A new definition of what's fun!

Well I've spent most of this week (when I have been at home) huddled on the couch under a blanket because I'm not handling the cold very well. I have a heater that does squat so I've been using Doug as my personal heating source. He's one of those people who's always warm and doesn't seem to feel the cold at all. Must be a genetic bonus from coming from Scotland! My two little ones don't feel the cold either, happily stripping off to just singlets while I shiver on the couch in trackies, a singlet, a tshirt and jumper!!!

I did go and buy some winter provisions yesterday. I really WANTED to buy a new pair of cross trainers so I can go back to the gym. Blayd borrowed mine a few weeks ago as he has worn holes through FOUR PAIRS of sneakers in the last few months. Apparently handball is hard on the shoes!!! lol So I gave him my cross trainers (which sadly fitted him perfectly!) and he's been wearing them ever since. I was hoping they'd last him but it turns out he's busily wearing holes in the soles of them too - grrrrrrr!!! SO I was going to go get myself some new sneakers to wear to the gym cos it's reopened now and the lovely Liam is still there thank goodness. He reminds me of Shannon from The Biggest Loser - he's so sweet yet he's very motivational and pushes you to do more than you think you can. So I went to Amart cos they're having a sale but didn't find anything I liked so I thought I'd go into Target and look for a zip up hoodie for me, something that I can wear with jeans and stuff. Didn't find anything for me that I wanted but of course the good mummy in me did see kids fleecy pjamas for 40% off so all four kids got new jammies. I'm sure they'll be even warmer than their flannie ones. I eventually found a pair of 3/4 gym shorts at 40% off and the best buy of the whole Target trip was a pair of uggies for me - my feet are never warm in winter so I was planning on buying some anyway but at 30% off (and they were a bargin price normally at only $20) they were a must have so I have them on my feet right now and guess what? My feet are actually warm!!!! I may just take to wearing them everywhere - is that sad????? I ended up getting the hoodie from Autograph. It's mean to be a larger sizes shop so I bought it in a 16 but I'm sure they do their sizing differently and it must honestly be closer to an 18 or even a 20 at a normal size. Another bargain at $20 reduced from $50!!! Isn't it funny that sometimes, and only rarely sometimes, you go shopping and the stuff you actually want to get is on special? Doesn't happen as much as any of us would like I suspect!!!! lol

So to the new definition of fun bit - I've been watching Torchwood again and the further into that we get the more I need to know about Doctor Who so I understand the background so it's been another few days of watching Doctor Who most evenings after the littlies have gone to bed. It has actually been lots of fun and I'm really getting into it. I never used to be as a kid but different now I guess.

Yesterday as a treat, another definition of fun, Doug took me to a cool place in Brisbane called High Octane. It is a racing simulator place next to the kart track at Archerfield. They have racing cockpits that you sit in with the steering wheel in front of you and a computer monitor. There are pedals at the bottom and you play race games with things like Formula 1 cars or in our case we raced V8s around the Barbagello track. I have only placed a racing sim at home once before but Doug has been into these for years and he goes to High Octane once a month for a racing league (yep kinda like a bowling league!) and he usually goes once a week to practice and then practices more at home too. It's his stress relief and his way of having fun. I didn't think I'd enjoy it but I went because he seemed so excited to have me come with him and spend time doing what he loves so I was completely enthusiastic from that point of view. Both the littlies went to Gran's place as she usually takes Caeligh on Fridays anyway and Jamie is on school hols. The boys are still with their dad so they won't be home until Monday so it was, another rare occurrance, just Doug and I for the whole day. Well I had the BEST TIME!!!!! I can also inform you that I totally suck at the whole racing thing but I was only 6 seconds behind Doug on my best lap and apparently Barbagello is a difficult track cos it's very slippery (in real life and they've made the game the same). It was a fun couple of hours although by the time we were finished my eyes were so tired from concentrating and looking at the screen for two hours straight! I'll definitely go back again and I asked Dale, the lovely bloke who runs the place, if he'd consider having a "gumby league" and then I'd definitely come back!!! lol So that was, for me, a new way to have fun that I previously wouldn't have thought was interesting at all until I actually tried it. So there ya go - don't be afraid to try something - it may be more fun than you think!!!

We went out and had dinner last night - at the best Thai restaurant around - The Red Chilli up at Forest Lake. It was even the "get dressed up and put on make up" kind of dinner out, just Doug and I, as the little ones decided to have a sleep over at Gran's last night. We had mixed entry of deep fried naughties, a devine satay entree, for mains we had Chicken Cashew Nut Stir Fry and Clay Pot with mixed seafood. It was all just heavenly and we had a great bottle of Devil's Lair Fifth Leg white to go with it. I don't normally drink white wine as it gives me a screaming headache (something about the sulphites in it apparently) but I only thought about that after my second glass but this morning I'm fine so there's a safe one for me to have again next time we go out. We came home, listened to daggy 80's music on VH1 on Foxtel, finished the wine, had some cheesse and an early night. At $50 it was still more than we normally spend on a night out but because we do go out for dinner ALONE we decided it was worth it. The joys of having the whole one income, lots of kids family!!!

Yesterday the kids were mucking around and very quiet and it turned out that Caeligh decided to put on some of my lipstick. As you can see, the results are quite shocking but I also got a couple of nice shots of James and Caeligh together - not killing each other - which is lovely!

Doug is at High Octane again this morning. He got an email saying that anyone who had purchased their specials earlier in the month got an hour free today so he was outta here like a shot this morning to go racing for an hour. When he gets back the plan is to go over to Garden City for a look around the shops. Caeligh needs MORE winter clothes and I need to pick up another Fudge colour for my hair - wonder what colour I'll go this time??? Purple maybe? Or a different shade of red? It's only hair, I'll decide on the spur of the moment when I get there on what colour I'll get and I'll post a picture when I get around to actually putting the colour in.

I'm off to get the little ones dressed (they're dressed already but it's not what I'd call "seasonally appropriate" - they're in swim shirts - does that give you a hint as to what "seasonally appropriate" means??? lol). I'm hoping to get my Masters double finished but if for some reason the mojo just isn't there to tackle it then I'll try to do something else instead. Thanks for stopping by and I'll chat again soon. Love, Lu

Happy to be here!

Firstly, I'll say that while I'm run off my feet right now, I'm feeling the most fulfilled, satisfied and at peace with myself than I have in I can't remember how long. It means so much more than money to me although.......

For those who have been (as Stephen King the author says) constant readers, you will remember my dilemma about my typing job that paid great but went all pear shaped when suddenly they didn't want to pay me for my time but by a piece rate system even though there was 70% less work than before, which I cheerfully told them to cram up their @#$%! because I couldn't commit so many hours per week for so little pay in return. Tonight I got a phone call.....suddenly they need someone to cover for their in house typist as she wants to have three weeks off....guess who they want to cover for her???? lol Apparently I can just about name my price even though she did slyly mention that she COULD go to a temp agency for someone and she COULD have advertised for the position to cover the three weeks but one of the very kind and lovely doctors who had supported me the whole way through the mess continued to support me by saying that he would only be happy with me as a substitute and no-one else so I'm really stoked about that. So now I have to submit a price for the three week period. It means I won't be able to work in the shop much at all :( BUT I'm sorry to say the dollar wins this time as it's a lot of cash in a small amount of time and WE REALLY NEED IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!! So I'm saying a prayer of thanks right now because it's come at a really good time for us and allows me to keep working in the scrap shop instead of having to find a permanent temping job which I'm loathe to do. It means I'll be at home all day every day so I'll even be a better blogger too!!!! And I'll be able to spend more time on Cyberscraps forum too so watch out girls - I'll talk your ear off for three weeks solid!!!!!

So for layouts, the top one is one I did of my son Jamie who is indeed what's termed as an "old soul", he's very old fashioned and very sentimental and sensitive. People are always saying they think he's been here before. The journalling records a chat I had with him once when he told me he used to be an old man living in China but he couldn't remember what his name was back then. He was totally serious and a little confused that he couldn't remember his Chinese name. I left that conversation with a case of the spooks - just a bit.......... It's a pretty minimalist layout for me but I was happy that I could stop when the layout told me too, and not give in to the urge of filling up every available space with embellies!!!

The second layout is one I have had in my head for a few weeks now. Cass and I were driving home from the Scrapbook Convention a few weeks ago and Fatboy Slim came on the radio with Rockerfeller Skank and the words "We've come a long, long way together, through the hard times and the pain. I have to celebrate you baby, I have to praise you like I should". It made me think about how much Cass and I have gone through together. We've known each other more than half our lives and have seen the best and worst our lives could throw at us and everything in between and I wanted to use that song to show her much I love her as a best friend. She feels like a part of me and she definitely helps to make me the person I am, definitely for the better so here's to you babe!!!!!

Off to the shop tomorrow. The July class stuff is all sorted out now thank goodness and I'm sure new timetables will be in the shop by the weekend. We're still running the kids classes and we have one tomorrow afternoon which will be fun. Don't forget to let your little darlings come hang out with us if you need a couple of hours of sanity!!!! lol

I think Thursday night Doug and I are taking Jamie to see Transformers at the movies and I'm having Friday off from the shop so who knows were I'll end up!!!! I'm in desperate need of some new cross trainers so I can go back to the gym - the lovely Liam is back at the same gym which has been taken over by one of the previous personal trainers who worked there. Almost everything is the same and they have an infrared sauna which Liam explained works from the inside out so you sweat out toxins etc. I'm sorry but it sounds like a big microwave to me so I don't know if I'll be partaking in that one!!!!!

Tuesday night so NCIS tonight (repeat though) so maybe Doug and I will watch a movie. Tomorrow while I'm at the shop Doug is going to be doing the good daddy/good uncle thing. He has Jamie at home (thank goodness Her Royal Highness has kindy) and Cass's boys, Kris and Scott, are coming over as well for a boys' day of eating pizza and playing x-box and computer and stuff like that. Makes me glad I'm going to the shop for some play time. I've started my Masters double layout and tonight I have to hunt up photos. I have a really cool idea for an element of my layout but I don't know how it will work when I put it all together. If I can finish the double at the shop tomorrow I'll be a very happy camper but all depends on how the kids class goes in the afternoon.

Oh has anyone tried Donut King's Vanilla Glazed doughnuts yet? They are supposed to be like Krispy Kreme but considering I haven't had one of those I can't tell for sure but the DK ones are absolutely delicious but at their very best first thing in the morning - they don't sit well in the fridge cos the glaze melts a bit......I don't even actually like the usual cinnamon sugared doughnuts but much to the detriment of my poor expanding behind I'm developing a real taste for them. Somebody muzzle me for goodness sake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

Have a great day tomorrow gals and I'll be back real soon now ya hear! Mmmmmm doughnuts.....love Lu

Why do I do it to myself???

I've had a pretty full plate lately, but managing okay all considered. Caeligh has given me a flu bug that she had and still has, and so I've been coughing up a lung for the last week. Good little soldier I am I've battled on, worked through the weekend at Cyberscraps and finalised our July class timetable which should be up on the site very soon. The August timetable needs to be put into the system yet and then a whole new round of layouts and OTP have to be completed as class examples but that is going to have to wait another week or so. We've been trying to get the ground work done for starting cybercrops on Cyberscraps and the lovely girls have been sooo patient while Cass and I faff about, with so much going on that we've barely given it thought so apologies to you girls, I'm getting onto it this week!!!!! There's kids classes all this week and next week at the shop if you need to dispose of your 8 and up kiddies for a couple of hours. The door hangers are one of the classes, quick and easy and the kids are always so proud of what they create. Call the shop on 3274 5522 if you want to book your darlings (or monsters) in for one of this fun classes!

I did get a layout done yesterday at the shop but I havent' scanned it yet. Another one that doesn't really feel like me because there's so much empty space but for once the layout really did say stop and so I did. Happy with the result even if it's not what I normally do.

I did a layout this afternoon on Cass for the SM tributes gallery call so fingers crossed Krys will like that one. All I'll say is that it includes the words to Rockerfeller Skank but I'll post a scan when it's done. I've got some bits and pieces to add and it will be finished but not until tomorrow probably.

Doug has been such a hard workin' hubby over the weekend. He had the kids both days while I was at the shop and he's on holidays this week but had Jamie with him today while he's on school hols and Caeligh went to kindy. He gets a day to himself tomorrow as a very dear old friend of mine is bringing her two little girls over for a playdate with our kids. I haven't seen this lovely friend since my ex and I split up. It was one of those funny things, she and her husband were my friends and yet we lost touch with each other but they stayed in touch with my ex. She came to the shop out of nowhere Friday and it was amazing to see her again and I can't wait to catch up. It's weird how working in the shop and having stuff published can reunite you with people you thought were gone from your life forever. Weird but really, really good!!!

I sat and watched five eps of Dr Who back to back last night - a first for me! I don't actually like Dr Who but I do really like Torchwood which has just started and I'm quite taken with Captain Jack Harkness although I do believe that man bats for any team that will have him!!!! lol To really understand the background of Torchwood you really need to have seen some specific eps of Dr Who to get an idea of the when, where, why and who of it all. I was pleasantly surprised that I really liked it - although red wine, brie and bikkies probably helped!!!

For everyone who has encouraged me to do my Masters - I'M BLOODY WELL DOING IT ALRIGHT!!!!!! lol I've started my double (but it will be much bigger than that when it's done and that's all I'm saying) and the idea for the single layout is there but need to work out some technological issues first. I know exactly what I want to do for the storage solution and I've started the "mini album". I don't know why they ever ask for something as simple as a mini album because really I'm sure they want something so complicated, fantastic and far removed from a normal mini album that it looks nothing like one by the time it's finished. So that's what mine will be like. I have to say the pressure is starting to bite a bit - only a couple of weeks to perform a small miracle - guess I'll have to perform some bowel magic (pull something amazing out of my butt basically!!!!! lol). Maybe Cass was onto something when she misread the date and finished hers a whole month early!

Hellos are in order!!!! Thank you Jill for your constant encouragement and understanding of what we do - and like I said - I bloody well am doing my Masters!!!!! A hi to all the fab Cyberscraps girls who stop by to read my blog - sometimes it's a little messier than the forum chat and I appreciate the time you take to visit me! Much love to Lusi for her strength, faith and ability to empower virtually anyone she speaks to - a gift from God to have you in my life Lusi - I hope you and Brett and the babies are all keeping well. Love to hear how you go with the parenting thing cos we could all use some help from time to time and it seems society does frown upon using a whip and a chair to discipline the kids these days....... ;)

Can I emphatically state - screw this winter crap!!!!!! I am freezing every minute of every day just about and after 33 winters you'd think I'd be used to it by now but I'm sure I'm colder each year!!! I bought a heater from The Warehouse the other day and honestly the heat that thing puts out wouldn't melt a frickin ice cube!!!!!! Doug commented this morning that it was a waste of money for me to buy a new cardie last week ($35) cos I haven't worn it once. See, he's just like the rest of the male population when he wants to be - I'VE WORN THE DAMN THING EVERY SINGLE DAY SINCE I BOUGHT IT!!!!!!! Blind, blind, blind man...........

I'm off to get into my jammies now and make the kids do the same and then get dinner sorted. What I really feel like now is some kind of take away so I don't have to rummage through the freezer to find some frozen fossilised chunk of unidentifiable meat that will have to wait until I've half microwaved it to death before I can determine what it is and then what I can do with it!! That kind of stuff takes time and (my bad) I forgot to take something out to defrost this morning but would it have? Really? In this ridiculous cold???..........Oh the old baked beans on toast actually sounds really good right now - and as far as I'm concerned beans are a protein item so they count as a meal in my book - my frozen, unwilling to make dinner book that is!!!!

Talk again soon guys. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who stops in to visit. I'd love for more of you to say Hi when you come by, I know how many of you there are so no hiding, take a moment to say hello and I promise I'll return the favour and say hi on your blog too. Love, kisses and 2400w warm thoughts, love Lu.

Rock On Marah!!!!

This is sooo cool - I bet you can't guess which scrap shop is going to get in this amazing range hmmmm?.......

Go have a look here and get ready to rock!!!!

One Enchanted Evening

I've just finished the most remarkable chat with Marah Johnson. She is warm, witty, funny, real, raw, honest and heart-felt - all the qualities I admire in our supposed "weaker sex", which in fact I think makes us the stronger sex! We're very excited about her new range to be released at summer CHA in the next couple of weeks so be sure to stay tuned if you are a fan. We will have her new products and ranges on the shelves in the blink of an eye!!!

I had a quiet day today, a housing inspection as we need new guttering on the house which will be done some time in the next millenia I'm sure, and Caeligh spent the day messing up behind me as I tidied the house. I borrowed - or should I say leeched? - Cass's heating this afternoon as I'm really feeling the cold this year as it's come so suddenly. We're still waiting for Stanthorpe to have snow so we can go for a day trip - with the temperatures we've been having this week I'm hoping it will happen this winter for sure!

I have a busy weekend this week. We have a crop tomorrow at the shop so if you're at a loose end and have nothing on then come and have a natter and a scrap and a cuppa with us at the shop at Salisbury, or if you are finding it hard to get out during the day, tomorrow night (Friday night) we have a 6pm to midnight crop with pizza included!!!! Give us a ring at the shop tomorrow on 07 3274 5522 and I'll put a comfy chair aside for you to come and hang out and scrap with Cass and I!!!! BYO drinkies if you don't have to drive!!!!

Saturday I've got some places left in my Altered Alphas class if you'd like to do some risky and adventurous things with alpha stickers and Sunday we have two kids classes scheduled plus a whole heap of kids classes scheduled for every day of the school holidays - that's right - the whole two weeks we have something every single day! Gotta keep the munchkins happy or our sanity does suffer!!!!

Caeligh is going to her gran's tomorrow so that's one less to worry about. The bigger boys are going to their dad's for a few days and Jamie will have school and then we'll do something special with him over the weekened and the first week of the hols while Doug is at home. I like to do at least one big event each hols, but by that I mean going to the park or the movies. Big events aren't quite as big as they used to be in my house! Especially with all four of them which really bumps up the cost of just about anything we want to do.

Must go to bed now. I've got to get the kids up early for breakfast club at school and free dress day which means I have to be up before them to help with any wardrobe malfunctions the boys may have - of which there always seem to be plenty!!!! Luckily they are mostly the unironed kind!!!

Night babes!!!!! Love, Lu

Taking Care Of Business Kind Of Day!!

Sorry to those who read for info on my trainwreck of a life but today I'm trying to catch up on some shop stuff I've been meaning to share. I will post some home stuff later though.

Just for those of you who have kids from about 7-8 years of age and upwards, we're going to be running kids classes at Cyberscraps over the two weeks of the school holidays. They will be during the day, mornings from 9.30am until 11.30am and arvos from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and every Sunday as usual too. They are usually simple but fun things for kids to make including a door hanger, a photo frame, a simplified version of my "We Are Family" tag album which they'll do about themselves, a scrapped canvas class and our beginners layout classes for those who are a little older (probably about 12 and up).

So if you'd like some peace and quiet away from your darlings on the holidays or you just need a couple of hours of sanity to get the grocery shopping done then let us know and we'll entertain them for you!!!! We provide pretty much everything needed (including the tools) and all the kids need to bring is the photo requirement for each class. Kids classes are usually $15 for the two hour class - cheaper than a babysitter!!! lol And safer than tying them to chairs in front of the television too........ ;)

I'll post pics of the door hanger and photo frame later in the week but keep it in mind for your holiday survival plan.

Have a good day - it's bloody freezing and windy here in Brissie so rug up if you're a local and think warm thoughts of us here if you're not!!!!! Cya, Lu

Marah Johnson Chat Tomorrow Night!!!!!

Okay for those of you who are Cyberscraps regulars you may have been at our last chat with the wonderful Marah Johnson. Her Intentions range of papers and embellishments has been so popular that they've been our biggest seller, both online and in the shop and we've re-ordered and restocked for anyone who missed out the first time 'round. Marah's Awareness range is also wonderful and encourages women to scrap our triumphs as well as difficult times.

For full details on how to register for our online chat room for tomorrow nite see here.

I'm very excited to chat with Marah again. She was so honest and lovely to speak to last time, and hopefully she will share some details of her newest range which is released at CHA next month. This one has been kept well under wraps and I'm busting to know even a few hints about what to expect. I know it will be as exciting as all of Marah's releases!

If you have any problems with the chat room you an email us through the Cyberscraps website or email me at my address on the top of my blog.

The important details are: 8pm, Thursday 21 June 2007 in the live chatroom at Cyberscraps (www.cyberscraps.com.au).

We'd love to see you there and join our chat with Marah. She's very lovely to chat to and is quite happy to answer questions and ponder life in general with us.

Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night!!!! Cya, Lu

Layout share

I got a couple of layouts done yesterday in the shop - the blue one is for the Magistical Memories birthday comp and I'm really happy with it. I don't know why I keep doing the different directions with the letters - I can't stop myself and when the layout tells me to do it I can't say no!!!!! lol The second one is for Aussie Dares for this fortnight -"It's All About The Title" which requires a book, movie or TV show title (I AM NOW HAVING A QUIET CACKLE AT MYSELF BECAUSE I'VE REALISED I'VE SCREWED THIS UP AND USED A SONG TITLE!!!! DUH LU!!!!!!) plus a choice of 3 of a big list of techniques/products in the title as well. And now the song I've used has just come on.......oh the insanity......now I'm going to have to re-do the bloody thing!!!!!! I don't know what planet I was on yesterday as I even looked up Dares while I was at the shop to make sure I got the techniques/products right for the title! Oh well, lucky I like the layout anyway!!!! lol

I've just realised that both of these layouts look a lot darker than they actually are. The title of the top one is "Birthday Wishes For Jamie" and the second is "Tonight....Leave Me Alone & Lonely".

Have a great day everyone! I'm off to re-do a layout!!!!! lol Cya, Lu

OTP stuff

Cass and I have been keeping pretty busy at the shop, making up samples of OTP products we sell. I don't normally love OTP but the different projects that Cath has bought for the shop have been fun and the results were definitely worth the time. Cass has done the gorgeous Boys flip album and the large Summer Fun cube and I've done the Christmas Tag Album (next month's OTP class and I can make it a kit for those who are interested), the Brothers hanging keepsake of Cass's boys, and the Pieces of My Life MDF puzzle.

They were actually lots of fun so I'm thinking of scheduling them into our class timetable over the coming months if people are interested.

The weekend has been fairly quiet although yesterday ALL FOUR KIDS seemed to go out of their way to push the buttons. I had to go to Harvey at Oxley for some pictures, realised I had only Cass's pics from the photos we took at the park on Monday so grabbed some of them, went home, got my SD card with the photos I took on it and then went down to the Harvey at Browns Plains instead after Doug made a quick stop at the Lifeline store. He is a bit of a pack rat and he often finds interesting bits and pieces of computers and the like for a couple of bucks but no luck yesterday. I ended up buying Caeligh a plastic car seat for her baby doll for $1 and that was about it. After the photo printing - and the paying part which made me appreciate my home printer just that little bit more even though the quality is not quite as good - we grabbed some fresh bread and headed home. I had the very best intentions of catching up on shop stuff, timetables, class requirements and some layouts that I have to do for a deadline but I flopped on the couch and didn't really move again. I've come down with some kind of bug from Caeligh who's had a runny nose and a bit of a cough for a few days and Friday night I was just knocked flat when I finally got a chance to sit down and relax so went to bed early. The extra sleep helps but I think unless you are the kind of person who has two solid days to devote to staying in bed and properly resting then the bits of extra sleep here and there don't really do the job. Mummies out in blogland will totally understand that our version of resting up because we're sick just means we might sit down for an extra 10 minutes with a hot cup of tea!!!

Doug went out this morning to the markets up at Forest Lake with his mum and Caeligh. Blayd has gone to a karate tournament down the coast and Lachlann and James decided to stay home with me and annoy each other. I started on the clean up of my scrap desk, just making a clean space to get some stuff done but my internet has been down all day, likewise the email, so couldn't catch up with that stuff. I WAS going to get some of my scrapping done that needs to be finished in the next week or so but once I started cleaning I started pulling things out from here, there and everywhere I realised that I didn't want to just shove things back where they came from. So I got into cleaning mode and seriously pulled out papers, cardstock, albums, just about everything really and got Doug to put up my mobile scrap storage trolley Cath gave me for Christmas (yes that's embarrassing but I'm not the best at being organised so it has been sitting in my room waiting patiently for me). So now I have all of my papers stacked neatly, a pile of cardstock I forgot I even had as it was hidden away, a stack of about 60 layouts that are in desperate need of albums and I'm busily shorting out all my rub-ons into a cool plastic receipt wallet I found at Officeworks for a couple of dollars. It has at least 20 divided parts and it's only a bit smaller than a business size envelope so I'm going to have to cut up some of the larger sheets but it means that they'll all be together, not getting stuck, getting lost, getting ruined in my scrap bag.

In a completely unrelated decision, I found a tall white rectangular lunch pail tin and thought it might help Blayd to remember to take his pens, calculator, kent set, etc if I decorate the tin in Creative Imaginations Caution Boy! papers, stickers, rub-ons etc. That way if he thinks it looks cool he might be more likely to remember to take it. Not like I've really got the time to start that but the mojo wants what the mojo wants. Come to think of it I really could be doing something else apart from blogging but it's fun so a big fat raspberry to what I'm meant to be doing!!!! lol

We're waiting on the new Basic Grey Infuse range at Cyberscraps at the moment and when it comes in I think it will be time to have another RAK so keep your eyes out for that one in another couple of weeks.

Cass got her new SM last week - still waiting on mine :( - but I have had a look through and I also got the new SC. I don't have them in front of me but I saw lots of familiar names and I do want to go through it page by page and look for more of you talented girls I know but for now I'll say a big congrats to my bestie Cass for her layouts "Peace" and "She Tried" and to the wonderfully talented Lusi Austin for her amazing work in SC and an especially big hug and congrats on her Artist In The Spotlight article. It's much deserved my beautiful friend!!!!!

A big thanks too, to the How Dare You girls for my RAK for the "3 Favourite Things" dare.

I'll be heading off now but I won't be far away. Have a great week, love Lu

Birthday wishes

Huge Happy Birthday wishes to my little sister - hope you're feeling better too - and to Cass's little boy Ronin who turns 2 today!

Tagged! (Oh and yay we've won the Origin!!!!!!)

Thank you to my bestie Cass for tagging me. I'll do this quickly before I head out the door. I've got a leetle bit of spending to do today - a few supplies, a present for Ronin who turns 2 tomorrow and a visit to Harvey Norman for some photo printing.



Name three things that scare you. Being outside alone in the dark, feeling like I'm falling, my kids disappearing in a public place.



The daggiest thing in your music collection. My old Phil Collins CDs and I still love them!



Your three favourite clothing items. My jeans, my headbands, my red ballet flats.



Your partners most annoying habit. Half-listening to me while watching TV or doing stuff on his computer. I always know when I've lost his attention and start referring to chopping my head off and throwing it in a pot of steaming vegetable soup and would he like some? Answer "Sure babe if your making some......"!!!!!! Earth to Dougie, Earth to Dougie!!!!!



What stresses you out- Money, my kids.



If I could change the world I would.......instill compassion in everyone, which in a perfect world would lead to the resolution of many of our problems as a planet.



Your favourite household chore… Probably vacuuming, because I've got timber floors I can see every bit of dirt, grit, etc and it makes me feel I've accomplished something when the floors are clean.



If you had fifty bucks to spend at Target which section would you head straight for...the clearance racks and the red ticketed reduced stuff so I could squeeze as much as humanly possible out of that $50!!!!!!!

In my next life I would like to come back as …a cat - so much to eat, so little to do, so few worries!

Who is your least favourite celebrity… Paris Hilton (I'm very unoriginal about this one as I'm so OVER HER!!!!)

Okey Dokey now I'm going to tag - um - I don't know right now!!!! lol Give me time to think about this one cos I'm sure that some of you who would be my would be targets are sick to frickin death of being tagged!!!!! lol I'll get back to you on this one!

Later, babes

Quick Layout Share

Sunday Photo Shoot and a Coupla Layouts

Today saw Cass and I pack 6 of our 8 kids in the car (plus the ever helpful and long suffering Dougie!!!) and drive to Rocks Riverside Park at Jindalee. The site used to be an old cement plant and it's been converted to a great park for families. When we weren't quite so H2O challenged it was meant to be a water play park but the water's been shut off due to the drought and now it's just a play park. It also has some nice old machinery and concrete blocks and lots of different grassy places, rocky areas etc so plenty of photo opportunities. Of course only two of the six kids were actually interested in posing for any length of period so we have more pics of Lily and Lachlann than we do of any of the others. But it was fun to get them out of the house and having a bit of a run around.

I've done a couple of layouts this week, the first being for our Get Real Challenge for June which is "Nice Girls Ought Not To........" and mine was that "Nice Girls Ought Not To Say F@#k" but I've tactfully replaced the two middle letters with flowers so now it looks like "Nice Girls Ought Not To Say Fook". You'll have to excuse that cos it wasn't meant to look like that and I didn't even realise until Cass pointed that out to me. Either it looks like Fook or it looks like a pair of boobs instead!!!! Thanks also to Cass for pointing that out to me but she picked up on that one while I was still doing the layout! She reckons my layout needs pasties now to cover it for modesty...........

This one is a sub layout about goals and dreams and what I want to do this year. The winged heart at the bottom with "feel the fear and do it anyway" written on it is the actual tattoo I'm going to have done at some point before year's end. I tried not to go overboard with this layout as I'm usually able to be accused of not knowing when to stop but I was a good girl this time and held back - just a bit - and I'm sure the layout is better for it (and so are your retinas, dear reader!!!!lol).

Kerry from the Cyberscraps forum is in town this week, doing my mini tag album with me and doing the advanced Fancy Pants Stamps and Watercolour class with Cass as well. It's so cool to meet people IRL that we've chatted to online. Kerry will be the very first person who has gotten to do the mini tag album class and I'm a bit excited. I'm sure it will turn out fab for her - I'll do my best to make sure it does but Kerry's quite the accomplished scrapper so I'm sure she's going to do a great job. If you're interested in doing the class you can go to Cyberscraps and have a look at when it's running - I've tried to schedule morning, afternoon and evening times so you should find something to suit your schedule. I'd love to meet up with more of you if you are able to come and do a class with us. The tag album is $20 and that's everything included - you walk away with your completed tag album. The only thing you need to supply is your pics and we'll organise everything else.

Now that I have a whole host of new photos to work with, my printer has declared itself out of one of its inks and everything is printing GREEN!!!!! Within one day of this happening Dougie's printer decided to go out in sympathy and it thinks it's out of cyan so we have about twenty bloody printers in this house and I cannot print anything!!!! Grrrrrrrr I don't even really have the spare money to go to Harvey Norman to get anything printed this week so something will have to be arranged methinks. NEED NEW PHOTOS!!!!!!!!

I'm off to sort photos and have a quick HOT shower before it gets any colder and I guess the expectation is that I'll get dinner ready sometime soon!!! lol I will have to sort my scrap totes tonight as one has split its zipper and I don't have the ka-ching this week to buy another bag so I'll have to work out which "essentials" I'm going to put in my one remaining tote bag that I take to work. I basically do 99% of my scrapping at the shop now so most of my must-haves stay in my bags and I don't know how I'm meant to work out what needs to stay when I want all of it to stay!!! lol

I had better go. Her highness has very unfortunately fallen asleep - at like 4.00pm!!!!! - and attempts to wake her up have not been very successful yet. I don't know which I prefer - the very snarly, crying, angry girl I'll have on my hands if I wake her, or the happy, hyper and not willing to sleep girl I'll have on my hands at 10 o'clock tonight if I don't wake her RIGHT NOW. The dilemma is that sometimes she does actually sleep through if she goes down late in the afternoon but am I willing to risk it???? It's a major mummy gamble and I doubt very much if I'll win this one regardless of what I do!

Lachlann is also whipping up a batch of double choc chip muffins (Woolworths Home Brand chocolate muffin mix actually has bugger all nasty additives which is nothing short of a miracle really). He made some last week and now fancies himself as quite the chef so I, not ever wanting to discourage a man from finding his feet in the kitchen, have allowed him to work mostly unsupervised. I have been getting regular bowl updates - which means he trots into my room with the bowl with the mixing spoon still in it to show me consistency - so I at least know what he's up to. He's not allowed to use the oven alone but everything else he can manage. I'm hoping one day some girl really appreciates that I let him cook from a very young age. If only I could get the boys to clean as willingly as they cook!!!!! As if!!!!! lol

Okay well I'll be 'round later. Hope you've enjoyed your weekend. Don't forget to say hi as I love to hear from all of you fab girls who visit me on your blog hops. In the interest of good karma I'm trying to make sure I leave comments too as I know lots of bloggers really appreciate a quick hello. Makes us think we're doing something worthwhile if somebody took time enough to comment.

Later all you blog hoppin' babes, Lu

Scrapbook Convention and a weather whinge

Cass and I did get to the Scrapbook Convention yesterday and we had THE BEST TIME!!! I have to day I was disappointed at some of the shops that had displays because while some places did discount items, many seemed to be the usual price range anyway - either that or they were WAAAAY overpriced to start with. When I go to something like that I want to see BIG WHOPPIN' BARGAINS - not a smidgen off here or there. My bargain of the day was the small petal shaped VersaMagic ink pads. They're normally almost five bucks each and one stamping place had them for three dollars each so I got four new ones, a white (cos white never stays white long so I always need a new one), a red-gold, a coppery one and a pearlescent ivy colour. Never can have enough ink pads and I use them on almost every layout I do so I figure it's good value. I also bought a roll of flocked paper which is white with a black pattern on it - kind of looks like wallpaper and it's fuzzy and no, I have no idea what I'll do with it but I liked it so I bought it!!! lol I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of that habit! I bought some buttons, a black souffle pen and a shimmery dark green one, some bling cos you can never have enough of that either, plus a beautiful Buzz and Bloom die cut chipboard shape that I later found a perfect matching paper for. Really I spent bugger all which is unusual for me but working in a shop has taught me a lot - mainly how much shops pay for stuff and how much profit they are making on that same stuff. Dougie's Scottish streak has rubbed off on me because many times I'd pick something up that I liked, look at the price and think "oh no f**king way am I paying that!!!!". So knowledge is a double-edged sword methinks. This time last year I would have blindly handed over money just because I liked it and think nothing of whether it was reasonably priced or not. I had to have a giggle at the shop that reduced their Bazzill to a show special of 69 cents a sheet - which rounds up to 70 cents unless you buy a few - and we sell it for 70 cents every day of the year!!!! The Bazzill bling was only 5 cents a sheet cheaper than our normal everyday price as well. That's not a bargain unless you're paying way too much for your Bazzill every other day of the year!

So while the bargains weren't as great as I'd liked, it was still fun to walk around and look at what everyone else has on offer. I saw the most gorgeous hot pink leather scrapping shoulder tote that I would have loved to bring home with me but at $200 I had another Scottish moment and dropped the tag like it had burned my fingers!!! Cass and I found a rubber stamp with script writing on it - thanks so much Ngaire for giving us that idea - so we had to buy that. It was fun to walk around the Masters display, have a look at the SC Colour Competition finalists ( :( we weren't among them..........boo hoo) and have a natter to Casey Wilson for a few minutes. I got to have a look at the next issue of SM Vol 9 Issue 1 which has my Real People, Real Stories article in it plus Cass got to see her two layouts that are in that issue too. When I told Casey I wasn't doing Masters this year she wanted to know why not and said I really should. How do you politely tell a magazine editor that I honestly couldn't be buggered entering???? I said I just didn't have a lot of time right now and that I couldn't come up with a storage solution. She said I didn't have to make something from scratch, I could just decorate something I bought but c'mon now, it's Masters for crying out loud. If I'm going to serioulsy enter then I won't just decorate something I've picked up at the shop - I'll create a frankenstorage of a thing that will take hours and lots of money to finish. So now I'm undecided. I'm sure Casey was only being nice when she said I really should enter and there's only a month left now so I'm not sure I could do what I want in a month. Sometimes my best stuff comes from working under the pump but after watching Cass mentally and emotionally cripple herself for the last few weeks I'm not sure I want it that much. There's no little voice saying not to do it now so I don't know what that means. I've got heaps on for the shop so that will have to come first and maybe if there's any time left.........

It was lovely to see Ngaire again. She had a class on later in the day and was helping Loretta with her class. We had time for a coffee with the absolutely gorgeous Jill Geraghty-Groves before she had to teach a class too. What an amazing scrapper that woman is! Jill, if you're reading, I hope to God your back is feeling better lovey and I'll see you for lunch during the week! I bet your class went fantastic too!!!!

Okay now for the whinge - I absolutely hate winter!!!! We got nine months of summer, one week of autumn and then BAM!!!! - straight into the middle of winter with no gentle introduction or a chance to even get the blankies out and air them first! I was happy however to hear that Tenterfield got snow yesterday and Stanthorpe had sleet (which apparently isn't quite as good so I shouldn't get excited). Doug and I decided quite a few years ago that if we ever had a really cold winter where Stanthorpe got snow then we'd pack all the kids in the car - even if it was a school day or whatever - and drive down there to spend the day playing and freezing our asses off. I've never actually seen snow so it would be as exciting for me as it would be for them. Doug of course things I'm bloody crazy to want to frolick in the cold and the wet for hours. He's come from one of the coldest places on earth so he is totally over the whole snow thing. He's the one who still had our bedroom air conditioner turned on up until a week and a half ago!!!!! So my fingers are crossed for at least one really good cold snap - only one mind you cos I'm not good with the cold - so we can go for our frosty day trip. I don't actually own things like gloves or a beanie or anything so even as I throw snowballs I'll be whinging like a baby about how cold I am but I do want to do it just the same!

I've barely been near my computer for days as I've spent parts of my days and most of my evenings curled up on the couch in my flannie jammies with a blanket over me. I've even got my heater on already. We got given one of those really big, expensive Dimplex column heaters a couple of years ago from a friend who didn't need it anymore and right now it's probably the most valued appliance in my house. If I had left my Dares "Three Favourite Things" layout any later one of the things would have been replaced with that heater!!!!

I'm heading off now to check on what the very quiet kidlets are up to (I betcha it won't be legal whatever it is) and organise something for dinner. Doug is having his mates over tonight for a LAN party - where they all take over my kitchen table with about five or six computers and play games against each other - car racing and shoot 'em ups and things like that - so I have a bit of tidying up to do and making room in the fridge for all the bottles of Coke that they bring. I can only assume it will be pizza for dinner too, the usual LAN protocol so I best hunt up some vouchers. I've got bugger all on the cards for tomorrow except for maybe a bit of a photo shoot cos we're in desperate need of new pics. Enjoy what's left of your weekend and have fun tomorrow if you're enjoying a day off courtesy of Her Majesty. Have a drink for ol' Lizzie if you're that way inclined!!! Later babes, Lu

BLAHHHHHHHH Thursday

Well it's cold and it's wet and I bloody hate winter already and it only got here last week - kind of like those rellies you only see once in a blue moon and then you wonder why you wanted to catch up cos they drive you crackers after a few days. I'm at Cass's place today (yeah I know, no suprises there!). I'm meant to be scrapping because I have a truckload of stuff to do for the shop - finish off July class examples, work on how to package and supply class kits for you lovely chickies that don't live close enough to come and sit in on a class with us at the shop, working furiously on getting a Cyber Crop up and running for Cyberscraps (from someone who really doesn't know nearly as much as people must think I do!!! lol), I have my Get Real Challenge to do STILL cos I cant' remember how to make an Andy Warhol type screen print of a photograph which is the idea I have in my head and I simply can't do anything else but that now, I need to do some kind of a sketch thingy (which fills me with terror because as I never use sketches I also am not very good at creating them for others to use!) because we're going to play scraplift the sketch this week (oh lordy the week is running out so fast!!!!) and a few other things. There are things I want to do for my own entertainment as well. I promised Krys Yealland I'd do a layout for a particular call after she suggested it to me on the phone the other day and I really want to get that done and not make her wait too long for it either.

Oh and today I have to go get my drivers' licence renewed (yuk). I have to drag all four kids to the Department of Transport which is like some sick kind of torture but it has to get done and I can't imagine when else I'll have a chance - oh wait!!!! I just remembered that I'll only have Jamie tomorrow afternoon after school as the big boys are going to their dad's place and Caeligh will be with Gran. OKAY COMPLETE CHANGE OF PLANS!!!! Going to the Transport thing tomorrow - that feels much better already!!!

Cass and I are about to sit down to a nice Lean Cuisine for lunch, not that they are as nice as my favourite was the Thai Red Chicken Curry which they've discontinued :( so we're having Tandoori Chicken instead and then some nice choccie afterwards. I can't guarantee I'll get anything else done today either but oh well, sometimes you just have to give yourself permission to not give a toss sometimes! I hereby give myself permission to not give a toss - just for this afternoon - and I will require myself to give a toss tomorrow!

Okay I'm off to have lunch. Later babes! Love, Lu

Raindrops on roses and whiskes on kittens yadda yadda yadda.....

This is my 3 Favourite Things layout for How Dare You for this fortnight. This is the one that I'm not sure if I like or not!!! Do let me know what you think. I'm sure many of us find we can't objectively judge our own work and sometimes it's easier to have someone else have a look.

Off to Cass's place today to sit, natter, drink lots of coffee and get my Christmas examples done for July's classes. Speaking of coffee, it's v.early and I think I hear my first cup calling me right now!!!!! Be sure to leave a comment if you want to be in our RAK. Have a fun day and I'll check in later. Thanks for visiting!!!!! Cya, Lu

Fun Monday!

Back at the shop today and we had some lovely customers come in and better still we now have a few "regulars" that we see every week or so. One lady comes from Jimboomba because she says we're cheaper than just about everybody so that's nice to hear as feedback for the shop. I did the usual thing of a bit of dusting and cleaning the counter and the windows and then settled down to do my layout for the Get Real Challenge I'm hosting at Cyberscraps (in our on-line forum and gallery). I had planned what I wanted to do as the challenge this month, in honour of our naughty side (and don't even think about telling me you don't have one!!!! lol), the title must be "Nice Girls Ought Not To .........". Now you can fill in the blank and tell me what you do that nice girls ought not to do. With me it's nice girls ought not to say f**k as I say that far too often and my poor dearly departed mother would be mortified to know what a potty mouth her baby girl has sometimes! It's not like I'd be stuck for ideas though - in my case, nice girls ought not to have piercings in their face, nice girls ought not to get tattoos, nice girls ought not to drink too much, nice girls ought not to spend their last $5 on scrapping supplies, the list just goes on!!!!!! So if you have a confession to make about what you do that nice girls ought not to do, then come over and join in the Get Real Challenge on Cyberscraps. We'd love to hear about your naughty vices and I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of reading about ours!!! Anyway, I DID plan to do that layout but then I had an idea that required a specific photo and some fiddling on Gimpshop so that layout had to go back in the bag until later. Then I decided to do some layouts for Magistical Memories for their design team call and birthday challenge, as well as the last week of the Friendship Rocks contest which I really, really wanted to do the whole five weeks of but got sidetracked all the time and kept forgetting to do!!!! But then I didn't have the stuff I wanted to use so that project went back in the bag as well! Then I settled on my Dare for How Dare You for this fortnight - 3 favourite things in my home. Cass has very kindly scanned my DOUBLE layout and I'll post it up later tonight after she emails it to me. I think I'm happy with it - a kind of uneasy "okay I think it's alright but I can't really tell" so I hope some of you conisseurs of good blogging will tell me what you think when you see it.

Okay well it's RAK time again this week and Cass and I are having a combined Bella RAK. We got some fab chipboard alphas, rub-ons and the sexiest new bling in the shop and because we're loving it so much right now, we figured somebody else might love it too so be sure to drop a comment this week if you're popping in and out of our blogs to be in the running for the RAK. We'll be drawing the winner on Friday after we put together all the combined comments from both of our blogs this week. Don't be shy girls, everybody loves a bit of free stuff now and then - especially when all you had to do was say hi!

A couple of people have asked about online classes for Cyberscraps for those who don't live nearby. We can absolutely do online classes as we have a live chat room 24 a day at our disposal. If you are interested in doing the Tag Album in my last post then be sure to drop me a comment and let me know if you want to do it via our online chatroom regardless of where you live and we can work something out in the way of a class kit in the mail and organising a time. The albums are really simple and once you've done one you'll be able to do them on any theme or event and they are such a quick, easy but really special gift for someone. I'm about to start a Christmas one this week as next month we'll be having Christmas In July classes at the shop. That's handy if you - like me! - still have photos from last Christmas that haven't been touched yet! We'll be having our beginners' classes that are already on the website and we'll also be doing an advanced chrissy and intermediate chrissy layout plus a Christmas tag book like the one I've just done. We can make them up in to kits if you want to purchase them but can't get to the shop to do the class. Hey I'll even chuck in some instructions for you or we'll do the chatroom thing so I can guide you along as you go if you prefer.

Cass finished her Masters stuff today - bless her the poor girl has been frazzled over the whole thing lately and she's poured her heart and soul into the four projects she's done. Between you, me and the doorpost I think she's in with a big chance to not only be shortlisted but to make Master as well!!!! We're hoping she'll at least be shortlisted so we can drive her entries to Sydney - ROADTRIP!!!!!! I can't imagine anything more fun than the two of us running amok on the country's highways, girls on a mission to get to the SM headquarters!!!

I bought two new noserings yesterday while I was at the markets; a small amethyst stud and a nose ring with a silver ball on it. The ring is a teeny bit too big but I'll keep it in reserve for when I need the shock factor. There's certainly a trick to getting that ring out once it's in though and for a little while I was worried I wouldn't be able to get it out again myself! Got it figured out in the end though with no damage to speak of. Lu will be a more careful girl next time though!!!

I have to do some thinking this week about the typing business I run from home and what I need to do to find more clients. The problem is that I don't want a huge 6 day a week thing like I had before because I'd far rather be at the shop these days, but at the same time I do need to be making some money, even if it is through dribs and drabs of work from various places. While I've got you reading, if you know anyone who needs a great typist and is happy to work via the internet and online (email back and forth etc) then can I say "pick me! pick me! pick me!!!!!!". I've been a medical typist for ten years and have experience in gastroenterology, speech pathology, cardiology, general surgery, dermatology, orthopaedics, infectious diseases and I'm pretty fast on the uptake so I can pretty much type anything medical from the word go. At the moment I type at about 85-90 words per minute with 98% accuracy and I've got the whole home office set up going on with a personal IT tech on site 24 hours a day (yay Dougie!!!!). I can work with virtual private networks, remote desktops and via file server and email. I can provide 24 hour turnaround for urgent letters and 48 hour turnaround is standard. I can pretty much type anything but my preference is for medical typing because it's what I'm most familiar with. It's a funny business though - I've spoken to temp agencies who say it's so hard to find a good typist and here I am, and I consider myself to be a good typist but can't find work! I could do temping but I only have a wardrobe full of mummy clothes and to be honest I loathe the idea of having to have the kids in before and after school care every day and having to move from job to job on a weekly or even daily basis. So I'm a creature of habit and like to sit at my desk at home and do my work from there, regardless of where the work comes from. There you have it - a shameless plug for my typing abilities and a gentle nudge, nudge, wink, wink if you know somebody who could use a good typist!!!

There is a fruit shop opening down the street from us at the shop and thank goodness for that!!! I've been enjoying the baker's fine efforts for weeks now and it's starting to show again, slowly undoing all the hard work I put in at the gym. As far as I know it hasn't re-opened yet and I think I'll have to take the weight management thing into my own hands again. I'll have to start replacing danishes with fruit and pies and sausage rolls with salad.

The new SM will be out soon for subscribers. I've got my Real People, Real Stories in this issue and one of my very favourite layouts in it- Tuff Chik. Can I let you in on a little secret? I hope SM staffers aren't devoted blog readers but I especially chose Tuff Chik to submit with my article because I was allowed to choose anything I wanted to be published with the article and I had submitted Tuff Chik a couple of months before, loving it to bits and really confident it would be picked up, and nobody accepted it. I was a teensy bit gutted so I figured I'd get it published in my own way!!! lol Silly but I really wanted it accepted because I liked it. So the next issue will have that one in it and I'm looking forward to seeing it. I've already received my thank you gift from SM for publishing my story - a Pink Martini pack of papers and alpha stickers which are v.cool and I'm sure I'll find a use for very soon. Just as soon as I get all the "have to" scrapping out of the way and fine some time for some "want to" scrapping........!

I'm off to feed the starving masses, attend to homework checks, put babies in baths and hopefully catch a quiet minute for a glass of wine alone with Dougie at some point this evening. Oh yeah and Supernatural is on tonight too so after the kids have finished watching Mythbusters I can put the three youngest to bed and Doug, Blayd and I will settle back to watch this week's dose of fright and fear. Blayd is 12 now so he's only just been allowed recently to sit up and watch anything past 8.30 with us - he's all puffed up about his new status and likes to sit with a coffee no less and curl up next to me on the couch to watch the box.

I'll promise I'll post my double for Dares when I see it and I'll be back soon for more chatter. Don't forget to comment for your name to be in the RAK draw this week. Later babes, Lu

Love Saturday mornings....

.....when nobody had anything to do that is!!!! I got to sleep in until 8.30am, Doug took the two little ones with him to go shopping with his mother and the bigger two boys cleaned my loungeroom for me while I had a lovely natter with Jilly on the phone! Definitely have to catch up again very quickly girl!!! Great start to my day. Now I'm sitting at my desk contemplating what to do next with my Dares layout for this fortnight (3 Favourite things in my home). I've got the photos all taken and can you believe I'm even going to make it a DOUBLE LAYOUT!!!! That's almost unheard of for me because mainly I like to work with the single enlargement shots and even though I've got to use three photographs this time, I still want to use enlargements to a double it must be to fit it all in! I'm also foraging through a little box of super cool buttons I found at a flea market a few years ago. I didn't use them at the time as they weren't my style back then but I've just found them while tidying up my bedside table (which I wouldn't have been doing unless we had been given this dare) and I'm in love with them all over again! They're all colourful and gorgeous and I bought them all on white sample sheets so now I have to painfully (I say that cos I've already stabbed myself once with my craft knife so far!) try to slice the white paper and glue residue off the backs of these buttons. It really will be worth it.....trust me!.......please come visit me in hospital when I slice a major artery in the name of my art!!!!! lol

So Doug comes back with the kids and brings me a present - something we actually did need but something which showed that he was thinking of me even when buying boring domestic products. He walked in with a PINK TOASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm in love - it's just beautiful and matches everything else in my kitchen that's pink. I've got pink kitchen scales, colander, utensils (thanks Cass!), ramekins, bowls, cups, etc etc. I love my pink themed kitchen stuff. It is that nice shade of pale retro pink that goes with my pair of Sunbeam Mixmasters. I have two because one is my mother's and I use it all the time (it's now almost 50 years old and still works perfectly - they don't make ANYTHING like that anymore!!!) and the second one is a spare I picked up complete with the white milkglass bowls at a local op shop. Normally they are expensive as they are a collector's item but this one was only $15!!! So I have a spare Mixmaster in case my mother's one needs parts or repairs.

I've been doing tag albums for the shop this week, one for our adults class, one for a kids class and one for a Father's Day ad in SM.

This one is the Adult Altered Tag Album class. If you'd like to come along for a couple of hours of fun while I show you how to make one then have a look at our class timetable here. I'd love to meet some of you if you're able to come along one day. The class runs a few times per week at different times throughout June. These albums make really good presents and are super easy to do once you've completed the first one so you can then make albums about absolutely anything once you know how.

Cass and I have decided that probably Saturday next week we'll get into the Scrapbook Convention. We've got a couple of classes on at the shop so we'll have to wait and see if we have any teaching to do but (isn't this awful) I hope we don't get anyone on the Saturday so we can go and spend the day at the show instead!!! I'm hoping to catch up with a few famous faces too, esp. Jilly who'll be at the Scrapapple stand. I did want to know who won the SC Colour Competition but I don't think they announce that until Sunday and I'm not so egotistical to think I should change the day I go to Sunday so I can be there "just in case" I win or make runner up!!!! lol

Hope you're lovin' your weekend. Later chickies, Lu