The Return of "Friday Night Writes"

Hi, everyone! When I first started blogging about my adventures in card making, I was working full time. So, I decided to post twice weekly -- on Fridays and on Mondays. This gave me the opportunity to share whatever I had worked on during the week and the weekend.

Retirement me finds myself struggling with balancing crafting and posting. So, I am going to relaunch my "Friday Night Writes" and "Monday Musings". That said, welcome to the first edition of the rebirth of "Friday Night Writes"!

#grateful

A Favorite Island View

Well, I'm back on the island again. And, today has been such a wonderful day.

The morning began reading a wonderful novel for an hour or so down at the beach. Then hubby and I walked the beach and went out for a quick lunch. The afternoon included a post-lunch nap and settling in on the couch to watch a little of the Masters.

I've recently been thinking of the song "Something Good" from the Sound of Music when Maria wonders what she's done to experience such happiness. I wonder the same thing. The one thing I know for sure is that I'm so very grateful.

Card #1: Child's Play

My first card was inspired by the current Cards In Envy Child's Play challenge and by a card made by Lin at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center at an Operation Write Home card-making party. When I first saw the CIE challenge, I immediately knew the card I wanted to CASE!

For my version, I decided to use different shades of pink, embossing my circles to create visual interest and texture. The wave at the bottom of the card was based upon the shape of the Word Art text, using a bendable ruler to replicate the shape for the card's layers.



Distress Ink core; Stampin' Up! gray
Sizzix and Cuttlebug embossing folders
Paper Shapers and Marvy circle punches
SU owl builder punch (for tiny hearts and gray circles)
My Favorite Things television dies (for antennae)
Darice googly eyes; SU baker's twine
computer-generated (Word Art) sentiment
adhesives: Scotch ATG, Glossy Accents, micro Glue Dots, Zig 2-way glue pen

Card #2: thanks so much

My second card was inspired by the current Mojo Monday Sketch. I've started playing along with the Mojo Monday Sketches to force myself experiment with more layers and embellishments than I typically use.  Think I'll also link this up to the current Simon Says Stamps Wednesday blog's April-Showers-Spring-Flowers Challenge.  :)

The Paper Smooches sentiment was masked off using sticky notes to stamp on two lines. I just don't have the heart to cut the sentiment in half.

MME breeze; Stampin' Up! grays; Recollections black; Cardstock Warehouse white
Paper Smooches sentiment from natural beauties in Distress Ink black soot
SU petite petals image in DI black soot on DI mustard seed
punches: SU petite petals; Paper Shaper & Marvy circle punches
SU baker's twine; adhesives: Scotch ATG, Scrapbbok Adhesives foam squares
 

Parting Thoughts

My thanks to Leslie and the Shopping Our Stash gals for teaming up with our The Earth Has Music Challenge at Words 2 Scrap By. You have until Monday night to link up a card for SOS #196 and until April 21 to link up a card -- maybe the same card -- to W2SB #16. 

 

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!  Have a lovely weekend.  See you at Operation Write Home's Stars & Stamps blog tomorrow and back here on Monday  :)

Jar of Hearts

Hi, everyone! Two posts in one night! AMAZING!!!

This second card was inspired by the current Mojo Monday sketch and a desire to make a love card that a hero could send home to his or her mom. This Paper Smooches canning jar image seemed perfect for both.  :)

Bo Bunny 12" x 12" back-to-back crazy love; Crate Paper rose garden (neutral)
Paper Smooches crystal clear image in Distress Ink walnut stain
("Ball" heat embossed with versamark in American Crafts Zing clear embossing powder
computer-generated sentiment
Paper Shaper and Marvy circle punches
Stampin' Up! owl builder (for tiny heart), small heart punches, and bitty banner punches
Fiskars border punch; SU cherry cobbler baker's twine
adhesives: Scotch ATG, micro Glue Dots, Recollections foam square
 

Hubby gave his approval, which surprised me because it is fussier and busier than my typical card. I am really thrilled with the Ball Jar itself.

And, since this is an OWH card, I added a little something to the inside.

Think I need to make a few more of these for OWH. I'm going to keep the basic layout, but need to replace the papers. Seems like these  have been in my stash for so long that I don't have many of them. Just happy to have found a good use for my 12" by 12" stash.

 In addition to Mojo Monday, I'm going to link this up to the following challenges:

• the Shopping Our Stash love-me-do challenge,
• the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog anything goes challenge,
• the Simon Says Stamp Monday blog letter H challenge -- with my H standing for hearts, and
• the Cards In Envy hearts-all-a-flutter challenge.

Parting Thoughts

Hope to carve out some crafting time tomorrow afternoon.

February Challenge
Feb. 1 - Feb. 21

We have a new challenge going on at Words 2 Scrap By. This month's challenge to do something different draws its inspiration from a few lines from the Bill Murray Groundhog Day movie. Hope you will be able to play along.

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

To Mother

Hi, everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start.

Happy 4th Anniversary, Paper Smooches!

 

Paper Smooches Blog

 

Before I get to today's card, I'd like to give a shout out to Kim and her amazing Paper Smooches team. Paper Smooches is celebrating its 4th Anniversary.

Not only is Kim an amazingly talented artist, but her customer service is second to none! I'm actually waiting for a PS order to arrive... and I can hardly wait! But, thanks to Kim, I won't be waiting long.

To Mother

In Operation Write Home world, the calendar reads Easter and Mother's Day, with upcoming deadlines of February 28 and March 31, respectively. So, I have a mom card to share today. 

How appropriate that today's card features PS stamped images, along with Stampin' Up!, Ranger, Really Reasonable Ribbon, American Crafts, Bazzil, and Martha Stewart products.

American Crafts peachy keen; Bazzil basics paper (cream); Stampin' Up! early espresso
Paper Smooches crystal clear and botannicals 2 stamps
SU postcard background, postage collection, festival of trees, and 2000 wreath of roses stamps
SU postage stamp punch; Martha Stewart butterfly punch
various Distress Inks, including bundled sage and Victorian velvet
Really Reasonable Ribbon lace and stash heart-shaped gems
Zig chocolate writer-marker; Ranger distress and blending tools
adhesives: Scotch ATG and Glue Dots microdots
 

Wow! That's quite a list of supplies! Reminds me of hubby looking around the menopause room and commenting on how much stuff I have in here. LOL -- if he only knew.  :)

The postcard background stamp could probably be trimmed and sent as an actual postcard. However, I made this as a card for an OWH hero to send to a mom. So, I chose to trim down the card size just a tad and make it a traditional card to allow for more writing space.

Planning on entering the card above in the following challenges. Would also like to enter in the current Shopping Our Stash love challenge. But, even though butterflies, flowers, and hearts are my way of sending love to a mom, I just don't feel right linking it up there.

• Simon Says Stamp's current Wednesday blog challenge is an Anything Goes challenge.
• Simon Says Stamp's current Monday blog challenge is to make a card associated with the letter H. For my card, H stands for heart-shaped gems.
• The current Cards in Envy challenge asks for two or more hearts. Since there are 8 heart-shaped gems on this card, I'm really hoping this card counts. :)
• While the Word Art Wednesday challenge blog offers digital word-art-scripture sentiments, the team also encourages crafters to link up cards/projects with uplifting, positive messages. Again, I'm hoping this card counts for the current Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes challenge.

Parting Thoughts

Gotta work on more mom cards. Hope to have another card or two to post in the next couple of days.

February Challenge
Feb. 1 - Feb. 21

We have a new challenge going on at Words 2 Scrap By. This month's challenge to do something different draws its inspiration from a few lines from the Bill Murray Groundhog Day movie. Hope you will be able to play along.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Be My Valentine

Hi, everyone! I have a Valentine card to share. But before that....

A Funny Thing Happened...

 

... while working on today's to-do list. I was in the family room while hubby was on the phone in the dining room. I kept hearing "Customer Service Representative" from the other room -- followed by a groan after the third time. Realizing that he was experiencing one of those not-getting-anywhere-phone-prompt situations, I couldn't help but chuckle. Then the chuckle turned in to outright laughter when hubby came into the family room, looked at me as seriously as possible and said, "I hope there's a survey!" I laughed and laughed and laughed. You see, he gets pretty frustrated by these things... and it really can be pretty amusing.

 

However, that got me thinking about other life situations to which the line "I hope there's a survey" would apply. So many possibilities came to mind. And, then I realized that this statement might actually sum up the entire life experience. I couldn't help but see a vision of hubby standing before the pearly gates and saying, "I hope there's a survey."  :)

 

Today's Card

Had a wonderful time last night with our No-Stamp-Stamp Club -- meeting with our fabulous Stampin' Up! demonstrator Bernadette via computer. And, Bernadette gets all the credit for today's card. I was merely the tape-it-together gal. This one is CASE all the way!



All SU Products!

All SU Products!

Since this has a glittery non-OWH-friendly heart, it's going to be hubby's Valentine card. As this close-up shows, it has a cool accordion fold, for which the directions are given below.

So, I'm already thinking of ways this could be adapted to make birthday and Mother's Day cards for Operation Write Home. Balloons and flowers, anyone? Think I would need to eliminate a couple of folds to cut down on bulkiness and tape paper to the back side to add extra writing space for those notes home.

Instructions for Accordion Fold Heart Card

Thanks again, Bernadette! Think I'll link this up for the current Simon Says Stamp "have a heart" challenge.

Parting Thoughts

It's going to be a big weekend in Columbus -- the NHL All-Star Game is being held, with lots of fun family activities surrounding the event, and the Ohio State championship celebration is being held in the Shoe. Hope we have great weather for all our hockey visitors and loyal Buckeye supporters. Cold and sunny would be perfect for the snow slide on Nationwide Arena.  :)

I'll be back in a day or so with the W2SB winner. Thanks to everyone who joined in our January challenge.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Righty-Tighty...

Hi, everyone!

I'm here tonight with a Dad card... even though I really need to be focusing on Mom cards for Operation Write Home's March 31 Mother's Day deadline. But, my new Stampin' Up! guy greetings stamp set arrived yesterday, and I just couldn't resist the temptation to ink up some of these stamps.  :)

Distress Ink core paper; Recollections black; watercolor paper
SU guy greetings and banner blast (for background stars) in StazOn jet black
various Distress Inks applied with SU daubers
American Crafts Zing clear embossing powder
SU stripe stencil, Tim Holtz CREATE 2014 stencil by Stampers Anonymous
SU brads; Recollections foam square adhesives

Recollections black; stash cream/ecru
SU guy greetings in Distress Ink black soot and vintage photo
 

Close-Up of Backgrounds

• The backgrounds on the card's front were created using SU guy greeting and banner blast stamps in StazOn black on watercolor paper.
• Then, Distress Inks were applied using SU daubers and several different stencils. (I used StazOn for this first stage because I wasn't sure if I any water when applying the Distress Inks. As it turned out, I didn't... but better safe than sorry.)
• The sentiment on the card's front is stamped in DI black soot, and "FATHER" is heat embossed using American Crafts ZING clear powder.

Guess this one turned out okay. It received hubby's stamp of approval!

I'm going to link this up for:

• Operation Write Home's current mid-month thank-you challenge,
• Simon Says Stamp's current Monday inky-background challenge, and
• Simon Says Stamp's current Wednesday guy-card challenge.

Parting Thoughts

As much as I love this SU guy stamp set, I'm going to force myself to set it aside to work on my Mother's Day box of cards for OWH.

A quick reminder that our current social-media challenge at Words 2 Scrap By runs through Wednesday. Hope you'll join us!

It's going to be cold here tomorrow. Sounds like a great day to hang out in the menopause room while watching some NFL football.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Little Dab Will Do Ya

Hi, everyone! Hope the week has been a good one so far.

During Oprah's heyday, she convinced a lot of us to take the Simple Abundance journey with her and book author Sarah Ban Breathnach. I went along on the journey, and found it to be a rather enlightening path. I've even made periodic return trips over the years. Now that I'm embarking on this new path called retirement, it seemed like a good idea to revisit this journey in earnest.

So, I went out today in search of a new "gratitude" journal. Nothing was speaking to me until I found the journal pictured at the right. Since I'm in my CREATE (craft-read-exercise-assist-travel-embrace) phase of defining this new life, I was drawn to the words on this pretty cover. Planning on starting tomorrow by reading the day's reflection and making the first entry in this lovely journal.

Now for today's cards. Yep, cards! I have two creations to share -- both of which involved starts and restarts.  :)

A Dab (or Two or Three...) of Distress Inks

The current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge is to make something that has an inky background. So, I used Distress Inks and a couple of stencils to change two plain white sheets of paper into some nifty patterns, if I do say so myself. 

Distress Ink core paper (spun sugar);  Recollections white and black cardstock
Distress Inks scattered straw, peacock feathers, spun sugar
Distress Inks applied with Ranger blending tool using Stampin' Up! stencils
SU tag punch; Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon
Winnie & Walter big, bold, happy cutaway; sequins
adhesives: Glue Dots, foam squares

Distress Inks/SU stencils inky background

Distress Ink core paper;  Recollections white and black cardstock
Winnie & Walter big, bold, happy sentiment in 3rd generation imprint in StazOn

Because this card is going to Operation Write Home, I wanted to add a little something to the inside while leaving plenty of room for one of our heroes to write a note.

 

 

2 Dabs of Acrylic Paint and 1 Dab of Dishwasher Detergent

The current Shopping Our Stash challenge is include a hidden element on a card/project. Truth be told, I've been wanting to try a scratch-off technique on a kiddie knock-knock-joke card for a while now. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try.

Happy Caption paper pad; Distress Ink core;
Recollections black and white cardstock; Stampin' Up! neutral cardstock
computer-generated sentiments; detergent-acrylic paint scratch-off mixture
rabbit: Creative Memories circle and oval cutting system
SU word bubble and film dies; SU small heart and owl builder punches
white sequins; glue dot adhesives
hidden text: "Some Bunny" and "Some Bunny Who?"

Happy Caption paper pad; Distress Ink core;
Recollections black and white cardstock; Stampin' Up! neutral cardstock
computer-generated sentiments; detergent-acrylic paint scratch-off mixture
rabbit: Creative Memories circle and oval cutting system
SU word bubble and film dies; SU owl builder punch
dot adhesives
hidden text: "Some Bunny Loves You"

My thanks to Nancy and Trish for sharing this great tutorial that was posted on OWH in November 2013. The photo at the right shows my scratch-off-mixture station. The detergent and paint have already been mixed. And, if you have a sponge brush, I'd recommend going that route. Seems like my stash was all out of those. So, I went with a much nicer brush than I had planned on using. However, the mixture seems to have washed out just fine. Luckily, my basement-teacher supply stash contained a few still new transparency sheets!

One word to the wise: It's okay to carefully use a heat gun to dry the scratch-off mixture after it's been applied to the transparency surface.... but not after you've adhered it to the card. See that little curved up surface of the top right corner on the card's front bottom element? Yep, thought it was a good idea to touch up the scratch-off surface after I had applied the element. Not a good idea! But, an idea that I caught before I had done too much damage.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Hats off to those Buckeyes!!! Who would've ever thunk it?! And, hats off to Marcus Mariota. As happy as I was for the Bucks, I felt so sorry for him. What a fine young man -- such a wonderful ambassador for college athletics.

January Challenge
Jan. 1 - Jan. 21

A quick reminder that the Words 2 Scrap By challenge is up and running through January 21. So, there are still a few days left to link up an entry.

Okay, gotta go now. It's time for Project Runway. Any PR fans out there?

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

sending a great big hug

Hi, everyone!

Well, the weatherman was right -- he had snow overnight and about every school was closed. There's nothing like the pure, unbridled joy of a snow day! (Unfortunately, it was a tough morning commute for those headed to work.) And, it was a good day to continue un-decorating, watching a good movie, and playing with paper in the menopause room.  :)

Today's card is inspired by Mojo Monday #379. I'm really challenging myself to give these multi-layered sketches a try this year.

I'll also be linking the card to these following challenges:

• the current Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Wednesday challenge, 
• the current Simon Says use-something new-and-old-New-Year Monday challenge, and
• the current Shopping Our Stash use-something-new-New-Year challenge.

Kaiser hippy girl dp; Stampin' Up! blackberry bliss
Stampendous sentiment stamped in SU blackberry bliss
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon
SU owl builder punch (for smaller heart) and SU small heart punch
adhesives: Recollections foam squares and Zig 2-way glue pen
Glossy Accent (on pink heart)

I'm actually pretty pleased with the way this turned out. Think it should make for a great thinking-of-you card for Operation Write Home. And, I was pretty true to the sketch. Since I used four different patterns, I framed each layer with blackberry bliss. Finally, the layer with the sentiment is popped using foam squares.

For the record:

• the completely new item is the yummy pink ribbon, which was included in this month's sampler from Really Reasonable Ribbon and went perfectly with this dp,
• a new-to-me item is the sentiment stamp, which was a gift from a crafting friend -- and looked totally new/unused in spite of having a 1996 date, and
• the old item is the dp from a 6" by 6" pad of paper I've had from a card-making class I took years ago.

Parting Thoughts

January Challenge
Jan. 1 - Jan. 21

The first Words 2 Scrap By challenge of the New Year is up and running. Hope you will join us for our social-media inspired challenge.

It's supposed to be bitter cold here, so stay warm! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

from a grateful American

Hi, everyone!

Well, the house is partially undecorated. Still have the tree and the upstairs. But, isn't the Epiphany celebrated on January 6? That's my excuse story and I'm sticking with it.

from a grateful American

Today's card was inspired by the current OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge to make an An Any Hero thank you card. So, I thought it fitting to use an ODBD background stamp.  :)

Stampin' Up! crumb cake; Core-dinations jet black
Our Daily Bread Design background stamp; Stamper's Best sentiment
Stampin' Up! banner die; ??? corner punch (for tiny stars)
3L photo corners; Zig 2-way glue pen; Recollections foam square adhesives
heat embossing with versamark and American Crafts copper powder
 

During OWH's Top 14 of 2014 blog hop, there was a card posted that used this background -- with black stamped on kraft. This was a nice change from my traditional red, white, and blue Any Hero card palette. But, when I stamped my black on the crumb cake paper, it felt flat. So, I wondered what copper on crumb cake, with an accent on black -- would look like.

The initial results looked promising. But, when I embossed the copper on black, the banner didn't feel substantial enough. So, I added two more layers, with the middle layer also being embossed in copper. And, if I may say, I really feel like this is one striking card.

The photo splits in the top left and bottom right corners are Tim-inspired. I hear his words encouraging us to do the unexpected. Four splits would be expected... two, not so much.  :)

I'm also posting this card for the current Cards In Envy challenge to make a card featuring a banner and the current Anything Goes challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge blog.

Parting Thoughts

Hope the first day back to work was relatively painless.

Went out to lunch with hubby and father-in-law yesterday. Diners at both of the tables around us were talking Oregon-Ohio State Football. Buckeye fans are so excited for this big game! Did you know that Oregon and Ohio State played in the first NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game in 1939? Turns out Oregon won that one.

Saw the most amazing movie last night. It was the documentary Life Itself about Robert Ebert's life, based on Ebert's memoir of the same title. Wow, what a life, and what a movie! Truly a must for film lovers. Can't wait to read the book and requested it at our local library as soon as the movie ended.



January Challenge
Jan. 1 - Jan. 21

The first Words 2 Scrap By challenge of the New Year is up and running. Hope you will join us for our social-media inspired challenge. 

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Silent Night....

Hi, everyone!



Mood Board at Simon Says Stamp

Tonight's post features the Christmas card I made for Dad. Since he's a bit of an artist, I thought he would appreciate the artsy feel of this card -- which is just a tad outside of my normal paper-piecing and/or heat-embossing wheelhouses.  He also isn't the jolliest of people when it comes to Christmas traditions. So, a non-Christmas Christmas card seemed like a good choice for him. Either way, it's a one-and-only -- no multiples of this one. Hope he likes it!

I'm linking this to the current Winter Inspiration challenge at Simons Says Stamp. The inspiration for this card came from the tree photo in the bottom right corner of the SSS mood board.

Hero Arts OWH Forest stencil;
Wendy Vecchi embossing paste, applied with a wooden craft stick
Distress Inks chipped sapphire and milled lavender,
applied with Ranger blending tools on watercolor paper;
 

 Wish the picture turned out better. This card really is much more striking in real life -- really!

After I finished inking and pasting the stencil, I decided to mount the image on watercolor paper and write on the back... ala a postcard.

 

Parting Thoughts



December Challenge
Dec. 1 - Dec. 21

Hope your holiday preparations are going well. We're pretty close to be being done here. Now, if only the weather forecasters would be wrong about that Christmas Eve storm...

The December 21 deadline for the current Words 2 Scrap By challenge is fast approaching. This month's words are Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, and there are a couple of MFT stamp sets included in our prize package! We know that December is such a crazy month, but we hope you will find a little time to join us for this month's challenge.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

It's Beginning to Look...

Hi, everyone!

When I first saw the Festival of Trees stamp set from Stampin' Up!, this three-tree visual popped in my head. You see, tree decorating is a three-step process in our house.   :)

• Step 1: Hubby assembles our artificial tree.
• Step 2: Hubby puts on the lights and garland.
• Step 3: I put on 98% of the ornaments, with hubby adding the highest ornaments and the tree topper.

Once the tree is up and decorated, it really does look a lot like Christmas at our house!



Stampin' Up! crumb cake cardstock
SU festival of trees stamp set and coordinating punch
Distress Inks evergreen bough, fired brick, and vintage photo
heat embossing in Zing clear and Inkadinkado gold powders
SU large scallop edgelit
accents with Uni-ball gold gel pen

Recollections white and Stampin Up! mossy meadows cardstock
SU festival of trees stamp set and coordinating punch
inks: SU mossy meadows; Distress Ink fired brick and vintage photo
heat embossing in Zing clear and Inkadinkado gold powders
SU large scallop edgelit
accents with Uni-ball gold gel pen

Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas candy cane/peppermint pink cardstock
SU festival of trees stamp set and coordinating punch
Distress Inks evergreen bough, fired brick, and vintage photo
heat embossing in Zing clear and Inkadinkado gold powders
SU large scallop edgelit
accents with Uni-ball gold gel pen

Card is inspired by the carol
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!"

As the photos show, I made three versions of this card. On the inside, all have the same sentiment -- because our home really does look a lot like Christmas once the tree is up and decorated.

I'm entering this card in:

• the Cards In Envy challenge to make a card inspired by a Christmas carol. In this case "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas" is the carol behind this card.
• the Shopping Our Stash to make a card using a favorite technique which, for me, would be heat embossing. And, even though it's not really a technique. I love making cards that tell a story with the visual(s).
• the Simon Says Stamp's Monday blog Anything Goes challenge.
• the current Jingle Belles Anything Goes link-up.

Parting Thoughts

December Challenge
Dec. 1 - Dec. 21

The deadline for the December Words 2 Scrap By challenge is fast approaching. This month's words are Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, and there are a couple of MFT stamp sets included in our prize package! December is such a crazy month, but we hope you will find a little time to join us for this month's challenge.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Have a BEARy Merry Christmas!

Hi, everyone!

What a fun day! Shared a table at the craft show at my former workplace with a good friend and caught up with so many other work friends.  :)

Now for today's card. Last year, I made a little polar bear card that stole my heart. I loved him so much that I just had to send a few more of these little guys to OWH this holiday season, as well as bring a few of them along to this year's craft show.   :)

Distress Ink core stormy sky, fired brick, mustard seed, and pine needles; stash white and black cardstock
SU word window punch, Marvy and Paper Shaper circle punches; EK hole punch
Recollections snowflake punch; Emagination tree punch; ??? corner rounder for treetop star
Creative Memories oval cutting system (for ears and snout); Uni-ball white gel pen
hand-drawn/traced, fussy-cut Santa hat and candy cane
inside sentiment: Have a BEARy Merry Christmas

I have to say these cards were so labor intensive. But, if I do say so myself, they were so worth it!  :)

I'm linking up this little guy for the current Cards In Envy Santa challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge to make a holiday card.

Parting Thoughts

I really have to get to that OWH Red Friday love card blog hop. It's on tomorrow's to-do list.



December Challenge:
Dec. 1 - Dec. 21

The December Words 2 Scrap By challenge went live yesterday. This month's words are Eat, Drink, and Be Merry. Hope you'll find a little time this busy month to play along!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Thinking of You

Hi, everyone.

Retired me is trying to be even more frugal than pre-retired me. So, it was a bonanza day at Big Lots and the supermarket when I came across a 7-drawer Sterilite organizer and clearance STRAWBERRY yogurt. If only Big Lots would start carrying Stampin' Up!, Paper Smooches, Tim Holtz, Really Reasonable Ribbon, Simon Says, Winnie and Walter....  

Today's card was inspired by the current Shopping Our Stash challenge to create a project with at least one leaf and the current Wednesday Simon Says Stamp Thinking of You challenges. It is also loosely based on this week's Mojo Monday sketch. Think this would make a great Thanksgiving card for my brother's family.  :)

Creative Memories abundance 8 x 8 paper; Recollections jute/burlap
Stampin' Up! mossy meadow; Distress Ink core rusty hinge
SU (2000) sentiment stamp, heat embossed in Zing Copper powder
Paper Smooches leaves 1 die and twine
Paper Studio brads; EK border punch
inking in Distress Ink walnut stain; adhesive: Ranger multi-medium matte

I'm really pleased with the way this card turned out. Love the texture and dimension. And it only took two tries to get that sentiment looking crisp and sharp!  :)

Nov. 10 Update: Since hearing from Karen of the challenge blog Word Art Wednesday, I decided to pay her site a visit. For those who do not know, this is a weekly challenge blog focusing on uplifting messages including, but not limited to, scripture verses. So, I'm going to link up this card for this week's Word Art Wednesday thankful challenge.

Parting Thoughts

Really looking forward to tomorrow. My father-in-law is celebrating his 91st birthday. We're not doing the fancy dinner like last year. Instead, hubby and I are doing lunch with our two dads. But, it should be a red-letter day nonetheless.  :)

Hubby's dad is a World War II vet that flew bombing missions over Germany. The photo below is from the family collage that hangs in our entryway.

November challenge
Nov. 1 - Nov. 21

Hope you all have a chance to check out the November challenge at Words 2 Scrap By. I-Teamer Annie is our hostess this month, and she has come up with a poignant inspiration quote that is perfect for Thanksgiving.

 Have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Fall Splendor in Purple and Teal

Hi, everyone!

When you make cards for Operation Write Home, it really is a bit like living in a time machine. Summer officially ends on July 31 in OWH-land. So, we are moving on to fall cards... and the deadline for Christmas cards is October 10! See what I mean about a time machine.  :)

So, the card below is my first fall card of the OWH season. The colors really are much closer to purple and teal than the way they photographed.

SU Blackerry Bliss, Distress Ink core Pine Needles
Hero Arts image, heat embossed in Inkadinkado gold glam powder
Sizzix embossing folder
SU tiny banner punch; garage sale brad

I used the gorgeous Blackberry Bliss paper from Stampin' Up -- couldn't wait to emboss some gold on this gorgeous paper. However, I was a little disappointed with the Lost Lagoon against the Blackberry Bliss -- it just didn't look/feel quite as rich. So, I went with Distress Ink Pine Needles. This DI paper was in the same color family as Lost Lagoon, but seemed much more saturated. And, I felt like I achieved just the right balance of colors thanks to Paula's 60-30-10 lesson from OWH Design Boot Camp.

Tip of the day: I cut a 1/4-inch strip of Blackerry Bliss and taped down the banners, aligning the left edge of each banner. That's how I managed to get the tiny sliver of purple on the left edge of the banners.

Entering this in the current Shopping Our Stash challenge to make a project featuring fruits and vegetables. No more summer watermelons for this girls' cards... at least not 'til next March.  :)

Also entering this in this week's Simon Says Wednesday embossing challenge. There are three examples of embossing on this card:

• a heat embossed focal point image,
• heat embossed gold border on the layer under the image layer, and
• an embossed pattern on the bottom Blackberry Bliss layer.

Darice embossing folder
DI Antique Linen and Vintage Photo

This year, I've been trying to add a little pizzazz to the inside of my OWH cards, while not taking up much writing landscape. For this card, I used a leaf stencil (from fellow OWHer Nancy) to sponge a few leaves and an acorn in the bottom left corner of the matted writing surface.



That's it for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!