Never hurts to try...

I am a new firm believer in that statement, "It never hurts to try." Guess what trying earned me? (Is that correct English?) Anyway, it just earned me a spot in the top 10 finalists for Creating Keepsake's Magazine Scrapbooker of the Year contest. Can you believe it?!
I did it thinking it would be totally cool to have my pages completed and in an album- for me and my family. I did it thinking it would be cool to submit pages to a contest- having neither scrapped pages nor entered a scrap contest. What did I have to lose? Well, besides a certain amount of money invested and for postage...and some sleep, because I was cramming when I found out I was headed to Minnesota before my pages were all done.
I have to say that I am surprised to be chosen as a finalist, just a bit. I mean, I totally wanted to give it my best shot, and I learned a lot about going after something you really want. I am happy that I went for it and I didn't give myself excuses and that I didn't care who else was entering, or how my stuff would compare. I did it for me- just to see what could happen.
Now I'm one of 10 really great scrapbookers who gets to wait until October when the winner is chosen. I'll be headed out to Las Vegas for a Memory Trends covention...and I get to meet some great people and hang around some major scrap inspiration. This is what I'm doing as a thirty-something middle-class mom who has just started realizing her passion and decided she should look into it. And now my new passion is kicking into high-gear and I am imagining my "Never hurts to try" page layout.
Remember my buttercream obsession after my gourmet cake class last year? Maybe not, because that was a couple of months prior to the birth of this Nitty.Gritty. blog. Let me just tell you, I couldn't get enough of the stuff, and I worked it into daily conversation just because it made me happy. Get ready for some major doses of scrapbook talk around here. I'm a little bit fired up, all because I tried. And that's my personal 'Nitty.Gritty. press release' today. Not formally written, but a glowing report nonetheless!