A challenge complete on a Tuesday?

How is this possible? It seems I'm always last in the line up of pictures posted for the Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge!  LOL

This week's challenge was offered by Erica. It seems I'm still in a "gender neutral" frame of mind.  I'm finding it very hard to think about any holiday right now so perhaps I'll stick to general themed cards!  Those should be good anytime as box fillers.

Two, two, two challenges in one!

This week has been a busy one for me so today I combined last Sunday's OWH Sketch Challenge #39 with the OWH Midweek Throw Down to make a masculine card.  As a result, this is what shipper Dixie will be getting when I return to the real world --

I'm off to sit around the fire and enjoy the brisk, Virginia, Fall evening...

Oh Good Grief!

Have you ever had a card that would not come together no matter what you did?  This card gave me a fit!  It didn't seem to matter what direction I turned it, edge I inked or element I popped, it just wouldn't look right to me.  But I stuck with it and finally came up with something I'm not totally ashamed of...

I'm embarrassed to say how many silly hours this card took.  And this card is why I hate to cut pretty patterned paper.  I had to stick with it because I cut the newly purchased Basic Grey "Jovial" 6x6 paper pack and was determined to use every bit of the 2 sheets I butchered! (people who know me are probably laughing right now and I'm OK with that because I'm aware I have issues!)

I knew I wanted the snowman to be white but struggled with how to trim his arms so they would look right and not be so delicate. Finally, it dawned on me to stamp the image directly onto my background before placing the white cut out on top.  I simply eliminated his arms from the one stamped on white. 

Anyway, I'm very happy to be done with this wintery card set of only 9 and look forward to working on this week's S&S Sketch Challenge!  Have a great rest of the weekend!

Wendy

S&S Sketch Challenge #38

Hello fellow crafters!  I've recently returned from a family trip to Disney World and boy did we fun.  The weather was perfect, the lines were short and 9 of us survived working as a "group." 

Being blessed with the freedom and opportunity to enjoy such things in life makes me very thankful.  First and foremost I'm thankful to God for blessing my family with so very much.  But I'm also thankful for the Heroes that fight to protect our freedom every day.  

I decided to use this week's Stars & Stamp Sketch Challenge in two ways... one for the challenge and one for Any Hero letters.  The sketch was provided by Kimberlee.  She has some adorable cards on her blog, The Life of a Princess.

My interpretation is slightly different than the original sketch, but I think it works.  For variety, I made half the cards horizontal and the other half vertical.

 Card stock: Bazzill and inexpensive

Patterned Paper:  My Minds Eye "So Sophie" Collection
Stamp: Hero Arts CL184

Thanks for reading and happy crafting!

First OWH Christmas Card for 2010

At my LSS today, it was an Operation Write Home card crop day.  Having done a "wintery" card a couple of days ago, I decide today was the day to take the plunge and create the first Christmas card.  I didn't get to spend the entire day at the crop, so I was only able to make 9 of these, but I think they're pretty cute.  Simple, but cute.  I elected to leave the sentiment off hoping it may be more versatile as some people prefer Happy Holidays to Merry Christmas.

Card base: Georgia Pacific    Cream Colored & Kraft: Inexpensive

Red patterned paper: Double-sided paper from Creative Imaginations

Stamp:  Hero Arts Clear and Music Notes Cling

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy crafting this weekend!
Wendy