Girly Layouts

I made both of these quite some time ago but we have had the busiest last two months that they just sat there waiting to be photographed and put into an album, kind of like the laundry and all the junk in garage, just sitting there waiting to be dealt with.... 

The Pose.  I have been a real pink, girly kind of kick recently and I think that that comes across in this layout.  Flowers and butterfly's, pearls and lace, you don't get much more girly than that.  The best thing about this layout in particular is that all the papers except the Sassafras foldies have come from paper and cardstock bought from Big W.  As much as I love going to my LSS I also love being able to get more "bang for my buck" and brands such as Grace Taylor and DCWV do offer that.

How cute is this stack?  I like most of the papers in this pack as they are perfect for little girl pages but what I really, really loved was the yellow chevron paper and the pink polka dot that they had in the back.

Simple Pleasures.  This layout was done using some of that left over chevron and some papers from the Crate paper pretty party line, surprisingly I loved a lot of that line as normally I am more about the brights.  This layout has a lot of bits and pieces in it from a few manufactures and as per my normal scrapbooking procedures is a mixture of new and really old, everything from Queen and Co corner stickers, eight year old brads and brand new paper.

Recovery....

Will do a blog post soon on my party and the crafty bits and pieces that we had but in the mean time I have no voice what so ever, I am feeling pretty yucky and need to have a rest today.....this is why.....

To much celebrating and possibly too many cocktails and jelly shots, possibly, okay maybe a slim chance.....

Comings and goings of an inconsistent blogger

So I am fairly terrible at this blogging thing, I will most certainly not be winning any awards for the most consistent blogger of the year, but in any case a small tidbit into whats been going on in this slack bloggers life.

The school holidays were a bit of a let down in here in sunny Queensland as I can tell you that it was anything but sunny, just lots and lots of rain.  I planned a trip to stay at my parents house with the kids and visit all our friends and have picnics and fun in the parks but sadly it was lots of inside play, movies and multiple trips to Underwater World (thank goodness for yearly passes).

I have quite a few firm favourites at UnderWater World the otters being one and the "Nemo" tank being the other, I love seeing the kids take in the amazing beauty of all these different underwater beauties.

A hard day of movies, UnderWater World and grocery shopping will tucker a poor little boy out, he slept like this the whole way around the store.

Teela celebrated turning five this year and as we were a few days out from her birthday my mum decided that we needed to have a pop up party of sorts for Teela at the Grandparents place before we headed home to Brisbane.

On her actual birthday with just the four of us.

Invitations.  With my 30th creeping up it was time to get creative and make some invites to what will be the celebration of my thirtieth year, eeepp.

 Sun, finally sun!!  Taking full advantage of a beautiful sunny winters day playing outside and exploring the long forgotten yard.

My latest op shop find.  Not what I went in there for but I could not leave this spinning rack behind, currently it is filled with my inks, embossing powders, glitter and wood mounted stamps but who knows what I will end up doing with this, I think it would also suit cosmetics, bracelets even fruit.

Birthday gifts, the best kind there is...I pick and he pays :D

Another set of birthday gifts, thanks Mum.  I already had these Napoleon Perdis Set cosmetics on a layby after a really decent special but I never got around to paying them off, the annual birthday money that mum gifts me every year paid for a new cosmetics haul, droool...

Peg bags, I have wanted some peg bags for ages.  The plastic ones you buy from the grocery store are flimsy, fall apart often and in the hot Queensland sun disintegrate in next to no time.  The pretty pink peg tin I bought a few months ago was pretty but 100% impractical, the kids kept stealing it, it made a horrible noise and it was far too small so one day in the midst of boredom and the feeling of needing to tackle something I have never done before I made a peg bag, and then another as the first was just not big enough, turns out I have a LOT of pegs.  They are not perfect they have faults but they are 100% what I wanted and I made them and I actually sewed them (that happens very infrequently, I am no seamstress).

A haul post....

Generally as a rule I don't do haul posts,  I don't buy terribly exciting stuff, I actually buy very little these days as I scrap quite infrequently and lastly most of my stuff comes in dribs and drabs a sticker sheet here, four sheets of cardstock there, nothing worth doing a post about.

A few days ago I went to my closest Spotlight looking for some fabric and I just happened to hit paper crafters heaven, discount scrapbook supplies....

Kaisercraft, Bella, Pebbles and American Crafts paper all reduced to 70c a sheet the five sheets at the front are either embossed or glittered, I don't think I have ever bought paper that cheap before.

 The glitter ribbon and the the glitter dots were all 99c a pack from Riot Art And Craft and the American Craft Remarks stickers and rub ons were from Spotlight and were all wait for it......50c a pack.

I have never seen specials like that before and I normally never get those kinds of prices, very lucky indeed.

I left quite a few things behind especially at Spotlight but after the cleaning and re-organising I did the other day adding in more supplies that I don't need but was cheap was just not going to work, it is a hard lesson that I am slowly getting better at, leaving cheap craft stuff behind and only buying the things that I will actually use.

That's it for me for a while though, I honestly have very little time or mojo these days for crafting and I can't keep buying things if I am not using them so that will most likely be the last craft shop I do for some time.

Another long winded review post....

Things have been CRAZY busy since my last post and to top it all off I have gotten sick, hence why I have not been on here or Two Peas or doing any crafting :(

We have had two weekend on the coast, three thirtieths and a third birthday.

A visit with one set of my grandparents

Making cakes galore and cards and presents

A number of tantrums and that is not just from the kids

A house that needs to be scrubbed from top too bottom, I wont lie I am no house cleaner but all this busy and two kids and trips away have culminated into an exceptionally messy house that I am currently have my blinders on for.

And an exciting instalment in my life....

 Rearranged, cleaned, reorganised my craft space and decided to do a purge in the process....that was a disappointing purge I will say...

 Experimental lime pie, it turned out amazing but was disappointed by the two child sized finger marks through the top....

Finally got the cricut out and made something.  Teela's kindy class is learning about dinosaurs so I figured why not make a whole heap of dino's for them with the paper that I will never use.

 Instagram, decided to get my hipster on....

Ploughman's lunch, I love living close enough to Patton's which is a big butchery and green grocer but also has discount cheese and grocery items, always different stuff and if it wasn't for that place nice cheese would be a hardly ever item in this house.


The thirtieths....

Three layer Caramel mud cake with chocolate mousse cream and chocolate ganache.  Did I mention that I made this?  No, well I did not just a paper crafter, actually I used to do cakes for a business and I worked in a bakery so I have had some practice.

 

 The second cake for that weekend, three layer white chocolate mud cake with white choc ganache, this is my secret recipe, i have only ever given it out to one person and that is because she asked for it at a hens night after my one hundredth cocktail...  I made this one for my life long friend and best friend Lisa and her husband Nat we have known each other for ever, all went to school together, lived together and had children at the same time, it was always my pleasure to make them their favourite cake.

Rich chocolate cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

My husband turned thirty-one this year so we had a visit to our favourite restaurant ever Ahmets and then home with my family for coffee and cake.  I was such a good wife that I actually forgot that it was his birthday and organised a trip to a friends place so the cake was a 5.30 am number and  a five minute ice job, I LOVE this cake and my mum has been making it forever, one of those stand the test of time numbers.

Teela playing with Zoobs and made herself a microphone from them and tyre.  I am always amazed at how my children's brains and imaginations work and Teela has been blowing me out of the water with her creativity lately.

Fortnight in review....

Wow I really am slipping on this blog huh...
 So what have we been up to?

 Blocks, Teela has recently rediscovered building blocks and has been making quite a few castles, towers and dinosaurs.

 A trip to the grocery store and a bribe with the Clifford ride, I can remember when these things were 20c, sadly no more :(

 A few trips to daddy's work and some delicious coffees and hot chocolates for this cold weather we have been having.

The Rodz rock'n'roll festival.  This is highlight of the year for us living in the pine shire.  We are not to bothered by the bands or the carnival food but we are 100% there for the cars, sweet sweet car love.

The almighty SLR5000, my ultimate dream bogan car.  They sure aren't the prettiest car out there and they are certainly not the most rare or loved of the Australian muscle cars but they have always held a special place in my heart, I would give anything to own one, swoon....

 The thing that my kids look forward to the most at the car show, a ride on the dodgy carnival rides, again  another good behaviour bribe.

The unfortunate reality when you leave two under fives in a naughty mood in the TV room for some rest time alone.   Since this incidence the craft box is now located in a locked cupboard and the games and puzzles have been moved to the top of the linen cupboard. 

It is not an ideal situation and I hate that they sometimes do things like this, I hate it more when I can't get them to clean it up.  I wish I had the perfect system and routine in place to avoid messes like this but I am not super mum and I am not aiming to be, I have to wash and cook and clean and my kids can't and don't want to be with me all the time while I preform these menial tasks.  For the most part my kids are great, they have wonderful personalities, great manners and I love them dearly.  On the other hand they are stubborn and difficult and can be rather naughty, this was just one of those days when the naughty kicked in..
  

Mexican night...starring the famous chicken enchiladas.  I have not made this dish in almost thirteen years and my husband has heard about it a million times from myself and others, I finally caved and made a quick version of it, almost as good, so very close but nothing beats marinating chicken for 12 hours and fresh hand made tortillas.

 Pumpkin pie.  This is not an Australian dish at all and is something that I associate with Autumn, log fires and turkey.  It was a really nice dish not too sweet and with the perfect amount of spice.  My husband was not a fan and I don't think it is a dish I will make again in a hurry but it really was lovely and paired up with the right main meal and company I can see me using this recipe again.

What have we been up to?

So I have failed at my week in review posts and am quite behind but in my defence things have been pretty quiet around these parts, just the usual daily comings and goings of a family.

Sour Cherry Cheesecake and Key Lime tart.  I had some requests for taste trials and I pumped out these two, both delicious and no favourite can be decided.

 Pumpkin risotto and lime herb chicken.  Match made in heaven, it might not look all that amazing but certainly tasted that way.  I made the decision a few weeks ago to get back into home cooked healthy meals and am rather pleased with the direction I am going cooking wise.

 Three pumpkin limit, 10 kilos or pumpkin and all for the princely sum of 90c.  I for see lots of pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and roast pumpkin in our future...

 Home made macadamia Anzac biscuits and my new cup and saucer.  The biscuits were amazing, thank you Women's Weekly Bake cookbook.  The cup was something I fell in love with and had to have as it was only $4, lucky I did happy Mothers Day indeed.

Pineapple upside down cake.  This is a firm favourite in our house, a Nigella Lawson recipe that I am just utterly in love with and a dish that happened only because I found a Pyrex dish with pineapple ring in the fridge, perfect coincidence I say.

 A day out at Chambers Island.  It is not the prettiest looking place and is tiny and it has a whole lots mud on one side but it is a huge part of home and a perfect day out with family and friends.  We had games in the mud flats, swimming in the river, a trip on a boat, picnics under the trees and fishing.  The most fun I have had in a long time.

 Chicken Roast Zucchini and Broccoli Pasta, not creamy at all and top it off with toasted pine nuts, almonds and Parmesan and you have one mighty fine tasting guilt free pasta dishes.

A trip to Under Water World.  We have yearly passes to this place and we do try and pop in whenever we have a bit of spare time when we are on the coast.  This time we bought Grandma and Auntie along and we even manged to sit through the entire seal show, quite an adventure.

We have also had a million trips to the grocery store, a trip to the foot specialist at the Children's hospital, a kindy disco, colds and flu's a hardcore asthma attack, a night out without kids to a friends place, the greatest cob loaf ever tasted, a daddy night out to the football and a mummy night out for dinner, a gift of home made coffee fudge, a child caused flooding in the bathroom, a wedding invitation and a surprise visit from Grandma all in all a busy but nice last few weeks.