Scrapropos

I spent about 14 hours working on this little album for the PTA Silent Auction. I hope it draws enough bids to make some money for Aidan’s school! I seriously might bid on it myself. I wanna keep it!

I couldn’t find an 8×8 album that I liked, so I made one with chipboard and ribbon.
(More about making it next time!)

My favorite page is the Japanese Garden one. Love, love, love the colors.
(click on images to enlarge)

Click here to view the entire album:
Hometown Tourist - Fort Worth

I’m furiously trying to finish an 8×8 album for my son’s elementary school’s Silent Auction. It’s due today and I’m only half finished. Ack! The theme of the album is “Hometown Tourist”, and it features pre-decorated pages of all things Fort Worth, from our historic Stock Yards to the Modern Art Museum. It also showcases some of our annual events, such as Mayfest and the Parade of Lights. I’m wishing I’d made two copies as I went along, because this is a book I’d like to keep! How weird would it be for me to bid on my own donation? I suppose it’s all for a good cause. The more bids, the more money for the school. I hope it goes over well and brings in a nice sum for the PTA.

I couldn’t find an 8×8 album that suited me, so I’m making my own. The front and back cover will be made from heavy chipboard, and the book will be bound with ribbon and fibers. I had to buy a Crop-A-Dial to make it work. I’d been eyeing that tool for months, anyway, and really just needed an excuse to buy it.

Hopefully, I’ll show you results of the project tomorrow.
Happy Monday! Get off the computer and go play with your scrap stash!

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m a collector of Basic Grey. I can’t help pawing it at Recollections, and I can’t help taking it to the counter, and I can’t help buying it even when I have no immediate use for it. Then I get it home and I can’t help wanting to hoard it. Sometimes, I’ll pull out my stash and then not allow myself to use it. I make myself wait for the perfect pictures. WHY? It’s an illness, I suppose. I could always go down and buy more if I use up what I have. Like I said, I’m a collector.

Sunday afternoon, I scrapped with friends. When I pulled this paper to use, I got all giddy and giggly. It was PERFECT!! I didn’t hesitate to chop right into it. But now I have this really pressing need to restock the four sheets. What is WRONG with me?

I (heart) Basic Grey!

Cyndi Jennings is blessed. As the self-described “retired stay-at-home-Mom” of 3 college-aged kids, she gets to scrap whenever she wants! “But you can never really retire from being a Mom,” she says with a laugh. “My kids are 21, 22 and 23 now. We were young when we had them, so it was like we grew up with them. It was a lot of fun.” They spent many of their early years living in Germany when husband Marc was in the service, and those years allowed the family to really connect with each other. “We did everything together. We didn’t take a lot of pictures back then. Everything was on video,” she says. She’s making up for lost time now, though. Even though son TJ and daughters Quisha and Nicki are all grown up, she constantly snaps photos of them and their “toys”. Marc, a youth director, totally supports her scrapbooking obsession and also shares her passion for Disney. They live 14 hours away (14 hours too many, according to Cyndi), but that doesn’t stop them from making the drive whenever they can.

When you hit a creative wall, how do you work your way around it?
I usually step away from the project and leave it alone for a couple of hours, sometimes even a couple of days. When I’m really stumped, I pull out idea books and magazines or I get online and that’ll usually get me back on track.

What influences have made you the scrapper you are today?
Probably online sites. They’re my #1 source of inspiration. (Cyndi is DisneyCyndi on ScrapShare.com.) I love seeing what people do with the exact same products that I use. I’m a researcher, so if I’m stumped on something, I’ll research it to death. I’m relentless and will keep going ’til I track down exactly what I need.

How do you approach a layout once you’ve chosen the photos?
I actually do it the opposite way. I don’t choose photos first. A lot of times I will see paper and embellishments that I really like and then I’ll bring those home… and then when I take pictures, I think, “ooh, this will work with that paper.” I take a lot of photos of my girls, so I’m always picking up anything pink and purple.

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
I have had people tell me that I have a romantic feel to my pages, probably because I use flowers, swirls, stuff like that. I try to keep clean lines.

What is your best organizing tip?
Have a place for everything, and everything in its place. If I didn’t have somewhere for it to go I’d never get anything done, I have so much stuff! Have a place for paper and embellishments, so you don’t waste time looking for what you need.

Do you have a scrap room?
I actually took my formal living room and put my furniture in storage and turned in to a scrapbook room. I needed space to be more organized!

How did your husband feel about that?
(laughing) Oh, Marc even shops for scrapbook stuff for me when I’m not with him! He finds bargains. He probably would never scrapbook with me though. He doesn’t freak out about how much I put into it. He knows how much I spend. Most of the time he probably spends more on it than I do! He’s rare.

How do you find time to scrap?
My kids are grown, so I’m at home - so I can do it all day long if I wanted to. I usually do it in the morning after they leave for work and classes. In the evenings, we have family time.

What’s the biggest obstacle you face when scrapping?
I tend to be a perfectionist. I’m always trying to make sure that I don’t spend too much time on each page. I could spend two weeks or even three weeks on a page if I didn’t stop myself. I have to remind myself that I’m doing it for fun, to preserve my memories.

I still haven’t gotten the hang of…
packing for a crop. I guess because I have a scrapbook room, it’s really hard for me to leave stuff at home. The few times I’ve gone, I’ve taken everything but the kitchen sink! Then I don’t even get anything done ’cause I’m too busy visiting. For me, the best part of a crop is meeting new people, making friends, seeing what other people do.

What’s your favorite page and why?
I could never choose. They’re like my children! That would be so hard for me because each one is so personal. I love them all for different reasonsl

Do you have a favorite manufacturer?
Lately, I’ve been using a lot of Heidi Swapp products. They captured my attention because they’re so girly. My two girls love to be in front of the camera and her stuff just screams “I’m a girl!”

I can’t get enough…
embellishments. I love flowers, brads, stamps, eyelets, you name it. I love it.

Do you have a favorite tool?
Stamps. Acrylic stamps lately. Lots of flowers. I often create my own patterned paper with stamps.

Tell me about your first page.
(giggle) Even before I got my first Creative Memories products, I got an album on QVC and did Easter layouts of my daughters in their Easter outfits. I actually still like that layout today! A lot of people want to tear up old layouts, but I think I got it as soon as I started scrapbooking, so I’ve always liked the pages I’ve done.

What got you interested in scrapbooking in the first place?
Actually I got interested because of my first trip to Disney. I came home, got online and searched about Disney, and started seeing Disney layouts. Then a week later my cousin invited me to a CM party. It was the first time I’d heard of CM. I became a consultant, too, for about two years.

Besides the obvious gift that scrapping is for your family, why do you enjoy it?
It’s become like a ministry for me. I like sharing it with people. A lot of African-American women do not scrapbook. They don’t get that it’s not about the paper and product and things - it’s about preserving a history. We didn’t preserve our history back in the ’60s. We need to be able to look back and see where we came from. As much as I love to shop, one of my goals is to kind of sponsor a young lady when they come to a scrapbook event and introduce it to them. To show my people that it’s not just for our caucasian sisters. “It’s not really me,” they say. I want other women to do this, and I’m hoping that seeing me do it and seeing themselves in my books will make them say “I want to do this for MY family!”

You knew you were a scrapbooker when…
In high school, I saved articles and put them in magnetic books - of course, before we knew that magnetic albums were so bad. I’ve always loved doing creative type things like that.

What do you think is your strongest ability, scrap-wise?
I would have said a couple years ago being artisitic with it. But my journaling has become really strong, especially since I started blogging. Practice has made a difference. (Read Cyndi’s blog here.)

Is there anything else you do when you’re scrapping that keeps you moving along?
Some days I want quiet so I can think better. Other days, I turn on my Christian music. Recently, Marc bought me a TV for my scraproom, and sometimes I don’t even leave that room! My laptop is in there, too. I told Marc the only thing missing is a fridge.

What’s your best advice for a beginning scrapbooker?
Don’t get overwhelmed. Keep it simple. The most important thing is pictures, and putting some journaling down. Don’t get caught up in all the stuff, cause it’ll probably discourage you.

click to enlarge:

I’ve been struggling with paper storage in the worst way.
For years, I used Creative Memories’ 10×12 paper, and my storage needs were geared toward that odd size. Darren installed a plate rack above my desk that holds 10×12 perfectly, for instance. But as I’ve transitioned over to 12×12, paper storage has been a dilemma.

I’m a scrapper who decorates her scrap space. Yesterday, my friend Elaine and I chatted on the phone about all things creative, including how we each approach our scrap spaces. Mine is decorated with colors and objects and words that inspire me. It’s as “cute” as it is useful. I’m always on the lookout for storage pieces that function as well as complement my space. Elaine, on the other hand, doesnt’ want to waste time decorating her space. When she’s in her scrap/sewing room, she wants to be scrapping and sewing. To each her own!

Last week, I popped in to Hobby Lobby with my friend Cara. As we checked out, I saw this piece sitting in the lobby of the store. Oh. MY. I want it. I want it BAD. I want it NOW. It’s the perfect style for my scraproom. The color is right. The size is right. And it would solve my paper storage problem.

If you live in the Fort Worth area, I am begging you not to go buy this piece. There was only one in stock. It’s mine. Just as soon as I find something to hock. Anybody want some Thomas trains? Maybe a cute gray kitty (I’ll throw in the litter box for free!)?

Here. Look again. Tell me this wouldn’t be perfect in my room!

Last week, I scrapped a client layout that totally inspired me. Amy, my client, had written an essay about her husband’s hands, and then took photos of his hands. I always tell my clients that I will NOT journal for them, and this is a perfect example of why not. Amy’s journaling is personal and heartfelt. What I loved the most, though, is that she wrote about a non-event. I think that so often in our scrapbooks, we get stuck in the rut of writing about events and days and memories, and while that’s all good and we SHOULD record those things, I love that Amy is preserving something that might be even MORE important: the essense of who she is -and who her husband is. She wrote about his hands, and in writing about them, she was able to give a history of their relationship, explain how much he means to her, and convey how deeply in love she is with him.

I used a free font called “Courtney Dorkling”. I love that it looks handwritten and is still easy to read. Click to enlarge:

Here’s your challenge: I want you to do something similar! Write about a feature of someone you love. It’s a hard challenge, I’ll admit. I did it Saturday for myself, and even though writing usually comes easily for me, this one was tough. (I think it has to do with that bad mood I’ve been in!) This advice is true, though: just start writing and pretty soon, you’ll be on a roll. Don’t shy away. Embrace this assignment. You’ll thank me later.

Here’s mine (click to enlarge):

paper: Cosmo Cricket Wonderland
tag: FancyPants Dapper titles and tags (I inked the edges with Dark Moss fluid chalk by ColorBox)

I’m in a bad mood today.
Things are bugging me. Big things.
I need to figure out how to let it go.
I’m all-consumed with it, and there’s not room for an ounce of creativity in my bones right now.

So I leave you with an old layout… about things that bug me. Little things.
I must’ve been in a whack mood the day I did this one - over 3 years ago.
I’m glad I recorded it, though. Real life. Real me.
That’s what scrapbooking is all about. Even on the ugly days.
Check back tomorrow. I promise to be back to my normal self.

click to enlarge:

Nikki Evans is a a vibrant, talented, beautiful 21-year old college student with big dreams and a big personality. I’m honored to call her my friend! She began scrapbooking 3 years ago when I had a crop at my house and has since created dozens and dozens of personal pages in her Book of Me and in family and friends albums. She’s been commissioned to do professional work, too - the most recent being a Disney World album for a local client who saw her work. From the very beginning, Nikki’s been a natural. Her profound love for family shines through in her journaling and her natural eye for layout and design is evident on every page.

When you hit a creative wall, how do you work your way around it?
I don’t! I sit there until I get it, I guess.

What influences have made you the scrapper you are today?
Of course you; that was a duh. I don’t like the magazines too much, I mean, they have good ideas but I try to use my own creativity.

How do you approach a layout once you’ve chosen the photos?
I see what colors to use based on the colors in the photos. I kinda just see what’s going on in the pictures, and pick paper first, then embellishments.

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
Very simple. I don’t like bright colors. My style is fun and artsy. I like it!

What is your best organizing tip?
Stay organized!

Do you have a scrap room?
I scrap in my [parents'] den or wherever there’s a table. When I get my own place, I wish for an extra room for an art room/scrapbookin room. I’d have it all organized, all scrappy so I could always be ready to go at it! I’d call it my Studio.

How do you find time to scrap?
It kinda just happens. All of a sudden I just start scrapping. I don’t scrap as often right now ’cause of my college classes. I always try to go to the Fortress retreats and crops, too.

What’s the biggest obstacle you face when scrapping?
Finding time - my own time.

I still haven’t gotten the hang of…
finishing a book! ha ha ha ha ha!
I have a bunch of unfinished books. I have so many that I’ve started that aren’t even finished. I can do pages but I never put them in there. That’s my problem - when I do projects I can’t ever finish them.

Favorite page and why?
There’s this page from the first Fortress retreat called Scrappy Friends. I just love that page because of the memories it brings me from that weekend.

Do you have a favorite manuafacturer?
I love Mickey Mouse stuff! I collect it and hope one day to use it when I go to Walt Disney World.

I can’t get enough…
embellishments. I love embellishments. I like the ones with words and letters. Metal.

Do you have a favorite tool?
Brads! Is that a tool? I put ‘em on corners, use ‘em for tags. They make it look cool. And I love love love rub-ons. LOVE rub-ons.

Tell me about your first page.
Ooooh, it’s ugly. It doesn’t have anything. It’s so plain. NOW I look at it and my pages have more ooomph to it, but that first one was of my Grandmother. It was one picture of her sitting in the middle of a page and it had strips of paper…lol…. ugly. Now I look back at my first book and I’m like, “Oh my gosh. That’s how I started off?” No matting, nothin’.

Besides the obvious gift that scrapping is for your family, why do you enjoy it?It massages my mind. Gets my mind off a lot of things. My pictures bring me back to those happy moments.

You knew you were a scrapbooker when…
everyone kept telling me I was so good at it. They loved my work. I’ve always been an artist and my handwriting has always been good.

What do you think is your strongest ability, scrap-wise?
I’m really good at lettering. I’d rather draw big letters than use die cuts and stuff. I love to make different fonts. My journaling.

Any time-saving strategies that help you scrap faster?
I have my pictures picked, paper is picked out, and I know what I’m gonna do so when I get to my table, I already have it my head and know how I’m gonna do it.

Do you snack when you’re scrapping?
Gardetto’s. I love those things and they’re not messy when you’re scrapping.

Is there anything else you do when you’re scrapping that keeps you moving along?
I love listening to music, singing and scrapping along. KLTY [local contemporary Christian station], Acappella, something soft - not too hard core.

What’s your best advice for a beginning scrapbooker?
Have fun. It takes some time to do it and it’s a lot of work but it’s fun once you get started.

I created this altered letter for my friend Sarah, who plans to hang it abover her scrapping desk:

I used a paper mache letter instead of wood, and learned that the sandpaper technique doesn’t work well on paper mache! I think it’s because the edges aren’t crisp enough to “cut” the paper as you sand. I ended up using my trusty Cutterbee blade to trim the paper off. Then I sanded the edges to smooth it out, and slapped on a coat of ink.

The sides of the letter are painted with Making Memories scrapbook paint.
Paper: Basic Grey
Flowers: Prima
To keep the little mini book closed, I stuck a photo corner on the back page and tucked the front page into it. Love making these letters!

It’s Valentine’s week my sweets! Time to focus on all things red, pink and lovey.
(I’m trying to avoid chocolate.)

click to enlarge:

A few years ago, I was an avid swapper. Those of you in non-scrapbooking circles are all aghast right now, aren’t you? Oh, wait. This is a scrapbooking blog. There ARE none of you who are non-scrappers. So I don’t need to explain my swapping habits.

Anyway, several years ago, I swapped regularly. These days, I don’t have time, and I’ve moved away from the border style anyway. But back in the day, I was lucky enough to swap with a group of scrapbook artists who did beautiful work. Our group did a regular swap called “Potluck”, where we’d all make one specific border set for one specific person. This layout features one such swap. (I always loved Belinda’s work. My albums from 2002-2004 showcase a lot of her borders!) I probably hinted around that I had cat photos to scrap. I may have even requested a paper piecing that resembles my cat. This morning, while flipping through my albums looking for layouts about LOVE, I came across this one and knew I had to share it.

Do you swap? If so, do you USE your swaps? I still have a big box full of ‘em. I can’t bring myself to get rid of them, because some of them are gorgeous. Challenge yourself to USE some of the swaps you have this week. Let’s see ‘em!

… is my word window punch from Stampin’ Up. (It’s #5 on page 220 of the Stampin’ Up catalog.)

I gave away my first word window punch last fall, and finally just replaced it this month. (Public Service announcement: through the end of this month,receive a free stamp set with every $50 order from Stampin’ Up! see their website for details.) I’ve missed that little punch, and didn’t realize how much I used it until I had to go without. Here are some of the ways I’ve used it:

(click images to enlarge)

I went to Costco.
I picked up the enlargement for this layout:

I bought a twin mattress (for our new houseguest!), 2 loaves of bread, and 2 gallons of milk while there. Forgot to buy beef jerky. Decided on my way out of the parking lot to get gas, as it’s so cheap there, and I only venture to that side of town every couple of weeks or so.

Came home. Cropped the photo. Carelessly. Didn’t pay attention to the fact that I’d left room for a 6″ photo. I had 4″ in my head.

Screwed up my face and said “DADGUMMIT!”

Huffed and puffed at myself.

Channeled Ali Edwards, said “It is okay”, and adhered the photo.

inspired by Donna Downey:
I created this layout for my friend Cori in Nebraska. I’d been wanting to try my hand at Donna Downey’s cool word art, and knew that this page for Cori would be the perfect opportunity to do it. I asked her to send me a recent photo and a list of her favorite things. I’m really happy with the way it turned out!
(click to enlarge image)

Last Tuesday, I challenged you to CASE a layout and share it here. Drumroll please… the winner is TONYA from Fort Worth! Tonya and I have actually never met in person, so maybe I can convince her to meet me for lunch soon to receive her prize - an assortment of grossgrain ribbon from Stampin Up! Here are the layouts Tonya shared: click here.

(click images to enlarge)

I shoot 100% digital these days, so it should be easy to only print what I need. Or so you’d think. Instead, I find that I still have stacks of unscrapped photos leftover at the end of each scrap session. This year, one of my scrapping goals is to be organized enough to plan ahead and print only what I intend to scrap. At this birthday party, I shot 48 pictures - most of them of the boys climbing on the hay mountain. I only wanted to do a single-page spread, though, so that meant culling the photos WAY down. This is often the hardest and most time-consuming part of the process for me. I managed to choose and print the 5 photos I felt best represented the day, but in the end, I realized I’d forgotten to include a photo of the birthday girl whose party we were attending! Oops!

Sometimes, the best laid plans aren’t good enough. For the layout below, I printed the photos I knew I’d need. Except that when I sat down to do the actual scrapping, I decided that I wanted one of the photos enlarged. Since I was miles away from civilization at a scrapbooking retreat, I had to improvise with a sheet of paper. The enlargement is sitting at Costco this minute, waiting for me to drive over and pick it up.

At least I don’t have stacks of unused photos lying around.

This is a question I get asked a lot. In fact, this entry is a direct response to a comment left by a reader last week. I promised to answer her question of how I got here.

It’s really not as romantic as you probably imagine.

When my boys were born within a year of each other, it became evident to me very quickly that it was going to actually cost me money to continue working. Daycare for two babies was more than I would be bringing home! I loved my job of creating invitations and doing design, and I loved the people I worked with. But I had to let it go. In the meantime, I needed to find another way to help supplement Darren’s income. I knew what I wanted to do: scrapbook.

I’d been lucky enough to have one job fall in my lap already. A woman came in to the store where I worked and asked if I knew anyone who scrapbooked. I immediately said, “I do!” Then she asked if I’d consider doing it for hire. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. The next day, I showed her my work and she hired me. (Incidentally, she’s the woman I blogged about a few weeks ago - the woman who journaled on the plane ride to Hawaii.)

So a year or so later, when I got pregnant with Ian and knew I’d need to quit my job, I used that woman as a reference. When people asked me what I did, I always answered, “I scrapbook for people who have the desire, but not the time to do it themselves.” I knew the market for this type of thing was out there, but I didn’t know how to tap it. So I began telling everyone I came in touch with that this is what I did. Soon enough, a friend approached me and said she was working with a lady who might need to hire a scrapbooker. Several months went by before the lady actually got around to hiring me, and only because I pestered her until she did. LOL! The first books I did for her were very simple, and even so, I undercharged for them. It took me about a year to figure out that my time was worth more than I was charging. My first advice to new scrap-for-hire people is to charge what you’re worth from the very beginning, because it’s very difficult to raise your rates once you’ve established them with a customer. I was afraid that if I charged too much, I’d not get the job. I sold myself short.

Eventually, that job led to another…and another…and another. Word of mouth keeps me in business. I’ve never spent a nickle on advertising. I always intend to run an ad in some of the neighborhood association newsletters, but I haven’t yet. After three years, I decided I needed a website, and I hired a very talented friend to do the job. I designed everything in MS Publisher, thinking I could convert it to HTML myself. WHOA. I was so wrong! I sent her everything I’d done and she worked her magic and made a pretty penny in the process. My site isn’t designed to attract new customers, but rather to serve current customers and to answer questions for potential clients. When someone asks, “What do you do? What’s your style? How much do you charge?”… it’s so much easier to send them to my site than to try to explain it all with words. Scrapbooking and style is such a visual thing. They need to see it.

I had business cards printed at the same time. I haven’t done much with them, though. Sometimes, I think I’m afraid to grow my business too much. Is that crazy, or what??

I love love LOVE what I do. Truly, it’s the best job in the world. I currently have clients in California, Nebraska, Uganda, New York and several here in Fort Worth. I’m very near wrapping up two of my biggest clients, though, and then I’ll have a big void in both time and income. I need to fill those spots. I might need to advertise, huh?

My favorite thing about scrapping other people’s photos is that I’m able to move really fast. A friend used to call me a Scrapping Machine when she’d watch me work. With client photos, I’m not emotionally attached, so I don’t spend any time reminiscing, or trying to cull 8 photos of the same kid playing with the same toy down to one, or worrying too much about the layout. I just look at the photos and GO. Boom Boom Boom, I’m done. I have one client whose only requirement is that I stay current with industry trends, and that has done a world of good for my creativity. It keeps me from getting in too much of a rut, and it gives me an excuse to try things I might not try otherwise.

Another neat thing is that I get to know people in an odd sort of way. It’s almost like being a peeping Tom or a stalker. LOL! I recently finished a high school album for a woman’s grown son. I watched him grow from chubby 9th grader to a good-lookin’ captain-of-the-football team Senior as I worked on the job. I got to know his friends, his hobbies, his cousins. I told my client that if I ever saw Garrett on the street, I’d have the urge to run up and hug him and say, “Garrett!!! How ARE you? What are you doing now?” He’d think I was a freak. But I feel like I know him. Weird, huh?

I have another client who lives in Nebraska. We’ve never met in person, but we now exchange Christmas cards, and through our emails and through the photos I scrap of her family events, we’ve become friends. When her grandfather passed away two weeks ago, she emailed me and asked for prayers, which I readily offered. I wished I could be there in person to hold her and let her weep. Scrapbooking for others is such a personal thing. In some cases, the relationship is one-way. But in cases like Amy’s, the friendship is mutual. I’ve been very blessed to come in contact with some amazing, beautiful familes through this job of mine.

One of my first clients was a local family who never knew I scrapbooked for them because their personal secretary contracted me to do the work. I scrapped probably 12 years worth of photos for them, though, so I knew all the ins and outs of their lives and those of their close friends. One time, Darren and I were at a restaurant and two couples came in and sat near us. I nearly choked on my food, because here were these people whom I’d seen in every imagineable scenario - including the man prancing around in nothing but a jock strap, with a huge pink mum stuck in his butt. (Too bad I scrapped those pics before Prima flowers were available. OH the layout I could’ve done with those! LOL!) It was difficult for me to be dignified during dinner. I kept wanting to stare at them. I kept having to stifle my huge BWAHAHAHAHA.

The downside of scrapping for others is that my own family’s albums have fallen behind. I used to work on my own photos and stay almost caught up at weekend scrapbooking retreats, which I try to attend 3 or 4 times a year. Last year, though, I was so busy and always so near a deadline that I ended up working on client’s photos at retreats. I suffered severe burnout as a result, and this year, I resolved to only work on my OWN photos when I get away. It’s hard for me to work on my own alongside a client’s job, because I’m such a messy scrapper. When I’m mid-job, my studio is a maelstrom of papers, photos, embellishments… there’s not an inch of space that’s not covered. I’d be a fool to try to pull my own stuff out on top of it all.

This year, I intend to submit for publication, and to apply for a design team or two. I’ve never done either. Again, it’s that “fear of growing” thing that I’m so paralyzed by. Right now, I make enough to supplement Darren’s income and make a comfortable life for us. I have a goal of being able to pay a housekeeper to clean once every week or two by year’s end. And I’d love to make enough to start putting some in savings for future home improvement projects. Those are my business goals and dreams.

Whoa. This got long! But there it is. Nothing stupendous or earth-shattering. Just a girl with a dream, a passion, and a real need to make it happen. I am truly blessed.