Request for some of my pictures

 So there has been a request for some of the photography that I have been doing, and I thought that was a great idea :)! Here are some pictures for you :)!



 Here is my youngest child and she is now 5 (going to school in the fall), she decided that she wanted me to take some pictures of her which is rare but when she does she is amazing :)!

 My little Princess :)!

 This is actually how the sunset looked, kinda neat with this HUGE ray of light coming off the sun and shooting up into the sky.

What an amazing sunset this was, I went up the road from me to take this picture am glad I did go check it out :).







Will post some more things later, and I am trying to get back into card making :)! I will be back with more pictures too...

Catherine

Sorry for my lacking posts and card making

I wanted to come on here today to just explain why I haven't been online or making/posting cards anymore, also wanted to apologize for not coming on here sooner to let you all know. Life got picked up, turned upside down and shaken hard..then put back down again for us to put together the pieces!
On August 14th, 2011 my husband and my 2 boys (9 year old and 7 year old) went for a bicycle ride up our road in the afternoon...while I stayed home with our 4 year old daughter and I was battling food poisoning that day too. About an hour and a half passed by, when I started to wonder where they got to..but knew that they probably found some berries or found something cool. The next thing I knew, my two boys came running home screaming at the top of their lungs...I thought my middle son had fallen and hurt himself. I soon found out that no it wasn't him, but that it was my husband...he had fallen off his bike (Still don't know what happened to this day), he wasn't breathing or moving but was bleeding from his head. I grabbed a beach towel that was by the front door, ran down our road (not even a minute out or driveway) and performed First Aide on Ben when I got to him...luckily my neighbor was home and was already with him keeping him still. My neighbors wife took my 3 kids into her house, while her hubby and I took care of Ben...it took over 60 minutes for the paramedics, police, fire trucks to arrive on the scene. My boys thought that daddy had died out on that road in front of them that day, I can't even imagine what they went through...so scary! I called my parents immediately, to come help me with the kids and I found out that they had JUST gotten home from their cottage 2 second before I called. Then I called his parents, told them what happened...told them to meet me at the hospital because Ben was already on route...and I still had to go get dressed etc. (was in my pj's still from being sick).
When I got to the hospital, I found out that Ben had broken: his eyebrow bone, his cheek bone hairline fracture in his jaw, compression fracture in his spine (T7), multiple broken ribs and a moderate brain injury on top of that. We are still finding bones that are out of place in other spots on him...like his collar bone, his hands/arm...they were more worried about his brain/head than they were about the other things. So now almost 6 months have passed, fractures have healed up nicely but it is the moderate brain injury that we are left to deal with and figure out on our own! Ben is now different, what do I mean? He is moodier, more irritable, his personality is different, when he gets stressed out or overwhelmed he has no filter from brain to mouth (before the accident he wouldn't tell anyone off, now he would). Ben is not the same guy he was before the accident, and we are told that if he keeps working hard or if he doesn't follow the doctor's advice that this is the NEW him we will be left with...not something one wants to hear. When someone has a brain injury the first thing that gets broken is the part of the brain that tells your body that you are OK, and they seem to think everything is about them even if they have a family with kids. It has been a hard long road let me tell you, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! We are taking it one day at a time, have had LARGE amounts of prayer surrounding us non stop and without that I think things would have been different...since the accident first happened and even now I feel at peace, I feel calm and not overwhelmed.  This is the main reason why I haven't been on here making or posting cards...cuz'  I am trying to hold and put our family back together again. That and we are still trying to figure out the ins and outs of who this NEW Ben is, something I think will be an ongoing process!
I have also been busy with my cause for getting children/teens/young adults with Special Needs/Ld's/Mental Illnesses more supports, services, resources in ALL schools across this Province I live in...but also within our communities too :). This cause is going well, and getting heard by important people...who are starting to ask questions, wanting meetings with me etc. :)! I am enjoying this alot, it is one of my passions that I have and it is something to help me get out of the house a little bit from all that is going on here in my home.
I have also decided to get more into photography, I LOVE it a lot and it is my new passion that has replaced my card making for now! I am learning everything I can about it, taking courses, just always having my camera with me wherever I go just in case a perfect picture will pop up...I would love to eventually make it into a home business. I love being able to be part of people's IMPORTANT days, to be able to capture those amazing moments and give them back to them to keep forever :)! I am not one to like posed pictures, although I will do some posed stuff...I am ALL about the candid stuff, because you can capture people and their personalities with them. You don't get forced smiles, or oh no not another picture looks...you get happy and natural pictures...you get to catch a glimpse into who these people really are.
Anyways, I just wanted to stop in and say that I have been thinking about you all...hope you haven't lost your card making creativity or passion like I seem to have done. *HUGS*

Catherine

Sylvia Cook Photography blog Giveaway

This giveaway is for all you photographer friends out there, this is an amazing giveaway you do NOT want to miss out on :)! Please head on over to Sylvia Cook Photography Blog, and enter into this giveaway :), I did...

Thanks for stopping by today, inky hugs for you,

Catherine

Sympathy cards

My mom called me the other day and asked me if I would make her some Sympathy cards for her to give, I think for Sympathy cards they are better if they are handmade as they have had an extra touch to them. To let the person know they are cared about, during this difficult time....just what I think :)!
Here are a few of the cards I made for her, they are simple but it is what she was looking for and wanted....
For this card I used the Hero Arts background stamp and then stamped Inkadinkado Sentiment over top the background image :)!

I used the same background stamp for this card, but I layered the sentiments using one of my label dies from Spellbinders, LOVE this label set. Cardstock for all my cards is from SU (Stampin' Up) and my ink is Archival. 

This card is made by all SU products, I used the SU stamp set called Watercolor trio and all the ink I used is also SU ink :)!

Thanks for stopping by, I promise I will be back with more cards that have more detail to them :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Unmounted stamp storage

Okay, so I need to improve upon my crafty area and make it more effective and more crafty friendly!  I am in need of some ideas for how to store one's unmounted stamps, I have several small rubbermaid containers that I keep mine in. I am in need of change and so I thought I should ask all of you :)!  So how do you store your unmounted stamps and I don't mean Sweetpea stamps got that covered it is all the others like Hero Arts etc.

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Christmas cards

I received 2 beautiful handmade cards, from two of my crafty friends Tracy H. and Anita Hovey :)! Am impressed with the two of you, for getting your xmas cards made and out...when did you get them done??
Here is Tracy's card:

Ty, so much Tracy for this card...love the layout you used :)!  I used the easel card idea to create an xmas card for a friend of mine, which I will post below in this post....

Here is Anita's card:

Ty, Anita for your beautiful card (saw the one you gave Bernie and Wendy too, beautiful card too)!

Here is the card I created using the easel card idea I got from Tracy's card she sent me:

Thanks for stopping by, and Merry Christmas from my family to yours! Be safe and savor the moments together, and Happy New Years :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Blueberry Hill Pompom hat Giveaway

Please, hurry on over to Pamela Toppings blog and check out the giveaway she is having...she is giving away a Pom Pom hat by Blueberry Hill :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Win the Slice Elite over at the Crafty Charlestonian blog

Head on over to enter to win the "Slice Elite" over on the Crafty Charlestonian blog hurry before it is too late!

Thanks for stopping by,
Catherine

Stamping on Shells

So, I have been meaning to and have also been asked to post my shell that we did during the first class I taught about a month ago. The shells we used were Scallop shells, that Anne (Tabitha's Treasures owner) picked up from somewhere local and she washed them (bleached them too I think) and let them dry outside. I was given a few of these shells a few weeks before the class to play around with the shells to see if they could in fact be stamped on or painted on, the first couple of shells didn't turn out that great.  With some practice (I was glad I had a pile of these shells to play with in case one broke or didn't turn out), I managed to do 3 shells that I was happy with to teach the class how to do.
If you are planning on trying this project out, I would recommend that you have a few extra shells and that you use see through acrylic stamps or stamps that you can rock easily over the shell to get a clean crisp image from.
I stamp set I used is from There She Goes (can't remember what it is called right now, sorry!), and it was really easy to use and was glad that it was see through so one could re-align up the stamp again in case only part of the image showed up. Once we all stamped our images onto the shells, we painted the images in using SU Watercolor crayons or Tombow markers with a watercolor brush and with either one of these methods you have to make sure you don't have too much water on your brush or things will run/bleed. This is even more the case with having the shell as your medium, the grooves in the shell provided great little ramps for your paint to run down! Once we all colored in the images, let them dry, we sprayed them with a protective coating so they wouldn't run or bleed if they got wet again... and some of us even sprayed on some shimmer to make it sparkle a bit.

Thanks for stopping by,
Catherine

Question for all you techies out there

I am working on a new an improved photography blog, the other one that I had been posting on wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Anyways, I am wondering how one posts on the separate pages you have under the "tabs" at the top of the page??? I have tried everything that I could think of, so here I am asking all you lovely people :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

3 X-mas tags

  Here are the 3 Christmas tags that I showed 3 lovely ladies how to make, we also did a small card as well...haven't taken a picture of the card yet, will do that tomorrow for you all :).  I will be doing another tag class next Saturday starting at noon, at Tabitha's Treasures probably some different tags but we will have to see how my week goes.  These ladies were very excited about seeing how easy it is to make tags, especially if you have Spellbinders dies, a Cuttlebug, and of course Cuttlebug embossing folders :)!
   I found "Bakers Twine" at Michaels for about $7, the colors they had were Red, Green, Brown and there are 6 spools in total you have 60 yards I believe the box said. This is what we used for the string on our Christmas tags, the ladies had never heard of "Bakers Twine" and were going to go get some themselves.

Thanks for stopping by,
Catherine

Great News

I am excited to share with you that there is a new little crafty store out near me, it is called "Tabitha's Treasures" it carries mostly Scrapbooking things but she is starting to carry other products like Spellbinders. Anyways, I went in a few months ago and talked to Anne (the lady who owns/runs the store) and she asked me to make a few different cards to have in her store to decorate it/to give people ideas/to sell if people wanted my cards. Then a week or two later I get a call from her asking me if I would be interested in teaching some classes there in her store, I told her that I was very interested in teaching some classes.
The first class I taught was stamping on Scallop shells, with beach themed stamps ("There She Goes" stamps) as well as coloring in the stamped images on the shell with SU watercolor crayons. We had 4 wonderful local ladies come out to this class, these ladies either were Scrapbookers or they were basically beginners. They all did really well, considering they were all basically beginners and they left with a new found confidence which is what I was hoping :)!
A few weeks ago I was asked to do another class, this time would be Christmas tags/cards themed class and we have possibly 5 people coming out to this mornings class. I am excited to show these ladies the many easy Xmas tag/card possibilities there are, hopefully get them all hooked :)! Today we are making 3 tags, all of them different and if we have time a small xmas card which I decided to not totally make up for them. Have them use some of my crafty tools to create their own card, sure I cut out some pieces but left a few of them to do...I want them to use my Cuttlebug to emboss and for them to use Spellbinders. I will let you know how things go this afternoon :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

cards, cards, and more cards

  I know I am such a horrible blogger over this past year, but on a good note I think I got my "crafty groove" back :D! I had to make 11 cards for a friend of my Mom's, she wanted me to make her "Thinking of You" cards and also a few "Thank You" cards...so I finally got around to doing them.

The first 2 cards I made I thought she'd like a Christian sentiment written on it, as she is a Christian and has several Christian friends whom she said she'd like these cards for :).

I wanted this card to be bright and to have tons of flowers on it, I also wanted to use my new Spellbinders dies too...

For this card I used a SU Set that I haven't used in a while, but knew it would be perfect to use and I also used the new "Polka Dot" Cuttlebug embossing folder.

I used the SU stamp set called "Friends Forever", I stamped the flower image out twice the second image I stamped I cut out and used a dimensional to attach it on to the first flower image. I also used some "bling" in the middle of the flower to make it sparkle.

I decided to make her some what of a simple/easy card, that she could write in herself :)!  This patterned paper is shimmery, the floral pattern is white in color and shimmers makes the paper even more beautiful...

I found this patterned paper in my patterned paper drawer, I found a pile of patterned paper that I haven't used yet and thought this patterned paper would be perfect for my mom's friends cards.

I LOVE this patterned paper, it reminds me of the Unity Stamp set called "Feel the Joy" and the cross is a stamp that I picked up from the $1.50 bin at Michael's. Lately Michael's has been carrying several beautiful stamps that are wood mounted, I picked up a few new X-mas stamps the other day :)!

Here is another "Thank You" card

This beautiful purple (I know I used a different color from my usual green colors, lol) patterned paper also came from the same drawer as the other floral paper I found. Was thrilled to come across this patterned paper because it was different and fit what I was looking for to use on the last card :)!

Thanks for stopping by :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

A Photo Contest that I have entered and I NEED your help

  Friends of mine have started a wonderful card company called "Slingshot cards"(you can find them on Facebook), they decided to get the word out there about their new business by hosting a contest. I decided to enter it, in order to enter I had to enter 3 of my photographs I took and then have to get people's votes :)! This is where YOU come in :D, I need you all who follow my blogs to go and vote for my pictures that I have entered into this contest. You have to go onto Facebook, "like" my friends group page and then "like" the three pictures that I have entered...the 3 pictures I entered are a firebush (pink flowers), a Chickadee, and a Waterfall scene.
Here is the link to one of my pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=455387407085&set=a.447679942085.237348.190264087085

Thank you so much for taking the time to vote, and for your help by voting!!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

New X-mas card

 Sorry I haven't been a good card blogger, life happened and I needed a break from being crafty...to a) find my crafty mojo and b) to be able to work on getting my middle son ready for grade 1.
  Here is a Christmas card I made using the "Shapeabilities Pendant Kaleidoscope" dies to make this card, and I did use a card I received from last years Christmas card swap from Kim Prince for some ideas. I got this die set this weekend, for a thank you for doing a workshop out here at a crafty store by me and boy was I excited to see this set :).

Thanks for stopping by,
Catherine

Craft Gossip blog is having a stamp giveaway

Please hurry on over to the "Craft Gossip Blog", because they are giving away a beautiful stamp set, hurry on over and check it out :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Teacher's Gifts

I finally figured out what I was going to do for Teacher's gifts this year, I was at a Dollar store the other day and came across these really neat looking mugs. They looked like clay pots (but with a handle), so I thought that it would be perfect for the teachers if I filled it up with something in one of those little cellophane bags you can get. I went to Bulk Barn, got a PILE of truffles and left there pretty happy with myself...now to go home to create this special gift :)!
I had several teachers to do: My oldest son just had 1 teacher, my middle son has 2 home room teachers that split teach, his Learning Center teacher and his Aide. Plus, I had my son's bus drivers which there are 4 of them and knew this idea I had would be quick and easy to do :)! For Ethan's teachers I wrote a little note that went something like this:
  "The other day I was out running errands when I came across these mugs, they reminded me of clay flower pots and how they help flowers/plants grow by supporting them. They support them by holding them together so they can grow big and strong, then we can transplant them into a garden outside! I then thought of all of you who have taught E* this year, how each of you helped him grow with all the supports he needed and helped him get to where he is now. You haven't just done this with E*, but with all of your students every day and every year! With that we thank you for everything you have done, and each time you take a sip from your mug you will be reminded just how special you teachers are."

I just found out that we are losing our Learning Center teacher that has helped E* excel in so many ways, which is hard because she has that passion one needs to do what she does and you can tell she really truly cares for each child. We are sad she is leaving us, but hope that the person who is replacing her has that same passion and is just as good as she was...will be hard to replace her that is for sure!!!


Inky Hugs,
Catherine

My new blog "Pictures of You"

Just wanted to let you all know I have started a new blog called "Pictures of You", it is something several of my friends have been asking me to start and so I decided to seize the moment. Hope you will pop on over and check it out, let me know what you think :)!
Don't worry I am not stopping creating cards and other fun crafty things, I am doing this other blog in addition to my crafty inky blog :)!


Inky hugs,
Catherine

"Dragon Luck" Sweetpea stamp

I decided that I would challenge myself and use all of the Sweetpea stamps I have to make cards, so on that note my next stamp in my binder of "Sweetpea goodness" I have the stamp called "Dragon Luck". Thought I would do something a bit different with this card, I thought I would make the base of the card to look like a Dragons scales and so I used different colors of green card stock I had in my scrap stash to make it. Turned out really well I think :)! Almost forgot, I also used Glitter Ritz (blue tint) on the flower the dragon is holding to add some sparkle to the card :).
The next "Sweetpea" stamp I will be using is called "Time Flies", thanks for stopping by :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Josh and Erin's Wedding card

My dh's cousin Josh, was getting married and we needed a card to go with the gift that we got them....luckily I just got the SU set called "Blissful Bride" that I could use for this card. You can't tell from this picture, but I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder called "Victoria" on the scalloped black circle which they used on their wedding invitations. The patterned paper that I used came from a pad of patterned paper called "Super Paper Pad" by Family Ties, it has tons of gorgeous patterned paper but the paper is thin not thick which was a bit disappointing :(.

Inky Hugs,
Catherine