Six-Square Card

 

After making some cards with the Papertrey Ink Take Three die, I accumulated a small pile of 1-3/8" squares with rounded corners, some in black and some in avocado green.  They looked too nice to discard, and too many to save for random future use.   

So I created a six-square layout with a variety of punched and diecut shapes in contrasting colors - bright green on the black squares (above), and bright yellow-orange on the avocado green squares (below).  A bit of embroidery floss and a simple sentiment, and I have a happy card for Operation Write Home (and I'm always happy to use up my scraps!)  Scroll down for card details, including links to my previous Take Three cards that left me with the scrap squares. 

 Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) true black and new leaf (bright green) for the top card, and PTI ripe avocado and summer sunrise (bright yellow-orange) for the bottom card, on Neenah classic cream card base.
• Embroidery floss is DMC 703 (green) and 742 yellow), tied in a square knot.
• I rounded the card's outer corners (away from the fold) with a 1/4" Corner Chomper.  It's hard to see on the cream card scan, but adds a nice touch in real life.
• The sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed with "Cooper Black" font, expanded spacing. 
• The rounded squares are leftovers from the PTI Take Three die, which cuts a row of three windows in a frame.  For my card with black windows that made the black scrap squares, click here.  For my card with avocado green windows, click here. 
• The punches and dies for the shapes are as follows:
• Top row, left: EK Success medium punch, retro flower, with a 1/8" hole punched in the center
• Top row, right: PTI Heart-2-Heart #3 die
• Center row, left: PTI small star from Seeing Stars die set
• Center row, right: WPlus9 large bird from Folk Art Florals die set
• Bottom row, left: WPlus9 small leaflet from Folk Art Florals die set
• Bottom row, right: PTI flower fusion #2 die, with a 1/4" hole punched in the center

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." (156)

Stars, Stripes, and Dots - Hello Card

Some patriotic colors for my card today.  Thank you to Betsy Veldman and Papertrey Ink's "Make It Monday" #67 tutorial for inspiring the layout and the "three patterned papers" idea.   I really enjoyed working with the design, and I love the end result!  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink rustic cream, classic kraft, enchanted evening (blue), and pure poppy (red.)  I computer-printed my patterns using blue, kraft, and red ink on rustic cream and kraft card stock.  
• The dies are Papertrey Ink seeing stars (smallest of the three dies) and limitless layers 2-1/4" ovals.  I used a square punch to notch the end of my kraft banner.  
• The red dot in the center of the star is a 1/4" circle punch (the red dot is inlaid into a hole punched in the star).  
• My sentiment "Hello" is computer-printed in blue ink with Stencil font, expanded spacing.  

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." (155)

Birdhouse Scene with Yellow and Turquoise

 

Welcome to my post for the Operation Write Home Memorial Day "Sketch" Blog Hop.  My card features a bright and cheerful scene with a sunny sky, a green tree, a bird, and a birdhouse.  I hope it will bring a smile to one of our troops, writing home while serving our country far away, and then to the loved one who receives it.  That's why I make cards for OWH! 

I enjoyed working with Sketch #71 from the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps blog.  (Scroll down to see the sketch.)  The Stars and Stamps sketch page is a wonderful resource for card makers.  It has thumbnails of 120+ sketches with links to many different examples for each.  You can also download a PDF version of sketches #1-100.  A new sketch challenge is posted every Sunday, and you have up to a year to add your creation!  Tip: in the OWH sketches, a heart shape always means an embellishment or shape of your choice, not just a heart. 

For my card details, scroll down.  To continue hopping, click on the blog hop badge below.  Thanks for visiting, and especially thanks for commenting!

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink lemon tart (yellow), aqua mist (light aqua), Hawaiian shores (medium turquoise), new leaf (green), pure poppy (red), and scarlet jewel (burgundy).
• The bird, leaves, and birdhouse are from the WPlus9 Folk Art Florals die set. 
• The sun is 1/4 of a 2" scalloped circle, embossed with two small Spellbinder circle dies to provide some texture.
• The sky is embossed with Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls embossing folder, and the card base with Lifestyle Crafts Diamonds and Dots embossing folder. 
• The ribbon is white 3/8" grosgrain, colored with Copic marker BG10. 
• The "Miss you..." sentiment is computer-printed in turquoise ink with American Typewriter font (expanded spacing).
• The card sketch #71 is below, with a link to the OWH sketch posting and card examples using this sketch.  

OWH Stars and Stamps Sketch #71

Like almost all of my cards, this was 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." (154)

Chevron-Type Pattern with Equilateral Triangles

Posting a chevron-type pattern, for reference, made with equilateral triangles like the Papertrey Ink Two Triangles die set.

Sun, Moon, and Rainbow - Love You All the Time

Like last week's card, a three-window card on a green base.  And otherwise, not a a bit like last week.

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white (sentiment) and Papertrey Ink new leaf (green) and true black.
• The die is Papertrey Ink take three.  I also used a 1/4" Corner Chomper to round all the corners, except for the top of the green card base. 
• The sentiment "Love you, all the time" is computer-printed in "Hobo std medium" font (outline, expanded)  in black ink. 
• At first, I drew the sun, rainbow, and moon images in black ink.  My drawing was nice, but it didn't scan well, so I recreated it with PowerPoint shapes.  
• I used Copic markers for my coloring: B01, B26, V04, V22, G14+YG04 (colored on top of each other to match the green card stock), Y15, Y21, Y26, YR07, and R08.
• The embroidery floss (left to right) is DMC 721, a very old unknown blue, Anchor 108, DMC 347, and DMC 725. 

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." (152)

Blue and Green Flower Vine

 Blues and greens with scallops and a bit of leafy ribbon.   The overall card has a soft and graceful appearance.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) spring moss (light green), ripe avocado (dark green), and spring rain (light blue). 
• Dies are PTI small scalllop border die and PTI take three die, which cuts all three windows at one time. 
• Flowers are Hero Arts art flowers, colored with Copic markers B01, B41, and B21. Flower centers are made with pale yellow and yellow-green embroidery floss. 
• Green ribbon is leaf ribbon from PTI - beautiful, flexible woven ribbon with the leaves woven in along the edges. 
• The sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed with green ink in "Lucida Claligraphy" 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." (153)

Postage Card - Browns with Yellow, Blue, and Green

A card with "forever" stamps.  Nice colors and postage-themed sentiments.  I really like this one!

This weekend, Operation Write Home is sponsoring "rebel challenges" to make cards during National Scrapbook Weekend.  And I'm not a scrapbooker, so that works for me.  This card is for the "die cut" challenge posted on Beth L.'s BunnyScrap blog. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) fine linen (tan card base), dark chocolate (dark brown layer under stamps), ripe avocado (green), summer sunrise (yellow), blueberry sky (blue), and canyon clay (rusty brown). 
• The die is PTI postage die, 1" high.
• Before cutting my postage stamps, I computer-printed the hearts, stars, and "Love you Forever" sentiments in brown ink, using PowerPoint.  The font for "Love you Forever" is Trajan Pro (bold), which I think has a nice official look to it.  
• The main sentiment "Sending you ... all my love" is computer-printed in "Lucida Handwriting" font (bold) with the same brown ink.  To give the "S" some impact, I made it a larger font size (not bold) in a separate text box, slightly below the rest of the first line.  Also in PowerPoint.
• I'm not a stamper, and I use my own PowerPoint sentiments or designs on most of my cards.  It's not difficult, but it takes a lot of patience and detail adjustment.  I'm glad to have an artistic use for some of my office administrative skills! 

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." (151)

Notched Flowers in Pink and Aqua

Playing with another new die set.   I like the shapes and monochromatic patterns, and I like the green banner as a leaf stand-in.  Overall, the finished card is not one of my favorites.  But it was interesting to try different arrangements of shapes and colors as I made it. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink aqua mist (light aqua), Hawaiian shores (medium aqua), sweet blush (light pink), berry sorbet (medium pink), and simply chartreuse (green).
• Dies are Papertrey Ink notched flowers.  I also used my 1-1/4 EK Success scalloped circle punch, 1/2" plain circle punch, and a square punch to cut the end of the banner.  
• I bent up the flower edges a little, for dimension. 
• The patterns are airbrushed with Copic markers and Crafter's Workshop 6x6" plastic templates,  mini Swiss dot and chevron.  Copic colors are B05, YG97, R24 (on the card base), and R35. The contrasting pattern on the flower layers is stronger in real life.

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." (150)