Pixel Scrapper June Blog Train--England

Woot Woot!  We're off for the June blog train!  I've done blog trains before, but this is my first month contributing to Pixel Scrapper.  Just getting my feet wet again, it's been a long time since I designed anything.

Pixel Scrapper does things a little differently than what I'm used to, but I like it.  The subject for June is "England" and this is the swatch we were given:

I know RIGHT?  Isn't that AWESOME?  So many choices!  I think you'll be thrilled with some of the creations.  There are some using the expected Red and Blue (like mine) and some that use completely different combinations.  I love to see the range of creativity designers come up with.  So much fun!

Anyway,  Here's the preview for my part:

Pixel Scrapper Subscribers

Dropbox here

4shared here

Mediafire here

Do you love that cutie-pie guard or what?  Don't forget to check out the rest of the train.  You don't want to miss this stunning work.  Pixel Scrapper June Blog Train list of contributors

Homemade Deodorant

Homemade Deodorant

I’ve wanted to try some homemade deodorant for a long time now.  I want to get away from the aluminum (linked to Alzheimer’s disease and also genotoxic, meaning it causes genetic mutations like cancer with prolonged exposure) and parabens (which are found in many breast cancers, for whatever reason).  So, I looked at several recipes others were using with success and created this recipe for myself.  I have already been using a spray on version for several weeks that I like and it works well, but sometimes it’s difficult for me to wait until it’s completely dry before getting dressed.  My homemade recipes work at least as well as any commercial product I have used, maybe better.  I’ll let ya know in July.  ;)

SECRET COMING à If you have trouble remaining fresh, and you’ve tried several deodorant brands, I have a secret for you.  Body odor is caused by bacteria.  The toxins (waste) from the bacteria are what smell.  So, if you kill the bacteria, no smell, right?  So I figured alcohol kills bacteria and you could splash some alcohol or witch hazel on your pits after you shower before you put on your deodorant, but how unpleasant is that?  So, I thought, body splash is mostly alcohol, right?  So just spray 4 or 5 spritzes of some delightful smelling body splash under there and wait a minute or so (it dries quickly) then put your deodorant on.  IT WORKS!!  It’s great for a quick refresher if you’re changing clothes, too.   I have been fresh all day, every day for a couple years now (well, except those yard work days.  There’s no stopping that stench.)  

Ingredients:

½ cup + 1 TBSP Coconut Oil (I used what I got in the cooking oil section at the grocery store. If you get unrefined it has more of that wonderful coconutty scent.)

1 ½ TBSP Beeswax pellets (this makes it stay solid, so, if you don’t mind a creamy deodorant you apply with your fingertips, you can leave this out, or you could keep it in the fridge.)

½ cup cornstarch (absorbs wetness)

½ cup baking soda (prevents bacteria growth)

3 TBSP arrowroot powder (also optional.  It adds to the function of the cornstarch and baking soda, but my original recipe did not call for this.  I just had some on hand so I put it in.)

10 drops clary sage essential oil (lemony scented and anti-bacterial) and 10 drops rosemary essential oil (this has a bit of an herby-medicinal smell to me, but it is a boost for the anti-bacterial.  If you need extra odor control, you might put this in.  Lavendar, Sage and Tea Tree essential oils, and others, are also anti-bacterial.  I had clary sage and rosemary on hand.) If you don’t have essential oils, don’t fret, they aren’t necessary for this to work.

1 Vitamin E capsule.  Just snip it and squeeze it in. (also optional.  It’s just good for your skin and it’s a natural preservative.  I don’t think this will grow mold or anything anyway.)

Empty deodorant containers.  I filled 1-2.6 oz and 3-1.7 oz ones that were used Secret solid containers with this recipe.  The labels came off nicely. J 

Directions:

1. Melt the coconut oil and beeswax pellets over VERY low heat.

2. Add the baking soda, cornstarch and arrowroot.

3. Mix until creamy.  (It should be the consistency of thick lotion.)

4. Add essential oils and Vitamin E and mix.

5. Pour in empty deodorant containers.

6. Let sit overnight or until completely cooled and set before capping.

Hope you like it.  Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for improvements!

**UPDATE**  I've been using this for a few days now and they've been hot days.  I did pretty heavy housework today and I do not detect any odor.  The consistency of the deodorant is just a wee bit softer than my normal Secret solid. It is also a little sandy--like baking soda feels, but it sinks into my skin and doesn't feel greasy or gritty.  I like it fairly well, but I'm leaning toward going back to the spray-on I made because I like the way it feels on my armpits after it dries and I powder. I'm going to give it a few more days and see what I think (plus I have four containers of rub-on, lol). I will put up my spray on recipe one day soon.

**UPDATE#2** Okay, So it's 8/15 and I'm just starting my third container of deodorant (and I gave one to my daughter) so I'll need to make more soon.  I have been standing my deodorant in front of my bathroom cabinet (where the a/c hits it) and it's much easier to put on.  That tells me a little more beeswax would help keep it more solid and, therefore, easier to "rub" on without smooshing.  I'll try that.  I have also noted that the baking soda is a bit drying and causes a little irritation if I don't moisturize. (at least, I think it's the baking soda since that was suggested on a couple sites I read).  I can't decide if I'll leave that out or just continue to moisturize a little.  I REALLY like the odor control and hate to change the formula.  I AM going to try a batch without baking soda for my daughter because she has REALLY sensitive skin and said it stings her after she shaves.  I'm SURE that is the saltiness in the baking soda.
**UPDATE#3** 8/27 My hub assures me that I do not smell and I guess he would know...so no odor that I just can't smell.  :)  I have been recently using my spray on in the morning (since I needed to use it up) and powdering then using my solid in the evening when I get ready for bed and don't want to take the time to wait. (along with a couple spritzes of body splash first)  This is working extremely well and has kept me from having any irritation at all.  I think I may have found the perfect combination for me. Still putting it in front of the a/c, though, until I use up this last container.

My baby and her sweetie.

My girl's getting married next month. I am happy and sad and totally freaked out about that.

Bicycle Blues Roadtrip

Hey, y'all.  I'm rushing through with my bits and pieces for the May Stuff to Scrap Roadtrip. The download links are below the preview...And make sure you check out the rest of the stops so you get all the goodies!

Credit to: Cajoline, Crossbone Cuts, Humbug Graphics Galore, Scrappin Cop, Scraps by Andrea, 

Scrap Designs by Jessica, Stuff to Scrap Scrapteam 2008

Download 4shared: Papers, Elements

Download Mediafire: Papers, Elements

Here's the rest of your Road Trip Stops:

DoubleTrouble Scraps
WinksArt Graphics
Hat of Bunny
The Scrappy Kat
Created by Jill Scraps
Scraps N Pieces
Scraps By Andrea
Growing Pains Scrapped
B2N2 Scraps
Robin's Nest
Keystone Scraps
LdyMcBeth's Spot
MDK Scraps
scraphannah
Designs by Snowlady
Queen Bee Scraps
Scrappin Serenity
Busy Crafting Mommy Designs
JMC Designs
Let Me Scrapbook!
Mommy Me Time Scrapper
Leaving a Legacy Designs
Saphira's Scraps
Cami Jo Designs
Ponytails Designs
BeeHaven Designz
Mommy Made This
DigitalDesignsbyNoelle
Sheri's Scrappin' Spot
Karen Diamond Designs
Manda Lane Scraps 

Note-able Scraps 

STS Roadtrip 2nd Freebie for YOU!

I got so carried away I did an Alpha after I had finished the kit and uploaded it, lol.  Here's the alpha for ya.  Go down to the next post to get the mini, too!!

Alpha-->Don't forget to get the mini below! :)

Stuff to Scrap April Roadtip

Spring Showers and Lots of Flowers

I'm excited to be part of my first ever road trip!! YEEHAW!!

This mini is Violetta. Violets are my favorite.  My mom is 87 and every year since I was tiny I have taken her the first violets of spring.  Somewhere along the line my kids picked it up and as soon as the weather warms they start looking for violets as they come home from the school bus.  I love those two or three scraggly little flowers they bring me!  I hope you enjoy the mini.  Leave me a note if you have any problems.

You should have gotten here from Scraphannah and your next stop is Flower Pot Designs.

Links to download are below the preview.

                          Papers 1 (swirly ones)

Papers 2 

Elements

Here's the rest of the ROADMAP in case you get lost along the way! ;)

Created by Jill Scraps

DoubleTrouble Scraps

scraphannah

---------------->LdyMcBeth's Spot<-----You are here

Flower Pot Designs

AK Designs

Cami Jo Designs

Hat of Bunny

Busy Crafting Mommy

Saphira's Scraps

Queen Bee Scraps

Let Me Scrapbook!

Scrappin Serenity

The Digi Scrapping Mama

The Scrappy Kat

Eva Marina Scraps

Mommy Made This

Designs by Angel

Note-able Scraps

Storms, cold toes and a freebie alert

Wow! We just had a line of storms go through that were something else! It was 80 degrees and, suddenly, the wind was whipping in the windows and it felt like it was freezing. I thought, "here we go", because Illinois is like that in the spring.  One minute you're frolicking in the sun and the next you're running for cover! It started pouring so hard the water was cascading over my gutters and pouring through my front windows.  (Which I did NOT appreciate on my new hard wood.) I was trying to tell my son on the phone to make sure my mom's sliding glass door was closed, but the hail was coming down on the metal awning over our patio and it was so loud I had to yell.  My vicious beast of a shih tzu was jumping up and down on my legs like a toddler begging to be picked up and protected from the thunder. About the time the girls and I got all the windows shut and the water cleaned up off the floor, it was over. The sun is shining again now, but I can see some darkness still to the North.  Crazy weather!!  I hate to say it, but since we have had no spring here, it went from 35 to 80+ and stayed there all this week, I'm betting we're going to have a roller coaster all summer long. Sigh.  At least I don't have any babies who are afraid of thunder anymore. I guess that's a bright side.

So, I just popped in to upload a few layouts I just finished with which I am pleased. (<---See that excellent grammar? ::pats self on back::) In case anyone wonders why my layouts are a weird shape, well...they aren't, lol! I do two page layouts, so they're always 12x24.  They split down the middle and make two side by side sheets.  Sometimes they're one layout split down the middle and sometimes they're two layouts that coordinate, but usually they're the same subject. Here are my latest:

Morgan's Graduation

Two Kits: Savoir Faire by Connie Prince from Gotta Pixel 

and Graduation Day by Scraps N Pieces from Stuff to Scrap.

Grandma's BBQ

Kit: July 2010 Summer Getaway BAK from Digiscrap Mania (now scrapable.com)

(Miss Mis Designs, JenC Designs, ModernJune, Z Pink Boudoir Designs)

4th of July Fireworks

Kit: American Girly Girl by Jenasis at Stuff to Scrap.  

Template: Boy That's Fun 1 and 2 by Connie Prince at Sweet Shoppe.

Paddleboats 1: Kickapoo

Kit: Digiscrap Obsession May 2011 Color Challenge 

(dhariana, Paula K at Doll's Digitals, KimB, Mojo's Digi Creations, Tiggconn's Scrap Designs, 

Monica Aguirre at 2am Designs, Juno's Place, Sky's the Limit Designs, Willow Grace Designs 

& LdyMcBeth {ME! yay!}) 

Template: Digidesigns by Nicole

Paddleboats 2: Kenzie and Macy

Same as above

That about sums it up.  I've been trying to get through all my left over bits and pieces from last year before I start the summer, which is when I take the most pictures. I'll be way more interested in the new ones when they start rolling in, so I want to get these done.  I'm not sure why these have taken so long, except that they were downloaded from my camera into the wrong folder on the computer so they were temporarily forgotten.  Don't you hate that?  My husband always says something is lost, and I say, "It's not LOST, we just don't know where it is...but it's here SOMEWHERE!" And he hates that, lol. He always says, "That IS the definition of LOST, Deb." Ha ha...but it just isn't....lost means gone. Misplaced...now that happens ALL the time around here!  I think I make him crazy sometimes. At least I'm trying. ;)

Now, for the FREEBIE ALERT.  I have a new mini coming out on April 1st for the Stuff to Scrap blog train.  April's theme is "Spring Showers and Lots of Flowers." 

Here's the pallet we all used for our contribution this month.

And HERE is my preview for my part, Violetta. (sssshhh, it's a secret till April Fool's Day!)

So, make sure you come back around on April 1st! There are about 30+ designers who contribute every month and they do fantastic work! I won't know exactly how many there are until March 25, but they'll all be listed right here for you to download.  Yay.

Recent Layouts & Tip O' the Day

I have a scrappin' bug again...must be warmer weather or something.  It's been unseasonably warm here in the midwest.  We even had one 65 degree day last week...of course, it SNOWED yesterday, but that's beside the point ;).  The important thing is spring is coming!!

Here are a couple layouts I got done this week using some photos from last year.  I discovered that, since I don't post my layouts right away, I can't remember what kits and pieces I used for the layouts! Sometimes I even use a kit a couple times, decide that's enough and delete it. Then I have no idea what it was or where I got it. Even if I do, it's a real pain to go back and sift through all my scrappin' stuff and find the ones I used for each layout.  Whew, that's work, but I want to give credit to the designers whose work I use.  So, to save myself that issue, I've been leaving myself notes in the file details of the .jpg.  You just right click on the pic of your layout, choose properties, then choose the "details" tab.  There's a "comment" field and you can type the name of the kit, templates and whatever other info you want to remember for later in there.  Then it's right there when I need it!!  Awesome.

So,  that was the TIP O' THE DAY, for ya, LOL!  Here's my pics.

This is McKenzie in Conservation Olympics at Kennekuk Cove County Park.  The county sixth graders compete in nature knowledge and have a blast doing it all day.  Then they tally the points and decide the winner.  This year, McKenzie's class won and her school won overall, too.  Yea!

Kit: Home Tweet Home by B2N2 Scraps from Stuff to Scrap.com

Templates: Connie Prince Endless Love 2 and Endless Love 4

The sixth graders also do a "wax museum". They pick a famous person and make a display.  Then they dress up like that person (or soft of, lol) and pretend to be them for the younger kids.  They come in and ask questions and get autographs.  It's pretty cute.  Mac was Miley Cyrus (go figure).  She was just happy she got to wear high heels!

Kit: Butterflies are Free - Stuff to Scrap - Scraps of Ellay  

(Pink Denim Scrap is from LdyMcBeth-Happiness Is mini)

Thanks for checking out my pics.  Catch ya in the aftermath.  :)

FREEBIE NEWS and new layouts

Well, I have some good news and some bad news....the good news is the holiday season is over and I have more time for scrapbooking so there will be more offered here again!!  The bad news is I was out of commission for more than 180 days and my 4shared account closed out (I didn't even know that could happen!) so most of the links before this one are toast.  If you REALLY want something, send me an email and I'll re-upload it.  I just don't have the gumption to upload everything all over again.

So, here are the latest layouts I've done. I'm pretty happy with them as a group.  I have lots of pics saved up, though, so I really need to do a lot more work!!

This is Miss McKenzie in Volleyball.  They were the "Purple Zebras" vs. the "Yellow Unicorns". 

What a bunch of girls!

Kit: iColor by Jenasis from Stuff to Scrap

Austin and Racheal at prom.

Kit: No Pirates Allowed: April 2011 Stuff to Scrap blog train

Various designers including: Mommyish, Sugar Kissed Designs, Scraps by Mara, 

Anelia Kalaydzhiyan, Hot Flash Designs, Sweet Tomato Designs, HunnyBee Design

Jen Reed Designs, and probably others.

Spring on our new property. The big picture on the left side will be the view from my back deck.  

Swiffer had quite a day.  He got so excited running through the woods that he jumped right into a creek.

I think it seemed like a good idea until he was up to his belly...then he wanted out, LOL.

Here's a video I took looking up from the bottom of the ravine at the trees waving in the wind, too.

Kit: June 2011 Stuff to Scrap Color Challenge Kits

Various Designers including: STS Scrapteam, Wendy Tunison, Designs by Snowlady, and the

alpha was by me for the same color challenge in the kit "Guy Stuff"

Swiffer standing in the tree box.  He was so patiently waiting to be picked up.  What a cutie! 

And the opposite page is the first snow of the season in my backyard.  Very pretty and quiet.

Kit: Ho Ho Ho by Miss Mis Designs at Scrapable

Right side template from Trixie Scraps by Trixie's Star Cami

Christmas morning: Swiffer could smell the pig ear in his stocking a mile away! When he finally got it, he ignored all the toys and dug for the treats!  Austin is on the left opening his gifts.  He got a laptop this year.  He was psyched!

Kit: Merriment Collab from Scrapable

Template: from the same kit

Christmas morning: Jordan and Brye

Sis wanted a rug with a Moose on it, go figure! LOL. and Brye loved his headphones.

Kit: Merriment Collab from Scrapable

Template: from the same kit

Christmas morning: Mac and Grandma

McKenzie opens her presents quickly, so she helped Dad clean up the paper.

My mom came over and watched the kids open, also.

Kit: Merriment Collab from Scrapable

Template: from the same kit

December 26: Morgan came over and picked up her presents

Kit: Cozy Christmas - Scrapable - Lacey Bittner Designs

Template: Left, TaraCotta; Right, Traci Reed

Whew! That's all for now....I'll be doing a few more soon, though.  And I hope to do a kit, as well. I'm missing designing!

Running a skype meeting from a bar??

We had a great time on vacation.  I'm home now and settled back in.  We're getting ready for school to start in a few days.  I can't wait! :)  Lots of fun things happened while we were gone, though.

We went to the water park and a great time was had by all--even me.  I wish we'd been able to stay longer.  We took one of Miss McKenzie's friends with us and they were having so much fun I would have liked to stay.  Turns out that I like water rides a lot better than roller coasters.  There's not nearly so much falling.

Swiffer enjoyed his day at preschool.  When we went to pick him up he was enjoying the company of a couple other little dogs, which was weird since he doesn't work and play well with others.  The girl who watched him said he was happy to meet the other dogs as soon as he entered the play yard.  Hmmm...maybe he's been holding out on me.

We also camped on Lake Superior, which we've always wanted to do.  It was beautiful, even though it was hot.  The sunset over the water was so pretty.  Every time I thought it had reached it's most beautiful moment and put the camera away, it got better!  The water was absolutely silver with the glowing clouds over it.  Then, when it finally got dark, the stars were amazing!  I laid on the picnic table and just stared up for a long time.

When we got back to Boulder Junction, Travis needed to go to a meeting using Skype.  So we went in to town and checked out the internet cafe.  It's called the Dancing Bear Cafe and they make an absolutely phenomenal Iced Vanilla Frappe. They put a mountain of whipped cream on it, too.  Anyway, we did a test run of the Skype ahead of time to make sure it would work out since the meeting would be after hours. When we came back in the evening, we sat at a couple iron tables out front of the cafe and signed in to Skype.  It turned out that the only place he could get good reception was at the farthest table which put everyone looking over his shoulder at JJ's Tap!  And the clientele there were having a rousing good time out front.  So everyone in the meeting was teasing Travis about running the meeting from a bar, lol.

As an aside, this sign was in front of an antique store across from the Dancing Bear.  It got a good laugh from all of us, so I took a picture.  I think I need one of these for my yard, lol!

Yay, Vacay!

So, here I am on Vacation.  Every year when we travel the kids salivate over this water park we pass.  It's always looked like a nightmare to the grownups, so we've just scooted on by.  This year, we decided to rent a room and let 'em check it out.  So we found a place that would let us stay with our Shihtzu and packed up.  I don't usually stay in a room with my dog, so it never occurred to me that they wouldn't let us LEAVE the dog in the room alone for a few hours.  I brought his kennel and everything thinking he'd be safe there for three or four hours.  I certainly can't leave him in the car, right? (I hate it when people do that on a hot day. Sadists.)  Anyway, the bottom line is we can't leave the dog...which was the whole point of the room in the first place.  I could have just gone to the park and then got in the truck and driven the rest of the way to the cabin.

So, I get on the phone and find a really nice "doggy resort" where I can stow my baby for the day.  Cool.  When I call them they say he has to have current shots to stay with them and play with friends.  No sweat, it's early so I'll just call our vet and have them fax a vaccination record.  Why is nothing easy?  Turns out Swiffer's shots expired just a few days ago.  Had I known THAT I would have had him to our vet before I took him out of state and into a forest with all sorts of rabies-likely critters like raccoons, squirrels, bats, dogs.....Sigh.

Well, the Hub is the brains of this outfit.  He walks in and I tell him the sitch and he says, "so call a vet and get the shots." Huh. WHAT A GOOD IDEA! So I called a vet's office near the doggy resort (like almost next door) and they had him in and good to go in less than an hour.  They were good at handling him (he thinks he's pretty special and doesn't like to be handled by strangers) and they insisted on talking to my vet at home first, too, which made me think better of taking him to a strange doc.  AND it was half the price.  Wow.

So he's going to his first day in preschool tomorrow, boo hoo.  Maybe I'll take pictures for this milestone event, lol. 

And I'm going to a water park.  Should be interesting seeing as how I hate sweating, swimming, feeling like I'm falling, being touched by strange people and generally being out of control of, well...anything.  Those of you who know me will know how funny this is.

Wish me luck.  :)

Stuff to Scrap June 2011 Color Challenge

Well, I thought I wasn't going to do anymore color challenges this month, but I loved these colors too much! I just had to do a little something.  So here's "Guy Stuff".   It does have a couple flowers in it...because every kit should have flowers, right?? lol.  Hope ya like it!

It has three files for papers because that's just how many it took.  I don't like having so many to download, but it just worked out that way.

Credits: Scrappin Cop, Andrea Gold, Scraps by Andrea

Download: Alpha, Elements, Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3

DSO Color Challenge: June 2011

Yep, it's time for another color challenge!  Here's my offering for this month at DSO.  These colors were awesome to work with.  I'm exhausted and heading to bed as soon as this is posted.  I hope y'all enjoy it.

I did an alpha and a couple glitters as well as a few papers and ellies.  As was previously suggested, I zipped them in categories so there are four files to download.

Credits: Scrappin Cop, Gunhild Storeide, Atomic Cupcake

Download : Alpha, Elements, Papers 1, Papers 2

Miss McKenzie's Pictures

First of all, let me say a great big THANK YOU to everyone who left me nice comments about my rant.  I really appreciated your words and it made me feel better :)

I haven't posted a layout for awhile, so here's one I did recently.  Miss McKenzie takes pics of herself.  It kinda cracks me up.  She spends time dressing and doing her hair and makeup then she stands in front of this big mirror and takes pictures.  Tee hee.  If you look at them very closely you can see that she doesn't bother to wash the mirror or pick up her room first, though, lol.  One time recently I laughed at her because she took pics with a couple friends, but she didn't pick up the bright pink bra that was laying on the floor so there it was in all its glory, screaming hot pink and jumping right out of the picture.  She didn't even notice until I mentioned it, lol.  Then she made me photoshop the bra out of the picture!! Ha ha!!

Hope you like the layout.  It really feels like McKenzie: Sweet, colorful and chaotic!

Click the pic to enlarge.

Kit: Most of this is from iColor (the pink, purple and black sections) by Jenasis Designs.  I used some bits and pieces from: Tiggconn's Scrap Designs, Sky's the Limit Designs, Suzy Q Scraps.  The Vector circles stamp at the top is mine.  Alpha is from Puckered Kiss by Jenasis Designs (which is an awesome, bright and original kit, btw.)

Rude comments, Drama and How to get what you want

Anonymous said...
thank you , but since this kit is a huge 100 Mb and some people are only interested in the elements , why not mention where are the papers & elements , instead of this unbelievable CIA secret code " LDYMCBETH 201105BSCC 3.zip " ?

To bypass the DRAMA skip to the blinky arrow below!!

Well, I'm doubting that you'll ever be back to read this, but my keyboard is fixed so here's my 2 cents worth, I'm going to try to be civil, but sometimes I get on a roll, so brace yourself because who knows?  I know this comment isn't even close to the worst I've ever had, so what's the rub? I've just had it with people who do this, and you are the final straw. Lucky you.

First of all...once again, big surprise here.  Negative comments from ANONYMOUS.  This seriously reduces your credibility and my patience level.  I don't mind nice things from anonymous users, because they're, ummm, NICE, but if you're going to be negative you need to not hide behind anonymity.  If you don't want credit for your suckish comments, then DON'T LEAVE THEM.

Secondly, I understand what you're saying, and I even gave some thought to this before I posted the files, see a couple posts back for said thoughts.  In the future, you might want to consider that it isn't WHAT you say it's HOW you say it that is most abrasive...are you always this rude? or only when no one knows who you are? I hope it's always, because then I might have a tiny bit of respect for your opinion.

Thirdly, my keyboard was broken (if you had read the post and not just gone directly for the goodies.) I was doing the best I could.  The "CIA" code is fairly standard, actually, and most people do it similarly.  My name first, then the identifier for the kit.  In this case, for example, it is 2011 May Brownie Scraps Color Challenge, then the number is part 1, 2 or 3.  It's even in the title of the post. See? It's not rocket science to the rest of us.

Fourthly, I try to keep each zip as close to 30MB as I can to be respectful of the people who only have dial up available to them (also mentioned recently, IF you weren't going straight for the FREE stuff).  So I mix up the papers and ellies to fit and not have to have 8 files for download.  I really try to keep my minis to only two downloads, but these were particularly large for some reason.

Fifthly, I am not a designer, but just a humble scrapbooker who likes to play with Photoshop a little once in a while.  Since you are getting them for FREE and I make no profit on any of my offerings so far, but I do put money INTO them sometimes, and, further, since they are free to you...did I mention FREAKING FREE??...I would think that if it's a problem for you, you could just pass them on by if you don't like them, or you don't like me, or you have a problem with my labeling system, or what ever else there is with which you might have an issue.

And this is my final thought since I've ticked myself off and really didn't intend to waste this much time on you and, probably, no one else wants to read my rants and raves anyway.  It is not last because I don't have more to say to you, I surely do.

Anyway, lastly, you actually have a valid point. ::read that as if I said it with gritted teeth, because it hurts me to say it::  BUT, if it were me, instead of using a passive-aggressive attitude and saying something mean with a smile on my face and trying to pretend I wasn't trying to be offensive when I really was, I might have just asked in case they really didn't know it makes a difference.  But, I wouldn't have insulted them while asking them for something...that just doesn't seem very effective to me.  As I tell my children, if you want something you have to tell people in a way that lets them hear you...unless you really aren't interested in solving a problem, but only in being insulting and nasty without having to reap the harvest of it, which is what I suspect of you.

 The relevant stuff is BELOW...

SO, Anonymous,  this is what I'm going to do:  I'm going to pretend like you said this:

          "Thank you for sharing with us.   This kit is large and I have a slow connection for download.
          Can you tell me which sections have elements in them so I can download only those?
          Thanks for helping me."

And my response is:

          "Thank you so much for your interest! It's a good point that some people might only want papers
          or elements, and in the future, I will pack them so they are separate.  It does make more sense that
          way.  For this kit, there are elements in all the zips, but I will repack them so you can download just
          the elements if you wish. I hope you enjoy them!"

Oh, wait, I can't do that...you're Anonymous and I can't contact you.  What a shame.

And one more color challenge!!

Okie dokie, here is my submission for Brownie Scraps color challenge. Since I am typing with the on screen keyboard cuz 6 keys stopped working on my laptop yesterday, this is all ya get! Please check the TOU for credits!

Download:

Pt 1

Pt 2

Pt 3

Another Color Challenge...YAY! I love these things!!

Here's my offering for the May 2011 color challenge at Stuff to Scrap.  When you're done downloading here, go over and check out the other great stuff that's being offered.  Make sure you check back because designers will be adding their parts all month.  You gotta love such great quality stuff---FREE!

I apologize that this month I have four files to download, but I'm trying to keep the size low in consideration of our rural scrappers who only have dial-up available to them (or anybody else who has trouble with large files).  I tried to make it work in three, but it just wouldn't cooperate.  I am also shunning 4shared, because of their incredibly long wait times.  If anyone has a file sharing site they REALLY like, let me know and I'll give it a shot.

Here's the preview:

Thanks to: Andrea Gold, ScrappinCop, Gunhild Storeide, Flergs, Graphics Fairy, Statchoo Scraps.

Download HERE:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

May 2011 DSO Color Challenge

This is going to be short and sweet this morning.  I'm in a hurry to get to the hub's office this morning, but I'm breezing in to upload this and get it out.  I've worked hard on this one and I hope you really enjoy it.  I started it on a day when the hub was out of town at a business conference, hence the name "miss you."

Credits:

Andrea Gold, Timounette, Scrappin Cop, Gunhild Storeide, Flergs

Download "Miss You" here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Family Tree Freebie

I am working on my book about me and one of the first pages I've done is a family tree. Here's what it looks like:

I used pieces from the Autumn Harvest November 2010 Collab from Stuff to Scrap.  

The specific designers are: Adranna's Cafe, Scraps N Pieces, Sexy and hot Mamma Scrapper aka Becky, Designs by SnowLady, Digital Scrap Fun, Jenasis Designs.  I think that's everyone I used.

I love this layout.  It's simple and straight to the point.  It's just the beginning of my book, the beginning of me. I made the papers and trees into a jpg for you to use, if you'd like.  I included some tags that I made and a rivet, staple and paper clip to fasten the tags on the layout.  I made new tags for you since I couldn't include the original tags, because I couldn't include separate png's according to the designer's TOU, but I think if I had made them first I would have used them instead!

Anyway, I hope you like it.  If you'd like to start your own "Book of Me" I recommend starting with the book by Angie Pedersen called The Book of Me: A Guide to Scrapbooking About Yourself. It's an awesome resource and it's not very expensive, either.

Presenting the Beautiful Miss McKenzie....

Here are three more layouts I did of Miss Mac. From her sweet little freckled nose to her precious heart, she's turning out to be a lovely young lady.  She's the encourager of the family.  She's always cheering someone on!  She comes home and tells me how upset she was at school that someone was picked on, or got hurt.  She feels everything deep in her heart, but she doesn't say a lot.  She ponders everything and stores things away in her heart. She's smart as a whip and so funny!  Just her giggling makes me laugh.  She's away for spring break right now, and I miss her.  The house is darker without her.

This one is of some silly pics I snapped at her school Valentine's party.  I'm the only mom with a camera, so she gets a little uncomfortable with me always taking her picture...but those other kids just aren't as interesting as she is! Click the pic for a larger view.

 Kit: February 2010 Color Challenge at DSO: Specifically Tiggconn, Mojo, Moni, Kim B, Deatles, dhariana, Blue, Brenda Grafton...Thanks to all these designers!  And thanks to the Daily Digi for help with titles

This one is also Valentine's Day.  I got some other people in these, LoL.  The journaling tells you that this is the last class party.  Next year, in Junior High, they don't do class parties anymore.  Also, this was Taylor's last day at school. She moved that weekend and they were very sad.  It's been a difficult time for Mac.

 Kit: Same as above.  You guys ROCK!

This is of McKenzie and my sister's Yorkie, Shelby.  Shelby is the cutest little rat in the whole world! She's a real love bug and wallows and rubs all over you, sometimes so much it's hard to hold on to her.  She is in to everything and knows everything.  She barks at things like she's really telling them off then acts like, "Well, I guess I showed them." She really cracked me up!  McKenzie thinks all things small are cute, She's such a GIRL! :)

Kit: I Will Survive Facebook freebie from Persnickety Prints...Gotta love these guys! AND if you "like" them on facebook they give out regular freebies, coupons AND they have contests for prints.  Awesome. 

Check 'em out on Facebook.

Three Dogs and Corned Beef

I still have my sister's dogs, but she'll be picking them up this evening.  I'm going to miss them, believe it or not.  Tito is so sweet and Shelby is a lot of fun, she makes me laugh all the time.  She's such a spaz.  My Swiffer finally started getting used to them yesterday and will hang out with us until Shelby gets excited and tries to play with him, then he runs and hides.  He's such a fraidy cat, poor guy.  They did both sleep with me last night, but Swiff slept on the other side of the bed.

Travis' family does a St. Patrick's Day dinner and they all get together and eat corned beef.  I have missed it the last couple of years, because the Hearts at Home National Conference has been on that weekend.  This year, however, the conference was before St. Pat's so we decided to have it at our house this year.  I've never done corned beef before, but it came out awesome! I used two recipes from foodtv.com: one for corned beef in the crockpot (I just put in the beef, carrots, rutabaga and leeks) and one for some garlic baby red potatoes. The beef came out tender and juicy and I even enjoyed the carrots and rutabaga, which is not one of my favorite veggies.  The garlic potatoes were SUPER easy to make and delicious.  I served it with the horseradish sauce from the recipe (not too horseradish-y) and a loaf of bakery bread.  It got rave reviews...maybe I can cook after all. ;)

This is the layout I did today.  I loved this kit and have been saving it for a couple months because I knew McKenzie's birthday was coming and she'd have a sleepover.

Kit: Sleepover blog freebie by Crazy4Monograms

Alpha: A Vintage Christmas by Trixie Scraps

A Beautiful Spring Day

Today is a fabulous day! It's going to be 70 degrees here in Illinois, even better than yesterday.  These are the first nice days we've had.  I hope it doesn't rain.  I love being able to have the doors open.  My dog thinks he's somebody when he can just go in and out as he pleases!

I am also watching two dogs for one of my sisters, a 7 year old, very mellow mini schnauzer and a 5 month old, very hyper yorkie.  The Schnauzer is very sweet and spends most of his time watching the door for his Mom and Dad to come back.  The Yorkie is a spring bouncing around.  She nibbles on my toes if I'm standing and rolls in my hair if I lay down!  Yesterday, they didn't eat much, but this morning they ate like piggies and Tito is so good, he just moves aside if Shelby (the yorkie) wants his food.  Since she eats like lightning and he takes his time, I have to pick her up or she'd eat his, too!

So, we got up to go outside this morning and I laid down on the floor to play with Shelby for a little bit.  She's so funny, she just hops and jumps at my hand while I push her around...and she growls and yips like she's very ferocious.  While we were playing Tito came up and laid down right next to me.  He wanted me to pet him and rubbed his face all over my tshirt.  I figured if he was getting his scent on me, I must be his now.  So I scratched him for awhile, he even showed me his belly for a good rub.  I love dogs.

Here are three layouts I just finished.  I really like two of them, the one of Christmas with Grandma isn't my favorite.  Isn't it funny how that happens?  I worked it all out and placed everything on the page, but it just didn't all come together.  I may redo it someday....in my spare time. :)

 Kit: A Vintage Holiday, blog freebie, from Trixie Scraps Designs

WordArt: Elegant WordArt by Bethany

 Kit: Hellraiser, a collab from Sunshine Studios

(hmmm...Hellraiser...how appropriate)

Kit: The Altered Path, blog freebie from The Latest Scoop, Too

March Color Challenge

I decided not to wait so late this month! So here's my mini for the color challenge.  Sweet and simple.

Download

The shadows are just for the preview.

Thanks to Andrea Gold, Scrappin Cop for the overlays I used.

NEW FREEBIE!

YAY, a new freebie!!  This one is to coordinate with the pallette for DSO's February Color Challenge...I'm uploading on the very last day.  I felt a little guilty downloading everyone's goodies without contributing so I thought I'd whip something up this morning.  I realized there were SO many gorgeous papers and elements that my poor efforts seemed unnecessary.  Then I noticed there were only a couple alphas offered and, BINGO, here is another one!! It includes Uppers, Lowers, Numbers and Punctuation.  If anyone needs a special character or some international ones, leave a comment below and I'll send you one.

Oh, and I threw in three glitters since there weren't any this month.  They are in with the numbers.

Here are the previews:

I used Dhariana's paper for the alpha and I used 

some of Deatles' great creations for the previews.

Oh, and that's Dhariana's cupcake trim you see.

And here are the download links:

Uppers

Lowers

Punctuation

Numbers and Glitters

Lotsa New Stuff

So, I haven't posted for a while and there's a lot to catch up on!  So grab a cup o' coffee and here we go...

Child #1 is coming to the end of her second semester in college.  She's doing SO well, I can hardly believe it.  She was able to get an accounting internship at a local business and really enjoys it...she's especially taken with the laminating machine.  It's a good day when she comes home and says she had to laminate that day :)

Child #2 is also doing well in school.  His grades are better in 11th grade than they have been since 5th grade. I think spending the summer in the kitchen at the boy scout camp had a good effect on his motivation.  He's grown a little in maturity level, too, so I'm sure that helps.  His room is still a wreck and I don't guess that will ever change, LoL.

Child #3 is turning out to be just lovely.  She is beautiful and sweet.  She is doing well in school, but she always has for the most part.  She just refuses to do poorly.  This was her second year cheering for the junior high school and I think she loves it and it shows.  Her whole squad is really good; they're crisp and they get made fun of by other schools because they sound like "drill sergeants." A lot of the others sound squeaky and sing-songy in comparison.  She's nervous and excited about moving to high school next year...me, too. :)

Child #4 continues to be a delight.  She is in 6th grade and we are SO pleased with her progress.  She is organizing all her own school work.  I kept telling her the last couple years that if she doesn't like being told what to do, then take care of her own business and I'll keep my nose out of it!  I think she finally got it!  I just check on her grades online every little bit and, unless something is slipping, I leave her alone.  I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it!  She's growing up and wanting to be all girly, so our life is now full of clouds of perfume wafting from her bedroom, Justin Beiber on every wall and a whole new set of worries...boys, LoL.

This weekend we went shopping in Indianapolis.  Boy stayed home...he doesn't dig shopping so much.  When I see something I think he needs or he'd like and it's a good deal, I snap a pic and send it to him and he tells me what he thinks....I guess, I'm his personal shopper!  The girls, on the other hand, had a blast at the mall for four hours and wanted more time.  We were eating dinner with the Hub's sister, though, so we had to leave, thank goodness!  I was worn out by that time and it was HOT in there because it was way crowded.

We had thought Child #3 might not feel great and we'd have to cut the trip short, but she was perfectly fine.  She had the best time of the three girls, I think!  She picked an entire outfit, skirt, top, leggings and shoes, by the time she was done.  I don't think she stopped talking for more than five minutes the whole trip!  She was all giggles and squeals all day!  She didn't mention not feeling well one time and I was really glad to see that she wasn't really sick.

Anyway, I have a few layouts to post.  I've just been lazy about getting them up so I'm going to dump them all at once.  Hope you like them.

Kit: November 2010 blog freebie from Chaos Lounge...not sure where I got the red paper, but it looks like one from Hellraiser by Sunshine Studios.  Yes, I think that's it...It has glittery cross bones on it, but they wouldn't show in this layout much anyway ;)

Kit: July 2007 Summer Getaway Build a Kit from Digiscrapbook Mania (now Scrapable)

Kit: The Altered Path blog freebie from The Latests Scoop, Too

Kit: The Altered Path blog freebie from The Latest Scoop, Too

Kit: Just Me blog freebie from Amy Stoffel

Kit: September 2010 Build a Kit from Digiscrapbook Mania (now Scrapable)

Kit for both Morgan and her Birthday: Makin' it Funky from Designs by Christi at Stuff to Scrap

Kit: October 2010 Build a Kit from Digiscrapbook Mania (now Scrapable)

I don't know where I got the cluster frame, it was a blog freebie, I think. The alpha was a Jelly of the Month Freebie by Libby Pritchett at Sweet Shoppe Designs.