Glenda's Creative Place - Fun with Paper, Cricuts & More!

Proud Parents of Another College Graduate!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Well, we’re on our way right now to watch our youngest son, Shawn, walk across the stage to get his college diploma. We are extremely proud of Shawn, as he has worked very hard to accomplish this goal.

This is now #2 of 2 of our sons who are now college grads. It makes me think that we must be doing something right, LOL!!

And although we are extremely proud of Shawn and his older brother, Matthew for both graduating from college, as a parent, this day is a little bittersweet, because we’ve raised them and I feel as if it was our job to get them to this point, but now that our “baby”is graduating from college, I’m not quite sure what my “mom” job is now! We have a busy early summer this year, starting with Shawn’s College Graduation and then in just over a month from now, our oldest son, Matthew is getting married. WHEW!!!

Great news!! We finally have a New Puppy!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:22:00 +0000

I finally have a new puppy, thanks to a surprise visit from my only sibling, sister Gail. She gave me that extra push I needed to find the right one, and then she made all the arrangements for me to get the puppy.

She is a "Shihchon", which is half Bichon Frise and half Shihtzu. They're called the Teddy Bear dog because they look like a little stuffed animal Teddy Bear!! She weighs 3 pounds! She's sooo cute it's ridiculous, she's unbelievably smart and she's a serious lover and snuggle bunny. Oh, and she hops like a bunny--it's hilarious!! She's non-allergenic, so she can be around anyone who normally has allergies to dogs!! She has no name yet because we're waiting for my husband, Moe to name her, because he has named all of our dogs!! I am totally in love with her and she is already healing my broken heart from when I lost my last dog, Gucci.

Most of you know I have been living with a seriously broken heart since last July 6, 2011 when we very unexpectedly lost our darling Brussels Griffon named Gucci, who was my 24/7 companion. And for a long time, I couldn't even think about "replacing" her. But when I was finally ready to start looking, it seemed like every time I thought I had found the one I wanted, something would go wrong and the deal would fall through. Even last Friday, I spent 4 hours at a huge Pet Expo/Pet Adoption Event where every rescue group from southern CA had all their adoptable dogs. I looked at hundreds of dogs & finally found one I was very interested in, spent about 30 minutes with her, started to fall in love & then the main person of the rescue group she belonged to came back from lunch & informed myself & the volunteer who was helping me that she had already been adopted 20 minutes before I got there!!! Yikes!! So this is the kind of thing that kept happening to me & honestly, I was beginning to wonder if I would EVER find the right dog for me.

But when one of these doggie deals wouldn't work out over the past couple months, some very wise friends of mine kept telling me it was OK because whatever dog I just missed out on was NOT supposed to be my dog and I would find the right one when the time was right. Well, they were sooooo right!!!

It's been about eleven years since we had a tiny puppy in this house and you sort of forget that it really is like having a little baby in the house, LOL!!! Let's just say that I've had even less sleep than usual, which isn't a good thing, but I know it won't be like this forever! But she is sooo worth it!!!!

So if you email or call me and if I don't get back to you immediately, it will be because I'm probably trapped with a sleeping puppy curled up on my chest, with her little face snuggled up against mine, with the scent of her little puppy breath wafting across me--(way better than any designer perfume IMHO!)!! My philosophy is to never bother a sleeping puppy!! Just give me a couple days for us to get situated and get her acclimated to life here in our home!! Oh who am I kidding--just give me a couple days to just snuggle her and love her, LOL!! TIA!!!

Who LOVES Tim Holtz’s Products and are You Attending Tim Holtz’s Very First Online Class? See the Tim Holtz Interactive Catalog Below for EASY Supply Ordering for ALL of Tim’s Products!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:02:00 +0000

If you love many of Tim Holtz’s products and are NOT yet signed up to take Tim’s very first online class, I can only ask “Why Not”? This two-week online set of eleven classes are for any paper crafter who wants to understand: how to use, when to use, and why to use all the different types of inks, colorants, markers, papers and more that we already have in our stash, or that we might want to add to our craft supplies in the future. In Tim’s words, these classes are all about technique. “The goal here is not to just make pretty things, our goal is to understand the “how’s & why’s” of the products too.”

It is an online class which incorporates the very best formats available for online classes in that they are interactive classes because you can ask questions and interact with the instructor and other class participants in the Class Forum, but you can actually “attend” the classes and watch the videos on your own schedule, and the very best thing is that you have LIFETIME access to all the class materials, videos, PDFs, etc.!!

For those of you who are not yet signed up, here’s the link to check it out: http://www.onlinecardclasses.com/timholtz (Be sure to watch the video on the information page and then you’ll understand why all of us who paper craft should take this class!!)

For anyone who still wants/needs to order supplies for the class, or for anything else pertaining to Tim Holtz’s products, I’m posting a link here that is an actual 84 page INTERACTIVE PRODUCT CATALOG of Tim’s products that you can page through online, which will make it easier going forward for all of my customer's to make up your lists of products that you want to order and then just email it to me at gcporders@yahoo.com . (Please put the word “ORDER” in your email’s subject line!!) But what I need to be sure that you understand is that this catalog shows all the products with their MSRP prices (which means “Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices”), and unfortunately, I’m not able to edit those, so I want to remind all of you that my prices are always an average of at LEAST 25% or more off of the MSRP!!! You never need a Coupon Code, you never have to wait for a sale, and you never have to jump through hoops to get my discounted prices—they are that way 24/7, 365 days a year!! So when you’re making your lists to email to me, just total it up using the MSRPs that you’ll see in the interactive catalog, then deduct 25% to get your average total with me!!

Here’s the interactive catalog link for Tim Holtz’s 2012 Product Lines: http://www.flipcity.com/fvx/ulib/1f57b05b-9b24-4fbb-8631-8b2b09442f2f/9147/1/Web/mybook.html

For those of who are taking Tim Holtz’s online class, Creative Chemistry 101, there’s a Class supply list provided on their site, but I thought I’d make it easy for you by also posting it here. Please let me know if I can help you with any of these!!

CREATIVE CHEMISTRY 101 CLASS - SUGGESTED SUPPLIES:

• Craft Sheet • Ink Blending Tool

• Ink Blending Foam • Mister

• Mini Mister • Heat Tool

• Stamps/Rubber or Clear • Distress Ink

• Distress Re-inker • Distress Stains

• Distress Markers • Distress Crackle Paint

• Distress Embossing Powder • Distress Stickles

• Clear Embossing Powder • Perfect Pearls Powder

• Archival Ink • Ink Palette

• Waterbrush/Detailed • Waterbrush/Flat

• Vagabond Machine • Texture Fades

(or other die cutting machine)

SUGGESTED SURFACES:

• Tags/Manila • Tags/Kraft

• Specialty Stamping Paper • Sticky Back Canvas/Natural

• Watercolor Paper • Grungeboard or Chipboard

• Kraft Resist

So if you ever wished that you understood when to use dye ink versus pigment ink, or what type of inks or other colorants work best on dark papers versus light papers and many, many other things that will help you to better utilize the supplies you already own, or to help you intelligently buy the supplies you need for your projects going forward, then go on over to the Creative Chemistry 101 site, read through the class descriptions and get yourself registered. This is not just a class that will teach you about Tim’s products, but it will also educate you about the same type of products from any manufacturer, which might well help you save a heap of money in the future!!

Ever Wondered about Digital Scrapbooking or Card-Making? If you’re in Southern California, you’re in LUCK!! Ever edited a photo? Then you’re already a Digi Scrapper! Learn how to do Basic Photo Editing or to use digital techniques on your cards!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:51:00 +0000

Whenever I mention Digital Scrapbooking or Card-Making, inevitably several paper crafters very adamantly express that they will NEVER do digital!! But I think what many of them don’t understand is that they have ever edited a photo before they scrapped it, they have already become a digi scrapper/card-maker!!

If you’ve ever wished you could use your computer to realistically, quickly and easily correct and enhance your photos, fix your mistakes, etc., then you absolutely need to take advantage of one of the last chances any of us will have to take classes in person from THE DIGITAL SCRAPBOOK TEACHER, Patty D. at Scrapbook Expo here in Orange County, CA before she retires her traveling classes. She is teaching classes at Scrapbook Expo, which is now located at the Anaheim Convention Center (the same location as CHA was!!) Fri. Feb 23rd & Sat. Feb. 24th. CLICK HERE to see the workshop schedules (they’re on the right side—see both the Friday and Saturday workshops—she has no classes scheduled Sunday!). She has seven classes scheduled for Basic Photo Editing and for Digital Card-Making. Online registration is now closed, but you can register at the show and as of now, she does have some open spots in her classes. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND any and all of Patty’s classes!!

I’m sure many of you are familiar with Patty because she has been featured in many prominent craft magazines and you may also recognize her darling “Digi-Chick” avatar from her many national advertisements!!

There are many degrees of digital paper crafting—there are the folks who have gone 100% digital, then there are those referenced above who are engaged in the most basic level of digital by editing their photos on their computer, then the largest group is those of us smack dab in the middle, doing what is called “Hybrid”. I am in that group and I am there because while I enjoy the many facets of digital scrapbooking / paper-crafting that allow me to get pages done more quickly, I am not now, nor do I think I will ever be ready to give up all the tactile parts of paper-crafting. I love to touch (and sometimes even sniff, LOL!!) the beautiful papers I have, I love glue dots and “real” matching embellishments such as Prima flowers, all sorts of bling, such as rhinestones, Stickles, glitter, Perfect Pearls Mists, and so on. I love brads and eyelets, and heaven knows, I LOVE ribbon!!!! And this means that I am a hybrid scrapbooker / card-maker and proud of it!!

But because my crafting philosophy has always been that crafting should be easy and quick and should NEVER cause you any stress, I do love to use certain things within the digital realm to help me perform some tasks quickly and easily—“EASY PEASY” is my motto!!

And the very first and most important thing I use digital techniques for is to easily edit my photos. The days of trying to fix “red eye” on photos with a special pen are long gone for me, because with a couple clicks of a mouse, I can fix that red eye in no time flat, and get completely realistic results!! And what about those photos where the subject is so dark you can barely see who it is? Guess what—again, with a couple clicks of a mouse, you can correct that as well and end up with a correctly edited photo that looks simply amazing!!

I HIGHLY recommend Patty’s classes because she’s the ONLY person who I’ve ever encountered who teaches classes strictly from the paper-crafter’s point of view!

I have a history with THE DIGITAL SCRAPBOOK TEACHER, Patty in that we met while we were both taking Photoshop Elements classes together at the Huntington Beach Adult School—that’s where we both began our journey into digital. And during all those classes, over a couple years time, whenever several of us were on break together we would always lament that there were no books or classes geared directly to paper-crafters. There were tons of Photo Elements books out there, but they were all written from the point of a graphics person. For a couple years we took these classes in Huntington Beach, and for a couple years we complained and complained about the fact that we had no good reference material to help us figure something out when we ran into trouble when scrapping in the middle of the night!! Which led Patty to do something incredibly brave--she decided to write just such a book. She did, and it was received with overwhelming success, which led her to teaching classes all over the country, as well as overseas. She started her “DIGI BOOT CAMPS”, and her “DIGI DEGREE” program and has been running at an unbelievable pace since her first book was released. After a huge outpouring of requests for an updated version of the book, she did a full re-write and released it this past year. To say she’s been going non-stop for years now, doesn’t even really describe her schedule. But due to personal reasons, she has decided to cut back on the traveling and do her “FAREWELL TOUR”. Which is why if you ever wanted to take any of Patty’s classes, this is now the time you must do so, before she retires her traveling teaching!!

So if you’re anywhere in Southern California, I strongly encourage you to go to the Scrapbook Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center either this Fri., Feb 24th or Sat., Feb 25th and register for any classes being taught by THE DIGITAL SCRAPBOOK TEACHER when you arrive there!!

LINKS:

Scrapbook Expo: http://www.scrapbookexpo.com/OC-12/Workshops.asp
TheDigitalScrapbookTeacher page for her classes on her site: http://thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com/schedule.html
The Digital Scrapbook Teacher’s Home Page: http://thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com
Link to Patty’s new, update book, Photoshop Elements Basics and Beyond: http://thedigitalscrapbookteacher.com/book.html

Distress Markers added!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:59:00 +0000

First let me apologize to anyone who has been waiting for a return email from me from either yesterday (Valentine’s Day) or today. I actually took these 2 days off, but for some reason, my “Vacation Response” isn’t working in my Yahoo mail, so if you emailed me, you didn’t get an automated return alerting you that I’m actually off work—sorry!! If I don’t get to you later today or tonight, I will certainly get in touch with you tomorrow (Thursday).

Next, I want to let everyone know that I’ve now added direct ordering for the new Tim Holtz Distress Markers for customers within the USA only. You can now order them directly by using the PayPal ADD TO CART button located on my MARKERS webpage in the Tim Holtz Distress Markers section, which is located about 1/3 of the way down the page!! For those of you who have already placed a pre-order with me for this full 37-piece set of Distress Markers and who have NOT yet received an invoice from me can go ahead and use the ADD TO CART PayPal button, rather than waiting for me to send an invoice!!

For ALL items with ADD TO CART PayPal buttons, please rest assured that any pre-orders and all the subsequent orders will be filled in the exact same order in which they were FIRST received by me—meaning that, if for example you emailed me to place your order 2 weeks ago and you still haven’t received an invoice from me yet, you will still keep your EXACT place in line from 2 weeks ago when you use the ADD TO CART buttons. I keep all emailed pre-orders in a special folder, they are arranged in that folder by the date received, that is how I have ALWAYS filled my orders and that is how I will continue to fill them. Once all those initial emailed pre-orders are filled, then I process subsequent orders by the time frame they are done in PayPal by using the ADD TO CART Buttons, or by the time-stamp that their emails come into me for those customers who either can’t use the ADD TO CART buttons because they are International, or for customers who are placing/combining orders for multiple products.

International customers can NOT use the ADD TO CART buttons!!! Please don’t try, because if you do, it will not bill ANY shipping, so then I will have to send you a separate invoice just for shipping, which means you’ll end up with 2 separate transactions in PayPal—which makes no sense!!

For International ordering, please email me at gcporders@yahoo.com and include the list of products that you want and include the following:

The email address that your PayPal account is linked to.
Your PayPal email address
Your shipping address, including City, State / Province, Country and your postal code.
A Contact phone # to reach you for questions: Please include your Contact # including any special area codes and please also include your International Dialing Country Code, just in the remote case I might need to call you for a quick question!!
I am also available to video chat with both International and U.S.A. customers for order help, or other questions. Please see my CONTACT ME page for details on how to reach me through my video chat service!!

Please know that whether you place any of your your orders now or in the future with me using the ADD TO CART PayPal Buttons or if you email your orders to me, I will ALWAYS make sure you ONLY pay the amount for shipping that I end up paying for your shipping label(s). For every order I receive, whether it comes through PayPal from the ADD TO CART Buttons, or it comes directly to me in an email request, whenever I get ready to pack each order, I fuss around with the package, weighing and checking different methods of shipping until I find the best way and the best price to ship that package. And if for some reason the shipping program within PayPal (through the ADD TO CART buttons) billed you an amount for shipping that ends up to be more than what I pay for your shipping label(s) when I send out your order(s), I always automatically go into PayPal and immediately refund the difference between the amount that was billed through PayPal and the amount that I end up paying for your shipping label. Those type of refunds show up immediately in a customer’s PayPal account. So my customers will never end up being over-billed for shipping with me. In fact, because I am always willing do extra things to help reduce the weight of the shipment, such as removing outer plastic clamshell packaging, etc., many customers end up saving a good deal of money when shipping with me.

As always, for any questions, see all the options on how to reach me on my Contact me webpage!!

Thank you for your business!!!

Spectrum Noir, Distress and other Markers

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:45:00 +0000

I wanted to let everyone know that I’ve now added a separate “page” under my Navigational Buttons at the top of my site with PayPal Shopping Cart options for U.S.A. customers to directly order the different sets of Markers from multiple manufacturers.

First, I’ve already added all the options for the Spectrum Noir Markers, including a fabulous, limited time bundle that will get you everything you need to get started and more.

I will also be adding the new Tim Holtz / Ranger Distress Markers very soon. Then, as other markers or pens show up that I’m getting a lot of requests for from my customers, I will add those there as well.

***FYI, NONE of the PayPal “ADD TO CART” or “BUY NOW BUTTONS” on my website are currently set up for International shipping, so any customers who are outside of the U.S.A., still do need to contact me by email to place their orders!!!! Please do NOT use the ADD TO CART Buttons, because they will not work properly, nor will they give you the correct, final amount that will be owing for shipping. The reason I do not have those buttons set up for International ordering is because I know in 99.99% of the cases with International, I can do different things by hand to help save you money on that International shipping that no automated system could ever understand or account for!! For International ordering, please email me at gcporders@yahoo.com and include the list of products that you want and include the following:

The email address that your PayPal account is linked to.
Your PayPal email address
Your shipping address, including City, State / Province, Country and your postal code.
A Contact phone # to reach you for questions: Please include your Contact # including any special area codes and please also include your International Dialing Country Code, just in the remote case I might need to call you for a quick question!!
I am also available to video chat with both International and U.S.A. customers for order help, or other questions. Please see my CONTACT ME page for details on how to reach me through my video chat service!!

CHA Wrap-up, Favorites – Cricut /Provo Craft, Spellbinders, Crafters Companion, Ranger and more–PART 2 (MARKERS: Spectrum Noir Markers by Crafters Companion, and Tim Holtz Distress Markers by Ranger)

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:31:00 +0000

This blog post will be about new and exciting markers that were shown at CHA Winter 2012.

First, let’s just concede the fact that Tim Holtz is a genius and once again, he’s done something phenomenal with these new Distress Markers from Ranger. And like all Ranger products, I am of course ordering these for my customers and like everything I get for you, my prices are great! The Retail/MSRP is $114.99 for the full set of Distress Markers, but my price is only $86.25! To place an order, please email me at gcporders@yahoo.com and PLEASE put the word: “ORDER ” in your email subject line!! There are 37 colors being released, which match up to the 36 current colors of Distress Inks, plus the white Picket Fence color. They do come individually, but I think most of us are grabbing them in the full set of 37 (and the price is much better when you order the full set!!). What I was really impressed with for these markers, was the ability to not only stamp with them, but the fact that they react with water in the same way that the Distress Inks do, so even when you spritz your stamped image with water, or take a water brush to it, the color stays true—it does not “muddy up” and bleed all over. You can still see the image, but you can blend or create water color effects, etc. and the colors stay true. It is pretty amazing and kind of hard to describe in words. It’s really one of those things that you’re better off to either see in person, or to watch a video. But because I’m having issues being able to download all my own CHA videos that I filmed over 4 days off my video camera onto my laptop (grrrrr!!), I will instead link you up to a video with Tim demo’ing the markers for Noell Hyman over at Paperclipping.com, BUT—please wait until I finish telling you about the OTHER AMAZING MARKERS I fell in love with at CHA directly below this video!!

New Distress Markers from Tim Holtz & Ranger

The other fabulous new markers that were released at this CHA were the Spectrum Noir alcohol markers from Crafters Companion. I actually took a class for these and frankly, I was sort of flabbergasted at the ease of blending I got with these markers. Of course, I think most of you know that I do sell and use Copic Markers and let me just say upfront, they are great (although they are getting expensive after yet another recent price hike!!). But here’s the difference that I perceived for myself and my own coloring abilities between the Spectrum Noir and the Copic markers:

The Copics are designed for use by professional illustrators (which I am certainly NOT!). The Spectrum Noir markers are designed for use by paper crafters (which I most certainly am!!!). I found the blending to be much easier for me with the Spectrum Noir markers (going forward I’ll abbreviate these as SN!!) than what I usually go through with my Copics. The best way I can describe it is that an image that I colored in the class with the SN Markers took me about 10 minutes or so to complete, and when I got home, I copied that same image, then colored it with my Copics and that same image took me about 25+ minutes to complete using my Copics. I really like that the SN Markers are available in twelve sets of 6 makers each. And these 12 sets make up the main “body” of the Spectrum Noir family. However, for those who want even more options, they can then add the other four 24-piece sets. And there is NO duplication within any of these sets, so in other words, if you own all twelve of the 6-piece sets and then you add the other four 24-piece sets, there will be NO duplication at all.

I’ve decided that because I like these Spectrum Noir Markers so much for those of us who are just regular, everyday paper-crafters, that not only am I going to sell them, but I am also going to take the extra steps required to become certified to teach them, so I hope that will be helpful to all of you going forward and that I can become a resource in yet another area for you.

My Spectrum Noir pricing is as follows:

Each 6-piece set has a retail price/MSRP of $11.99, but my price fore each set is only $8.95. And if you purchase all twelve of the sets together, I will discount it even further and the total price for all twelve sets will be $99.95. The additional four 24-piece sets have a retail price/MSRP of $49.99, but my price for each of those sets is only $37.50. And again, if you want to purchase all four of the 24-piece sets at the same time, I will discount it even more to a total of $143.80 for all four 24-piece sets.

FYI, the manufacturer is not shipping the additional four 24-piece sets until approximately late March, so IF you want all of the sets, you have the option of having them sent out to you two different ways:

Two separate shipments: If you want to get your hands on the initial twelve 6-piece sets ASAP, then you can elect to have them shipped out to you ASAP, just as soon as they arrive here (FYI-- I’m expecting them sometime during the week of Feb.13th-17th) in shipment #1. Then, when the additional four 24-piece sets arrive here from the manufacturer in late March, I will ship those four sets to you in shipment #2.
One shipment: If you’re willing to wait until all the markers arrive here, (which is estimated by the manufacturer to be in late March for those additional four 24-piece sets), then I will ship them all to you (the shipment would include the initial twelve 6-piece sets, and the additional four 24-piece sets) in one shipment in late March.

************I also have a VERY SPECIAL, LIMITED TIME BUNDLE!!! Please navigate over to my MARKERS PAGE that’s located on the Navigational bar across the top of my site. Or you can CLICK HERE to be taken there directly. You can also place your own orders for the Spectrum Noir family on the MARKERS web page.************************

However, if you prefer to have me place your orders for you, then as always, please email your list to me at gcporders@yahoo.com , and please include the word “ORDER” in your email subject line. Please include:

How you want your markers shipped—in ONE shipment in late March for all the marker sets, or in TWO separate shipments (twelve 6-piece sets to be shipped ASAP and the four 24-piece sets to be shipped in late March)
Your PayPal email address
Your shipping address
A phone # to reach you at for questions

Here’s a short video to help you understand and see the Spectrum Noir alcohol marker system:

Spectrum Noir Markers: Intro & Easy explanation

OK, I think that’s enough for today, LOL!!! I will continue on about more cool and amazing stuff from CHA in the next segments!!

CHA Wrap-up, Favorites – Cricut /Provo Craft, Spellbinders, Crafters Companion, Ranger and more–PART 1 (Cricut, Cuttlebug, Provo Craft)

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:55:00 +0000

I thought I’d better get back to blogging and finish telling all of you about my CHA highlights, after needing a few days to recover from being on my feet for 4 days!!

Let’s start with Provo Craft – Cricut, Cuttlebug & more: Here’s what new & fabulous: Can I get a Halleluiah?? FINALLY—they are releasing a new version of the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2 Cricut cartridge (TBBM2), which IMHO is a “have-to-have” cartridge for every Cricut user! They’ve done some very smart things with this updated version, including having the optional ability to have some of the boxes cut out in 2 pieces (that you can then tape together), which means you can make much larger versions of those boxes than if you could only cut it them in one full piece!!! WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!

But hold on Cricuteers, there’s more!! They are also releasing a SCORING BLADE that will work with this cartridge and selected others in the future!! In other words, many of the images on this new TBBM2 cartridge have score lines built into the designs, so at some point when you’re cutting, the machine will allow you to insert your scoring blade, then it will go through and add all the score lines that have been pre-designed into these particular images. So when you’re done and pull your cut images off the Cricut cutting mat, they will already have the score lines all done for you---and please note that we are talking about actual score LINES and NOT those little tic marks that had been designed into images on previous cartridges (and that soooo many of us really don’t love!)!! HOWEVER, this is for cartridges going forward, it is not backwards compatible because none of the previous cartridges have had the score lines built into them. (But wouldn’t that be an AMAZING update to the Cricut Craft Room Design program?? Are you listening Provo Craft??? Could you please go into all the images on previous cartridges that have those “tic lines” built into them and through using Cricut Craft Room only, give us an option to change those tic marks to score lines instead??? THAT WOULD BE AN AMAZING THING TO DO FOR US!!!! If you agree with me, please make sure you add a comment!!!

Next update for the Cricut is that they finally came up with their own Cricut Gel Pens and Gel Pen Holder. I saw several examples at CHA where they had used the most DARLING “hand-writing” font off the new TBBM2 cartridge with the gel pens and added the sentiment INSIDE of greeting cards (so it actually looked hand-written!!), or another great use would be for journaling!!! I am soooo in love with this particular font from TBBM2, I know I’ll be using it all the time (especially because ,my hand writing is pretty pitiful, LOL!!!)!

Next up is Cuttlebug: First, Provo Craft has recognized that their embossing folders have had an issue in that the design doesn’t extend all the way to the edges of the folder, so we haven’t been getting a full imprint. Well, they are changing that, so on their new designs going forward, the design will extend to the edges of the folder. So no longer will you have to try to figure out exactly how to position the paper up against the line(s) where the design starts and stops. THANK YOU Provo Craft!! Next, Josh from Provo Craft assured me that going forward, when they release new 5x7” Cuttlebug folders, they will also include a matching border embossing folder with it!!! I LOVE THAT!!! WOOHOO AGAIN!!!!!!

FYI, because I have sooooo much to tell you about, I’m going to segment my blog posts into either by Manufacturer, or by similar products. So please be sure to check out all my blog posts about CHA!!

CHA Winter 2012 - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:58:00 +0000

Well, I'm off to try to catch some much needed rest after Day 1 at CHA. I had some great classes today. I took the class from Crafter's Companion to learn all about their new Spectrum Noir alcohol based markers and it was a HUGE surprise. I am sooooo in love with these markers!! I've never had this kind of control using my other alcohol markers. The ease of blending was absolutely unbelievable and shocking--you could constantly see the surprise and delight on the faces of all the students as we progressed along so quickly. I can't wait to work with them further!! They are now going to be my "go-to" alcohol based markers and I am placing orders for them as soon as the convention floor opens in the morning!!

My afternoon class was with the fabulously talented and always darling Teresa Collins for her Teresa Collins StampMaker. Needless to say, as always, Teresa was spot-on with giving us the information we needed along with several tips to help us design and create our own stamps. Great job Teresa!!!!!

OK, off I go to get myself as ready as possible for the morning, when the show officially opens and the Convention Floor opens up and allows us to see all the great new things that are waiting for us in the manufacturer's booths!!

Then when the day draws to a close, several of us (many from the Cricut message board) are meeting up for dinner. It should be great fun and I always love putting the faces to the names!!

Alright, off I go!! If you want me to check out something out for you, or if you want to place an order, just email me at gcporders@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to help you!!

Until later on tomorrow ....

Finally can share my big news-I'm in a TV Infomercial for Cricut / Provo Craft!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:50:00 +0000

Here's the BIG NEWS: The very busy "Cricut Event/Special Project" I've been involved with over the past couple months is that I filmed a TV INFOMERCIAL for Cricut / Provo Craft that will be airing on all the major network stations. Please watch for it!!

It was the experience of a lifetime and I will be forever grateful to have had the privilege of being involved with it! I just saw that Teresa Collins had posted on Facebook about it, so I doubled checked with the production company and they said it's OK to post this info now, so now you know!!!

The production company that Provo Craft very wisely hired to shoot this infomercial was Raymond Enterprises and let me just say they were an absolute dream to work with from start to finish. Every single person I came into contact with from Raymond Enterprises was unbelievably professional, amazingly grounded and every one of them made me feel like a million bucks!

On Day 1 they actually did my shoot at my family business, Main Street Eyewear in downtown Huntington Beach. They came to our location because we were utilizing ideas for businesses to be able to use the Cricut Mini and Cricut Craft Room. It was wild to walk in from Main Street in the wee morning hours and see the HUGE amount of equipment that they brought to this locale shoot. The entire breezeway out on front of our business was jam-packed full of equipment!! It honestly looked like a real TV shoot, which of course it was, from the swiveling cameras to the big lights and even a little craft services table outside full of big pots of Starbucks coffee to keep us all going! And every single person from Raymond Enterprises knew exactly what they needed to do to get the job done, from putting a special type of film onto all our lights inside our store and all the display cases to make them look better on TV, to covering up every single designer's logo in our eyewear/optical store (and since all we sell is high-end designer eyewear, that was quite a serious job, LOL!!) and much, much more!! The Art Director was fabulous and certainly had an amazing eye for detail, the camera man managed to get his shots even in the tightest spots within our business, and the gal who kept track of each and every second of what had been filmed had a memory like I've never seen--it was unbelievable!! And of course, a fabulous team like this gets its direction from the top down and I have to give a huge thank you to Beau, who was in charge of the shoot, and to his fabulous and oh-so-helpful assistant, Alon. From the first contact I had with Beau while going through the interview process with him and then preparing for the shoot, and all the way through to the finish of my part of this project, he was simply amazing and soooo easy to work with/for. He made it an absolute joy!

They were there at our location from very early morning until very late afternoon and to continue about the production company's awesomeness, when they left, every single thing they had altered for the commercial, from the lights to covering up the logos, to removing the backs of some display cases was put back exactly the way it was before they showed up that morning---you would never have known they were there, except for the fact that for days afterwards, people were inquiring about what we'd been shooting in there (news travels fast where we're located here on Main Street, which is just up from the ocean and in many ways, is very much like its own small town, and the TV shoots around here are generally about surfing or our amazing Lifeguards, LOL!!)

Then on Day 2 we finished up the interview portion, aka my "green screen" interviews at their beautiful production facility in L.A. It was top notch all the way, from the Stylist who had picked out the perfect color shirt and matching scarf for me for my wardrobe for the shoot, to the Makeup and Hair Stylist who transformed me for my "close-up", LOL (and I kept her very pretty hair-do for a big fancy party that my husband and I were going to that evening and got lots of compliments about it!!), to the director, to the interviewer and all the other support people in that room, and every other single solitary person I came in touch with that day. I say again that the way they treated me made me feel like a million bucks!! I also want to thank Jon Lee, the Creative Director at Provo Craft for all his help and guidance as well!

As I said before, it was the experience of a lifetime; the chance to hopefully help sell these new products that are part of the Cricut product family that I have been a part of as a consumer since they were first released over 5 years ago. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE my Cricut machines and feel they have literally changed my life. Any time spent "Cricuting" always makes me extremely happy and joyful!! I couldn't begin to add up all the people I've educated about the Cricut over the last 5 years and getting the chance to now do so on such a grander scale was a dream come true!!

So keep your eyes peeled for this to air and if you see it, please shoot me an email at glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com and let me know where and when you saw it. I would greatly appreciate the heads-up!

Here's a copy, you can find me at approximately 1:27 (1 minute and 27 seconds), 5:56, and 14:17. (There might be more, but that's what I found when fast forwarding through the finished video this first time around!) (FYI--It might be easiest on your eyes to click on the YouTube symbol at the bottom right of the video, which will open the video in YouTube itself and thus should be shown on a larger screen. But if you leave, please come back and leave a comment and let me know what you think!!)

That goes for everybody—please leave a comment and let me know what you think!! I hope you all enjoy it!!!!

Ten New Cricut Cartridges Just Released from Provo Craft–WooHoo!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

OMG!! I was soooo happy when I saw all the new Cricut cartridges that were released this week!!! Because I’m a proud member of the Cricut Circle, I got to see them a day early on “Hello Wednesday”, when Provo Craft posts them to the members-only Cricut Circle Blog. But now that it’s Thursday, they are all listed for public view on the “Hello Thursday” section on the Cricut.com site on the Shopping tab.

Of course I was THRILLED to see another new Imagine cartridge (I just wished there would have been more of them for the Imagine in this release!!)!! It’s the Cricut Imagine^®Art Cartridge, “Greeting Cards Inside and Out” and it’s filled with birthday invitations, thank you cards, birth announcements, engagement and wedding announcements, and cards for all sorts of occasions. Not only is it going to make it quick and super easy-peasy to make all sorts of cards, but I also absolutely LOVE all the new Imagine papers on this cartridge!! Take a look:

(FYI, the little Cricut Circle emblem you see on the following Imagine papers is just their watermark to help protect these images on the internet!! They are not an actual part of the papers.)


Aren’t those papers GORGEOUS and FUN??!!

Next up is the Cricut® “Ole’ Cartridge” , which is packed full of striking images, Spanish phrases, and a bold layered font. Wowee, is this cartridge ever overdue??!! So cute, I can’t wait to make some fun invites for Tacos and Margaritas Night, LOL!! Here it is:

Do you also see those gorgeous scalloped designs—they make this cartridge even more fun!!!

Next is the Cricut® “Type Candy” cartridge. This sweet Font cartridge features three darling fonts with shadows. Each font includes uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and special characters. I am soooo thankful to see a full font cartridge again!!! Take a peek:

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!

Onto the next cartridge, and I fully admit that I can’t wait to get my hands on it!! Just wait until you see this one, which is the Cricut® “Giant Flowers” Project cartridge !!! All I can say is YIPPPPPEEEEE---more beautiful flowers—WooHoo!!! You can use this cartridge to create larger-than-life flowers for a wedding, event, party, birthday, or home décor. GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!

Aren’t they sooooo pretty?? With the larger size of these flowers I’m soooo glad that I ordered the new Petal Roller Tool -Fabric from Imaginisce because it has a much larger slot (wider and longer) where you insert the end of your flower in order to begin rolling it, than all my other rolling and quilling tools!!! I think that’s going to come in really handy with these!! I need this cartridge right now!!

Next up is the Cricut® “Bridal Shower” Event cartridge which includes a variety of images such as rings, clothing, phrases, 3D objects, and more. This will certainly be a welcome cartridge with the wedding season coming upon us. Our own family is having its very first wedding this summer when our oldest son, Matthew and his fiancée, Nancy, get married, so I’m sure I will be getting some great use out of this cartridge! Let’s take a look while I ponder all the different ways I can use this cartridge:

OK, my mind is already spinning with ideas!!

So, what’s next you ask?? What’s the old saying? First comes LOVE, then comes MARRIAGE, then comes “somebody” in a BABY CARRIAGE…?? Which means that the next logical life event on our cartridge reveal is the Cricut® “Baby Shower” Event cartridge which you can use to create unforgettable invitations, decorations, party favors, table décor, and more.

How cute!!

As we continue to stroll through these new releases, the next one is the Cricut® “Elmo and Friends Holiday” cartridge which features Elmo and his friends having fun on Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays. Get ready for super-cuteness:

How about that image with Oscar the Grouch holding the Valentine’s candy heart??!! I warned you about the cuteness factor, didn’t I??

Now let’s look at Cricut® “My Quiet Book” Project cartridge which can be used to teach your children, nieces and nephews, or grandchildren their colors, shapes, numbers, and more with this cartridge content.

Sweet images, right??

Next let’s look at a new Lite cartridge, which are found at Wal-Mart and/or at Cricut.com in the shopping section Here is the Cricut® Lite “Fun in the Sun” cartridge which features people waterskiing, boating, swimming, playing volleyball, or otherwise enjoying a day at a beach or lake. (You all must know that this southern CA beach gal is loving this one, LOL!!!)

It’s a good thing I’m writing this article at night or I’d be tempted to grab a beach towel and run on over to the beach after looking at this cartridge, LOL!!

Last, but certainly not least is the latest and greatest Cricut^®Circle Exclusive cartridge, the gorgeous“Letter Envy” cartridge which features an eclectic main font, bold crests, and an eye-catching second font with shadows. Once again, please allow me take my hat off to the Circle folks up at Provo Craft who have really been doing a great job lately with proving us with fabulous content on the Circle Exclusive cartridges. The Circle Exclusive cartridges are only available to members of the Cricut® Circle, and are automatically sent out to us each quarter (4 times a year!). I wonder just how many of you who aren’t already part of this crafty club might be considering joining us when you see this gorgeous cartridge??!!

OMG—can you believe how gorgeous and detailed these fonts are?? Will someone at Provo Craft PLEASE put me out of my misery and hurry up and send me my Circle package with this cartridge in it, LOL??!!! I am absolutely just going crazy over here wanting to get my hands on this cartridge---please have mercy on me and all my other Circlets and rush this quarter’s Circle Exclusive cartridge out to us!!
Maybe when I see the Provo Craft folks at CHA I can get a hint as to how soon the new Circle cartridge will land on my doorstep!
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing all 10 of these new Cricut cartridges as much as I did!! I wonder which ones are at the top of your list??

Wow!! Loving all the new Donna Salazar Winter CHA 2012 Releases!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Please go to Donna Salazar's blog here http://donnasalazar.typepad.com and check out all her new Winter CHA 2012 Releases, including several new die sets from Spellbinders, new compatible stamps from Art Gone Wild Stamps, three new paper lines from GCD Studios, and new matching chipboard shapes from Want2Scrap (to match her new Spellbinders dies!!)---wow, has she ever been busy!!

She has some great new die sets from Spellbinders that you can see on the Spellbinders Abilities and Beyond Blog Frenzy on Day 6, plus there are several great videos within this post full of fun techniques and hints!! See them all here: http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/spellbinders-abilities-and-beyond-blog-frenzy-day-six.html.

Next, Donna has three new paper collections from GCD Studios:

The first is the Botanique paper line that you can view here: http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/first-paper-line-reveal-botanique.html --drop dead gorgeous!!
The second paper line is her Mix'd Media Stack from GCD Studios that actually contains 4 different mediums, including Kraft Labels, thin Kraft paper, Manilla paper & Watercolor paper. This is a palette of non-stop artistic fun papers that you can see here: http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/donnas-reveal-of-art-gone-wild-stamps.html
The third paper release is her Storybook paper line---OMG, this is too cute! Check it out on the GCD Studio blog here (it hasn't been posted on Donna's blog yet, but I'd guess it should be there fairly soon!): http://gcdstudios.blogspot.com/2012/01/story-book-collection.html
In addition to the three new paper lines, Donna is also releasing Volume 3 of her fabulous Crafty Chronicles Newspaper. I think parts from the previous 2 versions make it onto about 80% of my projects and no doubt this new version will prove just as useful!

In addition to all of the above, Donna also has a new line of stamps from Art Gone Wild, including Spellbinders Compatibles stamps that match many of her new Spellbinders dies. Check them out here, along with another very detailed video: http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/01/donnas-reveal-of-art-gone-wild-stamps.html.

Oh, and almost forgot that she also has several new matching chipboard releases from Want2Scrap that match up to her new Spellbinders dies! WooHoo!!!!!!

Whew, I have to tell you I'm exhausted just from recapping the list of all Donna's new products for you!!! I can't imagine how worn out Donna must be right now, LOL!!! Because Donna is a local gal from right here in Orange County, I take special pride in always seeing what new and wonderful things she creates. I absolutely love her style!! To me, she's the "girlie" version of Tim Holtz, with her "Girlie Grunge" style that always manages to look very soft and feminine, while still allowing for all her inky, painty, glitzy, grungy fun techniques!!

Congratulations Donna on a great start to 2012!!

I have been and continue to order all the new Spellbinders dies, including all of Donna's, and will be ordering her papers as soon as I'm able to do so. I will also be checking out ordering her stamps from Art Gone Wild--I've never dealt with this company before, so hoping I can get that all set up when I'm at CHA!!

If you want to order any of Donna's products, or anything else being released for CHA Winter 2012, please email me at gcporders@yahoo.com with the list of products that you want and please put the word "ORDER" in your email subject line. Please include your shipping zip code (or for international customers, please include your full shipping address), along with your PayPal email address.

Yikes, this is shaping up to be a seriously great Winter CHA and the show hasn't even started yet, LOL!!!

I'm Pre-Ordering all the new Spellbinders Releases – please get your orders into me ASAP please!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Hi to all!!! Thanks for visiting my blog! Happy 2012!! I'm officially back to work full-time, after spending the majority of the past month spending time with and enjoying my 82 year old Dad's month-long visit. He went home to the Midwest yesterday, after being spoiled to our 80+ degree beach days that we had for the majority of his visit here!!

So now I am catching up on a LOT, including blogging about the latest & greatest new releases as we wind our way down to the opening of Winter CHA 2012 in Anaheim.

I have been and continue to pre-order all the newest Spellbinders releases as they're being posted on their blog. Please go to their blog by clicking here: http://spellbinderspaperarts.com/Community/Blog.aspx . As of this moment, they have so far debuted Days 1 through 6, so when you go to the Spellbinders site, be sure to look at each of those 6 separate days of posts, plus continue to follow and watch for the remaining days of releases in order to see ALL of the new releases!!!

Once again, Spellbinders has outdone themselves with these amazing new releases, so I expect the demand to be HUGE!! Because of that, it is important to get your orders emailed to me ASAP, so I can make sure I have pre-ordered enough quantities of each new set within the new releases. Otherwise, I expect orders that aren't put in ASAP, will be waiting for the second or third round of manufacturing to be done overseas and then shipped to the USA. As always, my prices will be an average of 20% to 35% off of the MSRP (aka: the "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price"). FYI--these are my every day low prices--you do not need a coupon or to wait for a sale--this is how I price my products all the time, to make it easy and cost-effective for my customers to get what they want!!

To place your orders with me, please email me at gcporders@yahoo.com - please put the word "ORDER" in your email's subject line, and include the Product name & the Product code of everything that you want, along with your your PayPal email address, and your shipping zip code (or if you're an International customer, please include your full shipping address within your country). Please try to get your orders into me ASAP so that I make sure I have pre-ordered enough quantities for all of you. This is an amazing set of new products and I expect the demand to be huge. Anything that doesn't get ordered early enough will most likely have to wait until a second/third shipment gets re-manufactured & sent here to USA, so please don't wait if you want to get yours early!

If you have any questions, please either email me or call me during my home office hours of between 10AM to 6PM PACIFIC time. My home office # is (714) 964-0656. Thanks!

I’m Ordering all new JustRite Stamps–Get Your Orders Into Me ASAP!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Happy New Year to all!! I’m getting ready to send in more orders for all the newest JustRite Stamps and WOWEE, do they EVER have some GORGEOUS and fun new stamps!! They are really expanding their repertoire in soooo many beautiful and practical ways!

To see all their new stamps, please follow the links below to their website, then make a list of which sets you want (the name of the stamp set and its’ product code if possible) and email your list to me at gcporders@yahoo.com . Please put the word “ORDER” in your email’s subject line, which will pull it up to the top priority!! Be SURE to come back and email me to place your orders, because as always, my prices are anywhere between 20% to 35% LESS than the manufacturer’s retail prices (aka: MSRP).

To see all the new JustRite CLING stamps, please click here: http://www.justritestampers.com/category.aspx?categoryID=228

To see all the new JustRite CLEAR stamps, please click here: http://www.justritestampers.com/category.aspx?categoryID=250

To see JustRite’s brand new DIE Releases (their dies are manufactured for them by Spellbinders and are designed to match specific JustRite Stamp Sets), please click here: http://www.justritestampers.com/category.aspx?categoryID=238

OK, now that you’ve seen them, email your list to me to get your order placed!

FYI: All of the JustRite CLING and CLEAR stamps only need a “regular” acrylic block to mount them on for stamping, which many of you already own (the same acrylic blocks that we all use for clear stamps). Unlike the ORIGINAL versions of the JustRite Stamps, which do need the specific size stampers for mounting, instead, all of the JustRite CLING and CLEAR stamps don’t require you to purchase anything extra!! So as long as you already own an acrylic block that will fit the Cling or Clear stamps that you’re ordering, you are all set!! However if you DO need to add some acrylic blocks to your order, please feel free to do so. You will find JustRite’s collection of acrylic blocks at the bottom of the same web pages listed above, where their new Cling and Clear stamps are shown.

So now that you’ve seen these gorgeous new JustRite releases, get your list together and email it to me ASAP at gcporders@yahoo.com (or if you already have me in your email’s address book as glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com , that is still my MAIN email address, but I’ve now also added an additional email address for my business's orders, which is just a shorter and more abbreviated version of the original in an attempt to make it easier for some of you!! Both of those email addresses will land in the same spot for me!!)

And remember, I can also help you with many, many other products from all sorts of manufacturers. To see a partial list of the manufacturer’s products that I can help you with, please scroll down this web page and you will see a list on the right side of the page, just a little bit further down.

Well believe it or not, here we go again, beginning the countdown to CHA Winter and all the new products that are already beginning to roll in, with many more to come!! This is going to be FUN!!!!

P.S. I want to send a shout out to Megan and her husband Sean from Above Rubies Studio. Sean was in a car accident earlier this week and thank goodness it wasn’t serious, but he did get pretty bruised up and is very sore from the air bags. If you could, please send some good thoughts and prayers their way, because whenever any of our loved ones gets hurt or injured, it is very scary and stressful for the entire family. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for Sean and some peace of mind for Megan!

It’s a Cricut Extravaganza here right now & I’m loving it!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:52:00 +0000

Hi All!!

Oh, I wish all of you could all see what is going on here. I am on “vacation” again this week, finishing up a very special project. In order to get everything done in time (because there was an “industrial accident” here last week that destroyed weeks worth of work I’d already done—can’t talk about that right now or I might seriously start weeping, LOL!!), I literally have every Cricut machine that I own working away for me, all at the same time.

I have my Expression 2 (which I am now soooo LOVING—thank you soooo much for this machine Provo Craft!!!!), next to my regular Expression, along with my original Cricut (aka Baby Bug) all three working in my craft room. Then in the family room, I have my Cricut Imagine machine cutting away as well.

I have my laptop permanently logged into the Cricut Craft Room design program and I am just moving the USB cord from one machine to the other in my craft room—when one machine finishes, I start up the other one (so as to not overwork them!). I have gone through 6 new cutting blades between all the machines in the past few days (thank goodness I am always stocked up on these!!), as well as a gaggle of cutting mats. (FYI for all Cricut Users—this is why I ALWAYS preach that you MUST keep extra cutting blades and cutting mats on hand at all times!!) I’m also using my Gypsy on some things that I don’t need to create files for, but am using it to just to help me out with paper placement so I can just whip out those cuts!! It is truly a Cricut / Provo Craft extravaganza going on here right now!!! Talk about a party, WooHoo!!!! I wish I had a spare minute just to make a video to show you the craziness going on here. There are literally stacks of die cuts (all the things I’ve already cut out), and who know how many packs and containers of papers that have been pulled out and are lining the family room floor, as well as all corners of my desk. It is QUITE a site, LOL!!!

It’s at times like this that reminds me why I love my Cricut machines so much. We are sooooo spoiled by these machines that literally take so much of the laborious work out of our hands and do it all for us. Right now all I can say is “THANK YOU PROVO CRAFT”. These machines have transformed the entire way in which I craft and I for one, am NEVER going back—only forward!! I can’t wait to see what Provo Craft has in store for us in the coming year. I was so happy to see all the digital images that have been added to Cricut Craft Room (and BTW, I found the exact image that I needed and didn’t yet own for a big piece of my project—how handy and wonderful was that!!??) and I can’t wait too see what they’ll give us next. As you can deduce from the tone of this post, I am on a serious “Cricut high” right now!!! And when I finish up this project, next I’ll be starting on my Christmas cards and I know that once again, using my Cricut machines, I will whip those out of here in no time, especially with all the great cartridges that have beautiful Christmas designs on them!!! Isn’t technology a wonderful thing??!!! I guess that’s why I will forever be the original “Gadget Girl”!!!

Well, got to get back to it!!! Wish me luck!!

FYI-On Vacation for “Top Secret Special Assignment” all this week!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Hi Everybody!!! Hope everyone is starting to get in the holiday spirit!!! Wow, the Christmas decorations are already up everywhere it seems!!! Matches well with the chilly and wet southern CA weekend we’re having here!!!

This is just an informational post to let all of you know that I am going to be taking VACATION time all this week, starting Sunday, November 6th, and I will be returning on Monday, November 14th. I am going to be on a “special assignment/special project” that I can’t chat about yet (Top Secret—shhhhhh!!!), but I will tell you just as soon as I’m allowed to do so. But I will say it’s VERY EXCITING and quite an honor!!! I decided to take vacation time because in order to do the very best job possible on this special assignment, I really need to concentrate ONLY on this one project exclusively, up until the time that I hear the words, “It’s a wrap!!”.

However, as always, if you happen to have a very serious crafting emergency (LOL!!!), and you absolutely must speak to me immediately, you can always call me on my Home Office telephone number.

In the meantime, if you want to place an order, please go ahead and send an email to me at glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com –and PLEASE put the word “ORDER” in your email subject line!!! Please include the information for the items that you want to order (product and manufacturer name, and product # if you have it!), along with your shipping address and telephone #, and the PayPal email address you want your invoice sent to. That way I can get a head start on your orders while I’m on vacation!!

Have a fabulous week and wish me luck!!!! WooHoo!!!!!!!

Updates on cancer scares and more

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:30:00 +0000

I know I’m really late getting this information updated (based on all the emails and phone calls I’ve received from so many of you!!), and for that, I apologize. Frankly, I have no excuse except that I have just been worn out thinking and talking about it and frankly, couldn’t bear to talk about it for a short time while just trying to absorb it all and what it might all mean. It seemed to overshadow my life for the last couple months. But I know I owe it to all my friends, customers and followers to get this information to you, so here we go. I will try to make this as short as possible (LOL!!!).

Regarding the Multiple Myeloma cancer:
The news is the results are "inconclusive at this time". One of the main things they look for is an elevated protein in the urine, and mine is elevated, but not much--so this is good news. The not so good news is in reading all the bone scans, skeletal bone survey, etc., they found more black spots, this time on my femoral shaft (which is your thigh bone), so this isn't so good, because now they can see these black spots (which I think are actually little holes in the bone, IF I understand this correctly) on my spine and on the femur.

Some of the main and typical symptoms of Multiple Myeloma (aka MM) are severe fatigue, and problems with the kidney functions, but in my case, I am already always fatigued because I don't sleep well--ever--due to ongoing severe back pain. And as for the kidney issue, because that protein in my urine wasn't elevated very much, right now this isn't a serious concern either—the kidneys look okay for now. Because the main symptoms of MM aren't severe enough at this point in time to cause me too many problems, the decision by the Oncologist was to not do anything invasive, meaning no chemotherapy (thank goodness—WooHoo!!), no blood marrow transfusion, etc. and to re-check everything in 6 months from now. At that time, if things have progressed, then we will have to re-visit those invasive treatment options, BUT there's also a chance that things could stay the same for an indefinite amount of time.

This Multiple Myeloma is a very strange & different animal from many other cancers, which we typically expect to progress fairly quickly. Apparently people can not only live for a long time with MM, even when the disease is more advanced (based of course on when and what stage of the disease they're diagnosed with), but in cases like mine, there are a lot of people who have it and who live with the more minimal amount of symptoms for years with no change--almost as if it's stagnant!!!

So for right now, I don't have to do anything regarding the MM but wait and do the follow up again in 6 months. And although I am sincerely grateful that I don't have to undergo any treatment, especially chemo, (because the #1 thing I despise and that believe it or not, is the thing I've been most afraid of is the throwing up—(yes, I know--I sound like a big baby, right??) --but I am so seriously afraid of being sick to my stomach for any length of time because it hurts my back soooo badly to throw up--it's the "heaving" that hurts!!), but because I am a person who prefers to have real answers and then, even if the answers aren't good, at least I know what the answers are and can make a plan for what needs to be done, this is going to be tough for me to remain patient. Because for now it's a "wait and see" thing, mentally it's very difficult for me to have absolutely NO control over anything (yes, I am a control freak--no surprise there, LOL!!)--no treatment plan, no preventative measures I can work on (because there's nothing I can do to "get rid of it" since there's no real cure at this time!) --nothing--I just have to wait to see if it progresses or stays the same. I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone else because I'm certainly grateful that things aren't nearly as bad as I'd dreaded they might be, but I feel like now I'm sitting on a ticking time bomb, with no way to diffuse it. And anyone who knows me well, knows that I am not a very patient person, to say the least!! "Sit and wait" is not exactly my style, LOL!!
But all in all, so far the news, regarding the Multiple Myeloma at least, is that it appears that all of you are STUCK WITH ME for the time being!!!! For that I am extremely grateful.

Regarding the red spots that appeared on my legs this summer, I went back to the dermatologist for a follow up and they’d actually gotten worse, so she did a total of 3 biopsies,--2 were very deep and afterwards, it looked like either a crime scene or a Halloween prank gone very wrong in the procedure room—enough said, because if I shared the details, I’m worried some of you might faint, since the doctor almost did!! These will take about 2 weeks for the results, but the doctor said they way the spots look now (because she says their appearance has changed somewhat since I saw her last), she’s thinking it’s likely not skin cancer (Melanoma), however she’s concerned I might have Lupus or something similar. Well, it’s not perfect news, but if it’s a toss-up between skin cancer/Melanoma or Lupus, I’ll take the Lupus. However, this is all speculation until the results from the biopsies come back, so again, I’m in a waiting game.

Next, regarding the iffy Mammogram & the repeat scans where they found an enlarged lymph node in my armpit, I am just waiting for my follow-up appointment for another Mammogram and another scan and those appointments are coming up this month. So, nothing new to report there—just more waiting.

Last, but not least, I have to see a neurologist because I keep getting severe pain, then numbness, tingling and weakness that begins in the shoulder area of both arms, proceeds down both arms and into both hands and all fingers. It often feels like my hands and all my fingers are asleep and I’ve been occasionally dropping heavier things The doctors weren’t sure if they should send me to the neurologist first or to a rheumatologist, but they decided I need to have a Nerve Conduction Study done by the neurologist first, then get those results read and depending on what they show, decide where to go from there. All I can say about this is they had better figure this problem out quickly before it effects my crafting!!! I think I am more ticked off about this than anything else (which might ONLY make sense to other crafters, LOL!!!). I absolutely refuse to allow anything to take away my ability to craft, because it is the time I feel so joyous and fulfilled, and no matter what else might be going on with me or around me, my crafting and creating time is when I can “go somewhere else” and not worry about anything while I’m in the midst of it. It is how I relieve stress, it makes me sooooo happy and I will be darned if I’m going to allow anything to mess with that!!! In the meantime, all I can say is thank goodness I have all my Cricut machines, cartridges and accessories, because my fabulous machines can do all the heavy lifting for me when this flares up, LOL!!!

Well, I think I’ve about covered everything. In a nutshell, some things are still in a wait and see mode short-term, and others (the Multiple Myeloma) are more of a long-term waiting game. But for now, I am thankful that the news has been as good as it’s been thus far and I am focusing on being happy and thankful for every single day. I love my husband, my three sons, my family, my friends and I love helping all of you. I am a person who absolutely loves to help people and I wish all of you knew the amount of joy and satisfaction I receive from doing all the little extras that I try to do for so many of you. And this is why I hope all of you know that you can always ask me when you need a little extra help, whether it’s in locating a certain product, or if you just want to know the answers to everyday crafty questions, such as which adhesive to use when, or how to use certain features on your Cricut or other die cutting machines, or how to best start collecting Spellbinders dies, or JustRite Stamps, etc.

I am available by email, by phone and by video-chat using ooVoo (free at www.ooVoo.com --IMHO it’s better than Skype!!!). These are the things that make me want to get up in the morning and I thank all of you for allowing me to do them for you.

So for now, you are still stuck with me!!! I am here for you, so send me your orders, your requests or your questions because I’ve found that keeping busy is the very best medicine there is!!

Thanks again for all of your messages, inquiries, emails, PMs, phone calls and for some gorgeous and encouraging hand crafted cards!!! You are truly an amazing group of people!!!

Now I’m off to go pack some orders!!!!! TTFN (ta ta for now!!!).

P.S. I think I am finally ready to get another little doggie—I’m thinking this will also be very good for my heart and soul—more about this later!

Cancer Scares and testing--Please put out good thoughts for me

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:14:00 +0000

Please excuse me, but this is not a craft post today, it is instead a very personal post. I hope all of you don't mind.

For anyone wondering why I've been mostly absent from my sites (blog, Facebook. Cricut Message Board...), it's because for the last month or so, I've been undergoing a ton of testing to see if I have Multiple Myeloma, a blood plasma cancer. After having what I thought was a routine MRI, I was told they found several things on the MRI, listed here in order of least to most serious:

First, they found a Synovial Cyst on my L2-3 disc, which is the disc above the L4-5, (which is the disc where I've had all the failed back surgery), and this does help explain why I've been having serious and ever-growing pain radiating up above the normal pain zone where all the surgery has been. Apparently, this type of cyst is fluid-filled and simply will continue to contribute to my ever-growing pain level, and no one will operate on it so it can't be removed (especially with my spinal track record!!), but it's not cancerous--just another way to cause additional and progressive pain.
Second, I have Facet Arthropathy in my spine, which is a fancy way of saying my spine is arthritic (which we already knew!!) and getting worse. Yippee--more pain & I really feel like I'm way too young to have arthritis and a deteriorating spine, but there you have it!
Last, but certainly not least, on the spinal MRI, they found that my spine has a "salt and pepper" appearance, which means there are black spots all over it, and this salt and pepper appearance of the spine is indicative of Multiple Myeloma, a blood plasma cancer.

Once getting all this wonderful news, I was sent on a path over the last month or so of first being referred to the Oncologist and being told it would be 3 weeks to even have the first appointment with her. Well, I was soooo stressed out and knew I would seriously lose my mind if I had to wait 3 more weeks to even get to speak to someone about this, so I pushed back a little (maybe more than a little) and did get an earlier appointment with the Oncologist. However, once I was at the Oncologist, she breezed in for a few minutes, and very matter of factly told me she couldn't tell me anything yet because I still needed to have a bunch of tests. (I would venture to say she needs some work on her bedside manner, but I suppose with all the very sick people they deal with in an oncology practice, they have to keep their own emotions in check at all time!!)

So over the last weeks, I have been back and forth to the hospital, to the Lab, and especially to Radiology, where I've had several CAT Scans, Skeletal Bone Surveys and many more X-Rays and studies. I have given away so many bodily fluids I worry that I will never replenish them and I've been "nuked" so many times, over and over again in Radiology that I'm pretty sure I will be glowing in the dark soon (that would be a good party trick for Halloween, right??).

In the midst of all this, I also needed to have a Bone Density test, and since I was also due for my annual Mammogram and they like to do those 2 tests at the same time, I went ahead and scheduled them both together at their suggestion, but really never gave the Mammogram a second thought (well, except for when they were performing an actual "titty twister" maneuver while I was in the Mammogram machine--yikes!!). My mind was totally focused on getting results so I could get answers about whether or not I had Multiple Myeloma. So imagine my surprise when a couple days after the Mammogram, my phone rang, the Caller ID showed the hospital, and I picked it up expecting someone was going to tell me I had to have yet ANOTHER test for the Multiple Myeloma, but instead it turned out to be the Breast Center at the hospital. They called to inform me there was something the Radiologist didn't like on my right breast when he read the Mammogram and wanted me to come back in either that afternoon or the next morning for some follow up tests. I went back in the next day and after further testing, I was told there could be a problem with the lymph node under the armpit on the right breast. They said looking at my baseline films and my subsequent Mammograms from years past (which luckily had all been done in this same hospital, so they could take a good look at the entire history) this had never shown up before. But, because of all the testing for Multiple Myeloma that had been going on, they weren't sure it might not be tied into that somehow, so the decision was made to wait until after I got those results before following up again about the lymph node!!! So I already have a follow up appointment for that. Until then, I just wait and worry.

Also in the midst of all this, I was referred to a dermatologist because I've developed some red spots on both my legs that keep getting worse. I thought I was probably broken out with some sort of common skin condition or something, but after examining me, she didn't seem to think so. She gave me some very serious prescription cream and set a follow-up appointment for me in about a month or so, and if these spots haven't cleared up by then, she said she will need to do a biopsy, because it could be the beginning of a different type of cancer, melanoma. (That's what happens to naughty sun-loving, white-as-paste blond haired/blue eyed girls who live by the beach I suppose!!)

Then earlier today (Thursday), I got another call and this time it was about the Bone Density Test. I was informed that they found that there was thinning of my bones and I am in pre-osteoporosis (there's another term for it, but I didn't write it down & now can't remember it!!). This also didn't really surprise me because my Mom has Osteoporosis and has had it for quite a while, but again, this wasn't something I was really even thinking about, because I was concentrating on the tests and upcoming results for the Multiple Myeloma. But I have thought for a while that this could be a factor and could be contributing to some of the spinal problems I have.

So to say it's been a rough couple of months for me would be a bit of an understatement. First, I had the unexpected, sudden and horribly sad loss of my darling little dog, Gucci and that about knocked me out with grief, let me tell you, and the timing of it couldn't have been worse because with everything I've been dealing with right now, I need her with me more than ever!! There's nothing better for what ails me than some seriously unconditional puppy love! Then I had no sooner had started to get back on my feet after Gucci's death, then along comes all this bad news from the MRI, first with the Synovial Cyst, then with the Facet Arthropathy (arthritis), but especially the potential of having this Multiple Myeloma cancer. And then, after reeling from the possibility of having cancer and all that would entail if it turned out to be so, then I was completely shocked to find out about the lymph node results and breast cancer scare from the Mammogram, And to add insult to injury, apparently my bones are thinning, so I'm on the road to Osteoporosis (which REALLY irritates me because I drink at least 3 huge glasses of milk every day and have done so since I was a tiny child!!), which should REALLY work well with the arthritis in my spine, don't you think?? And of course, let me not forget about the possible melanoma on my legs, woo-hoo!!

If I weren't so exhausted from all the worrying, I would laugh about all this because it has almost been comical, with one thing after another, after another. I tell you what, if it turns out that (hopefully!!!) I am cancer-free, I'm still not sure that all the stress and worrying won't have killed me when this is all over, LOL!!

I'm asking all my crafty peeps, friends and family out there to please put out lots of positive thoughts for me to get great results when I follow up with the Oncologist tomorrow morning/Friday. I'm hoping that I get a completely cancer-free result. Once I do, then I can try to focus my attention on dealing with what the Synovial Cyst and the Facet Arthropathy will bring, as well as watching out for further developments with the lymph node, the pending Osteoporosis as well as the possible Melanoma on my legs!!! (I’m just a regular party right now, aren’t I??)

But through all of this, I intend to continue helping my customers, just as I have been doing-- in fact, the more I can do that, the better off I'll be because I will have less time to focus or dwell on any problems or concerns I might have!! So please--keep me BUSY!!!

And most of all, please put those positive thoughts and vibes out there for me, so I can happily report back here after seeing the Oncologist later today (Friday) that the results for the Multiple Myeloma are 100% negative!!

Now I am going to head upstairs to try to catch a couple hours of sleep if possible, because I want to be as sharp and alert as possible when I meet with the Oncologist later!!! Wish me luck and send up some prayers for me if you can spare them!!! I could really use them right now!

More About the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge Bundle - and video!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Hi all!! Today I am once again turning my site over to my good friend and CTMH Consultant, Lena, to talk to all of you a bit more about the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Bundle. She has some photos from samples she's been making and she even made her very first video so she could share even more with all of you about this fabulous cartridge. So here's Lena:

Hi, this is Lena again! Today I’d like to share a couple of pictures of an altered box I made using the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and a stamp set that contains some images that also coordinate with some of the die cuts on the Cricut cartridge. The tickets, the star, and the No.1 pieces were all stamped on a coordinating die cut from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

Below, here are two more close-ups of the altered box.

I’ve (Lena) also made a video (my first one!!) showing how the 3D flowers are made, as well as how the stamps coordinate with the images you can cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge. Here's the video below:

Also, as mentioned in the video, since Glenda (as always!!) has been very generous by giving me the opportunity to guest blog on her site, I'm offering a $10.00 discount for the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Bundle for all of Glenda's customers and her blog readers, which will bring your price for the CTMH Cricut Bundle down to just $89.00 (plus taxes and shipping)!!! You can also read about all the current fabulous CTMH specials for August and September in the previous post HERE. To place any orders, or if I can answer any questions for you about the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Bundle or anything else regarding CTMH, please email me at bradshawmath@yahoo.com .

Glenda, thanks again for letting me reach out to your Customers and Followers!!

New CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Bundle!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Today I am turning my blog over to my good friend, fabulous customer and CTMH (Close To My Heart) consultant, Lena Bradshaw. I wanted to give her a chance to explain all the very detailed information about the new CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge bundle, along with all the other available special offers that can be included with the purchase of this bundle, in the same way she had explained it all to me after she returned from her CTMH Convention where this new CTMH Cricut product was introduced. I had already read a few things about it here and there on some of the message boards, but I hadn’t seen anywhere near all the details that Lena had provided me with, not only about the CTMH Cricut bundle itself, but also about all the OTHER extra freebies and special offers that could be had with the purchase of the bundle!! As soon as I understood how, as a buyer of the bundle, I could get all the extras and freebies as well, I wanted all my Subscribers and customers to be able to get the best “bang for your buck” when purchasing this new CTMH Cricut bundle also (you KNOW I’m always watching out for all of you!!!)!!! So, without further ado, let me now turn this over to Lena:

Hi! My name is Lena Bradshaw and as a Close to My Heart (CTMH) consultant, I would like to tell you about our new exclusive CTMH Cricut cartridge available beginning August 1, 2011. The cartridge is called Art Philosophy and is packed with 700 images!! The 700 images include a font, elegant rosettes, lacey patterns, gift boxes and more! The best part is that this CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge is being sold in a bundle which includes: 3 coordinating My Acrylix D-Size stamp sets (MSRP: $17.95 each), along with 3 coordinating 9” x 12” dimensional elements sheets (MSRP: $4.95 each).
In fact, the stamps sets include the measurements right on the packaging (on the stamp’s carrier sheet!!) so you will always know exactly what size to die cut your image with your Cricut so that you can then stamp your image perfectly onto your die cut. Even the dimensional elements (white coated chipboard elements) can be inked directly with your stamp pads, stamped, or even covered with other assorted papers using your Cricut to again cut out the perfect size, so that you can directly apply your paper to the chipboard elements.

You may also be wondering whether any of our other stamp sets will coordinate with the Art Philosophy cartridge and the answer is YES! Our other stamp sets which include stamps that also match up with images on the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge are indicated in the CTMH catalog in the same manner as the stamp sets that are included as part of the Cricut bundle. Just like the sets in the bundle, if you buy a stamp set that has a stamp (or stamps!) which coordinate with an Art Philosophy cartridge image, the size that you should cut out your image with your Cricut is indicated right on the packaging. There is no guesswork involved! And since our CTMH stamps are made from photo polymer materials (clear stamps), that means it is super simple to see exactly where you are stamping your images onto your Cricut die-cut. Imagine making invitations where you could just have your Cricut machine cut exactly what you need in the perfect size (which is indicated for you!) and all you have to do is to then stamp the matching images---and all the sizes are perfectly matched up for you!!!!!!! Even if you just want to make one card or scrapbook layout, or you could make 3D flowers in the colors and patterns that you want (how about making your own bouquet of flowers?) and again, because your paper is already cut out to the perfect size for the matching stamp, it just makes things all those things so much easier for you to accomplish in much less time. You’ll also be able to create custom boxes for gifts, other home décor items and much, much more with this beautiful cartridge.
This bundle (which includes the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, along with 3 coordinating My Acrylix D-size stamps and 3 coordinating 9” x 12” dimensional elements sheets) is just $99.00!!!!! (Taxes and shipping/handling charges apply.) If you don’t already have a CTMH consultant and would like to order this bundle, or if you have more questions regarding CTMH products, please feel free to contact me at: bradshawmath@yahoo.com and please include “CTMH” in the email subject line.
Also, I want to also give you an overview of some of the other specials for the month of August……..
Special Offer #1: From August 1 through 31, 2011, if you spend $50.00 or more in CTMH products (Studio J is not eligible) you can purchase the Stamp of the Month, which is named “Wicked” (My Acrylix D-Size), for just $5.00 and as a bonus, you will also receive a FREE bonus stamp set (My Acrylix A “Typeface”). See the photos below.

Special Offer #2: From August 15 through September 30, 2011, CTMH is celebrating National Stamp Month by offering a free exclusive My Acrylix “Pair-a-Phrase” double stamp set when you place an order of $75.00 or more during this time period. The retail value of this stamp set is $35.90, but it is yours free during this time period with a $75.00 or more purchase.

And YES, ordering the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge Bundle would make you eligible for both of these special offers for orders from August 15 through September 30, 2011. When you place your orders with me, if you want BOTH of the Special offers (and who wouldn’t??), just tell me that you want your order placed after August 15 (and before September 30), 2011 and I will take care of the rest. *(Tax and shipping/handling charges apply.)
When this new CTMH Cricut bundle was first unveiled at our recent CTMH Convention, as a fellow Cricut user and enthusiast myself, as well as a long-time member of the Cricut Message Board and a Charter member of the Cricut Circle, I was absolutely thrilled with the cartridge images. When I first saw all the beautiful and extremely useful images on the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge, I was already sold!!! Then when I saw the coordinating stamps which take the guesswork out of trying to figure out what size to cut-out your matching image on your Cricut, I was amazed (how SMART is this??!!). But then, when I saw that in addition to all of that, there were also 3 large coordinating dimensional elements sheets (which are also already sized for you!!) included in this bundle as well, I was absolutely over the top with happiness and with pride for what my company, CTMH and Provo Craft had managed to create together. It is simply the most well-thought-out Cricut cartridge and coordinating products that I think I’ve ever seen!! It is a perfect bundle of products for any Cricut user, from the beginner to the advanced user. I absolutely can’t wait to see all the amazing projects that the creative Cricut community is going to create with this new CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge bundle!!
To recap, in order to receive your CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge bundle (which includes the 3 coordinating sets of stamps, along with 3 coordinating sets of dimensional elements sheets), as well as the special offers outlined above, please contact me, Lena Bradshaw, at bradshawmath@yahoo.com . Please put “CTMH” in your email’s subject line and please be sure to tell me which Special Offer you want (#1 or #2). If you have any other questions about the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut bundle, please feel free to contact me by email.
Last, I want to thank my good friend (and my favorite scrapbook and paper-crafting supplier!!) Glenda, from Glenda’s Creative Place, for offering this space on her site so that I could get the details out to all her Followers, Subscribers and (fellow) customers about this amazing new CTMH Cricut bundle!! Because she really does care about all of us, Glenda wanted to make sure that all of you knew how to best optimize your purchase of this new CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge bundle in order to get the most amount of products possible!! Thanks so much Glenda for letting me share this information!!!
More images and information:

let me show you how^®

I'm Here and I'm Taking ALL CHA Orders!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:52:00 +0000

Please allow me to begin by saying a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has contacted me in any way since I posted about the loss of my darling little dog, Gucci. I've had comments from you on the blog, countless emails (almost 4,000 emails!!), Facebook posts, Cricut Message Board messages, many telephone calls (from all over the world!!) and some of you even sent gorgeous Sympathy cards to me. Please just know that in whatever manner all of you chose to reach out to me, every single one of your very kind words have touched my heart and have offered me a great deal of comfort. Thank you so much for your amazing thoughtfulness. I have not been able to respond to all of you directly because in the past week and a half since Gucci's death, I have received almost 4,000 new emails, which you might imagine has literally overwhelmed me. Please allow this post to serve as my heart-felt thank you to each and every one of you.

The next order of business is that it turned out that I needed a bit more time to grieve than I'd initially thought, so I am just now really returning to work. However, last week I did already begin the process of placing various CHA orders with several manufacturers and vendors and I am continuing to do so this week, so please, get your pre-orders emailed to me ASAP so that I know I'm getting the correct quantities of everything ordered for you. If there are any products you're interested in besides the big, obvious ones that I always order, please don't hesitate to ask me about ordering them for you. You can either email me, or you are ALWAYS welcome to call me on my home office # (after 10AM Pacific Time!!) at (714) 964-0656.

As always, my prices on all the new CHA Releases are far below the Retail/MSRP prices, typically averaging at least 25% (or more) below the MSRP. There will always be some exceptions, based on certain manufacturer's restrictions that they place on retailers, but they are very far and few between.

To email your orders to me, please send them to glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com and PLEASE put the word: "ORDER" in your email subject line, so that I can easily separate your orders from the very thoughtful condolence messages that continue to pour in. Please include the names of the manufacturer and the actual item(s) you want, and if you happen to have the product code for your item(s), that most certainly helps speed things up and is deeply appreciated by me!!

I so appreciate your business (which is right now turning out to be extremely good medicine for me by giving me something else to focus on that's very important to me!!), and more than anything, I deeply appreciate the kindness and friendship that all of you continue to send my way. You have no idea just how very much all of you are helping to heal my heart right now. Thank you so much!!!

More about Gucci's death & knowing what heartbreak actually feels like--also photos

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:48:00 +0000

Late last night I stumbled back home after one of the most awful and grueling days and nights of my life. The absolute love of my life, my little Brussels Griffon doggie, Gucci, got sick and was throwing up all night July 5th and throughout the morning of July 6th. I stayed up with her all night, on the kitchen floor (because it stays nice and cool and that’s where she was comfortable).. Then yesterday morning I called the vet and they told me to come there in the mid-afternoon. In the meantime, she had completely stopped eating and then stopped even drinking water, I guess because she would throw up every time she even took a sip. She wasn't looking good, but frankly, since she developed Cushing's Disease about a year and a half ago, she's never been quite the same dog as far as energy levels, etc. Also, because of the Cushings, she has spent a LOT of time at the vet over the past year and a half, having to frequently do these very expensive tests to check her cortisol levels, etc, which are designed to make sure that her $125.00 worth of medicine that she takes for the Cushings each month are working properly. In fact, about a month and a half ago, I asked for this same test to be performed again, because although I couldn't put my finger on it, I just had a feeling things weren't "OK" with her. But, the tests came back saying her levels were within the ranges they should be. However, she still seemed "off" to me, but the vet kept saying no, she was all OK.

Anyway, yesterday I took her over to the vet around 2:30PM, which was the first available appt time they had, and she seemed weak and lethargic. When she saw the vet and the first set of blood work came back, the vet said the numbers for her kidney functions didn't look very good, so she wanted to do a couple more tests. I told the vet EVERYTHING I could think to tell her about Gucci's behavior and manner being "off" for a while now, so she'd have all the facts needed to treat her. She said Gucci would need to be in the back room (in the treatment area) so they could keep a close eye on her, and they hooked her up to IV solution, so she wouldn't be dehydrated and they sent me home for 2 hours. I came back at closing time (for this regular vet), thinking I was going to pick my baby up and take her home with me, but the vet felt she should stay on IV Fluids all night and have the intake/output monitored and the only way to make that happen was to have her transferred to the closest All Night Animal E.R. Hospital. So, they had me drive her there, (about a 15 minute drive) and I no sooner handed her over to them when all hell broke loose. I guess because the veterinarians in this Vet Hospital typically ONLY deal with emergencies, they are probably much better prepared and know certain signs to look for, and they immediately saw that her tongue and gums were blue, which means she wasn't getting enough oxygen. She went into cardiac arrest and to their credit, the folks in this E.R Vet Hospital valiantly did everything humanly possible--I mean they had a crew of 6 to 7 people working on her at all times, (which included 2 vets and the rest were vet techs) and they worked on her for about 4 hours, pushing all kinds of different meds, keeping her on oxygen, intubating and breathing for her and doing CPR for so long that they had to keep changing the people who were performing it, since they kept getting worn out and covered with sweat. They tried and tried everything to get her back and her sweet little heart kept trying to come back, but then it would go again and these people never stopped until I finally told them they could stop after the last time her little heart hadn't come back for almost 30 minutes (because I knew by then she wasn't coming back and if by some chance she did, because her brain had been deprived of oxygen for soooooo long, she wouldn't have any quality of life and she deserved nothing less than the perfect life she'd always had). So before they took her off all the life support she was hooked up to, I scooped her up in my arms and held her for the last time, rocking her and kissing her, I had her all snuggled up against my heart where she loved to lay, and talked to her for quite a while, just in the off chance she could hear me. Earlier when they were working on her, I had begged her over and over to please stay with me, that I needed her, but now it was time to tell her it was OK for her to go and that I would always love her. And as I held the little love of my life for the last time, I literally physically felt my heart break in a million pieces.

And now I'm left trying to figure out what happened and how things could go so badly, so quickly. Considering this dog has been so closely monitored by the vet because of her Cushing's Disease for sooo long, I don't understand how a underlying condition (like a heart problem!) could be missed. The E.R.vets last night told me they believe she'd been having heart problems for a while, but my question is, how could her own vet miss such a thing?? Believe me, if we'd known, we would have taken her to the best Cardiac vet in the area. In fact last night there was a plan early on to have her transferred to a cardiac surgeon in L.A.in an animal ambulance, but they could never get her stabilized enough for transfer. I'm left with so many questions right now and yes, I know I can have a doggie autopsy performed, but I just don't want her little body to be put through anything else.

What bothers me is that I've been telling her own vet for a couple months that she seemed "off", which is why I had asked for that last test that checks her cortisol levels to make sure they were alright (because of her Cushings disease). When the cortisol levels on those tests came back as normal, I still knew something was not OK with her, but I couldn't pin down what it was. And I guess because those tests came back as OK, my regular vet decided not to investigate any further.

However, I knew this little doggie better than anyone else, because I was with her day in, day out for her entire life (10 years). And because of that, I really feel as if my concerns should have carried more weight and her regular vet should have done some more investigating and testing.

Gucci is what I call my "Once in a Lifetime Dog". Because dogs have shorter life spans than we humans, most of us dog lovers own several dogs within our lives. But I do believe within that group, although we love them all, we each get one, very, very special dog that we love and adore above all others, and this is what I call our "ONCE IN A LIFETIME DOG". Without question, Gucci was certainly that for me.

I've spent literally almost 24 hours a day with Gucci for her entire life (she was only 10 years old when she died last night and should have had a life expectancy of average 15 years). Wherever I was, there was Gucci, literally making the well-known description of the Brussels Griffon breed as the "true Velcro dog" completely true (they are never happier when they are velcro’d and stuck up against their owner). When I got up in the mornings and took a shower, she'd be right there with her little paws pressed against the glass shower doors, waiting for me to hurry up and get out, and as soon as I stepped out of the shower, I was greeted by tail-wagging and foot-kissing, as if I'd been away for months, LOL!! When I worked my online business at the computer, whether it was answering emails, typing the blog, editing together videos (where Gucci was always named as the Assistant to the Director!), she was always right there, laying across my feet as I typed. When I'd be going back and forth packing and weighing shipments for customers, she would be "velcro’d" to my leg, no matter how many times I went back and forth--she didn't care, because all she wanted was to be as close to me as possible (I always said if she could have lived inside my skin, I know she would have!!).

She was quite the traveler as well, whether it was going "bye-bye" in the car (in her own car seat!), or just hanging out with her family at our main family business in Downtown Huntington Beach, CA by the Pier. And she knew how to work people to get them to come into the store, even if they thought they were going to just hurry by on the way to the beach--all it took was one look from Gucci and they were putty in her little paws. She was well-known by those who worked in the Huntington Beach Downtown Business District and she knew which businesses were ready to hand her some "doggie treats". But also, from the very beginning of her life, Gucci was also a long-distance traveler. She always traveled with me in the airline cabin, with her little dog carrier tucked underneath the seat in front of me (where my feet should have been!) - in fact, she took her first jet ride with me about 1 week after I first got her, (so she would have only been about 12-13 weeks old!!) and she continued to travel with me, especially when I'd fly back home to Omaha where my parents and my only sibling live. She even had her very own Doggie Frequent Flyer Card with one of the main airlines we used for those trips!! For last summer's CHA Convention (in Chicago) she and I first flew into Omaha, where I got her settled in with my Mom (they adored one another!), I spent the night there and then I traveled onto Chicago on my own, while she stayed and partied with my Mom and my sister, Gail (they also had a mutual love-fest!!). When CHA was over, I flew back to Omaha, where we hung out with my family for a while longer. That would now have been her last plane trip.

She was the most amazing dog I've ever known and everyone that met her knew she was something very special and precious. I've never known another dog who was as loving and absolutely devoted to me, as well as the rest of our family. The fact that this breed, Brussels Griffon, have the most-human-like face of any dog breed (which is why they used this breed in the movie, "As Good As It Gets" with Jack Nicholson), made her able to have facial expressions like a little person, especially with her huge, amazingly expressive, beautiful eyes. This fabulous dog has seen me through several failed back surgeries and the 24/7 pain those failed back surgeries have left me with. Many days when I was in such horrific pain, Gucci was the one and ONLY reason I would actually get up out of bed. I know that this darling dog has quite literally saved my life, more than once. And all she ever asked in return for everything she gave to me and everyone around her was love, a little snuggle, a tummy rub and one of her favorite cookies. It was truly unconditional love.

Right now while typing this I am still sobbing and have been all night and morning long and even sleeping pills didn't work last night, even though I'd been awake with Gucci all night long the night before, so I'm now 48 hours with no sleep!! My own heart felt as if it broke into a million pieces last night when it was finally over and right now it still feels the same. I actually feel as if I've been run over by a big truck and I hurt everywhere. I can say without question that this is what heartbreak feels like, because my heart physically hurts so badly right now, it even hurts to breathe. I'm not sure how long this will last. I haven't eaten since day before yesterday and haven't slept for 2 nights and all I want to do is crawl into a hole and never come out.

Everywhere I look I see Gucci's things all around me and each time I do, it's another hard blow to the chest. I wish these stupid sleeping pills would actually work, because I keep thinking if I could just go to sleep, even for a while, that I might get some relief from these devastating feelings as well as the physical pain.

I will be taking a few days off while I try to recover and hopefully anesthetize myself with large doses of Ambien. I keep hoping that maybe this will have all been a nightmare. I am broken and devastated beyond words. Please understand that I will be AWOL for a few days, probably until the beginning of next week…

I know the timing is bad with the brand new Spellbinders releases being shown on the Spellbinder's blog, but just know that (as always) you can send me your orders in email and I will take care of getting them for you. Please email me with your orders at glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com and please out the word "ORDER" in your email subject line.

Thank you for your understanding, I'm going to now crawl back under the covers again with Gucci's blankie (it still smells like her) and stay there (I hope) for a very long time.

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OK, I finally was able to come back and add some photos of Gucci:

Gucci as Puppy-1

Gucci as Puppy-2

Gucci as Puppy-3

Gucci in Glenda's arms, with her sister Gail & Mom Gwen.

Gucci making Glenda's sis Gail and nephew Andrew laugh.

Gucci with Glenda's Dad, Jerry.

Gucci as tiny puppy trying to show Dad's dog, Trouble, just who is the boss!

Gucci with Glenda's Mom, Gwen.

Again, Gucci attempts to show Dad's dog, Trouble who is large (well, maybe not large!) and in charge!

Gucci with Glenda's sister, Gail.

Gucci with Catherine-the Party Girls have turned to party poopers, LOL!!

Gucci-official Party Girl with Glenda and Moe.

Gucci collage

Gucci- just too sweet and too cute.

Gucci with cute hair bow!

Gucci hanging out in the porch swing with Glenda on another gorgeous southern California day.

Gucci, ready for a nap, laying in the porch swing with Glenda.

Gucci-more hanging out with Glenda in the porch swing.

Gucci begging Glenda for a tummy rub in the porch swing!

Gucci-1 more on Porch swing

Gucci snuggling in Glenda's arms on Glenda's Birthday!

Gucci with Glenda-Partying at my sister's house on another Omaha Vacation!!

Gucci with my nephew, Andrew at another Omaha Vacation party!

Gucci being a lazy girl on vacation in Omaha!

Gucci with Glenda and her cousin, Dick at his Kentucky ranch.

Gucci with Glenda's Mom, Gwen-returning to an autumn snowstorm (Gucci's first and only time in the snow ever!!) from vacation in Kentucky.

Gucci-rocking her Christmas outfit!

Gucci with Matthew--Matt was helping her open her gifts, LOL!!!

Gucci sitting at Moe's feet on Christmas morning.

Gucci in Moe's arms Christmas morning.

Gucci modeling new Santa hat on Christmas morning.

Gucci snuggled in Moe's arms, ready for a Christmas morning nap.

Gucci with Bubba (Matt's dog, my grandpuppy!!) Christmas morning.

Gucci trying to show Matthew her new Christmas outfit!

Gucci on Christmas morning, wondering if all those gifts under the tree belong to her.

Gucci and Bubba (my grandpuppy!) snuggling in with Moe for a long Christmas nap.

Gucci in Glenda's arms. along with Shawn, Moe and friend, Ali.

Gucci snuggling with Shawn for a nap and a tummy rub.

Gucci, my best friend, love of my life and greatest dog that ever lived. R.I.P. Gucci, July 6th, 2011. Gucci, I love you and I miss you more than I can ever say. Please wait for me at the Rainbow Bridge.

I lost my darling dog, Gucci tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:39:00 +0000

I just came home from grueling day & night. The absolute love of my life, my little Brussels Griffon doggie, Gucci got sick & was throwing up last night, I was up all night with her, took her to vet today, where she was put on IV fluids, then at closing time at the regular vet, they had me take Gucci to an all night ER Animal Hospital where all hell broke loose & she went into cardiac arrest. They valiantly tried & tried to bring her back for several hours, but they couldn't. I just held the love of my life for the last time & I literally felt my heart break in a million pieces, or so it feels. I will be taking a couple days off while I try to anesthetize myself with large doses of Ambien. Maybe I'll wake up & this will have all been a nightmare. I am broken & devastated beyond words. Please understand that I will be AWOL for a few days, probably until the beginning of next week..

I know the timing is bad with the brand new Spellbinders being shown on the blog, but just know that (as always) you can send me your orders in email & I will take care of getting them for you. Please email me with your orders at glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com ,

Thank you for your understanding, I'm going to now crawl under the covers with Gucci's blankie & stay there for a very long time I think.

I'mmm back!! And a Great Article about Spellbinders GRAND Nestabilities!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Well, I'm FINALLY back & recovered from that horrific bought of pneumonia & its complications!! I've missed all of you & am ramping up to have a really great social networking summer via this blog/website & my business Facebook page. BTW—please, please "LIKE" my business Facebook page because I am reeeeaaallllly trying to migrate my entire Crafting Group that was originally set up on my personal Facebook page on over to where it really should be, which is on the business side!! I set it up incorrectly at the beginning—my bad! Oh well, live & learn, LOL!!! And of course, I would also LOVE lots of new crafty members as well! So be sure to SUBSCRIBE to this blog using the email subscription (found down a ways on the right sidebar) and then please LIKE me here: http://www.facebook.com/glendascreativeplace !!! THANKS!!

There's going to be lots of fabulous things happening at Glenda's Creative Place this summer, from Featured Customers as Guest Designers (let me know if you are interested in being featured!!), other fabulous Guest Designers, as well as really, really great give-aways coming up—and there will be a seriously big, big give-away and believe me, it's one I know none of you want to miss (seriously!!!), so stay tuned in & linked up to me in every way possible (subscribe to this blog, business Facebook page...)!!!

So, onto crafting!! I'm still getting lots of questions about how best to utilize the Spellbinders GRAND Nestabilities and I thought today would be a great day to share this page from the Spellbinder's blog with you, because it helps explain a LOT about the GRAND Nesties!!! Please give it a read and let me know if you have any other questions!! And remember, I sell ALL the Spellbinder's products, among many other manufacturers. All you have to do to place an order with me is to email me at glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com with the list of what you want, then I’ll invoice you and get your shipment sent out to you – easy peasy!!!

Here’s the link to the Spellbinder’s article from their blog (but be sure to do all your Subscriptions with me here and on Facebook before you leave me here—thanks!!): http://spellbinderspaperarts.com/blog/how-do-grand-nestabilities-work/ HTH!

Have a wonderful crafting day!! I have REALLY missed all of you!!!!!

It's confirmed-I have walking pneumonia! Thanks CHA!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Glenda) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I wanted to do a quick post to update my status. Many of you already know that I left CHA early because I had gotten sick while there and was continuing to get sicker. Since then, I've been literally knocked completely off my feet and just haven't been able to get well, despite following doctor's orders and resting for over 23 hours a day! I finally got confirmation today that I do have walking pneumonia (and I pretty much already knew that's what it was before seeing the doctor today, since I've had it a few times in the past, so I know the symptoms!). But it does explain a lot, including the utter exhaustion. Those of you who know me know I typically run at Mach 1,000 most the time, so this has been quite tough to handle, since I have zero energy (not to mention I feel as if I've been run over by a very large truck!). The doctor says that this started out as the flu (and yes, I have had my flu shot and I get one every year!) and I was likely exposed at CHA since there were so many people there who were sick when they arrived at CHA, so it was like a big petri dish of germs there, with everyone touching all the same products and displays, etc. Add to that having a lot of stress and pressure on me getting ready for CHA (and even more of it while I was there, which is a whole other story!), mix in a lack of sleep, then add in all those germs floating around the Convention Center and it all added up to an environment that made my natural defenses weak and viola', it set the stage for the perfect storm for getting really sick!

If you've emailed me and I haven't gotten back to you yet, it's because I have been and am still in bed--doctor's orders! This is a one-time post just to update everyone on my status, (which I felt was necessary because people have been calling me to find out why I haven't been posting) and I'm headed right back to my sick bed as soon as I finish this. But please know that I am receiving your emails and as soon as I'm able to stay upright for a couple hours at a time, I will start responding to them. In the meantime, if you want to order anything from CHA (or anything else from previous products), or if you've already placed your order with me and need to add to it, please just email me the list of products that you want, because I can still add-on to all the orders I placed at CHA, there's no worries about that. Please send your emails to glendascreativeplace@yahoo.com and please be sure to put something in the email subject line that lets me know your email is about an ORDER. Oh, and if you're also looking for shipping information, please be sure to also include your zip code!

One more thing-- if you've already placed an order on my site within the past week for a Pink ATG, I am out of them again (due to some more very large international orders that came in during CHA), but an order has been placed with the vendor for more of them and I am now waiting for that shipment of them to arrive from the vendor. I expect they will be here sometime next week (probably early in the week). If you can hold on and wait for them to get shipped out to you next week after they arrive here, I will make sure that my helper throws some extra tape into your package for you, as my way of thanking you for your patience!

Here's hoping that these new antibiotics will finally get me on the road to a full recovery--and I hope it happens really soon!! As those of you who know me might imagine, to put it mildly, I am NOT a very good patient, LOL!! In fact, I'm not at all good at just laying around, doing nothing, even as terribly sick as I've been--it makes me really cranky because I like to be BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! I don't think I could ever be a lady of leisure--I would certainly lose my mind from boredom!

If any of you have any wonderful home remedies that might help me build up my strength and get well faster, please email them to me, or you can post them on my personal Facebook page HERE. After having been sick for so long, I am almost willing to try anything to get back to "regular" !! TIA!

I also wanted to say thanks so much for all the well wishes, emails, calls and the beautiful Get Well cards that I've received from so many of you. It feels great to be part of this very special crafty family and I appreciate you worrying about me! Thanks again--I will talk to you again when I'm back on the road to recovery.