I have been wanting to do this series for a very long time. It will be called
"Women For Women" because I think there needs to be a lot more of that in the world right now. I first thought of something like this before I ever even had a card blog or a need for art therapy because I have four kids and I could not believe the amount of bullying and types of things that are said and done in the schools and in social media currently - by girls to other girls mostly. But it doesn't stop there - when they grow up it happens even then. It's women doing these things to other women also. I personally have experienced it myself after I had my stroke and had to deal with disabilities which frustrated people and, to be quite honest, when I gained weight from the strokes. I'm not saying that I am perfect either and that I have never had another person who I didn't get along with; that is inevitable in the world of different personalities. We will all have individual friends and people that will not be "our people" for personal reasons. But I am talking more about the anonymous types of rudeness on social media and the generic vibe of women not rooting for other women. I just feel it should be opposite - especially today. We should be FOR each other knowing all that is going on in the world.
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| Women for Women Series - Thank You for being so ... YOU! |
After having my first stroke, I really got into YouTube as an outlet because I was bed ridden much of the time. I loved it, but I could not believe the types of things people would say "anonymously" on line to others! Also, the amount of "unlikes" that were being given were just unreal (I mean aren't you watching things of your own will, so if you don't like it shouldn't you simply click out rather than unlike?). And, although you may think this has nothing to do with it, being a Mom to four pitbulls I have experienced a great deal of animosity just because of who my dogs are as a breed. Now, what got to me the most was that much of this was from women to other women! Again, aren't we supposed to be rooting for each other? Isn't there a underlying thing in our hearts that we want other women to succeed and have their individuality and greatness show?
All of that brings me to this
Women For Women series. I never thought that I would actually see any type of "stress" in the card making community. It is, honesty, one of the most awesome, encouraging, positive communities I have ever been involved in and I have loved everything about it completely. But recently I saw something that hurt my heart. I saw that some people were discouraged and hurtful in their words because two individuals happened to post something similar looking at the same time. I can understand that people do not want people to "copy" someone else's work; however, these are instructional videos/posts and by their very concept they teach us something and encourage us to try something new and possibly do the same thing. If I try something that another individual has done, or make something that looks similar, then I am usually learning something new from that person and appreciating their wealth of wisdom and knowledge and creativity. Plus, to be honest, it's just a card!!!
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| Watercolor with Distress Crayons and detail added with Zig Clean Color markers |
The series will be about women supporting other women, encouraging other women, appreciating other women, and about women that I admire, learn from, and look up to. I hope to continue this series and focus on women in all sorts of fields. I may know them or I may have never met them - but one thing is for sure, I want to shine a light on all the women who touch my life in some way! Due to the fact that I am working through art therapy since the strokes, this is the way that I am choosing to do that. I want to choose a card, or cards, that reflects them in some way and I hope to send it to them if I am able.
So, I know that all of that was an extremely long explanation of the series I wanted to do and the cards I made today!!!! If you are still with me, thank you!!!!
Because of that recent event I mentioned above, I wanted to take a card by the beautiful Jessica Frost Ballas, and actually try to emulate it to the best of my ability! I absolutely love her work and creativity and I love seeing her success and seeing her on all of the blog hops and the new things she creates! Plus, she is a dog Mom and you know I am going to love that for sure!!! I am certainly not as good of a card maker as she is and I am learning new things every single day - that is why I watch YouTube and why I love to watch these amazing women all the time. I love seeing other women succeed and I love supporting other women. I hope, with this series, you will do the same. Please pop over to any of Jessica's social media accounts and just tell her something encouraging - about her card making, about her personally, anything!!! I do not know her personally but I do know that I have learned a lot from her and many other women in this industry.
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| Making a card similar to one by Jessica Frost Ballas |
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| Inside of card |
The card I chose to do today was something I have never tried before and a card I loved on Jessica's Instagram account. She chose to do these beautiful flowers in black and white with a pop of color elsewhere on the card. Amazing idea!!! I did two versions of the card - one with distress crayons and one with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. I added some Zig Clean Color markers to the watercolor piece for dimension and used Simon Says Stamp card stock for both cards. The flower stamp set is from WPlus9 and the You die is from Simon Says Stamp. I also added one sentiment from the Kind stamp set from Concord and 9th. I then heat embossed one of the sentiments with Ranger embossing Powder in clear and used some Barn Door Distress Ink on top to make it pop. I used some black and white velum from a Stampin' Up pack that I have and then added some sequins and some Elizabeth Crafts line stickers for embellishment. I hope you enjoyed these cards and I hope you enjoy this series. We should celebrate the women in our lives - and you should celebrate YOURSELF as well!
Please remember to go to Jessica's social media accounts (they are linked below) and tell her something wonderful! Have an awesome day! Jude :-)
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Social Media Links:
Social Media Links: (Please visit me for more fun art therapy!)
Hey Jude Cards Instagram - Click HERE!
Jude U Personal Instagram - Click HERE!
Snapchat Username - judeunnone
See you there! Thanks!
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Jessica Frost Ballas Links:
Please visit her and give her a kind word and tell her how awesome she is!
Blog - Click
HERE!
Instagram - Click HERE!
YouTube - Click
HERE!
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Supplies:
