Purple Day Blog Hop - Epilepsy Awareness

LILAC-POINT SIAMESE - as close as real cats come to being purple.  :)

Hi, Friends......

It's Purple Day!! Maybe you are like I was and don't know what Purple Day is all about. It is a day to promote Epilepsy Awareness. Our dear friend, Fiki, over at Bad Kitty's Craftroom has organized this important hop and I am honored to be a part of it by featuring a purple card on my blog today. There are giveaways on some of the hop stops, so you will be sure to want to visit each blogger on the list you will find below.

Please take a moment to read the story behind PURPLE DAY:

Purple Day is a global grassroots event formed with the intention to increase worldwide awareness of epilepsy, and to dispel common myths and fears of this neurological disorder. Further intentions of this movement are to reduce the social stigmas commonly endured by many individuals afflicted with the condition; to provide assurance and advocacy to those living with epilepsy that they are not alone in their ongoing endurance; and to initiate individuals living with the condition to take action in their communities to achieve these aims. The day occurs annually on March 26.

Formation and history
The concept of Purple Day was initiated by a 9-year-old named Cassidy Megan, and was motivated by her own struggle with epilepsy. The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia helped to develop Cassidy's idea, and the first Purple Day event was held on March 26, 2008, and is now known as the Purple Day for Epilepsy campaign.

In 2009, the New York-based Anita Kaufmann Foundation and Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia joined to launch Purple Day internationally and increase the involvement of numerous organizations, schools, businesses, politicians and celebrities around the world. On March 26, 2009 over 100,000 students, 95 workplaces and 116 politicians participated in Purple Day. In March 2009, the official USA Purple Day Party launch was organized by the Anita Kaufmann Foundation. Canadian Paul Shaffer of the Late Show with David Letterman attended the official launch at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City.

In March 2012, Purple Day received the Royal Assent and became a legal day for epilepsy awareness in Canada.
In December 2015, Electronics retailer Dick Smith had arranged a major corporate partnership with Epilepsy Action Australia to support Purple Day in Australia with a $50,000 cash sponsorship, prizes and exclusive distribution of Purple Day merchandise. A week prior to Purple Day celebrations in 2016, Dick Smith was placed in receivership. Later, the Retail Food Group provided a $50,000 donation to match Dick Smith's previously promised sponsorship. 

I love purple almost as much as I love pink, so it was an easy decision to use purple AND pink in my card for today.

I decorated an envelope for it, too, with heat embossing and doodling with my Sakura Moonlight and Souffle gel pens that show up on the deeper color envelope.

Supplies used include:
Stampendous - Laurel Burch Love Cat Angel stamp
Distress Markers for watercoloring
Newton's Nook Designs - Baskets of Wishes stamp set (for sentiment)
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set (for purple scalloped background)
"Leftover Easter-Egg Dye" Background from my stash
Canson - Mixed Media Paper Spiral Bound Notebook
Core'dinations/Darice solid colored cardstock
Zig - Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush Pen
For my envelope:
Stampendous - Laurel Burch Fish Wishes stamp set (for the round swirly designs)
Winnie & Walter - LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T Designs stamp set (for the hearts)
Hero Arts - Unicorn White Pigment Ink
Sparkle Embossing Powder from my stash
Sakura Gelly Roll Souffle Gel Pens
Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight Gel Pens

Here are more interesting facts about Epilepsy. I learned a lot by reading through these!

Epilepsy Myths:

MYTH 1: You Convulse (Shake And Jerk) When You Have Epilepsy

FACT 1: Not every seizure means a person jerks convulsively, nor is a person always unconscious during a seizure. Convulsions while unconscious are usually associated with tonic clonic seizures. There are a range of seizures which have different side effects and can affect people differently.
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MYTH 2: Flashing lights cause seizures in everyone with epilepsy

FACT 2: Around 1 in 100 people has epilepsy, and of these people, around 3% have photosensitive epilepsy. Photosensitive epilepsy is more common in children and young people (up to 5%) and is less commonly diagnosed after the age of 20. Triggers differ from person to person, but common triggers include a lack of sleep, stress, and alcohol.
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MYTH 3: You can restrain someone during a convulsive seizure and put your finger in their mouth

FACT 3: During a convulsive seizure you should never hold the person down or put anything in their mouth. It's important to know exactly what to do when someone has a tonic clonic seizure so that you can act quickly. Here's our 10 first aid steps for someone that has a convulsive seizure.
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MYTH 4: Epilepsy is rare

FACT 4: Epilepsy is anything but rare, over 500,000 people in the UK have epilepsy. That’s about one in every 100 people. There are also around 60 million people with epilepsy in the world. Anyone can develop epilepsy, it happens in all ages, races and social classes.
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MYTH 5: The only side effects of a seizure are tiredness and being confused

FACT 5: Having epilepsy can affect people in different ways. Knowing that a person ‘has epilepsy’ does not tell you very much about what happens for them or how epilepsy affects them. For example, some people may have problems with sleep or memory and for some people epilepsy may affect their mental health.
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There are a number of bloggers on the hop today that you probably already know or will recognize. Some of us (including me!) have blog candy that you have a chance to win by hopping along and commenting on our cards. More about my blog candy later....

Here's the hop list:
Fikreta (Our hostess....Yay!)
Sandie (She made our lovely Purple Day Badge!)
Ike
Kitty
Annabel
Darnell
Janis (You are here!!)
Olga
Vicki (Link is fixed now.)

Now for my blog candy......I have a small surprise package of crafty goodies for one lucky commenter who mentions something new they learned about epilepsy in their comment on this post. My giveaway is open internationally and I would appreciate you leaving your email address (in code) in your post so I can contact you. Deadline for comments is 11:59 pm Pacific Daylight Time on March 31, 2019. I will randomly draw the winner from qualifying comments and post it on my blog soon after that.

Thank you, Fiki, for organizing this hop.......and thank you to all the participants and hoppers!!

💜
Janis


Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. SUYP Challenge #40 - Furry-thing Goes opt St. Catrick's Day
2. Mod Squad - Use 1 or More Metal Dies
3. Allsorts challenge 512, feathered friends (Does an angel kitty with fur AND feathers work?)
4. TCP March Tuesday Challenge #355 - Envie Envy (decorate an envelope to go with project)
5. Word Art Wednesday Weeks #378-379 - Anything Goes
6. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Cute
7. Hero Arts National Craft Month - Dress up an Envelope Challenge
8. The House that Stamps Built - DCC36 Easter or Spring