Thursday Thank yous

Following on from the batch I shared on Tuesday... the next batch were even cleaner and simpler... as I made 30 of these for the admins of the Supplies for Key Workers (Harrogate) Facebook Group to hand out to their key donators and delivery personnel. "Thanking it on" as I call it!

This group are amazing at co-ordinating the efforts of people, donations, fundraising, sourcing materials and the logistical arrangements (made even more difficult in the non-essential travel arena)... and I feel blessed to be a small part of the cumulative efforts it is achieving... as the old saying goes "Together we can achieve anything!" Well pretty much!

And the crafters, bakers & donators in us are certainly being able to play our part - be it sewing, papercrafts, knitting, crocheting, jewellery etc etc etc. Be it scrubs, laundry bags, masks & holders, cards, sweet treats, cakes, handwash or moisturising cream to name but a few items... all to make key workers lives that bit easier... and to help fill in some key resource gaps that are occurring...

But the tears also keep coming... not only do I find it overwhelming at what has been achieved so far ... but especially when staff at the hospital who cared for my mum last year (and that I saw day in day out for months) pop onto the group page to say thanks for the donations they have received... important all round I reckon...

Tuesday Thank Yous

Well hello! So I have still been busy creating during lockdown... mostly thank you cards to express my wishes of gratitude to many a Keyworker...

But before I start... I have just received the new 2020-2021 Annual Catalogues which will be sent out automatically to those of you ordering over £50 in the last year... but otherwise please feel free to contact me if you would like to arrange your own copy...

These were the first batch I made... which were sent to the Government cabinet ministers, our local village shop & Post Office workers, our village delivery volunteers and a Supplies for Key Workers Facebook (Harrogate Area) group I donate too... all just to thank them for the job that they do... especially in these difficult times...

I have also donated 100 cards for all occasions to the Supplies for Key Workers pop up shop at Harrogate Hospital... and the next 100 are being sorted out as we speak!

But gosh...10 days since I last blogged!!  And LOL... that sentence does sound like something you would say in a confessional!

I have to admit that things have changed during our total shielding lockdown... and lots of things are taking up a disproportionate part of my days... I am slowly getting back to a new routine... and hope to be back creating & blogging again on a more regular basis sometime soon...

SU! Supplies used
Stamps - So Sentimental (also a bundle with 10% off)

Embossing Folder - Parisian Flourish

Cardstock - Thick Whisper White, Night of Navy
Ink - Night of Navy

Birthday Bonanza #10

A Birthday Bonanza birthday card for right now-right here for you... 

The masked one...

The socially distanced one...

And note that this would be even better with one of the sentiments from the Help to Share Sunshine Covid-19 pdf as detailed here... but I made this a few weeks ago so that wasn't around then...

Masks care of the bunting dies in the Birthday Bonanza bundle... and greetings care of snipped down Label Me Bold greetings... both of which are on the Retiring List and so will be gone soon!

So... another week of lockdown for us all... and we're still all good in our "shielding bubble"... feels like a very safe place to be... albeit Groundhog Days mode!

But I definitely don't like...
(a) not being able to go see my father
(b) not being able to get out of my garden for a walk!
Oh and of course (c) having to do cleaning!!

But everything else OK in the circumstances... Though cooking, shopping and cleaning seem to have taken over pretty much all of my life!! So working on that!! And then I can be back with you a bit more again...

Help to Share Sunshine through these COVID19 days...

Oh this is something completely new...  And so for now!

You can purchase the Share Sunshine PDF Download and Stampin' Up! will donate 100% of the proceeds to COVID-19 efforts.

Stampin’ Up! is committed to making a difference in their global communities and caring about people first. 

As part of their Making a Difference programme they are offering a product giveback opportunity to support organisations that are helping COVID-19 frontline responders and communities vulnerable to the pandemic.

The Share Sunshine PDF Download is a digital stamp set that’s packed with both light-hearted and thoughtful sentiments and imagery relevant to the unique COVID-19 and social distancing times we're in... 

You can use the download in your cardmaking and all papercrafting projects. Simply print the imagery on cardstock and cut it out using our Paper Trimmer, punches, or dies. Since we are physically distanced from each other, now is a perfect time to share sunshine with our friends, family and front line and key-workers by sending cards!

Help us make a difference today! Click here (or on the BUY NOW image below)to go straight to the Share Sunshine page to purchase and download... and have some fun with some sentiments appropriate for the current situation we find ourselves in... you won't be disappointed!

The download will be charged in US dollars($12) but your financial institution will convert the charge into your currency based on current exchange rates. Which will be approx £10

Stampin’ Up! will donate all proceeds to the following global organizations to help vulnerable communities and frontline responders. 

The World Health Organization’s COVID-Solidarity Response Fund

This fund supports the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which includes:

• Tracking and understanding the spread of the virus.
• Ensuring patients get the care they need.
• Buying and shipping essential protective gear for frontline workers.
• Generating awareness for the general public on ways to prevent the spread of the disease.
• Accelerating efforts to develop vaccines, tests and treatments.

Learn more about WHO here.

United Way Worldwide’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund

This fund supports communities across the world struggling to cope with COVID-19. United Way is working to protect the most vulnerable by helping them access food, shelter, vital information, and more through United Way’s global network.

Learn more about United Way here.

Just a quick update...

I will be back very soon with crafty goodness for you ... but so much has changed over the last week and my priority has had to be family and food!

So last night I learnt that not only my husband and father... but myself too... are all in the UK defined "vulnerable adults*"... and so we are to socially distance ourselves in our homes for 12 weeks... so I should have plenty of time to do and share new crafty stuff on here as time goes by... And sort out all my retired stuff too!!! But sadly no face to face classes... which I am so going to miss....

But this week is a time for focusing on what needs to be done in the short term in these unexpected circumstances... as I thought I would be able to bomb around shopping, cooking (and delivering) for 2 households for the next 12 weeks... as I honestly think I am perfectly OK! (my radiotherapy finishing 18 months ago now and no sign of the cancer since-yay!)

But suddenly the priorities were to sort out food etc for 2 households... and to set up online food shopping going forward... To get my son back from uni safely (and then to quarantine him for a while as the Covid19 cases are relatively high where he is!) And to have DH at home full time with space for both of us to work! We failed on that one big style today... you do have to laugh! As well as a list of about 20 other smaller things!

So please bear with me a few days as I catch up with myself... I am still making/photoing and writing up the Bench Fold Card tutorials - Series Two (Dressing Tables & Desks) as the priority - and then Series Three (Windows)... and I hope that these will be available from next week... But bear in mind they take about 3 days each to do!

I have also been asked to do some UK postal kits for others like me that are having to socially distance for this extended period of time - or for people that are self isolating and need some shorter term diversion... So I will be looking into that.... but ... in the meantime... do let me know if this would be of interest to you too...

Please stay safe... and may your "set of coronavirus hurdles" be low and over sooner rather than later... Together we will get through this the best we all can...

* means people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 that Public Health England say must stay at home for 12 weeks. This in turn should help to alleviate the pressure on our NHS at this critical time... Which I am all for wholeheartedly...