A Layout or two... and life

A layout or two... and life. Um... and lets play TAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Ok... All the ladies who come to my blog today... Consider yourself TAGGED!!! And I can see who you are!!! :)

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics. My son, my hubby
2. Where are the three best places you've been to? Israel, Disney, Italy
3. Name two things you do every day. Go to work. Scrapbook

4. Tell us two things that pretty much everyone knows about you. I am a person of faith. I am a wife and mother.

5. Tell us two things that everyone DOESN'T know about you. I am writing a book. I own an ad agency.

6. Favorite smell? fresh cut grass; babies

7. Tell us ONE thing that you want to accomplish in the next six months. I want off of my cane.

8. Name your two favorite scrapping tools. My cutter; my printer

9. Name your two favorite scrapbooking sites. http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/; http://www.scrappinparlour.com/our.com/; http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/;

10. Do you have any Pets? I have a Puggle named Beauregard (Beau), and two cats... one named Disney, and one named Jaguar.

11. What color socks right now? Bare feet with sandals.

12. What are you listening to right now? My puppy is at my feet, yapping for attention.

13. If you could be any colour right now, what would it be? Soft pink, or Soft yellow.

14. What is your favourite Food?Pasta, Pizza, and Shepherd's Pie

15. Favourite Dessert? Ice Cream

16. What is your favourite beverage?Water. I dream gallons of it.

17. What is your favorite sport to watch? Baseball and golf.

18. How many different cities have you lived in? 3
19. What was your favorite toy as a child? Dolls and the game "Hands Down"
20. Favorite Quote or motto? "I was a really great Mom, before I had a child".

Ok. Yesterday, I talked about Confidence, and the August kit from Rachel Kaufman's "Scrapbooking from the Inside Out" Site. Here is my layout that I did.

This is me, when I was around 20 years old. I was in a sequined purple outfit, wearing a friend's boyfriend's black leather jacket slung over my shoulders. The emotion *Confidence* really was a tough one for me to scrapbook. This is the journaling:

What would have been different,

if I had more Confidence

when I was Younger?

Who would I have been?

What would I have become?

Confidence can changes lives ~~

Lack of Confidence also can

change a life. My life! Confidence!

Here's a layout of my son, Dana. It's called "Future Broadcaster". The journaling is as follows:

What you dream about,

you also fill your days with.

You practice constantly,

on how to be the BEST

Broadcaster on the planet.

The future Tom Brokaw ~

That's you!

And you will succeed!

Why?

Hard work, and the

willingness to DREAM BIG!

New Kit

So, I joined a GREAT kit club!!! It's "Scrapbooking From the Inside Out". It's SO awesome. I just received my August kit... Have a look!

The whole point of this kit is to get in touch with the real stuff... the emotions and insides that make you who you are. The important stuff. Check out the site! It's new, and full of awesomeness. Rachel Kaufman is the owner... and she's really great!!! Tell her I sent you! You won't be disappointed. Here is the link: http://www.scrapbookingfromtheinsideout.com/

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Ok.. so what do I want to touch on today? I'll share the layout I created tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to scan it. It's about the theme from the kit above, and it's called Confidence. For me... confidence is like love. It doesn't get activated until I give it away. I am very confident in my son... in my husband... my friends, etc. But I have always lacked confidence in myself. I've always talked myself out of a number of things, because I expected to fail. I expected that I was not up to the task. Which is odd. I haven't failed at a huge amount of things, and yet I still expect it. I was told from the time I was a young child, that I should write for a living. I should push myself to write anywhere and everywhere, and to publish, publish, publish. Have I been published? Yes. Articles. I don't discount that that is great. I'm proud of myself. But I have had this book in me for years, and have lacked the confidence to complete it. Now, I am finally grabbing at the reins, and keeping some of that confidence I always give away, for myself. I have decided that I am capable. I am capable of comitting to this, and accomplishing it. I am capable of failing at it with grace, and moving on to create again... and try again. I have decided to allow myself to fake this confidence, until the emotion is real. So... I will finish this book. It is a book on Chronic Pain. Not a fun topic, sure... but one I know. One I understand. And one I have confidence in my ability to present.

Confidence. For me... it is one of those words that just scares me. It's right up there with Fear, and Loss, and Lonliness.

Where are you with Confidence? How has having it changed your life? How has not having it changed your life? I think this would make a great page for you!

Some sayings about Confidence:

Success breeds confidence. Beryl Markham

Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too. David Storey

Winning breeds confidence and confidence breeds winning. Hubert Green

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. Arthur Ashe

Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation. Source Unknown

Confidence is the bond of friendship. Publilius Syrus

Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don't think you can, you won't. Jerry West

True prosperity is the result of well-placed confidence in ourselves and our fellow man. Burt

Confidence and courage come through preparation and practice. Source Unknown

The trouble with ignorance is that it picks up confidence as it goes along. Arnold Glasow

Confidence is courage at ease. Daniel Maher

Ninety-two percent of the stuff told you in confidence you couldn't get anyone else to listen to. Franklin P. Adams

Assurance is two-thirds of success. Gaelic Proverb

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. Michael O'Brien

One who has lost confidence can lose nothing more. Boiste

Confidence in golf means being able to concentrate on the problem at hand with no outside interference. Tom Watson

If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that ... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it. John Lennon

Confidence awakens confidence. Friedrich Von Sachsen

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you. Lao-tzu

What Makes Them Spoiled?

Ok... so I picked my son up a computer. He already had one... but it was 2 or 3 years old, so we went and got him one like the one I just bought myself. So now... he's got 2 computers in his playroom/office. It was a surprise to him... and he came downstairs after discovering it, saying "Ok.. Do you THINK I'm spoiled?"

I've been giving that funny line a lot of thought since then (the past 2 days)... and can't decide how I actually feel about it. But I've come to think on it this way. As I told him (he's 16)... he uses his computers for his future. (He wants to be a television journalist aka Tom Brokaw), and develops a lot of video productions. It takes up a lot of room on a computer... and he ran out of space on the last one, as well as on the external harddrive. Plus, he is on the honour roll, and has been each year of highschool. Plus he works hard at a job, and does hours a week in volunteer work. He's a good kid. And as long as he continues to be that kind of person, I won't worry about spoiling him with things he actually uses to further himself. HOWEVER... should it begin to adversely affect him... or he decides to be less trustworthy, etc... I'll re-evaluate.

Does that make sense? We never spoiled him much as a little guy. We tried to ensure that he understood the value of things. But lately, one could consider him slightly spoiled with regard to his electronics. :D

Being a parent is hard. It's HARD. Raising them until 12? That's so much easier than AFTER 12. After 12, they begin to move in their OWN direction... their OWN style... and you have to rely on having taught them enough, that it sticks. You have to rely on them. On their dreams being big enough to keep them on track.

I'm glad that we pushed him to have big dreams.

I thought I'd share a layout I did of him.

It's called "Go Your Own Way". The journaling says:

You have amazing, wonderful, and lofty dreams... and you have the God-given talent to achieve those dreams. Just be sure to carve your own path... forge your own destiny... and go your own way. Don't try to walk another man's path. God made you JUST the way you are for a purpose. HIS purpose. So Go your own way!

A New Computer

A New Computer... FINALLY!!!

I finally got myself a new computer... on Thursday. I hooked it up today. Why wait so long? I wanted to clean the area, top to bottom. I wanted to upload a number of my pics and layouts to photobucket. I wanted to email some important files to one of my email accounts. And I wanted to wait until the weekend when I'd have more time to get it all done.

Whew.

This computer is so nice! It's an HP... 500 gb harddrive... 4.00 gb ram, and a 64 x 2 dual core processor, with 5000+ 2.60 GHz

Ok... so what does that mean exactly? It's fast. And the monitor is an awesome 22 incher, wide format... very nice to do graphics on. Very nice to do anything on, actually. Yay me. AND it's pretty. With every rainbow, one must endure some rain, however. I don't like the keyboard. It's smaller, more compact, and the keys are somewhat off for me. And .... ok... you MUST know this is coming...

IT'S GOT VISTA PREMIUM.

Vista. I'd like to talk to the yahoo that developed vista. They hate people. It's a nasty OS. It's mean, hateful, confusing (and I believe ON PURPOSE)... and just generally a pain in my patootie.

But I will not let it dampen my new computer spirits. I need to come up with a name. I'm thinking "Zelda". ? What do you think? "Muse"? That's a good name too.

I'll think on it. Any suggestions?

What do you think about Vista? Have you gotten used to it? Learned to bury the hatchet? Developed a friendship? Temporary alliance with it? Or have you got a love/hate relationship, that is just biding it's time, to end it and move on?

Now I can make my way back to my favourite forums!

Some New Layouts

Am I An Artist?

Today, I'd like to talk about artists, and artistry. I've grown up with artists. Both of my parents were writers, and my Mom was an artist. She was a charcoal artist. I always wished I had been given her talent. I considered her an artist. Me? I've never considered myself an artist. I'm a scrapbooker. A record-keeper, if you will. Are you an artist? Or a Scrapbooker? Do you consider them one and the same? I would love to call myself an artist. I'm a published writer... and I've had my scrapbooking published... but artist? When I design a page, I never have a plan. I just *go with it*. I just play. There are so many people out there that obviously have a plan when they scrap a page. Their work is breathtaking. I'm not there. I do my pages, my altered work, my mini books, etc. But they are just me.. with my toys... playing. Does that make me NOT an artist?

Tell me. What makes you an artist or a scrapbooker? Do you wish you were an artist, but don't consider yourself one? How can you change that? What makes you an artist?

On this track... here are a few of my latest pages...

The Promised Pics of a Problematic Puggle (and my hubby)

The Promised Pics of a Problematic Puggle (and my hubby)

So... my beautiful Puggle, Beauregard... the saga continues. He had his next needle. There's one more to go.. and then "The Big Snip". (being a responsible owner, and not breeding... we have our animals spayed and neutered)... Feeling a little Bob Barkerish for a minute there. Anyway... Beau. Still coming into work with us each and every day. Still sucking up an awful lot of energy too. He's a darling doggy... but I swear... he gets to be more work as time goes by. I can't wait until we have him fixed in September. They *say* that they calm down then. Not sure who *they* are... but I know what they say. Right now... his little winkie pops up and out with enormous frequency and spacial context. And it is requiring a number of wipes a day. How's that for saying it in a dainty fashion??? As Mommy to this monkey faced muppet, the pleasure is all mine, to do the cleaning. Hubby has decided it's not his duty. And the 16 year old son, is equally adamant about not participating in that part of his upbringing.

But tell me... is he worth it? I think so. Most of the time.

I did up a layout about the two of them. (I think they look alike) What do you think?

Challenges and Contests and Design Teams, Oh My!

Challenges and Contests and Design Teams, Oh My!!!

Whenever I get stale with my scrapbooking... I tend to start looking at participating in Challenges, Contests, and Design Team tryouts. Why? Because it sparks something inside me. Something creative, and innovative... and something that dwells *outside my personal creative box*. I seem to be able to move forward... usually. Not always, of course... but often enough, that it compels me each and every time, to start looking towards these things, to grab back my creative self. But then... when do you become a *serial contestant*, and when is it just ok to play anyways?

I've been on Design Teams that have made comments about the people who are once again playing, when they seem to be in every challenge, contest, or DT tryout. I've heard the negative comments aimed at these perpetual participants. I may have even taken part in these chats.. So it begs the question... Is it always ok to participate as often as you like? Or should you just back off... and play only now and then? How often is too often? And can you play as often as you like, as long as you aren't winning all that much?

... and since we're on the subject... what about the fairness of Contests? If you participate in too many contests, do you think that judges hold it against you? Do you think you still have as much of a chance of winning, if you have the reputation of playing all the time?

There are some contests that surprise the heck out of me, when I see who wins, and who doesn't. I wonder what the decision was based on. But usually... when the vote is done by the residing Design Team, or Manufacturer Team, it's usually pretty fair and unbiased. Which is awesome. Which leads me to ask...

What kind of contest do you prefer? The kind that is judged by the Design Team? Or the kind that is judged by everyone? I'm not exactly thrilled with the ones that open the vote up for all and sundry. Probably because I don't have enough friends to ever do well in those. People are forever posting to groups and forums that I belong to, along with my own personal email... asking for a vote for one thing or another. And sometimes I even vote for them... cuz they asked... even if I'm also in the same contest.

Is that crazy, or what???

Yeah. It's odd. Anyway... I'm rambling today. I did create some stuff this weekend... I'll scan them in tomorrow... and post them.

I'd love to know what you think about the above stuff. Me? I'll most likely continue to jump into the fun stuff... cuz they spark me. I like being sparked. :) Hey! Tomorrow... some updated pics of my Beauregard the PUG. :)