Swap Round 2 - Month 5

Wendy sent out a great kit with some fun Scenic Route papers and a lot of wonderful embellishments! and no, of course I didn't take a photo! but if you check out Arlyn's blog she did! (thank you!)

Wendy included this great embossed card. I knew I needed to do some with those hexagons! I added the little bee brad.

when you forget that you already made a Father's Day card, an Operation Write Home sketch #176 can really come to the rescue! this was actually the first card I made with the kit and it was made and mailed in an hours time! still got there late.......slowpoke mail to Hawaii! oh well! I added the button, brads, and ribbon to the kit.

I loved the die cut that Wendy included in the kit and finally figured out a way to show it off! the only thing I think I added to this card from my stash were the alphabet stickers.

I like this card because I actually finally used a stamp that I was really excited to buy! it supports Operation Write Home......and is based on Sketch #177.  I flipped the sketch on its side and centered everything. I didn't realize it wasn't suppose to be centered! oops!

thanks so much for looking! be sure to check out what everyone else did with the awesome kit! one month to go......

Arlyn:
http://scrapperal.blogspot.com/

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Swap Round 2 - Month 4

This kit was provided by Peggy. See all the pretties she included!!!

 

for my first card, I really wanted to highlight the great black and white chevron paper. I made the tag with the ghost flower and quote and put it on the paper. blah! I added the border of yellow to the paper. blah! I added the flower sticker and Prima flower. blah! I left it alone. a couple hours later I came back and added the blue doily. NOW I like it!

I really wanted to play with the polka dots in this next card so kept it simple. put a little paper behind the polka dot ribbon to help highlight it. the sentiment is QK Grande Finale. 

This is one of my favorite go-to sketches from Operation Write Home (sketch #154). perfect for little leftovers. of course I had to ink them all! and it let me use another phrase sticker as well as the cool felt sunflower Peggy sent. I backed the holes with blue paper, though I guess black would be more fitting. 

and then I noticed I still had a few more squares leftover! oh, and a strip of that polka dot paper! so I did my favorite scraplift.....a thank you card Arlyn sent me years ago! this made me smile because I got too use my favorite phrase sticker from the bunch along with some brads.

 

these sunny cards made me smile. I hope they make you smile! and soon I hope they make a Hero smile and then his/her family!

please take a moment to go see what the other ladies have done with this cheerful kit!

 

Arlyn:

scrapperal.blogspot.com

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop - THANK YOU says it all!

Based on Operation Write Home Sketch #172.

Products used:
Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo papers and chipboard

American Craft brad

Basic Grey alphabet stickers

Happy 50th!

no actual scrapbooking, but I did get a card done for a big boss at work. this is VERY loosely based on the Operation Write Home Sketch #172.

Products used:

Cosmo Cricket paper and tag

We Are Memory Keepers ribbon

Making Memories stamp and leather photo corner

Bazzill bosher

Karen Foster brad

Quickutz



Swap Round 2 - Month 3

oh my goodness! if it hadn't been for the all day crop on Saturday, I would have done NO scrapbooking for the entire month of April! as it was, I ended up doing the minimal to meet my monthly goals: 2 layouts + 2 cards for Operation Write Home and the cards for the swap.

of course no "before" photo. I am so forgetful!!

the first card is a circle so I of course die cut another circle to go in it! I added a sticker I won in the crop drawing. the colors were a perfect match!

the green butterflies were included in the kit. I decimated one to create my greeting for this card.

I feel like this was my most creative card. I used the die cut card to form a frame around my birdcage sticker. I am sure I am not the first to think of this, but I felt pretty clever on Saturday!

this last one has a totally different feel to it. very masculine. all I added to the kit was the little brads and the Thickers.

odd for me,I didn't use a sketch for any of the cards.

be sure to go see what everyone else did with the kit!

Arlyn:

scrapperal.blogspot.com

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

Swap Round 2 Month 2

MY TURN!!!! I had the fun of designing this month's kit!!

did I take a photo of the kit? oh heck no! why would I do that? sheesh!! (sorry!) but here is a list of the items included:

the first card used the My Favorite Things stamps from the Operation Write Home fundraiser and is based on Sketch #165. please note how I used the nifty idea from the OWH Stamp Surgery tutorial on this poor bunny's ears! I added the purple heart brad to the kit contents.

it seemed weird to find a muted color combination amongst all those bright colors....but that is what happened with this next card. I just loved the blue, lilac, and peach colors and wanted to stick with them. I used a grey pen to outline everything to make it a bit more subtle than black would have been and added some alphabet stickers from a different Basic Grey line. I think this is my favorite card from the kit......which, if you know me, is odd. I like 'em bright!

at the other end of the spectrum, I am the most disappointed in this card. I had such high hopes for that awesome Jenni Bowlin journaling block die cut! but I just couldn't get it to do anything! (wonder if the other girls had better luck??) I enjoyed making my fun bow but even that couldn't save this poor doomed card! have you read "Like Water for Chocolate"? the food tastes like how the girl feels when she is cooking it. I really hope my frustration and disappointment are not sent along with this card.

similar to the blue and peach card, I loved this paper and after being so frustrated with the previous card, I just kinda threw this one together. I think the pretty little flowers (which I added to the kit) add a simple sophistication to the card. and aren't pink and orange all the rage these days? funny since this paper collection is 5 years old?!?!

after completing my cards I realized I had yet to use one of my favorite patterns in the kit. I had wanted to do a sunburst patterned card and was saving it for that. I figured I could use leftover strips to make it.....but then didn't. so I went to one of my favorite OWH sketches #154 and put together a couple more cards in time to mail out before the Mother's Day deadline! I added the big flowers and the brads for the lefthand card.

now go see what the other ladies did with my kit!!

Arlyn:

scrapperal.blogspot.com

Katie:
http://www.2craftykaties.blogspot.com/

Peggy:
http://myviewfromthebleachers.blogspot.com/

Wendy:
http://shesgonecrafty.blogspot.com/

Laurie:
http://www.scrapsfromthebeach.com/

A few more cards....

I had noticed a mention over at Operation Write Home about some digital images for each of the states. As California seems to be the largest contributor of cards I figured there would be a California digi. There was! But they aren't available on the site anymore. Thankfully, Paula was awesome enough to send them to me.

This card was my first attempt at using watercolor pencils and my blending pen (it has been many many years). Not perfect.....and not as bright as the poppies seem to be this year. But I am thankful that she shared the image with me. I want to play with it and resize it to be more versatile!

Products used:
Scenic Route Paper
Bazzill Basic brads
SU! watercolor pencils

this card was for a co-workers baby shower. the fact that it is done at all is a miracle! I had one night after a long busy business trip to complete it. I think it came out rather nice. (if I say so myself! lol!) the giraffe was based on a couple coloring pages I found online. instead of cutting out spots, I used a heart punch. I outlined the giraffe in dark brown and used grey for the rest of the card to help him stand out......like the googlie eyes didn't already do that! lol!

Products used:

Basic Grey papers and sticker

Spellbinder die

unknown felt brad

This last card was for a friend's son who is battling (and winning against) cancer. I wanted it rough and tumble boy. I scraplifted a card from the Operation Write Home featured card maker Tanya B. obviously I am a keen fan of threes! Also got to use my new stamps from Studio2le and conversation bubble punch!

Products used:
Piggy Tales paper

Junkitz

Studio 2le stamp