Sixth Street Sundries

Emily Midgett

Charity Blog Hop!

Good morning! Happy Saturday. 🙂 I’m here today to take part in a wonderfully fun and unique blog hop with some spectacularly talented crafters. You should have arrived here from Julia Stainton’s blog. Sandy Allnock, one of those wonderfully gifted crafters with whom you’re probably already familiar, came up with the crazy creative concept of a Charity Blog Hop. Basically, the idea is to give the gift of a donation to charity. Many charities offer little “thank you” gifts for people who donate a certain amount… Kind of like those incredibly annoying-but-incredibly-important PBS telethons, where people call in and pledge to donate so much money, and in return they get a “thank you” in the form of a CD or DVD or book, etc, etc. I know that, as a parent, my kids’ birthday and Christmas are so much fun, but at the same time it’s kind of a challenge because where are we going to put all of the new toys?!?! With that in mind, I’ve been trying to give more experiential gifts, as opposed to just stuff. This hop provides a myriad of wonderful alternatives to just giving stuff, and the main benefit is that your donations help wonderful causes, too.

I have always dreamed of having empathetic children. Empathetic to others, empathetic to animals, and kind to themselves. I want to instill in them that there is no shame in being kind to all living beings on this earth, and there is no shame in being aware of their affect on others. I am a little (a lot) scared of what kind of world they’re going to grow up in, but I’m going to do my best to give them as much love as possible, and try to teach them to love and respect others (both human and animal). I wanted to choose a charity for animals, because my little boy loves all animals. Seriously, all of them. He even gets excited about the termite episode of Wild Kratts. (Insert grossed-out emoji face here!!!) I call him my baby bear (he’s always had the biggest hands, even as a tiny 5.5 lb baby! Big bear paws.), so I chose to “adopt” a polar bear from the World Wildlife Fund. For $55, I received a certificate, a beautiful photo of a polar bear cub, a reusable shopping bag, and an absolutely precious polar bear stuffed animal. (Seriously, I want to keep the stuffed animal for myself.) After I saw this momma and polar bear image from Big Hugs by Winnie and Walter, I knew I had to use it on a card to go with my  adopted polar bear.

I started by stamping the adorable polar bear pair onto some Canson Montval watercolor paper with Versafine, heat embossing it in clear, and cutting it out. I wanted it to be fairly obvious that it was a momma polar bear, so I added a few little eyelashes on the big bear. 😉 I watercolored it with my Zig Clean Color markers and a damp paintbrush.

I knew I wanted some kind of floral wreath or frame around my little snuggly duo, so I die cut and stamped about a bajillion of the sweet flowers from Avery Elle’s Banner and Wreath set. I watercolored them with my Zigs, as well, in shades of icy blue and lavender. I used the banner included in that set for my sentiment… “all my love.” Totally appropriate for my bubby.  Now, I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I haaaate when I have a bunch of stamped die cuts with the little white edge. When those get clustered together on a dark background, something about that little white edge really irritates me. So, yes, being the crazy person that I am, I colored the edge of all of my die cuts navy blue. I’m nutty. But it makes such a difference, to me anyway. 🙂

After I had die cut and colored all of my images, I turned to the background. I knew I wanted something kind of simple, but ethereal, with icy blues. I die cut a pretty scalloped rectangle, taped around the edges, and used my ink blending tool to blend Navy, Pool, and Cornflower inks from Hero Arts in a rectangle. After I removed the masking tape, I arranged my bears, banner, and florals using a variety of liquid adhesive and dimensional adhesive.

I mounted everything to an icy blue card base. (This picture shows the adorable bear. Seriously. So fluffy. I want.)

Now, Sandy has rounded up some wonderful prizes for this hop!

Altenew, Lawn Fawn, Ellen Hutson, and My Favorite Things have all generously donated gift certificates to be given to randomly selected comments along the hop. The more comments you leave=the more chances you have to win, so be sure to leave everybody some love!

Well, thank you so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying this truly unique hop, and I hope it inspires you to do some charitable gift-giving of your own! For the full list of participants in today’s hop, please go back to Sandy Allnock’s post here. You should have arrived from Julia Stainton, and your next stop is Taheerah Atchia.

Have a stupendous weekend, my friends!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Those polar bears are so snugly and cute! I love the frame of flowers around them! Beautiful card!

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  7. I love your card, so sweet. I love the extra lashes and I am so happy that I got to see your zig’s in action. Great charity and it sounds like your child is going to be everything you want him to be and that is so awesome! God Bless and thank you so much 🙂

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  16. Very cute card. I like how the flowers add dimension on the sides. Thanks for a nice hop and for the chance to win!

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  17. What a fabulous idea for a hop. I love your dream for your children, too…we share similar dreams. 🙂 Your card is darling and beautiful and sweet all at the same time! The little lashes were the perfect addition. You’re always an inspiration!

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  18. This card is so sweet!! I love the mama and baby polar bear and the fun little flowers that you have them tucked into. Beautiful design!!

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  30. I have a 4.5 year old, we’ve been talking a lot about empathy lately, I absolutely understand your goals in the raising of your children, I too am scared of the world they are entering. My weapon is how I teach them to be caring and strong.

    I love your card, it really captures a mother taking care of her baby. 😀

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  45. This is beautiful card! I really like the navy edging around your cut outs. I must remember that tip.

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  47. What a beautiful and sweet card!! Your little one sounds divine!! Thanks also for sharing the info on this charity! Julie L

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  49. Emily! I love this. It’s just perfection. And polar bears are so amazing. They’re one of my favorite animals to see in person. Which is hard to do, since I don’t zoo anymore. Ha. 🙂

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  51. If I could, I would snuggle with those precious polar bears. I am glad you chose to support the Polar Bears. The ice is melting and they are suffering. Your card is adorable and your choice of colors so reflects the north ice and cold. Thank your for sharing your beautiful card.

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  53. Who knew you could adopt a polar bear! I love the pair on your card and especially love that you put eyelashes on the mama. My grandkids love love love animals and live on a small farm. I think if you want to have empathetic children that teaching them to care for animals is a good start.

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  59. What a wonderful idea for a blog. I have been inspired by all of you to donate to our local food bank. Thank you for the inspiration

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  66. Love your card and what a wonderful idea ! This is a great opportunity for your readers to discover some new and worthy charities!

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  67. This card is seriously gorgeous!! Thanks so much for sharing! And every Christmas my mom gets me a stuffed animal from the WWF, it’s been a lovely charity tradition! I’m sure your son will love it 🙂

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  70. Wow, I am liking finding out about all these charities and seeing the nice cards. I look forward to checking out all the blogs!

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  80. Haha I am the same way about the white border! Great idea coloring around the images, or looks great! What a sweet card for your sweet boy <3

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  81. That is the perfect stamp set for so many thngs I want to make, hooray!

    What a wonderful gift and a perfect charity!

    Reply

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