For more than 20.8 million people in the United States alone, something as simple as a candy bar can become a lethal weapon. That's because they and millions of others worldwide suffer from Diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease where your body either does not produce insulin, or your body doesn't know how to use the insulin it does produce so it doesn't make use of the carbohydrates or "sugars" in your blood. Without insulin, the sugar in your blood  or "blood sugar" does not get converted into energy and over time, that will damaged all of the tissue in your body including your kidneys, eyes and your heart.

There are three main types of diabetes.

The most common type of diabetes is Type 2 or adult onset diabetes. This type of diabetes can be pretty sneaky because you can go a long time with the disease before you even know you have it. You may feel thirsty and tired all the time. Your vision may have changed a little bit. Your feet and hands may tingle, but it's not enough to get it checked. Many times, the diagnosis comes after much damage has already been done to one's kidney's or eyes. And more than 6.2 million people are walking around undiagnosed.



The less common form of diabetes is Type 1 or juvenile diabetes. It's not always easy to figure out why Type 1 hits. Some say it can be triggered by a virus, others say it's impossible to tell, but it usually hits children or very young adults. Many times the diagnosis comes as these children are rushed to the hospital, close to or in a coma. It's a horrible experience for both the children and the parents and it's much harder to control as it doesn't always react favorably to dietary changes and usually requires insulin shots or pumps.



Gestational diabetes, or pregnancy related diabetes usually shows up in a women who are pregnant but many times will go away after the baby is born. These women have to be exceptionally careful as their life and the life of their baby are both at stake. Many times, these women are later hit with Type 2 diabetes. 

The bottom line is that a diabetic is "too sweet." All of that high blood sugar is the main problem.

Diabetics test their blood sugar many times a day and try to keep it in a normal range through medicine, shots, food and exercise. But it's hard. It's really hard.

"How Sweet it is!" is a stamp set created to raise money for diabetes research. Since diabetics are "so sweet", all the stamps in this set are also sweet, just like those who suffer.




$7.00 of every stamp set will be divided equally between the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, two organizations that are working on research to find better ways to treat diabetes and hopefully will some day find a cure.

This set is available in two styles. You can purchase either wood mounted or unmounted on cling cushion for use with acrylic blocks.

The wood mounted stamps come as a sheet of rubber with sticky cushion, a set of wood blocks and a sticker sheet for you to use to index the wood blocks. You will need to trim the stamps, mount them on the blocks and put the stickers on the blocks. They come in a convenient plastic storage box.



There is also a sticker to cut out and stick on the side of the box for indexing purposes.



The unmounted stamps come as a sheet of rubber, mounted on cling cushion, ready to be trimmed and used with acrylic blocks. They also come in a convenient storage box with a picture of the set in an insert inside the box for easy viewing.



These stamps are available now in the Gina K. Designs online store and in the Gina K. Designs retail store in McFarland, Wisconsin.

To see more or to purchase these stamps online, click here- STAMPS FOR DIABETES and use the options button to choose wood blocks or cling cushion.

Purchase your set of "How Sweet it is!" today. 

How sweet it is to help make a difference to those who suffer with diabetes.

Hugs,
Gina K.
 

Autism. It affects 1 in 150 children.

Autistic children have symptoms like these:

• No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter

• No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter

• No babbling by 12 months

• No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months

• No words by 16 months

• No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months

• Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

(Information source: Autismspeaks.org website.)

Life becomes forever changed for families of children diagnosed with autism. Early intervention is the key. But where can families go for help, information and friendship during this difficult time?

Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is an organization that helps families cope with autism. We chose this organization because we believe in their mission statement:

Autism Speaks Mission Statement from their website at autismspeaks.org

"At Autism Speaks, our goal is to change the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders.

We are dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. We are committed to raising the funds necessary to support these goals.

Autism Speaks aims to bring the autism community together as one strong voice to urge the government and private sector to listen to our concerns and take action to address this urgent global health crisis. It is our firm belief that, working together, we will find the missing pieces of the puzzle."


How can you help?


"Love you to pieces" is a set of 8 stamps, created by Gina K. Designs to help raise money for Autism Speaks.  We know you love to stamp and rubber stampers have huge generous hearts. To help, all you have to do it purchase your own set of "Love you to pieces."

Gina K. Designs will donate $8.00 from the purchase of every stamp set sold, mounted or unmounted directly to Autism Speaks.

The details

This stamp set is available two ways:

The mounted set is a set that you will trim and mount yourself on the wood blocks that come with it. (Similar to sets you purchase at home workshops.) The stamps come in a clear plastic box with the rubber already mounted on the cushion. You trim the stamps out and stick them on to the coordinating wood block. Then, you cut out your indexing sticker and place it on the block. The stamps are stored in the clear box and you will cut out the name sticker and place it on the side of the box. These will fit perfectly with whatever storage system you already use for your wood mounted stamp sets. See picture below.



(Photo of a stamp set that has been trimmed and mounted.)




(Photo of sideview with index sticker applied)

For those who prefer unmounted stamps, you will receive a sheet of red rubber stamps already mounted on Cling Cushion that will work perfectly with whatever acrylic block system you use.


These deeply etched rubber stamps will come in the same plastic box with a sheet of paper containing all of the stamp images.



You can purchase this stamp set today by scrolling down and clicking on your choice of mounted or unmounted. That will take you to our shopping cart where you can add the stamp set and anything else you would like to purchase before checkout. These sets will begin shipping between April 13th-15th and will ship by priority mail.

Note for shipping outside the USA
*Canada - If you are purchasing from Canada, please only choose the paypal option from our shopping cart.

*World Wide- If you are purchasing from anywhere else in the world other than the USA or Canada, please go directly to paypal and make a payment to this email address: ginakdesigns@yahoo.com. Specify in the notes whether you want mounted or unmounted and then add $10.00 on to the price of the stamps for Global priority shipping. All payments must be made in US dollars. If shipping payment is not included, your money will be refunded and you will not receive your stamps.



"Love you to pieces"
Set of 8 mounted stamps- $26.95
Set of 8 unmounted stamps on cling vinyl cushion- $21.95

Click Here for more details and to purchase



You can make a difference today by purchasing one of these stamp sets. Together we can use the art of rubber stamping to help thousands of familes get help, treatment and the care they need.

Thank you for your support!

Gina K. Designs