Heart to Heart Card Drive & Prize!

I participated in the first Heart to Heart Card Drive in 2008 (see this post), but somehow missed the second one. (More info about the Drive below.) I am pleased to join in again this year. You can read in my post from 2 years ago a bit about my Grandma, who suffers from Alzheimers. Grandma celebrated her 96th Birthday this past Summer. Here is a recent picture of her and my youngest son (her great-grandchild) laughing together. It was a moment of pure joy for them and for us experiencing their laughter. Joshua was smiling at his Great-Grandma and kicking his feet. Grandma thought his little kicky feet were funny and started to laugh. Her laugh made Joshua laugh, which made Great-Grandma laugh even more - and so it went for several minutes.
My card is a CASE from the current SU Idea Book & Catalog, using the stamp set "Just Believe". I think the verse is a beautiful reminder of what Faith truly means. This is the faith our caregivers have when they work day after day with their patients. This is the Faith that upholds the truth that all life is sacred and a gift from God - from womb to tomb. I can't even imagine missing the moment of pure joy, a bit of Heaven for sure! But I would have, had the lives of Grandma and Joshua not been valued and respected, and had my parents not been Grandma's caregiver.

Paper-crafter and stamp designer Carolyn King is once again heading up her Heart to Heart Card Drive. Begun in 2008 in celebration of the life of her grandma, who had Alzheimers - Carolyn wanted to thank the wonderful caregivers of her grandmother, as well as recognize caregivers across the world. In doing so - Carolyn was also able to find HUGE numbers of prize sponsors for her Card Drive. And I DO MEAN HUGE! Check out the link above to see the over $1,000 worth of prizes that ONE extremely lucky person will win this weekend. There's still time to participate - so please go check it out! ENJOY!

Favorite Fall Memory Challenge

This is a design I submitted for a "Favorite Fall Memory Challenge" by GinaK Designs. I love everything about Fall - the colors, the crunching leaves, apples, pumpkins, extra baking, soups and warm breads, chili, cool air and warm sunshine....it is hard to narrow down a favorite memory!

Our small town is known for it's apple orchard - Jonamac Apple Orchard and Corn Maze. Every Fall- the kids and I visit the play area several times, usually meeting other friends there. We enjoy apple doughnuts, apple cider, fresh apples - and of course CARAMEL APPLES! Yum! For this design, I used retired SU! designer series paper Summer Picnic. Then added a glittery apple "core" - isn't it cute?

TIP: I created it using the Round Tab Punch out of Confetti White. Then I punched another one out of Real Red and used my Paper Snips to cut off just the top and bottom edges, and attached them to the Confetti White core. For the seeds, I punched the smallest flower in the Boho Flower Punch, and used my Paper Snips to cut out the seeds.

Trivia Tidbit: Did you know that the number of seeds in an apple core indicates the number of times a bee visited the apple blossom for that apple? We learned that on a homeschool field trip to Royal Oak Apple Orchard!

I chose the verse, "Each of us is God's special work of art." from the retired SU stamp set Words of Wisdom. Fall is a beautiful reminder of the truth of this statement - each apple, pumpkin and colored leaf - no two are ever alike - just like each of us, His human creation!
ENJOY!