…I scrapbooked today! I haven’t scrapbooked in ages (except for a measly attempt at a layout when I was at Papirfest in Norway); between Vegas, Norway and redoing the scrapbook room, I just haven’t had the opportunity. The embarrassing part is that I was actually having withdrawal symptoms. Seriously. So today I dug out some essentials (I only managed to sneak one sheet of letter stickers out so I used on all three layouts, in case you were wondering) from storage and got my fix :o)

So, this first one is for Lain’s Thirty-Minute Thursday challenge over at ScrapHappy. Anyone who’s seen me in action (evidence: Papirfest) knows that I’m an insanely slow scrapper, so this was a challenge for me. My solution was to use good, old-fashioned developed 4×6 photos instead of wasting time fiddling with them on the computer, journaling by hand instead of fiddling with that on the computer, and using letter stickers instead of fiddling with a die-cutting machine. Apparently fiddling takes up most of my time.

I should get extra points for actually using one of my Quickutz shape dies on this one – eh? Eh?

I finally finished the one I started on at Papirfest. Seriously, I’m that slow.

…and this one is for the Book of Me challenge over at Minneriket. I made a list of all my goals but it ended up being way too long, so I chose my top three and am going to sneak the complete list behind the green paper. Which by the way is not this garish and horrible in real life.

I can once again attest to the magical Prozac-like effects of scrapbooking. All is well.

Really need sleep though. Yes.

Camilla asked if I could show my SoY entry, so I’ve uploaded part of it here. We had to submit 20 layouts (12 of them had to be brand new and couldn’t have been posted on teh intarwebs before) plus a one-page essay describing our “ideal day”. I am keeping most of the layouts private for now in case I want to submit some of them for publishing (and there are a couple that I’m not happy with and want to touch up – since I made eleven of the twelve new layouts in three days, there are some fugly ones in there! Heh.), but here are six of the ones I’m sure I’m not going to ever submit to a magazine.

One thing I noticed as I was sorting through these now was that the ones I want to submit are the ones with multiple photos (and several spreads) and descriptive journaling. I think I’m really over the single-photo-no-real-journaling layouts. When I looked through my albums this summer, those layouts just seemed so boring compared to the ones that really tell a story. Anyhoo, here goes:

Hmm, there seems to be a bit of a pink/green/brown color scheme going on here.

I guess I can post my essay as well – I wrote this at four in the morning so I could make it before the deadline, so be kind! :D

My ideal day would be what most people would consider very mundane; basically I would be able to do exactly what “most people” do. I would not be (for fear of sounding overly dramatic) shackled by the chains of depression, I would wake up feeling ready to take on anything. In other words, I would feel like myself again.

Looking at this list, I realize that all of these things are either already happening or right at my fingertips (except for my husband being home with me all day – must remember to play the lottery soon!). I am not longing for any exotic, faraway countries or impossible dreams; I simply want my own ordinary life. I just want to feel free inside my soul as I am living it. I want to live without stopping myself, and I want to know that all this is within reach if I simply adjust my mind.

If I had written that essay a month later, it would just say “hiking hiking hiking”. Things change quickly, eh?

First of all, thanks for all the comments I got on my last entry..we’re hanging on and trying to get used to the idea of maybe getting another foster dog. After what happened with Chester I said I wouldn’t want another one, but there is a constant stream of new rescues coming in these days – I can’t let one accident keep me from helping other little guys who need homes..

Alrighty, I am going to start trying to catch up now – I have this whole backlog of subjects to blog about. Anyhoo, in September, Creating Keepsakes invited us to Memory Trends in Las Vegas for the Scrapbooker of the Year announcement. JK tagged along so we could use it as a mini vacation.

We spent the days walking the floor at Memory Trends, looking at all the new products, meeting the CK editors and sneaking in some slot machine action here and there.

The girls with Tim Holtz – I am impatiently waiting for his grungeboard and crackle paint to hit the stores!

SiSTV interview – I seriously hope they never air this. I made a complete arse of myself..

Collin (Liz’s husband), JK and Stan (Noel’s husband) were running all over the show floor winning prizes and getting massages. Not too shabby!

My table at the SoY banquet – Oddbjørg and May Lis from the Norwegian store Scrappejungelen were invited by Lisa Bearnsom herself to cheer me on :D (and no, I’m not pregnant. Just fat and wearing a top that looked much better in the store :oD)

Lisa Bearnson introduced each of us up on stage. Eep!

I love this photo – I took it a couple of seconds after they announced that Elizabeth was the winner. She screamed and jumped into Collin’s arms and made everyone tear up :)

If you’re planning on entering SoY next year – go for it! I know the finalists said this last year too, but it really is true – Creating Keepsakes treated us like queens. We stayed in gorgeous suites at the Venetian, got freebies and gift bags, got a peek at the inner workings of the magazine, met some of my favorite scrapbookers. A once in a lifetime experience. Seriously.

I had this whole back-to-blogging entry I was going to write last night, but I just can’t do it now.

Yesterday we got another foster dog, Chester. Mira was adopted by a family in Alaska a while ago, so we had room for a new little Italian Greyhound to take her place. The rescue coordinator dropped Chester off, we snuggled and played with him for a little bit, and then JK took the dogs on a short evening walk to get Chester acquainted with the neighbourhood. The next thing I know, JK is calling me to come help him because Chester somehow managed to wriggle out of his collar and took off straight into the road. He didn’t respond to JK’s calls (I guess he didn’t even know we were his humans yet), but eventually ran off the main road and back onto our street, disappearing behind the church.

We spent the next two hours looking for him on foot and by car, eventually finding him by the side of the road where a car had hit him. I will never forget how tiny, helpless and alone he looked. He must have been dead for a while, he was so cold. There was nothing we could do except wrap him up in a blanket and take him to the animal hospital.

I feel so horrible. I barely had time to meet him and marvel at how soft the fur behind his ears was. I just hope he wasn’t scared and that he didn’t suffer.

I’m so sorry, little guy.