Love is in the Air

Hey everybody! It has been a CRAZY week here in Texas! We have had 2 snow days, only a few days apart! It NEVER snows here, so it's got all of Texas going Crazy! :) So since we have had snow days, I been able to stay home and get TONS of work done on the Card Drive! So I'm very happy about that! The cards have been pouring in, Thank ya'll SO much for that! 

But I have been a little busier with some of the cards that were sent in! I thought my guidelines and rules were pretty specific, but I'm guessing I need to make them even more specific next year?! Don't get me wrong, some of them were exactly right,  but some of them had last names, the town they lived in, get well soon, praying for you, ect. It is suppose to have your first name and state you live in ONLY! No last names, town you live in, get well or anything religious (I don't think I had that listed on the rules this year, that's my mistake, but it has been mentioned in the years past) and no blog addresses (they aren't suppose to be able to contact you.) These are not MY rules, but the hospitals. I want to go by their rules, so they will allow us to send them for years to come. I won't throw any of those cards away, so I have had to fix them, so they do go by the rules, and you can imagine how time consuming that is, along with everything else there is to do! By no means am I complaining about getting cards, I'm just trying to make this a fun project, because right now, trying to figure out how to fix cards...isn't fun to me! So PLEASE read the rules very carefully next year. 

Ok, off my soapbox! Here's some cards! :)

Check the Sponsor page, I have been updating it too. If you haven't shipped your cards, don't! Because I don't think they will get here in time. I will be shipping cards tomorrow and the rest on Monday, so if I don't get your cards in time, they will be saved for next years Card Drive. 
Ok, I better go, I have TONS of work to do! 

~Winter

SNOW!

Hey everybody! Looky! Looky!, it snowed in Southeast Texas! This NEVER really happens! :) So of course you know we had a Snow Day from school! Us Texans can't drive in these conditions! :) It is a view from our back porch. Not much snow, but it's still fun for about a day or so! :) 

Me and my husband, braved the roads, so he could go and fix peoples heaters and I got out of the house to check the mail for cards and work on the Card Drive, until he gets done running service calls. Then it's home to a warm fire in the fireplace! :)

Here is a card I made awhile back. I really LOVE these little jars! :)

Well the cards are still coming in. I don't want to give out any totals, just yet, but the numbers are looking good! Thank you to everyone who has sent cards or are going to send cards. Just Please remember that I need them by next Friday Jan.31! I will be shipping cards out that afternoon, so I can make sure they get to the hospitals in time. So please don't delay, get your cards in the mail! :)
Check out the Sponsor page too, I've been adding more prizes! 

Have a Blessed weekend!,
~Winter

Cat & Dog Love

Hey everybody! I wanted to share another card that I made for the Card Drive.

 I used Lawn Fawn's Say Cheese stamp set for the polaroid picture and I used PTI's Tremendous Treats: Valentine for the cat, dog, heart, and heart with the sentiment inside.

The cards are coming in slowly, but the last 2 weeks is always the busiest! So if you haven't sent yours in yet, get them in! It's for a Great cause and the prizes are pretty Great too! :) I added more prizes yesterday to the Sponsor page and will post them when I get them in! :) If you would like to donate a prize, email me at wintersims1@aol.com and let me know what you would like to donate. 
Thanks so much! I'm off to watch my son play in his basketball game! :)
Have a Blessed evening! :)

~Winter

Girafee Love

Hey everybody! I'm just stopping in with another card I made. I LOVE these giraffe's! :) They are from Avery Elle and they are called "What's Up?". Avery Elle is one of our Sponsors too and they have donated a $30.00 prize package! :) 

I was so happy to hear that my son's art teacher has her classes making cards for the Card Drive too! How Awesome is that?! It made my heart so happy to hear Chace come home from school and tell me,"Guess what we were working on today? Cards for the Card Drive!" :) I hope everyone is working on their cards too! I have gotten a couple of packages in already.

Ok, well I'm off to go watch my daughter play in her basketball game.
Have a Blessed evening! :)

~Winter

Lots & Lots of Hearts

Hey everybody! Well it's been a few days since I stopped in, and I'm happy to say that I've already received 3 packages of cards in the mail so far! Woo Hoo! Keep'em coming! :) I've added more prizes and sponsors to the Sponsor page, and if you have something that you want to donate, Please let me know. 

Here are a few more cards I made. My craft room isn't at my new house, it's at my old house, which is now our new office. So that means on weekends, I usually don't go over to the office, so I bring some projects home to work on. I stamped a bunch of images and used my Copics to color them, one weekend. These are Wplus9 Design stamps and PTI sentiments.

Well that's it for today. I'll check back in tomorrow and give you an update on cards that might have came in. Have a Blessed Sunday! 

~Winter

Praying for Ava's family

Hello everybody! I'm here today with a heavy heart, as I hear about a sweet little girl, Ava, who lost her life to cancer this morning! :'( I don't know Ava or her family, as I have only heard about her from Facebook, but it still hurts my heart to hear about it. 

It's never easy to hear about someone passing away with cancer, but when it's a little child, it makes it even more horrible! These precious children are what give me the drive to make this Card Drive successful! All the hard work, emails, sorting  and packing cards, and everything else that goes into the Card Drive, is nothing compared to what those kids and parents are going through! And if I can help them in some small way, by them opening up a Valentines card when they are in the hospital, fighting for their life....it's all worth it to me! So I want to Thank you all, for your time that you spend on making the cards and sending them in. These kids and their parents appreciate it SO much! <3 font="" nbsp="">

Please continue to pray for Ava's family and for all the children who are fighting for their life to! 

~Winter

Happy Ice Cream cards

Hey everybody! Well we had a VERY cold day here yesterday!!! We had a low of 13* at our house! For a Texas girl...that is COLD!!! :) Of course, no snow, just bitterly cold! 

Which brings me to these cards I made for the Card Drive. For some weird reason, me and my family love ice cream even more when it's freezing cold outside! And I guess we aren't the only ones, because a lady at the store told us one time that they sale more ice cream in the winter time! :) I was just telling my sister about that last night, because her and her family were eating Big Red floats, a treat we use to eat at our Mee Mee and Paw Paw's house, during our summertime visits! :) 

I used Lawn Fawn's "here's the scoop" stamp set for both cards. This is such a cute set, as are all of Lawn Fawn's stamp sets! The ice cream just looks so happy! :) They are also sponsoring the Card Drive this year and I'm so grateful for their continued support! I hope you all will send in some cards and get a chance to win a Gift Certificate to their store! :)

Don't forget to check out the Card Drive and check out the Sponsor page, I've been updated it daily! 
Well I better go, I have a hair appointment today and I need to get some stuff done before then. Since I cut A LOT of my hair off, I realized that I have to have a hair cut more often! I'm not use to that, but I sure do like shorter hair!  :)
Have a Blessed day! 

~Winter

Cards for Healing

Hey everybody!
We are now in our new home! Woo Hoo! We moved in April 2013 and we LOVE it! (I'll try and post pics soon, if anyone wants to see them.) The only thing I don't like, is that we have no internet because we are WAY out in the woods! I'm sure we could get a wireless cell phone card or a slower internet. But I'm so use to unlimited high speed internet, that I think it would just make me mad to have something slow or only use so many GB! So I have to come to my old house, which is now our new office for our A/C business, to use the computer. Anyway, not that it's like the end of the world or anything, but it does make it harder to make blog posts or edit pics!
 
Which is the reason I'm late on posting about this. I was contacted by one of the hospitals that we donate cards to for the Card Drive a couple of months ago, asking if I could make Congrats & Happy Birthday cards for the children, when they have Birthdays in the hospital or they give them a Congrats card, when they are being released from the hospital and they have them a party! So sweet! It really touched my heart, for this opportunity! It's like it was cards that represented Healing! And I LOVED that! So of course I said Yes! :)
They needed cards in English, Spanish, and French Creole! I only had English covered!!! So with the help of Google, I found out how to say those words in French Creole (I hope) :), and I contacted a very sweet friend, Giovana, for the Spanish words. I messaged her and asked if she could send me the words and she said yes. But a few days later, I received 2 brand new Spanish stamp sets in the mail! How sweet is that?! She even translated all of the stamps for me, because I didn't pay attention in Spanish class in High School! LOL! ;)
The stamp sets came from Latina Crafter. They were SO cute and really good quality! They don't just carry Spanish stamps, they have English too! If any of you were like me and you didn't own any Spanish stamps, you really should check out their store and order you some! You never know when you might need some! :)
They were also so kind, as to be Sponsors this year for the "Cards from the Heart Card Drive"! So send in those cards and get a chance to win a Gift Card from their store! :)

Here are a few cards that I made and using their stamps and some other stamps as well.

(Latina Crafter stamps- sentiment, party hat, balloons ; PTI- puppy ; Practicing Creativity-banner.) I wish you could see how cute the balloons are with the glossy accents added! :)

 (Latina Crafter- sentiment ; PTI- cupcake;  Skipping Stones Designs- candle ; Practicing Creativity- banner.)

 (Latina Crafter- sentiment, balloons, party hat, cupcake ; Practicing Creativity- banner ; PTI- owl)

 (Latina Crafter- sentiment, balloons, party hat ; PTI- cat ; Practicing Creativity- banner)

 (Latina Crafter- sentiment ; Skipping Stones Designs- cake & candle)

 (Latina Crafter- sentiment ; PTI- flowers & leaves)

Thanks so much, Giovana & Latina Crafter, for helping my dream of helping kids, come true even more!
P.S. Don't forget to check out the Card Drive & the Sponsor page, I've added more prizes! :)
ETA (The "Cards for Healing" is not a Card Drive. It is just a name I gave the blog post for these cards I made a few months ago. I didn't want there to be any confusion about these cards and the Card Drive for Valentine cards. So PLEASE don't send Congrats or Birthday cards! I am ONLY accepting Valentine cards!) Thanks!
~Winter

Tiny Treats Valentine Cards

Hey everybody! Happy Monday! Well the kids went back to school today and wouldn't you know that we would have the coldest temps here in 3 years!!! Crazy! :/ It's too cold for my babies to be getting out! :) Thank goodness, they will be inside though! I know that 20* doesn't sound very cold to some of you, but that's FREEZING here in Texas! And we don't even get a little snow to play in, so it's just blah! :) So since it's so cold, I guess I will stay in and take pics of cards to edit and maybe even make a couple cards? :)

Here are a few more cards I made using the trusty ol' PTI Tiny Treats: Valentine Stamp Set. I love this set and I even bought the Tremendous Treats: Valentine Stamp Set, which is basically the bigger version and I love it too! I'll share a card using it later. :) These cards were very easy to make and fun too. I'm still working on my Copic coloring! ;)

 

Well I guess I better start my projects for the day. I did already buy groceries this morning, so I guess I accomplished something today! ;)
Don't forget about the "Cards From the Heart Card Drive". I hope you all have started getting into the Valentine Spirit and started making cards! ;)
Have a Blessed day!

~Winter

Banners, Banners, and More Banners!

Hey everybody! Happy Sunday! :) I'm going to try and post everyday, at least until the cards start coming in and it gets really busy! I want to share some of my cards. They are usually very simple. I like simple, but when I make a Bunch...they have to be simple or I'll never have them finished! :)

Here are some that I was mass producing. I really love doing that, because I can get a TON of them done and there isn't a lot of guess work. I used several different stamp sets on these, Stampin' Up!, PTI, and Wplus9 Design stamps and I used several different die cuts. 

And here is one of the finished cards. I used a PTI sentiment and Wplus9 Design Stamps (Banner Love) for the banner. 

Have a Blessed Sunday!
~Winter

Valentine Scooter Card

Hey everybody! Well it's Saturday and we are enjoying our last weekend of Christmas break, before the kids have to go back! :( Which means my break from making the kids lunches in the morning, is over! :) I really do love them being home, but I do like getting our routine back! Although Autumn has had basketball practice or a game, just about everyday of the break! :/ So really, we didn't get much of a break! But anyway, they are only kids once, so we enjoy the time we have watching them play sports! :) 

But anyway, on to the card. :)  Here's another simple card using Paper Smooches Spiffy Scooters. I love these little scooters and it really can be used for a girl or boy, which is Great for this Card Drive! :) 

I have had a several emails from card makers, telling me that they have already gotten started on their cards, and that is Great! I'm so excited to start seeing them all! :) Don't forget to send me a link if you post them on your blog. I would like to stop by and see them and say Hi! :) Ok, well I well see ya'll tomorrow! :)

Have a Blessed weekend!,
~Winter

Happy Valentine's Day Card

Hey everybody! Well I thought I would stop in a share a card I made for the Card Drive. I actually had a little free time a few months ago and I figured I better get mine made, so I wouldn't be rushed. :) Here is one I made using Lawn Fawn's admit one.

 

Ok, well I'll be back tomorrow with another card. I hope you all are starting on your cards, as well! :)

~Winter

2014 Card Drive Sponsors

Here are the AMAZING Sponsors and Prizes! (Thanks so much, Sponsors!) I will add more as they come in.

Prize #1

(3 Spools of Divine Twine)

Prize #2

($50.00 Gift Certificate)

Prize #3

(Stamp prize package- $30.00 value)

Prize #4

(3 Stamp sets- Winners choice)


Prize #5

($30.00 Gift Certificate)


Prize #6

(1 Stamp set- Winners choice)


Prize #7

(3 Winners- 1 Stamp set- Winners choice- $40.00 value)

Prize #8

($10.00 Gift Certificate)

Prize #9

($25.00 Gift Card)

Prize #10

($40.00 Store Credit)

Prize #11

(2 Winners- 1 Year digital magazine subscription)

Prize #12

(1 Free 8X10 Picture Canvas- Free shipping to US) 

(excluding Alaska & Hawaii)

Prize #13

(2 Winners- $25.00 Gift Certificates each)

Prize #14

(Close to My Heart package)

donated by Liz Fry

www.lizfry.ctmh.com


Prize #15

(Close to My Heart rub-on's package)
donated by Debbie Pippin

"Cards from the Heart Card Drive" 2014

Happy New Year! :)

It's time for the 5th Annual Valentine's Day Card Drive!

It's my Blogs 5th year anniversary this month, and I don't know a better way to celebrate it, but having another Card Drive for all those precious kids on Valentine's Day! I will be collecting cards for many Hospitals and hope to add more! :)
Last year's Card Drive was a HUGE success! We collected 2,745 cards and sent them to 12 hospitals, 1 foster home, and to 1 family in a tragic car accident ! Praying that this year is just as good or better! :)

As always, here are some of the guidelines from the hospital's and a few of mine. (Please read carefully.)
* Cards need to be a Valentine theme.
* Cards can't have anything about 'Get Well Soon', 'Feel Better', or anything reminding them of being sick. (Only Valentine Cards)
* Please make cards that can be used for any gender or age. (This could be a little tricky, but I think you can handle it!) :)
* No buttons or anything that can be pulled off and become a choking hazard.
* Cards MUST be able to fit into a 4 1/2 X 5 3/4 envelope (A2 size, but can be smaller, just not bigger). I CANNOT use them if they are bigger! (I will provide clear envelopes for each card, so there is no need to send one with your card.) The clear envelopes make it easier when they hand them out to the kids.
* You can include a message in the inside, but please remember, nothing reminding them of being sick. (Maybe just a Valentine sentiment.) You can also sign your first name and what state you are from.
*I will be excepting cards for the whole month of January. ( Jan. 1 - Jan. 31, Please don't send any after that, because I have to send them off so they will get to the hospitals in time for Valentine's Day.) At the end of the month, I will draw names for prizes.The more cards you send, the more times your name goes into the drawing to win prizes. Let your kids get involved too! I will be adding more prizes and sponsors, often.  :)
* Please send a piece of paper with your name, address, email address, and the amount of cards you sent. (It will help when I have the drawings.) A lot of the prizes will be sent from the sponsor, so I NEED to have your email address for sure!
*Please send cards to me at:

Winter Sims
"Cards from the Heart Card Drive"
P.O. Box 754
Warren, TX 77664

* If anyone wants to donate a prize for the drawings, please email me with the details at wintersims1@aol.com .
*You are welcome to use the Card Drive badge on your blog to spread the word, just remember to save it to your computer first.

I know it seems like there are A LOT of rules, but they are the hospital's rules and we want to obey them, to keep the kids safe. So I hope you will join us again for another great year and help us put some smiles on those sweet kids faces on Valentines Day! :)
Go here to check out the Sponsors and Prizes.

If you have any questions, please just send me and email at:

wintersims1@aol.com

Have a Blessed New Year!,

~Winter