Maryann

Recently Dedra Long made a layout for the friend she lost in high school. Her best friend. I don't know how I would have coped if that had happened to me. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through life without her, and Dedra's memory made me want to create one of my own. Maryann is my best friend from high school. The person that loved me unconditionally, and with whom I was most comfortable being myself.

The pictures I have are all so old...many of them are so faded that I can't use them. But this picture is special to me because I found it in one of my mother's albums with a note that read..."The sweetest and dearest girlfriend Eileen ever had."

Here's another little paper bag album I made using K&Company's designer paper by Brenda Walton. I really like this paper, it feels like linen. I topped it with one of those gorgeous Prima flowers over a paper doily. These are so fun to make, and they're great little gifts. Just personalize and put a smile on someone's face.



Of course, you could make your own flowers as I'm slowly learning to do with my Sizzix. One of my favorite galleries is at Scrapbook.com and the posters over there make FABULOUS layouts. Honestly, I always see breathtaking layouts over there, and some with homemade embellishments! So I'm trying my hand at making flowers with my Sizzix....oh yes, and swirls too....love those swirls.

I just can't resist those Primas though...and now I found some great mulberry paper flowers by Petaloo. I just received my order from scrapbook.com yesterday and I LOVE THESE FLOWERS! I opened the green package and put together 3 GIGANTIC flowers, but just look at how many pieces there are!



I have to admit Scrapbook.com is my favorite online store. The orders are shipped out in no time at all, and I've never had any type of problem with them whatsoever....AND they have great employees!

Scrapbook Trends and I part ways.....

Seems like people are posting less these days. Also seems like the scrap boards are visited less these days. Or is it just that I'm posting and visiting less? Actually, I'm still visiting...just not posting. Unfortunately, I don't have anything good to say right now because I'm still reeling from the dishonesty of Scrapbook Trends.

I found an incredible offer last year and subscribed to ST. It was fabulous. Great magazine, great price, fabulous layouts! Trust me, there were no strings attached to this offer, no platinum membership, no auto renewal, nothing. I received the usual emails about renewing but didn't do anything. I even received a phone message about renewing. I remember being impressed that it wasn't recorded, but a real live person leaving that message. I had decided not to renew at that time so I didn't respond. I guess that wasn't good enough for ST....they renewed me anyway, and charged my bank account for the renewal. Little did they know that when I subscribed last year, I used my debit card, so this little charge of $39.95 was taken right out of my checking account. Oh that made my blood boil, but I figured it was an honest mistake.

After a month of phone calls to ST trying to get this charge reversed, they finally took action and placed ANOTHER charge on my debit card, this one for $75!! Now, they're into my checkbook for over $100.00 and I have no idea when they might do it again! Once is a mistake, but twice? This time I flipped out, threatened to take whatever legal action I could and to spread the word on the internet. So here I am....spreading the word. They did credit my account within 3 days of that last phone call, but the damage had already been done. What if I didn't have that money in my account? What if they created an overdraft situation for me? What if they were making unauthorized charges all over the country like this? BAD. Very, very BAD.

I'm so disappointed. I know that friends of mine will still be published in that magazine but I won't buy it again. I'll wait until they can show their layouts on the internet or take a peek when I'm in the store...but I will NOT give ST or their mothership, Northridge Publishers, another penny. NO ONE has the right to tell you they put you into an auto renewal program WITHOUT your permission. NO ONE has the right to make charges against your credit cards just because they have the number on file. I know I'll never use my debit card again to make an online purchase, but I really thought I was dealing with an honest and professional business. At some level I still believe that, but something changed over there, and some bad decisions have been made. Desperation, I would think.

I've been playing around with mini books again....a lot of decorating, but I haven't put any pictures in them. The green book is a paper album I made based on the video I posted below. It was SO easy to make and so much fun. I have another one in the making for my littlest niece so it'll be in lots of pink. These are so simple and so fast...perfect for kids to play with.



I think I have about 3 weeks of Debby's Dare to make up....not so sure I'll be doing that. I may have to wait until the subject changes because the last three....Favorite Birthday, Favorite Teenage Memory, First Love, didn't conjure up any happy memories. Not that happy memories don't exist, I just didn't grow up in a run of the mill family with birthday parties.....the teen years were angst ridden, and my first love was my "dear old dad" who, after years of bouncing back and forth, finally ran out on us when I was 12. Feel free to fill in the blanks and you'll know why I never married.

You in 52 - Week 9

November 22, 1963 was a day that challenged everything I believed in. My world was shattered, not for a day, but for endless days of grieving and sorrow, disbelief and painful realities.

I was 16, a high school student. We had a President that was young, someone we could relate to. It didn't really matter so much back then if you were Democrat or Republican, once the President was elected, he was everyone's president. He challenged us, he gave us hope and he made us proud. He was respected, looked up to, revered and guarded...until that day.

I don't think I can describe the sense of loss that I felt, the emotional turmoil that left me looking for answers for years afterward. Little did I know that this was only the beginning....I would blink twice more before I turned 21.

You in 52 - Week 8

Question for week 8:

What is one moment of Faith for You?

This time I knew immediately what the journaling would be. The layout was a bit more difficult. I have a couple pictures of the person I write about, but they didn't seem to fit into the whole scheme of things.

Journaling reads as follows:

"Oh, so many years ago I worked with a young man, (a very young man) whose Christian belief and values were like none I’d ever witnessed before in someone so young. He was new to the corporate world, and very naive, but he was confident that his faith in God would carry him through.

I loved Patrick like he was my own son. He was so helpless in the office that I immediately took to mothering him, and he immediately accepted my help, (which, in hind sight, he really didn’t need). Then one day he invited me for a drink after work and told me the sad news that he was leaving the company. I was losing my friend, How sad!

As we talked more we shared stories and I told him about the dreams that I’d had since I was a very young girl. I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming as I dreamt that someone, or something, was after me. I was in my 30’s and these dreams still plagued me. Patrick listened intently and then told me he would pray for me…in fact, he decided we would pray right then and there…and we did.

As we bowed our heads, and held each other’s hands, I was totally aware of the fact that we were sitting in the middle of a bar with our heads bowed in prayer. The irony of the situation was the only thing that kept me from total embarrassment….that, and the fact that there weren’t too many people imbibing that evening.

I was raised as a Christian, but I’m not particularly religious, nor do I believe that all prayers are answered. But I always believed in Patrick and his faith in God, and I haven’t had one of those dreams since that night."

You in 52 - Week 7

I haven't been able to pin point this one yet. I will though, because I really want to finish with 52 layouts. I'll just have to come back to it later.