Christmas in July...

It's getting a little too close to the end of July and I hadn't made my Christmas cards... so, I got crackin' AND Christmas in July!  Woot, woot!  For those of you who make cards for Operation Write Home like I do, the deadline for Christmas cards this year has been pushed back to October 10th.  We can do this!  No worries...

 

So, I need to tell you a story about this paper.  This is from a pad I purchased when I was just beginning to make cards four years ago and have hated it for almost as long.  And before you tell me I should have just parted with it a long time ago, you apparently don't know me well.  I am a painfully frugal person.  If I buy something, I MUST use it.  I hate waste... and I'm OCD.  But I had finally decided to put it out of my misery and had packed it away to sell at next year's Yard Sale at Cozy Crop.  As I was moving it from one box to another, it caught my eye again.  I started looking at it in terms of that wonderful OWH Sketch #218 (see HERE) that showcases a larger print paper.  I just couldn't resist to see if it brought this pad to life.  Well, I'll be jiggered... it did!  I LOVE how this came out!

 

 I made eight of these...



OWH Shipment...

This is my largest shipment to date... woot! woot!

 

143 Handmade and 18 Any Hero... 

 Of those, I'm proud to boast that 55 are "missing you" cards.  Also, this puts me over last years TOTAL cards by alot and it's only July.  What's the difference you ask?  Ok, maybe you're not asking... but I'll tell you anyway.  LAST year, I was working out of a sardine can in Massachusetts, planning a wedding, a graduation and a move.  THIS year, I'm settled in New Jersey with the most amazing studio where I can get lost for hours...



One bright birthday...

 As I was preparing my box for shipment to OWH, I realized I needed to make several more to actually FILL the box.  There are too many cards for a Medium Flat Rate box but not enough for a Large Flat Rate box... go figure!  So, I went to Pinterest and found this (see HERE) and LOVED it.  I've had this embossing folder forever but have never found anything that made sense to use it on.  THIS is perfect!  I made eight, but three are staying in my personal stash...

All the paper is from my Scrap folders, except the black which is from a Recollections paper pack.  The sentiment is also Recollections which I probably found in the dollar bin at Michaels ions ago.  The sentiment has brads and is popped.  The color combinations you could do with this are endless.  I however, am very partial to the rainbow... :)



City Scene...

This is a die I've had for awhile with thoughts of making a city scene.  I finally got around to using it... why'd it take so long?  I'm loving these!  I have been questioning the ribbon though.  I thought it might be too bright, but the whole look has definitely grown on me...



 

The die is by Taylored Expressions called "Neighborhood Border".  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's "You've Got Mail" collection and was heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Ribbon and bling from Michaels and the paper is from Hollo's in Ohio...



Summery "miss you..."

Since I'd like to get a shipment off to OWH by the middle of next week AND that's before a deadline, I thought I'd add some summery type cards...

This is from a 12" x 12" pad I've had since I began cardmaking (five years) from K&Company by Susan Winget.  I found a tutorial by Gina K. (see HERE) called Vertical Blinds that made me think of this paper.  She stamped her background, I used the paper.  The stamp, as you can see, is from Stampin' Up.  I purchased it on eBay a few months ago...

Inchies...

This was pretty fun to make.  I CASE'd it off a card I saw on Pinterest (see here).  I picked out some scraps that I thought were matchy, matchy and cut them into inchies... 

Then, the fun part... embellishing the squares. I did some faux stitching, added sequins, gems, flowers and a heart then voilà, eight more for my box... :)

Any Hero cards...

I just made four of these pretty darn quick for the OWH Midweek Throwdown.  The challenge is to make an Any Hero card WITH a flag on it.  The stamp and sentiment are by A-muse Studio and the set is called "Let Freedom Ring"...

 

I wrote and colored 23 Any Hero notes a week and a half ago while with the Taxman (we were there for over six hours but came out unscathed).  I've slowly been making card fronts for them to add to my next box to OWH.  All my notes are the same in this batch which is why I wrote so many while with him... no thinking was involved.

 

 The starburst in the upper left is an odd size, which is okay for Any Hero mail... thank goodness.  The starburst in the upper right and lower left is where you leave a little of the background paper showing betweeen each burst.  Pretty darn cool effect!  I had seen something like it, a 12"x 12" version, and wanted to do it in my Project Life album.  It took my Math genius husband to explain to me what I was seeing.  After he explained it, my lightbulb went on...

 

Thank God for genius husbands... :)

From morning to night...

The first thing I wanted to do this morning was get rid of some red paper.  So I found this card on Pinterest to CASE.  I made six.  The bad thing is, I only used up three pieces of red out of thirty I'd like to get gone... :(

Next, I wanted to take a few of these sentiments from a  lovely RAK I received from Sherry and turn them into cards...

 

I headed straight for my previously made Scrappy Backgrounds.  Wow!  Eight quick cards... :)  It's pretty evident though, that it's time for another "Scrappy" session.  I only have five left...

 

 

And this has to be my favorite from the bunch.  Probably because it is so bright and happy.  I'm sending it to a very delightful young lady (a friend of Zack's) up in Marblehead.  I bet it makes her day...

 

And finally, this evening, I did eight of these.  I picked six papers from my scrap pile, cut into strips and used the same on all of them.  Then I just did some old fashioned over and under and over and under stuff.  Pretty fun...

 

So ends this day of crafting.  If I'm counting right, that makes twenty-two.  That makes one very happy crafter here and a future FULL box to Operation Write Home... :)