And as a new era of card making begins (POST OWH), I find myself split between 2 organizations, both who are receiving cards this month.  SplitCoastStampers is kinda a mecca of swaps and challenges and learning in the papercrafts world, and logically hosts several swaps and challenges.  That's where I originally found OperationWriteHome, so I went back to them to find alternatives. I may yet find a home with a military-centric organization, but for now i've decided to play along with 2 groups

• Cards For A Cause (24 cards)
• Ronald McDonald House (20 cards)

Ronald McDonald House strikes because my daughter spent a few days at the one in Tampa almost 11 years ago following the birth of her daughter - my granddaughter!  Turns out my granddaughter spent the first 8 days of her life in the ICU - 6 of them on a ventilator - 5 before the hospital let Mom & Dad name her.  Born on Saturday, she fought and fought, and late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning she finally made a turn around, and on Wednesday she was named Clarissa Dawn.  I am pleased to say that she is FINE!! well - for the most part!  Precocious, stubborn, bright, energetic, loves to read and is generally a joy to be around.  And they kept mom close after she was discharged from a rather difficult childbirth by putting her up in the Ronald McDonald House attached to the hospital.  And it was a VERY good thing!

Cards For A Cause  - well - that kinda says it all!  I've been making cards for a cause for a while - so it seemed logical to continue to do so.  They change up every month with different causes, and some of the past ones are open all the time - for 'spares' if you will... Right now I'm on-board with them too.

I took pictures of the cards being packaged for July's Cards for a Cause, but as it turns out, both charities got almost all the same cards, as i work best in multiples, with variations on a theme.  They're all with envelopes, and 'tucked' in the finest OWH style.   Unlike anything I've done before, I've 'banked' some cards this time, just in case i hit a 'dry spell' where i can't make cards for work commitments but still want to send some off. Most cards were made in sets of 6 - 2-3 for Cards for a Cause, 1-2 for Ronald McDonald House and 1-2 for the bank. 

DieCut Fans in Silver and Gold Shimmer from Michaels, ombre ribbon on a lovely Victorian floral print background paper matted on shimmy white and pink cardstock.	Stary Sky background on a nice shiny finished paper, silver border on the Reach for the Moon sentiment, with a couple of diecut stars on each.
One of the specific requests for this month's cause was to make cards appropriate for kids - teens specifically.  The funky color scheme, foiled paper, and fun sentiment seemed apporopriate.	Thank You cards in various combinations - the butterfly on the left card is DieCut and backed with white vellum - the ballons are gold to go with the gold stamped sentiment.
Inspirational cards - something also requested for July's Cards for a Cause - and this seemed appropriate.  The bows and mat on the inchies are shimmer cardstock.	Foil paper accents kinda pop on the neutral almost dark background, and pick up the colors in the mat on the sentiment.
Another inspiration - or permission i suppose - to have fun!  maroons and various prints and bows.  There were actually 3 of these in the shipment.	This may be a Northwoods stamp, with just the lighthouse and sunrise colored in - and the image elevated from the framing.
Again with the funky foiled paper - probably great for teens! Happy Birthday is a generic sentiment and the mulberry flowers help do justice to the overall fun on the card.	July Cards for A Cause

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! 

The amount of time I've been spending in hotel rooms has given me lots of time to pre-stamp and cut things - for assembly at home in between of business trips.  This is the largest shipment I've done yet for Operation Write Home, and it's being packaged up for shipping on Monday. 

Sandy's most recent SitRep encouraged folks to seriously cut back on the number of Holiday cards - which i had not even started on yet - so given that I will most likely NOT do any holiday cards for OWH.  I will however, do the cards for the office (well, 2 offices, since I directly support 2 locations.) They've gotten used to me showing up with a box of homemade Christmas cards at the beginning of December, ready for signature and dispatch to the various departments, department heads, selected vendors, and other enterprise senior managers it's appropriate to send cards to.  All told it works out to about 150 cards for the 2 offices...which in between of other 'general' cards for OWH, should keep me busy enough! 

OWH has the 5 'general' themes, Miss You, Love You, Thinking of You, Thank You and Happy Birthday.  Below are the cards in this shipment, broke up into those categories.  As usual, the base cards are all StampinUp cardstock. The background and accent papers and diecuts are from StampinUp DSP stock, or stock from those bargain bin lots available at the national chain big box craft stores.  The diecuts and stamps are from a variety of manufacturers, including cuts made on my Bosskut Gazelle machine, either handgrown or from "freebie" files with generous Angel Policies that I've downloaded from the internet.  I'm finding the Gazelle a boon to cutting many of a single shape or border, while my Cuttlebug is great for cutting a few of something specific, if that makes any sense! 

I'm afraid I'm not as creative as some - seemingly i have a likeing for a particular layout on my cards - but it's one i'm comfortable with.  Maybe with the slowdown of needs for OperationWriteHome, I'll find more time to try to try new design concepts, or to do the challenges, like the MidWeek Throwdown Challenge or Sketch Challenges - that might expand my comfort zone some. 

Miss You

 Love You

Thinking of You

Thank You

Happy Birthday