"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

I {mustache} you a question! Will you be my Valentine?

Happy Valentine's Day! I wanted to stop in today and share another card drive card. I still have quite a few to share. But I really liked this one and thought I would share it on Valentine's Day! :)

And the inside.

I have been sitting here and thinking of the sweet children who are opening their Valentine cards today! It really warms my heart! :)  I have already received several letters and emails from the hospitals, saying that they LOVE the BEAUTIFUL cards and they have enjoyed looking at all of them! That should make all of us feel good! Thank you all again for an Amazing job!

Have a Blessed Valentine's Day!,
~Winter

2013 Card Drive Prize Winners

Here it goes! :)

Prize #1- Lori Tecler
(January Card Kit from Artful Delight)

                                            

Prize #2- Teresa Godines
($50.00 Gift Certificat from Lawn Fawn)

 

 



Prize #3- Helen Fournier
(3 stamp sets- winners choice from Paper Smooches)

 

 

Prize #4- Angelique van der Linden

(3 spools of Divine Twine from Whisker Graphics)

 

Prize #5- (3 winners)

- Lynnette Kauffman

- Sue Huck

- Kristin Streilein

(These 2 spools of twine in each package from The Twinery)

 



 

 

Prize #6- Connie Gessmann

(Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 Mini Deck, Straight from the Heart stamp set, Totally Happy stamp set, Warm Wishes stamp set from JenMarie Taylor)

 

 Prize #7- Lisa Petrella

 (A stamp assortment valued at $30.00 from Purple Onion Designs)

 

 

Prize #8- Thelma Orszagh 

(2 half sheet stamp sets on a cling- winner's choice from

Blockhead Stamps)

 

 

Prize #9- (2 winners)

Patty Smith

Tammie Johnson

(6 issue subscriptions to CARDS magazine from

Northridge Publishing)

 

 

 Prize #10- Carol Longacre

(3 Studio Calico Stamp sets- Labels, Time Flies, & Doilies; 1 Studio Calico Die Cuts- Unique Embellishments- donated from Debbie Harris)

 

(I will be sending emails out soon to the winners. If I do not get a reply back from the winner by next Saturday Feb. 16, I will draw another winner for that item.)

 

Thank you all again for YOUR hard work! You are all AMAZING!!! I hope that you will all join me again next year for another Great card drive for those special children! :)

God Bless you all!,

 

~Winter

2013 Card Drive Totals

Hey everybody! Well it's that time...time for the card totals! The cards came in very slow at first, but then picked up Full force toward the end! I had some come in after the deadline, so it slowed things down a little bit. I finally got them all packaged and sent off and now it's time to tell you what all of us have achieved! :)

The total for this year was 2,745 cards!!!!

All of you AMAZE me...Seriously! :) So many of you touched my heart this year! I had a couple of ladies who made some cards in memory of their children who they lost, and who had spent many of days in the hospital on Valentine's Day and knew how much the cards and gifts meant to them! :'(
This card drive has almost been a healing in some way for these ladies! That means the world to me and I'm so Thankful that I might have helped them in some way!
I was also asked to do an interview for a newspaper in Canada! How cool is that?! I sure hope it spreads the love of card making for these children, even more! :)

I'm almost done with the drawing. I'm getting all the names in the hat now! :) I have sent all the cards off! Woo Hoo! :) We were able to reach 12 hospitals, 1 foster home, and 1 family that I have been following their story on Facebook, they were in a tragic car accident and lost their mother and the daughter is in the hospital with brain injuries and many other injuries.
They were:
St. Jude Children's Hospital- TN
Texas Children's Hospital- TX
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital- TN
St. Louis Children's Hospital- MI
Shands Hospital for Children UF- FL
St. Joseph's Children's Hospital of Tampa- FL
Nationwide Children's Hospital- OH
Shriners Hospital for Children- Houston- TX
Shriners Hospital for Children- Galveston- TX
Shriners Hospital for Children- Boston- MA
Shriners Hospital for Children- Northern CA
Shriners Hospital for Children- Cincinnati- OH
Sinclair Children's Foster Home- TX
Facebook Family- TX

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH! You are all AMAZING! None of this would be possible without all of the card makers and sponsors!
And please keep all these children and their parents in your prayers, because they all need them. Thank you!
I'll be back soon with the prize winners! :)

~Winter

More cards and Another Update!

Hey everybody! Sorry for the delay in posting! As you can imagine, it's been BUSY around here! The cards decided to all come in at one time and the very end of the card drive, so that means me working nonstop! But I would rather being busy with the Card Drive, than not getting any cards, so....I'll take the busy part! :) I don't want to announce the Card Totals just yet, I had 4 more packages of cards come in today, so I'm up packaging them up at 1:00 am! :) I have already send off 2 loads of cards and I hope to get them all sent off by tomorrow. There was a delay in sending them because the cards came in later. I think there was a misunderstanding about when I needed the cards in to me. I should receive them by the 31st , not post-dated on that day. I will try and clarify everything more clearly next year. I had some cards that weren't by the rules, but I did find somewhere to send those...Thank Goodness! I will share all that info hopefully, in the next post.

I need to get back to packaging these cards. I went to my first ever exercise boot-camps today and I'm sore and tired, so I want to get in bed soon, and rest these muscles! :)

Here are a few more cards I wanted to share. The next thing on my list tomorrow, is get ready for the drawings for the prizes! I still have another prize to post on the Sponsor page too! :) So Please bare with me, if I don't post back quickly. I'm working as fast as I can! :)

Thank you all again for another Amazing Card Drive! I can't wait to tell ya'll all the totals! :)

~Winter

Card Drive Update!

Hey everybody! I wanted to stop in for a min. and give you an update on the Card Drive! The cards are starting to come in quick! :) It really overwhelms me to have SO many people want to help out these special kids! Thank you all SO much!

I wanted to share some more cards I made from the Lawn Fawn sets! I love all the smiles on her stamp sets! :) The first couple of cards are from her new set "here's the scoop". 

 

 

 

 And one of my favorite sets "my silly valentine"!

Well I need to get back to packaging cards! :)
I hope you all have a Blessed day!,

~Winter

Scooting by to say...Happy Valentine's Day Card and a Card Drive Update

Good morning! I wanted to share a couple more cards I made for the Card Drive. These stamps are from Paper Smooches and they are Adorable! Go check out their cute stamps, you will love them! :)  And Paper Smooches is one of our sponsors for the Card Drive too! Thank you SO much, Paper Smooches!

The "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment is from a Close To My Heart stamp set, I believe.

The cards are coming in Super sloooow! I have only received 156 cards and I have made 40 so far! You never know how many cards you will receive, so it's hard to promise any hospitals, until you know how many you will receive. I have 6 hospitals so far, that will accept cards. So my goal for now, is about 675. I know there are cards coming in, but if you still have cards to send or if you are thinking of not sending any, because you think we will have plenty...send them anyway! I would love to make the goal and then have more to send to more hospitals!
Remember that we only have 1 week left! Deadline is Jan. 31!
I believe it is very important to help out with Card Drives! I help out as much as I can with other ones, because I know how much it means to them, to have a successful drive! It is a lot of time and effort, but most of all, a  Blessing! I will continue to do this Card Drive, until the Lord sees fit for me not to. Even if we don't collect our goal...I will make them myself, because I feel so strongly about this Card Drive! The countless hours organizing, emails, stuffing envelopes...it's all worth it, when I receive the emails from people who encourage you to continue to send them. Parents who have children in hospitals, people have been in hospitals themselves, the hospital staff that writes letters and emails, Thanking you for all the Beautiful cards from all over the world! That is a pat on your backs, as well! Without all of you cardmakers...I would be trying to make all the cards myself and wouldn't have any sleep and a life with my family! So I Thank all of you, who take the time to share your passion and love of cardmaking!
Ok, I guess I can get off my soapbox now and go work on my new house! Thank ya'll for listening to my rambling! :) 
Today is mine and my husbands 17 year anniversary of when we started dating! :) He truly is my Best Friend and Soul Mate! Here we are at our first prom together, about 4 mths after we started dating. We were just little babies! :) 

Have a Blessed Day!,
~Winter