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