World Card Making Day

A Christmas card for World Card Making Day!

Memory Box: "Tinsel" 6x6 paper collection, "Pine Branch Bird" stamp
Neenah Paper: white card stock
Stampin' Up: black card stock
Martha Stewart: craft seam binding

It's Time to Make Some Christmas Cards!

I saw a card very similar to this one at Stamper's Alley in Mooresville. There are always beautiful cards on display there, and I usually snap a few pictures when I visit.

The Memory Box stamps and dies are brilliant! Dave Brethaur of Memory Box has engineered the dies to fit over the stamped images perfectly. Cutting with these new dies is a snap.

I added some May Arts "wrinkled" ribbon to the card. I have lots of this 1.5 inch olive ribbon left from embellishing my niece's wedding invitations. It's nice and thin and doesn't add a lot of bulk to the card. I'm going to have to order more of this ribbon in other colors! It's like working with silk!

The "leaves" in the antlers are cut through the paper. I backed the Very Vanilla card stock with Old Olive to match my ribbon.

May Arts: ribbon
Memory Box: Index Card stamp and steel die, Graceful Deer stamp and steel die, Leaf Motif steel die, Curved Antlers steel die
Stampin' Up: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla cardstock; Petite Pairs (sentiment)
Memento: Rich Cocoa ink

Winners!

I have winners for my VCMP challenge last weekend.

Comment winner: Sleepy in Seattle Joanne T.
Post winner: Stamp Tramp Nancy F.

I'll be getting your prizes to you! Thanks, all, for playing along!

Virtual Card Making Party

Challenge #1: Garanimals,  hosted by

 Linda at It Was Here a Minute Ago

The first challenge was to make a card for a child that includes an animal. Here's a quick card with Snoopy.

Virtual Card Making Party!

Happy birthday, Operation Write Home! There are 16 challenges this weekend. That means lots of creativity and fun. Check the Stars & Stamps Blog for all the challenges as they go live.

My challenge?? Make a nontraditional Valentine card. Link your creation at the end of this post, and I'll choose a random winner on Thursday at midnight (EDT) for a prize! I'll also award a prize to one random commenter on this blog post.

Valentine's Day means hearts, and I don't normally go for the hearts, but I have four, yes 4, heart punches! I made a card I thought would have a longer shelf life than your regular "Be My Valentine" card. I wanted to create a card that could be sent to a man or a woman too. The sender can mention "Valentine's Day" on the inside if it's used for that occasion.

I used a sketch from Kristina Werner's  "A Year in Cards 2010," a monthly class at Two Peas in a Bucket. The patterned paper is from We R Memory Keepers' Valentine collection. The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkado.

It's your turn! Make a card we can send to the troops during the Valentine season. You don't have to use hearts, and you don't have to use red and pink! Think outside the box! Have fun, and link your card here so others can see your creations!

"We R Keeping an Eye on You!"

We R Memory Keepers is sponsoring a challenge on the Stars and Stamps Blog for Operation Write Home. The challenge? Use eyelets on a card. First, I had to find my neglected eyelets. 

We R Memory Keepers makes my very favorite patriotic paper, "Old Glory." It has a vintage look to it,  and there are lots of patterns in the collection. Some 12 by 12 sheets have reduced  6 by 6 patterns on the flip side. Love that!

We R also makes my favorite corner rounder, the Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper. It chomps 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch corners. I like this tool because I can round corners easily even with lots of layers and such on a card. No more peeling back embellishments to round corners!!

We R Memory Keepers: Patterned Paper, Sew Easy Fancy Floss, Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, Crop-A-Dile
SU!: Pennant Punch, border punch, and eyelets
Bazzil: Card stack
Hero Arts: Clear stamp

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #7: Love Makes the World Go Round

I hate hearts. Sandy put this Valentine Challenge on the Operation Write Home Facebook Fan Page to irritate me. I just know it! Since these challenges have turned into dares for me, I have created a card for the challenge.

Bazzill paper, Cuttlebug embossing folder, and a Hero Arts sentiment.

For all you OWH cardmakers reading this, sending "love" cards for Valentine's Day is great, but if you use a sentiment that doesn't include the words "Valentine's Day" the cards will have a longer shelf life.

So there, Sandy! I made a valentine card!

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #6: Sentiment Only

It's all about the sentiment on this challenge.

The papers are Bazzill black and Stampin' Up very vanilla. The stamp is "Wings of Your Dreams" by Verses Rubber Stamps. I used white Zing embossing powder. I used the Perfect Layers cutting rulers to make the mats.

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #5: Bling It Up!

Challenge #5 told us to "Bling It Up!" I took that a step further and blinged a masculine card!

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder, Clockworks, to emboss the brown Bazzill paper. The blue background and license plate paper are Tim Holtz's Lost and Found collection. The white paper with lines is Basic Grey's Basics collection. "Miss You" is a Hero Arts PolyClear stamp from the Big Hugs set. The plate surrounding the sentiment was bought so long ago, I don't remember who made it! The 3 metal circles are washers. Yes, washers!

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #4: Oh, Baby!

Oh, boy! I didn't have a lot of "stuff" in my stash for this challenge. I had to resort to punch art! I used to do a lot more of this kind of thing. Need to get pack to that.

We were asked to make a card for a mom or dad to send home to their little one. I like to think these cards become treasures for a lifetime!

The background and scallops and circles are Bazzill cardstock. Patterned paper is Reminisce. Sentiment is Hero Arts, PolyClear "Big Hugs." Lots of great sentiments in that 4 x 6 set!

Keeping with my birthday theme in honor of Wendy's birthday... Big hugs for your birthday today!

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #3: Pick a Sketch

I picked Sketch #26 from the Stars & Stamps Blog. This one worked for me because it had a piece of paper that could hold this cute turkey!

This turkey was CASEd from KWernerDesignBlog. She did this turkey last year, and I love him! Easy to make too!

Patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg Mini Deck. Brown paper strip and turkey head and body is Bazzill. I used SU! kraft as the frame for the turkey, and I used Tim Holtz's Shabby Shutters distress ink on its edges. Googlie eyes!!

Wendy, I could put "happy birthday" on this one!

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #2: Indian Summer

This challenge asked us to use a summery image with fall colors.

The butterfly die is a SU Sizzix. I embossed it with clear embossing powder after stamping it with the Hero Arts Design Block, Dots and flowers. I distressed it with Tim Holtz's distress inks, Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain. The paper is Basic Grey's Fusion collection.

Wendy, if you're reading this, that could be your birthday card! HA!

Facebook Birthday Bash! Challenge #1: Winter Birthday

In celebration of Operation Write Home's second birthday, we're having a virtual birthday party today on the Facebook Fan Page. Lots of challenges with DEADLINES!

The first challenge is to create a winter birthday card. The card was finished before noon, but I didn't get the picture uploaded on posted on time. No worries. I still have a nice card!

The snowflake stamp is a Hero Arts Cling and the sentiment is a Hero Arts clear. I used Zing white embossing powder. 

Wendy, if you're reading this, that is NOT your birthday card! Snow would be nice on this HOT day though!

Inspiration from Martie!

The featured cardmaker on the OWH Star's and Stamps Blog is Martie M. from Dayton, OH, and she posted some terrific cards! My favorite was the black and white one. The color combo was my inspiration for this card:

I used Bazzill black and white card stock and my brand new Nestabilities "Beaded Circles." The sentiment stamp is from Stampin' Up.

Thanks, Martie, for the inspiration!

OWH Birthday Bash

The current challenge on the Hero Blog is to make a card and write a message to send to a Military Hero. This is what we call "Hero Mail." Shippers put a collection of these cards in every box we ship. I try to get at least 20 from unique writers. I also like to put letters, cards, and pictures from adults and children in each box. These are messages of encouragement and appreciation, and writers can also tell a bit about themselves too. One card maker (thank you, Dolores A.!) started sending me the comics from the Sunday paper. I put those in too! What fun!

Here's my card: