A 2 for 1 Day

Hi, everyone.

I so loved today's sketch that I made a general sentiment card in addition to my normal Sunday-sketch Any Hero card. Both cards share the same palette. In addition, I used the same paper for both backgrounds, but used two types of embossing for the top and bottom portions on both cards.

Paper Smooches (Group Hugs) sentiment on watercolor paper, heat embossed in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; Bazzill black; Sizzix embossing folders
Really Reasonable Ribbon; Tombow foam adhesives
Spellbinders Nestabillities; Creative Memories circle cutting system

Deep Red cling stamps (designed by Sandy), heat embossed in SU white powder
Distress Ink core paper, Bazzill black; Paper Smooches ribbon
Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders; Tombow foam adhesives

Thought the first card might be sent from a daddy to his little (tweener) girl back home. Or, maybe it might be sent from one of our female troops to a girlfriend needing a pick-me-up from a good friend.

I took a few liberties with the second card, but stayed with the spirit of the sketch. It is a little atypical for me to make an Any Hero card using nontraditional (non-patriotic) colors, but I like the result.

Parting Thoughts

Looking forward to the Top 13 of 2013 OWH Bloghop on Wednesday.

Also looking forward to a new challenge blog that Bobbi (of Bobbi's Treasure) and I are starting on Wednesday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Pops of Red and Blue

Hi, everyone!

Hope the weather your way is not too bad. Watching the Lions-Eagles game and can't believe the conditions! Glad it's not anything like that in my menopause room. :)

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #202.

Authentique Pride; Bazzill admiral; Distress Ink antique linen
burlap/jute; Paper Smooches twine; SU brads
circles: Marvy punch, Paper Shaper punch, hand cutting
star punch: Paper Studio
mini glue dots, Tombow foam adhesives

There is a piece of Authentique paper behind the burlap, adhered with glue dots, to add a little more contrast against the neutral pattern paper. Other than that, gonna make this post short and sweet 'cause I've got some challenges to catch up on and some Valentine's Day cards to assemble. :)

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

The True Soldier

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with family and loved ones.

Seems like forever since I've made a traditional Any Hero card. Missed quite a bit of October due to some traveling, and made Any Hero holiday cards in November.

The inspiration for today's card came from OWH Sketch #201 and Donna's wonderful sample card. Since this is an Any Hero card that doesn't require mailbox-to-mailbox delivery, I went with two thick ribbons and double thick foam adhesives.

Bo Bunny Anthem; Distress Ink core
sentiment (Stamper's Best??? Unity???), heat embossed in Distress Ink core
Paper Smooches ribbons; Paper Studio brads
Tombow adhesives

The only deviation from the sketch was the horizontal strip. Since I went with ribbon that was only 1.5 inches thick, I changed the layout slightly to accommodate the narrower ribbon.

I love the sentiment on the stamp, which I picked up during OWH's Birthday Bash month. But, for the life of me, I can't remember who made it.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a start on some OWH Valentines.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Snowflakes in Purple and Silver

Hi, everyone!

Loved, loved, loved today's OWH CAS sketch, which inspired the Any Hero Christmas card shown below. Still missing our printer/scanner, which means fumbling around with the focus on our digital camera. So, I apologize in advance for the fuzziness of the pic.

Distress Ink core and Recollections papers
SU sentiment; Recolrection snowflake punch
Creative Memories square punches
sentiment and snowflakes heat embossed in Stampdendous silver tinsel
Paper Studio brads

Other than a slight adjustment in the size of the squares, I think I was pretty true to the sketch this time around. Shocking, I know! But, I do love the simplicity of this sketch -- and think it might become a go-to favorite for a lot of cards... Valentine hearts, spring butterfies, summer seashells, fall leaves...

Parting Thoughts

Think weather's supposed to get kind of dicey, so I'm going to sign off. Hope all of you in the Chicago area are safe and sound.

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Any Hero Whimsical Christmas Card

Hi everyone,

Today's Any Hero Christmas card was inspired by today's OWH Sketch, October's Really Reasonable Ribbon club assortment of non-traditional holiday color ribbons, and a previouly-published whimsical tree card.

AC cardstock; Really Reasonable Ribbon (October club sampler)
EK hole punch; the Paper Studio star punch

Still have to write a note inside this one. I am very excited that the back in stamped with my new personalized OWH stamp from RubberStamps.com!

Not quite sure what's up with the scanner these days. The green on this card isn't nearly as neon as it appears here...

Parting Thought

Have a good week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Holiday Wishes for Our Troops

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make an Any Hero Christmas Card or two. And, last night was Bernadette's Christmas Card class. Perfect timing!

All Stampin' Up! products

In the class we made 15 cards, 3 each of 5 designs. A pennant card and the card shown above were my two favorites. Since the card above is the "sturdier" of the two, it will most likely be the safer bet to make it across the miles safe and sound. So, at least one of these -- and probably all three -- will become Any Hero cards. :)

I loved the message shown in the blog post. So, I think I will tweak it just a little to write inside this little card.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again, Bernadette, for another fun evening.

The 90th birthday celebration for my father-in-law continues this afternoon with an open house being hosted by a neighbor.

Think that's it for now. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Fewer Layers, More Texture...

Hi, everyone.

When I was trying to think of a name for today's card, and a  title for today's post, a line from an old commercial came to mind. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers, "Less Filling, Tastes Great".

So, for today's Any Hero card, I tried to make up for a lack of layers by adding a bit more texture. As with most of my Any Hero cards, the card below was inspired by this week's OWH Sunday Sketch.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Recollections jute, Distress Ink core paper
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain on watercolor paper

garage sale brads

I rotated the sketch to go with a horizontal sentiment. And, since I was going with fewer layers, I cut the backgound dp to maximize the paper embellishment on the right.  

Parting Thoughts 

Sorry I've been so sporadic with posts lately -- but it's been for lots of good reasons. The months of October and November have brought lots of fun family-related events/activities. Let's see there was a beach getaway followed by a family reunion. This week, there will be 3 separate events celebrating my father-in-law's 90th birthday. When you add these to making some cards for upcoming craft shows and our typical day-to-day activities. Well, let's just say we've been rather busy -- and quite merry.  :)

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! And, have a great week!

Sweet Land of Liberty

Hi, everyone.

This week's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #195. I ended up putting the vertical strip at the far right edge. Other than that, I think I was pretty true to the sketch.

Distress Ink core
Stamper's Best image in Distress Ink walnut stain on watercolor paper
Cuttlebug and Darice embossing folders
Creative Memories cutting system; Marvy circle punch
computer-generated sentiment (Mistral) on watercolor paper
garage sale brads; Zots 3D glue dot

Pretty tired tonight. Guess that's it for today.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Polka Dots, Stripes, and Stars

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card is inspired by OWH Sketch #192.

Bo Bunny Pride, Bazzill admiral, Distress Ink antique linen
Ribbon Boutique natural jute, OWH fundraising ribbon
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; garage sale brads
Zots 3D glue dots, Recollections foam adhesive

I really liked this week's sketch, and decided to play with some different textures. I'm pretty pleased with the patterns and textures used in the card above. If I were to change anything , I might move up the star just a tad. But, I don't think that star's moving anywhere anytime soon. :)

Parting Thought

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

The True Soldier

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #191, a new (OWH fundraising) Unity stamp, and the Declaration of Independence. It had been a while since I used this Bo Bunny Liberty paper. And, because of all of the layers on the sketch, I ended up using two layers of same pattern, one 6-by-6 version and one 12-by-12 version -- and really like this effect.

Bo Bunny Liberty (6 by 6 and 12 by 12)
Unity sentiment heat embossed on watercolor paper in Distress Ink walnut stain
Distress Ink core, Bazzill cardstock
Sizzix and Darice embossing folders
inking in Distress Ink vintage photo with Stampin' Up! daubers
Zot 3D glue dots

Short and sweet for a football Sunday.

Have a great week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A True Soldier

Hi, everyone.

Don't you just love inking up a new stamp? Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #190 and features a Unity stamp I ordered during a birthday bash blog skip. :)

MME dp; Bazzill cardstock; watercolor paper
Unity sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain
inking in Distress Ink walnut stain
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches, EK hole punch
garage sale brads; Tombow foam adhesives

Because of the size of the sentiment, I slightly changed the dimensions of the focal point rectangle. This resulted in a change to the sketch embellishments.

 Parting Thoughts

Not much else today. Keeping it short and sweet.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a great week.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

God Bless You for Serving

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #189. Nothing too fancy here. Just a patriotic thank you using a fabulous patriotic collection of paper. [Sorry about the shadow on the sentiment. Our scanner doesn't like brads. :) ]

dp Authentique Pride; Bazzill almond cream, stash cream
Stamper's Best sentiment, heat embossed in Distress Ink black walnut
garage sale brads

Have a great week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

P is for Patriot

Hi, everyone.

The weather's been gorgeous here all weekend. If the same is true in your neck of the woods, hope you've had a chance to get outside and enjoy.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #187.

Authentique Pride; Bazzill admiral
Little Yellow Bicycle Naturals pennant sticker
computer-generated sentiment
Paper Smooches twine; garage sale brads

Took Jen's suggestions.
Thanks, Jen!

Because of the width of the Naturals pennant, I slightly increased the width of the top rectangle and thenslightly adjusted the positions of
both rectangles. I opted for the twine to be placed on the right side of the bottom rectangle to balance the texture of the pennant. And, I chose to use a shorter rectangle for the sentiment to feature the twine against the navy. This is the one decision I'm second guessing -- wondering if the sentiment would look better running the full length of the navy rectangle underneath it. Hmmm.... maybe I'll play with this part a little more...

Really like the pennant. It's a nice weight, and cut with minimal fraying. The sticker is from a sheet of stickers that was on clearance at Michael's. This was one of those purchases that I wondered if I would regret making.
But, as it turns out, I think I should've bought more than 2 sheets. 

Parting Thoughts

Really looking forward to next weekend's OWH Birthday VCMP!

It's sooo pretty here. Think I'm headed out to do a little reading on the front porch. :)

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Patriotic Gratitude

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #186.

Authentique Pride, Bazzill admiral, Distress Ink core fired brick
Hero Arts sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink black walnut
Recollections burlap/jute, Stampin' Up! brads, 3D Zots glue dots

 Loving these CAS sketches.  :)

Still loving the burlap against navy. :)

Still making Any Hero cards in all those traditional colors.  Maybe one of the paper companies could give me a hand and make a collection of patriotic papers in nontraditional colors.

Parting Thoughts

Enjoy your Sunday.

Hubby and his dad have been on a weekend trip visiting family. Looking forward to their arrival home. But, have made the most of some alone time to do some serious crafting!

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Stars and Stripes in Red, Blue, and Kraft

Hi, everyone.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #185. I really am partial to CAS cards. So, today's sketch was right up my alley.  :)

Distress Ink core paper, embossed/crimped and lightly sanded
Darice and Sizzix embossing folders
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; garage sale brad
Creative Memories circle cutting system

I took liberties with the square element in the bottom right of the sketch. I immediately knew this was going to be a star, and probably a star in a circle. My first circle was smaller, with a diameter closer to the width of the square in the sketch. But, the larger star seemed to be crying out for a larger circle.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to work on a few Christmas cards this afternoon.

Have a great week. As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Red, White, Blue, and Striped

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #184. Immediately, I felt that the vertical 3" by 5.5" strip should be a deep blue, with a contrasting  3.75" by 2" horizontal jute/burlap strip and a star embellishment in the circle.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Recollections jute
Distress Ink core paper (chipped sapphire, fired brick, antique linen)
star punches: Fiskars and Paper Studio; Paper Studio brad
Creative Memories Cutting System
adhesives: Zots 3D glue dots, Glossy Accents

I tried several different combinations of solid and patterned papers for the 0.75" by 5.5" vertical strip, but none of them felt right. When I finally scored and sanded a strip of the chipped sapphire, I loved the simplicity of the look. Keeping it simple allowed the star to really pop. I'm also liking the diagonal stripes on the star.

Parting Thoughts

Wow... it's been a great day. But, I'm pretty beat. So, I think I'm going to call it a night.

Have a good week. Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

A Patriotic Thanks!

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired OWH Sketch #183. Still loving this yummy Bo Bunny Anthem paper. :)

Bo Bunny Anthem dp; Distress Ink core, lightly sanded
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo
Fiskars star punch: Stampin' Up! brads; Zots 3D glue dots

Love today's sketch. There's just something about CAS sketches that makes me smile. They seem to make it just a little easier to mix paper patterns.

I took special care to punch out the star so that the blue field would be in the upper left portion of the star. Played with different embellishments before deciding on the 3 neutral brads.

For the Bo Bunny Liberty collection, I usually use Bazzill admiral and watermelon cardstock. But, I'm finding the Distress Ink palette works really well with the Anthem collection. Bo Bunny and Distress Ink: a combo made in paper heaven!

Parting Thoughts

Enjoy the rest of the weekend -- it's so pretty here -- and have a great work week!

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Fun Ribbon for an Any Hero Card

Hi, everyone.

I've had the ribbon on the card below for about a year.

Couldn't resist it when I found it at a flea market when shopping with a friend. But, since the colors just didn't quite go with any of my patriotic paper, I hadn't used it until now.

So, I decided to pair it with some neutral core paper and brads for this week's Midweek Throwdown challenge to make an Any Hero card. Even so, I'm still a little ambivalent about the paper being too formal for this more whimsical ribbon.Hmmm... 

sentiment from Stamper's Best, heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo
flea market ribbon by ???
Core'dinations paper  -- a great garage sale find  :)
Stampin' Up! brads
Creative Memories circle cutting system

Parting Thoughts

Had a fun time at a Stampin' Up! one-sheet wonder class last night. Still have a few cards to finish!

Looking forward to hubby getting home tonight!!! He and our little doggie have been gone for almost 2 weeks.

Enjoy the weekend!  As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Another 2 for 1 Day!

Hi, everyone!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

It's a cloudy day here with some must-see television viewing for golf fans. Translation: This is some prime cardmaking time!

Today's Cards

This year, I've tried to make an Any Hero card for every OWH Sunday sketch. But, when I saw today's sketch, I immediately thought of a masculine birthday card with 5 candles. (Maybe the card I made for hubby yesterday was still mulling around in my brain...)

So, what's a girl to do? That's easily answered -- make two cards! :)

Distress Ink core paper; Cuttlebug embossing folder
hand-drawn flames; computer-generated sentiment (Mistral)

Distress Ink core paper; Darice embossing folder
computer-generated sentiment (Mistral)
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; garage sale brad

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to work on a card for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card with numbers. Should be easy for someone who's spent a life in mathematics education, right?

Have a wonderful week. Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Sweet Land of Liberty

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #181. When I first saw the sketch, "USA" immediately popped in my head for the square element. The rest of the card flowed from there.

Bo Bunny Anthem; Distress Ink core (antique linen, fired brick, chipped sapphire)
computer-generated sentiment (Times New Roman; R: 184, G; 0, B; 0)
Distress Ink vintage photo for inking of paper and twine; garage sale brads; Zots 3D glue dots

This one got a big thumbs up from hubby!  :)

Even though this was a pretty busy sketch, the card feels calm to me. Interesting enough, I consider myself a CAS aficionado. Yet, I struggled more with last week's simpler sketch. Hmmm...

Parting Thoughts

Have a great week. I'm hoping to find time to play with the new Paper Smooches Super stamp set.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

This one got a big thumbs up from hubby.