My Maya Road Butterfly Album using the NEW Pink Paislee Enchanting Line!

I am back from CHA, trying to get caught up on sleep and relaxation time..it was busy, crazy on your feet for 10 hours a day kind of fun!

This is the Butterfly album that I did for the Pink Paislee booth using their new Enchanting Line. Very pretty sages and soft pinks...love the wood grain paper!

This is actually one of those Goodwill Roses...it wasn't the right shade of Pink so I used the Pink Maya Mist and like magic, it's the shade of pink that I needed. I glittered the edges of the petals with Coconut Pixee Stix glitter by Pink Paislee. It added just a little sparkle to it.

Every time I hear that song "Butterfly Kisses" it makes me think of my girls...so I used pictures that were just classic little girl throughout this album..it is fun to just use random pictures in a mini album, instead of having a series of photos from one event. I just make them black and white and they all match and flow.












Thanks for looking and I hope that you have an "enchanted" day!

ETA- I will be teaching this as a class March 15th at Paper Tales. I'll update when I have the exact date, time and price.

Finally....I can start sharing some CHA work....

This is one of my favorite projects that I made for CHA...I used the new Maya Road landscape binder envelope book. It comes with 4 envelopes inside for filling with notes, letters, ticket stubs....or whatever your little heart desires!

I used October Afternoon paper and tags from their Hometown line. I love that line...aqua and black are so stunning together.... I used the famous treading water punch by fiskars and made scallop layers (just like I did on the houses from Christmas)....then I knew that I HAD to use this little ballerina cupcake topper...it's vintage and from Paper Tales, of course...I used my Tonic scissors by Tim Holtz (they cut through anything) and cut off the back of her tutu that was sticking out....just made it a little flatter. Then I used the black scallop ric rac by Maya Road and made little cabbage roses...topped with aqua pearls, also from Paper Tales. I coiled up little scraps of the aqua paper and made little quilled roses. I also used the NEW Maya Road leaf and pearl pins...oh man, they are so pretty.


The scroll frame is also a NEW product by Maya Road, I used Maya Mist and sprayed it black...also sprayed the Maya Road brackets black and then topped with silver mist for a shimmer. Black Maya Road felt flower,Maya Road black sequin trim, new Maya Road vintage trim and a 7Gypsies handle (I can't get enough of those!).... Bound the edge with 7Gypsies gaffer tape and then made a black tulle bow (also from Paper Tales, tulle in every color!)....

I stamped the word "together" with the background stamp that comes on the "art rules" stamp set by Studio 490...and I'm addicted..such a cute and easy way to add pattern to chipboard.

I used a ton of Maya Road goodies on this...stamps, rubons, chipboard, flowers, sheers, pins, Maya Mists etc..... and blogger isn't letting me link anything right now...I'm so frustrated! I'll try to add the links later.

I leave for CHA tomorrow. I'll be working at the Maya Road booth. Stop in and say hi, if you get a chance and are going there...

You can get this album right HERE!

Hannah is doing much better. She is over the trauma from last week....although I'm not. We talked to the hospital today and they said it's routine to not use pain meds....and that she had a lot of pins and some were probably a little stuck. They said that they are just too busy to have private rooms even for pin removal patients. They also wanted the name of the lady that was rude to me and they said that "I can talk to anybody I want to about our case" same thing...my kid, my choice. I don't know here name and don't really care....I'll just chalk it up to her having a bad day.

No standing on her feet yet...she has little boots for her casts but we did get her an exercise ball and that is helping...although tonight she is covered in a rash on her belly, arms and back..we think maybe from the ball...allergic maybe? I don't know...I GIVE up this week. We have had some extra challenges and it has been a long week. Stay strong...right?

Talk soon!

~Katie

My Poor Sweet Hannah....wheel chair accident yesterday...

Oh Man.....a really bad couple of days for Hannah.....I feel so bad.... I'm totally one for setting up the story before telling it..so bear with me.
OK, I have been housebound forever it feels like....It's been a month since Hannah's surgery...and so yesterday, I dragged myself away from my CHA mess...and got ready, even did makeup and hair (amazed?) and made plans to pick up my friend Kathy..we were going to Paper Tales and out to lunch at Soup Plantation...but before that, I was taking Hannah to her school to see her class.
So, we got there and saw her classmates and even went to Maddy's class too...it was all fun until....as we were walking in front of the office, on the ground I spied a little wad of rolled dollar bills on the grass, just about a foot off the sidewalk on the grass... I instantly thought of the poor panicked kid who lost his little wadded up dollar bills that were his lunch money..so..
I bent down and tried to reach them but they were just out of reach on the grass so I let go of Hannah's wheel chair for just a second, just a darn second...and said, "Hannah, set your brake"...and reached for that money..and heard "MOMMY" and turned around and saw Hannah rolling off the curb...the wheelchair pitched her forward and she flew through the air, landing straight on her heels...full force..then toppled over on her knees and then the wheel chair came tumbling down on her............she just started shreiking...the most painful earpiercing screams...
I ran and grabbed her and ran to the bench...holding her and she was in the most incredible pain....I was crying..the office staff and librarian all ran out because they heard her screaming...
I felt so bad, it was awful. We called Derek who had just gotten home as we were leaving (he had duty the night before and was gone for about 30 hours so he got to come home a little early that day, thank God)...he came and picked us up and we took her straight to Children's hospital ER. She screamed the whole way there...and was dizzy and sick from the pain...
They gave her tylenol/codeine and that helped. They took X-rays and she was fine..her pins were still in place...she had scrapes on her elbows, wrists and knees and some scrapes on her casts...but OK.
I cried the whole day...I swear, I just kept picturing her flying out of her chair straight towards the pavement..totally helpless and injured..that scene replayed over and over in my head. I cried myself right into a migrane.
Oddly enough..her belt doesn't work on her wheelchair. It was broken when they delivered it. We didn't call for a new one as we weren't really going anywhere with her. So that's why she flew out..but the thing is..if she was belted in, she would have landed right on her head and had no way to escape it.
I felt so darn bad. It didn't feel like an incline on the sidewalk, I've walked it so many times that I guess it just didn't stand out to me, but it was an incline, enough for her to roll before she could put on her brake. The thing was that it was my fault, I should have made sure her brakes were on...I thought I could grab it and be fine.
So, I hope that money didn't go unclaimed, I hope that kid liked his corndogs yesterday...darn lunch money.

Then today was her big day to get her pins pulled out and new casts...well, she had 4 big (they looked like Allen wrenches) in each leg and ankle...and they pulled them with NO painkiller or anything...she screamed like there was no tomorrow...I can't believe that she didn't burst a blood vessel in her face that's how loud she screamed. It was crazy. He just grabbed a wrench plier looking thing and pulled them...a few were stuck (you form tissue around them) and pulled. I felt so bad for her.
We were in the regular casting room so there were other little kids getting casts and having them taken off...they were quite alarmed. I looked at the door and there was this little girl about 4 standing there with her Mom. She was getting a cast, looked like a recast and her little eyes were huge. I heard her say to her Mom, "Mommy, they're not doing that to me are they?". So, I walked over there and said, "No honey, they're not doing that to you...she has pins that they are pulling out, don't worry" So her mom asked me what was happening and I told her. I walked back to Hannah (this was in between legs and Derek was with her) and the lady working in the room said to me in front of everybody, "Maam, please don't discuss your case with anybody else. We don't like you discussing details with other patients" I was so irritated and a tad embarrassed. So I said, "well that little girl was terrified" and she said, "well, that is our responsiblity to tell her that"....So I said, "well, maybe when you're pulling pins you should put that patient in another room...." and that was it. I was mad and already upset as it was. Just rude...and I'm sorry, but if you are going to put 3 beds in a room with 3 kids and a line at the door and not pull the curtains or anything....then don't tell me who I am allowed to talk to. Freedom of speech, my daughter..my business.
Sorry for the rant..but it's been a long 2 days...

So, Hannah is fine now...sore but now that those darn pins are out and she has colored casts...she is doing well.

Wow, my 100th post....how is that possible? Creative Therapy project also!

I would say...."dude, she's got way too much time on her hands"....but I don't...so I can't really say that...little baby steps....adds up to 100 now.
Well....so...I am taking a break from CHA work...we are going to watch "The Biggest Loser" in a few minutes...the girls and I LOVE that show..I secretly want to go on it but my family keeps telling me that I'm not big enough...but I think they just can't do without me for the 6 weeks....!! I hate to exercise, mostly due to a bunch of nasty scar tissue on my abdomen from about 4 different surgeries...long story...I'll save it for later...but my abdomen is pulled really tight and I have scar tissue that has all knotted together...the nerves go crazy on some days and my side aches a lot. I also have a slipped disc in my back that causes me chronic pain...I will be addressing this after CHA and in between my husband's sea schedule (yes, it is already starting all over again...)....
So, this all leads to my dread of housework...It just plain hurts...I do little bits at a time...and can't ever have a good ole day of deep cleaning...I wouldn't be able to function the next day..so I do bits at a time...but it never seems to get done...so with the housework subject...(yes, this is going somewhere)...I did my "Creative Therapy" post this week on housework. Yep, I did...

Here is my write up.

Catalyst 44
What's something about the way you live
your life that doesn't align with who you are (or wish you were)?

Housekeeping

This completely goes with the "wish" I were. I am an artist...and a have a little bit of a "time management" problem. I wander....I rummage...I think, I create...and I work that all around trying to be a mother, a wife, a sister, a school volunteer , a cook, a housekeeper and a designer with deadlines. I have lots of ideas...some that get finished, some that just get started and others that get "thought" about a lot. The one thing that has zero interest for me is housecleaning...don't get me wrong, my house is presentable, well on most days....or at least as long as I have at least a 30 minute notice that you are dropping by.
I don't like that. I really don't . I want to have the perfect house, the perfect decorations, the perfect life...but like I said, I'm an artist...and our vision of a perfect day doesn't always include cleaning.
But.....I sometimes wish that I wasn't creative...it's complicated being creative...it is. Sometimes on days when the house seems to take me over, I wish that I was an organized and dedicated housekeeper. I wish that nothing took my time but taking care of my family. If I hadn't ever been creative, I wouldn't know what I was missing and I might have a clean showcase house. In doing my genealogy research, I found all the census records from 1880's up and all my female relatives stated that they were "housekeepers" except for Mary (gg aunt). She was a "bookbinder", I think I take after her.
One day, I was messing around on the computer (thinking about cleaning, I'm sure) and I came across the coolest site. It's called Feeding America. It's a site that is a digital archive of cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century.It contains some of the most important and influential American cookbooks. I love it. I collect old cookbooks and can cook a mean dinner when called upon. I also love history....even though life was hard (can't imagine not having air conditioning) it seemed simple. Roles were defined and everyone had one. There was no floundering with what you wanted to do, you did what needed to be done. Back breaking labor, I'm sure. I may have been miserable locked into that role, but it just seems so predictable and I'm sure that your expectations were much less.
It seems that most cookbooks back then included chapters on housekeeping, child rearing, treating the sick, curing meat, managing servants and a million other topics of interest back then. One particular cookbook stood out to me, maybe it's the author, the famous Harriet Beecher Stowe. It's called "The American Woman's Home" and it was written in 1869. I printed out the picture from the cover for my layout and also printed out a page from the book. I then chalked the picture for a little color and cut up tiny sentence strips from the text. Makes for an interesting read.
Don't get me wrong, I believe in woman's rights, I believe in women in the work force etc...and I do not consider my husband my master...but there are days when I wish that I played a more traditional role...my house would be cleaner and my mind more quiet.





You really should go and check out some of the prompts...they are cool. There are a variety of different artists and superb guest designers every month...lots of different mediums are used. It's a cool group.

The stamps(the face and the iron works things that the frame the photo) I used on the above layout are by Wendy Vecchi, they are part of her CHA-S 2008 debut for Studio 490 Stamps by Stampers Anonymous. Pretty cool stamps....they are cushioned already for you so they stamp like a dream. I couldn't even mess them up and I'm a novice stamper! Very artsy just like Mrs. Vechhi herself!

OK, well...I hear Derek getting Maddy out of the bath...so my time is up!!
Have a great day!!

OOPS, forgot....MAYA ROAD is having sneak peeks this week...each night will be new products and designs...go and check it out..we have a FAB design team and even more fab products!!

~Katie

Found it...Tammy Kay's tutorial on the book page flowers!

Sorry, the little slip of paper with your email address disappeared on me....so finally, very late, this is for you sweet girl!
Tammy Kay Flower Tutorial
Vicki Chrismans Paper Flowers
Rebecca Sower's paper flowers
Lisa Pace Rosettes
These were all found on Scrapscene!

ETA- I laid in bed last night...remembering that I had seen another cool tutorial for a vintage looking shabby flower...I got up and looked through a bunch of sites that I follow and found it.........
Kenner Road Flower Tutorial


SO now, I am off to bed!! I am far too old to be up this late...but the flower link promised in my class has been on my mind!
Night Night, Katie

Hi! I'm still here!

Oh dear, is life busy around the holidays and CHA time....I get buried in projects for CHA and cannot seem to justify spending an hour updating my blog after I feel like I have already put my family on the back burner for hours...
That is CHA..It's like cramming for a final...crazy busy! Fun busy, exciting busy and bursting with wanting to share all the new product!! Soon....just a couple of weeks.
I can share with you the Kenner Road layout that I did last week with December's Kenner Road kit (her best yet, it's gorgeous!)...Remember that I won a 6 month subscription to her kits...I have had a blast using them. I have them all stacked on my desk so that I can go back and do more with them....it kills me to not use them all up...very cool stuff!!

Only a cool monogram letter like this would have me out in the garage in the middle of the night getting chicken wire to make a project....chicken wire that I retrieved from someones recycle bin on trash day...I guess it's considered recyclable, right? I sure recycled it!!

This was a little fun thing that I made with November's kit. I just fell in love with the old player piano music paper....so fun. Of course these are the Goodwill roses that I still have a huge stash of....saving for the perfect class....along with a zillion other trinkets!


My friend Lisa Pace is doing another online workshop. This one is called "Cupid's Workshop" and it is cute....cause she's my friend, I got to peek at some of the projects...can you say, Stunning? She never lets down..always that elegant vintage look!

You can go HERE to register for her workshop.....
I get to see this Texas Redhead soon!! I'm excited to hang out at CHA with her...she is my buddy! She is a hoot for sure and we always have a blast!

Hannah is doing much better.....she gets her pins out next week..and then gets new casts....she hurts a lot, mostly at night...she will ask us for Motrin only about once a day...that's it though. No more Lortab...thank god, it hurt her tummy...
I caught her little Ken/Barbie love story unfolding....




Cory is doing OK....we struggle..teens are hard....He did however get his learners permit...and his behind the wheel teacher was a trip...his toupee was kicking though....and the guys car broke down when they got home and Cory had to jump him (that's a for sure A+) right?



Ok, off to make dinner and make up to my family that I spent the day in jammies working on CHA stuff!!

Yayyy!! I Made it!! Everything is coming up PINK (Paislee that is)!!

Ohhhhhh, I am So happy!! I adore Pink Paislee, I really do!! I love it so much and I am SO excited to make the team again! I have been sweating bullets for a week! I really was so hoping that I would make it...but they had over 400 applicants....and I was worried that I didn't have a chance...but I guess I did!!
They have picked an incredible new team!! Really, really good...and we have a few from our prior team (I adore all their work too and am SO excited to see them on the team again!!)!!
Awesome new faces, some names that I know and love and some that I'm not familiar with...and can't wait to get to know them and their work!! So congrats to the new team and I'm off to finish the left over champagne from last night!!!


The NEW Pink Paislee Design Team-2009!!!