Annular Solar Eclipse

Fortune placed my home in the path of the eclipse last evening.  Since I live in the southern Nevada desert, we normally have very clear blue skies.  I had heard all the news and warnings about not looking at the sun during this eclipse.  I tried the pinhole in a paper and was able to view a tiny image of the eclipse, but couldn't take photos while holding the two cards.  I have a shade tree in my front yard and this created spaces between the leaves, with the sun shining through those holes to create lovely images of the eclipse on the front of my stucco home.  Here's some photos I was able to take.

Armed Forces Day

To celebrate Armed Forces Day, Operation Write Home is holding a Blog Skip.  There are some interesting cards and some good deals on stamps at Stampers Best.  This weekend, this company is donating $2 for each stamp ordered to Operation Write Home to help with shipping expenses.  You can also use the code name oldstamper to get a 10% discount on your order.

I placed a nice order with this company today.  I also bought a digital image to use on a card for my grandson who is in the Marines, serving in Afghanistan.  I made this card with it.

I can also use this image to make cards for Operation Write Home later.  I'm so proud of all of our troops who are serving our country.

I also finished up another card that I have been working on for a couple days.

This is a new Memory Box die that I recently purchased.  The paper is by My Minds Eye.  The cardstock is from my stash.  The sentiment is an unlabeled stamp and punched out with a sun punch by Carl.  The circles are cut with Spellbinder Nestibility dies.

OWH Rebel Challenge - owl

I started this card yesterday during the Operation Write Home Rebel Challenge.  This challenge was issued on the
2 Paw Prints blog to make a card with an owl on it.  I didn't think I had any owl stamps, but found this one in a clear set that I had stored in a CD case, with no label.  I embossed it in silver on blue paper.  The hexagon frames are Spellbinders Nestibilities that I had purchased long ago and never used. 

The sentiment is by Hero Arts and mounted on Spellbinders tags, which are held on with silver brads with a blue gem in the center.  The background paper was from my stash and I embossed it with a Cuttlebug embossing folder to give it some texture.

Rebel Challenge - patriotic

These are 'sister cards' for this rebel challenge at Scrapping with Purpose.  The challenge is to make cards for OWH that are patriotic and one for our hero and one for them to send home.

This card was made in the sunburst style with patriotic papers.  I will write a personal message inside this card thanking a hero for their service.  The lower portion is gold cardstock, embossed with a Craft Concepts Starry Night embossing folder.  Sentiment is from Amuse Studio.

This is a similar card made for our heroes to send home and will be left blank inside.  This sentiment is by Hero Arts and embossed in gold.  Star is cut out with a Spellbinder's die, with edges trimmed with gold embossing powder.

Rebel Challenge - blue & gray

This card is for OWH and is part of the Rebel Challenge.  This challenge is from Allison's Creations and is to make a card with blue and gray.  The base card and the sentiment are on gray cardstock.  The airplanes are stamped in Colorbox Antique Pewter ink on light blue marbled paper.  The dark blue is embossed with a Craft Concepts embossing folder called Starry Night.  The sentiment is stamped in Memories blue ink and cut out with a Spellbinders die.  Star brads are silver and very old (you could say hoarded).

Rebel food challenge

This weekend, we are being Rebels and making cards for out heroes on National Scrapbooking Day.  You can read about this challenge on the Stars & Stamps blog.

I haven't had much luck today with making cards.  Do you think I'm being punished for being a Rebel?  This is the third challenge of the day - making a card using Food as a Focal Image.  Does lemonade count as food?

This is an old House Mouse stamp, colored with colored pencils.  The glass is covered by vellum, but doesn't show in the photo.  The solid green cardstock is pearlescent and looks spotty in photo.  The patterned paper is by Bo Bunny.

Happy Birthday, Lauri!

This card is for my very special step-daughter.  She is right now on an airplane heading for her first visit to Hawaii.  I bought these stamps on my first trip to Hawaii.  The Diamond Head stamp was made by Stamp Yourself Silly and the palm trees were made by Rubber Stamp Plantation.  The sun is a metallic paper charm that I bought years ago.

Once again, I used the same size Labels 18 Nestibility die for both colors, then trimmed off the top one at the embossing line with my scissors.  It's a bit of a fussy cut, but I like the border.  The punch is by EK Success and the sentiment is an unlabeled unmounted rubber stamp.  You'll have to click on image to see the embossed background, made with a Cuttlebug folder.

Have a wonderful birthday, Lauri.

Holy Cow!

I made this card for my brother-in-law's 96th birthday.  The stamps on front of card are by Embossing Arts Co., 1999.  I think the company is long out of business.  I stamped the cow on white cardstock and cut it out and mounted it on the blue marble paper.  I used a gold Pilot pen for the halo and Twinkling H2O for the wings.  The 'you're how old?' stamp is by Art Impressions.  Happy Birthday stamp is unmounted with no label.

Correction:  I just learned that the stamps from Embossing Arts are still available through I Brake For Stamps.  Great news since they had great stamps.

OWH Muscle card challenge

Since I challenged myself to get a box mailed to Operation Write Home for the Muscle Card Challenge, I'm getting a box ready to mail.  They need to be half masculine or Father's Day and half other cards.  I managed to make 11 cards in each category this month.  This is my final 'other' card.

I inked the inside of the front half my Cuttlebug 'Musical Flourish' embossing folder, then inserted a piece of white cardstock and ran the folder through the Big Shot.  The raised areas remain white and the background is colored my the Adirondak Pesto ink.  This embossed piece was trimmed and mounted on a card base of DCWV textured cardstock.  Tip: This dark colored card base will need a lighter colored liner, so our heroes have a place to write their message.

I stamped the Hero Arts sentiment with the same pesto ink on white cardstock.  I cut it out with a Spellbinders classic oval Nestibility.  The frame is cut from same cardstock as card base with a lacy oval Nestie.  Tip:  When using these dies with small openings, it is best to place waxed paper between die and cardstock when running through the die cut machine.  This makes the small cut-out pieces easier to remove.

To finish off my box to OWH, I always include at least one any hero card.  These cards have a written message to thank the troups for keeping us free.  We are so proud of all of them.  The cards don't need to be patriotic, but this one is made with my new Starry Sky punch by Martha Stewart.

The red & white stripes are from a Mat Stack from DCWV.  The sentiment is from a new set of Hero Mail stamps that I won from OWH, made by Amuse Studio.

I need to write a personal message inside this card, then tuck them all into envelopes and pack for mailing to my shipper at Operation Write Home.  They need to be in her possession by April 30, so she can pack them into boxes and mail them to our deployed troups.  They need time to write in the cards and mail them to their loved ones at home.

Working on challenge

About a month ago, I began an effort to submit some cards to OWH for the Muscle Card Challenge.  Those cards are due to the shipper in one week.  I haven't done too well.  I started with masculine cards, but needed to make an equal number of other cards to complete the challenge.  I've been working on them this weekend.

I made several more similar to the card in the previous post:

I've also made some cards using my new Martha Stewart 'punch all over the page'.  This is the Crochet Flower Pattern.

I punched the Crochet Pattern punch on a small piece of cardstock, then cut it out with a scalloped square Nestibility.  I cut out the big square with the next larger size of Nestibility for a background and frame.  I embossed the background with my new Cuttlebug Rebecca embossing folder.  It's hard to see the embossing in the photo.  Click on the photo to see if it shows better.

This is the same Crochet Flower punch cut from the center of the magenta layer.  I mounted it on a pink cardstock.  The frame is cut with 2 square Nesties and glued around the punched out design.  The punched pink strip is cut with a Martha Stewart 'Infinite Loops Trim' edger punch.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts stamp with Memento Rose Bud ink.  I added some bling to make it sparkle.

Now, I need to make a few more cards so I can get these in the mail.