Chad and I (isn't he such a cutie?? -- I love this guy) have volunteered to be "Area Pastors" for our local church neighborhood. It is fairly ironic on so many levels, but it is something that we have prayed about for the last several months and feel it is a great opportunity for us to connect with others in our community. We are excited about the road that lies ahead and admittedly a bit anxious about all the work it will entail (me more so than Chad :) ). Anyway, this is the photo we submitted for our Area website. Can you believe Dakota (yep, a 6 year old) took this photo? He really is such a talented little guy. ** Oh, and for legal purposes I should mention that the photo edge effects are by digital designer Rhonna Farrer, and the font on the photo is downloaded from 2Peas.

On a different note, I have been creating . . .
Last night I was up until 3 a.m. plugging away on some new stuff that I really wanted to complete. Not the most reasonable decision given my early morning rise (6:30 a.m.), but I have trouble stopping when I get on a roll. Some more submissions, but I do so with little expectation . . . just to keep my creative juices flowing.

That's it folks.

The WAIT

Waiting, waiting, waiting... seems recently I have been doing that with regard to scrapbook submissions. I've kindof been on a kick submitting a lot of my designs for various design teams, magazines, contests and such. When I was driving down the road a few weeks back, I realized being a professional scrapbooker (meaning published on a regular basis and somewhat "known" in the industry) would be quite AWESOME. But, honestly, that just isn't going to happen all by itself. There are so many amazing and qualified artists vying for the same thing -- same design teams, same magazine spots, same book deals. So I have decided to make a more concerted effort to get my work out there. Now I understand that does NOT mean my dreams will be automatically realized. But it is impossible if I take no action at all.

So here I am . . . waiting . . . .
I have submitted my designs to a few calls (Stemma, Masterpiece Studios Design Team; the MCC2 Book Challenge on the CK website; and several magazine calls). And now I just have to wait. Up till today, I have been doing well with the "submit and forget" mentality. But for some reason I am anxious today. Almost setting an expectation for myself that if none (not one single submission) pans out to something, I should not bother submitting for a while and just focus on the creating. The creating is really the part I love most . . . so shouldn't that be the main focus anyway? You know what?? Typing those words feels good -- and I think I might just get back to creating. For now I am heading off to my scrap room to clean it up a bit after the last tornado of creativity came together in a torential downpour. And then prepare for the class I teach tonight at Memories and Beyond in Downer's Grove.

My mojo flows at Caribou

It is crazy . . . I have been going to a local Caribou Coffee shop on Fridays when my babysitter is with the kids. I go to this great big table in the back and bring my scrapbook supplies to work on layouts. The designs just seem to come together there. I have created 2 of my most favorite layouts on that table in the last few weeks. It is great to spread out all my stuff and then have a cup of joe (or iced tea, as was the case this week) and get in a groove. Not sure if it is the preparation that goes into planning before I leave the house, the fact that I get pumped up on caffeine, that I am limited in my supply choices based on what I threw in the bag before I left, or the great fireplace and uninterrupted freedom to create. But all I can say is it is working.