Tammies Card

Don't you love when Facebook tells you about a friend's birthday?  I'm so glad to have that reminder, because I would have missed the birthday of this special friend.  She is a sweet soul and I wanted to make a lovely card to reflect her heart.

My card was inspired by one that Maureen Merritt made during the recent Stamp of Approval blog hops.  Clicky to see her card that inspired mine.

Since I had all my inks and stamps out, I decided to decorate the envelope too.  It's so much fun to open your mailbox and see a pretty envelope hand stamped by one of your friends, and I wanted her to experience that joy too.  I liked how it turned out so much that I did it on several other envelopes too.  :)

Right now I am waiting for my next box of SOA goodies to arrive.  Getting these beauties is one of the greatest perks of being on the design team.   I have not seen most of what is in this new collection, so it will be like Christmas when my box arrives.  Catherine said she is mailing them to the team this week.  Is it time to get the mail yet?

Stamps: Chalkboards 2 (Whimsy) Lovely Flowers, Wonderful Wreath (Catherine Pooler Designs) Year Round Sentiments (Hero Arts)
Ink: Blu Raspberry (My Favorite Things Hybrid) Cotton Candy (Color Box by My Favorite Things) Lilac Posies, Tuxedo Black (Memento) Mint Macaron (Stampin' UP)
Paper: Whisper White (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Blueprints 20, Blueprints 24 (My Favorite Things) Lovely Flowers & Banners Dies (Catherine Pooler Designs)

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Blueprints 20

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Blueprints 24

Memento Ink Pad, Lilac Posies

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

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)

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)

Sequin Heart ~ Video

Happy Valentine's Day!   I'll miss making all these heart cards after today.  Perhaps I will keep making them and turn them into Wedding/Anniversary/Love cards.  :)

As I was putting this card together I decided to film a video showing you how to create your own sequin focal point.
***Note- If you are reading this post in an email or reader, you may need to visit my blog to view the video below.

Close up view of the heart.

After I was done filming I add a sentiment using Hero Arts, Year Round Sentiments, and cut out the banner using my stitched sentiment flag die from Lil' Inker Designs.

I'm linking up with a few challenges.

CTS#64

Week 82

ctd279

Happy heart day to all of you!

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Stamps: Hardwood (SU), Year Round Sentiments (Hero Arts)
Ink (SU): Pretty In Pink, Raspberry Ripple, Smoky Slate
Accesories: Hearts Framelits (SU), Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Stitched Sentiment Flag Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Rhinestones

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