Tag Archive for: awareness ribbon

Epilepsy Awareness Month Project

Did you know that Epilepsy Awareness Month is November? Join me as I create an Epilepsy Awareness Month Project which is an Epilepsy Awareness Card. My son’s girlfriend is studying to be a nurse. Unfortunately, she has first hand experience with Epilepsy as her brother has epilepsy.

I thought it would be a good idea to create awareness for this very important cause. One of the things that I learned is do not put anything in or around their mouth.

They will not choke on their tongue. Years ago I remember hearing that. It probably started years back when we weren’t educated about this condition and that is why I wanted to share it with you. I found a lot of helpful information here. Educate yourself so that you can be prepared if you need to be a helping hand when someone is having a seizure.

Are you ready to start the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project? Let’s get started.

Supplies Needed for the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project

A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Set #1

Acrylic Block

Scissors

Twine

Marker

Ink

Adhesive

Corner Rounder

Rhinestones

Paper to stamp on

Card Base

Rhinestone Tool (optional)

Take out your A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #1.

Place your stamp on your acrylic block.

Ink your image.

Stamp your image on your paper.

Here is a close up of the Awareness Ribbon we are using for the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project.

Choose the sentiment for your ribbon. Place it on your acrylic block a little bit rounded so it fits well inside the image.

Ink your stamp ensuring the entire sentiment is covered with ink.

Stamp the inside of the Awareness Ribbon with your chosen sentiment.

Here is a close up of the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project so far.

Using your favorite purple marker or coloring tool, color the inside of the ribbon shown on the finished project.

I used my crayola marker for lettering. The color is fabulous and I really like how it came out!

This shows you what the ribbon looks like once I colored it. I colored the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project on the right side a bit darker. I did most of it with two layers of color and the right image is a little lighter only coloring one layer.

Using your twine, wrap it around your sentiment paper. I wrapped it three times and then tied a bow. What do you think?

Take out your rhinestones and place three on the bottom of the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project ribbon on the right side as shown.

Using the corner rounder, round the corners to your liking. For the example card, I rounded the top left and bottom right corners. For the Epilepsy Awareness Month Project shown in the video, I rounded the bottom of the card.

Apply adhesive to the back of your sentiment and image.

Place your sentiment and image on your card base.

The Epilepsy Awareness Project is complete!

If you are looking for a great coupon code good only for today, November 26th 2018, you have to listen to the video 🙂 Trust me, it’s worth it!

This weeks giveaway is the A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Set #1. It is perfect for any awareness cause.

For all of our giveaways including this one, in order for you to qualify for an entry to win, you would need to be a follower on YouTube, subscribe to our mailing list/blog posts (found on our blog page) and you may also comment on this blog post for an additional entry to win! When you subscribe, you will receive an e-mail on Mondays with our latest blog post. BE SURE TO READ IT to check to see if you are a winner EVERY WEEK. If you do not contact me within two weeks of the announcement of winning,you will forfeit your prize. NO EXCEPTIONS. Thank you for your understanding.

NOTE: If you are subscribed with two different names and I am unable to match you with your subscription to both the blog and the YouTube Channel, unfortunately you will be ineligible to win as I can’t decipher if you are a matching subscriber to both. Thank you for your understanding.

Last weeks giveaway is a $15.00 store credit for anything at our store!

The winner is Sue R.!

Winner, please send me an message HERE and I will get your prize out to you!

We hope you will subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Blog/Newsletter updates and check out our website!

Thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

melissa-written-signature

Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp Set and Card

Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp Set and Card is what we have for you today.

Did you know that approximately 1 out of 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime? This is approximately 12% of women in the US.

I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have someone they know or a loved one that has Breast Cancer or Cancer in one way or another. Both my Paternal and Maternal Grandmothers had breast cancer and sadly numerous people effected with other cancers as well. PLEASE get your yearly mammograms and go to your doctor regularly for your yearly check ups.

It really makes a difference.

OK, now I am off of my soap box… onto the creativity.. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

Supplies Needed for the Breast Cancer Awareness Card

A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Set #3 – Ready for a Fight Stamp Set

Stamp Block

Manual Die Cut Machine

Doily Die By Kaiser Craft

Rectangle Stitched Die by Kaiser Craft

Black Ink

Scissors

Corner Rounder

Adhesive

3-D Adhesive

3 in 1 Tool by Spellbinders

White Twine

Chameleon Pen PK3

Pink Paper for Doily

White Card Base

White Paper for Sentiment and Gloves

I use this precision platform to help me with the intricate dies.

Previously I had thought it was magnetic, it is not. The magnet I used to test it was though.. Yeah.. I am serious. It has been a fun couple weeks.

Anyhow, this platform has helped with the detailed dies but I am still having to run it through a few times to be sure it has cut. I do seem to have better luck with my magnetic platforms.

First, we are going to use our Sizzix manual die cut machine and die cut with our two dies. Place your standard platform on your machine and then place your precision platform on top of it.

Put the paper you are going to use for your Breast Cancer Awareness Card and place your die cut down on top of the precision platform.

Place your die on top of the paper.

Put your clear platform on top of your die.

Run your die through your machine.

Run it back through your machine just to ensure proper cutting.

This is what the doily die looks like once it has been cut and removed from the machine.

Here is a close up of the amazing detail of this die. LOVE IT! This will be perfect for your Breast Cancer Awareness Card

Take out your rectangle die with stitching.

Place your paper under your die, making sure it is centered. Put it on top of your base platform and precision platform on your machine.

Place your clear platform on top of your die.

I love the stitched look. The detail is so cool and perfect for your Breast Cancer Awareness stamped images!

Take out your doily die and your 3 in 1 tool by Spellbinders. use the brush side and clean out the pieces from the die.

I was able to get most of the pieces out.

Using the poker part of the 3 in 1 tool, poke out any of the extra pieces you weren’t able to get.

Take out your stitched die cut paper, the gloves and sentiment from your A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Set #3 – Ready for a Fight Stamp Set

Place your stamps on your stamp block

Ink your stamp and stamp your images and sentiment on your paper.

Take out your Chameleon PK3 Pen.

Take off the lid to the nib side of your pen and place your blending solution cartridge on so the nibs are touchign as shown.

Hold the pen so the blending solution cartridge is on top. Wait 5-10 seconds.

Color the lightest part or light source area of your image first.

Fill in the rest of your image. Color over the lines to highlight the shadowing.

Take out your twine and tie a bow.

Trim off the edges and cut so you can place on the stamped paper.

Add adhesive to the bottom of the glove where you are going to place your twine.

Add the twine to the colored image.

Here is a close up of it after it has been added.

Take out your card base. Using the corner rounder, round all four sides of your card base.

This is what it looks like once it has been done.

Take out your detailed doily die cut.

Add adhesive to the back of the doily die cut.

Place your doily die cut in the middle of your card base as shown.

Place your 3-D foam squares on the back of your stamped and colored image.

Remove the paper on the back of the foam squares and adhere your image to the middle of your doily on your card base.

Your creation is complete! Your Breast Cancer Awareness Card using the A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Set #3 – Ready for a Fight Stamp Set!

Now for this weeks GIVEAWAY!

A Creative Journey with Melissa Awareness Ribbon Set #3 – Ready for a Fight Stamp Set is what we are giving away this week!!

To qualify to win, you must be BOTH:

A public follower on YouTube, subscribe to our mailing list/blog posts and you may also comment on this blog post for an additional entry to win! Winners will be announced next week on our Mondays with Melissa blog post!

If you do not contact me within two weeks of the announcement of winning, you will forfeit your prize. Thank you for your understanding.

NOTE: Be sure you are subscribed to BOTH with MATCHING NAMES. If I am unable to match you with your subscription to both the email list and the YouTube Channel, you will miss your chance to win a prize. If I can’t decipher if you are a matching subscriber (if your profile doesn’t show publicly who you subscribe to) and I can’t confirm you have subscribed to both, I won’t be able to enter you in for the prize. **DO NOT COMMENT WITH YOUR ENTIRE EMAIL ADDY. Only give me the first 6 NOT INCLUDING YOUR HOST. Just enough for me to match your name will work perfectly.

Now, for the GIVEAWAY from last weeks post. I am giving away the Spellbinders Tool ‘N One tool!!

The winner is Kim Miller !

Kim, please send me your contact information via contact page on our website, which post you are a winner from and I will get your prize out to you! Thank you so much for being a YouTube follower and subscribing to our mailing list/blog posts!

We hope you enjoyed our Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp Set and Card video!

If you watched the video, you probably heard me mention we might have just had an EARTHQUAKE. WE DID! It was a 3.5 and we are fine. Please be sure to keep Texas in your thoughts and prayers with the horrific damage they have had due to the hurricane.

Have a wonderful week and thank you for going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

Ribbon Causes in October with Chameleon Pens

Ribbon Causes in October with Chameleon Pens is what we have for you today.

Many are aware that Breast Cancer Awareness is in October but

Did you know there were multiple other Awareness causes in the month of October?

There are numerous Ribbon Causes in October including Depression, Down Syndrome, Cultural Diversity to name a few. Today we are going to be coloring an Awareness Ribbon from Awareness Ribbon Set #1. We are highlighting three causes. Depression which is represented by the color green. A second cause is Down Syndrome which is represented by the color blue and yellow. The third cause we are coloring a ribbon for is Cultural Diversity which is represented by the color Orange. We also have an awesome giveaway so be sure that you are a subscriber to our blog as well as a YouTube Subscriber so that you can qualify for our giveaway!

Now, onto coloring!

We are going to start coloring with green for Depression Awareness as one of the Ribbon Causes in October.

This is something that I personally suffer from as do some of my loved ones. Clearly this Awareness Cause is very close to my heart and personal to me.

To start, we are going take off the cap off of the bullet nib side.

I prefer the bullet nib side for coloring for this project.

Take the blending solution cartridge and place it on the side of the bullet nib.

Check to be sure that the blending solution nib as well as the bullet nib are touching so that the blending solution can transfer nibs.

Hold your Chameleon Pen upright for 10-15 seconds.

Remove the blending solution cartridge and set aside. Notice how the nib is lighter in color on the tip versus further down on the nib.

Color your Awareness Ribbon where you would like the highlighted (light source area) colored.

For the next step, I personally outline my images and then fill them in. It’s something my paternal Grandmother taught me and I still continue to do it now as an adult.

Fill in the color the rest of your image.

Now, we will be coloring an Awareness Ribbon for Down Syndrome as one of the Ribbon Causes in October.

My God Daughter has Down Syndrome so this cause is very near and dear to my heart. I colored the right side of the ribbon blue and am coloring the left side of the ribbon yellow.

This is the ribbon with the coloring complete.

Lastly, we will be coloring an Awareness Ribbon orange for Cultural Diversity as one of the Ribbon Causes in October. Something that I think is very important especially in the current climate of the world.

I have already placed my blending solution on the top of the nib for approximately 10-15 seconds. As you can see it is lighter in color.

We colored the highlighted area of this ribbon and are now outlining the ribbon and will be coloring it in.

This is the finished ribbon.

Now for the giveaway!!!

We are going to be giving away a five pack of the earth tones chameleon pens. This includes the orange that I used for the Awareness Ribbon for Cultural Diversity! Just be sure to be a subscriber to both our YouTube Channel and our Blog and you will be entered to win. If you would like to have an additional chance, be sure to leave a message on this post! That’s it!

Now, the winner for our last weeks giveaway of the Awareness Ribbon Set #1 is

Janis in ID says:
October 17, 2016 at 8:50 am

Melissa, your card is so elegant and lovely! Those feathers and pearls are the perfect accompaniment to your stamp set. What a thoughtful and beautiful card.

I don’t have any awareness stamps and sometimes those would be just the right thing for a card. I really like how your set has several sizes of the ribbons and so many wonderful one-word sentiments to choose from….as well as that encouraging sentiment about strength! I would love to give this stamp set a home in my craft room. Thank you for the chance!!!

Thank you so much for joining us today and we hope you enjoyed going on A Creative Journey with Melissa.

It really has been three years…Remembering Uncle Herb

I think that really says it all.

While remembering Uncle Herb, I can’t believe how time has flown by but yet stood still at the same time. So much has happened. So many things have changed and yet so much has stayed the same all wrapped up in 1065 days.

Uncle Herb was my dad’s brother. He moved to California in the 60’s from Chicago. He lived closer to us than anyone else in our family. We moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles and he was in San Diego. While remembering Uncle Herb… we didn’t see him as often as we would have liked.

Uncle Herb retired when he was 55.

Something that he would recommend to everyone if it is possible. He was a retired Police Sergeant and with his job, he had seen way too much of things he would prefer to forget. He retired early and really enjoyed life by traveling, kayaking and really experiencing the world that we live in. Now he was enjoying the world around him. When we did see him, he always had a story to tell from one of his traveling excursions. Boy did he have stories! Whether it was a story from a kayak trip, traveling or just stories of things that were important to him. He really loved life. The legacy he left behind was great… one of the many life lessons he taught my boys was live life to the fullest.

Uncle Herb lived what he preached.

Uncle Herb was an amazing example and a man who will forever be remembered with love, fondness and gratitude. Fondness because he always accepted me for who I was and who I wasn’t. He listened without judgment. We are grateful for the time we had with him although forever wouldn’t have been long enough. I am honored that he always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

We all have a dream…

I always wanted to start my own stamp line. Honestly, I never thought I would it was just a pipe dream that really wouldn’t ever come to fruition. That was until I talked to him. He was diagnosed with cancer in August of 2012. As a result of one of our talks during his treatment he basically said, “Miss, if not now, when?” (Missie was a nickname when I was younger and he was one of the VERY FEW that are still allowed to call me that. Funny enough my husband doesn’t even know who she is! LOL 😉

His statement basically stopped me in my tracks.

Well, considering he was going through radiation at the time I thought I really need to LISTEN to what he was saying. He has always lived life to the fullest although uncertain of what lie ahead. So I called around, did all of the leg work and started creating drawings for my stamps. I wrote down ideas and after quite some time, some mistakes mistakes mistakes. (Did someone say mistakes?) Of course there were even more mistakes.. I had my stamps manufactured, organized an awesome group of fabulous supportive creative women that made up the Creative Crew (design team) and was well on my way to beginning my journey of my stamp line release.

My stamp line grand opening release was on September 18, 2013.

The first release included the stamp sets that were inspired by Uncle Herb.

The first two stamp sets were Awareness Ribbon stamp set #1 and Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #2.

Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #1 Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #2

All of my Awareness Ribbon stamp sets have been in honor of my Uncle Herb and his fight against cancer.

Specifically, the Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #2 .

He wasn’t doing well and had called me September 17th. As I always did, I asked him if he needed me to come to San Diego. He said Yes. I knew it wasn’t good because he rarely said he needed help and asked me if I would come to San Diego. We (my boys and I-including my husband of course!) often came whether he wanted help or not! Well, with tears in my eyes and a very shaky voice I called my husband at work. He really is my rock. Without skipping a beat he left work, picked the kids up from school asI packed up everything I needed for my release as well as my undetermined extended stay and we were on the road in less than two hours. Although he wasn’t feeling well,

Uncle Herb was very excited about my stamp release!

These were created with Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #1

These were created by Sharon with Awareness Ribbon Stamp Set #2

He watched me get prepared for my release, package my items for sale and get everything organized even though he wasn’t feeling well. When the stamp release day came, he watched me accept orders and prepare them for shipment from San Diego where he lived. He really shared in the excitement that day and I was ever so grateful for him to be able to share this with me.

Sadly, he passed away September 19, 2013. This being the day after my stamp release and stamp business grand opening.

Much of the time within the last year of his life was spent with him while he wasn’t feeling well, under treatment or recovering from surgery, I learned so much from him during our time together. The stories, wisdom, unbelievable courage, strength and perseverance. I am so grateful that he was able to enjoy his support and influence for me come to fruition and watch the first day grand opening of my stamp business.
When remembering Uncle Herb…

If there is anything I have learned from the loss of Uncle Herb it is remember what is important. When we are remembering Uncle Herb weather happy or sad, we share. We talk about it. We share stories. He would never want us to live in sadness. Life was too precious and if we were living in regret or sadness, we weren’t living life to the fullest.

Remember what matters to you most.

Whatever that is, live your life with that which is instrumental in happiness and success in your life. Surround yourself with people that support you and lift you up. Be selective with those that don’t. Your time is valuable. Tell those friends, family and loved ones you have in your life that you love them. Hug your kids. LAUGH. A LOT. Tell them they are important. BE PRESENT. Be grateful. Listen more. Talk less. Live and Love to the fullest. Tell the people that you love how much they mean to you because tomorrow is never promised.

While remembering Uncle Herb the biggest thing I want to do is not be sad but do what he would have wanted and

Celebrate Uncle Herbs life!

He would not want us to live in sorrow. What better way to celebrate Uncle Herbs life than have a coupon for the stamp sets he inspired me to start! All Stamp Sets are 25% off! This would exclude bundles and items already on sale.

Enter in coupon code UncleHerb at check out! Coupon good until 9-22-16

We appreciate you visiting today. We hope you will share your story of inspiration, hope and courage. Thank you for going on A Personal and A Creative Journey with Melissa.