It's the first of the month again, and with that comes another round of Papertrey's Senior Design Team Challenge. November is always associated with Thanksgiving and all of the reflections we have upon the blessings in our lives. For this month's challenge, I wanted the designers to find a way to use their stamping, their passion, their hobby, to help bring blessings to others. They all found many worthwhile causes and have provided you with all of the information to do the same.
I urge you to visit each of their blogs today and establish which cause speaks to you heart. And make plans TODAY to follow through with your own contributions. If you are anything like me, you make so many cards that never get mailed. Take this opportunity to clean out your stash or even mass produce one of the designs you see today. Regardless, capture this moment of inspiration while it's hot, and reach out to those who could use some reassuring words. Or as my friend Valerie Pingree has said in the past,
"Share a hug with a fold in the middle."
The charity I decided to spotlight is probably an area that you may not have explored before, or known where to turn to help. And that is the elderly, especially those that are homebound. I found a wonderful organization that has established an ongoing program that keeps these sometimes forgotten citizens involved in the community. Each month, DOROT mails over 200 handmade birthday cards to isolated
and frail seniors in the greater New York metropolitan area. Their cards are created by people of all ages, from
4-90! You can make birthday cards at home and mail your final creations
tucked in a blank envelope directly to DOROT. DOROT then addresses cards and mails them to seniors.
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You can read all of the details about where to send your cards and technical suggestions for readability of your creations here
-----> DOROT Cardmaking Project
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I thought I would share what my latest packet of donations included. I made a batch of five of these cards. I was careful to choose a color scheme that would be appropriate for either a male or a female. I thought the sentiment from Quilter's Sampler was perfect as well:
"Birthdays are like quilts,
stitched together one year at a time."
Another detail I wanted to point out was that the quilt block images look fantastic in a set of three on the envelope flaps. Papertrey envelopes have a square flap which works well with framing the images out.
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The quilt blocks are from the new Quilter's Sampler Additions set. I just love all the new blocks and have really enjoyed playing with them! In case you didn't catch it on the website, did you notice the quilt block reference chart that we created for you as a companion to this set? I really like using it to make fun choices that might have names that go along with the theme of my project. And just in case this is the first time you've seen this set, all the quilt blocks contained in both sets coordinate perfectly with a 3/4" square punch, making it super easy to utilize the set.
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I hope that you decide to join all of us on the team in meeting this challenge. If you do, please feel free to link in the comments section and let us know what you decide to do! Pass it on!
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Stamps: Quilter's Sampler & Quilter's Sampler Additions
Ink: Dark Chocolate Palette, frayed burlap distress & white pigment
Paper: Classic Kraft, Ripe Avocado & Stamper's Select White
Other: Summer Sunrise twill tape, Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, sewing machine (without thread), 3/4" square punch EK Success, foam dimensionals, Copic markers
