You may remember the Caring Hearts Card Drive that my dear friend Vera is trying to organize. I'm currently working my crafting space like a mini sweat shop station, because I am trying to create cards for the good cause. And what better starting point than to play along with some challenges? Here are two that this card fits so well to:
A fabby sketch from the Sugar Babies from the Sweet Stop Sketch. Don't you think? Also - did you hear that Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is turning Three?! There is a wonderful blog hop on November 9 to celebrate - I'm marking my calendars! :D
The fantastic thing about this second challenge is this week's Wee Memories Challenge.
It is in support for Vera's Caring Hearts Card Drive. And I could not resist, but to make yet another card to add to the bunch. Everything for a good cause, right?
Stamps: Waddle I Do?, Snow Friends (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - True Black (Papertrey Ink); Dasher - Bunny Hill (Basic Grey); Basic Card Stock - White (Recollections)
Ink: Pigment Ink - Black (Colorbox); Brilliance - Pearlescent Ice Blue (Tsukineko)
Embellishments: Ribbon - White "Joy" (Michaels); Softcore Color Pencils (Prismacolor); Nestabilities - Labels Ten (Spellbinders)
Here a close up of Stanley, the waddling penguin:
If you want to participate in Vera's Caring Hearts Card Drive you have until Nov 15, 2010. It's really a lot of fun and for a great cause - and if that's not enough, there are prizes to be had!
Welcome and thank you for stopping. You should be coming from the talented and fun Paulina (aka PrettyPinkPosh). If you happen to stumble here by way of another means, I'd like to encourage you to start from the beginning of this wonderful blog hop.
The beginning happens to be also my dear friend Vera's blog (who I met at CHA this year!) - the amazing person that put this Card Drive together. The card accumulated from this drive will be sent to the elderly that are in nursing homes or care centers. The goal is to bring some smiles to their faces during the holidays (i.e. Thanksgiving, Winter/Christmas).
What is even more amazing, many of Vera's favorite (and my favorite) stamping companies are throwing in some delicious prizes to support this good cause. You have until November 15 to create a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Winter Holiday card and upload it to this blog post. More details about the card drive are also posted over there. So, what are you waiting for?
Another amazing thing - Vera is part of the Wee Memories DT. And the entire Team is backing her with this week's challenge as a way to get the word out there. Isn't the team spirit just amazing?
Oh right, I suppose you want to see a card. (Did I mentioned I got sandwiched between two crazy talented ladies whose work I adore and draw many of my inspirations from?! I feel a tad intimidated by their talent - so lower your expectations by manifold ;) br/>
Here's my contribution to help inspire you to make a card. The best part? It is a super simple layout which you can tweak however you want.
Stamps: Turtle Tot - Love is in the Air (Stamping Bella); Bountiful Basket Additions (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Earth Elements - Close to Cocoa (Stamping Up!)
Embellishments: Softcore Color Pencils (Prismacolor); Essential Color Glitter Set - Brownstone (Martha Stewart)
Think of what smiles this little card will bring to those spending the holidays alone in a nursing center! It is a great cause and I hope you will consider supporting it by sharing your creative gifts with these strangers.
Now off you go to be inspired by the brilliant Sarah Martina Parker. Oh how I adore her and her work.
Guess what time of the month it is? Yep, the Waltzingmouse Blog Waltz is back! This waltz's theme is Autumn/Harvest. Autumn always makes me think of apple cider, pies, quality time with my kitchen & oven, loads of squash and pumpkin carving! Unfortunately the last time I carved a pumpkin was two years ago. So hopefully this October will be different.
For this blog waltz, Bountiful Basket Additions will come out to play.
Stamps: Bountiful Basket Addition (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Earth Elements - Chocolate Chip (Stamping Up!); Versamark (Tsukineko)
Embellishments: Embossing Powder - Antique Gold (Martha Stewart); Soft-core Color Pencils (Prismacolor)
The pumpkins were embossed in gold and then colored in with some color pencils. A relatively simple card, but I love how it came out.
I will be donating this card to Vera's Caring Hearts Drive. For more details, please read her post - it is such a great cause and I really applaud her for doing so.
Thanks for stopping by - now I'm off to go see the other wonderful work of the other ladies!
Do you know Carolyn King? I don't really know her, but a certain Belinda friend mentioned that Carolyn is doing a HEART to HEART Card Drive - a drive to thank the caretakers of Alzheimer's patients. From her post, I could tell that she cares deeply about this cause, since she was doing this to honor her grandma. A lot of time went into coordinating and finding sponsors to donate to the prize package, writing up a detailed post (it's long, but jam-packed with information and pictures, right?), and organizing this event. I don't know about you, but that kind of person seems to be determined, kind-hearted and really moved by those that have to provide continued care and support to enduring Alzheimer's patients.
My only regret is that I didn't think of checking out this sooner, since the card drive closes on Oct 3, 8p CST. Do go back to Carolyn's Heart to Heart Card Drive blog post. I really am touched by her effort and would like to contribute my card-making skills to make one well-deserved person's day happy - even if it's just for a moment.
Stamps: Rescue Remedies - Addition, Free Spirit - Sentiment, Victorian Fripperie, Asian Gardens (Waltzingmouse Stamps); Arigato (Hero Arts); Mega Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pigment Ink - Black (Colorbox); Earth Elements - Ruby Red (Stamping Up!)
Embellishments: Ribbon Red/White Stripe Grosgrain (Paperchase); Ribbon - Red (Michaels); Taylor's Tiny Twinkles - Red (Taylored Expressions)
I will be sending this card to a friend, whose dad is suffering from Alzheimers.
Do consider supporting this - I know there's not a lot of time left - but it's worth the cause.
This deviates from the regular blog theme, but a friend of mine, staceyT, has something important to say about this disease, and I thought I would re-post some important facts here. There is not much awareness spread about this disease.
If you feel moved by what you read, please consider donating to StaceyT and the PKD Foundation here.
Polycystic Kidney Disease is one of the most common, life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people worldwide. PKD is more common than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and sickle cell anemia - combined. Polycystic Kidney Disease causes fluid filled cysts to form on both kidneys. Over time, these cysts grow and multiply, sometimes dramatically in size. For most patients, their PKD ultimately causes the kidneys to shut down. Once that happens, dialysis and transplant are their only options to prolong life. Parents with the dominant form of PKD have a 50% chance of passing the disease on to each of their children. For the recessive form, ARPKD, parents have usually never heard of PKD until their newborn is diagnosed with it. For 30% of newborns, ARPKD is fatal.
Although there is no treatment or cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease, there is hope… Stacey's dad has had 2 kidney transplants in the last year (the 2nd kidney is doing very well and as of June 30th he's past the 3 month post transplant mark!). But even though he now has a functioning kidney, the battle is far from over. He has other PKD related health issues to deal with on a daily basis. Plus, both Stacey and her sister each have a 50% chance of getting PKD. Please consider joining our fight — by donating to the cause, registering for the walk (and raising funds) — or both! Every little bit helps!
In other news, Bleu Bella Paperie has graciously decided to donate all card sales from her store to the PKD Foundation. In addition, Belinda and I are committed to donating a $1 for every comment on Bleu Bella Paperie's post, to StaceyT's cause. So head on over and leave a comment. To sweeten the deal, there is also a blog giveaway.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Who knew we had invisible readership? A dear friend from Germany wrote me an email asking if everything was ok, since I haven't posted since June. It's nice that there was such a concerned email (Yes, shame, shame on me!) so I'd like to apologize for being so unreliable. So much of my goal for posting once a week... So here is what's new:
- I have switched from a PC to a Mac. Thank goodness for smb protocol, or else I would still be sitting here trying to transfer all my things from my two other PCs onto my lil, shiny, new Macbook Pro. (Yes, I'm writing this post from my Mac ;)
- Went traveling within the US and outside of the US to see friends get wed.
- Friends from afar came to visit and I got to hang out and see them (and stuff myself silly with them!)
- Went to see Dragonboat Racing and saw Sherry paddle with the Golden Dragons. It was fun to cheer them on and hang out at their race tent. Thank you, Golden Dragons, and see you next year!
- Had myself some girl time with Sherry and got to bake Banana Bread.
- Watched way too many movies, including "Cloudy...With a Chance of Meatballs" and "Julie and Julia." Word of warning: don't go see those movies unless you have eaten, unless you want those hunger pangs and growly stomach in the middle of the movie.
- Welcomed my new, sweet neighbors (with food of course ;)
- Starting a lunch project (more later)
- Been training like a crazy chick for the Susan G Komen Race
Susan G Komen's "Race for the Cure" was a last minute decision. Last Monday I realized that I haven't ran a 5k yet, although it was one of my goals since the beginning of the year (tsk, tsk on me!). So I looked up 5k runs in the area and found many up until November. Although there are many good causes, the cause I really wanted to run is for breast cancer. One reason is that I have family that survived breast cancer. Another reason is that I use to run this race in Pittbsburgh with Pudgeykins and I've been supporting this cause for years now.
The only catch? It is in exactly one week from now. And after my test run Thursday, I discovered to my dismay that I can't even run a mile right now. So wish me luck! I'm hoping to run the 5k in a reasonable time (and not be dead-last).
So I registered on Friday and have decided to raise $100 (suggested donations). I figured I can find 10 supportive friends that will donate $10 each, or 20 supportive friends that can throw in $5? And if I exceed, I'd be super ecstatic.
If you feel inclined to support the Susan G Komen foundation and/or me running, here it my race page
