OWH Sketch #157

I really liked today's Sunday Sketch, created by Katie, so it was easy to slip into the craft room for a few minutes to make this card.  I made some small changes, like making an extra border around the image and making the stripes wider.  It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you must follow a sketch to the letter.  If you allow yourself the freedom to make some tweaks, you will find that it's easier to use the sketch each week, especially if your supplies are limited.  Here, I left off the ribbon because it would have cut across my image in a strange way.  I compensated for that by adding a sentiment circle.  Don't forget to have fun with the sketches and put your own stamp on them!  (Pun intended.)  

The soldier stamp is by Our Daily Bread Designs and is one I purchased after I won a gift certificate a few months ago.  I love all of the details and the fact that it looks just as good plain as colored.

Go ahead and post your own version of Sketch #157!
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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.

Patriotic Missing You

This imagr stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs.  Isn't it lovely?  I got it as a prize for posting a card in November's challenge.  Be sure to check out January's challenge (dry embossing) and post a card to help OWH get some shipping funds from ODBD.

The sentiment stamp is from Paper Smooches' Circle of Honor set.  This set is a fundraiser for OWH with part of the proceeds going to OWH. 

Sketch #146

Sketch #134

Sketch #145

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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.

Unity Missing You

I have had this Unity Stamp Company set for a little while now and I hadn't inked up the mailbox until I made this card. 

I made 6 kits like this for my card party.  I left the coloring for my friends since they seem to enjoy coloring more than I do.  
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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.

July Unity KOTM Sketch Challenge

With less than an hour to spare, I wanted to post a card for this month's Unity KOTM Sketch Challenge.  I used a stamp from Nov. 2011.  I'm always working on making cards with a masculine feel for Operation Write Home and I thought this sentiment could be good for guys.  Paired with some lodge-inspired papers, I think a man will be happy to choose this card from the box to send a note to his loved ones at home.    

Ack!  Sideways upload!

Papers- SU (plaid), DCWV (other patterns)
Punches- EK Success and Marvy
Ribbon- Offray
Nesties- Ovals
Stamp- Unity KOTM Nov. 2011
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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.

Missing you!

OK, all those wonderful patriotic cards on the OWH/OSH blog hop last week had me thinking patriotic. 

This card is very simple.  What was interesting to me was that I spent so much time hating it as I made it.  Everything seemed wrong until I switched the color of the back layer.  At first, I had it on the cream that I stamped the image and sentiment on.  Something about the card felt off, so I switched it to a burgundy that matched the strip of polka dotted paper and all of the sudden the image popped off the card.

I colored with Copics and Marvy Le Plume markers.  Gosh, I can't wait to replace the LePlumes- they're so streaky!  I used a white gel pen to highlight the flag's white stripes.

Stamps: Amuse (house) and Inkadinkado (sentiment)
Papers: I have no idea!  The stars were sold by the sheet at JoAnn.  The polka dots were in a pack from Ollies, maybe by Making Memories?
Punches: 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.

Awash in Washi

I'm always late on the bandwagon for any trend, though I may have succeeded in not being the last person on the face of the planet to use washi.

A few people were posting about the Target washi on the OWH FB page and since I made several more cards with it yesterday, I thought I'd post the group of them here.  The red, green, and blue packs are currently available and contain 4 rolls for $4. The yellow/orange pack has been discontinued but I was lucky enough to happen upon it at a Goodwill store quite by accident. 

The things I like most about washi are that it's quick to use and very easy to remedy a mistake because you can peel it up and reposition it.  These cards took less than 10 minutes each on average. 

This one is my entry for Unity's opportunity challenge to use bright colors.  :)

This card uses the Studio G paper tape available at Walmart for 97 cents a roll.  I don't like it as well as Target's, but I have it, so I should use it!  The designs are cool, but it's just not as nice to work with. 

I hope you can spend a few dollars on a few rolls of washi and have some fun!  If you would like to see other cards I've posted using washi, click the label "washi" at the bottom of this post. 
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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.

Wonderful Washi Part 2 and Unity FWF

It's Friday which means it's time for Friends with Flair on Unity's blog.  I got some more washi at Target today.  My favorite so far are definitely their up&up brand rolls (4 for $4) which I used on most of the cards below.  They also have some paper tape in the kids crafts aisle with bold prints or all solids, 9 rolls for $6.99.   I have some more ideas I want to try out with the kiddie stuff tomorrow.

For now, here's my Friends with Flair entry.  I used Walmart's paper tape on this card.  

And here are a bunch of other cards I made with the washi from Target.  

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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.

Sketch 94

Here's my version of Sketch 94 from OWH with EK Success punches, a Studio G stamp, MM hardware, and a Sizzix embossing folder.

  

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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 miss your hugs and kisses

Putting together papers from KI Memories, a stamp by Unity, chipboard by Making Memories, and Sketch #109 from Operation Write Home, this is what I came up with.  I hadn't used any chipboard in ages but this little flower made me much happier with the card than I had been.  I might have to keep digging in my chipboard stash!  Don't you just love it when you rediscover some supplies you haven't used in a while?  

I'm entering this in the OWH Midweek Throwdown for love cards.  It's half missing you and half love- perfect for OWH, I think! 
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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.

Missing you with Unity Stamp Co

Here's a little "missing you" card I made for Operation Write Home with stamps by Unity Stamp Co.  The sentiment is from "Love Runs Deep" and the paper clip is from "Note of Thanks."  I love a good CAS card made with kraft, though I don't know that this qualifies because it has a few layers! 

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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

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

Kids missing you

The shippers have mentioned that they need more "missing you" cards of late, so I grabbed my favorite stamp with that sentiment and went to work. These papers from an 8x8 DCWV pad had been sitting as scraps on my desk for a while. I believe they're from Animal Crackers or All About Boys but I can't be sure which one.

I stamped the elephant from Studio G, colored her in, and added a scallop circle from Nestabilities. It's finished off with ribbon by Offray. The card makes me smile and would be great for any little kid.

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

OWH Sketch #103

I set a goal for 2012 that I would make a card for each of the OWH sketches. Thus far, there are 103 of them, but by the end of the year, there will be over 150! A new sketch is posted every Sunday morning here and there is other great inspiration throughout the week. I figured one easy way to stay on top of this goal is to make a card each Sunday for that day's sketch.


Here's my version of sketch 103. I have seen all of the shippers ask for more missing you cards, so I decided to make that the theme of this card. I also wanted to keep this card unisex, so I went with shades of blue and stars. It's flat for easy mailing, too- a bonus because it means more cards can fit in the box and it will not have any problems making it home to a hero's loved one.

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

Hambo Hoedown #47

Ugh! I missed the last Hambo Hoedown! I'm bummed I missed out on getting the cool Newt image, but I'll just jump right back in. I actually thought I missed out on this challenge too, but forgot that it was two weeks long instead of one. Thank goodness!

Here's my card which asked us to use something new to celebrate the new year. The woodgrain paper, twine, and heart punch are recent additions to my craft room. In fact, this was the first piece of cardstock I'd used from the DCWV Textures and Finishes stack!

Isn't this beaver digi just the cutest? Hambo has some darling digis and you can get one for free each week you play in their challenge. Check out hambochallenges.blogspot.com

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

Funky paper

I have a bad habit. It involves buying multipacks of patterned paper at Tuesday Morning. I have the idea in my head that using 25 identical sheets of paper isn't a problem since I'm making cards for OWH. What I need to remember is that I can get 6 card fronts out of one sheet. That would be 150 cards with the same paper. So maybe it is a bit of a problem that I keep buying them. They're so cheap! And the paper is better quality than I can usually get! So, I keep snatching them up.

One that's stumped me is an American Crafts rose themed paper. The colors are lovely, but outside my normal pallete. The paper has foil, so some roses are copper foil. Quite pretty. And darn near impossible to do anything with.

Finally, this weekend, I was making a shower card for a friend and told myself I should try once again to use this paper. I realized that some of my recently acquired cardstock (from Ollie's!) had the right shade of yellow to coordinate with the rose paper. Suddenly I had papers that matched each other! A number of layers later, I had a pretty card.



This evening, I decided to make another dozen, swapping the bridal sentiment for OWH-appropriate themes. I'm almost done, except for the fussy cut roses. Those can be saved for tomorrow.