Missing You - Honoring the Hundreds of Native American Women who go Missing Every Year & Blog Candy

Coffee/Tea of the Day - Salted Caramel

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the Women's March. I was privileged to join with over a million of my sisters and brothers in solidarity for so very many important causes in Washington DC at that first march two years ago. I would love to be able to march again this year, but my health prevents me. as of a few days ago, I really wanted to, but it's hard enough for me to get up and down my stairs right now, much less walk a few miles.

Yesterday was the very first march of Indigenous People in DC. oh, how I wanted to be there for that, too. so many things trouble our native people right now - their sacred lands are being destroyed by oil & gas pipelines, their beautiful women disappear at alarming rates, basic health care and housing is lacking, and yet they are some of the most peaceful, kind, loving people I have ever had the honor to meet. I have learned so much from the time I have spent in their presence. to say my life has changed would be an understatement.

so when I attended the very first Women's March, I carried a sign on behalf of our Native People. (I actually have the water vessel from that poster tattooed on my arm now!)  I planned to do the same today. But since I couldn't attend the march, I thought to make a card honoring the women who disappear each year.  it's a very serious problem here in the US and in Canada. a new bill has been put through Congress called "Savanna's Act," which honors a young woman brutally murdered about a year and a half ago. David and I met her family at the Standing Rock healing ceremony just after she was murdered.

I embossed a panel of watercolor paper with the bg stamp from the Dare 2B Artzy set "Feathers." using WOW Perissa powder. the same bg stamp was stamped directly onto the card base and embossed with WOW Primary Goose powder. the feathers were stamped onto both watercolor paper and recycled cs and embossed using the WOW Perissa powder. feathers were then fussy cut and watercolored with various shades of SU! ink. I wanted to give everything the look of ombre, but also feminine and a sunrise over the prairie.

flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, pretty little crystals are by Prima, ribbons & trims are from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and ticket & vintage button are from my stash. "Miss You" sentiment was stamped with an alphabet set. tag was cut from the same recycled cs as the feather. a real feather was added to the bundle. (it's a found treasure! no birds were harmed in collecting it!)

I now have the blog candy ready for all of you who follow my little blog. :)

the candy will run through Sunday, January 27. I will announce the winner here on Monday, January 28. this will allow enough time to mail the candy to the winner before Valentine's Day.

*please leave a comment asking to be entered. . this is open to followers from all around the world! :)

some of the items included in the prize:

• House Mouse 'Shower of Love' stamp
• Unity Itty Bitty 'You Melt My Heart' stamp
• Treasured Times 'Baby Doll in the Garden' stamp
• SSS 'Hot Mama' dye ink
• assortment of Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbons
• flower shaped eyelets
• My Mind's Eye chipboard tags
• Crate Paper hearts & lips puff stickers
• Doodlebug Designs tiny hearts stickers
• adhesive mini pearls
• Valentine themed sequin mix
• more little goodies, some not pictured here :)

the blog candy is for anyone who is a follower or would like to follow my blog. if you follow by email or some other method, please be sure to let me know in the comments. I am offering this as a way to say thank you for those of you who offered your kindness while I was not around due to my illness. it really does mean a lot! :)

even though I only have one physical prize to give away, those of you who have been involved in my blog candy giveaways in the past know that I often will surprise a few of those entered with gift certificates to digital stamp companies. so be sure and get your name in the drawing! :)

Thank you for reading about a cause and people that are so very dear to my heart! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! :)

Challenges:
Crafting With Friends - anything goes
Simply Create Too - anything goes
Crafting With an Attitude - anything goes
Just Add Ink - something new (Prima crystal dots)
Crafty Creations - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes

It's a Joy to Celebrate YOU! :)

Coffee/Tea of the Day - Coconut Hazelnut coffee

Today's card is one that is very special to me because of who and what it represents. I don't talk much about my activism here on my blog, but today across the United States there are marches and rallies to stand in support of the families who have been torn apart because of the Immigration ban, ICE, and border patrol. The event is called "Families Belong Together."   #FamiliesBelongTogether

Normally I would be right there marching in support of these families, but my health problems keep me at home. In the past I have marched for DACA, in support of the repeal of the Immigration ban, and anything else that keeps us from being a nation of togetherness and compassion. I am so sad that I can not be in downtown Cleveland today showing my solidarity with my brothers and sisters of all colors and nationalities. We are so much better together! :)

So the best I could do was to make this card to share with everyone. I understand that ICE targets people of ALL colors. sadly, they seem to be going after the Hispanic population more frequently, at least here in this area of Ohio. I hear more and more stories of raids and people being detained. my heart breaks for these poor souls. families are being torn apart. people are dying. that is not who we as a nation are. that is not what God calls us to be. and children are being torn away from their parents. we have friends that disappeared overnight. we can only pray that they are safe. oh my gosh, I am crying as I type this.

but we must have hope. we  must do better.
and so with my poor health I can make a card. it isn't much, but this I can do.

so I used one of the images from my precious friend, Mo Manning, called "Rosa." she is dancing with joy. because no matter what terrible things life may bring our way, we can never let someone else steal our joy. :)

Mo's sister has created some beautiful artwork that for the march. I have been allowed to link to the post on her Instagram account. if you have an account, please stop by and leave her some love. :) it's a powerful poster.

and I paired it with a sentiment from another dear friend, Paulette of Create with TLC. in our darkest moments, we can celebrate the blessings God continues to provide every single day. :) and I choose to celebrate YOU and those beautiful, wonderful, amazing people who might be locked in those dark, terrible interment camps, but we are here praying for them. we are here standing together letting other people know that they are not alone. we are here saying that they are welcome here and we want them here. we are here saying to those beautiful people that they are loved and they matter. because every one of us is precious in the sight of our God. no immigration ban can diminish  a person in His sight.

so now that I have gone on and on, I will leave you.
if you want details about my card, just leave a message in the comments. I'll send you an email. :)

today is the last day of my birthday blog candy, so pop over here to enter. :)

much love to YOU, because YOU matter to me. :)
Jennifer

Challenges:
Crafty Catz - anything goes w/embossing option
Little Miss Muffet - anything goes
Crafty Creations - anything goes
Path of Positivity - anything goes w/neutrals option
Colour Crazy Craft - anything goes
Catch the Bug - Make it Bright: kraft cs and a pop of bright color
Crafty Sentiments - anything goes
House That Stamps Built - anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner - anything goes
Retarte - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Dream Valley - all things bright and beautiful

Happy Anniversary, Women's March!

Coffee of the Day - Maple Nut

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the single largest protest in world history, with over 5 million people participating worldwide. The Women's March brought together people of all races, all socio-economic levels, for so many crucial causes, to let their voices be heard.

I am honored to have been at the march in Washington DC. This weekend marches will once again take place all around our globe, focusing on important issues such as #metoo, #NoBanNoWall, DACA and the clean Dream act, ever important racial equality, gender pay disparity, and LGBT rights, just to name a few.

Sadly I have to work this weekend, so I am unable to march. But I will be wearing my t-shirt from the march last year to show my solidarity with all of my sisters and brothers who are taking to the streets.

I think of all that has happened in this past year, the changes our country has been through. It's been difficult, but we have seen a beautiful voice emerge of courageous souls speaking out and stepping out for the first time. I truly believe that we will collectively come to find that peace and love will prevail. Respect for others and compassion for our fellow neighbors, ALL neighbors, will win out over hate and fear. We will join together hand in hand. One day... Oh yes, one day... :)

Fun Blog Collaboration with Debra and Celeste! Science Themed Projects

Winner at House Mouse & Friends

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

Today I am part of a fun collaboration with 2 great ladies, Debra and Celeste! and guess, what? they love coffee, too! :)

One of the things these lovely ladies do is show photos off their coffee cups. Well, today's cup is in honor of our son, Ryan. these next 3 weeks are going to be a whirlwind here in our family. all 3 of our sons are graduating from college!!!  in just a few short days, Ryan graduates from Indiana Wesleyan University, so today I am drinking from this great mug he gave me. I usually drink my veggie juice from it because he absolutely hates vegetables. :) it makes me giggle every time to think of him cringing in horror that I would dare drink my kale and cucumber juice out of his IWU mug! yeah, I am sassy that way! but today it is filled to the top with coffee. Moon Pie would normally be in the photo, but he and Palmer are off playing right now. :)

here is last week's photo of him with my normal coffee cup. you can see there is a wee bit of a size difference in the mugs! ha!

Since I am the guestie of the month, I was allowed to choose the theme. With yesterday being Earth Day as well as the March for Science, I decided to use that as our theme. we are going to "Geek it for the World!" truly, science is all around us and impacts absolutely every single part of our lives. I had high hopes of being part of the March for Science, but a nasty case of pneumonia has had me sidelined for more time than I care to count. thankfully I was able to get my card finished in time to post though. again, thank goodness for science, this time medical science and the medications that have kept me from the hospital!!!

for my card, I decided to use my adorable House Mouse stamps and create a card that focuses on sustainable farming. In the past 9 months or so, we have gone from giving up all beef to eating an almost completely plant based diet. we stay away from all palm oil products as well as soy based items whenever possible. our food choices can make such a difference in helping leave less of a carbon foot print.

Papers are from the Basic Grey Hillside collection, bg die is by Tim Holtz, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and seam binding (which I distressed) is from Zipper Stop.  vintage buttons and ticket are from my craft stash.

if you look closely, the bg paper looks a little like the wind turbines you periodically see. as we drive out to visit Ryan in Indiana, we pass a huge wind farm. we always know that he is about 2 hours away at that point. wouldn't it be wonderful to see more and more wind turbines everywhere?

Netflix has some wonderful documentaries on sustainable farming as well as the impact of animals as a food source and their effect on our planet. I recommend "Sustainable", "Forks over Knives", and National Geographic's "Before the Flood" to start.

Thank you so much to Debra and Celeste for inviting me to be a part of their fun collaboration this month! I had a great time making my card! :) please be sure to stop by their blogs to say hello! :)

Challenges:
House Mouse Lovers - Stop and Smell the Flowers or anything goes

The Ides of Trump

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

We live in a democratic society that allows us, at least as of this writing, many freedoms. I believe some of those are in jeopardy and have taken a call of activism recently. If I am truly honest with myself, I have been an activist from the first moment I saw the 'The Crying Indian' commercial from the early 70's and insisted my dad buy me the lunchbox with the recycling symbol on it when it was first released. yep, I go that far back with my hippie ways. ;)

Today marks a unique day that is being called 'The Ides of Trump.' the idea is to flood The White House with post cards letting our current president know of our opposition to his cabinet and policies of hate and destruction. Ideally, everyone is to be respectful. of course there will always be people who don't follow the rules. that happens with any event or group.

As important as the environment is to me, as well as human rights, I could not let this day go by without expressing my concerns and opinions. My plan is to have a post card for each day he has been in office. I am using the wonderful new Wonder Woman stamps, too.  :)

Mary Engelbreit has so graciously offered for free 2 lovely post card designs on her website. You can see them in the above photo on the top row, middle.

As one of my post cards reads, "Mr. Trump, You've turned me into an activist." he has actually just caused me to pick up the protest signs and get out onto the streets to speak up for all of the causes that need speaking up for. We must stand together.

Our animals are being killed, our water and food are being poisoned, people are not only being brutalized, but killed as well, our planet is being destroyed for the sake of greed. I can not sit by and watch it go on and not do anything.

sure, they are just post cards. but someone will look at them. perhaps it is the person at the post office. maybe it is one of the aids working in The White House. maybe it is the person who takes out the trash. but I believe in my heart that at least one of these cards will be seen by someone who will see it and think for even one second about what is written on it. and the seed will be planted.

no, this man sitting in The White House does not represent me or my ideas. not that all of them have. but THIS man is quickly destroying everything that keeps our hold on humanity - love and compassion. so I will not sit silent.


editing to add a photo of more cards I am mailing for a total of 62. a mix of these plus some from the picture I posted earlier.

I was very sad to hear that not only has a town near to us put up signs on telephone and electric poles welcoming ICE agents, but signs are also appearing on college campuses listing phone numbers for people to call to report immigrants as their 'white duty.' sorry, but NO. just NO. strengthened my resolve to get more post cards sent out today.