Amy Tan class (Instagram style)

Yesterday I got the chance to meet Ms. Amy Tan!

I drove up to Scrapbook Territory with my fellow scrapbook friends and Instagrammers, Liz and Jossie.  I have always wanted to visit this store, but I've never ventured to drive an hour and a half to do so.

If this store was closer to me, I would be in trouble!

The selection of papers and stamps and everything was AMAZING!!!  I was good and didn't buy too much, but I so wanted to be bad in that store :)

Amy's class kit had so much stuff in it to make the cutest pages.

Amy's mom is the sweetest.

Here are two of the three layouts we created in class.

I cannot believe how perfect the first layout was for the pictures of my niece Kali.  Amy's sample had "Cali" on the tag and I just changed mine to use the "K".  And her bathing suit matched the layout papers perfectly.  The ladies said Amy and I must have planned it :D  ha ha ha

The third layout was a "Project Life" type page, but I haven't added pictures to it yet.

I had a great time and met some new Instagrammers to follow--so many creative scrapbookers out there :D

(photo from Liz)

Project Crochet

I've mentioned a couple of times that I am working on an album with just my crochet projects.

For Christmas, I received a SMASH-like book from Michaels that I am using for the sole purpose to show off all my work.

As I was gathering all my projects to print, I realized how many items I created in the 3 years I've been crocheting.  I was actually amazed at myself.  Yes, there were items that were frogged, but that doesn't mean I didn't spend the time to make it in the first place.

I used Persnickety Prints to print my photos.  I wanted an Instagram feel to the pictures, but I have only posted a handful of my finished projects.  I used the template that Persnickety has available and made 6- 12x12 sheets to be printed with 16- 2x2 prints each.

I added them randomly as I found them on my computer (it also gave me the chance to organize some of my photos into the right folders).

Someday I will have to load them all onto Ravelry.

 

Thanks for looking :)

Project Life~Weeks 20-24 (January)

I have been so far behind on my Project Life.  I've been good in actually taking the pictures daily, but I haven't kept up on the journaling.

At the end of January, I had printed all my January photos, but that is where it stopped.  Last week, I thought I only had a month to print, but it turns out I had 2 months (and a week)!  I sat down and printed them out (most of them were already cropped, just not printed).

The next day, I sat down and matched the pictures to journal cards...I was finally making progress.  For the past week, I've sat and journaled a week some evenings.  Finally have January completed!  woo hoo! 

This month, I tried to stay with a theme...my "resolutions": Health, Spending less/Using supplies, and Organization.

Week 20

(the first page states my "resolutions" what I am focusing on this year)
Wednesday - 1-Focus on Health
Thursday - 2-Focus on Spending Less and Using Supplies
Friday - 3-Focus on Organizing
Saturday - Putting Ornaments away (Organizing)
Sunday - Making breakfast and lunch for the coming week (Health)
Monday - Walking the dog after work (Health)
Tuesday - Send out giveaway and refund of Epson photo (Use Supplies/Offset Spending)

Week 21

Wednesday - Gathering all my Valentine Stamps (Using Supplies)
Thursday - New Cleats for my son and the new baseball season (Health)
Friday - Studio Calico PL kit--I subscribed before the new year and my resolutions (using supplies)
Saturday - 49er playoff game--Hubby got the hook up on tickets (spending less--kinda)
Sunday - You can't go without all the time--as long as you don't eat the whole thing (health)
Monday - Being sick sucks, but eating Ramen makes it a little better (health)
Tuesday - Free wine from work (spending less)

Week 22

Wednesday - New tires on Tahoe (not spending less)
Thursday - El Pollo Loco tacos (spending less and being healthier)
Friday - Cricut and roller date stamp (Organizing)
Saturday - New Beds (not spending less)
Sunday - Boy's bedroom furniture (Organizing)
Monday - Getting rid of VHS movies (organizing)
Tuesday - Drinking water (health)

Week 23

Wednesday - Floor heater at work (health--not getting sick)
Thursday - Using Cricut markers and Craft Room (Using Supplies)
Friday - At Ikea (Organizing)
Saturday - Clean Kitchen (Organizing)
Sunday - Clean bedroom (Organizing)
Monday - Kids making Honor Roll (Healthy for their brains)
Tuesday - Husband going back to school (health)

Thanks for looking :)

April is Sarcoidosis Awareness Month

Back in November, I posted a personal entry...something I normally don't do, and today I am going to post another non-crafty story of my family.

 

What is Sarcoidosis?

"Sarcoidosis (pronounced SAR-COY-DOE-SIS) is an inflammatory disease that can affect almost any organ in the body. It causes heightened immunity, which means that a person’s immune system, which normally protects the body from infection and disease, overreacts, resulting in damage to the body’s own tissues." ~StopSarcoidosis.org

Haven't heard of this disease before?  I think you might have...the following celebrities have died from complications of Sarcoidosis (you don't die from Sarcoid...it just ruins organs and makes it harder to recover from certain illnesses).

Michael Clark Duncan
Bernie Mac
Reggie White
Van Ludwig Beethoven

Other Celebrities that are currently fighting this disease:

Judge Joe Brown
Karen Duffy
Bill Russell
Tisha Campell-Martin
Evander Hollyfield
Downtown Julie Brown
Floyd Mayweather, Sr.

My (Our) story

The last week of 2009, my husband came back from Reno with a rash all over his body.  Bed bugs?  No.  New detergent?  No.  He finally went to the doctor two weeks into the rash that would not go away.  He went to a dermatologist--got allergen tests done.  And after talking to his general doctor, he also went to a gastroenterologist--got test done.  He had an ultrasound, then a CAT scan, and ultimately, a PET scan.  All showing signs of "lesions" on his spleen and there were also traces in his lungs and in some of his lymph nodes.  First thought is Cancer...even though his blood work was coming up negative for leukemia--that was what the doctor and we thought.

My kids at the time were in 8th and 9th grade...seriously, how was "I" going to get through this.  I had just literally watched my uncle die from stomach cancer on February 4, 2010 and I could not do that again...with my children!

For weeks, we googled different diseases on our own.  We both came across an article about Sarcoidosis.  One thing that stood out to us was on WebMD "Most patients initially complain of a persistent dry cough".  (Yeah, I know it isn't the most effective way to diagnose someone and we aren't doctors, but we searched the web.)  For as long as I could remember, he had this dry cough all the time.  If he was "lost" in a store, you just had to wait a few minutes then you could hear the cough and know where he was.  We both found this information separately.  He brought it up to his doctor who just dismissed the information even though the cough, the rash, the "lesions" on the spleen were all signs. 

We talked to the surgeon and he called the Oncologist while we were there to see if there was a way to get a biopsy done on one of the lymph nodes...but our best bet was to have the entire spleen removed in one piece (which meant no laparoscopic surgery...he was going to be cut open the old fashion way).

On March 4, one month after my uncle had died, my husband went into surgery.  Talk about the longest day in history.  I sent my kids to school and I waited with my husband until he went under the knife.  He was pushed back on the surgery schedule--blah!  But he finally went into surgery.  With me, I had taken some crocheting, a book, and other items to keep me busy...I didn't open the bag...I just carried it around with me all day long.  After he was taken into surgery, that is when people came to sit with me...I was never alone at the hospital waiting.  My mom picked the kids from school and fed them.  They waited.  He was finally out and they made me wait alone (forever!) until the doctor could talk to me...I don't know how many thoughts went through my head..."Why was it taking so long for the doctor to come talk to me?"...

Surgery went fine and even though the doctor couldn't tell me his thoughts, he did give me a hint that he saw the lesions on the spleen and he didn't say it, but I felt like he knew they weren't cancerous. 

Finally at 8pm, we were able to finally see him.  The kids said goodnight to him and went home with my mom.  I stayed a while longer while his dad and some of his friend popped in to wish good thoughts.  I was at the hospital (with the kids, without the kids) for 5 days (Thursday through Monday) until he was finally released.  I stayed home from work that entire week to get the kids were they needed to be and to make sure he wasn't driving anywhere.  After days of waiting, we finally got the call around noon on Wednesday...it was NOT cancer.  We were relieved.  It was a happy day.

Then we had to find out what was wrong with him.  There isn't a test to find out if you have Sarcoidosis...you kinda just have to rule out everything else.  We were finally told he had Sarcoidosis.  Then you do the real research...Celebrity deaths at a young age...Real people complaints are all over the internet.  Maybe having something like Leukemia that you can fight and get rid of wouldn't have been as bad after all.

He has tried Prednisone which didn't help him.  He has had 1 of his lymph nodes removed.  He's had a ton of blood work done.  He's had a bronchoscopy done.  He's seen many doctors along the way.  But currently, he only needs to carry an inhaler for the times he gets short of breath.

The major thing for him is to not get sick because a cold can become pneumonia real quick and without a spleen on top of Sarcoid, it is harder to fight off any sickness.  He has had bronchitis since then and it kicked his butt.  Almost any time he is on a plane, he gets sick (but don't we all).  Last year, he broke his ankle and it got infected...they had to give him a major shot of antibotics right away to fend off the infection. 

But people do go into remission with Sarcoid. His Pulmatologist (yes, he has his own) told him recently that she thinks it is gone from his lungs.  But that doesn't mean it won't come back.  Sometimes he gets a rash on his hands.  Sometimes he feel like his hands are in a vice.  But for the most part, after 3 years, he is fine, thankfully.

Helping others

If you make annual donations to charities and are thinking of donating to a new cause, please look into the following:

www.stopsarcoidosis.org
www.nationalsarcoidosisorganization.com
www.berniemacfoundation.org

Thank you for reading our story :)

Getting Crafty with my Craft Supplies

For the past few years, there have been misting products in the paper craft markets, but I never got into them.

At the Expo, my crop-mates were talking about their Heidi Swapp Color Shine purchases from Michaels.  That is when I thought--what am I missing?

The next day, I went over to Michaels to check and see if I could grab a Gold Lame version, but my Michaels was out.

So I hit the internet to see if I could make my own version of Gold misting with the Acrylic paints I had on hand.

I found different recipes and I thought I had the perfect one.

~cleaned out a bottle that had previously contained stamp cleaner from CTMH (I do not know this consultant, I just found the link to the spray bottle)

~added 1/4 of the bottle with water (I used purified water)

~added alcohol to make the bottle 1/2 full

~added Apple Barrel Pure Gold Acrylic Craft paint

It was kinda watery...the recipe I found used straight-from-the-tube acrylic paint.  I think Craft Acrylic paint has more water to it.  So I had to add paint up to the rim of the bottle.

I think if I were to try it again, I would first put the paint in, then only add a little alchol at a time until I like the consistancy and I would skip the water all together.

It might not be as misty as the ones from the store, but it works for me :)  I've used it a couple of times already and I like the effect. 

Above, I masked the paper with some letter stickers, sprayed the mist, then removed the stickers.

This one, I used some Heidi Swapp resistance paper (courtesy of Crafty Jossie). 

I am wanting to see if I can find some more small spray bottles at the dollar store and make some other colors soon.

Birthday Card

Last week, I finished this card for my Goddaughter (I had to wait to until I gave it to her to post this).

I used my newest stamps and die cuts from The Stamps of Life that I bought at the Scrapbook Expo.

It is a pretty basic card.  I used the Cupcake die and stamp, the "happy birthday" stamp from the princess stamp set, washi tape (from the Target set), and a kraft base card that I cut using a Cricut cartridge -Life's a Party.  The paper used for the cupcake is from some older Basic Grey collections-Lollipop Shoppe-Fruit Punch & Blush-Be Mine. 

This is the first time I tried heat embossing on Kraft paper.  I wouldn't recommend heat embossing Kraft paper...unless I was doing it wrong (which is entirely possible), because it smelled like it was just burning the paper.

Scrapbook Expo 2013

This past weekend, I headed up to Pleasanton to hangout with some scrapbookers at the Scrapbook Expo to shop and crop.

Jossie, Kristen, me (blah!), and Liz

(taken by Cameron/edited by me)

I've know Liz for about 9 years now--we've attended an Expo crop years ago together.  We met Jossie and Kristen via Instagram.  Crazy, right?  (well I did meet Liz via MySpace--way before Facebook was the thing to do--it wasn't a pick-up spot for me--I met my best scrapbook buddy there!)

The price of the crop included a goody bag...here was my choice--I love the brown/pink combo! (now if I will just use it :D )

We had a great time.  I carpooled up with Liz and her daughter Cameron and we left about 4:30 (we got there a bit before 8am).

Here are my shopping goodies:

At first, I really wasn't finding much.  I mean do I really need these brads I got (only $1 per packet, but still!)?  At the last booth (first time around), I found this Amy Tangerine stamp that I have been really wanting.  There weren't very many deals...well let me rephrase that...Unless, you wanted to stay at the same cramped booth digging through items, there weren't very many deals :D  Plus, I have a ton of stickers, letter stickers, paper, embellishments to last me a lifetime, so my head was telling me I don't need anything!

Then I took one last look at the Stamps of Life booth.  I have watched her 30 second cards {in 5 minutes} videos plenty of times and find her hilarious.  The first time I walked by it, it was crazy crowded, so I figured I would circle back at the end--what a mistake for my pocketbook!

First I just had the Cupcake stamps and matching dies.  Well if you spent $50, you got the cute bag...At $32, I was almost there right (ok, in my shopping mind I was!), so I got the Princess crown stamp set--ok, my Accountant calculator was turned off because that wasn't enough to reach my $50 goal--duh!  And for the record, I have no clue what I am going to do with those stamps...so cute, but I don't really have anyone that young to do crowns for...oh well, I will figure it out.  So I needed 1 more stamp set to get the free bag.  I really like this Dragonfly for some reason.  Well not only did I get my free bag ($60 later--blah!), I also got a free ink pad--I was in a hurry because I was holding up the line (well maybe not, but I felt like I was), so I just chose brown.

I have already used the ink--I love it!  I wish I would have gotten more of her inks.  The bag...I am regretting spending so much to get that thing.  It is super cute, but it is huge!  I mean you can't put anything heavy in it because then it would just be heavy and probably break, so I don't know what I will be doing with the bag--that I HAD to have :)  Oh well that was my only real purchase of the day and I haven't bought too much since the beginning of the year. 

Now I just need to use these stamps!

I also received this goodies bag from Liz!  She is so awesome :)  She is definitely the hostess with the mostest.

Oh...what did I work on at the crop?  Not too much...I had a blast getting know my new InstaFriends!  I probably chatted too much--ha ha ha.  I did finally get my Florida trip (from May 2012) SMASHbook completed with the photos and souvenirs, but I have to go back and journal it. 

Most of this book was already started...I only had to finish the last 4 or so pages and the front cover.

The rest of the time, I spent cutting out my 2x2 pictures of my crochet projects (I will share my prints from Persnickety Photos soon).  Yes, I have a paper cutter-- no it doesn't work well...so I manually had to cut them and it took forever.  I wish I would have done that at home so I could have started my book of crochet projects at the Expo crop.

I really hope to get together with this group of girls again soon!

Cricut Craft Room Importing & Exporting

Today, I am sharing how to import and export CCR files.

This one is shorter than yesterdays.  I was trying to avoid moving my mouse around so much...sorry if that is distracting, but it is a nerve habit of mine :D

Hope you enjoy and learn from this.

Intro to Cricut Craft Room (video)

It has been a while since I blogged, but I had a request from my Instagram friend Jossie at Crafty Jossie to show her how to use the Cricut Craft Room.

Here is the video from my 4th attempt.  The first time, my video went over the 15 minutes my camera allowed and the end was cut off.  The second time, it only recorded 40 seconds and I didn't realize this until I finished my tutorial.  Then I finally thought I got it recorded on my camera, but the quality wasn't that great.  

Then I remembered that Cathy Zielske had a recording that just showed her desktop.  A quick google search gave me the answer I needed.  I tried really hard to cut out the um's, but there are still a lot in the recording and I didn't talk too loud at times.

I hope it helps get you started on using the Craft Room.  I know I enjoy using it.

Watch out, because now that I know how to use the recording feature without having to set up a camera, I may bombard you with tutorials :D  I do know that Jossie was also asking how to download the CCR cuts that I made, so I may be doing a tutorial on that soon.

Still dreaming of Crafting...

It has been a while since I posted.  We've been doing a lot of household stuff to get ready for a big party next weekend (Super Bowl :/ ), so I haven't been very crafty lately, but I wanted to blog.

For Christmas, I got this Michael's Recollection Binder/Album.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, but I knew I really needed it.

It is similar to a Smash Book, but instead it has binder rings so you can add more papers to it or move the pages around--which I really like!

I did think about using it to put my Instagram photos in it, but I had over 500 pictures since I started in June 2011 and I knew I wouldn't be slowing down on my photo sharing anytime soon.

Then I thought I would use it as sort of a portfolio for my crocheting.  Perfect way to remember everything I have done, sold, given away...

Persnickety Prints has a template for either 2x2 or 3x3 photos (marketed for Instagram) that print on a 12x12 photo.  Perfect!  I have some of my yarn work on Instagram, but the ones I don't I can still print in small squares.  I choose the 2x2 just because you get more for your buck :D

I realized that I have made a lot more than I remember in the past 3 years that I have been crocheting. I also realized I haven't shared everything on my blog.  So I want to share 3 bags I made in 2010 from this Lion Brand Yarn "Circle Dance Bag" pattern.

I like this one because it reminds me of Raspberry, Orange, Pineapple Sherbert :D  (I still have it--to be sold someday.)

This one I didn't change the color so much in order to avoid weaving in the ends.  In 2010, my husband's work had a charity event and this was given as a prize (along with a scarf and a pack of cards--all individually raffled off--people got to choose if they wanted it and they were a big hit!  Who knew?!?!)

And this one was made for my niece.

The first two bags were made from Lion Brand Cotton-Ease Yarn (Azalea/Maize/Almond and Almond/Lake/Charcoal) and the 3rd Bag was Lion Cotton (Black & Purple) and Sugar N Cream (Mod Blue).

The one change I made to the pattern was at the top of the bag, I used all 3 colors for the "rim" of the bag (the last 3 rows of the project).

I am thinking of doing another one for me in this pattern

The pattern on the pillow...not the bird (ha ha ha).  It is the pillow from The Big Bang Theory and I just love the pattern.  It will be quite a project to attempt, but I think I can do it--when I have some extra time.