Eternity

Dear friends,

So this is the truth, I'm so incredibly tired physically and mentally that the other day I was so sad that tears didn't even come.  You know, its all the usual suspects and yes, life goes on which I'm grateful for, but just realizing that  its only been just shy of 3 months and yet it feels like an eternity.  I applaud so many of you out there with chronic illnesses that continue the fight whatever it may be.

I know it seems so ironic that I should feel like this when I just received such good news just last week, but this round of chemo was even harder than the last one.  Every morning my oldest tells me that he's sorry that I don't feel any better and it hurts me to have to hear him say that to me.  He doesn't know what else to say or how else to respond and really is there any other way?  I tell him its ok, but its not.  There is such heart ache out there and its so incredibly sad, sad, sad.

It has been interesting for me because ever since I shared the positive swing of events, you all have been right there cheering me on and sharing in such good news, but I just haven't been able to literally express the same enthusiasm, excitement, and joy that you have.  Don't get me wrong, there was NO better news that we could have received, ok, we could have, but you know what I mean.  Even with the good news, I physically feel the same and I physically look the same and at this point my future is the same.

At this very moment, I'm having a hard time dealing with the never ending quality of what the future holds.  I WISH there was an end... a good end... an end that I was guaranteed.  Time has such a duality to it.  On the one hand time seems like bliss and yet on the other hand it seems like torture.

I want to thank all you prayer warriors out there that have taken up my cause, it is doing good and I know you will continue to duke it for me!  I'm so appreciative of every kind thought and prayer that is said for me and my family.

Ok, enough of that (shaking my head)... I was able to do a bit of crafting before my last treatment which was number 6 and I made a treat box and put some candies in it for the nurses at the infusion center.  I then used another fundraiser image to decorate it.  Template can be found from Papertrey ink as well as the background stamps.

Until next time.

-Katie

More Halloween...

A quickie post.  I wanted to share this little 3x3 card and this treat holder that I made with some fun TaDa Creative Studios cardstock.  The paper is from the Festivus Collection and its perfect for Halloween layouts, cards and treats!

Thanks for visiting and have a FABULOUS Tuesday!

Another Box for Heart 2 Heart Challenge

Hiya friends, I'm back with another quickie post. I just had to make another box and this time I made it with all Close to my Heart cardstock and paper. This designer paper has got to be one of my all time favorite colors and design. I will be sad when my stash runs out.

I made this box to enter into the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog which is a blog that focuses on all that is Close to my Heart. The challenge is to make something for Mother's Day and I decided that I would send this box to my mother. I am going to put some scrapbooking embellishments and maybe a sweet or two in there as well.

There is no stamping on this box and I just realized that I should make a card to match... duh. I tell you, I'm always half there most of the time. I'll probably just make a little mini card to go.

Anyway, I did post a tutorial on how I created this and you can find it at Clearly iStamp.

Thanks for coming to visit.

A little Trinket Box

Hey all, just a quickie post today. I've got a tutorial posted today over on Clearly iStamp. Head on over if you'd like to see the deets.

Thanks for popping by and I hope you have a fabulous Tuesday. The twins and I are off to our last MOPS day and then allergy shots for the big kid this afternoon.

Late Valentine's Day Post

Hi there... I've got a quickie post today sharing a couple of heart treat holders that I made. I made the original one that you can see HERE, but needed to make 2 more. I opted to go the "traditional" route for these two and used some fabulous TaDa Creative Studios paper. Its from the Festivus line (My Sweet Valentine) and the name says it all!

These were so easy to make and even though there was lots of pink and red, it was the chocolate in them that counted the most.

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day weekend.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peek - Day 4

Where does the time go? Today is Day 4 for the Clear Dollar Stamps December sneak peeks and the last day of the month which means that first thing tomorrow all of today's and the previous stamps seen will be available for purchase. Plus, who knows what other neat products will be in with the new release stamps.

Just life stuff below (in purple) ... I won't feel bad if you just skip...

Here is some personal stuff to share too... this is going to be a busy week for us. We are expecting a call from the Dr.'s office today with a date within the next day or two to get Nate in to see Orthopedics for his broken arm. I will feel so much better after we get the cast on and then can just wait for him to heal. Tomorrow is Hunter's 10th birthday - yikes... 2 digits already. I need to squeeze in his birthday cake at some point. He would like to go to IHOP to have breakfast for dinner so we will hopefully do that tomorrow night. Then he has a BIG allergy skin test scheduled for Wednesday... not so fun for him. He had it done when he was 5 and we are doing it again and from there doing a consult to figure out the next plan of action. We are considering allergy shots aka immunotherapy, but it is a 5 year commitment with substantial time consumption at the very beginning. From the paperwork we were given it is weekly shots for at least 6-8 months. That just makes me tired thinking about that as well as for the poor kid, but I think its also supposed to be fairly successful which would make Hunter's like much easier to deal with as an adult. Then Thursday we are taking him and a few of his friends bowling right after school with pizza to follow and then our week should be just about over :)

Now, on for the "real" purpose of this post. Today's stamps being "snuck" are :

The Cross, Petite Cross, Happy Rainbow, God always keeps promises (sentiment), Patchpal Angel, Patch Star, Patch Heart, you're an angel (sentiment), Alien Fred, I'm an alien and my planet is heaven (sentiment), Alien Bob, Oliver Ostrich, its been a long time (sentiment), Critter Log - December Stamp of the Month

Remember, check out Lori's blog - Clearly iStamp for additional samples and full reveals.

So lets get started with this cute Stocking that I made. I used the Doodlecharms Cricut Cartridge to cut out my stocking pieces. I then used my scor-pal to create the "patchwork" on the front. I stamped the Patch Star and Patch Heart for my background and then inked it all up after I colored the images with Copics. I sewed both pieces together in order to have my pocket. Then I stamped the Patchpal Angel and used her and the coordinating sentiment as a tag for my stocking.


My next sneak, I snuck in yesterday (shh... don't remind anybody) with the refrigerator magnets. Here they are again.


My next stamp is Oliver Ostrich and his coordinating sentiment. I love these bright and bold colors... thanks Laurie.

And finally, my last card is using a stamp from the set called Critter Log which is the December Stamp of the month. Now get this part! As a wonderful holiday treat, Lori is offering up this little bad boy up FREE with a purchase of only $30 versus the normal $50. Take advantage of this deal... I truly love all my SOM's and go back to them as often as I can. Plus, I always am disappointed when I see someone else use one that I don't have :(


Its always a bit sad to finish up with the sneak peeks, but great news for you since you will be able to get them in your hot little hands very, very soon!

Thanks so much for hanging with me and I hope you have a fabulous Monday, but don't forget to go visit these lovely ladies for even more peeks.

Trudy, Sarah, Shawne, Angela, Nancy, Laurie, Candy, Cassie, Stacy, Linda A, Tori, Tricia

Recipe for Critter Log DEC SOM:
ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED:Critter log december som
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: Lilac Mist (CTMH), DP: Cloud 9 Design
INKPADS: memento tuxedo black, olive (CTMH)
MARKERS: YG91,YG95,E37
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Martha Stewart Loop punch
COLORING MEDIUM (if any): Copics

Recipe for Alien Fred Magnet:
ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED:Alien Fred, Sneaky Snake
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: DP: Stardust (CTMH)
MARKERS: G14,G05,C-3,RV29
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Clear Glass Drops, Mod Podge
COLORING MEDIUM (if any): Copics

Recipe for Oliver Ostrich:
ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED: Oliver Ostrich, Its been a long time
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: PTI and CTMH, DP: unknown
INKPADS: Memento Tuxedo Black,
MARKERS: BG72,R39,YR16
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Ribbon, nesties, punches, scallop and circle, Ribbon tag trio 2 (spellbinders)
COLORING MEDIUM (if any): copics

Recipe for Stocking:
ALL CDSTAMPS USED: Patchpal angel, heart, star, angel sentiment
CS AND PAPERS: CTMH white and blush
INK: Versamagic Agean Blue, Memento tuxedo black, colorbox yellow cadmium chalk
MARKERS: RV34,RV23,B95,YG63,E35,E37,B32,0
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Doodlecharms Cricut Cartridge, Scor-pal, labels 9 nestabilities, Spica Glitter pen, Trio Tags nestabilities
COLORING MEDIUM: copics

Altered (Stamped) Candle Tutorial and gift box

Hi everyone! I had a couple of requests to see how I created my holiday candles for one of the new release stamp sets that I showed just a couple of days ago so... I did do a tutorial, but you need to head on over to Lori's blog Clearly iStamp to check it out.

Thanks,

Lots, Lots, Lots, Lots...

Hey all! Wow, do I have a lot to share with you today. I can't ever figure out if I should do separate posts or everything in one. I'm assuming most of you like one post especially if you get e-mail or blogger alerts - less mail in the box. If you have an opinion please share...

Just a quick statement reminding you that all the new releases are available for purchase at Clear Dollar Stamps plus even more goodies, such as.... new Basic Grey in 6x6 pads AND 12x12 pads - wowee, matching brads, new stickle colors, and if you don't have time or don't know how to crochet, there are crochet flowers available at the store made by me :)

I've got a couple of examples to share with you. You've got your choice of white and natural for now and the flowers are approximately 1" in diameter.

This first card uses some Papertrey ink designer paper... thank you (you know who you are), its just beautiful and a Close to my Heart sentiment. The paper flower was cut in different sizes using my Cricut and the Mini Monogram cartridge with the natural colored crocheted flower at the center.

The first picture is more indicative of the color of the card and the flower.

Here's my 2nd card for you. What can I say, except that this turned out much different than I had envisioned. I was goign for a simpler look, but this is what I ended up with. I started with a stamp set from a couple of months ago called Fruity Fun. The just released set for this month called Tangy Trio works perfectly with this set. I also got to use the antiquing inks from Papertrey ink and I love them. Very smooth and quick to dry. I swiped the edges of my nesty as well as inking up the raised parts of my embossed cardstock. This flower is very white and I topped it off with some twine and a button. I love how it looks with my crochet ribbon too.

The flowers retail 3 for $1.99

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I wanted to also let you know that there is a give away goign on over at Craft Critique. 3 lucky people are goign to get a Bow Easy... go check out the article and leave a comment. Looks pretty darn nifty!


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And finally... I've got the cutest tutorial over at Clearly iStamp. This is the perfect accompaniment for any festivities that you might have for this holiday weekend and throughout the summer. Plus, change up the designer paper and use if for any event! Go check it out and let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday!

Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peek Day #4

Wowee... its day 4 for Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peeks which means... everything will be available for purchase tomorrow!!! I'm so happy to say that, but so groaning because its July already. You know what that means friends... Christmas is just around the corner (insert evil laugh). Seriously thought, that means I need to start thinking about Halloween costumes and stuff.

Ok... off on that tangent again... so sorry. So, the last sets of stamps to be shown today are:

• Porch Conversations
• Patch Pal: Kitty, Skunk, Ducky, and Bunny
• July Stamp of the Month (Tag It)

Go to Clearly iStamp to see the full reveals of all the sneak peeks for the last 4 days.

Today, I've got a little card and box to share with you where I incorporated the July stamp of the Month. Remember that the stamp of the month cannot be purchased by itself, BUT can be earned for free with a $50 minimum purchase.

Each of the tag stamps will fit one of the dies from the Cuttlebug Sliders Set, Spellbinders Double Ended Tags,
and Spellbinders Tags Trio.

So what I did was just create a cute little tag and used one of the sentiments included in the set to add to my little gift box. I then made a matching card and used another stamp and sentiment. This is another great little set to add to your collection.

Make sure to go visit the other DT members for the rest of the sneak peeks.

Linda, Nancy, Cassie, Kim, Sarah, Stacy, Candy, Laurie, Angela, Tori, Shawne

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Recipes:

Box:
ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED: Tag it
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS:Tada Creative Studios
INKPADS:CTMH
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Ribbon, Spellbinders Tag Trio, Scor pal

Card:
ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED: Tag it
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: TaDa Creative Studios
INKPADS: CTMH
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Cuttlebug Die, Ribbon

Last day of school and this and that

LOL... today's the last day of school and my oldest will officially be a 4th Grader at 12:00 or 12:30 when he gets out of school. Don't worry, I don't have to know exactly since he is walking home.

I wanted to make a little thank you for the end of the year for his teacher and this is what I came up with. I grabbed a clear fold up box that I purchased from Clear Dollar Stamps. They are 3 1/2" square and arrive flat so they are easy to store until you are ready to use them. Then, all I did was cover it with some pretty paper, cut a shape out with my nesties so you could see some of the yummy coffee candies inside and voila... easy, but cute container.

I also purchased a gift card to Starbucks and made a gift card holder. I found the most awesome tutorial on Gina K's blog a while back and this is one of my favorite gift card holders. Its so stylish. I just laid it on top of my box and wrapped some ribbon around it. The sentiment on the tag is from a little coffee set from Hero Arts.

All super easy, fun, and just a little bit cute.

Ok, so the "this" is that Lori over at Clear Dollar Stamps just sent out her newsletter that says she added even more items to her Clearance section. You gotta make room for the new :) PLUS, she has a 30% off discount on the highest item in your shopping cart. How sweet is that??

And finally, the "that" is about my Sweet Blush ink from Papertrey ink. In my earlier post, I mentioned that I had a hate/love relationship. I guess it might be more hate because I really don't use it very often. I remember loving it in the beginning, but it really has an odd color now and is pretty pale. So I tend to fill in with other pinks I have. I have the Aqua Mist too and I did purchase the reinker and that seems to fix the problem, so maybe the reinker would fix the Sweet Blush too. I can't say because I haven't done it yet :)

Tool Chest for Dad

Hi y'all. I wish I could say that properly, but you know I never will :) I've got another box tutorial posted over at Clearly iStamp today. I have to say that it turned out super cute and now I just have to find the right gift to put inside for Father's Day from the boys.

I think this box is a cute size, but it would be super easy to do this same thing in a larger scale too. I love actually using up some of my supplies. You have no idea how long I've had this silver embossing powder.

So here are some pictures, and remember you can find all the details HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great Tuesday! School is back in and the holiday is over. I have to say that is was an absolutely fabulous weekend. We might be purchasing a new car to us today too. We sold our Volvo on Saturday (it went very quickly) and are now down to just one vehicle which just won't work for us. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!

1, 2, 3... and some thoughts

Good mornign everyone! Well its the 1st of May, can you believe it? Well, I have to say that this whole Swine Flu Pandemic does worry me and its mostly because I have small children. It reminds me of when the twins were born (they were 7 weeks premature) and we were so paranoid about people and germs. My best friend's school was closed down in CA due to a child getting sick. The whole thing is just scary. The last time the Swine Flu occurred was in back 1918 and 20 - 100 million people died. Clearly that was a long time ago and that number spread is huge, but its still scary.

And then... I don't watch the show that's on after Grey's Anatomy... see I don't watch it enough to remember the name, but I do know about the characters etc. Well last night was the season finale and that itself was disturbing too. I won't get into that... you know what I'm talking about if you are a regular watcher.

Ok, enough of the disturbing stuff. I want to share a really cute little book that I made for the boys to help them get their numbers down. It also unintentional will help them with colors too. I wrote up a little book/product review and a tutorial over on the Clear Dollar Stamp's blog called Clearly iStamp. I love my Bind-it-All by Zutter and I love these cute brads that I used from Lori's store. They were just PERFECT for the boys.

Here's a picture of it and for details head on over to Clearly iStamp.


Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!

Wednesday

Good morning everyone! I am feeling better for sure - not 100%, but definitely better. Today is number 3 for Clear Dollar Stamps sneak previews and I'll be sharing samples of 2 stamp sets. Both are awesome of course (like duh,huh?)

I'm all into florals and I really like this set called Bold Bouquet. I had a lot of fun working with this and got two quite different looking cards. This first one is all girl and I have to be honest that this final version is definitely not what I had planned to do. I had originally planned on doing french knots which I had started, but then ran short of my embroidery floss, but since I had dyed the floss, I didn't want to dye more, etc. etc. so I did use embroidery floss, just in a different way (lol).

I used white floss and then took a Copic marker and highlighted the ends of the floss. I also used a "rock and roll" technique to get the edges of my flowers darker. Here is a close up of the centers of my flowers.

Reciep: ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED: Bold Bouquet, Soil of Prayer CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS:Hollyhock, Blush, Garden Green, Petal (Close to my Heart) INKPADS: same as cardstock ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Embroidery floss, markers to color tips of floss, ribbon

My next card was also really fun to do, but for different reasons. The paper I used is some retired Stampin Up! paper that I loved cutting into. It is so pretty and very versatile.
In this case, I stamped my main flower with Versamark and used clear embossing powder right on the designer paper. It created a thicker weight for my flower and also gave them a really nice shine to them. I added some twine to the SU! buttons that I used to give it some country feel to it.

Here is a close up of the flowers.

Reciep: ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED:Bold Bouquet, Thoughtful Notes (sentiment) CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: Stampin up (retired), Grey wool, Colonial White (Close to my Heart) INKPADS: Grey Wool (Close to my Heart), Versamark ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: SU! buttons, twine, stitching, SU! word window punch
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The next stamp set I'm showcasing is another cute one called Nestled Love. This is just a sweet set and for some reason I have babies on the brain - don't get any ideas either - we are absolutely DONE! This first card is really quite simple, but I just love pink and white together and of course that great edge punch from Martha Stewart. I used glue dots to position my ribbon down, but I just love the curls.

Recipe:
ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED: Nestled Love
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS:White, Bittersweet Basic Grey
MARKERS: Y02, C-1, E35, YR61, Blender, RV10
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS: Petite Oval Nesties, MS Doily Punch, PTI Pink Ribbon
COLORING MEDIUM (if any): Copics

The second item is a box that I made after visiting my Mom. I always go into her craft room and see what she's been doing at her card/craft classes and this is what I saw. I just loved it. The box is 4" square and I used my Cricut to cut the scallop base. I also created this same box in a 2 1/2" square size that turned out really cute too. I think the stamped image is just perfect for a shower gift.

ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED:Nestled Love
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: Sweet Leaf (Close to my Heart) Spring Rain (Papertrey ink), SU! retired
INKPADS:Crystal Blue (Close to my Heart) used on tag
MARKERS: , B45, B12, BG93, B93, Y17, E47, E71, W-5
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS:Scor-pal, ribbon, Cricut, Labels 1 Nestability,
COLORING MEDIUM (if any): Copics

Well that's it for my previews, but don't worry there's plenty of places to go to see more!

Bold Bouquet: Laurie, Candy, Angela and Tori
Nestled Love - Laurie and Candy

Clear Dollar Stamps is also releasing these new sets:

Christian Critters Too: Laurie, Candy, Angela, and Cassie
Words of Gratitude: Laurie, Candy and Kim

Thanks as always for visiting and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Clear Dollar Stamps Day 1 Stamp Previews Cont. - Fruity Fun with Tutorial

Hey everyone! Thanks for scrolling down :) This post is dedicated to super cute and fun new stamp set called Fruity Fun. I've got 2 things to share with you and a tutorial for one of those items. I'll share the card set first and I have to tell you that even though it is simple, I love these little notecards.

This would be something that you could mass produce forever and just hand them out to everyone! I used 4x4 cards and just the strawberry stamp. I love that one. Once you've stamped the strawberry on all your cards, all you have to do is get the sentiment in place and just keep stamping. The alignment will work the same for all your cards.



For the sentiment, I place my stamps where I want them on the card and then gently lay my acrylic block over the stamps. Now, each time I stamp they will be perfectly positioned.

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Now on to my next project. I actually created this little candy holder based on a sketch that Laurie Wilson sent to all the DT members.I used a ton of different colors, but I love the bright and fun dp I created and it just seemed perfect for the Pixie Stiks that I had.

















Start with a piece of cardstock that measures 3.75" x 10.5"
Along the 10.5" side score at 1/2" and 3.5"


Next, turn your cardstock and along the short side score at 1.5" and 2"


Cut inward where shown in the picture below.

Cut circles (your choice of size) these circles are approximately 2 1/2".
Fold in half and use a bone folder to create your crease.

Next, line up your center fold along any scoring line and then score 1/2" on the right side for one circle and 1/2" on the left side for the other circle.


Finish and decorate the front flap of the candy holder.


Then attach your circles so that they wrap from back to the front following score marks.


Punch holes and tie together with ribbon.


So there you have it. You can see some more great examples of this fun set with Lori and Candy, Laurie, Tori, and Linda

And finally, there is one more set being previewed called May Lily of the Valley. You can see previews of this stamp HERE and HERE.

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And finally, its that time again for your chance to get a Guest Designer spot for CDstamps. All the details can be found on Lori's blog HERE.

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Thanks for coming by and visiting and have a great Monday!



Recipe for Notecards:

ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED:Fruity Fun
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS: White, Cranberry,(Close to my Heart)
INKPADS:Cranberry, Black, Topiary (Close to my Heart)
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS:Labels 1 Nestabilities

Recipe for Candy Holder:

ALL CDSTAMPS LLC STAMP SETS USED: Fruity Fun
CARDSTOCK AND PAPERS:Orange, White (Close to my Heart)
INKPADS: Clover Meadow, Orange, Hydrangea, Holiday Red, watermelon, Kiwi, Citrus Leaf, Tulip (Close to my Heart)
ACCESSORIES AND EMBELLISHMENTS:Ribbon, Hole Punch, Oval Punch, Scor-Pal, Circle Nesties