Back to School

Today was the first day of teacher workdays for Cabarrus County Schools. C.C. Griffin Middle School's administration likes to give door prizes. That helps to make all the meetings bearable. Ha! I volunteered to make two sets of cards for prizes. 

I loaded each of the tote bags with 12 cards, two each of six designs, and two ink pens. Yes, I used the Operation Write Home "tuck 2.0" for the cards and envelopes. Habit. Aren't those little totes cute? I picked them up at Hobby Lobby.

This afternoon, I got a message on Facebook from a friend who got one of the sets. Yay, Sheryl! I know she will use them!

Bekka's Card

Bekka's visiting her aunt and uncle next door this weekend. I heard a little tap, tap, tap on my back door, and there stood Bekka ready to make a card for her friend.

Great job Bekka! Good luck in 5th grade!

Marsupial

I need a couple of cards to send to friends in Australia. I'm so glad I ordered Lawn Fawn's "Critters Down Under." This little koala is perfect.

 Lawn Fawn - "Critters Down Under" and "Bright Side" paper

Hero Arts - "Year Round Sentiments"

Neenah solar white card stock

SU black card stock

The Cat's Pajamas - "Grass"

Copics

Spring Break for Bekka

My neighbors' niece is visiting for a couple of days. I can always count on her to come over and play, and today she wanted to make a Mother's Day card.

Great job, Bekka!!

CCGMS 10 Year Celebration

It's amazing to think ten years have passed since we opened C. C. Griffin Middle. The school will be celebrating this Friday, and a teacher/friend asked if I could make some tags for the teachers and staff (past and present) to wear for the event. Well, of course I can!

Name that mascot!!

 I have lots!

I have my prototype tags completed, so now I have to get everything cut and punched and ready for assembly. Thank goodness for the Silhouette Cameo!

I'll keep you posted.

Coffee!!

The Stars and Stamps Tuesday Tutorial this week is a coffee cup card. I thought I'd draw one and cut it using my Silhouette. Not bad for a first try!

Hero Arts sentiment stamp (ancient 2x3 clear set)

SU card stock

Emboss Times Two

I saw this technique on Darlene Design this week and added an extra step. After using white embossing powder and coloring the flowers black, I used the embossing folder that coordinates with the stamp.

Hero Arts/Sizzix "Flowers and Vines"

Hero Arts "Year Round Sentiments"

Fresh Vintage

This card design is from a make-and-take we had at a crop last night. Thanks, Lisa and Jennifer!

I needed to make a "Thank You" card for the gift of this stamp set, "Fresh Vintage." Thanks, Sharon!

All supplies from Stampin' Up

You're so Special

If you are looking for the Operation Write Home Blog Skip, scroll down or click here.

I CASEd Jennifer McGuire's card from the blog skip yesterday. Mine doesn't have the pop that hers did, but I like the design of the card. I'll be using this again.

Please note, I used an eyelet! When's the last time you used an eyelet? 

Hero Arts/ OWH "Year Round Sentiment"

Kaisercraft "Konstrukt Collection" 6x6 paper pad

Offray ribbon

Oh Crop!

My dad would have loved this card. No matter that I am just learning to color with Copics, he would have loved that tractor as well as the sentiment, "Oh crop!" 

Craft Lounge "Bountiful Harvest" cling stamps

Neenah Solar White card stock

Spellbinders Nestabilities

One Layer Card

I CASEd this card from Danielle Wells. Her blog is Neat and Tangled, and she did a terrific video showing how she crafted her card. Now that I know what to do, I can change it up a bit more and make it my own.

Hero Arts "Year Round Sentiments" "Friend Definition"

Hero Arts/Basic Grey "Sweet Threads Set"

Color Box Pigment Frost White

Color Box Warm Violet and Olive Pastel chalk inks

Signo white pigment ink pen

Inkadinkado Masking paper

Funny: I have two leaves at the top of the flower. It looks much better with one, but I had an ink booboo I needed to cover. HA!

ODBD December Challenge

Our Daily Bread Designs has sponsored another challenge on the Stars & Stamps Blog. This month we were asked to make the sentiment the focus of the card. I hope that flower isn't too big!

Memory Box "minuet" patterned paper

Hero Arts "Big Hugs" sentiment

Prima flower

SU card stock

Chevron "Thanks"

Jennifer McGuire posted a video demonstrating a chevron border, and I just had to give it a try. It's fun to do! This week's challenge on the Stars & Stamps Blog was to make a "Thank You" card, so I've killed two birds with one stone...a new technique and a "thank you" card.

Hero Arts sentiment "Anytime Messages"
Cosmo Cricket"Material Girl" Mini Deck
SU Crumb Cake card stock

ODBD Challenge

Our Daily Bread Designs (also known as ODBD) has partnered with Operation Write Home, and they are sponsoring a monthly challenge. You can find more information HERE.

This month's challenge? Make a "love" card. OWH will be needing lots of love and Valentine cards in the next few weeks. They need to be on their way to the Troops by the first week in January at the latest.

I've made a similar card before, but I think the owl deserves another showing with his top hat.

Stampin' Up - owl punch, tag punch, Crumb Cake ink, French script background stamp
Paper - Bazzil
Memento- Tuxedo Black ink
Hero Arts - sentiment stamp
Signo - white pen

Archway Cookies and Valentines

Archway has once again partnered with Operation Write Home. If we can get 5000 Valentine/Love cards to our shippers by December 10, they will donate 5000 cookies for the troops! You can find the details HERE.

I cut lots of hearts for my cards!

Spellbinders Nestabilities Dies
Prima flowers
Brads
Black satin ribbon
EK leaf punch
Hero Arts sentiment
Stampin' Up card stock, embossing folder, border punch
Edit: The text paper is torn from an old book I bought at a flea market in Berlin in 2009.

No Fail Ribbon

I've seen several "tutorials" for tying ribbon on cards, and I thought I'd add mine. This method uses no adhesive or glue, and trust me, it's not going anywhere! You only need to make one tie, and you don't have to worry about the tightness of the ribbon around your project. It will be tight, and it won't move.

I'm working on some hearts for cards for Operation Write Home, and this technique makes card making quick when you're doing multiples.

You'll need your project, ribbon, and a hole punch. I generally grab my "anywhere" punch, but any punch will do. Pick the hole size based on the width and thickness of the ribbon. 

Punch the hole where you want the ribbon tie to be.

Lay your ribbon across your project.

 Flip your project over and thread the ends through the hole. (I sometimes use a skewer to push the ends through.)

 Pull! Try to keep the ends even, and pull them on either side of the ribbon on the front of your project.

Make any adjustments. Sometimes you need to straighten a "twist."

 Tie and clip the ends!

Here's a picture of the back. It's nice and flat, and it's not going to move!

You can see another example of this technique on my niece's wedding invitations HERE. 

Happy Birthday Jilly Bean!

This is a card for a friend's daughter. I've made cards similar to this one before, and I got the basic design from Kristina Werner's blog.

My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist 6x6 Designer Paper Pad
Stampin' Up- Old Olive and Bashful Blue card stock, border punch
Bazzil- white card stock
Fiskars- cloud punch
Memory Box- cloud die
Other- black twine

Snowmen, Take 2

I made a few changes to the snowman card I posted on Sunday. This one is a winter card rather than a Christmas one. After embossing the background, a sprayed it with Perfect Pearls Mist. It adds a nice shimmer to the paper. I wish I could capture that shimmer as well as the black beady eyes with my camera.

Lawn Fawn: Making Frosty Friends clear stamps
Hero Arts: Stunning Snowflakes Design Block
Memento: Tuxedo Black ink
Ranger: Broken China Distress ink, Perfect Pearls Mist (perfect pearl), Enamel Accents (black), Glossy Accents
Basic Grey: Eskimo Kisses 6x6 paper pad
Other: white embossing powder, Copics, 

Another Christmas Card

Vicky Papaioannou posts a video every Sunday on Lily Pad Cards blog, and I always learn something new. I shamelessly CASEd this card from last Sunday's video.

Lawn Fawn: Making Frosty Friends clear stamps
Hero Arts: Sending Holiday Cheer (sentiment), Collage Music Background
Memento: Tuxedo Black ink
Ranger: Broken China Distress ink
Basic Grey: Eskimo Kisses 6x6 paper pad
Other: white embossing powder, Copics

Sunflowers

This card is the result of two cards that came through here on their way to our Heroes. I love sunflowers and "text" paper, and they are the perfect match on this card.

I'm making lots of these to use for notes to my contacts in their boxes of cards. Some are already on their way.

When making multiples, I do all the cutting and punching first. Here's the box for this card. I have several boxes with "parts" for different cards. It's nice to have several designs going at the same time so I don't get bored. It also makes it easy to clean my table when I'm done for the day. I can just throw it all in the box.

Paper: Bazzil and Stampin Up
Patterened paper: Stampin' Up
Punches: Marvy, Punch Bunch, SU
Stem and leaves: Gypsy Wanderings (Cricut)