Welcome to the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Weekend Bloghop! To start at the beginning of the hop, click here.

Did you know OWH has more than 120 cardmaking sketches? I created my card based on #12.


Thanks for visiting! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Hugs,

Welcome to the Operation Write Home Valentine Bloghop! What says love more than a delicious chocolate cupcake?
 


The Operation Write Home Christmas card deadline has passed, but you still have plenty of time to make Valentine's Day Cards! The postmark deadline is January 7th.

Please click HERE to vote for Operation Write Home to win a $50,000 donation in the Jo Ann Craft for a Cause contest! You can vote one time per 24 hours. The contest ends on December 4th.

Thanks for visiting! Comments are appreciated!


Hugs,
Joy

Please visit Jessica at Certainly Stamping next!

Happy Wednesday!

Last night I made a couple cards for the current inking challenge at the Hero Arts blog. I also used the sketch (#41) from the OperationWriteHome Stars and Stripes blog.

Here is the first card. I used markers to ink up the stamp and then sprayed it lightly with water before stamping.



Here is the 2nd card where I flipped the sketch on its side. I sprayed the stamp lightly with water again instead of reinking. The second stamping has more of a muted watercolor look.



Stamp(s): Hero Arts (CG170 Wildflower Garden, CG171 Blooming Meadow)
Ink(s): Tsukineko (VersaMark); Marvy (Markers)

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
Joy

Welcome to dustypenny designs! Thanks for joining me today for the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Weekend Bloghop! To start at the beginning, please visit OWH Stars & Stripes!

If you are not aware of OWH, the mission is simple: "Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." These brave men and women sacrifice so much. It is an honor to provide cards to help them stay in touch with their loved ones here at home.

For this hop we were challenged to create red, white, and blue cards with a "Miss You" theme. I have been doing more sewing recently and I knew right away that I wanted to use fabric.  Here are the cards I made to share with you today!


I stitched blocks (and then leftover scraps) of fabric together and cut the shapes out in my Cuttlebug. Next I stitched and/or glued the shapes directly to the card base and added the sentiments!

Stamp(s): Hero Arts (CL183 Sparkle Clear: Cute Letters)
Ink(s): Tsukineko (Tuxedo Black)
Paper(s): The Paper Company (Kraft); Wausau (White Cardstock); Scraps (Red)
Other: JoAnn Fabric (Assorted Fat Quarters); Sizzix (Clear Rectangle, Clear Heart, Hearts Tipsy); Stash (Brads)

Please send some of your handmade cards to OWH soon! They accept general cards (thinking of you, miss you, love, birthday, etc.) anytime! Or if you want to get in the holiday spirit early this year, the postmark deadlines for the fall holidays are: Halloween: Sept 20; Thanksgiving: Oct 1; and Christmas: Oct 30. You can find all the pertinent details HERE.

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,


Please continue your hop with Seongsook HERE.

I learned about OWH last year and sent in more than 400 cards. This year I am trying to go for 500 cards -- 200 down, only 300 more to go!  I really like that the mission of OWH is simple: "Supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." That is perfect for me since I love cardmaking. I am so happy to use my hobby to help heroes stay in touch with their families and friends at home.

Here is the card I made to share with you today! It is hard to tell from the photo, but this is a tag-shaped card! It opens up to reveal a message inside.

The two Hero Arts stamps I used were perfect for a springy card! The Hydrangea is just beautiful. It really makes a big impact when colored, cut out, and mounted to the card base with foam adhesive. I also shaped the leaves slighty to add to the dimension. If you look closely, the text background (very trendy right now) has the words "spring", "flowers", "blossoms", and more. Love that!


Stamp(s): Hero Arts (K5193 Flower Word Pattern, K5376 Hydrandgea)
Ink(s): Tsukineko (Tuxedo Black); Tsukineko (Rich Cocoa)
Paper(s): Neenah (Classic Crest Solar White); The Paper Cut (Fossil Folded Tag Card)
Other: Michael's (Ribbon); Copic (Assorted Markers); Sakura (Glitter Pen)

I challenge YOU to send some handmade cards to OWH soon! There is still time to send Mother's Day cards before the April 1 postmark deadline and you can send general cards (thinking of you, love, happy birthday, etc.) anytime! You can find all the pertinent details HERE.

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,


Please continue your hop at Hello From Kate.

 

This is what 200 cards look like! These will be getting mailed to OperationWriteHome.org very soon.



And here is Inspector Dusty making a final check:



Here are a couple of the cards (featuring Hero Arts stamps):





There is still time to sign up for Artist Class! You can read all about it at: dustypenny.blogspot.com/2009/10/exciting-news-artist-clas... Use the code dustypenny to get a $10 discount off the price of enrollment.

And how about another little freebie featuring a beautiful vintage butterfly image from Green Paper (*.png and *.jpg)?



Download (personal use only):
http://www.4shared.com/file/143141354/88003c31/dpd_ac_freebie02.html

Please join me for Artist Class! Thanks for looking!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

P.S. I am taking some very exciting crafting classes tomorrow! I'll post more details within a few days!

I made 30 cards to send to CardsforHeroes.org tonight. I love cardmaking and wanted to support this cause for awhile now. Archiver's has events for this sometimes, but I haven't been able to participate in those yet.

I decided to keep my designs pretty simple so I could finish them in one night. The first thing I did was run my letter size paper through the printer to add "Handmade by Joy in Carmel, IN" and the CardsforHeroes.com logo to the back. Then I cut and folded the papers and started punching, stamping (all Hero Arts!), coloring, and taping!



I made 20 of the cupcake cards. They all say Thinking of You and can be used for birthdays or other general occasions.

CL158 ClearDesign: Cupcakes
CL342 ClearDesign: Everyday Sayings (sentiments)
S5101 DesignBlock: Raindrop Background
S5213 Dots and Flowers



I also made 10 of the flower cards. The stamped images show up better in person.

CG108 Special Moments (flower)
CL182 ClearDesign: Tree, Birds And Messages (sentiment)

I'm really glad I did this tonight and hope to continue supporting CardsforHeroes.org in the future!

Thanks for looking!