Here and There....

Many of you already know that I am on the Board of Directors of a nonprofit organization called Still Someone. We donate handmade lap blankets and cards to seniors living in care facilities. This past month I reached out to my fellow stampers via the Late Night Stampers yahoo group and also we were featured on Splitcoast Stampers and Compassionate Cards as the Cause of the Month last month.

I'm very proud to say that due to some unbelievable generosity I have over 1200 cards sitting in my craft area (much to the dismay of my very organized and orderly husband!!)

I have been frantically sorting out all of the Christmas and Holiday/Winter themed cards so that they can get delivered next week...I've also signed about 100 so far with many more waiting to be signed! I haven't done a final count of holiday cards but I know 230 are going to the Eisenhower VA Medical Center here in Leavenworth and another 175+ will be going to a nursing home in Charleston, SC. I'm sure we'll have more than that so once I have the final count I'll find a third recipient facility. (If you are interested in delivering cards for us please contact me at melissariker at yahoo dot com...we deliver year round so we always need help!) Here is a picture of one of the boxes I received yesterday from Compassionate Cards!!!



On one of my breaks from sorting and signing I managed to put up some Decor Elements in my craft area. I have had the Tree one since I signed up as a Demonstrator in March but hadn't put it up because I knew we'd be moving over the summer...then as we settled into our new home my craft area moved around 3 times but I'm confident I'm settled now so I went ahead and put it up. I also put up the quote that I received FREE as part of the Holiday Extravaganza promotion! I thought this quote in particular was perfect for me as the mom of two toddlers! Visit my online store to make a purchase and get your own free Decor Element!


And just in case you thought I wasn't going to share a project, I made this to share, a Calendar for my craft room inspiration Board.


I used a Chipboard coaster as my base and covered it with the new Sending Love Designer Series Paper. I tied a Pretty in Pink 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon around it and added a Real Red Epoxy Brad (new in the Occasions Mini!) to finish it off! It has magnetic strip on the back so I can hang it above my work area. What do you think?

Damask Christmas

I love this flocked Damask paper from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty Desinger Series Paper in the Holiday Mini catalog! I loved it so much that I could barely use it at first because I felt like I couldn't find the right combination of colors to compliment it and show of the gorgeous texture of the paper. I finally realized it looks best to me when combined simply with Whiper White, Basic Black, and Real Red as it is here in this Christmas Card and Pillow Box Gift set.



For my card I simply layered Basic Blac and the flocked paper on a Whiper White card base. My sentiment from Many Merry Messages was stamped in Jet Black Stazon on Whiper White cardstock and layered on Basic Black. A 5/8" wide Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon finishes off this bold and elegant card! A matching pillow box is the perfect container for a small gift to accompany the card.

We also used this flocked paper to make cards for Veterans at the Eisenhower VA Center yesterday for the charity Still Someone. Look at these amazing cards the volunteers came up with:


Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and those who donate supplies to Still Someone, we were able to make 147 cards yesterday for the veterans! Way to go guys!

Crafting for a Cause

I've been very busy this week getting everything ready for tomorrow's Still Someone Charity Cardmaking event in Leavenworth, Kansas. I have prepped materials for over 100 pre-designed cards which volunteers will be making. The first design features the Delightful Decorations stamp set and Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper from the Holiday Mini Catalog, it also features a sentiment from Many Merry Messages:


The other designs are very similar but allow for volunteers to mix and match to create their own, it features The More the Merrier Hostess Set. I used the small stamps from Delightful Decorations to create my own patterned paper! Coloring was done with Stampin' Write Markers, whcih will allow each volunteer to further customize their card!



I will also have a TON of materials for anyone who wants to get creative and make whatever they please! I hope you all like the cards, and I really hope that the veterans like them next month! Thanks for looking!

Oh, I almost forgot, I made a video tutorial for the Top Note Box I featured the other day per some requests I had: