Almost finished!

My room has been going through major overhaul, with new wooden floors, a mini/big mirror vanity area, and storage under my bed, all I need is a table and a little more storage! Plus some other fun shelves for books, because I have a ton of them!

Summer has been great for me so far! I've had my aunt and her kids come from Pennsylvania 2 weeks ago and we had a blast! We went to Coronado, Sea World, Burbank & Hollywood [WB Studios VIP Tour, if you haven't done it, you HAVE to, it was awesome!] and the yogurt shoppe down the hill from my house that my cousin was ADDICTED to. Haha. Anybody from Southern California may relate this place to a "Pink Berry," but more self-serve. Some great pictures are to come! Or maybe scrapbook pages. I have to be honest, I haven't scrapped because I haven't had anywhere to. I don't want to make a mess anywhere else but my room .. so I'm holding off for a desk! :) Once I get my desk, I have so many p

rojects I need to get started on.

I found this great "meetup" group here in San Diego for digital scrapbookers. I thought it'd be great to join and get to know more people, feed off their inspiration and just have a good time with people that like to craft, like me! I love the computer, so digital scrapping comes pretty easy for me. But I love the feel of paper crafting.

I ordered 2 batches of things, one from RitzCamera again and one from Scrapbook.com. I've been looking for somewhere to buy kraft cardstock for pretty cheap and haven't been able to in person, but Scrapbook.com has some great stuff, so I bought kraft cardstock and some other things from there. I bought way too much stuff from Ritz once again, but I'm happy! I spent my last paycheck on everything, but I think I won't spend ag

ain until maybe September!

On a different note, there's some AWESOME blogcandy out there from "priscillastyles"! Her awesome site has reached 30,000 hits!! (WOW!) almost 40,000 actually, and to celebrate, she's giving away a Stampin' Up BigShot AND bag!

Click on the image to visit her blog! This is an amazing opportunity, I've always wanted a Big Shot, especially to make diecuts of my chipboard! Right now I'm hoping to save up my next few paychecks for the deepcut housing blade for my cricut though.

Also on my wishlist is the Bind-It-All!! But that also won't come for a while. For now I'll try to be a frugal crafter! ;)

When my goodies come maybe I'll take a lovely picture of them all. I'd love to do videos like everybody else, but don't have a camcorder :(

NKOTB

I've been working on a layout for a challenge on DSP called New Kid On The Blog. So far, I have 3 versions of the same layout done. Getting feedback from all the really knowledgeable folk at DSP is really good, I feel like it helps me grow a lot in my scrapbook-abilities. I'm not sure if I plan to stick with digital forever, as I do love to hold things. I may print my digital pages once I get the money, make them a little hybrid, and then start working on paper-style ones. I find inspiration everywhere though. I'm really enjoying this project, but I have only 23 out of at LEAST 50 pages done. I want to do more than 50. I still don't know how I'm going to present it to my teacher yet.

I'll edit this post later and add photos of my 3 layouts. I have work in an hour, and need to get something in my belly!


---- EDIT ----
Work was excellent, I'm really starting to pick up my pace there which helps me work a lot more efficiently. My dad left for L.A. today, but before he left (after I got home from work) he told me what he's getting me for my birthday/graduation gift [no need for 2 gifts, no money for 2 gifts, haha.] .. An ASUS Eee PC 1000He, which is supposedly the top Netbook there is out there at this moment for the summer. Obviously when Winter comes, something even better will come out, but I'm happy and surprised that I'll even get this. It's small enough to fit in a purse and carry with me everywhere. I'd be using it for taking notes in my college courses [yay college!] and for various web-browsing and what not. It's not big enough for any graphic designs, but I don't like laptops for that anyways. It's perfect for my basic needs! Another great thing [from what my dad told me] is that it supports the up and coming Windows 7 [yes, I'm a PC, even though I own an iPhone, which by the way I'm not straying from].

I'm not posting the pictures up because I'm just too tired right now. On another note, I'm turning 18 on Tuesday! [2 days].
And my >50 page scrapbook is due next Tuesday! :( I only have 23 pages done. I have to get working, since I have work Friday-Sunday [yes Mother's day].
I'm planning on making my mom a really nice card, I just have to go to Michael's soon.

I haven't

been blogging here recently, but there is plenty I want to talk about.

First of all, I've been watching some amazing videos by a really awesome lady named Marion. They've been so inspiring that they're making me want to paperscrap now. Although I can't afford it right now. Some of her ideas are really cost-efficient and clever, like the paper bag album, and envelope album! I'm excited to try them out when I have the time to buy some papers and embellishments. A link to her page will be put on the sidebar when I'm finished posting this. Her blog is called A Piece of Craft.

Through her blog-portal she does this thing called ATC. It means "Artist Trading Cards," where papercraft artists make their own set of cards for a specific theme each month and they get sent to her. She sends 11 different ones back out to each person. It's a really interesting thing to do and a great way to get inspired. So I think, when I'm a bit older and hopefully more into the scrapworld of the internet, I can gather a good enough fan-type base to start my own ATC club. In the mean time, I kind of want to join one, but don't know where I should.

Tomorrow is National Scrapbooking Day, which is wonderful! I wish I could do something scrapbook-related, I probably will actually, but I might have to work in the morning. I'm really excelling at work, and I hope that I can get the opportunity to be Assistant Manager soon, if Ashley quits. I'm not saying she should, because I do like having her around. Her company is very amusing.

It's the beginning of May now, and I cannot wait to graduate. It's not so much that I hate school or anything, but I want to meet new people. Move on to the next step already. High School was never really my "thing." It didn't come easy for me social-wise, and it didn't click with me as much as something like work did. I love my work, it comes to me like second nature. Working with the customers, the people that work there, I even like my boss! It's hard to find a boss you like. I want to move on, to experience new things. To not have school set me back from doing what I want to do. I want to go to Sea World at any given moment without having to take a bus [although I must say I do love buses. I don't love Downtown]. Soon, I'll have this freedom. For now, it's 2-4 classes a day that don't stimulate my mind at all. Maybe that's the problem, I've been through every nick and cranny of our school that it's no longer inspirational. It was more inspirational when it was under construction, there was always some underlying hope. Now, it's trashed again. I don't know what it is, the people I go to school with, or the amount of discipline these kids get. Whatever it is, I hope the whole world is not like the way they act. NOT that they're terrible people, I just enjoy the company of respectful people. And a clean environment.

On a somewhat ending note, the following is a scrapbook page I worked on a while ago in Photoshop. The photos are group photos and one of Melinda and I at Core Camp. I really enjoyed doing this layout because of all the bright colors I used. It made the page feel funner and less tiring like the group pictures somewhat portray. The camp was held in UC Riverside in August, so it was burning hot every day! I had a blast though.


I have 2 assignments to get done for my mentoring program with Digital Scrapbook Place. I might as well work on them tomorrow night or Sunday morning after/before work. Some day this weekend, my parents and I are going to go out for dinner for my 18th birthday (which is on Tuesday). My dad will be gone for 2 weeks starting Monday for a little bit of routine Army training, so we have to celebrate early! All I want is dinner for my birthday. Scrapbook supplies would be amazing, but I don't think that's going to happen, considering my parents don't know that much about what I like, and my new scrapbook obsession.

For my actual birthday, I was thinking of just going out for dinner with my mom and Robert, my boyfriend. Then coming home for some brownies [I'll bake 'em! Ha] and movies. I'm not sure yet though. I'm not interested in smoking, naked people of any sort, or gambling, so none of those options are appealing. The only thing I'm interested in that makes being 18 an advantage, is driving my boyfriend around.

I am a little sleepy, so I'm going to get off now, auf wiedersehen!

Finally!

I finished one page. My goal for the week was 50, but at this rate, I'll be lucky to get 3 done.
I'll aim for 10. :)

Seeing the pictures sure does bring a ton of memories back!