Woo Hoo!! I shipped 50 cards to OWH!!

I shipped 50 cards to Operation Write Home today, and there were NO pumpkins, NO turkeys, and NO reindeer!!!

All cards were general cards, such as Thinking of You, Love You, Miss You.  And many were more masculine than feminine. 

Only 95 more cards to go to meet my goal of 365 cards this year!!!

OWH Mid-Week Throwdown - Masculine Cards

Operation Write Home is always in need of masculine cards.  Since I am not a girly girl, these are a little easier for me than some of their other challenges.

When I make cards, I often make more than one of a particular style.  I see the cards improving with each version.

So, here is the evolution of a masculine card.  Inside of all of the cards is the sentiment, "Thought you could use a little pickup".

I started with this one:

OK, but I think the truck is a little too big.  The black background paper was dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and lightly distressed, and accented with the larger silver brads. 

Round 2:

Still not loving it.  Like having more of the background showing, but still not right.  Maybe a different background paper?  More embellishments?


Round 3:

Better, but the ribbon blended in too much.  Don't like the smaller brads, either.

Round 4:

Oh, yes, this is MUCH better!!  Love how the brown and blue ribbon complements the background paper.  But I wonder if it would look better with a blue background?


Round 5:

I like this one, too!


Striped paper from Cloud 9, blue solid ribbon is SU, brown and blue ribbon from Adornments.  Stamp is SU Loads of Love. 

OWH Sketch Challenge #135

I find sketch challenges, well, challenging.  Here is this week's sketch from Operation Write Home:

 

This is my interpretation, a patriotic Christmas thank you.  

Spellbinders M-Bossabilities folder, tree from SU Peace on Earth set, thanks from CTMH Woodland Sentiments. 

Pizzazz!!

Cards for Operation Write Home cannot have glitter that could rub off.  So I have to be a bit more creative to add that "something extra" when making cards for them.

I like to use very shiny paper, and dry emboss.  Epoxy stickers and ribbon can also add interest and dimension.

On this card, I added the epoxy sticker to the fish bowl, and popped up the oval focal point.

Image from Little Hellos by Stampin' Up, ribbon by Creation Station, sticker from Spare Parts, embossing folder from Cuttlebug. 

OWH Mid-Week Throwdown - Supply Challenge

This week over at Operation Write Home, the mid-week challenge is to create a card using patterned papers and either a die or a punch. 

Here was my first attempt:

Oops, guess I should have followed the rules more closely.  The butterflies are die cut (Spellbinders) from three colors of parchment patterned paper and accented with colored crystals.  The paper pattern is so subtle, it doesn't show up.  I love the card, but it doesn't fit the challenge. 

So, I tried again:

This one fits the challenge better!  Background paper from  DCWV Love and Wedding, embossed with a Fiskars plate.  I think the corners should be rounded, but I broke my corner rounder on the purple card.  Guess who gets to go shopping for a new punch!  Think I may have to upgrade to a chomper. 

Dress Form Card

I love cards with texture, especially embossing, ribbon, and fabrics.

I made this card as a sample for a blog hop.  It wasn't accepted, but I still like it!!  The tulle adds a lot of dimension, but not a lot of bulk.  This card fit in a standard A2 envelope. 

If you use fabric on a card, be sure to check the selvedge for copyright information.  If the fabric is licensed (Snoopy, Dora, college or professional sports, etc.), be sure the card is for personal use, not for sale or to donate to an organization. 

The background paper is K and Company, embossed with a Sizzix texture plate.  I drew the dress form, and cut it on my cutter.  Stamp is from My Favorite Things.  Tulle and sparkly yarn from my stash.  I also added a crystal on the very top of the dress form from Design By Dawn.

Want the cutting file?  Click HERE for a zip file with the SVG and SCUT2 files. 

OWH Mid-Week Throwdown - Get Your Kraft On!

The challenge this week over at Operation Write Home is Get Your Kraft On.  Use a kraft paper card base, and then add one or two other colors.  Well, they didn't say the colors had to be bright!!!  I mean, shades of white, cream, and grey are colors, right?!?

Here is my card:

I used a Wilton doily and ran it through my Xyron.  I accented the doily center with a circle cut from K and Company paper. The large butterflies was die cut with a Spellbinder die.  I cut the silver layer first (I know, it looks grey in the photo), and left the cut out swirls in the die.  Then I cut the bottom white layer.  The swirls didn't cut all of the way through the white paper, since there were already pieces of the grey paper in the die.  The smaller, white butterfly was cut from the smaller die, and glued onto the silver layer.  Stamp is from Fiskars. 

Woo Hoo! I shipped 78 Cards to Operation Write Home today!!!

I am so pleased with myself.  I shipped 78 cards to Operation Write Home today - and NOT ONE was a Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas card!!   This time of year, they get a lot of different holiday cards, but not as many general cards as they need.  I try to make the cards that are in short supply. 

I updated the ticker at the top of my blog.  I still need to make 145 cards between now and the end of the year to reach my goal of a card a day for the year.  My son started school today, so I hope that I work in a little more crafting time.  As much as I like more crafting time, I am sad to have to get back into the school routine. 

But I think that dogs were even more unhappy to see him go:

Operation Write Home Mid-Week Throwdown - Child Card

This week's challenge over at Operation Write Home is to make a card for a hero to send to a child.

I love scraps.  I can't seem to throw any away!  And I love how this "quilt" turned out.  I hope a little girl will be happy to receive it.

I used a Fiskar's scalloped square punch, dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, the tag is cut with a Spellbinder's die - Home Sweet Home, purple ribbon from SU, white grosgrain ribbon from Offray.  Most of the scraps are from the Little Yellow Bicycle Tiny Princess collection.

Operation Write Home Mid-Week Throwdown

I know, it is not mid-week any more.  I am a bit behind!  The challenge this week was for Any Hero cards.  These are sent to our military heroes that need some extra encouragement. 

The Americana Cardstock paper pack by Canvas Basics was just perfect for this challenge. 

I started to CASE a card from Trinity Designs.  The kraft layer is dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  The tag is cut from a Spellbinders die, button and cord from my stash.  However, when I finished, I didn't like the blank space at the bottom, so I filled it in with three layers from a border punch. 

I couldn't justify a whole paper pack for one card :), so I made this one also:

Stars were cut with a Spellbinders die, and embellished with buttons from my stash.  I stitched the stars and buttons to the blue polka dot paper, and secured with a dot of glossy accents.  The kraft paper base is too dark to write messages on, so I lined it and stamped a few tiny stars on the corner::