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jessica frost-ballas

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Charity Bloghop (+GIVEAWAYS!)

18 Mar

Good morning!  I’m very excited to be a part of an unusual blog hop hosted by the fabulous Sandy Allnock!  The idea behind this hop is to bring awareness to the countless wonderful charities and causes that offer “gifts” that you can purchase in honor of a friend or family member and share how you can create a card to go with your gift.  I chose Defenders of Wildlife and I symbolically adopted a sea otter in honor of my mom (hopefully she won’t see this post before Mother’s Day!).  My donation will support the work to educate people about the need to protect sea otters and to help local communities and the fishing industry live in harmony with these animals. It will also continue efforts to protect sea otters and their habitat from the threat of oil spills.

When I was a child we lived in Monterey for a few years and my mom and I used to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium once (or twice) a week and my favorite animals were the sea otters!  I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever actually seen baby otters riding on their mom’s bellies or if the image is just in my head from magazines (anyone else remember Zoobooks?!) and nature documentaries but that’s the iconic image in my head whenever I think of sea otters.  My mom is also a big fan of the Monterey Bay sea otters so I thought this would be a perfect Mother’s Day gift for her!

When you adopt a sea otter through Defenders of Wildlife you have an option to receive a stuffed animal with your donation.  I chose to forgo the stuffed animal in order to maximize my donation but it would be perfect for a young child!  You receive an adoption certificate, a photo of an otter, and a nice little hardcover folder to hold everything.  Your recipient will also receive a letter that explains your donation and what it will support.  I happened to have a sea otter stuffed animal that I used for a prop in my photo but it does not come with the adoption. 😉

So I decided to make a fairly simple card to go with my gift…just a little distress ink blending and a super cute pair of otters!

I stamped the otters and heart from Mama Elephant’s Otterly Adorable with copic friendly black ink and colored them with copic markers before die-cutting them with the coordinating dies.

Next I blended chipped sapphire distress ink onto a piece of distress watercolor paper and salty ocean distress ink onto another piece.  Then I flicked water onto the panels and  I used dies from the Landscape Trio to create waves.  I stamped the sentiment from Ellen Hutson’s Otterly Awesome (I’m totally loving the current otter trend!) with versamark and heat-embossed it with white embossing powder.  Finally I blended a background using shaded lilac, picked raspberry, and spun sugar distress ink.  I wanted to keep the card fairly flat so it would fit inside the folder so I used regular ATG adhesive to adhere everything together.  Much more CAS than my usual designs but I think it’s perfect for this occasion and I’m pretty sure my mom will love it!

giveaway

Awesome companies are helping inspire you to hop along and leave comments on all the blogs – Altenew ($30), Lawn Fawn ($50), My Favorite Things ($25), and Ellen Hutson ($25)!  Be sure to go say thanks to them on their social media for helping get the word out about giving…and leave comments by Wednesday March 22. Winners will be randomly chosen from the comments and announced on Sandy’s blog on Thursday March 23, along with a total amount we’ve raised together!

You should have arrived from Aimes’ blog and the Ellen Hutson blog is your next stop!  I’ve included a full list of all the hop stops in case you get lost!

  • Sandy Allnock  
  • Lisa Stein
  • Caryn Davies
  • Carly Tee Minner
  • May Sukyong Park
  • Lisa Spangler
  • Aimes Gray
  • Jessica Frost-Ballas –> You are here!
  • Ellen Hutson
  • Julia Stainton
  • Emily Midgett
  • Taheerah Atchia
  • Joanne Soukup
  • Melissa Miller
  • Libby Hickson
  • May Flaum
  • Cindy Lawrence

Thanks so much for visiting today and have a wonderful weekend!  If this is your first time visiting my blog I hope you’ll come back!  You can subscribe via the sidebar or visit me on instagram or youtube!  Happy hopping!
suppliesInterested in the products I used?  To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases help keep my blog running and I thank you for the support!)

Mama Elephant Clear Stamp OTTERLY ADORABLE
Mama Elephant OTTERLY ADORABLE DIE Creative Cuts Steel Dies
Mama Elephant Clear Stamp and Die MEPT320 Otterly Adorable
Mama Elephant LANDSCAPE TRIO Creative Cuts Steel Dies
Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps, Otterly Awesome By Julie Ebersole
Copic Markers
Tim Holtz 8.5 X 11 DISTRESS WATERCOLOR CARDSTOCK Ranger TDA53927
Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets
Ranger MINI ROUND INK BLENDING TOOLS IBT40965
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad SALTY OCEAN Ranger TDP40132
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad CHIPPED SAPPHIRE Ranger TDP39907
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad SHADED LILAC Ranger TDP40170
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad SPUN SUGAR Ranger TDP40194
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad PICKED RASPBERRY Ranger TDP40088
3M Scotch PINK ATG ADVANCED TAPE GLIDER 0.25 Inch Adhesive Glue Gun
EK Success POWDER TOOL Applicator 54-04002
Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark VM-001
Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER WHITE Fine Detail WhiteEP2
Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun Hero Arts PW200 Wagner
InLinkz.com


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Comments:
115 Comments
Categories:
bloghop, card-making, crafting
Tags:
copic, distress ink, ellen hutson, mama elephant

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Comments

  1. John K. says

    March 18, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    Really great blending. I love simple images with a great background like that. The otter stamp is great I need to buy it now lol. Thanks for sharing and for the chance to win!

    Reply
  2. Nancy Wilcox says

    March 18, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    What a wonderful idea for a blog hop! Love the card.

    Reply
  3. hobbitnoll says

    March 18, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    This is stunning!! I love the blending you did on this card. That otter is adorable!!

    Reply
  4. Barb Barnes says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    Love this, Jess! Such a cute card and important charity. And I love the Monterey Bay Aquarium otters as well!

    Reply
  5. Marsha D says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    So very cute – the card and the stuffed animal!

    Reply
  6. Conil says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    The card, of course, is simply adorable and indicative how the sea otter lives. But the sweet gift you’ve given your Mom is probably the best part and the bloghop premise is a terrific idea.

    Reply
  7. maryanne says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:25 pm

    very nicely done.

    Reply
  8. Lorie Bradberry says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    Cute card, I love sea otters too!

    Reply
  9. Pam Wells says

    March 18, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    Thank you for participating in the charity blog hop! So cute!

    Reply
  10. kjudy1 says

    March 18, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    This is a great card and charity. Thank you for participating in this charity blog hop.

    Reply
  11. Sue LD says

    March 18, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    Sweet otter card and love the prop!

    Reply
  12. Barbara J. says

    March 18, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    Monterey Bay is one my favorite places and I love the idea of adopting an otter, thanks for the idea.

    Reply
  13. liblady1 says

    March 18, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    Very cute card!

    Reply
  14. Ruth Carnes says

    March 18, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    Your otter card is so sweet! I’m sure your mom will love it!

    Reply
  15. Miriam Leech says

    March 18, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    Fabulous blog hop! I know your mom will love her gift! I LOVED the turtle nest my boys adopted for me last year! Looking forward to reading about the other charities!!! Thanks for sharing your adorable card!

    Reply
  16. Kristy says

    March 18, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    I love otters and own an otter stamp set too. Thanks for donating to their cause.

    Reply
  17. Melissa Miller says

    March 18, 2017 at 3:59 pm

    Your card is absolutely adorable, Jessica!! I hope your mom doesn’t see it so she’ll be surprised for Mother’s Day. 🙂

    Reply
  18. Ann Kowalczyk says

    March 18, 2017 at 4:04 pm

    Nice touch with the subtle sentiment…

    Reply
  19. Hannah Rubenstahl says

    March 18, 2017 at 4:13 pm

    I LOVE sea otters! Having grown up in California I’ve been to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium several times. 😀

    Reply
  20. Lynda J says

    March 18, 2017 at 4:36 pm

    Love your colors!

    Reply
  21. Mary-Anne V. says

    March 18, 2017 at 5:00 pm

    Honestly I dont know what is cuter the gorgeously coloured sea otters on your card or the stuffed animals! Wonderful!

    Reply
  22. dmc4042 says

    March 18, 2017 at 5:13 pm

    I love that you made a card to match your charity! Great card and great cause!

    Reply
  23. Preeti D. says

    March 18, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    beautiful work 🙂 love the color blending

    Reply
  24. Carolee McCaslin says

    March 18, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    Your card is ADORABLE!!!! I love otters too:)

    Reply
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    March 18, 2017 at 12:36 pm

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I design for several companies because I truly love their products! Anything I recommend on my blog is something that I genuinely love and regularly use. I do not get paid for product reviews and I will never recommend a product that I do not like or would not use.

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You can find my full disclosure as well as a list of the companies I am affiliated with HERE. Thank you so much for supporting me!

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