I've been creating, just not posting, sorry

This has been a really crazy month for me. I went to visit my DD's family over Halloween, We had a great time, with the weather turning crisp and the leaves changing into a burst of autumn glory. She lives in a area that is totally natural and in the summer it is hard to find the sunshine, but oh how glorious it is in the fall. Had fun helping with Halloween costumes, attended both school and neighborhood festivials and did some shopping.

What I also did was come home with a nasty cold which flared up my COPD and my chronic broncities and landed me in bed for over a week when I got home.

So now to show you some of the projects that I've done with my crafting ladies that meet here once a month.

Love the easel cards and using Art Philosophy for all the cuts is so simple and easy. I told you I love red plaid and poinsettia, so you will see a theme to my Christmas creations this year. The Believe paper pack is just perfect and of course this is my favorite one in the pack.

Gold embossing the words, just as a pop of glam, don't you think?

Used my silver metallic cardstock and some outdoor denim cardstock and of course my favorite cartridge, AP fir te cuts. Then embossed some of the same silver cardstock with a cuttlebug folder that looked like swirly snow to complete the outside. I've got more to post and will try and get to them later today to try and get caught up. I've just started playing with my design studio software that I was unable to use due to computer conflict and I've been having a great time. Hope you all are having as much fun as I am.

For Jackson

Jackson is my 5 year old grandson, and one of my favorite people. Oh don't get me wrong, I have 4 other equally favorite other grandsons, but this card in not for them. Jackson is going to be going off to big boy school ....kindergarten starting in early September. He will be attending school all day, starting a journey that I hope he will love, learn and laugh through for the next 18 or so years. When CTMH came out with this stamp set, School Zone several years ago,  I knew I had to get it and  I knew I would use it to make Jackson a card...so this one is for him. I won't be there when he starts his new journey but I know my card will be and I know he will be thinking of me when he looks at it.
The new Card Pattern this week was just what I needed to encourage me to make it well ahead of time, so I make sure it gets to him on time. I'm somewhat of a procrastinator and usually leave everything to the last moment, a trait that drives my (have to have it done early) hubby crazy.

CTMH Fanfare Level 2 paper pack X7138B, School Zone, Cricut Art Philosophy, Cricut My World, Black, Barn Red, Star Spangled Blue, brayer, water brush watercolor crayons, cranberry grosgrain ribbon.

Cut the scalloped border using the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge and colored with Star Spangled blue ink and brayer, school building cut from My World cricut cartridge and colored with Barn Red and brayer. One of my favorite ways to experiment with different colors is to cut the images in white daisy and use the brayer to color the cardstock instead of having to load numerous colors of cardstock into the cricut and I can cut everything without having to load and unload. Colored my little boy with water brush and watercolored crayons that I got a craft store. I've had them for ages and don't remember which store it was. The little boy is popped up on the card with foam adhesive. I stamped the inside and left room for a personal note for my not so little anymore grandson. Hope Jackson and you all like it.

Walk for a Cure

This is for my littlest grandson, who turned 2 on Feb. 28, 2011. My daughter posted this and I wanted to support them by re-posting on my blog. Thank you for anything you can do, walk with us, contribute to JDRF, say a prayer for Brian, Joshua and all those affected with Diabetes.


Did you know Type 1 Diabetes can strike at any age for no reason. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person's own body (white blood cells) attack the insulin producing cells (beta cells) in the Pancreas. Due to the subsequent lack of insulin, the cells are unable to use sugars for fuel. Therefore the body begins to starve and will subsequently breakdown fats and proteins for fuel. The by-product of this breakdown is called "ketones". Ketones can make one very ill and can cause death if not dealt with.


Brian, my husband, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in his late 20's. He did nothing to cause this to happen. His body just started fighting itself. We dealt with it. The highs the lows, the finger pricks and testing. This is just what God wants us to to deal with we decided. But then in 2010 that all changed. In Feb 2010 Joshua was only 11 months old when diabetes almost took his life. We didn't know it but his body had begun to fight against itself. When Joshua went to the hospital we were told he had made it just in time. his body had already begun the "shut down" process and he was in severe DKA. (Diabetic ketoacidosis). They said it was just a matter of a few hours. Joshua's initial BG test was 1240. (his normal range should be between 100-200). After several days in the PICU and then on the Diabetes floor. Joshua came home. he is now a lively 2 year old boy who loves to play and run and bounce. The difference is that Joshua's body is going to forever fight against itself. Joshua receives app. 10 blood checks a day including over night, from his tiny fingers or toes. Everything he eats or drinks must be weighed or calculated and then a shot is given with life saving insulin. Everyday Joshua battles highs and lows which cause him to feel miserable and can lead to deadly consequences.

We are so thankful to live in a country where we can have access to the medicine we need to keep him alive but Insulin, is not a cure. We are lucky that when the time is right for Joshua we can gain access to a pump for his insulin to help reduce the number of shots he gets a day, but again this is not a cure. A cure will mean that he can be free, free to do what every other little boy does and not be worried about running to much or not enough. Free to get an ice cream cone with out the calculations and risks of high or low blood sugars. Free to sleep an entire night with out being woken by a needle prick. Free to know that no other children will experience what he has in his life. Free to say I used to have Type 1 Diabetes. Then and only then will we have a cure.

Here is how you can help:

1) You can join our Family Team known as "Joshua's Rock Stars," which consists of family and friends who donate and/or collect pledges and walk with us in support of Brian and Joshua. Please contact Shannon at shannondaviscmc@gmail.com or go to JDRF.org to register. We are hoping to have Rock Stars T-shirts for all walkers. Please let me know if you are planning on walking and t-shirt sizes by Monday,September 5, 2011. The WALK is on Saturday October 22, 2011 at the Virginia Beach Ocean Front.

2) You can send our family a tax-deductible contribution made payable to "JDRF" or donate online right HERE. Any amount is OK ...every $5, $10, and $20 helps to fund less laborious treatment regimens and hopefully ... ultimately ... A CURE.

3) You can share this site with family and friends.

WONT you help us. Join our walk team, raise money along side of us. Spend the day with us on 10/22 to help find a CURE for Type 1 diabetes.

THANK YOU!

With love - Brian and Shannon Davis

Studio J layouts

If you haven't tried Studio J for your scrapbooking layouts, then you are truly missing out on a jewel to time management. I was not real sure that this "digital scrapbooking" was for me. I'm ok on a computer, in that generation where it doesn't come natural, but I muddle through and do ok. I thought that this would be hard to navigate, hard to achieve results that I would be proud to put in my albums. I retired this year because of my health and knew I would have tons of time to pull out all the paper, pictures, embellishments, diecuts that I have been stockpiling for eons to finally get caught up with my albums. Not! The biggest problem has been that with more time on my hands, I also have more time to make those priceless memories that I want to preserve. So it's like a vicious circle, more time = more memories=more pictures=more scrapbook pages to finish=less time to finish them. Then I discovered Studio J. It is easy to navigate, easy to customize, easy to finish a layout and then easy to print and put into my albums. If I decide that I want to add more brads, ribbon, buttons, that is something that I can do too.

The day that won me over to Studio J, was one day when we had a huge snowstorm. Ok if you live in upstate New York, it wasn't huge, but if you are in southeast Va. then you know what I mean. Anyway, my puppy dogs didn't know or didn't remember what snow was and they had a blast. Since my nest is empty except for them, they are my subjects for snowdays now. Out came the camera and I got some really good shots of them. I decided to try out Studio J for a couple of layouts. I was shocked that I had completed (3) 2 page layouts of them playing in the snow, complete with embellishments, and journaling and they were still wet. But don't take my word for it, give it a try for free. Yep you can go to my website http://www.janeo.myctmh.com/mh.com/, click on Studio J and then "try it out" you don't even have to register. When the Studio J screen loads, create a new project, name your project and follow the steps. Only when and if you like what you have created do you purchase the product. CTMH will then print it and mail it to you. Want to learn more about Studio J, give me a call. I've got tons of links to tutorials that will show you how to customize your layouts with the click of a button and I'd love to work with you one on one.