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Monday, December 31, 2012

2012: A Year in Review

Here are links to my favorite 10 cards of 2012.  Looking through my cards, it seems that most of my favorites are either quite CAS or have many layers and embellishments.  All but one of these cards (the baby card) were donated to Operation Write Home so that our military heroes can write home to their families.  2013 is a great time to get involved with OWH if you haven't yet volunteered for this great organization!  Visit www.operationwritehome.org to learn more! 

#1: Cream in my Coffee 

#2: Sketch 120




#3: Super Dad


#4: Missing Link



#5: Sketch 116


#6: Star Spangled


#7: CAS birthday



#8: That's how we roll!


#9: Oh Baby!


#10: Home Sweet Home


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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Friendship set to music

Do you ever make a card or two while you're cleaning up your workspace?  That's how this card was invented.

The papers were all scraps sitting on my desk from other projects.  I'd already embossed the gold paper and punched the corner.  I just added the vellum quote and twine (which covers the adhesive I used). 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Christmas cards for work

 My team goes together to do group gifts for a few people at work who make our job easier!  I was asked to do the cards, so I made these, taking into account each recipient's personality.  The first one is my favorite because it fits most closely with my personal style. 






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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Heartfelt sympathy

One of my coworkers lost her daughter last night.  She passed at a very young age, completely without warning, and leaves two small sons.  There really are no words to express how devastated everyone is over this news.  Not only is the faculty at my school very tight-knit and therefore close with the mother, but this young woman was also a student at the school several years ago, so numerous staff members taught her. 

I hope this card brings a bit of comfort to the grieving family. 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

A little birthday card

OWH shipper Caro celebrated her birthday today, so we were asked to post birthday cards to the FB wall.  I made this one in just a few minutes tonight.  I knew I wanted bright circles overlapping, so I just chose some fun papers and added some Paper Smooches stamps and an SU sentiment to finish it off.  The chipboard letters are cut with my Cuttlebug. 



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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

We Click- Paper Smooches

Sandy, President of Operation Write Home, put out a request for cardmakers to send in one kit of 6 cards for CHA.  She asked us to use current products from companies that partner with OWH and that was the biggest part of the challenge for me!  Most of what I buy is on clearance so I had very little current stuff in my stash.  I did win some Paper Smooches stamps recently, so I decided to use them with some plain cardstock to make my kit.  

Since this is a love card, I'll put in a little plug to remind you that Valentine's Day cards are due to OWH shippers by 12/31.  That being said, have a heart and ship them early so that these generous volunteers aren't swamped with work over the holidays!  Love cards are also the OWH Midweek Throwdown, so you can link up your cards on the OWH blog when you've made them.  :)

As I put together this post, I saw that Paper Smooches is having a Sparks challenge right now to use cameras on a card.  Is that a coincidence or what?  Yay!  

Stamps: Paper Smooches Perpetual Bliss
Cardstock: The Paper Company
Punches: EK Success binding edge, .75" square, and 1.75" circle
Dies: Spellbinders Circles
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, and SU Tempting Turquoise
Other: Glossy Accents, Dimensional Adhesive

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Getting back in the card making groove

November came and went and I made very few cards.  I am getting back in the swing of things now that I've crafted all of my Christmas cards, too.  Yesterday, I made some thank you cards using some new-to-me SU items I bought from a coworker and tonight I decided to pull out yet another color of ink I hadn't played with before, Orchid Opulence (now retired).

I snagged an Inkadinkado stamp set for myself at TJMaxx today when I was picking out some Christmas presents.  I liked the balloon and this sentiment was one I knew I would use a lot for OWH.  The quotation marks are all wrong, though.  I think I'll trim them off with my scissors since they make no sense! 

Stamps: Inkadinkado (balloon, sentiment, and flower) and American Crafts (clouds)

Gems: TPC Studios
Flowers: Making Memories and Hero Arts
Brad: Making Memories
I'm going to enter this card into December's ODBD challenge which asks us to use flowers on our cards.  This looks springy to me!  Our Daily Bread Designs is so generous to offer to pay for shipping for two boxes each month as long as we link up cards from 50 different card makers.  Can you help this month? 


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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Patriotic Thank Yous

Here are a few patriotic thank you cards I made tonight with some Stampin Up stamps and inks. 





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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Lawn Fawn fun

Lawn Fawn has a challenge posted on their blog to get submissions for example cards to be published in their next catalog.  I have a couple of their sets and decided to play along.  This card features Quinn's ABCs with Critters on the Farm.  I partially inked the "I like ewe" sentiment to provide a label under the sheep.  "I love a sheep" is a much less commonly needed sentiment! 

I love how well these Lawn Fawn stamps cling to the blocks, transfer ink, and clean up.  The alphas are also formed as handy rectangles to make lining up phrases for stamping simpler.  The other supplies I used were white, black, and red cardstock as well as a few markers (Copics E11 and W3 and a red Bic Mark It).



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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Cheating on Christmas cards

I had a realization this weekend that I cannot make Christmas cards and write notes in them in the time that's left before I realistically need to mail the cards.  Last year I didn't deal with Christmas cards soon enough and this year I'm already cutting it close.

Enter my time saving idea.  Normally, I write a note to each person on my list and it's usually very similar from one card to the next.   Tonight, I typed up a Christmas letter.  Now, that's not a big deal because people have been sending typed Christmas letters for ages.  What I did that's a bit different is that I formatted my document with two columns and page margins 6" on the top and .5" on all other sides.  This gave me a card base that I could print out that already had the entire message inside except for the salutation and my signature.  I just put one per page for simplicity and as I cut them down, I'll keep the other half to build up a stack of card bases for OWH.  Yay! 

Here's a little diagram for you visual folks!
What do you do to make your holiday cards come together quickly?

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Still here!

I guess I've been busy because I haven't posted in nearly three weeks.  :) 

Thanks to a couple of reminders on the OWH FB page, I finally got around to making my ODBD challenge card for the month of November.  We were asked to use a tool that we've neglected.  Immediately the Fastenator came to mind (what a stupid purchase that was) but the results weren't what I wanted.  I covered up the large staples on the first card with the sentiment and pretended that I didn't mess it up too badly.  Hehe!  These Cosmo Cricket papers are great, though, aren't they?  I was trying for masculine; do you think I succeeded?

The second card is my actual entry.  I used a Cuttlebug die/embossing folder set of Princess Belle.  I got the set for pennies on Oh My Crafts a while ago and this was the first time I'd used it. 

Please take some time to make a card for the ODBD challenge.  ODBD is so generous to offer shipping costs for two boxes of OWH cards per month but we have to post 50 cards to earn it!  Help out and post a card with this month's theme: unused tools.  :) 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

AnyHero challenge for November

Since Thanksgiving comes at the end of November, many of us make a concerted effort to express our gratitude for a number of our blessings this month.  Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday because it's not about presents and consumerism (as all of the others are), but it's about family and the aspects of our lives we hold most dear.  

As Hurricane Sandy swept through the East Coast this weekend, many of us realized once again how blessed we are.  This month, I'm going to channel that feeling of gratitude and abundant blessing into AnyHero cards for Operation Write Home.

I'm challenging myself to write one AnyHero card per day for the rest of the month.  Will you join me?  Leave a comment here letting me know you're in.  I'm going to work on a great prize for people who report back at the end of the month and let us know how many AnyHero cards they were able to do this month (even if that number isn't 30). 

So, leave a comment and get writing!  Our heroes will appreciate knowing just how much they are valued! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I love you kit

Here's another super simple kit card I'm making using some stickers by TPC Studios that I got at Tuesday Morning.  I was so lucky to stumble upon a pack of 25 sheets of cardstock stickers for $1.99.  I've used about half of the designs on some card kits, some of which I showed in my last post.  They're all pink and red Valentine's Day or love stickers, so you'll see a lot of them in the next month or two as I tackle that holiday for OWH. 

On this card, I opted to bring out the mint green hearts on the sticker.  There is so much red and pink at Valentine's Day that it's nice to have other options if those aren't your favorite colors!  I crimped a strip of cardstock and ran it through the sticker slide to give the appearance of ribbon.  The texture doesn't come through in the picture. 

The paper used on this card is by American Crafts.  The jewels are also from Tuesday Morning and are by TPC.  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Hurricane Sandy

I had lots of card kits ready for a card party that never happened, so when Hurricane Sandy started showing up as a serious threat, I figured I could get them assembled when the power went out.

As it turns out, though we had heavy rain and wind, the power never went out.  I did assemble about 100 kits.  Most or all of these have been posted on my blog before, when I first designed the kit for the party that ended up being cancelled.  


Links to earlier posts featuring these cards:
Blue/Green Birthday aka the card that killed my corner rounder
Coffee
Floral Thinking of You
Floral Birthday
Miss You & Hugs and Kisses

I also made this unique card today.  The stamp on this one was from Pam T.  Thanks, Pam!

We'll probably be back to work tomorrow as our area was not hit quite as hard as I think forecasters expected.  I've been grateful to have these last two days off because I've been sick and probably would have needed to take a day off anyway.  Sandy gave me a good excuse not to feel guilty about spending a few days on the couch! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Friday, October 26, 2012

A special birthday card

My mom's celebrating a milestone birthday this week, so I baked a special 6-layer rainbow birthday cake and made this card for her.   The rainbow cake has a back story.  When I was little, I used to make rainbow cakes from Legos which I modeled after actual rainbow cakes sold at our local grocery store.  Decades later, we've still never tried one, so I decided I could make one.  It's gigantic and so full of frosting that it will probably be too sweet to eat, but I had to give it a try! 

The card actually has a bit of a rainbow look going on, too.  That's not intentional.  I decided to use some of the new Paper Smooches stamps I won on World Card Making Day.  This set is called Perpetual Bliss

If you're a regular visitor, you know I'm not one to use glitter as it's not safe for OWH cards.  I did use a bunch of DCWV glitter paper for this card because it's not going to OWH.  It was fun to use some of it up.  The border punch is American Girl/EK Success as is the music note punch.  I punched the music notes from Making Memories Slice black adhesive vinyl.  I used a couple of silver brads to highlight the knobs on the jukebox. 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Wedding Wishes

Two weddings in two weekends?  I must be a gal in her twenties!

This card is for my best friend and her soon-to-be-hubby.  I have the joy of serving as maid of honor in her wedding this coming weekend.  You would think I would have made this card ages ago, but no.  Last minute, down-to-the-wire as ever.

The wedding colors are brown with accents of fall oranges/yellows, so I used these great papers by My Mind's Eye which were in keeping with that color scheme.  The card is 6x6 overall, which was so much fun to work with!  I am in such an A2 mode that it's sometimes quite fun to play with a bigger size.  Additionally, I used super thick foam squares and huge pearls.  Hello, lumpiness that doesn't need to be mailed.  Love it!  I was so stoked to also note that the text paper has "amor," which will be a nice nod to the bride's choice of a Spanish gown. 


Stamps: PSX (sentiment) and Unity (hearts)
Nestabilities Labels 2
Paper: My Mind's Eye
Pearls: EK Success
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sunday Sketch!

Julie asked me to make samples for this week's Sunday Sketch.  Be sure to go over to OWH Stars and Stamps to see the measurements for Sketch #142 and all the variations that OWHers come up with.  

Here are my three samples:

I used some washi in my first card.  To make sure it was aligned well, I stuck it to strips of cardstock first, cut those to the banner shape, and then adhered them to the card.  
Target up & up paper tape (washi) from the office supply aisle
Sentiment retired by SU
Punches by SU and EK Success 
I wanted to showcase a sticker card and/or a card without a sentiment, so that's how this one came about.  The orange paper is really Halloween paper, so I would encourage you to look at your stash in a new light to see if your holiday papers are really multi-purpose papers! 
Papers: Pebbles, DCWV
Sticker: Me and My Big Ideas
Ovals: Nestabilities
I'm not usually one to do vintage or shabby chic looks, but many OWHers like this style more than my typically graphic style, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I chose papers from one 6x6 pad to aid in coordination.  I used a Tim Holtz Distress Tool to rough up the edges of the banners.  I softened the sentiment paper by stamping flowers in the background.  Finally, I added some thin buttons tied with twine.  I only used a half tie and a super thin glue dot so they would stay flat enough for mailing.  I also made sure to pop the sentiment on dimensional tape to somewhat even out the thickness of the card overall. 

Papers: My Mind's Eye Honey Cake
Stamps: SU (sentiment from Best Yet) and Unity (flower on sentiment paper)
Buttons: stash
Twine: Whisker Graphics Divine Twine in Peach
Punch: EK Success
Thanks for visiting.  Sorry if you were here at 7:00am and the post wasn't up yet!  Time got away from me yesterday and I didn't get it posted! 
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Winner!

I chose a winner for the 10 yards of Peach Divine Twine that I offered on my blog last weekend.  Raeanna (Ms. Craftin-ista), you're the winner!  I already have your address, so it's going into the mail today.   Enjoy!
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Tutorial and MWT All-in-one!

This week's Tuesday Tutorial was making a hot air balloon and the Midweek Throwdown was to make a love or anniversary themed card.  Here's a two-fer: 
Since I didn't have any stamps of hot air balloons nor any patterned paper featuring them, I made my own from a circle and trapezoid of paper along with some ribbons.  Anyone can play along with this tutorial with some creativity! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A few spooks!

Two weekends ago, I got together with a newly forming scrapbooking/card making group at my church.   We made these acrylic cards together and then worked on our own projects that we brought for a bit.  It was nice because I got to meet one parishioner who I didn't know, chat with one I did know, and drum up some support for OWH! 



Aren't these fun?  They're not my normal style, but I like them!  These obviously won't go to OWH as that deadline has long passed.  I'll probably send one to my grandmother and the other to my great aunt and great uncle.  They enjoy getting mail! 
In other news, I shipped off my most recent box of OWH cards today.  I hadn't sent a box since late June, so I was pretty much overdue!  I missed the Halloween and Fall deadlines, so those will go in my overflow box for next year.  I actually had more than the box would hold when I went to pack it up, so I already have about 20 cards for my next box waiting.  As it was, the box was a bit too full and I thought they might try to charge me an extra fee since the top of the flat rate box wasn't entirely flat.  However, I must have caught the postmaster on a good day because she actually asked me if she was charging me the right amount!  Haha!  Can you tell I live in a small town?  There are 356 cards and 3 AnyHero cards are making their way to Caro in NC as we speak.  

I would need to make almost 400 cards in the next two months to match my card totals for 2011, meaning 40-50 a week.  I started off the year making cards at a fast pace, but more recently I've been working on single cards instead of multiples, so the work isn't going as quickly.  I'm OK with not passing last years number, but I would like to fill one more box by the end of the year or early January so my total can get past 1500.  We'll also be doing hero letters at school prior to Christmas break again this year, so that should net about 200-250 more for the AnyHero count! 

My goals for the year were to work on more AnyHero cards, to complete all of the sketches, and to color more.  I'm making good progress on all three of those goals, so I will not be deterred by a smaller total number of cards.  :)
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Paper Smooches/ OWH Sketch #135

Paper Smooches challenged us to make a card using OWH Sketch #135.  I'm a big fan of featuring patterned paper on my card, so I did just that and added a Paper Smooches sentiment with a colored in heart covered with Glossy Accents.  



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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Paper Smooches 1 layer card

Paper Smooches challenged us to make a one layer card for WCMD.  I decided to do so using their digis!  I used the same "I heart you" digi over and over again and edited one to be printed in red.  Then I trimmed down my card to A2 size.  Finally, I added some glitter glue securely coated in Glossy Accents so it won't pose any problems for our heroes since I'll be sending this card to Operation Write Home.



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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

OWH Sketch #141

It's Sunday, so that means it's time for a sketch.  I made his and hers cards using scraps of things on my desk.  If I can get two completely different cards out of the leftovers on my desk, it must be time to do a little cleaning in the craft room!

The papers on this masculine card are all Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman.  Buttons are Making Memories brads.  Nestabilities 8 was used for the fancy shape, an idea I shamelessly stole from Jen, the sketch example maker for the week.



The papers on this girly card are all either DCWV or Fiskars.  I did the edging with deco scissors because they were hanging around on my desk, too.  
 
Here's the link to sketch #141 so you can play along, too.  There's even a bonus sketch there! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Bonus Sketch!

Julie posted a bonus sketch on her blog and on OWH Stars and Stamps.  Here's what I came up with: 
The stamp and patterned paper are by TPC Studios. 


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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Pamela's World of Scrap/ODBD October

I just learned about Pamela's World of Scrap and her wonderful sketches from OWHer Robin today.   There are five great sketches posted and we're challenged to use them for World Card Making Day.  Ok, here I go!

Sketch #1:


Sketch #2 (I love this sketch!):
This card also qualifies for October's Our Daily Bread Designs challenge on the Operation Write Home blog.  As always, 50 or more cards posted with the monthly theme will cause ODBD to donate the funds to ship two boxes of cards to our heroes.  That donation is always important, but especially so at this time of year when Christmas cards are flying overseas at a steady pace.  Please go over to the OWH blog to link up your card featuring circles.  
 
When I get a chance to try the other three sketches that Pamela shared, I'll add to this post.  :)
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Unity WCMD Challenges

Please note: I'll be adding to this post as more Unity challenges are posted.  If you're looking for my WCMD post for Operation Write Home's bloghop, please click here.  

The first challenge is for shaped cards.
I don't know the name of this Unity stamp because I got it in a grab bag.  Does anyone know what set it belongs to?  The card is made with Spellbinders Labels 5 and circles, cardstock from my stash, and Offray 1/8" ribbon. 

The second challenge is to add texture.

I added three kinds of texture: heat embossing, dry embossing, and Glossy Accents (on the flower centers and heart).  I used three stamp sets: the flower and sentiment are one set and the leaves that I heat embossed on the background came from two other sets.

Challenge #3 asked for embossing.

I used dry embossing on six hexagons and heat embossed a sentiment on a seventh.  The die is by Cuttlebug.   The sentiment is an itty bitty.  Love those!

Challenge #4 is a sketch. 

The sentiment on here is from the sending love your way set with the mailbox.  

Challenge #5 is to make a fall card.  I think of greens, oranges, browns, and yellows for fall, so, I made a card in that color family.  The sketch idea was on SCS and I've seen several bloggers use it. 
The sentiment is part of the "thanks for your support" sentiment from the "sexy, silly, and sassy" set.  I'll bet few people use that set to make fall cards.  ;)

Challenge #6 is to use a regular stamp to make a border.  This wasn't as easy as it sounded because the majority of my Unity stamps would look pretty strange repeated as a border.  I finally settled on some text stamps and then had a terrible time stamping straight.  This is the best of my attempts (even using the Stamp-a-ma-jig), so please excuse any wobbliness!  This pink card is also going to be submitted to Paper Smooches for their WCMD challenge to use pink! 

The gems are from JoAnn.  The cardstock is just generic stuff from my stash.  Stamps are, of course, by Unity. 

Challenge #7 is to color.  OK, Copics at the ready!



Challenge #8 is to use brown, cream, pumpkin, and olive as the color scheme.
I might have gone a little overboard with the distressing, but I think it works on this masculine card.   

The final challenge is to enter the Unity KOTM Sketch Challenge and Theme Challenge for the month.
Here's the KOTM Sketch Challenge: (using a stamp from Nov. 2011)
 
And here's the Theme Challenge: (We had to use banners or pennants.)   
My camera doesn't do well when photographing cards with a lot of black.  :(
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.