Long Distance Friend

Wow! 2 months since my last post! We have been very busy though:

• Our biggest news is that we've finally bought a house- yay! Although the downside to this is having to move back in with my mum after 10 years away, as our landlord won't extend our contract. Lots of packing going on here and decisions as to what can go into storage and what is going to mums. The upside is that it should only be for a month and not paying rent means more money to spend on the new place. Plus Kev and I see this as 2 live in babysitters.... (Just joking mum!)




• I increased my hours on a temporary basis from Feb- April to 80% which was just something else to re-timetable into our week childcare wise etc. However, the money was much appreciated especially with the imminent house move.




• Kev also accepted a new job offer and a promotion so he's feeling really positive workwise too.




• As a trade off to being so busy though my project life took a bit of a back burner. I've spent much of Easter holidays catching up with this so I can share it on here soon. Keep checking back.

Doing so much PL though meant that I haven't done any traditional scrapping for ages so at our crop this week I sat and did two LO's, one of which I'll post today as it's my favourite.

I just love all the monochrome neutrals together using different papers from some old Studio Calico kits. The design was from a Sarahs Cards Retreat class created by Jen Nualls (find her blog here or over at the Sarahs cards blog). I didn't go on the retreat but someone else did and showed me how to recreate the look. Really, really love it and will be doing a similar technique soon I'm sure.

This LO is all about how I met my friend Suz who is part of my Creative Army (if you get the Ali Edwards newsletters you should get what I mean by that!). Her blog is here. Drop by and leave her a message, I'm sure she'll love it!

Home (for now)

Ok, I'm gonna admit it! I love this LO! I know I probably shouldn't admit this outloud but I do!

As soon as I saw that hexagon patterned paper in my Studio Calico kit I knew that I wanted to use it for these instagram photos that I took of the area I live.

One October afternoon, I walked through the village with my phone snapping away at local landmarks or areas of interest that just make me smile.

All the map patterns were just perfect and I'm so please this turned out as I wanted.

We moved house in Autumn into a neighbourhood we've always dreamed of living in. Events that unfolded weren't ideal and the house we wanted to buy didn't come through but renting for now will help us meet our aims with regards to Jacks school choices. We really hope that given the current economic situation too, that having no chain will pay off when a house we want does come up. The only issue is that this area is so lovely houses rarely come on the market- it really is a patience game for us at the moment.

In the meanwhile I plan to really enjoy the village atmosphere and that all our friends live locally.

Home for now anyway. With luck, 2012 has bigger and better property opportunities opening up for us.