Here’s the card I made with my new brayer info.

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About this card:  The cardstock is Basic Black and Whisper White.  The brayered colors are Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, and Cherry Cobbler.  The image is from Lovely as a Tree, and is stamped in Basic Black.

Click to enlarge.   Here it is unfolded.

About the card:  The cardstock is So Saffron.  The designer paper is Delicate Dots.  The border punch is from Martha Stewart.  The die cuts are little leaves, and I’m not sure which green that is because I punched a bunch of them a while back and made a stash.  The bird is also a big shot die and is So Saffron.  There’s a lot of big shot in this card.  The letters are die cut from the big shot.  They’re actually Whisper White cardstock with direct to paper Not Quite Navy.   Oh, also the flowers – you guessed it.   Big Shot stash flowers plus a couple of white brads.

We’re getting ready for our OWH Birthday Bash party on Sept 18 at the downtown library in Shreveport.  Please note the firstgiving widget in the side bar.  If you would like to contribute to OWH, firstgiving makes it easy.  OWH recently celebrated sending it’s 500,000th card to deployed service members.  A 12.50 donation will pay for postage for a box of 300 to 350 cards to Iraq or Afghanistan.  Your dollars make a difference!  Thanks!

In fact, today over at the Stars & Stamps blog we launched a new page that I am very proud of.  If you haven’t yet, please go take a look at it.  There’s a lot of good information there.  Click the fancy icon that Sandy made.

Surprise number two is I actually did a sketch challenge.  Here’s this week’s sketch:

Here’s my card:

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About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White, Handsome Hunter and Real Red.  The designer paper is from a Christmas stack I bought last year.  The ornament is from the  Delightful Decorations set, stamped in Versamark and embossed with blue embossing powder.   It is punched with the ornament punch and adhered with dimensional adhesive to make it stand up.  The gold cord is elastic and from last year’s holiday mini.  (Pretend the bow is straight).

I like the layout of this card and I’m thinking this will be one of the designs for our big cardmaking party in September.  Oh, did I not mention that?  Stay tuned for more info!  What do you think about using this card (with variations on the dp because I only have a bit of each design but several designs in the stack to choose from)? 

So, yes, I colored him!   And hopefully by now Julie and Donna have gotten their cards, because I made them for the two of them, just to show off that I was actually branching out into the world of coloring (and to say I love them and stuff).

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About the card:  The cardstock is Soft Suede Pacific Point and Whisper White.  The ribbon is Soft Suede polka dot grosgrain ribbon.  The image is stamped in Basic Black classic ink and colored with watercolor pencils.  The stamp set is Spring Song.  The sentiment is stamped in Soft Suede.   

I was inspired by a card I saw at Splitcoast stampers.  That card used the Dusty Durango cardstock in the background to match the sun, so half of the cards I made I used that cardstock, but I just love the Riding Hood Red, and I think it’s close enough to the color of the outer edge of the sun to go. 

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About the card:  The cardstock is Naturals White, Riding Hood Red, and Basic Black.  The background images are from Circle Circus, stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  The center image is from Asian Artistry, stamped in Basic Black craft ink.  The sun is masked with a 1-1/4″ circle and sponged with So Saffron,  Apricot Appeal, and Dusty Durango. 

We always say the cards look better in person, but I think this picture actually does the card justice.  It is a heavy card.  Sturdy.  And I love all the colors in it, framed in the black.

About the card:  The cardstock is Naturals White, So Saffron, and Melon Mambo.  The designer paper is Razzleberry Lemonade and the sentiment is from Inspired by Nature, stamped in Real Razzleberry.  The button is just a stash button.

I love the pinwheel quilt squares.  I love them a lot!

I love the simplicity of this card, though if I were to do it again I think I’d pick a larger sentiment.

About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White and Night of Navy.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The image is from At the Beach.  Both are stamped in Night of Navy.  The scoring is done at 1/8″ intervals. 

I really like this look.  I think I like it better than any of the big shot background plates I have.

Close up of the scoring detail:

About the card – The cardstock is Very Vanilla and Old Olive.  The stamp is from Pocket Silhouettes and is stamped in Old Olive.  The brads are also Old Olive.  The score marks were made at 1/4″ and 1/2″  from each edge of the top panel of the card.   I love the way the marks frame the stamped image.

I’m going to be making a lot more cards like this.  I can tell.

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The cardstock is Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, and the donated yellow.  The sunflowers are from the Serene Sunflower stamp set.  The background flowers are stamped in More Mustard and Summer Sun.   The featured sunflower is stamped in Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, and Summer Sun.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, and is stamped in Pumpkin Pie.

I also made one card using Choc Chip for the centers of the background flowers, but I really like the muted combination for the background better.

I’m enjoying making several cards of the same design.  I’m trying to fill up my box.  See, I had some cards in a smaller box and it got too full so I switched to another box, and now the new box isn’t full, so I’m going to challenge myself to fill it up in the next week or so.   At the same time I’m trying to use up loose ends of paper, because I have so much of it and it’s getting crazy!

How much fun is that!

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About the card:  The cardstock is Real Red, Always Artichoke and Naturals White.  The wreath is stamped with the Serene Sunflower set, in Old Olive, Always Artichoke and Certainly Celery.  The bow is the gold elastic cord from the 2009 holiday mini catalog.  The brads are tiny red brads I found last year for my holiday cards.  The ribbon is also from that holiday mini.

It’s about time to break out the Christmas Jingle paper.  (Julie, you are fairly warned!)

And yeah, the design might look familiar, but the colors are different than the last time I made this card.  Last time it was a pastel butterfly on a mossier color green. 

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About the card:  The cardstock is Basic Black, Whisper White, and the yellow is donated cardstock for OWH.  The grass is stamped in Old Olive and is from the Inspired by Nature set.  The butterfly is from God’s Beauty, and is stamped in Basic Black craft ink and then sponged with Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped in Pumpkin Pie.

This was the first time I used a “stack” of cardstock that has patterns for dogs and cats.  Some of the pages have embedded glitter, including the page I used for this card, so I haven’t used it for any OWH cards.  I don’t remember the name of the paper. I’ll edit and add it later to this post.

Here’s the card (click to enlarge):

About the card:  The cardstock is Chocolate Chip.  The sentiment is from D is for Dog, and it is stamped in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White paper.  The fence is a Martha Stewart punch, and the paper is Close to Cocoa textured.   The green is a random piece of  lighter-than-cardstock paper and I fringed it with snips to make it look like grass.

In fact, I liked this card so much I made eight of them for OWH.

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About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White and Real Red.  The sentiment is from Wonderful Words and is stamped in Real Red craft ink.  The hearts are punched from random scraps of cardstock and paper.

I had actually made the quilt square ages ago, and just never attached it to a card.  I love it when I eventually actually make a card out of a card-part-in-waiting.

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About the card:  The cardstock is Night of Navy and Very Vanilla.  The designer paper is Bella Bleu.  The sentiment is from Wonderful Words and is stamped in Not Quite Navy.  The buttons are random stash buttons and the ribbon is Very Vanilla 1/4″ grosgrain. 

(Yes, Julie, the little buttons would be cuter with thread in them, but it was after midnight and I couldn’t find my off-white thread)

This is one of those cards that really does look better in person.  You’ll have to trust me.

So, I had this idea to use the Branch Out set.  I think it came out really cute.   (click picture to enlarge)

About the card – The cardstock is Whisper White.  The paper is from the Patterns Pack III, whatever the red is in that pack.  The tree is from the Branch Out set.  The trunk is stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink and the leaves in Old Olive classic ink.  The hearts are from the same Pattern Pack paper. 

If I’d had a tiny sentiment that just said “love”, I’d have put it in the bottom corner of the card.  Thing is, I think I might have a stamp that says that, but I never really organized my new stamps after Sale-a-Bration.   Must. get. organized!

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About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White and Real Red.  The stars are embossed on heavy duty aluminum foil.  I applied Brilliant Blue craft ink directly to the foil then embossed with clear embossing powder.  The ribbon is SU! white organza ribbon and the sentiment is from Whimsical Words. 

And before I get to today’s card, we have blog candy winners!  Thanks to everyone who answered the questions about the Tuesday Tutorials on the Stars & Stamps blog.   Each of these ten lucky winners will receive 25 punched butterflies – enough to make ten pansies from the Paper Pansy tutorial.   The winners are:

• Katherine
• Shirley
• Susan G
• Courtney
• Christy Sheffield
• Jan Hunicutt
• Kathy
• Kim
• Paula Mangum
• Celeste

I’ll be sending each of you an email to get your mailing addresses.  Congrats!

Now for the card:  (click to enlarge)

If this card looks familiar, it’s because it’s featured in this week’s Tuesday Tutorial over at the Stars & Stamps blog.  It’s the same basic card from my hop post, just different paper.

I’m a big cheater!

By now you know that Operation Write Home sends handmade greeting cards to deployed service members so they can write home to their friends and loved ones.  If you’re wondering why we do it, check out this note from the mom of one of our Heroes: 

My son, Andrew, is 21 years old and doing his first tour in Afghanistan. His wife is here in the states by herself, dealing with a very difficult first pregnancy. He reports that he has been so thankful to be able to send her special cards throughout her numerous hospitalizations. His still has no internet access, but when I spoke to him yesterday he asked that I once again thank OWH for the box of fabulous cards sent to him. The box is kept in the company office and he and his fellow soldiers have been so grateful to have homemade cards available to them.  I, as a mom and recipient of one of those amazing cards for Mother’s Day, also thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing for the troops serving our country. It certainly makes for bright spots in what is alot of times dismal conditions for them. God bless you all!

That pretty much explains the “why” of it.

As for “how,” well, there are a lot of resources for folks who want to be involved with OWH.  

• If you’ve never sent cards in before, here’s a place that will give you the basic info for new card makers. 
• If you don’t make cards, but you or your kids or your group or your group of kids want to write letters to thank/cheer up deployed service members who don’t get much mail, here are some questions and answers about “Any Hero” mail. 
• If you would like to make a donation (and remember, some employers match charitable donations from employees) you can send donations to one of our shippers (listed on the top left) or donate through Paypal.

Most of you who are reading this probably knew all that already, though, so now I want to talk about the OWH Stars & Stamps blog, which is a special place for our card makers to share techniques and show off pictures of our cards and get new ideas.  I am happy and honored that I recently started organizing the Tuesday Tutorials on the blog, and if you are a card maker, I’d appreciate your ideas and I need your help!  Please leave a comment on this post and answer the following questions.  Ten lucky people who answer will win an assortment of punched butterflies using the Stampin’ Up! butterfly punch.  These are the butterflies featured in this week’s Paper Pansies Tutorial.  Each winner will receive enough butterflies to make ten flowers.  Colors will vary.

Here are the questions:  (I have no idea why these are showing up as Roman numerals)

1. What technique/s do you wish you knew how to do or how to do better?
2. What technique/s do you enjoy showing other people how to do?
3. Do you consider yourself more a 101, 201 or 301 level cardmaker?
4. What do you think makes a tutorial a “good” tutorial?
5. What are your current/favorite sources for good tutorials?
6. Are you interested in offering a Tuesday tutorial?  (I would help with the putting it together.  It’s painless. I promise!)
7. Is question number six too obvious?  Needy?  No?  Good!
8. What other comments/suggestions do you have about the Tuesday tutorials and how we can make them even better? 
9. Would you like to be in the drawing for blog candy?

Thanks for your help with that.  Really!     

Now, a card!  (click to enlarge)

About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White, Night of Navy and Real Red.  The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  The punches are the window  and modern label punches.  The star is a random brad from my stash. 

I’m thinking of doing a tutorial about how to make the “pinwheel.”  Let me know if you’d like to see one. 

When I first made the card I thought the red and white pinwheel looked like a folded flag.  Originally I was going to either include this card in my next box of cards or use it to write some Hero Mail.  Then I heard on the news about a local soldier who was killed in Afghanistan and was coming home to be laid to rest.  I decided to send it to his family.   The funeral is today, just two days before Memorial Day.  Please keep the family of Army Specialist Tomlinson in your thoughts and prayers today. 

Ok! Thanks for  making it to the bottom of this very long post!  Your next stop on the hop is Melanie’s blog over at Scrappily Ever After.  Enjoy!

Before you go, remember to comment.  Scroll up to the top to find the link.

Here’s the sketch:

And here’s the card: (click to enlarge)

About the card:  The cardstock is soft suede and naturals white.  The stamp set is Noble Deer, which is one of the sets I’m babysitting for my sister.  The sentiment is Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The ink is also Soft Suede.

I like the monochromatic look, especially for a man’s card.  

My dad has been gone for several years, but if he were still here this would be the perfect card for him.

(click to enlarge)  I’m going to let her tell you all about it over at her blog, but I will say the watering can is heat embossed with copper powder, the tag is as cute as it can be with a copper eyelet, and the flowers, holy Toledo.  Here’s a couple more views.

Check out the purple flowers – they’re made with the wing of the new bird punch from SU!.  The orange flowers are scallop circles and the centers of the cornflowers are circles with one side cut off.    And I HAVE TO get that daisy die!

Thanks, Julie.  This is one amazing card, and you are an amazing friend!

Pink it is!

So, Happy Birthday Renee!  I hope you had a great day and enjoyed your card.

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About the card:  The cardstock is Regal Rose and Whisper White.  The White cardstock has been dry embossed  using a Texturz plate in  the Big Shot.  The dahlia is made with paper from the Sweet Always designer paper set.  I used a pink rhinestone brad in the center.  The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations, and is heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.   The background behind the sentiment is stamped in Versamark with the Pretty Petals background stamp and heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.

Y’all, it’s a shame the photo doesn’t show off the sparkle of the iridescent ice.  I’m so OWH trained, it’s been forever since I’ve made a card that sparkles.  Such fun!

Am putting together a box of cards for OWH, and I want to get them in the mail Monday, so last night and today I was putting together cards from random parts I had started but not ever finished.  In my card parts stash I also have a bunch of card parts I had made for my Christmas cards, and I was trying to figure out what else I could do with them.  Sandy assured me she would take Christmas cards any time, but I wasn’t wanting to make a bunch of wreaths, so I needed to come up with another idea.

First, to remind you, heres what my Christmas card looked like:

And here’s what I made today (click to enlarge):

I think that works.  What do you think?

About the card:  The cardstock is Naturals White, Night of Navy and Real Red.  The stamp is a section of the Hero wheel, inked in Night of Navy.  The ribbon was from the Christmas mini catalog.

I think it needs something to pizzaz it a little.  But it’s better than making Christmas cards in May!

I just wanted to go ahead and post the cards here as well.  Click to enlarge.

I love these little shirts!  They are even cuter in person.

I am lucky to have good people in my world who love me. 

Click to enlarge.

About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White.  The paper is from the Pattern Pack Designer Series Paper III.  The ribbon is from that famous ebay lot.  The sentiment is from Whimsical Words, and is stamped in Mellow Moss craft ink.  I am going to miss Mellow Moss when it is discontinued.  So sad.  I forget the name of the punch, but I just got it and am enjoying it.

The paper I’m featuring today is deceptively difficult to work with.   It doesn’t make a good background paper because it’s so busy with images that are too big to be just a pattern, and the images are too jumbled together to feature any one of them.   What it would be good for, besides scrapbooking I guess, is wrapping paper.  It would be awesome wrapping paper, if you’re wrapping something that can be completely covered by a 12×12 square.   Here’s the paper in question.

See what I mean?

I decided the stars, balloons, and presents are the most interesting items on the paper.  Here’s a card I made with the presents.

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About the card:  The cardstock is Whisper White.  The presents are all cut out of the aforementioned paper.  The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations, and I think I stamped it in Taken With Teal.

Random note:  Apparently after the great Word Press crash, my blog has forgotten everyone.  Amnesia sucks.  This means your first time commenting will probably be screened until I can approve  it.  Don’t take it personally.  It’s happening to everyone apparently.