So now i start the summer, with road trips to hotels nearly every week.  I got through the 9 day stretch with a large bag for crafting packed - and we had a marvelous vacation!  And I had a great time yesterday shopping at my local A.C.Moore craft store.  I'm usually an online shopper via a few different webstores - for brick and mortar I generally prefer to give my money to HobbyLobby, but they don't have everything - so yes - do keep up with stock shifts and changes at and periodically purchase from the other national chain craft stores in the area.  I'd heard rumor of a storewide 40% off sale at ACMoore...and couldn't resist.  Turns out the local store is converting(ed?) to an outlet store, and everything in the store is at least 40% off.  And will always be!!  So I managed to keep the total bill under $100 - but i got a bunch of new stamps - some cardstock scrap packages for die cutting accents, yet another storage container for papers, spare cutter blade dealies for any of my cutters they had blades for...and some other stuff i just don't remember right now.  I just generally had fun!!! There's a few of the stamps that just jumped up and talked to me - told me how they had to be used on the next batch of cards for my next shipment! 

I am horribly distressed over the recent uptick of activity in Iraq this past week, as well as the most recent hostage swap - as both mean our soldiers over there are in even greater danger.  Hopefully the efforts of the crafters around the United States through groups like Operation Write Home provide some smiles to our military and their families. 

These are the last 2 sets of cards to go in the box shipping tomorrow - these are Happy Birthday and Thinking of You, and bring the total in the box to 95 cards. They are rather simple cards and again, they are all on StampinUp Card Stock, stamped with Memento inks.  The Birthday cards are stamped on the Recollections GoldWhite Shimmer Paper.  The background and accent papers are StampinUp, mostly retired, or papers from one of those sale packages at those National chain craft stores mentioned above.  Die Cuts are done on papers and card stock from the 'pound of paper, again from one of those National chain Craft stores. And I have this great little corner rounder that i use a lot!  I got the Spellbinders die set for cutting the shapes with 2 square and 2 round corners for use with my Cuttlebug - but i still find myself at the table grabbing my little yellow one and using it more often than not! 

---

I'm between business trips and vacation - with more business trips coming up. I had worked on a bunch of cards while based out of a hotel room for 9 days - and have done a bunch since i got back.  I've started packing a box, instead of trying to wrap everything in an envelope. I've got 70 cards so far....

The cards are all done on StampinUp card base and the background papers are also StampinUp, unless noted.  Stamping was done on Recollections White/Gold shimmery paper, or a cream colored paper purchased in bulk at one of the National Chain craft stores.  Accent DieCuts are cut from papers in one of those "pound of paper" you can get at the same National Chain craft store. The stamps, although from different manufacturers, were all done with Momento ink, and when colored, were with Letraset markers.  And the kit-cards are from a StampinUp kit I'd purchased a few years ago from a vendor on that really big auction website. And all pictures taken after the cards were already tucked, so the insides you can't see any of the inside motifs, but each card does have something!!

There is also some 'templating' going on here (other than the kit-cards) - the one of a kind cards have mostly the top/bottom layout - with a gap in the middle - although i did change that up a few times depending on the stamps being used.  And then there's the groups of the same cards ...But that's OK.  I saw a couple of the "Open the Box" videos, and it would seem that the favored card designers do groups of all the same cards, not all unique like i have a tendency towards.  Admittedly the groups do go much faster!

Sandy from OWH has asked everyone to focus on a few themes - so here's my offerings for her categories.  I will be kicking off again when i get back from Vacation to finish filling the box with Birthday and Miss You/Thinking of You - but wanted a clean break before i left, getting everything in work finished, labeled, tucked, photographed and into the box behind dividers.  

Happy Hellos - These from a StampinUp kit I'd bought years ago - when StampinUp had really nice Stickers.	These are also "thinking of you" cards - i really like the chairs under the umbrella in the garden.  I may do that again!
Happy Birthday for little Princes and Princesses!  and one of the Kit Cards	More Kit Cards - Cheers to You - Happy Birthday!
And still more KitCards, and one just because for Birthday!	And "Love You" is another requested Theme.  I really believe this sentiment will speak to military families...
As will this one! Passion from the Heart!	And my Fav - Based on Corinthians!
Thinking of You ... and home....	I Miss you - Thinking of You...
OK - so i'm a sucker for this stamp too!	"Thank You" - another requested type of card.
A couple more Thank You cards -	And the card kit had a Thank You sentiment in it!
But i did particularly like this Thank You sentiment...	So It became the basis for a group - The pink ones for the ladies...
A Group of 'Love You...This Much!'  with hand colored balloons - good for guys or gals! These were done with a DCWV printed paper on the front.	And these green based ones could be for either the ladies or the gentlemen.  The simplicity of the design appealed on this one.

When I get back from VaCa, I'll do groups for Happy Birthday, Miss You, and Thinking of You i think.  I'm going to try to to work in sets, some for Ladies and some for the Gentlemen - or as with the Love You - something that could work for either!  And maybe some more Castles and Princes and Princesses for the children's Birthday Cards.  

And here's the rest of the cards in the shipment that went out today.  All told the this past shipment was 37 cards - No Place like Home and Father's Day primarily.  They are all on StampinUp base, and mostly stamped on Recollections shimmer paper with Memento inks. And a large portion of the papers used for the Houses, Trees, Bushes and Butterflies were those "A Pound of Paper" collections purchased at one of the chain craft stores. All the houses were cut with PoppyStamp/Memory Box dies, and the trees and bushes were cut with Sizzix dies.  The butterflies are from various manufacturers. 

I am drawn to the "There's No Place Like Home" stamp for Operation Write Home cards, and find myself using it a lot.	So this shipment had a total of 16 cards with that stamp.  Having spent time overseas, i believe the message is appropriate for our military...
The Country Houses diecuts are in different colors....	...and the Butterflies are also a mix of various color combinations.
The easel stamp is from VivaLasVegaStamps.  Background papers from StampinUp.
These are the oddball cards in the group.  I only had one bench die cut - it was a freebie from an online vendor. The Window diecut on the Birthday card is from Spellbinder and the rose stamp behind the window panes are from ArtKure.

Now i'm going to start setting up "kits" for me to work on while sitting in a hotel room for 10 days in May - well...the time in the room after work for the 10 days i'll be out of town in May.  Whether i sit and color in Pre-stamped focal pieces, or piece together precut, prestamped, precolored...i'm going to have to figure out how to keep busy...

Again - it's been quite a while since i've spent time here. 

Turns out a lot of my time has been spent working on making cards - the past cupla years i've been growing a skill set in card making.  2 years ago i did Christmas the cards for my own use, and have pretty much made all the Anniversary, Congrats, Sympathy, Graduation, Thanksgiving, Wedding, Engagement, Mother/Fathers Day cards I've needed since.  Last year i added another 120 cards for the 2 offices I support, using that as a way to keep occupied in the hotel rooms I was staying in for a week to 10 days at a time while assisting sites in the enterprise with software implementation.  I had a whole separate rolling bag with nothing but my Craft/Card Supplies.  The housekeeping staff got a real kick out of it - and I was even questioned about the cards by the front desk at one hotel. 

Over the past cupla years I've accumulated quite the collection of dies, stamps, stickers, Peel-offs, and papers and cardstock, and am working on the markers - and I'm not too bad at all this! I'll probably never make money at it - but my efforts seem to make everyone who sees them happy - so i'm banking on that for our military!  

Late last year i discovered Operation Write Home, which is a perfect fit for me!  I wish i'd found them sooner!   I get to create cards - lots of them - and them mail them off to get shipped out to deployed military groups.  My efforts directly benefit military members, and their families!  Regretfully, with the exception of a really cool Wedding Card i made for my daughter last spring, I've not taken pictures of any of them!  I shipped off a box of 59 cards to OWH a cupla weeks ago containing some of my best work ever, and took not a single picture.  

Butterflies - Birthday for teen maybe	Male oriented
I love window cards!  This is a Happy Birthday ,,,,	with Love - and Flowers!
Another male oriented Birthday card	Classy maybe - I Love You.
I Miss You - Home is where the heart is type quote. These are my favorite kind of cards to make, mayhaps because i spent time overseas while in the military, and understand what it's like.	Inside of the card. I leave plenty of space on the inside of all my cards for the military member to write notes - blank area and a lined area, with some kind of accent, and occasionally a border.
Generic Best Wishes - longer shelf life...	Operation Write Home is reminding those of us who create cards to start really focusing on Mother's Day, as the cutoff is the end of this month.   So...i will start focusing on Mother's Day... This will give me a chance to use some of the really cool floral stamps I've collected!