Hooray for mojo and opportunity! (long post!!!)

Well I'm happy to say I'm back in the saddle and feeling a whole lot better! I've been getting some scrapping done which makes a world of difference to how I feel and how I deal with things. I hate not having any time, or when I've got the time I've got no mojo, to get any scrapping done and in the last week it seems like I've gotten back into the rhythm of things and I'm trying hard to make time to scrap to get back into the habit. Above is an album I did for the just closed Maya Road Rage call. They were asking for OTP stuff using their products but all I had was their arrow album and some older white acrylic flowers. I used some of their nice ribbon from the shop though - the pretty lace flower pattern velvet stuff. It had to be about love and of course I had to scrap the wedding! lol We've also just gotten in the whole glorious range of Basic Grey Two Scoops so I ended up using lots of that as well - papers, rub-ons, buttons, brads and chipboard. I also used some gorgeous Scrapware frilled hearts which I love the look of. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It took about 15 hours of work in total, about 7 hours for the covering and sanding and doing the cover, and then another 8 hours yesterday to choose the photos, crop and sand them, choose and add all the embellishments and then go over it with a souffle pen and do some pen doodling on it as well. I don't even think I spent that long on any of my Masters entries!!! But it was a labour of love by the time I was halfway through and so it didn't seem like hard work. I've subbed it via email and apparently Maya Road will contact the 15 winners by Wednesday to arrange postage to them so they can be displayed at CHA in the States. I'd love to squeeze myself into the box and go with it!!!! lol So fingers crossed for that but I'm very happy with it either way. I'll probably sub it to a mag or to Basic Grey if Maya Road don't want it.

This layout I did with the Rusty Pickle "Lucky" range, very Celtic and Irish inspired! I also used the very sexy, very fabulous Grungeboard elements for the hinges, lock and key. It smells very weird but very comforting, like my dad's old leather recliner. It takes ink beautifully, dries so fast and looks just divine. It doesn't mind a bit of rough treatment either so no need to tippy-toe around this stuff. Just get down and dirty with it!!! I did another layout - three photos that were about 5 years old - just unheard of for me but it was a warm up to get back into things and SM have taken it so I can't put it here but I was a bit surprised. I like the Lachlann one better. Hey, I'll be happy with whatever they take! No complaining here....

I've organised my Life List for this year but I haven't scrapped it yet. There's lots of "work"
scrapping to do at the moment for Cyberscraps (our first cybercrop of the year is this coming weekend for those who want to come play), an article for SM and an article for SC plus a little project I'm working on for a friend but I can't say anything else other than it will be totally fabulous when the reveal happens next month. But back to the Life List! I didn't make the deadline for my tattoo - it fell way down the priority list behind bills and groceries but I'm sure I'll fine some time after the kids go back to school and that expense is out of the way. The list for this year is:

1. Have a mouthgasm - i.e. Eat food that is soooo good it feels like an orgasm in your mouth. Don't laught!!!! I saw that on Lifestyle Food one night and I figured if there is food that good then I want some!!! So Doug and I are researching some good restaurants in Brisbane to see where's the best place to go for a mouthgasm. If you've got any recommendations then please share with the rest of us!!!
2. Handle a snake. Now get your mind out of the gutter or out of the wardrobe if you're off and running at the thought of snakes!!! I don't have a rabid fear of them but I don't like them either. They make me really uncomfortable and the gross feel as they move is URGH!!!! So I'm going to go to a wildlife park where you can handle a snake and let them put it around my shoulders or let me hold one because I like the freaked out feeling even less than the snake itself so I want to try and get over it.
3. Get my ass on a plane!!! I don't even care where I go!!! lol I've never been on a commercial airline in my whole life (yes I know that seems hard to believe but I did the whole "married young, popped out lots of kids and never went anywhere" thing) and it's something I've always wanted to do. I'm not in the least bit scared, just an experience that I'd like to have. So maybe we'll go on a mystery flight if they still do those. I know that Cass and I were going to have to fly up north later in the year so that may be the only chance I get but we'll see.

So there you have it, my Life List for this year. It's all about doing things for myself, having those experiences and hopefully being a better person for overcoming fears. Wish me luck with that list. Oh something funny!!! Because I didn't get my ink done last year, I was feeling a bit down on New Year's Eve cos I really take those Life List things seriously and they are big things for me as personal achievements. Doug was doing his best to cheer me up and said "hey, it's okay, I'll draw on you if you want". He was kidding but a glass of wine later and I gave him my scrapping pens and said go for it.

He drew a Marah Johnson flowerly skull and crossbones for me - and the naughty boy used one of my Sharpies!!!! That thing stayed on for a week despite regular scrubbing!!! So he did that at about 11pm so he said technically I have had "ink" done, it just won't last forever! lol I love that man to bits!!!

On the health front, I had my echocardiogram on Thursday and there's nothing structurally wrong with my heart at all and my doctor says it's probably a combination of everyday stress and just trying to do too much, poor sleep and possibly a side effect from a virus I've had at some point in the last year or so. Either way, my very kind GP gave me some sleeping tablets for three weeks and they are not only helping me get the first solid night's sleep I've had in YEARS but the palpitations have finally settled down as well. I'm so thankful it's nothing more serious and probably the worry played a part in it too and things can settle down now that I know there's nothing to be concerned about.

The kids finally got to use the trampoline they got from my mum and her husband and my sister for Christmas. It has been raining here almost constantly so we have been waiting for a dry day to put it up and last weekend - two weeks after Christmas!!! - they finally got their present. The rule of "only one on at a time" lasted about as long as the couple of hours Doug and I spent watching and supervising downstairs and then as soon as we went upstairs it was every kid for themselves. I keep waiting for the inevitable broken limb but it hasn't happened yet. It's a round trampoline with the high side nets all the way around which is good because I had visions of them flying off sideways at a great rate of knots if we had one of the normal trampolines without the nets!

It turns out that it keeps them occupied for hours and burns off all that energy meaning they are all sleeping better at night too and going to bed earlier!!! BONUS!!!!! lol

I've got some layouts that I did last night at the crop - which by the way was fabulous with GIZMO from the SM forum stopping by and EMSTAR dropped into the shop yesterday afternoon too. It's v.cool to put faces to forum names so if you're ever in the area and feel like a cuppa and a chat and a browse then be sure to stop in. We love visitors, even if you don't plan on shopping the company is always welcome! I'll put the layouts from last night up later on after they're scanned. Nothing fabulous, just a few fun ones.

I'm off now to do some shopping, a few groceries plus I need to track down a must-have scrapping supply that I saw at a cheap shop a few weeks ago and didn't buy at the time even though I thought I should have. Isn't it funny how often you end up going back for that thing that you were sure you didn't really need?!?!?!

Have a great week. I will try to catch up with some blogs this week and Garbage is still on the backburner but we are trying to get the next challenge up ASAP. Everyone is spread pretty thin at the moment which I guess is the cost of submitting and getting more mag work (which it itself is pretty cool) but it means that things you do for love tend to take a backseat. I don't want to get too far in over my head with "work" scrapping though because there's not much joy at the end of that road I don't think. I think this year is the year to get that balance right.

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far!!!! Love, Lu