I know that everyone has their own feelings about what is a ‘worthy cause’ and what isn’t. The good thing is, we can all support what is important to us, because there are so many charities and non profit organizations, doing good work. One cause that’s near & dear to my heart is conservation of our wild flora and fauna, and stopping inhumane practices involving animals.
A WORTHY CAUSE
So I was delighted to see that The Fur Bearers put out a call to card makers, crafters & artists. The Fur Bearers is a non-partisan, charitable organization that has operated in Canada since the early 1950’s. Their work is basically three-pronged; the end the fur trade, to promote peaceful coexistence with wildlife, and provide education & outreach in communities. I think all of those are very important! They are asking for greeting cards that they can send to their generous donors, supporters, volunteers, partner agencies, etc.
Naturally, I said to myself “I can do that”! One of the caveats is that each card should depict a fur bearer; animals such as bear, fox, beaver, skunk, raccoon, wolf, coyote, rabbit, just to name a few. So I pulled out the few realistic animal stamps that I have, ordered a few more, and got to work.
NATURAL SETTING
One of the stamps I used is the tiny Pippin rabbit stamp, from Lavinia Stamps. It’s so adorable, but very small! So, I decided to create a natural setting for this little bunny, with die cuts from Memory Box.
Pippin may be a small bunny, but I thought that his size was to scale, with the trees in the die cut frames. I decided to go with 2 colours for the front, and different coloured skies for the backgrounds.
CARD DETAILS
The card shown above on the left is created with the Lamplight Tree Collage frame; I just snipped out the lamp! For the sky background, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord & Broken China are blended onto a piece of white cardstock. On the right, I the Tall Fir Collage frame die is used. Crackling Campfire, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed are blended together for the card on the right.
Lavinia Stamps Pippin and Moon are stamped in Nocturne ink, for the images. Ink blending is done on & around the trees on both cards, although it’s harder to see on the green cardstock.
Pictured above are the 5 that I pulled together quickly this afternoon! There should have been 6, but I dropped the Nocturne ink pad onto a ink blended background – and it couldn’t be saved *sad face*.
MORE TO COME
If you’re looking for some good stamps with ‘realistic’ looking animals, check out Impression Obsession! I’ve ordered the Fox and Curious Squirrel, plus a Bear Family die. But they have lots more! Hero Arts also has some great colour layering stamps with coordinating dies; I may get their Wolf and Fox ones. Of course, Lavinia Stamps has great rabbits, foxes and wolves, as well.
I’ll be making more cards for The Fur Bearers, and sending them off in one box full. When I have more done, I’ll share them with you! In the meantime, let me know what you think of these ones. Would you like to get one of these in the mail? Plus, if you have a source for great animal stamps, I’d love to hear about it! Do you like supporting a worthy cause, when it’s possible for you to do so? Which ones do you support?
So glad I went for a wander to your previous posts and what a discovery I found here. I didn’t know this organization existed, let alone that they’re looking for cards. Your array here: absolutely lovely! Guaranteed those receiving them will be thrilled. I don’t have many stamps featuring the wildlife they support at the moment but I’ll keep this in mind when next I add to my collection.
My niece and nephew celebrated their birthdays this month and I gave them the gift of being foster parents to orphaned elephants in Kenya, via the Sheldrick foundation. They were tickled pink to get their ‘adoption’ certificates – and it makes me feel good that I’m making a wee bit of difference in protecting our precious animals.
~carol
I’m so glad that you took a ‘wander’ through my posts, Carol! Oh, we do the ‘virtual adoption’ of wildlife too, for gifting. It is such fun, and rewarding to know that you’re helping conserve species at risk. Thanks for taking the time to comment – and I hope you visit again soon 🙂