OWH Veterans Day Blog Hop 11-11-11

OWH is having a blog hop in honor of our veterans. Be sure to check it out this Friday! The hop features 11 of the biggies in papercrafting: Ranger, Prima, Basic Grey, Tombow, Tonic, Studio Calico, Hero Arts, Copic, Sizzix, SRM Stickers and May Arts. Sounds like lots of fun so go ahead and hop on over to the Stars and Stamps blog to begin.

Check out the fun and prizes!

OWH K-9 Challenge Winner!

Hooray! Can't believe but my card won the K-9 Challenge honoring PFC Ciara. Check here and you'll see it's true but be sure to click on the home button at the top of the page to see more about the fun happenings for an OWH September.

OWH K-9 Challenge

I'm entering this card, destined for some far off land to help an American soldier stay in touch with home, in the Operation Write Home K-9 Challenge. This challenge honors PVT Ciara who just finished canine boot camp! Go Ciara...I have a couple canine cousins here who wouldn't cut the mustard at boot camp. They like to nap toooooo much.

My A2 size card (4.25" x 5.5") is layered in vintage unknown baseball & striped paper in patriotic colors with a little "Hello" tag slide on red/white polka-dot grosgrain ribbon. The dog is from a TPC set I purchased at Michaels just for making OWH cards but it's sure to get some extra use after my new little grandson arrives this Fall. The dog was colored with Copic markers and eyes & nose were coated with Glossy Affects for a wet look. I fussy cut the dog and adhered him with pop dots...I think it turned out pretty cool!

You needn't rush over to the Stars & Stamps blog...these can be made all year long for our troops.

OWH & WE R Memory Keepers Event

OWH and We R Memory Keepers have a month-long event planned for July. Be sure to stop by We R Grateful for details and prize info. There are lots of cool prizes with a grand prize cruise. You have until August 5th to send cards to qualify.

For those of you who don't know about OWH, it is an nonprofit organization that sends cards to our deployed troops. These blank handmade cards are made by American crafters (like me) who wish to help the troops stay in touch with home.

It's so worthwhile and rewarding...I hope you'll consider helping!

Wowzers...Loads of Card Sketches!!

Looking around the internet today I came across Card Positioning Systems indirectly from OWH and am I tickled. If you're like me, you love sketches or recipes since they make cardmaking so much easier. Haven't tried one yet? Be sure to check this site out and have a look around checking sketches. There are lots to see!

For those of you who are unfamiliar, "sketches" are digital puzzles of a sort that give you a guide to follow when designing a card. Check this one out and you'll understand what I mean:



Each geometric shape represents an element ie. the narrow strip across the middle could be ribbon or lace, the top square a white block with a stamped image, and the 2 background pieces could be patterned paper to coordinate with your image or focal element. I'll toss a quick one together so you can see how it all works! Check back in the a.m. to see what I put together for OWH.

Lily Pad is Tres Cool...a little blue too!!

I used a tiny stamp set from those $1 bins at the craft store for this card!
This cool set of stamps was my first purchase from Papertrey Ink.
I love them and the great dies!
I found a cool place to share...the Lily Pad. I've been enjoying their Youtube videos for ideas for fun quick cards for OWH. The cards are two I made for their challenge which will soon head off to OWH for our troops. I hope you enjoy and take a moment to stop by the Lily Pad too.

* OWH Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop *

Happy hoppin' cardmaking friends! I wanted something very special for the Memorial Weekend OWH bloghop so I decided to draw my own image. The cute little bear was a breeze to sketch but a "bear" to color with Copics. Can you believe it took about an hour and half to color this simple looking bear? The bear measures approx. 3" x 3" and is double matted & pop-dotted on an A2 size card. The paw with real tissue was also pop-dotted to give some fun dimension. The nose, eyes, & tear were coated with Glossy Affects for a wet look. Please leave me a comment or email me at rba0422@gmail.com if I can provide coloring info. on the copics used.

I hope you enjoyed my little original creation destined to travel to some far off sandy place to help some young hero stay in touch with home. Please follow my blog and come back soon, oh and do leave comments...I love hearing from fellow cardmakers.

Please be sure to visit COURTNEY who has another great card for your enjoyment. AND...most importantly...get crafting cards for the troops!

Now...hop on and have a great time!!!

((Grrrr on Blogger my little bear says! If comments aren't working try this on your rounds...jot comment in the box, then click pull down menu next to "comment as:" , and select name & URL...it really allows you to comment and links back to your blog!))

Update - Glory beeeee....the FOLLOWERS list has reappeared! I hope you'll "follow" my blog so you can stop back for a visit soon. Thanks for stopping!

OWH Father's Day Shirt Card

It is amazing the wonderful things one finds on Facebook and throughout the internet, specifically I mean Operation Write Home OWH. It is one of my favorite charities! A few days back up popped a cool card for Father's Day that I just had to try. The tutorial offered here is on the OWH website. The challenge was to make 5 and send them in to fill a shortage of Father's Day cards destined for our troops in the Middle East. I was surprised when I ended up with 18! They were so much fun and afterall each 12x12 sheet of old "ugly tie" scrapbook paper yeilds 9 ties. And after you get the hang of the origami tie they move quickly. That means 19 cards made in 2 days...woohoo...it had been a dry spell so its fun to do something worthwhile again and before I knew it I had a nice size stack of them...

If you're looking for a way to use up old paper, this is a most worthy use. I love the blue pinstripe shirt and can see someone's dad wearing that crazy tie!

My new Whimsy Mini Everyday Postage stamp makes a perfect sentiment for a dad card for anytime during the year.

OWH I've been missing you...

It has been so long since I sat down to put together cards for OWH. Taking MIL to her appointments and running back and forth to the beach to get ready for the upcoming season have eaten into my creative time so it felt great to make a few I thought I'd share. *If anyone is interested in volunteering to make cards for our deployed troops please click the link at the top of the right sidebar here...............>

My cards are made on a kraft 5.5" x 4.25" card, with a black layer under scraps of Cosmos Cricket vintage cardstock. I don't usually stitch on these cards since I'm usually making them assembly line method but decided to stitch down a narrow scrap of black dotted paper. They just seemed to call out for something coffee related so I stamped the cardstock with an old SU mug and restamped and paper pieced Bo Bunny Double Dot with a heart glazed with Ranger Glass Effects. The sentiment was computer generated with a boatload extra so I can keep making more coffee-related cards for the troops! I hope you enjoy...

OWH Principals of Design FREE Online Seminar

The instructor for this series of free seminars sponsored by OWH, holds a B.F.A. from Parson's School of Design, New York. She has 25 years design experience and works as a Sr. Graphic Designer for a small Connecticut printer. Her freelance work includes public service campaigns for a wide variety of national organizations including the American Heart Association, NFL and National Parks Foundation. Check out what Paula has to share and participate please!!

The series begins today, January 29th but is totally self-guided so you can start at anytime. I'll add photos of my attempt to this posting on Sunday. Please check back to see more and go check out OWH if you're not familiar. This is a wonderful, worthy organization all cardmakers can love!

More Cuppa Joe...

While we're thinking coffee in these cold weeks and days before the holiday, won't you consider helping a soldier too? My daughter introduced me to Green Beans Coffee who operates coffee shops on military bases throughout the Middle East. They are running a "Cup A Joe for A Joe" promotion where we can send a free cuppa card to a soldier for $2. It's a nice way to say thank you and we're thinking of you this holiday!

Coffee Cup Cozy And The Winner Is...

IF you love coffee like me and frequent coffee shops or are looking for a cool gift for those who do, you may want to stop over to a Split Coast Stampers for an ingenious cozy tutorial. After that, join me in moving over to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy a few of these
to go along with my gift cards and cozies. What a super gift for friends who love hot beverages!

Thanks to one and all for visiting and following my new blog. I've had the blog for a long time but only began using it in July of this year. It has come a long way since then, don't you think? Special thanks go out to my friend and former design team member and leader Karen for her encouragement and blog template links! I hope she starts her own blog someday too...the girl is very talented!

And the winner of the OWH blog hop candy from November 13th is #12 - Christine from Florida! HUGE congrats Christine!!!

OWH Valentine Challenge

We're down to the wire for the Archway cookie challenge AND voting at Joann's with Crafts for a Cause so hurry over to the OWH site and catch up on all the deets!


While you're at OWH be sure to enter their Valentine card challenge. Check out this wonderful prize from The Angel Company and be sure to get your entry in by Wednesday, December 1st. I entered mine tonight! I hope you like the little "luv bug". The greeting inside the card says, "be mine". The card was colored with Copics with a little faux red crystal added to the ladybug and a trio of red buttons just for a little interest and play off all the dots. I wasn't sure the red & white dots would go well but I think it worked perfectly!

PS...Don't forget to join my blog candy giveaway below. You can still join this leftover from the OWH Bloghop until December 1st. Please spread the word!!

OWH Valentine Blog Hop & Christmas Candy

Hello and welcome to my blog! You're reading right, we're having a Valentine bloghop to celebrate Veteran's Day Week and to get folks thinking about the next big OWH deadline. Valentine cards are due no later than January 7th. so it's time to take a break from your Christmas holiday crafting and join in new fun for a good cause! If you arrived here from Lisa's blog, you're in the right spot so read on for lots of fun and a link to your next stop.

**Please remember cardmakers...the deadline has passed for 2010 Christmas cards. They are NO longer being accepted for 2010. OWH is accepting Valentine cards through January 7, 2011. If you'd like to participate in Archway Cookies Valentine card challenge to match cookie per card, the deadline for entry is December 1st. Be sure to visit OWH here for more details...

To thank you for stopping by my blog I'm offering a little Christmas candy! Please spread the word to other blog hoppers to stop in and check out the goodness.

Qualify to win my blog candy with these easy steps:
1) See the left sidebar to follow my blog.
2) Leave a comment with your email address.
3) Blog about or post my Christmas candy photo on your sidebar AND/OR mention it and OWH on your blog.
4) Check back here on December 1st to see if you won.
5) Sorry, this is not available to international bloggers.


Please support Operation Write Home and vote daily! This worthy charity is in the top 3 in Joann Stores Craft for a Cause celebration and needs daily votes. So please be sure to stop by Joann's and cast your vote today. Thank you friends and God Bless the USA!!

I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog and will visit again! Please be sure to hop on over to Nancy's at Scrap Happens! and see what fun she has in store for you.

Vote Again 4 Operation Write Home...

JoAnn's posted the poll incorrectly on Election Day so voting had to start all over. Please take a moment to go vote for the wonderful charity Operation Write Home. They create and send blank greeting cards to our deployed troops so they can stay in touch with loved ones at home and send personal Hero cards & notes to needy troops.

You can vote once a day until December 4th. Please help this most worthy charity!

OHHHH...and be sure to stop back here on Saturday, November 13th to join in the OWH bloghop. I'll have yummy blog candy to win!!

Orchard Fun and OWH Blog Hop

Have you ever seen such unusual pumpkins? My granddaughter wanted to take home the wartful jack-o-lantern for her own. The little gal has an eye for the unusual. After I told her we couldn't take the already carved one covered in warts she ran straight to a oblong yellow pumpkin. We finally settled on some rather cute pie pumpkins and a big one for carving. Oh, and we had to take home just one cider donut!

Sorry, there was no time to blog yesterday so I only uploaded these great photos of my oldest granddaughter having fun with me at Milburn Orchard. Who'd imagine a little girl running around an apple orchard in a dress on a 75 degree day just before Halloween? The dress part her choice but 75 degrees here on the East Coast, who'd guess?

I just signed up to participate in the OWH blog hop for Veteran's Weekend on 11/13. Please keep eyes peeled for more information and snag yourself a badge and link it to OWH with this... http://operationwritehome.org/bloghop. Stop back soon to read about the coming fun. I'll be offering some fun blog candy!!

OWH and a Pop-Up Card Tutorial

Hey there blogging fans! Today, OWH posted on FB a terrific little tutorial on making a fun, easy pop-up card. Check out the tutorial on the OWH website for deets. I've been wanting to make one of these and seeing how darn easy it is inspires me to get going...maybe tomorrow. My weary Vaio laptop is coming home and needs a little TLC tonight. It will be so nice to put the old Toshiba away!

UPDATE...my Vaio came home last night and old Toshiba is resting comfortably after helping out for the last week. Oh my...poor old T is about ready for the Halloween graveyard! I WILL make a pop-up card and post it today...PROMISE so pleeeezzz come back.

Mojo Monday #159 Challenge

Just when I thought all my mojo was gone along comes a fun challenge sketch to get the creative energy flowing! I decided this sketch lent itself well to cards I wanted to make for OWH so I went to town and made 6. I think they turned out pretty nice and might make a great Valentine card too.

Here's the cool Mojo Monday sketch:

For my interpretation of the sketch I used my paper stash to make a double-layer diecut label from the Cricut Storybook cartridge. Bo Bunny Double Dot ribbon conceals the "seam" on the 2 patterned papers which are layered with harlequin check on a 5.5" x 4.25" black card base which was lined with white paper (since the troops don't have white pens.) The red diecut "love note" comes from the Wild Card cart. I stamped the back in white with the OWH logo. The flowers are generic mulberry flowers and ones I diecut with the Cricut Wild Card, self-adhesive Button-Ups make fun centers. Best of all...everything used came from my stash so no shopping required!

Hurry over to Mojo Monday's blog...this is a weekly challenge where you can enter more than one card. Entries must be in by Sunday. The prize is a set of Verve stamps. Have fun!

I wish I could find a partner to share a case of A2 size white envelopes because the $10.99 Staples charges for a measly 100 is a budget buster when one can get 1000 for about $29.00 from the OWH source! Email me if anyone nearby would like to share a case.

* * Uncle Luther's Honor Flight * *

I remember my mother's stories of long ago about her large family's beloved oldest brother who went off to war and was captured by the Germans...I thought it was so exciting when I heard that my aunt, Margie had nominated him for the Honor Flight Program. Honor Flight weekly flies WWII veterans, free of charge, to Washington, DC so they can see the wonderful memorial dedicated in their honor. Our uncle is one of the nicest men on Earth so it is fitting that he was selected to participate. His sacrifice was great and we are all so proud, and blessed to know this special man!

Each Honor Flight has mail call in flight heading to DC so lots of family members sent off cards to our participant. For me, it was much fun making a greeting card for our own family hero after just sending off dozens of cards to Operation Write Home. Everything I needed to make a patriotic card for a special veteran was right at hand...no shopping required!

Congrats Uncle Luther...I hope you had a terrific adventure!!

To make tax deductible contributions to this worthy organization contact Diane Gresse by email at offmgr@honorflight.org or call the National Office at 937-521-2400.

Operation Write Home Mid-Week Throw Down

This week's challenge is for an easel card. My entry was inspired by reading on the OWH site how some of our troop's children sleep with cards from their parents under their pillow. Doesn't that make you want to create more cards for the children who are missing mom or dad?
Click here for the Mid-Week Throwdown Challenge!







Here are more patriotic children's cards I've been making for my next OWH submission: