Favorite Cards from 2011 - OWH Blog Hop

My ten favorites of all the cards I made in 2011 for OWH (Operation Write Home). A perfect theme for an end-of-year blog hop. Such fun and inspiration to look at other OWH card makers' favorites on their blogs! And of course, I'd love to receive your comments or questions about mine.

For any of my card details, you can click on the caption below the picture. To return to the OWH New Year's weekend Top Ten blog hop, click here. Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks for visiting!

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Two sweaters ~~ Outline flower

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Flowers in blue vase ~~ Raspberry aqua buttons

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Rose eyelet buttons ~~ Purple dots medallion

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Wavy red and blue ~~ Kraft miss you

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Quilt pattern ~~ Hearts with bows

Like most of my cards, these were created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them."

Purple Flowers with Green and Aqua

A new line drawing that I drew today, adapted from my Advent calendar drawing for 12/19. I will enjoy coloring it for cards. This time I colored it as purple flowers in a turquoise bowl. And layered it with purple, green, and aqua.

Added January 21, 2012: For a "before and after" comparison of this card, with a change of leaf color, click here. My "after" version has darker leaves, and I think it makes the colors work better together.

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source violet (light purple card base) and Papertrey Ink (PTI) royal velvet (dark purple), new leaf (green) and aqua mist (aqua).
• My scanned drawing is printed on Neenah solar white and colored with Copic markers: BG32, BG53, BG70, V000, V04, V12, V25, G40, YG05, YG63, YR15, Y13, Y21, RV55.
• I cut the plain and fancy circles with PTI 2.5" Limitless Layers dies.
• The sentiment "love you" is computer-printed with Zapfino font (bold) in purple ink. In real life, it goes well with the royal velvet color.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (120)

Aqua With Purple Scallops

Soft colors, scallops, lace, and hearts. A sweet and pretty note card.

Card details:

• Card stock: Papertrey Ink (PTI) aqua mist (card base and eyelet strip), sweet blush (pink hearts), plum pudding (left and right scallops), and lavender moon (center scallops)
• Dies: PTI eyelet lace and small scallop border; Spellbinders Nestabilities 3/4" classic heart
• Texture: Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (119)

Red, White, and Blue Stars Card

Star die cuts and a star-embossed background layer. My layout and color scheme are CASEd (with some changes) from Laurie Willison's stars card in this post (scroll down to her 3rd photo) on her Soapbox Creations blog. Thank you, Laurie!

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white and Papertrey Ink (PTI) enchanted evening (blue) and pure poppy (red). The striped card stock is computer-printed using PowerPoint.
  
• Base layer is pressure-embossed with a homemade embossing plate. I cut twelve stars from coaster board with the medium and small PTI Seeing Stars dies. I adhered them to an A2 piece of lightweight card stock. Then I used it with my Big Shot to emboss the star shapes into the blue card stock.
• The red and striped stars are die cut with the PTI medium Seeing Stars die.
• The ribbon is 1/4" twill, colored with R29 Copic marker.
• On the white sentiment panel, I edged the top with Fiskars pinking scissors and rounded the bottom corners with a 1/4" Corner Chomper.
• The sentiment "Celebrate!" is computer-printed in red and blue ink with Lucida Calligraphy font.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (118)

Brown Marbled and Teal Diamond Card

Subdued colors, unlike yesterday. I used Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps Sketch #100, a good layout to showcase my sentiment for Our Daily Bread Designs' December challenge to "get sentimental." Thanks, ODBD, for supporting our heroes through the OWH Stars and Stamps challenge!

The marbled paper is an easy Copic marker technique, explained here by Sharon Harnist. Instead of an acrylic stamping block (which, as a non-stamper, I don't have), I used a clear page protector, slipped over a sheet of white paper (to see my colors) and chipboard from the back of a notepad (to stiffen it).

Card details:

• Card stock is Hero Arts latte (medium brown card base), Neenah solar white (with E23, E33, E43, and E53 Copic marbling as mentioned above), PaperTrey Ink (PTI) ocean tides (grayish teal), and PTI fine linen (light brown diamond).
• Sentiment is computer printed in brown ink with Papyrus font (small caps, outlined, expanded spacing, bold). The shapes above and below the sentiment are the letters hg (above) and ef (below) in Wingdings 2 font.
• Metallic ribbon is 1/8" PTI gold tinsel ribbon, threaded through 1/4" holes. In real life, it's quite shiny and gold-colored.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (117)

Layered Button Card - Orange with Red, Brown and Yellow

Very bright colors! Somehow the buttons wanted to be the main attraction. So I emphasized their brightness with an orange card base. It's not the card I started out to make, but I do like it.

My card stock is PaperTrey Ink (PTI) orange zest (orange), pure poppy (red), dark chocolate (brown), and lemon tart (yellow). The buttons are die cut and layered. The button dies are PTI Buttoned Up #1 (plain) and #2 (scalloped). I used Paper Source linen bookbinder's thread (natural color) to sew them on. The red lines are drawn with a Sanford Uni-Ball gel impact pen.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (116)

Rose Eyelet Card with Buttons

A note card with eyelet lace and button die cuts. Nice dimension and texture in real life.

Card details:

• Card base - PaperTrey Ink (PTI) autumn rose, textured with PTI linen impression plate
• Cream layer - Neenah classic cream
• Eyelet lace - PTI scarlet jewel, cut with PTI Eyelet Lace Border die. I was fortunate to get a nice even negative piece from between the two eyelet cuts, so I used it in the center under the buttons.
• Buttons - PTI autumn rose, cut with 3/4" Buttoned Up #1 (plain) and #2 (scalloped) dies, and sewn with cream embroidery floss.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (115)

Red Thanks Card with Yellow Stars

A very bright card in red and yellow.

My card stock is Papertrey Ink pure poppy (red card base and button), harvest gold (medium yellow stars), lemon tart (light yellow sentiment panel), and summer sunrise (yellow-orange layered star focal point). The sentiment "Thanks" is computer-printed in Hobo Std Medium font (bold, expanded spacing).

I cut the button and stars with PaperTrey Ink dies - Buttoned Up #1 and Seeing Stars. Texture added with Cuttlebug candy cane stripes embossing folder. And finished with a bit of yellow embroidery floss and some red lines (Sanford Uni-ball gel impact red pen).

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (114)

Advent Calendar Update

No new card this weekend, but I'll be making a few over Christmas and New Year's. Meanwhile, I've been creating my 2011 Advent calendar, with a small drawing and a few Advent-themed words each day.

Please take a look - it's posted on my other (drawing) blog "Mostly Markers." It will have daily updates through Christmas. This activity is now a four-year tradition for me and helps me to connect with the Advent season.

Brown, Rust, and Orange Thanks Card

An early Christmas present from my (very supportive) husband - a Big Shot die cuttng machine, with some dies and embossing folders. This card is my first attempt at using the new shapes and textures.

Card details:

• Card base - PaperTrey Ink (PTI) fine linen
• Orange strip - PTI orange zest; Cuttlebug candy cane stripes embossing folder
• Brown circle - Ellen Hutson golden brown; PTI limitless layers 2-1/2" circle collection
• Large oval - PTI terra cotta tile; Nestabilities classic ovals LG #4
• Small oval - Neenah classic cream; Nestabilities classic ovals LG #3 with computer-printed sentiment

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (113)

Christmas Card 2011

This year's Christmas card, like last year's, is made with one of my drawings. It's a Nativity scene from my 2009 Advent calendar, with an added frame of red, green, and gold, and lots of white space around it. The card is computer-printed on Neenah card stock. (110)

I'm currently creating my 4th annual Advent calendar, with a small drawing and a few Advent-season words each day. It's posted a few times weekly on my other (drawing) blog "Mostly Markers." The 2011 calendar post also includes links to my 2008, 2009, and 2010 calendars, as well as my blank 2011 template in case you'd like to use it.

Two-Heart Card, Blue and Green - Before and After

Sometimes a card needs just a little something extra ... a touch of bling, but not always the sparkly-shiny type. In this case, a couple of card-stock dots, courtesy of my sturdy old office-supply hole punch. I'm very fond of using quarter-inch dots, especially with hearts. Click here for more examples.

Below is how it looked before I added the dots.


My card is for the "Love You" challenge on the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog. Card details:

• Card stock is PaperTrey Ink enchanted evening (dark blue) and spring moss (light yellow-green - more green than yellow in real life) on a sturdy PaperTrey Ink stamper's select white card base. All corners are rounded, using the 1/4" side of the corner chomper.
  
• My patterned paper is computer-printed on Neenah solar white, using PowerPoint. (White periods in a colored text box. It requires some patience at first to get the right spacing, but then it's easy to change colors. If you'd like more info, let me know via a comment, and I'll post more about it.)
  
• The sentiment "Love" is computer-printed. Click here for my font details.
  
• The hearts are from a 1" EK Success punch. The 1/4" dots are from a very old McGill Gem hand punch.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (112)

Two Turquoise Cards - Before and After

                       Before (left) and after (right)

I revisited two of my card designs to try improving them. Although I liked both of my original cards (shown on the left), they didn't have much contrast. The new versions (on the right) are better, I think.

To add more oomph to my pennant card, I used some yellows instead of all turquoise and aqua colors. The yellow card stock is PaperTrey Ink lemon zest, and the embroidery floss is DMC 742 and 744. For an accent, I also added a faux button made from two layers of card stock - Paper Source peacock (dark turquoise) and PaperTrey Ink summer sunrise (yellow-orange). Click here for the rest of the card details as originally posted.

For more contrast on my tag card, I added a darker turquoise layer (Paper Source peacock card stock) under the tag and the blue plaid paper. To give it some dimension, I used a strip of foam tape under the right end of the tag. If you'd like to see more card details, click here for the original post.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (089, 032)

Red, White, and Blue Hearts with Bow Punch

Red, white, and blue with hearts, bows, stripes, and dots. I created this card for the "love" themed November Stars and Stamps challenge, sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs to support Operation Write Home.

The solid-colored card stock is PaperTrey Ink pure poppy (red card base) and enchanted evening (dark blue layer and bows). The patterned paper is computer-printed using my PowerPoint designs. No new designs this time, but I changed the dots and hearts colors to match the striped paper. The hearts are edged with Copic marker B39. The punches are EK Success (heart) and Martha Stewart (bow). I used a white Signo Uni-Ball gel impact pen (broad) to draw the white lines on the enchanted evening layer.

Like most of my cards, this one is for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (111)

Pink, Red, and Black Window Card with Heart

Another heart card today. This one with strong lines and colors. A striped heart inside a circular window.

The card stock is PaperTrey Ink true black, pure poppy (red), and hibiscus burst (pink). The narrow diagonal "ribbon" is a 1/8" strip of hibiscus burst card stock. The red window is a 1-1/2" circle punch, and the pink window is 1-3/4".

The 1" heart was punched from Neenah solar white, and the stripes were colored with Copic markers RV06, RV13, and R29. The black lines were drawn with Copic 0.8 multiliner. The sentiment "love you" was computer-printed in black ink with Zapfino font.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (109)

Pink Hearts Card with Lace

It's not the card I started out to make. But I like it anyway. Three heart sizes, embroidery floss, and lacy ribbon.

The light pink card base and heart-shaped button are PaperTrey Ink sweet blush, and the medium pink layer is Paper Source blossom. To create the button, I punched two 1/16" holes in my 1" heart shape, then coated it with UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel). The UTEE makes it shiny and deepens the color.

The pink lace ribbon is Wright's flexi-lace hem tape from the fabric store, colored with RV11 Copic marker. The patterned paper is computer-printed - one of my PowerPoint designs - see this post for more info. The large heart is edged with RV11 marker.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (108)

Brown, Orange, and Turquoise Card with Color-Bleed Paper

Bold colors and patterns today. I made the patterned paper with Julia Stainton's color-bleed grid technique, posted on Ellen Hutson's educational CLASSroom blog. I'm having fun experimenting with this technique. For more of my examples, click on the "color-bleed grid" label, at the end of this post, or in the label list on the right of my blog.

For my paper, I used Copic markers E25, E33, YR14, and BG45 on Neenah card stock. The uneven squares and rectangles are about 1/2" to 3/4" in size. To get small droplets of "0" colorless blender, I used an eyedropper from the drugstore. The price was about $3.00 for a set of two. One of the eyedroppers featured a bent tip, which I found easy to work with.

The card stock is Paper Source peacock (dark turquoise card base) and PaperTrey Ink dark chocolate (brown), orange zest (orange), and Hawaiian shores (medium turquoise sentiment square). The twine is rustic jute button twine from PaperTrey Ink. My sentiment "Hi" and the dotted border are computer-printed in Prestige Elite Standard Bold font with turquoise ink.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (107)

Pink Lacy Circles Card

Lacy pink circles and scallops. Warming up for Valentine's cards that will need to be shipped by Christmas. Working months ahead for Operation Write Home!

The layered circle is made with six punches, as follows:

• Bottom circle - 2-1/4" plain circle - PaperTrey Ink hibiscus burst (medium pink)
• Lacy circle - 2" scalloped circle with 1/4" hole punch in each scallop - PaperTrey Ink sweet blush (light pink)
• Small scalloped circle - 1-1/4" - hibiscus burst
• Heart - 1" - PaperTrey Ink raspberry fizz (dark pink)
• Flower - 1/2" flower punch with 1/4" hole punch in center - sweet blush

The ribbon is 5/8" white sheer-and-satin, colored with Copic marker R000. The card base is sweet blush. The horizontal layer is raspberry fizz. The sentiment "love you..." is computer-printed with dark pink ink in Zapfino font.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (105)

Green and Brown Stripes - Love You Card

For today's card, I used Sketch #93 from the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog. I started to CASE Marianne's striped sample card, but then made some changes along the way. Thank you Marianne, for the inspiration!

The card stock is Ellen Hutson's golden brown (card base), Paper Source leaf (light green) striped with G24 and E25 Copic markers, and PaperTrey Ink fine linen (light tan) striped and framed with olive Copic multiliner and G24, G28, E25, and E29 markers. The twine is PaperTrey Ink rustic jute button twine.

My sentiment "Love you" is computer-printed with brown ink in "Hobo Std Medium" font. The dots are periods (...) formatted as "superscript" to raise them up above their normal position.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (104)

ZigZag Pattern - Brown, Rust, and Cream

Today's card has a rustic look, with strands of twine and a rust/brown zigzag pattern on a cream background. One of my many "medallion band" layouts. The solid color card stock is PaperTrey Ink terra cotta tile (rust card base) and dark chocolate (dark brown layered under the patterned paper and sentiment). The patterned paper and sentiment are computer-printed on Neenah classic cream card stock. (Details below.) The twine is rustic jute button twine, also from PaperTrey Ink. The circle punches are EK Success 1-1/2" (sentiment with rust border) and 1-3/4" (dark brown layer). To create my zigzag patterned paper in PowerPoint, I overlapped two vertical "stacked" text boxes of V's in 34-point "Arial Black" font (bold). The text box of rust-colored V's is rotated 180 degrees. By tinkering with the text box placement, and the character and paragraph spacing within the text boxes, I was able to make an interesting zigzag effect. The "Thanks" sentiment on its circular border is printed with same rust and brown ink colors using American Typewriter font (24 point). For the two dots, I used a colon (:) in very large font (110 point) in a separate text box, positioned over the sentiment's text box. A simple way to line up the dots where I wanted them. Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (103)

Raspberry with Pink Hearts - Missing You

Hearts and circles. One of my favorite designs.

For the original card I made in kraft and blue, click here. For my tutorial, click here.

Card details:

• The punches are a 1" circle, a 1/4" circle, a 1" heart, and a 1/4" double slot punch. Tip: punch the slots first, and then the hearts.
  
  
• The sentiment is computer-printed in purple ink with "Lucida Handwriting" font. The card stock is Paper Source rhubarb (raspberry), Papertrey Ink scarlet jewel (deep wine), and Paper Source strawberry (bright pink).
  
  
• My white "ribbon" is a narrow (3/16") strip of Neenah card stock. I tried using real ribbon, but the Neenah's stiffness made it easier to thread through the slots, adjust, and adhere. Tip: bend each heart a bit while threading it onto the "ribbon."
  
  
• I ran the threaded hearts through my 1-1/2" Xyron. Then I was still able to adjust them as I positioned them on the dark wine circles (which I had already attached to the top raspberry layer).
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (056c)

Raspberry Hearts Card with Squares

Hearts, a circle, squares, and a ribbon stripe. Shades of raspberry. In real life, the colors go well together.

The card stock is Paper Source rhubarb (card base), PaperTrey Ink scarlet jewel (dark wine color), and Neenah solar white, on which I computer-printed the pink squares.

The sentiment "Love you..." is computer-printed in purple ink, using Hobo Std Medium font, expanded spacing. The ribbon is 1/4" twill, colored with RV66 Copic marker. The EK Success punches are 1" heart and 3/4" circle.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (102)

Six-Circle Card - Red, White, and Blue

A circle of red, white, and blue on a striped background.

My six-circle element was borrowed from Charlene Austin's beautiful card, posted on her Willow and Paisley blog. To simplify the spacing and assembly, I printed a template (below) for myself. I placed my red and white circles face-down onto the template and laid a few strips of Scor-tape across them to adhere them to each other. (But not to the template!) Then I adhered the red-and-white piece face-up to the large blue circle.

If you'd like to use my template, you can paste the template .jpg into Word or PowerPoint and resize it, as desired, to fit your punched circles. For my card, the large outer circle is 2-1/4" diameter.
More card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white, PaperTrey Ink pure poppy (red), and Paper Source night (a very dark navy blue).
  
• I made the red-and-blue striped paper in PowerPoint and computer-printed it.
• Circle punches are 2-1/4" and 1" by EK Success.
• The three lines on the red strip are drawn with cobalt Copic 0.5 multiliner.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (101)

Red and Green Ten-Dot Christmas Card

A simple Christmas card using a ten-dot design - two offset rows with ten half-inch circles. (Or nine plus two halves, to be precise.) Created for Operation Write Home's World Cardmaking Day "Holiday Cards" blog hop. I love making cards that can help our troops connect with their family and friends across many miles.

For a holiday theme, I drew little loops and stripes on three of the dots to look like Christmas tree ornaments. I colored all the dots with red, green, and gold Copic markers. Then I added shiny domed stickers on top of the "ornaments", a red marker stripe below the sentiment, and a red ribbon bow. I made some with a deep green card base (above) and some with red (below). For all the details, scroll to the end of the post.

To continue hopping with Operation Write Home, click on the blog hop badge below!

Card details:

• The dots are colored with Copic markers G14, G17, R29, R59, and Y26.
  
• My card stock is Neenah solar white, layered on Paper Source spruce (deep green: top card) and PaperTrey Ink pure poppy (red: bottom card).
  
• I used Seongsook's helpful ribbon trick for my bow knot.
• My shiny clear EK Success epoxy dome stickers came from PaperTrey Ink (72 for $3). The diameter is just a bit over 1/2". Press down hard to adhere them, or they won't look really clear. They are very mailable - flexible, and less than 1/16" thick. Not to be confused with "bottle cap" tops, which are (in my experience) larger, thicker, more rigid, and pricier.
• The Merry Christmas sentiment is computer-printed in dark green with "Lucida Handwriting" font (expanded spacing).
• The ten-dot pattern can be hand-drawn with a plastic circles template (1/2") and a black 0.3 Copic multiliner. But it needs careful spacing and "perfect" circles to look nice. After a few times of drawing it, I made a PowerPoint file that prints my (uncolored) circles. Much easier.
• For a few more of my cards based on this pattern, you can click on the ten-dot label, below or in the labels list on the right of my blog.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (24)

Outline Flower Card with Color-Bleed Background

Another beautiful color-bleed background for today's card.

• Scroll down or click here for yesterday's card, where I used the same background technique in different colors. It also includes the link to Julia Stainton's technique tutorial.
• Click here for the post on my drawing blog, Mostly Markers, for more details about my flower drawing and about the Copic colors I used.
  

More card details:

• The card stock is Neenah solar white (flower drawing) and Papertrey Ink pure poppy (red), true black, Hawaiian shores (aqua sentiment strip), and spring moss (light green card base). It also looks good on a bright yellow base (Paper Source sunshine) as shown below.
  
• The sentiment "Love you, miss you" is computer-printed in Papyrus font, bold, expanded spacing, small caps (except for the "i").
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (100)

Turquoise Daisy Card with Color-Bleed Background

A new Copic technique for me on this card - Julia Stainton's color-bleed grid technique, posted on Ellen Hutson's educational CLASSroom blog. Very easy. A beautiful background for my often-used daisy drawing.

For my background, I used B01, B32, and BG32 markers on Neenah solar white card stock. Julia chose darker colors that look great with her black silhouette flower stamping. But for my line drawing, I needed a lighter background to get enough contrast with the flower coloring. The drips of colorless blender will "push" the light colors into darker rings.

Also, I realized I could avoid using pencil (and so, avoid the step to erase it) by drawing my 3/4" diagonal grid lines with one of my colors on the back of the Neenah. Just dark enough to see my grid from the front, and when finished, it disappears into the rest of the colors.

More card details:

• See above for the Copic background colors. For the daisies, I used Copic markers B24, B26, BG32, BG45, BG49, B01, B06, YG05, YG63, G07, Y19, Y38, RV66.
  
• The colored card stock is PaperTrey Ink (PTI) summer sunrise (bright yellow layer), PTI Hawaiian shores (medium turquoise card base), and Paper Source peacock (dark turquoise).
  
• The ribbon is two rows of 5/8" sheer-and-satin, colored with BG49, then lightened in the middle with B01.
  
• For more cards done with my daisy drawing, click on the label below, or in the label list on the right of my blog.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (099)

Stars and Stripes Hearts - Red, White, and Blue with Gold

Hearts with stars and stripes. UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) for dimension and shine. Layers and stripes of red, white, blue, gold and black. For two more cards with a simpler version of this layout, click here and here.

I used PowerPoint to add the stars and the diagonal lines to the hearts, which I punched out with my 1" EK Success heart punch. I colored the hearts with Copic markers B24, B26, custom color R290, and R59. After adhering the hearts to the 1" gold circles, I covered them with two coats of UTEE.

The card stock is Paper Source curry (gold), Papertrey Ink pure poppy (red) and true black, Hero Arts azure (blue), and Neenah solar white. Added September 24, 2011: I made a few more like this, but replaced some of my background layers with a single striped piece. It still looks the same, but not as thick and heavy.

The sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed on a strip of Neenah solar white with Chalkduster font. I used B24 and R290 to color the red and blue stripes on the sentiment strip and at the top and bottom of the hearts strip. The red lines on the center gold layer are drawn with red gel pen.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (098)

Hearts and Dots - Miss You Card

Hearts and dots - half-inch circles - in blue, turquoise, and gold. A simple sentiment, "Love you, miss you."

I call this my "ten-dot pattern" because of the number of dots (ten, counting the two halves as one dot). I've used it for other cards, as you can see if you click on the label below.

Card details:

• Copic markers for the dots and hearts are BG05, B24, B26, and Y26. The stripe below the sentiment is B01, B26, and black Copic multiliner.
  
• The ribbon is 3/8" satin colored with B01 and B24.
• Card stock is Neenah solar white on Hero Arts azure (royal blue) card base.
• The three dots with hearts are covered with domed epoxy stickers for shine and dimension.
• Sentiment is computer-printed with "Lucida Handwriting" font.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (024B)

Flower Print - Purple with Dark Green

Another card for today. I like the colors and the bright white together.

More of my text-based PowerPoint patterned paper, as discussed in my earlier post today. This one uses the ` key (accent key, just left of the 1 key) in Monotype Sorts font, green text outline with no fill. I used my Copic markers to color the paper with a wallpaper-ish look.

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source spruce (dark green), PaperTrey Ink plum pudding (purple), and Neenah solar white (patterned paper).
• White horizontal lines drawn with Signo Uniball white gel impact pen.
  
• Copic markers are G24, G17, V04, V12, Rv55, and RV66.
• Sentiment "Hello" is computer printed with green ink in Edwardian Script ITC font (bold). I used V04 to edge the Neenah solar white sentiment circle.
  
• Circle punches are 1" and 1-1/2" plain and 1-1/4" scalloped.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (097)

Pink Striped Hearts with Dots

I tried several versions of this card with white stitching. Just did not look right. Then I drew some vertical stripes on the heart paper, and no stitching. Now I like it.

Card details:

• I made the heart-patterned paper with a PowerPoint text box. The heart shape is the alt-g key in Symbols font. The heart pattern is easy to do, if you have some patience and some PowerPoint skills. If you'd like to try it, please leave me a comment, and I'll post a tutorial. I drew the stripes with a Copic RV11 marker.
• The card stock is Paper Source blossom (medium pink layer) and rhubarb (dark raspberry layer) on a PaperTrey Ink stamper's select white card base. I printed the hearts onto Neenah solar white.
  
• The lacy-edged ribbon is colored with RV32 and RV02, an edge of RV34, then some "0" colorless blender down the center. Sounds complicated, but it's very quick and gives a nice multi-toned effect - more visible in real life.
• I used my Corner Chomper (1/4") to round the corners on the raspberry layer and the white card base.
• The sentiment "Miss you" is computer-printed with pink ink in "Lucida Handwriting" font.
• The pink layer is edged with RV34. The horizontal stripes are drawn with RV11, and the dots are RV34.
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (096)

Raspberry and Aqua Card with Buttons

Squares, stripes, embroidery floss, and buttons. For this week's "anything but glitter" challenge on the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog.

My card started with a piece of dark raspberry card stock. I added some pastels that looked interesting with the raspberry. But my aqua and pink seemed to need a mixed pattern to connect them, so I used my Copic markers and multiliners to draw stripes on the cream cardstock.

After I played with different shapes and sizes of layers, I decided to cut up my stripes and separate the blocks. Instead of a sentiment, hmm, maybe some buttons. Then some turquoise embroidery floss for more contrast and texture. I like the end result.

Card details:

• The card stock is Paper Source rhubarb (dark raspberry) and pool (medium aqua buttons and narrow center layer), and PaperTrey Ink vintage cream, sweet blush (pink), and aqua mist (light aqua card base). In my scan, the pool and aqua mist look the same, but in real life, there's a nice contrast.
  
• The faux buttons are punched 5/8" flowers and circles, edged with Copic BG53. The holes and threads are drawn with Copic multiliner (turquoise for the holes, cool gray for the threads.) I used a bit of C3 to shade the "holes," and BG53 and RV19 to tint the "threads."
• The stripes are Copic multiliners (pink and aqua) and markers (BG53, BG72, RV19, RV34, and RV55.)
  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (095)

Flowerpot Thank You Card - Green with Orange

I drew the pot of flowers to create a thank you card for friends who hosted a lovely dinner party. My layout and green-with-orange colors were inspired by this card from Cristina's My Paper Secret blog.

I scanned my drawing and printed it on Neenah solar white card stock. I colored it with Copic markers G21, G24, YG63, YG23, E44, YR04, YR07, YR09, and V09. The orange stripes are Copic multiliner. The end is rounded with a 1-3/4" circle punch (inserting the end of the card stock into the punch from the bottom, instead of from the side).

The colored card stock is Paper Source leaf (light green) and PaperTrey Ink orange zest (orange). The button is a 3/4" circle of orange zest with 1/8" holes, made shiny with ultra-thick embossing enamel (UTEE). In real life, it's less red. I sewed it onto the card with green embroidery floss. My sentiment "thank you very much" is computer-printed in green ink with "Lucida Handwriting" font.

I made a few more of these for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (094)

Kraft Card with Browns - Miss You

One of my favorite cards, another medallion band layout. I love the many stripes, the different browns, the twill ribbon texture, the dark pinked square placed diagonally, the impression of extra layers from the frame and lines drawn directly on the kraft. It reminds me of a postage stamp with cancellation lines. And the stencil font seems just right for the "miss you" sentiment.

It's a year-old design, but I didn't post it then, because my scans and photos made the colors look so very wrong. The sentiment circle looked like a garishly bright pink, instead of the real-life lovely soft orange.

Yesterday I made a few more cards with this design. I decided to try again with posting it, and I managed to adjust my scanned colors fairly well. Not perfect - in real life, the circle's color is more like the twill ribbon - but the overall effect is close enough.

The solid color card stock is PaperTrey Ink kraft (card base), dark chocolate (dark pinked square under sentiment), and melon berry (pale orange). My homemade striped paper is Neenah classic cream with lines of black 0.5 Copic multiliner and Copic markers E09, E11, E15, and E25.

I computer-printed the sentiment "miss you" with dark brown ink in Stencil font (outline), and then I colored in the letters with E25. The 3/8" twill ribbon is colored with E11 and thin stripes of E15. The coloring on the kraft base (frame and outer lines) is E29 and E15. Circle punch is EK Success 1-3/4".

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (029)

Pastel Plaid with Black Stitching

Another variation of my "medallion band" design. Simple but effective, I think. For more cards with this basic layout, click on the label at the end of this post.

I used a leftover strip of hand-drawn plaid paper, which I layered onto some soft green and blue. For contrast, I added a black sentiment and some black accents: black dots on the scalloped circle, a black line around the yellow sentiment circle, and black zigzag stitching.

It was hard to scan the colors; in real life the solid card stock is paler, and the solid blue is less turquoise. My card stock is Paper Source leaf (green) and PaperTrey Ink blueberry sky (blue) and lemon tart (yellow). The circle punches are 2" scalloped and 1-1/2" plain. The plaid was drawn freehand with Copic markers G40 and custom colors B2000 and YYR2000 on Neenah solar white card stock. I used Copic multiliner to draw the black line and dots.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (054d)