Mar 15, 2019

Happy Birthday Justice Ginsburg

Today is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 86th birthday and, along with a few friends, we are celebrating with a little blog hop and giveaway!

My reasons for wanting to participate in this blog hop are below. But before the chat -- the card and the hop!


Isn't this fun? The PERFECT set.

Used Kelly Purkey's Wonderful Women set, which Kelly kindly sent to me. (Honestly, I wasn't super familiar with Kelly's stamp designs but once I saw them, I now have another wish list! I think my favorite is Littles.)

Made the background with a stamp from Flora & Fauna's Texture Two (I cut the stamp to get the size I wanted) and stamped with Wild Honey, Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide inks.

Blog Hop and Giveaway

Here's a list of the other wonderful women participating in this Happy Birthday hop.

Joan Bardee (me)
Michele Ferguson 

Kelly Purkey and Hero Arts each donated 2 stamps sets for us to give away. Hero Arts donated Dare to Dream and Kelly Purkey donated 2 copies of Wonderful Women (link above). Thank you!  

Winners will be chosen from all the comments on the hop made through March 19th, 11:59ET.  Winners will be announced on this blog and Coni Longley's blog a few days later. 

Why Celebrate Justice Ginsburg's Birthday?

Of course I've known who Justice Ginsburg is since she was sworn in on the Supreme Court, and perhaps a little before then.

But I really never gave her much thought, and I didn't know anything about her -- until I saw On The Basis of Sex. I was stunned to find myself crying through the whole movie. The movie has some sad and difficult moments, and it has a David v Goliath theme, but it isn't what I would call a tear jerker.  

So why cry through the whole movie?

The concept of "equality" is a bit of a fiction. We are all born into vastly different circumstances -- some die from a lack of medical care shortly after birth; others live as princes. And throughout our lives, things happen that result in an uneven playing field. A job applicant with no way to get to the interview, a kid who has to take care of her siblings because her parents are addicted to drugs, a foster child, a child who gets cancer, a victim of a crime -- a million things happen over which we have no control.

Life is unfair and makes for an uneven playing field.

But the one thing that shouldn't stand in the way of opportunity, of jobs, or access to school, or a place to live -- is our law. We may not be able to fix all, or even most, of life's problems, our laws shouldn't make life harder.

Ruth Ginsburg argued that a law that prevented a man who was taking care of his sick mother from using from a tax break only because he was male should be struck down as discrimination on the basis of gender.

She won and that was huge. She leveled the playing field for men who wanted to stay home and take care of a sick parent.

That case, shown in the movie, reminded me of the battles that have been fought over the years by Justice Ginsburg and others like her to make sure our laws don't make our lives harder than they already are.

I didn't cry during the movie because I've faced sex discrimination in my life (I have, but I dealt with it). Rather, it reminded me of other, more difficult battles, that I overcame, but only with help from others. The movie's portrayal of one woman overcoming her own personal battles and fighting for others reminded me of those battles and those victories. Thus, the happy and wistful tears.

Most of us just take care of our own business every day. But people like Justice Ginsburg fight for others. We need those people. They do the heavy lifting for the rest of us.

Thank you, Justice Ginsburg and I hope you are having a wonderful birthday.

MOOD WHEN DONE: Grateful

Edited to add:  Kelly Purkey has a freebie related to RGB in her newsletter today. You can find it here


22 comments:

~amy~ said...

Oh Joan, thank you for organizing and for this wonderful post. Your project is perfect, love the added color! I really loved the story behind the hop. Thank you for being you!

SmilynStef said...

She is amazing ... and you are too ... thanks for honoring her.

Becky said...

What a great card. I love it, and the birthday celebration.

I Card Everyone said...

It takes one, to know one... Joan you speak of strength, and I've seen it shared here many times.
Your card is fantastic! Thank you for inviting me to celebrate Justice Ginsburg… I'm still waiting on that movie- I'll be sure to grab the Kleenex!
=]

Susan Raihala said...

Your card is sassy and spectacular...pitch perfect. Thank you for sharing your reflections on law and on RBG.

Karen said...

Great card! Love the stamps and design!

conil said...

Wonderful card. To me, it says it all. I so treasure this woman for her clear, logical mind and her spine of steel. She gives me hope and I just know she's going to love this card. I know I do. Thanks for the "equality" lesson.

Glennis F said...

I love the design of your card, and thanks for the info on this great lady

JanTink said...

I love your card. You do clean and simple so well, something I struggle with!

Helen Kalb said...

This is great - celebrating an exceptional woman! Love your card too.
:)

Katie Ann Brooks said...

Great card and great synopsis of the movie! 💙💙💙

MadeByMeghanK said...

What a BRILLIANT idea for a hop! Thanks for the info about RGB... I really didn't know too much about her! GREAT CARD! Love the colors!

MyLittleBlueDog said...

The card design is striking and such a topical subject. You are very talented and I can see your mojo flowing back rapidly. Hope you are pleased with your 'recovery' and happy with your output of creativity.

Dana M said...

What a cool blog hop! Funny how that image seems to be a perfect likeness of Judge Ginsburg. Awesome card!

Jeanne H said...

I too thank you for all the information on Justice Ginsburg. Good idea for the hop and I love the set with her likeness.

Anila Dikay said...

Adorable and super CAS card.

Rose said...

oh i love how you added her earrings!! fab card :)

Leslie Miller said...

I can't wait to see the movie. This is a woman to be admired and respected and we women have a lot of reasons to be grateful to her. Your card and this hop does the justice justice!

Lisa said...

Fun and fantastic card... and your post ... made me cry! ...lol! We're both just a couple crybabies aren't we? I am so happy that Amy invited me to join in this fun celebration. And thank you for pulling it all together!

MaryAnn Samuelson said...

Oh that movie!! I agree, I watched and having been a child of the 60's I have seen so much change for equality.. RBG Is definitely a role model we all need to keep in our lives. Love the simplicity of your card and thank you for the great write up..

Celeste Goff said...

Love how fun, colorful, and whimsical this card is!

Karen Dunbrook said...

giggle...really fun card. great cas!
xx Karen