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.
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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.