Friday, June 29, 2007

The Price of Love

= $894.94 +$11.50 for binding.

Yes, I had my catty spiral bound and I have already started writing in it (lightly in pencil). Notes like "little pieces too"next to the Don't Miss It note on page 95 and "works with whimsy wheel pg 101" next to Stem Sayings on page 133.

I haven't gotten must sleep lately, I forget to eat, the things I need to do (bills, cleaning, watering the garden - it looked like rain I swear) have not been getting done since I got the new catty. It's like I'm 15 and in love for the first time. But in a way it's like that. I am a newish demonstrator looking to bump it up a notch with this new catalog. I'd like to demo beyond my circle of friend and meet new people.

I have been working into the wee hours getting door prize and hostess gifts together. A lot of stamping on a small scale -small cello toppers and ink pad belly bands. It's been fun but when you have to go to work in the morning it's a bit silly to be stamping into the wee hours of the morning. The last few days when I go to bed I just lay there thinking, "now" and that doesn't work so I get up and I work.

Now on to the money bit. I am so completely anal or is it just lazy or is it bad with math or is it... Well whatever it it I have put together an excel spread sheet I call wish list. I enter the item number, the name, the quantity and the price and it figures out the tax for my area, S/H and adds it all up (after I enter the info for about 4-5 items — it needs to learn the macros apparently) and the program gives me my in-hand cost per item and also give me a grand total. My grand total initially is $894.94. This is an impossible number for me right now so I will have to choose the most important items like the CROP-A-DILE.

July 1st the order goes in for the CROP-A-DILE, property lines (which fit perfectly on Avery lables) and the My ABCs wheel. I'm hoping it will help my son when he writes his greetings in the cards he makes. All the letters are there but they are all over the place and it looks more like letter practice than actual words. The only word that is readable is his name.

I'm sure I will get other things but I need to pace myself. Well I've done it again it's 2:39 am and I am sitting her typing to you. BTW if you are interested in getting the demo wish list spread sheet let me know by commenting here or emailing me (katemadedesigns@sbcglobal.net). I can tailor it to non-demos too but I haven't needed to yet.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Great Restraint - almost

I was going to go home for lunch today and clean. The place is in need of a good scrubbing. Dishes, bathrooms, floors, the works. I was going to go to my Pack & Ship place and pick up my orders on Friday. There should be several boxes and a couple of envelopes there by then.

I tried to call to see how may packages had already arrived and there was no answer, that's odd. Hmm. I should go see if Bill (the guy that runs the place) is ok. Yeah right, I should go see if my catalog is in. And…it was! with a bunch friends! - 3 boxes of catalogs. Woo Hoo. BTW Bill is fine.

So now did I show great restraint when I got home and set to cleaning the place and making it beautiful for next week's holiday activities. Yeah right. I looked at my catty and forgot to even eat, that's how cool it is. There are some beautiful things in this one ladies (and gentlemen).

I did show great restraint in the end. I left it at home so that when I was at work I would be able to work.

Catalog spoilers

If you have a child learning to write, as I do, there is a wheel, and 3 stamp sets for you.

If you liked the Baroque Motif in the preview catty then this catalog is going to thrill you, there are so many things that go with it, stamps, wheels, papers. I'M SO EXCITED.

Like tools? This is the place, so many new punches and tools.

Embellishments your thing? The new ribbon is gorgeous. The pretties kit is a must see and if you like to add brads and are into bling the new fire and ice brads are for you.

Need to get your own catalog?
Email me at KatemadeDesigns@sbcglobal.net to reserve yours.
Book a party and it's your free, spend $75 in an individual order and it's your free.

Mention this blog when booking a party in July and get an additional free gift.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

New Stamps!!!

I got my preorder and as always second guessed myself as I was mounting the stamps. I've seen beautiful samples using the stamps I got, could I do something like that? Well maybe, but I know I can do what I bought them for. These cards are the reason I got the garden silhouette set.

I love Chocolate chip together with cool carribean - yum. The cool carribean stamped off on the background may not be visible in the picture but it really adds to the card. I think it looks rather elegant. Though when I do it again I will probobly not be putting "lovely" on it.









I had a bit of extra wide brown ribbon - almost as nice as the new ribbon coming to the catalog - and decided to put it on the second card along with the canvas background on apricot appeal. My son likes this one better than the first one.








The third card is the reason I bought the wheel set instead of the vase set. "A little bird told me" is a bit too long for the word window punch but if you cut the strip to the proper height you can put only half in the punch to round the ends. The garden silhouette on the background is a nice touch. Still love the bird from Natural Beauty. Not getting rid of that set any time soon.

These are incredibly simple designs but I make simple, hopefully elegant, cards.

I have a slew of other creations to post but need to clean out the memory card on the camera to photograph them. Also I've got to pick up my duster and finish cleaning in here. It's another day and I need to get busy.

How to clean a craft room

Step 1: Put on music that moves you. Forget Enya and Yanni, go for something with a beat you can dance too.

Step 2: Gather your tools. It helps if you can carry the entire arsenal in one tote.

Step 3: Remove all chairs. Chairs will call to you to sit, and sitting leads to crafting which leads to more messes. Avoid sitting at all costs.

Step 4: Put a box (or bag) at the door of the room for things that belong elsewhere. When you come across a magazine, toy, empty water class, etc that belongs in another room put it in the box. Do NOT put these things away while cleaning the craft room. You may become distracted by the other dirty dishes, a pile of laundry or toys that need to be dealt with and never get back to the craft room. Stick to one room at a time.

Step 5: Put the obvious (read chunky) things away first. This is not the time to organize your pile of scrap papers into color families. Put the stamp sets, ink pads, acrylic paints, Xyron machine and Cuttlebug away and put all scraps in a box together to deal with later.

Step 6: Clean the room in a circle. Start at the door and work your way around the room. If you are distracted by a child’s skinned knee or a phone call set your duster down where you are and when you return you can resume your circular journey.

Step 7: Carry a wastebasket or garbage bag with you and toss things as you go. The punched scraps from your handheld punch, the bits of ribbon too small to tie and adhere with a glue dot. The Fly Lady says dump 27 things – bah! Dump as much or as little as you like just make sure the things you keep have a place to go.

Step 8: Answer the phone, it’s your mom and she has a lot to say. Lay on the floor for this marathon conversation – your chairs are in another room. Get up when she says she is tired and wants to go to bed. Check the time, look around, admit defeat, retrieve chair, make several cards using punches that make small bits of scrap. Crash when you are too tired to stamp straight.

Tomorrow is another day.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Cry Eye

I want to post the cards here on my Splitcoaststampers gallery and SCS is all F* up. I feel bad for the guys working on the servers there but I want to post and see posts. NOW. ARGH!!!!

Enough is enough

Hopefully 4 posts in one day and slew of cards view is enough for y'all (Carla). It's quarter to 3 in the morning and I need to nap before work tomorrow. (I napped when I put the boy to bed that's why I'm posting so late). I'll try this again tomorrow night (or not) no more promises. But I do have new rubber - my preorder is in and I'm anxious to get the scissors out and mount these puppies but again saving it for later.
g'night.

Slinging Bling for Mother's Day

My mom loves sparkly things. Her new favorite word is "BLING" it's a bit weird hearing her saying it but whatcha gonna' do?
Knowing her penchant for glitter I made her a happy sparkle card for mother's day. Unfortunately the batteries in the camera died when it was time to photograph that card.



We got a shot of my son's card in the "before" state. After this photo was taken the "bling" stickers that are to the right of the card were placed on it so instead of slinging string Spidey is slinging bling. He loves super heros and wants to keep all the comcast cards that come to the house with Spiderman on them. So this card is a show of love because he wanted Nana to have something he really loved.
My mom received several cards for Mother's Day from her kids and grandkids but this is here favorite

For her hen friends



I have a coworker who has a group of friends she calls her "hen friends". I knew I was going to have to make her a set of chicken note cards for her birthday. I borrowed the "Best of Cluck" set from my upline (thanks Sarah) and had the chicken wire bg stamp so I was set.



I used all the tricks on these cards Gamsol, in-colors, the color spritzer - all fairly new things for me. (I know it's crazy that the '07 in colors are "new" to me but I'm fairly new to SU! and wasn't interested it something that wasn't going to be sticking around until it dawned on me "These won't be sticking around and aren't they wonderful." duh!) I am very pleased with this set of cards and hopefully her hen friends will like them too when she sends them out.

Kayka's Birthday

My son couldn't say my sisters name when he began talking and called her Kayka instead of Monica. She loved having a different name and was so disappointed when he said her name properly. She told him to call her Kayka all the time and now I rarely think of her as Monica. She is, and forever shall be Kayka.



These are the cards we made for her birthday. She has a thing about chickens so my son's card features a chicken. He loves to color stamped images (coloring books, pictures on scrap paper). He chose the chicken and I stamped it. He stamped the feet and chose the colors from my scrap pile.
My card features both way blossoms with a layer of crystal effects on it. I had never used crystal effects before... I'm liking it. The designer lable punch doesn't get nearly enough use in my house. Looking forward to getting on of the new catalog's hostess sets made just for this punch. I'm such a tease.

Finally it's Tomorrow

Tomorrow Never Comes
That's what a good friend titled an email in response to my last post. So these posts are here for the general stamping public but most especially for a friend who will put my feet to the fire and make me keep my promises. Love ya Carla.


Gift Card Birthday
This card was for a co-workers birthday. Her staff asked me to create a card to hold a gift card so I made this cute 2 pocket purse.



Stamp a Stack Samples
I learned a lot from my first Stamp a Stack event. First, I have a tendency to make things a bit too complicated but my guests did a fine job of rising to the occassion. Second, I am too much of a procrastinator. Third, I need to work on my time estimating skills. I'm a faster card maker than a beginner and need to remember that when designing for other people.
Here's a couple of tips: A "U" is a "U" front and back. Stamp the "U" from All About U on the back of patterned paper and cut it out for a clean decorative letter. When cutting out the "U", use your 1/4" punch to get a nice clean cut at the bottom of the inside of your letter.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Vacation's all I ever wanted...

I have wanted a real vacation for a long time. I don't mean sun, sand and surf (I burn too easily, don't like grit in my shorts and can't swim), I mean no work and no kid. I love my son but I needed some time to do for me. Well this is the end of the week of me. It was also my BIRTHDAY week. I had a good time cleaning (imagine that) and seeing friends and stamping (I had 3 workshops this past week -- I think I'm done for the month). I even got a birthday massage.

My son had a good time at grandpa's house. They were very busy going to the kids wooseum, the play park, the zoo and kayaking. And the most important thing for my son this week -- cable TV. Disney channel and Noggin were big hits.

I wanted to post every day of my vacation. I have enough pictures to do that, but now I am in my old bedroom 2 states away from my computer wishing I had gotten all the things on my to do list. I will have to work around our regular schedule again to finish all the projects I started.

I promise tomorrow night there will be pictures. I don't want this to be a monthly blog but looking at the last post date it's become that. I wish I were more disciplined about this kind of stuff. Well all kinds of stuff really.