and went home to tell her daddy "I got married on a bridge today!!!". Daddy in question is apparently less than impressed lol!!! Like any good photography buff I had to share the shot Cass got of the two lovebirds.

Now how cute are these two???? Anyway this was probably the highlight of the whole photography safari as after that, as the Japanese gardens incident will attest to, things went a bit pear shaped, children got cranky/hungry/tired/annoyed and parents got more than a bit snappy/grumpy/frazzled. We hung about until about 1 o'clock, stopped to have a drink and a snacky on the lawns near the fruit trees and the boys (including my Dougie) ran about on the lawn attacking each other with plastic lightsabres.

Now I've got a house full of kids (four of mine, two of Cass's and Dougie, who definitely is able to qualify for the title of kid) perched on my couches playing PS3 that Dougie hired from the video shop for the weekend. I'm off to make the masses dinner soon and then will retreat to my bedroom to (hopefully) scrap while the boys cover the loungeroom floor with mattresses and sleeping bags and pillows. I've basically accepted that I don't have a loungeroom for the next day or so and that's cool as long as it keeps them entertained and happy and there's no bloodshed.

So that's my Friday so far chickies and I hope you're all chillin and having fun if that's what your aim was. Before I go I'll share a photo Caeligh asked me to take yesterday. I don't actually have many pictures of the two of us so even though it's not perfect (I'm in all my no-makeup hair not done glory!) I'm glad we've got it all the same.

Talk to you later babes!

The bunny's a'comin' and a new idea

I'm really excited about Easter, if for no other reason than it gives me a chance to stop for a few days! I am DESPERATE to do some of my own scrapping because while I love what I do for the shop, it's just not my style really and I'm having one of those "tying my mojo up and beating it with a stick" moments. It's hard because I want to show people how much potential is in a layout and how far you really can go but apparently lots of people don't want to go places, they just want a quick postcard from where they are right now and that's about it!!! So the products, techniques and ideas I'd use for my own work are not ones I'm able to easily translate to basic class and I'm sure anyone who has been scrapping for a while will agree with me, even more so if you have ever had to design a class. Cass and I have spent the last two weeks trying to train our mojo to get about a quarter done on a layout and put up a big flashing red sign to say STOP!!! It's even harder to explain to people how many "freestyle" scrappers work: starting with just a photo and maybe a piece of paper and then the layout will basically tell you what do to next. Cass and I joke that if we were to ever write a book about scrapbooking we'd call it "Zen and the Art of Freestylin'" and it would be a huge flop because it would only have one page and right up the top of that page it would simply say "Do what the layout tells you to do!". Don't be looking out at your nearest LSS for that one any time soon!!!! lol

I've had an idea for a blog and I'm going to put feelers out to anyone who has any ideas/ feedback/ comments that they can add. Basically after the Marah Johnson chat which turned into an accidental pr nightmare for me by stepping on toes I realised that there aren't actually many centralised places for Aussie scrappers to find out about stuff like that. I know it might sound harsh but scrapbooking shops and online stores seem to be so determined to "protect their turf" that unless a customer blog surfs or does lots of trawling around the various sites they miss out on lots of info about other events that they would maybe like to be a part of or be involved - if only they had known. Now it stands to reason that no shop in their right mind is going to advertise an event/crop/online chat/charity gig that is held by another store (as I found out the hard way) even if it is a great opportunity or a good cause for scrappers in general to be involved in and I think that's a bloody shame. There are lots of scrappers who still consider themselves to be store loyal but who would also probably like to still be informed of what else is going on around the traps. It is getting harder and harders as well with even magazine based forums coming down hard on advertising of any kind, requiring users to have to pm people to get any details at all about events. I'm sorry but I'm getting a bit jack of everyone being so possessive of their customers. It feels like - and this is totally my personal opinion here as a scrapper and an individual - stores do their best to turn their forums/messageboards etc into closed communities where you are welcome to come and go but you cannot speak about the outside world while you are there. It isn't anyone in particular because it's happening everywhere. SOOOO my idea is to creat a new blog where shops/clubs/individuals can post details of events. I know sales are a big crowd puller for many stores so I may have a section of the blog to cater for sales by shops and online stores but I'm not talking about the weekly specials because anybody with the internet can find that stuff out themselves and if most people want to be notified each week of sales etc they happily sign up to receive a newsletter in their inbox. I'm going to be focusing on BIG sales, the once a year, the end of season stuff, that sort of thing. I want to be sure it's sales that make people feel it was worth their time and effort to go and have a look and it has to be a genuine sale without any catches, etc.

I will be the first to admit that I have no idea how I'll go about doing it all but I can't wait to get started. I'm hoping there are other scrappers out there who can see the value of an independent site where you can go to find info on upcoming events, esp. web based things that anybody with a computer and the internet can be a part of. I don't see why scrappers should miss out on info because they are loyal to a store. Most of us arent' so fickle that one visit to a competitor's website will have us leaving our LSS in droves (unless there was a serious dissatisfaction with the LSS anyway!) so I say let's really reach out to the scrapping community as a whole and share something good with everyone!

Let me know your thoughts if you have any and we'll see how fast we can get this thing up and running!!!

Cya, Lu

AMENDMENT: As Chrissy has pointed out, Aussiepubcalls has something similar going and not to diss in any way as they have hit the ground running and are doing an amazing job, but I was thinking of focusing more on the "resource" side of things if that makes sense? I wasn't thinking of competitions or mag pub calls or anything like that, and I hope someone gets what I'm trying not very well to explain!!!!

What a cool surprise!!!

I checked my email this morning and Scrapbooking Memories have left a message to say they will be using my story for their Real Life, Real Stories feature!!! OMG I'm so excited!!!!

Cass and I were both doing the happy dance when they asked her a couple of months ago as it seems like a huge step for us who are relative unknowns in the scrapping world. My story is going to be in Volume 9 No.1 which comes out at the start of July and Cass's is in Vol 8 No 11 so she'll be in June's issue and I'll be in July!!!! That is the coolest thing and I'm gonna get up from my chair in a second and do my own happy dance!!!

Apparently I need to choose an accompanying layout for the article and the fab thing is that I can choose any layout I like which means that I can have something published that I really love as an example of my own work but which would normally not be accepted by the mags as it's a bit "out there" or a bit too freestyle. So I'll have to get out all the albums today and see what I want to send off to them. There are a couple of real faves I have at the moment but SM have them already and they are awaiting allocation to an issue so can't use those ones again but I'm sure I'll find something!!!!

In other news girls we had an amazing chat with Marah Johnson last night in the Cyberscraps chatroom, as well as Tammy, Allison and Cheryl who are her completely inspiring design team. They were so open, honest and genuine and really shared with us like they'd known us for years. It was an absolute pleasure to chat to her and hear about her upcoming ranges and the new USA Summer CHA releases she's got coming out. Not too many clues to ruin the surprise but enough to know it will be something of a must have if you love Marah's work! It will also be her incredibly original and cutting edge style which is what I love about her work now - it's stuff I had never seen before. We had quite a few visitors and a big thanks goes to Akuti from the SM forum who put a notification up for us for those girls who wanted to drop by. Akuti it was great to chat with you "in real life" if you know what I mean!

Not heading off to the shop today. I've got a batch of typing to do for a cardiologist and let's face it - I kinda do need the money now so I'm staying at home like a good girl to get it all done.

The kids are really stoked about only two days left of school. James is thrilled to bits to be almost upon his very first school holiday (big grade one this year) and honestly I don't know what he thinks will be happening!!!! Doug is having next week off and while we do try to get out and about with the kids a bit more sometimes it's just nice to stay around the house and not have to go anywhere if we don't feel like it! I know that to celebrate the first day of school holidays on Good Friday - in a not very particularly religious way - Doug is hiring a PS3 from the video shop for the weekend and we'll have our four kids plus my two nephews (Cass's two eldest boys) over as well for a sleepover and game-a-thon.

Cass and I were also saying how we really need to get out some time over the break and do a "proper" photo shoot with all the kids as nothing inspires us two like some new pics! I don't think the video shop opens until midday on Good Friday so we were tossing up taking them all to the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens which also has it's own beautiful Japanese Gardens as well as the planetarium. We do tend to get a bit over the top about photo shoots so we'll both have our cameras and we're planning on dressing all the kids in white t-shirts and denim with bare feet and going a bit beserk. Oh that reminds me to recharge the battery on my beloved Panasonic Lumix. And empty all the memory cards!!! Unfortunatley I tend to run out of battery juice before I fill up my memory cards. I even have a special hard plastic case with a rubber lining to store my SD cards in because I often need more than one. I think altogether I've got almost two thousand photos worth of SD card space!!!! That seems a bit ridiculous when I say it like that!!!! lol Let's just say it's a lot of photos but I've discovered that about photographing kids. It's far better to just keep shooting and get as much as you can and then weed through later and find the best ones - like panning for gold really! lol I even wanted to go a bit further and get Caeligh and Lily little satin Chinese cheongsams (sorry if I'm completely getting that wrong - the little satin slip dresses with the high collar and the cap sleeves?) and putting their hair up in loose buns with chopsticks and have them running around in bare feet in the Japanese Gardens and getting lots of pics of them together. They're such a cute pair - Caeligh with dark hair and dark eyes and Lily who is all blonde and blue eyed. Yes, trust me, Cassandra and I are VERY WORRIED about the teenage years as they are thick as thieves and look so cute together!!!! We have visions of pimply teenage boys looking at our girls and asking each other if they prefer blonde or brunette!!!!! I'm sure they'll be fine once the boys realise that Lily is far too high maintenance and Caeligh is too much of a tomboy with a vicious temper!

I really should get this typing done if I want to have any free time at all on Friday for photo shoots so I'll get back to it but I wanted to share about SM. If you are a scrapper who hasn't been published it's a good opportunity to get your story in print as well as a layout. The Real People, Real Stories feature is an open call and you just type approximately 200 words about why you scrap and how you got into it and attach a scanned layout so they can see an example of your work. The email address for Real Life, Real Stories is kevans@expresspublications.com.au if you're interested.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back later!

Apologies are in order

It seems I have been way over the top with my excitement about the Marah Johnson chat. I did post threads about the chat on two websites where I chat on the forums sometimes - not specifically listing the shop name - but far too much information for comfort for the websites I posted in and I completely understand that.

I got more than a bit carried away in thinking that others might want to know about the chat if they weren't Cyberscraps customers or readers of my blog who would see the info anyway. I hadn't even considered it from a business point of view that it woud look like advertising on someone else's turf and that was careless and unthinking of me.

I have already emailed admin people involved from the other sites and offered my apologies but to anyone who did see my thread and was offended or upset I am genuinely sorry. It wasn't the intention to advertise the store itself - it was more the intention of sharing some info about speaking with a lovely and talented designer and I jumped in before weighing up the best way to do that.

I just didn't think it through first and thus I've committed yet another faux pas and mightily ticked off quite a number of people whom I'm sure have trouble believing someone could be so unthinking. I wonder myself some days....... :(