How Sweet it is! - A stamp set for Diabetes
Posted by Gina Krupsky at 1/6/2008 12:04 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
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.
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.
Hi Gina,
I would like to commend you heartily for producing your Stamps for a Cause stamp sets, both raising awareness and contributing financially to support research into these various conditions. Diabetes, as you have mentioned, is becoming rapant in its various forms, and every bit of needless suffering that can be prevented by your efforts is precious indeed. I was so excited to see this stamp set being released, as I, too, have been personally touched by this horrific disease. I lost my lifetime dearest friend to Type 1, after watching him suffer and deteriorate horribly, both mentally and physically, for 5 years before his untimely death. And I currently know many other people dealing with all of the 3 types of Diabetes .
But I just cannot sit here without comment about the particular images you chose for this set. Yes, we are a society that consumes massive quantities of sugar, unheard in all the years of our human history. To fight this scourge is not an easy task. It is heartbreaking, of course, to have a young child be singled out as being so different; to not be able to enjoy the candy, cake and ice cream his peers consume with abandon.
We raise our children on sugar from an early age, soothing their hurts with sugar, rewarding them with sugar, celebrating with more sugar. It is not rational to think we could suddenly withdraw it all and give them broccoli instead! However, it just doesn't seem right to *push* the sweets as a way of supporting a disease that is caused by the very foods depicted in your stamp set. If you were to support Alcoholics Anonymous, I don't think you would have created images promoting drinking.
Thank you for allowing me to express my feelings about this sensitive issue, and thank you yet again, for your supportive efforts for such worthwhile causes.
Sincerely,
Madeline Mason
Reply to this
Hi Madeline,
As the creator of this stamp set and as a Type 1 diabetic myself, I addressed this issue here on my blog.
http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/2008/01/07/do-you-want-to-know.aspx
I can understand your point of view and I hope that after you read my blog, you can understand my thought process when developing this stamp set.
Like another stamper told me, it's not just cake and ice cream, but potatoes, crackers, peas and corn that can raise blood sugar. It's carbs, not just actually cane sugar.
My goal is to raise money so for research so that people like your dear friend don't have to suffer and die from the complications of diabetes.
A versatile stamp set that is attractive to the masses raises the most money to help those we are trying to help.
Thanks to past research dollars, now, many diabetics can eat cake because of the better insulins we have. I happen to love my low carb ice cream and I am thankful to these organizations for putting efforts into information that allows food manufacturers to give us treats too.
Thank you for your input!
Gina K.
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Hi again Gina, I posted a comment on the other post regarding the choice of images and won't go into that here
God bless.
Reply to this
Hi Gina,
Thank you, thank you thank you. What a wonderful thing you are doing. I too have been touched by this dreaded disease. I lost my twin sister to diabetes just four days after our 40th birthday. She suffered for so long which led to depression from time to time.
So many people do not understand this horrific disease and everything that happens to a diabetic can be more severe. Even a simple cut takes longer to heal. Colds and the flu can be more severe and longer to recover from. Unfortunately, my sister's husband and children did not understand this and did not see the signs of diabetic shock or coma starting. That is why diabetes education is so very important not only to the patient but also to their family members.
I miss my twin sister terribly. I feel that a part of me is gone. And as a twin I also have to be checked. So as a tribute to her, I go to see my doctor every year around our birthday to be tested. It is my hope that a cure will be found sometime in my lifetime.
I have forwarded your website to all of my stamping friends. Again, thank you and God bless.
Amy Spaulding
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Hi, Gina - just had to say thank you so much for creating and selling the diabetes set. My son has Type 1. He was diagnosed three years ago and has done very well with his insulin pump. I appreciate the fund raising you are doing to help further research since without that research my son would still be struggling with shots 4-5x per day instead of being in great control with his pump.
We are your neighbors over here in Madison so I will have to make a trip to McFarland one of these days so I can check out all of your fun sets and can purchase the How Sweet It Is set!
Thanks again for supporting diabetes research!
Happy Stampin' Kay
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