Happy New Year!

There are a few things that I will be doing differently in 2009. These are not resolutions, just small goals that I need to strive for throughout the new year ;) The first is to make more time for ME! I need to scrap more. Not just because I want to, but I need to.

Little by little I will become more organized too. I will start with a major move in my scrap room. It will be very interesting to say the least - lol.

And like most people I want to lose weight. This is an ongoing thing for me and has been ever since Caytlynn was born... not counting during each pregnancy since, rather in between. Just 5 pounds. Hopefully more will come (off), but just 5 to begin with!

Anyone doing resolutions?

I'm not hoping for miracles, so I can do this! At least that is what I have to keep telling myself ;)

And I leave you with my latest... I created these trees for Helmar using ALL Helmar products. You can check out all the cool techniques I used at the Helmar Blog. I spent so much time with the little one that I had to name her and since she is so sassy and displays such attitude I call her "Tude"

As always, thanks for visiting me and Have a fabulous New Year!

Becky

What I have been up to...

Well, it's the usual fast pace for me here.... working, caring for the kiddos, cleaning (UGH!) and creating! Yes, I have squeezed in some time for me. I have to otherwise I will go crazy! So, I made my grandma's Christmas present:

You can see a write up of all the really cool techniques that I used with the Helmar adhesives at the Helmar Blog. Be sure to check back in 2 days for another project! Scrap On!

Police Car... Police Car...

That is what Cullen kept on saying while pointing to the driveway. Why? Because there was a cop out there. He came to the door and asked where he could find the Mallan's. hmmm... sounds familar, but I couldn't place it. So I told him that maybe it was the people 2 houses down (I couldn't think of their last name at that moment) and he left. And then I remembered that 2 houses down is the Pallen's! oops! The cop returned and I told him that the people across the street just moved in and I was about to tell him that I have no clue who lives to the right of us when he mentioned that he thinks that there was a 911 call placed from THIS address! $@!&!!! k, let's back up to when I arrived home from the gym about 20 minutes prior. Cullen was playing with my cell phone and when I took it from him it said "Emergency" was dialed but there was no signal. So I ended the call thinking nothing else of it. And completely forgetting that it ever happened. My cell phone has horrible reception at my house, so why would it work for Cullen right? Also, the few times I did cal 911 from my cell no one ever picked up, it just rang and rang and rang... good thing those few times it wasn't a life or death situation!!! So, why in the word, knowing this would I ever think that Cullen called for help! Well, he did and I apoligized a few times and explained what happened. My family is surprised that this is the first time it's happened, but really, I'm sure it doesn't happen to everyone! I won't be leaving my cell around any more! Here's a LO of my little guy... this was published a while back and haven't gotten to post it yet til now :)

BTW, The Mallan's were the origional owners of our house and there was even an owner in between us. The cop said that he ran all of our liscence plates and none of them came up with this address. Dena's car was out there so her's wouldn't have this address, but I"m not sure why the other 2 didn't. It's all a little bazzar and there are still questions unanswered. I think I will just leave it that way!

Here he is again looking so cute... *mumbles under breath "stinker!"*.

becbeck out

12 Days of Christmas - Helmar Style!

Just wanted to let you all know that Helmar is doing a 12 Days of Christmas! It will start in just 2 days! Check this out for more deets - http://www.helmarusa.typepad.com/

I was lucky enough to be published in MM's 601 book and I can now share these LOs with you all... I don't like not sharing!!!



That's it for now! Just a short and sweet post.
becbeck out

My New Love

Goodbye pop dots and HELLO Scrap Dots! I have a chance to play with some of my goodies from Helmar and I am in LOVE with the Scrap Dots!!! You can see that I used them here on my butterflies. This is for my Beauty Workshop (see post below for deets!):

Let me tell you why this IS da bomb.... I love dimension! And I use the foam pop dots often and I double up the pop dots even more often since they squish. I can't stand that they squish! Scrap Dots does not squish!!!! I let this set overnight and I can push down and they still have dimension! Isn't that what pop dots are suppose to do??? Anyways, you can always add another dab if you need more dimension and build it up. but for my LO here, it has served it's purpose and it has served it well :) PS I snapped the pic when the glue was still wet, but it dries clear where as the pop dots aren't really clear...

Corey is still remodeling the bathroom. ARGH! He has been working so hard and so far it looks great! I can't wait til it's done.

I'll leave you all with a sneek peek to my next workshop, My Boy. It's an add-on to the Beauty Build-A-Frame Workshop. This is a must have if you have a boy! Let me know if you have any questions about this one!

New & Exciting!!!

I have to calm down so I can type this out.... I AM ON THE HELHAR ADHESIVES NEW DT!!!!! whew, I feel better :) k, 10 girls were picked and I am one of them. I have been doing cartwheels for hours now ;) Check out the list of all the girls at the Helmar Blog.... gosh, I almost feel as though I shouldn't belong on this list! I guess I have some very big shoes to fill - hehe

Now look at what else I went and did! I am teaching a workshop at http://www.scrap-tastic.com/ and I put together this video for all of you. The primary focus of this workshop is learing how to use Prima's IOD Build-A-Frame Stamps. They rock! Plain and simple, they rock! Did I mention that they rock? I use them all the time. So in the process of learning how to use the stamps, you will also create a beautiful layout! AND I already have an add-on workshop, My Boy. You will use the same stamps and learn simple, but a little bit more advanced stamping techniques.



I have so much exciting news that I almost forgot about the Peppermint Swirl Kit - YUMMY!!! Robyn Weatherspoon designed this kit and it has been so much fun to play with!

And here is the December Daily Journal Kit designed by Barb Novak... This kit is PACKED with fabulous products!!!

And a follow up on my last entry... no more bottles and no more baby car seat - yea!!! Cullen is doing so well with sleeping in his big boy bed... MUCH better than his 2 older sisters!!

Thanksgiving was nice, but Corey was sick and slept through the entire thing. Caytlynn had streep and 2 ear infections. Thanks to my MIL she was on her meds a day before and could somewhat enjoy Thanksgiving :)

Corey is in the midst of remodeling our bathroom on the main floor and it has been such a pain in the rear. The kids want to see everything that is going on and wants to play with Corey's helpers! Jay is doing the plumbing work. He even did lunch with us. Later in the day Cassidy asked if we could invite him over for a playdate - how cute! Anyways, I can't wait until it's done, I know it'll look stellar!!! Seeing as he put in new insulation I hope the shower won't freeze up this winter - lol!!!

Not-such-a-baby and ramblings

Cali, my youngest, just turned one last Sunday. I was so happy as I was thinking... no more bottles, no more formula, no more car seat, more independance, more interaction, more walking, more babbling and more fun! Well, the no bottle thing didn't work out already - grrr and I haven't had a chance to change out the car seat yet. At the same time I am sad bacuase we will not be having any more babies, we are DUN! With 4 babies being more than enough, I am still sad to know that there will be no more. What is worng with me! It's a good thing that I didn't start having babies earlier in life, I probably would have had 10 by now. Here is my gorgeous baby girl, uh I mean not-such-a-baby girl ;)

My Mom was over yesterday and she snapped this up for me. We don't have any family shots with Cali in them. Actually, it's been a year and a half since the last family shot!

I have been sick for a few weeks now and last Friday my cold took a turn for the worse -grrrr.

Cullen was the first of all my kids to swallow a penny - yikes! Corey took apart the crib yesterday and he is now sleeping in a big boy bed. So far so good :) :) :) What prompted this is the other night, oh, it was the night that he swallowed the penny, he climbed out of his crib and we think he was climbing on his dresser and fell off, smashing his nose into a doll house. back up. Cullen took the doll house out of his closet that morning and I just didn't think to put it away. I certainly didn't think that he would be dresser diving/doll house smashing later that night!

I will teaching my first on-line workshop at my site - Scrap-Tastic starting at the end of the month. I am SO excited!!! Here is a teaser to wet your pallet along with a snippet of the product you will receive. This is a Build-A-Frame class and you will learn how to use Prima's Build-A-Frame Stamps. I love these stamps for so many reasons! You can find out why in the workshop ;) I will be creating 2 more add-on classes that will use the same stamps, My Boy and a Love theme. Click here read more or register for the workshop.


The November Kit, Urban Swank is up at the site! This is one that I designed, can you tell with all the pinks??? Here is one of the LOs I made with it.

And here is Urban Swank:

And here are the 2 Project Kits designed by Barb Novak:

Urban Swank Project Kit

Fall Refined Project Kit

To be young again!

The other day I was on my way to get my hair highlighted, oh my, it's only been 6 months!!! My hair was ugly! So, here I am driving to get my hair done and what comes on the radio???? Poison - Talk Dirty To Me! It took me back, way back. And what did I do???? I blasted the radio like I was a teen again, totally jammed out in my seat and shouted the words and YES! I do remember ALL the words, just like it was yesterday! It seems like lately I have been reminded of those younger years through conversations, going through bins (from our move 3 years ago!) and.... I even stumbled upon my old portfolio for modeling. I never made it big, just made a few bucks doing some fun photo shoots. I shared it with my kids and Caytlynn couldn't stop telling me that I was so pretty then - HAHA! So I will leave you with this - here's me about half my life ago ;) no wrinkles, no gray hairs and very little cellulite... ahhhh to be young again!

Here's a LO I did a while back of Cullen in my belly :)

I created this Build-a-book for CHA that I never posted.

And finally, a sneak peek of November's Monthly Kit at Scrap-Tastic

THanks for visiting me!
becbeck out.

On a sad note...

I had to put my cat, Sofi, to sleep two weeks ago. I had her for 12 years and she was 15 years old. Sofi had a really bad limp and had lost a lot of weight in the past couple weeks. THe vet said that there was probably multiple issues with her and confirmed that it was her time to go. We could have done testing and given her medicine to prolong her life a little and it just seemed that she would just suffer more for my and my kid's selfishness. After she was put to sleep I let the girls say bye to Sofi one last time. Caytlynn and Cassidy were uncontrolablly sobbing as I also was. When I walked out of the room everyone in the waiting area had tears in their eyes and one sweet lady even gave me a hug. We all miss her terribly!

Anyone up for a scrappy workshop?

Scrap-Tastic is hosting a workshop created by Nat, she is super sweet and urberly talented!!!



In this "What A Wonderful World" workshop you will create a wonderful acrylic album with lots of Prima goodies, paint and markers. You will learn how to overcome the difficulties of working with an acrylic album and take advantage of the acrylic to create a lot of playful depth. You will get access to a private blog site with complete instructions, tutorials, videos and photos. This way you can work at your own pace... no rushing to keep up or, for you over-achievers, no one to slow you down ;) This workshop will be available from November 10th, 2008 thru January 10th, 2009.

Place your order for the workshop before October 12th, 2008 and you will receive 10% off Prima products in this same order! Prima pre-order items are not included in this sale. You will also get 10% off any of the recommended additional supplies with this order(these will be added next week). These additional supplies will be on pre-order and your order will be held until they are in. Don't worry, there will be with plenty of time to spare before the class starts :)
Nathalie is sending personal goodie bags all the way from Germany for me to send out with the kits. Sign up now to make sure you get one, these are limited.
One lucky person will win a prize from Prima as well!

Workshop kit will include the following Prima products:
Build-A-Book Clear Mini Album - Star Tab
Star Quality Paper - Dude Collection
Roundabout Paper - Dude Collection
Fun Stuff Paper - Dude Collection
Cranberry Ribbon Lace
Whispered Words Flocked Alphabet

Misc MFGRs:
5 Bookrings
5 Eyelets

Additional supplies needed:
Paper Trimmer
Acrylic Paints - Recommended: Ranger Dabber Pitch Black, Pool, Clover, Sunshine Yellow, Red Pepper, Cloudy BlueScissors
Bubble Wrap
Black Marker - Recommended *American Crafts Slick Writer Medium Tip*
Eyelet Hole Punch & Setter or Crop-A-Dile
Double Sided Tape - Recommended: Tombow Adhesive
Optional - Circle Punch or Circle Cutter

Party Time!

Caytlynn had a few friends over for her B-Day party today and everyone had so much fun! I created a little picture holder last night and tried REALLY REALLY hard to keep it as easy and simple as possible since one is 4, 4 are 6 and one is 8. and this is what I came up with

I took a picture of each of the girls with Caytlynn as they arrived and then planned on quickly printing them off as the girls were playing. Well, my computer was so slow that it took forever! I wasn't able to print out Caytlynn's or Cassidy's pictures because of that - bummer! I really wanted to take a group shot of them all with their finished project. I did get this cute shot of them all though :) and will send it them with a big ol' THANK YOU! Since we did have only a few girls, I was able to take a pic with each girl and their present to Caytlylnn with Caytlynn so she will never forget who gave her what!

After everyone left I was able to spend time with the girls and help them finish their project. Cassidy is so funny, she put glue on the wrong side of the paper and glued the pattern side down. she also decorated both sides of the project, not thinking ahead that the picture will cover one side - lol. It still turned out fabulous! I would not expect any less than stellar from both of them in the crafting dept - hehe.

I am exhausted and need to sleep. We have a big day, er, or should I say morning.... we are going to visit Great Gammer tomorrow followed with a trip to Build-A-Bear! Followed up with a TON of laundry! Is there such thing as a laundry folder? I would love to hire someone.... Anyone interested???? PWEASE?

becbeck out ;)

update

I just realized that it's been over a month with no new blog material. I'm pretty tired so I'll keep it short. I have a few new LOs, but can only show one for now. I just submitted one for Becky Higgin's sketch for Creating Keepsakes. Does anyone know how long I have to wait before I post it?

I did this one at my crop 2 weeks ago. Hey if you live in WI or even Northern IL, you need to come to my next crop - September 27 from 10am-10pm. I promise it will be stellar! e-mail me if you want the deets - scrap-tastic@wi.rr.com

So here is one from the crop. I used the September Kit - Fashion Statement along with the Sept. project kit and alpha add-ons. You can see them here

Here's a few more recent ones that I haven't had a chance to post here yet. This one uses the August Kit - Cirque De Soleil

This one uses new American Crafts - yum!

And this one also uses the Cirque De Soleil Kit

I will have to share pictures of Caytlynn's first day of first grade and Cassidy's first day at pre-school! Just not tonight.

Thanks for visiting!
becbeck out

Circ-a-ler

ok, another word from CHA! Long story that really cannot be made short, so I won't go there. You really had to be there anyways.

I have been so busy lately my head is just spinning! New product is coming in almost every day and I just can't keep up... in a few weeks I will be receiving, literally, tons of product! And I do mean tons! I believe last realease there was about 3 tons of product. So, that will be fun to move down into my basement ;)

funny story... I was talking to my Grandma yesterday when I smelled something funky. I looked down at my baby girl to see her poop coming OUT OF HER DIAPER! WTH! I saw it! Her diaper was overflowing! It's not bad enough that she poops EVERY morning between 6 and 7 and the poop is overflows and all over the place... NO! She has to do it during the day too! good times.

I almost forgot to brag a bit :) :) :) I was asked to be on a Design team for Creative Charms. They have really cute embellies and I can't wait to start! I did order a few items for my store that I already have, you can check them out here.

Check out my cuties playing so nicely together.... it didn't last for long - lol












I am off to spend a few hours with my friend Lisa and her twins at Stone Fire Pizza. I haven't seen them in almost 2 years! Where does the time go?? I will be taking lots of pics :)

OH! I almost forgot.... Happy Birthday to me :) :) :) I am celebrating my 14th anniversary of my 21st birthday today *BIG grin*

Toilet!

That was the word of the night last Saturday. Details will remain disclosed to protect the innocent.

CHA was a blast! Here are a few pics for now and details will follow later when I have more time.
PrimaDonnas at the Prima booth - Tina, Michelle and me :)













Me, Robyn and Wendy :)













Happy Hour at the Embassy! Here's me, Lauren, Mary and Michelle.













Hours after Happy Hour....





The end!



becbeck out.

My green thumb...

Well, my thumb is not very green even in the most figurative sense! Although, once a year I get the itch to do something to make our landscaping just a bit prettier than what it already is. It usually happens when the weather is not too warm. And last week I got that itch! I planted a few flowers in our forest area in the back yard. I also transplanted some tulips that were growing under my hubby's ladders. I have been asking him to move his ladder pile for me to this this since last year and even though he did not move the pile, it was moved just enough for me to lean over and dig a few up. I figure that it's worth the chance of them dying since I can't enjoy them under his pile of ladders! Also, I bought a cute bird house that I stuck in there and a metal cat that bounces, so it's looking cute already, it just needs a little bit of color! Oh, I did buy 2 hanging baskets that are so low to the ground I can't really call them hanging, but they are out there too. I will not hold my breath (because I may die) for my flowers to bloom, but I am keeping my fingers crossed ;)


Corey's dad came over for Father's day and as usual it was a beautiful day! Here is Cassidy with her Gramps.

Corey took the kids on ATV rides.

Caytlynn read, no surprise here!

Cali almost jumped out of her Jumperoo!

And all the kids, minus Cali (she was too busy jumping away!) drove away on daddy's ATV, haha!

I forgot to mention that if you want one of the Summer Build-A-Book Mini Album Kits (see 2 posts below), just mention that you saw it on my blog and you will get $5 off! I now have them up at my store - click here.

Scrap On Peeps!

becbeck out

If you suddenly stop hearing from me...

that means I did not survive the summer with all 4 kids at home!

Caytlynn got off the bus at 11:45 yesterday and with in the first hour of her summer vacation there were several time outs and at one point all 4 kids were crying!! Luckily things turned around!

On the very bright side, Caytlynn received a fabulous report from her teacher! She will be entering first grade next year, and right now she is at a begining second grade reading level! She got the award for most improved :) It seems as though every time her teacher sent a note or I talked to her she was amazed at Caytlynn's progress! I am so pround of her!!! We will be working hard this summer to excel her reading and writing skills. The best part about this is that she LOVES to read and write! In the past 24 hours she has written in her journal several times and has read at least 10 books! This is a pic from her graduation.

Anyone live in Southern WI or Northern IL??? I will be having a 12 hour crop in Mukwonago Wi on August 23. Let me know if you want the deets!

becbeck out.

This is for you mom!

My mom doesn't understand what a blog is, so I figured I would post and send her a link. Besides, it gives me a kick on the rear to update.

I just taught my first Prima Sponsored Class this past weekend! It was so much fun! Here is what I taught:
Everybody left with a completed book :)







I am selling these kits with detailed instructions, so if you are interested, please let me know!

Other Random things going on in my life...

Caytlynn and Cassidy had their dance recital a few weeks ago. Can you tell how much they love each other by the way they are in this pic? I wish they would act like this all of the time - haha!!!

Caytlynn will graduate from Kindergarten on Friday - YEA! I am so proud of her! She had early release today and read most of the afternoon. She reads ALL the time! Even when she was outside yesterday, she was reading most of the time. She loves to read!
Cullen turned 2 in April and has offically hit the terrible twos just recently. Any suggestions on dealing with the tantrums is greatly appreciated!!! ;) Most of the time he is sweetest little guy, but watch out if he doesn't get his way!
Cali Bear just turned 7 months and is cute as ever! She really knows how to get around without even crawling. She will be crawling very soon!











Last, but not least, here is one of my recent LOs... I used Glimmer Mist to "paint" the paintables!

Thanks for visiting me!

Scrap On,

becbeck out