The Importance of Exercising During and After Cancer

Hi friends.  I'm sharing a special post today written by David Haas.  David contacted me and asked if I would be interested in posting one of his articles about cancer awareness, to which of course I happily agreed.  I'm very blessed to report that my mother is a breast cancer survivor, which is one reason I take cancer awareness seriously. 

I wanted to make a card to share with David's article, so I made use of the Color Throwdown's first challenge of the year.  Bar's color choice was perfect for my card:

David is a Guest Blogger for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, so I did a little research and found that the ribbon awareness color for Mesothelioma is pearl.  I used some satin white ribbon to depict pearl, and recolored my MTME Amour paper (swapped pink with gray) to follow the palette ;]  My layout was inspired by the Mojo Monday challenge (MOJO222).

As for David's article, he eloquently educates us on the importance of exercising during and after cancer.  I hope you'll take a minute to read his important message whether you or someone you know has been affected by cancer.  You never know when this type of knowledge will be useful in life.

The Importance of Exercising During and After Cancer

After you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, you have to reassess your entire life. How you eat, when you sleep, and how you care for your body are all factors of life that you must tailor to survive cancer. Whether you are a cancer survivor or recently diagnosed, changes have to be made to your lifestyle in order to maintain your health. However, both cancer survivors and those who have been recently diagnosed should consider the health benefits of continued fitness both during and after cancer.

If you already have a fitness routine when you are diagnosed with cancer, it can be beneficial to continue with it. However, you should adjust your exercise routine to ensure that you do not overexert yourself during treatments. Cancer changes your body. While you are undergoing cancer treatments, your doctor may recommend that you decrease the intensity of your workouts, as well as tailor your fitness routine to ensure that you are getting the maximum benefits, and not hurting yourself.

Maintaining an exercise routine while you have cancer and after you have cancer can help you in a variety of ways. Exercise can help you maintain your weight, as well as keep your bones, joints, and muscles healthy. Exercise also helps with your mental well-being. Having a healthy mental well-being while you have cancer is vital to getting better. When you feel good about yourself and know you are keeping your body healthy, it can boost your mood.

After you go through cancer, you need to slowly build your health back up. Exercise is an ideal way to help build up your health because you can tailor exercise routines. For example, you can slowly build up how much rigorous activity you do as you start to feel better. Typically, adults need to exercise at least five days a week for 30 minutes a day. However, as you go through cancer or build yourself up after cancer, you can tailor this amount of exercise to fit your needs.

While studies are not conclusive, research has indicated that people who have a regular exercise routine have a lower risk of developing certain types of cancer.

When your doctor gives you a cancer diagnosis, it does not matter what type of cancer it is. Whether it is breast cancer or mesothelioma, the news is always devastating. However, when you keep yourself active, it can help you overcome the obstacle of cancer.


Thanks for letting me share my card and David's important message. I hope you found it enlightening. 

Please be sure to visit the CTD gals today while you soak up your creative inspiration.  You can find their links over at the CTD blog :0] 

I hope you all have a wonderful, prosperous 2012 ♥

Artist of the Month at Our Craft Lounge!!

Wow!  What a nice break, ehh?  The CTD closed shop early for the holidays which gave me more time to focus on my kiddo and spoiling her, but it's been a while since I've shared a project ;]  With the new year, we're getting back into the swing of things, and I'm also soooo excited to announce that I'm the January Artist of the Month for Our Craft Lounge!  I was equally humbled and excited when Kendra asked me to join them for the month :]

I have lots of OCL goodies to work with, but I chose Pretty Petals for my first project, because it's my FAVE set!!  I also like the fact that I can use it for the much needed thank you cards this time of year, and also as a catalyst to gently bring us out of the holiday season.  My MTME Buzz-y Blooms and Get Graphic patterned paper also helped to promo this fun set.

I used the Mojo Monday 221 sketch from last week as the inspiration for my layout.

I masked two of my daisies and sponged the bg on the main panel, and layered another I cut by hand.  The centers of my daisies are indeed fluffy, if you were wondering ;]  I used OCL's exclusive Sparkly Fluff, Lemon Drop Yellow on my blooms ♥

My sentiment is from the very versatile OCL Say It With Flowers set.  I just love the fun, "You're Bloomin' Fabulous!" sentiment.  This will be perfect for a close girlfriend of mine ;]  I stamped it with Staz On on vellum after cutting my flag with the Lil Inker Sentiment Flag Die.  I adhered my button and white hemp twine with hot glue.

That wraps up my project deets for today, but be sure to check in each Monday this month for another dose of OCL inspiration ala Kristin ;]

Hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday this season.  I wish you all the best 2012 has to offer.

Supplies
Stamps: OCL Pretty Petals and Say It With Flowers
Ink: Black Staz On, SU! Soft Sky
Paper: SU! Old Olive and Vellum, Couture Cardstock One Sheet Wonder, MTME Buzz-y Blooms and Get Graphic
Accessories: OCL Lemon Drop Yellow Sparkly Fluff, SU! Scalloped Border Punch, Large Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Lil Inker Designs Sentiment Flag Die, Michaels white jewelry hemp twine, aqua ribbon and button

Color Throwdown Challenge #172

Happy hump day!  It's Wednesday which means it's time for another Color Throwdown challenge (CTD172)!  This happens to be our last palette for the year, but be sure to check back starting in January for a new feel to our challenges ;]  This week the sweet and talented Kerri!  Check out her fun colors:

I had to use Sara's new paper, Femmie Flakes & Fuzzies...it had all of the colors I needed!  I recolored the dark gray to brown, but other than that, I left it as is.  The blue is more of an aqua, but I had to use it because I don't have any Bermuda Bay :[ 

I went with a template again, because 'tis the season!  I packaged some DELISH peanut butter and dark chocolate chip cookies I made for a co-worker in the fun Pick of the Petals package.

I stamped Merry Christmas from my Sentimental Occasions set on the So Sentimental Frame cut file and embossed it with white powder.  I trimmed the lid with some pretty aqua ribbon and a big button.

The snowflake on top is one of the free cut files I offer on my blog.  You can find it HERE.  I layered a snowflake "button" from my stash to finish the top.

That's really all there was to it!  Hope you are inspired to play along with us for this last challenge of the year!  Be sure to swing by our amazing DT's blogs to see their fun projects :]

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda
Lydia Fielder ~ December Guest Designer

Thanks for popping in. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!

Just Us Girls Challenge #114

Hi all!  I whipped up a project to play along with Just Us Girls this week, so I'm popping in to share real quick.  I'm getting up early to lay wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery so I need to get some zzzzzs (you'll probably be reading this while I'm laying wreaths :).  The oh-so-talented Kathryn is our hostess this week for a fun technique challenge (JUGS114).  She challenged us to create a Center Step Card, which I've never done so I thought I'd give it a stab.  I also needed a birthday card for a co-worker, so it worked out perfectly :0]

I wanted to use some of my new paper from the Amour collection, so I went with that color palette.  I recolored the leaves of my Happy Hallows tree to match, printed and cut with the Well Rounded Tag.  I cut my black layer by increasing the size of my tag by 10% and shaving off about 1/8th inch from the bottom.  I used a Recollections border punch on the side panel layers, and decorated the bottom with black sewing trim, ribbon, resin Recollections roses, and my sentiment.  The Happy Birthday comes from the So Sentimental set and is cut using the Lil Inker Designs Sentiment Flag.

For the inside, I printed my "Just For You" sentiment and a few colored leaves and cut them out using the Be-Dazzled cut file.  Simple, yet effective I think :] 

You can follow along with the very easy instructions HERE if you'd like to play along by making a Center Step Card this week!  Be sure to check out the DT's amazing projects for some additional inspiraton :] 

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Kathryn

Lisa

Lynn

Lenet ~ December Guest Designer

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Color Throwdown Challenge #171

Hi friends.  I'm popping in VERY quickly to share my project for the Color Throwdown Challenge #171, hosted by the awesome, Wanda.  Check out her fab palette!

I am short on time this week so I decided to push the color selection slightly and go with some of my paper that is CLOSE, instead of recoloring.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Crumbcake, and Early Espresso instead of the first three colors in the palette, but I don't think anyone will mind ;]  I also decided to whip up a template becuase they tend to go much faster for me than a card (true...go figure!).  This template is from Lauren's newest My Time Made Easy release, it's called A Box is a Box.  So simple in concept but unique at the same time.  It also has two different configurations and four cut files that come with it. 

I chose to go with the basic box set up, but added my own cut file borders to the box top (Border Builders Elegance Scallop cut file).  I scored the edges, folded them up over my ribbon and adhered them with Scor-Tape.  I double looped the ribbon and secured it with a brad and hot glue.  I created my tag by resizing one of my rectangle Simple Tags and cutting out my recolored digi sentiment from Sara's new Warm Sentiments set that I printed on an old sheet of recolored Fresh Cut Expressions paper. 

The bloom on top of my box is my Perfect Poinsettia cut file I created last year.  I added a button from my stash to the center with a little lime hemp twine threaded through.

The bottom of my box was cut from my Timeless Traditions paper that I scaled to 5x7 (I prefer the smaller pattern :).

Notice that I packed this baby FULL of fun, cold weather drinking supplies!  It's also large enough to hold a jarred, three wick candle from Bath and Bodyworks (and would also go perfectly with my sentiment).  Here's a clear shot of everything I had stashed inside.

And that about does it for me!  I need to get back to studying so I'm going to refer you to the amazingly talented DT members for some awesome inspiration!

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda
Lydia Fielder ~ December Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by!  See you again next Wednesday for our last color challenge of the year!

Color Throwdown Challenge #170

Welcome back to another week of COLOR, with the amazingly talented Color Throwdown team!  If you haven't been keeping up, we have several new superstars on our team.  They each have been taking their turn hosting during these last few weeks of challenges this year.  This week our hostess with the mostess is Lynn.  Check out her awesome palette:

I was so happy when I viewed her color choice, because I've actually designed a pack of paper with this palette.  So, I wouldn't need to recolor a different pack in order to play along :0]  Yay!  I used my Cheerful Chirps pack and made it fit a holiday card without modifying anything.  LOL  I think it lends a rustic charm to my CAS card.  I incorporated one of the birds from A Little Birdie cut file, the Frame Me cut file, and the Border Builders Scallop Dot cut file.  My card was cut using the Spellbinders Large Circle and Scalloped Circle dies. 

My layout was inspired by the fun Mojo Monday sketch (MOJO217):

I turned the sketch to accomodate my digital Beautiful Baubles sentiment.  The little bloom on the bird is from a mini punch I've had forever, and the button is from my stash.  That's about it.  One more holiday card down, and several to go! 

Be sure to check out our amazingly talented CTD team and their wonderful works of art :0]

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda
Lydia Fielder ~ November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by this week.  Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your loved ones ♥

Color Throwdown #169

Hi friends.  I'm here to share my Color Throwdown card for the challenge  (CTD169) our very sweet and talented, Lori is hosting.  Check out her fun palette:

If you know anything about me, you know I love dimension on my cards and I love using digi paper.  This card is no exception...it's more like a perfect example of what I love to do.  Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating by simply recoloring my paper to fit a challenge, but doesn't that make perfect sense?  Why struggle to find the colors you're looking for?  RECOLOR and print.  Easy...  For my card, I recolored two sheets in my Brisk Breeze pack. 

My dimension is portrayed through my Perfect Poinsettia cut file.  I scaled my file by 50% and eliminated the bottom layer.  After I cut my pieces, I ran them through a crimper at different angles repeatedly to soften the cs.  I then formed the leaves with my finger and thumb and gave each one a slight pinch at the tip.  I adhered matching layers with a glue dot, and single layers with dimensional tape...just to give it a little more pop.  My sentiment is from Secret Santa and it's stamped on Laura Pryor's Lil' Inker Designs Flag die (THANK YOU LAURA!!!).  My scalloped border was cut with my new MS punch.

My layout was inspired by Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #38:

That's all I have to share today, but be sure to check out the rest of our amazingly talented DT:

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda
Lydia Fielder ~ November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week and a LOOONNNNG weekend ;]

Sweet Season's Greetings

I have been itching to use my new supplies from the very talented Laura Pryor's newest Lil' Inker Designs release!  I finally finished my card today, so I thought I would share.  When I first saw this ca-ute lil' tree, it just begged to become 3-D.  I found later that my idea was far from original :[  This lil' tree has become 3-D at the hands of some very talented designers...BUT, I still went with my initial idea!

To create my 3-D tree, I cut 7 trees using the Holly Jolly Dies.  I scored 6 of the trees down the center and folded them in half.  I adhered each half to the next, one half at a time (does that make sense?!).  After I adhered my 6 folded trees, I adhered the 3-D tree to the remaining die cut tree (to give it a flat base).  I created my "frame" by tracing the die cut tree with my SU tool (can't remember the name of it and I can't find it in the catalog) and cutting with my exacto knife.

I stamped my sentiment from the Holly Jolly stamp set, using VersaMark and dark brown embossing powder.  I must say that I am in love with Laura's stamps!  They are the highest quality acrylic on the market and produce a crystal clear image every time.  I was so pleased when I embossed this sentiment...nothing got muddled like some of my other stamps do.  Here's a closeup to show you how clean the sentiment is:

For my border, I used my new Recollections punch, some pretty lace ribbon, and my multi color earthy twine.  I tied my button down with the twine after adhering my ribbon and decorative border, and added my pearl tree topper (by cutting the prongs off the back and adhering with a glue dot).  I then popped up my frame layer with 1/4" foam tape, to give a lot of dimension around my tree that I adhered directly to the base of my card.

My tree trunk is actually three die cuts popped up with 1/16" foam tape.  You can kind of see it in this photo:

That's really all there was to it!  I love dimensional cards anyway, but this one just makes me smile :]  Probably one of my favorite Christmas cards made to date ♥  I have a ton of ideas for this lil' tree, hopefully I'll have time to bring them to life.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you are having an amazing week!

Color Throwdown Challenge #168

Today one of our newest Color Throwdown members, the very sweet and talented, Keva is our hostess.  She chose a unique palette that I think you'll adore.  Check it out:

I love this combination together!  I decided to recolor my own paper (as usual) and make a little package for a friend filled with hot chocolate K-Cups.  My friend recently bought a Keurig, and she has helped me out in a pinch several times at work, so I thought a little treat would be a nice way to say thank you :0]  The paper I recolored is from my Cherry On Top collection.  I used the MTME Oh-K Dokey cut file to create my package.  It went together in less than a minute, seriously.  SUCH an easy cover to whip up, I could make 100 pretty much in the time it takes to cut them out on the Cricut! 

I kept my package relatively simple to show off the pretty paper.  I wrapped it with my favorite white sewing trim and used some girly grey/silver ribbon to tie off my sentiment panel and show off my new resin roses.  I picked up the roses at Michaels, but I swear I'm going to buy some molds and make my own one of these days ;]  The tag I used is one of my newer cut files, Simple Tags Rectangle.  I stamped my drink choices, check boxes and check mark using the Fancy A Cuppa stamp set.

For the top of my K-Cups, I stamped the Fancy A Cuppa? Add-On hot chocolate sentiment and cut it out using one of my punches (which was obviously a little too small since it chopped one of the outer circles off).  I cut the outer, red circle using a nestie...also too small.  Apparently I don't have a 1 1/2" circle punch or nestie so please just ignore the outer edge of the K-Cup that's showing.  I need to update my punches/die collection :0] 

That's pretty much all there was to it!  If you know someone who has a Keurig, this cut file is for you.  It's so simple and only costs $2.50!!  Can't beat that!


Be sure to check out the rest of the DT for added inspiration with this week's colors:

Bar

Broni

Danielle

Joan

Kerri

Keva

Lori

Lynn

Tammy

Wanda
Lydia Fielder ~ November Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope the rest of your week is awesome :0]