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.

AnyHero challenge for November

Since Thanksgiving comes at the end of November, many of us make a concerted effort to express our gratitude for a number of our blessings this month.  Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday because it's not about presents and consumerism (as all of the others are), but it's about family and the aspects of our lives we hold most dear.  

As Hurricane Sandy swept through the East Coast this weekend, many of us realized once again how blessed we are.  This month, I'm going to channel that feeling of gratitude and abundant blessing into AnyHero cards for Operation Write Home.

I'm challenging myself to write one AnyHero card per day for the rest of the month.  Will you join me?  Leave a comment here letting me know you're in.  I'm going to work on a great prize for people who report back at the end of the month and let us know how many AnyHero cards they were able to do this month (even if that number isn't 30). 

So, leave a comment and get writing!  Our heroes will appreciate knowing just how much they are valued! 

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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.

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.

Patriot Day- Remembering 9.11.01

Here are a few patriotic cards I made this week to commemorate 9.11.01.

This card is based off the sketch that Sandy offered up today on the May Arts blog.  

Stamps: Amuse
Papers: K&Co Americana matstack

Brads: Making Memories
Punch: EK Success 3/4" circle
Coloring: Copics

Other: 1960s Singer for sewing

 This card is a kit for my party at the end of the month.  It should be simple enough for anyone to assemble! 

Stamp: ki memories
Ink: Tim Holtz Fired Brick 

Punches: EK Success 3" star and Ek Success for American Girls star border punch
Patterned Paper: DCWV Indian Summer Stack
Cardstock: stash/Tuesday Morning sale

I'm excited that my OWH box is almost full.  The bottom of the large flat rate box is just about stuffed from two rows of cards.  Another 40 or so will fill in the space on top!  I should be able to mail the box before the end of the month.  :)
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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.

Dollar Tree inspiration

I was cruising around the Dollar Tree today and I took a stroll down the aisle of patriotic things to see if there was anything I could use on a card.  I've bought wide patriotic ribbon there before to use for AnyHero cards.  Unfortunately, the ribbon they had this time was contaminated with glitter and that's not good for our heroes' safety. 

I did spot a bag of these maze games in a bag of 8 for $1.  They're definitely too thick for letter mail, but I thought they would be cool on AnyHero cards.   I don't know if I can send them to OWH or not because of copyright rules, so once I check on that, I'll write them up.  My box is getting fuller and fuller and I need to make sure I include 5% or more hero mail for the next challenge.  I'm a bit behind in writing it, but I figured these cards would be a good start.  If I can't use them for Hero Mail, I'll swap out the sentiment for a 4th of July one and send them to my own friends.  In padded envelopes.  :)

Star stamps: SU
Sentiment: Amuse Studios
Cardstock: from stash
Maze: from Dollar Tree

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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.

Memorial Day Card

Happy Memorial Day!

So proud...to be an American!

Card based on OWH Sketch #111.  Papers from K&Co Americana line. 
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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.

Sybrina's Challenge- "Sister" patriotic cards

Sybrina challenged us to make two patriotic cards.  She dubbed these "sister" cards.  One should be an AnyHero card and the other should be for the heroes to write home on.  I used K & Co papers for both of my cards.  I love this series of papers and embellishments and stocked up sufficiently last summer so I should be able to make cards like these for a while.

I also used "sister" sketches #74 and #75 on these cards.   "Thank you" is from a Hampton Arts set.  "America" is from an Amuse set I won on OWHtv. 
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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.

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

Sketches #33, 48, 54, 63, and 64

The last of the patriotic cards! Now I have enough blank Anyhero cards for a long time.
Sketch #33

Sketch #48

Sketch #54

Sketch #63

Sketch #64

I'm up to 50 sketches completed now! I am loving the sketches because when I pair them with a kit, there are very few decisions to make and I can make cards easily.

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

Sketches #15, 45, 47, 61, and Bonus #2

One more group of patriotic cards based on OWH sketches.

Sketch #61:Sketch #45:
Sketch #47
Sketch #15
Sketch Bonus #2:

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

Sketches #14, 18, 32, and 46

Here's another batch of cards made with the OWH sketches, Colorbok papers, and K&Co embellishments.

Sketch #14

Sketch #18

Sketch #32

Sketch #46



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

Sketches #19, 25, 36, 55, and 63

A few OWH sketches from a patriotic kit by Colorbok and a few packs of K&Co Americana embellishments:

Sketch #36

Sketch #25
Sketch #55


Sketch # 63


Sketch #19

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

Makeover Monday

I saw a challenge on Paper Crafter's Library. Check it out here. I went right to my stash of K&Co Americana papers and embellishments and whipped up this card. I love these papers. Each time I use one I feel like I get great results. So glad I bought a 12x12 stack, 2 matstacks, and 10 or so packs of embellishments. These are my go to items when I want to make a great card without too much work coordinating things. The cardstock "Forever" matches better in real life than in the photo. The border is blue foil but it appears to be black in the photo.

I'll be sending this card to Operation Write Home for their Valentines Day Challenge with Archway Cookies.

Thanks for the inspiration, Paper Crafts Library!



Cards shipped to OWH (as of 10/20/11): 1642

Veterans' Day 2011

Today is Veterans' Day and across the USA, people are commemorating the bravery and sacrifice made by our nation's veterans. In that spirit, I wanted to share a card I made this evening.


I used the bargello technique to make the background of the card. (I could swear that I first saw this on OWH Stars and Stamps but I cannot find the post! I seem to remember a card with a blue background and a fish focal as the focal point.)

Anyway, all the patterned papers and the flag embellishment are from the K&Co Americana line. I love that line! I removed the back layer of foam from the flag and layered it on black so it would stand out more against the patterned papers. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up All Natural (long ago retired) and the die cut is a scallop circle nestability from Spellbinders.

Happy Veterans' Day!

Cards shipped to OWH (as of 10/20/11): 1642

Miss you beary much

Well, I'm officially into digis. For a girl with well over 1500 stamps, that's not necessarily a good thing, since it will mean my real stamps will get used a bit less.

I started playing in Hambo's challenges a couple of weeks ago and had a good time with my cards. Here's yet another Hambo digi stamp, the camouflage bear. It was a freebie one time for Operation Write Home and is now available for sale at the Hambo store.




I found the camo paper a few months ago on clearance at JoAnn and knew I needed to get some for OWH cards, even if this isn't the camo pattern that our heroes are wearing. I made the sentiment look like dog tags by using a corner rounder and silver metallic paper. The green cardstock is embossed with a Fiskars embossing plate and my Cuttlebug.




Cards shipped to OWH (as of 9/12/11): 1325

Sketch #88

Thanks to a fog delay, I had a bit of extra time before I had to leave for work this morning. I used it to whip up this thank you card using the awesome Americana papers K & Co sold this summer. They coordinate so well and have great unisex designs. The stamp is from Studio G's Walmart line. The stars are two punches from EK. The brads are from JoAnn.

I followed Sketch #88 from OWH, but I turned the design 90 degrees on the card. I didn't like the border of empty space I got from following the sketch exactly.



Cards shipped to OWH (as of 9/12/11): 1325

Military Appreciation

This weekend was Military Appreciation Day. I took that as a cue to make a dozen of these patriotic cards on Friday night.

Stamps by Studio G and Hampton Arts.
Embossing Folder by Cuttlebug.
Generic cardstock.