Now don't all faint.....

...but I've done a layout!



When I saw the Gotta Craft February kit with gorgeous vintage shades and the new Prima papers that Sandra has just uploaded, I just had to combine the two for this layout. The photo was taken on my Mum and Dad’s 40th Wedding Anniversary. The Bazzill Wheat, the matching alphas, all of the buttons and the Glitz paper in the kit went so well with the Prima Madeline and Botanical ranges - they were very easy to mix and match. And being double sided meant I could totally indulge my love of layers, use them with border punches and cut elements out of them for framing and embellishments.

What Was I Thinking?.....

All this moving house business has obviously addled my brain because for weeks now the Craft Room has been neglected, left unpacked and not given the very high priority it deserves. Instead I have been foolishly cleaning the cupboard under the stairs, unpacking shampoo supplies and hanging pictures. What was I thinking?!

So this week I got my Ikea desk and chair (no Expedit book cases yet - I will have to save up a bit longer to get those) and got everything moved in.
It is a fabulous space with lots of natural light and my DD obviously agrees. She has moved in all of her paints, sparkly stick on gems and reams of coloured paper and is happily explaining the benefits of sharing our stash. Noooooo!

We're Getting There

...we're getting there seems to be my stock answer at the moment when anyone asks how it's going. In truth we have done a lot but there's an awful lot more to do. Much of this will involve me dragging the builder back by the scruff of his neck and standing over him whilst he finishes fairly crucial things like putting door handles on (I am fed up looking at blank doors and wondering which way they open) and boxing in wires and pipes and stuff.

Some of it is things we can do. We are becoming quite the little DIYers: building beds, putting up coat hooks (4 in 4 hours!), painting, removing window frames and using my new filling trowel! DH thinks we have slipped into some 1970's parallel universe as we spend weekends going to the tip and carrying furniture up and downstairs whilst wearing our "work clothes." On the downside I have no nails left. On the plus side I reckon I am burning 3000 calories a day just lugging the hoover around!

So here's the bed we built (hopefully it will stay up O.K). It was suspiciously cheap and had no instructions but DH is sure it is idiot proof. Lol I didn't like to tell him that this isn't necessarily a good thing!



This is DD's bedroom. Due to bizarre light switch / door frame shenanigans, she has ended up sleeping in an alcove behind the door which is bad feng shui but very good for fooling monkey monsters who peep in the door at midnight with the intention of stealing someone else's teeth to eat her with (DD informs me!)


and this is DS's bedroom. The builder was very sure that certain walls couldn't come down (hmmm!) so we improvised and made DS a walk in closet for all his stuff. It has worked out quite well and with our current lack of door handles he is able to trap his little sister in there and scare her witless about the monkey monsters which gets him into a lot of trouble but he still sees it as a bonus

Needless to say the kitchen, my craft room and all the other rooms are not sorted out at all yet and are still without flooring or full of boxes and bags and random assorted objects. But we're getting there!

On the Move....

This week is officially moving week so we're packing up (again), moving everything (again), embarking on a mammoth clean and sort out (again) and trying to figure out how the hob and hot water works (again!). I really sympathise with people whose jobs involve moving all around the country and frequent new houses - but then they are probably more organised and don't move to old run down wrecks!

The floors and a few finishing bits are still to be done but here's how its looking:
My craft room:



My bathroom:



and the family room / play room:



Its all pretty neutral - we'll put our own stamp on it when we've lived there a bit (and have more pennies to spend on it) but my craft room so far looks lovely and that's the most important thing (even if the painter was very negative about the lovely green I'd chosen - he opened the tin and demanded my DH ring me again to double check it was definitely correct and that I wouldn't prefer a nice dark green instead. DH said the guy was wincing as he painted it on the walls! huh the cheek!! I think its lovely!)

Cards

Sandra at Gotta Craft has the most gorgeous stamps in for Christmas and I just couldn't resist Beanie Anya which is currenly on special offer :)

I also managed to use up all of my Aloe Vera Bazzill from my last Gotta Craft kit. Isn't it just the most gorgeous shade of greeny, turquoisey teal! I must nag Sandra to get more in (she loves me nagging her really!)

Eeeek... Nearly Christmas

I do love Christmas. In fact it is my favourite time of the year but this year it has rolled around far too early. My head is still in October and cannot grasp that its less than 3 weeks until the big day!

I am trying to catch up though and so far on the festive front: I have written most of my cards and located the decorations. I have done almost all of the present shopping and ordered the food. We have also been lucky enough to win a big toy hamper in the raffle at the school fair. The kids haven't seen it yet as it arrived this morning but Christmas is coming even earlier at our house (if I'd known it was going to be so good I would have glossed over the win and wrapped everything up from Santa but its too late - they know all about winning and want to see their prize!)

Things rumble on on the house front. The partition walls are down, the roof is up and most of the electrics are done so its progress. Here is a piccie of my bedroom (well DH's bedroom too not that he's had much input lol):


The door on the left will lead to a little ensuite and the door on the right is a walk in closet. The photo was taken last month - I really must get some new photos of it this week as when the madness is over I want to scrap it all so that I can look back on it and vow never to do anything so mad again. Next time we move I want a totally totally finished house that doesn't need so much as a light bulb changed!

Bad Blogger

Apologies - I have been a very bad Blogger. We had a lovely Summer Holiday (which now seems months away as is usual with these things!) and returned to settle the children into their new school. They are doing really well so far :)
The same week, we discovered that after months of paperwork, we finally have planning permission to move (the house we are moving to was used as a business so it needs official permission to make it residential again) so now its full steam ahead with packing up a house and a garden. It was so much easier when we moved here from a little flat. Where on earth does all the junk come from over the years?!

So anyway - those are my excuses for being very quiet and not so crafty these past few weeks. I am having a last minute flurry of card making and scrapbooking before my craft stuff is relegated to packing boxes (oh yes - I forgot to mention - we're not just moving but overhauling the new house too so the nearest I'm going to get to paint techniques for a few months is a big roller and a jumbo can of white gloss!) Still it will be nice when its done (deep breath and repeat....nice when its done, nice when its done...lol)

Luckily I will still have my Gotta Craft kit coming every month to give me a fix of the newest stash and the most gorgeous papers. I have also been drooling over their new CC stamps (Autumn themed and soooo pretty) that are new in. I have used the Fall Birgitta one to create this card for my lovely Niece