Operation Write Home - Box 1

Here is a sample of the 55 cards I sent in my first box to Operation Write Home.  OWH always has some challenge or other going on as well as mini-challenges on the Facebook page or their blog page.

One of my Cricut/Facebook friends mentioned OWH, and I looked into it.... and here I go with another project! I do love these - challenges, deadlines, and oh yes, you have to be creative! 


I used some of my new Stampin' Up products that are coming available now in January, as well as some of the Sale-a-bration items available later this month!

 

I really love the sailboat, and have found lots of use for it.  I got out the Spectrum Noir markers, and had a good time working with blending the alcohol inks.

 Here we have a triple-time-stamping sample using the Everything Eleanor stamp set.

Below, is one of my very favorite retired Stampin' Up sets - Watercolor Garden  I get an incredible amount of use out of it - One Sheet Wonders, etc....  Flowers anyone??

Are you tired of seeing the Stippled Blossoms yet?  I LOVE them!  Looks great with the colors... so springy!

 

I found an entire set of card sketches on the OWH website, and decided to play with one of them under the flowers theme.  Even if it is in the middle of winter....  flowers are always so nice to have around!!

 

Here's another retired Stampin' Up set - I really like how the alcohol markers make the flowers look so pretty!  I added some photo corners, and lots of little details.

 

I saw a sample of this on a blog, and thought it would be great for the winter themed cards.....  Here I used my Tsukineko brilliance inks - Sky Blue and Platinum with some pearls and rhinestones.

 Here you can see some of the new stamps - the hummingbird, butterfly, and flower come from the Sale-a-bration brochure, and the sentiment stamp is from the new January catalog.  I'm going to get lots of use out of these stamps!

 So that's my first post for Operation Write Home cards!!!!  I'm already working on the 2nd box with new challenges and assignments.

Check out the Facebook pages and blog pages!
Facebook
Operation Write Home Blog  

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2013 Christmas Card Challenge January, 2013

 Happy New Year!  Happy 2013!  I hope this year turns out so much better than 2012 - even if it was a good year, we always hope for better.

We begin with a few rule changes (not too many) for the 2013 Christmas Card Challenge, only to make it a better experience when you're ready to send out your cards.

Click HERE to view the complete list of rules with the changes highlighted in red.

In short, you are making 6 (or more) Christmas cards based on the monthly theme, can use ANY company's products, and submit them here by the 20th at midnight, CST in the Linky at the bottom of the page.

The first challenge for January 2013 is:  Christmas Trees! 

 I just love them - collect them, would have mine up every day of the year if I could, but that's just not practical.  Plus, I'll wager that lots of people still have their Christmas trees up.


I CASE'd these from another Stampin' Up Demonstrator, and though the pictures look alright, they are stunning in person!

 Here are my 6 cards.

Close up - The trees are stamped and embossed with white embossing powder, I used a Versamark pen to add the snowflakes falling.  A 2-way Zig pen helped the Dazzling Diamonds to make the trees look like they are covered in snow.  Christmas trees AND snow.  Sounds like a win-win to me!

Here is one of the new rule additions.  Finish the inside of the card, stamped, and lined if necessary.

Another of the new rule additions; stamp the envelopes with the theme as well!

I put the cards and envelopes all together, and they are ready to go in November right after Thanksgiving!  First 6 cards done.  YAY!

I hope you will join me!

Please leave a comment. Thanks so much!

2013 CD Case Calendars - November/December

 The last two calendars of 2013

 I like this cut of the cornucopia on the November calendar more and more as I see it.  I didn't think it looked like much in person, but if you pay attention to the negative spaces, it is quite impressive.  I also saw this leaf with the filigree type cut and thought that would be a nice addition.  It's actually meant to be part of a place card!

 As always, my favorite - December.  Note to self:  No blue backgrounds for December.  I used red this year twice, and thought the blue would look like a background wall, and the vertical wheel would help it look like wallpaper.
Even though Stampin' Up retired the stocking punch and stocking sets after only a 3 month run in the holiday catalog, I still get an incredible amount of use out of them.

I feel this year there wasn't a 'Dud' in the bunch! 



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2013 CD Case Calendars - September/October

 The fall of the year begins with September where I grew up, and we used to go apple picking almost every year.  It might have been a lot of work, but it was awesome having fresh crispy apples to munch on the way home!

 I used Stampin' Up as well as Kitchen Sink Stamps on this page - fall leaves and apples just seem to go hand in hand.  We've used this leaf technique before, and it is so impressive in person!

I still can't quite figure out why the October calendar always turns out so cool.... must be Halloween.  There are so many different images and icons to pick from.... I especially had fun with the two ghosts in the graveyard.  It's a Cricut cut, with an orange circle on the back, and a 1/4 inch circle glittered to look like the moon in the distance.  Of course, I had to include a Halloween kitty!


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2013 CD Case Calendars - July/August

I think of the 12 calendars, these two are among my favorites.  This is again one of those things where you can't see all the details as well as in person...  especially July.  It's really sparkly!

 I spent quite a few months hunting for the vertical stars for the July calendar.  They were perfect, but a little hard to find.  Definitely worth the effort!

 My parents have been feeding birds at the house since I can remember, and finches happen to be one of their most prolific eaters.  I saw this idea on a Stampin' Up Demo's site, and with a few changes, it made its way here.  The butterflies come from a Stampin' Up die I actually use pretty often.



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2013 CD Case Calendars - May/June

 May and June are certainly fantastic for celebrating!
I hope you enjoy them.

I used one of my very favorite stamp sets, Stippled Blossoms to stamp the flower for Mother's Day in May.  I've gotten an incredible amount of use out of this stamp set, and know that I'll continue to use it for a very long time!

My dear friend Melissa loves the pineapple drink, so I make sure to include it every year.  Plus, I'm sure Dad is out there with a drink grilling for Father's Day anyway! :)
 

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2013 CD Case Calendars - March/April

 The next two months bring March and April.

This year, March is quite a busy month as Easter comes VERY early!  Easter this year is on the last day of March!

 The flowerpot is embossed with a wood grain folder, then inked.  The bleeding heart flowers probably grow all the same color on a plant, but I really liked the idea of the 3 colors.  They are cut from one of my oldest and most favorite Cricut Cartridge, Walk in My Garden.

Hello ladybug!  Do you see him there?  I know my friend Melissa will love it!

 April is traditionally where Easter falls, and I purchased this stamp while traveling over Spring Break.  Those bunnies are so adorable!  They are water-colored with my Stampin' Up Watercolor crayons, and I added some diamond Stickles to give the bunnies some sparkle. 




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2013 CD Case Calendars - January/February

 In a series of 6 posts are the 2013 calendars I make yearly with Mom.  It's a great bonding project as well as stretching my skills a little and always trying to come up with some new ideas.

I hope you enjoy them.

 Even if it doesn't snow in January, it sure seems cold enough that we should be able to enjoy the snow as well as dealing with the SUPER cold temperatures!

 I used a different heart design this year - the last 2 years I used the vertical hearts I like so much and decided to go with something different.  I hope you like it!



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2013 Christmas Card Challenge!

 WELCOME!!!

Do you like the new logo for the Christmas Card Challenge 2013?  I hope so, I sure do love Christmas trees!

We begin another year with just a few rule changes you'll notice highlighted in red.

Are you a crafter and want to make your own AWESOME Christmas cards but get so busy after Thanksgiving you don't have enough time to get them finished? Well - if you stick with me for ALL of 2013, you'll have cards to spare for the neighbors, your co-workers, and your entire Christmas Card list!

Here are the "Rules".

1. This 2013 Christmas Card Challenge will take place from January to November 2013.

2. DATES: The 2013 CCC will post here on Sue's Cricut and Crafts on the 5th of each month. You will have 15 days to get your cards prepared! The cards are due on the 20th, with voting (YES there will be voting) starting at midnight of the 21st. Voting will continue until midnight of the 24th of the month with the prize awarded on the 25th. **Prize(s) discussed later.

3. You will make 6 cards all duplicates. You will have 66 cards at the end of the 11 month challenge. IF you need more, please go ahead and add to your monthly total and post that on your blog when you submit your cards in the Linky at the bottom of the post.




3a.  If you do not have a blog, you can upload your photos into another hosting site such as Splitcoast Stampers, Photobucket, Flickr, etc.... and use the Linky from there to post your cards.

4. You will submit one picture (or more) of your cards, with one in front, and the others behind it to show your 6 (or more) cards.

5.  You will also include in your original post a picture of the finished card insides, and a stamped envelope that follows the theme.  (This will make it even easier in November since the cards are completely finished and ready to mail.)  For the 2012 cards, in many, I had to add a liner, and stamp the inside sentiments.  With this new rule, I hope to avoid that for myself, and the participants.

6. PRIZES!!!! One prize will be awarded every 3 months.  With each monthly entry, participants' names will be entered into a drawing and a winner will be chosen from the pool.  For example, if you participate in Jan., Feb., and March, you'll have 3 opportunities at the prize.  Prizes will be awarded in March, June, September, and November. (I am exempt, not able to win prizes for my own challenge.) The winner and the prize will be announced here on the blog on the 25th of each third month.

7. You can use any company's products.

8. You can use any Christmas product! Die cuts, Cricut cuts, stamps, patterned paper, embossing (heat or dry), etc. Your imagination is your limitation.

9. To be eligible for the prize, you must have your submission in on deadline (or earlier) and it must follow the theme set for the month.

10. Use the Linky post at the bottom of the month's post and follow the directions to link here to be eligible for prizes! They'll be worth it!

Well, that's about it!! If there are anymore informational items I need to post, or questions that need answering, I'll do that when they come up!

I sincerely hope you will join me for this project in 2013!!

One addition personal note I'd like to add after completing the 2012 CCC challenge - I was so happy to have all my cards done as well as having enough for almost all of my co-workers that I just may extend my list more this coming year.  It was a very un-stressed time!  All my cards were finished, and I didn't even need my husband's help with the addressing etc.

 


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Happy 2013 to All!

 Here are some pictures I took of the Christmas candy and cookies I made for our house and as gifts for some of our neighbors.  If I haven't already said it, we have wonderful neighbors, and even though it's very busy, and we don't get to chat as much as we like, I like to show them a little appreciation at the end of each year.

In early December, I took a class on how to use fondant.  What an eye-opener!  There are a few more things to learn, but the class was so overloaded, I left pretty angry.  BUT I did learn quite a few things, so I was able to make my cookies prettier than last year. :)  One thing I realized, I didn't take any pictures of the Christmas tree cut-outs.  They turned out so cute, too.  Next year for sure!

These are the Butterscotch Gingerbread men I make, I also use this dough to cut out Gingerbread houses to decorate with the Royal Icing and sugar candy.

Even though the candy canes are sugar cookies, I used some mint extract to attach the fondant, so they have a nice minty, candy-cane flavor.

I thought some of these mittens turned out really cute.  These are the delicious sugar cookies I make with the orange oil and orange zest.  My husband asked me, "So you bought the oranges just to use the outside?"  We actually did eat the oranges.

One of the girls from work gave me some spritz cookies, so I decided if I had the time, I would make a batch and get out my Pampered Chef cookie press.  I got the dough recipe off Food Network, and it worked like a dream!

Here is the candy I made in addition to the cookies - Haystacks (my all-time absolute favorite next to Mom's angelfood), meringue cookies, and fudge.

 Here you can see a Poopie!  He's a good kitchen helper - he sits and watches to make sure everything turns out right, and is a good companion.  He does love to sit on the chairs while we're in here!

These are a small sample of the cookies and candy selection I made for Christmas 2012.


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Still Here! So Busy!!

Good Sunday Morning!

WHEW it's been busy around here!
Mom and I got the calendars done earlier in December, and I'm getting the pictures ready to post on the blog.

I'm getting the Christmas Card Challenge going again for 2013.  I was so happy to be unstressed in getting my Christmas cards out this year!  What a wonderful thing!

I've been wondering if you'd be interested in a Birthday Card Challenge for 2013!  It would run on different dates, but I sure could use a good supply of differently themed Birthday cards!  If I do a few every month, it's nice to have a supply!

SO, if you would, take a moment to vote ( on the right) on doing a B-day card challenge, I'd really appreciate it!

I'm off to bake more cookies!  I took a class on how to use fondant, so I'm going to have beautiful Christmas cookies this year!

Pics coming! :)

Your comments are treasured!

November's Christmas Card Challenge - Winner!

This was the final challenge for 2012's Christmas Card Challenge.  So many wonderful cards submitted!  I'd like to thank the participants who took part in the challenges - and made some really beautiful cards!

November's winner is:

JPScraps!

Congrats, Jamie!  I'm so thrilled you took part in so many challenges. 

Now a break for the cards to get out in the mail.

The Christmas Card Challenge will begin again January 5, 2013!

Thank you so much for your comments!

Gently Falling - Thank You's

Just before Thanksgiving, we are providing all of our support staff a token of our gratitude for all they do for us, and how much they help us accomplish what needs to be done.  This is one of  a set of 4 duplicate cards.

I made this card with the Gently Falling stamp set from Stampin' Up.  I'm not generally a fan of Autumn things, but this set is so versatile, I just had to make the purchase.  I ordered it in wood since it's a two-step stamping layered set.  This way I can make a permanent Stamp-a-ma-jig template which makes the stamping and projects go SO MUCH faster!

I used Cajun Craze cardstock with the leaves stamped in Versamark (watermark) ink, Debbie Mumm Harvest and Holiday stack for the patterned cardstock,  the Thank  You is cut from the Beyond Birthdays cart in Cajun Craze cardstock, and Cherry Cobbler ribbon.   The leaf uses Old Olive and Cajun Craze ink for the base and is stamped with Versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder for the top overlay.

Your comments are treasured!

Notecard Set CASE

 

I saw a beautiful note-card set from one of the Stampin' Up Demonstrators using one of my very favorite stamp sets!  I just had to CASE it.  What is a CASE you ask?  It means Copy And Share Everything.  Many of the demo's are very generous with their wonderful projects which allows others to copy them, and share the amazing ideas they've had.

The set includes 6 note-cards in varying color sets with matching envelopes.

 This is the finished piece with all the note-cards and matching envelopes inside.  I stamped and used another flower embellishment to finish the decoration on the outside as well as covering up some of the ribbon used to close the card set.

 This is the inside view - it's two regularly sized envelopes trimmed and put together, with some decoration on the inside.

Notes on the colors I used - all the leaves are stamped Certainly Celery with Wild Wasabi as the top layer.  The small yellow flowers use Daffodil Delight and Summer Starfruit, the pink flowers use Pretty in Pink, and Primrose Petals.  The rest of the colors for each card below are for the large center flowers.

 The first flower is stamped with Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple as the top layer of color.

 The yellow flower is Daffodil Delight and More Mustard as the top layer.

 These two are retired colors, but SO SO pretty.... Always Amethyst as the base color, and Lovely Lilac to add details on the top layer.

 This darker red flower is a Raspberry Ripple and Bravo Burgundy combination.

 Here for the blue is Pacific Point for the base, and Midnight Muse as the top layer.

 The coral flower uses retired colors as well - they are Cameo Coral base with Calypso Coral as the top layer.

 Here you can see all the cards laid out with their matching envelopes below them.

 Here are two more close-ups of all the cards.

Other materials I used:
126745 Stippled Blossoms - wood
123052 Blessings from Heaven - clear
126151 Friendly Phrases
107311 Note Cards and Envelopes - 3 sets
107301 Medium Envelopes, Whisper White 1 pkg.
Assorted Inks listed above.

**I started purchasing the Two-Step Stamping sets in wood again - instead of purchasing all the stamps in clear - that way I could make a permanent Stamp-A-Ma-Jig template.  It's worked GREAT so far!!  It really speeds things up when stamping.


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2012 Christmas Card Challenge - November and Final Challenge

 

Here it is - November - the last Christmas Card Challenge for 2012.   I'm sitting here writing this post with my favorite Christmas music going on the background, thinking about how this Christmas Card Challenge worked out this year.

I'm SO grateful for all the submissions, and truly hope there will be more next year.  I've already planned out the 2013 challenges, made a new logo/header, and am thinking about some (very small) changes.  I stayed pretty close to the plan I had with some changes as the months went along.  

BIG Congrats to JPScraps who participated in so many of the challenges!  She now has a fantastic collection of Stickles and many different sets of stamps.  Each month, I sent out a set of Christmas themed Stickles and a stamp set (hopefully I didn't duplicate any of them).

SO, here is the very last challenge:  

The theme for November is:  RIBBON!  

Use ribbon in any/all creative ways you can think of for your Christmas cards!  Remember, Christmas is coming!

 I saw these cards on a Stampin' Up website, and just LOVED them!  I used the same stamp set a few challenges go for the Christmas Tree Shape cards, and just had to give this a try!

 The cards use the Scentsational Season Framelits Dies, actually named "Holiday Collection".  The ribbon is:  Chocolate Chip Scallop Dots 1/2" ribbon, Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon 3/8" ribbon, and Real Red White trimmed Taffeta 1/8" ribbon.  I used Terrifically Tacky Tape to secure the ribbon on the back of the card, and on the side edges so the card wouldn't lift off the base.  The star above the tree is the Champagne glitter paper punched with the star from the Merry Minis Punch Pack.

SO, at the very end of this year of challenges, you should have had 66 cards finished at 6 per month of the 11 month.  I counted tonight as I prepared the post, as as you've seen throughout the year, I actually made more!  12 miscellaneous cards for me from various challenges and some requests including 4 for Mom you saw earlier on the blog with the red/green ornaments she requested, and the 50 card order I completed for my friend.  That makes:  132 cards in all!!!!  72 of which are available for me to send out.

The next dilemma I had was who was getting which card!!??  How was I ever to pick!?  Well, my friend Dee solved that one for me on our most recent weekend card making/crafting day.  She said, "Write them all out, put them in envelopes, THEN address them.  Then you don't know who gets what, but they all have a handmade card from you."  BRILLIANT!  It makes the choosing so much easier!

Alright - I'm done rambling on now, so here goes for the last time this year:  Make your 6 (or more) cards based on the theme, and enter them into the linky below BEFORE midnight CST on November 20th.  The prize winner will be announced and awarded on the 25th of the month, just one month before Christmas, and just in time to get your cards out in the mail for a Christmas Card delivery!

THANKS so much for hanging in with me all year, and PLEASE join us next year!

Don't forget to vote from November 21 - 24th for your favorite!

 Your comments are treasured!