From Our Hearts: Another 153 Cards Donation using up LOTS of SCRAPS

To my dismay, as I'm purging my parent's house recently, I found yet another stack of about 50ish SU card fronts. Additionally, while I was helping a good friend pack between her moves, she also had a stack of about 50ish SU card fronts as well.

Yup, I then was compelled to convert them into full cards to donate to From Our Hearts since I don't have the heart to throw away perfectly gorgeous handiwork.  I guess this was all good timing because From Our Hearts is closing shop due to the (finally!) drawback of our US troops overseas in May.   This meant I could no longer just set the just found stashes aside indefinitely!

Well, the two stacks of 50ish cards turned into a total of 153 cards that was finally shipped to From Our Hearts earlier this week!

I was able to crank out extra cards using paper piecing's I've been hoarding forever from swaps I participated in the early 2000's.  Hello? It's 2015!! My style and preferences have certainly changed. So it was time to incorporate those paper piecings into adorable children's themed cards.

Additionally, I finally went through a few more boxes in my stash that I've been putting off forever and sorted through tons of cardstock and patterned paper scraps.  Tossed out a lot and kept the pieces I could and would reasonably use.  I organized my scraps into a very simple ROYGBV system and their housed in the thinner CH 12x12 paper holders.  I'll share pics of my Scraps System in another post to keep the focus on my donation cards to From Our Hearts.

But this surge of a mini organization was a game changer for sure!! I was able to make an additional 50+ cards using handmade embellishments, left over pre-fab embellishments, i.e. titles, ribbons, etc along with tons of left over patterned paper and SU cardstock scraps.  There was also a few packets of already pre cut SU cardstock that just begged for me to apply an appropriate sized stamp to finish up as I did here with these masculine, clean and simple Father's Day Cards.

Here are a few my coveted paper piecings that were also shakers I received in a swap back in the early 2000's that I finally let go of.  I think they're better delighting a child missing his/her parent than sitting in my closet somewhere, no?

Here's an example of stamping scraps coming into play with swap goodies.  I had this swirly background from a long ago trial at learning how to apply the shaving cream with SU reinkers to make a marbleized background.   So I used the entire left over sheet and paired it with this super cute fishy paper piecing I received in return ( I think I made lots of teddy bears to exchange) and then added this "I Miss You" sentiment.  I'm classifying this as a Child's card, since From Our Hearts is specifically calling for more Children's themed cards.  

Lastly, here's a hand embellished "DAD" I received in yet another long ago swap in the early 2000's.  Yep, since there's a call for Father's Day cards, it's high time this beauty gets put to use.  The creator was detailed enough to have prepared these on Xyron self adhesive backing, so it was so simple to adhere on an arrangement of patterned paper scraps after adding a stamped sentiment from Verve.

They're not too complicated design layout wise, so all the spotlight is on the handiwork of the paper piecings as they should be.  As you can see, I added appropriate stamped sentiments from Verve, Stampin Up and an embellished Happy Birthday sentiment from Making Memories.  Always feels good to use up every single item in a pack of pre fab embellishments and I can finally throw away the packaging.

Here's the variety of 153 full cards, box ready combination of converted SU Card fronts and other swap goodies with my "scraps" pile.

This was an incredibly constructive exercise for me!! Bye bye my precious shaker kitties and puppy!! Hello much needed clean open space for me in my scrap area! With no waste.  My conscious feels good.

Here's my tally of my personal donations to From Our Hearts as of this posting:

• 2015 Donations = 153 Cards
• 2012 Donations = 150 Pens & 184 Cards
• 2011 Donations = 598 Card & Card Fronts
• 2010 Donations = 751 Card & Card Fronts + 4500 Envelopes

TOTAL = 1686 Card & Card Fronts; 150 Pens; 4500 Envelopes

From Our Hearts is shipping to our troops through May, so I may try to whip up one last batch to contribute.  I'm sure I have tons more pre made swap goodies I can donate to the fine young men and women.

#Masculine #CAS #CleanAndSimple Stamped Card for Father's Day

I have always enjoyed knowing that I could always donate handmade cards and card fronts from my mad SU Demo swapping days to the non profit From Our Hearts organization.  I just didn't have the heart to throw away perfectly gorgeous card fronts lovingly and diligently hand crafted by my group of SU Demo friends.  When I look at the total count of cards donated to FOH, I'm dumbfounded that I swapped that much! Those were some amazing fun days!!

Our country is finally drawing down our troops overseas so our men and women are coming home!! Thus there just aren't that many locations for FOH to send boxes to anymore. With their last deadline for cards approaching, I've been working feverishly to convert the stash of SU card fronts my good friend Eva found when she was moving at the end of last year, AND yet another stash of SU card fronts I found while purging my parent's house.  (I still have about a dozen or so boxes of scrapping stuff of my own that I've stubbornly put off sorting that probably comprise of half completed class kits, etc.)

Part of the stash my friend Eva gave me were boxes of supplies she no longer wanted because the pre fab stuff no longer fits her style.  I asked her for them since I figured I could use them to make cards for the troops or forward the supplies for FOH's card making events.  But, alas, FOH is closing down.....

In her stash, I found a few ziplock bags of pre-cut coordinating cardstock that just needed to be stamped and embellished.  I found some appropriately sized stamp images and this is what I came up with. Considering all of my scrapping stuff is packed up and I only had my tool bag, this card is pretty much the most basic and flat design I've ever come up with, and I'm pretty happy with it.

I figured the color scheme was masculine so I chose the father son image from the SU Seaside Sketches set. Then I arranged various sentiments from my Verve Father Figure clear stamp set on the base in lieu of background stamps, patterned paper, embossing folders, etc.  I had no embellishments and didn't feel like opening up a few boxes to search for appropriate ones.  Y'all know what an ordeal that is! So I just used the one long dotted border the embellishment by using a coordinating ink color to tie in with the contrasting cardstock color.

My card apparently falls along the lines of this week's CAS316 No Patterned Paper Clean and Simple Weekly Challenge over at Splitcoast. 

Lol, I further challenged myself because I forgot to dig out my stack of clear acrylic blocks so I just improvised and used the back of a very small SU clamp shell case.  While I was working on this project, I was really surprised that most all of my SU dye ink pads are still juicy.  I did have to re-ink my black ink pad to add greetings on some other cards I was putting together using paper pieced embellishments obtained again from my mad swap days.  

Unfortunately, there was only enough to make 8 cards in this set because that's how many pieces were pre-cut.

Conversely, I'm grateful my good friend Eva FORTUNATELY did already pre-cut these 8 blank card sets so that all I had to do was stamp and adhere them together.

These 8 cards go out to the women in our US forces overseas via From Our Hearts.  Your sacrifice is so very much appreciated by those of us back home.  Thank you for all you do!

FYI: From Our Hearts will be mailing off boxes of hand made cards through May 2015, so click on their logo below if you want to find out more info on how to contribute before they close down. :)

I'll update my tally in a few days as I'm trying to finish up with as many cards as I can manage to send in this last shipment.

"I'm So Glad You're My ... Husband (Father's Day)" Card
Paper: SU Naturals CS, SU Mellow Moss, SU Night of Navy
Stamps: SU Seaside Sketches (father son image); Verve Father Figure (sentiments)
Ink: SU Mellow Moss, SU Night of Navy
Embellishments: None
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards 5 of 9 Playing with Radiant Pearls, Bleach and Shaving Cream

When I signed up to demo for SU, I hit the stamping convention circuits big time. I was a sponge watching all the major companies demonstrate card creations featuring all sorts of products and techniques.  I'd then go back home to apply what I had just seen with my limited SU supplies at the time to whip up make and takes that I would then treat my monthly crop attendees to.  They were a big hit and I loved sharing my new found knowledge! 

This was my first try at Radiant Pearls back in January 2002 after taking a class or two at my local stamp store, which sadly closed long ago.  This very red monochromatic card was created for one of my very first SU Demo only swaps I had participated in. Stamps are SU, now retired. 

I stamped the angel in bronze, heat embossed it, then used my Niji barrel brush pen filled with straight bleach to bleach out the red color cardstock in the body of the angel. Then I painted the body with flesh and other angelic colors of RP's, cut it out to glue dot it on the card for some dimension. I tried to do the sweeping running ribbons a la Denami style and secured it all with glue dots. (This brings back memories of being invited to my CM Consultant's, who turned into a really good friend, monthly stamp club meeting that was attended by a major instructor for Denami at the time.  I remember being awestruck and just feeling completed intimidated by the group's skills and card creations.)  Then I remember experimenting by brushing some bronze metallic rub ons with my index finger on the lower panel to try to differentiate it from the upper panel.  

I sold a lot of this stamp set back when it was available based on this sample at home parties. Now that I look back on this card, I'd have introduced more light to this card, because there's not enough color contrast so its hard to see/appreciate all the detail.  As it is, it's just an onslaught of Real Read and Metallic Bronze CS!

Ugh, how I agonized over this card back in the day! 

Here's a picture of the card recipe I had adhered to the back:

This next card also featured bleach as a technique and I had begun to play with the shaving cream technique to create the background that the seahorses, from the SU set called Definitely Decorative Shells, are matted on. Looking at the fibre used on this card, it brings back memories of all those massive fibre swaps online and at my monthly crops.  At least I got to use some of it before my interests and tastes waned.   

I remember how nervous I was with using bleach at my monthly crops when I demonstrated these cards because the bleach had to be fresh for it to be an effective "stamping" tool.  The ladies were all thankfully very cautious and mostly excited with what I was about to show them. I'd have been mortified if anyone's clothing or the hotel tables had been bleached accidentally. Not sure I'd attempt it now in retrospect because there were a lot of moving parts/people!! 

That must be the difference between a just turned 30 year old mentality vs a 42 year old mentality. 




"Wings of Love" Card
Paper: SU Real Red CS, Metallic Bronze CS
Stamps: SU Wings of Love, SU French Script
Ink: Bronze Metallic Ink; Radiant Pearls; 
Embellishments: Bronze EP; Michael's Sheer Bronze Ribbon; Metallic Rub Ons
Tools: Niji Brush Pen; Bleach; 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

"Seahorse" Card
Paper: SU Taken With Teal CS, SU Not Quite Navy CS, SU Smooth White CS
Stamps: SU DD Shells
Ink: SU Taken with Teal Dye Ink & Reinker
Embellishments: Fibre
Tools: Niji Brush Pen; Bleach; Shaving Cream 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards 4 of 9 featuring Stampin' Around Rollograph Wheels and a Sweet Condensed Milk Stipple Butterfly

Let's dive in with more throwback thursday cards from my active Stampin Up demo days.

1) This adorable pink cute card was really SUPER simple and quick to make.  In fact, I was sitting at an outdoor booth at a local festival sharing table space with my CM Consultant friend Maylene, who was super supportive of my SU business.  Due to a walk up customer request, I made up this baby card on the spot for her along with a coordinating stamped paper gift bag for her using a few stamps from the Cuddles and Tickles set and then whipping out the Sweet Feet Stampin' Around Wheel all in coordinating Pretty in Pink ink and cardstock. My scanned picture is a bit saturated portraying the pink to be much more vibrant than it really is.

2) The next card was an attempt to try recreating a card and technique featured on the cover of the Rubber Stamper magazine from the April/May 2003 issue.  My issue, hopefully if I didn't lose it, is packed away in storage but I was able to find an image in a finished ebay listing.  I can't even contemplate selling off my beloved Rubber Stamper, Stampers Samplers, etc., stamping magazines right now almost 15 years later!

The magazine was the April/May 2003 issue of The Rubber Stamper

I apparently made 15 +1 of these for a SU Demo Only card swap back on April 6, 2003. This was such a hit at my "stamp camps" at my monthly 12 hour crops and was requested as a demo when I previewed my card in our online forum. I tweaked my card a bit by adding ribbon instead of exactly copying the magazine cover card because mine didn't have room for the sentiment a la the cover feathered card.  This one remains one of my most favorite stamping experiences.  

I tried experimenting several times to change up the caramelized effect of the condensed milk.  Both of these cards pictured were most likely donated to the troops via From Our Hearts.

This has been super fun going down memory lane! 

  


"Baby Girl" Card
Paper: SU Smooth White; SU Pretty in Pink CS
Stamps: SU Cuddles and Tickles; Stampin Around Sweet Feet Wheel
Ink: SU Pretty in Pink 
Embellishments: Michael's Pink Satin Ribbon 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

"Sweet Condensed Milk Stipple Butterfly" Card CASED from Rubber Stamper April/May 2003 Issue
Paper: SU Kraft CS; SU Smooth White; SU Barely Banana CS: White Vellum
Stamps: SU Stipple Butterfly; SU Beyond the Basics
Ink: Versamark; SU Creamy Caramel 
Embellishments: Michael's Gold Sheer Ribbon; White EP; 
Tools: Condensed Milk, Foam Paint Brush; Heat Gun 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards 3 of 9 featuring Fun Pair of Flip Flops, Poppin' Pastels, Masking/Sponging and my first CASE attempt

Welcome back to another #ThrowbackThursday for my old SU Demo card shares from the early 2000's.


1)  Here's a super cute flip flop card I created for one of my "stamp camps" at my monthly crops using an online pattern I adapted from.  The card opens up to clean writing surface on both sides of the inside.  No technique featured, it was just super fun assembling a bright summer themed card.

Here's a current photograph I took of this same card. It's held up well over the years with apparent fading. 

Here's the inside sentiment that I stamped with Green Galore ink from the Birthday Greetings set. 

2) The next card was my attempt to "CASE" the card seen on the cover of the Stampin' Up Keeping in Touch Portfolio Series Idea Book.  Oh how I coveted this idea book!! I sadly can't find this book anymore.  I can distinctly picture myself agreeing to lend it to one of my regular monthly crop attendees whom I no longer keep in touch with anymore.  I remember telling her to borrow it with an open ended return date.  I'm sure life happened and we both forgot. Darn it! I loved that book!

And here's my attempt at "CASE"ing that cover card.  I guess I didn't have all the exact supply items or I was too exhausted from all the detailed work at this point in my stamping abilities, thus my simplified version. That card on the front was ethereal and so elegant looking featuring my two favorite color combinations of light teals and greens with a touch of purple. This scan of the book cover just doesn't do it any justice. My attempted version came out Sage Green and Lovely Lilac. I remember agonizing over those paper ribbon ties in each of the eyelete corners! Oh eyelets were the big thing back then. To date, this was the most detailed card I had ever attempted!

I may have to hunt this idea book down one day if I can find one at a reasonable price. The technique that came into play was Poppin' Pastels, stamping in versamark and then using the SU chalk to add color for a fresco affect.

3) I think I created the next one just for fun because I became so enamored with the sweetness of the You are my Sunshine stamp set.  To this day, I still am.  I remember creating this one on my own downtime at one of my monthly 12 hour crops, and then misplacing some of the stamps in this set. To this day, 12-15 years later, I'm still missing those stamps.  Nothing technically complicated with this one with just versamark stamping the background, masking to create the sign shine rays with a random sheet of 3 x 5 post it note I usually carry in my tool tote, and then coloring in the stamped images with SU markers and a blender pen for a water colored effect.

 

"Tropical Blossoms Flip Flop Sandals" Card
Paper: SU Smooth White CS, SU Green Gable CS
Stamps: SU Tropical Blossoms; SU Birthday Greetings
Ink: SU Green Gable; SU Only Orange; SU Yo Yo Yellow; SU Black 
Embellishments: SU Green Gable Grosgrain Ribbon  
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

"Pastel Flowers" Keeping in Touch Portfolio Series CASE Card
Paper: SU Smooth White CS, SU Sage Shadow CS, SU Lovely Lilac CS
Stamps: SU A Greeting for all Reasons
Ink: Versamark; SU Lovely Lilac; SU Sage Shadow;  
Embellishments: SU Poppin Pastel Chalks; Eyelets; Michaels Sheer Ribbon 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

"You are My Sunshine" Card
Paper: SU Smooth White CS, SU Brilliant Blue CS
Stamps: SU You are My Sunshine
Ink: SU Black; SU Markers; Versamark; SU Blender Pen
Embellishments: SU  Yo You Yellow Grosgrain Ribbon 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular