2018 Caring Hearts Update & Prize Winner Announcement

Hi everyone. Sorry it took us a while to finish everything. Thank you for your patience. It's been a whirlwind, crazy few weeks for all of us at Caring Hearts. Most of us work full time, so it's been quite a struggle trying to balance everything out and get this done. And, Lynn one of our volunteer lost her dad a couple weeks ago, so for her to be so committed in finishing this card drive is simply amazing. I am grateful for my team. We did 2018! This year, we have another great turn out for the card drive that truly humble me. 

Here's some of the facts from this year:

- Last year, for US, Canada, & Australia we received close to 47,000 cards. This year, we received 29,147. And we expanded back to UK, thanks to Tania who offered to help collect cards for UK. 

- We have about 600 contributors. THANK YOU to each and everyone of you! You all are amazing. 

- We mailed the card packages to about 300 nursing homes and some elderly that are home bound and lives by themselves.

- Fun tidbits, Rita Andrews our volunteer in Canada got interviewed by her local newspaper and Caring Hearts Card Drive made the news in Canada. It gives me such wonderful feeling that Caring Hearts become part of a school program that encourage students to engage in meaningful and empathetic activities and is a required course.You can see the article HERE.

I am very proud of the way this card drive has grown. In our first year in 2010, I received 750 cards and look at where we are now. And, it's all because of YOU! Your support and generosity are what make it so successful. And, I am so very grateful for your support & kindness. And, huge thank you to my team of volunteers, whose dedication and commitment are simply means the world to me. I love & appreciate each of you!!

Now, what many been waiting for. The winners for Caring Hearts prizes! For all the winners, I'll be emailing all of you this weekend. As you can see the list is pretty long, so please bear with me. Congratulations & thank you for all your supports. :)

CARING HEARTS GIVEAWAY WINNERS

A Jillian Vance Design  $25 GC - Adrienna Chavez

Altenew  Two $50 GC - Suzanne Gribbon & Billie Tounzen

Avery Elle  Two $50GC - Mary An & Midori Riecke

Bossy Joscie  $50 GC -  Debbie O'Connor

Butterfly Reflections Ink  Two $25 GC - Cynthia Yankovich & Sharon Christian

Catherine Pooler  Prize Package - Lynn Lohne

Clearly Besotted  approx £30 GC - Katya Ireland

Ellen Hutson  Two $25 GC - Eileen Babka & Debbie Dobbins

Gina K. Designs  Two $100 GC - Ann Kikuchi & Enna Adams

Hallmark Scrapbook & Crafts – Three $50 GC - Sharon Roselli, Ayaka Oldham, Adrian Michaud

Hero Arts $50 GC - Cheryl Yamashita

Honey Bee Stamps  Two $50 GC - Kathy Black & Sally Foos

Jane’s Doodle  $50 GC - Alma Dirpaul

Jennifer McGuire Ink  $100 to SSS - Lori Dehaii

Kat Scrappiness  $25 GC - Norma Canete

Lawn Fawn  Three $50 GC - Sue Perkins, Marsha Bennet & Nikki Cochran

Lil’ Inker Designs $50 GC - Anne Slattery

Little Things from Lucy’s Cards £30 GC - Anang Agarwalla

Mama Elephant $25 GC - Laura Litzinger

My Favorite Things $50 GC - Diana Weaver

Newston’s Nook Designs Two $25 GC - Karen Talbot & Takisha Hearne

Organize More $75 GC - Ileana Rivera

Paper Smooches Two $25 GC - Diane Hermiman & Kit Arndt

Picket Fence Studios Two $50 GC - Lercy Rubin & Kaitlyn McCleary

Pink & Main $25 GC - Betty Bywater

Pretty Pink Posh Two $50 GC - Karen Olaveson & Susan Chateli

Reverse Confetti $25 GC - Cheryl Alipio

Right At Home $20 GC - Kirsten Krause

Simon Says Stamp $50 GC - Becky Thomas

Spellbinders  $25 GC - Karen Sanjo

Studio Katia  Two $35 CG - Mary Plaisance & Judy Downey

Stamp & Storage  $100 GC - Kim Washburn

SugarPea Designs $30 GC - Stephanie Mah

Taylored Expressions Four $25 GC - Jackie Sitton, Libby Foreman, Brealynn Mann & Audrey Evers

The Greeting Farm $40 GC - Mellanie Risenhower

The Ton Stamps $20 GC for The Ton stamps - Lisa Dixon

Winnie & Walter Two $50 GC - Robin Hoff & Darlene Russel

Wplus9 $25 GC - Anne Nolan

Caring Hearts Update

Hi all. I just want to pop in to post a little update on Caring Hearts. We are still working hard behind the scene, sorting and packing the cards.

A couple weeks ago, one of our volunteer, Lynn Marasigan lost her father and of course, being with her family was a priority. She just now able to work on the packages on her end. So, please be patient us.

Winners announcement will be done hopefully by mid next week. We need to get all the entries from all the volunteers so we can do the draw fairly.

Thank you all for your understanding. Have a blessed day!

Deck The Halls

Hi peeps. Quick post. I am just popping in to share this card I made for SugarPea Designs Mix It Up Challenge # 48. My card was inspired by both sides, the colors on the candy and the sketch.

With Caring Hearts Card Drive in full swing, I chose to do Christmas theme and gave some love to older SugarPea sets. For the wreath I used Funky Wreath - All Seasons and tuck in the cute penguin from Tinsel In A Tangle set.

You still have about two weeks to join the challenge, so I hope you'll join us. To enter and to find the challenge details, please check out SugarPea Designs Blog.

Well peeps, that's all from me today. As this post goes up, I'll be on my way to seeing my dear niece. I am ready to give my tiny warrior a big hugs. She has faced cancer with bravery and smile and I am ready to hear her sweet voice again. May your day be filled with wonderful thing. Happy Wednesday!

The Ton 2018 Fall Release Blog Hop

Happy World Card Making Day. And, welcome to The Ton’s Fall 2018 Release blog hop! For this release, The Ton has debuted 11 new stamps and a new pop up floral die. There are free gifts with purchase promotions also! There’s also a little surprise for today since it is World Cardmaking Day. Head over to The Ton’s blog for more details.

If you've been following the hop, you should arrive from the talented Laura Jane blog. In case you missed a link, you can always find the full list on The Ton blog.

Let's get on with the cards, shall we? For my 1st card, I used Blizzard Hugs and mix it with a set from previous holiday release, called Holiday Ornaments.
.

How fun are these snowflakes?? I stamped mine in Carribean Turquoise and add shadow with Copic RV00. Super light color, that probably don't show too much on the screen, but in person, it adds just the right touch in my opinion. ;) I like to add shade to stamped image, just because. Hah!!

Once I am done with the snowflakes, time to add the holiday ornament. I stamped it with Fresh Green, cover it with shimmer marker, trim and adhere to the card base with foam adhesive. I drew a line with silver pen and added a silver string. Finish by stamping the sentiment.

Too early for Christmas cards?? Well, don't forget, Caring Hearts Card Drive is in full swing. If you need reason to make tons of Christmas cards right now in October, this is a good reason. And, pst the sets I used today are great for mass producing. :) 

On to the 2nd card. For this one, I used Coming Up Poinsettias & Holiday Chic Tags. 

See the sprinkles background? Yep, I used the sprinkles rectangle from Holiday Chic Tags set and just stamped it repeatedly till it covered the whole card. I love, love this sprinkles background.

Next, I stamped the striped one on a piece of cardstock and trim it to tag shape. The bottom part of the tag was made using distress oxide ink. Now, the poinsettia, is from Coming Up Poinsettia. Doesn't look like it? Yep, instead of using the whole poinsettia branch, I fussy cut one of the flower and used it as centerpiece for the tag. Great way to expand your stamp set look here. You get totally different look just by trimming the image. 

Then, adhere tag to the card base, add a little golden enamel dots and stamp the sentiment with Noir ink pad. I know this is not the usual Christmas colors, but sometime I just like trying unusual color combo. :) 

GIVEAWAY:

For today’s hop, there are giveaways on each stop so be sure to leave a comment on each blog for a chance to win a stamp set of choice from our new release! The comment period for this giveaway will close on Monday, October 8 at 11:59pm EST and winners will be announced on The Ton Blog.

Now, there's quite a few blog to visit, but you're almost at the end. From here please hop on over to the amazing Janette Kausen. Thank you all so much for stopping by here and I hope you enjoy the hop.

Well peeps, that's all from me today and I am off to play with some goats. For real! I am pretty excited over this. Have a great weekend!!

2018 Caring Hearts Card Drive

Hi Everyone! Welcome to the 9th Annual Caring Hearts Card Drive. The purpose of our card drive is to collect holiday cards for the elderly that live in nursing homes. I started this card drive in 2010 and for our 9th year, I am honored to do this in memory of Sean Wilkerson, brother of Christy Wilkerson (our volunteer from last year) who passed away recently. Sean was well known for his kind heart and his family’s request is for people to do an act of kindness. I'd like to fulfill Sean's wish trough Caring Hearts.

The holidays are about family, kindness, and joy. During this time many of the elderly living in nursing homes may feel extra lonely or miss their families. We can bring a smile to their faces and brighten their holiday season simply by sharing our love of card making. A simple gesture to let them know that they are not forgotten. That someone is still thinking of them. We all love making cards and what’s better than knowing that our creations can bring a smile to others, right?

Our team of helpful volunteers are all ready to assist us in delivering the cards to selected nursing homes.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

• This card drive will be run from October 1 to November 10, 2018. We need to receive your cards by November 10, 2018.
• Please make the cards for Christmas or Holiday Wishes only.
• Please limit 100 cards per person.
  (The reason for this is because my 5 year old niece was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and I'll be making a trip abroad during the card drive to be with her. Being with her & my family at this time is very important to me and at the same time I want to continue doing the card drive. Limiting the number of cards will also help in keeping things manageable for our volunteers and me. Thank you for your understanding.)
• All cards need to have a message inside (can be stamped or hand written).
• Sign your name and where you are from inside the card.
• Include an envelope for each card and please don't seal the envelope.
• Please stick to standard size A2 or 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card as this will help us in packing more efficiently. 
• Please don't use any pins or loose glitter (for safety reasons).
• This is totally optional, but if you'd like to include $2 or $3 to help with shipping, it'll be much appreciated. We cover the shipping cost ourselves & postage prices have increased, so any donation toward shipping would help tremendously.

For US, you can mail the cards to:

• Vera Yates, 1314 Roy St., Houston, TX 77007 
• Cindy Groh, 111 10 Mile Rd NW Sparta, MI 49345 
• Lynn Marasigan, Pine Tree Villa, 3353 Cimmarron Road, Cameron Park, CA 95682 

For Australia:

• Deb McCleary, CHCD, PO Box 54, Watsonia, VIC, 3087 Australia

For Canada:

• Caroline Bredeson, 11 Ave. des Oblats, Unit 112, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5V8, Canada
• Rita Andrews, 28 West Gissing Rd, Cochrane, Alberta T4C 1L6, Canada 

For United Kingdom:

• Tania Ahmed, 47a Melbourne Road, Bushey, WD23 3LT UK

In each package, PLEASE include THIS SUBMISSION FORM. This helps us in keeping track for prizes! For each card you send, you will get a chance. So the more cards you send, the better your chances.

To thank you for your generosity in supporting this drive, we have several PRIZES ready for several winners. There will be many winners. :)

The nursing homes that we supported are based on what people suggested to us. If you want your local nursing homes to receive cards from the card drive, please email me or Jennifer McGuire the name of the nursing homes and the number of residents, so we can make sure that we send enough cards. The number of nursing homes we support are totally based on how many cards we received. To keep things organized, we assigned the 7 collecting addresses above.

I'll update the prize list as more prizes coming in. And huge thank you to all the fabulous, generous companies who support this card drive by donating awesome prizes.

PLATINUM PRIZES (everyone sending 100 cards will be entered for these prizes)

                                                               

Gina K. Designs - Two $100 GC

Jennifer McGuire Ink - $100 for Simon Says Stamp

Organize More - $75 GC

Stamp-n-Storage - $100 GC

GOLD PRIZE (everyone who send cards will be entered for these prizes)

Altenew - Two $50 GC

A Jillian Vance Design - $25 GC

Avery Elle -  Two $50GC

Bossy Joscie - $50 GC

Butterfly Reflections, Ink - Two $25 GC

Catherine Pooler - Crafty Package

Clearly Besotted - approx $40 GC

Ellen Hutson - Two $25 GC

Hallmark Scrapbook & Crafts - Three $50 GC

Hero Arts - $50 GC

Honey Bee Stamps - Two $50 GC

Jane's Doodle - $50 GC

Kat Scrappiness - $25 GC

Latina Crafter - $35 GC

Lawn Fawn - Three $50 GC

Lil' Inker Designs - $50 GC

Little Things from Lucy's Cards - £30 GC

Mama Elephant - $25 GC

My Favorite Things - $50 GC

Newston's Nook Designs - Two $25 GC

Paper Smooches - Two $25 GC

Picket Fence Studios - Two 50 GC

Pink & Main - $25 GC

Pretty Pink Posh - Two $50 GC

Reverse Confetti - $25 GC

Right At Home - $20 GC

Simon Says Stamp - $50 GC

Spellbinders - $25 GC

Studio Katia - Two Canada $35 CG

SugarPea Designs - $30 GC

Taylored Expressions - Four $25 GC

The Ton Stamps - $25 GC for The Ton stamps

Winnie & Walter - Two $50 GC

Wplus9 - $25 GC

I will update the prize list as I get more. :) Please feel free to share about this card drive. We really appreciate your support & generosity. Let's rock this card drive and bring Christmas joy to as many nursing homes as we can!! Thank you. 

The Ton Fall 2018 New Release

Hi peeps, welcome to The Ton fall 2018 release. After a little bit of break, The Ton is back with fantastic new releases. Effie is releasing 11 new stamps & coordinating dies & we are excited to reveal them.

I have made 2 cards for today and let's start with my favorite, shall we?

For this card, I used this beautiful Gardenia Wishes set. I love Gardenia. It's usually one of the scent I would buy for candle. I am really happy with the way this card turned out. I decided to color the leaves in gray instead of the standard green and I feel like it gives the card a modern feeling to it because of the color combo.

Once I finished coloring the image, I adhere to the card base with foam adhesive and then stamp the sentiment. The sentiment is from Peony Laurel. I use this set quite a bit because I sure love the font on this set's sentiments. And, yes, of course, I have to sprinkle some sequins. Here, I used Glass Slipper & Wedding Dress sequins.

Now, on to my 2nd card using the lovely Gardenia Border. When I start my project, sometime I have it all planned, sometime I just go with the flow. Like for this card, I totally didn't have any plan on what color combo I want to use. Pretty much, I just start with the mauve coloring for the flowers and then ended up with teal green leaves.

Once I finished with the coloring, I looked at it and I was like, hm... this is kind of remind me of old school look. So, to update the look a bit, I add shimmer to the flowers and the leaves and paired the image with the bold sentiment from Occasion Confetti set. To soften the look a bit, I added some white accent on each letter. And, instead of sequins, I used dew drops instead as I feel it showed up better here.

So, what do you think of these 2 sets? Lovey, right? By the way, the new releases are available in the store today!! Yay....

GIVEAWAY
We are giving away a stamp set of choice from our new release to four people. Please leave a comment on each participating blog to qualify. The comment period will close on September 27 at 7pm EST and winner will be announced on The Ton Blog.

Now, I only show you a couple of the sets. Want to see all the sets?? Make sure you swing by to

The Ton blog and check it out. Also, check out what my teammates has created by visiting their blog below:

Tae Yun

Anna Kutcenko

Well peeps, that's all for today. May your week starts off wonderfully!

I Care Blog Hop

Hi everyone. I am honored to be participating in the first I Care Blog Hope to benefit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on World Suicide Prevention Day 2018!!

Joanne Soukup of Perky Penny Paper Arts©, in collaboration with Simon Says Stamp©, organized this blog hop to raise money and awareness for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and World Suicide Prevention Day. When she contacted me, I knew right away that I wanted to join in!

Here are some sobering statistics:

• Every year suicide is responsible for over 800,000 deaths, which equates to one death every 40 seconds. 
• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in the world, and 3rd in the United States for those aged 15-24 years old. 
• Every life lost represents someone's partner, child, parent, friend, or colleague. For each suicide approximately 135 people suffer intense grief or are otherwise affected. This amounts to 108 million people per year who are profoundly impacted by suicidal behavior.

I have known someone who has attempted to do suicide and luckily the person changed his mind and the paramedic was able to save his life. But, I also notice people's reaction. Some react as if it's an embarrassment, like no one should talk about it. I totally disagree with this as I feel the person will need people who'd listen to him even more after his attempt. Mental health is a serious thing and it shouldn't be an embarrassment. It's nothing to be be ashamed of to be needing help.

On positive note, this hop is to bring awareness. For information on the blog hop, the I Care Stamp set, and the wonderful ways you can help read her post here.

For my card, I decided to go with rainbow colors as I want to remind anyone who receive this card that each person is unique & amazing and their uniqueness is what make this world wonderful. Wouldn't the world be so boring if everyone is the same, if there's only 1 color?

In this era of social media, we tend to present this happy face and hid our sadness, our burden, our problems.There are lots of ugliness out there, but there are also many good things and beauties. I hope we can all strive to make this world a bit better, a bit kinder. Let's take the time to be kind to each other. We just never know how our simple act of kindness can make someone's day brighter and in some case save life. 

BLOG HOP:

Joanne has all of the links on her blog, so please visit her blog to see everyone’s amazing creations, read their personal stories, and donate by ordering the I Care Stamps set from Simon Says Stamp©. 

There' quite a few blogs for you to visit, so that's all from me. Keeping it short. Thank you for stopping by here and remember YOU ARE AMAZING JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. :)

BLOG HOP LIST

Joanne Soukup - You Are Here 
Erica Andersson - CaCaCraft By Erica

Katherine Cosimano - A Life Inspired

Ilina Crouse - Creativity Within

Dana Joy - Got Joy Creations

Jennifer McGuire Ink

Tracie Pond - Tracie Pond Designs

Marci Snee - My Crafty Contemplated Life

Vera Yates - Ling's Design Studio