My first post! Yay!

Well, I have hesitated a lot about doing this blog.  Self-doubt creeping up again I guess.  In my head, I felt like it was silly for me to blog about scrapbooking especially since I am so new to the craft and am very much an amateur.  Then...I just *slapped* self-doubt across her ugly face and decided to dress the part of the great scrap artist I someday hope to be!  That means having a blog to showcase my work and eventually learn enough about the craft to post tutorials and inspire others.  I do have one problem though...   I have no clue how to do this blog! I tried to get a new background from shaggy blogs but couldn't seem to figure it out????  Oh well, I will get it eventually...I hope!  (by the way I use ... way too much and its almost never used correctly)

Ok, I'm going to start posting some of the layouts I've done so far.  I didn't take pics of all of my work.  I gave some away as gifts and forgot to take pics.  This is what I have so far though...

This is pretty much my first layout created outside of matting photo's.  I was new to taking pics and didn't have an editing program at that time so its not the clearest image. 

Below is a photo of my grandma and daughter.  She is such a "cuddle bug" and is all about caressing your face.  She is so sweet...and my grandma too! lol

 This is a pic of my gpa Keller.  It makes me smile!  He was a funny guy and this just reminds me of his goofballness (I tend to make up words too)  Oh...something else...this was the first LO I ever had  featured at scrapbook.com.  I'm probably making it sound even more prestigious than it really is, but I was totally psyched an honored to be featured.  As long as someone marks it as a favorite you can be featured...so I do feel honored because it was someones favorite! I kept refreshing the "featured LO's" button just to see it again and again.  Yes, I know the apple doesn't fall far from the goofball tree!

 Next, is my son after getting a haircut.  He HATES haircuts!  He really tries to convince us that it hurts...so totally reminded me of Sampson.  The title reads:  "Sampson? or just payton overreacting"  I learned the paint technique over at http://www.thecolorroom.ning.com/ There is soooooo much inspiration there!

 This is another pic of my gpa keller.  Isn't he so handsome?  You can't tell in the photo, but those eyes are piercing!  I bought the flowers from Alyssa Mcgrew at her rummage sale.  She is a Prima flower girl!  In case you didn't know...that title alone makes her a scrapbooking super star!  Of course, I didn't know that when I met her...or she probably would have made me a little nervous! LOL
The title stickers and pointer finger are from her sale as well! Here you can check out her blog http://www.alyssasscraps.blogspot.com/

This is a photo of my husbands national guard unit.  Photo was taken by Janean Deplanty at www.gobblersknobphotography.com

                                     
 Next,  is my son swinging.  Unfortunately, he refuses the big boy swing and insists on the baby one.  He could swing ALL DAY LONG if we let him.

 This is my gma and gpa keller.  We had made a collage with some sticker that damaged this photo above my gma's head.  Luckily my hubby bought me photoshop for my bday and I was able to take a part from another tree in the picture and cover the bright pink sticker above her head.  Now if you look closely you can see that something isn't quite right but I think its a huge improvement from its original state!  More stickers from Alyssa's garage sale...

The next page is the first one I've ever used a sketch for.  Its from a sketch at http://www.twistedsketches.com/  Its one of my main reasons for starting a blog, by the way.  I just threw caution to the wind and tried out for their design team when they had dt calls. I didn't get it but I really didn't expect to this early in the game!  Just decided to get my "feet wet" and try on the idea! I don't know how to post the sketch but the twist was maps.  This is a goofy pic of my hubby in Iraq.  Titled "So lost without you" 

The journaling reads:
"Steve, I miss you so much. Life feels like a whirlwind of chaos without you. Its so hard to feel like myself when such a huge piece of me is missing. The thing I miss most is your hugs. I never knew how valuable they were until you were gone. Being in your arms was the one thing that could take the craziness away and help me to focus again. Can't wait to feel your arms around me again. I love you."

By the way, it is a goofy pic of him but I love it because he is being a dork for the camera...and anybody who knows Steve knows that his sense of humor is one of his best traits...another huge part of him I missed!

 Next we have a page I made for the color room...don't remember the palette number.   I absolutely love the color room but absolutely hate this lo!  The only thing I really like about it is the photo...nothing else about it really felt normal for me.  I really struggle with color schemes...but at least I tried, right?thecolorroom.ning.com

Below are some prayer journals (altered composition notebooks).  I made about 35 of them out of different Tim Holtz papers.  The Bible pages are from a my moms favorite Bible that was no longer being used because of the pages falling out...I can't think of a better use for them.  We wondered if it was an appropriate thing to do but then I thought about the story I heard about those Christians  in countries that ban Bibles...a lot of the time they are just given pages to read then they would trade the "WORD" secretly with their other fellow christians.

 Finally my latest page.  I just did this last week.  When I originally tried to scrap these pics months ago back at the beginning of my journey, I had no clue how to do it.  I knew I wanted to use bark, but couldn't figure out how to make it look presentable.  Tried it again last week and I really love how it turned out.  I'm pleased with all the texture and I'm starting to get a little better with details.  I still have a long way to go but I am on the way!

The bark is from the tree's Payton and his gpa were cleaning up in this photo...and then I used modeling paste mixed with sand and paint and one of Paytons toy trucks to mimic the dozer tracks...if that's even what that machine is called!  (Don't know my heavy machinery)

Well that's it so far...and thank you so much for looking!  I would love your feedback...please only positive comments though...I'm really trying not to have anymore confrontations with that hideous self doubt!  

Hoping to post a layout a week...so I hope to see you again soon!
 (Wow, I really love how I make it sound like "you all" are just waiting for another post from me!  On pins and needles just waiting to see what I come up with next...when in reality I have no followers yet...so "you all" doesn't even exist! ha ha) 

So to those who may stumble onto my blog...have a great week!