Support for Mental Health Awareness Week, 10-16 May 2021

Hi there, Crafty Peeps, and, as always, a warm welcome to my little place on the web. This week in the UK is Mental Health Awareness Week so I thought I would make a card with this in mind. 

I know that a lot of crafters use their craft, whatever that may be, to help them deal with their mental health challenges and making cards often fills that role for me too. I find that having something creative to focus on when life feels out of control really helps to get me through the bad days. Like many of you out there, this past 15 or so months have not been easy: shielding and isolating have not been easy and other life events along the way have really added to my own mental health challenges. At times I stepped away entirely from creating as my 'mojo' ran for cover, and yet at others I found myself really inspired and almost overwhelmed with creative drive.  Things have evened out a little now and I'm back 'in the driving seat'; the bad days are fewer and my focus is better and I shall always be grateful for the support and encouragement of family, friends and the crafting community.

In colour psychology, blue is seen as the colour of calmness and serenity. It is often described as peaceful and tranquil, and is often seen as a sign of stability and reliability. Therefore, I thought this would be a perfect colour for this card. 

I used The Stamp Market's pale blue card as a background and the new Tim Holtz ink colour, Salvaged Patina, as a starting point. To create the background I used a mandala stencil from Taylored Expressions and inked it first in Salvaged Patina Distress Ink. I then moved the stencil just a little upwards and inked again with white fusion ink from Ink On 3's Atelier range. This softened the blue ink but allowed a little shadow to form, which gave a feeling of depth to the background. (A list of all the things I used is at the bottom of this post.)

The image is from Angie Blom Digital Designs, and is called 'Birthday Girl Sass'. However, this is quite a demure image and the touching of hand to heart seemed to sum up the sentiment well. I paper-pieced her dress and coloured the rest with Copic markers. I also used Copic BG11 to colour a piece of white cardstock to co-ordinate with the card and used this to stamp my sentiment, which is from The Stamp Market's 'More Modern Messages' stamp set. 

The little mother of pearl discs are from my stash, but you can find similar sequins at Lucy's Cards. 

This will be a perfect card to send to anyone who is struggling, to let them know that we are thinking of them. It shouldn't be too much longer before we can give them a hug in person, and I can't wait.

I'm going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes, with a Stencil

Creative Fingers -  #207, Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More - #405, Die Cuts and/or Stencils

Until next time, stay safe, be happy, and keep crafting.

Supplies:

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