LOL!!! And I need to do WHAT???

Well ... another fine mess I've gotten myself into! Have you ever had SO much to do, not known which way to go and just TOTALLY shut down??? LOL!!! Come on now, be HONEST!!! Okay, so I'm not TOTALLY shut down otherwise I wouldn't be here RAMBLING!!! I have a layout to complete and I have GOT to get started on my layout for ROUND ONE of the FUNK IT UP constest at Scrapbook Forum !!!

I am uploading TWO more layouts to share with you tonight in hopes that you all will become a little more acquainted with what makes my HEART beat!!!

These two layouts were SNOW much FUN to work on and are of Robert's son, Travis and Travis' girlfriend, Sophie.

Thanks for being SO patient with me as I REALLY try to get myself together here! One day at a time ... ENJOY and have a WONDERFUL tomorrow!!!

Hugs ... :-)

Got Those Denim Blues!!!

Just a quick entry before I drag myself to bed! I wanted to post a layout that I finished night before last. I have been experimenting with different photo techniques to include changing an UNSIGHTLY background to eliminating it all together!!! How AMAZING it is to be able to do such INCREDIBLE touch up work on one's computer as opposed to taking it to a PROFESSIONAL at an obscene cost! On this photo of Robert's niece, Annalise, I cut her out with my selection tool, inverted the selection and then applied a FABRIC effect to the background so that it would not be SO distracting, leaving FULL focus on Annalise's SWEET face. I LOVE the fact that I caught her in a bit of a melancholy mood as she was having to wait for her brother and cousin to come back out to join her for some CREATIVE playtime. Anna is a VERY bright and intelligent young lady with an INCREDIBLE imagination!!! Ahhh ... to be SO young again! This scrapkit, "LOVE that denim!!!!" by Stacey Kluczny at 3Scrapateers was SO perfect for these photos and VICE-VERSA!!! Jessica ... I am probably doing this backwards, but I am killing MANY birds with ONE blog!!! I will write an entry specifically for you in answering your question as to how DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING works. I will try to put that together for you in the next day or so as I am JUGGLING several things at once and need to get them finished!

Till next time ...

OMGosh!!! I am in SHOCK and I am in AWE!!!

I just recently entered my VERY first DIGITAL scrapbooking contest at scrapforums.com. I had left with Robert to pick up one of the twins, Luke, from the bus stop and then on to the supermarket. I was in the kitchen putting groceries away when I heard a CHIME on my computer, which lets me know when someone on my Yahoo Messenger is trying to get ahold of me!!! It was my beloved colleague, Kerri, from 3Scrapateers informing me that I had been selected as one of the DIGITAL DIVAS from the AUDITION round of the "FUNK IT UP" contest!!! I was in SHOCK and AWE!!! SHOCK, because I've NEVER entered anything like this before in my ENTIRE lifetime and in AWE, because I am up against some VERY stiff competition. Many of these ladies have been scrapping longer and are actually designers as well! Needless to say, they SO totally ROCK!!!

We have received our first challenge, which is to include the word, PULSE. I am VERY new at creating layouts from INSPIRATION other than something I have chosen!!! This will be a TRUE test of TALENT for sure!!! I wish the VERY best to each and every comepetitor! I am REALLY terrible and UNDERESTIMATE myself, however, I am DILIGENTLY working to change that ONE step at a time!!! I am SO blessed to have such an AMAZING support system. DIGITAL scrappers are some of the MOST encouraging people that I have EVER encountered!!! A BIG heartfelt, "THANK YOU" to all of my digi-scrappin' sistahs!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

PLEASE keep me in your thoughts, as this is a BIG, BIG step for me and I am SO JAZZED!!! I am posting the TWO layouts that I entered for the AUDITION round that have allowed me to MOVE ON to ROUND ONE!!!

LOVE and HUGS ...

Stepping Outside of MY COMFORT ZONE!!!

S-H-A-K-I-N-G in my boots would pretty well describe my FEELING right about now!!! I have VOWED to myself to start journaling again, even if only a sentence or two a day. Little did I know that I would be sharing it with the rest of the WORLD (well ... potentially anyways)!!! For all practical purposes, I REALLY like the idea of having a place that my FAMILY and FRIENDS can come to visit and keep up with what is going on in my life, as well as that of my children and LOVED ones! I do SO love to write, but have to be INSPIRED and sort of GO WITH THE FLOW, if you get my DRIFT!!!

I come from a family of PROLIFIC writers (my baby sister is a published author several times over) and I suppose that I feel somewhat intimidated, BUT I am READY and WILLING to give it a go!

SO ... here I am!!! I wish to share my LOVE and PASSION for digital scrapbooking, which allows for me to PRESERVE my PRECIOUS and PRICELESS memories. I wish to leave my children with a fairly RICH history of "FROM WHENCE THEY CAME".

This (blogging) is SUCH new ground for me and I hope to get up to speed rather quickly! Several years ago I practically LIVED and BREATHED on keeping up with the TECHNICAL world, however, I have been OUT OF THE LOOP for some time now! I LOVE to learn!!! I, actually, THRIVE on it, so this is going to be ONE heck of a JOURNEY into the UNKNOWN for me and I have to say, "I'm REALLY, REALLY excited to be venturing OUTSIDE of my COMFORT ZONE!"

I hope that you'll all join me as I DISCOVER new things and share them with you the best I can! I also hope that YOU will, in turn, share with me the NEW things that you are learning!

In closing, I would like to say "THANK YOU" to my niece, Jessica and ONE of the three DIVAS from 3Scrapateers.com, Stacey, for INSPIRING me to start BLOGGING today!!! Jessica has asked for me to explain how DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING works and I CANNOT think of a BETTER way to provide resources than RIGHT HERE!!! Stacey started her BLOG today and shared it with our Design Team at 3Scrapateers. I checked her's out and had to sign up to be able to post a comment, so I received the MESSAGE loud and clear ... I had been putting this off FAR too long!

It is SO difficult to know where to start on one of these things, but I need to let you all know that I will be mentioning 3Scrapateers A LOT, as I have the GREAT honor and privilege of being an Administrative Assistant to the GREATEST ladies on the WEB!!! I have been a part of 3Scrapateers for a year now, as of the 9th of January. I started as a member, then soon became 3Scrapateers' VERY first LEAD MODERATOR (in the gallery posting comments to encourage others!). I was asked to join the CREATIVE TEAM the end of February of 2005, then became the VERY first Adminstrative Assistant in April.

3Scrapateers has GROWN by LEAPS and BOUNDS in such an INCREDIBLY short amount of time. I can remember when we were rated #87 out of the TOP 100 DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING sites and within SIX to NINE months, we have moved to between #4 and #6, as it fluctuates every few days or so. I am SO proud of our TEAM and it is just the GREATEST family of DEDICATED women I have EVER been a part of. We now have TWO more Administrative Assistants and I will be moving to a new postion within 3Scrapateers VERY soon, but cannot talk about it until it is OFFICIALLY announced. I am SO happy to be learning SO many NEW things ... broadening my horizons!!!

If you look to the RIGHT side of my blog, you will see a link that says, MY GALLERY at 3Scrapateers. By clicking on that link you will be able to VIEW all of the layouts that I have created since being a part of this AMAZING website.

If you hadn't ALREADY figured it out, you will now understand why I titled my blog, RAMBLINGS FROM A DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING ADDICT!!! LOL!!! My own children will tell you how LONG it takes for me to actually leave a conversation when I have said, "I gotta go now" a MILLION times!!! He, he, he ... I hope that my RAMBLINGS will atleast be INFORMATIVE and ENLIGHTENING for the MOST part. Just drop me a hint if I get to be TOO much!!! I am OPEN to CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!!! Be gentle though!

Thanks SO much for stopping by and I hope to keep up with this BABY (definitely in it's infancy!). What a GREAT way to stay in touch with a WHOLE bunch of people without having to repeat the same conversation OVER and OVER again!!! Kinda like the FIVE O'CLOCK news reaching around the world!!!

I LOVE you all BUNCHES ... PLEASE stay in touch!

Hugs ... (I am including, with this post, a few layouts that will introduce you to my WONDERFUL children and the LOVE of my life, Robert)