Dun, dun....Dun, dun....Dun, dun (Jaws theme...)

Well, hello to all of my fans...all three of you!  :)  I'm sure you've missed me ever so much since it's been quite a while since I've put up a new blog entry.  For ten of those days I was visiting family and friends in Ohio.  While I was in Ohio, I had a wee bit of a disappointment as I was not chosen for a Design Team I'd thought I had a good shot at making.  It made me go into a scrapping slump and some navel gazing.  I lost sight of the whole point of my scrapping, which is not to try to get other people's approval, but rather to have FUN, relax, remember the things worth remembering, and so on.  Maybe it's part of the Type A personality, but I've always been a pleaser since birth, probably.  What I need to focus on is whether or not I'm pleasing God, and the rest will fall into place.  How's that for some deep thinking at 9 am on a Tuesday?

Anyway, I am still on the Design Team at my local scrapbook store.  The owner, Vanessa, is such a great scrappy friend.  She got to go to CHA, and she returned with a pack of Echo Park's Life is Good for me to create with as she's ordering it into the store.  Echo Park satisfies my playful side of scrapping, but you can also use it to get a little more serious.  First up, a layout of my best friend Anita and I.  We've been friends for 16 years, since freshman year at college.  Now all of these years later, it's still one of those friendships as close as family.  I'm an only child, so Anita is my sister substitute. 

One of my favorite details on this LO is the layered punched edges.  After I created this LO, I got my new issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. and saw some other work where punched edges were layered.  I was so proud of myself for being cool ahead of time!  :)  This is NOT my favorite picture of myself, but we realized the last picture we had together was taken at my wedding 12 years ago.  So we were due for an updated one!

After I did a mushy, sentimental layout, I wanted to go back to my more playful roots.  Last Friday Jon took Paige to some car races, and Erin and I were left to our own devices.  Erin wanted a GIRL PARTY!  So, we gathered together all of the elements of a successful stay at home party, and we boogied on down...

This design was based on Liz Qualman sketch #54.  Her blog and sketches can be found at http://lizqualman.blogspot.com/

Here's the sketch: 

and here's my take on it.

Who wouldn't love a night of hugging and snuggling with your five year old?  Even if it means you have to watch a Barbie movie?!

Once again, this layout is made from Echo Park's fantastically fun Life is Good line. 

And yes, my life is good.

Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to leave me comments!  I love comments! 

 (It's that whole pleaser/approval thing again.)