Operation Write Home Bunny Hop

Welcome to the Operation Write Home Bunny Hop!  I am just one of over 130+ blogs that are participating on this blog hop.  I hope you find the time to visit all of the stops, since these hops are always filled with lots of fun.  There will be tons of blog candy, tutorials, and maybe even a few free digis along the way!  I've been very happy to be involved with this organization for around two years. 

If you arrived here from Susan's blog, Pieces of Fate, than you are in the right place!  If not, you will want to start at the beginning of the hop at the OWH Stars and Stamps blog.

Because my daughter is a MP in the Colorado Army National Guard and served overseas in Iraqi, I find it very comforting that our soldiers are not forgotten while they are serving overseas.  She just recently signed to serve another three years, and I can't more proud of her!  I'm also a vet as was my dad, so I'm happy that she has chosen such a wonderful way to serve her country.  She also made me a proud grandma for the fifth time with the birth of her son, Caleb David, on December 26th.  I want to thank everyone again for all of the prayers that you have sent her way while she was on total bed rest and had gestational diabetes during her pregnancy.  She and her hubby, David, couldn't be happier with the addition of this handsome little fellow!

Now for my first card.  If you've been here before, you know that I love to make medallion cards.  The medallion I used on this card is an Diorama Egg #1532O from Holly Berry House with the addition of an Art Impression Giant Rabbit #P1588 in the center.  Both of these images were heat embossed with Stampendous Pearlized Carnelian embossing powder.  Since we can't use glitter on our OWH cards, I've chosen to add color to the medallions using Twinkling H20s watercolor paints in place of my usual glitter.  Don't you just love the shimmer of the Twinks?  To tie the shimmer of this Twinks together with the rest of the card, I used cardstock from the DCWV Shimmer Matstack for the matting.  Recycling items is another favorite of mine, so I added this fun trim around the egg that I stole repurposed from an old Easter basket.  Instead of adding a lot of other items to clutter the card, I added some simple shimmery pearl swirls that were part of a flower set from Basic Grey.  The finishing touch was the use of a Fiskars corner emboss plus punch.

Next is a card that is appreciated with any box you send to OWH.  It's always good to add some birthday, I Miss You, I Love You and Thank You cards with any holiday cards that are needed at that particular time.  This card uses a favorite image of mine from Hero Arts called Fancy Cake.

I used my trusty colored pencils on this image, and then I added some pearls from The Paper Studio.  The sentiment is an oldie from PSX that I heat embossed with Stamp N Stuff embossing powder.  The green polka dot DP is by My Mind's Eye Penny Lane collection.  The Ella Stripe is from the Bo Bunny Shabby Princess collection.  All of the other items are from my stash.

After the Bunny Hop, you will want to stop by OWH Stars and Stamps blog.  They have a weekly sketch challenge every Sunday, wonderful tutorials, free digis to use on your cards for our heroes and so much more!  You can also grab a box of tissues and spend some time going through the OWH Hero Blog.  This blog is full of letters from deployed service members.  Last but not least of the blogs is the OWH Homefront Blog.  This blog has the info on the number of cards shipped out on Thankful Thursday, thanks to the wonderful cardmakers that make this organization what it is on Mailroom Monday, and tons of information that's available through Operation Write Home.  The newest addition to OWH is a ustream channel called OWH TV!  Sandy is doing a fabulous job of keeping the cardmakers inspired.  Stop in on Thursdays at 6:30 pm PST for lots of fun!  If you are on facebook, don't forget to "LIKE" Operation Write Home to keep  updated on events and shipper's card needs.  Whew!  It amazes me that Sandy and the others have time for anything since they keep all of these links updated!

We ship the cards to our volunteer shippers that sort and repair any damaged cards, and then they sort and send the cards off to our heroes that are serving overseas.  Because of this, the Easter card deadline is March 18th.  The next major holiday we are preparing for is Mother's Day.  The deadline for sending in these cards is March 31st.  They highly encourage us to have the cards sent out about two weeks earlier if possible, so the shippers have time to get things shipped out in a timely fashion.

What's a blog hop without blog candy?  I would love to send this blog candy out to one of my followers that live in the U.S.  For every 25 comments, I will add some more items to this collection.  A random name will be drawn on Saturday, March 12th from all of the names that fit the details listed below:

1.  You must be a follower and comment below.

2.  You must live in the U.S.

3.  If you don't have a blog, please leave an email address below so I can reach you if you are chosen.  Avoid SPAM by adding your email in the following format:  grandma_lee_t AT yahoo DOT com

4.  I would love for you to get some friends together and make some cards for OWH, but it's not required to win these goodies.

Below are the additional items I've added to the blog candy for 75 comments.

Thanks for stopping by!  The next stop on this hop is the fabulous Kate's blog, Hello From Kate!  She has lots of wonderful tips for you that you won't want to miss!

~~~Lee~~~

Special Request:  My daughter contacted me for a prayer request for one of her soldiers, Thomas Payne,  and his family.  His wife and 5 month-old child were in a car accident today, and they had to flight-for-life his daughter to the children's hospital at Memorial Hospital due to a fractured skull and internal bledding.  I'll try to keep you updated as soon as I know more.
UPDATE:  Thomas' daughter has been upgraded to stable condition!  Thanks for all of your prayers!!