One of the best things about this industry/hobby is how there are so many ways to “give back.” I have several to share with you today… I hope you can take a moment to check them out.

Boston Strong Stamp

I have met a lot of stamp store owners over the years, but none are quite as awesome as Kate from Absolutely Everything near Boston. She and her store are amazingly delightful. Well, she teamed up with Hero Arts to create a Boston Strong stamp, with all profits going to help the victims of the nasty Boston Marathon bombing. I have my stamp sitting on my shelf, reminding me to appreciate life. I hope you will consider getting one, too. (For more information, head HERE and to buy one, head HERE.)

Cards for Maddy

If money is tight for you, here is an opportunity to do good simply by sending a card. (And we all like to make cards anyway, right?) Simon Says Stamp is collecting cards for dear Maddy – a 12 year old girl battling Leukemia. She is a gorgeous girl whose smile is stunning. The more cards she gets, the more she smiles, so please send some her way. (For more information, go HERE.)

Craft Goodies for Oklahoma Family

A sweet girl named Abbey that I met on Twitter is collecting craft goodies for families who lost their homes in the recent Oklahoma tornado. I know that craft supplies aren’t necessities, but they do bring smiles to those of us who love this hobby. I have already sent quite a bit and plan to send more. Please consider donating anything you may not need. (For more information, head HERE.)

Take a Class… Help Oklahoma

We recently announced our next Online Card Class – Summer Card Camp 2. This class is a big one – a ton of awesome guests and card ideas. In order to help those affected by the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma, $1 from each Summer Card Camp 2 registration will go to support relief and recovery efforts. This will result in quite a bit of money donated! We will keep you posted on the totals. (For more information, head HERE.)

So there you have it – some small ways to help that can make a big impact.

(Oh, and we have a winner. The winner of the June SSS Card Kit is Cheri Weston. Thanks!)

And if you have been to my blog before, you know that I am a huge fan of teachers. After volunteering many times in my son’s classes, I know these teachers work VERY hard and make a true difference in our kid’s lives. They have my compete admiration.

So when watching the news, I struggled to figure out what I could do to help those in Oklahoma. After all, I just make cards. So… I decided to create printable teacher cards to give here as downloads. I was going to collect the money and donate it, but feel it is easier for everyone if I just offer the download for free and ask that you donate to the Red Cross directly. So this is kinda like an “honor system” – I hope you enjoy the download and donate as a thank you.

Isn’t that apple the cutest? A big hank you to Hero Arts for letting me use the image for this download.

These printable cards are super easy – just print, cut, fold and color. There is a faint grey line that you cut along with a trimmer and then just fold it in half. I rounded the corners and punched three holes to make it look like notebook paper. (You can skip this if you want.) It also prints “made with love and appreciation” on the back. You can either color the apple directly on the card… or color the extra one, cut it out and pop it on the card for dimension. I colored mine with Copics and covered with glitter marker…

I have four printable card options. One is blank so all of you with a bit of computer experience can add your own teacher’s name…

I made 16 of these and packaged them with envelopes in my favorite clear boxes to give as a teacher gift. I love giving card sets…

Don’t have a printer? That’s easy. Go online and load the file to Kinkos. They will print as many copies as you want and you just pick them up!

I am sure school has ended for many of you, but you can always save this download for next year. And if you don’t have kids, you can still use this! Give it to a local school to thank them for taking care of kids in your community. Or take it to a Sunday School teacher. You could even surprise your favorite card making teacher. In fact, the “apple of my eye” card could work for anyone.

Here are the downloads. Just open, right-click and save…

“THANK YOU” PRINTABLE CARD DOWNLOAD

“YOU’RE THE BEST” PRINTABLE CARD DOWNLOAD

“APPLE OF MY EYE” PRINTABLE CARD DOWNLOAD

BLANK PRINTABLE CARD DOWNLOAD

And, please… please donate to the Red Cross to help those folks rebuild in Oklahoma. It is easy to do! In fact, you can even just text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief immediately. So easy. (And if you have already donated, thank you! Enjoy the downloads.)

Have a great week. Oh, and big hugs to those of you in Oklahoma… and all of you teachers.

Zig Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush Marker	Clear Card Box	FAVORITE THING: 1/4 and 1/2 Corner Chomper	Crop-A-Dile Hole Punch	FAVORITE THING: Fiskars Microtip Scissors
Copic Markers	FAVORITE THING: White Uniball Signo Pen	Hero Arts Grass Envelopes	FAVORITE THING: Neenah Classic White Cardstock 250 Sheets	FAVORITE THING: Neenah Classic White Cardstock 25 Sheets
Best Creation 3-D Foam Adhesive

Soooooo… I am honored to once again be part of the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop. (Operation Write Home collects cards for soldiers to send home to their loved ones. You can find more info HERE.) To see the MANY people playing along today in honor of our heroes, head HERE.

Here is my card. Perfect for a hero or any man in your life…

OWH has a bunch of fun sketches they share, and I used THIS one. I also used the June Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. It has a masculine feel to it… perfect for OWH cards!

I used a variety of Hero Arts Shadow Inks, too. (Supplies are listed in the thumbnails below.)

Easy peasy!

Here is a closer look at the kit I used. You can also get the stamp set separately…

To see the rest of the folks celebrating our heroes today in this OWH Blog Hop, head HERE. Lots of great talent and good people!

How about a giveaway as a thank you for stopping by today? Just leave a comment here by 5/29/13 at 11:59pmEST for your chance to win the June Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp like I used above! Good luck. (Thank you SSS.)

SSS June 2013 Card Kit	Kelly Purkey Dude Stamp Set	Heart Border Punch	FAVORITE THING: 1/4 and 1/2 Corner Chomper	FAVORITE THING: Distress Ink Blending Tool
Tim Holtz Barn Door Distress Ink	Hero Arts Soft Pool Shadow Ink	Hero Arts Soft Sand Shadow Ink	Hero Arts Soft Olive Shadow Ink	Cup O Joe Shadow Ink

I am fighting a major headache so I am just popping in quickly to share a few things.

First, many of you have asked if I am doing a card drive this year. Because my life is a bit nuts right now, I won’t be. However, I know of another card drive that is a good one – I hope you can help out! There are also some great prizes. The card drive is for a 6-year-old cutie named Addison who is fighting Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Please head HERE to learn more. Thank you!

Also, how about some fun cards worth checking out?

• Alice’s fun card HERE.
• Pearl’s awesome card HERE.
• Mariana’s colorful card HERE.
• Laura’s sweet card HERE.
• Lisa’s pretty card HERE.
• Joy’s class card HERE.
• JJ’s clever card HERE.

Finally, it’s winner time! The winner of the personalized stamp is Andrea Smith and the winner of the A Muse goodies is Lisa (The Purple Place).

See you soon!

Get this:

For the month of October, A Muse is hoping to reach 10,000 women by giving away 10,000 American Cancer Society breast health info pamphlets with a fun, coordinating Fight Like A Girl cling stamp set! Yes – they are giving away a stamp set to anyone – a good one…

You can get your set HERE. Shipping is only $3. Yes – for $3 you get this stamp set and a breast health education pamphlet. How awesome is that? The pamphlet contains info about conducting monthly self-exams and other considerations we each need to know to stay crafting happy and healthy for many years to come! And you can use the set’s push pin stamp on your calendar as a reminder for your monthly self-exam, mammograms, and doctor’s appointments. Sweet!

Here is a card I created with this stamp set. Love the messages…

I also used their papers and cloud and scallop dies. (Love their dies – great quality wafer thin dies.) And their pearls? SO cute. They have super mini ones on the set. Love.

Again, as part of this Stamp Out Breast Cancer campaign, A Muse wants to give away 10,000 sets – to reach 10,000 women to be reminded to self-exam. You can help! Please visit their Facebook page and their new blog. Simply ‘Share’ or ‘Like’ their campaign posts to let women in your network know about Stamp Out Breast Cancer and how to receive their free stamp set and health brochure!

Now go and order your set. And big cheers to A Muse for doing something good for our crafting community. I am impressed – big time.

ETA: Folks were asking for a consultant recommendation. I have heard good things about THIS gal.

And as a thank you to A Muse for doing this Stamp Out Breast Cancer campaign, I am giving away some of my favorite A Muse goodies – a set of cloud dies and three pink ribbons. (Yes, I liked the dies so much I ordered an extra set.) For your chance, leave a comment here by Sunday at 11:59pmEST. Good luck.

Enjoy!

Just sharing a card I have over on the Hero Arts blog today. Be sure to head over there to see instructions. It is a simple card with a fun surprise…

See that greeting “floating” over the ornament window? It is hiding something inside…

Isn’t she a cutie…

All the instructions can be found over at the Hero Arts blog post, and all the supplies can be found below. However, this is the main goodie I used – the ornament stamp and die combo:

I love the unexpected when it comes to card making.

Lots of people have been asking if I am doing a card drive this holiday season. Due to a lot of changes happening all at once in my little world, I had to take this season off. However, my friend Vera is doing one!

You can send holiday cards anytime from now to November 30 to this address:

Vera Yates
P.O Box 19158
Sugar Land, TX 77496

For more details on this Caring Hearts Card Drive, you can visit Vera’s blog. Thanks for helping out!

We have some winners! The winner of the $25 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate is Lisa Geraty. The winner of the Ali Edwards December Daily Kit is Crystal. And finally the winner of our newest Online Card Class is Lisa L. Congrats! (By the way, I always email winners.)

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Hero Arts Sizzix Ornaments Stamps and Dies (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Snow Dots Background	BasicGrey Aspen Frost 6×6 Paper Pad (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Acetate Notecards (SSS|EH)	Vagabond Die Cutting Machine (SSS|EH)
Corner Chomper (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Soft Sand Shadow Ink (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Wet Cement Shadow Ink (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Red Royal Shadow Ink (SSS|EH)	Silver UniBall Pen (SSS|EH)
Hero Arts Medium Pearls (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Small Pearls (SSS|EH)	May Arts Natural Twine

I am excited to help celebrate the launch of a new website – A Blog Named Hero. This blog honors all things Hero Arts and will have fun challenges, prizes and card shares. This makes me so happy as I feel Hero Arts is one of the best companies in the industry – without a doubt. So this blog? Awesome idea. (BTW… the blog isn’t part of Hero Arts but rather was created by two sweet ladies – Mary Dawn and Linda – who are just fans of the company. Hero Arts is supporting them with prizes and such, though.)

They are kicking off the blog with a celebration week starting today. I am one of the featured folks, and here is a peek at my card…

To see the card in all it’s Distress-Inked-glory, head HERE. And please do head there today because two other ladies created STUNNING cards that are worth checking out. Wow. Oh, and I may or may not have hooked them up with some stamps to giveaway. Hint hint.

Be sure to add A Blog Named Hero to your Google Reader or subscribe. They have lots of fun things planned and great prizes.

Enjoy!

I recently found out about a fellow crafter who lost her home in a fire. Her friend, Kelly, is collecting cards and craft goodies to replenish her supplies and bring a smile to her face. If you are interested in helping out, please head HERE. I have my box of stamps ready to ship – I can’t imagine losing so much.

Thanks… see you tomorrow.

I am here today to tell you about a great product… and a great cause.

For years, I have been using Scentsy wickless candles. (More about them in a moment.) And for years, I have supported juvenile diabetes research. (My brother is insulin-dependent.) So when I found out that one of my friends, Shannon Tidwell, now sells Scentsy… and that she said her commissions could go to help another one of my friends, Kristina Proffitt, raise money for diabetes research, I was thrilled. Please consider looking into this – such a great cause and a great product. Would be perfect for teacher gifts!

About Scentsy…

Scentsy sells wickless candles, ceramic warmers, and a variety of fragrance products. A wickless candle, called a Scentsy Bar or a Scentsy Brick, is a highly fragrant wax bar that is warmed to release fragrance into the air. Because the wax is gently warmed rather than burned, it can hold more fragrance oil than a traditional candle. And, because there is no flame, there is no smoke, soot, or lead. Scentsy wickless candles are a safer alternative to traditional candles. (This is the product I use and love. My favorite is THIS one with Cinnamon Vanilla and Baked Apple Pie. Just get a warmer and some bricks and you are good to go! Love love love.)

About the charity…

Kristina started Caylin’s Cure shortly after her daughter, Caylin, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She hopes to raise awareness about type 1 diabetes and raise money for diabetes research. All donations to Caylin’s Cure goes directly to Dr. Denise Faustman of The Faustman Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital to support her & her team in their diabetes research. You can find out more about Caylin’s Cure HERE –  and you can see more about Dr. Faustman and her work HERE. As someone who has a love one with diabetes, I can’t tell you enough how important this research is.

Shannon will be to donating her full 25% commission on ALL sales from this fundraiser party to this charity! This ends on November 30th, so please order soon. This can result in a great amount of money. Love it.

How to order…

To order and contribute to this great cause, simply go HERE and click ‘Buy From Party’ next to Jennifer McGuire’s Fundraiser. (See below.) If you have questions, please contact sweet Shannon at shannontidwell at mac.com.

And a giveaway…

For doing this “party” for Shannon, I get a few hostess rewards. But I will be giving these all away – including a few Scentsy Buddies that will go to charity and another for a giveaway here! So leave a comment here by Sunday night for your chance to win my favorite Scentsy warmer and my favorite Baked Apple Pie Scentsy Brick.

Thanks for considering purchasing some of these goodies to support diabetes research. Remember – to order and contribute to this great cause, simply go HERE and click ‘Buy From Party’ next to Jennifer McGuire’s Fundraiser.

Thank you!!!

Today we both used the Hero Arts Cuckoo Set and the Papertrey Ink Retro Backgrounds… with the color brown.

I have been hosting the blog week over at Hero Arts this week, focusing on using kraft paper. I *love* THIS kraft paper and THESE kraft notecards. They are dreamy. So, I decided to use kraft for today’s card…

I stamped the clock and then masked it before stamped the background with Frost White Ink. It is amazing how bold that white is on kraft. I then colored in the image heavily with colored pencils and added highlights with a white pencil. And finally… Glossy Accents on the clock face…

Simple. I like that sometimes.

See you tomorrow. In the meantime, be sure to head over to Dawn’s blog to see her creation!

As I mentioned the other day, Kristina Proffitt‘s daugther was recently diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes – something my brother also has. She is doing a big fundraiser to support the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. She is now auctioning off a button canvas made by me. You can bid anonymously if you would like and I will make it in any colors you request…

Please go check it out and consider bidding. It is a great cause that hits close to home for me. You can find it HERE. Thanks! Oh, and if you love this cool canvas with the window as much as me, you can find them HERE at Ten Second Studios.

Bye!

Card Supplies:

Sorry for the lack of posts. I am currently snuggled up on a cozy sofa in Buffalo, NY, in the home of my friends Sharon and Mark. Sharon is the owner of Buffalo Stamps where I had the honor of teaching this weekend. I just have to say that Sharon and Mark are amazing, as is their store (wow) and the folks I met here. I am in love. And can’t wait to come back.

I wanted to stop in to give a few updates…

The other day I mentioned a great auction. But Blogger was down for a few days and they lost all of the bids. PLEASE, please check this out now that it is back up and running…

Kristina Proffitt‘s daugther was just diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes – something my brother also has. She is doing a big fundraiser to support the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Right now she is auctioning off a signed album by Tim Holtz. It is gorgeous. You can bid anonymously if you would like.

Please go check it out and consider bidding. It is a great cause. You can find it HERE. Thanks!

I also have some winners:

• The winner of the Creative Spaces book is Candy W.
• The winner of the Hero Arts DVDs is Linn Rivera.

I was so excited to hear that my friend, Heidi – the owner of Simon Says Stamp – had a baby girl this week! If you have a second, please comment HERE leaving happy wishes. She is a doll!

I will be back tomorrow morning with a fun challenge week with one of my favorite people. I haven’t done a week like this in awhile… so happy.

See you soon.