Yipppeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

I came home to an e-mail from Scrapbook Trends for a request for the April, 2007 issue!!! Yay!!!!!!!!! It will be my first time in their publication!

Fish!

Thought I would post something scrapbook related for a change... since I have become political in my old age!!! LOL!!!

I created this layout of my dh for a challenge over at Scraplovers during their birthday bash cyberchat! The challenge was to use only cardstock! Letter stickers were also allowed! These are by American Crafts. TFL!

I got the new John Mayer album, Continuim, as a birthday gift from my dh. This is the first song on that CD. Keep in mind that my birthday coincides with the week of 9/11. So, when I first heard this song, it was a beacon of hope.... it made me realize that I was not the only one frustrated by the system.

I just listened to this song again after not hearing it for a while, and now it plays like a victory song for me.... hoping that the change has begun, that we can bring our troops home, and that we can work on healing our great nation.

-----------------------------

Waiting On The World To Change

me and all my friends
we're all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there's no way we ever could

now we see everything that's going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don't have the means
to rise above and beat it

so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

it's hard to beat the system
when we're standing at a distance
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change

now if we had the power
to bring our neighbors home from war
they would have never missed a Christmas
no more ribbons on their door

and when you trust your television
what you get is what you got
cause when they own the information,
oh they can bend it all they want

that's why we're waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

it's not that we don't care,
we just know that the fight ain't fair
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

and we're still waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

one day our generation
is gonna rule the population
so we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change

The winds of change....

Ahhh!!! Today is a good day!!! I didn't expect voter turnout to be sooo overwhelming. Nor did I expect the shift in the political landscape of our country that occurred yesterday. But I'm glad it did!!

I'm kind of proud of how we, the people, all went out, voted, and told our government what we needed them to hear. I don't think this election was truly about specific issues. It was about telling Bush that the status quo isn't good enough.

It's not about left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative, or morals vs. immorality, as some may believe. It's about CHANGE.

So, if you voted, be proud that you let your voice be heard... whatever that voice was!!!

I voted!!!

I did make time to vote today on my way home from work.

I actually enjoy the political process and fulfilling my "civic duty." I got that goosebumpy feeling when I hit the big "submit vote" button on the computer screen of my voting kiosk. I don't think my choices will win, but at least my voice will be heard!

At my voting station, they had so many voters that they ran out of stickers!!! That is amazing! a 65% turnout in Virginia!!!

So, did you vote today?

Woooohooooo!!!!!

I have a TOOOT!!!!

I have been invited to join the creative team at Scraplovers.com!!!! Yay!!!!

This is a SUPER group to chat with... and lots of talent over there!!! You should really go and visit... I have added the link to the sidebar.

My term begins January 2007. Yay!!! Again, I am soooo excited for this opportunity!!!!

Looking for something scrappy to do this weekend?

Come over and visit me at Scrapncircle all weekend for our crop.... or at Scrappinchicks tomorrow night for the chat, and all day Saturday for our crop! I will reveal a sketch for Scrapncircle and a sketch and an ad for Scrappinchicks!!! So come on by and say hello!

I never thought this day would come!!!

But I got an e-mail today from Simple Scrapbooks magazine! They have requested a layout for the March/April 2007 issue!!!! I am floored!!! It's a layout about my older dd fishing... and one of my favorites!!! Yay!

OMG!! I actually won something!

I hardly ever enter contests, but I did enter the September layout one at Scraplovers.com! And I actually won!!! Woohoo!!! So excited! http://store.scraplovers.com/index.html

It was a contest using Piggy Tales papers! This is my layout!

KI Album

I just thought I would finally post these layouts... well, 4 of the 6, anyway.

Surprise! A post about scrapbooking!

Well, I guess it's time to move on from my worries about our big world and focus on something far more trivial for a change....

This is a point I have pondered for quite a while now: the social (or, perhaps, not so social) aspects of the scrapbooking industry.

If you are in pursuit of design work, do you ever feel as though you are in school again? I kind of feel like I am "rushing" a sorority when I try out for a DT, especially for an online team. You go to such great lengths to create great designs.... and for online teams, for them to get to know you... and in the end, for me, anyway, there is rejection (well, I've only tried out for 2 so far.) The teams I am on have invited me without "trying out." Sometimes it's all in who you know. That's how I became a designer for Scrappinchicks and Scrapncircle!!! (so maybe I should consider myself lucky?!)

The sorority feel is in the air at CHA... I have been snubbed by some who I thought were so great from their online personalities... and pleasantly surprised to find that some others were NOT as their online personas conveyed! And yet others were just as I had expected (good and bad!!) Of course, I won't tell about the bad...

Anyway, why can't we be nice in this industry? Behave like women, not girls.... and that has NOTHING to do with the DT calls. I have just seen friends hurt in this business, and it just really SUCKS!!!

I can't pretend that snubbing and rejection doesn't sting... but I am still happy with my creations and with ME.

And you know what? I already have my sisterhood of scrapbooking friends... our own sorority, if you will.... and I love them dearly!!!

In rememberance...

I am posting this in honor of those who perished one year ago tomorrow. I am posting this for all of us who still mourn that time where we lost our "innocence" as a nation..... for those who lost loved ones... for those who feared they had lost someone.... for everyone who has to explain to their children where they were on that horrible day.

I'm sorry to be so sullen with my blog these days, but 9/11 weighs heavily on my mind this time of year.

I actually completed this layout last year. I had to edit so much of what I wanted to say to get it all to fit on the page. I could have hidden the journaling, but I wanted to force the viewer to see what I had to say.

The photos were taken of Ground Zero on a trip to NYC that I made with my dh in October 2003.

Journaling reads:
Where were you on the morning of 9/11? One day, my girls will ask me that question. Where was I? I was at the hospital where I practiced PT. I remember that morning--one of those beautiful, crisp, late summer days that remind you that fall is near. I walked onto the rehab unit and took note of how pretty the sun's rays looked as they flooded the hall with light. And I remember thinking that something was going to happen that day that would change me for the rest of my life. I had only been at work for about 20 minutes when I heard about the first plane hitting one of the twin towers of the WTC in NYC. A few of us found a TV and watched the news coverage, including live pictures of the second jet hitting the other tower. Absolutely horrifying! As we all know, the news became progressively worse. I frantically called family members to make sure everyone was OK, including my father who worked on an army base and my husband who worked in one of the tallest buildings in Richmond. We prepared for survivors at the hospital that never came. The events of that day turned my world upside down. I was 5 months pregnant with my first daughter, and it was the week of my 27th birthday. I found little joy in celebrating either. When we visited NYC in October of 2003, I knew that Ground Zero was a place I had to see for myself. Then it was real. There is an ability to remain detached from it all until you see it with your own eyes... the vacancy in the skyline, the makeshift memorials that aren't supposed to be there anymore, the miracle of a cross found in the debris of the WTC, and the collective solemn reverence of all the visitors to that place where so many perished.

It's that time of year again!

I love September! It's my favorite weather month. And it's my birthday month! Love late summer/early fall. The angle of the sun changes, and you start to feel the onset of crisp nights and pleasanly warm days. Love it! Today was the first day I noticed that this year. It struck me as the light shone through the window of our upstairs hallway.

It was the same feeling I felt on the morning of 9-11-2001. I noticed the angle of the sun had changed as I was walking onto the floor of the hospital where I worked. The light was flooding the hallway from one of the patient rooms. Beautiful morning light... I will never think of that good feeling without the bittersweet thought of that day again.

It just makes my heart sink to think about how my most favorite time of year is now tainted with the memories of that awful time. As we approach the 5 year anniversary, I realize that it's really not getting easier to deal with. It doesn't consume me... but it's there. Every day, it's there. And I can' t believe how much this disaster affected me even though I don't personally know anyone who perished that day... I only witnessed their murders. It brings me back to the "what can I do to change the world" ideas... and again, I come up with nothing. I can only hold my babies and try my best to protect them.... that's all I know how to do.

Oh, well... again....

I'm kind of tired of posting things like this!!! I have seen more than my fair share of rejection this week.... the worst being no call for the KI Memories contest... I know my chances were slim, but it still hit me the hardest of any other contest yet. It was as if I were in high school and a boy I had a crush on walked right passed me and ignored me... ahhh... but I guess I'll get over it.

However, I am very excited for my dear friend Tisha McCuiston, who DID get a call!!!! Yay, Tisha!!! I'm pulling for you to be the grand prize winner!!!

A toot of a different sort...

I had a patient come back to me and tell me something wonderful. Some advice that I gave her actually made a big difference in her life. I was working in one of the outpatient neuro clinics a couple of weeks ago and met a rather young woman that had suffered a stroke. She was doing fairly well physically, but was still having trouble falling up her stairs to her home. She had no trouble on normal stairs which are closed in the back, but hers were open, and she tended to place her foot straight on through the back of the step and fall. So, my suggestion to her was to buy some of the anti-skid strips from Lowes or Home Depot and place those on the step to reinforce the visual end to the step. And you know, it actually worked!!! I was so happy to see her again yesterday and have her tell me that. Yay!!!! It's such a good feeling to know that I helped someone.

Isn't she lovely?

Anna loves to try on things... like her daddy's sunglasses... I caught her in some good light holding his glasses... isn't she cute?

Whew!!!!

I just finished my album for the KI Memories contest... now I have to make copies and get it in the mail!!!

What kind of radio listener are you?

So, I 'm on my way to work. Do I:
A: Be socially responsible and listen to NPR... so I can keep up with what is really going on in the world?
B: Indulge my inner teenager and listen to old 80's and 90's rock on the mediocre appeals to those approaching middle age station?
or C: Be totally irreverant and listen to the DC 101 shock jock?

Well, this morning I was irreverant.... yesterday I indulged my inner teenager... but this afternoon I was socially responsible!

My dh has XM radio, which is nice (especially the Lucy station!!), but I kind of miss local radio... I somehow feel very connected to my community by listening to local radio. Anyone else ever thought about this?

Here's a new layout!

I had to scrap this photo Tisha took of me with Anna.... it speaks volumes about this stage in Anna's life!!! Thanks, Tisha, for such great material to work with!!

Bazzill, ribbon (Michaels), leather photo corners and flowers (Making Memories), letter stickers (American Crafts).

Calling all designers!!!

Here's a great opportunity!!! Scrapncircle is looking for a few new DT members!!!

Scrap N Circle (www.scrapncircle.com) is looking for 5 Design Team members and 1 Coordinator! We are looking for individuals who are willing to be active members on our forums and our gallery. You will complete projects using the products sent. This will be a 6 month term.

DT Requirements are as follows:
Post a minimum of 4 new tops a week.
Reply to other topics created by members.
Comment in our gallery! We all like to hear praise about our work.
Projects to be completed are at least 2 NEW layouts monthly with products.
Create an altered project every other month. We will have 3 members do this every other month.
Advertise for us wherever and whenever you can, if another board allows you to post a blinkie please do.

DT Coordinator Requirements are as follows:
Set up a list for our DT members, such as dates challenges are to posted.
Help put together contests for the following month
Help send emails to manufacturers for sponsorship if need be.
Communicate well with Design Team and Members or our forums...and most of all
Keep our DT motivated!!!

IF you think you have what it takes to be on our design Team please send 3 examples of your work, along with the following questions answered, to scrappinhero@comcast.net

1) Name, Address, Phone
2) Please tell us what other boards you are active on.
3) Do you belong to other Design Teams?(this does not affect your chances of being chosen)
4) How long have you been scrapping?
5) Do you enjoy altered crafts, if so what item do you enjoy to alter MOST?
6) Why do you feel you would make a great member of our Design Team?
7) Tell us a bit more about yourself.

There's a great group over there!!! I have been on their DT since the fall of 2004... this site is like home to me!!! Jeri just re-opened the store (very exciting!), and we have had several great sponsors in the past few months!!!

So, check it out!

www.scrapncircle.com