What being a part of this team means to you:  Creative Therapy provides catalysts that really make me dig down deep within. Since joining the team getting the story told has become just as important as photos. When I look back and compare some of the layouts from before I was apart of this design team, I can clearly see that I tell a much more in depth, detailed story of our lives now. I have created several layouts where just journaling is present with no photos. The catalysts can be heartfelt and/or light hearted depending on the interpretation of the artist. I have seen the amazing women on this design team create projects, canvases, jewelry etc. I also love reading the comments and following the links of readers to see their creations. Creative Therapy has something to offer every artist.

Journaling:  Life has had many twists and turns for me. There have been many defining moments that have shaped the woman I am today. When I was growing up if you would have asked me I would have said: “Yes, I want to marry raise a family. Be a great Wife, Mother, Daughter, Sister and Friend”. As far as a career: “Doing something I was passionate about.” Having a family was always a big part of my plan. I have always wanted to travel, especially with someone I love to share the experiences with. Reflecting on my life thus far: I married my first husband and I received the best part of him and that was you, Shelby. I had a Corporate Career. I met you Jon and you are the love of my life. I truly believe you are my angel! If it was not for your persistence the doctors would not have found my Cancer and you did it just in the nick of time. Stage III, you saved me and helped with me through it all. This was a BIG wake up call for me. I see life in a completely different way. You, Shelby were five and I was constantly thinking about you. How would you ever know how much I love you. What a wonderful person you are. I wanted to witness the beautiful young lady you would grow up to become. The funny things we do together, our life. Documenting these things was still not something I did quite yet. The day we married Jon, was one of the best days of my life. My heart is full. I was starting the next chapter of my life with my best friend. You have always treated Shelby like your own. I could not have asked for a better man to enter her life as a father figure. Ellie, you were born and our family is complete. You make the silliest faces. Your personality is so bright and fun. Both of you make me laugh, you sing with me in the car. We take walks, play basketball, swing, everything. Both of you girls and Jon complete me. So, I did marry the love of my life. Have a family. I’m a Wife, Mother, Daughter, Sister and enjoy Friendships. I have found a passion for documenting our lives. On my journey through life I will continue to learn what I can from the twists and turns that are in the future. Growing and evolving into the best woman I can be.

What being a part of this team means to you:  Being on the Creative Therapy team is an honor for me. I get to create along side people who have been the biggest sources of inspiration for me in my time scrapbooking. The catalysts are always thought provoking and inspire me to explore more about myself, my thought and beliefs and how all of that relates to the world around me. I have always felt art in the form of scrapbooking, painting, collage, altered art and more is a therapeutic tool for me. It has helped me more times than I can count in times of hardship and triumph. I find out more about myself sitting at my desk covered in paint and scraps and glue than I ever have anywhere else.

Journaling:  Archaeologist. History teacher. Writer. Lifelong student. Single. These are a few of the things that I thought that I would be, what I would do with my life. Never once did the words wife, mother, stay at home, homebody or scrapbooker enter my thoughts or plans. I thought that what I wanted was a life that I thought was calling ‘my own’… I always joked that my plan was to just live in sin and see the world. But you know that saying… life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans? Yeah… that happened. Married at 17. Mama at 24. A stay at home Mama, in fact. Scrapbooker. Still living in Prescott and actually loving it? That’s my life now. It’s delightfully ordinary in a way that is so extraordinary to me that I find myself often times wondering when I will wake up and learn that this has just been a magical dream. Being a wife, a mother, and living for my family is a dream that I never knew I had and I am so glad that it happened while I was busy making other plans. There’s still time to travel, further my education, find my career and write… now I just get to include something greater in that picture, my ordinary life and greatest treasure, my family.