It's so pretty!

Hello,

I know it's been ages. I swear time goes by so much faster then it used to. If only we could slow it down some. At my husbands promptings I took some pics of my playroom for you. Last September our roommate  Karen moved out, it was a bitter sweet thing. One of the sweet items is we had a decent sized extra bedroom at our disposal. I had been crafting in my husbands fortress but it was dark and cramped. :(  So over a period of time I slowly moved everything up stairs and set up what I had. With Karen's income gone we don't have much money for all the fun extra's in life that's one of the bitter moments. We have my grandparents kitchen table that opens up to this huge 8x6 rectangle and I used that as a crafting table but it was really awkward. Then earlier this year my brother was gonna throw this awesome u shaped desk away... jackpot!!!

I talked him into bringing it over and installing it. Then I had the fun of organizing and making a home for everything. I spent hours working in the playroom... labeling separating it was Christmas for my OCD side. :D

Here are some pics for ya, the first side of the room:

The white drawer cards under the desk are from target. Of course the one I was in love with, the 7 drawer, they stopped making for ages then when they started making it again it is only in a 6 drawer option hence the two different types. I have each drawer organized by color. My copics are in these home made shelving units. Dk and I made them out of foam core. I'd love to get these bad boys from Studio solutions  but I'm not that excited to spend the 60+ dollars for them. (Target taught me buy all the ones you need up front, they may not have them again) One day I'll get them just not this day. 

The other side:

The shelving unit is called Gorm from Ikea. I got 2 units and then attached them together with extra shelves.  (The staff made it very clear it wasn't designed for that blah blah blah.. but it's attached to studs in the wall in three different locations. It's not going anywhere) The magazine holders are also from Ikea they house my clear stamps. I've been holding out for Ikea to come out with a pretty blue color but no luck yet so I'm stuck with black and white. 

All I need now is artwork on the walls and a blue ray player for the TV! 

It's all Money

It's funny how time flies. Every day I say I'm gonna blog and yet I don't sorry about that. In February a friend of mine had a birthday. Go friends :D  Dk is awesome about wanting to be apart of the gift giving process and likes to help pick out what ever gift is in store. Which is usually very helpful...we went online and checked out her amazon wish list. Long story short we debated every item. Here's an example.. she wanted a Killers t-shirt for the concert she is going to next week however DK pointed out that at the show they will have unique shirts available so we couldn't agree on that item. What we  finally decided to give her was cash that way she could get what ever she wanted.

Because everyone knows I make cards I have no choice but to make something for her. No pressure there. I wanted to do something fancy with her twenty. YouTube had a great flower origami video which helped me make this:

Because it turned out to be pretty cool I didn't want the outside to be super awesome and the inside to be super boring and drab. Plus after all that work I didn't want to cut it apart so I created a new score mark about a half an inch above the main fold then folded the back to the front... added some decor and ta da:

The paper is from my minds eye. The green strip is American Crafts glitter tape. Let me just say it is awesome stuff! I highly recommend getting some. 

In personal news I'm still working out which I now love doing.  In February my doctor took me off both the blood pressure meds I was on. Woo hoo! Since then I had been on a weight loss plateau which is not very woo hoo and quite discouraging. The good news is I've broken through the wall and have lost another 2.8 lbs. Very Woo Hoo! 17 lbs to a major goal. :D  

Be back soon! 

Katie

Sunshine Days!

Hello,

I made this card awhile back for a friend who left sunny Southern California and moved to Wisconsin. The weather there has had a ton of that snow stuff lately and some of the ladies here wanted to send her a sunny care package. 

It was a pretty easy card using echo park paper. The sentiment is paper smooches and the butterfly is Maya Road.

I hope your having sunny days where ever you are. 

Katie 

Winner Time!

It was a great party! I had so much fun taking pics for the store I forgot to take some for myself. You can find pictures of the day at Stamps Fever's blog. I had a great time getting to know some of the new design team members and hanging out with Mrs. Kelly Marie.

As promised I said I would draw a winner today. I had 56 comments! Wow! Random.org choose #29

And the winner is....

IndyMarch 12, 2013 at 7:52 PM

Oh, look at all those great images you stamped! Love the banner!

{hugs}

Indy

Indy if you would please email me within the next week letting me know which stamp set you would like and where I'm to send it.  My email is quarkykatie (at) gmail (dot) com.  

I wish everyone could win.  

Be back soon!

Katie

It's Party Time!

Happy Birthday Lawn Fawn!!

Welcome! You should have hopped in from Kathy's Blog, if not you can start the birthday hop by clicking here. 

I'm Katie and am lucky enough to be on the Stamp Fever Design team! As you know we're having a party! I adore our store.. I could go on and on however you've got lots of hopping to do so I'll get to the point. :D

The "Legal" Stuff...

Stamp Fever is a charming little store in Orange, California. We carry all things related to the crafting hobbies of stamping, card-making and paper crafting.  We stock a variety of stamps, papers, inks and supplies. We can also provide special orders for items you find online. We offer weekly stamping classes along with demos and make ‘n takes throughout the month.

Stamp Fever participates in the Southern California Shop Hop! Our design team goes all out to deck our store in theme related finery and we always have a charming Photo Op to add to the memories of your Shop Hop experience.

Stamp Fever is hosting a Lawn Fawn 3rd Birthday celebration! The party is on Saturday March 16 from 1-4. If you are in the area, please stop in for a visit and to share some birthday cake with Kelly and Mike, owners of Lawn Fawn. Kelly will share a special Make ‘n Take featuring one of Lawn Fawn’s newest sets “Summertime Charm”.

There will be prize drawings at the party but we don’t want to exclude our blog readers. We will randomly choose one winner from those who comment at The Stamp Fever blog and one more random winner from comments on the Hop Participant blogs. To increase your chances of winning: Follow the Stamp Fever blog in a reader or by email subscription; sign up for our Newsletter; follow Stamp Fever on Facebook and leave us a comment there. Each winner will receive a Lawn Fawn Stamp set and coordinating Lawn Cuts Die set.

Comment to enter prize drawing until 10:00 pm PDT on Friday March 15. The random drawing will take place at the party. The two winners will be announced Sunday, March 17 on the Stamp Fever blog.

On to my creation. I wanted to make something special for our party.. something a little different....

I had no idea this project would take so long, note to self for next time. :D I think it looks pretty cool though. Here are some close ups:

I used almost every LF stamp set I own, the summer distress inks with lots and lots of Copics. The letters are cut with the latest Lawn Fawn paper pink lemonade. I am happy to answer any questions with the making of it. Nancy was kind enough to help out with some of the stamps/die's that I don't own yet. Thank you Nancy I couldn't have done it without you! 

This will be on display at the store for any of you who are able to stop by this weekend. I and the rest of the design team will be there for the party. I hope to see you there. 

Thank you so much for stopping by, next up is the talented Virginia

Happy Hopping! 

If you follow my blog you'll know I'm a giver and what is a birthday party without gifts. I will give away one Lawn Fawn stamp set of your choice to a lucky individual who: 1. Follows my blog and 2. Leaves a comment on this post by midnight PST Sunday the 17th. I will pick a winner using a random generator on Monday March 18th. Good Luck and see you Saturday! 

Katie

My Crazy Idea!

Man time flies. I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of weeks now. 

A little background.. I adore decorating, I don't always get the chance but I love doing it. For years now we have been working/improving upon a garland that goes up one pillar across the room and down the other pillar that we hang during the holidays. It.looks.awesome. Everyone who walks into our home comments on it. The other thing we love about it is it's the perfect amount of light for late night tv watching. If you haven't guessed it I adore the garland. It's the first thing to go up and the last thing to come down. 

I hate taking it down. The room always has this empty feeling once it's gone and I spend the next 10 months longing for it. Here it was the middle of January and I just couldn't bring myself to pull it down. Then it's the last week of January and I knew I had to do something but I just can't bring myself to pull it down. After chatting with a few friends I decided to leave it up year round. So here I am with this crazy idea at the end of January trying to figure out how to bring the topic up to Decay. (Yes we have been married 5 years however I still have no idea what goes though his head and this was a crazy idea. Plus it's his house to and I want him to feel comfortable... blah blah blah anywho I digress) 

The topic went kinda like this... "Decay I was thinking of leaving the garland up year round and decorating it according to the seasons/holidays what do you think?" (I was ready to do some serious convincing.)  His response... That's an awesome idea! I thought... really? Sweet!   So I spent a few days cutting hearts out using the Hero Arts heart dies from double sided paper from My minds eye and decorating them accordingly. This is what I came up with: 

A close up of one heart:

There are 16 large hearts in total. As the garland separates the living room from the dining room they have to be two sided. :D My Bff and I did a craft store run and got 3 red glitter hearts (you can't really see them in the photo). As this is the first year it's kinda sparse but that's ok, I'll come up with some other cool stuff to add to it next year. 

I'll be sure to take photos of the other holidays/seasons. I did get some cute Easter stuff that I'm excited about. 

Happy Valentines day! 

Katie

Stamp Fever Blog

The older I get the faster the time goes, I wish we could slow it down some. I'm sorry it's been a week. I have been in the craft room however it wasn't for crafting. It's a long story which I'm happy to share the details if your really that interested. Essentially I got a TV for the room and spent the last week on the phone with AT&T getting it set up. Long story involving many calls being routed to folks all over the world, it's working now. :D Hooray! 

Stamp Fever highlighted one of the cards awhile back your welcome to check it out just click here. 

On a personal note, I'm happy to report I lost the few lbs I gained during the holidays. :D I'm back down to a total of 45 lbs! Happy Days. 

I hope all is well in your part of the world.

Be back soon.

Katie 

Gel Sticks vs. Gelatos

These cards are for my next class at Stamp Fever (February 2nd at 2 pm). Sometime ago I was asked to come up with classes for a few products we have in the store one of which was gelatos. They are fun however they are expensive and to do a class around them I'd have to buy the full set.... which is not something I wanted to do just yet. Even if I bought the full set sharing them with 10 ladies would be recipe for disaster. After some research I discovered gel sticks. I'll go over the differences in class and do a post about it after my class but I did want to share the cards we'll be making: 

This stamp set is new to Stamp Fever... Flourishes. They are great for coloring!

And old Favorite Hero Arts :D

The class fee is $25 which will include your own set of 12 gel sticks for you to keep! Call Linda if you want to get in on the fun. :D Stamp Fever (714) 974-3552

Katie

The rest of CHA

First let me say CHA was awesome!  So much fun... so much loot... so much everything. The only "famous" person I didn't see was Shimelle. Figures the one person I wanted to actually meet. I emailed her and got a lovely response however I didn't get her actual coordinates. Which is understandable I could be some crazy person. ;) Maybe next year.

For all you How I Met Your Mother Fans I did spot these bad boys...

For the Portlandia fans out there... 'We put birds on things':

Ok let me get serious for a moment the one item I feel in love with and HAVE to get is this:

(Forgive the poor picture quality) This will be the last marker bin I'll ever have to buy. I'm super excited about this. All said and done it's $60 which is cheaper than the last one and it will work better. :D It's made by ArtBin. Hopefully I'll be able to get it soon. 

I didn't photos of the all the new stuff, there was just to much to photograph plus all the companies are releasing photos in their own blogs. 

We discovered some new stamps for the store dare2bartzy and Prickley Pear. We will now start carrying Inky Antics, Darcie's  and Maya Road stuff to. Now to just get that money stuff!

Katie 

Day 1 of CHA

It's the end of day one of winter CHA. The floor wasn't open yet but they began classes. :D I took a Tombow class called pimp my tote. Here is a pic of my tote in the creation process. 

I learned some new uses for their products and the need for a third job to buy it all! I also took a Hero Art's class. That was awesome. There was 2 hours between the two classes I sat down, had lunch and waited for one of the other design team members Lynnette. Shortly there after Shari Carroll and her cohorts walk buy. I have to be honest my inner voice was screaming inside. I couldn't stop smiling but I was able to contain the inner voice. 

What was even cooler was Lynnette and I were asked to show up to the Hero Arts class 30 mins early. Being a doer and a fast learner I picked up the help setting up ball and ran with it. It was a good thing Lynnete and I was there I don't think they would have been ready in time. Here I am setting up and helping one of the ladies then it hit's me I know that voice... it's Lisa Spangler. Without even thinking I blurt out your Lisa...it was awesome. Sally Traidman was also there.  So then to make things even more exciting Shari asks if there is room for Heidi  without even knowing who she was I said "yes of course there is" and I set up a spot next to me. 

LOL so here's the funny part. I start talking to Heidi and asked her if she has a famous blog.. she said she wishes. Yeah.. so come to find out she's the owner of Simon Says Stamp, which if you've been following me for awhile you'd know I love them. She was shocked to know I not only knew about them but have actually ordered from them. We had a great conversation during the class. It was awesome. 

All in all an awesome day. We'll see how tomorrow goes. 

Katie

Come on Friday!

I can't wait til the weekend! It's time for the Craft and Hobby association winter trade show. :D All the new products will be out, new techniques, free classes plus all the big names in the industry will be around! This year I get to go. I am one happy camper. It's a horrible thing to not be able to go and it's even worse when you live 1/2 a mile away from the convention center.

I plan on taking lots of pictures but I did want to ask you, my readers, is there a booth you'd like me to check out for you? Rumor has it there's lots of giveaways is there anything you'd like me to try and grab for you?

No promises of course, I don't know if my bank account can handle me sending catalogs to every follower, butt I will do what I can.

Scrabook.com YouTube site is pretty good about releasing little snipits of the new stuff  from the show floor so keep your eye on that.

Happy Monday!

Happy Friday!

I'm back! I told ya I'd try to blog more. :D Today I bring to you a really cute card. It's not mine it's my sisters Kellee's. She came home for the holidays and wanted to do some card making which I was more then happy to do. While I crafted the cards I'll be using at my next class this is what she created:

She used the large paisley stamp from Impression Obsession. Inked it with black memento ink on white cardstock and colored with copic markers. (I have no idea which colors she used, sorry) The left edge didn't stamp as nice as the rest so we found some patterned paper form Amy Tangerine's sketchbook and added the bow.  The recipient loves bling so Kellee added gems and stickles, which doesn't show up that well in the photo. 

She did a fantastic job! 

Do have a wonderful weekend! 

Happy New Year!

Yea! It's a new year! Although I don't like seeing Christmas leave us. :( There are some wonderful things to look forward to though... spring, summer, birthdays.. just to name a few.

I'm not one to have resolutions I don't need a specific day to change myself I can and should be working on that year round. This year I am making an exception. I'd like to get back into the habit of blogging and figured a new years resolution may help me remember. :D

Here's a thank you card for sticking by me even though I've only blogged a few times the last few months. I will do my best to make sure that changes this year. The flower stamp is from Inkadinkadoo and the card stock is from Hero Arts. Quick and simple!

I wish you the best of years... at least until 2014 comes around :D 

Katie