Happy New Year's Cards!

Feeling a little pressure to get those holiday cards ordered on time in the middle of the holiday craziness? No worries- take a breath, relax and send them a Happy New Year Card instead! Send your heartfelt wishes for a wonderful New Year with a custom photo card from MyGoodGreetings.com while being eco-conscious at the same time. EVERY card, envelope and address label from MyGoodGreetings is printed on 100% recycled, FSC Certified papers. Be sure to check out the newest card designs for the New Year!

New Card Designs!

I've recently added some new Holiday Card designs to mygoodgreetings.com. And now I've officially made it even harder to pick out my own personal holiday card.

And don't forget- you can SAVE 15% on your early holiday card order until Nov. 15th- yikes that's tomorrow! Just enter code: SAVEGREEN at checkout!

New Earth Baby Designs at My Good Greetings

I'm so pleased to announce a new line of birth announcements featured at MyGoodGreetings.com- Earth Baby Announcements. They are a little softer, a little more organic in design, featuring soft greens, and browns with soft pinks and blues. So many parents are looking to make small changes to make the earth a better place for their new little ones. Like all of the cards on MyGoodGreetings.com, the Earth Baby Announcement line is printed on 100% Recycled heavy weight matte FSC Certified paper along with the envelopes. Check them out here.

My Loss is Your Gain!

A couple of months ago I was contracted to design some scrapbooking papers by a woman who claimed to be starting up a new paper scrapbooking line. She sounded legitimate and sent a contract. She said she needed the papers as soon as possible, so I obliged and put aside other work to create the papers quickly. She said she loved them and they were being printed. And then I waited... and waited... and waited for payment. And then I waited some more. After many ignored emails asking for payment, she finally confessed that her "investor" pulled out and she could not pay for the papers. They had been printed though- or so she says. She asked if she could do some sort of payment plan- and I agreed. And guess what-- still NO payment- nada, ziltch, nothing.

So.... since I cannot retract the electronic files that were sent to her, I've decided to give away some of the papers here- to YOU! I hope you enjoy them! and if you ever see these printed anywhere in a scrapbooking store near you, please do not purchase them and feel free to mention to the store owner that you know for a fact that those papers have been printed illegally as the designer had never been paid for the designs.

Here's a link to the papers:
Country Chic Background Papers

This woman did the same thing to my friend and fellow designer Lauren Bavin. She's giving away some of her papers too- you can get hers here on her blog.

Great Mommy Moment

I had one of those mommy moments today- you know the ones that make you cringe with embarrassment at the time, but then later just make you laugh- hard. Today was Jesse's first day of preschool. It was a slow start day, so only 2 hours today. We've chosen a new preschool for Jesse (different from the one Jack went to). He's going to preschool at the First Presbyterian downtown. I'm really excited about this choice. Along with the regular preschool curriculum, he'll be learning a bible scripture each month and a themed life lesson. This month is Kindness. Other months will be Joy, Friendship, Patience etc. All things Jesse needs a little extra help with. So I pick him up after school- he's happy and had a great 2 hours- and we walk down the steps of the large gothic style church and he chooses this moment to scream- at the top of his lungs- his first expletive, "Damn It."

To the best of my knowledge he's never said a "bad" word before, let alone SCREAMED one at the top of his lungs at the front of a church. I could not believe it! I whipped around and said the natural mommy thing, "What did you say?" and he repeated it. I quickly did a look around to see who could have heard him. Luckily no one was around. So he was repremanded and we went to the car.

Of all the places to have his first curse word come out of his mouth!

MyGoodGreetings.com is Up!!

It's official!! My dh and I have launched our Custom Photo Greeting Card website- MyGoodGreetings.com. We've been working on it for months and it's finally completed! Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think! We'd love the feedback. We're really excited about the "green" aspect- All of our cards, envelopes and address labels will be printed on 100% recycled papers. The paper quality is fantastic!

Be sure to tell your friends!!

Two Days to Go!!!

Looks like I'll be able to make my super exciting announcement in just 2 days!!!! Check back soon!!!

More lake fun!

Yesterday we spent the day on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho with Tom's sister Molly and his brother-in-law Dan. They have a ski boat and it was such a blast to be on it for the day. The boys got to see their Dad wakeboard which they thought was so cool. And they did so great swimming in the lake. Another highlight was seeing the white Rocky Mountain goats traversing the cliffs. I was the first to spot them way up high on the cliffs- they looked like two little white spots walking. But I saw them! Turns out it was a mommy goat and her baby. Those cliffs go straight up so high. It's amazing that they can walk so easily on them. Apparently it's pretty rare to see them as they like to stay hidden. Tom said he felt like he was seeing a Yeti or something! It was pretty exciting!

I didn't take this pic- it's from google. But this is the kind of goats we saw.

Super Bonus Bingo PRIZE!!

Come play Super Bonus Bingo in the DSP chatroom this Friday, Aug. 15th at 10PM EST and if you get a B-I-N-G-O, you'll win my newest kit- First of September!!

Can't make it to Bingo, no worries, this kit will be in the DSP store soon!

Get this kit for FREE!

Join in my Bittersweet Challenge and you'll get my new kit- Summer Delight for FREE! If you miss the challenge (deadline is Aug. 15), no worries, it will be in the DSP store soon!

The Perfect Storm

Friday night we had a lightning storm like none I've ever seen before. You literally couldn't count 3 seconds between lightning bolt that lit up the entire sky and it went on for well over an hour- bam, bam, bam... it was AMAZING! I've never seen anything like it before. You just don't get that kind of amazing weather in California (where I'm from and moved from about 1.5 years ago). Here's the best pic I could get with my little camera. We sat on our front porch, which has a view of the whole sky over Spokane and watched nature's fireworks.

Gone Fishin'

Last week we went to Loon Lake for 2 nights. Loon Lake is about 30 minutes from our house, which makes it a very easy drive. We rented a very small apartment/cabin on the beach and the boys were in hog-heaven. They swam and "fished" (no hooks on their polls, just little plastic fish) all day long from 7am to 7pm or later. We had to drag them in when it got dark. Oh how I would love to have a lake house of our own! We also brought our new inflatable kayak, which was perfect for us. Tom and I took turns taking the boys out in it. And every time they had to bring their fishing polls to practice their casting. I was bound and determined to show them I could catch a real fish, so I fished off the dock until I caught one! See the pic... It's a whopper I know!

Up Up and Away... NOT!

Have you ever gotten one of those "free companion Air Certificate" promotions. What a scam this is. This is the second one I've gotten and it is so annoying! They say that you have to buy one full price airfare to receive the free companion fare. But you have to buy your airfare from this special online portal where the airfares are jacked up to the maximum price. And on top of that they don't even offer the promotion out of Spokane International Airport. So I would have to fly myself and my companion to Seattle first before even taking advantage of the "free" offer. I priced it out - imagining that I would fly to CA first to see family on my own dime and then fly to So. Cal from there using their promotion ticket. Based on their super expensive flights, I would save a whopping $30. That's not equal to any standard airfare price in my opinion. And definitely not worth hassling all those security checkpoints. This promotion came from Wells Fargo too. You would think they wouldn't align them selves with such a deceiving promotion. Arg.

Gearing up for some fun!

Today is Sunday and Tom took the boys out for a while, they are going on a little hike to see some authentic Indian painted rocks. Last time we tried to do this hike, we were attacked by viscous moquitos. It was awful. So I made sure to put the mosquito repellent in Tom's backpack. Of course, he said that he didn't think they needed it. I said, "WHAT?!" Don't you remember the last time and he said, "yeah, but I don't think we need it now." Maybe mosquito spray is for whimps- dunno. But I threw it in the bag anyway.

Tomorrow we are headed to Loon Lake, WA. We've rented a little- very rustic (cute charming word for borderline dump) cabin on the lake. I can't wait. Tom bought me my own fishing pole and tackle box so I can teach the boys how to fish. Notice that I'm teaching the boys how to fish- not Tom. What's wrong with this picture?! LOL! Actually, I love to fish, it's the gutting of the fish I hate. But Tom says he's ok with that part. I'm sure we won't catch anything anyway. Oh and the mosquito spray will be the first thing I'm packing!

Feedburner Fun!

I'm getting a little more advanced here... all this blog stuff is so much fun! I just set up a way for you all to subscribe via email. Now my latest posts and kit previews can go directly to your email address! how cool is that?! Just enter your email address in the box in the upper left side- where it says "subscribe via email" and that's it! all my new posts here will arrive in your email box. And when I make my special announcement, you'll get news of that too! I love technology, don't you?!

Yes, I am a tease!

Well, I can't tell you the super exciting news just yet... but it has to do with a BIG project my dh and I are working on. It doesn't really have to do with scrapbooking. But it is still very exciting!! Just hang in there... I will be able to tell soon....It's all GOOD!

Bitter Sweet Page Kit

Here's this week's bingo prize-- Bitter Sweet Page Kit. Come play bingo this Friday night at 10pm EST in the DSP chat room and if you get a B-I-N-G-O, you'll win this new kit. And if not, no worries.. it will be in the store very soon!

Look for a Super EXCITING announcement here soon!!!!! It's hush hush for now....but VERY SOON I'll be able to share the news!!!!! I'm so excited!!!!! Be sure to subscribe to my blog so you don't miss it!!!

CIJ is here!!! Yes that's right, it's Christmas in July at DSP! There's so much fun going on at DSP right now- the challenges, the galleries, SANTA!! It's DSP's biggest event of the year- don't miss it!
Here's my CIJ kit for this year- Christmas Spirit. Snag it up this week and jump in some challenges!
Christmas Spirit Page Kit by Rene' Bross

Our good friends from California visited us in Spokane over the 4th of July holiday. We all went up to Sandpoint, ID for two days of pure Americana FUN! A hometown parade, ice cream, swimming, boat ride on the lake, fishing, and fireworks over the lake for a finale! Here we are just getting started on our fantastic day!

Evening Rose Page Kit by Rene' Bross

Here's my newest kit - Summer Settee.

You can get this kit for FREE when you join in my
Evening Rose Scrapbooking Challenge at DigitalScrapbookPlace! Just use my Evening Rose kit in a layout and post it in the challenge thread and I'll send you the Summer Settee Kit! Easy as Pie! Deadline for the challenge and to get the free kit is July 24th, 2008.

This is Jack with our next door neighbor's little boy- Hunter. They are so funny together. Hunter gave Jack a kiss on the cheek, but I don't think Jack was too thrilled- LOL!

Positively Negative Overlays by Rene' Bross
Tangerine Dream Page Kit by Rene' Bross
Tangerine Dream BackPack by Rene' Bross

We had such a blast this Fourth of July! We had good friends visiting from CA and in addition to showing them Spokane, WA for the first time, we all went to Sandpoint, ID for the 4th. We ate great food, watched a great hometown parade, went for a boat ride on Pend O'reille Lake, bbq'd and watched the fireworks show. Non-stop fun from beginning to end!

Fourth of July Fun Page Kit by Rene' Bross

Feeling lucky this week??? Come play Super Bonus Bingo this Friday at 10PM EST in the DSP chatroom and if you get a Bingo, you'll win my newest kit- Evening Rose! And no worries- if you don't win, you can pick it up in the DSP store:

Evening Rose Page Kit by Rene' Bross

My new kit- Tangerine Dream is coming to the DSP store soon! But you can get it now for FREE by joining in my Tangerine Dream Challenge- but you better hurry, the challenge ends July 10th!

Tangerine Dream Page Kit by Rene' Bross

Use these overlays to create a fun and funky touch of grundge to any layout. I love the grundgy look- especially for layouts with my boys. These overlays make it easy to let your creativity soar!

Positively Negative Overlays- now in the DSP Store!

Fourth of July is just around the corner! I can't wait for this year's. This year we actually have some fun plans! We have great friends visiting from CA and we're all going to Sandpoint, ID for 2 days. We have hotel rooms on the lake front where everyone will be bbq'ing, boating and watching fireworks. It's gonna be great. So in celebration of what's to come, I made this Fourth of July Fun page kit. And if you come play Bingo in the DSP chatroom this Friday, June 27th at 10pm EST and are lucky enough to win a bingo- you'll win this kit! If not, you'll find it in the DSP store soon!

Here's the follow up to my Warm Summer Day kit-- Cool Summer Night Page Kit. One of my favorite things to do in summer is to sit outside with Tom after the kids go to bed and enjoy the evening talking and catching up. I decided to skip making a bottle of mosquito spray for the kit though- LOL!

Very soon you will be able to get this kit for FREE when you join in on my Warm Summer Day Challenge- details coming soon!

The weather is so beautiful here in Spokane- well worth the wait. And what a wait it was. I survived the longest winter of my life this past winter. Not only did I spend my first winter ever in the snow, it was the harshest winter Spokane has seen in 15 years! But now the weather is absolutely perfect and it's going to be a fabulous summer. It has inspired me to make this kit- Warm Summer Day, which reminds me of a favorite pretty sundress. Look for this kit in the DSP store soon and a new challenge featuring this kit!

Just in time for Father's Day-- Celebrate Life Instant Album. Not sure what to get that special Dad for Father's Day? Here's an easy answer-- an instant album. Just place your photos below the each page template, add some journaling and VIOLA! you've got a whole album ready to gift or keep for yourself! This album comes in 12 x 12 inch format, but it's easily downsizable to any smaller size for printing from your own desktop printer. Each 2 page spread is designed for continuity, but these also make great individual layouts.

Celebrate Life Instant Album

Here's my newest kit. I really had fun making it- hence the name. I think it's fun to put together mismatched pieces creatively. I hope you like the pieces of crayon wrappers. I'm not sure where the idea came from, probably from watching my son color all day. He loves to make books. This kit is a posting bonus for a recent challenge. If you missed the challenge, you can get it in the DSP store soon.

I needed a boy kit for Jack's birthday photos and well.... all the other hundreds of boy photos I have : ) So I made Play Date - Boy. I wanted to make something fun and playful- just like my boys. I need to get scrapping myself. Hope you like this one!

Play Date- Boy

Here's the matching Pretty Paisley Add On Pack I was mentioning below. Just use the Pretty Paisley Page Kit (below) in a layout and you can get this matching Add-On Pack for FREE!!

If you miss out on the challenge, the add-on pack will be in the store soon!

Get challenge details here.

I LOVE Paisleys!!!!! I can't believe I haven't really used them in a kit before. What fun they are!! Here's my new Pretty Paisley Page Kit. I don't have many girl pics to go with this, but I think I can definitely pull a boy layout out of it too!!

Also, right now, if you use this kit in my Pretty Paisley Challenge, you will get the matching Add-On Pack for FREE!! Deadline for the challenge is Thursday, April 24th.

Check out the Pretty Paisley Page Kit here.

Here's a matching set of 12 x 12 Overlays to go with the Misty Morning Page Kit. You can get these overlays for FREE if you join in my Misty Morning Challenge. They will also be in the store soon!

We've had a number of misty, foggy mornings here lately. Spring seems to be taking it's sweet time arriving, but I know it will come. The grass is starting to turn green again and my bulbs are popping up. This kit was inspired by those cold, damp morning and the wish for spring!

You can check it out in detail here- Misty Morning Page Kit

I wanted to create a sort of altered art type of kit that can be used for either a girl or a boy with a love theme. Not exactly Valentine's Day, but maybe. This was the result- Heart's Desire.
If you come play Bingo this Friday night, March 21st at 10pm EST, you might just get a Bingo and get this kit for FREE!!

Here's the Bingo details:
http://digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23578

Can't make it to Bingo, no worries, you can get the kit here:
Heart's Desire Page Kit

Look for a challenge with this kit coming soon! I'm working on the Add-On Pack posting bonus right now!

Here's my latest kit called Garden Party. There's a great challenge going on right now with Lauren Bavin's kit- Cheery Chips and my Garden Party Kit. If you use both of them in just one layout, you will get 3 FREE Posting Bonuses!!! That's right- 3!!! One from Lauren, the matching Garden Party Add on Pack from me and our jointly made BackPack!! The backpack is exclusive to this challenge as it will never be in the DSP store. The kits go GREAT together so you should really jump on this one!!

You can get the challenge details here:
Garden Party- Triple Bonus Challenge
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30482

I made this set of groupies just in time for Spring. I'm still longing for my bulbs to grow and I'm so anxious to see some color in my garden. I thought this might help with the longing....

You can get them here:
Suddenly Spring Groupies

Just in time for Easter- my new Easter Memories Page Kit. I fell in love with these little Peter Cottontails!! I think vintage bunnies are absolutely irresistible!! I had my boys photo taken with some real live bunnies and I'm going to make Easter cards with the best photo and this kit! Hope you like it too!
Easter Memories Page Kit

Here's a LO I did using my new Piccadilly Page Kit and a few other tidbits. I'm so in love with this picture of Jesse and Ariel. They were so cute together. She really made him feel like he was the special one. She was absolutely darling!

I was hoping to create a kit that was versatile for boy or girl pages, from freestyle to heritage.

I hope you like it!

You can see it in the DSP store here:

Piccadilly Page Kit

There's also a matching Add On Pack:

Piccadilly Add On Pack

Yep, it's official. I am dreaming of Spring. I want to see my bulbs blooming, warmer days and the sunshine. This kit helped remind me a little bit of what's to come in the next couple of months!
This will be a Posting Bonus and you will be able to get it for FREE by joining in my next challenge featuring my Back in Black kit. Look for challenge details to come soon!

This one was so fun to make. I promise I'll get past this chartreuse color soon, but I'm diggin' it right now. I'm happy with how the little birdy came out too. I think I'd like to make more little critters like this. Maybe for Easter.... : )

If you're lucky enough to get a Bingo this week, you'll win this kit and just for showing up and playing, you'll get the matching overlay frame set for FREE!!
Join us in the DSP chat room this Friday, Feb. 22 at 10PM EST for a whole lot of Bingo Fun! More details here:
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23578

Here's the Add-On Pack for Sweet 'N Sassy. You can get it for FREE when you join in my "Sweet 'N Sassy Challenge." Just use the Sweet and Sassy Page kit in a layout and you'll get the matching Add-On Pack for FREE!! What a deal!!

BIG EXCITING NEWS!!!!! DSP is having a laptop crop at ADOBE HEADQUARTERS this July 26th!!!! This is HUGE!!!! I'm so excited-- not only is it a chance to get inside Adobe Headquarters- and who knows, maybe learn some top secret stuff- but also have a totally fun day of scrapbooking and maybe even getting some Adobe Freebies!!! And I'm also extra motivated because I will be able to visit family and friends who live nearby during the trip too!! YAY!!!!

Here's more info:
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29498

And here's the matching Background Set, which will also be in the DSP store soon. But if you come to my Bingo chat tonight- in the DSP chat room at 10pm EST, you will get it for FREE just for showing up!!! How cool is that??!!!

I'm still on a Valentine high I guess, but this one has a little more sass I think. I recently bought a chartreuse top and I think that was the inspiration here. And yes, I had to look up how to spell chartreuse- LOL!! This will be in the DSP store very soon! And if you can make it to Bingo tonight at 10pm EST in the DSP chat room, you just might win it for FREE!!

I just love making Valentine kits. Maybe it's because I have boys and I never get to buy anything pink. I can live vicariously through my kits- LOL! Here's my newest kit- My Shabby Valentine. Come play Super Bonus Bingo this friday night in the DSP chat room and if you get a Bingo, you'll win this kit for FREE. The kit will also be in the DSP store soon!