When I pulled up at the drive through testing at the hospital I didn’t know what to expect. A nurse came up to our car with a sign instructing us to not roll down the window and to dial her phone number. When I called the number, I shared that my doctor recommended I be tested for Covid-19 because I had not been feeling well.

Ten minutes later, with a mask covering my face, I entered the hospital where everyone was covered from head to toe and all you could see was their eyes. At the end of my appointment, a nurse came in, she was going to give me the Covid test that I had heard was pretty uncomfortable. I had to smile when I saw her because rather than seeing just her eyes, like everyone else, I could see her BRIGHT smile. You see this nurse was wearing a clear face shield. I knew what was coming but somehow her smile comforted me. I appreciated the fact that she like so many others were working long hours, putting their own life at risk and still she was joyfully doing her job, making an unpleasant situation a little easier to cope with.

That was my experience the whole time I battled health issues last year. I grew to have a greater appreciation for doctors and nurses and the amazing work they do.

It was that appreciation that inspired this card I created for nurses appreciation week.

Want to see what’s under the mask? Let’s open the card and see…..

Here is another version of this card with a different sentiment.

When you look under this mask, a sad expression is found.

The sentiments on these cards came from a new digital stamp set that Stampin’ Up!® created as a part of their Making A Difference initiative. For $12 you can download 15 pages of thoughtful and lighthearted images to use on your craft projects and 100% of the proceeds will go to either the World Health Organization’s COVID-Solidarity Response Fund or to the United Way’s Worldwide COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. You get to choose which one or you can split your donation to give to both organizations. If you are interested in purchasing the downloads, google Stampin’ Up Share Sunshine PDF.

I have really enjoyed working with these fun sentiments and images and know I will be making more cards to encourage people during this challenging season.

Speaking of encouraging others, I was BLOWN away by my Stamped With Aloha group this week. One of my downline told me about her friend Cindy P, who was collecting cards for Nurse’s Appreciation Week. Cindy had set a goal to collect 1,000 hand made cards for nurses. I just happened to hear about this the day before I was going to have a ZOOM meeting with my group. During that meeting, I asked them if they would like to help. I told them that I believed that we could not only help Cindy reach her goal but I believed that we could MATCH her goal and provide 1,000 cards to reach even MORE of the amazing health care workers here in Hawaii. Within a week, Cindy collected over 1,200 cards from my team. When a couple of my customers heard about it, they sent cards too! I contacted my friend, Cindy O knowing that her daughter loves to make cards. Cindy O passed the message on to her daughter’s teacher and Mrs. Martin’s 5th grade class from Christian Academy created 79 beautiful hand made cards for the cause!!! Finally, my friend Annie, who had collected a bunch of cards to donate, offered to pick up my cards as well as a few others and drop them off which was a huge blessing!!!

The response by everyone on such short notice made me SO happy! I hope when the well deserving health care workers receive our 1,200 plus cards, they will feel loved and appreciated by us all.

Here is the card design I donated for the cause. I made 40 of these using the Share Sunshine downloads.

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing some new cards that were created with nurses in mind. If you would like to learn how to create the punch art cards, I have a video tutorial. You can click on the link below to watch.

About 5 days after I got back from that trip to the hospital my test results came back. I tested NEGATIVE for Covid-19. All of the symptoms I had are gone and I’ve been feeling GREAT!!!

So, in closing, let me remind you that there are still 4 day’s left in Nurse’s Appreciation Week! Be sure to look for every opportunity to let these amazing health care workers know how much you appreciate them and what they do!

With love and stamped blessings,

Cindy

What's Under The Mask?

Military Punch Art (April 2020 Paper Pumpkin Revamp)

May ALOHA MAIL

Stamped With Aloha