Fickle

 

Definition from Merriam-Webster.com.

 

One entry found for fickle.

Main Entry: fick·le
Pronunciation: 'fi-k&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English fikel deceitful, inconstant, from Old English ficol deceitful; akin to Old English befician to deceive, and probably to Old English fAh hostile — more at FOE
: marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness
synonym see INCONSTANT
- fick·le·ness noun
- fick·ly /'fi-k(&-)lE/ adverb

yep I’d say the part about being “marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness” is ME!! At least in terms of some things. Things like……oh I don’t know. BLOGGING, checking in on friend’s blogs, e-mail, message boards, scrapping, doing what I say I’m going to do. Ya know. All that stuff.

I have no excuse other than I just haven’t done it! I have the best intentions with these things, always say I’m gonna do this, gonna do that. Sigh. I end up doing them for a time and then………poof! It’s gone again. What can I say? I’m not as organized with my time as I should be I guess.

Well it’s been a little over a month since I dared to open my blog…hmm..what all has happened?

I got called back to work the other day! IF you want to call it that! They called me back for 2 weeks!! 2WEEKS?? I’ve been there going on 6 years now. This is the 1st time they’ve EVER re-opened night shift after a layoff but before Jan. I had my choice. Could go to days or nights. Well actually I turned it down this time. Yeah I need the $ but 2weeks??? Trying to find a sitter, upsetting my whole life for 2 weeks?? NOT! Not to mention we’re paid 2x a month. That’s 1 paycheck which I wouldn’t receive for 2 weeks to a month AFTER lay off. sigh.

The kids are fine. Keeping fingers crossed!

ummm….I’m working HARD to try and start up a scrap-4-hire biz. Well actually it will be a “graphic art using your photos or memorabilia” type of thing. I’ve got my niche. I’m just not a scrapper. I’ve come to that realization. It’s ok too:) I don’t scrap! I’m in it for the art! I LOVE the artsy-fartsy part of it all. My memories are kept in letters to the kids that I write and stick in their baby books. Yes sometimes I do a real scrap page with journaling and all that but when it comes right down to it I’m really most interested in digital art and imagary. Maybe I’ve immersed myself in the wrong “part” of the digital world? Maybe I’d be better off at places like Deviant Art?? Not sure. Really I guess there should be room for people like me in the scrap world? hmm… I don’t know. Just know that I’m happy doing the art and maybe if I know I’ll be “booking” the page doing journaling on the back or even doing a 2-pager with the static page being room for journaling. I’m just not much of a writer and find my inspiration through the photo and the imagination rather than the actual “memory” of the moment. Guess that’s one reason why I’ve never done lots of b-day, Christmas, or other event pages? who knows? lol

As for my “biz”. Well I had a client. lol notice I said had !! So one day out of the blue I acidently ran across a potential client. Never having done this type of thing before and thinking when I open for biz it would be totally local, not really a biz where I’d gain much employment over the internet, I contacted this person with a link to my gallery. I didn’t/don’t have a site constructed yet. So they LOVED it! E-mailed and asked me about doing a job for them! Turns out this is a professional photographer. Well to make a long story short this photographer is in the middle of lots of huge financial dealings and couldn’t part with $. Unfortunately, even though the promise of advertising was there, I can’t part with my work without gaining a check for what I feel is a fair amount for the job. We parted as friends. Hopefully it will still be a job I can be commissioned to do in the future. Did give me some much needed confidence though!

So enough with my fickle ramblings!! No more coming on here and making promises of blogging or blog hopping that I probably won’t end up keeping! In the famous words of Popeye the Sailor~~~”I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam”!!!

btw~~Carla sweetie~if you read this~ I honestly haven’t forgotten you even though I’m sure it seems like it!! I’ve got another e-mail addy all opened up to try and e-mail you through! ((hugs)) and I’m sorry it’s been such a long stretch of time…

School daze….

Well things are starting to settle around here. We’re starting to hit somewhat of a routine. Until today that is. Oldest ds is home sick! ALREADY! Here it is just into the 2nd week of school and he’s already sick. His best friend has missed the last 2 days home sick so it figures he would get it too. A stomach virus thing. YUCK. I swear what is it anyway about kids and germs?? lol The second they go back to school it’s like they get attacked, when I called the school to tell them ds wouldn’t be there they said there was tons of sick kids. sigh…just what we need.

So I know I haven’t been around the ol’ blog scene much. I have been working on some things though which is good.  Still don’t have a part time job. I have to admit I haven’t been doing a lot of searching. Gave it up for a time. Figured I’d have a better chance after school started and college kids go back. We’ll see! I did apply for a good one the day before yesterday now the wait to see if they’ll call me or not.

I’ve got to admit I’ve been reading another blog. A lot! I find it interesting and honestly a great diversion! Digital Disturbances. I don’t mind admitting to reading it and even posting on it a time or 2. Yep some people on there have trashed a few designers about personal stuff, personality etc…I don’t agree with the personal attacks at all. I saw someone get really, really hurt on the Scrapsmack blog a while back by the personal stuff. Left a really bad taste in my mouth..hope that doesn’t happen with D.D. It’s funny because even though I’ve been around for a long, long time now I hardly “know” any of these designers they talk about! Guess that’s what happens when you don’t use a lot of product I stick with 1CT. Stick with RAKS I’ve been fortunate enough to receive (thanks gals, you know who you are) and I tend to use tons of stuff I find at DeviantArt and places like that. Not that I don’t like designers products! Just feel guilty buying it! lol Yep it’s inexpensive but that stuff adds up and I can see myself going nuts with it! Kinda like a auction, I never could resist a good bidding session and have stopped going to them unless I KNOW that I have lots of $$ and if dh is there to stop me!

So back to this blog. Yep I’ve posted. Yep I read it. There it is! I’m ousted! lol Who knows? I might post on there from time to time. I will keep it annon mostly because I believe that’s really the purpose for the most part, to say whatever without “fear”. Of course I’m telling everyone here that I read/post anyway! lol I’m to the point where I am what I am and that’s all that I am I don’t think I’ve ever been treated badly by anyone in the digi community, everyone I’ve met has for the most part been real and very nice. Least this blog helps me stay in the loop a little, at least not as far out of it as I usually am! Maybe it will help the design community though, I can see it being a source of info for designers. If I was designing I know I’d want to read some of it, as long as it was truthful. There is one thing I don’t get though. I really didn’t realize until I read some posts there and then took a look at a popular forum just how many people “flip” out over certain designers! lol We’ve all heard about celeb scrappers, especially if you read 2-peas or CK mag. That cracks me up! Celebrities?? I guess in this world they are but outside of it?? lol I can guarantee that 99.9% of the people at my work (and that’s a TON of people) have never heard of these women! Why are there people, sometimes masses of people, that act like the Beatles just came to town over both designers and scrappers? Guess when you get well known in a certain circle that will always be the case. These are all just everyday women with families, problems, joys etc…they are real people with real feelings whether they’re known in the digi/scrapping world or not.

Guess I’ve rambled enough for 1 day! lol See what happens when I go for a time without blogging? I run off at the mouth! Have a great one!

bwahahahaha!!!!! Before I go I did this page a while ago. I’m in love with it! lol I’ve posted it everywhere I think so sorry if you’ve been forced to see it time and time again! Now I’m going to put it up here…can’t resist It was too big to fit the blog so just click on it to get the bigger size.  Later!!

Has it been this long??

I guess it HAS been this long! Geeze!! Well I do have some excuses. lol

1st of all I’m just sort of disgusted. Disgusted because I need a part time job and can’t seem to find one! I’ve been told time and time again I’m “over qualified”. Sigh…what do these people expect for a part time worker?? Of course some of us will have a little more experience than your average high school kid!

I did get a call from Sears. Sigh. I missed the call and didn’t call back after I heard the full description. It was to walk around Sears for 4 hrs. trying to talk people into signing up to let Sears come to their house for a demo of windows or whatever…I knew it was something a little like that when I called but then when the guy fully explained it?? I thought….um…..NO! lol I honestly hate it when people bug me when I’m in a mall or somewhere trying to shop! If I’m interested I’ll come to you and ask for a appt.!

I did apply for UPS and a few other places. Guess it’s a waiting game now. What happened to the days when if you needed a little job. Part time. Maybe in a gas station, convience store or restaraunt you could just go, fill out the app., talk to the manager and walk out with a job to start the next day?? sigh…guess those were “the good ol’ days”.  It’s really annoying to me too that I am employed but not able to work there right now…guess a little visit to USAJOBS.gov is in order, maybe I can manage a different job/dept. where I work??  hmmm…will take a lot of work to make THAT one happen!
I thought briefly about trying to design a little. Maybe open another blog and try selling some things. LOL!!! That’s about how it went!! I am NO designer unless I’m making something specific for my own pages it seems. Not to mention at the pace I create I’d net about 1/2 cent per hour total!! NOT going to pay the cable or phone bill that way!  Honestly!  You designers out there should ALL raise your prices!!  You’re getting reamed!!  Ya know that don’t ya??  and I say this in the most loving sense!  I want to see you all do well but at the price you sell verses the TIME it takes to design???  just some food for thought!

I did discover something though. Something I’ve known for a long time but did little to change. I’ve spent WAY, WAY too much time on this computer!! No I’m not the most active in the galleries or on blogs anymore but I spent lots and lots of useless time online anyway. Browsing. Reading. Lurking around in the shadows. I read this article. If anyone is too busy to read it basically it’s about a couple that were addicted to internet video games. Addicted to the point that they almost killed their 2 toddlers by not feeding them, letting the youngest baby’s hair be matted to head with cat urine, and the oldest lose soo much muscle tone from not using his legs that he had trouble walking. It’s one of the more disgusting things I’ve ever read!!

Now that article had me thinking. Of course I’ve never neglected my kids anywhere even remotely close to that!! Not even imaginable in my opinion!! I do feel that I have chose the computer over them at times though. I should be reading more stories, I should be just sitting on the couch to watch cartoons with them if nothing else. I’m in the same room with them. I talk to them, help them with their little games or crafts but….I’m usually on the computer. It didn’t used to be this way. I used to do more. Used to play, go for more walks, even just lay on the couch. Slowly but surely I got addicted to all this starting with digi scrapping and then going away from the scrapping and into just…being online period! Now all this might be a little different if I had a JOB working from home or something where I HAD to be online but I don’t!! I feel sorry for people that do because even though it’s their work just as if they were gone to the office, I’m sure, I KNOW that guilt tends to eat them up too. Especially with the kids at home in the summer.

Well now we’re going to go about things a little different. I’m almost out of time. It’s not long till school starts back up, it’s not long till my youngest will be gone to school too. I’ll still be online. I’ll still be trying to do my digi scrapping but there’s a limit now. I’ll be online in the mornings but when lunch time comes forget it!! For the rest of the day NO COMPUTER!! lol Even after they go to bed unless I have something I really have to get done or want to get done! I’ve realized I need my alone, downtime, sleep time too This time only comes once in a life time. Soon, too soon, it’s over. They’re gone and don’t want/need you as much anymore. I’ve GOT to have more memories with them than this…

Ok. now that I’ve been kind of a downer/guilt producer!! lol On to something really, really cool!!

My good friend Zee has given me the honor of being “Rockin’ Girl Blogger”!!!

LOL!!  Lord knows I’m always talking about listing to some rockin’ tunes!  Especially when I scrap, tends to give me the most inspiration!  Well part of this is to pick 5 more “rockin’” girl bloggers!!  Here goes!  Hope none of them have been picked already

Audrey aka Alitfin!!   She’s a KILLER photographer!!  Her subject matter is rockin’ too!  Not only does she highlight the family in a gorgeous way but she takes kick a$$ sports photos and actually PLAYS the sports!!  lol  Her dogs and her dh are way rockin’ as well as her layouts!! 

Carla aka Cardee!!  She’s multi talented this one!!  She’s got rockin’ handbags she makes!!  I’d seriously love to have one!!  hint~hint!! lol  She’s also a killer photographer with the most gorgeous, talented family!  She’s sooo incredibly sweet too…I’m so glad we met through digi scrappin’!!

Carrie Stephens!!  She’s one ROCKIN’ designer!!  She’s also one of the most sweet people I’ve ever met!  She’s generous to a fault too   hehe…sorry Carrie but I also HAVE to mention how hot her rockin’ husband is!!!

I have many, many more ROCKIN’ girl bloggers that I could/should tag but I’m keepin’ true to my intent here!  Going to do a few past due e-mails.  Maybe finally upload some pages to my poor, sad, neglected ScrapbookGraphics CT member gallery, thanks Becky for fixing my sign-in btw OMG>…I sure HAVE neglected my CT gallery!!!  I didn’t realize just how long it’s been, I should be fired!!!  But PLEASE don’t fire me Maya!!  lol  Just goes to show ya how fast time really does go by…

Happy 4th!!

Wow have I been terrible about blog commenting!! I’m sorry! No excuse other than being busy with the kids lately and then being so tired…

Happy 4th of July everyone!! And for those who don’t have this holiday, happy Wednesday

My dd has a birthday tomorrow!! 7 years old. Time FLIES! I remember the year she was born. I was HUGELY pregnant with her. lol I looked kind of freakish I was soo big! Skinny arms and legs with a gigantic belly…my neighbor across the street had asked me if I was carrying twins! Thank goodness it was only 1!!

I was having a planned c-section. I had already had 1 section after a 40 somethin’ hr. long labor and had wanted to try having dd the “normal” way but my OB after numerous late sonograms to check her size said I’d probably end up laying there only to have another c-section. She was BIG, well she was supposed to be anyway and I can say at 8lbs.7oz. she was no light weight! lol Not to mention she had a really big head

I almost didn’t make it to the planned date with her! Had been having contractions for several days, REAL ones. I get to the hospital and the nurse hooks me up to the monitors etc…and says, “Did you know you’re having contractions?”!! Duh!! Really?? lol

The thing I remember the most about her birth is seeing her start to be pulled out. Before her body was out of mine she was crying and she didn’t stop until she was finally handed over to me to nurse! lol All the nurses and the Dr. were cracking up! Every 1st photo we have of dd shows her with her mouth wide open!! Just like now!

I got lucky going in to have her. They were FILLED up! They told me just about every woman in the greater Cinci area had gone into labor over 4th of July! I wasn’t going to get my private room and I was TICKED!! lol~I know, I know!! I’m a snob!! I just didn’t want to share a room and germs etc…Got lucky and someone got to go on home leaving me a private room

So my little dd was born. Almost a 4th of July baby in the millennium year of 2000 This particular birthday is perfect for dd!! She’s every bit as loud and sparkly as the biggest fireworks!!! Her birth date suits her personality

Don’t anyone go into shock but…………. I made a page!!! lol!!

I’m very patriotic. I’m very in tune to what sacrifices our military men and women are making for us to be able to be in the greatest country on earth. To be free. To be safe. To have good lives and have the opportunity to become anything we can dream of becoming.

I have some friends who have sons in Iraq and Afghanistan. Risking their lives for my children to be able to sleep in peace.

I was listening to “American Soldier” by Toby Keith and opened up PS and started playing with the few scanned photos I have of my dad when he was serving with the Marines in Korea in the early 1950’s. This is what came out…

I really would like to send it to him but I’m unsure. He’s soo…..I don’t know even what he is! He’s never really liked my graphics work. Says it’s not serious enough. I have another page of him with the kids that IS serious enough and is done in the “realistic paper” style. He looked at it and complained about the photo of him I used…sigh. Why at almost 40 years old do I still crave his approval?? I don’t know. Guess it’s that “always a kid” thing. No matter how old you become your parent always manages to send you right back to 9 years old! lolNow

Now maybe I’ll open up PS again. 2 days in a row?? OMGosh! lol Here’s a few tunes/videos to remind us not to forget our service men and women. What a great country America is!!

Trace Adkins~~The National Anthom

Toby Keith~~American Soldier

Toby Keith~~Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue, the angry American song

A True American Hero video

My bio…DSM:)

lol!  Seems like forever now that I was asked to be on the creative board for DSM!  Seemed like even though I’ve done a few assignments I’d never see my pages in the mag.  They are so far ahead.  You know how it is with mags.  You submit something for Dec. in June   Just finished a little one, look for it in Dec. issue!

Well I got my subscribers copy of the Aug/Sept. issue and there I was!  Me and the kids and even dh.  So if you get the mag. check out my bio!!  Very neat stuff for me to see that after all this time!  LOL!  Janna you got your issue before I got mine!  btw~CONGRATS Janna!!!  She had at least 5 maybe 6 pages in this issue!!!  How cool is that??!!  They are all gorgeous Janna!!

Here’s a couple corrections to my “toolbox” from the article.

I use a Panasonic Lumix camera.  A Epson 1280 wide format printer, PhotoshopCS (I did used to use PSP but haven’t in a long time~I find it a difficult program).  I do have a Wacom tablet.  I really had to laugh too at MY mistake in the article.  Just like a man I usually get my anniversary wrong~not the date but the year!  I’m always forgetting just how long we’ve been married until this year, our 15th.  When I wrote my bio for DSM I told them I’d been married 13years.  It should’ve been 14!  OOPS!!  oh well!

I have a purse in there too.  Back in the section about the memory purses, mine is the “Peace” one.  I noticed the coloring wasn’t what it should’ve been.  hmmm…guess something got lost in the transfer?  Not sure there.  This was my very 1st “hybrid” or “fusion” project and it was fun but HARD!  lol   Here’s another photo of it.  1st the front…

Here’s the side~these purses are soo cool!  You can decorate ALL sides of them

Now here’s my favorite side~the back!

I did this purse using papers from Maya of ScrapbookGraphics Oh Happy Day kit~recolored and brushes from 1lovesdevine~DeviantArt.

If you’d like to take a look at the purses, there are a few different styles, you can see them at Pursue Your Art.

Now I’m going to show something that accidently got lost!  The company changed FTP servers and it seems that some files kind of disappeared!  ACK!  One was for my recipe ATC I did.  It was supposed to appear in print but I didn’t get it resubmitted in time so then it was to go on the web site but I haven’t run across it yet…sooo here it is

here’s the back…

LOVE stuffed green peppers around here!  I planted some bell peppers in my garden and have been trying to keep them watered but I’m just not sure I’ll get many to eat on out of it.

When this issue came out I remembered how fun it is to see your stuff in print!  I think I need to get busy.  Actually SCRAP again!  lol and maybe submit a little more!  I haven’t submitted anything in a long time, time to dust off the ol’ “submitted for pub” folder and get at it!

Nothing much else happening around here.  Still haven’t heard back from my old friend.  sigh..oh well.  Maybe I will eventually.

Just a week left till 4th of July and dd’s 7th birthday!  Can’t believe she’s going to be 7!!

Oh and we’re still planning the yard sale for tomorrow!  Wish me luck and lots and lots of customers!!!  lol!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!  TGIF!!

will it rain??

We’re supposed to be getting some rain today. I can only hope! We’ve been having drought conditions. We’re almost 7″ under what we should be for this time of year for rain…ugh. Makes for some brown yards and wilted, dried up flowers. I’ve been watering my garden every other day, giving it a good 1/2hr. soaking. Hopefully I’ll get some “maters” out of it and it’d be nice to have some green peppers! Not only is there NO RAIN but it’s HOT….in the mid. 90’s. YUCK!!! I have to say I’m more than glad to stay inside today, now if I can just keep the kiddos in line!

Had my camera out the other day! I’ve been soo bad about taking pictures! Don’t know why really, I used to be a photo hound but anymore I just don’t think to get my camera out…I’d like to scrap some though so I made sure I had it out and ready to go

Here’s some cute kitten pictures I got! sigh…those towels they’re piled on were right inside my patio door. That’s what happens when the kids swim in their pool! Towels everywhere! ugh…ignore the shoe too, my oldest has a bad habit of just throwing them off when he comes in.

LOL! Aren’t they cute? Little stinkers I’m glad we got the 2 of them they love to play and sleep and do everything together! Bad thing is the MESS…sigh. Guess I have to get some different litter or something. I scoop more poop than you’d ever believe! These little guys STINK. The mess they make tracking litter all over is unbelievable too! Course I have their litter boxes out in the house instead of in the bathroom downstairs like I used to for my other cats. They were soo small when we got them they were having kind of a hard time with the litter boxes, I had to keep them out for easy, peasy access Now that their bigger I’m getting those boxes hid from plain sight at least! Of course we’ll probably still smell the aroma….ugh.

I know I said in my other post how much I like ScrapInStyle TV.
but I’ve got to say it again! I LOVE that place! No I haven’t become too active there yet but I plan on it! If anyone decides to register and get involved take a look at my profile and add me! I’d love to keep track of everyone’s pages!! I have uploaded 1 page but I kind of wanted a “fresh start” so to speak so I’m going to do some more pages before I get too involved. I have been leaving some comments in the galleries though and posted to the introduction thread! Karen did a really good review of the site on her blog! She’s looked it over from top to bottom and has lots of info. I think my favorite thing about that site is that it’s both paper and digi, mostly active with paper scrapbookers. I had a ton of paper pages from 2-peas in my favs. and really like seeing what they do so this is a good thing for me I think being digi we can scraplift just about any paper layout or at least get inspiration from them and ad our own “digi spin” on things.

Well off to check out the photos I just uploaded and maybe just MAYBE I’ll actually scrap today! I do have a article due for DSM by tomorrow that I haven’t even started. Sigh…guess I’m waiting for the pressure to really hit before I get that thing written! Wish me luck!

Thank You:)

Well the voteing’s over and the community has picked.   Congratulations Sprellen, Laura, and Angie!!  They all had just WONDERFUL pages for the contest and they’re all very active in the community!!  Very well deserving of the win

Just wanted to thank everyone again who might have cast a vote for me during the contest!!  It meant and still means a lot to me   Hope everyone had a chance or took the opportunity to look at all those great charities too!!  Maybe someday I can do something to pay it forward to mine.  I’ll figure it out.

I won’t lie and say I wasn’t disappointed a little.  I am.  That’s OK, I’ll live.  There has to be winners and losers in everything.  Some day I’ll have my turn maybe   I know I said I didn’t need the affirmation of my peers, that it’s nice but not everything??  Welllll….I still feel that way.  It’s nice.  It’s truly not everything!!  But….well…guess it’s a little nicer than I originally stated!!  lol   Think that’s where the disappointment comes in, knowing that in the eyes of my peers I don’t quite have it.  I won’t give up creating or posting though that’s for sure!!

I’m very happy for the winners, they must be sooo thrilled!!!  I still hold to my view that we should “choose not a life of imitation” ~quote from “Can’t Stop” the Red Hot Chili Peppers   I still like my pages for me and for my family!  That’s part of what makes/made me Queen of my Own Domain!!  I’m sticking true to me always!!

Hope everyone does something special for the Father’s in their lives today!!  Dh has already had a pretty good Father’s Day filled with homemade cards, breakfast in bed and some cool gifts the kids made in school and have been saving   They are soo cute!!  I felt kind of bad cause there wasn’t the funds to buy him a gift….I did get some gifts bought for me on Mother’s day.  sigh.  He assured us it’s OK though and we can catch up to that another time, he’s a great daddy and I’m so glad I chose him to be daddy of my children

Have a good one!!  Thanks again everyone!!  Now thanks to the votes and this awesome contest I do get to do a Shutterfly book!  It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time and finally I can!!

last chance

yep! It’s the last chance day to vote for QOTC. lol I had to throw that in there didn’t I?? Well. I finally voted. Got it in and I’ve got to say that goodie bag you get for voting is AWESOME!! Well worth way over 2$ that’s for sure!

So now all I can do is hope I win something We sure could use this.

While I’m thinking about it I found a “new to me” scrap site, gallery, etc…that is really, really neat! Seems that a lot of people have left 2-peas or at least quit posting as much to go over to this site It’s Scrap in Style TV. I lurked for a couple of days, checking out the galleries and the message boards. Even watched a little interview with Kristina Contes. Cool stuff! Looks like you have to register and be logged in to view the videos…well it’s worth it really! I love the way they’ve got stuff set up Everyone is a “sister”. The # of posts, comments etc…you make determines what your “sister” title says. Like “baby sister”, “little sister” and so on. For those of us into digi there is a digi gallery but unlike the veggie site, when you post a layout to the digi gallery it automatically goes into the full gallery so everyone can see! No more posting to 2 different galleries, or just the digi one. Now everyone is together. No more “segregation”!! Also if you click on a layout and like it you can add that scrapper to your “favorite” scrapper list in your profile. They automatically get a PM telling them that you think they are a special person and are now in your fav. list:) lol!! I found this out after posting my 1st page there~good ol’ Amy Martin added me as a fav. scrapper!! Totally made my day!! A scrapper’s avatar is on everything they post, all you have to do is click on their avi and it takes you to their profile page with info about them, their layouts, website/blog links and their list of fav. scrappers!! I LOVE that about this place It’s so much easier to get to know and meet new people. The atmosphere is great as well, very open and welcoming! I’d say to anyone that wants a very friendly and very diverse community to go check it out! I know I’ll be spending lots more time over there!

Guess I’d better get running! Now it’s off to father’s day shop with the kids for dh. Sigh…HATE the crowds! Love the father!

Thanks once again for voting/looking and keep your fingers crossed for me!!

about time

Finally! I’m finished with QOTC!! Unless I win I guess Now 1st things 1st though! I’ve been tagged, twice that I can remember. It’s been hard to get to because of working on my QOTC page AND the kiddos being home for the summer and, etc…, etc…………………… They’ve only been home for 1 full week but for some reason it feels much, much longer than that!! lol

Both Janna and Petra tagged me with the same thing Here goes!

List 5 favorite things and then tag 5 people

(Family is a given)

1) lol! like Janna my #1 fav. thing would be when my kids aren’t fighting!!!

2) My computer , my camera, & my broadband (again just like Janna!!)
3) the strong, strong smell of honeysuckle in the evening out in my backyard
4) Putting my youngest to bed. He still wants me to hold him, snuggle with him and listen to our lullaby tape, this has been our routine since he was born and I’m sooo grateful it’s lasted 4yrs. now!

5) hiking down in the mountains, alone or with just dh & kids…nothing like the sound of the wooded silence:)

Thanks guys!! Sorry it took me so long. hmmm….now WHO am I going to tag? How about EVERYONE?

Now for my QOTC page. Little background here 1st! Here is the what the last challenge was..

Challenge -Queen of ( fill in the blank )

Besides being the queen of scrapping or the Queen of the Crop even, how are you a queen in your own life?

Self-doubt is something that is common amongst us all. As human beings we are conditioned to critical thinking and for most of us the inner critic has a great deal of air
time in the self-talk department. Let this layout be an opportunity to make a positive affirmation about yourself and claim your throne.

So when I 1st read that I thought what on EARTH was I going to do for it? Queen of procrastination maybe?? Maybe queen of slllooowww scrapping and blogging and especially e-mailing?? lol

I got to thinking about myself. All my life I’ve been a perfectionist. Very critical of myself, very self-concious. Even as a kid I remember drawing something and wadding it up because it wasn’t “good” enough.

Looking in the mirror hasn’t been fun either. I was never pretty enough, thin enough, never something enough! Curly hair? yuck. Straight hair? yuck. Size 7? Not small enough. Size 12? Too fat.

What is all that?? RIDICULOUS!! That’s what it is! I realized that there will never be perfection. Can’t be! It wouldn’t be nearly as fun if there was I AM a beautiful woman the way I am. When I look in the mirror instead of seeing flaws I’ve realized I’m not that bad after all! I’m 38 yrs. old, the years are starting to show, the gray is coming in and that’s OK. I’ve earned it.

My body isn’t the definition of perfect, maybe not the definition of beauty either. I’ve carried, given birth to and nursed 3 babies! My poor body wasn’t quite cut out for birth as I had to have all 3 by c-section leaving scars and muscles that won’t ever go back. That’s OK I can’t think of a better reason to have a few rolls here and there, a few stretch marks and scars…I’ll always bear the marks of motherhood.

Doubt has been a big part of me too. Who doesn’t struggle with it sometimes? Being a perfectionist makes you even more doubtful. Why on earth should I ever doubt my art? I create it because I love it I’m happy with it! I found that while it’s nice to have afformation from my peers it’s not neccessary where once it felt like it was. I don’t need zillions of comments. I’m truly happy with my art comments or no

So it’s come round for me. I feel GREAT! I feel empowered!! Honestly it sounds kind of weird maybe BUT I am loving myself! Shouldn’t we all??

Not only did I have fun, find myself and my style again but I really, really have just become empowered!! Might sound really hokey but I feel as if I’m free!!!

Now if you want to vote for me you can click right on the page or here! I’d still love to win of course but honestly I’ll be fine if I don’t While you’re at it take a look at the charities the women who competed in this contest are playing for!! VERY good organizations there! Mine is the Christian Appalachian Project. I just can’t say enough about them! I’ve put the link to this up here before but I’m going to do it again. I found a Webshots album of photos taken by a volunteer on a job for the Christian Appalachian Project…LOVE looking at them. It transports me instantly to my grandparent’s home and wonderful memories! The man that did this album also has other photos from other jobs the CAP did. Someday when my kids don’t need me at home 24/7 I want to volunteer! I think something like this is right up my alley~not to mention literally in my own backyard! I tried to e-mail this man through WebShots awhile back and I’m not sure it went through to him. I’d love them to know that I’m trying to pay it forward

Ok. I got good and deep and a little mushy here so on that note I’m going to go and get some lunch for the munchkins! Again thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! To every single person that votes or even just takes time out to look at the pages…a huge, heartfelt thanks

Have a great weekend!

top 10

A HUGE thank you to everyone in the digi community who voted for me in the QOTC contest!!! I made it into the final 10 WOOT!! I can’t believe it honestly! I was happy with my pages but you know how it is…don’t really know how others might view what you’ve made or what you consider art. Not to mention there were sooo many beautiful pages entered!!

Here are the pages I’ve done from week 1 through week 4. The challenges were awesome and some honestly made me think!

week#1

week#2

week#3

and week #4~week 4 I am also going to link back to Karen of Scraps of Mind She’s already linked this page I did from a prior blog post to be part of her AAM blog challenge! Really fun!! I’m “meeting” so many new scrappers, both paper and digi!! Really neat to see and read things about so many different people! Kudos for that Karen!

Whew!! lol! One thing this contest did was make me scrap! I’ve done more pages in 1 month than I think I’ve done in forever!

I’ve got to say I read a blog entry, I’m not going to link it or tell who it was though a lot of people probably read it already and will know who I’m talking about. Anyway this person had entered the contest. She did not get to the finals. She said some nice things about the finalists but then in the same post went on to say this all boiled down to popularity and who had the most friends! I beg to differ!! She also went on to say who she would be voting for and that it was someone who came to her blog and commented nicely about one of her entries! lol! I went to her blog and commented nicely on one of her entries but it wasn’t me she was voting for!!

I’ll be honest and say I thought when I 1st heard about the contest that I thought that popularity might play a big part of things. After all friends stick together and they should!! That’s OK and expected! However since I’ve been in the contest I don’t think that played a gigantic role in who the people are that are in the finals! For example I got some PM’s from people telling me they voted for me that I didn’t even know! Well I knew of them but didn’t “know” them~if ykwim? That was VERY nice Proves that people weren’t just voting only for their personal friends in this but for what they liked! I’m fortunate that people in the community like my work! We are all different and have different tastes so I know my pages don’t appeal to everyone but I’m happy they appealed to enough to get me in the top 10! I hope if nothing else my charity gets some looks and possibly some donations through this! It’s very important to me that I feel like I’m paying forward the help my family received through some good hearted, caring people! Just to remind everyone my charity is the Christian Appalachian Project. I believe that charity should start at home. There are soo many people in our own country that need, want, and deserve some help and resources. It’s sad to see anyone suffer and it hits close to home when it’s in your own backyard!

Before I forget I will get to the blog tags people have left me! I will on the next post! I promise! I’ve got a couple to do Thanks for the MySpace info Janna btw! Sigh…I’m having the worst time trying to do things the way I want for that silly site!! I’ll add you as soon as I can figure stuff out girl I’m just not html/css /myspace savvy at all!

In the meantime have a great start of the week everyone and again THANK YOU, thank you, thank you!!! It really means a lot to me and humbles me more than any of you could know

((hugs))