Cards for dads

 With the Mother's Day card deadline looming this Sunday and the Father's Day deadline just one month later, I've been kicking it into high gear for masculine/dad cards recently.  For some reason, I wasn't really feeling the Mother's Day cards this year, so I focused on the guys instead. 

Thanks for the twine, Cindy!

The Bazzill ribbon and textured cardstock make this card feel richer in person than it photographs

Digi by free vintage digis

I love this deer stamp!  I have made dozens of cards with it this year.

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Today was a snow day from school (only our second this year, and by far the most snow we've gotten this winter -- er -- spring!)  Of course, that meant more time to make cards.  Here's a favorite from today.  I cut the paper to make many of these, so now I'm left with lots of coloring to do. 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Shopping tips, OWH Rule of Thirds Bootcamp, and more Masculine Swap cards from Julie's kit

I wanted to start today's post off with a couple of money-saving shopping tips.  First of all, you have probably seen Sandy's "Precious" if you've watched OWHtv.  It's her gigantic roll of dimensional foam tape.  Sold on Amazon for $32.91 for 38 yards, it's cheaper than buying smaller rolls of Scotch adhesive elsewhere.  I've been buying small rolls of another brand from Big Lots for about two years because I didn't want to deal with the storage of a gigantic roll nor the big sticker price all at once.  When I picked up a new roll yesterday, I decided to do a price comparison.  The Scotch stuff is 1/2" wide by 38 yards (114 feet) long.  The price works out to 29 cents per linear foot or 5 cents per square inch.  The Big Lots brand "Front Porch Treasures" is 3/4" wide and 16 feet long for $1.50.  The price works out to 9 cents per linear foot or 1 cent per square inch.  So, if you've been buying the Scotch brand and want to save some money, you can save at least 2/3 off the price by shopping at Big Lots.  I've found it to be plenty sticky and it's marked as photo safe, so I feel comfortable using it on my cards.  

Look in the stationary aisle or the hardware aisle.  I've found it in both places. 

Another great deal at Big Lots yesterday: Elmer's brand washi tape was in packs of three rolls for $1.  Each roll is 30 feet long.  These were in the stationary aisle in my store. 

I put some of the black and white washi on this card made from one of Julie's kits.   I think the placement of the tree and washi stripes makes this one qualify for Paula's Rule of Thirds boot camp.  I love reading her design lessons and was honored that she used one of my cards as an example.  I never took any studio art classes after 8th grade, so all of my learning on the topic has either been theory (in Humanities class in high school) or through helping my college roommate with her projects.  She majored in art but recognized that I had a better eye than she did for layout so she would always have me help her with her collage projects.  All that is to say, I enjoy reading the theory behind why some of my cards work better than others!  Now, I just have to remember to put it into practice all the time. 

The other card I made from Julie's kit with a sentiment of my own:

I used the extra sentiment from Julie's kit for this card: 

A left over scrap of the orange paper from Sandi's kit made it onto this card:

Have an excellent week!  Remember that the OWH Mother's Day deadline is just a week away. 
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

10 Minute Craft Dash #14

Sandy of OWH did a 10 minute craft dash a few weeks ago on OWHtv, so when I saw a blog featuring that same sort of challenge, I decided to play along.  Who doesn't have 10 minutes to craft? Don't forget that this 10 minutes is necessarily followed by 10 minutes to clean up the tornado created during the 10 minute dash!  Click on the logo below to check out the challenge. 

Here's my card.  This patterned paper by American Crafts immediately came to mind, as did the sentiment from Hampton Arts.  I spent more time searching for the stamp set than anything else!  The pear punch is by Marvy from their flower creating line of punches and the border punch is MS Cherish.  Spellbinders circles made the focal point.  I drew faces on the pears; they just needed some personality!

Total time: 9:38 ------
Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Masculine Swap Kits from Jen and Sandi

Today I received my 6 masculine swap kits in the mail.  These monthly swaps are fun and keep me busy making detailed cards.  It's so nice to have someone else do the tough work of choosing all the elements.  Tonight I worked on the kits from Sandi and Jen.  That leaves me four kits to play with later. 

Sandi sent a fisherman digi.  I could not figure out a layout I liked that allowed me to use the sentiment on the card with the fisherman, so I took the scraps and made a second card.  Gotta love a two-for-one kit!

 

Jen sent a kit using the OWH Hero Arts fundraiser set.  I haven't purchased any of the Hero Arts sets, so it was fun to play with the clocks and sentiments.  The grommet eyelet things were cool, too!

  

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

The last of the shirts!

Two years ago, I folded a huge stack of shirts using this OWH tutorial.   I know I had over 50 shirts at one point.  Then, I had to turn them into cards for OWH.  I realized too late that I'd made more shirts than OWH likes to receive as multiples, so I ended up spreading them over a few years.  The last 8 shirts were finished up today!  I inked the backgrounds to go with the shirts.  Part of the reason I hadn't used these particular shirts was that I had trouble matching them to my other papers, so making my own solved that problem. 

Think about trying a new-to-you OWH tutorial this week from the archives.  There's also a necktie perfect for Father's Day.  Cards for Father's Day are due by the end of April this year, so you have about a month to make them- don't delay! 
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Pink and Green Mother's Day

I am still cleaning scraps from my desk.  Today's find was this pink and green patterned paper and pink cardstock.  I did have to dig out the green from my "new" papers to match it, so it's not entirely a scrap card. The layout is inspired by the fancy ribbon cards Joanne posted on the OWH FB page yesterday and today. 

Patterned paper: DCWV Spring Stack from 2008 or 2009
Cardstock: American Crafts and The Paper Company
Stamp: Studio G
Ric Rac: Wrights
Bow: Martha Stewart (from an invitation kit)
Punch: Marvy
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Another turtley awesome card

This card didn't make the cut for the skip this weekend, but I liked the background and how I colored the turtle, so I decided to share it.

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Odds and ends = cards

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was cleaning my craft desk this weekend.  It's been quite the undertaking since I'd let it get out of hand.  Now, instead of simply filing scraps or getting rid of them, I've been making cards.  I also had a large stack of semi-completed card fronts that needed attention.  I guess I ran out of time or inspiration when I first made them and I just haven't gone back to finish them over the past several weeks. 

Here is the first group finished off into a set of 16 identical Mother's Day cards.  Just to be fair to all the dads out there, I should disclose that my mom and I were shopping at JoAnn together a year or two ago and when she saw the stamp, she requested it for her Mother's Day card that year.  It's nice to offer some humorous choices for Mother's Day; why are the fathers the only ones we can poke fun at?  :)  I used the same paper I'd used for some Mother's Day cards last year since Caro had commented how nice it was that they weren't pink. 

 
The butterfly cards came about in much the same way.  There are nine of these in my box now.  I was so pleased to finally find a project on which I could use this American Crafts ribbon.  Since purchasing it, I've all but sworn off printed ribbons, with the exception of neutral or subtle patterns because I can never get them to match.

 

My box of cards is about half full with 153 cards and a goodly stack of kids Any Hero letters.  I wonder if I'll actually get it ready in time for the Mother's Day deadline or if these cards will be waiting for 2014.  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Mojo stuck? Unstick it with this freebie! Plus: focal points.

If you've ever been stuck with no mojo (and from the posts I've seen recently on the OWH FB page, this is a problem that runs rampant), you might want to try these cards I made.  I typed up a smattering of ideas on themes, color schemes, embellishments, and techniques and formatted them like a deck of cards.  They are color coded by category: theme, technique, tool/supply, and color scheme.  You could draw one or more cards from the deck when you're stuck with no inspiration to get you rolling!  There are 72 total ideas in the stack and you could certainly add in your own.  Just print these out, trim them apart, and tuck the deck somewhere handy for when you need to be inspired.  (If you're not familiar with Box, it's pretty user-friendly.  Just click the download link and you should be able to open the Word file within seconds.)


Part 2 of this post is going to let me showcase the cards I made with the last of the kids kits from the swap Scrap to Treasure did last month.   Here are the final cards.   I stretched a few of the kits with a bit of my own cardstock and was able to make more than one card from most kits.  The first three cards came from Mary's kit and the last was from my own kit.  These kits also are going to help me enter Paula's boot camp from 2/18 on creating a focal point.  I really try to think about creating a focal point each time I design a card and I think I do a pretty good job of it at least 90% of the time. That was not so when I started making cards, but I've learned a lot in the past two or three years. 

Cupcake as focal point

Sentiment as focal point.  I love this paper.  I wish I knew where it was from because I would buy a few more sheets.  :)

Girl as focal point. 

Dragon as focal point.

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Clean off your desk = 7 unique cards

If you're looking for the OWH/Stamper's Best Blog Skip, please see the last post.  Thanks!

I set out to clean off my desk tonight.  The scraps on my desk were either going to be tossed (but they're too cute- gasp!), filed, or turned into cards.  Since I loathe filing and hate to waste good papers, I kept making cards from the scraps that I came across.  Enter 7 cards made this evening (and a desk that's still far from clear).

 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

OWH/Stamper's Best Animal Pun Blog Skip

Hello everyone!  Thanks for visiting during the Operation Write Home/Stamper's Best Animal Pun Blog Skip.  If you came over from Jan's blog, you're in the right place.   If you just happened upon my blog today, be sure to head over to Operation Write Home's Stars and Stamps blog to begin the skip from the top and make sure you don't miss a single bit of the fun.

Sandy Allnock of Operation Write Home designed three sets of punny animal stamps which Stamper's Best manufactured.  After you see all the great cards on the hop, I hope you'll take advantage of a great sale and purchase the sets at the special buy-two-get-one-free price that Stamper's Best is offering this month.  While you're there, pick up some of their great cling storage cards, too!

The next stop on the hop is the fabulous Marlene.

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

My first Stamper's Best order

I've had one Stamper's Best stamp for over two years, but I've never ordered any stamps from them until now.  What is that one stamp, you ask?  Well, it's my Operation Write Home logo stamp that goes on the back of every card I send to OWH.  Stamper's Best donates all of these stamps for OWH.  As you can see at the bottom of this post, my stamp has been going strong for well over 3,000 impressions!  These stamps are made to last. 

On Friday night, I ordered some stamps and a few of their cling storage cards.  Everything arrived yesterday, including a free gift and another OWH stamp (which they send with every order). The real reason for my purchase was the upcoming OWH Animal Pun Blog Skip featuring stamps designed by Sandy Allnock of Operation Write Home and manufactured by Stamper's Best.  Sales of these new stamp sets will benefit OWH thanks to the generosity of Stamper's Best.  I'm one of the stops on the skip, so be sure to come back on Saturday, March 9 after 9am EST to see what's in store. 

Here's a picture of some of my cling stamps loaded up on the cling storage cards. Look at how many fit on just one side of a sheet.  I've filled up 4 of the 10 I purchased and I think there are a few more cling stamps hiding out that I missed. 

This card is made with the stamp set I received as my free gift: Friends and Underwear!  The entire sentiment says, "Friends are like underwear, always near you" but I chose to highlight only the last part of the phrase. 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Part 2 of February Swap

I took a few minutes to make the next two kits from the February swap into cards. 

The bear card is my ODBD challenge card for March.  The challenge is to make a card with scallops.   I don't have a full complement of Copic colors, but when I have the opportunity, I try to practice shading.  I'm especially lacking in browns, so this poor bear is just one color all over.  His hat, however, was where I tried shading.  I need some more markers because I think the hat came out OK and it would be awesome if the whole image was shaded. 

Ann's Kit (I think this is a MFT stamp set)

Jen's kit reminded me so much of her style.  I really admire card makers who have a distinct style.  You can look at their work and know that it's theirs.  I tried to channel Jen's style while I made these cards. 

Jen's kit #1

Jen's kit #2

Mary's kit and my own kits are left, so you'll see those another day.  Don't forget to go post a card with scallops for the March ODBD challenge!
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Part 1 of February Kids Cards

I hosted a card kit swap with members from Scrap to Treasure.  Here are the cards I made with the kits I received from Beth (monster/alien) and Julie (robots). 

 I still have several kits on my desk to use.  I am amazed at how productive I can be with these kits.  I never realized how much time I spend hunting down just the perfect papers!
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.

Spring Card Swap Finale

Here are the final cards I made from spring swaps I received through Scrap to Treasure, a FB group of about 100 OWHers.  This was the January swap which Katie hosted.  We sent in kits for spring cards.  I hosted the February swap, so now it's time to get cracking on making those cards.
  

Julie's kit included a pretty image to color and some bright, fun papers.  I colored with Copics and was so pleased to see that I had colors to match the papers pretty well.  

Katie's kit included a doily- a first for me in card making!  I colored with watercolor pencils

This was my favorite kit of the swap and I think it was from Cindy.  I just loved each and every piece of this kit.  The papers were beautifully textured, the colors were typical of my choices, and the trim was a unique touch.  Love it!

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
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.