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

CTMH Art Philosophy cricut images

This is just a smidgen of the cuts that you can make with this wonderful new cartridge, a Close To My Heart exclusive. Check out all the different images that you can cut and just imagine with all the sizes available on your cricut the possibilities. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

So many tages, flowers, 3 D flowers, boxes, cards and envelopes, borders and accent pieces. I'd love to show you this cartridge in person, just give me a call. You can purchase this cartridge along with the 3 coordinating stamp sets and the chipboard elements created to go hand and hand with this cartridge. Purchase during August and you can purchase the August Stamp of the Month for only $5 and also receive the A size stamp Type Set for Free. check it out at http://www.janeo.myctmh.com/.

CTMH Scallop Punch

CTMH scallop punch, Z1392, is so easy to use and is one of the most versatile accessories to add that something extra to your cards, scrapbooking and paper crafts. Thanks to an extremely talented Close To My Heart consultant Brenda Freichs and her Stamp, Scrap, Create blog posts and tutorials, I was able to put together this display board to teach my Hostess Club some great flowers that can be created with this scalloped punch and a few snips here and there.



Just click on the above board to see a larger view.

Cut in and removed every other scallop as shown in the white punched circle shown to the right of the card. Layer two or more prepared scalloped circles, off set from each other and enhanced with ink..

Two scalloped circle flowers created by cutting between every two scalloped, stacked and paired up with an embossing folder, makes a simple but fun card for many occasions.

 



CTMH Event Calendar

Very convenient size, fits almost anywhere and comes with a hanging wire so it is perfect for placing just where you will use it most.

Here's one I did for a friend.




One of my favorite products that is exclusive to CTMH is their Event Calendars https://janeo.myctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=683&CatalogID=175. The perpetual calendars have a wonderful blank header that is perfect for creating a one of a kind way to remember events which fall on the same day each year like birthdays and anniversaries. Never forget when your brother's anniversary is again. They make terrific gifts, perfect to finish and give as a Christmas gift. My favorite way to use them is as a baby gift for a new mom. Yep they make the best way to keep a daily record of all the little firsts in a new baby's life. I decorate the months of the year with seasonal decorations, and the front cover with a little poem about placing it where it is convenient to jot down all the 1st's that happen like first smile, first turned over, first doctor's visit etc. My daughter loved hers and still asks for one every year to keep a detailed record of all the happenings in their family.

This little guy is stamped in black and colored using a waterbrush and the ink pooled in the lid of the stamp pad, torn paper with the edges brushed with crystal blue ink and enhanced with Glitz Glitter Gel complete the snow scene.

The hearts were cut with CTMH's new cricut cartridge Art Philosophy Z1686 and then stamped with the coordinating stamps that come in the cricut bundle. Mom image cut using cricut cartridge "A Child's Year".

I just love how this header turned out, stamped from American Celebration D1458, glitzed using CTMH Glitter Gel.

CTMH paper and cardstock, images from cricut "Paper Doll Dress Up".

Using a combination of images from I Believe C1427 and Snow Days C1420.

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.

CTMH Cricut Cartridge Art Philosophy

Close To My Heart has teamed up with Cricut to create a very special cartridge exclusively for CTMH. It is awesome! (that's what my little 2 year old grandson Joshua would say) I'm very excited to be able to show you some of the terrific things that you can do with this cartridge and why it is so awesome. When you purchase this one of a kind cartridge you will also be getting 3 great D-size acrylix stamp sets and 3 sheets of chipboard that all coordinate with each other. Cut your image with the cricut then stamp that image with an enhancing stamp (crystal clear so you can see where your stamping) and then add another layer by mounting on the chipboard, for images that pop. The carrier sheets for the stamp sets even tell you which size to cut on your cricut for perfect alignment. How easy and unique is that.

But that's not all that makes this such a must have cartridge. How about if you could make 3-D flowers, boxes, tags, a new font, cards and envelopes? Take a look at the display board that I made on my little bug (the original one not the big expression) by cutting out the images from just one of the 50 buttons available. The images on the left were all cut a 2", the multicolored butterfly was one of each size on the little bug , and the 3 D flowers and boxes were done at 4". There are a total of like 700 images on the cartridge and then with all the size variations you have the potential for thousands of images from just this one cartridge. Christmas will be here before you know it and I love to give gift cards to my grown kids so they can choose what they really want. I know I will be using the unique little boxes for those gift cards, gives them something to open and insures that the gift cards don't get lost under the tree.

Close To My Heart didn't stop at just these three stamp sets to coordinate with the cricut cartridge though, there are numerous stamp images throughout the new catalog (which you can view entirely online by clicking on the catalog on the right side) which also match the images on the cartridge and they are easily identified by a red line outlining the image. I can't wait to play some more and post more artwork for you all to enjoy.

Long time no posts

Just realized how long it had been since I posted, shame on me. I will try and do better.
Life has been a series of ups and downs, mostly down this year and I'm really ready for 2010 to be over.
The biggest up has been Sara and Rob's wedding. It was wonderful and we are so blessed by our great kids, grandkids, family and friends.
I am retired now and will try and commit myself to posting some creative stuff at least once a week. I've got some really nice cards done just have to remember how to post them here.
For now I'll close and start getting things together for a creative session.