Saturday, December 31, 2016

2017 Seasons Giving Blog Hop



Happy New Year, welcome 2017 & welcome to the 5th annual Seasons Givings Blog Hop. What's unique & fun about this hop is every single blog that participate has giveaways. So, grab your cup of coffee and browse around. Stick around and you'll see my giveaways on the bottom of  my post. :)

2016 had been a blessed year for me. My mom get to visit me here in the States for a couple months and I get to take my mom for her 1st trip to Canada. We went & visited Montreal. Then, hubby and I did an Oregon Coast road trip that was simply amazing.

Creativity wise, this year I started the year by joining The Ton Stamps design team and I continue to be part of SugarPea Designs, Purple Onion Designs. Then, for the last quarter of 2016, I get to design for Butterfly Reflections Ink. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have & that I get to work with another group of awesome, talented girls. 

Also, my Caring Hearts Card Drive grow beyond my wildest dream. Thanks to SugarPea Designs, Caring Hearts has its own stamp sets that focus in promoting kindness. Something that our world seems to need more and more this day. Caring Hearts collected 63,700 cards, almost triple the amount of cards that we received in 2015. It warms my heart & humble me to have the support of so many generous people. 

My intention for 2017? To do better. Help more rescues, do more to help save the environment. What's your intention for 2017? 

Now, as we started the new  year, I look back and want to share my top 10 favorite project from 2016. Let's get on with it right away, shall we?


  


 




  




 


GIVEAWAY

I have 3 giveaway (see below). The 1st package contain 8 PSA Essentials variety sets, the 2nd set contained a monogram sets and the 3rd just variety package. To enter, simply left me a comment with your intention for 2017. Of course, I'd love for you to follow my blog or follow me on Instagram: @wirianta . It's optional as I'd love for you to follow me because you're really interested and not just for giveaway reason. ;)

You have till midnight, January 3rd to leave a comment. Winner will be announced on Wednesday, January 4, 2017. 


PSA Essential Variety Package

PSA Essentials Monogram Sets
 
Variety Package

That's all from me. I am wishing you all a very happy New Year. May this coming year be a blessed year for all of us filled with many goodness and amazing things. Now, go on hopping & good luck!


you are here -->Vera Yates <-- you are here

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Butterfly Reflections Ink #Hashtag Stamps Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to a special Butterfly Reflections Ink #Hashtag Stamps Blog Hop. We are celebrating the newest exclusive sets that are the result of Bossy Joscie collaboration with Butterfly Reflections Ink.

Introducing #Hashtag Bossy Stamp Set and #Hashtag Stamp Set. And, without further delay, here's my card using #Hashtag Stamp set  mixed with the funky & cool birdie from Winnie & Walter So Tweet set.




I used the mini hashtag to create the background for this "Congratulations / Celebration" card. Here's a close up of the card. If you click on the pic, it will show you larger pic. Finished with some Nuvo liquid enamel in Drop Ducks Egg Blue.





Now, the giveaway part. To be eligible to win one of two prizes: 4x6 #Hashtag Stamp Set or 3x4 #Hashtag Bossy Stamp Set, leave a comment on all blogs by Monday, December 26th at noon. Winners will be announced on the Butterfly Reflections Ink Blog on Tuesday, December 27th.

Thank you all for stopping by here. And, enjoy the rest of the hop. Here's a complete list of the blog hop participants:

Vera <--- you are here

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Caring Hearts 2016 Result & Prize Winners

Phew.... It's been a whirlwind few weeks for all of us at Caring Hearts. This year, we have AMAZING turn out for the card drive that truly humble me. 

Here's some of the facts from this year:

- Last year, for US, Canada and Australia we received slightly over 22,000. This year, that amount is what I received just at my end! Total we received close to 64,000 cards!! Yes, we almost triple what we got from previous year. 

- We received cards from 21 countries, including Brunei, Serbia, Slovenia, Hongkong, Luxembourg, Japan, Slovakia, Greece, Germany, Italy, France, etc.

- We have 1345 contributors with many of them sending 100 plus cards. One person sent 799 cards, another sent 600, another 501. All I can say, THANK YOU! You all are amazing. Whether you sent 1 or 10 or 100, they all count and they all part of what make this card drive successful.

- We mailed the card packages to about 300 nursing homes and some elderly that are home bound and lives by themselves.

- Huge result also means huge shipping cost. I want to thank Simon Says Stamp and Wplus9 for stepping in and donating fund that really helped us in covering the shipping cost. Thank you to Heidi & Dawn for your support & generosity. What you did helped us so much!!

I am so proud of the way this card drive has grown. First year in 2010, we received 750 and look at where we are now. And, it's all because of YOU! Your support and generosity are what make it so successful. 

Now, what many been waiting for. The winners for Caring Hearts prizes! For all the winners, I'll be emailing all of you this weekend. As you can see the list is pretty long, so please bear with me. :)

CARING HEARTS GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Amy Lee's package of stamps & dies from MFT, Ellen Hutson & Mama Elephant : Colleen Passe

Gina K: $200 GC - Gail Silva

Jennifer McGuire Ink: $100 in craft supplies - 
Janet Portillo

Maymay Made It: $100 GC - Kelli Green

Mommy Lhey: $100 GC - 
Tiffany Au 

Online Card Classes: $100 GC - Helen Finlay


Simon Says Stamp: $150 GC - Lynda Pleckan

Stamp-n-storage $100 GC - Lon Tomokiyo 

Waffle Flower: $100 GC - Sandy VanBiezen
Altenew: $50 GC - Joy Ott

A Jillian Vance Design: $20 GC - Sue Craig

Avery Elle: $30 GC - Kim Conley

Birch Press: $25 GC - Karen Edmonds

Bossy Joscie: $40 GC - Kristie Maynard

Butterfly Reflections Inc: $25 GC - Jill Boteler

Concord & 9th: $25 GC - Barbara Haan

Crafter's Companion US: $25 GC - Allie Gower

Crafter's Companion UK: £25 GC - Stefanie Borms

Ellen Hutson: $50 GC - Kerryn Murnain

Hallmark Scrapbook & Crafts: TWO $50 GC - Kathy Blaney-Murphy & Jennifer Moyer

Hero Arts: THREE $50 GC - Karin Hoag, Debbie Minton & Donna Gourley 

Jane’s Doodles: $50 GC - Mary Guikema

Honey Bee Stamps: $50 GC - Kathy Nelson

Lawn Fawn: $50 GC - Marjon Fokkens-Bruinoma

Lucys Cards: £25 worth of products - Stefanie Hanuschik

Mama Elephant: $25 GC - Lynn Wuest

My Favorite Things: $50 GC - Sandy Christman

Neat and Tangled: $50 GC - Melissa Pearson

Organize More: $75 GC - Theresa French

Paper Smooches: $25 GC - Sheila Langeslay

Pink & Main: $30 GC - Maggie Baxter

Pretty Pink Posh: $30 GC - Stephanie Meade 

Reverse Confetti: $50 GC - Michelle Lupton

Right At Home: $20 GC - Glenis Stuart

Scrapbook & Cards Today: one year subscription – BVHS Students

Spectrum Noir: One tin of Coloured Blend Color Pencil - Norma Canete

SugarPea Designs: $50 GC - Bettina Kreuer

Sunny Studios: $25 GC - Ruth Gauss

Sweet Stamp Shop: TWO $25 GC - Jerneja Bozic & Tammy Folaron

Taylored Expression: $50 GC - Carla E Maclafferty

The Ton: $25 GC - Enna Adams

Verve Stamps: $30 GC - Gloria Borschowa

WOW Embossing Powders: $30 GC - Brenda Gentry

Your Next Stamp: $50 GC - Cheryl McMahan

Newstons Nook Designs: $25 GC - Naneyn Mitchell

CardMaker magazine: 1 year subscription - Sherry Danielson

Sweet Stamp Digis: $25 GC - Michelle Thao

Cut Cardstock: $50 GC - Linda Grant

Studio Katia: Canada $35 GC - Trina Pham

Paper Tempress: TWO $25 GC - Vicki Gersey & Beverly Pevarnick

Update: All winner already  been notified & prize send directly from the prize sponsor.

Again, from all of us at Caring Hearts, thank you for your contribution & support. Bringing Christmas joy and sharing kindness are the heart of our card drive. And, whether you know it or not, your contribution made a difference. Like someone said to me, we don't know how many people's life we touch with our cards. No act of kindness is too little. Let being KIND be part of our daily life, not only at Christmas, but all through the year. God bless you all.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Advent Calendar Extravaganza with Taheerah Atchia





Hi everyone and welcome to Advent Calendar Extravaganza. This is the festive event of the season! This ‘hop with a twist’ was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day! Joining in the fun with Taheerah are ONE HUNDRED special guests - each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration! Just like an Advent Calendar, you’ll never know where you’re going to be visiting next until you ‘open the door’!

And that’s not all! With 25 *amazing* sponsors taking part as guests as well, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Join in the fun every day at taheerah-atchia.com to see what special surprises await behind the door!

Here's my card that I created just for this event. I used SugarPea Designs Ginger Snaps set, which is just super adorable, especially because of the one li'l ginger fella who's not happy that someone took a bite of his cute li'l head. So, his buddies are trying to cheer him up. ;)




It’s not a party without a prize - and with prizes every day there are several chances to win! Today’s prize is generously supplied by SugarPea Designs, so you’ll definitely want to win! Simply leave a comment on this post - then head back to taheerah-atchia.com and leave a comment there too! You must leave a comment on Taheerah’s blog as well as mine in order to be eligible to win! Don’t forget to grab the other surprise destinations from Taheerah’s blog and head over to them to leave comments there as well to improve your odds even more! You have until 23:59 EST on 31st December 2016 to enter.

Don’t forget Advent Calendar Extravaganza runs from 1st-25th December inclusive so make sure you visit taheerah-atchia.com every day for fabulous inspiration and amazing prizes every single time!

Winner will be announce on Taheerah's blog from 1st January onwards.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Caring Hearts Card Drive Update

Hi all, I am popping in to share a bit of Caring Hearts update. For the US section alone, we have collected 50,287 cards and we still not finish opening & counting all the boxes. Canada, Australia and UK total is around 7600.

This is the pile of packages I got on 11/21 and on 11/23 I got even more than this. So, needless to say we really are working hard behind the scene to get all these cards sort out and packaged for the nursing homes.



I literally spent the whole Thanksgiving week & weekend just working on this (well, outside my full time job , as I do still have to show up at work... hah!). On Friday and Saturday, I had a couple friends showed up and helped me stuffing all the cards into the envelope and packing them.

This pic below is what left after I packed about 50 boxes of large and medium size USPS box.



As you can see, I definitely didn't get to host Thanksgiving dinner. ;) This is basically our dining table, extended to the max. 




That's me with the first batch of 50 boxes. And, we're not even close to finish. Hubby smartly took the pic from long distance as I have no make up and was worn out from the day work.

Due to this overwhelming results, please be patient for the prize winners announcement. We have to make sure all the list completed before we can do the announcement. To all that contribute, thank you, we are working as hard and as fast as we could. Based on previous years results, we didn't expect it to get this big. It's awesome, but it also lots of work, so most likely we won't announce the winners till end of next week. 

Our priority at this time is to get all the packages sort out and get the packages ready to be shipped to the nursing homes. I wish we could email you all one by one to confirm that  I received your packages, but that's just not possible. I mean we probably have close to one thousand people sending in cards (as I say we're still counting). 

Thank you for your patience & understanding. 

Monday, November 21, 2016

So Suzy Stamps & The Ton Collaboration Hop



Hi peeps and welcome to a fun collaboration between The Ton and So Suzy Stamps. We are showcasing the styles of both stamp companies and the versatility of the designs of each. Each designer has created fun projects so be sure to hop along to see all the gorgeous inspiration. The hop continues until Wednesday and some of us designers will be creating and posting for each day of the hop. Be sure to follow us and check back the next couple of days to check out our collaboration projects!

Here's my 1st card using So Suzy Line Leaf 3 and part of The Ton Stamps Wild Cherry Blossoms.




I stamped the images repeatedly, colored the leaves with Copic marker and stencil circle around the flower center. Once all the coloring done, I die cut the "Thank You" sentiment from The Ton and layered it 3 times to make it stand out a bit.

I am needing quite a few thank you cards, so my 2nd card is also a thank you card, but this time I used So Suzy Flower Doodle Single with sentiment from The Ton Basic Labels.




The glitter strips are The Ton Adhesive Glitter Paper. I love that I can add glitter with no mess!! Finish the can with some Yellow Belly Sequins.

Giveaways: 
We're giving away $25 GC So Suzy Stamps, $25 The Ton and a fabulous Bunkie Bag that can hold your MISTI and other stamping supplies while you’re on the go! Simply leave a comment on all the blogs by November 24, 11:59PM EST. Winners will be announced on November 25th, just in  time for Black Friday Shopping. :)

I hope you enjoy the hop. Here's a complete list of the hop participants. Thank you for stopping by here.


Effie  
Suzy  
Emily  
Ceal  
Tae Eun  
Vera  <-- you are here

Friday, November 18, 2016

Winner of Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop

Hi peeps! As promise I am announcing the winner of Caring Hearts Card Drive today. I know it's on the late side, but hey, it's still Friday. So, I'm still keeping my promise. ;)

I want to really thank you all for all the support. This blog hop is our most successful one to date and from all of us Caring Hearts we thank you for your support. As of right now, I think we already have about 13,000 cards all around.




Now, the winner of Simon Says Stamp $150 gift card is randomly picked from Wendy Ramlakhan's post: CHERYL ESPIE

Congratulation, Cheryl. Please email me and I'll get your gc code to you ASAP. Thank you gain everyone!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Particularly Amazing

So, this past Sunday, to celebrate World Kindness Day, Jennifer McGuire and I host Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop and all I can say is thank you!! I am humble and grateful for all your support. My email been flooded with question and people expressing interest to contribute.

As of today, I have roughly about 4000 cards on my end alone. I am estimating between all the collection place, we probably have about 7000 cards?? Last year we received over 22,000 cards, so I am hoping this year we'll receive just as much.

Also, if you know any nursing home that would love to receive these cards, please email me at: wirianta@hotmail.com. I will need to know the nursing home name and number of residents. We continuously adding home to our list. Or maybe you know an elderly that live by themselves, have no family? Let's spread kindness to as many places, to as many people, as possible.

Again, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you for being particularly amazing!



I am making this card for Simon Says Stamps Thanks/Thanksgiving Challenge as they're an amazing, amazing company that always giving back to their community. 

That's it, I just want to pop in to say thank you and yes, you still have time to leave comment for the blog hop.  :) 

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop



Do you know that today is World Kindness Day? I think our world need to really focus on spreading kindness and since Caring Hearts Card Drive is based on love and kindness, we think today it the perfect day to have our 7th annual Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop.

The purpose of this card drive is to collect handmade holiday cards for the elderly that live in nursing homes around the world. Since 2010 we have been bringing joy to many nursing homes throughout the US, Canada and Australia. And this year, we are branching out to the UK! 

What better way to share our love of card making than to bring joy to others, right? We hope you'll join us in supporting the card drive. You still have time to send in your cards. We just need to receive your cards by November 25, 2106. Details for the card drive can be found HERE on my blog & on Jennifer McGuire's Blog

For this hop, I have made 2 cards. First up is a sweet nativity card that I made using SugarPea Designs Let Us Adore Him set combine with Simon Says Stamp Christmas Blessing dies for the sentiment.




Just seeing the smiling baby Jesus makes me happy. I seriously love this set. :)

My next card is a cutesy one that I sure hope will bring a smile to whoever receive it. For this one, I use an oldie Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin and the tree is from Simon Says Stamp Color Me Trees set from Believe in the Season collection.




I love the funky & unique shape of the tree. The way it all wonky make this clean & simple card fun, don't you think? And, one layer card, great for mailing!

Now, no blog hop is complete without a fun giveaway, right? 




Simon Says Stamp has generously offering $150 gift card for this hop. All you need to do is visit and leave comment on each blog. Winner will be randomly selected from one of the participant blog. You have till midnight Thurday, 11/17/2016 to leave comment. Winner will be announced on here on my blog on Friday, 11/18/2016.

Here is the Blog Hop List...

I hope you enjoy this hop and will join our card drive. Every single card counts. Let's share handmade kindness. Let's share kindness period. Let love and kindness be part of our daily life. Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Sweet 2 Repeat Blog Hop


Hi there crafty peeps! It’s time again for our Sweet2Repeat Blog Hop ! Now that so many of you have our Holiday Release in your hot little hands, our Pod Squad of designers have geared up to inspire you with even MORE creative possibilities featuring our newest and hottest products!

Here's my card using the cute GingerSnaps set with its matching dies. For the frame I used the frame dies from Birthday Journal Card set.




This ginger snap is my favorite!! He is just too cute!! :)

Now, how would you like to WIN a $20 gift certificate to spend on some SugarPea Designs of your own? Please visit with each of our design team members and leave a comment for your chance to win! Please check out SugarPea Designs Blog.



Thank you for stopping by here! Happy Friday!

Spellbinders' March Stitched Die

Hi there creative peeps. Happy March. I want to pop in today to share my Spellbinders' March Stitching Die Club card. Spellbinders has l...