More cards and some business ideas!

Okay, here's a couple cards that I made, hopefully you enjoy them...

I thought I'd make a birthday card for a little change in pace.  After all, it's not only Christmas in December, I should know (mine's a week before Christmas-it's aweful)

I used the same script background that I use as my go-to, a couple butterfly dies and some creative inking to give this card a little different look.

This Christmas card was very time consuming.  The stamping and die cutting were the easy parts, it was the coloring in that did it for me.  I think it's incredibly cute, but I think I may have to pass on this one for my own cards to send out.

I LOVE this one, if it wasn't so bulky, I'd be sending this one out to everyone!  The clear card base with the white script background does it for me every time.  I got inspiration from Tim Holtz's 12 tags of Christmas but turned my tag into a card.  I will be posting this on his blog images and see what happens.  I may have to think of a less bulky way to do this because I'm in love with it!

Supplies:

Butterfly Birthday Card: (paper) recollections, unknown, colorbok; (ink) TH Distress, versamark, versafine; (stamps) Stampin Up, Papertray Ink; (dies) Stampin Up; (misc) Spare Parts brad, Swarvski gems, embroidery floss, embossing powder.

Train Christmas Card: (paper) Recollections; (stamp) Papertray Ink, Inkadinkado; (ink) Versafine; (misc) PrismaColor Markers, popdots, clear rhinestones.

Joy Card; (paper) Papertray Ink, Recollections; (stamp) Stampin Up; (ink) Staz-On; (misc) Storybook Font, Martha Stewart glitter, Offray grosgrain ribbon and pompom trim

So, the business idea that I wanted to mention...I don't have anything posted on my etsy shop just yet, but when I do, I want to donate a percentage or a certain $ amount of each of my sales to either wegiveadamn.org or to thetrevorproject.org. Maybe both!

Both organizations were created to raise awareness for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) community.  The Trevor Project aims to end suicide in LGBTQ youth and We Give a Damn aims for equality in the LGBTQ community.

Now, I myself am not LGBTQ, but I am a supporter since my younger brother came "out" a few years ago.  When he did, I fully supported him and we are closer now than we ever were. After hearing about all of the recent suicides in young LBGTQ individuals as a result of merciless bullying,  I asked him if he had ever gone through that in school as I had not discussed with him those issues.  He told me that he was bullied pretty badly and that's why he got in so much trouble when he was younger.  This revelation hurt because it became very clear to me that, if his head was not in the right place, that could have been him.  Even as I'm writing this, I'm getting teary because other families aren't so lucky.  I don't know what I would do if my brother wasn't here, my family wouldn't be nearly the same.  I don't know if I was just naive or if it really wasn't that big of a deal when I was in school, but I really don't remember anything happening when I was in high school and what is going on now.  I feel that these issues need to be presented to more schools and there need to be stricter punishments for the individuals who bully and harrass young people just trying to become their own person. 

I want to make my contribution any way that I can, but I'm not sure how to go about it.  Do I set my sales up so that the $ automatically goes to those organizations, or do I send them a cut once a month or so.  I just really don't know what to do.