Saturday, April 26, 2014

Thank You For Your Service Cards

I have a couple events coming up for Armed Services Day and Memorial Day that I needed to make some cards for.  I decided to use the same layout for them all but ended up making six different paper combinations.  In total I will have 120 cards made for these two events.  I think my ATG is still smoking!! lol

Here's a pic of the six different styles I ended up with.
40 of these cards are going to a local hospice provider who is going to deliver cards to all the veterans that they provide services for.  The rest of the cards are going to be used at my office.  We are having an Anyhero card signing event for Operation Write Home.  Between Armed Services Day and Memorial Day we are going to place boxes in our three lounges with instructions on how to write an Anyhero message.  We will have a place for them to leave their completed card and then I will send them all off to OWH in June.  We've never done anything like this before but hopefully my building full of 300 employees can manage writing 80 cards.  Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised and we run out of cards during the first week of our event!

The patterned paper all came from the Proud to Serve paper stack from The Paper Studio.  The solid card stock is all from Core'dinations and the card bases are Georgia Pacific standard card stock from Sam's.

The holographic paper I used for the ribbon tails was purchased at Hobby Lobby in their by the sheet section and I used my Cricut Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge to cut them all out (Banner2 on page 29).  It was actually quite funny once I got them all cut out and then put the Cricut mat on my desk to remove them.  First thing I noticed was that I had to turn off my desk lamp because I was blinding myself (not to self - do NOT hit holographic paper with a high powered Ott Lamp!) and then I realized the holographic paper was actually sticker paper!  It was a little bit more challenging to get those little buggers off the mat but it sure made it easier when it was time to adhere them!

The sentiment is from Doodle Pantry and I punched the stars out from a piece of pattern paper in the stack I used.  It was so awesome that my smallest punch fit the stars exactly.  I'm thinking everything about these cards was really meant to be because I had just enough paper in the stack to punch out all the stars I needed with only a couple extras!

I used a consultant sketch from Close To My Heart and tweaked it just a bit to fit the paper supplies I had available.  I'm still trying to use up all my stash of non CTMH papers.  I must admit though that it's been hard to go back to using those others papers after I've used CTMH paper.  Their paper is a joy to work with and now that I've used some higher quality paper I think I might be spoiled.

One special thing I did have to do was create my own solid card stock for the cards with the blue background and strip.  I didn't have any blue in my stash that seemed to work so I took some of the GP white card stock and rubbed a Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Faded Jeans all over it.  I liked the effect so much that I did the same thing to some Kraft card stock using Barn Door and used that paper on the card that in the middle of the above picture.  It really gave it such a great dimension!

Here are my paper measurements:
Card size - A2
Bottom Layer - 5.25 x 4
Pattern Paper Layer - 5 x 3.75
Pattern Paper Strip - 4.25 x 1.25
Solid Paper Strip - 4.25 x .75 (although I ended up having to make a couple of them .5 since I was running out of paper - it still looked fine though)
Ribbon Tails - 1 x .5 - they are really tiny and you need to use some tweezers when you are working with them!
Stars - cut with a Fiskars 1" circle punch
Sentiment - 2.75 x 1.5

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Skylark Workshop On The Go!

I put together the Skylark WOTG and added some pictures from our wedding and honeymoon. It went together really easily and I had tons of paper left so I started making cards with the leftovers.  Here are some pics of the layouts I made and some of the cards.  A couple of the cards are going to some people who just might read my blog so they won't be posted until later.

This kit was such an awesome value for just $29.95!  You get all the papers I used (minus the card bases), all the embellishments (and I didn't use them all), a stamp set, and the instructions for the scrapbook layouts.  I was really impressed with the detail of the instructions - I love that it showed me graphically what cuts to make in the paper.


If you are interested in purchasing this WOTG, you can check out my online store at http://www.reneprice.ctmh.com.

I'm still running my fundraiser for ChildSafe so 20% of your purchase price will go toward their amazing mission of providing support and counseling to children who are victims of sexual abuse.  Thanks for your support of ChildSafe!!



The pages up above are some favorite pics from our wedding.


These pages to the left are from the first few days of our honeymoon.  We went on a Southern Caribbean cruise that left from San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We decided to go early and spend three days in Old San Juan.  By the end of the honeymoon we both said we would have liked to spend more time in Puerto Rico.  The cruise was great but Puerto Rico was so much better.

























Here are some of the cards I was able to make from the leftovers.  I'm pretty sure I should be able to get several more made and I held two back that are being given to some special people.  I'll post those later.  I used the CTMH stamp sets C1574, Believe in Yourself Everyday Life, and D1497, Cricut Art Philosophy Celebration.  D1497 is one of the sets that comes with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  You can get that cartridge free this month by signing up to be a CTMH Independent Consultant.  The starter kit is $99 and there is no obligation to ever buy or sell another thing!!  If you want more information on joining the CTMH family, just click above on "Joining CTMH" to find out more.





Monday, April 7, 2014

Stash Buster Cards #1

I'm on a mission!!!  I need to cut down on some of my stash of patterned paper.  So...I decided to just start digging in and get it done.  Here are the first of hopefully many stash buster cards.  I ended up making four of each design.  These will all be going to Operation Write Home.
















I have no idea where the papers came from - they were all just hanging out loose in my pile.  I cut the Thank You base with Cricut Craft Room Essentials.  The Air Mail stamp is from Stampabilities and the Thank You stamp is from the TPC Vintage Greetings set.  I heat embossed the Air Mail stamp and the sentiment using gold embossing powder from Craft Essentials.  The thinking of you stamp and key are from an old Dimensions stamp set (Thoughts of Fancy) I have that I think might be on it's last legs - the stamps are all gooey and really funky.  I'm sort of surprised I got such a good impression out of them!

Friday, April 4, 2014

ChildSafe Success Story

Hi all! Just wanted to remind you that I am running a fundraiser through Close To My Heart through the end of April. Here's the link for more information : http://www.gabbysews.com/2014/04/fundraising-for-sexual-abuse-victims.html

The funds I raise are going to ChildSafe Colorado and I wanted to share a success story they have posted on their website:

Katy:

Katy, age 5, comes from an upper middle class, two-parent home with loving, supportive parents and extended family. Katy attended daycare at a home that was considered a second family to Katy. What Katy's parents didn't know was that from the time Katy was 6 months old until she was 3, she was being sexually abused by the daycare provider's husband.

Kay's parents noticed that she was at times aggressive, slapping and kicking her parents. Katy felt that her parents must have known what Jim was doing to her and felt it was okay because they continued to take her to Jim's home for daycare. Jim told her he was her best friend, so at Katy's young age of 3, in her mind a best friend was someone who couldn't be trusted and who hurt you. In preschool she was labeled as "bad" because she frequently hit or bit other children.

When Katy persisted in kissing and touching little boys at preschool, the staff was alarmed. She, like many of the children in treatment at ChildSafe, was headed for expulsion from preschool and further labeling. The very coping mechanisms that this child developed as a way of dealing with her early sexual abuse became the source of yet another layer of dysfunction and problems.

Fortunately, at age 3, Katy began receiving therapy from ChildSafe when her parents found out what Jim had done to her. In addition, her parents became actively involved in one of the parents' therapy groups where they were given tools to help her heal.

Today, at age 5, Katy is well on her way to leading a functional, healthy life – quite different from the life she would have led without therapeutic intervention.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Fundraising for Sexual Abuse Victims

I am bellydancing in a fun event coming up in May called Shimmy Mob.  Shimmy Mob is a flash mob type of event and is the largest event of its kind due to the number of geographical territories covered in one day.  The event is designed to celebrate World Bellydance Day and to also raise awareness and funds for women's and children's shelters in the participating communities.  At last count there are over 160 locations signed up spanning locations in Asia, South America, Australia, Canada, and the United States.  To learn more about Shimmy Mob and to see videos of past year's events you can visit http:\\www.shimmymob.com.

Part of our responsibility as a dancer in the event is that we will each individually raise $50 to be donated to our selected charity.  The charity for the Northern Colorado event is ChildSafe.  ChildSafe is Northern Colorado's only comprehensive outpatient treatment program for victims of sexual abuse and their families.  They combine group, individual, and family therapy to heal the trauma of sexual abuse.  They also provide in-service training and consultation to area professionals and community groups on child sexual abuse issues.  To learn more about ChildSafe and how you can get involved please visit http:\\childsafecolorado.org.

As part of my fundraising efforts I have set up an online fundraiser through my Close To My Heart website.  Through April 30th 20% of all purchases made through the link on my page for the fundraiser will be donated to ChildSafe.  You can access my website here.  Once on my main page look for the ChildSafe Fundraiser event and click Join.  That will put you directly into my shopping site.

Thanks for your support of this wonderful cause and please let me know if you have any questions!  Also if you are in the Old Town area of Ft. Collins on May 10th, be on the lookout for all kinds of happy dancers!!