A challenge blog layout and a just for fun

Okay well it's been more of the same here, lots of work, not enough time to scrap but last night I stayed over at Cass's place and got a couple of things done which is better than nothing in my book.  The above layout was just playing around really.  The paper is from a dirt cheap $3 paper pack from K-Mart of all places (thanks to Kylie and Peta for the heads up!) and I've used the glittery pink thickers I've had for ages plus some beautiful ribbony/fibre stuff I bought from Viv Bonder's etsy shop which I've loved and used loads of since I got it.  It came all bundled up in a lovely thicke skein and I was almost sad to unwind it all and use it!!! lol  

The ICK layout is for Category Stories and while I did later pat the snake in the picture, it still doesn't reduce the ICK factor for me!!!  

I'm also 3/4 the way through a layout for the Inspired by Amelie challenge site.  I saw the title on a bumper sticker somewhere and you'll get it when you see it.  Hopefully I can finish it over the next couple of days but I have work to do today sadly.

We're thinking of moving...*sigh*.....hate the very thought of moving but our house just is no longer big enough and Caeligh and James at 4 and 7 respectively are still sharing a room.  Considering she starts school next year I think it's time for her to have her own room now that she is a"big" girl, just ask her!!!  We've done the big toss up between buying and renting somewhere else and I just don't know what will be right for us.  Douglas is terrified of the commitment of a huge mortgage which is understandable and it would suck up the newfound income we now have which we're not spending on anything particularly important at the moment.  It's getting spent on wants rather than needs, although mind you a new couch is a need I guess, especially if the existing one breaks!!! lol  On the other hand, the drama of the private rental market makes me cringe, the inspections, the now very regular rent rises, the uncertainty of having the house sold out from under you and having to move again.  That all makes me loathe to rent privately again.  We rent a housing commission place right now which, when we first got it, we really needed as I wasn't working but now that I am working I know there are people who need it more than us and if we can afford to rent privately then we should do so and let someone else doing it tougher have this place.  Admittedly even though we don't get subsidised rent - we pay market rent here - it's still considerably cheaper than private rental and I think we've been a bit spoiled by that and not used to shelling out hundreds and hundreds each week for a house.  We did consider buying the house we're living in, staying for a while and then selling it later and using any profit as another deposit on a next house but now that the renovations are finished the house is worth more in the open market and the housing commission no longer offers a discounted house price to its' renters.  The house is market valued like any other house and that's what you pay.  I cannot imagine coughing up $300,000 to live in Inala, sorry that's just my personal opinion.  So the whole "what should we do, what should we do" thing is going on here and while financially we're okay right now, nobody knows what the future holds.  I don't want to place my family in a position were we suddenly cannot pay the rent or cannot pay the mortgage but we can't really stay where we are either.  Hmmmmm.........

Anyway, that's my little thought vent for the day.  It doesn't clarify anything in my mind to put it down for the blogworld to read but I guess I'm just thinking out loud if you like.  I'm sure it will all figure itself out in the end but God, I sure wouldn't mind a hint or two about what we're meant to be doing!!!  I know He knows but how about letting me know!!! lol  Yes, all in good time I can hear some of you saying....lol.

I've got netball this afternoon with Cass and her sisters and a couple of other people.  Sadly I don't actually play netball, I just kind of run around my bit of the court trying not to knock people over or get knocked over myself!!! lol  I never played netball in highschool so I had to learn the rules very fast and so far I've worked out that if I just do what comes naturally when I play wing defence - be clumsy and get in people's way - then that seems to work okay.  I am going to the chemist to get sports tape today though; I've rolled my left ankle the first game and last week, second game, I rolled the right one so I've come to the conclusion that I have weak, girly ankles and need to strap them before I really do some damage to myself.  I've also worked out that netball is vicious!!!!  And the guys are worse than the girls - we're playing in mixed teams.  How on earth do I goal defend against a 6'5" man????  I believe groin shots are not permitted so we lost that game....lol  I asked Cass if she thought we'd maybe get a crap team to play against today and she smiled at me and said "Dear, we ARE the crap team" lol

I'm off to type so enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week.  Shout out to all the mums who will be enduring student free day tomorrow - thinking of you and wishing you strength, tolerance and coffee.

Lu xx

What's for dinner?

Caeligh:  "What's for dinner tonight Mum?"

Me:  "Roast chicken"

Caeligh:  "Well I'm sure not gonna eat that!", pokes a face at me.

Me:  "Why not?"

Caeligh:  "Cos if something is gross you're not sposed ta eat it!!!" yells at me. 

Quite obviously I need an interpreter....lol

All quiet on the Western front except for......

....I'VE BEEN CHOSEN TO BE A WICKED PRINCESS!!!!!  I've never applied for a kit DT before but there's always a first time for everything and I've sworn of retail design teams forever so I was looking for something else to try.  I stumbled across Wicked Princess kits by accident while having a blog hop and really liked the kits.  I've always been wary of buying kits because I was worried that even though you see a picture of what's in them, somehow it's not the same in real life and I'll end up with things that aren't quite the colour I thought they were or something.  I guess I've always liked the safety of having my money in my hand and going to the LSS to buy exactly what I want so I know I'll use all of it.  I saw Karen and Tam's call for a design team not long ago and figured why not?  I looked at their kits and the pictures were very good and I liked just about everything in them so I thought I'd take te leap.  I'm hoping they'll learn to love my creative yet slightly inappropriate side!!! lol  So I'm very excitedly waiting for my first kit so that I can go totally crazy with it and the add ons are awesome too so I'm very keen for my AP courier to turn up hopefully this coming week.  I'll let you know how I go and post some layouts when they're done.  Also very importantly, because October is breast cancer month, Wicked Princess are donating $5 from every kit purchased in October and  up to 15th November to this fabulous cause.  What better reason could there be to grab a great kit plus support a cause all close to our boobs...ahem, I mean hearts!

I haven't been scrapping much lately, I'm still trying and failing to get that work/life balance right.  I did however take on a wonderful new client which means I'll be able to cut down my transcription company work a bit and maybe have a full day of once a week now.  The lack of scrapping time hasn't cut into my ability to buy scrapping products though! lol  I'm still going hammer and tongs at that because I figure I'll get to scrap one day soon!  I've raided Spotlight lately and been looking for interesting habby stuff and ribbon and trim, plus they've got a great selection of feathers, flowers, etc for making fascinators (you know, feather dusters ladies at the races wear on their heads that isn't quite a hair accessory and not quite a hat?).  There's so much stuff that's scrapbable that isn't in the scrapbooking section.  Quick question, does anyone else dislike the fact that Spotlight have their scrapbooking papers organised by colour instead of by brand or range?  I find it really annoying because I know what I'm looking for.  I don't know if the colour system is easier for seasoned scrappers or beginners but I don't like it and end up not buying any of it.  They also have a great range of Kaiser products which is good to see.  Oh wow speaking of which, keep an eye out at your LSS for the new ranges coming out this month; Distracted, Dancing Jewel and Rustic Charm.  They are awesome!  There's also some fantastic new rhinestone releases and chipboard - yep, I said CHIPBOARD ALPHABETS!!!  These days Kaisercraft have all the bases covered and the prices are always great.  I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some of that too.  The Distracted range is my favourite so far.  I've also been to a couple of LSSs around the place and picked up new Basic Grey and I've been feeding my Thickers habit as well.  So the sad bit is that while I have lots of nice stuff to use I feel like I have no time to use it all.  I'm hoping to shift my scrapping into the loungeroom soon (hasn't happened yet) and that way I'll be more inclined to do stuff while I can watch TV or hang out with the kids etc.  Right now I spend so many hours in front of the computer that I don't feel like staying at the same desk for more hours to get scrapping done.  We did have a crop night last week at Cass's place with some friends over - hi Peta and Kylie!!!! - and we had a great night catching up and I did get a layout done - see above.  It was for Aussie Scrapjack and I'm really happy with it although it is way OTT.  The huge purple flower is from Spotlight and the big chipboard circle is from Magistical Memories.  The photo was of my catch up with my aunty Anne and my grandparents when Cass and I were in Townsville on our way to Hughenden back in August.  We only had a couple of hours so I took heaps of photos.  It means so much to see myself in pictures with people whom I look like, so I can say I can see a family resemblence.  Being adopted, I missed that growing up and was always envious of my friends for having family whom they looked like.  So I was so glad to see them all as Granddad is not well right now and I was very lucky to have gotten the chance to see him.

THe kids are all good, glad to be back at school as it's the last term and they just want for it to be over.  They're all looking forward to Christmas already and let's face it, the shops are not making it easy as they are putting stuff out already!!!  We're still tossing up colour options for the tree this year.  We wanted to get a black one with lights wired into it but I haven't seen Target's tree display yet (as, kindly of them, they haven't put theirs up yet).  I change colour schemes every year but don't worry, I don't waste last year's stuff, some years I mix and match what I have from previous years or Cass and I have a very successful decoration exchange programme going on so we always have colours to choose from! lol  

I'm off to get some typing done (the paying kind, not the playing kind) so have a good weekend and I'll try to be more regular with my posting although I'm not sure anyone reads here anymore! lol  Chat soon, Lu xx