Lecture coming....

OK, this is not going to be one of my nicer posts & I do this from time to time, because it's MY blog & I can.

Here's my gripe today....when are people going to learn? Do they turn the page & just forget the last chapter they read? What am I talking about? I'm talking about people who have returned to their high speed driving habits now that the price of gas has dropped to a more reasonable rate. Did you all forget how we got (partly) where we were just 5 short months ago? I ain't saying that the price of gas went up because everyone was driving like their house was on fire & they had to get there to put it out. Oh no, that's NOT what I'm saying! I believe that the sky rocket price of gas was just plain & simple GREED BY THE GAS COMPANIES - in my opinion it was government allowed TERRORISM (that's a whole other chapter). What I am saying is that I have continued to drive the speed limit & sometimes even a little slower to do my part. It still saves ME gas in the long run anyway, but I am usually getting left in everyone's dust on the highway. Obviously all of these people still have a job to go to, right? Why else would they be in such a freakin' hurry? Now, don't get me wrong, I was a lead footer up until about a year ago, so I have been guilty of the same crime. The difference is that I have not already forgotten what our gas expense was back in Aug. - almost $500 in one month & I don't go to a job & my husband has a company vehicle & gas card, so we don't really have to pay to drive to a job everyday. I rarely wandered more than 15 miles from home. This was $500 for going to Walmart people! This month our gasoline bill was $145, the first time in, well, ever. The flip side to this story is now my DH has had his hours cut & I pray they don't go any less than that. I am now trying to look for work, just in case he does get his hours cut more, but I'm not counting on finding one with the the job hunters flooding the market desperately looking for work. I'm not asking you to cry me a river, because I have been very blessed this year. My husband still has a job, but his employer is struggling, like so many others. But, I digress...

So, if you are one of these guilty speed people, then shame on you! If you are one of the guilty ones & you're reading this & getting mad at me, then I say Good - we're even, because I'm just as f**ing p!ssed at you as I am the gas companies, for wasting everyone's gas unnecessarily & possibly causing the price to go back up, because it just did here yesterday!

I believe the price gouging we've experienced in the past 4 years was a truly needed wake up call for all the driver's of the world, although it was much too excessive, but once we got the price back down, some of you fell asleep at the wheel again.

WAKE UP!!!

Quit sniffing the gas fumes from constantly filling up your tank & do YOUR part! I'm not doing my part just so you can have more!

I wish I could say that speaking my mind here has made me feel better, but it doesn't. I know I'm gonna get p!ssed off again the next time I get passed on the highway by a dozen people hurrying to get to the gas station to fill up - for the 3rd time this week.

I don't normally get a big following on my blog, so I doubt that I will spark much rage among those few that do visit. BTW-thank you. But perhaps, someone different will see this & if I make a better difference with just one person, then I can say I'm doing my part even better. Knowing my luck though, I'll probably have the Feds beating down my door for using the word Terrorism.

God Bless & have a cheaper fuel day while it lasts!
Beth M

Ice Storm Cometh!

Well, just as it had been predicted, but I was hoping they'd be wrong. The ice storm hit early this morning & now there's no preschool, which means there's no preschool Christmas party, which means I have plates & baggies of cookies that won't be going anywhere & Brooke was disappointed, at least at first. I will still have her give her teacher's the gifts we made, but I won't be trying to hold on to cookies for two weeks, nor do I plan on making anymore after Christmas, just for this. It might sound harsh, but I have been on a baking & candy making frenzy for over a week now & once Christmas is done, I'm done! It's not like they're getting nothing, they're just not getting cookies.

Below are pictures of the icy scene this morning. I wouldn't say we got the kind of ice that they got last week out East-whew!, but it only takes a little ice to create havoc for people. There are several places that are without power right now & DH seen a spot on his way in to work (yes, he still drives in this stuff!) that had a tree down mostly across the road & the power lines were broken & down, creating a fire in the tree. The road was closed, but my DH just HAD to see why the road was closed. You KNOW he did! Even though the temperature hasn't gotten above freezing yet, I heard a few rumbles of thunder & seen some lightening this morning. I also witnessed a branch falling off one of the trees under the weight of the ice in our woods. Pretty interesting to see ice shattering in what looks like mid-air!

This is my rooster windvane that got refurbished as a garden ornament. He's a bit icy this morning, but doesn't it look kinda cool with the little icicles dripping off it's tail & the arrow? Even the dead Hibiscus stalk looks a little more interesting with some icicles dripping from it's tip too!

This is one of the redbud trees in our front yard. Notice how the seed pods are all slanted sideways with ice hanging off them? Yes, I was holding the camera level.

This branch is only a couple of feet from touching the ground. It isn't normally! I typically have a clear view of that stunning satellite dish in the middle of the front yard & that big orange wire running up it is just an added bonus feature. *snort!*

My grandma & her husband were supposed to be coming up to celebrate Christmas with us this weekend, but I'm pretty sure they won't be making the hazardous trip now.

Good day to stay in bundled up by the fire drinking hot cocoa, don'tcha think? I do! ;)

God Bless & take care!

Beth M.

Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum...

are you getting that "Jaws is sneeking up behind me" feeling during this final week of Christmas preparations? Everyone's scrambling to get those last minute gifts (if your one of the lucky ones that can even buy any Christmas this year) or making those final touches on the homemade gifts that you've resorted to because of lesser income. Me? All of the above & throw in an impending ice storm to mess with all your hard work so that now there might not be a last day of preschool to give the teachers & students their little treasures that Brooke & I have labored over. At least we had some very good quality mommy/daughter time, so it was still all worth it. And, none of the treats will go to waste, but WILL go to our waist!

This is the front & back of a simple little tag I made that doubles as a photo ornament for Brooke's preschool teacher. I thought it turned out pretty cute. I hope she likes it, whenever she gets it.






















These are a couple of jars I made up for two of our neighbors. They both have a country/primitive decor, so I was trying to decorate the jars to fit their style. I made them alike because they're also sister-in-laws & live across the street from each other. I thought the jars might be cute to use later & filled with pinecones.

Other than that, most everyone is getting homemade candies & cookies. Brooke & I have been working on more sugar cookies tonight, since they can't seem to last long enough around here to give out as gifts. I made some Date Balls the other day, and I am addicted to them! They are not going to be good for my pending diet. *snicker!*

I'm keeping it bit short tonight, I'm wanting to keep an eye on the weather as the ice storm approaches.

God Bless & take care!

Beth M.

Is it really true??

If you're reading this post today, then maybe you've noticed my Countdown to Christmas ticker to the right of your screen. It says that there is only 14 more days until Christmas!! Are you ready? I'm not, that's for sure! I have a ton of friendship gifts to buy & put together & pray that I haven't forgotten anyone.

Our schedule is filling up rapidly. Alan, my husband, is trying to figure out when to finish up his shopping. He said he went to stop somewhere on Wed., but the store was closed by 6:00 p.m., he got there at 6:15. He thought that maybe they might have extended hours for the holidays, but that was not the case & was disappointed. He wants to go shopping on Sat., but we plan on taking Brooke to see Santa that day & who knows what kind of lines we'll run into there! Can't really go on Sunday because we are visiting one of the local nursing homes to take them treats & visit with them. Then, immediately after that, I have a design team meeting that I have to go to.

I really shouldn't be on here either. I need to be signing cards, baking cookies & getting presents wrapped. Getting presents wrapped wouldn't work though, since my daughter is here. I have to wait until she's at preschool to get that done. Good, I have an excuse as to why I'm not doing that right now. *snicker*

Here are a few things that I have made this season that I wanted to share. Hope that even if you don't like them, that they inspire you to create something that you DO like!

This is a candle jar that I decorated using the latest Making Memories Christmas line of papers, vellum & stickers. I tried to stamp on the sticker though & realized that it must have some sort of waxy coating that made my ink blur. It wasn't the look I was going for, but I almost like it anyway.

*****

This is another jar candle that I decorated using LAST year's Making Memories Christmas paper, but the white poinsettias are from this year, & a Melissa Frances vintage label. I was quite please with how this one turned out.

*****

Then there's this little cutie idea that I stole from someone. (sorry, I don't recall who...) I made it as part of my Reminisce Design Team contest submission (which I did NOT win-bummer, but we won't go there).

*****

These are a small stack of 8 Christmas cards that I finally made this year. First of all, it was amazing that I even made ANY, let alone 8 of them. 2nd of all, I've had that Angel paper from Daisy D's like forever! Had them cut out since I brought the paper home, didn't know what to do with them after that. I can't believe they're still in decent enough shape to even use now. LOL!! I guess I was supposed to wait until now to use them, because I love the Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder that I used & the Cinnamon colored Stickles really set the whole thing off, even though they're vintage looking. I added some White Lace stickles to the wings of the Angels to add a little festive sparkle, as well without taking away from the look. The reason the one card has a darker brown ribbon is because I ran out of the lighter colored ribbon on that very last card. I don't know which one I like better, but it doesn't matter now. I did it & they're done! YAY!!!
Well, I guess I should get off here and start getting the meatloaf ready for dinner. I love meatloaf with brown gravy. Mmmmm....mmmm!

God Bless & have a great day!
Beth M.

More cool news!

I learned last week that I was the WINNER of the Bloomin' Scrapbook's Flower Challenge! How cool is that?! The challenge was to submit a unique idea of how to use flowers in a project or page, so I probably overloaded them with my ideas. I sent them 3 ~ LOL! I will have to wait for my prize package to arrive in the mail, but I can hardly wait for it. I love their store, even though I only get to it once a year when we go camping in Brown County. The store is located in Bloomington, Indiana, not far from Indiana University.

Here is the article on their blog:
Bloomin Scrapbook's Flower Challenge

Now on to other news that's probably more exciting to me than to you guys, but bear with me if you will. I don't think I mentioned that I am going to soon be a proud new owner to the Cricut Expression! I can hardly stand the wait for it to be shipped to my local scrapbook store!! I currently have what is affectionately called the baby bug, otherwise known as the original smaller version of the Cricut. I do love the little guy, but quickly understood the want & desire for the larger, more expanded version. The bad thing about getting a Cricut (in any size) is that you will constantly want the extras that make it even more exciting. I guess that's why these companies make these things, right??? I'm really glad to see the price of the Expression coming down quite a bit from even a year ago. We got a great deal from my local scrapbook store, The Memory Zone, even though it was slightly more than the Walmart's Black Friday sale, I'll stick with trying to keep my LSS in business! Their deal also included a free class on how to use your new addition, so I felt that was worth the extra & they offer the best customer service around, even a year after the sale!!! I just wish I knew how much longer I'm going to have to wait.....

Scrapper's High!!

OK, get this! This might not be big news to some of you who have been published all over the place & in paper magazines, but to little ol' me ~ it's a HUGE deal!

I have been published in the December issue of Scrapbooking.com magazine - and, that's not all. My page was selected to be their cover artwork, as well!! I am totally ecstatic about this!! You have no idea.

The page was an original design I did as part of my assignment for the design team that I'm part of at my local scrapbook store here in Plymouth, Indiana called The Memory Zone. I seen the awesome Best Creations paper in the store earlier this year & knew right away that the picture I had of an old windmill was perfect for it. Silver snowflake & swirl stickers by Best Creations worked so beautifully with the paper, as well as the Creative Imaginations chipboard glittery snowflakes. The tag that pulls out from below the photo has the journaling of why I took the picture of the windmill. You can see the article in it's entirety by clicking on the image above.

Sorry about going on so much, but it is a big deal to me & I just had to share!

God Bless & have a great day!

Beth M.

Quick & fun today!

I seen this list of 100 things you've done on Kristy Lee's blog & thought it would be fun to do on mine. It's a list of 100 things to do in your lifetime & you just change the ones you've done to bold . Simple enough, even for me!

Here's how it works. Change the items to bold that you have done in your life.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (No! I want to live to be able to do the rest on the list!)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (Do Cabbage Patch Kids count?)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice ( does it count if it was in Vegas?)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (at times)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (is 5 enough?)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (twice)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved some one's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one (I've lost grandparents, but I wasn't very close to them)
94. Had a baby (twice)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Gee, it looks like I have a lot more to do, but then again, don't we all??

God Bless & take care!

Beth

Starting to feel

the crunch time of the holidays starting to kick in for me. I really should be working on my gifts & cards that I want to make, instead of sitting here, looking at all the awesome inspiration I keep finding. I need to at least make some lists so I don't forget anything or anyone, for that matter!

There was kind of a big deal here at our house yesterday. It was my son's last driver's training class AND he also had to take his actual driving test afterwards. Now all he has to do is go in on the 18th to take the written exam & I'll officially be the parent of a licensed driver! OMGosh!! Look out everyone! Seriously, he's pretty good, just needs to get more driving time in, which he only gets when he comes here on the weekends. His dad & step mother won't take him out driving, even though they are out in the middle of BFE & the only thing he might run into is a combine & even they seem to be done picking in that area. He has a car that he doesn't like as much as he wishes he did. It's not a bad car I guess. It's a Grand Am, but he just doesn't care for the color - Plum...it would have been nice IF he could have had more of a say in the car he got, since he IS paying for half of it himself. They even told him he could put if up for sale if he didn't like it, but they've convinced him to keep it anyway. Long story, but I'm not sure why a GUY would think another GUY would like a purple car, do you? Oh well, I guess we'll get pictures & it will be something worth scrapping & he can look back 10 years from now & ask, "What were they thinking?" LOL!!!

I'm kinda slow about posting my work on here once I get it back from the Memory Zone Scrapbook Store, but better late than never, eh? Here's some stuff I just got back a week ago.

This is a picture frame I did as one of my projects at the beginning of the year for the design team. I'm posting it on here, even though it's still in the store on display, but it's been several months since it was first turned in & I don't even think they have these things available anymore.

This is a card I made after I first got my Cricut. I used the George cartridge on the sillouette setting for the flower & cut one out of a Hambly transparency. I thought it looked pretty cool with the vinyl rub-ons!


These are some Disney projects I made using the ever growing line from Reminisce. I added some memorabilia from our room at the All Star Movies resort to the layout. I tell ya, being a part of this design team has really made me get some things accomplished that have been a long time coming. I'm no where near where I should be (are any of us?) but I'm much further ahead than I would have been without it.

This is a trick or treat bowl I made also using the Reminisce line of Halloween papers. I know Halloween is over, but I sure won't remember to post this a year from now, that's for sure!

I guess I'll go try to clean my scrap room some more. Rebecca from the Memory Zone message board has a fun challenge (& a RAK) for the messiest scraproom. Mine is really a train wreck, or as I affectionately call it, my scrapper's landfill. I'm serious, it looks like I just backed up the truck & let her dump! How embarrasing to post it & I know my hubby would have a heart attack if he knew I posted a pic of it on the web. I have been working on rearranging it, but that seems to have created an even bigger mess than I started with, if you can even imagine that! Actually, it is a bit better than what you see here, but I still have to hop over piles of papers & such to get to my table, but the table that has the Hello Kitty circle pail is almost all cleaned off, so I do have a spot to work now, it's just not the table I usually work at.

Well, I certainly hope today's entry appears half-way decent, because I gotta tell ya, it looks pretty horked up in the composition view & even more so in the Preview. I wish Blogger would do something a little more user friendly with their program. I seem to waste a lot time tweaking, or is it just me?

Well, gonna go check out some other blogs. Oh my! I almost forgot!! My dear friend Rose gave me a Blog Friend Award last week. I'll have to follow up on that later this week. Thank you Rose & sorry for not following up with that.

God Bless & take care!

Beth

Playing along

OK, so I'm reading Kristy Lee's blog about how her sister-in-law Photo tagged her. This is a new "tagging" game to me, but I might just play along, since she was taggin anyone who wanted to play along.

I guess the rule of the game is your supposed to use the 4th picture from your 4th file, but my 4th file only had one photo in it, so this is actually the 4th photo from my 5th file. LOL! It's the left side of a 2 page scrapbook spread of my Brooke's 1 st birthday. To think, we just celebrated her 5th birthday on the 23rd of October!

She was such a quiet & mild mannered baby. She's not quite the same, but she does still get overly emotional about some things. For instance, in the far left photo is me holding her so she can swing at the ghost pinata, but she did not like that & cried like she was watching a murder every time one of the other bigger kids would hit it. I had to take her in the house until was finally broken open.

Now, on to some exciting news - at least for myself. Remember in my previous post about how I was mad at myself because I had the opportunity to be published in the Scrap N' Art ezine, but thought I screwed it up by forgetting to give the "acceptance" reply? Well, either they over looked that or something, but it was published in their Nov/Dec issue after all! You can get your FREE issue by signing up here & then clicking on the "download! button from the menu bar at the top. My work is on page 19.

I'm going to have to get DD's picture of her in her Halloween costume downloaded from my camera soon. I'm really bad about doing all that stuff in a timely fashion, but it does eventually get done. When I do, I'll post it here. Maybe after this week when, hopefully, things slow down to a more normal pace.

So, on that note, I think I'll bid you a good evening & get back to trying to clean my scrap room. *snort!!* I laugh because it's a lost cause.

God bless & good night!

Beth

Something's brewing

Something's been brewing alright! My creativity, so to speak. I've been working on my design team projects & finished 2 so far & I've also been working on a 2 page spread that isn't for the design team. I know, I'm supposed to be getting caught up & working on things for my craft show, but when inspiration hits, you can't put it on the back burner! It will never get done then. I'm coming to the realization that I'm just an ADD sort of person & I have several projects (not just scrapping) going on all at once & it seems like a huge accomplishment when one finally gets finished!

I finally completed the 2 page spread in memory of my in-laws that was supposed to be turned in 2 meetings ago, but it was a hard one for me. I never met my father-in-law & only knew my mother-in-law for 2 years before she passed, which was 2 days after 9/11.

Then, I finished my Family Memories photo CD/case this morning. The challenge presented to us on the Memory Zone design team was to use only old products still left in the store, with maybe a hint of some new stuff. We're also supposed to be working on projects that can be made for gift giving at Christmas time or birthdays, or whatever. I chose to make a year in review family photo CD because it's pretty verstile & I didn't want to make it Christmasy, so I used some Making Memories paper that still had a whole stack left. I wouldn't say it's anything exceptional, but it's definitely an attention grabber & I even added some elements of surprise to it. You'll just have to check back to the Design Team Gallery at the Memory Zone later to see.

My next project is supposed to be doing a page that humorously depicts an object in my everyday life. I knew the object that I wanted to do the page about, but I got my real inspiration for it from my fellow DT sistah, Kelly Crowl. With her permission, I came up with a cute idea & now I just need to dwell on it more for the best design. I better take some pictures, but that might have to be on another day.

I have a few more projects up my sleeve, but I'm beginning to think I'm over booking myself. Perhaps I should step away from the computer. I might get more done....

On that note, I think I'll go start on my next project!

P.S. I want to thank Rose for her kind words about my blog header! BTW, you might be seeing more of those pictures in the future!

God Bless and have a great day!
Beth

Mad & Happy!

I am mad & happy, both at the same time. Sometimes I wonder just where my mind is some days. And inevitably, on the days that I THINK I got my stuff together, later I find that I really didn't & it hits me and hits me hard!

First, I'm mad because I had the accepted potential to be published in the Nov/Dec issue of ScrapN'Art ezine. You would think YAY, right? Well, you would be right IF you would have responded back to them by saying Yes, you are accepting their acceptance! Today, I was going through my old emails & decided to check that acceptance email & seen further down in all their mumbo jumbo terms of agreement that you had to respond by a certain date, which of course, has looooong passed & I hadn't, cuz I double checked my outgoing mail, and you KNOW I did. I think I miss out on opportunities like this because of stupid oversights like that & it really is more than just aggrevating, ya know? Am I NOT the one who's whining, crying, snortin & bawling about how I can't get published? It's quite possibly my work that isn't making the grade & I can live with that, but it could very well be that I simply can't follow instructions & that really irritates me when it comes to my own stupidity.

But, there is happy news! I AM getting published in the Scrapbooking.com monthly newsletter of their December issue for my "Winter Cold" page. I tried really hard to make sure I followed all their very detailed instructions and they were VERY detailed, but that actually made it easy for me, because I didn't have to wonder if it was the way they wanted it & their instructions were actually easy to follow - even though at first glance, I thought Holy Cow!

I don't know how much I'll get to be on here in the next few weeks. I have several design team projects that I need to complete still & I'm trying to get some more things made for the craft show I'm in on November 8th. I really shouldn't even be on here now, but I just had to share the news, bad and good.

So, God Bless & have a great day!
Beth M.

Not always easy

Some weeks, well it seems like most weeks nowadays, I have a hard time coming up with stuff that is creative. You know, those things that even YOU know are pretty cool. I have to say that my scrapbooking creativity is lacking in this area, but my cardmaking seems to be kicking into high gear. What's up with that? Why can't I get as inspired for my scrapbook pages as much as I am for my cards? I realize that a scrapbook page is 12x12 & a card is considerably smaller & doesn't really take much to make it POP! But, you would think you could switch gears easily from one to another without a hitch, wouldn't you?

I've been working on my Memory Zone Design Team "In Memory" assignment for over a month now. It's not exactly where I want it to be, but I like it enough to turn it in. Maybe when some new stuff comes out later, I can add to it.

I turned in 4 cards for the last meeting because we had assignments to do a Cancer Awareness card, so I did two. Then, I made 2 more Christmas cards using the Reminisce Christmas Basics papers & stickers. I used a sketch made up by the Memory Zone's own DT diva, Charity for one of those cards. Here's her sketch:

Isn't it a great sketch? If you go here you can see my take on it. while you're at it, check out the rest of the Gallery for TONS of inspiration. And, you should check out their blog for lots of interesting chat on just about anything scrappy!

Today I was playing around with my Quickutz embossing phrase & thought, wouldn't it be cool to emboss a transparency! So, I dug out one of my preprinted My Mind's Eye (I think?) transparency frames & embossed the center. How cool!!! I liked the look of leaving it see through to the inside of the card, but then realized that if you were to write on the inside, you'd see it from the front of the card, therefore taking away from the look I was going for. I decided to add a contrasting background color to the back of the transparency & I like the unique, yet simple look you get.

Here's how it turned out:

With a different angle to see the embossed image better. This is definitely one of those cards you need to see in real life to truly appreciate.

I've played around with other things as well, but I'm saving those for later & you may have to see them in the Memory Zone Gallery.

Well, I'll be busy some more since we're going camping again for 4 days down to Brown County during the Fall break from school. It's always a nice time & we camp in a little known campground between Nashville & Bloomington called Yellowwood National Forest. It's primitive camping even though we still use our campers. We like to drive around the hills & countryside looking at all the scenery & we check out a few flea markets that are nearby in the little town called Gnawbone. We checked out a "haunted" Inn in a even tinier town called Story. We would have liked to have eaten at the restaurant, but it's VERY expensive, so we just took pictures. We do like to check out the little shops in Nashville, but we're kind of over that after seeing them so many times.

Well, this is pretty long, but you'll get a break until next week, at least.

God bless & take care!

Beth M.

Busy, busy, busy...

It has been a very busy week for me, with no relief in sight!

Today is my son Jordan's 16th birthday! What?? When did that happen that I have a teenager that is old enough to drive (soon)? I can hardly believe it. I still frequently think back to when he was 4 & 5 & miss those days of sweetness. He's still a sweet kid & still tells me he loves me when he's on the bus back from a football game with his team mates, & still gives me a kiss goodbye or goodnight. It's just different from when he was 5, ya know what I mean?

Then, last night, Brooke lost her 2nd bottom front tooth, but luckily for the tooth fairy, she forgot to put it under her pillow. Gonna have to remember that tonight! I can't believe she's already losing teeth.

Brooke also has her Harvest party today at preschool, which I TOTALLY forgot all about! Thank goodness I didn't have to bring anything, but I'll be making up for it next week when we have treat duty & I will be bringing stuff that's extra special, since it's HER birthday next week. At least next week is a short week, since they have Fall Break on Thursday & Friday.

I have a friend that is supposed to be coming over on Sat. She hasn't been here in a couple of years, even though we only live about 30 minutes from each other. We can thank the high fuel prices for that!

Well, I have some cleaning & laundry to do, so I better get some more of that done before I have to head back to the preschool for Brooke's party.

God Bless & take care!

Beth M.

Fall is here!

Is it starting to get beautiful in the trees, or what? We went to the Covered Bridge Festival over the weekend & camped at Raccoon State Reserve Area. We like this park simply for the fact that we can camp primitive (in our campers - *snort*) for cheap! We don't spend any time there really, other than cooking & sleeping, so we don't need other amenities to entertain us in the campground. Even down in the Rockville area, the trees were turning beautiful colors & we seen a few little scenic spots. I didn't get any pictures of them tho. I know, my bad. And I call myself a scrapper.

There were lots of flea markets & yard sales all along the routes between the towns where the festivals were at. We like to stop at theses sales instead of all the hubbub in town. I found some Rusty Pickle scrapbook paper that I hadn't seen or had for 25 cents a sheet. I was trying to save back some of my money for a vintage door knob to put on my vintage door to put on my garden shed (that Alan & Beth built). I only purchased 4 sheets of that & 4 sheets of some Holiday Basic Grey paper that I already have, but are some of my favorite ones. I was going to go back later after not finding my doorknob, but they were closed already. I guess I didn't need anymore than I already had.

We were going to stay until Monday, the 13th, but had to cut the trip a day short because just the week prior, DD's preschool decided they would take their Pumpkin Patch field trip on that day. Needless to say, we paid for that day, but didn't get to use it. Then, DD gets a nasty head cold on the day we left too. We get home kind of late & we're tired after the 4 hour drive, so we pretty much just head straight to bed. I had to get up early so I could get my shower, because I'm also supposed to help be in charge of this field trip, due to a death of a family member of one of the preschool teachers. Then I'm getting DD ready & we start to work on brushing her teeth, but she has 2 loose teeth on the bottom front. Well, guess what? One came out, so looks like the tooth fairy is going to be making a pit stop at our house tonight, but she can't find the tooth! She leaves the fundage anyway, because she can't sleep at 3:00 a.m., & hopes to retrieve the little gem later after the princess child awakes. She SCORES! She takes her precious gem & flutters outta here before she can have a chance to get spotted by the over-attentive tot! Whew! That was a close one. BUT! She will probably have to do this again in just a few days, because there is another precious gem just waiting to break free and be carried away in a cloud of pixie dust.

OK, enough from Never Never Land. Hope that was enough information about MY exciting life to last you until I find more pixie dust to vacuum up!

God Bless & take care!

Beth M.

*Sigh*

Well, not that I was really expecting anything honestly, (but I had high hopes) of getting chosen for the Reminisce Design team, but that didn't happen, as I read the announcement this morning on their blog. One very lucky lady, by the name of Angela Ploegman. Congratulations Angela!

We're off to the Covered Bridge Festival now, but I wanted to touch base with anyone who might be interested in who won the Reminisce contest.

Flan

Have you ever made Flan? I hadn't, until last night. Not something I ever thought about making really. Why did I make flan, you might be asking yourself? (or maybe not)

Well, here's how the story goes...I pick up DS from school yesterday & he asks me if I have any authentic Mexican recipes, but it can't be tacos. Ummmm...I'm about as far from being Mexican/Spanish as they come with my pasty white (except for the freckles) Scottish/Irish heritage skin. So, the answer would be No, I have no authentic Mexican recipes. Why do you ask? He proceeds to tell me that he has a Spanish class assignment where they have to prepare an authentic Spanish/Mexican dish, take a picture of it, bring in the recipe & write a report on how they liked it. It's due this Friday & his dad & step-mom wouldn't be dependable enough to help him properly. Don't even ask me why he wants to live there...anywho- so I check online to see what's "authentic" that I can make & I have all the ings. on hand. Doesn't look like it will be a main dish with all those peppers & spices! Maybe Mexican Wedding Cakes? Possibly, but wait! Here's a simple recipe for Flan. I think we can do this! Well, never let an almost 16 yr. old boy stir melted sugar until it's golden brown, you'll get scorched dk. brown hard rock candy! My first mistake was not having the custard mix already prepared & leaving him to handle stirring the sugar while I mixed the custard portion. Nor did I expect the sugar to start melting down so fast! Anyway, the flan turned out pretty good, as long as you don't eat the burnt caramel. It looked pretty though & that's what we needed for a good picture.


Not all the brown you see is the burnt caramel. I placed the dessert on a brown drip plate, the caramel is actually just a small portion around the custard.

I might consider making it again, but it doesn't sound like something the rest of the family is raving about. I might just need to make it again without burning the caramel, just so I can redeem myself. Or, maybe I should let sleeping dogs lie & know that this will be one less dish I will be requested to make! I think I like the 2nd option better ;)

I have lots of things to do to get ready for our camping trip to the Covered Bridge Festival in southwestern Indiana, so that's it for today.

Oh, and so far nothing for any of us Memory Zone girlz on the Reminisce Design team....

God Bless & have a great day!

Beth

Cool!

I noticed yesterday that I had my first blog follower!! YAY & a great big THANKS Rebecca for being my first groupie! hee hee hee! I don't know how long you've been listed as a follower, but I finally realized it yesterday, cuz (duh!) I never thought to check. Who'da thunk that someone would actually want to follow MY blog? I so need to jump on the bandwagon of being a blog follower. I'm starting to follow a quite a few blogs these days.

I hope those of you that are following my blog are liking the recent changes. I know I do, but I'm still working on that header & a few other color changes. My background is supposed to be a bit different, but the instructions tell me to select "minima" somewhere & I can't figure out what in the world they're talking about.


I did get back a journal book I altered a while back. I just had it returned at my last design team meeting from the Memory Zone scrapbook store from being on display there. I used the fun papers from Cosmo Cricket & some bits & pieces from the Creative Cafe line. It was originally inspired by a wonderful designer by the name of Brittany Dixon who made a card using these papers. I put a different twist on it, but thought it turned out decent.

I have got to get my butt in gear & get some inspiration for lots of projects that I want & need to complete. I get going OK, but follow through tends to be an issue with me. I'm a slow scrapper & if I'm in a hurry, the end result tends to reflect that. I know this. I can't help this, as much as I try to fix it, it just seems to be that way for me.

Now, there's quite a few girlz on the Memory Zone design team that can whip them projects out like nobody's business & I idolize them cuz they always look great & make my jaw drop. Seriously!


I'm thinking that I'm gonna have to do a RAK here soon. I've got lots of stuff that I've cleared out of my stash & picked up a few extra things just for that. When I come up with a challenge & gather up everything for the RAK, I'll post it here. Keeps your eyes open for this! It just might be worth it....

Have a great one, God Bless & take care!

BethM.

Reminisce Announcement

I read the Reminisce blog this morning to see who won the spot on their DT & the other runner-up winners. I thought that was pretty cool that they gave us an actual date for the announement, BUT - they're having some fun & still making us wait in their own way (little stinkers).

They've included an additional Runner-up spot & I think that's very cool of them to do. They even had a tie for the 4th runner up & lots of Honorable Mentions, another cool thing to do. However, they're only going to announce one Runner-up spot each day until they get to Friday for the HUGE announcement. It was killing us to have to wait until Monday & now we have to keep waiting (unless we're one of the runner-up winners). I know they just love to torment us, but I'm sure they have to keep building the interest.

I thought that maybe they'd send the winner an email ahead of time, just prior to the announcement, but now I'm thinking that just might not be the case. What's a girl to do, but sit & wait each day (fingers drumming, drumming, drumming...)

There are 6 of us Design Team girlz from The Memory Zone that submitted to this call & I'm wishing each of us buckets of luck, but none of us were mentioned in the 4th Runner-up spot, so that leaves 4 spots left to win.

Well, now on to a subject that has been kinda consuming a lot of our time here. My garden shed that my DH is building for me. It's coming along very nicely, if I do say so myself. My hot hubby is so handy I just can't believe what he can do & I'm so glad he's all mine! We found some really old double barn doors, thanks to a friend of mine giving me the lead. And wouldn'tcha know, at this same place, I found THE door of all doors that I was looking for, as well! I was tickled & the barn doors were only $10 & he threw in an extra one & the dream door was only $20 & the windows were still perfectly in tact too. DH had to cut down one of the barn doors to fit the shed opening & it's perfect.

Next, I had to pick paint. Easier said than done apparently. I know the color I want, finding a sample is another story. I thought I found it at Lowes & for $26 I basically got an expensive turquoise primer. hmmm...... Way too bright for what I had in mind. I don't want my shed to look like a dollhouse. So, while I was at my Design Team meeting at the Memory Zone last night, I found a piece of colored cardstock that was close to what I wanted, but just a little darker. So, I take my cute colored piece of cardstock with me to Walmart today & get it matched & she adds a little bit of white to it, but not quite enough and she can't add anymore or the can will be too full. OK, it's better than turquoise & I might even be able to add more white to it here or even try mixing it with the turquoise for a look I might like. We'll see.

ANOTHER Reminisce DT update...

They posted on their blog that they will make their announcement on Monday, Oct. 6th. I think that's very cool that they are coming out & actually telling us when the announcement is to be made. When it comes to these kinds of competitions, the ones making the decision usually leave ya hangin' for quite a while & wondering when you'll get the news (good or bad). I'm speculating that the winner(s) will be notified prior to the announcement via email. I don't actually know how it works, since I've never been chosen for a DT through internet selection before, so I am no expert by any means.

I know I'm up against some extremely talented competition - especially from my fellow Memory Zone DT sistahs, Heather W, Kelly C, Rebecca S & Charity S. These girls are all just dripping with talent! I'm hoping at least ONE of them gets something out of this. There isn't any of us that doesn't deserve to get something out of this deal, but I feel my fellow DT members deserve it more than I & I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them! Good luck!

Well, enough babbling on about Reminisce & I don't really have much else to post about, so today's posting will be a bit shorter than the last couple.

Reminisce Design Team update...

My chances aren't looking so good now. I've went back & checked out many of the last minute submissions for the Reminisce Design Team member search & I am NOT getting my hopes up now. Some of them created amazing projects & even new ones specifically for the call, mini books too! I created a few little things that were new, but nothing major like that. My hopes is that Reminisce will see that I've been a pretty committed fan of their product for quite a long time & created MANY projects using mostly THEIR product all along & not just to get on a design team.

I was feeling a little hopeful before, but I think I'll just try to think of a way to say congrats to the winner & wish them lots of fun in their new endeavor for the next year & maybe try to work on some stuff for when they have another call!

Another "somewhat" disappointing note to add: It looks like I no longer have my one night of cleaning work to earn a little bit of spending cash anymore. My friend, who has a cleaning service decided that the company that I clean for is not financially sound enough to keep on as a client & they couldn't work out a suitable agreement for payment, so she withdrew her (our) services. Not that I will miss having to clean nasty men's factory bathrooms & break areas & all the little cubicles that had full cups of coffee & pop cans in the trash cans, not to mention that I was expected to spring clean those babies every week. NO! I won't miss that one bit! Then to have them call my employer to accuse me of something that I didn't do (more than once). I won't miss being the scape goat for THEIR blunders & I wasn't anyway. At least now I don't have to defend myself. The only thing I will miss is the small amount I got paid to put up with all that. I'm not heart broken, or even really disappointed by any stretch of the imagination. Iwill miss the scrapping money tho. *sniff-sniff*

Of a different note now. I have to apologize for how UGLY my blog looks! I don't like it, but oOne of these days, I won't be so blog illiterate & I'll figure out how to make my blog more pleasing to look at. I was trying to change my background, but I kept getting an error message in doing so. I HATE that! I don't have the patience or the time for codes to not work when they're supposed to be simple. I do want to work on making a prettier header for my blog though. This one isn't as pleasing as I once thought it was. What was I thinking????

Well, my blogging tends to ebb & tide in frequency. Apparently, it's at high tide right now! LOL!!

Have a good one friends & I'll keep you posted on the Reminisce news as soon as I find out.

God Bless & keep you well!
Beth M.

Wish me luck, if you will....

OK, I've kind of kept it a little bit of a secret to most & I've never done this with a manufacturer. I've submitted to the Reminisce Company in hopes of being picked for the only open spot on their Design Team. What a fantastic opportunity this is for ANYONE!
I don't know how much of a chance I have, considering some of the people that have submitted as well. I can only hope they see enough in my work to think I'm worthy. I'm also in great company of submitters cuz 2 of my Memory Zone Design Team sistahs have submitted as well! That would be so cool if we all 3 took the top spots for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place! The deadline is at mignight on September 30, 2008. I wish all the girls that have entered lots of luck.
Let's see if I can get my Reminisce submission gallery posted on here for you to see.

God Bless & have a wonderful day!

Beth

Fuel Companies!!!!

I know EVERYONE is just loathing the fuel companies for the past 3 years now. So, be prepared for MY rant now or leave...

I know they "claim" they ain't making that much of a profit because "they" aren't the ones setting the price/barrel, BUT THEY are the ones setting the price at the PUMP & THEY are the ones stating that they made a profit of multiple BILLIONS in only 3 months time. What part of a multi-billion dollar profit, is not that much? That's just ONE company & they're all making that claim! Is there any other business that can make that claim? Does Microsoft make that claim? If they are, it's because we CHOOSE to buy a computer, not because we HAVE to.

all that brings me to my latest hissy fit - my Phillips 66 bill that I have coming due. Mind you, I was at fault for not getting it paid on time last month. Somehow, it slipped out of the stack of bills I was putting into the mail drop off at the post office & it fell in the door pocket of my van without knowing it until I cleaned it out a couple of days later. Needless to say, my bill was late & now I'm hit with a $8.79 Finance charge (I always pay off my bill each month so I don't get a FC) AND a $39 late fee!!!! That's nearly $50 EXTRA for a $279 fuel bill. I don't dispute that I should pay a late fee, I'm not arguing that - it's that it's $39 - that's 14%!! Isn't it bad enough that they're gouging us at the pump & now they're gouging us on our bill. Last year, I mistakenly made out one bill & forgot to include 5 cents & I was hit with a $5 Finance charge for a friggin' nickel!! When I call them about it, I was basically told "Sorry about your luck, be more careful from now on." I have told my husband about this & he says dump them! We've been great customers with them for 20 years & that loyalty means nothing, then they'll get nothing from us. We have a Shell card now & we even get a fantastic rebate on their card and they're just as competitive in our town as the Phillips 66 station down the road. I think it's time to get rid of one too many fuel cards, don't you think?

OK, I'm done with this vent session for today, but don't be surprised if this subject rears it's ugly, and I mean ugly head again.

What a Good Day!

Aside from not really doing a whole lot today, it's been a pretty goo day so far. I got word this morning that Ready, Set, Create is going to publish an altered clipboard I made for Brooke's Preschool Monthly Calendar. I got the reply in about one day from sending it to them! That's fast!

Then, later today, I got an email from Reminisce telling me that they would love to put my French Kitchen Recipe Box set on their online gallery! How exciting for me!!

I know not to get too overly excited about all this good news, because I've been let down by a DIFFERENT eZine just recently that said they wanted to publish something that I altered for one of their calls, but they never ended up putting it in the ezine after all. I never got a reply from them either when I asked them what happened. Not sure that I appreciate not even getting an "Oops, sorry about that..."

Enough about my prior disappointments (there will be many more, I'm sure) so I'm onto another topic - Photoshop Elements 6. I just purchased it & haven't had a lot of time to play with it too much, but it seems a little overwhelming for me & I'm not really stupid when it comes to computer programs, so I'm not sure what my problem is. I'm sure I just need a good nights sleep & a chance to read more about how it all works. I think maybe I've been out of the office workforce long enough that many things I've learned have left me over the past 6 years. I used to know how to make websites too, but don't ask me anything about it now! That is soooo sad too.

I found this cool website http://wordle.net/create I used it to make my Header for my blog here. I thought it was really neat. Now I don't know how to get that darn thing to load into my blog, so I ended up just printing it out & taking a photo of it & adding it that way. Kind of the long way around, but the other way wasn't working for me. Like I've said before....I'm blog challenged!

Well, DD is getting hungry for dinner. Doesn't she realize that I have internet things to do???? JK!!

More CHA...

For those of you who are not yet over all the info that's been put out there for this summer's CHA event in chicago, then here's some more!

Although I still have some pictures to share, I could have swore that I took more than I have on my camera. I don't think I deleted them, as I've learned my lesson on that fiasco before, so I'm not sure what happened to them!

So, I'll share with you what I have. Here is the only "celebrity" shot I got during the whole day there. It wasn't that I didn't see many others, I'm just a little chicken when it comes to approaching these people, because I just admire their talent & inspiration so much. Tim Holtz's demonstration at the Ranger Ink table was packed, to say the least!
\/

\/

\/

\/

\/

\/

I tried to get this picture posted before, but Blogger wasn't taking it.

Cricut is a true hottie right now & he sure knows it! Oh Baby! I will be more than happy to take whatever he is dishing out & I know every other woman there was in a true estrogen frenzy over his latest work! LOL

The designs they demonstrated for Hello Kitty, Cars & Sesame Street were way too cute! They had free make & takes on Sat. with something from each of these lines. I made a darling round purse tin with the Hello Kitty stuff & Jenny (another DT member) made one of each! And they're coming out with book laminator that looks kind of interesting, but not sure how hot the market will be for something like that. It would be cute for making your own coloring books, but you have to buy special glue & special sized paper if you want to make a standard size coloring book. Not too sure how cost effective it will be, but I guess we'll know more once they release the price of all the goodies to the public. Jenny had her Elmo make & take made into one of the bound coloring books. You could make smaller ones with regular sized paper too, which would be very cute to make birthday party favors for kids. You could even make it into an activity for them as they could make their own designs & the parent could laminate it for them into their own book! I better shut up before I talk myself into REALLY wanting one after all! LOL!

Here is a girl's room they did up using the Hello Kitty cartridge. They also did up a little girl's birthday party with all the trimmings & favors too! They even put an image on the birthday cake itself! Cute, but definitely NOT edible!

I would consider this cartridge for myself because my 4 yr. old daughter's bedroom has red carpet & it's kind of a challenge finding little girl themes that go with red. Not to mention that she loves Hello Kitty. I'd probably be spending more time cutting stuff out for her to do something with than I would for myself. I guess if it keeps her busy creating, then it would be worth it.

They had a darling boy's room done with the Disney Cars theme, & I gotta tell you, if my son was little again, this would be THE cartridge to have - especially if you have the Expression!!

I don't think Sesame Street really needs any hype, it just speaks for itself! I mean, who doesn't love Elmo or the Cookie Monster? I do, and I'm a grown up!

Even Elmo was there in the big celebration & I got a picture of him here (sorry that it's a little blurry too). I also got a picture of myself with Elmo, but that was taken by Jenny on her camera. I'm sure my daughter will love to see that one when I get it.

Well, I think that's all I have for today, I need to work on some more photos for later, but you may be seeing stuff arriving at your favorite scrapbook store very soon! It may get THERE before I post a photo of it HERE! Funny, but true.

Have a good weekend & enjoy your family!

Beth M.

CHA Baby!!

Please be aware that my site is looking a little odd right now. I'm having some technical difficulties, so please keep bearing with me here. Some of my pictures have disappeared & Blogger won't let me reload them. Grrr...!

OK, how lucky was I that I got to go to Chicago for the Craft & Hobby Assoc. Trade Show (CHA) on the 19th! I have to admit that I was excited just to get to be able to go, thanks to the WONDERFUL store owners of The Memory Zone Scrapbook store that I design for!

Once I arrived with my 3 other fellow Design Team members, Kelly, Jenny & Rebecca, I was in total awe of the whole scheme of things. It's like an amusement park for scrapbookers! We all had an amazing time. This was Rebecca's & my first year to attend the event as Kelly & Jenny attended last year.

There was so much to see & do that you couldn't help but get caught up in it all. The make & takes were nicer than I expected & the freebies that they handed out were pretty cool. I had no idea this kinda stuff went on there! I'm really glad that I got to go this year, because I understand that it's in Florida next summer! I could possibly still go, since they're talking about allowing the public to attend & I do have an uncle that lives near Orlando....I just don't understand why it's in such warm climate in the hottest part of the year?

We brought home some pretty cool bags from Provo Craft, Little Yellow Bicycle, MAMBI & a few others. The Bo Bunny bags were to DIE for, but I didn't get one in time - BUMMER!!

I got a little distracted away from my group & couldn't find them. Who knew that hot pink T-shirts would be so hard to find? OMG! Half the women there had hot pink t-shirts! LOL

So, I wandered away looking for the others & ended up finding Eutopia...Kaiser Craft, based out of Australia, but also located out of Chicago, as well. This booth was big, this booth was beautiful, this booth offered a great make & take that was so hot that you had to take a number to get in! I sure got my exercise by running back & forth checking to see if my number was about to be called. Finally, after about 2 hours, I got to do the make & take wooden book. I love how it turned out & I did it in my favorite color combo right now - blue & green. While others watched the M&T, they could let out a WHOOP! & the lady running the M&T would toss out pkgs. of bling to everyone. So cool!! Then, when I was finished with my book, she handed me a whole stack of bling jewels & pearls & brads! It felt like Christmas in July! Here is the wood book I made at their make & take.

We also learned about a new company that has MY interest peaked! It goes by the name of Zva (pronounced zee-vah) & they make jeweled swirls like Prima in a rainbow of colors & interesting shapes & they make fabric flowers in interesting colors & textures! They looked like they were good quality & they claimed that they were a cost conscious company. If they offer Quality & lower costs - now we're talking my lanquage. I find that I spend a lot of hard earned money on poor quality scrap products from the big names & I don't like it. This stuff is supposed to last a lifetime & it can't even make it to my scrapbook page before falling apart! What's wrong with that picture? (pun intended!)

I was impressed with several booths & their products. I like Prima, a lot! But they can be pretty pricey for my budget, but I love their designs & innovativeness! I'd buy it more if I could find it. WRMK is a real favorite of mine & their booth was fantastic! I love their new die cut flocked ribbons & their Christmas line is gonna knock your socks off! Little Yellow Bicycle is another real favorite of mine, but again, a little on the pricey side. It's gotta be a totally stunning line of product for me to spend $1 for one brad & that's what it amounts to when you buy a pkg of 6 brads for $5.99. They're cool though, so you save them for special projects & pages for special people. I liked Rusty Pickle's booth. It was fun with their chocolate fountain & marshmallows & pretzel to dip into the chocolate with. Mmmm...! I really like their rustic Americana line of products! I've liked this look for a few years now & it's still a favorite of mine & it's still a hot seller! Now let's talk Basic Grey...I think these people are finally starting to "get it" with the paper crafters - finally! I loved their last releases & these next batch of releases prove to be winners in my book! I think they fit the artsy crafter as well as the color-in-the-lines crafter. you shouldn't hear the usual comment about their stuff being kind of difficult to work with anymore. I didn't see a new line there that I didn't like! My favorites would be Ambrosia & Eva/Ava, not sure which it was called, but those were my most favs, but I could like all the others too! Petaloo has some very pretty flowers coming out for those fall themed pages! These are just dripping with rich color!

Prima Bling! Mulitple colors together & new shapes !

Petaloo Flowers - they don't get much prettier than this!

Here's a bit of a close-up view of the flowers & cute projects they did.

Well, this is my update for today, stay tuned for more reviews & pictures of CHA 2008!

~Beth

Hi everyone! I know it's been quite some time since I've been on here to do an update. It's summer ~ being on the computer isn't necessarily the LAST thing I want to do, but it's not high on my priority list compared to being outdoors while it's warm & sunny & pleasantly not humid!

In case you're wondering what happened to my blog in it's appearance, it's kinda under some reconstruction right now. I'm not the greatest blog techy out there, so some of the updates I'm trying to do on my own aren't exactly working the way I thought they should! So, if anyone is actually reading my blog, please be patient in the way it looks & I will try to do some more updating of my posts soon. Thx & bear with me....;)

Sorrow today....

Well, what started out as a beautiful day has turned dark & sad. My Dad just called a little bit ago & told me that his younger brother, my uncle Charlie, had passed away earlier today. Although I wasn't expecting it at this point, it really came as no surprise. He had a major heart attack about a year ago that he died twice from, but was able to be revived both times. After surgeries & lots of therapy, he was back home & sort of able to go back to work a couple of days a week. He was on oxygen when we seen him last Thanksgiving, but appeared to be doing good. I guess he was just tired of dealing with everything & the cost of it all.

Although I wasn't close to my uncle by any means, I still am saddened to hear that he's gone. Maybe it's because it could very well be my own father, since my dad is the oldest of the siblings. I haven't talked to my grandma yet, but I'm sure she's taking it hard. She was when he was in the hospital last year. She's talking about moving up here now. She lives west of Lafayette, IN & across the street from my uncle. She doesn't feel there's any reason to stay there now. Her other 3 kids live in southern states. I would like to see her move up here. I have been much more closer to my grandma now than I have ever been growing up. I think she's realized that I'm probably one of the best grandkids she's got (including the one she raised herself). I am the one that is most like her in her skills & abilities, nor have I ever asked her for money or caused my family any grief or embarassment (so far). I'd like to keep it that way too.

I've contacted my sister & called my son so that they are aware that I will be getting them for the funeral. I'm trying to give them as much possible notice as I can so no one is rushing around trying to get themselves together for this. My sister has laundry to do & I'm sure my son will have to get his school work together & at least make his teacher's aware of the situation. He's not at all familiar with who my uncle is, but might remember him from a couple of Thanksgivings back.

Take care,
Beth

Have you heard?!!!

The new Basic Grey stuff is coming in! My favorite line is Boxer & I can't wait to get my hands on it!! I actually like several of their new lines this time around. Sometimes their stuff is pretty tricky & overly artistic for me to work with. Although I have seen some pretty awesome stuff from a few people that have made me go out & get it. I've yet to do anything with it yet & most likely won't either.
I also seen that the new Fancy Pants stuff is in as well & I seriously don't think my budget is going to be able to handle all the stuff I want. I do plan on getting the Big Bite from Crop-a-dile though! It is a must have tool on my list! I picked up a Cricut font cartridge the other day & can't wait to try it out! No, I don't have a Cricut of my own, but am allowed to use the one at The Memory Zone for Design Team purposes. One day I'll get to learn to use the Cricut Expression & also the Silouette from QK! What a wonderful learning experience this has been already for me & I still have 9 more months of it!!

Here is a simple Thank You card I finished yesterday. I actually made a card from my scraps! I NEVER do that! I don't think it's anything to brag about or try to submit to a magazine for, but I wouldn't be embarassed to send it to someone, should the need arise.

I have been getting a little more use out of the circle stamp I used on this, so it was worth the purchase I think! Stamps can be quite expensive, in fact, everything for scrapbooking is getting VERY expensive! The price of gas is pushing that along, I'm sure! Let's not even get me started on that subject either, it isn't pretty....

I got a message from Kristy Lee of UT saying that the darling altered bucket I won from her Bingo game on KT Crafts is going to be a little late & if I minded that she picked up a few other things from We R Memory Keepers to add to it. Ummmm....are you kidding?? She's a designer for them, so I guess that's a huge "Go right on ahead with your bad self, girlfriend!" he he he... I've gotten to know her a little better since she joined the forum at KT Crafts & she is so fun! I will be sure to post the goodies when they arrive.

Well, I'm supposed to be altering some stuff, but I seem to be at a stand still with a few of them. I've kind of been holding off a little in hopes that I find something in the new CHA releases that will make the progress a little easier. Keep your fingers crossed friends that it's worth the wait!

So, on this gloomy spring Sunday, I'm going to end this bull session to go spend some quality time with my daughter & maybe get a little motivation to scrap before my DT meeting tonight.

Beth

Our Easter

Well, Brooke & I colored Easter eggs late on Saturday evening & we had a good time. She was really into it. Too bad the little plastic egg "lifters" (for lack of a better word) were kind of flimsy, because Brooke dropped one on the floor, but it's carpeted & pretty junky anyway, so it didn't matter. She couldn't hurt it & you probably wouldn't notice it anyway. LOL I'm not too sure why she felt the need to wear her little backpack, but I thought it was cute!


The finished results:

The next morning, when Brooke woke up, she didn't act like she was quite awake yet. She didn't act like she even cared that the Easter Bunny came or that there was a basket & eggs waiting to be found. Then, all of a sudden, it's like a light went off & she's babbling like her usual self & then discovers an egg hidden in a candle holder. It took her a little while to realize she still needed to find her basket. She found all the eggs, but I was prepared with a list of everywhere I hid them, so we don't have a mystery smell in a week or two (Eewwww!). Once, I hid a plastic egg with a $10 bill in it many years ago, when my son Jordan was little, & we never did find that egg! We even moved from that house & left NOTHING behind.

Anyway, my sister Michelle was here for Easter. I have to admit that I didn't have the Easter Bunny fill her basket the way he USUALLY does. But funds are tight & he went overboard with the kids a bit. Michelle was probably bored to tears by having to watch My Little Pony movie over & over & over &......(*sigh!*) We tried to accomodate her better by turning on the TV in the family room, but then Brooke would come pester her in there. Michelle loves Brooke for the first half of the stay, but has usually had enough by the beginning of the 2nd half. Maybe that helps her to better appreciate her other 3 room mates when she gets back home.

My Dad & step-mom, Joanne, came over & I made Easter dinner with ham, home made noodles & mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, Hawaiian rolls (or Orange Bread- as Brooke refers to them), deviled eggs - Brooke said she liked the yellow frosting on the eggs. I love how she has a different perspective of things & the way she describes them. It makes me smile. My stepmom makes a seven layer salad that I just love & she brought that for dinner. I made a chocolate cream pie & a Dutch Apple pie. We had a really nice time & I think they enjoyed having somewhere to go, since Joanne's son's family was ill & her daughter's family had other plans.

That's all I have for today's updates.

And remember.... Being Nice Matters!

Beth