Queen Kat's Stamping Castle

So much for that!

2008-07-04T01:44:00.004-06:00

Well guys.. I had every single last honest intention of leaving town this week! I SWEAR!!! I had the trailer and the dogs packed up and hitched up and running.... I went to close the garage door and it came off the spring! Yeah... so I figured with everything else that's gone wrong in the past 2 months I better stay home and camp in the driveway. So I called the garage door repair man and un hitched the trailer.

Marci and I have been in it for the past 2 days making cards. So I thought I'd share some with you here. :) I hope you like. Here's mine...

Here's some of Marci's. I've added a special album to the QKD Gallery for kids kreations. So if your child is using some QKD stamps.. Come and up load them. We love to see everyones work!

We're having a good time just hanging out. There have been a lot of bumps in the road the past couple days but we're getting over em. I hope you all have a great 4th of July!

In loving memory...

2008-07-01T19:48:00.005-06:00

I got the word late last evening of a terrible tradgedy that struck 2 of my friends, Vern and Linda Stanley. They were on the way to visit his parents in Washington state, riding their new motorcycle when Vern lost control of the bike and was hit head on by an on-coming pick up truck. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Vern and Linda were the kindest, most whole hearted people I've met in a very long time. They would light up a room and Vern would give you the shirt off his back no questions asked. Married only a couple of years these two were meant to be together forever. Vern and Linda please know that we all love you and will miss your laughter and love that you gave so freely. Here's a little poem for you...

My Friend

My friend who I remember being the best
A friend in the good and bad
My friend who was always there
Even if he wasn’t really there
A friend who help me up when I was down
A friend I'm not a shamed of
My friend who no more I can see
A friend who already passed away
My friend who might not be here
But still present in my heart
My friend who I remember till the end
As my friend who was always there.
-gustavo saldana

Headin out...

2008-06-30T22:44:00.002-06:00

It's finally time to go camping this year! Since life has been up in the air for the past 2 months I'm just shutting everything down and headin' out. Who ever is around to come is welcome.. If no one is, I'm goin' alone! I called today to the camp ground to make sure they'll have spaces on Wed and they said they don't think so.. So I guess I'm headin' out tomorrow with HIGH hopes of getting a spot.

The new stamps are up over at QKD... The kits will be up before I close up shop..... The Take 3 kits are up too. We have some FUN stamps for July in the Take 3 and August is killer too! For $20 a month and 3 stamp sets?? How can you go wrong?? SJ, Tanis and I are working hard to bring you the best sets possible.

I'm gonna take some stamping stuff with me and see if I can get some stuff done up there. So hopefully by the time I come home I can blog with some new creations! :) So.. until then.. take care and stamp your heart out!

Summer Cards...

2008-06-14T21:17:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple of cards I made today. I wasn't planning on doing anything but cleaning my office today... Then I started working... and I got interupted by someone playing stupid games with me and I lost my train of thought.. so I milled around for a couple hours... Went to the bank and came home.. sat with the dogs until they started jumpin on me... and then I went down to my studio and made 3 cards times 3. :) LOL! I'm making cards to send out for CHA promotions so I'm making everything times 3-4 or 5 when I do make something. LOL!

So.. here's 2 cards I made using the June Take 3 kit from Queen Kat Designs...

Then... last but not least... Here's the Father's Day card I made for dad this year. :)

Great Day!

2008-06-08T23:22:00.003-06:00

Well guys... I had a GEEER8T Birthday today... (oh, you didn't know my birthday was today? lol) It started by taking grannie to the hospital for more blood work.. (which turned out good, so we are happy). then it was off to my mom's church. She bought a birthday cake and took it to her church. after services she served it up to everyone. Apparently she announced that it was my birthday because everyone was coming up to me asking if I was the birthday girl. LOL! It was fun and I got my chocolate cake fix. :)

Then I took Grannie to my house and I made some cards for the June kit samples. It was my month to do samples and I'm so late in getting them done it's insane! But I got em done and they are in the gallery now. :) After that, we went to the $1 store and looked around.. Didn't find any good flowers or sb crap so I just got the 9V battery for the sprinkler system that I needed. LOL what a buy huh?

Next we went to Grannie's house. She was going to make a birthday card for me.. We sat there for an hour and half and she just fumbled around and we chatted. I drew some stamp designs up and she just sat there. LOL. This is not un common at all for us. We rarely do what we set out to do when we do get to it. hehe. Then we went to my dad's house and checked out his latest shooting project. He's building a rail gun and has just finished the storage boxes for it and OMG, guys these boxes are freakin awesome!!! We are going to start marketing them. So if you or someone you know shoots and loves to keep their guns and supplies in order and in a safe place, then make sure you watch this web site. We will be adding them to the store soon!

After that, we all went out to dinner. We went to Sizzler. It was good but since I've been sick, it took my 4 times as long to eat the food because I still can't swallow correctly. My throat is still swollen but it's getting better. I wasn't gonna miss a dinner on the town with my dad and grannie, no way!! Being in my dad's presence is everything to me. That man means more to me than anything.

Then I came home and worked a bit. I am trying to get myself on a schedule so I'm not to here and there on work things and hopefully it will help me to focus and get things done easier and faster. I haven't been able to focus really since February, so it's about time that I get back on the horse and ride!!!

Well... I'm not leaving yah without some pics!! here's the samples that I made today with the June kit...
Get the kit now. It's a fun one!

QKD Calls

2008-06-07T22:26:00.001-06:00

Queen Kat Designs is looking for 3 new Royal Court members. Come and check out the calls on the Official QKD blog!

Crawling Out...

2008-06-06T18:00:00.006-06:00

Hey everyone! It's me.. Yep. I haven't fallen off the planet yet. But I am sick now. Man, what else could happen? Grannie's been in the hospital for a week, I've got a broken heart, dad starts chemo soon and I'm sick now to boot.. and on top of that.. houst hunting.. OMG, I can't take much more!

My lil sis {Marci, 10} spent the night with me last night.. good thing she was here. the garage flooded! we spent a good 2 hours cleaning it out at about 10 last night. anyhow.. we made some cards last night! My mom is a new CTMH consultant (yeah go figure).. and she's having her first "gathering" tomorrow and needed samples.. So I volunteered like a moron to help.

So.. here's what we accomplished last night between 8pm and 2am and allowing a good 2 hours for garage clean up. :(

This was a pen holder that we made her as a suprise for her inagural gathering. :) We decorated popsicle sticks so she could use them in a game or as discount sticks. Something I learned when I was with CTMH.

This is an invite that I made at about 1am this morning.. :) I was looking through a PC magazine and got the idea. It was I think June/July's issue from last year. the reverse has the party info on it. It can also be used as a place holder for a dinner party or kids bday event.
this was the last card that Marci made last night. We were getting tired and she decided we needed to make a card that had funny colors that didn't match... But I think it matches just fine.
This is the first card I made of the night. I used the June STOM from CTMH (This is the first time I've stamped with stamps other than QKD in almost 2 years!)
This was the first card that Marci made of the night. Pretty cute if I can brag on her! :)
This is I think the last card I made of the night. It's pretty bright and cheery.
Jut a fun bday card I made. I don't really like the stamp set but my mom wanted a sample out of it.
Isn't that flower just too cute? I want one!!

My little stamper... Yep this last one was made by my little 10 yo sis. She's getting good at stamping. It was quite fun to have her over. :) Thanks for stamping with my Marci. I luv yah!

100th Post

2008-05-23T18:02:00.002-06:00

Well... This is my 100th post on my blog. I never thought I'd have that much to say on one of these things! Wow!

The reason for this post is to tell you about one of my very bestest friends in the whole world. Her name is Tanis. She's always there to cheer me up when I need it and to help out with the business when she can. With all the crap going on in my life right now, she's never strayed from my side. I've never ever had a friend like that and I just wanted to THANK her for her love, caring, support and all the work she has put into QKD over the past months. Tanis is one hell of a good friend and I'm so thankful for her and I'm so lucky to have her in my life. So Tanis, if you're reading this, please know I luv yah and I'm so thankful for you.

There's a few more people I'd really like to thank as well... Lindsay.. girl you know I got your back and much love for you. Guys, Lindsay is so fun to be around. She's always there to lend a hand and to crack a joke when needed. She's super sweet and uber goofy. Many hugs and thanks to you Lindsay. :)

Then there's Jules. OMG, this girl... I can't even begin to tell you what Jules means to me. I've known her for over a year and it seems like eternity. She's a true southern bell in my eyes. (wether she sees it like that I don't know.) Thank you Jules for your faith, love and support you have lent me. You mean the world to me.

Of course I can't forget the whole QKD design team and stamp designers. If it weren't for them, the last 3 weeks, I'd have gone nuts in my own skin. Their love for each other and the company really shows through. These girls have made bonds that will last a lifetime. I'm so happy to have each one of them in my life and on my Court. So, Nancy, Toni, Heidi, Amy, Nikki, Pookie, Suzann, and Penny... Thank you so much. You are the best DT ever!!

And last but for sure not least!!! SG.. That's right, GRANNIE... She's been here physically and mentally for me through the past weeks. She's stood by me when I wanted to curl up and die. She's pushed me and shoved me into getting back on track. I can't even begin to tell you what a gammot of emotions we have been through in the past 8 weeks. It all started when she fell and broke her ankle.. then my back went out and the family was torn apart after that. So as you can imagine we are trying to get our lives back on track.

So to all my friends, THANK YOU!!! Know that I love you with all my heart and I truely appreciate all your love and support during this rocky patch. Hugs to you all.

Life Sucks!

2008-05-22T19:52:00.003-06:00

Well it's been a while hasn't it? I have not fallen off the face of the earth although I wish I had. I won't go into details but I just wanted to let all my bloggin buddies I appreciate your love and support. And to my friends, thank you for being there with me during this time in my life.

I'm turning over a new leaf and I'm starting my life completely over. So I don't know how much I'll be around at least for the next few months. I will update with creations when I make them. I have not made anything in a few weeks and really am not planning on it any time soon. So... I'll leave you all with some blasts from the past.. These are some fav's I have in my "picture vault"...

This is a puzzle I altered for my dad for Christmas in 2005. It has a lot of pics of me and him from our life and just different things to remind him I love him when he looks at it.

This was the very first recipe card I made. I made it when I just started with CTMH in 2004. Simple huh?

Then.. this is a paisley card I made last spring sometime when I released the paisley stamps at Queen Kat Designs.

Seriously...

2008-05-09T02:04:00.002-06:00

I mean come on!!! I'm only 27!!! I can't stand this pain anymore!!! Thank God for this "stimulus" check.. even though their mailing schedule is TOTAL CRAP!! Yes, Bush you heard me!! TOTAL CRAP! I won't see mine until July. What's that about? How hard is it to print checks and put them in the mail? I mean come on!! (yes I realize there's billions of checks to go out)... Oh stop it! I can whine if I want to. LOL! I can hear Lindsay now.. yammering in my ear.. LOL! Just kidding, L-Dawg. :) I luv yah! :)

Anyhoo... I've decided since I can't REALLY afford to get a pool this summer... I mean $1200 doesn't go very far in the pool industry you know? I've really spent time thinking and figuring out why I can sit up just fine but when I lay down my back kills me.. It's the BED!! Stupid saggy mattress... Blarg! So.... I'm heading to IKEA tomorrow to look at new beds. Then if they don't have a mattress, I'm going to check out some local high priced furniture stores.. I found some nice platform beds online at IKEA that you don't use a foundation with and that's the whole problem is the stupid foundation!!

So... I think platform is the way to go! and guess what the best part is?? I'm going KING sized so when the dogs decide they NEED to sleep with me and DH there's room for ME on the bed! I somehow always end up on the guest bed when both dogs NEED to sleep in the bed. Uh hu! Picture it.. Close your eyes and think of 2 adults.. 5'9" and 5' 10", a 109 lb black lab and a 112 lb chocolate lab in a QUEEN size bed.. Along with 4-5 cats... Hmmmmm sounds really messy doesn't it? It's not the comfortable, let me tell you...

As I type this I'm sitting in bed.. there's a dog at my feet and 3 cats to my left then there's dh on the FARRRRR left snoozing away. LOL.. You'd think that at 2:13 am I'd be sleeping too huh? Nope! I had a rough day with my back and my stomach was upset to boot so I'm still up.

Hey.. why not share some pics of what I'm rambling about? Let me see if I can find the bed I want..See.. It's simple and plain. Just what I want these days. The one I have now is an elaborate 4 poster bed and it's fit for a queen.. I'm getting to the point in my life where I want simple and clean and straight. I don't like having nooks and crannies poking me in the back when I sit up to blog at night. :) LOL!

Well.. ok, I just had to post something! It's been nearly a week since I last blogged. I'm sorry, no new cards yet! all my stuff is at grannie's still. I hope I can go get it soon because I have mom's day cards to make.

My mom has really stepped up since my back issues started. She's taken me to the Dr.. to the ER... to get meds on a Sunday when there was no one open.. She's come over to pick me up off the floor when I fell last week and she's come over to stay with me to make sure I'm ok when no one else could/would be here with me. So this year I'm actually going to spend the entire day with my MOM! I haven't spent a mother's day with her in many years. I've always gone to be with grannie. But this year I think it's time for a change of tradition. So mom, if by chance you're reading this, THANK YOU!! I appreciate you and all you've done for me lately. PS.. wanna go to IKEA with me? :)

I promise to you my friends and blog readers.. I will NOT post another blog post without CREATION pictures in it!! :)

NSBD

2008-05-03T03:12:00.002-06:00

So.. what are your plans for the day? There's loads of online activity. I'll be flat on my back in bed. My back really did me in tonight. I was heading to the bathroom at about 6 or 630 tonight and I fell down because I couldn't stand straight up and I couldn't make it back to the bed. :( Luckily I was close to my cell phone I was able to get my mom on the phone. She had to break into the sliding glass door to get in but she got in.. Called my step dad and he came right over... it took 6 hours to get me off the floor. I just couldn't move my back and every time I tried it sent shooting pain down my legs. So.. I just laid there crying. My sister has a fiddling competition at 7am so I just told my step dad to take her home and my mom stayed until DH got home from work. and finally I just got enough energy and guts to just DO IT! And I sat up and got up and flopped on the bed. Man this is not fun. It's now 3:20 am and I'm still wide awake.. Boy this post has turned into a whine fest. I'm sorry guys.

what are your plans for this fun day???

The BIG reveal...

2008-05-01T19:02:00.002-06:00

It's been a big day for Queen Kat Designs!! We released so much goodness into the stamping industry today it's unreal!!! We have new stamps, new kits, new Get Inked! kits AND the best part.... the NEW Take 3 Stamp club!! Make sure you come to the QKD blog to check it out. We are just so excited to introduce our new club to you. 86% of the people who took the poll voted for a stamp club over a paper club!! That's great news. You voted and we listened. Come and check it out!

TOOT TOOT TOOT!!!!!

2008-04-30T09:59:00.003-06:00

OMG! What a wonderful suprise! I woke up this morning with an email from RSC! It was a link to the latest issue! I got pub'd 6 times!!! OMG, I'm on cloud 9. GET IT!! It's full of fun cards. It's a card sampler. It's got some spiffy ideas in it. Not to mention... a couple of friends of mine. :)

I'm simply gonna bust!!!

2008-04-29T20:48:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I've actually held this SECRET in for this long. I want to scream it from the roof top. But... There's still 1 more day to go. Anyone have any ideas about what the BIG SECRET could be??

On another note.. I'm having my blog re-done! It's gettin' pimped out! I can't wait to see what it will look like. If you haven't visited the QKD Blog, come check it out. Lindsay has done a great job on it!

There's no new art to show off right now. I haven't made anything lately so I can't show ya anything. Keep checkin' my blog for fun things to come.

I've lost it!

2008-04-26T18:10:00.001-06:00

40% off!

Card Kits

Inks

Misc. Stuff

Papers

Specialty Papers

Adhesive

Embellishments

Now through May 3rd! While Supplies last.

Items in stock now WILL NOT BE REORDERED!!

SAVE NOW

New cards....

2008-04-26T13:56:00.003-06:00

Here's the latest from me... Not too fancy.. I'm still working on the "side of the bed" with grannie. she's still down for the count with her leg. We go see the dr this week again. Hopefully he'll have good news!

How about a sketch? This is an old one I did.. But hey, it's still workable. :) Show me what you can do with it!Come and get in on the fun this weekend over at Rubber Stamp Chat! We're having an online virtual convention. Over 20 rubber stamp manufacturers are in on this one!! There's huge deals and discounts and of course QKD is over there too!! Check it out.

Have a great weekend!

The BIG SECRET!

2008-04-23T19:51:00.002-06:00

So.. Earlier this month, QKD announced that it has a big secret. :) Here's a hint to that secret. There's more here that you can see.

The BIG SECRET will be revealed May 1.

Come Party!

2008-04-23T18:50:00.002-06:00

Queen Kat Designs will be a vendor at the online virtual convention for Rubber Stamp Chat's 1 year birthday! It starts tomorrow afternoon and runs through Monday night! Come and have some fun with us! Here

Glog

2008-04-22T18:45:00.003-06:00

WTH is that? It's ok ya'll I haven't gone off the deep end!! There's actually something called glogster... I'm not seeing the real use of it.. But hey WTH is myspace really for? LOL. I have that website blocked from my computer because of all the crap on it anyway... Well.. there is a point to my mad ramblings, I promise! SJ, the newest QKD designer posted on her blog today about this thing called glogster... So I checked it out and I was playin around with it and made a little page dedicated to the stamp designers for QKD. :) Come check it out.

Quickie!

2008-04-19T15:22:00.002-06:00

Just a quickie to say hi! Have a great weekend everyone!

Stamps coming out June 1 @ Queen Kat Designs.

2 Hours...

2008-04-17T20:39:00.003-06:00

So, I went to visit grannie today again... And in 2 hours I made these 8 cards.. There's another one but it's not finished yet. :) I have to find my Black Prisma pencil... Lord only knows where it rolled to... Maybe one of the dogs ate it... hmmm... crap!

Ok... these first 3 are made with the NEW Cosmo Cricket paper called Get Happy and some matching rubons from that line. Then.. of course there's the NEW Queen Kat Designs Stamps that go ooooh so well with the paper!

Then.... There's a BIG SECRET floating around at the office here @ Queen Kat Designs..... Well.... these are the first official sneek peeks for the SECRET reveal on May 1. I'm busting at the seams to tell someone and I just can't! So, for now... Here's the peeks. Make sure you check out the gallery OFTEN as the peeks will pour in over the next 2 weeks!

It was amazing when Grannie said: "you got 9 cards finished" I about fell outta my chair. Note my supplies are limited... This is what I took over there... My sidekick, some embossing folders, a stash of flowers, a stash of ribbons, my "work tote" with all the essentials like adhesive, scissors (4 pairs), circle cutter (like I go anywhere without it!), pop dots, metallic mist and more.. Then I took some Basic Grey Blush Paper... Cosmo Cricket Get Happy paper, plain cardstock, and... I guess that's it! Oh... Chestnut Roan Ink, CTMH Chocolate Ink, Olive Pastel Ink and... Brushed Coord Tim Holts Ink... and in the past 2 days, I've cranked out almost 20 cards. Dang.. what do I need that FULL studio downstair for?? hmmm....

As promised!

2008-04-17T12:57:00.003-06:00

Here are some of my creations that I made with the May kit over at Queen Kat Designs. It's a super fun kit! The stamps are limitless!!

OMG! Just forget it!!! Damn Blogger!!! I've been sitting here for an hour trying to upload the stupid things to this blog and it just keeps giving me an error!

Come see the cards here... Click me!

Been quiet.

2008-04-15T22:23:00.004-06:00

It's been quiet around this blog, aye? Well.... there's been a lot happening. QKD has a new stamp designer, SarahJane Dowsett or SJ as we call her. So I've been making stamps. We released 5 of the sets from her yesterday. Have you see the robots? OMG they are freakin cute!

See what I mean?? adorable!

Then... on Sunday, I get this phone call.... Grannie's in the ER... she fell down... I drop the phone throw on shoes (note I'm still in jammies and it's like 5pm) and hurry to the hospital.... She broke her ankle.. Yeah what a night that was. They splinted it and sent her home with crutches and a splint up to her knee. I spent the night with her to make sure she did ok with the crutches that night. She's doing ok... She's in a ton of pain and her arms hurt from limping around on the crutches. I spent the afternoon with her yesterday and we worked on some business stuff.

Today I took a May kit to her house and we made cards all afternoon. I made 8 cards so far with the kit and there's still tons of stuff left over! I wanted to post some of them tonight and guess what??? they are over at her house! So you'll have to wait till tomorrow. :)

On top of all that.... QKD is coming out with a new revolution in kit designs on May 1!!! Save your pennies cuz you WON'T wanna miss this!!! We are taking kitting to the next level and keeping the prices low so you can get the most for your hard earned cash! I was listening to the TV tonight and they were talking about inflation and I'm sitting there going, raise prices? NAH! I'm going to keep them low and offer the best selection for the $. Anyhooo..... I have been working very closely with Tanis and SJ to bring you the first "new kit" on May 1 so make sure you stay tuned to see what we three have up our sleeves!

Well, I guess that's it for now. I need to get some dinner and get to bed. It's 10:35pm here and I'm starving! Have a great night/day...

Stamp Poll

2008-04-06T21:54:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! come and take a quick 1 question poll! Click here.

award? me? wow!

2008-04-04T20:17:00.003-06:00

Thanks Tanis! You cheer me up too.

Ladies, I received this award a couple days ago and I just found it! go figure. :)
I'm gonna give it to.... Pooka, Toni, Alex and..... Suzann.