Kaz is still here !

Well hello there..I am still here. LOL. Gee it has been nearly a year. Updating to facebook often and having a page for my cards I have neglected my blog. But I think I might start it up. Can't say I will be regular. Don't want to make promises. But I will try. I have lots to tell you.

So stay tuned.

Cheers Kaz

and so the holidays come to an end...

we have had some fun. I had last week off work, and took Harry to see Despicable Me, which we both really enjoyed. Then I was lucky enough to take a little trip to Canberra to visit their hospital and Community Health Service to suss out their asthma services. They run things very similiar and have the same sort of issues (like getting referrals and funding).
On the weekend the kids enjoyed the company of their cousin and we had a family day out at Ashcombe maze. I was a bit freaked out and worried I was going to get lost, or lose them, hehe. But is wasn't as bad as I thought, and we had a wonderful time. The sun was shining too so that was perfect, because it has only been peaking out here and there. We had a visit from my sister too, and just spent time at home. Always nice to see her, and the kids just love her so much.
I have been at work this week, and had the opportunity to attend a lovely (free) dinner at Brighten Baths tonight, for a drug company sponsored presentation about allergic rhinitis. How funny when I sneezed right in the middle of the talk, hehe.

Oh and last Saturday i took the opportunity to be far away from a TV and the AFL grand final and headed to a scrap crop. I had a lovely time and completed 5 layouts and 2 cards. The layout above is my favourite layout from the crop. And I purchased a punch, which is now my new favourite punch, by EK success, which i will share with you next time...
This weekend is for regrouping, because with all of the above I have hardly been home, and feel like everything is a mess, and Mark is working 12 hour days, so I don't need any extra outings or visitors. Just want to chill with the kids, clean up and have time to get sorted for back to school and routine too.
Hope you are all well, thanks for stopping by
Cheers Karen

Happy Spring...

or is it, hehe.. It is raining cats and dogs in Melbourne, although I am finding it a little muggy..strange. and now it is sunny in the afternoon.

This is just a quick pop in as I am off to a HEN"S NIGHT. This could end in disaster...LOL. I am really looking forward to a girly night out.

A special Hi to Jo this time....thanks for stopping by my dearxxx


I have barely scrapped in between retreats this year, and mojo is lacking I must say. I forced myself to do this last week, and finish it off last night. I don't like it at all, but wanted to share it anyway, to just say, not every layout hads to be "perfect"

There was a bit of dirt on the bottom too, courtesy of my kids and this layout sitting in the loung all week, so I disguised it with some inking, lol!

Ok I have also set up a little card/invite store on facebook...just search it - Bunkaloo Design, I hope you 'like" it. Have a fab weekend, and pray my feet last the night in my killer heels.

xx Kaz

A special update...

for Deb....cause someone reads my blog....woo hooo. Thanks love xxx

I would love to update more, but I get soo bloody side tracked with facebook and life in general I forget I even have a blog. I forget that there might be people who are not my 'friends' on facebook who might want to see a card or layout, or even hear what i have been up to.



Well I haven't been up to anything much really. I have started doing Zumba classes on a Thursday night, which is really fun and I haven't worked up a sweat like that in a million years.. I am slowly moving forward to getting healthier, but my motivation is going at about a snails pace!!

Slow and steady, hey?
The kids are great...busy, interested and into everything, wanting everything...like most kids I assume. Emmy is 4 tomorrow. OMG she has grown up so quick, I mean really quick, she acts 23 already, LOL. Stay tuned for pics of her party

Mark's back is still playing up, and so finally an MRI revealed he has a bulging disc and a fracture. The GP is useless, and I am trying to get him to go back to a physio. And despite all of that he is still insisting on doing the Shep half ironman in November, and the New Zealand Ironman in March next year. Crazy I tells ya..

Ok I have dragged up two creative things for you.. The card was for a challenge with a scrap shop Brittanahlee, of which I won, yea...and the layout I did on my retreat with the same shop..in Heathcote recently.




ThAnKs for StOpPinG by xxxx Cheers karen

School Holidays

are a fairly new concept to me. With Harry only starting school this year, I am still adjusting to the whole routine of it. And school holidays are no exception...

What it basically means is my days off are not my own, and I don't mean because i have my children with me...but because it has meant I have an extra kid. And I reckon that third kid just tips me over the edge. I actually took 3 of them to day 1 of the KMart toy sale..Not sure what i was thinking...it wasn't mega terrible. But it was just tiring trying to keep 2 eyes on 3 kids going in different directions, in a busy store. I knew 3 kids wasn't for me!

The good thing about school holidays is I get to enjoy the company of my sister. We haven't done anything too exciting. More having fun with the kids. We took them to Toy Story 3, which I really enjoyed (Harry cried at the end, and that made me cry, hehe), and went out for lunch.


The kids and I also enjoyed an overnight stay in Ballarat, which wasn't too cold. We stayed at my brother Jon and his wife Leia's and had yummy noodle box for dinner. Love a good cheap feed..

I must go and get some washing on the line, although I am not convinced it will dry. It is only 9 degrees, but it is sunny..I don't generally waste my time hanging washing out in winter. But I don't think I have space today for all of my loads to hang around inside.

Right, I must get to it. I want to sort packs to take to my scrapping retreat in 2 weeks, and get Emmy's 4th birthday party invites done! Aaaagh, whenever there is a million things to do, I always reassure myself that it is okay because after this, it will all calm down. But there is always something to sort out, LOL!

This is a layout i did at a recent crop at my LSS. I decided to lash out for the day and took no papers with me. It was lovely to have new stuff for all of the layouts i completed. It helped freshen up my mojo!

Cheers to a great weekend peeps xxxx

Welcome back

well I will welcome myself back....LOL..

It has been awhile, but i know lots of my friends have not updated their blogs for a whole lot longer, so i don't feel as bad!

So news is, pretty soon I will no longer be a Stampin Up consultant..I have failed in keeping up with the minimums. I am happy though, because I still love and will use their products.

I am however a Chefs toolbox consultant. I saw the product (kitchenware - knives, cookware and silicone bakeware) recently and new I HAD to have it in my home. So the cheapest and quickest way to do this was to sell it. Give me a yell if you would like any details, or you can check out the products and order directly at -

www.chefstoolbox.com/my/karenskitchen/

You can find product specials, hints and recipes on facebook too, just search Chefs Toolbox Karen Yates

I haven't really scrapped since the retreat. Just haven't had the time or energy. But i have made a few cards. So here are a couple -

I have used my three favourite Stampin' Up! products of the moment..The Top Note die, the Robot Stamp Set and The Bird Punch.

I am excited because I am going to a spur of the moment scrapbooking retreat at the end of July with 1 of my best buddies and my sister. It will be awesome.

Family are all doing well, hubby hurt his back recently, after a wall fell on him at work, so he is slowly recovering, and keen to get right back into training, having registered for the Shepparton Half Ironman and the New Zealand Ironman in March. Emmy is her usual cheeky self, although has had a shocker of a cough for about a month. Harry is looking forward to school holidays. I had a gastroscope yesterday, because i have fairly persistent reflux. Turns out I have a hiatus hernia, which means control with diet and medications. (Losing weight would help too, which is really on my to do list, just need to find motivation and devotion)!!

OK, hopefully I can stay on top of this and share some family and creative info for you more often.

Life spins by..

I really can't keep up. It is April already and Term 2 of school. We had a wonderful trip to Port Macquarie. I wanted to just pop in and say hello. Here is a picture of me doing the giant swing on my recent scrap retreat. This is how life feels sometimes....just spinning. But alas I hold on tight to the rope and (try to) take control!

and one of my favourite recent layouts...


This picture is of Emmy at the beach in Inverloch. I love it..
Ok now I will be back soon with some new SU products.. Just had to get on the other computer to load a card I made with said product.
Enjoy your weekend
Cheers Karen