It’s this tired old look that’s being renovated, and I’m going for a whole new design, with this gorgeous studio on the right as my inspiration.

I figured, if I can’t have my own dedicated work space yet, I might as well redesign my blogs to look as good as Posie’s studio!

I’m going with fresh pink, green, cyan & yellow accents on a clean, white background:

But it has.

So much has happened in that time that I don’t really know where to begin. So, just a quick update today, without too much overwhelming detail.

We got Mr Bumps’ first school report in June, and the only concern his teacher had was that he’s too quiet.
I had to check that she had the right child. Seriously.

Wren had some issues in July and September with Zoe, a ‘friend’ who is somewhat controlling & told her to jump in the lake.
I was soooo proud!

Mr Blogs is still doing the work of two separate positions at work, and ended up taking some stress leave in October.
I could biatch about it, but we do enough of that at home.

We have our fingers crossed for something soon, because with Mr Blogs overworked and run-down, Mrs Blogs (me) gets run-down coping with the housework & Mr Blogs’ mother-in-law (Granma) has been doing the school run & the washing for the last 7mths.

For myself, I’ve actually been working on some other blogs, which seem to have taken off quite well.
I’ll write more about those another time, because I’m starting to get a bit tired now.

Hope you’re all keeping well and happy out there, sorry for being such a stranger!

Cheers,
Jane

• I found curtains for the kids’ rooms & the lounge room, and almost finished sewing a pair of curtains for our dining room.
  {by hand, because my machine is still packed away}

• I’ve altered a skirt for Wren’s period school excursion later this month, and am hunting down a cream blouse to match.
  {she’s either a convict or a lady, but she’s cute either way}

• Last night, I began a Birthday Garland {thankyou, SouleMama} for Wren’s birthday in October, and will share with you as it progresses.
  -With this much time up my sleeve, I should be able to finish it by hand if my machine hasn’t emerged yet. So no excuses.

• Wren had her first cubs camp the other weekend.

• The Bump had a sleepover at Granma’s place the same weekend.

• WonderHubby & I spent that weekend, from 7am Saturday until 2:30pm Sunday, alone together.
  It was the first time we’ve had for us for a few years, and it was wonderful.

• We found a fantastic computer cupboard at the op shop, which looks fabulous in our home.

• Our old computer came out of contract and we’ve bought a new one outright, which put an end to some of our debt, and lowered our monthly bills.

• Most of the boxes in our garage are now unpacked and we’re close to being able to put the carpet down and use it as a family room.
  {and then I can unpack my sewing machine, yay!}

• Today I even tidied the linen press {pictured}. Is it beyootiful or what?
  I had to take a picture, because it’s probably the last time it will evah be so neat.

• And blog-wise, I’ve chosen a new theme for Kidzarama and created a header image to suit.

For the moment, life is better than blogging.

Generally speaking, I’ve maintained momentum, but when it comes to writing something for my personal blog I’ve drawn a big blank… I’m disinterested.

I’m actually thinking of giving Kidzarama away.

My interests are moving away from children’s craft and into collecting craft tutorials, sewing & crochet patterns, for which I have other (blogspot) blogs.

I don’t think this is the usual “bloggers’ burnout”, as I’m keeping pace with those other blogs quite nicely.

I just think about writing something here & I’m totally uninspired.

Maybe I stopped just blogging here for the enjoyment of it & got too focused on statistics and such.

Bear with me as I figure this one out, huh?

Answer:
A fantastic Mother’s Day gift that will go on giving her warm fuzzies for months.

Here’s how to personalise Mum’s cuppa.

1. Buy a box of Mum’s favourite brand of tea and gently tear the tags off all the bags.
2. Get the kids to do lots of little drawings of a similar size to the tags.
3. Staple the new tags onto the string of each tea bag.

We bought a box of 100 tea bags, so that the treat would last for a few months, however 100 tiny drawings was a bit much to expect of my little artists.

I made up the short-fall by cutting up scraps of clean pretty fabric with pinking shears in Mum’s favourite colour (blue).

My scraps were purposely chosen, from clothing that each of us has worn in the past, to evoke lots of wonderful loving memories.

Tips:

• One thing I have learnt from doing this is that is impossible to put teabags back in their box neatly. So I’d suggest you look into getting a little gift box to scatter yours in.

• If you have problems stapling your tags onto the string, try glue instead. - or just tie the string around a scrap of fabric.

• Ideas for tag materials:
  • scrapbooking paper
  • magazine pictures
  • photos of family members
  • ribbons or woollen bows
  • crochet hearts or flowers
  • beads and buttons

Wishing you all a warm & loving Mother’s Day this year.