S&S Sketch 41

I almost forgot to post my interpretation of last Sunday's Sketch Challenge from Stars & Stamps!  This challenge was provided by Shannon at Northern Girl Stamper.

My husband and I have never celebrated Valentine's day.  So my plan is to make cards for OWH that say "I love you" without catering to a specific day of the year. This sketch challenge seemed like a good place to start.

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Scarlet Letter" collection.  Stamp is from a $1 bin. Brads from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great time crafting!

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

Getting ready for colder weather

Today I went to my LSS's weekly Wednesday free crop with one goal:  to help shipper Dixie process OWH cards.  At the last minute I decided to take more than my tape gun and this is what happened.

The Stamps:  Hero Arts Sentiments & new Cling "Seasons" 

Ribbon & card stock: inexpensive and/or on sale

Ink: Staz-On Saddle Brown

Falling snow:  Uni-Ball White Gel Pen (best white pen in the universe)

Snow under the tree:  White Liquid Pearls

I'm trying to work myself up for Christmas cards but it just seems too early! I know for OWH, it's not too early at all, but we're still getting warm weather here so it's hard for me to get in the Christmas card mode. So this is my best shot at a "winter" card.

Side note:  I did managed to lend Shipper Dixie a hand with processing a few cards, too)

Thanks for stopping by!

Stars & Stamps Sunday Challenge #36

Wow!  I've actually completed a challenge the day it was issued and not right before it expired! Better yet, I'm excited I completed a weekly challenge!  Two in a row!  LOL

This week's S&S Sketch Challenge was provided by Paula.  You should definitely check out her handiwork at Handmade By Paula. Thank you, Paula, for the inspiration.

This is my take on the OWH sketch #36.  I need to practice my "stitching."  I've always loved how this looked, but I've never attempted it on anything until now.  My clock should have probably had "hands" but I couldn't decide what "time" I wanted it to be so I left it blank.  Perhaps a Hero will have a special time that they'd like to draw in themselves.

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey's "Granola"

Solid card stock: Bazzill

Clock Stamp: unknown

Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts (set CL184)

Finally, time for crafting!

I have at last been reunited with my craft supplies and boy did I enjoy last night at my LSS!  Not only was it fun to actually be playing with paper and ink, it was wonderful to spend time with some very funny and creative women.


This card will actually work for 2 challenges! This first challenge is the Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge #35. Thanks Renee for the sketch idea!

The second challenge is from In Style Stamps Blog. They hosted this challenge in honor of OWH's 2nd Birthday!

Here is my interpretation of the sketch. 

 Patterned paper: My Minds Eye So Sophie Collection, "Splendid Surroundings"

Card stock: Bazzill and inexpensive kraft paper
Sentiment: Borrowed from one of the funny, creative ladies

Bonjourno from Italy!

Hello fellow crafters!  This post is coming to you from the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Even though it has rained the last two days, its still quite lovely.

Our travels began in Rome. When we leave Amalfi we will continue back north to visit Florence before heading home.

At each of our stops, I've done what all of us crafters do and scouted to see if there was some sort of craft store.  Sadly, I've not found any so far.  Surely they are here, I just haven't found them yet. My husband did, however, find a working paper mill and museum in Amalfi.  The paper is still made by hand and sold to a variety of people, companies and Churches, all over Italy, including the Vatican.

Speaking of the Vatican, we were fortunate enough to take a private tour with a guide named, Serena.  Midway though our tour, we happened to cross paths with Serena's boss, Angelo.  He was giving a tour to another couple and said, "Hey, would you guys like a surprise?"  Of course we said "yes" so he proceeded to make a phone call and an employee of the Vatican showed up to usher us through a secured back gate to the Studio del Mosaico.  Here is where the Church's mosaics are restored and created. It was absolutely fascinating!

I'm off to my family blog to tell of the experience we had taking the cooking class from Mamma Agata.  I know my family can't wait for me to return and cook for them all that I've learned.  That post should be ready a little later today, so if you're interested, please feel free to to pop on over to Wendy's Party in a Box...

Ciao, Ciao for now!