Operation Write Home -- Bloghop!

If you are not yet familiar with Operation Write Home, this awesome organization collects handmade greeting cards from crafters all over the United States and ships them to troops overseas for them to use to write to their families back home.


If this is your first stop in today's bloghop, please take the time to return to the start of the hop HERE.

Welcome! The new Kioshi line from Basic Grey has been calling my name since it arrived last week. The colors and patterns are perfect for spring! I used four different patterned papers as well as chipboard embellishments from the Kioshi Collection for this all-occasion card.

My reason for making cards for OWH is simple: I would love my husband to send me cards when he is deployed so I am sure that there are many other family members who feel the same way. I especially love to include Any Hero notes with each package as I want to do my part to make sure that every service member knows his/her sacrifice and devotion is very much appreciated.

Here's a picture of my hero and I from his commissioning ceremony a few years ago. He has proudly served our country for the past 13 years and is currently training away from home to prepare for an upcoming deployment. Love you!


Now time for some Blog Candy! These are a few of my favorite things--Tombo liquid glue, American Crafts envelops, brads, buttons, glazed brads, paper frills and chipboard!!! To enter to win, just leave a comment. Easy! If you follow the blog, leave a second comment and if you decide to become a Facebook Fan, leave yet another comment. The winner will be chosen using random.org on Monday!


If you'd like to help by making some cards of your own and sending them to OWH that would be great! Keep in mind that the deadline for Mother's Day cards is April 1--this is the date that they must reach the shipper.

Next up is Lori's Purple Giraffes. I LOVE Lori's card. She has included a step-by-step video demonstrating how she made her card. I need to learn a few techniques from Lori!

Happy Day

Finally! I had the chance to dive into one of the new paper packs from Cosmo Cricket. It was difficult to choose which collection to open first, but I finally decided to go with Joy Ride. This simple card was made using one of the Cut-Apart Element Cards, a thin strip of patterned paper and the coordinating Joy Ride Buttons. The felt ric-rac is by American Crafts and just happens to match perfectly!

Lemonade Card Kit

My love of the card kits from Basic Grey continues. Here's just one of the cute cards from the Lemonade Card Kit.



I have been so busy opening new wholesale accounts and ordering lots of new product for the store that I haven't had much time to complete any layouts of my own. I have at least 6 layouts near completion--most are just waiting for journaling. Hopefully I'll be able to steal some time for myself to finish the layouts soon!

Lime Rickey Card Kit

I absolutely LOVE the card kits that Basic Grey has added to their product line. For $15, the kit includes everything you need to complete 8 cards (plus envelopes and extras). The rub-on pack that came with the Lime Rickey card kit had so many extra rub-ons that I was able to add sentiments to the inside of most of my cards plus some cute images for other projects. You can purchase this card kit from my store HERE. The Wisteria card kit is also avaiable and the Lemonade card kit will be added to my store at the end of the week!

Memorial Day Bloghop 2009

Please take the time to start at the beginning of the Memorial Day Bloghop 2009 . There are over 100 blogs participating!!! Bloggers from all over the United States and abroad are posting a card and sharing why THEY chose to participate in honoring our nation's heroes. CFH's Mission: To support our nation’s armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them.

As soon as I heard about this weekend's bloghop, I knew that I HAD to participate. My husband has been serving this great nation for almost 12 years in the Navy...with many more years of service still in his future. During his last deployment, he was lucky enough to receive letters of encouragement and support from complete strangers. He still has these letters with other memorabilia from that deployment. It is only fair that I return the favor and make a card for another service member to show that we are supporting him/her back home. I plan to make supplies available at all of my future crops for my friends and fellow scrapbookers to make cards that I will then pass on to CFH.



Supplies used: Bazzill Basics (textured cardstock), Scenic Route (patterned paper, stickers, chipboard), Offray (ribbon), ColorBox (pigment ink), Fiskars (border punch)

Next up on the blog hop is Lucy's Cards. Lucy is from across the pond and she does absolutely beautiful work! Anyone would be lucky to receive a card from Lucy!

Thank You Card

My husband killed the camera battery again (we use the same battery for our DSLR and our digital video camera), but not before I was able to snap a few pictures of some of my projects.


I cut the flower pieces out of solid cardstock using my Cricut and then stamped the pattern on each petal. For me, this is thinking outside the box. I don't buy too many stamps mainly because I only see their obvious use. Women who sit down and create elaborate projects using their stamps in creative ways intimidate me. I now feel like I got my money's worth out of this oval shaped background pattern stamp having found two uses for it!

Supplies used: Bazzill Basics (textured cardstock, brad), Die Cuts With A View (patterned paper), Rubber Soul (stamp)

Happy Day

I issued a card challenge in my Meetup group and felt compelled to participate as well. It was a simple challenge: make a new card using ribbon. One of my good friends has a birthday coming up so I wanted to make her a card. Let's hope I remember to mail it to her...I am awful at mailing things on time.

Do you like the ruffled ribbon? Originally, I was going to staple it to create this look. However, two things bothered me: 1. I didn't want to see the staples on the inside of the card and 2. I would have to go find the stapler. Instead, I used my Xyron tape runner on the back of the ribbon and then folded the ribbon to make it look like this.


Supplies used: Memory Box (card), Inkadinkado (cupcake stamp), American Crafts (patterned paper, stripe ribbon), Stampin' Up (rub-ons), Ranger Ink (glitter glue)

You Make My Heart Sing

Here's my Valentine's Day card for my other son. This is such a girly holiday and for this reason, I think it is now my favorite! I have to keep this post short and sweet because it is time for me to go make strawberry pancakes for the boys and cut them into heart shapes. Yay!


Supplies used: *I have no idea who makes the red cardstock I used for the card--I've had it for years* K & Co. (patterned paper), Die Cuts With A View (patterned paper), Ranger (glitter glue)

My Little Cupcake

It's almost Valentine's Day and while this isn't much of a holiday, it's still a great excuse to make a few cards for the people that I love. This one is for my 3-year-old son. I figure that I don't have too many more years to enjoy being able to make sparkly pink cards for him.


Supplies used: Die Cuts With A View (card), Bazzill Basics (textured cardstock), K & Co. (patterned paper), Making Memories (metal clip), Ranger (glitter glue)

More In Stitch'z

My love affair with Bazzill In Stitch'z continues. This is another awful photo. That's what happens when my day is too busy to take the pictures by sunlight. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a chance to retake these past few photos so you can see what the projects really look like. I'm not holding my breath.

I love In Stitch'z. I cannot wait to use my two newest sets of templates--a birthday set and the circles template. Anyway, this is a very simple card using some cute, glittered paper. I am horrible at sending family and friends cards so one of my goals this year is to make up a bunch of all occasion cards to have on hand for next year. So, family & friends, look forward to cards in 2010!



Supplies used: Die Cuts With A View (card, patterned paper), Bazzill Basics (textured cardstock, In Stitch'z template), JoAnns (ribbon), DMC floss

Don't Let It Snow

Here's a sample of the cards I made for my parents to send out this year. All stamped images are from Close to My Heart. Originally they requested that the cards read, "Don't Let It Snow." I loved this idea since we are from California originally and not particularly fond of snow. However, my husband was convinced that people wouldn't understand that it was meant to be funny.

These cards took forever to make!!! I cut every piece by hand and then colored the snowman accessories and glittered everything. Next year they had better choose something that involves pre-made embellishments or shapes I can cut on my Cricut.

Photo Cards

This is the photo Christmas card (I made 75, not 1) that I made for one of this year's customers. She loves clean lines and nothing seasonal. Oddly, this always proves to be more challenging for me than I expect! Their family picture is adorable and inspired the color scheme. For me, designing a photo card around a specific picture is a breeze. I think it's because it's just like scrapbooking--only miniature.

More In Stitch'z

Here's a sample from my most recent card workshop. I'm just trying to share my love of the Bazzill In Stitch'z line!!!

Be Merry, Be Bright

'Tis the season of the Christmas card. I have three holiday card workshops on the horizon and I don't want to teach the same darn cards over and over again. Despite the illness that has taken down 3/4 of my household (everyone but me), I managed to entertain the little ones just long enough to make one card sample today. This card is not something to be sent through the USPS unless you want to pay extra for thickness (what an infuriating rule, by the way).

Supplies used: Die Cuts With A View (card, patterned paper, textured cardstock), Bazzill Basics (stocking template), Jo-ann Stores Inc. (ribbon), Hero Arts (acrylic stamp), Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. (snowflake), DMC (floss)

Two More Projects

Here are two more fun projects--one clothespin photo holder and one simple card design. I've made 10 of these Christmas cards for an upcoming holiday bazaar, but I love this desing for any occasion.

FYI--My sewing machine is finally up and running again. Expect to see lots of sewing in my upcoming posts. Not traditional sewing with fabric, of course. However, I do hope to finally use this sewing machine for fabric at least once before this year is over!

Halloween Cards II

After another productive scrapbooking crop here at my house, I have more cards to share! It seemed as though I could locate nothing that we needed in my craft room last night, so I chose to keep my cards simple so as not to overwhelm myself. Ha! Plus, there was the most adorable baby girl (we all love Shelby) who I just had to hold every time she made a peep.

Supplies used: Die Cuts with a View (cards), Bazzill (textured cardstock), Doodlebug Designs (patterned paper, rubber stamps), American Crafts (markers)

Scrap Paper Card

If you are anything like me, you have tons of scrap paper on hand at any given time. I'm usually pretty good about digging through my solid scraps when I need to cut something on my Cricut or need just a splash of color on a layout. My patterned paper scraps, on the other hand, sit neglected most of the time. This is a very simple card that I have made many times before using different patterned scraps to suit a variety of themes. This particular card is another sample for one of my upcoming card workshops. Everyone has scrap paper...I figured everyone should make this simple card so they can duplicate it at home to use up their stash of scraps too!

Upcoming Card Workshop

Lori and I are hosting a Card Workshop on September 18 through our Meetup group. I have all but one sample complete! Yay! Here is my interpretation of a card that is featured in one of my Bazzill idea books. I love everything Bazzill! Their In Stich'z line has inspired me to stitch a pattern or outline on just about everything.