Giddy Up!

If you haven't already heard, Operation Write Home is closing its doors at the end of this year. All cards must arrive there by August 1 and then they will continue sending cards overseas through December. If you have extra cards that meet their guidelines, please go ahead and ship them now. Any size box or envelope will be accepted as long as it arrives by August 1. 

Well, in honor of this big occasion I'm going back to the beginning with a card based on OWH sketch #1. 

OWH Sketch #1

This sketch is a great opportunity to make a card that has a strong focal point -- as fits with the second lesson from Summer School at My Favorite Things. 

Also, the theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is to use your favorite technique. My favorite technique right now is die-cutting. I used a spellbinders deckle edged rectangle die for the little panel of paper that the hat is on and the dark brown paper that it is matted on. 

I hope some little cowboy enjoys this card and gets to see his loved one very soon. 

My Sunshine

My Favorite Things is posting a series of lessons about composition. The most recent was about using lines to direct attention and provide focus. For this card I used the lines going from upper right to lower left to direct attention to the sentiment. Because we read English from left to right and from top to bottom, our eyes are trained to begin viewing an object in the upper left corner. With this card, your eye will start at the upper left corner and then follow the lines to the lower right. 

I used the colors from the most recent MFT Color Challenge. The stamp is from a MFT set called "Textile Rectangles." I inked it up with Melon Mambo ink from Stampin' Up. I used the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder from Cuttlebug because the dots matched with the circles in the frame around the stamp. 

Amy Tangerine and Backward Spellbinders

This is the third card I'm posting using a 6 x 6 pad of paper called "Ready, Set, Go" by Amy Tangerine this one uses an OWH sketch. 

The theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is to use your favorite technique. I recently acquired my first die-cutting machine. So, right now die-cutting is my favorite thing to do. For this card, I wanted the navy rectangle to be plain on 3 sides and only have a scallop on one edge. So I used just the bottom edge of a scalloped rectangle die to add a little something to that one side of the rectangle. It was a fun way to use a die and worked surprisingly well. 

OWH Sketch #239

Stamp: Hero Arts Forest Friends
Ink: Momento Nautical Blue
Bling: Cloud 9 Raindrops
Scalloped Oval Punch: Stampin Up

Embossed and Die-Cut Love Card

This card is part of my ongoing project to make at least one card using each Operation Write Home sketch. 

I used a card base from DCWV that was already printed with pink stripes. It's difficult to see in this picture, but the panel of pink paper on the top is embossed with hearts. 

The theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is to use your favorite technique. I recently acquired my first die-cutting machine. So, right now die-cutting is my favorite thing to do. 

OWH Sketch #81

Heart punch: Stampin' Up 
Paper: My Mind's Eye
Label punch: Stampin' Up Word Window
Embossing folder: Darcie
Die: Spellbinders
Stamp: Hero Arts Everyday Sayings
Ink: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo
String: From stash (I have had this a really long time)

Summer Coffee Lover's Card

I made this card for the Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop.  If you haven't already seen it, check it out. Lots of fun cards to look at and good prizes as well. 

I used Operation Write Home Sketch #73. The paper is from the Basic Grey Two Scoops collection. The coffee cup stamp is from a set from Fiskars. I used Momento Ink in Grey Flannel to stamp the image. 

Operation Write Home Sketch #73

Chocolate Raspberry

For this card I used some pretty cool paper from Core'dinations. Its from their Chocolate collection and called "Raspberry Cordial". I embossed it with a heart embossing folder and then sanded away some of the "chocolate" layer to expose the raspberry underneath. 

I'm entering this in the Verve "Eat Me Drink Me" inspiration challenge. I used their new "Chocolate" set to stamp the sentiment in the corner. I also used the latest Mojo Monday sketch for the card design. 

Wish You Were Near

Today I have yet another card using the scrappy background technique. 

I used colors from the latest Waffle Flower Challenge. I also used some design elements from their inspiration photo. It might be difficult to see, but some of the designs in the embossing folder (Floral Fantasy by Cuttlebug) match the little rug in the photo. I also chose a Spellbinders die that mimicked the lacy edges of the little rug. 

The sentiment comes from a set from Whimsy Stamps that was designed by Sandy Allnock. 

Each month Our Daily Bread Designs sponsors the shipping on up to two boxes for cards for Operation Write Home based on how many people participate in their monthly challenge. This month the challenge is to make a "missing you" card. I'm entering this card in that challenge and I'll also be sending it to OWH. 

If you are interested in donating to OWH, please note that ALL cards must be received by OWH before August 1, 2015. They will not be accepting any shipments after that. 

Bubble Birthday

I made this birthday card to combine two of this week's challenges. The colors come from the latest Your Next Stamp challenge. The challenge this week at the Mod Squad Challenge blog is to make a birthday card.

I found scraps from my stash that matched the YNS challenge colors and used the "scrappy background" technique. Then I dry embossed the background with an embossing folder called "Tiny Bubbles."

The stamp is from My Favorite Things and I thought the little circles around the boarder matched the bubbles from the embossing folder. I used a corner rounder on the sentiment and on the card base.

wistful watercolor

Pretty Pink Posh is hosting a Watercolor Blog Hop and I'm joining in! 

The watercolors I used are called Twinkling H2O's. If you've never used them, let me explain. They are pots of solid watercolors with mica in them. You get them wet and let the water sit a while to soften the paint. Then, when you paint with them the colors all have a soft shimmer to them. Very beautiful, but hard to capture with my camera. 

For this card I used a stamp from Penny Black called "wistful." The stamp is pretty large, and really beautiful. So, it needs to take center stage when its used on a card. 

I painted washes of color using Twinkling H2O's on watercolor paper. When they dried, I stamped the image over the top using black Staz-on ink. That's all! The part that took the longest was waiting for the paint to dry. 

Car Card

The challenge this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to make masculine cards. That is a good opportunity to this unique car stamp that I have from Club Scrap. It shows the right half of one car and the left half of the other and I'm never quite sure what to do with it. Sketch 231 from Operation Write Home seemed to be a good choice. 

Operation Write Home #231

Sketch: Operation Write Home #231
Paper: Colorbox
Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts
Image Stamp: Club Scrap

Best Dad Ever Card

When I saw this paper it seemed like a great choice for making colorful, interesting cards that would be appropriate to send to men. 

Because I'm making cards for Operation Write Home, a sentiment like "best dad ever" is great. It could be used as a birthday card, a Father's Day card, or just to let dad know that he's in your thoughts. 

Paper: Basic Grey Hello Luscious
Stamp: Verve
Washi: My Mind's Eye

This week the Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Make it Masculine," so this card will be entered over there. 

Ready, Set, Go! Version 2

Last year I bought a 6" x 6" pad of paper called "Ready, Set, Go" by Amy Tangerine. The cute designs seemed ideal for making cards for Operation Write Home. 

When OWH announced that they will be shutting down at the end of this year I realized that now is the time to use up all those papers that I bought specifically with OWH cards in mind. 

I started by making a series of cards using the "Ready, Set, Go" paper and sketches from Viva La Verve. This is the second card I'm posting. 

Viva La Verve May 2015 Sketch 1

The stamp is from the Hero Arts Woodland Creatures set. 
The button punch is from Martha Stewart.
The chevron embossing folder is from Darice. 

Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go

Last year I bought a 6 x 6 pad of paper called "Ready, Set, Go" by Amy Tangerine. The cute designs seemed ideal for making cards for Operation Write Home. 

When OWH announced that they will be shutting down at the end of this year I realized that now is the time to use up all those papers that I bought specifically with OWH cards in mind. 

So here is the first card in my own version of the Finish Strong campaign. I already knew the sentiment I wanted to pair with the paper. Viva La Verve provided the sketch inspiration which made the job easier. 

Viva La Verve May 2015 Week 4

Stamp: Hero Arts, Forest Friends

Ink: Momento Nautical Blue

Edging Ink: Colorbox chalk ink

Bittersweet Chocolate

The names of the products I used to make this card are very evocative. The stamps and die-cut word are from the new chocolate collection from Verve Stamps. Since the theme was chocolate I choose paper from the Bittersweet collection from Basic Grey. The dotted paper in the background is Blissful from Bazzill. 

Its difficult to see in the photo, but the word and hearts were die cut from a paper that is a bit sparkly. The paper is adhesive backed which worked out great because the word die would be difficult for me to put glue on without getting it all over the place. 

Viva La Verve Week 1 May 2015

This card is based on the week 1 Viva La Verve sketch from May.