Doxie birthday

I made a couple of cards today with another doxie stamp from Cowtown Stamps.  If you like dachshunds, you really should check them out.

 

When you are having trouble deciding what kind of card to make, check out Sandy Allnock's Interactive Cardmaking Project.  I've added a link on my blog for the ICP to help you find it.  This post explains the project.  It's on You Tube and has many different projects which you can watch.  This project was a year in the making and is really helpful with some good tips.

Doggone good day

This was a fun card to make.  I was looking for a background paper for another card and decided this would be good my my doxie stamps.  The doxie stamp is from Cowtown Stamps.  I bought quite a few of them and had never used this one.  The sentiment stamp is from Make an Impression and the sentiment holder is a Spellbinders die.

Bee cards

I've been 'busy as a bee' working on these bee cards.  I've also added to my previously posted card.  Lots of cutting and pasting and even added some Pearl Pen to the flower centers.  I also painted the bee wings with Twinkling H2Os.

 

Inside of cards



I have looked everywhere for my die that cuts grass, but it's hopelessly lost.  While searching, I found some green mulberry paper that has been around many years.  I wet it and tore it to look like grass and placed it at the bottom of the cards.

Honeycomb card

I bought all the supplies for this card some time ago.  I decided to give it a try for a kid's card.

 

These supplies are all from Inky Antics.  I tried to leave as much writing space inside the card as possible.  You can view the video on the link to Inky Antics to see how this card is made.  One thing I changed.  I did not use glue stick to adhere the honeycomb paper to the card.  I used Scor-Tape to make sure it survived all the handling it may get.

 

To balance out the thickness of the honeycomb paper, I added dimensional foam to the image and sentiment on the front of card and placed them in a different area of the card.  This creates a more balanced card for the envelope to go through the mail.

 

I paper pieced the bee on the inside, so the legs and antenae could be stamped directly on the card.  The images were colored with pencils.



Cards for kids

Each Thursday evening, Operation Write Home presents a live episode of OWHtv on You Tube.  This week the show asked us to make more cards for our heroes to send home to their own children.  You can see the episode HERE.

I don't make many cards for kids since my own grandchildren are now grown and serving in the military.  This is my attempt yesterday to make one.

These stamps are from Cowtown Rubber Stamps.  They have the best collection of doxie stamps I have found.  I need to make a few more cards for kids for my next box to OWH.

I also received a prize box from Operation Write Home in the mail yesterday.  The prize winner was chosen randomly from all those who entered the Valentine card drive.  Here is a photo of my goodies.  You'll see my little inspiration for buying doxie stamps.

Easter cards

I know it's still before Christmas, but I'm making cards for Operation Write Home.  Easter cards will need to be mailed to them in January, to allow time for shippers to sort and box up cards to be mailed to our heroes.  This allows them time to write messages in the cards and mail them to their loved ones.

Scan



Photo



The lily image was stamped in Memories Soft Silver ink.  It is an unmounted stamp by Jim Stephens.  I colored the lilies with Prismacolor pencils, then erased most of the color.  I wanted a very soft image.

The Bible is a very old Ellison thin cuts die.  I cut it twice, once in black and once in gold.  I then replaced the black pages and cross with the gold ones.  I mounted this on a white circle and framed it with a gold circle.  The sentiment is a gold sticker by Starform.

I showed both the scan and the photo.  The scan shows more detail, but doesn't show the shiny gold.

OWH Midweek Throwdown

The Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown is to make a card using red, white and blue for our heroes to send home to family and friends.  Since, I'm using up the stars paper from the Any Hero cards, I used that same paper for thank you cards.

I made three of these cards this morning and I have no more of the stars paper.

After 3 days of clouds and hidden mountains, I awoke to this scene this morning.

More Hero Cards

After making a card for a relative, I decided to make more for Any Hero Cards at Operation Write Home. 

Front

Inside

 I had a lot of little blue stars that came out of the blue star circle die (Spellbinders).  I decided to glue a few of them on the sentiment circle.  I stamped the inside of card with the Paper Inspirations stamp.  I will also write a personal note inside the card.  I made 5 of these cards today.

More details on this card on previous post HERE.

My Hero

I received the address of one of my family members who is deployed with the military.  I created this card to send to him.

Paper with stars is by Scrapbook Customs and the ribbon by Offray.  The sentiment is a clear stamp with no label.  I cut all the circles with Spellbinders dies.  I like this card, so will make some more of them for Operation Write Home.

I made a decision that I wanted to put up a Christmas tree yesterday.  This is an artificial tree and all the decorations are handmade by me over the years.

ODBD Challenge

I made this card for the Our Daily Bread Designs challenge for Operation Write Home.  The challenge was to use flowers on our card.  Since it's time to make springtime cards, including Easter this is what I made.

I stamped Art Impressions lily stamp with Colorbox white ink on the blue paper.  I embossed the white cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, then mounted it on the blue cardstock and added a blue ribbon.  The sentiment is an unmounted stamp with no label, stamped with Memories blue ink.

Irish for a day

I'm working on springtime cards for Operation Write Home.  Since the shippers don't know how many of our troops will send St. Patrick's Day cards, I chose this sentiment for those who would like to celebrate.  I am part Irish, but everyone isn't that fortunate.

I stamped the background shamrocks with Memento New Sprout ink.  The stamps are all from a set of clear stamps, but I don't remember who made them.  I used Brilliance Pearlescent Thyme for the sentiments.  The ribbon is satin and the scanner made it look like it has stripes, but it is a solid color.  I'll probably make several of these.

Easter cards

When making cards for Operation Write Home, it's necessary to jump ahead to future holidays.  This gives time for cards to be produced, mailed to shippers, packed, sorted and mailed to the deployed troops in time for them to write a message and mail the cards to their loved ones at home.  For this reason, I am beginning to make Easter cards before Christmas.  This is today's efforts:

 

The first card is a photo to show how shiny the gold stickers are. That card is very basic, but has a certain elegance to it. The rest of the images are from the scanner. I get better details from the scanner, but it doesn't handle the shiny gold. I wish I could take photos near a nice sunny window, but the clouds are in the way today.

 

I added an embossed lily to the second card and mounted it on a gold frame.  On the third card, I cut out the circles with Nestibilities and mounted the sticker on it, then popped the image on dimensional foam tape.  I also placed the sentiment sticker on a die cut and popped it on the dimensional foam tape.  On all of these, I chose to round 2 corners of the card. 

Photo

On the fourth card, I mounted the image sticker as before, but put the sentiment sticker directly onto the card.  I left the corners square on this card.

 

 

I will look at these again in a couple of days to decide which style I will make more of.  I know the grammar isn't proper, but that's the way I talk!

More love heart cards

I'm still playing with my heart paper to make love cards.  Here's todays efforts:

I made several changes today from yesterday's cards.  I added some ink to the embossed hearts from the Cuttlebug embossing folder, then I added some ribbon with gold stickers added and then a punched border.

Love cards

As some of you know, I have problems making love cards and making cards with patterned paper.  Here's an attempt at combining the two.

 

I'm really not pleased with any of these, so I think it's time to do something else.  Besides, I need to get my cards mailed to Operation Write Home.      

Punched frame

I have a huge collection of punches and rarely use them.  I decided to play with the MS Punch Around the Page punches.  I chose this one with hearts for valentines for Operation Write Home.  Now, I know why I quit using them.  It takes precise cutting and positioning to get a good frame.  Here's what I came up with.

Pearl pen dots

Dimensional stickers

Rhinestones

Dimensional stickers

I wanted to add something to an otherwise simple card, so I added some dots.  I have problems getting the pearl pen dots even.  I like the Sticko Dimensional stickers because they are so flat and don't tear up the envelopes as much.  The rhinestones are pretty, but a bit bumpy and tend to tear envelopes.

Love from a distance

I'm rebelling against all this forced spending, when most of us can't afford it.  I refuse to buy more craft supplies until I'm out of debt.  My money is going to pay my bills, not buy more 'stuff' simply because it's on sale.

Our heroes are working hard to keep us free and I would rather support them and their families than to go shopping.  Since Operation Write Home must have cards a couple months before the recipients receive them, I'm working on cards for Valentine's Day.  I made 4 of these today.

This sentiment is a very old rubber stamp by Embossing Arts.  The love heart is an unmounted stamp, so I don't know who made it.  I stamped it in Versamark ink and embossed it with gold embossing powder,  I then cut out the heart with a Spellbinder Nestibility.

I put Miracle Tape on the back sides of this paper, then wrapped gold thread around the cardstock sticking it to the tape on the back.  I adhered this to a layer of the same color cardstock that I used for the heart.  This was then mounted onto a white card base.

OBDB Challenge

The November challenge from Our Daily Bread Designs was to make a card for our deployed troops to send home, using a tool or technique that we had neglected lately.

On this card, I used my Scor-It board make decorative score lines to highlight the heart.  I used to do this a lot, but have lost my touch.  I added gold stickers to the die cut heart.  The sentiment is also a metallic gold sticker.  Scanner just don't show the shiny gold.

The photo shows the shiny gold, but doesn't show the scoring as well.

More cardinals

I managed to assemble a couple more cardinal cards today.  This time I used the satin ribbon over the sheer ribbon.

Those sentiment stickers are shiny gold, but the scanner won't show that.

Cardinal stamps and dies

I've spent a few more days trying to make cards with the cardinal stamps and dies from Heartfelt Designs.  I think they are no longer produced, but I'm enjoying them.  I stamped the stamps on both white cardstock and red cardstock.  I used the die to cut out the red one.  I just added some color to the beaks and colored the leaves and flowers with Prismacolor pencils.

The first one is done with a sheer black ribbon and doesn't show up well in the scan.  On the second card I used black satin ribbon.  The sentiments are made with peel off stickers.

Cardinals, with love

I'm trying to force myself to make some love cards for the troops.  I used both the male and female cardinals stamps from Heartfelt Designs with stickers from Pop-Ups for sentiments.

I colored these images with Prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits.  I colored the gold metallic stickers with a red Sharpie, which I learned from the video tutorials at Pop-Ups.

Cardinals

I have always loved cardinals.  They are such elegant birds.  Besides, that was the name of our sports team in high school.

I bought some lovely cardinal stamps by Heartfelt Creations.  When I received them, I learned that they make dies to cut out the cardinals.  However, no one had them in stock.  They may have been discontinued.  I finally found some at another online store and ordered them.  Before I received the dies, I stamped and colored the images with Prismacolor pencils.  I'll work with dies later.

Operation Write Home has a request for more thank you cards for our deployed troops.  They like to thank those who send them care packages.

Missing you

I've had a real lack of mojo recently.  I think this is another stage of grief.  Holidays were always spent with my late husband.  Since I lost him over a year ago, I'm occasionally consumed with grief.  I just have problems making Christmas cards and Valentines.  I'm just skipping over those seasons for card making.  I'm working on springtime cards, but still having problems.

This card took me several days to make.

I recently got his new embossing folder from Craft Concepts.  It's pretty and I didn't want to cover it, so I just patted on a little ink to make the embossed images more visable.  I kept it very simple after trying so many different approaches.  The ribbon is very old and was given to me by a friend.  I added the blue heart brad to add a little interest.

Thanksgiving cards

Since I had my pressed leaves out for the previous post, I decided to use them for Thanksgiving cards.   These are for my personal use since I think the leaves are too fragile for Operation Write Home.

Autumn Leaves

One of my hobbies for years has been pressing flowers and leaves.  The colorful leaves deserve to be preserved.  They are never as colorful as when they are fresh, but still make lovely cards.  I needed some cards for personal use and decided to use some of the leaves I pressed a couple of years ago.

I chose a Cuttlebug embossing folder for these cards.  I used a variety of patterned papers with a green tone.  I then highlighted the embossed swirls with Brilliance Cosmic Copper ink.  The sentiments were stamped with the same ink.

I attached the leaves with Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue.