Whew!!!

I thought I had lost my blogger access....

My computer lost my cookie (now, doesn't that sound interesting!!) But I finally was able to access it to post!!! (I am blonde, you know!!!)

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I have been tagged by Stephanie, so I will try to post this very soon!!!

December projects!

Here are my December projects for Scrapncircle!! Jeri sent me the super cute Kaliedoscope papers from My Mind's Eye. It was fun to play with them!!! You will recognize the first photo... it is in the last post! The other photo was taken with my old Panasonic Lumix! TFL!

My new camera!

It's sad how "stuff" can make you feel soooo happy... but my new camera really does!!! I finally saved enough money to buy a Canon Rebel XTi. I'm still learning, but it's way better than my point and shoot... don't tell my old Panasonic that I said that!!!

Here's a couple of pics from the XTi... using an oldie but goodie lens that I'm test driving from a very dear friend of mine. It's shot in AV mode, f4.o, natural light; the lens is a 70-210mm f4, originally produced in 1987 and discontinued in 1990. Comments appreciated!

Merry Christmas!

I made these trees from styrofoam cones, various patterned papers (from Gin-X, Provo Craft, and Scissor Sisters), ribbon, a few QK dies, and a large tag punch. I used the punch to make all of the "branches," inking the edges, and rolling each tag around a pencil. I attatched them to the cone with low temp hot glue.

I thought it may be time to get into the Christmas spirit!

Oh.... and if you pull up beside me at an intersection... I'm the crazy one with Handel's Messiah blasting on my car stereo!!! (my parents would be so proud to know how much their fondness for traditional Christmas music has rubbed off on me! After all, I can only take so much of "Feliz Navidad" and "I Want a Hippopotomas for Christmas"!! Although I am enjoying Michael Buble's version of "Let it Snow")

Hope you are almost done with your shopping so that you can enjoy the season a bit!

Scrapncircle November Projects

Jeri sent us some wonderful goodies from Wild Asparagus by My Mind's Eye to play with. I really had fun making these pages!!!

I'm ready to play with the big girls!!!

After months of saving and numerous serious discussions with my dh about how much it will cost to get one, I finally purchased a real dSLR!!! A Canon Rebel XTi.

It's silly to think about how happy "stuff" makes us... but I am VERY happy I finally have a real camera! I love my film SLR dearly (and it has sentimental value, since it was a gift from my father), but it can't keep up in the digital world!

I'm so nervous about using it that I haven't even really taken it out of the box to put the kit lens on it! It arrived on Tuesday. I tried out a couple of lenses at Richmond Camera today... trying to decide a reasonable one to purchase. And I got a 2 GB memory card on Thursday. So, I'm ready to start shooting, I think.

My dear friend Tisha is going to work with me on how to make the most out of this camera. I can't wait...

Well, we survived...

Our annual trip to the Outer Banks this year for Thanksgiving was punctuated by a most powerful Nor'easter that blew through ALL night Tuesday and well into Wednesday morning! We're talkin' about 60+ mph winds that just wouldn't quit! My girls were awakened at 4:30 Wednesday morning (does that time actually happen twice a day? LOL!!!) when their night light went out!!!! We were without power for several hours and cable for a few days, but we fared pretty well, all things considered. Some water damage to the house we were in from the wind literally blowing water into the house!

I have some pictures of what is now left of the dunes on the beach... the view of the waves crashing into the parking lot of the beach access area across the street from the house we were staying in... and one of the many sets of steps leading to nowhere after they were detatched from their beach walkways. I will post later!

Otherwise, we had a nice, relaxing time. I did lots of thrift store shopping, especially for items I can use in my scraproom. I'll have to post pics of those, too!

It is nice to go on vacation... but it's even nicer to be home!

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.