Operation Julie's Smile BLOG HOP!!

Welcome to the huge blog hop for Operation Julie's Smile!  If you came here from Sarah Anderson's blog, then you are in the right spot.  If not, you may want to start from the beginning at the Sweet Stamp Shop’s blog and take your time.   

The hop runs from 8am EST Friday October 7th through to Midnight Sunday October 9th (please note this is US EST time - for my Australian blogging buddies, this is 11.00pm Friday October 7th through to 3pm Monday October 10th).  

I really hope you'll join in on all the fun - there are over $2500 US worth of prizes - you can be in with a chance to win prizes by taking part in the blog hop, and/or using the DONATE BUTTON ON MY SIDEBAR to give to the benefit fundraiser.  

So what is this  hop all about?  Read on to find out what Julie Ranae has to say.  My project is at the END of this post, and it will make WAY more sense if you read Julie's story first  :)

“The creative blogging community is coming together this weekend to help one of our friends, Julie Ranae.  You may know her as the Design Team Coordinator for many wonderful companies from bakers twine, die cuts, rubber stamps and more.  What many people don’t know about Julie Ranae is that she has had some pretty major dental surgeries in her lifetime due to medication she had to take as a child.  It was in her plans to think about having all of her teeth  replaced at some point in the next 5 years, a decision that was pretty easy to plan out.  But then it happened…she chipped her front teeth on a weekend a month ago. The dentist told her there was no way to save them & that it was his recommendation that she give in and have them all her teeth removed soon, but for that day, they needed to get her front teeth done so her gums could begin to heal. He said he would 'work out payments with her to have ALL this work done...but when she called to make her appt for the first step of impressions, they told her the amount of money that was needed and that the 'payments' applied only to the two teeth that were extracted that day. Her husband Paul was with her & that too, was his understanding as well. So this is how she has found herself in this situation…Needing at least $4000 to get started and another $3000 to finish the process…a total of $7000.

Nicole Rixon, owner of Sweet Stamp Shop put together this benefit after finding out about this situation and before Julie Ranae knew it, it took flight!

Because she is an event organizer by trade, she has taken on the job of organizing all of the blogs in this hop as her way of ‘working overtime’ for what she needs, the same as if she were able to work overtime at an outside job to pay for the work to be done.

It is the goal of all of these generous friends & sponsors to help make this situation more do-able for our friend so that she can share a brand new smile with all of us soon.

If there is anything you can do to help with a financial donation, there is a donation button ready for you to click.  Any amount is appreciated and ALL DONATIONS will be eligible for prizes from our sponsor pool of over $2500.”

So there you have it - the chance to help out one of our online crafting buddies who finds herself in a difficult situation with 'no front teeth'....  with that in mind, and keeping my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, here are my blog hop projects :)


Project #1: 'all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth' ATC

Project #2: 'what made you smile today' ATC

I had so much fun with these - getting painting with the backgrounds, and inky with the stamping :)  But most of all, I was so happy to be involved with this benefit - the blog hop, the hopping, and being able to share some of my crochet in the prize pool.


I hope you enjoyed your stop here on the hop!  The next stop is Libby Hickson's blog.  Make sure you leave a comment here before you go so that you can have a chance at the amazing prizes up for grabs and if you can, please make a donation so we can help bring back a new smile for our friend :)

Thanks for taking the time to read through this HUGE post!

Fiona
xx

Supplies List for ATC projects:
Bazzill Cardstock - black and white
Paint - FolkArt 954 fresh foliage and 643 azure blue; Jo Sonja pearl white micaceous pigment
Stamps - Hero Arts 'friends definition; Stampotique 'mort had a pin curl' and 'smile'; Paperbag Studios 'journal impressions'
DI - Chipped Sapphire, Peeled Paint, Dried Marigold
Black Archival Ink