I'm packing up and moving!

I set up a new blog at BethPingry.com, and started blogging there.


See You There! You can also find me on social media, just click on the icons on the sidebar.

Thanks!
Beth

Craft Fancy Demo Alert!

I'll be demoing the Wizard and Spellbinders™ die templates at Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights this Saturday, Nov. 14 for their Holiday Hoopla Make and Take Event!  Come on out, meet me in real life, I'll have all my Spellbinders™ blog projects with me too!  I'll be there from 10-1:30. 

Happy Halloween!

Wishing you and yours plenty of treats!  And yes, you can have candy for breakfast.  We're on our third bag here. And nobody's been trick or treating yet.

Anyway, here's whats brewing over at the Spellbinders Blog, I made this little book out of several dies, enjoy! Click over to see the rest of the pages.

While I'm here I'll post a few more...
Stamping with Foam

And then Tree-Mendous (pardon my lack of centering skills...)

Thanks for looking! 

In other news, we raised a very nice amount for Evan's adoption fundraiser, and had some fun doing it.

Sparky is driving on a permit.  The Beast is suddenly beautiful, but somehow he seems to think he'll be given some flashy new sports car on the event of his 16th birthday.  Once I get over the hysterical laughter of that preposterous fantasy of his, I'll be shopping for a fine and dandy new set of wheels with heated leather seats, (because once you go heated leather you never go back) for which to haul my candy eating keister to the gym and back.

Bring on the Butterfingers!

Beth

World Card Making Day

I've got these two cards on Spellbinders Blog now.

The World Card Making Day post is about the thank you cards I'm sending to my friends and family for supporting the fundraising efforts for Evan.

This one is just a regular old Fall themed card. See the details here.

You're invited to a Party!

I'm hosting a fundraiser to help Evan.

At six months of age, Evan was abandoned at a train station in China. It was late December of 2008 that in desperation, his home orphanage called New Day Foster Home, a haven for critically ill orphans in China. Evan was near death, weighing only 10 pounds at age 2 1/2. He couldn't walk or talk.

Now his future is bright. His photo was placed on the Rainbowkids.com web site. A family on the other side of the world was at the point of suspending their search for a child to adopt. The W family felt a calling to adopt a special needs child, yet a salary cut and the economy were weighing heavily on them.

After seeing Evan's picture, it was love at first sight. "We knew he was our kid...I might as well given birth to him myself."

They will go to the moon and back to make to bring him home. How could they not? He was born to be their son. They have watched from afar, through photos and letters, as Evan has gained weight and gained strength. He went from near death and despair to a hopeful little boy full of joy!

The next step is the hardest step, and that is bringing Evan home. He has yet to meet his loving parents, M and C, to play with his brother and sister, to be embraced by his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

In order to make Evan's journey complete, there are legalities: background checks, medical forms, authorizations, passports, signatures, deadlines and the seemingly endless red tape that binds this process. As many adoptive parents know, the hardest part of adoption is the cost, and that applies whether the child is in the next town or half way across the world.

It all comes down to money. Thousands of dollars are required to complete the process, and unfortunately that is the one detail that keeps so many potential forever families from ever bringing home a child in need.

M and C are forging ahead, with support from family, friends and church, with fundraisers big and small. They can afford daily life and they have the love, commitment, stability and excellent health insurance to cover Evan's ongoing special needs. But it's the expenses they have today, to complete the paperwork, purchase plane tickets and hotel for the required trip to China, that they need some help with. Help comes in the form of donations, big and small.

My sister is running the Chicago Marathon as a fundraiser to help Evan's forever family with expenses. I am hosting a Pampered Chef party in my home, with profits going to Evan's Forever Family. The money will help bring Evan home. The funds we raise will help finish the paperwork, buy airfare and a set of traveling duds for Evan, and help him make the trip of a lifetime. This boy has special needs and he has a special family waiting for him.

You can help! You can be a part of this miracle! Simply by placing an order on my show, through my consultant's website, you will be supporting Evan too. Since I can't publicly post the web site, please leave a comment with your email (which I will moderate and delete your email address for your privacy!) and I will send you the link to my party.

Here is the blog of Evan's story:  Everyday Miracles


Thank you!
Beth

Growing Up Fast

Sparky



Spunky

Spunky and Sparky are killin' me, just killin me! Look at them! Sparky went to his friend's Sweet 16 party, and Spunky went to Homecoming recently. No, the Sparkster did not go to Homecoming, "it's complicated, Mom." But the Spunkinator had a nice time. We drove them to the restaurant then to the dance, and I got some sushi out of the arrangement too! No I don't eat the wierd stuff with tentacles, I'm more of a sushi-lite fan.

Fall Wreath with Foam

I must admit, I'm not one to use foam sheets very much, but part of this assignment was to create with foam. I think it turned out nice. I just love that Impressabilities Flourish! See the whole process on the Spellbinder's Blog.

Suede Paper

I made this one, it was easy-peasy! Instructions are here on the Spellbinders Blog.

The most wonderful...

time of the year! For me, that is, not for Cindy and the boys!




Details on this layout can be found at Spellbinders Blog. These photos are from 2001, Spunky and Sparky are not quite so cooperative anymore with first day of school pictures.

Cardmaker Magazine!

Did I mention this? I'm a cover girl! That's my card!

Busy times!

if you have not done so already, check out the latest and greatest from Spellbinders. Yes, its another blog frenzy for 17 more new products! Spellbinders

Also check out Hero Arts! They are one of my new favorites, and they are partying with their new website this week! Hero Arts

Its been nothing but crazy around here, thanks for hanging in with me! Here's an example of Flower Pounding. You can see the details on the Spellbinders Blog. Also check out Margies' examples.

Spellbinders Blog Frenzy

I'm just sayin', you could win some new dies by entering the daily contests, and if you enter every day you could win the big prize. And I'm just sayin', you really want the big prize! ;)

Blog Frenzy dates and links

by enter, I mean send an email to the address listed in each day's blog, the email is different each day.

I'll be back shortly to sweep up the cobwebs, I've been crazy busy!

Dick Blick Demo, etc

While I sitting here waiting for the carpet cleaners to show up, supposely sometime between an hour ago and forever, I need to belly up and post. No silly, I don't have new art to show off (this week) but its been a busy month and I do have an announcement:

I'll be demoing Copic Markers this Sunday, May 3 from noon to 2pm at the Dick Blick Wheaton, IL store! Come on out and say hi! Let me know if you would be interested in a Copic class.

In other news, Cindy and the rest of the family had a delightful Easter. The Bunny brought her a nice little basket of goodies. Cindy loves cookies and bunnies, in no particular order.

I celebrated my 29th birthday again this month too. Cake was had by all, and some had more cake than others, right Spunky?

I traveled for Spellbinders twice in April, I met some great people at CKC St. Louis, we taught for 2 days. I also traveled to a trade event in San Francisco, I didn't get to see the city, but it was a beautiful weekend on the Bay!

Then I got a magazine in the mail.
Hmm, that's strange, I don't have a subscription to the Stampers Sampler Catch Up Issue. What's this? An art comp? Good golly, I've been published! They love me, they really love me! Ok, maybe they don't love me, but they like me enough for page 14 at the top! Thanks Stampington!!!

And a series of these appeared when I downloaded photos. Strange, I've never seen this happen in real life, must have been some kind of homework assignment...Now that I know you can do it, Sparky, its going to be a long summer! buhahaha!

Featured on Spellbinders' Blog!

Hey friends, I'm featured today on Spellbinders' Blog! If you are here for the first time, please help yourself to some cookies and enjoy!



Beth

Paperee!

I discovered a new scrapbooking site, Paperee, to "see, share and behold paper happiness." Excellent, I should fit right in! I started an I {heart} Spellbinder's Nestabilities group there, and put up a card challenge. Prizes are involved! Go check it out!
Do you have flair? You can find this flair on Facebook, just search for Nestabilities or Spellbinders when you send flair!

"Dangerous" Dog Email

I received this email. Bully Breeds fit the profile of dangerous dogs in some people's minds, but we all know that depends on the individual circumstances. Proper training and a loving hand work wonders with any breed.

I did feel somewhat obligated to pass this important information along, none the less. Be assured this is NOT Cindy or Buster, or Spunky or Sparky. This COULD happen to any family, it could even still happen to my own. Heed the warning:

If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category and you also have a small child please take this as a warning. Don't leave your dog with the child unattended under any circumstances.

It only took a moment for this to happen:


Seriously, that's not my sofa! Poor puppy!

Craft Fancy

I'm heading off to Craft Fancy today, I'll be demoing the Wizard and Spellbinders Dies, including the new Nestabilities and Impressabilities! I'll be working along side Michelle of Crafty Secrets.

Happy Birthday to Spunky! He's up early and ready for presents. Cinnamon rolls are in the oven.

Have a great day!

Why yes, I realize I hadn’t posted anything new last week. You see, I have maxed out the hard drive on my new laptop. How does one do this, when PizzaMan specifically said “you should never have to worry about disk space on this computer.” PizzaMan is a professional geek. I don’t have to know anything about how any of it works, because that’s his department. So when I realized I didn’t have enough memory to back up ACDSee, I whined, I cried, I actually made a few real dinners, and he bought me an 1 TB EHD. Supposedly that’s big, but I can’t do the metric system math.

So he opened the box, put the thing on my desk, and gave me the paperwork to go with it. Hello! Momma don’t do installations! I mean really, does he think I sit around reading blogs, eating bon bons and buying craft supplies all day? I cook, I clean, I do laundry, I shop (note to self, we’re out of bon bons). I do not need to know how to make things work. I don’t know how the car works or the electricity for that matter. Science was never my strong point. Anyway, he did eventually set it up for me and now I can resume downloading and picture taking and, well, I was never actually hindered in blog posting, but I’m really good at procrastinating. I’m sorry.

In other news, I’m hitting the road! I took a little road trip last week to have lunch with my friend Margie, and to visit Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights. I’ll be part of their demo weekend March 28, showing off the Wizard of course, and doing Make and Takes along with Michelle Konack of Crafty Secrets. Before that, I’ll be in Pleasanton, CA, teaching at the Scrapbook Expo! Check it out and sign up for the classes, hosted by Scrap Mart. I'm teaching Card Free For All and Totally Techniques!

While at Craft Fancy I found tons of stuff, it’s a great store. They have 7Gypsies, Tim’s stamps, lots of books and magazines and its packed full of products but its neat and tidy and easy to find everything. I got some papers and embellishments from Creative Imaginations' Busted line, they always seem to come out with just what I need. I will do a layout with these, cuz there’s a story to tell. Poor Spunky…tee-hee!

TTFN!
Beth and Cindy

Survivor

This layout was done for Spellbinders' consumer booth, showcasing the Melissa Frances Breast Cancer papers. It traveled the country last year, on display at many CKCs and expos. The Survivor is my mom. I'm so glad she is a survivor, and I'm pretty sure she is too. I love you, Mom!

Cindy's mostly excellent adventure

Cindy had a mostly excellent adventure at PetSmart yesterday.
Cindy decided she needed a new collar, and asked to go to the store. She'd never been to PetSmart, but she's seen the commercials and wanted to check it out.
They had lots of good smells there.
Lots of treats too! She'll take one of each, please!
What color goes with white and black spots, Daddy?

Actually, PetSmart on a Sunday was a bit more than she expected. There were many dogs shopping with their people, and the grooming section was busy too. Our friend's Great Dane was commanding attention in there, and when Cody speaks, everyone has to listen. I think the experience was too much at once for her, and we should try it again at a less busy time. Perhaps she had flashbacks to her earlier life?
Cindy enjoyed the car ride home the most.

Cindy's Daddy strongly discouraged Cindy's Mommy from bringing the D-Rebel and didnt' want to wait for her to change lenses, and Spunky had the small sleek camera, which forced Cindy's Mommy to use her cell phone camera like a dork . Cindy's mommy apologizes for the low res photos and will try harder next time.

Cindy would like to wish Sparky a Happy Birthday, and wishes she could go to a restuarant with the family.

Cindy likes to dream big.