Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Ten Days of HOPE

Okay - I told you I would be back today with a fun way that you can help victims of this ridiculous hurricane season and so here I am!

I was Gel Press printing in my sister's garage the other day, and at the end of the printing session, when I had all my prints laid out to dry - I realized what had influenced my color choices.

Hurricane radar.

I've stared so long and so hard at these images over the past month that they are burned into my brain - watching them churn towards friends and strangers. They are beautiful in their own terrible way, of course. Everything you see influences your art.


So I took one of those prints and die cut it with the Concord & 9th Hope bundle for today's card.

Now the deal was with this bundle is that for the ENTIRE month of September, they dedicated 100% of the profits from the sales of this bundle to Hurricane Harvey relief.

I thought that was SUCH an incredible thing to do that I bought ten of them. I knew it would all be donated to people who really needed it and I thought that since the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and Florida experienced so much devastation with the subsequent storms, that as soon as Concord & 9th ended their campaign, I'd start a tiny one of my own with this bundle.

So see below for how you can both WIN one of ten of these from me, but also how a donation will be made in your name to help both BVI and Puerto Rico! But first, my card!

I took one of my "hurricane prints" and I used the Hope die to cut out the little panel. This die is beautiful for cutting up big prints or watercolor washes - which are two of my favorite things to make.

Then I glued it down on a black card base - because no matter how dark it seems, there is always hope. That's what the human spirit is made of, after all. If it weren't for hope - none of us would have survived our awkward teen years or the whole white/gold black/blue dress controversy!



I wanted the color scheme hot like the radar, and the paints I used did the trick! (Listed below the card).

So - how can YOU win a bundle and have a donation made in your name? It's simple.

Fill out this form with your contact info (to ship your bundle to you - international participants welcome), and tell me something you've done to help people affected by the hurricane - everything from a prayer, to a card, to a donation or sharing important info on social media, or encouraging someone in the path - all of it helps. One of the things I realized after Harvey is that people were so generous so quickly - not knowing what lay ahead for the islands and Florida and Puerto Rico - that many people were unable to give beyond what they did for my fellow Texans.

So my donation isn't huge - it will be $20 per bundle winner, but it's something I can do, and every single dollar helps. I will make half the donations to Richard Branson's BVI fund because 100% of donations go to assistance, and half to the One America Appeal which also directs 100% of funds, and I will donate them specifically to the Puerto Rican recovery efforts.

Please only fill out the form one time :) - and you can enter this drawing until midnight on October 10th, Central Time. Winners will be announced on Friday the 13th, since 13 is my lucky number.

So thank you for being here today, and for being awesome, and for helping where you can - and I hope that you win one, and that we can then help our friends in the best way that we all are capable of.

PS - October starts some other fun things as well - our Designer Series Paper Sale starts today! Buy three get one free all month long here. PLUS - we have a World Cardmaking Day Sale - buy Fast Fuse and get THREE refills for free, as well as sale prices on other items. Remember to use host code M2U9DE6V in my store to be entered into my monthly Arkon giveaway!

Loveyameanitbye.

Monday, May 1, 2017

A Princess and a Warrior



Today, I'm sharing something very near and dear to my heart.

As you know - I lost my aunt Maureen to breast cancer seven years ago, and every time I have a chance to participate in a crafty breast cancer cause I do. I have so many friends fighting this right now, and know so many people like my sweet friends below who have lost loved ones, or have survivors in their families.

Here's a note from Ellen Hutson & friends.
________________________________________________________

In honor of three amazing mothers, Chaitali, Julie and Ellen, teamed up to find a way that they could make a difference and honor these very special women in their lives and actively contribute to finding a cure for breast cancer. Together we have created the Courage Stamp & Die Set.

We know that many of you are affected by this disease or other forms of cancer and we are turning to you for help. After much research, our team made the decision to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  BCRF is the highest rated breast cancer organization in the nation. To learn more about BCRF please visit their website.

Through this fundraiser, it is our goal to educate and raise money for research and support services for patients and survivors battling breast cancer.  
Won’t you join us?

Donate, stamp, share, create—there are many ways you can contribute!  Visit the Ellen Hutson BCRF fundraiser page to find out how and to follow our progress.


https://www.ellenhutson.com/bcrf/


What I love about this set is those inspiring sentiments. Watching my friends Jen del Muro and Kelly Booth fight cancer has been inspiring, and one sentiment in particular reminded me of both of them. Both are beautiful, sweet, creative girls, who also fight like bears. This could not be a more perfect description of both of them.





I created this card using Distress Oxide Inks - I stamped the solid images in Oxides on watercolor paper, and then spread them out with water, coming back with the same colors with no water for the detail images.

Please visit each one of these stops today, and please consider supporting this cause either through the purchase of the stamp set, or through a donation though Ellen's fundraising page. They are donating $25 per stamp set sold! So generous. These three ladies are truly stellar people, just so you know. If you ever get a chance to spend any time with them, don't miss it.
Thank you so much for stopping by and thank you for supporting this great cause!

Loveyameanitbye.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

In Summary - Human Pretzels and Lee Greenwood

I finally downloaded my pics from my camera today from Leadership. A lot of my live coverage pics were with my Iphone, so I know they won't be hitting National Geographic any time soon. I thought I'd share a few you haven't seen yet that are a little better quality.

First, Manager's reception. This is only the second time I've been, and it was wonderful. Don't worry if you didn't come to Leadership or qualify for this or anything else. I've been having fun for ten years - this is just a bonus, really. So keep having fun - it pays off :).

We got to see some incredible acrobats from China. I held my breath nearly the whole time because I truly couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here are some of the crazy antics. (I'm translating from Chinese.)

Oh hi - please bring me a chair - this tower I built out of chairs isn't tall enough to scare these demonstrators!
 I am not scary enough standing on a wobbly tower of chairs, I must do a handstand.
WAIT - BRING ME MORE CHAIRS. THERE IS ONE PERSON WHO HASN'T FAINTED.
 
 Please, bend yourself into a pretzel so that I may balance teacups on your feet and chin. 
Next, we really had an adventure, thanks to our friend Sue Farrant. She happened to get us tickets to the filming of the Extreme Home Makeover Christmas Special honoring the military. It was an incredible experience. We got to meet the veterans on the show, many of whom had terrible injuries. Very humbling. To begin the event, we had the privilege of having Lee Greenwood sing God Bless the USA 15 feet from us.  I can't even really describe how amazing that was.

He was very kind and gracious, too. What an amazing moment.

Then we got an absolutely unbelievable performance from these Australian tenors and got to see Paige and Ty.

 Here we are teaching them how to say y'all.
 Roger Clements spoke and signed a few baseballs for the auction benefiting Helping a Hero.
 If you want to do something charitable, this is a great organization, so be sure and check out their site. These brave young men and women deserve a roof over their heads.

Then we were off to stamp and be stamped! Here are some of the cute projects from main stage. I think most of the ones I picked are from Shelli's demo.

I didn't even want this set until I saw this cutie.
 Um. Adorable. I love zig zags. I love this paper. I love these colors together. I love this. Is that clear?
 CUTE feathers made from leaves.
 Thank goodness the edgelits are on their way to me as we speak. I need to make exactly this card!
 Love the rhinestone on the typewriter key.
 Framelits make the 3D hearts on this CAS number - LOVE it.

I will be posting from CHA in a few days and then I'll finally get to come home and STAMP!! I miss it! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Keep Swimming, Katie!



This week, you may have noticed that TONS of your favorite stampers are joining together to support and encourage our friend and fellow stamper, Katie Renz, who is currently battling inoperable gastric cancer.

If you're not familiar with her, Katie’s cancer story started just before Christmas last year.  This young, beautiful, healthy, vibrant mother of 3 with her infectious smile was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, virtually overnight.  A few tummy aches and then stage 4 gastric cancer.  

Her first post about it is here.  The idea of “Swimming for Katie” came from her recent post here.

This stamp used in my sample was designed by Becky Oehlers for this special fundraiser for Katie. Kate Baldwin was kind enough to set up a page where you can support Katie in a number of different ways, and  100% of the profits go to Katie's fund to help her and her young family.  Her husband Kevin and her three young children need our help and support. To read more and donate something to help, please click HERE or click the donation button below. 
I hope you will be inspired by the stampers on this hop and moved to donate to her cause, and also to pray for Katie and her family in this difficult time. 

Katie's bravery and candor through this journey have been astonishing, and I can't even imagine handling something so difficult with as much grace as she has.

I think one of the things I love most about the stamping community is our solidarity with one another in times of trouble, and this is certainly a shining example of that. Thank you in advance for whatever you can do for Katie.

Keep swimming to the other designers helping out the Renz family today! The full list is here!





If any of you would like to send a card to Katie, you can send them to this address:

Katie Renz
PO Box 5913
Bellingham, WA 98227-5913

Thanks for stopping by today! Loveyameanitbye.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Rejection Therapy

A friend sent me a link to this fascinating site called Rejection Therapy.

It's based on a pretty simple and familiar idea, but it's very beautifully expressed here and has some fun little exercises, most of which you already experience every day.For example, every day on my walk, I say to HI to people I pass.
Some of them just astonishingly rudely never even look at me and walk right past. It floors me every single time. That is some serious rejection when someone is a foot from you.

When I moved to New York for college, I had this same feeling every day.

People who say hello to strangers in New York are considered mental defectives, or possibly hookers. But I didn't stop saying hello to people. I just carried my personal Texas with me, and if people didn't like it or thought I was insane, well so be it. Maybe that made them giggle - like, "hey - check out crazy HI lady with the funny accent!" A giggle is always a happy ending. :)

So today I bring you some rejection therapy. I came up with a fun little technique that I submitted to be considered for a demonstration at the regional in Ft. Worth and - BAM! Rejected! :(

BUT - it's cute as heck, and so I'm giving to all of you instead! That's therapy, right? So I'm gonna enter this in Shelli's Creative Challenge instead!!

Now what this technique does is give you new and different way to use your embossing folders. Have you ever just wanted a stamp that looked like your Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder? Maybe you didn't want the raised surface, just the pattern, like this...Maybe you wanted a stamp that looked just like our fun spiderweb embossing folder! I did.

So I'm gonna show you how to do this in a fun video tutorial.

In exchange for this tutorial today, I want you all to be sure and visit my friend Carolyn King, who is doing her AMAZING Heart to Heart card drive to benefit the caregivers who do the incredible job of caring for those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. You can send a card, see some gorgeous creations, read her inspiring story, and win more than $1000 in stamping goodies, just for doing a good deed!

So you ready?

Take a gander. (If you don't see a video player below, click here)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

We Just Do What We Know


Since we can't be doctors or write songs, we just do what we know. We stamp. So if you need to make some valentines, why not help Stampin' Up! help the people of Haiti while you do it?

From now until February 28, $2 from the sale of each of the I Heart Hearts stamp sets will go to the Red Cross' Haiti relief efforts. Every person that purchases this set from me will also get a handmade valentine from yours truly as a thank you. You can order from me online by clicking here. Just click "shop now"


Have you signed up for the UBlue Cyber Club? Attended one of my Webinars?? Come on - get your geek on! :)

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