Aaand Another Any Hero Card

Here's another Any Hero card made with the digi stamps from K 'n K Designs. Six of these will be shipped to Sandy at OWH tomorrow!

Any Hero Cards

I confess, I haven't been much of a user of digital stamps. I like the hands-on feel of inking up a rubber stamp and carefully positioning it on cardstock. :)  Plus, I'm *ahem*, somewhat addicted to Stampin' Up!

What got me to change my mind was the fundraiser for Operation Write Home going on at K 'n K Designs. ALL of the proceeds from the sales of these specially-designed stamps (minus PayPal fees) will be donated to OWH to help with shipping costs, estimated to be about $13,000 over the next few months!

Well, Operation Write Home is a cause near and very dear to my heart, and the digis were so darn cute, I just couldn't resist. This is one of the images in the bundle. (I added "OWH" to the label using Publisher.) :-) Since my Copics have been seriously neglected for a few months, I used them to color the image, then added Crystal Effects to the spilled water and the dog's nose for some shine. Tucking six of these into the box for OWH!

Notice the little "OWH" on the label? I added that using Publisher. :-D

A Warm Howdy!

Today I am honored to be the Featured Friday Cardmaker over at the OWH Stars and Stamps blog! So, if you are visiting from OWH, I'd like to extend a happy welcome!!!

The theme of OWHtv Episode 24 was clean and simple (CAS) cards, which inspired me to make these. I'm pretty sure Sandy, Dixie, and Kris can never have too many "Miss You", or "Thinking of You" cards, so these will be added to the box! In fact, I just checked the Current Needs page, and all three need 'em!

Thank you, Paula, for asking of I'd like to be a Featured Cardmaker. Um, let me think about that for a sec.... YES!!!

And thank YOU, visitors,  for stopping by my humble blog today! I hope you found something to inspire you here.  (Check out the Christmas cards posted the past couple of days.)  If you are new to Operation Write Home, please be sure to check the Card Guidelines and Shipping Deadlines before sending cards to the shippers.  Oh, and if you can Prepare the Cards before you send them, it would save our shippers tons of time, too!

And finally, most of all, THANK YOU 

to the men and women who work so hard 

and sacrifice so much to ensure our freedom. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart....

YOU ROCK!

Very Merry Stockings

Gosh, I love this time of year.....the days are getting shorter, and the evenings are getting cooler.  The sun takes on a special slant and golden light. That means Fall is right around the corner, and with it all the great holidays through the end of the year. Yup, it is definitely my favorite time of year......right alongside Winter, Spring, and Summer.

More holiday loveliness going to Operation Write Home. And speaking of Operation Write Home, I'm going to have a special post up tomorrow.

Stamps: Stitched Stockings (Holiday Mini), Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Whisper White, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi DSP< Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: Basic Black, Garden Green, and Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pads
Accessories: Snow Burst embossing folder, and Stocking Builder Punch (both in Holiday Mini), Big Shot, Cherry Cobbler 3/8" Quilted Satin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestone Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas for the Troops

If you've been following me for a while, you'll know two things about me....well probably way more than two, but these are the ones we're addressing today. 1)  I am a horrible procrastinator, which is what led me to making a few Christmas cards every month so I wouldn't bring embarrassment and shame upon my family would be ready to mail them early in December, and 2)  I make cards for Operation Write Home for our deployed heroes to send home to loved ones.

The deadlines for OWH holiday cards, and this applies to all holidays, whether Mother's Day, Christmas, Valentines, whatever, is usually about two months before the actual holiday. This gives the shippers time to sort, pack and ship them out in time for the heroes to send them back home.

Anyhoo, to make a short story long, NOW is the time to be making those holiday cards (see deadlines below), so I've been working on a few.

The words in the greeting from Short & Sweet were inked separately with Stampin' Write Markers so they could fit on the Jewelry Tag. The holly berry cluster was also inked with markers for the third tag, and then used with VersaMark on the Garden Green panel.


Stamps: Pines & Poinsettias (Holiday Mini), Short & Sweet
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Garden Green, Poppy Parade, Confetti White, Holly Berry Bouquet Specialty DSP
Ink (Stampin' Write Markers): Poppy Parade, Calypso Coral, Garden Green
Accessories: Poppy Parade 1/2" Poly Stitched Ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Jewelry Tag Punch, Basic Rhinestone Jewels, Perfect Polka-Dots embossing folder, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Linen Thread

OWH deadlines:

Sept 16 - Halloween

Sept 30 - Thanksgiving

Oct 31 - Christmas

Nov 30 - AnyHero Christmas

Grunge Birthday

Today's card uses the guitar from Grunge Rock again, but this time for a teenage birthday. I think it would work for either a girl or boy, though the colors seem a bit more masculine.  Still on the mission to use up my way-too-large stash of designer paper!!!

Stamp: Grunge Rock
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Elegant Soiree DSP
Ink: Soft Suede and Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pads
Accessories: Birthday embossing folder (non-SU), Big Shot, Basic Eyelets (retired)

Rockin' Someone's World

Here's a card that is sure to put a smile on the face of a service person's loved one back home.  I can just picture a guy or gal in fatigues choosing this one to send home to a special someone.....I sure hope they like it!  You might not be able to see it, but there are three tiny pearls on the guitar to represent knobs. Yes, I realize the knobs are usually below the strings, but they wouldn't have shown up in the swirly design. :)

Stamps: Grunge Rock (greeting from $1 bin at M's)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Elegant Soiree DSP (still on the "use it up" mission!)
Ink: Soft Suede and Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pads
Accessories: Elegant Lines embossing folder, Big Shot, Early Espresso 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls

Patriotic Father's Day

What father of a deployed service person wouldn't love to receive a patriotic card from their son or daughter? The red, white and blue stars are perfect! (I really wish SU hadn't retired that smaller star punch!) A bunch of these were sent to OWH on Saturday.

Stamp: All Holidays

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Night of Navy

Ink: Real Red and Night of Navy Stampin' Write Markers

Accessories: Night of Navy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder, Big Shot, Large Star Punch, Star Punch (retired), star brad (non-SU)

And here's one of the "ANY HERO" cards included in the box.

Stamp: Hero Mail (AMuse)

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Night of Navy, Autumn Spice Specialty DSP (retired)

Ink:Soft Suede Classic,  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Sketch Markers

Accessories: Night of Navy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch, Finial Press embossing folder, Big Shot, star brad (non-SU)

Semper Fi(do)

There were a couple of these sent to Operation Write Home, as well.  I'm sure Sandy's dog, Ciara, will like this one!  Dogs are such loyal companions that the Marine motto of Semper Fi (semper fidelis - always faithful) really applies. I hope the message has real meaning for the hero that sends this one home!

I couldn't resist putting a little Crystal Effects in the dog's eyes and nose for that shiny-eyed, wet-nosed, healthy look! Gosh, I miss having a dog.....

Stamp: Maker unknown, greeting printed by computer
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Autumn Spice Specialty DSP (retired)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers
Accessories: Early Espresso 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Neutrals Brads, Finial Press embossing folder, Big Shot, Crystal Effects

What a Weekend!

Well, we're still here. ;) Yesterday afternoon I sent a batch of cards to Operation Write Home, some of which you've seen. (I'll be showing more over the next few days.) Then, last night, DH and I went to see our fave band, the Moody Blues, in concert. Always a great show, though I have to wonder how much longer they'll be touring. Graeme Edge looked more than a bit tired last night.

Here's one of the cards sent out yesterday. OWH always needs Love You, Miss You, Thinking of You cards! Since I'm on a mission to use up as much DSP as possible before the launch of the new IB&C, I made a bunch of these:

Stamps: Friends Never Fade (greeting from $1 bin at M's)
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Ink: Not Quite Navy Classic, Note Quite Navy and Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: Stampin' Sponges, pearls (non-SU)

Fête des Pères, Parisian Breeze Style

I admit it, I'm a paper hoarder.  I buy lovely patterned papers and want to save them all for some "special" future project.  This, of course, presents a problem when the old stamp cave starts really feeling cave-like from the encroachment of the ever-growing stash. But of all the papers I've acquired in the past three-plus years, Parisian Breeze is my all-time favorite.  The colors, the patterns (BOTH sides of ALL the sheets!), the lovely heavy textured cardstock......*sigh*.

Never before or since has there been anything that even comes close. Needless to say, I have been very carefully hoarding that particular stash, using a little snippet here, a tiny piece there. (I even have a unopened pack!)

Well, I finally found a cause worthy enough to use some of the opened pack, and that's some CAS Father's Day cards for OWH.  Lookee!

Stamp: All Holidays
Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze DSP (retired, darn it!)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: 5/16" Jumbo Brads (Neutrals)

Any Hero

In addition to Father's Day cards (and others), I'm making "Any Hero" cards to send to Operation Write Home. These cards are to the service members, thanking him/her for their service to our country. This one uses the new Land of the Free single stamp in the Summer Mini.  It was so easy to ink the stars with a Night of Navy marker, and the lyrics with a Real Red marker.  Sponging the edges of the mat, the stars and the stamped image with Soft Suede really gives the card an aged, vintage feel.

Stamp: Land of the Free
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Night of Navy, Autumn Spice DSP (retired)
Ink: Soft Suede Classic, Real Red and Night of Navy Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: Finial Press embossing folder, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Night of Navy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Large Star Punch, Star Punch (retired), Stampin' Sponges

Open House Make & Take

This was the easy-peasy card that was the make & take at the Summer Mini Open House yesterday. I love that the punched flower from the new Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch fits perfectly in the sun/flower image in the Touch of Kindness stamp set! It's almost like SU planned it that way..... :-D

Another set of cards going to OWH later this week!

Stamp: Touch of Kindness
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Basic Black Classic
Accessories: Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch, Finial Press embossing folder, Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone Brad

Another OWH Father's Day

Gotta be quick today...I'm getting ready for the Summer Mini Open House this afternoon!  Here's another from a batch going to Operation Write Home later this week:

Stamps: Plane & Simple
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, square brads (non-SU)

What a Weekend!

The first-ever gathering of Moovers and Shakers from SCS took place last weekend, and we managed to get six of us together for a weekend of stamping fun, food and laughter. Oh my, I haven't laughed that much in a long time...my insides got a good workout! I was the hostess, but I hardly had to do anything. The ladies pitched right in and made themselves at home. Jill made supper Saturday night, and everyone helped clean up, whilst I sat on my as.., um, butt. Dawna even had to make her own bed with fresh linens, lol. I tried to compensate for my laziness by leaving a chocolate mint on her pillow. Hope it was enough. :-)

We did a shoebox swap (my first!), and every project was fabulous!  Christine showed us how to make a waterfall card, which I had been itching to try. It was almost like she read my mind! Betty's classy black and white card and ATC was an "enabler" for me - now I have to get that Nestabilities Lacey Circles die. Dawna's technique using chalk inks to make a background the looked reminiscent of mother-of-pearl was way-cool. Jill didn't have to enable me, since I already possess that Build a Blossom punch and stamp set, But now I'm inspired to ink it up! These cards (and a lot more) are going to Operation Write Home this week!

DOIN' A HAPPY DANCE!

Just found out that Operation Write Home won the second place prize of $25,000!  WOOHOOOOO!  That will send a lot of cards to our heroes.  Thanks so much to everyone who voted for OWH!

Pictures from the Party

I wanted to share a few pictures from the card party.  The three people you see in the two photos below had NEVER made cards before!  Isn't it wonderful that they were willing to take a chance on something new to them, just to support our deployed military members?

The pretty lady above is Sandra.  We worked together in the 2010 Census, and she's a hoot!  You can see that she is working on one of the card kits that I prepared last week.  Sandra, you did wonderfully well!  I guess she enjoyed it, because she said she'd like to do it again, woohoo!

This handsome couple is my sinister sister, Sherry, and her husband, Mike.  (Sherry and I joke about having an evil sister and a good sister......of course, we only have one sister!)

I was really impressed with Mike's ability to get everything lined up properly.  He even stamped the images!  THIS was the card kit he worked on.  Bless his heart, he had a long hard day at work, and still came to the card party.  Gotta love a veteran!

This was the card kit my sister worked on.  She was introduced to the Big Shot, and really had fun cranking out the embossed pieces.  She wants to make more cards, too!

Birthday Bash and a Birthday :-)

The Operation Write Home Birthday bash last Friday was a wonderful success.  Eight crafty Patriots showed up to make cards for tour service members to send to their loved ones.  We made a total of 126 cards, and there are still more card kits to be put together!  I am so happy to be a small part of this organization.  The card above is so simple, yet elegant.  One of the ladies had never stamped before, and she picked it right up!  Didn't she do a great job?  Her "thinking of you" sentiments were perfectly placed!

Now on to another birthday celebration.  My daughter-in-law has a birthday tomorrow (and will officially be pushing 30 for the next year!), and this is the card I made.  We celebrated her birthday on Saturday so there could be a big family gathering.  I tucked a couple of Macy's gift cards inside, since that's her favorite store. :-)

Busy TOO SHORT Week!

I've been preparing for tomorrow's Operation Write Home Birthday Bash Card Party all week.  Here are a couple of cards that I made kits for, so people with no stamping experience can put them together.  Since this is not an official Stampin' Up! function, I am trying to use up a bunch of the non-SU things I got before I realized what I was doing.  I have a ton of stuff to use up, and that's all I'm going to say about that. ;-)

Does anyone know how I can add about 12 more hours to today?  The party is tomorrow and I'm nowhere NEAR ready - eeeek!  More kits to cut, house to clean, refreshments to make (and not enough room in the fridge for them), and somewhere in there I need to bathe!

What I've Been up to......

One of the ladies at Stampin Addicts very graciously sent some card fronts (and envelopes!) that she no longer can use, so that I could turn them into full cards to send to Operation Write Home.  OWH is a fabulous organization that collects hand-crafted cards from crafters, packs them up, and sends them to deployed service members so that they can stay in touch with their loved ones at home.  It means SO MUCH to these heroes to be able to send their kid a birthday card, or their mom a Mother's Day card, or their spouse an anniversary card.  There are no card shops in Iraq or Afghanistan, or wherever they are deployed, so we try to help 'em out, by helping spread the love.
In addition to the card fronts I received, I had a huge stack of cards and card fronts with retired stamps or cardstock that I donated as well.  So, in that box, all stamped with the OWH logo on back, and tucked in their envelopes, are 166 assorted cards, from Christmas, to birthday, to love you/thinking of you, to thank-yous.  And on top of the pile are four more "Anyhero" cards.  These are from me, personally, to any service person, thanking them for their service to our country. I truly am grateful for their sacrifice and my family's freedom!

P.S. I haven't forgotten the basket tutorial.  I had to clear my three craft tables of this project first!