Scrapbook & Cards Today Blog

World Cardmaking Day - 12:00 pm with Jen McGuire!

We are always thrilled when Jen McGuire comes to visit us and today's visit is a little special!  Jen is kicking off our "Bring A Smile To A Child" fall campaign!  What is this you ask?  This is a great charity program we started years ago with Crafting For a Cure where we ask our readers to send in child and youth themed cards that we deliver to hospitals throughout North America.  These cards brighten the day of any child at a time they are facing some of life's greatest challenges.  Would you like to join us and donate a card?  Here are the details...

1.    Create a child/youth themed card with an inspiration message (please avoid "get well") and either sign it with a message from you or leave it blank.

2.    Send the card, with an envelope, to us at:  

Scrapbook & Cards Today
139 Church Street,
Markham, Ontario
L3P 2M2

Super easy!  All the cards collected this month will be presented to Crafting For a Cure at the Creativ Festival in Toronto on October 26!  Always a great moment we look forward to.  

Jen created this super sweet card for our campaign.  Don't you just love those hedge hogs?  Glittery hedge hogs are the best!

Supplies:  Lawn Fawn Hedgehugs Stamp Set, Copic Markers, Sizzix Dots Embossing Folder, Simon Says Stamp Hearts and Spoons Die, Wink of Stella Glitter Pen, Glossy Accents, Foam Tape, Fiskars Premium Wire Guide Trimmer

Jen was sweet enough to create a video sharing just how she created this card and will be donating it to our "bring a smile to a child" campaign as well!  Enjoy!

  

Jen is also celebrating this wonderful day devoted to cardmakers by participating in a blog hop showcasing the new Julie Ebersole's stamps with Ellen Hutson!  You can follow along from Jen McGuire's blog here.

12:00 p.m. GIVEAWAY!!!

Surprise!  This hour we have TWO prizes for you!  We love these companies and so does Jen so it seemed only fitting to share them with you!  First up is this AMAZING prize from Sizzix!  

"Fun is in the cards for you! Resembling an ornate purse with a beaded handle, this amazing and affordable roller machine transforms ordinary cardstock, paper, metallic foil, vellum and other thin materials into elegant embossed art. The Texture Boutique works with our Textured Impressions, Texture Fades and Texture Trades Embossing Folders (up to 4 1/2" wide) to create cards and embellishments for any occasion."  ~  Sizzix

We also have a second wonderful prize package that will make your cardmaking even that much more enjoyable! Celebrate Fall with Sweater Weather from Lawn Fawn! This stamp set and coordinating die are perfect for making fun and CUTE cards!

For an opportunity to win these great prizes, please leave a comment below by Friday, October 17! One winner will be randomly selected and all winners from each hour will be announced right here on the SCT blog on October 25th! All prizes will ship from each company.

We appreciate our partners very much and know you do too! Please take a moment to visit their facebook pages today to give them a HUGE "SCT thank you!" We know they love hearing from you!

Sizzix Facebook page

Lawn Fawn Facebook page

Thank you again to Jennifer as well!  You can check out all her amazing videos on her YouTube channel HERE too.  With over 40K subscribers, you can be sure you're going to learn some great things from her!

Are you enjoying the day?  We sure are!

 

Taylored Expressions giveaway...and more!!!

Happy Friday SCT friends!  It's a very busy Friday so settle in as there is lots to share today! 

 

"Crafting For a Cure is a not-for-profit registered charity that looks for opportunities to ensure children are having a positive experience when a hospital visit is necessary."

We are once again thrilled to be partnering with Crafting for a Cure this weekend at the annual Kilometers for Kids event in Vaughan, Ontario!  We will be onsite creating inspiration filled cards with all the high school participants that will all be donated to children's hospitals across Canada.  We were amazed last year at how much these high school students put into their cards and the beautiful messages they wrote in them.  Big hearts at this event.  If you are anywhere in the area tomorrow, be sure to stop by and create a card too!

This will also kick off our SCT Cards for Kids campaign!  We would love our readers from around the world to create an inspiration filled card for a child and send it to us at:

SCT Cards for Kids
139 Chuch Street,
Markham, Ontario
L3P 2M2

We will take all the cards created and donate them to Crafting for a Cure at the Creativ Festival here in Toronto in the fall!  Last year we donated over 800 cards and it was a beautiful feeling when we gave all those cards to Pamela, the of Crafting for a Cure...and there just may have been a few tears too! You are welcome to sign the card from you, or decorate it and leave blank and the nurses and staff will write in the card.  So SCT readers, let's get creating and see if we can donate 1K cards this year!  And thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to be a part of SCT's Cards For Kids campaign.  

Next up, the Crop & Create Cornwall information is up on the site and registration opens for alumni (anyone who has attended any Crop & Create event) on May 26th at 8:00 p.m. EST!  Regular registration opens the following day, May 27th at 8:00 p.m. EST!  It is going to be our largest event this year and already we have ladies joining us from our events in Winnipeg, Moncton, Markham along with friends from New York and the United Kingdom too!  It is going to be an incredible weekend filled with so much inspiration and creativity at the fabulous NAV Centre...and a weekend not to be missed!  (pssst...there is even a lower price!)  If you have any questions whatsoever, contact me at [email protected] or visit our website HERE.  

Last, but certainly not least, we have an AMAZING giveaway today!  Our sweet friends at Taylored Expressions joined us on Card Cafe Thursday with some beautiful cards created with their new cutting plate dies.  They went one step further and kindly offered all 6 cutting plates used in yesterday's post to one lucky SCT reader...and...today's luck winner could win a 7th cutting plate (see below!)  That's a prize package valued at over $150!  I did say today's giveaway was amazing right?  :)

To be entered to win this fantastic prize, please leave a comment below and let us know what your favouite cutting plate is by May 29th.  You can see them all on the Taylored Expressions website HERE!  

We would also love you to visit Taylored Expressions on their facebook page and give them a nice big "SCT THANK YOU" for this grand prize.  Taylor herself commented after National Scrapbook Day just what an appreciative readership we have.  I could not agree more!   

For our friends in the US, enjoy your long weekend and to all our other friends, we hope you enjoy a creative weekend!

~  Catherine  xoxox

Look what goes on sale on June 1st at 9:00 p.m....our "Snapshots of Summer" kit!

SCT Cards For Kids update and a beautiful reader's submission!

Happy Halloween for all our friends that celebrate this fun filled (ahem, chocolate and candy filled!) holiday.  Although this is the first year I don't have any little ones trick or treating, I still cannot wait to see the cute ghosts, zombies and princesses that will come to the door tonight.  A little bittersweet but still fun nonetheless especially when I don't have to help "sort" the candy tonight  :)   

For those that follow this blog regularly you might remember our SCT Cards for Kids initiative we started back in May of this year with this post.  I am so thrilled to tell you that we received about 700 cards from all around the world.  Countries like Germany, Russia, Sweden, England, not to mention hundreds from Canada and the US.  Each time an envelope came in to the office marked "SCT Cards for Kids" my heart grew.  So full of pride that our readers would take time from their busy lives to not only make these cards but to pay to post them to us with the sole purpose of bringing a smile to a child.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  This past weekend I had the pleasure of providing all the cards we have received so far to Pamela Bielak, founder of Crafting for a Cure...

(sorry for the quick iPhone snap!)

Pamela was so touched by the amount of cards we shared (and the image is only one of two boxes) that she was moved to tears, and so was I.  The sentiments written in the cards were beautiful and we know that children receiving these cards will appreciate them in such a special way.  Way to go SCT readers, keep them coming!   For those that would like to create and send a card or cards here's how:

Create a card for a child with an inspirational message (not a get well soon card as sadly, not all the children have a positive outcome), sign your name and send it to our offices with an envelope to:

Scrapbook & Cards Today
Cards for Kids
139 Church Street
Markham, Ontario
L3P 2M2

We will take all these amazing cards and provide them to Crafting For a Cure who will then send them to hospitals across Canada and the US.  Easy right?  Just knowing we brought a smile to a child facing a difficult time is uplifting.  So let's get to work SCT friends and let's see if we can send another 700 cards!

We also wanted to take a moment today to share a great layout sent to us by reader Sue Althouse...

"Just wanted to share a layout I created that was inspired by the Fall 2013 Issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today. I combined the Page Maps sketch on p. 30 (the one Laura Vegas used) with one of the Memories Page Starters prompts on p. 44, "your current schedules and routines." ~ Sue Althouse

Thank you Sue for sharing this beautiful layout.  The design, colours and sweet touches make it special.  I know many that start their day at Tim Horton's too!

Have a good night tonight friends!  Be safe and you have my express permission to have an extra candy...or two!  Be sure to join us tomorrow as the "stars" may align and one of our favourite kit companies just might join us with a treat!

~  Catherine

A new initiative we would love our readers to be part of!

Good morning SCT friends, it's Catherine and I wanted to share with you all an extraordinary experience I had this past weekend and how that experience has developed in to a new initiative here at the magazine.  As always, we love that papercrafting brings so many people together to learn and share, but also to give and support.  

Last Saturday we joined forces with Crafting For a Cure, an amazing charity that we have worked alongside with at the Creativ Festival for years.  Crafting For a Cure is a not-for-profit registered charity that looks for opportunities to ensure children are having a positive experience when a hospital visit is necessary.  Pamela is an extraordinary woman who quite simply makes things happen.  Crafting For a Cure not only crafts with children, they create new playrooms and offers creative distractions to help the kids pass the time while they are there.

Each year Pamela organizes Kilometres for Kids which encourages high school students to get out to do something unique while earning community service hours.  A requirement for high school graduation.   Along with a $10 donation, the students have to make a card for a child and walk around a track for 45 minutes....to great music!  They can also raise donations from family and friends to earn prizes from some of the amazing sponsors ~ thank you Starbucks!   This year Scrapbook & Cards Today ran the cardmaking part of this event and I have to say, we loved every minute of it.  

Here are just a few pictures from the event...

Some of the SCT runners/walkers ~  Team Red!

I think these girls sat and made five cards each!

Just an example of the positive, inspirational messages the kids wrote in the cards!

Matthew, on the right, raised over $800 and won a flat screen TV from one of the sponsors!

More than 200 cards were created and will be sent to over 42 children's wards across Canada.  I could not have been prouder of all the students we met that day who were touched to be doing something so worthwhile.  A special thank you to Doodlebug Designs, Bella Blvd., Bazzill, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Fiskars for the products we used to make these fabulous cards.  

Which brings me to a new initiative we are excited about....SCT Cards for Kids!

Here's how it works.  Create a card for a child with an inspirational message (not a get well soon card as sadly, not all the children have a positive outcome), sign your name and send it to our offices with an envelope to:

Scrapbook & Cards Today
Cards for Kids
139 Church Street
Markham, Ontario
L3P 2M2

We will take all these amazing cards and provide them to Crafting For a Cure who will then send them to hospitals across Canada and the US.  Easy right?  Just knowing we brought a smile to a child facing a difficult time is uplifting.  So let's get to work SCT friends and see if we can do 1,000 cards this summer!

Thank you so much for reading and for helping us launch SCT Cards for Kids.  I am excited to be working with Crafting For a Cure and visiting children's wards to be crafting with them in the months ahead.  Please take a moment to visit their website and see if there is something you can do too!

~  Catherine