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.