I received a blog award!

I'm TERRIBLY late posting this as I was awarded by my good friend, Rae, while I was sick. Rae, please forgive my tardiness in handling this situation! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the award but also our friendship. I feel blessed to have you as my friend. Your work truly inspires me!

Okay, so now I have to give the award to 5 people and post the links to their blogs. So, here goes:

http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/amyr/ Amy Rysavy

http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/ Carolyn King

http://www.scrapbook911.blogspot.com/ Scrapbook 911 Store in SA, TX

http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/ Angie Kennedy Juda

http://www.scrap-mart.blogspot.com/ Scrap-mart.com online store

And of course, I have to add Rae as #6. If you haven't visited her blog, be sure to check it out. She has tons of fresh, inspiring ideas.

http://www.simplyrae.blogspot.com

Thanks everyone for your continued support! Drop me a line after you've visited these sites and let me know what you think! Katie

Big News and a Layout

Hello friends! I know I haven't been blogging as much as I had been and I'm sorry. But, in my defense, I've had lots of good things working. As you all know, I teach classses two different locations and I've been working on samples and such. But, I've also been working on setting up some new accounts. I am now officially a Bind-It-All retailer! YEAH! I'm super excited about this. I've had my eye on one of those machines for quite some time now. I already have 3 classes in the planning stage. So, in honor of my new "business" I'm going to have some great specials on BIA products. Actually, these specials are too great to advertise so if you're interested in ANY BIA products please email me and I'll give you the scoop. BIA is releasing a new product called the Round-It-All on April 1st. This corner rounder comes in two sizes...small which is blue and large which is pink. Can you guess which one I'll be getting? LOL! What I like about this particular corner rounder is that it is shaped like a stapler so you can get a good, firm grip on it. But probably the most exciting is that it is specially designed for using on thicker materials like chipboard and even acrylic!! BIA has acrylic pages available in various sizes for you to make your own sensational acrylic books. Now, you can even round your own corners! How cool is that? Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have regarding BIA products. Since I'm waiting for a Round-It-All for myself, I won't be placing my first order until April 1st (or shortly after) so you have plenty of time to decide what you "need." You can view all their products here.

Okay, enough of that. I promised you a layout and here it is. This layout was created using the Shore Thing collection from Imaginisce. Aren't the colors just fabulous? It's actualy much more vibrant in person.

The chipboard "sun fun" came from my Fancy Pants chipboard pack. I painted it with my Making Memories paint then put a coating of MM's glitter glaze over it. A few groups of red snaps and that's it.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter. Spring Break has ended for us and the kids went back to school today. I have a class tomorrow so I guess I'd better run and get the kits together while Shelby is sleeping. Thanks for visiting! Katie

Good to be back...

I'm sorry that I've been MIA. Last Thursday I contracted that nasty stomach flu that has been going around. I thought I had outsmarted it but apparently not. I was sick and in bed all weekend and when Monday rolled around, I quickly found out that I was still not back to myself. By Tuesday I was better and somewhat back to normal but sadly, very much behind on chores. And to top if off, the kids are all on Spring Break this week so the piles of to do's keep getting higher. But, alas, I have conquered the tower of laundry and found my floors again...until this weekend I'm sure! LOL!

Anyway, while I haven't done any recent crafting I thought I'd share a few pics of some cards I made to send my mom. She has been on a waiting list for Senior Housing for over a year and an apartment finally became available. While she's actually been in her home for over a month now, she is still receiving many gifts and donations from fellow church members and others who are aquainted with my Aunt. So, I thought it would be nice if she had some hand-made thank you notes to hand out to those who are helping her. I sent her 10 but here are a few of my favs.

I think this one may be my favorite. It is a white standard A2 size card and the polka dot and pink are cut slightly smaller. Very simple...which is why I think I like it so much. That polka paper is SEI and I just LOVE it!

Now this card is a mini-note. Again, very simple. I like the scalloped edge and I think the holes give it a little extra personality.


This one is also a mini-note. I decided to use the Kraft cardstock on this one...which I'm becoming slightly addited to. A small strip of MM Vintage patterned paper and a flower with one of the MM Vintage brads in the center. I added 2 clusters of 3 lime green brads on either side to balance it out.


Again, another mini-note with scalloped edges. This was kinda my theme for the day! I stamped the "Thanks so Much" from my SU! Riveting set then stamped it again and popped up the flower in the center. It's almost impossible to tell in the photo but I went over the flower on the tag and all the flower centers on the patterned paper with my clear glaze pen. It was a great subtle touch.

Well, that's all for now...as if it's not much! LOL! I hope you like my cards. My mom received them and she was thrilled. Here's wishing you all well! Katie

Scrap-Mart Weekly Challenge

Miss Essie at Scrap-Mart issued another weekly challenge. This week's challenge was simply to create a scrapbook page of any size and use your leftovers to create a card or multiple cards. Since there was no restriction on number of photos and such, I jumped ahead and created a layout for the pictures Cody will be taking at school this coming Thursday.




And with the scraps I made his teacher a card. She is expecting and is having a boy so it was perfect!

If you'd like to check out the challenges or just take a look-see at what others are creating you can click here. Challenges are posted on Monday and are due by Thursday. Thanks for looking and Happy Cropping! Katie

Any way you 'Slice' it...

Have you seen the new Making Memories Slice machine yet? If not, you definately should check it out. You can see it here. This die cut machine is sooooooo cool! First off, it's Robin's Egg Blue...does it get any prettier? The machine itself is approximately 6x6" and it's battery powered! Yep, battery powered. That means it's TOTALLY portable so you can very easily take it to a crop or even to your kitchen table without any hassle...no power cords to trip on, no arranging tables or sitting alone in the corner to have an outlet anymore! The Slice Starter Kit comes with the following: Slice machine, power cord, basic shapes design card, 6x6" glass cutting mat, 5 blades, a blade replacement tool, and repositionable tacky adhesive. You get all that for only $149.99. The design cards are SD cards so they're so easy to store and like the machine, they won't take up much room. There are four other design cards available for purchase...Basic Shapes 2, Basic Shapes 3, Noteworthy, and Animal Crackers and they retail for $39.99! The Slice can cut any shape or letter from 1/2 inch up to 4 inches. Honestly, for most scrappers or cardmakers, this is plenty big. This was a CHA Winter 2008 release so it won't actually ship until July. BUT, if you want one or think you might, you'd better get yourself on a pre-order list NOW!!! I have already pre-ordered one for myself...and I think I'm going to splurge for ALL of the design cards too. But shhhhhh, don't tell my hubby! LOL! You can send me an email if you have any questions or if you'd like to put yourself on the pre-order list and I'll give you all the details! Happy Croppin', Katie

Awesome Prize Package

I was very fortunate to have won a challenge on the Scrap-Mart.com blog back in January (by default as I was the only entry!). I know I'm horribly late posting this...but since Miss Essie has started some new "March Madness" challenges I figured I'd share with everyone what I received when I won. If you are not familiar with Scrap-Mart.com you can check them out here. They have a fabulous selection of Quickutz, Bosskut and Cuttlebug dies and a great variety of Scenic Route paper and embellishments along with Flair Design, Cosmo Cricket, and Sassafrass Lass. Oh, and I cannot forget the best part...all Quickutz, Bosskut, and Cuttlebug orders receive FREE shipping!

Miss Essie will be posting challenges weekly on the Scrap-Mart.com blog. You can view it here. There are a few rules involved...there must be at least 2 entries for a winner to be declared, and you have to follow the guidelines of the challenge. Trust me, it's worth it! Here's a list of what I got: a HUGE selection of heavy-weight chipboard pieces (a wonderful variety including brackets, nesting paisleys, etc.), a Quickstick picker-poker thingy, a clear Sakura Glaze Pen, a Quickie Glue Pen, a QuickStripz, and 3 Quickutz cookie cutter dies strung on a large strand of bead string. And, lets not forget a hand-made card from Miss Essie, some sugary snacks, and she even stamped the outside of my Priority box so it would be pretty.

So, with a loot like that it's totally worth checking the challenges out. And, if you stop by their blog, be sure to leave a comment...even if you don't participate in the challenges.

Have fun!

Katie