SU September Stamp Club

It's time for me to post cards from my monthly SU Stamp Club again!  There's a catch this time though - I didn't make these cards myself.  I know, sad, right?!  I had to work when Stamp Club was meeting this month so Christi made the cards for me.  They are cute cards though.  Just wish I could say "I made them!"  

These will not be headed to Operation Write Home - at least not this year!  We are past the deadlines for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  In fact, we are only 10 days from the "early" Christmas/holiday card deadline!

In case you hadn't heard, I'm the new hostess for the weekly Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown Challenge that posts every Wednesday.  Last Wednesday, the challenge was to make cards in multiples.  You can click HERE to see the post.  The challenge stays open for an entire year so it's NEVER too late to play along.  Don't forget to stop by next Wednesday to see what I have in store for you!

OWH Birthday Bash - Perfect Layers

Welcome to the last Wednesday of the Operation Write Home Birthday Bash celebration!  If you came here from Roxie's beautiful out-of-the-box coral-colored card, you are on the right track.  If you would like to start at the beginning of today's skip, click HERE to go to the Stars and Stamps blog.

Today we are celebrating with Perfect Papercrafting, makers of the Perfect Layers tool.  I had never used this tool before, but let me tell you a few things about it: you will get perfectly straight cuts every time and will not have to do any math calculations to figure out how to cut your layers.  How great is that!  If you are loving what you've seen and want to get your own set, you can use the code OWH5% for a 5% discount when you check out.  If you'd like a chance to win a $50 gift certificate from Perfect Papercrafting, be sure to leave a comment on every blog in the hop today in order to qualify.

Our mission today is to use our Perfect Layers tool and an Operation Write Home sketch to create a card.  I chose Sketch #132 and added LOTS of layers to it using my Perfect Layers tool.  This card went together so quickly!

Card Supplies
cardstock - SU Daffodil Delight, Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango
stamp - Hampton Arts
ink - SU Midnight Muse
patterned paper - Echo Park (this is some of my favorite collection that I found in my scrap pile)

The Perfect Papercrafting website has some video tutorials showing how to use the Perfect Layers tool.  One of these shows that you don't have to make squares or rectangles all the time, so I thought I'd try it out.  I didn't use an OWH sketch on this one - it's just a bonus card!  Making the diagonal line perfectly straight and at the exact same angle each time was a cinch with the Perfect Layers tool.  (Any crookedness was my fault when I glued the blue piece onto the black one!)

Card Supplies
cardstock - SU Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Raspberry Ripple
stamp - SU Delightful Dozen
ink - SU white craft
ribbon - SU Daffodil Delight
bling - Mark Richards 5 mm silver metal sticker

For more inspiration, I will send you on to LEIGH'S BLOG.  Enjoy the last of the Birthday Bash until next September!

OWH Birthday Bash - Hero Arts

Welcome to another fun and exciting skip to celebrate Operation Write Home's birthday month!  If you arrived here from the amazing Lisa Spangler's blog, you are on the right track.  If you'd like to start at the beginning of the skip or if you get lost along the way, click HERE.

Today we are skipping with Hero Arts images.  Hero Arts has quite a few stamps sets that have been designed for especially for us OWH'ers - you can find them HERE.  They generously donate 25% of their profits from the sale of these stamp sets to Operation Write Home, so now you have a license to shop - like you needed my permission, right?!

But before you run off to shop, take a look at the card I made using the Epic Love set.  I used the arrow and one of the sentiments to make a VERY bold statement using an incredibly simple layout.  I added a little bling but didn't go over the top so that a guy might be attracted to choose the card even though there are flowers on it.  I thought the colors were more in the "guy" palette, too.  No pinks on this card!  I was tempted to add some ribbon at the top of the card but didn't have any that matched...I was on the hunt for the dark blue but didn't have any.  I hate when that happens!

Supply List
patterned paper: Authentique - Genuine
cardstock: SU Midnight Muse and So Saffron
bling: Queen & Co.
punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper - stub

So, there is my simple card with a BOLD message!  Your next stop on the skip is SAMANTHA'S BLOG.  Have fun and find lots of inspiration along the way to make cards for our heroes to send home!

SU August Stamp Club

With this post, I am officially all caught up on posting the cards I made this summer in my Stampin' Up Stamp Club with Christi Beck - WOOHOO!

The birthday card went in the mail this week to one of my nieces. (Remember, I have something like 9 or 10 family/friend birthdays this month!)  Out of the two cards, it was my favorite - probably because of all that bright pink which is one of my fave colors, especially when combined with turquoise which is why my brads are turquoise instead of one of the other colors from the patterned paper.

The second card is cute and summery with the watermelons and checked papers. (Well, it is still in the 90s here in Texas, so we still have summer on the mind!).  This was a fun one to make because we used a big circle punch and then cut it in half and cut one of the halves into quarters.  Then we used a scallop punch to make the bite marks.  Fun, right?!

The September Stamp Club is in less than two weeks, so I'll try to do a better job of posting them closer to when I actually make them!  Thanks for stopping by.  :-)

OWH Birthday Bash - Stampers Best

Welcome, everyone!  If you arrived here from Samantha's blog, you are on the right track.  If you would like to start at the beginning of the skip, you can find it HERE!  

I am so happy to be a part of Operation Write Home's 2013 Birthday Bash.  Every Wednesday in September we are celebrating with a blog skip with one of our partners.  If you missed the skip with Unity Stamps last Wednesday, you can find it HERE.

This week the theme is AnyHero cards with Stampers Best.  Stampers Best carries a selection of rubber and digi OWH fundraiser stamps and makes a $1 donation to OWH on each set sold.  That sure does come in handy to pay for all that overseas shipping to send our handmade cards to the troops!  Thank you, Stampers Best, for your continued support of our heroes!  

My card today uses the Turtley Awesome rubber stamp set along with My Mind's Eye Oxford Lane patterned papers from a 6x6 paper pad and coordinating enamel dots.  Our troops certainly are AWESOME and I thought the colors were sufficiently masculine to work for a great AnyHero card.  The sketch is Deconstructed Sketch #29.  

Wondering what I write in my AnyHero cards?  Well, I talk about "normal" things like the weather in Texas, my daughter's activities, or uplifting news items (like royal babies!).  And, of course, I always thank them for their service and for making sacrifices so we can enjoy our freedom!  My goal is just to bring some of the normal activities of life to them in their not-so-normal circumstances.  What are you waiting for?  I challenge you to go write an AnyHero card NOW!

After you finish that AnyHero card, I will send you on to SANDY'S BLOG for some truly amazing AnyHero cards (yes, "plural" cards!).  Don't forget to check back next Wednesday for another fun-filled Birthday Bash Skip!

SU July Stamp Club

Wow, I'm officially on a roll of posting once per week - I've managed to post two weeks in a row which is amazing considering how long it has been since I posted any cards I made.  Stay tuned later in the week for something even MORE amazing - two posts in one week!  LOL

Here are the Stampin' Up Stamp Club cards I made in July.  Aren't they cute?!

The banner on the birthday card was made with washi tape.  Cute idea, right?!  Among our friends and family, there are a total of 9 birthdays to celebrate in September, so I'm sure this will be going to one of them!  I didn't add a sentiment to the hexagon/butterfly card below, but I may have to add a Happy Birthday to that one as well so that I can use it this month.  Isn't it pretty?!  I bet my sister-in-law would like this one.  (Sorry about the shadows on my cards - my photography skills need some work!)

SU June Stamp Club

WOW, I haven't posted anything on my blog since the very beginning of the summer and now school has started AGAIN!  I don't have any excuses except that I was working very long hours at two different jobs.  I barely had time to sleep and eat, and my husband and daughter forgot who I was!  However, in all that chaos, I did make time to attend my monthly Stampin' Up! Stamp Club with Christi Beck.  It was the only crafting I did most of the summer, except for one crop I attended in July.

Here are the cards I made at June's Stamp Club:

That just leaves July and August Stamp Club cards to share with you...but I'll save those for another day!  :-)

Happy Graduation, Max!

Today my nephew Max is graduating from high school.  He is the eldest grandchild and the first to graduate which is quite the milestone.  This is just the beginning of graduation celebrations in our family. We will celebrate three consecutive years of graduations before we get a break and celebrate three more consecutive years with my daughter being the last in 2021!

My friend Pam made the graduation card for me at our May scrapbook retreat - she's such a good friend!  I'm sure that Max will be more interested in the cash that will be inside the card, but we hope you like the card.

Variety Is the Spice of Life

I found just a few minutes to pull a card together and make it under the wire for the OWH Design Boot Camp deadline this month.  The theme is Variety Is the Spice of Life - with tips on varying value, texture, color, shape, or size.  I really liked the sample card by Lee Mae with 3 different colors of the same flower, so I CASE'd her idea.  It's a pretty simple card given my lack of time, but I hope you like it!

Supplies:
sentiment stamp - Hero Arts
patterned paper - SU! Twitterpated
cardstock - SU! Blushing Bride
inks - SU! Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo and Baja Breeze
flower stamp - SU! Secret Garden
die - SU! Secret Garden

May SU Stamp Club

First I want to apologize to my followers - life has taken over my time and I have not been able to craft like I used to.  Hopefully now that school is over I will settle into a routine again, but I doubt it because my transcription job is in full swing along with my newest part-time job at The Container Store.  Don't you just hate when life interrupts your crafting?!

At least I still have my monthly Stampin' Up! Stamp Club to look forward to if I can't manage to find time to craft on my own.  This month we made two cards that have nature themes - one with a huge butterfly and the other with a hydrangea.  I laughed when I saw the butterfly card because my mom sent me a card using the same image that she made with her Stampin' Up! gal.  I thought I'd show off her card as well.

Mom's card:

My card:

I think I prefer the simplicity of the card my mom made over the one I made.  Plus, you can't tell from this photo, but the blue embossed butterfly really pops on the dark brown background.

The other card we made at Stamp Club uses an image of a hydrangea that we "colored" using ink and sponge daubers.  We "dyed" the ribbon using the sponge daubers, too.  It's fun to try techniques at Stamp Club that I would never do on my own!

April SU Stamp Club

This month I was excited to try the chalkboard technique that I've been seeing all over blogland.  This is not something I would have tried on my own which is why I really love going to Christi Beck's Stampin' Up! Stamp Club.  She always gets me to do something outside my comfort zone.  This wasn't bad at all!  We used white embossing powder to create the sentiment on black paper and then rubbed white craft ink across the whole thing to create the chalkboard feeling.  I liked the white embossed image on the black paper but didn't really think I achieved the chalkboard look as well as I've seen some people do it.  But, I absolutely LOVE the black, white and yellow color combo on the card - very crisp and clean!  Mom, I chose the polka dots for you.  :-)

I'm submitting this card for my Operation Write Home Design Bootcamp assignment this month.  Our lesson was to use odd numbers in design.  See my three little yellow flowers!

The second one is a very masculine card - YEAH!  I sometimes have trouble doing masculine cards on my own.  I really like the watch image which is part of a larger stamp set that I didn't like when I first saw it because I noticed the shoe and tie in the set and not the watch - funny what your eye is drawn to, isn't it?!  The sentiment on the inside says, "Happy Birthday."  Everyone always needs masculine birthday cards and this is a perfectly simple design that can be used over and over again.

I'm entering this card in Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown Challenge - It's About Time. Perfect, right?  And, in all my cleverness, I thought I would enter it in the Operation Write Home ODBD Monthly Challenge - Things That Fly.  We all know that "time flies!" In fact, it flies by whether we're having fun or not.  I can't believe that April is almost over and there are only a few more weeks of school left!

WOW Wednesday Winner from MY blog!

KRISTIE, YOU WON!  

You left a comment on my blog on Wednesday, April 10 which won you a prize from Cat's Creations Scrapbooks.  Click HERE to see the "official" announcement.  To claim your prize, you can contact Cat at catbeaty (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.  Congratulations!



As a side note, if you've been wondering where I've been, I just started my FOURTH part-time job so there has been no time in my day for crafting.  But, never fear, I'm headed to a 4-day National Scrapbook Day Retreat on May 2 so I'm hoping to get some projects done...mostly scrapbook pages from Christmas, but perhaps a few Christmas cards with the paper scraps.  With Operation Write Home, it's NEVER too early to start on Christmas cards!  :-)

Doodle Pantry - Guest Designer

I was thrilled when Laurie at Doodle Pantry asked me to create a project using the Texas Star new release, the first in a new line of state-inspired digital stamps.  Why did she ask me?  Because she and I are both Texans - who else would want to create a Texas-inspired card?!  I love this new digi stamp set because not only did Laurie design the Texas Star but she separated all of the elements out and gives you those images as well.  Check out what I did with them!

On this card I used the whole pre-colored Texas Star image along with Deconstructed Sketch #54.  The sentiment is also part of this fabulous set. My card is 4.25 x 4.25" so it still fits into a standard envelope. The twine is from We R Memory Keepers and the blue cardstock is SU! Brocade Blue.

I love bluebonnets - they make me think of my grandmother because she loved them so!  This time I wanted to show you how versatile this set really is.  I used the separated out element of the pre-colored bluebonnet and copied it several times.  Again, the sentiments are part of the Texas Star set.  The patterned paper is from Doodle Pantry's Texas set.  I used OWH Stars & Stripes sketch #56 and the Sizzix branch with leaves die to fill in the empty hole to the left of the image.  The card stock is Midnight Muse and Brocade Blue from SU! and red from my stash.

Doodle Pantry has very reasonable prices and great specials.  In fact, until April 17 you can save 45% on your entire order AND get a newly released set free with purchase. What are you waiting for?  It's time to go shopping! Don't forget to play along in the monthly challenge with your newly purchased goodies and get another set free just for playing along PLUS a chance to win a gift certificate.  The challenge deadline is April 24.

Ombre

WOW, isn't it weird how once you notice something you start to see it everywhere?  I first saw a card on Angela's blog From the Tool Shed that uses ombre and thought it would be a great way to use up some of my old Bazzill cardstock that I have in 5 different shades.  Then just a few days later the challenge at Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown was to create a card using ombre.  I knew then that I had to give this a try so I CASE'd Angela's card. (She has a link to a tutorial for the card, too!)  What an easy way to make a card!  I feel like my card needs something else - Angela's card has a cluster of flowers on it, but she made hers larger than mine.  To fit in a standard envelope, my card is 4.25 x 4.25 which didn't give me much space.  What would you suggest to jazz it up?!  I may be making more of these in the future and would love to incorporate your ideas.

Supplies:
card stock - Bazzill
ink - SU! Pumpkin Pie
stamp - Inspired Stamps
adhesive - Xyron, this gave full adhesive coverage making the card quick and easy to put together

Here's the definition of ombre, but would you call it a design style, a technique or something else entirely?  The origin is from the French and Italian words that mean "to shade."

Definition of OMBRÉ

: having colors or tones that shade into each other —used especially of fabrics in which the color is graduated from light to dark

Source: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ombre

Quilt Block card

Today I have another Quilt Block card for you.  This is a technique that I learned in the Pattern Play class from Online Card Classes.  It's a great way to use up paper scraps.  These scraps are from kids' camp that my daughter took last summer at Cat's Creations Scrapbooks.  Aren't they fun?  I love the bright colors!  I actually think this card turned out better than the one I made for the class which you can see HERE.

I'm entering this in the OWH Midweek Throwdown Challenge for Favorite Color Combo.  I love bright colors, especially bright pink which is also my 10-year-old daughter's favorite color.  I also think that pink and green are an awesome combination.

You can enter Cat's Creations Scrapbooks WOW Wednesday Challenge with any creation you like.  By entering OR commenting on the entries, you have the chance to win.  Several people have won just from commenting on my entry!

Challenges:
Cat's Creations Scrapbooks WOW Wednesday - always anything goes
OWH Midweek Throwdown Challenge - Favorite Color Combo

Supplies:
patterned paper - scraps
card stock - SU! Melon Mambo and Gumball Green
ink - SU! Melon Mambo and Crumb Cake
stamp - Fiskars Fresh Fruit
embossing folder - SU!

Copic Class Cupcake as a Card

I promised you would see the cupcakes I colored in a live tutorial with Sandy Allnock on a card.  Well...here's the first one!  This was not the one my followers thought was colored the best, but I love the bright blue flower.  Thanks to Pat Kinkaid for the idea to use some bling for the flower center.  I didn't like that I colored the center blue also, but look how easily the problem was solved.  I love this sentiment and was happy to finally be able to use it.  Because I made my cupcake so big for easier coloring for the class, this turned out to be a pretty basic card.  I could have added more, but I wanted the cupcake to take center stage - I think it has certainly done that!

Supplies:
paper - SU! Tempting Turquoise, red from stash
die - Spellbinder scalloped circle
bling - Bazzill
sentiment stamp - Inkadinkadoo

Pattern Play - Day 5

Today's card idea was presented by Kristina Werner in the Pattern Play class offered by Online Card Classes.  She called it a Quilt Block card - it was a great way to use up scraps of paper.  I will definitely be making more of these!

If you want to learn this technique or any of the others you've seen on my blog this week, it's never too late to take the class.  All of the Online Card Classes are offered as independent classes once the live interactive classes have concluded.

Supplies:
My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky collection - 6 x 6 paper and twine
Swiss Dots embossing folder
Hero Arts Essential Messages stamp

Pattern Play - Day 4

Today I CASE'd a card by Shari Carroll from the Pattern Play class at Online Card Classes.  The technique is to distress a pattern onto patterned paper.  I really liked this technique - it was simple yet had an interesting effect.  I look forward to doing this again and perhaps distressing a different pattern onto the patterned paper - maybe diagonal lines?!

In my effort to try to mix and match papers, I used two different Echo Park 6 x 6 collections.

Supplies:
paper - Echo Park Splash and Hello Summer collections
sentiment - Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments
tools - Creative Memories 1" square punch, SU! 3/4" circle punch, SU! scoring board

Pattern Play - Day 3

Welcome to my card for Pattern Play Day 3 - a class I took at Online Card Classes.  If you like what you see, you can always sign up to take the class independently!

I chose to CASE Debby Hughes's card.  Her lesson was to use Bold Pattern for Accents - clean and simple cards with just a touch of one pattern.  

Supplies:

paper - Echo Park Splash collection, SU! Blushing Bride and Baja Breeze cardstock

ink - SU! Pumpkin Pie and Crumb Cake

stamps - Hero Arts Essential Messages, Bo Bunny Gabrielle (butterfly)

bling - from stash

Pattern Play - Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of cards made from the Pattern Play class I took from Online Card Classes.  Today I used two of the techniques demonstrated in the class.  The first is resist on patterned paper.  The second is stamping on patterned paper.  I really needed a stamp with a larger open area than the one I chose but just made do with what I had.  Yesterday I said that my goal was to combine papers from different companies, but I didn't do that on these cards.  All of the patterned paper is from Authentique Uncommon collection.  Why?  I was too busy focusing on the techniques this time.  Anyone who knows me knows that I don't really love to do wet embossing which is what the resist technique called for - so I had to focus on the technique this time and not the paper!

Challenges: Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown - use stripes (2nd card)

Resist on Patterned Paper

 Supplies: Hero Arts Zig Zag background stamp

Ultra Thick Clear Embossing Powder

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - fired brick

Really Reasonable Ribbon

SRM sticker

Stamping on Patterned Paper

Supplies: Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments

SU! Quint-Essential Flower

SU! Punches:

2-3/8" scalloped circle

1-3/4" scalloped circle

1-1/4" circle

3/4" circle