A little lovey dino

I used some paper from Big Lots and some very old stash paper to make this dino card.  The stamp is one I received from Pam T a while ago and I think it's adorable!  The heart accents are from Mary.  I also used this week's Sunday Sketch, #167.

 

So, what do you think of the coloring?  How can I improve?  Thanks for your feedback!  
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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.

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.

A CASE with a RAK

A few weeks ago, I spotted Lynn's card on the OWH FB page that used a star patterned paper by American Crafts that I have in my collection.  I commented that I should look for the Mickey Mouse paper that had been used as the focal image on the cards so I could CASE them.  Kim so kindly sent me a stack of the Disney images mounted on black paper after she read my comment.

So here's the first of many such cards featuring an idea from one OWHer and supplies from another.  Isn't it great how our community works together?  Thanks, ladies, for your help!

 
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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.

Critters! MFT Flopsey Goes Camping

Have you seen this week's episode of OWHtv?  Sandy explained a fundraiser with My Favorite Things stamps in which you can purchase two sets of MFT stamps for just $5.  Details on the sale can be found here.   If you read this months from now, the sale will most likely be over, so please read the page to get the latest info. 

I was able to get a few of the MFT sets to try out AND it's a critter blog hop day, so I thought putting the Flopsey Goes Camping set I got to good use today would make sense. 

 

 

I just love the sentiment that comes with this set.  I used Certainly Celery and Bliss Blue inks to create the background while the paper was still in the Spellbinders Deckled Rectangle so I would have a nice white edge.  The hat Flopsey's wearing is one of those awesome "opportunities for embellishment" we all love.  I was putting ATG tape on the back of the rabbit I'd already fussy cut and I ripped his ear off.  Not being a bunny of the chocolate sort, he needed to be put back together.  I covered the oops with a hand-cut hat and I called it a day.   

Don't forget to order your stamps soon.  I have seen lots of people post that they're ordering the maximum 6 sets, so you don't want to miss out!  

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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.

A Productive Saturday

I hadn't spent a long stretch being crafty in quite some time, so today I let loose and whipped up 51 cards.  My box was nearly ready to go to OWH shipper Kris before my crafting session.  When it was over, I could barely get the box closed!  It will be at the P.O. on Monday.  The box is loaded up with 340 blank cards and 140 AnyHero letters written by my 8th graders.  The letters turned out better this year than last, I think, in part because I shrunk the pages down to be just a half sheet of paper so the kids weren't overwhelmed with too much writing space and too much to color in the time we can allot for the project. 

I made 15 or so of this card which will be perfect for our heroes to send home to children.  Or their dogs.  Whichever!  :)  I might make some for my next box, too, since I have 25 sheets of that patterned paper. 

This was a unique card made from scraps on my desk and OWH Sketch #143. 

Have you had a productive craft session lately?  I hope so! 
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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.

You're Fintastic

I bought a collection of Stampin Up stuff from a coworker last month which included this rare mermaid stamp.  It's a great image to color and I have very few images this size, so I'm thrilled to be able to add it to my collection.

One more kid card for Sandy's challenge!  This makes 6. 

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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.

Winter Wishes

I bought some Christmas papers on clearance after the holiday so I can be ready for next year's cards.  OWH has early deadlines for holidays to accommodate the mail transit time necessary for cards to reach shippers, be sorted, travel overseas, reach heroes, and return to the USA.  This means that holiday papers and embellishments don't always hit store shelves before the deadlines.  I didn't get a new pack of Christmas paper to use this year because it wasn't in stores, so I'm setting aside what I just bought for summer.  I did sneak a few sheets to use now, though!

This card is based on OWH Sketch 144!  Since Sandy has challenged us to make at least 20 kids cards, I made 5 of these and used up all of the papers with the seal from the pack. 


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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: None just yet, but there will be 300+ blank and 140 AnyHero cards in the mail this week!  
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.

Alien Invasion!

This alien card was made with papers and stamps from TPC Studios.  This sketch, OWH #92, is a great one for showing off a neat patterned paper and using a small image.  I've used this kit at least three times since it was first posted. 

I made a kit for this card for my party at the end of the month.  I'm thrilled to say I have over 125 kits ready to go in about 10 different designs.  I hope to get my total to at least 200 this weekend, more if I can manage.  It would be awesome to get an entire box out of the party!  I'm going to post this card to the Midweek Throwdown to use red and green since I included both colors on this card.  :)


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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.

New TPC stamp set!

Last weekend, I picked up an adorable stamp set at Tuesday Morning by The Paper Company.  It's got cute kids playing winter sports and corresponding sentiments.  I thought it would be good for coloring. 

Here's the little skating girl decked out in pinks and purples.  The card screams little girl to me, especially with the shimmer paper in the background.    

Papers: Stash

Stamps: TPC Winter Activities

Punches: Fiskars Medium Corner Rounder, SU Oval, Marvy Large Highland Snowflake

Ribbon: JoAnn

Coloring: Bic Mark-its, Sakura Gelly Roll silver pen

Embossing: Cuttlebug Snowflakes

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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.

Angry Bird Card

This angry bird wants to be happy!

I CASEd this card from one that Sandy posted to the OWH Facebook page.   I changed a few of the punches based on what I had on hand.  I don't have many of the SU punches and those are so frequently used in punch art creations that I sometimes try to improvise. 
I punched out enough pieces for a dozen cards that I'll have my friends assemble at my OWH Birthday Bash party later this month.  :)

For anyone who wants a "recipe," here's what I used:

For the background:

• Inkadinkado sentiment and black Versafine
• 4.25 x 5.5" card front in orange
• 4 x 5.25" cloud paper
• 4 x 2" green paper
• 4 x 1" white paper punched with Martha Stewart Scary Fence punch

 For the bird:

• 3.25" red circle
• 2.5" tan circle
• .75" white circles (2)
• .5" black circles (2)
• .75" orange square
• Black "photo corner scalloped" from EK Success
• Red and black (one each) "round flower layering punch" from EK Success

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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.

B-day card for a little man

In the past two years, my family has experienced a baby explosion!   The cousins on my dad's side of the family now have 8, soon to be 9 (this week!) children and we're not done quite yet.  I wanted to do something for their birthdays but presents seemed a little over the top, especially since I won't get to see any of them on their birthdays due to geographic constraints.  The kids will, however, be getting cards! 

This is for a little man who's turning 6 on Friday.  Life's been busy lately for this little guy.  He welcomed a new little brother last week and started Kindergarten this week.  I heard he had a rough time on the bus because it was "overwhelming and loud."  What an articulate child! Hopefully this super hero will put that endearing grin I love to see on his face. 

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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.

Hey Chickadee

This Lawn Fawn stamp set reminds me of my former coworker who always called me, "chickadee." I wanted to make a CAS card but I don't think this is really CAS.  I paper pieced the Lawn Fawn Critters on the Farm stamps using Lawn Fawn Bright Side papers.  The red details on the hen were colored with Copic R24.   
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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.

Lawn Fawn/OWH kids cards

Lawn Fawn is graciously sponsoring this week of OWH's birthday bash.  I have two sets of LF stamps (Critters on the Farm and Quinn's Alphabet) as well as a pack of their Bright Side paper.  I can tell you the quality of the stamps is far superior to all of my other clear stamps.  The photopolymer really makes a big difference in the stamp's quality.

Here's a card using my LF supplies and the bonus sketch provided for this challenge.  I also used my sewing machine to stitch around the panels of paper.  It was fun to finally put my Singer to use on some cards. 

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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.

VCMP Cards - Labor Day 2012

OWH organized a virtual card making party this weekend and I was lucky enough to be one of the hostesses.  There were 10 challenges in all, split evenly over Saturday and Sunday.

Here are the cards I made for each of the challenges.  I had a house guest on Saturday and Sunday, so I fit these in this afternoon after she left. 

#1: ODBD- Use a scripture sentiment.  Please note that I sealed in the glitter using Glossy Accents so it won't pose a hazard to our heroes. 

Stamps: Studio G

Papers: DCWV cardstock

Nesties: Labels 5

Embossing: Darice Stripes

Brads: stash

#2: Cherie- Use a recipe of 1 image, 2 patterned papers, and 3 words.

Stamps: Studio G and Unity

Papers: DCWV printed cardstock

Punches: EK Success

Coloring: Copics

#3: Cindy- Use snowflakes but not on a Christmas card.

Stamps: Studio G

Papers: stash

Embellishment: JoAnn

Coloring: Copics

Embossing: Cuttlebug Snowflakes

Sketch: OWH 83

#4: Donna- "Triple Time" stamping

Stamps: Unity

Tutorial: Triple Time Stamping

Papers: stash

Ribbon: stash

Ink: SU Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Only Orange

 #5: Sandy- Cowboy card

Stamps: Studio G

Papers: DCWV cardstock

Die: Cuttlebug

Punch: Fiskars

 #6: OWH/Linda - Follow the OWH Sketch #136 using a paper punch for the embellishments.

Stamps: Studio G

Papers: stash

Punch: Marvy

Washi: Target paper tape (green, yellow, and blue packs)

Sketch: OWH #136

 #7: Sybrina- Make an AnyHero Christmas card and a Christmas card for kids.

Stamps: Studio G and SU

Papers: DCWV cardstock, K&Co, stash

Nesties: Circles

Coloring: Copics

Embossing: Snowflakes

Ribbons: Target, stash

#8: Cherie- Make a sports-themed card.

Sticker: Deja Views

Papers: stash

Embossing: Darice Stars (small) and Cuttlebug Stars (large)

#9: Shannon- Use a tool you haven't used in a long time. My unloved tool was a combo stamp/punch from EK Success.  It's a pain to use because you have to put the stamp into the punch, ink it, punch, and then take it apart if you want to make a second one.  I haven't used it very often (if at all) with the stamps that came with it. 

Stamps: Studio G and EK Success

Papers: Pebbles and stash

Punches: EK Success

#10: Me- Make a card that represents your state.  Scroll down to my last post to see my samples and post a card there to qualify for blog candy!

Thanks to Allison for organizing the party and to all of the hostesses for coming up with great challenges.  I wish we could do these every month- they always inspire me to make cards I might have otherwise not thought of!   

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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.

Hello mojo!

After spending most of Sunday following Mass making a blanket (and cursing myself for choosing to put off a yarn project until the week of 105 degree weather), I got a little time in my craft room to make cards on Sunday night.  I had been making some pretty sub-par things of late but I finally got a few cards together that I really, really liked.  I'll share a few this week.  :)

First, a card for a teenage boy!  Yay!  I never end up with many cards in this category, so I'm excited to have had this one come out well.  Of course, a teenage boy has likely never used a cassette tape since I'm pretty sure I haven't really used them in nearly 20 years!  ;-)

Patterned paper: DCWV Rockstar
Stamps: Imaginesnce (image) and Studio G (words)
Paper Punches: EK Success
Other: ATG, Xyron, dimensional foam, Versamark, Copics, Xacto knife

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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.

Princess Tiona

I am starting on a series of princess cards.  I'm sure OWH gets plenty of girly cards, but when I saw a pack of Disney Princess stickers marked down to 78 cents at Target, I couldn't resist.  There are four identical stickers for each of 6 princesses: Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Tiona, Ariel, and Snow White.  I found these stickers in the party supplies, not the scrapbooking section.  It sometimes pays to go to other aisles to find great crafty materials! 

The papers are all from the American Crafts packs I bought at Tuesday Morning not too long ago.  I used various brads from my stash (Colorbok and maybe SU!), a border punch by American Girls/EK Success, and a holographic crown that's likely by Darice.

I left the cards with no sentiment so they can be either general notes home to little girls or birthday cards. 

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

Cars and Sketch #30

A recent post showed some Disney Princess cards I made with holographic stickers. I can't leave the boys out, so I got a pack of Cars stickers at the same time. I made six of each card and used up both packs of stickers! 12 more cards for the OWH box. :)

These cards, based on OWH Sketch #30, use a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders and some solid cardstock. I am waiting on the diamond plate embossing folder I ordered to come- it would have been perfect for these cards, but I was too impatient to wait a few days for it! I stamped a sentiment from Studio G. The background layer is also stamped with action words from KI memories in Versamark.

These stickers came from a dollar store. Do you ever find great craft supplies at places other than your LSS or big box craft store?

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