Owl Always Love You

In my last posting, I told you about the cards I had made for a fundraiser for my DGS's youth football league.  Well, here's another card that I included in the box.  Even though it was real easy to make, it gets right to the point (just like most men).  The cardstock is a green metallic that I got in an ebay deal.  The Owl always Love You sentiment and flower were from a clear set of Studio G stamps by Hampton Arts.  The heart was included in a mini flip Studio G package that I got for $1.00 at Big Lots.  Gotta love those bargains! 

I stamped and heat embossed the images with my favorite Pearlized Carnelian embossing powder from Stampendous.  This adorable owl paper is by The Paper Studio.  The inside was stamped with the same embossing powder.  The owl is from the Owl always Love You clear set, and the sentiment is by PSX.  The embossing powder color on the inside is closer to what it really looks like in real life.  I'm still having problems getting all of the colors right on my new camera. 

Like I said, easy peasy, but it does the trick!  It may be early for Valentines cards, but you could always change the inside to fit the holiday (or maybe just because). 

~~~  Lee  ~~~

Penguin Valentine Card

It's time to get away from the regular Valentines that I make for the veteran's in the nursing homes.  Cooking It Up With Katie's Blog had a challenge to make a card that wasn't your usual valentine, so I decided that this penguin image that I got as a freebie at Shirley's 2 Girls was perfect.  Although I finally posted this a day late, I wanted to let you know where the inspiration came from.

I started by printing this image onto white cardstock on my HP printer.  I embossed the image with Ultra Fine Embossing Powder as soon as it came out of the printer.  I've been doing this lately, so I don't have to use an embossing pen & my sometimes unsteady hands later if needed.  The image was black where the blue glitter paper by Colorbok is, but I paper pieced it with this glitter paper.  Another challenge I'm using this for is a color challenge that asks you to use blue and white, so I thought he would look good in a new blue suit!

The design paper from The Paper Studio was used on his hat and scarf, and then I added some white flocking from Mark Enterprises with the help of my handy Zig glue pen.  Magic Scraps glitter was then used on his belly , beak, feet and snow.  The matting for the penguin is textured cardstock from a Mat Stack from DCWV and the matting for  the heart paper is from the Paper Bouquet. 

The lace ribbon was rescued from my stash for this project which is one of my New Year's resolutions.  The snowflake ribbon came from the Target $1 Shop.  This sentiment was another freebie that was included with the penguin, but I added the outline with the help of a Zig Millenium black pen.  Since there was snow on the tops of the letters, I had to add some more Magic Scraps glitter here too and on the top of the blue snowflake.  This cute little heart with the buttons came from Stampin' Up! and was embossed with Versa Mark and blue embossing powder.  I used pop dots to mount the sentiment and the snowflakes that are from my stash.  To finish it off and add some more bling, I added some adhesive heart gems from K & Company.

This card need the inside to finish how the penguin was tied into Valentine's Day.  You Melt My Heart sentiment is an oldie from Co-Motion that was embossed with Versa Mark and the Stamp 'n' Stuff  Kaleidoscope embossing powder.  The Happy Valentines Day is from a foam mounted set from PSX that I embossed with Versa Mark and blue glitter from Stampendous.  Last but not least is the JRL Designs Heart Vine on the bottom of the card.

I really love thinking outside of the box as much as possible to recharge my energy, so that's why I like doing challenges as much as possible.  When you make all of the cards I do each month to give away, you don't always want to exert yourself to make some extra special cards all of the time.  Another good thing about putting more time into challenge cards is that I can sometimes find shortcuts to make multiple cards much faster.  Now that you've seen mine, why don't you make yourself do a challenge today that you wouldn't normally consider.   ~  Lee  ~

Challenges:
Blue and White color challenge from Stamp Something A Weekly Challenge Blog
Sketch came from Stampin' For The Weekend
Winter Theme challenge from Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog
Favorite Color Combination and a Digi Image for the Bee Crafty Download Challenge
Two Different Types of bling from Humble Pie Stamps
Let's Go Digi at the Corrosive Challenge Blog

Operation Write Home Veteran's Day Blog Hop & Blog Candy

Welcome to the Operation Write Home Veteran's Day Blog Hop! This wonderful organization is made up of tons of people that make cards for our soldiers that are serving overseas. My daughter was one of these brave soldiers that was a recipient of the cards that this organization sent for the soldiers to send home for their families. It's not like they could run to a PX & pick up a Christmas or Valentines Day card in the middle of the desert! If you want to know more about this awesome organization, please click on the Operation Write Home logo on my sidebar.

Now for the hop! If you came here from Barbara's blog http://barbarade.blogspot.com/2009/11/operation-write-home.html , then you're at the right spot. If not, go back to the beginning at: http://www.owhhomefrontblog.org/2009/11/owh-veterans-day-bloghop.html I usually try to make several love cards to send in with any cards I send. We always highlight the different holidays, but they need love, birthday, anniversary and other such cards all of the time.

My first card is made with a PSX wolf stamped on white cardstock with Artprint Brown Memories ink. It was the colored with a watered down wash of H20s & highlighted with a white gel pen. The circle frame from Inkadinkado was stamped on cardstock with Top Boss embossing ink & embossed with Detail White EP from Stamp 'n Stuff. These were then placed on top of this Around the Block two-sided card stock following a challenge sketch from Mojo Monday week 112. All of the edges were inked with Sea Brights Pool ink & then I added some flourishes from Autumn Leaves. The sentiment is an oldie but goodie from JRL designs. I topped it with a ribbon & used a white gel pen for some doodles around the edges.

Next is a card made with an awesome stamp from Outlines rubber stamps. I just found out about this company lately, so I'm having a blast with their designs. This image was stamped on card stock with Top Boss embossing ink & embossed with Detail White EP. I stamped the image numerous times so I could layer it to add some dimension. That's a great thing about the OWH cards. You can add all sorts of embellishments (except glitter for safety reasons!) since the soldiers can send their mail home for free. Back to the card. This particular image has five cutout layers, but you could add or subtract to your liking. I just glued them on top of each other after I cut them out instead of using foam adhesives like I usually do. I got out the H20s again to add some more color & then I matted it on some more card stock. This layout was a challenge from Stamping 411 although I didn't use Stampin' Up! products. I put all of it on top of some Paper Studio design paper, added a Martha Stewart ribbon bow, highlighted it with a white gel pen & it's ready to go (after I stamped the inside sentiments which I always do for these cards).

This is really turning into a long post, so lets get to the BLOG CANDY!!!! If you are a follower that leaves a comment on my post, you will be entered to win this fun package of stamping goodies pictured below to help you get jump started on your OWH cards! You'll even get an Operation Write Home custom stamp for the back of your OWH cards along with a CC rubber heart wreath & a Judith rubber stamp. I'm sure I'll find more stuff to add to this loot! Sorry about the picture quality today. It's really overcast outside, so the flash messed with the colors.

Your next stop on this hop is to Lori's blog, http://lorikins.blogspot.com/2009/11/operation-write-home-blog-hop.html Lori is an awesome lady that usually scrapbooks, but has joined us in making cards to help out the troops. Her mom has just finished her chemotherapy treatments for cancer & is still going strong, God bless her! These awesome ladies recently went to a Rick Springfield concert & had front row seats & backstage passes thanks to her mom's BFF. What an awesome gift! ~ Lee