Get Ready for the OWH Presidents' Day VCMP!

Have any plans for your 3-day weekend?  Why not take some time out to get inspired and create some cards for the troops with Operation Write Home's Presidents' Day Weekend Virtual Card Making Party?!  Every few hours from 8 AM - 8 PM Eastern time we will post a new challenge link to one of our hostesses' blogs to get your mojo flowing.  Each will have an inlinkz for you to play along.

Don't have a 3-day weekend?  No problem!  No one will be left out - you can still play along as each challenge will remain open until  February 25.

See you there!

Flaming Hot Ants | Doodle Pantry

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!  Today's card features Flaming Hot Ants from Doodle Pantry.  The pre-colored image, sentiment and digi paper all are included in the set along with the outline image, more sentiments and another digi paper for only $3 - you can't beat that for a deal!  I used Stampin' Up's large oval and large scalloped oval punches on the sentiment along with ribbon from the Really Reasonable Ribbon monthly club that matched perfectly with my paper.  Love the shimmer in the ribbon, too!

There is still time to play along in this month's Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge where all you have to do is create something using a Doodle Pantry image (freebies are available HERE to try).  Just for playing, you will receive a free digi image set and be eligible to win a gift certificate.  The deadline is February 24 so get a move on!

I'm also entering this in Cat's Creations WOW Wednesday Challenge.  All you have to do to win is link up a creation of any kind AND/OR comment on other people's submissions.  Several people have won just by commenting on MY blog!

Doodle Pantry Snow Birdie

Last year I used this Doodle Pantry image to make a set of cards I gave as a gift.  I used the photos from  those cards to make another set this year to use for thank you notes for Christmas gifts.  This Snow Birdie set comes with the pre-colored image I used along with the outline image, 3 sentiments and 4 coordinating digi papers.  The pre-colored image with the digi papers makes card making a snap!

Don't forget to play along in the Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge before February 24.  You will receive a free digi set just for playing along AND be entered to win a gift certificate!

Birthday Candle Card

We made a card like this at my SU! Stamp Club with Christi Beck.  I liked it so much that I bought the punch I needed to be able to make the flames so I could duplicate the card again!  To see the original card, go HERE.  All of the supplies are from Stampin' Up except the ribbon which perfectly matches the SU! Pool Party paper - it's from my monthly ribbon club with Really Reasonable Ribbon.

I'm entering this card in the Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown Challenge from January 30 to make birthday cards.  The shippers are in need of birthday cards, so if you have the time and the mojo, make a few so our soldiers can wish their friends and family Happy Birthday even though they can't be there to celebrate with them!

My friend Sandy T. started a challenge on her personal blog called Sandy's Crafty Creations!  The monthly challenges are Anything Goes with a Twist.  This month's twist is to make it a birthday card, so here's my entry!

Heart Sheep | Doodle Pantry

It's WOW Wednesday at Cat's Creations Scrapbooks.  Remember: You can create a project of your choice and post it OR just comment on participants' blogs for a chance to win a prize.

I'm back again with another card that went into my Operation Write Home box back in December.  This one uses the Doodle Pantry set Heart Sheep.  I used the pre-colored image and sentiment from the set along with paper from the Hearts A Flutter digi paper pack.  Does it put you in the mood for Valentine's Day?  It makes me happy and hopefully made both the sender (a deployed military person) and the recipient (a loved one) happy, too!

Don't forget to play along at WOW Wednesday and at the Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge - both are near and dear to my heart!

Triple Time with Paper Not Stamps

Some of you may recall that during an Operation Write Home Virtual Card Making Party in September, Donna Inks LA shared with us the Triple Time Stamping Technique.  We all had great fun making our own Triple Time Stamping cards to play along - HERE is mine!

My friend Jan Hunnicutt shared on her blog the same type of technique but WITH PAPER instead of stamps!  What a fabulous idea for a way to use up some of the scraps that I've wrangled!  I got busy right away and just look how many cards I made!

Many of these also qualify as monochromatic cards for the OWH Design Bootcamp - ABCs of Color (Basic Color Theory).  If you missed out on the OWH Design Bootcamp, it's not too late to go check it out HERE!  There will be a new "class" every month.

Stamps by Studio 112 (Kids' Card #6 of 20)

Stamps by Studio G

Stamps by Hero Arts - Year Round Sentiments

Stamps by SEI - Windsor set

Doodle Pantry February New Releases

Today is an exciting day - it's time for the Doodle Pantry February Releases!  Laurie has some of her fun characters playing all kinds of sports.  The birdie is playing baseball and the ants are creating their mischief on a hockey puck!  If animal characters aren't your style, there is an old-fashioned phonograph, a realistic dolphin and cute quirky frogs (this month's free with purchase set).  This month Doodle Pantry released a Love Star which is about the third in a series of seasonal stars (there's also an Autumn Star and a Winter Star).  I chose to use the Love Star outline image for my release day card.

My friend Christi Beck did a post on watercoloring techniques, so I thought I would try it with the Love Star.  I wasn't happy with how the coloring turned out, but I did like the card design so I thought I'd share it, too.  I made the fancy corners with my Ornamental Irons 2 Cricut cartridge.  Haven't dusted off the Cricut machine in quite some time.  I'll have to make it more accessible so I can use it more!

Don't forget to participate in this month's Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge which begins today at noon and ends on February 24.  Just for playing along, you will receive Phonograph set free AND be entered to win a gift certificate to spend in the Doodle Pantry online store.

On a sadder note, I'm going to take a little hiatus from the Doodle Pantry Design Team at the end of this month, but I may be back in August/September depending on what life has in store for me.  I have absolutely LOVED working with Laurie (a fellow Texan) and the other ladies on the design team.  I have made some great cyber friends and been inspired by them all!  The silver lining - I can now take part in the monthly challenges!  LOL