EGG-citing Easter

I could go on and on with the egg jokes.... Ha ha ha.... I'll stop now though and spare you the torture!!!

I hope you all had a good Easter? We were all pretty mellow around here (which is really the way to be if you ask me) and had a small egg hunt around our house - then we packed up all our gear and spent time out with my husband's family for dinner & visiting etc. I'm one of the 'fortunate ones' who has a FANTASTIC mother and father in law.... and I can lucikly say (truthfully) that I like spending time with them. Good thing too, since they live so close to us! LOL!

On a more random note..... ever wonder why I go so long between my blog posts? Well... it's called 4 young kiddos... ha ha ha.... but I have figured out the solution to my blogging infrequencies.... I've demonstrated this cure-all solution in the picture below: (gets my kids out of my hair while I scrap and blog - perfect eh?)



Ok, ok.... so it's not MY kid.... I can't remember who emailed this to me.... but I only wish that I had thought of it first! (Do you think it would really work? Hmmm..... better stop thinking about it.... bad Beth, bad Beth!)

Kim Broedelet has a FABULOUS new grab bag out now. It will be discounted for a few more days only.... so go run and get it while it's on sale! I played around with some of the gear in there and came up with this:



Here is what the journaling says: (since the blogger image resizes it so small) "Kaitlyn enjoyed Easter time at school this year when Grandma came in to teach her whole class how to make Ukrainian Eggs. Grandma Jo has been teaching pysanky in classrooms for years, but this was the first time she got to teach in Kaitlyn's class!" Click HERE for full credits on my layout.

My mom is the most talented lady I know!!! She creates the MOST GORGEOUS eggs and she teaches classes too. (Anybody want to learn?) Here is a basic run-down of how these eggs are created: A tool called a kistka is used to draw melted wax on the egg shell. This will protect and save any part of the design which will remain white. The egg is then dipped in the next lightest color, such as yellow, and wax added to save this part of the design. The process is repeated for each color used on the egg. Following the final color, the egg is held near a flame, the wax melted and wiped off which reveals the colorful design. The egg is then varnished to give it a glossy finish.


I'm actually in the process of putting up a web site for my mom.... I'll let ya know when it's finished - and you can check out all her AMAZING designs!!!

Soooo.... have I rambled for long enough? Anybody want a template? I played around with making one --- I've never made one before, so be nice - ha ha!

I based it off of the layout I made above. The zip file contains both Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop versions of the template. (Please let me know if the .psd file came out ok??? I actually use PSP for my scrapping, but saved a version of the template in Photoshop mode for all you PS users - I would love to know if it worked!)

Here is the download link:

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Have a good one!

Snoring Strife

****YAWN****

I am sooooo sleepy! My two daughters have been keeping ME up at night lately with their 'disussions' about the younger dd's snoring. Argh! Apparently my older dd can't sleep now in the same room with her sister - and claims that she MUST be snoring on purpose just to keep her up. So, my brain is a bit 'fuzzy' this morning.... but I wanted to get this post up early cause I noticed that KimB already has hers up today... (And I'm sure some of you are visiting here from there...) and you're probably lookin' for that QP! LOL!

On a more upbeat and random note though.... here is something funny my daughter said last Sunday as we were going into church: "look, there are no hats allowed in here." I was taken by surprise - as this isn't actually a 'rule' or anything in our church building. "Why would you say that?" I asked her..... So she points up at a sticker on the window and says "See! No hats!"

It was just a crimewatch sticker that you see all over the place. Ha ha ha! That just made my weekened. She is always saying hilarious things like that.... and constantly putting a smile on my face!

Hopefully you've all heard about / seen Kim B's new AMAZING kit: 'Unda da Sea?' I've been having fun with it over the past few days and put together a couple of layouts:

I have so many beach pics..... I will NEVER catch up to scrapping them all! I LOVE the torn papers Kim offers in this kit - they really look like waves!

I put this layout together right after the one above it here. I guess I wanted to do something simpler and cleaner. (After using a gazillion elements in my first layout! LOL!) It's hard to tell without seeing the picture close up, but my mom and son are sitting below the beach umbrella where the base of the kite string is.... that's why I attached it with the stitching to the poloroid above. She was giving him his very first 'kite flying lesson.' I used Kim's 'Unda da Sea' kit of course... but I also used parts of her 'Sew Simple' kit - which is full of GREAT stitching for your layouts.... it's 100% worth checking out if you like to use stitches in your pages!

Well... hope ya like the layouts.... (it really is an AMAZING kit!).... and I hope you're in the mood for a freebie!


I could make a thousand quick pages out of this kit for you guys! It's so much fun to work with! Here is the download link:

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Have a good one!

Cool Call Names

I have to say: I LOVE reading your 'call names' in 4shared when you leave comments after downloading my freebies! (Yes, I read them.... thanks for saying 'hi')

I was thinking.... maybe my boring old 'beth1695' just isn't spicy enough anymore!???! For example: (here are some of the names left in 4shared for me:) how fun are the names: catlady, beetle, bizzybee, and pattycakes? And aren't the names: grammyscraps and addicted2scrappin' cute? I could go for something more 'dramatic' and pick something fun like: nightwolf99 or darkangel. And of course, for any of us who download freebies - we most likely recognize the neat call names of: grumpy and vanilladesignz. (I have a Grumpy hoodie from my recent trip to Disneyland that I love to wear- so when I see that call name I always smile!)

But if I chose a call name based on who I am.... I think it would be 'TiredMommy' - and that just doesn't sound perky enough to me! Ha ha! So I think I'll stick with 'beth1695.'

Oh.... before I forget.... Denise (aka: LuvinLifeGurl - another 'cool call name') gave me the link to the FUNNIEST little clip on YouTube. Denise thought I would like it since I talked about giving 'the LOOK' to my kids in my last post.... and this clip had me laughing SO HARD! Check it out if you would like a laugh... it's adorable! Click here: Giving Back the Mommy Look.

I've been playing a bit with Kim Broedelet's new 'Storybook Romance' kit (as well as the gear from her NEW grab bag) and here is my latest Kim layout:

The picture is of my dd and is one of the very first pictures I took after I bought a digital camera. (The pic is a few years old - but it's one of my faves! She's just too cute!) It's fun to dig out pics from before I even knew digital scrapping existed and use those in layouts. Most of the time I focus on recents photos....

I know you're all probably SICK of butterflies on this blog! LOL! But I couldn't resist putting together a couple brag book pages for you based on this layout. Kim just keeps making kits with adorable butterflies in them - so it's HER fault! I HAD to use them! (I just luv'em too much not to!)

Go ahead and snag it if ya like it!



Download link:

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Do Kids Go To Jail?

My daughter cracks me up! We were on our way to dance class yesterday afternoon... and she suddenly realized that she had forgotten her dance shoes. (Only slightly important for dancing eh?) She pretty much had a panic attack and started moaning to herself, "Oh... I am in such TROUBLE!!!" (She knew I wasn't happy about it... LOL! It's so funny... I don't have to yell or anything with her.... I just have to give her that 'evil mommy glare' and she knows she's busted! Ha!)


Anyway.... she subsequently asks me if kids who get in big trouble go to jail. (I don't think that she actually thought that SHE would go to jail for forgetting tap shoes... she's just one of those 'serious thinker' types.) Another little girl I take to dance class with us in the car pipes up and says that she would want to go to jail cause they take care of you in prison and it would be great. My daughter then says that she wouldn't want to go.... cause they would force her to eat fruits and vegetables!!!! (What????!!!)


So my kids obviously have a skewed idea of what jail is like! Ha ha ha! Not only that... but I guess I don't make my kids eat enough fruits and veggies - I'm 'softer' on them than the jailer would be I suppose. LOL!


AND, AND, AND.... Big news: my 15 month old FINALLY reached a major benchmark yesterday - he took more than 3 steps without falling over!!!!! Yay!!!! I was beginning to wonder if he would EVER walk! So last night he had all kinds of fun walking around our TV room from couch to couch.... getting thunderous applause from us whenever he paused to make sure we were watching him. I'm so proud of him!


Here are my kids giving him a hug on the couch after one of his triumphant walks across the room... (and my older son is STILL obsessed with wearing his pirate hat! It's the Christmas gift that just keeps on giving!)





And I put parts of this frame together with more of the new gear from Kim Broedelet's new GRAB BAG. (Go get it.... go get it...)


And if ya like my frame, here ya go:





Download link:
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Enjoy! (And thanks for putting up with my random chatter about my kids.... ha ha! But that's my daily life - and they are so much fun.)

New Computer!!!

Ok.... everybody join with me in shouting out a BIG, FAT, LOUD: "Wooooooohooooooo!"

I have a NEW COMPUTER!!! Hmmm... can you tell that I am 'slightly' excited about it!?! Oh, the joy of using the warping tool and having effects applied immediately! Oh, the happiness that comes from not having to wait 5 minutes to view the drop shadow previews! RAM is my new best friend!!!



I'm sure Kim (the ever-so-talented designer I CT for) is glad I have my new system too.... since I've pretty much been OUT OF IT lately! LOL! My old computer was giving me so many problems, I am sure Kim thought I had disappeared off the face of the planet! Hee hee! (I'm back Kim!)

For those of you who aren't aware.... Kim Broedelet releases a FANTASTIC new grab bag each month.... and her latest will be popping into her store at DSO this week! Get it NOW while it's on sale for the first week.... you always get amazing gear for a killer deal!



Here is a layout I created (in 300 ppi - without even wanting to pull out all of my hair while waiting, waiting, having the computer freeze, and more waiting, waiting....etc. etc. etc. I LOVE this new computer!) using some of the stuffies inside of her new bag. I'll post up more layouts later this week too and give you more hints as to what's inside.




I luv my girls!!!! They are sweeties! I used Kim's new Grab Bag gear, her Weathered Frames 2, and her Sew Simple kit. The great alpha is 'Alpha Carton' by Nanine. And to celebrate the fact that I no longer want to throw my computer out of the window.... here is a freebie for ya! If you like the layout above, feel free to snag it and use it for yourself.

Here is the download link:

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P.S. I created this page using the beautiful color palette provided by Kim B. for her March "Color Challenge" she hosts over on DSO. Make sure to pop on over and check it out.