Red Birds and Heart with Gingham Ribbon

A pink and red love card for Paula's "balance" card design bootcamp lesson for Operation Write Home.  I used symmetry for balance with evenly spaced ribbons, a centered heart, and a pair of birds.

But my design also has asymmetry, with its vertical weight toward the bottom of the card and its angled sentiment. The birds' positions and the ribbon lengths are also different; to my eye, everything lined up and centered would look too static here  

Thanks again, Paula, for your lessons!  I can see them all in this card - white space, variation (not all hearts or all birds), repetition (ribbons and red shapes), odd numbers, rule of thirds, color harmony (monochromatic), relationship (birds and heart grouping), major-minor-accent colors, and focal point.  It's fun to learn the theory of what makes a design more eye-appealing.

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source blossom (pink),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), and stripes print from PTI sweet blush (pink) pattern pack.
• Pink-and-red 1/4" ribbon is from my local scrapbook store.  I don't know who made it.
• Dies are PTI heart-2-heart #9, the inner heart from PTI framed out #11, and Elizabeth Craft love.  
• I used a Copic cool gray multiliner to draw the birds' eyes.  Black seemed to be too strong a contrast.  

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." (326)

Purple and Lime Green Hello

Something different after making a lot of "love" type cards.  A bright and modern feeling with lime green (it looks less yellow in real life) and purples.  Plenty of texture in the shadow effect on the sentiment and the lime green showing through the dots layer, plus a touch of baker's twine and embossed dots.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) limeade ice (lime green), plum pudding (medium purple), and lavender moon (light purple.)
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug swiss dots, only on the right-hand side of the card.
• Twine is The Twinery honeydew.
• Dies are My Favorite Things peek-a-boo dots and PTI wonderful words: hello.  
• Technique: I cut the word twice, one purple and one green.  The green word is placed a bit higher and to the left of the purple word.  I used Glossy Accents to adhere it, so the green is not sticky on the back where it slightly hangs off the edge of the purple.

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." (325)

Hearts on Banners with Tan Stripes

Just a few hearts, left over from other projects.  Love using my leftovers to make something nice!

I like the alternating pink and red colors, with a bit of embossed texture and two kinds of stripes (paper and twine).  Simple design, but interesting to look at.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), berry sorbet (pink), and stripes from PTI fine linen (tan) pattern pack.
• Die is the inner heart from PTI framed out #11 (pink hearts).  
• Punches are 1/4" hole punch (dots) and EK Success 1" heart punch (red heart).
• Banner notches are hand cut. 
• Embossing folder is Stampin' Up square lattice.  
• Red baker's twine is by We R Memory Keepers.  I pierced my banners right at the top of the hearts, and pulled the twine through to the back of the striped A2, so it wouldn't be bumpy under the hearts.  The striped A2 is adhered to a sturdy white card base, covering the twine.
• I popped up the outer part of the hearts with bits of Tombow power tab - not as thick as foam tape.  

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." (321)

Winter Snowflake in Blues

A large blue snowflake, inlaid in deeper blue. A wintry "subway art" panel, courtesy of Paula. 

Click here to see her beautiful card and the generous offer to use her graphic.  I printed it in a bit smaller size and trimmed it with a narrow white border, then matted it on dark blue.  Thank you, Paula! 

I'm always happy to use up my scraps, and this inlaid layout worked beautifully for me.  I cut the large snowflake from two pieces of A2 card stock - one light blue and one medium blue.  Then I turned them face-down and reassembled the puzzle pieces.  I adhered them in place with strips of 1" Scor Tape on the back.  Then I had two inlaid snowflakes - one light blue on medium blue (as shown) and one medium blue on light blue.   The card front is adhered to a white card base so all that Scor Tape is hidden. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Paper Source cobalt (discontinued color - dark blue),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) spring rain (light blue) and blueberry sky (medium blue.) 
• Dies are PTI fancy flakes.  In addition to the large snowflake die, I used the center cutout from the small snowflake die for my dark blue star shape.  
• The dark blue dots are from a 1/8" hole 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." (322)

Love - Pink with Gray

A bit of drama with swirls and rectangles.  I like the strong colors and the contrast of curves with straight lines in the sentiment, the layers, and the patterned papers.  The pink and gray layers reinforce the line under "love."

As I designed the card, I first tried a gray bitty-dots pattern, instead of gingham.  But the gingham won out with a fresh and graphic effect. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) berry sorbet (pink), smokey shadow (dark gray), and prints from PTI pattern packs: smokey shadow gingham and berry sorbet leaf.
• Die is PTI one-liners "love."  Note: the line is cut as part of the word. 

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." (320)

Turquoise Arrows and Asterisk on Gray

Bold graphic shapes with subtle background colors.  This card is for the "white space" lesson in Paula's Design Boot Camp on the Operation Write Home blog.  I used white (empty) space to draw attention to my focal point with the sentiment circle and the plain gray above it.  At first, I was tempted to do more with the background, but once my circles and arrows were strong enough, the plain gray looked just right to me.  Thank you so much, Paula, for your monthly design lessons!

Edited Dec. 31, 2013 to add:  My card was chosen as the model for this week's Operation Write Home Sketch Challenge #205.  I'm enjoying all the variations as OWH card makers interpret my layout! 

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source peacock (turquoise), Papertrey Ink (PTI) stamper's select white, aqua mist (light aqua), soft stone (light gray), and bitty dots (aqua mist) and stripes (soft stone) prints from PTI pattern packs.
• Circle punches are EK Success 2-1/4", 2", and 3/16".
• Dies are PTI get to the point and Avery Elle icon fill-in-the-blank.  I used partial die-cutting to lengthen the shaft of the arrow on the left. 
• Sentiment "Love you miss you" is computer printed in turquoise ink with Footlight MT Light 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." (319)

Pink Star with Stripes

Pink star, heart, and curving stripe shapes.  Monochromatic with energy in the bright pink colors, pattern, and texture.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) sweet blush (light pink), raspberry fizz (dark pink), and damask print from PTI hibiscus burst (medium pink) and raspberry fizz pattern packs.
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug d'vine swirls.
• Dies are PTI rainbow stripes, seeing stars, and heart-2-heart #3.
• Sentiment "Love you" is computer-printed in pink ink with Apple Chancery 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." (318)

Wreath of Autumn Leaves with Aqua

An autumn wreath with a turquoise bow.  The patterned paper gives a veined effect to the leaves.

For Operation Write Home, I'm working on cards for Valentine's Day!  But for this family celebration, I'm in the current season of the year.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) aqua mist (light aqua), Hawaiian shores (medium turquoise), dark chocolate (brown),  and the in bloom 8x8" paper pad in dark chocolate, scarlet jewel, pure poppy (red), summer sunrise (yellow), and orange zest.
• Dies are Impression Obsession sm leaf set, My Favorite Things winter wreath (twigs and bow), Spellbinders big scalloped circles LG and standard circles SM for the wreath base and background circle, and PTI bountiful banners.  
• I wanted a larger-diameter wreath than the winter wreath die, so I cut a plain open circle with two circle dies, then attached some pieces of winter wreath for twigs.  
• The lighter aqua banner is the actual PTI die shape.  I cut a second banner in darker turquoise, cut it in half lengthwise, and spread it apart by about 1/8" to create the additional layer. 
• Sentiment "Celebrate!" is computer-printed with brown ink in Copperplate font.  To curve the word, I used the "text transforms - follow path arch down" effect in PowerPoint. 

 (317)

Thank You Banner - Red with Tan

A bright "thank you" banner on a starry textured background.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), fine linen (tan), and the stripes print from PTI fine linen pattern pack.
• Die is PTI wonderful words: thank you.  
• The banner notches are hand-cut. 
• Embossing folder is Darice stars asst.
• Baker's twine is by We R Memory Keepers.

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." (316)

Pink Hearts with Lace

Pink hearts with touches of red and white - another Valentine season card for my post-Thanksgiving OWH box.  The ornate sentiment works well with the patterned papers, crochet-style lace, and scalloped edge heart.  Note: the gray is background, not part of the card.

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white,  Papertrey Ink (PTI) berry sorbet (pink), a tiny print from PTI pink patterns 6x6" pad, and the leaf print from PTI pure poppy (red) pattern pack.
• Dies are PTI limitless layers: 2-1/4" hearts (scalloped and large print hearts) and framed out #11 (pink heart frame and white inner heart).
• Corners are rounded with 1/2" Corner Chomper. 
• Lace is Maya Road bone white crochet trim. 
• Sentiment "Sending all my Love to You" is computer-printed with red ink in Edwardian Script ITC font, bold, adjusted spacing.  The "S" is a larger font size.  The little ornament below the sentiment is the letter "h" in Wingdings 2 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." (315)

Brown and Cream with Banners

Another monochromatic card today.  This one uses Sketch #189 from Operation Write Home.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) vintage cream, dark chocolate (brown), and the dark chocolate leaf print and fine linen (tan) bitty dots print from PTI pattern packs.
• Die is the vine from PTI my mother, my friend set. 
• Sentiment "Thank you for your kindness" is computer-printed in brown ink with Zapfino font, bold. 
• The decorative lines on the sentiment panel are dots (periods) in Courier font with the letters hg and df in Dingbats 2 Wingdings 2 font.  (Edited September 15, 2013 with correct font name.)

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." (314)

Burgundy Script with Rose and Cream

Monochromatic with burgundy, rose, and cream.  I just mailed a box of cards to Operation Write Home, and my next box won't be full until early December.  That's the season for Valentine's Day in the OWH mailroom calendar!  So I'll be making lots of "love" cards for the next few months. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) autumn rose, scarlet jewel (burgundy), vintage cream, and the leaf and bittty dots prints from PTI autumn rose and scarlet jewel pattern packs.
• Dies are Membory box love script, My Favorite Things STAX heart, and My Favorite Things stacking stars.
• Embossing folder is The Paper Studio script.
• The "love" die cut is inset into the cream and rose layers. 

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." (213)

Wintry Quilt Squares - Hello

A quilt effect with 1" gingham squares in rich jewel tones of purple, blue, and scarlet.  I couldn't decide on a color for my die-cut sentiment, so I used all three. 

This card is for Nancy's winter-themed sketch challenge in Operation Write Home's Labor Day weekend virtual card making party.  Thank you, Nancy, for hosting a fun challenge and sharing your sketch!  It's a versatile sketch that I'll be sure to use again. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) enchanted evening (blue), scarlet jewel, royal velvet (purple), bitty dots print in soft stone (pale gray), and gingham prints in enchanted evening, scarlet jewel, and royal velvet, all from PTI pattern packs.
• Die is PTI wonderful words: hello. 
• I used my paper trimmer to cut the 1" squares. 

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." (312)

Dark Gray with White Paint, Red, and Silver

Well, this is different!  Very "not me" in style, but it was fun to make, and I like the finished card.  It will be good for a teen or tween, I think.  In real life, the silver card stock (card base and die cuts) has a very nice metallic shimmer.

Created for Donna's masking tape technique challenge in the Operation Write Home Labor Day weekend virtual card making party.   I changed it up a bit using acrylic crafter's paint instead of ink.   Thank you, Donna!  I never would have tried this without your challenge. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) smokey shadow (dark gray), pure poppy (red), and silver shimmer.
• Embossing folder is Sizzix chevrons. 
• Dies are PTI wonderful words: hello and get to the point.
• Paint is a white crafter's acrylic.  I spread a light coating onto my masking tape surface with a Tsukineko multi-purpose squeegee, then misted with water so it wouldn't dry too fast. 
• Technique: I added some red to my die cuts.  I used Copic marker R29 to edge them, with some intentionally messy edges.  The shimmer card stock resists the Copic marker a bit, so when I pushed the excess color back with a colorless blender ("0"), it left a sort of patina effect. 

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." (311)

Kraft Love You with Red and White

A kid-friendly card with a punny sentiment (i heart u), alphabet embossing, and dies.   I like the bold colors and simple design. 

For Sybrina's tic-tac-toe challenge in Operation Write Home's Labor Day weekend virtual card making party.   Thank you Sybrina! 

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white, Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), kraft, and the bittty dots print from PTI kraft pattern pack.
• Twine is by We R Memory Keepers. 
• Embossing folder is The Paper Studio typewriter alphabet.  I bought it recently, but it's not shown on the Hobby Lobby web site, so it may be retired. 
• Dies are PTI block alphabet and heart-2-heart #11.
• I added a punched 3/16" dot of kraft to the heart. 

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." (309)