Swagger...

First and foremost, this post has nothing to do with swagger... I just wanted to say the word. 

Second, in the event that you thought I'd abandoned my post (get it, old Army term turned pun, I'm so cool!), I do still exist - but that's about it.

Third, hmmm.  I went into my room for more than 2.5 minutes today and saw this sight:

Yes, that is the double-page layout for the Pretty Paper.True Stories. NSD challenge.  No it's not finished.  Yes, it's literally been sitting just like that for at least 10 days.   Yes, I got up out of my chair about 10 days ago and haven't been back since.  Yes, it just makes me feel dreadful - kind of.  Honestly, I needed a break - my head is still all messed up with sinus/cold/allergy something, I was just plain tired, things got rather depressed around here, and everyone knows that depressedness (not depression - that's clinical and even though I've been known to stay in bed for a while with that too, that's not what this has been) zaps your creativity and befuddles the mind. 

We went to the small boy's funeral last week and if that's not enough to break your heart and make you hug your kids tighter, I don't know what is.  I did pretty well except for a few times - two of which occurred when his mom got up from the front pew to comfort others not her family (OMG!) and then when the pallbearers came in dressed as Superheroes (OH MY GOSH! not a dry eye in the place).  But one thing is for sure, the world is just a little dimmer in this small town knowing he's not in it.

Okay, onward... I'm going to let you in on a few little tidbits I have learned about me - actually they're not learned, it's just recognition and sharing: 

• I'm not a gardener in any way, shape or form.  That being said, my poor mom is going to come home to stems sticking up from the ground and brown little bushes in pots.  I really do like to look at pretty flowers, but personally I'm a big fan of xeriscaping (planting native plants to reduce the need to care for them); therefore, water seems rather officious.
• I'm rather corny I suppose.  I am constantly saying things like "What's up Chuck?" & "What's the plan Stan?"; but it got a little out of hand the other day when I was totally not paying attention and said "What's the score Whore? to my daughter.  Hmmmm.  Hope I don't get caught like that again!
• I'm a serious lover of old, golden-Hollywood, movies.  You know what I mean - Arsenic & Old Lace w/Cary Grant; The Philadelphia Story w/Cary Grant, Kate Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart; any old Hitchcock movie but especially The Lady Vanishes-his first talkie.  I would sit all day long and watch these movies over and over... and I have lately.  God gave us TCM and DVRs for a reason and I'm sure it had something to do with Cary Grant in a suit and hat. 
• I'm a serious gossipholic.  I love gossip (it was actually a scrap-gossip blog that got me interested in Shimelle and actually got me started on this blog.  And honestly, with absolutely no offense to anyone who may absolutely love that site, I just stopped visiting because I can be such a serious horrible bitch as it is that I don't need anything more to feel bad about).  I especially love scandals about old Hollywood stars because they're dead and I don't want to know if George Clooney is as gay as Rock Hudson or if Angelina's beating her kids ala Joan Crawford the next time I pay for a movie.  If you are like me and love some good gossip about new or old Hollywood, let me recommend Anne Helen Petersen's website   (and follow all those ones that she recommends to like this one and this one if you don't already, if for no other reason than just a little mindless indulgence) or catch her stuff on The Hairpin.  (NOTE:  AHP is claiming to be the originator of the comparison between George Clooney and Cary Grant when everyone knows that it was I who first made that comparison while watching O Brother Where Art Thou... now if only I could look at George in a suit & hat - hubba hubba!)

So now you see what I've been doing instead of anything scrapalicious.  I was just a wee bit overwhelmed and had to back off not to get completely burnt out.  That sometimes happens to me when I put my whole mind and body into something.  But I'm better now so as soon as I get the house cleaned up, I'm back to scrapping or at least into reading your blog instead of AHPs scandals.  However, today I will show the other three layouts I did for the NSD challenges that never got posted to Pretty Paper.True Stories.:

This is the divided page protector deal - okay, this was the only divided protector I have right now and it really shows that I just did it in a hurry.  But that's okay, it's going in GiGis album for her to right on.  This is American Crafts, Crate Paper and Echo Park at their finest... LOL!

Die-Cutting... don't own an electronic cutter, so I used the AC Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm 'Story' diecut and did diecut a few little this and that's in my cluster with my Cuttlebug.  In addition to a whole bunch of Basic Grey and those AC Thickers, there's Simple Stories ledger paper, Bella Blvd tape, October Afternoon letter stickers and a few Crate Paper stickers in the mix.

I used paint even though it was such a task after my last little experiment.  I used Crayola watercolors this time to create ombre effects on cuts of woodgrain zigzag papers (these are not chevrons says the army chick in me) with a piece of the same paper untouched in the background.  In addition to the AC everywhere, I used a Crate Paper sticker, Studio Calico and Freckled Fawn wood, Bella Blvd tape, Doodlebug pearls, Basic Grey chipboard, Martha Stewart punch and some little rhinestones that are always hanging around my workstation.  (NOTE:  I know this picture is crooked and maybe the stuff too, okay?! Someone said the other day that if I scrap something crooked or take a picture of it crooked, I could just use the rotate button in Photoshop to fix it - No anti-scrapbooker person aka devil's spawn, I can't just Photoshop it right because a) these are real.live.layouts with real.live.photos to be posted of them in all their craziness; and, b) I'm just not that damn creative, okay?!)

You know, on second thought maybe I will post them to her blog.  Even though she didn't pick me to win anything!!! Really am happy for all the winners yada yada yada blah blah blah.  (JK everybody... I'm so not that girl!)  Really, the good(?) thing about getting so much done is how much stuff I used - I'm totally without a sheet of uncut Lucky Charm I think and actually everything seems rather low. OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I HAVE TO BUY MORE STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone's scrappy and I hope to see you soon at your place.

Cheerio!

“It is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life” - Barthold Georg Niebur