Cards for Kids

Like you, I have been attempting to process the tragedy of Newtown, CT.  I wanted my response to be thoughtful and to do good.  Instead of rushing into debates on Facebook or raging through a blog post, I decided to take up a challenge.  If you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you know that I support Operation Write Home.  The president, Sandy Allnock, wrote this very thoughtful piece on the Homefront blog.  Today, on the Stars and Stamps blog there is a sketch challenge. Here's my contribution:

It's a very simple card and uses old CTMH stamps and papers along with a doilie and three different ribbons.  To give it a little extra touch, I mounted the B&T paper on a piece of the same cardstock as the card (cut at 4 x 5.25) and sewed around the edges.

The thing which struck me most forcibly was the idea that one of the sacrifices our heroes make is the opportunity to simply hug their children when something tragic and inexplicable happens.  And tragic, inexplicable things happen more often than random shootings.  Here at Fort Sill we are coming off a week of three deaths: suicide, car accident, and the spouse of deployed soldier killed when a man driving himself to the ER passed out and crossed a double yellow line. 

Can you send a hug in a card?  I hope so, and I hope this sweet card lets some little girl know her daddy or mommy loves her very much.  Now, I'm off to make a boy card because they need hugs, too.

Until next time,
Becca

Anniversary Star

In two days my hubby and I will celebrate 28 years together.  I decided to combine three challenges to make his anniversary card and let him know he is the star of my life.

CASology: Star
Less is More: Anniversary
Color My Heart: Sweet Leaf & Twilight

The stamps are CTMH Shining Star (retired) and a very old wood mounted sentiment set which has no title on the side.

I embossed the star with clear powder then sponged Twilight from the center out and Sweet Leaf from the outer edges toward the center making sure to give my edges definition.  The ribbon was tied using a Bow Easy (after looking up a video tutorial on how to use it), wrapped with white waxy flaxy and tied into a bow, then topped with a button.  All of this was held in place with various layers of Glue Dots, Liquid Glass, and tape runners.

The sentiment banner was hand cut, sponged with Twilight, and the curled around a pen to get the wave.  I secured it with a thin strip of doubled sided foam mounting tape.

And here's my favorite picture of the two of us.  It was taken by a friend at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs before we were transferred to Oklahoma.

Until next time,
Becca

Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to share another Christmas card for the Heart2Heart Challenge this week:

Stamps are all CTMH (Snowflakes, A Holiday, Frame it Up) in Juniper, Outdoor Denim, and White Daisy.  All the snowflakes were cut with Art Philosophy cartridge.

Glitter is Studio G from Hobby Lobby.

Okay...gotta run.  My husband is ready to see The Hobbit.  NOW!

Until next time,
Becca

Tea Makes Everything Better

I love tea. I can't stand coffee, but I make up for it with my love of tea. When I heard about a friend going through a rough patch with a disease flare up, I wanted to make her a feel better card.  Not a get well card, mind you, because this is not something from which you recover.  It's something that comes and goes with varying degrees of disruption.  So, I decided to send her some tea because--as the English have known for years--tea makes everything better.

 The image is "Feeling Rosy" from House Mouse colored with Prismacolor pencils; B&T is old CTMH. I made my own pins by adding beads to sewing pins.

The ribbon is one of my favorites (purchased from Hobby Lobby) and I'm almost out of it. Eeek!  Time to do another HL run, although they are extremely dangerous.

Can you see the shimmer on the cup (below)? I didn't want to cover the entire image with liquid glass to give it that porcelain look, but I did want it to have a little bit of shine.

 

This loosely follows the Mojo Monday Sketch 270. Loosely. But that's the beauty of sketches.

 

 

Whether you drink tea or not, little Miss Rosy is sure to bring a smile even when you aren't feeling so hot.

Until next time,

Becca



Christmas Card Frenzy

I have been holed up in my craft area making Christmas cards like crazy. I have 40 done! Only 20 left before I'm done. I keep trying to cut my list down, but it always ends up right around 60 each year. Last year I went with different card styles for the first time. I decided I liked it and have been doing a little here and there for the past few months then got serious yesterday.

Everything is CTMH unless otherwise noted, so I am linking up to this week's Heart2Heart Christmas Challenge.

Sorry for the blur, but this is the best one. Everything on ornament (except topper) cut with Art Philosophy. Paper is Roxy (B&T), Smoothie, and Black. Joy is painted with Pearl Paint mixed with water. Sentiment from December Word Puzzle stamped in Smoothie.

Cut with Artist cartridge, backed with an old CTMH B&T (can't remember name--Jingle, maybe???). Glitter glue is Studio G from Hobby Lobby.

I'm  not sure why I can't get my remaining pictures to go any bigger--which is aggravating!  (However, I think you can click on the picture and get a little bigger image.  Try it.  See if that helps.)Stocking and snowflake cut from Art Philosophy cartridge.  White parts of stocking run through a Stampin' Up embossing folder.  Red part of stocking and background behind stocking stamped with Universal Background in Cranberry and White Daisy, edges sponged in Gray Wool.  More Roxy B&T.

 

I cut lots of these ornaments.  I made the topper by cutting Desert Sand paper with scallop edge Fiskars scissors, gluing a section to the top of the ornament, fussy cutting around the edges, and punching a hole.  I also used Pearl Paint mixed with water to give it a shimmer.  The Noel was cut with Artiste.  I used a spray pen to spritz a bunch of colors, then dabbed with silver, bronze and gold pigment ink, covered it with clear embossing powder and heating.  Again, I can't get the photo to enlarge for some reason to help you see it better.  Burlap ribbon was cut in half lengthwise and tied with brown waxy flax through button holes.

Same info on this stocking as before, only the plaid is Roxy paper.  Background is Snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder on Smoothie paper then sanded to expose the white core.  Edges were sponged in Tulip.  Torn piece is Desert Sand.  Sentiment is from O Christmas Tree stamped in Tulip.

Same info on ornament as above.  Only thing different here is the Burlap ribbon over top of the Black and Smoothie.

I have 14 more of these ornaments cut.  I'm not sure if I want to keep playing with new ideas or just choose one of the ones I've already done and make a bunch of the same.  Before I do anything, I'd better clean up.  This place looks like a tornado hit it!

Until next time,
Becca

Grateful for New Friends

One of the hard but great things about moving is making new friends.  It's hard to start over every few years, but the Army does a pretty good job of helping you connect if you are willing to get out of your house and join a few groups.  My best source of new friends comes from Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC).  Today, one of the ladies I met through that group came over to play in my craft room.  Here's what we made (and it even goes along with the challenges over at Heart2Heart and CASology):

The "thanks" was cut twice using Cricut CTMH Artiste cartridge.  The back one was colored using the direct to paper technique with Slate ink.  The ribbon is also CTMH in Slate.

I wish the picture did the ombre coloring justice. I was showing my friend Copic markers. I did the "t" and then she did the rest. We used R24, R27, and R29.

My friend had to leave before I got this finished, so she didn't get to see the finished product.  I think I will take it to her when we meet for PWOC again next Tuesday.  We had such a great time just brainstorming several ideas and working off each other's creativity.  So fun to find a kindred spirit in a new place.

On the writing front, I have also found a kindred spirit in a published author who lives only fifteen minutes away.  I showed her my manuscript, she tore into it, and I am liking how the revisions are making my characters come alive.

All this talk of kindred spirits makes me want to watch Anne of Green Gables.  Maybe I'll get a group of gals together to watch it with me and find more kindred spirits among them.

Until next time,
Becca

Best Foot Forward

My daughter is in a contest.  The winner gets to go shoe shopping.  Since I am too far away to cheer her on up close and personal, I made her this card based off the Mojo Monday Sketch 267.

All supplies are CTMH except for the lace ribbon (flower leaves) and my Copic BG75 which I used to create the teal background mat, ribbon, and flower center.  Paper is Avonlea, satin ribbon is Slate, embossing powder is Mirror Platinum, and stamps are from Find Your Style (shoe, discontinued) and Wicked (sentiment, discontinued).  I actually wrote in permanent ink on my Find Your Style carrier sheet that Wicked had a shoe sentiment.

 

The flower center is a pearl brad with a gold rim.  I was trying to just color the gold rim but I flubbed and got ink on the pearl part.  Nothing to do but color it as well.  Except the color wasn't going on smooth.  Again, nothing to do but make it look like I intended it to be splotchy all along.  As it turns out, I actually like the variegated/splotchy look.

 

I created the flower by folding my Slate ribbon in half, sewing it with the a gathering stitch, and then pulling thread to bunch it up.  I'm not sure what all is behind there to keep it together, but I think there's some tape, Liquid Glass (also CTMH), and a staple to hold the leaves onto the paper.  It's a good thing no one actually sees the mess under the pretty!

 

The inside sentiment says, "Live inspired; Dream with possibility."  Here's to my girl!

 

Until next time,

Becca