Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness

Hello and welcome to the Light It Up Blue For Autism Awareness Blog Hop! As a social worker, I knew that I had to join in on raising awareness for autism. 

 

Autism Speaks shares a lot of information about autism. You can register on their website to officially participate in shining a light on autism! 

According to Autism Society:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability; signs typically appear during early childhood and affect a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others. ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum condition” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause of autism, but increased awareness and early diagnosis and intervention and access to appropriate services/supports lead to significantly improved outcomes. Some of the behaviors associated with autism include delayed learning of language; difficulty making eye contact or holding a conversation; difficulty with executive functioning, which relates to reasoning and planning; narrow, intense interests; poor motor skills’ and sensory sensitivities. Again, a person on the spectrum might follow many of these behaviors or just a few, or many others besides. The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is applied based on analysis of all behaviors and their severity.

In March 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued their ADDM autism prevalence report. The report concluded that the prevalence of autism had risen to 1 in every 68 births in the United States – nearly twice as great as the 2004 rate of 1 in 125 – and almost 1 in 54 boys. The spotlight shining on autism as a result has opened opportunities for the nation to consider how to serve families facing a lifetime of supports for their children. In June 2014, researchers estimated the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism is as great as $2.4 million. The Autism Society estimates that the United States is facing almost $90 billion annually in costs for autism. (This figure includes research, insurance costs and non-covered expenses, Medicaid waivers for autism, educational spending, housing, transportation, employment, related therapeutic services and caregiver costs.)

Know the signs: Early identification can change lives

Autism is treatable. Children do not “outgrow” autism, but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention lead to significantly improved outcomes. For more information on developmental milestones, visit the CDC’s “Know the Signs. Act Early” site.

Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language
• Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects

© Autism Speaks

We have so many fantastic sponsors that have shown their support for Autism Awareness and you can see the complete list here. If you would like a chance to win a prize from one of these fabulous companies, leave a comment on this blog and any of the other blogs participating in today's hop! Winners will be chosen at random and will be announced on Monday, April 6. Now here is the card I created for today's hop! 

I created a cute layered card with Panda Can't Even and Building Blocks. 

Since I have a lot of pattern paper, I felt that I could use a few of them and this actually came together quite accidentally. Many things in my scrap bin are die-cut pieces, like the cloud and circles. The panda was stamped in Hero Arts black dye ink and then stamped again in Versamark and heat embossed with Hero Arts clear embossing powder for a glossy look. The labels were die-cut from the Building Blocks dies. I took "omg" from Panda Can't Even and "you're amazing just the way you are" from Building Blocks. The heart was from the panda set. My finishing touch included Smarty Pants and Lemon Chiffon sequins from The Ton.  

Thanks for visiting! Remember, you have until Friday night to comment on The Ton's Blog Hop & Bauble Giveaway!!

Linking this to the following challenge:
Virginia's View Challenge #14: Layers and Dimensions
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Pastel 

Sparkle & Shine

Good morning! I have a fabulous post today featuring stamps and sequins from The Ton! My project includes layered stamping from Round Diamonds. I would love for you to visit their blog to see this post, share with friends, and spread some love! Feel free to use the social media icons at the bottom of this entry to share/repost! ♡ ♡ ♡

For my first card, I tried some masking with the gem outline stamps and did some watercoloring with Distress Ink markers in Pickled Raspberry, Mustard Seed, and Evergreen Bough on watercolor cardstock. I added a top layer using some Gansai Tambi watercolors. I added a bunch of splatters using the same Distress Ink colors from ink pads and stamped "you are a rock" in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink since it is waterproof. Of course, I added matching color sequins. I finished it off with some Wink of Stella in clear!

Can you see the shine?

For my second card, I decided to tone it down and use neutral colors. I created a multiple circles shaker card filled with Shotgun Gray and black sequins. The gems were stamped using Hero Arts Mid-Tone Shadow Ink in Charcoal and Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I separated the "sparkle more & shine bright" sentiments and stamped them on opposite sides.

I finished it off with Glass Slippers sequins in different sizes and more Wink of Stella. It works so well with these gems since gems sparkle, right?! :)

You can find all the sequins here! There are so many different colors and sizes.

The Ton is available on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Please SUBSCRIBE for details! As I mentioned before, we have some great news to share a few weeks so stay tuned!

I can't believe I've had over 10,000 views on my blog. That's so exciting! Currently there's a giveaway on my Instagram. I wish I could do it more often but shipping adds up for an unemployed student :) Happy crafting, my friends!

Linking this to the following challenge: 

Addicted to CAS Challenge #57 

Simon Says Stamp Monday: No Rules

MarkerPop Challenge #63: Bright Colors 

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 5: Spring into Action

Papertrey Ink's Day 5 Challenge asks us to spring into action - use a new set!

Here's one of my tags from the previous batch, using a set I just started inking, Movers & Shakers Sentiments. Don't you love this?? I want to give something like this to all my friends! The sequins are stamped using WPlus9's Little Bits:

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 4: Build a Bouquet

Papertrey Ink's Day 4 Challenge consists of building a bouquet.

Here's my card, using Mini Blooms:

The beautiful purple sequins around the card can be found at The Ton.

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 3: Gift Tags

Papertrey Ink's Day 3 Challenge asked us to create matching tags with gift bags. I don't have any gift bag but I took a plain gift box with a birthday present inside and added some colorful twine to it. Here's one of the tags I came up with:

And, of course, since inspiration comes and goes, I decided to make a bunch of tags and bookmarks while I was at it. :) I LOVE this bookmark die and the basic bookmark 3 die. They can still be used as tags, right?! I'll be giving these to friends with gifts. :) I played around with so many different stamp sets: Big Hugs, The Sweet Life, Mehndi Medallions Mini, Wet Paint, Wet Paint III, and Movers & Shakers Sentiments. I bought the tassels from this Etsy shop. 

The sentiments below are from Neat & Tangled Everyday Labels and Technique Tuesday Labels by Ali Edwards.

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 2: Maile Balles

Papertrey Ink's second challenge is inspired by a returning design team member named Maile Balles.

I CASED from this post of hers. :) Very clean and simple cards for me!

Their second challenge can be found here with the rules.

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

PTI Anniversary Challenge Day 1: DT Inspiration

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 8th anniversary this year with daily challenges this month leading to their February release countdown until release day, which is the 15th. I am so excited! I did find some time to create a few cards and am showing you the one I made using this sketch and color combo:

Their first challenge, inspired by the fabulous design team members, can be found here. All the rules can be found there. I'll be back with more cards! 

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red + Pink

Love Songs + Winners

As you may already know, I'm busy with school. I squeezed in the time to make some love-you cards. It's such a great feeling when others like your work enough to want to buy it. A huge thank you to those who understand the value of a handmade card and also get me enough to know that I totally undercharge for my cards ❤

This adorable card has already been given away :-) Sometimes I come back to older stamp sets - they don't go out of style for me. 

It wasn't too hard to make. I just want to add in that eventually I have lots of plans for my blog, which includes a whole new domain and look for the site, more detailed entries with step-by-step instructions on how I created my cards, and a weekly series. It's hard right now with school but I hope you stick around long enough to watch where I take my work :-) 

The winner for my personal giveaway has already been contacted. Using random.org, the winner was Barb Macaskill. Congratulations!

The winner for the Blog Hop, Skip and Jump sponsored by The Ton has been announced on their blog. Thanks so much to everyone who participated and shared with friends. We truly appreciate your support! 

Linking this to the following challenge:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: H is for hearts!
7KidsCollegeFund Challenge: Anything Goes
Virginia's View Challenge #12: Shaker Cards

Stars and Heroes + GIVEAWAY

Long post ahead plus giveaway details at the end. Today, I'm sharing cards I created using Mama Elephant's most recent release: Tiny Heroes and Shooting Star. Aren't they adorable? It took me a long time to just color all the characters with Copic markers and finally some cards came together. I still have a lot of the pieces left, which means I can make more cards later! Yay!

I think I struggle most with coloring skin and hair. I did take Copic Markers for Cardmakers by Online Card Classes but didn't get to practice as much yet.

I used distress inks to create these backgrounds.

For the background above, I used Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord, and Victorian Velvent.

For this background, I used Squeezed Lemonade, Victorian Velvet, and Shaded Lilac.

My inspiration for all of these cards came from the recent Mama Elephant stampede/release from their design team. So much fun!! These are the cards I created with Tiny Heroes:

I added sequins that matched the gorgeous backgrounds. I will link to all the colors below. 

And here are the cards I created using Shooting Star stamp set. 

I love the contrast of the background for this one. 

Aren't those sequin colors gorgeous?!? I love how they match the background and the girl's dress.

Yes, I decided to go with pink clouds. They came out so cute. Love, love love! 

Everything goes with black. This soft pink is out of this world!!!

Ohmagawd, even I'm amazed at how this background came out. I added Hero Arts Unicorn White Ink Spray and MFT Mix-Ables Sheer Shimmer Mist to add more pop. What do you think?? 

She's like me - just sitting in the clouds, lost in thought. ;-) I know, I know. Generally, people make and post one card. I don't even get to take pictures of all the cards I create, but February will be an extremely busy month for me so I'm getting as many done now as I can while I have my creativity in full mode. 

All the sequins I used were from The Ton. They carry A LOT of colors so do check them out! Sequins are available in 4mm-10mm and mix sized packages as well. Colors I used included: Matte Gold, My Tutu, Bermuda Blue, Light Amethyst, Light Plum, Pixie Pink, and Yellow Belly. More will be coming to the site soon. Be sure to check in on Monday for our small blog hop and another giveaway sponsored by The Ton. 

They have exclusive mixes in stock as well. The Gala Invitation Couture Mix: 

The Evening Shoot Couture Mix: 

Check out my design team posts from earlier this week, featuring Shoes Wardrobe, Sketchy Menagerie, and planner set Scheduled! I'll be featuring Round Diamonds and Vintage Frames on Monday. :-) 

Now for the best part. As promised, here's my giveaway in celebration of six months of papercrafting!!! I really appreciate all the new followers, your love and support, all the encouragement, and overall warmth of the crafting community. You're ALL rockstars. Thank you for everything. I LOVE all the comments. Wink, wink. :-)

Here's the prize package:

I will add in an assortment of embellishments and other goodies plus a card by yours truly! Only U.S. residents are eligible since I cannot afford international shipping right now, but I still appreciate you all! In order to be eligible to win: 

» 1. Leave a comment on this blog post «
» 2. Share this post on Facebook and leave a comment below that you shared «
» 3. Tweet about this post on Twitter and leave a comment below that you shared «
» 4. Repost my IG post about this entry on Instagram and tag me @rubznaz «
» 5. Subscribe to my blog and leave a comment below that you subscribed « (or that you already are subscribed - but let me know if it's by e-mail, Bloglovin' or Blogger)

Each action qualifies for one entry, max 5 entries per person! You will have until Wednesday, February 4 11:59 p.m. and winner will be announced by Friday, February 6. Good luck to everyone and thank you for visiting! ♥

Linking to the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Up in the Clouds
The Card Concept: Challenge #27 Love (mixed media)