Krista tagged me to list seven random things about myself. I’m not so sure I can go around and tag others at the moment, I’ve been rubbish at reading other blogs - in fact I’ve been rubbish on the internet in total lately. I spend all my time writing / editing, reading about writing, and planning parties.

My 7 Random Things About Me:

 I’m trying to think of things I may not have put down previously on similar memes, but forgive the repeat if these happen -

1. I have two tattoos - one on my shoulder blade, one in a place that only my hubbie and gynocologist may be aware of. Both are of a bumblebee. I chose the bumblebee emblem with much thought, when in my early thirties. The bumblebee is big and bumbly and scientifically it shouldn’t be flying around at all. For me, it symbolises life possibilities and changes - a new beginning where anything can happen. At the time it was significant.
   
2. Every new person I meet in this country immediately has problems with my good old thick kiwi accent. Or so they say. Unknown to them, I don’t actually have much of one - never did, coming from an area in New Zealand that rolls it’s R’s because of a Scottish ancestry. I don’t even tag ‘Ay onto the end of my sentences, and speak better grammar than many around me. However, I can understand their problems in initially understanding me. And I never ever point out that I have huge difficulties sometimes understanding their own hefty dialects around here too, lol.
   
3. My breasts are a whopping 38EEE, and never went down after birth. At the age of eleven they were already 36Ds, making me extremely popular with the boys at the time. Rather than being an asset, I’ve hidden them for most of my life, and rarely show them off. It’s the woman’s stares that I’m afraid of, lol.
   
4. I learnt the piano as a child, and got very good at it, to teacher level. But I hated it, never practiced, despite my talent, and refused to be left alone with my old-man piano teacher, who gave me the heebie-jeebies big time. I rebelled against it at around 14, and have never played a stroke since. A few months ago I wasted money on buying a keyboard in the hopes my daughter would want to learn to play. So far, I haven’t played a stroke on that one either.
   
5. I have never ever failed a fulltime job interview, never been turned down. (Part-time is a completely different matter, it now seems). I have always been offered that job I went for, and sometimes have had two jobs on the table to choose at once. I think I just did “good” interview.
6. I married a person with a broken back, technically. And although he seems reasonably fine now, I know that things may get worse in our older years, and it might be up to me to be nice and healthy and strong. But it’s all good, and we’ll get there, lol. I have little patience with all the people off work with sore backs, though. They don’t know what real constant pain is like to live with (and sometimes, nor do I). This is my biggest impatience, but seldom seen in me.
   
7. I dream in colour - always have - and fill my dreams with faces and workplaces and houses I’ve lived in from my past. I need to be away from that environment, or person for at least five - ten years before they suddenly will appear in my dreams, often just for background. Consequently, I very rarely populate my dream with my husband, and believe my daughter has not once featured in a recalled dream. That’s because they are living with me now, and not fodder for my fantasies. I compartmentalise my fantasy life in that way - I don’t know why.
   

Katie the Scrapbook Lady tagged me (and grabbed some rockin’ ladies I would have chosen also, darnit!) and gave me this little award. I see that people like Angie Pedersen are spreading the joy on this meme, so I better get in quick with my ones.

So, now I’m going to tag five other rockin’ girl bloggers out there.

Jen Strange - gotta be, has to be, simply rockin’ on. The Digiscrapping with Jen site is based ona blog, but with links to all sorts of information and help for digital scrapbookers.

Tasra Dawson - Real Women Scrap author and next year she’s doing a Big Picture Scrapbooking class which I’m definitely signing up for. Check out the blog for more on Real Women Scrap TV, some wonderful layouts, and her triatholon photos. From her blog links you’ll find Stacy Julian and Donna Downey - I’m hoping Tasra will tag them. BUT ANGIE got there first!

To replace Ms Real Women Scrap TV above (as Angie got there first) I’m going to nominate Noell Hyman, who provides a podcast called Paperclipping Video Podcast. The videos are excellent for techniques. Have a look.  

Jools G - Jools and I go way back in UKScrapper days, and I’m currently refinding my roots. I found Jools on Facebook a few days ago, and she’s accepted me as a friend (every friend counts, I’m afraid - especially when social networking, lol). Although Jools and I are simply scrapbookers and creative / design team members on occasion, you will find that her blog is consistant, and a nice piece of British life.

Melissa Goerke - The Digi Pick of the Day blog just keeps on and on.  Need I say more? No.

Kirsty Wiseman - another trip back to the U.K. for this one, although Kirsty will be known out there for several things - including her free digital elements she gives away from this blog, and her Scrap Me contest.  From her blog list, you’ll find links to some fabulous U.K. scrapbookers, and see if you can find the link to Kate Hadfield’s lovely blog too. Read  Kirsty’s blog about school uniforms and pricing. Yep, as my four year old is off to big school, and we’ve just picked up her school sweatshirts - I can totally agree.

The second of my June 2006 holiday snapshots, created to the theme to suit a challenge from the scrapblog of the week - Everyone is Speshal.  Perhaps a little too simple, but I currently like the simplicity. The photos were beautiful anyway. A kit free layout! Actually two - this is a double layout created digitally in one file. You can work out the centre point.

Update: I couldn’t leave it alone, and spent the evening changing things. The top layout is iteration 2, with more stuff on it. Which is better - way simple, or iteration 2? I’ve lost my ability to see these things tonight. Both use no digital product other than graphic shapes within the editing programme, and two fonts.

Credits: 

• Fonts: Papyrus and FG Adam
  

The first of my June 2006 holiday snapshots, created to the theme to suit a challenge from the scrapblog of the week - Everyone is Speshal.  I was wondering how on earth to scrap these particular snapshots, which don’t fit into any particular theme.

Journaling:

Sometimes I wish that you were more like your father. Other times I wish that you were more like your mother. Then I am reminded that you are, in fact, 2 wishes in 1.

Credits: 

• Fonts: Brush Script MT, Black Widow, Century Gothic, Karen Hunt Funky Doodles
• Alphas - Transparent alpha by Karen Hunt (coloured in with a below-layer application of airbrushing) ;Surpise Inside Alpha by Carrie Stephens
  
• Arrows, frames - simple techniques in Paintshop Pro.

Chrysti wrote me to introduce me to another Challenge Blog - with a twist. This is Try it Tuesdays, which is now into week 2. For anyone into mixed media art, altered art, ATCs and the likes, this is a must-check blog, even if you don’t have the time to enter the challenges.

Try It Tuesdays provides prizes from sponsors for a winner of the challenge. And those prizes look very very good, so I hope the contributors remain supported in this endevour. This week, Paper Relics is providing some great stuff as a prize, and Paper Relic designs are used in the samples for the challenge also. Some amazing ATCs have been created within this challenge to example the challenge towards Transparencies (by Heather Bradley), and I can’t wait to see the group challenge entries when they go up there.

Better yet, the challenge instructions are not only written down for you on the webpage, but provided as a downloadable PDF for you to take away. It’s like a challenge contest, meme blog and creative technique class “in a box”.  Grouped entries are provided through Flickrfor detail, or as a mosaic of thumbnails on the weblog itself. The list of participants includes some names within mixed media that even I have heard of, plus many other talented artists - whom I now have heard of.