An Important Day In History!

Did you vote today? I did! I take my right to vote as a great honor. It wasn't that long ago that women weren't allowed to vote in the United States and in some countries people aren't allowed to vote at all. I don't care WHO you voted for, just that you voted!
No matter who wins tonight, it will be a very important moment in history. We will either have our first black President or our first female Vice President. How is that for breaking the glass ceiling? It's really quite exciting. My grandmother is almost 95 years old (next February) and in her life she has seen many, many things. I asked her if she ever thought she would live to see the day that an African-American or a female would be part of a winning Presidential team? Well, of course she said NO! She said there had been lots of things she thought she would never see: talking movies, television, a man on the moon. Those things happened years and years ago too. She doesn't really understand computers or cell phones or mp3 players. It just reminds me that the future is full of infinite possibilities.

More Exciting NEWS!!!! :)

What exciting news you say? Well,I got asked to be a part of a new challenge blog called Ad This! YIPPEEEEE! I'm so excited. We will have weekly challenges based on advertisements with an added twist. This was our first ad and the twist is to add some bling to your layout.





I'm super excited to be a part of this new design team. Check out their blogs:
Elisa Kammerdiener
Katie Haddox
Nina Pateña
Kary Lewis

There is a great prize filled with new Basic Grey pp's and the winner of the week also gets to be a Guest Designer on Ad This the following week so what are you waiting for? Go do your layout!

YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, good news! First, today is my 3 year Sobriety Birthday. Yep! I've been Alcohol/Drug/Cigarette free for 3 years today!

Second, I got my first Guest Design Team position! Allyscraps hosted a month long challenge for Allyscraps Next Top Scrapper. It was fun times! We had weekly challenges and then weekly mini challenges and played lots of games and meet new people and chatted a LOT! Two ladies, Mary and Tracy tied for first in the points section and then 4 of us got asked to be Guest Designers for the months of December and January. Here are the layouts I did with a description of the challenges below.

Kary started the challenges off with a bling challenge. She asked us to use at least 2 types of bling and some paint. I painted my chipboard and then added some doodlebug glitter. I used some Glitz Frosting around my picture, MM glitter letter stickers, Glittered Thickers, Stickles on my skully's bow and the glittered pink chipboard hearts. The pic is my friend Lori and I. Her birthday is 2 days before mine.


Queeen B.O.B. ~ This layout started out as a joke because of a joke on the AS message board. We (Kary, Callie, Nicci, Ann and I) had a lot of fun making fun of Queen BOB and what it could stand for. We weren't near as cleaver as some of our mb sisters were, that is for sure! LOL We decided it meant "Bitch Off Booze" for me and "Bitch ON Booze" for Nicci. My blingy things are the glittered chipboard hearts and stars and Stickles on my letters.



These 2 layouts were for Deb's sketch challenge. We got extra points for turning the the sketch in a new direction and also for using different fonts in our title.

Holidays are about Family: My sister, cousins and me Christmas 1991 I believe.



Christmas Memories: Some pics from Christmas 1966, just a few weeks before I was born! My mom doesn't even look pregnant in that picture to me.




Trish challenge was ALL about color! She showed us a list of fashionable fall colors and we need to use those colors, or shades of those colors, plus black and white. We got extra points for using a 4th color and also adding ribbon, bling and a journaling spot.

All hail the SSK! Scrappy Serial Killers. Like there could be such a thing! LOL



That's me on my first Christmas!




Morag's challenge was to use accesories in a new way. You got extra points for using something hand-made and using something in fashion. For my first lo I used a cluster of embellies with my home-made item being the Yo-Yo Flowers I made from fabric. I customized my chipboard and houndstooth is always popular for fall fashions. In the second lo I used purple as my fashion item. They say it is a hot color for fall! I customized my chipboard again and I also used some purple silk Yo-You flowers that I made. It really says 'Family History' but I thought the r part was a fallen dot on the i and I moved it! lol

Scrapn' Angels: Callie, me and Kary doing our Charlie's Angels pose with our scrappy tools at the end of the crop at Scrapbook Expo. Fun times!



Family History: That is my Great grandfather (Papa Faye), my grandmother (Nana) and her mother, my great grandmother (Maude) Sitting in their Sunday best.

On a little vaca!

Blood! You know me and vampires! ;) Today Kary took me to the Capital for a private tour. I was hoping to get to see Arnold but you'll have to wait for a pic to see just how close I got to him. They all call him the Governor or Governor Hi. I'm in Sacramento visiting Kary. I got here last Thursday. We went to Scrapbook Expo on Friday and Saturday. Took a few classes and shopped a lot and laughed even more. Nicci, Leeann and Miss Callie Jean (all Allyscraps girls) came down or over to play with Kary and I along with Kary's friend Ann. Sunday we scrapped some, I napped some and Kary got me addicted to TruSchwarzenegger and I was just like Arnold this and Arnold that. Funny how since he is a Hollywood star I use his first name.
Tomorrow we are all going to San Francisco. Can't wait since I have wanted to go there for-EVER! I've had a cold since I've been here that is promptly turning into a sinus infection. Lovely! Taking tons of pics. All hail the SSK! LOL

Breast Cancer Awareness

So October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. A couple of weeks ago our lss had it's annual Scrap Pink event and the other day Oprah had the woman that started the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation on her show along with Samantha Who star Christina Applegate who just survived breast cancer. I never knew that the Susan G. Komen Foundation was started because of a promise between two sisters. A promise to further research and to make it easier for other women to get diagnosed and become survivors.
As women, many of us are not always happy with what God gave us. Personally I always wanted mine to be bigger when I was younger, and perkier now. I also always wanted that cute teardrop shape but it's not what I got. Millions of dollars are spent each year on breast augmentation. But what would you do if they were filled with disease? Pesonally, I decided a long time ago that I would have them cut off and just get some new ones. I can say that easily because I have never been diagnosed with breast cancer. But having cancer run so rampant in my family, well, it's crossed my mind more than once. I've even had this conversation with Nana.
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, Tallyscrappers had a challenge to scrap about your breast. Now my friend took this picture a couple of years ago while we were trying to climb a tree. Never thought I would be scrapping this pic! But I knew exactly which pic I wanted to use when I saw the challenge. So go over to their gallery and check out the Scrap Pink Layouts.

Talkin' bout My Girls




Capture Life's Little Drunken Moments With Sex Toys!
Ok, enough with the seriousness! Might as well throw in some sex toys with the boobies! LOL So, yep, that's me with the personal satisfaction device in my mouth. Yes, I'm on the dance floor at a club. Yes, I'm drunk! For my 29th birthday my friends thought it would be fun to get me a vibrator and I thought it would be fun to wear it in my bra to the bar! This led to lots and lots of comments and lots of raunchy dancing and illustrious stories. It was fun times though.



Ok, It is LATE and I should be cleaning and packing, not blogging! Only 2 days until I arrive in Sacramento!!!!!

Round Robin Fun!

So this past Sunday at SIS we had a Round Robin. We were to show up at 2pm with 3 playing cards and 2 1.5" x 1.5" photo's. Then we each had 20 minutes to add something to the project (or layout if you were on other teams) and this is what mine turned out like.
The first person showed the 3 cards covered in pp with pics and holes punched. I was next and I added the outlines and the chipboard in the middle with my 'title' so to speak. The next person added 3 brads (I used buttons) and some detail behind both the pics. Next person added fabric which I interpreted as ribbon and the last person tied them all together and added something else which escapes me at the moment. This was tons of fun and I already have a holiday one in mind.




Bird ATC Swap
Peep!




Photography ATC Swap
I took this picture a couple years ago in Tahlequah, Oklahoma at an AA retreat.



Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ATC Swap
I used exposed x-ray film for my background.

Sad times

I spent the last couple of days in Tulsa. You would think with all this free time not having to take care of Nana that I would be out roaming the countryside, but not so much. When I roam, well, I tend to spend money. Too much money. Anyway, it was nice to see friends and get rid of my black roots. Got a fun new Instinct phone, like the iPhone but with insurance. It will take me forever to learn how to use all the features on this thing. It gets Guitar Hero III Mobile! I'm VERY excited to learn how to play. I'm easily amused, especially by fun new technology. Watched some movies: Baby Mama (so-so), Love Guru (AWFUL, do NOT waste your money) and Sex & the City (I still cried). John made me a yummy Creme de Coconut cake. Filled up on some sushi. Basically a good time. Also needs to go down in the record books because I did not go to any scrapbooking or craft stores! I know, I can't believe it either. Shocking for sure. Spent some time with Nana today on my way thru Bartlesville. She is doing much better, physically and cognitive.
The sad part is that tonight I looked over at the birdies and green birdie died. He was alive this afternoon. I was freaking because they were out of food and I thought maybe I had forgot to feed them but Marcee said that they had food yesterday. Guess it was just his (or her) time to go. This is the 3rd bird we have had die. We had a little issue with the blue birdies at first. We had both of these for over a year so maybe that is a good run. Not really sure. So blue birdie is very quiet and sad. I feel badly for him (or her) so I guess I will be getting a new green birdie here before Nana comes home.
Allyscraps having a month long competition called America's Next Top Scrapbooker and it started today. They are having 4 weekly challenges and then some smaller challenges and games and such so it should spark the ol' creative juices. Kary posted the first challenge which is all about bling! A girl after my own heart!!! It's not to late to join so check it out.
At Tallyscrappers we started Survivor this past week. Our first challenge was all about Sassafrass Lass(my love!). Had to be 12x12 (easy); had to have a paper pieced tree(if you say so); 3 photos(not so bad); a bird, owl, hedgehog or deer(I need to use some of these up so that was a plus); had to have a title of Life Is Beautiful(I hate coming up with titles sometimes); journaling in a cloud(better keep it simple); and at least one stitched edge. Sounded daunting at first but then it came to me and this is my entry:


Life IS beautiful today and I AM (learning) to love hoo I am.