OWH Sketch 106

It's time to get our Easter cards made and sent to the OWH shippers! Here is my interpretation of the latest sketch.

Colored cardstock: Bazzill
Ribbon: Making Memories
Sentiment and Egg stamps: The Stamps of Life
Pink ink: Rosebud by Color Box
Trimmer: EK Success

OWH Bling Challenge

The most recent OWH challenge was to make a card using bling without using glitter. Here are 2 colorful cards I made using clear and golden rhinestones. I used the "2 stamping" technique on the flower: the black outline is made with one stamp and the petals are made with another matching stamp. You will notice my dancing kitty made another appearance. This time I cut her dress out of patterned paper and attached it to her stamped image.

Patterned paper: Magenta
Plain cardstock: Bazzill
Circle dies: Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Flower stamps: The Stamps of Life
Ink: Dragonfly Black and Burnt Sienna by Color Box
Kitty stamp: Hero Arts
Rhinestones: Studio 18

OWH Sketch 105

Here is the card I made to match the most recent OWH Sketch. I really love my dancing kitty stamp!

Patterned Paper: Magenta
Colored Pen: "Victorian Rose" Uchida
Cardstock: Bazzill
Rubber Stamp:  Hero Arts
Dies: Nestabilities by Spellbinders

OWH Color Challenge

I loved this challenge! Which was to make a card using black and white with a 'punch' of one other color.
B&W together are simple and elegant. My little bird really pops on this one.

Patterned paper: Dark Gallery Swirl by Chatterbox
Sentiment stamp: Hero Arts
Nestled bird and branch dies: Memory Box

Organizing my craft space

OWH Stars & Stamps has a great tutorial about organizing space for paper crafting. I recently relocated from an entire dedicated paper crafting room to a 3-tiered shelf in our sun room and a work space of one-half of the kitchen table. My first order of business was to go through all of my "stuff" and organize everything into two piles: 1) things I don't like anymore and will never use, and 2) things I do like and will use. This purged loads of cardstock, stickers, embellishments, etc. A friend works with elementary school children and was happy to be the recipient of my unwanted stuff. As you can see, mine is a small operation.

One of my favorite ideas was stolen from my local LSS. I separate my scraps by color group in small drawers (to the right on the middle shelf). They are now accessible and easy to locate, so I use them more.

Here is a bead organizer I found at JoAnn's in the jewelry department. Perfect for my brads and eyelets.

I have a small collection of wooden-backed stamps that are stored in a drawer. I have lots more of the clear stamps stored in smaller drawers on the top shelf, left.

My latest finds were chosen for their fashionable appearance. These card-holders are actually recipe card holders that were bought on sale or for < $5. One is for blank cards awaiting a creative touch for OWH, one for cards I will use, and one for specialty cards that I keep on hand for inspiration.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Operation Write Home at CHA!!

Feeling better today and getting caught up. The Craft and Hobby Association is having it's trade show in Anaheim, California later this month. Check it out!   http://operationwritehome.org/CHA.html

Stopped in my Tracks

Yes, I caught the wretched cold Bill developed on the cruise. So for 2 days I've been drinking fluids, resting, taking cold medicine, sneezing, coughing, and feeling useless. Yuck! When I get well, making more cards will be my first priority.

Sammy & Me

Yesterday we returned from a heavenly cruise down the Mexican coast. We had a wonderful time and the ship didn't capsize, sink, or hit any underwater sandbars! Pictured is a female lion cub named Sammy and me playing for the photographer in Cabo San Lucas. There are MANY more photos; this is just one of my favorites. This has to be the most fun I have had in a while. Time stood still and I wasn't aware of my surroundings at all. Just spunky, hungry, Sammy (notice my fingers in her mouth!) Later, a man on the ship recognized me as the "lady with the cub" and was kind enough to share the photos he had taken of Sammy & me. Kindness and friendship abounds aboard a cruise ship. Especially when the ship doesn't hit anything.

Fun with Inchies

http://www.of-the-heart.com/

Inchies are so much fun! Choose some favorite PC and cut or punch into 1" squares, add tiny embellishments, put them all together and you have a fun card! These were created at my favorite LSS, Of the Heart. See link above.

Fun with Graphic 45

http://www.g45papers.com/

I tend to keep some of the cards I make at card classes as inspiration. Here are two I really like.

OWH Weekly Challenge

The challenge this week from the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog is to make a card using crafting gift(s) received for Christmas or an Any Occasion card for our heroes. I did receive gift cards for crafting supplies as a gift but have yet to use them. So, here's my try at an Any Occasion card.

Patterned Paper: K&Company
Black paper: Blackbird by Bazzill
Ribbon: Hero Arts
Owl stamp and sentiment: The Stamps of Life

OWH Sketch 102

Here is my example of the OWH Stars & Stamps Sketch 102. The patterned cardstock is from a vintage stack by K and Company. The flower is from the Boutique Fleur collection by Recollections.

Happy New Year!

Here's a photo of a SoCal celebration ringing in 2012. Blessings for the year ahead to all!

Cards for Valentine's Day

Here are some of the cards I created for Valentine's Day. When you make cards for OWH, it helps to be way ahead of an upcoming holiday!