Memorial Day Weekend Bloghop

Thank you for hopping by my blog today!  If you have arrived here from Susan's blog you are on the right path!  If you happened to have just stumbled upon my blog (lucky you!) and you want to enjoy all of the wonderful posts you can click on the link below and it will take you to the very beginning.

This is my very first time to participate in a blog hop and I am very excited!  My blog is only 6 months old and was created so I could join in the fun challenges on the Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps blog.  New challenges are posted every Sunday and Wednesday and a new technique tutorial is posted every Tuesday.

For my card today I decided to stray away from the traditional red/white/blue just to break things up a bit.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE our nations colors but I am pretty far down on the list and assume that you have already seen quite a few patriotic cards today (if not just scroll down a few posts here and you will find several cards with r/w/b and stars!)

For my focal image I used a pre-colored digi from the Sunflower Friends set called  Lil Kitties.  The sentiment I typed in MS Word and just added it to the .png file before I printed it.  The card stock is Stampin' Up! and the designer paper is from a gift pack I received from a Facebook friend just this week. The brads are faux - the technique instructions can be found on an earlier post by clicking here.  The layout is the Stars & Stamps Sketch #59.

Your next stop on the hop is Dolores' blog called The Corner Studio.  I hope you are having fun and have a blessed Memorial Day Weekend.

May God bless you and the families that are missing their heroes to ensure our safety and freedom.

S & S Midweek Throwdown Challenge - Summer Fun

This week's Midweek Throwdown Challenge over at OWH Stars & Stamps blog is to make a card for our heroes with a "Summer Fun" theme.  One of my very favorite things to do during the summer is to walk on the beach, especially during the sunset hour.  So, here is my card  with the summer fun theme:

This is a square card (4.5') that will still fit into the A2 sized envelope.  I started with SU Glossy White card stock, 3 SU re-inkers, and a baby wipe.   I used SU Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, and Cameo Coral inks.

Have you heard of the baby wipe technique?  There is a simple tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers that you can check out here.  I much prefer this method to the brayer for several reasons.  First - it is much less messy because you can throw the wipe away when you are finished.  Second - you can get the variations that occur in nature without having to own a special ink pad.    Not only do the colors blend together right on the wipe but you can change the depth of color based on how hard you press but still remove some of the color with an uninked part of the same wipe.  Third - I can add texture to the sand by dabbing the wipe rather than dragging it.  Try it - and be sure to drop me a note with a link to see how it turns out for you.  :)

The background only took a few minutes to dry and then I used my Jet Black Stazon ink pad to stamp the girl, extra weeds, and the sentiment.  I used a black Sharpie marker to fill in the girl to make her appear as a silhouette.  I have seen this done before, frequently with this particular image, but had never tried it for myself.  I wasn't disappointed - and I'll do many more changing up the background colors maybe.  I layered the card with SU Creamy Caramel and the card base is Basic Black - which I will line with white.

I have to admit that I made this card for another challenge as well.  This weekend there was a stamping event at Splitcoast Stampers called a Virtual Stamp Night.  It was my first time participating in something like this and it was fun.  The challenge this card met called for a water vessel or beach scene.

Happy stamping and may God bless you!

S & S Sketch Challenge #69

This week's Sketch Challenge at OWH Stars & Stamps is unbelievably versitile - and I am looking forward to playing with it some more in the days to come!  If I am in a frugal mood it will even be great for using up those DP scraps.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

The DP is from a large stack that a co-worker gifted to me when she switched over to digital scrapbooking (what's up with that?!?) knowing that I would use it for my Operation Write Home cards.  The card stock and ribbon are SU - Bashful Blue and Green Galore.  The sentiment is from Hambo Stamps and is stamped in Glorious Green.

I can see from this photo that I really need to get serious about putting together a makeshift lightbox.  I have no idea why my background seems so dull, it is actually white card stock.  Ach, I'll see if my DH will help me get it set up.

Thanks for stopping by, your comments are always appreciated.  Happy stamping and God bless. 

S & S Midweek Throwdown Challenge - Things With Wings

This week's S & S Midweek Throwdown Challenge is to make a card containing "things with wings."  The options were unbelievable - birds, lady bugs, angels, bees, fairies.  I finally settled on this adorable little bee image from Mami Doodles.  I used S & S Sketch #33.

Happy Stamping and God Bless!

Any Hero Cards by Special Request - Post #5

Thanks for visiting my blog - I love to read your comments so please take a minute to let me know what you like or don't like about this card.  Thanks!

So, this is card #5 that I made by special request for an Army family to send to hero Dad who is deployed overseas.  For more information please scroll down to Post #1.

This is a knock off of the card that started this whole journey - very similar to the card that was posted on Facebook that caught the Army Mom's attention with the eventual result of this very special mission I happily undertook.

I'm thinking this card is pretty self explanatory but if you see something you are not quite sure how I did it just leave me a comment and I will get back with you asap.

Happy Stamping and God Bless America.

Any Hero Cards by Special Request - Post #4

Thank you for visiting my blog.  If this is your first visit I recommend that you scroll down three posts to read the whole story.  The short of it is that this is card #4 made for an Army family (Mom, son-7, and daughter-11) from Clarksville TN who requested some special cards for the kids to send to hero Dad overseas.

I realized after I challenged myself to do a daily post of these six cards (that have already been mailed by the way) that two of the cards will be blog repeats.  Hopefully those that recognize this card will still enjoy it just knowing that it was  put together with the kids and their dad in the forefront of my mind as I colored, cut, and adhered.

This wonderful digital image was created by Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating and was a freebie for 24 hours during an OWH virtual card making party on
Facebook several weeks ago.  I colored my soldier bear with Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils then blended it with a SU blender pen. The card stock and dp are all SU too. The sentiment is a freebie from Create with TLC.

For more information on this card click here.

Happy Stamping and God Bless America!

Any Hero Cards by Special Request - Post #3

This is the third card that I made for an army family from Clarkville TN to send to their hero dad stationed overseas.  You can see my first two cards, and read more about this stamping mission, by scrolling down to my previous two posts.

The card stock is all Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Night of Navy, and Kraft) The stars were cut out with my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. The design on the kraft star is from a SU background stamp called Stipple Plaid. The sentiment I picked up from Hobby Lobby.

My card was inspired by this card made by Sandy Allnock. She posted it on the Operation Write Home Facebook page.  Her blog is wonderful and updated daily and can be found here.

My intention was to case these beautiful cards completely but I started with the focal point and once it was made found that it was too big to work the way Sandy's did so I went with it.  I like it enough to make several more for my next OWH box - which will be shipped out well before the May 21st deadline for Father's Day cards.


Happy Stamping and God Bless You!

Any Hero Cards by Special Request - Post #2

This is card #2 that I made by special request for an Army family in Clarksville TN.  Dad is the hero deployed overseas and is missed by his wife, son (7), and daughter (11.)  I think the daughter will like this one because of the ribbon.  I ran out of room for the sentiment so I put it on the inside. 

The card stock is Stampin' Up! Green Galore (my last piece of a discontinued color, sigh) and Tempting Turquoise.  The image is a freebie from Doodle Pantry and is much brighter in real life.  The DP and sentiment are part of the corresponding kit and can be found here.   This is my first purchase from Doodle Pantry and I am very impressed with the color quality.  I dry embossed the Green Galore layer with my Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots embossing folder.  The ribbon is grosgrain and is Stampin' Up! too.

I will be entering this card in the Doodle Panty's blog challenge DPDC12 which will qualify me to receive a free digi kit via email.  You can too, check it out here.

Happy Stamping and God Bless You!

Any Hero Cards by Special Request - Post #1

Something very interesting happened on the Operation Write Home Facebook page this week - an army wife commented on one of my red white and blue cards that she would like to "buy some of these for her kids to send to their dad."  I read the post more than once to make sure I had read it correctly - and then replied that I would never dream of charging her for cards to send to dad while deployed!  Long story short...we communicated through FB and I have made six unique cards for her 7 yr old son and 11 yr old daughter to send from Fort Campbell in Clarksville TN.  And I must say that I really enjoyed knowing who was going to receive the cards as I made them and they are lavished in love and well wishes!

I am going to try something new and post one picture each day for the next six days.  Maybe by the end of the six days the family will have received the cards and I can share their feedback with you.  Wouldn't that be fun?

So, here is the first card.  It was made specifically by request because our Hero flies helicopters for the Army.  My thinking is that the boy will really like this one.  The image is clip art that I found in Google Images by searching for military helicopters clip art.  The sentiment you may recognize as part of the rubber stamp made by Paper Inspirations (I got mine at my local Hobby Lobby but they also have a website at paperinspirations.com)  The card stock is SU and the DP is from JoAnn's.  Oh, and I sponged Always Artichoke and Creamy Carmel on the white to tone it down a bit.

Happy Stamping and God Bless You!

S & S Sketch Challenge #67

Today is national Military Spouses Appreciation Day and I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all of the military spouses and families out there.  My family and I are truly grateful for the many sacrifices that you make to ensure our safety and freedom - especially those things that most of us never even realize.  As I lay down and snuggle with my hubby tonight I will think of you and say a prayer that God will give you peace and blessings.

This week's Sketch Challenge over at Stars & Stamps blog looks like this:

I finally made a break from the red white and blue, at least for today! For the past 10 days or so I have had r/w/b and Any Hero cards on the brain, which is good but now I have a nice bunch on the way to Sandy with a nice stash set aside to take to the crop next weekend.

And here is my card:

The card stock is SU (Certainly Celery and Pumpkin Pie.)  The DP is from my stash, and is now all used up (sigh.)   I ran the CC card stock through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder and then emphasized the raised parts with a Versamarker pen.

The sentiment is a freebie from Create with TLC posted some time in 2010 and is still available on Paulette's blog but it will take some scrolling through old posts to find it.  I'm sorry I didn't keep track of the date to make it easier for you.  Think of it this way...the more you surf her blog the more freebies you will find!

Your comments are alway appreciated so please let me know what you think.

Happy Stamping and God Bless America!

 

S & S Midweek Throwdown Challenge - Any Hero Card #2

Here is another Any Hero card for the Stars & Stamps Midweek Throwdown Challenge (for more info scroll down to the post before last.)  This card was inspired by Allison G in TX and Karen Howard - I just combined the two cards they did for this same challenge.  It follows S & S Sketch #22.  I will be making 7 more to share at a crop I will be attending on May 14th (hopefully I can recruit some fellow crafters to write some notes of appreciation in them.)



Thanks for stopping by...I love your comments!

Happy Stamping and God Bless America!