It's time for another bloghop!

Welcome to my little stop on the hop!

Here's a thank you card made with some My Mind's Eye papers and a Cuttlebug die.  I kept finding myself too busy to make a card for this hop, so I was getting this one done just under the wire, but using a 6x6 paper pad really helped me pull it together quickly! 

(EDIT: Many people have asked about the sentiment.  It's from Cuttlebug's With Gratitude die/embossing folder set, available here.  I'll punch an envelope full of the sentiments in different colors and offer them as blog candy for a random commenter since you all love it so much!)

This card started out based on OWH Sketch #144, but I took a few liberties.  Sketches are a great jumping off point!

 

Enjoy the hop!  Be sure to make some awesome cards for OWH this weekend!  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 651 blank and 236 AnyHero (as of 4/28/13)
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 pair of cards

I used up some scraps of the blue papers I've been using recently to put together these two cards.  

 Scrappy backgrounds are one of my favorites!

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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.

Inky backgrounds

I decided to get inky today and use some Tim Holtz Distress Inks to make some background papers.  I chose several coordinating colors of ink, pressed the ink pads onto my acrylic block, spritzed it with water, and pressed it onto my paper.   I have Inkadinkado blocks which have wavy edges for the grips, so you can see the outline where the ink stopped on the paper.  I used more water on the pink paper so the colors blended more.  The green paper was a little drier so there are more speckles visible.

After the papers were dry, I stamped a MS bird with black ink and added some lace trim.  The wide lace is dyed with Tim Holtz Distress Inks, too.  I blotted it with a tissue to give it the soft colored look that the paper has.

Finally, I added a sentiment on a piece of dimensional adhesive.  These were fun and I am sure I'll make a few more.  I might try adding in some of my SU reinkers because I only have 5 colors of Distress Ink so there aren't many decent combinations I can make. 

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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.

Unity FWF: I enjoy your company

Here's a card I made for a friend who visited me last weekend.  I wanted to send her a short note to thank her for coming and for the sweet jam she brought as a hostess gift.  The inside stamp reads, "I enjoy your company."  Stamps are by Unity Stamp Co.  I haven't linked up to FWF for several weeks, so I decided to post this card on Friday to get back in the game! 

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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.

OWH Sketch 138

Sketch 138 sort of stumped me.  I tried it yesterday and had the measurements all wrong because the stamps I wanted to use didn't suit the sketch.  I tried again today using some crazy patterned paper I had.  The stamp is a really old SU set called Furnished with Love.  It's the only kitchen-themed stamp I think I own.    I can see a hero sending this card as a thanks for a care package. 

Wouldn't this patterned paper be adorable if it were paired with a chef stamp and a sentiment that says, "What's cooking?"  I don't have either, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.  :)

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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.

Grateful

Have you seen the newest OWH challenge?  This time around the theme is half Fall/Winter and half anytime.  I feel like they're doing a challenge a month now and that's too quick for me!  I like to fill up a large box because it's much more economical.  It only costs about 5 cents per card to mail a large box but the few times I've mailed a small package it costs as much as 20 cents per card.  I'd rather ship a large box because I could definitely put that extra 10 or 15 cents per card into some quality cardstock!  I might hit up the local printing shop later this month to see what they have on hand.  I want to use up my GP 110 before I go because I know I won't want to use it once I find something better.  I'm down to about 50 sheets, so we're nearing the end!  Anyway, I digressed from the challenge details.  Boxes are due at the end of the month to any shipper with half fall/winter and half anytime cards.

I made six of these cards using old DCWV paper from the 2009 Fall stack.  The circle was stamped with leaves from SU All Natural (still a favorite set of mine even though it's long retired) and a sentiment by Studio G (from Walmart last year).  The burgundy strip is punched with a Fiskars border punch and tied up with Offray ribbon.  

I'm grateful that today is my last day of Common Core training for this summer.  I had no idea how long of a commitment I got myself into last summer when I agreed to attend the training.  I'm also grateful that I get to see my parents and most of my extended family this weekend.  What are you grateful for today? 
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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.

heart "felt" thanks

Here are two cards I made with felt accents.  The scalloped rectangles are from my mom- she bought packs of 100 for less than a dollar and didn't know what to do with all of them, so she gave me a stack of each.  I placed the folded card base on top of the scallop.  Both sets of embellishments were purchased and the sentiments are rub-ons by Karen Foster Designs.  In the top card, I stamped the background with stamps by Oriental Trading Company.  On the bottom card, I used a Fiskars crimper to give the yellow paper texture.      
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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

I found some great washi tape at Goodwill today.  A package of four rolls was $1.99.  It was originally from Target and from what I read online, you can probably still get other colors in the same patterns for $4 a pack at Target.  I like this kind better than what I got at Walmart and wrote about a few days ago.  This kind is thinner, more sticky, and less opaque.  It's much more like masking tape than the Studio G stuff. 

I was able to make a bunch of cards with this washi in almost no time.  It's certainly easy to put these cards together and I love the colors!

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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.

Thank you!

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make a card with a "thanks" theme.  I used a Karen Foster rub-on as my sentiment.  The embellishment is felt ribbon from Target (found in the giftwrap section at Christmas time) studded with brads by Making Memories.

Thank you, blog readers, for your continual kind words when you leave comments.  You often are a big bright spot in my day, even if we've never met. 

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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.

OWH Sketch 121 and Tropical MWT

Here's my take on OWH Sketch 121.  I went with brights for the tropical colors Midweek Throwdown from Operation Write Home, so put on your sunglasses!  

I used a 3/4" punch to add the circles to the vertical strips. The sentiment was computer generated and punched out with EK Success punches.  Ribbon by Offray. 

I've made it halfway through May with a blog post every day!  My goal is to get through all of May with a daily post as part of the WordCount blog challenge.  Have you been blogging more of late? 
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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.

Another "almost" sketch

 

Here's another "almost" sketch for you.  I started off with the burgundy paper as my background.  I knew it needed very little embellishment because it was interesting paper that I didn't want to hide.  I saw that Sketch #85 was designed to let the patterned paper show, so I went with it.  But the banner didn't look right where it was meant to go and I was too lazy to get up to use my Cuttlebug, so I wanted to stick with an oval punch.  I rotated the card, slid the banner piece to the plain part of the patterned paper, added a rub-on, and called it Sketch #85.  Inspiration is what counts, right?    

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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.

Abby's challenge- black and white plus ribbon

Abby's challenge at the Perfect Sentiments Challenge was to make a card using only black and white plus ribbon or twine.  I've had this pp for a while and struggled to use it. I like how it looks with no colors competing for attention.  I used two kinds of ribbon- printed grosgrain and white satin.  This card will go to Operation Write Home.   
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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 #93

Here's Sketch #93 from OWH.   I set a goal for 2012 to complete all of the OWH sketches.  They post a new one every Sunday and right now there are 119 available, plus a few bonus sketches that were added in here and there.  By the end of the year, there will be around 150.  I've finished 89 of the sketches this year.  If you would like to play along, there are links in my sidebar where you can find all of the sketches and pdfs to help you keep track. 

I used some papers from the DCWV Crafty stack- I've been really into that stack of late.  Sorry if you're sick of the papers.  The rub-on is by Karen Foster Designs and I think these are the best quality rub-ons I've used yet- I wish I'd bought several more packs.  The brad by My Mind's Eye is in keeping with my new-found love of epoxy brads. 

I'm working on daily blogging for May.  So far, so good.  Anyone want to take bets on when I fizzle out?  Feel free to leave a comment with your guess.  If you're right, I'll have a prize for you. 
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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.

Swap card #1 and OWH Sketch #116

A FB group I belong to called "Scrap to Treasure" often has a swap (or two or three) going for paper crafting goodies.  I've never played along with any until I decided to host my own patterned paper swap.  Who doesn't have too much paper?  And who doesn't like getting some new papers to play with?  It seemed like a great plan.

I have several kits from the swap and I grabbed one at random tonight as my challenge.  This kit is from Sandi.  It included all the papers you see except the black cardstock.  The blue and blue circles are from the same two-sided sheet of paper.   I added the brads as well.  I loved the papers in this kit.  I would love to have Sandi pick my papers all the time- these went together so well but I don't think I would have put them together on my own! 

This is also my contribution for Sketch #116.  I've been behind for the past two months or so on getting the weekly sketches done.  I must get back on track!  This weekend, I'm going to make sure to do the sketch before church. 


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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

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

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. 

Sketch #13

I don't know if it has anything to do with the superstition that 13 is an unlucky number, but I had a terrible time making a card for sketch #13. I finally came up with this card after a lot of missteps, but I still plan to revisit this sketch in a while to come up with something I like better. Do you ever find a layout that is very challenging for you?



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

Making Memories Thanks

I made a pair of these quick cards with Making Memories patterned papers, Offray ribbon, and a SU stamp. The shippers always need more thank you cards!



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 #42

Here's Hambo's little digi- Wee Henry with Turkey! He was a freebie for those of us who played along in last week's challenge. I just got this one in on time. I forgot about it yesterday when I was crafting and saw the digis today and knew I had to get cracking so as to keep up and not miss a week! I paired the digi up with some DCWV cardstock and patterned paper and some We R Memory Keepers twine. It's a simple card, in keeping with my usual style. :)

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