Heart-full Stampin' Celebration Challenge

It's time for a new challenge at Stampin' Celebration.  Check out this amazing inspiration photo.

As soon as I saw this photo I knew I wanted to sew on my card.  I planned on sewing in white thread, but there was black thread in my machine.  The sentiment was black so I thought the black thread would look good and tie into the sentiment.  Now I wish I had chosen a lighter thread.

Aqua, pink, white or gray might have been better choices, but I don't think the person that gets this card will mind too much.  This card is going in my OWH box.  Even though it has hearts on it, it doesn't have "Valentine" anywhere so it can be sent all year long.

On the inside of the card I used a couple of my heart punches.  It adds a little bit of decorations, but leaves plenty of room for a long note of love.  <3

Stamps: Groovy Love (SU)
Ink: Black Staz-On
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White (SU); Smitten (Authentique)
Accessories: Heart Punch , Bitty Banners (SU); Rounded Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inker Designs)

Hello Darling + Video

It was so much fun to be on the OWH blog yesterday.  Thank you to all the new visitors who have stopped by my blog or left me a comment.  You made my day.  Here is the video I promised showing you how I created that card.

***Note- If you are reading this post in an email or viewer, you may need to go to my blog to view the video above.  

 Even though I am entering this card in Sandy's scarf challenge I had already planned to do this exact background for my card.  It's great when life works out that way.  I've been working on my Design Team submissions for the upcoming StampNation Beach Vacation and I had summer sunset on the beach on my mind.  I've been experimenting with different ways to create the backgrounds I want for my images.

If you would like to see more of my beach cards be sure to pop in on Sunday when the entire StampNation Dream Team and Guest Designers will be doing a blog hop.  Better yet, sign up for StampNation and take the vacation with us.  :)

Click Here to see yesterday's post.
Click Here to visit my guest spot on the OWH midweek throwdown.
Click Here to see the card I showed in the video.

Supplies:
Stamps: Hello Darling (Stampin' UP!), Kinda Eclectic (SU)

Stampin' UP! Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Canteloupe, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi
Misc: Clear Embossing Powder (Stampin' UP!), Embellished Tag (Mama Elephant), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inker Designs)

Hello Darling

Hello Darling ~ OWH Midweek Throwdown & Scarf Challenge

Have you visited the Operation Write Home blog lately?  If not, you might want to take a peek today.  About a month ago someone from OWH contacted me and asked my permission to use one of my cards for their midweek throwdown in July.  Are you kidding me?!!!!  Of course I said I would be honored and delighted if they used my card.  

In light of this special occasion I have made a card for Operation Write Home's new Scarf Challenge.  

It fit perfectly into the style of cards I have been making in preparation for the StampNation Beach Vacation starting on Sunday.  Don't you love when a challenge lines up with a card idea you had in mind to create?

Come back tomorrow to see the video I filmed while making this card.  Be sure to follow by email if you don't want to miss when I post.  :)   Want to see more cards I've made specifically for OWH?  A good place to start is typing in OWH in the "Search This Blog" on the right sidebar.

Operation Write Home is near and dear to me heart and I am so grateful to Sandy Allnock and her team of volunteers that give all of us cardmakers an opportunity to serve the men and women who serve us.  Be sure to check out their blog to see more of my story and the card they have featured.

Supplies:
Stamps: Hello Darling (Stampin' UP!)

Stampin' UP! Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Canteloupe, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi
Misc: Clear Embossing Powder (Stampin' UP!), Embellished Tag (Mama Elephant), Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inker Designs)

Hello Darling

OWH Blog Hop Video

This weekend I am joining Operation Write Home for a Memorial Day Weekend blog hop.  If you missed yesterday's post, and the start of the hop please clicky to check out all the deets.

Memorial Day is the day those of us in the USA honor our military men and women who have given their lives while serving in our nation's armed forces.  It is a special day of remembrance and gratitude.   In my own small way I am honoring the memory of those who have fallen by creating cards for our active duty military stationed overseas. Thank you OWH for giving me an outlet to give.

Yesterday I promised to show you I created these inlaid stars on my card.  Today I have that video for you.  Enjoy!

***Note*** If you are reading this post in an email or reader, you may need to go to my blog to view the video below.

Isn't that a fun way to add shapes to your cards?  If you are pressed for time you can always just add your stars on top of your card and skip the inlaid die cutting step like I have done with the card below.

Want to see more?  I have an exclusive video going up on StampNation today showing you how I added vellum to my "Miss You Already" card without any adhesive showing.

StampNation is a membership site dedicated to teaching, inspiring and sharing a love for cards.  At $9 a month it's better than a couple of trips to Starbucks.  :)

See you in the forums!
StampNation members can clicky to go directly to the Vellum Video.


Supplies:Inlaid Die Cutting Card
Paper: Aboard (Authentique), Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Hip Notes (Stampin' UP!)
Misc: Banner Framelits (Stampin' UP!), Stitched Stars (Lil' Inker Designs), Versamark, White Embossing Powder

Take 2 Card
Stamp: Year Round Sentiments (HeroArts)

Memorial Weekend Blog Hop with OWH

Is there a more fitting thing for an American cardmaker to do on her blog for Memorial Day weekend than to join with Operation Write Home for a blog hop?  I didn't think so.   That's why I'm joining others again this year for the OWH Memorial Day Bloghop.

I used OWH Sketch #225 to create this thank you card.

See how the stars are inlaid and then a couple of them are popped up?  Come back tomorrow to see a video on how I made this card, plus another card using the same sketch, but rotated and flipped.

Add your email to the follow me by email box to the right and you will get an email when my new post goes up. :)

Be sure to head over to the OWH blog to see what the others have created for this special event.  Clicky to go there now.


Supplies:
Paper: Aboard (Authentique), Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Hip Notes (Stampin' UP!)
Misc: Banner Framelits (Stampin' UP!), Stitched Stars (Lil' Inker Designs), Versamark, White Embossing Powder


UPDATE:  I have added more pictures and video in the next post.  Clicky to go there now, or scroll up to see the new post.  

Celebrate SOG

***Note- Today is the last day to enter to win the StampNation & Some Odd Girl blog hop.  Clicky if you missed that post.  It's going to be something to celebrate.

This morning I decided to play in my stamp room before doing any other work.  A great way to start your day, don't you think?  I came up with this card for the Retro Sketches challenge.  Unfortunately the colors are really off in the picture.  I need natural light, but it's a gray morning here in SouthWest Washington.

rs#108

There was a little strip  of the balloon paper on my table as I was cleaning up so I decided to add it to the inside of the card.

This card will be going into my OWH box, so I tried to keep it pretty flat for mailing.  The "Celebrate" sentiment is perfect because it can be used for any kind of cerebration and not just birthday.

Supplies
Stamps: Everyday Smiles (Some Odd Girl)
Ink: Gumball Green
Paper: Birthday Basics DSP (SU), Basic Gray, Very Vanilla

Reminders
Today is the LAST DAY for Sale-A-Bration.  Be sure to order early so you don't miss out.

Today is the last day for StampNation members to use their 50% off coupon code for the Basics & Beyond class.

Today is the last day of the design team blog hop with Some Odd Girl, Kristy.

Today is the last day of March.  April starts tomorrow and that means it is almost my birthday month!  YAY APRIL!!!  :)

Hello Handsome 4 OWH

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend a few hours in the hobby room working on some upcoming design team projects.  After I was done with those I wanted to make a card from my scraps so I turned to the new OWH sketch.

OWH #216

Did you know their sketches have measurements?  Talk about quick and easy to put together.  I did change up the mats on the center panels because I wanted them a bit thinner, but that's the beauty of sketches, you can change them to suit your style.

The best part was I created 7+ cards and half of them will be going in my OWH box.  :)  That's a good 3 hours in my book.

Supplies
Stamps: Year Round Sentiments (Hero Arts)
Paper: Sew Lovely (Carta Bella), Cherish (Authentique), Very Vanilla (SU)
Ink: Night of Navy
Misc:  Natural Chevron Ribbon (SU), Oval & Scallop Oval Punches (SU)

We Honor Our Veterans

Thank you Veterans for all you have done to protect and serve our nation.  You are not forgotten!  Our family is forever grateful to you for your service.

Many of my friends and family have served and many more I will never know have sacrificed for the United States of America.  In honor of our nation's veterans and active duty military I have made this card to be sent to a hero through Operation Write Home.

My plan when I made this card this morning was to use the thank you sentiment from Perfectly Penned and some stars.  I remembered the Hero Arts stamp set I bought had stars in it, so I went looking for it.   I pulled it out and saw this sentiment, "I thank my lucky stars for you!", and I knew it would be perfect on my card!

Hopefully you were able to take some time this weekend or today to thank a veteran, but it doesn't have to be reserved for Veteran's Day weekend.  It's always a good time to let someone know we are grateful for what they have done for us.



Veteran who spoke at RMS assembly last Friday.  He is the grandfather to one of the students at RMS.  I could have listened to him all day.



My favorite part of the assembly each year.  The band plays a medley of each branch of the armed forces songs.  As each branch is played the veterans who served in that branch stand and everyone applauds them.  It bring tears to my ears and goosebumps to my arms every time.  This year my son is in 8th grade so he played the music.  Priceless moment for this proud mama.



Caught another veteran while photographing this wall.  Students colored medals and wrote names along with thanks to veterans they know.

Michael looking for the one he made for his grandpa.  <3

So precious.  I love that my son's schools take the time to teach the importance of honoring our nation's heroes.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Stamps: Year Round Sentiments (Hero Arts- a donation is made to OWH for each of these sets sold)
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Midnight Muse
Misc: Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Deco Labels Framelits, White Embossing Powder, Stripes Embossing Folder


Stripes Embossing Folder




Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon



Deco Label Framelits



Brewing Together ~ CQC#212

My friend, Sherry Piro, has been the biggest cheerleader I know for Operation Write Home.  (OWH)    Recently she sent me a picture of some Valentine's/Love cards she has been working on to send to OWH.  I LOVE them and asked if I could CASE them.  She said, yes, and I plan to CASE them all.

Aren't they adorable?!!!  The one that really got my eye and got my creative juices flowing was the coffee cup.  I had just been thinking that I need to pull that stamp set out and give it some love.  Sherry used heart paper for her cup and I thought it would be cute to use paper for all the holidays to make cards.   Since Halloween is coming up I decided to give it a go with the Witches Brew DSP.  Here is what I came up with.

When I was talking to her about the card she told me she plans on making one for Christmas too.  I told her I wished I had a Halloween "brew" stamp.  She said I should just print one out on the computer.  Brilliant!  Don't you just love creating with friends?  They always have the best ideas.   It would be so easy to print out a few cute sayings onto cardstock and then punch them out like I did with the stamped image here.

To make the cup I stamped it on both sides of my Double Sided Paper, once onto white cardstock for the lid, and one more time onto my Very Vanilla cardstock.  I cut out the DSP, adhered it to the Very Vanilla piece, then popped up the lid on dimensionals before placing it on top of my cup.  That sounds like a lot of stamping and cutting, but it's EASY because you don't have to be precise.

The colors in my card aren't exact, but close to the ones at ColourQ this week.  I will have another card similar to this one later in the week on my blog.  This time I flip the DSP around so more of the spiderwebs show than the skulls.


cQc #212



Thank you Sherry for inspiring me not only with your sweet Valentines, but with your dedication to Operation Write Home. 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  If you are looking for the winners of my weekend giveaway scroll up or click HERE.

P.P.S.  If you are looking for the StampNation Design Team call CLICKY

P.P.P.S.  Today is the last day of Stampin' UP!'s 25 stamp sets for 25% off sale.  Will you be getting the same sets I purchased this morning?  Clicky




Witches Brew DSP



Perfect Blend Stamp Set



Chevron Embossing Folder



Thankful New Zealand

Yesterday I showed you the CAS card I made with the leftovers from today's card.

Are you wondering where the inspiration for this card came from?  It actually came from the StampNation design team challenge for World Card Making Day. 

New Zealand for StampNation WCMD

At first I was going to make a card that included the blue background, but I liked the graphic look of my card on a very vanilla piece.

The burlap ribbon is fringed.  I did a video on how to create that fringe.  If you missed that post last week you can view the video below now.  :)

 

It's probably easy to tell that the "thankful" die cut comes from the Expressions Thinlits and the hexagon comes from the hexagon punch, but do you know where the little chevrons come from?  Not the new chevron punch.  That would be GREAT if I had it, but I don't.  Instead the come from the Circle Card Framelits.  Have I told you lately how much I love the extras that come in this set?



Circle Card Thinlits

This is another Operation Write Home card that I thought any guy could send to just about anyone.   That's why it went in my recent box to OWH.  Did you notice that it has no stamping?  If you are a scrapbooker with extra ribbons and paper and diecuts around you can make this too.  No ink required.  :)

Creative Blessings,
Heather North


Burlap Ribbon




Expressions Thinlits