Circle Hello

This card is a great way to use up smaller pieces of paper that are leftover from other projects. If I had it to do over again I would have used a little distress ink or chalk ink around the edges of the circles to add some dimension. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 


The theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "Going Around in Circles," so I'm linking to this card over there. 

OWH Sketch #248

Paper: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Stamp: Hero Arts Everyday Sayings
Ink: Stampin Up Soft Suede
Card Base: Bazzill Peanut Cluster

Cards, Crafting and Sisyphus

Are you familiar with the legend of Sisyphus? In Greek mythology he was someone who always lied. As punishment, he had to spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill, watching it roll back down, and then pushing it back up again. 

What does that have to do with crafting? Well, about a year ago I decided to use each card sketch from Operation Write Home at least once. I have made a lot of progress -- at least 100 sketches complete. But they release two new sketches each month, so sometimes it feels like this task will never be complete! Cardmaking is far more fun than pushing boulders up hills, and no one is forcing me to do this. Still, sometimes I feel just a little tiny bit like Sisyphus. That's how I was feeling when I finally made a card for sketch #250 and then found an e-mail announcing sketch #251. 

So here is the card for #250. The next sketch can wait until my attitude improves. 

OWH Sketch #250

I'm entering this sketch in the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Challenge which is to show what you are stamping. For this card I stamped the sentiment and also used two different stamps to make my own embellishment. 

Paper: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Sentiment Stamp: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Image Stamps: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede and Colorbox Scarlet
Chalk Ink: Colorbox Toffee

Best Son Ever Card

This card uses one of the Viva La Verve card sketches for March. Three of their 4 March sketches have circles in them. Circles are tricky for me. I don't have a die-cutting machine and have had my Silhouette for less than a year, so I'm just not used to working with large circle elements.

This card design did not come easily, but I'm happy enough with the result.

This card will go in the Viva La Verve Challenge as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes).

Paper: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Stamp: Hero Arts You're a Winner
Ink: Colorbox Scarlet

Confetti Birthday

I used the terrific instructions from Seongsook Duncan for making a batch of cards using Operation Write Home sketch #176. Unfortunately my planning was not ideal and I ran out of the blue-grey cardstock needed for the layering after making only 4 cards. As soon as I get some more cardstock in a color that will work I'll be able to make a pile of them. 

OWH #176

The Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "B is for..." For this card I'm going with "Birthday Cake." 

I'm also entering this card in the Little Tangles Challenge. 

Sketch: Operation Write Home #176
Paper: Stampin' Up Just Add Cake
Stamp: Lawn Fawn Year One
Ink: Stampin' Up Baja Breeze 

A Spring Thank You

It finally feels like spring here in Chicago. The temperature has been around 50 degrees the past few days. When I look at the upcoming week, it looks like we won't go below freezing anytime in the next 7 days! 

So I took a break from Mother's Day cards to make a spring thank you card. 

ODBDSLC230

The "thank you" sentiment comes from a set of stamps from My Favorite Things called "Vintage Cameo." I haven't been using the cameo stamps from this set, but the sentiment stamps have been in heavy rotation lately. I'm really impressed with how beautifully they stamp!

The sketch is from the latest Our Daily Bread Challenge. I used an ODBD stamp as the focal image. 

I'm entering this card in the current Work it Wednesday at Simon Says Stamp. They are looking for a spring theme. 

I'm also entering this card in the Little Tangles Challenge. 

Paper: My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 2 Breeze
Image Stamp: Our Daily Bread Designs Fishing Boy
Sentiment Stamp: My Favorite Things Vintage Cameo
Ink: Stampin' Up pear pizzazz

It's a Banner Day

I found this adorable little girl in my stash and placing her in an oval seemed like a great way to rescue her from the box in a drawer where she had been hiding. I used the colors from the Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #9 which includes two different pinks, two browns and apple green. I used my Silhouette to cut out the oval and the frame around it. 

Operation Write Home Sketch #161

The Monday Challenge Simon Says Stamp is "B is for..." and with this card I'm going for "banner."

Sketch: Operation Write Home #161

Paper: My Mind's Eye Lime Twist

Embellishment: Sarah Jane Die-Cuts 

Sweet Flowers for Mother

So when you make cards for Operation Write Home, you're always thinking a couple of holidays ahead. That's because OWH needs to get them to overseas military early enough so that they can write in them and send them back to the U.S. 

That's probably why when I saw the most recent My Favorite Things Color Challenge my thoughts turned to Mother's Day. I played it safe by just stamping the word "Mother" on this card. This way it could also be used for a mother's birthday, or even just to let her know you're thinking of her. 

The colors over at MFT Color Challenge #16 happened to match some paper from my stash. This piece of paper sat around for nearly a year and I had no idea what to do with it. Thanks MFT for motivating me to finally use it! The solid purple is on the one side and the flowers are on the other. I should have enough left to make at least a few more cards. 

Early Mother's Day Card

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is "No Rules," and their Wednesday challenge is "Anything Goes." Aren't those the same thing? In any case. I'm entering this card in both.

Paper: My Minds Eye Penny Lane
Stamp: My Favorite Things Vintage Cameo
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede
Ribbon: American Crafts
Bling: Cloud 9 Raindrops

Party Animal

I'm continuing to work my way through all of the Operation Write Home sketches. Wow, this project seems endless, but I'm nearly halfway through! This card uses sketch #116 which is from April 2012. I hadn't even heard of OWH back then. 

Operation Write Home Sketch # 116

In honor of their 100th challenge, the theme over at Lawnscaping is birthdays. They provided this inspiration photo, but also said that any birthday theme would do:

I'm also entering this card in:

The Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp -- "Anything Goes." 
The challenge this month at Whimsy Stamps --"Use a Sentiment." 

Sketch: OWH #116
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy
Stamp: Avery Elle
Ink: Stampin Up
Edge Punch: EK Success
Paper: My Mind's Eye

Cute Little Girl Birthday

I needed a birthday card for a little girl who is turning 8. For the design I used My Favorite Things Sketch 216 from their Wednesday Sketch Challenge. 

In honor of their 100th challenge, the theme over at Lawnscaping is birthdays.  

They provided this inspiration photo, but also said that any birthday theme would do:

This card is doing triple duty! The Mid-month Throwdown at Operation Write Home is Cards for Kids. I'll give this card to a little girl I know, but I'll make extra copies to donate to OWH. Right now they only want up to 5 copies of any given card. That's ok. I probably don't have enough of these papers to make more that that anyway.

MFT Sketch #216

Sketch: MFTWSC216
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup
Stamp: Lawn Fawn Year One
Ink: Studio G

Alphabet Soup

I love card designs that use 3" x 3" squares because I can use a whole sheet of 6" x 6" paper or 12" x 12" paper and not have any leftover scraps. A couple weeks ago I cut a 12" x 12" sheet of paper from the My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy collection into 16 3" x 3" squares. So, I've been going through all the Operation Write Home sketches that use 3 inch squares.   

The theme for the Wednesday Challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp is "All Creatures Great and Small." They are focusing on Paper Smooches stamps this week. That's easy for me. The Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler is one of my favorite stamp sets and I use it all the time. 

Operation Write Home Sketch #56

Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy 
Stamp: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Ink: Momento Nautical Blue

Missing Your Voice

For this card I started out trying to stick to a pink and red color scheme. But this card just really needed some orange. I used Bazzill Tangelo as a matting layer and Liquid Pearls in the upper right corner. 

For the layout I used My Favorite Things Sketch 215. This is a really versatile sketch and I can see getting a lot of mileage out of it. 

This card will be great for sending to Operation Write Home. Some military parent can send it home to their child. The card base is pretty dark, so I lined it with white paper. OWH guidelines request that we use paper light enough to write on with a pencil.

MFT Sketch 215

Stamp: My Favorite Things Ring Me
Ink: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Girl
Edge Punch: EK Success
Pearls: Ranger Liquid Pearls
Mat Paper: Bazzill Tangelo

"H" is for "Hi!"

I'm having a good time using the My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup paper. It was a nice match with the latest Waffle Flower Challenge. This challenge includes a photo of some tops in red and orange colors. The colors and swirl patterns in the paper echo these images. 

Mojo Monday #383

Sketch: Mojo Monday #383
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup
Image stamp: The Cat's Pajamas
Sentiment stamp: Inkadinkado 
Washi tape: Recollections and Bella Blvd

For the layout I used Mojo Monday sketch 383 which I am really enjoying. 

This card qualifies for the Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp: "H is for..."

As an added bonus, I used a stamp from The Cat's Pajamas. So, this card qualifies for the Anything Goes challenge they have going on. 

"H" is for "Hugs"

This week the Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "H is for..."

I'm still working toward making at least one card for each Operation Write Home sketch. So today's card uses OWH sketch #30.

I love card designs that use 3" x 3" squares because I can use a whole sheet of 6" x 6" paper or 12" x 12" paper and not have any leftover scraps. So I modified the OWH sketch a little so that I could use a 3" x 3" piece of paper.

The Paper Smooches Sparks challenge this week is "Anything Goes." Well, this card certainly meets that criteria. I've been getting a lot of mileage out of the Paper Smooches set that includes the "Hugs" sentiment used here.

OWH Sketch #30

Sketch: Operation Write Home #30
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy
Stamp: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Ink: Hero Arts Shadow Ink Red Royal
Punch: Stampin' Up Artisan Label

"H" is for "Happy"

This week the Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "H is for..."

I'm still working toward making at least one card for each Operation Write Home sketch. So today's card uses OWH sketch #76.

The pack of My Mind's Eye paper I'm using came with some chipboard embellishments. They worked nicely as additions to this card. Because I didn't want the sentiment to compete with the chipboard elements, I stamped it directly on the patterned paper.

The Paper Smooches Sparks challenge this week is "Anything Goes." So, that includes this card, lol. I use the Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler all the time. 

OWH Sketch #76

Paper: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Embellishments: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Stamp: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Ink: Stampin Up Soft Suede

Bright Stars Card

This card was made for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- All Things Bright and Beautiful. My card is more on the bright side, not so much the beautiful side. I'm still trying to keep up with the OWH sketches, so I used sketch #246 here. The stamp is part of a OWH fundraiser set made by Hero Arts called "You're a Winner".

The paper I used came with matching stickers and I used three of them as embellishments.

Operation Write Home Sketch #246

Sketch: Operation Write Home #246
Paper: My Mind's Eye, Boy Crazy
Stamp: Hero Arts, You're a Winner
Ink: Stampin' Up, Soft Suede

The Sky is the Limit

My Favorite Things Stamps has a challenge this week to use MTF Sketch 213. This is my first time using a MFT Sketch.

The Monday Challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Blog is to make something using the theme "Up in the Clouds." So, this card qualifies for both challenges.

I'm not happy with the sentiment being on white paper. Next time, I think I should use a light, colored cardstock instead. Oh well, there is a lot of trial and error in creative work, isn't there?

MFT Sketch 213

Supplies:

Paper: My Mind's Eye Lime Twist
Ink: Stampin' Up Baja Breeze
Stamp: My Favorite Things, Blue Skies Ahead
Button Punch: Martha Stewart

Boy Crazy Cards

I bought some paper and stickers from the My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy collection. These papers have fun, bright colors and cute images of robots, cars, stars and sneakers. Sketch challenges from Operation Write Home were used for the design of each card. This month there is a challenge on the OWH website to make cards using red, yellow and blue. This paper collection is perfect for that!

Sketch 192 was made using a sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches and a red and white dotted card base from My Mind's Eye.

Sketch 192

Sketch 195 uses a robot stamp that was made to coordinate with these papers.

Sketch 195

Sketch 226 uses sentiment and star stamps from the My Favorite Things Masculine Graphic set.

Sketch 226

Sketch 244 uses a card base from My Mind's Eye and a sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches.

Sketch 244

Love Cards in Subtle Colors

Made using My Mind's Eye Sweetest Thing Tangerine paper.  I thought I'd seem the last of this paper, but I came up with enough pieces to make 3 more cards. I'm still working my way through the nearly 250 sketches on the Operation Write Home (OWH) website.

Sketch #145 is simple and balanced. 

Sketch #145

Sketch #208 is a great way to use up smaller pieces of paper. The sentiment stickers were from a set sold to coordinate with the paper.

Sketch #208

Sketch #221 is my attempt at making a more masculine card from this paper.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Year Round. 

Sketch #221

Snow Kisses

Posting one card today. The Mid-month throwdown for November at Operation Write Home is to make winter themed love cards.

This card uses paper from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found. The sentiment is from a stamp by My Favorite Things.

I used OWH sketch #48.

Operation Write Home #48

My Mind's Eye Sweetest Thing Cards

Today I'm sharing pictures of cards made using paper from My Mind's Eye Sweetest Thing Tangerine collection. These cards, and a bunch more I didn't photograph were all made from the same 6" x 6" pad of paper.

I tried to use as many different Operation Write Home (OWH) sketeches as possible.

OWH sketch 52

OWH sketch 69

OWH sketch 123

OWH sketch 149

OWH 213

OWH 217

OWH 225

OWH 240

This card was inspired by cards made by Pam on Airbornewife's Stamping Spot. I don't think it is based on an OWH sketch. Please leave a comment if I'm wrong and I'll add a sketch number. 

Sunburst Card

Hope you enjoyed these. Some of these sketches appealed to me right away. Some of them were more challenging to work with, but I was happy with the results in the end.