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Sunday 18 December 2011

I design for.... ooooooo my exciting news!!!

I design for........ Eureka Stamps AND Biblical Impressions... I have just started working out the ins and outs of the DT and am sooooooooo excited!

I applied for the DT months ago and heard nothing, so you can imagine my delight when I had an email from The owner to ask if I would!!! I jumped up and down!! Lucky for me I have a couple of their stamps so can at least make a start on bits for the upcoming blog hops,

Bible themed stamps are soooooooo difficult to come by, there are only a few suppliers of stamps to the Christian Community. I am a huge fan of verse stamps, I LOVE nothing more than a big verse on the front or to build a scene ( a recent leaning curve) I can't wait to dig out my distress inks, glitters, glues, ribbons, blooms and dies!!!

So watch out for 6 months of fab fun from me, and a lifetime from the company!

Here is a link to the facebook page QKR Stampede - https://www.facebook.com/pages/QKR-Stampede-Cute-and-Quirky-Rubber-Stamps/214265492116

Friday 9 December 2011

Arthritis Care and the Hardest Hit campaign

For those who don't know and are new to my blog. I have a teenager with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Katie is 15 now and was diagnosed in 2006 with Enthesitis Related Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis. I have been a fundraising girl for about a year now and in 2011, I raised £824.

 This is Katie, Melanie from Arthritis Care Scotland and Myself in May. I had just abseiled from the Forth rail Bridge despite a massive fear of heights, think it took a few weeks for me to stop crying. 

I hope to top that again next year by continuing to run card making groups for Crafting girls. By selling handmade items and by talking to groups about how Arthritis affects ALL ages.



It isn't a Disease for auld folk. My daughter has it and will have it for life, she will continue to require drips 6 weekly, daily pain medications and weekly low dose chemo tablets called Methotrexate. on top of that she has steroid injections into her joints and physio...

We have a motability car, this allows us to get about without putting stress on her joints, to get her to all the Drs and clinic appointments and not to mention collecting her from school as much sometimes as 3 times a week due to pain levels. Her attendance levels are at 75%. we cant count the sent home levels as its not recorded.

She struggles to get in a bath, cant run for a while with her friends, had extreme exhaustion, she can easily sleep from the moment she gets home from school until the next morning, struggles to write for periods of time has no muscle in her hands so is unable to hold heavy things and drops alot!

Pain levels are through the roof so Codiene, Amatryptaline, Paracetamol and Brexidol are her daily friends... shake her and she does rattle. We have a referral to pain management clinic so that is another clinic to add in to the mix.

She has joint damage to a lot of her body,  jaw joint damage and is in need of a jaw replacement, she has steroid injections on a regular basis, on average 3 times a year. to sometimes as many as 18 joints at a time.

Winter is a killer for Katie's joints. her pain increases ten fold and her grump factor multiplies by 1000. My grump factor also increases ;)

People look at her and think..... she looks healthy, she is tall and slim and pretty, smiles a lot so cannot be so poorly.... live with us for a week and see what its like.

So please support the Campaign. There are many Katie's out there. Different ages and different conditions.

Sometimes we look at a charity and think ok they have our money and we don't hear from them again, we have no need mostly. we just part with pennies when asked and think nothing more of it. Happy that we have done a wee bit to help others.

Arthritis Care however are not a behind the scenes style of Charity. They are a campaign type of Charity. I saw their facebook update today for The Hardest Hit Campaign. The are petitioning, not just for Arthritis BUT for other conditions too.  Asking the government to STOP the attacks on Disability benefits and the sick.

Their Campaign can be found here...


 http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/Campaigns/TheHardestHit/all-we-want-for-christmas

My Tree is up, no its down!

My cats are as usual having an absolute blast with the Christmas Tree! Resulting in much fun and hilarity for them, and for the teen and NOT for me :(

Enjoy the pics and please ignore the mess, I am also re jigging my craft work area which happens to be in my living room and its no fun!

 Sirius with HIS bauble.... He is my half a panther and I lurve him to death! sooooooooooo squishy and cuddly
 Sophia busted for pulling down the tree!!!! Uh Oh human!!!! wasn't me!!!!
 Sophia laying claim to HER tinsel
Watching out for Sirius....

Wednesday 7 December 2011

December Card Kit and Blooms Kit

Here are the peeks for the Card makers Kit and the blooms kit.

The Cardmakers kit is gorgeous this month. Pinks, Greys and Blacks, with Lace, Pearls and blingy ribbon slides. Here is a list of the kit contents :)

6"x12" Patterned Papers
6"x12" Bazzil
10 Card Blanks and Envelopes
Diamante Ribbon Slide
2m of Ric Rac, 1m Dark Pink Satin Ribbon and 1m of gorgeous Black Lace . A full packet of pearl flat back gems, Buttons, dew drops and 4 gorgeous charms. Roses, and some journalling tags.



To order a subscription kit please email me Karen@quackas.com, The card makers kit is £12 posted within the UK. All I ask is that you take out a subscription and give me a 4 week notice period of need to cancel. The kits do go further afield. so if you live in the EU and would like a kit please contact me.

A one off kit can be purchased for postage in the UK for £13, this does not obligate you to a monthly subscription.

Now onto the Blooms Kit.

Its a kit packed full of 60 - 70 paper flowers, ribbons, gems, charms and other goodies, 3d flowers and other goodies.

This months kit is pinks, blacks and greys, with lace, ribbon and blingy bits.

the subscription kit is £11 per month posted in the UK. or £12 posted to EU.

Non subscription one off kits are available subject to availability.

On the facebook group there is a chance to see photos from kit girls, get ideas and give me ideas on themes you want.

I look forward to seeing you over on the Facebook group :D

Mwahhhhhhhhhhhhh





Found my password!!

Soooooo much news to fill you in on so get a coffee and sit down....

I had until this afternoon lost my password! It has taken me months to work out how to fix it and thankfully now its done and fixed with my password safely tucked away :D yayyyy

Katie continues to do well with her arthritis, and thanks to many wonderful fundraising crops and sponsors the grand total for my fundraising for Arthritis Care Scotland I managed to top.... £824 !!! I couldn't believe it! and thanks everyone for all your shoves, pushes and kind words. This was taken just after my abseil, I was in floods of tears and it has done NOTHING to improve my fear of heights. Katie at the end is my gorgeous girly! she is much taller than that now!! and in the middle is our Melanie from Arthritis Care Scotland, she is a wee ball of energy and positive thinking. Her dad held my hand and stayed with me until I was tipped unceremoniously off the Forth rail bridge SCREAMING like I have never screamed before. It took me weeks to stop crying! Had it not been for Mick I doubt I woulda got up the stairs to the bridge jump site never mind shoved over the side by the instructors.


October saw the Your Wedding Dress ball to raise funds for Clic Sargent house in Prestwick. I jumped in with both feet as it was a charity close to my heart, my friend Nicolas' adorable and gorgeous Princess passed away sadly in August due to Leukaemia and many a night did I break my heart after visiting her in intensive care. I will miss her gorgeous sunshine smile, her cheeky ways and how she fought soooo hard for so long. Fly high baby girl xx

The wedding dress ball raised over £7500 and more money is still coming in. I went wearing a fabulous corset, I have never been married so was unable to wear a wedding dress :(  Yes there is waaaaaaaaay to much flesh on display! and Nicola looks gorgeous. It was hard for her to be there and she felt she wanted to support the charity. I am so proud of her strength and grace. xxx



I was back working for Samuel Taylors in October at SECC HobbyCraft show. I had a blast, was thoroughly exhausted but survived and said hi to soooooooo many gorgeous crafty people! on the Monday after it finished I went to have coffee with Angela from Angelcrafts.biz and planned to go and crawl into my bed.... fate has a way of stopping you!!


 I had a call from David asking me to wander down to NEC Birmingham and work for them again... cue another week of demonstrating ...oh its a hard life eh!! LOLOL!!

This is my lovely Facebook and real life crafty friend Michaela who came along to say hi and gave me a boost. I was soooo nervous! as I was unsure if anyone would understand my accent! She gave me a massive cuddle and a huge grin! It was enough for me to get going!



Must dash as my NEXT blog post in an hour will tell of the December Card makers kit and the Blooms kits :) and boy they are gorgeous!!!! oh and I am also going to be sharing some candy.... yummy floral candy!!!

There is a blinkie on my blog, please grab it and pop it on your blog! Also come and visit me on Facebook!! say hi and speak to the other kit Girlies!! they really are lovely! xxx

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Card makers Kits and blooms kit.

August sees the return of the card makers kit and a new exciting kit.

My friend Jayne at craftyfeeling has had to stop her kits due to family commitments. I have now taken over the kits and will offer them on a monthly subscription.

If you want to start the kits then just email me karen@quackas.com or pop into our new facebook page. www.facebook.com/duckpondcrafts.

We would love to see you. There will be lots of photos to come of the gorgeous new kits and I hope you are as excited as I am!

Karen xx
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Thursday 10 February 2011

Crafting for Katie - Arthritis Care Scotland fund-raising!

As you all know, or may not if you are a new reader to the blog..... My teen has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Katie was diagnosed in 2006 with Enthesitis Related and Psoriatic Arthritis. Last year she arranged a fund raiser for Arthritis Care Scotland... and this year she is doing it again!!

We are holding a craft day in Kilmarnock and she is hoping to raise £1000. If you would like to come along, please email me karen@quackas.com the event can be found on facebook and here is the link CRAFT DAY!

The day will be fabulous and costs just £10 per person, this will go to Arthritis Care Scotland. for your £10 you will get a table and chair with space to work, tea/coffee...bottled water, a light lunch and a fun day out to work on your projects.

Angela from Angel Crafts will be there with her gorgeous shop and all the scrummy goodies and we will also have some classes to teach techniques that you may have seen and wanted to try.


 A second date was also given to me and this will be announced as soon as possible.

Some donations for raffle prizes have been made from Tando Creative, AngelCrafts, Stamp box, and Carol Bryson Wood (Independant Stampin Up demo). We welcome any donations of crafty raffle prizes for the event and will be glad to post out raffle prizes to anyone who wishes to buy tickets... we will let you know soon how you can purchase your tickets.

Helen Cosgrove will come along on the day and offer hand massage/neck and shoulder massage to anyone who wants it.... as Katie's Auntie she is well versed in the care needed for arthritic joints. Helen is a mobile holistic therapist covering Kilmarnock and surrounding areas.














Thursday 13 January 2011

Smeared Ink stamps at Make The Day Special.



tired of cutesy stamps??? pop on over to www.makethedayspecial.co.uk for wonderful stamps. Check out what I bought... ssssssoooooooooooooooooo grungy!!


These stamps are called grumpies and come with their own grumpy sentiments... there is a range of styles and they are made by a company called Smeared Ink.  As far as I know Emily is the only stockist of these guys...


Look at how thick the rubber is, no chance of  a mis stamp here!!


I just love these stamps for cards, they are brilliant and a breath of fresh air ....






Wednesday 12 January 2011

2011 Wedding season

Here are some new sample ideas for wedding stationery. More designs are on my facebook page. As ever these are hand made and can be changed to your colours and needs.

Prices start from as low as £2.75 per invite and all invites come complete with printed inserts.... I also offer payment plans with no interest and discounts are available.

Need anything? Just ask :)


















Monday 3 January 2011

WOW - It has been that long huh!! OOOPPPSSSS

Wow soooooo much has happened since my last post in October (shocking it has been so long between posts)


I have been very busy with wedding stationery, drving tests, sick kids, dotty cats and the like so I will do a brief summary so you know what has happened. 


Cora my little old lady cat, sadly passed away at the end of October... she was much loved and is still bitterly missed. She didn't go out without fighting and the vet was under no illusions that she was unimpressed by his diagnosis. It was the right decision to let her go as sadly her kidneys has shut down and she was 18.

Her last day with us was very happy and she knew she was loved.

2 weeks later I had my driving test. I didn't feel like sitting it, However I did and I passed with flying colours. I went out a few days later and ordered my car.... she is lovingly name Doris...















The wedding season started to calm down so I immediately went into overdrive with Xmas fayres :) 6 to be exact.. Exhaustion levels increased proportionally to the devastation that filled my house.

December is for me traditionally a very busy month. Church meetings increase, Nativity Practices, the children go out to sing at nursing homes, on Christmas day the band goes out to the hospital to sing and play Carols to those who have to stay in over the festive season. Katie had an operation on the 22nd for more steroid injections for her arthritis... and a visit to Miss Shanna in the Leukaemia ward was in order to give her a wave. She started her bone marrow transplant tomorrow morning. Hopefully she will be able to be allowed home soon and live a normal life.

Friday night saw the Hogmany party at church... lots of fun and festivities were celebrated together.  Followed by me driving off into the darkness for a weekend in Rosyth.... !!! ooo heck!.

Here are 2 of the cards that were made as orders. one for my gran to give to her sister. and the other an order for a lady's grand daughter called Poppy.  Poppy lives in Australia and her Gran wanted some tartan on her card.