The DAY we've all been waiting for!

Good morning, crafty peeps!

How awesome is today?  

World Card-making Day, celebrating the kindness and creativity reflected in our hobby.

As I scan through my blog feed, I'm seeing several blog hops commemorating the occasion with very worthy causes. Check out HERE and HERE.

Today also appropriately marks the kick-off for The Caring Hearts Drive 2016.

I'm attaching details from Vera Yates' post. There's lots to read, so grab a beverage, sit back and read on...

2016 marks the 7th year for our annual Caring Hearts Card Drive. Its purpose is to collect hand-made holiday greeting cards for the elderly living in nursing homes. The card drive was begun in 2010, to honor Vera's mom's request. That first year,  750 cards were collected; each year since, the drive has grown. Last year, over 22,000 cards were received and distributed to 96 nursing homes in the States, 15 in Australia, 16 in Canada. The drive creators, Vera Yates and Jennifer McGuire, are excited to continue bringing holiday cheer. This year, the drive is branching out to the United Kingdom. 

The holidays are about family, kindness, and joy. During this time of year, many elderly nursing-home residents can feel lonely, missing their families. What better way to bring a smile to their faces & brighten their holiday season, than by sharing our love of card making? A simple gesture letting them know that they are not forgotten, that someone still thinks of them. We all love making cards and what’s better than knowing that our creations have brought a smile? 

 Here's how to participate:  - 

• The card drive runs from October 1 to November 25, 2016.  Your cards need to be received by November 25, 2015, so plan accordingly when sending them in.
•  Please make the cards for Christmas or Holiday Wishes. (For those sending cards within Canada, French sentiments are appreciated, too.) Anyone can send a card, your children, church groups, scout troops, etc. 
• All cards must have a message inside (it can be stamped or hand written) from the sender. Please sign your name and include where you are from. Part of the fun for the recipients is receiving cards from different part of the country and the world!
• Please include an envelope for each card and please don't seal the envelope.  
• Cards should be standard size (A2 or 4-1/4" x 5-1/2") as this helps in packing them more efficiently.
• Please don't use any pins (for safety reason). Glitter and glitz on the other hand, most welcome!

• This next is totally optional, but if you'd like to include $1 or $2 to help with shipping, it is much appreciated. We cover the shipping costs ourselves, without sponsorship, so any donation toward shipping helps tremendously. Some card-makers send stamps vs dollars through the mail. 
• Please send cards to the collection address nearest you.

• For the USA, you can mail the cards to: 
• Vera Yates, 1314 Roy St., Houston, TX 77007 
•  Tina Schrof , 185 W. Pugh Drive, Springboro, OH 45066 
• Lynn Reloza, 3353 Cimmarron Road, Cameron Park, CA 95682  

• For Australia: 
• Linda Langes, c/o Gilston State School, 588 Worongary Road, GILSTON QLD 4211, Australia 
• Deb McCleary, PO Box 213, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia  

• For Canada: 
• Caroline Bredeson, 7 Brown Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 1L9, Canada 
• Rita Andrews, 28 West Gissing Rd, Cochrane, Alberta T4C 1L6, Canada  

• For UK/Europe: 
• Taheerah Atchia, 36 Pinewood Crescent,Orrell, Wigan, Lancashire, WN5 8NF, United Kingdom 

• In each package, PLEASE include THIS SUBMISSION FORM. This helps us in keeping track for prizes! That's right, to thank you for your generosity in sending in cards, various paper-crafting companies have donated prizes. Each card you send, enters you into a draw for a chance to win a gift. And there are many to be won :) So the more cards you send, the better your chances.  
•  To help us promote the card drive, whenever you're sharing your projects for Caring Hearts on social media, please use the hashtag #caringheartscarddrive. This drive represents part of the creators' wider goal to spread kindness and make it a trend.
• The nursing homes that we support are based on those people suggest to us. If you would like your local nursing home to receive cards from the card drive, please email Vera or Jennifer, providing the names of the nursing homes and the number of residents, so we can make sure that we send enough cards. Each year, the number of nursing homes we can support is based on the number of cards received.  
•  The prize list will be updated as more prizes come in. And huge thank you to all the fabulous, generous companies who support this card drive by donating awesome prizes.  See the complete list on Vera's blog.
• A new feature this year is a Caring Hearts Card Drive stamp set! The generous people at Sugar Pea Designs have created a whole line of goodies to help spread kindness.  20% of all sales from this collection will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association. There is a blog hop to introduce the set, with yet more prizes up for grabs. Check it out on Vera's blog HERE.

I conclude this LONG post with a few Christmas cards to get the ideas flowing. I hope to share some cards made with the Caring Hearts collection in the next few days.

 More Dazzle stickers and Simon Says greeting die, in French.

 Stamps and paper from Close to My Heart; dies from Penny Black and Paper Wishes; greeting die, Ellen Hutson.

 More Paper Wishes products.

Decorating the inside of the card adds to the fun!

Have a blast crafting today!

Caroline