Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Teapotter's Surprise!!!

Oh my gosh!! It was like pulling teeth to get all these photos uploaded. I've been having connection issues. It took three days, but they're all here now. It took another week or so to catch up on all the typing!!!

Back in September, Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge was to use anything we wanted to make our cards pretty. That challenge was sort of linked to a card drive that Cammie (Carolyn King) has every year to honor Alzheimer's care givers. For our challenge cards, we could send them to the facility Cammie suggested, we could send them to someone we knew who was a care giver, or we could send them to the Arbors Memory Care facility in Sparks, Nevada, which is where I take my mom for respite care because she has Alzheimer's Dementia. Anyway, Cindy (Mothermark) collected 39 cards from the tea potters and sent them to ME because I'm a care giver!!!
This photo (above) shows the box of cards, the goodies Cindy added (package of bling, two stamps, a butterfly punch and snowflake socks) PLUS a cashier's check for over $400!!! They took up a collection to send me some money to provide some respite care!! I'll be able to take my mom to the Arbors for five days and have enough to pay for what the Alzheimer's Assn. doesn't pay out of their grant. I'm going to save it for April when my son has Spring Break. I'll even have enough left over so we can stay in a hotel for a day or so!!!

This card is the first one I opened because Cindy said "Open this first." Cindy explained what all the cards were for and about the check and extra goodies. Isn't this a masterpiece?!!! I wish you could see these cards in real life. They are all so lovely. Cindy outdid herself with this one though!!

This one is from Phyllis Long (SparklePlenty1000). She has a blog with a weekly sketch challenge. That's where I got the "Remarkables" award. She always makes such beautiful cards!! This one has glitter, pearls, punched borders and cut out and popped up flowers!! Wow!! She wrote two Bible verses inside for me to look up. What a sweet lady!!

This one is from LilLuvsStampin. Charlene always makes awesome cards. I wonder if Cindy sent her this Tea Time set for running one of the challenges while Cindy was away. It's an awesome card and had a sweet note inside!!
I knew as soon as I saw this card that it was from my friend patsmethers. She makes the most beautiful corsages on her cards! I have met Pat and spent a day in Grass Valley, CA, with her. She and another SCS Stamper will be going there next May, so I will drive up there and see them both. I've only met a couple of the tea potters in real life. That's what makes all these cards and the donation even more amazing! Most of these wonderful people have never even met me!!! Online friends really can be like family!!!

This one was made by irishgreensue. I know her name is Sue, but I like to call her Greenie! We've gotten to know each other through emails. She's the one that's coming out west in May, so I will get to meet her in person then. She did the polished stone technique on this beauty and used Dazzling Diamonds on the flowers and "Dreams". My photography just doesn't do any of these cards justice!

This one was made by Schirmcat. She made this one for me to send to whomever I wish. I wish you could see the dimension with the layers on the flower. It's really lovely!

This card is from Schirmcat, too. This little card she made for me. She had a sweet note inside and told me about the extra card for me to send. That card is shown above this one. I just love this little card! There was some fussy cutting done here with that basket and the flowers!
This one is from Mutnik. Cathy is so talented! She should start her own stamp company because she draws most of her own images!! Isn't this awesome?!!!

This is from mnfroggie. Looks like Trina is another Stampin' Up! person. That's definitely SU! paper, ribbon, stamps and border punch!! It all came together for a lovely card!!

ConnieJo9 created this awesome beauty. She stamped, colored, embossed and added bling! I love it! I'm going to CASE this one!!
#1volunteer sent this one. Mary uses SU! products, too. I wonder how many of the tea potters are demos. I have this set, so I can CASE this one, too. I love how she did the butterfly with the ribbon around it!!

Broom made this one. Hilda is so talented and so sweet. She wrote such a sweet note. Don't you just love all the fussy cutting she did on this one?!!!

Triasimite is such a cute screen name! Bev is a very talented stamper, too. I liked what she did with that border punch so much that I went and bought one for me!!! LOL! Yes, addicted to punches!! Don't you just love that bunny image, too!!!

cookiebaker is definitely one of God's children. Her note to me was kind of like a prayer; it was so touching. I love this simple layout and how she used the border punch. It looks like she used Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip; so pretty!

cmsuto made this beautiful autumn card. Carla is another very talented stamper. I love this layout and her use of the papers!! Look at those tiny buttons; they match!!

Celisa is such a kind person! She made this awesome card for me with a nice note inside. Later, when our TPT challenge was a black and white card or card base, she made a card, printed a picture of the teapot, printed out Cindy's story, bought flowers and actually went to visit the recipient in the assisted care facility!! Now, that's thoughtfulness, kindness and Godliness!!!

This one is from Garden Diva. Tina did such a beautiful job coloring and adding glitter to this pretty tea cup. My friends even commented on how beautiful this card is!

wannabcre8ive is one of my best friends online. Shirley is the leader of the Twisted Sistahs. We call her the bus driver. I should have known that she would be involved in this and make such and awesome card for me!

Clyndago made this one. Lynda used a card base that has writing around the edges. It says, "Life is a bowl of cherries, Live Laugh Love." I love all the distressing and the great embellishments. It's kind of patriotic, vintage and girly all rolled into one awesome card!

hskelly made this lovely card. Harriet even matched the little pearls to the ribbon!! How did she know that, after lavender roses, my favorite flower is the sunflower!! Great layout, too!!

tracim made this one. Traci used SU! products for her card, too. Here's another case where I have the stamp set but never came up with anything so nice as this to do with it!!

101Airborne is the one who made this beauty. Kathy even typed up a letter telling me how they all came to making cards for me and that she's keeping my mom and me in her prayers. What a sweetheart! This card can be masculine OR feminine; I like that!!!

Catgondek made this card in yellow hues. How cheerful! I like the way she used that punch without going from end to end. That's kind of neat!! She wants me to reuse this card, but I don't know if I can part with it!!

Lisa Lara sent me this cute Halloween card. Oh, those jack-o-lanterns are so funny! She put them on the envelope too! Simple but effective, and I just love it!!

Cammie made this one. Carolyn King is her name, and she really started this whole thing. She has a blog and does an annual card drive for Alzheimer's care givers. She was featured in two paper craft magazines this year! She does the card drive because her grandmother had Alzheimer's and really appreciates what the care givers have to do. She gave an address of a facility in Pennsylvania where people could send cards and suggested that you send cards to other care givers as well. Cindy posted the address where I take my mom for respite care, but I didn't expect all the tea partiers to send ME cards too!!!

Here's another one with SU! products. It's from pidgesmom. I like how Lorraine stamped, colored and embossed the main image. She also used three different SU! ribbons on this!

Isn't this just gorgeous?!!! flowergal36 made it. Dawn used some shiny textured card stock for the base and machine stitched the green layer! I love the big image and how beautifully she colored it. She did more stitching on the panel beneath the main image panel. Gosh, this is beautiful!!

Maxell made this one in blues. Bev and I must have started on SCS around the same time I think. She does such beautiful work. She sent a sweet note and she mentioned that her brother-in-law has Alzheimer's Dementia, too.
Vickydee made this cheerful card. It looks like Vicki did some clear embossing. You can't see it, but those flowers and even the polka dots are shiny. Her father just passed away in August. He had Parkenson's Disease as well as Alzheimer's.

APandi made this one in pink, ivory and browns. It looks so delicate. Marilynn did some fussy cutting on that flower and the birdie as well as the pretty butterfly! I love all the SPARKLE!!!

Francie G made this big square card. Fran used clear embossing on those flowers. They shine so pretty! I love the paper under the popped up panel, too. There's lots of texture and dimension here!!

jojot made this beautiful Asian card. It looks like Joanne embossed a metal sheet for this one. I have the silhouette stamp, but I don't have that bamboo. This card is just gorgeous in real life! I love Asian cards!!!

cook22 made this one. Sabrina is in Ireland!!! Yes, this one came from a long ways away!!! It looks like the flourish is actually made of wood and she put glitter all around the edges of the flower petals. It's a beauty for sure and it came from so far away!!

I Love Rubber is the screen name of the lady who made this beautiful card. Elizabeth included and lovely letter telling me about her grandmother when she was alive and living in an assisted care facility. Her mother is 86 now, and she plans on having her move in with her when that time comes. The background is embossed in silver and there's lots of glitter and bling here.

philsmom made this flower pot slider card. I've made these too, but mine never turned out a beautiful as this!! Fran used lots more flowers, and the centers of each one is a rhinestone brad. There's even a pretty dragonfly on this!!

Foxy67 sent me this adorable Halloween card. Pat made that pumpkin look pretty artsy!! I love the color combo on this one, too. In Pat's note, she mentioned that she just lost a friend to cancer and was with her every day at the end. She knows how stressful a care giver's life can be.

knurse sent this tropical delight. Who would have thought that embossed black textured card stock could look so awesome?!! Sheri did!! I love those colorful flowers!! Sheri also included a sweet note.

Yo Sam sent this one. Shelly is another talented stamper. I wish I knew where she got that cute snail image!! It's so adorable, and her coloring is just awesome!! I like the background paper too!!This card from Joan Ervin came after all the others. It seems it got lost in the shuffle somehow. After seeing all the other cards posted to my 'RAKs from Teapotters" Album on SCS, she contacted Cindy (Mothermark) about it. Cindy found it and got it into the mail right away. It included an envelope with cash too!!! I love the crocheted flower with the button center and that beautiful paper! Everything is so well coordinated!

Well, it took me from October 26th to November 6th to complete this post!!! I do so appreciate all 39 of the cards, all the notes and letters, the money everyone chipped in for payment of respite care, but most of all, I appreciate all the love and kindness from my online friends, most of whom I've never met in person!!!

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