Dry Embossing- January ODBD Challenge

January's ODBD challenge is to use dry embossing.  I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on the background and used some brown cardstock that came pre-embossed with stripes when I made this love card.

Each month, ODBD sponsors the cost of shipping two boxes of cards to our heroes if we are able to post 50 cards meeting the monthly challenge.  Please support Our Daily Bread Designs as they are so generous in their support of our heroes.  I recently got my first sets of stamps from them and I can tell you the stamps are high quality cling mounted (purple!) rubber and the shipping was prompt.  :)

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: None thus far, but I will be mailing a box of 300+ blank and 140 AnyHero notes this week!
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.

Kits- DCWV A Type of Art Stack

Here are two more kits for next Friday's party.  I've got 15 different kits made now with just over 150 cards ready to be assembled.  Both of these cards were made with OWH Sketches (#100 and #2) and use papers from DCWV's A Type of Art stack.  I made a dozen of each of these.  At first, I only made six of the top card and then I saw Joanne's post on the OWH FB page that encouraged us to use up all of the paper in our stash once we designed a card.  I realized I had another sheet of each of the patterned papers, so I ran with it and made double the kits.

Sketch: OWH #100
Stamp: SU Whimsical Words
Die: Sizzix Flower #2
Embossing: Cuttlebug Script
Punch: EK corner punch (not sure of the name, but it has an orange body) 

Sketch: OWH #2
Embossing: Sizzix/Tim Holtz Swirls
Twine: Whisker Graphics Divine Twine- Peach

 

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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.

Patriotic card kit

Cindy posted that she was looking for ideas for easy card kits for teen boys to put together.  This idea immediately came to mind because it's very hard to do badly and it leaves some room for individual choice. 

First, punch/cut a bunch of stars in coordinating papers.   
I used Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman papers with Sizzix stars dies and EK success star punches.
Second, glue the stars to background card stock, trimming off any excess that hangs over the edges.  
Kraft looked great with my papers.
Third, emboss the entire card front.
I used The Paper Studio's star folder.
Fourth, add a tag with a sentiment.    
Sentiment by Inkadinkado.  Punch by EK Success (punched twice to achieve the size shown)

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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.

Kits- Love cards

I found an awesome deal on sticker sheets at Tuesday Morning yesterday.  I got a set of 25 12x12 sheets of cardstock stickers for $1.99!   They're meant for Valentines, but the messages are generic love sentiments, so I turned a few of the stickers into simple kits for my friends to assemble later this month.  One of the things that can be a pain with stickers is that you can't often design kits around them because the pack usually contains such a variety of sizes and designs.  By getting 25 identical sheets, I was able to design a couple of kits.  I will probably make at least one more kit from the pack if time permits. 

Here are two cards that I designed.  The squirrel card is an OWH Sketch, #8. 

 The background on this one is actually navy.  :)

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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!

Hi everyone!  Did you have a good weekend?  I got to see some friends who I haven't seen since 2003, so it was an awesome weekend for me!

I made this card using free digis from Paper Smooches.  You should check out their adorable designs, most especially the "Circle of Honor" stamp set, because its proceeds benefit OWH.  How awesome is that?

Stamps: Digis by Paper Smooches
Twine: We R Memory Keepers
Papers: Stash
Embossing: Darice Stripes
Punches: EK Success border and Fiskars Circle
Coloring: Copics R24 and R29

There's also a special sketch posted this week on OWH's blog to pair with Paper Smooches stamps.  I turned the sketch on its side.  I think I might have done OK shading this, too.  Score! 

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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.

Holiday card kits

This post is edited with some new photos of updated cards thanks to suggestions from Scrap to Treasure ladies who were kind enough to leave feedback.  I appreciate your help!   

I took the plunge last night and committed to having an OWH Birthday Bash party at the end of the month.  I tried to design a good kit or two last night and came up with these.  I would LOVE to get your suggestions and feedback for how they can be made better.  Or, if they're not great and you have better ideas, I would LOVE to hear those!

 From the Triple Time stamping tutorial that Donna shared during the VCMP

Remade with darker cardstock, a layer around the sentiment, and a snowflake embellishment.

Inspired by Sybrina's snowman card during the VCMP

Remade with a different hat size (still a bit wonky!), an embossed background, bling on the snowflake, and a googly eye instead of a button.

This last card still has me a little stumped.  I am a bit limited on Christmas stuff I actually like and I think the reason I'm not having good luck with this card is that I don't love the paper; I don't usually do vintage.  I'll come back to it in a couple of days! 

Missing something?

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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.

Like a bowl full of jelly

I was happy to get to share a short tutorial on OWH Stars and Stamps today featuring how to make a Santa card.  The version here is slightly different from the one in the tutorial.  I used buttons instead of brads, white ribbon instead of black, and a metal slider instead of a soda tab for the belt buckle.  I also added two vertical score lines on either side of the buttons; they may not show up well in the photograph unless you click to enlarge it.  I made this kind of card last summer and had some fun with them, so I wanted to make a few more this year.  You can see my original post from August 2011 here.  If you want to see a similar card, check out OWHtv episode 29 from September 2011 where Sandy shared some cards in this same style minus the beard. 

I hope you try your hand at some Santa cards!  Thanks so much for visiting if you came over from the OWH blog.  I'm happy to have you here!  
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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.

Ippity Opportunity

Could this month's Ippity Opportunity Challenge be any easier?  I mean, really, you should definitely play along.  You just need to use any Unity or Ippity itty bitty stamp.  There are a few hundred to pick from!  I have several itty bitty sets and they are certainly a lot larger than the name suggests. Usually the main image in the set is about 2 - 2.5" square and there are almost always a few coordinating stamps in the set.  I had my eye on this set of five stamps (Fore) as soon as it was released.  Back in the spring, I forgot to add it to my order so I had to wait a while until I ordered some stamps a few weeks ago to finally get it.  All the men in my life love golf- my relatives and my coworkers- so I knew I needed to get this stamp for them!

 

Paper: DCWV
Stamps: Unity Ippity Fore
Nesties: Small and Large Deckled Mega Rectangles
Coloring: Marvy Markers, Gelly Roll pens, Sharpie
Embossing: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots
Other: Staples

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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.

Paula's digis= missing you!

Many thanks to Paula for sharing her talents as a graphic designer in the form of these great digi sentiments.  She has many, many free digis on her blog, so you should absolutely go check it out!  I printed off a few sheets of them and went to work making sets of multiples for OWH.  I made 20 of the pink/white/black card and 3 each of the others.

For the card below, I changed Paula's digi to print in blues using MS Word's recoloring features.   I have a tough time freeing diecut paper from this Nestie so I didn't make very many of these. 

I hope to share one other similar card with another of Paula's digis if I can figure out why my new laptop doesn't let me upload rotated photos.  I wouldn't want you to have to tilt your head!  
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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.

Cards with Mom

Mom and I designed these cards to send to the residents at a nursing home.  Mom makes 30 cards a month for the residents and while she visited we got three months of cards made.  The cards need to have large print, so this Unity stamp was a great choice. 

I also made the card below which inspired Mom to make the same card in white, black, and pink with a heart embellishment for February's Valentine's Day cards.  I didn't get a picture of the version we made for her.

 
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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.

A normal Christmas card

Hi everyone!  Just a friendly reminder to finish up your package of cards for this month's OWH challenge (half fall or winter/half anytime).  Cards are due to shippers at the end of the month, so you have just about a week before you have to mail your cards.  I don't think I'll have enough to make it worth my while this time, but I'm consistently working so that I'll have a nice box to send by mid-August.  

The last Christmas cards I posted were (by my description) weird!  Here's one that follows a traditional color palette.

Funny story:  I was in the middle of making this card when I noticed I had a FB message from a friend I hadn't conversed with in about a year.  I responded and then looked back at my card.  I about fell over when I noticed the card I had nearly finished is almost an exact replica of a dress my friend made and wore to our college's ball.  I dug through my photos and found a picture of my friend wearing her dress.  It's like photo inspiration in reverse!  How unlikely!  

Embossing Folder: Lace by Darice
Paper: cardstock from stash
Ribbon: Offray (thanks to Mommom's stash)
Stamp: Michael's
Punch: I don't have a ticket punch, so I use a 1/2" circle punch on the corners
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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.

Beth's Challenge- VCMP #6/ Sassy's Perfect Sentiment Challenge

I've got a card for two different challenges.  I never manage to combine them, but these worked together well.  Beth is hosting the 6th OWH Rebel Challenge and she challenged us to use a die.  Sassy Moments at the Perfect Sentiments bloghop also wanted a die, plus a few other things: ribbon, embossing, red/orange/pink/yellow/white/green color scheme, a stamped image, and a sentiment on the front.  Check, check, check, check, and check.  This card is based off OWH Sketch #73. 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 620 blank and 200 AnyHero (as of 4/24)
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.

I just got this Unity Stamp Company stamp called "love is everything" and I was excited to ink it up today.  I used a scrap of polka dotted paper by KI memories, a scrap of green cardstock, a new sheet of blue cardstock, several random brads from Making Memories and Colorbok, and white cardstock.  

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 620 blank and 200 AnyHero (as of 4/24)
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.

Unity+black+kraft

I'm getting on a roll with this combo of great stamps from Unity Stamp Company paired with black and kraft cardstock.  I won a few Unity stamps as blog candy from Ellen Hutson back around October or November and thought they were kind of fun but not awesome.  To be honest, many of the ones I won weren't much in keeping with my style.  The heart below was an exception!  Then I won a contest on Unity's blog using the stamps I won in that original blog candy grouping.  Based on that win, I got a pair of itty bitty stamps to play with.  Then there was a good sale or two, and now I'm pretty much loving my Unity stamps.  I think my favorite part of Unity stamps is that they are sized so well for cards.  I have entirely too many stamps that are just too small to make a great focal point on a card.  Unity "itty bitty" stamps are not at all small- I'd say they range from 2"x2" to 2"x4"  The chair stamp below is considered an "itty bitty" and it fills up a good portion of the card.  It's also really easy to get a good image with the deeply etched red rubber.  Rubber beats clear stamps every day in my book, even if clear stamps are cheaper. 

Here are the two little cards I whipped up this evening.  Both use stamps from my recent Unity purchase which included a grab bag (and thus the KOTM stamp).  

Stamps from "Hello friend" and November 2011 KOTM, EK Success border punch, brad from stash

Stamp from "Enjoy your Company", ribbon by Making Memories, rub-on by Karen Foster Designs, embossing by Cuttlebug

I did get a few stamps in my grab bag that I just can't identify.  I searched around the Unity website and Google and have about 8 I can't match to a set.  I'm making a list because I love to be able to tell you all where my stamps are from (when I remember to include those details).  So, as I use these mystery stamps, I'll ask for your help in case any of you are Unity experts.  I'm just a novice, but I'm loving everything I make with Unity!

Like most all of my cards, these will be donated to Operation Write Home.  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 302 blank and 200 AnyHero (as of 3/4)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Happy Birthday

My Copics and I are getting to know each other.  I only have a few so far and I really need to fill in some other colors in order to be able to color well.  Just having one marker in a color family isn't good, but I'm learning with what I have before I get more. 

I made this simple card tonight using some scraps that were laying around and an SU Lots of Bots image I colored last night with my Copics.  I think this card counts for the masculine half of the box and I think I like it enough to make more.  I'm having friends over to make cards on Friday, so I'm looking for simple ideas I can work on while hosting that won't having me hauling out every supply I own.  :) 

Faux Leather Tutorial

I gave the Faux Leather Tutorial Kris offered a try this week.  I like the look, but I'm wondering if I did something wrong.  When I heat embossed the sheet, the tape curled up in some places.  Did anyone else have this problem?  I wonder if I need to use a better brand of tape.  What I used was from a discount store. 

 

I used Martha Stewart copper ink for the background, random cardstock for the solid colors.  Stamps by Studio G and ki memories.  Border punch by Fiskars.

I'm sending this card to thank a couple for their hospitality recently.  I think I'll make some of these for Father's Day with a different image and sentiment. 

Tutorial Part 2: Repurposed Stickers

Yesterday, I shared a technique to repurpose epoxy stickers using a Sharpie marker. 

 

Today, I want to take that tutorial one step further.  You'll need:

• epoxy stickers
• black Sharpie
• Versamark
• embossing powder (opaque color)
• heat tool
• protected work surface

We're going to make these: 

1. Color your epoxy dot stickers with the Sharpie and let them dry.  I also tried this without coloring the dots and it produced a lighter finished product with the original color showing through.  Experiment! 
2. Gently stamp the dots into the Versamark.  If your Versamark pad is new and clean, you might notice some ink rub off and stain the pad.  Avoid excessive pressure when inking the dots to reduce ink transfer.  (Ask me how I know.  ;)  Thankfully, my Versamark pad is 7 or so years old, so this wasn't its first small stain.)
3. Coat the dots in embossing powder.  I used a color called "hematite" by Stampendous that produces an interesting metallic look.  
4. Use your heat tool to melt the embossing powder.  
5. If you have ragged edges on your finished product, they will likely come off easily with your fingers, or you can use a small sanding block to gently remove excess embossing powder trails.  

The finished product on a couple of cards:

 This one is lighter because I didn't color the dot first.  The dot was pink before it was embossed. 

I hope you try these dots on your cards and let me know what you think!


Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: none thus far, but my box is filling up nicely! Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

I love bargains and a little CANDY!

I joked to my mom yesterday that my bargain shopping paid for the upgrade to leather seats in my new car.   It's probably more true than a joke- I am a major bargain hunter and rarely pay full retail for anything.  I said this as we were entering a junky liquidation shop to poke around and satisfy my sense of curiosity since I hadn't been there before.  Mom assured me it was worthless, but I had to see for myself.  We were both pleasantly surprised to discover they'd gotten an entire shipment of cardmaking and scrapbooking supplies in that were selling for $1 each or 12 for $9.   I came home with a haul worth about $200 retail that I got for $9.54 with tax.


Here's what I got:
100 A2 scallop rectangles in confetti white
100 sheets of dark gray 6x9 cardstock (to be used for layering)
40 sheets of red 8.5 by 11 (sold in packs at big box craft stores)
40 sheets of burgundy 8.5 by 11
25 sheets of yellow 8.5 by 11 (sold individually at big box craft stores for 59 cents each)
25 sheets of brown textured 8.5 by 11
25 sheets of evergreen textured 12 by 12
25 sheets of cream textured 12 by 12
25 sheets of white and grey diamond print 12 by 12
25 sheets of brown 12 by 12
25 sheets of pale blue 12 by 12
1 roll of about 25 sheets of Karen Neuburger flower stickers (meant to be sold individually at an LSS)


The cards below use some of the stickers.  I made a dozen of these cards and used up four sheets of the stickers. The cards also make use of bargain cardstock from Tuesday Morning.  I figured that this set of 12 cards cost 60 cents to make, or 5 cents per card.  

I used a modification of a technique that OWH shared last year.  The technique was to stamp a branch, glue paper flowers to it, and emboss the whole thing.  Instead, I stamped a sentiment, used stickers all over the card front, embossed it, and layered it with coordinating cardstock.

I'm pointing out the bargains I found not to make you jealous, but to encourage you to use your resources well and not be discouraged if you've seen your crafty budget shrink in recent years.  With the advent of digi stamps and numerous websites offering freebies, there's almost an unlimited supply of images and sentiments available to anyone with a printer.  With careful shopping, you can find papers to compliment your projects.  If you have any friends who also enjoy paper crafting, you may be able to get them to split packages with you to lower your cost and offer more variety.

Now, for the CANDY!  I doubt I'll be able to finish off all these stickers, so I'll be happy to send a few sheets and some card front-sized coordinating colors of cardstock to one lucky reader who leaves a comment on this post with a tip for saving money while crafting.  Comments must be submitted by Wednesday at 3:00pm EST (noon for West Coast peeps).  US addresses, only, please. Followers will get two entries! 

Don't forget about the Mother's Day challenge for OWH.  Boxes with half Mother's Day/Mom and half general themes are due by March 20th.  See my sidebar for a blinkie with more info.

Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: none thus far, but my box is filling up nicely!
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Here's a hero card I made today.  It was simple to make and I wanted to share it in case any of you are looking for hero cards that are easy to mass produce for card signings.

I cut a 4 x 5.25 inch piece of kraft.  Next, I used stickers to spell "hero" and used a white gel pen to outline the letters.  Then I punched a star and glued it to the cardstock.  Finally, I passed the whole thing through an embossing folder before attaching it to a white card base.  

Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: none thus far, but my box is filling up nicely!
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

VCMP #9-13, OWH Sketch #108

I was away on Friday and Saturday, so I wasn't able to keep up with the VCMP challenges on the Stars and Stamps blog.  When I got back to crafting this afternoon, I was able to combine several challenges. 


Here are the challenges I worked on:
#9 Punches or Diecuts
#10 Vintage
#11 Green with a Splash of Color
#12 Boat or Ship image
#13 Embossing

#10, 13: This card is my vintage card.  I never do vintage, so this card was a challenge!  I heat embossed the heart image from Inkadinkado, distressed its edges, attached flowers, and colored the button brads with a Sharpie.  I think the text background paper is pretty strange- I looked down and the first word I picked out on the sheet was "sewage."  The graphic designer must have had a sense of humor to pick that text.  I half-hid the word behind the brown flower.  Sewage and love don't go together! 

#9, 12: This card uses some circle punches and a boat image by Inkadinkado.   I made a kids' card because I messed up on the jungle animals challenge and made that card an adult card. 

#9, 11- I started this card with the scroll-patterned green paper.  It reminded me of Christmas, so I ended up making that kind of card and using up the punched medallion that was left over from cards I made in the fall.  It's also based off this week's Sketch, #108. 

OK, I think I crammed enough fun into this post.  Have a great Sunday. 

Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: none thus far, but my box is filling up nicely! Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695