Using a digi I've had for ages...and a stamp set that hadn't seen any ink yet.

I've been trying to go through my supplies and trying to use things that haven't seen the light of day (or ink) yet and explore more OWH Sketches.  I found a digi in my box of "images" that I had printed out, but never got around to coloring or using on a card.  I think the size of "Cal, the California Cow" by Michelle Perkett Studios just intimidated me.  But I colored him up, cut him out, then matted him and put him on a tropical background and I think it worked out just fine.  I think he's so cute and now I'm sorry I used all 8 images I printed out.  I may have to print out some more and make them for next year.  I am afraid, this late in the summer, it's probably past time for summer images.  We are coming up on fall, winter and Christmas themes now so we can get them to our shippers.

One of the OWH card makers mentioned that the cards we make are full of love every step of the way.  Just think about it... the cards are made with love with our hands...then they are  sent to the shipper who handles them with love...then they are sent to the troops who pick out the card they love, write in them with love and send them home to loved ones who open them with love and read and re-read them with love...it just boggles the mind.  Just thinking about all the loving hands that have touched these cards every step of the way....YOU KNOW THEY ARE FULL OF LOVE.   I thought that was a pretty wonderful way to think about what I do.  Another Thank You for Sandy thinking up Operation Write Home.  <3




Anyway, here is Cal:

OWH Sketch #B22 (my variation)
DP - CTMH
Glossy Accents - sunglass lenses  (It's pretty subtle and I'm sorry it doesn't really show in the pic but, I know it's there.)
"Cal" the cow digi (2010) - Michelle Perkett Studio





And OWH can always use general themes like "missing you" and "love you", so here is one using a stamp set by Lawn Fawn that hadn't seen ink yet!  Virgin Acrylic!

OWH Sketch #29
DP Authentique
I believe the salmon pink card stock behind the postcard is CTMH, and it was stamped with the cancellation image from the Lawn Fawn set.
Sentiment and postcard - Lawn Fawn "You've Got Mail"
Memento ink - Tuxedo Black



Now, go out there and have a wonderful, creative day.  If you make cards too, I hope there is some inspiration here.  It always gives me inspiration to look at other peoples card shares too.  Thanks for stopping by.

Some more masculine cards...

Three cards that would be good for male recipients and a thank you.  I put these together for a card party yesterday at East Woods Presbyterian Church.  We had 9 ladies and we put together 311 cards and wrote several Any Hero letters too.  Enough to stuff a box to send to Sandy at OWH.  Woo Hoo!

OWH Sketch #61

Card stock - CTMH

DP - My Mind's Eye, Cowabunga "Oh So Very Cool"

Ink - CTMH Desert Sand

Sentiment - Stampin' Up "For the Birds" 

OWH Sketch #123

Card stock - CTMH

DP - Fancy Pants Designs "Little Sport"

Baseball hat cut out - Cross-My-Heart scrapbook embellishment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Sentiment - CTMH "Home Run" 

OWH Sketch #171

DP and Card stock from my 

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Sentiment - CTMH "Life's a Jungle"

Card stock and DP from my stash

Ink - SU Pacific Point

Sentiment - SU "Just Believe"

(I'm just loving using different sketches for card ideas.)

ODBD challenge. 50 or more a month and they sponsor shipping for a box of OWH cards! "Like!"

I posted this one last month, but this challenge was for any card with stitching on it so I think this fits the bill.

Sketches and challenges...

I've been meaning to enter some challenges and today I think I will do just that!

There was a MWT (Midweek throw down) on OWH of Masculine cards, so I whipped out a few.  Taking a sketch, or a theme or just matching papers gives me such inspiration.  Well, I'm having a blast anyway.  LOL  I hope you like them and let me know if there is a particular thing you really, really like, or a technique you love, or a paper, or color...because you know I will be using it for inspiration.  :)  Thanks for visiting.

This one is made with great masculine papers I had in a huge stack, but have lost the cover, so I don't remember who makes it.  It's nearly gone now.  *

OWH Sketch #02

Sentiment - CTMH "Sweet Talk"

Bakers twine and tag was from my stash

Ink - CTMH Pepperwood

OWH Sketch #04

Card stock from my stash

DP - KI Memories - Cody Playbook

Ribbon - American Crafts

Sentiment - TPC Studio "Reel Me In"

Ink - CTMH Pepperwood

OWH Sketch #12

Card stock from CTMH

Blue marbled paper from Blick Art Materials (Used to be Art Media)

Ink - Blues from CTMH, Black from Memento

Sea Theme stamps - Stampin' Up "Open Sea"

Sentiment - Inkadinkado "Travel Time"

Card stock - CTMH

Embossed with Cuttle Bug folder

Fabric paper (with little houses) -

DP - KI Memories Jack & Abby Neighbors, Self Adhesive Cloth "paper'

Sentiment - Hero Arts "Right at Home"

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These are card kits I made for our card parties at Ellen's house, or at East Woods Presbyterian Church.  We have another one on Monday, so I've been busy making some to take.

This darling little butterfly is a scrapbook cut out that came in a box of goodies Sandy sent home with me in May for our stamp group when I stopped by to drop off a box of cards for OWH.  I have a bunch of topiary bushes and flowers and kids baseball caps from that box too that are turning into cards too.  Thanks Sandy for the largesse.

OWH Sketch #01

Cart stock - my stash

Butterfly - MM's Designs  

Ink - CTMH Peach Whip

Memento - Black

This one I made with kids in mind and another cut out scrapbook embellishment (race car) from Sandy's box of goodies.  I had the chipboard popsicle and figured since it was summer now, it wouldn't hurt.  Stay cool!

Sentiment is from Penny Black and card stock and DP were in my stash.

I'm a little sad that it doesn't show it better in this picture, but the sheet of "paper" in the typewriter is a separate one cut out and slid in behind the typewriter bale and then popped up at the top with a little piece of dimensional tape.  I learned on a typewriter much like this, so it takes me back to high school and our lovely soft spoken teacher Miss Peterson.  Ahh, thanks for the memories Hero Arts stamps.  

OWH Sketch #01

Card stock and DP - Stampin' Up

Memento - Black ink

Tim Holtz - Tea Dye

Typewriter - Hero Arts "Thanks"

Sentiment - Hero Arts  "My Type"

* I found the info on the masculine paper I used on this one.  It's by DCWV "The GUY" Stack.  So many wonderful MAN pages to play with.  I'll be posting some more soon because I'm using up more of it.

Thankfulness and giving back...

Today I just wanted to say how much I cherish all my friends, and am just so happy to be living now where we have so much and have such instant communication with friends and loved ones. And it's so easy to keep up with folks these days with telephones and e-mails and all.  We are truly blessed.

Pete and I have been re-watching the series "Foyle's War", set in WWII England in a village on the coast and recounts daily life of a DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) in the local force. It's a fascinating look at how the war affected the folks back home from nightly bombing in London, to food and everything else rationing. And all the while the war was going on, crime was still going on as you would expect. 

But the thing that gets me is how we take for granted the every day things today. Need something at the store? Just pop in the car, drive there and buy it. What's for dinner? Anything you can imagine. And yet, in one scene in this series, at the station, they were raffling off a big beautiful onion. One of the officers remarked "I haven't seen one of these since last year"...and another scene when the female officer was offered an orange: "I haven't seen one of these since before the war." No wonder my mother always proudly had a bowl of oranges on the table in the winter for the holidays. I remember her telling me when she was little, their Christmas present was an orange in their stocking and a pair of new (used) shoes, if they were lucky.

Can you imagine? Just stop and think how much we have...it makes me hang my head. They walked practically everywhere, or rode a bike. No wonder no one had a weight problem. 

It's a wonderful series, but really makes me think of how much we have to be grateful for. I think this is a big part of why I make cards for OWH.  You can see in the eyes of the Mom who gets a card from her boy or girl, and how those few lines make her smile or tear up.  It's like having a piece of your child there in your hands.  It's just not the same to get an e-mail.  So I eagerly traipse off to my craft table (mess headquarters) and sling paper and stamps and ribbon.  It gives me a daily lift and I smile to myself when I think that maybe one of my little cards will go to a soldier, sailor, marine or airman and then get sent  back home to someone who will treasure it...and re-read it many times...and maybe even take it with them to bed to dream about their loved one far from home.  (Yeah, goose bumps.)

Tomorrow evening we are having another monthly meeting of our OWH card making group at Ellen's house and I'll be busy today making kits to make more cards to send.  But I wanted to share pics of my latest cards I'll be sending to OWH and some of the cards I made for Any Hero letters.  I made the one with the little bunny in the inner tube because last month there was a challenge to use water in a design.  Well, I didn't make the challenge, but it gave me inspiration for this card and the one with the duck running to the beach with his surf board.  He was headed towards the water, does that count?  Maybe I'll get to one of these challenges one of these days.  :)

Enjoy.

OWH Sketch #63.
Card stock from my stash.
B&T* paper - CTMH.
Red flowers - ink, stamp, punch - Stampin' Up.
Surf's Up stamp - Maui Cows (out of business now)
Seagrass stamp - Stamp Francisco
Sentiment - Rubber Soul

This one I made by laying down "stripes" of color from Tim Holtz Distressed Inks line on a white piece of card stock.  Then I matted it with some pink CTMH card stock I had in my stash.  I was inspired by cards with beach scenes from other crafty folks on the OWH FB page.  And I was thinking of water from the OBDB challenge last month.  Then I tore a strip of Kraft paper for the beach and stamped a portion of a sea shells stamp from Great Impressions.  The bunny in the inner tube is from Inky Antics.  He is colored with Copics and fussy cut out and popped up with dimensional take from My Precious  (double sided mounting tape from Scotch),  and the sentiment is from Circle of Honor by Paper Smooches.  I don't know about you, but beach scenes always make me go ahhhhh.



This is a set of cards I made that turned into Any Hero cards!  I had the eagles already stamped and I thought, hey, I'll make cards with these.  I'll take them to the meeting so we can write notes in them for our Heroes.

OWH Sketch #36

DP by Doodle Bug Designs

Words - Stampin' Up

Eagle - Paper Smooches

And of course, GOOGLIE EYES.

*B&T = background and texture paper.  Hereafter will be DP = design paper.