If you’re visiting from Libby Hickson’s blog – welcome! If this is your first stop on the hop or you’re one of my regular readers I of course welcome you as well. Let me explain a bit about what today’s special hop is about.
Have you ever thought of giving a donation to a charity in someone else’s name, and gifting that person with the knowledge (and perhaps a physical gift) that you did good in their name? Sandy Allnock approached me with this idea, and with tying it into crafting a card or other project to go along with it, and as it is a fantastic idea – not only to give and share but also share creative ideas – I jumped right in. Visit her blog (link) for the start of the hop and more info, and at the end of my post I will share the next blogger’s addy for you to continue on this journey of inspiration.
The idea immediately got my attention because I’d never given someone else a gift in this way, but I remember as a kid getting some stationary or some such as a part of such a gift so I decided to focus on a magical girl, and a special gift. After pursuing several websites I decided on the World Wildlife Fund, and that I would do a virtual adoption. That means all the donation money would go toward the animals, though I did get a printable certificate via email to include. I like this as a personal challenge because now I would need to craft up a gift for my recipient myself.
I decided to go with a magical creature via WWF (Narwhal – here’s a link), and to create a 4×4 canvas piece that she can hang in her room to remember this gift and special occasion. As this is one of the most magical girls I know, I figured (correctly) she’d love every aspect of this from knowing she’s helping animals to having her own custom artwork.
To create a canvas piece like mine it really is quite simple! Mine is 4″ square and you’ll want to use a canvas, wood block, or other similar piece.
- Coat the front in gesso and let it fully dry. This will give you a great base to work on.
- Stamp (archival ink) your image(s). I used the Lawn Fawn Narwhal stamp.
- Color with ink, watercolor, sprays, or whatever you like! I used clean color pens and a water brush and then flicked with Heidi Swapp gold mist.
- Add any embellishments desired. I went with some sticker word strips and sequins. It didn’t need much!
Scared of messing it up? Don’t be!! If you’re working with any kind of watercolor or water reactive medium you can spritz heavily with water and wash it away to begin again. If you truly mess it up rinse with water as best as you can to remove any color that will come off, then follow up with a fresh coat of gesso or two.
This is a project any of us can do, in any format or theme. If you want you could stamp in layers (on paper) and build a more dimensional project. I love the metallic sparkle and dreaminess of this peaceful narwhal stamped just so to be the center of attention. Once done I added a note about how magical she is, and what had been done in her name along with the certificate.
Let’s just say, it’s already on the wall and a big hit. Thank you so much Sandy, for reminding us this is a wonderful option to gift + do good, as well as bringing the crafty element into this. She’s also arranged for some fantastic prizes (see below), so check her original blog post for even more info as well. The next stop on the blog hop is: Cindy Lawrence
PRIZES: 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 announced on Sandy’s blog on Thursday March 23, along with a total amount we’ve raised together!
