Houses of the big and small variety

Hello! How are you all. Wow it seems forever since I shared creative stuff with you all! I have been creating a little bit, and I'll share a layout with you down further in my post. Time is at a premium right now though. Because on top of my job, and caring for my little family and our house, we are right in the thick of a new project... building a house! Eeek :).

It is something that Phil has wanted to do for ages - a hobby, if you like (!). And it kicked off a few months back. He is acting as the owner/builder. Which, yep, you guessed it - means every single decision and activity is up to us. It is certainly keeping him - and therefore by association, me - very busy.

If you're on Pinterest you may have noticed me busily pinning inspirational pictures of bathrooms and kitchens over the last few weeks. For instance, these stunning kitchens:

from ceasarstone.com.au

from desiretoinspire.net

 And some bathrooms:

 

from housetohome.co.uk

from hgtv.com

Finally, after several weeks of poring over decor magazines and websites we have decided on the house decor, the tiles, the kitchen and counters and now it's all systems go with getting it all installed in the house.

This is not a house for us to live in. Unfortunately - because it is going to be beautiful when it's completed. We will put it on the market and sell it. Phil is already scouting out land and dreaming up ideas for his next big project...

So, now... scrapbooking activities. This week sees two new series start on the Aussie Scrap Source blog. The first continues on with something we started a while back, and that is reflecting on generational changes and similarities. Each week we wil tackle a different topic area and we are invite readers to submit their own pages - using predominantly products stocked by Aussie Scrap Source - and the DT will choose a winner each week who will receive a prize pack!!

This week's theme is leisure and playtime, and you have until 17 August to send your layouts in. Submission details are on the blog here. This is what I created:

 

Journaling: When she was growing up my Mum had a playhouse in the backyard. Years later when my sister and I were growing up, the playhouse was still there, but it was run down and we weren't really allowed to play in it. I remember wishing that it was still new, and imagining the fun make-believe games I could play. I was always fascinated by dolls houses. I never had one though. Fast forward forty years and I had my own child - a son. It didn't occur to me that he would be interested in dolls houses. So imagine my surprise when, while at the toy library one day, he chose a beautiful pink dollhouse. A dollhouse! And why not? Little boys like to imitate home-life too. And I was quite happy to play alongside him.

Hah! Continuing today's theme ;). Doll houses.

When I had a son I didn’t expect that playing with doll houses would be in my future. In fact, when Jamie was an infant and I borrowed toys from the local toy library, I always steered clear of the pink dolls houses. In my stereotyping (argh!) it didn't occur to me to take them home with me.

But, of course, little boys like to copy daily life just as much as little girls! When he was a bit older and able to make his own choices, he had no qualms at all about the cream and pink dolls houses with the pretty little dolls and chairs and make-believe prams. Lesson number seven thousand and two: don't stereotype!

Jamie borrowed several doll houses during his time at the toy library. And I got a chance to relive my love of dolls house. Oh how times have changed though, now that he’s nearly six. He turned his nose up at these photos of himself the other day. I had a few left over from making the page and gave them to him when he was doing some "scrapbooking" of his own. Urgh, he exclaimed. Just not cool Mum! I do not want to look at those photos!

My layout features Crate Paper’s Emma’s Shoppe collection, tempered with a few boyish bits and pieces from Crate's Toy Box. Crate is, hands down, my favouite manufacturer right now :). I also threw on a few little flowers. Just because I could. Oh, and a doll :) - not often that happens!

The second series is a Colour Series. Each week the design team will explore one facet of colour theory and how it can be translated into perfect scrapbooking pages. This week we are looking at primary, secondary and tertiary colours. The DT has created amazing pages for you to draw inspiration from. Check them out here.


Well, that's it for me today. Whew, that was a long post. Talk soon!

Kathie xx