Same supplies, many looks!

Remember the little scrapbooking challenge I talked about a while back; the final results are in, go and see what the other ladies did with their kits.

Here's my main layout; the bottle cap came off, it didn't belong there in the end :) The scan is horrid because the tile on the top is superthick!

Spend Less in September: The End?

Last day of September and the time to wrap up my ”Spend less”-month… Moneywise I did ok; I kept my shopping budget and while I did have a few coffees and beers along the road, I still have a few euros left. My in-laws stopped by with a huge sack of potatoes and bottles of home made blackcurrant juice and berries and oh yes, they brought coffee, too, so we have a great start for October!

I didn’t buy any craft supplies and somewhere along the third week I stopped visiting my fav. online stores. I’m halfway sorting out my current stuff and quite a few things will be sold or donated! (and contrary to my previous MO, this will not mean that I can buy new stuff, lol)

Did I get to spend more quality time with my family? Yes and no; this was a rough month for us all for many reasons which I will not explain here, but there were some beautiful moments that I will cherish.

Did I watch less tv? Oh well, Grey’s Anatomy started so that added an hour a week to my preprogrammed viewing. But it was ok, because I knitted at the same time!

This was never just about the money, not for me or for any of the other people who were participating. For me it was about looking at my spending habits and realising that comfort does not come in a pretty package at 9.95 only.

Please excuse me, I will now go and make my donation to Save the Children.

I don't think I will crop another photo...

So I went a little overboard when I thought it might be fun to crop a photo :) This little 6 x 6 page is one of the things I made for the "sama supplies"-challenge described below.

Congrats Roni!!

The 2007 Ranger Design Team was announced yesterday and one of the talented people on the list is Roni Johnson, a supertalented, supersweet lady whom I've met at the about.com forum -- I've been in her swaps, so I've seen her wonderful work IRL, too!
Congrats Roni, can't wait to see what you come up with next year! In the meanwhile, you can see Roni's work e.g. here.

Waste no Scraps.

I've been working on my challenge layout (see previous posts for details) and here's a little teaser; a card I made using scraps.




Stamp from Finnstamper.com says "Congratulations".

Spend less in September: 30€ Totally Wasted.

I spent about 30€ on something that easily counts as unnecessary; I went out. No excuses, it was money wasted BUT I had a lovely time. Had two drinks, and shared a coffee with a friend (as I ran out out money, lol).

I'm a little bit dissappointed in me but I will not hold this against myself; I've still spent 0€ on craft supplies, and spent a lot less in food than normally.

It's a Challenge: Update.

I've almost finished my "same supplies, many looks"-challenge" but I cannot get a bottle cap and the green foil into the page; I have no ideas of how to use them in the LO I have... I will go back upstairs and stare at them some more.

Spend less in September: Dental Care.

OK, I will not cancel my dental appointment because it's September, I will pay the approx. $50 that it costs and be happy that I only have one chipped tooth rather than several cavities. DD had an appointment today, and that was free of charge. Most days I really appreciate the taxes we pay and the services we get in return; today is one of those days.

Oh and my shopping yesterday went well, got milk, bread, bananas, carrots and eggs. Will go for minced meat today. Been using up a lot of things in the cupboards (we don't have a pantry in the scale most people do) and discovered some out of date items that got tossed. Will try to clean the linen closet this evening.

Spend less in September: I don't want to shop.

I need to go to the supermarket today and I don't want to. Very strange.

Swaps.

Again, some ATCs for a swap. Romance and nostalgia.



Oh and I normally don't bother with cool techniques, but did use masking to add the little angels to the canvas :)

It's a Challenge!

Some time ago I signed up for a "same supplies, many looks" challenge at my fav. forum at about.com. I got my amazing kit today, you can see it here -- if the link works, that is! I got the kit #12. I'm trying to come up with ideas this weekend, but you see, there's the patterned paper that I fear :)

Spend Less in September: Temptation.

I think I will need to limit my online time because I keep coming across wonderful sites that have lovely things that tempt me, like these stamps. As it is, I have many stamps I rarely use, so I will go upstairs, dig into my stash and see if there is anything I can sell or give away. Wish me luck!

Spend less in September: Oatmeal Success.

Another babystep: DD is generally very good about eating her oatmeal, she has it in daycare every morning and enjoys an occassional bowlful in the evening at home, but lately she's been asking for more "fun" breakfast items during the weekends. This weekend, however, oatmeal was a success because I called it "the ultimate breakfast that many figure skaters enjoy". (DD has just started skating lessons.) She even drank a glass of milk, which is very rare!

It's all about the marketing, isn't it, creating the want and the need. Hey if I can pull this off with a 5-year-old, no wonder the marketing professionals can make me crave for all sorts of weird and unnecessary things :)

Fading Memories.

ATCs for a swap. Did he walk away from her, leaving her with a goodbye note, or is she reading and dreaming of him... (I'm tempted to add "who can say", an inside joke, sorry)

Proceed with caution.

Here's a little something I made last night: acrylics and magazine cutouts and dymo on a canvas panel (12 x 18 cm). The texts say: "Are you confident with your personal hygiene when you meet her or go out" and "is it forbidden from young girls".