What's Goin' On.....

...at our place?  Lots as always, but here are just a couple of highlights.

The long awaited new camper trailer has finally been introduced to it's new home!!  Yay.  DH made a quick trip down to the South East corner a couple of weeks ago to take delivery and drag it home.  Since then, he has been like a boy with a new lego set... lol.  I must say though, that I was not forgotten in the specifications.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that it has a hot shower, toilet, solar power.... and air conditioning!  :)  Not exactly 'roughing it' huh?  lol

So far, we have all had a turn of sleeping in it in the back yard.  :)  Her maiden voyage is scheduled for next weekend, weather permitting.  Actually, even if the weather isn't fabulous, I'm sure DH will be determined to take off!

Last week, the annual Awards Night was also held at the High School, where miss Maddison was awarded with 2 awards for Academic Excellence in both English and Business, and an Award for Academic Excellent in a range of subjects.  Basically, that means top of the class in English and Business and A's in everything else.  Sorry for indulging in a little shameless bragging... but I just have to!!  :)  So proud.

Here is a very tired miss and her awards, following Relay For Life last night... she is certainly not firing on all cylinders this afternoon!

Maddison is now working part time at the newsagency, which is helping her save for her own laptop.... or guitar... or Taylor Swift concert tickets... or whatever it is now! lol  I'm sure most of it is going to clothes at the moment.

Other goings on include school dances, gymnastics, boxing classes, powerbar classes, dates with the treadmill, high school enrolment meetings (eeek... another one in high school!), drop offs and pick ups here, there and everywhere, haircuts, Orthodontic/shopping visits to Mackay..... and so on and so on!  It really is never ending isn't it?  :)

And I've been scrapping up a storm too... although I can't show anything just yet.

Oh, and just because I couldn't resist..

Don't ya just love Saturday mornings?

Can't watch cartoons without the Bob the Builder Helmet, Ben 10 Omnitrix and Boxer Shorts!! lol

Happy Sunday afternoon... or what's left of it.  I promised myself a little hammock time today... so its now or never!!

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back real soon!

Jules
x

Christmas .... in October?

Hello Lovelies!

Great to be back.  I've been busy in my little nook, creating like mad.  Unfortunately I've only got one to show for today though... :(

This week's colour palette over at The Colour Room is a beautifully fresh, crisp colour combination, that is a totally untraditional Christmas inspiration!!  I just love it!  It reminds me of the white, chilly Christmas season in the northern hemisphere......  quite a blurry memory for me now!  lol

This palette is featured in the Scandinavian Magazine Inzpira Magazine (www.inzpira.se) which was released this week. It is a gorgeous Magazine and contains some serious eyecandy along with recipes and oodles of other yummy stuff!!!!! It is in Swedish, so if you are a bit challenged in the multi-lingual as I am, you will still enjoy the inspiration!  :))

{6am}

... and some detail:

This photo was taken last Christmas at my parents home in Brisbane.  The kids woke and all piled into bed with us for a cuddle before sneaking a peak at all the offerings under the tree!  I love this photo, only I wish I didn't have to get out of bed to take it!  Maybe this year, I'll think to use the self-timer.... :)

Here is the palette and the sketch (totally optional, as is the Christmas theme):

A real marriage of Prima, Hambly and Kaiser in this page.... oh, and TA Glimmermist of course!  More of those yummy Prima mistables that I warned you you would see again.  :)   And how stunning are the new Crystal Palace flower sprays, also from Prima?  Totally yum!

I am loving creating lots of water-marked blending with my glimmermists lately.  I just spray a fair amount of water down first, then a couple of glimmer colours and just let them all blend together and dry, creating some really awesome effects.  When it was almost dry, I just dripped a few spots of blue mist and watered down gesso.

Heaps going on on the family front.... as usual!!  lol.  Will be back on the weekend for a bit of a family update.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope today finds you all happy and doing something you love.

Hugs,

Jules
x

What Happened to October?.....

OMGoodness!  This month has totally gotten away from me!  I'm struggling to get back into the groove after all my visitors and my pledge to take better care of myself continues... and strengthens.  It is taking a bit of a chunk out of my day though I must admit....  but I feel so fantastic, so it is definitely worth every guilt free minute I spend on me and my health.  :)

Thank you so much for all of the amazingly positive and supportive comments too.  I totally appreciate every one of them.  It is so good to see so many are on the same, or similar journey... or will be soon enough!  ;)  Well done to all of you, and please feel free to pop in and update me on your progress.

OK... back to creative news.

You now have 11 days to get your mojo going and upload your entry in the Boxx Sketch Challenge for this month!  ... and it is AMAZING!!  The gorgeous and uber talented Michelle Fowler gratiously took up the offer to be our Guest Sketch Artist for this month and put together one of her trademark STUNNING sketches for us.  Brace yourselves....

... and the treats keep coming with Michelle's inspiration layout, based on her sketch:

... and then there's Kim Ewins!  {sigh}

As our Featured Member over at the Boxx this month, Kim also got to be the first to

have a go at Michelle's sketch and provide us with even more inspiration!

I love that Kim has flipped the sketch and adapted it to suit her style and the purpose of her layout!

Well done girls and thanks so much for the yummy prompts.

Before I go... just thought I'd share something cute.  One of those everyday moments that make you smile.  I just needed to record it so I don't forget ....

Lachy -  "When are we going to the shops mum?"

Mum -  "As soon as I finish fixing my hair darlin"

Lachy -  "Why.... is it broken?"

hehee.... and yep, it did look pretty broken at the time!  

I hope something makes you smile today.

See you soon,

Jules

x

Hello!!

Remember me?  lol

I know I've been horribly negligent of my lovely blogging friends... and my blog for that matter.  In my defence, both sets of grandparents have visited in the last 4 weeks, in addition to some lovely friends.  I have waved goiodbye to the last of them this morning.  So we have essentially been busy catching up, spending time together (catering for and accommodating 8 and 10 instead of 6!!), settling back into the school routine and some 'new sports' that the girls have taken on... and basically just concentrating on family for a bit.

I did manage to squeeze this one in, in between visitors though...

{through my eyes}

 .... for the latest Colour Room palette:

I never have a problem putting orange and blue together  (some of you may already know that!  hehe)... but the magenta kinda threw me at first.  The idea was to use a small amount of it I think.

I just LOVE all the Prima Mistables atm... expect to see more of them!  :)

Sadly, my Canon had a little unexpected sabatical too!  I don't know why, but I just haven't touched it for a couple of weeks... and missed soooo many family opportunities. : ( 

Hoping it wasn't holding too much of a grudge, I let it out for a play yesterday.  So, in pictorial form, here are some of the things we've been up to:

A bit of water play....

A bit of togetherness...



A bit of this...

(yes, imagine her delight when she saw her name on them!)

A bit of that... 

(Claire now spends more time on her hands than on her feet!  lol)

 And a LOT of this...

I won't bang on about it too much, but I have lost 10kg in 5 weeks!!

I love feeling fitter and more motivated.
I love that I want to do more.
I love that the kids are seeing a healthier me.
I love that fitness is back in my everyday again ..... for good.

Hope you have all been well.

Bye for now,

Jules
x

Household Rhythm...

This is our TV.

Great TV.  We really like it.  It's just perfect for our spacious open planned living area/kitchen.  Only problem is, it has looked like this for the last 3 days!

Our troublesome Telstra T-Box (which I don't recommend) has finally stopped talking to the remote altogether.  Without a functioning paired remote, you can't watch anything at all... until the new remote arrives that is!  We are not the only ones to have suffered this fate.  It is a known problem with this lemon ... (ahem)... system.

The funniest and most unexpected thing has happened though.  Our afternoons have been much more peaceful.  Our night time ritual has been so much smoother and better organised.  Our dinner time has been so much more 'connected'.  Instead of raising our voices to be heard over the top of each other, and the television, and then turning the television up even more, to hear it properly.... we are speaking in civilised tones and really listening, in the absence of any other distractions.  The kids are playing together more and looking for things to do, instead of just being passively entertained.  Don't get me wrong, passive entertainment most definitely has it's place, just in the right balance.

So, thank you Telstra, for being so predictably unreliable.  And I really mean this without sarcasm... oddly enough.  We have definite plans to make this a reglar thing now.  Instead of having the television mumbling away in the background for no apparent reason, it will stay off until we want or need to watch something.

That's the plan anyway.  :)

Jules
x

Time to Share... !

Hello lovely bloggers!

Yep, still here!  Funny how life can pick you up and whisk you off on a tangent from time to time.  Last weekend of the School hols here, which involved a visit from my folks, visits from far away friends, lots of catching up, lots of cleaning and re-organising rooms (I can now see the floor in my boys room!) lol.

Oh... and lots and lots of time spent focussing on my health and fitness.  Taking a little extra time to really plan and organise meals for maximum health benefit.  No leaving things until the last minute and making do with less than perfect food choices!  I'm sure we all do that every now and then.... :)  And then there is the exercise!  All I can say is that the 12WBT has restored my love of really feeling good.  A feeling that can only be borne from almost getting spat off the treadmill because you genuinely couldn't put one more foot in front of the other.  ;) ... or from doing so many squats in a session that your subsequent jelly legs mean even the most mundane of tasks, such as visiting the little girls room, poses a whole world of threatening scenarios.  Enough said! hehee.

To say that I have embraced a new direction is quite understated.  I feel motivated and energised.  I love it!!

The good thing is I can see some spare time on the immediate horizon.  Woohoo.  I've got some ideas that I can't wait to put on paper.  For now though, how about I share the October Kraft It Up challenge that went up today?  This month you need to create a layout using ONE of the following styles....
* Monochromatic

* Minimalist

* Vintage/Romantic/Shabby Chic

Remember your creation must be based on Kraft or Kraft PP.

I opted for the Monochromatic style.  I find it quite difficult to resist the temptation to add another pop of contrasting colour with your embellies, however if you complement this style with a photo containing a contrasting colour, it is so worth it.  It serves to really accentuate your photo.

{walk with me}

I have used some of that yummy Tim Holtz resist Kraft, lots of ink, glimmermist and glimmerglam to help with the monochromatic theme and, again,  I have used the frame from the Sweet Serenity digi kit by Lydell Quinn and Emma Stafrace, just recoloured.  So versatile.

The theme is so broad this month, that I'm sure it will cater to all styles. :)

Oh, and can you believe I have no family photos to share??!! Can't believe I haven't whipped that camera out for almost 2 weeks.... well, aside from this yesterday. I just couldn't resist. What holiday is complete without playdates and sugar?

OK, I think it's time to go and mess up my clean scrap space!!

Cheers for now,

Jules
x