Cards for Mexico and Spain

A dear friend lives in Mexico City and my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter have relocated to Spain for a year. So I am making cards with Spanish sentiments.

Here is a recent card per Ana's request:

CS & DSP: Stampin' Up

Oval dies: Sizziz

Banner die: "Classic Ribbons" by poppystamps

Image Stamp: "Wetlands" by Stampin' Up
Sentiment: "Spanish Loving Messages" by Stampendous
Ink: "Coastal Cabana" by Stampin' Up

June ODBD Challenge: Miss You cards

Well, the Operation Write Home crew has almost completed their mission and the final cards for our deployed military are due before August 1st. My box is getting full, but before I seal and send her, I want to join the current Our Daily Bread Designs challenge. If we post 50 cards with a 'I miss you' or like sentiment by the end of the month, ODBD will sponsor 2 full boxes of cards sent overseas.
So here is mine:

Patterned Paper & Aqua CS: Stampin up
Sentiment: Digital stamp from stash
Banner Dies: Sizzix
Clock Stamp: 'Time Capsule' by Fun Stampers Journey
Ink: Memento 'Tuxedo Black'

Stars & Stamps Sketch #254

Operation Write Home has challenged us card makers with another great sketch. This one caught my eye and I decided to try it out today.
Happy Mother's Day to all you busy mom's and grandma's. Our son moved across the world to Spain last week :(   Thank goodness for Skype!

I

Now that I see it, I think the card would have been better with a narrow frame of black around the embossed part. I'll just make more!

CS & Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up

Circle, Scalloped dies: Sizzix

EF: Cuttlebug

Banner die: "Classic Ribbons" by Poppy Stamps

Sentiment: Inkadinkado

Ink: "Crisp Cantaloupe" by Stampin' Up

ODBD March Challenge

This month Our Daily Bread Designs has again offered to sponsor up to two boxes of cards sent by Operation Write Home to our deployed military. The challenge is to use a sentiment as the focus of the card. I located odds-and-ends in my paper crafting stash and came up with this design.

A long time ago I learned the fun technique of using several "thank you" stamps in a rectangle on an acrylic block as one unique stamp. I used a variety of stamps from multiple stamp sets and stamped a few sentiments for later use. I found this one in my sentiment box, used patterned paper from my card-sized paper box, added a couple of flourish dies by Sizzix and voila!

Simple Sketch and No Patterned Paper

This was a fun card to make and is entered in two challenges.

Embossing Folder and Image: 'Flowers and Vines Set' by Sizzix and Hero Arts

Green Ink: 'Old Olive' by Stampin' Up!

Sentiment: The Stamps of Life

Embossing at Sentiment Tag: 'Birch Background' by Our Daily Bread Designs and Versamark

CS: my stash

Challenges:

Shopping Our Stash #104: No Patterned Paper

Unscripted Sketches #213

One Sheet Wonder

Thank you, Seongsook, for sharing this tutorial with Operation Write Home!! I couldn't wait to try it and here is the result. First, I located one of my all-time favorite double-sided patterned 12x12 papers that I had "saved" in my special place for at least a couple of years. I made a small mistake cutting it out, but was still able to make 8 cards. I found coordinating paper at my LSS, Of the Heart, and put everything together today. What fun!

DP: "Hibiscus Heaven" from the Tropical Travelogue Collection by Graphic 45

CS: Bazzill ("Parakeet" Green and "Burning Ember" Dark Red)

Bold Scroll Die: Sizzix

Fine Scroll Die: "Macarena Corner" by Memory Box

Border Die: "Savannah Border" by Memory Box

Pre-colored Flower Digital Stamp: September Blue

OWH Design Bootcamp: Basic Color Theory

The Stars and Stamps blog by Operation Write Home has a great tutorial about color theory along with  amazing card samples. These samples exemplify monochromatic, analogous, and complementary color combinations. My card is monochromatic and CAS. I thought about adding pink flowers or a butterfly, then decided to dry emboss the DP and leave as is. The subtle design of the paper and pretty ribbon work for me. This card will also be entered into the Shopping Our Stash Challenge 86: Use Your Oldest Ribbon and The Cheerful Stamp Pad Challenge # 52: Tickled Pink.

And I would be 'tickled pink' if you would be so kind as to take a minute and Join my site! Thank you.

Ribbon: "Holiday Time" Fabric Ribbon from Wal-Mart (never used, very old, it was most likely on sale)
Embossing Folder: Sizzix/Hero Arts and Cuttlebug
Brad: my stash
DP: my stash
Pink CS: Bazzill

Memorial Weekend Sketch #123

Our hearts are with those who have lost loved ones in past and current conflicts. Our family has been blessed with many brave members of the military from the killing fields of the Civil War to the brutal battles in Viet Nam.
When I think about the losses our nation has known, I am both saddened and proud of our heroes. May each one lost rest in peace.

I followed the sketch closely and am happy with the results. All DP is from the "Tigerlilly" collection by KaiserCraft, die cut flourish by Sizzix, the sentiment from The Stamps of Life.
Thank you for visiting!

Stars & Stamps Midweek Challenge

This is my brown and turquoise card for today's color challenge at the Stars & Stamps blog over at Operation Write Home.
The turquoise color is much lighter in person. I used a Martha Stewart punch, a Sizzix die for the embellishment (Flourish #11), and DP from the Renaissance Faire collection by Graphic45.

My 'Muscle Cards" are ready for sending and my
Father's Day cards are done for the year. Yay!