One last quick post before our trip

I just have to tell you...we're going to look at puppies today!!!! I'm so excited I just can't tell you. We decided on the Vizsla breed after some research, and found a breeder who has a litter that was born 3 weeks ago. We're going to see them today, and probably bring one home in mid-August. I may have time to post photos before we leave for NC tomorrow, but I'm not sure. And also, please take a look at my new PRIVATE Yahoo group for kids: the Kids' Summer Scrapbook Challenge! Every two weeks I'll post a layout challenge for kids ages 5 to 12 (or so). We'll post our layouts in the Young Artists gallery at DST and leave each other praise. And at the end of the summer, I'll draw two names from the participants who have completed all the challenges and send them each a prize package! Each package will contain one Webkinz toy, one Little Kinz, and one pack of Webkinz trading cards. The group is moderated and private, and no one can join without my approval. The kids' safety is tantamount...my child will be participating too. So check it out here! And if you join, please include a note that you saw this on my blog so I'll know you're okay, lol. **UPDATE!!** I have held those little puppies in my very own arms, and oh my gosh. They are SO cute!!!! I could have kissed them all day long. That sweet puppy smell, their velvety little ears, their squeaky little cries! I don't have time to post photos right now because I'm finally packing, but I will definitely put some up soon. My kids are in LURVE with them and I think I am too, lol! Even crusty ol' DH was a little mushy! YAY!

Hey Cindy, where have you been?

Sorry, I told you that last post was on my final day of peace and quiet. It's been busybusybusy ever since. If I don't keep the kids occupied they start bickering, and dd is big enough to hurt ds if they play too rough, so I have to keep an eye on them. Pam tells me she needs to give me "bad mommy" lessons so I can just let 'em fight while I play on the computer, lol! Our yearly summer visit to North Carolina is coming up, so I'll be away for a week. The kids can't wait to see their cousins, and I'm looking forward to eating some barbecue. In the meantime, here are the products that you would have found had you bought my June grab bag. They're now available individually in both my stores, so I hope you'll pick up the ones you like! See you in July!

This is it! The end!

Of school, that is, for the year. And today is my last real day of peace and quiet because of the all the year-end activities going on this week. Lucky me, DH decided to stay home today so I get to help him build the shed instead of taking a nice long shower and sitting down in front of all my TIVO'ed shows from the weekend. Sigh. Tomorrow is Ben's kindergarten picnic at the beach. I'm SO excited about this one...lots of photo ops and cuteness. On Wednesday and Thursday the kids get out of school at 11:30, and on Friday they're only going to school until 10. What's the point of that, I ask you? I'm looking forward to no schedules for a while, until they go to day camp in July and I can have some "me" time again. I'm also SUPER proud and excited to relate that the pool is no longer a swamp! I spent the whole morning vacuuming and scrubbing, and the last of the leaves are finally gone. I'm going to let it settle a bit then take some water to the pool store for testing. I really, really want to make sure we keep this pool healthy, now that I know a little better what I'm doing out there. In digi news, I need to remind you that my grab bag is going going GONE from the store on Wednesday night. After that, all four products will be in the store for full price, so take advantage while you can. If you like hints, I'll tell you that there is a paper pack, a frame cluster pack, an alpha, and a multiphoto template in there. Worth WAY more than the price, trust me. Everybody wave hi to my sister-in-law, who is planning to start scrapping her beautiful daughter Isabel. She's starting out with paper but I know I can convert her to the digi side with time and patience. And free stuff, naturally, lol! Have a beautiful week, and enjoy one another! ETA: I've been waiting and waiting for a patio set to come in at Home Depot, and today I finally gave up. I want to have a nice place to sit and eat outside, so I ordered this one instead. Isn't it pretty? It's my reward for working so hard on the swamp/pool. Want to come over for dinner next week?

It's ready!

The awesomely awesome monthly ezine from Natural Designs is now ready! Check it out HERE!

It's up and ready for you!!

My grab bag is overflowing and ready for you! (See post below for more info.) You can find at NDISB or Elemental Scraps. You won't be sorry! Also available at Elemental Scraps are my new paint stroke sets. Please note that the colors are for preview purpose only; the strokes are saved in black as individual png files. Recoloring instructions are included. Click the images to see them in the store:

A first time for everything...

And guess what? For the first time I'll be putting out a GRAB BAG!! Yep, my little mid-month Pick-Me-Up grab bag will be in the stores tomorrow, packed with all-new products you won't want to miss. And it's only for a short time: on June 21st the products will be released into the stores at full price. But until then you can get them all for only $2! Pick up this little pick-me-up and give your scrapping a jolt of caffeine!

Boring Thursday? Try a freebie pick-me-up!

Hey chickies, I'm back with a little freebie for ya today. This is a limited-time-only thing because I'm making a whole pack of these to put up in the stores very very soon. So don't miss out! Click the image to download the folder, which contains both a psd and a tif version of the layered file...just drop and crop your photos to fit! It's largish; around 7" tall and a little more than 7" across. I would LOVE for you to use this freebie. I would LOVE for you to tell your friends where to find it. But I would not love it if you upload the file to a sharing service and hand it out to others. Anyone is welcome to download this freebie from my blog, though, so please give out the blog link and not the file! :D And if you subscribe to my blog using Blogline, Google Reader, or another blog subscription service, you can get alerts any time I put up a new post. You'll never miss out on another unadvertised coupon, sale, or freebie! Yay!! Enjoy the frame and please leave me a note if you download. I love hearing from you! :D (Click image to begin download. Background paper and photos not included.)

Field Work Quick Page

This week is going to be nuts with school activities, plus I'm going to do a platelet donation for the first time and I hear that's time-consuming too. But I did manage to get my newest kit, Field Work, up into the NDISB store and put together what I think is a rather pretty little quick page with it. It's available only at Natural Designs, and it's saved in png format with a transparent area for the photo to slide behind. The photo opening is 5x7, and the layout is 12x12. It's only $1, and included in the download is a coupon for the full sized kit...and yes, you can use the coupon while the kit is introductory priced. That's quite a steal, and for one week only! Click the image to find out more.

Check out the NEW Elemental Scraps!

Elemental Scraps just redid the decor, and WOW is it fresh and springy over there now! Aaahhh. To celebrate, there's a 50% off sale on just about everything, and that includes my store too! If you were there earlier today and having problems with Paypal, I think they're all sorted out now. So please try again. Don't miss the awesome free-with-purchase MEGA grab bag, as well as the NEW subscriber option that will get you access to lots of free stuff and mega discounts. It's SO cool! Go now! Run!