Spread joy not germs official blog hop

Hello and a very warm welcome to everyone, including anyone who may be a first time visitor, to my blog, Jane's Journal. Today I am delighted to be a part of a wonderful blog hop called Spread Joy not Germs (#spreadjoynotgerms on IG) which has been organised by Catherine Pooler of Catherine Pooler Designs and  Alexandra Stapleton-Smith of Hedgehog Hollow.

Their aim is to spread inspiration and joy to fellow stampers who are at home, alone, anxious or just bored during this awful pandemic which has taken a grip on the whole world.  There are 150 (yes seriously) bloggers taking part who are hoping to give you bucketfuls of joy and inspiration. We are all sharing happy cards to make you smile and perhaps inspire you to make a card to send someone to make them smile too.

 To add even more joy to the hop there are also some serious prizes up for grabs. Just look at the list below. There are over 30 generous small businesses who are sponsoring this hop.

Sponsor and Prize List: Catherine Pooler Designs - $20 Gift Certificate on each of the Brand Ambassadors' blogs  Hedgehog Hollow - one month free sub to the box with free us shipping Artesprix - Getting Started Kit Beacon - Product gift bag  Brutus Monroe - $50 GC CAS-ual Fridays - Win the new release - over $80 value Dina Kowal - Two $10 gift codes to Dina Kowal Creative Dress My Craft - $35 gift certificate Ellen Hutson - $35 Gift Certificate Greeting Farm -$25 Gift Certificate Heffy Doodle - £35 voucher for the store iCrafter - $20 Gift Certificate  Ink on 3 - $35 Gift Certificate Joy Claire - $25 Gift Certificate Miss Ink Stamps -$25 Gift Certificate Pear Blossom Press -$25 gift certificate Paper Sweeties - $50 Gift Certificate Polka Dot Orchard- $20 Gift Certificate Pink and Main - $25 Gift Certificate Rabbit Hole Designs - $10.00 gift code on each DT members blogs Sassy and Crafty Stamps - $35 Gift Certificate STAMPlorations - $25 gift code on the STAMPlorations blog + $10 gift code on each designer blogs. Taylored Expressions - $50 Gift Certificate Trinity Stamps- $25 Gift Certificate The Ton - $20 Gift Certificate (stamps, dies, ink or sequins) Unity - two $25 Gift Certificates  Whimsy Stamps - $15 GC on each of their Creative Team team blogs WOW! Embossing Powder - two gift vouchers £30 UK or Europe & $30 for US winner Xyron - Mega Runner, Refill & 1.5 inch sticker maker, refill If you get lost at any point on the hop and also to see all the details of participants please check out either the post by Catherine Pooler here or Hedgehog-Hollow's here

As with all hops we are asking you to leave a comment on the blogs taking part, if you would like to be in with a chance of winning. However you do not need to leave a comment on every blog to be able to win a prize. Obviously the more comments you do leave the greater your chances are for winning any of the awesome prizes.

I am one of the team representing the lovely Shery of STAMPlorations who is offering a $25 gift code as part of the prize pot but she is also offering a $10 gift code on each of the 8 designers who are taking part individual blogs! So that means that I will definitely have a winner on my blog from all the comments left here. That's win win in my books. 😃

The last day to leave a comment is 24 April and a list of all the prize winner will be available over on Catherine Pooler or Hedgehog Hollow's on 27 April;

(If you get lost on the hop or any of the links are broken you can also go back to their blogs where a full list of participants is available).

So after all that info I am sure you would like to see my "spread joy" Card" 😊

Here it is, I just love this sentiment.

As I usually do, I am also sharing a step by step of how I made it. I have linked to the STAMPlorations web site with the products I used.  So here goes;
I used a piece of yellow  watercolour card I had sprayed with twisted citron and squeezed lemonade distress ink sprays. When dry I added some circles through the bubbles stencil using transparent gloss texture paste to give some texture.

When they dried they looked like bubbles of shiny water.

To make the focal I stamped the cactus from the Succulently stamp set onto inky mop up card and then cut it out minus the spines.

I stamped the cactus again onto the base of the focal, which I had die cut using the smallest die from the Crazy running stitch nested dies. I also stamped the fun sentiment. I then decoupaged the cactus and pot in place.  I also used the Convallaria stencil to add some extra design interest to a piece of inky mop up card which I then die cut using the middle size die from the Crazy running stitch nested die set (As a little extra if  you are interested in buying any of these products you can use my unique code STAMPGIRLJANE at checkout on the website and get an extra 20% off everything, including any existing offers!) 

Here is a close up of the focal.

I finished everything off with a few of the Sparkly green shaker blend flat sequins and also distressed the edge of my card to add some texture.
Here is one last photo of my finished card.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope I may have succeeded in raising a smile and spreading a little joy? Or perhaps something in your own crafting life has brought you a little joy today; some new stash or you have tried a new technique?  Let me know in your comment  I would love to hear. And remember that your comment here could also means the chance of a prize as there will be a guaranteed lucky winner of a $10 STAMPlorations  gift code who will be randomly selected from all the comments left on my post. 

We will get through this pandemic.  Perhaps our lives may have even been changed in some way for the better?  We may become even more aware of living life in the moment and seizing every single day we have the pleasure of living?

I found this little non attributed quote on the internet

Joy is portable....bring it with you...

I would like to add a few words to it.....pass it on and
spread joy not germs!

I would also like to add happy photo from my garden yesterday, such joy to be able to soak up the sunshine outside.

Next stop on the hop is over at the lovely Sue Hastead's blog here

Remember that If you get lost at any point on the hop and also to see all the details of participants and sponsors please check out either the post by Catherine Pooler here or Hedgehog-Hollow's here

Good luck to everyone and let's all try to spread a little joy today. Stay safe. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x