Listen to this...

I've lost my will to blog...

Lol! Well, that's pretty much how I've been feeling these days! I actually have several cards that I could share but I just can't bring myself (or find the time, really) to photograph/upload/edit them and then get it posted. So, I'm taking a blogging break for awhile and releasing myself from feeling guilty about it! :)  I'll definitely be back in the near future but I'm completely swamped right now so I'm going to be off doing other things.  See you later, crafty ladies! Hugs!!

4 Months!

So, I just realized I forgot to post Zeke's four month shot in August and now he's almost 5 months! ACK! STOP GROWING! Lol!

Here's my beautiful, happy boy! Love him sooooo much!

It's amazing what a can of spray paint can do!

Hey guys! I've got a couple of non-stamping projects from around my house to share with you today  I made a trip to a second hand store and picked up some goodies and then had my way with them, lol!  It's amazing what a can of spray paint can do! :) The first is a mirror that I got for $2.  It's definitely cute, but very bland and doesn't fit my house at all. (Thank you to my boys for being my "holding the mirror" helpers, lol! And the chair is from Crate and Barrel.)

The mirror screws into the back to I just unscrewed it and spray painted it RED!

 So much cuter, right? I love it!

The next thing is a clock that my friend gave me ages ago that has been sitting in my garage.  She got it from her husband's grandma.  Love the clock, hate the color. (The blue part is painters tape over the clock face.)

Some more spray paint...drumroll please....ORANGE!

LOVE IT!!!

And here's a shot of the wall all put together. The silver clock was already there and is from Z Gallery. Like I said, it's amazing what a couple of cans of spray paint can do!  Hhmmm, what else can I paint? :)

One month and an update

Hi Everyone! Sorry I've been MIA the last couple of weeks.  Things were going SO WELL with little Zeke and I was just getting back on my feet after the c-section and then I was hit with a very severe case of vertigo.  I'm not sure if anyone of you have ever had it but it is the scariest, most horrible thing I've ever experienced.  Basically, the whole world spins out of control and I can't move at all without vomiting.  Not a good to happen when you have a newborn baby.  Anyway, I had it before two years ago so I'm back on the meds that should help.  Please pray this never comes back! I'm still not back to normal but I'm getting a bit better each day. 

Okay, enough about that ugly stuff! :) On to something super cute - Zeke! Today he is one month old! Can you believe how fast time is going?  He is such a sweet baby and I'm so happy and thankful for him! 

(I made the onesie after seeing a tutorial on Susan Weinroth's blog.)

 

I'd like to introduce...

Ezekiel Leonidas Stilwater, born on April 21st at 8:43 a.m.  He was 6 lbs. 11 oz and 18.5" long.  He is the sweetest little peanut and we are so in love!  Thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes!

Love,

Mama Katie :)

Preggo Update and other stuff

Happy Monday, everyone!  I thought I would pop on here really quick to give you guys some updates as to what's going on in the Stilwater household.  :) First, I've got a little over 6 weeks until the baby gets here (can't wait!) so needless to say, I'm feeling very tired and HUGE so I'm not getting much done that isn't baby related (meaning crafty stuff.)  We got his room finished last weekend (I'll post a couple of pics below), had my baby shower and we just threw Theo's 3rd birthday party on Saturday so it's been a busy couple of weeks!  I haven't really made any cards except for my class projects so I don't have anything to show you- sorry! :(  I'm really hoping that once the baby gets here that I can get back into crafting and showing you guys lots of eye candy.  Okay, how about some pictures? Here's some of my expanding belly (and expanding other parts as well, lol!)

14 weeks-

 

19 weeks- (I have pink hair now, too!) :)

22 weeks (with my sister Erin who is 37 weeks preggo in the pic but doesn't look like it at all!) -

27 weeks - (This is my most recent pic, I'll have my hubby take another one soon and I'll post it. I'm 32 weeks right now.) As you can see, I'm getting humongous! :)

Here are a couple of shots of the baby's room. We decorated it in chocolate brown, light blue, light green, tan and white.  The sheet has a tree/forest theme so we kind of went off of that.  Just in case you're wondering, no, we don't have his name yet.  We'll be waiting until we meet him to decide for sure. :)

The bedding and curtains are from Target and the mobile is from IKEA.  I got it last summer (it was meant to be outdoors) and have been saving it to use in the baby's room.

 

I painted these canvases to match the room.  It's my first time really painting anything like this so they're pretty basic but they match the room so I guess it's all good. :)

And my favorite recent picture.  Rock Star Theo at his third birthday party!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you've enjoyed this little update. :)  I'm not sure when I'll post again but hopefully it won't be too long from now...

Have a wonderful week! 

A little update...

Hey guys! Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since my last post - sorry! I've just been really busy and also VERY tired because of being pregnant so I haven't been up to crafting/blogging at all.  Of course, you're probably all getting tired of hearing that from me but it's the truth! :)  I pretty much just take each day as it comes and do my best. 

Onto some fun news! We found out last week that we're having another boy! I'm really, really excited for him to get here, I can't wait to hold him! And I've been having fun shopping for him - we got his bedding and his carseat and now we're looking for a mini-van! EEK! I really, really don't want to drive a mini-van (I love my Forester!) but it's just not big enough for three boys so we're making the big switch over.  Oh well. I know it's not forever!

I hope you're all doing well! I'm going to attempt to make a card, wish me luck! :) Hugs!

~Katie

I'm a lame-o...

Hey guys! So, obviously you've noticed that I didn't finish the Christmas countdown and I'm not going to make any excuses about it, I just didn't get it done.  Sorry!  Life is busy, ya know?  And some things just have to give and in this case, it was the ol' blog-o!  And honestly, it was nice to take a few days off from crafting/blogging! :)  Thanks for being understanding and continuing to stop by here, even if I don't always follow through with all of my crafty ambitions.  :)

I'll be back soon (promise!) with some fun stuff to share.  In the meantime, have a wonderful new year! (BTW, it's my birthday on Thursday! Yippee!)

Update...

Hi chickies!  Sorry I didn't post a sneak-peek for you yesterday, but I was not feeling well at all and didn't get any fun stamping done.  I did, however, have something VERY fun happen!  I had my first O.B. appointment and they did an ultrasound and I got to see the baby!!!!! It was so exciting and wonderful to see my little one squirming around in there!  The little heart was fluttering away and everything looks great! I'm so happy and thankful! It definitely makes all these sick days worth it! :)

Anyway, I'm hoping to have some stamping time today so I should be posting something fun later.  In the meantime, you MUST check out the A Muse blog!  They're doing a giveaway of all the wood-mount stamps from this release! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment! (Plus, I have two cards posted that you can check out while you're there!) :) Have a wonderful day!  Here's to new little babies!

Some news to share....

Sorry I've been missing in action the last week or so but I haven't been feeling well at all and am completely exhausted because...

I'm pregnant!!! 

Can you believe it??  I found out last week and am due April 30th.  Yippee! 

I'm pretty much just taking it easy and trying to survive each day not feeling well with a VERY active two year old so I won't be posting much over the next few weeks.  Although, I still have LOTS to show you guys so hopefully I'll get to all that later when I'm feeling up to it. 

I'll keep you all posted as my pregnancy progresses.  (I hope it's a girl!) :)

New stamps are up!

Hey chicka-dees!  The new stamps are up over at A Muse! And listen to this! There's a girl rock star - yippee!! I've been wanting a girl rocker FOREVER so I'm super excited about this one! And since I'm a lame-o and haven't made a card using her yet, I'm going to send you over to my bud Lori's blog to see THE CUTEST CARD EVER! Love it!

Be sure to check out all the new stamps! Which one is your fave?

Seattle/NKOTB Concert

Edit - This is about a month late, but I've gotten a few emails wanting to see pics of my Seattle trip and New Kids concert so here ya go! It was soooo fun!

Lots of pics from my Seattle trip!

Here I am with one of my best-friends, Heidi and her sister Lori right before we left for Seattle.

 

This picture CRACKS me up! Heidi's sister-in-law (who was taking the picture) said "Strike a pose!" and this is what happened.  We're calling this "When strike a pose goes wrong" - lol!

This is right before we left.  We were just a wee bit excited!!! (I love Lori laughing in the background. This is pretty much how the whole trip went, me and Heidi being idiots and Lori laughing at us. Love it!)

 

I'll skip ahead and save you the rest of the car shots. :)

This is Teresa (Lori's twin sister) in her super cute kitchen!  Lori said this picture looks like it should be in a cooking magazine, lol!

 

   Me holding the ticket to see my boyfriends (hee-hee!)

 

  Heidi with her ticket.  We were getting soooo excited at this point!

 

All four of us.  Guess which one of us isn't related? :)

 

A little pre-concert warm-up dancing!

 

Cute shoes! Can you guess which toes are mine? :)

 

The line to get into the concert.  There were so many people, it was CrAzY!

 

Another shot of us girls.  I feel like that Sesame Street song, "One of these things, is not like the others..." :)

 

AAAAHHHHH!!! The first shot of the boys!! LOTS of screaming was happening at this point!! (Of course, my camera died right as they were coming on stage but I got pictures from Lori and Teresa.) Also, originally we were in the 200 level but long story short, I talked to a few people and we got moved to the 100 level, right in the middle up on this platform thing so we were soooooo close - it was AMAZING!!!!

 

First song, I don't even remember what it was because we were spazzing out so much! Haha!

 

Jackets off - (I could have done without the back-up dancers, as if any of us were there to see GIRSL! Haha!)

 

 

Check out those moves - OWWWW!

Joey (my fave!) singing to me (isn't that nice of him?).  We have the same birthday so when I was like, 9 or something, I was CONVINCED this meant we were destined to be together - hahaha!

 

Another outfit change (I wish I could remember what song they're singing here, but everything is pretty much a blur now!) :)

 

There's about 100 more pictures but I'll spare you and just post a few more of my faves -

Joey busted out in full 80's gear and sang "Popsicle" - it was one of the best moments of the concert!

 

Loved the black suits -  

 

Towards the end of the conert, they dropped these beach balls and Heidi grabbed one - YAY!! So this is us with "The Ball"! So fun! 

 

That's the concert in a very small nutshell. (Seriously, I have like, 100 more pictures.)  The next day, we went shopping in Seattle including a stop at the A Muse shop! Yippee!!  Here's me in front of the shop, and then a picture of one of my cards on display (it was sooooo fun to see some of my cards there!)

 

If you're still here, thanks for sticking around and checking out my pictures.  It was one of the best trips ever!!

EEK!!!!

Did ya see, did ya see?!!! Two of my designs are featured on the A Muse blog today! Soooo exciting!

AP starts tomorrow!!!

Hellooooo!! I'm back from Seattle and it was the best trip EVER! I don't know if I told you guys, but I went up there with some girlfriends to see New Kids on the Block in concert and they were AMAZING!!! Seriously, I can't even talk about it because it was so good!  And now I'm completely swamped so I'm just popping on here for a second to say - A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA starts tomorrow! Woot-woot!  I'll be at Scattered Pictures (503.252.1888) hosting a preview part there tomorrow night and then we have LOTS of stuff planned throughout the week so I hope you can make it to something!  I'd love to see you! Plus, you NEED to see these new stamps people - they adorable!  Okay, off to prep and get some more samples done.  I promise I'll have a card to show you soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this delish picture of my boyfriends aka NKOTB.  Hugs!

(Photo courtesy of Lori Schimmel because my camera died right as they were taking the stage. And don't worry, I'll be back with LOTS of more pictures once my schedule calms down.) 

P.S. Imagine LOTS of screaming and jumping when you look at this picture! Hee-hee!

Blogging break...

Hey chicas!  I'm headed to Seattle for a couple of days - yippee!! - and I'm up to my eyeballs with all my AP class stuff so I'm taking a bit of a blogging break.  But I'll be back soon with LOTS of cute stuff to show you!  And in the meantime, be sure to be checking out the A Muse blog! 

Have a wonderful day! 

(Only 3 more sleeps until AP starts - woohoo!!)

New hard drive!

Woot woot! The hubs fixed my laptop! Now all I have to do is re-download all my pictures and photo editing software so I can get some cards posted.  Stay tuned!

Laptop died...again

Hey everyone, you are note EVEN going to believe this! My brand-new-only-had-it-for-three-weeks laptop just died yesterday. Apparently the hard-drive was bad and they're sending us a new one.  So, needless to say, I'll be MIA with the card postings for a couple of days. Sorry about that! I've got lots to show you but the pics on my laptop (I'm on the antique desktop at the moment.)  Anyway, it should all be fixed sometime in the next week and I'll get on here to show you some goodies as soon as possible.  In the meantime, be sure to be checking the A Muse blog for all the AP fun that's going on.  See you soon!

I'm back!

I had a great trip to Colorado but it's taking me longer than expected to get back on track with everything, including my blog! I'm working on some crafty stuff to *hopefully* show you in the next day or two.  In the meantime, be sure to check out the A Muse blog because they're having a HUGE celebration in honor of  the company turning 8!! So fun!!

Have a good day!

 

Manly Monday coming soon...

Hi Crew! So sorry I'm late with Manly Monday (again). The laptop wasn't working yesterday (again!) but it should be fine so I'll have a card up later today.  Maybe next week I'll actually get the card up ON MONDAY.  Wouldn't that be nice? ;)

Manly Monday coming soon...computer issues

Hiya!  Sorry I didn't do a post for Manly Monday yesterday.  My laptop was/is seriously acting up and the keyboard wasn't working (and barely is now) so I couldn't post.  And for some reason my photo editing software won't open up so I can't edit my photo to post.  I'm hoping my husband can get everything working and I'll have a card for you later today.  Computers drive me CRAZY!!! :)

Hope you're all having a good week! I have big cleaning plans today - lol! We'll see if anything actually gets done!

Hugs!

Wicked!

Oh. My. Word.  Wicked was sooooooooooooooooooo good!  If you haven't seen it and ever get a chance to, you must!  I got to go with my wonderful friend Breanna and we had SUCH a great time!  Here's a pic of us before hand at Starbucks (we got there really early and then met my aunt, uncle and cousin for coffee.)  Aren't we cute? ;)

 

And then B took this picture inside the theater right after the show to prove where we were.  I lightened the picture a bit so you could see the dragon thingy on the wall above us - so cool! (I snagged the pic from her blog.)

   

Oh! And did I mention the tickets were FREE? Don't ya hate me now?  Hee, hee!

It's been a week...

Since my last post??? Could I BE any worse at blogging right now? Sorry! I do have a few more cards to share with you from the kit that I posted about last week but I still need to photograph/edit them so I might not get them up until tomorrow.  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

MIA

Hi guys! Sorry the ol' blog has been so quiet these last few days.   I've been busy working on class samples so I don't have much I can share right now.  I'm hoping to get some "fun" stamping time in this weekend so check back later for new cards!

Hope you're all doing well! In the meantime, check out this AWESOME picture of my two boys.  This just melts my heart.  (They were sitting outside together eating goldfish crackers.)

   

Happy Friday!

Sick little Theo

Hey all! Sorry to leave you hangin' with no sneak-peeks but I still haven't received my new stamps yet and my poor little Theo is very sick so I'm not sure when I'll get  a chance to stamp again.  I'll keep you posted!

What will you do with your talents?

"Talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back.  The things you are naturally good at are your gifts.  If singing or dancing or math or music or leadership come easily to you, that's a gift.  One of the marks of a gift is to have the courage to fulfill it.  If it's easy for you to be a good dancer, or singer, or athlete, why not become a great on?"

-Excerpt from Five, a book from Starbucks

One of my goal's for this year is to be brave enough to truly step out and use my gifts/talents to the best of my ability and to glorify God in all that I do.  What will you do with your talents? Aren't the possibilities exciting?

Just FYI

I'm currently re-working my blog a little bit to reflect my new standings as an instructor and not a designer.  Please bear with me as I get it all organized :)

HUGE sale at Paperdoll!

For all of you local stampers out there, Paperdoll is having a HUGE sale this week until the 24th!  Here are the deets -

HOLIDAY CLEARANCE!

Thursday, Dec. 18^th – Wednesday, Dec. 24^th  (Closed Sunday and Monday)

Buy A Card

Holiday Greeting Cards 40% OFF!
(Boxed and Single: Shannon Martin, Wooster and Prince, Patience Brewster, Quotable, Mel Lim, Little Fish…)

Make A Card

Holiday Rubber Stamps 40% OFF!
(Wood and Clear: AMuse, Savvy, Tim Holtz, Inkadinkado, Stampers Anonymous, Memory Box, MSE, Hampton…)

paperdoll
buy a card or make a card
7909 SE Stark Street
Portland, OR 97215
Ring 503.408.6867

Feeling a bit better and something cool

Hey girlies, thanks for the kind emails and comments letting me know you're thinking of me and hoping I get better - I really appreciate it! I got on antibiotics for strep throat on Friday night and I'm feeling much better today.  Hopefully I'll be mostly back to normal by tomorrow!

In the mean time, one of my cards is featured on the PaperCrafts Magazing website, isn't that cool? I'm so excited! You can check out here.

Hope you all have a good day!

Seattle Recap...

Oh, how I heart Seattle...seriously, it's one of my very fave cities. (Is that 'cities' is spelled? It looks weird.) Anyway, the A Muse instructor training weekend was fantastic! Exhausting, but fantastic.  It was so great to meet everyone in person and get to all be together in one place.  There is so much creativity and talent on the A muse team, I'm humbled to be a part of it. 

Here are some pics - (I didn't take a huge amount so I had to lift some from other team member's blogs - hope that's okay!)

One of the front windows of the shop- (isn't that tree adorable? Nina does all the window displays)(Lifted from Jill's blog)-

 

Here's a pic of the shop from inside looking down from the back room-

Here's Tisha, Jen D, me, Tracy and Lyndsay at the cupcake social (lifted from Dawn's blog)-

This is the back-room with all of us during the A Muse Copic training-

These next few were from Saturday when we all put on our matching A muse shirts - (click on them for a bigger version-

Me and my partner in crime roomie Erika.  I love that girl!

 

Linda and Pebbles-

  Me and Geeta -

Adelina, Michelle and Erika-

  Me, Geeta and Jen D. -

 

Then on Saturday night we all went out to eat and here are a bunch of us waiting to be seated for dinner  (lifted from Jen A's blog)  -   

Here's one last shot with my dear friend Ingrid. I was so glad she was able to come and hang out with all of us for the weekend.  She is a LONG time fan of A Muse (even longer than me!) and so it was really special to have her there.

(Sorry the pic is blurry!)

 

That's about it! I wish I  had more pictures to share with you but I've seen lots on the other A Muse team member's blogs so be sure to check those out for more shots from a GREAT weekend!

Halloween pics...

I'm so far behind in everything at the moment so I'm just now getting to the Halloween pictures that I promised you!  The boys were super cute, Theo was a penguin and Isaiah was Spiderman.  We had lots of fun trick or treating and the weather was perfect! The only bummer was I didn't get any really good pictures of the boys so these will have to do!

Isaiah posing as Spiderman (apparently Spiderman likes to stretch...)

Theo as a penguin (he looked sooooo much cuter in real life!)

 

Here's Isaiah on his scooter at my parents old house (they just sold it.)

 

  And this is the best one I could get of them together!  Haha!

That's it in a nutshell :)  I'll be back sometime this week to post pics from my Seattle trip.

Have a great day!