Heres to the first of hopefully many...

Well after much begging, bulling and huge amounts of pressure - I have decided to bite the bullet and join the year 2007 and start my own blog… Hmmm I am not sure if I want to thank or curse my friend Chris for the push!!! LOL (Speaking of Chris – you can view her blog here: http://visualdesignsbychris.blogspot.com/)

So for this first post – I will introduce myself and tell you a little about me….

Hi! I am Lori McDonald! I’m the creative force behind “Beloved Keepsakes”. What is Beloved Keepsakes you ask? Well it an acumination of several things…

My journey began when I started my own Internet business making custom-made photo bracelets and pins. My husband was first deployed to Iraq in 2003 – and I wanted to make something that I could carry around with me or wear that would be a daily reminder of him - hence the first photo bracelet was born. Then in 2004 hubby was deployed again to Iraq and my mother had this great idea of designing a photo yellow ribbon pin that we could all wear with his photo attached – hence the birth of the yellow ribbon pin. There were so many people that wanted their own bracelets and pins that I decided to open an online store. (You can check it out here: www.belovedkeepsakes.com)

Then I entered a contest at my local scrapbooking store (Savannah Scrapbooking in Savannah, GA). Believe it or not I was chosen to become one of their first five Design Team Members. (You can check it out here: http://www.savannahscrapbooking.typepad.com/ -Look for my name on the side bar, click on it and you can check out my gallery!) I have to tell you, Jamie and the gang at Savannah Scrapbooking are the best!! Make sure if you are EVER in the Savannah area that you check them out!!! I have been in a lot of scrapbooking stores in my life and there are very few that I would deem a WOW store – let me tell you Jamie has the WOW factor covered!

Most recently I entered a casting call on one of the forums where I was a member thinking that there was NO WAY I would ever be picked! Low and behold I was offered an exclusive designer position at Paperthreads.com (which is the biggest and best online store - in my opinion - that caters to every need of those who own or want to own a personal cutting machine!)

I design custom-made cutter files that can be purchased, downloaded and cut with some of the coolest machines on the market. (Check it out here: http://www.paperthreads.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66_80). At this time I have a Wishblade and I design mainly with WinPC and do most of my converting with Illustrator CS2. But I do have the new KNK Element on order and it should be arriving some time next month!! I am sooo excited and I just can’t wait! (Hmmm, that means that I will be selling my Wishblade and the mountain of stuff I have to go with it… so if you, or someone you know might be interested… tell them to shoot me an email!!)

Lastly – I am the process of setting up a way to sell my custom-made scrapbooking titles for those who do not own their own cutter but love my designs and want to add them to their own scrapbooks. So if you are interested in this – more information to come soon!!!

When I am not busily working on new cutter files, I can be found filling jewelry orders or I’m scrapping away, preserving the memories of my family.

I am an extremely proud military wife, very active in my church; I love to read and Jet Ski!

So, there you have it... just a little about me. Thanks so much for taking the time to come and visit… as I move forward I plan to use this blog as the medium in which I will make announcements about my businesses, every now and then share some free cutter files (for all you cutter fans out there) and just keep you update on my day to day life… thrilling huh!!!