OWH Memorial Weekend Blog Hop

Hello bloggers and hoppers!  Welcome to my stop on the Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop by Operation Write Home!  This is my first time participating in a blog hop so I've got my fingers crossed that I'm doing it correctly.  Here are two missing you cards that I made for the hop.  I went with kids cards because I know if I were away from my children for so long I'd be writing to them like crazy!  My first card is for a mom to write home to her daughter.  I love this silhouette image but only made a couple of these cards because I typically like to make more general cards that can be used by more folks.

Recipe:

PP is Basic Grey (floral) and My Mind's Eye (blue)  Silhouette is cut with Cricut's A Child's Year cart.

My other missing you card is also designed for a little girl (can you tell I have a young daugher).  :)

Recipe:  PP is all Basic Grey, zebra is cut using Cricut's Create a Critter, missing you stamp is from Unity Stamp Company.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and participating in the hop.  Happy Memorial Weekend everyone!!

Next up on the hop is KellyRae, stop by her blog and leave her some love on her missing you card(s)! 
http://sassyrubberartists.com/kellyrae/ 

Sent with Care

Last June a coworker told me about a great organization called Operation Write Home.  I checked out their website and absolutely LOVED what they did!  They send cards out to our active military troops so that the troops can send cards home to their families.  I just loved the idea of my creations being sent from our deployed military heroes home to their loved ones with cherished messages inside for sons/daughters/wives/husbands/mothers/fathers/etc.  I immediately started making cards for them and by November had sent them around 140 cards!  Unfortunately I had to take a creative break during my pregnancy when my doctor put me on bed rest but now that my son is here and is taking some regular naps I can get crafting again in my spare time and after catching up on some personal projects I am ready to start making cards for this amazing organization again!  This card was made for a sketch challenge on OWH's Stars and Stamps blog. 

The stamps are from Unity's May KOM and colored in with Copics.  The scalloped circle was cut with the Sweet Treats cart by Cricut.  If you have never heard of Operation Write Home I strongly encourage you to check them out!  Most of us crafters make more cards than we could ever send out to all of our friends and this is a great place to send your extra cards (NO GLITTER THOUGH)!  Thanks for stopping by my blog, have a wonderful week!

Be Brave

I made this card for a challenge over at My Unity Place.  The challenge was to make a One Layer card.  Whoa was that difficult!  I think I can count on one hand the number of 1 layered cards I've made in my life!  I used She Sprouted Wings and the November KOM for this card.  I stamped the background image with brilliance ink so it has a beautiful shimmer that is difficult to see in the photo.  The woman and butterflies are embossed and I inked the edges of the cardstock.  Thanks for stopping by my blog!

It's my blogs 1 month birthday!

I never thought I would have a blog and sometimes I wonder why I do.  I think I may be the only person who reads it but it feels good to me to be able to look back on my projects and know that I've created something that will bring a smile to someones face (and hopefully not get thrown in the trash immediately).  Today is 1 month since I've started my blog and I am somewhat amazed at the # of posts I have.  Fifteen (15!) in a month and that's not counting the baby announcements I did for my son or the 2nd birthday invites I did for my daughter.  I know 15 cards in a month isn't a lot (heck, I did over 100 for Operation Write Home in a 3 month period last year before getting preggers!) but it seems like a lot when you're catching a crafting moment here and a crafting moment there when you finally have both kids sleeping.  Anyhow, enough rambling about a blog that no one reads, it's time to get crafting...

Happy to know you

Here is a card I made using my Unity May Kit of the Month.  It arrived 2 days ago and I didn't have time to play with it A.S.A.P. because I was working on my daughter's birthday invites but as soon as they were done I was eager to play with my newest stamps and this is what transpired!  I used the KOM Sketch so that I could enter it into the challenge (also quicker to make when working with a sketch).  Thanks for looking!

A note to my son.

I thought that since I made a card for my daughter I may as well make one for my son as well.  Even though he's just a baby right now I'll probably wait to write him a note in this card when he's a little older.  The silhouette was cut at 4 using A Child's Year.  The paper is Crate and it is my favorite boy paper EVER!  It isn't easy finding good boy scrapbook papers, most is too cutesy for my taste, but this Toy Box collection by Crate Paper is amazing for boys of all ages! 

A note to my daughter.

I got the idea for this card from the Cricut Magazine.  I had A Child's Year cart and loved the way they put the heart behind the mother/child silhouette.  The papers are Crate papers except for the paper used on the heart which is My Minds Eye.  The finished card is 5 1/4 by 5 1/4.  I cut the silhouette at 3 1/4 and the heart (Accent Essentials cart) at 4 1/4.  I used my label maker for the title.  My daughter is turning 2 in less than a month and I plan on writing her a note inside this card telling her all of the little things I love about her at this age.  Thanks for stopping by my blog, have a great day!

Gumball Thanks

I made this card for another Unity challenge, the Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge.  I had fun playing with the colors on this card.  The paper is Sassafras Lass and the stamps are from the March 2010 KOM.  Gumball machine has glossy accents on it and the label is a Spellbinders die.  Colored using colored pencils.  Here is the sketch from Unity and my take on it.  Thanks for looking!

Berry Sweet

I made this card for the Unity Challenge Tooty Fruity.  I can always use thank you cards and it's nice to have a variety on hand.  I paper pieced the strawberries and added glossy accents to them to make them really pop (pop dots too).  The paper is Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry collection.  The scalloped circle and label behind it were cut with Spellbinders dies.  Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Alligator card

So with a brand new baby boy in the house there was no way I could resist buying the Nate's ABC's cartridge.  I mean look at all of those adorable boy themed images and phrases!!!  I was just playing around with the cart when this little alligator card came to life.  I don't need a boy card at the moment so I left it sentiment free so it can be used for a variety of occasions. 

Rockin' Birthday

So my super amazing husband bought me a Cricut for my birthday this past October (yeah, I know, probably the BEST birthday present EVER)!!!  I haven't used it a whole awful lot though because I was pregnant at the time and had insane back pain during pregnancy that prevented me from sitting at my craft table.  Now my boy is nearly 2 months old and my back pain is a thing of the past and I am able to craft again (HOORAY)!!!  I've recently made a resolution to incorporate my Cricut into more projects to get myself more comfortable with it.  So when I needed to make a birthday card for my husbands cousin who is having a party celebrating her 40th birthday later today I immediately thought of my rarely used Rock Princess cartridge because she is a huge rock music fan!  Here is what I came up with, thanks for looking!

Baseball Themed Birthday

This is a card I made for my brother-in-law's 40th birthday.  He's a huge Detroit Tigers fan so I made him a baseball themed card for his 40th and used the colors of the Tigers.  The letters are cut using Cricut's Birthday Bash cartridge.  The jersey and paperclip are old embellies I had in my stash from an old layout about my first Tigers game.  Love it when I can use up some old forgotten product! 

It's Friday!!!

Plus we're spending all weekend with family so I'm really feeling the love today!  Here is a layout I made with the help of Archiver's for National Scrapbook Day last week.  Of course I had to personalize it, so I used some wonderful Tim Holtz tickets in the photo strip and used a Unity journaling stamp from a recent Kit of the Month.  The butterfly stamp is actually from Unity as well.  Papers are Echo Park.  Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a wonderful weekend!

Butterflies Mom's Day card

This was a quick card I threw together (on Mother's Day) because I had procrastinated making a mom's card for my MIL (creative block and newborn baby to blame).  The butterfly stamps are from Unity (March KOM and an Itty Bitty).  The sentiment is an old Basic Grey rub-on.  The card design is from a Papercrafts mag.  Thanks for viewing my blog!

So Amazing Mother's Day card

I love this chipboard lady image from Melody Ross and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it for some time.  FINALLY the occasion arose...a Mother's Day card for my BFF!!  I had fun making the sentiment on this card too.  After searching my stash for the perfect stamp and/or embellishment and coming up empty I decided I could make my own.  I cut the shape from my Cricut (Once Upon a Princess Cart) and printed the sentiment from my computer.  The swirlydoo thingys are old rub-ons from Basic Grey.  Finally I topped it off with some glossy accent and pop dots.  Paper is also from Melody Ross.  Unity and Melody Ross teamed up and this image is now available as a stamp from Unity and it is on my wishlist (HINT HINT to the hubby)!  Thanks for stopping by my blog, have a wonderful day!

Believe

I have been loving the blue, green, pink & yellow color combo lately!  I made this card for the Unity KOM sketch challenge.  I adore sketches and of course my KOM so the combination of the two is amazing!  Here is my take on the sketch with stamps from the March 2011 KOM and papers by My Minds Eye.  Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day Love

I made this card last night for my mom on Mother's Day.  I was happy with how it came together.  I love this image from Unity's March KOM and have been wanting to use it since I saw the sneak peek of it!  The sentiment stamps are from several different KOM's, papers are from October Afternoon.  Thanks for taking a look!