What a Fun Process!

It's been a while since I've been invovled in a scrapping contest and although I didn't realize it, I've really missed it. I made it to round 2 in the Scrapartist Apprentice contest this week and that's always a great feeling :) Plus, I've really enjoyed the process in this contest - I've really let myself take the time to revel in a bit of stewing on my designs! So, for the last few days, I've been filtering ideas and letting things simmer in my head a bit (it sounds like I'm cooking something here doesn't it LOL!). For this round, they've asked us to create a solid paper and a patterned paper with an emphasis on texture - they even gave us some gorgeous inspiration to start from :) I've settled on what I want to do for my solid paper now, just have to decide on a pattern for the patterned paper. The entries already up are gorgeous by the way - there is gonna be some tough competition in this round! Be sure to check them out :)

On another scrapping-related point, I saw on Anna Aspnes blog that she has a new pre-made album coming to Designer Digitals Sunday and it looks really cool! Lots of layering, brushwork, etc. - all that fabulous Anna style! I'm not usually one for templates and ready-made albums, but this is gonna be an exception :)

Oh, one more thing, we finally joined Netflix (which is great by the way!) and I got RV this week. I tried to watch it, I really did, but I only made it about 45 minutes before I couldn't take anymore. I love Robin Williams, so it made me sad, but it just really wasn't good. Batman Begins is in the mail to us right now - hopefully it will be better :) I like a good comicbook/superhero movie, so I'm hopeful! Which also reminds me, Heroes was great on Monday night! Another show to add to my list of things I can't miss - right now that list has only three other occupants (The Office, Project Runway and How I Met Your Mother), so it's time for some new blood :)

A Little Plug

For my wonderful friend Ursula Schneider! I got my Scrapgirls newsletter today and saw it's official - Ursula is a Scrapgirls designer! Her first kit(pictured at left) is red (one of my favorite colors) and just wonderful! You can check it out HERE.

It's Monday . . .

... and once again the weekend went by too fast. But, at least there's lots of great stuff going on! I'm on pins and needles waiting for the next round in the Scrapartist Apprentice challenge! Plus, I'm hosting the Outside the Box challenge this week, so be sure to check it out! The challenge this week is inspired by an old Project Runway challenge (and yes, I'm completely obsessed with that show LOL) - they had to take the outfit they had on and make a completely new one. I did the same thing with an old layout :) You can check out the challenge HERE. Also, in the Digital Brew, we're featuring Dagmar as our Fresh Brew, so be sure to check her out - I just love her layouts!

I also have an interesting case at work, haven't had a criminal one in a while, so it's a nice change to have one again - it's a Miranda warning question. Very interesting stuff - these are the cases that remind me why I went to law school.

I also have to admit that I ate terribly this weekend - we went to a barbeque at one of Bob's friend's houses on Saturday and I went a little nuts LOL. But, I figure it won't kill me to cut loose once and a while. It was weird though - the first time since I started this whole diet thing in the beginning of August that I didn't keep track of what I ate and didn't even worry about how much or what. Honestly, I don't think I'll do it too often - I just felt yucky Sunday morning. It's amazing how much difference diet makes to your energy level and overall feeling of health.

Finally, I opened up a little Cafepress shop the other day. It's just one design and it's not scrapping related, but it's something I wanted for myself so I figured I'd put it up for sale. I'll warn ya though, I'm pretty much a pacifist and it shows - you can check it out HERE. I want to add some scrapping designs too, but that'll have to wait until later. In the meantime, I've got a t-shirt from Scrapartist and one from Rhonna sitting in my cart, waiting on payday :)

What a Weekend!

Well, lots to talk about today LOL! On Saturday Ursula and I made the trek up to Phoenix for the CK Convention! It was loads of fun - mainly due to the company! I've said it before, but I really think that the internet is a wonderful way to meet people and make friends! Although we haven't known each other all that long, she really feels like an old friend to me in a lot of ways - it was great to spend some time together in person! As for the convention - it was pretty cool. I bought the Urban Coutoure collection from Basic Grey and a 6x6 pad of their new design Lily Kate. I also got some great fibers, a pad of Life's Journey paper, a few necklace charms and some Diamond Glaze (which Ursula had to explain to me LOL), and a ton of stuff from Lil Davis who had a $1 and $2 booth. Sadly, when we were just about to pay after waiting in the huge line at Lil Davis the fire alarm went off and everyone had to vacate the building! It was a little crazy, but we got back in within 20 minutes or so I guess and were able to pay for our stuff right away. It made for some excitement, but it wasn't too bad!

From the Convention, we went out to check out the Bazzill Warehouse sale in Chandler. If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it! I left there with a big box of 8.5x11 paper, tons of envelopes, a few fibers, a bunch of their great little books (gatefold, accordian, zippered, and coin holder) and even an idea book for $40! My paper stash is probably set for a couple of years now LOL! We had a late lunch/early dinner and made one last stop at Ikea before heading back to Tucson.

Then last night I put the finishing touches on my kit for the Scrapartist Apprentice contest (pictured at left). I'm really happy with how it turned out. No matter how I end up doing, I've already learned a lot in the process! I actually had most of it done about a week ago, but I had to put together a preview and I finished that off last night. Somehow that's always the trickiest part of a kit for me LOL! Anyway, be sure to check out all the entries the Apprentice gallery - there's some great freebies there already! And, you can pick up my freebie here

Justice Ginsburg

I had the opportunity to hear Justice Ginsburg speak this week at the UA Law School. We are fortunate here to have had several justices visit us, including O'Connor and Rehnquist (I even took a class from him!), but I sort of figured that with Rehnquist's passing and O'Connor's retirement the days of Justices in Arizona might be over for a time. But, the school managed to get Ginsburg to come for one of its big speaking series to discuss the impact that O'Connor and Rehnquist had on the Court and her experiences with them. It was really interesting - she was thoughtful and funny (albeit in the way that only lawyers really find funny LOL) and it really got me thinking about how blessed I am as a woman to live at this place and time in history. Even as late as the 1970's, it is unlikely that I would have the opportunities that I do today, particularly in the legal field. It's easy to forget how things were and to take for granted the rights we have today. Hearing about the experiences of the brave women like O'Connor and Ginsburg who entered the field before me always inspires me to do more and to make the most of the opportunities I have! All in all, I was honored to hear her in person and it inspired the layout at left :)
And, by the way, how great are these papers by Vera Lim? They're from her new Autumn Days kit - gorgeous! And, Jennifer Howland's Dirty Flourish brushes rock too - I love the one I used here! Thanks to Rhonna Farrer for the great font tip too - the title is Newcastle which she suggested on her blog and I love it!

My First Ever Convention

That's right, I'm finally going to my first ever CK Convention - the one up in Phoenix this weekend! Ursula and I are heading out Saturday morning to hit the vendor's fair. I didn't sign up for classes or anything, some of them look okay, but I'm not really sure that a lot of them are really my thing. But, I am excited to see how these things are and, of course, to get a look at some great goodies all in one place! And, I'm hoping for a stop at Ikea too and that's always fun! If you have any advice on must-see things at the Convention, let me know - I think I'm gonna be a little overwhelmed LOL!

In health-plan related news, I weighed myself this morning and I'm down 14.5 pounds! And, I'm pretty well adjusted to the new diet now - I went to get some things at the grocery store last night and I had no problem walking past the candy aisle without even slowing down :) I got some grapes and peaches for sweets and, in my one indulgence for the moment, a bag of Sun Chips for our favorite salsa. If you're a salsa fan you should try it (if you can find it) it's Sting and Linger, the medium or the pineapple flavors - we get a lot of good salsa around here, but it's my favorite by far!

I guess that's it for now - be sure to stop by Scrapartist and check out the Digitial Brew! Everyone who participates meaningfully will be getting a great freebie from Michelle, so don't miss out! And, keep an eye out for some fun new challenges coming at the Digichick soon too - with our new CT members now on board, the creative juices are really flowing over there!

Thoughts on Today

First of all, the all new Digital Brew starts up at Scrapartist today! So, be sure to stop by and check out all the great inspiration! We're focusing on white space, titles and the fabulous art work of AKSheridan in the Fresh Brew and some journaling ideas in the House Brew! I really can't tell you how excited I am about the whole thing! I'm having a great time working with Candy and Lauren and I think it's gonna be a great place for all kinds of artists to hang out and share inspiration! I hope you'll be a part of it :)

On a much less enjoyable, albeit necessary note, I feel compelled to write a bit about my thoughts on 9-11. Five years later, it seems that everyone is in the mood to comtemplate that day and what it has meant for our country and I'm no different. It was definitely a day I won't ever forget. I woke up early that morning, Bob went to work at 6 or 6:30 am or something, so we were always up really early. I saw him off to work and went back to my own apartment (we lived next door to each other then) and turned on the morning news. Since we're three hours behind the east coast at this time of year, the first plane had just recently hit. They were saying that they thought maybe it was an accident, everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. But, I spent some time in New York in college and I couldn't imagine how it could be an accident, I mean I didn't even remember hearing planes overhead while I was there. As I was thinking this, the second plane hit. I couldn't believe it. I sat there, staring at the TV for a few minutes and then picked up the phone to call Bob at work. He had already heard too, so we talked for a minute, I don't even remember what we said other than I love you, and I hung up to get ready for class. I was in law school then - my first year - and although I just wanted to sit glued to my TV, I had to get to class. So, I got dressed and went, still shocked that New York, a city I loved, a city that seemed so immense and permanent and untouchable to me, was in smoke. I'll tell you, if there's anything more bizarre than discussing civil procedure and contract law in the face of all the pain and destruction, I don't know what it is. Our professors all thought we should go forward with class, so we did. But, people were on cell phones, trying to contact friends and loved ones in New York and we brought TV sets out into the lobby - everyone just sat there between classes in stunned silence, watching events unfold. Some of us got together to pray, others just hugged each other and cried. The law school environment is very intense, especially in that first year, and I think that really magnified the experience of that day for many of us. It was just such a weird contrast - to realize how insignificant the whole thing was in the face of these events and yet to still have to continue, because despite what happened, you were still in law school and all those pressures were still there. After that, I was glued to the news for days. I don't remember when I had to stop watching, but that time did come. Then slowly, life returned to normal, but always with that renewed reminder that we never know when our time will come. I had always been one to kiss my loved ones goodbye each day, to tell them I loved them and that I appreciated them, but 9-11 really drove that home for me. I still get up every morning (now at 5:30am) to make sure my husband knows he's loved each day when he leaves for work. A lot has changed since then, but that lesson of the preciousness of life and its fleeting nature has really stuck with me.

More important than my memories of that day, however, are my feelings about where we have come since then. Honestly, it makes me feel guilty, but it's hard for me to commemorate that day because I feel like we have lost so much in the last five years. The fear and uncertainty that that day brought about has been used to erode the very values that are at the core of our nation's strength and unique character. In this country, we honor the rule of law, we don't accuse judges of helping the enemy; we denounce torture and other human rights violations, we don't seek to hide it and excuse it by splitting hairs over definitions; we live in freedom and the knowledge that the government can't search our homes without cause, we don't have laws that allow agents to enter our homes without our knowledge and list to our phone calls without a warrant. Sadly I'm not sure those things are true anymore. I hope that like the times of national crisis we have faced in the past, the fear of this time will pass and those things will be true again. I hope that in the face of the evil that showed itself on 9-11 we will not let evil take hold of us too, but that we will instead hold firm to our values, to our beliefs, to the things that make this country great. I hope that we will chose freedom over fear. Because in the end, as Benjamin Franklin once wrote, "those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." In the meantime, as I remember 9-11, I pray for our leaders, for our troops, for our citizens and even for our enemies. Let us all hope that a new era of peace and freedom may begin.

Just a couple of layouts to share!

I haven't posted layouts here in a while, so I thought I'd share a few today :) The one of my Gramps is one of my new favorites - I just love that picture of him!

A New Bag

Well, this has certainly been an exciting week so far! I'm down to a grand total of 12 pounds lost so far which makes me really happy! I bought myself a fun handbag as a little reward for my first ten pounds lost - I find that rewards really help my motivation LOL! You can check it out at left :)

Also, we added three new Chicks at The Digichick! It's always exciting to get new CT members and these three are fantastic! We chose Angelina Schwarz (AngelinaS), Nikki Beaudreau (nbeaudreau), and Karen Wong (Hom74). It was so hard to decide who to vote for! It's always pretty tough, but this time was particularly hard - so many great candidates! But, I think we made a great choice in the end - I'm really excited to work with these ladies!

In other great contest news - Scrapartist is holding an Apprentice contest! They're giving everyone a chance to sell in the Scrapartist Shoppe! I mean how fantastic is that?! I'm actually thinking of entering, although I'm not sure if I'm ready for it (read that to mean mainly not sure I'm good enough LOL) - but as with all contests, the only way to know is to try, right? The contest doesn't start until September 18, so I guess I have some time to stew on it. Either way it's going to be great, because if I don't enter, I'll get to see some fab new designers coming out, so it's win-win for everyone!

Lastly, be sure to keep an eye on the forums at Scrapartist for Lauren, Candy and I's great new challenge - it's really going to be a lot of fun and a lot of great inspiration! Those two are so amazing and full of great ideas - I've had a great time working with them already! That's all for now, back to work for me :) Oh yeah, in other work-related news, in addition to the three monitors they provided, I got myself a wireless keyboard and mouse, so now I am free to move :)

Christine Adolph

I don't know how I have managed to go this long without seeing this woman's artwork, but she is a genius! You can check out her work for yourself here. I just love her use of natural elements and color and texture - brilliant! She's the inspiration for the altered/collage challenge at Scrapartist this week, so I created my own piece inspired by her fabulous style!

I used Carrie Stephens fantastic Xpressions backgrounds for most of this - they're so rich and the colors are wonderful, just perfect for artsy, "quirky" stuff like this! A lot of her papers are actually great for this style, but it's really cool to get a whole pack of this kind of papers from her. If you're interested you can pick them up at Fishscraps in the clearance section for only $4!

Three Monitors!

That's right, count them, three monitors now sit on my desk at work! Our computer guy came and installed them today. It's crazy! I can have so much going on now and keep it all open in front of me. Really, for me, I think two probably would have done the trick, but I'm sure I'll find myself a good use for the third LOL! It really is cool to be able to keep the document I'm working on open and have the court record and Westlaw open at the same time. And, I'm thinking it will be pretty nice for the occasional lunch-time scrapping adventure too :) So, that's the big news for today - thought I'd share! Oh, and Bob's first day at work went pretty well too - the only bad part was that it was almost 100 degrees here yesterday. When I asked how it went, he said "it was hot" - poor guy. But, it's supposed to cool down through the week, so hopefully that aspect will get better for him.

New Schedule

Today is Bob's first day at the new job! It felt a little like the first day of school at our house last night - we bought him some new jeans to wear to work, so he was trying those on and getting everything together - all the things you have to do when you start something new. And, he has to be to work pretty early, so we got up a little after 5am today! That's a little early for me LOL! So, I went back to bed for about an hour and still had time to go to the gym before work. I really like to workout in the morning, so I think I'm going to start doing that more now that he'll be working so early in the day so we have more time at night. The only bad part is that I have to decide on what to wear before I go and that can be quite a production - I'm so indecisive sometimes LOL! Anyway, it's nice to have that already done for the day :)

Hopefully Bob's day will go well too and he'll really like the job - I'm hoping he'll call me with an update, but you know men just aren't as concerned about these things sometimes. And, he's going to try to meet up with his family this afternoon at his mom's doctor's appointment. She's been feeling sick for a few weeks now, so she's going to a gastrointestinal (no idea how to spell that) specialist of some sort. Hopefully they can figure out what's causing the problem and get her some treatment.

Other than that, I'm working on a zoning case at work, so I'm having a little trouble with motivation - they are just not very interesting cases. But, it is always important to the parties, so I always want to get it right and do the best I can to explain to them why we're deciding what we do. I also have a bunch of CT layouts to get done by the end of the month - I've finished a couple and have a few more in the works. I'm really excited to get back to a more normal schedule and to have some more time to create again. There's a lot of great stuff in the works at the Digichick with the CT call, Carrie Stephens has put out a couple of great new kits, and at Scrapartist some of us are working on a really cool new challenge, so there's a lot of fun, creative things going on for me right now too! All in all, life is good. Oh, and I've now lost about 8 pounds and I'm feeling a lot better with the healthier diet, so that's making me happy too :) Now if I can just get used to getting up bright and early again!

Two in a Row!

I know, it's shocking, two posts in a row LOL! But, I had to share this great opportunity with everybody - The Digichick is having another Creative Team call! These don't come around too often, so if you're interested in joining the Chick team, be sure to apply! We're really excited about adding some new members, with all the great talent out there right now I'm sure we'll find some wonderful additions! It's a great group of very talented scrappers, so I'd really encourage everyone to give it a shot :)

Good News

Some good news for today :) First, Bob got a new job! He'll be starting next week working for the University of Arizona as a groundskeeper. The U of A has an amazing collection of plants - it's actually an arboretum in fact - so it's a great opportunity to take care of some beautiful plant life. Plus, he'll be a state employee, so he'll get wonderful benefits, including not only health, but huge tuition discounts and even the ability to buy books and computer stuff from the campus bookstore. I'm really excited about that! I might take a few art or design classes or who knows what, plus a discount on software and computer equipment will be great! And, I think he'll really like working there - it's a great school and we always enjoy being on campus, so I think it will be a good environment to work in too.

Second, on the health front, I've lost about 6-7 pounds so far on the eating healthy/working out plan! I'm really happy with that - not only with the weight loss, but with the fact that I feel like this is something I can live with. One thing that's made that a lot easier was my purchase of Cuisinart's Griddler! If you haven't seen this thing yet, it's like a George Foreman grill, only the plates come out and it opens up all the way flat so you can cook more on it and you can use it as a griddle too (it comes with griddle and grill plates). I can cook chicken or fish on it in under ten minutes so it makes it really easy to come home from the gym and get dinner done. That's helped a lot with cutting down on eating out. I totally recommend one of these - it's worth every dime!

Finally, be sure to swing over to Scrapartist this week! The fabulous Kim Christensen joined us in the shoppe and there's some great challenges this week! We're featuring Michelle aka Mishou in the Scraplift Challenge, doing 4x6 layouts in the Outside the Box challenge and Robyn and Christine are getting inspiration from the amazing artwork of Teesha Moore in the Altered Art Challenge.

Feeling Healthy

Yeah, that's right, I'm feeling healthy! Not something I've felt for quite a while LOL, but over the last few weeks Bob and I have really been working at eating better and working out more. So, I've been going to the gym six days a week and I've almost completely given up junk food and candy! At first it was really tough, but it's gotten easier as the days have gone by. Don't get me wrong, I miss my Swedish Fish, but I feel so much better! Now if I can just stick with it :)

All of this started when I saw an Oprah talking about her bootcamp challenge - I was so inspired! But, working out eight times a week just isn't an option for me and I know that if I'm too hard on myself with food I can get crazy. The timing, however, was perfect. I had been thinking for a while about how I had become a person who ate mostly junk. We ate out alot at fast food places, we ate a lot of candy and snacks and just generally didn't eat well. I never used to be that kind of person - I have always thought of myself as a healthy person - I like healthy food and I shop at stores like Trader Joes and Wild Oats and I love Dr. Weil! But, my lifestyle was not living up to my own image of myself - over the last few years I've just gotten worse and worse. So, when I saw that Oprah, it all sort of came together. I decided that I would go back to being a healthy eater. It's definitely going to be a long process, but I'm feeling good so far. Hopefully I won't bore you all with my dietary changes, but I feel like I really want to reinforce my positive feelings about the changes and talking about them helps that along!

On an entirely different note, my little vacation was wonderful! We did some hiking and hung out with friends and just generally took it easy. Just what I needed! I got some scrapping done, but I also did a little designing. I created some botanical brushes from some of my hiking photos and made a new paper pack and I also updated an old freebie kit. You can get them both in the Scrapartist freebie section here and here. I hope you enjoy them!

Can't wait for the Party!

Vacation begins today! I'm so happy to be taking some time off from work - especially because I'm not traveling or visiting family or doing anything other than a bit of hiking and a bunch of creating. This morning I got my harddrive cleaned up a little and redecorated here a bit - both things I've been meaning to do and never felt like - it's so great to have a chunk of time to do some of those kind of things. And, for the first time, the blog is entirely my own creations - papers and alphas from the creative team kit for the big Scrapartist anniversary party. It's just a great kit - in fact, I did a layout with it today too - so many fun things :) So, be sure to check out all the challenges and fun next weekend!

Public Records Law and other excitement

Okay, first, I am a really bad blogger. Sorry about that, but it's unlikely to change LOL Second, although it's often newsworthy because it's often the news people trying to get something released, public records law is really not very exciting and I've been spending the day knee deep in it! Some interesting research tasks at least though and I always love a good hunt - it's kind of like looking for treasure :) Okay, now that the boring stuff is out of the way, the excitement!

The Scrapartist team kit is coming together for the big anniversary event on the weekend of the 29th - it's gonna be a must-attend! The kit is fantastic and there's gonna be some other great prizes too. We just have such a talented bunch over there - I am ceaselessly amazed and very grateful to be a part of it.

Next, I am loving the new Scrapbookgraphics! A bunch of Carrie's great stuff is there - I really think she's doing the best work yet right now. And, Anna Aspnes has got to stop making fantastic brushes because I'm going to run out of money buying them!

If you haven't been by the Digichick lately, definitely stop in - the boutique is full of great stuff right now - I am especially loving Jan's designs these days - and we've started a fun new Tuesday night chat centered around chick-flicks - how fun is that for the summer?

In non-scrapping news, I'm finally gonna take some time off next week. And, the best part is that we're not really going to do much of anything! Don't get me wrong, I love to travel and spend time in San Diego or Michigan or the White Mountains or whatever, but right now the idea of spending a lot more time on the couch sound incredible! No packing, no planning, just time to relax and, of course, create! I haven't had more than a weekend of just free time since after the bar exam three years ago and I am definitely ready for it!

So, there you have it, the excitement for the moment! And, just for fun, here's my latest creation - I'm going to try to force myself to do some layouts on a time constraint - I'm such a slow scrapper and although I don't generally mind that, I feel like I overanalyze things sometimes and that it would help me to just let things flow. A time limit helps with that. So, my first half-hour project is posted below :)

It's the Big Day!

That's right, the big day for Scrapbookgraphics! I've been so excited waiting to see who the new studiogirls would be - I love Maya's work and I knew another of my favorites, Carrie Stephens was on board, but there's other great designers over there too! All that to say, I need more time to get over there and shop LOL - I mean really, how am I supposed to get any work done today? Unfortunately, I have to - I've been up to my eyeballs in work this week! So, the long overdue update on the last several weeks will have to wait. But, I'll leave you with my first layout from the Day at the Spa kit from Scrapbookgraphics . . .

TGIF!

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so glad it's the weekend - this was a short week at work, but it sure felt long! We have two cases set for oral argument this month and the drafts have to go out by early next week. Thus, I had the pleasure of writing a case start to finish in about three days. I made it though, got the draft to the judge today and now I'm starting to read cases for the second one. At least they're both pretty interesting legal issues!

Today was also great fun because we posted our layouts for the Digital Art Quirks naming ceremony! Mine is posted to the left - I was really happy with how it turned out. This kind of digital art is pretty new to me, but I'm loving it - it's so fun to really get outside the usual scrapping box! Everyone created such amazing pieces of art for the ceremony - I can't believe how much talent we have hanging around that place :) You can check them all out here, and see more about the ceremony here - if you want to jump in, I think there's still time to sign up :)

Back to Work and the Greatest Giveaway EVER

Well, my nice long weekend is over - it was wonderful while it lasted, but somehow I always still want one more day LOL We didn't do much exciting - went to the gym a couple of times, watched some playoff basketball, and did a little shopping. I got a couple of fun t-shirts at Ross and a new swimsuit and Bob got some new swimming trunks too. We're going to the ocean while we're in Alabama, so we needed some new duds :) I'll tell ya though, swimsuit shopping is an unimaginable torment! I did find one I like though, so I'm happy! I also got some scrapping done which was wonderful! But, most of it was for The Muse at Scrapartist, so you'll have to wait a few more days to see it :) it's going to be a beautiful edition - everybody's work is gorgeous so far!

Okay, now, about the Greatest Giveaway Ever! I love working at Fishscraps, but I wish I could quit for a couple of months just so I could get in on this contest LOL Carrie is giving away a Canon Digital Rebel! That's right a Rebel! And, the second prize is a Wacom! Plus, she's giving away a bunch of gift certificates to the shop. All you have to do to enter is shop! For every $10 you buy until June 30, you get an entry in the drawing! You can check out all the details here : Contest Details

Is it the weekend yet?

After two days of editing the granddaddy of all divorce cases and all day today editing another case, I am about to keel over! I don't know if I've ever been so sick of looking at Westlaw! And, I really don't know what gets into people when they get divorced - these people have been in court for over 14 years and they were only married a little less than 7! It makes my head (and heart) hurt! But, at least tomorrow's Friday and I'm planning on leaving work a little early for the long holiday weekend. So if I can just make it through tomorrow morning, it's all good! I'm hoping to get a little extra scrapping time this weekend. With Bob not working and everything else going on this week, I just haven't had any time to myself and therefore little time to create. I'm getting to the point where my head is just bursting with ideas and I need to get some of them out LOL!

On a totally separate note, we had a great anniversary! We went out for dinner and had some big old steaks - I love a good New York Strip! Then we came home and watched the Suns beat the Mavs (sorry any Mavs fans out there, I know it was a heartbreaker for you guys, but we could not have been more excited!) and of course, saw Taylor Hicks crowned American Idol! I'm so happy he won, that Katherine had a decent voice and all, but her pitch was often all over the place and the whole "dad in the industry" thing rubbed me the wrong way, although I guess one never knows about these things. Anyway, I'm usually one to pull for the odd man in a competition like this, and there's no denying Taylor fits that description LOL. In any event, I'll definitely be adding to my American Idol CD collection this year - Taylor, Chris, Elliott, Paris - if they cut albums, I'll be buying :)

Okay, time to call it a day! Bob and I might take a trip to the gym just to sit in the hot tub tonight LOL - that's my kind of workout! And, I'm hoping to play some more with my new software from the Digital Scraproom - loving it so far - it'll be great to have everything where I can see it easily - it's just too hard to rely on my memory of what I have at this point, so the idea of just being able to do run a quick search for a brad makes me happy all over!

Why I'm lovin' today!

Because it's our third anniversary and my wonderful husband sent me these! You can't believe how surprised I was to get them - not because he got me flowers (he actually does that a lot), but because he had them sent to my office! First of all, I've never been the girl who gets flowers at work or school - this is the very first time. Also, I didn't think I'd ever get flowers at work because I was pretty sure he didn't know exactly where my office was LOL But, apparently he called yesterday to get the address. Now, the whole place smells like roses - what better way to pass the day :) Seriously, I'm a lucky girl!

Scrap Artist Chat!

It's time for another fabulous ScrapArtist Creative Team chat! We had lots of fun putting together another great kit and I'd love to see you at the chat on Saturday (that's tomorrow!) night at 9pm Eastern time!

It's Monday

And that means back to work for me. It was tough to get going today, Friday was Bob's last day at work, so the idea of just staying home with him another day was really, really appealing, but I guess one of us better work LOL He'll be looking for a new job now - he's got a couple of leads already, so hopefully he can find something that will be a better fit. The old place really gave him a nice send-off - got everybody pizza for lunch, gave him a bonus and even a gift certificate for the store - they were really good to him. And, they've said he can come back if he wants, but that's pretty unlikely. He really like the people and all, but it was just too much physical work for him at this point in life. I'm glad that they treated him so well though.

We had a great weekend too - it was really nice to just have a weekend to relax a bit. We were supposed to go to his brother's open house, but Bob wasn't up for it, so we stayed home. I got to peek in on the Digichick hoopla a bit and we did some stuff in the yard. I even got a start on my papers for the next Scrapartist CT kit (which is coming soon - keep your eyes peeled). All in all a great weekend, but now it's back to the grind :) Guess I better get on it, this case isn't going to write itself!

It's Saturday!

And a great one at that. We hit the gym this morning - I've been working out about three times a week for a couple of months now. It's been nice to get back to some physical activity! And, there's a salon at the gym! I just made an appointment today to get my hair cut on Tuesday night - I love that they have evening hours! I can't wait to get a cut too, it's been way too long and my hair is totally out of control LOL - it'll be nice to have more of style again!

Mainly today I'm just happy it's the weekend - a pretty long week at work for me and especially Bob. This was his last week at his job, so it really wore him down. He'll be looking for a new one soon, hopefully he can find something that doesn't involve so much physical labor - just selling plants, not loading them off of trucks for half the day. We'll see how it goes :)

I also loaded up on a lot of great Digichick stuff at the big sale today - there's really a lot of cute stuff in the boutique - it gets hard to choose LOL! Especially with everything half off! Now to just find a little time to create something this weekend - I'm really itching to sit down and create away! And, in case you think I forgot, I'm joining in the Digichick treasure hunt too - there's a piece of the gorgeous free kit - Lovely in Lilac - hidden in today's post :)

Fun Stuff

I have a couple of fun things to plug today :) First of all - some great new stuff in the shoppe at Scrapartist and at Fishscraps - be sure to check it out!

Second, if you haven't visited Digital Art Quirks yet, run, do not walk, to check it out! It is the coolest, quirkiest site out there - tons of fun and some great collage inspiration if you're looking to branch out! I'm loving it! And, I'm going to lend a bit of help to my new friend Danielle (aka Ursula)who has set up a 4x6 circle journal there that is going to be amazing - you have until June 1st to join in!

Finally, lots of fun stuff coming at the Digichick tomorrow! We're having our NSD celebration a week late to combine with our Mother's Day celebration for one huge event! The designers are doing a treasure hunt for a great free kit and there will be chats and challenges all day. I'm also going to give instructions for the tag book that I did for the DeZine issue that featured Jen Wilson's products - it's a fun altered project, so I hope you'll check it out!

Party!

At work today we had a bridal shower for my good friend and co-worker Marie! We had a fantastic chocolate on chocolate cake and I made my mom's punch (which is, by the way, the greatest punch in the world!). Everybody pooled for gifts, so we got them lots of great stuff! I took a bunch of pictures, but this one's my favorite! And, because I have reason to believe that some of her other friends may be visiting today, I'm posting it, just in case she didn't share it with them LOL Nothing like a good party to break up the work day!




And, because I have now bragged up the world's greatest punch, I guess I should share the recipe!

6 cans of pineapple juice (46 ounce size)
1 bottle of pina colada mix (2 qt. size)
4 12 oz. frozen lemonades
Mix these ingredients and put into 6 large freezer bags (approximately 8 cups per bag). Freeze. To serve, empty contents of one bag into punch bowl and add a 2 liter of 7-up. As you can see, this is a lot of punch, so I often just make half the recipe.

Playing catch up

Okay, I've been really bad about keeping up the blog lately! I've had tons to blog about, but somehow I'm always thinking, I should have a picture to post with that story, or I need to write something more profound about that and so I put off the blogging and then it doesn't happen. So, I am giving myself permission to be an imperfect blogger - just tell the story and get it down. When I look back on this someday I am certain I won't care if I have a photo of every event or if I wrote a prize-winning essay on each topic - I will care that I took the time to write about something that was important to me on that day!

But, fear not, the no-photo blogging ain't starting with this post (although the bad grammer clearly is LOL). Two weeks ago we finally got out of town and out to the mountains for some fun with Wes and Deb and their kids! It was so nice to just be outside, enjoying some cool, fresh air and some great food! We grilled steaks and Wes made perhaps the greatest chip dip ever - which reminds me, I must get the recipe.

Taking Care of Business :)

A long, long time ago I promised some new pics of my office and, although I took them, I never actually posted them LOL! So, here it is - complete with fab new painting that I bought in Phoenix and some of my own artwork on the bulletin board and in frames (sorry about the glare by the way). I'm really happy with how it turned out, it's so nice to have a pleasant place to work!

Why I'm Lovin' Today

Lots of reasons to love today! First of all Michelle has announced a great new contest using her newest paper set - which totally rocks! The winner gets a GC to Scrapartist - you can't wrong there! And, I'm loving the papers in their own right - they're gonna be great for the art journaling I want to start doing. Lisa Cohen led a great chat at Scrapartist last night on art journaling - lots of great ideas and of course books to buy.

That leads me to reason number two for loving today - I'm planning a trip to Borders after work to pick up "Visual Chronicles." I'm very excited to dig into that one! And, conveniently enough, I will have a chance to get to Borders because we're having a little after work party and it's right on the way! Plus, I get to leave work a little early for said party. All in all, it's a day worth loving!

Also, since I haven't blogged in forever, a little Easter update is in order. It was great - on Saturday we went out to eat and played miniature golf with Bob's family and on Sunday we had our big dinner with them too. Church was nice too - I was on tap to sing in the praise team this week and we got to sing lots of great Easter hymns and one of my favorite newer songs "In Christ Alone." Love it when we get good tunes to sing!

By the way, I think I'm gonna make "Why I'm Lovin' Today" a bit of a regular feature. I used to keep a gratitude journal and I loved doing it, but I've kind of fallen off with it. So, I'm thinking I can do a bit of that here - it really helps with the old attitude :)

Another New Member of the Family!

Well, today my family welcomes another new member - Brianna Reid! She's my brother and his wife's second little girl and I could not be more thrilled for them. It was a bit of a rough pregnancy, so it's great news that she's doing well! No pictures yet, but you can believe you'll see them in layouts as soon as I get 'em!

Online Security

I have to do continuing education classes for work and I went to my first one for this year yesterday. It was actually really interesting - an FBI agent talking to us about cybercrime and online security. Useful stuff! So, I thought I'd share some of what he told us. First of all, it is pretty scary how at-risk we all are - a recent AOL poll showed that 81% of home computer users don't have basic security measures in use. Not only is that bad for them, it's bad for all of us due to the growth of spyware and so-called botnet armies - people take over your computer to use it to attack other computers and you never even know! So, if you don't already have security software get some and if you do, make sure it's updating properly and that you have all your software updated too. The FBI polls people too and found that 90% of companies have had some sort of internet security problem and 64% have suffered financial losses, but only 9% of those are reported to the authorities - I guess they don't want to start a panic. Totally understandable. And, it appears that now the whole spyware thing is a bigger problem than viruses - they can actually steal your information (passwords, usernmaes, etc.) right from your computer and email it back to someone who in turn drains your back account before you even know the information is gone! Definitely going to make sure that my anti-spyware software is running properly! So, what can you do? Well, here's some tips and resources he gave us . . .

Stay Safe Online Top 8 Cyber Security Practices (from www.staysafeonline.org)
1. Protect your personal information. It's valuable.
2. Know who you are dealing with online.
3. Use antivirus software, a firewall, and anti-spyware
4. Be sure to set up your operating system and Web browser software properly, and update them regularly.
5. Use strong passwords or strong authentication technology to help protect your personal information.
6. Back up important files (and keep off-site copies)
7. Learn what to do if something goes wrong.
8. Protect your children online.

Some resources
1. Identity theft (FTC) - www.consumer.gov/idtheft
2. Reporting Internet Crime - www.ic3.gov
3. Identifying hoaxes - www.snopes.com, www.hoaxbusters.org
4. Information Sharing - InfraGard - www. infragard.net

There you have it, lots of resources for staying safe online. I love that there's a place to report these things (www.ic3.gov) - they collect reports and if they get enough of one thing, they can actually investigate! I just always felt like there was nothing I could really do about the stuff I see, so it's nice to know there's something that can be done. By the way, sorry that none of the web pages are links, you'll have to copy and paste, I was just too lazy to create links for everything today LOL!

I won a National Leadership Award, but don't get too excited

I hardly even know where to begin, I guess I'll start from the start - I got this phone call from someone in Congressman Tom Reynolds' office . . .

The Call

Now, Tom Reynolds is a fairly well-known Republican and I've been a registered Independent for a number of years. Plus, they don't even say my name right. But, I did go to a Christian college and I've done a lot of volunteering and what not, so I think maybe they're overlooking my liberal leanings. But, I am, putting it mildly, very suspicious at this point. So, I get on the internet to check this thing out. Turns out this is just a giant fundraising scam! They'll give you the "award," but if you want in on the "press release" they mention in the call, it's gonna cost you $300. And, it sounds like there's even more opportunities to give money to get a congressional award - this guy called back and got the whole leadership award "experience," check it out on his BLOG

I just couldn't be more appalled by this. I mean seriously, what have things come to that 1) I'm suspicious when I get a call from a congressman (and yes the calls are actually from the congressman's office!) and 2) congressmen are basically selling congressional awards! Just when you thought these people couldn't get any worse, they come up with some new travesty. Unbelievable.

Rockin'

We're scrapping about celebrities in Life is Better Shared at the Digichick this week and I chose Bono as my subject, so I got all rockstar inspired and created this fun paper pack called Rockin'! It's a gift for everyone who creates a new layout for Life is Better Shared this week - you can use any of the prompts so far, it just has to be posted to the Life is Better Shared gallery by March 29! So, swing on over to the Digichick and join us!

Is it 5 yet?

Today is really dragging on! I have a rather tedious case at work right now and I'm having a hard time making myself work on it. There's something about a five part statutory test that really puts a girl to sleep! But, I'm forging ahead - hopefully I can finish in the next day or two. On a brighter note, I made a Costco run at lunch to get some new trash bags and a city map. While I was there I found some really yummy-looking mushroom burgers! Vegi-burgers can be really good or really bad, so we'll see, but I'm excited to try them! Costco is an odd scene during the day though - I saw a lot of retirees who just seemed to be hanging out there - getting some samples and burning some time. Kind of a weird way to pass the day if you ask me, but to each their own I suppose LOL. As much as retirement appeals to me at times (like today LOL) I don't know if I'll actually be able to hack it when the time comes. I'm just too easily bored without something I have to do! Okay, back to work, this thing isn't going to write itself!

Clean Floors and March Madness

Okay, I know that a sweeper is not quite as exciting a purchase as a Vera bag, but I am super-excited about my new Shark sweeper! Our floors are just always a mess and it's making me nuts! Between all the plant parts that inevitably find their way into the house and our white tile kitchen floor - seriously people, who puts a white tile floor in a kitchen? - I just can't keep up with it! And, I really hate dragging the vacuum out all the time. So, I finally broke down and bought one of these - it's cordless so I can just whip it out and sweep up a little day to day. Or at least that's the theory LOL. Loving it so far!

In March Madness news - our beloved Arizona Wildcats lost yesterday to Villanova. I'm bummed that we're out, but glad that they played well - one of our better games of the season, in fact. And, Marcus Williams played out of his head! I'm definitely looking forward to next year - we've got some fantastic players returning and moving into leadership roles and, from the sounds of it, some good prospects coming in too! So, for the rest of the tournament, I'm cheering for Gonzaga :) And, it would be awesome if Bradley could keep going - gotta love the underdog!

I also made a trip to Borders this weekend to pick up a Moleskine notebook for my purse so that I have a place to jot down layout ideas, color schemes, etc. While I was there I also got a great book on Artist's journals and collage, etc. It's called Artists' Journals and Sketchbooks Lots of great ideas for topics to journal on and techniques to use. It even has several pages of altered slides! How great is that? Highly recommended if you're into the collage look that's all the rage these days!

And, finally, if you haven't already, I'd really encourage you to swing by the Digichick and pick up Val's A Tiny Seed kit. Not only is it a great kit, all the proceeds are going to an orphanage in Bangladesh. One of my cousins was actually adopted from Bangladesh, so it is near and dear to my heart (along with Korea and India - I've got cousins and sibs from all over I tell ya!). Only $4 and it's for a great cause!

Brand New Bag

Okay, so that you can all appreciate the enormity of this purchase, let me preface this post by saying that I am not a designer-goods-buying kind of girl. I have never understood the urge to pay way too much for something just because it was the "right" brand name. I'm just to cheap I guess LOL. But, I finally broke down and bought myself a Vera Bradley bag! I simply could not resist her new java blue pattern! I mean come one, blue and brown, how am I supposed to resist spending too much money on that? And, not only did I buy the fabulous tote pictured at left, I got a matching hat (because it was only $10 LOL) and a curling iron cover. I have been saying for years that someone should invent one of those and it turns out Vera Bradley's been making them for quite some time :) So, now when I travel I don't have to wait for my curling iron to cool down. One of life's little inconveniences solved and a fabulous new bag to go with it!

Hooked on Idol!

I am such a hopeless American Idol addict! Every year I swear I'm not gonna get so involved, but once again this year I will be racing home from the gym to get there in time for the results show tonight! There's definitely some talent in this year's pool, but I am totally in love with Taylor Hicks! His dancin' just kills me and he just lets it fly - I love that! I'm also loving Paris, Mandisa and of course the ever popular Chris, but Taylor's my sentimental fav at this point. Okay, obsession moment over LOL

If you haven't checked out my Life is Better Shared workshop at the Digichick now is the time! We're on the second prompt this week and it's all about romance - I just loved doing this week's layout! And don't worry about being "behind" either - no such thing in my world :) Just jump right in!

New Stuff and Big Sales!

So Carrie is on fire right now! Be sure to swing by Fishscraps right now! There's a great new freebie up, which I am downloading as we speak - it's pictured at left - and a bunch of new kits that are just fantastic!







In fact, I just finished a layout with her new Sunset Skies kit - I love all the color!










Also, if you haven't been to Scrapartist in the last few days - check out the great spring sale! If you haven't gotten Hope Wallace's Antique Type fonts yet, they are 50% off right now, and I consider them a must-have for anyone who's doing collage style layouts!

P.S. - hope you like the redesign, I felt like a new header was in order today :)

Retro Green Freebie!

It seems like March is the right time for a green paper pack, so I thought I'd share this one! Enjoy :)

Retro Green Paper Pack

Little bit of this . . .

Little bit of that - that's today's post LOL. I realized I hadn't posted in a while, so an update seemed in order! Life is Better Shared is off to a great start - people are creating some great albums - and the first prompt will be going up tomorrow!

And, our Scraplift Challenge at Scrapartist has been great fun too - this week's subject is MirandaM - love that girl's stuff! And, if you haven't seen it in people's signature lines already - we're giving our featured artists a custom blinkie to show off! So, be sure to post layouts in the Scrapartist gallery - we're always on the lookout for artists to honor!

Carrie's also got some great new kits up in the Fishscraps Bait Shop - be sure to check them out - fantastic color schemes and of course Carrie's fabulous designing style! The new creative team has been great fun to work with so far too - so many talented ladies there!

In non-scrapbooking news, we had a fun weekend with Bob's family this week! His brother just bought a new house, so we went out to see it and then out to Bedroxx - possibly the best place on earth for kids! They have bowling and video games and tickets for prizes - just a rockin' place! I mangaged to bowl both games I played over 100, so I was excited - I am just not very good at bowling LOL.

I'm also a little bummed this week because Ye Olde Lantern - the place where we got engaged and had our rehersal dinner, as well as many other special occasions - closed last week. The Elks club bought it and will be completely remodeling it, but it sounds like it will be open to the public some of the time, so we'll have to check that out I guess. I stopped by the building this week hoping to buy a painting or something as a keepsake of sorts - we really like a lot of their old landscape paintings. The Elks guy told me they're keeping everything for now, but that I should stop back in a couple weeks when they've made some decisions, so I'm still hopeful that we can get something! It's just hard to see the old place close - it's been open since 1924! I guess when you fall in love with an old place you take a chance and we certainly enjoyed it while it was here - so goodbye Ye Olde Lantern, we'll miss you!

Tomorrow is the Day!

Tomorrow The Digichick will be back up and completely redesigned! And, as if that weren't cool enough, I will be starting my brand new workshop - Life is Better Shared! We're going to have a lot of fun and create a great album! I hope you'll join in!

Meet Hannah!

Here she is - my adorable new little niece Hannah! My brother sent me pictures, so of course I had to scrap them right away - perfect for this week's Scraplift Challenge at Scrapartist! I wish I could just run up there and meet her, but unfortunately, there's only so much time one can take off of work and only so many plane tickets I can buy. In the meantime I guess I'll just have to share lots of pictures of her!

Finished my baby gift

I finally finished my baby gift for my brother and sister-in-law - had the plan in my head quite a while before I could actually put it together LOL. But, I love how it turned out. Carrie's kit is so cute - the colors are just perfect! I made the album by printing out papers from the "Celebrate Everyday" kit. I designed the cover in Photoshop, printed that out and used it to cover pieces of book board for my cover. The pages inside are made with Epson double sided matte paper - I printed different papers from the kit on each side along with the lyrics to "Jesus Loves Me" which are spread throughout the album. I punched holes in everything with a two hold punch and used d-rings to bind it all. I added ribbon and a little flower tag with the baby's name to complete it. Now I just hope they like it too :)

Welcome to the world!

No photos to share yet, but my newest niece entered the world sometime before 4 a.m. today! Her name is Hanah Joy - she was a little over 7 pounds and 21 inches I believe :) I can't wait to see her - at least in photos - it will probably be a while before I meet her in person since we live so far away. I am thrilled for my brother and sister-in-law - this is the first and only the second grandchild in our family, so it's very exciting! So, welcome to the world little one - can't wait to meet you!

Happy Belated Valentines!

It was a long week in Michigan, but a good one - the one good thing about funerals is that everyone comes! I got to see cousins I haven't seen in years and even my brother Jon, who I haven't seen in about 5 years and haven't talked to in quite a while. I am hopeful that this will be the start of something good for him and my family.

So, I thought I would make my first post back a belated Valentine's gift - I have a new freebie kit up at Scrapartist - LoveBirds

Swing on over and pick it up and while you're there check out this week's challenges and all the great new stuff in the shoppe!

Gramps

Early this morning my Dad called to tell me that my Gramps passed away. I am so sad - he was always my favorite grandparent and such a wonderful man. But, I'm so happy for him to be free of this life and his health problems and old age and instead to be sitting at the feet of the Lord. He was 95 years old and had a wonderful life - he even finally got the great-grandchildren he'd been wanting! So, this morning I'm trying to dwell on the good times - all our breakfasts at Jackie's, playing baseball with him in the yard at their old place, and all his funny little stories and rhymes (some of which were funny even though I didn't understand them because they were in Dutch LOL). He survived the depression - even bought a house - because he was a great baseball pitcher and a ringer on his company's minor league team. He always loved nice cars - it was his one extravagance. Most of all, he loved the Lord and his family - I hope he is having a wonderful reunion with all of them as I write! Can't wait to meet you again one day Gramps!

Freebie!

It doesn't feel much like winter in Arizona these days, so I've actually been a little nostalgic for snow lately! I created a wintery kit a while back and thought I'd better share it before the winter weather leaves us completely! I've posted two different links below, but they're to the same kit so just click one! When they're gone, they're gone - Hope you enjoy it :)


Winter Wonder
Winter Wonder

Our First Scraplift Challenge

We chose to feature Tiffhix for our very first scraplift challenge at Scrapartist - she has so many great layouts to choose from! I think this challenge is going to be lots of fun, so be sure to stop by! You can get to know your fellow artists better in the weekly check-in too :)

I love my layout from this week's challenge - I used a picture of DH in one of his many childhood cowboy outfits - that man really liked cowboys as a kid :)

And, this year's birthday was a success too - no cowboy outfits involved, but the Mississippi Mud Cake was a big hit!

Happy Birthday Sugar!

Today is Bob's 41st birthday! Hard to believe that - I distinctly remember my dad at 41 and Bob just doesn't seem that old yet LOL. It promises to be a big night - I have lamb chops in the crock pot right now for dinner and I'm gonna make a Mississippi Mud Cake too - chocolate and marshmallow overload! I also picked up his present on the way to work this morning - hope he likes it :) As for me, I'm just glad it's Friday - this week has been super busy with work and all the upcoming scrapping adventures. Plus, I just picked up the world's most annoying case today - the record is a mess (they didn't provide us with half of what we need to decide the case) and I had no idea what the case was about after reading the opening brief - that's never a good sign LOL. So, a relaxing weekend celebrating my sugar's birthday is just what the doctor ordered! There's a UA basketball game tomorrow and we're going out with his family for dinner too! Should be a fun day :)

See ya Monday for the Scrapartist Member Check-In and the first installment of our Scraplift Challenge - we have a great member artist chosen for our first week, so be sure to stop by for some inspiration!

Scraplift Challenge!

There's so much excitment at Scrapartist these days! We have a bunch of new CT members and all sorts of new challenges starting up. I'm very excited to announce that Lauren (aka Ms. Scrappy Pants) and I will be starting a Scraplift Challenge there on Monday, January 30! We're going to lift creative team members and some guests, but we really want to focus on the fabulous artists who make Scrapartist so great - our members! So, be sure to post your layouts and watch your private messages - we'll be looking for artists to feature each week!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Mari K! And, by the way, if you haven't been to the Digichick to check out her designs - run do not walk - she's got some great kits already!

What scrapbooking lines/products/etc do you dislike?
I am not a fan of cutesy stickers

What is the hardest thing you've ever had to scrap?
Well, actually scrapping it wasn’t hard, but the reception was - I did a framed picture for my Gramps of him pushing me on a swing when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old. I just love the photo and was so excited for him to get it. But, he’s 95 now and he didn’t remember the day and didn’t even recognize that it was he and I in the photo until my mom explained it to him. He likes it and has it out now, but it was really hard for me to realize that he’s really fading from the man he used to be.

What technique do you use more than any other?
I am completely addicted to Virtual Photographer!

Ever been published?
Yes, in Legacy magazine and a Memory Makers Book - both should be out this spring. I haven’t been submitting much lately though.

What's the smallest scrap of paper you save?
Every scrap I’m afraid to say - my scrap file has some ridiculously tiny little pieces!

Ever have any scrapbooking-related injuries?
A couple of weeks ago I stabbed myself with my awl!

Finish the sentence "If I wasn't a scrapbooker, I would spend my money
on clothing and shoes!” Although frankly I spend money on that even though I am a scrapper - I’m a ridiculous clothes hound.

Give us your best storage or organizational idea.
I love those little photo storage boxes - I use them for my embellishments, tools, ribbon, whatever - I don’t have a lot of space so I can stack them up on one shelf and keep everything consolidated.


You just won a week-long scrapbooking cruise for 5. Who's going with you?
Donna Downey, Ali Edwards, Carrie Stephens, Jen Wilson, Michelle Coleman, Nancie Rowe-Janitz . . . wait that’s six and I still have more on my list, maybe I can pack a few in my suitcase LOL!

It seems like everyone has been doing this one, but if you haven’t - I tag you!

Getting to Know You!

I'm very excited to be starting a new weekly check-in at Scrapartist! With new creative team members and lots of new faces there, we wanted to get to know our members better! So, swing on over to Scrapartist using this link and tell us about your username and, in honor of National Pie Day, your favorite flavor of pie!

Also, it was an eventful weekend for me - Bob and I joined a gym! I'm really excited to start working out again - I always feel so much better when I do! And, as some of you know we were robbed earlier this year and they stole my very favorite piece of jewelry - the locket Bob bought me last year for Christmas. Well, I found another one, very similar to it this weekend so Bob bought it for me as a late Christmas/early birthday present - I'm never taking it off LOL!

A Great Cause

My nephew and niece are going to be in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life - walking for their mom, my sister-in-law - who is just amazing! They're trying to raise money and I'd love to help them blow their goals away, so I thought I'd post the links to their donation sites here and see if I could get some help for a great cause! Just pick a link below to donate and help the fight against cancer!

Tyler

Taylor

I am Creative!

I signed up for Stacy Julian's creativity class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and I'm loving it so far! A class that requires you to paint your toenails - how much fun is that?! Also this week she asked us to make signs saying "I am Creative" to put on our mirrors. I decided to try some of the ever-popular artist trading cards and I love how they turned out. I have one posted on my computer at work - a great reminder that I am creative :)

Coming Soon . . . Life is Better Shared!

As some of you may have seen in the Digichick newsletter - I'm going to be leading a workshop there! It's called "Life is Better Shared" and it's all about relationships! I'm very excited about it - we're going to have lots of fun and create a great album! And, this workshop isn't just for digi-scrappers either - we'll have lots of great ideas that either traditional or digital scrappers can use. Look for more information coming soon!

Paper Relics at Scrapartist!

Tonight I finished my first layout using Hope Wallace's Paper Relics - fairies, wings, caps, and lots of fun collage items - now in digital versions and at Scrapartist! They're so much fun! I've really been wanting to try some collage stuff, but I just don't do that many paper layouts so having them in digital is great. I also used Dani M.'s chipboard letters - also very cool, from Designs by Dani. The layout, talking about my ongoing love affair with books, is for Jess's Simply Me challenge, also happening at Scrapartist. There's lots of great stuff going on there these days - swing by for a look!

A Michigan Christmas

Okay. I’m finally getting to my Christmas post - this year has certainly been busy so far LOL! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday - despite my general Grinchiness this year, I actually had a very nice Christmas. I made the trek north to Grand Rapids, Michigan to spend the holiday with my family. All but one of my brothers were there, along with my parents, my little niece, my uncles, aunt and gramps! It was really nice to see everyone again and spend some time just hanging out with them. I missed Bob, but as is our tradition, we talked on the phone everyday while I was gone and the time went by really fast.

We ended up having several Christmas parties - first on the actual day of Christmas - we hung out at my brother Dave’s housed and had the traditional Dutch get-together meal of ham buns. My niece Mya provided some entertainment for us all, showing off her new Cabbage Patch "baby" and Elmo. We played a round of Tribond (which is a very entertaining board game by the way) and watched some videos of Mya which are destined to become America’s Funniest Home Video classics! On Tuesday we all got together again for our big party - we play a game of Concentration every year with fun little prizes (the board is in the picture - pretty cool, huh?) and this year we did a thrift-store gift exchange (with a $5 limit) - pretty fun to see what everyone found! I went home with a window alarm, some cleanser, a new set of dishes and a Lenox Christmas plate!

We tried to have our family Christmas (with just the immediate family) on Wednesday, but my brother Mike got really sick, so we ended up just laying low for the day, seeing if he’d start feeling better, but no luck. I went to the LSS with my sister-in-law and bought way too much stuff from their 75% off clearance - I mean who can resist getting $150 worth of stuff for like $38? Not me.

Thursday morning was catch-up day - bright and early we opened our presents from the immediate family before heading out for breakfast. Every year my Gramps has us all out for New Years’ breakfast at his usual place (I think he goes there four days a week now LOL), but since New Years fell on Sunday this year, we decided to do it early while everyone was in town. It’s always a lot of fun - this year we had 15 of us and the food’s always good too. The most fun is seeing how tickled Gramps is at getting everyone together!

Outside of all our partying, I did a little shopping and watched a few movies with my folks - it’s nice to be able to do some everyday things with them - I really do miss that living so far away. I also finally got a chance to show them some of my scrapbooking stuff - they’re not really internet people LOL. And, my dad loved the canvas and t-shirt I made for him - I did a layout with his boat on it and used iron-on paper - he wore it almost every day I was there! I was so excited about it, I was thrilled that he liked it!

So, now it’s back to life as usual - it’s always hard to get back into the swing of things after being away, but I kind of feel like I am now. Got a couple of interesting (but tough) cases at work and lots of new ideas swirling around for scrapbooking. Now if I can just nail some of them down!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Because I haven’t gotten my photos off of the camera yet since coming home, I’m going to do my new year’s post before the Christmas post! For now, suffice it to say that I had a wonderful time in Michigan! And, although I am generally not a big maker of new year’s resolutions, I do have a few this year. In fact, I am 90% done with one of them already! Last year I had very good intentions to send out cards for all my family events - birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I did great until about June and then it just fell apart. So, this year I thought "I’m going to make/address/sign all of the cards at the beginning of the year and put them in a cute little altered file so they’re ready to go." Well, little did I know they sell a perfect book for this purpose - I got mine at Michael’s! It’s pictured at left - it has pockets for the cards, calendar pages to list your birthdays and even an address page for each month so everything’s right there. Yesterday I designed my cards (just two - one for ladies, one for men), printed them out, got them addressed and put them in the appropriate month’s pockets. Took me just a few hours and now I can just send them out when the time is right! There’s four sitting on my desk ready to mail as we speak :) I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with this little project - I’m such a geek LOL.

As for the rest, maybe let’s call them goals or aspirations - something a bit less concrete than a resolution LOL . . .

First - I really want to do better about saving up some money. We need to replace Bob’s truck soon and I really want to buy a house sometime soon. Especially since our break-in, it is harder and harder to think of our little rental house as our own. Along with that, I need to set up an appointment to sit down and talk to our landlord/realtor about what we need to do to get rolling on that. (I will tell you that she is a little reluctant to talk to us about buying - guess we’re too good of tenants LOL).

Second - I want to push myself to be more personal in my scrapping - to share more of my own thoughts and ideas, rather than just making pretty pages. I love the art of scrapping, but I feel like I am missing out by not sharing more of my everyday life and experience through my pages. So, more thoughtful pages are on the list!

Third - I want to do more to make a difference in the world. I will keep on writing my representatives about issues that are important to me, but I want to get involved in something local where I can actually reach out and help someone!

Fourth - I will get back to working out this year - even if it’s just walking in the morning again. I am really feeling the urge to move!