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!
Those polar bears are so snugly and cute! I love the frame of flowers around them! Beautiful card!
All those flowers are some serious dedication! 😍😍😍 Your big baby bear sounds like a wonderful kiddo!!!
Gorgeous card! Love those bears and the beautiful florals!
I have never seen flowers with polar bears. Can’t get any sweeter than that!
LLL
Perfect choice to go with your charity. How fortunate your son is to have you for a mom!
A polar bear…such a cute creature of God..thanx!!
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 🙂
Sweet card. Love it. Thanks for sharing.
A great blog hop with many worthy causes.
Such a sweet card. Thanks for sharing.
A great blog hop with many worthy causes.
Sorry, didn’t mean to post twice.
I am totally in love with this card. Polar bears are my weakness they melt my heart. I’ve actually adopted a pola bear and a dolphin before. Great charity
Beautiful card!! Blue is my favorite color!! Awesome lesson for your kids!
Thank you for participating in the charity blog hop! Such a cute card!
Love your sweet card. The flowery blue background is beautiful.
What a wonderful idea for a blog hop! Love the card.
Beautiful! I love the bold color of the background and framing elements.
Very cute card. I like how the flowers add dimension on the sides. Thanks for a nice hop and for the chance to win!
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!
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!!
Love how you surrounded the bears with flowers. Great card.
Love this card! And I love that you adopted a polar bear..so important
Sweet card to go along with your charity choice.
Now this is gorgeous!
Thank you for participating in the charity blog hop!
Aw that’s cute! Love that you shared your views on child raising.
This is a seriously sweet card and love the idea of coloring the white edges!
Beautiful!
Such a sweet little scene – so adorable. Hugs,
Caryn xxx
Aww, so sweet! Love the polar bears!
Beautiful colors! My daughter gifted me with a polar bear adoption this holiday season 🙂
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. 😀
Your card is absolutely precious, Emily! The polar bears surrounded by all those beautifully colors flowers are amazing!
Your card is absolutely precious, Emily! The polars bears surrounded by all the beautifully colors flowers is amazing!
Your card is absolutely precious, Emily! The polar bears surrounded by all the beautifully colored flowers is amazing!
What a beautiful monochromatic card! Love the cute image.
Polar bears are my favorite and I just love how you used the blue and white color scheme.
great card and a great cause. Thanks for sharing both.
beautiful work 🙂
Love this card – such a sweet image and your coloring is fabulous!
Your card is so sweet!! Love it and this charity blog hop:)
What a precious card, for such an awesome charity! Well done!!!!
Precious image, great card! thanks for sharing and participating in the hop!
Your bears are so cute!
Love your story about your little son! How sweet. I love polar bears too! Cute card!
Ahhh, what a sweet card. Makes you feel hugged.
This is beautiful card! I really like the navy edging around your cut outs. I must remember that tip.
Very cute card!Thank you for the hop!
What a beautiful and sweet card!! Your little one sounds divine!! Thanks also for sharing the info on this charity! Julie L
Love this cause and this card! Thank you!
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. 🙂
Adorable card. Love how you chose the charity for your son!
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.
Awww . . . what an adorable card! That image is just so sweet!! and it sounds perfect to go along with your gift to your son!
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.
Very sweet.
What a gorgeous card! I’m sure your little guy will love the bears!
It’s a beautiful card and a great charity choice for your son.
Such a sweet card!
Great charity. Who doesn’t love polar bears.
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
Love the card! The WWF is a great charity!
Your card is just BEAUTIFUL. Great charity.
Great cause and darling card:)
Sweet card! Awesome coloring and I love the polar bears!
That is one of the absolute cutest stamps I have seen in a while! Your card is wonderful.
Adorable card. Love the polar bears and this charity! Thanks for the inspiration!
Love your card and what a wonderful idea ! This is a great opportunity for your readers to discover some new and worthy charities!
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 🙂
Oh how precious and sweet!!
Love your card.
Wow, I am liking finding out about all these charities and seeing the nice cards. I look forward to checking out all the blogs!
Your card is adorable! And thanks for sharing this charity – I love this gift idea!
Wow!!! This is such a wonderful idea!!! Love your adorable card! So cute!!!
Very cute card! I’ve donated to the WWF in the past.
This is so darling! I love this little polar bear! You are supporting an AMAZING organization too! Thanks for taking part in this hop!
Take care!
Michele
Aww–this is so sweet and I like all the flowers too.
It shows so much great love between mom and child.
Nice. thanks, Erica K.
So darling!
I think it is a completely normal thing to color the die cut edges. And it looks awesome.
Beautiful card! Thanks for sharing!
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
That is the perfect stamp set for so many thngs I want to make, hooray!
What a wonderful gift and a perfect charity!
Love all the elements
of this card! Beautifully
made and a great cause.
Carla from Utah
So CUTE!!!! I love the momma bar and all the blue flowers
sweet post and sweet card!
Lovely bear card thanks
Such a cute card…. I love your blog!!