Cards for a Cause - Ronald McDonald House Donation

Life is still pretty crazy busy and all I can do is just keep knocking out items one by one to get as much done as possible.

I had an all day work conference this past week that would place me near Orange County, so I loaded up the car with all of the cards I've been collecting to drop off after my conference. It took spending some time in a booth at a local franchise restaurant to count and sort non seasonal cards that I had already made sure had matching envelopes and were encased in plastic sleeves.

Since I was preparing on the run, I had to resign myself to donating these without the cute little sign on the front of the box and the customized card theme dividers I usually make. Insert sad face.  But I've held off for too long, since I live far away, and who knows when I'd be in the area again.

Here's the first two boxes containing 250 cards for the Orange County RMH facility.

This last undecorated small box contains 50 cards for the RMH Room located inside the infamous Children's Hospital of Orange County, otherwise referred to as CHOC.  I feel bad about not decorating the box for a more cheerful presentation. :(

CHOC pictured below is located just a few blocks away from the Orange RMH.  I snapped this photo while stopped at a red light.

And here we are at the Orange County RMH location.

I was really impressed with the living quarters.  Below is the living room.

And here is the lady at the Orange County RMH location with the card donations in front of their Tree of Giving to commemorate all their donors.  (I apologize for not remembering her name.)

She told me that they only had ONE other group, a Stampin' Up! group, that was donating cards about twice a year so this drop off was a VERY welcome one especially since they were created with such artful skill.  Previous donations were created by Girl Scouts, so....yes, lol, SCS stamper created cards are MUCH nicer!!  (These are my words, not hers.)

The reason Orange County RMH received 250 vs the CHOC Room receiving only 50 cards was due to my phone conversation with one of their employees the previous week.  Bre mentioned that there was much more traffic in the Ronald McDonald House than the Room at CHOC.  In addition, CHOC is a bustling hospital and I didn't want to deal with parking issues/costs, so I took up OC RMH's offer to leave all boxes with them since a CHOC representative would be by once a week to pick up supplies.

I apologize I didn't take the time to photograph individual groupings of the cards that were received this time from the following SCS donors that went into this box:

- Janelle (jmeyers) she sent a 2nd huge box!!
- Wendy C (my personal friend)
- Renee C (my personal friend)
- Quynh T (my personal friend)
- Denise 
- Sally M (animallover) 
- Trish (mouseprints)
- Staci (misermom)
- Karen (simpleescrapper)
- Linda Durham 
- Lorraine (rainykay)
- Lori (mybugandi45)
- Barb (barbarlynn)
- Pat (Pat in Oh) 
- Jane (janiekay) 


Thank you Ladies for your generosity that makes my job as Hostess so easy and enjoyable! 

******************************************************

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE MISSION: To provide a community where children and their families embrace life and healing (from cancer) with a sense of hope, enthusiasm, courage and joy. 

Orange County Ronald McDonald House 

383 South Batavia Street

Orange, CA 92868

Ronald McDonald Family Room  at  Children's Hospital Orange County  (CHOC)

455 S Main Street 
6th Floor

Orange, CA 92868

2015 Donations to Other National RMH Locations = 118 Cards
2015 Cards Collected for Donation to Pasadena RMH = 175

2015 Cards Collected for Donation to Long Beach RMH = 160

2015 Cards Collected for Donation to Orange County RMH = 250

2015 Cards Collected for Donation to Children's Hospital Orange County (CHOC) = 50

I have chosen to adopt these various Southern California locations around the Greater Los Angeles areas to donate cards that I create and collect from friends.  So far, that's a whopping 635 cards collected and dropped off, not to mention the 118 cards I've sent to other RMH Hostesses Nationwide.  My next RMH location for donation will be the one closest to me in Hollywood, CA. 

SEEKING THESE CARD THEMES:  Anything other than religious, make them uplifting, thinking of you, children themes, etc.  Cards with no sentiments are perfectly acceptable too. Examples of themes: Welcome Baby Card / Wedding / Sympathy Card / Birthday / Thinking of You/ Thank you / Missing you. 

WANT TO DONATE:  Please leave a comment here with your email, and I'll reply to you with my home address.  

By forwarding to me or any of our other monthly hostesses throughout the US, you'll allow our group of ladies over at the SCS community to tally the number of cards donated and lives impacted.  Check out our Call for Cards here. 

 DETAILS:
1. Cards need to use good quality cardstock- HEAVY WEIGHT--- (so the card can stand alone) and include a minimum of two layers and one embellishment.  

2. IF you use colorful / dark cardstock—please line the inside of the card with either white or vanilla paper so the guests can write in them using black/blue pen.

3. If you place a sentiment inside—repeat the sentiment and place on copy paper so that it can be added inside the back of the sleeve-so the individual can see if there is a “saying” on the inside or it is “blank” 

4. If you would like to include envelopes and sleeves it would be greatly appreciated - sleeve IS NOT necessary.  What's a sleeve?  Click here for example. 

Nevertheless, I'll be preparing each card by inserting them and a matching envelopes inside individual clear A2 sized sealable envelopes in to keep the card clean and in pristine shape to allow the RMH recipients to handle and make their selection. 

                        ******************************************************
   

I'd love it if you'd like to donate some of your cards to this cause.   Please contact me for my mailing address! 

Thank you for visiting!! 

SCS March 2016 Virtual Stamp Night Event "Brighten The Grey" Challenge MAR16VSNH #StampinUp #Upsydaisy

Plugging away at those challenges over at SCS's current "Here Comes the Sun" Virtual Stamp Night Event. Hostess Sabrina (cook22) is calling for cards to "Brighten The Grey." The rule for all the challenges is to complete the card in 1 hour or less - eek! 

Here's my entry for Sabrina's MAR16VSNH Challenge:

I've just recently received Upsy Daisy.  It's one of those classic SU sets in my mind which I didn't purchase at the time it was out, but glad I have my hands on it now.

Double stamped it for a quick clean silhouette of flowers in Going Grey and Yo Yo Yellow using my trusty ole' Stamp-a-ma-jig from SU - yep, I'm probably one of the last Misti holdouts!  The card is much brighter and cleaner in real life, my photo dulls it for some reason.

But this card came together quickly with simple matting and a few quick gems/ribbon for accents.

Challenge #3 out of 14 Done!

Thanks for visiting!


 


"You're On My Mind" Card
Paper: Bo Bunny; Misc Handmade Paper; Yellow CS
Stamps: SU Upsy Daisy
Ink: SU Yo Yo Yellow; SU Going Gray
Embellishments: SU Stamp-a-ma-jig; MFT Die-namics Fishtail Flags STAX ; Kaiser Rhinestones; May Arts Ribbon 
Size: 4.25" x 6.5" rectangular 

SCS March 2016 Virtual Stamp Night Event "Round and Round" Challenge MAR16VSNH #StampinUp #FifthAvenueFlorals

It's that time again for another 2 day Virtual Stamp Night Event at SCS this past weekend. There are a whopping total of 14 challenges with the ongoing theme of "Here Comes The Sun." Hmm, the hostesses and event planners must not live in So Cal?  It's been sunny and actually hot this past week. This one is for Hostess Melody's (lacyquilter) "Round and Round" Challenge.

I pulled out the already completed circle cut and matted Basic Grey Sultry pp card base from years ago when I was working on this DT project in 2008.  Yes, I'm a hoarder and save everything since I might need it or could use it one day, right?  I had tossed it to the side because my hand cut scallops along the outside circle border didn't neatly match up at the end with the beginning.  So I salvaged the base, because I still so love Basic Grey, by adhering various watercolored blooms from the SU Fifth Avenue Florals set to hide my oopsie.

I so enjoy SCS's VSN events because it really forces me to dig into my stash and crack up supplies that have never seen the light of day.  This Fifth Avenue Florals just screams so New York and Kate Spade to me, and it was one that I had coveted for so long, so I was so happy to finally own it even after it was long retired.  This is one of those sets I'm going to resolve to use at least 5 times because I've had it for like a year already!  So, four more projects to come.

2 Challenges out of 14 Done!



 


"You Only Live Once" Card
Paper: Canson 140lb Watercolor Paper; Basic Grey Sultry
Stamps: SU Fifth Avenue Florals
Ink: Canson Angora Water Colors; Stampendous White Opaque EP; Clearsnap Vivid Sienna 
Embellishments: Michaels $1 Bin Heart Shaped Color Dot; Niji Water Barrel Brush; Martha Stewart Circle Cutter; Scalloped Decorative Scissors
Size: 6" x 6" Round 

SCS Mystery Image Swap - March 2016 MFT Birdie Brown "You are Super"

Super Girl says You're a Super Friend! I've always loved this Super Girl image from My Favorite Things.  It's been on my wish list forever.

This month in March, Joanna (Queenbee Jo) over at SCS sent us all this darling stamped girl, accessories and sentiments from the "You are Super" set to play with.  She even sent along two different cityscape skyline dies for us to use.

So here's my Super Girl card with shiny don't hate her because she's beautiful hair, super girl shield and word bubble sentiment! Had to throw in some red glitter a la easy glitter tape.

I'm not really sure why I went with the patriotic theme in my background patterned paper selection. Maybe I was thinking of Captain America when I was coloring in that shield?

I've been watching new coloring tutorials and applied some of what I could remember.  I've never used a hint of Copics B00 before and I love the way her hair came out.  With this close up, you can see I messed up with color bleeding outside the lines on the bottom right dress area.  Now you see why she ended up with a shield? tee hee!

Here are the Copics I used for her hair and skin color.  I busted out Y17 for once for all the yellow you see. 

But I really don't have any primary blues or reds. So I ended up reaching for my SU Watercolor Pencils set to finish her Super Girl costume. I also added a pop of white sharpie marker pen work on her boots. 

Because the sentiment Joanna sent along was stamped with plenty of space in between each of the words, I decided to carefully die cut the phrase "Super Friend" as you can see below.  Usually, this type of precision aligning would require a lot of praying for it to work out because I'm too cheap to waste my non existent washi tape stash by using a few pieces to tape the metal die in place.

I remembered to pack my new magnetic platform I just received from Joann's during their most recent online 50% off sale. Oh my gosh, this was so worth the splurge!! It worked like a charm with success on the first try! Saving so much time since additional attempts with limited supplies were not necessary.

I forgot how much joy new crafting toys can bring.  Thank you Joanna for the opportunity to play with this adorable little Super Girl.  And I hope Kelly likes it as this is on it's way to her on Monday as part of our rotating mail out schedule for the Mystery Image Swap.

SCS is hosting their "Here Comes the Sun" themed Virtual Stamp Night this weekend, so I'm submitting this one for Hostess Carla's (Covington Crafter) "Give Me A Head With Hair" Challenge MAR16VSNK since I made it a point to try a different hair coloring approach this time.

Challenge #1 of 14 - done!


Thanks for visiting!

"Super Friend" You are Super Card
Paper: Cryogen White #89; ? PP
Stamps: MFT Birdie Brown "You are Super"
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black; Copics (Hair) B00, N1, C5. C7, C9; (Skin) E00, E51, YR21, R 20; Super Girl Outfit - SU Watercolor Pencisl & Wink of Stella Gold 
Tools: SU Word Bubbles Framelit Die; Memory Box Cityscape Silhouette Border Die; Creative Memories Star Punch
Embellishments: American Crafts Best Creations Red Glitter Tape
Size: 5.75" x 5" rectangular 

An Asian inspired SU Manhattan Flowers

I'm still tinkering away with my 2015 new year's crafting resolutions since my crafty goals of things to dry and accomplish are still the same.

One of those goals is to create at least 5 different projects with the same stamp set.  In this case, it's the embossing folder.

I love these flowers on the SU Manhattan EF and I really do need to pull out the coordinating stamp set to do something with it.  I saw this black and white card on Pinterest and thought to scraplift it.  In my head, I envisioned deeply impressed embossed lines on rustic kraft cardstock which would make the subtle pastel Japanese origami papers pop through the strategic and random flower petal cut outs.

But the embossing details just isn't as crisp and as sharply impressed into the cheap Recollections ready cut cardstock.  So to me, this design kinda falls flat.

I tried to oomph it up by double matting it on gold metallic and textured teal bazzil cardstock but to no avail.  Also feel like if I put a sentiment on it, it'd overwhelm the already blah colors and/or crowd the limited space of the card.

Oh well, I'm calling it done.  Not everything is a master piece.  Maybe, I'll just outright copy Mel's card design to the tee one day.

So I've used my new to me EF, that I bought on SCS a few years ago, twice now. lol.  3 more attempts to go per the plan.


 

Japanese Manhattan Flower Card
Paper: Recollections Kraft Cardstock; Kurasawa Origami Paper; Misc Metallic CS; Bazzil CS
Embellishments:  SU Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular

"Butterfly Silk" A Special Wish Card

I'm losing steam due to having limited supplies on me.  Unfortunately, my scrap items in storage aren't convenient for me to access often, yet buying more just doesn't seem prudent. I just can't do it because I know how much I have in storage. Sigh!

I don't do well planning ahead, but in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, I'm going to have to schedule a good chunk of time to access my storage soon to exchange/grab new scrap supplies in order to keep feeding my creative mojo.

Upon seeing this new week's Featured Stamper was Rokale and her Asian Lady card in her gallery, it motivated me tonight to make do with one of the extra images that Imke sent me for the January Mystery Image Swap. This was my first attempt at coloring, but didn't like the lack of blending of her kimono or the way I colored the sleeves.  So I used my 2nd coloring attempt for that final card.

I had to find a work around not having enough white clean space on the cardstock Madame Butterfly was stamped on, so I ended up attaching the left over greeting that also came from Imke on the top left corner to hide my practice marker strokes.

The gold cording...sigh, I have reels of it in my storage.  Today, while at a family baby shower, I salvaged this small piece of gold cording from a gift wrapping discard, lol, and repurposed it for this card.

Yep, slim pickings are what I'm resorting to.  But I got one done for SCS FS473 Challenge.

 


"Butterfly Silk" A Special Wish Card
Paper: Kurasawa Origami Paper; Bazzil Brown CS
Stamps: Crafter's Companion "Butterfly Silk"
Ink: Copics (Hair)C5. C7, C9; (Skin) E51, YR21, RV 23; (Kimono) YR09, R46; Wink of Stella Gold 
Embellishments: Gold Cording; Fancy Pants Resin Flowers "Holiday Hues"
Size: 5.75" x 5" rectangular