My brain is still on holiday!

These are some quick pics from our weekend away. The top ones were from our stay with the amazing fabulous Lusi and the bottom ones are just bits and pieces of what we got up to. I'm terribly unoriginal in that I've used Cass's blog pics because we mainly used her camera over the weekend instead of mine so therefore we both have the same pics.

I'm just hanging in the shop at the moment, serving the odd customer here and there and trying to get a layout finished but my mojo isn't in full swing today. Maybe tonight with the crop things will improve. I think my brain still thinks I'm on holidays and doesn't want to fully return to me - if it was ever fully there to begin with!!! lol

So not much happening this week but next week I've been asked to do a month of full time typing work so no shop visits for a whole four weeks!!!! EEEEEKKKK!!!!!! That's awful, I really miss the shop when I have to be at home and a whole month will be hard but the inevitable happened and the docs I used to work for had their typist resign with bugger all notice and while they did offer me the job full time, I refused because I don't want to work that much and I don't want to have to go through the nightmare of driving into the city everyday either. I've done it before and I hate it!!! So I've settled for part time, from home and then overflow work to help whoever they get to do the other days per week that I'm not working. It will be perfect for me and I'll only miss one day in the shop per week. So I'll have to scrap at home, keep up with the forums from my desk and keep in touch through my blog.

Speaking of blogs, I love a challenge blog - do you? Keep your eyes open for something new coming but I'll be leaving some little hints getting closer to the time.

Well I'm going to shoot off now and see if I can't get something finished before the crop tonight. Have a spesh weekend everyone and don't forget to say hi if you have a minute! Lotta love, Lu

Wow I have missed you guys!!!!!!

Well we're back home safe and sound from our little adventure and did we have a great time!!!

In a nutshell, cos I need to get the kids outta here and off to school this morning but wanted to come back and say hi first, we picked up Gladys (our little white Toyota Corolla rental car) and stopped in at the shop to get things to take to Krys Yealland, left at about 11am and hit the highway. We didn't really have too much of a plan - being mummies we figured we could handle just about anything that got thrown at us and for once it would be nice not to have to organise something down to the knickers like we have to do at home with the kids!!! We basically just kept driving and as it got darker we figured we could probably make it to Newcastle by early evening and find somewhere to stay there. As there turned out to be a home football game in Newcastle that weekend, apparently the opposition supporters had arrived in town and EVERY SINGLE MOTEL/HOTEL/BACKPACKERS was full!!! So we just decided to bite the bullet as we were both feeling awake and alert still and we just drove on to Sydney. We figured we'd have a better chance of finding a hotel room there and we did, in Hornsby, as soon as we arrived in town. It was nothing to look at but had an amazingly comfy bed (but after 12 hours in the car I think a cardboard box would have been comfy!!!), lovely warm central heating and a great shower. Because we'd arrived in Sydney in one day we had plenty of time to get up, organised and have a fabulous huge hot breakfast at a little kebab/takeaway in Ermington, right near the Express Publications offices. We then stopped at a cute bakery and got morning tea for the SM team and set off for Mecca.

Well we have never been so warmly welcomed in our lives!!! Krys, Casey, Jo and Kirsty were all so lovely and wonderful to chat to, we sat and had coffee, laughed and chatted for about an hour before we headed back down to the car to get our Masters stuff. We were so excited we forgot to get our cameras out and take a picture :( but we're hoping the team will be up this way again soon and we will definitely not forget then! After the visit to SM we headed over to Paramatta (actually just in the next suburb) to find somewhere to stay for the night. We found, after not much hunting, a gorgeous room at the Waldorf opposite the Rose Hill racecourse and when I explained that we were in town for the craft show from Brisbane and were looking around the big hotels for the best deal we were offered a great twin room on the 6th floor for only $120 for the night!!! We just couldn't believe our luck and were saying lots of little prayers of thanks all weekend for the fact that we kept having these little blessings over the whole four days. We then freshened up, tried not to have a very tempting nap in the nice hotel room and walked over to the racecourse for the Stitches and Craft show. Man that place is big!!! The show was over four levels, everything from scrapping, sewing, beading and lots and lots of haberdashery stuff. So naturall we spent a bit but not on traditional scrapping stuff, more on other bits and pieces that we could use or make into stuff for layouts. Friday night we got dressed up, trekked to the Westfield at Paramatta for some provisions (need coffee, need coffee) and did our best not to get lost in the five story enormous shopping centre! We then went to the Roxy Hotel for dinner but decided to have a quick poke first with $10 each. That's pretty much our limit and then we walk away but again, luck was on our side and we had a nice win so it was a rapid change of plans and back into Gladys for a drive into the heart of Sydney city to the Star City Casino for dinner!!! Wow that place is like Las Vegas!!!! It is just stunning everywhere you look!!!! We ended up having fabulous dinner at an Italian restaurant next to the Casino showroom downstairs, then a Guiness and a game of pool at the Irish pub in the concourse that runs out to Darling Harbour, then we ended up in a sports bar watching Drag Queen Karaoke. Now I've got karaoke on my list of goals for this year and when the opportunity unexpectedly came I decided, with much encouragement from Cass and the drag queen, to get up and finally conquer my fear of singing in public. I was completely terrified but did it anyway and I must have looked like I was being tortured as Cass kept telling me to smile. I was so busy concentrating on not messing it up that I think I looked miserable!!!! lol But I emerged from that bar triumphand and with two of my three goals for the year ticked off the big list. I'm really proud of myself!!!! We headed back upstairs for a look around the casino and I bought a huge Cosmopolitan cocktail as I'd never had one before (nothing special and just tasted like watered down cordial after a few mouthfuls!!!). We eventually headed back to the hotel and got some much needed sleep!!!

Saturday morning we were up and ready for breakfast at the hotel before heading off to Glebe to see the markets (thanks to Jo from SM for that tip- it was fabulous!!!). We got a park nearby and spent a couple of hours trawling the markets and bought some seriously funky stuff. I got Doug a dalek t-shirt (Dr Who fans will get it!!!), a shirt for Caeligh that said "little devil", a cactus for Blayd and some crystal pendants for Lachlann. We then set the Navman (which has been like having a knowledgeable local in the car with us the whole trip) to go to Bondi Beach which wasn't as big as I'd imagined but I got some great "arty" shots for a big double page montage I want to do as well as a tic tac box full of Bondi sand to bring home. I had amazing sushi for lunch and we had to eat on the run as we needed to do the super quick tourist thing and see the Opera House. We set Navvy again and he took us over the Harbour Bridge twice!!!! We were so excited, squealing in the car like a pair of dickheads as we went over the bridge. Hey, c'mon guys - it was exciting for us who haven't been there before!!!! lol So then we went down to the Opera House, did the drive around the roundabout at the bottom as I madly took shot after shot from the car window (that will be evident in the pictures!!!!) and did a quick drive through Kings Cross just to say we'd been and seen. Not much during the day but I hear the night life is pretty spesh!!! Then we set Navvy yet again and told him to take us to Lusi's house in the Blue Mountains.

Far out you could feel the temperature drop as you head out there!!! We stopped at an antique shop quickly for a squiz and then arrived at Lusi's door. She was as excited as us when we got there and we jumped around like a trio of mad things for a few minutes!!! She and Brett have the most warm, love-filled and spiritual home and they welcomed us without reservation. We honestly have never felt so comfortable in someone's house, especially someone we'd never met IRL before, just talked on the phone and via email. Her kids are absolutley gorgeous too, so sweet and loving to us even though they didn't know us. Lusi made us a delicious dinner and we spent the night sitting, chatting, laughing and sharing our stories and our albums with each other. Far out Lusi is one amazingly talented and gifted scrapper and we look forward to her joining us for a special project in the near future. Can't wait to have you on board babe!!!! I hope the kidlets are feeling better and that you and Brett haven't come down with anything!

The next day we had to drive home although we honestly felt like we could have stayed at Lusi's for ages and we'd have loved a chance to scrap with her although she's coming for a visit soon and we're so excited!!!! The shop is yours babe whenever you come up to see us!!!

Lusi even packed us car packages for the drive home and we took ages saying goodbye and getting pics (all on Cass's computy right now but I'll put some up later or check on Lusi's blog as she beat us to it!). We decided to head out to Bathurst once we realised it was sort of close to Katoomba as Doug is a huge V8 fan. Because Bathurst is actually a street course for most of the year we were able to drive the whole track in our little Corolla!!! We video taped the whole drive for Doug and I bought him a shirt from the Motoring Museum at the site. Then we headed off on the long drive home.

We decided to go via inland for a change of scenery so we headed through Orange, Dubbo, Coonabarabran (where my mother grew up and where I saw some familiar sights for the first time in days), Gunnedah (sorry Jodi we couldn't find a phone number for you and the directory assistance couldn't find your listing but we did try!!!!), then through Armidale, Tamworth, Tenterfield, Stanthorpe, Warwick and finally home at 11.30pm Sunday night.

We had to take Gladys back yesterday, quite sad really, we were sad to see the gorgeous, bug splattered dream machine go!!!! We did get lots of photos however and kept the fabulous Randall at Harvey Norman at Browns Plains quite busy yesterday printing out all our pics! I can't wait to scrap something and I think today it will be our Navman as he got us everywhere we needed to go with no trouble at all, and we wouldn't have gone to many of the places we saw without his guidance!

The menfolk and kids were glad to see us and we divvied out presents yesterday morning before school. I was lucky enough to come back to a house that was cleaner than when I left it!!! Doug I love you heaps and you are the best hubby and daddy ever!!!!

So there you go, a quick overview (but by the length of this post it wasn't so quick - sorry!!!) of our trip and we had the most relaxing, wonderful time. Even the driving wasn't hard when your best friend is sitting next to you! We talked, laughed and sang lots and loud for most of the driving so a couple of sore throats by the time we got home!!!

I'll be back again when I've got some more time and I hope I haven't bored you all to bits with my epic adventure story!!!!

A huge thanks to Cath who helped us out with our trip - you are the best boss ever!!! Thanks also to Cass's mum who lent us the Navman and the camcorder and was a constant phone support for us while we were away. Thank you to everyone who offered us a bed, breakfast, dinner or rest stop on the trip and we promise there will certainly be a next time! Thanks to everyone who also included us in their prayers for our trip and our safety - it definitely paid off and we've said quite a few prayers ourselves as we feel so thankful and blessed to have had such an amazing, safe, wonderful trip.

Take care everyone, lotta love, Lu

Just one more thing!!!

Oopps I really owe lots of people a return comment, a cheerio, a blog visit or an email or a photo swap layout.......I haven't forgotten, just run out of time.......!

Thank you so much for your never-ending patience with Miss Scatterbrain herself - I really will catch up when I get back!!!

I promise to be careful in big, bad Sydney! Lotta love, Lu

My bad

I've just remembered that I've been tagged by quite a few people and I'm really sorry I haven't done it yet. I haven't forgotten - it's one of those things that sits in the back of your mind and occasionally taps you from behind the eyes and says "I'm still here and you haven't done me yet!!!" but if I'm busy I tend to ignore it and tell myself I'll remember it later - which I have - now I just don't have time to sit and do it!!! lol Sorry but I will get to it when I get back.

I also have to put a Rockin' Blogger Girl blinkie on my blog too and I'm really sorry to the fab girls who tagged me for that too! Another housekeeping job when I get back.

I just didn't want you to think I couldn't be buggered doing it - I just keep forgetting when I'm sitting here and at this point in the game now I don't have time (or I could have just done it instead of yattering aimlessly here for a few minutes....duh Lu!!!).

Almost done now, Masters all packed away safely in bubble wrap in a cosy box including materials lists and I've just remembered that I haven't printed my photo yet. Good thing you reminded me!

I'm halfway through packing and the rest will have to wait until I decide what to wear for the trip down tomorrow - something comfy that's for sure!!! I'm off now to print that picture, go find some CDs so we have tunes for the car (or as Kylie and Peta would know from us "f'ckn tunes"!!!!), I'm going to check on my washing that's in the dryer and give this hair colour another 20 minutes before washing it out, drying my hair and falling into bed. Yep if Cass reads this in the morning I'll be in trouble cos she told me very firmly that I could watch House but after that I had to go to bed so I wouldn't be tired for the drive tomorrow. Another my bad.....!

Now I really am going, and I don't think I'll have time to update tomorrow so keep safe everyone and I'll "see" you all again soon!!! Lotta love, Lu

September class at Cyberscraps

This is my September offering for classes at Cyberscraps! I totally love the new Basic Grey Obscure range and I've even kept all the scraps from this one as the patterns and prints are all so usable.

Cass has done a gorgeous layout with the new 3 Bugs In A Rug range we got in yesterday and that will be her September class. I'm sure it will be on her blog shortly.

Well tomorrow is the big day - we're picking up our hire car and hitting the road!!! We've decided that it's probably safer for us to find somewhere to stay by night time so we'll see how far we get and then find a motel. Hopefully we'll get two thirds of the way there and then we can have a sleep, get up bright and early, make ourselves fabulous and then head into Sydney to be at SM at 9-10am. I'm currently in the process of adding a new screaming red to my hair (all part of the fabulous you see! lol), then I have to parcel up my Masters stuff, print out a pic of myself which they've asked for and get together an album of my favourite stuff to share with the very lovely Lusi whom we'll be spending Saturday night with. I can't wait to meet you babe!!!!! Totally excited right about now!!!! I'm doing the typical last minute thing of throwing my washing in the machine tonight and then into the dryer cos when I left this morning I had to wash uniforms or tomorrow will be hell morning otherwise. I guess all I'm going to pack are my jeans, my cammo pants plus a few fave t-shirts and some jammies - plus my red converse sneakers, uggies, red ballet flats and heaps of junky jewellery! Oh that reminds me to find my mobile phone charger too - far out I'd be in trouble if I forgot that!!! lol

I've just shown Lachie how to make a sculpey button and while I was in the shower he's already churned out about a dozen very cool ones so guess what I'll be getting the slave child to do for me while I'm away???? lol He's having lots of fun and because he likes to scrap too, he does appreciate why I made them and he wants to make some for me to use as well as for him. I'll look forward to seeing his creations when I get back.

Thank you so much to everyone who has kindly offered to have us stay or visit on our trip. Because we're so poorly organised by nature, we sort of figured we'd just see how far we get and what we have time to do as we go. I realise for some people that this "make it up as you go" arrangement is really annoying but because we do it so often day to day. Kids can throw some serious spanners in the works and so we've just learned to take it as it comes. We are seriously grateful though to you for inviting us into your homes, even at odd hours and to cook for us (thanks Maggie!!!). I'm going to write down everyone's phone numbers and put them in my mobile so I can get in touch with people if we happen to be in the right place at a not too inconvenient time!

Okay got to go now and get this hair thing sorted out and package up my stuff. Doug is dropping me at Cass's right after we drop the boys at school so I won't have time to do much tomorrow except get dressed and make sure everything is in the car ready to go.

Wish us luck guys - we'll keep you posted!!! Lotta love, Lu

Layout sharesies with new products

This first layout is for Kerry who I did a photo swap with on the Cyberscraps forum. I hope you like it Kerry, I'm really happy with it and I hope you don't mind if I sub it.

This layout is using the new Basic Grey Recess range and the new Buzz and Bloom chipboard we got in. Half a packet of chipboard but totally worth it!!!!

This layout I'm contemplating for a class for September - new Basic Grey Periphery plus Buzz and Bloom chipboard and some gold fibre paper.

More Basic Grey!!! This is Obscure, very edgy, funky, makes great teen layouts as you'll see further down, plus I added the super-cute robot and blocks rub-ons from our Kaiser range.

This is my DIY layout challenge for our Cybercrop last weekend. I ended up making sculpey buttons and so that's them - red with black criss-cross thingies on them!!! Lots of fun to make too!!!!

And to this one, my favourite layout that I did all day. It was the first one I did, came together really quickly and I absolutely love it!!! There are actual metal plates on there from a computer case as well as misc. bits and pieces like a page from a book of raffle tickets, a takeaway order book sheet with the number 12 on it (for his age) and a criss-cross metal laminex sample down in the bottom right corner behind the washer thingy. The flourishy thing in the middle is done with our new Klic & Kut machine and I just inked over the cardstock with a reddish brown and then blue ink pad.

So totally productive day today!!!! So maybe you can help me with the dilemma here - I want to do one of these layouts as a class for September. Which one would you choose if you had to make a decision? I like the last one personally but it's hard to source the bits and pieces I used for it. It was all junk I had sitting around my desk and I only had one of each bit. I like the Hush Hush Darling layout of Caeligh but wonder if it's too messy for most people's taste? Anyhoo if you see any of the above that you'd do as a class PLEASE please please leave me a comment so I can get this sorted before we leave on Thursday!!!! Thanking you in advance if you would like to help!

There's a new All About Eve challenge - reincarnation, and it's a bit of a thinking type layout so that will wait until we get back. One Little Word will have a new one this week too but again, no time to do it before we go as it doesn't go up until Thursday here, Wednesday USA time. It's almost September and I'll have to do a new Get Real Challenge for Cyberscraps - Cass suggested we try scrapping something dark about ourselves. I absolutely love the idea and don't care if nobody else likes it - it's still a great idea to scrap this facet of our personalities even if you don't share with anyone else. At least you'll have done it for yourself. Keep an eye out in the first week of September (hopefully right at the start if I can!!!) and catch the full details on Cyberscraps.

Speaking of, our new Basic Grey arrived, plus Luxe papers that are to die for, gorgeous Crate papers and rub-ons, Buzz and Bloom, fab new OTP products and restocks of our very popular old favourites, Three Bugs In A Rug, great Arctic Frog alpha stickers, restocks of some of the Hambly rub-ons, seriously cute Prima Mini Me flowers and so cheap too plus lots of other stuff that goes up on a very regular basis now that all the CHA orders are shipping into our hot little hands! Go have a look if you're in need of new scrappy goodness!

Well Cass and I are starting to get seriously excited now - we have to go pay for our hire car tomorrow, pack up our actual projects (which depresses me a bit cos I've been using my storage solution and now I'll have to dump everything into goodness only knows what until I get my box back), I'm doing my washing to make sure I have everyting I want to take with me, we have to pick up the Navman and video camera and a new storage box for Cass's storage project so it will be safe while away from home, I even went out today and restocked my freezer with extra meat and a few Lean Cuisine meals for Dougie for the weekend. At some point really soon I'm also meant to itemise some DT layouts for the online store, choose, itemise and email my September class choice, do a couple of new layouts with the 3 Bugs In A Rug stuff we got in today, change the window display at the store AND do up my materials lists for my Masters stuff which I didn't get around to doing at the time I did the projects. I think that will have to happen tonight as tomorrow looks ugly busy!!! I wanted to go to the gym at least once this week before I left but I seriously doubt that will happen either - Cass and I have both concluded that we actually need another week before we go so that everything that needs to get done will get done!!!!

Okay well I suppose it's not getting anything done while I chat is it?!?!?!? Have a wonderful Wednesday and stay out of the ghastly weather we're having here in Brissie if you're a local. Cyclonic winds and rain - lovely way to see in the start of spring!!! At least there's some water for our dams but not nearly enough apparently. Don't hate me too much for hoping it all dries up by Thursday -I don't particularly want to drive a thousand kilometres to somewhere I've never been - at night - in the rain!!! Prayers for our safety are most welcome!!!! lol

Thanks for listening to my ramblings!!! Lotta love, Lu

ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP!!!!

Well because Cass and I both got shortlisted and because Cass's entry is a bit...ahem...BIG, Cass decided we should drive our entries down to Sydney which would not only be fun but also show our dedication to the Masters cause!!

So Thursday afternoon we are leaving Brisbane in a hire car and driving down to Sydney!!!

I've never been to Sydney and neither has Cass so it will be new experiences all the way for us normally quiet, mild mannered suburban mummies. The plan so far is to drive down through the night on Thursday, arrive in Sydney early Friday morning, go to Express Publications at about 9 or 10am and deliver our stuff. We've been invited for a cuppa with Krys and Casey so that will be fantastic, as well as meeting the other editorial staff. It will be nice to meet Krys face to face as we've spoken on the phone so many times and via email but she didn't make it up to Brissie for the last Scrapbook Convention, where we did meet Casey for the first time. She's the one who encouraged me to enter Masters even after I had decided I wasn't going to do it this year. Gee I'm glad she did now!!! lol

The Sydney Stitches and Craft show is on this weekend too and in the next suburb over from the SM offices so that will be either Friday afternoon if we're not to knackered from the driving the night before, or we'll do it Saturday. We've been offered a bed at the amazingly fabulous Lusi Austin's place so that's definitely going to be a highlight of our trip I think. We've spoken on the phone, blog and email so much and she's really helped me change how I see my faith and how I view the world in general. I can't wait to be able to give her a big hug and say thank you for all her friendship and support. I also can't wait to have a look through her albums. I bet they are just absolutely amazing IRL.

Then I guess the plan is to drive back Sunday!

We're being offered Navman from Cass's mum as well as a video camera so we can keep a video diary of our trip. We're definitely taking our cameras too so I think I'll need the charger and spare SD cards as well!!! I don't know how much sight-seeing we'll do as I've been told it's very expensive to go into the heart of Sydney to see the Opera House if you need to park a car somewhere so that's something we'll have to decide on at the time.

It's amazing how if Cass and I had just looked at each other and said "hey let's go on a road trip to Sydney" it would never, ever have happened as we just never have the money for that kind of thing but somehow the forces of the universe have all pulled together for us - money, help from friends, Cath very generously helping us out with some of the cost, our husbands being super-mega-understanding and holding down the fort at home for us while we're gone.

I am so proud of Cass's bullheaded determination to go. Like most mamas out there we do things for ourselves last, at the bottom of the priority list and like Cass said, we break lots of promises to ourselves about things we want to achieve and do. She really dug her heels in about going and made sure I was as excited as she is - which I definitely am!!!! And from the way everything has just fallen into place so quickly and effortlessly, I can only assume that we're somehow meant do go and meant to do this.

Part of me is a bit scared too and I don't mind admitting it. I've never been so far from home in my entire life and certainly not without Doug either. I guess part of it is proving to myself that I can do something like this on my own and that I can cope and make decisions and take care of myself. I worry a lot that if something happens to Doug that I won't be able to manage on my own. I like to THINK I could manage and I pride myself on not being a helpless female but I've never had to test that resolve of mine and this is as good a time as any. Heaven knows what kind of adventures we'll get up to but I couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else - just me, Cass and our little Corolla hire car - oh plus Hazel in the back seat too!!!!

So wish us luck and we'll keep everyone posted on what we're up to and how we're going.

Have a fantastic week everyone and if you live in Sydney watch out cos we're coming!!!!!

Lotta love, Lu

Cyberscraps Cybercrop layouts

Oh she's a real charmer isn't she??? My two layouts so far for our cybercrop have both been of Caeligh - just luck of the draw I think as the pics suited what I needed. The first one was easy enough - a layout using Basic Grey and the second - which is complete shit in my opinion (the layout not the challenge!) was a black and white layout. I was a real stickler for accuracy and even used a B&W pic although I don't think it mattered about the photo. I absolutely hate the B&W one - I have no idea what went wrong but I will heavily lean upon the now legally acceptable rugby league explanation that I had A FREAKIN BRAIN SNAP and this cruddy layout is the result. See - even Masters shortlisters are capable of garbage and can quite skillfully produce it in abundance sometimes!!!!!

On a brighter note I made some buttons with Sculpey which are out of the oven and looking damned fine if I do say so myself!!! I will take a snap tomorrow to post - don't expect brilliance here - first attempt and all!!! But I've had fun playing with it all afternoon and I'm going to definitely do some more soon!

Have a good night! Lotta love, Lu

Typepad or what?

I'm so thinking of a move over to typepad and Cass and I even have an account there already for something else we're working on but I'm dreading having to re-install/re-download all the little bits and pieces that I have on my blog that I like. That plus I don't have my Typepad licence yet so I'm not very good at driving it!!!! lol If I'd started in Typepad instead of Blogger then it would be second nature to me by now but nooooo cheap ass Lu goes for the free one instead! lol

I really really really want to be able to return comments quickly back to people who leave one for me. It's so spesh when someone takes a moment to comment but Blogger doesn't allow immediate return comments so then it has to go through email instead and it all gets messy and takes ages and sometimes it's hard to find people's return addys to say hi back so I figure there has to be an easier way and Typepad is probably it.

I don't know when that will happen, probably not for a couple of weeks yet. Cass and I have some big stuff coming up that will keep us busy but more on that later.

I'm off to Spotlight this morning for some sculpey deliciousness. There have been some seriously cool gals playing with it lately esp. for buttons and I'm now all geared up and inspired to give it a go myself. You know the Tony Ferguson weight loss adds, he sounds a big like Mr Magoo when he says "You really must give it a goooooooooo" and so today I will - the sculpey that is, not the TF, not that my bum couldn't do with some reduction but I don't have the discipline for doing that! A couple of people who are just brimming with sculpey creativity right now are Kayla and Jodie - both wicked talented gals who have definitely inspired me over the last couple of days with their seriously cool stuff!!! Go have a look and fall in love with sculpey!!

I'm babysitting Cass's two little ones this afternoon for a couple of hours while she teaches a class today at Cyberscraps so I'll be very occupied for a few hours but I hope to get to play with my sculpey at some point!

I really want to share something that Cass and I are getting up to this coming week but I'll do that later today I think.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been by this week and left comments, or even just popped in for a looksee. I still don't think I'm over the shortlist shock and I had no idea there were so many supportive people waiting to jump in and congratulate me. I've tried to pay that forward and make sure I get around to congratulating some of the other v.talented shortlisted gals too. Thank you again!

Have a fab Saturday. Lotta love, Lu

A week full of excitement!

It just gets better this week! I've just had a look at the Scrap The Boys blog and Sharryn has chosen a layout of mine for her "Just Because" pick!!! How cool is that! I love the layout although it wasn't picked up by any of the mags but I still like it anyhoo.

We had a great time at the shop tonight but more on that tomorrow!

Have a good weekend, lotta love, Lu

Cyberscraps cybercrop!!!

If you're in need of some chatting and some scrapping and some fun and games then come play with us online tonight at Cyberscraps!

Cass and I will be at the shop for our IRL crop but we'll be online too - see? Seriously multitaskingly talented!!! oh big words......

Anyhoo off to set up for our crop! Look forward to seeing who's online tonight.

Have a good weekend. Lotta love, Lu

Oh how I just LURVE student free days......NOT!!!

Well after the excitement of yesterday, reality is right back to normal today! All three boys are home from school for a student free day, Caeligh is at home as she normally is on a Thursday and Doug is home with the flu so he's in a fantastic mood.

James is 6 and going through that phase where he wants what he wants...and now! He's bossy, rude to people, demanding and spends his days blowing up deluxe about the littlest things. It doesn't help that Caeligh finds his explosions entertaining so she does her best to tick him off as often as she can. So far he hates everyone, I am the worst mummy EVER, Dad is a meanie and he says his brothers are idiots and Caeligh is a rotten rascal ratbag (that bit's true however....!). He's done a number on his bedroom, pulled all his clothes out of his drawers and thrown toys, books and crap everywhere so he can't even see the floor, then when he was told to clean it up he just became the little human bulldozer and shoved the mess to one half of the room and called it done. Now Doug is pissed off and has gone in there with garbage bags and every parent knows what that means!!!! Yep stuff is getting tossed!!!! The boys have also decided to clean so they've pulled out everything from under their beds and now that's all over their bedroom floor as well!!! I never thought I would care about the mess but now the loungeroom looks nice and all my stuff from Ikea is out and I've moved the furniture so that's one room that looks acceptable and I've just tidied up the kitchen too and vacuumed. It seems like a conspiracy - every time I get a room straightened somebody messes up a different room in the house just to screw with my head!!!!

One of those days when no matter how much I want to sit and scrap, it just isn't going to happen. I'm guessing I'm going to have to do some laundry, do some more cleaning and probably yet more of the kind of housework that is never ending. I've been thinking I could use one of those robotic vacuum cleaners, you know the little circular ones that just wander around by themselves all day long? Yeah I need about four of those and just set them off to run all day long to keep up with the constant mess. I'm starting to get antsy about the fact that no flat surface in the house can seem to stay clean, crumb-free or dust-free for more than about half an hour at a time. I'm torn between wanting to keep on top of the mess (which could well be impossible and do my head in at the same time) or just let it go and do my once a day tidy and whatever gets messy, crumby, dirty or dusty after that will just have to wait until the next daily clean. I guess I'm trying to be tidy so that hopefully my kids will grow up tidier than I was, and it will be a habit for them, not a chore like I consider it to be.

Tomorrow is a whole day in the shop and our crop tomorrow night. We've got a full house which is fantastic and I'm looking forward to having some fun with the girls. It's still cold enough to even wear my uggies which is good. The new stock is in (and more coming in all the time so there's always something new these days) so I can't wait to see everything restocked and looking gorgeous. I hated the empty paper racks at the end of the sale but I haven't been in the store since Cath restocked so I'm a bit excited to see all the new stuff.

This weekend is Cyberscraps' first Cybercrop as well!!! It's taken us a while to organise but we're finally there so if you would like to join in then hop on over to Cyberscraps and register on our forum and on our gallery so you can chat and upload your layouts. There will be games, prizes and three challenges over the course of the weekend to participate in. We've got a funky fun bunch of chicks on Cyberscraps so the cybercrop is guaranteed to be a fun time for all. If you've never done a cybercrop, the basic idea is that you log in, keep track of the games and challenges via the forum threads and you can chat with the other forum members over the course of the weekend. There are prizes and voting on the challenge layouts and the hints are already up in the forum if you want to get an idea of what the challenge layouts will be based on. Cass and I will be in the shop until midnight tomorrow night so we'll be in and out over the course of the evening as well as running the crop at the store. We'd definitely love to see you get involved and we're looking forward to a fun weekend. Come play with us!!!

A big congrats to all of you who've gotten THE call from SM in the last few days. I can see from the people I know have been shortlisted that I'm in some amazingly talented company so I'm feeling pretty spesh just to be counted among you all!!! And if you didn't get a call, I'm not going to give you some condescending crap about how it doesn't matter because obviously if you cared enough to enter then it matters! All I can say though is that there is always next year. Not much comfort now but I know I can look back on what I did for Masters last year and see that my style has just changed so much in a year and yours will too. I also started doing challenge blogs, the Get Real challenge on Cyberscraps, and those kind of things to try different stuff to what I normally did and that's what I think for me has made the biggest difference. I'm just happy to be shortlisted and really I don't mind what happens from here on in. There's lots of deserving talent in this country and I'm as excited as everyone else to see who will make it this year and I'm especially excited to see all the work in print when the mag comes out.

Well I've got to get back to the cleaning but I think a coffee is in order first! Have a fab Friday tomorrow and come join the cybercrop if you can.

Lotta love, Lu

Much excitement!

I got THE call!

My Craptastic Car

This is my layout for August's Get Real Challenge at Cyberscraps with the challenge this month to "Scrap Your Wheels". My wheels consist of a clapped out Mitsubishi Starwagon with an on the way out gearbox! Talk about your luxury transportation......lol Greased lightning she ain't!!!

Maybe someone should do an extreme makeover for my car so it ends up looking like a black Honda Odyssey with big chunky chrome mags and dark tinted windows! I doubt even "Pimp My Ride" would touch her though!!! lol

Oh well, what can I say? She's reliable (most of the time) and that's what counts so until karma realises that she's overlooked our lotto win the van will just have to do!

There's still time left.....

..... to tell someone to go cram it sideways today!!!!

I hope you're all enjoying inaugural National Go Cram It Sideways Day and that you've found a suitable and deserving person to share the sentiment with. If not, there's still plenty of time and it will be doubly enjoyable if you do it with a smile on your face and with cheer in your heart!

I wouldn't mind telling Mother Nature to go cram it sideways cos my period is a week early :( or telling the people who still owe me money for work I did three weeks ago to go cram it sideways (but just pay me first!), or the phone company who have mucked up my account, or the transmission on my car which is desperately trying to fall apart on me, or the supermarket when they want me to give them cash for the two trolley loads of groceries I have to buy tonight. These can all quite successfully be crammed sideways!!!

And with a pink pineapple twist for good measure........

Did you get a phone call today girls? YOU KNOW WHICH CALL I MEAN!!!! Don't play stupid now, share the love if you got a call. If you didn't then maybe you can tell someone to go cram it sideways. Maybe you can tell me!!!! At the moment I'm telling myself cos I haven't had a call yet and I even told Doug to go cram it sideways cos he made the phone ring and it wasn't the call I was waiting for!!!! lol Poor Doug doesn't deserve to have anything crammed sideways.......

Oh well enjoy the rest of your day and be sure that someone you know deserves it cops a "Go Cram It Sideways".

Lotta love, Lu

National "Go Cram It Sideways" Day!

I hereby decree that tomorrow, Tuesday 14 August 2007 is inaugural "Go Cram It Sideways" Day. This is a special day which hopefully will become a highlight in your yearly calendar.

I am sick of being pestered, prodded, annoyed, nit-picked, ridiculed and generally harrassed by the world and the vast number of idiots, beaureaucrats, nosy folk and downright stupid that live in it. Most of us as mothers do our very best, as basic human beings we do our very best, most of the time, with the occasional lapse in judgement, temper or humour. We have dreams and aspirations that don't always work out, we have dreams and aspirations for ourselves and our lives that don't always work out but God only knows we do our best most of the time to try to get things to work out the way we want them to and in almost every example we've done it with the absolute best intentions. There are some that never realise this, never have a clue that we're flat out and struggling to do the best we can, that we sacrifice much and sometimes try to retain a little for ourselves as women and mothers and even that somehow is still not good enough, not martyr-like enough, just not enough full stop.

In recognition of a lovely person I know who is right now on the receiving end of baseless bullshit I, Princess Lu the Scatterbrained, decree that tomorrow is indeed "Go Cram It Sideways" Day.

If you have just bloody well had enough, from whoever and whatever, then tomorrow is your chance. I thoroughly endorse that you tell that entity or person to go cram it sideways, with a pink pineapple twist if need be!!!!!!

Even if every other day of the year you are Miss Diplomatic, Miss Cool, Calm and Collected, Miss "I don't ever say such rude things to anyone no matter how deserving they truly are", then tomorrow is your time to shine. I also totally endorse the use of the now rugby league official excuse - "I had a brain snap" if you require a plausible and medically accepted and endorsed reason for telling someone to go cram it sideways. People may think you are rude, people may think you are mean, people may think you're a lunatic but hey, what's the worst that can come of that???? That the people who so desperately need to go cram it sideways with a pink pineapple twist suddenly start leaving you alone as quite obviously you've gone bonkers?!?!?!? Sounds like a win-win situation here to me girls!

SO REMEMBER - ON NATIONAL GO CRAM IT SIDEWAYS DAY MAKE SURE YOU GIVE YOUR COMMENT TO SOMEONE THOROUGHLY DESERVING.

MAKE YOUR COMEBACK COUNT LADIES!!!!!!

(ps. this rant is in no way endorsed, supported or acknowledged by Dougie, my children, family or friends but I promise that when I tell someone tomorrow to go cram it sideways it will be because they totally utterly deserve it and because I will feel ever so much better for sharing that fact with them).

Lotta sideways love with a pink pineapple twist, Lu

Booty Call!!!!!

This is my layout for the All About Eve challenge blog and this fortnight's challenge was to scrap your booty so here it is - well part of it anyway!!!! lol Yep the size 20 is the size of my latest pair of jeans so you can see why I went back to the gym this week!!!! lol I don't really care about the size except that I'm not comfy in my skin right now so I have some work to do - not a whole lot but enough to make me happier about me.

I know I've been a bad blogger, promising pics of car races, Ekka and all sorts and I haven't gotten around to it. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day for blogging! Ekka was Thursday, Doug's bday was yesterday and today I was at Cass's place for a homewares party plan thing so I've had bugger all blogging time but I haven't forgotten at least!

Have a fab weekend and I'll update as soon as I have a bit more time. Thank you to everyone who has left comments - it's gorgeous to know that we're not alone out here in the blogsphere! lol

Lotta love, Lu

Aussie Dares layout - Spirituality

This is my layout for Aussie Dares - Spirituality. I only finished it yesterday and it was due in by today at the latest!!!! lol I don't know if I like it or not - strange things come about when I have to come up with something at the very last minute and it's not always what I expect.

There's a new Dare out tomorrow so go check it out if you're in need of some fabulous eye candy and some mojo restoring motivation!

I'm off to a Triple M listener breakfast at the Brisbane Ekka this morning with Cass and her tribe as well. We did it last year and it was fun although there was lots of periodical head counting to make sure we had them all still! This year my eldest will be with his school group so I won't see him at all until late afternon (he stayed at his dad's last night as he's going in on the train with the group and we're going earlier). James is still getting over a bug so he's staying with Gran and as long as he gets the showbags he wants he doesn't really care - that's sick in my book. So I'll only have Lachlann and Caeligh to deal with today - the two most likely to run away, give me trouble, hide for a joke and throw a tanty! I'm hoping we're not going to pick up any other nasty bugs while we're there. Brisbane (like the whole bloody country it seems) is in the grip of about a million strange and antibiotic resistant bugs from gastro to the particularly nasty influenza which has people dropping for a week at a stretch. It's so bad here and our Exhibition is reknowned for sharing disease among the visitors that this year they are giving out anti-bacterial hand wipes and gel for hand washing at the gates. I had even thought about not going this year but with Blayd going for school and me wanting to really help him with food choices we didn't have another option but winning the free tickets was a bonus so I don't mind going for free.

I've got to go rouse the troops and get out of the house. We need to be at the Ekka grounds by 6am and I'm not liking my chances unless I move, move, move!!!!!! I'll update later!

Lotta love, Lu

My layout with Bron's photo for our pic swap

Mark down your diaries

Alana Steadman is hosting OUTBACK SCRAPOUTBACK SCRAPNW QLD HughendenAugust 24th-26th 200724th- Meet and Greet, 6.30pm.wine and cheese with inspirational talks from the Scrapbooking Memories masters Sandra Gerdes and Rachelle Minett25th-Three workshop sessions with 5 workshops to choose from. Then at 8pm a Crop Night with fun and games as well as a scrapbooking memories subscription up for grabs.26th-two workshop sessions with four workshop choices.Tutors include Rachelle Minett, Sandra Gerdes, Alana Steadman and A Craft Affair. Follow this link to find out more info......HERE

That sounds like a fab weekend and something I'd definitely want to get along to - maybe next year Alana!!! Save me a bunk somewhere!

Scrapjack....uh sort of........

Well this is my take on Jilly's Scrapjack layout for this month. I have quickly discovered that I don't like to purposefully scraplift someone else so it was a bit painful to do this one and it hasn't really turned out like my style at all but hopefully it remotely resembles Jilly's!!!! lol This gorgeous little man is Cass's new nephew Toby who is now three weeks old. Isn't he so cute you just want to gobble him up?? (in a non-Hansel and Gretel way of course!!!! lol). So Jilly please accept this as my formal apology for such a shocking scrapjack which really hasn't done your gorgeous layout any justice at all!

I've started what I hope is going to be a fabulous layout for Bron, one of our fun chickies on the Cyberscraps forum. We're at the tail end of a photo swap and of course Lu is dragging along behind as usual!!!! I've been finding it so hard to do any of my own scrapping and I do admit that I tend to treat challenge blogs a bit like a job with a deadline and I just have to get them done if at all humanly possible. I think it's because sometimes the challenge blogs really do bring out the best layouts in people because it puts them on a direction they might not normally take of their own choice and that can make you do some very interesting stuff!

We had a fun day in the shop yesterday. We had to do some layouts for a wholesaler comp which wasn't hard as we absolutely loved the product in question and the shop wasn't so busy that we couldn't get our own stuff done. Cass just powered through but she wasn't stoked by what she'd done (and after Jilly's scrapjack layout neither was I!) but I have hope with the photo swap stuff I have to go because I can let my mojo run amok with those ones.

Oh I forgot to share what we did on the weekend! Friday night we had crop at the shop and the loveliest lady Julie came in. She had been a regular at a lss that had closed down she she was a bit lss orphaned iykwim. We had a fab time with her and hope she also had fun. Saturday was borning, didn't do much at all. Sunday Doug and I went to the new (well it's been open a year but this was the first time we'd gone) IKEA at Springwood. It is absolutely huge!!!! I love IKEA, always have but the downside is that it's depressing to go because all I can usually ever afford to buy is some extra bright plastic cups and bowls from the kitchenware section! lol We took James and Caeligh (big boys were with their dad) and were hoping to get some lunch somewhere. We walked in, up the escalator and into their huge restaurant. It's all self-serve and you have to clear away your own plates but I do that all the time at home anyway so it didn't bother me. The food was cheap, quick and tasty. We took the kids back downstairs to the kids room which is actually an enormous space with lots of climbing and physical stuff as well as the mandatory television showing a Disney movie. The kids were busting to get in there but how good was the security!!! We both signed them in, we got a matching number stamp to that of the kids, they had stickers with their names and number on them on their shirts and a corresponding plastic tub for their belongings, plus they give you a plastic pager which you keep while you walk around the store and if your children start missing you or there is any problem it beeps so you know to return to the kids area. How cool is that!!!! So we did the heavy duty stuff first, the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, desks, living areas and wardrobe stuff first plus a quick look at the kids section as well. We got some more plastic tubs for our timber storage unit in Jamie's rom, pink this time so Caeligh has somewhere just for her toys. Then after the hour we collected the kidlets and went through the kitchenware section and floor and wall covering type stuff. We ended up getting two waist height timber chests with two big deep drawers for the loungeroom. One is for Doug's computer bits and pieces that I don't want to look at in my lounge room and the other is for my "launch pad" which is a Flylady reference. It's a place just inside the front door where you can leave things like keys, wallets, phones, kids' school bags, important notes, letters and info plus I also bought a blackboard with a letter holder to put on the wall above it. The idea is that if all the important stuff you need to get out of the house on time is in one place then it is far easier to achieve that so we'll give it a go. I also decided that for the first time ever I want a grown-up loungeroom. My whole adult life my furniture has been hand-me-down, second-hand or cheap, nasty fall apart stuff as I haven't ever really had money for better furniture. So right now I really crave a room that is for sitting and watching TV or talking but not for playing in, eating in or running around crazy in. The kids aren't quite sure what's going on and I think they reckon I've lost my marbles a bit but I want what I want and surely one nice room in the house isn't too much to ask? So while my couches are pre-loved from a friend of mine and desperately need replacing after a couple of years in my house with my children, I am going to wait until I have a bit more saved before I get anything else. So to brighten up the lounge before then I got a bright red floor rug, new curtains, a tall paper floor lamp, new cushion covers and some wall prints that I need to find some frames for. The loungeroom is half way through being moved all around again so that's a job for today while I play nursey for the suddenly vomiting Jamie. That was unexpected! Great, another chucky one.....

Now I have to go and attend to the sick boy. Have a great day! Lotta love, Lu

Coupla Layouts!!!!

The layout above is for the One Little Word challenge blog and this week's word was "automatic". I did have an idea but of course I pulled out a sheet of Basic Grey symbol rub-ons and all of a sudden the first idea was thrown out the window!!! That was a bit scary as I only have a couple of hours to get this layout done in time!!! lol

This layout I've done for the All About Eve challenge blog. We've been challenged to scrap our escape and for me it's my job as Design Team member for Cyberscraps and my part time job in the shop during the week. Sure sometimes there's work to actually do (like now because the sale is on so we've done mostly packing orders for the last week!!!) but most of the time even that's not real work cos it's handling paper and embellies all day! It's a haven for me, full of the things I love, including my best friend Cass! so that's my escape.

I did promise to get on over to Scrapjacked and do Jilly's layout so Jilly I know I promised to jack you off and I guarantee I will keep my word and jack you as soon as I can!!!! lol

Off to the shops now for some bits and pieces type shopping. Blog again soon!!! Love, Lu

More layouts

I've not really done any new ones but these are a couple I've had sitting and forgot to scan from a couple of weeks ago.

Nothing much happening here. I finished up the last of the catch up typing for the dr's this morning so that's much stress gone now and I'm back to being able to focus on the shop and on the challenge stuff I need to do this week. I still have my Dares Spirituality layout to do, my AAE escape layout and my OLW automatically layout as well as having a go at scrapjacking the fabulous Jilly Geraghty-Groves as well! Smiling as I think of jacking you off Miss Jilly!!!! lol

I went out today and made an investment in my health and a downpayment on having a smaller clothes size by summer - a new pair of cross trainers. You know the story about Blayd destroying my beloved old ones and so I went to Athlete's Foot and got to do the whole footprint thing on their special machine. I was there about half an hour, in which time Caeligh slept, Blayd sat and tried to continually tell the very helpful sales guy about how my MIL was going to buy him a pet hermit crab (cringing at that idea!), James ran around the centre seating doing his own mini lapathon in the store and Lachlann played the enforcer and would constantly chase James and carry him back to a chair. I know he was only trying to help as I had asked James to sit but Lachlann just gets so carried away with making everyone do the right thing that he ends up in trouble for being over-zealous about "helping" everyone else behave when he himself often has trouble doing that! I also got stupidly overpriced socks and a pair of insole thingies because I roll my foot inwards apparently. They are the most comfy things ever which is great and I'm even going to try to get to the gym tonight to give them a test run. I think I need to bite the bullet and make a firm decision to go back to the gym and once I've been once I think I'll be inspired to go again. This time Doug says he will join too so we can alternate mornings on who gets to go, or one of us can do evenings and one of us can do mornings or whatever. That will also mean a new pair of cross trainers for Dougie too so that'll be a job for the weekend.

We've got crop on tomorrow during the day from 9.30am until 2.30pm and then again from 6pm until midnight at Cyberscraps if you want to come and play with us. The sale is still going strong and Cass and I will be working on projects using some new products that will be on sale in the store in another couple of weeks. I'm bringing my uggies, Cass is bringing her radio and we're going to do pizza. Last time we got down and partied in the shop to some 80's music whicih really brought back memories for us of early high school. We sat and traded stories about what was going on in our lives back then. Cass and I didn't meet until she was 16 and I was 17 so it's fun to find out those things about each other before we met. If you want to come play with us then give us a ring tomorrow at the shop on 07 3274 5522 and we'll save you a comfy chair!

I've been looking for a small tattoo design to get done before I get my big Marah Johnson winged heart done later in the year. I really want to know what I'm in for with something a little smaller before I commit to having a big one done so I've decided on a Scottish luckenbooth which is like an Irish claddagh. It's exchanged between lovers and is usually on a brooch or a ring. As my Dougie is Scottish it seems more appropriate than an Irish claddagh although my heritage is mostly Irish. It's beautiful, a thistle in the centre and two interlocked hearts with a crown on top. I've seen some lovely designs and I just need to choose something that won't be too detailed for the tattooist to try to re-create. I haven't booked a time yet because I don't want to rush it and I want to make sure I have the perfect design first. After all it's a lifelong commitment and I want to absolutely love it once it's done.

Well I don't really have any other exciting news at the moment. It's the usual grind of work, kids, housework with some fun stuff like blogging and scrapping thrown in! I hope you can join us at the shop if you've got nothing else on tomorrow night. If you are busy then, the August timetable is now online so have a look and maybe come do a class or two with us! We've even got kids classes on Sundays and this month it's making presents for Father's Day.

I'm absolutely loving the few days of warmer weather we've been having so I'm definitely in better spirits! Blog again soon, cya Lu