Caring Hearts: A Reminder

Hey all!

I've been busy getting ready for my *first* craft fair coming up a week from Saturday... mostly working on packaging and displays, and unfortunately, I haven't been feeling very crafty lately. BUT, I wanted to check in and remind you that all Caring Hearts Card Drive cards must be received by this Monday, November 15th. That means you've still got a couple days to get your cards into the mail!

Hope you had a great week!

Caring Hearts Blog Hop

Wow! This is amazing! I can't believe I'm here, hopping with the best of them! What a testament to this amazing cause to have so many fantastic crafters involved. Major kudos to Vera Yates for organizing all this!

So if you're here from Amy's blog - Welcome! I hope you're having fun! If you've come here by another route, I hope you'll head over to Vera's blog to make sure you don't miss any of the goodness!

We live in a country where the wisest and most experienced members of our society don't always receive the respect they deserve. We've all banded together today to celebrate and bring joy to some elderly people who may not be lucky enough have friends and family nearby during the holiday season. I encourage you to join the ♥ CARING HEARTS CARD DRIVE ♥ and make a card to send! All the information can be found by clicking the badge in the upper right corner of my blog. You have until November 15th to get your card to Vera.

I wanted to show you something I've never shared before, but since I don't have a TON of supply stash, that was kinda hard. I was hoping my new Papertrey Ink stamps would arrive in time, but alas, they did not :( So I decided to employ a bunch of Thinking Inking techniques for this card. I used acrylic block stamping for the background (you'll see more of this technique here soon!), generation stamping for the trees (with the same stamp that Jennifer used nonetheless), watercoloring with Distress Inks for the trunks, snowflake centers, and garlands (except I used my blender pen instead of mixing the ink with water), and inking with a foam blender for the edges of the card base.

Thank you so very much for visiting! The next stop on the hop is Ayana's Creations. I can't wait to see what she made! :) I hope you will be inspired to participate in the Caring Hearts Card Drive!

HEART to HEART Card Drive for Alzheimer's Disease

In memory of her grandmother and in honor of all those whose lives have been touched by Alzheimer's, Carolyn (aka Cammie) King has organized a card drive to thank all the amazing people who provide care and services to Alzheimer's patients and their families. I urge you to visit Miss Cammie's blog for all the details on how to participate in this wonderful cause. And be sure to read carefully - the instructions are pretty specific but if you follow them you will be entered to win an AMAZING and HUGE prize package from some very generous folks including Gina K., I {Heart} Papers, Papercrafts Magazine, My Favorite Things, Spellbinders, and so many more you won't even believe it!

This was a call-to-action that inspired me to get up off the couch right away. Here are my two cards.

This card will be sent to The Artman Lutheran Home in Pennsylvania and the staff that took care of Cammie's grandmother. I have written them the following note: "We may have never met, but please know how far-reaching your thoughtful, caring, and diligent work is. Thank you for all that you do day in and day out. You touch so many lives."

I will be sending this card to Alzheimer's Services of Cape Cod and the Islands, my local Alzheimer's care coordinator and provider, and formerly the Cape Cod chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Here's what I've written to them: "I have not been directly touched by Alzheimer's, but many people I know have had their lives irreversibly changed by this disease. It is because of them that I write today to thank you for your kind and diligent work helping the families of Cape Cod. I was inspired by Carolyn King of Pennsylvania, who has urged all of her blog readers to send a hand-made thank you card to Alzheimer's caregivers. Please know your work is appreciated by many." (I also wrote out Cammie's blog address so they can read more about her card drive.)

Please, please check out Cammie's blog today. This is a wonderful cause, so please get involved!