The last of the shirts!

Two years ago, I folded a huge stack of shirts using this OWH tutorial.   I know I had over 50 shirts at one point.  Then, I had to turn them into cards for OWH.  I realized too late that I'd made more shirts than OWH likes to receive as multiples, so I ended up spreading them over a few years.  The last 8 shirts were finished up today!  I inked the backgrounds to go with the shirts.  Part of the reason I hadn't used these particular shirts was that I had trouble matching them to my other papers, so making my own solved that problem. 

Think about trying a new-to-you OWH tutorial this week from the archives.  There's also a necktie perfect for Father's Day.  Cards for Father's Day are due by the end of April this year, so you have about a month to make them- don't delay! 
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2013: 340 blank and 140 AnyHero (as of 1/7/13)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Tutorial and MWT All-in-one!

This week's Tuesday Tutorial was making a hot air balloon and the Midweek Throwdown was to make a love or anniversary themed card.  Here's a two-fer: 

Since I didn't have any stamps of hot air balloons nor any patterned paper featuring them, I made my own from a circle and trapezoid of paper along with some ribbons.  Anyone can play along with this tutorial with some creativity! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 1284 blank and 218 AnyHero (as of 10/9)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Last of the 6x6 pad

Tonight I set out to finish up the 6x6 paper pad I started on Saturday.  I originally made 14 cards, then 5 last night, and finished up with 13 more tonight.  All told, I made a total of 32 cards from this $2 paper pad (and a bunch of solid cardstock, of course).  The embellishments came from left overs on my desk for the most part. 

The vellum sentiment on the bottom card was adhered with Xyron create a sticker.  Thanks to the poster of this tip on OWH's wall a few months ago! 

This brad is probably 8 years old and it just got a home on this card!

The card on the right is based on the Tuesday Tutorial "Scrappy Background."

Four of each of these cards in different papers will make their way to OWH. 

Now that I'm done with this paper, I'm going to leave the 6x6 challenge to the side for a while.  I'm a little burnt out from the pressure to finish all of that paper! 

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

My Mind's Eye 6x6

Kristie shared a tutorial on OWH Stars and Stamps recently in which she explained her strategy of using an entire 6x6 pad of paper to make cards before moving on to a new paper line.  I thought this was a cool concept, though I wondered if I would be tired of the papers before I finished the pad of paper.

On Saturday, I got a new 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye called "A Happy Heart."  For $2 on clearance, I was ready to see how many cards I would make from one pad.  I didn't have the desire to sit and make 20-30 cards in one sitting, so I stopped halfway through the paper pack.  With 12 sheets of patterned paper used (and at least that many sheets of solid cardstock), I produced 14 cards.  I took my cue from the title and made love cards for the most part.  

Most of these cards come from OWH Sketches.  The others were just designs in my brain!  

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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Like a bowl full of jelly

I was happy to get to share a short tutorial on OWH Stars and Stamps today featuring how to make a Santa card.  The version here is slightly different from the one in the tutorial.  I used buttons instead of brads, white ribbon instead of black, and a metal slider instead of a soda tab for the belt buckle.  I also added two vertical score lines on either side of the buttons; they may not show up well in the photograph unless you click to enlarge it.  I made this kind of card last summer and had some fun with them, so I wanted to make a few more this year.  You can see my original post from August 2011 here.  If you want to see a similar card, check out OWHtv episode 29 from September 2011 where Sandy shared some cards in this same style minus the beard. 

I hope you try your hand at some Santa cards!  Thanks so much for visiting if you came over from the OWH blog.  I'm happy to have you here!  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 928 blank and 215 AnyHero (as of 6/26)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695

Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Julie Ebersole's stamped candle tutorial

Over on OWH Stars and Stamps, we were treated to a tutorial video by Julie Ebersole in which she showed how to use a border stamp as a candle on a birthday card.

While I didn't have the stamp Julie used, I was able to find a workable substitute in a Martha Stewart Christmas set.  The flame is one raindrop from an American Crafts set.  The glowing circles are two flowers from a Scrappy Cat set.  It's a bit of a hodgepodge of brands, but they work together in much the same way as Julie's card.  Really, mine is a shameless CASE with the exception of the card base style.

  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 620 blank and 200 AnyHero (as of 4/24)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695
Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Kites and Clouds

I was happy to be able to share a tutorial today on OWH Stars and Stamps for making sponged clouds and waves.  One great way to use the clouds is to make a scrap kite from Sandy's tutorial and use the clouds as the background.  Be sure to watch the vlog posted there, too, if somehow you missed it when originally posted.  It's a hoot! 

Here's my first scrap kite and sponged cloud background.  I think there might be a few more of these in my future. 

Papers from DCWV Crafty stack
Brads by Colorbok
Twine by We R Memory Keepers
Stamp by Hampton Arts ($1 bin at Michael's)

Thanks, as always, for visiting!  
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Cards shipped to OWH in 2012: 620 blank and 200 AnyHero (as of 4/24)
Cards shipped to OWH in 2011: 1695
Check out OWH at www.operationwritehome.org to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.

Welcome!

I'm so happy to have my tutorial posted on OWH Stars and Stamps blog today. What a thrill! If you've come from there, thanks for coming to check out my blog. I love having visitors! If you haven't been to Stars and Stamps yet, please take a moment to go check out my tutorial on woven hearts.

Here is another card to share using the same heart technique as in the tutorial. For this card, I used the smaller size heart. I finished the card with matstack papers from K & Co's Americana line, a paper flower from Making Memories, a brad from Colorbok, ribbon from Offray, and a sentiment stamp from Studio G.



Here are two other cards I made for OWH that both use the same layout. The top card uses the "Performance" matstack from DCWV. I think it's the most masculine love card I've ever managed to make.


The patterned paper on this card is from an old DCWV Spring Stack (from 2009, I believe).
I can't wait to see the wonderful heart cards you are all going to create for OWH! Don't forget to go link them on the Stars and Stamps blog!

Remember, with the deadline for Christmas cards on October 31 just a few days away, it's now time to start thinking about making plenty of love cards for the Valentine's Day season. :)

Thanks so much for checking out my blog. If you like what you saw, please become a follower so we can stay in touch. :)

Cards shipped to OWH (as of 10/20/11): 1642

CASE of Sandy's tree

Kate offered a set of four different Christmas tree designs on today's Tuesday Tutorial on OWH Stars and Stamps. I'm so excited and honored to say that she featured two of my card ideas! (You can see the original post here.) I cannot wait to see how the OWH crafters improve on my ideas!!!

I decided to give Sandy's a try. I used some scraps of green papers and topped the tree off with a silver star. The design would be easy to replicate if you wanted to make many cards.


I made a card similar to Raeanna's for my last card party. I never photographed it, but I had the materials left over to make more, so here's my triple triangle tree card.



Cards shipped to OWH (as of 9/12/11): 1325