OWH Fourth of July Card Challenge Party!

There is a virtual cardmaking party going on over at Operation Write Home this weekend.  Every 2 hours they have another blog posting a challenge and since we have no plans today and it's almost 95 degrees outside I thought it'd be a great day to spend some time in the cool (actually very chilly) basement at my craft table and get some cards made for OWH!

This was the 2nd challenge posted today by Sheila over at 2 Paw Prints.  Her challenge was to make a card using a fishbowl.  How fun!!!  I cut the fishbowl out from my cricut using the Create A Critter cart at 3 3/4".  Aren't the fish just adorable, they are from Unity Stamp Company and I colored them with my copics and cut them out (just a wee bit of time).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  You can't tell from the photo but I used some transparent packaging to cover the fishbowl to make it look shiny like a glass fishbowl would be.

The second card I made today was actually for the 1st challenge posted.  Brenda at Brenda's Stamping Corner posted a challenge to use camouflage creatively.  Here is my take on creative camouflage!  All Stamps are Unity Stamps.  I used a white gel pen to accent the cake because it was hard to see the details of the stamp on the dark paper (camouflage at work for ya).  :)

Stay tuned for more cards from the challenge and have a Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

Alrighty, here is my 3rd card made for the 3rd challenge!  This challenge was posted by Tanya at Tinkerin In Ink and is a color challenge.  The challenge is called Tie a Yellow Ribbon and the colors to be used are yellow, white, peach and espresso (yellow ribbon not required).  I sat at my craft table stumped for a few minutes on this one.  Color challenges are usually tough for me, weird huh?  Well thankfully my craft block cleared up after just a couple of minutes (they can often last for days or even weeks).  I simply looked down at my pile of Unity stamps that I hadn't cleaned up from the last challenge and saw a kit on the top that had yet to be inked up and thought that I really should set a personal challenge to myself to use a yet unused stampset.  I just happened to pull out this particular stamp and "play" around with it to see if it could be a contender for this challenge.  I honestly thought while I was "inking" (used brush markers to color the stamp) the stamp up that it would probably turn out to be horrible and I'd have to scrap it.  Turned out I liked it, so yay, an idea was born!

The stamp is Unity (Just be you), the scalloped square is a Spellbinders die, the embossing folder is Cuttlebug.  I know there is a tiny bit of green in the card as well but otherwise I think it sticks to the color challenge very well!
Here is my card for challenge #16 All About Animals over at Mouse Print Creations.  I'm so not going in order here!  I do have the intention of playing along with all of the challenges and making a card for each but I know there is no way with all we've got going on this weekend that I'll get them done by tomorrow night.  Oh well, the important thing is that they all get sent to OWH for the soldiers!

This cute little stamp and sentiment are by Stampendous.  I colored it in with my copics and used glossy accents on the bubbles.

I only got 2 cards made today for the challenge but it was a beautiful 4th of July and we went out on the boat with my husbands family and then back to the in-laws for a BBQ.  Lots of fun!  It was my daughters first time out on the boat and she had a blast, especially when we dropped anchor and just played in the water!  But I diverge, back to the cards!
The first card is for the bears and hearts challenge #13 over at Scrappinbear's Studio.  I used my Cricut to cut the bear at 3 1/2" from the Baby Steps cart.  The heart is a stamp from Unity and I used some alphabet stamps to make the sentiment.  The paper is Sassafras Lass.

The second card I made today was for the 4th challenge What does Freedom mean to you? over at Our Little Inspirations.  All stamps are from Unity.

I've had a lot of fun with these challenges and will get them all done within the next few days (the house really doesn't need to be cleaned, right?)!  I know there's less than an hour left to link up to the challengers blogs to have them count but oh, well, it's been a great weekend!  Happy Birthday America!!!

Mickey Mouse and Pals

I love making kids cards for OWH, they're probably my favorite to make.  These were just some quick cards I made using some fun Mickey Mouse papers.  I love the comic strip paper and the contrast of the bright and cheerful characters!  I left them sentiment free so that they could be more readily used.

I made about 10 of these with different colored cardstock and slight variations.  The characters are "popped" up with dimensional tape.

Love cards for OWH

I've been working on getting some cards done to send to Operation Write Home and these are for their 2nd Million Challenge due June 30th.  I know they're kind of valentiney, can you tell I was using up some old papers!?!  The labels are cut from Spellbinders dies and the sentiments are Unity stamps heat embossed with white embossing powder.

Sweet Day

This might just be the simplest card I've ever made!  I needed some craft time tonight but wasn't feeling all that crafty (more like exhausted mama) so I was just playing around trying to get something made when this came about.  When I showed it to my husband he said he liked it of course (he's sweet and says that about everything I make) but he also said it looks professional!?!  I laughed at that cause it took me less than 5 minutes to make and he probably only said that because it's not covered in my usual assortment of buttons and ribbon with extra stuff everywhere.  :)  Sometimes simple is good.  The stamps are Unity and I colored them in with my copics and finished it off with a gem as the cherry on top, viola!  Made a few of these to send in my shipment to OWH at the end of the month.

Love ya for OWH

I made a few of these cards for OWH to include in the box that I'll be mailing before the end of the month.  The paper is Graphic 45 and I distressed the edges of the cream cardstock with TH's antique linen distress ink.  The sentiment is Unity and the heart flower stamp is Penny Black.  This is one of favorite sentiment stamps ever since I am always signing everything I send to my friends with Love ya and the font is very cute too!

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Sunny Summer Smiles from Snoopy

My 2 year old daughter loves Snoopy so I have a few Snoopy stamps laying around!  I made this card to send to the St. Jude's Childrens Hospital to hopefully bring a smile to a sick child's face.  I plan on making some more this evening for Operation Write Home.  The sentiment stamp is Unity.

Vintage thinking of you

A quick card I made this evening for Operation Write Home.  I needed a some craft time tonight after putting the kids to bed since both of them fought naps today and had meltdowns at our friends BBQ today.

The car stamp is from Technique Tuesday stamped with Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink.  The papers are My Mind's Eye.  I used my Cricut to cut the stars at 1 1/4" and tied some twine through a couple of buttons to finish it off.

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!