My time and dedication to Operation Write Home is coming to an end.  I've just finished packing the last box I'll be shipping to them.  And I had a slightly hollow feeling as i gazed over my craft table/area at the litter of paper scraps and die cuts organized in ziplock bags, Clear storage boxes of cardstock and fancy papers and decorator boxes full of inkpads, the cutting mats and tape guns, scissors, craft knives, paper punches, marker trays, folding bones and sheets of glue dots and foam adhesive squares, and binder books full of stamps.  I've so enjoyed not only the creative outlet making cards for OWH has provided, but also knowing I was doing really something special for our Troops overseas, in less than friendly countries and circumstances.  I just wish, as i have so many times before, that I'd found OWH earlier! 

So now I will spend a day reorganizing and turn my efforts to other organizations - having diligently searched SplitCoastStampers (where i found OWH in the first place) for ideas.  I've found 2 places that will take donated card - the Monthly Ronald McDonald House on rotation, and Cards for A Cause which rotates through charities each month.  My schedule makes my ability to contribute somewhat inconsistent, so i may change the way i do things - more cards at a time and bank some for next month's charity maybe.  And this will give me a chance to do other sizes of cards, as i don't believe either of them restrict size - which means i can play with concepts I normally only get to play with on my Christmas Cards I've been making for work. 

Below are the last of the cards to OWH - a total of 160 in this my last shipment - and this should give me a grand total of 775 cards to OWH - not bad for the 15 months I've been sending cards.  As always, they're on StampinUp cardstock base, with either StampinUp or Big Box background paper backgrounds and accents.  Die Cuts are on StampinUp, DCWV Shimmer , or Michaels Shimmer cardstock. Some DieCuts are done on my Bosskut Gazelle machine, and other on my Cuttlebug, and still others on my cute little Sidekick.  Stamps used are from all over, and it's impossible for me to track since they're all in books.  Ink is either StampinUp or Tsukineko Dew Drops.

I loved putting the vellum backed butterflies together for these cards! This is one of the newer papers from StampinUp I believe.	DieCut phonographs with Love You stamped on the banners coming out of the bell...very soft with Gold and Silver shimmer cardstock.
I love you always - I love you forever.  Hopefully generic enough for man or woman. What more can be said?	No sentiment -I had to make more of these - they're lovely!  DieCut on Bosskut Gazelle, with shiny background paper.
The silver on Grey - with red and white is kinda stunning!	I had this stamp waiting for ... something. If I thought I could have I'd've made dozens of these - See You Soon!!!
Window cards are still one of my favorites, and being home is somewhere I believe our troops want to be...  the outside says Miss You All The Time around the clock face on the left, and Home is Where the Heart is on the right...	And behind the panels on the front is home...in shimmery silver and gold cardstock from Michael's with brown vellum.  Again I let my Bosskut Gazelle do the cutting.

Operation Write Home, the charity that has supported heroes with handmade cards since 2007, is nearing the end of its mission and will be gracefully retreating later this year.  All cards/donations need to be received by August 1st.   I know my blog is not very active nor does it get a lot of visits, but just in case someone sees this - now's the time to finish up whatever's out there and get it sent off to Sandy.  More information is available at OperationWriteHome.org.

So I've once again been gone from home more than i've been home over the past cupla months...and only yesterday got a chance to sit at my table and make a few cards.  I wanted to get in on the Finishing Strong/Memorial Day BlogHop - but turns out i was too late -but i'm still going to post my Red White and Blue card!!!





The white stamped area is 1"X3.8", the red is 2"X4.25". Both sides on the inside of the card is lined with the same White Gold cardstock from Michaels as i used for the stamping on the outside. 

Supplies were very simple: 

SU Night of Navy  and Real Red Cardstock, and Real Red Ink.

Michael's Recollections Cardstock White Gold 

Stampendous ClassAPeel Red Dots

just saying hello stamp from Hero Arts CL738 Set 

Fiskars Twist & Flip Corner Punch

Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam adhesive squares, Elmer's Craft Bond Glue Spots, and generic tape for my tape guns. 

Imported Mulberry Flowers from various vendors. 

I did manage to get a few Father's Day card done before my job swept me up...nothing fabulous, but I figured I'd go ahead and put up the pictures. As always, I use StampinUp Cardstock bases, Momento or SU Inks, and the shimmer papers are from Michaels Recollections papers.  


These cards were done with a variety of Jolies Stickers, the Sentiments are gold PeelOffs, and the accent papers are again from some big box discount paper lot. There are some die cuts used, all of StampinUp cardstocks.  I just don't do so well with masculine cards i don't think...i'm much more comfortable with hearts and flowers!  

I'm going to pack one more box for OWH before Sandy pulls the plug.  It's a bittersweet thing, this graceful retreat of OWH from the front lines! 

Here's the last dozen cards going out in my next shipment.  And - bonus - they'll work for the "insects" challenge - so ima going to post a link on the OperationWriteHome blog to these pictures!

Mother's Day Card Deadline at Operation Write Home is this month - 
so I was going to try the OneSheetWonder recommendations, and work on Mother's Day cards all at once.  And in the middle of it all - i fell in love with one of my Mother's Day stamps...

and there were a a bunch of other type of cards in the shipment...

Here is a sampling...