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[warning: long post with lots of pictures and new layouts]
Since I started blogging, I have received many motivating emails. Some of them asking me questions, and others complimenting me on my work. Last week, however, I received an email that took me by surprise. As a matter of fact, I believe it was uncalled for.
I was told by a reader (obviously left me with no name) that my work was “unoriginal and completely scraplifted“. On top of that, I’m apparently “unattractive“. I was also informed that “no one wants to read about my life and see pictures of Gloria and my not so cute dog” and that to stop writing about my life would be a great idea. There was more to that email that I don’t even care to write out because it would be a waste of my time. Anyway, I was contemplating whether or not to continue writing posts for Red Oak Lines. Well, after much thought and advice from friends, I’ve decided to continue writing.
…and to that ONE anonymous reader, I never meant to offend you or any of my readers for that matter. All I can say to you is that if you don’t like what you see or read, if you don’t like who I am, or what I do, then don’t look at it. It’s as simple as that. This blog was not meant for you or for anyone else. It was intended for myself, my loved ones, and my friends. Quite honestly, you have given me the motivation to keep blogging about my life, who I am, and what I create. You can disagree with me all you want, but that is not going to stop me from anything that I want to do, how I want to live, or what I believe… but thanks for the concern anyways.
Thank you to everyone else for your kind words and encouragment. I thorougly love reading comments from everyone, and it really does make my day!
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My trip to Georgia was exhausting, but tons of fun! We went to the High Museum of Art, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Georgia Aquarium, and visited various areas of Atlanta. …and yes, I visited the local scrap stores and picked up TONS of new things to play with. Okay enough writing! On to some pictures from the trip (bare with me; there are lots to share):
Cheesecake Factory - a favorite!
My favorite appetizer - avocado rolls!
Another great place - Maggiano's!
Their bread is amazing!
Okay, now it just looks like I'm a food addict! haha!
This bush is just too fun! T-Rex style!
I was thrilled that the special exhibit was dinosaurs.
This made me feel so tiny.
My favorite dinosaur - a Tri"Sarah"top!
This particular model was not a real Stegosarus skeleton. Boo!
Eye illusions, which I seriously didn't get, but Gloria did. haha.
See! I didn't see it (No pun intended, hehe).
Who wouldn't want to play with a big bubble wand?!
I touched a ray and a HAMMERHEAD SHARK!!!
Almost as cool as the tidepools in the ocean.
I've never seen this color sea anenome before. So pretty!
In the "deep blue" ...sorta, hehe.
Gloria was amazed by the size of the whale shark.
Weeeee!!! Baby beluga in the deep blue sea...
I'm such a kid at heart. I could not resist.
Oh, how cute are these seahorses?!
The Louvre was in town.
The terracotta warriors were on display inside the museum, but photography was not allowed.
Isn't the architectural design neat?!
As for the latest scrapping loot, here’s some of what I got on my trip:
Some of the goodies from Georgia. I've already started to use some of it!
We got home late on Saturday night because of all of the delays. Since then, I have been trying to catch up with everything — spending time with Maui, scrapping, and catching up with everyone’s emails and blog posts, of course!
Now, for the GOOD stuff. Let’s talk about the creative stuff!
Pink Sketches released another new sketch for this week! It’s a multi-photo sketch, which is a pretty simple and straight-forward. Use it, and share it with us, so we can add it to the Pink Gallery. The DT’s layouts are fantastic, so make sure to head on over! This is what I came up with:
The Pretty Committee is currently hosting a challenge about being “lucky”. The twist to this challenge is to keep it monochromatic with the color green. I thought it was a fun and creative challenge. Here’s my take on it:
Please head on over to Scrap Outside the Box! It’s the first reveal of the DT’s fabulous layouts. Challenge #3 is all about using rubberband(s) in your layouts. Word is that there are prizes for this challenge, so make sure to give it a try. We’d love to see what you come up with. My rubberband layout:
Also, I was featured over at Sketches! {by tamara} again! Wahoo! The creativity inspired from these girls always seem to give me that extra creative spark to start scrapping. I used Recipe Challenge #39 to create a layout: 1) button trio 2) the color black 3) a punched border!
…and since most people have stated that they enjoy the Maui pictures, here are some new ones to share of her playing in the backyard and at the local dog park.
This is a recent love - tennis balls.
Another recent love - the frisbee!
Asleep on Grandpa - "ZZzzzZZzzzZZzzZzZzz"
"I found a new chew toy!"
As for the random question of the post: Hi Sarah! Interesting post! I would love to know what you find to be the most challenging topic to scrap about!
Hmmm… I’d have to say scrapping about myself or my personal life. But then again, who finds talking about themselves on a deeper level easy? I’ve been trying to do a better job of scrapping about myself this year by documenting my adventures, my every day activities, my ups and downs, etc. It’s definitely something I am working on; as a matter of fact, journaling has become one of my favorite parts to scrapping!
Thanks so much for reading and for giving me hope.
sarah.
There is contemplation to stop writing and sharing. Should I?
Hopefully, I will be back real soon.
Hugs,
Sarah.
Boy, am I tired! I went to bed late Sunday night. Only after a couple hours of sleep, I stumbled out of bed at around 2 or 3 AM to get ready to head off on a flight to Atlanta. I felt like a walking zombie yesterday. Ack! Good thing I got tons of sleep last night!
Other random stuff — Toot for me! I am now officially an inductee into the Scrapping the Music hall of fame! I didn’t even expect to win the last challenge. Thank you to the girls of STM for the continuous inspiration you give me.
Also, I was picked to be one of the guest designers for the month of March over at Let’s Scrap. For the month of March, we were allowed to use our own sketch, so I decided to make one to use.
…and here’s a card I made with the sketch:
Here are some other layouts that I worked on over the weekend:
It’s a new week for a new sketch over at Pink Sketches. Come check it out for some inspiration. Here’s my take on this week’s sketch:
Another layout I finished was done for the current Dreamgirls challenge. The challenge required that you use “something out of the scrap aisle” and a safety pin. On top of that, you were given an ad for inspiration.
I stumbled upon another challenge blog, Scrap Schemes, and thought their challenges were a neat concept. Basically, you follow a “scheme” and create a layout. Here’s mine:
Last layout was inspired by the girls over at Scrapmojo. The latest challenge is to create a layout about “if you ruled the world”. I had fun with this one.
Recently, I was nominated by both Karen and Deana with this award:
I’m supposed to nominate other people, so if you guys want to participate please play along. Otherwise, don’t worry about it. 
— Mica, Lydia, Sophia, Kelsy, and Sarah.
Random pictures for those who want to see some CUTENESS from the weekend:
"Ne-ner, ne-ner!"
Maui meet some new Miniature Schnauzer friends at the park!
"Bet you can't catch me!"
"I love when it's sunny outside... I get to play all day!"
New Question from a blog reader: where do you get inspiration for your layout designs from?
I get inspired by EVERYTHING! … I look at other people’s blogs, challenge sites, magazine ads, ads on the street, ads on tv, old photographs, talking to people, etc. I pull from just about everything. When I see something I can turn into a project, I do just that.
Okay, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for pictures of my adventures this week.
Hugs,
sarah.
((note to my future self: I feel so accomplished and really spoiled today! You’ve accomplished a lot in the past two days!))
Fridays are definitely my favorite day of the week. Time to kick back and relax.
I got busy last night (you know how they say scrappers do it all night long, haha) and made a mini album. ::wink:: I did one about My Top 10 Favs. I wanted to document a few of my favorite things, so that I could look at it “when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad“. In times like these, I pull out the mini album and “simply remember my favorite things… then I don’t feel so bad!”
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
In love with... in no particular order, of course.
Gotta love them SWEETS, right?!
This is one of my favorite past times. Is it one of yours?
I love visiting new places; it's so adventurous!
This one is pretty high up on the charts, hehe.
I especially love the cuddly kind! ... and sea animals, too!
They say that laughter is the best medicine.
I'm totally an ocean lover; the beach makes me happy!
I'm a sucker for GOOD food! Oh, so yummy!
They've always been a BIG part of my life. (Psst! I'm in the middle, hehe.)
My friends -- they seriously complete me.
Ta-dah! Hope you enjoyed it.
T0day, I got something pretty cool in the mail. Deana, one talented scrapper sent over my winning prize from the last Scrapping Across The Universe challenge, and it made me smile! To top that, she made me an early birthday card which I loved so much – I had to take a picture!
You rock, Deana! Thank you!
Some of the goodies from SATU! Weeeeee! I can't wait to use it up!
Random question of the day from a blog reader:
Do you see yourself with an additional dog in the family to play with Maui??
I would have to say YES on this one! We plan on hopefully getting one more Miniature Schnauzer, so that Maui doesn’t feel so lonely when we’re away. Besides, Maui is soooo playful, she’d LOVE to have another dog around. Preferably, another white one! Actually, I don’t really don’t care about what color because I love Miniature Schnauzers in general. I’m not sure when, but this will definitely happen.
"I need a friend to play with, please!"
Have a fabulous Friday!
Sarah
Exciting news – I’m the winner to the last Dreamgirls challenge. I’m so thrilled (and honored, of course) to win that American Crafts challenge because that layout actually means a lot to me. I was having such an off day when I created it, and I felt so self conscious about the finished product. Thank you for picking me as a winner; I totally appreciate it.
I’ve cranked out a handful of layouts since this weekend.
This first layout was inspired by Sketches! {by tamara}. I followed Recipe Challenge #38 by using 1) a calendar or numbers 2) three ribbons 3) staple. I also followed Scrapping Out Loud this week by scrapping about myself and using their Word of the Week, “Believe”.
This next layout was done for this week’s Scrapping The Music challenge. It’s about how I appreciate these girls so much; they have the biggest hearts anyone will ever know. Oh, and don’t you just love the new Sassafras Lass paper in this one?!
The following layout was created just for fun. I loved all the new paper that was released at CHA, so I’ve been buying tons of it… and of course, I’ve been using it!
…and before I forget, I wanted to announce the winner to the random draw from the last RAK.
Ok, I have two questions for you. How did you get started scrapping,
and have you lived in CA your entire life?
-Sarah
Please email me at redoaklines@gmail.com with your address, so I can send out a package to you! Thanks everyone for playing! I thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s questions, so I’ve decided to answer a question in every post.
So, I’ll start off with the question…
How did you get started scrapping, and have you lived in CA your entire life?
I got started scrapping when a relative gave me a scrapbook kit in junior high. I thought the concept was neat, so I started scrapping pictures of celebrities, haha! I scrapped off and on up until last year when I became completely hooked.
My style has DEFINITELY changed since early last year. What do you think?
No, I have not lived in California my whole life. I was actually born in Chicago, moved to Hawaii temporarily for a few months, then moved back to Chicago. Before I turned two, my parents packed up and moved to California. Since then, I’ve lived in Northern California.
Hanging out in our first house in California.
Hugs,
Sarah.
February 27, 2009 at 7:24 am