Good morning! These days I'm usually SOOO busy keeping up with all my Design Team work, that I rarely have a chance to play along with challenges. In my early days of cardmaking I LOVED joining challenges - they helped grow me in my cardmaking in so many ways! So I kind of have a special place in my heart for them. Recently, however, I saw a challenge that I knew I needed to play along with!
Neat and Tangled is hosting a "Crafting with Compassion" Challenge - a challenge all about helping others. It's a chance to combine cardmaking with supporting a charity or cause that is near and dear to your heart. If you know me, you know why I couldn't resist playing along with this one!
I'm going to tell you a little bit about an AMAZING ministry called Sister Connection. It is a SUPER long story - so I'll keep it a bit brief (you can always read more HERE if you're interested). If you've ever wondered about my blog name, Houses Built of Cards, here is how my blog got it's name:
When I began making cards several years ago (before I started my blog), I quickly started to see cards piling up more quickly than I could use or send them. I went to one craft fair, and paid more for my table than I sold in the day. About this time, a woman from Sister Connection came to our church, and told stories of the women and children in Burundi, Africa that had been left widows and orphans in the aftermath of the civil war there that killed an enormous number of the men in the country. Many of the widows had taken in additional children, and were also homeless. There were opportunities to sponsor the widows and their families on a monthly basis (which we did) - as well as chances to build homes for them at the staggeringly low price of $500 (over the years this has increased to $650 - but still, WOW!). My young daughters were particularly taken with the stories they heard, and it wasn't long until the idea hit me to sell my cards by donation toward building houses in Burundi. And just like that, when I started my blog, the name was born! It has been an incredibly humbling and amazing thing to watch how God has used this ministry - seriously! I haven't kept a complete count - I know the early years were a little slow starting. But by 2016 I was able to send in money in one year to build 4 homes - and this year I have already received enough from the purchase of my cards for THREE homes! I don't have words to say what an amazing blessing it is to be able to give in this small way.
Neat and Tangled is hosting a "Crafting with Compassion" Challenge - a challenge all about helping others. It's a chance to combine cardmaking with supporting a charity or cause that is near and dear to your heart. If you know me, you know why I couldn't resist playing along with this one!
I'm going to tell you a little bit about an AMAZING ministry called Sister Connection. It is a SUPER long story - so I'll keep it a bit brief (you can always read more HERE if you're interested). If you've ever wondered about my blog name, Houses Built of Cards, here is how my blog got it's name:
When I began making cards several years ago (before I started my blog), I quickly started to see cards piling up more quickly than I could use or send them. I went to one craft fair, and paid more for my table than I sold in the day. About this time, a woman from Sister Connection came to our church, and told stories of the women and children in Burundi, Africa that had been left widows and orphans in the aftermath of the civil war there that killed an enormous number of the men in the country. Many of the widows had taken in additional children, and were also homeless. There were opportunities to sponsor the widows and their families on a monthly basis (which we did) - as well as chances to build homes for them at the staggeringly low price of $500 (over the years this has increased to $650 - but still, WOW!). My young daughters were particularly taken with the stories they heard, and it wasn't long until the idea hit me to sell my cards by donation toward building houses in Burundi. And just like that, when I started my blog, the name was born! It has been an incredibly humbling and amazing thing to watch how God has used this ministry - seriously! I haven't kept a complete count - I know the early years were a little slow starting. But by 2016 I was able to send in money in one year to build 4 homes - and this year I have already received enough from the purchase of my cards for THREE homes! I don't have words to say what an amazing blessing it is to be able to give in this small way.
You can find all the info on the challenge HERE on the Neat and Tangled Blog:
For my card to share for the challenge, I used a mix of MANY different Neat and Tangled Sets! I started off with two colors of Distress Oxide ink and the Hexastar Stencil to create a background.
I then stamped, colored, and die cut images from Wild Ones and Lumberjack Love to create my scene, mounting it all with foam adhesive. I added a sentiment using a combination of Itty Bitty Welcoming Committee and Wild Ones.
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