The Jelly Bean Prayer Card

This is an Easter card I made for a friend.  I won this stamp on eBay last year, and I believe it's from The Angel Company.  It's blue rubber like many others I got in the same package that were marked.

The sentiment was stamped with clear embossing ink onto The Paper Company Cool Metallic paper.  The embossing powder is Stampendous Pearlized Carnelian which was then heat set.  The image was matted with card stock onto My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow DP.  The additional flourishes (I don't know who manufactured these clear stamps) were stamped onto white card stock & embossed with the Carnelian EP and then cut out and adhered with Ad Tech adhesive.  The rest of the items used were from my stash except for the Icicle Stickles on the flowers.  To finish it off, I used a white gel pen to create the doodles around the edges of the card.

I really love this sentiment, but I usually put it as a topper for a bag of jelly beans.  I think I'll have to make some more cards with this even though the deadline for Easter cards to Operation Write Home has already passed.  The Mother's Day deadline is April 1st, and graduation cards are due by April 19th, so if you don't already have these cards finished, you better hurry!  It's better to get the holiday cards in earlier than the dates listed, so the shippers aren't hit all at the last moment.  Always try to throw in some birthday, miss you, love you, anniversary, kid's cards and more in with every box you send.  They never have a deadline!

~~  Lee ~~

Fishing Cabin Birthday Card

One of my friends asked if I would make a birthday card for her dad.  The only thing she requested was that it relate to fishing in some way, and she was very pleased with how this card turned out.  Since I just recently bought some images from Stampscapes that I hadn't inked up yet, I wanted to see what I could create with these new images.

The images were stamped on Kromekote Glossy paper with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink except for the far mountains.  Memories Stone Gray was used for the mountains to create distance.  After the scene was completed, it was sprayed with a glossy clear coat.  I'm going to try to list all of the stamps at the end of my posts when I post my scenic creations from now on instead of being so long-winded in the details. I know many people have said during the OWH blog hop that they hadn't inked up their Stampscapes stamps for a while, so hopefully this scene will also help to inspire you to do some of your own.

~~ Lee ~~

Stamps:  Stampscapes - Cabin w/Fence, Soft Hill, Sedge Filler, Reeds, Water Grass, Oak Branch, Rocky Peaks, Cloud w/Sun, Fisherman, Cumulus Cloud and Jumping Bass.

Coronado Island Stamps - Birds

Art Impressions:  Rocks

Hero Arts Birthday Sentiment

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black for the Images, Memories, Ranger and Adirondack Inks for color

Card Stock:  The Paper Company

Design Paper:  Miss Elizabeth's

Border Punch:  Fiskars

Adhesive:  Ad Tech

Swirl Rub-on: Kimberly Poloson

Highlights:  American Crafts White Gel Pen

Twine, Fish Hook and Yarn from my stash

I Won the Gingersnap Creations Birthday Blog Candy!!

WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!

I can't believe it, but I won the Gingersnap Creations Birthday Blog Candy!  This is definately the coolest thing I've ever won!  I've only won a couple blog candies, but this one is way over the top!  They really know how to do it right!

I want to thank Gingersnap Creations (of course) for putting this awesome package together.  I also want to thank Artistic Outpost, The Stampsmith, Cornish Heritage Farms, The Paper Temptress, Hearts in Touch, Serendipity Stamps and The Artist Stamper for supplying these awesome prizes!

For those of you that don't enter blog candies because you think you'll never win, think again!  After looking at this prize, I hope you'll think differently about winning.  One prize like this will make up for tons that I didn't win.  Just imagine all of the new cards I can make for Operation Write Home now that I'm going to get all of this awesome stuff!  It's time to get inky!!!!

~~  Lee  ~~ 

And the Winner of the Second Blog Candy Is....

WOW!  What a weekend!  I can't thank all the hoppers enough for stopping by my blog as well as all of the other 90+ blogs that were involved with the Operation Write Home Spring Break Blog Hop!  It was so inspiring and encouraging to get all of the awesome comments about my cards.   I learned quite a lot again thanks to all of the awesome tutorials, and I especially loved when the bloggers committed to making a card for each comment they received.  Way to go hoppers!!!  You really helped make sure our soldiers can show their love and admiration to their friends and family back home with all of these awesome cards!

Now to the thing I know you're all waiting for...the winner of the surprise blog candy is:

Susan

of Pieces of Fate

Congratulations Susan!  If you haven't received my notification yet, please contact me as soon as possible, so I can get your mailing address to send you your goodies. 

Thanks to everyone that was involved to help make this hop a success!  We look forward to seeing more cards and contributions in the future from all of you!

God Bless Our Troops!

~~  Lee ~~

Anything Goes Swap for Stampscapes II Yahoo Group

My swap partner for the Stampscapes II Yahoo group received her swap from me in the mail, so I can finally post the pictures of the projects I sent to her.  This swap was an easy one for me as it was an anything goes swap.  I'm still pretty new to Stampscapes rubber stamps, so some of the other swaps either didn't appeal to me or I had never done yet.  This is not to say that I won't try new techniques (which almost all of them are new to me!), but I couldn't invest the time or money for supplies for items that I didn't have at the time.

This scene was made using some of the new stamps I just received last week from Stampscapes.  There are so many stamps I want to get from Kevin to add detail to my scenes, but I have to remind myself that if I don't eat, I won't have the strength to stamp! lol   All of the images were stamped onto Kromekote Glossy Paper with Tuxedo Black Memento Dye Ink.  The water & trees on the left side is from Nature Sheet #1.  This stamp was connected to the Lakeside Cove on the right.  After masking off the stamped images, the Rocky Peaks Sm. was stamped with Soft Stone Memories ink to add distance to the scene that I wouldn't have if I had stamped it in black.  

Next, I had to figure out what I was going to do for the sky.  I see a lot of suns & moons that don't use any of the stamps, so I thought it was time to try that technique out.  I used a Stampin' Up! circle punch and punched a circle out of a sticky note.  The inside of the circle left from the punch was used as a stencil for the yellow sun, and the punch itself was used as a mask after I inked it up with Memories Yellow ink.  I can't remember if I used the cloud bits stamp initially for the sky, but I did add Memories yellow and pink, Adirondack Eggplant and Sea Brights Pool to the sky with a sponge.  The yellow and pool was also added to the water, but it was made darker by adding additional layersalong with Adirondack Stream.  Many different colors of  green was added to the grass & leaves including Adirondack Lettuce and Meadow, Stamp It Sage and Printworks Forest Green.  Some of the shading was added with Stamp It Brown which was also used on the rocks as well as the soft stone.  As you can probably tell by now, it doesn't matter if you use the same inks types all together.  The paper quality seems to be the biggest factor in scenic stamping.  One thing you won't want to use is regular photo papers.  They will fade very quickly which would be very disheartening after putting so much work into a scene.

When I was pleased with the colors, I stamped the rowboat, solo duck, water grass and reeds to the scene with the addition of an Art Impressions leaf to the top of the scene since I don't have the Stampscapes leaf.  These stamps don't usually need any colors added since they are so small.  The items that are closest to you also wouldn't need color to stay in proportion to the scene.  Last, but not least, I add the highlights with a trusty white gel pen and some rub-ons from Heidi Grace.  This may seem like a lot of trouble to many stampers, but since I love scenery so much, I love that I can use these stamps to make a scene look so realistic.  If I ever need inspiration to make the scenes, I can go as far as my computer to picture hosting sites like Flikr, Picture Trail, webshots and more to see some excellent examples to recreate.

The bookmark scene below only used a few stamps with wonderful results.  I've also cut off potions of scenes I had screwed up and made them into bookmarks.  This was matted onto cardstock, added an eyelet and fibers and it was ready to use or send to someone. 

Another great thing about Stampscapes stamps is that you can use stamps from other companies to fill in on  Kevin's line.  I've used other stamps like Beeswax, Art Impressions, Wildlife Ent., PSX, Victorine Originals, Coronado, Sutter, OnyxXpressions, Impression Obsession and other companies stamps with wonderful results.  There are also tons of techniques to use to add so much more life to the scenes.  Just go to the Stampscapes website and click onto the lessons link to see the many examples you can complete by following these step-by-step instructions and videos. 

These cards would be great cards to send to the soldiers serving overseas that send them back home to their friends and family.  I donate all of my extra cards to Operation Write Home that takes a lot of the work out of supporting this mission.  I hope you can join me in supporting this cause for our Heroes!    

 ~~  Lee  ~~

And the Blog Candy Winner Is...

I hope everyone that participated in the Operation Write Home Spring Break Blog Hop had a great time.  There were 93 bloggers involved in this awesome event, and many of them offered some fabulous blog candy!  The tutorials were awesome as well as the free digital images offered by several companies.

The winner of my Blog Candy Is...

~~~Andy Jay~~~

of Andy Jay's Place!

Congratulations!  If you haven't already responded to my email, please contact me for the info on how to get your $10.00 gift certificate to Michelle Perkett Studio.  She has tons of awesome digital stamps available as well as prints and cards that are sooooo gorgeous!

I'm sorry this posting was late, but I spent the evening with my brother & SIL from Ohio and I didn't want to interrupt our wonderful evening together.  We haven't seen each other for over five years, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

Check back later tonight to find out the winner of the other blog candy I'm offering.  We already have all of the names on the pieces of paper including the double entries for followers, so it won't take as long to pick as the first one did.

~~  Lee  ~~

Operation Write Home Spring Break Blog Hop

I'm so excited!  Today's the day for the Operation Write Home Spring Break Blog Hop!  If you came here from Erika's blog,  Bekah Jo's World, then you are in the right place.  If not, you will want to start at the beginning of the hop at the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps Blog.

Today's hop is very near and dear to my heart.  My daughter, Chelsey, is a Sargeant in the 220th MP Unit of the Colorado Army National Guard.  She served in Iraq and has been home for just over a year, and she was just recently notified that she will soon be deployed to Afghanistan.  I know how much the soldiers appreciate the cards that are made for them from people like you and I while they're serving overseas.  So many of her soldiers found it hard to believe that complete strangers would put so much love into these cards.  I want to make sure that the soldiers in her unit and any other serviceperson that is serving overseas has an opportunity to receive some of these works of heart! 

Sgt. Chelsey Burgess & her hubby David

A great place to follow the work of Operation Write Home is by becoming a fan on facebook.  I don't always check all of my emails, but I have to check out facebook numerous times a day.  You can keep up on special requests for cards as well as any other special events like this blog hop.  If you like challenges, then you want to sign up for the OWH Stars and Stamps blog, so you can see what the Sunday challenge is for the week.  There are some awesome tutorials there on Tuesday, and you may even want to join in on Wednesday for the mid-week throwdown!  Don't forget to stop back there on Fridays to meet the featured cardmaker of the week.  It's a great way to find out more about fellow cardmakers.

There are two more blogs that are connected to Operation Write Home.  The first one is the Homefront Blog.  This blog has info about the people that recently have sent cards as well as special requests for cards.  You can see where the cards are going and the deadline dates for upcoming card calls.  They have examples of letters that the kids can write and include with your boxes of cards.  You can even get tips on how to host carmaking parties with lots of resources you can use to promote your event.  Next is my personal favorite, the Hero Blog.  This is where you will find letters and pictures from the soldiers and their families.  If you don't realize how important these cards are to our soldiers, then you need to take a few minutes to read some of their stories.  Beware - Klennex alert!!!!!!!!

Although Operation Write Home gives deadlines for specific holiday cards, they can always use Thinking of You, Missing You, Love, Birthday, Anniversary, Congratulations and other such cards.  I like to make a lot of kid related cards, ao I may this card with an adorable image from Karen's Doodles.  Karen has such adorable, detailed digital stamp images.  Although most little girls would love to get a pony for their birthday, this card can also be used for many other reasons.  The image was printed on white card stock from my HP printer & embossed with clear detail embossing powder as soon as it came out of the printer.  After coloring the image with colored pencils, I blended them with a blending stump dipped in baby oil.  The highlights were made with a Sakura white Gelly Roll gel pen.  Next, I mounted it onto The Paper Studio paper and added a flocked border from Heidi Grace and some pearls from Michael's.  The flower stickers are from Cloud 9 Design.  I've been playing with some new techniques, and this sentiment from Impression Obsession was stamped on some paper I made using the Spray Starch technique by Deb Lovett.  You can see how to make it on g.g. designs website.  Last, but not least, is a white American Crafts rub-on.

The 2nd card was made from an image that I recently won from Shelley Schmidt.  I started to follow her blog after the last Operation Write Home Veteran's Day Blog Hop.  The image from this set called So Far Away is from Firecracker Designs by Pamela.  She has several other military related sets that you'll also want to check out while you're there.  The image and sentiment were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto white card stock and them colored with colored pencils.  I used lots of stuff from my stash including the paper, Love You tag and brads.  The bottom of the card was stitched with black thread.  Finally, the sentiment is from Victorine Originals and the rubons are from Prima.

I thought I'd add another card that I just finished.  This one is made up of lots of different Stampscapes rubber stamps.  They were stamped with Memento Black Tuxedo ink onto Kromekote Glossy Paper.  After stamping all of the images, the color was added with stipple brushes and Adirondack & Memories ink pads.  The highlights were added with a White Sakura Gelly Roll Pen.  To preserve the colors, I sprayed it with a glossy finish.  The corners were cut with Fiskars corner punches and then it was matted onto The Paper Store card stock.  Since my daughter's unit's mascot is the wolf and they call themselves the Wolf Pack, I had to add these awesome wolves running from a retired set by Stampin' Up!.

Now for the BLOG CANDY!  I'm not requiring you to become a follower, but if you do, your name will be entered twice into the blog candy drawings.  The winner of the blog candy will receive a $10 gift certificate for the digital images of your choice to Michelle Perkett Studio!  I'll draw the winner on Sunday night, March 21st at 7:00 p.m. MST. 

Since I've had over 50 people comment on my cards today, I will add a surprise package of BLOG CANDY to one of the commentors on this posting. The drawing will be held on MONDAY, March 22nd at 7:00 p.m. MST.  If you don't have a blog, make sure to leave your email

Your next stop on the hop is at the lovely and talented Caryl's Stamps and Stitches Blog.  I was introduced to Caryl through the Veteran's Day Blog Hop we had for Operation Write Home and now we're both doing the hop again!

~~  Lee  ~~ 

Largest reinlistment ceremony ever held overseas.

Baghdad, Iraq, July 4, 2008

Held in one of Sadam's former palaces.

My daughter was one of the soldiers that reinlisted that day.

Stampscapes II Yahoo Group Swap

I had the honor to receive this beautiful scene from from my swap partner, Sandy Knecht, in the Yahoo group, Stampscapes II.  There are lots of beginners as well as top notch instructors in this group.  We learn so much in this group & now I can put together a scene fairly quickly.  I have never seen glitter used with the scenery stamping like this, so now I know what's going on my next scene!  The layout is gorgeous as well as the corner punch (I did send her a message asking who makes it).  The people in this group are so  wonderful!  Below is a close-up of the water where Sandy used glitter to stimulate the shimmering water.  I can't post my swap until Sandy receives it, but I'll post it as soon as possible.

If you are into scenery stamping, you must check out the Stampscapes website.  Not only does Kevin have thousands of examples of outstanding scenes on the site, but there are links to blogs & websites that also include tutorials and more.  There are numerous tutorials on the website along with lots of information on light theory (in plain language!) & basics on how to use these interchangeable nature elements.  These stamps can be used with so many other scenic stamps from companies like Beeswax, Coronado, Sutter, Cowtown, Art Impressions and more.  I've been using a lot of digital images lately, and I've seen many digi images used with these stamps to make some awesome scenes.  I have so much more to learn yet, but thanks to so many other awesome stampers, I'm learning all kinds of shortcuts, types of products to use, use of perspective & more.  I can't thank all of you enough!

My 1st Blog Award!

I was given this Blog Award from my wonderful new friend from Spain, Ileana. 

Now, I have to share it with 10 others as well as share 10 things that make me happy:

1.  My loving family
2.  Spending time with my grandkids

3.  My loving & caring friends

4.  Mexican food 
5.  Crafting...any type as long as I can be creative

6.  Enjoying the beautiful Colorado sunshine!

7.  Watching people light up when they open one of my cards

8.  A cup of my favorite flavored coffee in the morning

9.  Helping out the soldiers and veterans by giving them my cards

10.  Waking up every morning

Now, I have to share this award with 10 people (in no particular order).

1. Michelle of Enchanted Inspirations

2. Olga of Crafty Odamae

3. Darsie of Crafting With Darsie

4. Audrey of Audrey's Cards by Design

5. Holley of Holley's Blog

6. Lynne of Doddlebug Designs

. 7. Carolyn of P.M.S. etc.

8. Shelley of My Creative Rumblings

9. Deanne of Am I A Scrap Addict?

10. Karen, Dixie & Sandy of OWH Stars & Stamps

~  Lee  ~

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top of the evenin' to ya!  I have tons of stamps for every holiday, but when I saw this Lucky  Leprechaun at Karen's Doodles, I just had to have him!  Her images are sooo adorable...I'm sure you'll love them too so give them a look! 

This card was very an easy one to put together.  I just printed him out on 110 lb. weight white card stock, immediately embossed him with clear detail embossing powder & then heat set him.  Next, I colored him with colored pencils & blended the colors with baby oil.  After adding some green Stickles to the shamrocks, he was good to go!  The image was matted on mulberry paper on top of a piece of Colorbok island pack card stock.  I found this Irish green ribbon in my stash along with a couple shamrock stickers.

This card will be entered in the following challenge: 

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Going Green

I hope you're all enjoying your St. Patrick's Day!  Don't forget to stop back on Saturday for the Operation Write Home Blog Hop.  There's over 70 bloggers participating, so I'm sure you'll see lots of good stuff & may even win some blog candy!

~  Lee  ~

Holley's Blog Candy Alert!

WOW!  I just checked out Holley's Blog, and she is offering TWO of the most awesome blog candies!!!!  First, she has plate 21 of ching-chou kuik's rubber stamps from Sweet Pea Stamps!  This includes Ocean Fantasy, Bamboo Serenade, Dark Royalty & Dragonfly Fantasy.  And that's not all. 

How about a delicious package of Silver Lustre Paper from The Paper Temptress?  This includes the Laser Silver Lustre, Canvas Silver Lustre, Silk Silver Lustre, Retro Silver Lustre, Vintage Silver Lustre AND Smoothie Silver Lustre.  Now that's what I called some awesome blog candy!  Get yourself over to Holley's Blog before the end of March to get signed up for these awesome blog candies!

Don't forget to stop back here on Saturday for the Operation Write Home's Blog Hop.  Who know's, maybe you will win some of the blog candy that myself or one of the other bloggers are offering during the hop.  The last time I checked, we have 78 bloggers involved with over 40 chances at some type of blog candy. 

Princess Oceana Easel Card

I've been working on lots of different cards for the Operation Write Home Blog Hop this coming Saturday, but I took a break from this to make a challenge card.  If you follow my blog at all, you'll know I'm infatuated with Michelle Perkett's designs!  Needless to say, this card will be entered in the Michelle Perkett Inspiration and Challenge Blog.

As usual, this card had to have lots of sparkle.  Princess Oceana was printed onto white card stock from my HP printer and immediately embossed with clear detail embossing powder & heat set.  The image was colored with my trusty Prang colored pencils and blended with baby oil this time instead of Goo Gone.  The card stock I use is 110 weight, so the baby oil doesn't seep into the paper.  Her hair was highlighted with Icicle Stickles for some added bling.  I've had these small shells in my stash to use for my dollhouse miniatures, but since I've been making so many cards my miniatures have taken a back burner.  The glue I used to attach the shells to the card is called Quick-Dry Adhesive by Scotch.  This was another score at Big Lots for only $2.00!  The gold border around the image & the design paper & additional dots are made by a Pilot extra fine point Gold Marker.  The pearls needed dimesion since I added the shells, so I used Sakura gold metallic Opaque 3-D Crystal Lacquer on all of them.

The flowers on this easel card were hand-made by moi'!  I couldn't get a good color match with my silk flowers, so I tore several circles of the design paper from DCWV called Pocket Full of Posies.  Next I crumbled them up and flattened them back out with my hand.  They looked just a bit to plain for me, so I used a Pilot extra fine point Gold Marker to make dots all around each petal to help them coordinate more with the card.  After poking a hole in the center of each one, I added a brad from my stash to hold all of the layers together.  The flower on the right was a bit different from the others.  The center of this flower was made by first tearing a spiral from the paper.  Then I started from the center of the spiral and wrapped the rest of the paper around until I reached the end of the paper.  I had to play with it just a tad so I could see all of the layers.  From there I added a touch of glue on the end of the spiral, a brad through the center or this & the other two layers and then I had a flower!  Last but not least, is the addition of the Best Occasions rhinestones.

I love that this card with fold into a 4" square for mailing.  The soldiers that are serving overseas deserve some extra special cards, so I would love to send this out with the bundle I'm getting ready to go to Operation Write Home.  Unfortunately, this card has glitter which is not allowed, but I'm making another without the glitter because of the positive response I've received about it.  Many of the cards I send to them are ones that I can reproduce quickly, but it's nice to put in some cards that take a little more work.  I know from personal experience that the soldiers are very appreciative of all of the cards that we send.  BTW, I still don't know yet when my daughter's leaving for Afghanistan, but I'll post it as soon as I know. 

Challenges:  Paper Sundaes 9th Challenge - Multi-Fold

Michelle Perkett 20th Challenge - Recipe Challenge  ~~I WON!!!!! ~~

Crafty Creations Challenge 58 - Make Your own Flowers

Cupcake Craft Challenges:  Challenge 81 - Flower Power

Don't forget to stop back on Saturday to join in the blog hop!  I'll have some blog candy to give to one lucky winner that participates in the hop!

~  Lee  ~

Michelle Perkett Studio Ballerina Bunny

I had to take advantage of an excellent sale that Michelle Perkett Studio had on her digi images not too long ago, and now it's time that I showed some of what I've done with them!  This card was made with her new  Bunny image.  Isn't she just adorable!  I used the sketch from the Michelle Perkett Studio Challenge Blog this week for the card.

I hope that you will check out the information I posted below or at the top of my sidebar about the Operation Write Home Blog Hop that will be held on Saturday, March 20th.  This hop will have a bit more meaning to me now since my daughter just found out yesterday that she will be deployed again.  The last time she went to Iraq, and this time her unit will be going to Afghanistan.  For those of you that don't know, she is a Sgt. in the 220th MP Unit in the Colorado Army National Guard.  She will find out in the next couple days if she will be leaving in May or December.  Needless to say, it was because of her that I found out about OWH, so now it will mean much more since I will actually know these soldiers again firsthand.  I'll let everyone know as soon as I find out when she will be leaving.
~  Lee  ~

Details:

Image:  Michelle Perkett Studio

Design Paper:  Colorbok $1.00 set from Target

Coloring:  Colored Pencils blended with Goo Gone

Rhinestones: Pink - Colorbok, Clear - Stash

Bling:  Clear Stickles

Faux Stitching:  Gel Pens

Punches:  Fiskars Border Punch E Corner Punches

Awesome Birthday Blog Candy at Gingersnap Creations

Gingersnap Creations is having a birthday and the one that's getting the presents could be you!  Hop on over to their blog and get signed up for this awesome blog candy!  Many companies are involved in this, so you really won't want to miss this one!  While you're at it, why not get involved with their challenges or check out their awesome library of tutorials or reviews.  You won't be sorry you stopped by the Gingersnap Creations blog!  

~~  Lee  ~~

Operation Write Home Bloghop Coming Soon!

I know I have been MIA lately, but I'm back now!  I want to tell you about the organization that I've been involved with since my daughter came home after being stationed in Iraq.  I originally made cards for her unit to send home since they don't have access to a local PX, or even places that they can purchase anything to write home with except for some computer paper or whatever their loved ones may have sent them from home.  Many times the soldiers don't have the time to write, or they just want their loved ones to know that they are thinking about them.  In the beginning, I used to leave the insides blank so the soldiers had room to write something.  Then, my daughter, who is a Sargeant, told me about an 18 year-old soldier that asked her what he was supposed to write inside the card.  This about broke my heart!  I don't want any soldier to feel that lost again, so now I always have some type of verse or just a simple "thinking of you" on the inside of my cards.  They can always write on the paper they have & insert it with the card if they have the time to write.

I have several links on my sidebar about OWH, so please take a moment & check out this organization for yourself.  They are a full-fledged non-profit organization, so you can feel confident that your money or time isn't being wasted and your contributions are fully tax deductible.  Not only can you check out the organization itself, you can also check out their new challenge blog called Stars and Stamps.  There are also wonderful tutorials here as well mid-week challenges and lots of featured cardmakers.  Operation Write Home is also on facebook and they would appreciate you becoming a fan to them there.  On the OWH Homefront Blog, they keep you up-to-date on the cards that have been shipped & current calls for special cards.  Last but not least is the OWH Hero Blog.   It's full of letters & emails from the soldiers & their families.

Mark your calendars now for March 20th for the next Bloghop that we are hosting for Operation Write Home!  There will be lots of great things going on that day, and I will be one of the many blogs that will be offering BLOG CANDY!!!  I'll have my info up later about this.  Many other bloggers will have more surprises for you, too.  If you would like to take part in the challenge, just click HERE to get more information. 

For those of you that think you can't make enough cards to help out, you can always send me ANY number of cards that are hand-made and I will send them with cards from myself & other area stampers.  Better yet, why not have a card party & invite your stamping buddies to come and help make cards to send out all together?  You'll be surprised how many cards you can put together when you have a few friends to help out!

~  Lee  ~