S&S Bloghop

I'd like to dedicate my card to Heather Godwin Barton, a former student, who recently lost her husband, Specialist Chris Barton of Harrisburg, NC. He was killed Monday after a firefight with insurgents in Afghanistan. He was with the 101st Airborne of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Heather and her family will be in my thoughts and prayers this Memorial Day. Our community mourns a hero, one of our own.

Welcome to my stop on the Stars and Stamps Bloghop! If you arrived here from Julie's Handmade by Julie, you're on the right track. If you want to start at the beginning of the bloghop, go to the Stars and Stamps Blog.

My Card

This card has NO STAMP!!! I've been stamping off and on for 25 years, but I've never considered myself a "stamper." I'm a paper crafter, a paper crafter with a lot of stamps and even more paper.

This card is based on a Finally Friday card from KWernerDesign, my absolute favorite blogger for card inspiration. Very rarely does she craft a card not to my liking. I've used this design several times to make cards for the notes I write to the military contacts who receive boxes from Operation Write Home.

The gray card base, white clouds, and darker blue scalloped strip are Bazzill card stock.

All the patterned paper is from Creative Imaginations.

Clouds were cut on a Cricut using the Pooh and Friends cartridge.

Pennant triangles were cut following a template I made with chipboard.

A tip for card makers

See these two cards? They are just alike except for the cut of the card base. The left one is made from a piece of card stock measuring 11" by 4.25". The one on the right is made from card stock measuring 8.5" by 5.5".  Both cards are lovely. Both cards measure 5.5" by 4.25" when folded. 

What's the difference?

Here's the difference:

We want our cards to be "attached" to the envelopes because some of our heroes don't have a place to display the cards, and they may get dumped onto someone's bunk. The left card is tucked all the way into the envelope, and the card on the right only has the back flap tucked into the envelope. Which card is easier for our heroes to see?

Some cards need to be cut like the card on the left for design purposes, and that's terrific. If the design doesn't require that cut, it's easier for the shippers to tuck the "normal" cut, and our heroes will be able to see the card without removing it from the envelope.

Some entertainment

Ever wonder how an Operation Write Home shipper sorts cards? Want to see how this "job" can overtake a kitchen? 

The BLOG CANDY

Leave a comment on this post. I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on Monday evening at 9:00 EDT. I'll post the winner on my blog and on our Facebook Fan Page.

Here's where you go next!!!

Hop on over to Kristy's blog,

The Jolley Scrapper!