Oh my goodness......I can't believe I've found myself in this incredible group of awesome talent! Lydia sent me a pm, which I originally read in my e-mail in-box. The format there is a little odd and I've always found it a little difficult to decipher. I saw Lydia's signature, then I saw the words Dirty Dozen....and for several moments I was completely confused and then it clicked!! "Jim........I'm a Dirty Girl". It took DH longer to catch on and he looked me like I had lost my mind. Then I said "Hon....I'm on the Dirty Dozen Design Team!! That he got.

I am a lifelong desk jockey who thought she didn't have an ounce of creativity. My sweet sister, Vicki, whom I lost ten years ago was the crafty one. I was the businesswoman. I used to make fun (lovingly) of Vic's folk art, calling it a bunch of junk. She was, in fact, an extremely talented artist who did beautiful work and she knew I was teasing her.

After 30 years in the work force, the last 12 of which were in Toronto, in the architectural and engineering sector, as the Manager of Communications and a Proposal Writer, I retired. Shortly thereafter, my lovely sister-in-law, Renee, introduced me to card making and I discovered (to my great surprise) that I had much more creativity in me than I ever could have imagined. I fell head over heels in love with the art of stamping and card making and I have been firmly ensconced in my craft room ever since.

I discovered Splitcoast through a friend and I can honestly say I was at least as excited about the discovery as I had been about card making in the first place. I love it here so much! The people, the art, the answers, the tutorials, the challenges and everything else at hand make for incredible inspiration and fun!

The aforementioned DH, Jim, is my sweetheart and my rock. We met in Vancouver in 1982. I have three 'step'-kids, five grandchildren and, because Jim started young, as did our daughter Lisa, I am a great-grandma to Scotty Edward at the 'young-for-a-great-grandma' age of 62. I LOVE it!!!!

Jim and I love to travel. I also love to read and write. I have a finished manuscript about the California Gold Rush, (a novel) which I haven't tried very hard to get published. It's too much work and card making is way more fun. I love music and have collected over 3000 songs on my iPad.

We have the sweetest dog in the world, a Shih Tzu/Chihuahua cross named Fredericka Carmel (Freddy) and until one heart-breaking day last December, a Papillon/Chihuahua cross named San Francisco die Fliedermaus (Cisco). You can see how my screen name came to be.

Being asked to join the Dirty Dozen Design Team is an honour and a joy that I couldn't have imagined ten years ago. There is so much incredible talent here, that I am humbled.

Today, the sun is shining, Freddy is sitting on the bay window bench surveying her domain and Jim and I are sitting here with our morning coffee.

And I'm a Dirty Girl. Life is good.