Okay... we're back

Hey!! Long time no speak/see/read/hear/etc etc!! I know... I've been EXTREMELY slack and unmotivated.

Soooo much to catch up on but I just don't know if I can fill you in on so much. Over the last few months heaps has happened:

Firstly my most exciting news was I became a Guest Kit Designer for CountryPapercraft for 3 months - that's now finished.

Secondly, it was the 'sickness' season and we all had bouts of it... and I've got it again... hence I'm writing this instead of being at work.

Thirdly, I turned 38... which wasn't very exciting unfortunately. But still, a birthday is a birthday!

Fourthly, life has been going on and we're all good.

So that's that. Haven't really been scrapping much other than for CPC but hoping to get back into some comps and get remotivated. I think it was the winter blues! Hoping it was the winter blues!!! LOL

But I've decided, Buggar it! Wordpress too hard to sort my pics out so we're moving back here!!

Here are some latest pics of us lot, living life! Plus some of my latest pages.

- my entry for the CPC Music class lesson


- and one using the October CPC kit - can only use products in the kit:


- one from the November CPC kit:


- one from the October CPC kit:


- one from the November CPC kit:


- and one for competition with TMS in August:


- one using CPC kit:




- one for CPC newsletter - it was a 'recipe' challenge:


- an August competition entry for Scrapbooking by Design which I won!!!:


- and a CPC newsletter one using the word 'always' in the title, plus only Kaisercraft papers:

Moved to Wordpress

Hi everyone

We've now moved... well, in the process of moving... to Wordpress. New site is: http://uslotlivinglife.wordpress.com/ so will be posting all new posts there. Hope you visit us there. xx

Kim, Paul and Luke

The last 2 weeks...

Gosh, I seem to have lost my mojo. Could be because I'm CONSTANTLY TIRED due to Luke keeping me awake at nights... or could be just because I'm fat... hmmm.

Anyway, what's been happening. Have done minimal scrapping - just enough to enter the challenges I wanted to most of all and that was it... These are the ones I did:

- Black with 2 - we had to use the colours black, blue and natural (cream/beige) plus butterflies. I love this photo of Paul and Luke - one of my all time favourites.

- Crafty Sketches - sketch challenge.

- The Mosy Scrapper - 2 lots for them. This one was a sketch challenge - love these pics and got Paul to do the journalling. And yes, I'm a shocking wife...I moaned and moaned at him that he hadn't written 'evenly' and it looked funny.

This was the 2nd one for TMS - the criteria was scrapping a inanimate object... Luke's digger! I actually won for this one - YIPPEE!!!


- Physical Education class this week - homework involved 4 or more 'action' shots, using circles and over 10 prods/techniques. Here is the outcome:

- Biology class last week - our homework involved cutting up a photo of a living thing and incorporating a page out of the dictionary... funnily enough, I chose Luke. Here it is:



Other than that LUKE IS BASICALLY TOILET TRAINED!!! Well, for wee wee, not for poos yet and not for sleeps. He runs and says 'Mummy, I need a nappy on. I'm going to do poos" and I go running! He refuses to think about doing it in the potty or toilet, and I won't pressure him... unless he's still doing this at 4 years old!! LOL. Anyway, he's feeling VERY grown up. Daddy took him out on Saturday and they came home with some little boxer shorts for him... just like daddy's... and he's allowed to wear them at weekends only. Feels very important and has to show everyone - half the time he's wandering around without his trousers!!

Went out on Friday and bought myself a spin bike - have finally decided have to do something about the weight that has gone on over the last 3 years, so am going to get back into 'spinning'. Paul had a minor heart attack at the price, but it was all worth it coz the guys in the store told me I was 'naturally beautiful' and didn't look my age, so it was all worth it. I'll probaby go back later this week and buy something else, just to hear their sales spin!! LOL

Luke has been sick most of the weekend with temperatures, coughs and runny nose, so Saturday night he slept with mummy in the spare room - well, he slept and mummy lay awake, in the most uncomfortable position (he insisted mummy 'hold my hand') and terrified to move, so managed to get a sleep Sunday avo - thanks, Daddy!

Today we went swimming and Luke didn't need mummy AT ALL!! He had moved up another class this week and I had been 'prepping' him well in advance. I was so proud and so was Belinda, his teacher... and he couldn't have grinned any larger!

Oh yeah, and out of all the misery of the last 2 weeks, I managed to win the Little Shop of Sketches Birthday LO challenge so am getting this amazing pack of goodies sent to me!! Thanks, Tanya!!!

Sweeties Sketches

Hey, just found this delicious site Sweeties Sketches, http://www.sweetiessketches.blogspot.com

What do you think of this devine looking candy for all you scrappers out there?

They have some great sketches and I'm going to get stuck into the June one right now!!!

What a weekend!!

Well, it's been a very loooonnnngg Queen's birthday weekend, and not just because there's an extra day off work!! Started toilet training Luke - what a nightmare. He WANTS to wear underpants but just doesn't want to tell us PRIOR to going toilet - he's "too busy" living his life according to him! So since Friday I've been putting him on the toilet every 25 mins otherwise he pee's his pants. Plus this means we're house-bound and anyone who knows me, knows I can't handle that for more than a day at the most!!

Friday night I did this LO for Scrap with V - you had to use brown and white only

Managed to get out on Saturday though... so exciting too... I did the grocery shopping!

On Sunday Paul was on coastguard duty so Tracy & Aurelia came over and relieved me of entertaining Luke by myself so that was LOVERRRLY. Tracy and I managed to get some scrapping done and I completed a LO for Crafty Sketches May 15 challenge:



Then on Monday we had Lisa, Greg, Keiran and baby Renee come over for brunch. Had a lovely time catching up - had missed Greg's 40th party so this was a make-up session. However, no alcohol consumed (much to my shock!) but he did like his drinking hat that we got him, so a session in the near future may be on the cards.

Got on line this avo and found out I have won an awesome prize from Scrap Review - one years membership to Clickin Mom's - a photography website - so I can't WAIT to go and learn new skills, as my photography needs major improvement!!! So huge THANKS to THE SCRAP REVIEW!! You've made my weekend!!

Happy Birthday again...

Little Shop of Sketches is having a birthday sketch competition (as mentioned below) and you had to do a LO using one of their sketches. Here is my take on sketch number 2523 which I think I copied to a tee (as we were meant to but just try and ignore the shadows - it was a very sunny day!!!):

Home Ec Class

What a week this has been. We were mostly all still sick and Luke has been too scared to sleep, so no scrapping till Thursday. But I managed to do my homework for my Home Economics class and nothing else!!

This week we had to do an "Off The Page" using at least 3 different flowers (which teach told us how to make) and different materials - and bonus points for a book too. This is my first OTP creation, so I'm very proud of it - hee hee hee. Can't decide if I will put scrap stuff in it or use it for something else... So here it is:

The Scrap Review

The Scrap Review are giving away lots of prizes just for showing their blinkie on your site, so go ahead and visit them. It's a great site!

Live, Laugh, Love...

Dream Girls set a challenge for the month of May to do a LO based on the words "Live, laugh, love" - you had to have those words somewhere in your LO, use the colours red, turquoise, black and white, use some material at least 3 x 3 in size and cut out pictures from paper to use as embellishments. Far out!!! What a lot to remember!!! Anyway, I found this old sweatshirt of Lukes when looking for material with roads/trucks etc on it and thought "Yep, that's it!" and this is what happened... hope you like it :) Lots of paper embellishments - the flowers, the houses, the trees. The material section is HUGE and the colours are everywhere. Thought I would throw in the UFO with sparkling lights to help you 'laugh' - hee hee hee. It says "Whatever road you take in life make sure you live, laugh, love!". Thanks for the challenge, Dream Girls!

Crafty Sketches... made my day/weekend!!

OMG!! I can't believe it!! I placed 2nd in the Crafty Sketches comp for April and have won this beautiful bangle/watch!!!

Absolutely made my weekend coz we're all at home sick!!! Last Sunday night Luke had a fever so I was up all night with him and then hubby stayed home Monday with him. Then he got sick too so they were both ill all week and hubby home all day Friday (left a course on Thursday to come home as he shouldn't have been in there in the first place!!... Can you tell he got an earful from me??! LOL). I was meant to go out Thursday night, but coz hubby ill had to stay home and look after Luke. Then I got sick - of course, just in time for the weekend - and so we've had to postpone brunch tomorrow with some friends, who were coming last Sunday, but we had to postpone them coz of Luke being sick!!!

So I've not scrapped since Weds and am feeling in need of it but all I'm going to do nowis curl up in front of telly till about 8:30pm and then head to bed - Luke has had me up since 4:40am this morning!!!!

Anyway, thanks to the ladies at Crafty Sketches - they've made a crappy week end happily!!!

Happy Birthday, Little Shop of Sketches!

It's Little Shop of Sketches 1st birthday and to celebrate they've got a sketch competition on - running until 4 June. Hoping I'll be able to squeeze in a page for entry but in the meantime, if you want to check it out you can visit them here: http://littleshopofsketches.wordpress.com/ Happy Birthday, Tanya! Awesome site!

English Assignment Over and Other Challenges...

Okay, so this week at Design School we had English. We had to journal at least 75 words but bonus points for over 100 words. Well, I can talk till the cows come home so it was more a matter of shutting me up coz I ran out of space!!! LOL :) Also had to have a 4 word title so this is what I did:

This LO is for Scrappin Patch May Sketch Challenge. Did this one really quickly - 1 hour - so I hope it doesn't look like it. It just seemed to come together:

Then this one is for Little Shop of Sketches, Sketch #37. It's Daddy and Nana in the spa with Luke, but I've neglected to mention Daddy... and have in fact cut him out of all bar one picture... and really just focussed on Luke and Nana (Please forgive me, Daddy!!):

Black with 2

Did this one last night for the Black with 2 May Challenge - we had to use black (obviously) with lime green and pink, pearls, pearl flourishes and a large single flower stack. Had fun as NEVER used a black background before - had to go shopping for the pearls too!!! LOL

History Class Now Over!!!! Yippee!!

This week I've entered a Scrapbooking Design School and our first lesson was History. Our 'homework' was to created a 'heritage' layout based on our family, using certain criteria - distressing, sanding, inking, scrunching and inking/chalking.

So this is what I did - it's my Nanny & Granddad on their wedding day back in 1947 - they had their B&W photo 'painted' as they did back then, hence the colours. I think it's a stunning photo of them and that they both look gorgeous - especially my Nanny - she wore lavender (her favourite colour) and roses (her favourite flower). She used to call me her 'little rosebud'!! I miss them and will love them forever xxx

Hangovers, Exhaustion and Prizes!

Well, Friday night turned out to be LOTS OF FUN!!! There was 7 of us girls in the end and all bar one bought a bottle (she was preggers so I'll let her off!), and then we all partied till 1:30am, and then sat and waited for a cab for Tracy & Liz till 3am!!!! Lots of fun and disgustingly frank, dirty conversation... as girls are apt to have when they get together... nothing is off limits! The unfortunate thing though was that hubby was hiding in our office which is off the lounge, listening, in the dark, to what we were talking about till 10:30pm when I found him!! He made some comments about his disbelief at what we talk about and his embarrassment at trying to find a decent time to come out of the room - ROFLMAO!!! However, the next morning, he was VERY INTERESTED to get an update of what we discussed after he had to leave... but of course, what goes on tour, stays on tour and as far as I was concerned, us girls were on tour!!! Plus, 2 of my friends (Thanks Liz & Becs) booked tupperware parties, and everyone else spent heaps (thanks ladies), so I got $300 worth of free tupperware!!! Can only be FANTASTIC!!

So after 3 hours sleep I was up and taking Luke to playgym and then to a birthday party, where the kids had me chasing them and growling like a tiger. I ended up with the booze sweats and not feeling too hot, but you do that for your kids, eh?? Paul was on coastguard that avo so Luke and I chilled out at home - he was so good as I was NOT feeling very good by then, and he played happily by himself for most of the avo - YAY YAY YAY!!

Then for Mother's Day, Paul made me breakfast - pancakes, bacon, maple syrup and grilled banana, juice and cup-of-tea - and then I took the portable DVD player back to bed and watched "The Other Boleyn Girl" to which I cried at... was it tiredness or empathy, or a mixture of both????!?! Then back up, played with Luke, made lunch, played again, and then Luke and I both went off for avo kips - much deserved!! Daddy made thai for dinner - at my request - and then I chilled in front of the telly. Did I mention that all this was done in my PJs??!?! LOL

This morning has been wonderful - found out I won 2 prizes in the Cyber Crop I entered with 'Scrap with V' so have A$50 to spend on-line - going shopping later!!! So thanks to everyone who voted for me - I love you!!!!

Tupperware Party...

Just thought I would share... having a Tupperware Party tonight to help my friend out and get her some freebies... and let's be honest, get some for myself!!! Anyway, organised at EXTREMELY SHORT notice, so of course limited number of people coming... actually, it's embarrassing... a whole 5 people at the moment - ROFLMAO.

But! There is always a silver lining on that big grey cloud... we have alcohol!!! And I have a built in baby-sitter, so we'll just have to have a few, or maybe, a lot of tipples - and seeing as most of the girls are getting dropped off, it's GONNA BE FUN!!! LOL. Hope all of you out there have a lovely Friday night too - I believe it's going to keep raining for us so will be a great way to spend the night - tipples and nibbles!!

As for my day so far... am SHATTERED! Woke up at 3:17am and never went back to sleep - lots on my mind, flippin heck - don't you hate that??? Was all set to go back to sleep when Luke woke at 6:20am (which is about 50 mins too early) so was a bit peeved. Anyway, it's my day at home with him today so that's one good thing. Had my friend, Megan, come over with her two boys and we spent the morning eating muffins Luke and I had made, and cookies she had made... actually, that was our lunch (but we did feed the kids nutritious food LOL). She's gone home now and Luke is having a kip (thank God!!) and I should be but I'm clearly not...as I'm typing this, plus have dinner cooking on the stove now.

It's a cold, rainy day here so fire is on and it's all nice and cosy now. Have a lovely night and great weekend - especially a happy Mother's Day to all you mum's out there for Sunday - hope you all get spoilt rotten (including me!!).

Cyber Crops, May Challenges, Rocky Road & Show's

Wow!! There's a whole other world out there that I'm just discovering. Did my first CYBER CROP with Scrap with Vanessa over the weekend and loved it - even with the 2 hour time difference... just meant I couldn't stay up too late Friday night! Anyway, the theme was Colours of the Rainbow and they set different challenges to do.

The first challenge was to use 7 red, 6 yellow, 5 orange, 4 blue, 3 green, 2 pink and 1 purple item on your page and the word 'colour' (thanks Liz!!). I made this:

Then the second one was a sketch LO and I made this:

Then the third was an 'inspiration' LO, where they showed a photo and you got 'inspired' by that, and I made this (the photo was B&W with bling on the lips and nails in gorgeous colours) so I used a B&W photo and put bling over my necklace: And I did this one for their May sketch challenge:

Then I did some LOs from the Crafty Sketches challenges. This one was for April 15:

And this one for 1 May:

And I did this one for the Little Shop of Sketches May layout:


And I did this one for the Scrappin Patch 'Man Friday' challenge:

So, as you can see, I've been busy. But not too busy to forget about the family! On Saturday it was raining so after playgym, I arranged for Paul to collect Aurelia and she came over to help me play with Luke!! I let the kids make a tray of Rocky Road each (of which one went to Tracy's!) and this was the result from 'licking' the bowl - which Aurelia took literally before I stopped her!! Then on Sunday, it was a gorgeous sunny day, and while I was getting sorted in the kitchen Daddy played with Luke and this is what he ended up looking like!! And of course, he had to put a 'show' on for us with the 'microphone' (the end of the photo chain!!). Isn't he just TOO CUTE?!??!??!

Latest Family News and Challenges

Easter Monday we went to the sales and got Luke his first bicycle (with training wheels!), which he loves... as you can see from the SMILE on his face. After spending the morning at Aurelias he decided he wanted a 'flower' helmet like Aurelia, but when we went to the shop later that week, he was 'sold' on the blue one with flames... just like his bike... and Daddy is very relieved!! LOL. He also got a "Bob the Builder" bell to ring, and ring, and ring...Then after the shops, we went to Tracy & Robin's for lunch (it was brunch, but when it's served at 12:30pm, it's lunch in my books!!) and while Tracy cooked (which was DELICIOUS by the way!), I painted the kids faces. Aurelia asked for Dracula, which of course, Luke then wanted so here they are - although holding flowers it's sort of takes the edge off the scare!!And while the sun was still shining, Daddy snapped this pic back home of Schnuggles the Cat, pretending she's the Queen of Sheba on the outdoor beanbag... what a life!!!??!?!One evening, just before the rain hit, Paul & Luke hopped in the spa to get lovely and warm before dinner, but then it started spitting. And silly Mummy suggested an umbrella, which Luke LOVED the idea of, and Daddy didn't, but Luke won so Daddy has to hold the 'butterfly' umbrella and Mummy couldn't resist taking snaps for memories sake!! Nice photo of the rain coming in on the horizon...Paul does volunteer coastguard and Luke loves anything about it. So when Daddy wasn't wearing his hat,Luke snapped it up to wear while watching TV... from the coffee table of course! No seats for him!!And here are my latest 'challenge' scrapbook pages. It's for Scrappin Patch and the theme was KISS (Keep it Simple). I love these photo's of Paul and Luke... and I made Paul write the journalling so there would be part of him in Luke's book... This one we had to use the word "Chilly" in the title and luckily I found these old photos of Luke on his trampoline when we bought it last year. Here he is testing it out...

And lastly a challenge page for Scrap with V - a sketch layout. Not my usual style and SHOCK HORROR... Luke isn't in the photo!!! No, it's Nana & Grandad.