Sweet Shoppe Designs

Template (modified) from Scrap Your Heart Out 5: Piece 10 by Janet Phillips
Misc clipping masks from Addiction: Clipping Masks by Studio Basic Designs - coming 09/01
Papers and elements from Through the Looking Glass by Traci Reed
Font: American Typewriter
Journaling: All my life, I’ve struggled with wanting to blend in and fit a mold I had deemed “normal.” Have the same St. Michaels socks everyone had; go to the same parties everyone did; hang out in the “hot” places deemed popular and worth going to, etc. So much of my energy was forcused on “being correct” and part of the status quo that I was completely oblivious to the fact that it was also making me so freakishly unhappy. I’ve always been different. I’m not fair, my hair is thick and coarse, I inherited my mother’s crazy fine lines and ginormous eyebags, & I always tended to look at things differently. Even when I was in elementary school, I liked different things and enjoyed differnt hobbies from everyone. And I resented that! I remember once being voted “Most Coceited” by my class--I think it was because I tended to keep to myself. Today, in my 30s, I feel like I am finally breaking out of that shell. That being different isn’t as horrible as I used to make it out to be. Because I only have this life to live, and I am tired to living up to preconceived notions I myself put there. Now I want to be original. I want to be Me.