Bloghop thank you...plus some introductions!

There are no words to thank everyone enough for the Memorial Day bloghop this past weekend! The creativity, the stories, the inspiration, the passion....the bloggers were amazing! And all of you hoppers—the comments left on the blogs have been so touching! Thank you for your kindness in sharing your encouragement!

"Introductions, please!"
We want to introduce our blog admin team for this S&S blog — these bios are also going to be posted on the "About the blog circle" page (link at right), as well as email links to send any of them a note. These ladies are incredibly dedicated to making this blog helpful to us all...they aren't responsible for creating the content, only for recruiting it from all of you, and posting it here! Please help them out whenever you're able...suggestions are welcome! Click on their names to see their blogs!

Karen: Sunday Sketches
Hi everyone! My name is Karen Howard and I'm the crazy voice behind the OWH Stars and Stamps Sunday Sketch Challenges. I'm honored to be creating cards for our nation's heroes and LOVE sharing my creative ideas with all of you! I started my creative blog, Feline Creative, in the fall of 2009 in order to share my creative projects with others and to participate in all the awesome OWH bloghops. I'm so glad I did because I love playing along in all the amazing challenges.







Kate: Tuesday Tutorials
Hi, I'm Kate, and I'm proud to be organizing the Tuesday Tutorials for OWH. My background is corporate training, and I am enjoying the opportunity to combine some of those skills with my favorite hobby to benefit an organization I really believe in. Opie, Mimi, and Tabby and I live just a few blocks from the runway at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. I've been stamping for about three years, and you can see some of my work over at hellofromkate.com.

Please let me know what you'd like to see in the tutorials, or if you'd like to be part of putting one together. I'm enjoying learning something every week. I hope everyone else is too.

Jan: Midweek Throwdowns
Hello from sunny Arizona, my name is Jan and I think I need a 12 step stamping recovery program! One of my passions in this life is rubber stamping and creating cards. I'm hopelessly addicted to rubber stamps, digi stamps, coloring, challenges, etc. If it has to do with card making... I'm in!


I've been crafting most of my life. My Mom taught me how to sew when I was a little girl, we spent countless hours together sewing clothing, mostly for me! My Grandma was also a seamstress and taught us how to knit and crochet (I failed at the crocheting part). My Grandfather's were wood workers with shops in their garages so I think I come by this craftiness pretty naturally!


I'm happy to be part of Operation Write Home and I'm excited to be working with the team doing the Midweek Throwdown challenges!


My Dad was a WWII veteran, I have an old scrapbook from the 1940's full of their photos, letters, Western Union telegrams and lots of memorabilia. Letters to and from our service people are one of the ways we keep our family legacies alive. That's why I'm here with Operation Write Home, to keep the legacy alive.

Sandy: Feature Fridays 
Mom to our mascot Ciara, shipper for the west coast, and chief cook and bottle washer for OWH, I keep busy wrangling stampers to feature each week! 


By day I'm a graphic designer, a field I've been in for, oh.....a lot of years! I've been creating things since I was a little kid - I've always been drawing things and playing with paper. (I did some stints with needles, threads, and yarns but that's passed!) I started doing a lot of cardmaking in the late 90s for a ministry I participated in, and when that ended, I needed another place to give away my overabundance of cards - our heroes are the perfect recipients!


I spend most of my spare time on OWH and crafting, and during downtime my favorite indulgence is some quality time with my Copic markers!




A special treat!

As a special treat—and to help us all go back to find "that blog with the thing that was so cute, you know the one..."—we've created this compilation of all the stops on the hop! You'll be able to view the thumbnail of a card that will remind you which tutorial you were looking for, or perhaps show you a sneak peek of a blog you missed so you can visit it.

The original start of the bloghop: click here.

Read more...

S&S Sketch Challenge #19

Welcome everyone!  If you are here for the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Weekend Bloghop... please scroll down to the next post.  Thanks for stopping by! 


Sketch Challenge #19
I'm sure many of you are busy bloghopping and having lots of fun reading all the inspiring posts.  In case you need a little extra inspiration to help out with all those amazing challenges, not to mention awesome free digital images, here is this week's sketch challenge. 

The awesome sample cards are provided by Karen M. To see more of her beautiful artwork, please visit her blog, Dreaming and Creating.  Thank you, Karen, for sharing these gorgeous sample cards!

To play along in this week's sketch challenge, simply upload a project using this week's sketch to your blog or online gallery then leave a direct link to your project using the Inlinkz widget at the bottom of this post. And remember, you may use this sketch at any time. Feel free to re-post the sketch on your blog along with your card… then come back and leave a link for us so we may all see your cards!

As always, we encourage everyone to take a few moments to visit and leave comments for the other participants. Comments are a wonderful way to say thank you for sharing your creative project and inspires everyone to create.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you join in the fun!


INLINKZ
To play along this week, please enter your name, URL and email address in the link below then press next step and select the photo of your creative project. An icon will appear on the blog featuring the photo you selected. If the photo doesn’t appear right away, don’t worry, it will after the page has been refreshed.

Read more...

Memorial Day Bloghop Starts HERE!

Welcome, welcome, welcome! We're so glad you're here! This promises to be a weekend filled with incredible inspiration, creativity, freebies, prizes....and so many more surprises along the way! Be sure to get yourself a cold beverage, send the kids to the neighbor's to play, and settle in for some bloghopping!

For those who are new to bloghops, this is an effort of bloggers across the internet to share their love for Operation Write Home's heroes—service members deployed abroad, sacrificing for their country....and we send them handmade cards to write home on! We've sent over 430,000 cards, and have impacted military families in ways we'll never know!

FREEBIES FOR YOU

This adorable digi was created by the Digi Doodle Shop and shared here with you for FREE this weekend only! To download it, click on the image to see the larger version, then right-click that one to save it to your hard drive. If you've never worked with digis before, we've got a digi tutorial to show you some tips on placing and moving around the image in Word. 

Note: Some of the digis you see today are only free this weekend; others are free to OWH cardmakers anytime. The anytime ones will be hosted on our DigiPage after the hop's done...but you might want to snag them all while you're hopping around!

This freebie has expired.  To purchase this adorable image, please visit the Digi Doodle Shop.  Thank you!

CARDS TO SHARE

The cards shared here today on this blog are from several different cardmakers...made with DigiDoodle's  free digi! Thanks to these talented ladies for sharing their talents here!

BLOG CANDY

What would a bloghop be without candy? We have a number of things to give away today! Please visit our sponsors by clicking on their links below or in the sidebar. We're so glad they joined in to participate! (You'll also see other companies along the way on the hop....ask your honey for a shopping budget for the day!) Enter by midnight May 31st!

1. The Digi Doodle Shop, in addition to sharing the adorable Stanley with us for the weekend, is offering a prize of a $10 gift certificate to their shop!
2. Imagine Stamps: Three winners will receive a clear stamp for the back of their OWH cards! (Generic, no personalization.) Winners will be chosen from those who use the word IMAGINE in their comment on this post so we know you actually need a stamp for your cards. (Lots of you already have one!)
   
3. 
   
   
   Simon Says Stamp has graciously provided a $25 gift certificate to a lucky winner!! Wahoo! 
4. 
   
   
   Elle's Studio is giving OWH this awesome kit full of paper tags to award to a randomly drawn winner..... And, they are giving away two digital downloads to another lucky winner! These digital downloads, shown at far right, are a “Print & Create Kit” – you print the items out, cut and create! The banner kit includes all the items you see pictured below. With this kit you can make your banner say “Happy 4th of July” and/or “Let Freedom Ring”. Also, don’t forget the matching goodie bags!  

So that means we have SEVEN prizes. And who knows, there may be more by the time the hop is done! Be sure to leave a comment on this post to qualify to win!

BLOGHOPPER TIPS

1. Comment! Leave some love for the bloggers who have worked so hard to make this hop a success. See if you can leave something more than "nice card" — we all love to hear specific feedback about our creations! 
2. If you get "lost" (ie if a blogger posts a broken link or forgets entirely), simply come back here and pick up where you left off. We'll be checking the links and trying to get repairs done, so don't worry about reporting errors....just move on and enjoy the blogs!
3. Keep a piece of paper handy to jot down ideas you want to go see again!
4. To comment on blogs, many need you to enter your email address, Google account, etc. Unfortunately it's not uniform, so we're unable to assist if you don't have such accounts. You might wish to set up a temporary free Google account (using a free Google address that you can check, rather than your regular one).
5. If you're entering for blog candy prizes and you do NOT have a blog (ie the person can't contact you by visiting your blog), you may wish to leave your email address in case you win. To cut down on spam, type it "name at server dot com" rather than "name@server.com".)
6. If you're inspired, the last stop on the hop, you'll have the chance to add your card link! Join in the fun!

BLOGGER REMINDERS:

1. Sometime today, please change your link to the "deep link" (the longer url you get when clicking on a title), so if someone posts something new, your blog still links to the bloghop post.
2. If you're offering blog candy and you can't find the winner, email bloghop@operationwritehome.org and we'll try to help you locate the person.

SPAMMER REMINDERS:

1. Just go away, okay? Thanks. That's all.

THE BLOGHOP LIST!

To get started hopping, click HERE! 

1. Start of the hop, Stars and Stamps
2. Holley, Holley's Hobbies
3. Kate, Hello From Kate
4. Melanie, Scrappily Ever After
5. Pat, PatQ Cards
6. Caryl, Stamps and Stitches
7. Betty , Simply Scrapping
8. Paula, Handmade By Paula
9. Sheri, Smiles for everyone!
10. Louise, Trinity Paper Arts
11. Sandy, A Colourful World
12. Eric, Broken Road Studio
13. Melanie, WinkWink Ink
14. Rhonda, Rhonda's Place to Share
15. Cheryl, Dont worry...be scrappi
16. Greta, Let a Little Sunshine In
17. Shelly, Create With Me
18. Jan, ArtFriendzy
19. Lauri, Paperville
20. Erica, Inked Up and Ready to Play
21. Megan, Megan Bean
22. Cathy, Monkeydreamz:Tales of a Paper Addict
23. Erika, Bekah Jo's World
24. Nancy, Scrap Happens!
25. Donna, Donna Inks
26. Teresa, Tilting At Windmills
27. Samantha , More Paper Please
28. Brenda, Rose Blossom Legacies
29. Barb, Paper Therapy Ponderings
30. Julie, Handmade by Julie
31. Dixie, What's Next?
32. Kristy, Jolley Scrapper
33. Gale, GEL-Oh
34. Debb, Forget Me Knot Nonsense
35. Stacy, Stacy's Stamps
36. Cindy, Papers Pads and Pictures
37. Karen, Lilacs and Lupines
38. Debi , Creating Cards D.M.Rice Artworks
39. Paula, Cut n Paste Memories
40. Tammy, My Craft Central
41. Lee, Stamping With Grandmalee
42. Jan, She's Gone Stampin...
43. Courtney, Back to the Drawing Board
44. Jeanine, Bucket List Stamper
45. Susan, SalonD'Arte
46. Lori, Paper Castles
47. Kimber, Whirlwind
48. Brittany, Levels of Light
49. Erin, Creating Something Every Day
50. Nina, Crafting in Croatia
51. Toni, The Digi Shack
52. Judy, Creating...my style
53. Anita , Cards and Coffee
54. Joy, Dustypenny Designs
55. Seongsook, Sea Garden
56. Darlene, It's an Inkin' Stampede
57. Marianne, Petunia's Paper Passion
58. Corinna, My Scrapbook LIfe
59. Nicolette, BeyondScrapin
60. Bethany, The Crap That Goes On In My Life
61. Tereza, My Treasured Creations
62. Yolanda, Imagine.Make.Share
63. Suz, Craftysuz Creates
64. Sharon , Created By You
65. Loni, Loni's Life
66. Jennifer, JAMSquared
67. Erika, Crafty Rika
68. Karrie, Sweet Paper Treats
69. Jay, Stampin' with Jaydee
70. Brenda, Brenda's Stamping Corner
71. Holly, InkPaperStamps
72. Jessica Lynn, Brentwood's Blog
73. Harriet , A Little This And A Lot Of That
74. Stephanie, SeaSteph's Creations
75. Melissa, Melissa's Moments
76. Dawn, The Chatty Stamper
77. OWH, Hero Blog
78. Susan, Pieces of Fate
79. Courtney, A Touch of Pink
80. Amy, Can't Wait to Create!
81. Linda, Nana's Notes
82. Susan, SMBdesign
83. Stephanie, SR Cards
84. Shelley, Shelley's Creations
85. Joscie, OHScrap!
86. Peggy, The Wired Angel
87. Brianne, Crazy, Beautiful Days
88. Christy, Lone Pine Designs
89. Melissa, The Profound Brunette
90. Vera, Ling's Design Studio
91. Dawn, My Stamping Thyme
92. Virginia, Scrappin' Along
93. Carisa, Lady Guinevere's Inky Faeries
94. Karen, Feline Creative
95. Jana, I Can't Wanna
96. Leslie, Tattered Scraps
97. Kristen, KAH-Wink-E-Dink Digi Stamps
98. Amy, Greetings!
99. JenMarie, Taylor~Made by JenMarie
100. Shelly, My Creative Rumblings
101. Bonnie Rose, A Life Unrehearsed
102. Heather, Stamptastic Creations
103. Monica, Little Bit of Life
104. Deborah, Thoughts of a Grasshopper
105. Kelly, Weekend Stamper
106. Barbara, The Love of Stamping
107. Melanie, Pockets Of Inspiration
108. Cindy, Cindy's Card Co.
109. Tereza, The Thrifty Scrapper
110. Tricia, Simply Stamping
111. Judy, Grammie Judy's
112. Nora, Merrie's Musings
113. Alexandria, Ready…Craft…Create!
114. Diane, 1CardCreator
115. Lisa, Welcome to My World
116. Christy, Wonderfully Complex Designs
117. Karen, Creating with Kajikit
118. Katlyn, Splashing Joy
119. Lelia, Green Goddess Creations
120. Diane, stampinldyglfr62
121. Kimme, The Life of a Princess
122. Ellen, Tinktime
123. Carolyn, P.M.S. etc...
124. Anita, Happy Paper Craft Happenings
125. Kathy, Pass It On
126. Joanne, Cardology, etc
127. Sherrie, Impressionable Art
128. Jennifer, Just Coffee Please
129. Erica, Creative but messy
130. Melissa, Melissa's Creative Space
131. Pamela, Pamela's World of Scrap
132. Linda, Payne Holler Cards
133. Amy, Amy's Creative Pursuits
134. Nicole, My Craft Room Creations
135. Christine, Christine's Crafting Capers
136. Susan, sbartist : painting in the dark
137. Claudia , Pretty Pressings
138. Amy, Amyspaperaddiction
139. Debby, Debby's Dare
140. Heather, We Grow By Our Dreams
141. Angela, Midnight Crafting
142. Kim, Tuesday Throwdown
143. Ayana, Ayana's Creations
144. Jackie, Creative Design by Jackie
145. Paula, The Paper Spa
146. Lindsey, Lindsey's Scraps
147. Homefront, Homefront blog

Read more...

Featured Cardmaker: Marianne C, Naches Wa

I started stamping about 15 years ago but just in the last 3 years have been doing it on a regular basis.

I am blessed to have a very messy craft room but started out with just a plastic shoebox at my kitchen table.

My favorite stamp product are my coloring tools, Copic, Prismacolor pencils and watercolors. I seem to collect a lot of pattern paper and ribbon so I know they must be a close second and third favorites.

My favorite technique right now is making flowers to add to my cards.
I am such a green lover it is work for me not to use green on my cards.

I had been praying how I could use my cardmaking in a ministry and one day I was blog hopping and saw the mention of Cards for Heroes. I knew this was the answer I was looking for.

When I first started making cards for our heroes it was just to make the cards. Since then I have come to realize the number of men and women who have been a part of my life that were in the armed services. I never really comprehended what my father gave up when he was in the army until I read a book about his company's battle on Iwo Jima. Now I have a deep respect for anyone that serves this great country of ours. And if I can thank them, touch their lives or give them a small piece of myself it is worth every card and letter I send.

Read more...

Please stand by

 

I'm working on the list right now - a bunch of last-minute adds, and a bunch I'm still trying to confirm with. (Never replied to my confirmation emails or comments on their blogs!)

If I'm not sure the blogger's still with us, I'm putting them after those who I'm positive will be around at the start of the hop - so we can get links changed if those folks couldn't participate and forgot to let me know. Sometimes they just don't email but participate anyway, so I'm trying to accomodate as many as I can!

If you're sure you'll be around and will be willing to change a link tomorrow or Sat, post a comment on this thread - that might help me order the list so we can avoid gaps in the hop chain.

Latecomers - we'll keep adding more at the end of the hop, just be patient with me!

I'm planning to email the list out in the next hour if I can get a few more tweaks made - stay tuned!!!

Read more...

Theme Challenge: You Light Up My Life

Where does the time go... here it is the end of the month again already!!!  This week we have another fabulous theme challenge lined up for, compliments of Tammy A.!  Before we present this week's theme challenge though, let's take a look at all the participants' cards from last weeks stash challenge. To see details about their cards or to visit their blogs… please click on their names in the original post. Many thanks to all who played along with us this week!

Theme Challenge: You Light Up My Life
Since we are so close to the OWH Memorial Day Bloghop we thought some of you might need a little help getting ready... so how about we light those pants on fire!!!

This week's theme challenge is sure to get your mojo flowing!  And if you haven't figured out the theme yet, well... I'll help you out!  This week's theme challenge is to create any card with the theme, "You Light Up My Life!"   And wait, that's not all.  We have a gorgeous sample card created by Tammy A to share with all of you!  To see more of Tammy's gorgeous artwork, please visit her blog, My Craft Central, and leave her lots of love!  Thank you, Tammy, for the awesome theme challenge and stunning sample card!!!

And here are a few more ideas from Tammy to get you started: Flames, Fireworks, Fire, Christmas lights, Lamps, Lighthouse, Sunlight, Moonlight... well, you get the idea!

And unless you want to be burning the midnight oil, you best get started!!!

To play along in this week's challenge, simply upload a project to your blog or online gallery then leave a direct link to your project in the Mister Linky widget at the bottom of this post. When a NEW challenge is posted next week, we'll include photos of the cards that used this challenge before then!

Thanks for stopping by and we hope you join in the fun!

A note for those who join us for multiple challenges; Be sure to copy the FULL url for the whole blog post to copy into Mister Linky. It automatically seems to remember the last card you entered the last time you used Mister Linky, and will link to the post with that card instead! To view the FULL url click on the post title or select the post in your archive.

Read more...

Tutorial - Paper Pansies

If you haven't visited Darlene's blog over at It's an Inkin' Stampede, you are missing some great posts. This week's technique is so beautiful I immediately wanted to feature it here. Darlene had already made the video, but for any of you who are unable to view it, I have captured some images and added brief instructions.

Start with a circle of cardstock with a hole punched in the center. Darlene used a 1-3/8" circle. You will also need two and a half cardstock butterflies. She is using a punch sold by Stampin' Up!

Divide the butterflies into halves, and trim two of the halves to make the two small side petals as shown. You can see from the arrangement there are two upper petals, two small side petals and one lower petal.

Use a sponge to add color to the inside edges of the petals. For the pictured petals, Darlene has added blue and purple ink. Neatness and uniformity aren't necessary. Every flower has its own individual flair. The video shows an option of adding glitter to the top two petals. I have omitted that step here, because we don't use glitter at OWH, for the safety of our heroes.

Using a bone folder and a foam pad (you can use a mouse pad) Darlene presses the outside edges of the side and lower petals to give them a fluted look. Then gently curves these petals up to give them a three dimensional look. The top two petals can be curved slightly back. (This is much easier to see on the video.)

Place a small piece of sticky strip or similar adhesive on the inside center edge of the back of each petal. After placing the first of the top two petals, place the second so that it overlaps the first by half. Then add the two small side petals. Notice in the picture you can see they are slightly curved.

Add the bottom petal and pinch or fluff the petals until they look the way you want them. Add the veins using the fine point end of a black marker. Finish with a yellow brad for the center.

Here's Darlene's video:

If you want to try this technique and you don't have a butterfly punch, be sure and visit the blog hop this weekend. I'll be giving away butterflies as blog candy on my blog hop post!


Visit Darlene's blog or leave a comment and let us know what you thought about today's tutorial. Also, if you have an idea for a tutorial, or would like to demonstrate a technique, please write us at challenges@operationwritehome.org. Thanks again, Darlene for sharing this technique with us!

Read more...

Bloghop!

Saturday we sent a bloghop confirmation email to all known blogger participants - if you did not get one (please check your spam folder!) then send an email to bloghop@operationwritehome.org.... We've missed people in the past, or have fallen into spam folders, so we're trying to have all that happen before the links start going out!

Read more...

S&S Sketch Challenge #18

We sure hope you are loving sketch challenges as much as we do.  This week's sketch and gorgeous sample card are provided by our very own Kate.  For those of you who haven't had a chance to meet her yet, Kate coordinates all our wonderful tutorials.  To see more of her beautiful artwork, please visit her blog, Hello From Kate.  Thank you, Kate, for the fabulous sketch and sample card!

To play along in this week's sketch challenge, simply upload a project using this week's sketch to your blog or online gallery then leave a direct link to your project using the Inlinkz widget at the bottom of this post.  And remember, you may use this sketch at any time. Feel free to re-post the sketch on your blog along with your card… then come back and leave a link for us so we may all see your cards!

We encourage everyone to take a few moments to visit and leave comments for the other participants. Comments are a wonderful way to say thank you for sharing your creative project as well as inspires everyone to create.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you join in the fun!


INLINKZ
To play along... please enter your name, URL and email address in the link below then press next step and select the photo of your creative project. An icon will appear on the blog featuring the photo you selected. If the photo doesn’t appear right away, don’t worry, it will after the page has been refreshed.

Read more...

Featured Cardmaker: Kathy P, White Lake MI

Finding Operation Write Home was like “coming home.” My best friend heard about Cards for Heroes, and, although she’s not a card maker, she knew I was. She pointed me in the right direction.

While I’ve made my own cards for years, I really got into rubber stamping when I retired and took a part-time job teaching classes at a local rubber stamp store. In card-making, I’m intrigued by what can be done with the “tools” (paper, inks, stamps, paints) so I’m really more of an “assemblage” person.

My “workroom” is half of the basement! It’s divided into quadrants. One for rubber stamping, paper arts and paint, one for glass bead making, one for fiber and fabric, and one for sculpting/clay. I’ve a large worktable so friends can gather and “create.” It’s not fancy but it sure does serve its purpose.

I confess to being a paperholic with racks of paper from all over the world; I can’t resist. And I collect all sorts of embellishments that appeal to me (even bits of beach glass, discarded keys, twigs, postage stamps) so when inspiration strikes, I’m prepared. I’m currently having a love affair with pearls, bling and ribbons. Never do I pass up the “discount” section of a craft store!




Different techniques appeal to me at different times. I like to learn new ones because you never know when you’ll be inspired to use them. Since I’ve begun to make cards for OWH, I’m really conscious of the materials I use so that our military heroes aren’t adversely impacted by the product (I avoid glitter, pearlized powders, and even limit my use of glittler-glue).






I always believed that we, who are so blessed, have an obligation to “give back”. OWH is a great way for me to do this and put my talents (and all that paper) to good use at the same time. My father was in the Navy. Family members and friends have been (or are) currently serving in the military. It sounds like a cliché, but “I’m proud to be an American”; and, supporting the men and women who have chosen to serve our country is one of my ways of “giving back.”

Read more...

Stash Challenge: Stars

Hi everyone!  Hope you are having a great week so far!  We have a super fun midweek challenge for you but before we present the midweek throwdown, let's take a look at all the participants' cards from last week's digital challenge.  To see details about their cards or to visit their blogs… please click on their names in the original post. Many thanks to all who played along with us this week!

And now for the 3 winners of the digi stamps from Wink Wink Ink!!  Yolanda D., Marianne, & Christy!!  Congratulations ladies we'll be in contact with you soon!

Stash Challenge: Stars
This week we have a super fun challenge for you, lots of great samples as well as tons of ideas to get your mojo going!  It occurred to me the other day that we've been hanging out on the Stars and Stamps blog for four months now and haven't yet honored our blog name.  So, what better way to do so than to spend time stamping with our favorite stars!!!   


Figuratively speaking, that is!!!  This week's stash challenge is to create any card using STARS!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Use patterned paper with stars.
• Create you own patterned paper using a star stamp.
• Punch out stars as embellishments.
• Cut out a large star to use as a background layer (something like the Cricut might work for this).
• Stamp any image that has stars in it.
• Use brads or other embellishments shaped like stars.

If you have other ideas of how to add STARS to your card creation, please leave a comment at the end of this post and while you are at it, let us know what STAR you would love to spend time stamping with!!!

Before you run off though, you have to check out these amazing cards created by Debi Rice.  Debi used this printable star template to create the stars on each of her cards.

On this first card, Debi used blue background paper then layered red and white stripes vertically.  The burgandy ribbon slips under the colored stars, and is glued down.

The blue star on this next card has an envelope created with a star.... it opens and inside, there is a note card to write on. 

Debi has a tutorial on her blog showing how to create the envelope and star so be sure to stop by her blog, Creating Cards On A Budget, to check it out.

And in case that is not enough inspiration for you, here is one more awesome card created by Debi!  Thank you Debi, for the beautiful sample cards, star template and tutorial.

To play along in this week's stash challenge, simply upload a project to your blog or online gallery then leave a direct link to your project in the Mister Linky widget at the bottom of this post.  When a NEW challenge is posted next week, we'll include photos of the cards that used this challenge before then!

We'll also select one of the participant's to create a sample card for next month's stash challenge.  To be considered though, please make sure to include your email address in your blog profile or somewhere on your blog so we are able to contact you.

Thanks for stopping by and we hope you join in the fun!

A note for those who join us for multiple challenges; Be sure to copy the FULL url for the whole blog post to copy into Mister Linky. It automatically seems to remember the last card you entered the last time you used Mister Linky, and will link to the post with that card instead! To view the FULL url click on the post title or select the post in your archive.

Read more...

Masking 101

When painting around a window, we use masking tape to keep the paint from getting on the glass. Just like that tape, in card making the term"masking" describes covering one part of the card to keep from stamping or inking on it. In future tutorials we will demonstrate more advanced masking techniques. For today we will introduce the basics.

Here are two cards on which I combined masking with sponging to create a moon.

I punched a 1-1/4" circle out of the sticky part of a post-it pad. I like to use a sticky-note pad for masking, because it is easy to reposition without leaving a mark on your cardstock.



On the first card I'm using the circle that I punched out. After sticking it to the cardstock I sponged all around the circle with pumpkin pie ink. In this card the un-inked circle is the moon.

On the second card I used the hole the circle came out of. After sticking it to my cardstock I sponged inside the hole with white craft ink. On this card the inked circle is the moon.

To illustrate masking with a stamped image, Julie captured these steps for us. Thanks, Julie!

First, on her white cardstock background, she stamped a frame for her sentiment.

She stamped a second frame on a sticky note (colored yellow for easy visibility) and punched or cut it out to cover the stamped frame.

After covering the stamped frame, she stamped the entire card with a floral background stamp.

The mask is removed to reveal the un-inked space for her sentiment.

Add sentiment and color, and what a pretty card!


Please leave a comment or send an email to challenges@operationwritehome.org to give us feedback or suggestions for future tutorials. If you would like to submit a tutorial, or provide photos for a specific technique, please include that information as well.

Read more...