AND THE WINNER IS.........

...the lovely miss karen.
karen is one of the lovely ladies i hang out with over at EMM.
i hope you enjoy having my calendar hanging on your wall for the rest of this year karen.
it will be on it's way to you soon.
and thank you to all of you who left comments here on my blog, and over at EMM.

karen has also inspired me, as has the lovely miss em, to start my own art journal where i can write about anything and decorate it anyway i like and just explore my creativity.
i think my scrapping is held up so much by my fear of "doing the wrong thing"
(a very bad hang up from a childhood spent trying to please the twisted adults in my life who i thought loved me and who i tried my best to please even to my own detriment - but i digress)

and the monochromatic swap is all finished over at EMM and all the ladies are quite pleased with their goodies
*BIG SIGH OF RELIEF*
i have yet to open mine as i promised myself that i would hold off until all the girls had theirs - and the last of them was delivered today.
so i plan on having some fun looking at everything tonight when i finish up with taxi runs and dinner and dishes, etc.

i have also discovered a REALLY COOL new ribbon site.
--> HERE <--
well maybe it isn't a new site but it is new to me...LOL
i love the B&W pack they have on offer and let's face it....you can't have too many ribbons in your stash, especially black and white ones.
i could have done with a pack like this for the mono swap.
so go and check it out.
plus thay have a great comp running at the moment too.

i can't believe that in two weeks time i would be 43 !!!!
i can remember when i thought that people in their 40's seemed so old and now, i am one of them...!!!
how did that happen...???
i am throwing myself a little get together
(or "gathering" as the young ones now call it)
no big deal, just a few friends who i know i want around me, a few drinks and a few laughs i hope.
i have been feeling a little lost with my life and myself these past few months, unsettled and unsure of things, like i am on the verge of something great or a major change in my life.
i don't think i have cried as much in my whole life as i have the past few months...and it doesn't take much to get me started these days.
i have a very good friend who encourages me to keep on smiling and i do try.
i really do. it's just some days it just all gets too hard and i am left wondering why i am here on this earth and what my purpose is in life.
it's a scary place to be for me - i was always so sure of my place in this world and where i was heading.
but somewhere along the journey i stepped off the path and it's hard to find it again some days.

anyways....that's my lot for today.
my rantings and ravings.
my babbling on like a woman possessed.
hopefully i will have some scrapping to share soon.
my scrapping area is taking shape - slowly but surely. so much excessive stash to rid myself of (two friends in the teaching profession are going to be the recipients of a lot of my things)

so.......on that note.

have a wonderful and productive friday
look for the things in your life that make you smile

~~ and remember, let those you love, know that you do ~~

~*~ shazz ~*~
xo