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.

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.

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.

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.

Snowman Love

I will eventually stop making Christmas and winter cards.  For right now, that's where my mojo is, so I'm going with it and just setting these aside for much later in the year. 

This is just a simple sheet of patterned paper layered with several mats.  The embellishment is formed from a paper punch, sentiment stamp, and heart gem that I recolored from pale pink with a B39 Copic to coordinate with the navy mat.  I'm tempted to go back and color the noses orange but I am not convinced it won't look silly.  Thoughts? 

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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.

FWF Love Every Inch

I haven't posted anything for Unity's Friends with Flair in a long, long time.  I made this card on Thursday when I was home from work on a snow day and I realized I could link up this week!

Papers are by The Paper Studio.   This is one more card for my Operation Write Home box.  :)


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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.

Sending My Love Bird

In the never-ending battle to whittle down my paper stash, I cut several sheets of K & Co paper to make 6 of these cards.  It's not from a sketch but just what seemed to work with the elements I wanted to include.  

We had a snow day today, so I was lucky to be able to make these and several other cards on my unexpected day off!

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Last of the 6x6 pad

Tonight I set out to finish up the 6x6 paper pad I started on Saturday.  I originally made 14 cards, then 5 last night, and finished up with 13 more tonight.  All told, I made a total of 32 cards from this $2 paper pad (and a bunch of solid cardstock, of course).  The embellishments came from left overs on my desk for the most part. 

The vellum sentiment on the bottom card was adhered with Xyron create a sticker.  Thanks to the poster of this tip on OWH's wall a few months ago! 

This brad is probably 8 years old and it just got a home on this card!

The card on the right is based on the Tuesday Tutorial "Scrappy Background."

Four of each of these cards in different papers will make their way to OWH. 

Now that I'm done with this paper, I'm going to leave the 6x6 challenge to the side for a while.  I'm a little burnt out from the pressure to finish all of that paper! 

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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.

Cream in my coffee

Look!  It's a masculine love card!  And it's brown!  Perfect for OWH!  I made 12 kits for next Friday's party.  Oh, I am so ready to be done making kits!  I think I'll do two or three more kit designs this weekend and call it finished.

Sketch: OWH #114
Stamps: TPC Studios Coffee Cafe
Papers: American Traditions Road Trip
Coloring: Copics
Brads: Stash (probably Colorbok)

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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- 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.

Sending love and cheer

A few of my elderly family members are going through some rough times at the moment, so I made these cards over the weekend to send their way!

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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.

Graphic 45

I snagged some of this Graphic 45 paper at Tuesday Morning because it seemed like everyone so loved Graphic 45.  I have had a miserable time trying to use it.  The colors don't match the cardstock I own and the patterns compete with each other every time I try to use more than one pattern on a card. 

I finally got one more pattern (the pinstripe) last weekend hoping it would mellow out the others.  I was inspired to make this card using OWH Sketch 52.  The sentiment is a digi by Melonheadz. 

The Glossy Accents hasn't quite dried yet!

I'll kit this one up for the party I'm having at the end of the month.  Digis are great for kits since you can print several to a sheet and not worry about the quality of your stamping!

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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.